The Rebel Faction

Before she could answer, she heard an unfimiliar voice behind her...

Celestial Gardens, Relephon Capital Moon of Celestia, Hours Later

A perfect bullseye, as usual.

Akasha lowered her smoking BlasTech DL-44 blaster and smiled. Anxiously two servants moved the destroyed targets out of their place and replaced them with two fresh targets. Alia raised a much larger E-11 Blaster Rifle and took aim.

"Too high..." Akasha warned with a grin. Alia pulled the trigger.

As the pockmark of the blaster rifle smoked, Akasha raised her more compact weapon and without effort or direction fired.

A perfect bullseye.

"You truely are gifted, your grace." Alia said with a smile as she carefully handed her weapon to one of the many servants hovering around. Akasha followed suit and two more servants appeared moments later, one carrying a small white bowl of steaming water, and the other a fresh towel.

"Please," Akasha started as she dipped her hands into the refreshingly warm water, gently caressed them and then let the servant dry them "Drop the formalities, Alia. We've been friends since we were children."

Alia nodded her head as she too washed her hands, but did not reply. She had always held Akasha in a much higher reguard than simply a 'friend.' Alia was fiercely loyal to the woman that she had come to love and respect as her own sister.

"Have you heard the gossip?" Alia grinned excitedly as the two women made there way to a small white table. The table itself was filled with lush fruits and crisp salads from almost all of the inhabited Relephon moons. Some more exotic tastes were from worlds as far away as Coruscant, and Corellia. As a centerpiece, lush Relephon Roses glimmered with dew in the serene daylight that the ancient sun provided and surrounding the table was the breathtaking beauty of the Celestial Gardens, one of the many proud works of art that the D'alaetos house had worked on over the years.

"Which gossip? I hear Aren Neros is seeing Selene Raetha these days...."

"Not that!" Alia exclaimed in a loud whisper as she leaned forward. "About the Commonwealth."

"What about it?" Akasha's words were mumbled through her full mouth.

"They've taken over the Hapes Consortium. Dakkon signed the Hapes Accord."

"Old news, Alia. You should really get out more." Akasha gestured for her servant to refill her wine glass and continued to shovel food into her mouth.

"Rumor has it that the Triumverate of Houses is supposed to meet to discuss the position of the Relephon Moons."

Akasha nodded. "Again, old news Alia. You really need to get out more..."

Alia sat back and folded her arms, squinting her eyes ever so slightly at the Relephon Princess. Playfully, she stuck out her tongue and laughed. Akasha tossed a small berry at her which bounced off of her forehead and back onto the table.

"What's Lucian going to do?" Alia regained her composure and fingered a few of the berries into her mouth.

Akasha shrugged her sholders and shoveled a fork full of salad into her mouth.

Tir's fingers ran delicately over the datapad. Lucian paused, taking a sip of his wine. He didn't seem to notice that Tir had yet to even glance at the datapad, despite the movement of his digits.

Price.

The destabilization of the Hapan Government (and by association, the Commonwealth) wasn't likely to create any new enemies for the Union- especially if Seth Vinda maintained a high profile in the newly formed government. Union sources reported that the usually steady businessman had taken the GLF strike on Aargau personally, and he had dedicated serious resources to combating the Union's most public face. He might not know that the Union was responsible for backing Brutus Nogoth's organization, at least not at the moment, but Tir had a feeling that if he ever discovered it, he would hold them equally responsible.

Weakening Seth Vinda was in the interests of the Union. Still, the action Lucian was proposing was not an easy one. The Crown Prince of the Relephon would not have brought in an outside power if he felt he could achieve his goals without help. The Union had the expertise he needed. Expertise, however, does not come cheap.

"The price is negotiable, depending upon what resources you have access to, Prince."

Tir took a few steps to his left, and turned away from Lucian, as if admiring the ornate decoration of the room. He twirled his cane leisurely, moving his head from side to side.

"Fifteen Million Credits. Half up front, the rest upon completion of the task. And..."

Tir turned.

"A Jewel of Hapes Attack Carrier, with full droid fighter compliment."

Tir could sense a sudden burst of distress from Lucian.

"You need not provide a crew, my organization will handle that."

The price was significant, but that had to have been expected. Assassinating the Crown Prince of the Hapan Consortium was not something you tried to do on the cheap. If Lucian D’alaetos was serious in his intentions, then the price would be of little concern. If he was not… then other actions would have to be taken. Tir Esias was nothing if not calculating.

The Relephon moons were known for two things: isolation and wealth. It would be interesting to see if they would be willing to give up one, to maintain the other.

Fifteen Million credits. Hardly a dent in the enormous wealth of the Triumverate of Houses, `but none-the-less, a dent. If Lucian was nervous about the next request, a Jewel of Hapes attack cruiser, he quickly composed himself and took a casual sip of his wine. The room hung in silence for a moment as Lucian considered the the request. "I'll give you thirty million credits, Mr. Esias." Lucian stood as he began to speak, quietly making his way back to the bar to refill his drink. A servant rushed over to help but was quickly excused with the dismissive wave of Lucian's bejeweled hand. Tir Esias seemed a bit caught off guard by the doubling of his own price, as if he was expecting the negotiations to be talked down rather than up. Lucian sturred his drink with a small straw and returned to his seat.

"The Triumverate of Houses has already agreed to put most of the money up front, however there is the matter of this request you have...."

Tir's expression remained blank. "The cruiser is a part of our price, Prince D'alaetos. You can either..."

"I have no doubts that you will get everything you ask for and more," Lucian interrupted downing the fresh glass of wine in one gulp. "Patience, Mr. Esias."

Reaching onto a small end table, the Crown Prince pushed a few buttons on a small holographic controller. After a bit of blue static, the three dimensional display of a Commonwealth trade freighter appeared. Lucian looked down at his watch and nodded his head. "Just a few more minutes..." he said absent mindedly. Tir's expression again remained blank and emotionless. "Where was I?"

"The ship." Tir reminded firmly.

"Aah yes," he looked down at his empty wine glass and gestured for a refill. The servant carefully refilled his glass as he spoke. "A Jewel of Hapes attack cruiser is not a ship design that we posess, so I cannot have one built for you. The Crown Prince of Hapes is very protective of his schematics and his engineers are fiercely loyal. The design cannot be stolen or purchased, but I do have a proposal." Lucian took an eager sip of his wine and dismissed the servant once more. "I will help one of your teams capture a Jewel of Hapes, on one condition..."

Tir' expression remained staunchly blank and emotionless as the Crown Prince continued.

"When the combined fleet od the cluster comes together at the Relephon Moons on our day of triumph, the Union and it's allies will support our conventional attack on Hapes. You will offer further training to our police and military forces at no additional charge, and you will outfit our ground forces with all of the necessary equipment and technology needed to bring it to the galactic stage as a force to be reconed with. Once we have seized control of the Hapes Consortium I will gladly forefeit any further designs you desire to aquire. Your continued support for the Monarchy after our triumph will be most appreciated. I assume the secure and Sovereign borders of the Hapes Cluster would serve as a wonderful sanctuary for agents' endeaveurs into the core regions?"

Lucian looked up from his ramble, twirling one of the many rings on his fingers. "Do we have a deal, Mr. Esias?"

Before he could answer, the image of a small Commonwealth trade freighter erupted into a flash of white light. When the light cleared, the static trickled for a moment before revealing that the ship was ablaze. In it's hull, a gaping hole spewed a fountain of flames into the black vaccuum of space. After a few more smaller internal explosions, the ship listed to the left and crumbled. Lucian looked down at his small Relephon watch and smiled.

"The war has begun, Mr. Esias. I guess the true question is, who's side are you on?"

Celestine Palace, Two Weeks Later

Lucian signed. The painting was nothing like he had imagined. Nothing at all. For starters, the colors were all wrong, and the offset layers made it look that much more tacky. It looked nothing like Relephon, and it lacked the space and debth to incorporate the correct number of moons. Dipping his brish into a thick black, he ungracefully scribbled black lines thick with paint over the painting. The smudges of black paint trickled down over the array of brilliant colors, turning the bright oranges and pinks into shades of deep crimson, grey and light brown. He was a very patient man, but even patience had it's limits.

"Claudia, get me another canvas!" the Crown Prince demanded as he sturred his brushes in clean water. As the brushes came clean, the water turned a stale brown.

He felt distracted, and distraction was a sign of weakness. As he closed his eyes and took a deep breath to clear his mind, Claudia, a lovely Hapan beauty with flowing blonde hair that was tied back in a neat yet loose pony tail replaced the smudged canvas with a clean white one. She didn't speak. Years of service had taught her when she could and when she could not speak. While Hapan women considered themselves to be on a higher tier than Hapan men, Lucian had reaffirmed that in his houshold, all were inferior to him. That included his sister, Akasha.

Opening his eyes, Lucian dipped the brush into a soft reddish color and gently ran it across the canvas. His thoughts still dwelled on his meeting with Tir Esias two weeks earlier, and the astounding gifts and 'signs of good faith' he had lavished upon the representative of the Union. He had, as he promised, put fifteen million credits upfront abd had ordered several shipments of arms, and warships from the corporations supported by the Union. Probably the most lavish order consisted of a massive space defense platform to be assembled amongst the moons by the Union in the next week or two. In addition to the mass shipments of weapons and equipment that were flooding the moons, Lucian had agreed to fund the war machine personally, rebuffing Union fears that a mere thirty million credits would not support the war efforts for a conventional or unconventional war between Crown Loyalists, and the growing collection of opposition leaders that had established contact with one another.

Cleaning off his brush once again, Lucian changed colors. It was only a matter of time now before the first prefabricated pieces of the Space Station were towed into the Relephon System.

He thought back to his meeting only a few days earlier...

Synthium, The Past...

(Taken from Ascendancy)

The reception was not the best but as the crowded room observed the footage of the meeting of the Mr. Vinda's followers with the Crown Prince, a murmuring began to stir.

Gallenios knew what that meant and it saddened him.

Is this what we've come too? Sneaking into meetings halfway across the world?

Old "King" Gneut, of one of the outer Consortium Provinces in the far spaces between the Royal Cluster and the Killing Fields, snorted at the holographic transmission.

"So our Crown Prince has finally made a mistake worth his life." he whispered almost amused. It was no secret that the old man hated the Darksword family with a passion. Dakkon's brother had butchered the old man's family and the lack of reprisal his Crown Prince hesitantly followed through on soured the old man's taste for the current leadership.

The entire Cluster knew of the troubles surrounding the two brothers and how one ascended the throne to the envy of the other and how the one brother nursed that envy until it bubbled over into action.

Failed action but action nonetheless.

The Royal Family and the Hapes Military stopped the usurping of power by Lupercus Darksword but the old man Gneut felt it due to the prowess of the Hapan Military and less due to whatever passed as leadership these days.

"The Helixians will bleed our coffers dry!" spat Livia, clearly having no love for the galactic beggers who seemed to spill out into the Cluster from Queen-knew-where.

And these Capricians? Do they expect to whore their woman out to Dakkon for favors?"

"Mr. Vinda is a smooth character and shrewd. He'll spin Dakkon around until the boy's flittered away our rights!"

The room at large growled out their agreement and Gallenios knew that the spark that would light the flame was coming.

A move on the homeworld while the government was preoccupied...

"I have six squadrons of Battledragons.." Gneut smiled through crooked teeth.

Livia's eyes lit up. Her family had fallen into disfavor with the Darksword family because of her support of Lupercus. When the brother fled to the Empire, he left her with the pieces of their broken rebellion.

She had scores to settle with the Darkswords.

"The government is in these diplomatic talks. The fleet will not be on alert... these are friends of the Crown. A strong, brute attack will shatter the defenses.."

"Control the Queen Mother and obtain an endorsement.." Gallenios added while Livia interrupted, "..to save her neck!."

Gallenios concluded, "The military would have no choice but to accept the endorsement and swear fealty."

"Then we kick these Helixians, these Vinda people, these Capricians.. off our world!"

"Hapes for Hapans!" some shouted and old Gneut's grin widened.

Control the Queen and you control the military. Control the military and you control Hapes. Control Hapes..

..and the Cluster falls into line.

Gallenios smiled to himself.

The outsiders would prove weak, he knew. Once the Cluster was back in the hands of Hapans.. true Hapans, then Mr. Vinda would get a visit from him.

Gallenios smile mirroed Gneut's.

It was time!

(End Taken From Ascendancy)

Synthium, A Few Days Earlier

It had been one year. One year since the first contact between the Hapan Monarchy and the Commonwealth. One year since the lavish dinners and political negotiations. One year since they had gathered to discuss the future of the Hapes Consortium; their future. Original plans to attack Hapes outright had been brought to a screaching hault by the bickering bureaucracy that the collection of Lords, Ladies, Princes and Kings had inadvertantly created. Old "King" Gneut had withdrawn the support of his six squadrons of Battledragons after a disagreement over who would become the Crown Prince of Hapes after the planet was under there control. Livia and Gallenios had also argued over whether or not it was wise to kill Dakkon and salvage the life of his wife in order to gain the support of the Royal Military. Politics.... Politics seemed to be the driving force that lead to the downfall of every major uprising throughout history. Politics had destroyed the Old Republic. Politics had destroyed the original Empire, and twice Politics had destroyed the rise of the New Republic.

Gneut sat in the came chair, at the same position he had one year prior. Livia took up a position across from him, escorted by a small entourage of honor guards. Her waivering trust in Hapan men had forced her to take extra precautions these days. After all, she thought, she had a better chance at seizing power once the Crown Prince was dead. Men were inferior, and she was the perfect figure head for a new Hapan Monarchy. Arriving late, just as he did a year earlier, Gallenios flicked on an eerily simular holographic projection of the planet Hapes in the middle of the table. While the atmosphere in the room was thick with discord, the presence of each of them had been almost identical to the secret meeting just over a year ago. The only difference, Livia noted curiously as she flicked a glance in Gneuts direction, was a new presence in the room. Gneut returned uneasy glance but didn't speak. He merely shrugged and folded his hands.

"The accord has been signed. It's official." Gallenios' words seemed to spit forth in disgust.

"Don't remind me," Gneut grimaced, exposing his crooked teeth.

Livia rolled her eyes in disgust, but said nothing.

"We should have acted when we had the chance! The Commonwealth has beefed up their military presence over the past few months, and the Royal Navy certainly isn't getting any smaller."

"Dakkon has sold our souls to the Corporate Machine. All that Vinda character wants to do is line his pockets with Hapan wealth.... wealth that should belong to Hapans!" Gneuts words seemed to almost mock his last speech as the meeting kicked off.

"My sources inside the Palace tell me that Dakkon has dispatched some sort of special envoy that is criss-crossing the Cluster, urging worlds to reapply for membership in the Consortium. He's offering to allow the worlds to independently govern themselves so-long as they remain loyal to the Crown."

Livia rolled her eyes. Her family was far from favored by the Darkswords. No special envoy or diplomacy could heal the wounds she had endured. The only satisfaction she could have would be to see Dakkon's head fascened to a pike. For a moment, her thoughts dwelled on Lupercus...

"Who is he?" she interrupted, disreguarding the ranting men. Gneut paused and raised a questioning eyebrow, as if reaffirming his support for her question.

"Lucian D'alaetos." Gallenios replied dryly.

Livia's expression shifted. She'd heard of him, vaguely. The foul taste of disgust once again filled her mouth. His wealth was renouned. Probably why he's here, she assured herself. Gneut grunted, again exposing his crooked teeth, but said nothing.

"The Relephon Moons have been building up a small military force over the past year, and Prince D'alaetos holds simular interests to our own. I've invited him as an observer." Gallenios reassured them.

"And what if he takes all of this information straight to the Crown Prince?" Gneut spat dryly.

"What if you do?" Gellenios spat back, equally as dry.

Again, the bickering that had destroyed their plans last time ensued for several minutes before Lucian interrupted.

"If you don't want my help, I'll take my fleet, my wealth, and my allies and go about my business."

The room grew silent for a moment, and Gneut snorted. "I have already dedicated six squadrons of..."

"Battledragons?" Lucian interrupted. "Six squadrons? You really think that's going to stop a triumverate of forces, Ole' King Gneut? The Commonwealth has vast intergalactic resources, and countless warships. You really think an attack on Hapes itself will reunify the Cluster?"

"Yes!" Gneut retorted. "Control Hapes, and you control the Cluster."

Lucian laughed. "You're right. But let's say you take Hapes. Hell, let's even be so bold as to say that you kill Dakkon in the process. What next?"

Gneut paused, but before he could retort, Lucian continued. "I'll tell you what will happen. Your six squadrons, and Lady Lavia's warships would be destroyed after the Commonwealth sends a force to reclaim Hapes. Gallenios' men on the ground, while well trained and highly schooled, would be annihilated and you would be hunted down like dogs and killed."

Lavia's eyes narrowed and her jaw clenched. Gallenios sat quietly for a moment, obviously having spoken to Lucian about his plans long before Gneut and Lavia had been called to the second summit.

"What do you suggest, smart ass?" Gneut's face had grown red with frusteration, and his fingers tapped impatiently on his knee.

"I suggest an alliance between the four of us. This is my plan...."