FicWad

As most stories begin with the phrase, Once upon a time, but this one does in a way, but another fits it even better...

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...

xXx

Betrayal and pain, that was all the spirit had felt since his body had been destroyed within his Death Star.

He had badly miscalculated in his beliefs on how wasily manipulated the Skywalkers seemed to be.

His backup plans were not yet ready, the bodies being grown within the Spaarti Cylinders on Byss were still years from completion.

And so the Sith Lord would be forced to wait, but he would not just sit.

His mind and force talents probed the force, its dark and probing tendrils of power brushed through the veils of dimensions and realities to look for ways to improve and to gain his revenge upon the remaining Skywalkers.

Oh how he wished to end them now, and perhaps his Hand could eliminate the brat before he returned to life.

An emination within the force, a sensitive of enough power to stand out like beacon amidst the flows of the force between realities.

If he still had mortal form, a cruel smile would have crossed Palpatines lips as he followed the sirens call of a possible apprentice.

While he could not remain in that world or he would lose his chance at his own vengance, he was still a Sith Lord. And as Lord Darth Sideous, he had an obligation to expand the power of the Sith and this was a brand new universe in which to expand the power of the Dark Side.

xXx

Emerald eyes surveyed the gloom as anger flashed through the boy once more.

He had ended up with the blame, the blame for Voldemorts attack on Privet Drive. The place was in ruins and Fudge had decided to declare him guilty in a way much like Sirius had been, a coverup of the Death Eater activities and his friends had betrayed him.

Now he waited in the gloom of Azkaban amidst the remaining Dementors, awaiting the madness that was supposed to come.

The only "companions" he had were his shattered wand and the corpse of Hedwig. The faithful owl had died during the Death Eater attack and the miniture war that had slain most of the street.

Hello boy, a twisted voice came, seeming to come from everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

Do you seek power?

Do you seek revenge?

Do you seek to be free of what binds you?

"Yes," Harry Potter stated almost without hesitation, the answer was something he had been contemplating himself, "I want to destroy them for what they have done, all of them."

Good, good, the voice laughed, Become my apprentice here, and I will give you the power to take your revenge and rule this world!

Hope flashed through the teens eyes.

Then rise my young Apprentice, Sideous stated, There is much work to be done.

xXx

Albus Dumbledore froze as he noticed Trelawney freeze up just as she had all those years ago before he hurried her out of the great hall.

The prophecy she now gave was troubling.

Betrayed by the light
The hero shall fall
Gifted with power
A darkness shall rise
The power of life
The force shall come
Both light and dark
Shall fear his return
Blood fire shall herald him
His blades shall preceed him
Tyran he shall be called
Heir of those ancients feared
Those who betrayed him
Shall know despair
A shade from beyond
The farthest of stars
His teacher shall be
The world will remember him
For eternity.

xXx

Sideous' malicious and ethereal smile widened over the next few months as he trained the boy, taught him the legacy of the Sith and managed to use his power to bring a few devices from his teasure troves to aid the new Sith Lord in his mission.

The elegant snap-hiss of the crimson blades activation and the stench of ozone made him cackle as the last test of his apprentice was complete.

Rise my young friend, he whispered to the boy, Arise Darth Dion.

xXx

Azkaban was not quite what most expected it to be.

It was an ancient fortress built during a war between Atlantis and another nation, the war was said to have caused the damage that eventually destroyed the lost city of the ancients while their foes vanished to the mists of time.

Azkaban was one of their fortresses, and most of its secrets were still sealed away deep within its dark depths.

With these secrets protected by several enchantments and the powers that made its walls a home to the dementors, it was no wonder why the town within the walls was rebuilt as a prison for wizards.

Harry's trained eyes had followed the flows of the life energy that still flowed strong and clear through the ancient stones.

His Master had taught him well, using his dreams to train him in the arts of the lightsaber while using the days to instruct him in the other arts of the Force.

Memories flashed past his eyes as he descended into the depths of the ancient fortress amidst the flickers of torchlight.

Harry had been in chains as one by one his friends spoke of the increasing temper problems he had been having. The Damning evidence was when one of them had said something about his use of an unforgivable on Lestrange.

That had been the end of it, and off he was dragged to Azkaban.

Now he would turn that into the decision that would lead to the reshaping of the world if for no other reason than for the betrayers to watch their desires turn to dust before their eyes.

It had been a psitively delightful revelation that the powers of the ancients foes was the Force. The dementors bowed to the new Sith Lord after he destroyed their leader with a burst of saphire lightning that consumed the soul eater entirely.

Now he had passed the sealed doors, the power of the force had given him entrance to the sanctum within. The old powers contained within felt like an electric buzz across his skin with delight.

For the first time in millenia, the obsidian fortress of Azkaban had a true master.

The few gifts his master had sent him combined with the power of this fortress would be the beginning of the power he would gain.

Plans for several of the devices Sideous' Galactic Empire had utilized and the knowledge of how to utilize them to their best was what took up most of the things left. The genetic samples and instructions on cloning were another and a key to building his army.

The last one was the prize of his collection, a Sith Holocron, one made by two of the most legendary masters of the force and a teacher they both shared.

The teachers within were there to allow him to grow in power while Sideous returned to his home reality to take his revenge and retake his Empire from the rebels that had assassinated him with the help of a tratorous apprentice. And Lord Sideous had learned from him as well, several of the spells Harry had learned would enable to ancient Sith Lord to have an advantage he had not enjoyed before.

And now that he had claimed Azkaban for his own dark purposes his work would begin, and the world would soon tremble at the hands of Lord Dion, Dark Lord of the Sith.

The four cloning tanks he had completed were operational and his first soldiers would soon be ready. The upgraded engrams and cloning cylinders based on those his former Master had stored within Mount Tantis would provide him with many things and he would soon also have his first force wielding servant as well.

A clone of one of his masters aprentices trainees that had been slain by a trecherous Jedi during the clone wars. The first member of the guard of loyal clones that would serve as his own knights during his conquest of Earth and beyond.

He now wore the dark clothing of those who had built the fortress in which he now stood, wearing a mask his master had presented him after his naming as a Sith Lord and the cloak of the Dementor he had slain.

The crimson blade he carried held a synthetic gem forged in a furnace of his own building, and the gem was made from the ashes of his destroyed wand and those of his deceased owl.

It had been a perfect gem for a lightsaber, better than any that his master had seen, and comparable to two that one of the teachers within the holocron had used once upon a time.

The end result was a lightsaber longer than most with two lengths, the first being the normal and the other a wider and longer greatsaber design. It also had the ability to work as a wand if he so desired it to do so.

Stepping to an overlook of the bastions of the dark citadel, he watched as the wards of the place forced the last of the wizards out of his home and smiled.

The time of retribution was nigh.

xXx

His shimmering eyes surveyed the cloning tanks hidden in the depths of the fortress, deep beneath the surface the dim light of the controls modified from their original purposes.

Identical forms in all but one, his first soldiers and a knight for his comming rule.

The shelves of the chamber were laden with the armor he had chosen and constructed, taking a design more like the Clone Troopers than the later Stormtroopers. His masters close observation had ensured that he could later upgrade them to the later armor designs.

Harry had chosen those designs not because of their advanced nature, but because their simplicity compared to the later designs and the ability to add enchantments to it in order to make it more effective against the magical foes they were sure to face.

The pale green light of the tanks made him anxious for his next actions as the two construction droids he had managed to piece togather with the aid of Lord Sideous and from Lord Revan's aid coming from the holocron.

The power of darkness was incredible to feel as he touched his servant as the force sensitive aproached full growth within the specially modified cloning cylinder. The modified design built to prevent the madness in a force sensitive clone.

The clone would be provided with armor and other needed equipment such as a lightsaber rather than constructing her own.

He turned slowly and left the room to prowl the halls as memories flashed through his eyes again.

His masters early lessons on the power of the force against the weak minded had been enough to allow him to pick his first targets for his plan.

The mind of Lucius Malfoy was amazingly open, every piece of information was found within moments of entry into his head. The presence of Dementors was helpful in that their influence on the subjects without a defence through the Force.

It had been interesting to uncover that portion of the powers he now wielded.

The dark ones of the past had forged the Dementors from the strongest dead of their kind, sustaining their existance for the battlefield by feeding them the souls of their captured enemies and criminals. They were similar to the dark side spirits modified by Sith Alchemy, though in a way that the ancient lords of Korriban would never have thought of.

Magic and the force could be combined in dangerous ways that could not easily work, but potions and alchemy mixed easily and powerfully without the backlash of the differing powers. Infact the power of the force could easily amplify the power of potions and magical alchemy.

Eventually he could attempt to make more of them, and he had already found a way to empower a few of the existing ones to make them immune to the power of the soul eaters.

Now he was in those final steps of preperation for his own crusade that would begin in mere days.

xXx

The light rain and darkened sky was a disturbing thing for the insertion.

A single LAAT/i built at Azkaban moved through the darkness like a wraith towards its target. Only a few of them were already constructed for the time being, and they were readied for missions such as these.

The first team of troopers grown for use, a six man team based on the Arc Trooper programming combined with a pilot and gunners for the craft.

The LAAT was also modified for prisoner transport on its way out.

Their target was one of the big name deatheaters homes that had not yet been imprisoned since Voldemort's rebirth.

Rosier Castle lay up ahead as the craft circled high, the ball turrets moving slowly to look for any possible exterior threats before it settled down the courtyard.

It was only then that a message was sent through a coopted satelite, "Blue Squad is go."

xXx

Evan Rosier jerked awake in alarm as an explosion rocked the castle.

Moving quickly he dashed through the cold structure after quickly dressing and snatching his wand. An energy blast shredded his window as a strange metal object rose and circled, pouring bursts of emerald light that smelled of death and destruction upon his home.

He screamed in alarm after skidding to a halt in the entrance, noticing a half dozen white armored soldiers with blue markings on most, red markings on the last.

He fell an instant later as a blue spiral of energy sent him off to unconsciousness, but the alarm had been sounded and more of the enemies of the ARC Troopers came into view through the various hallways.

"Lethal force is a go," the leader stated calmly as he took cover behind an upturned table, the light repeating blaster that he carried was larger than the simple blaster rifles of his compatriots, but required a good deal of bracing that the weaker weapons didn't.

xXx

"Are you sure?" he asked the ARC team leader.

"Yes, the location was hidden well," came the response from the red clad figure now known as Crimson, "It took the strongest setting on the portables, even then it was only suspected until Spark blew a hole in the wall."

Harry nodded slowly from his seat upon the obsidian throne, "How could they have managed this?"

"Apparently in a way similar to how Pettigrew survived," came the response, "There were signs of a stasis enchantment on the chambers, unfortunately we couldn't get a proper reading on the runes due to the damage involved in the recovery."

Harry leaned back, "Riddle doesn't seem to want to kill his traitors."

"It seems so sir," the clone answered honestly, "Either that or there is something else going on that we have yet to uncover."

"We will need more information," Dion responded, "We still have a month before my first knight is ready so interrigations will go slowly, and it will take a while before my Dementors break the new prisoners minds enough to break their occlumancy skills."

"Understood," Crimson answered, "There is one more thing, have you decided what to do about the intel gathered?"

"Take your team and stop them," the sith lord answered calmly, "Stun is for targets of opportunity only, I do not have the resources to replace you."

"Yes sire," the ARC Captain responded with a bow.

"Dismissed."

As the armor clad figure of his servant left the throne room, Harry rose to his feet with the ancient robe swirling about his own armor.

Striding slowly through his fortress towards the medical chamber he had ordered made after he gained control of the fortress using the sparse facilities of the prison hospital.

Raising his mask and placing it back upon his head, Dion stepped into the chamber to stare at the bastardized tanks utilizing a mixture of bacta and kolto technology to handle a more terrestrial potion to a similar effect, though far stronger and quicker in its base goals.

The mix was not quite as potent as the healing potions that Madam Pomphrey would use on him, but for their purposes, these were far better at their job. This was for more serious and long term damage for the most part, and the two heavily injured, starved, and generally mistreated wizards his men had uncovered were in bad shape.

The two were presumed dead, and infact it had seemed like their bodies had been discovered. In the end it had simply been the effects of regrowth potions upon portions of the body that were removed. The first he personaly recognized from just over a year prior at that damned tournament that had cost Cedric his life, and the other looked familiar, but he knew of him only by a name mentioned by his godfather once upon a time.

Harry wondered just what secrets these two held that they were not simply terminated, and when they had healed enough for questioning, Dion would know...

xXx

"The LZ is hot," came the response from the pilot as Dion stood firm within the LAAT in the center of the formation.

He used the force to anchor himself as he glanced toawards the horizon, wondering just how long he had before the first rays of dawn pierced the sky.

Almost all of his soldiers were present save for the dementors and a single squad that remained to defend Azkaban. Six LAAT's loaded up for battle, two of them were the LAAT/c variant that were laden with a single AT-PT each and the one he stood in was loaded up for command operations. Two of the others were standard LAAT/i's and the last, which trailed in the rear, was the one converted for prisoner trasport.

Harry was nervous, he could admit that to himself and possibly to Crimson if the Arc Captain would have considered asking. It would be his first chance at real combat as a Sith Lord and the first real test of his lightsaber.

The damp air of the pre-dawn made him glad for his armor and cloak, the slow breathing within his mask was also calming, the voice changer that would ensure that there would be no chance of his true identity coming to light.

Leaning forwards to see through the cockpit, he saw the brilliant flashes of spells rocketing through the air with the Death Eater raid already in progress.

Apparently the fools had deigned to start their attack on the muggle neighborhood earlier than he had expected, an hour earlier was something that was unusual but could be a sign of the heir of Salazar's lack of trust in his servants.

An emerald burst made him almost desire to just burn the area to the ground with the heavy canons of his gunships.

The five laden ships came in hot, prompting an eerie pause in the combat where everything froze to see what had happened.

Then almost the instant it began, the moment ended when his troopers opened fire on the Death Eaters, taking care to avoid the civilians involved.

Dion quickly joined his troops by stepping from the gunship as they joined the last in the sky to circle and have their gunners pick off targets of opportunity.

The force flowed through him like a hurricane as he lashed out like a viper, the force snatching up a pair of wizards and the car they had ducked behind. They were thrown like ragdolls down the street with a high pitched shriek of terror before they slammed into a wall that the car crashed through an instant later.

The eyes muggles and wizards alike widened as the crimson blade of his lightsaber sprang to life to deflect a killing curse into yet another of the terrorists.

A calm flourish of the energy sword as he advanced through the battlefield like a hot knife through butter, force as lightsaber in perfect harmony amidst the chaos of the battle.

The blade carved through the resisting foes as his men worked on those within the buildings.

He was angry...

Angry at being late...

Angry at the deaths caused by these bigoted bastards...

Angry at the other wizards for not being there...

Angry at himself for not being able to save them...

Anger that then fueled his rampage through the remainder of them as even his own troopers stepped back in awe to watch.

His mind was clouded as his thoughts ended up on the reason he had uncovered from Evan Rosier only a handfull of hours earlier.

Voldemort had wanted to target several of the families loyal to Dumbledore and the most prominant in the eyes of many were the Weasleys. In order to make an attack on their home, he would need blood from a Weasley or someone closely related to them that wasn't already on his side.

The blood needed to be from a living source as well with the new wards their eldest son had aided in placing. That limited him as well, since the time required to get through everything needed would be the time required for them to ensure the wards wouldn't let him through.

So he looked for a close relative, and there was a simple target.

Molly Weasley had a cousin that was a squib that had a young daughter that was now on the rolls of Hogwarts for two years later, his spy had passed that information on without a thought.

The attack was a mix of a snatch and grab as well as a Raid designed to cover it up, his own assault now shattered his foes plan by removing their ability to escape and the clones making their attacks would give him an easy job at making a point.

He refused to involve the innocent in his battles unless it was absolutely necessary.

His thoughts returned to the present as one of the two walkers passed nearby to join the other taking down one of the houses that the wizards had holed up in with their grenade launchers.

"Lord Dion," he heard over the comms, his mind identified it as from Crimson due to the specifics of the connection, "We found the targets of the raid, only the girl is still intact, the parents are currently comatose with the believed cause being the cruciatus."

"And the location?"

"We are unable to secure the girl, five hostiles are fortified in positions and we cannot attack without endangering the primary goal," came the response.

"I'm on my way," Harry responded as he changed directions.

xXx

Augustus Rookwood was panicked as he caught a glimpse of one of the blue clad soldiers in white armor that had his group pinned down. They had managed to kill off one of them, but this was insane.

He was a Death Eater, someone who brought death down upon the enemies of his lord, and these beings were far more dangerous. The metalic voices and seeming complete lack of fear in their actions coupled with whatever the hell those spells were that they were using.

At first Jugson had thought they were muggles for some reason, but the man was rather odd to begin with.

Jugson was not the normal member of their group, he had never taken the mark and none of the rest viewed him as more than mercenary working for whatever side would let him loose with the fewest consequences. He had admired some of the muggles exploits in the way of war, especially after a few years of his youth were spent in Japan after his graduation.

However, Jugson was also loyal to Voldemort and was a skilled warrior.

That was why he was glad to have the lunatic on his side with things having gone straight to hell.

Other than the two rookie Death Eaters, the only other member of the snatch group that remained alive was Rodolphus and he was nursing a nasty burn to the shoulder from a hit by one of those spells.

At least the idiot of a muggle wasn't struggling anymore, now whimpering in the corner after the injured brute of a man backhanded her across the room.

A scream alerted him to the new threat as a seeming beam of fire and light seemed to grow from the throat of the Lestrange before vanishing, letting the corpse of the feared Death Eater fall like a puppet with its strings cut, then one of the rookies seemed to crumple bones visibly twisting before an unearthly scream before blessed silence.

"Merlin," the other stammered, "What the fuck was that?"

"I don't know," Augustus stammered as he backed away from his fallen allies to stand back to back with Jugson.

The wall creaked and groaned as it distorted slowly as it slowly deformed with an almost collapse inwards.

Then it gave and the seeming wave of brick and plaster crossed the room like a tidal wave to bury their remaining ally while four of the blue armored beings and a red one seemed to move to surround them in an instant.

Then came the footsteps and their eyes locked on a figure that first made them freeze in terror at what they believed to be a dementor, but then they saw the dark armor and the face concealing mask with the blade of flame and they surrendered in an instant.

xXx

"What the hell happened here?" one of the aurors asked his boss as they surveyed the wreckage of a muggle neighborhood that had several fires that were still burning brightly amidst the gloom of the smoke.

The bodies of the Death Eaters littered the area, left to rot where they fell while the muggles were precisely lined up with care. There were also strange marks, almost like a large creatures footprints, but nothing in the records matched what the ministry had.

Alastor Moody wondered about the situation himself as his subordinants continued the search through the warzone. It reminded him more of the last actual warzone he'd been to in his past, namely the time he'd been involved in evacuating wizards from Vietnam before that war ended.

This place reminded him of the wartorn streets he'd gotten turned around in while tracking down muggle-borns for the friend who'd gotten him involved to settle a debt between them.

The only good that could come of this was that it was the Death Eaters that were slaughtered in the end.

One thing his trained eye knew was that the unknown force attacked with precision, something highly unusual for any wizarding combat group. Not even the American strike teams that he knew of would operate in such a way as wizarding combat just didn't operate that way, and something breaking that rule was a truely terrifying thing.

xXx

Harry wondered about the reactions his next actions would cause as he reclined upon his throne.

The girl and her parents were now in the fortress, though the prospects for her parents were grim due to the mental damage from torture. The girl had suprisingly bonded with Crimson in the last few days.

She was a sensitive though, and could in time be a worthy apprentice if he believed she was mentally prepared for it.

He had seen the degredation that Palpatines lack of control had caused to his body and refused to allow that same lack of control to infect him or those he trained. Dion would follow the instructors from the holocron first rather than the more recent ones that relied upon their emotions far to much while in the past they controlled their emotions without letting their fueling emotions control them.

The guilt that lay within him confirmed his course for him.

Harry did not feel guilty about the extermination of the Death Eaters any more than one would a slapped fly or trapped rat. He did, however, feel guilty for being to late to save most of the muggles in the area.

The fight was one that Riddle had no business involving civilians in, but it seemed that the wizards on both sides saw no reason to work to protect them during their battles unless it was for another reason.

Very few wizards would follow his ideals in combat, but he would need allies to complete his plan without having to deal with the ire of several individuals capable of being a nuisance to his plans though they would, in the end, be incapable of stopping him it would be an aggravation he could do without.

A piece of good news was that the medical droid had reported that the two rescued from the Death Eaters were in fact who he had believed them to be.

Igor Karkaroff, the former headmaster of Durmstrang, was the first, and his injuries had been the worst as they hadn't had the time to heal that the other had.

Yes, the other was the interesting one, Regulas Black was still amidst the living...

His dementors were working overtime to crack the minds of the captives from both of his own attacks while considering an offer from one of the two.

Alexander Jugson was an interesting being to contemplate.

The man was a violent fool who desired little more than to be set loose to kill anything he could be pointed at. In the end the offer had been rejected because the man had no real loyalty other than to the strongest he could find.

Eventually Dion paused in his meditiations when he realized that his next plan would need his presnece and would begin soon.

xXx

Cornelius Oswald Fudge froze as he entered his office.

The candles and the fireplace had died out as soon as he had entered and the door slammed shut behind him, sounding almost as a prison door would.

"Hello minister," came a rough and deep voice ahead of him as the cold touched his soul.

A mote of light seemed to appear, barely enough to illuminate the masked figure before him. The sphere of blood red light hovered above a gauntleted hand. The mask was not the skull like mask of a death eater, but something far more dangerous and terrifying in the light.

A brief motion brought his attention to the flanking figures that had passed his intial sight. Two were dementors, and the other wore armor that seemed to be metallic white.

The politician couldn't help it and squeaked in fear as a chair was conjured right behind him and an invisible hand forced him to sit.

"I believe that it is about time that we spoke."

xXx

The lightsaber spun in a flourish, crimson blade a mere blur as he leaped clear of the attack.

A wash of flame blackened the stone on which he had been standing.

He felt the force flowing through him clearly, the raw power that made him feel so alive.

This plan was his alone, something to do while waiting for the next part of his overall plan.

Harry dodged yet another blast of dragon fire as the blade left a glowing trail where the tip had brushed the stones of the beasts lair.

It had taken him a week to use the satelites to locate the nest of a dragon, and in the end he had settled, for the time being, on a Welsh Green.

His grin widened as he lashed out throught he force, retaliating with the saphire sparks of force lightning that made the winged leviathan rear up and roar in pain within the burnt out grotto that lay before the entrance to the creatures actual nesting place.

Crimson was waiting in the gunship circling, but he would face alone if he could as a test of his powers.

One example he had now seen was that while the dragons were nigh impervius to magic and steel, the iron content of those defenses left a wide open choice, namely electical attacks such as his force lightning or even a higher powered tazer would do be highly effective at stopping them and driving them back.

Another blast of the cackling energy sent it back into a wall, leaving the massive reptilian beast almost whimpering in pain as Harry gave the signal to his servant and the LAAT/c rose into the air to release a charged net over the injured and twitching monster as he leaned back to catch his breath while a team of Clone Commando's exited a second gunship to secure the dragon for transport before he would proceed to recover any eggs within the nest.

He raised his mask to allow himself to breathe easier and relaxed into the force to ward off fatigue as Crimson joined him with a satchel including water to help.

The clone was loyal, even beyond the standard clones of his type and proved it. Unlike most of the Sith Lords, he would reward that loyalty by granting more power along with the responsibility for it as well.

Crimson would soon become the first of his guards, changing into the red of the royal guard his master had used, especially since the clone had all but adopted the Prewett girl since her rescue. She had yet to actually talk to anyone, and he would prefer not to use his abilities on her mind unless it was necesary although, in the end, that meant that he still didn't know her actual name.

He nodded to his bodyguard and rose, motioning towards the actual nest and replaced his mask with a calm motion.

In the end the eggs would be the beginning of a plan to create some monsterous beasts in the way that his mentor had. While he could not compete with a Crystalide Rancor, he could make his own version of the H'ssiss' on this world.

The depths were a strange place, especially in a dragons nest.

The damp and dark surroundings coupled with an almost swamplike atmosphere that the bloody light of the saber did little to push back as the armored duo maneuvered slowly through the cavern.

The roughly hewn stone occasionally blasted smooth by dragonfire was impressive due to its size, even for a dragon of the size that had made it.

Harry was on edge as he probed the shadows with the force while Crimson's helmet included the nightvision gear that his own ancient mask would not be able to use.

However nerve wracking, this adventure was an almost relaxing change of pace from convincing Fudge to go along with his plans. He had been forced to use the powers of persuasion given by the force in the end, but the mans desire to discredit Dumbledore was the main key and the weak minded fool's description had reminded him of how one of his teachers had described Toydarians.

The fool was easily convinced that Dumbledores little bird club was a threat, enough so that he had written an order that allowed Dion to round them up as enemies of the state while letting him bypass standard laws in such a pursuit.

That permission was enough to allow him to start his other plans without any fear of having to deal with the Aurors unless he had to, at least until he could purge their ranks as well.

His eyes caugh a glimpse of the prize and he signaled to Crimson to call in the collection team to retrieve them.

xXx

The plan for his next attack had been suggested by the teacher of Revan on the holocron and had been worked out with the plans for devices that Palpatine had not seen in his lifetime.

Revan and several of the Sith Lords of his era had seen them, and they knew the power of their type of attack.

Sideous was an effective politcal force, but not as much of a military one. He had used several others to plan the military side of things such as his Grand Admirals.

Crimson had been given the guardsman armor rather than the usual armor he was used to, his position as field commander for the clones was taken up by one of the other ARCs that left two rookie ARCs and another new clone to fill up the roster of his active soldiers.

He only had a few more days until his knight was ready, the slower cloning process required for a force sensitive was frustrating, but prevented the malady known as clone madness.

His plans for dealing with the Order were on hold until Dumbledore arrived at Hogwarts, the man was apparently spending most of histime elsewhere and he wanted that strike to be very public.

The construction of a single thing specifically for the next attack he had planned, something that could safely be unleashed with the target area having been abandoned as "unsafe" by the muggles.

Little Hangleton was one of the major centers of Voldemorts power, and he planned to shatter that powerbase in one fell stroke.

His plan was a two pronged assault, starting with a small group utilizing a rapid blitz at the Riddle House itself. The second part would happen after the fight began, the LAAT's would deploy the rest of his forces into the surrounding area before providing air support.

His ARC's, however, would have a seperate mission in the area and would be equipped with the first few versions of the combat speederbikes for their own skirmish as a preperation against any of the Death Eaters who decided to use brooms in the conflict.

He would burn Little Hangleton to the ground and would make the snake lord know that he was the hunted now...

xXx

The evening calm of Little Hangleton had recently become even quieter as the disappearances and "accidents" slowly drove the inhabitants from their homes and to other portions of the country.

However that peace was shattered by what, at first glance, appeared to be a fireball descending from the sky like a meteor.

Avery's eyes turned skywards in shock, just in time to take the full blast of the upgraded Basilisk War Droids thrusters that slowed the craft down enough to land without harming its crew.

The mechanical behemoth landed with a roar as the ground compacted beneath the veranda, absolute silence filled the town as the Death Eaters moved to see what had happened.

Then the hiss of releasing steam filled the air along with the mist that concealed the sight but not sound of the hatch opening to the sky.

A sudden flash of scarlet in motion drew their attention upwards as the armored form of Crimson leaped while firing his customized light repeating blaster at full auto into the gathered Death Eaters before landing in a crouch.

"Sir," he stated calmly as he finished a clean sweep of the gathered dark wizards, "Dropzone cleared, ready to proceed."

Dion used the force to leviate free of the tight confines of the craft and joined his bodyguard atop the droind before both leaped to the ground and headed into the Riddle Manor they had targeted.

Harry activated his lightsaber, the blood red energy cascade hissing in the growing mist of the evening fog mixed with the steam of their landing.

A wave of force energy ripped the ancient, oaken, double doors off their hinges and into the building a moment before spells started flying at the pair of warriors.

Reaching deep within the force and grasping his enemies presence firmly, Harry utilized a slight modifiaction of one Exar Kun's stunts.

The screams began inside as the spells stopped coming through the ruined entranceway, the force ripping power from the targets to fuel a few wards he was putting up to prevent the rats from escaping his grasp.

A moment later the agonizing screams ended with the lives of his enemies.

"All units," he stated into the comlink in a wrist mounted computer, "Containment wards are up, commence assault."

"Roger," came the answer as Crimson and Dion entered the manor to see the dessicated enemies, the remnants of lives drained of their very essences by the power of the dark side.

Harry's cloak swirled around him as his heavily armored companion walked just behind and to the left.

Crimson laid a hand on his Lord's shoulder and pointed to the ceiling, the smirk plainly visible to Harry even through their masks and nodded in response.

xXx

Severus Snape was in hell.

He finally admitted that, and hoped he could get out of this one with his skin intact.

Over the past several weeks, the Dark Lord had been troubled by massive and unexplainable losses that started with the loss of the Rosiers and two prisoners that Voldemort had refused to divulge the names of.

He was involved in this madness entirely because he wanted to be on the winning side, and at first playing both sides off of each other was working but that had ended.

A distant explosion rocked the old manor house and a glance out the window showed what looked like gigantic metal birds walking towards them firing off some sort of spell that he couldn't identify but had to be some variant of the blasting hex.

And then he froze as the stench of burning wood touched his nostrils a moment before a burning tube of red flame shot up through the floor and looped around him in a complete circle before he realized what had happened.

"Shit," he managed to stammer before the floor collapsed under him to send him plummeting to the floor below and slam to the ground with a bone jarring impact.

His black eyes adjusted to the limited light of the entryway and saw a helmeted form staring at him right before a blue beam hit him dead on and sent him to unconsciousness.

xXx

A feral growl brought both the siths and clones attention to a figure that slowly began to change.

"Am I missing something here?" Crimson asked as he stepped back.

With a glance down at the computer, Harry gulped before answering, "Damn, it's a full moon and that's a werewolf!"

The clone nodded slowly while bringing his blaster to firing position, "Go, I'll handle the furball."

Without hesitation, Dion used the force to leap through the hole he had carved in the ceiling while the guardsman readied himself for the next battle.

The armored boots impact on the wooden flooring echoing as he landed in a crouch.

Dion moved forwards, bisecting the nearest foe and continuing, becoming a whirling engine of death and dismemberment amidst the screams of the dead and dying.

He did not even pause when shattering another door with a blow backed by the force and a flying death eater.

Harry did, however, stop when he heard the last remaining deatheater draw a sword.

A small smirk graced his lips for a moment as he turned to see who would dare challenge a master of the sith arts to a duel of the blades.

"Rastaban Lestrange," he commented slowly, the mask distorting his voice as he spun his ruby blade, "What a pleasant suprise, I've been wanting to wipe out that stain of a family you are part of."

The energy blade and the rapier clashed, but the blade held against the strike, both combatants pressing the other.

"I must say that you blade is impressive," Dion remarked offhandedly, "Usually mine slices through just about anything with little to no effort."

The dark wizard grunted in effort before a blast of force energy sent him back several steps.

"Now what is your secret?" the sith lord asked as a leap carried him over his foe like a blur.

His gentle touch with a mind probe gave him the answer, "Ah, such a naughty one you are, unbreakable AND sharpening charms, I must say that it is quite devious of you."

Spinning and bringing his blade up, "But you must know..."

He met the next charge, using the saber to run his foe through.

Harry stared into the fading eyes as the dying man let out a gasp for air, "...you cannot win."

Steping to the side while deactivating his saber, Dion let the man fall to the ground while snatching up the rapier.

"I believe that this could do better in my hands," he stated to the fallen Lestrange before feeling the place was all but empty, the rest of the Death Eaters escaping through the air on the roof.

A glance out the window saw the ARC squad swoop down on BARC's to deal with the escapees.

Harry's attention turned back to the gasping man on the floor, "It looks like your 'all so noble' sacrifice was in vain, but I believe that I will let you live for now and let you take a message for me to your pathetic master, tell him that the Sith is comming and nothing can stand in the way."

xXx

Crimson dodged the beastial assault by the greying wolfman that was attacking him, the burns of a half-dozen blaster shots still smouldering on its flesh.

The creature moved fast and a suprise strike sent sparks into the air where the claws met armor before the beast sent his blaster flying.

That annoyed the soldier as he lashed out, driving his knee into the werewolf's stomach with enough force to send the creature tumbling end over end as he drew his vibrodagger.

"Look's like I've been forced to skin a wolf," he muttered to himself as he dodged another attack, "The old fashioned way."

Another kick, this one taking a full rotation from the guardsman before the attack connected, sending the silver furred monster across the room before throwing the weapon.

A high pitched yelp burst from the were as the blade pierced its arm at the elbow, severing the lower left arm.

Crimson charged his foe, driving his fist into the right shoulder with a bone crunching punch.

The wolf tried to run, but the armored warrior was quicker and snatched its tail to swing it around and smash it to the ground with another yelp.

A savage kick flipped it to its back as he pulled a silver and sperical device from a belt pouch and jammed it between the creatures jaws.

"How's that for a chew toy," Crimson commented as he used his booted foot to force the now flashing device farther down the beasts throat and walking away to grab their single prisoner while Dion dropped back down the hole and joined him on their way out.

The heavily injured Rastaban was left in the ruined garden as they met up with the other soldiers that had burned the village to the ground and were boarding the LAAT's.

"Mission complete," Harry stated calmly as the house detonated behind them, "Return to base."

xXx

Harry was watching as the tank drained slowly before him, revealing the slowly breathing form of the one he had selected from the genetic samples to be the first of his Imperial Knights.

The tank opened slowly as the pressure valves released a puff of gas while the clasps holding the pale blue skin of the cloned dark jedi visible easily against the white of the back of the tank.

She collapsed to the ground, coughing as the force inhibiters within the tank deactivated last within the cloning cylinder.

Dark, damp hair draped down around her shoulders as glistening eyes the color of blood opened to the world for the first time. A look of confusion first flashed across her face before realization dawned on her.

Lord Dion motioned to Crimson who stepped forwards with a large case and placed it on the ground efore the newly reborn wielder of the force and opened it while stepping back to reveal a lightsaber and light armor fitted to a similar underdesign based off of the dark jedi robes.

She quickly dressed herself while remaining bowed before her master.

"Lady Tann," Harry stated calmly.

"Yes, my lord?"

"Rise for I have need of you," Dion stated coldly.

"I live but to serve," she responded, "What is thy bidding my master?"

xXx

The morning fog was deep and those who ere out and about would be incapable of understanding just what they were seeing, but they would fear the glimpses they did get of what came through Hogsmeade that morning.

The dense fog combined with the wards that prevented the Hogwarts Express to actually enter the grounds of the wizarding school made them land just outside of the village and treck to the castle.

Two LAAT's had been used for the mission, the first a standard transport and the other the one modified to carry prisoners.

Sev'rance Tann led both squads of Clone Commandos with her on this mission for Lord Dion, one which she would use to prove her worth to her master.

The silver hilt of her lightsaber dangled at her hip while the red armor breastplate and shoulder guards along with the boots and bracers stood out against the black cloth of the robe as well as the cape that dangled to her heels.

The arrest of the leadership of the Order of the Phoenix was an essential step in the advancement of Lord Dions goals.

xXx

The impact of rolling off the bunk was what started it.

Severus Snape felt the cold beneath him first as awareness slowly returned to him. All of his muscles throbbed almost as if they were asleep but not quite. His eyes fluttered open while he forced in a deep breath of cold air.

The place was unusual, he was on the floor in a room that seemed to be made entirely out of a dark metal of some sort that he guessed was steel, but couldn't really tell.

The only things he could make out was the few amenities including a bed, toilet, and sink. The dull light was enough to irritate him, but it was enough to clearly illuminate the room, and the position of the mirror would make the entire room visible from the grill on the door.

He could not see any marks where metal had been attached to metal making the entire room seem to be a single piece of formed metal with only the door being a seperate piece beyond things like the knob for the sink and the toilet.

Crawling slowly to his feet and sitting on the edge of the padded bed, the spy wondered just who the hell had attacked Voldemort.

A rapid attack and explosions everywhere, it was insane and it appeared a direct attack on Voldemort in a way that not even the ministry or the order had done during the first war.

The lights grew brighter and Snape reached for his wand on instinct only to find it gone.

The door seemed to vanish into a slot in the wall as a pair of white armored figures with blue kama and pauldrons as well as markings on the armor itself.

"Come with us," the one on the right stated calmly, the odd weapon carried by both pointing at the man.

The second grabbed him a moment later when he refused to move and dragged him to his feet to lead him down the darkened cooridors, the occasional glance into the other cells had him almost naming several of the inhabitants.

A third of the white armored soldiers joined the group, this ones markings in red as they left the cellblock, this one carrying two smaller but similar weapons.

His "escort" led him into a throne room lit by skylights above and a bank of windows that gave him the knoweldge of just where he was.

He was in Azkaban, how the hell did he get to Azkaban, and why had someone rebuilt the prison into a citadel of nightmares.

And more importantly, where the hell were the dementors...

"So the spy has learned just where I center my power," came a calm and deep voice that seemed far more terrifying than that of Voldemort himself.

The throne rotated slowly to face him, revealing a cowled figure sitting there amidst the storm that covered the island for the time being.

The hidden face turned to face the red armored soldier.

"Captain Hades," the voice stated, "You are dismissed, I can handle this one."

"Understood Lord Dion," came the response with a deep bow.

Hades voice was peculiarly like the voice of the blue one that had spoken earlier, the name also had what seemed almost like a rank which was unusual since only few of the ministry's groups actually used ranks.

As the three soldiers left, the ancient chamber the hidden eyes seemed to bore into him causing him to reflexively raise his occlumancy shields, but they did no good against the powerful probes that passed through them as if they weren't even there.

"Severus Snape," the cold voice of the one he now identified as Lord Dion, "You were a troublesome man to track down, but you are in my world now."

And the potions master gulped as he realized that he was wrong, he was walking headlong into hell rather than already being in it.

xXx

"Entryway secure," came the comment from Breaker commented, "Squad one in position."

The second squad of commandos moved in along with the new Imperial Knight they were assigned to for their current mission.

Breaker was unsure just how he viewed this dark jedi, though he would obey unless she broke her alleigance to Lord Dion. The original had been an enemy of the Republic, a servant of the traitor, Count Dooku, and had killed several of his bretheren during the clone wars in that dimension.

"Strike Team Alpha is go," he stated as he watched the other team get into position before scanning the great hall while waiting for the final target to get into position while checking the positions of the commandos and Lady Tann.

"Beta is ready," came the response from Jag, the leader of the second squad.

Breaker glanced at the dark jedi and waited for her to signal the beginning of this stage of the plan.

A nod and the great hall errupted into violence with the dozen clonetroopers crashing into the room, blasters ready.

The blue flashes of stunbolts flooded the area of the head table as Sev'rance Tann walked in to view Albus Dumbledore in his position with a half-dozen blasters pointed at him.

"Albus Dumbledore," the Chiss force user stated calmly while holding out a piece of parchment, "You and all members of the so called Order of the Phoenix are hereby placed under arrest by the order of Cornelius Oswald Fudge, the current minister of magic with the charge of sedition and treason."

She paused with a cruel smirk before turning to the clones, "Take them away."

xXx

Harry was studying the database left by his master, with his first Knight chosen he would need to work on making more.

Unlike the choice for his soldiers, he would make each of the knights unique. Each one chosen from a template of people who never existed in this world, but had in Palpatines world.

Sev'rance Tann had been selected because she was a brilliant military leader who could aid him in leading his soldiers into battle, but the rest would have their own specializations at the beginning.

That left him with many options and only a few that would fit into what he wanted for his knights. In the end he had three more chosen to join Tann among his new knights. Two chosen from the ranks of the various Hands that Sideous had trained, and the last made as a leader for his airborn soldiers.

His choices were Vess Kogo and Mara Jade, the choices of some of his former masters best. The last was Maarek Stele, one of the members of the Secret Order of the Emperor which was an impressive feat to have joined and proven worthy of.

Severus Snape was a goldmine of information just waiting to be taken and used in his current campaign and had already provided him with many things to consider that would soon be expanded upon.

Tann would be dispatched with Hades and the ARC troopers in his next plan.

The plan would involve the first fruits of his expiraments in Sith Alchemy upon the captured adult dragon that would soon need a true test of it's power in battle, and he saw great promise in this new breed of dragons and if sucessful would be a reason to attempt to make upgrades of other breeds as well.

Another plan was to attack and take Malfor Manor to find information stored there in the secret areas that he had overheard Draco mentioning years earlier, as well as provide him with a way to shatter one of Voldemorts sources of funds.

The coming battles would be harder now that he had revealed himself.

A slight grin crossed his lips as he glanced at the papers covering his last mission, the revelations about Dumbledore's capture combined with the suspicions he had planted in the ministers mind had coopted the media for the most part, but still the question had already been posed to the curious.

In the end, was he their friend or foe...