The Alpha Legacy - "The Return" Post KotFE Epic

[GuardianElite]

Dromund Kass





And so it began with her former Empire’s homeworld. She knew ‘he’ would have fled the planet already. Taking back Kaas was more of a symbolic victory. But it was also to send a message. Unlike the message she sent when she woke, this message was slightly different. ‘You should have let me leave’. It started in a way that shocked even Marstel. Mrysti was angry and knowing his sister as well as he did, it was never a good thing to stand in the middle of a Typhoon once it’s started. Though her intent was not to lead a rebellion, it was merely to vent her anger what she got was the beginning of the rebellion once again.

Not that she was hiding before, but this time without warning she handed Sam to Porchia, after kissing the little girl on the forehead and walked out into the street. Lightsaber hilt in hand she picked the first Zakuul guard she saw, lighting the purple blade; much to the shock and surprise of the passersby, and ran the man through. Several people stopped to watch the spectacle. Mrysti looked directly at the people and the ones gathering behind them and said one word before moving on.

“Resist”

The guard was killed so quickly no alarm went out, but as she approached the first surveillance station next to the speeder launch, the city wide klaxon did sound. Mrysti was met by the incoming fire of the stations hand weapons, which she quickly rose her saber to. The storm that already began to form around her swelled and could nearly be seen as she did not change the speed of her approach, continuing to be methodical almost calculating as she moved. Climbing up and over the barricade, Mrysti finally moved quickly charging into the four men with a furious scream. The people standing near the launch rose up, looked her direction seeing the flashes of purple light from her saber. They heard the cry of battle, but more than that they heard the word she screamed as Mrysti weighed into them.

“RESIST!!”

The station fell silent for the moment, then Mrysti kicked out the hatch on the other side. She climbed the barrier to the launch and up the stairs. The line waiting to go the Citadel parted to reveal the Zakuul controller, now unprotected and alone. The controller looked at the approaching Wraith and swallowed hard raising his hands slowly.

It caught him completely off-guard, Marstel knew his sister was prone to rash acts, but even as he slapped the power cell in his weapon and moved toward the sound of battle he was shocked to see other people in the crowd activate sabers. The usually subdued populace of Kaas City was activating, coming alive. Mrysti was doing more than leaving a clear path of destruction to follow; she was leaving a rebellion in her wake. Reaching the launch, Marstel heard the scream and saw the body fly over the side of the round landing platform and down into the abyss below. Shaking his head he climbed the stairs in time to reach his sister and snatch her by the arm.

“What are ya gonna do?!?! Ya gonna take on tha whole City Garrison yerself???”

Mrysti said nothing as she climbed in the speeder. Marstel lowered his head in a silent defeat. This had truly sent his sister over the edge and it could only be because even as she made the decision to leave all of this, even she could not go against destiny. The Force, destiny whatever higher power that controlled everything, was not going to let her be. She would have to face this on her own. When the speeder didn’t move he looked up to see Mrysti smiling at him strangely.

“Well…getting in? Or do you plan on levitating over the chasm to get to the Citadel?”

One of the guards standing by the launch that transported people out toward the Dark Temple saw the little green girl pass the doorway and then pass again. Without saying anything to the other station’s guards, he poked his head up and over the terminal curiously and cautiously moved to the doorway, “Little girl??? What are you doing out there??? Where is your Moth—“

The question was cut off by Porchia smacking the man on the back of the head with her blaster as she scooped up Sam and went inside holding the blaster out for all of the remaining guards to see; answering the question that was never received a reply, “Her ‘Mother’ is busy liberating the Citadel. I am giving you all to the count of three to drop your weapons, get the starport and leave this planet before I shoot one of you.” Porchia was going to count silently, but seeing one of the guards immediately reach for a weapon she shot the man before she opened her mouth, “That’s one…don’t make me get to two…”

As the guards quickly vacated the Comm station, Porchia activated the release on the transportation system and unlocked the City’s gates. ‘Everything was going proceeding to plan?’, she thought and questioned. Did they even have one? When Porchia watched her aunt walk out of the room and then return a few moments later in full armor, handing Samantha to her, she had no idea what was about to happen. After years of leading the resistance, Porchia knew that sometimes the best laid plans were not the best way to go about things. Sometimes the best plans were the plans that didn’t exist at all. Porchia’s Aunt Mrysti was writing the script as she went on this one. Reacting purely on anger and rage, Mrysti left that apartment bent on destruction, but as Porchia looked down at the Comm channels that began to light up green she realized that Mrysti was doing something that even she probably didn’t foresee. Voices started chattering on the Comm, voices from across the planet as everyone seemed to wake up at the same time. The one word all of those once sleeping voices were saying made Porchia smile as she looked down running her hands over Sam’s head.

‘Resist’

They were ready for Marstel and Mrysti this time as the speeder approached the arrival platform to the once proud Sith Citadel, now a mere shell of its former self. Marstel swallowed hard looking at the spot he picked Mai up, five years earlier. It was nearly as destroyed as he remembered, less bodies scattered about. But as Mrysti jumped out of the pilots seat, saber already lit and in her hand he knew they were both about to change that. Marstel jumped out after the speeder came to a stop allowing his sister to take the lead as he rolled out to the side coming up from the roll with the blasters in hand firing rapidly toward the entrance and the guards that Mrysti had not yet reached. She looked back at him with a fire in her eyes as she gestured forward. There was no back door way of taking this Citadel, it wasn’t designed that way. Not that it mattered, Mrysti was going straight inside and anything in her way was about to die.

Porchia typed the message out quickly before the handheld Comm device activated and flipped out from the console. She activated the emergency beacon and set the message on repeat to burst. It would send out the signal to any resistance forces in the area, a predesignated message that said, ‘Code 13 – Dromund Kaas is ‘Free’…’. It was a simple message, Code 13 was a planet under duress, ‘Free’ was the resistance code for a rebellion underway and any forces in the area or in hiding were to come to the City immediately to assist. Picking up the handheld device, Porchia looked down at Sam again who was watching her intently. Clearing her throat she spoke into device for the entire planet and anyone else to hear in the City who was listening.

“This is General Porchia Alpha, leader of the Coalition…we are your resistance movement. The time has come to take up your arms and join the fight. I am asking every able bodied man, woman and even child to rise up and take back what is yours…”, Porchia swallowed again and looked down at Sam smiling, remembering the words she heard over the Comm a moment before, “….resist.”

Mrysti was already inside as Marstel passed right behind her glancing at the monitors of the reception station. A battle was underway in the direction they came from. He could see blaster fire, lightsabers…smoke and chaos back in the city proper. But another sight caught his eye, one that made him smile. The Zakuul troops weren’t heading into the city, they were headed out of it. Ships were launching from the spaceport fleeing the planet. The Zakuul were leaving Dromund Kaas.

Mrysti kicked the door to her former Master’s office down. The Zakuul Administrator who had taken up residence in Darth Isilith’s old office looked up oblivious to the chaos going on outside. He stood, lifting the blaster as Mrysti wiped her hand through the air in front of her ripping the blaster from his grip just as quickly. She leapt at the man, landing on the desk in front of him, kicking again to sit him back down in her Master’s former chair. The thought crossed her mind to ask him what had become of her former Master, but Mrysti was sure if Isilith was dead, she would have felt that loss in the Force. Placing her foot on the man’s chest, the chair groaned as it was stretched backwards leaning down further toward the floor from what it was designed to do.

“Are you the administrator for this facility?”

The man nodded yes quickly, his look of defiance being ripped away by the blaster a moment before. He opened his mouth to speak and Mrysti glared that he would have the audacity to even open his mouth in her presence, “W-what do you want?!?!”

She smiled at the question and seemed to relax a bit. It was a mistake by the administrator to think that her actions were anything but lethal as she raised the saber slightly in her hand, “Why…nothing…” With a sharp motion Mrysti pierced the heart of the administrator with her saber, ending his life with a twist of her wrist, “…only yours and every other conquering Zakuul’s death…”

Marstel made it to the doorway as Mrysti withdrew the saber and hopped off the desk. The pathway to the old Intelligence section was clear and Marstel looked past his approaching sister to the smoking hole in the administrator’s chest before gesturing toward the access.

“Looks like they got their hands plenty full…planetary communications is open, if ya wanna get ta intell an send out a message…”

Mrysti looked at the doorway Martsel was referring to. People were running by, some with blasters, some with sabers as Mrysti shut her saber down and clipped to her belt shaking her head. She had done what she set out to do. Not yet fully engaged in her mind, Mrysti had not yet settled with herself that she was once again a part of the Coalition. It was almost as if all the fight suddenly bled out of her. The act of attacking the guards was her way of venting anger, she nor Marstel or Porchia foresaw that it would lead to a full on rebellion and recapturing the planet. She waved dismissively at her brother as the chaos ensued around her beginning to turn and walk away. But, it had begun and now would not be stopped. Mrysti considered going to the intel section, to reaching out to all of those former comrades who aided her five years ago, but physically shook her head. No, she needed to take back some other things first, some things that were much more personal. Mrysti decided it was time to go home, to her home and estate on Tatooine.

“You and Porchia can take care of any messages…I need to go pack our things. Sam and I have a home to reclaim…”

Marstel grabbed her arm before she got away, "Listen...we got plenty 'a time fer that. I know yer pissed that 'he' got Karolin and yer bent on doin all this on yer own...it's yer way..." Marstel let her go and smiled weakly, "Jus 'member...you ain't alone no more. Ya got all 'a us..."

As she gave him a sad a look and turned to walk away she considered the words and nodded to herself. The chaos was growing and not just on Dromund Kaas, it was going to spread. She knew it would, it was how it happened last time. Perhaps Marstel was right, Perhaps there would be time to reclaim her home for Sam later on. Maybe it was time to take on the mantle again, if for nothing else just to organize an army to go get her sister back. Mrysti was going to do it alone and in her mind the actual act would have to be done alone. She couldn't very well show up on Arcann's front doorstep with an army in tow. Her mind started to race as she walked back toward the launch. She would need an army, a force to sew discord throughout the galaxy to distract the Zakuul so she could get to Arcann, weaken him. That force required weapons, armor...land. All the things that help to nurture and forge an army capable of rolling over a now relaxed and comfortable conqueror.

As she got in the speeder, the Comm traffic lit up over the external speaker. A voice, it could have been anyone of the thousands that were now joining the fight on Dromund Kaas. But, the voice pierced her heart. It made the decision easy for her as she took off back toward the hotel. The voice cried out for all of the thousands to hear, but for Mrysti, a leader who up till that point had not made her mind up to get back in the fight for nothing more than to get her sister, it made the decision easy for her. The voice cried out and it echoed throughout the galaxy....

"Resist!!!!"

[GuardianElite]

Dromund Kaas

Five Years, three of which were spent in some sort of leadership role within the Resistance had taught Porchia one thing; ‘speed kills’. That was an incredibly funny notion coming from someone whose former life was nothing BUT speed. The life of a professional pod-racer or any athlete was fast; both on and off the track. But the saying was true, speed did kill. Rash acts and running into things without proper planning was the surest way to a quick death. So, it was with some measure of worry that Porchia saw what was about to happen and cringed at the thought of what was to come.

Porchia saw, but she couldn’t believe it, or maybe she just didn’t want to. Not having been a member of the Original Coalition till the very end, Porchia was not privy to the leadership style or the ‘way’ her Aunt Mrysti handled things. She was weaned on the stories of the Alphas, by her Father as she grew up. As a younger girl even had the opportunity on several occasions to join the family in a common fight if the galaxy needed them all. But, Porchia was not prepared for the decisiveness of Mrysti. She made a decision, she did it. There was no second guessing, she didn’t seem to plan, discuss or even consider ramifications for things. She just did and it seemed odd or even dangerous at times. This was NOT the beginnings of an invasion, there was not a huge army behind them and certainly not the resources to throw at an enemy that was in the beginning stages of conquest. This was a fledgling rebellion who’s primary existence depended on the will and generosity of others. Porchia could see this turning bad in an instant.

The prisoners walked, two by two; their fingers interlaced behind their heads as they were commanded to; eyes forward. It was like watching a slow moving pod accident; one moment Mrysti is standing next to her, the next she is leaping up into the line of prisoners, snatching one out and slamming him down to the point of her lightsaber. Porchia was alarmed, but more alarmed were the faces of the people watching, not to mention the Zakuul prisoners. These weren’t warriors, they technicians, support people, staff. People that the Zakuul brought in to maintain the planet and ensure submission of the people did not hinder the overall operation of the planet. They weren’t innocent, but they certainly didn’t deserve execution. In Porchia’s mind, the conduct of war was almost as important as the fighting of it. They would be judged by not only how it was fought, but how they acted during and after the fact. Moving closer to Marstel, Porchia grabbed his arm pulling him close.

“We have got ta git ‘er out ‘a here. Her Rage in all ‘a this is gonna tank us…”

As Mrysti watched, she watched their eyes. None would look or rather none SHOULD. They were beaten and it was a small mercy, certainly not her mercy, that these prisoners were allowed to live. They were the enemy, they were responsible for the subjugation and destruction of everything she knew; the losses she suffered and the recent abduction of her sister. This was their fault and the more she thought the deeper into her Rage she got. If they never came, then none of this would have happened. She wouldn’t have had to go to sleep for five years, she wouldn’t have lost her titles and her estate, she wouldn’t have had to suffer the indignity of defeat, but most of all she wouldn’t have lost her brothers.

The eyes glanced to the left and Mrysti caught the prisoner looking. It was only a second, the look accompanied by a smile. It was the biggest mistake that Zakuul could have ever made, not only did he look, but he looked at Samantha who was standing next to her mother watching the long line of prisoners progress. Mrysti jumped into the line with a quickness seldom seem outside of those akin to Force Users. Her lightsaber already out, she tackled the prisoner dragging him out of the line and tossing him against the duracrete barricade.

“Something you want to say?!?! Why are you looking at my daughter??? Who sent you??? What plans do you have against her??!!??”

As she spoke the voice got louder, Mrysti's rage growing with every syllable. Even Samantha was frightened. This was a side of her Mother she had never seen. And for a five year old little girl a side she didn’t need to see. Marstel moved quickly, getting up alongside Mrysti and grabbing her arm. It was her saber arm and the grab nearly got him cut. But in the split second between Marstel grabbing her and Mrysti turning to see who would have the audacity to do so, she relaxed a bit. Marstel was most likely the only normal being in the universe, normal meaning ‘non-force using’, that could have accomplished such a task. Not that he was normal, none of the Alphas were. But it was well known in the family that Mrysti feared him. A woman who feared nothing, she was most like one of the few people that had ever seen Marstel’s anger and lived to tell about it. She jerked her arm away, mouth still opened as she stared at Marstel with crazed eyes.

“Hey…why don weh jus return ta than landin; pad up ‘ere…let these people due their jobs, ok?”

“HE LOOKED at Samantha…they are planning something!!! They all are!!!”, Mrysti raised her voice again looking at everyone in the plaza as she allowed Marstel to pull her back. He knew she was saturated in a bloodlust that sometimes saw things and did things irrationally. Porchia was right, they needed to get her out of there. Things had changed and though Mrysti was needed and most likely would eventually come to lead all of them once again, the time was not right. This was a different force and one that required subtlety not the broad ‘Hammer’ she was so used to bringing down. But it was more than that and as Porchia reached down scooping up Samantha to hold her, she looked at the little girl and realized this had more to do with her than anything else. Porchia’s mind started working almost immediately, hatching a plan, “You all are fools!!!...”, Mrysti continued to scream, “…everyone of these ‘Zakuul’ should be executed, you let them go and I guarantee you; YOU WILL be fighting them again in some other place after Arcann puts them back in circulation…”

They came to a stop back on the Landing Pad, Mrysti disgustingly took her eyes off the line of prisoners and they softened as she looked at Sam holding onto Porchia. The look the little girl was giving her mother was a cross between horror and curiosity. Forgetting the lightsaber was still lit, it’s hum bringing Mrysti’s eyes back down to it, she deactivated it and smiled at her daughter. There was nothing she wouldn’t do to keep Sam safe, but it was obviously making her paranoid. Everyone was becoming an enemy, everyone was a suspect. The plan Porchia was hatching suddenly came into focus as she linked it together with the plan of attack they all had been working on to go and rescue Karolin. This had to be done carefully. Porchia was not sure how Mrysti was going to take it, but as she looked at Sam she realized it had to be done. Moving off the landing pad with Sam still in her arms, Porchia looked back at the two of them.

“They ‘ave this well in hand…whatcha say we all head ova tat ha Cantina fer a spell and talk ‘bout tha next move. Dromund Kaas es perty much done and weh need ta thank ‘bout movin…”

Finally setting Sam down, the Cantina was empty. The three of them sat near the bar counter, not that it mattered, but Marstel was in the lead and wanted a drink. He gave Porchia a strange look, but it was one they shared before. She was up to something and the look suggested that she was going to need his support for whatever was about to happen. Derrick was gone, he left the day Karolin was taken to link up with the remnants of the Jedi Order and get their support to help in the coming fight. It was entirely personal for him, everyone knew and had seen that Derrick was now madly in love with Karolin. Had Mrysti not convinced him otherwise, he would have went to Zakuul himself to retrieve her.

As they sat, Sam ran off and started playing in the Holo-image hovering in the center of the Cantina. Her laughs became background noise as Mrysti sat down in a huff and glared out toward the door. Porchia grimaced and pursed her lips flashing a second glance at Marstel as he came back, drink in hand sitting down to the ‘tinkling’ of the ice in the glass. No one spoke at first, Porchia trying desperately to frame her words. Most likely anything she was about to say would anger her Aunt, so she decided just to come out with it.

“Aunt Mrysti, yer too close ta all ‘a this…I am taking ya off tha line…”

Those eyes that glared at the entrance, suddenly found their way to Porchia as Mrysti looked at her in shock and humor, “You’re what?!?! Who do you think you are…you can’t take me off th—“

“I’m a Commanding General of tha Resistance and YOU ‘r becomin’ a liability…yer too close ta all of this an’ I thank it’s affectin’ yer judgment. And—“

“There is no AND…you two are shelving me. Is it because of the prisoner?!?! Is that it??”

“No…this has nothin’ ta do with that. This whole attack started ‘cause ya went on a rampage, thank the Force everyone jus seemed ta jump on tha bandwagon an’ we were able ta mobilize, but what if it hadn’t?”, Mrysti glanced at Marstel and back to Porchia, he sat back folding his arms over his chest speaking without saying anything. This was Porchia’s show. She had truly become her father’s daughter as the mantle of responsibility and command that RT once held over the family now seemed to shift and land squarely on Porchia’s shoulders. And she wore it well. Mrysti got up angrily and moved toward the door. It went like Porchia was expecting, now her Aunt was going to storm out. Time for part two, “I’m not shelvin’ ya…”

Mrysti turned around looking back at the both of them but not taking her seat.

“…tha plan we all made requires men and materials. Thangs we don ‘ave and ain’t had as an organized force since the Fall of Coruscant. I been workin on tha, but I can’t be in two places at once….”, Mrysti folded her arms continuing to listen as Marstel gestured for his sister to sit back down, “You started this, the Coalition is yer brain child, ya saw when no one else did. I need ya, we all do…buh tha way this is goin righ now, yer gonna jeopardize tha plan and yer gonna make gettin Karolin back all tha more difficult. Ya wanna due this? Ya wanna take command again? I need ta git ya an Army ta stand behind ya, there ain’t no way we’re gonna be able ta due this on our own. Ya know as well as I do, thas what ‘he’ wants. He wants ya ta jus git mad, run off ta Zakuul and throw yerself on yer sword. He’s countin on tha…” Porchia sat back and smiled, “He ain’t countin on us and he ain’t countin on the plan we all been hatchin….”

It made sense and as Mrysti took her seat, Marstel passed the glass across the table to his sister, “Listen to ‘er, Mrysti…she ain’t no little girl no more. She know what she talkin’ ‘bout…”

Taking the glass, Mrysti drank with a shaky hand; half caught between an unsatisfied bloodlust and anger from a moment before, “What’s your plan, Porchia…I know what we all have been discussing, but this other part. The part where you cannot be in two places at once?”

Inside her mind, Porchia screamed triumph and it made Mrysti smile having no doubt felt her niece's emotion in the Force. She didn’t try to hide the fact that she just manipulated Mrysti into at least listening and was determined to keep doing it.

“Yer a legend…an far be it frum me ta try an keep ya out of tha fight, buh like I said…we need stuff.” Porchia smiled wryly at the next part. It was a part that even Marstel didn’t know about. All the times when Porchia was sending encrypted messages and talking to people over the holo, it wasn’t all resistance cell business. There were contacts, many she made after the war started, but some she held onto from her days on the pod-racing circuit. One such contact was a little of both, a spacer who worked for a man who literally built and empire out of the desert sands. The man now held incredible wealth and power, as well as the resources to put the Coalition back on the map in materials. The part that was shocking to Porchia, he requested the negotiations be conducted by, ‘The Leader of the Coalition’, he wanted Mrysti to come and finish the deal personally. Up till that day, Porchia had resisted the idea. The abduction of Karolin, then the amazing recapture of Dromund Kaas; Porchia was questioning if she could afford to have Mrysti gone and doing things that any number of seasoned negotiators could do. But this ‘man’ requested it and given her Aunt Mrysti’s state of mind, it was a wise choice to send her. More than that, this involved Sam.

What were they going to do once the final plan was activated? What about Sam? They were all going to be busy conducting a galactic war and none of them had a safe haven any longer. Porchia couldn’t help but think that Mrysti would never allow Sam to be looked after by anyone but the three at the table and the longer she took Mrysti out of harms way, the longer Sam was going to be safe. The child needed stability, her life had already been so unstable. Perhaps this was a path to a new beginning for Mrysti and Sam, perhaps they could even exclude the both of them from the whole thing and just let Mrysti be a figurehead for the organization. No fighting, just prompting the cause. Porchia laughed again inside at the thought, there was no way Mrysti was ever going to go for that, but it was a nice thought anyway and this trip would be a welcomed respite while Porchia and Marstel did the real work of organizing the final action.

“Ok…so who is this guy? And why do we trust him? There has to be a reason he has specifically requested me.”, As Mrysti asked the question Porchia had to admit she didn’t know. The intermediary was a spacer, tech guy whom Porchia had the opportunity to meet on Tatooine while she was still in hiding and then again several years later once she was fully involved in the Resistance. All she knew was, the man he worked for was very powerful, well supplied and more importantly independent. He had no causes, but he certainly did not have love for the Zakuul whom remarkably left his organization vastly untouched as they steamrolled the galaxy.

“His name is…Xerxes. Tha information on em is scarce an’ a holo of em is extremely rare ta find even in intelligence circles…” Porchia signed at having entered the realm of not knowing, “…I ‘ave ta admit that I ‘ave no idea why.” Mrysti started to give a skeptical look as Porchia spoke quickly, she wasn’t about to lose Mrysti’s support on this, “…but, he checks out. His business relationships ‘er on tha ‘up and up’. He has a good reputation as never letting a deal fall through and always seein’ it through.” Porchia sat back and shrugged, “We need this…we need you ta go and git it…”

Sitting back with the glass which Mrysti had now abducted from Marstel, she rubbed the lip of it against her own as she considered. There was no reason to search Porchia and Marstel for deception, they both believed what Porchia was saying. But more obvious to her was that Porchia and Marstel had talked about this beforehand. Mrysti was under no illusion that this was some feeble attempt to get rid of her for a while, even if this ‘Xerxes’ had specifically requested her. Glancing over at Sam, Mrysti understood why. Porchia was right, she was too close to all of this and if she continued this course it was going to end with her waking in the dead of night and hopping a shuttle to Zakuul alone. The final plan called for cooperation and if she was going to see it through, she had to get them the materials they required. Mrysti sat the glass down hard and stood straightening her armor. She glared at the both of them.

“I will go to this ‘Xerxes’…but my negotiations will be swift. After all…we have a War to win…”

As Mrysti left with Sam toddling close on her heels, Porchia let out a sigh of relief and seemed to sink in th chair a little. Marstel just smiled as he laid a huge hand on her shoulder.

“Ya git used ta it kiddo…Mrysti ain’t tha easiest ta live with, buh she gits tha job done…”

Porchia smiled and looked at her Uncle, "Tha ain’t wha I’m worried about… she said ‘swift’. I jus hope she don’ git there and kriff up this deal. I wouldn’t kidding when I said we need this…if she pulls this off, we kin be in Zakuul in two weeks time…”

[GuardianElite]

“Not all Eagles can be trained…but those who take to life with a Master display intense loyalty. Although not tethered…they always RETURN after killing their prey”
-Stephen Kinzer

“I left as a Raven…I return as an Eagle…”
-Unknown

“There is no death or life…no good or evil…there is no time as in the Force, time has no meaning…”
-Karolin Alpha, speaking to her sister…Mrysti upon her Return…





Zakuul


“What do you mean you haven’t found her?!?! I am looking at the holo-grid…are you looking at the holo-grid?!?! It’s lit in five different places and each planet says…they are being attacked by Darth Retuvisa!!!”

Backing down off the holo-display, Arcann lowered his head. His first instinct was to simply grab his main army and head out after ‘one’ of the reported Mrysti’s. But, as he glared behind him, even suspended in a ray shield Karolin laughed and shook her head. She began to hum and sing as she had done for nearly a week since her abduction.

…One, Two…Mrysti’s comin’ for you…
….three, four…better lock your door…
…five, six…

“Oh do, shut up!!! If I didn’t need you—“

“What?!? You would what?? You should just kill me and get it over with…either way, she is going to free me. IN Death or otherwise…”

Looking back up at the holo-grid, he couldn’t figure out how she had accomplished it, the chatter of the Comm in the background was further proof. Mrysti was indeed in five places at once, all of the garrisons on the various planets were reporting the same thing. From the sky they saw the emblem descend, the Krayt Dragon symbol surrounded by a field of stars. But that wasn’t what stuck. The garrison on Belsavis said something that burned through the Zakuul army like a wild fire when one of the Commanders spoke, yelling into the Comm.

‘It’s like…a flock of predators…Alderaanian Eagles…’

Predators never flew together, but these predators did. The Coalition landed and was once again wreaking havoc on the Zakuul. Only this time, it was the Zakuul on the defensive.





48 Hours Prior – Tatooine

The prior few days were a whirlwind and for the first time in a long time, Mrysti found herself not looking forward to going back to battle. Bloodlust and lust in general quelled, she was already missing Samantha….and Xerxes as well. Goodbyes were the worst, but as she landed on her estate’s landing pad she realized there was something worse. Being alone. As she stepped off the ramp to a waiting Porchia and Marstel, they both looked at each other after seeing Mrysti. Wide eyes glanced between the two. What had happened on the mission Porchia sent Mrysti on, she looked different. More somber. Mrysti didn’t even acknowledge the line of fresh troops that formed a cordon for her arrival walking right past them to stand before Porchia and Marstel. Now she was acting different too. Porchia continued to pass looks to her Uncle Marstel as the three of them walked toward the freshly liberated homestead. Its liberation the sign that everything was ready to proceed and the message sent to Mrysti that she should finish her negotiations in Edessa and join them.

“Thank you fer goin’ there Aunt Mrysti…I know its noh yer kinda thang, but…you did us all a favor. All the material was delivered on schedule yester’dee with still more coming in.” Porchia smiled looking at Mrysti strangely, “You musta made an impression…he went above an’ beyond what wuz required an’ even threw in A LOT ‘a extra ammunition and medical supplies. We almos’ have ‘nough for eight fronts if we wanted ta create ‘em…”

Mrysti looked down toward the sand at the ‘impression’ comment, not meeting either of their eyes. Still extremely conflicted about the prior three days, Mrysti was embarrassed by her conduct. The entire shuttle ride all she thought about was the events of those three days. She was supposed to have been their representative and her own to that fact, in procuring the materials necessary to reconstitute her Army; their Army. How had she suddenly found herself feeling things she thought blocked? Love…insidious as Mrysti thought it was; was in fact the most powerful of all emotions a Sith could draw from. Mrysti had experienced its power before, in different venues. There was her Master, whom she had a brief love affair with. Then came Rey and she channeled that love she carried for him into building an Army and fighting to save the galaxy. More than a week prior, liberating Dromund Kaas, that was all Samantha; as the love she now carried for her daughter was fuel to a never ending fire. But this, was entirely different.

Xerxes had come on strong. Going out of his way to be gracious, he revealed that after their first chance encounter he actually did look up information on her and found very little. That intrigued him. The information he did gather came first hand, from those that had seen and fought alongside of her. Again, Xerxes was even more intrigued. Even with all his pursuits and Mrysti constantly telling him no or pushing him away, he persisted. At first, Mrysti thought the offer to take care of Samantha while she went to go rescue her sister was just another ploy. But their last night together, she made Xerxes swear, under duress. Again, pushing him away and stopping his advances. In the end, she gave in to her emotions. Shaking her head as she walked and half-listened to Porchia, Mrysti Alpha was once again in Love.

Smirking, Porchia knew that look. She once had it as well on a dusky track in the heart of Mos Eisley. As she walked across the track on that rare occasion that she won, she grabbed Nathiu and kissed him live on the Galactic Holo-net for all to see. That wasn’t why she did it. It started with a chance encounter and grew into one of the best friendships and relationships she could have ever hoped for. Had the galaxy not fallen into turmoil, Porchia believed that she would have made a life with him. That far away look from Mrysti told Porchia one thing, she was barely hearing her. It was time to get Mrysti back on task. Clapping her hands loudly, Porchia smiled at her Aunt Mrysti.

“Hey…ya in there? We got a War ta win…I wuz tellin ya that getting’ yer estate back cost us a man ‘er two, but we did it…now we got a base to werk frum.”, Porchia gestured down the stairs leading to the courtyard, “An them five individuals you requested are here and ready fer yer briefin’…once we git em deployed yer ready to execute phase two…”


Zakuul – Presently….


They were imposters, they had to be. Mrysti had found some way of finding five women that looked and acted similar to her. As Arcann walked he considered the fact that maybe she and the remaining Alphas had used their technology and knowledge of the Alpha Project to create some clones of her. He hoped that wasn’t the case. One Mrysti was bad enough, five would be worse. Combined with the fact that the mere presence of Mrysti throughout the galaxy was causing ripples throughout the Empire. People were getting hope again, rebellions were starting on worlds the Resistance had no presence in. As he entered his throne room which was just down the hall from the Communications room, the voice behind him brought him back to reality.

“They were imposters…you can stop wracking that feeble little mind of yours….” The hum of Mrysti’s lightsaber framed the background of her words. She followed behind him allowing the doors to the vast chamber to close behind her. Stepping out of the shadows behind her sister, Karolin’s hand glowed with an amber light, “I needed a distraction to get you drawn elsewhere and allow me entrance to Zakuul. Nice place, I have no idea why you wish to leave it…”

He screamed with a bloody fury already leaping into the air as his yellow saber came to life inside the jump toward them both. Karolin tried to push him back in the Force and Arcann seemed to tear through her power landing and slashing at Mrysti three times before she actually brought the saber to connect with his. Much improved in her sleep, the chamber she rested in provided her with years of neural induction designed to keep her mind active and thinking on many different techniques and combat tactics. As they locked sabers, Mrysti winning the saber lock, pushing the smaller man off of her with one hand; she noticed that he too had increased in power. Not only did he tear through Karolin’s distortion in the Force like it was flimsy, he also attacked three times to Mrysti’s one. Not that she needed another attack. Arcann was enraged, his focus was off and he was unwittingly feeding Mrysti his energy.

As he landed on his back, quickly scrambling to get up with a roll to his side; Mrysti was in no hurry slowly walking forward, a wicked smile blanketing her face, “You know…I have dreamed of this moment Arcann. You took everything from me…my home, my life…my family. I am going to draw this out…slowly.”

With a slide toward him, Mrysti ducked under the slash to her head as she stabbed outward toward Arcann. He spun avoiding the slash, as Karolin launched another Force Distortion toward him, which caught him in the spin hurling him backwards to land on his large throne like chair toppling it over. For a moment he disappeared on the other side as both sisters lost sight of him.

As he landed, Arcann knew this was not going to end well. Both sisters, Mrysti had somehow freed Karolin before coming in there and he knew the power of ‘two’. Before killing his own brother, the ‘two’ of them were nearly unstoppable. With their combined strength, Arcann knew he was fighting a losing battle, he came to the decision quickly as he heard their approach. One of them had to go down or at least be compromised in some way in order for him to gain advantage. As he leapt back over the raised area of the throne his hand was outstretched toward Karolin. It wasn’t a mere choke or hold in the Force, it was a Death Grip as he grabbed her launching her into the air and back toward the far wall. Tendrils of lightning caressed her body combined with the hold and throw which caught Karolin completely unawares. Arcann felt the cybernetic arm come free as Mrysti severed it during his attack on Karolin. Now she had him.

Mrysti didn’t look, she felt Karolin get grabbed in the fury as Arcann came up over the throne area. Sliding again to close the distance, she spun into him, cutting the Cybernetic arm free, but missing his torso as he moved ever so slightly to complete his attack on her sister and allow himself to be struck. It was Mrysti’s turn to be compromised as she screamed in rage at having felt her sister go slack against the wall. Arcann’s saber was lost with his arm, but he didn’t need it completing his movement to launch the attack against the ‘Hammer’ much the way she unwittingly taught him. His body became a capacitor for the Force as the lightning seemed to current in waves over his form, the power of the bolts launching themselves at and around Mrysti as she stopped in pain.

Dropping the lightsaber she held, Mrysti bent on one knee and clenched her fist, gritting her teeth. No way was she going down like this. Willing herself to stand even as the lightning seared her flesh, she staggered through it. Arcann did not move, he couldn’t. The power he was generating grounding him in place for the moment as he too screamed in rage. The two wills of both individuals pitted against one another. She continued to scream in pain as she reached him, the smell of her flesh being burned from her only background as she slammed her fist into the half human face of Arcann, denting the cybernetic part as he fell back from being grounded. Sparks flew from the cybernetic shell that ensconced half of his human form, put there by another Alpha who tried to kill him in one final explosion so many years before. Mrysti fell to her knees for the moment as Arcann sailed back landing hard on the surface near one of the large windows of the throne room.

Feeling the gentle hands of her sister, Mrysti was lifted from the floor. Karolin draping an arm around Mrysti's shoulders and shuffling from the room, “There will be another time…he’s not going anywhere. And I doubt after this…he is going to come looking for us again.” They exited quickly not bothering to look back toward where Arcann fell. They both knew he lived, they could feel it. But he had gained too much power in their absence. Even together, they were not going to win. Managing to get some of her bearings, Mrysti took some of the weight off her sister as they staggered toward the launch.

“T-this way…”

Tatooine

Karolin watched her sister as she floated in the Kolto tank and smiled to herself rubbing the knot on the back of her head. How many times had they done this, how many times had Mrysti been in one of these things? It still surprised her that as much as her sister had been through, Mrysti still lived and continued to live.

Waiting till they were on the shuttle, Mrysti collapsed as Karolin put them to flight. The whole way back, Karolin was her confessor as she lulled in and out of consciousness. The Force had managed to hold her together long enough to get Karolin out of there, but once that was done she collapsed in exhaustion. She spoke of the three days at Edessa, confessing to Karolin everything that happened, more to tell Karolin where Sam was in case things went bad on the way back to Tatooine. Karolin had no intention of allowing her sister to die, pouring every ounce of energy she had in the Living Force into her sister to save her.

Listening intently, Karolin was shocked and surprised by what she heard. Mrysti was in love and she was confessing that love to her sister to let her know she had something else to fight for. Perhaps it was Mrysti’s way of convincing Karolin not to let her die, though she didn’t need convincing. It was surprising to hear because her sister was not prone to the same flights of fancy that she was. Karolin was the one who fell in Love at the drop of a hat, not Mrysti. Halfway through the flight, before Mrysti finally fell unconscious from her injuries she grabbed Karolin harshly by her tunic pulling her close.

“D-do n-not..Leh-let Sam see m-me like this…i-it will scare her….”

As the door to the lab slid open Karolin didn’t bother turning around, she could sense who it was and she didn’t even turn around. Love was pouring off of him before he even walked through the door. Karolin smiled to herself deactivating the control pad and setting it down as she spoke. She didn’t sense Sam with him and that was a good thing.

“Xerxes…I presume…”

[GuardianElite]

It always happened this way. Whether induced artificially or consciously seeking sleep; Mrysti Alpha was always more susceptible to the visions the Force gave her in an unconscious state. This one she didn’t remember, it was something about Sam, something about the future, but her mind had fashioned that it was not important enough to remember. In the back of her mind she heard the voices, two very familiar one automated and computerized.

<”There is no need for a humanoid specialist Master Alpha…my systems are fully capable of repairing the artificials in Darth Retuvisa’s knee joint. You may seek a second opinion, if you wish, but I assure you my software has been updated to the latest in evaluation, diagnosis and treatment techniques available. Darth Retuvisa saw that our systems were maintained up to date at all times…”>

She was lulling in and out of consciousness; the voice was that of her 2-1-B she was sure of it as it referred to her in the third person. The painkiller she was given starting to wear off she could feel the pressure of a surgical stasis field surrounding her.

“I don’t doubt that my sister kept this lab up to date…that’s not the point. The point I am trying to make is…this specialist already has working knowledge of her treatment….and no questions.”

“Wait, what specialist?? Treatment??? What are we talking about here??? How much damage did she actually sustain, you told me this was minor compared to what she’d been through in the past?!?!”

That last voice was Xerxes and she smiled inside as he responded to Karolin’s statement. What was he doing here? Mrysti suddenly thought to herself hoping Sam was not in the room as well, she had problems moving her eyes and opening them.

“It is minor for my sister…trust me.”

“No…I’m sorry. I don’t trust Jedi…not now, not ever…”

The 2-1-B responded to the alarm alerting him to Mrysti’s conscious state as the painkiller in the stasis field began to wear off. She heard the sound of a pressurized hiss and started feeling drowsy again as she drifted off to the sounds of the three in the room continuing to drone on.

…You must be strong. You must be able to stand on your own…you will bow for no one. This is the path of my daughter; this is your path Samantha. You WILL be strong…or you will die. There is no second chance to make a fatal mistake…

…Yes, Mother…

…AGAIN!!!

The three droids attacked again, this time taking a triangular approach to the girl who looked in her early teens. She held a purple saber, but lowly as if she was loathed to use it on the droids. She gave them not a look of contempt, but a look for pity’s sake. As if she was frightened for them in attacking her.

…They are Droids, Samantha…they do not feel. And I have set them to kill you. You will destroy them or you will suffer death. DO IT!! STRIKE NOW!!

As she was commanded, Samantha leapt in and knocked the first droid down by her feet, landing squarely on its chest as the other two closed in their triangle. She screamed in the Force, a rage an ear splitting cry that cracked the outer casing of the droid she stood on as it deactivated. Leaping off and twirling her body in the air, she spun to face them launching a Distortion of loose Force energy at the one and dodging the blaster bolts of the other. The Force sheared the droid into fragments as the last droid continued to track Samantha all the way to the ground. She took off in a sprint aided in speed by the Force as the droid struggled to maintain target lock. At last she used the lightsaber, hurling it the droid’s direction and cutting it in two. Samantha stopped, chest heaving to look up at her Mother, who did not smile, did not say anything and began to walk away.

A voice…it came from Sam, but it was not hers echoed to Mrysti across the arena floor. It was loud enough to make her turn and look back at her adolescent daughter.

…If you turn your back on her. If you simply gaze and walk away, she will grow cold to you. She will become what you make of her…Cold, heartless and indestructible. Samantha is better than that, Samantha needs your guidance…but, she also needs…your Love.

Mrysti’s eyes jerked open to the silence of the room. The lights were down and the pressure of the stasis field was on full to keep her in place. Two little red eyes looked up at her from the floor as Mrysti turned her own eyes the direction she was feeling. Samantha stood, looking up at her mother with a frightened gaze. Trying to smile, but looking strange doing it since she could not turn to face her daughter, Mrysti whispered harshly.

“And who let you in here, munchkin??? Hmmm???”

“No one did, Mama…you called me…”

--
Balling the flimsy in his hands, Marstel tried to make sense of the message, sent by a third party from the care of another. This was terrible news, almost as world shattering as the revelation Mai gave him the day she left. Broni was dead and Marstel knew Mai was not going to do well without Broni by her side. As he walked the hall to the laboratory, he stopped in the foyer at the voices he heard and peeked in. Karolin was sitting with Derrick exchanging what he could only think was the prelude to them both running off somewhere to be alone. He frowned slightly, though he was happy for his sister who had found love yet again, he was also slightly dismayed that once again he found himself alone and at Mai’s time of need.

Still holding the balled up flimsy in his hand, he moved past Karolin and Derrick quietly to get to the lab, but before going in stopped short at the figure he saw inside. Standing next to Mrysti’s bed was a large white haired male he now knew was this new benefactor who aided them. Apparently he had a thing for his other sister and Marstel frowned again. He did not enter instead nodding his head slightly.

Moving from the room quietly he was lucky his holo-comm didn’t chime until he reached the front room and out of everyone’s ear shot. It was a text only message and it seemed to come at just the right time.

----Bounty----Cartel----
1,000,000----
Carbonite---Death---Dismemberment---<AUTHORIZED>---
----Multiple Parties already engaged----
Location: Taral V----
<CLICK <YES> FOR TRACKING SIGNAL>

Moving to his ship, Marstel was going to get lost for a while. He needed to. There was nothing there for him at Mrysti’s Estate for the moment. Besides, if they needed him, he wouldn’t be hard to find. As he got to the ramp, the person sitting by his launch suddenly got up walking slightly into the light. He was slightly shocked to see her. Their first meeting, Marstel made his disdain for her perfectly clear.

“Off somewhere, Marstel?”

V’ictoria stubbed out the cigarra she was smoking as she walked toward him shrouded by the cloud that she exhaled. Marstel folded his arms across his chest at her approach, remaining aloof.

“Maybe…what’s it to ya?”

Smiling wryly, V’ictoria scooted close and ran her hand up his chest looking up at him. It was not lost on Marstel that V’ictoria and he had a bond, they shared the same genetic template and mapping sequence. When V’ictoria was injured the Project scientists used Marstel’s sequencing to save V’ictoria’s life. There was a big difference in them. Marstel could control his power, V’ictoria could not. It was also well known by everyone that of all the Alphas, Marstel was V’ictoria’s favorite. Mostly because his power was enhanced by science and technology and had nothing to do with the Force. Marstel always thought V’ictoria viewed him as a big science experiment. That was partly true, but seeing Marstel alone after watching the woman he was with runoff, she felt compelled to throw herself at him once again. Marstel wasn’t in the best of moods.

“Well, I am loathed to stay here one more minute actually….and if you are leaving, I thought maybe I could beseech you for a lift out of this place. That is if you’re willing to take a passenger.”

Marstel grabbed V’ictoria’s arms and pushed her away as her face twisted into a sad pouty look, “No. I ain’t goin’ nowhere you kin come ta…an even if I wuz…I ain’t sure I would want ya along fer tha ride.” He grimaced looking at her, “You gotta problem girl…you got all dem brains, but don’ know tha firs thang ‘bout using ‘em on people. I ain’t sum experiment ya kin jus take on whenever ya please…and neither is tha res’ of mah family….”

V’ictoria retched back like she been struck and was slightly by the viciousness of his tone. Marstel was not big on words, but when he did say something he meant it. This was something that had obviously been bothering him for a long time. Sitting back down, V’ictoria looked off into the dunes of the desert beyond and shrugged slightly.

“I accept that. But that was years ago…I tried to ‘cure’ Karolin not because I was malicious or had some agenda, I did it because she was suffering Marstel. The Dark Side of this Force entity they all carry was eating her up and to some extent it still is…though she does seem to have found a way to control it now.”, Folding his arms over his chest, Marstel glared down at her. He didn’t believe it, Victoria always seemed to have an agenda, but more than an agenda V’ictoria was led by her desire to learn and solve problems at any costs. Even if the result would hurt someone. That fact alone was enough to make Marstel hold her at a distance. She looked up at him as he glared at her almost sensing his thoughts, “I know what you must think of me. And…frankly I don’t blame you…” She stood, but kept her distance, “…you must understand, what I do is for the good of all humanoids, not just our family.”

“Ok, I’m gonna stop ya righ’ there…’we’ ain’t family. Ya got sum ‘a our technology put in ya ta save yer life…tha’ don’ make us kin…”

Marstel started up the ramp to his ship as V’ictoria watched him go. After a moment she followed behind, stopping at the base of the ramp and looking up at him sadly.

“So, that’s it then? You just ‘bark’ at me and then walk away. I know that’s your way, Marstel. But I deserve better than that. You…deserve better than the way I’ve acted. I am…sorry Marstel. All I want is for you of all people to trust me and…to understand.”

Before he opened the hatch to the ship he turned and looked at her, “V’ictoria…I don’ hate cha, I jus don’ understan’ ya…I don’ understand how ya kin work wif us and have no feelin’ bout it. We are jus’ sum kind project ta ya…” Marstel walked a step back toward her, “An if I had tha time…I would take ya wif me…if fer no other reason then ta try and get sum sense in tha think skull ‘a yourn…” Marstel looked at his Chrono and then the datapad with the bounty on it before looking at V’ictoria. In a way it was her advances that helped him make the decision as he dropped the Datapad on the ground, stepping on it. Marstel smiled as he opened the hatch to enter his ship, “Buh I goh places ta be…and a girlfriend I need ta see. Let them kno I went ta Malata.”

--
“So…what you’re saying Derrick is…that I could be a Baroness if you and I were together…”, Karolin laughed as she draped a leg over Derrick’s. He smiled wrapping a hand around her thigh pulling her in closer to him.

“No…I ‘could’ have been a Baron and heir to my father’s title. But I became a Jedi instead.”

Karolin faked a pout and slapped him on the arm, “You have no idea how gussied up I can get do ya? I look fabulous in almost anything, especially a royal gown.” Karolin smiled viciously, “Is it too late to get your title back?”

Derrick was caught between laughing and half believing she was serious until she slapped his arm again, “I’m just kidding…man, you really need to lighten up…”

Getting up off the couch, Karolin leaned over toward the laboratory door and saw Mrysti’s new Beau still standing in there. Derrick saw it too and he wrung his hands together nervously as he watched Karolin look in. There was something he needed to say, but he was nervous. The time just wasn’t right and had not been right since Mrysti and Karolin’s return from Zakuul. Karolin turned around with a start, something tingling in the Force as she gave Derrick a wry smile.

“What?!?”

“C’mon…out with it, you are over there wringing your hands over something…lets have it.”

Moving up next to Karolin, he didn’t look at her. Instead he fixed his gaze on the large man moving around next to Mrysti’s bedside. Karolin watched Derrick carefully, she finally lost the smile. This was serious, she only saw him this way one other time and it was shortly before she went into Thexan’s estate to recover her lightsaber.

“He loves her…I sense that he is so devoted to her that eventually they will marry. They are going to spend the rest of their lives together…”

Now Karolin got it. This is what was making Derrick so nervous. Since rescuing her Derrick freely admitted that she was some kind of obsession for him and Karolin thought that perhaps he was past all of that now that they spent some time together, fought together. Evidently she was mistaken, the feeling she was getting from him told her he was once again in the throes of being enamored with her again. All she could feel from him was nervousness and awe. Karolin decided to play along trying to make it easier by looping her arm through his. She couldn’t have been more wrong.

“Yes, he does seem to love my sister…I wish her well. No one deserves it more than her…well, maybe ME…” Karolin laughed, but without realizing it she just opened the door for Derrick who looked at her suddenly as if he was struck. Dropping to one knee he took her hand.

“It is customary for the Lord of one house to ask the Lord of the other for his daughter’s hand in marriage…” Derrick swallowed hard as his hand started to shake. Karolin covered her mouth in surprise. Being wrong about the feeling she was getting from Derrick, he wasn’t nervous or in awe of her because of her presence, he was in awe and nervous for what he was about to ask her, “I don’t have anything to give you…I have given up my house, my life, everything to be a Jedi. And becoming a Jedi, realizing that my true path was to come find you. You are a dream for me, something I never thought possible and I feel stupid and ashamed for even having the audacity to ask but—“

Before he could finish Karolin was already on top of him pushing him to the floor. “Just shut up! Yes…Void….yes…a thousand times….YES!!!”

--
Samantha sat in the foyer pressed behind one of the couches and an end table that she like to call, “Her Secret Fort”. Though the holocron had been taken from her, Sam always found a way to get it back, that day was no different; removing it from the safe before leaving Edessa. Setting it on the ground in front of her she peered at it as it started to glow and finally came to life.

‘Hello Sam…did you miss me….’

--
Karolin had taken something from him and now Arcann was truly pissed. Realizing his brother’s clothing and lightsaber had been taken, he was sure it could have only been one person. The same person who trashed the containment area where she was once kept. Arcann had planned to squeeze it out of her as he choked the last bit of life from Karolin's body. But, that was not to be. As always the two sisters together were more than a match for him, but he gave as good as he got the last time. Mrysti was near dead and had he another second was sure he would have killed her.

There was little time for that now, the Zakuul were now on the offensive across the galaxy thanks to Mrysti’s interference. Arcann nodded to himself turning back to the holocron. Mrysti and Karolin would become his pet project, besides he had a new avenue to keep track of them.

As he looked into the Holocron and saw the little smiling face look back at him, he was sure she couldn’t see him, but would certainly recognize his voice. He was after all talking to her since the discovery of the holocron on Dromund Kaas.

‘Hello Sam…did you miss me…’


‘It’s Timothy…’


FIN-