A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away....
Star Wars
The Succession Wars
The Galaxy has fallen into Dark Times, what was to be time of celebration was one of pain and misery. The Emperor and his Dark Apprentice are dead, but the galaxy remains at peril. For twenty years the Succession Wars have waged, nations rise and fall, engulfed in the chaotic fires of war and there seems to be no end in sight.
And now, yet another conflict is on the rise in the Outer Rim, the Dominion of the Gordian Reach, an Imperial Successor State, plots against it's neighbor, the Confederation of Independent Systems, in an effort to seize control of the Hydian Way from them, they send a task force to the Tandun System, setting the first stages of the Invasion.


Deep in the far edges of the Tandun System, a fleet of over a dozen dominion vessels of varying sizes and classes flash out into existence as they exited hyperspace. Among their numbers was a single Imperator Star Destroyer, two Venators, nine Nebulon frigates, two Centurion Carriers and five Acclamators. As all ships were accounted for, they all begun to cruise along the deep void of space, like sea ships of old, carefully bypassing the asteroid ring orbiting the system's outer reaches, not alerting what forces may have been stationed here, although such discreetness will not do them good for long.

Aboard the Relentless, Flagship of the Vanguard Battlegroup
An aged man in his fifties, Admiral Terek Zaamil was his name, dressed in your typical imperial officer's uniform, with grey hair start to show, he sat in his private quarters somewhere within the Relentless, looking out the window, observing the stars and taking in the peace and quiet before the inevitable battle to come, although he did not dread the battle to come, oh no, he n fact was waiting with much glee, for fifteen years ago, this very system was the site of a major battle against the Separatists before they took over the sector, he was but a captain at the time, the local warlord had amassed all the ships they could spare to meet the separatsts head on. As expected, the battle went terribly for the imperials, many had deserted, him included. He took his ship and fled to the Gordian Reach, and swore himself that he one day return, and it seems that his moment of triumph was near, he wouldn't be a coward like before.

His meditation was disrupted by several beeps coming from the armrest of his chair, he pressed down a few keys. "Admiral we've left the Asteroid Field, and the fleet will be ready for another Hyperpace Jump within a few hours." said a young woman.

"Good, good." He replied. "Have some Probe Droids sent ahead and survey the system, keep me updated until our arrival."

"Yessir."

Onboard the bridge of the "Glorious" Ravager

"I'm sorry, you'll to run this by me one more time. What are you doing in the outer rim?"
The Commandant grimaced and mentally face-palmed. Ul-tera was a good man and a noble leader, but he could be really annoying sometimes. Why he didn't trust her proffesional judgement was beyond her, as she'd proven on multiple occasions she knew what she was doing.
"My lord," Bal-sha said slowly "We have it on good authority the Dominion is going to make a move on the Tandun System. We have to be there to stop it."
"Why? We have no interests in the Tandun System. We have no interests in the Outer Rim. What differance does it make if a few Independent Systems fall? Why should we care?"
"We should care because it's the Empire. And the last thing we need is more Imperials."
Now it was Ul-tera's turn to grimace. Bal-sha was a capable commandant, but sometimes she got a bit too emotional on the job.
"Commandant, those are our men and women on your ships. I don't want you to engage unless it's necessary. I don't care if the Emperor himself had resurrected and was on one of those ships, you will not attack unless you have to."
"With all due respect, sir, it was the Empire that made Xa-fel the way it was."
"The Empire is dead, Bal-sha." The Commandant shivered at the mention of her name. Ul-tera always called her Commandant on the job. If he was calling her by name, he must be serious. "The successors are not Imperials, as much as they'd like to be. Leave them be."
Bal-sha couldn't keep the childishness out of her voice "But Sir, they might..."
"Commandant, there are many in the Collective who hate the Imperials as much as you. But we have to keep things cordial for now. Currently, they don't have a reason to attack us. Please, don't give them that reason"
"...Fine. I'll keep watch for now. But if they attack us, I won't hold back."
"That's all I ask. And hurry home once you're done. I have something you might like"
The communication screen blinked shut, allowing the Commandant to step back. She hated this. The Empire could take the entire system, and she would have to sit and watch.
"Order the ships into a defensive position, boys" she barked "And wait for the fireworks"

The Grey Wolf , Thrawns Command ship

Commander Thrawn was sitting in his holographic second bridge. Looking at countless pieces of art now lost to him directly because of the empire's collapse.
He had build up his realm collecting pieces of arts.

With the need to gain extra income he had attacked A sector in the known Galaxy. This had revealed him and his Empire to other factions and groups.
But Thrawn had planned for this. There where several steps he will take and prepare to resurgance of the New Order.

But For His Plan to Work several preperations where needed. He would need Ships , Money and additional personal.
But Before He could work towards that way he would need to make sure his Capital sector could not be easily reached.
War still raged on as warlords had build up their forces.

The Imperials sought to estbalish their own regions. Captains , Admirals , corperations and more wanted their indepedance and to rule. Thrawn's position as grand admiral would not suffice to persuede him. Nor where there large of Factions of Imperials Close enfough he could form an Imperial confederacy with.

He would have to use his forces to beat Imperial warlords and pirates. But Thrawn was not willig to simply wipe out The Warlords , their forces or ships could still greatly Aid Thrawns effort.

Admiral Gilad Pellaeon was standing at the door of Thrawns meditation room. The Admiral had taken great effort to adjust himself to Thrawns way of doing things.
"Admiral Gilad Pellaeon bringing a report abo-". He stopped as the door oppend , and than another door allowing him to get close to Admiral Thrawn.

"We have started a minor loan of the bank to build A Carrier and a Chaff destroyer. Also we have begun training ground forces for our Planned operations in the Dantus Region"

Thrawn calm and cooly stated " Is the fleet ready for the Clasciss Operation?". Pellaeon responded " We can Use the Hyper Space route to Strike at the resurgant Banking Clans." Pellaeon licked his lips and asked " I am confused , we are building ground forces. But they are as you said intended for the sector south of the Capital."

Grand Admiral thranw raised an eye brow. "That is correct, You will know in soon time Pellaeon. I trust the fleet is ready and the Mining molls??"

Pellaeon gave a nod with an affirmitive "Yes Grand Admiral"

Some Time Later

The Fleet had come out of Hyper space.
Pellaeon in Thrawns Holographic room "Full Power to shields and weapons , Open Hanger bays and lauch Fighters ". The Fleet had arrived in a I I formation , Leaving an opening right in their center.

At The planet of Gwori where about 4 Munificent-class star frigates. They Engaged the empire of the Hand's fleet and rushed forward to get into close squarters with the Hand' frigates and destroyers.

It seemed the Hand's formation was falling apart as the frigates wedged the two formations. That was untill the Ships turned the buttom of their ships towards the frigates. The Commander had not seen this was an unique Galm. The Bombers who had not eyt deployed spewed forth and than use the the opening in the I I formation to strike directly at the unprepared ships who could not manouver because of they where now stuck in the center of the I I movement.

The Ships where destroyed as Thrawns Fleet moved closer. Soon several boarding pods where send to ships still hanging in the Docks. The Ships themlself needed little crew so a much smaller skeletal crew was needed.

Ground Forces where able to drive of the workers and destroyed the few battle droid guards there. Main mission now was to take out the last Defenses of the shipyard.
A Space station with quite a lot of Armenants.

But Thrawn had expected it , his front ships had moved appart for his Gaolm operation. But they had the chane to recupperate and with the aid of the 30 bombers capable of Hyper space and all the bombers and fighters carried by the carriers. The Destroyers who had large room between eachother attacked the space station with the bommers targeting their shield generators. The Space station could not focus fire as they where basicaly surrounded in an half circle.

It diidn't take long before the space station and not the Shipyard was destroyed.
With the space station gone Thrawn's forces quickly overrun any space ports.

Eventualy after 3 Tiresome hours for the crew the operation was ready. They had captued an amount of the Banking Clans Ships.
Thrawn before leaving had gotten enfough reports and counting to see he had taken 5 Munificent-class star frigate.
5 Frigates that where able to leave the systeem and just needed some work to be compelted. The rest of the ships there where not even close to being completed.
He had lost an amount of 4 Nssis-clas Clawcraft and 6 Furion-class assalt bombe capable of Hyper drive.
He Ordered that the stations remain Intact but that all Frigates the ycoulden't take where to be destoryed.

With This act he had secured the frigates. If he really needed ships he could attack pirates.
But this had served as a double mission. With the frigates he had dedicaited heaivily armed troops transports and supprot ships.

His Main fleet woulden't lose its combat effectivness and his troops could be carried by the frigates and that the Banking Clan had lost a small fleet of ships was a bonus for future expeditions.

Using his skeletan crews to bring them Back to the Prefsbelt Secotr and eventualy to The Hand of Thrawn stronghold.
But Thrawn lacked sufficiant crew for the ships to be optimal so he simply held him at Scyan fleet services untill he needed them

Now Thrawn had to wait untill his resources allowed him to do another Surgical strike. Warlords and Pirates would amuse him untill he was ready to strike in force.

The Tandum system located on the edge of CIS space. Considered a backwater planet with no strategic significance. The only thing on the planet was small separatist listening post protected by a small company of 50 men and 150 droids all lightly armed. In low orbit there is only a small fleet with one cruiser, three destroys and a corvette. They had no idea what was to come in the next few hours.

Aboard the flagship Far Star was a young man in his late thirties. Sat in his command chair slumped over looking board. He had been assigned here for two years. In the past he had been a rising star in the navy however now he was a nobody because he had made a lot of enemies in the navy along the way. One of which was an officer who managed to get back at him by getting him resigned to this backwater system. He had no idea how boring this system was. There were no major threats within range such as rebels or restless warlords. On rare occasions they had the odd pirate or smuggler to deal with but usually they were only small time criminals with nothing that could challenge them. As such he disappeared into obscurity never to appear in any glamorous reports again. His name is Terran Parat not that it matters any more.

Down on the ground buried deep into the side of the mountain on Tandum III was a small listening post. They were there to monitor imperial channels for intelligence on military movements and important news. It usually takes them months to decode transmissions and by that time they are too outdated or unimportant to care about. Most of the time they have to guess what the imperials are up to based of activity in the area and where the transmissions are coming from. Unfortunately they hadn't picked up any information about the fleet heading there way I fact there intelligence suggested that the imperial fleets weren't anywhere near there boarders.

A Requiem for a Dream
Part the First

Below the surface of an unidentified ocean-world in GRM space...

The conveyor moved at a slow pace, the depths of the ocean above his head ebbing with unseen currents as various species of animal life swam about ignorant of what transpired right before them. To either side of him stood members of the research teams, these two being Mon Calamari settlers who had joined into the Republic nearly ten years ago. Their loyalty was solid as far as he was concerned, and if there were any doubts, this facility would be the undoing of such thoughts. For eight years he had watched the construction of this endeavor, and for that time he had kept the costs hidden from the others of his Republic, choosing to take the route of "Better to ask forgiveness than permission.". This was all despite his position within the Republic, in that he still had to maintain order and justify his spending of capital. Such spending that regardless of its validity, would not have flown with the likes of the Tarisian League on overwatch. Before him, the facility began to loom from the depths, sprawling swathes of fabricator arrays and scaffolding attached to the sides of the monolithic construction. In many areas the scaffolding and fabricator arrays were being pulled away, the smooth face of the facility exposed to the ocean's waters fully.

A tap at his shoulder indicated that it was time to equip the breathing equipment, for the rest of the journey would be underwater. Attaching the respirator tubes to his mask, the Paladin engaged the oxygen tanks just as the airlock was cycled and the trio departed from the facility. From their new vantage, he could look fully upon the facility, admiring its wedge shaped design and the smooth sweeping flanks concealing deadly defenses. Beneath many of the panels below him were state of the art turbolaser emplacements, constructed to exacting standards and ensured of their performance under the most intense environments. Truly this facility would serve him well, and the more he looked upon the work the more he was enamored with it. It was truly a shame that he would never be able to command it from within, cursed to be an observer of its might. With time they found themselves entering a large open space in the side of the facility, a space that would otherwise be considered a hangar bay for starships were it not submerged under several hundred meters of ocean water. Once within, they found themselves confronted with a completely submerged complex of corridors, the lighting sufficient enough to light the darkness of the depths and show them the way to their destination.

All around them in the facility, clones swam about unaided by equipment, these ones having been created specifically for an underwater environment. The farther in they went, the more the facility seemed starship like in design, with sprawling corridors built in decks and bulkhead doors at numerous intersections. With the surface above being cleared of traveling vessels, and the attached structures of the facility being detached, it seemed very likely that the facility was a starship, albeit of massive size. The Paladin chuckled to himself as he thought of the project, and what it would mean for the GRM. For this facility to fulfill his expectations, would mean that the GRM would have in its hands a significant asset to use as leverage in the growing conflict surrounding them. He found himself in a circular room, presented with a pair of Mon Calamari and one of the Clone commanders, each of them uniformed in standard GRM Navy dress with the insignia of the old Mandalorian clans across the breast and the phrase "SGRN - Paladin" above the emblem. They came to attention in his presence, the salute rather awkward in the present environment, but he returned it with pride, eager to see to it that the facility be put to use.

"Mand'alor, we are ready at your command." The Clone spoke via sub-vocal implants in his throat, the speech translated directly into short-range comms which fed into the Paladin's helmet. He gave a nod and the commander input a series of commands into the computer panels in front of him, their displays lighting up at his touch and relaying his orders across the breadth of the facility. Deep within the facility, the main reactors fired up with the fury of an awakened deity, their power filling the ship with life and causing a slow tremor to build in the aft of the vessel. A slow and rolling groan filled the facility as the tremors built up to a crescendo and then ceased, a sudden calm filling the facility. Across the viewport in front of him, the Paladin watched as the floor of the ocean gave way and seemed to drop even further into the depths, a sight which was both terrifying and thrilling for him to view. Dozens of reports flooded into the room as stations across the facility reported all-clear and the view began to lighten ever gradually. Finally, just as the final systems report came in, the viewport suddenly gave way to a vista of clear and open ocean all the way to the horizon. Despite his misgivings, the facility had managed to surface without trouble, and now was ready for the final stage of its journey.

Departing the bridge of the facility, the Paladin made his way to the now open-air bays of before to find a shuttle parked for him. Releasing the respirator tubes and returning his helm to normal filters, he breathed in the smell of freshly oxidized durasteel and the faint odor of chemical additives to the liquid filling the corridors he left behind. A few more steps brought him to the shuttle and not long afterwards he was in orbit watching as the massive engines at the rear of the 15 kilometer vessel ignited and lifted the vessel from the ocean's surface in a wave of energy. Within moments it was in orbit and gearing up for rendezvous with its attendant fleet at the Borkeen OCDC, and from there it would truly undertake its maiden voyage. For now, though, the Paladin had just witnessed the launch of a new type of vessel for the Grand Republic, a starship capable of holding the line against varied threats and deny the enemy. The SGRN-Paladin was merely the first of a new generation, and it would see the stars united in peace once more under the guidance of the Republic.

Several pods containing viper probe droids came thrusting out from the blackness of space as they were inbound towards Tandun III's moon,however one of them had veered off course, and continued it's fiery descent toward the planet. The other two pods continued their own course, creating clouds of dirt and stone upon impact with the moon's harsh surface, they were bound to be noticed by any incoming patrols, but if the droids were lucky, they would not.

As the clouds scattered to the solar winds, a pair of Viper Droids came rising from their respective craters, going their separate ways as the first lifted upward, leaving the moon as it ventured off to scan for any ships in orbit. The second had just wandered on the moon itself.

Elsewhere on the surface of Tandun III, the third pod came crashing down for miles through jungle, leaving a rather noticeable trail of fire and destruction. If the Separatists didn't notice their arrival on the moon, they certainly will know now with the third's entry. The Probe Droid rose from the burning remains of the trees, moving onward to scout out for any Confederate settlements or bases in the region, if any were to be found that is.

The Grey Wolf , Thrawns Command ship

Thrawn knew that he could essentiely take control of the planets. But maintaining control would require ground forces , a police force as a minimum.
He could leave Some ships above the sector capital to ensure the Empire of the hand had control.

Than land his phalanx forces to take control of the capital and begin extering its control over the planet. There could be a chance that if he was able to kill the warlord that the planet would fall to its new conquerers. But there was a chance that didin't happen.

Still the sector capital he was attacking lacked Major space yards so he didin't expect the local warlords to have build new and large ships. Most likly he had refitted ships , mayby a Imperial star destroyers and some pirate ships mayby, that he had conficaited?

Still his fleet could handle it. It would handle it , Mayby Some Serious damage and fighters lost.
Still Decimation of the Orbital fleet would make the planet at his mercy. Mayby the stormtroopers serving the warlords would , no if he wouldn't have enfough stormtroopers.

The Clones age double as fast as normale. Even his youngest clones would be about 40 now let alone the ones already starting to count 60.
He would probaply have his own troops or militia.

No Match for his professional troops. It was a monarchy that probaply took up power and the star ships where taken.
His fleet would engage and destroy the fleet. Yes, the royal familiy would have taken power ,Thrawn cloncluded from their nationalistic art.

They would lack the space commanders , probaply more itnerested in keeping their planet safe.

Above Planet Troska
Thrawns Main Battle fleet came from Orbit. The Yoral familiy as he saw it had been building up from buying from the local scources.
Interceptor IB ships consisted most of the fleet guarding the planet with some interceptors and as capital ship an victory class star destroyer.

This battle wasn't going to be easy. He would lose ships. Especialy since those interceptors had missles, misslkes can pass ships.
To minimize damamge he would have to put his most buly ships at the front and hoping his capital ships would jsut hold out long enfough.

His Main objective would be to send in the fighters and bomber to take out those missle batteries.
If most of them or atleast the front could be disabled he could send in his main ships without too much danger

That was the plan and that was what he did. He send his carrier and his own ships of non-hyperdrive fighters and bombers.
So He did , the missles took out considerable fighters. But after the first wave of photon bombs
several of the missle hard points had been taken out.

The enemy ships began to move forward not willing to be wittled down by the fighters.

Captain Pellaeon lead his flagship and the other 2 ascendacy star destroyers in the front with the support ships flanking.
With a decrease of missles the shields of the star destroyers could be used

Eventualy the Interceptor frigates began to break in 2 as the fighters and the bombers suppiority had crushed the few fighters the defenders had.
The fleet now moved past the destroyed debris and made an orbit around the planet. Mass spamming a transmission to all radio lines and holograpic lines that the fleet had been crushed.

After some time and a carefull orbital bombardment of the royal palace the planet was subdued but not conquered.
The Fleet would Remain in orbit untill invaison forces where ready to take control of the capital and estbalish empire of the hand controlled planets.

"What the hell was that!?" Bal-sha yelled, making the soldiers jump. "Please tell me someone else saw that."
"Yes, ma'am. We caught it on the Eyefinder. It's scanning now."
The Commandant growled. If it had been up to her those damn things wouldn't hit the surface. But nooo, she had to sit and wait for her own troops to get hurt.
"Someone try and get me on-line with the Government on that planet. The authorities need to know about this"

Outer Rim, Esstran, Ziost System, Ziost

---

The new fortress of the Sith had risen in less than a generation, outstripping all its previous grand structures due to the wonders of contemporary technology. Forgoing the usual pyramid structures of tradition, the sprawling complex was instead made up of a series of spires, with connecting walls and bridges. If you focused, the air around it shimmered with the tell-tale sign of shielding.

The view from any of the spires, even on the lowest of floors that were granted views of the outside world, provided impressive sights of the frozen, corrupted world. From Dureth's personal chambers, situated near the top of his own spire, the view stretched so far that the curvature of planet began to take shape. This was the view the male Sith himself looked over, the slow hiss of his cybernetic breathing apparatus, more a helmet than a necessary device in the controlled climate of the spires under-toning his existence as he waited, patiently, for his guest to arrive. Pressing a button on the device bound around his wrist, the window became a projector, showing a complicated diagram of names and lines, connected events and possibilities. He was just beginning to study it in proper when the door to this particular sanctum of his slide open, metallic footsteps shortly behind.

He turned to face her, never on to trust his back to another, particularly her. Dheva was one of the most powerful of the surviving Sith, In contrast to the arrogance usually associated with their kind, Dureth would willingly admit that he could not predict the end result of a confrontation between himself and the female sith. Her fighting style was more fluid than his own brute force and the extent of her power was something shrouded in mystery, as was his own. Had it been another time, he would already have plotted her death in a thousand different ways, but now, she was a necessary ally. While she would have certainly been a rival, Dureth couldn't help but admit the attraction all but the most unusual Sith would feel for her, built strong but still feminine, her armour cut short to reveal her midriff, it would be hard to find a more ideal example of the Sith form. She knew her power though, and that made her even more dangerous.

"To what do I owe this most illustrious invitation?" Her voice was nearly a purr as she approached him, placing herself in a padded chair, arms on the rests and legs crossed, as she spoke, her eyes searching past Dureth to the window-screen behind him, before he even had a chance to reply. A slight grin spreading across his features beneath the mask, even if the anger involved with the reason for their meeting began to build.

"Hmm, what would you first guess be?" He folded his arms over his chest, eyes burning down at her, locking with her own rather than lingering on her form. She may have been beautiful, but he was hardly far from what female Sith would look for in their own mates. Powerfully built and powerfully stationed, her own appreciation showed itself in the shark-like grin touched the corners of her mouth.

"Well, that's clearly your 'breeding' chart, impressive construction, but alas, I have already been 'assigned' to another," Her grin grew slightly as she teased him. After the Sith had established their current positions of power, Dureth had run an algorithm to calculate how best to grow and strengthen the tiny numbers of his people, the chart had been created. He'd modified it slightly, privately, the computer suggesting that Dheva and he be mated, but he did not trust someone so near to his own power to have the bargaining chip of his children, instead, she had been placed with the young, if dynamic Khagez. She seemed fairly content with the choice.

"It is indeed, its application has already been fairly successful." She would know what he spoke of, already two of the female Sith were pregnant, the younger, Avupae, with the rare challenge of triplets, and his own 'mate, Ichotae, with a single child. The thought of that, however, turned his previous good humour stone dead, the rage taking over, as he prepared to reveal the reason for their meeting.

"For someone who designed this...chart, to best avoid the inconvenience of our numbers, you seem rather unhappy, not prepared for parenthood are we?" Dheva, however, was still as lighthearted as before, the deep sensual nature of her voice before aggravating and calling to him. He could not deny the attraction, but she was also taunting him, something he railed against.

"Do not mock me. It is not my child. Utadez has slept where he is not permitted, apparently not just to shame me, but to jeopardize our entire species, and not just with Ichotae." Admittedly, the rage that burned within him was due to scorn, but equally the planning put into such matters was to strengthen his people, to avoid blood mixing too closely, to build a strong pureblooded sith, that to called forth his anger.

"A tasty morsel that one. Not so strongly built, but handsome. It is no surprise to me, perhaps I to have ignore your precious diagram?" She stood as she continued to talk to him, her hand brushing across his chest as she approached the holographic chart, before standing closer to it, their contact slowly breaking. Dureth wouldn't have been shocked if what she said was true, but it was no threat, Dheva had no real interest, not yet, in bearing children for their cause. Her dalliances were thus only a personal matter. When it strayed into future generations, that was a different issue.

"I care little for how desirable the man is, he has ignored the terms set out, if he has more offspring with other females..."

"Terms which denied him any chance to father offspring, if I remember correctly, I understand his motivations, if nothing more."

"That is not the same as supporting him.

Dheva let out a deep sigh before she spoke again, waving her hand across the holographic screen, causing it to disappear and once more be replaced by the view of the outside world, before she turned to face Dureth, practically as close as they could be without actively touching, there was a minute's pause before she actually replied; "No, he oversteps himself, that and it's rather distressing, to see one of you trying to spread his seed across multiple females as if we were some kind of cattle. I will confront him, violently if need be."

"Good, admittedly he offends me on a personal level, but this has ramifications for us all." The tension building behind his eyes faded somewhat, thankful that the individual who could be consider his greatest rival had agreed to support him. Confronted by the pair of them, the troublesome male would be no issue. He could not stand against Dureth alone, but to have support from another validated Dureth's reasoning. Not enough to kill another Sith, not in these days, but at least to humble him. He was, however, surprised to find her hand once more brushing across his face, this time moving up to remove the rebreather placed on his face.

"But first, there is something you must do for me."

---

"As much as your companionship is a pleasure of mine, being fetched by slaves is a tad insulting." As much as Dureth's motivations for putting Utadez in his place were based on petty jealousy, Dheva couldn't help but agree that the young male sith needed to be knocked down a peg or two. The arrogance of his complaint railed against her. She was a Lord of the Sith, the greatest that remained, she would call for him as she liked. She had acted quicker than she had originally intended to, returning to her own quarters to bathe and change, she now wore a simple red robe, bound loosely as she reclined on one of the many sofas in the atrium to her own personal chambers, better to add to the pretence that she had invited him to feed her lustful appetites, let his hope and passion turn to ash, to better put him down. He was more smartly dressed, telling of a more formal visit to another spire. She smiled, and beckoned to him, his own features softening as he approached her.

"But then, who could remain angry at you." The gall was incredible, as if her had the right to feel offence at her actions, as he sat down near her, she finally allowed her true feelings to spread across her face, a look on confusion marring his as she stood, taking a few steps away from him, the soft, thin layer of her robe brushing across her form beneath by the artificial breeze, his hand reached for her's as she walked away, she grasped it. In the next second he tried to pull away, but her own strength was too great, and followed by her turning the building rage within her into a current of force lightning, leaping from her to him. In a matter of moments he was convulsing on the floor. She would have to be careful not to do much permanent damage.

"You've been a rebellious child, and we cannot tolerate rebellion."

Outer Rim - Esstran Sector

Sith Lord Tybis stood on the bridge of his Acclamator Assault ship. He wished to travel alone in a single shuttle, but it was insisted that he travel with escort. Because of this, he now traveled with 5 Acclamator Assault ships hauling him like a piece of cargo across the galaxy. He sighed, turning to the Admiral who looked over a star map. "Admiral I hardly think this is necessary. If I wasn't capable of protecting myself I wouldn't be who I am. It's insulting to think that I would need such a sizable escort, let alone an escort at all.

The admiral rolled his eyes, crossing his arms behind his back. "And yet you will arrive safer for it. I don't care for your honor Lord Tybis, I only care to do what I was ordered to and that's to safely deliver you to your destination." A man called from one of the lower decks, alerting the admiral. "We're coming out of hyper space Admiral." He nodded and walked forward to the viewport, watching ahead. "Welcome home my Lor-..." He was cut short as they suddenly stopped, exiting hyper space at what was supposed to be the destination planet. Instead, they jumped in right on top of a massive ship, or rather with a massive ship on top of them.

A Lucrehulk-class Battleship floated in front of the Acclamator, and they had come out of hyper space so close that the nose of the ship was inside the outer ring of the battleship. That couldn't be coincidence. It was too perfectly placed... they had to know the exact details of their jump to hyper space. The coordinates put in and the location they jumped from. This wasn't by accident. "All hands man your stations! Raise deflector shields, divert all power to forward shielding, pull down under the ship and get us out of here!"

As soon as the crew went to work to get the ship moving and the shields raised, the hull of the acclamator exploded with fire all over as it was fired on by the battleship. "Sir, shields can't be raised under this kind of assault! They wouldn't withstand a single hit!" The admiral made a mistake. They should have raised the shields before coming out of hyper space... how could he be so careless. In these times, how could he have so blatantly expected a peaceful arrival at the destination.

"What is the situation of the other ships?! Bring up a display!" In an instant the tactical display lit up and it showed the radar view of the battlefield. The admiral blinked in confusion. The display showed not one, but three of these massive ships were waiting for them. Not only that, but five Providence-class carriers as well! "There's no way we are going to last a minute out here. Get us out of here immediately! All ships retreat! Don't even think about coordinate, just jump to hyper space a soon as you can!"

He watched, as one by one the other acclamator ships were torn apart. The ship shook from the blast waves of the other ships being annihilated around it. The admiral was right. It wasn't a full minute before all four of the other ships had been destroyed, and only they remained. The shield generator exploded and fighter droids swarmed around the ship like insects. Torpedos crashed against the ship, but the admiral knew this firepower was not the same that had met the other ships. They weren't destroying them, they were disabling them.

"Primary engines are down. Hyper drive is failing. Shield generator has been completely destroyed. Escape pods are useless, launching in one of them will send you right into that battleship's hangar! We're in the worst possible position... and their shields are fully powered to deflect anything we can throw at them. They had to have known we were coming admiral, they are too prepared for this to have been coincidence!"

The admiral knew that already. He figured that out the moment they came out of hyper space. Suddenly, the explosions stopped and the ship now only shook from more systems failing, and the hull being breached here and there as it was rocked by more internal explosions. "Incoming transmission from the battleship."

"Bring it up." The battlefield hologram changed to one of a massive cloaked figure, with a mask on hiding their face. Nothing was clear about this person, not their gender, their race, their affiliation... nothing.

The voice was deep and cold, not a hint of emotion in it. "My master requests your presence aboard this ship Lord Tybis." The hologram cut out after the quick message, leaving everyone looking at the Sith Lord. "Then there is no choice. Ready a pod, I will leave immediately." He turned and left the bridge, moving to the escape pods which, honestly were the only things really left working on the ship beyond life support and other vital systems. He entered the awaiting pod, and launched. As the crewmember stated, he was launched directly into the battleship's hangar. He did his best to land, but the artificial gravity pulled the pod down into a sort of crash. He was perfectly fine of course, leaving the pod to find droids approaching him. With them was the massive figure from the hologram, and another that looked identical.

"My master is awaiting your arrival." He raised an arm to motion to some droids which turned, and lead the way back he way they had come. To other droids, the man gave a quick gesture, and the sound of gunfire echoed through the ship as they continued fire on the acclamator ship.

Aboard the ship, the admiral desperately worked to send out a distress beacon. When the guns continued their fire, he knew it wouldn't be long now. "This is Admiral Ackar! We came out of hyper space into a trap set by an unknown enemy. Our fleet has been completely destroyed! This is the only remaining ship, and we don't have long. They took Lord Tybis aboard their ship and have resumed their attack. They have massive battleships! Federation type technology, droid fighters and I believe a droid control ship. Send hel-..." the message was sent off just before the ship exploded into flames, and cut off there. It was sent off to whoever the fleet belonged to, and was the last transmission before the fleet was reduced to a small debris field.

Outer Rim, Esstran Sector, Bridge of the Immolator

---

The Sith Fleet, nor truly any fleet in the galaxy, was large enough to constantly patrol their own space, instead the security of the collective depended upon a web of sensors, reporting to the fleet held in reserve, ready to strike across the state. Rapid response and attack, that was the key. In this case, a large group of battleships had trespassed in Sith space, and proceeded to attack another group of vagabonds. The course of action was clear, and when the information was relayed to Consul Chohen aboard the Immolator, he immediately superseded the order of the ship's admiral to communicate, and instead strike at once, calling in all the patrolling frigates attached to the capital ship in fleet regimen.

Comprised of two Devastator Class Command ships, including the Immolator, the large ships that formed a super-heavy role in the fleet, and 10 Striker frigates, the immediate defence fleet was a daunting force as it assembled to jump towards the threat. Sitting in the Bridge throne of the Immolator, Chohen allowed himself to slip into the force, entering his mastered state of battle meditation moments before the jump. The dark side clung to the assembled fleet like a cloak, the sheer power of its weapons, the thrust of its engines calling to Chohen, as would any military craft. His physical form, hidden within the cold exterior of his battle armour, tensed in anticipation as his mind directed the fleet into a hypserspace leap. It arrived moments after the destruction of the last Acclamator, the fires of its death still present as the Esstran fleet's mass drivers and megamaser batteries turned on the offending battleships. As was typical of the Sith fleet, the frigates leaped forward, aiming to weave around the slower enemy ships to strike at weak points, while the twin capital ships would bombard them from afar.

"Disable them. Prisoners are preferred."

The dark side clouded everything in this battlefield. It did not only surround the Sith fleet that came out of hyper space, but the Black Hand fleet had a strong barrier of the force themselves. It would not protect them from cannons and torpedos, but it was there nonetheless.

The droid fighters swarmed in an unusual formation, like locusts as a black cloud of fighters moved around the ships. Their signals pinged out across all communication channels, releasing high pitched rings in all open channels. Their artificial minds simulated emotions, and those simulators were very active right now. They wanted to strike, they wanted to tear the frigates apart. They could not go though. They were being held back by an unseen force, unable to move far from the middle of the five carriers.

The fleet did not move and did not fire. Slower as their ships were, speed did not matter when they did not intend to move. They waited and waited, allowing the frigates to weave into their lines before suddenly the whole fleet came to life. The carriers kept their noses aimed at the command ships, making themselves much smaer targets as their massive guns, two on each side, fired at the frigates. The battleships opened fire with every bit of their firepower as well, each ship picking its own target. They for ed a crossfire mechanic where every ship's gu s were helping to destroy a frigate.

As the frigates entered the battle, the fighters, bombers and gunships suddenly lashed out, swarming towards the command ships. With them came boarding pods, with massive claws that would stab past shields and cut through the hull, before prying the metal apart and dropping droids inside. That was if they landed, but they didn't seem to be aiming for that. Instead they charged the gun batteries, using their one time landing methods to stab into the guns and tear them apart. They focused on one of the command ships, leaving the other alone.

The swarms of fighters and bombers could not be stopped of course no matter the firepower of the command ships. There were simply too many of them. Soon they came to the ship's bridge, and all bombers as well as fighters fired one large focused barrage of torpedos and missiles at the bridge, aiming to disable it at the weakest spot. The fighters would at any time break off to fend off any fighters the Sith had brought, while the bombers relentlessly came back for one pass after another bombarding the bridge with torpedos.

Outer Rim, Esstran Sector, The Bridge of the Immolator

---

Toys

It was beyond amusing. In their time, droids had been security, laborers, the odd tank. They had never been depended upon to be an army. It was laughable, and a grave weakness. Biologicals were not vulnerable to ion strikes, at the very least. He wasn't ready to trigger the ion pulse of the capital ships, it would knock out their own sensors and leave them open to the attack of the battleships, but there were many other ploys up the sleeve of the Pureblooded Sith. Through the use of battle meditation, a skill held by a handful of individuals each generation, the image he perceived of the battlefield was greater than any computer, any individual, could perceive. Possibilities and eventualities appeared before him, before he tugged on one thread of fate.

His own ship powered forwards, the surprising speed of the capital ship closing with the group of embattled enemy battleships and away from its twin-ship, dealing with the fighters, meanwhile scrambling its fighters and bombers. In committing their light craft entirely to one ship, the intruding fleet had left itself exposed, to pilots a little more dangerous than droids. As one Capital Ship rushed closer to the fleet to engage, the other seemed to hang in suspended animation, make little effort to stop the boarding craft, but instead strikers bombers out of the void by the squadron, heavy guns only falling silent when the enemy bored into them. Before they could set up clear bombing runs, the capital ship roared into action, lacking its heavy batteries, megamasers continued to pound the attacking squadrons, as its own fighters surged to defend it, creating a temporary barrier that few bombers could break through, even if their survival against the combined fighters would not last long. The powerful engines of the Wailing Doom pushed it towards the planet, allowing both its own thrust and gravity to push it towards the center of the system, and just about towards the fighting, but in a vague diagonal line.

Meanwhile, the frigates continued to weave around the enemy's larger vessels, joined by the firepower of fighters and bombers from the Immolator, their agility kept the enemy ships from forming crossfires, even if still the powerful enemy guns were taking a toll. As the Immolator pulled close to the fighting, Chohen stood, his head turning, burning eyes boring into the Admiral beside him.

"Ready the boarding spears."

Above Planet Troska

Reports coming from Nircuan said that soon the 20 companies numbering a total of 600 trained and armed chiss warriors.
This amount of troops should be enfough to secure the capital and help put up a pupet royal familiy.

Basicaly giving Thrawn command of the planet without the actual occupation of it. Still his ground forces that where being trained and armed at nircuan.
Would be the intial enforcers of the puppet goverment. Untill local men woud work for the pupet goverment.

Ships where still allowed to land on the planet to bring supplies and such , ofcourse after a good inspection.

It seemed from initial reports that the destruction of the Palace had broken order on the planet as there where riots and such on.

But there seemed to be a visitor for him. An Imperial Warlord known as Captain Zsinj Warlord of the empire.
From what information Thrawn had assembled , he was a fondorian cultured Captain taught by his Mother

A Quite capable man , Thrawn could use his Expertise and his ship. He could look-up Fondorian Art to acquint him with Zsinj.

He had an idea what Zsinj could do.

But All set aside Thrawn would meet him

Imperial Star destroyer grey Wolf

The slightly obese Man with his natural masculin mustache walked up to Thrawn. Both men met eyes and stared deeply into eachothers eye.
"Grand Admiral" Zsinj said with a carefull voice.
Thrawn cool and with a heavy tone of civlization " Captain".

Eventualy Zsinj was allowed into Thrawns Rank's as a Captain.

These toys were ripping the Sith fleet apart one ship at a time. The frigates with no support could only rely on their speed for so long before they started getting picked off. The command ship was quickly being dealt with, receiving little aid as the other command ship left it behind. With no protection other than the smaller amount of fighters, the bombers had their way with the hull and soon the ship was falling apart. It had taken them a while to break through the fighters still however, and by time they did the second command ship had moved on. They did not pursue it though, staying to finish off the first command ship.

The reserve fighters launched from the Black Hand ships and went after the bombers supporting the frigates. That coupled with heavy anti fighter craft flak from the capital ships and there was a lot of exploding Sith ships. Specifically the smaller ones with pilots... of course they weren't necessarily being ripped from the sky since none of the larger ships were really set up to specifically deal with fighters and bombers. Instead the fighters were in charge of taking them out, and soon enough the fighters that had been sent to attack the command ship returned to aid with removing the bomber threats.

Grey Wolf Thrawns FlagShip

His Chiss troops had arrived from his fortress on Nircuan and where quickly send to the Torska Systeem.
Their main task was helping the New Ursurper or better known as Thrawn's puppet governer.

Once the planet will be secure and stable enfough will allow taxation of the planet and its influenced systeems.
but The systeem of Troska has the advtanage of having an Fuel Refinery

Thrawn would need to let the fleet rest at Nircuan. But Zsinj as a human and his Imperial Star Destroyer could be used to rally mayby some Imperial forces.
His Mighty Capital ship should surly allow him to gain a small following.

His Tractor Beam alone should allow him to grip and grab smaller vessels from warlords. Ofcourse receiving crew and supplies from the Empire of the hand.
Most of Thrawn's officers where Baffeled by Thrawns assignment to this new Captain.

He seemed dumb and acted very weird. None of the senior officer. Thrawn saw past Zsinj's 'personalities'.
A Briljant man who quickly gets bored

Iron Fist Zsinj's flagship
Zsinj and his Crew where heading Towards the Perinn sector. His Orders where simpel and with time could be completed.
As Zsinj was drinking hot chocolate and with one hand making random movements.

As the bridge commanders looked. They where used to it by now.

And Zsinj stoped drinking his drink as he saw the star lines appear of Hyper Space travel.

Requiem for a Dream
Part the Second

Within the Grand Republic of Mandalore
Taris, the Spire-Enclave

Silence dominated the halls of the Enclave, only the intermittent buzz of shattered lighting and the breeze of the lower atmospheric wind breaking its hold. The smell of burned flesh wafted in the breeze, a slight tinge making it clear that they were blaster inflicted wounds, and very recent. Her back was to the pillar, one hand to the solid stone and another on her own blaster rifle. Carefully, she cast her senses outward from her emplacement, feeling around for her remaining men and trying not to alert her enemy. There. Across from her one of her men felt her attention and made a quick series of hand-signals. It was bad, they were three down and only the two of them were left standing against a force of eight. She nodded, and sent a mental confirmation to the clone, making ready to move to a better location. Seeing her ready for a move, he checked the action on his blaster and adjusted his stance to provide overwatch. A quick signal and she was on the move, keeping her footsteps light and accurate, careful to avoid broken glass and stay away from the light coming down from above. She was nearly across when a shot came from the rear of the hall, almost catching her in the ankle, but only grazing her. Eighty-Eight stepped out to fire a few rounds at the source, but caught a bolt to the chest and was down.

She moved on without him, knowing that to stop would do nothing but leave her in the same position. Movement alerted her to another presence and she pulled up her rifle to open fire, only too late realizing that she had walked right into out-flanking elements. Her blaster was slapped aside and the dark figure moved to bring their own blaster up, to which she retaliated with a kick into their midriff and caused them to drop the rifle. Both fighters went down to try and grab the fallen weapon, but her adversary was quicker to recover from their disarmament than she was to move on the opportunity. A sharp kick from the figure sent the weapon spiraling away from both of them and into the open where the enemy had overwatch, making the blaster completely out of reach. Cursing her luck, she drew her back-up weapon, igniting the cross-guard lightsaber and casting the shadows away from her opponent. Solace stood before her, reaching back to bring her own lightsaber to bear and readying her stance to defend against her sister's attack.

"Requiem." She stated simply, a slight grin on her face as she ignited the orange blade of the lightsaber-pike.

"Solace." The reply was hesitant, as she knew she was at a disadvantage in this battle, for Solace was more experience in lightsaber combat than she was, and had her exits well covered.

Without further words the sisters launched themselves at each-other, Solace leveling her pike for a brutal lunge at Requiem's midsection, forcing her to roll out of the way and make a haphazard slash with her cross-guard. Readjusting for the change in stance, she activated the lower blade and deflected another aggressive strike, spinning to come back with the primary blade only to catch the handle of the pike in the face. Reeling backwards, she ducked to the side to avoid another lunge and weakly brought up her blade to deflect a second lunge that was altered at the last moment to slash at her exposed side. She yelped as the blade bit into her side and quickly moved out of the way to avoid a second strike aimed at her opposite side. Solace picked up her aggressive strikes now that her sister was wounded, eager to end the battle. Requiem kept up her defensive strikes, and continued to move backwards and into the center of the hall, the previously hidden clones under her sister's command now coming out to encircle the duel.

Grimacing under the pain of the cauterized wound, she executed a quick series of strikes to keep Solace at bay, while she worked the force to knit the wound. Her sister would have none of that, however, and pressed her advantage, making several shallow lunges aimed at center-mass and following up with a kick to Requiem's shin. While she was able to fend off the lunges, she was not able to move in time to dodge the kick, catching it full-on and feeling the bone crack under the force of Solace's kick. She went down to one knee in pain, bringing her lightsaber up and keeping her profile minimized so as to guard against her sister's aggressive style better. It was not enough, however, as a quick jab with the pole-end knocked her on her back, and the follow-up swipe of the handle sent her lightsaber careening out of her grasp. Before she could move she found the handle against her throat and her sister close behind it.

With nothing else to do about it, she threw her hands up and Solace let off her. "Fine, I 'spose you got this one." she said with a pout, the disappointment evident in her voice. Solace responded only by helping her to her feet and clapping her on the shoulder. The clone troopers around her shouldered their blasters and moved to get things back into shape for public-access, a team of medics carrying Eighty-Eight and the rest of her team to the bacta-tanks so they could recover from her injuries. She felt at her side with her right hand, the dampness of her wound revealing that she had lost no small amount of blood despite it being rather shallow. "Hey.... You held back!" she exclaimed, now more indignant at the thought of her sister holding back, than the loss of the training exercise overall. Shrugging, Solace brushed off the accusation "You were outnumbered, had to make it a little fair sis." Still irritated, Requiem sighed and went to work on the wound, knitting it back together and working to increase the production of red-cells in her body to offset the loss of blood.

Once her wound was healed she set off for her own quarters, seeing that Solace had already done so and was likely getting ready for meditation. That of course, could not happen while she was up and about, and so she picked up her brisk walk, starting a slight skip and humming along as if the previous firefight had never happened. Of course, blaster marks on the wall would stand as a testament to that, but no one asked for their opinions anyways.

(Following the battle with Zach, to be continued later... maybe...)

The Black Hand Fleet was once again on the move. They flew through hyper space across the Gordian Reach. The ships were in a bit of chaos, but that didn't really concern anyone as it wasn't that serious. The droids were simply having trouble comprehending that they had actually been put in charge of the battleships for the time being. Normally each battleship was under the direct command of one of the Sith Inquisitors Alkore or Genovath. But now, they were both on their master's ship, along with the freshly obtained prisoner.

In the throne room, Darth Tybis knelt on the floor with his hands bound behind his back. He panted heavily, his head hanging low. "I... I was on my way to Zygerria...I... had a scouting mission there. I was just going to look for any threats. What, what more do you want to know?" Just as he finished talking, Alkore and Genovath on either side of him raised their hands and lightning struck out against Darth Tybis, electricuting him and making him scream in agony. "P... PLEEEEASE! I DON'T HAVE ANY MORE INFORMATION FOR YOU!" This had been going on for hours, and he still truly believed they were searching for something, trying to pry information from him.

Finally his captor revealed herself, speaking from her throne which was shrouded in darkness. Her voice was young, almost innocent if it hadn't been for her words. "Oh I don't really care what you were doing out there. Honestly, why should I care? I don't care where you were going, what you've been doing, or even where you have been for the last seven years. I just like to watch you suffer."

He turned slowly, as much as he was allowed while bound with an energy lock around his wrists and legs. He squinted, trying to see past the mix of light and darkness to who was speaking. "Is that... Bell? Bell, is it truly you?"

"Who else would it be... Not just anyone would come out to the middle of that hole in the galaxy they call a sector, and risk their fleet wasting so many droids just to bring you in. And I doubt you have any information worth interrogating out of you. So really, you should have guessed who it was before you were even brought aboard." She leaned forward, mounting her head on her wrist and smiling. "It's good to see you again father, I have missed you these last few years."

Darth Tybis blinked, confused. "Father? Why do you call me that?"

"Isn't that what you always wanted? You pretended to be like one to me. Wanting me to look up to you, not as a master, but as family. You tried to turn yourself into a hero, being my savior who came to my rescue in my time of need. You tried to hide behind those lies, hiding the fact that I was nothing more than a slave to you. You never wanted me to have any other family. That's why you had them killed, wasn't it? That's why you would never let me go back... such a tragic story."

Darth Tybis could feel the tone in her voice, and it sent a chill down his spine. She wasn't sad, or angry or remorseful. She sounded as if she was talking about someone else, like it was just a story she was telling from a book. But it was all true. He had wanted her to himself, he had wanted to be her family... and he had killed her own family and never let her go back. He felt ashamed, but it was long past the point where shame would do him any good. "Then what do you want with me? Have you brought me here to kill me? To claim your title as a Sith Lord? Or do you just want to torture me for the things I did?" He acted brave, putting on a strong appearance as if he understood all the things she could do to him, and that he did not fear them.

"Torture you? Is that what you think of my hospitality? Now that's just rude. The things a girl does to impress people who visit her home, and it's never enough is it." She hopped up with a grin, and skipped forward, down the steps to the floor and along the carpet to where her master was kneeling, his back to her. "Strange. I imagined you stronger when would face you. Instead I get this old man who is content to the pain and death that awaits him." She leaned down from the side, the smile not leaving her face as she raised a hand and wagged her finger. "That's just not right. You can't just throw your life away!"

Her hand was thrown out suddenly, her lightsaber flying through the air to her hand and activating as it slashed through her master's binds, releasing him in one movement before the lightsaber's blade vanished into thin air again. "Come on now, get up! You have to fight for your life! It's not like a Sith Lord to just lie down and die!" She skipped around him in circles for a short time, thinking to herself. "Alkore, what should we do with him? He doesn't really look able to fight me does he?"

Alkore stood silently the whole time, just as his twin brother did directly across from him on the other side of Darth Tybis. "Perhaps release him into the ship. It would be interesting to see how much he values his own life."

She nodded slowly and looked over to Genovath. "And you?"

"I agree. I would like to see if he is content to just lie down and die as well. He does seem rather weak right now. It's not worth even trying to allow him to defend himself."

Bell nodded, crossing her arms behind her back as she continued in circles around her master. "Well then. I guess it's time for a game. Here's the rules master! If you can find your way off of my ship, then I'll let you live and run away! Of course, I'll just find you again and we'll have to play the game all over again, but it will be an interesting test to see how much you want to live." She smiled, stopping in front of him, leaning down low so her face was in front of his. "That's it! You have five minutes before everything will be trying to kill you! Better get moving. Oh and one more thing, it wouldn't be fair to set you loose inside my ship carrying that thing around. I'm afraid you'll have to find your own weapon if you want to destroy things."

Alkore raised his hand, releasing Darth Trybis' lightsaber and pushing it forward in front of Bell, who made another swift move with her own lightsaber, cutting it in half. "Off you go then! Have fun! I do hope to see you again!" She skipped back to her throne humming to herself, apparently truly content with just letting her master run off through her ship. The twins stood silently as the Sith Lord pulled himself to his feet, barely able to stand as he limped to the door, trying to get away from the throne room, away from the danger... away from Bell.

"We're coming out of hyper space! Wait, this doesn't look right..." Alkore walked over and stood behind the droid who sat in the navigation seat. "Where are we droid?"

"Uuuuuhm. Looks like we're in the Ojoster sector sir. I guess we overshot the target location. There must be something wrong with the nav computer, it put in the coordinates completely wrong."

Just as the droid finished talking, Alkore's fist smashed through its head, breaking it off in a show of sparks and smoke as the droid fell to the floor. "Overshot the destination... BY MORE THAN THREE SECTORS?!" He looked to the next droid, stepping up behind him. "Where is the rest of the fleet? Are they still with us?"

"No sir. They left hyper space at the original destination, it was only us who moved on."

"So we're in possibly hostile territory, and we only have just this one ship. Perhaps it was a good thing we brought most of the fighters into our hangars. Launch all fighters and bombers, form a defensive barrier around this ship. Get the rest of the fleet here as soon as possible. They'll be able to get here before we can jump to hyper space again." He groaned in anger, before walking over to his brother's side in front of Bell's throne, bowing to her. "It would seem we are far from the destination. You may be in great danger master."

Bell sighed, crossing her legs. "Aren't I always? It's not as much fun if I'm not in danger. You two keep me so entertained. That's why we use droids. Their little errors get us into all sorts of adventures!" She giggled, not seeming to have a care in the world sitting in the middle of possibly hostile space without the means to leave for a while, and with a Sith Lord roaming freely through her ship. All part of the game... and things were starting to get interesting. "So, where are we exactly?"

"Not far from the Taris system. We should be able to jump to hyper space in a few hours. Until then the rest of the fleet is on their way. Then we can wait for them to be ready, and our whole fleet will move as one again."

For now, the Black Hand 'mothership' sat silently in space, alone other than the swarm of fighters and bombers that surrounded it. The ship didn't move, or send out any signals. It just sat there, the black hull blending ever so slightly with the backdrop of space. Alone in space, why did Bell always end up in these situations...

Alarms were blazing throughout the cruiser as sentients and droids alike were manning their battle stations. "What in blazes is going on what's set of the proximity alarms" asked Commander Parat. "Sir several probes have entered the system we weren't able to identify who they belong to" his first officer stated. "Well then find out and contact the listening post planet side. I want them to check out one of those probes, also send out some fighters for recon I want to know where they launched from" the commander barked. You could see a glint of excitement in his eyes as he knew this was no pirate or smuggler someone was trying to annex his system.

Below on the surface a small detachment of ten men and twenty droids were sent out to find the probe and identify it. Luckily the listening post had managed to not only triangulate the probes position by monitoring its transmissions but they had back tracked the signal to its command ship.

The soldiers were at the probe's landing coordinates in a matter of minutes using an old repulser craft. The commander of the small unit told his men to surround the probe. They managed to take out the probe with a few blaster shots into its sensors and brain. Upon close examination they found imperial markings on the parts and casing. Unfortunately the soldiers hadn't been able to stop the droid before it gave away the position of their small listening station. At the same time two of the Droid tri-fighters ran across the imperial fleet. The fighters tried to make a run for it but one of them was destroyed before it was even able to turn. The other tried flying as close as it could to flagship trying to minimise the incoming fire however it was all in vain as the droid was to inexperienced and crashed but not before transmitting its information about the enemy fleet.

Armed with this new information Parat new his forces were completely outclassed and that it would be time to preform his final task of dying at his at his post doing his duty. He ordered that the outpost relay all information to homeworld and that they should prepare to destroy the base and all recorded information. He then ordered all remaining fighters and bombers deployed and for all ships to form up on him. Lastly he sent out what was to probably be his last message "to all ships in the sector this is Tandum we need immediate assistance from any vessel capable of fighting. All vessels that participate will be greatly rewarded. Lastly to any imperials listening I say this get out of my system before I kick you out". Parat hadn't addressed his own men because he knew that he could count on them to do there duty. Parat got up and slowly moved over to the front of the bridge there he not only looked over the field of battle. But he was also looking across the void staring down his adversary.

---

Meanwhile on the confederacy's homeworld of Celanon an emergency meeting of the Confederate Senate had been called. Usually it took weeks to organise a regular meeting however this had been put together in just a few minutes. Chairman Sprax Oten and Vice Chairman Vidu Logran to there seats at the large desk at the centre of a semi circle which was lined with representatives some flesh and blood but most were holograms due to the short notice. They were discussing what to do about the recent incursion by imperial forces.

The Chairman managed to steer them in an organised fashion trying to cut out all the arguing, there simply wasn't time for it. They had to be unified if they were stand against there enemies. They were not only discussing what to tell the people but also on how they should fight the war. The was a lot of controversy about what weapons should be brought into service to even the odds as most of the council was afraid of the military might of the Gordian Reach. Luckily they agreed that biological weapons should not be used. However they agreed on the creation of new class of ship that had been rejected due to the cost being to high for peacetime it's name was the Titan Class. Next thing they decided upon was to try and get some more allies on there side. Deciding that they should start by sending ambassadors to the Sith in Esstran, the GRM and the Nightsisters. There relationships with said factions where not particularly good at the moment. In the end they decided to tell the public that as of today they were at war with the Gordian Reach.

Requiem for a Dream/A Dance With Aera Cura
Finale/Part the First

"A kiss of shame,
Tempts me to question love.
Her sweet taste,
Kills all beauty..."

Her determined footsteps echoed through the corridors as she beat a staccato against the plasteel floors with bloodied heels. Breathes came in pained gasps as she pushed her body harder to outrun that which chased, and the ever encroaching darkness that surrounded not only it, but the way ahead. She had no choice but to run, for she knew what would happen if she did not, and she refused to allow it to take yet another victory from her. Intermittently lights would flash in the distance, and she would hoarsely call out, a feeble cry for help that made it no farther from her lips than her own feet did from the creature behind her. A bestial growl seemed to laugh at every attempt, the savage and brutish hunger for her flesh that emanated from the creature only spurring her onwards from sheer terror. She could not run forever, though, and that was a fact that she could never deny, despite her thousands of attempts which always failed.

As if to spite her more, a jagged edge caught her foot and caused her to come crashing to the cold hard ground, the impact sudden and forceful enough to knock what little air there was in her lungs out of them. She cowered on the ground, her face bloodied from the impact against the floor, and her ankle twisted from the impact in a way that most definitely meant she would not be running anymore. Though fear gripped her tight, she dared to roll over on her side to look behind her, dreadful of whatever may be there. In yet another cruel twist of fate, there was nothing there except an empty corridor, a light at the end pulsing as it was no doubt near the end of its own life. A smell wafted from that direction, a smell which at first made her gag in disgust, but then the horror of what it really was spurred her to begin crawling away from it, her limp leg dragging uselessly behind her as so much dead-weight. Though she wanted desperately to be wrong, the smell of burning flesh was all too common a scent on the battlefields, and it was one that she should instantly recognize over anything else.

Tears were running down her face as she slowly dragged herself across the rough ground, not even realizing that the scenery had shifted dramatically into that of a sparse desert settlement, or that she was now losing a substantial amount of blood from the cuts and gashes she was enduring trying to escape a smell which was no longer there. Rational thought no longer existed, for she had dropped once more beyond the point at which logical thinking could somehow magically save her from this nightmare, and now she only did what her instincts drove her to. She suddenly stopped her frantic crawl as her hand slapped down upon a surface far different than what she had previously been grasping. Her sightless eyes looked upon the toe of a boot, slowly traversing upwards until she stared into the face of her own personal demon, that which chased. Pathetically she tried to scream and only hoarse crying came out of her battered body, the sheer effort of trying to escape the creature denying her the ability to call out to people that simply weren't there.

Glowering down upon her were the eyes of a creature which had no name, and never did, for it was beyond such mortal needs, and only had one desire... To take the souls of those who dared stare into its malevolence. It was ancient beyond reckoning, a creature which perhaps had never known a mortal body, yet survived on the predations of the force-users it had claimed as victims. To her, it appeared as an ambiguous man, whose face she could not recognize, yet always wore a charming smile upon his face that was undoubtedly too handsome for the terror he inflicted upon not only her but likely countless others as well.

"Charming." the voice of the demon was akin to the draw of a knife across flesh, the words it spoke sliced through the air and her soul as if it wasn't even there. "You always try Genevieve, yet you always fail. Tell me, would you like to know what I have for you this time?" It was teasing her of course, for the demon would show her anyways even if she could say no to it.

With a sudden movement that betrayed its form, the creature was kneeling before her, one hand upon the ground and another slowly moving towards her face. She tried to move away, but the force of its presence was too powerful and she was helpless as it grasped hold of her face, the sharpened digits of its hand digging deep into the empty sockets of her eyes and the vision it chose to share came into being before her. A house of cards stood upon a sandy plain, figures darting through the folds and creases of the deck, some she could see plainly as mandalorian clones, others she could not see clearly for the portents of fate shadowed them from her eyes. Two stood out very clearly to her, their presence a shining beacon among the darkness of the structure, and she was forced to watch as they fought side by side against terrible odds, until one of them was beaten down and held against their will by a pair of the shadows. The other shining soul continued to fight, its movements a whirlwind of death as it struck down countless figures, but oblivious to yet another that snuck in the shadows behind it and made ready to pounce. She tried to call out, but when she opened her mouth the demon forced a claw into it and pierced her tongue to her lower jaw, silencing her efforts permanently.

It was then that she witnessed what she had been forced to wait for, the shining figure that still fought was struck from behind, the blade of its assassin striking through its heart and ending its life. Before she could attempt anything else, the vision was over, and once more she was laying upon the hard ground staring at her demon. "You see now." it mocked, that damned smile still upon its face as it spoke, "You cannot stop anything, I am know you just as well as you know yourself. In fact..." The creature shifted slightly, the colors and light bending around it to force its shape into a form that it felt more fitting until she stared in horror at the mockery it forced in front of her. Her own reflection stared at her, the shallow eye-sockets devoid of eyes, and the lithe body that she had known as her own, that slight smile that she always wore because she tried desperately to find the happiness in life despite the terror of her waking dreams. All of it crashed down upon her in a torrent of despair, the world of her dreams unraveling as her body writhed in agony in real life, all the while her demon laughed at her in her own voice, wearing her own skin. The last thing she saw was the image of herself smiling, the voice she knew as her own mocking her one last time...

"You know I always win, Genevieve."

---

Taris, The Spire Enclave - Requiem's quarters

She awoke in a cold sweat, pain wracking her body as her mind still reeled from the assault. Fingers grasped at the sheets damp with her own terror, her mind struggling to bring itself back together even as her body attempting to reassert control. Moments which seemed like eternity later, she finally quelled the last of the spasms, bringing the sheet up to cover her nude body as she weakly raised herself to a sitting position. The force eddied around her like the wake of a typhoon, the localized event seeming to have done just as much damage to her immediate surroundings as it had done to her mind and body. Several of her belongings had been knocked from their original position and found new homes on the floor, something which she was not fond of and knew she would have to correct sooner or later. Further observation of the room was halted by a knock at her door, no doubt one of the troopers coming to see if she was alright, though for him to be knocking seemed to defeat the purpose of investigating the possibility of attack. She would have to gently remind him later, but for now she gestured to the door and used the force to open it slightly, a shallow "What?" greeting the person on the other side.

To her surprise, it was not a clone-trooper, and was instead Solace who had come to see her, a look of worry clear on her face as she looked inwards at her normally cheerful and neat sister. "You screamed, sister." she said, that tone of worry in her voice as she shut the door behind her and moved to sit on the bed next to Requiem. For a moment, neither of them said anything, but not much needed to be said between force-users linked as they were, for all Solace had to do was read her sister's aura and she would know what she needed to know. She did read most of what had so troubled her sister, but there was something else there, another fear that had come up before, one that she never understood, and was about to ask about when her sister flung herself into her arms and began crying. "I'm sorry." she repeated several times, despite not explaining what it was she was sorry for, and leaving her sister no idea why she was upset now.

Holding her close, Solace slowly rocked back and forth, bringing her sister's tears to a slow before finally she was able to pose the question "Why are you sorry, sis?" looking up, Requiem gathered herself before answering, "I've given life to our master, several times, perhaps several times too many." Confusion set in as Solace attempted to understand how that could possibly be reason for apology, but then she started to piece together all the things that had never quite made sense. For years the two had been apprenticed to Shimmerene, and for all that time despite her having mastered many aspects of their eccentric master's ways, as well as becoming the first-prime, she had never been alone with the master more than those few occasions that she herself had given life to her master. On the other hand, there were many instances in which Requiem had been alone with their master and for extended periods, all of which without explanation. Until now, she had simply assumed extended training, as her sister never could quite grasp some of the more complex force-powers.

Now she started to think of more dire possibilities, thoughts that soon became all too true as her sister's aura read of guilt and shame. "How long, sis? How long has this been going on?"

"I-it s-started about a few months after we began our apprenticeship." at first, she struggled with the words of her confession, stumbling across them as she felt shame in lying to her dear sister for so long. "I was curious, of course, of what our master looked like in truth, and I had always felt some connection to the master. While she did eventually reveal herself, I could feel apprehension in her aura, and something that seemed to be a fear of me. Later I came to understand that it was a fear of hurting me like she had done to so many others over the years, a fear which was only slightly soothed when I first willingly gave my own life-force to her. I had my own feelings of fear as well, in addition to another feeling which I didn't understand at first. It was only when I remember you telling me about Zentraedies that I really understood this feeling."

Solace slowly nodded in silence as she now understood the depth of the connection between her master and her sister, stifling a smile as she felt her sister blushing as she spoke the truth she had been waiting for so long to tell. "When we realized our affection for each other, I readily volunteered my own life to sustain her, though she would at first refuse, just as she had done to many others. I could feel that she had already loved many others in her life, people who had walked the same road as I do, and eventually given too much for her, just as I may likely have done. It was... Somewhat exhilarating, truth be told, as she was my first kiss. Arguably, I don't think others have pieces of their soul taken from them with their first kiss, or really any other, but it still feels worth it. Afterward my memory is hazy, but I do remember waking up here in my quarters with her sitting watch, leaving once she had seen that I had awaken without harm. Since then it has been our secret, perpetuated over the years."

She hesitated for a moment, hesitation stopping her before she asked what she feared, "Jess? You still love me, right?"

For a moment, Solace indulged in a rare smile, the sincerity in the action evident as she answered, "Of course, Genevieve. You and me are Alleron's, and not even the entire galaxy can break the bonds between us."

---

Taris System Authority, near the sudden appearance of the Black-Hand
Task-Force "Faithless Remorse"

Sector defense admiral Andrew Tarkev was, like many of his kind, an unfeeling bastard who had been blessed with the command of an Imperial-I class Star Destroyer after an action that he likely knew all too well was wrong. Staring over the screen-jockeys in the navigation pit, he wore the same expression that was perpetually etched across his face, that of extreme displeasure in the very fact that everyone around him was still breathing. So it was that when a small indicator no more than three millimeters wide that denoted a detected vessel blinked on across the room, the attendant froze to his chair in fear of the swiftly approaching admiral. "Power to forward shields and have the gun-crews man their stations!" his bellowing orders were swiftly obeyed, for all of them knew his infamously short temper, and that the only thing that brought that dire excuse for a living being happiness was the venting of a crewman out an airlock. He was above the attendant as soon as the words had finished leaving his mouth, that same glowering remark now directed at the cowering crewman. "Report." he stated simply, the weight he put behind those words seemingly creating their own gravity well.

"Sir. Lucrehulk class, battleship designation, just jumped in system from what we believe is the direction of the Esstran sector." without saying another word, the admiral moved onwards, now thankfully for the radar-operator, relocating to stand behind the comms-officer. "Send the missive." the order was given without further ceremony, and the admiral had already lost interest in the current event. With a simple series of commands, the comms-officer sent out a missive to the vessel, something that had been pre-written long ago by a far more forgiving mind than the current admiral.

Task Force Faithless Remorse said
Attention unidentified vessel, this the defensive fleet for the Taris system, and we have detected your unannounced arrival within our space. Please identify yourself immediately and disengage any offensive capabilities your vessel may have. We of the Grand Republic of Mandalore do not wish hostilities, and expect cooperation in our request to disengage offensive weapons and identify your purpose for entering our system. Should you only be passing through our sector, we will allow you to continue about your way, though your actions will be watched carefully. If your intentions are not hostile, and you wish to engage in discourse with the Grand Republic, then respond to this message upon receiving it, else we will assume your intentions to be hostile in nature.

-Admiral Andrew Tarkev,
Commander of ISD-I "Faithless Remorse"