"A Hero, Reborn"

"Fire From Down Below"

Corwin was already moving, deeper into the Imperial Palace. His ribs had already mended, though they were still quite sore to the touch. His arm, however was still broken, which he had painfully snapped back into place while still on the roof. He had it in an impromptu sling from some of the Luke clone's tattered blood drenched clothing...

"I can feel it, I can feel the Force disturbance. I only need to find you. Only a matter of time..." Corwin mumbled. He quickly sidestepped into a corridor as three squads of Stormtroopers charged by.

Here you are, right below me. He ignited a red saber and cut a hole in the floor falling down to a sub level. Now he was in a dimly lit area, only emergency lighting was operational here. But what he saw, while knowing the truth, was simply astonishing. Sparti Cylinders, several had been already vacated. The others housing bodies of the Emperor and Luke Clones... Pulling out his recording rod, he filmed the site. This evidence would be more than enough to validate the truth of his claims. Proof was something that politicians and military men of the New Republic so desparately needed. Sticking the rod into a jutting support column, Corwin ignited one saber and strode tward the cylinders. From one to the next he destroyed their mechanisms, destroying the clone chambers. From the occupied ones he could feel the darkness within.

"This is not chilvarous, nor is it the typical means by which I go about my code to the Jedi. However, you are all abominations, pale images of your former selves. You must be destroyed." Corwin swallowed hard and began extinguishing the lives of each twisted clone developing withing the Sparti Cylinders as well as the mechanisms themselves.

As he reached the last two, they began to stir. One stroke silenced both clone and cylinder, the second stroke only destroyed the mechanism as that clone launched itself violently from its berth. Standing now, a few meters away stood another clone of the Emperor.

"All that you do here, is for naught Amber." The Emperor spoke to him, while speaking it called a lightsaber to itself from the depths of the room igniting it immediately.

"All that I do, dark one, is for the good of all peoples and races. You of all people should know that." Corwin responded

"You are wounded, I see. Your feeble skills are no match for the power of the Darkside." The Emperor said

All the while the recording rod continued to tape the spectacle.

"Many have made that error, false Emperor. The light side of the force is no weaker, it is true and pure. Your path is more seductive, promising great power... But at what cost? Your bodies age and sag from the burden of your evil. You become twisted and feeble, as you continue to draw on your dark arts." Corwin stated

"You can join with me Amber. I have seen your power, together we can rule the entire galaxy." The clone said

"No, I think you will find that your end is already int the making. I have returned to see that your evil dies here and now." Corwin stated calmly, his arm now mending slowly from the second wave of accelerated healing

"Must you always be so resolute? We are two sides of the same coin." The clone stated

"Yes, perhaps, we are. However, you side is always cast in shadow. While mine always faces the light. There is no path of darkness or succumbing to your seductive twisted arts for me." Corwin responded

"Know this, if you stirke me down, here and now... I shall be reborn in another body and in another place, on another world." The Emperor said

"Excellent, then that gives me something to look forward to." Corwin said easily, buying time for his arm to mend

"Look forward to what?" The Clone Asked

"Hunting down all your strong holds, destroying the rest of your clone cylinders and more importantly, a lot more practice killing you, over and over again." Corwin said with a humorless smile

They engaged, locking sabers over and over again. The clone was drawing heavily on his new body's life force. The waves of hatred and sheer power was aging the clone as they fought.

"You grow weary, Amber, I can sense it. Give in to your anger, only your hatred can destroy me." The clone said as it continued to press Corwin

Corwin was laughing "Hahaha... No, your baiting does not work on me Dark one. I am too well versed with your tricks. Much have I learned from my exodus. I have a feeling, that when I do indeed strike you down. You will be feeling a bit worse for the wear." Corwin said coolly

"How do you imagine that?" The clone asked

"Because I have been saving the best for last" as corwin finished he blurred into motion ripping the arm brace free with his healed arm and igniting the second saber. He, had been measuring his opponents movements throughout the fight, now, he was ready. Corwin pummeled his adversary again and again with blinding movements, using one blade to throw his foe off balance and bringing in the other to stingingly burn through another piece of him. Again and again, over and over, until he finally surged with the light side of the Force and struck the clone with all of his power in a double strike that completely eviscerated his foe. THe body exploded into a force storm, which corwin threw himself back away from. Slamming into a wall, Corwin sat there dazed and battered and feeling sick. As if foul tendrils had attempted to enter all of his pores. He was bleeding from his eyes, ears, nose and mouth...

"That hurt me... Bad... But I KNOW it certainly sure as hell hurt you..." Corwin said as he picked himself up and took the recording rod. Looking into it, battered and bleeding he said "If that was the Emperor, the true Emperor, I would have been dead hours ago." Then he cut the feed and moved to his secondary objective.

In space above Coruscant, the battle was not going well. It was looking like the Super and its forces, having been recently re-enforced by a couple Imperial vessels that showed up bay chance, might seize the day. Rogue Squadron had indeed, taken out the tower on the super. However, even with all the fire and the vessels spraying fire into her here... She would not die.

"Prepare the fleet to retreat." Ackbar said mournfully into the comm message

"But Admiral, Corwin is still down there!" General Solo yelled over the comm

"He is but one man, he knew well the risk of coming here, back from his death... we can only hope that he does, indeed, know what he is doing and that he makes it out alive." Ackbar retorted "All ships prepare to..." He was cut off by his senior officer on the bridge

"Look Admiral!" The other Mon Calamari was pointing out the viewport as an Imperial III Star Destroyer Exploded next to the Super Star Destroyer.

"What was that?" Ackbar asked staring out the viewport in disbelief

Then more fire from Coruscant rang out, spraying into yet another Crusier and ripping it from their sky.

"Admiral, there's a Comm message from the Planet. It bears and older New Republic frequency." The bridge officer said

"How old?" Ackbar asked, as in the distance shots started hitting the Super from behind and yet another smaller, Imperial Cruiser was broken in half.

"Just over a year, Sir!" The officer stated

"What are you waiting for! Put it through" Ackbar exclaimed

A fuzzy message rang out "thought you could use some help Admiral, I'll keep firing until my position gets overrun again... for the third time. I have a couple more seconds..." Corwin's voice said as he piped the footage of the battle with the emperor through

"Belay that order, All units engage!" Ackbar cried out, holding the lightsaber aloft over his Holo Transmitter

"To all units in the fleet, General Corwin Amber has returned! He is on the ground of Coruscant and he has killed the Emperor!" Then Ackbar opened the channel and had his bridge comm officer send the footage to all the Imperial Warships

Immediate chaos ensued, Imperial ships began breaking ranks, leaving the super less and less defended until the point at which the super began its long withdrawl taking hellish fire and poundings over and over again during its exodus until it was gone.

"Get troops down there now!" Ackbar barked "Signal the New Republic Fleet that we need IMMEDIATE support to hold Coruscant and to help in taking her!"

And so the long, arduous ground battle for Coruscant began...

"Many Questions Unanswered..."

On Byss in a clone chanber

Black Hole awoke violently, agony marring the young handsome face of yet another clone of a long dead emperor. He aged rapidly in the cylinder, his 18 year old body now looking closer to 40 years of age.

He emerged weakly, struggling to even stand

"How? Amber?" he asked to no one in general

"How did you learn? How did you rise in power so quickly? How could you, of all people, have stipped away so very much of my power?" He was confused and disoriented, it took him many hours before he even managed to leave the "birthing" chamber. His attendants were there awaiting him, there was confusion everywhere. Looks of doubt and questioning on the faces of his own men...

"Emperor, you have returned. There is discord in our ranks. There is no time to waste. You must make an appearance to galvanize our forces. There are rumors of your demise, footage of a battle between you and Corwin Amber, who has risen from the grave itself!" The astonished attendant exclaimed

The emperor nearly fell, bearly catching his balance. It would be two precious days before Black Hole made his address in public. Time that sowed disbelief and doubts through many of his troops.

Warlords split from his entourage, among them Yasane Isard and her battered Super Star Destroyer, remanents of her fleet and whatever assets she could sieze quickly headed for the Tapani Sector to secure the source of Bacta.

One man, an alien with Blue skin sat back in his holo chamber on the Chimera watching the specatcle. "Yes, Black Hole, so it begins." Thrawn mused, to Palleon his capitan

"Admiral?" Palleon asked

"His fall, it is exactly the openeing we have been awaiting. Execute Order 101, we will move to immediately recover key assets. We have a mission of a personal nature to attend to." Thrawn stated

"The library at Obra Skai?" More a statement than a question

"Yes, indeed you are correct. First the library, then to the planet to find the Yasalamiri, finally onto the Storehouse to retrieve the Sparti Cylinders." Thrawn remarked coolly

"The rest of our forces will seize assets and recruit rogue officers from his command while we go hunting." THrawn said smiling

Hitting the comm on his chair "Brandl, I'll be needing your assistance very soon." Thrawn said

"Indeed, Grand Admiral, I look forward to seeing you again. I am reveling in the tradjedy that Amber has wrought in the ranks of Black Hole." Brandl said gleefully

"Yes, he has done a marvelous job. However, with his return we must be ever vigilant. He is even more resourcful that than I had given him credit. His return signals the reemergence of a very dangerous and very worthy adversary. We must move with haste." Thrawn said pondering how Amber had changed. He looked different, moved differently, and behaved somewhat differently. All Jedi, but somewhat alltoghter different as a person. His motives and motivations had changed, that meant that Thrawn had a LOT of work to do trying to figure the man out... Again. What was once a "cut and dry" knowledge of the man was now marred by ovbious changes and a rise to a power level far beyond what he could have ever anticipated...

Amber had achieved the unthinkable, by defeating a series of Skywalker clones and the "Emperor Reborn" on his OWN, alone, without support... The man had changed, he was now an adversary that Thrawn both Relished facing and pondered about on an almost daily basis. Not fear, but wariness. Amber was somoene that must either be killed or have a bargain struck with... Which one of those would play out as the best option, only time would tell.

"Never Enough Time"

Corwin was moving fast, running through corridors after liberating a light speeder that got him to the starport quickly. He headed straight for the Emperor's Hangar, which he reached through a side corridor. The chaos of the battle and the shifting of troops to the front lines of the ground battle now going on near the starport was where most of the Imperial forces were.

This all stripped, precious, key personell off of their duty stations. A series of well timed and placed cuts later, and the resistance in the hanger was forever silenced. Corwin was running up the access ramp for Luke's personal starfighter, stuffing himself into a TIE flightsuit as he hopped along. After fulling putting on the garb of an Imperial pilot, he entered the TIE Defender. Firing up its systems, he pulled out of the hangar at maximum velocity.

The triple sonic explosion shattered windows, tossed troops to and fro and reverberated throughout the starport complex. Targeting the main mass of Imperial resistance on the ground, he quickly prepped a pair of Proton Torpedoes...

At the Rebel Line

"Oh my God sir! It's a..." The officer began, then the TIE Defender punched a pair of Torpedoes into the Imperial Ranks. The resulting double explosion shattered their center line of resistance.

The TIE Defender then corkscrewed itself spaceward as blinding speed.

"Who, was that...?" That very same officer asked

General Crix Madine, leading the elite Spec Ops group simply responded "Who else, but Corwin Amber."

Breaking the line of space, the TIE Defender poured on maximum speed. A lone E-Wing made to intercept.

On the New Republic comm frequency "General Tagge, I don't have time to have my ass handed to me by your exceptional skills. However, if you let me pass now... I'll let you have this Defender, after I'm done with her, as my means of compensating your for your kindness of letting me pass unchallenged." Corwin's voice rang out

Tagge's E-Wing began to slow and broke for his squadron "Sorry, but I simply made an error in my judgement. I never saw a Tie Defender break from orbit."

Corwin Responded "She's yours, just give me a week or so... I'm late for another engagement."

General Tagge could think of only one place, Ord Torgle. "Good Luck, and Good Hunting."

"Thank You." And Corwin was gone, in a hyperspace corridor, shaving a good deal of time off his jump instinctively and with a surge in the force.

Next stop, Ord Torgle.