I think what really stuck me was that, to date, no fanfic writer had submitted an SW/FF7 crossover to rpgamer.com.  It may have been lack of interest about the Star Wars universe, or just not having any ideas.  To me, the idea that the Force and Lifestream are one and the same was an intriguing idea, and I always wondered "What would happen if a Jedi showed up on the world of Final Fantasy VII?".  Granted, a four-part saga didn't give me a whole lot of room to investigate this link, as almost everything focuses on the main plot, which I'm hoping will keep you riveted to your monitors.

     I actually submitted Part 1 first, without the other three parts complete, but the fanfic editors refused to accept them.  One implored me not to take the rejection wrong, and to finish the series.  Naturally, I saw the logic of their decision, and continued onward.  With the exception of the final part, each part took two days to write (the final part was started on Friday and finished at about 10 PM Saturday night), so I've invested a good week of work into this.  And if they do as requested, Part 1 is only the beginning, and you'll have to wait for the other parts.  What's a good saga if you get to read it all at once, eh?

     For you sci-fi fans out there such as me, keep your eyes open for little easter eggs. ;-)

     Anyway, I present to you the first installment of "Darkness Ascending", "Dark Legacy".

     It is in the darkness between the stars that they rest, the ether existing between universes that they meet.  They are the guardians, watching over those who are unable to see the dangers that lie in the next plane of existance.  All-powerful, yet bound to allow mortals to guide their own destinies.
     They are the Controllers.
     Their view turned to a lush planet, third in it's system.  A few light-minutes away, a rogue planet, once destined to smash into the third planet, drifted away in the vast reaches of space, toward the edge of the system.  They felt the wound upon the planet, the exhaustion of the planet's own life essence, like that of an immune system having fought off a dangerous infection.
     "The Dark One is coming," the leader intoned.  He turned to one of the other cloaked members of their order, a humanoid form with a bone-like extension of his skull coming through his head, a member of a race known as the "Minbari".  "What say you, Valen?"
     "They must save themselves," Valen stated.  "We will observe."
     "Feel you the one who is coming?", a member of their order, a smaller green life-form, said.  "Be their only hope he is."
     "Correct, Yoda.  And another, I feel, is following him," their leader replied.  "A dark presence.  He is the unknown variable."
     "And then there are those that saved their own world from it's folly," Valen reminded them.  "A descendant of the Heroes of Light is among them."
     "Be the key she will, yes.  Observe we must."
     "Yes.  What say you, friend?"
     A nearby form hovered beside them, a cloud of energy instead of a humanoid form.  "Yes.  We will observe," it intoned.
     "Then observe we shall," the leader agreed.
     They watched a small dot approach the planet.  The cloud of energy, Kosh, hovered slightly closer.  "And so it begins....."
 

     "Silas!  Silas, get over here dammit!!!!!!"
     Cloud nursed his throbbing thumb, having been off target with his hammer.  In front of him, an unfinished home, the wooden frame still incomplete, was beckoning to be completed.  "Silas?!"  Cloud thought for a moment about Silas Torson, the brash young native on Gongaga that was supposed to be helping him.  Silas was a healthy, energetic, dream-filled teenager of seventeen years.  Unfortunately, like most males his age, he suffered from an overwhelming desire to bed teenage girls.  Although Cloud never really minded Silas's sex drive, all too often it got in the way of work.
     "Yeah, what is it?!"  Silas's black hair popped up over the edge of the platform Cloud was on.  Silas's powerful arms pulled himself up to the platform, his chest covered with sweat from the labor they were performing.  "Give me another bag of nails.  And get to work on that beam."
     Around them, Nibelheim bustled with activity.  The town, once a ghost town maintained by Shinra agents, was repopulated with refugees from Midgar, Gongaga, and a few Nibelheim survivors who had sprouted up here and there.  They combined with a few of the more apologetic Shinra caretakers to form the population of Nibelheim, now an important part of the new Planitia government, which had replaced the fallen Shinra Corporation as de facto ruler of their world.
     Cloud turned, and frowned.  Silas was flirting again, this time with a raven-haired teenage girl standing below them.  "Silas!"
     "What?"
     "Stop flirting and get back to work.  You do want to get this house done, don't you?"
     "Not my house."  Silas turned back to the girl, just to see that she had walked away.  "You know what, Cloud," he chuckled, "you need a girl."
     "No, I don't.  You need a cold shower."
     "I can't wait until Tifa gets back from Kalm," Silas sighed.  "It would really cheer you up."
     "Actually, Silas, you want her to return so you can stare at her breasts all day," Cloud needled, ignoring the pang in his heart for Tifa.  "And that I don't need."
     "Not like you don't stare at her enough," Silas retorted.
     How true, Cloud agreed with him mentally. Ever since that night in Cosmo Canyon.....  It had been a week after Meteor was deflected by the Lifestream, in the celebration at Cosmo Canyon, that he and Tifa had succumbed to mutual passion.  Since then their relationship had changed dramatically.  He couldn't wait to have her in his arms again.
     Come back, Tifa.  Not just so I can have you again, but so Silas will stop griping.....
 

     Tifa screamed.
     "You cannot hold out forever, Tifa," the sinister voice of Maximillian Karbov crowed, as he sent another current of electricity through her body with the touch of a button.  "You will tell me the locations of all AVALANCHE members, or I will not stop."
     "Burn... in....  AGH!"  Another current of electricity surged through her.
     "You cannot stop me, Tifa.  I would be pleased if you joined me, of course."  Karbov's smile was wicked as he walked up to her, electrodes in random locations along her stomach, arms, neck, legs, back, and head.  "A woman of your talents and beauty would go far in the Neo Imperium."
     "Never," she gasped.
     Karbov shrugged.  "There are many more fish in the sea.  You can either be in my bed at night, or you can be shackled to a cell wall, soiled in your own waste, pain never-ending."
     "My friends.... they'll stop you....."
     "Without their precious Materia?  Ha!"  Karbov held a piece of green Materia in his hand, and pushed it toward her.  "Useless," he laughed.  "The Lifestream was so over-taxed by Meteor that it could be centuries before Materia is usable again."  Karbov waved to a couple of his robot soldier/guards.  "Return her to her cell."
     "Yes sir," one of the robots replied with a metallic voice.
     Tifa ignored the pain of having the sticky electrodes ripped off her skin, too weak to cry out.  They carried her out of the room.
     Karbov walked across the hall, entering an observation room.  Below him, the ruins of Midgar were being steadily repaired by his robot army.  Scarlet and Heideggar would have been pleased to see the fruits of their work into robotics and cybernetics.
     And weaponry, Karbov added.  Scarlet and Heideggar had undertaken a massive project to replace the human SOLDIER with a robotic army for Shinra.  To replace the projectile weapons that Shinra had equipped SOLDIER with, they had developed a type of energy weapon.  Originally using Mako, and now ionized gas, these laser rifles had proven too much for the defenders of Kalm, when Karbov's army overwhelmed them with numbers and firepower.  Medical staff accustomed to healing bullet wounds found soldiers with burns instead.  Extremely nasty burns at that.  Karbov had seen the effects of the bottled plasma first hand on one of Kalm's leaders after his execution by firing squad.  Quite painful.
     And that was the best part.
 

     Valeri screamed as one of the Neo Imperium officers pointed his laser rifle at her and her family, sneering.  "You're coming with me!"
     "No, wait," her husband Jozel pleaded, "we're only trying to find some food."
     "No excuse for violating Emperor Karbov's decrees.  I'm sure the prisonmaster will allow you to work together in the Midgar labor camp.  Take them away."  The officer pointed toward them, his five battle robots moving forward with guns drawn toward the family of six.
     "Stop."
     The officer turned, facing a middle-aged man with a light brown cloak and a graying black beard on his chin.  His green eyes were focused on the officer.  "What did you say?"
     "I told you to stop.  I will not allow you to take this family prisoner."
     "You will not allow us?"  The officer laughed.  "Like you could stop us!  Take him away first."  He pointed toward the man.
     "Yes sir," the lead robot replied, raising his rifle.  "You are under....."
     In a blur, the man whipped out an object from his waist belt, a small hand-held device.  A large green energy blade appeared.  The man swiped with the blade, slicing through the lead robot with ease before it could finish saying "arrest".  The other robots, detecting the new danger, fired.  The yellow energy bolts from their weapons were deflected right back at them by the man's energy blade, his arms moving in a blur.  Within five seconds, the battle robots were in pieces around the man.
     "What...  what are you?!"  The officer dropped his rifle, trembling in fear.
     The man raised his hand, waving it in front of the officer's face.  "You will not take this family prisoner."
     "I will not take this family prisoner," the officer replied obediently.
     "You will give them free passage to their home," the man continued, walking toward the trembling family.
     "I will give them free passage to their home."
     "Follow me."
     "Follow me," the officer said to the family, who warily followed the officer and their unknown rescuer.
     The group walked through the lower levels of Midgar Sector 1, arriving at the family's shack near the energy wall that surrounded the undercity.  "I apologize for bothering you."
     "I apologize for bothering you," the officer said to the family.
     "Good night."
     "Good night."  The officer walked away.
     "Thank you for saving our family, kind sir," Jozel said humbly.  "Is there anything we can do for you?"
     "I require some food.  I have traveled far."
     "We have our dinner for the night," Jozel said the man, pointing to the meat and vegetables in the hands of his four children and wife.   "Come, share our meal with us."
     "I thank you."
     "Sir," the woman Valeri asked, "what is your name?"
     The man nodded humbly.  "I am Qui-Xi Lao."
 

     At first she felt fear, then pain.  The pain of water filling her lungs, slowly drowning her.  She thrashed in the water, trying to get to fresh air, trying to save herself.  But it was to no avail.  The water began pulling her down, her life slowly draining away.  She tried to use the power she had known since birth, but those sacred powers did not respond either.  She closed her eyes, consigning herself to a watery grave.
     That was when two powerful arms grabbed her from the water.
 

     "Hey Kyle!"  Santos Geli of Mideel looked over the side of their boat.  "There's a girl in the water!"
     "Really?!"  Kyle looked over, and began taking off his shirt.  "Get the engine ready, San!"  He jumped into the water, and fished the girl out.  Santos pulled her in, Kyle climbing in afterward.  He leaned down, and began administering CPR.  After his fifth push on her body, she began coughing up seawater, and resumed breathing.  "Hold on, kid," he said to her, staring at the wet purple hair on her head.  "Let me get her in.  We gotta take her back to New Mideel to see the Doc."
     "Say, Kyle, see that hair she's got?"  Santos watched Kyle lay her out on a bed.  "I wonder if she's one of those punk rockers up from Midgar."
     "Nah, look at her clothes.  Nice lookin', smooth....  Some kinda robe I'd say."  Kyle put the throttle to full, his fishing boat now on a bearing to return to it's berth at the newly-built coastal town of New Mideel.
 

     "Cloud!  Cloud!!!!"
     Barret's voice echoed through the center of Nibelheim.  Cloud looked down from the house he and Silas were busy building, and yelled, "Barret!"  He climbed down the ladder.  "Barret, what is it?"
     "They got her Cloud!  Damned Imperium's got Tifa!"
     Cloud's heart froze, his eyes narrowing.  "What do you mean the Imperium has Tifa?"
     "They hit Kalm a couple of days ago.  Kicked everyone's ass, and hauled Tifa off to their HQ in Midgar!"
     "How did the Imperium manage to beat the SOLDIER units defending Kalm?"  Cloud couldn't believe what he was hearing.  The Neo Imperium was a ridiculous excuse for a replacement for Shinra, a small force of Shinra diehards following the newly crowned "Emperor" Karbov.  Reeves had been trying to convince the Wutai to forge an alliance to take down the Imperium, although no one really cared about Karbov's fanatics anyway.  Cloud could see why, for the man was a raving lunatic.
     "Some new kinda weapon!  They used some group of old Shinra robots with new weapons.  Didn't fire bullets, but some kinda energy bolt.  Ain't seen nothin' like it since those Mako weapons......"
     "We have to save her.  Barret, any way we can get to the Midgar continent within a day?"
     "Hell no!  This is one of those times I miss the Highwind...."
     "I still got the Tiny Bronco," Cid's voice mentioned.  The two turned to see him emerge from the Nibelheim Inn.  "I was stoppin' for a rest on my way to Cosmo Canyon, but I couldn't help but hear ya talkin' about those f$*#ing Imperiums making off with Tifa.  Gotta do somethin' about that!"
     "Cloud, we ain't got Materia anymore!", Barret reminded him.  "Those Shinra robots gonna be hell to fight!"
     "We'll have to make due."  Cloud entered his home, and took out the old combat suit he hadn't worn since they had defeated Sephiroth.  He slipped it on as quickly as possible, then reached into his closet and retrieved the only superweapon that AVALANCHE had not sealed away.  Ultima Weapon shined in his hands, a purple glow surrounding the blade, now an extension of his own strength.  The weapon would not be as effective with the Lifestream's current weakness, but it would have to be enough.  He emerged from his home, Barret and Cid waiting for him.  "Let's go."
 

     Nanaki watched the sunset of Cosmo Canyon, overlooking the bustling town.  Rumors of the conquest of Kalm by the forces of the Neo Imperium had reached those of the Canyon, and Nanaki feared that soon they would be forced back into war.
     "I see you are well," a voice said to him.  Nanaki turned his lithe form, facing the mysterious Vincent.  "I take it you have heard the rumblings of war?"
     "To the east, comrade," Nanaki agreed.  "Soon, I fear, we will all be fighting for our lives again.  Have you succeeded in finding the others?"
     "According to my sources in Wutai, Yuffie has disappeared.  Cloud is in Nibelheim, Barret in New Corel, and Cid should still be in Rocket Town."  Vincent crossed his arms.  "Tifa has gone missing.  An old friend, or should I say enemy, of ours has indicated to me that she has been taken by the Imperium."
     "Impossible!", Nanaki growled.  "And who is the source of this information?"
     "My former comrades in the Turks," Vincent answered.  "I found Reno, Rude, and Elena in Costa del Sol, working as private security for one of the leaders of the town.  They still have some sources within the Shinra personnel who now work for Karbov.  Karbov is scouring the world for an ancient artifact, the Eye of Tathos.  His agents have been as far north as the Crater itself in search of the Eye."
     "The Eye of Tathos?  Where have I heard that name before?"  Nanaki turned back to the sunset.
     "We should go to the Shinra mansion in Nibelheim," Vincent recommended.  "There we may find the information we need."
     "I shall inform the Canyon Elders before we leave."  Nanaki took one last, longing look at the sunset, and walked down toward the town.
 

     "I want the Eye, Tifa," Karbov demanded as his lackeys controlled the rack Tifa was strapped too.  Her arms and legs were taunt, every move from the rack bringing another yelp from her.  "I want the Eye of Tathos."
     "I don't have it," she told him yet again.  "I never did."
     "You lie."  He turned to one of his lackeys.  "Again."
     Tifa howled as she was stretched out again.  "Stop it!  I tell you, I don't know where the Eye is!  Why do you want it anyway?!  It's worthless without the Lifestream."
     "You're wrong, Tifa.  The Eye of Tathos is far more powerful than you can possibly imagine.  I want it, and I'm going to get it, even if I have to rip you in half for it!  Again!"
     Tifa screamed as they continued to torment her.
 

     "Mister Lao, sir," the youngest girl of the family, barely 5, said meekly at the table as the family ate, "how did you make the bad man say those nice things to us?"
     "He was weak-minded, and very easy to manipulate," Qui-Xi answered.
     "But how did you actually take over his mind, Mister Lao?", the girl asked.
     "Do you really want to know, Kallie?"
     Heads turned to face him, as the children's names had not yet been mentioned.  Qui-Xi took a bite from his plate, and continued.  "I used the Force, child."
     "What is this 'Force', Mister Lao sir?", Kallie asked with typical toddler curiosity.
     "The Force is all around us, Kallie.  It is an energy field present in all living things, in space itself.  I am a Jedi, one who can use the Force to serve others.  One of the many uses of the Force is the ability to influence and manipulate weak-minded people."
     "What was that cool beam sword you used to slice up those Imperium robots?!"  The youngest boy, about 8, took his own turn to ask a question.
     "It is a lightsaber, the traditional weapon of a Jedi Knight.  Only a Jedi can wield it safely."
     "How do you use the Force?"
     Qui-Xi nearly laughed, finding it amusing to be bombarded by questions from the children, with the parents merely listening and eating.  "Inside of you, Kallie, are small microscopic lifeforms called midichlorians.  They share a symbiotic existance with us, and it is through them that we use the Force."  He lowered his head near Kallie's ear, and said softly, "If one listens, they can hear their midichlorians speaking to them."
     Almost immediately, Kallie and the boy closed their eyes and tried to concentrate.  Their older siblings, both near their teens, began laughing and howling.  Qui-Xi smiled, and put a hand on Kallie.  "No, child.  It takes years for one to master the Force well enough to truly listen to midichlorians.  And I fear you do not have the necessary Force potential."
     "If you say so," Kallie answered, dejected.
     Qui-Xi quietly finished his meal, then stood.  "I thank you for your kindness, but I must be leaving.  I fear I have already put your family at risk."
     "What makes you say that?"  Jozel seemed worried at Qui-Xi's words.
     "There is one hunting me.  He is of the Dark Side, and seeks to destroy me.  He will destroy all who stand before him to achieve his goal.  I must not put your family before him.  Good night."
     "Mister Lao, wait!  Daddy, I need to get something!"
     "Go right ahead, Kallie."
     The little red-haired girl jumped out of her chair, and ran into her room.  She emerged with a shining purple stone.  "A nice lady gave this to me a few days ago.  She said to keep it hidden, but my brothers won't leave it alone, and I'm afraid they'll let the bad guys see it.  Will you keep it?"
     Qui-Xi kneeled, and picked up the purple stone.  A small eye-like part was etched into the stone.  He felt it's power in his hands, and his heart raced.  "Yes, I will keep the stone."  He patted the girl on the cheek.  "Thank you, Kallie.  May the Force be with you."
     And with that, Qui-Xi left.
 

     Cloud looked down, watching the ocean below them as the Tiny Bronco raced through the sky toward Midgar.  "What's the plan, Cloud?"
     "Rescue Tifa," he answered simplistically.
     "Nice plan," Cid replied sarcastically.  "And I suppose the Imperium f$(#ers'll just let us waltz right in and pick her up?"
     "No.  They'll probably fight us every inch of the way.  Barret, got that EM gun ready?"
     Barret patted the new weapon attached to his right arm.  "Ready, Cloud.  I've been lookin' forward to this."
     "Let's do it.  Cid, put us....."
     Yellow bolts of energy began arising from the rooftops of Midgar.  "I'll be f$(#ed," Cid swore.  "They've got AAA!!!!!"
     "We'll parachute down.  Keep the Tiny Bronco out of harm's way until we're ready for you to pick us up."  Cloud secured his parachute and opened his cockpit.  He jumped out of the small plane, Barret right behind him.  Their white parachutes deployed as they floated downward toward Midgar's inner core, where the former Shinra HQ now stood.
     They began removing their parachutes, and were immediately surrounded by Imperium battle troops.  "Barret, your EM gun!", Cloud shouted, pulling out Ultima Weapon and using it to deflect an incoming yellow plasma bolt.
     "Eat this, suckahs!"  Barret pointed his barrel at a group of battle drones, and fired.  A bright blue energy pulse flew through the air.  The drones shook violently, and collapsed from being short-circuited.  "Now we're talkin'!  You filthy bastards want another one?!"  He pointed to another group of drones, and fired again.
     This time the blue energy merely passed through them.  Cloud deflected several more plasma bolts flying toward them.  "What the hell?!"
     "Ah, if it isn't the immortal Cloud Strife?  And his friend, Barret Wallace I believe?"  A helicopter came downward, the face of Karbov on a telescreen inside.  "Surrender yourselves to the Neo Imperium, and you may be spared.  Otherwise....."  Karbov moved out of the screen.
     "Tifa!"  Cloud and Barret watched her squirm as electric current was run through her.  "Stop it, or I'll....."
     "You will surrender to the Imperium, or I will kill her.  Your choice is simple."
     Without further thought, Cloud put the Ultima Weapon away.
     "Wise choice, boy," Karbov answered, his evil grin filling the telescreen.
     "Come and face me like a man," Cloud demanded.
     "Oh, we will meet face-to-face.  But first, I want to have some more fun with your girlfriend.  And if I were you, I wouldn't count on any help."  Karbov turned to something off the screen.  "Launch aerofighters."
     "Yes Emperor," a voice replied.
     Cid, he won't stand a chance against those things.  Cloud was prodded by one of the drones.  "Move along," the drone commanded.
     "Come on, Barret.  We'll think of something later."  Cloud stepped on the helicopter, followed by Barret.  It lifted off, heading upward toward Imperium Tower, formerly known as Shinra HQ.
 

     "Turn it up another level," Karbov ordered his operator, watching Tifa squirm on the table like a poked bug.  "Tifa, tell me where the Eye is, and I'll stop this.  I'll let you have your peace.  But I must have the Eye!"
     Tifa took in a breath, and yelled, "Stop!!!!  I'll tell!!!"  It was a delaying tactic at best, but she was in too much pain to think of something else.
     Karbov nodded to the operator, who turned off the current.  "The Eye.  Did you have it?"
     "Yes," Tifa moaned, trying to breathe.
     "And where did you hide it?"
     "I gave it to a little girl just before your drones found me," Tifa explained.
     Karbov frowned.  "Which little girl?  There are thousands of little girls in Midgar!"
     "I don't know!  I just gave the Eye to her and told her to go home!"  Tifa closed her eyes, bracing herself for Karbov's wrath.
     Karbov considered resuming the interrogation, but it was obvious that Tifa's condition did not seem promising for more information.  Besides, he had just acquired her friends.  It would be better to let them see each other, then use her weakened condition against the others.  Perhaps they would know where the Eye was.
     "Take her back to her cell, and bring her friends to see her," Karbov ordered his men.
     "Yes, Emperor."
 

     "Shiiiiiit!!!!"
     Tiny Bronco exploded above Cid as he fell toward Midgar.  Overhead, the drone aerofighters of the Imperium ignored him, leaving to return to their launching stations.  Cid deployed his parachute, and grabbed the Trident hooked to his back.  He landed in the streets of Midgar, not far from the tower that had been Shinra HQ at one time.  "Okay, now what?", he muttered.  He was answered by five Imperium battle drones walking up, their plasma rifles drawn.  "Oh crap," he moaned.
     "Hands up," one of the drones ordered.  "You're under...."
     A green energy beam appeared through it's chest, slicing it in half.  The drones turned to face Qui-Xi, who wielded his green lightsaber with deadly precision.  Two of the drones fired, and were downed immediately by their own bolts being sent back at them.  Qui-Xi leapt high into the air, coming back down behind them and cutting both in half with one slash.
     Cid stared at Qui-Xi, amazed at his speed.  "Damn that was fast?  Just who the hell are you?!"
     "I am Qui-Xi Lao," he answered.  "And you are Cid Highwind?"
     "How.... how the f$*# did you know my name?"
     "That is for another time," Qui-Xi replied.  He reached back into Cid's mind, seeing his purpose.  "Your friends will need your help.  I saw an aerial vehicle heading to the tower, so that must be where they were taken."
     "Only question is, how are we gonna get in the damned place with these f$@*ing Imperium drones everywhere."
     "I shall provide the means.  Follow me, and say nothing."  Qui-Xi led the confused Cid toward the tower.
 

     "She's awake!"
     Santos ran into the room in his coastal home where the girl had been laid out by his wife Crysta.  The girl's eyes were shining with purple, which seemed weird to Santos.  The girl looked at him, and said with a weak voice, "Where am I?"
     "You're near New Mideel, girl."  Santos almost asked her where she got her purple eyes and hair, but stopped at the last moment.  "How did you end up in the water?"
     "I... I don't know....."  The girl's eyes were cloudy.  "I'm.... I'm hungry..."
     "I'll get you some food," Crysta promised, leaving the room.
     Santos touched her forehead.  "You've got a slight fever," he informed her.  "I've called for the doctor to come see you."
     "Doctor?"  The girl stared at the ceiling, as if she was trying to think.  "I'm tired."
     "I'm sure you are.  Rest, girl.  You'll be safe with us."
     The girl nodded, and continued staring at the ceiling.
 

     "Tifa!"
     Cloud glared at the guards who brought Tifa into the cell, and closed the door behind them.  When they were out of sight, he kneeled beside her, picking her up in his arms.  Her white bodice was stained with dirty, her visible body covered in burn marks.  "Oh my God, what did they do to you?!"
     "They wanted the Eye, Cloud.  And they wanted you and the others."
     "The Eye?  What is it?"
     She shrugged painfully.  "A small purple stone some old man gave me before dying.  He made me promise not to let anyone have it.  He sounded sincere enough, so I got rid of it before being taken.  Oooooh......"  Tifa closed her eyes, weak.  "Karbov is insane, Cloud.  Worse than any of the old Shinra leaders.  We can't let him have the Eye."
     Cloud gently kissed her.  "I'll make him pay for this," he vowed.
     Barret sat down next to them.  "Damn bastards are smart.  They got two dozen of them attack robots outside in case we try 'n break out!"
     "We'll have to think of something, Barret.  We couldn't escape now anyway, because Tifa's too weak."
     "Yeah, well, mebbe we'll get some luck our way for once."
 

     "Come this way."
     Cid watched in admiration as Qui-Xi easily manipulated the guards at the door to Karbov's tower.  "We will take you to see the Emperor," Qui-Xi said as the two guards led him and Cid into the building.
     "We will take you to see the Emperor," the guards repeated.
     "He will reward us well," Qui-Xi added.
     "He will reward us well."
     They entered an elevator, and Cid whispered to Qui-Xi, "How in the hell are you doing that?!"
     "I shall discuss everything later," Qui-Xi answered.
     The voice of Karbov began speaking on the guards' radios.  "Bring the prisoners to me.  I wish to see them in my throne room."
     Cid and Qui-Xi exchanged glances, and braced themselves for the fight.
 

     "No.... mother, don't.... stop him!  Help!"
     "Wake up, kid!  Wake up!"
     Santos shook the girl, who was busy moaning in her sleep.  Her eyes flashed open, her hands gripping his shoulders.  Her chest heaved from the panic of her dream, Santos trying to calm her.  "Come on, kid, breathe nice and slow.  It was a dream, nothing but a dream.  You're safe now."
     "Safe," the girl mumbled, as if trying to assure herself of the truth.  "I'm safe now."
     "Yes, you're safe now."  Santos walked back to the door.  "Doctor came by while you were asleep.  Took one look at you and told us to keep you in bed for a few days."
     The girl nodded, and went back to sleep.
 

     Qui-Xi and Cid rounded a corner, and stopped.  Ahead of them stood six Imperium drones.  "Those things look a helluva lot like Shinra soldiers, ya know," Cid remarked.  "What's the plan?"
     "This."  Qui-Xi extended his lightsaber, and threw it at the drones.  Using the Force to guide it, he sent it spinning through the air, it's green blade looking like a helicopter rotor.  The lightsaber flew just in front of the drones, and sliced them each in half.  Qui-Xi guided the lightsaber back into his hand flawlessly, Cid staring.  "I believe we can pass now?"
     Cid nodded slowly.  "Yeah, we can pass...."
 

     Karbov grinned wickedly as Cloud and Barret were brought before him.  "I take it that you have spoken to your friend?"
     "You bastard," Cloud spat.
     "I really don't care for what you think of me," Karbov replied.  "I want the Eye of Tathos."
     "We don't have it."
     "Bad for me, bad for her."  Karbov pointed toward the other side of the room.  Cloud and Barret turned.
     Tifa was hanging by a pair of steel wires from the roof, her wrists each shackled to the wires by restraints.  Her ankles were shackled to a heavy block of steel below her, the steel held up by a support frame.  "Give me the Eye of Tathos, Cloud, or watch her suffer."
     "I told you once, Karbov, we don't have it!"  Cloud glared at the man.  "Now let us go!"
     Karbov sighed, putting his hands in a steeple as he leaned back in his "throne".  "Now," he ordered one of the drones.
     The drone nodded, and shot the support structure out from under the steel block shackled to Tifa.  Gravity pulled it down, until Tifa's body supplied the support for it to remain suspended above the ground.  Tifa screamed from the agony as her body was stretched beyond capacity by the steel block.  "Two things will give, Mister Strife.  Either the superdense tritanium alloy wires holding her to the roof and the block will break, or Tifa's body itself will be ripped in half.  And do not underestimate the physical strength of the human body, all that tissue and bone.  I guarantee you, we could wait here for hours before her body succumbs to the force, and every second of that will be excruciatingly painful."  Karbov began whistling, although Cloud and Barret could barely hear him over Tifa's screaming.  "Give me the Eye."
     "We don't have it!  Let her down!", Cloud yelled in fury.  "Damn you, let her down!!!!"
     Karbov continued whistling, ignoring Cloud's angry shouts.  "Let her down you mother f$(*#ing Shinra bastard!", Barret demanded as well.  Karbov's whistling did not cease.
     Tifa's eyes closed, her arm muscles trying to hold her up.  The pain rippled through her, her body feeling like it was going to be ripped apart by the weight of the block below her.  She gasped for air, although every breath was more pain in of itself.
     "Let her down Karbov!!!!!"  Cloud tried to attack the whistling Emperor, but was held back by two drones.
     "Give me the Eye," he repeated.
     "For the last time, we don't have it!"
     "Then I suppose this is a moot point, and poor Tifa," Karbov smiled wickedly, "will spend hours of agony before she becomes a very short woman."  Karbov's laugh was sadistic, Tifa's screams and agony giving him pleasure.
     That was when the wire snapped.
     Or more appropriately, it was sliced in half.
     Tifa fell to the ground, her ankles still shackled to the steel block.  She groaned, and opened her eyes.
     "Hiya Tifa!"  Cid twirled his Trident in his fingers, looking over her.  "Hey, ugly, I got somethin' for ya!"  He threw it at Karbov's head, Karbov barely having time to jump out of his chair before the three points of the trident slammed where his head had been.  "Did ya like that, asshole?!"
     "Get them!!!!!"  Karbov pointed at Cid and Qui-Xi, whose lightsaber had been the cause of Tifa's liberation.  A buzz filled the air as Qui-Xi deflected some shots coming toward him, sending them back to the drones who had fired at him.  He leapt halfway across the room with a Force-enhanced jump, and performed a 360 slash, destroying seven of Karbov's guard drones with his lightsaber.  Cloud whipped out Ultima Weapon, which Karbov had not bothered to claim, and sliced through two more drones.  Cid picked up Tifa, saying, "Feel any taller, Tifa?"
     "Don't be such a smartass, Cid," she retorted.  "Would you like someone to try to rip you in half?!"
     Barret ran over, having retrieved Cid's Trident.  "My EM cannon ain't workin'!  I'll help Tifa, you help Cloud and the other guy!"  He put Tifa's arm over his shoulder, supporting her.
     Cid twirled the Trident in his hand, and used it to impale a nearby drone.  He whirled around, and attacked another one, barely evading a quick burst of plasma fire.
     Cloud's Ultima Weapon absorbed some incoming blasts.  He twirled around, taking down a drone behind Qui-Xi.  Qui-Xi stretched his hand out, sending a pair of drones flying.  "How the hell...?!"
     "Not now!"  Qui-Xi pointed to the door to the roof.  "Get your friends out, that way!"
     "To the roof?  You must be...."
     "Trust me!"  Qui-Xi deflected several more energy bolts from Imperium drones, Karbov already yelling into his throne intercom for security.
     Cloud went to protest, but Cid stopped him.  "Cloud, he saved my ass, and got us up here in no time flat.  I trust him!"
     "Tifa, Barret, this way!"  Cloud slashed up two more drones, and Cid impaled another one.  Barret dragged Tifa out of the door toward the roof.
     Qui-Xi hacked his way through four more drones, and was to the door when he finally turned to Karbov.  The two stared at each other for a moment, and that was when Qui-Xi realized what Karbov was after.  He held the stone Kallie had given him in his hand, letting Karbov see it.  "Is this the item you seek?"
     "The Eye of Tathos," Karbov rasped.  "Give me the Eye!!!!"  Karbov watched Qui-Xi go out the door, howling, "GIVE ME THE EYE OF TATHOS NOW!!!!!!"
 

     "Where to now, smartass?!"  Barret glared at Qui-Xi as he ran to the roof.  "There's nothin' here!  We've been stabbed in the...."
     "Not now."  Qui-Xi reached out with the Force, and activated a mechanism.  A large ship appeared on the roof, a nearly-circular ship with the cockpit extending on the right side.  "It is a modified Corellian YT-1300 Transport with a cloaking device.  Get in now."  Qui-Xi looked again at the Corellian Transport, and a ramp came down.
     A wave of drones ran up to the roof from Karbov's throne room, rifles firing.  Qui-Xi turned and began deflecting their shots back toward them.  "Hurry!"
     Barret carried Tifa aboard, with Cid and Cloud following behind him.  Qui-Xi was the last to board, hitting the button to close the ramp.  Qui-Xi sprinted through the ship to the cockpit, Cid and Cloud following him.  "How did you get this thing here by remote control?"
     "I didn't.  That did."  Qui-Xi pointed to a small droid attached to the ship's flight controls.  "R2-Z5, my control and repair droid."  Qui-Xi pushed a lever, and the energy bolts that were scorching his ship's hull were now deflected by a hull-tight energy shield.  Qui-Xi lifted off, leaving the Imperium's drones behind.  Qui-Xi pushed the main throttle control up slightly, the ship zipping away from Midgar.  The ship rocked slightly.  "Imperium aerofighters!"  Cid pointed to the small brown shapes out the window.
     "If they are merely aerofighters, we have nothing to worry about." Qui-Xi raised the ship's nose, and pushed the throttle up.  The ship shot upward, outrunning the fast aerofighters.  Not five seconds had passed before they were in orbit.  "I believe we are safe, for now."
     "Impossible!"  Cid stared downward.  "How do we have gravity in space?!"
     "An artificial gravity field," Qui-Xi answered.  "Where do you wish me to land?"
     "Nibelheim," Cloud answered.
     Qui-Xi nodded, having noted the town's geographic location from Cloud's mind.  "I shall set us down there."
 

     Silas turned from the blond-haired girl he was flirting with, and watched in amazement as a spacecraft settled down beside the old Shinra mansion.  "What the hell....?"  He ran up, some of the other townspeople already staring at the ship.
     The ramp opened, and Cloud stepped down with Tifa in his arms.  "Cloud?!"  Silas stared at him.  "What is that thing?"
     "This 'thing', young man, is a Corellian YT-1300 Transport, the Lightrunner."  Qui-Xi stepped down beside Cid.
     "Who the hell is that, Cloud?"
     "I am Qui-Xi Lao.  And you?"
     "Call me Silas."  Silas watched Cloud carry Tifa toward his home.  "What happened to her?"
     "Imperium bastards tortured her," Barret growled.
     "Yeah, they would have ripped her in half if not for Qui-Xi."  Cid pounded the Jedi Knight on the shoulder.  "You should've been around to help us out against Sephiroth a year ago."
     Qui-Xi allowed himself a small smile.
 

     Cloud laid Tifa out on his bed, touching her face.  "Tifa, you're going to be okay."
     "It still... hurts," she groaned.
     "If only Materia still worked," Cloud lamented, holding a green Materia in his hand.
     The door opened, and Qui-Xi entered.  In his hand was the Eye of Tathos.  Tifa saw it and recognized it.  "How... how did you get that?"
     "The little girl gave it to me.  Now I know why I was drawn to her family."  Qui-Xi put the Eye back in his robe.  "I shall place this somewhere safe.  If the legends are correct, and this is the Eye of Tathos, then we could all be in grave danger."
     "What makes you say that?  The thing's Materia, and Materia can't be used anymore."  Cloud held the green Materia told Tifa, and sighed.  "See?  This is a Cure Materia, yet it doesn't work."
     "Let me see that."  Qui-Xi took the green stone into his hand.  "I can feel the Force flowing within this," he noted aloud.  He pointed it toward Tifa and concentrated a little.  Green energy flowed from the stone to surround her.  She began moving, the wounds on her body healing at a fantastic rate.
     "How... how was that possible?"  Cloud took the Materia from Qui-Xi.  "How did you use the Materia?  No one has been able to, not since Meteor...."
     "All will be explained."
     The door opened again.  "Yo, Cloud, Vincent and Red are here," Barret said from the doorway.  "They want to talk to ya about that weird thing Karbov was lookin' for, that Eye of Tathos thing."
     Qui-Xi raised an eyebrow.  Cloud crossed his arms.  "Tell them we'll talk to them at the table.  And let them know about our new friend here."
     "Gotcha Cloud."
 

     "For over twenty-five millennia, the Jedi were the guardians of peace and justice in the Galactic Republic."  Qui-Xi stood before the assembled AVALANCHE members, minus Yuffie.  "That was before Palpatine and his apprentice, Anakin Skywalker, destroyed the Jedi and the Republic, and formed the Empire.  I survived to escape with the Lightrunner.  While evading the Empire on the Outer Rim, I discovered a 'current', of sorts, in hyperspace.  It allowed my ship to go thousands of times past it's normal speed, and come to this galaxy.  Once here, I was drawn to this world by the Force."
     "The Force?  What kinda mumbo jumbo is that?", Barret grumbled.
     "The Force is an energy field present in all things, living and nonliving.  It is an integral part of reality itself.  Everyone is connected to the Force, but there are those who can use the Force.  We called ourselves Jedi.  And then there are those who fall to their own hatred, and go over to the Dark Side of the Force.  Among them are the Sith, an ancient order of Dark Jedi who now rule through the Empire."
     "You said something about the Eye of Tathos and the legend surrounding it.  Since we know nothing, can you tell us?"
     "Long ago, near the founding of the Galactic Republic, a Dark Jedi existed.  He was known as Zeromus.  The entire Jedi Council fought him on Coruscant, the Republic's capitol world, and after days of unending battle, Zeromus disappeared.  According to the legends, as I know them, Zeromus was consumed by his own hatred, his body destroyed by the intense energies of the Dark Side.  His spirit, fueled by hate, fled to another galaxy, where it briefly tried to take a new form, but was defeated by five Heroes of Light."
     "But what about the Eye?"  Cloud picked up the purple stone in his hand.  "Where does this come in?"
     "Here is where the legend becomes less well known, for even the Jedi are unsure if it is true or not.  The legend says that the spirit of Zeromus was sealed away in an unknown plane of existance called the Dark Nether.  The Eye of Tathos is the key to the Dark Nether."
     "But, why would Karbov want to free Zeromus?"  Tifa crossed her arms.  "He can't be that crazy."
     "It is said that any man who enters the Dark Nether and leaves it will become a demigod," Qui-Xi explained.  "Perhaps Karbov thinks he can get in and out of the Dark Nether before Zeromus gets through the opening in the seal.  Either way, his actions could spell doom for this planet."
     "We didn't survive Sephiroth and Meteor just to get wiped out by some evil spirit and a sadistic maniac."  Cloud stood, putting his hands on the table.  "We can't let Karbov get the Eye."
     "But we can't take on his robot army," Tifa pointed out.  "Not without Materia.  Cloud, you and Cid were the only ones who even held their own against a few."
     "Only one guy here can kick their sorry asses, and that's Qui-Xi," Cid answered.  "Why don't we have him show us how to fight like he does?"
     Qui-Xi shook his head.  "None of you have sufficient Force potential for Jedi training.  However, there is one I sense nearby."  Qui-Xi turned to Silas, who was sitting in another room kissing a young brown-haired girl.
     "Him?!"  Tifa stood, seeing who Qui-Xi was indicating.  "Silas?!"
     "He is the one," Qui-Xi said.  "He is strong in the Force."
     "And he's the only presence in the Force you can feel?"
     "Correct."
     "You mean he's the only one you can train?", Tifa groaned.
     "Yes."
     "We're doomed," Cloud moaned, putting his face in his hands on the table.
 

     Santos sat beside the girl, who was eating some of Crysta's fish stew.  "You're recovering pretty fast, kid."
     The girl nodded, continuing to eat.
     What's wrong with this girl?  She looks pretty traumatized.  Gotta try to get her talkin'.  "Something wrong, girl?  You rarely talk."
     "Nothing," the girl lied.  She finished the stew, giving Santos the bowl.
     "C'mon, kid, tell ol' Santos somethin'.  How did you get your purple eyes?  Your purple hair?  Hell, even your name!"
     "My name?", the girl mumbled.
     "Yeah, you're name."
     "My name....  My name...."
     "What's wrong, you got amnesia?"
     "My name...  My name is Schala."
 

     Karbov slumped into his throne, having just witnessed the execution via firing squad of the tower's security chief.  That was not what preoccupied his mind, though.  He wanted to know who the mysterious friend of the AVALANCHE members had been, where he had gotten his energy blade and superb fighting skills, and most importantly, how he had acquired the Eye of Tathos.
     "You are Emperor Karbov?"  A sinister voice filled the throne room.
     "Who.... who are you?!  Reveal yourself to me!"
     A cloaked figure emerged from the shadows.  His face was covered by a blue tattoo that represented an inverted triangle on his face, the point being just above his mouth and spreading to his head to the areas covered by the hood.  His red eyes were like a bonfire as he gazed into Karbov' soul.  "You seek the Eye of Tathos?", the figure asked.
     "Yes, I seek the Eye," Karbov answered.
     "And I seek he who holds the eye," the shadowy figure added.  "Therefore I propose an alliance of sorts.  You get the Eye of Tathos, I get Qui-Xi Lao.  Would this arrangement be suitable to your purposes?"
     "The man destroyed many of my most powerful battle drones.  What makes you think you have a hope?"
     The figure reached into his cloak, and brought out an object.  A red energy blade appeared.  "Qui-Xi is no match for my dark power," the figure boasted.
     Karbov nodded, grinning evilly.  "Yes, I believe this would work to our mutual benefit.  I would be glad to make you my ally.  But first, I need to know who you are."
     "I am Darth Lyron of the Sith," the figure replied.
 

     "What is it, Qui-Xi?"  Tifa noticed the Jedi Knight's expression change.
     "I feel a dark presence in the Force."  Qui-Xi turned toward the east, toward Midgar.  "It can only be a Sith."
     "A Sith?  Here?"  Tifa sat down in the kitchen.  "How?"
     "He must have been following me."
     "This complicates things."
     "That, Cloud, was an understatement," Vincent pointed out.
     "No matter," Qui-Xi said, turning back to them.  "Tomorrow, if the boy is ready, I shall begin his training."
     "Good luck keeping him away from the girls," Cloud laughed, rolling his eyes.  He put his arm around Tifa's, and led her upstairs.
     "Should've known those two would be the perfect couple," Cid chuckled, blowing a puff of smoke out and looking over a piece of paper.  After a moment, he stood up.  "Well, I've got to get back to Rocket Town.  Building a new airship, after all.  To replace the Highwind."
     "Yeah, poor Highwind," Barret said, frowning.
     Vincent turned to the door, watching Cid leave and then following him.  "I shall be outside, watching.  I recommend you all get a good night's sleep."
     "Especially you, kid," Barret said to Silas, who was sitting down and staring at the ceiling.  "Qui-Xi's gonna whup yo ass tomorrow if you ain't ready."
     "Yeah, yeah, yeah," Silas muttered, ignoring Barret and walking out the door.
     "You sure that kid is the only one here who can be Jedi," Nanaki asked Qui-Xi.
     "Yes.  You must have faith in the boy.  The living Force will guide him."
     "I am interested in the Force you speak of, Qui-Xi.  For many years, the people of Cosmo Canyon have studied our planet, and the Lifestream within.  Unfortunately, repelling Meteor has taxed the Lifestream severely, leaving it weak.  That is why Materia has been useless to us."
     "The Lifestream may have been the presence in the Force that drew me to this place.  Perhaps I shall come to the Canyon and learn more of it."
     "That would be wise, Qui-Xi.  Sleep well."  Nanaki settled down in a corner to rest for the night.
     Qui-Xi looked to the sky, at all the brilliant stars, and retired to his room for the night.
 

     Freedom....
     The seal held him back, unwavering in his strength.  He pushed it time and time again, unable to get out.  He felt a presence on the other side of the seal.  A presence desiring him as much as he desired his freedom.  A presence desiring to harness the power of his hate.  Yes.....  Free me, and I shall imbue you with my power.  I will become you, you will become me, and we shall destroy all.....
     He felt another presence, then, and his hate came alive within him.  A Jedi?!  On my world?!  Yearning for freedom, for revenge, he pushed against the seal even harder, but to no avail.  Had he known patience, he would have waited until the other presence opened the seal, but he was the Dark One, the spirit of Hate itself, and he knew no patience.  He wanted freedom, AND HE WANTED IT RIGHT NOW!!!
     The seal remained as unyielding as it had always been as he slammed his essence into it over and over again, yearning freedom..........