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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Beyond - Legends THE NEW IMPERIUM - The Second Great War 6: "Remembrance" (COMPLETED 2/19/12)

Discussion in 'Fan Fiction- Before, Saga, and Beyond' started by Sauron, Nov 13, 2009.

  1. aalagartassle

    aalagartassle Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 11, 2011
    A very good start, great reading.
    I'm finding the names hard to remember but the intent of the story is definately making a mark. I'm only up to your second post but will get through what you have written within two weeks [that's about 14 [face_coffee] while I read!]

    I'm enjoying the grit of war!Furthermore the political intrigue you allude to!

    The explosion expanded to the valley?s edges instantaneously, consuming everything within. The Followers surrounding Altima were vaporized, and the other warriors on the battlefield were blown to pieces, unable to escape the field of destruction. Skin peeled off of bodies, followed by muscle and bone that was shattered into thousands of fragments. Body parts flew in all directions before being incinerated in the bright fire that burned away everything within the entire valley. The surrounding hills melted away, the ground collapsing in a crater as large as the valley was wide. The conflagration rose into the sky, burning away the very atmosphere creating a swirling vortex kilometers wide.

    Nice work!
     
  2. Sauron

    Sauron Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Dec 20, 1999

    Aalagartassle: Thank you very much for the kind words! It is good to see that some are actually reading the story! My fear has been that the plot line has gotten so long, that it's just too daunting for people to catch on. But I hope that if people are willing to make the investment (especially reading from the earlier stories) that they will find it worth it. If you want to read the earlier stories or need to catch up on backstory via the NI Wiki, those resources should be linked up at the top post.

    You're right, there is a LARGE cast of characters. Many have been whittled away by the attrition of war, and more still will. But the core characters (Xar Kerensky, Zalaria, Alyx Misnera, Icis Novitaar, Gaius Adonai Rynn Mariel, and a few others) are fewer and I hope you can at least find their storylines coherent enough to follow. Please keep reading and keep the comments coming! ;-)


    Titan-class Battleship Dark Sun
    Mizar System
    1538 Hours



    Velius sat cross-legged on the floor, deep in meditation.

    Calvernic kept glancing at him in uncertainty. He couldn?t tell through the Power what the man was doing, but whatever it was, he was oblivious to everything else going on. Kronos and Asellus, in contrast, stood facing the battle that was raging outside, portrayed by the holographics surrounding the entire command chamber. Their faces were masks of concentration. Calvernic knew exactly what they were doing: fighting Nimrod and Zalaria and the ancient Power artifact they had onboard the Grand Crusader.

    Amazing, how powerful that artifact made them. Normally the sibling Shok?Thola would never have been powerful enough to stop the combined strength of Kronos and Asellus, let alone Velius, as well. Yet somehow they were able to erect an impenetrable force field around their command ship, strong enough that nothing Asellus? uneasy alliance had tried had been able to break through.

    Calvernic, aloof from the other three, instead focused on rallying his forces to assault the enemy ships outside of that containment bubble. He knew better than to embroil himself in a fight against Zalaria or Nimrod. He was far too inexperienced, yet. It maddened him that there were still so many secrets he hadn?t been made privy too. But Zalaria?s tutelage had been relatively brief, only a few hundred years. Barely even a start.

    Asellus kept staring out at the battle with a faraway look. Calvernic could feel the arcane energies emanating from the two of them. He knew that she hated Zalaria more than anything in the universe. Whatever had happened between them, millennia ago now, it had created one of the worst feuds in Shok?Thola history, exceeded only, perhaps, by the one between Strife and Akargan.

    Every once in a while Asellus would hiss in apparent frustration as another ploy she tried was turned back ineffectively. Finally she turned and looked at Kronos with a withering stare. The other man?s face was far more composed and placid, a stark contrast to her mask of effort.

    ?Link with me. Lend me your power,? she told Kronos.

    Kronos barked out a laugh of derision. ?I think not.?

    Calvernic watched as she glared death at him, then turned away. The two of them would never link, he knew, because that would make each vulnerable to any surprises the other had planned. No Shok?Thola would ever be exposed like that. Although linking was possible, Calvernic knew of no instance it had ever been done, except possibly between Zalaria and Nimrod.

    ?You,? Asellus hissed.

    Calvernic jumped, realizing she was addressing him. He looked askance up at her.

    ?Link with me,? she commanded.

    A feeling of dread shot through him. He couldn?t refuse as easily as Kronos had. Still, he was a Shok?Thola. She had no right to demand that of him. ?I have other matters to attend to?? he began.

    ?Link with me, or die,? she said, voice dripping venom. ?You are useless, otherwise.?

    He rose, chafing at her words. Perhaps she would kill him, but what threat was that to him? He had more than enough clone bodies secreted away in the home galaxy, waiting for him. Ind
     
  3. Sauron

    Sauron Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Dec 20, 1999

    Location Unknown
    Time Unknown



    Nico opened his eyes. And screamed.

    ?No please, don?t!? he yelled. ?Please leave me alone!?

    He broke off suddenly. Zalaria was gone. The pain was gone, as well. What had happened? Was he dead?

    He looked around at the unfamiliar room around him, at the ceiling that soared overhead, lit softly from lights set so they were just out of view. He was lying down on a bed in the center of the room. He didn?t remember how he?d gotten here.

    In fact, the last thing he remembered was kneeling, collapsed, in front of Zalaria, her mind violently invading his own. He?d felt helpless, like prey in the clutches of a predator. Even now the terror of that memory hadn?t fully abated. But where was he now? Surely only a moment had passed?

    ?You are in Angol Moa?s laboratory,? someone answered beside him.

    He turned, blinking in surprise as he saw Icis Novitaar towering over him. He glanced down, seeing that he was lying on some kind of medical gurney. ?I?m where?? he asked, his voice coming out in a croak.

    ?It?s a long story,? Icis said. ?Welcome back, old friend. Let me help you up.?

    He pressed a button on the side of the gurney, and the bed tilted Nico up into a sitting position.

    ?How do you feel?? Icis asked him.

    ?I feel? fine,? Nico replied, answering truthfully. ?I?m thirsty.?

    ?Here.? Icis reached over and took hold of a drinking tube that extended from the gurney?s side, then angled it towards Nico?s head.

    Nico drank greedily, then finally stopped when he felt satisfied. ?I could use some food, too.?

    Icis smiled cordially at him. ?I already asked one of the droids to prepare something for you.?

    ?Droids?? Nico ran a hand through his hair, then felt his face. He pulled his hand away in shock. He had a beard! ?How? how long was I out??

    ?Do you really want to know??

    Nico nodded.

    ?Over six months.?

    ?What?!? Nico exclaimed.

    Icis raised a hand to forestall any further questions. ?You were? in bad shape, friend. Zalaria did serious damage to your mind, damage we couldn?t repair. Xar and I brought you to Angol Moa.?

    ?Xar!? The man?s name brought back another flood of memories, and Nico?s head was starting to ache. ?Where is he??

    ?He isn?t here at the moment. It?s just you and me.?

    ?And where is ?here?, again? Who is? Angle Moa??

    ?Angol Moa,? Icis corrected. ?And? As I said, it?s a long story. You should get some rest. You?re safe here.?

    ?I really feel fine, Icis,? Nico said. ?Physically, at least. Mentally, I?m ready for some answers to what?s been happening to me. It feels like I just woke up from the longest, strangest dream ever. Or maybe all this is the dream.? He put a hand on his head again, which had started aching worse than ever. ?It?s like my mind?s been locked up inside a room, and now I have a key to open the door, but I just don?t know where the door is. If I could just figure out which??

    Nico stopped speaking. A new memory had just popped into his head, something that froze him in his tracks in sheer terror.

    ?Nico??

    ?Black sands of Sacorria, no,? he whispered. How could this have happened? What in the galaxy had he done? How had he not known?

    ?What is it, Nico?? Icis asked, concerned.

    Nico reached out and grabbed the man?s arm in wide-eyed horror. ?Icis! We have to do something!?

    ?What??

    The memories were coming back in a flood, now. The problem was, they were memories he hadn?t known he had. Memories that had been taken from him, by someone. Someone terrible.

    The words spilled out from him in a rush.

    ?Something? Something horrible has happened, Icis! The Diktat of the New Imperium!?

    ?The Diktat?? Icis asked, confused.

    ?He?s an Altarin?Dakor agent!? Nico swallowed hard as the full realization of what he?d done set in. ?And I? I helped put him in office!?


    * * *


    Mizar System
    1630 Hours


    With the Grand Crusader?s batteries gone silent, the tide of battle was quickly turning against the New Imperium. The remaining NI ships were getting pummeled. The ISD Crusader went up in a chain explosion as beams tore into her interior from multiple angles. The Titan Nimb
     
  4. Sauron

    Sauron Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Dec 20, 1999
    Location Unknown
    Time Unknown




    Xar fell back before the onslaught of the two Dark Jedi.
    His lightsaber materialized in his hands, its yellow-white shaft snapping to life just in time. Runis and Krun struck almost simultaneously, and Xar threw his blade out defensively first against one, then the other. Fear gave way to desperation as he fought for his life. Light flashed off their blades into the darkness beyond.

    He retreated before the two men, completely on the defensive, their three blades a whirlwind of yellow, red and purple clashing over and over again. Krun came in with aggressive abandon, launching powerful blows with his deep crimson blade that took all of Xar?s strength to fend off. By contrast, Runis? attacks were more conservative and precise, requiring deft skill for Xar to parry, his dark violet blade snaking this way and that.

    With his vast and varied experience and skills, Xar knew he should have the advantage in a duel, but even in good times he wouldn?t have liked to face both of them alone. Making things worse, to his dismay, he found his arms wouldn?t move quite as fast as he was used to. The coordination of his limbs was just slightly off, and he didn?t seem able to see as many moves ahead as he normally could. More than just his Force strength had been taken away.

    It took every ounce of skill and luck to keep from getting killed. And yet he knew it was only a matter of time. He blocked one strike from Krun, then another from Runis. The two men were coordinating as though they had practiced this, and Xar felt sorely underprepared. Krun tried to goad him towards Runis, leaving Xar?s back exposed to the dark master. Xar sidestepped, always trying to avoid getting flanked. Runis, when faced against Xar alone, fought more defensively, biding time for Krun to come in and tip the scales in their favor. Runis? cloak billowed out behind him as he came in, swinging again and again.

    Xar parried his attacks and slid to the side, only to find himself defending against Krun again. The wild-haired man struck overhead hard, and Xar barely got his blade up in time to keep Krun?s from slicing into his head. He retreated again, Krun?s blade flashing in again and again, Xar?s parries sending flashes of light out into the darkness. Their faces were bathed only in the light of their blades, yellow, red and violet light reflecting off their features.

    Xar had to break off again to block Runis, who was trying to flank him. He struck at his former master in a complicated series of strikes, and for a second they seemed equally matched, before Runis took a step back, unable to follow Xar?s more advanced technique. Yet Xar had no time to press the advantage. Krun was there again in a second, dancing on air with his speed, his crimson blade a blur.

    Krun swung horizontally, the powerful blow catching Xar?s and trapping it to the side for an instant. At the same time, his foot snapped out and caught Xar at the knee, the booted foot sending pain shooting through Xar?s right leg. That leg buckled, and he sank to one knee. Instinctively he ducked and rolled forward, barely missing the return stroke that Krun had intended to decapitate him.

    Feeling Runis moving around to the other side and knowing they were about to box him in, Xar did the only thing he knew to do. He pushed himself up, turned to the side, and ran as fast as he could.

    He didn?t know if he could outrun them; he did his best, with what Force abilities he still had in this place, to increase his speed. But running would only buy him a few seconds, he knew, and would ultimately drain him of vital energy.

    Xar ran forward into endless blackness. He didn?t know how long; it might have been only seconds. But just when he despaired that the darkness went on forever, it suddenly parted before him, splitting like a sheet of paper. In an instant, he was beyond it, and somewhere else entirely.

    The scene had changed. They were in the Royal Palace on Varnus.

    Xar stood in the grand atrium of the Royal Palace, the entranceway that virtually all visitors had to tran
     
  5. Sauron

    Sauron Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Dec 20, 1999
    Mizar System
    1701 Hours


    Salle wove her fighter through the melee of ships and blasts of energy filling space all around her.

    ?This is starting to look real bad, Lead,? Gren Pabos said from his position off her port wing.

    ?I know,? was all she knew to say back. The number of enemy fighters around them was overwhelming, now. At first, the NI forces had seemed to hold the enemy at bay. But then, suddenly and without warning, many of the AD fighters belonging to the NI?s Titans had disengaged from the battle. It had all happened about the same time the Grand Crusader?s force field dropped and the Titan?s weapons had gone silent. Command and Control, generally under the watchful eye of Fleet Admiral Jann Percy, was no longer responding to any hails.

    Something very bad had happened.

    Analysis from the Darkstar indicated that most of the defecting AD fighters had belonged to the Grand Crusader. It really left only one possibility: there had been a mutiny onboard the NI command ship. There had been no word from War Coordinator Gaius Adonai or his staff, or from the Warlord Zalaria, for that matter. Either they had been captured, or they were fighting for their lives over there, or they were already dead.

    None of those options bode well for the surviving NI forces. In the War Coordinator?s absence, Fleet Admiral Tam Eulicid had assumed command as acting fleet commander, based on the Titan Ascendancy. But that ship was taking a renewed pounding from the enemy Titan-class battleships. They couldn?t hold out for too long.

    Inferno was in deplorable shape, as well. They?d lost Infernos Three and Twelve trying to defend the NI ships against wave after wave of enemy fighters. Their losses were a cold knot buried inside her chest. The rest of the squadron was low on fuel, shields, and expendable munitions. Salle only had two missiles left, and she guessed most of the squadron was in the same situation or worse. That left them with primarily beam weapons to engage with.

    Though their upgraded Avatars were a match for any comparable AD fighter ? with their chizon-class beams and their Altarin?Dakor power plants giving them enhanced thrust and shields ? they were still sorely outnumbered, and the Avatars just couldn?t make up all the difference. In addition, some of the heavier AD fighters still had them outgunned and outshielded.

    One of those was the dreaded Punisher¬-class heavy fighter that had comprised the last few waves. And now, Salle?s screens showed yet another squadron of Punishers fast closing with their position.

    ?On me, Inferno,? she ordered on the squadron frequency. ?We can?t let them break through to our cap ships. Conserve missiles if you can; engage with beam weapons only, if you can. Let?s do it.?

    They looped back around, passing the twisted, glowing debris that were all that was left of the ISDs Dragoon II and Majesty. The two ships had been systematically taken apart by the combined beam weapons of Nightlord and Death Wing.

    Meanwhile the Cataclysm, rising like a mountain behind them, was taking heavy fire along her port side from Violator, Tormentor and Defiler. The Warlord Velius? ships still hung aloof from the other enemy Titans, but they poured fire mercilessly into the now shieldless Cataclysm. The latter ship?s port side was now heavily damaged, leaking vast swaths of fire and atmosphere as beam weapons continued to cut deep inside her amidships.

    All of the Majestic-class cruisers were gone. The Darkstar had lost her shields and was still taking hits. The NI?s standard Imperial and Alliance design fighters were becoming scarce as the vastly superior AD craft systematically kept shooting them out of the sky.

    But she couldn?t focus on all that right now. They had to protect what ships were left while they made an organized withdrawl from this battle. They had lost again, only this time it was more than that. This would be the worst defeat they had suffered yet. And after this, with most of their Titans and even their regular capital ships gone, she knew the NI would never recover.

    They soared across th
     
  6. Sauron

    Sauron Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Dec 20, 1999
    Location Unknown
    Time Unknown


    Xar was hiding.

    He was hunkered down behind a giant black obelisk, crouching at its base, listening for any sound within the dark chamber.

    He?d thought he had falled into the catacombs beneath the Royal Palace, but instead the scene had changed again. Now he was somewhere else, transported halfway across the galaxy in an instant. He knew exactly where he was, too.

    This was Palace Ravenspyre, former home of House Ar?Kell.

    This was where he?d fought and killed Krun. But that knowledge didn?t console him much. Just because he?d done it before, it didn?t mean he could do it again.

    It was quiet, like a tomb. At first he?d thought he heard thunder in the distance, here as well. But it had faded after a while. His wounds were still there, gradually burning more and more as shock wore off. He?d tried to put himself in a healing trance, but two things had prevented him. First, the knowledge that Krun or Runis might find him and kill him before he had time to react. Second, and more importantly, was that whenever he tried to reach for the Force in that way, he felt it slipping through his fingers.

    He could feel the Dark Side now, beckoning him. Since that initial lunge of hatred, he had felt its power begin to work on him, tempting him to give in and let the power it gave rush through his veins as it once had. Now that he was aware of it, he knew that it had always been there, lurking just out of sight in the distance.

    Here, in this place, fighting two of the most powerful Dark Jedi he?d ever faced, it was hard not to give into that temptation.

    Xar didn?t want to die. He would fight with everything he had. But would he give in to the Dark Side again, becoming like them in order to kill them?

    He thought he heard a voice, inaudible to his ears but somehow in his mind, telling him not to give in, not to give up. It sounded familiar, but he couldn?t remember when or where he?d heard it before.

    Angol Moa. Where had that name come from? What did it mean?

    Xar closed his eyes, searching deep inside himself. He knew that he didn?t have the strength to defeat the two of them all by himself. There had to be something more, some way he could tap his power once again without resorting to the debilitating limitations of the Dark Side of the Force.

    It was devastating to realize, now, how much of his power had actually come from Runis and Krun.

    Xar could remember it clearly now, looking back. After Runis, he?d truly begun to come into his own as a Jedi, growing by leaps and bounds. He?d assumed it was the sense freedom after escaping from enslavement by Runis. Now he saw that it was Runis? own power growing within him.

    The second spike had come after absorbing Dasok Krun. Unlike with Runis, this time Xar had deliberately absorbed the man?s Force energy, as vengeance for the deaths of his family. Since that time, Xar had grown steadily stronger, until he?d reached the natural limit that all Jedi Masters of this day held. And he?d become darker.

    Their power wasn?t the only thing that had influenced him. Xar had been subtly changing ever since he?d killed Runis, and even more so after Krun. Runis had given him his cold aloofness, his pragmatism and calculating view of killing. By contrast, Krun had injected a different element ? hot anger, wildness, and a thirst for blood. Xar could remember all the men he?d killed since then. He?d enjoyed far too many of those killings.

    With a stunned silence, Xar realized that he didn?t even know who he was. Without Runis, without Krun, who would he have been, really?

    Suddenly he heard the sound of footsteps. Someone had entered the room.

    Xar had been hiding in large meeting chamber in one wing of the palace. Mathis had held quite a few staff meetings in this room. It was surrounded by columns leading up to a dome roof, and windows looked out at the top of the wall on one side. In the center of the floor was a flat stone area where a meeting table had once been. Steps led down the the lower area on four different sides, and dark obelisks with Sith inscriptions flan
     
  7. Sauron

    Sauron Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Dec 20, 1999
    Epilogue: Reborn



    Planet Arcadia
    2117 Hours Local Time



    The escape pod lay half-buried in the ground a half dozen meters away from the Jedi survivors.

    Alyx stood among them, still watching as debris from the battle rained down through the atmosphere above their heads. It was night, and the sky was mesmerizing. The ring that encircled the planet Arcadia in the foreground, and the shafts of light falling through the sky ? the stars beyond that, and in the distance, the Galbagos Nebula stretching out across the night sky.

    Those who had gotten out on the ship?s other escape pods were here, as well as the Jedi who had flown down on the fighters they?d been piloting: Jinx, Atridd Xoan and Kiz Thrakus, Vykk Olyronn, Draken Ar?Kell. Sim Zaphod, Junor Brajo, Varanus Templar, and Satai Dukhat. Vortigern?s remnants, Roger Macreed Neres Warjan, Mrax Satai, Eric Donos, and Aethar Daemonstar. Nadia Ispen, Mathis, and Bren.

    This was all that was left. The unaccounted for: Malik Raven, Colin Moore, Rilke Dar****er, and a half dozen others. Whether they had touched down elsewhere or had been destroyed along with the ship, he didn?t know.

    In the distance, he could see the lights of a large city, or perhaps a military complex, seeing how this world was a border stronghold. Garbled communications they?d picked up on the way in said that the Altarin?Dakor had mutinied; they?d taken War Coordinator Gaius and the rest of his staff down to the surface as prisoners. Their current fate was unknown, but it seemed clear they had been taken to the stronghold before them.

    ?Well,? Atridd said, coming up to stand beside him on the grassy hill. ?We came all this way to do this thing. We might as well finish it.?

    Alyx nodded, still gazing out toward the lights in the distance.

    Jinx appearing on his other side. ?If this is our last charge, then let?s make it count.?

    Alyx waited as each member of the Order formed up with them, in turn. Then he looked at them, meeting the gaze of each and every member gathered.

    ?One more time,? he told them. ?For the New Imperium. For our homes. For the people of the galaxy.?

    Then he turned and began walking down the hill, toward the waiting wall of light ahead.

    Toward destiny.


    * * *


    Location Unknown
    Time Unknown



    He opened his eyes, the blurred light overhead focusing into the ceiling of a room. He was on a comfortable bed, wearing soft clothing. The air was cool, and refreshing.

    He raised his head off over the soft pillows it lay upon. A tall man was standing in front of him. The man wore simple robes, and he had pale skin and jet black hair. He knew the visitor, although it felt as though he were seeing him for the first time.

    ?Do you know who I am?? the man asked.

    ?Yes,? he managed. ?You?re? my friend. But?? he looked around. ?I don?t know where we are,? he admitted.

    ?It should come back to you shortly,? Icis said. ?Can I get you some water??

    ?Please.?

    Icis moved to the side, then returned with a cup of water. He took it and sipped it at first. He hadn?t realized how thirsty he was. The water was so cool and refreshing, he couldn?t imagine anything tasting better in all the universe.

    He looked at his friend, then. There was a sense of sadness about the man, something that made concern well up within him.

    ?Something?s different about you, Icis. Are you okay??

    ?I am well, Xar. But I?ve been through some changes, myself. I?ve both gained and lost things here, just like you. Precious things,? he finished with a whisper.

    ?What things?? Xar asked, curious.

    ?My Force powers have been restored, for one,? Icis said. ?It feels? good, Xar. Like having an old friend back. I can?t use it much, quite yet, but it is returning, slowly.

    He glanced down. ?But I?ve also lost something? something just as important.?

    ?What?? Xar asked.

    ?My? Kajeat essence. The shell that contains the willful energy that makes us what we are. The thing that makes us immortal.?

    ?How??

    ?I gave it away, Xar.?

    ?Why??

    ?Because someone needed it,? Icis said. And that was all he said.


    * * *