3673 BBY
"The ship?" Marr asked him. Harry looked around with disinterest.
"It is satisfactory…" Harry responded blandly.
"I see you have already removed the tracker. Any reason for doing so?" Marr asked him from his hologram form.
"Trust goes both ways. You may not trust me now but you will soon. Besides, I hate being tracked." Harry told him honestly. And he was confident of that too. Darth Marr would trust him one day. He was sure of that.
"Very well. I will allow this for now. Your target is a Jedi on Nar Shadaa." Darth Marr told him. Harry looked down at his console and saw the files that had just been transferred. He looked back up.
"We have no presence on Nar Shadaa yet. "Harry commented.
"Correct. At this very moment, the republic is trying to convince the Hutt's that it would be in their best interest to ally with them against us." Darth Marr told him. Harry made a noise in the back of his throat.
"So, you want me to kill the Jedi so we can prove the Sith are better allies than the Jedi. You're trying to open up a path for negotiation with them through me. I assume the council does not approve and thinks we should try and go to war with the Hutt's as well. Foolish, as soon as we declare war with Hutt's they will run to the Republic for help. Hutt space is directly next to us so it would give the Jedi a good standpoint for striking right at us. A major potential weak point." Harry said back showing his ability to think on the same level as Marr. Marr nodded, Harry would guess he was pleased but it was hard to tell with his mask.
"Very good. Your job is to give me that opening." Darth Marr told him. Harry nodded once.
"It shall be done, my master," Harry said with a quick bow. After that, the hologram went out. Harry stood for a moment before moving to the cockpit of his ship. Marr had gotten him a standard Fury class interceptor ship and it was pretty spacious for a private ship. Especially as he was just an apprentice. He sat in the chair and began punching in coordinates as he looked at the planet, Dromund Kaas. Soon he was back in hyperspace and the trailing lines shot past him. He moved back to the holo-communicator. He typed in the key and waited. It only took her a few moments to respond. Satele's head shot into view. She looked down at him with her classic raised eyebrow.
"Two communications in one month. Is it urgent then?" Satele asked. Harry sighed.
"You could sound a little happier to see me, am I not useful enough to you Satele?" Harry questioned easily slipping into his natural persona. Satele just glared back.
"You give me intel that I can usually not use because you are involved." Satele shot back. Harry just waved his hand at her.
"Statistics. Anyway, I have something you can use. I am currently headed to Nar Shadaa. My job is to kill the Jedi there to establish a way for the Sith to make ties with the Hutt's. Here is what is going to happen. I can't fail my mission but perhaps this can at least be partially salvaged." Harry told her. Satele glared hard.
"I'm not going to let you kill a Jedi," Satele said.
"He doesn't have to die necessarily but I do need to try. Here is the real way to do this with least number of casualties. Both the Sith and Republic without declaring a war against them and neither side want a war on two fronts. I go in and force the Jedi to retreat badly wounded where you come to the rescue. Make an excuse for why you were in the area. You retreat with him. Come back and restart negotiations afterwards. You will have to compete with the Sith now but you will have to do that anyway. I complete my mission mostly and you get to at least save a Jedi's life. Let me be clear though, I will have to injure him. It needs to look real, especially if I let him live. He will be out for weeks after I'm done with him so have a bacta-tank ready." Harry told her. Satele went through a range of emotions as he talked but she seemed to settle on contemplative.
"That's the best you can come up with?" Satele asked through gritted teeth.
"How about you think about it and see if you can come up with something better. In the meantime, I will be heading to Nar Shadaa, I am not far so I will probably be there in five or six hours. You have until tomorrow to get there. One-day Satele." Harry said before turning off the comm before she could respond.
Man, she was somethings else sometimes. She was also still helplessly naïve but that was just the Jedi in her. The war would teach her fast, she had already partially adapted but had yet to be on any of the real frontlines.
Harry moved away from the communicator and went to his private quarters were he decided to catch some sleep before he made it to Nar Shadaa. He moved onto the bed and quickly drifted into oblivion.
Next Day
This was it Harry thought to himself as he looked down from the top of the skyscraper he was currently standing on. The tower next to the one he was standing on was the one that the Jedi was currently staying in.
He sighed as he got up from his crouched position and got ready to jump. If Satele still wasn't around to save this man's life then that wasn't his fault. He had tried to give this guy a shot but whatever happened, happened. He looked down at the window and leapt down without a further thought.
Harry tore through the air downwards, making to stay away from the hovercar lanes. He tilted to readjust his position in the air. Right as he was about to hit the window, he lifted his arm and shot out a wave of force, smashing the window and allowing him to go right through. He tucked into a roll and sprung up while he ignited his blade and swung it down.
His red blade collided with a blue blade that the salt and pepper haired Jedi barely managed to get up to use to block him. The Jedi seemed to look at him and finally process what was happening. He glared with hate at him.
"Sith!" He spat at Harry. Harry didn't even bother rolling his eyes, he just stared blankly at the man in return.
"How so very observant of you." Harry drawled back at the man. The Jedi just scowled in response and started to move. Harry could immediately tell this man was not much of a fighter, which he supposed made sense considering he was technically on this planet to negotiate. Still, the man was completely uniform in his strikes. It was almost like he was just going through a certain sequence and then restarting it. Harry looked and gave the man a long and hard blink to express his annoyance. The man looked confused when the made eye contact but Harry didn't care, he wanted the man to know he was terrible.
Harry had enough and shoved the man backward with pure force. The Jedi jumped backwards to try and get rid of some the momentum Harry had thrown at him but Harry saw that coming and jumped with him. The Jedi now seemed to panic a bit since he was up against a wall. Harry pushed even more against the man and gave harsh swings with his blade which the man could barely stop. It was then that Harry felt a familiar presence in the force. It seemed she brought multiple friends with her. Ugh.
Harry feinted a swing before de-igniting his blade and smashing his foot into the man's chest, knocking the wind out of him and forcing him to fall down on his butt. Harry looked down at his downed form and swung his lightsaber on his sitting form. The man yelled as he threw out his hands-on instinct to protect himself from the blade. Harry watched as the blade cut straight through both his arms causing the man to scream at him. The man looked at his stumps and while he was looking at them, Harry raised his blade again and swung it straight down to finish the job when he felt a massive force push against him and send him flying back to the other side of the office.
He got up and looked at the three Jedi that had entered the room with their blades ignited. Satele was leading them. All of them were glaring at him and entering their stances ready to fight.
"You'll pay for that Sith scum." The woman on the right of Satele said to him. Harry said nothing to her and actually didn't even bother to look at her, he simply stared right at Satele. He had underestimated how stupid Satele truly was. He realized now it was a mistake to trust her with his secret.
"Tch." Was all Harry said before reaching onto his belt. He grabbed a circular device and threw it at the man. As soon as it left his hand harry jumped out the window. The grenade had a modified timer on it to explode sooner that way it would make it harder for them to throw it back. To confirm his thoughts, he heard the explosion a second later and one of the force presences in the room get significantly weaker. He just stopped paying attention and let himself drop into the abyss.
With great skill, he landed on a moving speeder, several floors below the one he had just jumped out of. As he made to stand, the force warned him of danger and he dodged and move to one side just a yellow blade came charging down right where he had just been standing. He looked up and saw the Jedi female that had entered with Satele now standing in front of him with a look of determination on her face. Harry ignited his own blade and red immediately clashed with yellow.
Because of the small platform, they were standing on, the fight consisted almost entirely of blade movement and speed. This Jedi had actual skill with a blade unlike the last one. Clearly a sentinel, possibly even a shadow. She whirled her blade in her to gain momentum before trying to slam it into him with a violent slash at his chest.
Harry raised his own blade and filled his body with the force to tank the attack. He gave no ground as the attack connected with his blade. From there, both of them were a blur of swipes, slashes, and jabs. Harry was relying on skill rather than force techniques and magic. One, he couldn't reveal his true power, and two, he was too close to do anything that she wouldn't be able to counter.
Despite her skill, Harry kept up just fine. He blocked everything she threw at him with relative ease and even came close to pushing her back. She didn't give up though. She tried feints yet Harry could see through them since the initial movement for the feint didn't follow her normal pattern. When that didn't work, she tried to brute force him off the speeder. Sadly for her, she didn't have the strength to push Harry anywhere.
Despite her lack of success, Harry wasn't exactly making much progress to lose her. She was good enough to not be easily shaken so Harry was going to have to trick and quickly. Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw the speeder was going to soon pass a building with an open balcony. He would use that to get out of here.
As he tilted his head to look at the balcony, the Jedi sentinel tried to take advantage of his distraction. She swung her blade at his neck to decapitate him. Harry, seeing this coming, ducked down to one knee right under the blade. As he ducked, he also stretched out his hand and pressed his palm against the Jedi's stomach while she was still mid-swing. He unleashed a powerful force push which knocked her back as well as expelling the air from her lungs.
He watched the surprised look on her face as she fell backwards off the speeder and down further into the depths of the city. Harry watched her disappear for only a moment before summersaulting backwards and landing perfectly on the balcony he had spotted earlier. That had gone as according to plan as possible given the circumstances.
He scowled as he thought of what Satele had done. He didn't linger on it though. He turned and started to navigate this building he was now into to get back to where he had left his ship. His master would want a report.
Back on the ship
"Report," the hologram of Darth Marr said as it appeared in front of Harry's kneeling form.
"I attacked the Jedi at night directly in his apartment. I immediately had the advantage and pressed it. The Jedi was clearly not ready for a fight nor was he well trained with a blade. He was definitely chosen for his negotiation abilities. I cut off both of his hands and was just about to finish him when I was three other Jedi entered and stopped me. Two of them female and one of them male. All of them looked to be sentinels." Harry told him professionally. Darth Marr remained silent, showing him he wanted Harry to continue.
"I decided on a strategic retreat since I was not sure I could take all of them at once. I threw a grenade at the target and jumped out of the building. As it went off, I could feel the man's presence in the force diminish greatly. It was evident that while alive, he was close to death. I am not sure if they had quick access to a bacta tank but if they did then he might have lived. After I left, I was pursued by one of the female Jedi. We did combat on a speeder for a time before I managed to knock her off and let her plummet to the bowels of the city. Again, I cannot confirm if she lived or died given the circumstances." Harry finished. Darth Marr made a sound to indicate he was thinking about what Harry had told him.
"Given the situation, I will consider your mission a success. Even if the Jedi lives, he will not be able to take up his position anytime soon to negotiate with the Hutt's. Their council will have to choose a new representative which will take some time. This will give us the opportunity we need to move in on the Hutt's. You did well given the situation my apprentice. I have another task for you." Darth Marr finished. Harry nodded at the praise and waited for him to continue.
"You will meet me in the Kessel system. While I have a representative sent to Nar Shadaa, we have another task to complete. I will explain when you arrive. I will be on my flagship. I shall expect you within the next twenty-four hours. Understood?" Marr questioned. Harry nodded at the hologram.
"I understand and will be there my master," Harry stated. Marr nodded once before cutting off the connection to Harry. Harry took a breath before standing.
That could have gone worse. Many Sith lords loved a chance to discipline their apprentices and torture them. Darth Marr was not one of them. He would punish Harry for sure if he thought he had done something wrong but never could it be classified as torture. He respected Darth Marr for that. Many Sith could not do that, they would simply revel in their lesser desires. Harry was pulled out of his thoughts when he noticed another incoming call. He recognized the code as being from HK-47 over their private channel. He accepted it and HK popped up immediately.
"Statement: Master, I hear you are having all sorts of fun without me." His robot assassin said with what Harry could now identify as annoyance. He raised his eyebrow.
"Is that so? Well, you'll be pleased to know I have a new mission for you that will have you leaving the Jedi's side. It is time to start operation 'Rising Phoenix'. I want you to oversee it. Make sure it goes exactly as planned." Harry said to his robot. HK stiffened clearly and Harry could tell the robot was excited.
"Query: When do you plan to execute 'Soaring Phoenix'?" HK asked him.
"I cannot say. I assume years, but you need to make sure it stays hidden and continues correctly. I don't want to hear about any problems unless you can't handle it and I have upgraded you enough to be able to handle almost anything." Harry told the robot seriously. HK made a strange electric noise before nodding his assent.
"Affirmation: It will be done, master. What about the female meatbag?" HK asked. Harry's eyes darkened at the mention of Satele.
"She is no longer our concern." Was all Harry said in response. At that very moment, a loud angry voice appeared on HK's side.
"Is that your idiotic master? Move, I'm talking to him." Harry could here Satele ranting on the other side. HK looked at to the side then looked back at his console. He then raised his hand and pressed it down on a button Harry couldn't see. Immediately the hologram went out. Harry smirked as he realized what HK just did. He didn't even bother walking away from the communicator as a few seconds later, he got another call. He accepted It with an annoyed resignation.
Satele's face appeared and she was scowling as she glared down at him. Harry just raised an unconcerned eyebrow at her expression.
"You could have killed them." She spat at him. So they lived. Harry just looked at her for a moment.
"I could have, easily. In fact, I probably should have. You did something incredibly stupid and I guarantee that if I had killed all of them, you would think twice about doing something that stupid again." Harry calmly replied, not showing how furious he really was that she would dare accuse him.
"I did something stupid-"
"Yes, you did something stupid!" Harry shouted back at her slamming a fist into his console causing the hologram of her to stutter before re-stabilizing. Satele looked at him like she wanted to respond but he did not give her the chance.
"You ruined a perfectly good and viable plan by purposefully bringing unknown factors into it risking not only their lives but also the man in question. Your fellow Jedi do not get to know that I am a spy, that was a privilege I gave only to you! Therefore, by bringing them to confront me you forced me to make sure I acted just like a Sith so I could guarantee my cover would not be blown. Not only that but you placed the safety a Jedi, who you didn't even know until I mentioned him, above my own. Do you not get it? The man would have been attacked either way. With me attacking, we could have limited his injuries to non-life threatening so he could still continue his duties and prove the Jedi could handle the Sith." Harry shouted as he started pacing in front of his own console. Satele seemed to shrink slightly as his words.
"Now, your actions put two Jedi's life at risk and given the Sith an opening to the Hutt's after I proved our superiority over the Jedi. The Hutt's will now be more likely to side with the Sith in the future because of it. Just in case it wasn't clear, that is also on you! You have potentially handed a huge advantage to the Sith Empire." Harry finished as he slammed both his hands down and glared at the Jedi.
"So, what did you think I was going to do with the information you gave me, just let you tear apart a fellow Jedi?" Satele shot back. Harry grit his teeth.
"I expected you to use your brain and think about the consequences of your actions or at the very least consult me with your plan before executing as I did with you. Unfortunately, you did neither and now the galaxy will pay for it." Harry hissed at her. Satele looked down. Harry stared at her but could tell she was not yet done and she was trying to think of a counter argument to his points. This grated on his nerves even more.
"We're done," Harry told her causing her to raise her head to look at him in shock.
"What?"
"You have proven yourself to be too young and naïve to be given the responsibility that I tried to give you. You seem to still not understand that in war there will always be sacrifices that need to be made. The key is to limit those sacrifices when you can. I can no longer work with someone who cannot even understand something as simple as that. Find a new spy." Harry said as he disconnected the call on her shocked face. He looked at the empty space where here superimposed head had just been. He clenched his fists in anger and felt the dark side build with his rising anger.
With all his built-up strength he slammed his fist down on the holo console in front of him and watched the whole console collapse under the force of his hit. He looked at the broken machine and sighed at the thought of Darth Marr's reaction to him doing this.
"Fuck."
22 Hours
Kessel System
"I will have my technicians working on breaking your console while you are here though in the future I would prefer it if you tightened your control over your rage even if it is over what you feel is your own failure. Pushing yourself to improvement is one thing but losing control of your emotions in a moment of anger is another entirely. Had you done so in battle you could have potentially created an opening for your enemies to exploit. See that you work on it." Darth Marr lectured darkly, which is his way of saying he would not accept a repeat of this incident. Harry bowed his head in acceptance.
"Of course, my master, I constantly work on maintaining my composure but admit even I have moments where my control slips. I will work to master my use of emotions for only productive means." Harry responded back formally to his master. Darth Marr nodded at his words.
Harry had a feeling that although he didn't say it, Darth Marr liked having him as an apprentice. They honestly thought very similarly when it came to matters of the dark side as well as how to best serve a greater interest then themselves. Most Sith rarely thought of matters of the former and weren't capable of matters of the latter.
While Harry thought of this, Darth Marr led him through the bridge of the massive Sith Battlecruiser they were on that led Darth Marr's fleet, The Execution. They stopped in front of a holo-table where and image of the system they were in appeared.
"I assume you have determined I have called you here for a reason my apprentice." Darth Marr said expectantly. Harry nodded.
"Judging by you moving your entire fleet from the Dromund System, I assume you are planning a strike or invasion of some kind. Continuing that train of thought, I assume you called me here to be part of the said assault. Is this correct?" Harry asked after he voiced his deductions to the man. Darth Marr nodded and seemed pleased.
"Very good. Yes, we are planning to strike at the planet of Kessel." Darth Marr said, as he said it, the holo-image of the solar system zoomed in around a certain misshapen planet that Harry knew to be Kessel. As far as he knew, Kessel had no value to it so he was curious why it was of interest.
"The planet of Kessel has a thin ring of asteroids around it believed to once have been part of the planet. We have discovered through pure luck that the Republic set up several mining stations on the moon of Kessel where they bring the ores they get from the asteroids. They then smelt them down and send them back to the core worlds of the Republic where they are used in both ship creation and weapon creation. A secret source of cheap material that while not their biggest source of material, will still be a critical strike to their production. We will take it for the empire." Darth Marr explained. Harry looked at the planet's small ring as well as its moon as Darth Marr explained. He nodded when his master finished.
"What kind of resistance will we be up against?" Harry asked Marr.
"They have a small fleet hidden in the asteroid field closes to the moon to allow the quick access to defend either the mining operations or their factories on the moon. We will need to take the fleet out first and quickly. We can jam their communications for a time but they will eventually be able to find ways around it. The factory below only has short range communication as far as our scouts can tell from scans so hopefully once the fleet is dealt with, we will not be on a time limit." Darth Marr pointed to a spot where they believed the enemy fleet was before then pointing to a place on the moon where the scouts had reported the factories to be.
"The ground will likely have heavy anti- aircraft weaponry. We will need to send paratrooper strike teams in before we can send in the main force to deal with those. Force-users would be ideal for such a mission since we we are heavy hitters as well as move quickly. What kind of Jedi resistance can we expect?" Harry then asked his master.
"Not much as far as we can tell though we should be prepared for anything. This is a hidden facility for the most part so they are not expecting an attack this early and as such, they have not stationed as many Jedi as they should have." Darth Marr stated.
"How many Sith do we have in our ranks?" Harry then asked.
"Counting us, nearly thirty. "
"Should be plenty. We should strike as soon as possible to limit the chance of being spotted. How do you wish for me to be useful during this strike?" Harry questioned.
"I will be leading our main forces in both the air and on the ground. You will lead our attack ships in the space battle. After that, you will then be placed in charge of the strike team to disable the anti-aircraft weapons on the ground." Darth Marr told him. Harry'-s eyes widened at that. For Harry to be placed in such a position with such little-known experience in real battle was a major risk. What could Darth Marr be thinking?
Then Harry backpedaled his thoughts. This was obviously a test but if he failed perhaps Darth Marr didn't stand to lose as much as he thought. He was a known genius battle commander after all and had yet to be defeated in battle. Whether Harry succeeded or failed, Marr most likely had a contingency plan, multiple in fact.
"As you wish to master. When do we strike?" Harry inquired.
"Now, report to the hanger and your ship will be waiting for you. A Mark VI Supremacy-class starfighter. I'm sure you will find it satisfactory." Darth Marr revealed. Harry nodded and immediately made to the elevator while his master started barking orders at his underlings to head for Kessel.
Harry thought about what was about to happen, with concern. To be frank, he hated space battles. He wasn't sure what would happen if his ship was destroyed and he had to float through space and he didn't want to know. He had no time to think about it before the elevator opened. He came face to face with a man in standard Sith armor. He scowled at Harry.
"So, you are Darth Marr's apprentice. I don't know why he bothered, you don't look like much." The man sneered at him. Harry said nothing as he suddenly reached out into the force and grabbed the man before slamming him into the ceiling with extreme force and then dropping him. Harry stepped over the prone body.
"After I am done dealing with the Republic Fleet, I will be leading a strike team that you will be apart of. I expect you to be ready to go into battle with out questioning me or my orders." Harry said to the downed man. Who only gave a groan of pain as a response. The rest of the soldiers made a path for him and no one else was willing to even look him in the eye.
Harry continued into the hanger approached the man with a tablet that was clearly the man in charge.
"I am Hadrian, Darth Marr's apprentice. Where is my ship." Harry asked the man. The officer straightened at Harry's words.
"Of course, my lord. The ship right there at the front with the red stripes on the wings." The officer gestured. Harry looked where he gestured and saw the ship he described. He nodded at the man and walked over to his ship silently. He climbed into the cockpit before shutting the door. With the flip of a switch, the whole ship thrummed to life and the console lit up. Harry flicked a few switches as he went through basic checks of the engines and weapon systems. As soon as he finished, he opened a comm to the bridge. Darth Marr answered.
"Good, you're on the ship. We're approaching the fleet and just set up the comm jammer. By our estimates, we have to have the battle over in half an hour or they will be able to call reinforcements. Hit them quick and hit them hard. There will be ten squads going out including yours. You are in charge of the red squad. Understood?" Darth Marr questioned.
"Understood. On your say, we will launch." Harry replied before switching the comm over to his squad's channel.
"This is Red Squad Leader checking. Mandatory roll call." Harry said into the mic. One by one, his squad members sounded off to ensure they were ready to go. Once the last member sounded in, Harry continued, "To be clear. There is one Battlecruiser, three cruisers, and several support ships that serve both attack and defense. We will be targeting the battlecruiser. Knock out all surface weapons that you can as well as anything else that can further disable. If the battlecruiser is intact then it is our job too to destroy. If after the ship is destroyed the rest of the cruisers are still intact, they will be our next targets. Is the plan clear?" Harry asked. He got several confirmations.
"Good, prepare for liftoff. As soon as the bridge gives us clearance we will leave." Harry said before deactivating his mic. He felt the anchors that held the ship come off and his ship started hovering waiting for take-off. A moment later the ship rumbled and alarms started going off.
"All squads engage." Darth Marr's voice came out of the comm and immediately hit the button to take off. Harry's ship lifted up and blasted out of the cruiser and into the empty space. Harry immediately took stalk of the sight before him and saw that they were actually more near the Republic Fleet then Harry had thought. It looked as if Darth Marr had used the moon itself to sneak up on the fleet and come up behind it with their stealth technology. That helped against the cruisers but not against the starships that poured out of them.
"Arrow formation, do not break formation for any reason. We will force them to get out of our way and not the other way around. When I give the word, fire and do not stop." Harry commanded. He looked through his rear window and saw his squad get in formation behind him as instructed. The Republic fighters started closing in.
"Get ready… Fire!" Harry ordered as the fighters finally got in range. Immediately, Harry was surrounded by red blast blazing by as they collided into Republic Fighters.
"Watch enemy blaster fire and get ready to break apart. Rendezvous on the battlecruiser." Harry told them. The enemy seemed to spread themselves out as they continued to come at his squad. Likely they were planning to get around them before turning and taking them from behind.
"As soon as they make their pass, break apart," Harry commanded. He continued to fire at the oncoming fighters and managed to take quite a number down. While doing this he constantly made minor adjustments to his steering to dodge blasters coming at him. The force was quite the benefit in battle, even in space.
As they finally reached the Republic ships and zoomed past them, his group broke apart just as he told them to and spread out in random directions. The Republic fighters were clearly confused for a moment as they tried to follow the squad into each direction. Several got behind his own ship and tried to turn him into space debris. Harry quickly moved and spun his ship to the left and towards the battlecruiser, dodging the rain of fire from behind him. He briefly looked behind to see three ships on him. He would have to lose them.
He hit a switch and his ship sped up as it finally came on the battle cruiser. The cruisers surface cannons started blasting at him and he weaved side to side in between the cannons to dodge the blast while also returning fire to destroy the cannons.
On his first run through, he took out several cannons on his first run but the ships were still on him and firing. One lucky shot was all they needed so he needed to get them off him. He hung a sharp right and flew a full 360 around the cruiser catching the Republic fighters off guard. When they tried to pull to the right to follow him, they got right in the line of fire of one of the cruisers cannons that had been firing on him. He heard an explosion signaling that one of the ships had been blown to bits.
Harry continued to weave in and out of the cannons that were on the underside of the ship and tried to line up some of the shots to hit his pursuers. Sadly, they seemed to be onto him and were careful to avoid friendly fire. He clicked his tongue in annoyance before pulling up on the controls and performed a sharp upwards u-turn. He was now heading directly at the two ships attacking him. With great reflexes, he lined up the shot and blasted both to bits just in before he crashed into them.
Harry turned right side up and smirked at the move he just pulled. He wasn't the best flyer so that was one of the most impressive things he had done on a ship.
"Squad check in. How goes the assault?" Harry questioned.
"Sir, we have taken out maybe sixty percent of the surface cannons but have sustained losses on our side. The squad is down to seventy percent of our original number and that is dwindling every minute. Other fighters are coming in to protect their main cruiser. Other squads seem to be having a tough time keeping them contained." One of his squad quickly updated. Harry thought for a moment. He finally came to a conclusion.
"Okay, retreat from the battlecruiser and focus fire on the other ones. I will deal with the battlecruiser myself." Harry ordered to his squad.
"But sir-" the man who had reported in tried.
"Enough! That was an order, I expect it to be followed." Harry yelled back before gunning the controls and making another sharp turn to the side of the ship. He looked for his target before his eyes landed on the shielded entrance of the hanger. He lined up his shot and pulled the trigger for his ships blast as they blew apart the side of the ship nearest to the entrance. Harry watched as the shield went down and the entrance was left open. He turned again and shot towards the entrance before the backup power came on and restored the shield.
Harry zoomed in and pulled back a lever that immediately slowed the ship down as he entered the hanger. He did not set the ship down though, instead, he looked around the hanger and saw soldiers starting to fire. Harry aimed and started blasting the Republic soldiers to bits as well as destroying parts of the hanger. Their weapons had no effect on Harry's ships shields. Soon, the hanger had no living bodies left in it and Harry finally landed in the ship. He ejected from his starship and lept onto the floor. He drew his blade and immediately took off to the sealed entrance of the hanger. He didn't bother with the console and simply ignited his blade before cutting the door to bits.
He was immediately met with heavy blaster fire which he started to deflect back at his attackers. Several soldiers where in the hallway using makeshift cover form supply crates. Harry ran forward and summersaulted over the crate with his blade and sliced into the soldier mid-jump. He then moved forward to the next one and killed him with his own deflected blaster bolt. For the final soldier, he threw his blade and watched it cut the head of the soldier before returning to him.
He gripped the blade as it returned and pressed on. He continued to cut through enemy soldiers as he made his way to the elevator so he could get to the bridge. When he got to the hallway with the elevator at the end of it, he immediately jumped back behind a wall to dodge the sudden fire being rained on his position. From the glance, it seemed that they had entrenched themselves in front of the elevator entrance to stop him. He looked around and saw an entrance to the vents next to him and he smirked.
With a wave of his hand, the entrance blew off and Harry climbed in. He quickly made his way through until he made his way to the other side of the hall and could even hear the soldiers talking.
"Where the hell is he?"
"You think he retreated?"
"No way, if anything he's waiting for us to let our guard down."
Harry didn't let them continue as he force blasted the vent door off its hinges and slamming it into the soldiers, knocking two of them down. Harry pounced on the group with his blade ignited and did a wide sweep in the crowded hallway, killing the eight soldiers in front of him easily. He pushed his advantage before they could recover and let out a blast of force lightning causing mass screaming from the soldiers and most of them to fall over. Harry quickly moved and killed them before they could get back up. With the hallway now cleared, Harry moved forward and pressed the elevator button but nothing happened. He pushed it several more times but nothing continued to happen.
They must have deactivated it. He glared and reached out with the force once again before slamming the elevator doors wide open and breaking the mechanism that caused them too close. He filled his body with the force before jumping into the shaft and jumping from one side of the shaft to other to climb up as quickly as possible. When he approached the top, he started to hear a grinding noise. He looked up and saw the elevator quickly approaching.
"Oh, come on." Was all managed to saw before using the force to push the elevator away from him. The elevator screeched as it slammed into the force Harry was exerting until it slowed to a complete stop. Harry quickly sliced his way through it and continued on to the top. When he finally reached the top, he repeated what he did to the first set of elevator doors he had come across. The doors slammed open and stayed that way to show that they too broke from the force that Harry used to open it. He jumped through and was confronted with two soldiers shooting at him. He deflected the blaster bolt back to one and leapt forward at other to cut him down. With that, he looked at the rest of the crew commanding the ship. None of them were armed considering they were just pilots and technicians. They all looked scared for their lives as they gazed at him.
"Anyone want to point me to the main controls?" Harry asked as he looked around. No one said a word or even moved a muscle, "Fine."
Harry moved back towards to the shaft of the elevator. He raised his hands and concentrated. There was a loud cracking sound in multiple locations of the room as the windows cracked from the pressure Harry was putting on them. It took the crew only a moment to realize what he was doing.
"No, wait- " One of them finally had the courage to say but Harry didn't hear the rest as the windows finally succumbed to the pressure Harry was putting on them and broke. As the windows finally shattered and sucked the entire crew of the bridge into the vastness of space, Harry dropped down the elevator shaft and fell all the way back down to the bottom, right through the hole he had made in the broken elevator.
He landed on the bottom floor and started running back towards the hanger. There were several alarms going off now and he could already feel the ship started to tilt and begin its lifeless drift through space now that its main controls had been disabled.
He pushed forward and finally made it back to the hanger and got in his ship. He quickly turned on the thrusters and only had to wait for a moment before the ship started hovering. He took the controls and went full thrusters out of the hanger. He turned back on his comm once he was back outside.
"This is Red Squad Leader. The Battlecruiser has been disabled, what is the status of the other cruisers?" He enquired.
"This is White Leader. We have disabled the other cruisers and are now simply dealing with the last support ships. Most squads are making their way back to the fleet." White Leader told him.
"Good, finish up here and then return. I am making my way back to The Execution to prepare for the ground assault." Harry said before aiming back at his master's command ship and jetting through space.
"Copy that." Was all the leader said before closing the comm. Harry continued to fly through space until he was upon the ship.
"This is Red Squad Leader landing at hanger two," Harry called out as he slowed his craft and dropped it down on to the platform. The ship seemed to have taken only minor damage with the cruisers surrounding it looking slightly more scuffled up. As soon as he landed, he wasted no time to hop out where he was greeted by the same officer who directed him to his craft.
"My Lord, Lord Marr has already organized the ground strike team you will be leading and they are waiting at hanger 6 in a cargo drop ship." The officer said with the same professionalism he had used last time.
"Excellent. Inform my master I am heading there now and will depart as soon as we approach the factories." Harry said as he immediately moved to the next hanger so he could get in the drop ship. When arrived, he was stopped by the officer in charge of hanger six. This one was older and seemed less formal just by the way he stood. He also wasn't wearing a standard officer uniform, but despite that, you could feel his presence and the respect he commanded with it. A man to be taken seriously regardless of appearance.
"Sir, we're about the load up the drop ships. Would you not wish to prefer to wear standard armor?" the man asked him. Harry looked down at himself and saw he was still wearing light armor that wouldn't protect him from much. Darth Marr tended to wear a modified medium armor that almost was the same level of heavy armor. Harry didn't have the same bulky frame though, he had a lean muscle and he would probably look ridiculous in such. Plus, he had always worn light armor and never had problems.
"I shall be fine. Take me to my strike team." Harry said to the man. He was soon lead over to twenty individuals. One of the individuals was one the man he had painfully slammed into the ceiling. He unhappy to see him still but he wisely kept his opinions to himself.
"I will go over the plan once and you will be expected to remember it if you have not yet already committed it to memory. We are going to be dropped in just outside enemy lines. There are several anti-air turrets we need to disable before air support can be used. There are ten main turrets around the factories. Once we land, we will split into two teams. One will go clockwise around the factories perimeter and the other team will go counter clockwise. Although I am the official leader of this mission, one other will be the secondary leader and lead the other group. I will ask for volunteers but be aware that should you fail, Darth Marr will be dealing with you directly. Now, who volunteers to be team lead for team two?" Harry finished his explanation and then asked as he looked around. Many seemed to want to volunteer but the threat of Darth Marr, one of the strongest Sith on the Dark Council being personally in charge of their punishment should the fail seemed to deter them.
A few moments passed before he heard steps get closer to him. He turned his head and saw a woman approach who couldn't be older than Satele. She had black hair cropped to her shoulders and what looked like tattoos creeping up her neck from lower on her body. She had a serious look in her eyes and Harry sensed she had a nice sized power spring to call upon.
"Name?" He asked her.
"Lenara." She replied back immediately. Harry pointed at the Sith behind her.
"She's your captain now. You will follow her every order and if I hear a hint that you disobeyed even one, there won't be anything left of you for Darth Marr to punish. Is that understood?" Harry questioned as he let his aura become filled with the dark side and leak out in their presence. The immediate stiffening in posture and stiff nods he received made him confident they understood.
"Good. Now, everyone load up and prepare for take-off." Harry commanded and watched the Sith move out and get into their respective ships.
Harry idly realized that it must've been strange for these Sith to take his orders. Most Sith weren't actually Sith Lord's or higher. Many were simply Sith soldiers, this meant they had passed the academy but had never been taken as an apprentice. Technically speaking, they still could be but if that hadn't been discovered by now then it was unlikely they ever would be.
Then there was him who had been discovered incredibly fast by none other than Darth Marr himself. Simply being the man's apprentice brought his rank above all of theirs. While he technically wasn't above higher officers in the military, they also couldn't order him around. That must have grated on many of these soldier's nerves.
Harry shook off these thoughts and went after his team. He got into the ship and sat down in wait. An announcement came on saying they would arrive at the moon in two minutes. He showed no physical acknowledgment at the news but he heard some bustling around the ship. His arm beeped and saw his comm to Darth Marr was beeping. He clicked a button and Darth Marr's voice appeared.
"Hadrian, are you and your team ready to deploy? It will have to be quick." Darth Marr told him.
"Yes master, we are waiting in the ships awaiting drop off now." Harry quickly responded back.
"Good. Do not fail me, my apprentice." Darth Marr said before cutting the channel. Harry put his arm down.
"Pilot, start the ship and get ready for takeoff," Harry yelled to the front.
"Aye, sir." He heard yelled back from the front and felt the ship start to power up. He stood up and moved over to a door before grabbing a handle.
"Just got the all clear, prepare for takeoff." The pilot yelled back once more. As soon as the announcement was made, the ship started moving upwards and everyone else started to stand and prepare for dropping in. They exited the hanger and Harry put on a breathing mask. The moon had no atmosphere but the factories had an artificial atmosphere surrounding it so you could breath once you got inside the bubble. As soon as they left the fleet and got close to the factories, the air around them started exploding. The ship dived down forcing Harry and everyone else to grip tighter to keep their balance. They pulled up right before they hit the ground and skimmed right across the ground so only the turrets on one side of the factory could shoot at them.
That being said, the turrets were definitely much stronger than normal ones. Just the explosion they caused problems because of it's sheer size. He was impressed with the pilots for being able to make it through at all. Ironically, as he thought that the ship next to his wing was blown off and the ship crashed into the ground but it didn't blow up.
Harry watched as they zoomed by and could still sense the presences of life forms on the ship so it seemed at least the soldiers survived but they were now a mile away from the factory. Harry turned back and saw there rapidly approaching the target.
"Mask on, doors open, prepare for the drop," Harry called out and everyone put on their mask. As soon as they did, the doors opened and he looked out, "On my mark."
Harry looked out and waited, he could now see the enemy forces scrambling to counter them in a panic. As soon as the ship tilted upward to do a fly over, Harry called it.
"Now!"
Harry was the first to jump, though he could sense the rest of his team following quickly after. He channeled the force into his legs and ignited his blade right before he hit the ground causing it to shake under his strength when he landed. Immediately he sprung into action and force charged forward. He performed a spin midair and managed to decapitate three soldiers before they could even lift their blaster. He landed and turned to his right and spun his blade to cut down another soldier with a vertical downward slash.
He jumped back, dodging a blaster bolt before turning to the rest of the men in the squad left alive. He blocked and deflected several blaster bolts back to there originators. He then held out his hand and unleashed a massive force blast knocking the men back and throwing them to the floor. Before they could recover, his strike team finally joined him and pounced on their downed forms with their own blades and finished them. Harry finally looked and took stock of where they were. There was one turret right here that he could disable, that left nine left.
"Captain Lenara, take your team and start your journey on the east side while we take the west. We shall meet on the otherside. Understood?" Harry asked.
"Yes, commander," Lenara said back before ordering her team out. Harry raised an eyebrow at the new title he had been given though he supposed it was appropriate given he had temporarily given her the rank Captain and he was higher than her. He turned to his squad.
"Disable this turret and join me at the next one when you are done," Harry ordered before dashing off quickly to take care of the next target. He almost immediately had to deflect blasters bolts from what seemed to be snipers since no soldiers were around him. He pushed forward anyway. After getting halfway to the next turret, he heard an explosion from behind him signaling the destruction of the first.
He didn't think about celebrating though as he continued to push through. He could see the makeshift defenses surrounding the turrets and even what looked like a mounted turret. By his estimate, there must have been close to thirty soldiers, all of them armed. His eyes narrowed as he thought the best place to strike.
As soon as he got into accurate range, the bolts started firing and the turret started spinning. The normal blasters he could deflect with ease but the turret could be a problem. He once more, gathered the force into his legs in preparation as he thought of his plan of attack.
As soon as the turret started shooting, Harry leapt high into the air right over the turrets fire and soared closer and closer to the lines. The turret could not adjust the angle high enough to hit him since it was mounted but the normal soldiers could. Sadly, for them, Harry had no problem moving about with the force to continue to deflect the bolts. He started his downwards trend from his leap and landed right in the middle of the soldiers. He immediately made a summersault over a soldier to get away from being fired in all directions. He stabbed the soldier through the chest and force pushed him in the other direction to distract some of the soldiers and even knock some over. He spun and swung his blade down and then brought it right back up to cut down two soldiers reached out with the force and snapped the neck of the third, which he then used as another projectile against his enemies. He used his superior speed to get close into a soldier's space before they could take him out at a range. Most of the soldiers panicked as soon as he got close and started to fumble. Some were smart enough to keep their wits and pull the trigger, and Harry rewarded them with a blade through their abdomen.
By the time Harry's team arrived, there were only a third of the soldiers left. The arrival of the rest of the Sith took anyway advantage the Republic troops had left and they were soon all dealt with.
"Same plan as last time, join me when you are done. Watch out for sniper fire from the buildings, there moving around a lot up there." Harry finished before running off to the next target.
This continued over and over until they were close to reaching the final turret. By then, the rest of his team had gotten a good rhythm on how to destroy the turrets and where able to come back him up quicker though they had a few casualties due to lack of attention on the snipers. 4 men so far dead out of his ten.
"Captain Lenara, we are approaching the final turret, what's your status?" Harry asked into his comm as he ran towards the last turret. It took a moment before she responded.
"We just finished dispatching the turrets up to the second to the last turret on this side before we meet up with you. There was a complication. We were ambushed by a squad led by a Jedi knight. Luckily, we managed to push past this but we lost 4 of troops in the ambush, two from the Jedi before I could put him down. With those plus the others, I only have two others left in my squad." Lenara responded back. She sounded strong but Harry could tell she was feeling the effects of failure. Harry closed his eyes for a second in thought. Bad situation but she still pushed through and didn't choke under the pressure.
"You got the mission done even under bad circumstances, that's all that matters. As long as the men did not die in vain. Meet at the front entrance once you are done there. Once the turrets are taken care of, we will need to make our way to the main force." Harry said before cutting the comm as he started to get fired on. He briefly registered that she responded in the positive but he did not let it distract him from his task.
Soon, the soldiers were handled and the last turret was destroyed. He looked at the half of his team that was left and called it in.
"All turrets have been destroyed. Ready for main assault force. Moving to main entrance for regroup." Harry said into his comm.
"Good. We are beginning our approach now. The rest of your team will be allowed to go back and recover on the ship but you will be with me leading the charge." Darth Marr told him. Another test then.
"As you wish my master," Harry said with no sign of disobedience. He looked at his squad.
"You heard him, let's move out," Harry called and immediately they started moving back to the factories to move towards the main assault force. It was actually pretty amazing to watch the hundreds of ships come down with the troops and supplies to take these series of factories. It seemed almost unreal to have an invasion force what seemed like such a small thing but this was a strategic target so its size was of no concern. He made his way through the crowds and directed the rest of his squad to a medic team. He had no idea where he was going but he could sense Darth Marr so he just continued to make his way towards him. Soon he came upon a ship and entered it. He saw Darth Marr surrounded by officers going over plans to attack the base. He thought it a little pointless, they would have to go through the main entrance in order to do the least amount of damage to the facilities to make sure they could use it after. Eventually they all seemed to stop and agree on what Harry had already concluded. Darth Marr turned to him and came over.
"You have done well today so far my apprentice. You have shown you not only have skill but ingenuity and the ability to combine the two to make quick on the spot decisions. Now, it is time for your test in endurance. You have fought all day, longer than any other today. Now it is time to push you to your limit with this last assault." Darth Marr informed him. Harry was starting to feel tired but he was likely no where near as tired as Darth Marr thought he was. He bowed his head and nodded.
"Your wish is my command master," Harry said. Darth Marr seemed to be about to respond but was interrupted as someone entered the command ship they were using.
"Sir!" Harry immediately recognized the voice as Lenara. He looked at her but she was looking forward and standing as straight as possible.
"Speak Captain Lenara." Darth Marr commanded. Harry raised an eyebrow at his master using the temporary rank he had given her. Perhaps he was thinking of letting her keep said rank.
"I wish to join the main assault force, my lord!" She quickly said as she continued to no break her thousand-yard stare. Darth Marr crossed his arms as he looked at her. Harry wondered If she had crossed a line with Marr and had insulted him with her brazen nature. Darth Marr continued to say nothing for a few more moments.
"I believe that you would be better requesting such a thing from your acting commander." Darth Marr finally said as he glanced at Harry. Harry raised an eyebrow at his master's words but said nothing. Lenara seemed just as surprised as he as she finally broke her stance and looked at him for permission.
Harry thought about it for a moment as he looked at her and thought about her performance.
"You fought well today. You handled the task I gave you even when thrown an obstacle that even I had not faced. I understand you lost some men and you seem to want to push on to prove yourself not incompetent because of that. You don't. Sometimes casualties happen and the best you can do is limit them. That is what you did. Having said that, I will ask only once, are you sure that you want to join the main assault and put your life on the line without their being that thought hanging over your head?" Harry questioned as he paced around her.
Lenara was silent for a moment as she thought about what he had told her but she seemed to come to a conclusion soon enough.
"I do." Was all she said. Harry looked at her and then nodded.
"Then you may join, but your death will not be in my head if you become too exhausted to move and become a corpse. You will fight with me so don't wander off." Harry told her. Lenara bowed her head to hid the excitement on her face before watching her leave the ship.
"Not even a Sith Lord and already trying to find an apprentice. Should I worry that your next step is to replace me on the Dark Council?" Darth Marr asked him sarcastically. Harry shrugged.
"Well… not you." Harry responded casually. Darth Marr looked at him.
"Be careful that your aspirations do not lead to your demise, my apprentice." Darth Marr warned seriously.
"I plan nothing that I am sure you yourself would not approve of," Harry told his master. That seemed to at least appease him.
"Good. Come, it is time for the main assault." Darth Marr stated and Harry followed after the imposing figure of his master.
"Are you expecting heavy resistance?" Harry asked his master as they walked. He noticed out of the corner of his eye that Lenara was behind him and following from a distance.
"No, their will be heavy troops protecting but a lot of the men inside are workers. I sense a presence in the force though, likely a Jedi master. I plan to deal with him personally. You will be my support for the most part." Darth Marr explained. Harry nodded. They approached the lines of soldiers in waiting where an officer in armor was waiting.
"Commander Nix. Are the men ready?" Darth Marr asked him. The man nodded stiffly.
"There ready and clear on orders my lord." The now identified commander replied back.
"Excellent. Then fire on the main door and let this assault begin." Darth Marr ordered. The commander nodded and issued said order into his comm. Soon after, Harry could here ships in the distance. He looked out and saw B-5 Decimus bombers coming in. As they passed over, they shot two missiles each at the heavy entrance, blowing it open.
"Charge." Darth Marr ordered before taking off towards the door. Harry immediately took of after him and ignited his blade. A rain of blasters came out of the hole to meet them but they managed to bat them away. Despite that, the sheer amount of shots did force them to slow down in order to not get killed. Eventually, their soldiers got close enough to return fire. Darth Marr did a leap and was instantly inside the factory and slashing through enemies like a god of death. Harry shivered just watching it. Even at his best, He wasn't completely sure he could take Marr in lightsaber combat alone. The man was extremely skilled.
Harry joined the fray after him and he too started to carve through the Republic soldiers. Now that he was inside, he could see the massive number of troops inside trying to stop them from advancing further in. He briefly wondered why they had not supported there outside troops when he was blowing up their turrets. Probably because it would have required them to turn off their little lockdown. Here they had a fortified position.
Harry moved between soldiers and swung his blade on each side of his body to cut them apart. He did a series of jumps to get on to the second-floor walkway. There, the soldiers were in a narrow line and only the first couple could shoot at him. Harry tore through them like paper as he moved forward. In mid swing to cut down another, he sensed a disturbance behind him. He knew it was coming but he couldn't move fast enough to stop it. He felt the blaster bolt collided into his back and the air rush out of his lung. He gritted his teeth as he dealt with the pain. Harry looked in front of him at the soldier about to finish him, he quickly force grabbed his blaster and shoved his blade into his chest. He then turned around to fire at the one who shot him in the back only to see Lenara bring her blade down on the sniper's head across the room.
After the blade went down, she looked in his direction. He gave her a nod of thanks before turning and continuing. He was much slower now with a blaster bolt in his lower back but it missed his spine so he could use the force to keep his body strong enough to fight. Dodging was now harder too so he made sure to be more observant of blaster fire.
He eventually cut down the last on the raised walkway and looked back down to the main floor. Darth Marr had killed most of the troops already and was moving on further into the facility. Harry took a slightly pained breath before casting a numbing charm on his wound.
"Are you okay commander?" Harry turned and saw Lenara at his side. He nodded in confirmation.
"Fine, the wound will just slow me down a little but I will still push on," Harry told her.
"Are you sure that is wise? I'm sure Lord Marr would understand if you decided to seek out medical treatment. " Lenara told him. Harry just shook his head.
"Perhaps, but he gave me a mission and I have no desire to fail it even if he would accept my reason. We push on." Harry said before leaping off the railing and landing on the floor. He immediately made his way to Darth Marr.
The rest of the factories were no cake walk. They had to fight for every inch of ground, luckily most of the attention was on his master. He lagged behind the man but still managed to keep up. He gritted in annoyance at the fact that he couldn't cast a spell to heal himself as that would look suspicious, especially with Lenara with him every step of the way. Still, at least the wound could barely be felt unless he made a stretching motion.
Eventually, they finally pierced through to the main building in the middle of the factories where the sleeping quarters and other personal services where located. It is also where the Jedi were hiding. The closer they got, the more Harry was sure he could sense another Jedi with the main one. Perhaps an apprentice.
He finally was able to join Darth Marr as he waited by the front entrance. Darth Marr looked at him as he approached.
"You have been sluggish on our assault. Are you already running out of stamina?" Darth Marr questioned him. Harry shook his head in the negative.
"No master, I am not tired but I did get wounded in the initial room by a sniper while I was dealing with a mob of soldiers. It has admittedly slowed my performance, my lord." Harry explained honestly. Darth Marr went from an air of mocking to impressed though he made sure not to show it.
"Hmm. The Jedi are waiting for us behind these doors. Can I trust you to back me up even in your injured state?" Darth Marr asked.
"Of course, my master," Harry said before turning back to the door as Darth Marr approached it with his blade drawn. He made three quick cuts into the wall and then blasted the makeshift door back with the force before stepping in.
Harry followed in after and saw Darth Marr stopped near the middle of the room. 25 yards away stood the two Jedi that he had sensed though there was something different. The presence he had originally thought was an apprentice now flooded his senses in the same way the other Jedi had. Both were powerful in the force and looked to be males in their forties.
"Master Carisso. I did not expect to see you of all people here. So, this is where you have been hiding away since are last engagement. I see they managed to reattach your hand." Darth Marr said. The man on the right stepped forward. Harry looked at the man. He had salt and pepper hair and a scar going across his face. Finally, there seemed to be a permanent scowl on his face.
"Marr. I saw your arrival in my visions. Do not be foolish enough to assume this will go the same way it went last time. I have prepared myself for this movement since our last meeting." The now identified Jedi said back.
"We shall see how well you prepared then." Darth Marr said as he leapt at the Jedi. He brought the blade in a downward strike on Master Carisso forcing him to stumble back. Marr then spun around and deflected a strike from the other mystery Jedi on his back before throwing him back with a force push. He then turned again to confront Master Carisso.
The mystery Jedi stood up but Harry blocked his way back to his accomplice. The Jedi didn't seem disturbed, he just readied his blade and looked at Harry. Harry charged force and let the force guide him.
He ducked under a slash from the Jedi before spinning on his heel and swung his blade with an arching motion. The Jedi was ready for it though and blocked his swing. What followed was a series of strikes from both him and the Jedi that were either deflected or dodged. While the fight looked pretty even, it wasn't. The Jedi seemed to pick up on the fact that Harry was wounded and preferred his right side to his left. With that In mind, the Jedi changed his tactics and swung the blade towards his left arm. Harry blocked it but the force of the blow forced him to take a few steps backs.
The Jedi pressed the advantage with Harry now on the backfoot. Harry was now starting to struggle to keep up as he continuously tried to turn his body to the left to block the Jedi's attack. Every time he did, a sharp pain made its way through his numbing charm. Harry got ready for the next bout of attacks and saw the Jedi build up the force in his body even more. Harry tried to take a step back but the Jedi was faster and swung his sword with all his strength. Harry's blade was slammed right out of his hand and he fell to the floor.
Now he started to panic. He might have to reveal his true strength in order to defeat this Jedi and that might expose him to Darth Marr. The Jedi approached with his blade pointed at Harry. Harry gathered and prepared to unleash a storm of lightning on the unsuspecting Jedi to get out of this. The Jedi raised his lightsaber to strike him down. Just as Harry was about to retaliate, a red blade appeared in his vision and blocked the incoming blue one.
Lenara was glaring at the Jedi above Harry with hatred in her eyes. She took one hand off her blade and slammed it into the Jedi's cut and knocked him back several feet. Harry looked over at his fallen blade and summoned it with the force. He then jumped back to his feet and re- engaged the Jedi, this time with Lenara also engaging him. Harry would strike and while the Jedi could deflect it, he could not counter because he would have to go right back to blocking Lenara's incoming strike.
The advantage was back with Harry and all he needed to do was wait until the Jedi slipped up. Lenara didn't seem to want to wait for that. She pushed the Jedi hard with several vicious attacks but made a mistake in doing so. She went for a wide downward strike and in the process, left herself completely exposed. The Jedi immediately jumped on the opening and drove his blade into her stomach. Lenara said nothing but Harry heard a gasp escape her lips. With the Jedi still with his blade in her, Harry pounced in anger onto the Jedi and swiped down on his exposed neck. The Jedi didn't even get his blade out of Lenara's body before his head was no longer attached to his body. The Jedi's lightsaber deactivated as both he and Lenara dropped to the floor. Harry immediately went to Lenara's side. He grabbed her and propped her up with one arm as he looked at her wound with another.
"Are you ok?" Harry asked as he looked at the wound. He knew she wasn't but he wanted to make sure she stayed awake.
"I… I think so. How bad is it?" she asked. Harry looked closely at the positioning of the wound. It looked bad but not life threatening.
"It went through some of your abdominal muscles and intestines it missed your spine by a wide margin," Harry informed her. Lenara seemed relieved at that.
"That's good. Let me try to get up and walk." Lenara told him. Harry nodded but kept one arm on her to support her. Together, they got her back to her feet and steadied her. She looked around.
"Where is Lord Marr?" She questioned. Harry nodded in the direction of a door that looked like it had been blasted open.
"He went further into the building with the other Jedi. I assume he has been dealt with since I can no longer hear the sounds of combat but I still sense my master's presence." Harry told her calmly. She nodded. Together they both walked over slowly after where Harry believed Darth Marr to have gone.
Eventually, they found the body of the other Jedi master. Carisso's body had been split clean in half and looked to have several other wounds on each half of his body. Harry walked past the body and over to a lift that would take them higher into the building. Lenara continued with him though they didn't speak. They both had a long day, especially Harry. He resolved to up his training publicly so he could start throwing around powerful techniques without suspicion. Magic would still need to remain hidden sadly but he suspected that Darth Marr would probably allow him more independence soon and then he could utilize it more often.
Finally, the lift arrived at the top and a hallway that led to what looked like a viewing room that looked down up on all the factories and out to the horizon. Darth Marr was in the room with his hands held behind his back. Harry looked back at Lenara.
"Go down and get medical attention. I will deliver the report." Harry ordered. Lenara nodded and moved back to the lift. She was still holding her stomach and the pain was probably getting worse. She did not have the advantage of a numbing charm after all. When the lift disappeared, Harry moved forward. He made his way into the room and got down on one knee, ignoring the pain in his body from doing so.
"My master," Harry said.
"The Jedi?"
"Dead."
Darth Marr turned slowly to him. He gave him a look over before moving to standing in front of him. Harry said nothing to him, he just kept his head bowed.
"You had help." It wasn't a question, it was a statement.
"Yes. The Jedi took advantage of my injury and downed me. He almost ended me but Lenara intervened and saved my life. After that, we both took on the Jedi master and killed him. Captain Lenara was injured and I sent her down to get medical treatment." Harry explained. Darth Marr nodded.
"The Jedi is dead, that is all I care about. In truth, I had not expected two Jedi Masters to be here. It was clear, Carisso thought his companion would make short work of you and join up with him to defeat me. Carisso has always been a thorn in my side with his annoying habit of using his visions to disrupt my plans. I am glad he will not get that chance anymore." Darth Marr said as he turned and also gestured with his hand for Harry to stand. Harry did so and joined his master to look out the window. The ships were now landing and depositing more people and supplies as well as shuttling back the injured. The invasion was over and they had won.
"You did well my apprentice. You passed all my test and even surpassed my expectations in some areas. I expect you will reach the rank of Sith Lord very soon with the speed of progress. Much faster than any other apprentice I have ever witnessed. You have also proved your loyalty to the Empire. I will give you a reward for your efforts." Darth Marr told him.
"Thank you, master, but I do what I do because it needs to be done not for any sort of reward," Harry told him. He said so seriously and Darth Marr probably believed him.
"And yet you will accept my reward anyway." Darth Marr replied back immediately. Harry bowed his head in acceptance.
"As you wish my master," Harry told him.
"The girl. You will take her with you and she will now be your responsibility." Darth Marr said before walking away back to the lift. Harry tried to control his shock but he was sure his eyes did widen a little at the news. He quickly chased after his master.
"Wait, Master. May I ask why you have decided on this, I am only an apprentice myself." Harry pointed out to the man.
"As an apprentice, you need to learn how to build up connections and resources. It is not uncommon for people of your station to take on followers to help them complete their missions. Darth Malgus is a notable Sith who did so and he still uses them to this day. Besides, you were the one to discover her potential. It is only fitting." Darth Marr said as they both entered the lift to head back down to the bottom level.
Another damn test then. It is not like Harry had anything against Lenara, but it would just mean that he would have less available time to use magic. This was not in his plans.
"As… as you wish master," Harry said with a resignation.
"Good, now go to medical ship before you keel over." Darth Marr ordered before walking away. Harry sighed and headed out to find the medical ship. It wasn't hard to find as it was bigger than most of the other ships. He entered and looked around. Quite a few bodies were already in here. He looked for and open attendant before walking over to him. The medical officer looked up at nodded in respect.
"What can I help you with my lord?" The officer asked. Harry turned and showed the man his wound.
"I require medical attention." The officer's eyes widened and he called over a man who escorted him to a bed. He laid on his back and let the medical staff do their job.
"It's over then?" Harry looked to his right and saw Lenara laying in the bed next to his with a cloth over her wound. They had no Bacta tanks down here so until they moved back to the fleet, this was the best they could do.
"Yes. We will most likely be sent back up to fleet any moment now. Also, I suppose I should tell you now. Darth Marr has seen fit to assign you to my ship under my command. I apologize for any convenience this may cause." Harry said politely. Lenara, however, seemed pleased by the news.
"It would be my honor, my lord." She said trying to bow her head in respect. Harry grimaced.
"I am not a lord yet, you can just address me as Hadrian," Harry told her calmly. She shook her head.
"it was you who offered me command, you who allowed me to join the main assault and you who praised me in front of Darth Marr himself. No other has done even half of what you have today. I pledge that for now until my death, you will be my lord and I shall do anything you see fit." Lenara said with conviction. Harry just took a moment to look at her in shock though he did his best to hide. Was she some sort of fanatic? That's the last thing he wanted. Still, it could possibly be beneficial in the long run.
"Well… welcome to the team Lenara."
"Thank you… My lord."