The Republic fleet was preparing their ships for the assault. X-Wings, A-Wings, cruisers, and shuttles were all docked all over the docking domes above Coruscant.

Bennar found Calista overseeing the preparations, talking with Bree and Vustine. Calista saw him and excused herself. "Ben, what are you doing? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Cal. I don't think we should go through with this."

"Well we've come this far. Are you sure you're alright? You were never one to back down."

"I had no idea what we were up against. This is something we cannot beat."

"Then we can't sit by and let it destroy all the Republic stands for."

"It's a him, Calista. Another sith. The one I encountered on Kamino, is nothing compared to him. When he destroys the Republic, he will be on the brink of galactic domination."

"You didn't have a problem before. Why now?"

"I don't know how, but I sensed a change in our future."

Calista seemed confused. "How?" She decided not to get too far off-topic. "If the future is changeable, who's to say it won't change again?"

"It won't because I saw it!" Bennar exclaimed, shaking her shoulders. "I saw you all dead!" His words fumbled.

        Calista saw glistening in his eyes, and she pulled him in and assured him, "I swear to you, nothing will happen to me." Calista thought about this conversation for a moment, then continued, "This sith is getting into your head. He's trying to break us apart. If we do nothing about this, then things will only get worse; if we stand and fight, then we'll have a chance of a better future."

Bennar returned the hug, and replied, "I want to go with you, but in this crisis, I have to keep the Senate intact. Things will, get a little crazy." He laughed a little, which comforted Calista.

---

Bree and Vustine met with Sisbar to overview the basic plan of the attack.

"Our X-Wing squadrons will surround the sector housing the Death Star to divert all the TIEs, and the rest of the fleet will aid as a defense against the star destroyers." Sisbar summed up.

"Tidy sum." Bree complemented.

"The Jedi squad will infiltrate the weapon, using their stolen ship, to disable the shields, and the main assault will commence. It's pretty straight forward." Vustine finished.

"Wait, wait, wait. What ship are they to be using?" Bree asked.

"A stolen TIE." Sisbar answered.

"Is a TIE just going to arrive at the Imperial superweapon out of the blue?" Bree asked again.

"Actually, no. According to a flight schedule, all the TIEs are expected to arrive at the weapon soon."

"Why, exactly?" Vustine asked.

Sisbar and Bree were both perplexed at the question; Bree asked, "What do you mean, specifically?"

"I know as a fact, those TIE stations -that the stolen TIE came from- are also flight training camps for new recruits. Just new recruits. For all the stationed TIEs to be scheduled to arrive at the Imperial superweapon of all places, confuses me very much."

"That's not all." Ephraim said, stepping up to the holo-table. "I have news just as suspicious."

"Do tell."

"All Imperial stations in that area have been evacuated." Ephraim replied.

'That's not good.' Sisbar thought. "They're going to use the superweapon on the nearest planet."

"What's the nearest planet?" Ephraim asked.

Sisbar waited a moment, then replied, "Trandosha."

Ephraim's heart sunk, and he went very pale.

"Trandosha has been a sympathizer of ours for years."

"I think they know." Vustine replied.

"It's right next to Kashyyyk." Ephraim exclaimed, sounding breathless. 'And as long as I'm with them, we're more vulnerable to the Master than ever.'

"There's too much at stake at the moment." Bennar said as he and Calista approached.

"More reason for us to proceed with the mission, then." Bree said.

"There's a chance we'll all wind up dead, too. We could be risking Trandosha and Kashyyyk," That Bennar knew Kashyyyk was also at risk, got Ephraim's attention. "But we could also be risking our lives before we get the chance to succeed."

"What does that mean?" Vustine asked.

"I had a vision. All of us dead. And at the throne, was a sith-like demon."

"What was the sith like?" Ephraim asked with -as Bennar saw it- unusual concern.

"I didn't get a full frontal view, but he was the most powerful being I had ever seen, and horrors like nothing we ever had nightmares about. It was like he held the dark side of the force in the palm of his hand. And all of life in the other."

"Then we'll be sure to stop this superweapon before anything happens. We have all we need on our side." Sisbar told him.

"I really don't think so. But Calista believes that this future will change, so I will try to believe so as well."

"Ma'am." A rebel officer shouted to Calista. "All -present and accounted for- are prepped for takeoff."

"Good. We'll be onboard shortly."

The soldier nodded, then signalled other workers to give the green light for takeoff.

"I have to stay." Bennar said. "To maintain all 'goings on' here."

"I have to stay to manage the welcoming committees." Sisbar said.

Calista, Bree, and Vustine headed to board their ship. "Do these people know what they're risking by taking this mission?" Bree asked.

"They know they're risking their lives every time they assist in an attack." Calista replied.

"Do they know everything that's being risked?"

"Let's hope not. If what Ben says is true, they would run in terror. Let's hope they don't come to realize everything we're up against."

"Now that's a risky move."

        Bennar watched as every ship exited the docking bay, and entered hyperspace. Knowing this could've been the last he saw of the Republic was unsettling to him; he suddenly felt a pang of guilt rile up within him as he wished he could've given Calista the proper goodbye in case he wouldn't see her again.

---

Rye explained his confrontation with Ephraim in full detail to Erickson, Nicolette, and Nikki.

"So, he just... poofed?" Erickson asked.

"I had no idea he was force-sensitive. All throughout these years, I never sensed anything or suspected anything from him. He did well, keeping it from us."

"When he returns, he'll explain." Nicolette affirmed.

"You did always have a way with interrogation." Erickson said.

"He seemed strong with the force. I think he's had a somewhat bumpy past concerning his abilities, and maybe he'd like to... do better." Nikki suggested.

"The dark side was strong with him. In more ways than one. I think there's something else going on with him, that's beyond even his understanding." Rye said.

"Like what?" Erickson asked.

"I don't know; it's... beyond my understanding."

"Well, what can we do now?" Nikki asked.

"We haven't been assigned to this mission, strangely, so I say we just enjoy each others' presence." Erickson said.

---

Sabby visited Jay in the rear of one of the ships. Jay summoned her once he had an epiphany about the current happening.

"What is it?" Sabby asked.

"Through the force, I've realized something." Jay replied. "We have two options that decide how this will end. We might all die, and evil will consume the galaxy, or we might obtain victory... but still delay that inevitable outcome."

"Inevitable outc- there are only two outcomes? To me that's very disappointing. I always thought there were millions."

"Well, there is another, but it's clouded; despite my efforts, I couldn't see anything down that path clearly."

"What can we do about it?"

"I'm afraid we can't do anything. It's not within our mortal power to alter our futures. We'll just have to hold out, and hope for the best."

Sabby managed a small smile. "All the years I've known you, you've never been stumped."

"Ha! I've been stumped, but you were never able to notice it. In all honesty, I believe we'll be fine."

"To put it simply: I think we might have a more positive outcome, but not without loss."

Jay then felt a surge of slight panic coarsing through Sabby. "Ephraim will be alright. He's the most powerful of all of us."

"Yes, yes. I know. It's his affiliation with the Empire I'm worried about. He's been a part of it for a long time, so if anything, he's in more danger than us." Sabby reasoned.

"He's going to be fine."

...

"What's on your mind?" Sabby asked.

"I want to see down that third path. I want to know if there's a future where we all emerge from this battle 'okay.' I worry for all of us. You, Ephraim, Exar, Ally, all of them. You guys are what I've had my whole life, and I'd hate to lose any of you."

"I may not be as perceptive as you, but I know we'll all be alright."

"That's what I keep telling myself."

"I bet it is. Now come on, let's move to a less dingy room, like the only other room here."

---

Calista looked over the takeoff of each ship in orbit. "All X-Wings report in." She commanded.

"Red Leader standing by." All members of Red Squad, present and accounted for, responded afterwards.

"Gold Leader standing by."

"Green Leader standing by."

Every X-Wing squad member reported in. "All Y-Wings report in."

"Blue Leader standing by." All members of Blue Squad, present and accounted for, responded afterwards.

"Orange Leader standing by."

"Gray Leader standing by."

Every Y-Wing squad member reported in. "Excellent. All cruisers are present."

"Jedi teams standing by." Viran commed.

"Rogue Team standing by."

"Who's Rogue Team?" Calista asked.

"This is Exar Sunrider of the team of Masters Rye and Erickson."

"They aren't here. Who's in your team?"

"Primarily, other force-sensitives. Friends of mine, and the rest of my team."

'Very well.' Calista thought. "All ships, you are clear to proceed. Enter hyperspace with these new coordinates, and once you arrive, you wait for my mark."

She witnessed all ships entering hyperspace, and followed them when no other ship was present above the planet.

---

The Master arrived in the control room, gaining the attention of everyone in the room. He simply approached the window and stared. "Report the sighting of Republic crafts."

"Uh, sir, we, we don't have any-"

"Look again."

The officer searched the computers for reports, and was notified of a new one at that second. He opened it and read it out loud. "Several Republic ships have been spotted, dropping out of hyperspace a parsec away."

Another officer proclaim, "I shall have all fighters pursue."

The Master stuck his hand out, silencing him. "Just wait. Let them come." His face turned only slightly, menacing the officer with that small gesture.

"Yes sir." He gulped, then returned to his position.

---

Erk meditated in his quarters. His force-astral form emitted from him, but he was able to see it.

"They're coming." The astral form said.

"They're going to lose. The Master is here, and he foresaw the fight. Did you not tell them the secret yet?" Erk asked.

"I couldn't; I never had the opportunity."

"You may have just dissevered the future, and the path we took. Our future predicting will be helpless from now on. We're on a different, unforseen path now."

"If all goes well, this mission could be a success."

"Only time will tell. On a new path, not even the Master can look into it."

---

Ephraim awoke from his communication. His friends were around him, using the force to bridge the connection to allow the astral meeting to take place.

"What happened? What did, you, say?"

"I was supposed to reveal to the Republic that I was Erk, the sith that was rumored about. As a mole in the Empire, I could've been the Republic's source of intel against the enemy. But it didn't happen." Ephraim explained.

"Okay. And?" Exar wondered.

"Exar, that was the path we took. We were setting up events to make peace happen, but we strayed from our path, and created a new one. Another alternate fate."

'The third path?!' Jay exclaimed to himself. Sabby seemed to have thought similarly; she lightly elbowed Becky with an equally surprised expression on her face.

"With a new fate being decided, I believe we have a bigger chance against the Empire now."

'If that's enough to cheer Ephraim up, I'll believe in a lighter conclusion down this path.' Jay thought.

---

Ezra called Sabine in their ship. He sensed something was off about her, and he needed to get to the bottom of it.

"You called me, Ezra?" She called.

"Yeah. Stay there; I'm suiting up." Ezra shouted from another room.

"So what do you need me for?"

"I want to know what's up." Ezra replied.

"You know what's up. We talked before we left."

"There's something more."

"Oh that." She whispered. "That Exar character seemed disturbed when he shook my hand when we were introduced."

Ezra remembered that, and thought for a second, then responded, "I sensed something wrong too."

"Is it the same thing?"

"I don't know; I'll have to talk to him about what he sensed. I, sensed you having a big future ahead of you. And because of that, I know you'll survive. And knowing you, I know I'll survive as well."

"You can never be too careful."

"Clearly you don't know me as well as I thought you did."

Sabine rolled her eyes and grinned. Ezra then stepped out. "What do you think?"

Sabine could only smile wider.

(This could've used another go. Arms are too short; hands are too small.)