NationStates Jolt Archive

Jesse seemed satisfied that he managed to make Shamman sweat a little, nevermind that the sweat would disappear from his flames. Then he felt a disturbance behind him, courtesy of his mind-reading training. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Shamman's lightsabers rushing for his back. Too late to use his own saber, there was only one thing left he could do.

The lightsabers sped for the back until about an inch or two from contact, when suddenly, they were met by a strange repulsive force. Not like a Force Wall, which is solid, but more like an extremely powerful magnetic field. The lightsabers were forced back by Jesse's true powers, that of power over electromagnetic energy.

"You overestimate your own prowess, Warrior." Jesse chided softly. "You underestimate mine."

With that, metal item after metal item flew at Shamman, some breaking up into sharp shards, others just using bludgeoning force to do their job. Jesse, son of Nightshade has finally been forced to reveal the extent of his powers over electromagnetism. But in the end, he felt strangely relieved that now he could practice and even expand his powers in the open. Now he had a goal, to become the supernatural expert on the electromagnetic spectrum, to master one of the fundamental forces of the universe. Because, in the back of his mind, he knew that he would one day have to face his brother for the title of Emperor of Tenetia, a brother who commanded a second fundamental force, gravity. He knew that as a Sith underling, he would be expected to kill to achieve the rank of Dark Lord of the Sith. It was, he finally realized, what his mother wanted out of him. She wanted him to be strong and not weak. Cunning and not foolish. A powerful legacy to the Imperial Coredian Throne and not a whipping boy for anyone.

Magriel smiled with glee as he saw that Jesse was finally tapping into his powers, for he didn't sense that the young boy was using the force by itself any more. The Malkir concluded that Jesse was, in fact, using his Metallic powers.

Shamman on the other hand, became royally pissed. This meant he needed to up his power usage, meaning he would have to tire himself out at the same time. Preforming the same move he used in the Chuunin Exams, he opened his mouth and let loose the deathly Kirtir Cry This one was more powerful and sudden than the one he preformed in the Exams, one which would echo throughout his mother's chambers, and past her palace. Even the Malkir Master wasn't prepared for this move (he seldom used it even while he was a dark lord) and was affected by the cry making his face turn from glee to a painful cringe. He grabbed his ears, attempting to cut his hearing off from his body so that he wouldn't be effected that badly...

Jesse stumbled back and clutched his ears, fighting against the Scream that stabbed into his ears. His concentration wavered and the metal that flew at Shamman began to fall to the ground. If he was going to win this or even just survive, he had to figure out how to stop the horrid screaming with his powers. In a last-ditch effort, one of the metal items that lay on the ground behind Shamman shakily got up and slammed towards the Kirtir Knight's back...

Shamman lifted his sword to make one final blow upon the boy, when he felt something coming towards him. Alas for poor Shamman, it was too late. The heavy metallic object fell upon him and he was knocked out cold.

As for the Malkir spy, he was grinning with glee with Jesse's preformance. He walked up to him, clapping. "Bravo young one, bravo! You've taken your first steps into a larger world, a world which will become even larger than my own. You can't hide your powers any longer young one, now they'll be known to your family, and the other Dark Lords as well."

"Thank you, Master." Jesse bowed. "To tell you the truth, it's a relief to finally do this openly."

"Indeed," Kal'Shazzar replied as he signaled the guard nearest Daniel's cell to open the door. "Some form of spirit appears to reside within him, from what Lady Nightshade told me. It kept trying to hold him to reality through a dose, but it seems that either I administered too much or the attempts by the spirit to retain the boy's grip on reality served only to create more neural strain than we could have accounted for."

He stepped into the cell as the gate opened, reached down, and poked Daniel in the neck, releasing another dose of the dreamweaver. He immediately turned and left the cell, turning around only after the door had closed behind him.

"Complications are a fact of life in the medical profession. As they say, 'You're unique... just like everybody else.' More data is required before I make a decision on whether his dosage should be reduced slightly."

Glancing momentarily in the direction of Travis' cell, in which the boy sat tearing into his food while giving him a defiant glare, Kal'Shazzar shrugged slightly. "Though, I do ponder whether I might be able to increase HIS dose. He has thus far demonstrated remarkable fortitude. Perchance he might be able to handle a higher level of the drug without adverse effects."

Turning back to Daniel, he cocked his head to analyze the onset of the boy's next dose. "No matter... if my project works properly, I might be able to dispense with the drug entirely while at the same time increasing the frequency of application."

Daniel knew exactly what was coming...

It felt like he was floating. Floating in the clouds above the capital, or maybe it was Suna or somewhere else. It was too cloudy to see and he was feeling too good to even care.

Ignore how it feels, Ddauchlorsson warned.

Why? Daniel wasn't too sure what the young dragon spirit meant by that.

Reality, the reality is that they are trying to break you Gabriel. Fight it, fight it. You must.

Daniel couldn't, he just let how good it felt take over him.

When the drug wore off, he was torn from the dream and back into reality. Unlike before, now he could barely yell.

"Indeed," Kal'Shazzar replied as he signaled the guard nearest Daniel's cell to open the door. "Some form of spirit appears to reside within him, from what Lady Nightshade told me. It kept trying to hold him to reality through a dose, but it seems that either I administered too much or the attempts by the spirit to retain the boy's grip on reality served only to create more neural strain than we could have accounted for."

He stepped into the cell as the gate opened, reached down, and poked Daniel in the neck, releasing another dose of the dreamweaver. He immediately turned and left the cell, turning around only after the door had closed behind him.

"Complications are a fact of life in the medical profession. As they say, 'You're unique... just like everybody else.' More data is required before I make a decision on whether his dosage should be reduced slightly."

Glancing momentarily in the direction of Travis' cell, in which the boy sat tearing into his food while giving him a defiant glare, Kal'Shazzar shrugged slightly. "Though, I do ponder whether I might be able to increase HIS dose. He has thus far demonstrated remarkable fortitude. Perchance he might be able to handle a higher level of the drug without adverse effects."

Turning back to Daniel, he cocked his head to analyze the onset of the boy's next dose. "No matter... if my project works properly, I might be able to dispense with the drug entirely while at the same time increasing the frequency of application."
"Hmm." Meiji pursed her lips. "You know, I have the strangest feeling about Masaki. Unlike Blue-Furred One, for some reason, I think there's something special about the kid. Eh, nothing ventured, nothing gained. I'll continue to keep watch for both of them."

"See that you do," Kal'Shazzar replied expressionlessly, "I have no doubt that Nightshade would raise all kinds of hell if one of these boys were to kick off in the middle of the night."

He turned and began walk away, his analysis of Daniel's neural signals taken during the vision completed. "I am going to finalize some data and then proceed with the first stage of my experiment. Inform me when next the elf boy gets the drive to eat, I shall provide their next dosages then."

And with that, he was gone once again.

"And that leaves me to babysit the boys. Crap." Meiji sighed as Kal'Shazzar moved off to do his cruel experiments.

Travis looked up from wolfing down his food. "Hey. Meiji, right?"

"What's it to you?" Meiji asked.

"What's your story?" Travis asked.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, why are you in this camp?"

"Oh. Aside from the fact that I'm not supposed to talk to prisoners, nothing much happened." Meiji shrugged.

Travis scowled. "I know there's more to it than that."

"You little--" Meiji began to curse, but oddly found that she hadn't the heart for it. "*sigh* All right, if you must know, Daddy was the governor of Tenetia before Nightshade took over. There was the obligatory grand duel, but even an elf was no match for the Sith."

"Wait a minute, you're an elf?" Travis' eyes squinted to get a better look. Yep, there was the pointy ears. Smaller than the ones he knew though...

"You're interrupting, baka!" Meiji chided him. "And yes, I'm an elf. Well, half-elf, actually. Mom's mortal, Dad's elven. Anyway, Dad fought off Nightshade to help mom and me escape but we got caught by Imperial troopers a couple months later, and dragged us off here. Since at the time, it was a political concentration camp, mom croaked due to disease, leaving me to face the future alone."

"Oh, that's sad." Travis said. "So how did you get hooked up with Kal'Shazzar?"

"Ah, here comes the real story. And before I tell you, I'd like to let you know that I hate Kal'Shazzar for what he does to the poor prisoners. I'd do something about it, but this collar prevents me from doing anything against the camp." She pointed to the collar around her neck. "I could do little things here and there, but if I try to escape, ka-boom! Anyway, he came along about six months ago and although his experiments were cruel and unusual, Dreamweaver did increase production tenfold, giving the Empire stuff it needs to prosecute the war. It kills free will like nobody's business though, something the Empire loves to do. And that's the other half of why I hate Kal."

Travis drank in the story and fell quiet. Meiji sighed and moved for Daniel when Travis spoke up again. "I'll find a way to escape, collar or no collar. Force or no Force. I'll defy the Empire's worst. They killed my family and my Master. As far as I know, I could well be one of the last Jedi left. I will rebuild the Order, alone if I have to. As my master...*choke*...as my master once said and I repeat, 'I never go back on my word! That's my way of the ninja!'"

Meiji just chuckled dryly. "I'll tell you what. If you ever manage to escape, don't forget me."

Travis smiled back. "I won't."

"Cute kid." Meiji just shook her head and headed towards Daniel, checking to see if he's coherent yet.

Daniel pulled himself up and sat against the wall of his cell. He felt like shit, he was tired and his head ached. Still he was somewhat coherent as he slowly raised his head and saw Meiji. His eyes went cold.

Meiji saw Daniel's eye grow cold and smirked. "Seems you're back in reality. Hungry?"

Daniel said nothing. He found he couldn't say anything, his throat was dry. Hungry, he just nodded.

"Very well. I'll be back." Meiji said cheerfully and walked off. Before long, she came back with the usual prison fare and a cup of water. "Enjoy!"

Once done, she contacted Kal'Shazzar. "Blue Elf's eating now. Looks like you can make the next dose."

Daniel was quick to go for the water. He had always hated the taste of water, but now it tasted better. All in the head as it was the only thing he had to quench his thirst.

Kal'Shazzar had finished his finalization, and was standing once again before the forty 'subjects', all of whom were regaining some semblance of composure or consciousness to a sufficient degree for testing to begin. Meiji's voice came through on the intercom saying that the elf boy had eaten.

Already? The boy was stronger than he looked. It hadn't even been two hours yet. After only the first dose he had been nearly comatose with despair for a good day and a half. The second dose, and he was already moving to a degree sufficient to feed himself?

Must be that spirit thing yelling at him to get his energy back.

"It is too soon to present another dose," Kal replied over the intercom. "I must keep the dosages balanced or the hallucinogen will turn into a neurotoxin and destroy his mind. I am surprised he is mobile so soon after a dose. Normally it will not be an issue, and has not been an issue until now, but keep track of when he next vacates his bladder. The drug will leave him and we can prepare for another dose then. That should be at least another three or four hours... give him lots and lots of water."

He turned off the intercom and returned to his work, glancing towards the winged furry ball of vitriol. "Now I have her tracking piss. You must be brimming with the need to yuk it up."

"Oh, don't look at me. I'm not saying anything!" Ellis replied, although he was chuckling at the thought.

=====

"You want me to WHAT?!" Meiji yelled into the intercom, even though it was offline. "You dirty bastard!"

Unfortunately, orders were orders. Sickened by the thought of watching a boy piss, she stalked off for a case of water bottles. She came back, a guard dragging the case and shoved four bottles into the cell, as well as a chamber pot. "Drink it all up, buddy. Every last drop."

"And you, watch his every movement. When he pisses, take it away and alert me." The guard nodded. At least she didn't have to watch it all...she still shuddered at the thought.

Kal'Shazzar stood up, satisfied with the calibration of the tiny control device before the forty assembled subjects. Several of them still moaned in pain as no doubt the implants presented a dull throbbing sensation even now, so soon after the operation.

"Right... when I activate this device, the implants are going to stimulate the brain into recreating the synaptic patterns that I observed during a dreamweaver trance. I wish to see whether the pattern is capable of undergoing amplitude modulation in line with variable stimulus. Perhaps instead of one big vision, they can have lots and lots of little ones.

"This procedure is also necessary to test whether withdrawal is purely psychological as I'd suspected, or whether the chemical does play a part in the deprivation response. That being said, lets start at the natural level."

With that announcement, made more to himself than to anybody else in the room, he activated the control and initiated the stimulus process in the implants for each subject. Almost instantly, there were results.

Beyond the sudden halt of moaning, two of the subjects died almost instantly. A human male and female collapsed to the floor and seemed to simply lose the will to keep their own hearts pumping...

A few hours and plenty of water later, Daniel felt the need to relieve himself. His toilet was humiliating, a bedpan that could be moved and accidentally tipped over was all he had to relieve himself into. Of course, Daniel had moved it to the far corner where he was least likely to be watched and began relieving himself.

Little Kieran's eyes suddenly flashed with visions. Visions of a man and woman in homespun brown robes. They were laughing and he was laughing with them, bobbing up and down in the hands of the strong man. "Who...who are you?"

The man had red hair and blue eyes. The woman had dark brown hair and also blue eyes. Were they his parents? He didn't know.

More flashes came. Of the three of them running from something. Of many people with glowing swords. Then more happiness. Then a very vague happy memory of an old man with grey, sandy-blond hair wearing formal Jedi robes. Then the memories retreated. "No! Come back! Who are you?"

Reality returned with a vengeance and Kieran gasped for breath. "What...was...that?"

=====

The guard felt duped as he saw Daniel take a tinkle but orders were orders. "Miss Meiji, the blue boy has relieved himself. Repeat, the boy has relieved himself."

"Ugh. More information than I need. I'll alert Kal'Shazzar." Meiji sighed. She keyed in Kal'Shazzar. "Kal'Shazzar, the boy has relieved himself. Ugh. can't believe I just said that..."

The rabbit has strangled the chicken! I repeat, the rabbit has strangled the chicken!

Kal'Shazzar grinned to himself as the imaginary radio conversation drifted through his mind. Meiji's announcement was so full of 'I hate you with a passion you could only dream of' that a nearby cockroach exploded rather violently. Better it than he.

Roger that. Prepare to grease the gopher. I repeat, prepare to grease the gopher. Its time for a shave and a haircut.

He set the control device to initiate a sequence of continuously reducing exposures at regular intervals, and to record synaptic and vital information as necessary, then turned to leave. "Have guards come in to remove the catastrophic failures," he said without looking back towards Ellis as the door closed behind him.

He strode purposefully down the corridors towards the cells hosting his two latest additions, and eventually came to stand before Daniel again.

"Remarkable. He's actually mobile so soon... perhaps I can increase the dose for both of them..."

"And I'll keep on watching to make sure they aren't going to croak." Meiji sighed. You bastard...

He ordered Daniel's cell door open, and stepped in. With another snakelike move, he poked the elf boy in the neck and stepped back from the cell. "one-point-two-five dosage. Its not as high as I would like it to be, but I already lost two others in the infirmary. Enough dead people for today, I fear. And for you," he turned to Travis. "I'll go just a smidge higher."

Cell door opened, Kal'Shazzar stepped in and poked Travis in the neck faster than the eye could follow, and withdrew as the door closed behind him. He stepped back from both cells and gestured for a clear view into both cells, then... simply stared.

Drifting off into dreamland, a goggled Travis founding himself floating in the clouds on Ryujin, feeling the wind's passage on his face and through his hair and clothes. The dragon swooped through the clouds with a grace that exceeded the best airfighters. Then the boy felt a presence on his back and blushed as Meiji put her arms around his waist.

"You like it?" He asked loudly over the wind.

"It's amazing, Travis! You're a great dragonrider!" Meiji exclaimed, eyes shining.

"I know! Hold on tight! Ryujin, dive!" Travis grinned. The dragon roared in reply, and took a steep dive, making the twosome scream in excited terror, before he looped up and over, then performed a twisting dive that almost made them crash, but he pulled up at the last second. "How was that?"

Meiji could only gasp. "I think...I need...to catch my breath. Fun!"

"There's more!" Travis grinned.

The clouds formed into a band and began to play music.

Travis:
I can show you the world
Shining, shimmering, splendid
Tell me, princess, now when did
you last let your heart decide?

I can open your eyes
Take you wonder by wonder
Over, sideways, and under
On a mighty dragon's hide

A whole new world
A new fantastic point of view
No one to tell us no
Or where to go
Or say we're only dreaming

Meiji:
A whole new world
A dazzling place I never knew
But now from way up here
It's crystal clear that now I'm in a whole new world with you

Unbelievable sights
Indescribable feeling
Soaring, tumbling, freewheeling
Through an endless diamond sky,
A whole new world!

Travis: Don't you dare close your eyes
Meiji: A hundred thousand things to see
Travis: Hold your breath - it gets better
Both: I'm like a shooting star
I've come so far
Meiji: I can't go back to where I used to be

Travis:
A whole new world
with new horizons to pursue
Both: I'll chase them any where there's time to spare
Travis: let me share this whole new world with you!
Meiji: A whole new world

Travis: A whole new world
A new fantastic point of view
Both: No one to tell us no or where to go
Meiji: Or say where only dreaming
Travis: A whole new world
Meiji: Every turn a surprise
Travis: With new horizons to persue
Meiji: Every moment gets better
Both: I'll chase them anywhere there's time to spare
Meiji: Any where
Travis: There's time to spare
Meiji: Let me share
Travis: This whole new world
Meiji: With you

Meiji: A whole new world
Travis: A whole new world
Meiji: Thats where we will be
Travis: Thats where we will be
Meiji: A thrilling chase
Travis: A wonderous place
Both: For you and me

"Oh, Travis, what a wonderful song!" Meiji said, googly-eyed.

"You said it, Meiji!" Travis grinned lopsidedly.

Like a cheesy teenage flick, they puckered their lips and then moved closer and closer...and closer...and...

reality returned.

"Nooooooo!" Travis screamed. "So...close...so...beautiful..."

'Fuck,' Daniel mentally cursed as he drifted into the dream.

Wet, very wet. Daniel looked down at his feet. The rocks were wet but he wasn't finding them slippery. He was stood at the top of a waterfall near the Exetergrecia Academy.

Peering over the edge he saw his friends in the pool below. Katsuo, Katana and even the Cyredathem twins were there.

"Jump!" Katsuo yelled, followed by others.

Daniel moved toward the edge. In some parts this was called tombstoning. Closing his eyes he jumped from the edge and it felt like ages before he finally hit the water. Upon returning to the surface his friends cheered. Except Katana, but then that was the way she was always like.

It was then that he realised something, Ddauchlorsson wasn't talking to him. This wasn't a dream it was real, the terror was over? Maybe, he saw a blond man stood at the side of the pool, Yoshikuni Kazuma, a friend of his fathers. He beckoned the young elf over.

"I have something for you," he said, holding up a green tankard. "Drink it, it'll help your mind."

Daniel didn't question him, it looked like mead and he loved mead. Without hesitation he drank from the tankard to much cheering from his friends.

"It's getting harder to keep your mind from going," Kazuma then said in his usual drawl. "They're giving you stronger doses, fight it. I know all this feels real but it's not."

I am with you, always.

Ddauchlorsson. There it was confirmation.

"In the meantime, make the most of this dream," Kazuma then said. "Use their weapon against them."

Daniel nodded.

"Scream when you return to reality." And with that Kazuma was gone.

Daniel teleported to the top of the waterfall once again, prompting the return of the calls to "Jump." This time he jumped, he was brought back to reality...

...and he yelled out.

"Synaptic readings standard for the Masaki scion, and more abberrant results from the elf boy... stronger this time... interesting..."

He walked away, pondering the results presented to him with the latest dosage sequence. As an afterthought, he turned back and bellowed to Meiji from the end of the corridor. "Same criteria for notification!" Then he was out of sight.

Back in the infirmary, he analyzed further results from the thirty-eight subjects before him as they went through another stimulus sequence. Thus far the results had been remarkably promising... but there was something else...

A strange electromagnetic signature seemed to arise with each direct stimulus. It was the same for all of them, and seemed to be roughly independent of each subject's implant. To Kal'Shazzar, it seemed almost as if the brain were providing him with some sort of clue... but for what?

Perhaps he should see what the electromagnetic field would do if pointed at somebody's head? Perchance there might be an even simpler method to stimulate the proper response than sticking an implant into each intended recipient's brainbase...

He stepped out of the Infirmary, ignoring the furry ball of spite's curious questioning, and waved to a nearby guard.

"You, come here. I need to see something."

The guard complied without hesitation, though a curious expression appeared on his face when Kal'Shazzar pointed a finger at him.

"Tell me how this feels."

And with that, the Godulan projected a small cone of electromagnetic energy into the guard's face, at the exact same frequency and perturbation as he had noted from the other subjects. The response was immediate. The guard collapsed to the ground in a quivering mass of something between a moan and a giggle... how remarkably serendipitous...

Tenetia

A shadow walked in the depths of Castle Nightshade. Unseen by the troopers, unknown by the security measures, unaided by anyone but his own self, Jesse son of Nightshade, student of Magnetism, moved swiftly. Within the past days of intensive training by his Master, his powers has grown to the point where his plans would now be able to take effect. Plans worthy of his mother's wrath and his stepfather's fury, but also worthy of the ideals of the Sith.

In his pockets, already a stack of datacards were procured from Tenetian databanks for the express purpose of doing the unthinkable: giving all relevant information over to the Rebellion on everything Tenetia. Information that included a certain bomb deep below Section 66 that would detonate if the Rebellion ever managed to take the planet. He was for once, horrified when he learned of this tactic. He had no true love for the Empire, serving it only out of necessity, but he cared for his homeworld as much as anyone else would care for theirs. To him, the Empire has gone too far in this matter and that's why he, in his own way, has rebelled. After all, he wanted to rule the place, not see it destroyed...

After gathering the necessary documents, he did the next thing that would cement his disloyalty: he went to the armory and retrieved the items confiscated from the Masaki and Wagner boys. He had to use a sealing technique taught by Kabuto to take the Wagner's gourd, but even that wasn't the biggest issue. The biggest was actually being in the very strange position of having to persuade Travis' lightsaber of his true intentions. He would swear it was sentient if it wasn't such a silly idea. Then again...

He reached out for the lightsaber, which crackled angrily as it sensed his darkness, although not as badly as it would have been in Janus' place. He spoke with whispering hiss of annoyance. "I can't believe I'm talking to you like this, but if you want your master back, you'd better come with me. I have no intention of staying here than you do, but I will leave you if I must."

The lightsaber, although it just sat there among the other weapons, seemed to contemplate(!) the idea of staying verses going. Reluctantly, it dropped its self-defense mechanism and Jesse was allowed to take it. He had to wonder what was in this lightsaber that allowed it to be like this, but shook his head and moved for the last part of his plan, and the most dangerous.

Little Kiyoshi was three years old, going on four. He had his father's hair and eyes and his mother's complexion and face. The combined bloodlines of Uchiha and Masaki gave him a potential that would one day be used to become one of the most powerful in any Order, perhaps surpassing his half-brothers for the Sith Throne. Janus resented him deeply for this reason and saw him as a threat to do away with as soon as it was expedient. Jesse, however, was different. Kiyoshi was the only person Jesse truly cared for, the only person that kept him from being fully Sith just by his existence. Perhaps it was because the toddler sparked...something in the young Sith that would have never otherwise be. A fierce brotherly love, rare in a household of Dark Lords, that was only seen when they were alone, and something that would open the door for Jesse's turning point, this very day. The Force works in mysterious ways, it seems.

Jesse care for no one but his youngest brother. He would die to protect the child, something that irked the Dark Lords to no end as it was a sentiment very much like the hated Jedi, a sentiment they have forgotten, if they have known it at all. If a world would burn so that Kiyoshi may be safe from harm, Jesse would have no qualms about ordering that. It is for this very reason that the third and last part of Jesse's treachery had him enter the boy's room to spirit him away. For he knew the depths of his parents'evil. He alone cared that Itachi's eyes would soon be used to tear away the toddler's innocence and replace it with a dark personality of despair and hatred. He knew that if that happened, he himself would slay the child to prevent the Sith from cultivating that hatred and then take his own life, a double act of seppuku that would surely send a message to the Dark Lords.

If today goes well, he would not need to resort to such a plan.

"Kiyoshi-chan." Jesse said as he walked in the room carrying a bag of clothes for the both of them, the child playing with a stuffed rancor and nanny-droid suppressed with his magnetic powers. Kiyoshi was wearing a simple black tunic and some pants. "It's time to go."

"Niisan?" Bright brown eyes sparkled up at Jesse. "Why?"

"We're going on a little trip." Jesse said. "Just you and me."

"Really?" The little boy jumped up in glee. "Where? Tell me! Tell me!"

"Shh. It's a secret." Jesse picked up the kid. "So secret we're not going to tell Father or Mother."

"Oh...ok. What about Rany?" He was of course referring to the stuffed rancor.

"He'll have to stay." Jesse said, and Kiyoshi looked hurt. Puppy dog eyes time! Jesse was too vulnerable to it. He sighed and gave the rancor to the kid. "Oh, all right. You can take him, but take very good care of him."

"Yay! I will!"

"Keep quiet!"

"Oh!" Cutely, the little boy tightened his lips.

Jesse gave the kid a rare smile and then sped off for the main hangar bay. He moved so quickly with Force Sprint that he didn't notice a glint of glasses in the far corner.

"My Lord. He is heading for the hangar bay. Shall I pursue them?" Kabuto asked in a comlink.

"No. You will take Lord Maul and a company of clonetroopers and you will await their arrival at Tantis." Lord Itachi said.

"The Masaki boy." Kabuto realized Jesse's target.

"Yes. With all the eggs in one basket, it will be easy to destroy them. Leave the child alive, but do not let him fall into Rebel hands." The chilly voice ordered. "You may do as you wish to the other brats."

"As you wish, my Lord." Kabuto said, and moved off to carry out his orders.

Lord Tyrannus stepped out of the shadows to meet with Itachi. "Do you expect Kabuto to succeed?"

"Knowing the Masaki potential for getting out of tight scrapes and pulling deus ex machina out of nowhere, I do not." Itachi smiled coldly. "That is why you will prepare the fleet for deployment. I trust that you will enjoy the Hunt."

"Certainly, I will. The other Dark Lords among us will enjoy it as well." Tyrannus grinned. "Colonel Hamdo seems particularly ready to jump at the chance to destroy the Masaki brood."

"Hmm. If he succeeds, it will be quite a fitting irony. Very well, he will lead the ground compliment." Itachi declared. "Do not fail me. Do not fail Lady Nightshade."

"Yes, my Lord." Tyrannus bowed and slinked back into the shadows just as a stolen shuttle lifted off into space.

All the pieces were coming into place and it all comes down on the unknowing shoulders of six young children.

Meiji, Jesse, Travis, Daniel, Kieran and Kiyoshi. Today, their destinies become intertwined, their legends birthed. Only the Will of the Force determines their course now...

So it's time... The spy knew that time was close. He knew Jesse was in for some deep shit, and they still needed to rescue Travis. And to do this, they needed a ship. Small enough to trans port them, yet big enough to withstand a Star Destroyer attack if needed. And there was only one ship with that ability. Magriel glanced around the empty hallways, to see if anyone was in the area. "Deshoonde to the Pillar. Request immediate transport. One to beam up."

"Understood m'Lord."

Just as he was in the beaming process, he saw the two kids running down the hallway. Just in time... Moments later, he found himself in the Transporter room of the Armageddon Cruiser.

"Welcome aboard Deshoonde."

The Lord walked over to the transporter chief and force pushed him backwards into the wall, knocking him out cold. "Thank you." He then punched in the coordinates where Jesse and Kiyoshi were running and beamed them aboard. Looking at their surprised faces when they appeared onto the Pillar's transporter pad, Margriel walked up to them. "Welcome aboard the Pillar. I assume this is your first time aboard a Huntarian starship of any sorts yes?"

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Meanwhile... Back on Tenetia...

A Huntarian officer ran down the hallway towards Deshoonde's private quarters. He checked the datapad which he was carrying to the Kirtir Lord again, just to make sure everything was actually correct for if these reports were true, these could be tough times ahead. He finally reached the door, and pressed the chime to enter.

"Do not disturb me."

The officer stared in space for a few moments, and then finally decided that the information he had to give the Lord was worth the risk entering. He punched in the code to enter, and the door hissed open. As soon as he entered, a loud "ffffftttt" noise hover over his head and he ducked with fright realizing that a shuriken of sorts was hurtled at him. Seconds later, he saw a standing figure in the center of the chambers rise, and he heard the sound of an lightsaber activating. Since he couldn't see anything, the officer assumed it was a black blade of sorts.

"I said... Do... Not... Disturb me."

"YES SIR!" The officer then hastily sped out of the chambers, feeling lucky enough to still be alive. It would appear that Deshoonde's wrath is as close to the tales the senior officers tell before he left the Empire. Of course, if he actually walked in closer he would've discovered it was just a Doppleganger...

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Back on the Pillar's Bridge...

"Sir! Unauthorized transports in transporter room 2. Chief isn't responding."

The Captain sighed, "send a full security team down there. It would seem that the two boys have managed to get on board."

So it's time... The spy knew that time was close. He knew Jesse was in for some deep shit, and they still needed to rescue Travis. And to do this, they needed a ship. Small enough to trans port them, yet big enough to withstand a Star Destroyer attack if needed. And there was only one ship with that ability. Magriel glanced around the empty hallways, to see if anyone was in the area. "Deshoonde to the Pillar. Request immediate transport. One to beam up."

"Understood m'Lord."

Just as he was in the beaming process, he saw the two kids running down the hallway. Just in time... Moments later, he found himself in the Transporter room of the Armageddon Cruiser.

"Welcome aboard Deshoonde."

The Lord walked over to the transporter chief and force pushed him backwards into the wall, knocking him out cold. "Thank you." He then punched in the coordinates where Jesse and Kiyoshi were running and beamed them aboard. Looking at their surprised faces when they appeared onto the Pillar's transporter pad, Margriel walked up to them. "Welcome aboard the Pillar. I assume this is your first time aboard a Huntarian starship of any sorts yes?"
"Yeah." Jesse nodded as he appeared in the transport room with his little brother. Kiyoshi was a little dizzy, being his first time transporting. "We'd better get to Tantis quickly. No doubt the Dark Lords know by now of my...treachery."


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile... Back on Tenetia...

A Huntarian officer ran down the hallway towards Deshoonde's private quarters. He checked the datapad which he was carrying to the Kirtir Lord again, just to make sure everything was actually correct for if these reports were true, these could be tough times ahead. He finally reached the door, and pressed the chime to enter.

"Do not disturb me."

The officer stared in space for a few moments, and then finally decided that the information he had to give the Lord was worth the risk entering. He punched in the code to enter, and the door hissed open. As soon as he entered, a loud "ffffftttt" noise hover over his head and he ducked with fright realizing that a shuriken of sorts was hurtled at him. Seconds later, he saw a standing figure in the center of the chambers rise, and he heard the sound of an lightsaber activating. Since he couldn't see anything, the officer assumed it was a black blade of sorts.

"I said... Do... Not... Disturb me."

"YES SIR!" The officer then hastily sped out of the chambers, feeling lucky enough to still be alive. It would appear that Deshoonde's wrath is as close to the tales the senior officers tell before he left the Empire. Of course, if he actually walked in closer he would've discovered it was just a Doppleganger...
After a short while, Lord Itachi came and knocked quietly on the door. "Lord Deshoonde. We have a situation."

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Back on the Pillar's Bridge...

"Sir! Unauthorized transports in transporter room 2. Chief isn't responding."

The Captain sighed, "send a full security team down there. It would seem that the two boys have managed to get on board."
As soon as the security team reached the transporter, Jesse made a rising movement with his hands and the blasters were yanked from their hands. Kiyoshi was distracted by the stuffed rancor.

"You stormtroopers and your guns..." Jesse chided them as he pointed the guns to their heads.

Magriel led the lot to the bridge of the Pillar where they caught the crew to be unharmed. As to the storm troopers... They just simply put them away in a storage room for safe keeping. "Attention all on deck! I commandeering the ship!"

The captain scoffed a laugh and slowly walked up to the Malkir Councilor, "please. You couldn't control this ship with only two force wielders! You'll never get her into the 'minus!"

Magriel slowly walked up to the captain, and activated his lightsaber. A glowing white blade erupted, pointed directly at the captain who's eyes widened. "Captain... I am the second in command of the Huntarian Alliance..." He then pulled the captain closer to him and held the blade right beneath his neck, "... Savy?"

"Where you wish to go sir?"

"Tantis."

"Helm, set a course to tantis, maximum speed."

By the time the Pillar reached Tantis, Kabuto and Darth Maul were already there, ready to strike when Jesse's treachery was revealed. They noted the Pillar's arrival, a bit of additional knowledge that someone was secretly in touch with the enemy. It makes one wonder about the extent that the Rebellion has infiltrated the Empire. That, however, would be for later, for right now, there was a couple of kids that need killing...

How remarkably interesting, Kal'Shazzar thought as the guard eventually picked himself up, gave the Godulan a terrified look, and shuffled off. How had he missed the relation between the neural signature and the electromagnetic field? The field itself must have been exhibited by all the subjects, but due to chemical rather than direct neural stimulation the field-strength must have been too minute to detect.

More importantly, the field had caused an immediate and disabling reaction within the guard that unwittingly took his prototype burst. How remarkably weapon-like...

This presented a problem.

For all of the time that Kal'Shazzar had conducted his experiment, whether within Godulan Territory, on Smugglers' dens while on the run from Godulan Authorities, on other Smugglers' dens while on the run from Godulan Authorities and bounty hunters sent by the first batch of smugglers' dens... Kal'Shazzar had never thought of his primary tool as a weapon or instrument of torture. He knew it compelled obeisance in those it affected, but somehow, even though he'd actually feigned the notion of it being a supreme source of pain and fealty just to impress that annoying bitch Nightshade, he had very much simply thought of it as a chemical.

He spun on his heel and walked towards his laboratory, stopping to key the intercom just before entering. "Ellis. Disengage the implants from the test subjects, stick a bandaid on the incision point, and send them back to work. Tell them it hurts less coming out than when it goes in."

"Heh... does it?"

"Depends on whether people feel pain if they pass out, and they will."

"Can I make them think it'll hurt like hell again?"

"I'd rather not have them die of terror mid-procedure. There's a button that says 'disengage' on my control panel, just click that. The spiders will remove themselves and return to the box. They're not much use to us anymore."

"Right... I thought you were gonna keep doing stuff with 'em for a bit."

"I discovered something else that makes them obsolete."

Kal'Shazzar keyed off the intercom and entered his laboratory, taking in his surroundings in a whole new light. In the scathing wind of the ventilation shaft, he mouthed curses to send the Devil himself into hiding to himself... about himself. How did I miss it? he asked himself. How could I have been so blind? In his zeal to understand the concept of beauty, he had employed the most disgusting thing the universe had to offer: something that turns beauty and happiness into a weapon. He suddenly realized that the entire time, the Godulans were right. They'd seen it, why hadn't he?

Pride.

How remarkably unscientific.

A man such as he should have been smarter than that, should have been stronger, should have been better. Instead, his own drive to uncover the most primal basis of one of the most primal concepts of the universe had made him something... ugly...

He stepped towards his lab equipment and took a piece in his hands. Within a minute, the object was nearly completely converted into the same green crystal that made up his own body. Within another minute, the object had been fully absorbed into himself. He picked up another object, and absorbed it as well. He repeated the process until the table was completely empty... then turned his enraged glare upon the massive computer that had compiled all of the results of his testing...

The prison was sturdy. They would not notice the increased body mass immediately.

The computer took considerably longer than the tools.

Then he stepped outside of the laboratory, locking the door behind him as he always did, and walked back into the prison... mentally drafting a plea for help from his own people...

By the time the Pillar reached Tantis, Kabuto and Darth Maul were already there, ready to strike when Jesse's treachery was revealed. They noted the Pillar's arrival, a bit of additional knowledge that someone was secretly in touch with the enemy. It makes one wonder about the extent that the Rebellion has infiltrated the Empire. That, however, would be for later, for right now, there was a couple of kids that need killing...

"We've entered Tantis's orbit Councilor... We're ready whenever you are," the Captain's voice spoke with a bit of anger and embarassment for allowing a Malkir to board an Empire ship. If he survives this, Aelikes will have his head on a silver platter. If he's lucky, he'll just spend a few hours in the torture chambers.

"Very good Captain. Kids, wait for me in the Transporter room. I'll be along in a few moments," Magriel paced around the bridge for a few moments, to keep an eye on the crew to make sure they weren't sending any secret messages or were getting ready to bomb their locations. When he was satisfied he headed towards the turbolift, and sarted to walk in when...

The Pillars Captain quickly turned around to the communicaton's station, "comm! SEND A SIGNAL TO THE EMPIRE RIGHT A--- AURGH---"

The Turbolift's door swiftly opened and out poped an angry Malkir with his thumb and index finger dangerously moving close together. Now as tales go, it is said that a Malkir could be just as easily pissed off as a Kirtir Lord since they use all forms of the force and they don't sut out their anger like the Jedi do. Being a former Kirtir Dark Lord himself, Magriel can be easily... Ticked off for the average Malkir. He held the Captain in mid air with his hand extended and his other hand threateningly twitching, small sparks flying out from his hands but no lightning. Any of the crew which were standing in the bridge backed away very quickly. The Captain gasped for air, but could find none. He quickly marched up to the hovering Captain, and threw him down onto the floor as though he were a rag doll. Magriel then picked up the captain by the throat with his hand and with the other, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a force inhibitor similar to the one around Travis's Neck and placed it on the back of the Captain's. "*sigh*... If anyone of you so much as sends an encoded message to anybody off of this ship, you captain will loose a head. If I even hear the sound of footsteps behind me, or ahead of me, he's gone. Comprende?"

"Hmph... I'll loose my head even if I get back to Aelikes."

"Well, at least there will be a... 'Small' chance that you will live and he just sends you down to the chambers for discipline. Later gang." Magriel quickly got into the turbolift and ran to the transporter room and beamed himself down onto the same coordinates where the kids went, still carying the activation device in his hands.

As Magriel transported himself down to the planet, Jesse noticed the device in his hand. "That's a slave collar activation device. Any reason why you're using it?"

Magriel grinned mischievously, "oh, just assurance that we won't be assaulted. The Captain thinks he's got a slave collar around his neck which will explode if I thought he was going to do anything at all. Come along now, Travis can't be too far. And be wary, I feel a disturbance... I feel someone dark in the area.... C'mon, lets go." The Councilor reached to his belt and pulled out his lightsaber, ready for activation should they come across anything... Unusual.

"Oh, good idea. Yeah. Best move quickly." Jesse said, holding the hand of his brother tightly.

Then guards stopped them. "Halt! Oh, it's you, sir."

Jesse nodded. "The Dark Lady has sent me to inspect this camp."

"And him?" The guard pointed to Magriel.

"Lord Deshoonde, my master." Jesse said, his hand moving slightly. "We can move along now."

"Yes, move along now." The guard said.

Quick, sure steps allowed Jesse to find his wayward cousin, who was currently being monitored by Meiji, as well as the Wagner boy. "Hmm...hey, you."

"Yes? Oh, it's you." Meiji said in a cool voice, looking up and down the threesome. "What do you want?"

"I need to see the Masaki boy for a minute." Jesse said, not sure if he should trust this half-elf girl.

Meiji gave him a scrunitizing gaze for a moment, then relented with a wry smile. "Oh well. Guess it's out of my hands. Kinda cliche, though."

Shaking his head, Jesse went to Travis' cell. The kid was eating a sandwich. "Hey, you."

"What do you want?" Travis said with as much venom as he could muster, which was rather considerable.

Jesse didn't answer right away. He merely pointed his finger at Travis' collar. It began to get warm and then warble...then fell off, deactivated.

"What the frak are you doing?" Travis asked, incredulous.

"What do you think, doofus?" Jesse replied sharply, throwing Travis' lightsaber and items through the bars. "I'm getting you out of here."

Travis blinked and blinked again. Mainly because he was in a rush with the Force returning to him, but also because his cousin was not one who he thought he was. Travis called the lightsaber to him, shakily at first because he hasn't used the Force in almost a year, but it lept in his hand like an old friend and he felt an almost-forgotten warm feeling rush through his veins. It even cleansed the taint of the Dreamweaver from his body. Travis grinned for the first time in weeks. "You're not as bad as I thought. It's payback time..."

Jesse blinked at the sheer power buildup from Travis and barely got out of the way when Travis slashed the bars, sending a violent shockwave from his lightsaber that carved a long slash in the wall across from the cage, which incidently destroyed the bars on Daniel's cage as well.

"He strong!" Little Kiyoshi yelled out.

"Oh, yeah. Don't forget Daniel over there." Travis sheepishly pointed out the furry blue elf.

"I didn't." Jesse said. He also disabled the slave collar on Daniel's neck. "Oy, you! Here!"

He gave the scroll containing the gourd and the bag full of Daniel's equipment back to the elf. Jesse then turned on Meiji's collar as well on a whim. "I don't trust you, yet, but you could be of use."

"No need, I hate the Empire as much as you seem to do." Meiji chuckled and cracked her knuckles. "Oh, wait, my cat."

"What's so great about the furry frakker?" Travis asked.

"Ellis is my familiar." Meiji sighed. "Just got stuck with him, that's all. And we'd better get out of here, quick."

"All right." Travis said. "Let's go!"

Little did the kids know that a strong presence in the Dark Side was approaching...

Magriel raised his eyes at the notion that Meiji's cat was her familiar. "Hmm... Reminds me of the time when Councilor Melisha tried to make General Verneal her familiar of sorts. Of course not that we need those things, she just tried it to embarass him. That sent Jorrus over the edge though... We need to wait here boys while I try to reach Naruto..."

::Naruto, it's time to send in the Cavalry. We'll hold off as long as we can here until your lot arrives.::

Magriel sighed, "all right, message sent and done. Now we just need to find an appropriate place to hide out... Crap." Magriel activated his lightsaber erupting a bright white blade, and reached into his robes to pull out the other. For from what he's sensing of the person or persons approaching, this isn't going to be a pretty fight.

What to do, what to do. Kal'Shazzar seemed lost in thought as he strode down the corridors, plots and plans blazing through his mind like hovercars on Coruscant. The Godulans would most definitely see his crimes as abominable in and of themselves, but having perpetrated them upon a scion of an allied nation's ruling family... he could imagine the existential lynch mobs already.

At this point, mitigating factors would become a significant contributor, at least from permanent termination. He knew he would have to tell them. He knew he had the means. The only problem was he did not know if they would allow him the opportunity to rectify his mistakes or simply discorporate him then and there. He couldn't just tell them anything. He would need to assist in the egress somehow... but Tantis itself was locked down tighter than the Emperor's wallet.

What to do, what to do...

Seemed the only way to conduct any form of escape plan is to capitalize on whatever opportunity would choose to present itself... but what opportunity would be most likely to succeed?

He mulled this question as he stepped into the cell block hosting the Masaki scion and the Elf heir...

Hello...

The first thing he noticed was that Masaki's suppression collar was off entirely. The second thing he noticed was a rather large number of people looking at him like he really really really needed to die as a result of liberal amounts of bludgeoning with something large, metallic, and spiked... preferably rusty. The third thing he noticed was the large amount of debris. Apparently the cell walls had exploded outward, indicating Masaki had blown his own way out of the cell. THAT was sure to have already set alarms ringing elsewhere in the complex.

"I know you..." he said, leveling a harsh glare on Jesse. "You're one of Nightshade's boys." Scanning the others rather quickly, he stepped back. "Obviously you're not here on Queen Bitch's business, so I'd like to ask a question: now that you're in here, how do you intend to get out now that Masaki's little temper tantrum will bring every guard in the complex down on this location in about thirty seconds, and very likely every Sith Zealot on the planet in the thirty seconds after that?"

Magriel lowered his lightsaber, but didn't turn it off. He turned to Kal'Shazzar, "Councilor Magriel, Second in Command of the Huntarian Alliance and the Malkir Council, and Jesse's Master. As to the guards and our plan... Now, I already got the Coredian's attention to send in a rescue ship as previously planed with the boy's father. They should be here shortly as they already have our coordinates. The guards are the easy parat, they're just meat grinders the Tenetians send after us. The Sith need to be held off until Naruto arrives with the rescue fleet, which will be simple enough since no Sith is a match for a Malkir... Save a Dark Lord like Nightshade and Itatchi. We won't have to worry about the Pillar attacking the fleet in space, I took care of that. We need to see that the lot get out of here in one peice as I promised Daniel. Any further questions? We gotta be ready, I feel the presence growing even stronger as we speak."

"Wait a minute, Sensei's alive?! And Dad, too?" Travis nearly screamed. He reached out into the Force...

=====

Somewhere in deep space...

The Battlestar Coredia had searched long and hard for the young apprentice of Uzumaki Naruto, to no avail. It was a bad time for the Hokage-to-be as even dueling Sith minions to beat the information out of them turned out to be nothing. He even took to meditating to search for the kid, something so uncharacteristic of the #1 Unpredictable Shinobi of Konoha that it worried even his old teammates.

During one of those meditations, something new has come. A super-familiar presence reaching out for him. First, Magriel gave him the location of Tantis. Then another, in the same location. It was weak, but it was...

Travis?! Surprise, surprise.

Sensei! You're alive! The kid was nearly in tears. Get me off this frakking rock!

Naruto could sense apprehension, fear, a slight flaring in the Force and then was cut off. "I'm on my way!"

Reaching for his comlink as he ran down the corridors for the bridge, he yelled for his teams. "Sakura, Sasuke! Bridge, now! Travis' alive!"

"Wha--" Chief came out of a corridor when a speeding orange and black figure ran through his hologram. "Damn it! I hate it when that happens!"

"No time to talk! Get to battlestations!" Naruto yelled back and reached the bridge in no time.

"Naruto, what's going on?" Captain Holland asked, sipping some coffee.

"Travis. He's still alive. Make for Tantis!" Naruto ordered.

"Tantis." Sasuke said as he and Sakura walked in. "That's deep in Nightshade's territory."

"Tantis. Of course." Holland's eyes widened. "It's an Imperial prison, from what Intelligence tells me. Highest security money could buy and holds many political liabilities the Empire doesn't want running around."

"Liabilities like the Coredian Heir." Sakura nodded. "We'd best speed for the system."

"Gonna be a tough fight." Holland warned, then grinned. "Exactly what this ship was build for. Talho!"

"No need to ask, Captain! Punching in the coordinates!" Talho said, running the ship up towards lightspeed. She pulled back the lever. "Jumping now!"

The Battlestar Coredia lept into hyperspace with a vengeance, its task force following swiftly behind. The Cavalry is coming!

=====

Grinning to Kal'Shazzar who just arrived, Travis gloated. "He's coming! You better say your prayers now. Sensei Naruto's going to come, and he's going to be packing heat!"

Meiji was more direct, launching a large KE bolt that struck Kal in the chest. "Out of our way! C'mon, guys!"

They ran for it, until the dark presence cut them off in a particularly wide corridor. Demons began to chant as the presence revealed itself as Darth Maul grinning with malice, his lightsaber ablaze. Travis and Jesse had their lightsabers out, but this was a Sith Lord against two apprentices, an elf mage and a Malkir. Oh, and a toddler trying to hide behind Jesse. Fear the toddler!

Kal'Shazzar flew back through one wall and into another, far removed from the impending fight. His body mass would be harder to hide now. That was a very thick wall he should not have been able to fly through in the way he did. Well. Shit. Meet fan. How to capitalize... how to capitalize...

He turned his head to a nearby panel, then reached up and flicked the intercom onto 'Public Announcement'. "This is Kal'Shazzar to all detainee laborers... the prison has seen fit to discontinue experimentation with regards to the Dreamweaver..."

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Warden Kincaid was leading a company of his guards down one of the major corridors on their way to deal with the breakout, and others were on their way to the cell block from other directions as well, then the intercom came on...

"What the hell?" He rasped in confusion, then his eyes went into a state of horror when the next sentence came through:

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"I, however, have divined a method to stimulate a dreamweaver vision that requires no actual drug and places less strain on the recipients' bodies. So I say to you now, escape and join me. Use whatever means at your disposal to facilitate egress..."

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"SHUT OFF THE INTERCOM! HE'S STARTING A SLAVE UPRISING!"

"I can't! He's hacking through the comm systems! I think he's trying to get into the security system!"

"STOP HIM!"

"I'm a prison guard, not a professional computer security specialist!"

"DAMMIT!"

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And every door in the complex was suddenly unlocked and swinging open... and the slaves down in the mines, picked up their laser drills and went completely bonkers.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

He leaned his head against the wall and grinned. "A slave uprising. That should just about do it..."

And he turned his mind's eye inwards, bringing himself to the self-imposed seal that prevented him from communicating with his brethren. With a mental shriek of exertion, he brought it down. Thoughts flooded over him like a deluge from a burst dam, and he reveled in the sheer awesomeness of it all. He felt their anger. He felt their rage at his actions, as they finally learned all that he had done and all that he had wrought. He did not hide it. He could not. As soon as he opened himself, they knew of his experiments, of his discovery of the projected synaptic pleasure weapon, and of his decision to 'repent'...

most importantly, they learned of his location, and of the targeting solutions he'd calculated long ago.

And then the negotiations began.

We see you. We hear you. This news is grave indeed. More dire still the news of your hand in it.

I am sorry.

Sorry? Will 'sorry' rectify all the lives you have ruined? Will 'sorry' repair all the minds you have destroyed with your drug? Will 'sorry' erase the sheer magnitude of your betrayal?

There is no way that I can hope to undo what I have done. But maybe... just maybe... I can try to make up in some small way through what I do next.

The Legion was silent. Expectant.

I will try my damnedest to get them out. But I will need your assistance. This world is locked tight. They have called for reinforcements, but it will simply not be sufficient to the task. This world is a major military hub. It is a tactically expedient target. If you bring forth the fires of righteous fury, there is no doubt that the Imperial forces will feel the pain. I will do my damnedest to get them out of here, but I cannot get them out of the system without your assistance.

You would do this?

Without question.

Then do it. Understand two things. If you die here, you will not rejoin us. You will know oblivion if you seek such a contrivance as death. If you survive, you will heal every single mind you have destroyed. You will fix all the damage you have done... and maybe then we will think about your proper punishment.

Understood. I accept all terms.

Then go. Bring them their freedom. We shall make the Tenetians feel true pain...

And once again he was in the prison, staring back towards the lone Malkir and the children around him. Darth Maul stood, just out of sight, shadowstuff licking at the periphery of his form. With a feigned grunt of effort, the Godulan got back to his feet and walked back through the hole in the wall, stretched an arm out to the Sith Lord, and projected a cone of Pleasure Inducing Energies into his face.

"THINK HAPPY THOUGHTS, YOU HORNED FREAK!"

*Cue Dual of the Fates*

Magriel grinned, as he saw Maul appear. His eyes twinkled with the signs of battle, and walked up in front of the crowd of kids. The Malkir knew this sith's method: No talk, just fight. He respected that and took off his brown outer robe to reveal the traditional tanish color undergarment. He circled the Sith around a couple of times, twirling the one lightsaber he had out already then quckly stepped back as Kal'Shazzar threw his Pleasure Inducing Energies at Maul. He took that opportunity to surprise Maul a bit himself, and threw lightning at him from his free hand.

Daniels eyes flashed green, with his freedom so came that of Ddauchlorsson. Of course he'd need his sand and from the scroll he released it. Daniel the sand wielder was back.

His sand flicked behind him as he prepared to fight for freedom.

Suddenly, Darth Maul was prancing about in a field of flowers with happy bunnies and deer while birds were twittering around. Then he slaughtered them all in an orgy of bloody mirth, exploding them with the Force and skewering them with his lightsaber. Then he snapped back into reality, stumbling and shaking his head, then lightning crackled onto his body, forcing him use his lightsaber as a rod to ward it away. He growled as the kids used the opportunity to skedaddle out of there, but decided that Kabuto and his minions could be trusted to deal with them. With a roar of challenge, he lept at Magriel with terrifying speed, his dual-bladed lightsaber a twirl of deadly energy...

=====

As the call came out, young Kieran wasted no time in picking up the nearest object to use as a bludgeoning tool, which happened to be a pissed off talking cat. "Yaaaaah!"

"Ahh! Fuck, my tail!" Ellis yelled as the cat was swung about wildly like a baseball bat, knocking down a guard and having him get scratched up by the claws.

The boy kept on swinging until a group of kids came along and saw the sight. And laughed.

"Oh, there you are Ellis!" Meiji grinned as she found her familiar being swung about rather humorous. "And who might you be?"

"Um, Kieran. Where you heading?" Kieran asked.

"To freedom. Come with us!" Travis grinned. It was catchy, and the kid grinned as well.

"All right!" The kid cheered and Jesse got rid of the slave collar. "Thanks."

Before long, however, they got swept up in the uprising, even as the Sith started bringing in clonetroopers and Sith Knight minions to put down the uprising. Unfortunately, the lightsaber wielders and white armor dudes were no match for Travis and Jesse's skills as well as that of Daniel Wagner, and Meiji just spammed spell after spell at the foes, some of them tossed through walls and roofs quite violently. Soon, they reached the entrance and burst through to the outside...

"Where to now?" Travis asked Jesse as the twosome parried blaster bolts away from the two smaller children.

"The castle to the north. If I remember right, there's stuff in there that Mother kept in there for emergencies. There'll likely be a shuttle." Jesse said.

"As good a choice as any." Meiji replied. "We'll go there."

=====

"A slave uprising by Kal'Shazzar? Hmph. So he shows his true colors after all. Very well. I will be there soon." Lady Nightshade said as Lord Tyrannus reported the latest from Tantis. "You and Kabuto will hold them off until Itachi and I get there."

Meanwhile, Itachi opened Deshoonde's door, easily grabbing the kunai that attacked him. "Lord Deshoonde, your apprentice has turned traitor. You are requested to join us in hunting him down and dealing with him."

Suddenly, Darth Maul was prancing about in a field of flowers with happy bunnies and deer while birds were twittering around. Then he slaughtered them all in an orgy of bloody mirth, exploding them with the Force and skewering them with his lightsaber. Then he snapped back into reality, stumbling and shaking his head, then lightning crackled onto his body, forcing him use his lightsaber as a rod to ward it away. He growled as the kids used the opportunity to skedaddle out of there, but decided that Kabuto and his minions could be trusted to deal with them. With a roar of challenge, he lept at Magriel with terrifying speed, his dual-bladed lightsaber a twirl of deadly energy...

Magriel continued to grin as he jumped sideways to dodge the Sith's counter move, easily blocking his doulbe blade. The Master spun his blade behind him, attempting to attack maul from the behind...



Meanwhile, Itachi opened Deshoonde's door, easily grabbing the kunai that attacked him. "Lord Deshoonde, your apprentice has turned traitor. You are requested to join us in hunting him down and dealing with him."

The figure in the center stood up, and activated it's red blade, "I thought I said I don't want... To... Be... Disturbed."

Magriel continued to grin as he jumped sideways to dodge the Sith's counter move, easily blocking his doulbe blade. The Master spun his blade behind him, attempting to attack maul from the behind...
Unfortunately, Maul had both blades activated and the second blade blocked the blow with ease. The other blade came crashing down against the enemy.


The figure in the center stood up, and activated it's red blade, "I thought I said I don't want... To... Be... Disturbed."
"It is an urgent matter." Itachi's red eyes narrowed as his Sharingan was activated. He immediately realized that "Deshoonde" was an illusion and blew a massive fireball at the fake in fury, then stalked off for Aelikes.

Kal'Shazzar's burst of pleasure energy subsided rather swiftly, as Kal'Shazzar was already moving back through the hole in order to find more methods to wreak havoc within the prison. Magriel had a proper distraction to operate with and if the Malkir was anything as good as the Godulans heard them constantly brag, the end should already be decided.

So he went into the prison security systems, slamming doors on guards and sith and opening them for various clumps of psychotic slaves, and searched for another source of 'personnel' against the rather swiftly increasing numbers of imperial troops descending upon the prison.

Oh look... security droids... clone wars shit but I see they're still fully equipped...

And so it was that out of the woodwork a new threat arose to raise their arms against the incoming Imperial troops, yelling "Roger Roger!" and something about fighting for their right to party. Though relatively easy prey for the Sith Knights, they were just icing on the cake for what he spotted next.

Ooo! Automated perimeter defense! Let us provide the slaves with some fire support, shall we?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

So now, as Kal'Shazzar strode meaningfully amidst fights between Imperial Stormtroopers, Prison Guards, Sith Knights, Homicidally Desperate Slaves employing remarkable ingenuity in regards to alternative uses for their mining equipment (he never thought one would use a gas canary as a weapon, but somehow the guy made it work), and Security Droids hut-hutting about while singing lines from various Beastie Boys songs, internal security weapons that inexplicably developed a necessity to consider all Imperials as a form of viral contagion, and a small group of desperate teenagers... the Godulan could only smile.

The wonders of computer science...

He reached out and grabbed a Stormtrooper by the helmet and twisted his head around in a nice 360, popping it off clean without so much as a twinge of exertion, then subsequently winged the head at a Sith Knight attempting to jump in the way of the escaping children.

Unfortunately, Maul had both blades activated and the second blade blocked the blow with ease. The other blade came crashing down against the enemy.

Magreil managed to mostly miss the attack, save for the fact that it ever so lightly grazed his robes and skin making him squint a bit. He recovered from his brief experience of pain, and then used his free hand to grab his other Lightsaber and blocked the blade from going any further towards the ground with a loud clash. He then used his other blade to block Maul's other blade striking, a perfect blend of Jar'Kai and Ataru. It was only a few moves before he was ready to distract the Sith once again.

Magreil managed to mostly miss the attack, save for the fact that it ever so lightly grazed his robes and skin making him squint a bit. He recovered from his brief experience of pain, and then used his free hand to grab his other Lightsaber and blocked the blade from going any further towards the ground with a loud clash. He then used his other blade to block Maul's other blade striking, a perfect blend of Jar'Kai and Ataru. It was only a few moves before he was ready to distract the Sith once again.
Darth Maul was entirely into the lust of battle. He found this opponent quite challenging indeed and was pleased that this was an opponent worthy of his skills. He was so into it that he didn't notice that the enemy was leading him to make an opening...

Meanwhile, Lord Tyrannus strolled meaningfully into the prison, killing anyone who stood in his way and tearing apart the battle droids he once used by the billions to wage a terrifying war against the Old Republic with ease. He strolled towards the battle between Magriel and Darth Maul, knowing that the latter was outmatched if what the Force said was true about the Malkir...

=====

Panicking at the sudden uprising and the fact that the Sith will kill him soon, Prison Warden Kincaid was trying to reach for the speeder bay when the kids arrived at the same time. He was shakily holding a blaster. "Oh, crap! If it wasn't for you kids and that stupid Godulan, I'd still be worthy in Lady Nightshade's eyes! I gotta get outta here!"

"Oh, no you don't! You're not getting away with what you did to my mom!" Meiji yelled. She grabbed her cat out of Kieran's hands (and Kieran mysteriously acquired a blaster in exchange) and tossed a screaming Ellis at sufficient velocity at Kincaid, landing on his face and knocking him down.

"Damn you, Meiji! Hmm. Oh, yes, now I remember who you are. It's payback time, you bastard, for all those times you kicked me." The cat grinned sadistically as he unsheathed his claws. The warden whimpered and tried to strangle the cat. Ellis would have none of that and began scratching the man's face off.

"Um, will your cat be ok?" Travis asked while checking the speeder bikes.

"Eh, he's indestructible." Meiji said as the sounds of cat yowling and man screaming as his eyes were being scratched out were drowned out by the prison breakout. "Even if you vaporized him or cut him in half, he'll always somehow recover."

"Weird. Sounds useful, though."

"Not really, he's too much of a complainer and a lazy SOB."

"I see. Well, the bikes look in good condition. Raikurai!" Travis threw a bolt of lightning at a Sith apprentice, frying him instantly.

"You don't always have to yell attacks, you know. That's something Dad drilled into my skull." Meiji lectured, snapping her fingers to magically drop a two-ton rock on a couple of stormtroopers.

"Force of habit, I guess." Travis started up one of the bikes and Kieran took the back, while Jesse decided on another, putting his little brother in the side seat. Meiji picked a third.

"Well, sometimes spells seem stronger when you do chant words or shout stuff, but I've never noticed much of a difference. Maybe it's my magical strength. Ellis, are you finished?" Meiji called.

"Almost!" Ellis somehow summoned the strength to bite through the warden's throat and then lept on Meiji's bike, licking his chops. "Done!"

With that, the kids started speeding away, just as the AT-STs were called in to aid in suppressing the uprising...

Darth Maul was entirely into the lust of battle. He found this opponent quite challenging indeed and was pleased that this was an opponent worthy of his skills. He was so into it that he didn't notice that the enemy was leading him to make an opening...

Meanwhile, Lord Tyrannus strolled meaningfully into the prison, killing anyone who stood in his way and tearing apart the battle droids he once used by the billions to wage a terrifying war against the Old Republic with ease. He strolled towards the battle between Magriel and Darth Maul, knowing that the latter was outmatched if what the Force said was true about the Malkir...

Magriel saw Tyrannus and finally felt like this could be a challenge. Slightly outnumbered by blades, but not by skill... At least not yet. When Itatchi and Nightshade arrive on the scene, things could get ugly. It was probably best if he focused on Maul first, finish him off before he moved onto Tyrannus. He jabbed one of his lightsabers into thin air towards Tyrannus, and a blinding light emerged from the blade, surrounding Magriel and the other Dark Lord. The other blade struck sideways towards Maul's waist.

"Agh!" Tyrannus hadn't expected the blow that struck his eyes, as fire ran through the nerves and he stumbled back. Blinking and using Force to clear them, he was disabled long enough to feel more than see that Maul was just struck down by the Malkir. Tyrannus blinked again, the whiteness slowly fading to see that Maul was once more cut in half.

"At least it wasn't a boy who cut the brute in half. Though it is a shame he had to suffer the same fate as last time." Count Dooku sighed theaterically as he returned to his usual aristocratic charm and unsheathed his curved lightsaber. "You are skilled, I admit. A Malkir. I have learned of your kind since I have returned. Neither quite Jedi, nor quite Sith, but still serving the ideals of the Rebellion. For what purpose do you have here?"

=====

Lord Itachi stormed towards Aelikes, fury still prevalent in his eyes. "Lord Aelikes. It seems your Lord Deshoonde is not what he appears to be, but a traitor in disguise. If I may extrapolate, it is he who aided Jesse to betray the Empire and it is he who is aiding the slave uprising at Tantis now. The Lady and I are preparing to go and deal with this fool. It would be beneficial if you would come as well..."

"Agh!" Tyrannus hadn't expected the blow that struck his eyes, as fire ran through the nerves and he stumbled back. Blinking and using Force to clear them, he was disabled long enough to feel more than see that Maul was just struck down by the Malkir. Tyrannus blinked again, the whiteness slowly fading to see that Maul was once more cut in half.

"At least it wasn't a boy who cut the brute in half. Though it is a shame he had to suffer the same fate as last time." Count Dooku sighed theaterically as he returned to his usual aristocratic charm and unsheathed his curved lightsaber. "You are skilled, I admit. A Malkir. I have learned of your kind since I have returned. Neither quite Jedi, nor quite Sith, but still serving the ideals of the Rebellion. For what purpose do you have here?"

"To put an end to your clutches over the Masaki boy, and to free another powerful Force wielding family from your clutches. I of course know who you are Dooku for I have studdied your short, brief mortal history. Quite pathetic really for a Sith Lord. To beg for forgiveness, pleading your life to Anikan. A real Sith Lord would take it like a man, and accept his death, but no matter. You're here, alive once more yet only to be struck down again on this very day," the Master pointed his sword, light still glowing, to the Sith Lord and gestered to attack."



Lord Itachi stormed towards Aelikes, fury still prevalent in his eyes. "Lord Aelikes. It seems your Lord Deshoonde is not what he appears to be, but a traitor in disguise. If I may extrapolate, it is he who aided Jesse to betray the Empire and it is he who is aiding the slave uprising at Tantis now. The Lady and I are preparing to go and deal with this fool. It would be beneficial if you would come as well..."

Aelikes's eyes glared threateningly at Itachi, his hands gripping tightly, "you realize the seriousness of these accurizations Itatchi? You're accusing a Kirtir Lord of treachery, one not kindly taken to the suggestion at that. And if you're wrong, then you'll be insulting the Empire as well seriously bringing us close to war. Now tell me again, why do you think my cousin isn't who he says he is?"

"To put an end to your clutches over the Masaki boy, and to free another powerful Force wielding family from your clutches. I of course know who you are Dooku for I have studdied your short, brief mortal history. Quite pathetic really for a Sith Lord. To beg for forgiveness, pleading your life to Anikan. A real Sith Lord would take it like a man, and accept his death, but no matter. You're here, alive once more yet only to be struck down again on this very day," the Master pointed his sword, light still glowing, to the Sith Lord and gestered to attack."
"It would not happen again, I assure you. I am younger, and stronger than I was at that time." Dooku said, lashing out with quick, efficient fencing strikes.

Aelikes's eyes glared threateningly at Itachi, his hands gripping tightly, "you realize the seriousness of these accurizations Itatchi? You're accusing a Kirtir Lord of treachery, one not kindly taken to the suggestion at that. And if you're wrong, then you'll be insulting the Empire as well seriously bringing us close to war. Now tell me again, why do you think my cousin isn't who he says he is?"
"No illusion can be kept from me, for I possess the eyes of the Sharingan, the eyes of one who can see beneath the beneath." Itachi said, ice in his voice. "The Deshoonde you know is but a fake, an image. Do you truly know your cousin well enough that he cannot decieve you? Do you truly know him well enough that he could never be...Malkir?"

Kal'Shazzar surveyed the scene from his remarkably scenic vantage point, keeping an eye on the diminishing forms of the children as they hurtled forth from the prison towards whatever place would allow them swift exit.

He realized that he was indeed fortuitous in his effort to destabilize the prison as he could do little to stop the colossal AT-AT half a kilometer outside of the prison perimeter turn in an attempt to take aim at the fleeing speeders. As the giant and cumbersome beast drew a bead on Travis and his apparent friends, a giant commandeered rock mover slammed into its hind legs, fast enough that not only were the Imperial Mech's legs ripped out from under it, but it spun around a good one hundred and twenty degrees before it smacked into the ground. The rock mover was already turning to charge another pair of AT-AT legs when it got strafed by a pair of TIE fighters, themselves quickly falling victim to the perimeter defense lasers. The driver died, but apparently several people were actually hanging onto the side of the vehicle for no other reason than to replace the poor sod in the driver's compartment...

The second AT-AT toppled as he turned and walked back into the complex. He could not help but grin at the sheer irony of the rock mover versus mech battles outside. What had the empire been THINKING in employing vehicles that utilized such unstable legs? With a center of mass so high off the ground, a stiff wind would have been sufficient to knock it over. Instead, the Armored Personnel Carriers were presently meeting swift demise at the maniacal hands of enraged slaves driving dump trucks.

You wouldn't have seen Godulan Engineering like that. No no no. Godulan Mechs kept their centers of gravity as low to the ground as possible, and with such naturalistic construction and programming the durn things were back on their feet even before they'd hit the ground.

Meh.

He projected a shaft of Happy Thoughts into a nearby stormtrooper, who subsequently died gurgling as he wondered to himself why sitting on a beach watching the sunset had to feel like a laser drill being jammed through his neck.

Through the haze of battle, he noted the entrance of a rather familiar face from historical footage. Count Dooku, also known as Darth Tyrannus, he reminded himself, tracking the man's progress through the room. Heading for Deshoonde, apparently. This might complicate things.

"Master!" A strange voice came to Kal'Shazzar through the noise, and he realized that finally the Slaves had realized he was still within the complex. A group of them, now equipped with stormtrooper rifles and what appeared to be the occasional lightsaber, begged for his attention. "What do you wish of us! Anything for the dream!"

Kal'Shazzar responded without hesitation. "What do you have?"

"We've captured several AT-STs. The heavy lifting cranes worked like a charm. Some kids made off with a bunch of speeders though. We need those!"

"Use the AT-STs for as long as you are able. Secure the mainframes and check to see if we can acquire access to regional defense. I cannot see from here... any of you actual computer programmers?"

One of the assembled men raised his hand.

Kal'Shazzar grinned, then gestured to the others. "Make sure he lives," then to the computer technician: "See if you can tap into regional defense and fuck with their coordination. Make it seem like its a full blown revolution, with troops firing on each other and screaming shit like 'Down with the Imperials' and whatnot. Then... lock the whole thing down. I don't want any new commands getting in from ANYWHERE."

The group nodded in understanding and hustled off, but before the last one turned, he gestured at the lightsaber at his belt. "That work?"

"Yes, master. Do you wish for it?"

"I do. Unless you really know how to use that thing, it will only make you a bigger target. Give it to me so you can live."

"Yes, master. Anything for the dream."

[i]Is that their rallying cry? Freaky...

He took up the other fellow's weapon and tested it. How fitting. A green blade. An odd color from the Sith ranks, but still quite fitting that it should fall into the hands of one for whom 'green' was something of a dominant hue. He walked up to the edge of a nearby catwalk and hopped down, happening to land upon a Sith who thought he was getting the better of a pack of droids. When three tons of Godulan Kython land on your head, you stop thinking anything whatsoever very damn quick. He moved in the direction Tyrannus had gone, gently edging slaves aside and barking orders, and not so gently backhanding Sith knights with such raw power that they skidded for several feet after falling to the ground with limbs bent in directions they really had no business bending.

He was as an iron golem, wading his way through a crowd of featherweights.

One Sith Knight stood before him, blocking his way with dual lightsabers. Kal'Shazzar brought up his newly acquired lightsaber in response. He was not a fighter, but he figured he could make up for it with raw strength. He wasn't even quite sure whether he would feel any resistance whenever he struck something.

The Sith knight came forward, lightsabers blazing. Too fast for Kal'Shazzar to see, but that was all right. The blades struck home, smacking into his chest and neck, and the Sith thought he'd proven victorious, his gleeful eyes slowly turning into confusion when the blades refused to be pulled out. The Godulan lazily drew his own blade across the man's midsection, feeling no resistance, and watched the man die with that same confused look on his face.

The lightsabers deactivated, and fell away. Kal'Shazzar walked on, drawing his free hand across a wall and leaving curious claw marks, his lightsaber wounds regenerating visibly as he walked towards the fight between Magriel and the two Sith Lords. When he actually came upon them, he found the Malkir holding the other two at bay, but the balance was severely tipped away from the Huntarian's favor.

Keyword: Was.

Somehow in the scuffle, Darth Maul found himself somewhat beside himself... and inverted. Now it was just Dooku and Deshoonde, for better or for worse. As the two dickered amongst themselves, he again projected a shaft of Pleasure Stimulating Energies into the Sith Lord...

For a single moment, Count Dooku's happiest plots came to the fore. Him at the helm of a vast Sith Empire, with billions at his command and the long-lost Star Forge in the background. Lord Vader, Master Yoda and other Dark Lords and Jedi are licking at his boots, and his armies are crying 'Long Live the Count! Long Live the Count!'

Then the powerful Sith Lord clamped down on those images and returned to reality. "Fool! You disrespect the Sith with such childishness!"

A powerful blast of life-sucking Sith Lightning lashed out for Kal'Shazzar and threw him back as his other hand controlled the lightsaber that held Magriel at bay with greater ease than the late Darth Maul would ever know.

The strike indeed sent him flying, but in a curious quirk of aerodynamics, he simply angled his body to land on both feet a short distance from whence he flew and simply strode back towards the fray. He brought out his lightsaber and stepped forward, launching a more concentrated burst of his Pleasure Stimulant weapon upon Dooku.

He hated how these people talked too much. Godulans felt that silence was golden in combat, and that any attempt to talk during a fight was an opportunity to capitalize on.

Still... he felt one thing needed saying: "Less talk. More dying."

"It would not happen again, I assure you. I am younger, and stronger than I was at that time." Dooku said, lashing out with quick, efficient fencing strikes.

Magriel quickly blocked the fencing techniques, they were no match for someone who's mastered Jar'Kai, "do not mistake me for Anikan Skywalker when he wielded two swords for the first time in his life. You had the advantage then with his inexperience. I have mastered the Jar'Kai technique," blocking another strike, Magriel quickly swung one of his blades diagonally downwards, attempting to strike Dooku's legs.


"No illusion can be kept from me, for I possess the eyes of the Sharingan, the eyes of one who can see beneath the beneath." Itachi said, ice in his voice. "The Deshoonde you know is but a fake, an image. Do you truly know your cousin well enough that he cannot decieve you? Do you truly know him well enough that he could never be...Malkir?"

Aelikes nodded, though his suspicious mood hardly lifted. "It is true from what I've heard, you do indeed possess the eyes of the Sharingan. I will heed your words... For now. Let us go to Tantis, and if he is there... There will be hell to pay."

Somehow in the scuffle, Darth Maul found himself somewhat beside himself... and inverted. Now it was just Dooku and Deshoonde, for better or for worse. As the two dickered amongst themselves, he again projected a shaft of Pleasure Stimulating Energies into the Sith Lord...

Magriel used this opportunity of destraction to jump backwards to give him a tad bit of distance, to prepare for his next blow. The next series of events between Kal'Shazzar which followed gave Magriel the chance he needed to make his next attack: Give Dooku his own brand of medicine. Magriel unleashed his own lightning strike upon Dooku. "Lets see if you can withstand your own attacks."

Magriel quickly blocked the fencing techniques, they were no match for someone who's mastered Jar'Kai, "do not mistake me for Anikan Skywalker when he wielded two swords for the first time in his life. You had the advantage then with his inexperience. I have mastered the Jar'Kai technique," blocking another strike, Magriel quickly swung one of his blades diagonally downwards, attempting to strike Dooku's legs.
"You may have mastered Jar'Kai, but I have mastered Makashi." Dooku replied, flicking his wrist in a tiny movement, parrying aside the blow and sending another tiny movement racing towards the knee.

Aelikes nodded, though his suspicious mood hardly lifted. "It is true from what I've heard, you do indeed possess the eyes of the Sharingan. I will heed your words... For now. Let us go to Tantis, and if he is there... There will be hell to pay."
"Very good." Itachi nodded. "Come, we are late."

Very soon afterwards, the Dark Lords and their minions left Tenetia for Tantis. It wouldn't be long before they arrived to cut off the escape attempt of the young children.

Magriel used this opportunity of destraction to jump backwards to give him a tad bit of distance, to prepare for his next blow. The next series of events between Kal'Shazzar which followed gave Magriel the chance he needed to make his next attack: Give Dooku his own brand of medicine. Magriel unleashed his own lightning strike upon Dooku. "Lets see if you can withstand your own attacks."
Dooku moved out of the way of the Pleasure Stimulant weapon and then held up a hand for the lightning, deflecting it towards Kal'Shazzar again. He then pivoted around the Malkir, trying to bring Magriel between himself and the Godulan...

Master!

The voice of the computer technician drifted into his head along the same private channel he had utilized with Warden Kincaid, so the first point of the former slave's report seemed obvious.

We made it into the computer mainframe and are working our way through. It seems that the connections between here and the regional defense were severed when reports of the hacking went through. However, we DO have information that might be of import.

Go on.

Nightshade's summer residence is not far from here. From what we managed to extrapolate from the security mainframes, there is another mainframe not yet severed from the Regional Defense present at the complex. Master... we think this one has a direct link to the orbital defense platform.

Oh shi-- what are the defenses like there?

Mostly nonexistent. They're throwing everything they can into suppressing the uprising here. We think there are a couple 'representatives' there now, but it also seems to be where those kids have taken their speeders.

Right... do we still have speeders here?

Um... Six, Master. Locked down by the political liabilities wing.

Break down operations there and take four others to the speeders. I will join you there.

What about that Sith Lord?

Getting control of the Golan V takes precedence. That will throw the defense fleet into disarray like nothing else. Go.

Yes Master. Anything for the Dream!

The conversation took place as Kal'Shazzar took another blast of lightning to the chest, this time not even flinching as the current raced over him. He needed every ounce of power he could get, and no doubt Dooku would be curious about why the Godulan seemed to smile with the last bolt.

"Magriel, you're on your own again. A much bigger fish has just presented itself to me."

With that, Kal'Shazzar turned and sprinted away, projecting a cone of pleasure inducing energy into the face of any Imperial trooper or Sith knight who got in his way as he raced to the Political Liabilities wing. He knew of the speeders, so it was easier for him to find than it would be for the former slaves, and it showed in the fact that he arrived a good ten seconds ahead of them.

"If you don't know how to drive these things, just slave the controls to me. This should be a rather straightforward hop, since the perimeter defense has the TIE fighters stymied for the most part."

Nobody indicated they were unable to pilot. Small favors. They all prepared to depart in silence, with the Godulan turning occasionally to watch as what appeared to be the same rock hauler from before sideswiped yet another AT-AT's hind legs. Things were really going straight to hell around here.

"What part of the Bitch Queen's summer hovel are we heading for?"

"North wing, Master. It is easy to spot by the rather large communication array on the top."

"Then lets go..."

Kal'Shazzar soon realized he needed to funnel power from his own body into the speeder to make up for his increased weight. It was a small issue, but even so it made his bike somewhat more sluggish than he would have liked. They decided to keep low over the trees, hoping that moving so brazenly over the battle would keep people from shooting at them. For the most part it did the trick. Nightshade's 'Castle' was not really all that far from the prison, making the trip short enough to avoid the majority of people who might draw suspicion from the speeders going the wrong way.

And my my... that WAS a large communication tower...

He realized that he was indeed fortuitous in his effort to destabilize the prison as he could do little to stop the colossal AT-AT half a kilometer outside of the prison perimeter turn in an attempt to take aim at the fleeing speeders. As the giant and cumbersome beast drew a bead on Travis and his apparent friends, a giant commandeered rock mover slammed into its hind legs, fast enough that not only were the Imperial Mech's legs ripped out from under it, but it spun around a good one hundred and twenty degrees before it smacked into the ground. The rock mover was already turning to charge another pair of AT-AT legs when it got strafed by a pair of TIE fighters, themselves quickly falling victim to the perimeter defense lasers. The driver died, but apparently several people were actually hanging onto the side of the vehicle for no other reason than to replace the poor sod in the driver's compartment...

The second AT-AT toppled as he turned and walked back into the complex. He could not help but grin at the sheer irony of the rock mover versus mech battles outside. What had the empire been THINKING in employing vehicles that utilized such unstable legs? With a center of mass so high off the ground, a stiff wind would have been sufficient to knock it over. Instead, the Armored Personnel Carriers were presently meeting swift demise at the maniacal hands of enraged slaves driving dump trucks.
"Walker!" One of the kids shouted as a couple of AT-ATs loomed large and began to train their weapons upon them. That is, until large mining equipment smashing into them, destroying the both of them.

"Makes me wonder why the Empire bothers with them anymore." Jesse shook his head. "They're not terrifying, they're stupid."

"Yeah. That's why Zoids are cooler." Travis grinned. "I hope I get to command one of those things!"

"Bah. You're too much of a pansy to use them." Jesse smirked and sped ahead.

"Why you...!" Travis gunned the throttle, racing Jesse for the castle.

Meiji sighed. "Boys will be boys, no matter what."

"I'd agree, but I'm no chick either." Ellis grinned, then was shocked by a lightning bolt for his crack.

The castle loomed large before the kids, a complex that only a Sith would love. It was Lady Nightshade's retreat, one of many that she had built over her long years of rule and contained many items and trophies that she has collected over the years. It also held her personal hangar bay, of which the kids were now planning to get to to escape.

Almost as soon as they abandoned their speeders, the enemy opened fire upon them, but found out the hard way why it's not a good idea to fire on Jedi as their bolts were reflected back upon them. They also found out the hard way why pissing off a student of Magnetism, a psychotic mage chick and the apprentice to the #1 Unpredictable Master of Coredia is not a good idea as metal was thrown at them, spells were hurled to turn them into bugs, and blasts of fire and lightning turned them into ash.

Entering the castle, the kids could see, or more properly, feel why Lady Nightshade loved this place. It was strong in the Dark Side and many dementors roamed the corridors. Not that that was a big problem, for Travis and the kids have suffered greater horrors than a bunch of wraiths could ever commit to, but their soul-sucking abilities was troublesome. Still, Travis took the fore, white energy collecting in his hands.

"Psybolt Alpha!" Travis yelled, and a white beam of holy-based energy lashed out at them, destroying them or making them flee in terror of the beam of light and goodness. "You know, Auntie Nightshade needs to find better horrors."

"Eh, that's what the chimeras are for. Anyway, we go to the west wing. That's where the hangar bay is. Before we get there, I think there's a storeroom right about...here." Jesse said, breaking down a door and revealing a room full of many items and weapons.

"Sheesh. That's a lot of stuff." Travis said, then he looked at rows upon rows of crystal balls. "What are those?"

"Soul Gems, I think. Might be useful to get rid of all the Old Sith running around." Jesse said, grabbing some gems and stuffing them into his bag.

"Oh yeah. Palpatine resurrected them at Jurai, didn't he?"

"Yeah, and now they're part of the Empire's Sith Army. Mother has managed to gather a number of them under her banner, but there's still many more to deal with."

"Damn. That's bad. Ok. What else is next?" Travis said as he grabbed another bag and stuffed gems and other items into it.

"Hey, this is my dad's sword." Meiji said, picking up a well-forged elven blade from a collection of blades and unsheathed it. "I was wondering if Nightshade took it as a trophy. Impervious to lightsabers, just as sharp as it was forged, and there's still the gems in the hilt that allow you to shoot energy blasts."

"Cool."

Young Kieran picked up a particular lightsaber from the collection that seemed to call to him. It ignited with an emerald green blade. "It feels like I should remember this one, but I've never held a lightsaber in my life."

"Maybe you should keep it." Meiji suggested. "It might come to you later."

"Yeah. Maybe." Kieran hooked the lightsaber on the belt around his waist and grabbed a few items he was interested in as well.

Once they stuffed their bags full of goodies and Jesse sent the bags into a scroll for easier carrying, the kids made their way towards the hangar bay. And that's when the poodoo hit the fan, for a massive explosion took out the shuttles just as they entered, throwing them all onto the ground.

"Such a shame. I was working on these things and boom! Gone to pieces." Kabuto stepped forth through the fire and smoke with two Sith Knights and some Hork-Bajir slave-warriors, his green lightsaber ablaze. "Young Jesse. I am quite disappointed in you. Not only did you betray your own mother, you stole away her favorite child. Ah, and you freed Travis Masaki and Gabriel Wagner in the process. Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. You've been a bad boy."

"Get behind those crates." Jesse whispered to a whimpering Kiyoshi, who nodded and ran for the crates. Kieran and Ellis followed on Meiji's word. He turned to Kabuto his red and Travis' gold lightsabers igniting. "You've made a big mistake in keeping us here. Uzumaki Naruto will arrive soon and this planet will no longer be yours."

"Then I will be sure to give him a welcoming present. Your corpses, that is." Kabuto's grin disappeared and gestured to his minions. "Kill them."

All hell broke loose at this point.

"You may have mastered Jar'Kai, but I have mastered Makashi." Dooku replied, flicking his wrist in a tiny movement, parrying aside the blow and sending another tiny movement racing towards the knee.

The movement was simple enough for the Malkir to block with one of his free blades, and he attempted to keep the two blades interlocked. However...


Dooku moved out of the way of the Pleasure Stimulant weapon and then held up a hand for the lightning, deflecting it towards Kal'Shazzar again. He then pivoted around the Malkir, trying to bring Magriel between himself and the Godulan...

Magriel quickly used this moment to jump aside, so that Dooku can't be between him and Kal'Shazzar. However, the Godulan departed saying he had a bigger opportunity awaiting or something like that. No matter though, Magriel could do fine against Dooku. Magriel then started to find any loose rubble on the ground, or perhaps even cause some himself. Any which he did find, he ended up using Force Throw on them. Hurtling the objects towards the Sith.

Magriel quickly used this moment to jump aside, so that Dooku can't be between him and Kal'Shazzar. However, the Godulan departed saying he had a bigger opportunity awaiting or something like that. No matter though, Magriel could do fine against Dooku. Magriel then started to find any loose rubble on the ground, or perhaps even cause some himself. Any which he did find, he ended up using Force Throw on them. Hurtling the objects towards the Sith.
The Sith Lord used his own powers to keep the rocks away from him, turning it into an essentially pingpong game with the rocks. Then a conduit broke off from the wall and was thrown at the Malkir.

Meanwhile, the Sith have finally arrived at Tantis. Lady Nightshade and Lord Itachi were furious at the reports of Kal'Shazzar hacking into the regional defense system and parted ways. Nightshade headed for Magriel to assist Dooku, while Itachi went to the castle to destroy Kal'Shazzar for his treachery, heading for the communications center to do battle with the Godulan.

It was a battle of epic proportions at the hangar bay of the castle. One Sith Knight was already dead, fried by Meiji's fireballs. The other was practically impaled by a furious Jesse while the Hork-Bajir was no match for the whirlwind of gold that was Travis' lightsaber. Kabuto however proved to be a match for all three of them, as Travis and Jesse fought him together and Meiji was thrown back by a Force Push, knocked unconscious when she hit a wall. Now it was two on one and even though both boys have fought Kabuto before, his superior experience still showed as he pushed them towards the fires still raging...

The Sith Lord used his own powers to keep the rocks away from him, turning it into an essentially pingpong game with the rocks. Then a conduit broke off from the wall and was thrown at the Malkir.

The conduit was easy enough for Magreil to halt in mid air before it got close enough to him. Slowly but surely he started to move his hands around in a circle as if to mimic that he's moving the object around. Then he threw his hands forward, and hurtled it right back at Dooku.


Meanwhile, the Sith have finally arrived at Tantis. Lady Nightshade and Lord Itachi were furious at the reports of Kal'Shazzar hacking into the regional defense system and parted ways. Nightshade headed for Magriel to assist Dooku, while Itachi went to the castle to destroy Kal'Shazzar for his treachery, heading for the communications center to do battle with the Godulan.

Aelikes's fury was building as he landed on the planet. He felt his cousin's presence here all right, but he could feel a... Change of sorts. And it was the kind of change in a man which Kirtir hate the most. When he arrived to find Magriel fighting Dooku, he was slightly puzzled by the fact that the presence was coming from the Asian-like dude wearing brown robes. Then, it finally hit him. The words "BLOOD TRAITOR!!!" echoed throughout the complex, inside and out. His red eyes were burning with rage, his heart beated with hate, and his blood boiled with vengeance. As his hands clenched, he called upon the force to retrieve his Lightsabers from his belt and two black blades erupted from the swords.

Kal'Shazzar initially felt a desire to slap the computer technician across the back of the head when they discovered a rather large number of strange wraith-like thingies roaming the castle hallways. But then he figured that technically such beings didn't exist in the literal sense of the word, and then he realized that the strange creatures seemed to feed off of all the 'good' memories in one's life...

Which seemed to make his escort virtually immune to them, for their prolonged exposure to the dreamweaver had caused them to consider the world itself a living hell, they worked only for a chance at exposure to the drug or the effect once again. So the dementors initially responded with hostility to the intruders, then confusion, then horror of their own when Kal'Shazzar started force-feeding them happy thoughts.

It seemed to be more than they could handle. The burst of sheer happiness and beauty and all things made of sugar and spice disintegrated them like a turbolaser to the face.

"The mainframe should be through the next hall," the Technician said as one of the others opened the door and shot a few blaster bolts through just to be certain nobody was trying to lay too much of a trap.

There was nothing. Not even the dementors. They seemed to have sprouted a justified fear of the small cluster of humanoids. So much the better.

Having entered the communication center, the Technician and company quickly set to work, with Kal'Shazzar's assistance at breaking through the various safeguards as quickly and efficiently as possible. Soon they were through, and taking stock of the situation...

"Master! We are about to have company!"

Kal'Shazzar looked up at the primary viewscreen and saw it immediately. Conversation started up almost instantly amongst the others.

"Son of a bitch. That's the Bitch Queen's plaything!

"We're proper fucked now!"

"Stow it," Kal'Shazzar replied. "You keep to work on getting me the Golan and sowing the seeds of revolution. I'll keep bright-eyes busy... hopefully long enough to get our job done. Remember to lock every other control out. Back in a few minutes..."

And with that, Kal'Shazzar turned and walked out of the room, moving to intercept Itachi...

The conduit was easy enough for Magreil to halt in mid air before it got close enough to him. Slowly but surely he started to move his hands around in a circle as if to mimic that he's moving the object around. Then he threw his hands forward, and hurtled it right back at Dooku.
Dooku hurtled it aside, then felt the presence of Lady Nightshade and Darth Aelikes approach with a cold smile. More equipment started hurtling for Magriel. Soon, his mandate will have to take over. Either the boy would be dead by the time he gets to the castle, or he would have the enjoyment of killing himself. Either way, Dooku would leave Magriel as soon as the twosome engage him.

Aelikes's fury was building as he landed on the planet. He felt his cousin's presence here all right, but he could feel a... Change of sorts. And it was the kind of change in a man which Kirtir hate the most. When he arrived to find Magriel fighting Dooku, he was slightly puzzled by the fact that the presence was coming from the Asian-like dude wearing brown robes. Then, it finally hit him. The words "BLOOD TRAITOR!!!" echoed throughout the complex, inside and out. His red eyes were burning with rage, his heart beated with hate, and his blood boiled with vengeance. As his hands clenched, he called upon the force to retrieve his Lightsabers from his belt and two black blades erupted from the swords.
"We all have our family problems, it seems." Nightshade said, her own lightsaber ablaze. "Just one question before you die, traitor. Did you intend to steal my sons from me from the beginning?"

Dooku hurtled it aside, then felt the presence of Lady Nightshade and Darth Aelikes approach with a cold smile. More equipment started hurtling for Magriel. Soon, his mandate will have to take over. Either the boy would be dead by the time he gets to the castle, or he would have the enjoyment of killing himself. Either way, Dooku would leave Magriel as soon as the twosome engage him.

Magriel just simply either continued to throw the equipment aside or he sliced one of his blades through it.


"We all have our family problems, it seems." Nightshade said, her own lightsaber ablaze. "Just one question before you die, traitor. Did you intend to steal my sons from me from the beginning?"

"Only when the opportunity presented itself. It was one which I couldn't ignore. I was just a mere spy, yes. Then I noticed your son's powers. They are truely incredible and would have very well made a great Sith. Now he will become even better, more than you could've ever dreamed. He shall be going onto where his real family is, where they will watch over him."

Aelikes's eyes narrowed, "so you DID intend to betray the Empire at some point then did you? I should've listened to Itachi as soon as he told me so that I could've cut your head off sooner, blood traitor."

Magriel sighed as he threw another shattered piece of equipment away from him, "I am a traitor to you and my sister, yes. I betrayed you two to the Dark Side, I lead you lot down your paths which you travel now. I told her to surrender to the Dark Side when Dorman and I raided the Huntarian Republic's chambers and killed the Chancellor. She then in turn led you down the same path of darkness which you now walk. So you see cousin, I did betray you. And for that, I am truly, deeply sorry."

"Speak not the Emperor's birth name! You speak of LIES! More Malkir treacherous lies!" Aelikes spat, "I can see through your ways Deshoonde! You have no idea of the path which you have left! The Empire is glorious!"

"Listen to yourself! You're the one still living the lie! You're a puppet cousin! A puppet just like the Emperor! You've never held any power over the Huntarians, and you never will. There is a very evil plan at work here, one to rid of the Huntarian people. Not just the Alliance, but the Empire's as well! A plan set to exterminate us and all whom walk this universe! A plan set by Lord Vorman, probably thought out thousands of years before even the Emperor was born, before even the first Sith! None are safe so long as our Empire lives! It MUST be destroyed, and these are the first mere steps to bring it down!"

"Speak no more of your treacherous words Malkir! You dishonor the Empire, one which you reigned and worked so long to built!"

"Yes, and now I'm trying to collapse it before it's too late! And I fear that it is may be too late. Things are already in motion which cannot be changed now."

"I will not heed to these words Malkir. Now, enough talk. Time to die," Aelikes raised his blades and marched forward.

"It would seem like I have no choice. Very well then, but you will not kill me. There is still some good in you, and you too Fiona. Palpatine didn't drive it from you fully. And I shall prove it to you," at that, he raised one of his blades and gestered to "come and get him."

"You fool. That name no longer has any meaning to me." Nightshade hissed. "Your treachery is at an end, filth."

And she struck, a razor wind lashing out for the Malkir...

In that time, Count Dooku used the distraction to slink away and find a speeder. Then he will head to the castle and discern the state of Travis and his foolish friends.

=====

It didn't take long for Itachi to find Kal'Shazzar, and they stood in a corridor together. "I should never have trusted you, Godulan. A mistake that I will soon rectify."

Itachi's eyes grew wide and black, like a fat hurricane of darkness in each pupil. He stared straight in the Godulan's eyes, preparing to execute the dreaded Tsukiyomi technique. Once the Godulan was released from seventy-two hours of pain and torment, it would be a simple matter of finishing him off, or so Itachi thought.

=====

Battlestar Coredia

*Superman Theme begins to play*

The crew and passengers of CBSG-1 prepared to go to war. Preparations were nearing completion, with the Teams toting not just lightsabers and blasters, but explosives of all shapes and sizes. The plan basically consisted of barreling through the enemy fleet fast enough to barrage the planetary shields sure to go up with the Battlestar's own Shattermissiles and Yamato Cannon. Once they were down, Ryujin will fly the Teams down to the planet itself along with Rogue Squadron as support and LAATs from the 1st Battalion of the 3rd Marine Corps attached to the fleet, not only to rescue Travis, but as a secondary assault plan to take the planet itself and free the prisoners. Tantis would be an important stepping stone to assaulting Tenetia itself once the Coredian Interstellar Defense Force got its ass in gear.

Not to mention the old Team Seven had a bone to pick with Itachi and his consort.

Space tore open as the Battlestar Coredia and its escorts released themselves from hyperspace. Rogue, Storm, and Cyclops Squadrons spilled out of the battlecarrier, along with dozens of drone fighters, three for each manned fighter. Almost as soon as they arrived, a smirking Rear Admiral Calhon ordered his fleet to open fire. Even with the Battlestar's known ability to dodge enemy assaults and absorb energy blasts, he was confident that he outnumbered the Rebel ships nearly four to one and that any plan the Rebels made to support the uprising would be futile.

"Forty ships in formation over the planet! There's also a Golan V in orbit around the planet!" Gidget cried out. "It will be in firing range in a few moments!"

"That one's going to be a problem." Captain Holland grumbled. Golan Vs were the size of Super Star Destroyers, but because they didn't have hyperdrives and had only the minimal engines required for maneuvering in orbit, they packed at least twice as many weapons as the late Executor carried. Even for the Battlestar, it was a daunting task to fight it and the fleet long enough to get the Teams onto the ground.

"TIEs coming out! Eyeballs, squints, dupes and brights!" Commander Sheridan, XO of the Rogues and one of Daniel Masaki's oldest friends called out.

"Stay close to the fleet, Commander!" Captain Holland ordered as the thrum of turbolasers and railcannons was felt big-time. "We'll ram our way through the fighters if we have to!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Yamato Cannon fully charged, sir!" Kengo announced.

"Fire!" The Captain ordered.

Golden light appeared to collect upon the bow of the Battlestar and then shot out for the nearest Star Destroyer, destroying the ones it caught and damaging the ones further out with the rings of distorted spacetime. Then it barreled through the hole it made, making straight for the planet even as the enemy threw everything it had at the ship...

"You fool. That name no longer has any meaning to me." Nightshade hissed. "Your treachery is at an end, filth."

And she struck, a razor wind lashing out for the Malkir...

In that time, Count Dooku used the distraction to slink away and find a speeder. Then he will head to the castle and discern the state of Travis and his foolish friends.

The disadvantage of being a practitioner of Jar'Kai is that it was weak against multiple opponents. It didn't really matter much to the Malkir, for with his age comes a great deal of experience of mastering many different forms, one including form V, Shien/Djem, famously used by Darth Vader. The Malkir applied a great strength of rage and fury which was built up within him over the years, waiting to be used in battle and used it to block Nightshade's powerful wind strikes.

Aelikes then swung one of his two blades at Magriel, who kindly obliged and blocked it, forcing Aelikes's hand to pull backwards leaving his chest open for the Malkir's other blade to strike. Magriel swung his blade pointed downwards at Aelikes's chest, who in return then used his physical strength to grab onto Magriel's other lightsaber and threw himself behind the Malkir. Aelikes stumbled a bit, kicking the Malkir in the back, pushing him towards Nightshade...

Nightshade obliged, becoming a whirlwind of red destruction too fast for mortal eyes to see as she employed Form IV and II in a rage of darkness. Each slash caused wind to blow, slicing even if the blade itself missed. it was most appropriate as a punishment for she wanted to make him suffer the death of a thousand cuts for his act of betrayal.

=====

Meanwhile, after several long minutes of combat, the two boys finally managed to get the upper hand on Kabuto when Jesse slowed down his lightsaber with his magnetic powers. While it wasn't enough considering Kabuto was too strong to be stopped in such a fashion, it left an opening that Travis exploited. As the boys' blades locked with Kabuto's, he focused chakra onto his free hand into a tight swirl and bound it tightly with the Force, a swirl that Kabuto immediately recognized.

"Oh, damn. Not again--"

"Take this, you bastard! Rasengan!" Travis yelled, shoving the ball of energy, a fully formed Rasengan, into Kabuto's gut. Wind roared everywhere as Kabuto took the full brunt of a boy's mastery over one of the most complex techniques ever known in the galaxy and was hurled backwards with such force that he left a dent in the wall.

Of course, there was no chance to cheer, for enemy troops have decided to use this time to get in the hangar bay. Meiji regained consciousness just in time and then the teenagers, with the children in tow, retreated towards an access tunnel that led to the roof of the castle, where they could defend themselves from assault from below...

Kal'Shazzar made a show of quirking an eyebrow at Itachi's accusation, then stopped cold as Itachi's dreaded finisher. He quivered for a moment, his gaze locked on Itachi's, then almost collapsed to his knees under the hypnotic onslaught.

Keyword: Almost.

He stood back up and gave Itachi an obligatory 'Too bad too sad' shrug. "You can't use that ability on something that doesn't have eyes, can you? Guess not. Nary a pinprick. Oh... but you're kinda human, aren't you?"

He brought up both his hands and focused a pair of Pleasure Inducing energy cones upon Itachi.

Targeted Amplification of Synaptic Pleasure... Tasp... Rolls off the tongue and conveys a harshness that all weapons should exhibit. Let us experiment with out new weapon. Thus far, the Tasp had been only momentarily effective against Tyrannus and Maul. Perhaps a stronger burst could be maintained somewhat longer.

"So it would seem that you cannot do me, but I can do you... I can do you hardcore..."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Technician worked as hard as he could, using the coding provided by Kal'Shazzar and seemingly oblivious to the struggle about to take place outside. All he wanted was to please the Godulan, to get another dose of the dreamweaver and see... whatever it was that he saw every time. He liked to think he saw his wife in those visions, but every time he came back to reality he remembered that she had died in the raid that had taken him from his home.

But now he had a chance to not only see that vision again, but to make those who had ruined him feel his wrath... he could make them feel the wrath of all the slaves locked into that hole...

He had the Golan.

He locked out anciliary methods of control and slaved the entire thing to his panel. Bringing up the station's sensors, he had a view of what was going on in orbit. Was that a Coredian vessel? It certainly wasn't Tenetian, considering it'd just blown up one of the defending vessels. The defenders were so focused on targeting the interloper that their hindquarters were all oriented towards the planet... towards the Golan.

"Dude! Ram an Alpha Strike up their asses!"

The technician was confused by the terminology. "What?"

One of his escorts, carrying himself like a military officer of some sort, stepped forward and started inputting commands. "Reducing shields by 75% and directing it into weapons... targeting the Tenetian Vessels with focused fire from multiple turrets all at once... and knocking them down with maximum firepower. Here, lemme sit down..."

And as he programmed it, so too did the Golan V accomodate him. Superpowered bolts of energy lanced forth from the Golan to smash into the aft sections of the Tenetian vessels as the defenders sought to destroy the Coredian vessel as quickly as possible. It was very simply the most perfect blindside the former slaves could have asked for...

Kal'Shazzar made a show of quirking an eyebrow at Itachi's accusation, then stopped cold as Itachi's dreaded finisher. He quivered for a moment, his gaze locked on Itachi's, then almost collapsed to his knees under the hypnotic onslaught.

Keyword: Almost.

He stood back up and gave Itachi an obligatory 'Too bad too sad' shrug. "You can't use that ability on something that doesn't have eyes, can you? Guess not. Nary a pinprick. Oh... but you're kinda human, aren't you?"

He brought up both his hands and focused a pair of Pleasure Inducing energy cones upon Itachi.

Targeted Amplification of Synaptic Pleasure... Tasp... Rolls off the tongue and conveys a harshness that all weapons should exhibit. Let us experiment with out new weapon. Thus far, the Tasp had been only momentarily effective against Tyrannus and Maul. Perhaps a stronger burst could be maintained somewhat longer.

"So it would seem that you cannot do me, but I can do you... I can do you hardcore..."
Itachi was suddenly thrown into an old memory, one of the few good ones that him and Sasuke had of each other. A time before Itachi even gained the Sharingan, when the younger brother came home from the hospital. It was one of those memories long forgotten by the S-class criminal, but it still gave him a feeling that he long since thought dispelled by his black heart. A fierce protectiveness for his younger brother, almost to the point where he held compassion for him.

Then by sheer force of will, Itachi returned to reality, growling. "Your feeble tricks will not work on me, Godulan."

A cursed black fire spewed forth from his mouth, a fire hot enough to melt starship armor and can stay burning for seven days and seven nights...

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Count Dooku reached the castle in little time. He sensed the kids were up on the roof, trapped with nowhere else to go. Smiling wickedly, the Sith Lord used the speeder to get into the hangar bay. He noticed bodies were strewn around the roof in pieces and Kabuto still unconscious and was being taken away by a medical droid, a testament to the skills of the kids, but he also sensed that they were tiring. Good, it will be quick then. He headed up the access stairway to the rooftop, where the last of the stormtroopers ahead of him were just dying. In the distance, he could see that more heavy and light walker units have begun to arrive from the garrison to put down the uprising once and for all. Now there was truly no way for the brats to escape, unless they wished to get cut down by heavy blaster fire.

"You youngsters have fought well. But unfortunately, you are truly outmatched at this time. Surrender and I will make your end quick." Lord Tyrannus said in his cultured, we-shall-have-tea-and-scones-at-noon tone.

Putting his lightsaber in a forward guard, Travis simply smiled as he noticed large flashes of light up in the air as he sensed his Master's presence within the system. "You might want to heed your own advice. I can feel my Master coming and he won't be in a very nice mood."

"Hah. By the time he arrives, you'll be a corpse." With that, Dooku attacked and Travis and Jesse defended as well as they're able...

The Technician worked as hard as he could, using the coding provided by Kal'Shazzar and seemingly oblivious to the struggle about to take place outside. All he wanted was to please the Godulan, to get another dose of the dreamweaver and see... whatever it was that he saw every time. He liked to think he saw his wife in those visions, but every time he came back to reality he remembered that she had died in the raid that had taken him from his home.

But now he had a chance to not only see that vision again, but to make those who had ruined him feel his wrath... he could make them feel the wrath of all the slaves locked into that hole...

He had the Golan.

He locked out anciliary methods of control and slaved the entire thing to his panel. Bringing up the station's sensors, he had a view of what was going on in orbit. Was that a Coredian vessel? It certainly wasn't Tenetian, considering it'd just blown up one of the defending vessels. The defenders were so focused on targeting the interloper that their hindquarters were all oriented towards the planet... towards the Golan.

"Dude! Ram an Alpha Strike up their asses!"

The technician was confused by the terminology. "What?"

One of his escorts, carrying himself like a military officer of some sort, stepped forward and started inputting commands. "Reducing shields by 75% and directing it into weapons... targeting the Tenetian Vessels with focused fire from multiple turrets all at once... and knocking them down with maximum firepower. Here, lemme sit down..."

And as he programmed it, so too did the Golan V accomodate him. Superpowered bolts of energy lanced forth from the Golan to smash into the aft sections of the Tenetian vessels as the defenders sought to destroy the Coredian vessel as quickly as possible. It was very simply the most perfect blindside the former slaves could have asked for...
The Golan V finally made its orbitial arc and prepared to unleash it's Alpha Strike. The Rear Admiral was sure that even with the Battlestar running rings around his fleet, the sheer output of the Golan V would be too much for it and it would all be over soon.

Just one problem: The Golan V system struck the Imperial forces in their sterns, causing catastrophic failure in several ships in the first few seconds before the Imperial fleet could even begin to recover.

"What the hell just happened?" Naruto asked incredulously.

"I don't know. It seems the prisoners have managed to somehow get control of the defense system but I can't see how--" Captain Holland said but was interrupted by the ship shaking violently.

Then the ship shook as a violent purple blast of energy nearly clipped it from another fleet that just entered the system. Imperial reinforcements from Fondor, with an Allegiance-class Star Destroyer that carried the new Hypercannons! Now even the Golan V was in trouble with all the ships (60+) in the system!

"Dammit! Get us as close to the planet as you can! I'm going to get Ryujin and the teams ready!" Naruto yelled and left the bridge, heading towards the main hangar bay on the port 'wing' of the Battlestar.

With the Golan V mysteriously providing fire support for the Coredia, the ship managed to throw itself into high orbit over the planet, spilling out a dozen LAATs, several more Zoid carrier LAATs, and one very large, very angry silver dragon with a powerful shield protecting its riders from harm, either from vacuum or enemy fire. They flew towards the atmosphere, the friction of the air making them seem like meteors and descended towards the prison camp.

The plan was as follows: Sakura and her team will take all comers at the main prison complex, encountering Lady Nightshade and Lord Aelikes in the process. Sasuke and Naruto and their teams will then head for the castle and finish off all enemies within. Sasuke will duel his brother once more while Naruto, Kagome, Nick and Toji will assist Travis in dealing with Lord Tyrannus. The Zoids and Godulan-made Cougar and Wolf units will be deployed to take out the walker and infantry units while the LAATs and Ryujin use themselves as heavy air support to make sure they have local air superiority over the TIE fighters flying around.

The Battlestar Coredia itself and her escorts provided space support to make sure the Empire doesn't get the idea to start bombarding anywhere if the Sith called for it, but the Allegiance Star Destroyer proved to be a match for it, forcing it to dodge to avoid the Hypercannons and make it unable to fire its Yamato Cannons in return. On top of that, the enemy was now split into two fleets, one pounding away at the Golan V and the other taking on the Battlestar's task force. Even hurt badly by the Golan V's initial assault, it seemed that this has become a battle of attrition that even the Rebellion cannot last for long...

Kal'Shazzar's expression went grim as Itachi broke free of the Tasp field, and he shifted his feet to grant himself additional balance as he seemed to brace himself against the ninja's fiery plume. Mere inches from his body, the fire split straight down the middle, slamming into the walls on either side of him and rendering them unto blackened magma. Feeling the floor and ceiling around him ready to give way at any moment, Kal'Shazzar leaped forward towards Itachi, black flames licking at his form.

My friends... we have the Defense systems... we have the Battle Platform... the enemy is in disarray... if you are going to come, now is the time to do it.

"I do not fear death," Kal'Shazzar began, igniting his lightsaber and bringing it about to strike in a one-handed iron-gripped sweep, "for I cannot die..."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Bringing shields back up to full," said the Golan's impromptu commander, "new contacts entering system, Tenetian transponder codes..."

"Sunnuva! Look at the power signature on that one!"

"Redirecting targeting to... Allegiance class Star Destroyer. Focus fire on main batteries commences... now..."[/i]

"Another contact!"

"Tenetian?"

"No. Not Coredian either! By the gods... its enormous..."

"Then what is it?"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Doubtless it might have confused the Tenetian vessels for but a moment (or longer, depending on how much they were startled by the treasonous Golan Defense Platform) when the purple Hypercannon beams of the Allegiance Star Destroyer, and indeed the cannonfire of the Tenetian reinforcements and the lackluster response of the original garrison, suddenly found itself echoed not only by the Golan platform and the Coredia, but by massive lozenges of green crystal and spatial distortions ripping forth from the newly arrived juggernaut of the battlefield.

As the Defenders sought to clamp down on the Golan and the Coredia, so too did the gargantuan Godulan Slaughterstar materialize directly behind them, initiating by its very presence the pincer move that the Godulans so favored.

General Achaedus drifted amongst the stars, reveling in the sheer beauty of the universe and of the battle displayed all around him. His eyes beheld as a detached observer the panoramic view of the Godulan Dreadnought opening up with a sequence of Quantum Render pulses against the enemy flagship and two of its closest escorts. He watched as the Slaughterstar's shields dropped to minimal required strength on the periphery, and additional power shunted into the weapons, allowing the main battery to fire bolts of condensed momentum that would strike upon the Tenetian vessels like high velocity asteroids.

He watched also as the great warship launched massive bolts of Morphic crystal to splatter upon the Tenetian vessels whose shields had been compromised by the Golan's unexpected assault. Infection Protocols would be remarkably easy to initiate on those ships, and very soon the enemy would find that with each lost ship, the Godulans' numbers would swell.

Achaedus grinned. This was such a marvelous setup. A single Godulan Avatar had wrought so much havoc that the entry of the Slaughterstar was such a seamless addition. Perhaps he might be able to push for some leniency on Kal'Shazzar if the deluded fool were to fall in the pursuit of his duties. So perfect... Achaedus might not even have to step in to give further orders... the General's tactical plan would likely need little revision.

Sixty Tenetian vessels, a goodly number of them already wounded, against a Golan V platform and a Slaughterstar...

Let the bloodletting commence.

OOC: I'm going to wait for Huntaer before posting.

Nightshade obliged, becoming a whirlwind of red destruction too fast for mortal eyes to see as she employed Form IV and II in a rage of darkness. Each slash caused wind to blow, slicing even if the blade itself missed. it was most appropriate as a punishment for she wanted to make him suffer the death of a thousand cuts for his act of betrayal.

Magriel easily dodged the wind blasts using the force to enhance his muscle flexability, enabling him to dodge, duck, roll, and spin to avoid the bursts of wind. A tactic mostly used by Jedi such as Yoda and recently used by former Woodian president Whitfield. Aelikes was the other problem. Aelikes charged on in using his favored Makashi form, making long strikes at the Malkir's chest. There was something Magriel remembered back in his last hundred years being a Kirtir Lord... Something about a method on overcoming an enemy's force powers, reflecting them back at them with the users own inner anger... Vaapad.

Yes of course, Magriel learnt that trick a while back, almost forgetting about it. It was time to see if his lessons were well learned... In the midst of thought, the Master found his cousin's blades at his waste and quickly dropped to the floor, taking a small graze to the skin rather than being done in the same way poor Maul was. Continuing his Jar'Kai technique and temporarily abandoning his Shiem form, the Malkir continued to defend himself while rolling on the floor. Waiting for Nightshade to send her next gust of wind.

Itachi remained emotionless. "We shall see."

He blocked the blow with an arm of steel-like muscles and began with a violent series of Makashi slashes, doubling in speed with each blow.

=====

Magriel easily dodged the wind blasts using the force to enhance his muscle flexability, enabling him to dodge, duck, roll, and spin to avoid the bursts of wind. A tactic mostly used by Jedi such as Yoda and recently used by former Woodian president Whitfield. Aelikes was the other problem. Aelikes charged on in using his favored Makashi form, making long strikes at the Malkir's chest. There was something Magriel remembered back in his last hundred years being a Kirtir Lord... Something about a method on overcoming an enemy's force powers, reflecting them back at them with the users own inner anger... Vaapad.

Yes of course, Magriel learnt that trick a while back, almost forgetting about it. It was time to see if his lessons were well learned... In the midst of thought, the Master found his cousin's blades at his waste and quickly dropped to the floor, taking a small graze to the skin rather than being done in the same way poor Maul was. Continuing his Jar'Kai technique and temporarily abandoning his Shiem form, the Malkir continued to defend himself while rolling on the floor. Waiting for Nightshade to send her next gust of wind.
Nightshade slashed again, a particularly strong razor wind slicing for Magriel that cut through a metal pipe along the way. Hot steam spilled out and was carried with the wind towards the Malkir...

=====

Travis and Jesse struggled against the Sith Lord Tyrannus, their skills no match for a Dark Lord of the Sith. For all their potential, they were still apprentices, and it showed most obviously when Dooku feinted and slashed the thigh of the young Masaki heir, making him collapse in pain before slicing across Jesse's stomach. Shallow but painful blows they were, it allowed the Sith to prepare to kill them.

Suddenly, a large shadow crossed the roof of the castle and one loud voice cried out. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Before Dooku realized it, he was beset by orange-clad clones of Elite Jounin Uzumaki Naruto, forcing him to retreat from the boys as they slashed at him with powerful sweeps of their lightsabers. Of course, his Makashi and Force Lightning allowed him to poof them away, but then his blade locked with the real one.

"Stay away from my apprentice, you bastard!" Naruto growled and Dooku almost wet his pants as he stared into Naruto's eyes. Instead of the normal piercing blue, it was a fierce, kitsune orange-red, same as the Jounin's lightsaber blade. His whiskers were deepening and his nails and teeth became claws and fangs. Then he attacked.

Only once before did Dooku have to struggle to keep up with such powerful and quick strokes and he didn't appreciate the irony. Not at all. Before Naruto, it was Anakin Skywalker, now Emperor Vader, who forced him back and eventually killed him. This would not happen again, not if he had anything to say about that!

As lightsabers clashed, a passing TIE fighter was pulled down towards the battle, towards the kids. Even the straining engines were no match for the Dark Side and Naruto was forced to make the decision whether to continue the fight or save his apprentice and the other children. He chose to save them, disengaging from the battle and leaping high with a Rasengan in hand, blowing away the TIE before it crashed.

Unfortunately, it gave Dooku time to escape by running back down towards the hangar bay. By that time Kabuto had revived, using all that he knew to heal from the massive windburn incurred from Travis' Rasengan.

"Where is Lord Itachi?" Dooku asked sharply. "This planet is about to become compromised."

"He is dueling Kal'Shazzar now." Kabuto rasped.

"Very well." Dooku use an emergency signal and called for a shuttle to pick up the Sith Lords. He knew that if Naruto was here, his old teammates weren't far behind and their strengths easily matched that of the Sith. Not to mention it's likely Travis' brat pack would be running around. Not that he couldn't kill them himself, but between dueling the apprentices and Naruto, he could easily be overwhelmed now.

Speaking of the brat pack, Teams Seven and Nine were hovering with Ryujin over the castle grounds. Nick was sniping anything he could find with his blaster rifle while Kagome was throwing large fireballs down on hapless stormtroopers, followed by giant streams of fire from the Silver Dragon himself. Keith bit his thumb to summon a the red dragon Karyuu, and flew off with Haruka to deal with the AT-ATs currently trying and failing to destroy the Liger, Tyrannosaur and Command Wolf Zoids controlled by Sakura's Team Eight. Not to mention assisting the Marine Corps in taking down the rest of the garrison.

Reika was with her father, running through the castle in pursuit of Itachi, cutting down any enemy in their paths. They left quite a wake of dead stormtroopers and Sith Knights, that's for sure.

That's not all, for Sakura herself was tossing around an AT-ST like a giant bat at the main prison complex, smashing stormtroopers and Sith apprentices over the walls before throwing it at another chicken walker, blowing the both of them up. Then she stormed into the complex herself, every one of her blows a fatal one as her superstrength was shown to all. She had a bone to pick with Lady Nightshade and didn't take long to find the dueling trio. Grinning, she threw herself into the battle, shouting a war cry while igniting her pink lightsaber. That was likely to give both Sith and Kirtir trouble...

=====

The space battle was no less of a turnaround with the Slaughterstar attacking everything Imperial in sight. Captain Holland smirked as he finally understood what was happening. It seemed that a Godulan somehow infiltrated the prison complex and took control of the automated defenses, including the Golan V space station. That certainly helped him overcome the enemy's sixty capital ships.

The Rear Admiral in charge of the fleet was furious, ordering a dozen of the freshest ISDs to take out the Slaughterstar, then he died quickly when the Coredia fired its Yamato cannons into his ship, blowing it apart. Now control of the fleet devolved to the captain of the Allegiance Star Destroyer, who was currently trying to decide how to fight two overpowered ships and a turncoat Golan V at the same time even as the Quantum pulses and morphic crystals splashed against the shields violently. Hypercannon and turbolaser beams flashed out at the Slaughterstar, Coredia and Golan V at the same time, but no blow was concentrated on any one enemy. Grimacing, he ordered the Allegiance to concentrate fire on the Slaughterstar while the rest of the fleet concentrated on the Coredia and Golan V. Even so, it was a slaughter on the side of the Rebellion, with ship after ship falling before the combined firepower.

He watched also as the great warship launched massive bolts of Morphic crystal to splatter upon the Tenetian vessels whose shields had been compromised by the Golan's unexpected assault. Infection Protocols would be remarkably easy to initiate on those ships, and very soon the enemy would find that with each lost ship, the Godulans' numbers would swell.
Knowing the Godulan pechant for stealing Imperial ships, the Empire's forces were further depleted when first one ship, then another self-destructed when the crystals latched onto the hull of the compromised ships. Though the Godulans and Coredians appear to be winning this battle, they would not get any prizes whatsoever!

Unperturbed by Itachi's response, Kal'Shazzar threw his magnified mass into his single beginning strike such that when it came it would be as though he had swung a stout rod of the densest steel. When the block came, it put forward a sound not unlike vehicles colliding, and did indeed deflect his strike. Instead of stepping back or attempting to dodge the subsequent flurry of blows from Itachi, he simply took each strike in stride, allowing the ninja to expend himself in these harsh shots to his own body, his torso chattering like a heavy bulkhead taking gunfire as he reversed he utilized the momentum from the deflected swing to augment a swift forward kick of his opposite leg, targeted directly at Itachi's center of mass and calculated in such a manner that even Itachi's own flurry of blows would lend momentum to the strike.

"I do not fear pain, for I cannot feel it unless I want to."

Itachi had speed and discipline, while Kal'Shazzar had brute strength, durability, and a simple drive to defeat his foe at all costs. He had done such horrible things, and now he had a chance to make up for those things by performing acts that would be the stuff of legend amongst the Godulans. He did not know if he would survive this battle. He did not care if he survived this battle, for he had already won the war. He would give this hateful person before him a true gamble for his life, and make him understand.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

To be expected, General Achaedus thought to himself as he watched one Tenetian Star Destroyer after another consign itself to oblivion rather than allow itself to be incorporated into the Kython Legions. It was a two way street when it came to the possibility of infection. Either keep the ship intact and allow it to be absorbed by a Kython blotch, or destroy the ship before the blotch can get far enough in to disrupt the self-destruct... either way, the infected vessels were lost, and turbolasers were removed from the battlespace.

No secondary slaughterkings to augment the strike, but such was easy enough to reconcile.

As the number of compromised vessels dwindled swiftly to nothing, Achaedus turned to regard the rest of the battle. The vessel putting forward communications signals on a higher scale than the others, indicating it to be the flagship of the battle group, took a massive barrage from the Coredian vessel and broke apart under the strain. Orders apparently stopped flowing for a number of seconds, and then the Allegiance began putting out increased comms chatter, which caused the rest of the Tenetian vessels to adjust their fire so that the smaller vessels began to focus on the Golan while the Allegiance itself began to focus its attention on the Slaughterstar.

The General was pleased that the Slaughterstar's commander came to the same conclusions he did. The Allegiance was not originally the flagship, but it sure as hell was now.

Power shifted through the Slaughterstar as fire from the Allegiance increased while the rest of the fleet slackened theirs against the Godulan Dreadnaught in order to turn against the treacherous Golan (His grin quirked even at passing mental references to it). All signs pointed to one thing, and one thing alone, and he mentally mouthed the words to himself as he tapped into the Kython overlink from his seclusion and heard the commander's voice:

FUSILLADE! GIVE THEM EVERYTHING! SHOVE IT DOWN THEIR THROATS!

The shields of the Slaughterstar flickered with a slight weakening as further power was redirected to weapons, yet full strength was kept oriented towards the Allegiance destroyer. The shields themselves glittered and sparkled quite nicely under the focused firepower of the Allegiance but the Imperial vessel would require a significant amount of time to fully penetrate the shields of a Slaughterstar.

And then it happened.

He saw the Slaughterstar rock backwards under the fury of its own onslaught, though Achaedus could not help but cock an eyebrow at how not-dazzling the show itself was, considering the amount of preparation put into it. He supposed that if it had been done with Protium Arc Disintegrators that the move would have been sufficiently flashy, but the Quantum Renders only? They did not give much in the way of any light at all during their flight time. Instead of a blinding flash of disintegrating energies rippling forth to vaporize the enemy, this was simply a great combined wavefront.

Six massive bolts burst forth from the Slaughterstar, powered with all the excess energy the dreadnought could funnel in, aimed directly for the Allegiance's midsection and fired in such a manner that the six would converge together at the point of impact. As soon as the first wave left the metaphorical barrels, a second one was launched, targeted at the same point. A third and a fourth joined them, but after that...

Ah. NOW came the flashy part.

The Slaughterstar redirected the weapons energy from its horrendously augmented Quantum Renders into a combined 'Broadside' of Protium-Arc Disintegrators and Tachyon torpedos at the rest of the Tenetian fleet, launching one simultaneous salvo after another with the guns apparently coordinating among various subgroups to bring focused fire down on one Tenetian star destroyer after another. Tachyon Torpedos streaked forward towards pre-targeted sections of various vessels such as the engine block, fighter hangars, and shield generators, forcing the Tenetian fleet itself into another unfortunate catch-22: Disable the shields and get vaporized, or keep the shields up and let the Tachyon beams nibble them to pieces?

He marveled at the simple beauty of the crackling blue bolts of disintegrating energy and the little storms of static that engulfed each targeted Tenetian vessel as either their shields sloughed off under the strain or their hull got stripped away layer by molecular layer...

He saw that a goodly number of Tachyon Torpedos were also flying towards the Allegiance destroyer, targeted upon those annoying Hyper-cannon mounts and also various other critical systems... it seemed to be a rather... continuous flow.

Achaedus mentally scratched his chin in thought... what was his subordinate getting at?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Golan itself was having something of a hard time of it, now that the Tenetian fleet had decided that it was the overriding concern (even though the Godulan Dreadnought was making them pay for dividing their attention).

The former officer presently guiding its movements had to reinforce the shields of the great defense platform, and was working to focus-fire down the enemy vessels as quickly as possible, launching salvo after salvo to converge on one ship until it broke apart and only then switching to another target. Better to remove one ship at a time rather than attempt to bring them down all at once. The longer they all remain up, the longer they would be at full firing strength and inflicting massive damage. It required significant amounts of micromanagement, more than the officer was used to, but he also had the benefit of directing an automated station. No subordinates to bitch at him or disagree.

Thank the gods for that.

Nightshade slashed again, a particularly strong razor wind slicing for Magriel that cut through a metal pipe along the way. Hot steam spilled out and was carried with the wind towards the Malkir...

Magriel thrusted his lightsaber which was defending against Aelikes forward with all of his might, throwing the Dark Lord out of ballance, stumbling towards the ground. This gave him just enough time to lock both of his lightsabers together to block Nightshade's razor. Reaching into his inner Darkness (which is considerably Dark), he threw his lightsabers forward and redirected Nightshade's attack back at her.

Unperturbed by Itachi's response, Kal'Shazzar threw his magnified mass into his single beginning strike such that when it came it would be as though he had swung a stout rod of the densest steel. When the block came, it put forward a sound not unlike vehicles colliding, and did indeed deflect his strike. Instead of stepping back or attempting to dodge the subsequent flurry of blows from Itachi, he simply took each strike in stride, allowing the ninja to expend himself in these harsh shots to his own body, his torso chattering like a heavy bulkhead taking gunfire as he reversed he utilized the momentum from the deflected swing to augment a swift forward kick of his opposite leg, targeted directly at Itachi's center of mass and calculated in such a manner that even Itachi's own flurry of blows would lend momentum to the strike.

"I do not fear pain, for I cannot feel it unless I want to."

Itachi had speed and discipline, while Kal'Shazzar had brute strength, durability, and a simple drive to defeat his foe at all costs. He had done such horrible things, and now he had a chance to make up for those things by performing acts that would be the stuff of legend amongst the Godulans. He did not know if he would survive this battle. He did not care if he survived this battle, for he had already won the war. He would give this hateful person before him a true gamble for his life, and make him understand.
Pain rippled across Itachi's chest has he was thrown back by the force of the kick, but he managed to roll in midair and land, skidding backwards. He sensed his younger brother arriving in the castle and knew that he would have to end this quickly. He reached out, grasping Kal'Shazzar with his dark powers, and then squeezed his hand into a fist, hopefully crushing the Godulan into a pasty goo.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

To be expected, General Achaedus thought to himself as he watched one Tenetian Star Destroyer after another consign itself to oblivion rather than allow itself to be incorporated into the Kython Legions. It was a two way street when it came to the possibility of infection. Either keep the ship intact and allow it to be absorbed by a Kython blotch, or destroy the ship before the blotch can get far enough in to disrupt the self-destruct... either way, the infected vessels were lost, and turbolasers were removed from the battlespace.

No secondary slaughterkings to augment the strike, but such was easy enough to reconcile.

As the number of compromised vessels dwindled swiftly to nothing, Achaedus turned to regard the rest of the battle. The vessel putting forward communications signals on a higher scale than the others, indicating it to be the flagship of the battle group, took a massive barrage from the Coredian vessel and broke apart under the strain. Orders apparently stopped flowing for a number of seconds, and then the Allegiance began putting out increased comms chatter, which caused the rest of the Tenetian vessels to adjust their fire so that the smaller vessels began to focus on the Golan while the Allegiance itself began to focus its attention on the Slaughterstar.

The General was pleased that the Slaughterstar's commander came to the same conclusions he did. The Allegiance was not originally the flagship, but it sure as hell was now.

Power shifted through the Slaughterstar as fire from the Allegiance increased while the rest of the fleet slackened theirs against the Godulan Dreadnaught in order to turn against the treacherous Golan (His grin quirked even at passing mental references to it). All signs pointed to one thing, and one thing alone, and he mentally mouthed the words to himself as he tapped into the Kython overlink from his seclusion and heard the commander's voice:

FUSILLADE! GIVE THEM EVERYTHING! SHOVE IT DOWN THEIR THROATS!

The shields of the Slaughterstar flickered with a slight weakening as further power was redirected to weapons, yet full strength was kept oriented towards the Allegiance destroyer. The shields themselves glittered and sparkled quite nicely under the focused firepower of the Allegiance but the Imperial vessel would require a significant amount of time to fully penetrate the shields of a Slaughterstar.

And then it happened.

He saw the Slaughterstar rock backwards under the fury of its own onslaught, though Achaedus could not help but cock an eyebrow at how not-dazzling the show itself was, considering the amount of preparation put into it. He supposed that if it had been done with Protium Arc Disintegrators that the move would have been sufficiently flashy, but the Quantum Renders only? They did not give much in the way of any light at all during their flight time. Instead of a blinding flash of disintegrating energies rippling forth to vaporize the enemy, this was simply a great combined wavefront.

Six massive bolts burst forth from the Slaughterstar, powered with all the excess energy the dreadnought could funnel in, aimed directly for the Allegiance's midsection and fired in such a manner that the six would converge together at the point of impact. As soon as the first wave left the metaphorical barrels, a second one was launched, targeted at the same point. A third and a fourth joined them, but after that...

Ah. NOW came the flashy part.

The Slaughterstar redirected the weapons energy from its horrendously augmented Quantum Renders into a combined 'Broadside' of Protium-Arc Disintegrators and Tachyon torpedos at the rest of the Tenetian fleet, launching one simultaneous salvo after another with the guns apparently coordinating among various subgroups to bring focused fire down on one Tenetian star destroyer after another. Tachyon Torpedos streaked forward towards pre-targeted sections of various vessels such as the engine block, fighter hangars, and shield generators, forcing the Tenetian fleet itself into another unfortunate catch-22: Disable the shields and get vaporized, or keep the shields up and let the Tachyon beams nibble them to pieces?

He marveled at the simple beauty of the crackling blue bolts of disintegrating energy and the little storms of static that engulfed each targeted Tenetian vessel as either their shields sloughed off under the strain or their hull got stripped away layer by molecular layer...

He saw that a goodly number of Tachyon Torpedos were also flying towards the Allegiance destroyer, targeted upon those annoying Hyper-cannon mounts and also various other critical systems... it seemed to be a rather... continuous flow.

Achaedus mentally scratched his chin in thought... what was his subordinate getting at?
Minute by wretched minute, the Empire's forces was depleted by the combined firepower of the Slaughterstar and the Battlestar Coredia. Even the Allegiance Star Destroyer found itself under assault from both ships at once, the main turbolaser cannons of the Coredia hammering at the shields and the weapons of the Slaughterstar turning everything on the hull into so much slag. Suddenly, the Star Destroyer lurched forward and swung about to aim its bow at the Slaughterstar. Clearly, with the captain at a wit's end, he was intent on sacrificing himself for the good of the Empire.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Golan itself was having something of a hard time of it, now that the Tenetian fleet had decided that it was the overriding concern (even though the Godulan Dreadnought was making them pay for dividing their attention).

The former officer presently guiding its movements had to reinforce the shields of the great defense platform, and was working to focus-fire down the enemy vessels as quickly as possible, launching salvo after salvo to converge on one ship until it broke apart and only then switching to another target. Better to remove one ship at a time rather than attempt to bring them down all at once. The longer they all remain up, the longer they would be at full firing strength and inflicting massive damage. It required significant amounts of micromanagement, more than the officer was used to, but he also had the benefit of directing an automated station. No subordinates to bitch at him or disagree.

Thank the gods for that.
The only reason the fleet didn't retreat just yet was because their Sith masters were still on the planet and without their orders, they had to remain. Even so, their full remaining firepower were now turned against the Golan V. No foolish Rebel would dare take the Empire's equipment without retribution!

Magriel thrusted his lightsaber which was defending against Aelikes forward with all of his might, throwing the Dark Lord out of ballance, stumbling towards the ground. This gave him just enough time to lock both of his lightsabers together to block Nightshade's razor. Reaching into his inner Darkness (which is considerably Dark), he threw his lightsabers forward and redirected Nightshade's attack back at her.
Surprised, Nightshade was forced to dodge her own attack, but the razor wind slashed at her robes, so quick was the turnabout. A thin line of blood spurted from a side wound, and her face became a mask of fury, using her pain to fuel her hatred. Now she bashed at the Malkir, Form V taking over elegance in favor of brutal strength.

Then a war-shout was heard as a pink-haired young woman came in, swinging with an overpowered fist carrying a pink lightsaber swinging for Aelikes..

Surprised, Nightshade was forced to dodge her own attack, but the razor wind slashed at her robes, so quick was the turnabout. A thin line of blood spurted from a side wound, and her face became a mask of fury, using her pain to fuel her hatred. Now she bashed at the Malkir, Form V taking over elegance in favor of brutal strength.

Magriel defended himself against Nightshade's attacks with ease. Even with her rage of fury he can see her slightly weakened by the slash. It would be a cheap move, but it'd keep him alive. Now for his next move... Magriel continued to parry as Nightshade leashed out with her brute strength, however instead of using a normal Force attack, he decided to go another way around. He closed his eyes in the midst of battle and reached out with the force and attempted to tamper her deep, inner thoughts. Thoughts long since repressed since child hood.

::Remember your early days Fiona... Let them come back to you. Back to the times of joyous wonder...::


Then a war-shout was heard as a pink-haired young woman came in, swinging with an overpowered fist carrying a pink lightsaber swinging for Aelikes..

Aelikes heard the war cry coming from the young woman. A mistake on her part, as he identified the direction of her cry. He swung around with his hands extended and sent a combination of Force Lighting and Push at the same time. With enough rage and fury to match that of a thousand men due to Magriel's treachery.

Magriel defended himself against Nightshade's attacks with ease. Even with her rage of fury he can see her slightly weakened by the slash. It would be a cheap move, but it'd keep him alive. Now for his next move... Magriel continued to parry as Nightshade leashed out with her brute strength, however instead of using a normal Force attack, he decided to go another way around. He closed his eyes in the midst of battle and reached out with the force and attempted to tamper her deep, inner thoughts. Thoughts long since repressed since child hood.

::Remember your early days Fiona... Let them come back to you. Back to the times of joyous wonder...::
For a single moment, a vision of her and her brothers laughing together filled her mind. They were children at the time, splashing in a pool.

Then she clamped down on the memory, growling with hatred. "Your feeble mind tricks won't work on me, fool!"

She put her fingers together in a seal, closed her eyes for a second, then opened them, the pupils shrinking as she gathered her energies to perform a Hurricane Shockwave, a directional blast of wind with enough power to knock down a blastdoor. Wind gathered in front of her chest and the air around it grew warm as it was compressed, then shot out for the Malkir...

Aelikes heard the war cry coming from the young woman. A mistake on her part, as he identified the direction of her cry. He swung around with his hands extended and sent a combination of Force Lighting and Push at the same time. With enough rage and fury to match that of a thousand men due to Magriel's treachery.
Smirking, Sakura dodged the furious Force attacks with ease, and it slammed into a wall, visibly denting the duracrete. The next thing Aelikes learned about her, she wasn't only just strong, she was fast!

A Medical Ninja like Haruno Sakura was trained to dodge like the dickens and trained to be fast enough to get in close to defeat the enemy, either through superstrength like Sakura's line of Master (Tsunade) and apprentices (her daughter and her star apprentice), or with a special technique known as a Chakra Scalpel, which can not only cut shit up, but do it without breaking the skin, either. And in Sakura's case, even block lightsabers if need be like a pair of energy gloves.

For now, her sheer strength and speed would have to be enough as she moved in close to Aelikes, her lightsaber swinging for his head...

Kal'Shazzar stopped cold as Itachi's crushing power engulfed him and his eyes began to glow a brilliant emerald. Energy crackled across the surface of his body, and the Godulan smiled at the ninja. When he spoke, his words came out one at a time, obvious exertion behind them.

"I... refuse... to... lose..."

The Godulan pushed out a hard as Itachi clamped down, in much the same way that one attempts to push against closing walls in an effort to keep from getting crushed. But the energy required to resist the effect was tremendous, and Kal'Shazzar had no psionic energies or force powers or magical reserves to back himself up. He only hoped he could hold out long enough...

Master...

Do not worry about me. If I die, the other Godulans will know how to take care of you. Keep to winning the war!

Y-yes master... anything for the Dream...

Don't say that... it makes me feel guilty.

Sorry master.

Or that.

Err... yes sir...

Better... now stop worrying about me.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Golan's shielding was being significantly taxed now, and the somewhat harried commander found himself going into something of a turtle mode as he withdrew output from weapons and auxiliary systems and pumped as much as he could get into the Shielding. The longer he could eke out the Golan's existence was the longer that bigass green glowing thing and the Coredian vessel could lay waste to more of the Tenetian forces that kept their attention on the defense station.

As it was, the crew on the ground were still seriously sweating it... the shields were producing a field of truly prodigious strength, but with every second those bastards in the Tenetian vessels whittled away at them like woodpeckers on a particularly popular tree.

They gritted their teeth in unison...

Live damn you... live...

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Achaedus' attention turned to the Golan as he recognized the signs of its shields being brought up to somewhere around 220% effective strength in order to weather the hail of turbolaser fire from its former accomplices. The Tenetians continued to pummel the defense platform as though it was the most egregious sleight they had ever experienced.

But hey. Achaedus had to give the Slaughterstar's commander credit for taking advantage of diverted attention. The Dreadnought's continuous broadside fusillade upon the Tenetian vessels continued to knock one after another into oblivion...

Suddenly the fringes of Achaedus' awareness burned a brilliant red, and he instinctively brought his attention back to the Slaughterstar itself. He drifted back to closer inspection and saw a big dotted line between the horribly damaged Allegiance star destroyer and the Godulan Dreadnought. The wierd red fringe and the dotted line of course meant one thing and one thing only: The Allegiance had plotted a course to ram the Slaughterstar in one last ditch attempt to even the odds.

On a whim, Achaedus reconnected to the combat chatter. The commander cheerfully acknowledged his presence, unlike before.

Hey boss. You think the captain of that ship will break down and cry when we give them the kicker?

The way this fight is going, I would not discount the possibility.

Hee!

Out of curiosity, is there any particular reason you are waiting to discorporate?

I'm pushing the voidshield threshold as close as I can with these disintegrators. I wanna make sure I can knock out as many of those little guys as I can before I sic the locusts on them. Plus the shields on the big gunz that just decided to ram us are still up, however trace they might be. I'm using the tachyon torps as a gauge of shield presence. If I can help it, I'd like to wipe out that little sticking point before I put them through the blender.

Ah. Interesting application of the torpedos.

Meh. I'd hoped the fucker would drop the shields to avoid the torpedos so I could real quick switch to the Fractal Guns and tear that thing to shreds... but I guess I can't have everything. We still good?

No deviations yet from the battle plan. A rarity. Its nice having a commander who can actually improvise every now and then. I do hate to micromanage.

Psh. I'm micromanaging these Tenetian bastards straight to hell. Think I should tell them to say 'Fuck you' to Sojun for me, or would that just be unsporting?

I do not think they would grasp the significance.

Ah... yeah... the insult only works if they get it. Anyway, back to work... that big gunz is getting closer than I'm comfortable with, so its time to up the timetable.

I'll leave you to it.

Achaedus discontinued the connection and returned his attention to the battle. The commander was right in that the Allegiance had gotten too close for comfort... and just then he saw it. The slight flicker of the envelope around the vessel and a pop-fizzle from one critical tachyon torpedo that apparently hit a sweet spot. The destroyer's shields had collapsed.

At the same moment, the Slaughterstar itself blew apart in a spectacular display of pyrotechnical bliss and crystalline chaos, shattering into hundreds of pieces long before the Allegiance got anywhere close to actually ramming the gargantuan vessels. Perchance the Tenetians would feel for a moment that they had dodged a rather troublesome bullet...

For a moment.

Achaedus' view of the battle remained unhindered by the purported destruction of the Slaughterstar, and the exact reason why came in the form of a great psychic ripple of murderous glee. The hundreds of tiny crystal slaughterstar pieces sharpened into discs about a quarter of a kilometer across, ignited discs of pure destructive energy that doubled their overall diameter, and bolted forward to rake the surface of the Allegiance Star Destroyer with five hundred deep welts before hurling themselves into the remnants of the Tenetian fleet with all guns blazing and proximity weapons at the ready.

As the legion of Godulan Slaughterking Destroyers closed on the Tenetians, arcs of green lightning leapt from their shields to those of the Imperials' and the hulls of those that were not protected. Shield power was sapped away and drained back to the Slaughterkings themselves, and conduits of disintegration dust fell back to the Kython vessels as the arcs of lightning stripped material away from unshielded Tenetian vessels...

The Godulans would make the Tenetians pay for dividing their attention...

Kal'Shazzar stopped cold as Itachi's crushing power engulfed him and his eyes began to glow a brilliant emerald. Energy crackled across the surface of his body, and the Godulan smiled at the ninja. When he spoke, his words came out one at a time, obvious exertion behind them.

"I... refuse... to... lose..."

The Godulan pushed out a hard as Itachi clamped down, in much the same way that one attempts to push against closing walls in an effort to keep from getting crushed. But the energy required to resist the effect was tremendous, and Kal'Shazzar had no psionic energies or force powers or magical reserves to back himself up. He only hoped he could hold out long enough...

Master...

Do not worry about me. If I die, the other Godulans will know how to take care of you. Keep to winning the war!

Y-yes master... anything for the Dream...

Don't say that... it makes me feel guilty.

Sorry master.

Or that.

Err... yes sir...

Better... now stop worrying about me.
For a moment, that smile of Kal'Shazzar's was so reminscent of that Naruto brat that Itachi's hatred gave him the strength to overcome Kal'Shazzar's resistance and the Crush collapsed on itself in a most brutal fashion. Then...

"Brother! Release him!" Sasuke shouted. "Release him. Now!"

Itachi spared his brother a soulless glance, then shoved the Godulan into a wall. "Much as I'd like to finish you, I do not have time for you, Sasuke-kun. There are more pressing matters today. We will meet again."

As Sasuke attacked, Itachi poofed away, leaving a stormtrooper corpse for the younger Uchiha to cut in half. Reika walked over to Kal'Shazzar's remains, hoping against hope that the Godulan survived the Force Crush.

=====

On the roof, Naruto and Travis embraced after Count Dooku fled, the boys crying after a year of being apart.

"Master! I-I thought you were all dead! Is Mom and Dad all right? What about the people?" Travis babbled as his sensei healed his leg as best he could using Kyuubi's healing power, but he would need Sakura for the rest.

"They're all right. Coredia isn't out for the count just yet!" Naruto grinned, then it dimmed. From what I see, Itachi forced Tsukiyomi on him. Damn that bastard!

"And what's that kid doing here?" Naruto glared towards Jesse, who was being healed by Ellis.

"Jesse helped me, Sensei. He did that to protect his little brother." Travis said. The aformentioned little brother was currently sobbing as he thought Jesse was gonna die.

"Guess Nightshade's Sith training regimen isn't all that's cracked up to be." Naruto deadpanned, scratching his head as he saw Jesse hugging and speaking softly to Kiyoshi. And that kid. He's an Uchiha. I'd know that hair anywhere. *double take* Eww! Nightshade and Itachi? That's just weird!

"Hey, don't forget me and Kieran here! I'm Meiji Hinadori, by the way." Meiji said. "That cat is Ellis."

"Hinadori. Hinadori...you wouldn't happen to be related to a Rinku Hinadori, would you?" Naruto asked.

"He's...my dad. Got plastered all over Tenetia by Lady Nightshade when she came to rule. But enough about me. Let's get out of here!"

Travis tried to get up, but could only manage a limp. "Urgh, yeah!"

"Think we're just about wrapping things up now." Naruto said, looking out to see Ryujin and the Marines destroying the last of the garrison. He used his body as a crutch to allow Travis to walk.

Then a shuttle lifted off from the hangar bay and headed over to where Lady Nightshade and Aelikes were still fighting...

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The Golan's shielding was being significantly taxed now, and the somewhat harried commander found himself going into something of a turtle mode as he withdrew output from weapons and auxiliary systems and pumped as much as he could get into the Shielding. The longer he could eke out the Golan's existence was the longer that bigass green glowing thing and the Coredian vessel could lay waste to more of the Tenetian forces that kept their attention on the defense station.

As it was, the crew on the ground were still seriously sweating it... the shields were producing a field of truly prodigious strength, but with every second those bastards in the Tenetian vessels whittled away at them like woodpeckers on a particularly popular tree.

They gritted their teeth in unison...

Live damn you... live...
With their numbers being slaughtered, it was only a matter of time before the Tenetian Fleet was no more. Even so, they upped the power output of their turbolasers to dangerous levels to match the Golan system's shielding.

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Achaedus' attention turned to the Golan as he recognized the signs of its shields being brought up to somewhere around 220% effective strength in order to weather the hail of turbolaser fire from its former accomplices. The Tenetians continued to pummel the defense platform as though it was the most egregious sleight they had ever experienced.

But hey. Achaedus had to give the Slaughterstar's commander credit for taking advantage of diverted attention. The Dreadnought's continuous broadside fusillade upon the Tenetian vessels continued to knock one after another into oblivion...

Suddenly the fringes of Achaedus' awareness burned a brilliant red, and he instinctively brought his attention back to the Slaughterstar itself. He drifted back to closer inspection and saw a big dotted line between the horribly damaged Allegiance star destroyer and the Godulan Dreadnought. The wierd red fringe and the dotted line of course meant one thing and one thing only: The Allegiance had plotted a course to ram the Slaughterstar in one last ditch attempt to even the odds.

On a whim, Achaedus reconnected to the combat chatter. The commander cheerfully acknowledged his presence, unlike before.

Hey boss. You think the captain of that ship will break down and cry when we give them the kicker?

The way this fight is going, I would not discount the possibility.

Hee!

Out of curiosity, is there any particular reason you are waiting to discorporate?

I'm pushing the voidshield threshold as close as I can with these disintegrators. I wanna make sure I can knock out as many of those little guys as I can before I sic the locusts on them. Plus the shields on the big gunz that just decided to ram us are still up, however trace they might be. I'm using the tachyon torps as a gauge of shield presence. If I can help it, I'd like to wipe out that little sticking point before I put them through the blender.

Ah. Interesting application of the torpedos.

Meh. I'd hoped the fucker would drop the shields to avoid the torpedos so I could real quick switch to the Fractal Guns and tear that thing to shreds... but I guess I can't have everything. We still good?

No deviations yet from the battle plan. A rarity. Its nice having a commander who can actually improvise every now and then. I do hate to micromanage.

Psh. I'm micromanaging these Tenetian bastards straight to hell. Think I should tell them to say 'Fuck you' to Sojun for me, or would that just be unsporting?

I do not think they would grasp the significance.

Ah... yeah... the insult only works if they get it. Anyway, back to work... that big gunz is getting closer than I'm comfortable with, so its time to up the timetable.

I'll leave you to it.

Achaedus discontinued the connection and returned his attention to the battle. The commander was right in that the Allegiance had gotten too close for comfort... and just then he saw it. The slight flicker of the envelope around the vessel and a pop-fizzle from one critical tachyon torpedo that apparently hit a sweet spot. The destroyer's shields had collapsed.

At the same moment, the Slaughterstar itself blew apart in a spectacular display of pyrotechnical bliss and crystalline chaos, shattering into hundreds of pieces long before the Allegiance got anywhere close to actually ramming the gargantuan vessels. Perchance the Tenetians would feel for a moment that they had dodged a rather troublesome bullet...

For a moment.

Achaedus' view of the battle remained unhindered by the purported destruction of the Slaughterstar, and the exact reason why came in the form of a great psychic ripple of murderous glee. The hundreds of tiny crystal slaughterstar pieces sharpened into discs about a quarter of a kilometer across, ignited discs of pure destructive energy that doubled their overall diameter, and bolted forward to rake the surface of the Allegiance Star Destroyer with five hundred deep welts before hurling themselves into the remnants of the Tenetian fleet with all guns blazing and proximity weapons at the ready.
The Captain sobbed hard in horror and rage as the Slaughterking split into hundreds of smaller pieces that then started to slice into the Star Destroyer, as if beamlasers have raked across the ship. The fact that the Battlestar Coredia finished it off with another turbolaser and railcannon salvo was just icing on the cake that doomed the ship. And soon, very soon, the Tenetian fleet will follow as all allied forces turned their guns on them.

As the legion of Godulan Slaughterking Destroyers closed on the Tenetians, arcs of green lightning leapt from their shields to those of the Imperials' and the hulls of those that were not protected. Shield power was sapped away and drained back to the Slaughterkings themselves, and conduits of disintegration dust fell back to the Kython vessels as the arcs of lightning stripped material away from unshielded Tenetian vessels...

The Godulans would make the Tenetians pay for dividing their attention...
Like a vacuum cleaner, the Slaughterstar Destroyers sucked away much of the Tenetians' shields and hull, forcing their numbers to drop even further, down to a manageable fifteen Star Destroyers and assorted craft. Which became fourteen when the Coredia fired its Yamato Cannons at a weakened Star Destroyer in an almost lazy gesture. There was still a heavy number of fighters, but nothing that couldn't be contained by the Coredia's escorts and fighter squadrons. On the Coredian side, however, a Defender Star Destroyer was limping badly and had to retreat, while two gunships were lost to enemy fire. Even the Coredia sported several new scars from the close shave with the Hypercannons. Acceptable losses under the circumstances...

For a single moment, a vision of her and her brothers laughing together filled her mind. They were children at the time, splashing in a pool.

Then she clamped down on the memory, growling with hatred. "Your feeble mind tricks won't work on me, fool!"

She put her fingers together in a seal, closed her eyes for a second, then opened them, the pupils shrinking as she gathered her energies to perform a Hurricane Shockwave, a directional blast of wind with enough power to knock down a blastdoor. Wind gathered in front of her chest and the air around it grew warm as it was compressed, then shot out for the Malkir...

The Malkir suddenly feet the air in the room increase, and wind. Oh shit.... Magriel saw her throw the Shockwave at him, and he braced for the whirlwind as best he could. Placing one foot in front of the other, locking himself into the ground as much as he could. He shut off his lightsabers and placed his palms forward, in an attempt to absorb the blast yoda style. When the blast hit, the Malkir still stood straght up but he was shoved a good hundred feet or so behind him. He was able to absorb most of the blast, evident by the large blue ball forming inbetween his hands. However, he couldn't hold it together and was thrusted to the wall behind him anyways with a loud "oof."




Smirking, Sakura dodged the furious Force attacks with ease, and it slammed into a wall, visibly denting the duracrete. The next thing Aelikes learned about her, she wasn't only just strong, she was fast!

A Medical Ninja like Haruno Sakura was trained to dodge like the dickens and trained to be fast enough to get in close to defeat the enemy, either through superstrength like Sakura's line of Master (Tsunade) and apprentices (her daughter and her star apprentice), or with a special technique known as a Chakra Scalpel, which can not only cut shit up, but do it without breaking the skin, either. And in Sakura's case, even block lightsabers if need be like a pair of energy gloves.

For now, her sheer strength and speed would have to be enough as she moved in close to Aelikes, her lightsaber swinging for his head...

Aelikes knew that there was no use in trying to beat this squirrel by sheer strength alone. He could just as well beat her now, but it'd take time and his patience was running thin. Aelikes blocked her blade with ease, and attempted to keep it in lock just long enough for him to dissappear into a puff of black and red smoke, his blades deactivating.

He distanced himself from Sakura just enough for him to raise one of his lightsabers, activated it, and thrusted it into the air and walked forward back towards the Jedi. As he did, the light which he neared dimmed to nothing. Not even a reflective glare escaped his path. Each beam of light was absorbed by his black blade, just exactly the opposite of what Magriel's white blades would do. When he walked, the Dark Lord focused upon the force to create a dense black cloud around him. Each step he took was a step closer the cloud consumed. Eventually, the whole room would be engulfed in complete darkness save from the lightsaber blades of Magriel, Nightshade, and Sakura. "Tell me Jedi, can you fight like that against an enemy which you can't see?" The sound of a second lightsaber hiss was heard, but nothing could be seen.

The Malkir suddenly feet the air in the room increase, and wind. Oh shit.... Magriel saw her throw the Shockwave at him, and he braced for the whirlwind as best he could. Placing one foot in front of the other, locking himself into the ground as much as he could. He shut off his lightsabers and placed his palms forward, in an attempt to absorb the blast yoda style. When the blast hit, the Malkir still stood straght up but he was shoved a good hundred feet or so behind him. He was able to absorb most of the blast, evident by the large blue ball forming inbetween his hands. However, he couldn't hold it together and was thrusted to the wall behind him anyways with a loud "oof."
Smirking, Lady Nightshade reignited her lightsaber and advanced on Magriel, ready to cut this worthless Malkir's head off.

Aelikes knew that there was no use in trying to beat this squirrel by sheer strength alone. He could just as well beat her now, but it'd take time and his patience was running thin. Aelikes blocked her blade with ease, and attempted to keep it in lock just long enough for him to dissappear into a puff of black and red smoke, his blades deactivating.

He distanced himself from Sakura just enough for him to raise one of his lightsabers, activated it, and thrusted it into the air and walked forward back towards the Jedi. As he did, the light which he neared dimmed to nothing. Not even a reflective glare escaped his path. Each beam of light was absorbed by his black blade, just exactly the opposite of what Magriel's white blades would do. When he walked, the Dark Lord focused upon the force to create a dense black cloud around him. Each step he took was a step closer the cloud consumed. Eventually, the whole room would be engulfed in complete darkness save from the lightsaber blades of Magriel, Nightshade, and Sakura. "Tell me Jedi, can you fight like that against an enemy which you can't see?" The sound of a second lightsaber hiss was heard, but nothing could be seen.
Darkness descended around her, but Sakura didn't stand around to get trapped. Instead, she stamped her heel on the ground, making the floor buckle and crack and rumble like a localized earthquake, all that directed at Aelikes to knock him down. Then she moved backwards toward the exit, beckoning Aelikes to follow. At the same time, though, the distant sound of a shuttle roaring overhead meant that Itachi and Dooku have decided to retreat from this planet. It didn't take long for them to use the Force to call Aelikes and Nightshade to follow...

Smirking, Lady Nightshade reignited her lightsaber and advanced on Magriel, ready to cut this worthless Malkir's head off.

A very, very, very big mistake on Nightshade's part. Grinning to himself, Magriel continued to lie down on the floor, playing "dead" until the opportune moment. As soon as Nightshade was in range the Malkir suddenly and swiftly sprung himself up from the floor, activating one lightsaber to meet her own. The other hand reached forward to grab onto her arm, which he'd use to thrust himself upwards even more to kick her right in the bleeding wound...



Darkness descended around her, but Sakura didn't stand around to get trapped. Instead, she stamped her heel on the ground, making the floor buckle and crack and rumble like a localized earthquake, all that directed at Aelikes to knock him down. Then she moved backwards toward the exit, beckoning Aelikes to follow. At the same time, though, the distant sound of a shuttle roaring overhead meant that Itachi and Dooku have decided to retreat from this planet. It didn't take long for them to use the Force to call Aelikes and Nightshade to follow...

Aelikes growled with hatred as the earchquake slamed towards him. No matter though. He simply was forced to make a dive away from the quake. He quickly got up and brushed himself up, and saw the girl run away as she motioned for him to follow. The Kirtir grinned and he ran on forward towards her, the dark cloud and absorbing light following him wherever he ran too. She will not escape the darkness which was following her. Aelikes needed just enough time to mess her up a bit before he decides to go on board the shuttle. As the darkness continued forward in front of him, the Dark Lord raised one arm and shot out the traditional lightning at Sakura.

A very, very, very big mistake on Nightshade's part. Grinning to himself, Magriel continued to lie down on the floor, playing "dead" until the opportune moment. As soon as Nightshade was in range the Malkir suddenly and swiftly sprung himself up from the floor, activating one lightsaber to meet her own. The other hand reached forward to grab onto her arm, which he'd use to thrust himself upwards even more to kick her right in the bleeding wound...
She was thrown in the air by the fierce kick and slid across the darkened room. Her wound bled more now, but she still wouldn't quit. But a tiny seed of doubt began to creep into her mind. This one is proving to be tougher than I expected...why?

Growling, she waved a hand and white crescent-shaped wind blades flew out at Magriel, each one flying at him like discuses.

Aelikes growled with hatred as the earchquake slamed towards him. No matter though. He simply was forced to make a dive away from the quake. He quickly got up and brushed himself up, and saw the girl run away as she motioned for him to follow. The Kirtir grinned and he ran on forward towards her, the dark cloud and absorbing light following him wherever he ran too. She will not escape the darkness which was following her. Aelikes needed just enough time to mess her up a bit before he decides to go on board the shuttle. As the darkness continued forward in front of him, the Dark Lord raised one arm and shot out the traditional lightning at Sakura.
Finally seeing the lightning, Sakura put her lightsaber in front of her, drawing the electricity in like a rod and then slammed a fist into the wall in such a way that the ceiling began to collapse on Aelikes' location.

She was thrown in the air by the fierce kick and slid across the darkened room. Her wound bled more now, but she still wouldn't quit. But a tiny seed of doubt began to creep into her mind. This one is proving to be tougher than I expected...why?

Growling, she waved a hand and white crescent-shaped wind blades flew out at Magriel, each one flying at him like discuses.


Simple enough for the Malkir to doge... Yet again. Hmm, this is oddly similar to the hoops Jorrus made me and Melisha run through... Good thing I practiced... He was beginning to enjoy the little exersize, though with more hopes that he'd just end up frustraiting her even more. So long as she doesn't throw in a few other tricks, he'll be fine just dodging her hoops.



Finally seeing the lightning, Sakura put her lightsaber in front of her, drawing the electricity in like a rod and then slammed a fist into the wall in such a way that the ceiling began to collapse on Aelikes' location.

Aelikes slowly gazed up at the ceiling, and a cackle erupted from the dark cloud facing Sakura. He slowly walked out of the way of the falling debree and held it in mid air with the force. From a distance, Aelikes threw the object out of the dark cloud and at the young girl. Unfortunately for her, the direction which it came from isn't whre Aelikes is standing...

Simple enough for the Malkir to doge... Yet again. Hmm, this is oddly similar to the hoops Jorrus made me and Melisha run through... Good thing I practiced... He was beginning to enjoy the little exersize, though with more hopes that he'd just end up frustraiting her even more. So long as she doesn't throw in a few other tricks, he'll be fine just dodging her hoops.
Getting frustrated with the Malkir dancing, Lady Nightshade sent forth a deadly drill-like tornado to rip through the man's chest. Unfortunately, she was running out of steam and knew that if she didn't end this man quickly, she would have to flee with her tail between her legs.

Aelikes slowly gazed up at the ceiling, and a cackle erupted from the dark cloud facing Sakura. He slowly walked out of the way of the falling debree and held it in mid air with the force. From a distance, Aelikes threw the object out of the dark cloud and at the young girl. Unfortunately for her, the direction which it came from isn't whre Aelikes is standing...
As Sakura dodged the piece of ceiling thrown at her, she knew that there wasn't much left she could do, unless...

She stomped the ground again, but this time, shards of earth came rushing out of the cracks that resulted, hurtling into the darkness. It was as if the very earth was being manipulated by the Jounin...

The crush had caused an eerie effect resulting from Kal'Shazzar's inhuman semi-physiology. In much the same manner as when one squeezes a water balloon until it pops, the sheer pressure in fact caused the Godulan's body to splatter outwards into the surrounding walls, burning into the rock with savage efficiency before eventually burning off unto nothing.

With Itachi's departure, it had seemed that he had indeed defeated the Godulan, until an arm formed from one of the larger puddles of Kythonstuff, soon to be joined by shoulders, a head, and about half of a torso. Kal'Shazzar attempted to reform his body from what he had left of his own material, but it simply wasn't enough. He grimaced in aggravation, and noted the newcomer's apparent concern.

"I knew it had to be like this. After what I've done, I couldn't well shirk my responsibilities, could I?"

Energy crackled about him for a moment, and his features slackened. "Not enough mass to sustain minimum energy levels. Not much time left now... I had some helpers in the communications center controlling the Golan platform. Make sure they are safe. It is too late for me, but perhaps there is time for one last experiment. I want to see what... beauty... is..."

And with that, he welled up the last of his energy reserves and initiated a sustained Tasp current into himself, attuning his own mind to the synaptic pattern of a dreamweaver exposure and allowing himself to drift into his own vision of paradise...

Shortly after, Kal'Shazzar's body twitched a couple times, and faded to several shades of gray while at the same time cracking and fracturing at several points. Devoid of sufficient energy to sustain itself and kept from burning away, the crystal structure had simply turned itself into stone. Kal'Shazzar's eyes stared serenely forward at nothing, blissful in oblivion.

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Though the Golan's Shields were very close to nothing now, the fire had slackened to the point that ever so slowly... oh so ever so slowly... the percentage diagnostic for the shields began to creep back up...

The former officer now controlling the Golan heaved a sigh of relief while watching the Kythons tear into the Tenetian fleet like sharks in a feeding frenzy. In a curious turn, the Godulan Vessels had not taken any specific damage during the greater portion of the combat, yet now that the fight was winding down, they started to take some hits. The primary reason for this was because several of the Kythons were actively interposing themselves into the fleet's field of fire, working to keep the Golan intact by sacrificing several of their number while the rest worked to tear the remainder of the Tenetian fleet to shreds.

Most of the previous damage had been dealt to the combined shielding of the Slaughterstar itself, which had been more than sufficient to deal with the Allegiance Star Destroyer in a one-on-one combat... if not massive overkill. Slaughterking Destroyers were just tiny little things compared to the Tenetian Imperial Destroyers, though, so when they moved to take some heat off of the Golan, attrition took a significant jump.

One Slaughterstar shattered into millions of pieces, unable even to bring its wounded form to ram an offending ship, while another, wounded as well, aimed itself towards a hangar bay and went into overdrive, regretting nothing. Still others took some dents and dings and saw their shields get conked about a bit, but fire continued to slacken closer and closer to nothing.

At about this point, a broadband communication went out from the Godulan vessels as Achaedus decided to offer a token of mercy.

This is General Achaedus of the Godulan Expeditionary Fleet to all Tenetian defenders. Lower your shields if you still have them, power down your weapons if you still have them, and surrender. We will kill you if we must, but this is your one and only opportunity to escape this battle with your lives.

Getting frustrated with the Malkir dancing, Lady Nightshade sent forth a deadly drill-like tornado to rip through the man's chest. Unfortunately, she was running out of steam and knew that if she didn't end this man quickly, she would have to flee with her tail between her legs.


The Malkir watched as the Tornado erupted from Nightshade. He was running out of the strength to continue to dodge her stuff, and to absorb it. He finally came to one conclusion: Jump as high as he could towards the ceiling and hold on. Use it as time to quickly regain some of his energy. Magriel jumped up as high as he could with the force, using tricks to jump along the sides of walls to help him get to the top of the ceiling. Surely Tornados don't move upward.


As Sakura dodged the piece of ceiling thrown at her, she knew that there wasn't much left she could do, unless...

She stomped the ground again, but this time, shards of earth came rushing out of the cracks that resulted, hurtling into the darkness. It was as if the very earth was being manipulated by the Jounin...

Poor Sakura, shooting blindly into the clowd. Aelikes continued his dark cackle as she missed him by a good 5 meters and he continued to hurl debris far way from his current position to continue to mess with the Jedi's mind.

The Malkir watched as the Tornado erupted from Nightshade. He was running out of the strength to continue to dodge her stuff, and to absorb it. He finally came to one conclusion: Jump as high as he could towards the ceiling and hold on. Use it as time to quickly regain some of his energy. Magriel jumped up as high as he could with the force, using tricks to jump along the sides of walls to help him get to the top of the ceiling. Surely Tornados don't move upward.
Unfortunately, the Tornado was controlled by Nightshade's dark powers and curled around higher and higher, prepared to strike at Magriel.

Poor Sakura, shooting blindly into the clowd. Aelikes continued his dark cackle as she missed him by a good 5 meters and he continued to hurl debris far way from his current position to continue to mess with the Jedi's mind.
Stretching out with her hearing, Sakura tried to pinpoint Aelikes' location and when he laughed, she hurled a boulder at him from the ground, then dodged the returning debris.

Then...

Lord Aelikes! Lady Nightshade! We are retreating now! Get to the shuttle or get left behind! Lord Itachi spoke in the Force.

Growling, Lady Nightshade decided that descretion was the better part of valor and left, but not before she replied. "I'll get you and your little apprentice too!"

The tornado dissipated and she teleported onto the shuttle...

Unfortunately, the Tornado was controlled by Nightshade's dark powers and curled around higher and higher, prepared to strike at Magriel.

Damn... It! Looks like he'll have to learn how to fight wind next time he encounters Daniel. Perhaps he can teach the Malkir more about his sisters powers. Magriel forced himself to jump to the other wall facing parallel to him, and kept himself in the classic hunch Spider Man was always in when he jumped buildings. And things were going so well...



Stretching out with her hearing, Sakura tried to pinpoint Aelikes' location and when he laughed, she hurled a boulder at him from the ground, then dodged the debris.

Then...

Lord Aelikes! Lady Nightshade! We are retreating now! Get to the shuttle or get left behind! Lord Itachi spoke in the Force.

Growling, Lady Nightshade decided that descretion was the better part of valor and left, but not before she replied. "I'll get you and your little apprentice too!"

The tornado dissipated and she teleported onto the shuttle...

Magriel watched as the Tornado dissipate as Nightshade left the scene, and jumped down from the ceiling right behind Sakura.

Aelikes growled loudly to both Itatchi's response and the boulder. The Dark Lord stopped it as hard as he could, and landed it on the ground with a loud "thump." He turned around to face directly to where she was standing, and saw the Malkir standing behind her.

"We'll meet again child. And next time, Cousin, you'll die." With that Aelikes dissapeared with a puff of black and red smoke and arrived onto the shuttle. As he did, the black cloud broke up and the light shown through the room once more.

Magriel sighed as Aelikes left. "He has no idea of what the Empire's true plans are... Shame he has to be blinded by the Dark."

"Is that so?" Sakura asked. "Well, looks like it's all over."

The shuttle rose as soon as Aelikes was aboard, heading for the Pillar at top speed...

"Is that so?" Sakura asked. "Well, looks like it's all over."

The shuttle rose as soon as Aelikes was aboard, heading for the Pillar at top speed...

When the shuttle docked, Aelikes was furious to see that no one was at their battle stations. When he got to the bridge, he found a scared shitless capatain who was still wearing the slave device around his neck.

"WHY AREN'T YOU IN BATTLE CAPTAIN!?"

"Sir... The Malkir... He threatened to explode my head and the ship if he ever got the sense we went to battle. There was nothing I could do..."

"FOOL! That collar is deactivated! It is totally useless!"

The captain's face turned to a ghostly pale white as he watched the collar slowly hover off of his neck and onto the floor. "Oh..." Was all he could stomach out.

"Guards! Escort this fool to the brig. Navigation! Set an immediate course to Tenetia."

"Right away sir!"

With that, the Pillar turned it's tail around with the Dark Lords on board and entered the Necrominus. Hopefully, they can make a tactical assessment as to what happened here and predict what the Coredian's next move will be.

Just before the Pillar left, the Godulan General Achaedus sent the Tenetian Fleet remnant a message:

This is General Achaedus of the Godulan Expeditionary Fleet to all Tenetian defenders. Lower your shields if you still have them, power down your weapons if you still have them, and surrender. We will kill you if we must, but this is your one and only opportunity to escape this battle with your lives.
"Not on your life! Well shall never surrender to you Godulan dogs!" One captain cried out even as thirteen Star Destroyers were left standing. By shouting so, he suddenly became the surviving commander of the fleet. Then he noticed the Pillar leaving, but not before Lady Nightshade sent the Retreat signal. "All ships, retreat!"

The thirteen Star Destroyers didn't even wait for their fighters to roll back into the hangar bays when they began fighting their way out of the combat zone and making the jump to hyperspace. The TIE fighters, brave Imperials that they were, began ramming the Slaughterstars for the Empire, knowing that their masters have left them to die. Well, if they are to die, then they shall die for the glory of the Empire!

It was a victory in favor of the Rebel Alliance, for the retaken Tantis System was but a stepping stone that would be used for the eventual invasion of Nightshade's Tenetian Empire itself. That fact allowed the Coredians to cheer long and loud, for while small, it was the first true victory in a long time over their Imperial counterparts.

The crush had caused an eerie effect resulting from Kal'Shazzar's inhuman semi-physiology. In much the same manner as when one squeezes a water balloon until it pops, the sheer pressure in fact caused the Godulan's body to splatter outwards into the surrounding walls, burning into the rock with savage efficiency before eventually burning off unto nothing.

With Itachi's departure, it had seemed that he had indeed defeated the Godulan, until an arm formed from one of the larger puddles of Kythonstuff, soon to be joined by shoulders, a head, and about half of a torso. Kal'Shazzar attempted to reform his body from what he had left of his own material, but it simply wasn't enough. He grimaced in aggravation, and noted the newcomer's apparent concern.

"I knew it had to be like this. After what I've done, I couldn't well shirk my responsibilities, could I?"

Energy crackled about him for a moment, and his features slackened. "Not enough mass to sustain minimum energy levels. Not much time left now... I had some helpers in the communications center controlling the Golan platform. Make sure they are safe. It is too late for me, but perhaps there is time for one last experiment. I want to see what... beauty... is..."

And with that, he welled up the last of his energy reserves and initiated a sustained Tasp current into himself, attuning his own mind to the synaptic pattern of a dreamweaver exposure and allowing himself to drift into his own vision of paradise...

Shortly after, Kal'Shazzar's body twitched a couple times, and faded to several shades of gray while at the same time cracking and fracturing at several points. Devoid of sufficient energy to sustain itself and kept from burning away, the crystal structure had simply turned itself into stone. Kal'Shazzar's eyes stared serenely forward at nothing, blissful in oblivion.
Reika was sad for Kal'Shazzar's death. Later, she would learn that he was party to Travis' slavery, but still, she would consider him honorable in the end. "Go to your heaven, Godulan."

"Go and check on the communications center. We will finish this up." Sasuke said as he moved off for the hangar bay, where Naruto and everyone were heading down from the roof.

"Yes, Father." Reika replied and went towards the comms center.

At the hangar bay, Sasuke was surprised at Naruto's revelation that Jesse turned against the Empire for the sake of his half-brother. His own nephew. How interesting that his brother left an issue for Sasuke. Sasuke smirked at the little boy, who eeped and hid behind Jesse, who stood protectively over the younger one and stared at the older man with a wary eye.

"So, that is your precious person." Sasuke said with an amused air. "My brother's son. How ironic."

Jesse looked at him. "You do anything to him, I'll make you pay."

Sasuke saw that he was serious about it. Jesse was powerful, from what he sensed, but he was no match for a fully trained Master of the ninja arts. Still, the boy reminded him of the Will of Fire. The willingness to die for your precious people, even when you're outmatched. Plus, he still had to get over the fact that he (and Sakura for that matter) were now related to the Masaki Clan through this kid. He smirked as he imagined the look on Daniel's face when he realized that. "Very well. I shall leave my nephew -Kiyoshi, was it?- in your care, under two conditions."

"Two conditions?" Jesse asked.

"Yes. On his eighth birthday, you will bring him before me to learn the Goukakyuu no Jutsu, for it is the trademark jutsu of the Uchiha Clan. You will also bring him to me on the day he activates his Bloodline Limit so that he can learn to use it properly. Is that acceptable for you?"

Jesse mulled it over for a moment. There was nothing sinister about it, and indeed, the Sharingan and the Fire Jutsus were things only Sasuke could teach. "Very well. Those are acceptable terms. Kiyoshi. Meet your Uncle Sasuke."

"Unkle Saske?" Kiyoshi squeaked from behind his brother's leg, looking up at his uncle. "Papa said you're poodoo!"

"I am not poodoo!" Sasuke replied hotly as his eyes twitched, growling at Naruto and Travis laughing at him and Jesse smirked for the first time in a long while. "Shut up, dobes!"

Then the Dragon Ryujin landed in the hangar bay and Travis had the reunion of his life when Kagome and Nick knocked him down, laughing and crying all the same, followed closely by Keith and Haruka, Shinji, Asuka, Kensuke and Toji, the latter four's Zoids roaring in triumph as victory was seized for good, the enemy surrendering or destroyed.

For now, life was good...

"This is foolish Jorrus. Bringing your two millitary experts AND the whole Council to a planet within the Tenetian Empire is crazy. We know that Tantis is controled by them and rumored by Magriel, god knows where he is, to be jointly owned by the Huntarian Empire as well. I don't like this. I smell a trap."

Jorrus smiled at Verneal's coment, looking at his cards and glancing at the other's he finally tapped the table. "Calm down General. My source is onehundred and fifty percent authentic. One please."

"One for the Supreme Councilor... Melisha? Blashka? You guys in or not?" Verneal sighed, "I still tell you it's not good. I tried it on you guys once when I was still serving them remember?"

Melisha looked at her cards, "two for me please."

Blashka frowned at his four, and looked again at the other card which was faced down. "Three please."

Jorrus smiled, "I knew there was a reason why I let you in. Ah, the good old tactics. Tell me, is Vorman still pondering how you lot were fooled by a bunch of fake imges of captured Empire Generals? I mean really, the trap of yours wasn't... Very clever at the time. We also got a good look at those prototypes you guys sent after us. Hehe..." Melisha and Blashka also laughed a little. Verneal however frowned and let a growl loose.

"That got me fifty lashings. I was lucky the Lord doesn't have my hide as a trophy." Verneal sighed, "three for Blashka, and two for the Bitch..." Melisha glared at Verneal, who glared back.

"All right you two, ENOUGH!" Blashka slamed his fist on the table, slightly startling Melisha and Verneal. "Has anyone seen my apprentice? I haven't seen him since we boared the Andromeda." The group looked up at the same time with their eyes widened. "If we haven't seen him for thirty minutes, he's getting into trouble."

"Naaaaaaah, we haven't dropped out of the 'minus yet nor have we had our own troops come to arrest us for some unknown reason," Melisha placed her cards down on the table and walked up to the food dispenser. "Hot chocolate," the machine hummed for a few seconds and a cup appeared. Melisha sighed and grabbed the cup, only to shreek and dropped it onto the floor. "Cockroaches!! DAMN YOU JUKASSA!"

This would be funny to the group if it weren't for the chime which just came in. "Councilor Jorrus, we've reached Tantis. We request your presence on the bridge."

"On my way, request clearance to orbit. Well, looks like we'll have to finish this some other time."


This is the R.S.S. Andromeda requesting permission to dock, and transport to your location. The Council is waiting for further instructions.

An hour has passed by the time the Huntarian Alliance Council and Master Elendil of the Coredian High Council both arrived to consolidate the gains made by the Battlestar Coredia and the accompanying members of Teams Seven through Nine, along with elements of the reserve Ninth Fleet to assist in said consolidation. Soon, Travis Masaki would return home in triumph to his parents but now was the time for jaw jaw.

"I have a better idea, Andromeda. We are presently meeting in the former castle of Lady Nightshade. Send the Council down here."

With that, Captain Holland of the Battlestar Coredia left defense of the system to his staff and headed down for the castle.

Meanwhile, Naruto was telling Travis of the latest happenings.

"So you're telling me that Dad just got sacked by Mom and now he's her whipping boy?" Travis asked. "Man, Mom's scary!"

"I wouldn't say that." Naruto replied, chuckling. "But yeah, your dad's taken a new job of head of the Starfighter Corps as your mom's now Empress of Coredia. It was quite a shitstorm, I can tell you that. I'm just glad that we're out here and don't have to worry about that stuff."

"Until we get back." Travis pointed out.

"Until then. Now we gotta think about where to go from here." Naruto said.

"I say we make the Imperials wish they've never known Travis Samuel Masaki! Hahaha!" Travis cackled, with thunder and lightning flashing behind him.

"I say we make you shut up, Travis-baka!" Kagome sighed, knocking him on the noggin with her staff of doom. "Seems the Imperials haven't beaten the stupidity out of you yet!"

"Ow! Kagome!" Travis whined, rubbing the bump that rose. "Seems time hasn't taken away your bitchness yet!"

"WHAT WAS THAT?! DIIIIEE!" Kagome roared, roasting the Masaki heir into ashes with her fire techniques.

Naruto just laughed and spoke an aside to his teammates. "The more things change, the more things stay the same."

Sasuke and Sakura agreed sagely. Then the Captain and the Jedi Master entered the main hallway with an amused glance at Travis' ashes, of whom were in the process of reconstituting themselves.

"The Huntarian Council have arrived and will be down momentarily." Captain Holland said to Team Seven.

"All right." Sasuke nodded.

Sufficient time had passed for the gargantuan Godulan Slaughterstar to reform itself, having shrugged off the kamikaze attempts from the stranded Tenetian fighters by virtue of disintegrating them whenever they got close and funneling their molecular residues into better uses. Several pocks marred the surface of the shimmering battleship as it came into orbit only a small distance from the Golan Defense Platform and sent strange filaments of crystalline material to latch onto the massive platform.

Now that the fight was over, the Godulans seemed more intent on mending their own wounds and sending crews onto the Golan in order to 'Uncover its Secrets' and prepare for it to see 'better uses'. The sheer brilliance of the Slaughterstar's internal glow cast an eerie green light upon the dark side of the planet, sufficiently intense to permit one to see shadows and read fine print and annoy old people trying to sleep.

With a distinct lack of flash and fanfare, the Slaughterstar found itself joined by another of the crystalline behemoths, which kept its distance from the planet, but also seemed to presage a sudden development on the planet itself.

Apparently the new Slaughterstar's primary function here was to relay ground forces.

Despite the fact that the planet was as good as taken, all around the planet green shafts of light announced the arrival of multiple wolfpacks of Gendarme Avatars and the occasional Starspider Siege Borg, charged with either eliminating any remaining pockets of resistance or assisting in consolidation of whatever control presently existed where necessary.

At the castle that had functioned as the nominal headquarters of the 'insurgency' and also one of the primary battlegrounds, a trio of avatars appeared. General Achaedus stood ahead of his two cohorts, dressed in the standard black and gold uniform of a Godulan commander save for a curious ankle-length sleeveless trench-coat. It all looked rather bulky, but it didn't bother the General in the least. The whole thing allowed him greater mass to function with, and despite how some entities thought Godulan uniforms were impractical, the only thing that ever mattered to a Godulan Avatar was how much mass he could fit into his frame.

They moved into the castle, ignoring other things until they came to a specific hallway with several former slaves consoling each other around the strangely sad statue of a crippled Godulan. The slaves turned at the approach of the three, some with tears in their eyes and others simply on the brink of despair, but did nothing when the General came to stand by the statue.

Achaedus knealt by the body of Kal'Shazzar and rested a hand upon the Godulan's sundered shoulder.

So are we going to bring him back? said a voice in his mind, He DID score us a Golan platform. And he DID make all of this fundamentally possible. Like it or not, he has proven himself to be an example of true Godulan ingenuity. It does not make up for his crimes from before, but we should not allow a mind that resourceful to go to waste.

I have placed a recommendation to restore and conduct a partial reformat, Achaedus replied to the Slaughterstar Commander. Kal'Shazzar will be brought back, but he won't remember anything, and we should be able to properly guide him this time. I think he deserves a new name, though... something he might have better approved of than a reference to knifeplay.

What about 'Sealtiel?'

The Defender? Its a possibility. Let us deal with those affected by his less honorable exploits.

Achaedus stood up and turned to the slaves. "I am General Achaedus of the Godulan Legion. We are aware of Kal'Shazzar's actions here, and before his death he presented us with information necessary to continue treatment and initiate rehabilitiation procedures. We understand that you and the others at that prison have undergone significant psychological stress that enabled you to place... a remarkable degree of faith in our comrade, but we hope to re-acquaint you with the capability of... finding beauty for yourselves, rather than from a reliance on a drug."

He pointed to his left, indicating the Godulan standing there. "This is Medical Adjutant Kar'Naxis. Please return with him to the prison so we can properly catalog survivors and establish a working regimen to help you recover."

"Y... yes sir..." replied on of the slaves, refusing to meet Achaedus facsimile of eyes and narrowly catching himself from striking a submissive stance.

With that, Achaedus turned and left with the third Godulan at his side. His objective now was the rather large clump of Coredians milling about in the courtyard, apparently catching up on things that had happened while the Masaki scion had been imprisoned.

"Greetings," he began as he strode up to the collection. "I am General Achaedus, Tactical Executor of the Godulan Expeditionary. This is Fleetlord Talisid," he gestured to the other Avatar, who bowed slightly. "We have several questions and concerns, now that the world of Tantis is firmly under our... somewhat combined control."

"I have a better idea, Andromeda. We are presently meeting in the former castle of Lady Nightshade. Send the Council down here."


Jorrus nodded in approval, "tell them we're beaming down momentaraily. It'll take two trips to have the whole council beam down."


Roger that. We're beaming down to the coordinates in a few minutes.

Minutes later, the highest Huntarian Alliance ranking officers found themselves cramped in a tiny transporter room. There were multiple murmers of "lets hurry this up," and "can we make these rooms bigger?"

Jorrus walked up onto the transporter platform and made a high pitch whistle to get the Council's attention, "Attention Councilors! I would like the first 10 ranking members to board first. Verneal, you too. Get up here."

"You know I hate having my atoms scrambled in space. I despise that thing."

"Yea, well it despises you too. Now get up here." Verneal grumbled and reluctantly stomped his way onto the transporter pad.

The transporter Chief looked up from his council, "I just imputed the proper coordinates Councilor Jorrus. Ready whenever you are."

"Energize." With that, the eleven officers were beamed down right in front of the group of Coredians. The eleven quickly dispersed to create more room for the next lot, and found that Jukassa did indeed make it to the Transporter room on time when the next group arrived. Then, Magriel appeared from the Castle's shadows, returning from his trip through the Huntarian Empire database. His face looked grim.

Jorrus walked up to Naruto, and respectfully bowed, "as you are probably aware by now, I am Supreme Councilor Jorrus. Leader of the Malkir Council. These are Councilors Melisha, Corran, Riddikor, Valeri, Blaska, Kori, Nirmando, Loritka, Wolvendor (who's special power is the werewolf transformation), Christila, Yushima, Grathor, Nernindo, Jaluka, Eplatus, Trinadous, Prutko, Dornaliku, Major General Verneal and Fleet Admiral Craimorn. The kid is Padawan Jukassa... I suggest you keep an eye on him. He's been nothing but trouble for us on occasion."

"Hey, I gotta find something to do on that boring ship..."

"So go use the Holodeck or Gymnasium. Don't replace our food with cockroaches in the replicators!"

"Hmph..."

"And this," Jorrus slowly walked over to Magriel, "Is Councilor Magriel, my second in command. Some of you may have recently known him as 'Lord Deshoonde.' So I assume we have some very important business to discuss?"

"Greetings," he began as he strode up to the collection. "I am General Achaedus, Tactical Executor of the Godulan Expeditionary. This is Fleetlord Talisid," he gestured to the other Avatar, who bowed slightly. "We have several questions and concerns, now that the world of Tantis is firmly under our... somewhat combined control."

"And this," Jorrus slowly walked over to Magriel, "Is Councilor Magriel, my second in command. Some of you may have recently known him as 'Lord Deshoonde.' So I assume we have some very important business to discuss?"
"One word: Jurai." Naruto nodded. "While it would be nice to follow up on this recent victory and launch an invasion into the Tenetian Empire, our overriding concern is that Lady Nightshade will seek retribution by launching a counterassault on our side of the galaxy."

"From the reports already gleaned from Jurai itself, it's a waiting game at this point." Captain Holland said.

"Indeed." Master Elendil said. "For now, we can do naught but wait and see what comes out of the peace talks between the Empress and Admiral Cain."

"In other news, Magriel and I managed to find a wealth of information on the Empire's projects here." Sasuke said. "Things that will be quite the concern should battle be joined again. Magriel will speak about these things now."

Meanwhile, a bored Travis Masaki (http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b269/Coredia/Masaki%20Family/Travis2.jpg) decided to talk to Jukassa, grinning. "Hey, did you really put cockroaches in your master's coffee? That's a good one!"

"One word: Jurai." Naruto nodded. "While it would be nice to follow up on this recent victory and launch an invasion into the Tenetian Empire, our overriding concern is that Lady Nightshade will seek retribution by launching a counterassault on our side of the galaxy."

"From the reports already gleaned from Jurai itself, it's a waiting game at this point." Captain Holland said.

"Indeed." Master Elendil said. "For now, we can do naught but wait and see what comes out of the peace talks between the Empress and Admiral Cain."

"In other news, Magriel and I managed to find a wealth of information on the Empire's projects here." Sasuke said. "Things that will be quite the concern should battle be joined again. Magriel will speak about these things now."

Meanwhile, a bored Travis Masaki (http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b269/Coredia/Masaki%20Family/Travis2.jpg) decided to talk to Jukassa, grinning. "Hey, did you really put cockroaches in your master's coffee? That's a good one!"

Magriel stepped forward, "I'm afraid I have some bad news. It would appear the Huntarian Empire is working on several top secret projects. All of them headed by Lord Vorman. Now we know they can't possibly be any good too us. One project is this thing they're calling "AI Imperius." It would appear they are attempting to intergrade it into all of their military systems. Now we all know what an AI can do. Higher efficiency for weapons, defences, tactical senarios, targeting, scanning... The list goes on and on. Hell, it could even opperate an Eclipse Star Destroyer on it's own if it wanted too.

Then there's the one the Coredians are somewhat aware of. It has multiple names such as "A Symphony of Horror," the others were erased from file. There were literally thousands of documented files of it, however they were all highly secured or were thorougly erased. However, I cross refferenced the projects name and got something very interesting: The name is based upon an ancient earth silent "movie" called "Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror." It was the first horror movie based upon Vampires. What we could gather is that the Empire plans on making a few more of these things other than the one which Pellaeon has encountered. Being that it is named after a Vampire, we could only speculate at this point as to what the thing can do. However, we have gathered some useful data from your battles with it. First, it would appear that any objects within this plane of existance don't effect it. Ordinary torpedoes seem to have no effect, as well as your turbolasers, Transphaseic Torpedoes included. Clearly this is a very devastating weapon of power." Magriel then moved forward to bring out a holographic imaging system, and connected it to a nearby panel.

"This one is perhaps the most disturbing of all to me. I found it while I was on Force-net digging for any information on this third project. Here's what I found. Pardon the lag, it would appear the Empire has attempted to erase this video from existance many times. This was recorded by one of our own scout ships within Empire space."


Transmission Commencing...
Feed Back in process...
Data tape retreived. Datauploading from Force-net.
Tape playing...

4652 ARC, (after republic colapse) Sunday, August 26, 9:45 am

A man sat in his command chair orbiting the central planet of the Ultraz System, Habat. It's sky was busy with inhabitants flying about their daily duties, getting breakfast, going to work, school, military academy, ect. They were there however because of some very disturbing rumors.

The man finally placed his hand on his arm rest, and pressed a button, "Engineering report. What's the status of the sun commander?"

"*Static* Sun's core is stable for now sir. It would appear to be functioning as normal as any 5.6 billion year old star would."

"Keep those scanners going anyways. I want to know the moment something happens."

"Rightyo sir."

A man with a beard as long as Santa Claus's walked up to the commanding officer, "sir, I still don't see how this system is of any interest of you or of the Alliance for that matter."

"Pacients number one. Their informant said there was something big going on in this system. A test of some sort on the star of some very large significants."

"I still don't see why Jorrus would be interested in this. I mean... Why the hell would the Empire be interested in tests on a friggin' star?"

"That's why Jorrus placed you as Executive Officer and not the Commander, Freud."

Freud snorted and walked back to his tactical station behind the captain's chair. "Sir... We're getting some odd activity on the planet's surfface. A message from the Empire on all channels has been sent to anyone who can recieve."

"Well then lets hear it."

"*Static* This is the Huntarian Empire, to all citizens of the Ultraz System. You are no longer permitted to leave your territory as ordered by the Emperor himself. Any citizen who ignores this warning will be fired upon on site if they leave the planet or system."

The X.O. snorted, "load of phoey if you ask me. Sure they can shoot people on the planet, but what about in space? There's absolutely no presence here what-so-ever. Sensors see jackshit sir."

The captain nodded, "agreed. But they usually don't make those kinds of threats unless they have the presence to do so... I can only think that..."

"SIR! A missile has just appeared from the direction of the third planet in the system!"

"On screen!" The camera then switches to the main viewer of the ship, which reveals a bright orange/yellow puff of smoke coming from the planet's outer atmosphere. "Magnify." The screen zoomed in some more and revealed a small rocket with small lettering on it.

"What the hell does that say? I can't read anything that small these days... I wish Melisha would just hurry up and heal my damn eyes."

"Trilithium Mk I it would appear... Why does that name sound so familiar..."

The XO's eyes widened, and remembered some of his old history texts. "Sir... It's a destructive weapon used in the ancient Phantom Wars. The Republic used it to destroy Phantom infested systems with the hopes of eradicating them from the system. "Purification" they called it."

The captain'ss eyes widened also, and his face turned pale. "If memory serves, it prevents nuclear fusion within a star... Battle stations! Time to intercept missile?"

The XO shakes his head, "sorry sir, but we're out of range with phasers, turbolasers, and torpedoes. We can't hit it."

The helms man pointed his finger at the view screen with fright, "look!"

The bright yellow sun turned to black as the fusion process suddenly and abruptly halted by the Trilithium Device. The sun shook on the view screen and a bright blue sphere erupted from it, followed by a white sphere which moved quicker than the blue one. She ship shook as the white sphere passed through them.

"Report!"

"The sun has produced a Level Four Shock Wave."

"That'll destroy everything in this system!"

"Helm turn us about! Maximum speed! Ensign! Get that camera connected to our computer and download everything we have recorded here tonight! Get it up on the Holo-net ASAP!"

"Aye sir!"

The camera's view suddenly shakes violently as the Ensign grabbed it and thrusted the necessary cables to download it's data into the Holo-net where any citizen can access it.

The Engineer chimed in on the intercom, "Captain! The shockwave somehow managed to make our systems hick-up! We can't activate the Necromius for another two minutes!"

"We don't have two minutes!"

"Camera uploaded now sir!"

"Too late!"

The view screen filled itself with a bright blue mass which contained large chunks of rock, dust and clouds from the four planets it just passed through. The screen erupts witht statuc.

Download coplete

Transmitting source terminated

End transmission

Have a nice day.

Silence echoed in the room as the three items of note were displayed before the Coredians. It was clear that these three projects would spell trouble for the Rebellion if brought together.

"..." Sasuke had his hands clasped together, brooding quietly.

Sakura gasped when the sun was destroyed. "That was...like..."

"A resonance torpedo." Naruto nodded grimly. "A starkiller."

"So, the Empire has created some interesting new toys." Master Elendil 's eyes narrowed.

A small *ahem* echoed and all eyes turned on Jesse. "There's more, mostly pertaining to the Tenetian Empire."

"More?" One of the kids echoed.

A datapad was connected to the holocam. "Three other destructive toys. The first, I'm sure you have experienced this before."

An image of a hypercannon was displayed, firing purple beams of destruction.

"This is a hypercannon. From the schematics, it is a weapon that draws directly from the energies within hyperspace to produce a destructive beam more intense than even a superlaser. As you know, it is able to one-shot ships, so it is a potential danger to the Coredian fleet. Next."

A giant black fortress (http://images.wikia.com/starwars/images/9/90/ShadowAcademy.jpg) hovered over the planet of Tenetia like a sword.

"This is the Black Star Fortress, my mother's favorite toy. It's slightly smaller than the Executor-class in diameter, but carries at least twice as many weapons and defenses as the Super Star Destroyer, including superlasers and hypercannons. It has enough power to maintain cloak and shields at the same time, is mobile enough to make hyperspace jumps and can give even a Golan V defense station trouble in battle. Between this station and five Golan Vs orbiting the planet, any invasion of Tenetia will have to take those into account."

"The third and last item is the most troubling, and is part of why I come to you."

A schematic of Nightshade's Imperial Palace was displayed next. Then the schematic turned into a cross section of the crust beneath the palace, with a hole buried all the way to the mantle. In the mantle, there was another room, with some kind of large round object in there.

"A hypermatter bomb. The Empire would not give up Tenetia without a price paid for the Rebellion. Should the planet fall, the Empire can and will detonate that bomb, blowing up the planet. As this is the Empire we are talking about, we can expect the highest security measures to prevent the bomb from being disabled. Any assault to retake the planet would have to include figuring out how to keep the bomb from destroying the planet."

"Aside from these three things, this datapad shows the number and specifications of all Tenetian forces, ground and space. We can be sure that it will be changed as soon as Mother realizes what has been stolen, but this will serve sufficiently as a baseline of what we can expect from the Tenetian Empire."

Naruto quirked a smile. "You've certainly boosted yourself up the Empire's to-kill list. Guess you really are an Rebel now."

Jesse scratched his cheek in thought. "I suppose so...I still feel weird about it..."

A small *ahem* echoed and all eyes turned on Jesse. "There's more, mostly pertaining to the Tenetian Empire."

"More?" One of the kids echoed.

A datapad was connected to the holocam. "Three other destructive toys. The first, I'm sure you have experienced this before."

An image of a hypercannon was displayed, firing purple beams of destruction.

"This is a hypercannon. From the schematics, it is a weapon that draws directly from the energies within hyperspace to produce a destructive beam more intense than even a superlaser. As you know, it is able to one-shot ships, so it is a potential danger to the Coredian fleet. Next."

A giant black fortress (http://images.wikia.com/starwars/images/9/90/ShadowAcademy.jpg) hovered over the planet of Tenetia like a sword.

"This is the Black Star Fortress, my mother's favorite toy. It's slightly smaller than the Executor-class in diameter, but carries at least twice as many weapons and defenses as the Super Star Destroyer, including superlasers and hypercannons. It has enough power to maintain cloak and shields at the same time, is mobile enough to make hyperspace jumps and can give even a Golan V defense station trouble in battle. Between this station and five Golan Vs orbiting the planet, any invasion of Tenetia will have to take those into account."

"The third and last item is the most troubling, and is part of why I come to you."

A schematic of Nightshade's Imperial Palace was displayed next. Then the schematic turned into a cross section of the crust beneath the palace, with a hole buried all the way to the mantle. In the mantle, there was another room, with some kind of large round object in there.

"A hypermatter bomb. The Empire would not give up Tenetia without a price paid for the Rebellion. Should the planet fall, the Empire can and will detonate that bomb, blowing up the planet. As this is the Empire we are talking about, we can expect the highest security measures to prevent the bomb from being disabled. Any assault to retake the planet would have to include figuring out how to keep the bomb from destroying the planet."

"Aside from these three things, this datapad shows the number and specifications of all Tenetian forces, ground and space. We can be sure that it will be changed as soon as Mother realizes what has been stolen, but this will serve sufficiently as a baseline of what we can expect from the Tenetian Empire."

Naruto quirked a smile. "You've certainly boosted yourself up the Empire's to-kill list. Guess you really are an Rebel now."

Jesse scratched his cheek in thought. "I suppose so...I still feel weird about it..."

Magriel nodded to Jesse, he knew the feeling. "It will pass over time. Looks like I have more information if those items from Nightshade's side bother you. The Empire seems to be growing even more powerful with their own little toys. While we're on the subject of weapons and stations, it would appear the Empire has created a few new system defenses. Most of their Navy stuff is fairly open, except for the technology which is on their ships. It would appear that they are constructing a new Super Command Ship which they are calling the "Leviathan." It is to be probably one of the laragest ships in existance, nearly 30 kelometers in length. And that's for starters.

They've also developed something called the "Ultra" Turbolaser, equivelant to nearly 50 Advanced Heavy Turbolasers. Then for further kicks, they've created two new Battle Stations. The first is something similar to your mother's Black Fortress. Smaller than an Executor class, but it contains twice the fire power. It is also equipped with Multi-Phased shielding, and what would appear to be an improved version of the Multi-Layered Shielding System. And to make things even more difficult for us, they have Torpedo Replicators. Meaning they can reproduce devices such as Transphaseic Torpedoes and their radiation effective Hellfire Torpedoes. And they're turreted too. Meaning they no longer have to swing their ships around to target you. They've also created a 'downgraded' version, similar in design to a thinner Cloud City located in Bespin. Don't underestimate them though.

Then there's their special platforms and new bomber. This gets very lovely here. Their Platforms are no bigger than a Tie Fighter, so their torpedo version can only fire one at time. However, massively swarm these together, and you got a serious problem. They are also equipped with Replicators, making them even more dangerous than at first glance. They also have new FTLi platforms, making Warp Drives, Hyperspace Drives, and Necrominus drives inoperable. Doesn't stop us from doing mini-jumps though. Now, their bomber... Doesn't look like much on paper but I'd advise to watch out. It also has replicators on it as well as several heavy armaments of lasers. Then I did get something about a new Torpedo design, but I couldn't get any more. Most of the data is either jarbled, erased, or blocked by high security protocals."

Achaedus and Talisid remained motionless during the odd little spurt of information flying back and forth, paying particular attention to the 'Imperius' and Sunslayer portions and recording everything for later incorporation. As the holo-clip of the Ultraz system ended, the pair seemed to develop a curious green glow in the depths of their eyes, as though charging themselves up with some form of internal energy. Though they showed no real sign of reaction apart from their subtle 'outburst' from the Sunslayer recording, about the only sign of 'response' would have been what amounted to a mental 'eye rolling' from Talisid.

"We might be able to deal with the Hypermatter bomb," Achaedus commented, "but it will take some preparation. As for the rest... all in a day's work. We would like to know if there is further information about the 'AI Imperius' mentioned earlier. We are curious if it would be possible to present us with Huntarian Imperial programming code and computational algorithms, if not, we'd like to know if that information could be acquired at some point in the near future."

Talisid broke in as well. "Is ALL this shit supposed to be getting dumped on Tenetia, or is this just some sort of technological dick-waving contest?"

Achaedus gave Talisid a mental warning, but the commander continued on. "Don't get me wrong, I'm all for taking what intel I can get when the opportunity presents itself, but we're practically standing on the smoking ruins of a former Imperial Stronghold chattering on and on about how your respective counterparts are developing all sorts of flashy gizmowidgets. You'll have to pardon me if I say that YOU guys have bigger fish to fry... namely a very large group of Chronosian and Associated Vessels sitting there casting the evil eye on various Coredian worlds.

"We came here to inform you that with everything said and done, you lot need to get moving, and us Godulans here can get to work with System-forming in preparation for an assault on the Tenetians that even their newest novelties will be hard pressed to combat."

"We might be able to deal with the Hypermatter bomb," Achaedus commented, "but it will take some preparation. As for the rest... all in a day's work. We would like to know if there is further information about the 'AI Imperius' mentioned earlier. We are curious if it would be possible to present us with Huntarian Imperial programming code and computational algorithms, if not, we'd like to know if that information could be acquired at some point in the near future."

Magriel sighed, "we have no further information about Imperius, even Aelikes appeared to not know about it and his mind is easy enough for me to read. It was a small blurp mentioned in the Empire's files. Evidently, they are keeping their codes off records as to prevent people like you and me from getting their hands on. Something doesn't feel right about this Imperius project."


Talisid broke in as well. "Is ALL this shit supposed to be getting dumped on Tenetia, or is this just some sort of technological dick-waving contest?"

Achaedus gave Talisid a mental warning, but the commander continued on. "Don't get me wrong, I'm all for taking what intel I can get when the opportunity presents itself, but we're practically standing on the smoking ruins of a former Imperial Stronghold chattering on and on about how your respective counterparts are developing all sorts of flashy gizmowidgets. You'll have to pardon me if I say that YOU guys have bigger fish to fry... namely a very large group of Chronosian and Associated Vessels sitting there casting the evil eye on various Coredian worlds.

"We came here to inform you that with everything said and done, you lot need to get moving, and us Godulans here can get to work with System-forming in preparation for an assault on the Tenetians that even their newest novelties will be hard pressed to combat."


Verneal stood up, glaring at Talisid, "as a former commander of the Empire's forces, I believe I may be able to reply to this. Yes, the Chronosian and their allied assault is the more presssing matter. Sure this may seem like a 'who has the bigger dick' contest on the surfface, but I know for a fact that the Huntarian Empire is most likely going to use 'em on their Crusade with their Chronosian Allies. All except for this Imperius, because from the Councilor's description is sounds like it's not finished yet and possibly the Trilithium device unless they feel that they can't win the fight. I have a strong feeling they want the worlds intact and will try to avoid the use of this weapon, knowning the Empire as I do. They would rather purge the people from their so-called 'misbeliefs' and 'facts' and have a larger population under their control instead of a vast waste land. They usually develop these super-weapon projects to show, to say 'we can if we have to.'"

"Mother would do anything to destroy us, especially now that she has lost two of her sons to the Rebellion." Jesse said to the Godulan. "The knowledge I give you, you can do as you will with it."

"Now we come to the important point. What to do about Jurai." Captain Holland said.

No sooner had he spoke than a report from the Battlestar Coredia came down to Naruto that Balrogga has invaded Konoha. "Dammit! Guys, the Balroggans have begun at Konoha! Oh, and your Dad says hi and to keep training hard."

"Scratch Jurai. Konoha has the Academy students!" Travis exclaimed, unhappy at the invasion happening just when he's finally got word that Dad (and Mom) were alive.

"Uh huh," came Talisid's reply to Verneal, "but it would be somewhat more tactically prudent to bring this information to folks who would more urgently require the information that you seem to be passing amongst yourselves like valentines' day cards. The Masaki boy's parents would be better able to adapt to all of these 'developments', and standing here chatting about it while there is very likely to be an invasion coming down onto the Coredians heads at any sec--"

With Naruto's outburst, Talisid simply gestured at the Ninja and gave Verneal a 'SEE WHAT I TOLD YOU?' look.

"You lot need to get moving... we cannot assist there, but we do wish for a swift victory..."

Verneal glared at Talisid and was about to move from his position when he felt Jorrus's hand land on his shoulder firmly, "No," was all the Councilor had to say and Verneal stayed put, Verneal continued to glare at him though. "We've already begun to transfer the information as quickly as possible. Hopefully, Daniel and those on Konoha will get the information. Now General, if you would propose our plan which we have discussed."

The General stood up, "before we begin I have to ask the Coredians one thing: If you have any information on the Alliance's whereabouts or any information regarding special GFFA projects, I have to ask you to erase it completely from your databanks. If the Empire should capture one of your strong holds intact, with this information floating around, it'll be our end. The Empire will most likely have thier HK droid hack into the computers and upload them. With their information, they could and will exploit it. Now..."

Verneal pluged in a small chip into the Holo-emitter, and the systems of Jurai and Konoha emerged in the room. "From what we can understand, it would be logical to assume that they will likely assault your ship yard at Konoha just like they did when the Empire destroyed the Chimera, except this time with more ships. We will be able to send some small amount of ships to help back you guys up for your evacuation of the planets. Our idea is to send in two fleets made up of mostly our Torpedo Frigates where we will spam your Quantum Shatter Missiles into the enemy, as well as our Seismic Torpedoes and Transphaseic Torpedoes. We're still debating about using sub-space weaponry, due to their destructive nature. We want the Konoha system to be intact for us to re-conquer in a later date. Hopefully with our Tactical Scrambling Defense System, the Enemy will have a difficult time locking onto us. It would be similar to the Empire's HEWS system. We can use our ships as a destraction, to help buy your ships some time to evacuate. Any suggestions? Comments?"

Verneal glared at Talisid and was about to move from his position when he felt Jorrus's hand land on his shoulder firmly, "No," was all the Councilor had to say and Verneal stayed put, Verneal continued to glare at him though. "We've already begun to transfer the information as quickly as possible. Hopefully, Daniel and those on Konoha will get the information. Now General, if you would propose our plan which we have discussed."

The General stood up, "before we begin I have to ask the Coredians one thing: If you have any information on the Alliance's whereabouts or any information regarding special GFFA projects, I have to ask you to erase it completely from your databanks. If the Empire should capture one of your strong holds intact, with this information floating around, it'll be our end. The Empire will most likely have thier HK droid hack into the computers and upload them. With their information, they could and will exploit it. Now..."
"I'll get the word to Tsunade, but it's likely she's already starting to destroy the data." Naruto said.

Verneal pluged in a small chip into the Holo-emitter, and the systems of Jurai and Konoha emerged in the room. "From what we can understand, it would be logical to assume that they will likely assault your ship yard at Konoha just like they did when the Empire destroyed the Chimera, except this time with more ships. We will be able to send some small amount of ships to help back you guys up for your evacuation of the planets. Our idea is to send in two fleets made up of mostly our Torpedo Frigates where we will spam your Quantum Shatter Missiles into the enemy, as well as our Seismic Torpedoes and Transphaseic Torpedoes. We're still debating about using sub-space weaponry, due to their destructive nature. We want the Konoha system to be intact for us to re-conquer in a later date. Hopefully with our Tactical Scrambling Defense System, the Enemy will have a difficult time locking onto us. It would be similar to the Empire's HEWS system. We can use our ships as a destraction, to help buy your ships some time to evacuate. Any suggestions? Comments?"
"If we're going to go to Konoha, I suggest you use whatever kinetic energy weapons you have in your fleet arsenal, because energy weapons -aside from superlasers and the like- are less than effective against the Balroggans, as you probably know." Captain Holland said. "But we have little time to waste. It's time to save Konohagekure no Sato."

With that, the meeting was over and everyone prepared to leave the planet. Mecha were repackaged and sent up to the fleet. Two companies of Marines will remain on the planet to assist the prisoners in rehabiliation, with the 4th Fleet elements staying in orbit to defend it along with the captured Golan V defense station. The kids and the adults reboarded the Battlestar Coredia, this time with a determined Travis Masaki and new present company in tow. Master Elendil will be going with the Coredia as his famous Battle Meditation skill would provide a useful power against the Balroggans, and the fact that numerous of the Order were still on the planet as far as he was aware.

As soon as everyone was settled, the Captain ordered the Battlestar Coredia to Jump. No one, but no one attacks Konoha and gets away with it, and the Battlestar is about to show the enemy why...