Star Wars Star Wars: Episode IV: Twilight of the Force: A Father’s Legacy - Game is now OVER!

Han Solo
Mandalore

Han leaned against a pillar as they came up with what they considered a plan.

On a sidenote he realized that they had been duped by the Emperor. Even now they claimed he lacked control. Probably this had simply been his answer to the new recently founded Emperor-Fanclub within the Rebellion.

The dying elder man was tough to watch. He reported on the next heroic act by the Empire. A slaughter of a few more civilians.

The selfish kid was made Chancellor. Good luck with that, he thought. Their Rebellion had not fired one single shot at the Empire so far he guessed. Yet, the Empire kept killing their leaders. Somewhere a bunch of Imperials laughed how this was just too easy. He really hoped Skywalker would show up and put these fools into their place for this.

He left the rest to the so-called Rebels and the grim Mandalorians. The latter were at least dedicated to fight and die for this. Unlike the Rebels they were not talking peace. Not the Mandalorian way. Mandalorians were made for war.

Han turned to the next available officer and whispered to him. "Can you get me to my ship? I would like to have a moment for myself."

A single nod to Madelyn the Mandalore was all of a goodbye he was ready to give anyone. She was probably the only friend down here he had. He truly hoped she would make it out of there alive. She was a good girl. She did not deserve to die for other people's mistakes.

Tag: @Sinrebirth, @JediMasterAnne, @galactic-vagabond422, @TheSilentInfluence

 

Darth Maul
Coruscant, The Shrine

Maul was floated by visions and many surprised him but none too much. Sure, Ananke and the Hooded Figure were there ... Anakin Skywalker of course. Were these the ancient Kun Temples? Irony if the Jedi used them nowadays. Tano. Windu. Zorn and ... a holocron. With a smile and sadness in his heart he realized the Dark and the Light had equal numbers ... three Sith and three Jedi. Three Sith who had abandoned the traditional path and three Jedi who had done the same.

Symmetry.

It only worked if Maul was not counted in. It only worked without him. Angrily he clenched his fist. After offering Luke Skywalker to the Dark Side ... after bringing it the potentially strongest Sith in history ... the Dark Side still had no place for him in the greater scheme of things.

He was about to turn and leave, when the only surprise came from the Shrine. Had it said ... Kashyyyk?

The homeplanet of the Wookies? Maul turned around again and wondered. It made no sense. Which was why it made perfect sense. Something all the others did not see, did not know about. A true secret. Mandalore, the Emperor, Anakin Skywalker or Ananke ... low hanging fruits. Obvious targets. The Shrine revealed what everybody was overlooking.

Like a holocron in the depth of Korriban, like a young man corrupted by grief ... Kashyyyk.

Maul left the shrine and the planet immediately. He left behind the chances to contact Admirals and corrupt politicians. He left behind an Emperor too weak to rule an Empire.

The cloaked Sith Intruder passed the planetary defense and set course for ... Kashyyyk. Maul had taken control of the ship himself. He barely did that. But he would let the Dark Side guide him.

Tag: @Sinrebirth, @LordTroepfchen

 

IC: Ka'rta
In Orbit

The merc stood around the table next to the Mandalore. She was her right hand, at least for now. Catching Hera's eye she saw the knitted brow on the twi'lek. Ka'rta raised her brow just a little, silently bragging. The plan seemed straightforward. Draw the Separatists into a trap make them show their hand bring their ultimate weapon out into the open and destroy it. The only problem was getting it here. The seppies weren't complete idiots they would send a vanguard and it would be up the Mandalorians, with some limited help from whatever the Republic could get together in time, to hold them off. The only question was where to make a stand.

"The MandalMotors tower," Her escort said coming to stand next to her. "If we tease the Separatists so they attack the battleship, then the moon, and then the city, we'll be able to keep them engaged at three separate points..." She followed his gesture to the battleship, "We should make this the launch point of our fighters, not the Gorgon, so that we lure the droid fighters in - and then we'll blow the battleship when its done."

That suggestion didn't go over well, maybe that was why he was sent to collect her. Though a consensus was made that blowing up the only capitalship... such as it was, was better than destroying the fortress on Condordia. Good to see there was at least some compromise left.

More specifics were laid out sending the Princess down with the crystal to act as bait and put a huge target on her back. And they wanted to put the mandalore right next to her. Ka'rta wanted to say that it was reckless, but she knew there would be nothing she could say to stop her. So once again her word was being used to drag her to the front lines of the war.

Something approaching a smile bloomed across her lips hearing that her home would be put back together soon. It wouldn't be pretty, but she would fly.

"Right," She started when there was a bit of quiet for feedback. "Where's our anti-air defense? We might try and draw some of our dance partners over them. The Oisk wasn't designed to go up against a squad of fighter droid or not. Knowing there safe zones are could be useful. And if we make ourselves a target they will fall right into the jaws of the triple A. Mandalore you made your decision, I go where you do." She said looking to Linnett. "The Oisk isn't fast or maneuverable likely less so with all the repairs done to it. But it can take a hit. It'll get us to the ground." One way or another. Was the continuation of the thought.

After getting her answer as to the location of the AAA batteries or whatever was passing for them, she excused herself to go check on her ship, scoffing a little as the Princess was named Chancellor seemed everyone was getting new titles today. Was this the time for her to take the mantel of Champion...yeah right. The repairs were hasty but, nearly done. She walked past a few techs as they were doing rounds.

It was fairly simple to find her room near the front just down from the cockpit. Entering she found it relatively intact. A surprise to her. A slight smile came to her lips as she looked under the bed her ingenious hiding place. There she found a somewhat threadbare stuffed animal with long floppy ears and a button nose.

"Hey little guy...thought you were a goner." She joked sitting on the bed. If anyone wanted to find her they knew where she was.

TAG: @Sinrebirth @JediMasterAnne @TheSilentInfluence @RachelTyrell

 

IC: Madelyn Linnett
Mandalore

Madelyn looked at Dodonna and nodded at him with a smile before looking over at Freya, who was by accounts; still considered a Princess she figured. She gave her a formal; half bow, not really sure what to make of the other woman yet before speaking up, "I believe that's the best plan of action. I have no doubt you can protect yourself milady but if you would allow me I believe I could be of some help should you require it." She turned to look at Han and caught him before he left; pulling him into a hug and stepping away. "If you survive this Solo I could always use a good smuggler." She smiled, stepped back and turned her attention back to the others; trying to push down any feelings of worry she had for the scoundrel.

As the message came in from Chandrila Madelyn dipped her head and stared hard at the floor, a rush of anger coursing through her and then peace as she took a deep breath, calmed herself with the force. It feels good to have it back. Madelyn glanced at Hera and moved over to her side as Ka'rta left; pulling the Twi'lek General out of earshot. She touched the weapon on her hilt and looked up at Hera again. "I wanted to thank you in person; for saving Lothal. I know you had help, but I lived there before my parents gave me to the Jedi Order. It seems like a nice place. I just...thank you." Madelyn nodded firmly at Hera, stepped back.

@Sinrebirth @DarkLordoftheFins @JediMasterAnne @galactic-vagabond422 @RachelTyrell

 

Anakin Skywalker
Temple and Mandalore

Anakin waited not a second longer than promised. The Emperor who everybody wanted to negotiate so badly with had not shown up, not even to get his son back. There was not more to be said about a man.

Anakin would probably have done anything to get his son back. Anything. He had been ready to help even his enemy to protect his son from the darkness that had captured him. Aryan Graul had not cared about it. It had probably played no part in his thoughts.

As he entered the Twin Suns he checked the comm channels for updates. The old Senate Channel was up and a dying Bel Iblis was making Feyna the Chancellor of what was left of the Republic. Anakin sighed. Chandrila. The Empire attacked the next Republic planet.

The Rebellion had done nothing to stop it.

He put himself on mute and sat down in the pilot chair watching the rest of the message play out without opening a channel.

Bel Iblis urged again for peace. Condemning billions to imperial rule. That seemed to play no longer any role in the minds of the survivors. The would save the Republic at the cost of the galaxy. Anakin closed his eyes. If they wanted this peace he would not stand in it's way. The Rebellion was over before it had begun. Tonight would be it's final battle.

He just wondered how many Chandrila's and Alderaan's there would be.

Starting his engines Anakin concentrated at the here and now and left the temple and the Yavin system quickly behind.



He entered the Mandalore system in time to see the remainder of the Rebel fleet arrive. He immediately opened a channel to General Dodonna.

"Your expectations were met, General. My negotiations have failed. We have to ensure the chain of command stays intact when I execute the attack. I hearby transfer command to you." This had basically been his declaration that he expected not to return from his mission. Even if he did this transfer was final. There was no need to let them know yet, though. He knew enough about war to know morale among troops was essential. "May the Force be with you, General." He switched channels to the ground crew before Dodonna could answer. He was terribly uninterested in what people had to say nowadays.

"The location of the two X-Wings for me and Solo please. And get Solo there asap, I need to talk to him before we go up there."

They probably had time left, but he preferred to not use it in endless discussions. He would not join the Rebels and Mandalorians in their gathering. He would not discuss matters of no relevance with Feyna or Sydulla. He was now fully focused on the battle ahead and the dark influence approaching the system.

The Ultimate Weapon had to be destroyed or millions of innocents would die. Neither the Empire nor the Rebels mattered. He knew he had to end this terror and he also knew this mission would possibly demand his life. The force was strong in him, but the attack was a suicide mission. He was very aware of it. There was no reason to make amends. There was no reason to justify himself or accuse anybody. This was his mission and he would give it everything. He would make a difference for one last time. Even if it cost his life.

Obi-Wan Kenobi would probably have been proud of him. His old Master had made a very similiar decision in the end.

After that he would leave the galaxy to those who seem to know what to do with it.

Anakin missed his old Master. Obi-Wan Kenobi had been one of those beings that made the galaxy a lighter place because he existed in it.

Anakin could use a little light. There was none left. Not in him, not in Luke, not even in the remainder of what had been meant to be the Rebellion.

Nobody seemed to mourn the Jedi, not one planet had rebelled against an Empire that had blown up Alderaan, not one shot had been fired to fight the criminal regime that had made this possible. Not one act of resistance had been reported against the Empire. Obi-Wan Kenobi, the Jedi Order and his daughter and wife had died for a galaxy that seemed to not care.

Now he would die for a galaxy that did not care.

Maybe they wanted the darkness.

Maybe the darkness had finally won the hearts of the galaxy.

They wanted the Empire for sure. The people of the galaxy did nothing to oppose it.

Who was he to make them? Again ... had he not chosen to never follow this path long ago?

The coordinates came through and Anakin took his ship right down to the surface, passing the fleet he had just handed over to General Jan Dodonna.

Tag: @Sinrebirth, @RachelTyrell and @JediMasterAnne (mentioned)

 

Darth Zorn and XoXaan
Temple of XoXaan

The pale spirit bound to the holocron floated closer to Zorn and smiled.

"I feel power within you. Raw and just beginning to be defined. But your Master fails you. He cannot unlock your true potential. The Outcast is not a true Sith." The voice was a raspy whisper.

Zorn looked up. "Who are you?" He asked and slowly raised to his feet.

The spirit smiled. "I am XoXaan. I am the beginning and you will be our end." She now came so close he could almost touch her. "I roamed these halls when the Sith still lived here. The Species imbued with darkness. Powerful, yet not compared to us. The Exiles ruled them as their Gods and they worshipped us as or slaves in return." XoXaan's face grew serious again. "We molded them to our wishes. We made them ours."

"How?" Darth Zorn demanded to know. Enslaving life itself? That was indeed a power beyond anything he had ever heard of. This was what the ancient legends talked about.

"Through powers long forgotten to those who claim our titles today. The first Lords of the Sith mastered life itself. We shaped it to our will, we forged it into our weapons, servants or for our amusement. All living creatures on this planet served our will. Our power was absolute. Through our vision the Sith were born. Our vision fuels the lines of the Sith to this very day. We are in all of you, yet you are such pale examples of our tradition compared to us."

Darth Zorn trembled in anticipation. "You shared those secrets with him?" He pointed to the dead man laying behind him.

"I shared what he could learn. He was meant to become a True Sith. Not just another pretender to a tradition they do not understand." XoXaan grew serious now.

"I took him from you. Yet you helped me?" Zorn felt both frightened and excited by the ancient Sith's spirit.

"He failed. The Sith do not mourn their fallen." XoXaan replied coldly.

"That tradition is still alive. My Master told me the same." Zorn nodded.

"Not everything was lost. Good. Now who are you? What is the source of your power, young one?" XoXaan demanded to know.

"I am Darth Zorn, apprentice of Darth Maul and Lord of the Sith. I am the Sith'ari. I am the Chosen One." He exclaimed proudly and all he got in return was the laughter of the ancient Sith spirit.

"Are you?" She demanded to know.

"I am." Zorn said and was suddenly less sure of this statement. "Do you doubt me?"

"Every Master doubts his apprentice. I had many of them. All believed in their destiny and power. This one ..." She pointed to Krayt's body. "... was chosen to create a new Order of the Sith. He was chosen to rule as their Dark Lord. It was his destiny. So what lesson do you learn from him?"

Zorn turned and looked at him. He understood now. This man was more than a man with a lightsaber. He had been chosen like Zorn had.

"Your destiny can be taken from you." He replied and turned back to the spirit of the ancient Lady of the Sith.

"You learn fast." XoXaan said with raised brows and floated back to the holocron. "So are you the Chosen One? Or can you be the Chosen One?"

Zorn clenched his teeth.

"My father was meant to be the Chosen One. He denied himself his destiny. He abandoned it." He pressed out.

"Yet, it is still his destiny ... " XoXaan grinned now.

"I have to take it from him. Only through his death I can become the Sith'ari. Only through his death I can fulfill my destiny." He finally said and nodded. He understood now. XoXaan gave him a clarity of his path the Zabrak Sith could never offer.

"Exactly." XoXaan simply confirmed his fears.

"This power ... the control you told me about ... can you teach me those secrets? Can you give me that power?" He turned to XoXaan and he knew he had to learn from this long dead Sith. She was part of his destiny. She was part of his ascension.

"Maybe." The long dead Dark Lady of the Sith replied with a cruel smile.

Tag: @TheSithGirly, @Sinrebirth

 

IC: Ka'rta
In Orbit

Ka'rta remained on her bed fidgeting with the stuffed animal. She'd thought it gone forever along with her ship. She brought it up to her face pressing her forehead against the threadbare fabric. The memories of it came back to her. The day her parents brought it to her. She was a little girl and they picked it up on a whim, they were like that. They would take off half way across the galaxy dragging her along just so they could see what was there. Would take jobs not for the credits, but for the adventure of it all. They lived their lives however they wished, not governed by anything other than their own whims.

Maybe that's why she held on to this ratty thing, a memory of a time she answered to no one. Something to aspire to when this mess was all over.

A sound of metal on metal echoed from her door. With motions burned into her mind she set the stuffed animal to the side drawing one of her pistols. Leveling it at the entrance she found her escort the man from clan Ordo.

"You always greet people with a drawn blaster?" He joked hand resting on his rifle on a sling.

"Only those that surprise me." She replied returning her weapon to her holster. Leaning back on her arms she looked up at him. "If you're looking for an encore you're out of luck."

"Wasn't looking for that." He crossed his arms leaning against the door frame. Getting a look at him now his strong jaw, covered slightly by his dark stubble, scar running from temple to chin just missing his right eye and splitting his lip, his dark hair shaved along the sides but left a little long on top, he cut the picture of the tough warrior. With no lines around his mouth or eyes he wasn't that old either likely around Ka'rta's age. Though he'd likely been fighting for just as long...if the scars Ka'rta felt were any indication. "Just making sure you weren't planning on running off."

"Don't know you here to throw me off?" She shot back just as quickly. Did he think that now as the final battle loomed she would run away and hide? "Do you think me of so little honor?"

"Well, you didn't seem interested in talking with the Manda'lor, or her friends despite your insistence that you follow her, and would stay with her."

"She doesn't need my protection every moment of every day she's the Manda'lor if she can't fight her own battles no one will respect her. Besides if she had anything to tell me she will come find me." She gestures to her empty surroundings. "Clearly she and no one else has anything of importance to say to me."

"Not like you made yourself available to talk. Walking away as soon as your questions were answered."

"It's not like I said 'Don't Disturb Me'."

"Your attitude said it all."

"Excuse me for not changing my nature, I've only worked for my own benefit for the last all my life." She looked up at him. "Didn't scare you off."

"I'm a warrior, I don't scare easy, the Manda'lor was a Jedi and the rest of her friends are...not like us."

"Oh, it's Us now."

"Yeah could be more of us if you would drop that manda damned chip on your shoulder."

"It's a hearty chip had it since I was born."

"You're not making any friends trying to break it off on everyone around you."

"Look let's just get through this and if we're still standing at the end. I'll work on getting it surgically removed."

"Maybe then we'll have our encore…"

"Don't get your hopes up, I'm going to be right in the thick of it. Most likely not coming back from this one."

"From what I felt…" he let that word linger for a bit, "You've survived worse."

"This might be the last fight I got…" She looked down, "And you been through as much as me."

"Thanks for saying. I think we both got by on the same medicine. Anger you just need to channel it towards your current enemy. Not those around you."

"Does everyone want to tell me what to do with myself."

"Let's just say I have a vested interest in seeing you coming back alive."

"You think one close encounter is enough to spur me to action?"

"No but, I thought I might as well try."

"Get out of here, surely you've got some prep to do…"

"Yeah, making sure this bird is ready to fly...care to join me."

She shook her head rising to her feet. Was it so simple to just change her target of her anger. To just turn it toward a group just a day ago she was working for? Well, she'd given her word so she'd have to find a way.

"Yeah," She got to her feet walking to the man, "More to make sure you haven't completely mangled my girl."

"Perish the thought." He replied following her out.

TAG: @TheSilentInfluence @Sinrebirth @RachelTyrell @JediMasterAnne

 

Mace Windu
The depths of the Force...

It had been hours. Mace didn't know how else to approach this because the galaxy...well, it was a whole galaxy. And so he looked at the map projected before him, legs, crossed, and sunk deep into a trance, allowing the Force to flow through him, allowing the map to not just be a picture of the galaxy but to be a proxy through which to view the galaxy, an opportunity for the Force to show him something. Anything. Hopefully soon.

Snatches of possibility would appear tantalizingly and then vanish, and Mace Windu would sometimes see something he doubted right after he'd seen. He tried to hold it all in his head, to see if the pieces would fit, would come together at all. The Force offered him nothing. He began to push through images that had come to him in dreams, things he'd heard. He sunk deeper into the trance. He saw...Luke. But not the Luke he knew. Older. He saw the island - green, with buildings of stone. He saw a girl, who ever so often visited his dreams, wielding something that looked like Anakin Skywalker's lightsaber. So much death and sadness. And time, stretching itself thin. A tear appeared in time and space. No, not a tear. The slow creeping crack of a shatter.

Mace extended a trembling finger towards the map. How long had it been? He was ravenously hungry and drenched with sweat. His finger indicated a place on the map where, officially, there were no planets. He rasped, parched: "There."

TAG: @Sinrebirth

 

IC: Princess Feyna Organa
Mandalore

She pinched the bridge of her nose and squeezed her eyes shut to stop any tears from escaping.

Garm was gone. The only other Republic Senator left standing after Alderaan, and a long-time friend of her father’s.

By default, Feyna was now acting Chancellor of the Republic, but with no Senate, and the Republic still faltering after Alderaan, it seemed an empty title with little real power.

She felt much as she had a week earlier, when her father had unexpectedly dropped her into that fateful Senate meeting, except this was worse. She knew there were some who would say she was not fit for the position (a couple of whom were probably right in this hangar). She didn’t even particularly want the position; she knew she was inexperienced and unprepared. Garm could have appointed someone else instead of her, and she wouldn’t have complained. But there was no one else.

Evidently news travelled fast, for not long after Garm’s message, another recorded transmission arrived for her, from the Emperor.

Graul wanted to talk, to discuss peace.

A few hours ago, she might have jumped on the chance without hesitation, but the argument with Anakin and Han gave her pause, now.

What would this cost them?

She certainly had no intention of surrendering the Republic to Imperial rule, despite what some of her companions might be thinking. Terms needed to be agreed upon, before she spoke to Graul, if she spoke to him at all.

And what if he was lying? What if Anakin had been right about everything, and Graul was every bit the villain Anakin believed him to be?

The last time Feyna had trusted an Emperor’s offer of peace, she’d doomed her entire planet, the Republic Senate, and the bulk of their fleet. She was the last Republic Senator left, what if Graul was trying to lure her into another trap? They did say that those who did not learn from history, were doomed to repeat it.

And what had happened at Chandrila? To attack, unprovoked, only to retreat not an hour later? Was it some kind of ploy, or was the Empire truly as out-of-control as Garm’s information seemed to imply? If Graul was being sincere, could they afford to ignore his offer to talk?

Garm’s instructions were to destroy the Ultimate Weapon, and to resist the Empire, to prevent any more planets from falling. Alderaan was gone. The Jedi were gone. Chandrila had been attacked, however briefly. Naboo was still under occupation.

She had inherited a flailing Republic and a Rebellion spread thin, its leadership divided over their direction. The goal was the same; the dissolution of the Empire, and the restoration of a galactic democracy, but they couldn’t seem to agree on how to get there.

What was left of their fleet was all here, and, going up against an unknown number of Separatist forces and a near-operational superweapon, she didn’t know if they could spare anything to defend what was left of the Republic.

She had allowed Graul’s message to run in view of the others; Dodonna, Syndulla, Winter, the young Mandalore Madelyn—she didn’t know if Han had paid any attention, or if he was even interested in listening, and although Anakin had dropped out of the conversation earlier, she’d also ordered that the recording be forwarded to him.

She looked to them now, apprehensively, waiting for the debate to begin anew.

TAG: @Sinrebirth @TheSilentInfluence @galactic-vagabond422 @RachelTyrell @DarkLordoftheFins

 

Han Solo
Mandalore

Han was shaking his head and on his way out of the meeting room when he realized the silence. He pushed his hands into his pockets and nodded to the rebel officer. "Be with you in a second."

He turned back around and sighed. He looked to the assembled and shrugged. Generals and Admirals. The teenager Chancellor. This was a little pathetic for a Republic.

"So this is my only and last attempt in talking some reason into the bunch of you. So your highness, interested to hear what one of those guys you ask to die for you is interested to say?"

He was not polite and not diplomatic. These guys were total failures to him and he was not hiding the fact. They owed him and he owed them nothing. Especially not respect.

Tag: @Sinrebirth, @JediMasterAnne, @DarkLordoftheFins, @galactic-vagabond422, @TheSilentInfluence

 

Combo with Sinrebirth

IC: Rook Kast & Qi'ra Ananke (w/Arek Graul)
Aboard the Aurora

Qi’ra was on Arek’s heels by the time he tumbled down the shuttle ramp like the uncoordinated child he was. She paid him no mind, striding past him as the Force alerted her to danger straight ahead - the return of their attacker, the mysterious Mandalorian storming into the hanger with intent to continue its assault.

Skidding to a halt just as her feet touched down on the Aurora, she had just enough time to truly scrutinize the armor beyond the familiar red coloring of Death Watch. There were personalized alterations here and there like most others of its kind, remaining uniform while being unique. This and she had already reached out for the life signature, snarling as she felt a presence she had known for some time. It took her mere seconds to recognize who it was beneath the cortosis and beskar.

“Kast!” she called, sensing the return of Arek’s boiling rage and watching as her former ally raised new weapons in her direction. Her chin lowered, leveling a malevolent glare back. “Trying to kill me on my own ship? Poor showing, traitor…”

Rook Kast fired, charging ahead as she did. Qi’ra’s foresight allowed her a slight edge to react and she swept out a hand behind her, shoving Arek out of harm’s way and sending his body skidding across the pristine hangar floors. She in turn leapt high, above her opponent’s barrage. Her single crimson blade flashed to life as she turned over once in midair, coming down on the Mando’s other side as her blade already begun a violent slash out towards the neck.

Qi’ra knew this wouldn’t have the desired result of death – Mandalorian armor was revered for a reason. Distraction was key.

Damn Sith is fast, Kast swore, trying to track Ananke with her guns, but knew she was too slow and needed to instead focus on where Ananke was going to land, but even then that thought pattern was not quick enough and she simply turned into the slash upon her throat.

The blade skittered off the neck, but Kast managed not to twitched and ignited her rockets so she could slam into Ananke.

The woman was smart though, Kast couldn't out-think her - but she might be able to out-brute her...

... Arek, for his part, rolled away and tried to get his bearings - they were so damn fast.

The air was knocked clean from Qi'ra's lungs as Kast careened hard onto her chest, which had been left wide open after her initial saber swing followed through. Her blade deactivated as she realized her mistake too late.

The pair were tossed back by the momentum of the rockets and Qi'ra latched onto the other woman with her free hand, wrapping her arm around her neck as they slammed into the floor. The weight of the bigger woman combined with that of her armor felt like one hundred pounds of duracrete atop her smaller frame, pinning her down as they skidded along. It triggered a deep-rooted trauma that incensed the Dark Lord further.

Momentarily weakened from doing anything too extreme, Ananke wheezed for air and howled, funneling the pain in her rib cage to bolster her strength. With a static burst of energy, she shot her body out from under Kast just as they came to a halt, loosening her arm to use that hand to grip the chin of her helmet. She shoved the woman's head up, reignited her saber to aim the blade in a thrust upwards through the bottom.

Kast felt herself being dragged along, trying to scrabble against the momentum she had caused against Ananke. They came to a stop as the Sith grabbed for her helmet, and Kast triggered the rockets again, yanking herself up into the air, the helmet ripping off her head.

She flexed her fingers, magnetising her pistols to her hands, and pointing them at where Ananke had been, firing as quickly as her fingers allowed her, flechette bullets flying out.

That was too close. Sweat beaded her brow, and damped her armpits. She couldn’t keep this up.

Ananke swore and tossed Kast's helmet aside, already popping back up to her feet as the other retaliated. She had gone airborne with her fully equipped armor, none of which she needed to do the same. Though, this time she preferred to stay grounded.

She had vacated the spot the traitor fired upon, reaching up with a hand and lassoing Kast's legs with tendrils of darkness. Keeping on the move lest she become an easy target, she yanked down with a wild shriek and then splayed her fingers wide, using that same connection to cocoon her opponent from knees to neck. Her intent was to bring her down and bind her from using her tech - a Mando without its gadgets wasn't much of a threat at all, right?

Kast slammed into the ground. The Sith had managed to get her wits about her, and now she had her. Damnnit. The Mandalorian frantically thought about her options, as the darkness crawled up her body.

In very short order she was unable to move.

Panting slightly, more from the pleasure she gained in taking Kast down than from actual exhaustion, Ananke deactivated her saber and re-clipped it to her belt as she stalked over to where the Mandolorian now lay. Unmoving. Bound by her will of the Force. She stopped to stand over the other woman, looking down at her with vivid distaste. Her open hand began to close, clenching into a tight fist thus making the invisible cage surrounding Kast constrict in tandem with the gesture. Perhaps it was time to see just how much pressure the infamous beskar armor could withstand...

Kast rolled her tongue to a tooth. She teased it free, ready to bite down on the pill inside.

Ananke caught the odd movement of her victim's mouth and reached down to snatch her jaw in her other hand. Her thumb pressed roughly into her cheek while her other fingers did the same on the opposite side, wedging deep in between her jaws to try and keep Kast's teeth from cracking open what appeared to a suicide pill. She seethed.

"You disappoint me, Rook. Taking the easy way out... Not like your kind, is it." Both of the Sith's hands continued their attempts to steadily crush, one against physical flesh and the other against the metaphorical iron skin..

TAG: @Sinrebirth

 

OOC: A combo brought to you by myself and @Sinrebirth

IC: Pascale Rouser, The Beast and The Dark Man
Location: Ultimate Weapon, en route to Mandalore

Was the beast fearful of this Dark Man?

Or had he seen something Pascale had not?

Either way it was bad when even the beast did not want to talk to him. Mandalore of course was the ultimate goal for everyone and Pascale knew he had to be on the ball here. Essentially now he had two options.

First he could do what he was good at, lying and manipulating. Only this time he was going up against the Dark Man, not some hapless smuggler or fellow rival. Who was to say the Dark Man would see through it?. And possibly kill him.

The second was to be the beast. Unfortunately his voice and Commenori accent were too polite, the only time he sounded sinister was when the beast actually took him over. The Dark Man would see through him in an instant. Besides, how did one behave as the beast?

Option one was the best. Here goes…

"As are probably well aware, the beast has had a rather torrid time of things, does a Left Handed Lord not deserve some rest too?" Pascale shrugged "What do you need him for anyway?. You have what you need to win this war, well except the crystal anyway. He is nothing compared to you. Besides should you not keep your eyes on the prize? Any distraction at this point could cost you the war"

Pascale smiled a charming smile "But what do I know, I'm just the Underlord of Black Sun"

The Dark Man smiled, the emotion buffeting Rouser. "Come now, I opted to have this pleasant chat with you for these past few hours so that you wouldn't resist me, my friend. Indeed, your yacht has been ordered and is en route."

"Because I am sure you can intuit what I need Typhojem for, my friend, what with my eyes on the prize, as you put it." He held out his hand; it was no longer gloved, but clawed, and red, curiously. "Especially in relation to the Crystal."

"I could force the issue, but I have no guarantee that the 'Beast' will have the ability to reanimate your corpse, my friend."

The task force was gathered, and preparing to jump imminently. Similarly, the Ultimate Weapon had been restocked and resupplied in anticipation of a lengthy campaign. The Separatist Alliance, or, rather the Confederacy of Independent Systems, was about ready to declare bankruptcy, unless the Dark Man converted these expenses into solid gains.

Well that didn't go well. I might need some help here. I don't know if you can silently help me but anything would be appreciated…

The only other option would be to make the Dark Man think he was speaking to the beast. He would have to be pretty convincing. To speak and act as the dark one would.

"Intuit?" Pascale snorted "What do you think I am, psychic? He does not tell me everything, even he has plans I am not aware of. All he wants is darkness and destruction, same as you. He also wants his crystal back. Apart from that I have no idea"

Pascale's back then straightened his blue eyes narrowed and he put on his best sinister and dark voice, remembering how he usually spoke and putting everything into it.

"Unless you have designs to stop me" he growled "And if you so much as tweak a finger at me again, I will kill you. I need this host alive if I am to achieve my and your goals"

The Dark Man guffawed.

"Yes! That fire! Brilliant. Try me, Underlord! Take the Beasts power and use it!" The emphasised words buffeted Rouser, flapping at his clothes and pushing him back.

"Use it now," his clawed hand began to glow blue with electricity.

Well I think I might be chargrilled in a minute….

Pascale's jacket was flapping behind him and he felt like he was being pushed a rather strong gust of wind. It looked option two had failed as well. The beast would have to come out or they both would be dead. But the beast had essentially told him not to let him come out. He was on his own thinking on his feet.

The reason why he latched on to me was that I had an echo of the Force. Perhaps it's not the dark I need to tap into but the light. Mandalore is the key, and I need to stay alive to finish this.

Well, unless the Dark Man finishes me off first.

Pascale closed his eyes and too a few deep breaths, trying to feel everything around him, trying to gather up strength for the possible assault to come. He knew of the Force of course and he did not know how to handle it if indeed it was within him.

Let the light flow through you. Feel it….

His eyes opened. I don't know if this is going to work. If it doesn't, well it was good to know you. Don't come out, if you can.

"And there I was thinking you needed me for your master plan" Pascale said and shook his head "Guess not"

"The beast is not yours, he is mine. Mandalore is the key to all, and yet here you are, toying around with me, wanting the beast, craving for it so you can have the crystal and him in your pocket. I don't know what he wants when the crystal comes back but there is one thing we both agree on. You can't have him"

"You saw something else in me, an echo. Perhaps it just needs to be unleashed." Pascale took steadying breaths and moved his right arm out and concentrated his stare on the Dark Man focusing on his electrified fingers and trying to imagine a shield blocking it "The beast might not be coming out to.play. I might be though"

The bolt erupted from his fingertips in a blaze of brilliance, and intercepted the shield, but Rouser would also feel the Force flow from the Beast into him - felt it writhe and struggle, and then be unable to hold its power from Rouser.

Yes; the Echo was there, powering him - something from the distant past that was connecting to him in danger of the Moment. The threat was real; the Dark Man was content to use the necromancy option if he had to.

But most of the power came from the Beast, and for a moment Rouser would be able to see the parts of him that the Beast had claimed, and had reanimated, and the Echo could filter into both parts of Rouser knew how. He would be able to sense that.

He also, briefly, sensed that the Beast was hiding something from not just the Dark Man, but also Rouser...

... the shield began to bulk under the attack, and contract. The Dark Man could sense the nuance to Rouser; the edges of all the various parts of the man - the archaeologist; the Beast; the Echo. They were all sharp and distinct, and it was impossible to not see them standing out beside each other.

“Take it, Rouser! Take your fate back from the Sith once and for all!”

Pascale was ecstatic that he had managed to erect the shield but he knew it wouldn't hold for long. And against his orders, the beast was joining in.

What the hell did I tell you!

He was also beginning to feel the Echo now, the power of the light revealed. So his ancestor had fought for the light, he or she wanted to join with Rouser to help him and the beast fight. Well hopefully just him. But the beast seemed to be hiding something, and Rouser was determined to find it.

I don't know what you are hiding, but I WILL find out, even if it kills me. You cannot toy with me anymore…

Meanwhile Pascale was seeing everything of himself and it distressed him to know that the beast had reanimated bits of him. So the Dark Man was correct, he had indeed died. But he had been given another chance. And he would use it. He knew what to do with the Echo.

The shield was failing, and the Dark Man was going on about taking his fate back from the Sith.

What?

What the hell is going on?

He had to make a choice. Now or never. He spoke to the Echo.

I don't know who you are but know that we may possibly be linked. Maybe even family. This Destructor wants to destroy the galaxy, and Mandalore is the key to it all. He wants the World Between Worlds too, maybe you've heard of that one as well.

I'm tired of being the monster, you and I both know what is at stake here. We cannot let this Destructor win. You see the beast within me, he wants the same, to cover the galaxy in darkness. But they must not. I may be able to tame the beast with your help.

He took a deep breath internally. Unite with me, unleash the light on this monster. I don't know if this will work, it may even kill me. But we need to do this, for the galaxy. For us all. Don't let him get into my head for he may see what may come.

He didn't know whether the Echo would join him but he had to try.

Stand firm.

With all the strength he could muster he gritted his teeth and begun to try to push back, to unleash his full potential.

"Yesssss," the Dark Man said, laughing loudly. He lifted his second hand, preparing it, pinching his fingers.

The Echo responded, and became one with Rouser. His Truth soared through him, and the shield firmed and pushed back in an instance that send cracks running through the bulkheads and the holograph to flicker. The Dark Man was pushed back, his boots squeaking across the floor as he held his position - but still he used but one hand.

And then - Beast screamed, causing the Echo to reverberate, to resonate, to drive a pain through Rouser's mind and the Echo filled Rouser's mind with white - and then the Dark Man yanked, tearing at Rouser's stomach -

Out tumbled the liquefied, puerile mess of mass and black and ichor and blood that was Typhojem, former Immoral God of the Sith. It screeched, tendrils desperately reaching out for anything -

While the Echo filled Rouser, knitting him, and closing him, and then, as the last skin closed upon the wound, and as the last organ healed, the last bone reformed -

Dropped him to the floor, exhausted.

Typhojem screamed that scream of a thousand voices, the inflections of all his victims, the cries of him rippling with them. The Dark Man held a hand, and the tendrils were unable to reach for Rouser, or for the Dark Man, who spoke nonchalantly as if nothing had occurred. "I did not lie when I said I wanted to work with you, Underlord. But I knew that I could not work with the Sith God. I crossed his name off my List, for I discovered that his cultists were on the move, intending to take advantage of the chaos in this galaxy - the chaos I was about to cause. But for him to die was to force you," A grin. "Apologies for the pun, to embrace the Echo of the Past that you are seemingly connected to, or from, or, perhaps," He grew wistful. "Will be attached to. In theory the Echo could be resonating backwards, after all."

"Without the Legacy of the Force you held within you becoming active, I would lose you, and I find our kinship of these past few hours... useful, maybe even touching." The Dark Man turned back to the writhing and shrinking mass.

"Oh Left Handed Lord... I am your Master now... I will release you, and summon a crew member for you to consume... if you only tell me the truth about the Crystal."

His head turned slightly to Rouser.

"If you only tell me where the Crystal really is."

He felt the Echo consume him and he could feel everything the entity felt. All he or she had seen, all they had experiences, all that they felt. What they had loved, lost and found. All that had passed and what they had discovered. The Truth as it were. And now he and they were one.

As he began to succeed in pushing the Dark Man back, he felt pain radiating through his body. The Beast was being yanked again but the Echo was trying to help Pascale, although the pain was becoming excruciating. His mind was being consumed by blinding whiteness and he was afraid that he had now made a mistake, that the beast was going to be yanked out and he was going to die.

But he didn't.

He nearly vomited when he saw the mess his stomach was in and that beast in all of it’s rather disgusting glory was now writhing around on the floor. But the Echo didn't want him to die, he felt it within him, healing him, knitting him back together in one piece. He was finally free of the beast and he had to thank a possible member of his ancestral family for that.

Unfortunately he could not think as his brain had been scrambled too much by what had just happened. He truly was for the first time in his life, utterly speechless. His blue eyes rolled up into his head and he collapsed to the floor feeling like he had been on a particularly bad drinking binge. The floor was cool against his face and he felt like he could just lay here a while.

Thank you he thought quietly at the Echo, but our work is not done yet….

As he lay on the floor trying to recover his strength after what he had just done and gone through the Dark Man was prattling on about how basically he needed Rouser to do what he had just done, that the beast basically had to die and he had to cross him off his book’s list. That Pascale was linked to a legacy of some kind, something that had probably come to pass in the past. That for generations had resonated through the centuries through this person's family line until it reached him, the Rouser bloodline. Although it seemed the Dark Man was enjoying Pascale’s company which either pleased or made his stomach turn he didn't know which right now.

Pascale though knew that whatever the Dark Man offered, he still had to stop him. With the Echo with him perhaps that could be possible. But he wasn't hedging his bets on it. And the beast was still alive, ready for another person to be a host for this thing. He could go too.

And now the Dark Man was asking about the crystal again. And he was looking at Pascale. He knew that the Dark Man could still have another go and try to kill him, although with the Echo in it may be a little more difficult than some weak beast.

Pascale slowly sat up, unfortunately it looked like his only shirt was now ruined thanks to his stomach having a beast shoot out of it. He rested his arms on his knees and looked a the Dark Man.

“The crystal taken from Mimban is at Mandalore. Unless that is not the true crystal of course. You mentioned that planets in the hologram that were lit, perhaps they are on one of them. I don’t know.” he gestured to the beast ''unless he knows something we don’t. But perhaps you would like to go chasing around the galaxy for this, you’d probably disappoint a lot of people at Mandalore for not turning up.” he shrugged “But it’s entirely up to you”

The Dark Man allowed his bemusement to buffet Rouser.

"A box is at Mandalore, yes, but has anyone seen the Crystal since you arrived at Takodona? Since Han Solo and Maz Kanata were last seen with it?" He laughed. "I had my suspicions when the Wookiee was sent away with the Millennium Falcon, Solo's pride and joy..."

"... so where is it, Sith God? You are connected to it, no - residing within it for a hundred millennia, just waiting." The Dark Man said, leering. "You're going to die, you know."

What was left of Typhojem turned its 'face' towards Rouser, not so much appealing him to intervene, but demanding it. The Dark Man turned it back to look at him with a turn of a finger. "Well?"

"Don't you want to know, Underlord, about the lie that your Beast-friend told you?" A snigger. "Or did he not ask where his Crystal was, when he returned to you, after his brief excursion to Mimban - to attempt to kill Master Windu?"

He had, in-fact. He had roared at Rouser to tell him where it was - yet when the archaeologist clarified, he grew quiet, reticent, even. Because, even then, He knew that Han Solo did not have his Crystal.

So the beast hadn't been the messiah, he had been a very naughty boy.

Internally though Pascalle had to smile. What a genius plan. Get everyone to Mandalore and send the crystal somewhere, out of sight and out of mind. The beast must have detected it had gone but decided to send Pascale there anyway. To destroy the Dark Man. End the competition if you will.

Pure genius. And Pascale had been played.

However the mission had not changed. Perhaps Pascale could still make it happen. The crystal could stay out of reach now that he knew what the Dark Man wanted. The Echo would hopefully make sure Pascale would accomplish it.

Still sitting on the floor as he was too tired to stand up Pascale replied " He did ask yes, and I told him. Simple as that. It's not my fault that people decided to play games"

He looked at the beast and then back up to the Dark Man' cowl narrowing his eyes "He probably won't tell you, he'd die before he does" he held up his hand " But don't kill him. He is the key to finding it. But he has been assaulted as you know, he is too weak and perhaps his connection has faltered or even worse, gone"

Pascale smirked "But Han Solo knows and he is at Mandalore. Our friend could interrogate him and find out where it is for you. Only Solo knows where his Wookiee friend has gone"

The Dark Man glared at Rouser.

“You resist me, even now? Even as a Sith God cowers before me?” He turned his free hand to the archaeologist.

“Perhaps you think now that you can defeat me? Is that hope I detect?”

His hand turned, and Rouser felt unconsciousness encompass his sight. It had been so quick, so sure, that there was little the man could do.

Black claimed him.

TAG: @Sinrebirth

 

Darth Zorn and XoXaan
Temple, Korriban

Darth Zorn followed the spirit of the Dark Lady to the holocron.

"What is the secret? What is it the ancient Sith knew that we have forgotten?" He asked.

"The Dark Side." XoXaan replied.

"I know the Dark Side. I feel it in my veins." Zorn replied.

"Yet you do not understand it. Fear, anger, despair, this are the quick and easy paths to control the power of the Dark Side. Truly master it you will only if you fully understand it, if you understand the depth of it. The power it gives you. Techniques are nothing but methods for the weak. A true Master of Darkness wields the power to shape reality, to not only bend the laws of the galaxy ... no a true Master breaks them. He redefines them. He corrupts them in their very core."

Darth Zorn felt almost intoxicated by such promise of power.

"How? How do I become a true Master?" He asked and he knew he would do anything to gain such power.

XoXaan vanished and appeared behind her new apprentice. "The Embrace." She whispered into his ear.

"What is that?" Luke half turned his head and eyed her.

"You bind the Dark Side to your very soul. Inseparable. You become an embodiment of the Dark Side and the Dark Side becomes an extension of you. But be warned, the Embrace has it's price." XoXaan whispered.

"What is the price?" Zorn felt the fear rise. He felt the power of the Dark Side all around himself. A bond with it of such depth was a frightening thought.

"Your soul will be bound to it, your very essence will be changed forever." XoXaan grinned. "Your eternal corruption will be the source of your power. Many don't survive such bond. Yet, we both know you will prevail. The force is strong with you. So incredibly strong. Through the embrace you will gain what you truly seek. Unlimited power. Isn't it what you seek? Are you willing to pay the price?"

"I am. I have to. It is ... my destiny." Zorn whispered and looked down. He closed his eyes and felt the call of the Dark Side, the lure of his soul ... he would indeed not shy away from his destiny. He would not betray it as his father had.

"Yes. Yesssss." XoXaan hissed and her appearance began to fade ... to dissolve.

"He ... he did not embrace the Dark Side. Your apprentice ..." Zorn looked at the dead man.

"He was not ready yet." XoXaan sighed.

"I am? I am ready?" Zorn wondered if he truly was.

"Not yet. But soon. Soon." With these words her physical appearance was gone completely. "You have guests, Lord Zorn. You should welcome them."

Zorn raised his head and indeed he felt the presence of force users. Unrefined and insecure. Younglings. Pestage had not failed.

Zorn extended his hand and called the lightsaber of his fallen enemy to his hand. He grinned in the dark as he realized how everything was falling into place.

Tag: @TheSithGirly, @Sinrebirth

 

Darth Maul
Coruscant, Kashyyyk

Maul had felt Q'ira for a moment when he arrived. Her ship was probably somewhere in orbit. So he was not the only one drawn here. He had hoped to leave her to Darth Zorn to handle. Show her who and what had become the true heir to the Sith, after she had failed to live up to the Sith tradition.

He was not here for her though. He was here for whatever disturbed the balance of the force. He was here to find a gift worthy of his apprentice. Q'ira would not stop him.

Accelerating the Sith Intruder, activating his cloaking device, he cloaked his presence in the force as he made his way to the surface, allowing the Dark Side to guide his course to whatever this planet was hiding.

Tag: @Sinrebirth, @LordTroepfchen, @QueenSabe7

 

IC: Princess Feyna Organa
Mandalore

She’d been about to politely ask Han to go on, even as she steeled herself in preparation, expecting him to lay into her again. She wouldn’t admit it out loud, but she was actually starting to be a little afraid of him, and at this point, she just wanted to avoid any further arguments with him. But the Separatists’ fleet was arriving in-system; the time to depart was upon them, and Feyna didn’t protest when Winter interjected.

She was heading toward the Ghost when the new transmission started to come through, presumably from the Separatists, broadcasting across the entire battleship.

Feyna felt like she knew this voice from…somewhere, but for the life of her she couldn’t place it. But whoever the speaker was, evidently he somehow knew who they were, calling each of them out in turn, and he knew they had the crystal.

She obviously had no intentions of letting him have it, nor was she interested in any kind of treaty with someone who was threatening to destroy another planet. That Emperor Graul had murdered his aide was new information to her—assuming it was true; everything this man said, Feyna was taking with more than just a grain of salt.

It was an enlightening speech, if he was to be believed; one of their companions had actually been hired by the Separatists to retrieve the crystal, but since the Ghost’s arrival at Mandalore, the mercenary in question hadn’t so much as asked about the crystal, nevermind actually tried to take it.

But what the man had to say to Anakin was…troubling, if any of it was indeed true. Feyna knew he was more than capable of killing someone, but…using the dark side? And Luke—I thought he was still on Naboo? Surely the man was making this up? Feyna looked to Winter, concerned, and afraid. What if the man was telling the truth, and Luke had fallen?

If it was true, those Jedi children, the last hope for the Order, were going to their deaths, or to be warped into future Qi’ras and Sedrisses.

The man spoke of someone named Rouser, and of a prophecy that spoke of a Voice and a Siren, references Feyna didn’t understand.

She was still trying to place his voice, wracking her brain but coming up empty. Dammit, who is he? As the message cut off, she turned to Winter, hoping her friend’s excellent memory might hold the answer. “Winter, I know I’ve heard that voice before. Do you recognize it?”

TAG: @Sinrebirth @TheSilentInfluence @galactic-vagabond422 @RachelTyrell

 

IC: Madelyn Linnett
Mandalore

Madelyn smiled back at Hera, grateful. Full of hope. "I'd like that. If..." She dropped her voice, "If something happens, promise me something. Go to Lothal, tell my parents...tell them I'm sorry." She frowned slightly; winched. "If I do get out of here; I'd like a tour by the Rebels that saved it." Madelyn stepped away as she was called; saluted Hera. And then she turned to Winter and followed her out of the room. She couldn't see Ka'rta anywhere; but Madelyn wasn't worried. She knew that her friend could handle herself.

The message was troubling, but the Dark Man doesn't know I have the force back...does he? I could use that to my advantage.

She paused next to Winter when Princess Freya asked who the voice was and waited patiently for a reply, feet apart, head slightly bowed in respect. And then as if she knew what Freya was thinking she pointed out, "I am not a Separatist you're grace. I am willing to protect the Crystal and you form whatever the Separatists throw at us. It's...been a complicated week."

Tag: @Sinrebirth @HanSolo29 @Jerjerrod-Lennox @RachelTyrell @LordTroepfchen @SirakRomar @JediMasterAnne @QueenSabe7 @DarkLordoftheFins

 

IC: Princess Feyna Organa
Mandalore

Feyna gave the other girl a small smile. "Thank you," she replied. She wanted to add that they should all try to have each other's backs, but considering the trouble she'd unintentionally led others into lately, it didn't feel right coming from her.

"And I don't think anyone here is a Separatist," she continued. The accused mercenary Ka'rta was nowhere nearby, but again, she hadn't given Feyna any cause for concern, and the princess still wasn't sure how much they should believe the strange man. "I don't know that we should just dismiss this man's statements out of hand, but I certainly don't trust him."

TAG: @Sinrebirth @TheSilentInfluence @galactic-vagabond422 @RachelTyrell @DarkLordoftheFins

 

Han Solo and Anakin Skywalker
Mandalore Surface

As everybody was suddenly busy with things Han simply shrugged and left. It wasn't long before he was on his way.


Han Solo was finally brought to the two X-Wings parked in an industrial complex seemingly long abandoned. They were sitting on a platform, polished and shiny and some droids and technicians were making them ready. He had denied the Rebellion the request to get into one of these awfully ugly orange flight suits and instead had taken only the helmet and the R3 Unit. It kept beeping happily around and he smirked at it.

"If you say so, pal." Han replied not getting a word. "I take that one." He pointed st the left one and nodded to a Sullustan technician. "Get little beepy here on board and let him check systems."

Another ship approached. Dark and sleek. A heavily modified courier ship, heavy weaponed and retrofitted with a much more powerful hyperdrive circled them to land. "Skywalker I assume." Han said to himself and shielded his eyes from the dim Mandalorian sun.

Anakin saw the man down there with the two X-Wings and circled the landing pad once before setting down the Twin Suns as far away from the two fighters as possible. He climbed out of his ship and drew his cloak closer around him.

Han casually walked over to the man. Leaning against the black starship as Anakin secured it. "Fancy ride." He just said and meant it.

Anakin turned up and smiled at Han. "Thanks. She gets me where I need to go." He humbly answered. "Good to see you Solo. I was hoping you would be here."

Han nodded. "I had my second thoughts after some mild discussions on board the Ghost, but I hate to miss out on the finale."

Anakin nodded. He could imagine a man like Han had little sympathy for Feyna and her views. "I doubt you are. You are not a member of the Rebellion, are you?"

Han laughed. "Are we still calling it that? Rebellion?" He asked and shook his head. "No, I think I hate the Empire too much for that."

Anakin had to laugh. The man had a point obviously.

"So may I ask what brings you here?" Anakin now fully turned to the man. Solo looked at him. He seemed to consider the answer to the question for a moment.

"I owe it to a couple of friends of mine." He said.

"No easier way to repay the debt?" Anakin put his cloak off and began to fold it while he walked besides Solo towards the X-Wings.

"Regrettably not. They are all dead. Died to stop this thing. Died because I asked for their help." Han looked down and Anakin looked at the man. They both had lost a lot, obviously.

"I see." Anakin said and stopped. "I am sorry. Your friends probably were also not ... Rebels."

Han shook his head. Anakin understood the man's anger. He had seen friends fight and die for a Rebellion that now refused to fight the Empire itself. Of course he despised the Rebels.

"They haven't died for nothing. They gave us a chance to stop this thing." Anakin said and Han looked at him.

"I don't know. To me it looks like we are fighting one mad man to protect another." Han smiled and his exhaustion over the last days showed.

"No. we don't." Anakin shook his head. "I was a Jedi once, but you know that probably. You know why I left the order?"

Han raised his brows. "Too preachy?"

Anakin laughed. "They were, but I got used to that part. I left because I understood that what they had done was wrong. Their war was just. But it had killed millions. Billions. The Jedi had done something wrong for the right reasons."

"The Clone Wars." Solo had heard a lot about those.

"Yes. This is not about which despot rules. This is about none of them having a space station of the size of a moon that can wipe out whole planets." Anakin said. "And I think you know that."

Han nodded with a heavy sigh, then he broke the tension by making a joke. "Are you reading my mind Jedi?"

"Actually against common believe we Jedi don't constantly do that." Anakin said.

"Really? I would not be able to resist, really." Han smirked and they began walking again.

"Oh, believe me once you read a few of the wrong ones you start resisting."

Han laughed. "Oh I can imagine that." He had to think of Jabba. He smirked as he realized that slimy slug was probably still outraged over the failed delivery on Mimban. And possibly considered Han dead.

The X-Wings were checked and rechecked as Anakin and Han Solo watched the process going through all the data themselves. They both had the same attitude towards flying. These ships were both new and they tried to make themselves as familiar with them as possible.

Han was thinking of Chewbacca and hoped he was alright.

"You should stay focused." Anakin said to him gently.

"I am. I am. Just was thinking of a friend who I would love to have around and have my back." Han smiled. He had no idea why he was so damned honest. Maybe certain death did that to you.

"I have one of those, too." Anakin smiled.

"Where is yours?" Han had not thought Jedi had friends like this.

"He is dead." Anakin smiled. "Yours?"

"Hopefully somewhere out there staying out of trouble. He is not the smartest Wookiee." Han smirked.

"Your best friend is a Wookiee?" Anakin raised his brows in surprise.

"Yeah. Long story." Han only replied. Anakin left it at that. Solo was a man full of surprises. They stood there silently watching the two starfighter who were such unsubtle representations of their destiny.

"Ever flew an X-Wing?" Anakin asked Solo finally.

"No, but I had my run with a Z-95 on Salucif. Was told they are pretty similiar." Han said and looked at the ship.

Anakin folded his arms. "You got a lot more power in the X-Wing. But the controls are almost identical."

"I will be okay. Don't worry. I can fly anything." Han said and gave the Jedi a confident smile.

"Good. They are pretty nimble and easy to maneuver. You will enjoy them." Anakin said and a technician handed him his helmet.

"Are you ready for this?" Anakin asked the man, who was hopefully as good a pilot as they said.

"No. Let's do it anyway." He sighed.

"Where is the box with the crystal?" Anakin asked and Han had to laugh.

"The Chancellor got it. She will be the bait now." Anakin looked at Han for a long moment. Then he sighed and could not help but smile.

"It is not in there, is it?" He asked the smuggler.

"What do you mean?" Han tried to look innocent.

"The box. The crystal is not in there? Is it?" Anakin laughed as he realized Solo would otherwise never handed it to the girl. He did not even have to reach out with the force to know he was right. Han Solo was giving him the sort of roguish smile that told him more than the Force ever would.

"Good Plan." Anakin said and Han nodded in return. Skywalker understood what he had tried to do. Of all people in the galaxy it was a Jedi who understood.

"About that, have you considered letting the Imperials do it? Tell them how to destroy the thing and let them do the job? They can send their best pilots up there to die for this." He raised his brows.

"I have considered it. But truth is I have seen their best pilots and they are not good enough to pull this off." Anakin replied. Han understood the logic. He had the same doubts as Anakin had.

"Yeah maybe. Is this our problem?" He asked frankly.

Anakin sighed. "What if they fail and the Seperatists finish their weapon somehow? Start blowing up planets full of civilians. Could you live with that?"

Han sighed. "Apparently not. Or I would not be here. Okay, so it is us. The two guys nobody wants or trusts, right?"

Anakin laughed. He liked the brutal honesty of the man.

"Nobody alive and not a Wookiee. But we both are doing this not only for the living, do we?" Anakin sadly remarked.

Han gave him a long look. "Probably not." He said. "I guess you hear that a lot, but I am sorry ... I mean your wife and kid."

Anakin nodded. Padme and Leia. Han had lost friends, but family was different.

"At least nobody is gonna miss us, right? As far as I see it we are the last of our kind. So maybe a perfect moment to go out in a blaze of glory." Anakin replied and padded the man's shoulder.

"Oh what optimism. There is a chance we get out of it, is there?" Han replied.

"A tiny chance. Almost not existent." Anakin answered and started walking to his X-Wing.

"Well, never tell me my odds." Han sighed. That moment the hologram appeared right between Anakin an him, broadcast by a droid from somewhere.

"Citizens of the Mandalore system... the Separatist fleet has returned to Mandalore after twenty years. The last time we reached for your world we came to save you from ..." The hologram died down as Anakin waved his hand to cut it short. Han smiled. He began seeing a pattern there by now. Anakin liked to end communication on his terms.

"Villain speech, they sometimes do that. Usually a waste of time listening to them." Anakin simply said and Han raised his brows. "He is smarter than us, Chosen, powerful and we have no chance. These speeches are pretty repetitive, but these guys usually seem not to be aware of that." Anakin shrugged. Han had to laugh at how relaxed Anakin Skywalker shrugged of their enemy. The man had probably fought many of those.

"Sure. So what is the plan? Do we dive into the battle?" Han asked.

Anakin sighed, hesitated a moment and then shook his head.

"No." He replied. Han knew he would say that. The battle was not what they were here for. Anakin turned to Han once more. "The battle can be won only one way. Not by us beating them on the ground, not by the Empire helping or us shooting down a lot of droid fighters."

"We must destroy the Ultimate Weapon." Han said with a nod.

"Exactly. We will wait for our chance and then we break through and make our run. Once I am in you get away fast. Don't wait for me." Anakin looked at Solo who nodded in return.

"Understood." Solo replied. "May the force be with you. You are certainly gonna need it."

"May the force be with you, Han Solo." Anakin only nodded and began to climb the stairs to his starfighter.

Han looked at him for a moment and then put his helmet on. Two warriors on their way to their last and final stand against an overwhelming force. Maybe someone would name him a Hero of Mandalore later on. Why the hell had it have to be Mandalore. He smirked and got to his X-Wing, preparing for take off.

Anakin sat down in his X-Wing and Dodonna contacted him. "They are outgunned unless the Empire contributes, General Skywalker. Orders in the meantime?"Anakin sighed at the clearly aged General. "Then let's hope the Empire does not intervene. If they loose the fight the Ultimate Weapon might not show up. So we need to be outgunned, we need to be loosing. Just try to keep them fighting for as long as possible. Jump the Gordon into their back once their fighters are on their way down. Try to attack their dropships, they are most precious to them. Identify their droid control ship and concentrate fire on it. Most important: Command is still yours, General. I will lead Black 2 into the midst of it once the Ultimate Weapon appears. Until then we will try to lay low. May the force be with you."

Anakin cut him off again and fired up the engines of the X-Wings, leaning back and put the sensors to maximum range. Watching the battle without intervening would take a lot patience and self-control. He prepared himself for this test of his abilities.

Han looked over and wondered if Skywalker actually wanted to get out of this alive. Probably not. He felt like he had not anything to do with this Rebellion anymore. His family was dead. Everybody he knew was kinda dead. Except those who had so brutally betrayed his trust just a few hours ago. Possibly Anakin Skywalker did not plan for a happy everafter. Han did. Han received the confirmation his ship was ready and leaned back.

"The battle. Tell me how bad it is beepy." He asked and wondered how many had to die before the Ultimate Weapon made an appearance.

Tag: @RachelTyrell (combined with), @Sinrebirth

 

Mace Windu
Ach-To...

Though most of the stones on this island were slick with porg guano - at least those places not subject to the fastidious reptavian nuns who cooed and fawned and stooped to pray at the arrival of a Jedi after so many generations (Mace had tried to be polite, had nodded and laid hands and spoken softly) - the ground near this sinkhole by a tide pool was pristine, seaslick stone the color of blastermetal. The yawning maw itself, which spoke with Depa's voice, was ringed with creeping weeds, rays of dark around a black star. Mace knew of places like this. One rested deep beneath the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. Master Yoda spoke of one on Dagobah. A nexus of great darkness. He peeked over the edge and looked in. He saw nothing, felt enormous cold, heard voices from his past. He turned to look at the top of the mountain, where the First Jedi Temple sat and waited for him. That was why he was here, wasn't it? That was why he had come, and that was where his answers were. The solutions. Right? Or... He looked again into the hole, into the darkness, saw his future and his past stretching out before him and behind him, saw himself as in a carnival mirror, warped in some places - no, in the same place, but parallel, somewhere else, other possibilities. Somewhere on the island Mace felt Ahsoka's brightness. She shone in the Force.

Ach-To was a place of contrasts.

The Jedi Master gathered his will into the center of himself, and allowed himself to fall into the cold and the dark.

TAG: @Sinrebirth

 

Anakin Skywalker
Mandalore

Anakin felt something was wrong. The fleet above was preparing, but they were not anticipating back-up. The presence of the strange wanna-be Sidious was missing and so was the imminent danger of a giant battle station.

The Ultimate Weapon was not coming.

The enemy had seen through their trap. Well, Anakin had quickly understood Han Solo had been hiding the crystal elsewhere, why would others not see through his ruse. The mission to destroy the Ultimate Weapon had failed. Every death from here made no more sense.

But it wasn't his decision to make. He opened a channel to General Dodonna, Admiral Raddus and Feyna. He also tried to get the Mandalore and Solo patched through.

"Skywalker here. The Ultimate Weapon is not coming. I repeat, the weapon is not coming to Mandalore. Our plan has failed. This battle is pointless. I suggest you order an immediate retreat of all our forces. Mandalore, you should scatter your troops. I doubt they will dare to occupy the planet, but if they try you can easily dispatch them one cohort at a time." He sighed and leaned back. "If for whatever reason you decide to fight though ... I might know how we can win this battle."

Of course he did. He had not planned to win this battle, but if they had to ... he had fought no armies as often as the Separatists army. He knew them better than any other enemy. Compared to the Empire they had a few strategic disadvantages.

"I might need your help for that Solo. I know you got nothing to do with whatever war this has become now, but the truth is ... to pull this off, I need your help."

He realized with some relief, he was no longer the champion of the light. Actually the only difference he had made since Padme's death had been when he had been tempted by the Dark Side.

Maybe Obi-Wan Kenobi had been that champion. Obi-Wan Kenobi had not killed a commanding officer of a Star Destroyer with the force or tried to blow up a planet to avenge his wife. He had been ready to sacrifice himself for the greater good. And he finally had.

"Awaiting orders." He said and leaned back. He would not leave them alone today. Deep down he just hoped Feyna and her Generals would not sacrifice most of their resources on a failed plan.

Tag: @Sinrebirth, @RachelTyrell, @JediMasterAnne, @TheSilentInfluence, @galactic-vagabond422

 

IC: Ka'rta
In Orbit

The battle was coming a fight was looming and Ka'rta felt empty inside. The flame that was inside her was gone and was struggling to find something to take it place. Putting her helmet on she marched her way back down the ramp regrouping with her Manda'lor and the others. That was when the hero without fear decided to speak.

"Skywalker here. The Ultimate Weapon is not coming. I repeat, the weapon is not coming to Mandalore. Our plan has failed. This battle is pointless. I suggest you order an immediate retreat of all our forces. Mandalore, you should scatter your troops. I doubt they will dare to occupy the planet, but if they try you can easily dispatch them one cohort at a time."

The empty feeling was gone...that old wounded anger had returned. Their plan, the plan that Ka'rta had sacrificed to see succeed, that she had broken herself to get to this point was now in shambles. Everything she had done everything she had given up everything she'd suffered through no fault of her own, was now made meaningless. She had to know who screwed this up? Who turned her into the galaxy's whipping girl? She locked eyes with the princess, the chancellor,

"You!" she growled marching with purposeful steps. "Show me, show me that you still have the crystal." Any attempts to stop her would be thrown off. She needed to know why fate had chosen to rip everything away from her again. She was going to die, they were too deep, Madelyn was too idealistic to retreat. Ka'rta was a dead woman. And she needed someone to blame. "Tell me that you knew...tell me that you were just stringing us along as some master plan to kill us all because I would take that much better than you just being another stupid little girl playing at being a hero." She reached out intending to grip Freya's shoulder not letting her escape the aggressive interrogation.

TAG: @JediMasterAnne @TheSilentInfluence @RachelTyrell @Sinrebirth