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Felucia, June 6, 2234
John Smith looked over the droid army in the distance. Set upon a plateau a mile from the enemy, he had a good sight of the area. He pressed his commlink device, but it made a sound that told him that he wasn't getting a connection.
"Hey, trooper," Smith said to a clone trooper. "Are you able to connect with General Secura's group? I think my comm is broken again."
"I'll see to it, sir," the trooper said.
Smith rubbed his chin. "Something's not right."
"Sir, we've been ordered back to base."
"Well, the comm apparently needs fixing. Call in a bombardment of the area and call it a day."
An hour later, the group made it back to base.
"Bly, I see the fort is standing strong as ever."
"General Secura is waiting for you in your quarters," Bly said. "Said something about a malfunction."
"Well, seems to be important."
Smith arrived in his quarters and noticed a small round piece of metal on his desk.
"If the malfunction is a broken comm," Smith said, hearing his quarters' door open. "Then I've been set up."
He turned and saw Aayla at the door.
"You got me," she said, raising her hands while smiling. "I wanted to see you."
"You could have just asked."
Aayla placed her hand on Smith's chest. "Have I ever told you that you are quite the romantic?"
"I wonder, have I ever told you how beautiful you are?"
"You just did."
Aayla leaned in and kissed Smith, who returned the gesture.
"So, what is the real reason you wanted to see me?"
"Kenobi has been chosen to go after Grevious. When it is done, the war will be over."
"Well, that is good news."
Smith sat down and struggled to remove his shirt.
"Something wrong?" Aayla asked.
"My shoulders are sore. It's been a long day."
"Here. Let me help."
Aayla removed Smith's shirt and massaged his shoulders.
"Oh yeah, that's what I needed. Where'd you learn to do this?"
"It is part of my people's way of calming the nerves."
"Funny, that's the same for Terrans."
"Feeling better?"
"Neck is still sore."
Aayla massaged his neck and afterward kissed him there.
"Not bad."
"Feeling better, now?"
Smith began to run his fingers on Aayla's ear cones.
"Enough to repay you." He kissed her.
"I was expecting something else."
"Like what?"
She whispered it in his ear and his eyes widen.
"Really? I thought we agreed to wait until the war was over."
"It is almost over. I plan to leave the order after we are done here."
"It could be all over by tomorrow."
"John, please, it's time."
Smith sighed. "Okay. You're right. It's time."
Aayla kissed Smith.
***
Later that night, Smith and Aayla lay in bed, still sweating from the activity that they had done.
"What are you thinking?" Aayla asked as she laid on Smith's chest.
"I think you should get some sleep," Smith said.
"There is something wrong with this planet. I can feel some evil here. It feels me with fear."
Smith wrapped his arms around her, with his right hand on the back of her head, between her lekku. "It's okay. I'm here. I'll never leave you alone again."
Aayla sighed relief and buried her head in his chest.
***
The next day, Smith, Aayla, and a group of troopers scouted out the enemy. Smith walked a little closer and observed with his binoculars.
Suddenly, he heard blasters firing behind him. He turned and saw the clones firing at Aayla, who was laying on the ground, unmoving with one hand stretched out toward him.
When the clones stopped firing, Smith feel on his knees in horror and cried out a sound that echoed for miles. Suddenly, a dark cloud substance ingulfed him and rose him to his feet. He opened his eyes, but they were now blood red instead of sapphire blue. He observed his hand and laughed.
"Finally," he said, a little cheery after seeing Aayla being killed. "I have returned, after so long."
"General Smith," a trooper said. "Are you-"
Suddenly, something gripped the troopers and rose them off the ground.
"Smith is currently not in control right now. I'm temporally taking care of this."
The troopers exploded, their guts spilling all over the ground.
"Welcome to the Jungle. And I have more fun and games where that came from."
The thing controlling Smith's body looked at Aayla's corpse.
"Such a waste of good breast and a fine rear. Oh well, time for the body count to rise even more."
***
"Commander, all communication with the squads have been cut off," a trooper told Bly.
"What is going on?" he asked himself.
"Sir, the south gate reports that Smith is approaching."
"COMMANDER BLY!" a voice shouted.
Bly went and saw what appeared to be Smith, but something was wrong.
"Smith, what happened to you? We thought-"
Bly felt something grip him and pull him toward Smith.
"Sorry, Bly, but Smith is currently taking a break from life."
The troopers on the walls aimed their weapons, but they snapped in the middle and exploded.
"What do you want?" Bly asked.
"I want you as my witness to what happens here today. This is the death of Smith's Third Army."
From the sky above, the three Republic star cruisers that made up the Third Army crashed into the planet surface and onto the base.
"And tell Palpatine that this will happen to him should he dare try and chase me."
"Who are you?"
"I'm the Dark Lord of War."
Bly fell to the ground and noticed Smith was gone.
***
The dark entity in Smith walked through the forest of Feluca but stopped when he sensed a presence nearby.
"Well, I'd wonder when you show up," he said. He turned to face the presence. "Hello, Aayla. James. So glad to meet you two at last."
"What have you done with John?" Aayla asked.
"Oh, don't worry, my dear. Your beloved John is alive and well. I'm just borrowing his body right now."
"Who are you?"
"Emikamidunaleosaelep," James said.
"What?"
"That's his title and name. It means 'Lord of War'. It comes from a dead and forgotten language on Earth from the continent of Africa."
The entity chuckled. "Smart kid. I was the most powerful ruler of my people. I was a king, feared and loved. No matter who I declared war on, my enemies would fall. My kingdoms fell to my order, but I was blinded by the enemy within my kingdom. I was betrayed by a good, loyal friend. With my dying breath, I cursed the whole of existence that I would return and restore my glory, declaring war on all people and creatures. For the next six thousand years, I was reborn many times as Earth's greatest tyrants, carrying their knowledge of warfare across the generations. I would have taken control of Smith long ago, as half of his ancestry comes from my kingdom, but then he came here. Because of being in new terrain, I collected much of the knowledge and history of this galaxy, including knowledge of the dark side of the force and mastering it."
"I have seen your future," James said. "Your true reckoning is yet to come."
"Now, let John go!" Aayla demanded.
"Don't worry," the entity said. "My short time is almost done, but he will believe that he was the one who destroyed the Third Army. He will come to regret the horror that he believes that he had done."
"You're a monster!"
"No, I'm the Warlord."
Smith's body collapsed on the ground.
"We need to go, Aayla," James said.
"But he will think-"
"Aayla. He's John Frederick William Benjamin Xavier Smith. He'll figure it out on his own. Besides, there are some who've been waiting a long time to see you again. Plus, someone who want to meet her mother."
"Mother?"
"Yes. You do want to see your daughter, right?"
Aayla smiled and she and James vanished into the force.
Smith woke up. He couldn't believe what he had done. He killed them all. As he lay on his knees, he saw Aalya's lightsaber on the ground next to him. He picked it up, raised to his feet, raise his hand, and activated the weapon over his head.
"Never again," he said. "NEVER AGAIN!!!!"