Allies and Enemies

Chapter Twelve: War Meeting

"Thank you all for coming," I said after I had taken a seat at the head of the table. Strong start. I thought sarcastically. I was so nervous because these were representatives of the worlds that I had called on. They were counting on me, me of all people. Never had I ever thought that I would be in this position. "As you all know, evil has mixed, banded together, and joined up to attack our homes. I have gathered you here so that we can fight them and retake our worlds." A murmur spread throughout the room. "Before we get into strategy, I hope that you all can introduce yourselves. The worlds have never mixed in such a way before, and I do not think any of you know each other. Please begin."

And so it began, as the worlds came together and started to know the extent of the universe, and the extent of the powers and the stakes at hand. They each learned about what powers we had, and just a few of the powers that we were up against. There were demonstrations, with Ginny stealing the spotlight with her magic and Biana promptly taking it back using her Vanishing ability. As Zoya demonstrated her Grisha ability, I smiled mentally. There was so much that was hidden from everyone, and so much that they were seeing. These were hard times, but this was truly a bright spot in the day. I enjoyed seeing the expressions of wonder and awe as the leaders realized exactly how much they didn't know. After Katooni, on the direct left-hand side of me, had finished displaying her lightsaber skills, attention was called to me again.

"Thank you," I said. "Now, the villains. We have powers on our side that work miracles for us, but the villains have powerful ones as well." I reached into one of my pouches and pulled out holograms that I had prepared a little beforehand. I spread them out before me and turned them on. They displayed the evil that we could be up against and the evil that I was certain we would have to fight. The descriptions were in Aurebesh, but I twiddled with the discs a little bit to change it to Basic, so everyone could read it without a problem, at least I hoped so. I started with the first disc and elaborated on the villain briefly. "Voldemort. The shadow and villain of the Wizarding World. He is an awfully powerful wizard and will be very difficult to defeat, especially if he's made more Horcruxes, objects that he can store parts of his soul into. They're almost impossible to break, and I don't know where we would get the materials to break one."

"There's always the Chamber of Secrets," Ginny remarked. "You could use the basilisk fangs there."

"True," I replied. "If the Chamber isn't burned to the ground already." A hush fell over the table. "Anyway, moving on, we have..." As I went through each of the villains, I could see more and more of a weight pressing down on us. It was quite a bit of pressure, as entire worlds and galaxies were on the line. I shuddered to think about what would happen should we lose. As I moved on to Palpatine, one of the latest villains that was added, I heard Saqqara whine slightly at my feet as a loth-wolf. I knew what she meant. She had first been acquainted with Palpatine when he slashed a knife down her back. I hadn't healed for a long time. No one knew it was from Palpatine. He had too much influence, and I'd had too little. A bit of murmuring broke out after I finished.

"How are we going to fight all these villains? Do we have enough people?" Reyna asked.

"I'm not sure we can match them power to power," I said, thinking. "It would be easier for all of us if we match the winning power to losing power. As I say, don't fight fire with fire, fight fire with ice." My words reverberated around the room, and I could tell they had an impact. "So, we should..." We must have debated strategy for hours. Everybody had something to say. A huge question was about who should fight the Jedi.

"We could have some wizards," Ginny suggested.

"Disarming spells could be crucial," Katooni agreed. "Especially against lightsabers. They go through nearly everything." Finally, after about an hour and a half, the talk settled down a bit.

"We know who we're fighting," I said. "At least, we have a general idea. The major priority, though, is finding their base. None of us know where it is, right?" A murmur of assent fluttered through the room. "That just means we will have to find it. If it means scouring the galaxy, we will. If and when we find it, we'll send out daily scouts, a rotating schedule, who will report back on their findings. No one is exempt. Remember, our enemy has seemingly come back from the dead. We need to figure out how that happened, and who is the cause for that." I paused to take a breath. This was so much all at once.

"We've seen our worlds destroyed, and know that there's no going back. We are up against powerful people, but we have powerful people. We'll match them and beat them at their own game. It takes two to play, after all."

"It's like a game of holochess," Katooni put in. "A bit of everything involved. Little pieces to the game, strategy the main ploy, and then whoever makes the big play wins it all."

"That's true," I responded. "We need to be the ones to make the big play in the end, because if we lose... it's not a prospect that we can think about. So we are giving ourselves a chance to take back our homeworlds, and we must and we will win our homes back, no matter what happens. Understood?" A clear assent echoed in the room. "Good. Now train, work hard, because the battle will be coming. May the Force be with you." I could tell by some expressions that the phrase was unknown to them, but I stood up, and the meeting was adjourned. I could tell someone was standing behind me.

"Yes?" I asked as I walked out.

"Excellent speech," came the voice behind me. Interesting. Legolas. I turned around, Saqqara turning into a hawk and flying up to perch on my shoulder.

"Thank you," I replied. "I suppose I gave myself motivation." I sighed. "So much has changed in the last 24 hours. I'm wondering if anything will change back."

"Have heart," Legolas said. "We have a chance, and I think that's all anyone needs."