StarDestroyer.Net BBS

Foreword: I first got the idea for such a project after I read several excellent Star Wars alternate universe stories in Fanfiction.net, and decided to create a neat fusion AU of my own which could contain the largest number of possible factions and groups all jostling each other for power. Basically, writing this AU is a bit like playing a game of Rebellion in which one takes characters and concepts of the original series (plus the EU) and remixes it to one's liking. However, in this case, I had far more sides than the mere Rebellion and the Empire! I must confess I had the political and astrostrategic ideas in mind first, then the placement of secondary characters from the EU, and then how the original characters could fit. Here's hoping you enjoy this, and may find it useful for any future settings.

Notes: [1] marks ideas and elements that I have borrowed from Darth Yoshi's very excellent Infinities series. [2] marks ideas and elements that I have borrowed from Darquecyder 6's "A Simple Decision" series. Both series are of the type of SW AU kind that I like to classify as "holistic;" they basically incorporate loads and loads of characters and concepts from the EU and use them to maximum effect, rather than your typical alt-Obi-Wan love story. Interestingly, [1] was written from 2002-2005 and has a very different rise of Palpatine, while [2] was written only a few months ago, and is so up-to-date it references the upcoming Force Unleashed games.

On with the timeline.

The end of the Empire began with a sigh.

Somewhere on Coruscant, Emperor Palpatine, behemoth of the leviathan that was his Empire, felt his age. It was not a pleasant feeling for any being, but it was particularly alarming for Palpatine, master of the Dark Side.

The Force was slipping away from him.

He did not know why. He had consulted Sith Holocrons, but the had been mute. He had paid pilgrimage to the tombs of the Sith on Korriban, but the spirits that dwelt there were silent. Even Byss, where the entire population of the planet slowly had their Force-essences sucked away to be absorbed by him, failed to cheer him up.

Palpatine knew not why. The Force was fickle, but it was still a tool. He bent it to his will, not the other way around. There should have been no reason for this. His plans did not break the rules set out by Darth Bane. He had but one apprentice, and his minions were Dark Jedi or Force Adepts but not Sith. There was no immediate danger of the Force being somehow diluted by overuse, or of secret superweapons, or anything of that matter.

Yet the Force was changing, and not for him. So Palpatine, having meditated for several months, consulted with the wayward Prophets of the Dark Side he had made his Mages, and killed a few underlings for old time's sake, decided on a plan that would keep him at the top of the Galaxy (and the universe) for all time.

ABY 0

The battle had begun to rage. The Death Star was assaulted by the ridiculous tiny snub-fighters, an insulting foe for the magnificent battlestation to fight against. Ridiculous! Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin surveyed his domain and smiled as the moons of Yavin loomed closer. The Rebellion was going to end here, and the end would come soon.

Outside the command center, General Moradmin Bast fretted. He had just received news that a weakness had been found in the Death Star's defenses. It was a small one, and probably hard to find, but if attacked then it was all over. He had immediately informed High General Tagge, who just looked at him with a moment of horror and returned to his post, commanding the defenses with almost a frenzy. There was no chance that he would order an evacuation, however. He was merely third-in-command of the station. That would be up to Grand Moff Tarkin himself.

He scoffed. Tarkin was in love with his machine, had fallen into a deep spell by it. There would be no way he would order an evacuation. But who else could he talk to? Admiral Conan Antonio Motti was a man meriting fear and respect, but he was also a lackey of Tarkin. If there was anyone who was more confident in the Death Star than Slick Willy, it was him. There was no one else. Unless-

Bast rushed to an office hidden in one of the innumerable hallways of the battlestation. Within was the mustachioed Wulff Yularen, officer of the Imperial Security Bureau, essentially Palpatine's non-Sithian commissar aboard the Death Star. The white haired man asked the communications officer what was the matter. Bast told him.

Wulff stared in disbelief and considered his options. Too late to do an evacuation now- so how many of his fellow ISB agents could he escape with? Perhaps all of them, actually; they weren't really an intrinsic part of the battle. But that still left hundreds of thousands of other Imperials aboard. But he shook his head. Both sides had damned them with intractability. The Rebels with their perverse, reactionary fanaticism would no doubt be able to destroy the Death Star, no matter how many TIE fighters they poured into the defense. It was too late, the weakpoint too chancy. Men like Tarkin and Motti too, had condemned the battlestation to destruction with their unwavering faith in it, in its symbolic manifestation of the Tarkin Doctrine and the New Order.

Wulff could have contacted his superior, Central Commander Sollaine, but it would have been futile. No time, and Sollaine would have just waved it off and censured him for such apparent cowardice in the middle of a battle. The officer bristled a little at that. His whole posting on the Death Star was so he could be promoted if he had caught Tarkin making any false moves of disloyalty, but now he was trying to politick to save his own life. Using his manipulative mind, toned and sharpened after years in service of the Bureau, Wulff concocted a scheme. First, he summoned all of his ISB agents and informed them to prepare two shuttles for evacuation. Next, he gave Bast his instructions.

Bast informed Tarkin and Motti that the Emperor himself had sent a holo. Though neither had wanted to be called away from witnessing the slaughter, they could not resist the prospect of praise from Palpatine. Instead they were confronted with the station's ISB agents, alongside Tagge and several officers. Before Tarkin could accuse them of a takeover, they stunned him and his second. They then evacuated.

It was a dicey operation. Yes, they could have simply usurped control of the Death Star and retreated. But unfortunately for the men still on the battlestation, Bast, Tagge, and Yularen were fearful men, men who could not risk such an open break from authority. If they had retreated, they would have been executed for cowardice. If they had won the battle themselves, they would have been condemned as making a power grab, and executed. If they had failed, they would had died. Their best hope was to withdraw as many of their vital staff without creating a general panic, and hope that the Death Star would be able to fight off the Rebels. That way if they won, they would simply return to the battlestation. If not...

Of course, the Rebels won the Battle of Yavin as in history. The few shuttles carrying the Death Star survivors (mostly ISB men. Tagge could only extract a few of his core staff, and Tarkin had virtually none of his aboard) limped back to Coruscant. Perhaps they were risking execution, but at least they could claim they had forcefully evacuated the Grand Moff.

Surprisingly, they faced none of that. Though when Tarkin had awakened he was livid with rage, he had been struck dumb by the destruction of his awesome superweapon. Motti, too, was speechless. They, along the others, felt that they had failed to such a degree as to deserve death. But the Emperor had none of that. In almost passionless tones he had rebuked them and demoted them, making Moff Ardus Kaine the new governor of Oversector Outer. He even praised Yularen's quick thinking, making him to Central Commander of the ISB. And that was that.

Tarkin himself was overcome with rage that followed his relief. How dare the Emperor strike him down for a design mistake that was not his! How dare he promote that worm for not even allowing him to know it! Surely had he known about the flaw, he would have taken appropriate measures to save the Death Star. He was not an unreasonable man!

And the Emperor had the audacity to not even grant him an honorable discharge through death. Better he had died a thousand deaths for his failure than to live to endure it. But that would prove to be Palpatine's undoing, he supposed. That wretched, overpampered, political game-playing fool had lost touch with the men who were dying at the front lines. Something had to be done about it, and Tarkin had Motti whispering in his ear every other day about it. Though the destruction of the Death Star was a setback for their secret plans, there were more than one device to enforce his namesake Doctrine...

Besides a few things such as Tyber Zann being rescued from Kessel by Dash Rendar and his droid Leebo rather than Han and Chewie [2], not much happens in this universe, other than there is a general drop in public approval ratings (well, were they to actually exist) of Palpatine, and many in his regime begin to feel a loss of confidence in him. Even his Dark Side underlings believe that he may have become weaker in the Force, as impossible as that sounds. And most importantly, as we will come to see, several of his more rebellious vassals [2] end up postponing their schemes until later.

The New Republic: The Battle of Yavin had been a victory not even Master Yoda could have foreseen. Despite the improbable survival of Tarkin and Vader, it was clear that the Empire had suffered a great propaganda defeat, and even the Emperor had somehow become unhinged by it. Almost overnight, dozens of worlds secretly approached the Rebel Council for admittance, while thousands of Rebel cells bloomed across the Galaxy. In its moment of triumph, its leaders (prematurely) declared themselves to be no longer a mere alliance in rebellion, but a truely New Republic. But even as the celebrations went on there were some who felt that it had almost been too easy, that somehow this defeat was engineered by Palpatine himself.

They were correct.

Yes, the Republic continued to do as well as it did in the original history, striking victory after victory. But at the same time, a vague sense of near-complacency loomed its ugly head. The New Republic established a base on Hoth, and then evacuated it neatly after an Imperial incursion. The Council realized that Palpatine had began to withdraw from his already loose management of the Empire. Rumors of sickness and senility ran wild through the Empire. His Executor, Darth Vader, was also seemingly distracted, eschewing full command to pursue his own missions in search of something none but him (and the Emperor) knew. They even received the unlikely defection of Prince Xizor [1], vigo of the Black Sun and once highly-regarded pet of the Emperor. The cunning Falleen, deciding that he was on a sinking ship, and that his future would not be best served tied to an imminently dead man, brought the full resources of his criminal empire into the New Republic, and was immediately made into a General as the head of the New Republic Intelligence Service.

Rebel Alliance: The only defeat the NR saw was the loss of Garm Bel Iblis and his Corellian Free Renegades[1]. Without Bail Organa to maintain the triumvirate, Mon Mothma and Bel Iblis came to many disagreements, and the latter finally left when he was pushed one too many times to use his forces in a way that he saw as excessive. Making muted accusations that Mothma had aspirations for the Imperial throne, he and a large detachment of the Corellian forces of the New Republic left and labeled themselves as "the Rebel Alliance," thus stealing the original moniker of the New Republic and the prestige that went along with it. Though these new Rebels agreed to maintain peace with the New-Republicans, they also vowed to continue the war on their terms and to further their own goals, i.e. the independence of Corellia. Joining them were a few others who doubted the leadership of the NR, and who had finally realized what resurrecting the Galactic Republic would actually mean.

[I kind of see the Rebel Alliance as being very much guerrilla fighters and partisans like the French Resistance, while the New Republic was much more conventional, like the Free French forces.]



Tarkin Technocracy: Shortly after the Battle of Hoth, Moff Tarkin paid a visit to the Maw Installation and his lover, Admiral Daala. There he promoted her to Grand Admiral, and together they stole the old Death Star prototype and destroyed the rest of the superweapons at the base [1]. Unfortunately, the Sun Crusher was elsewhere at the time [1]. They then took the would-be Death Star, now named the Nova Colossus, to Corellia, where Tarkin had recently rooted out a Rebel base and conquered.

In an hour-long speech the most grandiose and ideological in fictional history this side of John Galt, Tarkin declared that the Emperor had abandoned the ideals of the New Order, become corrupted by nepotism and court politics, betrayed hundreds of systems in favor of rich liberal Core worlds, was no longer fit to run the Empire,[1] and most shockingly- had knowingly allowed the Rebellion to destroy the Death Star in order to justify his own continued hold on power. Tarkin then revealed that Emperor Palpatine and Darth Sidious of the Clone Wars were one and the same, having played the Galaxy for fools for over thirty years. After declaring himself Prefect Tarkin [1], lord of the Tarkin Technocracy, he invited all members of the Imperial government, military, and constituency to accompany him in creating a regime that truly practiced the New Order.

The response was violently mixed. Many kept their loyalties to the Emperor, accusing Tarkin of being a madman and a traitor. Others bit their tongue and worked out the historical equations- and it did indeed show that the senator from Naboo could very well have been a Sith Lord. Finally, many of the common soldiers and sailors- the ground-pounders [1] - bought Tarkin's message and defected. On the other hand, only select commanders, mostly those from the Rim and worlds that were indeed seemed to have been passed over by the government, joined him. In the end, Tarkin's Circle had few officers join, but his ranks did swell up with defecting noncoms. Those who did believed in his muscular ideology of totalitarianism, subjugation of the Core worlds to benefit the Rim, and virulent xenophobia. Tarkin's third-in-command, (now Grand) Admiral Motti, also encouraged a particular strain of Human High Culture that believed in cultivating a particular brand of officer class that could both lead in war and rule at home- all "accents and sideburns," as some called it. The defection also brought a schism within COMPNOR and totalitarians of the Galaxy, as most continued to support the Emperor and Palpatinism, while others believed that Palpatinist-Tarkinism was truly embodied in Prefect Tarkin. Tarkin himself promoted a system based on order through fear, putting Palpatine's ideals to the max by using his personal pseudo-Death Star.

Unfortunately for the Technocracy, its presence was quickly overshadowed by an even more popular uprising from within the Empire.



Imperial Commonwealth: Grand Admiral Zaarin has been called many things, but his most infamous title is "First among Warlords." The name does not refer to his former position as one of the GA's of the Imperial Starfleet, but because of his early role in destabilizing the Empire from within. An utterly ambitious man but also one capable of leading others of as equally great ambition, he formed a cabal sometime after the destruction of the first Death Star in the Battle of Yavin. Gathering figures from within the Imperial armed forces and some alien members of the Inquisitorius, he conspired to bring about an overthrow of the Emperor using his own military. Unfortunately, while Zaarin had a considerable fleet as well as the combined forces of his conspirator allies, his conspiracy was beset with internal strife as time passed. After all, Zaarin had to contend with not only maintaining the absolutely loyalty and devotion from his men, but also working with such notable personalities such as Emperor's Hand Arden Lyn, Grand Moff Trachta and his band of plotters, General Rom Mohc, High Inquisitor Ja'ce Yiaso, his fellow GADM Martio Batch, [2] Hutt Cartel crimelord Durga Besadii Tai, and the Imperial Guardsman and Sovereign Protector Carnor Jax.

Zaarin's main goal was to remove Palpatine from power and rebuild the Empire as a Commonwealth that would be more 'amenable' to the needs of the fighting men, weapons designers, and non-human members of the Galaxy. Ironically, while he was more of a moderate paternalistic authoritarian than the New Order totalitarians and wasn't particularly attracted to the Tarkin Doctrine, his proposed Imperial Commonwealth was supported by many of the people who could have enabled Palpatine's autocracy and Tarkin's technocratic terror. Zaarin himself was an avowed technophile, as were many of his co-conspirators. However, while there is some signs that he was aware of the ambitions of Tarkin and his Circle, Zaarin declined to either join or invite the former Grand Moff to his cabal, perhaps viewing him as a threat.

Conveniently, the declaration of the Tarkin Technocracy had been made just after Emperor Palpatine chose to leak false news that stated he was suffering from a terminal illness, and an Imperial Will had been written. Immediately after the Technocracy's secession, Grand Admiral Zaarin began Operation Paladin, detaching his forces from the loyal military, ordering his Inquisitor agents to sabotage Imperial operations, and launching an attempt to kidnap and execute the Emperor. Operation Paladin was a mixed success, because as much as he had thought of himself, Zaarin was never quite the popular figure of the Galaxy as he had thought, though more of the military did flock to him instead of Tarkin. He did manage to secure production sites of advanced war technology such as TIE Defenders. His co-conspirators themselves made headway in securing a few moderate moon-busters; for countering other superweapons, they assured him, not destroying worlds themselves. And on Coruscant, specially modified stormtroopers supplied by Trachta and several Guardsmen who had been turned by Carnor Jax made their attempt against the Emperor.

Insurgents of the Empire: Overall, the actions undertaken by the great traitors Tarkin and Zaarin robbed the Empire of between 15-20% of its territory. In the aftermath of the Battle of Endor, that figure would nearly double. The conflict had also erupted into two- the main Galactic Civil War between the New Republic and the Empire, which continued largely as it did in real history, and the Imperial Insurgency, between the loyal Royalists and the Tarkinist and Zaarinite flavors of Imperial-Insurgent.

As many critics sneered, the Tarkinists' regime was much of a Terrorcracy, while the Imperial Commonwealth were the true technocrats. The fear was established not only in the Corellian masses trembling at the thought of the Nova Colossus being used against them, but by also in the government as well. Though Tarkin used terror to keep his planets in line, he himself was afflicted by it, growing more and more paranoid, afraid to engage in much expansion for fear that the Emperor had another secret superweapon to use against his Death Star [1]. In time this fear manifested as a real disease that made him bed stricken [1], a malaise that some whispered had been Force-sent by Palpatine himself.

Zaarin, on the other hand, was actually far more interested in the technocratic aspects of his splinter empire. As part of Operation Paladin, he wholeheartedly encouraged his colleagues' work into super-science in which he hoped would empower his soldiers, sailors, and pilots to fight better against the Empire. Thus, production of TIE Avengers and Defenders bloomed under his administration [2], TIE Hunters and Phantoms under GADM Batch's Imdaar projects [2], General Moc produced thousands of Dark Troopers [2], and even the crimelord Durga began work on a superweapon on the side. When the coup d'etat was attempted, however, he found that while his fancy prototypes were highly effective, the sheer numbers of the Empire was capable of overwhelming them. Furthermore, he had also overestimated his popularity; many Imperial deserters had first jumped on Tarkin's ship, and the New Republic still had the hearts of the majority of the people. So ultimately, the main battle was still betwen the New Republic and the Empire. Nevertheless, Zaarin's technological prowess and somewhat superior tactical genius brought him several victories- including the assassination of Palpatine.

The Fall of the Emperor: On Coruscant, security forces loyal to Moff Kadir allowed a contingent of specially-modified stormtroopers and Crimson Guardsmen under Carnor Jax to enter the Imperial Palace [2]. There they slew dozens of guardsmen still loyal to the Emperor, before they confronted Palpatine himself. With a cackle he then proceeded to kill nearly all the stormtroopers and Kadir, before Carnor Jax unveiled a secret weapon- a ysalamiri. Trapping themselves in a Force-proof bubble, Jax dueled Palpatine, but without the Force, the older man eventually succumbed to the young warrior. With a triumphant cry, the former Sovereign Protector declared the Emperor to be finished.

Thousands and millions of light-years away, Zaarin broadcasted to the entire Galaxy. He proclaimed that the Empire itself was over, to be reformed under his rule as an Imperial Commonwealth, with greater rights to all beings. He then named himself Lord Protector.

However, Zaarin's conspiracy never finished its entire course. Emperor Palpatine's Imperial Will was opened and broadcasted to the Galaxy by COMPNOR. It revealed that Grand Vizier Sate Pestage was to succeed him temporarily as Chancellor until a "suitably Imperial successor" could be "found." (Whether by election or by blood, it was unclear.) It also bequeathed quadrillions of Palpatine's personal fortune to Coruscant and thousands of the worlds of his Empire. Almost overnight, the fickle sentiments of the Galactic public shifted back to Palpatine, as they reflected with very very rosy glasses the good things he had done for the Galaxy, as well as the order he had made. Labeling Tarkin as a perverter of their beloved leader's ideals, and Zaarin as a cheater and a divisive corruptor, they chased Carnor Jax and his surviving guardsmen off of Imperial Center and flocked to acting-emperor Chancellor Pestage, who continued the war against the New Republic.

And so things continued as in real history, though the NR did benefit from both the splintered Imperial military and the intelligence brought by General Xizor. And then came the Battle of Endor.

The Battle of Endor: The Imperial Commonwealth had received the brunt of attacks from the resurgent Empire. Though he felt it to be beneath him, Zaarin approached the New Republic with a truce and an alliance against the Empire. The NR gladly accepted, and received the novel presence of advanced TIE craft alongside their Incom starfighters. They eventually traced the Empire's plans to the remote moon of Endor, where a Second Death Star was in construction. Named the Sith Moon, it was to be a far more powerful battlestation than its predecessor, or Tarkin's knock-off satellite. They quickly launched a mission to the moon.

And so the mission went, spearheaded by the New-Republicans with the support of Commonwealth soldiers. It also highlighted the upcoming break in the two governments' treaty of convenience- the New-Republicans were quite appalled by the visciousness of the Dark Troopers, and Luke was not amused by the presence of several Inquisitorius-sent operatives, even though they were low-ranking Dark Jedi and not Sith. History went on as usual, however, and Luke soon offered himself to be taken in by the Imperials.

Meanwhile, the combined Republic-Commonwealth flotilla dueled the Imperial armada above. They had been caught surprised by a fleet that numbered at least sixty Star Destroyers, and contained not one but two Super-SD's: the Executor and the Imperium. The two massive ships nearly tore the combined forces apart,

Aboard the Sith Moon, Luke confronted his father and surprise surprise, the Emperor himself! Palpatine revealed to the Jedi in training that he had mastered the technique of creating a Force doppelganger with some of his powers, and it was one of them who had been killed by Jax. He then offered him the chance to learn that technique, if he only joined the Dark Side. But Luke rejected him, and his goodness and command of the Light Side redeemed his father, who was Darth Vader no more. Turning against his former master, Anakin Skywalker killed the Emperor, at the cost of mortally wounding himself.

But that wasn't the end of it.

A massive holoprojection appeared in the throne room. The Emperor was once again alive; they had merely killed one of his doppelgangers, and he was actually aboard the Imperium. He gloated at the Skywalkers, saying they would have been far too weak to defeat him had he been present in the flesh. He revealed the true plan of his double-death: he would lull the Galaxy into mourning in his name, root out all potential traitors from the lowliest Army trooper to his greatest Sith apprentice, and create such a terrible situation in the Empire that only his return could end it. After he killed the Skywalker males, he would take Leia as a pupil, or perhaps just slay her altogether. In any case, soon he would make his triumphant return from death, cement his rule of the Galaxy for all eternity, and continue his secret plan to turn it into a Sith Empire that would one day be absorbed into himself.

Anakin told Luke that he loved him and Leia, and ordered him to escape the Sith Moon. Luke refused, but Anakin pushed him off, throwing him into the core shaft, where he landed safely on another level of the station. In perhaps the most immensely powerful feat of the Force the Galaxy had ever known, Anakin Skywalker pulled the Imperium and sent it plunging into the battlestation's superlaser. The gargantuan collision, combined with an attack on Sith Moon's core by Lando Calrissian, utterly destroyed the Second Death Star.

But the battle was not yet over. Though Darth Vader's demise had greatly shocked the Imperials, most had not know that their Emperor had been alive as well, and so were less able to feel a lack of the Force Meditation that he had empowered them with. They continued to batter the New Republicans and the Commonwealth. It was then that the Lord Protector made his move. Admiral Sarn arrived with reinforcements aboard the Executor-class Terror, with two more marvels- the Darksaber superlaser, having previously been constructed on a shoestring budget by Durga the Hutt, and the similar Zaarin mini-battlestation. Though the Darksaber promptly self-destructed with the hapless Hutt aboard it, the combined effort of the Terror, the Zaarin, and the Commonwealth's advanced TIE starfighters turned the battle around. When an A-wing crashed onto the bridge of the Executor, it was obvious that the Imperials were to lose.

As the Empire's Royalists fled into hyperspace, the Commonwealth abruptly turned on the New Republic. Playing a recording of Lord Protector Zaarin, they announced that the New Republic, while misguided, was a menace to the well-being of the Galaxy, and that they should surrender to the Imperial Commonwealth. Admiral Ackbar unsurprisingly refused. The battle was joined again, but the New Republic, in turn, were saved when forces under Garm Bel Iblis arrived. Though he was in grief, Luke agreed to help end the battle and joined Lando aboard the Millennium Falcon. Together, they boarded the Zaarin and destroyed it. Fearing the loss of the Terror, Sarn ordered a retreat, and so the New Republic became the sole victors of the Battle of Endor.

The battle fundamentally shifted the galactic balance.

Effects of the Battle of Endor: The Imperial Commonwealth had been hurt badly in the battle. Not only had their two most powerful "aces in the hole" been destroyed, but they were unable to defeat their new enemy. The New Republic would never trust Zaarin again. The defeat caused an inner coup attempt that ended with the deaths of Grand Moff Trachta and General Skosef, Grand Moff Bartam fleeing the Commonwealth (he would later emerge in the court of Zsinj), and a severe drop in morale. However, Zaarin continued to preside as Lord Protector, and strangely continued to be supported by his 'half-Sith' court of Dark Jedis.

While the Tarkin Technocracy had little to do with the battle, it is notable that within days after its conclusion, Prefect Tarkin himself passed away from his sickness. In his place his lover Daala became leader [1]. She was notably more dynamic than her late husband, unafraid to use force instead of the mere threat of force [1]. Under her rule moderate expansion took place, though the Nova Colossus continued to remain in orbit around Corellia.

The Battle of Endor was a momentous defeat for the Empire. With Palpatine dead, his scheme to forcefully reunite the splintered Galaxy died away. Not only had the Empire's newest superweapon been lost, but at last the Sith "cult of two" had been erased from the land of the living. Without Vader around to back him up, Chancellor Pestage's position was much reduced, and he was forced to find a patron in Director of Imperial Intelligence Ysanne Isard. Many saw the Battle as a sign that "acting emperor" Pestage was utterly incompetent and 'un-Imperial.' The Empire divided once again between Royalists and everyone else. Moffs and admirals joined the Commonwealth, the Technocracy, or went warlord, and some such as Admiral Harkov even defected to the New Republic with their fleets. A time of chaos commenced. The true age of warlordism had begun.

It was in this time that several new factions appeared-

Central Committee of Moffs: Some have called this group "the Empire's shadow", as it is the only Imperial splinter faction to possess both moffs as well as (pretender) heirs of the Palpatine family. Grand Moff Hissa of the Kessel Sector rejected Pestage and Isard's authority and left with a band of his fellows, claiming that they would only accept the authority of a blood relative to the late Emperor, or as they described it, "wearing the glove of Darth Vader." They first advanced a distant grand-niece, eleven-year old Ederlathh Pallopides, as true heir to the throne, with themselves as stewards. However, she was soon abducted by Admiral Betl Oxtroe, an Imperial starfleet officer who defected to the New Republic after her own attempts at peace talks to establish a constitutional monarchy had failed. The Committee then rallied around the mutant pretender of Trioculus, once Slavemaster of Kessel. Though the three-eyed mutant proved to be an imbecile, he was a loyal puppet to Hissa, and possessed enough charisma to draw many to his side. Through treachery and manipulation that I am too lazy to even begin to write about, the puppet Trioculus is killed by New Republic assassins, and the Committee has now become an actual warlord faction under the continued leadership of Hissa, with Irek I, the child of two Emperor's Hands, as pretender heir.

Zsinj Despotate: The foremost independent, non-aligned of warlords in the post-Endor war. A talented man and canny schemer, Zsinj became the only real warlord outside of the Imperial Commonwealth and Central Committee territory ('Moffspace') that was capable of threatening the Empire itself. Lacking both political and ideological support, Zsinj was nonetheless capable of establishing control of large chunks of the Galaxy. Notably, his modus operandi was to exact tribute instead of ruling conquered territories himself, granting the Despotate a reputation of a 'half-decent dictatorship', rather like the Commonwealth.

Miscellaneous Warlords: Largely disunited and with far smaller pocket empires, all smaller than the Zsinj Despotate, Moffspace, and the Commonwealth, they vied for power, fighting every side and each other. The most important were the ones led by Supreme Warlord Harrsk, High Admiral Teradoc, and Supreme General Delvardus, and ex-Moff Pirate Queen Leonia Tavira and her Invid pirate bands. Though they later participated in some capacity during the Thrawn campaign and Operation Shadow Man, most broke away. It remains to be seen if they can be won over or eliminated by the current head of the Empire.

So what were the Royalists during all of this? Ysanne Isard soon grew tired of Pestage and the Imperial Interim Council, and manipulated them into purging each other so she could become Imperial Steward. With her prodigious machinations, she supplanted the rival Imperial Security Bureau (still run by Central Commander Yularen) with her Imperial Intelligence as the primary espionage agency of the Empire, despite that it had always been smaller, especially with the defection of Kirtan Loor and other like-minded agents to the Tarkin Technocracy and the loss of most of the Inquisitorius to the Imperial Commonwealth. After pacifying a few planets and waging the unsuccessful Bacta War with the New Republic, Isard pulled an elaborate scheme that led to the death of Trioculus and weakened the Empire's shadow, and then began designs towards subduing the New Republic, the Imperial Commonwealth, Zsinj's little empire, and recapturing Corellia from the Tarkin Technocracy.

Thrawn Reconquista: Her plans nearly came to frutition with the return of Grand Admiral Thrawn from the Unknown Regions. He replaced 'Prince-Admiral' Krennel as Supreme Commander of the Imperial Fleet, and immediately began a grandiose campaign that came to be known as the Thrawn Reconquista. Using ingenious plans and new clones, Thrawn swept through the Galaxy, elegantly devestating the New Republic, which he saw as the chief ideological threat to the Empire. However, he soon realized that the breakaway neo-Imperial states were a more pressing concern, and linked with Isard's Royalists to attack the warlords. He smashed the Imperial Commonwealth, destroyed several minor pocket empires, and most notably, virtually incapacitated the Tarkin Technocracy in three strokes. He first lured the Nova Colossus away from Corellia to Mon Calamari[1], which had newly became Royalist territory, albeit tenuously held. He then activated an undercover Royalist agent in the Technocracy who approached Garm Bel Iblis's breakaway Rebel Alliance with an offer of neutrality, allowing Corellia and its holdings to become an independent and neutral location in the Galaxy [1]. Finally, in a gambit using the Sun Crusher Thrawn destroyed the Nova Colossus- the last Death Star of the Galaxy- over Mon Calamari, and Daala along with it.[1].

Though Mon Mothma, Han Solo, and others attempted to change his mind, Bel Iblis felt that his duty was to his world, and privately continued to hold suspicions about the promises of the New Republic. And so, his Rebel Alliance became the defacto authority of the newly-christened Corellian Sovereignty, and he was elected Diktat. When most of the Corellian members, including Wedge Antilles, Corran Horn, and Dash Rendar, left to join their homeworld's government, the New Republic was weakened drastically. Their ony reprieve came when Thrawn was poisoned by his own bodyguard, putting him into a coma. Though the Rebel Alliance promised the New Republic to retain a cordial relationship and made faint noises about a future reunification, the NR had ironically been most hurt not by military offensives, but the use of soft tactics.

Ultimately, the Thrawn Reconquista's greatest feat was bringing many of the warlord worlds back into the Royalist fold. The Technocracy had been worst hit, and was reduced to being a dictatorship over Sullust [1]. Its own ability to enforce the New Order was based only on warships, which while still potent, could not possibly compare to the planet-cracker that was the Nova Colossus. The Imperial Commonwealth felt a crisis of confidence, and Zaarin resigned from the political leadership to focus on military and technological projects. In his place Carnor Jax, the first assassin of the Emperor, and the man some believed had saved the Galaxy from the depravities of a Sith Empire, was crowned Lord Protector. Though he continued the relatively benevolent policies of his predecessor, he also continued to mobilize his state for war, and refused to sign a non-aggression pact with the New Republic. Ultimately though, it led to the downfall of both Thrawn and Isard, who was permanently removed by a vengeful Council and replaced by the civilian bureaucrat Xandel Carivus as Acting-Emperor.

Confederacy of Unaligned Stars and Planets: Even during the build up to the Battle of Endor, there were those who despised both the New Republic and the Empire in all of its incarnations. They felt that the Empire had failed despite its initial successes, and that the NR would only bring back yet another failed system of government. They instead looked for another source of inspiration- the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Remembering the failed Separatists of the Clone War, they looked back with romanticized nostalgia at the CIS as the potential true new order to the Galaxy, but had been viciously betrayed by both the Republic and the Sith. This movement would have gone nowhere had the Imperial Civil War not begun with the Tarkinist and Zaarinite secessions, causing many corporations to view that Palpatine had been unable to keep order for the good of commerce. Sometime after the Battle of Endor, the Corporate Sector Authority contacted the few remaining old Separatist holdouts and forged a coalition. They decided that they would fight to create a Galaxy united by unlimited free trade and mutual defense; no more, no less. They named this coalition the Confederacy of Unaligned Stars and Planets, and immediately sent representatives to the more free-minded worlds and systems of the Galaxy, courting them for membership. CUSP soon found its biggest supporters in polities with strong regionalist identities and monopolies, systems that had been with the original CIS, and other systems that had since decided that the other Galactic factions offered them nothing worthwhile. The Confederacy managed to gain the membership of the CSA, the otherwise fiercely neutral Hapan Consortium, and even ex-Imperial warlords such as the disillusioned Grand Moff Ardus Kaine, who brought in his Pentastar Alignment after Operation Shadow Man. Desiring a free existence separate from both the tyrannical Empire as well as the chaotic, meddling Republic, the reborn Confederacy has seen its star rise even as the conflict continues. But aside from companies and countries, CUSP has also found a third pillar of strength: crime.

"They say that all politics is criminal. Even so, I must regret that now all crime is political." - Tyber Zann

During this time of conflict, criminal activities have been on the upswing. Law and order flicker, and there is always a demand from smugglers, spice-merchants, mercenaries, assassins, bounty hunters, splicers, and any other extralegal practioner one can think of. The only difference is that many groups have switched allegiances with one of the factions. There are a few enterprises of note.

Black Sun: Now a happy part of the New Republic family. Though senators such as Mon Mothma and Leia Organa-Solo may not like it, Xizor brought a lot of baggage with him when he defected, and his making a tidy profit being the transporter and supplier for the NR. Of course, his greatest commodity is intelligence and information, and he provides it in spades. In response, they look the other way when he smuggles spice or illegal gems- or occasionally caps a rival crimelord.

Smuggler's Alliance: Though Talon Kaarde had a good run with the New Republic during the Thrawn Reconquista, he later decides that being involved with the intrigue on Corellia is worth it more, and has switched the primary focus of his organization to the Rebel Alliance. However, he remains cordial with the NR, and his organization has Galactic reach, after all.

Zann Consortium: Tyber Zann realizes that his Consortium has been thoroughly thrashed by the Third Battle of Kuat and his war against his former Nightsister ally, Silri, and decides to step away from military endeavors for a while and undergo reconstruction efforts. In his adventures, he comes across a message originating from an obscure planetoid in the Far Rim. There, he is met by the surviving members of the old Confederacy of Independent Systems, as well as leaders of the Corporate Sector Authority. Led by the unlikely guerrilla war veteran of Neimodian Marath Vooro, former Customs Vizier of the Trade Federation, they proposed a coalition to rebuild the Separatist movement, and offered him a prominent command within it. Zann, being the paragon opportunist, agreed and contributed the ships that he had to the newly recreated Confederacy navy and his Defilers to the CUSP intelligence network, while secretly resolving to continue his campaign of corruption and other agendas.

Black Nebula: An Independent offshoot of Black Sun under Xizor's niece Savan. While grateful that her uncle had indirectly contributed to Vader's downfall, she detested his apparent servitude to the New Republic, and broke off several sections of his network in the process, establishing her own criminal mini-empire. She's been trying to fill the void that Black Sun made when it dipped itself into legitimate status, and has at least one run-in with the NR when she attempted to capture her uncle's assassin droid Guri, but otherwise Black Nebula has been somewhat unremarkable.

Hutt Cartel: The Cartel does not and has not ever existed. There is no such thing. It is a legend made up by crummy Rebels to denounce the Empire's moral excellence! Actually, Hutt Space has been all a-twitter since the deaths of two of its most promising lumiaries, the wondeful human beings Jabba and Durga. They do pretty much hate the NR for causing the deaths of both (never mind that Hutt-on-Hutt violence is the greatest killer of Hutts in general), and have continued to rule Hutt Space. Crimewise, the Hutt Cartel is as freewheeling and Independent as ever, though collectively they would be more inclined to support the Confederacy, never mind Tyber Zann's previously long-standing feud with Jabba.


Place of interest, Corellia: Corellia is essentially a giant Swiss Russia, a world full of unstable political in-fighting covered over by neutrality and prosperity. Even though Garm Bel Iblis's (New) Rebel Alliance-cum Corellian Sovereignty is the official authority, strong supporters for rejoining the New Republic continue to dominate the opposition. The only reason why they continue to lose is because many continue to feel that the NR abandoned the planet to the Tarkinists [1]. Actual support for the Imperial factions also exist on the planet. Some believe that the original Empire's rule of the planet was itself not so bad, and Royalists do receive the bulk of pro-Imperial sympathies. The Imperial Commonwealth is second, as there are those who respect Zaarin's paternal authoritarianism, as well as (secretly) his attempt at absorbing the New Republic. Though they don't really have much ideological support to begin with, agents of the Central Committee, and even Zsinj and the lesser warlords are present on the planet. There are even a few Tarkinists, mostly those who were collaborators during the Technocracy's rule. They are quickly dying out, as CorSec's cops and Bel Iblis's "Corellian Freedom Guard" quickly snatch them from out of their beds in the dead of night to give them a quiet retirement in the alleyways. A rising power in the government is those in favor of joining the virtually-neutral Confederacy of Unaligned Stars and Planets led by the brutish Thracken Sal-Solo, whom many still continue to be a terrorist. Finally, as always, agents of every single major criminal network and cartel are present as well, even having their own "embassy quarter" in Coronet. However, Corellia remains rich as it continues to rebuild its naval construction industry in service of the ongoing war, and so people can afford to overlook the political instability- most of the time.


Sith and Dark Jedi: Shortly following the Thrawn campaign, a massive Sith Sabbat is held on Korriban, where remnants of Palpatine's Dark Side Adepts and assorted Dark Jedi, Emperor's Hands, Inquisitors, Mages, Sovereign Protectors, and so on assemble to decide the fate of the Order. Unfortunately for them, there isn't a single true Sith among them, and they quickly fall prey to internecine conflict. The members of the Inquisitorius largely continue to support the Zaarin Cabal, many of the Emperor's Mages have reverted back to being Prophets of the Dark Side and announce the desire to secede to reform Darth Millennial's wayward splinter order, and the Hands (as well as the less visible Eyes, Voice, and Reach) begin killing each other over who was ol' Palpy's favorite. Meanwhile, the more scheming back-stabbers of the group- including Jerec, Cronal, and Lumiya- withdraw separately with their few followers. At the end of the day, aside from the Inquisitors and Prophets (who had left the planet almost immediately) and the schemers, barely a dozen or so of the Emperor's former students remain, and there was much rejoicing by the wraiths of the Sith Lords at the death and destruction. The surviors united around Lord Hethrir, and rename themselves the Disciples of the Reborn Imperium. Besides declaring that the Dark Side had chosen Palpatine's successor, they make a pact to bring about the Empire by either resurrecting their late master or another Sith. They then rejoin the Royalists on Coruscant, pledging themselves to Xandel Carivus, who approves of their plan to create a Dark Jedi Academy and to staff the Church of the Dark Side with Imperial Intelligence-trained impostors in order to discredit the traitor Prophets.

Three Palpatine Scares: The Disciples, also called Imperium Sith, kick-off the First Palpatine Scare by attacking the HoloNet and staging false appearances of the former Emperor on multiple worlds. This corresponds with a renewed military offensive as several worlds quickly return to the Empire out of fear. However, with the help of the nascent New Jedi Order led by Luke, the Imperium Sith's plot was uncovered, revealed, and foiled.

A few months later they tried again with the massive Operation Shadow Man. Using arcane Dark Side arts and high technology, the Imperium Sith turned awoke from stasis the Dark Side Elite, seven of Palpatine's greatest warriors. Hethrir then adopted the guise of the Emperor Reborn, naming his lover Rillao his Dark Apprentice and Tavion Axmis his Emperor's Sword (Executor). At the same time, the Nightsister Silri began a campaign of terror with the carbonite Sith Army she had discovered when she was under the employ of Tyber Zann. Attacking with Sith cultists, their Imperial forces, and even members of the Empire Youth who had been artifically grafted Force powers, Operation Shadow Man- the Second Palpatine Scare- proved to be the most potent Imperial offensive since the Thrawn Reconquista. The New Republic quickly found itself fighting a defensive war and outright retreating, and was forced to strike a temporary alliance with several other governments, including the Imperial Commonwealth, the Zsinj Despotate, and the Zann Consortium, who manages to stop Silri's army. Though the Scare eventually waned as the Imperial forces were routed, the victory was very pyrrhic- the New Republic had been incredibly reduced in strength, and Luke Skywalker himself had had his confidence shaken as the Dark Side called to him after he himself slew the impostor Emperor.

Luke Skywalker landed on the alcove with a thud. Inches behind him sat the Sith Moon core vent, hundreds of thousands of meter deep. It led straight into the hypermatter reactor and almost certain death. As he stood up, he choked back a cry, willed himself with the Force, and began to run frantically across the myriads of corridors. Even within the station, the sounds of battle could be heard as hundreds of personnel rushed to their locations. But it would not be up to them. Their battle had already been decided. And lost.

He forced himself to run. This was an utterly bitter escape. He had rescued his father, finally met his true father at last- only to see him resign himself to death. What did this mean? Was Anakin Skywalker's destiny to never live a life, but to die?

The young knight entered one hallway only to see a full squad of stormtroopers with blaster rifles locked and loaded. Nearby, an Imperial officer in an authoritative black uniform leveled his own pistol at Luke. "Surrender, or we shall fire," he warned.

In response, Luke threw with the Force, and a whole column of the soldiers fell back. Their comrades fired at the Jedi, but he deflected their shots and closed in, Force-pushing the elite myrmidons left and right. Too much killing, he thought to himself. Too much today.

In a scant few seconds the squad had been down. Doors open, and Imperial troopers- both Army and Navy men- poured out. They were quickly dealt with as well. Only the black-clad officer stood, his pistol still pointed at Luke. He fired first.

Luke neatly deflected the shot and cut through his pistol, rendering it useless. The officer backed away, maintaining a battle-trained composure over a quickly churning mind. This was no mere pawn of the Inquisitorius, he reasoned. This one- he was capable of much more.

Luke deactivated his lightsaber and clipped it to his belt. It sat next to his father's lightsaber. Only minutes before his father had given it to him before casting him into the core. Running his fingers across the weapon for a moment, he snapped back to focus as the man spoke.

"I suppose I am your prisoner now. My name is Maximilian Veers. Rank: Major General."

Luke blinked. The Empire had never considered the New Republic to be a legal enemy within the few laws of war they bothered to follow half of the time. This was a new expectation.

He replied. "The station is going to be destroyed in just a few minutes. I think you'd better order an evacuation."

"Destroyed?" Veers frowned. "But the superlaser is operational!"

Luke shook his head. "Not for long. The New Republic has launched an attack on the reactor already. They're inside the Sith Moon as we speak. We've brought down the shields already."

Veers paled inwardly, but remained stolid. "This Death Star cannot be destroyed by a few mere starfighters, Rebel."

Luke sighed and approached the man. He waved his hand, and Veers could suddenly see a vision of the Empire's flagship plunging straight into the station. Quantum steel upon neutronium armor strained and crumbled before the hint of a fireball gave way to a flash. And then he was back.

"Vader is dead," Luke simply said. "And so is the Emperor."

Veers, though composure shaken, puzzled at the second bit. Emperor? Surely Chancellor Pestage would not be so stupid as to be aboard during the middle of such a battle!

But it was of no consequence. The Major General turned to the young man who had disabled his finest squad of soldiers. "Who are you? What are you?"

"My name is Luke Skywalker," he replied as he walked away. "I am a Jedi."

***

Major General Veers stumbled into his command room. This wasn't right. He was onboard only as an impromptu security chief for this section of the Sith Moon- they were rather short-staffed, after all, and so personnel from the Endor mission were temporarily absorbed into the crew. But he had no authority to order any sort of evacuation.

The vision of the destruction came back like an echo. He shook it off, and abruptly the lights in the room flickered.

"Rebels," he surmised.


***

Somewhere in the bowels of the station, the Outrider randomly blasted at yet another outlet on the superstructure.

"What are you doing, Dash?" Lando's voice crackled over the com.

"Just warming up with some target practice," Dash Rendar replied. His droid Leebo made a sniping comment at making the droid do all the dirty work while the human got to play, to which the smuggler told him to shut up and keep piloting.

***

Veers shook his head. The Sith Moon was lost, but that didn't mean the battle had to be. He had already sent a message to command, but doubtless that while the new breed of Death Star officers were unambitious and loyal, they were often unimaginative as well. And so they still placed an overabundant amount of faith in this machine of the Empire.

He nodded to his aide, one Chief Bast. The man made a few taps at a console, and gave the speaker to Veers. He was now patched in to the sound system of the entire station.

"All aboard the Sith Moon," he began. "The rebel forces have entered into the station's structure. An attack upon the core is imminent. Red-Black Squadron and Bladerunner Squadron, find and destroy this enemy at once. All other personnel, begin evacuation on shuttles to fall back to stronger positions. This is a general retreat. Regroup on the Executor or the secondary command vessels. This is a tactical retreat. The rebels may take our battlestation," he paused, and was heartened that no security team had been dispatched to throw him in the brig, "but we will take them today. May the Emperor be with you." He then immediately left with his staff.

On the main bridge, Moff Jerjerrod listened to the unauthorized transmission. "What the devil is this, Veers?" he demanded.

But it was too late. Aboard the Sith Moon, tens of thousands of Imperials were abandoning their posts, leaving for higher ground. But they were not fleeing in escape pods. Pilots were entering their starfighters. Troopers were boarding shuttles to bring them to the Grand Admirals' Star Destroyers. They were simply departing to continue the fight elsewhere.

***

Within the Emperor's throne room, the man who was once a Jedi stared at his old master.

"You are a fool, Ani," the Sith Lord's projection mocked. "You are a worm beneath my feet. I shall crush you and not even feel it."

"No," replied the Chosen One. "I am sand. You may hold and crush me, but the more you tighten your grip, the more I shall slip through your fingers."

He murmured a farewell to Padme, though perhaps a greeting would have been more appropriate. With a grim smile, Anakin Skywalker removed his helmet. He felt himself drift farther away from life, further into the Force. And Anakin used that, called upon the mystical energy field, wrapped it around him.

And pulled.

The Imperium shuddered and fell into the Sith Moon.

Contrary to Vantleglas' Death of a Death Star, the SSD did not plunge directly into the superlaser. It makes for a nice image, yes, a starkly beautiful display of utter death and destruction. But the truth is rather more prosaic than that. The 'flagship of the Empire' instead collided on the lower right section of the massive concave dish, destroying the tributary beam cannons situated roughly at 4 o'clock and 6 o'clock. It does not matter, however. The crash not only permanently killed the Sith Moon's superlaser, but each of the 280,000 who were aboard the Imperium. Not a single one of them, the secretly alive Emperor included, knew what hit them.

Outside in the battle and awaiting transferal, Major General Maximilian Veers shuddered in his shuttle. It was exactly as the vision the Jedi had shown him. He could only hope that Jerjerrod would announce a full evacuation at this moment, considering that the battlestation had scant minutes to live.

So this is what they felt. he mused. So this is what it was like to flee the Battle of Yavin. If only it had not ended like it did. The Empire would have no cause to be here. But there was no time to dwell on alternate paths, or presents, Veers decided. The Eleemosynary awaited. It was time for him to be a commander and a soldier.

With several volleys from the Home One, the HIMS Executor shuddered, hull fractures erupting all over its massive frame. It launched its turbolasers in one last futile struggle, and disappeared in a flash of a thousand points of light. But to the disappointment of the New Republic, the Executor had merely fled to hyperspace, not exploded from its reactor's final gasp. But regardless, the damage was done. Both of the Empire's flagships were gone. Many of the remaining Star Destroyers made to retreat as well, to regroup and prepare to push back some other day. But not today. Today, the forces of the Galactic Empire had been routed in its most terrible defeat.

Aboard the Home One, Admiral Ackbar resisted to join his crew in cheering. The battle was not yet complete. Several of the Imperial ships remained, resisting. And even after there was much work to be done. The Endor system was littered from the wreckage of thousands of ships. There would be a need to clean it all up, especially to prevent the detritus from falling upon the inhabited moon, causing a holocaust and the destruction of an entire planetary ecosystem, not to mention ruining the New Republic's post-battle afterparty.

The Mon Calamari's internal musings were interrupted by a broadcast. It was apparently fleetwide, and originated from the Terror, that fearsome mirror of the Executor, which still ominously remained in the battle. The Admiral did not like the alliance with the Imperial Commonwealth, did not like the Commonwealth's brutal conduct, and did not like the fact that they had a Super Star Dreadnought [there, a compromise] of their own, not to mention potential planet busters.

The visage of Lord Protector née Grand Admiral Demetrius Zaarin filled the viewscreens of hundreds of ships “This is a message to all vessels present at this historic moment. Congratulations, all. With your service and sacrifice, we have defeated the Empire.”

Hundreds of thousands of cheers filled the Endor system. Despite himself, Admiral Ackbar smiled slightly. It soon faded.

“The Empire was once a noble idea, a political experiment begun with the best of intentions. But that experiment has become tainted by the presence of corrupt and decadent fools who empowered Palpatine's tyranny. I move for us to remedy this corruption.

The man in the recording raised his fist. “This is the time, my fellow sentients. This is the time for us to reform this system, not destroy it. This Empire may have failed, but we not must be regressive. We cannot go back to the Republic, an even worse model of government. We must move to the future. I now proclaim the triumph of the Imperial Commonwealth. This is the true way. There can be no other.

Zaarin pointed out from the screens. “I invite you all, Palpatinist and Rebel alike, to lay down your arms. You have fought valiantly, but it is in the defense of futile systems and fallen dreams. Lay down your arms now, and you shall become the first of equals in the correct way of the Galaxy: the Commonwealth. Reject, and you will be the first against the wall. I leave this to you.”

The screen clicked. Ackbar bristled. The temerity! The presumption!

He had prepared for this eventuality, actually. Typing a few commands, he instantly notified his most loyal commanders in the New Republic fleet to target their weapons at the Commonwealth forces- not to mention several NR ships that were captained by rather suspicious characters. Then he began transmitting his own message to the fleet.

“All forces loyal to the New Republic, confirm your loyalty now, or depart the battlefield. You have five minutes to comply.”

Within moments, dozens of Republican craft signaled their intentions. But others wavered, delayed. They were instantly bombarded with transmissions urgently asking for assurance.

New Republic Star Destroyer Protector

Admiral Harkov gripped his console.

The messages kept on coming. Demanding his loyalty, demanding the loyalty of his crew. Say you're one of us, or get the frell out before we blow you to bits along with the rest of them.

It would be simple enough to say that yes, the Protector is a New Republic ship, we are all on the same side, after all. Thank you for asking, shall we get on with the battle? But his men had been getting restless ever since they joined up. They had soon found that the New Republic wasn't what such a welcome change from the Empire after all. Too many aliens, too many bleeding hearts. Whispers gathered in the mess halls, in the quarters, on the bridge. Mon Mothma didn't like them, they said. Peacenik MoMo wanted to disassemble their ship and stuff them into a Mon Calamari blobcraft. Throw away their ranks and make them all swabbies.

This wasn't what he had in mind when he defected. Joining the Commonwealth wasn't a bad idea in the minds of many of his men. But could he successfully join them? Doubtless that wily squiddy had already put a safety control ready. The moment Harkov declared his decision to re-defect, his ship would be blown out of the sky, no warnings or retreat granted. Harkov was a cautious man, always on the ready to preserve the security of his schemes. He had known from the day that he joined up that the New Republic would never kill him without reason. But here was a reason. And there was a reason for his men to mutiny.

"Admiral Harkov?" asked his XO, a fellow named Trace. Harkov had promoted him because the man had seemed to also possess traits of prudence, as he was always watchful, always on the lookout. Though there was something about him that he could never put a finger on.

"How should we respond, Admiral?"

Forty years later

Vradek: Your actions during the Battle of Endor are something of a minor legend, Admiral. Most of the fleet expected that you would defect to the Imperial Commonwealth. Your subsequent actions were invaluable to stopping the real defectors. Pardon me to be so bold to ask, but why did you remain loyal to the New Republic?

Admiral Harkov, ret.: (laughs) No, it's quite all right. Sarn had just played Zaarin's speech, and my men were all clamoring at the opportunity to jump. But all I could think of what we had seen that day. My brother was at the Battle of Yavin, you know. He was a member of Motti's staff. He barely made it out. All I could think of was that, and I said-

Forty years earlier, Battle of Endor

"The Rebels destroyed the Death Star with a single torpedo. Today they destroyed another with nothing but the sheer force of will. How could all the darktroopers and cloaked TIEs of the Galaxy possibly stand up to that?"

He turned from Captain Trace and began broadcasting an entire ship-wide message. "My fellow fighting men of the Protector. I know what you are feeling. You are feeling that you have been cheated by the New Republic. That we have been bought and sold. That we are cast off, dying for the wrong cause. Well, my friends, I am here to say that you are wrong!"

Thousands of foreheads furrowed in disbelief. Did the Admiral want them to cast him out of an airlock?

"Sailors of the Protector, this cause we fight for is our own. Every drop of blood we spill, each life we take, we do so for our own cause. Our cause to be free! Free of emperors and protectors! Free of men clad in the finery of royalty! Free for our own sake!"

He paused, and was gladdened that none had fired upon him. "My brothers, do not be fooled by the pretty words of much such as Zaarin, or Tarkin, or Pestage. We left the Empire because we believed them unjust. We may believe that the New Republic is likewise wrong, but tell me, can we not at least do something about it? Yes, at least we have a chance in the Republic, my sons. The New Republic's ways can be mended, can be altered to serve our interests. That is not true with any Imperial state, Palpatine or not. Today we must remain together! True fighting men, fighting for a true cause!"

A cheer began. Harkov inwardly smiled. They could be reasoned with.

"Fellow sailors, we fight today not for Mothma! Not for Organa! Not for Ackbar! We fight for our own cause, so we can live and die free! Let us fight for our New Republic! We are the New Republic!"

Amidst shouts of agreement emanating from the entire Star Destroyer, the Mon Calamari admiral's visage flashed onto the main viewscreen.

"Well, Admiral Harkov?" asked the amphibian.

"Admiral Ackbar, the Protector is the New Republic's."

----------------------------------------------------------------

“You're our only hope, Luke.”

The son of the greatest Jedi looked up.

General Lando Calrissian gazed back. Luke had been wondering who would be sent to talk to him. He had guessed either his sister or Han. But Han was still recuperating from his stint as décor. So they had sent his best friend, instead. He had been sitting in the Imperial shuttle he had commandeered ever since he returned from the Sith Moon. It seemed like ages had passed. Luke still couldn't believe what had happened that day. He had saved his father, only to watch him stay behind to save his son. To save the Republic. To save them all.

"I heard from Leia what happened," Lando said. "That- must have been something, to find your father on that Death Star. So he killed Vader and the Emperor by himself? Well believe me, kid, we're going to his honor his memory until the stars die."

Luke smiled grimly. So Leia had been explaining it that way? It was true- from a certain point of view. Of course.

"What does the Republic need me, for, Lando?" he asked. "Haven't we won the battle?"

Lando grinned. "Since when is toppling the Empire ever a cakewalk?" He then shook his head, returning to sobriety. "No, Luke. Zaarin's double-crossed us. The Imps are fleeing, but the Commonwealthers have turned on the fleet. They've sent in another Executor-class, and two micro-planet busters. One of them blew up when they tried to fire, but the other-"

Luke's ears perked up at that and stood. His internal struggles could wait. "Count me in."

Lando smiled again. "I guess we need an expert at destroying Death Stars."

[CENTER]***[/CENTER]

Lando and Luke weren't flying alone. Along with copilot Nien Nunb and trusty droid R2-D2, a cadre of New Republic SpecForces accompanied the three Star Warriors aboard the Millennium Falcon. Major Bren Derlin, fresh from the landside Battle on Endor, had brought his finest commandoes along. The Zaarin would not be lacking in security.

But just getting to the superlaser was difficult enough. The Battle of Endor continued to rage. Incom '-Wing starfighters dueled with TIE Hunters and chased off TIE Interdictors from hitting the New Republic capital ships. The various craft from the TIE Experimental project also swarmed, remotely controlled from the Terror itself. Most fearsome were the cloaked TIE Phantoms which stalked the skies in sensor silence, as well as the TIE Avengers, the pride of the Commonwealth Armada.

The Millennium Falcon outran them all. A few minutes after leaving Home One, Lando furtively flicked several switches and the Falcon disappeared to everyone's surprise.

"Just a little modification, courtesy of Gadum Batch," he winked at Luke. "Some of Madine's fellas got into something called Vorknkx. Chewie's going to kill me if I keep this, though. Thing's a power hog. But it makes sneaking much easier, no?"

The cloaked Falcon cut through space, unmolested by the Commonwealth TIEs. Its inhabitants reluctantly let the mechanical monstrosities alone. At the very least, it was an opportunity to observe the bizarre vessels. The Commonwealth had brought fewer capital ships than the New Republic, but their swarms of TIEs and their superships more than made up for the numbers. To their credit, they had not been using the Zaarin against the Mon Calamari cruisers, instead opting to pick off the (non-medical) support craft of the fleet in a bid to get the pro-democrats to see reason before Home One had to be destroyed. The ploy wasn't working, of course. You destroy a single X-Wing, and the entire New Republic goes after you.

Though some weren't getting the message. Several Corellian cruisers and manowars, their captains realizing that they were prime targets, started firing at their compatriots. Lando was tempted to squeeze off a few shots at a nearby traitor ship when a Star Destroyer zoomed by and brought down its shields, then immobilizd it with ion cannons. As both the Millennium Falcon and the Protector flew off, an immensely powerful energy blast shot across space and vaped the disabled vessel. So much for Commonwealth generosity, everyone thought.

To speak of the devil, the Zaarin came into view. A dozen New Republic ships with multitudes of starfighters surrounded the battlestation, gnats and flies around a great cyclopean sentinel. Its ionic eye spat death like blinks. The inhabitants of the Falcon could not help but to shudder at such a weapon- unencumbered by excessive hulk or weakpoints, and captained by capable military tacticians, the weapon was potentially more lethal than any Death Star, even the still extant Nova Titan restricted to Corellia.

With Nien's excellent navigation, Lando deftly piloted the Falcon through the dueling ships and into the gaping maw of a landing bay. Fortunately to the heroes and the story, it was the only ship left inside. As they entered, General Calrissian threw off the cloak, gaining the attention of the officer in the docking control room. A throng of clone stormtroopers courtesy of Grand Moffs Trachta and Bartam rushed out, the Corellian freighter's laser cannons went snicker-snack, and there were soldiers no more. Quickly, the Star Warriors and commandoes rushed into docking control, where Artoo sealed the landing bay doors, refusing requests to open them.

The New-Republicans entered the battlestation, most of the commandoes heading for the reactor with Lando, while Luke and the others headed for the bridge. The droid stayed behind, slicing into the Zaarin's computer system. The SpecForce operatives quickly dispatched the hapless clone stormtroopers and Commonwealth infantry with ease, though Luke flinched with every death.

A familiar set of clicks and beeps appeared on his comlinks. Artoo warned that security had been increased and more capable forces were en route. Luke reached out with the Force, and oddly could not detect any life in his enemy. Fortunately, he was able to sense their presence regardless and yell a warning as five Phase I dark troopers burst from ceiling panels, stabbing a commando through the leg before Luke sliced the battle droids apart. Lando relayed a warning to the other team, but was reassured that Artoo was looking out for them as well.

They dashed through several more corridors, blasting more Phase I's and clone storm'ers. At one particular deck, Luke felt a pull in the Force and a dark presence. Bidding the others to pause and to wait for him, he entered one room to the side. Inside the chamber adorned with strange symbols stood a warrior with a lightsaber.

The Dark Jedi was a bald male Zeltron garbed in royal blue robes with saffron red trim- the attire of a Commonwealth Inquisitor. Luke almost snorted. While the former Emperor's pawn cut an intimidating sight, the Dark Jedi that had been sent with the clone stormtroopers during the mission on Endor proved to be no match for the real Imperials. Three total, one had been claimed by a land mine she had failed to detect, the other's life simply snuffed out like a birthday candle by Vader. This one had survived somehow, but Luke doubted he would be remotely as powerful as his father. Besides, crimson skin clashed horribly with the blue robes.

"I bid you dark greetings, Skywalker," mocked the Inquisitor.

Luke saluted. "Will you not submit to the Light Side?" he asked.

The Inquisitor cackled. "No more than a star can submit to a slug. But you- you will be the Dark Side's, or die!"

He lunged at the Jedi, igniting his weapon. A green beam burst, and the startled Luke immediately responded by bringing out his own lightsaber to meet it. They dueled a masterful fight that defied description. They fought all over the chamber, cutting every single way, kicking each other, destroying the elaborate Sith wall scrolls and Dark Side knicknack artifacts that decorated the meditation chamber. The Zeltron was good. Luke had grievously overestimated him. Or perhaps he had masked his true power in the Dark Side of the Force. Either way, the Inquisitor put on an excellent fight, and green on green violence dominated the duel.

Tiring of the spectacle, the Zeltron abruptly pushed with the Force, throwing Luke back. He landed a few feet away, and his lightsaber fell from his grasp and rolled away. The Jedi thrashed frantically, trying to climb up and return to the fight, but was pinned down by an invisible Force. The Inquisitor grinned and walked towards him slowly, one arm out and raised at the supine figure, the other with the lightsaber pointed at his body.

"You may duel well, Jedi," hissed the Zeltron. "But the powers of the Dark Side are innumerable. Palpatine and his armored toady were weak, weak fools. I shall show you what a true Sith is!"

Despite the pain of the pressure, despite the fear of the emerald beam pointed at his throat, Luke felt rage. Rage at his current weakness, rage against the Inquisitor, rage against the insult against his father. He called upon that rage, and the bubble of power burst slightly, and his lightsaber shot through the room into his open hand. Before the Dark Sider could realize what had happened, his own lightsaber had been neatly bisected, and he was missing most of the hand that had wielded it.

Luke jumped up and kicked the Zeltron, causing the alien to fall back with a yelp onto his knees. Without a thought, Luke took his father's lightsaber from his belt and activated it. He brought the two blades against the Inquisitor's neck, red and green criss-crossing in a deadly Jedi kill tie.

"I submit to you, Jedi," gasped the Inquisitor. "You are a true master of the Force. I- spare me, master, please!"

"You are too dangerous to be kept alive," Luke replied flatly.

With a single swipe, red and green crossed at the Dark Jedi's head, neatly severing it. The Inquisitor's body tottered and fell, blood soaking immaculate blue.

Luke stood back. He felt weak, yet- empowered. He was exposed, yet he had never been stronger in his life. But as a sense of control returned to him, he realized what had happened. Luke exhaled, and threw away his lightsabers, which clattered to the floor. He fell to the floor in front of the body. What had he done? He had just murdered a surrendered enemy in cold blood. How could he? Surely he was strong enough to resist the Dark Side!

With a heavy heart, Luke retrieved his lightsaber. And with grave misgivings, he took his father's lightsaber as well. He couldn't just leave it- what if another Commonwealther came across it. He double-checked that his foe's own weapon had been truly destroyed, swore he could hear the dead man whispering to him, and opened the chamber door.

The commandoes stood there, as alert as ever. They snapped to attention.

"What happened, sir?" asked Major Derlin.

Luke shook his head. "No... nothing too important, Major. Ran into a threat. It's... gone now."

Though the SpecForce commando looked quizzical, he quickly accepted the answer. They continued into the battlestation.

[CENTER]***[/CENTER]

This is how it feels to be Colonel Nord. You are a dead man. Well, not literally dead, as that would seriously render the exercise of deriving your point of view in an overrated harrumphing manner utterly pointless, but you are marked. The shadow of Death is upon you. Your greatest fear is in your refuge of the past years.

But you don't know that.

You were once in a crowd, a clique, a conspiracy of officers serving under Darth Vader, the Emperor's prime hachetman. You saw comrade after colleague perish under the biomechanical fiend's iron rule and sorcerous ways. You blanched every time a good man, a good Imperial was forced to walk out an airlock, forced to their own blasterfire, and choked to death by witchery. You feared that the next utterly human mistake you made would be your own undoing. And you vowed that you would do something about it, anything. And all your attempts had been futile.

But then Grand Admiral Zaarin came into the picture. You've never had much love for the man, though you certainly found him to be less unsavory than Worldburner Tarkin. But he wanted your battlestation, and experienced crew to command it, so he bought your loyalty by promising safe haven from rampaging Sith Lords. You and your superior, General Biel, were all too eager to accept.

And so you ended up working for the Imperial Commonwealth. Perhaps in the long run you would have had to face Vader himself again, but at least for the moment you're light-years away from him. Besides, there are continuous rumors that some of the Emperor's own mage pawns had defected to your side. Perhaps their combined force would be enough to overcome Vader. Perhaps you no longer have anything to fear except fear itself. You keep dreaming these wishful thoughts, and as the days pass, you start to believe them.

Not today.

The Zaarin, once the Tarkin, is facing its greatest threat. The battlestation has had a quiet existence thus far, as the Commonwealth Admiralty preferred to eschew using superweapons in open combat. As such, the fearsome machine's uses has been limited to forcing the population of Aeten II to evacuate their home planet, and the subsequent blasting of their planet for stygium on the behest of Grand Admiral Batch. But now it had finally been unleashed in battle, a testament to the glory of Imperial science.

And it was faltering against the might of the New Republic. Admittedly, the orders from the top were hampering the battlestation's full potential, but the internal threat was much worse. The Mon Calamari cruisers were engaging against the Terror and the other Commonwealth capital ships. The Rebs had only thrown this damned inflitration team against the battlestation, and they were carving up the security forces. They were like ghosts, weaving between decks and sections, avoiding the bulk of the force hunting them, and destroying the ones unlucky enough to encounter them.

Fear grips your heart. If you lose the station, common courtesy demands that you go down with it. At least Durga the Hutt had the decency to die with his ridiculous would-be 'Zaarin II.' The loss of such a strategic weapon in the Commonwealth arsenal would merit at least a quick-court-martial and termination. Zaarin would not be above summarily executing you for such a blunder, hell, not even Biel wouldn't. On some days you wonder why the old man had given you his title of Chief Officer of the Zaarin Battlestation to command a desk job. And now you know.

"All Phase II dark trooper teams dispatch to positions forward of the last known intruder sighting!" you bark. "Stormtroopers, convene at designated points of importance! Don't let the Rebels destroy this station!"

You punch several more keys and send several more orders to other subordinates. You hesitate on the last one. You've never liked the alien devil, despite the policy of placing an Inquisitor on each major installation and vessel of the Commonwealth. The magenta-skinned wretch had always been a nuisance, acting as if he owned this place, and that he could get you killed for treason. You utterly resent reporting to him.

So you decide not to call him. He's probably out hunting the New Republic commandoes anyways.

With a twist of a knob, a sophisticated holo of the station leaps up in full 3-D. You scrutinize it, frowning. This is all wrong. There were attacks throughout numerous areas of the vessel. Clearly there were multiple teams, but what were they searching for? Some were heading to the reactors, certainly to destroy the station in a desparate attempt, but what were the other ones, emanating from aft, going for?

Then it dawns on you. They're heading for the bridge. Heading for you.

You call up several of your own clone stormtroopers to amass in areas around your command center. You grit your teeth in irritation at the state of your faction's land forces. There's no such thing as a Commonwealth Army yet. Merely a quickly-assembled motley of Trachta's clones, Mohc's dark troopers, the various Grand Admirals' stormtroopers, and Durga's mercenaries. As such, security on one of the most powerful assets of the entire faction was actually quite low. You shiver at the thought of perishing like that fat slug. The Darksaber had died only an hour ago, taking along at least a thousand along with it.

But you do have another ace in the hole. You dial up the most powerful of your dark troopers- Phase III. Each as powerful as a squad of Stormtroopers, if not an entire division. You have eight. One is on the bridge right now.

So you sit in your command center, waiting, watching. Your adjunct, Captain Voal, sits at his console, also nervously monitoring the events on your vessel. A loyal officer from your initial conspiracy in the Tarkin days, he remained onboard with most of your clique. He's got a family on Dreighton, you believe, relocated there and under the protection of GADM Batch. This was a brothers' war, you suppose. Imperials shouldn't be fighting Imperials in defense of a corrupted and ruined Empire. Humane, good soldiers such as Voal and Batch and you should be the rulers of the Galaxy, not mages and madmen.

Your thoughts are interrupted. The displays in the room explode into a swirling vortex of random numbers and lettering. Someone's sliced into the network and disrupted it! You move to leave the bridge, but sounds of blaster fire from outside cause you to stop. Surely it would be safer to remain here until the Phase III's have finished their dark purpose.

An interminable period of the noises of violence assault you. Though the stormtroopers guard you, you notice that most of your men have taken out their sidearms as well, ready to fight should the doors can be breached. But you have greater faith than they do in the power of your dark troopers. Surely no commando team could survive against them?

As to prove you wrong, the main entrance explodes inwards, shattering consoles and sending the stormtroopers stationed there flying across the room. The squad of troopers positioned behind them instantly open fire, but are cut down as well. Inexplicably several of their blaster shots ricochet, hitting some straight in the face and chest.

The Phase III dark trooper charges at the threat, obscured by the smoke from the blasts. It fires its massive assault cannon and shoulder missiles, but the seeker rockets are somehow swatted away and fly erratically, crashing into the walls. Twin flashes of light emerge in the cloud of smoke. Red and green, they dance and swirl, and the dark trooper, your final hope, stumble backwards, its autocannon firing futilely into the ceiling. In a few quick swipes, its arm is separated, and so is its head. The oversized droid falls.

Your heart sinks, but it swells to see that your men do not flee, but ready to do battle. The dark trooper may fail, but the might of the spirit of sentients could not be killed by blasters and thermal detonators. Captain Voal takes cover behind his panel and fires.

The shot rebounds and strikes him straight in the head, killing him instantly. A young man with sandy-colored hair walks out of the cloud of smoke and dust. He is dressed in black, and wields two lightsabers. Your heart stops for a moment.

A presence that you had felt before invades your system. This is an evil you are familiar with. That once paraded itself at your posting, overruling your decisions and throwing your men into meatgrinders and barbarically slaying them for making honest mistakes. Your life danced at his whim. You had thought yourself free of it for years. Yet somehow- the Dark Lord has not only survived the destruction of the Sith Moon, but he's cast off his armor and arrived here to finally kill you and your officers at last.

The monster can see the absolute terror in your eyes. You can see sickly yellow in his.

He raises up one of his infernal laser swords- the red one- to slice you open like meat.

"Vader!" you breathe.

[CENTER]***[/CENTER]

"Luke! What are you doing!"

Skywalker, his father's weapon raised and about to strike, snaps into reality. He had been through Chaos in the past hour. More and more enemies had fought his team, killing more and more. He had felt a part of him die with each one. The last had been Major Derlin, the veteran from Hoth, who had been with him on Endor. The old soldier had taken a gutshot from one of the Phase II's, and kept on firing though he was downed. While the boy was preoccupied with destroying it, a Phase I lept out of nowhere and stabbed the man. Luke had feared that he would be too weak to be a true Jedi. He was angry at his inability to save his own friends. He hated his weakness.

And so he took strength from the hate, despite the echoes of Yoda and Ben. And he vowed to finish the mission. Charging into the bridge himself, he had fought all eight dark troopers and took them out, one by one. And he would kill this man, this thing- this nothing who was responsible for the deaths of his friends.

But at that one last fatal moment, Nord gasped the name of the man he had hated for so long. The man who the Dark Side had turned his father into. The man who killed his father.

So he stopped for just enough time for Lando and his commandoes to pour into the bridge from the opposite entrance. With that short yell from his friend and comrade, Luke suddenly realized who he was, and what he was: better than this. Better than striking down an unarmed man, better than a revenge-killer, better than a monster. And he felt remorse, and a wave of guilt washed over him at what he had done.

Luke, looking as if he had aged twenty years, deactivated his lightsabers. "In the name of the New Republic," he said softly. "You are under arrest, Colonel."

The SpecForce soldiers raised their weapons, and the defeated Commonwealthers submitted, throwing down theirs. Lando walked over to Luke, a concerned expression on his face.

"Are you okay, Luke?" the General asked.

Luke nodded, a haunted look upon him. "They killed my entire team, Lando. I couldn't save them."

Lando put a hand on his shoulder. "Listen, Luke. It's survivor's guilt. I lost men and women, too. I wish I could go back and save each and every one of them. But you can't, and all you can believe is that they would have done the same for you. And that their sacrifices were not made in vain. Would they want you to tear yourself up?"

Luke shook his head, and Lando smiled grimly. "It's good that you realize that. I know that losing friends is never easy- and it never gets easier. But you can mourn and beat yourself up later. We've got a mission to complete."

Looking at Nord, he said, "Okay, C-Man. I want this battlestation restored in five minutes. You Imperials are about to get a taste of your own medi-"

"NO!" Luke cried.

Lando looked at the younger man's outburst with bemusement. "What's the matter, Luke?"

"You can't use this weapon. It's evil... it'll lead us to the Dark Side. The New Republic is better this," he pleaded.

Lando stared at Luke, then pausing for a moment in reflection, nodded in aggrement. "If that's your tactical advice, Commander Skywalker, then I'll take it."

He looked back to his commandoes. "As per protocol, I'm changing the primary objective of this mission back to destroying the Zaarin. Alright, fellas, time to play jailkeeper. I want every one of these snakes put in binders and taken off this station..."

A few of the SpecForces looked at each other in bewilderment or grumbled, but they deferred to the general's orders. Several New Republic cruisers and blockade runners docked at the Zaarin- their approach ironically covered by the battlestation itself- and loaded up the prisoners, plus several nifty datacubes and other material of interest. In little more than an hour it was complete.

[CENTER]***[/CENTER]

As the Millennium Falcon flew away, the Zaarin exploded in a massive blast. In a fitting end, the New Republic had simultaneously overloaded its reactors and forced the superlaser to shoot itself, utterly obliterating the weapon. Colonel Nord and his officers shivered in their binders. Well, at least a New Republic detention center wouldn't be so bad compared to one of Palpatine's.

In the cockpit, Luke looked at the explosion. Somewhere in the indecipherable wreckage were the atoms of the Inquisitor he had killed, bathed in the Dark Side of the Force. While he looked on, his thoughts a cloud, he asked Lando why he had changed the orders because of him.

"I'm no Han, kid. I've gambled at everything from swoop racing to high-stakes sabacc, and I've seen more than enough of my share of luck that you could call- miraculous. I got no problem believing there'ssomething out there looking out for you. If you're telling me that the Force doesn't want us to stoop to the level of Zaarin and his kind- well, good for the Force and good for you, kid."

Luke nodded. "Thanks, Lando."

"Anytime. Listen, when this is all over, we'll talk. Things are going to be just fine, you hear me? We'll find a- whoa!"

Three TIE Defenders materialized and fired upon the ship, only to be shot down by Colonel Airen Cracken, still manning the Falcon's top turret.

"That is, if this karking battle ever finishes! We've finished off two Commonwealth superweapons and they keep on coming. I've got to hand it to Sarn- he doesn't quit. This is a blasted deadlock if I've ever seen one. We need reinforcements, soon."

As if he had summoned them himself, an immense fleet emerged from hyperspace. The ships were all identical: Clone War-era Dreadnaught-class heavy cruisers, flamboyantly painted blue. They all bore the New Republic crest, except colored red and minus the sixteen stars around the Starbird. They fired upon the Commonwealth ships, which quickly began falling back and dispersing.

"That's the Katana fleet!" Lando exclaimed. "It must be Garm Bel Iblis. Why, I'll be damned. It's the Rebel Alliance to the rescue!"

The battle soon turned. The Terror fled, and the Commonwealth followed in its retreat.

"Just like they say about us Corellians, 'Late for every war!'" Lando quipped as they landed in Home One.

Luke looked at him. "You're not Corellian."

Lando grinned. "See, I knew you had the Force with you, kid."

[CENTER]***[/CENTER]

It was the greatest celebration that Endor had ever seen. Throughout the moon, the Ewok tribes had come together in peace to celebrate the defeat of the evil Imperials, and their wayward cousins, the Commonwealthers. New Republican and Rebel alike toasted to the future of freedom for the Galaxy. Across the cosmos, hundreds if not thousands of celebrations mirrored this momentous defeat against the Empire. But even as the party continued on through the night, Luke did not participate.

Leia found him in a secluded spot near Wicket's village, at a pyre burning the body of their father. She walked to him quietly, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Lando told me about what happened, Luke. But I've got a feeling that something more happened to you."

Luke said nothing for a while, and the twins watched the fires consume the greatest Jedi Knight the Galaxy had ever known.

"I've been thinking, Leia."

"That's a relief," she smiled.

He smiled slightly as well. "I want to rebuild the Jedi."

"The New Republic will fully support you."

Luke shook his head. "That's great, but- I don't just want the New Republic's help. I want yours. Leia, I want you to be a Jedi Knight as well. I'd like for you to be my first student."

Leia looked back at amazement. "I understand what you've taught me about the Force, and that I have some of the gifts that you have from... our father. But me? A Jedi? I'm a politician, Luke. My place was always in the Senate."

"I know. You're the best that the Galaxy has ever known. I'm sure you'll make an excellent Chief of State after Mon Mothma retires," at that, she blushed, "but the Jedi need you, Leia."

He held her hand. "I need you, Leia, you're my only hope. I realized something on the Zaarin. The Force is strong, but- we can only resist the Dark Side if we're in it all together. I can't do it on my own power. There can't be just one Jedi more powerful than all others. Leia, I need the help of my sister to do this. Will you help me rebuild the Jedi Order together? Will you be my apprentice?"

Leia looked at the pyre, and then the stars above the forest. The New Republic needed democracy, but it also needed heroes to protect it. How could she say that she truly wanted to serve in one role but not the other? Somehow, she decided, she could be a senator and a Jedi. She could, and she would.

"I'll do it, Luke," she said. "But on one condition."

"What is it?"

"Come and join the party, Luke. Han and the others are getting worried."

"Han? Worried?" he laughed.

And as the two Jedi left, Luke looked back at the pyre. He could have sworn that Yoda, Ben, and another Jedi- was it his father?- were standing there, smiling at him. He smiled back.