The Ossans entered the great clearing, covered in dust and with air permeated by smoke and ash as the rest of Ossus now was. The great complex which housed what had been not a day before, a great becon of hope and good in the galaxy. A complex which had housed the Ossan Parliament, a senate of representitives from not only worlds under direct Rogue Jedi control, but many in the Corporate Sector and the area which comprised the capital region of Rogue Jedi space, between Ossus and Yavin, and Asthentia, and Kashyyyk.

Now, a palace which was made of nothing more than rubble. Which, where the once was a courtyard thriving with exotic plants from Asthentia, Ossus itself, Etti IV, and even the frozen Ammuud, there remained only a wasteland of stripped dirt ground and the encampments of the Ossan intruders. A shanty town of prefabricated structures which now spanned almost the entire area, which was half a kilometer across.

From the east, from the opaque wall of slowly floating ash, flaming debris, and smoke, they emerged with a force of nearly six thousand. Civilian, militant, foreign and domestic. A mish-mash force comprised of warriors carrying the heaviest armaments they could heft.

Lead by a man who, for all intents and purposes, appeared a battle hardened soldier, fearsome beyond description with silver energy crackling throughout his body. Not that, technically speaking, he wasn't; this was the same Gash Jiren who'd destroyed entire pirate encampments single-handedly as a Sith, the one who'd ravaged Theed, the one who'd destroyed the Naboo Sith Order Eclipse Star Destroyer. But this was a different Gash Jiren; one who had been transformed in the course of a day by indescribable horrors and a profound sadness about the destruction of the thing he had worked so hard to create. Gash Jiren, his dark navy robe now stained deeply with the blood of many, many Chiss. An ornate, short sword swinging the signal for a charge in one hand, a blaster carbine spraying laserfire at the onrushing enemy.

He started forward, still at the front of the armada. To his left, Arrix and the Yevethan commander charged with him. Gash's teeth were barred and clenched, an aura of rage emenated from his very soul. The enemy encampment was defended by a well-organized army of troops, in proper military lines; a stark contrast to Gash's own forces, in disarray.

Rage was the only Ossan advantage; rage, and having nothing left to lose. Civilians were ready to fight willingly... vicously.

One hundred meters separated the armies.

Arrix scanned the battlefield, following his master carefully, but at a slight distance. In the core of the enemy encampment sat five Dreadnaught cruisers -- grey Dreadnaught cruisers.

Seventy-five meters.

"Fire! Spray as much firepower as you can at them, and prepare to charge and fight at close range!" Gash shouted, his red eyes now blazing with fire and bloodlust.

Fifty meters.

The enemy soldiers were now well within range. They could be made out clearly... their skin... was not blue, but predominantly the white and dark shades of humans...

Twenty-five meters.

The fire became more intense, as many warriors from both sides fell dead. These were not Chiss. They had no intention of closing to point blank range -- but the Ossans did. But, these were not the enemies who'd organized this travesty, but the comparitively benevolent Empire. And Thrawn... Thrawn had no intention of letting them live. Or any of them live. This was a trap... everything was a trap, a game. Thrawn had been right; he was controlling everything... the Ossans had no choice but to die. Rage beyond anything Gash had ever felt welled up inside him, rage and hatred for an uncaring galaxy gone mad. An insane, ass-backwards hell of a universe which had deigned to allow evil to so perfectly destroy everything...

The armies met. A din of laserfire errupted as the soldiers circled around eachother in a chaotic, crowded battlefield filled already with the stench of the dead and dying.

A young recruit rushed towards Gash, closing the two meters between them instantly. Gash lifted his blaster slightly, shooting the young man in the arm. Pain rushed through the Imperial, and he looked up at Gash with tears in his eyes. Tears which begged for mercy.

And Gash killed him.

He hefted the Blade of Klain and slashed it deep into the young man's neck, driving it deep with the power of the Force, blood gushing from the wound. He kicked him in the stomach, tearing the blade from him. To his left, another Imperial. Gash turned, using the Force to tear the blaster from his hand. The soldier's hand darted to his sidearm, which Gash lifted from it's holdster too, with the Force. He killed him, as well, thrusting the Blade of Klain into the man's chest. He felt the power of his draining life seep into the blade, adding to his power.

It was easy to give into the anger... the revenge... the Blade encouraged it, made it feel good, made it seem right. Gash knew it was wrong, had enough roots in the light side of the Force to know the Blade offered promises of Darkness.

And he gave into it, anyway.

He killed another soldier with three hacks into his chest, and another with an upper-slash, and another. And another. The killing became easier, an outlet for a rage which did not diminish. With sheer hatred as his guide, Gash cut his was through the field of enemies slowly, savouring each kill with pure hatred. The electricity around his body crackled more, casting out fear and anguish to his enemies. One green recruit dropped his blaster, turning away in terror; Gash raised his blaster and fired one bolt into the back of his head, drilling him to the ground in a shower of blood.

Minutes passed, and the battle raged on. Explosions errupted as thermal detonators went off, and light artillery from Imperial battlespeeders errupted in the field of battle. Gash slew another soldier, and another, losing himself in the hatred and the release of battle... he killed another, and the field of energy around him crackled even more greatly.

An Imperial soldier fired a blaster bolt at him, which Gash easily intercepted with the Blade of Klain. Though metal, the sword absorbed the energy easily. Gash stared at him, hatred flowing through his veins as he surrendered to the Dark Side. Just as he had when he'd been a young Sith... he sheathed the Blade of Klain, never losing awareness of it. The energy about him flowed easily into his palm, and shot out his fingers, into one of the soldiers. It blasted into his chest, jolting through his body and flash-frying him. Even as he fell, he was dead, and the flow of Force Lightnining abated.

Gash stared down at his hands. He'd not used that power for... years...

An Imperial rifle fired at him, and Gash flashed the Blade behind his back and stopped the bolt. Turning on his target, Gash noted the crisp uniform, with additional rank chips on it... an officer. Gash charged at him, and the surprised officer fired again, missing his mark. Gash leapt on him, then, hacking into him and driving his Blade deep. He slashed into him, again and again, leaping on him as he fell and continuing to slash the sword into his chest. Blood soaked the Jedi Master...

Behind him, he sensed another presence. It didn't seem threatening, but... Gash slashed anyway, turning around and whipping the sword into the side of the man --

And as he fell, Gash saw. It was an Ossan soldier.

Arrix was suddenly at Gash side then, the fallen soldier at the Rogue Jedi's feet.

"No..." Gash said, a look of disbelief upon his face. His teeth chattered, and he dropped to his knees over the body of the man he'd wounded, even as the battle continued about him. He dropped the Blade of Klain, staring down at the thing, then the young Ossan male. "No... Arrix... I... I reacted... I..." Gash put his hand to the man's neck, noting a pulse, though faint. The wound in his side was deep.

Gash put his two fingers to the side of the man, reaching out to the light side of the Force. For the simplest of techniques he'd learned when he'd first become a Jedi...

Nothing.

The light side was out of reach to him. He'd lost himself... and for a moment, seen the horrible dark side of himself he'd left behind. All about, lay the remains of the soldiers he'd slain -- not in self defense or protection, but in hate.

'Gash! We don't have time!' Arrix shouted. Gash glanced up at him, then took one more look at the soldier. He stretched out his hand again, chanelling all his effort into reaching out to the healing touch of the lighside... and finally, he reached it, though just barely. The wound in the man's side healed, and he slipped back into consciousness, bewildered.

Gash stood again staring at an Arrix who was looking at Gash with a confused horror. The younger Jedi shook it away, pointing up. The battle around them was still raging, but it seemed as if it had abated slightly... Gash's eyes followed Arrix's finger, and he saw why.

A single, terrifying silhouette, a black wraith on the grey Ossan sky, moving slowly over the Ossan Parliament Palace.

An Imperial Star Destroyer. With an intent painfully clear... and the situation also became as clear as crystal to Gash. Xireon had slipped the Blade of Klain to Gash for a reason, the same reason Thrawn had told Gash about his intentions for the Imperials. To enrapture Gash in the practice of pointless, merciless slaughter.

All for this.

"Break through the line! Head for the Dreadnaughts, quickly! We don't have much time!" Gash shouted, rushing towards the Dreadnaughts himself, sheathing the Blade of Klain and firing with his carbine. Both sides had been significantly reduced, and the Imperial commander -- a man Gash percieved to be Simon Kaine -- seemed to have come to similar conclusions as Gash. While the battle had not ceased, it seemed more a collective race to see who could retreat faster.

A race Gash was not content to lose. "We don't have much time," He said to Arrix as he followed. "Let's move."

The two sprinted towards the Dreadnaughts.

'Sir?' The commander uttered quietly. 'The Malcontent is in position over Orilcia. We have some troubling news about Jiren, but we are still quite ready... he cannot escape quickly enough.'

"No, he cannot." Thrawn said, smiling slightly. Predatorally. "Prepare for orbittal bombardment."

'Ready.'

An even more wide smile crossed the Chiss' face, as he stared down at the small blip on the sensor array which indicated Orilcia. "Fire."

The two entered the bridge, rushing to the controls. For all his starship knowledge, Gash couldn't fathom how they could possibly run the Dreadnaught, but his fingers flew over the keys nonetheless. Slowly, the two Jedi began to bring the ship under their control.

'Sir... we're ready.'

"Good. Open all of the troop drop holds, everything you can find. Broadcast an order to every comm signal within range regarding Thrawn's intentions, and giving them our position." Gash said, glancing out the ship's viewport. A long day continued to get longer...

'Done.' Arrix replied.

Gash remained silent for a moment. "Arrix, we can fit sixteen thousand men onboard this craft... but we can control all four ships from this position. An advantage of Katana-fleet Dreadnaughts... but..." Gash sighed, glancing at the evil Blade of Klain at his waist, thinking of the deeds he had committed in battle. He'd killed almost a hundred Imperial soldiers... and they were now in the same proverbial boat as the Ossans.

'And?'

"Open the hatches of the other four ships, and broadcast on whatever Imperial signals you know that they are open for Imperial troops." Gash said, Arrix's eyes widening at the orders.

'Sir?'

"Thrawn is against them, as well. And we are not as barbaric as he."

And then, with an alert from the computer, the Chiss Imperial Star Destroyer began to do something which only one New Republic craft had ever been ordered to do. Something so terrible, and horrific, that it had been a tactic banned by both the Alliance and subsequently the Republic, the Rogue Jedi Order, and every other morally upright government in the galaxy. Something Gash had feared all along...

Orbittal bombardment.

From the sky above, rained the most terrible storm Gash would ever see in his life time. Turbolaser blasts, like the lightning bolts of an angry God, flared down from the heavens, errupting horrifically on the battlefield. All over the city of Orilcia.

And as the civilians, soldiers, and warriors rushed onto the Dreadnaughts, Gash knew they wouldn't be fast enough.

'Master Jiren...' Arrix said. 'What now?'

"We wait." Gash said, taking a deep, unsteady breath. "And we pray."

Lingering beyond the battle, amidst where his ship was easily tracked, but not easily attacked, he watched, the emperor sighing with discontent as the Imperial forces literally molested the Rogue Jedi Order, the Order that he once belonged to. The Celestial Corrupter simply watched, with all its power it did not move forward.

"It is done," he said calmly, ominously.

"We need to help them," Arai said at his side, trying not to throw her voice too loudly.

"What is the point?" the red-eyed Shadow Jedi Master asked incredulously and accusingly.

"He is your former master," she countered.

"Would you send a hundred good scientsts down a black hole because they have the expertise to learn of one? We could charge in and try to save them, but to what end? Not save thousands more later? Learn tactics and strategy young one, then speak to me of war," he told her, without even facing her. "For now, I am sorry my master, I shall fight for you."

The Celestial Corrupter, home to the Shadow Jedi, simply watched, and every now and again the half-Chiss would wince as an enormous Dark Side energy belched at him, somewhere down there something sinister was happening.

"May the Force be with you."

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> The troops had barely opened their Cargo doors when a man, obviously Hapan, came running towards them.<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

"Load up, LOAD UP! New Orders from Hapes, we are evacing along with the entire group we came to save."

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Newly promoted Colonel Brinsk, hero of Democles, looked at the ragged man and the entourage of refugees with him.<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

"Who the HELL are you?"

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> The stranger looked up at Brinsk as an old drunkard looks at the last of his beer.<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

"Its me! Sterik Daknel! Commodore Daknel, Central Hapan Intelligence. I was the man inside.

We are evacing. There is nothing left here."

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> With a brisk nod from Brisk, the few men outside the transports clambered back in. Along with Sterik, the refugees climbed aboard ships, Sterik climbing up alongside Brinsk.

Within 5 minutes the group were getting airborne when suddenly the airial bombardment kicked in again, the first explosive salvo downing one of the transports just as it kicked itself into the air.

Blasting away towards the point of insertion, the few remaining transports settled in for a bumpy ride. Coming in sight of the point of ambush, the Darkstars were holding up well against their chiss enemies, hopefully distracting them long enough for the transports to slip through. But the question that was unanswered was, Whos distracting whom?

Suddenly the 3 Miy'Til fighters infront of Brinsk transport exploded causing the trans to break from formation and towards an invisible point which would see its entrance to Hyperspace. A swarm of Chiss fighters emerged from the flames of the Miy'Tils, leaping on the undefended transports.

Within a short moment, hundreds, perhaps thousands of Hapans and refugees had died...<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

"Sound the retreat. Have the Lancers with our expeditionary force break out with the transports that didn't make it down to the surface. The Darkstars there should hold their position until we are all gone. Then their Captain can retreat at his discretion."

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> The sound of the Hapan monarchs choking voice rocked the crew of the Hapan Flagship, all fully comprending the loss this defeat may have caused.

Meanwhile on the <!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->Sword of Hapes<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> , Brinsks transport, a problem had occured.<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

"Why the HELL are we going this way? This is the WRONG WAY!"

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> The pilot fumbled a confused apology to the now raging Colonel as the transport catapulted round the planet. The Crew watched silently as the Might Hapan Fleet fled with its tail between its legs.

They also watched in horror as their compatriots in other transports, the ones that didnt try to head to the planets surface, and their escort of Lancers, were chased down by hundreds of swarming Chiss Clawcraft and assorted capital ships. Within a short space of time, this single transport had become the last ship in the Hapan Fleet...<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

"You have failed!" Councilor Jobath Frentou snarled.

Jian just stood as the entire Council of Castes yelled at him and screamed at him.

"Do you know what you've done?"

"We have no protection now!"

"What is to stop Thrawn from coming to N'zoth and make us slaves again?"

The verbal onslaughts continued for several more minutes before a booming voice called out.

"Enough!"

The Coucilors instantly shut up and all of them sat back down in their seats. Jian merely gazed up at the large man who had called out. The man was the head of the Council and was one of the most revered people in the Koornacth Cluster.

Head of Council Mezah Hedig glared at each of the Councilors.

"You will treat the Viceroy with respect or your lives will be ended" He said flatly.

Frentou spoke up.

"What about the battle of Ossus?"

"What about it?" Hedig growled.

Frentou shut up instantly. And Hedig spoke again.

"We lost our fleet. But it is not the Viceroy's fault. All of us voted in favor of sending it to Ossus. We gambled and lost. We must now work on rebuilding and concentrate on what is best for us. But we will continue helping The Rogue Jedi Order and do our best to destroy Thrawn. All of you know what it is like under the rule of the Empire. I will not allow other people do have endure the same."

He looked directly at Jian.

"Viceroy, please do your best to help Master Jiren. We are behind you."

Jian nodded and spoke gravely.

"I will do my best. For the future of the Yevetha"

Hedig nodded and sat back down.

"This meeting will now come to a close"


<!--EZCODE CENTER START--><!--EZCODE CENTER END-->


"Gren!! gren!! gren!" (Go, go go)

The Yevethan General screamed that one word as he oversaw the Ossan and Yevethan troops. They were desperately trying to get into the Dreadnaught that the two Jedi had commandeered.

But the General knew that it was hopeless. He knew that he couldn't get everyone evacuated. But so was war. And in war, people were killed. It was the way of all things.

But he would not stop trying.

He pushed and shoved men and a few women as hard as he could into the vessel.

He would continue fighting. As long as he was able.

<!--EZCODE CENTER START--><!--EZCODE CENTER END-->

The remainder of the Yevethan Fleet waited in the darkness. The only light was from the stars.

The ships were battered and worn. But the repairs were still in progress. The battle they had endured was one of the most devestating in the history of their species.

But they would continue to fight. As long as they were able.

The Dreadnaught rumbled again as the massive turbolaser blasts continued to pour into the ground, driving deeper and deeper into the planet like a knife into the heart of a god. The city rumbled ominously, shaken to the core, the remaining superstructures of the city falling loose under the torrent of bombardment fire. The wrathful blasts continued, even as N'iktal Jiren -- soaked in blood -- entered the command room of the Dreadnaught.

'There's not much left out there...' He said, a haunted look in his eyes. For such a hardened soldier, it took a lot to shake N'iktal. '...just a lot of dead. A lot of dead...'

Gash nodded quietly, steadying himself against the wall as the ship shook again. Six or seven soldiers were on the bridge now, running various stations to the best of their limited abilities. "Shields?"

'Holding. But they weren't designed to be run while the craft was landed, or in an atmosphere at all...' A middle-aged human replied.

"Nor were Dreadnaughts designed to land in the first place." Gash replied. Obviously, they hadn't much time left. He closed his eyes, reaching out in his limited grasp on the Force, sensing the area around the craft...

So many tormented spirits. So much suffering, so much death, and all of it clouded by the shady intentions of the Dark Side. So much chaos and destruction, so much hatred. And it was only beginning...

"There is no one left out there. Apparently, our Imperial friends got the point. Can we fly this thing?" Gash asked, glancing around. The same middle-aged human spoke up, apparently at least slightly knowledgable about spacecraft.

'Barely... but yes. We won't have much control over her, but we can use scanning equipment, and rudimentary weapons and engines. We won't be able to do anything fancy. If this wasn't a Katana Dreadnaught, we wouldn't be able to do anything.' He said, glancing outside the viewports at the gathering cloud of dust and smoke outside the bridge. View was obstructed by the opaque wall of grey, which occasionally lit up brilliantly with the green of the bombarding turbolaser blasts. 'Sir, you can't be thinking to fly through that... it's impossible. Maybe, if we had full weapons control and thruster alignment -- but it'd take a hundred good men with engineering expertise...'

Gash shot him a glance. "We are going to fly through the bombardment. We have no choice."

'Gash!' N'iktal spoke up. 'How can you say that? There's no way we can make it through that bombardment! The ship shook as if to emphasize his point. 'That's suicide... you'll be sacrificing the lives of everyone on board this ship on a stupid, stupid whim, and some quest for vengeance!'

Gash was silent, as he stared fire back at N'iktal. The Blade of Klain still hung at Gash's waist, and the slaughter during the battle was fresh in everyone's mind. The crackling electricity about Gash's body had been replaced by a profound sadness in his eyes, but everyone on that bridge remembered.

They knew what had happened.

Everyone knew.

He'd fallen back to the Dark Side of the Force.

'We all saw you, Jiren!' N'iktal continued, pointing accusingly at Gash. 'We saw what you did, we saw how you killed! I saw the hatred in your eyes, the lightning from your hands. You are no Jedi... you are an old man bent on vengeance for something that was your own fault! Will our being free-floating atoms somehow change what has happened here!?'

Gash continued to be silent, staring at N'iktal. "Are you quite finished, Captain N'iktal Jiren?"

N'iktal matched the intensity of Gash's glare. 'Quite.'

"What do you think we are part of, here, Captain? Do you think this is some kind of idle feint by some backwater Outer Rim warlord? Or a strategic assault by an Imperial Admiral? This is the beginning of an invasion, gentlemen. And that commander up there, is Grand Admiral Thrawn."

Silence.

"We have lost everything. We cannot win. We have only one choice remaining to us, and that is to flee. This is only the beginning. There is nothing left for us, here!"

'I have children here,' Spoke up another soldier. 'How can you tell me to leave Ossus? I don't even know if my children are alive, or...'

"I can ask you to do it, because this is my home, too. But there is nothing left for us, except to escape, and live, and fight again. And again, and again, if necessary. We have lost our home -- but if we cannot accept that, countless others will lose their's."

Silence again. No one spoke a word -- least of all N'iktal, who looked away, almost ashamedly.

"Activate the repulsorlifts, and lift off. Send a request that our Imperial counterparts do the same."

'Yes, sir.'

"Say your last goodbyes to Ossus, my friends."

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


The shock stilled Kaine's mind as he watched fire rain down on Jedi and Imperial alike. The Admiral... The <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Grand<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> farking Admiral had betrayed the Empire.

"Incoming!" he turned to shout to the comm officer but found his man stunned as a piece of a metal shard protruded from his forehead.

The man slumped down in mid-stride as Kaine started to move around the man instantly forgetting him and grabbing his gear. Dust and dirt were kicked up as Thrawn's destroyer found their mark.


<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> A dance in Armageddon's wrath....<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->


The music was familiar to the General as he switched on equipment and called out over all broadcasts, "RETREAT!"

There was nothing tactical about it.. as pandemonium took over, washing over the discipline of trained soldiers as the horror of their situation overwhelmed them.


<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> The men are crumbling...<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->


The antigravity transport swung around and Kaine grabbed the hands of fallen comrades getting them up onto the vehicle.


He'd be damned if he'd let Thrawn take all his boys out..


In another time, in another galaxy the struggle would be likened to that of David and Goliath.


Grand Admiral Thrawn holding all the cards and General Simon Kaine standing with nothing but a useless items..... the weapons fire from the Chimera II being the taunts that were hurled in his direction....



And then the disaster got more personal as Armageddon, not content simple to dance with her pray stooped over and kissed them...



The whine of burning air shot past the Imperial forces with great speed...with great power.


..and suddenly, it was as if someone plucked all sound from the air..



...then something popped in the distance...



Kaine held onto the transport as it fought like mad to get away...



BOOM!


The sound suddenly was released over everything as, from one distant point being the epicenter, a shockwave leveled everything in it's path....


The transport kicked it up a few notches as the pilot struggled through dirt and debris to get away...


The Amoured Corps tried to keep up but the hard dirt had turned to sand and brittle glass as the shockwave caught them..


Simon heard their screams over the receiver as they were boiled alive in their cockpits, each voice etched into his memory..


This was no longer war... but merely massacre..



The transport crossed the explosion threshold not a moment too soon as the pilot his a piece of debris sticking up from the ground and the transport went on it's side..


Kaine let go and was thrown into the soft grain that comprised the ground and sent sprawling.


He pushed himself up in time to see the great cloud of the wave coming up against him..


The cloud reached him and he closed his eyes his face feeling the stinging sensation of heat being thrown against it...


..and then it subsided..



Kaine's eyes opened to a fog of dust as little specs of gray fell down upon him, catching in his dusty hair and eyebrows.


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


Kaine turned into the direction of the overturned transport and moved to help his men.


The bombardment could be heard in the distance moving farther away into the city.



<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Like claps of a standing ovation...<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->


Hatred burned within him.


<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Enjoy it you Chiss @#%$! For I will see the light go out in your eyes yet!..<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->




**



The sun broke through the dust and Simon got his first real good look at the battered remains of the companies under his command...as the soldiers stole across the desert remains of their earlier advance.


Kaine saw their shuttles burning in the distance but did not lose hope.. He expected their line of retreat cut...


"Sir.. on the horizon.. Ships!"


Kaine turned, a hand blocking the sun and noted they were Dreadnaughts; old ones to be sure.


The Imperials changed direction and merged with another group of fugitives..



Rogue Jedi forces..


A seargent threw Kaine an expectant look for orders but the General simply shook his head...and a race to the vessels commenced.


The Imperial General caught sight of the leader of the ragtag mob, a man stiff in posture as his clothes were soiled by either the blood of friends or enemies.


<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Probably both...<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->


Kaine realized his own appearance was lacking as his own uniform was torn and dirty and shrugged it off as he neared the landed craft that was the groups combined objective when it hit him.


<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> They look like Katana's...


Hell, they are Katana's..


Thrawn's ships! Damn..<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->




"Hold" he called and the Imperials stopped their advance and the mob passed by them..


Kaine watched as the ships begain to power up.


"Take cover!" he suddenly shouted as his men moved over the ridge the Dreadnaughts were positioned on.


Weapon's fire was soon directed against Gash's forces as the systems slowly one by one started to come on..


<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Damn slow ships! Move! Damn you Jedi! Move!<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->


From Kaine's position behind the Dreadnaughts, his vision was blinded as the thrusters began to kick up a wicked duststorm.


"Fall back farther..." he had called and the masses that were his companies complied moving down the opposite side of the ridge and across the plain below..


The Jedi forces had begun to lift off, their shields taking a severe pounding when two dreadnaughts opposite Gash's went up in a brilliant flash, their crews not having raised the shields in time.


"Damn!" Kaine swore as suddenly he heard his men cheering.


His eyes glanced up and the General let out a grin as the Rogue Jedi Leader's vessel continued to climb...


and he turned back to his men suddenly aware that they were not watching the spectacle as he was but running to join their comrades..



<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> The Combat Wing Corps!<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->


"General! We are glad to find you alive.." the Captain was saying but Kaine silenced him with a hand.

"Status?" he inquired as he saw pilots pulling the camouflage covers from their TIE Bombers and Interceptors.


"Fueled and ready, Sir?"


"You were supposed to be on the other ridge to provide support near the Palace?" Kaine suddenly asked.


The Captain's chin thrust out. "Yes Sir."


"You were ordered here?"

"No sir"


"Admiral thinking, Captain.." Kaine merely replied raising and eyebrow.


"Thank you, Sir. The Galactus is sending down another wave of transports and fighter support.. Sir.. The Grand Admiral.. he..?"


"Is not so Grand anymore Captain."


"No sir."


"We will hunt him down and kill him, Captain."


"Yes Sir."


"Get me a helmet and find me a ship."


"This way, Sir."




***



<!--EZCODE BOLD START--> Aboard the <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Galactus<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->...<!--EZCODE BOLD END-->



"Sir.. The General's signal! It just.. stopped!"


Captain Jarell felt the blood drain from his face.


<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> General Kaine? Dead?<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->


"The.. the Grand Admiral's forces! They are shooting at.. at.. our men!"


"No.. that can't be right!" the Captain shouted, as he moved to the scanning stations. "The @#%$ Jedi are the target!"


"Sir... There's Imperial signals there too.. You can't miss it! He fired on us.. US!"


The Captain heard the outrage.. the surprise in the officer's voice and his hands started to shake..


"A trap.." he whispered. At his foolishly spoken words, the bridge broke into panic as people began shouting at their underlings for status reports, weapons checks ..and answers.


The Captain ignored the commotion as he stared out into space...standing in front of General Kaine's Command Chair at the long line of ships that made up the Chiss forces under Grand Admir...


<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> no..<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

..under Thrawn's command.


"This isn't supposed to happen."


More Chiss vessels started pouring their weapons of mass destruction down onto the planet...


"This is madness!" someone shouted.


"The planet is his!"


"Why??"




Somewhere in the confusion, Captain Jarell found his steel..


"Aft thrusters, turn us to the enemy!" he shouted over the commotion that instantly quieted at the tone of his voice.


"Target the lead ship..."


"Sir!" a shout went out, "Kaine's back! Captian Morrde reports the Genral's group was battered, banged and generally spit out the hind end of hell but they are back!!"


Jarell smiled inspite of himself.


"Sir! The General is in an Interceptor and moving the attack wing to cover the rising Dreadnaught!.. Bloody Jedi! The Dreadnaught is setting a course through the firing plots of the enemy!"


"Tactical.. give me the best shot you can!" Jarell shouted as the BAC screens lit up with tactical information on the enemy.. on friendlies.. and noncoms..



***


"Captain!" Kaine ordered over the comm system as his Interceptor led the fighter force in the direction of the Dreadnaught.

"Protect the ship!"


"Yes sir! What are they going to do?"


"If I know the leader of that ship, the same thing we are.."


Kaine banked his ship as a shot from above missed.


"We are going to grab that wench Armageddon by the throat and shoot her between the eyes!

BANK LEFT!! Watch that fire!"


***


"Target aquired Captain Jarrel. It'll be tight.. but we have him!" the Tactical Officer informed.


"Fire!" Jarrel ordered fiercely.


"Gun's protect the General and his ..new friend's adance with cover fire!"



And the <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Galactus<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> let out a volley of turbolaser fire aimed at one point..


..the great distance of space covered in seconds as the source of all this madness was struck...



..the bridge of the <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Chimera II<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->!

Grand Admiral Thrawn stood, fire in his glowing red eyes. The bridge had suffered a blow from that craft... an Imperial craft. He cursed his own stupidity for a moment, in allowing Jiren to live. He was too dangerous, too volatile, to be let be -- too volatile to be allowed to survive. The Rogue Jedi had gotten the better of Thrawn... he had reigned in the anger he'd held, and allowed the Imperials to escape. And now, Thrawn had paid.

He turned, glancing about the bridge, as medical officers rushed around, and to his aide. Several fires burned, and several supports had fallen from the ceiling. Thrawn brushed the officers off. "Captain Heirel? Captain Heirel!" Thrawn said, rushing to the side of his newest protege. The man lay silently on his back, a single piece of metal shrapnel through his chest. Blood soaked his uniform, as Thrawn bent down beside him. "Damn..."

The medic touched Heirel's neck. 'He's going fast, sir.'

Heirel chuckled for a second. 'I guess... I guess Jiren and his... Imperial friends... got us in the end, eh?' He smiled. 'You... don't need me, Admiral... I have faith in... in... you...' A final breath escaped his lips, and his eyes rolled back, and Captain Heirel was gone.

'He's gone, Admiral. I'm sorry.'

Thrawn sighed and stood. "He was a good officer, and... a friend. His death was not for nothing." Thrawn turned to the rest of the bridge. "This day, gentlemen, a new day dawns upon the galaxy! Our day, the day of the Chiss -- no Jedi, no Admiral, no Republic, will stand in our way, this day.

"A new day has dawned. Our day."

"Fire!" Gash shouted, holding fast to the handrail on the bridge. The Dreadnaught had rocketed past the Victory Star Destroyer, out into the graveyard that was the Ossus system. And in those moments, a silence permeated the bridge, it became apparent just what had happened in the Ossus system.

The husks of ships, gutted and left airless and cold, littered the space in front of the Dreadnaught. All around Ossus, it's moons, and the twin stars of the system, they sat, like the skeletons of great metal beasts. Gash was silent, holding his breath as the ship rocketed past some of the Chiss vessels, peculiar Star Destroyer designs mixed with older Imperial craft.

No one on the bridge needed to be told what to do. It was all they could do to hold on, and pray to whatever gods they believed in. Humans, Asthentians, Krick, Sullustans, Twi'Leks, Rodians. Civilians, soldiers, officers and the recently enlisted. A rag-tag band of men with dark circles beneath their eyes, haunted looks on their faces, and pain in their hearts.

Men who had lost their homes, their children, their wives, their brothers. Men who'd seen more horrors in thirty hours of hell than they had in their entire lives. Men eager for vengeance, and men who looked like they wanted to die.

The final exchanges of engagments of Hapan, Yevethan, Rogue Jedi, and Imperial craft with the Chiss enemies were being finished, with many craft leaping away from the system. As a Jedi, Gash could feel the suffering all around him... the suffering, and the emotional scars left upon the system by the agonized deaths of those in the destroyed crafts.

He could feel the suffering of every man on that bridge, every man who had died in the system that day. Of his own soul, at it's weakest, corroded by the Dark Side. Of those Jedi on the vessel -- and there were several -- who all had felt their leader face his own demons, and fail.

And in the face of those ghosts, those Ghosts of Ossus, Gash could no longer present a brave face.

He dropped to his chair, and as the Dreadnaught leapt away from the system, he sobbed.

And a new day dawned on a much darker galaxy.