<!--EZCODE BOLD START--> Bonadan<!--EZCODE BOLD END-->

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> VC-HQ....<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->




*Yana looked up at Miles as he spoke, sensing his sincererity just made her feel even more guilty, sighing heavily, she glanced up to the security guards, then back to Miles.
She replied, her voice shaking from emotion...*

"...they made me... I, I didn't want to... "

*Yana winced as she spoke , realising she still wasn't making much sense...*

"...I was told if I spoke about any of this my... my family.....my children, would die..."

*She paused to look up towards Miles wearily , then continued...*

"...I don't know what to do..."

*Her shoulders sagged as she talked, and her face seemed to drain of emotion...*

"..it didn't matter if I died...just not my family...but I don't suppose that matters now..."

*she glanced at the Blueprints that Miles was still holding...*

"they said if I failed they would kill my family...so... they are probably dead already.....I was supposed to take down the Planetary Shield so that the fleet could attack...but you found me before I could get to it..."

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> ..its too late now anyway...<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

*Yana's voice trailed off , and she stared into nothing as she spoke...*

"The bomb was a diversion....I , I didn't want to hurt anyone..."

*as she spoke , tears ran down her cheeks , and her voice seemed to break...*

"I'm sorry , Mr Vinda has always been kind to me.... "


*Yana suddenly felt very cold, and very alone, she seemed to be able to hear the churning of her stomach in her ears...unable to control it, she broke down in tears...*



<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> ...I deserve to die ....but I just want my family to be safe...<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

<!--EZCODE BOLD START--> Location Unknown<!--EZCODE BOLD END-->

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Touch-down...<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->




*Richter reached out quickly to support himself as the shuttle touched down with a jolt... the landing had been less than perfect...(he scowled in the direction of the pilot)...
Straightening his tie , Richter carefully attached his breathing appratus. As he waited for the all-clear , he glanced outside the small port-window.
The planet was dry , appeared to be sandy, and the atmosphere seemed to have a golden-Amber-like haze to it...*

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> ...so ...bleak...<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

*An officer gestured the way was clear, and Richter stood in front of the airlock as it slowly moved away from the shuttle extending a small gangway onto the planets surface.
His eyes fell upon a small group of about eight to ten people already standing in front of the shuttle....*

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> ..a welcoming party...<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

*Richter and his accompanying entourage walked down the gangway , their clanking footsteps just barely heard over the noise of the wind that swept across everything..

Bowing his head in respectful greeting to the strangers in front of him, Richter smiled, forgetting for a second that his face was obscured by his breathing mask.
The inhabitants solemnly returned the greeting in kind...
but did not speak..
They looked almost tribal-like in appearance, dressed in long flowing ceremonial robes.
Richter observed the weapons attached to their belts, it appeared to be some kind of projectile weapon...in fact everything about them seemed Primitive..he also noted they did not wear any breathing protection.
One of the Tribesmen stepped forward and gestured for everyone to follow...but did not speak...

Richter glanced back to his entourage then back to the man in front of him, and nodded signalling for the troop to lead the way. As they walked in silence towards a huge dome-like structure, Richter listened to the wind howling ...it blustered and swirled the sand around them, making it difficult to see what exactly laid before them...
Richter felt a little apprehensive to say the least, but he comforted himself with the thought of what Mr Vinda would say if he could manage to form some kind of trade link with these people....



<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> ..nows your chance Richter...don't screw it up!...<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

<!--EZCODE BOLD START--> Minos...<!--EZCODE BOLD END-->




*Achinta's eyes scanned the scene before him, watching in almost morbid curiousity, he could not understand the logic behind this kind of act...
Glancing down towards Scipio he reached out and rested his hand upon her shoulder in an attempt to console her...
He had observed this behaviour in humanoids before...and it seemed to help.

"...I am sorry Scipio Arien..."

*He wished he could say something more but found even he could not find the appropriate words, so instead remained silent.


In the many hours that followed, the fires were slowly extinguished and everyone had joined in on the task of retrieving and burying the burned corpses, though because identification was all but impossible, the bodies were buried together...

During this time no-one said much of anything, a kind of solemn veil of silence seemed to be everyone's way of dealing with the grim task at hand.
Achinta noted it seemed to be almost ceremonial, a mark of respect..

As he assisted the others he glanced towards Scipio, who was helping to lower a victim into the huge grave... he observed the way she threw herself into helping her people with almost no regard for herself...

...he admired her for that....

It was almost as if she drew her own strength from it, if he had learned anything from this whole situation , it was that in times of great distress and pain , humanoids that were usually so divided seemed to somehow come together....
Achinta considered this thought as he continued helping....*



<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> ...its just a shame that it takes such suffering to do so...<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

<!--EZCODE BOLD START--> Location unknown<!--EZCODE BOLD END-->

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> ...test of diplomacy...<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->




*After a journey of about quarter of an hour, Richter and the whole entourage arrived outside the dome-like structure...
Richter observed that it seemed like a colonnial building of some description, much more technologically advanced than these tribesmen appeared to be. The loud hiss of an airlock depressurising was the signal for them to enter, a few of the tribespeople stayed outside, the others led Richter and his party inside.
The interior was dark, and dimly lit by torches that flickered randomly, generating dancing shadows over everyone and everything, the occasional spit and cackle from them seemed to echo loudly inside the vast structure.
This was to strange to Richter, as the dome itself did appear to have lighting facilities...*

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> ...have they lost power?...<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

*..In fact the further they walked down the dome's long corridors, he realised that nobody had been here for a very long time indeed. Chairs tables, computer equipment, everything seemed to have been left untouched, unpowered and offline, and covered in a thick gritty layer of dust that spread like mist through the air at the slightest hint of being disturbed....

As they turned a corner , Richter and his team entered a large hall, and as he took a minute to take in his surroundings, his eyes fell upon a figure dressed grandly in tribal garments, seated on what appeared to be a kind of, huge, ornately carved wooden throne.
The figure was flanked by a large gathering of more Tribesmen.
Richter glanced back around the large hall, and couldn't help but feel like these people seemed very out of place in the cold hard mettalic surroundings of the dome that contained them.

The figure upon the throne, raised his over-decorated staff and struck the floor three times , the noise seemed to echo everywhere...*

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> ...a flair for the dramatic...this should be interesting...<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

*Richter overheard one of his aides whispering to another of his team as they walked further into the hall...*

"I wonder what happened to the people that lived here?.."

*Richter replied, nodding in the direction of what appeared to be the leader...*

"these probably ate them..."

*Richter wished he could convince himself that comment had indeed just been a joke...
As they walked up to the throned leader, they all bowed their heads in respect, the Leader raised his hand in greeting, and finally broke the silence...his eyes focused entirely on Richter*

"welcome, men of the Corporation, I am Seneca Ordobis of the Sevari. I hear you are lost and in need of supplies... "

*The man was tall, and elderly, he obviously held an important office of some kind. He was flanked by a variety of Tribespeople, all who seemed to be elders too, his voice was gruff, and coarse...Richter felt it suited him, he relaxed considerably as they appeared to be friendly...
...the name too sounded familiar *

"..we cannot offer you much in the way of technical expertise however , as it is our belief and our way to avoid , what you would call "advanced technology" altogether...we are simple people who prefer the simple ways...but your people are welcome to break bread with us..and what you see here you are welcome to take, if it will help you.
These structures belonged to people, similiar to yourselves, who most of which, left this world some time ago, we have no need for them or what they contain... we thought it would be easier for you to meet here..."

*Richter's eyes widened as he realised where he had heard the name before...*

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> ...The Sevari!?...of course!..<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

*Richter , bowed again as the man finished, and replied...*

"..Thank you, Mr Ordobis, your and your people's hospitality honours us, we were attacked and our ship is in need of repairs and supplies...any help you could offer us would be greatly appreciated...since our Navi-comp was damaged we have no idea whereabouts we actually are...what is the name of this planet?..."

*The old mans eyes did not seem to blink as he listened intently to Richter talk... he smiled a little as he answered him...*

"..Sevarcos..."

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> ...I knew it!...<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

*...Richter turned around and nodded to his team to start looking for anything that might be of use.. then turned back to face the elder in front of him...*

".. the company I represent would be deeply appreciative of this kind offer, and the welcome you have given us...if it pleases you and your people, I would like to suggest a meeting of minds to open diplomatic ties between both of our peoples...perhaps even form some kind of trade link?..."

*The elder glanced back to his gathering of tribesmen then looked back towards Richter, a wry smile escaping...*

"...Yes.... we had forseen this.... in fact it is part of the reason we allowed yourselves to land... but one step at a time Corporation man, one step at a time.... we will eat first, business is best conducted on a full stomach...."

*The elder struck his staff against the floor again, and in almost immediate response more clansmen seemed to appear from out of nowhere carrying, chairs, tables large bowls of fruits, and foodstuffs . Richter and his team could only look on in amazement at the huge spread, beginning to form in front of them. Slightly dumbfounded, Richter gestured for his team to enjoy their host's hospitality...*

Bonadan

VC-HQ....


They...She still was not naming names.

He knew why too, because she was afraid. Afraid for her family, for her life.

The words that she had said ran through Miles' mind..

"The bomb was a diversion....I , I didn't want to hurt anyone..."

He looked at her, his eyes narrowed, his jaw set hard. He didn't look angry, but he didn't look all too happy either. His voice was stern as he spoke.

"If you don't tell me who"they" are...people will be hurt. People will be hurt because I won't be able to stop whoever is doing this..."

"If you want to amend what you've done wrong, now is your only chance."

He glanced around the room slowly, thinking out his chosen words carefully.

"Your life is in this corporation's hands now, not just your life, but many others."

He waved the blueprints around.

"If they get a hold of this...lots of things will be lost, including lives, most likely. Is that what you want?"

He recalled that he knew not the woman's name. Mr. Vinda had never mentioned her name before, but he could recall other employees that he worked with, mentioning before. He was lost in thought for a moment, trying to recall her name, realiazing that he could only come up with a first name, not remembering her last.

"Yana..is it?..Mr. Vinda never mentioned you to me, but I have heard of you. I've heard that you do great work for Mr. Vinda....It would be a shame to lose you...Mr. Vinda is a reasonable man, I'm sure I can talk him into getting him to be lenient on you..but that's only if you help me out here. I believe in second chances, that's just the way I am, so what do you say?"

He would give her a second chance, but if she screwed it up, well, the consequences for doing so would be all her fault.

<!--EZCODE BOLD START--> Bonadan<!--EZCODE BOLD END-->

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> ...VC-HQ...<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->





<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> ...Second chances...<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

*Those words hung inside Yana's Head, as she listened intently to Miles. She felt that she could physically see the words fall from his mouth...everything seemed to move in slow-motion, nothing seemed real anymore....It was as if she was in some kind of never-ending nightmare. If only Miles knew how much she had wished , wanted , pained, for it all to be over, the second that Guard had pulled the trigger.
Then she wouldn't have had to live with the knowledge that her family were going to die...

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> ..Second chances....

..do I deserve a second chance?.... <!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->


"...Yes my name is Yana, Yana Okani, I am.... <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> was<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->, Mr Vinda's secretary..."

*Yana sunk back into the chair, as she realised she couldn't give Miles the information he wanted...*

"...I don't know who <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> they<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> are!..."

*Yana looked up towards Miles, her eyes red, tear-stricken, but wide open...*

"...I never met anyone, I was just told to answer <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> that<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> damned Comm-link, and if I didn't, then my children would be killed..."

*Yana nodded in the direction of the Comm-link that had since been placed on the table next to Yana and Miles...*

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> ...why did they pick me?....<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

*Yana hung her head , and sighed heavily, as she recalled how all of this had come about..*

"..it all happened about four days ago...I had some leave free, and I had left work early to catch the 'Lady of Mindor',(Yana smiled faintly as she remembered), I had promised Anya, and Tetsuo, er... (my children) that we would go to Kail....but , when I came home, both were...

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> gone..<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

Instead, "they" had left that Comm-link and the bomb, they said I would recieve any further instructions via the comm-link, and if I didn't answer it within two Hails they would...."

*Her voice trailed off , almost as if she couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence, her voice had become dry and hoarse..

As Yana finished, the security Guard who had caught her, with his back towards Yana, took Miles to one side. Miles however kept his gaze firmly upon her as he listened to what the Guard had to say...*

"..Sir , when I accosted her, the Comm-link had already hailed once.. if what she is saying is true, then that would explain why the fleet we detected have not attacked, they could still be waiting for her to lower the shield..
We have in orbit our own advanced detection facility, if they do try to contact her one more time....we <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> could<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->..."

*As Miles glanced briefly towards the Guard, the Security officer felt he didn't need to finish his sentence...

Yana looked on helpless, she couldn't make out what was being said, but she couldn't shake the feeling, it concerned her fate...*

The droid was a drift and damaged. The vong had destroyed the majority of his droid forces in the battle when he boarded the damaged cuiser. The moment that they realized that he was mechanical. They went Bezrk. Leaving with only the option to flee. The mission was completed. He had managed to gain some technical footage from his exploration of the damaged ship. In addition to several of the creatures devices in status. One of the beings with monstrous arms. Several of the staffs, Body army, samples of a the living walls that seemed to heal itself, Some sort of clear creature that protected them from the elements and allowed them to breay in hard vaccum. The prisonor would shed some light on these new comers.

After ejecting from the ship he shut down all systems except the essentials. He looked like another piece of space debree. The VC would pick him up soon enough but now he was dreaming up new defences.

There would be new upgrades for him self and droid replacements once he got back to the VC. He would need to train at the Instellation that he had some of his droids working on at the planet. Thosa.

C4 did not waste time in the time that he spent adrift in space. The jedi have had some run ins with the vong.
He now wrote programs based on the combat that he saw figureing out ways to counter the type of weapons that they use and their ships. The sheilding devices that they use well prove a challenge to over come. The weapons ,when watched through the eye of a slowmotion vid, betray the fact that the energy is some how sucked into something. A gravity anomally perhaps. He had no way of knowing until he sees on first hand.

Although C4 still held a advantage in a dogfight with the rock like fighters. The vong were still flesh and blood and had limits when it came to the space manuvers that they could do. C4 had none. The tracter beams could also be used to distract them.

The staffs that they used were also versitile. Not many metals stand up to them demonstrated in the fact that they sliced right through much of his droid armor. They had
creatures that ate metal. All quite complex. A worthy foe
indeed.

Their hate of technology was plainly evident in the combat that he face when they found that they were fighting mechanical beings. He was working on some translations of their language based on what he recorded on the ship. Filtering out induviduals to get the broadest data base on the language so that he may find a program to define it. The simpilist words came through crystal clear. In there hate when they spoke it. Monster, infidel, hertic. They are the words spoken the most.

He must be ready. taking all of the data that he extrapolated he put together a simulation combat program. By interfaceing with the program every action seems real to him even damage that he recieves. If he is killed in the program he simpply comes back to normal funtions. He simulated being against a building full of vong in varies situations. One was him alone that ended in his being scraped, another was him and his drones he faired much better with more eyes to see with he managed to escape with asingle drone intact. A third one employed him self and his hunter trainer droid the droid was made to hunt and made sport of the vong putting them into chaos for a time more then enough for C4 to help pick off the vong. ONe more with the hunter trainer and C4s two Destroyer droids now equiped with repulsor sheilding as opposeed to energy sheilding to avoid solid vong weaponry the group set the trap and slaughtered the vong.

The simulations allow for him to see how he well up grade him self for a new kind of fighting. Ih the recent past he had added a battle droid force feild generator to his systems. Now he needs more in the way of purely physical weapons. A light saber from a sith that had alluded him was one of the first additions that he is makeing. Linking the saber to a wristdevice he now had a excellent cuting weapon.

In a moment the mount for the saber can also extend out ward. a motor mechanism allows the blade to rotate in a circle 30 times a second creating a shield with the blade or a saw. A pocket knife like vibro blade is installed in his other wrist. At a mental comand it extends two claws(like the weapon of a predator). A holographic camolflage device about the size of a human hand is installed into his waist. With it he can scan his surroundings and blend into it like a chemelean. The device has a normal battery life of 4 minutes but with it
linked to his own power supply he can use it for up to two
hours. The last touch is a back pack that he may ware in witch he keeps all manner of grenades, a force cage and a disrupter for back up. A redirectioning device on his repulsors also turns it into a weapon. Able to slam any beings around worse then a force push that happen to coe from behind.

He updated his drones as well. Rearming them with their original phase one sheilds and blades. And equiping them all with several disrupters, three hand held. one built into their
backs. Just incase he also added a self destruct on all of
them that would set of a thermal detonator with in each droid.

The hunter trainer needed little redesign except fot the addition of heavier armor and a shield that may be carried on the back in the event of a hand to hand fight.

The vong are here lets see how they fair when I am done.

Thosa -Dostra -Corporate- Thandon Cluster- Barren rock

A complex cave system On the planet give C4 a base to work from. With his droids at hand he makes repairs to him self and up grades to his ship. Adding a cunncussion missle launcher to the ship. The under ground complex is armed witht the best computers that VC can buy. There is a atmosphere not much but there is. Weapons stockpiles are all over the place. Droid parts. Weapons lockers. The place would be a gold mine for a robber. If any one but some droids knew the location of the planet. Droids that he gave memory wipes too. Soon he would enter the battle again. And the vong would see the error of their ways.

When he was able to get engines online he sent all the info that he had on the vong so far to VC. Combat data, language translations, every thing. From there he left for his base in the Corporate sector. He studied the weapons that he had collected. Matching his armor to a type that would not be as easily cut. And he had a single vong prisonor.

From what he gathered from him. He was some thing called a shaper. A person that created all of the bio tech. His arms were always restrained to prevent him from commiting suicide he was to valuble for that to happen. The droid was returning and soon. He even hada cloning tank from the New Alliance cloning facultys on wayland. He was starting to produce more of the weapons that he collected already. The rebreathing device, the covering that protected a person from vacum, some of the vong battle armor that regenerates, and the battle staff.

A single fighter craft that he salvaged from the battle feild gave him a glimps at the level of there technology. The Ship was a live as far as he could tell. And made up of multiple organisms. One of them being a creature that creats a small black hole. Over the weeks he managed to clone this creature. And after experimenting he was finding ways to artificially feed the thing and manipulate it into action. Current techniques on cyborg tech interfaces allowed him to integrate it into his ship. It would give him a simular advantage to the new enemy. Could he recreat the effect of the creature artificially he wonders.

The armor that he was cloneing was amazing in it's regenerative abilitys. No energy weapons could manage to get past the armor. He was currently redesigning his phase 1 dark troopers to have this armor cover them from head too toe. It was not nearly as artistically horrid as the ones that the vong wore but it would serve his purposes.

The more he interrogated the prisoner the more he learned. About the gods of there people, The pure abomination that he was and why they hated technology. And most importantly why they were in this galexy. To conquer it is their way. And if they had they're way all mechs well be wiped from the face of the galexy. Some thing this droid would not allow. The only way to fight these new techs as a droid was to learn about them and adapt them for him self.

Medical equipment and droids were disecting and analysing many of the original living weapons he acuired. The droids were refuges from some of the battles fought by the vong. The experience pushed a few past their programing limits so that they were to be droids that put their lives as it were ahead of the need to not harm sentients. These that he had here had managed to reprogram themselves so that they are allowed to hurt vong and no one else.

The mapping of the nuerology of the creatures was on scedule with that they would be able to find ways to turn them in to cyborg weapons. Activated by technology rather then instict.

<!--EZCODE HTML START--> <font color="yellow">


<!--EZCODE BOLD START--> The Past.... Shattered images....<!--EZCODE BOLD END-->


"My Lord! We must leave now!!" shouted the man named Hespante. "Ziostia has fallen!"


"NO!" came back the stubborn reply. "I will NOT allow the Nephys to destroy everything we've worked so hard to create! The Union is strong! The Union.."


"...is dead, Sire."

"Sire?" came the stunned question.

"You're brother is dead. The Nephys users caught the royal familiy on Capricia."


"Capricia?"

"Is holding but we are not sure for how long. You are the Clannus Prime now and the Throne World is shuting down the gates."


"But...but.. it can't.. the galaxy? That's the end of the Union.."


"Open your eyes boy!" the Royal Retainer Hespantes snapped.

The third grandchild of the Stettin the IV, of Tyscio Province, shut his mouth as the cold harshness of truth slapped him.



*****


Coruscantes..


The boy had remained... the Throne World having finally cut off the rest of the Union. As more Nephys users became appearant, the reunification of the galaxy seemed more of a dream than a goal.


The armies of Bane were coming and young Tyscio Korban's small army of Union warriors, those remaining few loyal to the Clannus Prime prepared for the battle.


Bane...


..the once decorated soldier of the Union...


..child of Capricia..


..of Tyscio..


..of Royal Blood..



***


Almania....



the final battle...





<!--EZCODE BOLD START--> Now...<!--EZCODE BOLD END-->


The atmosphere of Kendra clashed with that of Providence and something stirred within Kendra.


<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> The ability had been used... been felt..been perceived..<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->


Hespante's awareness increased to record the signature and what it found was quite a surprise.


<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Tyscio Korban? Alive?<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->


It was time to act.</font><!--EZCODE HTML END-->