Nexus: Heroes Will Rise

by tmb1112

Universal borders have been erased and beings from thousands of universes now live on the same world: Nexus. In the first Saga of Nexus, Awul was saved, but the mysteries of Nexus remain. Now our heroes sail across the sea to Aebrith to search for lost loved ones and save the world. MCs from DBZ, KH, Soul Eater, FT, Blue Exorcist, Bleach, 7DS, OP, Ben 10, SAO, HxH, and many more!

159. Nexus HWR 24-7 Retreat

Disclaimer: I still don't own the original media I got my characters from.

Nexus HWR 24.7 Retreat:

"It's Leam! Leam's come to save us!"

It was a strategic decision by the Resistance command. Gray understood it as much as it immediately frustrated him. This many ships were at the ready? They could have sent an entire fleet to help us earlier. Gray wanted to hate the Leam soldiers and ships up above, but their arrival meant that his army was no longer doomed. The Resistance had to call Leam because we're spread too thin everywhere else. Word of this defeat will spread, and our enemies will test the lines. Everyone else might already be fighting around our borders.

If Leam is already here though, Gray reconsidered his options. "Leonardo, get me a direct line to their commander," Gray ordered as he continued to jog back towards his crashed command ship. He did slow down though. The General of the Resistance was in between the third and second trench lines. He was trying to stay behind the majority of his forces, knowing only Master Yaddle was behind him, though there were others in this gap who he saw on his far north or south who were starting to fall behind.

Watch put Gray through, though they both noticed that the connection took several seconds to link Gray to the Leam flagship. "General," a calm and regal voice spoke as he was hailed.

"Thank you," Gray said. Before anything else, he had to tell that to the leader of this fleet who just got the Sith's aerial bombardment off of them. "Who am I speaking to?" Gray asked after that.

"My name is Muu Alexius," Leam's Commander responded.

Uh-oh. Gray and Watch both thought. They were the only two listening to the call, as Watch was using his powers to block out the Sith trying to hack into this new comms link. Gray had heard the name before. Gray thought of what he had heard about Titus's primary King Vessel, the great Alexius Muu. "We are, humbled to have your assistance," Gray started. He looked up in the air and watched as two glowing red-haired Fanalis shot over his head and slammed into different sections of the third trench where Sith forces had already reached.

"If you're here now," Gray continued. He took in a deep breath while staring back up and at the eight Star Destroyers still up in the sky. The MPC had taken one out, and Teru had pretty much knocked out another four on his own. "We can turn this battle around-"

"There is no 'we,'" Muu interrupted the General down on the ground.

"I just meant-" Gray started responding. "If we work together, we have a better chance of defeating the Sith-"

"You are no longer in charge of this battlefield, General," Muu spoke decisively but also derisively. "It has been taken out of your hands."

"What?" Gray snapped. "This is a Resistance invasion. I thank you for your assistance-"

"You don't seem to understand," Muu interrupted him again. "You no longer have jurisdiction here. This territory now belongs to the Leam Empire," Muu declared boldly and with complete confidence in his statement.

What is he talking about? Gray did not retort just yet. He watched as more Fanalis flew over his head and slammed down into enemy forces, but he stepped backwards. He took another step back and then spun around. Rising up over the edge of the third trench for miles in both directions north and south, enemy droids and soldiers marched up onto the same gap he was on. They all started to fire their blasters and cannons in his direction, while giant Walkers continued to march closer to that third trench in the gap between the third and fourth, nearly upon him.

The Star Destroyers were no longer attacking the ground. Their air force had stopped assisting the ground troops as well, with all their fighters instead turning and flying up at the Leam ships that themselves released fighter jets that attacked the smaller Sith jets. "This isn't Leam territory," Gray called out as he started running again, blaster fire passing him on his left and right sides. He was exhausted, but his Observational Haki kept up enough that just like the Force users running ahead of him, he was just able to dodge the shots that would have hit otherwise.

"These lands are Resistance-protected and held," Gray countered. He did not focus much on the politics, but he thought this conversation was going to be more arguing who had authority on the battlefield. Muu was a King of Leam, after all, and he was just a General. This was Resistance territory they were expanding though and would belong to the elves after their reconquest…

"Quon accepts that the battle is lost for the Resistance," Muu responded. The top general of the entire kingdom of Leam spoke quicker before Gray could shout his retort, "You have lost this battle. It's over. Evacuate with all Resistance troops. We will not try to join our ranks in the middle of a fight."

Gray closed his mouth slowly. He understood that last part well enough. Even merging their forces outside of a battle was too difficult because of Leam's aversion to fighting beneath the Resistance. It was why he did not bring any Leam assistance with him to this battle, and it was the same reason Muu did not want the Resistance fighting under him. They did not have the same chains of command.

Gray also knew why Muu brought up Quon himself. A deal was made, Gray admitted regretfully in his head. To give the rest of the border-lands to Leam in exchange for protection. To prevent the Sith from chasing after us and taking even more territory.

"This is now Leam's border, which we are simply protecting," Muu announced. He announced it on an open channel so that the Sith would hear it and understand the situation they too found themselves in.

Elves on the surface heard him as well though. Vereesa Windrunner looked up in shock and then screamed out with elves around her at the realization.

"Does that mean," Satella started whispering.

"It is over," Haldir stated. He turned around and lowered his sword. "Back to the ships! This fight is no longer worth dying for," his jilted voice shook the elves out of their anger and reminded them to stay calm. "We will fight another day for Rivendell. Retreat!"

"Back to the ships!"

"Fill them as much as you can! We have fewer than we arrived with!"

Satella looked back herself and narrowed her eyes at a distant section of the battlefield. If you let them hurt a hair on Elfo's head, I'll kill you all, she thought. A group of retreating space marines shivered for some reason.

"King Muu," Gray started. His voice was low and he was still on the private channel with the King and not the open one that Muu just announced to everyone on. Muu frowned at the dark tone the Resistance General was taking with him. Gray's low voice continued though to his surprise, "Please send down vessels for my men to evacuate on. I beg-"

BOOOM!

An AT-AT fired huge red beams into the ground where Gray was just standing. He jumped to his right and tried shielding himself with an ice shield that his left arm started shifting into, but his Ice Make magic was slower with all the damage he had taken.

"General!" Ahsoka yelled back over her shoulder. She had to duck though as blaster fire continued shooting her direction. Galactic Marines in their maroon commando outfits fired chain guns at the retreating troops. Ahsoka turned and continued sprinting away, bowing her head and cursing as she did not see where Gray landed through the fire and smoke. She already had one injured person on her shoulders though, and Yasmina's Force was getting weaker.

The young Middle Eastern-American girl moaned painfully from the bumpy run out of the battle. Ahsoka glanced at the girl's right shoulder where the entire arm below was destroyed by Nihilus's Force Lightning. Ahsoka had had to use a lightsaber to burn the wound shut, but Yaz still looked worse for wear. "Hang in there," Ahsoka pleaded.

"Should we go back for the General?" Cody called over to Rex.

"Searching for him," Tech called over to the other two from near where he and Wrecker were backing up. Two drones flew back towards the smoke and aimed down with thermal vision to search, but the surface was too hot from the recent blast and he could not tell yet. Before he could find out, the enemy troops shot down both drones with their miniguns. Wrecker unloaded towards the Galactic Marines and hit a few of them, cutting off the chain gun fire. When he did that though, AT-TE tanks that just marched through the third trench turned their main cannons his way.

"Oh shit!" Wrecker yelled, turning and running back for a forcefield of the second trench that he dove into just in time.

"Careful," Darth Malak warned men around him farther north. "Those Fanalis are different from the rest," he glared towards a pair of semi-humanoid pink-haired Fanalis troops who had rabid looks on their faces.

The two Fanalis who were force-fed monsterization cells in the capital city of Remano only days ago were getting used to their transformation. "Here we go," Ba'Amas snarled. His skin turned red. Spikes shot out of his body in all directions as he fell onto all fours with his partner next to him. Auras ripped apart the earth near them, and the pair shot towards the enemy army while letting out ferocious roars.

"We need to-" Ignatius Alexius started. Muu's white-haired great uncle had a sharp pointed nose protruding from his face. Another advisor to King Titus, as well as another King Vessel himself, Ignatius stood on the bridge with his younger counterpart who took heed to his advice. Their entire flagship shook around though and he had to steady himself as he nearly fell over.

"What was that?" Muu snapped towards one of his lieutenants at a set of flashing controls.

"This is 'Leam' territory?" Grand Moff Tarkin wondered on an open line. His tone came out condescending and mocking, and he retorted to Muu's earlier announcement, "These are and have been Sith lands that your ships are flying over. You are here to rescue the Resistance terrorists and conquer land of your own. If you want to take it from the Resistance, that is fine with me. As long as you fly over the Emperor's territory, however, your lives are forfeit."

"Is that really the tone you want to be taking with me?" Muu wondered. He flashed a wide white smile as his ships continued firing at the Emperor's fleet. Although Tarkin made several of his ships target the enemy's flagship in particular to get Alexius's attention, Muu's ship's shielding was too strong for the meager eight Star Destroyers to take it down. "You are no longer in control of…"

"Sir…" the lieutenant that Muu had just snapped towards warned her boss worriedly.

Muu trailed off. He already imagined what was about to happen. Still, it was disheartening. They had the same intel that the Resistance had. They did not think the Sith even had eight Star Destroyers total before this invasion. More than the four total the Sith were supposed to have were already crashed down on the surface. What were the chances that the Emperor had even more than that in hiding?

They dropped out of warp. Five more Star Destroyers, and one other ship. It was the one last ship that Leam and the Resistance knew was in the Sith's arsenal and had yet to appear. The regular Star Destroyers were just under two kilometers in length.

Darth Sidious's Super Star Destroyer was twelve times as long. The ship blotted out light on the central battlefield. The suns were already moving to the west, and now a ship far larger than the rest hovered above the other thirteen Star Destroyers. Those Star Destroyers flew around the same height off the ground as Leam's fleet. The Super Star Destroyer was above them all.

A thousand starfighters immediately launched from the newly arrived fleet. Darth Sidious himself, second only to the Emperor, commanded in his sinister tone to his forces, "Kill them all. Resistance and Leam alike. Show them the true power of the Dark Side! Show them what happens, when one DEFIES the EMPEROR!"

The sky re-darkened. Not just because the ships above shadowed over the surface. But because the evil coming out of the Sith fleet and from the Sith on the ground drew in dark clouds that sparked with lightning the Sith could control.

A swirling portal of darkness appeared on the front of the Star Destroyer close to a Light Stellar Cruiser of the Leam fleet. A cloaked figure stepped out of it with his arms crossed over his muscular and broad chest. Ignatius spotted this while Muu was staring up towards the bottom of the Super Star Destroyer and yelling at his aerial forces to refocus on the starfighter armada descending from fifty hangars towards their fleet. "Look! Zoom in there," Ignatius ordered another officer on the bridge. The much older Alexius pointed out their windshield and then spun to the zoomed-in computer image that the bridge officer pulled up for him and Muu.

Muu's eyes narrowed as well at the sight of this figure. "The Organization," he mused. "Word of a row between Xemnas and the Emperor seems to have been over-exaggerated."

Not only did the Emperor send reinforcements, but his allies sent them as well. Terminators marched alongside battle droids on the second line of trenches the Resistance controlled and were trying to hold in order to let the wounded evacuate behind them in peace. They started staggered evacs back to the first line of trenches too, leaving platoons behind who volunteered to hold the line until the others got to a safe place to then provide cover fire for them.

Terminators had already been a part of the battle from nearly the start. Kid Cosmic and Jo had faced an agent of Terminus in one of the first clashes on the battlefield. GLaDOS was not alone in Terminus support of the Emperor, and those Terminators had better aim and armor than the droids the Sith had built.

A Nobody was new though. The dark-cloaked figure examined the battlefield. His face was hidden under the shadow of his hood. Muu could not tell who it was, but they only had limited information on almost all of the Organization's core members who wore those black cloaks. The ones they knew the most about had been in the Dread Fort, and most of them were defeated by the same group that the General of this battlefield was a part of.

Muu thought about that General and frowned while lowering his gaze from the Organization member and to the battlefield below. Gray Fullbuster's voice had cut off in the middle of him asking for help evacuating his soldiers. Muu had a lot more he wanted to say about the botched attack and how it was foolish not to just accept Leam's superiority and allow him to lead the invasion from the start. It felt petty now. "Do a scan. Look for General Fullbuster," he ordered.

"Copy, Commander!"

Xaldin hummed after examining the expansive battlefield he teleported into at the behest of his High Lord. Rank III of the Organization, Xaldin did not flinch as blue beams of light shot at the Star Destroyer he stood on. He was standing on the steel itself, and the ship's shielding expanded wide enough around the outside of the starship that it protected the man atop it. Bright blue beams scattered on the purple shield that illuminated in front of his face. Those lights faded and gave the man a clear view from his hood to the bridge of the Light Stellar Cruiser directly before him that Leam's commanders just ordered to fire on him.

Xaldin rose his left hand in its black glove. His cloak ruffled while he lifted it. Two long dreads of black hair fell from his hood and over his chest. Hundreds of droid starfighters and vulture droids flew by the Star Destroyer Xaldin walked forward on. He marched up to the edge of the ship and then opened his curled fist. Darkness surrounded his palm. Then his entire body shrouded in a dark aura. "The power of merging with my Somebody. The power of being whole." Xaldin's deep voice laced with a smug tone against his usually stoic appearance. His expression flattened back out though. The dark aura flaring around him moved down his left arm and focused on his palm.

"HA!" Xaldin yelled.

A bright explosion of silver ripped through the air just off the front of the Star Destroyer. Then off to the left and right, two more sparkling displays of crazy silver explosions shattered thin air. Huge spikes of silver snapped out of the burst of light and shot in all directions in a distorted form of creation. Pillars of light blew up and down from the explosions. At the top of those pillars spiked crosses atop upside-down heart shapes- the symbol of the Organization.

Three Twilight Thorns appeared out of nothingness. The massive silver monsters had spiked shoulders and feet and long claws for hands. Flowing blue scarves a hundred feet long flapped behind the necks of the beasts that had the Organization symbol in white on their heads rather than faces. Lesser Nobodies more powerful than any of the other regulars in their army, Xaldin summoned three of them at once. Floating nearly a hundred feet tall. They bounced in midair while their arms and legs waved side to side… then they started flipping. They twisted around rapidly, their bodies showing not to have any bones inside as their arms and legs snapped out in different directions and extended with no regard for physics.

The ends of the blue scarfs around its neck blackened and extended too. Sparkling silver lines looking like static electricity sparked out of their bodies and arced away from them like lightning. One of the Twilight Thorns kicked down its legs and shot up high into the air. Another one lifted its arms and held them spread out far, then it started pushing its hands together and created a bright zapping ball of white energy that had a shining purple core and thick black lines spinning around it.

Xaldin still had his left palm stuck out. He curled it into a fist, and four black spheres of darkness with bright orange cores exploded to life in front of other Star Destroyers. Massive Darksides a hundred feet tall each, looking slightly taller than the Twilight Thorns partially due to the long black waving dreads sticking off of their yellow-eyed faces. Xaldin's Heartless Darksides had hair styles that matched his own, with long flowing black dreads behind them but also two pointed ones sticking off the front of their heads down in front of their faces, another two off to the sides, and more that stuck up off the top of his skull and curled back before falling with the rest. Only Axel had a harder time fitting his hair under his hood.

The Darksides dropped down to the surface and landed with "superhero landings," punching their fists into the ground and immediately merging those fists with the surface. The earth turned black around where the Heartless giants landed. Shadows and Armored Knight Heartless rose up out of the pitch black earth. Orange spheres of light shot out of glowing holes on the Darksides chests and backs, flying up in the air and then soaring towards the Resistance forces like an artillery barrage.

Wyverns and Noctures emerged all around the front of the Star Destroyer that Xaldin stood on. They flew alongside the enemy fighter aircraft and attacked Leam's ships. Alongside them though also flew the Dragoon Nobodies that were Xaldin's primary foot soldier. His own Nobodies were high-ranking ones too. He commanded an army of hundreds of Dragoons that appeared all over the sky. Dragon-like Nobodies with razor sharp silver wings, long spiked tails that turned purple the farther down they got, claws for hands like the Twilight Thorns, and they held long jagged lances that themselves shaded purple at the end. The Dragoon's draconic-looking face had no eyes, with its sharp jaw looking instead like a helmet that encompassed most of its head. Atop the Dragoons' skulls were tall purple spikes that then continued down its entire spine and going between the two sharp wings that themselves spiked out in such a way that they appeared to make the Organization's symbol.

One of the Twilight Thorns sped straight ahead with incredible speed and directly attacked the Light Cruiser closest to Xaldin. They had maneuverability and speed in close quarters that the ship could not match. Beam fire collided with the Nobody beast on few occasions, and when they did, the monster showed the durability Nobodies and Heartless were known for, tanking each attack and moving straight through them. Long extending arms battered at the Light Cruiser's shields. It was not an energy attack or from any projectiles like the shields were meant to protect from, and the claws of the Twilight Thorn made it through and started damaging the ship's hull.

Dents pushed in all around the hull. Explosions went off inside. Another two Cruisers near it turned their cannons and fired at the Twilight Thorn looking like a giant tumor on the front of the Star Destroyer. The Twilight Thorn got one of its arms through the outer hull and into a hallway inside. That arm started extending without stop, plowing down the hall and all the Leam soldiers inside as it smashed back and forth.

One of the other two Cruisers that started firing at it found all of its cannons dropping down limply while its shields fell too. Another of the Twilight Thorns threw the huge ball of sparking energy that it had gathered. The energy temporarily deactivated the offensive and defensive capabilities of the Light Stellar Cruiser, and Admiral Thrawn immediately capitalized on that weakness to have several Star Destroyers fire powerful rockets at it.

Those rockets were about to hit the defenseless ship and completely obliterate it and all the fighters of Leam within.

"Spirit of Hunting and Nobility. I command thee. Be clad in my body. Dwell in my body. Change my body into a great Djinn, Barbatos!"

Muu Alexius's body erupted in light. The Djinn Equip surrounded his body. His red hair turned silver and longer like the flowing mane of a lion. His skin darkened to a deep tan while his eyes turned from red to turquoise. Barbatos, the Strength Djinn, completely merged with its King Vessel. His ears pointed up and backwards like an elf's, his armor vanished completely to expose his muscular chest, though he still had silver armlets around his wrists and his biceps. His lower body turned furry with white fur and his leg muscles bulged even more than his arms had, looking unnatural at the new size of them.

Muu swung his weapon that no longer resembled a sword in the least. The shaft had extended eight feet long and had three points at the end, though still with a crossguard at the bottom, a crossguard that itself was three feet wide horizontally. Barbatos became his javelin. The King of Leam emerged from his ship and flew so fast at the disabled Cruiser that his landing on the bow dipped the entire vessel tens of meters downwards. He slashed his javelin that glowed bright as he swung it around the front of his body.

The slash of his Djinn Equip weapon was far more powerful than the Sith's science. Thrawn watched as Muu's magic broke their beams and missiles like it was child's play. Then, Muu Alexius turned his head to the left and looked at the nearby ship that had a Twilight Thorn sticking halfway out of its bow. The second long arm of the Nobody was smashing apart the inside of the ship. Muu curled his left fist and punched in the Twilight Thorn's direction.

"Bard Lakma."

His arm surrounded in blue light. His armlets glowed bright as he pulled his elbow back, and then they flashed as he extended his arm in a punch that he did not turn his body into or look to give that much power. It was like a bullet, or a cannon, as the force from his arm's extension alone blew a hole through the torso of the Twilight Thorn. The giant Nobody broke apart. Its arms unraveled and shattered apart into light shards that gradually faded.

Muu turned back towards the Star Destroyer Xaldin stood on with his left arm lowering down. Xaldin's gaze lowered for a second to Muu's muscular legs and the way they were bent on the bow of the Cruiser already dipping towards the ground. He had a moment. The bow of the Star Destroyer turned black under Xaldin's feet. Six spiraling black tornadoes shot up from the darkness in a circle around Xaldin while Muu leapt up off his Cruiser. He could not use Bard Romh as he wanted to in that moment, and Xaldin knew it. The power that Muu would have to eject to close the distance would point his Cruiser nose-first towards the surface and give the crew inside no time to get systems back online and stay aflight.

The dark tornadoes swirling around Xaldin blew apart and revealed what rose up inside them. Six dark blue and purple lances floated out of the darkness and started spinning around Xaldin. Then they shot up high in the air so fast that they moved faster than the red and blue beams firing out of the starships. Xaldin's feet hovered up off the Star Destroyer's surface. He swung his left hand forward and caught one lance as it dropped down into his grasp. Then he swept his right hand forward and caught another, then he swung his left again and caught a second lance in the hand already holding one. The other three double-sided lances dropped out of the air and hovered around him.

A circle of fifty Dragoons swirled to life around Xaldin while two more Twilight Thorns appeared in front of his Star Destroyer. Muu bent his knees and pressed his feet on the air. "Bard Romh," his legs extended. Bright blue light followed him in two trails from his legs. Muu spun around and passed in between the two Twilight Thorns. He passed all of the Dragoons around Xaldin and slashed his glowing javelin down at the man. Xaldin rose the three lances in his hands and blocked the King of Leam who was grinning at his own speed and strength, but he lowered the corners of his lips as Xaldin's arms shook but did not buckle from the collision of their blades. Xaldin's other three lances shot in at the man pressing down on him, forcing Muu to parry off and flip up into the air. "Bard Rakla!" His right leg glowed blue and extended out as he was mid-flip.

Xaldin leapt backwards and sent several of his Dragoons in the way of Muu's kick. They were obliterated by the force of his blow, and the Star Destroyer below him got a hole in the top of the hull and straight through out the bottom, but Xaldin escaped the attack. When he leapt backwards, his hood fully came off and revealed the deep blue eyes that matched his lances and narrowed at his opponent. Visible wind whipped up around the Nobody leader. Dark energy surrounded the spinning winds and whipped around him as well. Bright pillars of light glowed all over the bow of the Star Destroyer. Xaldin did not cast spells or even pay any attention as his energy exploded with pillars of energy around Muu who had to masterfully dodge back and forth between the attacks. Muu snapped his body backwards as all six of Xaldin's lances snapped forward in a six-pointed jab.

The lances did not even pull back. They just vanished into light shards and then reappeared spinning around Xaldin. Two Twilight Thorns flew up over each side of the Star Destroyer on Muu's sides. They were flexible and fast. Their stretchy arms and legs snapped towards the surface of the Star Destroyer, while dozens of Dragoons also raced at the Leam King and stabbed at him with their own lances. Muu kicked and punches back and forth, breaking apart Nobodies with each attack, only for Xaldin to race in as Muu let off a punch that broke ten Dragoons at once. He lined up the attack so as not to waste too much movement on the small fry, but Xaldin had ordered his troops in that position in the first place to direct Muu's attack. Xaldin stabbed at Muu's back, and the King barely avoided… directly into an exploding pillar of light that Xaldin also created in case Muu was able to dodge even an attack at that speed.

Admiral Thrawn gave a side-eyed glance to Tarkin who purposely avoided his look. Tarkin was the one who said a minute ago, 'The Organization only sent one man?!' The one man Xemnas had sent was taking on Leam's strongest, while at the same time the army Xaldin summoned was taking on a chunk of the Fanalis Corps' attacks and keeping Sith forces behind them from getting destroyed.

The Grand Moff did not mind being wrong about the Organization's assistance. He shifted his attention from Xaldin to the Super Star Destroyer above and the dark sky past that. Still, Tarkin hummed thoughtfully and with an uneasy expression as he refaced the fleet of Leam before them. Unlike Leam who had incomplete data on the Sith and underestimated their number of starships, Tarkin believed their intelligence to be far more complete, which is why he understood that Leam- like the Resistance- did not send their full might at this border skirmish. "We cannot dedicate more of our forces to this battle," Tarkin admitted.

"Then our move becomes clear," Thrawn replied. "We push them to the starting line."

Neither men were willing to just give up territory. Neither Sidious nor the Emperor commanding all of them would accept that. They would look bad internationally if they allowed even a single inch of territory to fall without a fight. "Leam already controls most of the eastern border," Thrawn went on strategically. "With this, they will control our southeast border as well."

"Easier to face one enemy than two," Tarkin surmised. Having the unpredictability of a direct Resistance border touching Sith territory was dangerous, as evidenced by the current situation. Leam was less ideological and more political. An easier enemy to deal with.

Leam also had to prove their strength. They took over a battle where the Resistance were still beyond the old borders. Sure, Muu could pull his ships back and allow the Sith to continue advancing, but there was no assurance that if they started pulling back, the Sith would not attempt to push even farther. He had to display power first. Not just to keep the Sith from trying them, but their other enemies on all sides too. The new borders from this day forward would be determined by how far one fleet or the other pushed in this battle alone. Neither Sith nor Leam had misconceptions about completely annihilating the other in this battle though.

As the Sith and Leam fleets focused primarily on one another in a sky battle that rapidly intensified, the Emperor's forces continued to advance on the ground level. They did not have the air support any longer, but they did not need it either to outmatch the wounded and exhausted enemy. Leam had not sent down their own ground forces to support either, only sending a few landing ships. Half of the first wave of landing ships had been swarmed too quickly by vulture droids and Sith starfighters that lit them up and made it so they never reached the evacuees. Now, Leam was holding back the second wave until their fleet could clear out more of the enemy fighters that far outnumbered them due to the Super Star Destroyer's massive hangars each spanning several hundred hectares in size.

The Resistance forces started a full retreat to the west. Whatever ships they had lifted off and flew west, but there were only a couple that were still functioning at all. One ship full of elves was blown out of the sky too, and the Leam evacuation vessels had stopped coming, with the ones that had landed being hesitant to lift back off into an ongoing battlefield above. "We need an escort!" Leonardo Watch yelled into his comms at the Leam leaders above who were refusing to send more landing vessels. "At least for your ships that have already landed. We need to get the critically wounded evac-ed immediately!"

Swwooossh swoosh swoosh Leonardo ducked for cover as three fighter jets flew just over their heads.

Another ship came with the fighters that were acting as an escort for this heavy Sith bomber. Bombs dropped out of the dark gray vessel just over their heads and fell at the Resistance command post that no longer had an infirmary next to it. That infirmary had been broken down and Mansherry already moved farther west than the crashed Summer-Class Cruiser. Leonardo clenched his eyes shut in fear for a second, then he gasped out in relief as his eyes opened to see huge explosions rippling against the blue domed forcefield above his head.

Fubuki stumbled nearby with a blond boy on her back whose head rested on one of her shoulders, his eyes closed, his breath coming out ragged. "Ugh, you're, heavy," Fubuki tugged up on his inner knees and got Teru in a better position on her back. She kept jogging forward while carrying the teenage boy who was heavier than he looked. She was focusing all her psychic power outwards to protect the Resistance retreat too, so she was not using her esper abilities to help make Teru any lighter.

"Keep pulling back!" Fubuki called off to her right at other members of her squad who were a bit ahead of her but looked back to their Squad leader who was passing Leonardo's shrinking command post.

Metal Bat was guarding Jo as she stumble-jogged away from the battlefield. He had a girl over his shoulder in a tattered red hood. Thea Queen, one of Zapp's reinforcements, knocked unconscious with dried blood coating her face. In honor of his friend who used his blood whip to throw Metal Bat to safety, the hero was not going to let Zapp's comrade fall here. He also was trying harder not to die himself and let Zapp's sacrifice go to waste. If we had brought more men from the start, Zapp wouldn't have had to die. Damn you, Gray, Metal Bat cursed his General. Jo staggered just on Metal Bat's left side and was slowing him down as he could not push her to move any faster. She had a boy's corpse held in her arms. Jo could no longer use her portals at all as the dandelixer had worn off. Jo was thoroughly exhausted and felt aches all over her body with every step, but she refused to leave Kid Cosmic's body for the Sith.

"Ah-" Jo winced and pulled her head to the right as a blaster beam flew too close that it singed her curly hair and left a scorch on her right cheek.

"Jo!" Metal Bat jumped in the way and swung his baseball bat into a beam of red light, then his arms moved rapid fire back and forth to shatter a spray of fire from Scout Troopers targeting the portal user who was clearly weakened at the moment.

Another member of Iota Squad looked back towards his comrades lagging behind the rest of their evacuation. The infirmary had broken down, and Leonardo was packing his equipment as well with only a few others near their temporary base that was about to be overrun. The Sith forces had rapidly taken the trenches, and the last of the Resistance front lines were pulling back to the first trench now. They had to immediately retreat past it as Sith had already taken positions on the first trench in its north and south and they risked encirclement.

Radagast the Brown looked around the burning landscape past his comrades. Even without the bombardment from the starships above, the surface continued to get decimated by the brutal battle going on. The bearded wizard sent to Middle Earth as an Istari and now to Nexus marched back to the east. He spun around his wooden staff ornamented at the top in the shape of a tree. He rose it high over his head with the bulbous head of the staff glowing bright white, right before he slammed the butt of his staff on the ground.

The ground behind Metal Bat and Fubuki rose up into a hill. The ground shifted shape all over the eastern battlefield and created natural barriers that blocked the gunfire coming from the Emperor's ground forces. Fubuki turned her head and smiled in relief that she did not have to expend any more power with Radagast's magic stepping in instead. As she smiled towards him, she took another step with her left foot, and she fell face-first towards the ground.

Fubuki had to let go of Teru's legs and swing her arms down in front to try and catch herself. With Teru on her back though, and her sheer exhaustion from Mansherry's dandelixer wearing off, her arms failed to catch her and only prevented her from breaking her nose on the ground.

"Captain!" Jo called back, turning herself, only to buckle at her knees and drop onto them.

Metal Bat just stepped towards Fubuki, but he spun back the other way to Jo. Then he looked west and to the tops of the hills that Radagast manipulated with his magic to block their enemies' attacks. Metal heads and white helmets started cresting the hills. Sith forces marched up them relentlessly and would be firing down on fleeing Resistance soldiers any second now. Metal Bat already bled from thirty different wounds around his body, which had made him powerful enough to split a fissure in the southern battlefield, but the power up he got from damage was not infinite, and he was nearing his limit.

Sorry Zapp, Metal Bat thought. He started bending down to take Thea off his shoulders. This is where-

"Get them out of here, Baddo," a stern voice stated while moving past Metal Bat's side.

The hero with a long pompadour protruding past his forehead turned and opened his eyes wider at the same wizard he swore he just saw hundreds of yards away. Radagast's staff was still slammed back into the ground far behind him. The wizard who never spoke in such a serious tone but instead always the jovial fool, started running towards the hills he had morphed, while shape-shifting himself. Dark brown fur spread out of Radagast's skin. His face extended out the front. A muzzle protruded from his jaw and grew sharp teeth. His body grew larger and larger as he dropped down onto his hands and feet and continued running in a bear crawl, matching his appearance.

The giant grizzly bear wizard charged up the closest hill behind his comrades in Iota and smashed through the front lines of Sith droids coming after them.

"Rada-gast!" Fubuki weakly called out after him.

"Fly, you fools!" Radagast roared back for his comrades. Then he disappeared over the crest of the hill before any of them could shout something else after him. The wizard enhanced himself with powerful magic and tanked through the enemy attacks. He charged straight into blaster fire and tore through droids and men alike with his teeth and claws.

Bright explosions went off on the other side of the hill, but no more of the Emperor's forces advanced over it yet. Metal Bat ground his teeth in fury and frustration at his weakness that lost him another comrade. He stomped towards the hill. Then his head spun to the left, as another member of Iota bent down next to him and hoisted Jo back up with one arm while lifting Kid's body with the other. "We need to go," Rufus Lore implored. He did not wait or try to convince Metal Bat of the need to run. There was no time for that. He simply turned and started running with two comrades in his arms. Rufus was out of mana himself and could not try to stall like Radagast, as much as it hurt him to admit.

Radagast was not the only friend Rufus thought about who he was leaving behind. His head turned sideways for a second as he continued fleeing east. Gray, what happened? You went dark. Are you really…

Resistance forces mostly ran or limped on foot away from the battlefield. The devastating Sith bombardments had annihilated their mechs, their jets, their cruiser, and most every vehicle that the Resistance brought with them. 10,000 Leam soldiers and airmen stopped that bombardment with their arrival above the borderlands. Their arrival did not slow the Sith and their forces on the ground in the least, and far and wide away from the hills that Radagast enchanted, the Sith's forces had clearer shots on their retreating enemies.

Sith Lords ran behind or at the front of their battalions. Several starfighters that emerged from Sidious's flagship Super Star Destroyer ejected their pilots near the ground, and Sith Lords who could not make it on the first wave of reinforcements to Moff Gideon's sector joined in the fray.

In the rear of the retreating forces, still just making it past the first trench line, the Pink Bee Squad moved as fast as they could, but they were also carrying wounded Tontatta warriors with them. "Let, go of, me," Leo grumbled at Bian and struggled against her grip.

"Commander!" Bian scolded the leader of their Tonta Corps. "The Princess is in danger and needs her protector! You cannot die here," Bian's words got through to Leo who stopped looking back over her shoulder that he was slung over, instead turning and looking east where explosions were still going off. Sith and Stormtroopers had made it past them as they evacuated, and some of their allies were getting gunned down even farther east than they were. It was harder for the Emperor's men to see the little dwarves that on their world were known as fairies because they moved so quickly and were so small that people did not even know if they were real.

"Two more wounded over here!" Another Tontatta called over to Bian. The two Tontatta leapt over towards the injured humans and hoisted them up to the shock of the injured men who did not even know what just lifted them in the air. The dwarves had strength many times that of normal people, and they lifted the humans to run away with. Still, carrying multiple people and injured Tontatta, Bian's squad was slowing down.

Other Tontatta warriors looking back eagerly for their evacuating comrades saw explosions and blaster fire getting closer to Bian's group. Now with humans being carried off too, they were a lot easier for the Imperials to spot. Kabu took in a deep breath. The Yellow Kabu Squad leader looked back to his other comrades wearing yellow. "Protect the Princess and get out of here."

"Captain-" one of his men started.

"Kabu," Mansherry whispered towards the chubby-cheeked Tontatta with rhinoceros-beetle horns sticking off his head thanks to his Devil Fruit. "Wait," she started.

"Bomba! Take the Princess and-" Kabu started.

"Take her and go," Bomba ordered the rest of the bodyguard squad around the Princess. Kabu spun in surprise to the older Tontatta guard of their princess.

"No!" Mansherry screamed to her protector. Other bodyguards grabbed her and held her back. They all felt their strength returning too, as Mansherry sobbed and got her healing tears on the battered Tontatta around her. "Bomba, I can't lose you too! Rampo…" she gasped out. Bomba thought of his comrade and fellow Vice-Chief of their tribe who already laid down his life saving the Princess. "I need you to protect me!" She exclaimed.

Bomba smiled and let out a low chuckle with his eyes closed. Kabu grinned confidently as did other Tontatta around them who accepted him and Bomba's resolves. "It's not me who needs to protect you," Bomba said. The rest of the Tontatta already knew. They were aware, even if Mansherry and Leo were not themselves. Bomba's face hardened and lost its smile as did Kabu's. They each kicked off the ground and shot back as blurs towards the rest of the Tontatta who had beams just about hitting them now.

Bian's head turned to the right with her eyes widening at the sight of Bomba. He just gave her a stern nod though telling her to keep going. Leo stared the other way in horror though. "K-KABU!" Leo screamed.

"You're our Commander, Leo!" Kabu yelled out. "Get everyone out of here! SURVIVE!"

The blaster fire hitting the ground near the evacuating Tontatta weakened seconds later as Bomba and Kabu targeted the men firing at their comrades. Leo was slung over Bian's shoulder and so had to keep watching as he shouted after them, but the rest of the Tontatta still mobile were sprinting as fast as they could to the east. "Nooooo!" Leo yelled as a bright red explosion flared in the corners of the other crying Tontatta's vision from back behind them.

"You can't go back there! Are you crazy?"

A pair of Pokémon trainers ignored their comrades and ran west rather than east. Flashes of red light popped back in front of the pair who were panting and pale-faced but had fully healed Pokémon. The Resistance did not have a huge supply of Kenpopo, the pre-made elixirs distributed from Mansherry. Her Heal-Heal Fruit was an amazing addition to the Resistance's medical arsenal, but the Tontatta had only just joined them after Mansherry's rescue, and so there was no time to do the blood transfusions necessary to create the permanent healing dandelixers rather than Mansherry's usual temporary ones.

Their Pokémon were fully healed because each of the trainers donated their blood to the Tontatta Princess in order to bring them back. She thought when they arrived at the infirmary tent that they were just going to help their Pokémon to make it easier to retreat. They could have done that anyway though. The boy trainer looked to his right at the girl running with him, "We get Brock's Pokémon, and we get out!"

"Let's do it!" She yelled back. She jumped on her Pidgeot's back. "Don't stop! No matter what!" She screamed.

The two of them soared up over their evacuating comrades and got a better view over the battlefield. Brock's Pokémon had gone on a rampage after their trainer's death. They mourned their leader, but they would not let his Pokémon share his fate. The two of them raced to the west with extra pokeballs ready to throw to try and reign in the beasts.

Adas looked up in the air as two flying Pokémon swerved between blaster fire, flying droids, and Nobody monsters. His left hand reached up. Lightning shot from his fingertips and slammed into the Pidgeot the female trainer was on.

"NO-" the other trainer cut himself off and had to barrel roll away through the air to dodge another red beam flying at him. "What am I doing?" He gasped out in terror. Then, his eyes locked on a part of the battlefield up ahead. There! A giant steel snake thrashed about. Steelix was still alive, and others too! He aimed towards them, only to watch in horror as enemy tanks targeted the beast that their ground forces pulled away from. In three different points along Steelix's long body, the red beams smashed into it and blew the Pokémon apart.

Crobat screeched and dive-bombed towards the Stormtroopers firing up at it, ripping holes in its purple wings. The bat spiraled out of the air with blood splashing out behind it. The Stormtroopers laughed and rose their weapons, only to snap them back down and fire at the rolling rock speeding towards them. Golem did not slow down though.

Golem's Rollout continued as it started to flash white over and over. Golem slammed into a line of Imperial soldiers and then Self-Destructed in a huge explosion… An explosion that the incoming trainer only saw a piece of before a Scout Trooper sniped him right off of his mount, sending his own Pokémon into a frenzy as they emerged from his pokéballs and dove into the Sith's ranks.

"This is terrible," Nya whispered and covered her mouth as she looked out the ship's port side's windows.

Her brother's fists shook next to her. Kai swung an arm out in its red sleeve and punched the wall next to the glass. They stood on a second floor observation deck overlooking the main hangar bay of their Light Cruiser. "Lieutenant!" Kai shouted and spun around. "We can't just sit here!"

"Those poor Pokémon," Zane bemoaned and shook his yellow-skinned head. The Nindroid's face was covered by fake skin that matched his fellow Masters of Spinjitzu. The metal man in a white ninja outfit turned to his right to his friend in all black who glanced back and similarly shook his head in sadness but also frustration.

Cole looked back and agreed with Kai, "The Resistance are our allies. How can we stand here while they fall in front of us?"

"That's enough," their Lieutenant ordered them.

"Why can't we?" Jay argued. The fifth Master of the five ninjas turned and glared towards Lieutenant Fink. He wore a blue ninja outfit like his girlfriend Nya, and he frowned angrily at their lieutenant who wore a desert camo uniform over his light but bulletproof armored vest.

Two other soldiers in their outfit stepped away from their comrades. Jesse looked at Petra who subtly pulled a water bucket out of her inventory. The two Minecraftians had blockier-shaped heads than the cylindrical heads of the Lego men arguing with their Lieutenant. Jesse was hesitant but looked towards the holographic door to their ship's hangar. All Petra would have to do is place down the water bucket at the hangar exit, and the two of them could float down and join the battle.

"That's enough," Fink snapped at his men. The American lieutenant who fought in Iraq turned from the ninja masters over to his other soldiers he saw planning insubordination behind them. "We don't break the chain of command. Everyone wants to help them."

"They're getting slaughtered out there," Jesse exclaimed back at their lieutenant who he always had respect for before this.

"Enough," a stern but higher-pitched voice than Fink's interrupted the men. They looked past Fink and to the windows where their captain still stood looking out over the battle.

The young man looked no older than twenty. He had combed-over blond hair and stood a lanky five foot eight. Miyuki Shirogane commanded his men in a calm voice, "We will not be sending ground forces. Our battle is in the sky. Sith boarding parties could attempt to take this ship at any moment. Stay vigilant."

"I can't accept that!" Kai shouted. "We may be a part of Leam, but those are our allies out there! How can we just abandon them?"

"Sir, I don't know about you, but I can't just sit here and watch them die-" Jesse agreed with Kai and started arguing.

Petra grabbed Jesse by the sleeve. He glanced back at her and then followed her eyes down to their captain's sides. Blood trickled out between the fingers of Miyuki's clenched fists. Their captain had clenched them so hard that his fingernails cut into his palms. Still, he forced himself to watch even as the pain from watching their allies fell weighed so heavily on his heart. "I would only be sending you down to join them in death," Miyuki declared. "I will not do that."

Leam's soldiers shook in frustration but cursed and looked away. Was the situation that hopeless? Was there truly nothing they could do? For a moment there, things looked up, but the Super Star Destroyer's arrival evened the playing field. If anything, they now felt outmatched in the sky with that behemoth of a ship hanging over them.

The dark sky started to rain. Two of Leam's higher officers stood down on the first floor of the hangar close to the observation deck where their restless soldiers watched the slaughter. Neither of them were any less restless, but they displayed calm better than their enlisted troops. The pair wore blue uniforms of Leam's officers, like Captain Miyuki also wore. "What do you think?" Major Winters wondered. The World War Two veteran and Major of the U.S. Paratroopers examined an emptier section of the landscape. Dick Winters tilted his head right and pointed through the holographic hangar shield towards a section of the southern line. They stood on the port side of the hangar of a ship pointed west, so they were facing south over the battlefield and could see where the Great Wall started. Winters traced a path near the canyon, "The terrain is less maneuverable so we wouldn't be able to bring any armor."

The higher-ranked officer shook his head. The Colonel of Leam's forces was a former Roman legionary, the Commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions, and loyal servant to the Emperor Marcus Aurelius. Maximus Decimus Meridius, or Colonel Maximus to his men, looked closer to the surface just below their ship. He pointed down and brought Winters' gaze closer to them, "If we deploy, we take positions closest to where Porco can give us cover. I don't trust the other Captains," Maximus was not talking about "captains" like Miyuki in Winters's battalion. He was talking about the Captains who piloted Leam's Cruisers. Marco Pagot, or "Porco Rosso," was their pilot who Maximus trusted to give him and his men cover on the ground.

Winters opened his mouth to counter that their Cruisers which hovered farther to the south over the battlefield would give them just as much cover. Unlike most men in their regiment though, he knew how Maximus had been betrayed in his past life. He also had doubts himself as they watched more of the Resistance forces below fall due to their lack of effort in saving them. Until the orders came down to deploy more forces to cover the Resistance retreat on the ground though, all they could do was watch and hold back their own desire to help their allies.

The battlefield started to move farther east. Leam's airmen realized it whether they were on their bridges or not. Most of the Cruisers were slowly pulling back. Their engines had been put in reverse. The Sith ships had started moving forward, but Leam wanted to keep the gap between them. There were an unknown amount of droids on those Star Destroyers who the Sith would have no problem sacrificing in boarding parties. Leam still had more ships, so distance was better for them as they could out-firepower their enemy, if just by a little.

The air battle moving east meant that Resistance fighters who got past the first trench, and past their crashed Summer-class Cruiser, and past the hills that Radagast rose from the earth, still had not escaped. Sith and their forces continued to hunt down the army that dared launch an attack on them. Farther back than all of his men, and behind many of the enemy at this point, Gray Fullbuster pulled his knees up under his chest.

Ash and dirt covered the mage who had been completely covered a second ago. Stirring like this made ash fall off him, though the shirtless man's torso and arm and face were coated in it. "ACK- ack, kah kuh, ugh uck," Gray stuck out his tongue after coughing up what felt like an entire fire. He groaned but dragged his right arm up under him to push farther off the ground.

The Fairy Tail mage had tumbled into a hole in the ground near the new crater that blew up closer to where he had been running. His left ice arm was blown apart by the tank blast, but the shield he started creating managed to protect his face and vitals from the worst of the explosion. His left leg was a lot worse for wear though, and Gray saw even through the black coating of ash on it that there was fresh blood coming out of a bad burn. This is going to hurt, he warned himself. Then he froze the burn.

Gray bit down to keep from screaming. Clank-clink clank-clink clank-clink…

Gray ducked down low. He looked around but the ground was hazy where he lay. His ears had stopped ringing so badly that he could hear the clanking sounds of marching droids near him. Fog rolled in on the battlefield though. The ground was so hot from the heavy bombardments that the rain falling on the terrain started a heavy fog. He could not tell what was smoke and what was fog though, and Gray started another coughing fit as he stood back up without realizing that he was in a smoky area due to a destroyed AT-TE burning to cinders fifty feet to his north while wind blew south.

Reorienting himself was difficult. He got to both feet, then his left leg slid out from under him. He nearly fell but caught himself, painfully planting that left foot down and making ice crack around the bad burns on his thigh and calf. Which way are the droids marching? Gray thought. He closed his eyes and listened closely. The mage ducked. In his head, he saw a red beam of light slamming into the back of his skull. Does it know where I am?! His Observational Haki did not kick in to warn him of another shot coming close, meaning the one who fired likely did not see where they were aiming.

Shadows in the smoke got close enough though that Gray saw their bronze heads turn his way. "Over here!" An excited-sounding robotic voice called out. "I found one-"

"Roger roger-"

Gray kicked off his right foot and spun in the air in between the two battle droids. His right leg spun around and took both of their heads off in one kick. Then he dropped down but landed on his left foot again, and this time his knee buckled and he dropped straight to the ground. "Aggh! Ah-" he cut himself off to stop from yelling out and drawing even more enemies to him. "Uck! ACK- agh gah-uck," Gray coughed up a storm. Falling on the ground that hard kicked up ash that was not yet wet down by the rain that was only just getting heavier. That ash got back in his nose and mouth, and it blinded him for a second too.

"Look, over there!"

"Blast him!"

Pew pew pew

Gray squinted his burning eyes open and dove to his right. He rolled out of the way. Beams hit the ground close to him. His vision was blurry, but he squinted open enough to see a Galactic Marine, a Stormtrooper, and a Dark Trooper human variant with a jetpack on his back. That Dark Trooper rose his ARC Caster and fired a blast of lightning where Gray rolled to. BrrrRRRRR The Galactic Marine yanked his chain gun to the left and dragged an almost solid line of bullets towards the ash-coated Resistance fighter.

Gray gripped onto the ground with his right hand and flung his body towards the Imperial troops. The Dark Trooper jumped backwards and used his jetpack. The Galactic Marine pulled away. Gray reached his right hand out and pressed his palm into the Stormtrooper's chest faster than the enemy soldier could react. "Ice Make: Geyser." Gray dug deep into his reserves. It was not as strong as the one he used on Revan. He created ice off his right palm though, and then it branched.

A spike of ice shot through the Stormtrooper's back and into the Dark Trooper before his jetpack could launch him into the air. He had already activated the jetpack though, so the soldier's body shot upwards even with an ice spike sticking through his chest, dragging the spike downwards and disemboweling him on the ice already blood-stained by the Stormtrooper's blood. Another spike shot to Gray's left at the Galactic Marine who turned sideways at the last second so the ice spike tore through his maroon mask instead and sliced off part of his face.

Gray spun off the attack and after the Galactic Marine who yelled out in anger while dropping his chain gun. Gray's hand flinched. The man Gray reached towards to take out like his comrades had a very familiar face. It was the same face that many of Gray's comrades had. The clone snapped a hand to his waist and drew his secondary pistol, firing almost point blank at Gray's face. Gray was off-balanced and in midair, but the mage still yanked his head away fast enough that the red beam only singed his right ear and burned some of his hair. Gray's hesitating right hand curled into a fist and then swung the rest of the way into the bloodied shocked expression of Gray's enemy, a bone-crunching punch that sent him flying backwards.

Gray fell and only brought his right knee up just in time not to fall hard on his chest and face. His knee only slowed him, and he still hit his face as well as his left leg and shoulder that both hurt a lot. "Nnng," Gray groaned. Am I at least slowing them down? He wondered. He stood up again. He knew which way retreat was, because he could hear which way the droids kept marching and which direction these enemies kept coming from. Gray did not turn east to chase after his comrades though. If I can help even one more of them escape, that's my duty. I failed my men.

"Gray!"

Gray froze. His whole body tensed up. His bloody right fist clenched hard at his side. Gray turned his head to the right. Rain fell harder and pushed his black hair down. His soaked bangs stuck to his ash-covered forehead. The rain made the ash drip down his face though and stung his eyes that squinted in pain but more-so in anger at the short figure who stopped running towards him.

Steam came off of Gray's entire body. His eyes shadowed under his bangs. The boy with a limp broken prosthetic left arm stepped back after freezing in front of Gray. Instinctively, Stan lifted up his red lightsaber that got hit by raindrops and let out its own puffs of steam. Bodies of droids and dead men lay around the Resistance General who stood alone facing the Sith Lord. Blood soaked his right hand and was splashed over his face from the last attack, though he did not even notice because it got on the ash coating on his face rather than on his skin itself. As the ash cascaded down Gray's skin though, so did blood.

Stan fought for the Sith and just saw the Planet Eater in action. Still, this was the scariest sight he had seen all day. The hesitation Stan felt earlier when they first faced one another was gone from Gray's expression. Stan did not rush across the battlefield just to get killed by the mage though. He took in a deep breath and lowered his red lightsaber that he brought up out of instinct from feeling Gray's intent through the Force. "Gray," Stan spoke lower, taking a step towards the older man who just bared his teeth back that Stan would try to use that tone, now, after what he had done. "I need to tell you something-"

"I'm done listening to Sith," Gray snarled. They were responsible for so many of his problems. He hated them. More than anything, more than anyone, the Sith tormented him. Endlessly. They killed Juvia. The League were following the Emperor's orders. Ra's only killed Juvia because of the Sith. I betrayed Kirito, because of the Sith. I lost my friend, my arm, my army! All because of SITH. Stan is no different.

Gray stomped his right foot towards Stan and swung his arm out. "Ice Make-"

"Romeo!" Stan shouted.

Gray froze. His right arm continued to steam. Ice did not form in his grasp though. His arm shook. The mage clenched his shaking eyes shut. They can read minds! They can, mess with minds, Gray shook his head around. "You," Gray seethed through clenched teeth. Stan heard pure hatred towards him. The idea that Stan found out a weakness, found out someone Gray cared about, to try and use that in this moment to save himself, it disgusted Gray so much he would have felt like puking if he was not so angry.

Not far from Stan and Gray, another Sith slowly moved through the fog and closer to them. A bald woman with pale skin narrowed her gaze towards the small boy who had yet to see her. The Resistance General, Ventress thought while shifting her stare onto Gray. Asajj Ventress did not know what the kid was doing, but she recognized that they recognized one another. The woman who was never convinced that Stan was fully on their side did not know exactly what their relationship was, but from this view, Gray definitely looked to think that Stan was his enemy.

Eric Cartman leaned forward on his couch while Butters held his breath next to him. Even Juandissimo leaned closer to their floating flatscreen television that showed them the sneaky Sith coming up on Stan and Gray. Cartman reached into his popcorn bucket and shoveled a handful into his mouth. "This is so good," he whispered excitedly.

"Stan," Butters whispered worriedly.

Two kilometers east of Gray already, soldiers he had been evacuating with could not outrun the Emperor's men while dragging along their wounded. "Get Master Tiplee out of here, Cody," Rex ordered his lieutenant who he passed off the Mikkian woman to.

"Rex, I can't just-"

"That's an order!" Rex yelled at his closest friend who leaned back from the shout. Cody grit his teeth but took a step back, and another, and then he turned and continued running to the east while carrying the wounded Jedi and fellow teacher of Rex's at the Hero School. "The students have a lot more to learn from you than from this old soldier," Rex said with a low chuckle as he watched Tiplee getting away for another second. Then he turned and faced the oncoming enemy horde.

"Let's give them some cover."

Rex spun left and frowned at the other soldier with blue highlights on his armor who marched up next to him and reloaded his rifle. "Get out of here, Fives," Rex ordered the ARC trooper.

"And let you have all the fun?" Fives retorted. "No chance."

"You alone won't be able to stall them," another voice spoke on Rex's other side.

Rex and Fives looked to Rex's right side to see Fordo step up next to them. He held a minigun in his right arm and lifted a grenade launcher in his other hand. "Ok, now I feel like we've actually got a chance," Rex said.

"Hey," Fives deadpanned at his Captain who did not say the same thing when he stayed behind too.

All three clones smiled. Rex rose up his own dual-wielded pistols and started blasting. The other two unloaded on the enemy army as well with precision accuracy, spinning from one target to the next and taking down dozens of them at a time.

Ahsoka looked over her shoulder. No, she thought. Her eyes snapped up though as she felt a disturbance in the force. Most of the Star Destroyers' cannons were aimed at Leam's Cruisers. One set of cannons aimed down straight at the group of retreating Resistance soldiers though. Ahsoka quickly reached up and tossed the girl on her shoulders in the air, and then she leapt up as fast as she could herself while igniting both of her lightsabers. "Get back, Rex!" She screamed out for the Captain who grit his teeth and ignored his good friend back behind him.

Ahsoka Tano spun around and twisted her arms as powerfully as she could. A huge red beam fired down from the giant ship's cannons up above, and that beam collided with the two lightsabers that Ahsoka spun up into them. She redirected the beam. That beam shot back up and straight at the Star Destroyer which was allowing energy signatures of its own cannons to pass through its shields, which meant that its own cannon shot got through the shielding and slammed into the jet engines on the back of the Destroyer that Ahsoka targeted. Five of the eight engines exploded, but the other three kept firing on its north side, turning the ship towards the south and causing it to list.

The power from the beams that Ahsoka redirected was still so much that she was sent flying backwards. She flipped over while soaring back though and reached her right hand out, extending a few fingers from her hilt to yank Yaz's body towards her too as they fell out of the air. Other red beams flew down towards her even while one Star Destroyer crashed into another. A dozen of those bright red beams froze in midair though, and half of them slammed down into enemy forces ahead of Rex and his men, while six other beams flew back up at the Star Destroyers that exploded on their hulls. Those Destroyers had to refocus more energy into their shields after Ahsoka's last redirected attack and now this one.

Fubuki's attempt to take down more of the enemy aircraft was futile. The esper who did her best for one last attack dropped down to both knees again. Blood poured out of both nostrils. Her skin was pale and her skin burnt and dirty. The leader of Iota Squad gasped for air and grabbed at her throat and chest, feeling completely drained of power now.

"Oh no, come on," Leonardo begged the woman who was choking on air. The leader of Gray's communication division was already helping her limp while they carried one other wounded with them, and he was not a very strong man. Leonardo Watch could not pick up two wounded at once to carry away. "Help!" He yelled around for someone to assist.

Ahsoka landed and caught Yaz. She skid backwards and looked around in desperation. Rapid fire shooting towards the east slowed down and gave other Resistance members hiding behind sparse cover a chance to run. Ahsoka shed tears but turned around herself and continued to run. She glanced back one last time and watched as Rex and his men disappeared into the fog that illuminated with flash after flash of red light.

Ahead of Rex and his two soldiers who stayed with him right up until the end, one of the enemy droids spun around a glowing purple staff that sparked electricity. The staff the droid was spinning around blocked all of the shots the three men fired at it. "Flank it," Rex ordered, and both Fives and Fordo sprinted away from him. Rex rose his dual pistols and fired over and over while marching towards the IG-200. It looked stronger than the IG-100 Magnaguards that were already very powerful droids. Two extra arms ripped out of the sides of the IG-200 though and each rose up new glowing staffs, making it look like its nickname that the Empire gave it: "The Mini-Grievous."

The Mini-Grievous advanced towards Rex who started running forward himself at the robot that had fast reaction times but would have to struggle to block all his shots from close range where the beams would have the smallest distance to travel. Fives and Fordo unloaded at the sides of the IG-200, but they also had to turn and fire at others who were coming up on them too and making it difficult to help Rex out. As those two turned to fire at other Sith forces, explosions went off in the enemy ranks and protected them as well as allowing them to refocus on the Mini-Grievous and save Rex from imminently being cut down.

The Mini-Grievous had to leap backwards itself and continue slashing back and forth to stop the three of the clone commandos from killing him. Fives spun his head in surprise as he saw where the rocket fire came from that blew up platoons of enemy soldiers and allowed them to keep focus on the main evil droid. "Echo, get your team out of here!" Fives yelled back at his comrade and fellow ARC trooper.

"We're not going without you," Wrecker roared while loading up another rocket into his launcher.

Tech nodded in agreement with his comrade in the Bad Batch. Echo said nothing yet though as Fives glared back his way. "This is to stall to give you time to escape. Don't make it for nothing," Fives snapped.

"You heard him," Rex agreed. "I order you three to retreat. Fight another day!" Rex yelled.

"Give us this," even Fordo sounded resigned. The Bad Batch cursed and Wrecker stomped towards their comrades, but Echo spun around and ran back the other way. He ran straight towards Wrecker and grabbed the big man by the side. "Go," Fordo ordered the men who watched the clone legend in red-highlighted armor turn away from the Mini-Grievous again to fire on a seemingly endless Sith army.

"Come on!" Echo pulled at Wrecker who fired his last rocket before dropping the launcher and stepping backwards. "Hunter, Rex, all of them," Echo scolded Wrecker and Tech who argued against running. "Their deaths will mean nothing if we don't survive and come back to destroy the Sith. Live, you idiots," Echo was saying it to himself as much as to his comrades. Fives was his best friend, and Wrecker and Tech knew it. They could say nothing but curses in frustration as they ran after their retreating army.

"Hey you three, help her," a voice called over to the clones who thought they were farther back than anyone else in the retreat. Leam Cruisers hovered above them and made it so the fog on the ground around them was not as thick. The boy who called over to them was able to see the men better because of the lack of fog, though it was a double-edged sword considering they could also be targeted easier.

Echo spun and crossed his arms in front of his face. A Scout Trooper tried taking advantage of the lack of fog around his enemies to put a bullet through the head of the ARC trooper and member of the Bad Batch. Echo lowered his crossed arms in confusion while his friends spun to him in shock. All three of them started at the glowing beam sniper burst that hovered in the air next to Echo's helmet. Then they looked back at the boy who held a hand towards them and caught the burst.

"Teru," Leonardo Watch whispered in amazement. He had been trying to carry both Fubuki and Teru out of there once Fubuki collapsed. He was slow, and he could not ask for help, because everyone else retreating around him were already carrying other wounded out of there themselves. Teruki Hanazawa stood up though and stepped away from where Leonardo fell on his butt with a dizzy Fubuki whose skin was pale. He lay her down on her back and wiped blood from under her nostrils, but Leonardo flinched as the woman he thought was unconscious moved too.

Fubuki reached out and grabbed Teru by the right ankle. "Flee," she hissed. Fubuki stared up in frustration at the kid and started dragging her knees up from under her.

Hundreds of meters east of the last group farthest west, other Resistance members started to rout completely. The fighting withdrawal they were conducting was too slow. The Sith and their forces continued advancing quickly. Leam's Cruisers were fully focused on the Star Destroyers above and about half of the enemy starfighters, while the other half of the Emperor's fighter jets flew down closer to the ground and focused on the retreating Resistance.

"Captain Rawlings!" Steven Hiller yelled up. The crashed fighter pilot stumbled backwards and then dove for cover as the very last of the Resistance's air support was finally hit. Rawlings returned to the battlefield but could not evade all of the hundreds of starfighters and vulture droids he was trying to defend his retreating comrades from. The World War 1 pilot spun out of the air and crashed in a fiery explosion not far from Hiller who cursed in fury, "Fuck!"

Clunk clunk clunk… Marching boots approached through the fog just past Hiller. Hiller stood back up and fired his rifle into the fog. Enemies moved on Rawlings's crashed jet, and Hiller ran forward, lighting up shadow after shadow to take out the Stormtroopers trying to go execute the Resistance's fallen pilot if he was still alive in there. The final member of the Resistance's Black Knights' fighter squad got hit by a counter blast in his left shoulder. Hiller dropped the cigar from his mouth and let go of his rifle with one hand. He snapped up the rifle with his other and kept firing- Until a red beam hit him in the chest and blew through him, blood spraying out his back with the beam that pierced him. Stormtroopers ran towards the man who hit the ground and unloaded into his corpse to make sure he stayed down.

Not too far from Steven Hiller's fallen body, Mike Ehrmentraut got hit in the back of his left calf where his specialized armor was already torn through from earlier attacks. The former cop and hitman dropped to a knee. Matty, Kaylee, Mike thought in pain as he lifted his head and looked to the east where he was running a second ago. Guess I won't be getting back to you after all. The bald grizzled Resistance fighter lowered his hands that he had cupped to his chest. "Get yourself out of here," Mike said.

The little Tontatta person in a blue outfit and hat looked up worriedly at Mike's face. "B-But I," Wicca started in a scared voice. Her right arm was bloodied and she was missing her shoes. The little Tontatta person with a bushy light blue tail and matching hair trembled with tears in her eyes as she saw Mike's resigned expression. "Go on," Mike lowered her down to the ground and nodded away. "Get to your people."

He turned and slowly pushed himself back up to his feet. His armor was strong and could survive a lot, but Mike could not run any longer. He lifted back up his own rifle and aimed at the oncoming enemies who emerged from the thickest fog as they too got underneath Leam's Cruisers that could not fire down at them or the enemy fighter craft zipping about and unloading on pockets of clones and elves and dwarves alike. The little dwarf behind Mike whispered thanks to him before turning and running away as fast as she could, which was a lot slower than usual because of her injuries.

"Baddo! What about the Captain?!" Rufus shouted over at Baddo who continued to stumble away with Thea Queen held on his back.

"Jakku!" Metal Bat yelled at the top of his lungs. "Damn it," he cursed, wondering where Kappa Squad's leader was at a time like this.

Jakku Za Rippa appeared nearly out of thin air next to Metal Bat in the next second. He had a flickering aura of magic around him, and blood all over his body. Metal Bat did not see the injuries making that blood, and he realized after a second of staring at Kappa's Captain in surprise that it was not Jakku's blood. "What do you want?!" Jakku snapped. His voice was in a rush, like he wanted to get back to slaughtering Sith forces where he had just been but much closer to Metal Bat than the hero thought. Jakku also did not like that he was close enough that he could hear them when they were supposed to be evacuated much farther already.

Metal Bat had Kid Cosmic in one hand and Jo slung over his shoulder, while he himself was covered in much worse injuries than Jakku himself had. Jakku bit down after staring at Metal Bat for a second and realizing why it was that he had not managed to evacuate any farther yet. "We need to get Captain Fubuki-"

Jakku reached out and grabbed Jo's unconscious body from Metal Bat. "Drop the kid and save her then," Jakku suggested. He took Jo and ran. Jakku reminded himself what he promised Jo in his head after Knov's death. He had decided to save her, but if he went back and just fought until he died, she might die here too. He had to evacuate her at all costs. Jakku skid to a stop though and spun around. He and Metal Bat looked back to see a huge dome of clear air pushing all the fog away so that it thinned for a mile radius around the center. "Teru," Jakku whispered and took a step back again, only to snap his gaze to Jo's face, then back once more. "Don't even think about it!" Jakku yelled at his subordinate.

"Leave," Fubuki ordered. Sister, I'm coming, Fubuki struggled to push down on her hands and un-bend her buckled elbows. She thought of her elder sister who had fallen to protect the Resistance back in the Third War of the Gods. As she tried though, the last of her strength left her, and she collapsed. The dandelixer was temporary. Her strength failed. She faceplanted in the dirt, though she dragged her chin up to look at the boy next to her who stepped forward. "Stop," she pleaded.

Wind whipped around Teru whose body surrounded in a white glow. Red beams flying his way froze and hovered in midair. In the sky above, Sith starfighters turned around and flew full speed into one another. Ships' had their weak points manipulated and crushed, and hundreds of enemy aircraft started to crash that were easier to mess with than Star Destroyers Teru had been destroying easier. "Get her out of here," Teru told Leonardo who stared at Teru in awe too as the boy his own age managed to stop the Sith ground and air forces at the same time despite his own battered condition.

Teru glanced down at Fubuki who used the last of her psychic strength to force him backwards. Teru's feet skid back on the dirt and he was dragged back behind the woman he looked at in surprise. "I'm the adult," she scolded him. "You're a child. Survive, ack-kah," she coughed into the dirt but pulled her knees up under her again. She pressed her forehead into the ground to summon any strength she could muster. "Live, fight another day-"

"You may be an adult, but you're also a lady," Teru countered the woman whose eyes widened as Teru stepped back forward and ignored her desperate efforts. He pushed straight through another weak attempt from her to stop him, using a barrier to break apart her own psychic energy. Teru flashed a charming smile down at Iota's leader, "So let me be a man." He flicked his hand at her and Leonardo, lifting the pair of them up and sending them flying back a hundred meters straight at his captain. Teru gave Jakku a single look with his smile lowering down a little bit but an expression determined not to listen to him as well.

Jakku hated it. He hated it, because he himself could not stall the Sith like this kid could. His own squadmate, a boy he was supposed to protect, turned back to the west and floated off the ground. Enemy aircraft spun out and crashed into the surface all around him. Fog lifted off the enemy army ahead of Hanazawa, showing him exactly who he was up against, and showing his enemies who they needed to target more than anyone.

"Damn it," Metal Bat cursed again but continued fleeing to the east himself. Fubuki was saved and getting carried away by a reluctant Jakku who also held Jo, while Leonardo Watch ran behind them. Metal Bat closed his eyes and shook his head around in anger at the loss of another comrade to a battle that was already over for them. Leam had taken over. So why were Resistance members still dying? Damn you, General. Gray! At least survive long enough to give us a chance to curse you out after we retreat. Metal Bat hated that Gray was already dead and so could not stall the enemy, leaving it to them to do so themselves.

Others continued to retreat without any help on a southern stretch of the battlefield far from Teru. Even as Teru took the attention of the entire middle, Sith forces continued to advance all along the line and were not all distracted by the esper. a girl with long white hair reached a hand back and telekinetically wrapped an invisible hand around several Droidekas. Satella's hand grasped them hard despite the shields that her power went straight through, and she crushed them.

"Great work, Satella!" Elfo complimented his friend who he ran away with.

Satella ran side by side with her little elf friend she grabbed from the space marines retreating not far from her. The landing ship that she had tried evacuating on with Haldir was overcrowded due to how many of their ships had been destroyed by the Emperor's forces already. Haldir had to lift off leaving many of his comrades behind, though they were the lucky ones. The elven ship's burning carcass lay eighty meters to Satella's left as she continued to run with Elfo.

"Help me, Puck," Satella whispered. She pointed her left palm behind her that glowed bright pink as did the amulet on her necklace where the artificial spirit inside it. She fired a burst of magic into a cluster of Dark Trooper droids moving on the crashed elf ship and executing any survivors they came across. She blew them up, but she did not turn to run over to the ship and try saving her comrades. They had left without her, and she was now leaving without them. They knew when they left how futile it was to go back or stay behind for each other. Doing so would only result in more deaths.

Fubuki winced as she was carried away by her fellow Squad Leader on a bumpy run to the east. "No," she whispered as she looked back towards Teru's flight straight into the heart of their enemy forces. Tatsumaki nee-san, she thought painfully. I couldn't be like you. You fought the Ant King himself and died for your friends. But I… Fubuki's squinted eyes finally closed, unable to stay open as her exhaustion finally won out.

"Keep going," Mike Ehrmentraut growled as he saw beams hit Teru in spots of his body where he was not as armored. He reached to his side and pulled his last thermal detonator off his belt. "Come on then," Mike launched his grenade and stumble-ran at the enemy forces who finally stopped advancing.

The Sith were stunned. Sidious, Tarkin, and Thrawn as well. As were the Leam soldiers watching the Resistance retreat out the portholes of their Cruisers. A minute earlier, the lower sky was full of the Emperor's fighter aircraft and the Resistance were getting slaughtered in their evacuation. Somehow, those Resistance members who stayed behind to stall their enemies, halted the Sith's advance. The Sith fighter fleet were crashing. Teru targeted damaged Star Destroyers and finished their engines off as well, causing even more to fall out of the sky. Fog dispersed and rain pelted only the Sith's soldiers who were blinded by the water on their helmets or getting in the droids' circuitry.

"Get 'em!" Rex roared and ran forward despite the bloodied stump of a right arm that he had after losing it to the IG-200 Mini-Grievous that lay in pieces behind him near Fives' body.

Waves of destroyed droids flew up in the air and spiraled around Teru into a tornado of steel. Blood trickled down from the corners of Teru's grinning mouth. Leam's army and even its commanders who ordered their men to stay on the ships cheered and screamed for their Resistance allies who made a desperate last stand against the Sith to let their friends escape.

Gray and Stan were lucky that Gray had fallen so far behind the rest of his men. The fog stayed around them even though the wind had picked up and the rain was whipping sideways now. Gray's comms had been destroyed in the explosion that sent him flying. He was still barely standing on his injured left leg. The burnt and bloody General of the Resistance glared furiously at his short enemy before him who had just mocked him by saying the name of his lost Fairy Tail comrade. "You…" Gray hissed. His eyes clenched shut so hard as he desperately fought the urge to attack and kill Stan in that moment. He had to know first. "What about, 'Romeo?'" Gray snarled.

One wrong word and Gray would be on him. How fast was he? Even in this battered state, could Gray still reach him in under a second? Stan's breath was heavy. Rain pelted him in the left side of his face as it flew west while Stan faced south and Gray looked north back at him, making it so the rain was cleaning off the right side of Gray's bloody and ash-coated face. "He's a slave," Stan continued in a hesitant and scared tone. Gray sees me as an enemy. I am his enemy! I did what my master said though. I did what felt right, coming over here. Stan took in a deep breath, and he then told Gray, "He's the Emperor's slave."

"What do you-" Gray stomped towards Stan. His eyes shook and grew wider then snapped back furiously at Stan. Why is he telling me this? I don't get it! "What are you…" Gray cut himself off again. Who's side is he on? Why say something like that to me? Did he overhear me and Natsu talking about it on the way to Cartman's?

What is he telling Fullbuster? Ventress narrowed her own eyes from the fog she hid her presence in not far from the two boys. She kept her lightsabers turned off for the moment and hid her killing intent to prevent Gray's Haki or Stan's Force from noticing her. It got more difficult to mask her killing aura though, as she suddenly had an excuse to take out Stan as well. A slight smirk started to pull at her lips.

"You're lying," Gray hissed.

"I'm not," Stan countered harshly. "I promise, Gray. I'm trying… to help you," Stan finished in a reluctant way himself and bit down in a conflicted manner frustrated with what he himself was saying.

Gray had that own conflicted look on his face earlier in this battle. He knew it was what he himself looked like when he fought Stan. He had convinced himself how Stan was the enemy. In his head, he once again saw Ahsoka Tano being distracted by this kid while Darth Nihilus slaughtered Gray's Jedi allies. Without Stan, we could have won! I- I need to… he also, saved Timmy? Why? WHY?!

"Just, whose side are you on?" Gray snarled. The answer to this question would decide it.

"I told you, I'm a Sith," Stan growled back. "But," Stan continued even as Gray's right hand curled tightly into a fist. "But I don't like slavery either. And, I thought of you all, as friends," Stan added while glaring down at his own hands in anger. "So I want you to run, and survive. And one day, you can come back and try to save him…"

Gray's right fist released. His mind cleared. He was staring at a confused twelve year old boy who came to tell him this on a whim. He also understood, that Stan had no reason to come tell him this if it was a lie. Why not just attack him? Why mess with his head like that? It was a Sith technique, for sure, but if Stan thought of them as friends, why mess with his head?

An image flashed through Gray's mind. "What mind games, Fairy Tail?" Darth Malgus mocked him. The Sith Lord said those words, "Fairy Tail," and the Sith smirked at him. He voice was taunting. The other Sith looked the same way. Vowrawn appeared mocking while even Lord Adas's helmet had lifted in a twitch, like the Lord's face twisted in the same recognition at his guild's name. Smirking knowingly at him under the helmet. They all knew something. He played it off in his head earlier as just the Sith trying to distract him, make him uncomfortable, make him wonder why they would bring up their knowledge of his guild… and yet he put together what their looks were for now. His heart raced. I thought Romeo was dead!

Gray's eyes snapped to the right. He looked west. "He's at the Order," Stan whispered apologetically to the Resistance General who was so far from the one he wanted to save. Gray bit down himself in even more frustration that his invasion was failing, because this was about more than just a Resistance victory now. His defeat meant Romeo was stuck in slavery. It meant that his one chance of rescuing his young guild member was fading in front of his eyes.

Stan was giving him information about the Sith. This kid in front of him was betraying the Sith who kept that information from him. He was saying things that meant he was an enemy of the Emperor. Gray looked back slowly from the west and into the eyes of the short boy in a red poof-ball hat that was missing the top half of it. The half-poof-ball was a constant reminder of Gin's attack that split that ball in half, as well as Stan's master's body. He fought on our side in Metropolis. He's Killua's friend. Saved Timmy. Stan, Gray clenched his eyes shut. "Come, with me," Gray told the kid. "We'll evacuate together," Gray said.

Stan's eyes bulged that Gray would tell him that. As if all was forgiven? Stan bit down in anger, "No," he retorted. Gray looked back in shock at Stan's immediate rejection. Stan glared much harder back at him, "I didn't tell you this to get back on your good side, or to come back with you. I told you, I'm a Sith."

Gray gawked at the kid whose words and actions did not match up. "I won't be going back with you. I belong here," Stan declared, in clear denial that what he was doing was not what Gray knew a Sith's actions would be.

"You're insane if you think they think you're one of them," Gray snapped. "They can read intentions!" He exclaimed at the stupid kid who would go back only to get killed by the Emperor.

"Maybe," Stan retorted. "Maybe not. All I know is the Emperor can make me stronger." His voice did not waver. "Training under a High Lord- it's as good as I've found so far to achieve my goal." He glared furiously into Gray's eyes, but Gray saw that anger was not directed at all at him. He remembered what Stan said about his desire for vengeance against Ichimaru Gin. The red lightsaber. The menacing little brat in front of him was not as despicable as Sith Lords Gray had faced, and yet he could not deny that Stan had the makings of a Sith more than a Jedi.

Still, Gray's heart rate slowed down. Gray did not return the furious look back at Stan that the kid was showing him. He opened his mouth to argue that Stan needed to leave, because leaving this kid here to die didn't sit right. He slammed his mouth shut though. What would he do? Bring Stan back? He'd go straight to a Resistance prison. Another part of him was still angry at Stan as well for fighting him. Yet he felt something else that was stronger. Stan's saving me, Gray realized. Because I can't die being the only one who knows where Romeo is. Macao needs his son. Romeo needs to be freed! I need to tell Natsu and Juvia.

Gray looked to the east this time rather than the west. His eyes squinted painfully at the thought of returning. A minute ago, he was ready to fight until the end. It's what he thought he deserved after bringing so many of his allies here just to die. Survivor's guilt rushed over him, and so he knew that he planned to survive now. "Thank you, Stan," Gray said. His voice came out low and scratchy. His eyes shifted back and locked with the surprised eyes of the twelve year old boy staring back at him. "You're a friend, and I trust you. I'm sorry," Gray added softer. I keep making the same mistake. There's a reason we're the Resistance and they're the evil Empire! I can't forget who my friends are. Kirito. Stan. Romeo. Romeo, I'm going to save you.

"If you can pass him a message," Gray started, and he took a step sideways to the east. He started backing up, reaching down for his waist at the same time. "Please, let Romeo know that we're coming. Don't let him give up hope," Gray requested. He had seen and freed slaves before. He saw how dead some of their eyes had looked. Don't be gone already, Gray thought. Hold strong, Romeo.

"I'll… see if I can," Stan said, not offering any promises.

Gray pursed his lips but nodded back. He had to accept that. Gray lifted a red and white ball that he pointed behind him in the thick fog swirling about due to the intense battle occurring not far from them that neither could see. "Articuno," Gray called out while a red flash of light ignited from his pokéball. Gray felt guilty again as the magnificent and powerful beast appeared before his eyes. He remembered how upset at him Brock was for not training his legendary Pokémon in warfare.

A tear fell from Gray's right eye and rolled down his bloody and ashy cheek as he thought of Brock. He climbed up onto Articuno and looked back one last time to the short boy behind him. Stan was stepping backwards though. He backed up again, and again, and then Stan turned and jogged off into the fog and vanished from Gray's sight. Gray curled his one hand into the scruff of Articuno's neck. "Fly."

Articuno flapped its wings and soared into the air. Gray pulled on the scruff of Articuno's light blue neck to pull it side to side in the air, his Haki still kicking in enough that he could dodge the few beams of red light that got through. He was still disoriented. He had no idea how many of his men were left or where they were. He had lost all communications. The rain was coming down harder and the fog was thicker in some areas than others. He passed through an unusually clear section of air though, having no idea that Teru had just shot out of that pocket to smash straight into the heart of the enemy ground forces farther to Gray's west. He passed over the bodies of fallen clones and had no idea which of them had been dead for twenty minutes and which fell only seconds before he flew overhead.

Gray yanked to his right and swerved Articuno out of the way just before two Vulture Droids flew down through the airspace he was just flying towards. "Ice Beam!" Gray screamed. He ducked his head down into his Pokémon's back between Articuno's huge wings that the bird flapped in front of it to stop short and spin after the flying droids. A bright beam of frozen light hit the Vulture Droids as they turned after the Fairy Tail mage and his mount. The droid froze and fell out of the air, exploding before they even hit the ground.

Gray tugged on Articuno's neck again and pointed Articuno back the direction he thought east was. He tapped his feet on Articuno's sides and made his Pokémon race off once again even faster.

Stan Marsh stared up into the sky to the east after backpedaling out of Gray's view. He lost sight of his friend whose last words to him made Stan's chest clench up in conflicted emotions again. Why didn't I go with him? I can get stronger… No! NO! This is where I belong. A Sith Lord, training under the most powerful Sith Lord there is. It's my best chance. I know it is. Stan turned away. He ran off to the west, grabbing at his left shoulder with his right hand and stumbling a bit with each explosion that went off. I've fought enough. I proved my worth and can leave now to treat my wounds. No one can say otherwise.

In the fog not far from Stan, a figure stared out at the boy jogging away with no idea that he was being watched. At the figure's feet lay the corpse of a bald assassin whose two lightsabers rolled out of her unclenching hands. Starkiller stepped past Ventress's corpse and watched the kid running the wrong direction. He's not a real Sith. Why stay? Vader trained him, but he's not evil? I remember… something.

Galen Marek reached up and grabbed the side of his head in pain. He felt a clawing sensation digging into his brain. "My father… Darth Vader, he restored balance to the Force. Like he was always meant to. He killed the Emperor. Ended the Empire. At the cost of his own life. I wish he had redeemed himself sooner, but I imagine on this world he's making up for what he did…" Starkiller remembered. He remembered a conversation he had years ago on this world. When he learned what happened in their galaxy in his time. Luke, you're dead now. I heard that, while I was- while I was trapped… "Aarrg- GAH!" Starkiller stumbled to his right and dropped down to his right knee. He grabbed at both temples. "What is, happening?" He groaned in agony.

Starkiller's eyes glowed a dim yellow that flared brighter and brighter. He clenched his eyes shut and fought off the power curling itself around his brain. Who are you?! Starkiller screamed in his own head.

"You're not going anywhere, my apprentice."

Starkiller felt the power getting stronger and stronger. How was it so powerful? How was it getting even stronger?! It felt like the hand curling around his mind was right on top of him. In the sky above the thick fog over Starkiller, one of the Star Destroyers' engines shifted it until the bridge of the ship was directly overhead. "Stop," the Sith commanding the ship ordered. The Sith on the bridge of his ship, the largest ship in the Sith's fleet, smirked from ear to ear on his wrinkled face.

"Vader's influence will not take you from me," Sidious sneered. Darth Sidious curled his twitching right hand into a fist, and Starkiller's violent struggle ceased. The apprentice Sidious felt through the Force stopped pushing back against him. Sidious cackled, though he lowered the corners of his lips as Starkiller's legs wobbled and the young Sith struggled to stay standing. The exhaustion from the battle was not overcome just by Sidious retaking control. "Retreat for now," Sidious ordered him. His apprentice did as he commanded, and Sidious smirked again. Vader, you have failed!

Gray flew through a torrential downpour that got harder to see through once he left the airspace that the Leam Cruisers flew over. Without anything blocking the wind and rain, he just had to duck his head into the back of his Pokémon and hope for the best. The storm that originated over their battlefield unnaturally did not extend forever though, and after flying for another ten minutes, the rain became a drizzle, became just overcast sky.

Gray wondered how far he had flown. He had no idea, but he pushed down on Articuno's neck to bring the bird closer to the surface so he could search for his evacuating army. He knew he needed to focus on regrouping them and figuring out who was left, but he could not get his mind off the mind-blowing revelation Stan just told him. Even when Wendy first told us the story, I never had any hope. Not once. I tried, for Macao's sake. To keep up appearances to Natsu and Juvia. I told Natsu on the first day of our voyage from Awul though. I knew how bad Aebrith was. I knew he was dead. I knew it!

Gray felt something. Something he had felt at the start of this invasion but lost through it. Something that made him determined to go find all of his comrades and rally whatever fraction of his army that remained for an orderly retreat to fight another day. Gray felt hope. For the very first time since hearing that Romeo was enslaved, Gray felt a twinge of hope that they may be able to save him.

As Gray got farther to the east, the battle continued back behind him. Though the Resistance's army was gone, the first and second waves of the Sith reinforcements had been greatly depleted as well. Darth Marsh was not the only one retreating back across the battlefield in the opposite direction as an army of droids and Imperial troops marched. A few hundred feet to Stan's right, as he emerged from a cloud of fog into a thinned-out area underneath one of the regular Star Destroyers, he spotted another Sith Lord from his initial reinforcing group retreating as well.

"Almost back, my old master," Darth Bandon told the bald Sith Lord whose mask around the bottom half of his face dangled off broken, his jaw bloody underneath it. The mask Malak wore resembling the one he needed in his previous life due to a jaw injury, did not protect his reconstructed jaw on Nexus. The Sith himself barely survived the explosion from Fordo's well-placed grenade launcher shot. Bandon held Malak's left arm over his shoulders and helped his master retreat, glancing over his shoulder every so often to check and make sure that crazy clone commando was not still on their tail.

Stan glanced over his own shoulder as he heard approaching footsteps in the fog. He stared with wide eyes and opened his mouth to say something to the other Sith who he was shocked to learn shared the same master as him. Starkiller did not slow down and ran right by Stan, his eyes locked forward to the west. Stan nervously looked behind Starkiller, wondering if anything was chasing after him to make the powerful guy run away like that. He decided not to wait and find out, and he ran back with him and Malak to get to the landing ship they arrived on. Many of the companions they had landed with had fallen in the battle, though Stan only saw Pong Krell's death and did not witness Ventress's more recent execution.

I told the Sith that I was Darth Vader's apprentice. Why didn't any of them tell me about Starkiller? Stan wondered as he ran after the back of the other Sith whose freak-out during Anakin's appearance confused him. This guy's kind of crazy. He did save me a couple times during the fight with Ahsoka… Anakin never mentioned her either. He didn't speak much on the Jedi at all. He was ashamed of what he did. Like I was, looking at Gray, Stan thought about the comrade who he told about Romeo and did not feel as much guilt now.

BOOOM! Kr-CRASH! Stan ducked his head and then stumbled to his left as a gust of wind slammed into him. Gotta keep running!

Stan could not see it, but a battle going on high above his head just tore another hole through one of the Sith's starships. Red lights flashed through the halls of the Star Destroyer that the men on top of fought without caring if the ship was damaged. It was not Xaldin's ship, after all, though he at least did not openly attack it like Muu Alexius was doing.

Muu just knocked Xaldin back with a one-two punch inside his Djinn Equip that sent the Organization ranking member sprawling backwards. Xaldin righted himself in midair though and rose up his right palm as Muu flew in for a follow-up. The sky darkened even more than it already was. A dark green aura surrounded Xaldin and flared as Muu reached him. Muu Alexius punched, and Xaldin caught his punch. A stunned Muu slashed with his javelin and slammed it into Xaldin's left side, but Xaldin had activated a temporary invulnerability to all attacks. Muu did not know how that worked, yet a thin white glow around Xaldin inside of the green aura did not even bend into his body to give the slightest amount to Muu's slash.

Muu ripped his left fist backwards and flew back as fast as he could, but he was still slashed by the six lances of Xaldin that teleported and appeared in front of the Nobody. Those lances bulged and transformed to create a giant lance of snakes that zipped after Muu, while Xaldin teleported away off fifty yards to Muu's right, then appeared behind him inside of a pillar of white light that exploded in midair and singed the ends of Muu's hair as he yanked backwards.

Even though Muu did not know how that invulnerability trick worked, he could see before that his attacks were doing damage. Xaldin would have used this technique from the start if it could last forever. Still, Muu himself did not have forever in his Djinn Equip either. Two giant Twilight Thorns shot up over the edges of the listing Star Destroyer and punched their spiking arms towards him. The snake of lances that Xaldin teleported on top of and rode like a dragon after Muu through the sky, split apart at the end to become a three-headed lance. All of those lances started glowing bright white at the end, and beams fired from them that were each surrounded in tornadoes of winds that were so sharp that Muu could feel them grinding against his skin. If he was not inside his Djinn Equip, he knew he would have been cut up like being inside a tornado of glass.

"Extreme Magic," Muu Alexius rose his trident in front of his body pointed towards the sky. He grinned. Even despite the difficult battle that he was not expecting, Muu smiled like the warrior he was, thrilled by the action. His trident vanished into a shape of bluish-white light. Maybe you are impervious and maybe not. We will see. Muu's tri-pointed javelin extended. "Bard… LONGINEUS!" His javelin transformed fully into a sword that extended to the heavens so fast that the clouds above them cleared. Even in the enhanced darkness that descended on everything when Xaldin started using his most powerful attacks, Muu's light from his Djinn Barbatos illuminated everything.

The soldiers of Leam cheered as they saw the blue glow out their windows. Muu was grinning behind his enormous weapon of light, but he still felt disappointed. Through the clear sky above his attack that altered the very weather and cut off the rain in an instant, Muu did not see the barrier above the world light up purple. As powerful as he became, that was a reminder of just how weak he was in comparison to many others. He doubted that the Nobody in front of him was one of those others though, and Muu smirked past the light at the dark cloaked figure who floated backwards on his lance snake at the sight of Muu's charging attack. Muu swung down and then quickly yanked his right arm to the side.

The Extreme Magic of the King of Leam split the listing Star Destroyer in two. He swiped to the side so fast in a follow-up that the Twilight Thorns did not even have time to try to dodge. Both of them split in half horizontally and then broke apart into shards of light. The magic was so powerful that other flying Nobodies and Heartless near them shattered, as well as dozens of Sith starfighters and flying droids exploding in fiery balls. More than dozens of them would have exploded, if Teru had not already cleared most of the sky of Imperial fighters a couple minutes earlier. Muu's attack finished the job that the weakened teen started… but was unable to finish.

"Fall back," a voice spoke into Muu's earpiece.

Muu's Extreme Magic faded and left the half-blood Fanalis warrior panting heavily over the split bow of the falling and exploding Star Destroyer. The order Muu heard came from his great uncle who himself drew his weapon and activated his Djinn Equip. Ignatius Alexius summoned his Djinn, Purson, and shot out of the bridge of their Heavy Sun Cruiser and flagship. He emerged because he saw beyond Muu the figure who continued to fly ahead of his Commander.

Xaldin's green and white glow faded. He did not show the same fatigue Muu showed panting in front of him, but Xaldin did not smirk back at Leam's Commander. The Star Destroyer they fought on had been destroyed as had many of Xaldin's summons, but a Light Stellar Cruiser had crashed into the surface during their battle as well. Muu may have destroyed a Twilight Thorn imbedded inside the ship's bow like a tumor, but he was distracted by Xaldin and did not realize that the giant was not the only Nobody Xaldin released in that ship. Xaldin's Dragoon Nobodies continued advancing below with the Sith ground forces too.

"I've done my job," Xaldin spoke. He did not accept defeat, but he did look over Muu's shoulder for a moment to the enemy ship that he saw another King Vessel floating above. It was not his job to defeat all of Leam's strongest warriors. A swirling vortex of darkness appeared behind Xaldin while his lances started to shatter apart into shards of light. The muscular Nobody reached up and lifted his hood back over his hair, shadowing his face once more. "Another time, Muu Alexius."

Muu opened his mouth to mock back a taunt, but his long hair started to shrink back to his head and return to its hot pink color. Muu decided against saying a word, instead leaping backwards and floating softly down to land on top of his ship before the Djinn Equip wore off completely. He curled his right hand into his sword's hilt and pressed the blade into the ship to steady himself, as the wind was picking up again up here and he was a bit wobbly after that fight.

"Step inside," Ignatius told him. A wall of water rose up in front of the older man who had a long scaly tail that split off at the end like a merman's. Ignatius held a trident of his own that was not as long as Muu's javelin had been in his Equip. Ignatius's body also turned paler rather than tanner as Muu's did, though most of his skin was hidden under the thick blue scales that surrounded his hulking figure that broadened far more than Muu had. Despite his advanced age, Ignatius was an intimidating figure. The magic wall of water that Purson, a Water Djinn, created in front of him was blocking and absorbing beams of red light fired at the pair of them from enemy starships.

Muu stumbled towards the panel on the top of their bridge and dropped into it as the men inside opened it back up for their King. Ignatius deactivated his Djinn Equip and landed back in the bridge with his Commander. It was better to save it now that the Nobody had retreated. "How goes, the Resistance retreat?" Muu questioned an officer in his bridge after he caught his breath.

Ignatius smiled. Despite acting otherwise, his great uncle knew that Muu cared about the Resistance forces. It was why the Fanalis Corps had been sent out themselves to guard the retreat and fight on the ground. That, and because it was more difficult for Muu to hold them back from the chance at battle than it was for him to control the rest of his army. Muu refused to risk the rest of his troops to save the Resistance, but he still wanted to know if his own attack at the front managed to give at least a few of them a chance to survive.

"The remainder have all escaped, Muu," Ignatius reported.

Muu spun in shock to his great uncle. He knew that some of the Resistance fighters held back to help them evacuate, but he suspected most had still been cut down. "Even Gray Fullbuster was seen escaping on the back of the legendary Pokémon, Articuno. Only a few others fell after you stepped out."

"What happened?" Muu asked in amazement.

On the surface below Leam's Cruisers, a shiny white circle glowed in the air in an area of light fog. A man's head stuck out of the circle with wavy brown hair and green highlighted tips that curled up at his shoulders. His highlights matched his all-green outfit, other than the Black Bulls black mantle he wore draped over his shoulders.

Another figure shot out of the portal with sparks coming out of his body and an excited smile spread across his face. "Wait! Luck," Finral Roulacase caught Luck Voltia by the younger boy's own black mantle and yanked him back towards the portal. Finral stumbled out of the portal himself, as Luck was moving too fast and was almost too strong for Finral to stop them. "I think that's everyone," Finral told the blond boy who sighed disappointedly and kept grinning around as he tried pinpointing which next enemy to target. "Come on, we've got to get out of here," Finral pulled Luck back towards the portal while the younger boy protested and whined.

"Aww, I want to stay! Look at how much fun this is!"

"I've got to get them farther east, and then we've got to get back to the Deadlands A.S.A.P." Finral argued with the kid who he had to drag kicking and yelling back into the portal. Finral was glad that Luck was not trying all that hard, accepting instead what Finral was telling him and allowing himself to be dragged off. Luck had very much enjoyed protecting Finral while the latter was evacuating Resistance forces through his portals.

The two Black Bulls and their floating grimoires went back through Finral's portal that closed behind them. As soon as the portal closed, a blue figure with wavy hair and a long pointed tail appeared out of thin air in a puff of pink smoke next to them. "AHhh!" Finral yelped in fear and threw both arms up while leaning away from the devil-like creature in a tight red outfit with an X in the middle of it.

Nightcrawler ignored the panicked mage who let out a long sigh of relief as he recognized who came out of the smoke puff. A whole field of evacuated Resistance forces lay on their backs panting in exhaustion or getting treated by the few doctors they had. Mansherry ran about from injured to injured and tried helping as best she could. The mutant who just teleported in held up a palm towards the little blonde Tontatta Princess though. Mansherry winced at the way Nightcrawler did that as if telling her to stop, because she was not needed for the dead comrade he lowered.

Cyclops and Wolverine stepped towards their comrade who just reappeared again from the battlefield. A wheelchair with jets sticking out of it to allow it to hover just over the grass floated over too and landed just in front of Nightcrawler. "Oh poor Rex," Charles Xavier said as Nightcrawler lowered down the body of their fellow teacher at the Hero School. "The children will be heartbroken," he lamented

Cyclops shook his head and cursed under his breath at the tragedy. He turned his head and looked over to a line of injured Jedi, two of which had cloths placed over their faces which signified the two were no longer just injured. He was glad to see that Tiplee's face had not been covered up, though their other teacher who joined in on this war looked worse for wear. "Was it all for nothing?" Cyclops wondered softly.

"Looks like," Wolverine responded. He said it in a gruff tone with no delicacy, and many of the soldiers they just helped evacuate glared at the man and felt enraged at the thought. The idea that so many of their comrades had died for nothing just could not be the case, could it? Cyclops elbowed Logan in the side and made the hairier man grunt and glare at him, then glance around and grunt again but say nothing as he saw the looks everyone else gave him.

It's war, Logan thought. He did not say it, especially to some of the teenagers and kids around him who had not been in as many wars as he had. Sometimes it is all for nothing. Ten years in 'Nam… Logan shook his head around to shake off that thought. Better not to think about that. Reminded him too much of someone who fought by his side in those days. Victor.

A blue, green, and red light zipped about in the sky just over the field hospital that had been set up. "It's time to move again, people!" Buttercup cupped her hands to her mouth and shouted down at the field as she emerged from the red blur.

Blossom flew down towards Charles Xavier and only paused for a second to look down at Rex's blaster-hole-covered armor. "Captain Blossom," Xavier greeted the seven year old and youngest Elite Squad leader. "Why the hurry?" Xavier wondered in concern of his own. He turned and sensed out to the west, and he frowned at what he noticed.

"Leam is pulling their ships back," Blossom reported. Her and her sisters scouted back in the other direction, but they retreated to the others upon receiving word of Leam's plans. "They're leaving Sith airspace. They'll be pulling back farther east than here too."

"What?" Cyclops snapped. "Why? There's no need-"

"They don't want to have to keep their fleet here defending against the Sith, and we have fortifications they're taking up all along the Anduin River," Blossom pointed her small hand back to the east towards somewhere much farther from their current position.

"All the way to the Anduin?" Nightcrawler asked in disbelief. "They'd be abandoning Sectors 343 all the way to, what? 345?"

"346," Xavier corrected his fellow teacher of the Hero School. "If that is Leam's decision," he relented quickly. "This territory is now theirs. They are choosing to move back to a natural barrier, and we cannot say anything to them. Quickly, let us begin moving everyone."

"Hahhh," Finral sighed out a long exhale. He looked to Blossom though and gave her a thumbs up when she checked to see if her squad member could keep going. Finral clapped himself on his cheeks twice then smiled and jogged between lines of injured Resistance troops. "Everyone get ready, we're moving out. Pick up what and who you can, let's get going! Chop chop!"

"We're not staying," Dante slid his pistols back into the holsters on each side of his belt. "So stop looking that way like you're about to run off to join them. Help me out," Dante nodded his head back towards the rest of Gamma Squad who started helping the invasion force get back up or carry their wounded and corpses into Finral's new portal.

Vergil glared sideways back at his younger twin brother. The man with much longer white hair than his brother held a katana in his right hand. Vergil frowned but slid the blade back into its scabbard and turned around to retreat with the rest. This was not their battle, after all. The two of them were fighting on the eastern front against Arachne and her forces. They only came here because of their squad leader's orders.

Blossom leaned her head to the left and winced as a voice shouted in the earpiece in her right ear. Buttercup snickered at her sister's annoyed face and uneasy expression. "Kid's giving you an earful," she joked.

"Commander Kid is… not happy about us leaving our position," Blossom sugarcoated what the Resistance Commander was yelling at her.

Not far from Blossom, a teenage girl getting lifted up by another squad leader moaned at what Blossom and Buttercup just said to each other. Jakku Za Rippa glanced at the two Powerpuff Girls and then back at the portal-user he just lifted up in his arms. Jo moaned softly with her eyes closed, "Kid." She heard them talking about Death the Kid, and even unconscious, in her mind was the sight of Darth Tenebrous's lightsaber sticking out of Kid Cosmic's chest.

"This is brutal," Stealth Elf whispered to the purple dragon she loaded up another heavily injured Resistance fighter onto the back of.

"Yeah, I know right?" Eruptor heaved up two muscular elves onto his own shoulders that he decreased the heat of. The orange rock-shaped Skylander who had glowing cracks all along his body showing the lava inside him kept himself as cool as could be so he could help evacuate their Resistance comrades. "They should'a let us come too. Maybe, it would have been different."

"Definitely would have been if I was here," Spyro remarked brashly. He nodded his head towards Finral's portal after Stealth Elf put the last of their wounded comrades up onto his back. "We'll be there next time. Even if they try to keep us in the Deadlands again."

"Or they'll just demote Blossom, and our next squad leader won't bring us," Stealth Elf countered.

Spyro and Eruptor both frowned at the idea of that. "Then we'll come anyway," a voice rejected that outcome behind the three Skylanders and fellow members of Gamma Squad. They looked back at the humanoid Chinese boy with a red bandanna around his forehead. He had two black buns sticking off the top of his skull pointed each way diagonally. Nezha scoffed at the idea of a new squad captain stopping them. "Not missing another battle like this. That's for sure. I'll eat anyone who tries to stop me!"

Nezha walked past the others with his shirt held up in front of him. On his shirt were five injured Tontatta he carried carefully through Finral's portal. The teenage deity flashed a sharp-toothed grin down at the tiny dwarves who were grateful to him for carrying them, though also nervous by the demonic and scary-sounding boy.

"I can't believe they left us behind this time," Spyro said in frustration as he marched through the portal too after Nezha. "We finally have the chance to avenge Master Eon, and they don't even tell us the invasion is happening until it's too late."

"The captain knew," Eruptor countered. "So someone needs to start spying on her, in case they give her warning again next time," Eruptor nudged Stealth Elf next to him who Spyro also craned his neck to stare at.

Stealth Elf frowned at the boys for suggesting she break Blossom's trust. Then again, she thought of their master who fell aiding elves like her against the Emperor. I lost my people that day, as well as Master Eon. He held Rivendell until the end and gave us time to evacuate with the others. Next time there's a chance to go after the Sith, I am not missing it.

"What are you thinking, Blossom?" Quon wondered as he took over for Death the Kid. He was not yelling at her like Kid had been, but he understood where Kid was coming from. "Death the Kid is from Arachne's world. He knows what he's talking about. Leaving your post puts the entire Resistance at risk."

"Your wrong, sir," Blossom countered the leader of the Resistance. Bubbles and Buttercup each gave her nervous looks for saying that rather than just apologizing as they wished she would. If she tried, she could probably beg for forgiveness and keep her post despite disobeying direct orders. "I haven't been able to report it in yet, because the developments in the Deadlands are still too new."

Quon rose his eyebrows. He wondered if Blossom was just using this to try and get out of accepting the consequences of her actions. "It's thanks to you, sir," Blossom continued though. "Or rather, thanks to Commander Gaara. And the actions of Alpha Squad. They hunted down the vampire nobles Crowley Eusford and Ferid Bathory. You gave us the information that Alpha obtained with the vampires' coordinates."

"Yes, I remember," Quon replied, though he was confused as to what Blossom was talking about here. "The Vampire Queen is there. She is who I wanted you focused on, and she may already be taking advantage of your absence."

"That's just it, Commander. She can't focus on us. Eusford and Bathory were supposedly staunch supporters of hers and from her own universe. A lot of the other vampires turned on her after they apparently 'got their comrades killed.' There's disorder in the vampires' ranks right now. I'd go as far as to call it chaotic. A vampire civil war even!" Blossom exclaimed.

Bubbles tilted her head to the side in confusion and opened her mouth next to Blossom. Buttercup quickly threw both of her arms around her bubbly blonde sister's head and covered Bubble's mouth before she could say something stupid that Quon would hear over the comms. Charles Xavier read the girls' minds though and chuckled himself before floating through the portal Finral opened to a position farther east. She may be exaggerating, but it is not a complete lie. The vampires will be too distracted at the moment to take advantage of Gamma Squad's own distraction. They likely have yet to notice that Gamma is no longer on the border.

"Commander Gaara's death was not in vain," Blossom declared. "We were able to divert here because of him."

Quon wondered if that was true. Gaara was killed by an Al-Tharmen assassin. Sylar had little to do with the mission Gaara sent Alpha on, but Quon still smiled softly at the notion that it meant something. Had Alpha still been at that base and Gaara never sent them away, maybe Gaara would have lived. He took seriously the chance of weakening Arachne though, and it seemed that the mission worked by weakening one of Arachne's strongest Lords.

"Just get back to your positions as soon as possible," Quon ordered her. Then he paused, and the leader of the Resistance added, "Good work saving your comrades, Blossom. I trust your decision." The connection cut, but Blossom heard yells in the background that made her flinch her head away again as Death the Kid and Kiryuin Satsuki immediately shouted at Quon for being too lenient on her.

Blossom flashed a smile at her sisters and nodded at them that things were going to be okay. The three of them then turned and each flew to different sections of the field hospital to help evacuate the last of the injured who were taking the longest to move.

A little to the west of where the girls had first evacuated the fleeing Resistance fighters to, Gray landed at the temporary pop-up base in Sector 343. He was confused. His heart wrenched as he looked around the empty base he had just hoped his men were so fast that they made it to before him. This is where they would have evacuated to. Gray walked over to a flat area outside of the base's walls and pressed his hand down on grass he saw that looked freshly trampled on.

"It's hot," he whispered. It felt like something had lifted off from here not long ago.

An elven ship had made it away from the battlefield, only to lift back off immediately before word came down that the Resistance and Leam were abandoning these Sectors. Those elves were returning home to the elven enclave under Galadriel, more disillusioned than ever with the Resistance who handed even more land off to Leam.

Gray did not know what was going on though. He was just confused as to why no one was here. Am I the last one? Gray wondered. No, he stood back up straight and shook his head around after touching the warm grass. He ran inside the base and looked around, saw no one, and went inside the main building. He ran for the communications' room that Leonardo Watch had been running over the last few days before they launched their invasion.

Gray jogged to the table that had the radio equipment on it and then froze as he reached for a microphone. He listened to the message being broadcasted out to this sector and to all the nearby sectors on this side of the southern Anduin. Abandoning Sectors 343-346? All forces pulling back… Everyone else must have fled farther east than me. Gray felt relief with a mixture of dread. Dread, because somehow he still did not think many of his men survived.

Gray picked up the microphone and flipped a switch to give an outgoing message instead of continuing to listen to the announcement on the open channel. "All forces, this is General Fullbuster. Pull back east of the Anduin. If you're still retreating, make it back there and we'll regroup. Stay alive. No matter what."

Another radio on Gray's channel turned on. "Gray. Gray pick up and get off the open channel."

Gray flipped off the switch for the main radio and picked up a portable communicator. He put the headset over his head and turned to leave the comms room while answering the call. "Sasuke?" Gray responded to the Commander calling him. "Yeah, I'm alive. Barely… I didn't have a communicator. I had to get back to the forward base before- yeah. Yeah I hear you. I understand."

"…I'll report directly to HQ then." Gray froze in the doorway and bowed his head while responding to the ninja Commander. He rubbed his forehead with the back of his dirty hand and then looked at it and the blood that got all over his knuckles when he did so. "No," Gray responded as Sasuke continued talking in his ear and asked another question for a Commander standing next to him. "Zapp didn't make it. Most of the force who came from Sector Z-345, fell on the battlefield." Gray pinched his nose and closed his eyes as he heard Commander Klaus roar and curse behind Sasuke.

"Then we won't have to convince him to abandon his post," Sasuke said in a low grim voice. "Get back here immediately. Someone else will deal with the meager remainder of your old forces."

"…Understood." Sasuke is angry. Is it with me? I failed. I deserve their vitriol. I deserve so much worse. I don't deserve to live. Gray reached out and steadied himself by gripping onto the doorframe he was about to walk through. He wobbled and had to shake around his head as his vision got dizzy for a few seconds. I lost half my army. More, probably. Hundreds of men followed me to war. How could I just, throw their lives away?! Gray curled his hand on the doorframe tighter and splintered the wood, getting fresh cuts on his palm as he did.

He pulled his hand back and looked down at the blood trickling down his arm. He dropped that arm to his side and started walking back for the exit to the base. At least Sasuke mentioned my "old forces." That means they're not mine any longer. But… at least it also means that some of them survived.

Please, Gods… let there be more than a handful of survivors.

---

A/N And that's the end of a brutal chapter of retreat from the battlefield finally ends Gray's invasion of the Sith. For the first time since our heroes arrived on Aebrith, we witness a complete defeat. Gray himself survives as Stan gives him the motivation not to lose his life on the battlefield, letting Gray know about Romeo who remains a slave to the Emperor. While hope for pushing against the Sith is gone for now, Gray finds new hope in the knowledge that Romeo is still alive, at the least. Next time we see the consequences to the invasion and stick with Gray as we're still in the Invasion Arc of chapter 24. As we near the end of the arc, I'd love to hear predictions for which arc is going to follow. I know it's been a long time since chapter 24 started, years to be honest. But remember that the main characters split off from each other for a month of "training," after they returned to Resistance HQ from the Wizard King's. Most of them wound up not training, and even Kirito left after initially training at HQ like Goku for the start of the month. At the end of Ben's chapter in Zodd, he and Kirito were leaving for Sith territory to find Paradis, a virtual world that Dash also apparently headed off to. Luffy and Rin are on their way to Hell. Natsu and friends continued north after joining up with Alpha Squad, and we last saw them at the start of this chapter (24.0) at the Tower of Babel when Sora was visiting, on their way to join the war against Father in the north beyond the Cataclysm. We've got main characters scattered around the continent, so let me know which arc you think will follow this one! Thank you everyone for reading! I appreciate all the follows, favorites, and reviews to the story, and as such, it's time for review responses:

Espada-001 chapter 158 . Jan 27

That was a pretty fast chapter to come out. I'm glad that my comment on the last chapter was helpful to you. I'm a huge fan of Galen and wish he could get some more content fleshed out for him in the comics but I doubt that would ever happen. So seeing him here is getting me hyped!

Reading Samuel L., I mean "Mace Windu's" cameo was also an amusing moment.

Anakin's battle with the planet eater was a fun read. Too bad something snatched him away while he was in an exhausted state.

Now I'm looking forward to seeing if Galen can throw off whatever is clouding his mind. If he can do that he should be the strongest force user left in the war. I mean he's basically the perfect fusion of a Jedi Master and Sith Lord in terms of skill and power. I hadn't thought about it before but he would also be the perfect new master for Stan since he's basically a senior that has mastered both sides of the force and found balance. That's the exact kind of person Stan needs to guide him.

On a side note it was fun seeing the RvB AI's getting some show time even if a few of the fragments have fallen sadly. Funnily enough I'm not sure if Beta is actually stronger than Epsilon although even if he was I doubt he actually has the balls to tell Beta no in an argument anyway. (lol)

Well that's all for my rants this time. As usual thank you for another great chapter and I look forward to reading the next!

Until next time have a good day!

Sam Jackson- I mean Mace Windu's cameo was fun to write in. XD As was Yoda yelling out Yoda quotes. I had fun with the Force Ghost battle that I came up with really as I was writing the chapter, unlike most of the arc which have long summaries planned out beforehand to give me a basis of what to write and help me foreshadow a lot. Anakin got ripped away before he could help out even more, and unfortunately, Galen fell back under Darth Sidious's influence in this chapter. Stan knows now though about his senior's affiliation with Anakin and watched him crash out during the battle, though he's unaware that Starkiller saved his life in this chapter from Ventress's assassination. Glad you liked the RvB appearances, as I loved Red vs Blue for years. Didn't put them in this chapter much, though considering what happened to most of the characters I did focus on, they were the lucky ones. Thanks for the review! Hope you liked the end of the battle :)

Guest chapter 158 . Jan 28

I'm glad your back this my favorite fics

And I'm glad to be back! It's a lot of fun to write too. Thanks for the review!

Kelleyarts chapter 157 . Jan 30

Your story truly resonated with me, and I couldn't help but imagine how incredible it would be as a comic.

I think so too! I do this for free though and don't think I should/can make any money from a story using other people's characters. So I'll have to turn down the commission request. Though I have thought of the story playing out as a comic book many times, and I'm glad you liked it. Thank you for the review, and thanks everyone for reading another chapter of Nexus: Heroes Will Rise! 'Til next time!