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| - Just outside the range of the TEC scanners, a massive SE fleet was looming. With three Super Star Destroyers, and over 700 other types of Star Destroyers, Grand Admiral Firmus Delagon of the Shadow Empire knew that he could not possibly fail this mission. He remembered back to how it all started, just after the previous battle at Akates, nine months ago... ~~ With most of the wreckage melted down for use in the TEC foundries, the Gatekeeper stood side-by-side with Ron Repelon, Commander of the Trader Emergency Coalition. Their conversation was heated, and the Gatekeeper gave Repelon little room to speak. In the background, Delagon was typing away at a console, trying to stay out of the mess, but he couldn't help but overhear some of the conversation: "Your forces are inadequate, Ron! They couldn't stop pirates from entering your system!" the Gatekeeper snapped, his robotic voice showing little traces of human emotion. "We did all we could! We're traders, not war strategists! That's YOUR job!" Repelon snapped back, fury in his voice. "Then you are unfit to be in this Empire! Either upgrade your forces, or get out!" the Gatekeeper yelled, having literally the final say on the matter, as two Shadowtroopers came and dragged Repelon away. "THIS ISN'T OVER, GATEKEEPER!" Ron roared as he was escorted out... ~~ Ever since that day, their relationship has been strained at best. And now it comes to this... Delagon thought, as a Shadowtrooper walked up to him. "Report," he said. "Sir, the Gatekeeper's office has called. We are to commence the attack. Their exact words: Take no prisoners." "Understood. Dismissed," Delagon said, returning to his Sovereign's comlink. "All units, commence the attack," he said. The Star Destroyers deployed their TIEs, and slowly, Delagon's massive fleet began to move forward, and gradually, they entered TEC scanning range. It was the middle of the night on Akates, and hardly anyone was up, and as such, hardly anyone was ready for combat. But when the alarms went off, TEC personnel leaped from their beds and rushed into their uniforms, not knowing what was going on.As the defense fleet, consisting of a Sova Carrier, a Dunov Battlecruiser, and 150 smaller craft took positions, the reality of what they were facing hit them like a ton of bricks: a solid wall of Star Destroyers, with no end in sight. "Fire the Superlaser," Delagon ordered. All the TEC could do was watch helplessly as the front of Delagon's Sovereign Super Star Destroyer glowed a bright green, then watch in dismay as the Superlaser obliterated one of the Argonevs, with the shockwave explosion taking out both the Sova and the Dunov, as well as crippling another Argonev, leaving only 1 fully functional. The Imperial fleet was in range of the starbases now, and the first line of Star Destroyers, Gladiator-classes, opened fire. The Argonev, with its shield rating comparable to that of a supercapital ship, was barely fazed at all, and returned fire. As the exchanges of red and green lasers lit up the vacuum of space, the second line of Star Destroyers, also Gladiators, moved up to replace the first, most of whom were either destroyed or in the process of being destroyed by the two starbases. But once the third line of Star Destroyers, these Imperial-classes, got in range, it was a totally different story. There were nearly 50 of them, and they moved to flank the two Argonevs while Imperial-IIs shelled them from farther back. The shields on the crippled starbase failed, and the Imperials smelled blood in the water. The fleet began to focus fire on it, while the TEC fleet, or what was left of it, began attempting to fill the gap created by the loss of the first starbase. But it was no use. Diamond-boron missiles from Broadside cruisers in the rear quickly brought down the crippled Argonev, and the explosion again claimed several TEC ships. Seeing that the TEC were in disarray, and having taken relatively minor losses in comparison, Delagon began to relax just a little bit. He knew that the battle was won. He was right, too. The shields of the last Argonev were long-since depleted, and most of its weapons had been destroyed by random laser fire. But the crew still had one last trick up their sleeve... Realizing they were never going to make it out, and seeing that the rest of the TEC fleet was in ruins, engineers aboard the Argonev overran the safety protocols, initiating a self-destruct sequence that they called ‘Last Resort.' Over a hundred Star Destroyers were within range of the blast. With one final look at his surviving comrades, the senior engineer gave a stiff salute, and released the pressure... ~~ As the Star Destroyers fired at close range, the Argonev exploded with ferocity much greater than the previous two put together. The shockwave explosion tore nearly 170 ships to pieces, not counting the TIEs. With a good chunk of his fleet suddenly gone, Delagon was furious. "WHAT WAS THAT?!" he roared. No one on the bridge answered. "WHO SCOUTED THOSE STARBASES?!" he demanded. Again, nobody answered. Putting his rage behind him for the moment, he turned back around and said, "Forget it... Head for SE territory. We're done here." Dreading the report he'd have to file to the Gatekeeper's office, Delagon and 300 of his 400 surviving ships headed back where they came, with the remaining 100 to act as security and set up a basecamp for future SE operations in the sector... A one-eyed man looked back at the team of a dozen or so mercenaries assembled behind him. They all seemed as eager to begin their mission as the man commanding them. The job was simple; break up a slave auction and capture the main slave driver. There was likely to be some resistance, but the thugs that accompanied the slavers were usually poor shots, so the mercs hoped losses would be at a minimal. The commanding mercenary, Ty, a tall, muscular human with a black eye-patch covering the void where he left eye had once been, gripped his shotgun tightly as he turned to the armored Zabrak crouched beside him. "Just remember, Rowan is mine." he hissed softly, referring to the head slaver. "Don't worry about a thing." the Zabrak replied, "I'll make sure you get your chance to take him." "Well, let's go break some skulls." the one-eyed man said with a slight smile before looking over the rest of the mercenaries, "Okay, get ready!" As the Zabrak placed a breech charge on the door in front of them, all the mercs readied their weapons. The charge detonated and the door flew open, revealing a large, circular room. The mercs rushed in, opening fire on the unsuspecting occupants. Several armed thugs fell dead to blaster fire immediately, while other dived for cover. The one-eyed man took a moment to survey the room; a number of guards had taken cover around the perimeter, while the center of the room was a mix of various slaves, crime lords, shady businessmen, and various other low-lifes. A podium was positioned at one end of the room, elevated slightly so all could see. The auctioneer was still frozen in shock, his had clutching a gavel that he used to signal sales and get the attention of the crowd. A pair of young, female Twi'lek slaves stood beside him, obviously the objects that had been up for bit before the interruption. The one-eyed man then spotted his target: A grey-haired Chiss making a break for the back door. "ROWAN!" the one-eyed man bellowed, "Stop now!" The Chiss ignored him and dashed out the door, a pair of human thugs taking up position to cover his exit. The one-eyed man pushed his way through the now-panicked mass of criminals and slaves in the room, emerging near the door and the thugs. Before they could aim their weapons to fire, a pair of shotgun blasts in rapid-succession took them both down. The man then went through the door after the Chiss. As he made his way through the halls, he raised his comlink to his mouth. "Deek! Rowan's making a run for it! He'll probably try to escape through a back door! Get ready!" he barked into the small device. "Okay, we're ready for him!" a voice replied. Ty continued his pursuit, killing a few thugs who got in his way. As he turned a corner, he spied Rowan entering a room half-way down the hall. The one-eyed man followed into the room, which turned out to be little more than a storage room, filled with crates, tools and other objects. He scanned the room but Rowan wasn't there. "Alright Wurak, come out of hiding you little rodent." the mercenary drawled softly, "You know there is no escape." Silence. Ty began searching the room, looking around for any place the Chiss could have hid. After a few moments, he found a trap door, hidden behind a crate. "Damn! He has a secret exit!" the man cursed as he lowered himself into the tunnel beneath the door. The tunnel was pitch black, so the merc pulled out a small glow-lamp to light the way. As he proceeded, he brought up his comlink so he could communicate with his allies outside. "Deek, Rowan has a secret exit, have your men spread out." "Got it, Ty." Finally, after having to crawl part of the way, Ty reached what appeared to be the tunnel exit. He emerged into a hangar bay, just as a small transport was taking off. The mercenary pulled out a homing beacon and tossed it at the ship, but the craft was already too high in the air. As the beacon fell uselessly on to the hangar floor, Ty watched the ship escape into the night sky and whispered to himself. "I'll get you yet Wurak Rowan." The one-eyed stood in silence for a moment, furious at his failure to catch his target. Suddenly, he froze at the sound of a lightsaber blade being activated. He clutched his own lightsaber, which was attached to his belt, but dared not turn around. "Who are you and what do you want?" he asked. "Turn around if you want to live." A woman's voice replied. Keeping his hand on the lightsaber, the mercenary complied and slowly rotated to face the person behind him. A woman stood before him, dressed in a simple robe and hood, wielding a saber-pike with a red blade. "Good choice. Now put all of your weapons on the ground and kick them over to me." She ordered. The man removed the lightsaber from his belt and ignited the violet blade; his face showed no emotion as he spoke. "You don't know who you're dealing with, do you Jedi?" "I'm no Jedi." The woman said as she ignited another blade at the opposite end of her staff. She charged the man, who parried the first attack with his blade, before leaping aside and drawing his cortosis short sword from its sheath on his back. "Could she be an assassin sent by the Gatekeeper?" he thought to himself as he awaited his enemy to make the first move. The woman rolled and came up underneath the man's guard, ripping the short sword out of his hand and punching the man in the chest. He doubled over, wheezing for air, and the woman hit him again on the head, knocking him to the ground. As he fell, the one-eyed man lunged forward and into the woman's legs, knocking them out from under her. "Tell me who sent you!" The man coughed as the two scrambled to recover their footing. "You'd love to know that wouldn't you?" The woman spat as she pulled a small knife out of her belt and lunged at the man. She slashed at him and successfully planted the knife deep in his side, causing him to stagger backwards. Seeing her chance, the woman charged the mercenary and tackled him. As the two fell to the ground, the mercenary pulled the knife out of his side and attempted to stab the woman, who was now on top of him. However, she knocked the knife away and attempted to punch him in the face. The one-eyed man gripped her arm before the blow could land, and then attempted to grab her face with his free hand. She likewise grabbed his arm, and for a moment the two struggled to gain an advantage over the other. Finally, the mercenary's brute strength prevailed, and he was able flip over and on top of the woman and pinning her arms down. "Who are you? And why are you trying to kill me?" He growled, anger burning in his good eye. "Syren, and it's nothing personal, just a job." She muttered, just before kicking the man in the stomach and rolling out from under him. Ty scrambled to his feet and Syren did likewise. However, before Syren could do anything further, the mercenary drew his blaster pistol and trained it at her face. "Shame. You are certainly a talented assassin if I ever did see one." he said, a victorious smile on his face. However, before the man could fire, the door into the hangar burst open, and a dozen thugs charged into the room. "There! Blast them!" the leader shouted. Syren quickly grabbed her staff and ignited both blades. She then charged over and killed several thugs and was decapitating another when she saw a particularly large thug coming through the door. He lunged forward and grabbed Syren, then tossed her across the hangar. She regained her footing and pulled her DC-17m from her back. The woman shot the thug in the stomach, and as he bent over in pain she took two small knives from her belt. Jumping onto the thug's shoulders, she plunged both knives into his neck, killing him. Meanwhile, the mercenary had shot several thugs while backing towards a rear door in hopes of escaping. More thugs continued to pour into the room, and the blaster fire grew more intense. The merc decided to make a break for it, so he turned around to rush towards the door, and ran right into the hands of several waiting thugs. There was a brief struggle, but the goons were able to overpower the wounded man. As Syren got to her feet, she was surrounded by a half-dozen thugs, who trained their blaster rifles on her. Before she could think of a way to escape, one of the thugs fired a stun round, knocking her out. "Hmm, I'm sure da boss will take interest in dis one!" one of thugs commented as he helped a companion pick up Syren's limp body. The thugs then dragged the both of them out of the hangar and back into the building adjacent to it. The lead thug pointed to a small room and the other goons threw the two prisoners inside. One of the thugs tossed a small medpack at the one-eyed man before closing and locking the door. As the sun rose in the sky above the planet, the day continued for the Ekatra Sentinel, a struggling group of politicians who reigned over a small amount of territory. They had a small, inadequate military, but the military commander was exactly the opposite. Standing at 7.5, and weighing 365 pounds, the Kamen, Remus Von Grath, leader of the Ekatra Order, the neutral Force users, was anything but small and inadequate. The man himself was literally half-Demon, and it showed in the way he acted at times. His other half, though, was Devior, an ancient race of humanoid giants that possessed the ability to modify their own genetics. Although Deviors were friendly, Demons were not, and Remus' Demonic side showed up more often that his softer, gentler side. At the moment, he was busy in his office aboard the one good ship the faction had: the Despair, a hybrid superdestroyer of sorts. It was common knowledge amongst the Ekatra that the politicians had been holding them back for years and preventing from taking on their true enemies, led by Remus' old apprentice, the Gatekeeper. Remus had long since tired of playing games with politicians he deemed worthless to his cause, and he and a select group of Ekatra Lords, including the most prominent of them all besides Remus himself, Diablo Kretovas, were going to do something about it. But they needed more time. Remus had a private Starfleet being developed with designs he had come up with himself, along with cybernetic soldiers. Their plan was to seize control of the Sentinel, similar to the way the Sith had seized control of the Republic. The plan had been in place for years, slowly working towards completion. The Ekatra had spies on the inside of the Sentinel, watching the politician's every move. All they needed now was Remus' Executive Order. And now was the perfect opportunity. News was flooding in about the SE's recent victory at Akates, and, although Remus felt bad for his friend, and knew he'd probably be getting an alliance offer soon, which he had to accept if for nothing more than personal motivation, the politicians would most likely be discussing the SE's move in their chambers. This was truly the perfect moment to strike. ~~ An hour later, Remus was at the Capitol building, where the group of 4 Lords was waiting for him. "My Lord, we are ready for the attack. Most of the politicians are inside," Kretovas, who was Remus' apprentice, said, watching the door. "Excellent," Remus said without a trace of emotion, "We will take control of the Sentinel on this day." Without another word, the five stormed through the doors, quickly incapacitating a few human guards with the Force. Making their way to the main chamber, they entered the side, as Diablo snuck up the balcony, while Remus walked to the middle podium, and the other three stayed hidden. The guards in the chambers, refurbished MagnaGuards from the Clone Wars, did not keep an eye on them: they thought they were friendly. The conversation in the room stopped as the politicians gazed upon their military leader. "Von Grath! This is not a military meeting! What are you doing here?" the Chamber Executive asked. Remus didn't respond verbally. Instead, he looked up at the crowd of politicians, and activated his lightsaber, which was black. "Von Grath! What is the meaning of this?!" the Executive demanded, both outraged and frightened. From behind the group, Diablo activated his lightsaber, and across from him in the other directions, the other three Lords activated theirs. Remus waved his hand, and the doors to the chamber slid shut and locked, as the MagnaGuards activated their Electrostaffs. "Protect us, Guards!" the Executive bellowed, and without another word, it was on. One of the MagnaGuards jumped from the third level to get to Remus, staff rose like a sword, but when it got within range, it was cleaved cleanly in two, and then had its head cut off. It was down. Up top on the balcony, Diablo was battling two Guards, and winning soundly. Using a single Force Lightning bolt, he was able to completely disable one of them, but received a sharp kick to the stomach for his efforts by the other one. Knocked off the balcony ledge, Diablo fell 70 feet, but used the Force to soften his landing, and land on his feet to boot. He glared up at the MagnaGuard, which seemed to contemplate jumping down after him, but decided against it, instead preferring to take the stairs. The other two Lords were faring not quite as well, as they weren't as highly trained, but they were still winning. Combined, they had taken down 3 already, and were about to kill a fourth when it landed a shallow slash to the first Lord's leg. As the first Lord leaped back, the second leaped in to take his place, and quickly finished off the battered Guard, and, with no other Guards in their area, went to check on his fellow Ekatra's wound. Remus, meanwhile, had taken out eleven Guards by himself in less than five minutes, plus a few politicians on the lower level. Working his way up, he was mercilessly slaughtering anything that moved, having the time of his life while doing so. Eventually, he reached the balcony, where Diablo, who had climbed all the way back up, had finished off the last Guard. "All clear, my Lord," he said. "The politicians are dead..." Remus said, motioning over his shoulder at the scores of dead bodies. "Now what?" "Now we return to our base in the area. It is time to activate the Order." Admiral Alexander Grage stood on the bridge of the Black Dawn. Outside, additional modifications to his vessel were rapidly nearing completion. Since the Battle at Akates nearly a year before, Grage had returned to his research work with the Imperial Remnant, developing additional new weapons for direct combat use. The Gatekeeper had not made much contact with him since the battle, although the SE had maintained a neutral relation with the Remnant. However, disturbing news had cast a dark shadow over the entire situation. "Read that report again, captain." Grage ordered. Behind him, Captain Zerik, his most trusted subordinate, began to recite the words on a datapad. "Assassin-class Corvette Connell 2 reports that ships of the Shadow Empire have attacked and routed the main fleet of the Trader Emergency Coalition at Akates. There was no apparent provocation. Shadow Empire forces have seized the system's foundries and are maintaining a sizable garrison. Connell 2 has avoided detection and is maintaining surveillance from a safe distance." As Zerik finished, an uneasy silence set-in as Grage and the assembled officers behind him looked at one-another. "Gentlemen, do you realize what this could mean for us?" Grage eventually asked. There was again a period of silence, before one of the officers finally spoke up. "How likely do think it is that the Gatekeeper will turn on us also?" he asked, just stating what everyone else was thinking. "It's hard to say commander, but it could very well happen. The TEC was a seemingly vital economic force and maintained a military much larger than our own, although we do possess more advanced technology. We also control considerably less territory. For now, we must exercise caution. I will prepare some contingences in case the worst should happen, but in the meantime we shall continue as we have been. It is my hope that the Gatekeeper hasn't discovered our hidden sanctuary." Grage turned and left the bridge, leaving his adjutants to ponder his words... 92% So was the estimate given to the Gatekeeper by his engineers on the construction of his new ultimate weapon: the Death Star III, bigger and more powerful than the previous two combined. Although not yet operational, apart from the point defense systems, it was scheduled to be completed in just under a month's time. Once completed, the Gatekeeper knew exactly what he was going to do with it... 100% The Gatekeeper's new flagship, a terrifying new type of Super Star Destroyer called the Arkun, had just been completed hours ago. Already the ship was catching eyes from all over the system. As the gigantic vessel coasted along, heading for Komm to form up with the 1st Imperial Fleet, under the direct control of the Gatekeeper, many of the Imperials present were still conversing of Delagon's victory at Akates, the hot topic of the week amongst the SE military. "The SE has officially colonized Akates, Sir," an officer grimly informed Ron Repelon. "As I expected them to. They couldn't have sent a fleet that large just to attack..." Ron responded, sounding depressed. "At least Last Resort got a bunch of ‘em," General Robert E. Tasckird, who was Ron's right hand man, input optimistically. "Yes, but at what cost?" Ron asked slowly, "We lost many brave men and women to the tyranny of the Shadow Empire." "We knew an attack was coming. We thought we were prepared..." the officer trailed off. "None of that matters now. We are officially at war with the SE," Repelon said, bearing a grim attitude. "But so many of our forces are already tied up on the alien front!" Tasckird practically yelled. "And don't forget the Advent, Sir. They've been making our lives miserable since-" "I know," Ron interrupted the officer, "But we can't just sit back and do nothing!" "With all due respect, we don't stand a chance vs. the SE alone," Tasckird said. "And with that in mind, I have an idea," Ron stated, picking up his commlink and beginning to punch in numbers. "You aren't going to try to get the Ekatra to help, are you?" Tasckird asked, shaking his head as he remembered Ron's connections. "Oh no..." the officer muttered. "Relax. From what I've heard, they've finally seized control of the Sentinel. That means Remus must be in charge," Ron said, "And I happen to be a friend of Remus. I suppose I could ask him for a favor..." "Does he still have those crazy designs of his?" Tasckird asked. "I think so," Ron answered. "So, in order to battle the Sith... and aliens... and the Advent... we're going to attempt to recruit a Demon to help us?" the officer wisecracked. "Half-Demon," Tasckird corrected him. "If you'll excuse me..." Ron said, bowing out and stepping into his office, shutting the door. Once inside, he pressed the call button, and prayed that Remus still had a bit of Devior left in him... Just as Remus was about to go on his private military channel and issue the Order, his private commlink began to buzz. Putting his plan on hold for a moment, curious about who could possibly have his number these days, he answered it. "Yes?" he asked, knowing that this couldn't be an Ekatra contact. "Remus... It's been a long time..." Ron Repelon's voice said from the other end. "Well, I'll be. If it isn't Mr. Repelon," Remus said, genuinely surprised. "I told you I hate it when you call me that," Ron said, chuckling, several memories flooding back to the forefront of his mind. "What irked you to call me, Ron? We're in the middle of a war, you know, and one of my Generals recently decided to attack you..." Remus pointed out. "Take it easy. You were right. My so-called alliance with the Shadow Empire was a mistake," Repelon said, his voice tone changing slightly. "Ah. They finally did it, did they?" - Remus asked, somewhat rhetorically. "Yes. They attacked Akates. Three Super Star Destroyers... We didn't stand a chance," Ron admitted. Remus stayed quiet for a moment, while Ron spoke again. "They had over 600 ships. We had less than 50..." he said. "They must be planning to move on deeper into your territory, possibly for Sol itself," Remus finally interjected. "Yes. That is the only motivation they could have for bringing that many ships... Now, for the real reason I called..." Remus perked up at this. "Is your offer still on the table, after all these years?" - Ron asked. Remus, who previously had not been feeling any emotion, other than surprise, was suddenly feeling a mixture of the same, and... something else entirely. Memories of life before the TEC took the SE's side for a hefty sum of credits, and how he, Remus, went out of his way to tell Ron that should he ever change his mind, he'd be there for him. "Indeed it is," he finally said after over a minute of silence. Now Ron was the surprised one: He was fully expecting Remus' Demonic nature to take over, not his Devior side. He had prepared a mental list of various ways to sway him, knowing they wouldn't work, but he did not expect THIS. "I... I don't know what to say..." Ron muttered, his voice barely a whisper. "You were expecting rejection, weren't you?" - was Remus' next question. "Yes." Repelon said simply. "If you are sincere, as I know you must be, considering the state your Coalition must be in right now, I am sure we can work something out." - Remus said, actually sounding compassionate. "I have to admit... I want to kill those bastards now. I had many friends at Akates." Ron said, his voice growing stronger. "Good..." Remus growled, using his signature booming, deep and echoing demon voice that only he can replicate. "We will make them pay for what they have done to us." Repelon said, his voice steely calm, but with an undertone of rage. "You know where to find me... and bring your schematics with you..." - Remus said, already toying with the idea of having the massive economy of the TEC on his side and what it, with their best-in-the-Universe armor designs would be capable of alongside his weapons and shields. Seeming to read his mind, Ron spoke: "I will bring all my schematics. I am sure with your weapons and my armor we can create an unbeatable force!" Once again surprised by Ron's statement, Remus merely grinned, and said: "See you here." With that, the line was disconnected, and moments later, Repelon's Kol Battleship, TDN Khronis, was lifting off into the night sky, bound for Titania.
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