Star Crossed Fanfic

[fusion]

Finally a update! Like always it is great.

[LaCroix]

First I bought a new home, now a chapter of starcrossed...

That week is perfect.. maybe.. maybee... It could end with sex!!!

[Luke Starkiller]

his master had even suggested that a true master would be able to tap into reserves of unlimited power

What a great start to my work-week.

[Johnathon_Chance]

Yeah!!!!!!!!!! glad to see another one is done! Keep up the god work master stravo!

[Stravo]

his master had even suggested that a true master would be able to tap into reserves of unlimited power

What a great start to my work-week.

I just love sticking in little throw away lines like that. They're never meant to detract from the story, just put a smile on a reader who's paying attention.

[NecronLord]

Charlie screamed as the lightning shit through him hungrily lapping up his life force

[Stravo]

Charlie screamed as the lightning shit through him hungrily lapping up his life force

Spell check usually catches cuss words. Wow.

[Crazedwraith]

Humpf. Maul went down like a bitch. Seems strange to ressurect him just to kill him again in such a way. The Battle of Andor, however, continues kickassly.

[Johnathon_Chance]

Just finished reading it. Wow, great battle, cant wait for the third part now that Luke has shown up.

Classic with Maul, over ego'd bastritch got what he deserved. I like how the subplots are starting to come together, cant wait until the Borg emerge and when the emperor finally shows his ugly mug.

[Captain Cyran]

Just thought I'd let you know you are a bastard because last night I had to finish a paper for a class and during a break I checked SDnet to discover that you'd posted a new chapter but I couldn't read it because I needed to finish. I think you did it on purpose.

Charlie screamed as the lightning shit through him hungrily lapping up his life force and driving him to his knees.

Hehehe... A little bit of an amusing typo I saw.

I loved the Charlie versus Maul fight, though I think you had Maul talking way too much. I understand it's hard to write characters who don't talk but Maul had more lines in three paragraphs than he had in an entire movie. Still a great fight and ended very well.

It's nice to see how many different plans there are going on. Kirk is trying to draw our Thrawn, Thrawn is trying to draw out Kirk, Vader is trying to capture Kirk, Riker is trying to kick Imperial ass, Worf is planning on crippling Thrawn's ship, Khan is planning on taking control of everything himself. It's beautiful to watch the interplay between the plots. I look forward to seeing Luke's plots come into this fray as well.

[HRogge]

A long time ago in a page far far away...
fans cried for an update.

And now we got it... great work Stravo.

[fusion]

Stravo, if you ever do a redo, try to make the battle between Maul and Charlie longer.
On a side note are you really finishing in 9 chapters????

[Stravo]

Stravo, if you ever do a redo, try to make the battle between Maul and Charlie longer.
On a side note are you really finishing in 9 chapters????

Silly boy *chuckle chuckle*

[ElPintoGrande]

If there were indeed only nine chapters left to this epic, you had better believe that they will be the nine greatest chapters in the entire history of fanfiction. ::worships::

[Mark S]

A little verbous for Maul, don't you think?

[General Brock]

Aaaaaaaghh! Just one cliffhanger after another!

[Valkyrie]

Best Fanfic EVER... and its not even finished !

[Chris OFarrell]

You know your going to get a beatdown soon right?

[Alan Bolte]

How many times has this happened now? You'd think we'd get used to it.

[Valkyrie]

Forgive me I am but a N00bie

[jegs2]

Forgive me I am but a N00bie

I shall destroy you for this!

jk, but this type of action usually warrants one being slowly lowered into boiling oil, whilst being beaten with tire irons.

[Perseid]

Damnit newbie i thought it was an update.

Now i must think of a suitable punishment for you

[Natorgator]

Doh, it's my birthday too...I was about to get all sorts of excited thinking there was a new chapter

[SpecWar826]

I got it we can start a sacrifical pyre with his severly burned body to fuel the creative fire of story writing forever to remain alive even as those thrown into the pit with him wither and turn to ash he just keeps cooking

[Stravo]

Well...I must say its a pleasant surprise to have this chapter done in less than 2 days. The creative juices were flowing and here is the result. Some of you may have been bitching "Stravo updates Paths of the Damned on a weekly basis what about Starcrossed." Well Paths of the Damned has utterly crushed a nasty writer's block I had and this chapter is the happy result for me.

Please enjoy, its longer than your average chapter and I hope to update again shortly. And Happy Independence Day to my fellow Americans.



Chapter 92: Battle of Andor IV



The Imperium Defiant



The Imperium fleet emerged from hyperspace directly in Thrawn’s left flank. Before anyone could raise the alarm stardestroyers from the Imperium were brawling with the left flank of the Imperial forces and fighter wings were sweeping forth to envelop the flank in an effort to completely cut it off from the main body of the Imperial fleet.

By the cold blue light of Andor’s primary the first wing of fighters led by Luke Skywalker, Imperator of the Imperium, former Lord of the Sith, former Jedi Knight in training, former Rebel War Hero slashed through the Imperial fighter screen like a scalpel, cutting away dead and useless flesh to get at the cancer that infested the body.

Luke smiled softly as an entire squadron of Imperial TIE fighters were vaporized in seconds under a combined onslaught of his heavily modified X-Wing’s quad laser cannons and the cannons of his personal attack wing of TIE Interceptors. Surrounding his body of fighters were four Dominion Attack fighters crewed by the Jem’Hedar warriors that had pledged themselves to his service.

The flagship of the Jem’Hedar escort, formerly AF-1278A in the traditional nomenclature of the Dominion that treated its vessels in the same manner it treated it warriors, as disposable commodities, was now renamed Dynasty Ascendant in honor of Luke and Mara’s new dynasty. He had asked the stout Jem’Hedar commander, Rulek Parr to think of something less Grandiose. The grim faced clone merely shook his head and said there was no other name meant for that vessel just as there was no other man meant for him to serve.

Luke appreciated the sentiment as the Dynasty Ascendant spun on her axis and blasted away at an assault gunboat sending one half spinning on fire in its original course and direction and the other tumbling sharply away downwards and out of sight.

“All fighters form up on Grey Leader. I’m taking us through the screen. We need to cut them off before they can regroup.” Luke explained calmly as he scanned the immediate vicinity with not just his eyes but with the Force.

“Copy Grey leader, moving into position.”

“Dynasty Ascendant as always at your command.”

“We live for the Walker of the Skies, we die for the walker of the Skies.”

“Let us keep the dying to minimum. Follow me in; this is going to get hairy.” Luke responded as he took his X-Wing into a steep climb and just as suddenly kicked his fighter over at a 90 degree angle and gunned his afterburners sending the X-Wing into a power dive right into the next wave of Imperial fighters driving into the retreating Federation fleet either heedless or unaware of the loss of their flanking squadrons.

They were about to get an education in loss.

Luke opened fire with his cannons, blasting away at the leading edge of the fighter screen and sending their flight leader into fiery oblivion. Angry emerald bolts zipped past him and plucked more Imperials out of the sky while cold white anti-polaron beams swept the rear elements of the fighter screen and within moments they were in their midst.

Tie fighters, Bombers, Interceptors and gunboats seemed to flash by Luke’s canopy like a hard driving rain. Luke ignored them all, letting his feelings take him where he needed to be, threading his Onyx X-Wing through the wall of fighters and enemy fire, being out of the path of a TIE, side slipping between emerald laser bolts and spinning out of range of missiles. The force guided him and made him safe.

His fighter wing followed him as best they could, some fell to enemy fire or were simply caught up in a dog fight or two but the Jem’Hedar fighters, much heavier and shielded had no problems keeping up with their Imperator and they crossed the first wave without trouble.

Luke glanced up while sending his X-Wing in a sharp spin and engaged a TIE Interceptor that was creeping in too close. He saw the Devastator, it took up fully a quarter of his canopy. The Tie Interceptor vanished as it flew directly into a pair of crimson bolts.

Now, for the sting.

Luke reached out again with his feelings. He felt the ebb and flow of the force and life coruscating around him, deaths causing small vortices of emptiness that were quickly filled in by the ambient life energies of the fleet, the planet, the star system and the universe like water flowing into a hole on the shore of a desolate beach. Violent angry emotions causing spikes of bright red power in the general cool blue hue of the Force flared up around him.

He felt the angry power of his father emanating from the Devastator like a beacon. The stardestroyer was resplendent with the power of the darkside. Crimson light filtered through the hull plating, pulsing from the hangar deck, filtered through every gun port and armored view screen. But at the top of the conning tower in the bridge, like a beacon of fury stood the locus of this father’s might. Resembling a horrible lighthouse illuminating the Imperial fleet the Devastator was the anchor of the darkside power that suffused the Imperial fleet and infused in each of the fighting men a focused resolve and purpose. It gave them discipline and courage that they would not normally have. It gave them a unity of purpose and a synchronised fighting style that could not easily be overcome.

This was the power of Battle meditation. It was a lost Art even amongst the Jedi of the Clone Wars. Palpatine had hinted heavily that the power was tainted by the darkside and only a Sith could wield it effectively as his father was proving quite adeptly now and Palpatine has used with brutal effectiveness throughout his reign.

But as with all force abilities they could be interfered with or even snuffed out entirely by a powerful enough force user. And Luke was powerful.

He closed his eyes for a moment, unerringly dodging a concussion missile in the process, the offending gunboat was mercilessly blasted into its component atoms by the Dynasty Ascendant. The Dominion fighters immediately closed ranks around the X-Wing like the wings of a hawk and covered her from any more enemy fire giving Luke the moments of peace he needed to complete his task.

Luke did not lash out as he would have if he were still Nemesis, using the brute force of the dark side to sever his father’s contact with the Force. Nor did he try to smother his father with the soothing serenity of the light side were he still a Jedi in training. Instead he searched out the vital focal points from where his father drew out and sent out his power. Incredibly volatile points in the Force where dark and light collided and recombined in an ecstatic jubilation of creation and destruction were easily identified and he focused on each one.

He felt them trembling on the skeins of the Force all around the Devastator and emanating out like ripples on a lake to the Imperial forces, gentling nudging each with the uniting will that made them better warriors.

He took a firm grip on each one and severed them cleanly.

Suddenly the Imperial forces were no longer as coordinated. A chain reaction spilled out throughout the fleet and the Force retreated from the minds and will of the pilots, soldiers and officers now that the driving will of his father was absent.

A pair of TIE fighters chasing a Bird of Prey plowed right into the forward bow of a Strike cruiser as the Klingon vessel bobbed and weaved through an obstacle course of capital ships and cross fired to try and shake their pursuers. A TIE Bomber launched its bombs too soon and peeled away from the wall of phaser fire and ever increasing blossoms of fire and plasma from torpedoes detonating in its path as the pilot suddenly felt the urgent fear that had been muted before by the Meditation. A stardestroyer was no longer as quick to track incoming torpedo fire and several starships escaped her heavy fire to reform with the rest of the Federation fleet.

The Imperial fleet itself as whole seemed to suddenly lose the cohesion that made it wade into the Federation fleet like a deadly machine and march relentlessly through their lines. Lighter warships were breaking too far ahead, stardestroyers were turning slower or simply not tracking targets as quickly as they were before. Fighters and bombers were not as aggressive, not as agile or synchronised. Mass evasive maneuvers by squadrons no longer as crisp or sharp resulted in more casualties.

Luke nodded in satisfaction.

He could feel his father tentatively trying to reestablish his connection to the fleet. First it was hesitant as if he could not understand or believe what had just occurred. Luke was certain it was the latter. Anakin never believed in his heart that Luke could have ever been a threat. He would always be his son, always his pawn, his lesser.

He was quickly learning how powerful Luke had become. He was no longer Darth Nemesis forever in his father’s shadow, always at is beck and call, another of Anakin’s pawns in his vicious game of cat and mouse with the Emperor. Playing over and over again the wretched tragedy of the Sith with the death of master at pupil’s hands. Did father ever even contemplate what it would mean once they had removed Palpatine? Had he even considered that Luke would then have to kill Anakin?

He felt a deep abiding sadness for Anakin Skywalker.

Trapped in a never ending struggle where even his own flesh and blood would have to slay him. His vision of a galaxy at peace could never come true. How could one bring peace and order at the tip of a lightsaber? How could one bring justice using the power of the dark side?

Now his father understood and his anger exploded painfully in Luke’s consciousness like a thermonuclear blast. The crimson lighthouse beacon shining forth from the Devastator’s conning tower became a baleful lightning bolt and the furious force of Anakin’s anger lanced out into the darkness probing the void like a searchlight.

Luke did not have a need to hide. Doubt he could hide from his father anyway. No, Luke had other plans.

“Attack pattern Thorn.”

“Acknowledged Walker of the Skies.”

The quartet of Dominion fighters suddenly broke away from him and the enemy fire concentrating on them relented as Luke’s X-Wing throttled away in a steep climb up and closer to the Devastator.

His target was close. His eyes never even glanced down at his scanners and scopes. There was no need for them anymore. The battlefield was bare to him. There were no secrets here. Nowhere to hide when he could see the very flow of life and death like a great river.

There.

A squadron of dark dagger shapes was moving like sharks through the water. They were the Emperor’s finest fighters. The TIE Advanced. Only a relative handful had yet been constructed but of course the Emperor would field several here. An entire squadron of fighters designed to effortlessly destroy an X-Wing fighter or any fighter for that matter.

And he would kill them all. Alone.

“Grey leader engaging Vipers. Ascendant, break hard right and keep the battle field clear of any interlopers.”

“Imperator’s War hound requests permission to assist.”

“Negative.” Luke snapped as he brought his X-Wing in a slashing approach at the undersides of the squadron of Advanced. They had seen him. They were breaking in two groups forcing him to choose.

He was impressed. At this range he should be invisible to them. The first hint of his presence should have been when his first laser burst sent one of them to hell.

This would not be that easy.

Then again it was not meant to be. It was an offering, a jibe, a threat. I am here father.

Luke gunned his engines and closed the distance rapidly with the lead group. There was no hesitation in his choice. It was as clear as crystal to him. No conscious thought was allowed from this point on. There was only the Force. The Force and twelve TIE advanced fighters piloted by the finest pilots in the Empire who wanted nothing more to than to kill him and he was alone.






“What the devil is he doing?” Branna snapped as he watched the combat reports filtering in. If he wasn’t seeing it with his own eyes he would not have believed it. Imperator Skywalker had cleared out a battlefield for himself and was engaging a squadron of TIE Advanced fighters and his fanatical Jem’Hedar bodyguard were busy making sure no one interfered.

“Madness.” Branna added breathlessly.

“He is doing his part. Let us do ours. I want the triumvirate to cut that flank off now. Give them whatever fire support they need and charge the superlaser.” Kittaine ordered resplendent in his immaculate white Grand Admiral’s uniform, hands clasped behind his back.

“Of course Grand Admiral.” Branna bowed his head.

“And get me James Kirk on the screen. Its about time that commander and I meet face to face and discuss the future.”




“Are you certain?” Kirk demanded as the Enterprise rocked from another near hit by a series of turbolaser blasts tearing into the retreating Federation fleet. The march of Thrawn’s stardestroyers was relentless. But frustratingly out of reach was the Executor. The massive superstardestroyer simply would not move no matter how much Kirk was pulling Thrawn’s forces out.

The man was not going to move and Kirk was rapidly running out of space behind him. Soon they would be out of Andor’s gravity well and the Imperial vessels would have additional speed and maneuvering room.

Damn the man. He was too damned smart for him.

“Yes, Captain. I count nearly the entirety of the Imperium fleet. They are engaging only Imperial targets. Even their fighters are only engaging Imperial targets as well. We are being given a wide berth.” Spock reported calmly. He looked up at Kirk and arched an eyebrow. “Curious.” He added.

“That’s an understatement, old friend.” Kirk laughed.

“Captain, we are receiving a hail from the Imperator’s Will. Grand Admiral Kittaine wishes to speak to you.” Uhura reported and she tried her best not to sound shocked.

Kirk paused for a moment assessing in his mind what this could mean.

“On screen, Uhura.” He decided quickly and took his command seat.

The screen wavered for a moment and Kittaine’s face appeared. He was older than Kirk imagined him and he looked different in his white uniform as opposed to the standard Imperial grey.

“Grand Admiral Kittaine.”

“Captain James Tiberius Kirk. It has been long overdue that you and I speak.” He sounded proud and firm. His eyes were narrowed on the young man seated in his command chair. By the Emperor how could one so young have brought them to this point?

“Unfortunately I was not prepared to carry on full diplomatic discussions under these circumstances.” As if on cue the Enterprise shook hard again, forcing Kirk to take a firm hold of the arm rests of his command seat so as not to spill out onto the floor. “As you can see, we’re more than a little busy here.” Kirk added with a tortured grin.

“Understandable Captain. With that in mind let me make my proposition as brief as I possibly can. I have full authorization from Imperator Skywalker to forge a truce with you. A ceasefire, if you will, that will ensure that no hostilities between your forces and mine occur until the Imperial menace has been thrown back.”

“Weren’t you the Imperial menace just four months ago?” Kirk countered.

Bright flashes of thermonuclear fireworks briefly washed out the view screen for a moment before the automatic dampers kicked in. Kittaine smiled grimly.

“As you can see I’m getting busy myself, Captain so let us debate semantics another day. As a sign of good faith I am prepared to transmit our IFF transponder codes to your tactical officers so that your ships can distinguish ours from theirs. It would be appropriate if you could return the favor once we conclude the truce.”

Kirk looked into the man’s eyes. He was a diplomat as well as a soldier, trained to both fight the battles of the Federation and forge the peaces. He had to as a starship captain of that bygone era.

Cadets and junior officers would sometimes ask him for advice on how to conduct negotiations with other cultures and societies, particularly alien ones. How do you know when the other side is lying? How can you tell when they’re holding something back or hiding a vital piece of information?

The answer always shocks them, in particular this current group of officers from the future Federation.

You look them in the eyes. The eyes will tell you everything you want to know.

Grand Admiral Kittaine’s eyes told Kirk that this was the only way out of this mess for both of them. And Kittaine was not someone to go back on his word. He was too proud for that, too disciplined to deceive with the practiced charm of a Romulan or the brutal directness of a Klingon.

Kirk could trust this man.

And frankly there was no other real choice.

“Uhura,” Kirk began speaking over his shoulder. “please transmit all IFF transponder frequencies to the Imperator’s Will, tight beam highly scrambled transmission. Also on fleet wide broadcast that all Imperium vessels are considered friendly and should be treated appropriately.” Kirk ordered calmly his eyes not leaving the Grand Admiral’s.

A shadow of a smile creased the corners of the older man’s lips.

“Captain Branna,” he imitated Kirk’s manner of speaking over his shoulder. “Please transmit the codes to the Enterprise and apprise the fleet that the Federation Remnant are now considered allies for the duration of this battle.”

“Of course Grand Admiral.” Branna replied.

“And so it begins here, Captain Kirk.”

“It could end here too you know, Grand Admiral.” Kirk replied.

The older man laughed, a real laugh from the belly and shook his head in bemusement.

“Quite right, Captain. Now if you will let me address our current plan. I have orders to isolate this beast of fleet and kill it in pieces.”

“I see you’ve started with the left flank.” Kirk noted as he glanced down at a tactical report Spock had just handed him anticipating where the conversation would next turn. Kirk smiled to himself. His first officer was once called the finest in the fleet. That was an understatement.

“Precisely. It would be most advantageous if your fleet could assist in keeping the other fleet elements at bay.”

Kirk looked up sharply at Kittaine.

“You want me to keep 2/3rds of this juggernaut at bay while you deal with one third of it? Hardly seems fair to me.”

“Think of it this way, Captain. Before we arrived you were dealing with the entire beast all by yourself. Now all I’m asking you to do is try to keep them off my back long enough to annihilate their flanks and then together we take on the center.”

Kirk’s withering expression of discontent prompted Kittaine to continue. “With their fleet elements desperate to try and rescue their isolated flanks they will not focus on you as much as they would had you been assaulting them alone. You need to trust me on this. Imperial doctrine calls for flanking elements to hunker down and hold the line and wait for reinforcements from other wings. We will use that against them here.”

“Grand Admiral Thrawn does not follow standard Imperial doctrine, Kittaine. From my experience fighting the bastard he doesn’t seem to follow any doctrine that I’m aware of.”

“There is no other choice, Captain.” Kittaine urged.

The screen washed out again as another burst of thermonuclear firepower blazed across the armored view ports of the Executor. As the resolution hesitantly returned Kirk could see officers scrambling to duty stations behind Kittaine.

“Time is running out, Captain. I can no longer spare the time to convince you. I can only hope you will be there to help us. It will be the only way to defeat Thrawn.”

“You’re talking to the wrong man about there being only one way to win, Grand Admiral. But you can be rest assured we will do our part to keep them off your backs.” Kirk replied. “And Grand Admiral?” Kittaine paused from turning off the screen. “May the Force be with you.”

Kittaine smiled.

“May it be with us all today, Captain. May it be with us all.” Kittaine replied and the viewer switched off. The view returned to the furious battle raging outside just in time for Kirk to see a starship on fire limping desperately out of the path of an incoming Strike cruiser.

“All Galaxy wings in this sector. Follow me in and let’s blow that thing straight to hell.” Kirk ordered as he pointed to the Strike cruiser.

“All wings acknowledging.”

“Mr. Spock, get me tactical information on the deployment of the Imperial fleet and feed it to my tactical terminal here. I want it updating minute by minuet. I need to identify their flank elements if we’re going to do this right.”

“Of course sir.” Spock replied. “If we were to proceed logically we should begin sharing tactical data with the Imperator’s Will.” He added.

“Your logic, as always, Mr. Spock is flawless. Uhura see if you can’t charm their communications people over there to start sending us some tactical data.”

“I’ll do my best, sir.” Uhura smiled sweetly.

On the screen the Strike cruiser was shaken by the multiple phaser hits from the passing Galaxy wing. Torpedoes streaked from beneath the Enterprise’s view screen and impacted with explosive effect on the cruiser’s starboard shield.




“I said closer damnit. The Devastator is mine.” Admiral Tarsi snapped angrily as he strode down the command deck of the Adjudicator. His crew was working feverishly in the pits below him and his eyes scanned their stations for a moment before returning back to the view from his armored windows.

The Adjudicator was leading the charge of the Imperium’s heavy ships slashing across the left flank of the Imperial fleet and isolating it from other fleet elements. Tarsi had suggested a direct full scale assault on the Executor. Go for the throat. Always. If you lost you lost but if you won the prize was a slaughtered enemy commander, a shattered command and control structure and a fleet that was usually too busy trying not to disintegrate than fight.

But Grand Admiral Kittaine and Imperator Skywalker had other plans. They would not risk the Imperium on a high stakes gamble assault on Thrawn. Instead they would defeat him at his own game. They would outthink him and strip him slowly and surely of his assets.

Tarsi was chosen to lead the attack and he was proud to do it.

Now he had the entire Imperium fleet at his command and he would not fail.

The Imperial fleet was going to lose today and he would be the one to hand them that defeat.

But first there was the matter of the Devastator, tantalizingly close to his vessel and the lynchpin of the left wing. If Tarsi could turn their flank and either drive off or destroy the Devastator he would successfully complete his slash across their flank and isolate this fleet element.

Tarsi smiled wolfishly. Driving off the Devastator was at the bottom of his list of options.

“All heavy batteries prepare to fire, time on target, on my mark.”

“Aye sir.”

His XO sidled up to him quietly and handed him a combat report.

“Lord Vader is confirmed on the Devastator.” His XO whispered.

Tarsi glanced up at him.

“And?”

“Perhaps we should wait for more support. This won’t be like back at Darkstar’s world. The captain of the Devastator will not allow himself to be defeated.”

“But that’s what I want. I want him to stand and fight.” Tarsi noted tightly.

“You can’t make this personal sir. We need to complete our mission parameters and if we can drive off the Devastator that will be just as good as destroying her.” His XO noted Tarsi’s stormy expression and the way he glanced back out the view port at the rapidly approaching stardestroyer. His XO leaned in closer.

“Sir, please, listen to me. She will be destroyed but if we wait any longer, if it takes us too long to close the trap then we will have already lost before this begins. The entire battle plan calls for us to entrap each flank and destroy it. If we fail here…”

Tarsi looked into his XO’s eyes and then up at the ceiling of his bridge and shouted out his rage and frustration.

His XO was taken aback by the action for a moment but understood it. Tarsi had been wound tightly since the battle with the Devastator. He felt that the battle was his to win and yet again the possibility of total victory was being taken away by circumstance.

But Tarsi adjusted his uniform and nodded to himself and his XO knew. Tarsi was also a good soldier and knew when things needed to be done.

“Have Bomber wings Eta and Gamma move in to support our attack. Concentrate on their hangars and engines. We will focus on their weapons batteries.” Tarsi glanced meaningfully at his XO. “They will have to withdraw.”

“Yes sir.” His XO smiled softly.




Luke grunted as he fought against the g-forces that wanted to make him one with his cockpit. Green bolts whipped past his canopy and illuminated the interior of his fighter in a sickly glow.

The rapidly condensing ball of plasma and molten metal dimmed behind him as his X-Wing entered a tight corkscrew spin dancing between the emerald machinegun like fire of the pursuing TIE Advanced.

Two down.

The X-Wing banked hard to the right and he jerked his head to the left to catch sight of what concerned him more than his immediate pursuer. He tracked two of the TIE Advanced that were powering away from the swirling fur ball, putting as much distance as they could between him and them. That could only mean one thing.

He had seconds to react and he took advantage of it, reaching out with his mind and feeling the sleek shapes of the TIE Advances, so much like his father’s fighter over the deathstar in what seemed like another lifetime ago. He let his mind feel the power of the advanced Ion engines that gave them their deadly speed and fed their hungry weapons suites and their humming shield grids. He traced phantom fingers along their hot exhaust panels and down the cold armored glass of their view ports.

He passed over their cannon emitters and finally found the missile tubes. He felt the hard metal clunk of a missile slamming home into the breech followed by a low frequency growl as the warhead came online and eagerly hunted for his signature.

He pulled back away from the missile and felt along the tubes again.

The pair of TIE Advanced turned hard and sharp to face the frantic dogfight. Their concussion missile launchers primed, the tubes revealed as panels snapped back. The first of the missiles launched seconds later.

Luke jerked hard up as he avoided another burst from his pursuers and simultaneously squeezed. The tubes buckled and that was all he needed. He now concentrated on survival as missiles streaked towards him and a pair of TIE Advanced stalked him on his six. The others were swirling around him making shooting passes at him in quick furtive strikes.

The missile tubes did not need to be fully crushed, he did not have to make needless expenditures of power and concentration. All it took was a nudge and the housing came loose by several hairs - more than enough to ruin the mechanism and cause the next volley of missiles to launch and explode in the tubes.

The missile firing TIE Advanced blossomed into fiery balls of hot gasses and debris.

Two more down.

He checked his six and the pair that we on him were moving in tight formation, each one taking a moment to pour a nasty volley of green fire towards him allowing the other to recharge and cool his cannons then dropping back slightly allowing his partner to edge forward and release another torrent of fire.

The effect was that Luke was under near constant fire.

He didn’t mind. This was not going to last much longer.

He checked his controls and made several adjustments.

“D4, give me manual control of the thruster vectors.”

The gold plated astromech whistled and beeped uncertainly. Luke smiled softly.

“Don’t worry my little friend; I know exactly what I’m doing.”

The astromech droid reluctantly complied. Luke’s X-Wing had been rebuilt nearly from top to bottom to his specifications using the latest in Imperial developments and technology. The standard X-Wing was a high performance space superiority fighter with no real weaknesses. Luke’s X-Wing was a quantum leap above those fighters.

Where TIE Fighters had the edge in raw speed and maneuverability, Luke had compensated for this by installing vectoring thrusters into the quad engines of the X-Wing. With the computer controlled vectored thrusters he could perform far tighter and faster turns and maneuvers than he ever could in a standard X-Wing.

He was about to give his hunters an object lesson in the maneuverability of his X-Wing.

Luke manually adjusted his thrusters and then threw his fighter into a hairpin climb while dropping backwards. The X-Wing in essence fell backwards while its nose rose up high pointing its quad laser cannons up as well. The two TIE Advanced pursuing him passed directly over head and he poured a murderous fusillade into them as they passed. One of the fighters’ shields was immediately overwhelmed and it came apart in a series of rapidly expanding internal explosions. The second had its starboard exhaust panel shorn clean off but the pilot valiantly managed to maintain control of his fighter long enough to eject.

These pilots were aggressive and fearless.

He should count on those qualities if they were going to be allowed to fly the Empire’s finest fighter.

Luke ignored the crippled fighter and instead searched for the other six fighters.

They had paired up and were coming in from three different vectors hard and fast. And then there were the missiles.

They had keyed in on his signature despite his stealth equipment and hull plates. They flashed by over his canopy trailing bright red exhaust. He allowed them to turn towards him as an idea came to him. The three pairs of TIE Advanced were closing on him rapidly and were going to pass him all at once from three different angles. It was simple arithmetic. They were going to overwhelm him with firepower from too many directions to compensate.

He would have to bring a trump card to this little game of chicken.

Luke gunned his X-Wing towards the squadron commander’s pair approaching him directly ahead. Head to head they began spitting fire at each other. The other two pairs also began firing. The fighters were closing at high sublight and within seconds they criss-crossed each other in a heartbeat.

Luke let his instincts guide him through the flashing beams and fighters and he seemed to effortlessly bring his fighter through and as the others began to turn to follow his trump card announced itself.

The missiles following Luke caught two more TIE Advanced and sent them spiraling away on fire to explode seconds later. Another TIE caught the leading edge of the explosion and a fragment the size of a human head punched through the canopy and disintegrated the pilot into a fine red mist.

The now pilot less fighter continued on at high speed in a straight line away from the battle.

Luke took note of that as he immediately gunned his engines one more time, ignoring the sudden hammer like blows that shook his fighter to the core and sent a series of sparks spurting up from his panel and spun his fighter in a tight turn while cutting power to the thrust so his X-Wing essentially spun end to end without moving forward.

D4 howled in protest and alarm.

“We’re hit but it’s not bad, D4 see what you can do back there.” Luke replied calmly and furiously punched down on his fire controls. Another TIE Advanced evaporated under his crimson lightning like blasts, its shields unable to stand up to their pounding. The pilots were obviously pumping their energy into their engines and weapons. He watched as the final pair of TIEs split in opposite directions accelerating away from him.

Luke did not hesitate and followed the squadron commander. He watched the TIE begin advanced evasive maneuvers, trying to draw him into a turning battle so his partner could come up behind and wax Luke’s six.

Luke played along and matched the TIE move for move and started to run the fighter down, an occasional burst of his weapons discouraged the TIE from trying to turn to far into a high deflection shot.

He felt the tremor in the Force. The other pilot was coming in low and fast on his six. He was going to spray him manually with laser fire, not wanting to risk Luke’s threat display from warning him of the weapons lock.

The other TIE initiated a series of high velocity spinning dives and wide arcing climbs as it tried to distract Luke for those final seconds. Luke calmly let go of his apprehension and fears, instead he used them to fuel his power as he cut back on the throttle bring his X-Wing to a near stop, lining up his shot as the TIE began another dive – right into Luke’s field of fire. Luke vaporized the squadron commander.

As the other TIE began firing a large grey shape rose sharply in front of it colliding hard and rending the cockpit off the main body of the fighter. The rest of the TIE exploded as it continued crashing into the shape.

Luke had brought the pilotless fighter back to this position using the Force and had crushed his final pursuer with the fighter itself like a bludgeon.

He smiled triumphantly and spun his fighter in a victory dance.

Any moment now they would have to tell---




“Grand Admiral Thrawn.” Piett quickly approached with a datapad in his hand and concern on his face.

“What is it?” Thrawn asked calmly. The Imperium forces had hammered into his left flank without warning or preamble. Far closer to the Andorian gravity well than even Thrawn felt was possible. Skywalker had led them in with the Force. Vader had drawn his own fleet in as close as they dared. Skywalker had brought his fleet in even closer.

Was it possible? Could the young whelp be stronger than his father?

Now they were trying to isolate his left flank and the rest of his fleet was suddenly reacting sluggish and disjointed. He could feel it. The unit cohesion was fading like shadows under the noon day sun. What the hell was happening out there? Vader had been good at keeping his men focused like razors and as soon as the Imperium arrived it was as if…

“Bastard.” Thrawn whispered. “He just may be more powerful.”

“Grand Admiral, you need to take a look at this. We lost a squadron of our TIE Advanced fighters.”

Thrawn looked from the datapad up to Piett and his eyes narrowed.

“Why, in the Emperor’s name should it matter to me that we lost a single squadron? Don’t you realize I have over one hundred and twenty currently deployed out there?” He asked sharply.

“It was lost to a single fighter.” Piett finished meaningfully.

Thrawn was suddenly calm again.

“Are you certain?”

“Fighter command has been tracking losses and reports since the Imperium arrived. There have been reports of a single fighter, the identifications are sketchy but most agree that its probably X-Wing class and it has racked up approximately thirty seven kills in the span of nine minutes.”

“The last time we saw flying like that was in the Clone Wars.”

“Jedi pilots.” Piett finished with an emphatic nod.

“So Skywalker has taken the field personally but why announce his presence so grossly. It’s almost as if….” Thrawn clenched his fist. “Raise the Devastator now!” he demanded and strode to the communications station. “Squadron commander no fighters are cleared to leave the Devastator under my direct orders is that clear?” he spat down to the CAG in his crew pit below.

“Of course Grand Admiral.”

“Well?” Thrawn hissed icily as he arrived at the communications pit.

“I have the Captain of the Devastator, Grand Admiral.”

“Captain. This is Grand Admiral Thrawn. I want you to shut down you hangar deck and reroute all your fighters to rendezvous or rebase on surrounding stardestroyers.”

“I don’t understand, Grand Admiral.” The captain began.

“Your duty is not to understand but obey, Captain. Now put on Lord Vader.” Thrawn ordered in a cutting tone.

The Captain of the Devastator looked stricken. Thrawn’s head bowed slightly. No. Not now.

“Where is Lord Vader Captain?” Piett demanded as he noticed Thrawn’s sudden cold expression.

“He…my lord…Lord Vader went to his fighter, sir.” Thrawn’s fist suddenly banged against the communications array in a flurry of motion, the only time anyone had ever seen the Grand Admiral act of frustration. It was a disconcerting sight for all and several officers began murmuring among themselves. Thrawn immediately drew himself up to his full height and cursed himself for losing his temper.

“Have a detachment of troopers go down and meet him. You have my authority to use any force necessary to restrain him but he is not to get to his---” Thrawn began as calmly as he could.

“Grand Admiral I have an unauthorized launch from the Devastator…its Lord Vader’s personal fighter sir.” His CAG came up behind Thrawn and reported breathlessly. “There was nothing I could do.” The CAG added apologetically.

Thrawn held up a hand.

The officers immediately gave him space.

Thrawn stood stoically for a long moment and took several deep breaths.

“Sith lords. Never had any use for them anyway.” He whispered to himself. He turned suddenly.

“It is time we use our own wiles against the false Emperor Skywalker.” Thrawn announced.





“You hear that?” Han asked sharply. The vessel did not shake or shudder. But the sounds of combat reverberated off the cold steel bunks like distant drumbeats.

“I hear it quite clearly. I’ve heard this tune before. We’re in combat.” Ochoa replied.

“We need to keep our eyes and ears open for our chance.” Han whispered as he crept over to the door and glanced beneath the slab of durasteel that posed as their door in the cramped detention cell.

“Our chance for what, precisely?” Ochoa asked curiously.

Han glanced back at Ochoa with some annoyance on his face.

“To escape, of course.”

“Escape?” Ochoa rolled the word over his tongue for a moment and then chuckled to himself.

“What’s so damned funny? Don’t you want to escape?” Han demanded.

“Han, I need you to take a good look at me.” Ochoa replied and held out his hands as if to hug the smuggler. “Despite appearances I am completely and totally blind. And although popular novels and holovids have tried for ages to make the claim that when one sense is lost the others are heightened to make up for it…” Ochoa smiled sadly. It was odd to see as Han noted that his eyes were clear and lucid but his pupils remained dilated and unfocused. “but I assure you my friend that it is not the case. I would just end up slowing you down.”

Han strode over to Ochoa and placed a reassuring hand on the Starfleet captains shoulder.

“Look.” He began calmly. “There is no way in hell I am leaving you here to rot in Imperial hands. We - ” Han stressed the word so emotionally that Ochoa wanted to smile and cry at the same time. He was a good man. He could see why the divided and confused Nemesis clutched to the fake Han identity as he did when they first began chatting. “are going to get out of here and then we’re going to see about getting you patched up.”

“You’re a good man, Han Solo. However I don’t think the doctors will find anything physically wrong with my eyes.”

“What do you mean?” Han asked curiously, sliding in to sit next to the young man. He had been impressed by the calm serenity of Ernesto Ochoa. It was as if he knew precisely what was going to happen and had made peace with it a long time ago. Sometimes Han wished he had that kind of peace. But right now all he could think about was getting away from this ship and finding Leia and Luke. Chewie must be with them. Lando. Han closed his hands into fists. Then he would deal with Lando, his old friend.

“My blindness is not natural.” Ochoa began carefully. How to address this has been gnawing at the back of his mind for some time. Han was clearly under the impression that he was still in his home galaxy and not much had changed since his hibernation.

He still thought of Luke as the young hick with delusions of grandeur who needed saving. How to illuminate him to the truth was a tricky proposition. But Han was strong. Stronger than Ochoa suspected Han himself thought he was.

Truth was truth, until the ending of the world.

“Sometimes a man needs to know the truth about those he loves.”

Han’s eyes narrowed on the young Captain.

“I’m a Correlian. You Terrans may like to approach something in a runabout way but me, I’m all about the direct approach.” Han smirked.

“Direct approach it is then.” Ochoa nodded. “I was blinded by a Sith lord when he was interrogating me.”

“Vader. That black hearted bastard will get his soon enough. I’m sure Luke’ll be the one to do it too.”

Ochoa nodded quietly for a moment.

“It wasn’t Lord Vader. I have not had the pleasure of being introduced to him but his fame precedes him.”

“Not Vader? C’mon everyone knows there’s only one Sith lord. He’s it. You can’t mistake him. Black armor, deep voice, nasty case of asthma.” Han chuckled and nudged Ochoa with his shoulder.

“It was Lord Darth Nemesis.”

“Darth Nemesis? That sounds silly. You sure it wasn’t Vader?”

Ochoa looked over at Han’s general direction. His eyes unfocused seemed to be searching out Han’s.

“He was a friend of yours.”

Han started to get up.

“I don’t think I want to hear this.”

“Luke Skywalker.”

Han shook his head emphatically.

“You listen to me, blind man. I don’t know who the hell you are but I know Luke and Luke is no damned Sith lord. You can just shut the hell up!” Han hissed and jabbed his forefinger into Ochoa’s chest emphasizing certain words.

“What possible reason do I have to lie?” Ochoa asked gently.

Han laughed bitterly.

“Look here, friend. I’ve been in the rebellion long enough to know how Imperials work. Sometimes the torture ain’t direct like it was on Bespin. Sometimes it can be pretty nasty and dirty in terms of the psychological aspects. You’re a plant.” Han concluded with a firm nod of his head. “You’re here to break my spirit telling me lies about my best friend.”

“He is still your friend. He’s changed much since last you saw him Han. He went from callow youth to Sith lord to something much greater than he ever was. He has learned to embrace his dark nature instead of shutting it away.”

“Dark nature? Luke?!” Han guffawed. “If you’re going to try and sell me on a bill of goods make sure I can’t smell the stink of your cargo of lies first.”

“Han.”

“Just shut the hell up. I’ve got nothing more to say to you and I don’t want to hear another word out of your stinkin’ mouth. Liar.” Han snapped. He stood off in a corner and crossed his arms.

“You are right about him. He is a good man.”

“I thought you were blind not deaf. I said shut up.”

Ochoa heard the footsteps approaching. He cocked his head slightly to listen. There were several stormtroopers from the sound of the armor.

“Whatever happens, Han, I’m not angry with you. I understand exactly where you are right now.” Ochoa explained softly.

Han frowned.

“Why are you talking like that now?”

The slab that was their door snapped open like the jaws of a snake and a pair of stormtroopers immediately stepped inside, blasters drawn.

Han tensed but two more stormtroopers strode in followed by one of the Noghri.

“The Grand Admiral wants to see you both now.” The Noghri explained in its soft childlike whisper.

“It’s about time.” Han commented dryly.

“The time has indeed come.” Ochoa sighed and extended his hands to be clasped as Han’s were.

“Not for you Ernesto of Ochoa. You come with us freely.” The Noghri replied gently placing Ochoa’s hands down.

“I always do.” Ochoa shrugged and did not hesitate to take the Noghri’s hand for support as he rose from the cold bed.

“Hey, how come he doesn’t get bound?” Han protested and winced as the stormtrooper tightened his cuffs.

“He comes freely. He knows the end result and he does not show fear. He is respected by the Noghri.” The small alien replied dismissively as he helped lead Ochoa out of the detention cell. The pair of stormtroopers fell in behind Han and one roughly shoved him to move forward.

“He is an Imperial agent.” Han surmised proudly. He couldn’t be telling the truth about Luke. No way. Not at all.

But there were the dreams weren’t they? The dreams of Luke dressed in black. Luke with a cold expression on his face occasionally broken by a sneer as he stood imperiously on an Imperial vessel. Luke grimly ordering the death of a world. Luke standing in the dark speaking to Han about his doubts and fears.

They were just dreams.

Han exited the detention cell.

Weren’t they?