A dark figure sat upon a throne made of Ewok bones and bantha leather, savoring a chalice of Savareen brandy and smoking an Alderaanian Cigar. The ships of the 2nd Imperial fleet were orbiting Deominia, sitting in dry-dock repair, and waiting for action. Domino de Devastator rose from his throne, moved to the large pane of transparisteel, and looked out into the warm Deominian night. The nocturnal creatures out in the wilderness surrounding Demands, the small capital of Deominia, were most likely competing in a very real "katarn-eat-katarn" game of survival! The mighty Sith lord reached out with the Force and discovered a wayward creature straying close to his manor house. He reached out with Dark Side energies and sapped out the life of the passing animal. With a fresh addition to his strength, Domino de Devastator, the Lord Dark Master of the Dark Side of the Force, moved into his communication room to answer an incoming call.
"Yes my Lord!" said the voice of Admiral Daliwhel. "The rogue rebel, Admiral Drayson, is still sending irreverent threats over the holonet to the Emperor! We have probe droids searching for him, and we expect to have captured, or destroyed him by the end of this week!"
Domino waited patiently for his Highest officer to finish with the update, then slowly felt his anger over the rebel Admiral's actions give way to an enraged sense of justice! "Admiral Daliwhel! We will not be searching for this apostate scum of a rebel! We will make an offer that some "down on their luck" types just won't be able to refuse!" Domino instructed his Admiral to post a bounty for Admiral Drayson's capture (alive), for the reward of 25,000 credits. Then the Sith devotee retreated into his private gymnasium, where his personal assassin was just finishing her own training session.
"Just finishing up, Lord Domino!" the nubile killer, Rayla, informed her master. With graceful movements, she performed the techniques of the most advanced acrobats and gymnasts. Domino stood transfixed, impressed at the way someone who could not even wield the power of the Force could make her body do the things it did! Humans were not meant to be that graceful and lithe!
"Would you care to join me for my evening walk Rayla?" He asked his most trusted retainer.
"Of course, my Lord! As always, I consider it an honor to be invited!" she smiled as she toweled off sparse traces of sweat off of her face and neck. Domino watched as she left the room. 'What I wouldn't do to have five more just like her!' he thought. Then his training sequence began. Five dueling remotes and three dueling droids moved to attack him all at once. As the first remote charged him, Domino moved into a ready stance and cleared his mind of all distractions.....
Thirty-five minutes later, Domino stepped into the refresher booth and cleaned off. Within minutes he joined his loyal servant, Lady Rayla (as she was known on Deominia) for their nightly walk. 'Life is good for this Sith lord!' Domino thought as they walked off into the trees.
Tashannoc left the meeting of rebel Fleet commanders, and made his way to the shuttle that would take him to his ship, Tashannoc's Gift. When he arrived he addressed the members of his newly assigned strike force. "The Rebel Alliance has a serious situation on its hands and has asked us to take care of it. It seems that Admiral Drayson has become a traitor and has taken a large number of ships with him. We have been instructed to hunt him down and stop him at all costs." Not wanting to tax his translating program, Tashannoc shut off the connection and gave the order for the ships to enter hyperspace.
'Time to relax.' he said in his mind as he made his way to his quarters. There he could peruse the files that Luke Skywalker had given him. 'These files may or may not contain clues to finding information of the Jedi Knights of old.'
Many hours pass in hyperspace
Tashannoc oversaw his fleet as it exited hyperspace. "It is good that Admiral Ackbar thought to install the new fleet tracking systems," he growled just under his breath to himself, "or we'd never find the traitorous glob of bantha snot." As Tashannoc's Gift exited the swirling blue vortex, he gazed out the viewport at an amazing maelstrom of red, orange, and purple. 'Drayson must be hiding in that nebula!' he thought, then he activated the com. "This is General Tashannoc of the 34th Rebel Strike Fleet to the commanders of the ships under Admiral Drayson's command. Drayson is a traitor to the Rebellion, and is not following orders. If you did not willingly betray the Rebellion, I give you the chance now to surrender yourselves and your ships. Tashannoc out."
"Be ready for any treachery." Tashannoc called into the com mic to his ships, and waited. It wasn't long before the first replies were received.
"We surrender!" they said. At once, nearly a dozen ships started to come out of the nebula, with weapons powered down.
Tashannoc watched further. 'Where's Drayson?' he thought. Suddenly, Drayson's command ship came shooting out of the nebula, with turbolasers blasting away at the captains who had left him. Over official channels, Tashannoc heard his fuming voice. ~You fools! I command you! Do as I say! Come back!~
"Open fire on Drayson's vessel." Tashannoc commanded. "Disabling shots only, we need him alive!" Tashannoc's Gift moved between Drayson's ship and the fleeing craft. As fire pummeled the shields of each ship, Tasha surprised to see that the other vessel had stopped firing. "Cease fire!" he yelled. The com officer called him over, "Sir, we have an incoming message from Drayson's ship. It's....sir, it's a midshipman." Tashannoc took over. "Put them on." he said.
~This is Midshipman Davis on board Drayson's Rebellion. He and his command crew took over the bridge and took control of the ship from there. We have just now been able to break into the bridge and take control of the ship. Drayson and his men are in the brig.~ Tashannoc signaled to end the communication. "Have Drayson brought over and place him in the holding cell on board the Rolling Thunder. I have standing instructions to deal with him as I see fit, and I know just what to do with him."
Two days and a hyperspace flight later
The Rolling Thunder came out of hyperspace right on top of the Pride of Domino, the command ship of the 2nd Imperial Fleet. Domino had them performing training maneuvers near Sullust. A member of Lord Domino's bridge crew contacted him in his private chambers. "My Lord, the Rolling Thunder has just come out of hyperspace!" Domino was enraged at being disturbed.
"Open fire then! I want the Wookiee Jedi in custody before I can get up there to wring the breath from your ugly body!" Domino replied.
"Lord Domino," came the reply, "It's moving out of range...no, it's re-entered hyperspace, but it jettisoned an escape pod before leaving."
Domino was intrigued. "Collect the pod with a tractor beam, have the spacetroopers scan it for treachery, then deposit it into bay 24. Have two squads of stormtroopers assembled there in three minutes." Domino was in the bay in two minutes himself, but waited for the troopers to arrive. With lightsaber in hand, Domino opened the hatch of the pod to reveal Drayson. He sat, naked as a gundark with his legs and arms spacetaped to his body and another strip of spacetape cover his mouth. Taped to his back was a note, which read:
I will expect 25,000 credits in my account within 24 hours, Domino.
It was signed by Tashannoc the Wookiee Jedi Master.
C-3PO was intrigued, in a droid sort of way. The rebel traitor, Admiral Drayson, had been captured and what had been a short cease-fire between the Rebel and Imperial military was beginning to deteriorate. 'what would happen next?' Threepio thought. Suddenly the comlink next to Princess Leia's door beeped. C-3PO opened the line. "Hello?"
A familiar voice answered, "Threepio? It's me, Lando. Is Han or Leia there?"
They weren't, so C-3PO answered, "I'm terribly sorry, but no sir, neither of them are here. May I take a message for them?"
"Sure Threepio." Lando replied, "It's fairly urgent. Seems that and Imperial modified assault shuttle has attempted an attack on Mechis III. the defense satellites shot it down, but not before it transmitted codes for the defenses back to the Empire. Mechis III could be in danger, and the planet itself is a very valuable asset, what with the droid manufacturing facilities."
C-3PO digested all of this information in seconds, then answered, "I will inform Captain Solo and Mistress Leia of this disturbing news at my first possible opportunity. I'm sure she will recommend that Major Hendriksen be notified and sent in to reinforce the planet's defenses."
"Thanks Threepio! Give my best to the family." Lando called through the comlink.
"I will perform that task as well Master Lando. Good day." the droid replied.
Domino had just notified Emperor Palpatine of the capture of Admiral Drayson. He would certainly love to administer some kind of torture on the feeble man himself, but vengeance belonged to the Emperor in this situation. As he returned to his throne on the command deck, he decided to send the transfer of funds to the Wookiee Jedi, Tashannoc. "How would I fare against such an opponent? Hmmmmmmm....." Domino mumbled to himself as his words trailed into thoughts. One of his officers approached him, holding a datapad. "My Lord, this information just came in on an encrypted channel."
The datapad contained information regarding the droid manufacturing planet of Mechis III. "This planet will make a fine holding for the Empire, indeed! Captain Portnoy," Domino said turning back to the officer standing there, "give this information to Admiral Daliwhel and have him give these instructions to the fleet." Domino handed the datapad back to the officer, and a datachip containing his instructions. "Now the overconfident fools of the Alliance will soon tremble from the depths of their souls!" Domino announced. Somehow, every crewman on board the Pride of Domino could hear the maniacal laughter.
Tashannoc reclined in his quarters aboard Tashannoc's Gift and sifted through profuse amounts of useless files given to him by Skywalker. He enjoyed the menial labor of delving through garbage data that he didn't believe anyone ever thought to be important, just to find that one small gem that might lead to regaining some lost Jedi knowledge. He glanced at his com unit as it made a beep, and saw that his account had an additional 25,000 credits. A small sum, in comparison to his net worth, but well worth the effort.
He returned to his work, and saw the first item that had intrigued him in several score of megabytes of data/ Just before he could really sink his teeth into this morsel of information, his emergency comlink signaled. He set down the datapad with a sigh, and opened the channel. "What is it?" he growled.
The com officer on the other end replied, "Sir, we've just received a priority one signal from General Calrissian. I'm downloading it to your quarters now."
Tashannoc read the communication, and then spoke again to his officer. "Contact the strike force. We're setting a new heading." He sat back and resigned himself with a sigh. 'Oh well. Back to work.' He set aside his datapad, and began to wonder when he would have time to look over that material again.
Major Lance Hendrikson stood on the bridge of the carrier, Xenomorph, and looked out at the vastness of space. The heavy Mon Calamari starcruisers, Lightbringer and Remember Ord Mantell, were playing guard for Xenomorph and the other carrier, Retaliation. The four ships were patrolling the space of Mechis III's system, as technicians worked on changing the code systems on the defense satellites. This process would take a while, but once it was completed the information that the Imperials had would be worthless. The codes that were in the possession of the Empire could deactivate all of Mechis III's defenses with one stroke. Hendrikson hoped they would hurry up. He had Green and Blue squadrons running patrols where the capital ships were not running, and it was almost time to change shifts. 'Here's hoping nothing too bad happens.....'
Like something from a Rebel commander's worst nightmare, the 2nd Imperial Fleet left hyperspace on the outskirts of the Mechis III system. With shields ready and weapons at nearly full charge, the fleet was charging and fiercely ready for anything! Domino de Devastator knew very little about space combat personally (he chose to leave that up to his trusted fleet commander, Admiral Daliwhel) but his men respected him and feared his wrath! They would not let him down!
"Admiral," Domino growled, "Take us into the 'Dread Talon' formation!"
Admiral Daliwhel stepped forward and spoke, purely undaunted by his Dark Master, "My Lord, why are we attacking this planet? What will this achieve?"
Domino chuckled, although one could see he was not entirely amused. "Relax, my good Admiral, relax. Our duty is not to wonder why we do the things we do, but to follow our orders. I'm doing so, and I suggest that you follow suit! You have command of the battle group Admiral." Domino exited the bridge in a hurry and went to his private chambers.
On the remote world of Xlonia, the clone of Jedi Master Yoda suffered from another bout of clone madness. In the midst of his brewing Force storm, Yodaa sensed an almost urgent, yet, concealed plea for help. In his mind he could see the formation of a massive fleet, more than two hundred ships. The plea he heard was from one extremely strong in the Dark Side of the Force. Yodaa, with the madness setting in and a desire for more control, called back to the voice across the expanse of space. "Xlonia is where I am. Help you, I will. Come and find me, you will. Together, much power will we gain!" As he finished calling to the voice, he saw a vision of the powerful Sith lord acknowledging him
Emperor Palpatine was pleased with the capture of the rogue Rebel, Drayson. His Hand's* were prepping the interrogation chamber for the arrival of the self-proclaimed vigilante Admiral. he cackled evilly as he got up from his command chair on the Sovereign-class Star Destroyer Defiant. He was bubbling over with joy at the chance to test out his new Intero Tec droids. He glanced at the binary stars of his Master's home system. He summoned Grand Admiral Kallath to him. "Kallath, what have you heard from our forces attacking Mechis III?"
Kallath replied, "There have been sightings of a handful of Rebel ships, my Lord, but quite frankly, I haven't got the foggiest clue as to the actual status there."
Palpatine bristled at this news. "Thank you Admiral, you are dismissed." The Emperor was penning up his frustration as he pondered the conditions at Mechis III.
Boba Phil flew in his modified Lebjooian Gunship to a planet in the backwater worlds of the outer rim, searching for frequencies of holonet with significant bounties. Ever since the Rebellion began, Phil had been a bounty hunter not by choice, but off and on for money to make ends meet. The Rebellion had hired him a few times and he appreciated their cause, but hadn't identified with it yet. With a little more time and money he hoped to be able to help the Rebel Alliance more and possibly fight for something meaningful.
One channel that he found was broadcasting Imperial bounties. One bounty in particular caught Phil's eye, a 25,000 credit bounty for a man known as Admiral Drayson. He was not familiar with the name, but Boba Phil figured this Drayson was an Imperial who was found to be a Rebel Sympathizer. As he was getting the finer points of the information downloaded to his computer, the screen went blank and was replaced seconds later with blinking words:
ADMIRAL DRAYSON HAS BEEN RECOVERED
THANK YOU FOR CONSIDERING YOURSELF
IN SERVICE TO THE GALACTIC EMPIRE!
A few hours later, coming out of hyperspace near Bespin, boba Phil checked his communications unit and saw a distress signal from a Rebel ship near Mechis III. He was confused why anyone was there or why anyone would attack it. Instead of continuing his jump plans to Kallekk, he headed toward Mechis III, the droid manufacturing planet. "Time for some rest." he said to know one but himself as he took off his helmet and slept for a few hours.
Tashannoc's advance fighter squadron came out of hyperspace thirty minutes before his fleet (comprised of twenty-seven ships, including cruisers, frigates, and 2 corvettes) was to enter the Mechis system. The fighters immediately started transmitting data to the inbound strike force. Upon analysis of the information, Tashannoc contacted the captain of the flagship. "Captain, I want you to bring the fleet out of hyperspace on the opposite side of the system from those Imps. Make sure we're hidden in the shadow of the sun, so we stand a chance of not being detected. Post sentry ships to avoid any stray Imperial ships, and wait until my order to move in. Don't even signal the rest of the fleet to let them know of our presence." Then he turned to his first officer and gave him similar orders.
Knowing that he would be playing the waiting game for a while, Tashannoc returned to his quarters. He gave orders to have the data provided by the advance recon fighters transmitted directly to his room. He began diligently analyzing the files in front of him, reserving one quarter of his mind and attention for the data he was expecting from the fighter patrol. He couldn't believe what he was reading, it was amazing! He began to work various calculations, making cross references throughout the files to pinpoint where this amazing thing was. He was on the verge of discovery when a dark presence overwhelmed his thoughts, remarkably similar to Master Yoda's. 'I'd best get to the bridge.' he thought, and woefully set down his datapad.
A man looked at his computer monitor. He was receiving transmissions from a very sophisticated device hidden inside Tashannoc's computer. 'No, this won't do at all.' the lone man though.
"I must take my time and make sure that this sounds good." he said as he began to compose a letter. "I must take care to use the right amount of flattery and intrigue to keep his interest. Then I shall watch the battle at Mechis III, for this transmission should not reach him until the battle has been won. Now, how to begin. Ah, yes, this will do. 'Exalted Lord Domino......'" he said out loud as he began writing.
Silently, Rafaella walked onboard her ship, the Hope. This Mechis III situation sounded as if it would only get worse, so she decided she must look into it. Behind her, a nervous Marddin spoke his mind. "You are really planning to go out there alone, aren't you Rafaella? Well, I don't like it. If there's a war going on out there, you are not going alone."
Rafaella smiled as she replied, "Marddin, my ever constant warrior, there is no war. At least not yet. I'm merely going to appraise a potentially hostile situation. If it will help you to sleep at night, you may alert Taista and Lin and ask that they be ready in case something happens."
Marddin considered her words, then responded. "My dear Rafaella, aren't we always ready?" She nodded, and went to begin the preflight systems check on the Hope. Not much later, she entered hyperspace. Only when she was well under way did she feel right about taking a nap. 'I definitely need the rest....' she thought as she drifted off to sleep.
She awoke with a start, hours later. Rafaella could not notice anything wrong, and wondered what had startled her. "Must have been one of those 'wake you up, then erase itself' dreams." she said to herself. Now that she was awake, she decided to have a quick look around the ship, to be sure. That task completed, she settled into the pilot seat behind the controls and wondered......
Her heart felt a flutter a moment before her personal ship was abruptly and violently jolted out of hyperspace. Marquis had this feeling before, when her home was raided by nomadic pirates called the Duarkk. "Brrrrrrr....." she muttered. Simply thinking the name sent chills down her spine. On her home planet of Eriy, the Duarkk had terrorized, vandalized, robbed, and brutalized innocent people for years. Feeble attempts to stop them had prevented nothing, and no one ever answered their call for help. When her home was invaded she had felt a flutter in her heart as well, as if that had mattered. Marquis still watched her family die.
With her life in shambles, she found transport off Eriy and learned to pilot spacecraft. Later, she took a job delivering pharmaceutical supplies to one customer or another. She was in mid-delivery run when her ship was halted from its course. "I sure hope these ships are here for a friendly purpose, or I may be in big trouble!" she muttered to herself fearfully.
His call had been felt. Of that much Yodaa was certain. But it had been heard by someone else as well, someone strong in the Force. This one had not been human however, but a Wookiee. 'To him will I call also.' he though. "Hear me you must. Come to me you must. Grave danger is the galaxy in. Prevent it we can." Yodaa had sent the Force message to any with the sensitivity to hear it. One way or another, Yodaa, the clone of Master Yoda, would get off of this nearly uninhabited rock called Xlonia. What his rescuers would not realize was that the world had been decimated by Force storms brought about by Yodaa's clone madness!
"Errr hee hee hee hee heh heh heh!" Yodaa chuckled as he gnawed at his gimer stick.
Tashannoc was literally getting bored with the situation. He had been keeping himself on the bridge so he could be aware of the ever changing situation out in the Mechis system, but he could not get his mind off of the document he had viewed earlier that morning. His thoughts were somewhat distracted by the presence he had felt earlier. It was so similar to Yoda, and yet...there was something very unfamiliar about it. If he could only feel that presence again.
He was yanked out of his reverie by just the thing he was hoping for, only this time the presence was directed at him! He listened to the message, ignoring the words, focusing on the presence. Yes, there was something twisted about the sender. Evil, and and there seemed to be a taint of madness. If Yoda had turned to the Dark Side and gone mad, it could be disastrous. He summoned one of his best pilots. "Neb, I need you to perform this small task for me. Take this message in your X-Wing a few light-years from here and send it to Luke Skywalker. I've already encoded it, so you need only to send it."
"Not a problem, Tasha. I'll be back before you realize I've gone." With that the pilot rushed off the bridge to the hanger.
Tashannoc glanced out at the situation of the droid manufacturing plant, Mechis III. It still seemed to be a stalemate condition, with neither side doing a thing. 'Domino is just sitting there. WHY? I know he is out there, those are his ships. I can not feel his presence in the Force, but I know he's there.' Tashannoc had only been close to the Sith lord once or twice, so his was not a familiar presence. He had only seen Domino's face from holo-recordings too, but he figured he should still be able to sense the Sith lord Domino.
Tashannoc's attention was suddenly diverted to the planet. A new contingent of ships had just emerged from hyperspace, joining the Alliance forces. They were flying erratically for nearly thirty minutes, causing a mass of sensor confusion. Tashannoc could not make out what ships were where. Then the new ships settled into a defensive formation. "What kind of plan do we utilize now?" he wondered out loud.
Thix Barkon shifted in the seat of his X-Wing. Green squadron had suffered greatly at the Battle of Hapes, but their numbers had been brought back up to full roster in the short month since that fight. It was odd though, every time he heard someone transmit a message to Green seven or Green two, Thix expected to hear the old familiar voices responding. 'These are new voices, I just have to get used to the idea that friends perish during war.' Thix was pulled back to the present by the crackle of his com. "Green five. Thix, this is Major Hendrikson. The Imperial fleet is in a threatening offensive formation and as yet neither side has engaged the enemy. Take Green and Blue squadron out to the primary satellite, and cover that territory. Use your jammers to make communications a problem for those Imps."
Thix reached for the button to respond. "Copy that, Major. We're moving into position now." Thix issued the commands to Blue and Green and the two groups moved into their new position. "All right boys! Do what you can to conserve fuel. We may have a long wait." Thix sat looking out at the stand off circumstances, and waited. 'Who's gonna make the first move?' he thought while pondering all the variables he could consider.
A modified Lebjooian Gunship, the Crystal Snake, jolted back into real-space above Mechis III. Boba Phil, startled, scanned for potential enemies the very second he arrived in the system. He had identified several ships right off the bat. He could pick out each side, whether Rebel or Imperial with no difficulty. The Rebel craft were dispersed throughout the system very thin, and the Imperials were in a three pronged offensive formation.
'So what's going on here?' he thought, 'I thought there was a raging battle over the droid world.' He hailed a Rebel cruiser that was closer than any other Rebel craft, "This is the bounty hunter, Boba Phil. I picked up a transmission from your fleet, and thought I would help out. What is the situation of this stand off? Can I get orders to attack?" Boba waited for an answer. He waited for anything!
How does a battle start?
Both sides were growing anxious with the strain of waiting. The newly arrived Rebel reinforcements, after their initial confusion, continued to be jumpy. Imperial commanders were facing the combined impetus of the opposing fleet, now nearly three quarters their size and almost evenly matched in firepower, and the cold demanding stare and hot breath of Domino de Devastator breathing down their necks.
How does a battle start?
Imperial Commander Hughlix Marr of the Imperial Star Destroyer Revenge was staring out his view screen, when he saw movement. Certain that it was an incoming Rebel fighter that had slipped past the sensor scan, he gave the command to open fire and take evasive maneuvers. On board the nearest Rebel cruiser, the commander saw the ISD firing at a large chunk of space debris, moving at an incredible speed. It was a chunk of one of the destroyed defense satellites that was moving rapidly away from the planet. As the Star Destroyer maneuvered, the bridge enveloped the debris, in its shields, and was punctured, as the space debris slammed through the bridge viewport. As the air was sucked out of the bridge, the Star Destroyer quickly went adrift. Seeing the destruction of one of their own, and thinking it was a brilliant Rebel attack, the 2nd Imperial fleet went to the offensive. The Rebels did the same. And as the last trace of air left the bridge of the Imperial Star Destroyer Revenge, Commander Hughlix Marr's final conscious thought was that he didn't like the cold his of the oxygen escaping.
How does a battle start?
Not with a bang, but a whisper.
Domino sat transfixed by the touch in his mind. 'It feels similar to Yoda, but he returned to the Light Side. I would rather let Palpatine himself handle this situation.' Domino sent a heavily encrypted message to his Master, then turned his attention to the battle proceeding out in space. "Admiral Daliwhel,what is the status of the situation?"
Daliwhel swallowed hard. "My Lord, we have lost one of our Imperial Star Destroyers. It seems a squadron of Rebel fighters was able to surprise and subdue it's defensive abilities." He lied. He knew it was an unfortunate occurrence with one of the defensive satellites, and Domino could sense this. Daliwhel lied often, but the Lord Dark Master never seemed to let it concern him.
"Admiral Daliwhel, I should certainly hope you are not waiting for reinforcements before you engage the enemy. I want the Dianoga and Dark Thunder Fighter wings to mobilize. Keep the TIE Defenders of Dark Thunder wing as a perimeter picket around the Pride of Domino, and throw the full power of the TIE Advanced fighters from Dianoga wing into the proverbial face of our rebel adversaries! Reserve half of our forces to hold back while the other half engages the enemy." Domino sat down calmly on his throne/command chair on the bridge. he reached out with his thoughts. 'I have felt this presence before, ahhhhhh.....' With eyes clenched tight, Domino lashed out with the Dark Side.
"Tashannoc! You are filled with uncertainty, I can feel the doubt inside you! Do not allow yourself to be destroyed! Join me and I will train you in the true nature of the Force!" He sat back and relaxed, this was more action than he'd had in a long time.
Boba Phil blinked in surprise when he saw the bridge of an Imperial Star Destroyer obtain a huge cavity open in it. This had to have been the result of the X-Wings finally attacking the Imperil forces. Boba's breathing increased with the excitement of battle, the thrill of combat over gratuitous waiting. Setting a new course, the Crystal Snake cut through space toward a small Imperial cruiser. He contacted the nearby X-Wing squadron to see if they would join in the assault. Boba zeroed in on the small cruiser, with a few X-Wings flanking him. At once blasters from all of the Rebel attackers lit up the cruiser.
Thix was startled out of his reverie by the sound of his comlink hissing. It was the bounty hunter. 'What's his name?' Thix thought. 'Oh yes, Boba Phil!' Thix listened to what Boba said and then, with a shock, realized that the battle had been joined! Thix quickly issued out orders.
"Green Squadron, form up and accelerate to attack speed. Lock your s-foils into attack position and zero in on that closest ISD." He switched off his com and settled into his seat, gripping the joystick with one hand and arming the weapons with the other. 'It's game time!' Thix grinned as he and the rest of Green Squadron passed the slower Xenomorph and Lightbringer like lightning bolts and began firing at what the computers had identified as the ISD Privateer. TIE squadrons dropped out of the hanger bay of the Star Destroyer and flew to engage the X-Wings in ship to ship dogfighting. Green Squadron turned to face the rushing TIE's and began firing quad bursts of light into the headlong charge of the Imperial fighters. Two TIES erupted into shards of metal and globs of molten death in seconds. Green six's shields took a critical hit and they buckled. "Green six to Green five, I've lost my shields! I'm falling back to give myself time to recharge!"
"Roger that Six." Thix responded. he saw an X-Wing from Blue squadron explode in his peripheral vision. 'Gonna be a long battle.......'
Yodaa waited patiently for someone to discover him. While in a furious tantrum, brought on by his clone madness, a great wave of disturbance washed over him. Someone powerful in the Dark Side was approaching. Yodaa looked into the sky and saw a small vessel descending. He followed it all the way to the ground with his eyes, then approached it at it's landing site. 50 yards from Yodaa's lair, the ramp of the craft lowered. four very tall figures dressed in crimson robes immediately marched out, followed by a shorter elderly man walking with a bent back and a cane. Following this man were four more of the men in crimson.
The man approached Yodaa without removing his eyes from him. Yodaa sat with a comically passive expression on his face, and watched as this man drew near. "Yodaa, though you think we have forgotten you, this just simply is not the truth. I am Palpatine. I am responsible for your existence. come with me and do my bidding." The Emperor gazed at the mad clone with a menacing grin.
"Err..hee hee hee! Come with you I will! Do your bidding I will not! Heh heh heh! Control me no one can! NO ONE! Err hee hee hee hee heh heh heh! *Cough cough*" Yodaa glared back at Palpatine.
"I have come a great distance old one. You are strong in the Force, powerful with the Dark Side. You seek to control those around you. I have sensed your powers growing in intensity for quite some time now. I can grant you many to control, if you come with me. You will have more power than you ever dreamed possible. This is your destiny." Palpatine had the look of a benevolent grandfather for a few moments while Yodaa pondered this offer to leave a barren wasteland.
Yodaa cocked his head to one side, then the other looking for quirks in Palpatine's face, but could detect no ill feelings. "A trick this must be. what do you receive in return?"
Emperor Palpatine chuckled softly, then answered. "There is a great war that is nearing it's end, but I have need for more allies. I have many allies in the Force, and one of my most trusted felt your call. He brought you to my attention. I am hoping for your cooperation in helping us crush the feeble opposition. When the enemy is vanquished, you will be set up in your own little kingdom, with your own servants to amuse you." The Emperor of the galactic government watched the little creature while those words worked their magic.
Yodaa came to his decision quickly. "Come with you I will!" At once, they boarded the shuttle and left Xlonia behind.
MOVE ON TO PART II
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