Out of the Ashes (Book 5)

[Akirapryde]

It has been two thousand years since the great fall of the Republic. The Galaxy has become divided along racial lines. Massive new empires and galactic powers have replaced the once proud Republic. Old heroes have returned to restore the Republic. However they must first restore unity to themselves first if the Republic is to be reborn.

[Akirapryde]

The Final Fall
Azgardian Dreadnought Odin's Pride
Witussa System
Inner Rim

It has been nearly thirty five long years since the battle of Hothee where the Chaos were finally defeated once and for all. The Chaos had destroyed untold number of galaxies for their evil master. It was Hothee were the combined forces of the Republic and every space faring race joined to defend this one. The battle was epic in scale and in stakes. Heroes were made and died. Enemies joined together and fought along side each other against a greater threat. There were fears that some alliances were simply to weak to stand the test of the battle. One such alliance was the forces of the Sith. They had been locked in a brutal power struggle for the past year. During this one battle, they fought as one force. One key moment was when the flagship of the Dark Queen of the Sith, Ariel, became encircled and over whelmed. Daritha Jer'cuil, a long time rival and mortal enemy of the Dark Queen, ordered his own ships to support the Dark Queen's flagship. The action saved his rival life and sixteen years later the Dark Queen returned the favor. Daritha Jer'cuil never saw his empire raise, but he did live out the rest of his life in the dungeon of the Dark Queen. One of the most surprising alliance was the one between the Jedi and the Crusade. For those that knew the history between the two ancient advisories, shock was an understatement. During the hight of the battle, nearly twenty thousand heavy capital ships hyperspaced in to the battle. Driving a wedge through the Chaos lines, the combined fire between Jedi and Crusade ships were unmatched. It was clear that this single battle was an all or nothing event for the entire galaxy. However, not all saw this battle as the end game move.

Even before the last of the enemy had been defeated, a dark force was in motion within the Mid Rim. The attempted assassination and the thought that the Jedi had discovered his plans, the Chancellor felt his hand forced. Despite the arguments of his best advisors, Generals, and Admirals, the Chancellor ordered his secret force to lunch their attack. The attack was always planned to be a surprise, and this was the prefect moment to carry out the attack. While the bulk of the Azgard home guard were fighting to protect the Galaxy against the Chaos, Republic ships hyperspaced in to Azgard space in mass. He has been working to build his secret force with the help of a number of corrupt Core World leaders. Now the fruits of those labors saw action for the first time. There was a minor short lived battle between Republic warships and cadet training ships. The limited defenders offered no resistance to the Republic warships as they were swept aside. For nearly twenty four hours, Azgard was subjected to brutal orbital bombardments. Once the planet was in flames, the Republic fleet turned and left the system before remaining Azgard Forces nearby could rally. Once the battle of Hothee was over and word reached the Azgardian fleet of the fate of their homeworld. They turned their powerful weapons on the Republic and started a match. The remains of the Jedi fleet as well as ten other allied fleets joined the Azgard on their march to remove the Chancellor from power. However, this war was not about removing the Chancellor from power. Azgard was out for the life blood of the Republic. When the war first started, no one thought that Azgard had the forces to take down the Chancellor or his Republic forces. Most worlds withdrew from the Republic and refused to aide Azgard. It was the beginning of the end for the Republic. With each new conquest of a Core World behind them and left burning, it became a realization that the Republic as many had known it was over. It has been nearly fifteen years since the forces of Azgard and her allies laid waste to what remained of the Republic and the horrors that the Supreme Chancellor had unleashed. In the end, the Chancellor took his own life before he could be captured.

It was discovered way to late to stop the war that the Chancellor long before becoming elected had suffered from paranoid attacks. The mental dysfunction was only confirmed after his death and the final destruction of the Republic. During the final march on the Republic, the Warrior Houses of Azgard left no world within the Core untouched. Any world that supported the Republic soon found themselves under the guns of Azgardian bombardment. Each and ever world that supported the Republic during the war suffered like never before. “War is ugly, War is nasty, never be fooled that War is a civil thing. This is way we exist. To show the Galaxy why war should always be averted at all cost.” Warlord Brea to her Jedi allies before the fires of Duro. The temporary leader of Azgard, Warlord Brea waged the only kind of war that she knew, total destruction of the enemy and its allies. During the war, opportunist became plentiful. It all started when the world of Ryloth was annexed by Genonosis. All eyes turned to the now dysfunctional Senate in exile to do something. When it became clear that the Republic was dead, The war over power began throughout the remains of the Republic. The old rules of warfare were tossed aside as many pointed to the war the Azgards were waging within the Core Worlds and surrounding systems. The suffering was unmatched by any other moment in Galactic history. Some suffered greater then others though.

No worlds suffered like the sixty systems directly around Azgard space. The Order of Long Daggers uncovered a act of betrayal that Azgard could never forgive. Those worlds closest to Azgard had all set silently by as the Chancellor's forces slipped through their systems on their way to attack Azgard. Given the chance to offer some warning of the coming attack, they choose to remain silent and in some cases even shut down planetary communication networks to ensure that no waring would be sent out. When the surviving members of the Azgardian Council of Warlords found out, they set their fleets on to these worlds. The orders to the worlds were simple, surrender unconditionally or suffer. At first many worlds attempted to fight back only to have their forces blasted from space under the Azgardian onslaught. When these short battles were over, the entire population of these worlds were transplanted as refugees to other worlds far from Azgard space. As the expansion reached its finally stages, the last of these worlds within the ring simply surrendered once the Azgard fleets arrived in system. For these worlds who saw surrender as a better option then forced relocation, they found their own citizens forced in to the Azgardian culture and under Azgardian law. The transition was hard for most but unlike those worlds that fought back, they still had a homeworld to call home. In the end, Azgard Space grew considerably as they turned their new found resources to rebuild their shattered military and fueled the war against the Republic. Though this was hardly any consolation to the Warrior Houses as Azgard had been laid to waste by the Republic's surprise attack. The memories of their home world laid to waste fueled hatred for the Republic that no victory could satisfy. Most of the Azgardian Science Caste estimated that it would take Azgard nearly a thousand years to recover from the Republic attack.

The Leadership of Azgard didn't fair so much better. With the cold blood assassination of Warlord Raynar, Warlord Ton won the right to lead Azgard as per their own rights and laws. He lead the Azgard in to the war with the Chaos. Warlord Ton gave his life during the battle of Hothee when his ship was attacked and destroyed by a Chaos ship. Warlord Mikkjel of House Fury took over leadership of Azgard during the battle of Hothee in what had been organized as a path of succession prior to the battle. Noting that his House took the brunt of the Republic's attack on Azgard and that the last remaining warriors of his house served off world, Warlord Mikkjel issued the order to all Azgardian Warriors, “Burn the Republic from history!” Warlord Mikkjel had set forth to punish the Republic and bring an end to the Chancellor once and for all. He led the Azgard from one victory to the next as they marched towards the Core Worlds and later deep within them. Half way through the Core Worlds, the forces of the Chancellor were able to deal crushing blow to the Azgard advance. During the Battle of Trosia, the Republic forces were able to destroy the Azgardian Dreadnought Fárbauti Strike. Though they paid for this victory heavily with ships they couldn't afford to loss. They did manage to slow the Azgardian advance by two weeks. With the fiery death of the Fárbauti Strike, Warlord Mikkjel's leadership ended. His reign was surprisingly short, being only nine years but history will never forget him.

The Chancellor had numbers in his favor, and he expected the loyalty of other Republic worlds to support his war with Azgard. The rumors of their culture and the misinformation that spawned their reputation caused many worlds to fear the Azgards. He had built a massive secret force that shocked and surprised the entire galaxy once they moved. However all historians believe that had he waited ten maybe as short as five more years the war between Azgard and the Republic would have been completely different. Fueled by first year victories against the Azgards, many worlds actually thought that the end of the Azgards was in fact at hand. The mass media under the Chancellor ensured that the rest of the Republic saw each victory and counted up warship losses. The war of fear was well underway between the Republic and Azgard. The Chancellor had been warned about under estimating the Azgard. Sadly, the Chancellor bought in to his own propaganda. This was clear when he openly declared war on the Crusade and the Jedi as well near the end of the first year. These victories which the Republic enjoyed during the first year was only while the Azgard was rallying their forces and moving in to position. At the end of the first year, the tide had changed and Azgard was fully mobilized with their allies.

With Azgard turning early Republic gains in to defeat after defeat, the Chancellor opened up his second front against the Crusade. Assassinations became the order of the day as supporters of the Crusade found themselves under the blade of the Chancellor's Rangers. The Crusade's military arm had been devastated during the battle of Hothee. However, the true power of the Crusade was in the shadows. The Chancellor might have been protected from assassination, however, his off world supporters were not so well protected. Across the Republic political, military and social leaders who voiced their support for the Chancellor started dropping dead. These assassinations added greatly to the power vacuum throughout the Republic and fueled more power struggles. The Shadow War between the Chancellor's Rangers and the Crusade left both factions in ruin by the end of the war. With the Chancellor openly waging war on the Jedi, they found themselves forced in to allying with Azgard rather they liked the kind of war that was being waged or not. By the end of the second year, support for the Chancellor's war had shrunk to the Inner Rim and the Core Worlds and all worlds between.

After the death of Warlord Mikkjel, Warlord Brea stepped forward and assumed command of Azgardian Forces so that the war would not suffer from the loss. With their ranks severely limited due to battle losses, the Council of Warlords could not elect a new leader under their laws. It was decided by the religious caste that Warlord Brea would follow Warlord Mikkjel in succession. During the hight of the battle for Duro, Warlord Brea was named leader of Azgard. With worlds fleeing the Chancellor in droves, the Republic's boarders continued to shrink as Warlord Brea continued to push Warlord Mikkjel's first order. The final battle for Coruscant was more of a whimper than a epic battle. As Azgardian forces arrived, they found the system already in flames. The last remnants of the Republic Forces loyal to the Chancellor turned their mighty weapons on the inhabited worlds of the system. It was the final death of the Republic. It would turn to be a hollow victory for the Azgard. Their focus on the Republic left them oblivious to the large number of smaller wars that continued to burn across the galaxy.

For the next fifteen years, the Azgard did everything they could to try to bring these conflicts under control. They would move in mass from one conflict region, bring peace and secure waring factions. They would move on to the next region only to have war break out in the region they just left. Many Azgardian allies suggested that Azgard form the next Galactic Government. Warlord Brea flatly rejected the idea with the complete support of the Council of Warlords. “We are warriors, not political leaders.” As the years passed and the wars continued to flame between systems, the sense of failure sank in on many warriors and their respected Warrior Houses. This race of proud warriors were unmatched on the battlefield. However, they were complete failures when it came to bringing lasting peace. However, under the leadership of Warlord Brea and with the aide of the Jedi, they tried. It was the secret of the relationship between Azgard and the Republic. The Republic needed Azgard to fight its wars, and Azgard needed the Republic to secure the peace.

Brea looked down at the reports once more with profound sadness in her heart. She had read them already five times, she just didn't want to believe it. With the death of the Republic, a power vacuum caused former allies to turn on each other. Azgard had tried to invite former Senators back to Coruscant space to start rebuilding the Republic. However with Coruscant in ruins and self serving being the order of the day, very few Senators answered the call. Conflicts had been erupting across the Republic between neighboring systems and there was simply nothing she could do to stop them. They did everything in their power to try to talk these systems in to resolving their differences peacefully. Then she moved to order her forces to destroy the ability of waring factions to make war. This only turned more systems against her and her warriors. There was nothing she could do to stop these conflicts and some worlds actually used this lack of ability of the Azgards to form their own multi system governments.

Some systems like Dorin had actually attempted to form their own system to replace the Republic. The Sages named their own newly formed government, the Galactic Alliance. It was made up of nine different systems directly around Dorin. The Azgard did nothing to recognize this government or opposed it. Sadly Azgard had their own hands filled with attempting to control the conflicts. The Galactic Alliance lasted just under five years till Dorin and three other member systems went to war over trade route rights. Despite winning the war, Dorin found themselves alone within their Galactic Alliance. Other independent governments lasted longer, while others lasted shorter. As the years passed and open warfare took its toll on the Galactic network and shipping lines started to fall apart. The loss of ready information of what was happening across the Galaxy seemed to invite the power hungry to attempt to take over worlds. Most were put down, some dictators managed to secure power. The cost was high in both cases. And in the middle was Warlord Brea, she hated the idea that there was nothing she could do to stop these mindless conflicts.

With the conflicts growing out of control, one by one Azgardian Fleets started requesting permission to return home. While she was selected as the interim Warlord of Azgard by the religious caste, she had not won the right to lead them as per their laws. None of the other Warlords or Warrior Houses had any requirement to follow her. They only followed her now because she earned their respect in battle. However she knew she could not force them to stay and help put the fires out. She had to allow them to return home with their honor intact. There was nothing Warlord Brea could do but allow the Fleets to return home. At the hight of the Azgard/Republic war, Azgard fielded well over fifty thousand warships and billions of warriors ready to die at her order. Today, Brea was barely able to field two fleets of thirty ships each. Her troop numbers were down to only a hundred divisions. Even now, those numbers are about to be cut once more.

An aid walked up slowly from behind her, “Warlord” he said softly and waited for her to acknowledge him before continuing. He had been with her from the beginning. She had earned his loyalty during the Flail attack on Azgard. He watched her ascend from shamed warrior to House Warlord and later to lead their people. He knew more than anyone else the ill affects this dark time had on her. She was a warrior right down to her core, but she also felt such petty for what was happening. She turned her head slightly over her shoulder and nodded. He continued, “They are here. Waiting in your briefing room, Warlord.”

She took in a deep breath and sighed as she nodded, “Good.” she turned back to her datapad and keyed a few lines, “Pass this to the rest of the fleet. Use the highest level encryption we have. Also, forward a copy back to Azgard control.” She finished keying the orders and turned the pad off.

She looked out from the bridge of her mighty warship and sighed once more. The people of Witussa had been attacked by their neighbors three times. And three times, Azgard had been called back to bring peace to the system once more. She felt horrible in what she was about to do but she had to think of her own warriors as well. She didn't have a choice any more. What was going to happen, Azgard could no longer stop. It was true, Azgard had destroyed the Republic. They had fulfilled their destiny. She felt a great sense of guilt for the suffering that was being caused, but there was nothing she could do. Her and her warriors had simply run out of resources to continue. She looked down at the datapad almost forcing herself to issue the order. She thrust her hand at the aide as she handed him to the datapad.

She turned to her command chair and grabbed her large claymore. She turned back to her aide, “I knew a man that stood taller than anyone I had ever known in my life. History will remember him as the Slayer of Darkness, the Bringer of Peace, the Most Honorable. He died a hero. The loss of his light will darken more than just our galaxy. The loss of his light has darken my very soul. Will my actions today have the same affects on others or shall I be remembered only as the one who brought death to the Republic and left suffering in her wake.” Warlord Brea said softly as she looked down on the nearly six foot aide.

He shook his head, “I don't know how History will see us Warlord. I know all that you have done. You never stopped trying to bring peace.” he said then motioned out the window to the world below, “You can not be held responsible for the actions of others.”

She nodded at him with a frown, “I wish I believed you, my friend.” She tossed her heavy claymore over her shoulder and walked passed the aide as she added, “Get those orders out right away.” She left the bridge of her flagship without saying a word to anyone else.

Warlord Brea walked in to the briefing room with a great sense of defeat on her face. There was simply no reason to hide it or ignore it anymore. Her gaze first fall upon Jedi Grand Master Preena Tabanne with her best friend, Jedi Knight Pol Murl, sitting at the table. She nodded at Preena as she remembered the day that Preena had been rescued by a Heartman transport. Near dead, Preena's starfighter had been attacked and she was left for dead. Found in a state of coma, no one knew who the young padawan was. Her survival nearly went completely unnoticed till her coma broke. Her memory was in shreds but she had a story to tell. Had Azgard not been attacked by the Republic, the story would have been discounted on its surface. However, by the time her coma broke, Azgard was already six months in a war with the Republic. Preena had gone on to lead the Jedi during the war with the Republic. With the death of Daz Murl and the continued alliance with the Crusade, Warlord Brea was able to return a young Kel Dor padawan to Preena.

It took Brea some heated work with the Crusade to get them to part ways with the cure for Pol Murl. In the end, the Crusade had little choice but to surrender the cure. War made for strange bed fellows. Preena took Jedi Padawan Murl as her padawan and the pair fought side by side like sisters. When Preena became Grand Master of the Jedi Order, it was no surprise that her best friend was there to support her. Preena gave Knight Murl her first critical mission. Once the Galactic Alliance was formed, Preena sent Knight Murl to Dorin with the mission to attempt to work out a treaty with the Alliance. Knight Murl discovered the plot by the Sages to use the Alliance to make a bid for power in their region. After narrowly escaping an assassination attempt, Knight Murl escaped Dorin and warned a delegation from another Alliance Member world of the plot. The plot triggered a war that lead to the fall of the Alliance. Under the leadership of Grand Master Tabanne and with loyal Knights like Jedi Murl, the Order was well on the road of rebuilding. However, their numbers had been cut to below a thousand. Over half of these numbers were younglings and padawans.

Across from the two Jedi, set five commanders of the remaining allies Azgard still had. During the war, Azgard called on their allies to help fight the Republic. During the hight of the war, these allies seemed unwavering in their loyalty. Now that the war was over, those allies returned home to help fight in the very conflicts that the Azgards were attempting to stop. Now, their allies have dropped to five loosely formed fleets. Theses units had been with the Azgard since the war first broke out with the Republic. Most of them were former Republic ships and units that refused to follow the Chancellor. They bleed side by side with the Azgard. Their loyalty had been proven in blood as well as deeds. Warlord Brea knew she could count on them when ever she needed them. It was because of this reason that she was going to make a special offer to these units and ships. She would respect their choice one way or the other. She felt that they earned as much if not more.

At the end of the table set Prince Saar and Priestess Shalla Heartman. Many who viewed the assassination thought for sure that the pair would be put to death. It was thanks to the Chancellor's mental instability that their lives were spared. He had thought that there were factions within his own Rangers that had helped with the assassination. The pair suffered greatly as they were tortured to release names of people that simply didn't exist. Two months after the assassination the pair were freed during a daring jail break carried out by the Coruscant Liberation Front (CLF). Even though the CLF had no contacts within the Rangers, the Chancellor knew for sure that one of his beloved Rangers had betrayed him. Prince Saar meanwhile became the leader of the CLF and conducted a guerrilla war within the Coruscant system that caused much disruption to the Republic war effort. With the help of Priestess Heartman and her connections with the Order of Long Daggers, Prince Saar and Priestess Heartman were able to help form similar organizations on other Core Worlds.

She sighed as she walked up to her seat, “thank you all for coming at such short notice.” They all greeted her in pleasant voices but it was clear that there was despair in the air. The war with the Republic had been over for nearly fifteen years and still there was no movement towards rebuilding the Republic. “I know we have had a long road with little success at our goals. It is clear to me that there is simply nothing we can do to save the Republic or rebuild something else in its place. I have received word from Warlord Floskubak. He has requested to take the remains of his fleet back home. With his departure from this conflict, our forces are cut down to just over twenty ships. There is no way we could continue to keep this up.” she looked down. She felt as if she was turning her back on everyone that looks to Azgard to protect them. Just lifting her head to see the others, “Most of you have fought loyally by our side. But we all must accept the facts. The Republic is tumbling in to one of its most darkest times. I am releasing your ships and men back to your commands. I am truly sorry that we could not do any better. But we have simply run out of resources to continue.” she looked down in defeat once more. She knew that even if the rest of Azgard had followed her, they would have still reached this point. It would have taken longer, but the end result would have still been the same. There was no question in her mind about this.

Taking in a deep breath, “Each of you have bleed for our cause. Because of this, as Warlord of Azgard, I would like to make this offer to each and every warrior under your command. If anyone so chooses, anyone may join us as we return to Azgard. They will be granted second class warrior status and all the rights of that status. They will have a home with us.”

The allies answered just as Brea had expected. Each of them said that they would have to speak with their warriors about it, but they were sure that they would be returning to Azgard space with her and her forces. Brea nodded at the comments and allowed them to leave the meeting so that they may speak with their warriors. The others however were harder for Brea to judge. She turned to the Jedi Grand Master first. The Order might be on the road to reconstruction, but they would never be the Order they once were. The war with the Rangers cost the Order all of its temples and nearly all of its Masters. While the Crusade didn't survive the war, there were still assassins out there that were hunting lone Jedi. The losses were adding up and Brea knew that Preena had been considering disbanding the Order once and for all.

Preena smiled as she always does with a soft nod, “I am grateful for the offer. However, we have already talked about this possibility. Last months encounter with those Crusade assassins proved to me once more that we are still needed here. If we do not stand and teach the ways of the Jedi, than all that we fought for would be lost. With this said, we have a large number of younglings here with you under your protection. The Council and I all agree that we can not protect them as they need during the coming dark times. I would ask you to take them with you. Please, protect them and guard them from harm.”

Warlord Brea smiled and nodded, “Of course Jedi Master. They will be protected within our space.”

Prince Saar took the pause to speak up, “Trosia is still in ruin. A few years ago, I was asked to take the thorn. I told them that as long as this mission was on going, I couldn't take the thorn with a clear heart. The offer, I am told still stands today. If we can not rebuild the Republic. Then I think I would like to rebuild my homeworld.” he said softly. When Warlord Brea first met Biggs Saar during the Jedi Civil War, she hated the man. He was arrogant, a lier, and a bastard. That man then is not the man sitting before her today. She watched him fight like a tiger and his passion for Shalla was only matched by the love he shows for his first love, Lysire. Warlord Brea had asked Prince Saar about the glowing stone he wears about his neck. He smiled and said that it is part of Lysire's soul. It was that moment that the aged Warlord decided she would stop trying to understand the way of the Force. Still she had come to respect and trust Prince Saar with her life. Brea had pretty much known that the Prince would remain to rebuild his homeworld. Prince Saar gave a moment of thought then turned to Shalla, “I would never ask you to leave your people behind.”

Priestess Heartman smiled at him as she looked deep in to his eyes, “This is why I would never leave your side, my love.” She turned back to Warlord Brea still smiling, “That is if I have your permission. I would like to spend the rest of my life with Prince Saar. Maybe we can make a difference here after all.”

Warlord Brea smiled as she nodded. There was something about the pair that seemed to give her hope through all of these. No matter what happened, they always seemed to find something to hold on to and to give them hope for a better tomorrow. It was something that time had taken away from her. “Yes, you have my permission to remain.” She thought for a moment, it was now that the great secret had to be revealed. She knew that none of them would expose this secret. “It is time for you to understand something. A few years ago, the Council of Warlords decided that it was time to cut off the Galaxy from our space. In hopes of protecting Azgard space from the conflicts, Azgard will no allow any ships to come or go from our space. During all this time, a series of defense stations were being built. The shipping lines and markers have all been removed. I have been able to hold off the finally closing of our boarders till return. Now, that this is going to happen. Our boarders will be completely closed. If you remain, don't follow us. You will only find death.”

Each of them nodded as Warlord Brea explained what would happen. Prince Saar waited for her to finish before he stood up. “Warlord, as you know. We had been hunting down the followers of the Flail for the past year. Just before you summoned us here” he said and looked at Shalla, “We were on the trial of Graff. We found him and we would like to offer you this gift from us to you personally.” he said placing a pack on the table and sliding it over to the Warlord.

Warlord Brea reach up and pulled the pack to her and opened it. Within it were a pair of double bladed lightsabers. Graff had caused her more then enough problems and was like a ghost to find. She couldn't help but laugh when she saw the pair of cybernetic arms. She remembered the order she gave about disarming the villein at all costs. Prince Saar continued, “We would like to offer this to Azgard and the Warrior House of Heartman as a show of our unending respect for your culture and proud people.” He said as he pulled up a large case and pushed the heavy item across the table.

Warlord Brea had to stand up to open the case and right as she did, she fell back in to her chair. She was starring at Raynar's Warhammer. “We honored all of the rights of our people, Warlord. I personally ensured in its care and it was Prince Saar's request that its return be ensured, Warlord” Priestess Heartman said softly. It was Biggs wish to go after Graff once they caught a lead to the villain. But when they found out that the Hammer was with him, Biggs ensured that the terrorist didn't escape. The duel was like all things with Biggs, epic in scale. She had never seen her husband fight with such passion. And when he ran Lysire's lightsaber through the terrorist's chest there seemed to have been a massive weight lifted from Biggs' own soul.

Brea didn't know what to say as she looked over the weapon carefully. Personally she had only seen this weapon up close three times. Once was on its receiving in during her first defeat while attempting to challenge of one of Warlord Raynar's commands. Despite its fine craftsmanship and artistic details, the Warhammer was more than just a weapon to be carried. It was the first weapon to be welded by the First Warlord of Azgard. It was forged with his own hands and tempered in the blood of Azgard's most fiercest enemies. It was a symbol of their leadership, their pride, their power and most importantly their honor. It was a blood right for those who wish to ascend to this highest rank within the Azgard. For only those who could trace their own blood heritage back to the First Warlord of Azgard had a right to lay claim to the highest rank of Azgard. What had become known simply as Raynar's Hammer was so much more than just his preferred weapon of choice. Without it, under their law, there could be no true ruler of Azgard. It held that much power over the entire culture and race. Its true value and power had been hidden from all none Azgardians for very good reasons.

It was actually feared that General Graff would attempt to use the Hammer to lay claim on the leadership of Azgard and its warriors. This threat of this was so real and so feared that the Council of Warlords and the Religious Caste sought to train their best warriors to ensure that General Graff would not win his Challenge of Leadership. The thief of the Hammer was a slap in the face to all Azgardians and their culture. However, allowing its thief in favor on an end to the Jedi Civil War only reflected their commitment to their new Jedi Allies. Still, its loss had been a bitter pill for the Azgard to sallow. Every Warrior House and the entire Order of Long Daggers had been attempting to locate without success. Then it dawned on her, “What you have done here today is beyond belief. Beyond words. You have no idea what this means to us.” she said in a broken sentence. Finally lifting her eyes from the case and pointed at Prince Saar's necklace, “I will make it my last will, I promise you this. You and yours alone will always be allowed to enter Azgard space when ever you wish.” She pulled her hand back and shook her head, “Azgard will honor this debt that you have given to us till the end of our culture as a whole. I will make this my last will. I swear it!”

Two weeks later, the last Azgard ship slipped in to hyperspace for home. Two weeks later Azgard and their proud warriors drifted from the galactic stage and in to distant memories. The Jedi would be the last of the old guard to hold the candle against the night. However, even with their control over the force, they were unable to stop the continue slid in to darkness. Less than a year after the last Azgard ship was spotted in the Galaxy, the order to disband was given and they too drifted in to history. The galaxy would continue to war among themselves without control. There were a few small breaks in the wars and conflicts. However these moments in peace were short lived and far between. The endless cycle of war would only come to an end over a thousand years after the fall of the Great Galactic Republic. It was by no act of diplomacy which brought an end to the wars and conflicts. What finally brought an end to the cycle of wars and conflicts was that the ability to wage war on a galactic stage had become exhausted. The shroud of darkness had completely covered over the galaxy as it waited for hope to return once more.

[Akirapryde]

Liberty Radio
Taqcom Island
The Free Republic of Fra
Mid Rim World of Fra

The cold dry air of the room seemed to mirror the situation on Fra. The mood of the people beyond the western cities seemed to be chilled and left in a sense of darkness. The darkness of the room only magnified this mood across the world of Fra. The stillness within the room was shattered by sound of a motor attempting to be started. The low muffles of a man just beyond the door could be heard as he attempts to coax the engine to to starting. After a few sound efforts the engine finally turned over and fill the air with the humming of its operation. Without warning the sound is suddenly reduced greatly as the sound of a door being closed was heard. Still the low muffles of a man could be heard just outside the door. Almost as if the universe itself exploded to life, the lights within the room kicked on. One by one they flickered to life till all six lamps along the ceiling were on. The frost of the room was now exposed as a large blower started up blowing cold air in to the room. Within seconds just behind the blower a soft reddish glow signaled the end of the freezing temperatures within the room. Within moments the moving cold air was replaced by the warmth of the heater.

The only door leading in to this forbidding and cold room slowly opened. As it opened slowly it became clear that it was thick and made of a very heavy metal. The long dark shadowed corridor just beyond the door indicated that the room was buried deep in a shelter of some kind. The ice along the walls hinted at its frozen location. The sounds of waves washing up on some distant beach offered one more clue of the location of the room. The powerful guest of frozen air filled the room with a chill once more as the man who opened the door shivered. The lone man walked in and moved behind the heavy door and pushed it closed once more. His grumbling over the weight and the way he leaned on the door as he pushed it closed signaled its true weight. With a loud metal thud, the door would close no further. Once the door was closed he walked over to the wall next to the door and lifted a large metal tube. He struggled to drop the pipe in the waiting hangers on each side of the door. A pair of pins ensured that the pipe wouldn't fall from the hooks as the pipe bared the door closed.

With the door now bared and his location secured. The man turned while removing his thick mittens and hung them on the wall. He then undid the buttons on his thick winter coat and removed it. This two was hung on the wall along with a thick face mask. Even though he removed his thick winter coat he was still dressed in a secondary coat and hat with a bandanna under it. He took in a deep breath and slowly let it out. His breath was clear to see as he rubbed his hands together. He walked over to a control box next to the door and turned two knobs. He watched the box closely as two sets of six pairs of lights turned from red to green. As he watched the signals, which were telling him that the main outer doors to the bunker were closing, he pulled out a small box and flipped the lid open. Slowly the lights continued to change as he pulled a small white tube from the box. He placed the tube in his mouth while returning the box to his pocket. With his other hand he lit a small flame from a stick and put it to the other end of the tube. With a few short breaths the flame turned to a burning ash at the end of the white tube.

The heavy powerful sounds of two thuds shook the bunker as icicles fell from the ceiling. With the bunker now completely cut off from the outside world, he was free to start his mission. He walked over to a large stack of equipment. He pulled a thick blanket off with care as more ice fell off of the blanket to the floor. He pushed up two large switches and a low humming sound could be heard as the equipment started to heat up. He folded the blanket and carefully set it on an empty shelf. He walked over to another sack of equipment and repeated the same procedure. Once he placed that blanket with the first, he rubbed his hands once move while taking a heavy drag off the tube in his mouth. He let out a thick plum of smoke as he walked over to a table.

Placing a small pack on the table as well as his other things he took his seat. He reach forward and pulled the large mic till it was right in front of him. He yawned deeply as he tightened the bandanna round his head. Checking his watch then pulling out a small traumas, he reached over to a box on the table. He turned a dial and started to pour himself a cup of coffee. The hot liquid started to steam up almost immediately. He watched as the indicator light showed him that the massive antenna slowly being raised. About half way up, two more lights on the box kicked on. They told him that the powerful radio set behind him was ready for transmission. He took a sip of his coffee and waited for the antenna to be ready. Once the light turned green he nodded and flipped a switch. With that switch, lights around the room as well as a few throughout the little rebel base all came one. All said two simple words, "On Air"

---

"Brothers, Sisters, citizens of Fra. Those of you within occupied Fra and those of you fighting against the evil forces of the Usurper. I send you my respect and gratitude. This is Maximus Timock speaking to you from Liberty Radio. It has been over sevens long years since the day our freedom was stolen from us by the Usurper. The man who would claim to be our King had stolen our freedom. It was over seven years ago that the Usurper marched his forces in to power and in to our history. Our elected officials along with their families were dragged from their homes in the dead of night and murdered in the streets. Their blood was soon joined by loyal guards and protectors of our way of life. It was over seven years ago that freedom on Fra died at the hands of a military coup.

"The Usurper did control the military and some of the navy. But with the help of a few loyal commanders and naval officers we were able to stop the expansion of the illegitimate government cold. There were hard fought battles in the swamps, the low lands, the dense forests, the out lining cities and in the hearts and minds of our people. For over seven years we fought and bled for Fra and her release from the grip of a evil dictator. We marched, we organized and learned how to fight our own military. To fight against the same men and women who swore to protect us from evils like the Usurper. And my Brothers and Sister, we won battles. Lots of battles. We won not because we were paid more, not because we were trained better, not because we had better equipment. We won because we had a goal. It was a simple yet glorious goal. To free Fra from the tyranny of the Usurper. As the Army retreated we gained much needed equipment and supplies. Then something happen my Brothers and Sisters. Something wonderful happened. The government soldiers started to see through the lies and deceptions cast by the Usurper. As their eyes were opened, they started to see the horrors that they were fighting for. Driven by their own guilt and anger at the Usurper, they come over to our side. It was a few at first but then the tides started to shift.

No longer my Brothers and Sister were we only holding the illegitimate Government at bay. We were fighting them back, pushing them back. Back past the shores of our great sea did we fight the dark army of the Usurper. Back past the foot hills and further back did the forces of the Usurper retreat. All the while our Brothers and Sisters on the other side started to see that they were lied to. That their false King was nothing more than a ruthless, murdering dictator. As they crossed the lines, we welcomed our lost family members with open arms. There was no harsh words being said. No one held ill will against them. We welcomed our family back to our side. No longer blind to what has happen. No longer fooled by the lies and confused by the false witnesses. Our Brothers and Sisters left the ranks of the Government forces and joined the cause of returning Fra to a world of Freedom. It almost started to seem like once more, we could speak that word freely again. Once more off our lips did we say the word out loud. We spoke the word Democracy. It became our battle cry followed by Freedom!

The moment of truth did come for both sides. We who started out as a rag tag army of outcasts and displaced scholars had become reformed in to a fighting force to be reckoned with. Thanks to the help of our Former Government soldiers turned freedom fighters, we learned the skills of war and the art of tactics. We met the Government on the stepped plains in all of our might. I was there, my Brothers and Sisters. I saw with my own eyes the might of the people screaming out in one voice so loud that surely the False King could hear in his palace. They were calling out for him to leave, and leave now. The battle was epic and lasted for ten long, hard days. The men and women fighting for the Government fought hard. They fought with courage and died bravely. I shall always give them this. Our lost Brothers and Sisters on the other side fought with honor and courage. A far cry from the evil monster that they fight for. However, you can not resist the very will of the people. On the tenth day, the Government forces were forced to withdraw from the field. They were beaten and the joys of the people could be heard across the battlefield. Finally there were no other Government forces between the Liberation of Fra and our fighters. The day was at hand for the False King's rain to come to an end.... Or was it?

“We ordered the King to step down or by disposed. He actually dared us to march on his new Capital City. So we did march. With our heads held high we marched for our Freedom. For our Democracy. I actually saw with my very own eyes, the False King standing watching us from the walls of his city. Little did we know we were marching straight in to a trap. It was a trap forged in Hell and cast between demons. Little did we know the horror that the False King would unleash on us. There was no warning as the sky turned to fire around us. The winds unleashed fire storms within our own ranks. I saw our Bothers and Sisters turn to fire right before my own eyes. The winds cast our trucks and horses up like they were toys of some angry child and tossed kilometers away. Still the fire storms continued as I saw giant flaming clouds raise up where our forces once were massed. I tell you my Brothers and Sisters, I have never in my life saw such death and destruction before. It was our shame, but we ran in the face of this new horror. I saw later, some of our Brothers and Sisters sick with the kind of illness that our doctors could not understand. I remember sitting next to one of our Sisters as she lay dying. Her long hair laid about the bed and floor. Her skin burned as if it was on fire. But she was no where near the flaming cloud or the fires. Our victory had been stolen from us. Not by the Usurper, who claimed to be our King. But by off world demons brought here by the Usurper.

“It took us a long time to even figure out who they were let alone how to fight them. Even though the will of the people demanded the Usurper to step down, he brought in off world demons to fight his battle for him. We learned a new phrase in the falling days, Death by Panzer Battalion. These off world demons pushed our forces back from the King's Capital and crushed our supply lines. We fought hard against these new Invaders however, we stood no match against their strange weapons. Just as the skies brought the Demons, they brought us allies as well. A few days ago, we were contacted by a group that exist only to oppose these demons from off world. We learned that these invaders have a name. They are called the Reich and they make it their mission to crush the wills of worlds just like Fra. Our new friends gave us new weapons and helped train our people to fight the Reich. However, this is taking time. Time we simply don't have.

“Now, thanks to the Reich, our navies have been destroyed in their ports. Ports that were before out of reach of the Government air forces. Not out of reach of the Reich. Thanks to the Reich, many of our best units have been laid to waste by their flaming cloud bombs. Even now, it is hard for me to express my disbelief that one bomb could murder thousands of our Brothers and Sisters in mere seconds. I had seen it myself. With my own eyes. And I still can't believe what I saw. I know this is hard to believe my Brothers and Sisters, but the flaming cloud bombs are REAL! And these bomb fall on our cities turning them in to ruins in a matter of minutes. The Government doesn't want you to know the truth. But its real, we, your Brothers and Sisters are dying in mass flaming cloud attacks. I have never asked anything of you, My Brothers and Sisters. But we need you now more than ever. Take to the streets, let your voices carry in to the wind. Demand that the Usurper King step down and leave our world and take his Off World Demons with him. Show them all that they are not wanted here. Show them that no matter what they do, they can not win on Fra. Your family needs you, Brothers and Sisters. Take to the streets and let loss your voices. Before its too late for us all.”

“My Brothers and Sisters, you must listen to me now. Even though our cities are in flames. Even though the Usurper King has his off world demons crushing our forces. Even though the Flaming Cloud attacks continue to rain down on us. We will never stop fighting for our freedom. They may take our lives, burn our cities to the ground. Drop all the Flaming Cloud they wish. Freedom is not just a thing to be held one day and gone the next. Freedom is a place in our hearts. It is who we are, my Brothers and Sisters. For hundreds of years, we were looked to by our stellar neighbors to help them settle their disputes. Life under the Usurper's boot is not what was meant for our people. We are a respected world and deserve better this having our rights stripped from us by a murdering dictator. With the help of his Off World Demons, the Forces of the Usurper have reached our coast lines and are matching on what remains of our cities and towns. Now is the time to act! Act for Fra! Act for your own Freedom!”

---

Evening with Roali-Del
Stephinopulous
Captain City
Mid-Rim World of Fra


"Good evening, once more I Roali-Del, your Hostess, would like to welcome you to tonight's show. Tonight I have a special guest for all my listeners. As many of you have known, our world is playing host to the brave soldiers of the Reich.”

“Since the first moment they landed on our world and defended our homelands from the advancing rebel armies there has been many questions. Questions of who they are and why are they here, where did they come from. After that heroic battle at the gates of our very city, they took up an encampment just beyond the city walls. They kept to themselves and aside from regular meetings with Government no one was permitted to enter their encampment. Since that day, they kept to themselves and remained outside of the city. There were a few sightings of them conducting training beyond the plains with their impressive military hardware. Only recently did they venture in to the city where our citizens had first hand contact with these soldiers of the Reich. Sadly that weekend long experiment ended with the cowardly bombing carried out by rebel terrorists. The authorities are still looking for a female Togruta, possible feral, in connection to the bombing. While the soldiers of the Reich have returned to their encampment and took with them their spending, public outrage over the bombing has become painfully clear.”

“Till today, the our request for an interview with the Reich commander has been flatly denied with all further requests were forwarded to the Crown. However, to my surprise when I walked in to work this morning, sitting on my desk was a hand written letter from no other than Field Marshal Erich Von Kessler. Field Marshal Von Kessler is not only the ranking Officer among the Reich on our world. He is in fact the Cousin of the Leader of the Reich its self, the most honored Emperor Adalwulf Koehler. In his letter, he not only agreed to an interview, he allowed us to ask the hard questions we so richly desired to ask of him."

"So with out further ado, I would like to official introduce Field Marshal Von Kessler. Welcome Field Marshal to my show."

"Good evening Madam Roali-Del. Please call me Erich."

"Okay Erich. I have to admit that once the um well racist view point of you and your troops became known, this was the last place I would have expected to find your first interview...."

laughs, "well you are correct, we do hold a homo-superior attitude. Which is justified might I add. And it is because of this very attitude that your show was high on my own very short list of programs to began our Public Relations campaign on your very lovely world. Might I add, that I have visited so many worlds in the last year. I have come to see such a beauty on Fra that reminds me of my own homeworld. The Eastern Seas remind me of the same coast lines that I grew up with. There are so many things that Fra and my own homeworld has in common. However, back to where to hold my first interview, I have listen to your show very intensely over the past three weeks. And might I add enjoyed your voice. I find your ability to look beyond social and political blinders and see the larger truth to be very appealing to my goals. My advisors felt that a more human friendly setting would be more appropriate. In the end Madam, you were my first and only pick. After all, being in command has its privileges."

"I am not sure if I should be honored or terrorized by your comments Erich. I have seen first hand the affect of your Government's view point on our own. There had been new laws in the past month written that reflects your own raciest views. I won't lie Erich, it scares the hell out of me what changes you are bringing to our world. Can you explain why your government hold alien races in such low regard?"

"I can not, because we personally don't view other races in a lower status presa. We just view and value human life so much more than others. Think of it like two glasses of water. Each is half full. One is other alien races while the other is humanity. Each are equal in our view point. However through our eyes we view the human glass as half full with all the potential that comes with it. Where we view the alien glass as half empty. We know that there is no difference between the two yet only we view them as different. But because we view things differently, doesn't mean we devalue other races. Consider this, I could have held this interview on a number of human run programs. I choose you knowing that you were not human. I did this because of your abilities and that you are a very lovely woman. It was clear to see in your eyes why your husband choose you as a mate. I hope you can see what I am saying."

"I think I can see where you are going with this."

"it is simple a matter difference in prospective. We value all life equally, human and alien alike. But, we view human life a more important than others. In fact just before we arrived here we were on a mission of mercy to the world of Kelleroa. Drought had sweep the world and millions were starving. While there was a small human population, the vast majority of them were alien. Did this stop us? Certainly not. Did we only help the humans? Clearly not. We rendered aide as best as we could to all those in need. This is the way of the Reich. We will help all those in need regardless of their race. Because we of the Reich understand that while there are nonhumans out there, need is need no matter how you look at it. All we ask in return is that you honor our beliefs as we honor your own. Because mutual understand and respect is paramount to a peaceful cohabitation of the Galaxy."

"It is just very hard to take any of this seriously when the rumors presets that you eat sentient beings and preach hateful messages against alien races."

"would you prefer that I told you these ugly rumors are not true?"

"Oh my god, yes. But I fear they are true.

"Your fears are well founded. Yes there are a number of alien races that the Reich hates like no other. The Varl, a nasty worm like gastropod race that invaded our region of space over fifteen hundred years ago. They enslaved our worlds and nearly snuffed out humanity in that region of space. The first raise of the Reich fought the Varl in a central long war. They were sadly defeated and many humans living during that time suffered horribly. The second raise of the Reich drove the Varl out of our region of space once and for all. The Varl are now hunted like the monsters they truly are. We have found other races like the Varl in and around our space. These races use other races up and cast them aside once their done with them. So yes there are aliens that the Reich will not tolerate to exist. However generally, this is a very small number of races. We have befriended a large number of alien races and have positive relations with most of them. As for Togruta, it is a prized delicacies among my people. Though I would hardly call them sentient. Might I ask you, do you eat meat?"

"No, I don't. I am a vegetarian."

”Such a petty, I have a servant that can make a Togruta stew that is so tender that the meat literally falls off the bone as you enjoy its flavors. However, during our travels out beyond our space. The scientists we brought with us have categorized six different types intelligent plant life species. How do you know what you consume was not at one time a sentient life form before it made its way to your table? For that matter who has the right to call what sentient? If we go around and point fingers at each thing saying, you can't eat this or that. Guess what happens, people go hungry. I am sure that many planets would rather not be eaten. However, you have to eat to survive. The difference is how you respect the life that you are taking.”

"I have never considered it that way."

Yes there are a large numbers of domesticated Togruta within the Reich and even out here. In fact I have a mating pair on my estate back home. I have seen them mirror human emotions and even shown remarkable ability to learn and figure things out. My male is so very smart. The female not so much, but he is very clever. However as much as we (owners), love our pets. They will never become more than just that. Beloved household pets. As for the feral Togruta out there. If we don't hunt them and help keep their populations in check. Then we risk over population, disease, and unwanted and needless suffering of the entire populations. It is our duty to ensure that these wondrous creatures do not become over populated. I am not sure how hunting is carried out beyond our boarders. However within the Reich, the six worlds that have been set up for these beautiful creatures are heavily regulated and monitored. There are members of the Animal Protection Committee who ensure that these creatures do not suffer from outbreaks of diseases. These steps were taken to ensure that we respect these graceful, lovely creatures while in their natural, feral, environment. Listen to the words I am speaking. Do you hear anything but praise and respect for these creatures. Would a cold blood killer see such beauty in these simple creatures?"

"Yes I hear your words. I really can't condone what you are doing. But I can hear in your voice how much respect you hold for them. I have a friend of mine who is Togruta. He is a very bright and a witty man. He is someone I call friend. I could never, never think of hunting him like an animal or even eating him. Here is where we will never see eye to eye."

"is this so? How do you know this Togruta?"

"He works in the estate I live at."

"He works at the estate you live at? Or is he owned by the landlord?"

"he....um.....both...." sighs "but we wouldn't eat him!"

"Yes I am sure you wouldn't eat him. You see this is the kind of image that has caused a great level of mistrust between the Reich and our friends that we meet. The very reason why my unit and I were sent out this far from home. Slavery here is just as wide spread as it is everywhere else. Even before we landed on this world, Togrutas were enslaved here as well as many other races. The only difference between us and you is that we draw our lines differently. For us, human slavery is a crime punishable by nothing less than death. However murdering a slave with out just cause is also a crime where we come from. Tell me, if your landlord so wished it. Could your friend find his live in the balance should he displease his Master?"

Sighs once more "y.....yes....."

“And is this considered a crime here?”

“no” she paused for a moment, "moving on now. Tell me about your culture. From all that we can see of your people. They are all members of the military."

"No, not all of our citizens are members of the military. Serving the Reich is an honor that is reserved for few. Most do try, but only the best reach the goal of serving in the Reich Military. However, being in the military does not mean being at war. In fact, the mission I was sent on which landed me here on this lovely world was that of exploration and peace. We were sent out to discover new worlds and find new trading partners. The reason why all my troops seem to be in the military is that they are. While we are on a mission of peace, we are not fools and know the risks. So yes there is a military operation being conducted as well. Civilian ships are not permitted to leave the Reich space. It is simply too dangerous for them beyond our boarders."

"If you are on a mission of discovery and peace, then why wage war here?"

"We were not looking for a war to join. Like I said we were carrying a mercy mission nearby when we were approached. Officials from your government contacted us. They asked us to come and help your embattled world. They offered to pay us to fight your battles for you. The Reich military is not a mercenary outfit. We only agreed to lend indirect support and help train your own forces. In exchange your world would resupply our ships. As it happened we arrived in the nick of time. Though I am sure others will argue this point. I know many people can not see the difference between firing from our ships or dropping bombs from our fighters compared to using our own land forces. But to us this is a very real difference. We are not here to fight your war for you. We will help train your military and soften your enemy up some. But the rest must be carried on the backs of your own military. That was our agreement with your government. Nothing more.”

"You have been labeled a monster by the Rebel leaders. Even the Council of Free Worlds has been rumored to have sent one of their best commanders here to offset your presence."

"Yes I have heard the same rumors. I would love to know which mystery commander they sent to counter me. You can't imagine my disappointment when I learned that the Council of Free Worlds had reached its wicked hand this far beyond their own boarders. They have been a thorn in our side for decades. I make no attempts to lie to you. Yes the Reich has her enemies and made mistakes that has created her own enemies. We are many things, prefect is not one of them. Unlike the Council of Free Worlds, we don't pretend to have all the answers or the best means of reaching goals. We have gone to war a number of times in support of Human Rights across our region of space. And we would gladly do it again, and again, and again. However each time we did, these wars could have been avoided by our enemies by accepting that human slavery was simply not worth the war. That honoring Human rights as equal to others is a must. The Council of Free Worlds stemmed from one of these wars. During that war a Field Marshal did get out of hand and many innocent lives were lost to our horror. We regretted this deeply and we acted fast to remove said Field Marshal from command but the damage had been done. It was because of these horrible acts which the Reich accepts complete responsibility for, that the Reich annexed the world in question. Had we not moved in and took over directly, the suffering would have been so much more worse. The loss of life would have been a hundred or thousand times worse.

“The Reich spent a fortune rebuilding and cleaning up this world. I was personally placed in charge of the reconstruction effort. My cousin, the Emperor of the Reich, in his wisdom, gave me a blank check and told me. 'Cousin, do what you must to rebuild this world to its former glory.' And so I did complete this glorious mission. Technologies were used and some were even created for this very task. Technologies that had never been considered possible were created almost over night to save this world from a environmental disaster. Never before had anything been done like this on this scale. It was our finest and boldest hour. You should see this world. Before the skies were toxic and the landscape was simply hellish to view. Today it is remarkable. Skies so blue that your imagination is carried away on the soft breezes. Plant life that is so rich and vast that nearly every world within the Reich contributed to the effort. There are seas now that are filled with life, instead of seas of toxic chemicals. We took deep space commits and used the ice to create vast seas and oceans. Rivers and lakes spurred as the first rains took place. Seasons, I tell you, there are seasons now. In just under ten years I created a paradise world that anyone would be proud of. I personally know the family that rules the world now. I could arrange a visit, if you and your husband would like."

"Yes, I have read the report that your office sent over. I also noticed that the original inhabitants can no longer live on your paradise world. For them, the world became toxic. Thanks to your efforts."

"Yes it was an oversight on my part. When the war was waged, we only knew of one population group on the world besides the large number of other alien slaves, to include humans. We didn't know of a second race hidden in the mountains. Once our efforts began, the new atmosphere became so toxic to the mountain race that they had to be transplanted. However had we not acted, they would have died due to the chemicals released during the war. So clearly either way they were dead. In the end they have a lovely new home within the same system. We created a large group of bio-domes on a nearby world. Once more I oversaw this massive transit operation. I made sure that they had the very best offered to them. It was a far cry from their primitive living conditions back on their home world. Their children are receiving the best education the Reich can offer them. Over ten years later, these citizens of the Reich has proven their loyalties to us. Now they have access to the best education and the best construction jobs from a new nearby space yard. The year before I left on this mission, the Emperor granted them citizenship within the Reich. Something that every alien within the Reich could look up to and strive for.”

“In fact, all of my space cruisers were built in their yards. Our power armored suits were also built on their world. I would have never guessed how fast these creatures could pick things up. Their level of matching human intelligence is remarkable. When I look at them today compared to the sad situation that they were in before. I am so proud that we were able to have such a positive affect on their culture and way of life.”

“As much a I would love to continue this interview, I am being told that we are out of time. Is there anything else you would like to add or say before we end our show?”

“Yes there is, as I have said before. We didn't come here looking for a fight. As you mentioned the bombing just two days ago, I am left with the images of my soldiers, dead. The attack was uncalled for. And I would like to issue this warning to these Rebel leaders and their Council of Free World advisors. I am not taking sides in this war at this moment. However, if these attacks continue against my soldiers. I will find a fight here, and unleash my troops. The only possible ending in this situation would be your loss. We are not here to fight in your war. Keep us out of it.”

“Powerful words from a powerful man. I would like to thank the Crown for allowing this interview as well as my new friend Field Marshal Erich Von Kessler for taking the time from his busy schedule to share his thoughts with us. I think I can speak for all of us on Fra when I say, we are a people of peace and respect the peaceful mission that the Reich is here on. I only hope that they are not drawn in to our war.”

[Akirapryde]

The Oracle
Capital City, Stephinopulous
Democratic Republic of Fra
Mid-Rim World of Fra

The religious movement that swept through the war ravaged Out Rim in the wake of the Jedi Civil War had a lasting impact on the hearts and minds of the average person. Where there was despair and loss of hope for a brighter future, the new religion offered peace of mind and hope. It wasn't long till the church became a driving force in the Outer Rim spreading its message and building churches the region that the Republic forgot. With their message of harmony and peace among others, it wasn't long till the followers of the church found welcomed homes far across the Outer Rim. Within their message was the acceptance of the one true God along with his forgiveness and kind hand to rule of the souls of its followers. There was also within the message the goal to cast out the wicked ways of dark temptations (namely the practitioners of the Force) which was blamed for the Jedi Civil War and later the down fall of the Great Republic. As the Republic fell during the Azgard/Republic war and the Galaxy slipped in to the dark ages of chaos. The Church's spread was unstoppable offering hope during desperate times to those in the most need. Like a candle in the dead of night, followers bridged space, race and cultural divides to join the Church. No one was turned away, as the Church set out to save the souls of the lost.

During the early years of the dark times of the Galaxy, the Church played a small roll as the conflicts raged between former Republic Worlds. As the years turned to decades, and decades turned to centuries, these conflicts became unsustainable. It was not long before the vast majority of all technology had been destroyed or the ability to build them had been lost to history. By the third century after the fall of the Republic, the true darkness engulfed the Galaxy. This was signified as the last shipyard capable of building capital warships was destroyed within the Mid Rim. By the fourth century after the fall, the Church enjoyed near unlimited access to worlds and empires. Their followers numbered in the hundreds of trillions which allowed the Church to ensure a wide range of influence throughout the Galaxy. Many world leaders, dictators and conquers had little choice but to accept the influence of the Church within their worlds and spheres of influence. They had to learn to work within Church's rules. The Church did not impose its influences during times of conflict unless it was forced to by others. Nor has it ever officially chosen sides during conflicts as long as its rights were respected. They preached a policy of God's Law shall be respected at all times by all. They maintain a steadfast policy of neutrality during conflicts. Through this, they demand that the property of the Church remain the sovereign territory of the Galactic Church of God. This sovereignty was only challenged once during the expansion of the Varl Empire within the Colony worlds near the end of the forth century.

As the Varl were strengthening their strangle hold on the Core Worlds, they set their sights on a few wealthy Colony worlds. As the invasions began, the ruling family of Sigtmux sought sanctuary within their local Church. The Church leader, Bishop Sig'ul Aey, informed the Varl commander of the invading military that the family was under the Church's protection and that they will be transported off world. The Varl commander claimed that the Church had violated its neutrality and ordered the Church stormed. The family was captured and executed right on the front steps of the Church along with Bishop Aey. The Varl leadership didn't have time to react to the actions of their local commander before the Church's response. The Church's response went down in history as the first time it flexed its muscles in inter-Galactic affairs. Over night, the church shut down all its communication links within the Varl Empire. This act effectively cut off the Varl's ability to communicate with its conquered worlds and its units engaged in conquest throughout the Colony Worlds. The Church also announced that evil forces had taken route within the Varl leadership and pure souls should flee the service of the Varl. The Church issues a public statement that God would cast his hand to smite the Varl for the murders they committed within the House of God. The Church urged its followers that raising up against such evil forces would ensure that their sins would be cleansed by God himself.

Within days of the murders on Sigtmux and the Church's response to them, there were revolts across Varl's conquered territories. Within the first months of the murders the Varl saw well over half of their worlds in open revolt with other worlds threatening revolt. Without the ability for them to effectively communicate with their military units, they Varl were unable to respond to the revolts in time to coordinate actions with local garrisons. The Varl saw its military suffer from desertions and defeats due to loss of moral. Unable to battle the revolts and the actions of the Church at the same time. Members of the Varl military leadership met with Church leadership in secret. After the meetings the Varl military issued a public statement regarding their leaders' pact with dark forces and condemned the act carried out by their own leadership. Military trails were held which were overseen by the Church. All but two members of the Royal Family of the Varl Empire were found guilty of sins against God. Many were pushed in to service with the Church to forward 'Gods Message' while a few were found to be unrepentant and burned to cleanse their souls of their sins. The Church crowned the new leader of the Varl Empire and announced that the Varl had been cleansed of its dark ties. While the Varl lost over half of their holdings during the two year entanglement with the Church, they were able to regain much of their control over the Core Worlds. This was brought about thanks to three major factors. A series of hefty payments to the Church for the murders which boosted the coffers of the Church significantly. Secondly, an assurance to respect the Churches neutrality in future engagements. Lastly and most importantly, the new leadership of the Varl officially recognized the Galactic Church of God as the only official and legal religion within the Varl Empire. This cleared the way for the Church to reopen its communication hubs and allowed the Varl to focus on the Rebel forces which were threatening to over run their holdings within the Core Worlds. The Church had stood against one of the boldest Empires to ascend from the ashes of the Republic, and it won. Never again would the influence or authority of the Church would be called in to question.

The Church on Fra predates the fall of Naboo to the very first invaders. Officially founded less than ten years before the fall of the Republic, it was a raising power of influence in both the region and on the planet itself long before that date. Due largely to its peaceful mission and respect beyond racial and culture divides, the people of Fra found the Church and its influence to be highly welcomed on this war torn world. As invaders came and were later defeated by other invaders, the people found one constant on their world, the Church. It was a Church brokered deal which brought about the end of the last occupation of the world during the seventeenth century. With the end of the occupation, the people of Fra were finally able to rule themselves as they did before the fall of the Republic. The Bishop of Fra oversaw the elections which gave birth to the region's first democratically elected Government. He went on record saying, "the Will of God has been at work in the hearts and souls of the people of Fra. May this Divine act live long and bare many fruits for the fine people of Fra." However this peace was not always the case. During the third and through to the sixth century, this region was one of the most volatile regions in the Galaxy. The number and scope of conflicts, the loss of life (normally innocent lives), were all completely unimaginable. While the Church never acted through military actions to counter these conflicts, many Bishops and Priests of the region had given their lives to protect innocent lives. They spoke with waring factions and held peace conferences between factions. Sometimes these efforts were successful, other times they ended with horrific outcomes for the Church and their clergy. It was largely due to these actions by the Church within the region that help foster a sense of peace among the waring factions within the region near the end of the eighth century. It didn't end the fighting completely, but did help cut down the number of innocent lives lost.

Long before the Church came to Fra, then called Naboo, the Jedi Temple of Naboo stood as a powerful reminder of Republic's influence and authority in the region. During the civil war, Naboo had become a hub for transient Jedi fleeing the Coruscant Temple to join the Rebel Jedi Movement. Naboo was spared much of the fighting that ravaged the Outer Rim and their secret underground railroad continued up till the last months of the war. It was a Republic spy that learned about the underground railroad and how Naboo was helping fund the Rebel Jedi factions. The Republic sent the mighty 39th Army of the Republic to Naboo with orders to secure the Temple and stop the flow of supplies to the Rebel Jedi. In what was suppose to be a prearranged peaceful take over of the Temple and securing of the world, was botched by the Republic General. The ensuing battle left Naboo in flames and the Jedi Temple leveled. The battle was not one sided as Naboo and her defenders fought back fiercely. The number of lives lost were high on both sides. While promises of reparations and rebuilding fell through, the resentment of Republic Corruption grew on Naboo. Today, on the very foundations where the Jedi Temple once stood, stands the proud Grand Cathedral of Fra. Its tail steeples and grand design had become one more proud symbol of God's influence in the physical world. Its bells, which had become known as a must see for the region, were cast from salvaged metal of the fallen Jedi Temple. The sound they make has been described as heavenly as they call all of God's children to service. The Art work along the ceilings tells the story of the Church's struggle to save souls within the region. The Grand Cathedral has been said to be one of the most magnificent buildings in the entire region, possibly the entire Galaxy. This is due to the fact that no expense was spared in its design and furnishings, as seen by the priceless gems and gold highlights around many works of art that are seen within building. "It is truly a fitting House of God", boosted a former Bishop of Fra. The current Bishop of Fra doesn't hold the same view of the Grand Cathedral.

Bishop Bausch set behind his large desk deep within the clergy sanctuary. He had much on his mind that distracted him from the communication reports set before him. It was his duty to review the reports and notify the Holy Seat of the Church of anything in the region that might pose as a threat to the Church or its influence. The Church's communication network gave them untold advantage over every one else. When the Great Republic fell, the Church saw an opportunity to build a powerful advantage for themselves. They hid their technology resources from common sight as the waring factions tore each other apart. Their ships moved across the old space lines and captured the old communication beacons and nods. They weren't able to save them all, but they did save enough to preserve the some of the network. As the Galaxy slipped headlong in to the dark ages of conflict, the Church secretly set up their communication network using their Grand Cathedrals on worlds to fill in the gaps that their beacons and nods couldn't cover. In exchange for allowing political leaders use of their hubs (for a fee) they demanded that the Church would remain neutral in any conflicts. At first some leaders attempted to take the hubs by force. The Church had planned for such an action in advance, the hubs were tightly encrypted and the links were only good between two points. They were also closely monitored and controlled by the Central Church. Which allowed the Central Church to cut entire regions from the network. It became clear that taking the Hubs proved to be problematic because even if they could hack the system, they lacked the knowledge to maintain the systems for any length of time. It was decided that simply paying the fees and accepting the Church's demands were vastly more easier at the time. Most major powers rationalized that once they had secured their power base and rebuilt the Republic in their own image, then they would deal with the Church. As the centuries passed, the Church's Communication Hubs became the life line for entire worlds and communities. It has been said that where one finds a Church, there is hope and life. This saying came to be as communities slowly migrated to where the Churches were so to be close to this life line with other worlds.

Bishop Bausch looked down at the last report and gave out a heavy sigh. It wasn't long since he met the outsiders deep in the Stepped Plains. They brought trouble to his world and his followers. He could sense the great death that they were going to cause. Yet he also knew that they had a greater promise to fulfill. That they could bring hope to the Galaxy once more. That was if they could find the destiny that God has laid out for them. He sighed once more, From what he saw in the two meetings with them, he didn't have faith in them. There was simply too much chaos in their souls for them to achieve God's work at the moment. He heard the screams and yells from the other side of the sanctuary. He reached over and flicked on his security monitor and saw the mob rushing in to the sanctuary dragging a pair with them. He shook his head slowly as he heard foots just outside his office. He turned the monitor off and stood up as the door opened and one of his younger Deacons rushed in. “Bishop! The people have caught a witch and a warlock!” the Deacon said in a labored voice.

“Settle your heart, my brother” Bishop Bausch said softly as he reached over and picked up his staff. He could feel the spirit of God pulsating through the staff as he took hold of it. “Remember, haste allows us to fail to see the temptations of the Dark Forces around us. Haste allows use to fail to understand what it is that we are doing. Haste allows us to fail to see the Greater Work of God right before us. Let your heart be calm, my brother” he explained as he calmly walked from the office. The short walk down the hall gave the senior Bishop time to focus himself while the voices of the mob carried through the passageways of the Cathedral. He could hear them calling out to burn the pair of evil doers. He could sense their hate and their fear flowing through the halls as he walked. Facing the Dark Forces was something that every Bishop had to be prepared for. This training starts even before Clergy reach the level of Deacon and it continues all the way through their life with the Church. Their mandate by God was simple, save souls from the Darkness. The old Bishop stopped before the statue of the Prophet Burattinaio. He was the first of God's Prophets to take action against the Dark Forces that rage unchecked in the Galaxy. He started building the Churches and forming God's children in to the Religion that they have today. Prophet Burattinaio has been the patron saint of facing the Dark Forces. Bishop Bausch lowered his head and offered a short prayer, “Lord, offer me the strength that I shall need to face this darkness and cleanse my community of it. Ahem” he said softly then turned to walk in to the sanctuary. As he walked in he saw the mob had already grown two folds and more were wanting to see what was going on. He could sense that these events were staged, and he had an idea of by who. He turned his head to the young Deacon, “pay attention Brother. Today you shall see God's power at work before your eyes.”

Everyone was yelling at him to burn the pair under God's law. Bishop Bausch looked around and waved his staff. He could feel the presence of darkness in his Church as he looked around hoping to identify the source. 'Was it from the pair or someone else?' he questioned unsure of where the source was coming from. He calmed the crowd as he looked to the Magistrate. “Speak the Charges, Magistrate.” he knew the local Magistrate closely and considered the man a close friend. It was this friendship which allowed the Magistrate remain in his position after the Coup. Since the Coup, the Magistrate had worked closely with the Church to help ensure that God's Law and children were cared for. Had the Bishop not spoken personally for the old Magistrate, he would had been murdered with the others during the Coup.

The old Magistrate stepped forward, “Bishop, I have two witnesses that claim that these two.” he started to explain as the crowd parted and a group of men brought a young woman and a middle age man forward. Both were in heavy shackles and beaten heavily. They clearly did not end up in shackles without a fight. What was surprising was that they had weapons aimed at them. It was clear that the men who were holding the pair were not the Magistrate's men, as his men did not enter the Cathedral with their weapons. “These two are the witnesses” he motioned as a woman and a man stepped forward.

Before anyone else could speak the old Bishop spoke up, “I understand that you men are duty bound and honorable.” He spoke to the guards clearly and sternly, “however this is the House of God. Take your weapons out of here, NOW!”

The men looked disgusted at the Bishop's comments but dared not disobey him. They handed their weapons off to one of them and he removed the weapons from the building. The Magistrate motioned for the witnesses to speak, “Bishop, we” started the man, “watched them down by the river. Where the old Miners' House is. He was speaking to her of dark powers and we both saw them lift up a stones from the river.” He explained as the woman nodded, “She seemed new to these dark arts as he seemed to be showing her things. Then he flew around like a bird. I saw him, we saw him fly across the river without touching the water!”

“Thats a lie!” cried the man in shackles. The Bishop waved the man to silence.

“Its not a lie, we both saw it” demanded the woman, “I would not lie in the House of God!”

Bishop Bausch looked at the young woman as she only looked down at the ground. He nodded as he turned his attention to the pair of witnesses. “Tell me, why were you both at the river?” They both looked at each other as their faces betrayed their nervousness. He moved closer to them as his robs and chained cross made an unsettling sound, “Why were you both at the river. I know both of you. Both of you are married and work on the other side of the city. You have no reason to be down by the river.”

“I told you! Its all lies!” cried the man once more.

Bishop Bausch turned the man finally, “No, its not. This much is clear.” he turned back to the young Deacon, “Take them to the confessionals. I think the burden of guilt is weighing heavily on their souls.”

“Yes Bishop” replied the Deacon as he motioned for the pair to follow him.

The woman followed the man as he followed the Deacon. She paused next to the Bishop and looked down in shame, “Yes I have sinned, Bishop. But lying is not the sin. Please believe me.”

He nodded to her, “I do believe you child. Go, confess your sins to God and I shall see both of you and your respected spouses in three days. I shall help you all save your Holy Unions and clean your souls of this filthy sin you have brought to them.” he said softly.

She reached up and rested a hand on his lower arm with her head lowered, “Thank you Bishop.” she slowly allowed her hand to slip from his arm as she followed the Deacon and the man she sinned with. The crowd turned their focus to the pair as the Bishop's words seemed to condemn them both already. They were all screaming once more for them to be burned at the stack. The levels of fear rose which added to the levels of hate and anger.

The Bishop looked around as the fear and hate rose in the large sanctuary. Once more he rose up his staff and yelled as his voice carried throughout the massive sanctuary. “You shall be calm in the House of the Lord or face judgment of your immortal SOULS!” As the echoes of his warnings slowly dead away, there was not a sound in the sanctuary other then the sounds of the chains of the two prisoners. Bishop Bausch walked forward to the young woman. He carefully lifted her chin as he knelled next to her. “Tell me child, are these claims true?” she tried to look away but he held her chin secured in his grip, “Child, I can see through your eyes, right in to your very soul.” He could call upon the power of God (The Force) and could tell that she was touched with the gift (Force Sensitive). “Do not lie to me. Lets save your soul here today, confess your sins.”

She started to cry as he spoke to her in such soft words. She tried to move her face once more from looking in to his eyes but he refused to let her go. Her will gone, her strength long left her when they were captured by the soldiers. She just cried and nodded, “Its true Bishop” she sobbed, “Ba but, he only flew off the ground a little.”

He nodded, “I see, just a little?” he said almost playfully as he tried to reassure her. She returned the soft smile unsure of what it could mean. “I know you, child. You are Maider daughter.” her eyes light up at the comment. “You have been touched by the Gift of God” he said softly as she looked down in shame. Once more he pulled her eyes to his, “how we use this special gift is up to us. He must have spoken to you of great things you can do with your gift.” She nodded, “Did he warn you of the temptations of this Gift?” she shook her head, “It is true that you can do great things with this gift that God has given you. However, it is easy for such an act of good intentions bring about horrific outcomes.” He paused a moment to allow her to soak in what he said before continuing, “The Church shall help you understand the Gift and help you use it to do the Lords bidding.” He said as he let her chin go, He motioned for the Magistrate and pointed at her, “come child, come before The Lord, Our God.” he motioned as the Magistrate helped her to her feet. The three walked up towards the very front of the grand sanctuary. There the Magistrate forced her to her knees, “Child, speak your sins before God and confess what is in your heart.”

Her tears ran freely down her face as she looked up to the impressive statue which represented her God. All her life, she had been raised to fear the sins of the flesh and temptations of the Dark Forces. All her life she was raised believing in a life after death. The fate of that life would depend on what she did in this world. She knew that she was faced with the temptations of the Dark Forces, and now she had to face that action before God himself. She tried to speak but the tears and crying got in the way. Finally with a bit further encouragement from both the Magistrate and the Bishop did she find her voice, “Father, I have sinned against you” she said softly fearing to even look up at the statue. The fear of her heart was real and founded, “I have spoke with darkness. Been temped to do evil things. These things seemed so easy and so exciting at the time. I don't want to sin. I don't want to burn for eternity. Please Father, forgive me! Please show mercy on my soul.”

Bishop Bausch knelled next to her, “the last time I saw you, you were just a little girl sitting in that seat over their.” he said motioned to where a crowd was standing next to some wooden seats. “When the war broke out, your family ran out of fear. When fear controls our actions child, we make mistakes and do the wrong things. There is no reason to fear with God in our hearts. His strength gives up hope and lifts our hearts above this realm.” He motioned for her to remain, “Pray child and stay here, we shall talk more.” he said then rose up from the steps where she was lowering her head. “She is repentant of her sins that all of you have now bared witness to. She shall remain in service with the Church till she has cleansed her soul of these sins.” He explained as he walked forward to the man, and looked down at the man who was now looking down at the floor. Like her, he was touched with the Gift as well. However he was darker then her. Where her soul was pure and could be saved, his was much darker. It was clear to the Bishop that he was the reason for her actions. “I don't know you, stranger.”

“I know, but I know who you are. Bishop Bausch!” he said as he leaped up to his feet as a powerful blast knocked the guards away from him. The Bishop retreated from the change in events as he felt the surge of Darkness within his church. It was clear to Bishop Bausch that there was another source of Darkness here in his Church. The man made a grunt as he ripped the metal shackles apart as the small metal pieces were flung across the floor. The crowd let out a cry of terror as the man laughed and screamed out, “DIE SLAYER!” as he unleashed a bluish bolt of lighting at the Bishop.

It was true that the Bishop was indeed a slayer of allies of the Dark Forces. It was true that the Bishop had slain many during his time as a Warrior of God. However, it was not true that the old Bishop would be such an easy target. As the bluish lighting reached him, he held his hands out to catch the lighting bolt. The crowds retreated from the attack out of fear. This was the first time any of them had ever seen a clash between one of the Lord's clergy and a servant of Darkness. As Bishop Bausch's body illuminated in a wash of light blue flashes, the Bishop called out, “I am a servant of the Lord, our God! Darkness shall never prevail in his presence.” Within seconds the lighting was gone and the Bishop moved to his attack, “Allow the light of the Lord to expose you, assassin!” he said as he unleashed waves of light slamming in to the man and tossing him back. The crowd parted as the man flew backwards across the floor. As the smoking body of the man attempted to get back up, the Bishop walked forward towards the would be assassin. “One does not enter the House of God and assassinates those chosen by God himself to speak on his behalf.” He said as he hammered the assassin with another wave of light from his hands. The man's body slid once more across the floor of the sanctuary. “Darkness shall never prevail over the servants of the Lord.” Bishop Bausch said then unleashed a new attack on him. “This contest is over, evil has failed once more” the Bishop said as he lowered his hands.

Slightly recovered and knowing that if he is to kill the Bishop its now or never. He had thought that the assassination would have been easier than this. However none of that mattered, he had to act or die. He flipped over and smiled, “Its your turn to die, you fool!” he yelled as he attempted another lighting attack on the Bishop. He thrust his hands forward and nothing happened. The man's eyes went wide as he tried it once more and nothing happened. “Wha....What have you done!” he yelled as he tried once more.

Bishop Bausch smiled as he turned around and started to walk away, “The Lord giveth the Gift and the Lord takes it away.” He walked up to the Magistrate as the crowd cheered at the Divine Power of God. “Take him to the town center and burn him. Let the fires of our Father cleanse his soul of the darkness he inflicted on himself” he explained to the Magistrate as the soldiers were already recapturing the man who was now screaming and trying to flee the fate he just heard. Never before had anyone seen the Divine struggle between God and the Dark Forces. Their faith in the Church had been once more reassured. However, deep in Bishop Bausch's heart, he felt as if it was all staged. The battle allowed him to sense that there was another source of darkness about his Cathedral. He couldn't locate it. 'So you had your show, your move' the Bishop thought as he walked up the young woman still where he left her. He carefully helped her up and removed the shackles as the screams of the crowd soon drowned out the cries of the man about to be burned alive. He nodded to her and smiled, “When was the last time you spoke to your family?”

She looked down once more in shame, “I...um....a while, Bishop.”

“Let us, ensure that they know you are on your own road to redemption and that you are in good hands” he said softly as he led her away.

As the crowd thinned, a strange bird like creature watched the events from under a cloak. From his advantage point, he heard and saw everything. Through the Force he knew what powers were at play. He knew that the assassin was much more powerful than the Bishop, and that the building helped defeat the assassin. He saw how the Bishop drew power from the building which acted like some kind of energy source for Force users. He also saw how the Bishop used his staff much like a lightsaber to help during the combat. It was clearly some kind of Force imbued item. Even he felt the other dark force about the holy place. Hiding from under the cloak of both the real world and within the Force, his senses were a bit lessened. So like the aged Bishop, he couldn't locate object of the dark energy. He felt its departure, but couldn't identify it within the large crowd. There were things at play during this battle and that became all too clear.

Leaving the Great Cathedral, the cheers of the crowds over the defeat of Darkness could easily be heard as word spread through the streets. The air revealed the fate of the assassin as smoke started to raise from the city center. It was unclear where the man had come from but it was clear that he knew the Bishop. The how and why were still the mystery. “It might be a good assignment for Padawan Daz” Visst said softly as he walked down the street. Between the buildings, Visst saw the crowds cheering at the fire. Through the flames he could make out the person chained to a large stone post screaming for the mercy of death. The flames licked him as the crowds cheered. No longer fearing the man, they cheered his defeat and fate. Some were even singing their praise to the Lord for helping their Bishop to defeat the Dark Assassin. He also saw some of the men from the Reich at the burning as he continued to leave the area. He wasn't sure, but he thought he saw the Field Marshal through the crowds. He could feel the tugging of fate on him. He knew that the Church was much more today then it was in the past.

[Akirapryde]

(Editor's Note: The following is a result of one on one role playing. Experience was awarded)

Shopping Day
The Stepped Plains
Democratic Republic of Fra
Mid Rim World of Fra

Sleeping under the stars had always been something that Angelique ranked just under a cold shower during a snow storm. There were all kinds of strange noises and her bedding given to her by Birgr was far from what she personally enjoyed. 'He should have known better!' she thought out of frustration over the situation. It was the third straight night in a row that she had problems sleeping. She tossed and turned trying to get comfortable as her mind raced across all that had happened to her and the group in such a short time. They were part of one of the grandest battles in history in one moment, then back on Origin the next. Sure Origin had always been such a strange place to visit and time didn't always seem to flow just right there. But she never imagined anything like this. The events involving Nezial and her return home came to mind. When they picked Nezial up from Origin, she was roughly about their age, and the young Princess was but a young child. Just over a year later when they returned Nezial's body home, the Princess was not only a grown woman. She had her own eleven year old daughter named Mia. The next time they returned, they were told by the villagers that it was only a couple of weeks since they had left. Angelique had a chance to meet with Falynn, her former Master.

Falynn told her what had happened during the Siege of Origin and the fates of Uris and Rose. The meeting was something that Angelique had never imagined possible but was grateful for it. Falynn passed her praise to Angelique about her becoming a Jedi Master and commended her on taking on a Padawan. Falynn did issue a warning about Padawans, that training them was a life time responsibility. That even after they become knights, that the Master should still ensure that they remain on the path of the light. She reflected that this was a lesson that she had learned from Uris and his former Padawan, Rose. Uris failed to ensure that Rose remained on the path of the light. She couldn't bring herself to blame either. She only expressed a great sense of sorrow over the events that had occurred. Near the end of the meeting, Falynn took the moment to introduce Angelique to her son. It was then that she gave Angelique her second warning and the reason why she introduced Angelique to her son. Falynn told of visions that she had been having since they had arrived on Origin. That a great darkness was coming to the galaxy, and she felt that her son was to play a role in bringing the galaxy from that darkness. There was a secret that Falynn had learned about Origin and its ability to move through time during her stay. “A force user with a mastery of farseeing and see force, could in theory summon Origin to be when they need it to be” was what Falynn had said. It confused Angelique and was soon lost over the events that occurred shortly there after.

Angelique enjoyed her time spent on Origin. The bedding there was so much nicer then it was here. She also enjoyed the sounds of the river just beyond her little hut. The sounds of the critters here made her skin crawl. She rolled once more as she looked out her small tent. With a grunt she moved to a sitting position as she continued to look out to the morning sun light over the mountains. The lights were hovering very low in the sky. She checked her datapad and saw that she still had a few hours before the sun was due up in the sky. She rolled over on to all fours as she moved some things around. “I need to break this slump I am in” she said softly as she pulled off everything of advance technology. “When in doubt, resort to what one knows best” she said with a smile as she pulled up a small stone from her utility belt. “Shopping” she added with a smile and a glimmer in her eyes. She packed up everything in her backpack. With one last look around her small prison that everyone else calls a tent, she nodded as she knew she had everything gathered up. “Good, time to go and get some real relaxation” she said backing out of the tent on all fours. She was carefully not to make a sound as she moved out of the tent. The rest of the encampment was still sound asleep and unable to stop her little diversion. She saw the two Immortal warriors on patrol just beyond the camp as she looked around. She walked over to the assault shuttle and nearly screamed as a hand grabbed her shoulder.

“Jedi Master? Something wrong” asked Warrior Bren.

Angelique spun about as the man had scared the crap out of her. It took a second for her to recover, “No! damnit don't ever do that to me again.” She fought hard to regain control of her breething.

“Do what ma'am” he questioned her.

Angelique rolled her eyes, “nothing!” She pulled off her pack, “Here secure this for me in the shuttle. If anyone asks were I went, tell them, I have gone shopping and will be back sometime in the evening or tomorrow morning” she explained handing her pack over to him.

He took the pack from her, “Yes ma'am. Um, leaving alone?”

She looked around and nodded, “Good point Warrior.” Her grand plan didn't really call for anyone else but it was a sound idea to bring someone else. “I will take um...Daz” she said as she walked passed the sentry, “I will go wake him.” she said as she walked over to Daz's tent. Carefully she made her way through the site so she didn't wake anyone else up. She slowly lowered herself to her knees next to Daz's tent as she reached forward to open it. Then suddenly she paused as she noticed Daz's partial arm laying just outside the edge of the tent. Carefully she pulled her hand back as visions of her past with him flashed through her mind. He was closer to her than anyone else could have ever been. He was part of her family and she shared more of her life with him than anyone else. There were the vacations spent at her family's estate on Alderaan. She remembered how he and she would explore the woods near the edge of their estate. She recalled how he helped her understand the importance of life and he had never allowed her to give up on herself. She remembered the look on his face as she was captured on Baklid VI. She never lost hope in him to be there for her. It was the one thing that helped her through that ordeal. There was Yavin IV, Master Lush's assassination, and Wormwood. They had shared so much together. She would have fallowed him anywhere he led.

That was till he went down the wrong path. There were warning signs that she refused to see. Her visions warned her of his acts to come. His flirting with the Rangers and the Chancellor were just once more warnings of the dark path he set himself on. There were so many times she should have step forward and stopped her friend. She didn't stop him. In fact she followed him down this dark path. She entered in to a pack with him to murder Biggs Saar. Finally she reached her own cross roads. Sadly it was too late to stop the near slaying of a Padawan. Her own fears and guilt came to a head on the Core World of Kalore, her own tear filled voice still echoing in her memories. “What I saw today was not that friend who I love as a brother. This path you have taken on for yourself, is a path I can not follow. Daz, look at what you have done. A young Padawan almost died because of your actions.” She pulled her hand in to a fist as she brought it up to bit down on her knuckles. Tears slowly fell from her eyes as she remembered those emotional filled days. Her heart ached over what she had become a part of and her guilt still plagued her for not stopping him any sooner. She turned her eyes from tent as tears filled them once more. 'I don't know if I am ready to forgive us, Daz' she thought as she slowly backed away from the tent. Carefully she moved backwards as she slowly stood up once more.

As she was slowly getting back up to her feet she felt another hand on her shoulder. This time she was able to control her scream as she jerk out of fear. She spun around to see Carissa behind her. “Son of a bitch!” she said in a hushed voice, “Do you people get a kick out of scaring me?”

“I am a droid, I don't feel emotions. I have memories of emotions and I know how I should react to them. But I don't really feel emotions like you do. So I can not get a kick out of anything.” Carissa said softly matching Angelique's vocal level.

Angelique started to walk pass the droid, “What ever, I am heading in to town. I need to relax and clear my head.” She was still trying to figure out who to take with her to town. She would take Birgr, but she really wanted to be free to, well, flirt and have a good time being a woman. She would take Visst but he disappeared yesterday sometime. Not that she could really have any fun with him after all. Her thoughts were interrupted.

“Alone Jedi Master?” Carissa said softly following Angelique, “Master Visst would not approve of such an action.”

Angelique froze in her tracks as it dawned on her. It was so prefect that she was actually surprised she didn't think of it before. She spun around looking the droid in the eyes, “You are right. Master Visst wouldn't approve. However, everyone else is asleep. I should take someone but only the guards are awake. I can't take them.” She pretended to think of what she should do as she allowed her eyes to fall away from the droid. 'What a better shopping partner than someone that could carry all that I buy. Plus, I would really help her to think like a woman.' Angelique thought. She turned to the droid once more, “Do you mind coming with me?”

“I am not sure that is such a wise idea. I do not think Captain Ogon would approve.” Carissa said thinking about all of the things that could go wrong. There were so many possible events that could cause this act to turn on the party. She knew in all of her circuitry that this was a bad idea.

Angelique waved her hand, “oh I am sure he would approve. Think of it like this. He loves information. What better way for him to learn more about this world than through your eyes and ears as you spy for him. As you said, I should have someone with me. Do you know of anyone I can take that wouldn't require me to wake someone?”

Carissa looked around slowly as she continued to consider all of the possible problems that could come up. She knew that Captain Ogon would not approve of this plan. “It is true you should have someone with you. I can not think of anyone that would be fitting for you to take that wouldn't require being woken up. However.....”

“Good then it is settled, you are coming with me.” Angelique said as she reached over Carissa's shoulder and directed her in the direction out of camp, “And after all, this gives us time so that I can teach you all that you need to know about being a real woman.” Angelique continued to lead the droid from the camp and down the steps.

“That wont be necessary, there are over seventeen thousand references regarding proper female behavior within over nine hundred different races stored in my memory core.” Carissa explained softly as she allowed herself to be led away from the camp.

Angelique turned her head to look at Carissa, “Over seventeen thousand references” she asked as Carissa nodded. “Well forget all of them. When I am done with you dear, Captain Ogon will fall head over heels for you all over again.”

Carissa glazed over at Angelique, “You really think this is possible?”

Angelique let the droid go as they continued to walk off down the small mountain steps, “You really have it bad for him.”

Nodding, “It is something that I believe was transferred over from my former Memory Core. I really can't explain these memories. I know that there are attachments to them. I am just unsure of what they are. I find myself often reviewing these files searching the lines of code within them for these attachments but so far I have not found anything to give me reason to them. I...I have tried to talk to him about these, um feelings, but he has been so preoccupied to listen” Carissa explained softly.

Angelique nodded, “First rule, men never listen. Never tell them what is truly bothering you or how you feel. They wont bother to listen. Just expect them to know and after time, they will start asking about it. You will see. This will make them pay attention more.” She started to explain her wisdom to being a woman as the pair walked down towards the city. The early morning walk was enjoyable for both droid and Jedi Master as they enjoyed the landscape. The outer walls of the large city slowly rose over the plans as they approached. Even from the distance, they could tell that the area was very busy with people coming and going. Angelique turned to Carissa and held a finger to her mouth, “Let me do all the talking.” Carissa nodded and followed the suggestion.

There were two long lines of people entering the city through two separate gates. Both had aliens within them and a heavy set of guards along the lines. However only one line had humans lined up in the line. Angelique thought it best to go through that gate. As they walked in to line, they watched the aliens in the other line being questioned heavily and treated very unpleasantly. She learned that the line they were in was only for those who were free persons to enter the city. Angelique had a very pleasant conversation with a alien who worked for the church. She was a free person and had nothing but praise for the King and how he cleaned up the corruption on the world. She also learned that it was perfectly normal for aliens to own slaves. Her new friend had owned several servants before the King took over. A few of those servants were human. With the end of human slavery on Fra, she was able to free the human slaves she owned. But she wasn't upset over it, as she was given 'fair market' value for each slave as credit to buy new slaves.

Angelique couldn't help but noticed that security was tighter then the few days before when they entered the city. They watched one alien trying to enter the city being dragged from the line screaming as he was shot. Angelique was just starting to think that this might be a bad idea after all till she heard someone say, “Papers, Madam.”

She turned to see a uniformed soldier holding his hand out before her. She couldn't help but noticed at least five guards had their eyes on her and half of them had weapons at the ready. “Um, Papers, right” She thought as her mind went blank. 'Oh my GOD! What the hell! They didn't ask for papers last time!' her mind screamed. “Hold on, um, I have them right here” she said reaching in to her Jedi robes. She went through her options, she could affect his mind. 'No good, the others would not be affected' she answered. She heard a second shot from the other line. She turned to see another alien shot dead next to the other line.

“Madam, your papers, please.” The guard said, this time his annoyance was starting to show.

“Yes, I have them......here.......” she said as she was stalling for time.

“Hey!” she heard from a vehicle as it was coming to a stop, “Hold!” she looked over to see a Reich soldier coming up to them. She recognized him but couldn't recall his name. He was the one that invited her and Birgr to meet the Field Marshal. “One moment” he said to the guard as he walked up and waved the City Guard off with his hand. There were clear sounds of annoyance by those behind her but Angelique was excited for the delay, “How are you doing Madam? The Field Marshal wanted to thank your husband for attending dinner the other night.”

Angelique smiled as she had her out of this situation and she knew how to play it. “Oh thank you, I am sure my husband would be very grateful to hear that. I am doing fine, but I seemed to have lost my papers.” She batted her eyes at the Reich soldier, “I really wanted to show my friend Carissa here, the city and we have traveled all morning. I really hope we don't have to turn around and go back home. We were so hungry.” Angelique let her pouty face seal the deal.

He smiled at her as his eyes met her sad eyes, “Well any friend of the Field Marshal is surely a friend of the city.” he said as he rested a hand on her shoulder and leaned in, “Your friend is very pretty, is she spoken for?” he said with a wink.

'Gotcha' Angelique thought as she smiled a bit and laughed, “Oh very much so.” She playfully pulled back a bit to allow Carissa to be part of the conversation. More so to give her space from the soldier without looking like it. “Though I am not sure how serious it is” she added and noticed the change in Carissa's glance at her. Carissa played her part well, she was silent and pretty. Prefect for any soldier.

The guard rolled his eyes, “I can issue you and your friend a week long temporary visitor pass.”

Angelique played it up as she bounced a bit, “Oh oh oh, can I get one for my husband!” she said half turning to the guard as those behind her let out a sigh of disappointment for the delay. The Reich soldier nodded his approval of the request. Their influence was clearly seen on the guards.

The Guard nodded, “Okay hold on.” He walked in to a small shack to write out the passes as the other guards shifted their stance to a more relaxed state.

“Thank you for coming to my rescue.” she said playfully as she worked her eyes at him andran her finger across his uniform, “Why is it that such a good man like you is not taken?”

He laughed at the question “We are trying to repopulate the Galaxy. It is every human's duty to reproduce as much as possible.” he said with a smile on his face. “I have a fine wife back home. She has six other mates besides me. Two more children, and she would have served her seven children duty to the Reich. Which means she would have earned full citizenship status. I earned mine five years ago with my three mates.”

The idea of having seven children for the state shocked her. “Wow, thats allot of kids. I don't think I can handle raising that many kids.”

He laughed more, “The Reich raises them. You would just birth them. Come by our camp” he said pointing over a hill, “And we will talk more about it.” he leaned in once more, “And bring your friend there” he said with a wink as the guard exited the small shack.

The guard returned with the passes and handed them over to Angelique. “Oh thank you sir.” she said with a playful smile taking the passes. She then turned to the Reich soldier and smiled as she kissed him on the cheek, “Thank you, my hero.” He blushed as the pair walked through the gate and in to the city.

The city was already alive with activity as they walked through the streets. The smell of fresh baked goods filled the air everywhere. Angelique couldn't help but let her smile grow as she took in the sights and smell of civilization. “Finally!” she said softly as they walked through the streets. Most shops were just getting ready to open as slaves were rushing about tending to their Master's tasks. Though she also noticed that security had been increased across the city as lamp poles were decorated. She looked about carefully taking in all that she noticed. The local soldiers were set up in loss groups of five to ten. Each carried some type of muzzle loading musket, a sword and a pair of pistols. She noticed that the city had been laid out in to rings, there seemed to be about five rings. Her passes managed to get her through the first two rings pretty easily. She attempted to push her luck passed a third but was polity told it was not part of her pass. The rings didn't seem to encircle each other. They seemed to be set up in some other order that she couldn't make out from the ground. She did note that each ring was divided by large thick walls with soldiers walking along the tops.

Exploring the city it wasn't long till they found the city center and the market that surrounded it. This large area sits next to the large Cathedral of Fra. The Cathedral of Fra was impressive to both visitors. The City Center seemed to be the heart and soul of the City. Here were the larger markets and slave pins set up. Already they were all in full swing selling their goods. In the center they found a large fire pit style area with a charred stone plier in the center of it. There were two young boys playing around near the fire pit. It was clear that the it had been recently used. Angelique inquired about the pit and its use. She asked if they had missed some celebration. The boys informed her in a playful sense that the Bishop had defeated a evil warlock just yesterday and the people burned him at the stone. Angelique couldn't help but asked how they knew he was an evil warlock. The boys laughed as they countered the question with, “who else would fly around attacking God's Bishop?” The other boy added, “Only those in league with the devil would use unnatural powers like flying”

Angelique smiled, “Well what if their not evil and just use their powers to help others.” She thought she was so smart.

The boys looked at each other in total disbelief of what they were hearing. The concept for them was so easy to understand. It was clear that she was an outsider. They both turned and answered together, “If they are not evil, then they would be part of God's Church!”

Angelique decided to let the conversation go as they moved on. The idea of being good or evil was determined by the association with the Church was something she knew she had to warn the others about. A show of Force powers would send up a massive red flag for the locals. She made a metal note to keep hers under check. It was one more thing that had to be reported to the group.

It wasn't long till they found a jeweler and walked in. Angelique pulled out the small stone she brought with her and asked the man about selling it. He looked at the stone carefully and commented about how rare it was. His surprise and excitement were clear as he stated that he had never seen such a a stone before. He asked about its origin and name. Angelique said it came from a world in the Outer Rim and it was called a Fire Crystal. He offered two thousand gold pieces for the rare gem. It wasn't even half of the value of the gem, but it would do nicely. The four small chests which held the gold coins were discovered to be too heavy even for Carissa to carry effectively. They decided to take the jeweler up on an offer to keep their new found money in his bank till they needed it. They took fifty coins with him and started to head it.

The Jeweler informed them that the King's birthday was next week and the Gem they sold him would make a fine center piece to his new crown. She was able to learn a bit more about the King and how he was a hero General that had defended the world from Slaver Pirates repeatedly. There was a huge celebration planned in honor of his birthday and if Angelique needed anything to just ask him. He would do his very best to help them out. The pair left the shop with their new found wealth and went straight to the nearest restaurant for breakfast. The food was so much better then the rations that they had been eating for the past few days. It was hot, and the taste was grand. It was halfway through breakfast that Angelique had her next brainstorm, “I know what we need. I nice hot BATH!”

While everyone was heading out from the taverns and lodges for their days, Angelique found a lodge that offered just what her aching body was calling for, a place that offers milk baths. If only someone knew who the pair of women were. A Jedi Master and a one of the most advanced droids ever created soaking in their own respected milk baths as a group of servants tends to their every needs. Angelique reminisced of how this was the way it used to be on her Family's estate. The pair got to opportunity to meet Ty'ra, a Zeltron slave girl. Angelique inquired to why she was a slave and Ty'ra told her story to the pair. She had hired on to a privateer ship as a deckhand seeking adventure and excitement. Ty'ra bragged that she had seen six other worlds before she came here. Seeing so many worlds seemed to have been seen as a major accomplishment for them. When her ship set down here to celebrate their new found wealth, the Captain had not known about the change in governments or the coup. In a drunken state a few members of their crew made some off hand comments regarding the King and his wisdom to lead the world. They all were arrested and found guilty of sedition. She was sentenced to fifteen years of slavery, though after five she could buy her freedom. Something that she had been so proud to point out that she was working towards right now. Her dream was to earn her freedom and return home.

After their baths, Angelique set out to talk with the owner of the lodge. During a heated debate regarding the morality regarding slavery the issue of Ty'ra came up. In a moment of lack of wisdom, Angelique offered to buy Ty'ra's freedom from the owner. He laughed saying there was no way she could afford such a skilled slave. Her pride refused to allow her to back down, Angelique stepped forward towards the owner and dared him. She asked how much, he laughed claiming she couldn't afford it. Once more she demanded to know and finally he tossed out a figure knowing she could not possible agree. He demanded a thousand gold for the purchase price of the slave girl. Angelique still not willing to back down, smiled as she accepted the terms without any further negotiations. He laughed at her and claimed that entering in to a contract as such without the means to honor it could see both Angelique and Carissa in his collars. Angelique took her turn to laugh and offered him to come with her to to complete the deal. They walked to the Jeweler who was more than happy to render the amount asked for. The slave girl, Ty'ra, became the property of Jedi Master Angelique Heartman as the deal was concluded. It was shortly after that that Angelique realized her mistake. Ty'ra had no where to go and no money to survive off of.

Thinking like the true woman she was, Angelique took her mistake in stride as the three continued their shopping trip throughout the city. Ty'ra became a huge asset in helping Angelique understand the customs of shopping on this world and understanding some of the local rules and laws. Ty'ra also helped Angelique understand life beyond this world. She could speak of her own homeworld and the six other worlds she saw with the privateers. The region had been devastated by war and there are some areas that were still in open warfare. Ty'ra seems to believe that resources or the lack there of was major causes of most conflicts in the region. She said that while things might seem bad on this world, it is much more orderly here than on other worlds that she visited. The most common fear within the region is of the roaming Slaver Pirate fleets. These pirates are protected by the Jedi Order and communities can avoid raids by paying the Jedi to ensure that their communities are protected from the pirates. Ty'ra's ship along with many others actively seek out these Slaver Pirate fleets and engage them. Privateers like hers were funded by some communities, however it was a tightly guarded secret as who does the funding. Those communities and Privateers tend to pay a horrible price from the Jedi when caught and the secret gets out. Ty'ra said something that really caused Angelique to think.

Angelique knew this region of space pretty well and something Ty'ra said about the amount of time it took to travel got her thinking. She said that it took them nearly four weeks to make the trip from the nearest planet to here. Angelique did the math and bounced the figures off of Carissa to check them. Carissa agreed that Ty'ra's ship's hyperdrive must have been able to achieve speeds of one fifth of the speed of light. Both came to this understand by the five times slower than what they were used to even by normal civilian standards. By comparison of other ships in the region, Ty'ra's ship had a fairly fast hyperdrive respectfully. Ty'ra told them of generation ships that the crews sometimes never saw the worlds they were visiting. They would just hyperspace in to the system and slowly travel through it. As they would move through, shuttles and smaller ships would link up to drop off and pick up cargo. It gave a whole new meaning to the term Spacer. Most of the news that worlds rely on come from these Spacer aka generation ships. Most of the events within the region are pretty well known but beyond the region, there is little known. Though there were always rumors and stories told by crews of the larger generation ships. It is said that these ships cross the galaxy, though she had never seen one.

When asked about the Reich, Ty'ra was unable to give any more details other than what she knew of their involvement on this world. They at first thought she was human but her former Master corrected their misunderstanding. She was visited by the doctors of the Reich and payed her former Master to examine her. A few days after they arrived she was hired by the Field Marshal late one night. She was told that he wanted a sexual partner and asked for her specifically. When she arrived he seemed surprised to see her. The night turned in to beating after beating as he used all kinds of tools to beat her. Near the end of the night, half conscious from her beatings, she couldn't be sure, but she thought he raped her. A couple of his men dumped her off at the back door of her Master's lodge with money to cover damages. It was the first time she ever really felt like an object. She doesn't like the Reich very much.

The shopping day went well in to the night and the three wondered to a local tavern where they enjoyed the local music and entertainment. The local food was fulfilling and tasty, though Carissa didn't enjoy any of it. Angelique laughed as she bought drinks for the entire tavern. It wasn't long till everyone was calling her, Lady Angelique. She even heard a bard sing a song in thanks to her for the endless supply of drinks. Angelique got to hear allot of local tales told by wondering bards and heard songs sung by visiting spacers. She really liked the story of the Grave Yard, a mythical location of a great pre-fall battle where millions of ships went to war in one final battle. It is rumored that the salvage of the Grave Yard could easily make any captain so wealthy he could buy his own world. Fate finally played her card on Angelique, while enjoying the music, drinks and instant friends a robed man walked up and asked to speak with her. He name was Deacon Martin, and he saw that she was in pain. She agreed and he lead her to a side table where they talked in to the early morning hours. He promised that what ever she said would be between her and God. Normally she would have been wiser, but the large amount of drink allowed her to bare her soul to the man. She didn't reveal anything damaging but she did bare her pain.

As the night finally ended the three took to their room to sleep off the night. As they were getting ready for bed, Ty'ra asked why. Both stumbled over their conflicting answers. Neither droid nor Angelique were very good at lying and it was clear to this fact. For the first time in a long time, Angelique got a chance to sleep soundly. The morning came all too fast for Angelique, but the hot bath was most welcomed. Angelique rushed everyone to get ready because she had a promise to keep. They rushed through the city and arrived at the Cathedral just in time to check service. She wasn't sure why she had agreed to come, but she did and she was going to keep her word. The service seemed to be tailored just for her. It spoke to the forgiving nature of God and how his children should also be forgiving. She listen to the message, sang hymns, and at the end of the service she met Deacon Martin once more. She thanked him for the invitation and asked him why he approached her. He only smiled, God works through all of his children. Even those that are not aware of his message yet and pointed out how He had worked through Angelique regarding Ty'ra.

After the service, Angelique and Carissa walked Ty'ra to the local spaceport. If it could really be called that. It was more like a large area of land cleared for ships to land in the dirt. There were a few building set up for crews to work on parts and equipments. None of the buildings had any power or running water. The closest water was a nearby stream that fed in to the river. During the night, Angelique had secured Ty'ra transportation back home. The goodbyes were as hard as if they had been close friends for years. Ty'ra cried at the acts of kindness that she was shown and offered the pair to visit her on her homeworld someday. Angelique smiled and accepted the offer just before Ty'ra's ship departed. The pair took hold of their small donkey as they walked back to the camp. Angelique smiled at her good fortune. She started with two thousand gold, spent fifteen hundred on a woman she never met before. She bought herself a number of new outfits, shoes, hats, and accessories. She had to buy a small donkey to carry it all on. Angelique found that shopping for Carissa on the other hand seemed to be harder than she had suspected.

Despite all of Carissa's attempts to sabotage Angelique's efforts. In the end, Carissa was no match for Angelique's superior shopping skills. The advanced droid got a brand new dress that showed off her lower legs and other well crafted body parts. She also got a matching hat, shoes and a belt to top it all off with. Angelique got each of her friends gifts as well. She just knew that the large amount of fresh fruit and food would be a hit among the Azgardians. With all of her shopping and spending done, she still had over two hundred gold left. She considered making another trip now that she knows the rules and has the passes for three humans. She also couldn't wait to tell everyone about the added security and what she learned and about her experiences. There was just so much to tell of what had happened over such a short period of time. Even beyond her expectations, Angelique felt her heart renewed.

The sermon had touched her deeply about her feelings, her guilt and Daz. Before she feared the Church and the association linked to being good or evil. However, not anymore. Speaking with Deacon Martin and hearing the message gave her a better sense of what they were. She didn't fear the Church anymore. In fact, she felt more alive than she ever did. He had surprised her after the service as he pulled off his necklace cross. He said that when she felt alone, and in pain to hold it close and pray. God was always with her and he would listen. It was something of great value to him and he gave it to her. When she asked why he would give her this, he answered, “the very same reason why you helped that slave. Because you need it more than I do.”

With the Force surging through her as her feelings were high they continued to walk back. She tried to explain her feelings to Carissa but the droid was not capable of understanding the nature of faith. Though she did have a better sense of the Church and could easily mirror Angelique's mood. By the time the shuttle came in to view, The pair were in full singing as their voices could easily be heard by the group as they approached. ♫♪♪“El shaddai, el shaddai, El-elyon na adonai, Age to age you're still the same, By the power of the name, El shaddai, el shaddai, Erkamka na adonai, I will praise and lift you high, El shaddai”♫

[Akirapryde]

Editor Note: This Intermission was a result of a one on one role play. Experience points have been awarded.

Rebellion
The Stepped Plains
Democratic Republic of Fra
Mid Rim World of Fra

With events of her visit to the City still fresh in her head, Ashla set by the single fire. Her anger rose when she heard the radio broadcast of Liberty Radio. The amount of suffering from what she heard and what she saw had to be stopped. It was clear to her now, but she didn't know how or what to do. She stabbed the fire with her stick as she smoldered. The fire let loss a flash of sparks in to the sky. She had to do something but she was pretty powerless. Visst wouldn't let anyone act until they had more information. “Well if he wants more intel, then that is what he will get!” she said as she got up and stomped off in to the darkness. She stopped just long to pick up a few things. “IF no one else will stand up for these innocent people, I will” she mumbled as she stormed off away from the camp.

Her march through the dark wooded area did allot to bleed off her anger. The area was cold and blanketed with a fresh layer of snow. It had been snowing all day long and finally let up late in the evening. Ashla hated the cold and she hated being cold in the dark even more. She would have been grateful for moon light. However the over cast and the new moon made the area even more darker than normal. Luckily the fresh snow did reflect some light and made it possible for her to move through the mountain forest without fear of others sneaking up on her. It was a lie but the thought gave her comfort. She pushed forward through the high knee high snow as she started to second guess her choice to leave the camp. Already two hours had passed and she had no idea where she was going or what she was going to do. Already Visst's voice came in to her mind, 'emotional filled actions tend to lead to bad choices.' She pulled her coat closed, “OH Shut up Visst. AHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh” She half said then screamed as she fell.

The first sensation that came back on line was her feeling in her limbs. Ashla could feel that she wasn't cold anymore. She started to groan as she opened her eyes. She could see a bright light just above her head. As she blinked she saw that it was a rip in some kind of tent. The light of the day was shining through down on her her. She heard someone speaking to her in basic, “try not to move too much. You took a nasty fall last night.” Ashla looked towards the direction of the voice and saw a young human woman dressed in thick white clothes and a strange white hat on her head. She looked over, “Doctor, she is waking up” the woman said then returned her attention to Ashla, “Last night was pretty touch and go. We thought we were going to have to remove your leg.”

“My leg?” Ashla said confused as she looked to see her left leg bandaged up.

The woman fixed the covers so that Ashla would still be warm. “When you fell down the slope you broke your leg. The Colonel will tell you more when he gets here. But our best doctors worked all night on your leg trying to save it.” The woman looked down at her arm and Ashla could see for the first time the woman's lower arm had been removed. “A few months ago, a stray bullet hit me while I was tended to wounded at the side of a battlefield. The doctor didn't get a chance to see me before the infection set in. They had no choice by to remove it before it spread and killed me.”

“You were lucky that it was so cold last night. If it was summer, this could have been very different and we would not be having this conversation.” a man dressed in white said as he walked up. He was a Nautolan and bore a broad smile. “She” refering to the woman dressed in white who was now slowly getting up, “never left your side during the night.” He looked around the full tent, “Suffering is always plentiful here.”

A second man walked up, Ashla smiled a bit as she noticed that he was a Togruta. “Okay, Thank you Doctor for your services. There are so many others that require both of your attention. Please leave us.” he said as he walked right up to her bed. She noticed that he walked with a limp and carried a cane.

Both of them nodded as they withdrew, the man said, “Yes Colonel.” In a short moment, they were alone. “Allow me to introduce myself, I am Colonel Jir Laal. You are not a prisoner.” Once they left he looked at her with a smile as he set down on her bed and laid his cane across his legs, “Tell me what do you remember of last night?”

“I am Ashla, thank you for the help” She leaned back feeling foolish for wondering off the way she did. “Um, I was walking, then I remember falling. Rolling in the snow and then, um, nothing else.” she said as she tried to recall what had happened as she was walking around in the dark.

He nodded, “well you damn near got yourself killed last night. If one of my scouts had not stumbled on you, you would have been good as dead.” he said said softly as he played with her pistol. She also could tell that while he was not lying outright, he was holding back something to the story. She wasn't sure of it. “I have to admit though, I am happy to meet you finally. My men have been reporting your activities since your starplane landed a few days ago.”

“You saw us land” she asked surprised.

He nodded, “you landed right in our backyards almost. It was hard to miss you.” He looked at her bandaged leg. “Doc Kit does fine work and his nurse is a credit to her field.” he said looking over the bandaged limb, “So many others couldn't hack it up here in the mountains. The pair have been with us since the rebellion started.” He slowly got up, “Doc, can she walk?” he yelled and the Doctor looked over from another bed.

“Yes but take it easy on her. Not too much walking. Plenty of breaks, Have her back by diner so we can change the bandages.”

He turned back to her, “Okay, so you have a pass if only for a few hours” he said with his hand held out for her to take.

“How long have I been here” she asked confused she took his strong hand as he braced himself.

He helped her up from the bed and took much of her weight as she leaned on him, “Well my men found you late last night. They worked on your leg during the night and you rested all morning and through lunch.” he smiled as he helped her mover from the bed, “Don't worry, lunch was worth missing. I warned the cook that if he serves garber nut stew one more time I will have him shot.” he said jokingly.

Ashla looked around the medical tent and saw a level of medical technology that surprised her. Nearly half of the soldiers recovering had missing limbs of some type. There were priests moving back the tent speaking with the soldiers as the limited medical staff were clearly overwhelmed. As they moved through the large tent she saw through a small canvas passageway another medical tent. There as a soldier at the end of the passageway. At first all she saw was his back, but when he turned to face her, she saw his face was badly burned. It was not like any kind of burn she had seen before. His hair was nearly completely fallen out and his eyes were bandaged up. “I want to see in their please.” The Colonel helped her hobble down the small passageway. Ashla could feel the cold from outside and the three stoves did little to keep the cold out. Bring a spacer on the fringes of the Republic, one sees just about anything. So Ashla knew about radiation burns before and seen them on an arm or even chest. But she had never seen anything on this level. “What happened to them?”

While she knew he was in a bit of pain while helping her move he never led her away from what she wanted to see, “They were part of our sister Regiment out on the North Ridge. Their camp was hit with a Flaming Cloud bomb. It was over a days march from here and we saw the Flaming Cloud climbing in to the air. We sent soldiers to go help, they brought these poor souls back. A few days later these burns started to show up and then they started to loss their hair. One by one, they are dying and our best doctors don't know why or how to save them.” the pain on his face of the situation washed away the pain from his leg, “I have seen men die on the battlefield. That is one thing, sad, but still different. This, horrible death, I wouldn't even wish on my worst enemy. Its like they are dying from the inside out and nothing we can do to stop it or even ease the death.”

As she moved around the ward, she couldn't help but feel horrible for the level of suffering. She noticed that most had their eyes bandaged and others weren't. When asked, she was told that the few soldiers that didn't have their eyes bandages were from the unit sent to help the wounded. She asked a few of the eye witnesses what they saw at the moment of attack. The stories were not consistent but on a few details they matched. Early morning there was a whooping sound that came over the ridge and they saw a large black dot leaving their area. A few hours later, the attack happened. There was first no sound just a bright light. Then came the rushing wind like a massive storm. The winds soon turned to burning winds as they were pulled towards the flaming cloud. She asked when the attack happened, and was told that it happen about just over a week ago. There hadn't been any more flaming cloud attacks since that one. Though the whooping flying dot has been seen moving about the Northern Ridge area in some strange box like pattern.

She was taken from the medical tents and led out in to the larger encampment. She saw that the camp was well hidden in the dense forest. The encampment was well laid out to avoid detection from low technology but she also knew that they could easily be detected by more advanced technology. She was led over to a group of wagon and allowed to rest while she watched soldiers training on a field. They were lined up in a rank and file formation with their muskets all ready. They would move in formation and at commands lower their weapons and fire at one time. Large plums of smoke covered the unit as they quickly reloaded their weapons. The Colonel moved off to tend to his unit for a moment while she rested next to the wagon. Looking around she saw that of the five wagons, two were filled with shovels and the other three were filled with barrels of gun powder. She saw black powder cannons and mortars packed and tucked within the trees. She also noticed a pair of bi-planes covered in canvas.

“Hey, so you are the off worlder” a man said walking up slowly offering her a cup of coffee. “I am Garild, I am an off worlder too.”

She looked at him and took a leap of faith, “you are the off world allies that came to help fight the Reich.”

He sighed, “Is it that obvious” he asked jokingly. “If I had known that Field Marshal Kessler was here, I would have never given them a thing. I would have convinced them to fight differently.”

She looked at him sipping the hot coffee and enjoying its warmth, “What do you mean? What makes him so different?”

“Kessler is a driven man and no fool. The man has never tasted defeat on the battlefield. What I don't understand is why he is out here. Something brought him to this world.” He tried to explain.

She looked out at the training troops as she noticed the calvary men on horse back practicing their charges. She looked back to the man, “So you are this mysterious commander sent by the Council of Free Worlds?”

He laughed, “Oh god no! I couldn't lead myself out of a paper bag. I am tech support. To make sure that their smiths know how to make the parts needed to repair the equipment that we brought. And to build new ones. We found out about this militia and how they were cut off. So we brought up a some new equipment and gear for them. That was when we learned about Kessler being here. At first we thought it was another deep Reich unit testing the waters again.”

She cut him off, “what do you mean testing the waters?”

“We from time to time, the Reich will send out deep patrols to see which worlds were friendly to their ideology and which weren't. These patrols rarely led to major engagements. When they were faced with stern resistance the patrols would just move on. Normally these patrols would travel about a month or two from their boards. Never before have we heard of them traveling this far before. In fact we didn't even know about it till six months ago when we heard from a Generation Ship that their small fleet was spotted in the region. We hastily put together what we could and headed out here. I will admit the mission was put together allot less organized then I would have preferred but we really didn't have time to plan better. By having the local worlds turn the patrols back, we have been able to keep their expansion in check for nearly fifty years. This patrol was a change in their strategy and risked our own plans to stop them” he explained.

“And this Field Marshal Kessler is something new also” she asked surprised.

He looked out at the troops training, “You don't get it. This guy is not just some Field Marshal or General. He is their fall back plan when they have to win a battle. I have seen conflicts that should have seen the Reich loss hands down turn in to their favor just with him arriving to the battle. If he wasn't such a monster, one could really love his ability to control a battle. He has a way of sensing the change of a battle and using it against his enemies. But he is a monster, make no mistake about that. Each time, the Council moves against the Reich. The first thing they check is where is Field Marshal Kessler” he explained with great passion.

She turned her body to see him better, “Tell me about this Council of Free Worlds I heard about.”

“Allot of people mistake the Council for being a large organized group of worlds. We're not. In fact we are less organized than many even consider. It is the Reich which have brought the Council in to being, though the Emperor would have you believe that the threat of the Council is the reason behind his military build up as of late. About ninety years ago, the Reich moved on a world and deviated it. There were refugees that fled this ill fated world. Among them was Harshina, a writer and poet. He told the story of the Reich invasion through poems and stories. The work spread across the region and leaders finally took notice of the Reich's expansion. Summits were called and treaties were signed. What came from all of this was the Treaty of the Council of Free Worlds. It spells out that if any signed world is attacked by the Reich all worlds would move to stop the attack and launch their own attacks on the Reich. The Council started off small but grew fast. We are over twenty signatory worlds and ten ally worlds. We are only unit against the Reich though. Signatory worlds are not permitted to attack each other but they do attack other worlds in our region. These foolish attacks make us weak and does not show a strong face to the Reich. So that is who we are.”

She nodded as she turned her attention back to the training soldiers. He reached in to his pocket and pulled out a small box. As he continued to watch the men and woman train in the large field he pulled a small white paper tube from the box. He offered it to Ashla “the Council does mean well. But there is no single voice leading them and many of us who man the field units that fall directly under the Council really don't trust their military experience.”

She waved off the offer, “you guys have fought the Reich before. Don't you have military commanders?”

He put the box away then lit the tube in his mouth and blew out some smoke from his mouth. “Yeah but normally to stalemates then the church steps in and helps us end the conflicts. I talked with a Reich POW one time before he was sent home. He told me of military schools and academies were children are taught to lead troops. The military arms of the Council member worlds are generally volunteer militaries. The last major battle which lasted longer then a few days was a boarder war. The Reich pushed in to a member world's territory along a wide span of unpopulated space. It was five years ago, but I remember the war well. It was the first time that the entire Council mobilized for war. Most of us thought that this was it. This was going to be the big one. Most of the Council task force never saw the Reich forces. They had withdrew before the Council forces arrived. Well all but one that is. In one system, Kessler led the advance. Back then, hardly anyone knew anything about him. He was just known on the Cousin of the Emperor. If we had only knew the truth at the time, it would have been different I think.” he said looking down at his white smoking tube.

He continued his story, “I was part of that task force that saw first combat with Kessler. Our leader, an Admiral, had been selected from a group of CEO's who owned mining companies within the system. We had over fifty warships and a nine to one odds on the Reich forces. But Kessler had laid a trap for use. I remember as we moved through the system searching for the Reich ships, we followed what we thought was a wounded corvette. It lead us right through a minor asteroid field. Kessler had planted his heavy artillery and armor on asteroids.” he looked to her, “Who does that” he asked in a bit of confusion. “Even before his ships moved in to range to fire, we were being cut to pieces. But that was only one part of the trap, the asteroids played a secondary role. As his forces closed our ships were unable to effectively maneuver. Between being out flank by his ships, his artillery and armor cutting in to our hauls, and the asteroids blocking our fields of fire, we had no hope of winning.”

He took enough drag off his tube and let the smoke out, “No one heard what happen to us till the Reich invited a peace delegation to the system. In exchange for releasing myself and the thousands of POW's the Member world was forced to concede ownership of the system to the Reich. It was an embarrassment. The next battle a few years later where the Council mobilized again, soldiers brought paper and extra clothes with them expecting to be taken prisoners.” He took a heavy drag on his tube and blew out more smoke, “sometimes I and others of my explorer unit hope to find a real leader that would lead us against the Reich.”

She looked out over the force as they trained, “if you know its hopeless then why let them fight?”

“Thats the thing, normally the Reich doesn't fight wars or battles to win. Unless they are looking for something they know they want, they only move in to test the waters of a world or empire. Small hit and run battles are what they do first. So by arriving shortly before or after the Reich arrives we can help the defenders put up a good show. It usually allows the Reich to leave the system much sooner than they expected to. We also help organize movements that will ensure that the Governments don't become friendly to the Reich. When we arrived here, he never expected to find a front line unit headed up by Kessler. Since that first battle, Kessler has only lead operations where they expect to take something and hold it. I have tried to talk the Colonel out of this foolish attack. But is dead set in taking the city. A few days ago, his scouts saw a huge portion of the King's elite guards matching towards the coast. Two full regiments marched towards the coast which left the city under defended with only a single regiment. Scouts have reported about two thirds are within the City while the rest are patrolling the area where the Reich forces are encamped. The Colonel believes that the Reich will remain out of the fight. The Church has assured him that the Reich has agreed to remain out of the direct conflict and allow the people of decide their own fate.” He explained

She looked at him, “You don't think they will remain out it?”

He looked at her once more, “Even if their military does stay out of the fight, which is unlikely. All that I have seen from Kessler, I don't think he could resist staying out of it. If he takes command, they can't win.” There was a sense of dread in his voice as he spoke.

The Colonel announced his approach as he relayed heavily on the cane that he walked with, “Good news!” he half yelled as he walked up. “I have a message from our command group” he said as he handed the paper over to the man next to Ashla, “They said that because the war is going bad for them on the home front, that not only should we consider attacking the City. We should put every soldier we can on the task if for no other reason than to force the King to fight on two fronts.”

The man looked to Ashla once more, “See what I mean.” he turned his eyes back to the Colonel, “You still don't get it.”

“No Sir! You don't get it. You act like this man is some kind of God of War that can't be beaten. Your new weapons you brought us make us a far better match than before. We can win, you just have to have hope.” The Colonel fired back with a bit of anger in his voice.

The man shook his head and slipped off the wagon, “You will throw their” pointing at the training soldiers, “lives away. For what? A chance of victory that could never be held.”

Ashla held up her hand, “wait, I have to ask something.” Both men paused and looked at her, “First what does the Council know of these Flaming Cloud bombs?”

The man shook his head, “Before we arrived here, we never heard anything like it. I witnessed the last one to go off last week. I have never seen or heard of anything like it. We reported it back to the Council but have not heard back on it yet.”

She looked around, “look I can't promise anything but my friends. They are the best warriors I have ever seen. If I can speak with them, we might be able to recruit them to help in the attack. Kessler might be smart but they are better. Trust me, they will make a difference in this battle.”

The Colonel nodded, “I will give you one of my best riders to return you to your camp.”

“I really don't think this is the best idea” the man said shaking his head.

Within moments, Ashla had her things back. She was helped on to the back of a mount and the rider sped her off back towards the group. Time was against her, but since she landed on this world she finally felt like she had a propose. There were so many people suffering and if she could help stop that suffering then she had to try. During the ride she knew who she had to convince and who she could count on. Somehow she felt that Visst was going to be the biggest problem for her. She had to convince him that helping these people here and now would serve the greater good. That helping them drive back the Reich would help everyone one. Plus she had to get all this new found information back to the group. There was still one question that did bother her. Why was Field Marshal Kessler here, on this world so far from home, in the first place. Even people that spent allot of time knowing and understanding Kessler's actions were confused by this new move. And this didn't sit very well with her either.

[Akirapryde]

(Editor's Note: The following was a result of a one on one role playing. Experience was awarded)

Destiny Revived
The Stepped Plains
Democratic Republic of Fra
Mid Rim World of Fra
September 18th, 1936

The early morning air was crisp as the drew was still settling on the ground. The sun was just cresting over the mountains promising a break from the chilly morning air. The early birds were in full swing gathering their worms. They were not the only early raisers among the Stepped Plains. On a narrow ledge high above a relic of the distant past a lone female human moved through motions of a long forgotten art form. Hidden below state of the art camouflage netting, the Azgardian assault shuttle was hidden from most modern forms of detection. That was during their time, so long ago. One would think that moving forward in time would advance technology. However, this place was so backwards and it brought a large number of concerns to the for thought of Fiolla Heartman's mind.

She had thought that the day that she was woken from her cryogenic chamber would have be the rock bottom of her life. Those, to whom she had before trusted with her life, during that nightmarish day wanted to kill her. Her mind rocked with confusion as the last thing she remembered was being with Za the night before. It had been one of the most prefect moments in her life. They shared diner, a whole bottle of wine, conversations and then they shared each other in a way that she never dreamed possible. Being an Azgardian True Born meant that normal reproduction was something of filth that was left to the birthers. She had at the age of maturity added her own genetic code to her family's genetic bank. This act ensured that her own genetic lineage could be passed on to the next generation of warriors. The Azgardian religious caste had made it clear to all castes and all members of their culture. Any form of homosexual relations were completely unacceptable. 1st Class Warriors had been thrust in to disgrace for being exposed for having sexual relations with the opposite sex. Though some warriors viewed love as more important than honor and respect. It was something that they were willing to risk. Homosexual relations however were nearly unheard of throughout the Culture.

There had be a few accounts of cadets experimenting with homosexual acts. Those poor cadets like anyone else caught were forced in to the Fjernet Caste. Fjernet simply means removed in Azgardian, which is a very fitting name for the lowest of all castes. The name tell of their sad fate. Removed from the culture and world completely. Their genetic code would be cleansed from the banks, their records of being a warrior wiped from existence. No member of the culture would ever associate to them again. These ill fated former members of the culture were not seen as dead, lost, or missing. To all that ask former friends or family members, the answer is simple. 'They were Fjernet'. These Fjernet would become targets of Honor Missions or training exercises carried out by the Order of Long Daggers. The life expectancy of a Fjernet greatly depended on their ability to vanish from sight. For a warrior, any warrior, it was a fate worse than being taken as a POW. And it was a fate that Fiolla was willing to risk to be with Za. Fiolla loved her and Za loved her back. That night was something special, something amazing. It opened her eyes to a world that Fiolla had never before dared to dream possible. A world of love and passion. Now that world was stolen from her. Waking up in the shuttle with everyone around her at first seemed like such a dream.

It quickly turned to a nightmare as she learned the truth of what had happened to her all those that she cared about and her own fate. She learned of the fate of Za. It broke her heart and she felt something she never felt before. An emptiness that she couldn't fill. It was something that allowed her to connect with Biggs when others couldn't. Her time serving Visst as his personal bodyguard allowed her many opportunities to try to better understand that emptiness in her heart. It wasn't until Biggs came on board and a chance encounter with him that gave her a chance to speak with him on a personal level. He explained the same feeling he was suffering with Lysire's death. He helped her understand the feelings she suffered through and told her to focus on the pleasant times that she shared. She entrusted with him her most darkest of secrets. She told him everything about her relationship with Za. That first conversation had surprised her, somehow he earned her trust. As more conversations passed, they became close friends and he entrusted in her his feelings for Shalla. Fiolla laughed and encouraged him to speak to her. That it would have been something that Lysire would have wanted, for him to be happy. Those were happier times after her awakening, unlike when she first woke up.

At first no one told her anything as she tried on her own to figure out what was going on. Then came the attempts on her life from no other than Ubaah. She knew the red Twi'lek well, and had even saved his life on Bakild VI. Now he was foolishly trying to end hers. It wasn't until much later, that she was finally told the truth of what was going on. She had been cloned by the Puppet Master for some unknown reason or unknown mission. Not only had she been cloned, her memories were left completely intact. Well mostly, intact. She didn't have any memories of the day that she dead. Luckily she was clever enough to know where to look for those details. She managed to learn that her death was in part due to Daz's actions. But there was something more, something that she choose not to tell Visst or the others about. She saw the videos of her death and the battle on the bridge. She saw the battle, well most of it. She knew that someone or something had gained access to her bridge after Daz and Visst had left. She watched herself, Za and the others battle the intruder. It was clear that she in the video could see the intruder. But Fiolla watching the video, couldn't see the intruder from the video. It was something that truly bothered her. She had discovered the video with thanks of Carissa some months after she woke up to this nightmare. It was within that moment of viewing the video, she realized that she and the person in the video were different in some way. For the rest of her time with Visst she tried to embrace this difference and be someone else. She even played around with different names and tried to reshape her own personality. It all failed, while there was a difference, she was forced to accept who she was. And that was Fiolla “Talon” Heartman, Daughter of Captain Alfarinn Heartman and Commander Air Group Jófast Heartman, Grand Daughter to Warlord Raynar Heartman. She was who she was and it was that simple. This was not going to change.

However, all that seemed to pale in comparison with where Visst has led her once more. She had found that remarkable things seemed to follow and happen around her mentor. At times it was exciting, like the their mission to Yavin IV. Where they first meet the bird like creature. He was always playing hid and seek games with them. She couldn't understand it. However it was then that they found out that Rose and her minions were playing with powers beyond everyones fears. Then there were times that were simply terrifying, like their mission to Wormwood. She had actually thought that she would loss the two most important people in her life. Daz and her sister, Angelique. She remembered those feelings as she was informed that they had 'wondered off' and disappeared. Fiolla had just discovered that the whole mission to this world had been a trap set up by Rose and her evil apprentice Orchid. They were out of ammo and supplies due to their attempt to rescue the Jedi that had been reported captured on this world. That incompetent Army Captain had taken all of their resupplies with him on some foolish mission. Daz and Angelique had disappeared and she would never forgive herself if something happened to them. Talon and the other Immortals ran as hard as they could to the rescue. The entire time, Talon cursed herself for not being able to protect them and considered what could have happened to them. They did rescue Daz and her sister just in time. It was only the start of what would become one hell of a ride with Visst. Life by his side was never dull. To include her 'rebirth' as a clone. She never dreamed that following him would lead her beyond her own limits of understanding. Time Travel.....

They knew once they entered Republic space something was wrong when they couldn't make contact with any navigational beacons. Once they entered Naboo space, they expected to find Naboo. However, the world they found was different. Just like Talon, it looked the same on the surface as the one they had on record. However looks only went skin deep. There was a deeper difference what started with that strange ship in orbit. She had never seen such a strange, outdated ship in her life. She could actually see the large seems of rivet joints which held the large plates together. Visst had chosen to land and figure out what was going on before acting. A wise choice, as they learned that the world of Naboo that they knew of was no more. This strange world was called Fra and from what they could uncover, the Republic had burned during a series of massive conflicts nearly two thousand years ago. Some how, and Talon was not about to lie to herself it shocked the hell out of her, they had traveled forward in time some two thousand years. The Galaxy, the Republic and the worlds that they all knew were no more. Though she did find some sense of familiarity with all of this. She had been here before, fought hard with facing the fact that she wore the face of a warrior who had died in battle. She wondered how each of the others would handle this new change of events.

Talon slowly moved through her steps of her stance. The udødelig-kamp fighting style had become a long forgotten style among the Azgardian Warriors. During the hight of Azgard's formation as a culture, the udødelig-kamp had been perfected by first Black Dragon units. The focus of the art form was focus on one self before, during and after the battle. It was later taken up be the Order of Long Daggers when the rest of the Warriors started to move from this very simple and basic form to art forms that drew on raw power over speed and grace. For Talon, this style spoke to her on levels she actually understood. It allowed her to utilize her true advantages over every other warrior. Her flexibility and natural speed. What many warriors didn't realize about the udødelig-kamp, was that it was never meant or designed to be a stand alone combat form. It brought all of the combat forms then and now together under one beautiful art form. Through this form she could change to one of defense, to speed, to power, and more importantly a mixture of any of them. Her eyes closed as she could feel the pulse of the Azgards around her. Her breathing slowed as she focused on her heart rate and her mental focus. She pushed out the concerns of the moment and allowed her mind to drift far from this place.

“Remember Fiolla, you must learn to feel the pulse of the Warriors around. Sense their moods and their heart. Through this you can use their own strength to fulfill your goals.” The words of her grandfather echoed in her mind. Deep in her mind she drew back to better days. Back before she was turned in to a clone by the Puppet Master. Back before her untimely death at the hands of Daz's betrayal. Back long before the Brush Fire Wars engulfed the galaxy. She traveled through her memories to her family's estate on Alderaan. It was a time that she had longed for when everything seemed so much less complicated.

There she and he stood on a large ridge high above the estate. She could see him out of the corner of her eyes as she mirrored his ever movement. Her grandfather had always insisted that she took up understanding the History of her people as well as learning how to fight. This was just one more part of that History she had to master. She had just started learning the udødelig-kamp from her Grandfather. “To better control the Warriors of Azgard” she asked softly as she continued to move through the steps of the stance.

“No child. You must learn to sense these emotions like a sailor on the solar winds. By understanding the drive you can rally the emotion to serve the moment. And when the emotions drive to counter the moment, you must be able to work within these emotions. Too many times sailors have rode the solar winds straight in to disaster's arms. One day child you will lead the Azgard through her darkest times. If you are to lead them, then you must be able to control the winds of emotions. Less you shall guide Azgard head long to disaster.” Warlord Raynar Heartman said calmly as they both shifted their stances.

“I don't think I will want to lead our people. I see how much it drains on you and how much you must face just to lead.” Talon said softly as she continued to work through the different forms. “I would be just as happy leading my unit to glory in the heat of battle. To have my name written on the wall of honor” she explained softly. She had heard her sister talk about the Force and had found it to be a silly thing. Talking of events yet to come seems to silly to her. Her own Grandfather at times sounds allot like her sister. The thought of it made her smile but she was able to regain her focus.

Warlord Raynar nodded as he smiled, “I was once like you. I understand what you are saying. Battlefield glory is a fine goal. Each Azgardian Warrior is born to fight and claim their own glory from the clutches of their fallen enemies. There are those born with only the love of their troops in their heart. These warriors place the needs of their troops over their own. They make for excellent battlefield commanders. Honorable and proud Warriors they are indeed, however, they will never drive for more. This is where they belong and where they are needed. Then there are those warriors who were born with the love of their houses embedded deep within their hearts. They will fight through the gates of the afterlife to improve their House's influence, wealth and power. For it is the right of every Warrior House to be the very best it can. Those weaker house are destined to become absorbed by the stronger. And it is because of this, that these warriors will become excellent House Warlords.”

“Then there are those very few warriors who's hearts transcend the boarders of Houses and ideology. These warriors ascend to the Council of Warlords. Here they build peace and glory for all through a strong united face. The hearts of these warriors can not be held to any one house, as they must speak and act for all of Azgard. Then my child, there are but a lucky few. Who transcend all of the others and raise up to speak for every warrior on Azgard. These warriors learn to bare the weight and the honor of serving our people. I see this in you child. The Priests from the Temple sees this in your future.” He paused his statement as he complete the last maneuverer. Then he turned towards her as he gazed down at the young child warrior. There was so much in his eyes for her. “Choose to follow your destiny or not. This is your choice. However, I have found that fate has a annoying way of keeping us on track with our destiny despite our best efforts.” he paused as she looked up at him, “Rather you like it or not, you will one day, child, lead our people out of the darkness.”

Talon stopped her morning workout routine as she sensed someone near. She opened her eyes as she turned to see Birgr Heartman watching her from a nearby tree. She knew the young warrior when he was still a cadet. Served with him on Baklid VI and found him to be a respectful and honorable warrior. She almost hated what had to happen. However, every bit of her being demanded it. He was a Warrior and she had been outed by Visst. Before she was just as happy remaining hidden from the others. However, for some reason Visst felt it necessary to reveal her true identity. She had no choice but to step up now and either take charge of the other Azgardians or be forced to take orders with the rest. It was a rule of their law that had become ingrained in to their being by both teaching and by genetics. That rule of law was simple, 'Only the best shall lead!' And she knew that she was the best Warrior on this world and it was time to prove it or kneel and be led. Her blood boiled at the thought of kneeling to a lesser warrior. The thought never even crossed her mind as she sized him up.

He smiled a bit as he addressed her formally, “Lieutenant Fiolla Heartman?”

“Its Captain, however, tall me Talon” she said coldly as her eyes moved from one part of his frame to the next. This was clearly going to led to an honor duel. There was no questions about this. Either he would cause it or she would. 'It has to be settled' she thought as she decided that this would not end without a duel. “We both knew that this meeting was due” she said softly as she walked over to her things and picked up a towel. Her frame was remarkable to seen. Her skin tight shorts and half mussel shirt showed off a body in prefect shape and condition. “I don't think Visst fully understood what had to happen once he revealed who I was.” She added as she ran the towel across her body. “Speak your mind Warrior.” she said addressing him as if she was talking to her underling. It was a measure of superiority.

And it was a measure that Birgr fully understood. He came up here looking for her knowing what had to happen. They were his warriors that he fought to lead. She might had been one of the best warriors. But that was a few years ago, and he was coming in to his own. He also knew he better be careful with this. “I have nothing by the utmost respect for your abilities and accomplishments on the battlefield. However....” he paused a moment to make sure he said this the best way possible. He knew all to well what had to happen. But he wanted to do this on his terms, not hers. His blood was on fire for this and knew hers had to be as well. The coming battle left a pleasant taste in his mouth. However, she was dangerous. Most likely the most dangerous warrior he would ever face. However, he could take her. This much he knew for sure in his heart. “Your Immortals are dead. And the Immortals we have now are my Immortals. I have earned my right to lead them in combat. I have fought each one by our laws and defeated each one of them.” he watched the comments wash over her and found himself egger for this tests of combat, “With the impending mission at hand, we cannot go into this with two leaders. If you wish to lead them, I would be most honored to accept your challenge.”

She listened carefully as he spoke. There were truths to what he said, however it changed nothing. They were the two most ranking Warriors. She tossed the towel back to her gear as she looked at him. There was a sense of gratefulness in her eyes at his statements. This was completely normal behavior that she had been missing out on among the other Azgardians. It was time to settle this issue the only way she knows how, only the best warrior shall led. “You are right, MY Immortals were murdered by Daz. These Immortals are yours to lead. However, only the very best of us shall lead. All others must follow. This is our way, our law, and the way of the Gods” she said with a smile as she walked right up in to his personal space. He was slightly taller than her and she sized up his weight to be at least thirty kilos heavier than her. It was the last bit of information she needed, “Tell me young warrior, to you feel that you are the very best between us?”

For the first time being so close to her, he felt that maybe he might not beat her. Stifling his nervousness, he confidently stated, “Only actions can tell. There is no doubt that you are more experienced, but experience in not the only factor in the best warrior.” He knew more about her than any other warrior. She was his idol, and for the most part, all that he wanted to be. It was because of her that he joined the Immortals. It was because of her that he focused on leading them. Now, idol and worshiper were about to clash. There was no room for second thoughts or doubts. He had to beat her.

She couldn't help but think that he would make a fine warrior within her own Immortals. She would have paid any price to ensure he was in her unit. If this were another place, and time, this conversation would never had to have happen. However they were here, now and it had to happen for the sake of every Azgardian within the party. She slid back tossing her arms out as she opened up her defenses. The action dared him to take advantage of it and right in to her trap. To sweeten the trap she intentionally moved in such a way that it allowed her center of gravity to be off center. She wanted to invite his attack on her terms. “Then if you must be proven who is the best. Take your action now young warrior and learn what experience has to offer you.”

He knew she was clever and was not about to fall for her little trick. He couldn't help but noticed the tattoo on her right shoulder. It was a black shield with a skeleton Valkyrie swinging a flaming sword while riding a demonic winged horse seemingly from above. The outer rim of the shield had the words, 'Death From Above' along the top of the shield. Along the left side of the shield the words, 'Always Undead' were written. Along the right side of shield the words 'Always Immortal' were written. He liked the tattoo as he finished sizing her up as well as her little trap. There was no question about accepting the challenge. That didn't mean he was going to be stupid about it either. Let her make the first move, Birgr bares his upper body and assumes a stance for unarmed combat.

She looked deeply in to his eyes and laughed, “I have commanded your Immortals. I dare to take leadership from you. I challenge your right to lead. And that is how you answer it? by playing it safe in a defensive stance” she snapped back at him. He was smart but she was not about to give him that at the moment. She dropped her arms and moved forward as she shifted her weight once more. She shifted to the left as she fainted and dropped her body as she swept around to the right. Her lower leg caught his legs and knocked him off balance. Using that powerful advantage of speed to its fullest she kicked her right leg up while bracing her body on both of her arms. As he stumbled backwards, her foots landed soundly in to his side and knocking the wide from his lungs. What started as a stumbling backwards, ended up being a ungraceful free fall on to his backside. Talon on the other hand kicked both of her legs upward and tumble backwards after the attack and landed back on her feet. “You are going to have to learn how to fight like the undead if you are to lead the Immortals” she taunted.

Picking himself off the ground and while trying to regain his breath was as bad as the fact that she surprised him. She was faster then he recalled and fighting her was much different than watching her fight. He felt completely foolish for missing that maneuver. 'Get yourself focused, Birgr,' he thought to himself, 'Can't afford any more like that.' He looked at his opponent once again. Her stance was sound this time. There was something odd about how she held her stance. He recognized the form easily as it was a defensive form, but it was different in some degree. He couldn't help but wonder what her next action would be. He knew he couldn't win this duel while on the defensive. He went for an attack where both fists were about a foot apart from each other on a vertical axis, where the left hand was above the right and aimed directly for the center of her chest.

Smiling as his attack finally came, "That's more like it" she said grabbing his fist as it impacted against her chest. It was clear that the blow hit as she rolled with it. The second hit landed just above her last rib. There was a very satisfying give under the impact. However, Birgr didn't expect as much give under the impact as she continued to loosen her stance and allow the force of his charging attack to bend her over backwards. It all happened too fast for him to even realize what she had done till she was doing it. Stealing his energy from the attack, she bend back over while holding his right wrist tightly. She kicked her feet in to his legs as she flipped over backwards taking him with her. As they flipped over themselves, she pulled her legs up to her chest. As they landed heavily on the solid ground, Birgr let out a heavy release of air as she drove her knees in to his rib cage. He heard them crack under the impact as she held fast to his wrist. While he was trying to regain his breath once more, he felt her wrench that wrist and arm. The pressure cause his mind to focus on the new risk. Any more he risked snapping the joints in his arm.

All he suspected about her was becoming proven. He knew that her style of combat was unorthodox. And this battle was becoming a very good learning experience, that is, if he didn't die from it. He kicked his feet up and hooked her neck with his ankles and feet. He smiled at her as he squeezed her neck trying to crush it. He had to do what could to get her to let go of his arm as he felt her apply more pressure to it. 'Damn, just die already' he thought as his mind screamed out in paid as she continued to wrench that arm. The move clearly surprised her as now she too was fighting to over come her own risks. He could see her eyes start to grow larger as her air way was slowly closing by his grip on her. Her reaching to his new attack was to wrench the arm even more causing more pain and more screams in his mind. He reacted to her new move by cutting of more air by pushing harder on her neck. He watched her as she brought her free arm out and realized that he had to neutralize it. He just didn't know how at that moment. Her legs pinned his left arm and his right was in her control. He pushed harder against her neck hoping to knock her out.

She shifted her whole weight as she slammed her free elbow right in to his right twisted elbow. The sound of snapping and popping filled the air as both knew the limb was broken at the joint. He let out a scream as she rolled off him. With his grip on her neck broken, she tumbled free from him while he rolled over to protect his now broken arm. It took both a bit longer to regain their footing before slowly getting up. He knew that this battle wasn't over yet and he still had a few tricks up his sleeve. He shifted his stance to allow for more use of his legs and protecting the broken limb. However, he knew that she wasn't through either. She rushed in for an attack as he dropped back to his right. She came in low as he kicked high at her. She landed a sound kick to his groan while he followed through with his own faint and slammed his foot down on her chest. It was a dirty trick but he didn't mind repaying her for the broken arm. She landed heavily on the ground as he stomped her once more. This time, her rib cage gave till the ground stopped it. There was a pleasant sound of cracking under the twin attack.

Talon wasn't finished. She took the two attacks in stride as she flung her body once more in a twisting action kicking his one foot out from under him. He landed once more on the ground face first with a thud. She rolled over on to him and snatched that broken over and rolled back over pulling it behind his back. With a powerful jerk she pulled the broken limb from the shoulder socket while she kicked her legs out adding more force to the jerking motion. He let out a pain filled scream as she brought her other elbow down on the back of his head. The force drove his face once more in to the solid ground. With one more jerk of his broken arm, Talon was sure he was out like a light.

He woke up to a splash of cold water being dumped over his head. He let out a scream of pain and surprise. His first action was to look at his broken arm. It was mended and in a sling as well as his shoulder had been reset while he was unconscious. He turned to look at her. She was standing over him holding a bucket with a smile on her face. “You fought good. Sound speed, powerful bows” she said exposing the bluish black buries on her ribs. It was clear by her voice and the way she was standing that at least a couple had been broken. She tossed the bucket with the rest of her things. “This duel is over.”

He sighed deeply as he knew what had happened. There was no denying it, he lost the battle. He had lost his Immortals to her. “I lost, I accept this outcome. they are yours to command.” he said in defeat. It was a bitter pill to take. He could at least hold on to this fact, it was to her.

She laughed at him, “you still don't get it, young warrior. This was never about them. It was about you. I don't want to lead the Immortals. I never did. You were right, my Immortals are dead. However, I am the best warrior here. And I will lead you. All of you.” she dropped to a knee next to him, “A great warrior told me, there are different kinds of warriors. Those who are brave and embrace death on the battle field. These warriors are brave and make up the rank and file of Azgard's warriors. There are those warriors who hearts are pure and wise. They embrace the battle and desire honor as well but desire to lead our Warrior House. These warriors become House Warlords. Then there are those chosen by the Gods to lead our people. Those who hearts would serve every Azgardian, warrior and non-warrior alike. These very few warriors become mighty Warlords of Azgard. I ask you now, young Warrior, will you bleed for me as my heart and soul serves your honor. Will you follow me without question, in to battle?" she said softly with her hand held out to him.

She was right, he didn't understand what this was about at first. 'Was that the reason why I lost. Because I was battling for the wrong reason?' he thought to himself. He looked up at her as her words sunk in deeply. Her statement was just as surprising as her combat. However, there was one unmistakable truth. She was without a doubt the better warrior. He looked at his broken arm and her broken ribs as he took a moment worth of reflection. He lifted his gaze up to her and smiled as he took her hand “Without question.”

She smiled at him and he took her hand. These duels were always messy and painful for both warriors. However they were perfectly necessary to ensure the chain of command was maintained. She slowly rose up and helped him back to his feet along with her. With the chain of command established, it was time for the next order of business. "Let's talk about freeing our sister from her current imprisonment." She said calmly and with a calculated voice. She had already reasoned that the Azgardian needed to be rescued. And now that she had command, it was time to carry out that rescue. "Before we talk any further. You are under orders not to speak of this to anyone. Its not that I don't trust the others. Our intent could force choices of loyalties that are not needed at this moment. Mainly from our Jedi companions. This is not the time for these choices, nor do I wish to force it on them" She explained.

With his nodding of understanding she turned and walked over to her things. She dropped the bucket on the ground and knelled next to her pack, "you are to take my sister back in to the city. Dress as normal as you can. It is not time for us to revile our presence, that time will come later. Find this Field Marshal, offer this to him as a gift." She said drawing out her own family dagger from her pack and handed it over. Birgr was stunned by the action as he took the weapon with great care. He recognized the Heartman artifact even before it touched his waiting hand. It was of unspeakable value and respect. "Do not hint at its value or authenticity. Play it off as if you thought it might be a fake. Or somehow unaware of its true value. I know this is going to be hard and walking a narrow line. However it is important that he believes you are not as an experienced collector as he is. Better this than explaining how you know all that you know, or where you got all that you have. It also plays in to my larger plan. Allow him to look at it. Offer it to him as a gift in return for his friendship.”

He couldn't help himself, "gift? Talon this belongs with us" He said with surprise. He knew that getting Senni free was important. But he also knew that for her to give up such a prized possession was hard to accept. "Surely there has to be another way."

"It is only a thing. She is our sister. But yes there are other ways. However none of them ensures that you would remain close to the Field Marshal and could maintain a steady flow of intelligence from him." She explained softly as she picked up her towel once more. The battle was hard fought and her wounds were making it hard for her to breath, "as you speak to him, earn his trust. Do not cross that line, though. Do not bring dishonor on to yourself in the process. However continue to keep your dialogs open with him. Ask to see his unit. This Panzer Battalion. Have him show you around. Gather as much as you can about them. We will need this information for later operations. Once you leave his estate, then myself and two others will sneak in and free Senni. In your equipment, do you have chameleon Cloakers?" She asked almost as an after thought.

He nodded, "we are fully equipped but we only have two cloakers." He explained as he started to see her plan.

She frowned disappointedly while thinking. It wasn't what she wanted but it would have to do. "Then it will be me and one other" she finally said as her tone betrayed her displeasure with the change of her plan. She took a painful drink of water from her canteen.

Birgr motioned for a drink from her canteen. She tossed it over to him as he spoke, "Visst suggests that should we rescue our sister, it would further escalate the conflict here." The water was refreshing as he listened to her.

She nodded as she pushed her things in to her pack. "Visst is a wise bird. He is right. However I listened to this Field Marshal's speech last night. I know his kind very well. He is looking for a fight. If he can't get one, he will make up a reason for it. Either way, this conflict will escalate. The only real question we should concern ourselves with is, will our sister be free or not when the escalation happens."

He nodded his understanding, "what about Daz? He seems almost hostile towards us."

She paused as she shifted her weight to better look at him, “I don't trust him. He and I have a very painful history. I would love to let it be like that. But I don't think he will allow it. He is without a doubt, a traitor. You would be wise to watch what you say around him and his little companion.” She paused for a moment as if to add something else. It was clear by her facial expression that she choose to move on from the thought. “Daz knows better than to stand in our way anymore. If he does, I will end his life myself. Beyond that, he is Visst's problem.” she gathered up the last of her things and stood up. The two Azgardians left the small area together as they made their way back to the shuttle. Talon looked over at Birgr as they walked off, “What time is it?”

He checked his watch, “its sixteen forty five. Oh and you broke my watch band!”

“I will buy you a new one” she said as she looked away while walking.

“You can't afford it. This was an antique. Nearly two thousands years old!” He said with a serious look on his face.

She glazed at him and then busted out laughing. He smiled back then joined in with the laughing as they walked down back towards the group. From the distance they could see a mounted rider approaching from one direction and two walking up from another. Today was shaping up to be a day of excitement and both knew it.

[Akirapryde]

Pains of Leadership
The Stepped Plains
Democratic Republic of Fra
Mid Rim World of Fra
September 19th, 1936

Facing Visst was much harder than she had expected. Hearing him apologize for something she did was even worse. She knew in her heart what she did was wrong but she was between a rock and a hard place. The more she tried to rationalize it, the more she felt that she had made a huge mistake. She should have trusted him. She should have known that he would have agreed to her plan. The simple fact was that she didn't. There was no rationalization that could change this fact. She closed her eyes trying to clear her anger from her heart. She heard the footsteps behind her. They were heavy and sound. It was clearly one of the Warriors, and judging by the force behind each boot thrust in to the snow it had to be Birgr.

Birgr approaches Talon slowly as he saw her meditating. He had never seen her so mad as she was before. Noting her meditation state and not wanting to surprise her, he remained to the side. Thought, he expected that she was already fully aware that she most likely sensed him. He remained silent to allow her a chance to address him first.

She didn't even open her eyes as she softly said, “Yes, what is it Warrior?”

He stirred reluctantly as he tried to find the words of what must be discussed, he signed heavily as he finally gave up the internal struggle and just spoke frankly, “Angelique told me that we are going through with the infiltration plan...” he paused uncomfortably at the very thought of being in that position. “I need to know the precise plan.”

She looked up as she turned her head to face him, “The plan is simple, you and Angel will go back to the city and find a place to stay. Let the Field Marshal find you and he will. Let him bring you back in to the fold. Tell him what you must, but do not bring dishonor to yourself or to her. Take with you a single communicator. Do not loss it or have it discovered. Stay close to the Field Marshal and be ready to act. Once Visst gives the order, kill the Field Marshal. This is the plan.”

He heaved a discouraged sigh. “How soon before we need to leave?” His voice is very sullen, but he still is trying to get to the point.

She looked away and closed her eyes, “You will have to forgive me, I am not used to speaking in split conversations. Concealing what is in your heart is as much lying as speaking a lie. When you wish to treat me with the honor and respect I deserve, please do so. If not leave me be, I have more important things to do than cuddle your bruised ego.” It dawned on her in that moment what she did. It was always there but to hear her speak the action made it clear. It made her actions painfully clear to her.

He sighed heavily, “No. I mean no disrespect. I understand what needs to be done and that it truly is the best course of action...I just don't like it.”

She looked back at him and nodded, “Being a leader of warriors we must all do what we don't like to do. Last night, I betrayed the trust of a dear friend to save our sister. I don't regret doing it, but I hated the act. I didn't have to lie, cheat or even mislead. I simply kept my mouth shut and allowed him to think I would wait when I had no intention of waiting. What I did was wrong regardless of the reason.” There was a tear that dripped from her eye, “When everyone turned on me, and wanted me destroyed for being what I have become, he stood up for me. Kept my existence a secret to ensure I would not be destroyed under Republic Law. And I couldn't trust in him to accept my wishes.” she turned away from him and looked down in sadness, “I would have never asked anyone to do what I had to do. To betray a friend like I did.” she took a deep breath, “If you were Warlord of Azgard, to who would you give this mission to? Who would you ask to do something you were unwilling to do yourself?”

He stood briefly in thought. “I couldn't. It wouldn't feel right.” He paused again, trying to figure out how to say what he was trying to find out. He decided to just come out with it, “Do I have time to finish building a forge and working on my ax before I need to leave? I am drastically feeling the need to work on my craft.”

She shook her head, “It doesn't feel right, that's because Azgardian leaders never lead from the rear. We always lead from the front, in to the fires before the others. Which was why I had to go after Senni. I couldn't ask anyone else to go. And if you and Angel hadn't already made contact with the Field Marshal first, I would have gone on this mission.” she slowly stood up “As for your forge, I do not believe so. The longer you are available within the City for the Field Marshal's spies to observe. The easier for them to accept you, it will be.” She stepped forward and paused next to him while her hand found his shoulder, “I know what you mean. I too have the urge to focus on my art as well. How I want to fill the air about me with song. But I just can't. There is too much for us to do. To much for me to do.” She turned and sighed deeply as she started to move passed him, “There is a smith down in the city, I saw it last night. Angel should know where it is. Much better than what you could do here.” She continued to walk past him as she focused on what she had to do next, “Go and tend to this horrible mission. While I tend to my own.”

As he watched her walk off he paused for a moment before responding. “I will to the best of my ability and more.” He then turns to head back to where his forge is being constructed.

It didn't take her long to find who she was looking for. She knew where they were heading and how to intercept them. Jedi were after all predictable. She cut down the steps through the tree and cut them off as the small group worked their way towards the city. She addressed them shortly before asking to speak to Visst alone. Her tone told of the nature of the conversation coming. She led him till they were well out of ear shot and made sure no one followed. “Don't speak, you said enough. Its my turn.” she said spinning on her heels, “How dare you apologize.” she said with anger, “If you were Azgard I would have challenged you in that moment.” Her fist flung on either side of his head. Her anger was clear, “This was not your doing and my actions caused yours. It is not your place to apologize. IT is a show of weakness on both our parts. Yours for accepting something that is not yours to accept and mine for being too willful to see the painful truth.”

Getting out the anger was the easy part, now came the painful part. Her tone changed as did the emotions across her face, “I was wrong. I should have spoken with you about this before I acted. I should have trusted you and I DID.” she said glancing back at the others, “It was their influence over you that I didn't completely trust. Still it makes no difference, I was wrong. You trusted in me. Saved me from death, two times already. I gave an oath to serve you and now in this, I have failed that oath. Failed that trust and those acts of loyalty you have shown me. I am not sure how, but one day, this debt that I owe you will be repaid.” She stood for a moment collecting her thoughts. She was sure she said all that she meant to and not one word more, she nodded. With that she turned and walked away just like that.

[Akirapryde]

The Other side of Hell
Capital City, Stephinopulous
Democratic Republic of Fra
Mid Rim World of Fra
September 19th, 1936

Visst slipped in to the confessional slightly expecting to meet with some middle man within the Church. His eyes took a moment to adjust to the rapid change in light as he knew all too well where he was. He looked around to see her standing there, “I was waiting for when you would contact me again” he said softly turning to face Lysire. She stood before him as normal dressed in her old Jedi robes dyed red. Her face seemed just like the day that he watched her murdered by the evil General Graff. The items on her body, he knew all too well were just part of the illusion that she wished him to see. Visst knew that her husband, Prince Saar was the last man alive to hold her lightsaber. There was something different about the way her eyes always looked. Before they were always filled with such wonder and surprise over the galaxy as a whole. Now, her eyes showed the signs of a million lifetimes lived here beyond the existence that he knew.

“For me, it has only been a second and a life time when we first and last met. I have always been and never been by your side” she said softly as she motioned him to follow.

He moved along side her as they walked through the light, “Where are we going?”

She didn't look at him as they walked, “I don't know. But I know it is where you need to be. Things to know and not known.”

He looked at her surprised for a moment then felt the light subside till an image of some strange place took shape around him. He could feel himself being pulled through time and space as he started to understand more than what was being seen. He could feel the past around him and understand why things are the way they are. The force was so much stronger here in this time than it was during the Jedi Civil War or even back in his own galaxy. He couldn't explain it completely but he could feel its concentration around him. He looked over at Lysire who only looked forward, 'what has changed you?' he thought to himself.

“Everything” she answered directly as the image around them took complete shape, “It is what you must know if you are to bring about peace and order once more.” She said to the next question that he was trying to figure out how to ask. “The First Ones are all gone now. It is only a few of us Elders that remain to guide the younger races.” she said softly, “Master Yoda left.....I can't remember...Just one day he was gone. I remember I was watching a star die when I realized that he was gone from here.” She said as she looked on, “I think I might go too. Go beyond the great edge.” she paused during her completely one sided conversation with what he was thinking, “the great edge where they all go.” She waved her hand outward, “Here look, listen and learn my friend.” She said softly as they faded like ghost within someone else's reality.

---

Since the dawn of the ninth century, the Second Reich of Humankind has played a strong and influential role in the Core Worlds. Their flag color coded to fit their motto. With a black stripe on the bottom, a red stripe in the middle and a yellow stripe on the top. Out of the darkness from under the oppressive boot of the Varl, shedding their own blood, raising in to the light. The blacken image of a large bird of pray stretched out across their flag as a symbol of their struggle to remain the dominate race within the Core Worlds. As their raise to power came the downfall of many other cultures. As the Reich spread its realm across the Core Worlds they defeated many races and cultures. Other human cultures were just absorbed in to the Reich as a whole and their beliefs, languages and culture over the years were educated out of their children. Nonhuman races faired allot worse. They were transplanted from world to world in forced relocation efforts as their homeworlds were slowly Terra-formed for human settlers. The population of the Reich controlled space, which was over three quarters of the Core Worlds, was seventy two percent human to twenty eight percent nonhuman (with well over half of them slaves and the rest living in relocation camps)

By the tenth century, the Reich military had become a object of terror throughout the Core Worlds. During the tenth and eleventh centuries, the Reich had its hands full battling the remains of the Varl Empire within the Core Worlds. By the end of the twelve century, the Varl had completely withdrew from the Core Worlds leaving the Reich as the sole super power. Each new Emperor of the Reich, gaged the success of their reign to the amount of new territories added to the Reich domain. With the departure of the Varl, it was open season within the Core Worlds for the Reich. The first to fall were former allies of the Varl, though this was more of an excuse than an actual reason for war. Within a few centuries, the Reich dropped its excuses to invade worlds and just laid claim to weaker worlds and empires as they continued to expand. Under the Reich, the human race has enjoyed a full scale population explosion as they move to populate the entire Core Worlds with the human race. Humans that are Reich citizens, and it is this single issue that has all worlds (human and non-human) boarding Reich space worried for their own survival. And now they have a very good reason to fear. For a new young Emperor has taken the Throne on Vandor III, and he has set is eyes on conquest of all of the remaining Core Worlds and maybe even beyond.

The common image of the Emperor of all humanity is one carefully cast by the Ministry of Information. He is cast as a tale, strong, dependable man. With the determination to see humanity's work done where ever it must be done. The truth of the flaws of the Emperors and Empress' might not be so commonly known. Ganner Miko Quee VI is a strong willed teenager despite his young age. But far from the image that the Ministry of Information casts of him. Emperor Ganner inherited the Throne just three years ago when his parents were killed during a tragic accident while visiting a mining complex. Ganner's father had started to make drastic changes in the direction the Reich was heading before his untimely death. It was Ganner's father who had set his sites on the remaining worlds of the Core Worlds. The late Emperor had been plagued with horrific nightmares that he only shared with his son. Nightmares of war not seen since the fall of the Great Republic and the Council of Free Worlds were behind these wars. It was Ganner's father who started one of the largest military expansion plans in Reich History and it that took decades to complete. It would pale in comparison to what Emperor Ganner, under the advice of his advisors, started three years ago. Now, the Emperor of one of the most powerful governments in the Galaxy walks alone through the moonlit gardens of the Palace.

Vandor III has no natural moons and therefore there should be no moon light to illuminate the Gardens. However, thanks to six massive sphere shaped space stations orbiting the Capital of the Reich, the Gardens are always illuminated by the light of the artificial moons. The stations were part of a military expansion which was designed to protect the nest of humanity from attack. The stations were set up in orbit in such a way that any ship on approach would face the weapons of at least three of these massive stations. High above the Palace, the ships and fighters on patrol to ensure that no ship sneaks in to this highly protected air space over the Palace. There was no fear from attack within the Palace. What many feared came from threats within the Palace. Sometimes closer than some ever considered possible.

While Vandor III was one of the most heavily defended worlds in the entire galaxy, attacks from off world was not the key concern for the Imperial Family. Assassination on the other hand was a sad common fact within the Reich. The art of assassination has been used to ensure the achievement of power and prestige. Within the House of Nobles, a massive parliament style body, it is completely common for Nobles to assassinate each other over a number of reasons. Though there is a secret among the assassins and would be assassins. Each killing is investigated lossy, and if caught, face a horrible fate. While it is common, who does the assassination is not common at all. This act is carried out through all levels of the Government even up to the Throne of the Reich its self. Throughout their history, there had been nine Emperors before the current Emperor that had fallen to an assassin. Emperor Ganner might be only a teenager, he was far from stupid. When he took the Throne he ensured that any one that might see him as weak and easy target were dealt with silently and rapidly. If he was to hold on to power, he had to prove a point to the other Noble Houses within the Reich. In what has become known as the Night of Assassins, Emperor Ganner had well over eight thousand members of the military and Noble Houses assassinated across the realm. This act made Emperor Ganner one of the most bloody Rulers of the Reich already. And his reign was just beginning.

He walked up to a large fountain and set on the stone edge of it. He ran his hand through the fountain and lifted it up to the moon light as five men walked up. “Did you know that black is the color of blood in the moon light?” he said coldly as the black liquid dripped from his fingers, “Regardless of race that the blood came from, they all seem to be black in the light of the moon.” he said as continued to run his hand through the fountain. The design of the fountain was of a large bird of pray native to the system. Its wings were created by the spraying of the liquid over the large and deep basin. The over all design of the fountain was a work of art. That was if one could over look the fact that the liquid used within it was in fact, blood. It was treated so that it would continue to flow smoothly and chilled. During the day, the wings of the bird were multi colored as the different types of blood mixed. During the night, the wings appeared black as space itself. The Emperor looked to the men, “Minister Sheckil” he said looking down in to the liquid of the fountain, “Congratulations on your resent promotion. Your former boss' accident was untimely and devastating to my overall plans.” he said to the young man who as of a couple of days ago had been promoted to the top position within the Ministry of the Army, “Is this your first visit to the Palace?”

The young Minister nodded nervously as he found the courage to speak, “Ye...yes your Majesty.” He knew all too well, that his predecessor's death was no accident. Unless you count four 'self inflected' gun shot wounds to the back of the head as an accident. He knew all too well that his predecessor failed to get desired results too often and because of that fell out of favor with the Emperor. Minister Sheckil had yet one more reason to fear. Because, like his predecessor, he was member of the Gerechtigkeit. The Gerechtigkeit was an ultra secret group of members from the Houses of Nobles. Their mission was simple, soften the heavy hand of the Imperial Family during times of internal crisis. They had been ensuring and safe guarding this mission since the seventh century. They didn't directly oppose the Imperial Family nor did any member crave power. It was one of the traits that members were recruited with. They simply ensured that the citizens of the Reich were treated fairly by the Imperial Family. The Gerechtigkeit came in to being when the ruling Empress set out on a mission of burning worlds. No one knew that she was suffering from paranoid delusions which drove her insanity and her loyal soldiers carried out her orders without question. What everyone did know was that she claimed that nearly half of the Noble Houses were plotting to over throw the Imperial Family. Under her orders, some seventy six worlds were burned and millions of humans murdered. Luckily for the Reich, her actions did set out to create a plot against her. A group of the Empress' own trusted advisors set actions in motion that would bring the down fall of the Leader of the Reich and a return the Realm to more calmer times. The Empress' own daughter drove a poised knife through the back of the Empress' heart and ended the murders of their own kind. Since those dark days of the Reich, the Gerechtigkeit acted in secret to ensure that they were always close to the Ruler of the Reich and able to remove him or her should the need arise. However, most of the times they have been able to ensure their mission through helping the Rulers see a better way. Only two other times have the Gerechtigkeit had to remove an Ruler from the Throne to save the Reich from destruction within.

The Emperor looked from the fountain to the young Minister, “My mother asked from father to build this fountain in her honor. Each foreign leader that the Reich captures and kills has their blood added to this fountain as a testament of our greatness.” He slowly stood up, “Each drop of blood within this fountain means that one more threat to the Reich has been ended.” He said walking up to the young Minister, “It was my mother's pride and joy. We would sit out here for hours during the night as she talked about the threats to the Reich. Which were more annoyances and which were serous enough to need to be faced.” The Minister nodded softly as he listened carefully to what the Emperor said. “I have decided that it is time to bring an end to the Council of Free Worlds.”

Being the new Minister of the Army, he knew that this was a fools mission. He sallowed a bit before saying, “Your Majesty, your reforms have increased the size of the military greatly but we still simply don't have enough troops at this time. Even if we only moved on key worlds and ignored those that were not of strategic importance, we would not have enough troops to complete the mission.” He knew his fact all too well. While the Council was only a fraction of the size of the Reich, they had something that the Reich wouldn't have during a war. They would be defending their home worlds. The Reich had been testing the waters with the Council for years now and gathering intelligence on their fighting ability. They have won easy victories over boarder worlds, but these were not major worlds to the Council. To attack capital worlds and other major worlds would be another kind of war. The losses would simply be too great for the Reich. “Your Majesty, we need time to continue with your reforms to the military. Training, and reequipping our divisions. These things take time. We are not in a rush to invade the Council worlds at this time. We should take full advantage of this. As our troops prepare for war.”

The Emperor laughed as he used his bloody hand to pull the Minister in to a hug. “This is why I like you Minister Sheckil” he said then motioned to the other three men. “They each said you were not ready for this post. I had faith in you Sheckil to do your job and make me proud. This is why I wanted you here.” He forced the young man to follow him as they walked away from the fountain. With Sheckil still in a side hug, the Emperor continued, “Yes you are right, we must wait. We are not in a rush to invade the Council. From what I gather, we have another six years before we are ready to act. Would you not agree?” The young Minister nodded, “Good, now, as you might have guessed, my cousin is testing some new weapons far from the eyes of the Council. Weapons that will make the Council think twice about resisting our rule over them.”

Sheckil looked surprised, “Um...Your Majesty, I..I thought you had authorized him to go find more of his Guardian Artifacts. I heard nothing of new weapons.”

The Emperor lied as he spoke, “You didn't know? I thought for sure you would have been made away of this. I will have my office send you the details of these new weapons.” There was not a truth in anything he said and the Minister knew it, though he didn't let on. “Yes, I did allow him to go chasing his little trinkets and lost books. However he was given an order to test my new weapons” the Emperor said then released the Minister and looked at the other three men, “Tell us what are the reports so far?”

One of the men opened up a paper folder and started to speak. “Your Majesty, Field Marshal Kessler reports that he has, as instructed, conducted both limited use of the weapons and wide scale use of the weapons. He stated that their use on cities and large military formations are very promising. He does warn that they are completely hazardous in a close support role. In a planned experiment he stated that, the forces of his allies were being overrun by enemy forces. The blast was out of range of the friendly forces however they still fall to the affects of radiation. He was also pleased to report that the first device did not in fact set the atmosphere on fire as originally suspected by our scientist. However, due to Church involvement he was forced to cancel further tests of project Deep Star. He has decided to move forwarded with testing of project Mongol. Which he is planning for the near future. He did report that there ware confirmed sittings of Council spies within the rebel ranks. According to his own spies, the Council is conducting their normal anti-Reich operations. He is sure that they have reported back regarding Project Deep Star.”

The Emperor looked to Minister Sheckil, “Well personally I was surprised that the Council hadn't found out by now. I just wish I could have seen the looks on their faces when they see their own worlds burning under our attacks.” Minister Sheckil was sicken with the idea of going to war when the Reich wasn't ready. He held his tongue and only nodded, “Finish the report.”

The man continued, “He has added that he has made contact with another faction which could make as a potential ally. He has had limited contact with them but will try to gather as much information on them as possible. He has supplied us with some basic intelligence that his unit has gathered on them. They do not seem to be in league with the Council or at least friendly to their goals. He believes that there is a possibility that they can be allied with us if given or shown the right reason we would be a better benefit for them. He suggests that their technology level might be equal or sightly behind that of the Council's. He has not seen anything at the moment that would indicate otherwise.”

The Emperor listened carefully, “So the possibility of new allies that far away. Interesting” he said as he turned from the four men and thought carefully. After a few moments he turned to face another of the men, “Considering our normal plans of expansion in that direction, How long till we would react that region of space?”

The man took a moment to consider all the fact and possible variables. “Assuming that we don't get bogged down and am allowed to expand normally and at our projected start dates of next year. Maybe six to seven years from now, Your Majesty.”

The Emperor smiled, “Inform my Cousin that it is okay to attempt to ally with this new power out there.”

The man nodded, “On an unofficial note, he has reported that he is very close to locating the Rauma. He said that this find could help lead him to locating the legendary Solar Graveyard.”

The Emperor nodded, “Yes yes, and through that we could find the secret to locating the Guardians and return light and honor back to the Galaxy. Inform my Cousin that he has my blessings to to go find his fabled Graveyard. As long as he continues my mission first!” The Emperor thrust his fist in the air at the men, “the Council is plotting as we speak to wage war on us. WE MUST strike first and hard!” On that note he spun about on his heels, “Enough with these reports. Make sure that we are on schedule. By the end of this decade we will strike at the Council and end their threat to us once and for all.”

The men looked to each other as the Emperor walked off. Once he was out of ear shot, one of them spoke, “Why didn't you read the full report from Kessler?”

The other man looked at Minister Sheckil who nodded, only then did he speak, “Because if the Emperor were to find out that the Field Marshal urges the ceasing of further research in to the Emperors new terror weapons, than the Emperor would suspect that his own cousin was plotting against him. If this were to happen, then our hope of returning order to the Reich will die with Kessler. He is the only member of the Imperial Family that the Military will follow over the Emperor. We need him if our plans are going to succeed.”

The last man spoke up, “We can not allow these weapons to come in to full production. Have you seen the images from the test sites here? No one should ever control such power. Should the Emperor gain weapons like this, there is no telling how far the suffering will go.”

Minister Sheckil calmly looked around before finally speaking up, “No one has ever disagreed with this. However for now, keep the reports hidden from the Emperor. We need some way to reach the Field Marshal and convince him that his cousin has fallen ill like his Mother. Till then, I will ensure that the production line is slowed till we can create a more lasting solution to this problem....”

Before the secret conversation was over the image changed suddenly on Visst as he heard a little door slide before him. He was back in the confessional once more. While he was knew to the way she got her message across to him, he could never get used to the way she just pulls him from reality and dumps him back. Visst looked around and saw the figure before him as he closed his eyes and focused on the Force. He could sense the force within the man on the other side of the simple shrouded divide. Visst knew right away that the person on the other side was none other than the Bishop of Fra. However, it did offer Visst with one more clue to the reason why the Church had withdrawn from the situation. Visst could sense a bit of guilt from the Bishop. It was a source of pain and conflict within the powerful Force user. Visst sensed that he should handle the issue with great care.

“You wish to speak with me” the Bishop said softly in a hushed voice.

[Akirapryde]

Choices of Valor
Township of Gustian
Democratic Republic of Fra
Mid-Rim World of Fra
September 20th, 1936

The day long march down from the steps had been particular hard on Swip. Talon's pace was killing her and the terrain was clearly not favorable to her feet. It wasn't like she didn't enjoy what she had become part of. Her life before the Baran Do sage groomed her for a different level of activity and her life as a Sage had not demanded this kind of activity. Her life had been one of privilege and influence within the Baran Do Sages. When it came to elite families within the Kel Dor society, the Family of Larn was one that all others looked up to. Swip never had to want for anything in her training or upbringing. All her life, she had been told that she was special because of who her parents were and the influence of her name. Being a Larn meant that she had expectations. Being a Baran Do Sage only added to those expectations. All her life, she was able to enjoy life at levels that most Kel Do never dreamed of. However this was not what Swip had wanted for her life. There were many parts of what the Baran Do taught that Swip relished, and others that she showed little interest in. Most of her life, she thought that being who everyone wanted her to be was what she wanted. Not till that night, though. Everything changed.

It was a night that the Baran Do and the Dorin Government sealed the fate of a relationship with the Jedi once and for all. It was a night that would hunt Swip most likely for the rest of her life. It was that night when she realized that everything that others wanted for her was nothing that she wanted for herself. It wasn't that she didn't wish to be a Sage. Being a Sage was one of the most important goals she had for herself. But she wanted to be a Sage on her terms, not on anyone else's. There had been a few Sages that had broken with tradition and sought knowledge and understanding beyond Dorin. These few Sages had become wise Masters within her Order's history. She knew if she was to follow their footsteps, she would have to do it against the wishes of her family. Swip also knew that she would have to be careful. The idea of meeting new cultures face to face and learning about their philosophies on a personal level gave her a sense of excitement. It was the kind of adventure she had read about that other rare Sages had had the chance to enjoy. She longed and dreamed for this kind of adventure. More so because it was something no one wanted for her. It was her own choice and her own path that she had chosen.

Her first steps on this path she secretly choose for herself was accepting a mission that would take her to Coruscant. It would turn to be a fateful mission for Swip in a number of ways. Missions for her Government had been a norm for her as her Father ensured that she met and worked with some of the most powerful Kel Dors within her world. This mission however would be the first time she left her homeworld. The official reason for her trip was for advanced training with the Dorin Senator and his staff on Coruscant. However, like most other diplomatic missions hers had a hidden agenda. The secret mission was to carry a message to the Senator which was too sensitive to be sent via normal coded transmissions. Swip was a natural choice for the mission because her family were strong supporters of the Baran Do as well as influential. She could remember her first days on Coruscant with the Dorin Senator. Coruscant was an amazing place filled with so many different races and so much to learn. For Swip, it was a chance to seek that adventure which she had been craving. Destiny wouldn't let her down as her life took a turn which she would have never dreamed off.

After her extended stay on Coruscant, she joined the Senator and his party back home. It was a choice that was forced upon her, as she desired to see more of the galaxy before returning home. This was when Destiny stepped in to change her life. While en route back Dorin their ship was attacked and forced to land by a group of Azgardian Cadets on some honor mission. Luckily for them, the Senator's party was not the targets of this honor mission. The leader of the Cadets informed her that her and the survivors would be used as bait to lure Jedi Master Daz Murl in to a trap. When the trap was sprung, Jedi Master Murl was caught up in it. The Cadets meant to kill the Kel Dor Jedi Master for some crimes against their people. Swip barely had time to gain control over the situation before Master Murl arrived. However, her training as a Sage managed to help her maintain control and save most of the survivors. When she came face to face with Master Murl, she saw something in him that gave her a sense of hope as well as touched her deeply. Together, they managed to turn the Azgardian honor code against the Cadets and survive the trap. In the end, however the Cadets did take Master Murl's right forearm and some of his blood for some religious rite. It was the first time she was ever up close with a legendary Azgardian Warrior, wasn't the first time she had seen one.

A few months before that faithful trip home, she had the rare opportunity to see the Ruler of the Azgardians, Warlord Raynar Heartman. She had been invited by the Senator and his wife to an official diner hosted by the Supreme Chancellor himself. She had noticed the large number of Republic Rangers guarding the event and complete absence of the Jedi. She took note of another fact about the event. Even though the event was a celebration, she could feel the fear among the guests. Then she saw HIM storming in, Warlord Raynar, to crash the party. A pair of Rangers had moved to cut off his approach, however yielded the way after a short exchange of glares. He was flanked by six heavily armed warriors and a group of other Azgardians. Swip recognized the other Azgardians as members of their diplomatic mission on Coruscant. As she watched him cross the room, there was something about him that caused her to fear. Then there was something about him that drew her attention as she couldn't force herself to look away. He marched right up to the Supreme Chancellor, pushing through anyone that dared stand in his way. She couldn't understand what they said back and forth but it was heated. Then just as he entered he turned and left with the rest of his group. The next morning, Warlord Raynar would be dead. Now, she had the chance to serve with his own granddaughter. There was much of the man Swip saw that night that she sees in his granddaughter now.

She looked over at Talon as the healer slowly moved his hand over her. It had only been a few short hours ago when they were attacked by those bandits. Before they were jumped by the bandits, Talon was talking about Daz and growing up with him. Talon had confided in her about how she felt betrayed by Daz in so many different ways. Swip knew enough about Azgardians to know that they don't lie. However, this didn't mean that they were completely open either. There was something much deeper to her anger towards Daz. Something that Swip couldn't put her finger on. If she had to guess, it was something very personal. It was the only reason which Swip could reason where such anger could boil up from. Because under the anger, Swip could easily sense the love that Talon held for Daz as the little brother that she referred to him as. Just getting past that anger was the key, and getting past the anger meant understanding the origin of it. Swip made a mental note to dig a bit deeper on the way back. For the moment she would allow Talon to speak of growing up with Daz. However, the trip down Talon's memory would be cut short by bandits.

A group of five roadside bandits encircled them and demanded all their money and virtues. Or what ever that meant, Swip was not completely sure of what virtues meant. For Swip, she was out of her natural element. She tried to talk to them, however, there was no talking the thugs out of this action. She was smart enough to know when she had to surrender the situation to better hands. She hated the idea that violence was the only way to resolve this situation. She knew what would happen should she hand this situation over to Talon. With a heavy heart she gave Talon a soft nod hoping that maybe Talon had another card up her sleeve. What happened next made Swip sick to her stomach. As she and Carissa fled the combat area, Swip watched helplessly as the combat ensued. There were times when Swip had to look away and others she managed to force herself to endure. She remembered how Talon looked while she was in combat with the bandits. Swip had never seen anything like it before, well maybe. There was an old banned fighting style tradition of the Jedi, which focused on unarmed combat instead of lightsaber combat. It was the closest thing that Swip could compare how she saw Talon fight. Talon was out number five to one and they each had weapons while she was unarmed. Still somehow, Swip felt almost sorry for the bandits as Talon killed them one by one. It was a brutal combat with the sounds of bones breaking and screams of dying men filling the air around her ears.

Swip watched the scene unfold as the sounds took her back to that horrible night. That horrible place. That horrible scene. Swip had seen the emotionless look in Carissa's eyes as she also watched the battle. Swip felt that only she could 'FEEL' the battle in her heart. She was lost in the moment as the sounds died away and through the smoke Swip saw one of the last men rushing towards Talon with some bladed thing on the end of his rifle. Her back was to him and was unaware of the coming attack. It was a coward's attack, but Swip didn't act either. She couldn't act as the fear of the moment gripped her. Several times, she tried to think of something to do, but her mind went blank. Her personal morals prevented her from acting directly within the combat, but she felt and urge to do something. Anything! Swip watched as Talon choked one of the Bandits while the other was lining up his attack. She closed her eyes and let out a helpless scream, “TALON!” Talon turned just in time for the attack. There was a loud boom of the gun going off and a plum of smoke engulfed both attacker and Talon. Swip felt her heart stop in that moment as she waited for the smoke to clear.

When the smoke did clear the scene was clear. Talon got caught with the attack at the same time, she killed the attacker with a knife from the man she had just killed. Even though Swip healed Talon, she was still badly wounded and needed more care. Swip led her group to a small farming village. There they were taken in by the Fenn family. A family of Twi'leks farmer peasants, father, mother and daughter. But Swip would later learn that their two older children had been captured by slavers, who were now demanding payments for the return of the pair. To complicate matters the bandits had also killed a local government patrol. They had followed Talon's blood trail and were looking for Swip's group. Luckily, Swip also met Father Endac who was a local Priest. In the face of the the calvary, he protected the three travelers from their investigation. He and the healers had been watching over Talon while she healed from her wounds. Swip watched the two healers as they focused on Talon. Swip could sense how they were using their powers and control within the Force. It was nothing like what she saw either Jedi or Sage healers do before. Instead of using their powers to force the body to heal the wounds. They use their powers to speed up the body's natural healing abilities. There was an almost harmonious sense to what these healers were doing. It wasn't as fast or effective as either Jedi or Sage healers, but it was working. The feeling that Swip got from what they were doing was calming and it reassured her that these healers were good people.

Father Endac set next to Swip with a mug of steaming hot liquid as she watched the male healer work with Talon while she slept. “Its amazing to watch, isn't child.” Swip turned him and nodded, “You see child, it is the difference between good and evil is the use of our gifts.” Swip was grateful that her goggles covered the shocked look in her eyes. “Our healers told me when we first arrived” he said softly. “When a person is using God's gifts, you must understand that you have rules to how you use it. You can not change the course of nature. Your friend will live or die on God's will, not ours.” He explained with a smile. “Rather you come to the church to serve God's will is your choice. Not ours.” He took a sip of his drink as he turned his attention back to the healer.

Swip also turned her attention back to Talon, “Can you please tell me more about the slavers?”

“For as long as I can remember, they have always been here” he said as he sipped his hot drink. He motioned across the house, “I was raised just on the other side of the river. This community has been my family long before I took on the Lord's work.” He looked down with sadness, “It was much worse before the King took over.” he said looking in to his mug as memories of a darker time flooded his mind. “Corruption was the currency of the day and the slavers knew this currency well. Within months of taking over, the King sent out patrols to try to shut down their operations. There were so many different slaver groups. Some were driven off world while others suffered heavily from the King's patrols. The Government patrols did well for a long time. However like the darkness in the presence of light, once the light was gone, it returned. Once the war broke out, the Government had to pull its troops from the area. I remember the day the Government troops left the town, the people here were fill with such fear of what the night would bring. The slavers came the very next morning before the sun rose and killed Nabat's father” he said motioning to Swip's Twi'lek host. “He was their leader at the time. They came in took Nabat's father among with other town leaders and hung them all. They demanded payment, the villagers paid what they could out of fear. This seemed to keep them at bay for a while. Then something changed, a few years ago, a band of Jedi were seen with them during a raid. It was the first time they took children. Before they just demanded tribute and got it.”

Swip could feel the sadness of these memories but she knew that there was more to be told. She pushed deeper, “Wasn't there anything that the Church could do to help?”

He nodded as he looked at her, “At first, I went to speak on behalf of them. I spoke with the leader of the Jedi. He was a NeDor, just like you. I later discovered that his name was Smad Murl, however at the time, he demanded to be called Nur'Ang.” Swip nodded as she recognized the nick name as meaning dark warrior in her native language. “I brought with me all the money I could raise and offered it to them pleading with them to leave the world. He laughed at me saying something about I could not possible understand why he was here. That soon his moment would come and all would see his work done. He took the money and vowed to make his elders see what he has become. It was then I knew he was in league with the forces of darkness. I reported back to the Cathedral and the church commissioned three Holy knights to confront this evil NeDor.” He took a snip once more and looked back in to the drink as he continued, “They failed. The slaveries retaliated on the surrounding communities. The bloodshed was horrific. I begged the Cathedral not to send another group of knights. The Bishop agreed and said that God would provide the answer in his time” he trailed off as Swip took it all in.

She looked down making detailed mental notes of everything that Father Endac said. She couldn't help but note the Jedi's name, Murl. It was not a common name among her people. 'But what if there was a connection' she thought as she considered the chances of all of this being coincidence. She turned and looked at the Priest, “Can you tell me about the Rebels” she asked softly.

He nodded, “That is another side of the same coin. When the King overthrow the old Government, some of the leaders had managed to escape the night of blood. Many of them, now lead the Rebel leadership. But not all of the Rebel leadership are from this world. The Church found out about five years ago, that the funding of the war was organized by an off world mining company called Teddoe Mining. When the Rebel's controlled this region before the Reich came, they set up a supply depot on the north ridge. We had thought that with the Rebel Forces so close, that the slavers were run. They did, but the Rebels were no better. They would take what they wished from the people here and in other communities. Just when I thought I had managed to work out an understanding with their Commanding Officer, the battle lines shifted once more. Before they left, they took two thirds of all of their food stores. Stores that was meant to help our community survive this winter.”

This discovered fact hit Swip hard regarding her host family. She looked over at her plate as she realized that even though they had barely enough to survive, they still shared what they had with her. She took in a deep breath as it gave her a humbling feeling. “I didn't know” she said softly.

“It is our way, the Lord teaches us to be ready for those in need. The Lord helps those in need find us so that we may show his hospitality to those in need. Much like you found us.”

The male healer walked up, “Your friend will recover fully in time. Come morning she will be ready to travel. For now, she needs her rest. We have done all we can.”

Swip nodded, “Thank you for all that you have done.” she turned to the Priest, “I think I shall take this time to get some sleep as well. Thank you for sharing what you did.”

Father Endac slowly rose up with a respectful bow. “I shall see you in the morning, my child” he said simply. He slowly walked out with the two healer as they returned to their Church.

Swip made her self comfortable on the simple floor bed which was made for her. She looked over at Carissa who was sitting in a chair. Swip thought it was strange that she didn't eat any diner. 'There is something simply off about that one' she thought to herself of the Azgardian Officer. Then added, 'just like all of them.' The thought gave her a smile as she looked back over at Talon who was resting peaceful. Her smile faded as she looked at Talon. Her outfit was covered in blood and ripped. The battle she witnessed was brutal in ways she never dreamed of. Nor did she ever wish to see it again. Talon might be a beautiful woman of her sister's likeness. Swip remembered how Talon so easily killed the bandits on the road. However she couldn't help but remember how fondly Talon spoke of Daz and their joined history. Despite what she saw on the road earlier, Swip could plainly see Talon's ability to love via her affection for Daz. There was allot in Talon that Swip liked and she hoped that maybe she could break Talon of her violent habits. Eventually. However, there was still questions in Swip's mind. 'Why is it that you and Daz are so at odds? What has come between you two?' she thought as she looked at the powerful Azgardian warrior. Swip rolled over and covered herself with the simple blanket as shadows from the fire danced across the walls of the small house. She smiled once more as the idea of her adventure was just getting started. She found her adventure and so much more. With all that she has already learned, Swip smiled as she drifted off to sleep. Thoughts of her adventure dancing through her mind.

Swip was shaken awake by Carissa, “Swip you must wake up” Carissa said in her normal emotionless tone.

Swip groaned as she could tell by the light outside that it must be very early. “I am awake” she said as she rolled over and fought to her hands and knees. “What has happened?”

“The slavers attacked” Carissa explained plannly.

Swip shot her gaze in to Carissa's eyes, “What?” She forced her body to respond to her commands, despite its wariness. Swip leaped up and rushed out the door with Carissa right behind her. The bells of the Church were sounding giving the early morning an eerie sound. The fresh snow on the ground crunched under her feet as Swip rushed out to the fields where she saw most of the villagers standing around. She followed a group of villagers and members of the church towards the gathering. Just as they crossed a foot bridge over the small river, Swip could her the sounds of sorrow filling the air. She rushed up to the group around the mother who had taken Swip and her companions in. The woman had fallen to her knees crying out with her hands buried in the snow. She lifted her head as Swip approached and in that moment Swip knew what had happened. The pain and anguish was clearly written across her face as the mother let out a howl of crying which filled the still air.

Before Swip could do anything, Nabat pulled her back from the horrific scene. Swip could see the blood on his shirt and knew that he had been wounded. “The slavers came this morning with their Jedi protectors. A few of us tried to fight them off. A NeDor cut down my brother, he is dead. They took our daughter. He told us, that we had to hand over the NeDor we were sheltering and a thousand pieces. We had to sunrise tomorrow to meet his demands or our children, all of them, would be sold in to the flesh market off world.”

Swip listened carefully and knew what had to be done. While she knew she couldn't come up with the money demanded, she could offer herself in exchange for the save return of the children. It was the most logical thing to do. However before she could answer she heard a voice behind her, “I know you are not even thinking about that.”

Swip turned to see walking up Talon with a bit of a limp. “It is the most logical thing to do. We negotiate with them and free the children.”

Talon walked up to them and looked around, “We are clearly being watched. They asked for you for a reason. Which is all the reason I need to not hand you over to them.”

Swip turned to face Talon in defiance, “We can not risk the children's lives. I am in charge, it is my choice.”

“Normally I would agree with you.” Talon said as she continued to look around, “The whole 'I am in charge' claim. Experience has taught me that you never give them what they ask for.” She took in a deep breath, “You are right, we have to rescue the children. But not like this” she explained and motioned back to the house, “Swip come lets talk about this away from spying eyes.”

Swip looked around but couldn't see what Talon had seen. As she strained her eyes, she tried to search for who was watching them. She simply couldn't see them. Finally she nodded, “Okay I will listen to what you have to say.” Swip turned and started to walk back towards the house as Talon continued to look towards the wood line. Swip glanced over her shoulder and saw Talon nodding then turned to follow. “Something Talon?”

“Yeah, the Gods of War are calling for vengeance” Talon said coldly and added, “I can feel it in my blood.”

A chill shot up Swip's spin as she heard the words coming from Talon. They walked in silence back to the house as Nabat returned to his wife's side. Swip noticed that Father Endac was following them. Talon didn't seem to mind, so she didn't either. Swip remembered her training as a Sage and she knew that this very training would serve her needs well. They taught clam of mind and emotions. Still the situation had changed drastically and Swip was in a state of struggle over her inner emotions. She turned to Carissa and saw a prefect emotionless her face. She almost envied Carissa for her ability to show such control over her emotions in such a time of crisis. Swip knew she had to keep her own emotions in check if she was to hear what Talon said with an open mind. Once they reached the house, Swip turned, “Please tell me your what you are thinking.”

Talon nodded, “Look, as I have said, experience has taught me well that you never give in to demands. One day, ask Daz about becoming a ingredient in a Sith ritual. Yes we won the day, but the loss of lives was not acceptable. A lot of good warriors died because we rushed in and gave them just what they demanded. Even if we give them what they ask, is there any reason that we can trust the children will be set free?”

Swip thought of the message and what was told to her the night before. She shook her head and then Talon continued, “I have no doubt in your skills or your heart. But this is something that requires my skills, not yours.”

Carissa glanced at Father Endac who has remained silent so far, “What of our current mission?”

Talon looked at Carissa, “Children trump military objectives any day.” She then turned back to Swip and tilted her head as she shrugged her shoulders, “Visst has rubbed off on me.” Talon brought her hand to her chin and thought for a moment, “Okay, what about the local Government garrison? Isn't this their territory?”

“It is” Father Endac spoke up, “however, due to the war there is only a small calvary unit. There is no guarantee that they will be able to save the children. Nor do we currently know where they are.” He paused to think a bit, “I shall send some of my Deacons to search them out. With God's hand they will be found in time.”

Talon nodded as she listened, “So I take it that there is no warriors in your little hamlet here?” Father Endac shook his head. Talon looked back to Swip, “sounds like I have to go get them.”

Swip looked Talon over once more, “that is not acceptable, you are wounded. This would be a suicide mission. And remember, as you said being so hasty, its easy to make mistakes. I can not allow this.”

Talon smiled, “yeah, ask Daz also how well that works with me. Listen, this is not an act of a hasty person. Listen, this has turned in to a hunt. We are either the hunted or the hunters.” Talon turned once more to the Priest, “Go tell your people to each gather two weapons that they can find. Anything they have will do. I don't care what it is. Anything they think could be used as a weapon.”

The look of shook crossed his face, “You can't be serious, they don't know anything of war.”

She turned to look to Swip as she replied to his comment, “Its not for them. I will go in alone. Just go pass the word.” She turned to Carissa, “Go ask around, find out all you can about the local area. Someone knows where their encampment is. Find it, map it, and report back to me.” Carissa nodded and turned to follow the Priest out the door.

Swip was not done with her argument, “Carissa stop! I am in command at the current moment. We are not participating in Talon's plan. Pack our things we are leaving at once. Perhaps turning myself in is not the solution. But I can't stand the thought of these people being attacked based on our presence.”

Carissa looked over at Talon in a clear state of question. Swip had heard of Azgardian loyal and inability to break an order. Talon didn't return the look as she glared at Swip. For a moment Talon seemed angry by the challenge. In that moment, Swip thought Talon was going to attack her. Talon lowered her head, “Swip you can not be this blind.” she said taking a deep breath as she rose her head to look at Swip once more. “They are watching your movements. For some reason they want you. I don't know why, but this is the truth. If you order it, we will leave. I give you my word. But if we leave, they will see us. They will attack us. We will become the hunted. I may be able to fight them off. Maybe I wont. But the fate of the children will be sealed rather we escape or not. Like it or not what you decide here and now will affect those children. Its up to you Swip. Command and we shall follow you. Or let me save them.”

It was Swip's turn to look down. What Talon said made sense and was logical. Swip hated to admit it but she was stuck. She looked up to Carissa and gave her a motion to tend to Talon's instructions. Carissa left with Father Endac in tow behind her. Swip hated the position she was in and the choice that she was forced to make.

Once they were alone Talon turned once more to Swip, “I know what you are thinking. Listen, you are not like me. This is what we, Azgardians, do best. You have to trust me to do this.”

Swip nodded, “I do trust you. I simply don't like this plan. What you are planning is wrong. Violence can't be the only answer. But what you say, you are right. I also feel we are somewhat responsible for all of this.”

Talon smiled as she walked towards Swip and rested a hand on her shoulder, “I like you Swip. Your heart is the better of the two of us. Never change Swip. So many times I have seen Jedi take a perfectly good person and ruin them. Don't change. Be who you are.” Talon walked passed her towards her bed. “As for being responsible. Maybe we are, maybe we aren't. Doesn't matter anymore. The Slavers have named the game and we have to play or else.”

“So what is your plan” Swip asked taking a set near the fireplace.

Talon slowly set down as she checked her bandages which were already showing signs of bleeding through, “I wait till just before dusk, when I can leave without drawing too much attention of our little spies out there. I will deal with them first, silently and quickly. I will find the slavers and their lair. If we are lucky they will be expecting an attack from the villagers. IF we are very lucky they will be expecting an attack from simple villagers. If all goes as planned, I will return before the morning light with the children.” She worked on changing her bandages as she continued to explain her plan. Swip could tell that the wound was not fully healed.

Swip nodded as she listened to the plan. It was clear at this point that Talon would do what had to be done to save the children. Swip didn't have to like it to accept it. There was something to Talon and her people that caught Swip's imagination. “Is this the Azgardian thing to do,” she asked curiously hoping to gain some better insight to Talon's people “I mean rescuing the children.”

Talon shook her head as she lifted her feet on to her bed, “No” she said coldly. Talon started to settle in her bed once more, “but its the right thing to do in this case.” Talon rolled over and pulled the pillow over her head, “I need my rest. Please wake me in nine hours.”

Swip slowly got up and walked for the door. She still was not completely sure of Talon's plan. She wondered the village and heard the reports from other nearby communities. The slavers hit them just as hard. In total, nine more children were taken from their homes and from their families. Each community was left with the same message. If the NeDor in Gustian was not handed over, all of the children would be sold in to the off world flesh market. Swip was taken by such temptation to rush to the slavers to ensure the children's save return personally. She felt the eyes of the villagers on her as she walked through their small, simple world. Lost in her own thoughts, she almost jumped as she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to see Nabat and Endac standing behind her.

“I hear you might be thinking of doing something foolish” Nabat said softly in a matter of a fact tone. He glanced over to Endac, “I think you should hear something before you choose any paths which are before you.”

Swip nodded as the three found a bench near the froze river. Father Endac spoke, “You should hear Nabat's story of why his father was hung.”

Nabat didn't wait as he begun, “Not many know the real reason why my father was hung. Many feel that the reason why he was murdered was because he was our village leader. This was a lie that I asked Father Endac allow to exists. Now he has asked me to shed light on the truth.” he looked down in shame, “We knew weeks before that the Government was leaving. My father along with many of the other leaders hoped that if we could pay off the slavers in a large lump sum, they would leave our region for better hunting else where. They gathered up as much gold as possible. Even Father Endac and the Church helped. They rode out with their tribute several days before the Government was to depart. The slavers took the gold and agreed if more tribute could be provided. We couldn't give more, so they gave them a time table to come up with more. We were only a few coins short of their demands when the Government left. They came and hung my father and the others anyway. Giving in to the slavers means they will only take more. My father was a good man, he taught me to never turn a blind eye to those in need. We will not hand you over to the slavers. Never. But we can not let you blindly go either.”

Swip listened carefully to the story and felt the good in Nabat. Her choice still felt heavy on her heart though, “thank you for this. I must consider the options and listen to, um, the wisdom of God.” she said shifting her eyes behind her goggles towards Endac. She understood the importance of not letting on to her lack of their faith for the time being. She didn't need to further complicate the situation at hand. “Please give me some time to focus on what God's will shall be for me.”

“Yes of course my child” Father Endac said getting up and motioned Nabat to follow.

Swip watched the pair leave as she also got up and followed the frozen river to a place where she could be alone. She found a small place under an evergreen. Slowly lowering herself she prepared to see through the force in to her own future. It didn't take her long to open up her mind to the force around her. She focused her mind on one simple task, knowing what the future would hold for her. She could sense that a path of suffering would be hers should she follow her heart towards the slavers. She could also sense that the children would not be freed either if she followed that path. Their fate was not in her hands, nor was it clear at this time. However there was something greater ahead of her. She didn't fight what the force wanted to show her. In the echoes of the past she could hear the same struggle between philosophies approaching. Beyond these struggles she sensed the doom of both sides. Neither philosophy could currently exist within the same order. There was a piece missing from the puzzle that must be uncovered, if the coming fires were to be survived. There was also another new piece to the galaxy which had to be accounted for. A piece represented by crucifix which now had become a power within the galaxy unto its self. If all were to survive, all had to survive together, or not at all. Swip could sense that the entire puzzle was still incomplete. Yet, still the path before her right now was not meant for her. It was a test, but not her test. IF she followed it, it would mean her doom as well as for the children.

Swip could sense the coming flames of tomorrow being marched in to being by millions of thunderous boots. Fires that threaten to ignite across the galaxy once more. They were rapidly approaching cross roads and time was running out to make the right choice which would bring peace and order without burning the galaxy once more. Still she could feel that there were motions well out of their control, but not from her influences. Within the deepest, darkest part of her mind she heard a voice, a Kel Dor voice, speaking to her. 'For not a Jedi can control this, but a Sage could influence it. Be careful where you tread young sage. Vipers are behind you, death before you, tests around you, past above, future below, allies and enemies on either side of you. Look to family for death, ancient enemies for salvation. Trust in the heart, but not fooled by it.'

Swip woke up from her vision rested but troubled. Her strength had been tapped from the intense vision and now her body ached. She looked for the sun and found it on the other side of the sky. She looked around to see Carissa walked along the river. “Carissa!” she called out. Carissa turned and waved to Swip as she started walking over towards her.

“Are you okay? We have been looking for you all day.” Carissa said softly.

Swip felt hungry but otherwise okay. “Yeah, I am sorry I must have drifted off. Where is Talon?”

Carissa helped Swip up to her feet, “she is waiting on you.” Once Swip was back to her feet, the pair headed back for the village.

As they walked up to the village, they found Talon waiting near the village well. Talon smiled as sew the pair walking up, “I knew you didn't do anything foolish.” Swip tilted her head but held her tongue as Talon continued, “I need to borrow your robes. If I am to pull this off, they have to think you are heading towards them.”

Swip nodded as she removed her red, decorative robes, “Talon, I don't think things are what we think they are. Please be on your guard. I sense that there are larger plots at work here.”

Talon nodded as she put on the robes. Swip noticed the number of weapons that Talon was taking with her. Talon was taking a pair of small sickles, two machetes and a few small knives. “Thank you Swip” Talon said softly as she finished getting ready, “Swip, do me a favor, if I don't return. If something happens. When you get back to the group, make sure you tell Daz. He...um....he will always be my little brother. I never thought of him as anything else.” Talon used the robe to cover up her weapons and conceal her true intentions.

Swip felt a hint of cold over her soul as she reached out to Talon's arm, “Wait, maybe this is also a mistake.” Swip could feel the heavy weight of destiny's hand on the moment. “Maybe there is another way we haven't thought of. You don't have to go.”

Talon softly pulled away from Swip's grasps and turned to walk away, “Yes I do.” Then she stopped as she slowly turned back towards Swip and looked right in to her eyes, “You don't get it, I am the Defender that the Gods of sent.” On that note and without saying another word Talon turned and calmly walked out of the village.