"You know, it actually feels nice to be...how to put it..."

"Normal?" Komand asked with a teasing smirk. 

Danny laughed, "Yeah, that's the word. Pass the salt, please," he gestured for a shelf.

Komand raised an eyebrow, mixing the mass in the bowl. "Were you cut off from the Force by any chance?"

"No, but your skills of passing objects are unmatched."

She didn't look up and only moved her palm slowly. The glass object flew and hit Danny in the head slightly. The man yelped and Komand only smirked slightly.

"It's you who didn't catch that," she said.

Danny rubbed his sore place, while holding salt in another hand. He narrowed his eyes and poured it into the food his lover was making.

"Hey!" Komand exclaimed, before adding oil into Phantom's frying pan.

Apparently, they got too carried away. As the laughter filled the kitchen, both meals they were making were ruined. It seemed that ketchup didn't mix well with fish, and adding sugar to the fried eggs was a heresy worth of being burned on the stake. Of course, it didn't come to burning, but as a punishment they ate each other's meals. Dani, who was given a cereal so she wouldn't starve or get poisoned by the toxic food, had a good laugh at her parents' expressions. Phantom didn't have a digestive system, so he didn't throw up, unlike his lover, who was going through the deep suffering. Never again they were going to do that.

With a horrible taste still on his tongue, Danny teleported to the Council meeting. The Separatists glanced at the youngest member, who was shifting on his place. Phantom may be...eccentric, they all thought, but he was at least useful. What made Danny even more suspicious is that Dooku never reacted to him being a Jedi. And that was strange, considering the display of power. Moreover, the old man supported him and allowed to use the commanders Phantom deemed required. Something wasn't quite right.

Ahsoka was assigned to a Master, well, not quite. For some reason, it was only a Knight. And it just so happened to be Anakin Skywalker. He, along with Obi-Wan, were fighting on the surface of Cristopsis. The girl told him excitedly about how they destroyed the ray shielding and beated the enemy. Despite losing the space battle, the Separatists weren't going to surrender. Moreover, Phantom knew that they were retaliating at the moment he was busy capturing the major cities of Ryloth and driving the Republican forces outside.

Danny was tasked with capturing the planet. There were still the Republican enclaves deep in the Separatist territory, and from now on, while General Grievous was leading the main attacks, Phantom's job was to get rid of the enclaves. Not the most prestigious job, and it was one of the ways of getting him away from glorious victories, but there was nothing he could do about that, only do everything swiftly.

Ryloth was a peculiar planet, with one part being in perpetual darkness, while the other was burning hot. The most pressing cultural question there was slavery. Republic, at least publicly, forbid it across their territory, but the slavery wasn't something out of ordinary for the locals - Twi'leks. The unmentioned line of income were slaves. The males were strong enough to work, and their women were considered one of the most beautiful. Such a hypocrisy. Of course, most of the populace hated it, but that was an example of corruption. And corruption isn't something declared out loud.

And the Confederacy wasn't even better, there were slavers as well, opened ones. Prohibiting it would have made them turn their backs to the movement, so Phantom had to deal with it, although the thing disgusted him. Danny had an idea to hold Ryloth under his direct control.

The ghost leaned on the holographic table in front of him.

"Now, please explain, why are we here?" Phantom asked as his lips thinned. Several explosions were heard outside of the cave.

"Well, that piece of scrap metal ordered to go through the canyon," Haseas said, pointing at the literal remnants of the tactical droid.

Lord General got a little demotion, or so some of the officers thought. He was now the Emperor's assistant on the battlefield. Phantom picked only the most skillful, and they were honored. While Thrawn was holding the blockade above the planet, Danny and Haseas were fighting on the ground.

"Grr," Phantom growled. "What a moron, now they are shooting at us from above."

"Shall we request the bombardment to support the offense?"

"There are refugees. We don't want to kill them."

"Living shields?"

"No, just a terrified crowd they are trying to protect. Like on Mas-Lok, remember?"

"Huh, yes..." Haseas put a hand on his chin, recalling the event from the Emperor's Crusade, as some called the conquest Phantom led. "Any ideas, boss?"

"We can use the dropships. Order them to land...here," a spot glowed red as he tapped on it. "Here and here," more dots appeared around.

"The last one seems dangerous. It's a completely opened ground. And they have riding beasts."

"We have no other option, we are running out of time. I'll lead the assault. Until then, continue to press forward."

"Understood!" Haseas stood straight and hit his chest.

Phantom stepped out of the cave, feeling the dust from the ceiling of the cave fall on his snowy head. Danny took out a communicator and made a call to the orbit. An image of Thrawn soon appeared. The Chiss was wearing the clothes fitting his status of the Grand Admiral, but without any signs which could reveal his true allegiance. It was a pearly white uniform, with two small golden plates on each shoulder. There were also black boots, belt and white gloves.

"Sir," Thrawn nodded in greeting.

"What's the situation up there?"

"It's stable. We have enough forces to maintain the blockade, and their ships are retreating."

"Good. We need the ships to drop the droids in certain places. I'm sending you the coordinates."

As Thrawn nodded, Danny went under the bright sun of Ryloth. Phantom looked around and saw one of the droid gunships.

"Sergeant!" He barked and a B-1 battle droid with yellow markings approached the ghost. "Prepare to launch the offense. We have to press forward."

"Uhm...deeper into the canyon, sir?" The droid asked in confusion.

"No, into the Loch Ness lake, of course press there, all other ways are blocked now!"

"Roger, roger."

The droid went away, clanking with its metal parts.

"Statement: It insults me that my fellow droids were made so unbearably idiotic," HK said from behind.

Phantom shrugged. "They are a cannon fodder. And cannon fodder must be cheap."

"Query: Was this so hard to make a proper software?"

"It was expensive. And if there is something the Neimoidians can do, it is counting money. IRB is tasked with creating a proper program. Yours won't do, because you are not designed to fight like we need to."

Phantom was informed that the dropships were approaching. Ordering HK to help Haseas in the main offense, Danny jumped on the edge of the gunship which was already there. It was a very rare prototype, it was going to be its first fight. On either side of the gunship's nose were large spherical gun turrets, mounting twin medium laser cannons along with their respective capacitors, as well as the targeting scanners. Between the two turrets were moving mandibles, a rotating mount for a medium cannon mounted on the gunship's chin. On top of the nose were two photoreceptor eyes, long-range sensor ports, the processor for the sensors and antennae, the portside targeting processor, and the starboard deflector shield generator. The rear of the ship was composed of a large disc.

Danny tapped on the hull.

"You know where to go. Get me up there!" He ordered.

The droid ship gave an affirmative, before flying up with a whirring sound. Phantom held tightly and looked down. There were several positions from which the clones and Twi'lek partisans were firing down. Grinning, Danny ordered to open fire at one of the places. As the rain of lasers and rockets poured down at the enemy, creating the raging inferno, Phantom hummed the Ride of the Valkyries loudly. No one heard him, sadly, but he had his portion of fun.

When the gunship lowered, Danny calmly stepped down and ignited the lightsaber. The droid flew off to another spots. Phantom went at his enemies, deflecting the blaster bolts coming his way casually. A small encampment had no place to go, so they could only fire at him, taking cover behind the crates. After one swing of the see through lightsaber, one of the partisans threw a grenade. Phantom didn't even look at it, but the projectile flew back at the group and blew them up. Phantom raised his free hand and it glowed red. He fired and blew up the rest. Dodging several blasts, he kept cutting the enemies. One clone was shaking slightly, with one hand on his wounded chest and another around the handle of the blaster pistol. He fired at Danny's back and hit the spot.

He didn't have time to triumph, because Phantom appeared near him and grabbed his neck, lifting the man above the ground.

"You hit the place where my heart was. Too sad I don't have any."

Danny threw the man down the cliff. He then requested the report from the other landing squads. Of course, they weren't as effective. But the partisans were still distracted. Phantom was about to come down, when he heard the loud booming sounds. Then the blue bolts hit the canyon walls, causing them to crumble upon the attacking forces. The frontline was buried beneath the rocks, while the main part of the Droid army was cut off from the retreating Republican forces.

Apparently, they had an artillery.

Phantom's lips thinned. And he so hoped to get out of that burning hellhole. The ghost jumped off the cliff and slowed down the fall a few feet above the ground. He softly stepped on the dusty path and approached one of the tanks. AAT was the main tank of the Confederacy, and was very good for something of its price. Six meters tall, with one huge laser cannon on top. It had multiple sensors, errays, usual stuff. Two secondary laser guns were located on their sides. Its front armor was almost impenetrable, but the sides could be blown apart with a detonator, and the back could be pierced with a good blaster.

Danny knocked on the wall slightly. Haseas looked out of the tank, opening the trapdoor on top.

"Isn't the best way to start a day, huh?" The mid aged general asked.

"You bet," Phantom grumbled. "Bring me the map."

One of the droids ran to him and activated the hologram. Danny rubbed his chin and sighed.

"There is only one entrance. Start moving, we need to catch up with them as soon as possible."

"Roger, roger, boss!" Haseas said with a smirk, making Phantom roll his neon eyes.

Suddenly the communicator beeped. Danny saw who it was coming from, so he found a more or less secluded place. He pressed the button and the image appeared.

"My Lord, I have an urgent message."

"Oh, really?" Phantom asked sarcastically. Keeper nodded.

"You have ordered to spy on the most influential people of the Republican Senate. Bail Organa, the representative from Alderaan, is off to Toydaria."

"What for?" Now the Emperor was interested.

"We have also intercepted the message from the Jedi Temple."

Ah, so Ahsoka DID put the tiny device in the HQ.

"We will send it to you if you wish, Your Majesty. Organa plans to send the relief supply to the resistance movement of Ryloth. And weapons as well, apparently, they must be running out of the ammo."

"Toydaria, you say..."

"Affirmative, My Lord. It has been neutral so far, and from what we have learned, it intends to stay that way."

Danny nodded slowly, still deep in thought. "Send the transmission to me. I think we have a trump card in our sleeve."

"Sir, they never said anything about weapons."

Phantom gave a fanged smirk. "I'm sure we are missing something out. We'll need to restore this information."

Keeper smirked as well. "It shall be done, Your Majesty."

Some time later a little montage was done. Then Danny, using the stellar map, which also included the map of the surface, left to Toydaria. He ordered Haseas to press forward, leaving the man in command.

The Toydarian homeworld was covered with nutrient-rich muck-lakes, which supported clouds of bugs and mats of algae and a number of predators including dangerous grabworms. Monsoons and fungal diseases ravaged the planet, and could often kill off growing stocks of agriculture. Sustenance for the food on Toydaria was so great that on average every 30 standard years depending on weather cycles, shortages would occur and the Toydarians would steal or even poison their neighbor's food supply, under the belief that if they couldn't have it, no one should. Charming fellows, but they obviously could spare some food.

Phantom appeared in the Palace of King Katuunko. Nice place, but it was designed to fit the needs of flying inhabitants. Thankfully Phantom could fly as well, but that's not the point. Invisibly Danny flew to the main conference room. He already heard some voices from the inside, oh, his luck was incredible. At first, Danny just listened, but then decided to phase inside and watch from the shadows.

There were several important figures sitting around the center, on the tall platforms eight meters above the ground. In the center sat the King himself. A mammalian race of winged, stout bodied humanoids, the Toydarians had stubby facial tusks which protruded from their lower jaw and framed a short pudgy trunk. They had seemingly small, but very strong wings on their backs. The most distinctive feature were short, elephant like snouts.

In the center were two platforms. On one stood the Neimoidian, on the other - a human with black hair and brown eyes, along with a strange amphibian being. Wait, oh god, it was a Gungan.

"...We have no qualms with the Separatists! Nute Gunray is an extremist! His views don't reflect those of the Trade Federation," the Neimoidian said angrily.

"Perhaps not," Bail Organa responded slowly, rubbing his chin. "But you can understand the confusion."

"We are here only to make sure that nothing jeopardizes the agreement between Toydaria and the Trade Federation."

"Naboo and Alderaan have a long tradition of providing humanitarian aid. I see no reason for arguing."

"Nor do I," the King agreed. "The people of Ryloth are suffering, and compassion is a sacred Toydarian value."

"A wonderful speech, Your Majesty."

Everyone looked at the shadows, at first seeing only neon eyes, but then the entire person. Everyone's eyes widened, while Phantom grinned.

"Pardon my intrusion, Great King," the ghost bowed. "But I had no time to ask for an appointment."

"Nevertheless, it is rude, General," Katuunko commented.

"And again I apologize," Danny repeated, approaching two tribunes, "It is just suspicious that you are meeting with the Republican representative unknowingly to us."

Neimoidian narrowed his eyes, surprisingly. It was his assignment, not this upstart's! Katuunko flinched for a split second, before regaining a calm expression.

"This is just a humanitarian aid, General. It doesn't mean we are joining the war."

Phantom gave a smile, putting hands behind his back, and everyone shivered unvoluntarily. "Your Majesty, I'm sure that Senator Organa has told you about a little predicament on Ryloth. You know, about our blockade."

"What?!"

It caused the whispers to erupt throughout the hall.

"Is this true, Senator?" The King asked.

"Yes, Your Majesty, but it changes nothing!" Organa exclaimed.

Now that caused an uproar. Several feudals rose from their seats in outrage.

"It changes everything. It will make us the participants of the war!"

Danny decided that it was the most perfect moment to press forward. "Your Majesty. Even if I'm curious about how the Trade Federation got a wind of this meeting, but I and my subordinates have caught a little talk. Let me show you."

He took out the holographic device. It was a peculiar scene, indeed. The art of faking the video was one of its highest forms. The intelligence only changed one phrase: 'supply' into 'supply and arms', in the middle of the dialog. Oh, and they also made sure that the original couldn't be found. The expressions on others' faces were priceless. Danny whistled slightly.

"Should have brought the camera," he commented.

"This is a lie," Organa said. "There was never such a talk!"

"The only lie I see here is yours, Senator. Are all Republican Senators born with lying tongues?" Phantom responded calmly.

"Hey! Yousa have no right to speak with Senator Organa like that!" The Gungan exclaimed, while Bail was too stunned to react.

"You are right," Phantom said to everyone's shock, while chuckling dryly. "I get too carried away, sometimes. I apologize."

"I think there is no need to tell you that your offer is denied, Senator," Katuunko said with narrowed eyes.

This is where Phantom shocked everyone again. "On the contrary, Your Majesty. They may transport the supplies."

"I beg your pardon?"

Danny glanced at the Trade Federation representative. In this situation the Neimoidian wouldn't have been able to argue.

"Organa didn't lie about the famine. People are indeed starving, but this is a war, and civilians are suffering more than anyone. I was given the authority to act during the conquest as I please as long as I'm winning. So, I will order to let the Republican supply ships pass. On one condition - we will first examine them, and only after that the Twi'leks will receive their food and water."

The King rubbed his chin in thought. Phantom was in the perfect position, in the eyes of the monarch he was a noble man, who followed his path and just opposed the Republic. In the eyes of Bail he was a strange person, even if the plan was obvious. Danny basically got all the spoils from their initiative, moreover, they were accused of lies, and were now obliged to send the ships only with food to Ryloth. The Neimoidian meanwhile was in two minds about the situation. On one hand, Phantom had done what Dooku commanded, but it was done not by the representative and Dooku didn't want any ship to pass.

The King meanwhile whispered with the feudals near him. Soon Katuunko looked back at his guests.

"If the Confederacy sees no offense in such actions, so be it," the Toydarian declared. "We will check the ships. No weapon will be transported."

"You are very wise, Your Majesty," Phantom bowed. "I'm putting the faith into your neutrality. Now, if you excuse me, dear friends, I have to return to my army as soon as possible."

Danny turned around and left. No one saw a devilish grin of satisfaction on his face.

No one could understand how he got out of the planet, because no ship landed or departed. When Phantom returned to Ryloth, he continued the offense, knowing that the resistance was running out of ammo. He could allow to press forward no matter the cost. There were almost no clones left, only partisans. They were cunning bastards, however. It was so much more interesting, and annoying. The heat was killing the Ghost General. He so wanted to spend a few hours in cold vacuum.

Meanwhile, as the droids were marching forward, deeper into the canyon, Phantom got another message, while sitting inside a very comfy AAT.

"Hey, Dad," Ahsoka greeted in a slightly hushed voice. "How are you doing?"

"Well, you know, the usual. Explosions, cries, etcetera. What about you?"

Ironically, he heard a high pitched cry. Ahsoka groaned and picked up a small puffy creature, which looked like an overgrown slug. She started shaking the baby in order to calm him down. Danny's eyes widened as he saw it.

"Ehm, why do you have a Hutt kid with you?" He asked.

"Long story short, this is Stinky, the son of Jabba the Hutt. And we have to return him in order to help the Republic."

"Stinky?"

"Uhm, no, it's just a nickname. He reeks, and he is really ill. I gave him a medicine and he seems to be getting better."

"So that fat worm has a kid? Huh."

"Do I need to do anything?" Ahsoka asked.

Danny tapped on his chin. "Just return him. I'll think up something later."

"Alright."

"I heard about the Cristopsis. Good job," Ahsoka beamed at that. "What about your Master?"

"Anakin is...different from other Jedi. He is a bit like you."

"Really?" Danny smirked.

"Yeah. He has a big mouth too."

"Watch your tongue, young lady," Ahsoka flinched, realizing that she had just offended him. "But I'm proud of my snark."

"Uhm, sir," the driver droid said. "You may want to see this."

Danny sighed. "Fine. May the Force be with you, kiddo."

"You too, Dad."

After ending the transmission Phantom opened the trapdoor above his head and looked out of the tank. The same landscape and slowly moving army. He suddenly saw the Republican LAAT gunship. Abandoned, without a single soul around. Raising his eyebrow, Danny commanded to stop. Droids kept going. He repeated the order. No reaction. As a tick mark appeared on his forehead, he shouted loudly and this time everyone stopped.

"Stupid clankers," Phantom mumbled.

Haseas climbed out of the tank which was nearby. "What's wrong?" He asked.

Danny nodded in direction of an abandoned ship. "Just think, an abandoned ship, in a narrow pass. Doesn't ring any bells?"

"Ah, like Galra did once."

"Exactly. It might be filled with explosives. Let's not test our luck."

Phantom jumped out of the tank and went forward, pretending not to see a small gleam behind the trees. The clone suddenly felt a powerful pull and the detonator flew out from his arms. Danny lazily raised his hand and the device flew into it. He clenched the fist and the metal scrap fell on the ground. Phantom pointed in direction of the clone, and the poor trooper found himself under a massive fire with no chance of survival. Danny then moved his hands and lifted the gunship. He then made a throwing motion and the transport flew on a considerable distance. It then blew up, much, much more destructively than it was supposed to. Danny grinned in pride while Haseas smirked.

"War never changes, my dear friend," Phantom commented loudly so the Yuth could hear him. "Keep going, everyone!"

They soon faced a resistance. It was pathetic compared to one they put while defending the capital. The victory was imminent, the question was how long it was going to take. The Droid Army kept moving forward mercilessly, the dumb but souless machines were eliminating the enemy. Once they got to the ravine, in the center of one of the squads the Jedi started cutting down the droids into smoking pieces, having seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Another strike of the Master was interrupted when he was thrown aside. Phantom stood in front of him, ordering the Droids to stop firing. The remaining clones were happy to catch a breath.

"You are the one who caused me so much trouble, didn't you?

The Kajain'sa'Nikto, also known as the Red Nikto, were a subspecies of the sentient humanoid Nikto species from the planet Kintan. Aside from their skin color, they were also distinguished by their scaly, coarse skin, and their horns and spikes. The Jedi was not an exception.

"Yes, and I'm happy to do so. You are not getting anywhere as long as I live."

"So I have noticed," Danny said with a deadpan expression. "That's why I have sent my forces to cut off every passage."

"What?"

Phantom smirked. "I don't see Twi'leks anywhere. You have decided to sacrifice yourself. How noble, noble and predictable. Too sad that once they come out my Droids will greet them."

The Jedi expression became that of horror. Danny knew what the alien thought.

"You dirty Sith..."

"I have an offer for you," Phantom interrupted. "We may fight. No outside help. If you win, I let them go. If it will be me," the ghost chuckled. "Well, we will see."

The Nikto tightened his grip on the lightsaber. "I have no choice," he said.

"Yep. What's your name?"

"Ima-Gun Di."

"I know you will. Now tell me the name."

"It was my name."

Phantom tried to hold his laughter inside, but failed miserably. He burst laughing, while everyone was staring at him in confusion. Of course they would. They didn't know English.

"Oh," Danny wiped a tear, "Damn, your Mommy was really cruel. Anyways, let's start this already, Im-gonna-die."

He turned on the lightsaber and jumped at the Jedi.

Meanwhile Ahsoka was going through the sands of Tatooine, with Stinky tied to her back. A lot had happened after Danny's call. She and Anakin were attacked by the Droids and they crashlanded on the sandy planet. They needed to transport the forty years old Hutt baby by the next sunrise. It was hard, Danny at least was sitting inside a tank with a conditioner. She needed to walk through the burning sands under equally burning suns.

Somewhere around the sunset Ahsoka and Anakin decided to split up because they could be followed. The Jedi Knight decided to hold them off while the Padawan was delivering the kid. She was accompanied by R2-D2 - Anakin's astromech and the closest buddy. Of droids, at the very least. As in every desert, the nights on Tatooine were cold. She could already see Jabba's Palace - the round building on a hill. Ahsoka smiled and glanced at the baby Hutt.

"Hey, you are almost home, buddy," she said cheerfully, and the baby squeaked. Being a big sister to a small girl taught her how to treat the infants.

Suddenly she heard a cackling of electricity. She spun around and saw three droids. Those were Magna Guards, the same kind General Grievous had. Their staffs were cackling with purple electricity on each end.

"I guess you aren't here for a peppy talk?" Ahsoka asked, activating her lightsabers and taking a battle stance.

The Droids attacked her. Ahsoka blocked the hits from two of them, and the third attempted to zap her. She jumped high in the air and landed behind the clanker, before slashing. The droid blocked the hit and pushed her back.

'Alright, Ahsoka, remember what Dad has taught you,' she thought.

Ahsoka attacked the nearest Magna Guard with one lightsaber. It of course blocked the hit, but she then attempted to use another blade, which was intercepted by the same staff. The droid had to loosen the block on another lightsaber, so Ahsoka made a powerful stab into the droid's chest. She jumped away from another droid's swing, but the lightsaber remained where it was. The padawan swung her hand and the sword slashed the droid in half, before flying into her grasp.

Phantom made a swing, but the Jedi Master blocked it again. Danny kept pressing forward, using his almost unlimited amount of stamina. Still, he had a very calm and confident posture, fitting his favorite fighting form. It almost seemed that only his palm was moving. Every eye was glued to the scene, and besides the droids, who could care less, and HK with Haseas who were more than confident in their Emperor's skills, everyone stared at the battle.

Danny hit the opponent's lightsaber again, but then he slid the weapon lower, along the Jedi blade. Seeing the motion, Master with a foreshadowing name pushed the lightsaber aside and counterattacked. Phantom pushed the enemy backwards. The Jedi landed on his feet. He suddenly picked up the nearest B-1 droid using the Force and threw it, the machine crying in fear. Danny slashed it in half.

"Don't shoot!" He commanded, before a grin crawled on his previously bored expression. "It just got interesting."

He charged a lighting in his hand and fired. Blocking the stream of electricity with the blue blade, the Jedi ran at the ghost. Phantom intercepted the strike, and Gun Di tried to move the see through lightsaber away, but Danny was much stronger. The ghost didn't try to overwhelm the opponent, even if he was holding the sword in only one hand. Instead of that Phantom's free palm glowed red. Mistaking the meaning, the Jedi jumped back, but immediately got caught in a powerful explosion.

He had assumed it was the Life Draining, one of the most dangerous abilities of the Dark Side. For the victim, of course. He didn't expect a blast, however. His entire body was in pain and he could barely get up. Grunting, the Nikto looked up at Phantom, who was waving his sword nonchalantly.

"Exclamation: Yahoo! Good job, Master!" HK exclaimed.

Danny smirked. "You thought bravely, Jedi, I give you that. Don't worry, I'll spare that Twi'leks. And I'll try not to let the slavers here."

"Then why...why fight in the first place?" The Jedi panted.

"Because I want to get off this Devil's ass as soon as possible. I hate this heat. So I just found a way to kill you faster."

Phantom raised the sword above the General. "Farewell."

In a brief second Danny finished the job. Turning off the lightsaber, he lazily wiped the sand off his robes. Phantom then looked at the stunned clones with an unemotional expression.

"Just surrender already," he said. "I won't repeat twice."