Star Wars CLOSED Star Wars: Episode VI: Twilight of the Force III: A Son’s Destiny

OOC: A combo with @Sinrebirth

IC: Han Solo, Ben Solo, Vua Rapuung
Location: Shramar

Heading through the slave ship Han did begin to wonder what he was getting himself into at his age.

Before he could think any more a Vong turned around and he had a young woman with him as a hostage. Han pulled up his arm, his blaster pointing at the Vong's head.

Vua and the commander had a standoff. Before a familiar face appeared, His Highness had made it too. And it seemed he knew the woman.

The commander had had enough, especially since it seemed a mutiny was in progress. Four warriors arrived and Han was about to fire…

Alarms were going off, the Imperials had arrived with the Falcon in the lead. Lumpy had made it!

About damn time.

He turned back to the commander and since he was now distracted shot at his head.

Game on.

Han’s shot took the Vong commander in the forehead, and Kaye was released, leaping over the biot console and driving her foot in the neck of one of the four Vong -

One went for Han with a staff swing and Ben blocked with his lightsaber -

Fin led a surge of refugees to drive at the third, half a dozen Artorian’s struck down by thrown razor bugs -

Vua screamed a war cry and rushed the fourth warrior, who met his every slash with a counter and riposte -

Lumpy commed Han, of course.

As the battle began Han shot at whatever warriors he could get at, especially the one throwing bugs at the refugees.

His comm went off and Han fumbled trying to pull it off his belt before finally grabbing it.

"Good to see you pal" he said to his copilot "Seems you brought the Imperials out. Me, Ben and some refugees are on that slave ship you see so if you can damage it without killin' us, that would be great".

Lumpy roared his understanding. The Dominion, some seven kilometres of firepower, was taking on three ships the same size as it, so they were pretty much never going to have spare to hit a ship as big as the one Han was aboard.

He said the Imperial smaller ships were winning, but their TIE fighters and Star Destroyers weren’t standing up well against the Vong equivalents, but he was sure the Vong were trying to put themselves between the planet and the Imps and he couldn’t work out why.

Han’s shots meant that the warrior was bowled over by the unwarned refugees, and he was crushed to death, but twenty plus Artorians were dead -

Kaye’s kick had caused the Vong warrior to choke, and she spun to trio him up even as Vua stabbed his foe through the throat. He strode over to Kaye and put his foot through the skull of her opponent -

Even as Ben ducked a blow and ran his lightsaber tip through the armpit of his foe!

That was all four.

It was done.

A cheer sounded out among the refugees, and was carried deep, deep into the ship. It was massive, and Vua stepped over to the controls and adjusted the viewing iris. His eyes looked alarmed.

“Hero Solo, the reports say that the warmaster has doubled the deployment to Shramar. He has ordered another Domain battlegroup to arrive - Domain Choka. The Supreme Commander of that fleet is Nas Choka, he is a brilliant tactician.” Vua’s facial expression approached disbelief on a human one. “You will be outnumbered, outgunned, and outmatched. Nas Choka will secure the maw luur and villip fields with absolute ferocity.”

Ben looked worried. “Do we have guns?”

“Not enough to turn the tide I bet,” said Fin. He was eying up their friendly Yuuzhan Vong and helped his sister up.

“We’re big but not well armed for our mass,” Kaye replied. “Sha’kel, he took a fancy to me - he told me we could take out almost anything smaller than us, but that was just the size difference. Our weapons can cover a retreat but not an attack.”

Ben looked to his father. “Any ideas? We’re gonna lose Shramar, and they’re gonna get their food and supplies, at this rate.”

Han shook his head. Great, more of them comin'.

"If we go chargin' in we could end up gettin' blown to bits'. The Imperials are strugglin' as it is. We don't have enough firepower to blow them to Hell and back".

"If they are doublin' the fleet comin' to get us it means they are serious. And if this Choka is as good as Vua says he is then we will all be dead. The odds ain't looking good, and I hate it".

"We need to get these refugees to safety, that's our main concern. And I will need to contact the New Republic, see if they can spare anythin'".

"Look I hate runnin' away. But we have to face it that there are people here that need to be safe" he looked at Fin "And I still have your father's promise to keep Your Highness".

Fin pulled a face at the attention. “Well the Vong put all the refugees on Shramar on the slave ship…”

“… so it is only the crops on Shramar now?” Ben was catching on.

“Yup,” Fin said.

Vua chuckled. “I see the makings of a true tactician in your son, Hero Solo.”

“What?” Kaye said, confused.

“Hero Solo is right,” Vua said. “We cannot win, so we should retreat before Choka gets here.”

“And while we retreat…” Ben started. He grinned at Han.

Han gave Ben his customary smirk "We give them a good old fashioned kicking, right where it hurts".

He nodded at Vua "Destroy those crops, I'll spread the word".

He opened the vomm to Lumpy "Pal, we need to retreat before another Vong fleet arrives. If the Imperials have any suggestions of where to go I'm all ears".

"However as we leave, bombard the Vong crops. The Imps love a good orbital bombardment so this should be right up their alley".

Lumpy rumbled an eager yip, and gave word to the Imperials.

They supplied coordinates for the Imperial fortress world of Borosk, which was heavily reinforced with a minefield, planetary shields and heavy weapons. It would serve as an ideal place to hold the line, and lure the Vong into a siege. Captain Bristow, who had greeted them in orbit and retreated and returned, had been assigned as liaison to the 'refugee' element by the Moff Council.

Seemingly there was a plan in the case of an invasion of the Remnant too.

The Imperial fleet began to head off, and smashed a few Yuuzhan Vong who had managed to place themselves between the planet and the defenders. In short order the T'sam Pah shook as it's plasma launchers fired, and the Imperials followed suit - a full Base Delta Zero.

The Yuuzhan Vong reacted with confusion, but the Dominion held the line and they couldn't swarm past it. Several smaller ships abandoned their gravitic defenses for speed, and were shot apart, and the Imperial dreadnought was steadily backing away and covering the retreat.

Lumpy growled that they were about to hit the jump point as, behind the Yuuzhan Vong fleet, a force the same size as the one they were facing materialized. It moved after the pursuing fleet, but the worldship flagship opened fire on one of its own ships - a matalok cruiser, Vua confirmed, belonging to the Supreme Commander.

Apparently Nas Choka was punishing a failure.

The Imperials and T'sam Pah had done untold damage to the Yuuzhan Vong crops, and won an incredible strategic victory at the cost of the planet -

The Millennium Falcon docked with the slave ship before they escaped gravity, and then the fleet jumped -

For Borosk!

Han watched it unfold. It was both a win and a loss. They'd gotten the crops and had grabbed the refugees but the planet was gone.

This Choka commander though, the New Republic needed to be informed about him and everything else today. The New Republic was about to get a serious load on their plates.

"Come on" he said to Ben and Fin, let's get back aboard the Falcon. I've got a hell of a report to issue".

He looked at Vua "I don't know if you want to come aboard or stay here, you can join us if you fancy looking around a machine. Oh and knock it off with that Hero Solo stuff. It's just Han".

He turned around and headed to the Falcon. He had to check if his head was alright after all.

Xav is seriously goin' to kill me...

TAG: @Sinrebirth

 

OOC: Another combo with @Sinrebirth

IC: Qwi Xux, Beaumont Kin
Location: Bastion

Even after the Jedi had recharged her, Qwi's body still felt exhausted. She had managed to get Beaumont on to a bed.

Which did not look comfy at all.

Beaumont was not looking good at all but she smiled back at Beaumont "Well it's new i'll agree there" she said standing next to him holding his hand "Maybe we could if the ships stops being a pa-".

OW!

The ship had been yanked out by a...she tried to figure out what it was...an Imperial interdictor. Oh fantastic, out of the frying pan into the fire.

And...what was that in front? It looked bigger than a Super class Star Destroyer. But she couldn't concentrate, the interdictor had fired and the ship was screaming in pain which was overloading her thoughts again.

This is getting too much.

They could not comm and if she stretched out, she didn't know who she could find. And they couldn't jump. They were stuck.

Beaumont had gone unconscious which panicked her. She needed to sort him out before it was too late. Or before they got blown up.

Protect us she simply ordered the ship as she concentrated inwards and focused her attention on Beaumont.

Gathering her strength she delved deep and began to explore where the poison was coming from and whether she could stop it.

Indeed the Megador was far bigger than the SSD Lusankya she had just seen at the Battle of Garqi. Admiral Kre’frey’s flagship did not compare to the Imperial project, a mobile capital and shipyard in one, able to host a million strong crew.

But that didn’t make a difference to Qwi now. As her ship swerved and was corralled by a flight to four TIE fighters towards the Interdictor, it asked for permission to shoot down the Imperial ships and their stingers.

Beaumont wasn’t dead, but he wasn’t good, either. The virus was Vong based, a poison in Onimi’s tooth. As she connected with Beaumont on a much deeper level, she would see the truth; Onimi had mastered the Art of the Small, and had altered the cells to be the perfect weapon against a human immune system using what had to be the Force.

She could sense his exhalation upon the changes, and it allowed her to connect with a flash of memory; Onimi had been a Yuuzhan Vong shaper who had experimented on himself and reconnected with the Force…

The connection with the mutated cells was the key to it. Did she dive deeper into the infection?

What of the Imperials?

Qwi had her eyes closed trying to concentrate on healing Beaumont. She climbed on the bed, straddling his waist so she could hold both of his hands.

Do not fire, she thought back at the ship, just shield. Firing on the Imperials was probably a bad idea but they could end up being blown up anyway. And there was no way to communicate with them, and she couldn't work the bond without Beaumont.

She felt like she was going deeper inside Beaumont's body which would have elicited some innuendo between them both. But she was here to save his life, nothing else mattered.

And so she continued on...Onimi was a Force using Vong, somehow he had connected with it. But the poison itself, if she had her scientific knowledge she would have broken it down.

They needed to do this together.

Beaumont she thought i'm here. I see the infection but we need to dive deeper together to eradicate it. We entwined together as one. We must dive deep.

And so she did and wondered if Beaumont would join her.

Beaumont wasn't conscious, but he was hanging on, connecting to the memories of the two of them; his love of them.

That is what she would sense, and understand, that he was protecting something...

His memories of her... that was it. Only them - he didn't want to lose his feelings for her, he wanted them to survive even if he did not.

It was sweet, but it didn't help.

Another memory, Onimi's - he had worked out how to use his powers to influence the Yuuzhan Vong as if they existed in the Force, manipulating and puppetting the Yuuzhan Vong ruler, Shimmra. And then, Palpatine approached him and taught him more about what he could do, and showed him what he could become. They struck an accord, and Onimi agreed to mentally subjugate the Vong leadership as long as Palpatine took him as his Sith apprentice...

... but it taught Qwi that the Yuuzhan Vong were a part of the Force...

... just not on a spectrum she could see or sense...

... so where was the failing?

Beaumont wasn't coming to help this time and she could understand why. He was trying to protect his love for her, for them overall.

She could see images, flashes of them together. Memories of intimate times. It made her love him even more but it made understand that he was basically going to do a Pascale, his spirit living in her. But it would never be the same.

You are not doing a Pascale on me. We are going to survive...or die together.

It looked like though more interesting tidbits were coming from Onimi's memories, things they would have to tell to someone. Feyna? The Jedi? Would they even believe a word she said pardoned war criminal or not?

Nothing more on the poison though. Perhaps she would have to think outside the box on this one. So she dug deeper with all her strength and energy.

Meanwhile in the real world her body had collapsed on top of Beaumont's, her skin growing a paler blue as her energy drained.

Beaumont’s voice sounded out, trying to speak to her around her worry, around her panic, around her fear.

Your concept of the Force needs to get bigger, Qwi. You need to become… more.

A spectral hand reached out of the light surrounding his memories. It was blue limned, just like Pascale’s had been -

Qwi began to wonder when the hand came out that Beaumont had gone. That she was too late. That all her hard work was for nothing.

But surely she would have felt him go…

No, not again……

She was running out of time. Her body was failing again so she had to purge Beaumont of the poison or possibly face the rest of her twilight years physically alone.

So she did have to think outside the box. Both light and dark, the galaxy as a whole. All those stars, and planets and other living things. And she had to look inside herself.

Treat the Vong as different. Treat them as separate.

Oh well, here goes….

So she grabbed Beaumont's hand with hers and pushed with all her might, giving it all she had got. Opening herself to this new dimension of thinking.

And then she saw it.

Saw what Beaumont saw, infected by the Yuuzhan Vong ailment .

The issue was not with the Force; it was with her! As she drew him more and more into her, she accepted him and the virus and acquired a vaster understanding of the Force - and of the Yuuzhan Vong.

They had once been like her and Beaumont; they’d erred, and lost the Force, stripped from them by their parent planet… which had once a seed! Zonama Sekot, a planet which they had, unknowingly, followed here.

And with her new understanding - her Vongsense - the poison could be washed away without any problem whatsoever.

It was like a door opening in front of her. And now she could sense the Vong in a way no-one else could.

It was weird and beautiful all at once. But was it just her with this new gift? Or would Beaumont share it?

And she had more on the Vong, this time about where they came from.

But the poison was laid bare before her and she mentally smirked at it.

Gotcha.

And with one sweep of her spirit she washed it away, cleansed her lover of the ailment. Hopefully she had acted in time.

Once again back in the real world her skin was nearly white, her energy now nearly completely spent.

Beaumont returned with her, enjoined in their connection, and they both experienced the Yuuzhan Vong ship in a way that it was alive and not, in the Vongsense only, not the Force. It had a name.

Jakkar.

The ship was taxed, it's dovin basals exhausted, the TIEs swarming it to keep its defenses divided.

Can I fire yet?

The Interdictor loomed above them, having decided to reposition above them and reel them in that way.

A tractor beam snatched them up - Jakkar dispelled it but it left them vulnerable to the TIEs, who were coming around for another pass -

As a set of coordinates popped into their head.

Qwi felt her spirit return to her body, and to her joy felt Beaumont return too. And their bond had changed again and he did share the Vongsense too.

Her body was limp atop Beaumonts, she couldn't move at all. The darkness was calling her, to rest maybe? She hoped if she did sink she would come out, but she was mentally and physically exhausted.

The Imperials nearly had them, their ship named Jakkar had done all it could to keep them safe. And she didn't fancy being interrogated as she was a former Imperial herself.

The coordinates popped in her head, was the ship taking them to some safety? Firing on the Imperials was bad but she and Beaumont needed to heal. They had been through enough.

Fire on the TIE's then escape to these coordinates.

She would let the ship do the rest whilst she closed her eyes and made sure her mind retreated to her and Beaumont's safe space.

Jakkar turned them to go, pushing for the edge of the Interdictor field, focusing their dovin basils aft -

A few moments before a vast Yuuzhan Vong armada emerged - thousands of ships. The Interdictor suddenly had bigger concerns, turned -

The two battle stations in orbit immediately opened fire with a torrent of turbolaser fire at the nearest Yuuzhan Vong ships -

Bastions planetary shields went up -

And Jakkar took them into darkspace!

Beaumont sagged, exhausted.

The black would claim his consciousness….

TAG: @Sinrebirth

 

IC: Admiral Lennox Jerod
Location: ISD Roadblock, Bakura

Most Imperials would have probably started gloating if they saw what Jerod had seen. That he had caught the Eternal flagships on the hop and was basically smashing them.

But Jerod didn't. This was only part of his beginning of the dance. The Eternal flagships could still cause problems as could the fleet. Thrawn was still keeping them occupied leaving Jerod to move around at will trying to complete his pincer move.

But what was taking his attention was that Bakura was darkening. Like Mandalore and Metellos before it, it looked like it was probably being eaten. The Sith had decided to throw their toys out of the pram as they had been caught unawares and had decided if they lost the planet then no one could have it.

“Pull the fighters back from that hole, the planet is being decimated. No point in commencing any runs” Jerod shook his head it had turned out that was a wasted move. But the fighters could be used in other ways.

Lennox tapped his chin in order to consider his next move. Maybe perhaps Thrawn could join Jerod in taking out the flagships and then once they were gone give the fleet a thwack on the nose before departing. If this was a raid which Thrawn wanted it to be taking out the flagships would maybe be enough for today.

Ships were escaping the planet, did any of them contain the two Emperor’s? He couldn't tell and firing on all of them risked hitting civilians who had managed to escape.

What a mess.

As he rested his hands atop his batons, Roadblock's sensors went wild. Thrawn’s fleet….there were no life signs left.

None.

Jerod’s face went pale. How the bloody hell were they wiped out? Then his bright green eyes narrowed and fury coursed through his veins. The Sith must have done it again, only this time they had decided to also wipe out one of the greatest tacticians of this galaxy, someone who could have maybe lead the galaxy out of the chaos. His mentor.

Whomever you are, I wish you a very, very fiery death.

A recorded message then pinged, but it wasn't for his eyes only. It was being broadcast all over the Empire of the Hand. Jerod had been promoted to Grand Admiral and he had been chosen to lead.

Of course he had been groomed to lead. Thrawn had prepared him time and again to lead fleets. Of course the politicking was not his style. But now it was up to him to lead the Hand, to protect its citizens not just from the chaos and outside threats like the Vong but also from inside threats such as the Eternal Empire. Of course there was Starkiller Base to consider as well, what would he do with this superweapon that was not yet completed? Thrawn meanwhile had sent one of those in case of my death messages but was there more to it?

He couldn't think about that now, orders were now coming through from his fleet, panicked voices. Lennox could understand their panic a little; they had just lost their overall leader. So it was up to Jerod to make sure they did not End up like the Empire of old, scattered and leaderless or without a leader that could calm things down.

It would be tactical suicide to continue now, they were one fleet down essentially and with Bakura dead and gone they had nothing to fight for. The raid was a bust and Jerod hated it. The Sith had essentially ended it all for them before it had even begun. Who knew if they would try that next time.

“All ships” he said as calmly as he could “This is Grand Admiral Jerod. Prepare to disengage and retreat back to Xerton. This battle is done. The Sith and Eternal Empire have shown their disregard for life. That they will use everything in their arsenal to win. But we will strike back for their part in killing our leader but the time is not not now”.

Before Roadblock could get moving a moon appeared. An icy moon.

Starkiller Base.

And whomever had commanded it had used common sense and had appeared right over the other side of where Jerod and what remained of Thrawn’s fleet. The Eternal Fleet were now caught not in a pincer but were now surrounded. If Thrawn’s fleet were active then they would be able to smash them to bits. Starkiller Base did not waste any time and began just that, whether they would do a lot of damage before retreating was anybody’s guess.

It was Fel, and he had decided to drop the hammer down. Literally.

“Soontir” Lennox responded crisply “I am glad to see that you have brought out the big guns. However we cannot keep you here for long. The Eternal Empire have now seen a glimpse of the weapon and I don’t want them getting a chance to grab it”.

“With Thrawn dead it is now time for me to take command. And we will need to head back to our territory and undertake a damage assessment and decide what we will need to do next. We will need to call a council together to decide our next moves. The Eternal Empire we have dealt a small blow to but they will be back. The Sith always manage to pull something out of the fire”.

“Retreat back to Xerton but before you do, do a little bit of smashing. Especially those Eternal flagships. We’ve weakened them but you are closer, smash them to pieces. I’ll see you at Xerton”.

“All other ships. Maneuver and retreat, fighters return to your ships, interdictors deactivate your gravity well generators. We have small ships inbound but we cannot do anything with those, let them go”.
Roadblock began to turn away. Lennox had wanted this to be a successful raid, maybe even turn it into a Bakura takeover. But the rules of the game had obviously changed. And with Starkiller under his control did he dare turn it into a superweapon? Would Thrawn have left any instructions? Time would only tell.

“Oh and if somebody could find me a white uniform, it would be much appreciated….”

TAG: @Sinrebirth

 

OOC:

(TAGS reflect Snerfu's allegiance now.)

IC: Snerfu

​

Snerfu was lost amongst the carnage; the Darkside energies that Snerfu appropriated from Berneal had made him stronger, faster, smarter, and hungrier. Snerfu looked at the sky and saw his master become a gaping wound in the force causing death and destruction to his enemies, but Snerfu felt Berneal's presence in the force and felt the truth,

BERNAEL WAS NO GOD.

The revelation made Snerfu growl; he had been duped, there was no god, no enforcers of death, just liars and pretenders, his people his home, had been lied to. Snerfu did not appreciate the appropriation of his religion to be made into servants for false prophets and gods.

Snerfu lost it and went through all the stages of grief; he couldn't believe it, the sight that he saw, the truth that laid before him. The siblings of Graul would see Snerfu mutter to himself incessantly until he stopped abruptly and issued a telepathic command to his followers…

"Berneal is no god; Graul was no emperor, just liars, and pretenders!

The Duumvirate tricked us! Made fools of us! Used us!

For those that don't believe me, search in the force, feel their weakness!"

After a moment, growls erupted from all over the capital; the Anubi cult now knew that the Duumvirate never intended to kill the galaxy and rule upon an iron fist of death; instead, they had been using this belief to rally the cult and send them into hopeless crusades.

"Find and kill Berneal and Graul! Everyone else prep the ship; we're done here; the Sith are heretics."

Snerfu commanded to his remaining Honorguards and the common Anubi soldiers.

Snerfu then turned his attention to the children of the false prophet Graul and opened rushed at them, opening his mouth in the process and showcasing his canine fangs; he intended to devour and eat both brother and sister.

TAG: @Sinrebirth

 

IC: Tobias Vox
Loyalty Tested

​

As Tobias slew Arb, his cold, calm demeanor gave way to sadistic glee as he watched the lights of Arb's eyes extinguish. His memory then went back a moment to what his master had spoken to Arb before being knocked away.

”Choices, Arb, up close and personal, this, or with everyone else when I unleash my power.” he said in a purring near whisper. The heads of the two appendages hissed and swayed just before Arb’s eyes, deliberately, slowly, closing on the openings to his skull. ”Ten seconds to choose…”

Tobias knew at the time what that had meant, and how dangerous that was as a concept, he had been thankful that his Master had not done so... Having not given any indication since that moment that he was going to achieve god level, Tobias would have a mome-

’GEMINI fleets, holding actions, make the enemy fleets chase you, prepare for Nubia level events, to implement the moment Sistros or I arrive.’

Tobias whipped around in the direction of Nevet, his eyes growing wide in fear, he could feel the pressure mounting off his master, as this happened the strange shadow leapt into Tobias heart communing with him.

Thank you; I was trapped in there. Have been for thirty six millennia. You can call me… Vicrul, I think. Yes, that’s what you’ll name me.

Tobias thought he had been valued by Nevet, as his Eye. But one could say his eyes had been awoken to the value Nevet placed on his loyal subjects. Tobias had been drawn to his grandiose power, the epic scale of a god-like being, but he always thought that Nevet was a rational, calculated man. This was neither of those things. This was sheer, pure, and unbridled madness or rather that was what Nevet was now diving into.

His eyes closed as he slipped into unconscious his mind becoming blank as fear and doubt swarmed his mind and soul. Had he killed Arb too soon? Perhaps a glimpse of a possible future would have been of use? Had his loyalty to Nevet been misplaced? And what of this being? This Vicrul as it named itself. Tobias would give no response to the being his mind still trying to wrap his mind around Nevet's apocalyptic decision.

As Tobias then snapped back awake only to see a ball of fire descend from the heavens. He could feel the ripple of the Force that was Snefru.

"Find and kill Berneal and Graul! Everyone else prep the ship; we're done here; the Sith are heretics."

He was not speaking to Tobias, but he would catch the whisper on the wind, the anger and fury of the fanatic. And yet... Tobias could not help but be of the same mind. The actions of Nevet, of his master, of the being he had followed because he and Sistros were of ultimate power and the best countermeasure of the threat that was the Yuuzhan Vong, their actions spoke volumes of the rewards that put upon loyalty.

First it had been the destruction of the palace with no warning and now this, perhaps one drastic action Tobias could have understood, a nessacary evil to counteract the threats that existed but twice? No, this spoke of a patternistic behavior of callousness and neglect.

He knew he could not go toe-to-toe with such a being, but the existing structure that made up their empire, that was far more vulnerable, without an empire they would be two furious beings against the galaxy and the Yuuzhan Vong.

But Tobias was not one to betray so easily, his heart was rife with conflict. Forces clashing in within, uncertain of the path ahead of him, of this so called God of Death that he had severed not out of reverence or worship but out of respect and fear, carefully sculpting his position over much of his life.

He looked up to the sky and let out a cry, a cry of anguish and regret. A cry of sorrow for a life of loyalty wasted. A cry for the position he had been forced into. This had been always a possibility in the back of his mind, something he had prepared for if Nevet or Sistros ever had given cause for weakness or in this case sheer and utter self-indulgence.

But then a similar wall of logic clashed into his mind. Was he not still alive, was he not still breathing, thinking and feeling? If his concern was of lack of care of his life then why be so concerned when he was still alive?

Alive this time came the simple reply. This was a pattern not a isolated event.

But perhaps it was merely isolated to Bakura, he knew Nevet was just as concerned about the Yuuzhan Vong as Tobias was, it was this same mind that had formulated the respect directed toward Nevet.

With a sigh Tobias decided not to throw away his years of climbing within the Eternal Sith Empire hierarchy over this perceived betrayal, but his loyalty for Nevet had been shaken to its very core.

Despite been knocked unconscious twice now Tobias had encountered relatively little battle damage and had not engaged in too much or a prolonged fight. Thus his attention shifted to the traitor Snefru, his flimsy fanaticism hardly a surprise, in fact something Tobias had expected would come in time once he learnt that Nevet was no god, merely god-like, the distinction being an important one. For already the effects of Nevet's power could be seen, his mind seemingly lost within the madness that came with his power. The whole reason why Tobias loathed the move his master had just taken.

Snefru was not too far, Tobias could feel his energy and he knew the upstart needed to be squished. Thus with blade held tightly in hand he darted over in the direction he could sense the fanatic. The sheer chaos of everything causing him to forget all together of the being named 'Vicrul' that had entered his being.

TAG: @Sinrebirth @Narancia

 

OOC: Combo with @Sinrebirth

IC: Barriss

Mortis, Unknown Regions

The former Jedi placed herself protectively between her family and this new figure. She was cautious, wary. After all, she still wasn't quite sure what she was getting herself into.

"Who are you?" she asked the figure, refusing to lower her guard.

The man hesitated.

“I suppose I don’t very much look like myself,” he chuckled. “Now I am the Father of Mortis, having settled upon the Throne of Balance…”

A deep breath.

More hesitation.

“But you knew me as Anakin Skywalker.”

Zara’s eyes widened.

Barriss' hands tightened into fists. She hadn't seen Anakin Skywalker since... well, since the trial. She still remembered how angry he had been at her for framing Ahsoka, how he had brought her in and exposed her as the traitor she was. Barriss knew that when she had been forgiven and brought back into the Order, Anakin hadn't liked the decision. But the two avoided interacting with each other and then Order 66 happened...

"It's been a long time, Anakin," Barriss managed to say after some hesitation.

He was watching her fists.

His eyes drifted up as she spoke.

“It certainly has.”

This Anakin was softer, gentler at the edges, the Clone Wars had sharpened him to the point of him becoming all edge, and so he had lost himself. There was gravitas, but not strain, not a focus that dealt death.

Zara reached over and squeezed Barriss’s hand.

Anakin saw that, too.

His eyes dimmed a bit, at memory.

“Come, I’ll get you settled in and we can talk.”

He began to turn, and then hesitated again. “Unless you want it to be just you and me, for the moment? You have my word your family will be safe here. Mortis cannot be found unless I want it to be.”

Barriss spoke to Zara, though she didn't take her eyes off Anakin. "What do you think, dear?" she asked.

Zara wasn’t sure. This was the man who, by all accounts, beat Barriss to the floor and got her caught. Well. Caught for doing something wrong.

She stared at Anakin, and he didn’t smile to encourage her, he simply nodded, which meant very little. “You can go speak with him alone if you need to, Barriss. But don’t be long - I won’t be able to keep the grandkids occupied for long - they’ll want to explore soon.”

Zara kissed Barriss on the cheek.

And she was she saw Anakin twitch.

Barriss saw the twitch as well.

"Alright," she told Zara, giving her hand a gentle squeeze before letting it go. "I'll try not to take long. Just... be careful. We still don't know a lot about this place."

And with that, she reluctantly left her family and began following Anakin so that they could speak alone.

He turned, and the whole of Mortis seemed to turn with him and they were just as suddenly at the steps of a temple come monastery atop a mountain.

“Sorry for my reaction - I lost Padme and Leia some thirty years ago at the destruction of Alderaan, and had to take down Luke myself. Sometimes it is hard.”

He smiled to himself.

“And then sometimes I remember nobody is ever really gone.”

"Like Ahsoka?" Barriss asked, her arms crossed.

"Like Ahsoka," Anakin said, as he walked up the stairs to the temple within.

"A Sith by the name of Qi'ra Ananke killed her; I didn't even know she was gone until I came here."

His voice was wistful.

"Nor did I know you survived Order 66 and the chaos thereafter," he said. "But when I became the Father, I saw you on Nadiem, and I was happy you had found peace."

"You once wanted me dead," Barriss pointed out as she followed him up the stairs.

"You once thought red was a good color on you," Anakin responded, almost evenly, leading her to the shrine at the top.

Barriss shrugged. "That's not me anymore. Neither is all this Jedi and Force stuff. So why don't you go ahead and explain why you want me here, okay?"

Anakin shrugged. "I am responsible for the Balance of the Force now."

"To do that, I need to save people, people whose light will seed the otherwise darkened future."

There was a pop of displaced air, and a Holocron appeared in his hands.



It was one of the most unique holocrons that Barriss would have ever seen.

Another pop of displaced air, and another came into existence.



Not pyramidal, like the Sith ones, nor a cube, like the Jedi ones.

"Were you ever allowed to speak to the Holocron of Prophecy in the Jedi Archives?"

"Yes," Barriss admitted. "A long time ago, when I was still a Padawan. Though I have had little use of prophecies since. I prefer to create my own destiny, to forge my own path. I want to have agency, rather than my fate already being foretold."

“Then-Jedi Master Dooku was obsessed with the Holocron of Prophecy, as was my Master’s master - Qui-Gon Jinn. But while Qui-Gon rose above it, Dooku became convinced he was the Chosen One.” Anakin paused. “Perhaps he was - I wasn’t the Father when he was chose.”

“I dislike the idea of a predetermined Fate, but it’s one of the reasons you’re here, because here, and now, our Fate is unwritten. This isn’t the future that was described in the various Holocron of Prophecies - four such devices that told the future.” He indicated the two, and illusions were conjured of the Jedi Holocron of Prophecy and a red Sith pyramid. They faded as he was finished. “But each of the Holocrons were lost, hidden, damaged or overwritten by those who sought to thwart the devastating future of Legend contained within.”

“It was these futures that Palpatine actually Changed, and many Force users in this galaxy have seen what should have been, including you.” Anakin looked back. “I saw my future too, but I would have been dead for decades by now.”

Behind him appeared a creation of metal and pain and horror - a black masked man wheezing and groaning with anger and power. “I was predestined to become a Sith Lord named Darth Vader - to destroy the Jedi and Republic, to help Palpatine enslave the galaxy for twenty years, before I defeated him to save my son.”

His tone wasn’t quite flat by that point. It had risen; apprehensive. “So in this time and place, you and I can write our own future.” His eyes swung to her. “Do you understand?”

Barriss considered this. She remembered the version of herself that she had seen... the version with the mechanical arm. Had that been her predestiny? Or was her predestiny to die during Order 66 and her survival past that point was just an accident, a fluke?

"I think I do," Barriss told Anakin. "So what else? I assume there's more."

"Yes," Anakin said.

"The Change has happened at least three times before, and its effects were balanced out by the inevitable escape of the counter-equivalent to the Father - Abeloth, the Bringer of Chaos." A gesture, and an image of a woman with tentacles and teeth and murderous eyes surfaced. "She would wreck chaos and havoc across the galaxy, slaughtering and destroying civilizations until the imbalance is restored and the Father would release the Son of Darkness and the Daughter of Light to imprison her again."

He looked at her.

"This is the Grand Design of the last Gods of the Force."

Barriss stared at him. "Wait, wait, wait... this has happened before? And each time this... Abeloth breaks out to kill everything she can?"

“Yes, at least three times. The first Change was some thirty five thousand years ago, and it triggered the Twilight Wars and saw the Ones servants defeated by the Sith and Rakata.” Anakin said this firmly.

“Abeloth is loose at present, but she was repeatedly wounded fifteen years ago.” Anakin regarded the image of the woman Destructor. “She can only be killed by this.”

In his hands appeared a Dagger.



Barriss nodded. "Okay... so what does that have to do with me? Are you expecting me to kill Abeloth or something? Otherwise, why would you be showing and telling me all this?"

“Abeloth is the last component of the old destiny for us all. The Lost Tribe of the Sith crashed on Nadiem because of chance, but she is the Chaos that pulls all reality into the Well of the Dark Side.” Anakin stared into the distance.

“I need someone to deliver the Dagger to the my Chosen… that is all.” Anakin said, his eyes suddenly black as he peered into the future. They reverted blue again, and he stared at Barriss. “Xundel, who you have met, is rather zealously recruiting new Protectors. Nomi is leading candidates here, to Mortis.”

He stared off into space again, his gaze going through her. “I want to create a safe galaxy that has no need for Gods and Changes and Chosen Ones.”

“I can’t leave Mortis; it will leave the Well unprotected and exposed to Darkness.” His explanation was perhaps plausible, so far, anyway.

"So you want me to deliver this dagger to your... Chosen?" Barriss asked, still trying to figure out all of this and what it meant.

"It's up to you. There are other candidates," Anakin said. "Those I felt I could trust to do what was right."

His gaze turned far-off. "The Change is a real threat, and Abeloth cannot be stopped any other way."

"But this is not a condition of you and your family staying here, I promise." Anakin hardened. "I intend to save as many as I can from the End of Time."

"So where would I go if I was to deliver this Dagger for you?" Barriss asked.

“To Jakku, a world central to the Change.” Anakin hesitated. “It could be said that it’s where the Change began; and on Coruscant, in the Chancellor’s Office, it’s where it finally happened.”

He gestured, a chain of links appear. “The Change is a series of events that connect together, building until the flow can no longer self-correct.” Anakin nodded.

"Jakku?" Barriss asked, surprised. "Wait, why Jakku? Coruscant, I can understand. But what is Jakku's part in all this?"

“The idea began there, it’s where Palpatine dug up an unaccounted for Holocron of Prophecy.” Anakin said.

“It was the seed of the idea, implanted in the Dark Lord, when he began digging there just after the Battle of Naboo. When I knew Palpatine survived his death, I retraced his steps from here, peering into the past as best I could.”

He pursed his lips.

"And the Chosen is there?" Barriss asked Anakin. "On Jakku? Who is the Chosen?"

“I’m not sure,” Anakin said. “There’s… interference, where the Change began. I can’t leave Mortis and casually imbalance Jakku by existing there - not without true gain.” His gaze grew far off. “I don’t know what will happen. It’s all too tangle, Barriss. But that’s why I needed someone I could trust.”

Barriss blinked in surprise. "Wait... and you trust me? The traitor and former terrorist?"

"The Jedi who saw what was coming," Anakin said, firmly. "That the Order - the Republic, too - had lost its way. You spoke the truth... but your isolation radicalized your methods. You were young, Barriss - we all were."

"Yeah, I was," Barriss said, looking down. "We were." She sighed. "Fine. I'll do this for you. I'll be your deliverywoman. After all, it sounds simple enough. Though I will have to talk about it with my family first and explain this to them."

Anakin looked at her. “Thank you, Barriss.”

“May the Balance Protect You.”

Barriss nodded and headed back to where her family was, a lot on her mind. She would have much to discuss with them...

TAG: @Sinrebirth

 

OOC: Combos with the GM

IC: Senator Nola Deidder and Chancellor Doman Beruss
Meeting room, Star Home, New Nubia orbit

For some reason, Del being held back from the meeting made Nola nervous--could Doman have found out what he'd been saying?

Now you're just being paranoid, she told herself. As her husband, Del was her unofficial bodyguard and adviser, but his presence here wasn't technically necessary, as there was no threat of danger (or at there shouldn't be), nor much need for advice, as Nola was only getting the Chancellor up to speed.

She kissed him back, and hopefully her replied "Thanks," didn't come out as sarcastic.

Once the door closed behind her, she turned to Doman. "Madam Chancellor, I just wanted to inform you that the Jedi have already finished off the Sith Academy at Anzat, and will shortly be moving on to Nadiem, after a refuel and re-supply.

"The Queen Mother has sent a courier to Garqi with orders for the Eighth to retreat--the HoloNet relays are down across much of the Rim, at this point."

Doman nodded as Nola updated her. As the host of the Senate, the Senator of New Nubia acquired a variety of powers and privileges and it basically made her the third most important person in the New Republic. So she was beholden to listen to Nola, though Doman often found her more annoying than Feyna.

“Anything else I need to be aware of?”

The Corellian liked that question, because it was a catch-all and caught out whoever she was speaking to in a lie. What did she know? What did she not know?

Nola's expression remained neutral. "There is a concern with the HoloNet outages--it's not limited to areas of active combat. Most of the Outer Rim is down, except the Remnant, and occasional signals from the Mandalorian and Hutt regions. There's a question of whether a team should be sent to investigate?..."

Doman matched Nola's expression. "That is a good suggestion."

"But with how badly the war is going, we will have to embrace an unofficial policy of triage in the Outer Rim, and leave it to its own devices, save for Mon Calamari and the shipyards there, of course. With our position so compromised, we will have to leave the Imperial Remnant and Corporate Sector to fend for themselves."

Nola chose not to argue; the Chancellor was already peeved with her. But she did make a mental note to pass that along to Winter, hopefully before she finished with Triebakk. "Very well Madam Chancellor."

Doman narrowed her eyes at Nola. “Is that all? I thought you were one of the Heroes of the Galaxy? Second generation, but still. That’s what everyone tells me. Don’t you think abandoning the entire Outer Rim is morally reprehensible?”

She looked solemn. “I’ve already ordered Master Clighal to leave these Sith on Nadiem under blockade for now - to head to Garqi and encourage and cover Kre’frey’s retreat.” Her tone grew severe. “I gave her permission to arrest him if he does cooperate. He has endangered the entire defence of the New Republic.”

Nola appeared to remain calm, but a slight panic was building inside. She hadn't liked Kre'frey taking the extra fleets, either, but ordering a full retreat? With comms out, they had no idea how the battle was going--their odds weren't great, no, but it didn't mean they were doomed to lose, and forcing the fleet to pull back at the wrong moment could hurt morale--not to mention arresting the Supreme Commander.

And if Doman was threatening Kre'frey with arrest--was Nola in danger? She'd let Kre'frey take the reinforcements, at the expense of protecting the Senate and the Core--reluctantly, yes, but Doman wasn't exactly liking Nola much lately.

She didn't say any of this, though. "With all due respect, I don't see what difference my opinion will make, if orders have already gone out." Her tone was cautious; she didn't want to be baited into another argument.

Doman had previously stressed that the Advisory Council was indeed only advisory, after all. She couldn't make Doman do anything, and Nola's opinions weren't popular with the Chancellor anyway.

Incredibly, Doman smiled at Nola. “The order to assist the retreat has gone out, but not to arrest Kre’frey. I just wanted to be sure of your loyalty. I suspect that Feyna and Kre’frey collaborated to put you in a difficult spot - no Senator would voluntarily put that target on their homeworld and happily accept the withdrawal of all its defences. They clearly tied your hands, Nola.”

“I apologise for testing you, but I don’t trust Feyna’s intentions."

Nola managed not to look startled, but the conversation had just taken an unexpected turn.

Doman not trusting Feyna was...troubling, but not surprising. But if Nola had regained some of the Chancllor's faith, it could be useful.

And very dangerous, if she found out whose side Nola was actually on.

But aside from bringing Doman up to speed on the recent developments, Nola was also supposed to be keeping her occupied while Winter was talking to Triebakk.

"Why not, if I may ask?" Nola made it sound like an innocent-enough question. "You used to be one of her best supporters, when she was Chancellor. What happened?"

Doman nodded. “I did, before I realised how perfidious her need for control really is. Nola, you’ve not seen it - how she is involved in every decision when she’s a Head of State; not a Senator. I’ve not seen someone’s need to be in control be this bad since Palpatine - and the worst but is that she claims she doesn’t want to have that control. Turning down the Chancellorship just so she can have her innumerable friends in the Senate run things? Between all the committees Winter is on, with her eidetic memory - yes, I know all about that - and her manipulations so that we’re reliant upon the Hapans’ fleets and her input.”

She sniffed. “It’s devastating. And now she’s sent the Eighth Fleet to Garqi, I have no doubt that whatever pilot they sent will mysteriously not make it.”

“I had to hide things from her - the Eternal Emperor’s actions at Nouane, the location of the Starkiller weapon, the Intelligence operations where I faked attacks on the Eternal Empire by the Empire of the Hand, and vice-versa, so they would squabble…” Doman snorted. “Otherwise she would have disapproved. All the while Nubia sat in Eternal hands. I wondered for the longest time ever if you were privy to her plans, but now she’s hung New Nubia out to dry - while masterfully making it so the Senate is aboard the Star Home, you’ll note - I can see she’s just used you, too.”

She smiled gently at Nola, and then adopted a grin expression. “I bet that she’s moving ahead with her coup preparations right now. If I know her, she’s already, at a guess, sent Winter to speak with Triebakk behind my back.”

“But that’s why I hid the scheming of nobles from her, you see.”

It was getting increasingly difficult for Nola to keep her expression calm, and she could feel her heart pounding hard in her chest.

This was worse than they'd thought--not only had Doman hidden these things from Feyna, but she'd hidden them from the Senate. Nola certainly hadn't known anything about them, though she wondered if there were other Senators who might...

Doman had guessed rightly where Winter currently was--if they moved forward to act against the Chancellor now, she would crow about how she'd seen it coming and spread her paranoia, seeding further division and distrust. It would be hard to disprove her theories, too--Feyna was still heavily involved in Senate matters, but Nola suspected it was out of a strong sense of responsibility, than any malicious need for control.

In the case of Garqi and the Eighth, they had tried to include Doman in the conversation, and Nola thought (or hoped, at least), that Kre'frey could clear Feyna of any conspiracy in his decision. But Doman might then try to say that he was just covering up to protect the Queen Mother.

And scheming nobles? "You mean the Hapan nobles?"

Doman nodded. "They hired a bounty hunter, Aurra Sing, to go after her. New Republic Intelligence decided it was more important to find the source of this so-called Heritage Council, then tip them off that we had infiltrated their circle. But had Feyna told me she was leaving the Hapes Cluster, I would have been able to warn her to stay. Because if she's not there, I bet they'll be a coup in her absence."

A sigh. "And the New Republic doesn't have the ships spare to come and assist."

"And Feyna will go ahead with her coup out of spite."

Doman shrugged. "Miscommunications everywhere. Our mission now is to extricate the Senate from Star Home, and make it so the inevitable secession of the Seventh Fleet doesn't expose Kuat. The Eighth, well, that can immolate itself against the Vong for all I care at this stage."

So Palpatine hadn't been behind the assassination attempt, after all. The Hapan noble classes had rather an unsavory reputation for coups and assassinations, and Feyna had mentioned once or twice, early in her reign, that she worried about whether the other nobles would accept her, but until now, Nola didn't think there'd been any incidents.

But none of this would bode well for the New Republic. Doman resented their reliance on Hapan resources, but if this Heritage Councill deposed Feyna, Hapes would likely secede, taking their assets with them.

Nola felt backed into a corner; Doman's actions were concerning, but if she passed all of this information to the others, Doman would know that Nola was working with Feyna.

"We still have hotels and an arena prepared on New Nubia," Nola offered. "I don't believe the change in plans was communicated yet.

"But--again, I mean no offense in asking, but--what if you're wrong?"

Doman seemed to be making a lot of decisions based on her suspicions, which might come back to bite her--decisions that others might end up paying the price for.

Doman smiled at her. "And what if I'm right? What if, right now, Winter is talking to Triebakk? Do you want to swap the Naboo crazy for the Hapan one?"

Her comm chimed; she ignored it. "Do you?"

What about the Corellian crazy? Nola of course didn't say it out loud.

"Are you suggesting that Feyna could be worse than Palpatine?"

She glanced toward the chiming comm; the Chancellor probably should answer that.

-----–--------------------------------------------------------

IC: Queen Mother Feyna Organa-Chume, Prince Isolder, and Lady Galney
Family room, Star Home, New Nubia orbit

Feyna moved over a little to let her husband sit down, also relocating a couple of Rosara's toys to make space. Their daughter was sitting next to her, drawing...something, Feyna wasn't quite sure what it was supposed to be yet. Kalen was on the opposite side of the table, working on a model starfighter and trying to keep the pieces separated from his sister's mess.

She smiled as Isolder confirmed that they had no urgent matters to attend. "We'll see how long that lasts," she murmured, with a small hph of amusement

Isolder smiled at that. “Well, there’s a war on and Hapes is an important ally of the New Republic. As long as it doesn’t go too badly, we should be able to keep things stable.”

A shrug. He knew how little was in their control. Rosara's picture was coming along, but Isolder still didn’t know what it was. He was about to ask when the door chimed.

Isolder sighed. “Are we telling them to go away, or..."

Feyna pursed her lips, leaning down to pick up a part from Kalen's model that had rolled off to the floor.

"See who it is," she sighed, handing the piece back to her son. "Anyone other than Winter, take a message." Winter of course could join them, but it seemed a little soon for her to have already finished with Triebakk.

Isolder opened the door and was surprised to see Galney, Feyna's handmaiden, for want of a better word. She was already a babble of words, and nursing a mild bulge under her dress which had to be the bacta patch over her wound. "Would you believe the day I have had!"

She shook her head, threw up her hands in her typical dramatic fashion. "I was telling my husband all about it, about what happened and that vile woman who attacked us. He listened to my play through play of it all, and then the medics told me to rest! I didn't lose any major organs, who are they to tell me to rest!"

The Prince glanced back at Feyna, looking sheepish.

Now that was loyalty.

Feyna had to quietly hide a smile behind her hand, as much amused by her husband's helpless confusion as by her lady-in-waiting's overstimulated venting.

But the attack and Galney's injuries were not to be made light of, and she quickly sobered.

Feyna stood and went to stand next to Isolder--the less the children heard, the better. "I'm glad you're going to be all right, and that you feel well enough to be up and about." It did strike Feyna as a little soon, though. "Your bravery in that situation is much appreciated.

"But I do think you should listen to the medics; your wound will heal more quickly if you take it easy for a few days."

Galney made a noise of dismissal, and then remembered her place. “If you so command it, Queen Mother, I shall of course obey.” She curtsied - stiffly, Isolder noted - “But I would much prefer to familiarise myself with the present setup of the Star Home. My husband quite rightly pointed out that the Senators will cause irregularities, and that will allow a second assassin to slip through if we are not exceedingly careful.”

She was very serious about her duties, it seemed.

Feyna couldn't tell if Galney's stiffness was due to pain, or her irritation at the thought of being made to rest.

"Star Home was thoroughly swept before we boarded, and the Senators' bodyguards have all been confined to a specific area. Our own guards are stationed throughout the ship. The security situation is very much in hand," Feyna assured her handmaiden.

Galney bowed again to her Queen Mother. “Of course, I did not intend to disparage your judgment, I just wanted to be doubly thorough.”

“It will be fine, and you’re clearly in pain, Galney. If we promise to call you if the moment we need you,” Isolder chimed in, “will you at least humour us and have some rest. You’re too important to the Queen Mother to risk a long term injury after your bravery. We do need you to keep the clutter from our schedule after all.” He smiled at Feyna, encouraging her to say something about the woman who threw herself on a lightsaber for her.

Feyna nodded in agreement. "Very true. And as much as we do rely on you, I don't want you over-stressing yourself while you're recovering." She glanced toward the children; both still appeared to be quite engrossed in their projects, though Kalen might be trying to listen in. "Considering what could have happened, we were very fortunate that you were there; we're very indebted to you.

"You were very lucky, though, that your injury was not more severe, and you've certainly earned the break." Feyna tried to make sure her tone was concerned, not reprimanding. "At the moment, there is nothing that demands immediate attention, but I'll agree with the Prince's terms: go and rest for now, but we'll let you know right away if something comes up."

Galney bowed. “If you insist, Queen Mother. I must confess to being quite tired out from the drama of it all - not my wound, of course, just the exertion.” She bowed again. “Please, please, let me know if you need anything.”

“We will, I promise,” Isolder said, and gently closed the door on her with a smile. He waited a long moment for her to come back in, and then turned back. “Well that was exhausting.” He sat down beside Kalen and lay on his back. Kalen looked at him, briefly, before returning to his work.

Feyna smiled, also retreating back to the children. "She means well," she said as she sat down. "And she is just trying to do her job."

The children kept themselves busy, and then Winter commed. It was a text message, clearly she had some sensitive information.

Can I come see you?

Feyna bit her lip; whatever Winter had found out, she apparently wasn't going to say over a comm line, which probably meant bad news.

She'd hoped for a little more time with the kids, though, especially after Galney's interruption.

Yes, we're with the children, she sent back. Obviously they couldn't talk in front of them, but Kalen and Rosey would like seeing Winter for a little bit before the adults returned to 'official matters.'

"Winter's on her way," she said, as much to the children as to Isolder.

Isolder firmed his lips and nodded. Kalen looked up.

He knew Winter's name. The Alderaanian was not far off, she had been walking over when she knocked the door.

"Come on in," Feyna called.

TAG: @Sinrebirth

 

Darth Cocytus

Duel Against Darth Sidious

Darth Cocytus glared at the being that was Darth Sidious, youthful and new, arose from the floor. He held his dual wield soresu stance, even as the Jedi and the Palpatine clone shared a dialogue. His eyes narrowed in glowing hate as Sidious mocked his endeavour to renew Sith Tradition and declared premature victory. Palpatine was ever the old arrogant fool as always regardless of the timeline.

As the light kaminoan went flying, the Dark Kaminoan held his footing and pointed a crimson blade at the clone.

"You will fail, Darth Sidious." He declared, "You have already failed time and time again at the Second Death Star, the Eclipse I, Onderon, and, in another time, Exegol."

"And by Force I will see to it that you fail here as well." Cocytus sneered in a challenging stance, "Your time has passed Old Fool. Time for new blood to take over."

“Death is a minor inconvenience,” Palpatine crooned. “I found the Holocron of Prophecy; saw my defeat at Endor, at Da Soocha, at Onderon.” He raised his hands, dramatically. “It is why I created this reality. Why I allowed the Jedi to believe they had defeated me just before Order 66. Allowed Anakin’s accursed son to usurp my Exegol operations. Seized control of the Yuuzhan Vong.”

He was doing a good old fashioned villain mantra.

“And that is why I will kill you.”



He sprang, fluid falling from him as he leapt up and slashed down at Cocytus’s face -

During Sidious's monologue, the kaminoan rolled his eyes, knowing full well that the old fool clearly had no idea what he was talking about. He held his defensive stance, though as tight and strong as his skill can muster. After all, despite all of his losts and permanent deaths, Darth Sidious was still the culmination of the thousand year lineage of that Rule of Two which Cocytus praised.

Once Sideous leapt, Cocytus held his stance to meet him head on, raising both blades in an X formation to meet the other Sith's opening attack. Pushing Sidious's blade aside, the kaminoan would stay on the defensive, tightly blocking and parrying in a stonewall with the supplement of djem so style counterattacks.

Palpatine was fast, even remotely puppeting this body. He was also growing stronger, acclimatising himself to this new form, a younger and more supple and energetic one, which accentuated his movements even without his ample Force usage.

He cut and spun and even Ataru flipped off the walls to change the angle of his attack.

The clone was an indomitable foe.

Palpatine may have been fast, more than fast, and skilled, more than skilled, with the blade, but this was still the sort of situation Cocytus built his favored fighting style of pure defense. Any fool, with or without the Force, can kill or incapacitate anyone with the lightsaber by merely touching them with the blade. However, it takes great skill and discipline to never ever get touched by the opponent's blade in saber to saber combat, as such the kaminoan's favored third form of Soresu, whether with one blade or two.

Each and every one of Sidious's strikes in his furious onslaught was met with blocks, parries and counters just as swift from Cocytus's end. All the while, the kaminoan looked and searched for mistake or opening to weave one of his blades through to bring the Clone down.

"Perhaps you did not understand what exactly I have told you about all those defeats." The kaminoan spoke tauntingly as the brawling dance went on, "In one timeline at Onderon and another timeline at Exegol, you are destroyed permanently! Your essence banished to the void forever! What makes you think this timeline will be any different?"

"So says the eternal stray, the one who was played by a lesser Sith, who promised you that you were special, when you are nothing more than a loose end toyed with by much greater forces. Skywalker, Insipid, me, that nameless Black-Coat..."

He pivoted and thrust, and Palpatine's attacks were becoming swifter and stronger, increasingly so, pushing Cocytus towards the perceived point where he would be overwhelmed. Even if there were a finite number of ways in which a body could be twisted, Palpatine was marionetting his form; he could move it in manners that no natural form could, even unsocketing joints to create new angles for assault.

"Oh I learned my lessons, Sidious! Learn that you can't trust anyone! They will all meet oblivion just the same." Cocytus sneered as he became more light on his feet, his movement more dance-like as he avoided areas where he could be cornered and overwhelmed. His blocks, parries and counters bending over backwards to meet up with the unnatural movements of the puppet, but keeping up all the same. "Meanwhile you are constantly putting your faith in ever bigger Superweapons that just ask to get blown up. The Two Death Stars, Starkiller Base, the Galaxy Gun! Time and time again, failures all!"

As the dance-brawl continued, the kaminoan would begin to use the environment around him as a weapon with slight movements of a finger. The shards of sharp glass that littered the room would be sent flying towards the Sidious Clone.

"And how big they are." Cocytus noted, "Have you been compensating for something? Or lack of something perhaps?"

He would do a leap back and throw one of his lightsabers spinning at the Sidious Clone, sending an entire barrage of glass flying at the fleshy marionette.

Sidious spun out and gestured - a tangle of lightning would explode the fragments, setting the laboratory alight. Kina Ha was still unconscious, but the clone snorted.

“I don’t need superweapons. I have the Yuuzhan Vong. The galaxy is fractured by my machinations; now they dominate it. With the Old Ones at my command, I shall shatter the galaxy and rule over the broken and demoralised masses. I need not an Empire of Order; an Imperium of Chaos suits me just fine.”

He put some space between them, and lifted his hand up.

“Let us end this!”

He pointed down, and an immense tear was ripped right down the heart of Tipoca City. The sound of water rushing into the depths immediately rang out.

The clone grinned.

Cocytus's dance -like movements went around the Clone as it destroyed the glass fragments. With a flick of his wrist he summoned back to his hand the lightsaber that Sidious clearly dodged. Putting it at his side, the kaminoan held his defense with a single lightsaber, which was certainly all he needed at the end of the fight.

His eyes narrowed at yet another monologue from Sidious; however, they widened a bit, not out of rage or fear of his vision for the Galaxy. Instead, the Old Fool's words filled the Dark Kaminoan with great inspiration.

"And I will seek the same to break the Galaxy under my power." Cocytus declared with ambition and grandeur but never letting his guard down, "Except I shall rebuild the Galaxy into my own grand image of Order and all shall bow to the Dominance and Supremacy of the Sith."

Yes. Let us indeed end this.

However, it wasn't the way Cocytus exactly wanted this to end, clearly understanding that Sidious sought to sink the city. The kaminoan became… confused at the moment, even as he held his stance.

"I can breathe underwater. All my people can. Your puppet can't."

Palpatine gestured up, shattering the ceiling, and boosting himself up with the Force. He landed on the roof, looking down at Cocytus as water bubbled up from the depths.

“I know.”

He released a storm of lightning from his hands, targeting the water as it pooled where his feet had been -

The water conducted -

Hanging above the clone was a ship, already summoned…




There was a cry out in the Force.

His apprentice to be, caught in the submerging depths -

Watching the Clone go up onto the now shattered roof, Cocytus's eyes widened as he suddenly realized what Sidious was going to do. Knowing what was at stake, the life of his just now regained apprentice included, the great rage and anger just veiled by the kaminoan's calm demeanor that was typical of his kind, boiled over. Leaping out of the water, just before the conduction, with his speed greatly enhanced by the Force, he quickly chased after, climbing onto the roof himself with but his feet.

At the top, the kaminoan took his chance, knowing that the Clone would be distracted, even only for a brief moment, as they both made their final moves. With blinding speed, Cocytus made what many would call a leap of faith, and it was indeed a gamble at what he was doing. His blades, still in defensive position until the last moment, both moved to strike the Palpatine clone down.

The blade slipped up and through him -

In his last moments, Palpatine's clone registered surprise, and split in two, length wise -

One side flopped into the depths, the other - with the hand holding a ring, to the roof.

The ship above wobbled in seeming indecision, and then it began to move to open it's underside hangar, a man in black armour with an arm blaster pointing -

The body dissolved, clearly not perfected, anyway. Palpatine likely knew, but thought a defective clone would be sufficient to kill Darth Cocytus.

His mistake.

That was one of the most grueling fights Cocytus has ever been in, the kaminoan noted, putting his blades away as the Clone dissolved before his glowing eyes.

A successful kill.

Of the Clones anyway.

Sidious was still out there of course.

Cocytus's eyes shifted to the man on the ship pointing his blaster and narrowed with a glare.

The kaminoan's blade was back into his hand in a defensive posture.

His free wrist flexed and as if pushed an invisible tendril, the black armored man would be brought down to what was left of the roof before Cocytus's feet.

The kaminoan asked a single question with his guard up.

"Where is Darth Sidious?"

All the while, Cocytus reached out into the Force, hoping that his hopeful chance at training Darth Styx again, as well as the Jedi, for she may still be useful, were still alive.

The black armored man pointed his arm cannon at Cocytus, grunting but resolute, a degree of Force sensitivity to him as he refused to cooperate -

Cocytus rolled his eyes, though impressed with the armored man's resolution. He quickly flexed his lightsaber, downward then upward in a clockwise circle, amputating the man's gun arm.

"Where is he?" The kaminoan asked again calmly, his anger and rage expressed subtly, tucked back beneath the veil of Kaminoan calmness.

"I don't know!" The man ground out. He didn't even scream, just clutched his arm. He was resolute, trained, yes, but minimally; more he was simply hardy. Angry. Stubborn. "We obey the Dark Man, that is all. We care not for his machinations, only the blood we reap."

His voice became a hiss.

The city began to sag; panic rose into the Force.

Cocytus was impressed by the man's resiliency as he withstood the pain of losing an arm. Clearly a greater man than most would have made a useful warrior if he wasn't on the wrong side.

The Dark Man, though, perhaps the Black-Coat, if not simply another name for Palpatine himself.

Regardless, the man proved his use and the kaminoan repaid that by letting him live. There were other things that required his attention after all deep within the now clearly collapsing city.

Leaving the man to his fate, Cocytus leapt down into the city, the panic below calling him. Going into the flooded city, the change from air to water, aside from the obvious, would be no different for the kaminoan than entering from one room to the other. It has been a while since he swam, but the evolutionary instincts covered that.

Cocytus reached out into the Force, still checking if the Jedi and his Apprentice were still alive.

@Sinrebirth

 

IC Renn and Vhardia
Jakku, decisions

Renn and Vhardia had taken the Otana to Jakku as they had decided to do. When they decanted from hyper, Renn could feel the Force flowing in odd patterns on the planet below, making him wonder what it was that had caused the message that had brought them here even more. Which was when the Force lit, like a beacon. Chaos writhed through it, the source...Bakura.

He reached out to touch it with his senses and recoiled. Looking over at his wife, in the copilot seat, ”Death is coming, dear, and soon, I can feel my Twin’s power, his anger, his hunger.”

Vhardia looked at Renn, troubled at his words, and how he took so much upon himself, to be connected to such darkness for so long.
"You think we should not go... not yet at least." She sighed and sunk into the pilot's chair, before pondering aloud.
"Perhaps the force has led us here... that whatever we find here will help us somehow in our journey. I believe Qui-gon Jinn was of the opinion that the force moves in such ways and our previous adventures being what they have been, I am inclined to agree."

The Force for its part grew ever more urgent and dark and death filled. Whatever was happening at Bakura was becoming worse; but there was that thin needle of something here, at Jakku, teasing at them.

Renn shook his head, trying to clear his mind and self of the darkness he felt, coming from his Twin. It wasn’t the easiest as it felt as though the other was deliberately letting that filter to him, taunting him.

He focused and felt the small thread that had brought them here. Taking the controls, he began to bring the Otana down, following that thread. ”I do agree. Hopefully something we discover here can assist us, guide us to the next link in the chain to end that threat, all the threats.”

Vhardia watched the ground rise up to meet them and pondered on the nature of what they were about to find.
"It's like sewing." She murmured to herself before standing up and heading towards the boarding ramp.

As the Otana touched down on the surface of Jakku, Renn ran through the quick shutdown procedures before bounding from the pilot’s seat and heading to the back, joining Vhardia. His outer bark thickened, hardening some to reduce loss of body moisture on the harsh world. Reaching her, he hit the stud to allow the ramp to drop and them to step out and discover what it was that had drawn them here.

It was a buried bunker, old Imperial style, mostly submerged beneath the sands.

There was a surge of movement in the depths; a dozen, maybe two dangerous feeling individuals...

Vhardia put her finger to her lips and crept forward. She poked her head down to peer through the gunner's slot, squinting in the desert sun, trying to make out what was inside.

Renn walked down the ramp, the heat of the sand coursing up from the soles of his feet. Taking one more step he staggered for a moment, falling, one hand arresting his fall as he hunched over. A grunt escaped his lips before he shook his head, slowly standing. Turning to gaze back at Vhardia, ”It’s begun, at Bakura.” sorrow tinging his voice. His head swung back toward the bunker and he steeled himself, the death he felt had to be pushed to the back of his mind so he could focus upon the multiple dangerous beings that seemed to be inside where they had been called to, here.

Indeed, it had - the Force cried out with pain; many lives had just been extinguished. Tens of thousands, at very least.

But even then, Renn would understand that Bernael had been tremendously weakened by whatever had happened. Ordinarily he would grow stronger after a feeding, but this time he had been somehow reduced.

That only emphasised that now was the time to go after his darker half… even as Jakku needled at them again and again.

Renn growled, ”Which is it, here or my Twin?” he mused out loud. He glanced over at Vhardia, trying to decide. Something though, told him that this could be yet another trap. When he’d battled his Twin he had sensed that that other being was capable of great stratagem.

He shrugged his shoulders, not sure what she’d sensed that he’d felt, or whether she had her own thoughts. Sighing, ”There’s so many pulls, Vhardia. This one seems the most urgent but the Force also seems to say my Twin is momentarily unable to fight us. I need help, my love, to decide this.”

Vhardia paused in front of the gunner's slit she was peeping through and sighed.
Flip a coin! cried a voice, the voice that she recognised as Helinith, which had remained fairly silent these past fifteen years, but sometimes seemed to like to have a say at odd moments. She frowned at it.

... if she was honest with herself, she wanted to find out what was going on here; there was something... that was bugging her. She turned away from the gunner's slit and shot her husband a look.

"Renn, whatever is going on with your darkside counterpart, we can't intervene right now, so get over your 'save the world complex' for a while and have some fun clearing up whatever this is."

Tag: @Sinrebirth @darthbernael

 

IC: Madelyn Linnett
Aboard the Sunulok, Battle of Garqi

Madelyn tried to keep her senses sharp as the battle raged around them, watched as Alfred received the incoming intel. She glanced at everyone as they made their way to the hanger, a feeling of dread and uneasiness filling her stomach before she approached. She faltered in her step as the monstrously huge Vong blocked their way, and then challenged her in a fight to the death.

She swallowed hard and glanced at Arthur and Alfred.

Alfred. If I don't make it through this, take your father and find your sister. I need you to be brave.

Madelyn turned to look back at Warmaster Tsavong Lah and activated her lightsaber.

"I accept your challenge Warmaster." Madelyn told him as she stepped forward. She bowed slightly. "May the best warrior win."

Tag: @Sinrebirth

IC: Leia Skirata-Linnett
Bakura

Leia watched Tor as she started to wake up, reaching out with the force to make sure she wasn't too badly injured. She was restrained of course, because Leia didn't trust her to not go after the Sith and get herself hurt or killed. She wanted to keep Tor safe. As Tor started to talk about going after the ship and killing everyone inside. She sighed and looked at Almira, before placing a hand on Tor's shoulder.

"I don't know Tor. I think it would be best if we got out of here as quick as we can. You should have seen what they just did to Grand Admiral Thrawn." Leia explained. "We would need a bigger team to kill everyone on board, unless we can find a way to take them all out at the same time, or trick them." She carefully pointed out, "It's my job to protect you sister. Even if you are older."

Tag: @Sinrebirth @galactic-vagabond422

 

Tor
Bakura

Tor stretched her jaw a little before it clamped shut looking up at Leia. The indignity of it all being restrained by her own sister. Watching helplessly as her target moved further and further away. The battle around her didn't matter, if only as a way to cover their next actions.

"Come on sis, we can take them. Between you're jedi training and my experience they won't stand a chance. And it took me months to find my team and we don't have that time, we have them on the run. That's when you turn on the pressure, when you don't let them sleep. And if they escape us here it's going to cost us time, time we don't have sis. You pack a good punch and they can't have more than few truly dangerous foes and their leader is injured. I'm begging here." She pulled at her restraints. "Ok, I can make some calls, but we have to follow him now, we can build the team on the way. It'll make it easier to find him once we have a team together. We can't let him regroup...you saw how strong he was, we won't see him this weak again..." She was pleading feeling the moment slip away from her, a moment she'd been waiting 15 long years for. "Please..."

TAG: @TheSilentInfluence @Sinrebirth

 

IC: Leia Skirata-Linnett
Bakura

Leia sighed. "Well, I guess we can't pass this up can we." She gave Tor a serious look. "But I don't want you doing anything crazy arlight?" She quickly added, "I'll untie you. And then you can make your calls; but you had better be sure you can trust these people." She explained and gave her a worried look before Leia reached for the restraints. Reached out in the force to Almira. "What do you think? Do we have a chance Almira?"

Tag: @Sinrebirth @galactic-vagabond422

 

IC: Jori II Atreus
Bakura, Salis Daar, Eternal Throne Room

Jori tried not to use strong language seeing what Bernael and Sistros were doing. That was why she and her grandmother believed that Force users must be held on a leash. So much chaotic power disrupting everything.

It also gave one the delusion of being a god…

She had read the histories of the Galaxy. There was Valkorion, Vitiate or whatever he called himself. She had read both the Sith and the Jedi versions. He too seems to have harbored the same delusions.

This Eternal Empire was some sort of an imitation of the same Empire of old.

Maybe that was why her grandmother had sent her there. So that she could see and get convinced that all Force users need to be shackled. Their instability and…

Jori’s thoughts were cut short as her savior knocked her out. The last thing she felt before succumbing to unconsciousness was of indignation and outrage!

She woke up sometime later. The Kuati did not know how much time had passed or where she was. Jori looked around and saw she was in a ship with the man. “You shouldn’t have done that...” she growled while rubbing the back of her head. “And to answer your question, I saw what I needed to see. The rest is inconsequential.” Jori scoffed.

TAG: @Sinrebirth

 

Tor
Bakura

She rubbed her wrists finally freed. Quickly putting on her helmet she looked out the front watching the conflict and zeroing in on the yacht that currently held her target. Annoyed that she hadn't had time to place a tracker on it. Not that it would have worked. It would have given her a slightly better chance at chasing down this monster. Every fiber of her being wanted to rest the controls away and chase after Graul herself, but Leia had made it very clear her intentions. Turning away she made the first call, one she wish she didn't have to make...

"Ailyn...it's me, Tor...It's about your father...And a favor..."

TAG: @Sinrebirth @TheSilentInfluence

 

Darth Cocytus
Fall of the Tipoca City

Darth Cocytus was thankful when he found Styx-to-be was still alive in the Force and was already evacuating. Would have been a shame if he lost her before he could even try again. As for the jedi, well, in his eyes anyway, an opponent such as her does not deserve to die in any other way other than by the blade of a Dark Lord of the Sith such as him, awake and conscious and in the dance of a duel. Besides, she may still prove her worth as a proxy to his very will against the machinations of this timeline's Palpatine, and Cocytus was never one to let an opportunity go to waste.

It took no time for Cocytus to reach the platform where she was on the ship waiting for him. The Dark Kaminoan leaped from the collapsing city onto the ramp without holding Styx's hand, but landed with a roll before returning to his feet.

"Are you alright, Lady... Faya Ne, is it?" He asked, wanting things to be more "official" before dubbing her by a Sith name, "I recall that to be your name..."

Whether Cocytus would still call her Darth Styx despite the potential for confusion should they actually return to the previous timeline remained to be seen. If Cocytus chooses to do so, he thought grimly, it could simply be solved by hunting down the Darth Styx that he failed and terminating her.

He looked at the Jedi, still unconscious. Perhaps for the best at the moment.

The kaminoan's eyes shifted to the sensors, picking up two ships, his attention caught by the quite familiar Dipyramid Ship. It was no doubt that Dipyramid Ship which made his eyes narrow in seething rage at the very idea that the Black-Coat had left him.

"Follow that ship." Cocytus ordered, even as the targeted ship escaped into Hyperspace, "The Dipyramid One. The ship that brought me here. I believe treachery is afoot from that one. So we must follow.”

What is the Black-Coat up to?

@Sinrebirth






Sent from my SM-A205U using Tapatalk

 

OOC: A fluffy combo with @Sinrebirth



IC: Qwi Xux, Beaumont Kin
Location: Jakkar, the Unknown Regions

Qwi awoke to a familiar sight of Beaumont next to her and she had to smile. He had made it to the safe space too.

Of course the safe space consisted of what was her cabin aboard her former yacht Firenze. And just like when they had used it on Kesh...yep she was naked.

What concerned her was Beaumont's smile was weak, even in the safe space. Although they had both used up a lot of mental energy as well as physical.

She responded to Beaumont's deep kiss, shifting her body so one arm and one leg were draped over him.

"It was mighty close" she said pulling back "But we did it. And I must say, being inside you was...interesting, and a change" she smiled mischievously at him.

She turned serious "But we have a lot of new information to share regarding the Vong and our bond has changed because of it. We can utilize those gifts. And we have a Vong ship".

"So I suppose the question is...what do we do next?"

Beaumont, in their safe spot, aboard the Firenze, and not aboard their Yuuzhan Vong ship which smelled of coral and meat, smiled back at her. "As long as we stay away from Palpatine and Onimi I don't mind. But we need to get this intel to the New Republic - perhaps this ship as well."

Qwi nodded her head now resting on Beaumont's shoulder "I quite agree, but the question is how do we get this information to them? We have no comlinks sadly".

"And do we try to find Feyna again? She's the only one who believes us…."

"Feyna didn't precisely go well last time..." Beaumont said, kissing her forehead. "But she was on-board, I am sure she sent someone to Nadiem. If Palpatine hadn't swept us away, she would have brought us in. I know Isolder was worried, but so was I, and, well, I don't think I gave Feyna a chance, to be honest."

Qwi smiled at him reaching up and softly stroking his cheek "I know you had your concerns my dear, I think we all were with everything that was going on. We had come from a time of peace to a galaxy at war, of course it would be frightening".

"Nadiem would have been sorted out, Feyna understands the threat the Sith pose more than anyone".

"So we can either try and find her. I don't think there is anyone else we could contact unless maybe we could find the Jedi. Especially since we have the Vongsense now which could help them fight back".

"This Vongsense is wild. I reckon it's key to stopping Palpatine, now that -" He hesitated.

"Now that Palpatine has what's in your head," Beaumont said glumly. "Do you think he can use it?"

Qwi's expression turned sad "I think he will, if he gets his hands on Starkiller Base then he will have the key to unlocking it's potential and unleash it on the galaxy".

Her voice caught with emotion "And I let him have it, he just ripped it out of me. All my scientific knowledge...gone. Stuff I could have used to help save you faster".

"I could be responsible for another Alderaan, more planets being destroyed at will…."

She smiled weakly "But I suppose the important thing is he didn't touch my most important memories...of you" she leaned up and kissed him.

"You didn't let him do anything," Beaumont said, firmly. "He took it, Qwi."

He kissed her firmly. "Even if he had, you would have remembered me, or, we would have built it back up."

With a thought, Beaumont wondered aloud. "I mean, couldn't you just do that? Rebuild your knowledge? It was created by you, at the end of the day, surely you could just... um," Beaumont was at a loss for the correct word. "Relearn it?"

"True" she said "It took me years to do so but I could do. We would have to find a libary world to do it, to help. But eventually I could bring my knowledge back to what I used to know".

"As to the memories again true. But we would have had to start from scratch. But then again we will create new memories".

She maneuvered her upper body on top of his with a smile "Speaking of which I did say we could get up to mischief if we made it here, of course it depends on how much you want".

Qwi moved her face close to Beaumont's her grin turning mischevious "It also depends on how you want to reward me after saving your rather gorgeous backside…."

Beaumont grinned, but before they got caught into mischief, he looked at her seriously. "Did you want to rebuild what you had? From beforehand?"

He squeezed her arm supportively, and kissed her forehead.

Qwi's smile disappeared "Well maybe just the good bits. Definitely not the parts about building superweapons…."

"Maybe the parts where I can actually use it for good and not so tyrants can pluck it out to build weapons of mass destruction".

"Anti-weapons," Beaumont said, grinning.

He drew her close.

"But later."

Qwi' lips connected with his, she didn't need any further invitation. She pulled Beaumont so he was on top of her now and wrapped her body around him and let instinct take over.

The healing process had begun. It would take a while but they were together which was the main thing.

They had come through a big test and survived, no doubt there would be more to come.

But right now it was just them, and thier love for each other.

Nothing else mattered.

TAG: @Sinrebirth , @JediMasterAnne (for mention)

 

OOC: Another combo with @Sinrebirth

IC: Admiral Lennox Jerod
Location: ISD Roadblock, Batuu

Roadblock made it back to base...but that was where the problems started again.

Bakura was a total mess, his fleet had made it back but Thrawn and his fleet were gone. And it looked like with all the wild comm chatter coming through from the comm station that it looked like other fleets were going too.

Lennox wanted to hurl both his batons in anger at something.

It looked like the citizen's of the Unknown were now striking back and with Thrawn dead and the Hand in disarray, they were taking full advantage.

His datapad pinged, two messages, one from Thrawn probbably the follow up message and one from his former Imperial comrades. Thier capital was under attack and requesting help.

And to sweeten the deal they were offering up a new dreadnaught he could add to his fleet.

Jerod stood up "I will be in my quaters" he said simply as he headed away, he needed peace and quiet for this next bit.

As he entered his quarters, taking off his baton holsters and laying them on the desk, he sat down to get through the queue.

First off, time to check the Admiralty updates and the current status of the fleets.

The Admirals were concerned - Ara'lani, Parck, Niriz - not by the attacking numbers or the ferocity of the assaults, but by the coordination involved. They were confident they could win all the engagements - at Csilla, at Nirauan, and so on - but they were worried the Vong or the Eternals would take advantage. None of the fleets were compromised, just distracted, with minimal damage - so far.

"It has been planned exceedingly well," Ara'lani said.

"I suggest we simply glass any worlds we have an uprising on. I know Thrawn wanted to try and convert the populations to less chaotic thinking, but we don't have the time for occupations now," said Parck.

Ara'lani chopped a nod. "I agree."

Jerod sighed he had wanted to avoid bombarding worlds, Thrawn would never had wanted that.

And he had seen what the Eternal Empire had just done at Bakura.

"So we essentially do what the Eternal Empire has just done, destroy worlds, kill innocents. Yes we are at war but I have seen the Vong burn Sekot a living world because they lost. The Eternal Empire covered Bakura in darkness because they had been outsmarted".

"This could be tactically dangerous. We could be falling right into the uprisers hands. See look what they have done! We are turning back into the Empire of old which is what I tried to get away from".

He shrugged "But if you feel this is the best way to quell uprisings and if we do not have time for pacification then I guess it is the only option you have left."

"But keep an eye out we don't want our other foes taking advantage".

Ara'lani hesitated at the fire in Jerod's voice.

Parck supplied another suggestion. "We could just hit all the homeworlds strategically, perhaps. Cripple them, then we can come back and deal with them in a more... um, civilised fashion?"

Niriz nodded. "I don't tend to trouble myself with the ethics of how I treat my enemies, but Jerod makes a good point. Also, tactically speaking, if we bomb these worlds, they'll fight back - with sticks if they have to. We hit them, get out, maybe even mine the hyperlanes, then we can get back to the battle which really matters."

"The Eternal Empire," Parck finished.

"No," Ara'lani corrected. "The Far Outsiders," she said, supplying the Chiss name for the Yuuzhan Vong.

Jerod nodded "I agree with Parcks suggestion. We hit them where it hurts, fleet and military bases, anything that could prevent them back. Set them back a few years. And if they fight back again it will be weaker shots" he nodded "I approve".

"Now as to whom we concentrate on, Thrawn prepared us for the Yuuzhan Vong but the fight is coming to us on multiple fronts. I have fought the Eternal Empire in skirmishes and at Bakura and they should not be dismissed".

"However I have received word that Bastion, capital of the Imperial Remnant, is under attack by the Vong and asking if we can help. In return we get a dreadnaught but with refugees aboard".

Lennox's green eyes flicked between the images to gauge their reactions.

Parck and Niriz nodded, the latter speaking. "Assisting Bastion would enable us to increase our territory with minimal input. We annex the Remnant, and we have acquired eight sectors."

"But put ourselves in the line of the Yuuzhan Vong," Ara'lani pointed out; reactionless as ever. "Apart from the one attack, the invaders have ignored us and focused on the New Republic by all accounts."

"And if we ignore the Yuuzhan Vong they'll take the galaxy and come after the Empire of the Hand when they've conquered the rest," Niriz replied.

"But the Eternal Empire isn't going to go away, especially not after we hit them," Parck pointed out. "I'm not sure if we crippled their ability to strike back."

For that, he needed to hear the view of Jerod.

The Admiralty was leaning towards assisting the Imperial Remnant, but the Eternal Empire and the Yuuzhan Vong were threats.

Lennox tapped his chin in thought.

"Instead of facing one threat, we are facing several at once. The Eternal Empire will come for us, of that we can be sure of. They know who we are, and since they have cut the head off, they will now go for the body".

"The Vong won't go away either. Just because they bypassed us does not mean they will come back to finish us off either. The Vong are still near our territory and we still need to counter them".

He nodded "We failed in aquiring Bakura, the Imperial Remnant is ripe for the taking and we can show them that it is better to be under our umbrella than the chaos that is the New Republic. And we watch for the Eternal Empire, they will no doubt come calling at some point".

"So I shall head to Bastion with my fleet, quell your uprisings, and stand by in case I call for your assistance".

He ended the call, he hoped the others would be on board for this. And he hoped tactically he had made the right call.

Now it was time for Thrawn's message.

The Admiralty agreed, and they signed off.

The message from Thrawn was of recording, clearly aboard the Chimaera, in his private ready room.

Jerod, I made this before the Battle of Bakura. I anticipated long ago, when I first faced the Anzati Emperor at Metellos when he commanded the Yevetha, that he was beyond the mechanics of ordinary warfare. That it would take me overwhelming him with many threats to get beyond him and his twin Emperor my true goals. The attack on Bakura is a feint, designed to expose our enemies in the Chaos, to allow us to disrupt the Eternal Empire's command and control when they need to be responding intellectually.

But this was not just my plan.

Last year I was approached by a man calling himself the Master of Masters. He had an assassination attempt in mind, but I wanted you to decide to attack Bakura without full knowledge of the operation, to ensure I was not being unduly manipulated by the Black-Coat as he has many, many others. He had hired Boba Fett to assemble a Team, and had sent his two heels, Arb and Ike, to shadow their efforts. Our attack is - or was - just to cripple them as a functioning governmental entity.

I am sure that succeeded, and it will take them many years to recover from the wounds we inflicted today, for better, or for worse. The Starkiller Base I cannot complete; I offer it as bait to the Eternals, to lock them to a target that we can track and trace. It will be a difficult weapon to crack, for to do anything but offer complete resistance to its inevitable capture will reveal my intentions; perhaps we shall be lucky, and kill the Anzati before he takes the base. Doubtful.

But at this point, I presume I am dead, if you are watching this. My fleet will include self-destruct timers when the number of life-signs drops to zero. I do not wish for the Eternals to take my fleet, not when the GEMINI hive mind is so limited. The destruction of my ships will severely damage their forces, as well.

I made you Grand Admiral in my stead because you have faced the Yuuzhan Vong, and came to your own tactical decisions that mirrored mine, for your own reasons. That is a benefit to me, to the Empire of the Hand, because we need to think in a different manner, for even I can be predicted, and Palpatine knows me too well.


You, nobody knows - not yet.


I leave you one last piece of information; if I am ever marked as dead, I promise that I will return in five years time. That is my vow. It is a secret, for you and you alone. You may pass it to who you trust, or wait. But when it happens, I will take the Empire of the Hand to the next stage.

And we shall ultimately triumph.

Lennox put the datapad down. It was a lot to process. But it seemed he had planned everything down to the last detail including every move and countermove.

And he was planning to return. How Jerod was not certain, but it took a lot to kill him but he even had a plan for that too.

No personal sentiment towards Jerod either in that message and Lennox was not expecting any either. Thrawn was not the type. Even though they were mentor and student.

So the Eternal Empire had taken a bad hit but they would come back, Lennox was sure of it. Starkiller Base was gone, should he warn Fel of a threat that was incoming? Or would that ruin the plan Thrawn had in mind?

But he had to keep the knowledge of Thrawn coming back to himself for now until he chose a successor in case of his untimely death.

But for now it was off to Bastion and potentially a territory grab and a fight with the Vong.

He activated the comm in his desk "Give the order to start a quick reprovision and advise all ships to prepare to jump to Bastion".

He rose, stretched and picked up his batons as he headed back to the bridge.

And he still had to get that white uniform….

The white uniform was actually draped on one of the chairs in his room; it would catch his eye before he left to head back to the bridge. It had already been fitted for him, and Thrawn had left it for him.

There was no further note to express a final sentimentality.

Just the uniform, ready and prepared.

His order had been acknowledged, the fleet was ready.

Lennox spotted the uniform. He had missed that when he had come in but he had been concentrating on other things.

Thrawn had obviously known that Jerod would take the job and get on with it. No mess, no fuss. To lead until Thrawn returned and then hand leadership back.

The uniform was a perfect fit, his batons strapped either side of his waist along with his blaster. He looked as if he was ready for war.

Make your mentor proud Lennox.

He headed back to the bridge, no doubt the officers would be looking at him now all dressed in white.

He gave both sides of the bridge a simple nod as if to say let's do this. Jerod settled into his command chair.

"All ships, prepare to jump in to hyperspace on my mark. 3, 2, 1, go".

Roadblock shot into hyperspace once more.

Time to battle the Vong once more.

TAG: @Sinrebirth

 

OOC: Final combo for this week with @Sinrebirth

IC: Han Solo, Ben Solo, Lumpawaroo (Lumpy), Vua Rapuung
Location: Millenium Falcon, Borosk

Han had to agree with Lumpy's summary of it all. It was pure chaos.

And the galaxy was going to hell.

Han was back aboard his beloved Falcon and had just managed to get a little bit of rest before they arrived at Borosk. And it seemed even the Imperial Remnant was not even safe with Bastion now getting a bashing.

He looked back at Ben "Well we need to make sure His Highness and the refugees get somewhere safely. We can't just abandon 'em. Not while the Imperial Remnant is backing off and tryin' to protect the capital. It's not safe anymore".

"So let's also find out what's goin' on" he looked at Lumpy "So what's goin' on with the Chancellor and who is currently at Garqi?".

Lumpy explained in a few woofs and yips that fifty thousand Yuuzhan Vong ships had arrived at Garqi and the New Republic was piling in. The Chancellor had moved the capital to New Nubia because Fondor, Nal Hutta, Commenor and Bothawui had knitted together a Confederation to liberate Nubia and attack the Eternal Empire, which put Hosnian Prime on the wrong side of the border.

The Mid Rim was secure from the Vong, but there were communication issues across the Outer Rim and he suspected Han's message had been caught by a relay as it was downed. The New Republic and the Remnant didn't get the Artorias warning until the refugees turned up at Dubrillion - which was promptly attacked anyway.

"I don't think staying in Imperial Space is a good idea," Ben said. "We're going to get caught up in the HoloNet issues and the Remnant only has one fleet - the Vong have already sent two after the Imps."

"Yeah I agree" Han replied simply "All in all it's not lookin' good".

"Garqi does not definitely look good. A fifty thousand strong fleet. Ya know I would love to dive the Falcon straight in there but the odds are we'll get blown to bits in ten seconds flat. If I was younger I probably would".

"So that leaves possibly helpin' the Chancellor. We need to report back, and get some major firepower. The Imps won't last long if this Choka keeps pushin'"

He looked to Fin "Any ideas on where you can take the refugees?".

Fin shrugged. "Ruan is the more Coreward refugee world, they said they'd accept workers from any Core World that fell, but also from farther out. It's either that or we go to Agamar or Ord Mantell, and they're not all that far from the front."

"Duro was going to volunteer, and Gyndine -"

Lumpy confirmed that the Confederation had hit Gyndine, and Duro was in the middle of a contested sector.

"So yeah," Fin said. "Ruan."

Ben nodded. "Ruan makes sense." He looked at Han. "So we head to, um, New Nubia?"

Han nodded and agreed with the comments from Fin "The slave ship should hopefully get you there in one piece. You might wanna talk to Vua see what it can and can't do".

He nodded to his son "And yeah New Nubia seems the best choice. If the Chancellor is there we can tell anyone who is there what has happened and why no messages came through from us. The New Republic needs to make sure no more refugees hop around like we have".

He smirked "And your Aunt Feyna and Aunt Madelyn need to know you are OK, they'll kill me if anythin' happened to you".

"So first things first we need to dodge this fleet and get out of here".

Ben wondered aloud. "I think we should ask Vua to come with us, Dad. He's the first sane Yuuzhan Vong we've met. The prisoners that the New Republic captured before, they were nuts. Zealots. I can't see how every Yuuzhan Vong is like that."

"Don't you think the Chancellor would benefit from speaking to an actual Yuuzhan Vong? We could even start a discussion via Vua, maybe undermine Palpatine." His eyes glittered at that idea - he thought he'd just figured out a way to win the war.

Han smiled "You're gettin' good at this son. What a brilliant way to wipe that smirk off that old man's face by endin' the war before it's really got goin'. OK let's do it".

"So long as he doesn't mind ridin' around on a machine…"

Ben stepped to the ramp, which was visible from the seating area. "Vua, you want to come in?"

There was a pad of clawed feet as the immense Yuuzhan Vong stepped up.

He looked around at the Falcon.

"So this is your infidel technology." He wrinkled his face. "I will not use your weapons, I will keep to mine, but I will abide my time aboard your... Bird ship."

Ben smiled. "Millennium Falcon."

"Bird ship."

Lumpawaroo rumbled at them; they'd not been formally introduced. Vua seemed to shift, appreciating the Wookiee was as tall as him. "You are the noble pilot of the Bird?"

With a groan of despair, Lumpy looked to Han and Ben.

Language barrier.

Han nearly laughed at his ship being called Bird Ship.

He hooked a thumb at himself "I pilot the Bird Ship as you call the Falcon here. She's my girl. This is Lumpawaroo son of the mighty Chewbacca and my best friend and copilot".

He smiled at the Wookiee "He's just as good a pilot as I am".

"We are hoping you will come with us. Perhaps you can maybe be a bridge between your people and ours. Stop this war before it kills a lot of people. On both sides".

Vua considered. “Supreme Overlord Quoreal was overthrown by Shimmra, who was himself undone by Palpatine. But Quoreal had intended to turn away from this galaxy. The first coup that followed to steer the worldship convoy back towards here, and so I wonder why. If the will of the Gods has been perverted by Palpatine, why not Shimmra and his ilk - the warmaster Tsavong Lah among them.”

He slammed a fist to his chest. “I shall come with you, and speak to your leaders.”

“Perhaps I shall find much which makes me not Shamed but perhaps Extolled, and the others there are undoubtedly like me among my kind.”

Han smiled "Well I'll say welcome aboard Vua. People will distrust you but if we give 'em a path to peace they might come around".

"Just one more thing. This Quoreal. If he wanted to avoid the galaxy and got overthrown do you think he would still have supporters in your ranks?"

"Undoubtedly," Vua said. "Most politicians know best when to go silent when their faction has been defeated. There was speculation that not all the elite were so pleased that Shimrra ascended - but even then, if you want Quorealists, you should contact Shimrra supporters too."

He looked disgusted. "They have accepted Palpatine, but I imagine tearing down the entire status quo and starting over is a bit too, what do you infi -" Vua hesitated. "What is it your people say? A bit too hopeful?"

A slight grin.

Lumpy groaned, but was amused.

He reached over and patted Vua's shoulder; relatively hard, because dominance was a thing, and Vua did the same back to him. They grinned, all teeth.

Ben wasn't sure he liked that.

"So, New Nubia?"

A rumble; they had to get past the Yuuzhan Vong siege first, and escorting the T'sam Pah would fall to them as well. Ben nodded. "Ruan first, then?"

"Well let's just hope we can make enough noise to bring the opposition out then" Han said, folding his arms.

He looked to Lumpy "Ease up there pal, don't want you and him gettin' into a fight".

Then to Ben "Let's make sure we get the refugees safe and sound first, i've still got a promise to keep regarding His Highness there. Otherwise I'll be in trouble and I think I might be in enough already, especially once your mother finds out about what has happened".

"So Ruan first, Ben hop into one of the gunnery turrets, and Vua you can come with me and Lumpy to the cockpit, might need your help in gettin' past these guys…."

Vua nodded and followed Han. Ben rushed off to a turret, and Lumpy headed to the cockpit.

"What can I do, Hero Solo?"

Han took his seat in the cockpit and started up the Falcon's systems ``Well as I said we might need your help in gettin' past this fleet. Help guide Ben in hittin' them so we can pass through".

He hoped Fin was now safely aboard the refugee ship as he was about to lift off "Perhaps the slave ship could chase us and then maybe we might be able to fool 'em into not chasin' us".

It was a plan, but Vua added to it. "I can communicate with the commander, say that I have taken back the T'sam Pah and require an escort. They will allow us to leave, protect us even, and we can depart that way - perhaps even do some damage as we depart."

He mused. "We would have space for the Bird and several squadrons of Imperial fighters, no? We launch them behind enemy lines, a difference it may make?"

It was a good addition to the plan. "Then we can flee into Darkspace and to 'Ruan'."

Han shrugged "Sounds good to me" he closed up the ramp and started lifting the Falcon up "Lumpy, let the Imps know the details, I'll see if I can keep the Falcon close to the slave ship as close as I can. Just in case the Vong start sniffin' trouble".

And I really hope this works….

TAG: @Sinrebirth (@JediMasterAnne and @TheSilentInfluence for the usual Auntie mentions)