Darkest Before Pt 2

"Speech"

"Radio or calls"

'Thoughts'

Bridge of the Vagabond

Lyle scrambled out of bed at the sound of a blaster bolt. Shirtless and scrambling to put on his underwear and a pair of shorts, he grabbed his blaster and opened the door. Anew wasn't in the bed, but his tired mind didn't take that in. And his eyes went wide as he saw Anew, her eyes yellow and full of malicious intent aiming her blaster at Feldt, who seemed to be using to force to push the blaster away from her, but his lover seemed to be resisting that, the blaster shaking.

"Anew, what are you doing?" Confusion laced his voice and Tieria stepped out of his room, looking at the sight in front of them. Tieria's eyes narrowed, and Feldt's voice rang out before Anew could speak.

"It's not Anew, it's Ribbons!" Tieria's eyes went red, and Ribbons growled under his breath as he was distracted just long enough for Feldt to scramble away, her rapid steps hitting the stairs of the bridge. Lyle's gun remained on Anew, or at least Ribbons controlling Anew. Lyle took careful steps as Tieria grabbed the blaster in his room and looked desperately at Anew.

"What did she mean? Anew, what was she talking about?"

Ribbons chuckled, and Tieria shivered as he looked into those very familiar eyes. Lyle had to hold back his anger as the voice coming out of Anew sounded nothing like her usual soft self, "Well since the seer got away, I suppose I'm trapped." There were sounds coming from the lower level, and that confident sneer broke for a split second, "I had hoped to be able to do this more quietly, but I suppose that plans change."

He aimed his blasters between the two men, and Lyle's hand shook as he pointed his weapon at the woman he was starting to really care for. There was no shaking in her arms, and Ribbons just smirked, "Are you going to shoot Anew? Blast the woman you love? Because you won't kill me. You rebels are so soft-hearted." Lyle could see Tieria shaking in anger, his finger over the trigger.

"Tieria, I know what he did to you! But we can't hurt Anew." His heart was racing and sweat ran down his neck as he tried to control his breath.

Tieria growled under his breath, and loosened his trigger finger, but steadied his aim as he spoke, "So if you could do this before, then why didn't you just kill all of us. Have Anew stab us in our sleep and get this over with?" All of that control he normally had was fleeing in the face of all his anger, all his trauma catching up.

Ribbons looked at Tieria, chuckling, "I had wondered where you had gotten to. And I didn't kill you because I needed something, and you all played right into my hands. Who do you think gave Anew the intel about the camp? Someone like me slipping about something so essential?"

Tieria wanted to be angry, wanted to hurt the man that had hurt him, but those words piqued his interest, "So you set us up? Sent us into that ruin? What do you have to gain from sending us to the camp?"

Lyle narrowed his eyes, working through the implications. He took a deep breath, letting his mind focus on the words. 'What could he gain? What could he gain?' The thought echoed through his mind, and he let out a breath as it hit him, "So he can steal the intel from us, hiding it from everyone else." His trigger finger tightened, "Have you been spying on us through her eyes? What do you know?"

"I know everything. And I know exactly where I'm going. Too bad you don't anymore. It certainly was useful data, but I can't have you rebels get in the way." Lyle eyes went to the console, the screen not visible at this angle , but the way he spoke filled him with dread. He knew liars, and this wasn't a lie. 'How do we save Anew? And why is he still talking to us?'

More footsteps arrived up the stairs, and the two rebels saw that Allelujah, dressed in a shirt and pant, his lightsaber out, looked at Anew. The Jedi could feel the radiating dark side off of him, and Hallelujah was banging on his cage, wanting to be let out. He could feel the temptation, and for once didn't want to resist, "Why does Anew have the force?"

Tieria looked at the Jedi with a knowing gaze, "It's Ribbons. I don't know how, but Anew seems to be channeling her former master. Or current master. I have no idea if she was involved in all of this."

Faced with three armed men, Ribbons turned the gun on Anew, placing it against her head, "Now some of you may not care, but I know at least one of you doesn't want this traitor to die." Lyle didn't know what to do, but Allelujah was leaning aggressively, and Tieria's hands were tight on the grip of his blaster. 'Great.'

Ribbons looked at the two men that he had tortured and held up, and smirked, "I don't think I have much to say to you, Jedi, but Tieria, have you wondered why I had you locked up?"

Stairs to the Bridge

While the three men were dealing with Anew, Setsuna had stopped at the bottom of the stairs. Her breathing was shaky, and he kneeled down as he sat by her, reaching out through the force to comfort her as he caressed her cheek, "It's alright." Raw, intense love flowed from him, causing Feldt to blink then blush. It was so overwhelming, yet made her soul sing. His sword was at his side, Allelujah and him having grabbed it from the armory. He could see her singed hair, and his lips stretched into a thin line, "What happened?"

Feldt desperately leaned into his touch, her walls weak as she needed a rock to grab onto. Seeing someone possessed like that scared her, and she had no idea how much time Ribbons had to have with Anew to control her body like a puppet. She wanted to say something about what she had just felt, but the situation on the bridge took priority. She took a less shaky breath, "No, it's not. And I went to start my watch, when I saw Anew on the computer. She then pointed a gun at me, mocking me before he took a shot at me. I don't know why he didn't shoot me, but I don't think he would have missed the second time."

Setsuna wanted to deal with the raw emotion flowing through her, flowing through him. The surge of panic from her had sent him into state of panic himself, his soul in a turmoil as he wanted and needed to make sure she was safe. 'If anything had happened, I don't know what I would have done.' And hearing that she was so close to dying filled his soul with a worry he had never felt before since his mother died. He kept his even expression, as he nodded at her, "How can someone do that?"

"We have unique powers, or are good at certain things, so that might be something he practiced." She moved to stand, grabbing onto Setsuna's arm, "We need to stop him. I think he's doing something to the ship systems."

Setsuna nodded, letting out a harsh breath, "And how do we stop him without killing Anew?"

Feldt bit her lip. 'That's the tricky part.' She pressed her forehead against his arms, "I don't know. If he can possess her, then knocking her out is temporary. We need to somehow stop him from doing that. But first we need to get to that computer." He brushed some of the hair out from her bangs.

"I'll try to help." She just nodded at his words, and he made sure to intensify his connection to her, hoping that it would make her more comfortable. He waited besides Feldt, her explaining the plan to him. She could see Christina approach, and knew Christina might know what was going on better if they could get to the console.

Bridge of the Vagabond

Tieria growled at his words, but they bounced around his mind, stealing all his interest. 'I have to know!' He lowered his blaster slightly, and didn't look at any of his allies, "Tell me. Why was I locked up? What am I? Are we?"

Allelujah looked at Ribbons, the dark side going stronger in him the more that man stood in front of him, even if it was in someone else's body. Hallelujah's voice echoed in his mind, "Kill him! Get revenge for all he did to us!" It was more feral and aggressive than he had ever seen his manifested dark side be. 'But I shouldn't indulge, should I?' The lightsaber trembled in his hands, and he took a step forward. Ribbons just pressed the barrel harder into Anew's head, "Not a step closer."

"Allelujah, don't. We can't hurt Anew." Allelujah didn't take a step back, but clearly stopped, trying to reach out with the force, probing his defenses to see how much force he can use.

Ribbons smirked, "That's right. Follow your leaders orders." He looked back at Tieria, "You are a failure. You didn't show the potential that our kind should have had. But you have one thing above even this woman. You were created as a brother to me, of the same generation."

Tieria looked at the man with confusion, and didn't catch Ribbons's eyes glancing at the computer before going back to the group. Tieria narrowed his eyes, "What do you mean a failure? And your brother?"

"We are clones. Created by the empire to become the best servants of the Emperor. Yet you weren't force-sensitive, unlike me. So you failed, and gave me control over all of you. Why do you think Regene looks just like you?" Ribbons voice filled with vitriol, all of the men picking up on the venom in his tone.

Tieria took deep breaths, "I was made to be a tool of the Empire? Then why did you have me locked up? Why didn't you just use me?" He growled, not wanting to have been used like that, but he still couldn't wrap his head around being tortured for not filling his supposed role.

Ribbons just looked at him, his mouth twitching, "Because how can someone so weak be useful. To have failed our masters in their purpose." Yet his eyes said that wasn't true. A personal anger burned deep into those eyes. Tieria almost wanted to smirk. 'He's not saying everything. I must have done something else to him if he hated me enough to lock me up.'

He spoke with as much venom as Ribbon had, "Well now I am free and will never let you get away with this!" Ribbons was about to smirk as suddenly the blaster flew out of his hand, Setsuna appearing from the stair way.

He looked down at Feldt, and yelled, "Go now!" The two women jumped into action, and Setsuna aimed the blaster at Ribbons as Allelujah slammed her against the wall, choking her with the force as anger flowed through him. Lyle look in horror at what was going on, and Allelujah began to rant in a darker, raspier voice. The Jedi took steps towards Anew, his lightsaber raised

"You tortured me and broke me. Took away everything I cared for. I wasn't planning on causing problems, yet you decided to break me. I'll take away everything away from you, even if this isn't you!" Ribbons hands went to his throat, Anew's body instinctively reacting to being cut off from air. Lyle went to grab his arm, but Allelujah shoved him with the force, doing the same to Tieria. Both men stumbled back, falling on their asses. Lyle looked at the woman he cared for being choked, the life being drain from her. Tears streaked down his face.

Lyle watched as that dark glare on Anew was replaced by the look of fear and confusing, grasping at her throat. He looked at Allelujah, his voice raised and full of righteous anger, "Let her go! Ribbons is gone!"

Setsuna resisted the force push, and used force speed to step in front of him, forcing him to drop her by swinging his blade. Allelujah blocked the attack, and glared at Setsuna, "He ruined my life! If I can hurt him somehow, I'll do it!" Lyle rushed over to protect Anew's crumpled form, putting his body between her and Allelujah. Tieria and Lyle were surprised at how Setsuna's blade glowed, how it someone wasn't getting sliced in half by the lightsaber.

Setsuna forced the Jedi to look into his eyes, "You almost killed Anew. You are letting the dark side take control. Do not do this. Do not force me to fight you." There was a growl under his voice, and Allelujah could see the determination. All that raw anger filtered through his mind, and whispers filled the back of his head.

'You are losing control. The dark side clouds your decision making.' His master's voice was almost like mist, coming from all directions. Shame filtered into his mind, pushing away at the storm that was his mind. His master had always preached control, to draw upon your emotions without letting them control you. 'When on a hunt, you don't have the luxury of distraction.'

Another voice filled his mind. 'I want to help people. I want to heal the people who can't get help anywhere else.' Marie's soft voice pushed at the storm of anger in his mind. He could see her soft smile, one a young teenager, another the grown woman. Both of them looked away, her eyes full of fear. He let out an internal breath, and a wave of shame pushed hard against everything, strong enough to be casually felt by Setsuna. And to see the fear, confusion and regret filling Anew's eyes only made it worse.

He took deep breaths and the lightsaber trembled in his hands. He looked at Setsuna's, the younger man's eyes showing a stern determination. His own eyes trembled with unshed tears, his mind now a mix of festering anger, shame and fear of judgement. And Setsuna showed no judgement, his protective desires clear to him and Feldt. 'How can he not judge me? After what I was about to do?' He let out a heavy breath, and deactivated his lightsaber.

The lightsaber clattered to the floor, and Lyle just held Anew, who had collapsed after falling unconscious. Setsuna looked at Allelujah, reaching out, but the man shook his head, "No. I need to think and reflect." He walked off the bridge, the lightsaber still on the ground. Setsuna could read nothing from the man, his walls fully up. He wanted to help, but he knew this exact sensation. He picked up the lightsaber and clipped it to his belt.

Setsuna looked at Lyle, who was cradling Anew, tears down his face. Tieria looked over all of them, his lips a thin line. Lyle pulled her close, his emotions still running high. She was curled into him, and he was breathing hard, "Why her? Why did he do all this? Why did he talk instead of try to kill one of us?" He groaned, his voice low with little emotion in it.

As if they heard them, Christina and Feldt walked up to them, the Zeltron frowning, "Well he managed to delete most of the data we recovered, including the map. The navcomputer is also damaged, though nothing was deleted."

Tieria hummed under his breath, "So how long would it take for that to get recovered?"

"About a day? Two? More?" Christina gripped her hair, tugging on it, "But I don't care about that! We lost the map and that schutta stole all our data. Maybe even reported our position to the local imperials." She let out a harsh sigh, and looked at the pair on the ground, "And just when I thought we were winning…"

Setsuna took a deep breath, exchanging a glance with Tieria. Everyone's emotions were running high, and he knew if he could feel it, Feldt was feeling it much more intensely than he was. Yet her walls were up too. The Miraluka was standing next to Christina, but all he wanted to do was comfort her. 'But someone needs to make sure things are alright.' Feldt looked at the group, "I don't think it's all bad."

Christina whipped her head around, "What do you mean?"

Feldt had a small smile on her face, "Well you had Haro work on it with you. He might have a backup of the data. I never asked, but he can be sneaky like that." Christina's eyes went wide. 'Why didn't I think of that!?'

She pulled Feldt into a hard hug, Feldt letting out a harsh breath from the shock, "I'll get right on that!" The Zeltron rushed off the bridge, looking for the short droid. Feldt's smiled disappeared, and the weight of what happened caught up with her, her walls falling, blasting Setsuna with all her hurt. Tieria sighed, looking at the mess in front of him.

Lyle was a mess, Ribbons was stuck in his head. 'I need those answers. I need to know the real reason he did all that to me.' Yet frustatingly for him, his responsible side was yelling at him, the soldier inside taking over. He looked at Setsuna, "Help me bring Anew to the brig. Lyle, you are to get us in the air and move us onto another moon."

Lyle bristled, "Anew was a victim in this!"

Tiera grunted and took a step forward, his tone brooking no complaint, "You are too compromised to make a decision right now. Ribbons can take control of her at any time, so she needs to be kept locked up until we can resolve this." His fist was a tight ball, and he gave Lyle a look of understanding, which the Corellian just sighed at.

"Just…just don't hurt her. Please."

Tieria nodded, and Setsuna joined him as they held her by her shoulders, lifting her up. Setsuna gave a quick look to Feldt, "We'll talk in the engine room." His voice wavered and softened, and she couldn't help but smile at him.

"Ok." She watched the two men take Anew down the bridge stairs. Nothing had gone well this night, and she wrapped her arms around herself. 'How could someone use the force like that?' To take away someone's freewill, their ability to choose. Anew was a puppet, and Feldt only hoped the woman hadn't been forced to watch all of that inside her own head.

Imperial Shuttle

Ribbons broke from his meditative stance, and stood up, a smirk gracing his features. While not every detail had come to pass, his plan had worked. Marie was on the run, the troublesome admiral had been locked away, and the rebels had no way of following him. And he would find Marie eventually, though if the myths were true, then Marie wouldn't be his concern anymore. 'So close to ultimate power.' The sound of a door sliding open drew his attention, and Regene walked into the room, "The information has been sent to the Tartan. It should be ready to go as soon as you are aboard."

Ribbons nodded, "Good. You sibling is now aware of what he is."

"Are you certain that was wise? He may try to hunt you down to find out more. Maybe get revenge." Regene didn't sound too put out by that, and Ribbons shrugged.

"If he can somehow find me, then he can certainly try. I don't think it would be in his favor. And I will gladly tell him the whole truth, especially if I can get him back on my torture table." A malicious grin crossed his face, and Regene narrowed her eyes slightly, but was gone in a split second.

Ribbons detected it, but filed that under things to follow up on later. Right now the culmination of his research and obsession was coming to pass, and he wouldn't let anything ruin it, "Regene, tell Ali where we are headed and that I need him for a job. I'm offering double his usual rate."

The administrator nodded, "I'll get on the comms immediately. I'm certain he will be excited to be able to find an ancient ruin full of valuable loot." A wry laugh left her, and Regene turned on her heels, leaving the room. Ribbons refocused himself, his arms folded behind his back. 'No one stands in my way ever again.'

Armory of the Vagabond

Allelujah glared at the ground as that hurricane in his mind had become a metaphorical rainstorm. All of the guilt weighed like a starship on him, and he could feel the tears streaking down his face, "Why did you let him get control! You are better than this!" He slammed his fist down onto a table. Hallelujah watched him with a death glare.

"We were one step away from taking away one of his tools, and you stopped. Like a coward. All you had to do was close your fist, and it would have been done!"

Allelujah, too broken at the moment, just looked away from him, "None of them would have approved of that. We almost killed an innocent woman. How can you be so uncaring?"

"You ask me that? After all the stuff I am willing to do to help us survive?" The dark aspect of Allelujah turned away from him, "None of them saw what happened to you. None of them were there to help you escape. So why should I care?"

Anger flowed out of Allelujah's mind and into his words, "They couldn't have been there. Master is dead and Marie was safe. How could they have known what happened to us?"

"IT DOESN'T MATTER!" Allelujah could sense the raging waves of emotions in his dark side, and a part of him felt a bit bad, "You have no right to pity me! He was right there!" Hallelujah growled at the fact that he couldn't actually affect the environment.

"But we can't explode like that. We can't lose control like that!"

"You can't lose control. You can't afford to let out all of those pent up emotions. It's all I am! I am your rage, your fear, your willingness to survive. Don't act like you are above me." The man faded before Allelujah could say anything else, and he chuckled bitterly. Nothing was going his way, and he laid his head down on the table.

The words of the ancient Je'daii master echoed in his head, "Emotions, left restrained and ignored, will take control when it is least desired. Once must practice and understand the need for all of it to truly accept your true self." The words rung harder than ever at this moment. 'I can't afford to do that again. I don't know if I could push back against myself if I was pushed to that edge again.' He took a deep breath, and groaned into the table, knowing he had a lot to work through.

After a minute of calming his nerves, all of those mixed emotions still there, just muted, his comm unit went off. He looked at it curiously, but was shocked to see Marie, her hair a bit frazzled, eyes full of fear and defeat, "Marie? What's going on? Are you safe?" Those feelings came rushing back, and he let them flow through him.

Marie's eyes filled with some level of relief, but she looked ragged, "Allelujah." She shuddered, "They arrested him. Ribbons arrest Sergei. I didn't know where else to turn to. I am hiding on an asteroid at the moment, but I need somewhere safe to go." Her cheeks were streaked with tears, and he could hear the unspoken words. 'I need you.'

He took a deep breath, "Well Ribbons created issues over here, but I can get our coordinates. You don't need to say anything else."

Marie let out a genuine laugh, a smile lighting up her face, "Thank you!" He voice lowered, and a warm intimacy reached him through the force, "I love you. I'm sorry it took all this to get here, but I wanted you to know in case anything happens."

Tears started to well up, and while she had said it before, hearing it with a chance they could be together caused him to just nod, "I love you too. You'll have a place here on the ship. I promise." He sent her the coordinates, and she blew him a kiss.

"I don't know how much longer my encryption will hold up, so I'll see you soon." A warm smile filled her face, "Thank you." The call dropped, and the Jedi was left with a rising hope in his heart. His love would arrive soon, and probably trouble, but it was something, no matter how small.

Author Note

And we come back to a cornerstone of Gundam 00! Anew could never get off without suffering something, and she is going to have a lot of fun. But Marie can join the crew, though what happened to Sergei? You'll have to see next time! Please review and comment!