Chapter 9 – Closing the Circle
Cyphar – Dolkar Sector
Planetary orbit – ISS Indigo Maiden
Tour +10 days, 7 hours
Caybasi was reading another report from one of the teams when the call came in. Since the attack on the planetary HQ Caybasi had preferred to work on one of the ships. It just felt safer. He pressed a few buttons, turned around and looked at the two small holographic figures that were standing on his desk. One of them was Operative Kaler Raum, an inquisitorial Investigator from the Indigo Maiden, the other one was a commando with the callsign Fouron.
"What do you have to report?" Caybasi asked.
"Well", Raum begun, "This private shipping company we searched… Like we suspected, it was a cover for the rebels to smuggle their goods around the sector without using slower shadow routes. With every branch office we search we find more dirt"
"Anything interesting this time?"
"Yes", Raum continued, "We have the logs of almost every ship. The local company's owner was very cooperative after we 'convinced' him a little bit." A silent groan could be heard in the background. Fouron and Raum turned and looked at something outside the projector's range. "Also, we have confirmed rebel traffic routes to the planets C'tau III, Marol, Tytia 6 and the asteroids in the Reltek-Nebula. What bothers me is C'tau III."
The main shipyards of this sector are in the C'tau-system, Caybasi thought, Indeed, a rebel cell there is most alarming… "What about the other systems?"
"Tytia 6 is on the Vice-Admirals list as a probably rebel storage. I would say it's confirmed now. Marol has nothing exciting: Thick fog all day long, jungles and some millennia-old Jedi ruins. It's not even on the list. Same for the Reltek-Nebula: Attempted mining around 200PrE, but failed and abandoned shortly after."
Another groan could be heard. This time it was louder and more desperate. Raum sighed. "Can someone shut this guy up?" he shouted, "It's not that I tortured his family in front of him!"
Fouron raised a finger. "Well, actually…"
"I don't care!" Raum interrupted the commando, "Just shut him up!"
Fouron draw his blaster and shot at something outside of the projection, Raum winced. "Ah, kriff! What a mess!" he said and scratched his head, "Looks like we're finished here. I'll contact you again if we find something new, Lieutenant."
Caybasi nodded and the hologram disappeared. I'll inform the Inquisitor about Tytia 6. Maybe our Dark Jedi can use this information. But what about the other systems? Perhaps the databank can help me…
Cyphar – Middle Rim
Capital City – 72nd Street Supply Depot
A few hours after the attack
The sun was standing now high in the sky. All remnants of the Rebel attack had vanished, but yet again, two persons neared the planetary commando HQ, again with the will to enter this facility by all means.
"I don't know if this is really a good idea" Dill asked while he and his best friend were moving through the back alley behind the depot.
"C'mon, Dill!" Aurelia said, "Lina is our friend! We both know that she is innocent and we owe it to her to get her out of there. Besides, it's not that we haven't done something like that before!"
"Yes, but those were the lairs of mad supervillains and not a command base of some high-level Imperial commandos! This is a military security zone! If they catch us here we are in real, real big trouble!"
"Don't be such a baby, Dill!" Aurelia insisted. "We will in and out again in no time! They won't even notice!"
Despite all her words, Dill remained nervous. Aurelia knew her words couldn't calm him down, but these words had also been necessary to convince herself, because Dill was right: This was a military zone. Unauthorised entering by civilians was a serious offence. And despite all her experience, she was just that – a civilian. I'm doing this because Lina is my friend! She is no traitor and I will prove that!
They reached a wall of the depot. Both teens were wearing black overalls together with boots and a utility belt that held several gadgets and other useful tools. A friend of them, who was a very talented hacker, had not only extrapolated the location of the commandos' headquarters but also had found the blueprints of the building.
Both took the ascension guns from their belts and reached the roof-top of the building. They snuck to the ventilation shaft and vanished into the building.
The prison cells of the depot were no high security cells. They were just rooms with no windows and a lockable door. No sensors, scanners, holocams or automated sentry guns. They could hold a normal person, but someone with training, experience and enough skill could escape from there in no time. If this Inquisitor really thinks that Lina is a rebels spy, Aurelia wondered, then why didn't he move her into one of those prison blocks onboard his ships?
A ventilation shaft cover in a corridor near the cells fell, but was quickly caught by Aurelia's gloved hands. It was moved into the shaft and two young people jumped into the corridor. "Dill, you watch out!" Aurelia ordered and then she turned towards the cells. She quickly found Lina's cell and cracked the primitive lock within seconds.
A really surprised Lina jumped up from her flatbed, but was totally stunned when her best friend showed up in the door. Then, the tow girls fell into each other's arms.
"Aurelia!" Lina said under tears, "How did you…?"
Aurelia tried to calm her friend down. "Everything's all right. We'll get you out of here."
They were still hugging when Dill appeared in the door and cleared his throat. Both girls looked at him.
"I don't really want to disturb you", he said with a sheepish expression, "but…"
A soldier dressed with black Scout Trooper armor stepped in behind Dill. "…but since you got through all this trouble getting in here, we wanted to show you something!"
Lina gasped in shock and her face was full of fear, but Aurelia stood strong in front of her friend with a defiant look on her face. "Not necessary, sir." She said, "We were about to leave!"
"Please", the commando said and raised his Stormtrooper One blaster rifle, "I insist!" He pointed into the corridor.
Tytia-System – Tytia 6
Behind the second moon – Lounge ISS Generatión
Tour +20 days, 12 hours
Arkyn found Tel in the lounge of the ship. His friend was staring outside the large window down to the brown, scarred surface of the moon. As Arkyn approached, Tel asked in a sad and resigned tone: "Why are we still waiting, Arkyn?" He turned around and looked at his fellow Dark Jedi. "Behind this moon is a planet with a Rebel storehouse. Nothing else. What are we waiting for?"
The small fleet had been here for almost two days. It had been the seventh target on their list. The Vice Admiral suspected a secret rebel warehouse on the sixth planet, since there had been a notable rebel freighter activity around it. What surprised Arkyn was the fact that all seven freighters that had neared the planet during their stay only had brief communication with the planet's base and then had hypered out again.
"You know the Inquisitor told us to wait", Arkyn replied. "After he got one of Caybasi's reports he told us that there might be something bigger in this system. He said he could feel it."
"He and his premonitions", Tel growled, "Maybe the only big thing here is the Rebel trap we have been expecting from day one! I say we attack the base and find out!"
Before Tel could storm out away, Arkyn interrupted him. "Maybe you are right", he said, "but there is another interesting fact."
Tel stopped. "What fact?" he asked.
"You remember that freighters that had come and left again, right? They all hypered out on different courses…" he called up a schematic on his datapad, "you can see that all these different routes cross in one point: Deep space ten light hours above this system's ecliptic."
Tel raised an eyebrow. "This might just be a coincident."
"Perhaps", Arkyn replied and shrugged, "But it's coincident enough to check it out."
Tytia-System – Ten light hours above the ecliptic
(Secret) Rebel Shipyard – Bridge ISS Generatión
Tour +20 days, 16 hours
What they found was nothing spectacular: A Telgorn Corp. Repair Yard, an Assassin-class Corvette, four gun platforms and numerous containers. It had probably been used to build and repair smaller gunship- and corvette-sized vessels.
"Hokay, that wasn't on the list", Tel commented while he watched on the main screen how a squadron of Z-95 Headhunters was launched from the station, "But that is nothing that would blow away my mind."
"Sir, we're in attack position", Captain Morgos said.
Suddenly several alarms went off at the sensor station. Nest to the shipyard a large MonCal-Cruiser, two Nebulon-B frigates and a strange looking ship came out of the hyperspace. They were still too far away to be a threat for the Imperial ships, but it was clear that they were outgunned.
"Ship identified", the sensor officer shouted, "Oceaborn, MC-80 Star Cruiser!
Ship identified! Inad, Nebulon-B frigate!
Ship identified! Thunderchild, Nebulon-B frigate!
One unknown ship! Checking databanks…"
"Unknown ship?" Arkyn asked and turned towards the sensor station, "What the…"
He was interrupted when the Generatión was shaken heavily, like it had been hit.
"What was that?" Arkyn, Tel and the Captain asked in unison.
"Gravity well!" another man said from the sensor station. "It looks like this unknown ship has gravity well projectors!"
"Confirmed!" the first sensor officer said, "Ship identified as Sagina, a Strike Cruiser outfitted with gravity well projectors which had been stolen from the Empire during the Airam Sector Campaign seven years ago."
"Now, that's unexpected." Tel said.
"But it doesn't matter", Arkyn said confidently, "It just makes it easier for us. Open a channel to the Prince of Time!"
Cyphar – Dolkar Sector
Capital City – 72nd Street Supply Depot
A few moments later
The Commando with the callsign Patcher led Aurelia, Dill and Lina deeper into the depot. Aurelia didn't like this. She still had her equipment and was ready to strike at the first opportunity. But she didn't want to risk the lives of her friends. That blaster rifle was definitely not set on stun and attacking a member of the Imperial military forces was not something to be taken lightly. "Where are you taking us?" Aurelia asked.
"Command center", the commando soldier said. Aurealia noticed the high-nosed Core accent that made his Imperial Basic even more arrogant. "Since the Inquisitor awaited such a stupid rescue attempt from you", he continued, "He wanted you to see the end of this."
"Which would be?"
"Your doom, unless you stop lurking for opportunities to overwhelm me, understood?"
So much for that plan… "Yes, sir." She growled.
They reached the command center. Four other commandos were already in there, three men and a woman. Three of them, including the woman, wore black Scout Trooper armor with different modifications. The last commando wore a black Stormtrooper armor with a black coat above it. All were looking at the giant screen.
It showed the corridors of the Palace. A person was walking along the corridor and had her back turned towards the camera, but Aurelia recognized the green and brown robes of Inquisitor Loam Redge. The screen was also covered with several status diagrams and somehow several objects along the corridor were automated targeted and analyzed by the camera. Also, the camera followed the Inquisitor and bounced up and down like someone was carrying it: It was a live-feed from the optical sensors of Lox, the Mark-XI Executioner gladiator/bodyguard droid of the Inquisitor.
Cyphar – Dolkar Sector
Imperial Palace – Quarters
Same time
Loam Redge walked along the corridors until he had found his destination. He stopped in front of the door, typed in his priority code into the console and surprised the servant girl Irina Gels in her quarters. Surprised, the young woman turned around to the Inquisitor.
"I bid you dark greeting, my young servant", Redge said with a smile.
"Inquisitor! What brings you in here?"
"Most of all the fact, that my job here is complete."
"Really? I mean… Did you get the collaborators?"
Redge smiled again. "Yes. They… surrendered to us – from a certain point of view. Which means, that the rebel threat on Cyphar is reduced – drastically."
"That is… great!" She nervously followed the Inquisitor who wandered around in her quarter with her eyes. "Is there anything else?"
Redge looked up. "Yes, indeed, there is!" He continued to wander around, back into the position he had when he first had entered the room. "Did you notice that you actually fit in very well into our spy's profile? Stewardess and assistant computer technician onboard a roaming luxury liner until you stranded here a few months ago because you were infected with Bunkurd Sewer Disorder. But you quickly recovered and soon got a job in the palace."
"Well, a pure coincident" she said nervously. "And you already have your spy."
"Yes. But one fact qualifies you above all other:" his smile got even wider, "You're force-sensitive!"
Irina's face changed from nervousness and insecurity within a blink of an eye into grim and determination. "How long?" she asked with a strong voice.
"Since I met you for the first time, my young servant. I kind of have a sixth sense for something like this."
A bit of confusion appeared on her face. "Then why didn't you…"
"…arrest you?" Redge finished her question. "Simple: Why capture one spy when he – or she in your case – can bring me the whole rebel cell of Cyphar?
I toyed with you. You're not a talented hacker or infiltrator and you mind-manipulating abilities with the force a rather limited. I knew my new security measures would hinder you. To move freely around again you would either had to remove me or hand me over a potential spy. You did this my manipulating the holocams when the snuck around the palace a few days ago: You placed wrong evidences in your room and also placed the tools we were looking for in Lina's locker. You also manipulated the holocams so that you appeared as Lina on the tapes. Too bad for you that it took only seconds for my slicers to crack your code.
It really surprised me that you picked someone like Lina. Sending a young innocent girl into a slow painful death seems not to be very Jedi-like."
Irina opened her hand and out of the closet a small cylinder-shaped tube flew into her hand. She pressed the switch and the lightsaber activated its green blade. "She is no victim!" Irina said with fierce belief in her voice. "This war should never have been fought! But you tortured and killed her!"
Redge raised an eyebrow. He was hardly surprised. Then he shook his head. "Only to convince you that you decoy worked. In your plans she would have died insisting on her innocence and with this convincing us she was a well-trained rebel spy. But I spared her live. She lives and I suppose she is watching the whole scene right now!"
Irina's face was still filled with determination, but within her, Redge could feel her doubts and confusion growing. He had her cornered. Time to continue. Keep her focused on me! "When you had offered me a potential traitor but I still didn't reduce the security you grew impatient. You had to remove me, so you ordered the rebels to attack my command base – whose address you had only gotten for this purpose – where we already awaited them."
Redge took his own lightsaber out of his robes and activated the red blade of the standardised hilt. He held it down, next to his body.
Irina focused on the blade, but her confidence grew again. "You cannot beat me! I know your official dossier: You're a great detective, but you're not a swordsman!"
Redge allowed himself a new smile. Game Over. "You know, my young servant, you are absolutely right!"
Nobody ever noticed the droid. Droids are so common in the galaxy and considered as second-class-beings, that no one ever pays much attention to them. Of, course, everybody knows battle droids. Everybody knows that they can be equipped with deadly weapons – but they are just droids.
Lox unleashed his deadly cargo – but killing was not his intention: Death was finite, but that line could be crossed any time – not now.
In his torso were two integrated grenade launcher, one in each half of the chest. One fired a sonic grenade, the other one a flash bang.
Lox was a gladiator droid. Like his predecessor, the Mark-X-Executioner, he carried many different weapon systems, but his model had all of them integrated in two arms instead of ten. He carefully chose which ones he would use to please his master:
Neuronic whip: The thin metal cord slashed around the girl's saber hand and sent a high-voltage-energy burst through her body. Her weapon fell on the ground.
Light Repeating Blaster: Useful for every combat. The stun-mode he used was not part of his original construction, but a useful upgrade added by the Inquisitor. The rapid fire and high spreading rate was very helpful against lightsaber defences.
Sonic Blaster: Instead of charged plasma, this weapon would fire sonic waves. The setting ranged from simple stunning to brining down a house. Lox chose the first option.
All weapons were fired at once. Irina was completely taken by surprise. Despite the training she received, she was taken out within a second. But the force was with her – partly. Instinctively she raised her arms to protect her body and projected a small shield with the force. She absorbed the different energies pointed at her, which allowed her to stay conscious for a splinter of a second longer than any other human would.
Some of these weapons, especially the sonic ones, had a certain radius so that they would also affect the Inquisitor. Lox knew this, but as did the Inquisitor. Knowing what was about to come, Redge had used the force to protect himself from any damage.
The deactivated lightsaber fell on the ground next to its owner's body. Redge waved with his hand to move away some smoke. "Nice work, Lox."
"No problem, Master Redge."
The Inquisitor sighed. "Inform Commander Jex that we have a pick-up at the palace. Let's hope there's enough left of her that can be interrogated.
Tytia-System – Ten light hours above the ecliptic
Rebel Trap – Bridge ISS Prince of Time
Tour +20 days, 16 hours
The blue-glowing vortex of the hyperspace disappeared and the bridge of the mighty Star Destroyer was shaken heavily as the interdiction field brought the ship back into reality.
Commander Farah looked out of the view ports of her ship. Below her, the wedge-shaped fuselage of her Imperial II-class destroyer pointed towards the rebel fleet. Flanking her ship were two Broadside-class cruisers, filled with hundreds of concussion missiles and proton torpedoes – and a special kind of missile.
The two Strike Cruisers and the Lancer-frigate was no match for the big MonCal ship, but with the arrival of the Prince of Time, things now looked different. Commander Farah opened a comm-channel to the commanding ship.
"This is Commander Farah of the Prince of Time calling the Generatión!"
"This is Captain Morgos of the Generatión. I'm really glad you're here, Commander."
"With this interdiction field you're hard to miss, Captain."
A new, younger voice appeared in the channel: "Cut the formalities for later, we have a big fish coming our way!"
"Confirmed." Farah said, "Slow down and wait for us. We'll attack them together."
The Strike Cruisers slowed down and their starfighters formed a screen around them. Meanwhile, three squadrons of TIE Defenders and another three squadrons of Xg-1 StarWings came out of the Prince of Time's hangar bay. The Defenders headed forward to protect the Strike Cruisers, while the StarWings formed a formation above the bow of the Star Destroyer. The rebels were not lazy, either. The ships turned around. The big MonCal was flanked by the two frigates, while the corvette stayed back with the Sagina, which moved slowly left behind the large cruiser, like a young sea creature was following its mother. Nothing less than nine complete squadrons of A-, B-, X- and Y-Wings, Headhunters and R-41 Starchasers came out of the capital ship's hangars.
When the two Strike Cruisers had joined the Star Destroyer, the Imperial formation was ready: The giant wedge-shaped destroyer as the center, flanked by the two Broadsides and the two Strikes with the Lancer as the first defence-line.
The first shots were fired by the rebels: The primary heavy turbolasers of the Nebulon-Bs fired rapid salvos towards the Strikes, seeing them as the biggest threat (after the Star Destroyer, of course). Then the forwards batteries of the Strikes answered: four medium quad turbolaser batteries on each ship delivered an Alpha Strike towards the Calamari Cruiser.
Commander Farah looked at the approaching fleet. The MonCal did hold back, as did she. All expandable energy was currently transferred into her eight heavy octuple turbolaser cannons. All she had to do was to wait for the right moment.
"Status of the warhead launchers?" she asked.
Captain Khaleena, her first officer, answered: "All forward launcher have been armed with standard CM-5s, Commander."
"Good." She thought for a moment. I'm not here to win, just to get them out of here. The interdictor is the key. I have to… Wait, the starfighters! Take them out of the picture. Force them back… Okay, this should work… She raised her head again. The Nebulons and the Strikes were still firing and exchanging first salvos. "Target the upper right hull of the Calamari. A full Turbolaser salvo, followed by the missiles. I want this coordinated with the Broadsides, understood?
"Aye, Commander!"
"Open a channel to the Generatión!"
Tytia-System – Ten light hours above the ecliptic
Rebel Trap – Bridge ISS Generatión
Tour +20 days, 16 hours
"Understood, Commander" Arkyn said after the Chalactan Commander had told him her plan. She is good, he thought, But then again, she has more experience…
Another turbolaser hit the ship.
"Another salvo!" Tel ordered, "Crack the shields of this fish!"
Arkyn ran to the starfighter station. "Gamma back into the hangar!" he ordered. "Alpha and Beta stay on space superiority, but should prepare for an immediate landing!"
Tytia-System – Ten light hours above the ecliptic
Rebel Trap – Bridge ISS Prince of Time
Tour +20 days, 16 hours
"We are building up the energy-pressure in the main sublight-drives", Captain Khaleena said, seemingly concerned, "but we are reaching critical mass."
"Stand by", Farah ordered, "Primary turbolaser, open fire!"
A thunder rolled through the ship as eight heavy octuple turbolaser turrets released their supercharged loading all at the same time. Sixty-four green lances of superheated plasma raced against the shields of the Mon Calamari Cruiser Oceanborn and nearly cracked its shields. But the Mon Calamari ships were known for their strong shields. This small skirmish again showed, why.
But that wasn't everything the Imperials had to offer: Soon after the salvo hit and before the cruiser could respond, the Prince of Time and the two Broadside-cruisers released over hundred CM-5 concussion missiles, all targeted at the same area.
Particle shield were something different than energy shields, so the missiles hit an undamaged shield. Rebel starfighters, especially the A-Wings, retreated from their attack vectors and went after the missiles, more or less successfully incepting them on their way towards the cruiser.
Again, heavy turbolasers fired. But this time, it was the Calamari Cruiser. The red energy beams were less powerful than the imperial green ones, but Imperial shields were weaker, too. Supercharged like the Star Destroyer's salvo, the lasers ripped the frontal shield of the Star Destroyer out of existence.
Now the floodgates had been opened and a firework of green and red fire broke out between the two behemoths.
Three squadrons of Xg-1 StarWing Assault Gunboats, now escorted by a squadron of the Prince of Time's Defenders, ascended over the Star Destroyer, ready to hit the damaged Cruiser from above. But they waited – not drawing any attention towards them.
Another rocket salvo was released from the capital ships, targeted at the same area. In the chaos of deadly laser beams and under the watchful eyes of the rebel pilots, even less missiles than before hit their target, but it was enough to break the shields.
Meanwhile, a deadly dance began between Rebel starfighters and Imperial TIE Defenders around the tow Strike Cruisers. Fortunately for the Empire, the quad lasers of the frigate Caleidoscope proved deadly for the Rebels.
"Front shields are down", Khaleena reported, "Energy level in the sublight drives now at one hundred and twenty percent!"
"Stand…" Something hit the superstructure of the Star Destroyer just below the bridge. Farah and Khaleena fell on the ground as well as a lot of other bridge personnel.
"Transfer shield energy!" Farah ordered. "Take our back shields!"
"Shouldn't we turn the ship?" Khaleena asked.
"No! We need to stay on course!"
"Aye, commander." Khaleena leaned over a console to give the orders. "Dragonheart and Moon Herald are now switching to alternate armament!"
"Then so are we. Load the Morrt-Missiles!"
"Aye…" Another hit, this time even closer to the bridge.
The third salvo of missiles was on its way, this time combined with seventy-two proton torpedoes of the assault gunboats. But this time, despite the best efforts of the rebel pilots, more than half of the warheads arrived at their designated target area. But only a few detonated. The rest simply seemed to vanish in the giant ship. Receiving serious damage, the commander of the Calamari Cruiser ordered all his starfighters to cover and protect the ship. He also ordered to pull his ship up to bring the damaged part of the hull out of the line of fire.
"Target hit", Khaleena reported, seeing the movement of the cruiser, "And delivery was successful: We're receiving multiple signals. Enemy fighters are retreating!"
"Then the battle is over", Farah said with a relief in her voice, "Contact the other ships and give us full sublight speed!"
"Aye, Sir!"
"And charge up the heavy turrets for another salvo!"
The energy pressure built up in the main sublight drives was released within one second. From one moment to another, energy floated out of the thrusters as if the engines would be running with hundred and fifty percent. Of course it took some time to bring a ship as big as the Prince of Time on ramming speed, but nonetheless, the Star Destroyer accelerated much faster than usual – directly towards the big Calamari Cruiser.
Despite what some people think, these rebels were not stupid. They reacted like any normal person would when a 1.6 kilometre ship was heading directly towards them: They run away. The two Nebulon-Bs and the Cruiser pulled up and accelerated to maximum. But the Star Destroyer did not make any attempts to follow them – on the contrary: When it was close enough to the Cruiser, the Star Destroyer made an evade manoeuvre to the left and a barrel roll to point it's nearly undamaged upper shields towards the MonCal.
The starfighters and the other imperial ships on the other hand, took a different approach: Turning their course at ninety degrees, they used the Star Destroyer as a shield and fled the area as fast as they could.
The Star Destroyer and the MonCal were now so close together that you might think their shields had touched. Several people on the Destroyer's bridge instinctively ducked when the lower side of the Cruiser nearly rammed the bridge tower. The ships were still exchanging broadsides, but the Oceanborn had a clear advantage: Because of its design it could point multiple medium and light turbolaser and ion cannons at the Prince of Time, while the Star Destroyer could only use two triple medium turbolasers – the heavy batteries were still charging.
B-Wings and Y-Wings returned from their guarding position over the damaged section and flew close over the Cruiser to attack the Destroyer, now unprotected of any fighters. But the two large capital ships were too close so that the sensors of the fighters could only identify both as one target. Several torpedoes hit the Destroyer, but not less also hit the Cruiser. Dumb firing was the key in this situation, but only a few pilots got the idea. When they were finally ready to fire a coordinated salvo, the Prince of Time had surrounded the Ocanborn far enough to make a clear shot at its target.
The Modified Strike Cruiser Sagina was hit – like the Oceanborn had been before – by sixty-four supercharged turbolaser beams. Not as charged as the salvo that had hit the MonCal and not as precise – but it was still more than enough to cripple the shields and rip its hull away. With a good part of its nose gone, a few ion shots were enough to disable the Sagina before the escorting Corvette could even react.
The interdiction field was gone and before the rebel commander could adapt to the new situation, all imperial ships activated their hyperdrives – as if they had just waited for this to happen – and disappeared into another dimension.
Deep space – Dolkar Sector
50 lightyears outside the Tytia-System – Bridge ISS Generatión
Tour +20 days, 17 hours
"A nice manoeuvre you pulled there." Arkyn said to Commander Farah over the holocom.
"Thank you, Sir" was her polite answer, but Arkyn could feel a certain disgust even over the com-channels. She didn't like it to take orders from someone who was just old enough to be her son or even grandson. "By the way, your manoeuvre was interesting, too: Using Diamond Boron Missile to place spy droids onboard enemy ships. I never would have gotten such an idea. I really hope that works."
"I hope so, too", Arkyn said, "They haven't moved yet, so you can't be sure, but the Morrt-droids will do their job. Usually you can rely on Admiral Zsinj's projects."
"We'll see. What are your orders?"
Arkyn thought for a moment. There were still a few targets left on the list, but now it was sure the rebels would wait for them. And they had what they had been coming for: A (hopefully) solid trace to the main rebel base. Eliminating the remaining satellite bases would be a job for the Vice-Admiral. For them, it was time to go home.
"Collect all starfighters and then set course to your fleet base", he ordered, "We'll return to Cyphar."
"Yes, Sir."
Marol – Dolkar Sector
Jedi Citadel – Archives
Afternoon
He had selected three students that would soon follow him on another holy mission. They were the strongest of the clan and the only ones worthy enough to escort him: Laros Ben, Nieron and Belran Ka'tas.
He called up another holographic set of Rakatan runes.
As you can see here, he said, you have to visit each of the five surrounding temples before you can enter the main temple that will hold the 'Eye'. I have acquired the key for the main temple during my mission on Cyphar, but the others may still be inside the other temples.
"Actually, you can interpret it in a different was, too" a young female voice said behind him.
Farmgirl? What are you doing here?
"Studying, Master", she replied, confused. "What else are the archives for? But on your runes: Some of them have an ambiguous meaning. You could interpret the text so that…"
Framgirl, Farmgirl, Farmgirl, he interrupted her. Tell me: The weak teaching the strong. What is wrong with that picture?
"Master, I only wanted…"
You only wanted to help me? Me, a Jedi more powerful than anything you will ever achieve in you sorry existence? Touching, but unnecessary. Now go, take another training run or try to do something useful, but do not ever interrupt us with your pitiful intellect again!
Embarrassed, humiliated and ashamed, Farmgirl bowed her head and left the room.
"She never learns", Nieron, the Zabrak commented.
"I wonder why the old Master picked her up anyway" the Bothan Belran asked.
Because at this times, we need numbers more than anything else. It disgusts me to have such a weakling around that calls herself good enough to be a Jedi, but we all have to make some sacrifices as a Jedi. But let us come back to our expedition. I'll have to make some more researches here, but can already prepare the Winter Lake.
"Excuse me, Master", Laros Ben asked, "But didn't master Aqinos ground you because something went wrong on Cyphar?"
Let this be of my concern.
Author's Note: Thnaks to enyone for the reviews so far. I hope the next chapter will be up soon. In the meantime, enjoy this new chapter and send a review. Thnaks.
