Classified location - Imperial space/Centrality
The Executor prowled through space along with several escorting star destroyers, moving close to the massive star that made the center of the Arleen System within Centrality space. On the bridge, Darth Vader stood as he looked out the front windows, looking at the star before them. Or more particularly what orbited the star. The Star Forge Core provided by his new apprentice Sayane proved to be very much worth it, as the small core tripled in size every day, siphoning energy and resources from the star as it grew to the same size as the original.
Vader knew the Star Forge will be the key to allowing their 'new' Galactic Empire to flourish in this time. Convincing the people of Centrality to rally with them was even easier than he thought, as they welcomed Death Squadron with open arms, as they revitalized industrial worlds from their economic depression, and cured agriworlds of their crop plagues. There was nothing but support for the Empire here, even the recruitment stands they had established were struggling to accept the influx of citizens willing to join Death Squadron.
Centrality was an excellent start for them. Without COMPNOR involved, Vader was able to permit non-humans into their ranks as well, further widening the recruitment pool. While there were COMPNOR sympathizers within Death Squadron, any that would rear their heads would be… handled correctly. However this was just the beginning - as the Empire continued to spread its influence across Centrality, they would slowly but surely begin claiming other local sectors and systems. Vader already had his eyes on the nearby Separatist-controlled Tion Cluster, and he fully intended on conquering Hutt Space, and teach those vile gangsters a lesson they will not soon forget.
Turning his attention back to the Star Forge, to further increase its construction multiple engineers had begun working on the station, bringing additional resources and supplies to it. As they did so, they reported that the Star Forge seemed to have pre-planned schematics for Imperial starships within it. From smaller vessels like Tartan's, to Star Destroyers, Dreadnoughts and the like. Most interesting though was the fact that it appeared that a few Imperial Super weapons were also present within blueprint form inside the station - that being the World Devastators, the Galaxy Gun and - to Vader's mild distaste - an improved variant of the Death Star I. Unfortunately, it seemed that the only one that they were missing among the blueprints was the most dangerous of them all - the Sun Crusher.
But it was a mild inconvenience to Vader. Once the Forge was completed they could rapidly expand their fleet, and quickly man the new vessels with their growing recruitment drive. And if need be, they can manufacture droids to make up for any shortages of manpower.
Vader was suddenly however brought out of his musings, as he felt a disturbance within the force. It felt… familiar, and strong. He used his senses to hone in on the signature, trying to figure out who. 'I haven't sensed this since…' He thought, before he stiffened slightly. He hadn't sensed a presence like that since Bespin.
Luke Skywalker.
His son.
However before he could make an effort to locate him, he felt another presence enter the bridge, belonging to none other than Sayane. "My Master," she informed, bowing before him. "I have discovered some information I think you will find quite useful."
"Speak."
"I discovered something about the lightsaber crystals." She informed, "If one puts enough force energy into the lightsaber, the crystal changes, forming a consciousness of its' own with great power. But in order to clear the air, so to speak, one must spend time near a ysalamir. Only after extended periods can you hear its' voice and claim its' power."
Vader turned to face Sayane, intrigued by this. "Prove this."
"Of course, Master." Sayane said, as she drew out her lightsaber. "Tear apart, Kirisaki." The saber flashed before turning into two knuckledusters. Vader almost scoffed at the trick before three red plasma blades emerged, one from each gap in the knuckle. "The spirit was not fond of me, but I conquered it and made its' power my own."
"Impressive…" Vader said, for the first time in a very long time he was legitimately shocked by such a new discovery. "But one must be cut off from the force to do so?"
"Temporarily, yes." Sayane said nodding. "I can bring you my Ysalamiri I acquired so you may attempt to contact the spirit within your own Lightsaber, Master."
"Do so. And quickly." Vader said, "I will send you out once more to find your tutor as well as—"
"Your son?" Sayane asked, "I felt him, too, master. I will begin my search once the little beast is on board." Sayane turned to leave, allowing Vader to think about Sayane's new problems. Ever since she came back from Forge World, she had been more volatile. On one hand it seemed she had lost any trace of the light side within her - which was good, but she had simultaneously begun to act more brash, fueled by nothing but anger.
Of course, Vader couldn't exactly blame her. Rage has been his ally ever since he first donned his armor. Still, he must be more cautious about Sayane, for if she does something which actively hinders their progress within the galaxy, he may need to replace her.
SSD Eclipse
"He had better not be MIA again." Ron pushed a button on the holocomm, attempting to contact Jaden. It was time the three linked up and traded notes: they were going to need to fight a war, and the last thing they needed was Jaden disappearing again.
Thankfully the holographic projector soon revealed the image of Jaden, clad in armored Jedi robes. "Yes Ron?" He asked, "Bit busy right now, what is it?"
"Remember when you asked how I blew up Korriban?" Ron asked, causing Jaden to raise an eyebrow.
"And?"
"If you can clear up that busy schedule of yours, I can show you how I did it and show you how to pull something like it." He said. "We're going to need all the tricks we can get to take out Vader and Dooku."
Jaden looked a bit surprised, diverting his full attention to Ron. "Alright… well, Dooku will likely be the easiest." He said, "He's not that strong. He seems to be consolidating his power with Sidious out of the picture, letting him take control of the Separatists all for himself. And since the Republic's put most of their own campaigns on hold after what happened to Palpatine, the war's become even more of a stalemate than it was before… the real issue is going to be Death Squadron and Vader obviously. Even by our standards, Vader's a fucking beast. There's a reason all of the holo-sims back at the academy ranked him at the hardest difficulty, and very very few have ever actually beaten him in the same sims."
He paused for a moment as he sighed "I suggest we hold off on Vader, sticking to an observing approach. Keep an eye on him and Death Squadron's operations and movements." He said, "Neither we or the rest of the galaxy of this timeframe are ready to take them on in our current state. We should deal with Dooku first… and then the rest of the Separatists, since even if we do kill him, there will still be Grievous, Durge, and Ventress to take command. And we'll also have to do something about the Separatist council as well."
"Does dealing with them translate into knifing their corrupt, corporate asses? Because I'm feeling like pulling a Dominion on a rather large scale." Unlike almost all Jedi, the Dominion's sect actually carried out difficult assassinations that the regular military couldn't.
Sure, it went against the Jedi Code, but the Code was a guideline, not an absolute. So yes, Ron could safely go kill every single member of the Confederate Council and not feel guilty about it. They WERE war criminals.
"For the most part yes, however I believe Poggle the Lesser may be negotiated with." Jaden informed, "Out of all the Separatist founders, he's the only one who's not a complete corporate asshole like Nute Gunray, Wat Tambor and the like. The worse thing he ever did was the Brain Worm parasites - which is nothing compared to what the others in the CIS council have done. If we can get him to work with us, we'd have Geonosian Industries to give us a hand. "
Ron nodded at that, "True, but if we don't get him on our side… ," he said and Jaden nodded.
"Right. What's Boc's status?" He said.
"Reuniting the Mandalorians isn't exactly something you can do overnight." Ron said, "He's recovered the Katana Fleet and I handed Vector over to him a few days ago."
"You wouldn't give him Vector if you didn't have something better." Jaden said accusingly.
Ron only smirked, "That's for me to know, and for you to find out later."
Jaden only sighed, "Right, so, where do you want to meet?" He said.
"Whenever possible, but soon: Sayane nearly killed me, and it's getting harder to avoid that insane bitch. If she weren't a Skywalker, I'd say it was hereditary. Every member of that family goes crazy sooner or later."
"You forget Luke Skywalker was tempted, but was horrified by what his anger did to his father," Jaden reminded, "He rejected the Dark Side, knowing he will just become like Vader,"
"Palpy also broke him during Shadowhand. I count every failure to resist the temptation, including that one. I'll see you when you get here." Ron ended the call before bashing his head against a bulkhead. "I hate time travel."
Meanwhile, near the Balmorra System
A Republic Fleet under the command of Jedi General Keelyvine Reus, were engaged with a separatist fleet, but were slightly losing due to not only the larger number of ships, but the capital ship that lead them. And any veteran during the Battle of the Chommel Sector Medical Station would remember this class of ship.
A single Subjugator-class heavy cruiser (sans the ionic cannon) was beating the crap out of them, along with a smaller number of lighter cruiser and frigate-class warships for cover. It may have been classified as a heavy cruiser, but it was larger than a Praetor-Class Battlecruiser.
But that wasn't going to save it from something with much more powerful guns.
Unfortunately, bigger guns was something the Republic lacked, as the three Venator Star Destroyers split up, attempting to divide the fire of the Subjugator so they weren't clustered around. Keelyvine ducked as a Droid Hyena bomber made a run on the bridge of her flagship - the Majestic - before a V-19 Torrent shredded it apart into space dust before it unleashed its payload. "Ma'am! We're losing shields!" A Clone Lieutenant informed. "We can't keep taking this kind of damage!"
"Try to get behind the Cruiser!" She ordered, "Take out its engines so it can't turn as well!"
"We're trying ma'am, but that screening force is getting in the way!" A clone Ensign reported "We can't get past them!"
Another Venator exploded under heavy fire from the dreadnought before one of their escorts exploded from a blue-white beam tearing through the hull. The eyes of everyone on the bridge widen at that happened.
"What the hell was that?"
A blocky-looking ship, roughly in the corvette-class, shot past the enemy fleet, banking toward the dreadnought before firing two more beams into the dreadnought itself, causing it heavy damage. "This is the corvette Nymph to Republic vessels: sit tight, we'll take care of that dreadnought for you."
The Corvette then continued on it's course as it continued to fire on the Subjugator, eventually moving behind it, and firing a crippling shot at it's engines. Keelyvine was astounded at what happened in front of her. A corvette sized ship had just bested a Dreadnought.
"I want one of those things." The Majestic came under fire from the escorts, but another beam, not from the Nymph, hacked through a Munificent with ease while heavy turbolaser fire vaporized two others. A moderately sized fleet, led by Dreadnought-variants and a pair of modified Victory-Class destroyers, unloaded on the Confederate fleet, destroying most of their ships, including the dreadnought. "This is the Gaean Dominion light star destroyer Durocortorum to Republic destroyer Majestic. Report your status."
Keelyvine signaled to the clone comm operative, and soon after a few moments, the image of a woman in a uniform she hadn't seen before appeared in the holo-emitter. "This is… General Keelyvine Reus of the Republic Star Destroyer Majestic." She said, "Thank you for the assistance, Ducocortorum, but… who exactly are you?"
"Commander Diana Corso, GDS Durocortorum." The reply came from the holo communicator. "My apologies for not intervening sooner, but we were too confused to do anything until we figured out what happened to us. 360 years of technological advancement seem to come in handy."
"…WHAT?"
Before Corso could answer, one of her aides piped up. "Ma'am, I'm picking up a large force of vessels broadcasting Old Imperial IFF, circa 9 ABY. Lead vessel IDed as… Oh, shit."
"What?" Corso said. "What is it?"
"Ma'am… it's the Chimaera."
BGM: "Akatsuki Theme" Naruto OST
The look on Diana's face was that of pure, unadulterated terror. "Oh god no…" she said. "Helm! Hyperspace! NOW! General Keelyvine, if you and your men want to survive, you need to GET OUT OF HERE! NOW!"
Keelyvine only blinked in confusion at what the Captain said, but then felt the disturbance in the Force telling her to listen to the Dominion officer.
"Helm! Follow the Dominion Forces!" she ordered, and the clone followed the order. "Order the rest of our fleet to do the same!"
"Where? We don't even have a vector plot—" Data packets were received throughout the fleet, sent from the Durocortorum. "…These people are scaring me, General."
"As long as it's a good scary, not a bad one! GO!"
The fleet jumped away, in full view of a single Imperial II-class destroyer.
"Sir, the unknown ships have jumped to Hyperspace…" the captain of the ship said, an older man with white hair wearing a black imperial uniform. "Pardon me for being curious, but I thought I saw Venators with Old Republic Markings…"
"Your eyes are not deceiving you Captain,"
On the bridge was a man. His dark hair only a few shades lighter than his blue skin, but not preventing his red eyes from showing. His white uniform and rank plate IDed him as an Imperial Grand Admiral, one of thirteen in the Imperial NAvy.
His name was Mitth'raw'nuruodo. But his easier to pronounce core name struck fear and terror into the hearts of trillions for over 400 years.
He was Grand Admiral Thrawn.
"Sir, there is another starship," An ensign reported. "It… appears to be a Clone Wars-era starship… Subjugator-class, heavily damaged though."
"This deserves some answers," the Chiss legend said, his gaze as calculating as ever. "Move us to the starship, prepare boarding parties. One way or another we shall have our answer."
"Yes sir," said the Captain. "And if the survivors of the crew resist?"
"Eliminate any who resist, but spare any who surrender," Thrawn said, and gave the Captain a stern look, "We need prisoners to interrogate, Captain Pellaeon. You can't get information from a corpse."
"Understood." Gilad Pellaeon said nodding, as the orders were issued as the Chimaera moved towards the wrecked vessel that was over twice its own size. Dropships and boarding craft launching towards the starship.
Meanwhile - Lehon
The planet was slowly turning from oceanic scrapyard to oceanic base with the recovery of the Leviathan and the reconstruction of the Temple of the ancients. Jaden continued to resist fanboying when Thrawn was nearby, although that grew more and more difficult.
Especially as Thrawn continued to kick ass in that way of his.
Ever since Thrawn became Jaden's second-in-command, he studied everything Jaden taught and gave him on military strategies from the modern day, as well as the strategies and tactics of famous commanders from Earth such as Yamamoto, Rommel, Patton, Montgomery and more. The Admiral was impressed by these men, and even went so far as to perfect some of their most greatest strategies. He absorbed everything he learned like a sponge.
Once he was done learning, he began working. Jaden allowed for Thrawn to take control of the Leviathan, and he simply began carving nearby Vagaari supply lines into bite size pieces. His strategies were almost always the same: Lie in wait along Vagaari hyperspace routes with the Gravity Well Projectors online. Vagaari plunder ships and transports would be forced out of hyperspace, and with a quick barrage of Ion cannon fire, the vessels were knocked out of commission. This was immediately followed by boarding actions, lead by the recently reorganized Sith Army, now going under the title as 'Imperial Guardsmen' along with Assault Droids, which would clear out the enemy vessels of the Vagaari, securing them.
In doing this, Thrawn was able to secure many valuable resources. From Plunder ships, there were entire decks full of coins, jewels, spices, artwork and other treasures from the many worlds of the unknown regions. When they engaged warships, Thrawn easily disabled the vessels without harming the civilians being used as human shields in zero-g plastic bubbles outside the ships, and freeing the people.
Any Vagaari that survived were imprisoned, and sent to a penal facility set up on Desten - fifth planet of the Lehon System. While the refugee civilians came to Lehon itself, where they were welcomed with open arms by the Sith. The construction and agriculture droids were hard at work as they constructed a sizable city near the Temple of Ancients, based off of designs of Sith structures from Dromund Kaas. A rather simple agreement was made for the refugees. In exchange for the Sith protecting them from the threats of the Unknown Regions, the people help provide for them. Help maintain the cities, man the farms the Agri Droids developed to provide food, all of that. Of course if any of them wish to return home to their homeworlds, the Sith provide that as well.
All of this has been happening within the span of a month, and they were growing fast. With the Star Forge at 50% completion, they were ahead of schedule.
"So what was at Mustafar?" Thrawn asked, as Jaden arrived on the bridge of the Leviathan. "You were very adamant about going there."
"Ah, just… recovering a friend of my Master's." Jaden said, as a clanking sound was heard behind him, as another figure entered the bridge.
"Statement: HK-47 is ready to serve, Master." A Red, skeletal shaped Droid spoke. "Query: May I kill something for you?"
Thrawn rose an eyebrow at the droid. "What… is that?"
"Hunter-Killer droid model 47, or HK-47." Jaden informed, "During the Old Republic days, the HK-series was a line of expert Assassin Droids, with HK-47 being among the most proficient Droids of its model, more than capable of taking out the most hardened warriors, and even some of the most seasoned force users."
"Confirmation: This unit has over five hundred thousand, two hundred and twenty three confirmed direct kills, and twenty thousand thirty indirect kills via sabotage." The legendary Assassin droid said. "Boastful Statement: I am more than happy to add to that kill count, Master."
"I recovered HK because he was created by my Master, and is the single most amazing Assassin Droid to ever be produced." Jaden informed, "And more importantly, in recovering him I also captured multiple HK-77 models, and from his memory core I obtained the schematics of the HK-50, HK-51, and HK-55 models of Assassin Droids."
Thrawn looked at the Hunter-Killer droid with a speculative eye "And what do you plan to do with… HK-47 and his successors?" He asked.
"Confirmation: They are not successors, merely failed attempts to repeat the magnificence that is me," HK informed. "Threat: Be sure to remember that, Blue-skinned Meatbag."
Thrawn rose an eyebrow at the insult. "Meatbag?" he asked, glancing at Jaden who shrugged.
"Couldn't change that," he said. "'Sides, it's hilarious. Anyways, as to why I brought him here aside from recovering him from the Separatists, I have an idea as to how to get eyes and ears across the galaxy. I'm going to produce and sell HK-series droids to the people of the galaxy, marketed as Protocol and Defense Droids to the Separatists, Republic, the Sorcerers of Rhand, and such. They will serve in militaries, civil contractors… and become the ideal spies."
The realization dawned upon Thrawn. "I see where this is going." He said.
"Bingo." Jaden said nodding, "They will be our eyes and ears, spying on everyone, and when we order them they will eliminate threats, conduct sabotage and such. Once we cut off the head of the Separatists, most CIS-held space will be thrown into chaos. Our HK droids and other agents across the galaxy will begin… coaxing the people of the known galaxy into rallying with the Neo Sith - systems closest to our space. So when we make our presence known, these systems will join as part of our domain."
"Seems rather bold." Thrawn commented, as Jaden grinned a bit.
"I like to call it… aggressive expansion," he said. "Outer rim worlds usually hold no love for the Republic, being preyed upon by Black Sun Pirates and such which they do nothing about. If the Sith offers protection from these criminal groups, they'll be more than happy to rally behind us. And considering former Separatist worlds want independence from the Republic, our presence would solidify that desire."
"The Republic won't like that… " Thrawn said, however Jaden shook his head.
"True, but there won't be much they can do about it." He said, "Once the Separatists are defeated, the Republic will be to worried about Death Squadron than us… in fact, when the war is over the Republic will have even bigger issues than Death Squadron."
"Indeed," Thrawn said, knowing what Jaden was talking about. "They've got far too much debt to banking corporations to support the war, and with no war to fight the Republic will no longer need their clone army."
"And then they become an army without a reason to fight," the Sith Lord confirmed. "That will begin a whole new crisis the Republic will have to worry about, from PTSD Clones trying to adjust to civilian life, to others outright deserting the Republic. Then there will be the trouble with the Jedi - since there will be tons of Anti-Jedi sentiments across the outer rim, and even in the core worlds. We could very soon see the total collapse of the Republic… then it becomes and free-for-all."
"And the Mandalorians?" Thrawn asked, having been informed about their own current actions.
"Boc will gladly take in any deserting Clones as Mandalorians." Jaden said, "He'll mostly focus around Mandalorian space, but it's possible they will expand to neighboring systems if they ask for Mandalorian protection from Death Squadron or CIS holdouts. He'll do what he can to help in the fallout of the Republic's collapse, but… he'll have his own hands full. Domino's are almost set… it just takes someone crazy enough to push the first one down."
Thrawn nodded, as he allowed himself a small smirk, "I see I made the right choice siding with you." He said, "So… what do we know about Dooku?"
"He's currently at Serenno probably, with an entire fleet protecting him." The Sith said, as they used the holograms to display the star system in question. "So we either need a way to sneak past the fleet, or hit them hard and fast before Dooku can try and escape."
Thrawn nodded as he looked at the map, clasping his hands behind his back. "Leave that to me."
SSD Eclipse
"We need to do something to reduce Vader's capabilities to do anything. Good for us we have a fucking Eclipse-Class SSD, no?"
"Agreed, though with Sayane helping him, it's likely he might have a defense against a Superlaser already," Takeshi replied. "Not to mention, I studied Hana with the Force - she's not just a 'good' clone of Sayane, Ron - you really did pull a Reverse Vanitas: Hana seems to be all of Sayane's good parts and sanity, meaning that Sayane's likely even crazier than ever. Which makes it even more important that we take Sayane down."
"Technically, I pulled an The Enemy Within Kirk."
"And I didn't watch the original Star Trek, Ron," Takeshi told him.
"I did, and it's the oldest example I know of. Regardless, if I use Kane Hagosha on her again, it's likely that she'll pull the same thing that happens to most Dark Jedi."
"She'll explode?"
"Like a pig hit with a 88mm shell. Red mist!"
Takeshi nodded. "OK, we have something of a plan," he said. "Now, we need to find a way to get to Centrality undetected."
"Screw undetected. We'll just outflank Vader. We'll use the Eclipse to vape a couple of Vader's ships and we'll sneak onto the Executor and knife the bitch to death. Without his apprentice, Vader's going to be VERY declawed."
"Right," Takeshi replied. "Well, we have a plan, then."
"Now I just have to talk to Telas and Celeste: they'll be manning the ship. I just have to make sure they don't rip each other's heads off. For some reason, they got into a fight when we got on board."
"They fought?"
"Yeah, and they aren't telling me why."
Takeshi blinked, then smirked very slightly. "I think I might have a slight idea," he said, figuring how quickly they'd shoved their weapons in his face after decking Ron was a decent indicator, too.
"You're going to have to tell me later." Ron tapped his commlink. "Telas?"
"Yeah, what is it?"
"Tell the droids to set a course for the Centrality region. We're going hunting for Death Squadron."
"Are you crazy?!"
"We've got a superlaser. With a short recharge rate. HOW many ships can we blow up?"
Telas was silent for a moment, "Probably 8. 10 if we're lucky, and quick, enough," she said.
"EXACTLY. Set a course." Ron gestured to a B1, which marched over.
"Yes, Master Jedi?"
"Is that TIE/sa with the new cloaking device operational?"
"Yes, sir!"
Takeshi blinked. "A cloaking device?" he asked. "Regular Nanites don't make those…"
"Only Dominion military-grade nanites can," Luna confirmed from nearby. "And those aren't easy to come by…" she glanced pointedly at Ron.
"My… parents are officers in the Third Fleet: my mom's XO of the Chalons, my dad's a stormtrooper commander on board the Austria-Hungary. They gave me the nanites."
"That's a gross violation of military protocol!"
"It's not like I'm going to give them to the One Sith! Besides, the container's marked standard, and I haven't been captured by the One Sith: holding me isn't worth it, Lieutenant."
Luna paused for a moment, then sighed. "Fine… I'll overlook this for now… it's above my paygrade, anyway."
"Admiral Menisk knows, anyways. Not worth the trouble."
"Like you and the One Sith?"
"Lieutenant, if the One Sith sent a dozen people after me, there would be a dozen corpses. I KILL Sith Lords. Full lords, not the pions the Dominion Army and Marines can kill. The only real threat I can think of is Palpy and Vader."
Luna sighed. Vader was equal to a Pureblood High Master. In simulations, Jedi threw themselves against that bastard, and only two people had actually won: Jaden Takeo, although he would have lost his life in the process had it actually happened, and Ron himself, which, again, ended in a pyrrhic victory with Ron ending up like Vader.
"We shouldn't worry about it, anyway," Takeshi said. "If it helps us take down Sayane, we need every edge we can get."
"I'll get to the bridge. Have you bothered upgrading the defense systems?"
"I dragged in an asteroid on the way to Jebble: CIWS turrets are under construction. They'll be fit when we get there. Takeshi and I will handle SAyane. YOU get to deal with Vader's capital ships."
"Oh, happy-happy joy-joy." Luna left the hangar, leaving Ron with Takeshi.
"You are insane."
"And news of the week goes to…"
"It's not news - just stating something that I've stated countless times before," Takeshi said.
"We'll be FINE. If Vader is stupid and we're lucky, the Executor will be first on the list of superlaser targets and we won't have to deal with Terra Australis-level shields."
"If those shields are to the same grade, it'll take four shots to burn through!"
"Hence us getting lucky."
Takeshi sighed. "Also, please try to avoid antagonizing Luna if you can, alright? She's become a good friend of mine, and playing peacekeeper between two friends isn't my idea of fun."
"Not trying to. But my parents spent two decades working their way up: the Third Fleet is a VERY prestigious port, and the Austria-Hungary was the ship that led the attack on Korriban in 2102. My mom's next in line for promotion: they might put her up for one of those new Praetors they're putting into service next year."
Takeshi nodded. "Right," he said. "Still, just try to be more careful than usual when talking with her. She's a genetically engineered clone - don't want her going Wookiee on you."
"Terran Pureblood. Come on, let's get ready. That bomber's been stripped of her bomb bay to make room for that cloaking device, and the autopilot's going to need some tuning for us to fly it back on its' own. Let's put that Corellian ancestry of yours to use."
Centrality - Erilnar System
SSD Executor
Darth Vader looked at his lightsaber, feeling the change it had now underwent. His… visit with the lightsaber spirit was a unique experience. But he could now feel just how powerful it now was… how powerful he had become thanks to it.
"My Lord."
Vader's attention was deverted to Piett. "Yes, Admiral."
"Lord Vader, a single contact has been detected in-system." He reported, "It is large and closing on our location."
"Can you identify it?"
"No, my lord." Piett informed, "The Death's Head and Judicator are en route to intercept."
The Captain of the Death's Head looked out into space, not believing what he was seeing. "E-Executor… Death's Head reporting." He informed on the comm. "Unknown contact identified. It's… it's the Eclipse?"
The Eclipse fired a single shot at the Judicator, vaporizing it.
Ironic, as the Death Star II did that to the Liberty with the same weapon: a superlaser. "Reverse course! Get us out of here!" The mile-long battleship turned as fast as she could, but in the four minutes it took to completely reverse course, the Eclipse's main weapon had recharged. The Death's Head was vaporized with a direct hit to her main reactor.
"Judicator and Death's Head are gone, boys. Get out there while their sensors are still blind by the debris."
The small modified TIE Bomber launched from the Eclipse, and then turned invisible as its cloak activated.
"We're clear. Eclipse, you have multiple TIE bombers inbound, escorted by TIE/LNs and Interceptors."
"Copy that. We're launching TIE droids and Vultures to counter."
"Prepare for boarding parties. And don't lose my fucking ship, Telas. Eclipse is one of a kind."
"Oh, have no fear. We'll keep your ship nice and safe, not the two people on—"
"Do I HAVE to say to keep yourselves safe? I thought it went without saying."
"Don't worry," Luna said. "We'll be careful. You two just keep yourselves safe, alright? Make sure you two come back." There was a brief pause. "Especially you, Takeshi — don't-don't get yourself killed."
Takeshi blinked. Luna was favoring him with the warnings and worry? Was she falling for him, like he was falling for her? "Don't worry, Luna," he said. "I'll make it back."
"He's one of the best duelists in the Order. He'll be fine. And I'm backing him up. He won't get a scratch."
Ron took the controls, diving through the flight of bombers and fighters. "So, we're finally going to kill her."
"Yes."
"Any regrets? You know this isn't going to be easy, emotionally or otherwise."
"Plenty. None I'm willing to voice, though," Takeshi replied. Though part of him wondered if he'd have to pull out his own special trick for this fight.
"I trained her."
"I know."
"So every death she caused, I'm ultimately responsible for. It ends today."
The Judgement opened fire on the Eclipse, only for the ship to take a superlaser strike that cored it and destroyed the Avenger. "My lord, the Eclipse is targeting us!"
"Maximum power to shields," Vader ordered. "Let us see if Dominion tech truly does live up to its expectations."
The Executor maneuvered to create the thinnest possible profile, but that wasn't going to help as the Eclipse opened fire. The green beam made contact with the shields, but did not penetrate. It did drain them, but not as bad as they would have thought. "Shields are at 64%!"
"Have the Avenger, Relentless and Stalker attack from its right flank, while the Nemesis, Thunderflare and Tyranny attack from the left." Vader ordered. "They will divide their fire. Move the Executor outside the firing arc of the Eclipse's main weapon!"
The Executor was a BIG fucking ship. But compared to the mass of the Eclipse, she was three times more agile. Considering their size, it wasn't much.
But F-4 Phantom pilots often used their skills to outturn more agile MiG-17, 19 and 21s in Vietnam. The Eclipse's new helmsman was a Terran who had taken lessons from General Robin Olds and his little MiG hunting operation.
The Eclipse was keeping pace.
But while it was keeping pace speed-wise, the Executor exploited another advantage it held over the enemy SSD, as it closed the distance, moving out of the known firing arc of the infamous SSD's superlaser along its prow. As the additional six Star Destroyers mobilized along the flanks of the enemy vessel, before they began bombarding the Eclipse with a salvo of Turbolasers and Ion Cannons.
"Eclipse shields are holding! Turning to port!" The massive SSDs continued their super-sized dogfight, and Vader paled as the Eclipse's prow lit up again and unleashed another beam into their shields.
"Shields are failing! Lord Vader, we can't take another hit!"
"I will strengthen the shields, Admiral." The Sith Lord informed. Before Piett could ask how, Vader poured Force energy into the Executor, recharging the shields. Palpatine could fire as many times as he liked; the Executor would not fall. Not because of a Superlaser, not because of a stupid A-Wing Kamikaze run.
Executor will NEVER die again.
"Damn you, Vader, STAY STILL!" Luna was a fighter pilot. She could make an X-Wing of any breed outturn and out fight any more advanced fighter; it was what she was bred for!
She was not a CAPITAL SHIP jockey. "Come ON! Couldn't Palpatine make the Eclipse, I don't know, SMALLER?!"
"Because Sith as a rule are too showy for their own good?"
"Marka Ragnos, Malak, just about every Sith that's ever lived; good point." While Celeste had the answer to WHY the Eclipse was too big, that didn't resolve their one problem.
The Eclipse had a turning circle the size of a small continent.
"Either we need to get out of here before we end up as debris, or we shoot our way out," The Jedi master said, "Cause it's getting crowded around here!"
"Have they docked yet?!" One of the OOMs looked back at Luna. "That TIE bomber they took out just landed in hangar bay two! They're onboard the Executor."
Luna remembered something from history about the Eclipse destroying a smaller ship.
…By ramming it.
"Breaking off from the Executor!"
"What are you—" Luna turned the Eclipse towards the Pride of Tarlandia, a Praetor-Class dreadnought roughly one fifteenth the Eclipse's size.
"No."
"Yes."
"No!"
"YES!"
"NO!"
"YES!"
"NO!"
"YES! PREPARE FOR RAMMING SPEEEEEEEEEEEEEED!" Luna shouted as she maxed the thrusters towards the Battlecruiser.
The 4,000 meter long ship attempted to evade, but all that did was slow Luna down. The Eclipse's massive prow slammed into the Pride of Tarlandia's, cutting and crushing the ship, destroying it before heading for the next target.
The Executor herself.
"They're MAD! TAKE EVASIVE ACTION!" The Executor bucked as the Eclipse charged at the smaller star dreadnought, looking to bisect the 19 kilometer long warship. The Executor moved out of the way as the Eclipse moved under it, the ship's dorsal deck nearly scraping the ventral belly of the opposing SSD.
Death Squadron was being thrown out of formation. They had lost four ships, including the second in command. "This is Tyranny: we're—HELP US!" The Eclipse slammed into the Tyranny, destroying the ISD2 as well as half a dozen Strikes and nine Lancers that prow had made contact with. Piett could only watch in horror as the massive dreadnought LITERALLY cut through many of Death Squadron's other ships like a knife through butter. The other ships wisely moved out of the way, of course that gave the Eclipse the opening it needed to escape. Vader, watching the spectacle, was instantly reminded of a similar maneuver he pulled in the Clone Wars, when he single handedly rammed a Venator into a Lucrehulk.
"How much damage can that thing TAKE?!" Sayane was thrown off her feet before she noticed the off-color of most of the plating. "Son of a BITCH. Pinkerton's controlling that ship! The entire prow section's plated in tritonium!"
"You are certain of this?"
"The Dominion modified the Pangaea the same way!" ISD Whirlwind bravely charged at the Eclipse, attempting to ram into the command tower. But whoever was flying the Eclipse banked upwards, clipping Whirlwind before bisecting the ship from the bottom upwards. "No one would do this for destruction alone. Your tutor is plotting something, my apprentice."
Sayane gritted her teeth as she looked at the Eclipse continuing on.
Her attention was diverted elsewhere. "He's on board. Son of a bitch snuck on board!"
"The Eclipse is little more than a distraction. Deal with him. I will handle the Eclipse."
Sayane eyes squinted as she pulled out her lightsaber.
"With pleasure…"
"I still think this is a bad idea," Takeshi said as they moved through the halls of Vader's personal Flagship.
"Bad, yes, but necessary. Lieutenant Hawke's job is to destroy as many ships as she can, our job's to kill Sayane. Once she's dead, Vader's going to be seriously declawed."
"Right," Takeshi said, though he couldn't shake the ominous feeling he was getting…
The pair felt a mild cold as something approached. "And I was wondering whether or not this would be assassination or proper duel. Hope you're happy to see your sister."
The pair looked up to see Sayane, standing there with a grin on her face.
"I almost wish I didn't have to see you again," Takeshi growled. "But I'll do what I must."
"Hello, onii-san. Pinkerton."
"Sayane, I'm not in the mood for pleasantries."
"You never are. I also don't care. Today I'm finally going to kill you. Killing my brother is a bonus."
Takeshi readied his Lightsabers, though he could sense that his sister was stronger than before. He also confirmed what he'd learned earlier - all of the parts of Sayane that could have made her 'good' had been purged when Hana was 'born'. All that was left was her personality and evil.
"Once you die, I will cast off my past once and for all! Tear out, Kirisaki!" Vader's old lightsaber transformed into a pair of knuckledusters with three plasma blades each.
"Oh, fuckie-do."
Takeshi's eyes widened. If his sister could now pull a similar trick to Ron, he couldn't hold back. "Ron… keep her busy for a moment," he said.
"Oh, SURE, leave her to—" Sayane screamed, rushing at Ron. "Fuck me. Ring, Kane Hagosha!" The saberstaff lengthened and Ron began spinning the staff to try and intercept Sayane's claw-sabers. 'Suddenly reminded of Soul Calibur.' He intercepted one set but he had to jump onto the ceiling to avoid the other.
Sayane laughed as he made his way down to the deck. "What's wrong, can't block everything I can send at you anymore? Are you finally going to take me SERIOUSLY?!"
"Every Sith and Dark Jedi are powered by an emotion, Yamato. Yours is jealousy." She furiously attacked Ron, but as usual, he adapted to her fighting style. "You're jealous of the fact that you weren't born a Pureblood, of the fact that my parents are highly-positioned military personnel and that your brother's a well-respected Knight! Jealous of quirks of fate far outside our control!"
Sayane just wordlessly shouted in rage as she continued to attack Ron, before a surge in Force Energy drew both of their attention toward Takeshi, slightly hunched forward as what seemed to be a faint violet aura enveloped his body. His Lightsabers ignited, and he glared at Sayane, his eyes glowing. "You will fall today, Sayane!" he yelled, his voice carrying a strange echo to it, before he charged, faster than he'd ever moved before.
"NEVER! I'll kill you both! And my full ascension to the Sith will be complete!" Sayane finally managed to make contact with Ron's lightsaber, shocking the weapon out of his hands as the blades made contact with the hilt, nearly destroying it before it reverted back to its' natural state.
"Oh, look, I finally managed to remove your lightsaber from the equation! DIE!"
At that moment, though, Takeshi was upon her, and his speed was not just in movement, as he parried and attacked faster than ever, Sayane only barely able to block his strikes, which had a surprising amount of strength behind them, as well.
"WHY! WHY MUST YOU BOTH BE BETTER?! I'M STRONGER, SMARTER!"
"And delusional." A purple strand ensnared her left claw-saber, sending her to the deck plating. "You keep forgetting I have more than one saber."
"And I have learned family secrets and techniques you could never comprehend, Sayane," Takeshi added in the strange echo. "You cannot succeed."
"No. I am the apprentice of Darth Vader!"
"What you are…" Ron's lightwhip impacted the right claw, disabling it. "Is a fool. Grow, Bailarina de la Viña." The strand shortened to less than two feet in length before turning into a solid blade with a glowing purple energy core.
"A short sword? Really?" Sayane scoffed, before the blade seemed to segment, flowing around like a whip once more, but now with chunks of blade as links in the chain.
Takeshi whistled slightly. "Nice trick," he said, his voice still carrying the strange echo.
"You have NO IDEA how long it took me to get this." Sayane screeched in rage before Ron flexed the whip in her direction, the blade going in between the blades and catching on her shoulder before he pulled back, drawing blood and nearly taking off her right arm.
The other saber fell to the deck, reverting back to the original form as it slipped from her hand.
"So, you or me? We've both got problems with her, but—
Kooh. Purr. "Ronald Pinkerton, I presume?"
"…shiiiiit." Both Jedi said, as they turned around and saw the legendary dark lord of the Sith behind them, lightsaber drawn.
His armor had been slightly altered, as Ron noticed his gauntlets had been modified with tritonium plates, and the joints were modified for greater flexibility. The only thing not altered was his helmet.
Because seriously, that fucking thing practically exudes fear.
"I have been expecting you," Vader spoke. "My apprentice speaks of you… Often."
Ron began chuckling nervously. "Why did I accept the teaching job again?"
"Because you're an idiot who thinks he can solve just about any problem?"
"Oh, THANK you, Take. Your faith in me is astounding."
"If you surrender, you may yet live," Vader informed. "Fail…" He raised his lightsaber. "…Burn, Vater Asche."
The blade erupted in flames, the hilt lengthening into a double-sized version, with the blade itself widening and turning into a wide, two-meter long weapon of doom.
Ron's eyes widened in spite of the brightness. "Aw, FUCK."
"Only one thing we can do in a situation, like this, Ron," Takeshi said. "RUN!" He then suited action to words, turning around and running down the hall.
Ron reached out with the Force, retrieving Kane Hagosha and fleeing, screaming like mad.
(BGM: Benny Hill Theme)
"HOW THE HELL DID HE LEARN THAT?!"
"I'm going to presume your crazy sister told him how!"
"I blame you for this!"
"What the fuck did I do?!"
"You trained her, you pulled us all into this mess, and you were the one to show her the trick in the first place, even if you didn't intend for her to learn it!" Takeshi yelled.
The duo turned another corner, only to skid to a stop as another figure appeared before them. Wearing black and red robes, and glaring at them with yellow eyes, activating two lightsabers he held in a reverse grip. "Aww fuckberries." Ron muttered. "You."
"Yes." The Starkiller clone said, spinning his blades. "Me."
"We SO do not have time for this shit." Ron pulled the deck plating up, using his superior force power to shove the Dark Apprentice over and into the furthest wall. "RUN!" Incoherent screaming was heard from behind them. "I hate dark transfer. Remind me to kill Cade Skywalker."
"TALK LATER, RUN NOW!" Takeshi yelled as they continued running. "You know we won't be able to get back to your bomber to get out of here, right?"
"I set the autopilot to take it back to the Eclipse!"
"WHAT?!"
"The fuck do you want from me?! The last thing Vader needs to get is a magnetic displacement field!"
"…Whatever," Takeshi replied after a moment. "Means we're stealing a pair of fighters anyway."
"And the only fighters on board are TIEs. How long can you hold your breath?"
Both men rushed down the corridor, Sayane's screams joined by the clone's. And prevailing throughout, the feel of volcanic heat.
"Long enough, especially in this form!" Takeshi replied, his voice still maintaining the weird echo.
The pair finally reached the hangar bay, where two TIE Interceptors were sitting, locked in place in their berths. "I'll take one, you take the other?" The ship shook in sync with Sayane's rage-filled scream. Both men glanced and ran to the interceptors, closing the hatches and prying the planes out of their docking clamps with the Force.
As Sayane entered the hangar, the two Interceptors flew out, speeding towards the Eclipse.
"GAAAAAH!" Her arm hung uselessly, meaning she couldn't fly out to follow them. "I WILL FIND YOU! AND WHEN I DO, I WILL KILL YOU, PINKERTON!"
Green bolts swerved around both fighters as Ron busied himself with manipulation of the tibanna gas. "ECLIPSE, WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU?!"
"Over there!" Takeshi somehow replied telepathically, directing Ron's attention to where the Eclipse was ramming through yet another ship.
"Channel energy into the engines! We don't have any shields, so we're going to have to do this the Blackbird way!"
"Comparing the TIE Interceptor to the SR-71 is rather stupid!"
"Do YOU have any better comparisons?!"
Takeshi did not reply to that, as the Interceptors accelerated to well past their normal specs as they headed towards the Eclipse.
"Hyperdrive is offline!"
"It's an I-418!" Luna yelled. "Ladies, I've got my hands full steering this thing: can you find that ship and blow it up?!"
"We would, if we knew where it was!"
"Small ship, four hemispheres on both sides of the hull! Now kill it before Death Squadron regroups!"
It didn't take long before the said ship was sighted, being protected by four Victory IIs and two Imperial II-class ISDs. They then had the batteries to begin firing on the group of ships.
"Shields are at 78%! If you would like to BLOW IT UP…"
"Firing superlaser!" The green beam fired from the prow, obliterating the interdictor.
Two TIE Interceptors headed for the hangar, being chased by everything else. "LADIES, GET US ON BOARD!"
"Holding steady!" Luna replied as she leveled out the ship's trajectory. "Telas, Hangar Tractor Beams!"
"I've got them! They're in hangar bay two!"
"Taking us into hyperspace!" The Eclipse jumped away, entering FTL.
Ron rushed past everything, entering the closest comm room before recording a message. "Gentlemen, I need to speak with you both. Get your asses to the Hoth system. Right Fucking Now."
As Takeshi arrived at the comm room, following close on Ron's tail, he heard Ron mention the Hoth System. "There'll be more than the two of them meeting us there," he said. "When Luna and I first came to, we captured a CIS Cruiser and reprogrammed its droids to be loyal to us. We parked it at Hoth to keep it out of the way in case we needed a trump card."
"Speaking of which, you have some explaining to do."
"Oh?"
"That Goa'uld voice trick of yours. It nearly put you on par with a Pureblood! If you've got a snake in your head, tell me now so I can remove it."
Takeshi sighed. "Not so much a snake in my head…" he admitted, "but a more… benign and willing form of what you had to get Mr. Fuzzy to stop."
Before Ron could ask what he meant, a spectral form appeared next to Takeshi - one that looked almost just like Takeshi. "Greetings, Ronald Pinkerton," the spectre said. "You already know my name, for I share it with my descendant here."
"The Corellian. You helped the Hero of Tython kill that bastard Vicite. Too bad you didn't kill him enough: fucker plagued my head for three years."
"The fact that you are a Terran Pureblood and that you are a powerful shatterpoint for the dark and the light is not my problem, nor is the fact that force ghosts know that."
"You still could have done SOMETHING."
"Not as much was known back then on the subject of purifying or killing Force Ghosts," Takeshi the older informed.
"He's watched over the family ever since his death," Takeshi the younger told him. "Though, when I was born, I was the first to truly see him, so he ended up becoming one of my teachers. We seem to share wavelengths in the Force, as well as Force Signatures, which lets us… well, Unite, for lack of a better term - fusing together to provide a boost in battle. I'm working on perfecting it to the point where we can use my Lightsabers as a kind of medium for the Unity to provide an even bigger boost."
"I hate force ghosts. If they're not trying to hijack my body, they're helping someone else try to kill me. You DO realize that your sister can pull the same fucking trick? If she uses Sith alchemy, she'll get in contact with your insane sister!"
"I'm well-aware of that."
"At least she's not a Skywalker!"
Takeshi the elder winced at that. "Umm…" he began, nervously. "Well… technically… okay, about five generations ago, the Yamato of that generation fell in love with and married a member of the Solo-Skywalker line; specifically, one of Jaina Solo-Skywalker's descendants."
"No."
"Sadly, yes."
"...Well, that explains that."
"Excuse me?"
"Fell, tempted, tempted, fell… The Skywalkers are CURSED with that issue."
Takeshi the younger blinked a bit, but nodded. "I guess you have a point," he said. "I've had my own brushes with the Dark Side, to be honest - and though my ancestor and I have vowed to never speak of them again to anyone, I managed to make it through them."
"…Great, even YOU. You're just proving my point! The Skywalker line is too easy to tempt! Fuck, we have better things to do than prove me right about this. We have to regroup with Jaden and Boc, and organize a proper defense against Vader."
Both Takeshis nodded. "Right," Takeshi the younger said. "We should be able to come up with something once we meet up with them."
"We've got three problems: the CIS, Vader and the Vong. I hope to deal with them in my lifetime. There will not be another Vong War."
"Agreed," Takeshi the younger replied. "Though there's another threat out there that no one really thinks about - the sentient droids that forced the Vong from their homes. I hope it's just paranoia, but… I'm worried those droids might end up coming our way."
"We'll deal with them when they get here. I just have to set up rooms for what's probably going to be a VERY long conference."
Ron the True Fan: (One-Winged Angel plays) Meep.
Takeshi Yamato: Welp. Vader just got stronger than ever. Not to mention his newest apprentice is his many-greats granddaughter.
117Jorn: His son resents him, daughter hates him, wife hates him... But at least his great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great Granddaughter likes him :D
Patriot-112: Talk about family issues.
Ron the true Fan: Good thing I don't have those. (gets shit thrown at him)
Ja Ne!