How did it come to this?
Tyscio Korban struck the invader with as much strength as he could splitting the creature-armour across his chest. A strange color bloody shot out of the broken carapace staining both of the warriors.
As the Yuuzhan Vong fell backwards another claimed his place swinging his amphistaff down in a chopping motion.
Ducking and barely missing the swing, Tyscio spun around catching another creature's attack as he attempted to come at him from the side. As he spun, he kicked out causing the warrior who swung the amphistaff to stumble against the momentum of his swing.
A Caprician came crashing into the invader on Tyscio's side, both of them going down and he lost no time in coming back around bringing his saber up pointing it down. In a quick motion he brought both his hands down, the lightsaber blade piercing the warrior's skin grafts severing the arteries to his heart.
The blade flashed a brilliant blue that was distorted somewhat in the dusty fog of war.
His temples began to sweat as he willed himself forward pulling the blade from the body bringing it up once more to strike at another of the oncoming horde.
Is this my lot in life?
And suddenly, he was not on a battlefield on the Capricia of now but on the plains of a Capricia of yesterday.. running with his friends across the crystal lakes of Nestri, his perfect reflection running as fast his legs could carry him.
The sky so blue, the coolness of the wind brushing against his hair.
His father's friend, General "Uncle" Bane had returned and Tyscio was not going to miss it for the galaxy.
He remembered running up to the home of Noble House Korban, nearly sliding across the shimmering tile his mother had created.
"Your Majesty, there is unrest in the Outer Lands..." Bane had said.
"Unrest?" his father stared at Bane as if the man had grown a second head. "There hasn't been unrest in the galaxy for over twelve millenia!"
Tyscio slipped into the room unnoticed and moved to hide under an old table.
He saw the General bow his head in acknowledgement. "Nevertheless, there is unrest, my Prime."
"What sort of unrest?"
"Strange manifestations. Tales of groups of unschooled suddenly challenging the Law."
"If their grievances are legitament, then they have a right to be heard before the Hall of Voices."
"If they were looking for justice, then yes. But they do not want justice, my Prime."
"What do they want?"
"My Lord, in a word. Power."
And that was when his father exploded. Tyscio had never seen his father act in such a manner. "The Union will not stand for personal gain, General! Especially at the expense of it's people!
Take the Sentinels and bring the people justice."
"And the insurgents?"
"Bring them to me..."
And life returned to normal.... at least, for a time.
Tyscio jumped over a falling Caprician shoving his lightsaber into the face of an invader intent on the other Caprician's death.
The surprised scream was silenced as the saber cut the flesh along the neck severing the creature's throat.
His eyes glanced into the haze as he tried to gauge how many enemies there were an from what quarter they would spring from...
"Come Tyscio.." he father beckoned to him as he moved closer to the plexiglass window of the Commonwealth Union of World's honorship, Celestial Wonder.
With a mixture of awe he watched as elements of the ship seemed to appear and disappear, it's curving structure a thing of pure beauty over engineering.
But as amazing as the ship was, Tyscio glanced down at his home planet in all it's splendor, the orbiting crystals shining brightly in the sunlight.
He noticed as one crystal shimmered and then slowly began to glow....the outline of a vessel beginning to appear.
His eyes began to trace the outline, his mind trying to create the image of the intact ship before it appeared...
..and within the minute, the large transport from Elroodia appeared.
"Look father.." he started when suddenly...
..quite inexplicably..
.. the transport exploded....
shattering the crystal into millions of shards..
Black, dagger-like ships suddenly appeared at other crystal points firing small blue pulse weapons which looked harmless enough until they struck something..
Another civilian ship was torn to bits like shredding with just one hit and the fighters began to train their weapons at the planet.
"Cease transport!" his father called, loudly despite the protest of his Retainer Hespante.
The Celestial Wonder remained in Capricia space and began the long task of defending the world against the maddness that seemed to have begun to claim them all...
Why did no one sense the fog? Why did no one see the haze before their futures? The darkness over the ridge?
More and more shadows jumped through the dusty fog and Tyscio turned to meet them but other Capricians were there too. A man and a woman each holding blaster rifles aimed at the shadows, their fingers pressing tightly against the triggers throwing out large pulses of light of their own.
And then light was answered in kind as objects darted out of the haze straight for the man and the woman..
Razorbugs!
The man tried to duck and the creature sliced through his eye while another hit the woman squarely in the neck.
She fell down backwards her hands dropping the blaster instantly.
Brandt!!!!
He had begun to grow up in a Union at war. The enemy was, strangely, themselves. Former citizens, former legislators, respectable men and women... it just made no sense.
The madness began to spread from the Outer Lands and into the Cornerworld Collective.
It was serious business for the Union was built upon the four cornerstone worlds.. foundation worlds that had seen peace longer than history, legend and myth even remembered.
Even the mighty colossal construct Brindheir, residence of the future Clannus Primes, did not boast such age.
And now leading the fight against the Union was their vaunted General Bane. Tyscio didn't understand the concept of betrayal but he knew it's sting.
His only sister had died on Capricia.
"Emergence complete..." the strong voice sounded throughout the ship.
Even with war, the clean technology of the Union kept the people insulated from the rumors.
Tyscio, a teenager looked out into a space with no star.... for it had been covered over centuries ago.
The construct was the diameter of an entire solar system, the outside looking like rock in some places, like steel in others, and water in still others. The imagery was unsettling but one thing was evident, it was not a natural construct.
The ship passed through a large barrier and Tyscio found himself staring at a sun shining brightly down upon the largest living area he ever seen. All existing within a sphere.
"Remarkable isn't it?" his father came up behind him.
"Brindheir.." Tyscio murmured. The seat of power for the Commonwealth Union of Worlds and where the cause of the "madness" must surely be found. The Union's prominent minds lived there.
And indeed a cause was found..
An infestation called the Nephys.
An infestation of energy that would soon become known as the "force".
Am I destined to fight this forever?
"Tyscio we must leave NOW!!" Hespante shouted as people were running everywhere, the black dagger ships of General Bane showering the brilliant Coruscantes sky will blue pulses.
"but.. but.. " Tyscio felt a certain wrongness to his situation as he was hustled into the flyer. "Father.."
"He'll meet us later.." the retainer answered quickly not giving the boy the time to think.
The Second Cornerstone World had fallen... the first, a planet known only as Brayden having been utterly destroyed.
Was there no end to the madness?
Tyscio felt the ground angling upward and he pushed himself to continue until he reached a summit point, several other people at his side as they pushed higher and higher..
Did we overreach our grasp?
"Tyscio...the Royal Family was executed." Hespante sadly said to a stone faced Tyscio as the War Captains of the Union stood nearby. His two older brothers.. his mother... and his father.. the Clannus Prime.
A name made meaningless as the peace that had held for so long had become.
"My Lord?" a Captain said, breaking the silence. "Bane may hold Capricia, but he has not made that his stronghold."
"Where is it?" Tyscio said flatly.
"Here, Sir."
"Then that is where we strike!" he said rather too forcefully.
"Is that wise?" Hespante commented. "Our resources are stretched thin. Brindheir may yet.."
"Brindheir destroyed their transport collection crystals! They feared Bane reaching it and so said, 'Damn the galaxy!'."
Tyscio's eyes were nearing tears as the injustice of his own people's actions struck against his conscious.
"Your reach is overextended..."
"Hespante.. I don't care!"
Hespante was right!
The last remaining forces of the Union clashed against General Bane and Tyscio was captured. The old General was not the same, an element of the force having driven sanity from his mind. He injected Tyscio with midichlorians in an attempt to sway the heir Prime to his cause, Tyscio's fiance looking on (having succumbed to the dark energies the force put out already).
But only for a time..
For she was the one who helped him escape as Hespante drove the remnants of the Union forces into the stronghold destroying Bane's powerbase and ultimately, Bane himself.
Tyscio's fiance died from injuries sustained during his escape and at the end ...
the galaxy was in anarchy...
So onto the sleeping planet he was put.. a world that would eventually be called Almania..
And here I am..using the very instruments of the power that drove the Union and his world to ashes.
The irony was not lost to him as he swung the saber across the skull of a Chazrach warrior sending bone, blood and brain flying.
Throughout the eons, new elements of the force became apparent. Elements not destructive and elements deserving of a chance at life.
He reached the crest of the slight incline and saw that the wind was beginning to separate the haze ....and who should Tyscio see walking through it but the largest Yuuzhan Vong he'd ever seen, one arm seeming immobile, clutching an ornate amphistaff.
The invader's eyes were two deep black pools of hate as Tyscio raised his saber, feeling his strength beginning to ebb.
He'd been fighting all night and now his adrenaline was running down.
The alien pointed his staff at Tsycio and before he could think, the warrior was upon him.
