Danny put a hand on his chin, his expression was that of a deep thought. Near him stood his two most trusted commanders, who awaited his decision. Thrawn's hologram calmly dusted his pearly white uniform, while Haseas tapped on the edge of holographic table impatiently, looking at the strange cube-like copy of the map. The place they were in made Phantom's stomach twist. He hated completely white rooms. Danny simply tried to ignore it. They weren't alone, however.

There were two people as well. They had extremely pale, slightly bluish skin, completely colorless eyes. Their clothes were extravagant, although light, grey and black. However, the second one wore more humble robes, if they could be called that.

Danny sighed and crossed his hands. "The situation seems to be not as bad as it looked at first. I don't understand your worries."

"General, we certainly wouldn't have called you here if your help wasn't required," one of the aliens said.

"Consul Deechi, your race has techs the Republic can't even dream to make. The Grand Army of the Republic won't be able to stand against them."

"Our soldiers are of lower caste, but we still are not willing to waste their lives. Even with all our technologies, the clones are the most professional soldiers there are. There is a danger. We have joined the Confederacy, and asked for your personal protection. Don't you deny it now."

"Easy, easy, my friend. My job is to ask, I am going to help my allies, nevertheless. What's the situation in details?"

"The Republic sent two armies to two conquer our planet: the 501st Legion and the 212th Attack Battalion. They are supported by the Tenth Fleet."

"I see. Admiral Thrawn, how much time is it going to take for your fleet to get here?" Phantom looked at his Chiss subordinate.

"Approximately four days, My Lord. So as to avoid losses in the Ghost Nebula because of hard navigation."

"Curses," Consul muttered. "The Republicans have already set off from Alderaan. They will be here in two."

"Legio CCXXV Apollinaris is ready, sir," Haseas straightened. "Onderon is in close proximity. The Legion has been stationed there on Lady Bontheri's request."

"I think she won't be against if we take it back for a while," Danny commented. "Order them to pack on the ships. No delays can be allowed. We have to prepare defenses."

"It shall be done with all haste, My Lord," Haseas nodded, before walking off to make certain calls.

"He has a strange taste for clothes."

"I beg your pardon?" Danny looked at Deechi.

"He wears that black uniform of the Sith Empire. Are you fine with it?"

"That man has been with me from the beginning of my rise to power. He can wear whatever he wants. Anyways, what are the supposed landing spots?"

"They obviously would want to take the capital. Such limited task force could only aim to that," Thrawn's hologram said.

"Indeed. We shall fortify the outskirts of the city," the Consul said as his companion took notes. "Issue the required set of materials," he looked at the other Umbaran. The man continued taking notes. "I suppose that one of their targets would be our airbase. From there we would be able to bomb their guts from inside of them."

"Aren't there others?"

"Not exactly," Consul crossed his hands. "They are very distant. The aircrafts are unable to fly back and forward on such large distances. Those are not star fighters."

"I see...the droid army cannot make it here, the resources are just as scarce. But you do have a fleet, right?"

"It isn't much. Dooku had sent us a squadron. How many ships do you have, Admiral?" Deechi asked, looking at the Chiss.

"We can send the Seventh fleet. If we take the Republic by surprise we will be able to crush them."

"I trust your skill, Admiral," Danny commented. "Do what you must in order to win. The squadron should be transferred under his command, Consul."

"It's not like we have a choice for that matter. And it is with great displeasure that we must put ourselves in full dependence of your actions. The Republic sees us as traitors, they won't spare us."

"If they get to you. Which they won't," Danny smirked. "I've learned that five hundred and first Legion is going to be put under command of one Jedi general. It's Skywalker's legion, but he is being recalled to Coruscant. He doesn't know that yet, but my agents in the Republican administration report about the change."

"How did you bring them to aid you?"

"One has to be observant. The biggest perk of corrupt system is that there is always a nice blackmail on everyone," Danny grinned.

"Impressive," The Umbaran said, sounding sincere.

There was nothing their race appreciated more than a well placed intrigue.

The urgency of the situation forced the Legio to be quick the second they landed on the surface of the shadow world of Umbara. The place was really depressing. Not a single sun ray was getting through the thick pitch black clouds. Each soldier of the Imperial army was a potential builder, it was a part of studying. Umbarans were ready to fight, but weren't eager to build fortifications. To enact a network of bunkers in a couple of days was not a small feat. They were composed around the nearest large open area, not filled with glowing blue plants.

Danny all along was with his soldiers, helping them to build metal fortifications. His abilities came in handy. It was going to be the biggest fight of his own legions in that war. He wanted them to be as safe as possible. That was why the Emperor-soldier was so adored by his men. When they had free time, they just sat and sang the songs they had thought up long ago during the civil war. Danny was for it, that was the best way to inspire them for the upcoming fight. He just stood by side and listened how they did so and played.

The love for our homeland is burning our hearts,
We go to deadly battles for honor of the native lands,
Cities are now burning, covered up to heads in smoke!
In gray forests rumbles cruel God of War.

Legionnaires, it's our Lord's command!
Legionnaires, it's our country's call!
From the hundreds, thousands of batteries,
For Glory, for the Fatherland,
Fire!

Know, my darling mother, know, my wife, my friend,
Know, my distant home and whole family of mine,
What's beating, burning enemy is our storm of fire.
Freedom we shall bring to Galaxy at large!

Legionnaires, it's our Lord's command!
Legionnaires, it's our country's call!
From the hundreds, thousands of batteries,
For Glory, for the Fatherland,
Fire!

The time of victory shall enter, the end of marches soon will come!
But before we go to our lovely, cozy home,
In honor of our leader, in honor of the people,
We'll salute with utter joy in the pure, blue sky!

Legionnaires, it's our Lord's command!
Legionnaires, it's our country's call!
From the hundreds, thousands of batteries,
For Glory, for the Fatherland,
Fire!
From the hundreds, thousands of batteries,
For Glory, for the Fatherland,
Fire!

Danny always had a smile as they were unaware about his presence. They always mentioned him, more or less. It made him understand his purpose. They were thankful for everything he had done for them. Many of them used to be slaves, they would have died at the hands of some cruel owner, unneeded, starved and forgotten. They went in the army because it was pretty much they could do - shoot. They had to be taught reading and counting of all things, aside from military drills. The threat of death was even bigger here, but in this case they would be remembered. There already was memorial in the capital, which said: 'Your name is unknown. Your deed is immortal.'

The time arrived, just as the Republican forces. Everything went just as expected. Phantom had sacrificed two minor ships of droids to give them a false sense of security. The rest of the squadron was on the opposite side of the planet, prepared to spring a trap when Thrawn arrives. Until then, their defenses had to stand. As soon as the landing shuttles started to descend, all cannons stared firing with everything they had. Umbarans had strange artillery, and strange tanks, which hurled white electromagnetic plasma, extremely destructive.

"Sir!" One of the white armored Stormtroopers reported to Phantom. They could use black armors, but there wasn't any. "We have detected movements. The squadron of bombers is approaching."

Danny nodded, before looking at the Umbaran officer nearby. "Turn on the shields now!"

His order was put into fruition as the Emperor looked through the binoculars at the distant grounds. The soldier ran off to his post. The landscape was more than perfect, giving the Confederacy the advantage, while they were at the higher ground. The shield could easily block the bombardment. They were relatively safe, until the clones got to the position of the shield generator. But it also meant that the artillery's range became limited as well. The shield also blocked the shots from the outside. Some bombs had the time to reach the destinations.

Danny immediately departed, vanishing and reappearing closer to the frontline. He stood above the entrenchment, and many looked up at him. On the planet of permanent darkness, his glowing form stood out even more. The clones' drop ships were approaching, dropping something on the ground. Danny took binoculars again and looked there, seeing a force composed of AT-RTs - small, but very quick walkers. They were something akin to cavalry in battle. A cavalry which could jump five meters away from the fire.

"Rocket launchers at the ready!" Phantom yelled, raising his gloved hand. His order was immediately passed along the line, thanks to him being transmitted to everyone.

The soldiers took out the long cylinders and pointed them at the approaching enemies. Those who had them, of course.

"Wait for it...let them come!"

Several walkers suddenly started exploding. They had to pass mine fields first. The disadvantage of walkers - they didn't exactly disarm the mines afterwards. Meaning that walking right behind it didn't guarantee safety from another small bomb waiting to rip off their legs. They also were under constant fire from Umbaran tanks and artillery. Finally they crossed the imaginable line.

"Fire!" The Emperor commanded.

Rockets took out even more walkers. The clones were going through the heavy casualties, but there was seemingly no end. Their drop ships kept shooting with their laser cannons. Danny growled at seeing one of them destroy the hover tank. Suddenly he had to duck under blue blast. Now the walkers were in the close enough reach. The soldiers were now vulnerable, they had to fire from their rifles. Phantom summoned the energy shield, giving them a strong cover. They could see through it, just as poke their guns and fire, while being completely protected.

Bunkers also started firing from machine guns. The same method applied to them - metal constructions had a hole for shooting, which was in turn covered by the energy shield. They always blocked energy particles, but let through physical objects if they were slow enough.

Phantom was controlling the two mile long frontline, but the shield didn't stretch this far. It was one main road to the capital which had been turned into a fortification line. Why so short? Because there were only dark forests around. Full of eager native partisans. It was mostly the ground where the Umbarans acted, out of his command. But Phantom knew that the Clone Army and their Jedi generals wouldn't risk so much by diving there.

Danny was given full authority to act as he pleased. There were three directions from which the attack could come. The capital was near the mountains, being a former fortress, so the West was secure from any force. The command of two roads was given to the other officers, who also reported to him in case of emergencies. The fight itself was going on a very considerable distance from the city, so as to cover the airbase as well.

"My Lord, we are losing ground on the southern frontier!" Danny heard from a communicator in his ear. "Sector 0T54!"

"Flames," Phantom cursed, still holding the shield. "How bad is it?"

"The Umbaran tanks are destroyed, we have no longer support, we have to..."

The white noise replaced the soldier's voice. Danny narrowed his eyes, before sending away a duplicate. He then activated the lightsaber and twisted in his arm, preparing for the upcoming offense. The shield couldn't remain forever, covering a considerable distance and holding back a torrent of shots was complicated for more than ten minutes.

"Entrenched testudo!" Phantom yelled.

Scutarii ran to the first line, before activating their special gauntlets. The name came from their additional responsibility. Rectangular body-sized shields emerged from their devices. There was a technology which simply encompassed the body in such energy, but the amount of radiation could cause fatal illnesses, such as cancer, so it was a no go. Red shields were held in diagonal line at the edge of the trenches, giving another line of protection for the troops behind them. The scutarii were of races with exceptional strength, because they had to stand against continuous blasts, while their comrades were shooting from behind their shield wall.

Phantom removed his barrier.

Meanwhile on the other end of the frontline the Republican command seemed not happy about how the advance went.

"Sir, we are being shot at before we are able to get close!" The clone approached his general.

The Jedi was an Iktotchi, with red skin and two horns pointed forward being the distinctive features. "What about the others?"

"Generals Skywalker and Kenobi are pushing from the North and South and so far they seem to be more successful."

"That's because they don't have a white haired rascal for the commander," the Jedi muttered. "We must break through to support the offensive, but we can't waste our troops. Stop sending the walkers, retreat behind the shield dome, they won't be able to shoot at us."

"Understood, General."

As the Imperial soldiers realized that the enemy was retreating, they started to cheer loudly, some even threw their helmets in the air happily.

"As much as I would like to celebrate," Danny's loud voice instantly caught their attention and everyone fell silent. He put a hand on his communicator, making himself heard across the line.

"It was only the first wave. They will return. Mine fields won't be helping us anymore, and we have suffered losses. But do not falter, for each our soldier they have lost ten. They won't be able to throw their toys at us forever. Now fix the defenses, carry the dead, tend the wounded and prepare to repel each bastard who thinks that he is better than our legions!"

An uproar of the soldiers was his answer. As the troops went to complete his order, Phantom closed his eyes to see where the duplicate was. As the battle was finished where he was, the duplicate was engaged in a big fight, many miles away.

"Keep going!" He commanded loudly, swiping his sword and deflecting the shots. "Retreat to the second line of defense, I'll give you cover!"

Many would have thought that he was seriously underestimating the enemy, but the legionaries were confident in their Emperor's abilities. They ran backwards, occasionally turning around and responding with fire. They had to run three hundred meters under constant bombardment from the Republicans. Danny kept deflecting the shots back at the clones, but it wasn't enough. No matter how powerful he was, Phantom was only one man, he didn't have hundreds of guns. Wait...

Danny noticed what had remained from both sides. Blasters were lying around now. He pushed away the nearest walker, throwing it away and getting a chance to do as he planned. With a slow raise of his hands, thousands of blasters were flung in the air and pointed towards the enemy. The clones, who so far had been advancing steadily, were baffled, realizing what was going to happen now.

"Take cover!" Was a simultaneous yell.

With a simple move of his pointing finger, Phantom unleashed hell. Each blaster, big, small, a rifle or a pistol, were hurling crimson blasts of electrified gas, making Umbara see the light yet unseen by that shadow world. Not a single clone was able to peak from the hole, and those who didn't find any, received two, three, or more shots, which pierced their white plastoid armor with yellow stripes. Phantom sensed terror and smirked widely.

"Get back to the vials you have crawled from!" He shouted, and he was heard all across the line, despite everything: screams, whirring and desperate shots, trying to shoot him.

It lasted for god knows how long. Ammo packs of any blaster were standardized - two hundreds shots in each, only their speed and power differed. It meant that the torrent of fire was unstoppable for a very long time.

"How are we supposed to get there?!" One of the clones looked at his brother as they sat behind the fallen walker.

"He will run out of ammo, we must wait."

The prediction was real, and Danny was not a fool to forget about it, despite an outbursts of adrenalin. One by one the guns stopped shooting, some simply broke because the heat they were experiencing was unbearable. In some the carcass started to literally melt, letting the clones to open the responding fire. Phantom vanished after hurling the blusters, white from overheating, forward, giving himself enough time. Some were hit by them, but the force of throw wasn't enough to kill.

He reappeared at another trench line. Danny pleasantly noted that the legionaries hadn't wasted time and started preparing. They had only a few minutes, but the bunkers were already taken, machine guns were loaded and occupied.

"My Lord," the officer in black uniform greeted. "Thank you for your help. I don't know what we would have done..."

"Spare me the thanks, Captain. We have no time for exchanging pleasantries."

At these words they heard an explosion, followed by other ones. The Republican artillery was at work.

"Take cover!" Phantom yelled.

The soldiers jumped in the trenches and sat on their knees. It was the best protection they had so far. Danny followed the motion. He cursed multiple times and put a hand on his communicator.

"Where are the damn aircrafts?!" He yelled as the dirt fell on his head, thrown down the trench by the explosion of active plasma.

"They are engaged in a combat, General," T-series tactical droid reported calmly. It's not like it had any emotions. "It shall take twelve minutes and thirty six seconds to finish it, with the positive outcome for us equal to fifty nine percents."

"Just great," Phantom muttered. "What's going on...get down!" He shouted to the soldier and pushed him downwards. "What about the north?"

"The frontline is crippled. The main striking force of the 501st legion of the Republic is there."

Danny started to think. Even the constant noise couldn't distract him. The CCXXV Legio had fifty thousand soldiers, but they were stretched across the line. Skywalker, while having less, put his army in a united fist, and it was easier for him to get through.

"Issue a retreat. Unite the cohorts in sector N073, let the partisans do their job. Be as quick as possible."

Classic tactic. If Skywalker broke through, he would swipe from behind, surround and destroy the cohort, for there wouldn't be any place to retreat to. It wasn't going to happen on Phantom's watch.

"Yes, General."

Danny was pacing back and forward from one line to another, and that several hours long marathon of shooting and slashing the blade was exhausting even for him, even if he was used to long battles. But, finally, he could relax for a short while. The Republic got what they wanted - a bridgehead for the invasion, even if they had suffered serious losses. They had to wait for more reinforcements of fresh units. It gave the Confederate forces some time to rest as well.

The ghost went to the headquarters. He had a privilege of taking a warm shower and food. In his defense, Danny didn't rest for long and got to the job he had been given. The situation was undecided. It would have been better if the attack was repelled during the landing, but it was impossible without a proper fleet. There were two days left until Thrawn arrived. It was going to be a very continuous bloodbath. At least the dominance of the sky was assured for the Imperials. It was a relief.

"General," the Umbaran soldier approached him as Danny was going through the trench line. The alien was dressed in a black slim armor, with a see through tall helmet, full of transparent stimulation gas. It helped them fasten their reflexes and sensory feelings.

"Yes?" Phantom asked, moving the fallen vehicle in front of the trench using the Force.

"We have received the report that general Skywalker was relieved of his current duties. He left to Coruscant on the Chancellor's orders."

"I knew that," Danny looked at him. "Has his replacement arrived?"

"Affirmative, sir," he seemed nervous. "It is Jedi Master Pong Krell."

The Jedi was known for one thing - he never lost. His attacks were as swift as they were destructive. However, the pale alien was stunned when Phantom burst laughing.

"Krell?! Alright, count out the 501st."

"Why?"

Danny looked back and saw Haseas standing there. Phantom grinned.

"My dear Lord General. Have you ever wondered how that guy ascended so quickly?" Danny put his hands behind the black-armored back, making a clanging sound.

"Because he is skillful, I would have said. If I didn't know you and your level of knowledge."

Phantom laughed again, before waving his hand, sending the Umbaran away. Danny smiled at his long-time friend after taking a look around.

"I'm glad you don't doubt me, Haseas. The reason is, I helped him."

A moment of silence followed. "What?" Followed a question.

"I can see the talents. And I can see flaws. So far he is the most arrogant Jedi I have ever known. His victories were owned in a price of enormous losses. Terrific ones. Ninety goddamn percents of his legion. But I helped to smooth the edges and bring it out more as a great victory, rather than a pyrrhic massacre."

"Two issues. Why and how?"

"Just a few documents was enough. I also made some fake Confederacy papers, as if we have made a trap from which Krell managed to crawl out. As for why I need it...who would be easier to defeat? Thrawn or some random redneck I would pick and give the rank of Grand Admiral as well?"

Haseas snorted, understanding his Emperor's way of thinking. "So you are helping the amateur to utterly defeat him in battle."

"Exactly. Do you know his strategy? He is always striking head on. This attack was like that because the Republic had no space whatsoever, no ability for any tactical tricks."

"It reminds me of certain kind of droids..."

"You mean T-series? Yeah, they are good only as adjutants. Nothing else. The name is funny for me, actually. Returning to the matter at hand, we still mustn't underestimate that Jedi. It is the most fatal mistake to make, I'm not the one to tell you this. We were underestimated once," Danny smirked.

"And now you are the most powerful man in the Galaxy," Haseas chuckled. "Alright, I have a job to do," the older man patted the young ghost on the shoulder.

Never in his mind the Yuth would have imagined getting into such place. And it was even more amazing to face the fact that less than ten years ago he was a slave. He owed Phantom everything and he was going to fulfill the command. For his Emperor.