Good afternoon, everyone! How are you all doing on this warm day of Sunday, March 3, 2024? I'm well, as I had a couple weeks off from writing to revise my outline and take a break, just so I don't burn out. I worked quite a bit over the last couple weeks, helping at my job and internship, so my pay checks should be quite big and rewarding. Hopefully, I'll be able to work like this for a few more months before I get a big shake-up from life. In other news, I've been reading a lot of a good book, finishing my Tolkien biography yesterday and starting to reread Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi: Ascension to help get me back in the writing spirit. I hope you're all ready for plenty of twists and turns, as I have reworked my story to set up the final story to be my boldest work yet. Well, with all that said and done, I'd best get started on my chapter. I have a bit to do tonight, and I want to get a bit of writing done before I'll have to turn in. May the Lord be with us all in these Dark Times, and Long Live the Expanded Universe!

Nelona 25th, 59 ABY

Carthea System

Aboard the Bright Reaper

Han heard the gruesome report from Jaina on what happened aboard the Sir Trilag, and what every other Force User in the system, and likely across the entire galaxy, had just sensed, but he couldn't allow himself to truly believe it. After everything Luke had faced, all the enemies and insurmountable odds he overcame, there was no way he could have been possessed by Abeloth and his body was now being used to host her corrupt essence. But even so, as he comforted Leia, wrapping his arms around her and gently shushing her to try and keep her as calm as he could with her wailing, somewhere deep in his soul, a piece of it irrevocably broke like a shattered crystal at accepting this unforgivable truth.

Julius, helping Han in trying to restrain Leia, held her down and gently imparted calming waves to try and soothe the grieving Jedi Master. Unfortunately, all the Aquilian High Admiral could do was lessen her grieving screams, making them little more than incoherent murmurs and whimpering until the medics arrived.

Glancing up at Han, Leia near-incoherently begged him, "Please… Don't leave me, Han." Seeing his wife appear so terrified, so emotionally drained and broken in a way he had never seen before, it tore at his heart, and he prayed to whatever benevolent deity that existed that Luke could be saved from Abeloth's clutches.

Gripping her tightly as he continued, he earnestly promised, "No matter what, I'll be here for you, and so will everyone else that is still out there now, fighting to protect all that we love. Even those that are dead will still be with us, just like the Jedi have always told us."

Taking a syringe from Julius, Han gently told Leia, "I need you to go to sleep for a little while until we can finish up here. I promise, I won't be far from you, and we'll find a way to set Luke free from Abeloth. But first, we need to get everyone out here to safety and prepare for the next battle."

Calming down enough to bring her trembling mostly under control, Leia silently allowed Han to inject the sedative into her bloodstream, knocking her out cold in a matter of moments as her expression grew more serene. Gently laying her on the hard floor, he allowed the medics to lift her up onto a gurney and roll her away to the cruiser's medical wing.

Julius, sensing how bereft and incensed Han was, offered him, "I can coordinate matters up here well enough on my own, General Solo. You should-"

"I appreciate the offer, High Admiral." Han firmly interrupted. "But the rest of my family's still fighting out there, and we still have a few more lives to save from this system before we'll have to pull out. I'm not leaving until we get every soul we can possibly save out of here. It's exactly what Luke would have done if he were in my place."

Seeing in Han's resolute eyes how nothing Julius could say would dissuade him from departing, the Aquilian officer softly acknowledged, "All right, Solo. Then we'll cover the last wave of evacuees before we start to make our fighting retreat from here."

"Make sure we don't leave anyone behind in all the chaos if we can save them." Han warned Julius before the Corellian quickly made his way to the tactical center, prepared to help coordinate the final evacuation efforts and shore up the Last Alliance's faltering front lines.

But even as Julius returned his attention to commanding his detachment, he wondered just how the coalition was supposed to recover from the horrific loss of Luke Skywalker to Abeloth. Now, more than ever, the galaxy was fast approaching the tipping point between renewal and eternal destruction, and it would take a concerted and united effort no one had seen in untold millennia to sway the scales back towards life.

Aboard the Jade's Legacy

"We're all aboard! Punch it!" Mirta called out to Vestara, her longtime friend immediately working to fly her betrothed's ship away from the soon-to-be destroyed Sir Trilag. Gently guiding Ben with several well-placed Force nudges, the Jade's Legacyroared away from the Olpakan destroyer, and just in time, at the rate Abeloth's ships were decimating Daala's fleet and taking orbital control of the Carthea System's worlds. After five more minutes, at most, the would-be goddess would be in position to finish off the late renegade's flagship.

With five members of the diversion force ferried aboard the custom-made ship after Daala's demise, while the rest of the Last Alliance's strike teams took alternative ships out of the doomed destroyer, it fell to the redeemed Sith to keep her love composed long enough to escape the system. Everyone aboard Ben's custom yacht quickly found a way to make themselves useful while they made their way back towards friendly territory.

Mirta, she was keeping a firm eye on Jaina while the Jedi Master who, even in her distraught state, began running diagnostics on the Jade's Legacy and worked in assisting her in repairs where needed. Soldier, along with Phasma, worked to take up gunnery positions to cover everyone's withdrawal. Edaan, on the other hand, hurried to the cockpit, where he sensed the turbulence running rampant through Ben and Vestara's deepening exhaustion.

Quickly entering the cockpit, Edaan's heart ached at sensing Ben's wild anger seeing the dozens of tears running down the Jedi Master's face. No one needed to tell the older man of the gruesome fate that befell his father, and he was only being held together not through his fraying will, but through his deep bond with his wife-to-be.

The Palpatine heir recognized how words would not aid anyone in this circumstance, and instead focused on helping through subtler means. Glancing at Vestara, who was under intense pressure from utilizing her Force Bond with Ben to guide the Jade's Legacy away from the horrific devastation befalling the system, he poured his energies into the meld.

Allowing himself to be swept away with the hundreds of Force Users that were working to coordinate the battle and final stages of this mass evacuation, Edaan innately grasped how virtually everyone was resolutely performing their duties, even while they grappled with the terrifying revelations of Abeloth's latest victim. Through the meld, he sensed all of Luke's relatives and his closest friends, most incapable of coming to terms with his gruesome fate, writing in agony and unable to do anything to aid the fight.

It was a feeling Edaan recognized all too well, remembering how helpless he felt fifteen years ago, when Abeloth devastated Coruscant and killed his family, and it tore him apart to see countless others experience the same trauma he underwent. He earnestly wished he could do something to stem the tide of sorrow, but he recognized that he couldn't fight everyone's battles, nor should he. Each person had their own inner war to fight, and only they could decide whether they would serve the Light or Dark.

But even more important, Edaan had begun to see something else, a revelation that would dictate not only his life for many years but could save many more lives if he acted on his discoveries quickly enough. The only regrets that he had were that it took him so long to come to such a simple conclusion, and that he let his stubborn pride and obstinance block him from seeing the truth clearly until now.

Carthea System Outskirts

Aboard the Mega-class Star Dreadnought Transcendence

Paying witness to the devastation the Servants of Chaos and Mnggal-Mnggal were wreaking on the two once-vibrant and lush worlds of the Olpakan Hegemony, Vlad solemnly gazed upon the remains of those planets. Even as his fleets arrived under an hour ago to help complete the Carthea System's evacuation and mop up the remainder of Daala's rogue forces, the Supreme Knight knew this war was only just beginning.

Having heard from the Last Alliance's envoys that Luke Skywalker had been absorbed into Abeloth, how her followers and allies were growing exponentially, both in number and strength, Vlad recognized how his people couldn't stop these evils without going through a deep penitence for their own sins. And with Mnggal-Mnggal's bottomless appetite threatening all creation, he needed to reach out to Cylo-VI and commission him to collaborate with the Jedi and Sith's scientists in eradicating that pestilence the second the mass exodus was complete. Such a task would hopefully keep the Olpakan Hegemony's Head Scientist busy long enough for the Supreme Knight to determine whether his sudden cooperation and breakaway from Daala was a genuine repentance or part of another convoluted scheme to continue his anti-Force vendetta. Best to be thorough and prepared for any eventuality when faced with such eccentrically brilliant individuals, even if the investigation turned up nothing of worth.

Seeing the derelict ruins of Lodnar and Halia's lost cities, the bare remains of all that Mnggal-Mnggal swept over, leaving barely any rubble of every once-illustrious building, and nothing of its productive denizens, Vlad recognized how the Cancer God was just as potent and insidious as ever, and seeing just how he failed his people, it tore at his bitter and heavy heart. And he also recognized that Carthea would soon fall prey to the two ancient progeny of the Bedlam Spirits, which forced his mind back to the matter at hand, the most important reason he traveled to this lost battlefield in the Olpakan Navy's most powerful war vessel.

Forcing himself to turn away from the data feeds of the Transcendence'scommand center, Vlad glanced at Winter and silently nodded, readying himself for the most difficult decision he would likely ever make.

After a minute of waiting, the tactical holofeed allowed a small hologram of Vurawn to appear, no more than six inches tall, and the Chiss clone curtly began, "For all our sakes, your offer of surrender had best be genuine, Karamazov."

Prepared for such blatant hostility after everything his people wrought on the galaxy, Vlad did not take the bait, instead vowing, "The moment we finish evacuating these worlds and withdraw to safer havens, I and whoever you wish of the Olpakan Grand Council will meet you aboard any vessel you decide to accept your terms of surrender."

Scrutinizing Vlad's face, trying to read for any hint of treachery or deception, Vurawn slowly allowed his gaze to moderately soften. "Then you had best make sure your people can hold their own alongside ours. We have word that Rhandites' and Abeloth's fleets are about to storm in here, and we need about two more hours to finish evacuating your worlds."

"Don't worry about that. This is just the kind of war my people have prepared for." Vlad smiled without any mirth, just as the Transcendence's proximity alarms started blaring. Analyzing the readout from the system-wide tactical feed, he warned Vurawn, "The enemies' reinforcements are heading for my position first. We can give a good accounting of ourselves while covering your rearguard flanks."

Seeing no overconfidence in the Olpakans' Supreme Knight, Vurawn simply nodded before he advised, "Make sure not to get bogged down in this fight. We won't have long before this engagement becomes impossible to escape." Disconnecting from the call, Vlad knew the brief interview went about as well as could be expected, He and the Olpakans had their opportunity, and he was determined not to let it go to waste.

Seeing the Servants of Chaos's fleets debark hyperspace, composed of about fifty capital ships and twice the escort craft, Vlad recognized at just over half the heavy cruisers right away. Seven belonged to the Ssi-Ruuk, five were from the Grysk, six of the Rakata, and another ten were revamped Pius Dea Cathedral Ships, and the rest, wherever they came from, were each armed to the teeth with weapons and fighters that could cut through all but the sturdiest vessels. Still, he thought the enemy would've brought more ships to her brutal subjugation.

Well, it hardly mattered now. Vlad knew what his people were capable of, and they would do what was necessary to prove themselves and protect their own. But before he ordered them into the fray, there was one more thing he needed to do.

Opening a transmission with his entire fleet, Vlad played a recording he made for this situation, "You all know why we're here. Our worlds have come under attack by the Bringer of Chaos and all the dark powers she and the Nihil Retreat have summoned to their side. And, as hard as it is for most of you to believe, we cannot expel these evils on our own."

"Unlike Natasi Daala and her fallen fanatics, who could not see how the galaxy had grown beyond their narrow and petty feuds, we will prove different. For too long, we have kept to ourselves or let old wounds fester and blind us to the perils threatening all creation. It threw us off the path our ancestors walked, in fidelity to the Celestials and their righteous cause."

"But now, we have a last chance to redeem ourselves and protect some remnant of our civilization for reconstruction." The recording paused, allowing Vlad to take a silent breath before he continued, "And in that spirit, I am imploring you all to look beyond your hostility to the Last Alliance, to see what they have built and what they could yet become. What we could become if we survive the coming tribulations."

"For our families, our citizens, our worlds, we will do both what is necessary and right, but we will not lose ourselves and all we still cherish. And we will show the galaxy of our worth! Go out there and prove to the Force Users that we can hold our own just as well as their best!"

"Quite a long-winded speech, Karamazov." Winter wryly noted, earning a smirk from Vlad, a rare occurrence for anyone to witness.

"I rarely get the chances to be theatric, so I wanted to make it count." Vlad chuckled, before he got serious, "I do have one more matter to address before we charge into battle. This ship will no longer be named the Transcendence."

"To symbolize my people's obligation to atone for our crimes, I will rechristen our dreadnought as the Penitence. A hopeful sign of our repentance before the Maker and all those we have wronged." Vlad proclaimed, earning an approving nod from Winter. "Now, with all the motivational and sentimental talk out of the way, it's time we get our hands bloody and remind our old foes and the rest of the galaxy what the Olpakans are truly capable of."

Aboard the Shatter-class WarMaster Fate Breaker

Praise the Chaos, because after the near disaster of the Rakatan Archipelago, Keldo was going back to doing what he did best. Being granted command of the True Sith Empire's First Expeditionary Fleet and eager to go into battle again, all the ex-Sith wanted to do was flex his impregnable strength against all who opposed his mistress. And with hundreds of thousands of targets out there, ripe for either capture or destruction, he knew the next few days would be the most rewarding he'd enjoy so far in all his life.

Among the carnage unfolding across the system, Keldo still sensed his wayward sister fleeing with the Last Alliance towards their living world, and he burned to go after her and properly humble Phasma. But he knew he would have other chances, even as he telepathically ordered his fleet to prepare its attack. Seeing the Olpakans throw themselves into the fray alongside their Force-friendly allies, he was overjoyed that he would have the chance to destroy the pathetic coalition's largest and most powerful warship. And what better way to showcase the Servants of Chaos and Nihil Retreat's inevitable supremacy than by using a Grysk warship, repurposed by the species' few survivors and new allies to serve a greater power, as the command ship in destroying the newest Star Dreadnought to ever grace the stars?

Silently commanding his crew to power up all the Fate Breaker's weapons, including their most deadly surprise, Keldo was prepared to charge straight into the fray when he heard his mistress call to him, ordering, 'Keldo. I know what you plan to do, but I cannot let you show our full power to the enemy just yet.'

Hearing the words, but unable to properly process them, Keldo protested, 'My Lady, we have all your enemies right in this system. If we strike now, we can dismantle the Last Alliance and your greatest opposition in one fell swoop.'

'You underestimate all our foes, especially Niphal and Eipha's successors.' Abeloth harshly chided Keldo. 'I made that mistake before, and it set my plans back for fifteen years before I could return. We cannot afford to repeat my blunders, or we will never get another chance at attaining our destiny, ever again.'

'For now, just focus on securing the Carthea System and driving all our enemies out of our new territory.' Abeloth commanded Keldo. 'Once that's done, I'll have you your new orders and another chance for you to triumph over your foolish sister.'

Momentarily baffled by the orders, Keldo pushed his doubts aside, assured that Abeloth, whatever her plan was, knew what she was doing and would inevitably prevail over her foes. Besides, he couldn't help but grow giddy at the imminent prospect of facing Phasma again before he properly humbled and killed her.

Destroying Phasma alone would mollify Keldo for a good while, even as he briefly wondered why the Abeloth wouldn't allow him to escalate the ongoing carnage. After capturing and absorbing Luke Skywalker into her being, it only made sense to press the advantage before the enemy rediscovered their resolve and retaliated. So, either she had a master plan to drag out the enemy's suffering and empower herself, or far more unlikely, the Jedi Master was still proving to be a nuisance for all his enemies. Either way, it would likely fall to him and his similar minded leaders to pick up the slack until the Servants of Chaos regained their momentum.

Carthea System Outskirts

Zonama Sekot

Far Distance Islands

Magister's Palace

Sequestered within the well-protected Magister's citadel, Tau, just like Darth Krayt in another chamber, worked alongside Sekot to coordinate the Last Alliance's final efforts. A daunting task, especially after Abeloth revealed to all how she had absorbed Luke Skywalker into her being and eliminated Natasi Daala and her legions aboard her now-destroyed flagship.

Every Force User in the system felt her nearly limitless and malevolent power of the Bedlam Spirit offspring in her attack, and the Force Meld that had been guiding the coalition's evacuation and defense of the Carthea System was suffering from this horrendous display of power.

Both Tau and Krayt could feel the turbulent flow of Force energy roaring across the system, its effects rippling across all of time and space, enhanced by another power, one even darker than Abeloth's. And thanks to their abilities and training from the Ones, they recognized its malignant origins from the Nihil Retreat and those that followed the Way of the Dark.

Receiving glimpses of what might yet come to pass, Tau and Krayt saw ten ships, each carrying hellish monstrosities neither could properly identify, inbound for their enemies scattered throughout the Unknown Regions. They might not understand the full scope of this stratagem, but they recognized that the Nihil Retreat's mission was to unleash the Old Ones relied on war and chaos, and whatever they were carrying in their cargo vessels would help them in their twisted mission. Unfortunately, they couldn't do anything about it while the Last Alliance was bogged down in any number of battlefronts Abeloth and her puppeteers would create.

Sensing that the final ships were trying to escape Abeloth's blockade of Carthea, and that Lodnar and Halia were all but devoid of life by Mnggal-Mnggal's bottomless hunger, both inheritors of Niphal and Eipha's power and will knew it was time to end this madness. Calling out through the Force to every being that could touch the energy field, all the acolytes that fought for the Last Alliance knew what the signal meant and poured all their energies and willpower into this final push. Whether the disciples were on Zonama Sekot, assisting the planetary consciousness in guiding the refugees away from their doomed homes, working on capital ships as liaisons for the titanic coordinative effort, or flying against the Servants of Chaos, everyone was pulling their weight in this war.

With the massive influx of Force energy beginning to pour into the temple, Tau knew the next phase of this plan would be the most arduous on his part. Opening himself up to Niphal's power, just as Krayt was doing the same with Eipha's own immeasurable connection to the Force, the Iteration nearly blacked out from everyone's power. Hundreds upon hundreds of minds, each working alongside the other in near-perfect unison, lent their efforts to both Jedi and Sith, and they worked to channel the flow of life to Sekot.

Each Force User had a different tinge to it, a uniqueness that only belonged to the original source. And Tau helped manage half of them, using Niphal's wisdom and fortitude to manage the power, melting it down to its purest form, free of any impurity or risk of corruption. Krayt, doing his part, used Eipha's sheer will and power to break down the cacophony to its basic components, ensuring no seditious voices could infiltrate this endeavor.

Finally, after what felt like a millennium of meticulous preparations, all the Force energy was completely distilled and ready for Sekot to utilize. And the living world would use it well, first allowing all those that touched the Force to see what it was about to do. The battlefield, an expanding system of devastation and misery for the survivors, was quickly falling in Abeloth's favor, with her advanced assembly of warships and empowered followers pushing the Last Alliance away from the few Olpakans still trying to flee their lost homes.

Regrettably, the Jedi, Sith, and all their countless allies were unable to effectively enable an escape vector, their efforts hampered by the Servants of Chaos's demented version of Battle Meditation. But now, the enemy's strategy was about to be thrown awry by something they, and no one else, would never see coming.

Hearing its two allies' calls, Sekot allowed the outpour of power to flow through it, electrical storms buffeting the planet, with both hurricane-level winds and minor tremors a reaction to the energy building up down in the planet's core. With its thousands of eyes and ears serving across this devastated system, the planet was able to determine a clear path for its attack to strike Abeloth's fleet and save the Last Alliance.

Observing the Last Alliance and Olpakan Hegemony giving ground, with the Force Users relaying word to High Command before Sekot struck, the living world soon unleashed a pure pillar of light into the stars, straight into the enemy's fleets above Carthea.

Hitting the dark armada dead on, vaporizing dozens of Abeloth's warships and frigates in the first few seconds alone, the blast allowed the Last Alliance to rescue virtually all the fleeing souls before the rest of their enemy's ships could recover.

Now, it was only a matter of time until the final Last Alliance ships withdrew from this system, and everyone would be reeling from all that occurred above these fallen worlds. Many key events and plans would be laid from this disaster.

First, Tau, Vurawn, and Krayt would confer with their advisors and trusted commanders in accepting the Olpakans' full cooperation and surrender before their former adversaries. Their expertise in combating Force Users and their ancient knowledge of the Old Ones and Abeloth would be crucial for everyone's brutal retaliation. Cylo and his brilliance would be especially useful in destroying Mnggal-Mnggal once and for all.

Next, the Jedi Order and its many friends would mourn Master Skywalker's fate, and he would be remembered for all the good he did for the galaxy in his many years of service. While the Last Alliance would remain on high alert and ready to respond if Abeloth and the True Sith Empire struck again, they would need a few days to process this grievous news and rediscover their resolve to fight.

Finally, the Last Alliance would train hard, both harder and smarter than ever before, to fight as a unified body against the evils it faced. It wouldn't be easy, but Tau and Krayt would both set the example for their own to follow, even if they had to beat it into the heads of those many obstinate fools who continued clinging to ancient grudges.

Finally, Tau would quietly accelerate his efforts to rebuild the Je'daii Order, expanding its membership by reaching out to those disaffected by the One Sith and the few secular allies he trusted with this mission. If the Force willed it, at least one good thing would come from this apocalyptic war, and the Palpatine Jedi was determined to do his part in redeeming this fallen galaxy and as many willing souls as he could save. And there were several powerful and dark individuals he had his eye on saving, making him amusingly wonder if he was taking a page from Edaan in undertaking impossibly mad causes.

Hyperspace, On Route to the Olpaka System

Aboard the Intrepid

Cylo-VI, connected to the entire Olpakan network through his Pelta-class Frigate's heavily customized comm array and advanced computer systems, was able to personally bear witness to the destruction of all he built in the Hegemony. Every majestic city he designed, all the citizens under his protection, and especially all the weapons he designed to fight the Force and all its acolytes, they were all defenseless against the unholy terrors rampaging across the star system.

The carnage was too much for Cylo-VI to bear any longer, so he cut the feed and refocused his mind by analyzing the tactical feed of the hellfire he was flying right back into. He always operated better from a distance when in combat than right in the line of fire. But even reviewing the incoming streams of data couldn't detach him from the pang of loss he felt at losing his favorite base of operations.

Although the Last Alliance and Olpakans had managed to evacuate more than half of Lodnar and Halia's populations and over three-quarters of Carthea's, Cylo-VI recognized how this was nothing more than a delaying measure. The remaining souls were lost to either Mnggal-Mnggal's endless hunger or parasitical control, and Abeloth's fleets establishing blockades over the three worlds and bombarding all but the most vital cities of the Head Scientist's operations while deploying ground forces to occupy them.

Abeloth wasn't taking any chances and leaving any stone unturned in undermining her enemies, and if his soldiers' diminishing reports were to be believed, then she was personally taking a hand in seizing Cylo-VI's remaining facilities on Carthea. He knew what he had to do to prevent even more intelligence from falling into enemy hands and sent out the coded transmission from the Intrepid to the doomed world's cities, initiating a complete purge of all computer data. No matter what system it belonged to, it would be wiped clean of all information before the Bringer of Chaos could complete her takeover.

But Cylo-VI knew that all these stalling tactics would not stop Abeloth, barely even slow her down. To defeat her this time around, the Last Alliance would have to deprive her of as many key allies they could before the final confrontation. And first on the list would be Mnggal-Mnggal, thanks to the Celestial-inspired nanotechnology that could, at least theoretically, isolate and destroy every particle of the monstrosity from anything it tried to control or consume.

Having been tasked not even half an hour ago by the Supreme Knight to work with the Last Alliance in ensuring the tools could still fulfill their ancient programming, Cylo-VI would pursue the task with all the fervor and dedication he and all his best scientists and medics could muster. If this bioagent could cross all species barriers and save the galaxy from Mnggal-Mnggal, then it was imperative that its capabilities were verified and refined for inoculation across the entire galaxy. Right now, nothing was more important to him than ensuring the Cancer God and all its patrons each met their inglorious end, not even the establishment of his redoubts and preparations of all his contingencies.

Even if Cylo-VI knew his soldiers and agents were well along in preparing all his bolt holes and failsafe plans, it did not stop him from dreading the countless possibilities of what would happen after this war concluded. If the Last Alliance and Olpaka Hegemony figured out his plan before he was ready, a likely possibility, with Vlad knowing how fervently his head scientist believed in technology over the supernatural, then there would be nowhere he could lay low and continue his work. And he did not want to live out his final years as a fugitive hiding in this galaxy's darkest recesses.

That horrific fear was why, even as Cylo-VI prepared himself to start the next phase of his clandestine plans, he dreaded this imminent meeting. Knowing how fiercely these Olpakans, current and prospective, despised the current galactic governments and hungered for more power, he knew that this was likely the worst and most detrimental gamble he ever made. But he needed experienced minds and leaders to help build, fund, and train his armies for when the Old Ones and their spawn eventually returned, and he was not so blindly optimistic yet as to freely trust the Jedi and Sith with what he had planned.

No, the kind of help Cylo-VI wanted for now was of a far more unsavory kind, but one that delivered results. And the moment he heard his personal comlink buzz inside his coat pocket, he knew they were ready for this impromptu meeting to begin. It would have to be quick, since he was due to arrive at the rendezvous point in two hours, and only one other person onboard this ship knew of this conference.

Ensuring the locks to his private chambers were secure, and that all messages would be relayed to the Intrepid's captain, Cylo-VI hooked himself back into his command chair, integrating himself once again into the Olpakan Hegemony's data network. Moments later, he was able to put into focus the five Olpakan figures, and one ex-Imperial Moff, that he was focused on recruiting for now.

Haydnat Treen, Borath Maddeus, Raze, Jet Holdfast, Rede Melusar, Drikl Lecersen, Karbin, the Astarte noble twins. They would be the first, the most pivotal members of his inner circle. If his efforts with them were successful, then he could use them to expand his reach to other disaffected Olpakans and other like minded individuals, organizations, and their associated regions across the galaxy.

Appraising each of them, the Galactic Alliance traitors and power-schemers, the criminal consortium leaders, the disgraced Olpakan leaders, or the son of a reviled Olpakan Hegemony agent, an Imperial with too many ambitions and schemes to effectively manage them all, and three of Cylo-V's old collaborators and early experiments in anti-Jedi combat, the cloned cyborg calmly addressed them all, "I believe everyone is assembled. With our time so short, let us forego the pleasantries and get right to business."

Well, I guess this is a suitable place to end the chapter! I know, it isn't my best work, but it is sufficient for my needs and a decent enough piece, as I spent at least two weeks on break before writing this chapter. I know I'll get back into the rhythm as I continue to write, so at least there's that. And I'll be rereading a bit of Star Wars in my spare time, so I can recall more of how to write battle scenes, delve into the minds of key characters, and hopefully describe my scenes and surroundings better. Well, in other news, how are you all doing on this warm night of Wednesday, March 6, 2024? I'm all right, aside from being a bit tired from work today and ready to get some reading done before bed. I hope you are ready for me to resume this story, because I still have fourteen chapters to write before the work is complete. And then comes the hardest task I have, to write my final story in my Jedi Odyssey Rewrite. May the Lord be with me in this arduous challenge, and with all other writers that strive to push the boundaries of creativity, innovation, and storytelling. Well, I'd best get this chapter published after a brief look over. May the Lord be with us all in these Dark Times, and Long Live the Expanded Universe!