Survive

Khan opened his eyes back on the Prometheus. Lon was now severely injured in the middle of Sith territory. If he can escape depended on fate. While he doesn't want to lose this nail he planned on burying in the republic, there's nothing he can do.

"I hope you live." Khan took off his helmet and rose to his feet.

Leaving the meditation chamber, he went to the elevator and up to the bridge.

Belia was meditating on his throne made of crystal and Habitat sat opposite of her.

When he entered the room she opened her eyes and smiled wryly. "This is just the initial contact and so many people have died. I could feel each of them pass on into the force. Is this what war is? Why are they even fighting?"

Khan moved to her side and placed his hand on her shoulder. "They fight because they have dreams. Conflict will never cease unless someone has enough power to hold the entire galaxy in their grasp."

"Are we going to participate in the war?" Belia got up from his seat and looked Khan in the eye. A fire was burning in her heart.

"Now is not the time." Khan brushed her cheek with his finger and sat down. "For now we must remain in the shadows, using this war to mask our presence and hide our true intentions."

He tapped the table and a hologram of the galaxy appeared. "We should be far enough from the battlefield. Drop the shields and head for Ossus, we can't use hyperdrive due to the Cron Drift and have to fly there slowly."

He pointed towards a spot on the map right above their current location.

"To get there from here will take eight days." Habitat moved the ship as she spoke.

"What's on Ossus?" Belia turned to the map with interest.

"Everything." Khan's eyes flashed. "A repository of knowledge and a race of over three million force sensitives."

"Three million?!?" Belia's eyes widened in shock. "How can there be so many?"

"It's not that excessive. They're a race descended from Jedi trapped on the planet; Regressed into a primitive state." Khan shook his head.

"This time we're going for total domination. This entire sector will fall under my control. It's littered with asteroids from ten stars going supernova and exploding; Scorching planets and littering the area with resources. Using the precious metals generated from the explosion, we will build my fleet."

"It seems dangerous." Belia frowned. "We're right next to an intergalactic battlefield."

"It's precisely because three major battles are going on at once. Neither side can spare much manpower to deal with us even if they find anything."

The corners of his lips rose. "By that time we'll have turned the asteroid field into a death trap."

"Are we fully deploying our resources?" Habitat looked at Khan. She hasn't stopped creating parts since they left the unknown region; Running the factory at all hours.

"Yes, this will be our base for the next few years." Khan looked at the map, not far to the north was Korriban.

"It's time to build Olympus and the pantheon." He nodded towards Habitat and rose from his seat.

"I'll be in my lab, send Natasha to me. Update me on Lon's status as well. I want to see if he can survive this and how far he can go on his own."

Khan left the bridge and returned to the lab. He still had experiments to perform.

On King's Galquek, Lon was moving through the thick foliage of grass and trees.

"He couldn't have gotten far! Search over there!"

Lon limped towards a large tree and crashed his back against it. He slid down and sat on the ground. His chest heaved up and down but his face was calm. "How am I going to get out of this one."

He listened to the troopers closing in around him. A slight smile hung on his lips but he clenched the lightsaber hilt in his hand, the blade emitter pointing at his head.

His eyes glanced up, even during the day he could see the battle taking place in space.

"He's over there! Get him!!"

His eyes dropped, he saw a group of Sith troopers in their shiny silver armor running towards him.

"It was a good run, my luck has been really bad recently." The small smile still hung on his lips. Just when he was about to turn on the blade and destroy his brain according to programming, green blaster fire came from behind a tree.

The Sith troopers were caught off guard, they fled backward to find cover and return fire. "Republic soldiers!!"

A hand slapped Lon's shoulder and pulled him backward. "You can't die here bastard, only I can kill you!"

Lon tilted his head upward to see the bloody face of an ugly blue Twi'lek and his sharp teeth. "Kom'seca!" His brows rose and his eyes widened in surprise.

Kom'seca pulled Lon behind another tree where six other Republic soldiers in their red uniform were providing cover fire.

"You think you get to be the hero and die?!? No way you get to be a martyr, you're going to rot on this hell hole with the rest of us." Jido picked Lon up and carried him on his back.

Lon glanced around, besides Jido and Kom'seca there was a Weequay, a Rodian, a red-skinned race called Zeltron, a green-skinned red-eyed Duros, and a Human working together to extract him.

Jido carried him and all seven ran away shooting. "We saw you hijacking that ship as we fell. We didn't think we'd make it, but we were lucky and fell into a small pond. Those scattered further away weren't so lucky."

"We saw you lead those craft away and crash." The Duros glanced at him. His face looked as though he was upset but his voice carried respect. "We thought you were dead but then the ground defense cannon stopped firing and the area went up in flames."

"We figured if you weren't dead yet, you were in trouble." The Zeltron chimed in. "We figured our chance of survival was small, so we might as well die with a purpose."

"Don't listen to him." Kom'seca snarled. "We reckoned if you can do all that alone, our chance of survival would increase if we stuck with you. Now it seems like we're saving you instead!"

They continued shooting as they ran. Lon felt a warmth in his chest. No matter what the reason, they came back to save him. He's never had anyone to rely on in his entire life; Let alone a group of criminals who'd risk their lives for him.

The hand clenching the lightsaber tightened. A tear formed on his left eye and rolled down his cheek. This shocked him, he didn't know he was capable of crying or feeling such strong emotion with his robotic brain.

At this moment it hit him. It doesn't matter if he's Lon or not. He is who he is.

"Get ready to jump!" The Weequay yelled.

They ran out of the forest but a cliff face appeared right in front of them. They planned their escape route before they even went towards the camp. Everyone ran to the edge and leaped.

Below was the pool of water that saved them from the crash. Their bodies dropped through the air and crashed into the water.

A gentle current began washing them downstream. They didn't fight it and let it carry them for a while before they climbed ashore.

Everyone was breathing heavily, but they ran through a stone forest to escape the troopers' line of sight and hide. "The transports set down in the mountain range over there, I bet they thought the cave systems could provide cover from the starfighters."

The only other Human pointed at the mountain peaks in the distance. Miles of dense forest and open fields separated them. It's so far away the mountains looked like mirages in the sky.

"There's no way we make it. There are at least six outposts, I saw them between us and the mountain when we fell from the sky." The Rodian shook his head.

"Ha, I always knew Rodians were cowards." The Weequay spat on the ground.

Just when they were about to fight, the Zeltron smiled. "Is this really the time for us to be fighting? I don't know about you guys, but I want to return to Zeltros and never leave again. I have six wives, why couldn't I be content. Explore the galaxy they said, smuggle some goods they said, Why did I ever believe them."

When he spoke, everyone calmed down immediately. His handsome face and luscious purple hair were soaking wet but couldn't take away from his charm.

In reality, he produced powerful pheromones that made people find him attractive and likable. He's also a powerful empath who can feel and project his own emotions onto others.

This is also the reason Zeltron's home planet of Zeltros is an impenetrable fortress that can't be invaded. Not because they have amazing planetary shields or weapons, but their entire atmosphere is filled with these pheromones.

Anyone who invades the planet will be sucked into the Zeltrons constant state of partying and give up all plans to attack. In all its years, the planet has seldom seen war. The three times they were invaded ended in such a disaster the invaders ended up fighting each other.

The reason the group had functioned so far is thanks to his presence.

"I'm not going to thank you guys for saving me. Instead, I'll promise to do everything I can to get us out of here." Lon promised solemnly.

"Ha, you can't even walk on your own." Kom'seca smirked at him. "If you can do it, I won't give you that kick to the head I owe you."

The gang, a group of eight people, smiled at his promise. They didn't know if they believed him or not. Even if they were of different races and used to be enemies in the past. At this time, at this place, they were brothers.