"Sir, incoming transmission from the Kiyar Federation!" sang out the comm officer.

"Let me take it at my personal comm station." replied Admiral Kraken. After reviewing the message, and recieving the coordinates, Kraken put in another message.

"Kiyar Federation, we recieve and acknolwedge your message. However, we are not here to provoke the Seras Navy, only to protect Kiyar from further harm. We will send scouting units into the central quadrant however to confirm what has happened there." said Admiral Kraken.

"Sir, another incoming transmission, this one from that large group of Azguard Transport ships." said the Comm officer.

"Very Well, send it to my personal comm station again." said Admiral Kraken. After reviewing the message, or the request, he decided to send an answer to the Azguard Commander.

"Azguard forces, this is Admiral Kraken. We are here as the same purpose as you, though we offer military assistance only at this time. A truce is accepted." said the Admiral.

At the same time, Admiral Kraken sent a message to the Outer-Rim Soveriengty Destroyer, now identified as the Solace, a veteran ship. "ORS Forces, this is Admiral Kraken of the New Order. We are not here to fight with you. We will not engage any of your forces here, and we expect you to do the same." said Admiral Kraken.

Then, with orders to deploy, the Task Force moved ahead. The first Task Force, consisting of the Victory Star Destroyer Black Widow, and the Illustrious Fast Attack Cruisers Inexorable, and Indefatigable moved into a wide orbit of Kiyar while the smaller ships broke into two groups. Task Force 2 moved in to help the Kiyar forces secure the shipyard, and consisted of the Fire class Light Frigates Spartan, and Black Prince, along with the Constainer Pickets Stellar Web, Black Asp, and Corusca Rainbow. Their fighters remained docked, as the Light Frigates were more than suitably armed to deal with any threats from starfighters, or capital warships. Finally, Task Force 3, consisting of the Fire class Light Frigate Bellona, and the Constrainer Pickets Binder, and Constrainer, jumped torwards the Central Quadrant.

After a quick hop through hyperspace, Task Force 3 reverted to the edge of the Central Quadrant. Turning on their full sensors, and deploying Probe Droids, they found..........

Outskirts of the Andrega System, Fleet RV.



The trip was quick, so fast in fact that Blackblade was surprised to already see the fleet in position for their prejump checks. The radio crackled to life beside him.

"Admiral Blackblade, welcome back."

"Captain Irkutsk, i assume we are ready for the jump in system?"

There was a curt 'aye sir' in reply and Dakkon was about the cut the transmission when Irkutsk spoke up quickly.

"We received a transmission from the Employers. Said they've got a prototype warship nearby to act as reinforcements if necessary. Said it was a Sword class or something..."

He nodded then cut the transmission, quickly guiding the luxury yacht towards the waiting hangar bay of the Interceptor.. After docking with the 418 Protector Cruiser Dakkon made haste to the bridge, issuing orders over the comms as he went. By the time he arrived to take command, the bridge was a hive of activity. Looking out the viewport he paused to take in the sight of the Interceptors sister ship, the Rapier and Dakkon knew off to the port side the Invader and Interceptor class 418s would be similarly busy perparing for the short jump that would take them into combat.

A Lieutenant called up from the pit. "All fighters have been recovered for the jump to hyperspace."

Dakkon stood at the helm looking stoicly out into the abyss, his mind ticking over slowly, collecting and collating the information that was flowing over his holocomputer.

"Initiate jump." he glanced over his shoulder.

"XO, you have the helm."

(OOC:Fleet Manifest, jumping in system.

2 Protector-class 418 Cruisers
2 Interceptor-class 418 Cruisers
1 Invader-class 418 Cruiers

Full fighter compliments.)

A flash of red-gold light lit up his cockpit as they sprayed outward, tagging various parts of the thing's solar panel.

Choosing rather to break off than risk any further damage, that had bought just enough time for Raven's TIE Defender to break off, entering the shipyard.

I supposed...her part in this fight is over. She must have been off to go pursue the two who landed.

Turning his X-Wing about, Dyrien brought everything to bear on the returning TIE.

<hr>

He narrowed deep, dark eyes as the hatch doors sealed shut with a loud snap, returning both gravity and oxygen to the room in an instant. Behind the safety of durasteel and transparisteel, he watched, hands clutching tightly to the metal object on his leather belt.

His orange and black cloak and hood draped over his body to add to the silhouette that shrouded his features. Perhaps the only possible sight one could make out over his visage were the implanted glowing red eyes, something enhanced through surgery that his master had assigned each of his three apprentices.

This man was the second of the three, identified by the orange flares over his shrouds. A thirst for battle began to touch his lips, like a lust in his body he craved a fight.

This feeling was only enhanced by the prickling sensations riding up and down his flesh like a thousand needles penetrating his skin. The allure of the Dark Side of the Force. It was so unmistakeable, so exquisitvely perfect.

Any doubts were washed away immediately with the dark nauseating feeling entering his innards. A feeling as unmistakeable as that of hot or warm.

That caused those battle-lusting lips to curl back into a wickedly devilish grin. A contented sigh whispered out in eager anticipation.

Come to me... he mouthed, watching the TIE Defender take up its final positions in the docking bay. It was undoubtably the source of the Dark Side he'd felt all along. It was undoubtably the same person he'd felt in space, the woman whom his master had taken such a keen interest.

Eilar smirked just a bit, unhooking the lightsaber from his belt finally, holding it out in his right hand, gripped loosely but readily. The Dark Jedi watched with blissful glee as the hatch to the Defender popped open, and a lean, feline like figure emerged, draped in the black flight suit of an Imperial pilot.

It was a necessity to fly in any of the TIE models. For the sake of speed, most of the normal essentials - such as life support and artificial gravity - had been completely removed, making the Imperial craft completely nimble and agile.

The pilot was kept alive only by his flight suit.

Though this apparently Force adept pilot was surprisingly small, even for a pilot. It was no secret that those who flew were generally shorter than the average military person, but their entire body was much smaller, much lesser shaped than any man he'd ever encountered.

Not to matter, he remembered well the holocrons of Master Yoda, and how he single handidly could defeat almost any Sith Lord in a duel of arms.

That thought caused a burning sensation of excitement to ride through his burning veins. He'd yearned since his graduation for a fight worthy of his skills.

Eilar and his brothers of the Dark Side, Yidren and Qal, were trained each in a special art, enhanced by the Force. Eilar had had the pleasure of being trained in the ways of martial combat, rivaled by none of the other students with his lightsaber or hands for that matter.

Qal had been trained to be an elite starfighter pilot, better than, possibly, even the pilots of the Republic's Rogue Squadron. Before he'd broken the Force Meld that had bound the three students, Eilar had felt his companion completely overwhelming the small strike force of Kiyarans.

Not since Corran Horn had he ever heard of such a skilled and able-bodied starfighter pilot.

Yidren had the most difficult and rigorous training of the three however. Being the eldest under their master, he was taught the ways of sorcery and Sith magic. The embers rekindled in the furnace of a Dark Jedi, there was no telling how powerful he would become.

If Eilar intended to become the new master, Yidren would be most difficult to dispose of.

But for now he remained loyal to a T...and their master had ordered the death or capture of this impudent Sith or Jedi figure that had emerged amidst the fighting between the Kiyarans and the Serasians.

Staring at the feline figure, he grinned pale ivory teeth. Accidents happened, in a fight...death sometimes could not be prevented.

To his utter astonishment, as the small figure removed their glaringly polished helmet, long, dark hair fell to their shoulders, bobbing there. They turned about, her deep green eyes staring about curiously.

Eilar would be fighting a woman.

Looking downward at the deck, he simply snarled lightly.

All's fair love and war.

With that assurance to himself he pressed the control panel nearby, hissing open the door before him with a start, squeezing the lightsaber he clutched tightly in his palm.

<hr>

Dyrien's eyes widened for just a moment as the TIE Advanced went screaming by his own fighter, green lasers leading the way and burning away what was left of his fore shields. Cursing under his breath he flipped a switch, evening them out and giving a hard right pull on the yoke while easing off on the left rudder, pressing down as hard as he could on the right.

The TIE Advanced was far quicker, but he just managed to align himself for one quick shot, his red-gold bolts blazing across the aft shields. The pilot however was good and was not going to just settle to lose his deflector shields after one run. Pressing his yokes first forward, he appeared to be going into a dive.

Expecting deception, the colonel pulled back hard with all his might, shooting his X-Wing as quickly upward as he could. The inertial compensator was unable to keep up, and he was glued back to his seat. Just as he'd suspected, the Advanced pulled up, and then shot itself straight once again, racing back toward the shipyard.

Dyrien did not miss a heartbeat and in the split second between the readjustment and the turn, he unleashed once again once he'd brought his vessel to bear once more. This time Gyro let out a whistle of what must have been droid excitement.

Across his HUD, the back of the TIE craft turned red, indicating a loss of shields. In an obviously panicked state, perhaps the first time that Dyrien had seen this one panic, the Imperial model craft dipped and swerved, a jittery tactic some pilots used in an attempt to simply minimize any number of hits.

Interesting... he thought, this one thinks I'm good.

As some of the shields began to recharge, the Advanced did a sharp starboard turn, and again Dyrien was on him like stink on Bantha. While he came in though, he saw two other surviving X-Wings, coming in in a close formation letting loose their own series of blasts, hoping to score a few hits in for themselves.

None of them hit, but a concussion missile let out from the missile launcher of the Serasian fighter left an ionic trail in the flash of an instant. Before the Kiyaran pilot could respond, the warhead detonated itself against the duratseel hull, throwing sparks and debris out in every direction.

Utilizing the moment of panic, surprise and despair, the TIE Advanced pilot dipped once more, pulled up, and hovered underneath the incoming X-Wing, making a quick get away. Probably giving himself enough time to energize his shields enough for another pass.

Gripping tightly the yokestick in his hand, Colonel Dyrien re-aligned his starfighter in the same path as this tricky Dark Jedi, Serasian, whatever he was.

Quite frankly, he no longer cared. The only thing that mattered to him was that he walked away from this fight and that TIE Advanced didn't. He narrowed his eyes with grim determination and pushed down on the yokesticks at his feet.

Payback was a @#%$.

<hr>

The Imperial and Serasians ships approached one another carefully. Each side measured the other with a degree of caution. However on Seras one thing was drilled into the head of every commander:

The Serasian Regency would never know defeat.

So who better to not know defeat against than the Empire?

The two flotillas, as though the two largest children on the block sizing each other up before a fight, floated near one another in the Centari Quadrant. The commanders eyed one another, simply waiting for the other to make an action.

The Serasians did, in a blanket of turbolaser fire.

<hr>

Raven was more than a little taken back and startled by the feeling of the Force when she exitted her starfighter. As though to add to it all however, her heart raced at something she could not know and immediately conjured her lightsaber to her palm.

At that moment the door across from her hissed open, and she pivoted on the balls of her feet. A man stood there, draped in almost ceremonial garments. And yet he was barely clothed, with only loose black pants and an eerily familiar orange-black shroud that folded into a hood.

She had seen these before, in the museum in the Jedi Academy.

Her father and Kyle Katarn had held off the original men who wore them. Reborn Jedi he'd called them whenever he would recall his stories from the days of the Imperial Wars. He explained how their feelings in the Force felt wrong, as though they were intruders.

The feeling one got from a stranger entering your home. But this man did not feel that way, he felt like the rancid feeling of death.

The painful allure of the Dark Side. A cold and sullied feeling that left her alone, so completely alone. And finally, at that moment, at the feeling of another who so bitterly opposed all that was good, right, and truthful...she began to doubt herself.

Herself, Zerxes, the Sith, all this false bravado she had gone on about for so long. Her glory days as a Jedi occured to her, memories of her long walks and talks with her love Daren, the battles she fought against the Yuuzhan Vong, and the bliss she felt whenever she would see a child smile.

That was something that could never come from the Dark Side.

As though a light had been switched on inside her body, driving out the darkness, the entire exterior of Raven changed in an instant. The dark and vile figure that Zerxes had melded into her was gone.

The loving, almost childish Jedi she had always been was back.

"You are the one," she heard, echoing across the deck and bulkheads in the room, "whom my master has stated as disturbing our plans. It is you who defeated the Serasians." His voice was heavy and hateful, malice dripping from his tone.

She clutched her lightsaber in hand and spread her feet, shifting her weight and balance evenly.

"Aye," she called back, feeling the serenity that was the Force re-enter her, filling her body and ending the longing she so desperately had felt for so long. "And what does it matter to one such as yourself? I presume you be the one who shot down the poor captain outside."

Her eyes were like fire, though instead of a fire of harm and malice, one that would char all in its path, this was instead a warm flame, intended to heat the night. To warm the cold and help the weak. The fire that burned in her heart was one of light, not one of dark.

Adrenaline began to circulate through her body, in anticipation of undoubtable battle.

"Aye," he echoed, taking a step forward. In his hand she spied a metal rod, no doubt a lightsaber of his own. "That would be me. I offer you this chance once, woman of little accord, simply because my master so wishes it." He extended a black gloved hand, fingers extended. "Join us."

At any other time the offer would have seemed perfect, a chance to seize the reins of power from an obviously strong Dark Jedi and take under her command all his assets. But with this new hope that she felt inside of her, she had to do she could to supress a chuckle.

"Not in your wildest dreams," she remarked. Before the words even exitted her mouth the predictable snap-hiss of his lightsaber reverberated throughout the room, his red blade emitting outward as he ran toward her. This was what he wanted.

In like she ignited her own blade, the white-purple shooting outward as though a testament against him. Holding the weapon downward in a defensive position, she waited.

<hr>

The X-Wings swerved and ducked under one another, now playing off each other in an attempt to destroy the pesky TIE Advanced that had found a challenge in the Kiyaran colonel. Ducking, weaving, and spinning, all four fighters moved in a seemingly ceremonial dance.

Two of the X-Wings had been obliterated, two very good friends of Colonel Dyrien, two very good men. Leaving only three behind, they were now trying all they could to pin down and keep the TIE Advanced between them.

Every once in awhile they would trade shots, sometimes damaging the Kiyaran starfighters, sometimes damaging the Imperial model craft. But surely the latter was weakening and it showed in his suddenly erratic behavior.

That was what Dyrien had wanted to see. Panic, erraticy, fear in the enemy.

Dropping down below the other fighters and lowering his speed, he moved in in an attempt to finish off the TIE Advanced once and for all.

<hr>

Raven took a quick side step in response to the first lunge, catching the arcing swing of the lightsaber with a snap of her wrists. The sound of crackling energy volleyed back and forth between the red and violet blades snapped throughout the hangarbay, seeming to only entice the Dark Jedi.

He was thriving on this and Raven could see it in his eyes, those deep, red eyes.

His strength was far greater than her's, and she knew in a match of brute force she would be no match. Therefore the Jedi girl withdrew her blade and took a step back, unbalancing the foe for just a moment.

At first he stumbled forward just a bit, but he rebuttled and managed to catch an incoming swing for his back by lifting his arms and twisting the pommel in his hands, catching the purple behind him.

A swift adjust of his footing let him throw the blade off and bring his arm around for a pair of slashes. Raven leapt backward, falling on her heels and letting the lightsaber she held drop to her waist before lunging forward with a thrust.

This two was caught and spun around by Eilan. That sinister grin played his features almost sadistically as he riposted the strike to be met with another parry.

A dance had begun between the two, a dance that no other pair of individuals could possibly hope to compare to. How could one keep up without the use of the Force?

Deadly sparks flew from their blades with each thrash and slam of the two opposing energies. Their feet slid against and moved about the floor, dragging with a scraping noise or thudding with a missed kick.

If one were to witness the event they would be forced to simply stand and watch, caught completely off guard by the illuminating light show dazzled by the parries and thrusts or slashes.

The Dark Jedi had to admit, for a woman she was surprisingly good. None had ever stood this long against him before, much less had not even begun to tire.

Dodging another pair of swings and then parrying a hack from above, he caught the attempt with a horizontal block. Again the two were caught together in a moment of crackling energy, though this time Eilan was forced to arch his back, much to his own surprise.

"Might I get the pleasure of your name?" he managed to ask amidst the press. Raven found herself caught off guard completely, almost disarmed by the statement. But at the feeling of his strength trying to throw off her blade, she rebuttled and took a step forward.

"Raven...Raven Skywalker," she responded, in turn withdrawing her hold over him and ducking instinctively. The Dark Jedi, as soon as he had been released, rolled the pommel about in his hand and slashed ferociously, a swooshing sound crying out as his blade hit only air.

Raven seized the opportunity and shot out her foot, twisting her body in a hard sweep. Coming in contact with the back of his legs, Eilan was thrown first into the air before slamming painfully into his back and hitting the floor.

His red lightsaber sizzled from his grip, sliding across the floor and deactivating without feeling the clutch of its master. Still clutching her's tightly, the woman jumped up herself, placing a foot on the chest of her fallen foe as though to brace him into place.

She aimed her weapon downward.

"Now I give you one chance...join us," she insisted, in almost a pleading tone.

The Dark Jedi's expression softened, the light in his eyes seeming to dim. His entire body slowed, the tenseness almost disappearing completely. The calmness over his visage was almost eerie.

And for a moment Raven thought he would consider the offer.

A tense moment occured then, a moment of silence only violated by the hum of the Jedi's lightsaber that stood only centimeters from the man's face. His breathing was heavy, lifting her foot up and down as his chest heaved.

She felt his hand wiggle slightly, and a thought raced through her head. Before it could even register she heard an igniting snap.

Before wasting another moment she thrusted her blade forward. There was a grunt, a whining moan of the blade...and Eilan's wrist went limp, the strength of his body resigned to so little that he could not even hold his own hand.

Raven collapsed to the floor, disengaging her lightsaber and feeling the nauseating and macabre emotion that could only come from death.

The realization hit her and there was no way to deny it. She had just killed a man.

<hr>

Dyrien's HUD turned completely red as the TIE Advanced before him began to slow. Lazily it seemed as though it were turning, but there was no way the enraged colonel was going to let this chance slip by.

He squeezed down on the red trigger, letting loose wave after wave of scarlet blasts. His cockpit was lit up, smoke drifted and he could not see. But he did not care.

He did not let up, blast after blast after blast shot straight out. Gyro whistled something in protest, but Dyrien wasn't listening. He was too caught up in the pleasure of it all.

Finally, when he eased up on the trigger, he saw...nothing. To his absolute and complete pleasure, he saw nothing. Nothing at all but a few chunks of solar panel, indicating that at one point there had indeed been a starfighter there.

Once, but no longer.

As Dyrien eased back into his pilot's seat, he allowed a grin to play his features. A grin that was only enhanced by the calls of excitement emitted over the intercom from his fellow surviving pilots.

Vengeance was a sweet taste.

"Mosquito Unit, report in please," he said into his comm unit, letting his X-Wing drift to almost no speed as it came over the top of the enormous shipyard.

"Mosquito Unit reporting, we have seized most of the shipyard...the enemy is in full retreat, we have them pinned down in one section, but they have a hooded man with them and this is definitely complicating things," came back the unorthodox response. Dyrien blinked a couple times.

"What kind of complications Mosquito Unit?" he asked cautiously.

"The Dark Jedi kind."

"Sir!" one of the two pilots, Captain Adalgi, cried out in fear. "Seven, eight, nine, twelve marks coming in at point five six."

Dyrien looked up at his sensors where several red blips had begun to surface. He felt panic began to seep into his system. Another pilot's voice blared over the comm.

"Another dozen sir," cried Captain Greten. "TIE Bombers."

And Gyro indicated that there were at least twenty four Interceptors...squints. So there were forty-eight fighters coming.

Forty-eight Serasians coming to level the shipyard. Rather destroy it than let the Kiyarans get their hands on it. Rather kill their own men then let them fall in the hands of the enemy.

"Reform!" he yelled, moving his X-Wing about to face the direction of the incoming fighters.

It was a horrific sight to see on visual...the forty-eight...sixty starfighters as numerous it seemed as the stars. Sixty starfighters against three X-Wings and an empty Corvette.

But if this was how he was going to go down...

"My men..." he said quietly, looking to his port out of the hatch to where he saw Greten pulling onto his side, exhausted and limping. He looked starboard, where the young Adalgi was frightened but ready, the ever valiant soldier. "Be ready...for if this is to be our end...let it be one that is written for all time in the archives of Kiyar..."

He looked back forward and pressed downward on his rudders. No one said a word, no one said a thing. They simply drifted into the fray.

Kamon nodded.

"Fine by me. We get to do something other than sit here at least."

Kamon looked to the Captain and nodded. The ships began to slowly move towards the ORS vessels so that when the transports launched they would be there to cover them. If they weren't needed to fight then they would not fight. But if the Serasian's decided to get nasty with the transports then the Serasians would be in trouble.

"Just move us towards the ORS vessels. We're just going to provide the transports with cover."

The Fire class Light Frigate Bellona, and two Constrainer class Pickets, reported into Admiral Kraken, for as soon as they left hyperspace in the Centari Quadrant, there they faced a force consisting of two large captial warships, and three smaller ships, all of the older age, but never the less deadly.

"Recall Task Force 2 away from the shipyard. The Kiyarians don't seem to want any help in that department. Detach the Constrainer class Pickets Stellar Web, and Black Asp. Their orders are to deploy their gravity well fields after we have left for the Centari Quadrant, in case any of their vessels gets through. That should give enough time for the other various fleet units here to deal with them. Finally, broadcast a message to all forces stationed around the planet. Here is what I want sent." said Admiral Kraken.

"Loyal Allies of the Empire, True Enemies of the Empire, I call upon you in this time of need. An enemy fleet has been sighted by my scout force in the Centari Quadrant. I am sending to all of you the data on this fleet, visuals and everything. I go now to dash this enemy to pieces. Let's put aside all differences, in order for this spieces to have a future. Admiral Kraken out." said Admiral Kraken.

Then, wheeling about with a vengeance, the Victory Star Destroyer, the two Illustrious Fast Attack Cruisers, the two Fire class Light Frigates, and one of the three Constrainer class Pickets, all lined up and entered hyperspace for a microjump, heading for the Centari Quadrant.

On board the Fire class Light Frigate Bellona........

"Sir, our shields are starting to fail. We are losing power. The Constrainer Pickets with us are reporting that they are in similar straits sir." said the Shields Officer.

"Sir! Communications incoming from Admiral Kraken. He is coming to our rescue!" said the Communications Ensign.

Cheering broke out on the deck as vessel after vessel reverbrated from hyperspace. Some ships reverted ahead of the enemy force, others behind it. The three large captial warships of the force reverted ahead of the Serasian ships, while the three smaller ones reverted behind them. They had them caught in a pincer movement.

"All ships, except for the scouting force, concentrate on the smaller ships first. Fast Attack Cruisers, concentrate on the Corvettes with all your weapons per a corvette. My ship, and the others, concentrate all fire on that Loronar Strike Cruiser. Scout Force, withdraw to the planet of Kiyar long enough for you to heal your wounds. We will take over transmitting data here." ordered Admiral Kraken.

The two Illustrious class Fast Attack Cruisers fired all sixteen of their heavy turbolaser batteries at one Corellian Corvette, crushing it's shields, and peppering it's hull with explosions, while at another Corellian corvette they fired their fourteen heavy turbolaser cannons. The damage to this corvette was less severe, but no less gruesome. Finally, the last corvette was riddled with over twenty heavy ion batteries, quickly disabling the vessel for capture. In the meantime, fifty medium turbolaser cannons, and about twenty ion cannons focused on the Loronar Strike cruiser, quickly taking it apart as well.

The Imperial fleet was doing fine, but held on from launching their fighters, but they did load all of their tubes with missiles.

OOC: Damages:
TNO:
1 Fire class Light Frigate Shields down to 5% (withdrawing to Kiyar)
2 Constrainer class Pickets shields down to 5% (withdrawing to Kiyar)

Seras:
1 Loronar Strike cruiser shields down to 10%
1 Corellian Corvette disabled
1 Corellian Corvette hull down to 75%
1 Corellian Corvette hull down to 55%

"Piece of crap" Issk gave the command console one more kick. No one was responding, it was as if he wasn't there.

"Sir, there's a lot of activity out there the fighters are-"

"I can see what's going on quite well with my own eyes, lieutenant."

Fighters in dogfights, Imperials and... things... fighting, this was just a big mess. Well sod them, he had a mission.

"Bring us into orbit of the planet, I want to prepare for a descent. Aim our lading zone on the capital city, I want to talk to their president about the lack of courtesy, personally. Lock down all systems except those vital for the landing, I don't want things going crazy when this bucket gets half-way down."

The massive-easily the biggest thing in space around here-flotilla of ships came into orbit of the world, far from any tactical engagements, looking down upon the world.

And Issk waited.

She had killed before, but this occation was distinctively different. Before this, she could always distance herself from it. In the cockpit taking down the enemy one by one, she could not see their faces. The small children for her husband's own amusement...she did it so that they didn't have to deal with any more pain, most especially from his wrath.

What did she see in Zerxes in the first place? She could see it ever so clearly now that he was childish and prone to fits of anger whenever he didn't get his way. Raven now saw, in hind sight, that he was cold and shallow, only a mere shell of a person whom would stubbornly refuse to become more that he was already.

But this individual, lying on the cold deck, was a grown man, one fully aware of his actions, feelings, and what he wanted out of life. The fact that he was a dark jedi was of no consequence in her mind.

I killed him! Sweet Force, I killed him.

Raven sighed, feeling the sting of her tears as it rolled down her cheek. In her mind's eye, she had replayed the entire fight, seeing over and over again her seemingly brutal way to ending the conflict. It was him or her, right? If she hadn't ended it, he would've finnished her, and the Kiyaran soldiers on the station with her would be dead soon afterwards.

Oh my god...the boarding party from the Mosquito.

Suddenly, the image of the Mosquito docking with the station flooded her mind, quickly followed by the image of the two TIE Advanced. She had already killed one of the pilots, but that left only one remaining.

ONE.

Scrambling to her feet and quickly placing her lightsaber back onto her belt, Raven quickly headed out of the docking bay and down the hall.

I just hope I'm not too late.

Yanking her comlink from her belt, she quickly flipped it on.

"Mosquito unit, this is Little Bird. I'm heading your way. What's your current status?"

(OOC: Is this still on?)

With renewed vigor President Blackh darted down the halls and corridors of the presidential palaces. His security personnel were hard-pressed to keep up. Those who saw Kilam would not take him to be a commander-in-chief who'd not slept in days, but more like a skiddish and excited child, running through an amusement park to his favorite ride.

For the first time in das he wore a smile, which seemed to suit him perfectly. All exhaustion, all efelings that could hinder his duty were sapped from his system like water on Tatooine.

Skidding to a stop and nearly missing the door to the command chamber, Kilam hastily entered his security code. The thumping footsteps of his guards around him came to a quick halt. Before them was a large blast door, designed to be the last line of defense in the event of an attack on the residency.

Completely invisible and hidden away behind compartments that blended perfectly with the walls were several quad laser cannons placed in during the height of Kiyaran wealth. As well there were countless secret passages any security personnel could enter or exit from. They ewre specially designed to release a tear gas inside if unauthorized bodies tried to pass through it.

Just as Kilam began to catch his breath the security panel beeped, and a femine voice spoke. "Please give voice recognition."

"Kilam Johanne Blackh, President of the Federal States of Kiyar," he responded.

"Confirmed," said the metallically even voice. A moment later the heavy door opened with a long, loud whine, and the president stepped in.

The reaction from the command center was one of awe and admiration. Every one seemed to simply stop what they were doing in order to stare at Kilam. He himself stopped a moment as well, the room completely silenced save for the chirps and whistles of the various military control consoles. When he got a look at everyone in a swift glance, he continued on, walking down the durasteel stairway at his feet.

His decent was more granderous than he intended, and the men were captivated by it. When Kilam reached the bottom floor, General Marec was there to meet him. His eyes were wide with admiration and disbelief.

"Mister President, I thought-," he started, though he was cut off with an upraised hand.

"You thought wrong General," the president interrupted. "There is a war going on betewen my people and a threat to our way of life. What kind of leader would I be to abandon them now?"

Though Marec was too taken back to respond, the soldiers throughout the room had begun a wave of applause. Exhaling deeply, Kilam sepped past the general of his space force. Taking a seat at a row of monitors, he turned to face the other chiefs of staff, who were just now ending their clapping.

Admiral Kchor was the first to speak, sitting to the president's immediate left.

"Mister President we have some remarkably good news," he said, his grin impossible to hide. When Kilam was finally situated he nodded, ushering the man to continue. "As you probably know, four fleets have contacted us, offering their aid. The Tholatin Republic, under Prince Vondiranach, bringing a small flotilla, the Outer Rim Sovereignty doing the same, the Empire who is currently in the Centari Quadrant under Admiral Kraken, we suspect that they are challenging the Serasian force, and finally a band of aliens, the Azgards, are bringing foodstuffs."

Kilam took this all in without saying a word. For a long moment he just sat there, registering the report offered him.

"Oh wait a moment, the admiral said, suddenly turning from the monitor in front of him. "We haev a fifth entering, a flotilla identifying itself as the Royal Hapan Fleet, under an Admiral Blackblade."

Again the president nodded, letting out a brief sigh. His plan had worked, it seemed like the entire galaxy was coming to the aid of Kiyar. But he had to wonder how many were here out of genuine concern for the people, and how many hoped to turn a profit here. He'd seen that happen far to many times in his past.

"And have any engaged Serasian deployments?" he dared to ask.

"The Empire assured us they werre here to mediate only, so they're not going to attack the Regent's navy," Kchar explained. "However the Star Destroyer belonging to the Sovereignty...the Solace, has launched fighters." General Marec grunted as he took a seat to the president's right, which Kilam noted. Kchor continued. "And the Azgards are requesting to land and distribute the food."

"Well let us not be rude hosts...give them the coordinates of the capitol and set a full honor guard," Kilam said cheerfully, crossing his arms over his chest. The admiral nodded and dismissed himself to go relay the order.

The president turned in his chair to face Marec. "How goes Operation: Mosquito Bite?" he asked inr efernece to the fight to retake the shipyard orbitting Kiyar.

The general chewed his lower lip, which caused Kilam to recoil nervously.

"The fight onboard is going well, the Serasians are completely pinned down and our marines are moments from cpompletely taking over," the general explained. "The president felt a warm glow begin to spread throughout his body. "But..." Marec continued, extinguishing the glow, which must have showed on his face. There was always a "but", Kilam lamented. "But, the three remaining fighters, excluding Raven who landed aboard the shipyard, have been ambushed. Dyrien and his men obliterated the two defense squadrons taking no losses before being jumped by three aces piloting erm...TIE Advanced. After suffering losses, Dyrien shot one down and the other two retreated to the shipyard.

"However, shortly after multiple squadrons arrived from a nearby carrier, sixty confirmed enemies....that's five squadrons." Kilam groaned, trying to put the pieces together in his head.

"Classes?" he asked, obviously flustered. He could feel that exhaustion rising in him again.

Marec noticed but knew it to be futile to advise rest again.

"Two Bomber model squadrons, two TIE/ln series and one Interceptor squadron," he explained instead.

Kilam was silent, knowing what this meant but waiting for Marec to say it himself, to confirm his fears. Compiling the words carefully, Marec made eye contact with his commander-in-chief.

"They mean to raze the shipyard."

<hr>

Eris slapped at his comm link hoping to silence the annoying beeping it emitted. Flicking on the receive mode, he heard the feminine voice of that Sith-Jedi whatever she was, girl in a frantic tone.

"Mosquito unit, this is Little Bird. I'm heading your way. What's your current status?"

Just as he was about to respond a series of blazing crimson bolts whizzed by his face, causing him to throw himself to the ground. Cranking back the hammer on his weapon he aimed it upward down the corridor where the shots came from.

His finger on the trigger, he squeezed several times and was satisfied when he heard a short gasp and a dry thump against the durasteel floor. On either side of him were narrow durasteel bulkheads with a silver hue, at least those areas that weren't blown and disheaveled on account of the fighting that had gone on the past half our or so.

He had positioned himself with the rest of his unit in a branching corridor so he might have some cover. It was the last pocket of resistance, but they'd been having problems.

Grabbing the comm link and moving it closer to his mouth he tried to find the right words to explain it.

"The situation is um...extremely hostile, something is slaughtering us over here," he called out frantically. He heard the double taps against it, signifying her confirmation. "We're held up at the command station, get down here fast."

"Roger that Mosquito unit, I'll be there as quickly as I can."

He clicked off the comm unit's relay mode again and shouldered his weapon. The constant shots from down the corridor had ended, that would give his unit enough time to barrel in and unleash hell.

Closing his eyes he silently counted to three at the same rate as his heart. When he finished he jumped out, his feet slamming against the ground with a start and he began his run, howling out as he did so.

Ahead was nothing but smoke-hazed darkness.

Until the snap-hiss, the extending red-beam, and the maniacle laugh.

Eris stopped suddenly, feeling fear like he'd never felt before rising in the very pits of his stomach. Lifting his weapon and taking him he screamed and let loose all he could.

<hr>

Raven ran through the various twisting corridors as swiftly as she could, allowing the Force to flow through her to enhance the speed of her legs. Her lightsaber in her right hand, her thumb was simply aching to turn it on, ready to use the purple-white beam to cut down anything in her path.

She was now passing over an enormous catawalk, the typical feel as though it were going to give way underneath her causing her to doutb her resolve. Raven never much liked walking on catawalks, for while they were doubtless well supported - people had to walk across them hundreds of times a day - they gave that thumping feeling like the slightest movement could make the entire thing give way.

But hearing that last and final scream across the comm-link hardened her resolve and so she made across it carefully, but as swiftly as she felt comfortable.

She could not help but look down though as she ran, catching a glimpse of the Strike Cruiser below. It was something of beauty, a brand new ship, simmering with the fresh coat of paint. It had never seen battle - only witnessed one this day.

Below it was a hangar bay, which would undoubtably open to offer the Strike Cruiser its first taste of celestial life.

So this is what this whole fight was all about. That chunk of electronics and hardware that could devastate another chunk of electronics and hardware. It was strangely ironic in a way...and it caused a sickening feel in her belly.

But when she thought again about what Kilam had told her, of that macabre disease that the Serasians used in their weapons she couldn't hide the fact that she truly wished that the president's forces had it. Those violent feelings returned to her mind, the feeling that all she wanted to do was hurt those who would do such a thing.

That dark ember ignited in her again, though she quickly tried to squash it. That had led her to do terrible things...very terrible things in the past.

Clearing the thoughts from her head she looked up to see a robed man, staring at her from under his hood. His garb was very similar to the man she'd killed - it would have been identical had it not been for the different color pattern he wore.

His lips curled into a wicked grin and a red beam of light shot out from what had to have been a lightsaber. He swung at her, and she ducked backward to try to avoid the blow. In her confusion, she tumbled, free falling from the top of the catawalk.

Down to the heavy durasteel deck down below.

"Finally" said Issk. "Let's bring our ships in, use the coordinates they've given us."

The flotilla broke orbit and began to descend. They withstood the reentry and broke the clouds of the sky. Suddenly the people of the Kiyar's capital city saw four-hundred vessels, of all shapes and sizes and hues, bringing food, medical aid, and soldiers.

One by one they descended outside the city, in what at first looked like a mess but soon became a loose formation. Troops in red battle-armour, with the faces exposed, deployed into their units and assemblled in the middle of the formation. Crates, marked with different symbols denoting the supplies were held between them. Issk and his officers detached themselves and stood in front.

"March!"

The army moved out. They encountered the honourguard, but they were like a drop in the ocean. Once they reached the city limit, the vast majority of soldiers remained outside. The officers and a detachment carrying the supplies continued into the capital city itself. They moved confidently and with a friendly atmosphere to the Government Building, where they stacked the crates.

Issk cupped his hands around his mouth, and cried "Hallo, anyone home? Azguard Affairs officer Issk, in charge of providing military and relief support to the government forces of the Kiyar, if that's how you pronounce it."