Star Wars: Sailors of the Unknown Reaches(Continuation 3) Willicra Ershilon was furious. As he watched the whiteness of hyperspace on the veiwscreen of his Trilon Agressor-class Starfighter, the IG-2000, he had only one thing on his mind: revenge. "Fett will pay for his meddling in my affairs. The bounty on Skywalker's head was rightfully mine! But NO, Fett had to go and ruin my chances of ever catching him by capturing Solo JUST as I tracked Skywalker down to Dagobah." He scratched the patch that covered his left eye. He remembered flying his modified TIE Bomber, the launcher replaced with a hyperdrive motivator and deflector shield generator unit, after Skywalker as he flew toward Cloud City on the planet of Bespin. "Then that undignified Slave I of his blew me out of the skies above the city! I had a hell of a time trying to get to Tatooine, only to find that Fett was already gone to do a job for Darth Vader!" He smiled a bit. "I DID find the wreckage of IG-88's ship on the planet before it was completely covered with the Dune Sea's shifting sands. It will be worth it to see Fett's face when the very ship he destroyed destroys him! "I restored it, made a couple more modifiactions that IG-88 hadn't thought of, and tracked Fett to this backwater planet 3 months past the Outer Rim...good thing I installed those extra lightspeed drivers...made the trip in only 1 1/2 months..." A beeping alerted him that he was coming in on the area where Fett pulled out of hyperspace, he reached for the hyperdrive throttle, and cut it completely. His sensors blared a warning as his viewscreen filled with the silhouettes of a dozen large ships orbiting the planet, called "Earth." He immediately turned on his signal jammer, there was no way they'd spot him now, and if they did, they wouldn't be able to get a missile lock. The only way he'd lose was by a lucky shot from one of the Star Destroyers that vaporized him or knocked out his jamming frequency. That was unlikely as the maneuverability on his ship was rivaled by only Slave 1, the Millennium Falcon, and the destroyed Outrider owned by the late Dash Rendar. But the next thing he saw brought a smile to his face. His sensors detected a Firespray-class ship. It was too good a match to be true. "Boba Fett, you are mine." ------------------------------- "Admiral!" Admiral Piett turned his command chair on the bridge of the Executor toward the sensor operator. "Yes, Commander?" The man looked confused. "I'm sorry, Admiral, I had a signal from a starfighter entering orbit around the planet, but then it disappeared. Must have been a failure in the scanners." "Commander, you are an Imperial officer! Get to the sensor area and fix whatever fluke that was! And even if there was a starfighter, it has no chance against this ship!" "Yes sir!" The Lieutenant stood and exited via the turbolift. What a fool. No one could have tracked them here, to this desolate area of the universe. It was light years from any planet on the Outer Rim! Piett sighed. Nemet was young, but skilled. He would eventually learn. But for now, having this Princess aboard was going to destroy the Rebellion. Or at least that was what Vader believed. Piett was not going to argue, lest Vader do to him what he had done to his predecessor, Ozzel, that would not be at all pleasant, but the fate of the struggle between the Empire and Rebellion was not resting on one person's shoulders. Or was it? Piett had this strange feeling that the end was closer than he thought. Perhaps it would be weeks more, months, or years. But a second Death Star was being built as he was thinking! The Empire's might would soon be unrivaled! THEN the Rebellion would die, and not because of some otherworldly alliance with a faction on this primitive planet. Yet he couldn't help but feel that it would be over very soon, and he would not be there to see it. Nor would he like the outcome. ---------------------------------------- When John got back to where the group was congregated, many were leaving to go back to the crater where the Usual Restaurant had once stood. Mindreap was already there, as were Lina and Koneko. Then he heard a scream echo through the forest, and he took off towards it's direction: that very crater. When he got there, he found Akane Tendo, the resident cook, crying her brains out. Lina and Koneko were comforting her, while Mindreap had his scanner unit out, looking for anymore Imperial traces. "Is everyone all right?" John asked. Though his intuition and his sense in the Force detected only the demolished UR, it had not always predicted everything right on this planet. Lina answered. "Akane's...upset. That was her only job." John sympathized with her. "The Empire has gone way too far this time...but there's nothing you can d-" Mindreap interrupted him, beeping and squealing. John quickly turned his attention to the R2 unit. "What's up Mindreap? Find something?" The droid kept beeping and whirring. "What's he saying, John?" Koneko asked. "Apparently, the assault transport that Blizzard Force took down to the surface is still here." Lina jumped up. "I can pilot it!" She clenched a fist "We can take down those Imperial bastards!" Wataru arrived just as she said that. "What?! Take on the fleet of the Galactic Empire? ARE YOU CRAZY?!" Lina looked at him. Kept a completely straight face, and answered. "Yes." "I'm in!" Came enthusiastic replies from both Akane and Koneko. "Nuku is in! She will have revenge!" Cat-Girl answered. "What's going on?" Sludgezilla, in human form, approached, followed closely by Yusaku Godai. Apparently not even noticing the UR burnt to not even cinders. Wataru looked at them exasperated. "They plan to take down a fleet of Star Destroyers!" "WHAT?!" Sludge looked at Lina, Koneko, Cat-Girl, and Akane. "YOU CAN'T DO THAT!" "And why not?" Came Koneko's answer. "Because they did THIS to the UR!" Wataru exclaimed. "What do you think they could do to you?!" "Because you can't unless we go too!" Yusaku retorted, a hint of humor in his voice. "YOU TWO TOO?! NO, I WON'T ALLOW THIS!" And with that comment, Wataru pulled a blaster in each hand. "No one will defeat the Empire! We will rule this planet and the rest of his galaxy!" "Wataru...what the hell are you doing?!" John thought quickly, he could use the Force to pull one blaster away, but that would lave him open to attack... "I'M the one who called the Empire here in the first place!" John used the Force to quickly scan Wataru's mind. Just as he thought: something was controlling him. Vader... "Calm down Wata-" Too late. "FRIEND WATARU CALLED THEM HERE?!" Uh-oh...she was going to go off... "YES! AND I WILL SERVE THEM EVEN AFTER YOU'RE ALL DEAD!!!!!" If Vader was controlling him, he could see everything that happened! If he used the Force now, he would know another Jedi existed, but what would happen to his friends? Almost in response, Mindreap let an electrical discharge go from his energy arc. It hit Wataru's leg, and pulled his attention for a moment... Joh used the Force and pulled one blaster from his hand to the ground, Wataru turned, tried to fire, and the bolt was deflected when Nuku stepped into it's path, bouncing it off harmlessly. She grabbed the other blaster and crushed it in her hand. HE couldn't let her kill Wataru, even though she and he were longtime friends, he had killed her fiancee. He concentrated, used the Force to create a peace in her mind, calming her... And Wataru erupted toward John, trying to take him down with his bare hands. Lina blasted him with a spell, knocking him into a tree, which he slammed into full force, and passed out. Then John collapsed from the sheer number of things he had tried to do with the Force at once...it was a powerful ally as Yoda said, but it could also be his undoing...yes, he was a Jedi, but one that needed much more practice. With more physical effort than use of the Force he stood himself up. Koneko, Lina, and everyone else looked worried. "I'm fine, really..." He said. Not that it was a lie, but it wasn't quite truth either. "Are you coming with us?" Koneko asked. "No, I'm sorry. I don't want you to get hurt, but I've seen you guys fight. If you want to take on Vader and his minions up on his command ship, by all means, go ahead. I've felt something in the Force, a disturbance on this planet, and it must be stopped. I regret that I cannot go with you, but I will be there soon enough." With that, he whistled to Mindreap and the two of them walked into the forest where his landed X-wing waited. The others started for the assault transport, Yusaku dragging Wataru with them. ---------------------------------- Serena sat alone in her cell. She was bored out of her mind. And scared as anyone could be. "What's going to happen to me? Why do they want me?" She sniffled a little. In a flash, the door to her cell opened, and Darth Vader stepped through. Cape flowing around him. "Ah, Princess Serena. How have you enjoyed Imperial treatment so far?" The "treatment" he spoke of had included interrogation and manipulation of her mind. "Leave me alone!" She screamed. Vader breathed once. Twice. Three times. "Very good. Your anger is swelling. Soon you will be completely under our control. Then we will crush your friends, and build the center of the Empire on your planet Earth." Serena felt herself fear. "Why do you want me?" "I will not lie to you, what does it matter if you know? There is nothing you can do. The Negaverse would be a powerful ally. With their magic and our forces the Rebels would be crushed, as would the rest of the Sailor Scouts. Our goals are common: Power. And power welcomes strange allies." This scared Serena. The Empire and the Negaverse together? "How would you get their trust?" "We would give YOU to them." There ws no hint of emotion in his voice at all. This struck Serena like a blow to the skull. "No...NO! You CAN'T!" "Yes I can. And I will. Good-bye princess, I will fetch you when the time is right." Then he turned and walked from the cell, the door slamming shut behind him. Leaving Serena to cry herself to sleep. -------------------------------- Darth Vader stalked to a lift tube and set it's course for the bridge. It was time to check the progress of Blizzard Force. When the lift reached the bridge, Vader confronted Piett, who was obviously disturbed. "My Lord, we haven't receieved word from Blizzard Force, nor from Beta Squadron in over an hour, I set them for half-hourly reports on progress." Vader reached out through the Force, feeling for the minds that should be in the vincity of the assault trasport. He got an exact count. "Do not concern yourself, Admiral. They have completed their missio and should be returning very soon. Now is time for us to begin ours. Prepare Task Forces 1-5 for an attack on the city of Tokyo, in the country of Japan. Also, ready my personal shuttle." Piett gave him a quick nod of his head. "It will be done, m'lord." He turned and began to issue orders to his bridge crew. Vader returned to the lift tube and set it to his meditation chamber. There was a strong Force presence on that planet, a dangerous one...perhaps it was...Luke? No, his son was much more powerful than that. Whoever it was, the being was a trained Jedi...he would contemplate it later, while he rested after his message was complete. He would also reestablish the link to that pitiful human on the planet who he had been using... --------------------------------- Luna paced back and forth in front of the temple, Chris, Ami, Rei, Mina, Kat and Lita assembled. Artemis looked as worried as her. "If anyone has any ideas, I'm open for them now..." She admitted. "Why don't we just go up there and take Serena and Terra back by force?" Lita asked Artemis responded. "Simple, how do we get up there? Plus, we don't know how many troops they have or how much force we'd have to strike with." "With that many ships that size, we'd have no chance." Ami admonished. "But we can't just leave them there! Who knows what they're doign to them? Serena's a klutz, I admit, but she doesn't deserve to be kidnapped!" Rei sounded genuinely worried. "I agree with Rei, we can't sit here and do nothing. From the books I've read on Star Wars, if they're true, what Imperials do to their prisoners isn't pretty." Kat said. "I can't help but feel helpless right now...and it's all my fault! I wouldn't be able to live with myself if something happened to those girls!" Luna was on the verge of tears. "Calm down Luna, you couldn't do anything." Artemis tried to console her. "Yeah, this guy was armored, and about 6 times bigger than you! You could not stop him. I doubt many of us could have stopped him on our own." Mina said. Then, a strange feeling swept over all of them. It was...evil. In their minds, they felt a voice. ::Greetings, people of the planet Earth, I am the servant of a powerful Emperor from a galaxy far from your own. We have come here to bring you under our banner and protection. My name is Darth Vader, and I am very powerful. My master being even more so than myself. We are sending an envoy down to your city of Tokyo so that we may show you our message more fully. So until then, I bid you fond farewell.:: A shiver went down everyone's spine. Luna felt all the more helpless. "This is not good. We have to stop him!" Chris was obviously pissed off. "Again, HOW? That's the question." Artemis interrupted. And the answer would come to them. Very soon, in fact. ----------------------------------------- Mikal Frederic was in the middle of giving orders to his squadron when the rain of blaster fire came from overhead. "Damn! Fett wants to try to strafe us before he comes down on his own! Ready with those thermal detonators and concussion grenades?" Various members of the squadron nodded and gave affirmative answers. Mikal readied his own grenade. "When he comes around for another pass, let him have it!" Then, more firey rain came from above, green TIE lasers this time. "TIEs! Let them go NOW!" Several grenades and detonators flew at the TIEs as they were incoming. Out of the 12 grenades and thermal detonators that were thrown, only 3 hit their marks, and even then only 1 of the TIEs suffere damage to the starboad solar panel and flew off into space. It was a miracle that none of Mikal's squadron were dead...yet. "Everyone to their ships! Try to get past the Impstar above us, the rest of their fleet's on the far side of the planet! Good luck and..." That was strange, the TIEs had broken off and were vectoring away from them... An explosion rocked the plateau they stood on, and Mikal hit hard on his back. "My, my. What a pathetic attempt at getaway." The computerized voice came from behind Mikal. "Now, lieutenant, are you going to come peacefully? Or do I have to start using my advanced weaponry you've all heard so much about?" His tone seemed malicious in it's unfeelingness. Mikal contemplated. If all of them attacked at once, they might overwhelm Fett, but then again, maybe not. Now wasn't the time for heroics. But neither did he want to be turned over to Imperial interrogation.*What am I going to do?* Again the answer was going to come soon enough. --------------------------------