Liberty is bustling with more activity than it has ever seen. Thousands upon thousands of volunteers from across the entire Galaxy, disgusted with their pathetic way of life and wishing to see something, anything change for the better, packed their measly excuses for bags and made their way to this formerly uninhabited desert world a few star systems away from Abbayor, named after the one tenet which unites them all. They settled down in temporary camps, built from all what they had brought, they worked together to construct their houses and provide each other with basic services and amenities. Former Galactic Patrolmen, former Earthling warriors and former Frieza Force mercenaries all trained together to hone their skills in preparation for the final liberation of their homes. The "streets" - if you could call them that, they more resembed gaps between blobs of huts and tents - were chock full of aliens of all species, ages and genders.

Poverty was widespread. A dozen hydroponic farms in the distance from the central camp, constructed by the engineers and scientists who had defected from the First Galactic Empire to join this heartland of revolution, were working day and night to feed the rapidly growing population and all of the immigrants who set down on this uninhabited world. There was no running water, only a few electricity generators to charge any necessary devices for all the inhabitants, and little contact with the outside world. Why would anyone in their right mind wish to abandon their lives, be it hard or soft, to make their way to Liberty and join what has been labelled by every single reasonable government at the face of the Galaxy as a dangerous terrorist organization?

Desperation. Plenty, plenty of desperation.

And hope, one must never forget hope.

Every single person on the face of this planet - all of the thousands of specks Almus Alvazar could see off the top of the Liberty radio tower, the towering crown above the extensive camp, and the leader of the Black Star movement himself - slept and rose with the knowledge that their condition will not be permanent. All of the members of the organization had their own hopes regarding what the impending, unclear "revolution" which Almus called for will bring, but many of their goals aligned. They wanted an end to the centuries of conflict and strife between all of the factions in the Galaxy. They wanted an end to mass genocide and wholesale destruction at the hands of those disgusting, careless ki wielders. They wanted an end to slavery, to involuntary servitude, to the exploitation of their labor at the hands of the oppressive governments they grew up under and the corporations which order them from the shadows. They wanted liberty, freedom, fraternity and equality at last. They wanted suffering to end. They wanted liberation.

Needless to say, the radical message of the Black Star earned them no favors. They had no allies at the Galactic scene. Not a single major faction dared to say even a single honorable word about their actions. Almus recalled their descriptions of him without any difficulty. He is a terrorist, a soon to be mass murderer. He is a threat to the stability of the Galactic order and the Empire. He is a traitor to the Galactic Patrol. He is an idealist who will never achieve anything of value, who will be lost to history. He is a tyrant who abuses the frustration of the common man for personal gain.

The last description always cracked the Abbayor-born former Galactic Patrolman up, and it did the exact same thing now. Never - neither in the open, nor in private - did he consider himself to be anything more than the first among equals. A man who knows how to talk to others, to convince them of what is the right thing to do.

And after all, isn't the Black Star the ultimate manifestation of the true goal of the Galactic Patrol, and the great heroes who inspired its continued existence, the Z-Fighters? To do the right thing with all your strength, selflessly, without any thought of profit? To rescue others from the trappings of greed and corruption, to liberate society from evil, even if blood has to be shed along the way? To not bow to the corporate machine and instead crush it with all your might? To him, it is not Almus who was the traitor to the Galactic Patrol. It was the Galactic Patrol who was the traitor to the Galactic Patrol.

Planet Liberty was a manifestation of the core of Almus's Black Star. It may have been labelled a terrorist organization, but it did not consider itself one. The Black Star was a way of life. A way of life, free from the trappings of the unjust, corrupt society of the rest of the Galaxy, in favor of cooperation and liberty. Liberty had no police or military, the defense of their promised utopia fell on the hands of the people themselves. There was no government or someone ordering everyone else - the people managed themselves with cooperation and their own initiative, Almus and the other veterans of the Black Star only wielded power through respect and mutual trust.

But, fortunately or not, this haven had to expand. Planet Liberty served as a good starting point for the revolution, but it was time to sprout a pair of wings and fly beyond. And with the death of the sly dog, Emperor Polaris, and the political chaos in the First Galactic Empire... it was a better time than ever to begin.

"It's time to go."

---

A lone freighter, once having transported spices across the Galaxy, but now converted to a people transport, made its way across the solar system of Planet Liberty, closing in on an arid, barren world close to its parent star - and alongside an aging, fifty-something reptilian pilot in the cockpit, it carried four heroes, or, depending on where you are looking from, possibly villains, in its compartments. Liberty may have been a barren world inhabited only by a large camp of Black Star members, but it was certainly very well defended - through raids and attacks following the death of Emperor Polaris, or often through the crew of the ships defecting to the rebellion, the Black Star had amassed a fairly sizable fleet, which, alongside several planetary and space defense platforms and a "shoot first, ask questions later" mentality, meant that nobody except a few transport ships previously approved by Almus and the rest of the organizers were allowed to pass into the revolutionary stronghold.

Which meant that the only way to get in is to find a way to have one of the approved transports to ship you there. Or have the Black Star themselves approve of your message.

In the center of the room, once a spice storage room, where the four travelers were held, a light blue hologram began to materialize, manifesting into a more realistic-like body structure a few seconds later, unveiling itself to be 1-CE, the artificial intelligence managing the day to day affairs of Mitra and much of the First Galactic Empire, alongside Lute, in Emperor Polaris's absence.

"My apologies for picking out such a poor and downtrodden transport for you to make your way to Planet Liberty with, as well as forbidding for bringing transports of your own - however, this is the best I could acquire on a short notice which would not be instantly shot down by the Black Star, so it will have to make do." the artificial intelligence spoke, in a soft and lukewarm voice. "My analysis of the ship's momentum and location on the interstellar map, as much as I can gather with only the instruments on Mitra at my disposal, inform me that this spaceship should be landing on the surface of Liberty shortly, which means that as long as I have a way to access you safely, I should allow myself to grant you a little bit more information."

1-CE stretched out her right palm, the full body hologram of a human-like man with messy white hair, a pistol at one hand, and a ragged uniform forming above it.

"To be fair, however, the requirement to enter this planet on a simple freighter does play somewhat to your mission, in that I sincerely hope that you will not cause a massacre today. That is not what can kill a terrorist movement such as the Black Star, merely embolden them. However, this radical organization stands solely on the shoulders and charisma of one man, Almus Alvazar. A former member of the Galactic Patrol and a cadet of Kanassa Academy, he had joined the rebellion of Gadon the Protector over a year ago and fought alongside the traitors on Planet Pepper, but soon came into conflict with the Valkyrie-led movement out of their perceived moderation and unwillingness to take the fight to the Empire, which led to him dropping out entirely and joining the Black Star.

It is because of Almus's charisma and belligerence that the Black Star transformed from an underground terrorist cartel to a mass organization uniting much of the poor strata of the First Galactic Empire, and which led to the movement to establish themselves upon the barren world of Liberty to plot a strike southward. His radical rhetoric and call for the destruction of what he perceives to be a corrupt and unjust society have led to many blindly following his way and fighting for his cause with ferocity, something which you might notice if you desire to go in guns blazing. However, you might already tell where the weakness of the Black Star lies. Find a way to eliminate Almus, and the disorganized nature of this organization will lead to it unraveling itself. None of his successors will likely be able to project the same level or authority and charisma and disagreement over future cause of action will break out, at which point the splinters and infighting groups will be easy to round up and extinguish.

It, however, may be more complicated than one might initially consider. This is not the first time that the Empire has sent a strike force to attempt to eliminate the Black Star and its main organizers. Some of these missions had entire fleet squadrons behind them and enhanced warriors with enough strength to challenge Super Saiyans - and every single time, the result would be the same. Every single time, all of the Ultramarines and Imperial Patrolmen would find themselves slaughered and the world informed through their radio transmissions about a yet another victory against Imperial forces, causing even more people to join their ranks. It could not be Almus himself - he has never been anything special in battle, with a last recorded power level of a mere ten thousand - nor could it be any of his allies. Many of the members of the Black Star cannot wield ki at all, and if any warriors of considerable strength had defected to the terrorists, we would have been aware of their presence already.

So, something is amiss on the surface of Liberty, and I advise you all to be careful."

The hologram of Almus Alvazar above 1-CE's hand faded, the artificial intelligence assuming that all of the agents have already memorized his face and appearance, and finished:

"Any questions?"

(1890 words, total 1890)

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