Enemies

Tex was shocked by his own power, but he knew that using that ability, he may become corrupted by the beast he had consumed.

To calm his emotions, he decided to meditate and cleanse his force as it was too dark for him.

Unknown sector

On the command deck of the Blue Angel, Misko'ocuowa'fight looked at the image of a system at war against madmen and traitors. Reports from his troops and pict-feeds were being processed by the battle barge's cogitators and rendered into the holo projection he was now studying. The Chiss Survivors had hoped to reach the Milky Way system and repair and refuel in its space as it has a lot of resources that can be taken and the inhabitants of this hadn't advanced to the space-traveling era … but it was not to be. Even after enduring the grueling journey through the hyperdrive that had taxed even their expert Navigators – men and woman who had survived the Great Rebellion itself – the marines were still ready to fight the traitors that destroyed their planets and killed their own people. The third planet of the system was burning in space, defying all laws of physic in a perfect display of the madness. The second one appeared to have already fallen to the hands of the traitors. The mother planet, however …

''Attention, fleet navigators bring us in the orbit of Csilla" ordered Misko. 'There are loyal people of the Chiss Empire in dire need of our help on its ground.'

'Aye, sir. Navigator set course to the first planet of the system. All hands, prepare yourself for imminent engagement … wait.'

Misko saw it only a fraction of second after the fleet navigators. The traitor ship, which registered as the True God of the thrice-cursed New Chiss Empire was retreating. Her massive form was leaving the orbit of the planet, leaving one last salvo of drop-pods towards the planet. Her commanding officer was daring the ship to approach.

'What game are you playing, Kail ?' murmured Misko under his breath.

'Admiral, we are being hailed by the enemy ship,' signaled one of his men

'Open the channel,' ordered the Admiral. 'Let see what the traitors have to say.'

The speakers of the bridge all started to transmit the words of the enemy commander. The voice made Misko's skin crawl, and he felt the fear of his crew – thought they had been trained by the Navy of the Chiss Empire, and would never allow this to impede their performance. This was the voice of a Demon, low and deep, but there was something more to it, something beyond the scorn and barely concealed raging hatred within the corrupted soul aboard the enemy ship. An edge of the force, infused into the very words the traitor was speaking.

'So you have finally arrived, Defenders … just in time.'

'I am Misko'ocuowa'fight, Admiral of the Defender fleet. In the name of our old friendship, surrender yourself, Kail !'

There was a sound that could have been a chuckle but was too distorted by force corruption to identify with certainty, then the traitor answered :

'So proud … so confident … Just as your father. Tell me, friend, do Maras live still? Or has she already met her destiny at my men's blades ?'

'Do you really believe your lies will shake our resolve, Kail ?'

'Oh, I wish there were lies, so that I may slay your girlfriend with my own hands … But my master has plans for each of the men and woman that won't follow him and he would not take kindly on me trying to steal one of his prey …'

'The so-called nobles you follow are nothing but liers, traitors, poisoning our planets just as they did your father's fleet. You will die here, in vain, and be damned for all eternity, like the rest of your treacherous scum !'

'We are all damned already,  friend. The Sith have owned the Chiss ever since its birth, and the noble attempt to deny them would only destroy the entire species. But I will waste no more time speaking with one of you how was blinded, self-righteous idiot. Come down on this planet and face my men, if you dare. But know this...

The voice of the traitor deepened, and his next words were heavy with the promise of death and ruin :

'There is no glory here for you, Misko. It is you who will die in vain, trying to save some insignificant worms who will perish anyway. Your blood will be spilled as one more of you, how to think that the Sith aren't our best chance of getting stronger, your bodies will feed the hunger of our master, and from your defeat, I shall forge a curse upon the last of your little fleet that will last for all eternity.'

As the link died, Misko tuned his communication device to the frequency of his fleet :

''Men. Begin our retreat. We won't be able to take back our planet..."

Sith Ship

How long until we reach the teleporting range ?' he asked, already knowing the answer – but it never hurt to confirm his own estimations with the arguably more precise cogitators of the ship.

'Three minutes and twenty-six seconds, sir,' answered one of the officers. Hmm. A hundred and fifty seconds sooner than he had anticipated. Good.

The deck of the sith ship had changed more than a bit since its change of allegiance, and even more so since the fight for the planets. They had been reached by force a total of three times during their run through space, and the damage the enemy had done had just be repaired. The engineers had incorporated some of the new designs thought by Chief Engineer, and the result had been a lot more of biotechnology being used, combined with some downright creepy things like space beast parts. But it worked, and that was all that mattered, whether it was powered by the blessings of their master or the wonders of the force.

'Any word from our master ?'

'None, sir.'

Perfect. That meant Lord Sidious had finished his briefings of the assault groups and was ready to see them off to battle without any delay. Darth Mol was still a bit doubtful about the new method of boarding they would use – it seemed to him that the carriers were too much like the enemy they had faced during the planets battle. But if Lord Sidious thought it was the best … Still, unlike most of his crew, the Navigators weren't quite that devout to the Sith Master. He knew the Sith was real, of course – he wasn't a fool. And he also admitted that. And yet, it was true that some of the changes the Ruinous Powers of the dark side had wrought were … unnerving. The Sith fighters(jedi) were terrifying, of course, but the warriors who had once been normal people were the ones who truly disturbed him. These men and women had become beasts that were led by the dark side and their only goal was to kill more and more. Only the Inquisitors can make them tame again.

He knew that some of their members aboard the ship were about to be sent to the Chiss ships. In spite of himself, he felt a tingle of pity for those who were about to face them.

Ah … foolishness. He had to banish such thoughts and focus on the incoming battle. Failure from his part would mean that their ship would take more damage than was absolutely unavoidable, and it could also mean the needless death of valuable Sith. He didn't know how the Darth Mol, Kail would balance the lives of sith fighters and damage to the ship, and he would rather not discover it. Darth Mol had been a comprehensive and reasonable commander so far and that earned him the respect of all of the people how decided to join the sith in the upcoming battles.

The sensation of having one's very being torn apart by the mighty force, shocked Tarnus and was a definitely new experience, and thus one that had to be savored. The sounds he was sure he had heard during the transition had been truly marvelous – the symphony of death. Nevertheless, even for a devotee of the Dark lord such as him, being teleported across thousands of kilometers by means that had not been tested still hurt.

Looking around him with eyes Tarnus saw the rest of the assault group materialize as well. Other members of the sith fighter and inquisition appeared. All of them were wielding the lightsabers and blasters they had fabricated. Two groups of Tarnus' brothers took part in the boarding – eighteen warriors of the only division who had reached perfection in the Dark Lord embrace. Of all of them, only Tarnus didn't carry one of the blasters. His own approach to battle, and passion, was different – and, he firmly believed, superior.

The other part of the assault group, three packs of former slaves, emerged as well. To Tarnus surprise and delight, one of the crude, boring fighter was unfortunate enough to appear in the middle of a wall, his body cut apart as it manifested. The blood of the fighter erupted in a geyser that covered the armor of his brothers, combining with the crimson color of their lightsabers in a way Tarnus found it marvelous. He could smell the rich, coppery scent of fighter' blood, and wanted to taste it on his tongue. He could feel the same impulse in the rest of his group, their minds feeling a pick of anticipated pleasure at the simple thought. But he held back, and they followed his example. Turning on their allies so soon in their mission would be foolish. It could lead to failure, and failure would end into death. And while Tarnus and his brothers didn't fear death – it was, after all, the ultimate experience – they would rather only meet it after enjoying the galaxy's worth of sensations all they could. So, still suppressing the wonderful impulse, Tarnus greeted his allies.

'Brothers! It seems the Inquisition succeeded in the task our master assigned it … though not without cost.'.

'Get silent, freak,' growled back one of the Inquisitors in crimson armor. 'We have a mission to complete.'

For a moment, the desire to plunge his lightsaber – a magnificent weapon crafted by their finest Smiths – into the inquisitor's head to punish him for his insult was almost impossible to suppress, but Tarnus simply nodded and turned to lead his men toward their objective. The dark lord had assigned different targets to the two groups – probably in order to avoid precisely what had almost happened. Tarnus would have admired Sidious insight if it hadn't deprived him of the chance to kill one of the inquisitors by 'accident'.

They ran through the corridors of the ship, empty of all life. The fleet they were engaging had taken heavy losses in the war, that much was obvious, and the crew that remained was doubtlessly concentrated to the areas of utmost necessity. It was the same procedure that had been applied to their ship.

This ship, however, was … different. Tarnus couldn't tell what exactly, but there was a fundamental difference between this ship – the People Keeper, if he remembered correctly – and the sith ship. Was it something as simple as the fact that this one had never turned side?

No, it was something else. Something deeper, more primal. This ship was simply … plain. It lacked the marvelous taint that had infected the sith during the conversion, the palpable sense of power and corruption that had penetrated the vessel. It was, in a word, boring. And nothing was more anathema to a devotee of the Dark Lord that boredom.

When the ship was theirs, Tarnus decided, they would have to change that. Perhaps he could ask their leader Darth Mol to give them some of the people of this system's worlds to be used as the material for the ship's redecoration?

But that would have to wait. For now, there was killing to enjoy. His group was directed toward the engineering while the inquisitors were to take control of the command deck. There were a lot more personnel working on the engines, and no doubt the dark lord would understand if some of them were to be killed in the confusion of the assault, despite their potential value if they could be turned.

The same thing happens on seven of the twelve Chiss ships that managed to survive the Sith attack.

Fifteen minutes later half of the ships were captured with all of the crew members dead. The only ones that managed to survive were the ships that decided to auto-destruct so that the Sith won't get the chance to take their ships.

As for Misko and his other five ships they barely managed to escape their doom.

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As you can see in this chapter, I will add things that aren't canon or at least not in this time period such as the sith fighters and the inquisitors.

Also the Chiss war against the Sith and the sith power of teleportation.

Hope you still like the story and continue to support me.

See you next time.