Twin Sunset, Act One: Elevation
Tatooine.
The black over its blasted caramel landscape, sliced cleanly in two by a wedge of durasteel and power.
A Star Destroyer.
Aboard, a man, older in years. A soldier. A warrior.
Moff Vedius Thrard gazed steadily out of the transparisteel port and willed the whole planet to disappear.
It did not oblige.
He turned his head fractionally to the side. His uniform, crisp and polished. Around his neck the Sun of Coruscant, the highest award from a disgusting citizenry in a war lost in the mists of the past. Nothing moved on his uniform when he turned. His rank cylinders, his belt, his whole being poised, frozen, motionless.
"Open a channel."
The Comm Officer bent to activate his controls. Presently, he signaled the channel, opened.
"You, mayor. You have something the Empire needs. Give it to us, and we will only occupy your city. Resist us, and we level it."
A tinny voice came back over the speaker, the voice of a soldier turned bureaucrat. The voice of a politician.
Moff Thrard hated politicians.
"You have no jurisdiction here! You are outside your regional command! Moff Thrard, look around you. You are not in Sesswanna Sector any longer."
Thrard considered his response. An observant lieutenant thought he saw the faintest hint of annoyance cross Thrard's face.
"You have thirty seconds to reconsider this position. The Empire will not be abated."
With a nod, the comm officer cut the transmission.
Moff Thrard's demeanor changed, his voice became more clear, more commanding.
"Launch four sections of Stormtroopers and one of Storm Commandos. First order: occupy only the City Hall and Medical Facilities. Launch in 20 seconds, mark."
Activity on the bridge picked up. Presently, several lighters left the Destroyer and began accelerating to the surface.
"Commence planetary jamming."
Moff Thrard could imagine the consternation in Bestine. An Imperial Moff does not arrive unannounced and invade territory on an Imperial planet without at least contacting the garrison, if not the Governor. Thrard cared not – the Governor was a pompous fool who would only act once Thrard was gone.
"Sir, lighters have landed. Heavy resistance at the Medical Center. Light at City Hall."
"Put it on screen."
An image lit up, transmitted from a Storm Commando's visor array. The City Hall had cut power, and he was moving through a darkened foyer anteroom. His UV and IR overlays provided ample visual input.
A voice: "DD-1414, I am in the mayor's office. No activity."
Another: "DC-128, I am ascending second floor stairwell, taking fire."
Another: "GD-811, I have secured three administrative droids. Dumping their cores now."
Yet Another: "Mayor sighted on fourth floor."
The sounds of occupation and victory became strident in the Moff's ears. This was pacification.
He sought elevation.
His target, his hope, was down there. If not in City Hall, then in the medical center...
A sound erupted from the speakers, and instantly all eyes were on the screen. A stormtrooper, dispatched to the subbasement of the medical center, looked up at a figure wedged in the bundled piping of the ceiling.
His yellow lightsaber. Lit.
A beat, and the Jedi dropped.
The visual feed ended.
Moff Thrard became more animated than any on the bridge had seen of him.
"Order two: I want all sections to commence occupation of the city. Resistance is to be met with elimination and punitive efforts on nearby structures."
"All batteries, ion fire, target the medical center. I want two squadrons of TIE Interceptors down there, and get the containment team on holo now."
Again, the bridge crew bent to his whim, and within seconds, the cerulean glare of ion cannon fire began crackling through the atmosphere.
Moff Thrard turned to the holo tank when the three men appeared. In the flickering blue of the holo-projector, they did not look like Imperials - more like armored collections of tools.
They were three of the most highly trained Jedi recovery agents of the Ubiqtorate.
Projecting over their heads slightly was the antenna of a phase inductor. The Ion cannon blasts may incapacitate and kill groundside, but they would be protected.
The first one, tall, built like a tank: "I can sense several of the deviants down below. Let me capture them."
The second, short, quick: "We thank you sir, for this opportunity to act. Elevation will be ours."
The third, grey, dour: "What are your orders?"
Anger and greed rolled off their armored forms in palpable waves. The thought of sharing his prize with them galled Thrard, but the deal had been struck, and thus far it had slowly paid off. The Collectors had acquired a Jedi here and there, but this operation was something entirely different – a city full of the riches Thrard sought.
Moff Thrard considered them for ten seconds, then, "Go into the city. Kill anyone who hinder you. This sweep is for six Force wielders, and my scientists inform me there can be no elevation without at least three. Three would be a pale shadow of the potential housed in that city, however. Bring me all six, so true elevation can be acheived."
All three figures bowed their heads to the Moff. The screen flickered off.
Six Jedi. With six Jedi, he could...
Moff Thrard was a warrior. He had no time now for wishful thinking.
He turned to an officer, and began directing the occupation of Twin Suns.