The Battle of Sullust

Somewhere near Deominia...

Instinctively, Rayla threw on her sensor mask as she entered the vicinity of the Deominian Cloud. She had never been followed here, and she doubted she ever would, but she wanted to take no chances at angering her Lord. As she neared the cloud, she called back to Marquis. "Marquis, you're going to want to see this!" Although Domino frowned of the idea of anyone seeing her cockpit but a few select people, Rayla figured this would be a great way to build trust with Marquis. "Come to the cockpit!"
Just then, she received a transmission from the Interloper, the patroling Imperial Star Destroyer for this end of the Deominian anomaly.

~Rayla, we picked you up this time! You're getting careless young woman!~

"You will eat those words one day Captain. Mark my words." she retorted, coldly. She held a great deal of contempt for the officers in the Imperial Navy, but she put up with them out of loyalty to Domino.

~Rayla, proceed directly to the palace hangar. Lord Domino will be waiting for you there.~

She sat in her seat, with a befuddled expression thinking 'Now where in Hell else would I go, oh clever man? I live in the palace!'

The Imperial officer continued, ~Incidentally, if you encounter any other vessels out there, Lord Domino's orders are that they be left alone!~

Rayla was now intrigued beyond understanding. 'Other ships? What other ships? And whose other ships?'
She touched her com button. "Copy that Interloper, I will leave these other vessels alone."

Marquis entered the cockpit just as the com-transmissions ended, and saw the Deominian Cloud for the first time. "Oh! Rayla, this is like something from a dream! What is this?"

Rayla was always amazed by the cloud no matter how often she saw it, but had always wanted to know what another person's impressions would be of it when viewing it for the first time. "Home." she replied. "This is home!" She nudged the Shadow-Hawk deep into the cloud and flew through the space mist in a semi-corkscrew for what seemed to Marquis to be a blissful eternity.

Rafaella stared at the other ship entering the cloud, then she talked softly to the now hysterical Taista. "Taista, follow that ship. It's our chance to get in!"

Taista pulled himself together, and followed Hope hoping that he'd make it this time. He gripped the controls, tensed more and more, and ignored the beauty of the cloud. Rafaella, on the other hand, enjoyed it greatly, even though it was difficult to keep on the right course. Why ignore such beauty, such peace...She was almost tempted to remain inside the cloud, but soon they popped out on the inside. "Taista, let's turn here. It wouldn't do to land on Devastators doorstep, you know!" Taista nodded, calmer now. They flew across Deominia, looking for a secluded place to land. Rafaella was beginning to look forward to this.

While elsewhere in space, beyond Bakura...

The door to the shuttle opened, and a medical and investigative team entered. "It's about time!" Lance said as they entered. The hangar bay had been re pressurized and the radioactivity shot to a lower level than before. The computer warnings had thankfully been shut down, and Hendrikson contemplated blasting the next console he saw. He was thankful to get out of that lead-lined suit and get some rest, but was perplexed enough so that sleep was impossible. Thix is missing, Hangar 4 is destroyed, one pilot from Green squadron and a pilot from Yellow survived. Two squadrons! Wiped out! Gone! And the equipment as well as the manpower! Hendrikson walked to his small kitchenette in his quarters and made a cup of coffiene. He stirred in some sugar to help him think.
'This could be another spy, but spies are always covert, difficult to see, so this was no spy, it was a saboteur. Taking out two squadrons was a good shot at hurting us too,' Hendrikson thought. He finished his first cup and poured a second, this time using no sugar. "Thermal detonators of that type can only be found on the black market, and sold for a king's ransom. What kind of saboteur is this?" He thought speaking his thoughts for nobody in particular, recalling information from his days as a smuggler and freighter captain. He realized that a person with connections, not to mention a hefty account, was supplying this sabotage. Currently the Rebellion had many enemies in this sector. Some groups of aliens on a nearby planet had formed a massive cult that killed anyone in either Rebellion or Empire. For that reason the planet was interdicted. There was also a bunch of fanatics who had tried to join the Rebels but weren't allowed in because they had unsound minds, and now they took potshots at passing rebel ships in retaliation.
'Speaking of allowing people into the Rebellion,' Hendrikson looked at his chronometer. The Retaliation and Remember Ord Mantell were due back from a trip to pick up volunteers. He finished his second cup and walked out to have a look at his ships.

Arcana looked at Domino for a long moment. To be a retainer would mean sacrificing some part of him... smuggling and sneaking around. He didn't want to do anything for anyone else, and certainly he did not want to work for anyone either!
"My greatest desire," he said, directly addressing the Dark Lord without any titles, "is to keep smuggling for anyone who pays me a good price. I cannot be your retainer. I won't have the will to stay, Domino."
Arcana stood, then prepared to leave for his next mission. Such was the life of a privateer; one cannot owe allegiance to anyone.
Not yet.

Taista snuck out of his ship, walked silently over to Hope, and knocked on the hull. When he received a reply, he opened the egress hatch and went in, feeling uncomfortable because of the gray, worn fatigues he was wearing, wishing he could have kept his checkered suit...

Domino, somewhat unhappy at the response from the smuggler, knew this would be his reply. "That is fine, Arcana. Do what you will. Just know that there is always a place for you at my side!"

Domino turned to walk to his personal hangar bay, as Arcana was escorted back to his ship. As he reached the private hangar, the doors opened and the Shadow-Hawk entered. 'Now that is one remarkable piece of technology!' Domino thought. 'I wonder if this new recruit is anyone I would know!'

As Domino looked on from inside the hangar...

Rayla maneuvered her ship into the hangar bay doors, and Marquis just stared in awe at the palace of the Lord Dark Master. "That man right there is the Lord of this estate, Domino de Devastator." Rayla was telling Marquis about Deominia, or as much as she felt would be prudent. Marquis was just drinking it all in. The Shadow-Hawk landed, and Rayla opened the hatch.

Escorting Marquis down the ramp, she approached Domino quickly. "My Lord, this is Marquis. She is a good pilot, and has the unrefined skills necessary to be trained to serve you in a suitable fashion. She seeks employment in our organization!"

Domino looked the woman up and down, assessing her both mentally and physically. 'Unrefined is right! She's Force sensitive, and doesn't even know it yet!'
Domino turned to his assassin and with a nod of acceptance said "Very well Rayla. She is to remain under your charge. I trust she will receive the suitable quarters and the finest observation in training."

Rayla bowed, "Yes my Lord."

She began to make her way to her suite, but Domino caught her attention. "Rayla, I wonder if you and Marquis would attend me in a personal trip to Imperial Center. It would be a great honor to me if the two of you would join me!"

Rayla blushed, she always enjoyed serving Domino personally. "My Lord, We consider it an honor to be asked by you exclusively!"

An hour later the Erogenous Zone (Domino's personal shuttle at that time) was plying it's way through the Deominian cloud with six of Domino's fastest customs cruisers attended as escorts.

Meanwhile...

As the two unknown ships landed on the westernmost portion of the continent, twelve miles from Domen City, the Ground Defense Forces commander, General Gelmav Thorndry was notified of their existence. "I know! Lord Domino has been expecting outsiders! Release four squads of Julayps! Domino wanted a test for his newest troops, and had these two Jedi lured here!" Thorndry looked at his orders again, and entered a sequence of commands into his datapad. "Send in two squads of regular troopers too! The Julayps are untested in real combat, and the Jedi may be too much for them."

"Whoo! Got it!" Thix pushed on a metal door that read "PRIVATE: DO NOT ENTER" written on it. It swung slowly inwards.

"Where did you learn to pick locks?" Jaina asked as she peered inside.

"My friend had a lock box when we were younger and he used to take my stuff and lock it up. Then he'd demand credits. He wasn't serious but it got annoying so I taught myself."

"Hokay." The locked room looked like some kind of airlock. The walls were white and spotless, there was no furniture, and the room itself was long and rectangular. "Freaky stuff." They walked to the end of the room to the opposing door and tried it. Locked.

Thix sighed. "Ok, ok, give the multi-tool, here we go again." He crouched down and started working on it. The past day had been enormously boring, the complex area that was accessible to them was very small. They decided that a good course of action would be to get out of here. So here they were. "Like pie." The door clicked and opened. Inside this room were tons of equipment boxes. Thix walked over to the nearest one and looked in. "Yo! Stop your grinnin and drop your linen. Found our stuff." He pulled out three lightsabers and a blaster with a holster. He tossed Jacen and Jaina their sabers and strapped on his pistol. He kept his lightsaber out. Just in case. He wandered around, looking as to why this section was sealed off.

"Uh..oh..." He heard Jaina say softly.

"What Jeena?" He said.

"Look at this.." Thix and Jacen walked over to the plasteel carrying case she was looking in. Spiders.

"Spiders?" Thix asked. "Uhh, I hate spiders. Let's shoot them and leave." He finished.

Jacen said "Thix, these are black krirl. Rare, and considered the second most deadly insect in the galaxy."

"Ulp, what's the most dangerous?"

"Lawyers." Thix chuckled, even though his uncle was a lawyer.

"How deadly are these things, Jacen?"

"You get bit, you're dead before you feel the prick."

"Ouch." Thix grimaced.

"No kidding." Jaina said.

"I wonder what this guy's doing with all these little buggers?" Thix said. The other two noticed for the first time that the case they were looking at was the first in a line of hundreds in this storage room. After closer inspection of the contents of the room, Jaina came to a conclusion. A rather depressing (or motivating) conclusion. "This guy has DNA from some of the record-breaking animals and insects across the galaxy in here! Fastest animal, shortest life span, some non-sexual DNA.."

"I don't get it." Jacen said.

"Uh-oh, I think I'm seeing the light here." Thix started "What happens when you combine the DNA of the fastest, deadliest, shortest living, and no-breeding animals?" Jacen looked confused. Thix finished: "You get a tiny, untraceable deadly and efficient biological weapon." Jacen sat down on the floor with a thunk. "Breath easy, pal, we can just destroy this place with one swipe if we have to."

"We can?" Both Jaina and Jacen asked.

"Yeah, when I was locked up in the presidential suite I noticed this place has internal irrigators, and the holding tanks are right on the other side of my room. I put a slash in the tank and water will start pouring in slowwwwwllly, then, as the crack gets bigger because of the water force, faaasster and faaster and faster and faster! BOOM! Drowned wacko!" Thix held up his arms as if he had just won a major game or something.

"Only chance we got." Jaina said.

"Righto, Jeena, you thumbs up or down?"

"Up."

Thix looked at Jacen, who also gave thumbs up. "Okay, you guys get to the shuttle, cut through the doors to get outta this hole, and start it up. I'll be right with you." The three separated and Thix ran back to his 'room'. He ran his hand along the wall until he found the coolest spot. "Okay, gotta give the twins some time.." He looked at his chronometer and counted two standard minutes, then turned on his lightsaber with a hum, and stabbed into the wall straight on. He pulled out his saber and ran. A trickle of water filled the smallish hole, but enormous pressure behind the wall started to slowly expand it... Thix burst out of the top and sprinted towards the shuttle's last location. The ground rumbled beneath him.
"Holding tanks just went!" He said to himself. Behind him a geyser of water sprayed out of the stairwell and began to flood the plain. He rounded a hill and saw the shuttle. Three astromech droids had just put the finishing touches on it and were trundling back to their base when Thix burst by them. He jumped into the shuttle and fell on the ground.

"Buckle up, Thix! We're going for a ride!" Jacen said. The shuttle took off from the ground, bursting into space like an arrow. Thix hoped the water had taken out the madman's biological weapons...he wondered what had been going on at the base. He was already due back! No rest for the weary.

As the Two squads of Stormtroopers followed in transport speeders, the Julayps flew to meet the two Jedi at the point of contact that had been ordered! It would be a baptism of fire for these deadly creatures! Stormtrooper Commander Jelvin Krith marveled at the powerful forms as they flew across the Deominian plains south of Domen City.
'Graceful and elegant, yet brutish in their own way! I wonder how they perform in battle!'

Taista and Rafaella were traipsing through the grassy fields of the Deominian plains. They were still a few hours distance from Domino's Palace. Conversation had long since died off between the two of them, and needing a break, they assumed defensive postures and sat down for a quick rest. Idle chatter ensued for a while then Taista asked something rather curious. "Master Rafaella, if I had wings, how big would they have to be in order for me to fly?"

Rafaella chuckled, "That's a strange question, what makes you ask that?" Just as she spoke the words, she felt a tingling sensation upon her spine. She turned and looked to where Taista was pointing. A swarm of more than thirty flying creatures was diving at them from the sky! "What in Sith is this?" Rafaella cried out, then engaged her lightsaber. Taista snapped off a couple blaster bolts, grazing one of the leaders, then grabbed his lightsaber as well!

'That fight was quick and brutal.' Stormtrooper Commander Jelvin Krith observed. He grabbed up the microphone for his recording device. Though the image of the fight had already been recorded, he was under orders to provide eye witness commentary. "As the Julayps began attacking with their hand-thrown lightning, the Jedi's deflected the blasts with the lightsabers. this prompted the Julayps to get in closer to engage in man-to-man fighting. When they did this, the woman Jedi was able to claim the lives of three of the Julayps, and the pink-furred one took out two on his own. Then the Julayps began to assault the Jedi with their lightning again. It was over in a matter of just a few minutes. It was truly extraordinary!"

Rafaella woke to the sensation of being shaken by a six foot tall pink bunny. She saw the familiar form of Taista, with the unfamiliar countenance of fear. "What is wrong, Taista? I am okay! Where are we? How did we get here?" Rafaella was most certainly confused! One minute she was flying through space, alone, the next minute, she was being shook by one of her students.

"I don't know where we are, Master. We are on board the Hope, but only the life support and com are operating, the navi-computer has no data in it whatsoever!" Rafaella actually heard Taista whimper as they looked out of the view port at Taista's own ship, dead in space.

Mumar paced around her lavish palace and walked out on to the balcony. Gazing at the starry sky and a full moon that shone brightly and made the ocean look like liquid silver. She muttered through clenched teeth, "I swear that the Rebel Alliance, along with Luke Skywalker and Mara Jade, will be crushed under our heels. When de Devastator comes, I will tell him of my plan and the Sith will rise once more."

Meanwhile at the Jedi Academy...

Mara ran to face the dark specter in a fury, "YOU!" Mara heard mocking laughter, a woman dressed in blood red body armor and red blood paint stood across from her.

"Yes, it is I. This is our final battle, Jade."

Mara shook her head, "You never could beat me!"

"Fool!" She hissed.  They stood across from each other in the heat of battle.

Things had gone poorly for poor Neb Calluna since the battle of Dantooine. His new master was a harsh one, and probably less forgiving than the Emperor. The crew of the Sovereign Star Destroyer, renamed Wrath's End, had been turned into twisted sithspawn or kept in the bowels of the ship as fuel for the dark master's power, Mirath claimed to have fed off the races of over a dozen worlds before they had reached a point in their travels. That Neb hadn't fought. He had fought valiantly, but once he had opened his mind to the evil lord's influences, he was trapped, and now he was but a shell of the Twi'lek he had once been. Now he was in Mirath's throne room on his knees, awaiting for the words of his master.

"Neb, you have given up hope," said Omnes. "That is good. I will need you malleable if I am going to train your mind for my control. Your Battle Meditation will be a helpful skill when I take over the galaxy. I tried once 300 years ago, and it took the entirety of the Jedi Knights to stop me. Now they are all but extinct, and this time I shall not be stopped."

Neb was confused. "You mean that you are over 300 years old?"

"Three hundred? HA! Perhaps this body is only 300! I, Mirath Omnes, am over 10,000 years old. When the Jedi were young and the Republic still growing, I first came to power. I turned away from the weak teachings of my Masters, and destroyed them. However, time and time again I have been stopped by the Jedi Knights. This time, I am the most powerful I have ever been, and with you as my slave, I shall easily defeat what Jedi there are left. So it is good that you have given up hope, boy. For there is no hope left for any of you.

Taista watched worriedly as Lin worked on the Hope, hoping that she'd manage to fix it. He wasn't sure what happened; how one moment he and Rafaella were flying in separate ships and then suddenly they were waking up together in one ship.........as if he and Rafaella had lost several hours of their lives and memories.

They had been working for hours, finally Lin climbed up. "Well, let's see if this works." To their relief it did. Now that Lin knew how, Taista's ship took much shorter time to fix. Sighing with relief, they started their ships and went back to Metārian.

Rafaella frowned. This didn't look too good. First of all, she had to find out where they were...Cautiously, she reached out with the Force, and sighed with relief as she managed it. At least she still had her Force powers.
Then she turned to the navicomputer. It still wasn't working.
Giving up on the navcomputer, she turned to the pilot seat.

Frowning, she turned the com unit on, calling for help, wishing she knew where she was...
Suddenly Lin's comm unit crackled into life, with a familiar voice. Lin listened for a moment, then hurried to her ship. "Hang in there, master" she muttered. "I'll be right over"

Taista sat down on the cold floor, looking unhappy and a little bored. "How much longer?"

"Patience, Taista" Rafaella answered softly, igniting her lightsaber. Why not use the wait to do something useful...

Taista was itching to go out and find de Devastator's again, but that'd have to wait....

Thix had finished being debriefed at the base and had learned, to his dismay, of the destruction of Green and Yellow squadrons. He was only a little relieved to learn that Grant, the Green squadron survivor, and Becky, the only Yellow squadron survivor, had lived. There were only three X-Wings and a Shuttle where there used to be twenty four X-Wings and two shuttles. Thix had flown four simulator campaigns since he'd heard of it, and had just broken the top score for the mission. A flashing red light near the top of the simulated cockpit told him someone wanted to talk in the real world, so he shut down the sim and found himself face-to-face with Hendrikson and Becky, the latter whom was on crutches, suffering from a concussion and a fractured bone or two.

"What now? A space slug is eating the base's turbolasers?" He asked sarcastically.

Hendrikson answered. "Not exactly. Grant just stole a old Green Squadron X-Wing and flew off. We intercepted the coordinates of a small convoy that's awaiting their contacts. Their Imperial contacts, over Honoghr. We think Grant's flown off on a mission of vengeance. We've dispatched two fighters from Blue Group but we think that maybe you'd hold more sway over him."

"You know, cause you're his leader and all." Becky added.

"Uhh, okay, I'm on my way." Thix already had on his flight suit so he took the turbolift to a functioning hangar and boarded an X-Wing. He punched in the coordinates to the point given, blasted out of the hangar and streaked into hyperspace. When he exited, his radar picked up four freighters, three X-Wings, two TIEs and a modified shuttle. At least none of the X-Wings were gone. According to his chronometer, the Imps weren't due for ten standard minutes. If they played this right Grant might get his revenge after all, though Thix wouldn't call it that. Master Skywalker would think it un-Jedi-like conduct so Thix labeled this mission as a crippling strike too. He wished he could check what the freighters were carrying, but decided that whether they carried food, weapons, or medical supplies, taking these freighters out would make whoever was to receive them green with rage.

'Green?' Thix thought. 'Oh, well, better that I know nothing in this instance.' Thix locked his s-foils in attack position and prepared to blast some Imps. On his radar a TIE disappeared. "Let's Rock-n-roll.."

"Dispatched to supply run detail? Captain Delsin, couldn't you have gone against that order since Omega is not a part of the 2nd Fleet?" Lt. Houlm postured.

Captain Tjern Delsin was unaffected by the harshness in Houlm's tone. "Lt. Houlm, you are out of line, my friend. It is an honor to serve Lord de Devastator's fleet in this function. Omega group must prove it's loyalty to the Dark Master and those who serve him if we wish to be accepted into the rank and file of the 2nd Fleet." Delsin paused, then continued in a condescending tone of voice, "Now Houlm, get prepared to dock with the freighters we are meeting up with. We leave hyperspace in two minutes!" Captain Delsin was considering possibilities as Omega erupted out of hyperspace and found several X-Wings harrassing the supply convoy.
"MOTHER OF PALPATINE!!!! Com, scramble three squads of TIE Interceptors to crush those rebel bugs! I'll not fail in this mission!" Delsin remained cool under the circumstances.

Out in space, the X-Wings saw immediately that they were sorely outnumbered, and began to retreat with abject haste. 'Another day, Devastator!' Grant thought as he nudged his hyperdrive into action.

It had been several months since Domino had been to Imperial Center. Although it was always changing, it always looked the same to him. Imperial City, teeming with life as always, was unappealing to him as usual. He was only here, on those rare occasions, to appear before the Emperor, and to see that his castle was still in prime condition. This time, however, he had some pressing business, a meeting with the Sith devotee Mumar Ali Kazar. "Rayla, see that the servants have prepared everything the way I asked them. I want everything in order when Priestess Kazar arrives."

Rayla answered without hesitating, "As you will it Lord de Devastator, so mote it be."

Domino went to his private meditation chambers to prepare for his guest. 'I suspect Kazar will want to discuss the future of the Dark Side in the galaxy. That is a subject I have much interest in.'

Mumar laughed as she implanted the nightmare into Mara's Brain, "I will have you Jade, and you will destroy the Jedi or turn them to the dark side. You will deliver Skywalker and his precious family to me, they will be ours."
Mumar remembered she had a meeting with de Devastator at his castle in Imperial City.
"Vespa, Hecate! Arrange my shuttle, I'm going to Imperial City!"

Mara saw Mumar throw her lightsaber aside, "You are a fool to cling to the Light Side!"

Mara gritted her teeth, "The Dark Side didn't do any favors for Palpatine when Vader threw him into the reactor shaft at Endor!"

Mumar laughed, "No favors for the Emperor?! And yet my Emperor still lives!"

Mara sneered at her, "A clone! He's only a clone!  Luke!"

Mumar held up some familiar black fabric, torn in pieces, and a cylinder shaped object fell from her hand, "He will not help you. Your Master Skywalker was mauled to death by a wild Cathar, here are his blood soaked clothes."

Mumar threw the rags at Mara and they stuck to her body, "You're such a fool Jade!  The Light Side can never protect you from me.  I will find you and you will fall to me!" Mumar lifted Mara over a volcanic crater, she could feel herself fall into the crater.
Mara woke up screaming in her sleep.  Luke and several students burst into her room, and he immediately began trying to sooth her.

The order of Battle had been written, and Omega was to remain behind at Deominia to act as a guardian force in the unlikely event of outsiders finding their way through the cloud. Captain Tjern Delsin was more than a little perplexed at this decision, but he accepted his orders like the military man that he was. In the meantime, the 2nd Imperial Fleet would be departing to rendezvous with the rest of the Imperial Armada to take control of a world that should have rightly been a part of the Empire at this time anyway!
"Commander Fertral, Are you ready to launch with your scouting squadron?" Admiral Daliwhel called into the com-system.

The reply was nearly instantaneous. ~Yes sir! All twelve scout craft are prepped and ready to launch.~ Feltran answered.

Daliwhel called back to his trusted subordinate, "Then launch at will Commander, for the glory of the Empire!"
Daliwhel turned and approached his advisor, General Tamar. "Good General, what news do you have of Commander Rachel O'Conner?"

"Admiral, I can only say that she has gone to Mechis III to act in the garrison function for those who seek to challenge the authority of the Empire." Tamar replied. "Would you like for her to meet up with us at the rendezvous point?"

Daliwhel paused, though he had already thought this through. O'Conner was a definite asset in battle, and she commanded well over twenty capital vessels (after the debacle at Dantooine). her strategic flare would definitely be desirable in this affair. "Yes, Tamar. Send word to her immediately that she is to come to the rendezvous at Endor where we will meet up with a large portion of the Imperial armada to set up our assault on......"

Rafaella was still on Metārian, training and waiting. Her spies hadn't called in as they should. She hoped nothing had befallen them... Taista was pacing back and forth, wearing a hole in the floor. He wanted action now! He had already trained enough for today...

Tashannoc strode to the bridge of the Gift directly after landing the Rolling Thunder in the hangar. The past few weeks had given him time to come to terms with recent events, and the time spent at his old world of exile had been much more fruitful than he could ever have anticipated. The crew had to suppress grins as he strode confidently down the halls of his ship. This was the General they had chosen to follow through Hell and high water. The Gift had been fully repaired since the battle of Dantooine. The refit had been used as an excuse to upgrade some of the rest of the ship as well. The newly reinforced hull would work well in concert with the stronger shields that were just installed. Turbolasers and Ion cannons had been upgraded as well. Tashannoc's Gift was ship shape and in bristol fashion, and the crew and the fighters were ready for whatever could be thrown at them. There was a message waiting from Admiral Ackbar that was a couple of weeks old. Tashannoc saw to it as his first order of business.

~General, good to see you again. I'm glad you're back from that vacation of yours. I understood the need, which is why I allowed it, but I'd prefer if that sort of thing didn't happen too often.~

"I understand, Admiral. What can I do for you?"

~I want you to take control of a new battle group: your ship, two older MC-40's and three Nebulon B-2 frigates, along with 8 Corvettes. You are to engage in training exercises against another strike force consisting of one of the new MC-2600's, with it's own support crew, consisting of a couple of older frigates. Your ships should be waiting for you there at Dantooine, and you are to rendezvous with the other group in the Anoat sector, away from the asteroid field.~

Tashannoc grinned at the idea of being able to send his troops to destroy an MC-2600. "Who will I be matching my wits against, Admiral?"

~Well, we needed someone who could give you a run for your money even if you do have the force on your side.~ Then Ackbar smiled. ~So I shall be your opponent. I expect to see you soon.~

Tashannoc closed, "You will Admiral," and cut off the communications, then took his force into hyperspace.

Lerma and Marr surveyed the damage at the Hutt's palace on Nal Hutta.
"Let's check the sensor records," Marr suggested. The records were in bad shape themselves, and didn't yield much information. "Whoever it is who bought that tap sure doesn't want you finding out," he observed to Lerma.

Lerma frowned, "I don't want to deal with your boss just yet. I'd rather have Tasha around when I do, and maybe Neb too. I suppose I should just get back to Tashannoc and tell him what I've found."

Marr turned his head to Lerma. "He's not my boss anymore. He tried to kill me too, remember. Maybe your friend the Wookiee has some spare credits he could use to employ me."

Lerma smiled. "That could be arranged. Come on, I think he's probably still in orbit around Dantooine. We'll meet with him there."

Hendrikson pressed the open button to the command room on the Rebel base. He was in an extraordinary mood, having just received information that a man identified as the mad bomber of hangar bay three had just been caught. The evidence against him just kept piling up and Hendrikson knew that another Imperial insider had been taken down. He walked up to an ensign and asked him a question. "Ensign, do you know when the refitted Green squadron takes their first run?"

The ensign scrolled down a list on the screen and replied "Yes sir, they're scheduled to run escort for a few marine transports today at 1400 hours."

"Thanks, ensign." Hendrikson moved away from the post and exited the room. He met up with Thix in a lower level of the base and relayed this information. Thix was relieved to hear that this mission was only an escort; any more might be too much for rookies. Hendrikson had a feeling something bad was about to happen, but kept it to himself. He had just gotten back to his quarters when his comlink beeped. "Hendrikson here."

~Hendrikson? This is Lieutenant Gores onboard the Remember Ord Mantell, sir, we've just received orders to take the four ships and report to Yavin IV for a gauntlet of War games.~

Hendrikson looked surprised. "Do you know what the occassion is, Lieutenant?"

~No, sir.~

Hendrikson sighed, reluctant to leave. "All right, I'll be over in a minute." He picked up his blaster and a spare uniform -'These war games have a tendency to drag out.'- and boarded a shuttle that was Xenomorph-bound. He was, to some extent, happy to be back onboard the capital ship and in command. He relayed the coordinates to Yavin IV and jumped out system the same minute Green squadron jumped out with their transports in tow.

Hendrikson exited hyperspace about a day later and contacted the nearest Nebulon-B frigate. "Good afternoon, Crimson, what's today's drill?"
'Let's shoot ourselves with turbolasers. Whoopee!' Hendrikson thought with a semi-smile.

And en route to Sullust…

At the rendezvous, The 2nd Fleet met up with the mighty Imperial Armada. Daliwhel made his observations. "I don't understand, General Tamar. Why are we about to embark on this most serious objective, and yet no ships bigger than Imperial Star Destroyers have been provided? We could use a couple of ships with firepower like the Sovereign Super Star Destroyers."
Daliwhel made a quick mental inventory of the ships present. Imperial Star Destroyers numbering in the range of about 45, Victory Star Destroyers of an almost equal number, and a variety of smaller support frigates. His information on his datapad told him that each ship had it's full complement of fighter craft, mostly TIE and TIE Interceptors. The only Advanced TIE's were the ones serving in his command, which amounted to about half of the fighters in the 2nd Fleet.

General Tamar was methodical in replying, "Admiral, perhaps it is due to a particular weakness found in the design of the Sovereigns. Each existing ship of that model is undergoing a refitting to be sure that this weakness can never be exploited again. I'm sure Palpatine does not relish the idea of having more of his vessels hi-jacked by those rebel scum! There is more than enough firepower here at the rendezvous to...."

Admiral Daliwhel cut him off with a hand gesture. The report from the scouting squadron was coming in.
~Admiral, We have scouted out the defenses of Sullust. There is a force of 20 capital size vessels here! They have a small number of fighter craft as a complement, perhaps as many as two squadrons of starfighters. At the most, half of our available ships would be more than adequate to take Sullust for the glory of the Empire!~

Ten ships were left to rendezvous with Rachel O'Conner's fleet when they arrived, as one half hour later, The Imperial Armada entered hyperspace.

37 hours later...

The 2nd Fleet left hyperspace into the space surrounding Sullust! 120 ships strong, it was a sight to behold!
'This should be a quick operation.' Daliwhel thought.

There it was, a multicolored cloud set against a black continuum studded with luminous gems. The name of Deominia crept into the dark form's mind as he stared out the viewport of his Vangaard Pathfinder. His mind had been consumed by a blackness hours before he had entered the vicinity of the nebula before him. The edges of his rubbery lips curved slightly upward as he stared into the cloud's hazy mists.
'Such malice! Such malevolence! Such strong darkness!' That was all this creature needed to feed his inexplicably strong hunger for a victory that . . . just didn't seem his own. Lord Domino de Devastator's home was somewhere within and he would have to find it, even if his search took eons.
'But, wait a minute........ Who AM I?' A fear began to muffle his will slightly as he tried hard to remember his name. He shook his head briskly, attempting to clear his mind. He reached subconsciously into a pouch that was strapped to his belt alongside a blaster and lightsaber. Squinting at the cards, he read the name: Flimmox Reqayas Danzzire. That must have been it.

Flimmox, now realizing his name, turned to regard the nebula once again. He remembered why he had come: to either ally with or destroy the Lord de Devastator. He nodded slightly as his ambitions began to rise as if on cue, dealing with de Devastator wouldn't be enough. The sly darkness churned and boiled within him as he began to think out this diabolical plot in his mind.
He wanted have to bring about the destruction of the rebel Alliance, as well, working surreptitiously "underground." He knew he would have to deprive the precious little rebellion of its precious little new order of Jedi Knights, first. The strongest ones, he would have to deal with before any of the others, but who where they? He fingered a piece of flimsy that was stuck to his control board and meticulously unfolded it and read off the names to himself: Luke Skywalker, Kyp Durron, Mara Skywalker, Dawn Marina Durron, and many others, then... His heart lurched, though he couldn't understand why. He stared at the last name on the list: Glacia Wolvenstone. Why would he react like that if he had never even HEARD that name in his life, before! He was Flimmox Danzzire, a, a . . .

'What am I?' He looked at the cards again. A weapons specialist. Flimmox nodded to himself. He stared at the cloud's swirls as he began to manually guide his Pathfinder intothe mysterious veil when a haunting memory, misty like a nightmare, seized him. It was full of odd medical equipment, AI scientists, and other such doctors performing experiments . . . and HE was their subject. . .

Exercises in the Anoat system were going well. Tashannoc's group was outgunned, but they definitely had the edge in experience. Tashannoc's fighters flew circles around Ackbar's, Even though the admiral had a 2600's compliment of O wings. Both sides had taken losses, but Tashannoc, on the bridge of the Gift had just devised a new strategy that could seal him the victory. As he manuevered his ships into position, a call from Ackbar came in.

~All ships, cease all exercises. Switch your weapons to real ammunition. Word is just in that an Imperial force has emerged over Sullust, and we are being dispatched to assist. We will be entering hyperspace within the hour.~
Tashannoc heard the message, and sent a private signal to Ackbar. "Admiral, might I suggest that we mix up the fighter crews a bit? Put the greener pilots into X, A, and K wings, and let the more experienced pilots take the O wings?"

~That's a good idea, General. Begin with the transfer immediately, and do it as quickly as possible.~

The Rancor's Maw exited hyperspace around Dantooine, only to find that almost one third of the ships in orbit were leaving. And none of the ships was the Gift either. Lerma sent his security code so that he and Marr wouldn't get blasted out of the sky. "Where is everybody?" he asked the Admiral in charge of Dantooine ops.

"There was a distress call just sent out from Sullust. An Imperial armada just exited hyperspace and is preparing for an assault."

Lerma glanced over at Dalon Marr, whose face was unreadable behind his mask. "NO," Marr said emphatically. "I am not flying you right into a war zone!"

"Come on, Marr, it'll be fun!" As the sarcasm of his last comment dripped onto Lerma's shoes, he wondered if there really had been a period of thousands of years of peace. The way the universe worked now, he thought that it was unlikely.

Mumar's servants, Hecate and Hera, prepared her shuttle. Mumar took it to de Devastator's palace in Imperial City. In less than an hour she was there, as her ship was permitted to land in the hangar of the palace. She walked down the landing ramp and was met by Rayla.

"Lord de Devastator has been expecting you, please follow me. You will dine with him in the main audience chamber."

Luke still held Mara in his arms, "Mara what's wrong? I feel tremendous fear from you, tell me about your nightmare."

Mara gritted her teeth, "Oh Luke, don't put me through that fear and aggression thing, it wasn't a nightmare, it was a premonition. I fell to the Dark Side and served an old nemesis; someone I had believed to be dead. Then I saw my own death."

Luke looked deeply into her green eyes, "How could you fall, Mara, you're so strong. Please tell me, what is troubling you?"

Mara touched his face, "This....this woman is, so powerful."

Luke shook his head, "The Dark Side is not stronger."

Mara shook her head, "I'm so afraid of what my vision means. Is there no where I can feel safe?" She cried as she left the bedchamber.

Hendrikson punched a few controls to the intercom on the bridge of the Xenomorph and issued out orders. The war games were going great!
At least for his side of the battle. The other rebel ships he was dueling were of the same design but had one less carrier, replaced with two Nebulon-B frigates. As the two MC80s under his command moved into position, his comm beeped, and he flicked it on. "Hendrikson."

~Major, we need you over Sullust!~ It was Tashannoc.

"Why's that?"

~An Imperial fleet just left hyperspace over the planet! We think their goal is Sorosuub headquarters. We're going to be vastly outnumbered here!~

Hendrikson breathed deeply. "Okay, we're on our way." Hendrikson relayed this information to the Remember Ord Mantell, Retaliation and Lightbringer. Then he contacted the Crimson and told them to spread the word among their ships. Hendrikson commanded his ships towards Sullust and entered hyperspace. The opposing war game craft followed up. Hendrikson counted in his head quickly, 'Let's see, four MC80s, counting our war game opponent's, three carriers, two Nebulon-Bs, and tons of fighters. This should be fun. I hope we get more capital ships there soon.'

Three attempts to penetrate the Deominian Cloud failed, as Flimmox cursed. He took his ship just inside the wisps of the cloud and waited. Luck, or the Force, was with him. He had been timing the patrols as they exited and entered the nebula. Every twelve hours a Victory Star Destroyer plunged into the cloud as another slipped out of the cloud.
Flimmox was patient as he studied the patrol patterns of the Deominian Defense Fleet. Now his reconnaissance and planning was being put to the test. Timing would be crucial. He needed to fly right up behind the next VSD to enter the cloud, then attach his Vangaard Pathfinder to the tail of the warship until they were all the way through the anomaly.

The moment was at hand. Flimmox zipped right up behind the VSD as it plunged into the nebula and attached with the landing claw. "That's it! I've done it." He looked at his chronometer. "I wonder how long this trip is going to take."

Six hours later...

Flimmox's small fighter detached from the Victory Star Destroyer and remained on the edge of the cloud as the larger ship flew to dock with the the orbital station of the Demominian Defense Fleet. Before too long, Flimmox was able to make his move; a mad dash for Deominia's atmosphere.

"The Force must really be with me. I shouldn't have made it this far." He landed smoothly just on the outskirts of Domen city. He stared thoughtfully at the piece of flimsy he held in his claws before folding it up and tucking it away in the pouch next to his blaster. Then he trudeged into the city, where he realized for the first moment that off-worlders were most likely a rarity that drew too much in the way of suspicion. He looked up as an aged Ithorian steered a slow speeder-tram in his direction. 'Good. If I'm to be discovered, I'd prefer it to be by a non-native.'

The hammer-headed alien looked up at the strange off-worlder before him. "Need a lift?" came a raspy and gravely voice, "only two credits per kilometer."
Flimmox shook his head for a tacit "no" and continued to gaze about him at the strange sights that surrounded him.
"You sure?" the Ithorian inquired, "it may be a long walk to where you are going."

Flimmox's eyes met the Ithorian's own, "I have no money," he explained, and then he began to think quickly for an explanation of coming there. "I came here to find a job."

The elderly Ithorian's mouth curled up into what must have been his species form of a smile. "What kind of job are you looking for, young one?"

Flimmox shrugged, causing his fur to ripple like a disturbed lake. "Whatever I can find that I can do, I guess."

The Ithorian's off-set eyes brightened. "What can you do? We don't get strangers here often, and you look like a strong chap."

Flimmox pursed his eyebrows and cocked his head, "Well, I guess I can do mechanical work."

The Ithorian sat up straighter, "Could you fix an old, broke-down speeder?"

Flimmox nodded, "I bet I could." He began to twitch his tail.

The Ithorian patted the seat next to him with one grayish-white hand, "Well, come on then . . . er, what is your name?"

Flimmox strode to the side of the speeder-tram, "Flimmox Reqayas Danzzire, and I don't believe I caught yours, either." He seated himself next to the grayish alien.

"Lasni Wala is my name," the Ithorian answered.

"I'm glad to meet you, Mister Wala."

Lasni's smile grew broader, "Pleasure's all mine, young'n. Please don't call me 'Mister Wala.' It's too formal." Lasni guided the speeder out of the docking bay and into the street. Flimmox blinked hard against the morning sun and gazed about at the buildings that were bathed in the dawn's light.

"Where's the speeder?" he asked Lasni, twitching his black-tipped ear.

"Right over there in that garage, Flimmox." Lasni pointed a stubby finger at a small building behind the docks. Flimmox nodded half-heartedly as he looked at the new planet. Smiling slightly, the Ithorian drove the speeder through one of the automatic doors and stopped it. The old speeder groaned from beneath them and the repulser units nearly died.

"Where's the broken speeder?" Flimmox asked as his eyes ran over the assorted parts and scrap that was scattered about.

"My dear friend, you're sitting in it!" Lasni explained.

Flimmox nodded, "What's the problem?"

Lasni shook his hammer-like head. "I'd thought you'd notice. The repulser's are almost ka-put, it's slow, and it dies on me a lot."

Without a word, Flimmox leapt from the main cockpit and found a couple of speeder jacks among the rubble. Setting them carefully under the speeder-tram at precise points, he called to Lasni, "Cut the repulser's completely." The soft whine died down as the speeder-tram rested itself upon the jucks beneath it. "Do you have some hydrospanners?" came Flimmox's voice from beneath the speeder.

"Who doesn't?" Lasni replied as he brought a tool kit over to the gray and black-furred mechanic. Flimmox's hands flew expertly about the parts, moving things, replacing things, and draining low-grade coolants.

"That should do it!" came the young voice from under the speeder-tram. Flimmox pulled himself out, his fur matted with coolants and grease. "Start 'er up!" Lasni switched on the engine and with only a barely audible whine, the speeder lifed.

"Good job!" congratulated Lasni, "how much do I owe you?"

Flimmox looked up at Lasni's face. "Your help," the young mechanic replied.

"Okay . . . My help with what?" Flimmox's eyes narrowed, "I need to get to Lord Domino de Devastator's palace."

The Ithorian's eyes widened and he stepped back, "For-for what?" Lasni stammered.

"I need to negotiate a deal with Domino, himself. That is all I can tell you." There was a long pause, "Can you help me?"

Lasni gave a single nod, "Get in, I'll take you as far as I can go, but that's all." The Ithorian's face twisted as a new inquiry entered his mind, "What ARE you?"

Flimmox shrugged and wiped a smudge of grease off the end of his long nose. "I am a Wolven."

Lasni shook his head, "Your occupation, I mean."

Flimmox looked up, "I am a mechanic and a weapons specialist. Shall we be going?"

Lasni climbed into the driver's seat. "Come on, we'll be there in a standard hour." The speeder-tram floated lightly out of the garage and sped off in the direction of the palatial estate of House de Devastator.

In his quarters, Mirath Omnes allowed the illusion to dissolve. It took almost no energy to keep up, and it kept others from seeing what he now saw in his mirror. His body was falling apart, eating away at itself. Soon it would be time for the new host. While he knew that Palpatine liked clones, he didn't trust a clone. He preferred fresh Jedi, though it took more energy to force a living being from its own body, and the process could kill him. In the past he had found it necessary to inhabit the body of non-Force sensitive beings, but this time he had a good challenge; this new target was gifted with the talent of Battle Meditation and would do very nicely. After 10000 years Mirath still hadn't mastered BM, and soon it would be his, amidst a myriad of other lost arts. But now it was time for a little intimidation. He had sucked energies from the life-forms on a dozen worlds, and was more powerful than even he could imagine. This amazing ship, now fully functional, could take him anywhere in the galaxy he wanted to go. And he knew just where that was.

He exited hyperspace just outside of the Deominian cloud.
'I remember when this was discovered,' he mused. 'I even used the planet as a hideaway for a while. Let us see what de Devastator has done with the place.' He commanded the Sovereign Super Star Destroyer through the cloud, and right into the waiting Omega Battle Group. Realizing that this was the Sovereign taken by the Rebels, Omega positioned itself to take the least possible damage from Mirath's ship. As soon as it was in sight, Omega unleashed a barrage of turbolaser fire, and watched as much of it dissipated before it even hit the shields.

Mirath sent an open transmission. ~Good, very good. Against a lesser opponent you probably would have prevailed. However, I am not a lesser opponent. Tell your master what happened here, and let him know that if he submits to my will, the will of Mirath Omnes, I will spare him and his planet.~ Mirath cut off the transmission, then commanded that the superlaser be fired and destroyed a frigate, just to show his power. With the fire of the ships still dissipating away from his own, Mirath Omnes reentered the Deominian Cloud, and left Deominian space.
He smiled. 'On to bigger fish.'

MOVE ON TO PART II
RETURN TO THE ARCHIVES

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