Chapter 28 The Fire Rises (Part 1)

Maiden point Station, Mid Rim…

A transfer station on an unimportant planet that only served as a hub for ships stopping before heading on to other places, that meant there was a lot of coming and going here and that made it easy for some to slip through.

Or so Morvet Storm had hoped.

Morvet had been in years past a Jedi Knight, one with a great skill in seeing the future and a rule breaker as he had decided to marry and have a family in secret. He had a wonderful wife and son and that son was now married with a son of his own on the way. He had foreseen it was going to be a son that they would name Havet. Morvet of course had not shared this with his family as he didn't want to diminish such an important event in their lives, so he had been quiet about what he had foreseen.

But what he had informed them of was the fact they were being hunted.

An Inquisitor as they were known had begun hunting them since he had refused to join Saesee Tiin's quest for vengeance, knowing for the sake of his family that he had to stay in the shadows. But the reckless Tiin had exposed him and his family to the Empire and now there were being chased by one of the Empire's Jedi Hunters.

Morvet had made a show of his orange lightsaber to attract the hunter's attention in the hopes that he could lead him away from his family while they escaped. He knew this would likely mean his own death but if his family lived, he was at peace with that Morvet thought with resolve.

His hunter was a Cerean, like Ki-Adi-Mundi had been but he was a vicious hunter that liked killing people for the sake of it, he had armour on too Morvet thought but during a previous encounter he had discovered it was lined with cortosis which disrupted his lightsaber's blade, with a sheer cliff in front of him, he could no longer run and turned to face his enemy.

The Cerean was sadistic, his smile demented in the joy he took in killing people. Morvet held his lightsaber ready although he knew it would do him little good against the armour.

"Another one for the tally." The hunter said with a sadistic smirk. "Del Korrot gets his man again."

"We shall see." Morvet said with gritted teeth. He prepared himself for what he felt was likely his last battle but suddenly he felt the force surging and right before his eyes, Del's special armour was pulled apart at the bindings and left him standing there in a simple body suit.

Del was confused and shocked at the sudden event, he had not sensed that coming and then a figure appeared behind him in a cloak.

"Now, the odds are much more even." A cultured male voice said and Morvet had no idea just who his mysterious saviour was, only they had a great amount of skill at telekinesis to take apart Del's armour like that. But whoever he was Morvet immediately took advantage of the opening he had created and charged at Del who was used to fighting with his special armour and had little idea what to do without it. Morvet easily struck him down and turned to the figure who lowered his hood.

"Obi-Wan Kenobi. I thank you for your assistance." Morvet said with a grateful smile which Obi-Wan returned.

"It is my pleasure Master Storm, but we should hurry, my apprentice has arranged a new ship for us and your family to escape in, though before we find somewhere safe for you and your family to settle, we need to find another Jedi being hunted by the Empire. Will you help me?" Obi-Wan asked with a calm not unusual for him with situations like this. Morvet admired him for that and for not calling him out on breaking the rules of order by having a family.

"Very well, after Saesee Tiin exposed us to the Empire, we have little option now." Morvet said with distaste at the so-called master that had put him and his family in danger for the sake of his crusade that Morvet was fairly certain was leading him and those that followed him straight to the dark side.

Obi-Wan was relieved to hear that but later as he, Kalifa and Morvet Storm accompanied by his family left the planet he worried about recent developments, especially in regards to Master Tiin.

Fighting the Empire was one thing, but what Saesee was doing put Jedi survivors in danger and from what he had heard, he and the Partisans he had joined were doing a lot of harm in their fight against the Empire and not just against the Empire either.

Bombings and raids on starships carrying supplies whether they had civilians on them or not, bombing buildings in the centre of settlements that was causing a lot of damage and civilian deaths.

Pressuring Jedi survivors and others into joining them not to mention using their powers to force secrets from Imperials they captured.

It was not the Jedi way Obi-Wan thought with worry.

What lines was Saesee Tiin willing to cross for his vengeance?

Obi-Wan knew he would need to find more help before he considered confronting the Jedi Master on his own as Saesee had about six Jedi with him or so the rumours went.

He and Kalifa could not take that many alone.

Speaking of fighting though, Obi-Wan thought, turning away from that issue for now. The Mandalorians were now openly fighting the Empire and had helped a number of other factions including the Wookiees and the Mon Calamari avoid being conquered by the Empire and kept the Separatist Holdouts in the fight.

While rebellion against the Empire was welcome and a good sign that there were still people willing and able to resist their rule it worried him that one force might become the centre stone for it. He knew the Mandalorians were a mixed bunch, on the one hand they were some of the most honourable and dedicated men and women he had ever met, on the other side they could also be very treacherous and self-serving.

Only time would tell he thought if they were going to help save the galaxy, or make it submit he thought, knowing it depended on just who was leading them. So, for all their sakes, Obi-Wan hoped that Haron Ordo continued to lead them.

The alternative wasn't worth thinking about.

YT-1300 Light Freighter Open Sky…Hyperspace…

Travelling in hyperspace for long periods was always boring, there was often little to do and far too much time one your hands.

Anakin though had found a way to keep himself busy on this particular trip.

He was force forging himself a new outfit for his first appearance as the 'Masked Jedi'.

A set of white- and gold-coloured robes with a mask that was based on the ones the Temple Guards used to wear. He had even created a new lightsaber to go along with it, using a yellow crystal he had acquired recently it was plain but fitted his hand.

It was laying alongside his other new lightsaber, this one with a blue crystal and modelled after his original to use when he wasn't in costume.

When he was finished, he turned to see Padme standing there, he didn't need the force to know that she was worried about this plan of his.

"Are you sure? This is so dangerous." Padme asked him and Anakin got up and took her in his arms.

"You are the one who always stands up for what she believes in, now I have to do the same. But that is the reason why the mask. No one will know it is me." Anakin said to reassure her but Padme still didn't like it.

"There is so much risk, for Luke and Leia." Padme said, worried at the idea of having to raise her children alone, or worst them falling into the Emperor's hands.

"If the galaxy is ever going to be a fit place for our children, I have too." Anakin said, he didn't want to risk his life when his wife and children needed him but if they were going to have a future where they didn't have to hide and run all the time, he and others had to put in the work.

The Mandalorians certainly were Anakin thought, glad they had decided to join the fight so openly, thanks to them a number of other states including the Mon Calamari and the Wookiees remained free, he knew Haron wouldn't stay on the side lines for long and hopes he and his people would be able to keep going, they had done the galaxy a favour by showing them all the Empire could be beaten.

He left his new disguise and left with Padme to sit and have their evening meal with the rest of their little family. Seeing Luke and Leia, now two years old brought a lump to his throat. They were growing up so fast he thought sadly, they were even starting to walk and beginning to talk. He honestly despite the circumstances wouldn't have missed this for the world.

Getting to see his children grow up.

The Noghri surprisingly were actually fairly good babysitters, very diligent in watching over their two children who were not frightened by them at all. Instead, they loved to play with them and Anakin was thankful their two alien friends bonded well with the children.

Allara was at the small kitchen area, finishing up their meal with help from C-3PO who at least could fetch and carry, R2 though was the one monitoring the dishes as they cooked.

HK-47 though, he had shocked both Padme and Anakin and Allara because he was the one that always managed to put the twins to sleep each night with his story telling, granted Anakin had told him nothing graphic but he ability to mimic voices and other sound effects had the children in stitches more than once and he always managed to put them to sleep.

They were certainly an odd mix Anakin thought but he had never been more content than this moment.

His small family, in their ship travelling the universe.

Border of the Than Hegemony, Mid Rim…

The Than-Thre-Kull, an insect species who controlled an area roughly as large as the Mandalorians, a thousand or so star systems. They had been members of the Republic for thousands of years and peacefully co-existed with it, but had left during the Clone Wars due to their concerns with the way the war had been run and with the direct the Republic had been taking. However, while the Kalderans had been attacked by Tarkin solely to be exploited and to sow fear of the Empire, the Than had been left alone until now.

But with recent losses, certain figures were aiming now to remove Tarkin from his high and favoured position and one of them was a freshly promoted Moff called Delurin. A tall and powerfully build human male, he had hopes of building the most powerful fleet of ships the galaxy had ever seen, ships so powerful and intimidating they would terrify planets into submission by their presence alone.

And to achieve this goal and get the resources needed to build this fleet, he had leveraged his existing political favour which had gotten him to the rank of Moff at a relatively young age to assemble a fleet to attack and conquer the Than Hegemony. The Than had always been somewhat reluctant to allow people into their space and since they had emerged on the galactic stage, no one had really been allowed to chart their territory. The borders were known but little beyond that, so it was to be hoped that there were plenty of resources and worlds to take for the Empire and given how fast the Than reproduced, plenty of slave labour for building projects.

Delurin had assembled a very large fleet for the task, it comprised over twelve ships of capital ship size with accompanying escorts and transports carrying the army units that would secure planets once the fleet had bombed the population into submission. More units would be added if Delurin could managed to establish a foothold so it was crucial that he got things started quickly.

He could almost feel the sneer of Tarkin as his ship, the Imperial-class Star Destroyer Rupture led a fleet of two other Imperial class ships along with smaller Victory-class vessels across the border and into Than territory. Nothing seemed to happen at first and soon they came across a Than Colony. Delurin was quite happy as he saw little in the way of defences which was perfect for him.

"Establish a high orbit and prepare for planetary bombardment." Delurin ordered, standing there with his Imperial Uniform perfect and clean. He would see himself become a much more powerful figure with this success Delurin thought with a smirk. All by bombing and enslaving some bugs, he honestly was wondering why no one had conquered them before…it was easy he thought as his fleet started to move into position.

Then the sensor officer on watch noticed something coming from the other side of the moon.

"Moff Delurin. We have a huge contact coming from behind the moon." The young human, not a clone said. Delurin was confused and ordered.

"Identify." He just hoped the Mandalorians hadn't managed to get ahead of them again somehow. But the Sensor officer was adjusting his instruments before his face froze in horror. Delurin was impatient and demanded.

"I asked you a question!" The sensor officer finally managed to answer, but his voice was full of terror at what he was seeing on his scopes.

"It's not one huge contact sir…It's…the Than…Than warships." He managed say and the ship's captain clapped him over the head to try and get more sense out of him and asked.

"How many?"

The sensor officer managed to choke out the answer.

"Over six hundred sirs!"

The news shocked everyone on the bridge, on the other ships too who were seeing the same thing on their own scopes and the tactical display updated itself.

Like a swarm of insects, the Than built and operated their ships like they structured their colonies. One type of vessel, only one but it was a marvel of engineering and attacked in overwhelming numbers…massive swarm fleets that would move as one. The Than had created one of the most intricate and advanced battlefield management systems to make this possible.

Each was a small ship, tiny to some but it was a design they had been working on for hundreds of years. It landed horizontally, much like Slave 1 flown by the Fetts but rotated in flight so the cockpit faced the enemy. It was narrow and three prongs stuck out of the centre, these created a powerful deflector shield for its size and due to its agile frame, it had one of the best rates of acceleration and sublight speeds for a ship its size. Only Ten Than were needed to operate each one and it had a three interlinked light turbolasers, six rapid fire laser cannons and two ordinance launchers which could carry either concussion missiles or proton torpedoes.

The Than ships charged in at high speed, moving almost as fast as a fighter before breaking into squadrons of ten each to focus on specific targets. The Imperials opened fire but their ships darted around and when one did get hit and was destroyed the others just kept on coming.

Each squadron began to strafe an individual target, the troop transports, the light cruisers, the landing bays on the larger warships, the exposed sublight engines on the Star Destroyers, the large turbolaser batteries on the Imperial and Victory class ships. The Imperial ships were being hit from every conceivable angle, their combined fire was overwhelming and coming so fast the Imperials just couldn't concentrate on one aspect of the attack as things fell apart.

The light cruisers fell first, their shields nowhere near as strong as the larger Star Destroyers or large troop transports and the Than seeing their weakness concentrated their fire and tore them apart before turning their attention back to the larger vessels.

Now their shields began to fail as hundreds of turbolaser blasts and laser shots hit them from nearly every angle, they couldn't launch fighters as Than ships strafed the landing bays.

Delurin was frozen, not able to understand just how this was happening while the bridge of the ship was in chaos as they tried to get out of the situation they were confronted with, no matter where they turned, they were surrounded and the Than showed no mercy to the invaders.

The Rupture's shields failed and then the Than really tore into it, turning the once mighty warship into a battle-scarred wreck, followed by the other ships in the formation. The Than were so through to make sure no escape pods managed to survive the battle either to leave no one alive in hopes of sending a clear message to the Empire.

The Than Hegemony was off limits.

Ogoth Tiir, Western Reaches…

The Western Reaches Campaign was nearing a key point, a number of systems had fallen prey to the Empire but some managed to hold on, at Ogoth Tiir the Separatist Holdouts were led by former general Kendu Ultho, an Aqualish male who had done well in organising surviving Separatist units and pirates led by Guun Cutlax into a credible military force.

But it wasn't enough, Imperial Forces under the command of General Hurst Romodi were pressing them hard and time was running out. The Aqualish general was thinking that maybe he should order the units to scatter to have a chance at saving themselves when suddenly, in the thick of the fighting something happened.

A single figure emerged onto the battlefield, a figure in white- and gold-coloured robes and a mask. The figure seemed almost aloof from everything that was going on around them before turning towards the Imperial Troops and igniting a yellow bladed lightsaber in his hands.

The Separatist troops were stunned, they had never expected to see a Jedi again as the Empire claimed to have killed them all and they had all but disappeared from the galaxy. But the Jedi in front of them was very real and seeing the stormtroopers and AT-ST walkers advancing he began to charge forward.

The Separatist troops watched as the Jedi seemed to move faster than a land speeder, darting across the battlefield cutting down Stormtroopers left and right while throwing his saber at the legs of the small walkers, slicing them apart and sending the heavy and ungainly machines tumbling to ground.

The rebels were emboldened, this one Jedi was doing it! He was stopping the Imperial Army all by himself and they felt their moral soar! They began to fight more furiously than ever, doing all they could to help the Jedi and push back the Empire, now believing that they could win this fight.

Going from defeated to fighting harder than ever in moments. Taking risks and giving their all to ensure the Empire would not win this day.

This renewed fighting spirit from Separatist holdouts and the Jedi's hard work stopped the Imperial's forward advance. The Stormtroopers, many of which were not clones now the Emperor was replacing them didn't know how to handle the Jedi. Their General, one that the Imperial Propaganda was pushing as a hero, Hurst Romodi was screaming from the top of his HAVr A9 Floating Fortress, exposed as he stood out of the open hatch. He was trying to get the attack renewed and this style of leadership while it had been effective for him and had gained him acclaim, it had also left him vulnerable. He had received several injuries already like this and would soon likely become deaf from all the noise but that would not happen to him as the Jedi, using the opening the renewed Separatist defence had given him leapt on top of the tank and decapitated the general with a single effortless strike.

The Jedi wasted no time after that, using the force to throw the headless body out of the open hatch before jumping down inside, the two gunners were caught by surprise as were the drivers and had no time to reach for their blaster pistols before the Jedi killed them too. He then took control of the heavy blaster cannon mounted to the top of the floating fortress and started shooting at the enemy troops and walkers alike, turning their own weapons against them.

The Stormtroopers had been relying on the heavy firepower of the floating fortress as the ground was too awkward for the larger AT-AT walkers to operate here. The smaller walkers could manage, just but now they were under fire from their own heaviest unit.

Now the Imperials were leaderless and without their heaviest unit, the Separatists abandoned wherever cover they had been using and charged forward, attacking the Stormtroopers in an effort to finally end this battle. Seeing this the Masked Jedi used the heavy cannons to break Stormtroopers from their cover and to finish off the remaining walkers.

The Stormtroopers, many of whom were fresh out of training and no leader began to throw down their weapons, choosing to surrender rather than be killed by either the Jedi or the Separatists. The cheers went up as their weapons were taken and they were marched towards a holding area till the general could decide just what to do with them.

They all turned to the floating fortress to see the Jedi get out, they all cheered again and expected him to come over but he only saluted them and then leapt into the distance, disappearing into the forest without any word spoken. The Separatist rebels were understandably disappointed but would cheer for the 'Masked Jedi' whoever they had been especially as they linked up with San Hill's faction a few days later, making them safe for the moment from further Imperial attacks.

Thisspias, Expansion Region…

Oppo Rancisis, Jedi Master and one of the sternest Jedi around had unlike his colleague Saesee Tiin, decided against fighting the Empire at least at the moment. He was of the mind to wait until the Empire became more complacent and the Jedi were all but forgotten and then strike. Even as his own planet was conquered and his people enslaved, he had not done a thing, staying in isolation with his students, members of his own race that had the force as he did.

It was not yet time to strike, he reasoned, not when the Empire was here in such force or when they were so openly looking for Jedi.

No, he reasoned with considerable meditation. He would wait, many of his students were eager to take the fight the Empire but it was simply not the right moment to try and take back their world yet. His students had much to learn, the Jedi path was a very hard road to walk and their spirits must be strong to do so. That required discipline he thought and they needed to learn that before they could even try to fight the Empire.

So, he used the hardest of training methods, all intent on making Jedi strong enough to walk the path and to one day fight the Empire.

Orbit of Sirpir, Arkanis Sector…

The planet of Sirpir had risen in prominence from the Empire unlike many other worlds, the Empire had established a large training centre on the planet for their personnel, both the army and navy could train their future members here and the Empire had even built a spaceport on the surface which was a pleasant place to visit not to mention to handle the arrival of cadets and those exiting a large orbital platform that hung over the planet. It allowed the transfer of heavier cargo without needing to land the large cargo vessels which could then transfer it to purpose-built landers.

The local population, the primitive Eklaad were peaceful but had been turfed off their lands by the Empire but no more for the moment.

The security here wasn't high and the place was scarcely defended, despite some terrorist incidents as they thought them, the Imperials in charge here had no reason to worry.

That unfortunately was a rather arrogant and false statement, as the Partisans were about to prove.

The orbital platform had ships coming and going all the time so they didn't notice a single odd energy emission from one of the freighters that was coming in. The airlocks likewise were not secure or closely monitored, this meant the strike team of six Jedi led by Saesee himself could sneak onto the station undetected while two more waited in the shuttle clamped to the underside of one of the freighters for the extraction when their task was done.

The Jedi entered the industrial station, where much of the heavy moving was done by automated systems and droids meaning they were able to sneak through most of the station unseen and the few personnel that did see them met the business end of a lightsaber before they could report it.

Soon the Jedi strike team found what they were looking for, the orbital stabilizers which held the station in place. Placing explosive charges around the large device after killing the few staff on duty, they quickly retreated to the airlock where the shuttle docked and took them off. The station's staff finally did notice the shuttle as it sped away from the station but this would soon be the least of their troubles as the Jedi detonated the charges.

The charges were small, but powerful and destroyed the delicate orbital stabilizers, the station held for a second where it was without them but then gravity took over as the large platform started falling towards the surface of the planet.

Below and on the station, it was chaos, those below could see the station falling towards them and panicked as those that had speeders did their best to get away while others just stood there, frozen in fear or resigned to their fate. Some did try in vain to run but no-one could get far enough away.

The large platform, some ships still docked to it came crashing down with tremendous force, crushing anything that was beneath it and the shockwave it created blanketed the entire area. Destroying several Imperial facilities and killing thousands of Imperial personnel.

Elsewhere on the planet, which was out of range of the impact on a high desert plateau was 'Nonessential Equipment Storage and Disposal Facility 456' a storage facility where the Empire put outdated vehicles, equipment, weapons, star ship and vehicle parts and more before it was disposed of. Security here was actually more decent than most of the other facilities on the planet due to what it contained…but the scale of the disaster happening elsewhere was enough to send most of the facility's staff on emergency response duty to the disaster site.

Which is just what Saw Gerrera had planned.

He and his people moved straight in on the now undermanned facility and easily overpowered the remaining staff before using the disaster to take all the equipment they could manage and escape before the Imperials even realised what was happening.

Now the Partisans had all the equipment, vehicles and weapons they needed to become more than a 'headache' the Imperial Regional Governor. In one move he had dealt a blow to the Empire that would actually hurt and become a far more dangerous threat to them at the same time.

Reijar, Ordo System…

Watching Lelia sparring in the yard was bringing back members for Haron and Deera, especially as Markus was now starting to learn too.

The days when they had been children themselves, going through training that might be considered torture by some. They had been made the stronger for it but seeing their baby sister and Haron's own son go through training made them wonder if they could ease things but while they would never be abusive, they had to keep the training intense and support them because the galaxy was not a friendly place and sooner or later the children would need to be ready to face it. One thing Haron had done away with though would be sending his son out into the galaxy at sixteen with nothing to see if he could survive. His grandfather might have brought it back but generations before him hadn't used it for a century or two after it cost them heirs and nearly ended the family a few times.

So, they looked on, supervising the fighting while Astoria and the other children continued their learning programs. Vysa walked over and looked at the sight of their youngest sibling learning to fight with worry in her eyes.

"Isn't she too young for this?" Vysa asked and Deera who to be honest now she had a daughter of her own had very mixed feelings too said reluctantly.

"If she is going to be strong enough to survive on her own, not to mention lead her own house one day it has to be like this. How old were you when you started training?" Deera asked her and Vysa reluctantly admitted.

"About her age, I wanted to be just like…my adopted father." She said, making it clear who she meant and Haron and Deera understood why completely, given what their mutual biological father had been like. They were just glad Lelia would never know him and his poisonous influence.

"We were younger than her when we started." Haron admitted which Vysa blink in surprise while Deera nodded her head in agreement. "Five was when we started learning to fight, and our instructors were far less supportive than they will be." Haron said, nodding to those he had entrusted his youngest sister's training to.

"Five. Hell." Vysa said, knowing her half-siblings had been treated harshly by their father but not that they were forced to learn that young. Haron then asked her something.

"I see you have been dating Eliza Kane. Serious?" He asked her with a knowing look in his eyes. Vysa looked surprised that he knew.

"Maybe." Vysa admitted, not sure if she wanted a relationship yet but Deera warned her.

"Careful, Eliza Kane is a slippery one. While I am sure she is loyal in her own way, you can never be sure what she will do next."

"I know." Vysa admitted with a shrug. "But she has a softer side, she's just afraid…" She started explaining before Haron smiled, knowing exactly what she was going to say.

"Afraid of letting herself be seen as vulnerable…of letting people in case they are taken away or they betray you." Haron said with a smile knowing that pain well himself. In this life he had been lucky but during his 1st life on Earth he had been the same way as many times before Hogwarts and even after sometimes he had let people in only to lose them or be betrayed by them. Dudley had seen to it that many supposed friends during his early years had turned on him and every time it happened only made the pain worse the next time. Hermione and Ron likewise when they had turned against him, he thought with a stab of old pain running through him.

He knew Eliza had seen a lot of pain in her life, she had lost her father, her mother, older brother and older sister to the criminals that had infested their space years ago during the chaos. Not only that but her uncle had tried to usurp control of the house away from her and she had faced a long battle to retake control and had to have him killed along with his side of the family which left her alone. He didn't offer sympathy because he knew she wouldn't want it, like Vysa who had been let down by their father, Eliza just didn't want to leave herself vulnerable again.

Birds of a feather, stick together, Haron thought hoping that this was a sense of understanding each other's pain and helping each other deal with it.

Vysa was surprised as she could tell he did understand, they left it at that. He and Deera just hoped that Vysa wasn't going to have her heart broken and vowed to be there for her if that happened.

Ara came into the yard and turned him, giving him a cross look, which told him he was in trouble for something and so he sighed before deciding to get it over with.

He left Deera and Vysa who smirked as they knew their brother was going to get it from his wife, he honestly might be fearless and unstoppable in battle but faced with the woman he married, he was helpless.

Haron went in and saw that only Luna was around which surprised him, and he felt the slap before any warning in the force.

"Again, why does this keep happening? I used protection, are you?" Ara asked him with a look in her eye that promised pain if you said the wrong thing.

It took a moment for Haron to realise what she was asking about and what she meant.

"Of course, I do we both agreed. So, you are?" Haron asked, already knowing the answer and feeling the excitement filling him up.

Ara sighed and nodded, Haron smiled and took her in his arms immediately, kissing her with all the passion he could muster, breaking only for air. She too was smiling a bit now as despite her not wanting more children she loved the ones they had more than anything and would certainly not be averse to another, it was just having to go through pregnancy again that she didn't like.

"This will be the last time." Luna said, breaking the moment with her comment but becoming mysterious when she added. "There will be something special about it this time." Before making her exit leaving both Haron and Ara behind who were both worried for a moment at what Luna had meant by that but knew she might not even know herself.

That was just Luna.

Haron and Ara just held each other as they considered their fifth child was on the way. They were not afraid for their child and whatever happened they would face it together; they were a family and real family stood by each other. But still there was much to worry about, they both thought with the situation out there in the galaxy.

With Saw's attack on Sirpir the Empire was now more violent and careful that ever, striking at it the way he had made them lash out and now many worlds had felt reprisals which of course only made things worse. Saw clearly had little regard for life and while Haron knew bad things happened in war all too well, he was concerned Saw was now becoming as much of a fanatic as he had feared he would. Worse he now had Jedi working with him, Saesee Tiin he knew was the ringleader of the little group and he certainly wasn't doing the Jedi's remaining reputation any favours. Whatever good the Jedi did right now was being dampened by that.

They also learned that Kamino had been wiped out by the Empire, which had sunk all of their cities and left most of their people dead. It was shocking but while Kamino could have been an ally, both he and Ara had their doubts as they had been far too willing to go along with Sidious's plan to ever be really trusted and more to the point, their people wouldn't have liked allying with them as clones didn't count as real people to Mandalorians and therefore cloners weren't seen as much better.

It was an almost racist thing to think but that was how most of their people felt.

But there was some good news too, they reassured themselves.

The Than repulsing the Empire all by themselves had surprised the galaxy but it was a major morale booster to those that were fighting the Empire, and elsewhere the planet of Dornea was despite its tiny fleet of only eighty vessels in all had managed to defend itself against the Empire, no doubt due to the brilliance of its leader Admiral Etahn A'baht. It hadn't managed to free the rest of its sector though till Admiral Ackbar had led a fleet of Mon Calamari ships to join them and now their control was firmly established.

So not only was Dornea now being sponsored for membership in the Rift Alliance by the Mon Calamari, but the Than Hegemony had also been approached by the Salient and shown some interest in meeting with them.

Getting one was great, both was coup.

But he was getting ahead of himself, Haron thought with rigid discipline. The meeting was scheduled for a few weeks from now, security was of course extremely tight as for the moment they were keeping the very existence of the Rift Alliance as secret as possible, the Empire knew that each faction of resistance was not dangerous in itself as they could break any one faction…but if they were unified…if they started working together against the Empire…then they had a chance of tearing it all down.

The Rift Alliance was his achievement and honestly, he was proud of it, unifying as many factions as they had but he knew this was not going to be an easy fight. At the moment they were sharing resources and intelligence with each other, not to mention promising to come to each other's aid if needed but only time would tell what those words were worth.

They had even given the plans for the X-wing to the Mon Calamari, the Salient and Wookiees who were having to make several alterations so they could fit in it. But they now had the exceptionally promising fighter ready for action if needed, and it would certainly be needed Haron thought grimly.

"I meant to ask." Ara said, breaking him from his thoughts. "Ursa is asking if we can allow Sabine and her son when they're both old enough to come here and train with their cousins. As warriors I mean." Ara said as despite neither Sabine or Tristan having any force sensitivity, they could learn a great deal here.

She was of course not blind to what her sister was doing by this, hoping to make sure her children were close with their cousins as it would see them rise in status and influence. Ara was annoyed at her sister for this but would be glad to have her niece and nephew close to her own children. She and Ursa still hadn't really resolved any differences but for the sake of the next generation they both put a brave face on it.

She meanwhile was dealing with another issue; the Empire had begun construction of a large-scale monitoring station not so far from their border. The station was ideally suited to spy on them, it would be easy to monitor ship movements and communications and that was something Ara was not going to allow.

So, it was time, she decided to deploy their new special forces unit. So new in fact that despite training for two years now they still didn't have a name, something she would need to remedy eventually. But they had their high-quality armour and state of the art weapons now, so it was time to see if the expense had been worth it Ara thought with a smile.

Imperial Surveillance Base, Unnamed Planetoid near Mandalorian Border…

The base was large and filled an enormous crater on the planetoid, easily over a couple of miles across from some great impact thousands of years ago. It was still under construction so many construction modules were set up around it, but the large signal dishes and antennas were already going up and the framework was now being filled out.

It would they hoped ensure they could keep an eye on the brutal Mandalorians and when the time came to enforce Imperial will and justice for their crimes against the Empire, this station would give them the best intelligence possible to plan their invasion.

Meteor storms were common around these parts and a satellite controlled by the control tower of the station used tractor beams to deflect them away from the station. The tower had been the first part of the station built and now co-ordinated all construction efforts while the Victory-class Star Destroyer Storm's Edge stayed on watch nearby.

So, when a small storm appeared none of the station's staff nor the crew of the ship were that worried as the station diverted them away easily, one of the meteorites however was different to the rest. It had been hollowed out and inside it a series of tunnels had been dug, to allow for a number of Mandalorian Special Ops warriors to hide inside it. They leapt out of it, using the debris and other smaller meteors for cover so the Imperials wouldn't detect them.

Now they were passed the security perimeter and able to make their way over the barren surface to the base where the construction staff were supervising the droids building the place and operating the tractor beams.

They were on a strict timetable and had no time to waste so they applied charges to the exterior plate of one of the walls, pulling back before detonating the charge, blasting a large hole in the side of the tower's living area.

The breach was sudden and violent, causing a massive decompression of the tower, sending workers flying out into space as the Mandalorians used their packs to force their way in through the hole before the oxygen field sealed it.

The Mandalorians were all using the special multi weapon system rifle like those used by the elite clone commando units in the Clone Wars. They switched to semi-auto mode for close quarters while one of them attached the scramble unit that would dampen any cries for help.

The sixty warriors started moving through the tower, using scanners to track down and kill all staff they could find, silently and ruthlessly. Even droids were not spared to leave not witnesses as to their presence.

One of them switched to a heavy blaster cannon mode, blasting open the tower control room's door before throwing some gas grenades into the room before advancing themselves, using scanners to find the choking Imperials in the smoke and kill them.

Once the tower was securely in their hands the Mandalorians checked the time, seeing they had a few minutes they ensured there was no security recordings left that could trace this back to them before activating the tractor beam array, just as a second storm of meteors came into view. This storm had been purposefully diverted here by their colleagues in the Mandalorian Fleet to arrive at the exact moment they wanted. The Storm's Edge, completely unaware of what was going on down there just expected the facility to divert the meteors as was normal.

The team did indeed divert the meteors but instead of changing their path so they hit the barren surface of the planetoid, they altered their trajectory so they were heading straight for the Storm's Edge.

The officers on board realised quickly what was happening but weren't able to escape as the Mandalorians used the tractor beams to lock the ship in place, the Storm's Edge was a big ship with powerful engines but the tractor beams managed to hold it just long enough to make sure the meteors hit it. Smashing hard into the hull and knocking it straight down to the planetoid's surface right near the base.

Satisfied with that result the Mandalorians disabled the tractor beam array controls and proceeded out of the tower and across the surface of the planetoid as the Ordo's Revenge decloaked and landed, staying still long enough to get everyone aboard before recloaking and heading away from the surface before the last part of the assault came into play.

A third meteor storm, larger than both the first storm and the second combined had been diverted like the second storm to hit the planetoid, this one had enormous rocks that would pulverise everything, hence why the corvette had been so eager to get out of the way before it hit.

The Storm's Edge was defenceless as the ship's engines and weapons both were offline and the ship's shields were not able to deflect such huge objects, the Mandalorians had been extremely careful about the placement and direction of the meteors, ensuring they went exactly where they were supposed to. The enormous rocks hurtled down and smashed with tremendous force into the damaged ship and the still under construction base, hitting with great force and pulverising whatever they hit. One huge rock smashed the bridge tower of the star destroyer clean off, followed closely by more hits as the bombardment continued.

The corvette watched this, making sure that the destruction was complete, like a brush to their footprints they left nothing behind. Only leaving when they were certain there was no survivors left, not even droids before making their way back to Mandalorian space.

Phelzepham, the Mid Rim…

A single sector in the Mid Rim had three planets or moons that were in a state of revolt, Namzor, Ahn Krantarium and Phelzepham. The local rebels were not in anyway unified and each insurgent group fought on its own. The three planets fell under the control of Moff Ahr, a fat and arrogant man who had been sure he would be able to suppress these uprisings. He would often send his soldiers into dangerous situations purely to see if it would be enough to kill them, largely for his own amusement.

Namzor though had been fortunate to have reserves of the rare hypermatter fuel Coaxium, that was a resource that was useful to some states and so the Separatist Holdouts and the Mandalorians had sent forces to ensure the planet was protected and able to stay free. Their combined might was too strong for Moff Ahr to defeat alone and the Empire had decided to concentrate efforts on the other two planets first before sending all their forces against Namzor in the hopes of carrying the day.

Ahn Krantarium was a world that had once been inhabited but now was home only to a particularly violent group of droids that slaughtered anything organic creature remorselessly, rebuilding themselves deadlier each time they were destroyed. They had been left alone during the Republic Era and by the Empire until now when Moff Ahr decided to make an example of them. Wave after wave of stormtroopers was poured against it under the leadership of one of the Dark Disciples, Valin Draco.

Ruthless and calculating he was hardly one to risk destroying himself and therefore avoided Ahr's attempts to kill him, instead plotting ways to kill him later in retribution.

So, despite the high cost the pacification of Ahn Krantarium was complete, that only left Phelzepham before they turned their attention to Namzor. This world Draco and Ahr were both sure would be easier to deal with as they had only human insurgents fighting there rather than deadly droids although they brought the aging clones in to form the vanguard of the attack.

The battlefield was chaotic as all battlefields usually are, the Imperial troops bogged down as they charged against the Insurgent positions. The Insurgents were far better equipped than they had been led to believe, they had anti-infantry and anti-vehicle turrets in place, AT-TE tanks, IG-227 Hailfire droid tanks, TX-130 Saber-class fighter tanks, AV-7 Long Range Artillery cannons and even some SPHA-T, the moving heavy turbolaser walkers.

The Insurgents even had a Juggernaut Tank acting as the command post for the battle. How they had acquired such weapons confused many Imperials but they were confident that they were going to be victorious all the same, it was just that they didn't seem to be making any headway against them. Worse though, they saw a set of lightsabers among the rebels.

Jedi, Valin thought with disgust. He had once been one of them himself before he had realised their great stupidity, proven in how easily they had been torn down by the Emperor, he would need to deal with them he thought and knew the Emperor would be pleased if he brought back two dead Jedi Valin thought, knowing there were at least that many from the lightsabers he was seeing.

So Valin Draco who was directed the battle from the rear ordered the transports to deliver the clones into the heart of the battle where survival was impossible but it would break the Insurgents lines and let them press their advantage. The clones' lives meant little to Valin but if they proved useful with their deaths then that was something he thought with callous dismissal of them and their sacrifice.

- x -

On the other side of the field, the stalemate in the battle was worrying the Rebels too.

"Hold the line!" Dass Jennir said, using his lightsaber to deflect blaster fire with one hand while firing back with a heavy blaster pistol in the other. "Our time is right now! Don't miss it." He said to the rebels fighting in the trenches. He grimaced though, knowing that despite the advantages brought to them by their mysterious benefactor, the battle was far from won. He turned to the other Jedi that was fighting alongside him, even if she didn't consider herself one anymore and told her. "I hope your friend comes through! These people are risking everything for this."

"Trust me." Ahsoka Tano said as she used her lightsabers to deflect more blaster fire back at the Imperials, she was smirking as her old friend had spent months setting this up and wouldn't let it fail now. "The Empire is about to get a big kick in the teeth and learn just why you don't mess with the clones."

- x -

On board the large troop transports that were carrying a full brigade of experienced clone troopers into battle five thousand of them in all, the clones checked their gear as they would normally before going into battle. Entering from orbit they saw the battlefield coming into focus before the clones made their move, the troopers nearest the pilots of the transports moved and swift and clinical precision snapped their necks before pulling them out of their seats and taking over.

The clones now they had control of the transports all cheered as the troopers now piloting the transports flew right over head and put down the transports well behind rebel lines. The ringleader of this insurrection was waiting for them on the ground with some more of their brothers.

The clones disembarked the transports and Rex smiled as he stood there with Cody, Fives and Bly who had all used every bit of the old comrade in arms loyalty not to mention the hatred of what the Empire had done to Kamino and their own poor treatment within it to rally as many of their brothers as possible into defecting to their side.

Rex saw Jesse coming up to him and he gratefully grasped hands with his old comrade in arms, Fives did too as they all came back together. Many had come from the old 501st but they had clones from many different units from across the clone army, all sorts specialists. It was somewhat surprising that so many had been willing to come over to their side but Rex knew something the Emperor didn't in this case, the clones were brothers, that was something that ran far deeper than any programming Kamino might have given them.

Bonds of blood and of experience, all of them had fought in the Clone Wars together and stood for each other more than they had for the Republic.

Rex saw Cody smile at him along with Bly and then give him the gesture that told him they wanted him to give a speech and he honestly didn't want to do this but the pressing looks of his brothers made him sigh and stand up on the supply crates nearby so he could be seen and everyone gave him their attention. Rex honestly felt more scared now then he had been when they had been climbing the mine infested wall at the Citadel, or facing endless hordes of droids. He was soldier, not a politician for whom words came easily, but he took a deep breath and started to speak.

"Brothers. We all know the Empire has betrayed us, discarded us like used ammo cases after we cease to fit into their view of the galaxy." Rex said and saw the angry agreement with his words. "But we are now free to carve our own fate, our own lives. From this day forward you now have your own life and what you do with it is up to you." Rex said with pride as the clones realised like he said that they were free now, free to go anywhere and choose what they wanted for the first time in their lives.

"It is my hope that the rest of our brothers will see for themselves they don't have to remain in chains, like us they can be free and so leave to find lives of their own. Now, if you want, come with me for one last battle." Rex called out and all his brothers cheered before putting their helmets on again and followed him to join the fight.

Rex smiled as he saw Ahsoka standing there, even though they were both older and her lightsabers were different now they still could find each other on a battlefield he thought with a chuckle. He and his brothers all came forward and leapt into the trenches or manned the heavy weapons. Ahsoka laughed a little as she saw Rex join her on the battlefield. Just like old times she thought with nostalgia for the days when they had been fighting for the Republic, only now they were fighting against the evil it had become.

"You okay kid?" Rex asked with a smirk as he fired his rifle, Ahsoka returned the smirk. Both of them glad to see each other again after so long apart.

"I'm good Rex." Ahsoka told him while Dass nearby looked on and was cautious of clones as a matter of principle and yet here they were, fighting together again against a common foe.

The universe was mad sometimes he thought as he returned his thoughts to fighting the battle.

However, as the two larger AT-AT walkers approached he gritted his teeth, knowing they were about to deal with a real problem only for a ship to scream overhead at great speed. A YT-1300 unless he was much mistaken but then he saw two people leapt from it, one onto each of the large walkers. At this distance they could just make out a blue and a yellow blade but not much more although he and Ahsoka could feel them through the force. Ahsoka's face brightened considerably as she obviously recognised who it was, well whoever they were Dass thought, they made themselves useful by cutting into the top of the cabin and jumping inside. Moments later the walkers then started firing on the Imperials below, shocking the hell out of them while the rebels cheered as the enemy's two biggest assets on the field were turned against them.

Valin Draco was looking at the scene in front of him and then had a moment's warning to get himself out of the prefabricated command centre just in time to avoid the laser blast from one of big walkers. The man looked to see his command centre being blown to smithereens and with it his shuttle a moment later.

He honestly was now worried; his only real escape route was now cut off and worse the defection of the clones had left them outnumbered. He reached for his communicator, needing to get Ahr up in orbit to call down a bombing run or turbolaser barrage on their position but despite his thumbing the communicator hard he found communications were being jammed.

The situation was bad he thought and figured it was probably time to run but found himself faced with four Jedi as they now took advantage of the situation and encircled his remaining forces, Valin knew he needed to get out of here but as he tried, he found himself cornered. He drew his red lightsaber and scowled as he recognised his opponents; the blasted Dass Jennir he had expected and Ahsoka Tano, he had thought she would be present. But worse for him was the two Jedi who had taken over the AT-AT walkers then joined the fight.

Both of whom topped the wanted lists of Jedi in the galaxy, Anakin Skywalker and his apprentice Allara. Both had grown older than their pictures. Allara had grown much as puberty had set in, now fifteen nearly sixteen years old. Her dark hair in a long ponytail, wearing a simple short jacket and spacer cargo pants in place of Jedi robes now.

Anakin Skywalker though…terrified Valin he thought with fear. He was so much more powerful in the force than anyone he had ever met. Only matched perhaps by the Emperor himself, he was intimidating in his force armour and Valin ignited his red lightsaber which made the Jedi do the same.

"Surrender." Dass said with a smirk. "You are outmatched."

"We shall see." Valin said with a scowl, hoping to prolong the fight until he could escape and snarled as he called on the dark side, letting out a fierce roar as he called on the power of Force Rage, all of his own fear about dying, his rage at losing this battle and terror at facing the Emperor with such failure not mention his own greed, lust, envy and every dark emotion and impulse he had ever had and channelled it through him, he let out a force wave which pushed the four Jedi back but not as much as he would have liked and blasted the two females with force lightning but they managed to block it with their lightsabers, their distraction allowed Anakin and Dass to get close and he was forced to stop his attack to meet their attack.

Anakin got to him first and began to batter away at his defences, the sheer force of the assault was almost overwhelming if he hadn't already been using force rage, he tried to use the Sith magic he had managed to learn from Darth Rivan's holocron but Skywalker was just too strong for him to concentrate enough to use it.

Then he felt a stabbing pain in the back, looking down he saw a green lightsaber blade sticking through him and could almost see Dass Jennir smirking behind him as he fell forward, his heart destroyed by the lightsaber and fell forward in death.

- x -

Anakin deactivated his lightsaber as did the others, the threat now passed and turned to see that Ahsoka and Allara were both okay before then to Dass Jennir who smirked.

"Couldn't help but pick a fight, could you Skywalker?" Dass said with a satisfied look on his face which Anakin returned before replying.

"Got to do what we can these days. Ahsoka." Anakin said before turning to his old apprentice who smiled, she had missed him a lot in their time apart and they hugged before she quickly looked to Allara who was awkwardly standing to the side but Ahsoka didn't let her stay there and pulled her into a hug too which she returned eventually. Rex too approached and Anakin and him grasped each other by the hand.

"General. Been a while." Rex said with a smile, a smile Anakin was all to happy to return.

"That it has, you know there is always room for you on the Open Sky." Anakin said and Rex just shook his head.

"It would be a privilege to fight alongside you but while there are things I can do for my brothers; I have to be elsewhere sir." Rex said, Anakin understood immediately and nodded sadly. He would love to have both Rex and Ahsoka with him for no other reason than their own safety, Obi-Wan to come to that but it was important to let them have their own lives.

He then saw his new droid coming towards them, holding a large repeater blaster like it weighed nothing. His orange eyes made him seem almost demonic which unsettled Ahsoka, Rex and Dass as they had never seen the murderous droid before.

"Statement: Master I found these 'Stormtrooper' meatbags to be hardly a threat, is this the sort of thing that passes for a soldier in this century? The soldiers of the Sith Empire of my day were far more deadly." HK-47 said with actual boredom in his voice. Allara just rolled her eyes at his behaviour while Anakin just raised an eyebrow and shook his head. Turning to Ahsoka, Rex and Dass he introduced the newest member of his team.

"Everyone, this is HK-47, the assassin droid that once belonged to Darth Revan and my newest crewmember." He admitted with some humour.

The significance of his name nor who he had once served did not escape Ahsoka or Dass who blinked in surprise at the incredible find while Rex looked at him with suspicion.

"You sure you want clankers on your ship General? Seem more trouble than they are worth." Rex said looking at the droid with suspicion. Allara and Anakin both cringed inside as they both knew how the droid was likely to react and he certainly didn't disappoint.

"Angry Declaration: I am more capable of destruction than any normal meatbag. Remember I was bringing down empires long before you were even born mass produced meatbag." HK-47 said with anger in his electronic voice.

Rex honestly was impressed at the statement and would have argued back if they had not been interrupted by the arrival of Padme, Luke and Leia not to mention their Noghri guardians and of course R2 and 3PO.

"Oh R2! Its Miss Tano, maybe she can convince Master Anakin to get rid of this awful droid." 3PO said with a statement of desperation which only made the rest of them smile. R2's response didn't exactly help as he dismissed him with a shrill beep, 3PO took offense at that and kicked the small astromech who ignored it with much experience.

"Sarcastic Statement: At least the astromech is useful which is more than can be said for you, golden scrap pile." HK-47 said with arrogance.

"Golden scrap pile!?" 3PO said with outrage and the others all just ignored them as the droids argued. Rex and Ahsoka instead greet Padme with a smile and a hug each before turning to the two younglings holding her hands.

"By the force. This can't be Luke and Leia." Ahsoka said with astonishment as they had grown up so much since she had last seen them. They were already about two, they were walking and even starting to talk. She had little experience with younglings but she was shocked at how fast Luke and Leia had grown.

Rex, himself a victim of accelerated aging looked at the two younglings with shock too.

"Oh yes they are, and now I can't let them out of my sight for more than a second or they go off exploring." Padme said with an exasperated huff as the two children were fast starting to become more mobile and with two of them it was impossible for her or their two Noghri guardians to keep track of the all the time. But she had noticed already how close they were already, when one spoke, the other would finish the sentence. When one was hurt, both cried. When one of them learned something, the other always seemed to know it too.

It was eerie Padme thought with a smile, she loved the twins and they loved her and Anakin back, heck they even seemed to think Allara was their older sister and followed her everywhere, they weren't even afraid of the Noghri and HK-47 even if Padme wished Anakin would get rid of the droid as it creeped her out.

"Force sensitive twins have one of the deepest bonds possible between living things. As they grow that bond will change somewhat as their individual personalities separate themselves but always will they know what the other is thinking or feeling and will feel pain when separated. Bare that in mind when it comes time to train them." A wise but stern voice said, they all turned to look and saw an old human male approach. His hair was white and grey but also thin on his head and beard but he had a stern and lined face which spoke of much hard living and trials.

He wore white and grey robes, not exactly Jedi robes but similar enough and would allow for ease of movement if need, at his waist was a lightsaber and his face while familiar to Anakin, Ahsoka and Allara was much better known to Dass Jennir who had a look of awe on his face.

"Master Gamil! You're alive." Dass said remembering the man from the Temple while he had been a padawan.

"That was once a name I went by, no longer is it suitable. I go by the name Kagame now." The old man said with a calm and stern look on his face. The name finally registered for Anakin who now knew who they were speaking too. Ahsoka and Allara meanwhile had no clue and nor did the others so Dass explained for them.

"Master Keln Gamil, the last member of the Lost Twenty-One. Masters who left the Jedi Order because they became disillusioned with it and went their own way. The used to call him the Sage Master because he honestly was the most accomplished force user in the Order. He mastered abilities that even Master Yoda didn't have, he…has such a unique connection to the force." Dass said with awe at the master and his accomplishments.

"He was a firebrand in his youth, used to travel around the Outer Rim and other more chaotic parts of the galaxy as a diplomat and a teacher." Dass giving those less aware of his legend the full story. "Dedicated himself to the plights of the normal people of the galaxy, started and fought in a number of uprisings to help them before defeating the Malevolence Cult on Prakith, the Apex Society and the last of the Seyugi Dervishes Assassins on Recopia before retiring to the Temple to delve into the Archives and study the force. He still kept teaching though although it was in the schools of the lower levels of Coruscant, helping the people again. He was offered a seat on the Jedi Council but he refused it. When the Jedi Council insisted that he stop non-Jedi though he left the Order. Said the Jedi had forgotten their duty to the people of the galaxy and that he had learned all he could there, no one has seen him since until now." Dass told the others who all blinked in surprise that they had never really heard of him before which shocked the Jedi present especially, given all he had achieved and more that he had turned down a seat on the Jedi Council which was rarely offered and even more rarely turned down.

Keln Gamil or Kagame as he preferred to be known was unmoved by the description of his abilities and achievements. He remained stern before telling them.

"The past is the past, it cannot be changed nor revisited, only looked at through faded and often corrupted memories. It is in the here and now that we have the power to affect change and so in the moment we must stay." Kagame said with a wise look in his eyes.

His presence in the force was very powerful, Anakin thought with surprise, easily more powerful than any master he had ever met with the exception of Masters Yoda and Tuwan. His presence in personality was easily as impressive, he could be as intimidating as Master Windu with his intense gaze.

Anakin offered his hand in greeting, not the bow he might usually give a master of such experience but 'Kagame' was hardly a normal Jedi. The old man looked at it for a moment like he was going to reject it before shaking Anakin's hand. Ahsoka and Allara both stayed deferential to him in this before Kagame turned to Padme and gave her a small nod.

"It is just as well that I already dealt with the ship in orbit as you all seem to have forgotten about it." Kagame said with an almost exasperated look in his eyes. The reminder that there was a Star Destroyer up there had shocked them but apparently, he had dealt with it although none of them knew how.

Flashback…20 Minutes Earlier…

Kagame sat in deep meditation in a cave not far from the battle, his movement apparently dubbed Liber8 by its members had been very busy in raiding Imperial Surplus Yards to acquire weapons and vehicles although they had more cunning than to have to drop a space station onto the nearby Imperial base to get it. It was old Republic and Separatist equipment but it worked fine and was in some ways superior to the equipment used by the Empire. It had already proven exceptionally useful here.

But he was busy with making sure the Empire didn't rain fire down from orbit on them, meditating deeply he reached out towards the ship in orbit, his power amplified by the meditation crystal he had brought from the Temple before he left. He managed to reach the Star Destroyer, now able to feel the officers on the bridge. Kagame reached out to the officer at the navigation station and began to press his own will onto the officer, his mind was far stronger and the officer folded easily and Kagame now had control of him for the moment.

Kagame reached out his hands which the officer did too and started typing co-ordinates into the Hyperdrive, the ship was on the edge of the gravity well as Moff Ahr had been eager once the pacification was complete to leave to deal with a nearby space creature. But this meant they were at a position where a hyperspace jump was possible, so when the controlled Navigation Officer hit the button to trigger the jump there was little to know warning before it happened. The jump was short but it sent the ship straight into the nearby asteroid field.

The asteroids pummelled the large ship and one huge rock in particular smashed the bridge open and crushed Moff Ahr with it.

Flashback ends…

"Like I said, it has been dealt with. Now I suggest we all rest, there will be more fights in the future and we must conserve our strength for when we need it." Kagame told them, sharing a look with Anakin as if assessing each other for something but no one said anything as they all met the leader of Liber8 for the first time.