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Executive Overwatch Suite, Central Dock Command Spire, KDY Driveyards, Mars Orbit
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Niobe was stressed. "Still no word from the surface?" She asked the three Kuati driveyard foremen, whose holoimages were spread across the Kuat of Kuat's expansive desk. The three tiny, blue figures all shook their heads.
"The section commander of the Home Legion is still proving cooperative but he has requested that we return his troopers' blasters." One of the foremen reported.
"Negative. Thank him for his continued cooperation but security shall remain in the hands of KDY personnel until this crisis is resolved. Is that understood?" She asked the holoimage.
"Yes, my Lady."
As soon as communication had been lost with the planet below Niobe had sprinted to the office of the chief in charge of the KDY security detachment. The Kuati officer had acted quickly. By the time the Lieutenant in charge of the forty stormtroopers aboard the orbiting driveyard knew what was happening they had been surrounded by armed Kuati outnumbering them almost five to one. They had immediately surrendered their weapons and offered to render any assistance the Lady Niobe requested. After speaking to the young stormtrooper junior officer it was quite clear he hadn't the foggiest idea what had happened on Mars, either.
For now, KDY assets were protected and that was what mattered. Kuat before all else, she reminded herself.
Fortunately, in the past few hours she had established contact with the pair of Star Destroyers in near orbit with the station. One of which, the Quill, had been blasted upon by another Imperial warship that had vanished into the void after its assault. While talking with the vessels that remained it became apparent that elements working for Moff Seco had attempted to use hostile force against the legitimate government of the 1st Martian Empire.
Now the madman had the might of the bulk of the Maw Defense Fleet behind him, while his only opposition was the flagship of the Fleet and a lone Victory-class Star Destroyer. There were a few more warships scattered across the system but on sublight drive it would take them most of a day to return to Mars. By then it could be too late. Seco could already be here.
It was believed that Emperor Yos had been slain by an as yet unidentified assassin. Niobe had seen smoke rising from Tarkin Tower in the heart of the capital and suspected explosives had been involved. The fate of Princess Phasma was frustratingly unknown at this time, though rumors persisted that there had been an attempt on her life as well. There was even one crazy one where she had been attacked by a Jedi, of all things.
Another holoimage appeared, an officer in the driveyard's CommScan unit. "My Lady, sensors are picking up the approach of eighteen vessels from the direction of Earth. Suspected ETA in Mars Orbit is forty-five minutes."
"Raise shields. Do we know who they are?" Niobe asked.
"No, my Lady. They might be broadcasting IFF signals but the jamming from the planet's surface is preventing us from making a positive identification of the vessels."
"Notify the Quill and Charger. Bring our turbolaser batteries online." She ordered. It seemed the battle was coming to her whether she was ready or not. She turned to the foremen. "Gentlebeings, see to your sections. I suspect Seco will attempt to capture the driveyard intact. We are much too valuable a prize to ignore. Protect as many workers as you can."
The three figures saluted and vanished. Niobe turned her attention to a CommScan monitor on the wall of the office. It showed the relative position of every military vessel of Tarkin's Fist within the Sol System. Her eyes were drawn to the formation on approach from Earth. Who were they?
There was a click and a snap from somewhere within the desk before her. Niobe stood up and pushed herself away from the table in surprise. She stopped when she came into contact with the viewport behind her.
The desk top split in two along a previously unseen seam in the woodwork. The two halves separated and moved aside to reveal an exotic imagecaster of unknown manufacture. A whir came from the device's inner mechanizations and it spontaneously projected a blurred, four meter tall figure in harsh red tones. The image focused and became the man who had led her into the Maw three years ago. Niobe took a knee.
"My Kuat of Kuat." She kowtowed to her master in proper respect.
"Rise, my child. In these dire moments We do not have the luxury of niceties." Kuat said.
"Yes, my Lord. How is it you are able to send a signal? Am I incorrect to believe you are on the surface of Mars."
"We are. But one does not become the Kuat of Kuat without knowing how to defeat even the most powerful of jamming devices. Who do you think sold the Royal Guard their jammer, a copy of the one We designed for Tarkin aboard his Death Star?" Kuat boasted.
"Excellent, my Lord. How fare you today? There are a fury of rumors and mistruths flying about up here."
"We are to be arrested. We fear it is not long now. There have been several squads of stormtroopers milling about the hallway of Our apartments. They have not dared enter yet. They must be waiting for someone before they make their move. We are utterly trapped here until they do so."
"An outrage. May I ask if you have any news of the Emperor? I only hope that news of his demise has been premature." Niobe asked.
"We wish it were so. We have been passed along confirmation of his passing by several Kuati members of the Culter City RescueOps. They have verified his death with examination of Aveo's body. We believe their report to be truthful as loyal Kuati." Kuat said, with a long sigh. "Aveo was an effective patron. His passing will be felt hard in the days to come."
"My Lord, do you have any idea who has done such an act?"
"The name of the assassin escapes Us. But the hand that sent him to his target surely belonged to Moff Seco. Only Vulnert would be so bold. He has Captain Charge of the Bureau of Operations rounding up Yos loyalists across the city. Worse, he seems to have the Culter City Guard and the Home Legion in his pocket."
"A coup then. Any word of the Heir Presumptive?" Niobe asked.
Kuat shook his head. "Many of the Royal Guard are native sons of Kuat but their loyalties are only for the House of Yos now. They no longer report anything to Us their Emperor doesn't want Us to know. There is also some terrible news of a more personal nature, my child." Kuat's voice was suddenly filled with sorrow.
"My Kuat of Kuat?" Niobe prodded when it appeared Kuat wasn't going to go on.
"I'm sorry. The assassination was brought about by the use of high explosives. I suspect a military-grade proton bomb, probably smuggled in with a suitcase or satchel. The device was detonated during the Regent's Council this afternoon in Tarkin's Tower."
Niobe gasped as sudden fear that chilled the marrow in her bones. "Gage?"
"We . . . I . . . was preoccupied with briefings on other research this morning and sent Gage in my stead to brief the Emperor on the progress of the Ares's construction." Kuat was visibly tearful. It was no secret he had viewed and loved his two assistants as his own children, especially after the loss of his own son due to the 'big jump'.
"Is he?" Niobe didn't want to say the word. She had grown close to her peer during their time here in the Milky Way. Even Kuat hadn't known how close they became at night.
"Yes, my source confirmed the discovery of his body after the attack." Kuat wiped tears from his eyes. "I sent the boy to his death. It should have been me."
Niobe's heart broke. For Gage. For her Kuat of Kuat. "My Lord, he would have attended to you if you had gone. Your death would have been added to his. A tragic loss when we need you most."
"For the sake of all Kuati We shall go on, but Gage shall be remembered to my last breath. He was a true son of Kuat." Kuat pulled himself together. "What is your situation in the driveyard?"
"We have an unidentified force advancing upon us from Earth. The only two battle wagons we have in orbit are the Quill and the Charger. The Quill fought off an attack by the Insertion a few hours ago and that vessel has since retreated to Earth. The Subterrel Squadron is gathering here from points around the system but are not expected to arrive before the approaching Earth Force." Niobe reported.
"Interesting. Your only defenses consist of a few short-range turbolasers. It will be a one-sided battle if it comes to that. What is the Navy asking of you?" Kuat rubbed his chin in contemplation.
"They've requested we turn the two new batteries installed on the Ares on the intruders. They are the largest blasters in the fleet."
"And completely useless. You know as well as We that the tibanna for those weapons has only recently been filled in their storage tanks. The tibanna hoists haven't been installed and the weapons won't be ready to even dry-blast for another month. We can point them, but that is all." The image of Kuat glitched as he spoke. "I'm afraid our time is short. The jammers seem to have found my signal."
"What will you do, my Kuat of Kuat?" Niobe shouted as the signal faded in and out.
"I will seek the truth behind Phasma's disappearance. We must contact the . . ." and he was gone.
Niobe sighed. Hope was fading fast. It was time to keep as much as she could out of Seco's hands. She pushed up a code on her imagecaster and contacted the driveyard's command center. A miniscule blue female figure in a KDY uniform saluted. "Commander Treen, I am authorizing the placement of scuttling charges to be placed throughout the driveyard and the Ares construction site. This station cannot fall into unfriendly hands."
"Yes, my Lady, but you may want to belay that order for a few hours. We are getting encrypted ship-to-ship flash comm from the advancing task force." the officer reported.
"Who is it?" Niobe leaned forward in anticipation.
"We are in contact with Task Force commander, Captain Shesh of the Kuat's Strike. She is openly declaring fealty to the House of Yos and Kuat of Kuat. She is requesting deployment instructions for joining the defense of Mars against the traitorous forces under Moff Seco."
"Is she stating that Moff Seco is on his way here?" Niobe asked.
"She's verified attacks upon her vessels when they attempted to leave Earth orbit. Along with her Vessel she is leading a task force of the Kuat's Storm, The Kuat's Dragon, the Implosion, and the Kuat's Legacy, as well as the Battle of Geonosis from the Subterrel Squadron and six frigates, five light-cruisers from the Kuat Squadron and even the heavy cruiser Revenge of the Gand from the Ploo Squadron."
Niobe's heart soared. "Bring them into line at once, and issue them the new Fleet codes the Quill sent over. It looks like the sons and daughters of Kuat are going to keep this Empire alive for another day." She said in exhilaration.
She smiled at a private memory and placed a hand over her slightly swelled belly. As long as the Kuati lived Gage would not be forgotten.
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Casablanca, Morocco, Earth
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El Presidente peered out over the destroyed port facilities towards the skeletal remains of several ships half submerged in the harbor. Great gouges had been melted through their hulls by super-heated laser beams from outer space. His own lost ships, those of the South American Navy, had been sent to the bottom of the world's great oceans in much the same manner.
Casablanca wasn't the city she had been in the movie that bore her name, nor was she the same city she had been even a year ago. Block-sized craters had haphazardly marred whole sections of the once proud metropolis, leaving the city looking like the worked-over prey of some massive alligator.
Chavez wasn't officially here today. He had been smuggled across the Atlantic in a tiny Gulfstream jet, but not to inspect the damage to Casablanca, nor offer to lend aid to the stricken people here. He had seen far worse over the past months and besides, the great Unions of the New World had no aid to spare for their African cousins.
Instead he was here on a mission for his new boss, President Harris of the newly created Unified Earth, not for war but on a mission of peace.
"That is a truly disconcerting sight. I'm surprised you don't seem more concerned." President Qandil said sipping on an iced tea. The Egyptian politician wasn't talking of the destroyed naval vessels in the harbor but of the dozens of clearly visible orbital spaceships forming up over the Sahara to the east.
"They're certainly trying something new, aren't they? I am never worried though. I have survived this far and have yet to come face to face with an alien. I rejoice in the thought that they feel the need to bring in so many of their space cruisers to capture me, as it prevents them from raining down destruction on my homeland while they do so." Hugo Chavez said while he drank deeply from his own drink to fight off the desert sun. He wished it was an ice cold cerveza instead. He never understood the Muslim faith's mandate to refrain from alcoholic beverages but he could respect it. "They don't seem to be moving in this direction at the moment."
"From your mouth to Allah's ears. I only hope they are not revisiting Egypt. We have suffered enough from the Imperial infidels. Nearly half of our population razed along the Nile from the destruction of our cities and the collapse of our dams." Qandil fumed.
"And yet that did not prevent you from launching an invasion of Israel."
"A successful invasion, finally. Our army occupies everything in the south to the ruins of Tel Aviv, while the Lebanese and what little remains of the Syrians hold the remainder."
"Not all of it. I understand there are Jewish holdouts in the desert."
"We will rut them out eventually." Qandil said. "The Jordanians are also sheltering many of them."
"Perhaps. Or perhaps the Hebrews will launch a war of terror upon you that will make Hamas look like amateurs. And what are your two peoples still fighting over? What of Jerusalem?" Chavez asked.
"A crater. It is even difficult to ascertain the location of the Temple Mount. The whole of the city has been flattened by the infidels. Allah forbid they do the same to Medina or Mecca."
"They could easily do so. Perhaps it is fortunate neither of those Holy Cities have much in the way of strategic value." Chavez speculated. But he wasn't there for speculation, either. His boss had an agenda, one that Chavez believed in wholeheartedly. "I am offering you a way to strike fear into the hearts of those who have done this as well as give you an out in Israel that doesn't leave you a monster amongst your fellow man."
"You speak of the massacres. My communication was lost with the forward elements of my army due to the Imperial armada. The alleged atrocities and slaughter of Jewish communities, if they actually occurred, was the responsibility of local commanders." Qandil objected.
"Oh, they occurred all right, and there's too much evidence to hide it now. Also the errors of a few small unit commanders is not how the world will see it. The Unified Earth Confederacy has condemned your selfish actions very publicly. You will be hailed alongside Pol Pot, Mao and Stalin, and with the surviving Jews you will be worse than Hitler."
"No worse than they are to my people." He shrugged. "Do you offer a solution?"
"The settlers will continue to be a problem for years to come if they remain. I am willing to offer amnesty and a new homeland for them in my own Union. All paid for by the freedom-loving peoples of the Americas. President Harris has already authorized this."
"How would you get them over to South America? There are several thousand to relocate. I have no issue with their relocation but I don't see how it can be done. Any large ship or aircraft has been destroyed or shot down the moment they move. Our own railways have been smashed across North Africa." Qandil said.
"If you can bring them here we can get small craft to bring them across the Atlantic a few at a time. Some small planes as well. It may take us the better part of a year but we're willing to do it." Chavez smiled. Of course he was willing to do it. The Israeli citizens were some of the most highly educated people on Earth. ECHELON spies had confirmed the presence of various leading scientists in their fields amongst their numbers who would be the first to be resettled in Guyana, the site that had been approved by both Harris and him.
"And then what? What do you want of Egypt once the Jews are gone?" Qandil asked.
"Egypt as any kind of power is a myth. The Empire has seen to that. Once your invasion ground to a halt and you weren't shooting other earthlings they rained down destruction upon your forward units. How many divisions did you lose in a single hour? We are offering membership into the United Earth Confederation, or whatever we finally name it. A centralized government for the administration of our world. Not just to organize a unified defense against the Empire and stop reckless internal wars among nations, but instead to lead in the rebuilding effort that will be necessary after our final victory. The time for independent nation-states has passed. Now is the time for us to stand together and fight, or crawl on our knees to the Empire."
"Like the British did?" Qandil looked like he wanted to spit when he mentioned the English treachery.
Chavez nodded.
"I have bandit tribes from Chad and the Sudan ripping open the southern half of my country. I must divert the remains of my army away from the Israelis to eliminating that menace. I don't have much to spare in the fight against the Empire. Besides you and the North Americans, who else is willing to give up control of their country to an outside source?" Qandil asked.
"They are not giving up any control. Local government will remain in place. Trade tariffs will be removed, military command will be linked to the United Earth's command, taxes, health care, all of that will be handled by centralized authority. I'm not going to lie. There are a lot of holes in the plan but they are shortfalls we work out as a single planet, not a conglomerate of petty nation-states." Chavez said.
"You side-stepped my question. Who stands with you so far?"
"The Russians will vote next week. It looks close but Harris is pretty sure they'll join. The Australians are in and the Japanese, South Africa and Unified Korea have just signed." Chavez explained.
"The Japanese are in?" Qandil sounded impressed. The Japanese had managed to hold onto their gold reserves and had a flood of refugees pouring in from the Pacific. They had turned those refugees into a powerful force of factory and construction workers. Slowly but surely the Japanese economy was rebounding into one of the most powerful on the planet. That was, as long as the Empire didn't notice.
"So are the Indian and Pakistani governments. It's no secret they were on the verge of going to war with each other before we stepped in. Now both countries argue that they were about to do no such thing. Harris has already ordered the first Indian divisions into China."
"So the Chinese are in?"
"Things are fluid in the PRC at the moment." Chavez sighed.
"That's an understatement. According to what little news comes out of there it seems they missed a golden opportunity to smash that Imperial army on the Yangtze when they were bogged down in a monsoon."
"Civil war is wasteful but it comes when it comes. We understand how important China is to the Unified Earth Confederacy and we've already made strides in securing support of a large faction in the southern part of China. Ten years ago the NorteAmericanos and I beat each other senseless in a stupid war that was brought about, in large part, by my own hubris and stupidity. When the dust settled China was arguably the greatest superpower, though the NAU's pride would never allow them to admit it. You and I both have sent our children to University in China. Their economy and military strike power dominated half the globe. It's surely the reason the Empire placed a boot on their necks at Shanghai. One of the first goals of the Unified Earth is bringing our Chinese cousins into the fold."
"And so we all become Americans." Qandi sighed.
"Why not. The old US had been trying to Americanize the world for the last century. It's either the devil we know or we serve as slaves for the Empire."
"If you have to put it like that, we Egyptians would welcome inclusion into the new government. As the world knows we are the world's oldest civilization and welcome a chance to forge a new planetary world order."
Chavez didn't want to mention Sumer or older civilizations. He was just pleased the Egyptians were onboard and the Jewish settler issue had a solution. He still had to convince the Israelis to accept it but that was minor compared to the problems the Empire presented. "Excellent, we welcome our African brothers with open arms. We will be sending delegates and military attaches to work out the details. We also encourage you to send some of your top diplomats and military leaders to the NAU to facilitate the transition. There is not a moment to waste," Chavez looked to the space-faring fleet over the desert. "The Empire means to end us all."
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7788th PLA Field Hospital, Fanchang, People's Republic of China, Earth
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Senior Private Wen awoke to screams. It took him several minutes to realize they were his own.
The last few weeks had been nothing more than a handful of painful images and cloudy, smoke-filled memories: A dragon-walker exploding, an alien devil shooting him in the face, battle, fire, fear and everywhere there was water. They could have been dreams they all seemed so unreal.
It took him several more minutes to figure out that he was inside a hospital tent of some type. His face screamed in agony and it was some time before he realized an IV bag was attached to a port inserted in his wrist.
He didn't want it there. He was confused and didn't know why it was there in the first place. With his other hand he started peeling off the bandage covering it.
Suddenly another hand was over it. He looked over and met the gaze of another patient next to him. Hundreds of soldiers lay in cots pressed next to each other.
"Don't." The other wounded soldier said. "You'll only make yourself worse. You need to calm down."
"I need a doctor." Wen croaked. His jaw didn't seem to want to work right and every movement was agony.
"A doctor? Ha! I haven't seen one in days. A medic or a nurse will be by eventually. If you are bad enough they'll take you to surgery. Try to fix your mouth. Where did you get hit?"
Wen had to think about it. The events of his wounding were hazy. He remembered following Colonel Loi on that suicidal charge towards that dragon-walker that had fallen into a water-logged quarry.
"Sanshan." He tasted dried blood in his mouth and felt air being sucked in though the bandages on his cheek.
"Sanshan. You must have been wounded facing the alien-devils. I got hit by a rocket from the north side of the Yangtze. Our own side, if you can call them that anymore.
Wen didn't have the strength to ask what the other soldier meant. His eyelids were heavy and he needed rest. He fell asleep before he could finish his conversation. A few hours later he was shaken awake by a medic.
"How are you?" The corpsman asked.
"Morphine?" Wen moaned. His face sent waves of pain throughout his body with every syllable.
The medic peeled back his facial bandage revealing the gaping hole in Wen's face. "We're all out of morphine except for extreme cases. I can give you this."
The medic reached into a bag he carried and removed a bottle of 600 mg Ibuprofen. He handed the bottle to Wen along with a plastic bottle of water. "Take two every few hours. Not all at once unless you want to OD." The way he said it seemed to hint that several soldiers had already taken that measure to stop their suffering. The medic cleaned Wen's wound and replaced the bandages and the IV bag. "I don't know when I can see you again. Can you walk?"
"Maybe." Was all Wen could say. He bent his knees to make sure his legs still worked. "Possibly."
"That's good. I'll mark you down as ambulatory. A lot of soldiers who need transport are going to get left behind." The medic pulled out a green marker from his pocket and wrote something on Wen's forehead. "Save your strength. You are going to need it."
"Why?" Wen asked.
"We're redeploying the field hospital to Nanling. Everyone that can walk, must walk. It's twenty miles to the south."
"What happened?" The soldier from the next cot had been listening and asked the medic.
"Not sure. From what I understand the enemy has seized Tongling and may be heading in this direction." The medic answered. "Anyway, we're pulling out."
"Alien-Devils." Wen tried to curse but it came out a gurgling rattle.
"Not them bastards. No it's the fucking PLA. Some units crossed the Yangtze River last night and broke through our lines."
"PLA?" Wen was confused.
"Oh, poor bastard. You haven't heard about the civil war." The medic chuckled. "You're in the Earth Union Army now."
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Command Bridge, Acclamator II-class SD Fool, 19 kilometers over the Atlas Mountains, Algeria
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Admiral Bacara looked out the viewport at the vast array of warships forming up in orbit over the desert below. He hadn't seen this many warships gathered together since their arrival in this system after the 'big jump'.
He was unimpressed. He had seen far larger fleets during the Outer Rim Sieges of the last War and this armada paled in comparison to the fleets that had blasted each other to bits over Coruscant during the last days of the Clone War. He hadn't been there, of course. He had been leading the 21st Nova Corps through the hell of Mygeeto. Even back then he had been trying to save the lives of as many of his brothers as he could. Jedi Master Ki-Adi-Mundi seemed willing to throw them away by the hundreds for every objective they gained. Though he knew that some of his brothers still had misgivings, Bacara hadn't hesitated for a second when Order 66 finally came.
He looked across the bridge at the officer leaning across the SubSpace Radar station. The mongrel commissar was a Lieutenant Commander from a frigate in the Ploo Squadron and was assigned to assure loyalty aboard Bacara's warship. As of this afternoon the Loyalty officer was to review every order Bacara issued, much to the Clone Admiral Commander's intense distaste.
He raged in silence as he watched the Fleet gather. He wasn't blind like most mongrel officers assumed of clones. He could figure out things for himself. Seco's claims that the Royal Guard had attempted a coup in Culter City were obviously lies. Bacara deduced as much when the Insertion had fled with her tail between her legs from Mars' orbit. The Ploo Moff had been planning something for months now and the Emperor had been too blind to see it. The only question that remained now was whether or not the Emperor and his daughter had truly been assassinated.
"Comm call coming in, sir." A crewman called out. "It's from the Wilderness."
"Move us into higher orbit and then put it on holoprojector two." Bacara ordered the sailor. The Commissar walked over to join him, and Bacara wondered why the loyalty officer didn't want him to run his choice of holoprojector by him as well.
A blue figure appeared at the front of the bridge. Bacara saluted as soon he recognized Moff Culter, the Imperial Governor who theoretically commanded the Anoat Squadron. "Greetings, Admiral, I trust I found you in good health today."
Bacara noticed out of the corner of his HUD that the Commissar didn't bother to salute, and made a mental note of it.
"I am fine, my Lord." Bacara answered. The best thing about Culter was that he never paid attention to his clones which was fine because Bacara didn't like the soft-spoken terraformer getting under his feet, especially when it came to resettling his clone brethren here in the Milky Way. "What can I do for you?"
"I'm just checking that all our ships are present. As you may already know I am a guest of my friend Vulnert here aboard his flagship." Culter said. Bacara grunted in response, mentally retooling Culter's statement into something closer to the truth: he was more like a hostage to keep the Anoat Squadron in line. "He has asked me to address you concerning our Squadron and possible deserters."
Bacara took a deep breath and rattled off his official statement. "No need, my Lord. We are following protocols laid out in Operation Diathim's deployment orders. If Emperor Yos and Princess Phasma have perished, as claimed by Moff Seco, then we shall follow the Theater Commander's orders regarding regime change. Our personal feelings and loyalties are irrelevant. We have our orders and we shall follow them until they are executed or we are relieved of them by higher authority."
"That's the good thing about you clones." The Commissar said, "You know how to follow orders."
Bacara glared at the mongrel through his eye pieces as if he were looking at the man over the open sights of his blaster rifle.
"So no runners like the Kuati had in their Squadron?" Culter inquired.
Bacara had heard of the ships that had slipped by Seco and made the dash back to Mars. He wished them luck but didn't think much of their chances of standing up against the remaining turbolasers of the fleet, even with the mighty Quill on their side.
"No, my Lord. We have our orders." Bacara said, eyeballing the Commissar's sidearm and thinking that the scum was just waiting for him to make a disloyal move against the high and mighty "Seneschal" Seco.
"Excellent. Seneschal Seco, that's what he calls himself now, Seneschal. Have you ever heard anything so strange? Anyhow, he wanted me to take control of my Squadron for the defense of Earth. I see things are in good hands so I won't be a bother." Culter said.
"So we're not gathering here for an immediate strike on Mars?" Bacara asked. He had assumed Seco would want to move quickly to consolidate his gains on Mars. The adage "Never let the enemy get organized" had been drilled into Bacara during his training on Kamino.
"Not quite yet. Seco is worried about loyalty in several Army units. It's been horrible over here. Some of these men are completely uncultured. Did you hear about Admiral Hadrian?" Culter asked, sounding more like a gossipy old woman than an Imperial Governor.
The Commissar appeared nervous, shifting his weight uncomfortably from one foot to the other and back again.
"I heard." Bacara replied. It was an outrage that Seco had executed the Kuati Admiral a few hours ago due to the loss of the escaped vessels. Surely dissent and outrage were spreading amongst the warships of the 3rd Kuati Fleet.
"Just horrible, but yes, I assume we will be moving on Mars shortly. Whenever Vulnert is ready."
"Shall I recall my Legions from Earth?" Bacara said, hopeful he could remove his brothers from the imminent danger of a hostile enemy.
"Vulnert says no. The Home Legion should have control of all ground locations by now. The foolish ships that guard Mars are expected to stand down at our approach." Culter said.
"What of our forces on Earth then, my Lord?"
"Oh, we'll be back to get them. The Seneschal has told me that once we have Mars we will retrieve the Legions and then perform a Base Delta Zero operation against the Terran world."
"An extreme and unnecessary measure, sir." Bacara replied.
"I thought so as well. So much potential for a successful inhabited terraform wasted. I weep for the Terrans I truly do, but Seco's mind is made up. Once we have Mars, the beings of Earth will die."
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HoloNet Central Broadcast Relay Aurek 1, Yos Government District, Culter City
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Jill Harris was taken aback. Princess Phasma was like a furious elemental force unleashed upon the universe.
The Princess had survived the most bizarre attack upon her person that Jill had ever dreamed of. Whenever she closed her eyes she could still picture the swarm of lizard-men assassins hurling over the collapsed balcony's railing as they rushed the diminutive royal.
And as for the miraculous arrival of the Princess's savior Jill simply could not find the words. Ashla Ti was some kind of ninja/Buddhist monk/Terminator that the Imperials seemed to simultaneously fear and revere. The red alien woman leaned against the far wall and spoke with several Royal Guardsmen. The so-called 'Jedi' stood over a bound and unconscious prisoner, the leader of the assassins, like a protective lioness. The Royal Guard appeared uneasy, though whether it was the Jedi or the assassin presence, Jill had no idea. The alien looked as if she were about to throw her prisoner over her shoulder and bolt out the door at any moment. Jill had overheard several whispered conversations during the last hour regarding the fact that the Imperials had allegedly wiped Ashla's religious order out in some type of genocidal campaign a decade ago. No wonder the Jedi looked as if she were about to turn rabbit.
Genocide was very much on her mind these days.
Since coming to Mars her number one concern had been the safety of her children. Griffon and Cameron sat outside the control room in the hallway. They were accompanied by Jill's protocol droid, C-3PX, who entertained them with stories of someone named Darth Vader. The boys were enthralled.
After the boys' welfare she longed to ease the trials and tribulations of her people. It was with no small amount of pride that she watched her husband's vilification played out on the Empire's HoloNet as he led a stubborn resistance back on Earth. She yearned to return to Earth and resist the invaders any way she could, and yet realized her capture had inadvertently placed her in the one spot in the galaxy to do the most good, at the side of Princess Phasma of Mars.
Phasma stood in the center of the bustling control center. Couriers ran in and out as they brought in invoices and messages from around the city. It had been explained to Jill that the powerful machines in the room had cut off all communication on the planet's surface to a distance equal to near orbit, effectively handicapping the coup that was launched against the Royal family. A coup that a political hostage such as Jill feared she would not survive if it proved successful in the end. Moff Seco was a vile, evil little man and he would surely do whatever it took to secure power.
One of those methods had been the assassination of Emperor Yos, Phasma's father, and the arrest of a major portion of the civilian and military administrators of the capital. Jill looked at Phasma in wonder. The girl had barely flinched when her guard force had confirmed the death of her father.
That had been over an hour earlier. Now the young royal was a human artillery battery, unleashing a barrage of orders and missives to her loyal soldiers. Plain clothed Guardsmen and even some in the armor of regular stormtroopers slipped out into the city. A larger picture of what was happening in the Empire was slowly starting to take shape. Seco had misstepped when he failed to ensure Phasma's demise. He had erred again when he failed to press his advantage hours ago.
The breaking and falling of windows from above caught Harris's attention. Several of the blue-armored body guards were knocking out the glass and erecting barriers for their sharpshooters. A team of them wrestled an ungainly weapon into place.
Harris walked over to one of the ground level windows and peered out at the small city square that abutted the front of the relay station. She recognized several of the soldiers on the far side by their red armor. The Culter City Guard. At least six of them stood idly behind three of their floating squad cars. The police-soldiers made no attempt to approach the building and instead focused on closing down the street to civilian traffic. Harris recognized the beginning of a perimeter when she saw it. Soon there would be more of those red police-soldiers outside. Phasma needed to focus if they were going to get out of this alive.
She watched as two flying motorcycles landed next to the squad cars. One of the new arrivals appeared to be in charge. The police behind the barricade pointed towards their building and he nodded. He took off his helmet and approached the building. As he moved closer he held out his hands to show that he was unarmed.
"Hold your blasting." One of the Royal Guardsman whispered.
The man outside cupped his hands over his mouth and shouted towards them. "Attention to those of you partaking in the illegal occupation of this building and breaking the law of the Empire. I have a message for you from Captain Charge of the Bureau of Operations and acting military commander of Culter City, under the direction of Seneschal Seco."
Jill had always thought that these Imperials were a pompous lot and the bellowing dolt outside was no exception.
He continued, "You are to surrender yourself and your arms to proper authority by seventeen hundred hours this evening. Failure to do so will result in the initiation of executions by blasting squad of prisoners taken earlier today by forces loyal to the Seneschal. Captain Charge will personally carry out these orders at the 5th Precinct of the Culter City Guard."
Phasma had been listening intently to the messenger's words. Jill had heard that there had been thousands of arrests around the city, showing a level of organization to the coup that must have taken months to set in place.
Jill walked over to the Princess and touched her arm. "They don't know you're still alive. Now is the time."
"But what if I play my hand too soon?" Phasma asked.
The red alien woman stepped forward. "You must place your trust the Force. Now is the time to move before all support is gone and Moff Seco arrives."
Jill couldn't have said it better herself, well, except for the Force part, which seemed preachy to her. "Now is the time to lead. Your people need you."
"I'll go," She turned to the Royal Guardsman in charge of the building's defense, "Lieutenant, are those CCG officers being jammed out there?" Phasma pointed.
"Yes, your Highness. We're still jamming all comm on the planet. Snipers to the viewports." he answered before rushing to the door ahead of Phasma.
The Guardsmen held each of the handles on the double doors to the building. Phasma looked back over her shoulder at Jill and then nodded firmly to the Guardsmen that she was ready. Jill smiled encouragement back. The Guardsmen opened the door to the bright Martian day.
The Princess stepped out.
Looking back on it the surrender of the CCG officers had happened so quickly. Jill closed her eyes and tried to memorize the smug look on the messenger's face as he realized who had exited the building. They had been so ready to accept the Royal Guard's surrender, and instead they had fallen over themselves to pledge their allegiance and fealty to the resurrected Princess.
"I would have never followed Moff Seco's orders if I had known you were still alive, your Highness." The messenger stated.
"I'm afraid news of my death is a bit premature. I am hereby ordering you to return to the 5th Precinct and prevent Captain Charge from issuing any new orders or leaving that location. If he continues to do so you have orders to execute him and any of his supporters as traitors to the Empire. Am I understood?" Phasma barked.
The police-soldiers all snapped to attention and saluted. "Yes, your Majesty." The messenger shouted.
"For the Empress!" they all shouted and rushed to their squad cars.
Phasma took a stutter step backwards. Jill stepped forward, afraid the girl was about to fall over. She wrapped her arm around Phasma's shoulder but the girl just watched the retreating police cruisers.
The Royal Guard officer came forward next and started bellowing orders to his men. "You all have your orders. Spread out across the city and get the word out that the Heir lives. Broadcast that message across every channel of the HoloNet and drop the jamming. Let the Empire know that Phasma is in charge."
Dozens of Guardsmen slipped out of the building and into the city. The coup was reversing itself. And though this felt like the end Jill knew it was only the beginning.
Within a few minutes only a few Royal Guards, Ashla Ti and Jill remained with the Princess. Jill faced the Princess and looked into her large brown eyes as they filled with tears. "Are you ok, Phasma? What is it?"
"Did you hear what they called me? They called me the Empress." Phasma choked out a small sob.
Jill looked over to the alien for support, but Ashla just shrugged. The Royal Guard seemed to vanish as they secured the perimeter, giving their new monarch her space. "But you are, or you will be once you go through whatever type of crowning ceremony you people use to name a new leader."
"But that means, it means, I mean . . . He really is gone." Phasma collapsed forward and wrapped her arms around Jill's waist. Harris was no monster to revel in her enemy's loss and held the poor girl close as sobs wracked her body. Phasma cried for a long time and Jill was willing to hold her for as long as she needed to. She hoped someone would do the same for her boys if she ever left them.
"Princess, it is time to go. Your people need you." Jill whispered to the girl.
Phasma pulled her head back and seemed to mull over Jill's words for a moment and then nodded. Ashla Ti handed the royal a handkerchief and Phasma dried her eyes. "He would want me to go on, wouldn't he?" Phasma asked.
"He was very proud of you. I could tell."
"The beings of Mars are with you, your Highness." Ashla offered. "Seco plans to put an end to everything your father started."
Jill winced. Phasma's father had started the most devastating war her world had ever seen. But she clung to the hope that Phasma would be the means to end the conflict that threatened to destroy Earth.
"Then I won't give him a chance." Phasma stated. "Let us be on our way. I have an Empire to save."