Chapter 11 – Dark days begin
Master Yoda opened his eyes wide as he felt the ripple in the force. A Jedi in great pain, taken and lost in a dark place. The light burning through the mists that clouded the future.
"Master? Is everything okay?" The youngling next to him asked with worry in his voice.
Yoda smiled at the boy, "Good everything is youngling. Go eat. Important business occurred has." He waved his students towards the mess hall as he began walking to the Council tower to discuss the matter. The younglings all did as they were told, chatting to each other, a little confused as to the early end of their class.
He entered the council chamber to find a small group discussing the latest influx of initiates.
"Three more declined? Very well, keep an eye on them anyway, we don't want a repeat of the Wee Dunn incident." Master Mace Windu turned from his conversation with Master Tinn, "Master Yoda is something wrong, I thought you were leading a class today?"
"Teaching I was, summon the council, great matter we must discuss." He took his seat and watched as Windu sent the signal.
Twenty minutes later, he was joined by the others, more than half through the holonet.
"Mission of importance. Necessary to save captive Jedi. Cry for help heard by myself, others too possibly. Great pain, great fear."
Master Agen Kolar nodded, his image focused on Master Yoda. "I too felt the… call, I believe I am nearby. I shall investigate and intervene immediately."
Master Yoda turned to him. "Hurry you must. Time is of essence here."
Darth Sidious stopped mid-sentence and managed to cover his stutter as a cough. What was that? He made a mental note to have Darth Tyranus investigate further, actually. Maybe he should assign another of his agents instead. Tyranus was getting rather sloppy lately.
Sidious smiled at the senate as he continued with his caring grandfather routine, his mind running over his plans as the sheep around him bleated on with their own self-importance. As the session ended he began to return to his office, his mind still plotting and churning with ideas, soon Skywalker would be more pliable and Tyranus' retirement would swiftly move closer. The Jedi were blindly following the plan.
He walked along the corridors, absently smiling and nodding at his supporters, his guard wary and on alert as they escorted him, he allowed himself to ponder Tyranus' young disciple, this General Jade. He appeared to have remarkable luck, ripples of his actions were spreading far and wide, too wide, too far, too quickly. He had been alerted to rumours within the senate itself about him. Honourable, strong, a believer in protecting innocents and a hero to his people. If he did not know better he would have imagined the man to be a Jedi in disguise.
As Sidious passed his secretary, he frowned at the public support Jade already had, barely a year into the war and a rival to Skywalker had risen. He would not suffer any rivals to ascend, perhaps he could bring the man under his own banner, pull him from Dooku.
Sidious knew there was darkness in Jade's heart, that and the young general's power in the force brought a frown to his face as he settled behind his desk. He would have to offer him something Dooku could not provide, something special, but what? He would need to think on this further. He glanced at his schedule, a meeting with the Eriadu senator Shayla Paige-Tarkin. Ah a relation to Wilhuff Tarkin, there was a man with potential and loyalty.
He turned and watched the world move around him through his windows, letting his mind flow along possibilities until his secretary informed him that the senator had arrived. He smiled, a few nudges here and it would be time for the young Captain to be given the opportunity to truly show what he was capable of.
Harry frowned as a great headache began, he hissed in pain and looked over at a section of his room's walls. Something in that direction had happened, something far away, something important.
He sighed as he rubbed at his scar, the pain soon faded leaving him tired but agitated, sitting on his bed he began to slowly enter a meditative trance, to refresh himself, but rather than drop into it like normal, he took his time, taking each step individually until he felt at peace in the storm of his emotions. With a slight smile he relaxed and drifted.
He never noticed the blood drying on his finger tips from where he had touched his scar.
James looked at the unconscious woman floating in the bacta tank. Anhur stood beside him checking her vitals as Maahes replaced James' chest plate after the array had been destroyed.
James tapped his fingers as he had watched father do, strangely it seemed to help his thoughts progress. "Heka, begin evacuating the base, I will inform father personally. Our guest is too weak and injured to be transported, we shall leave her here. Activate a medical droid to ensure her survival."
Anhur turned to his brothers. "Why not eliminate her, she is no longer necessary and could lead the Jedi here."
James looked at him, "it is too late for that, the end of her visions caused an eruption of force energies, it overloaded my array before I realised what had occurred, the Jedi will already be on their way. In addition, I promised her that she would be returned safely."
Anhur nodded and returned to his screens. "Her body will survive, but her mind is an unknown factor. I have no relevant data to compare this against."
Heka spoke out then, "I shall prepare a small force of unmodified rogers to remain, we have some still in storage. We can evacuate and allow her to be rescued. We can use the ion weapons to appear as a hidden weapon research facility. A self-destruct would give them impetus to leave without securing too much data. I can modify a few sections to be found afterwards to implicate the Jedi or Republic. The explosion would annihilate the base, planetary power and systems would be disabled, extensive damage would occur. Evidence of Jedi and clone troopers fleeing the site could be used to turn the world against the republic."
James nodded, "agreed, begin preparations, remove all other forces quietly, we should return to father. Hopefully he will be pleased with the data we have."
Master Agen Kolar stood looking at the report before him. Kento Marek had left his post, requisitioning a hyperspace capable ship and a unit of clone troopers. Apparently all volunteers as well. The report stated his intent to rescue his partner who had been kidnapped by separatist special ops. He was rather too close to the woman, something that would require their reassignment once this was over. Their attachment would bring about nothing but trouble, he had seen it before.
Scrolling further he found a sighting of the vessel at Taris. Master Kolar stopped for a moment. His mind wandered over his studies as an initiate and padawan. Ah yes, a ruined world, glories long lost. However it would make a suitable base for separatist forces. Actions taken would be blamed on pirates.
He typed a message and ordered it transmitted to Knight Marek, he could not follow him there without upsetting the Council of unaligned systems. Hopefully, with the Force guiding Marek he would not be needed to rescue them.
Harry was the first of his army to step foot on Mustafar, the air was scorched and full of volcanic fumes, taking a deep breath he reached out with the force and found the location his records had spoken of. To the south lay the ruins of the forgotten Jedi Enclave, the smoking forest surrounded him.
The smoke flumes were beautiful and deadly, like most things of beauty were. He raised an eyebrow at his poetic thoughts before returning to his work.
Opening his comms, "begin disembarking the droids, I will signal when I am ready."
Walking through the landscape, he felt the many eyes watching him, little flares of the force quickly surrounded him but made no move to engage. He let his senses spread, searching for their leader, there, in the ruins, a strong dark side presence.
His smile grew as he began to walk with more purpose as behind him transport vessels landed, a tide of red and gold poured from their holds, an immense number of B1 droids bearing Harry's heraldry. No calls of Roger Roger echoed through the forest, smooth, efficient motion, each searching for potential threats as they swept the landscape, these were not the idiot droids of the confederacy, these were something much more dangerous.
Soon Harry stood before the gateway to the ruins, from the shadows and smoke came the defenders.
Before they could demand anything of him, harry called out to them, his voice carried by a sonorous charm, a little edge of the force demanding their attention. "Who is the leader here?"
From within the crowd strode a tall human male, Black robes that shrieked with the dark side protections imbued in them, shrouded his form. "I am Kursk San'sii, these are my followers, the Blackguard. Why have you come here Sith?"
Harry surveyed those before him with his physical senses and his magic, less than half shone with the force, the rest were mundane followers. He made eye contact with his rival leader and began to silently cast a compulsion spell into his mind. He was so tired, he was not at full strength, but he should still attack the intruder.
Turning to the crowd, Harry began to speak, completely ignoring their leader. "I am known by many names, it appears that I collect them. The one that is important to you today is Darth Abaddon. I have come to conquer this place for my own use. I have read records of your group, strong and skilled with the force. I am disgusted with the state I have found you in. Tainted by the mundane, led by an idiot who could have harnessed his own fear of others to strengthen himself, instead he has let his fear rule him. Pitiful."
With a roar of anger and hatred San'sii charged forward, his lightsaber ablaze, the compulsion at work. Harry cleanly stepped aside, knocking the blade away with a nudge of the force. "See! This child claims dominance over you, so I shall show you my power. I shall defeat him using only the force and my body." At this he threw his lightsabers away, letting his robe fall back, he stood tall in his black and green armour, no weapons at hand as he dodged blow after blow, his opponent little more than a beast by how easy it appeared to the witnesses.
Harry waited, little nudges here and there aiding his fight to embarrass his opponent. He never used anything powerful or showy. He made it look effortless. Finally he grew bored, "my turn" he snarled and with a snatch of his seeker reflexes augmented by the force he grabbed Sar'sii's wrist.
Sar'sii looked into the armours eye slots in shock before Harry whispered "reducto", channelling the magic through his hand, the spell destroyed the man's bones and flesh, his hand falling to the dirt and his wrist turned to a red mist, the stump scorched and blackened.
San'sii's scream of agony echoed, those watching saw the best of their order being torn apart like a child before a gundark and wondered at this Darth Abaddon's power.
Harry spoke again, his spell still working to carry his words to all there, "you are a disgrace, you are weak and you are a failure. But your secrets will be mine." With a touch of a finger on Sar'sii's forehead, Harry sent a surge of the force wrapped around a stupefy and his newest toy fell unconscious. Looking up at those around him he continued, "I am now your master, your Kursk, any challengers?"
One stepped forward, a great brute of a man, he lit his lightsabers and began his challenge, harry didn't even let him finish, a flick of his wrist and his now lit lightsabers impaled his opponent in the back. Another tried to jump him thinking him distracted, harry dodged the blow and struck with force lightning from his left hand. His opponent used their lightsaber to protect himself, however harry quickly drew his wand and cast a bombarda while his opponent was distracted, his torso disappeared in a splash of red gore and fire as he scattered to the ground in several pieces.
A third tried his luck, however as he leapt to strike, harry simply made a swish and flick motion and his latest opponent simply stopped in the air, a slight flick of his wand to the side sent his opponent flying over the edge of the cliff into the lava flows below, his screams echoed for quite a while before fading. Apparently his victim had been lucky enough to land on an outcropping, but the heat alone soon seared the flesh from his bones. One of the muggles moved for cover, his blaster firing. Harry simply shielded himself and struck "Imperio, kill yourself." His victim didn't even struggle as the blaster touched his temple and he pulled the trigger.
Harry watched the corpse fall before he turned around, "seriously? How many more will it take before you realise the situation? You are no challenge to me. Kneel and live, stand and die."
The crowd swiftly fell to their knees, no-one dared to stand before him, "Good. Collect everything and prepare to leave this place, you will be coming with me, we have a lot of work to do."
He began walking into the ruins, and suddenly stopped, his hand raised and his lightsabers leapt into his grasp, "Oh, before I forget, kill the muggles," he shook his head slightly, "the mundanes, I want your order cleansed of my predecessors taint and idiocy. You," he pointed at a teenage boy, "take this filth back to my vessel and guard him. I expect him alive and intact when I return. Well mostly intact."
As he finally entered the ruins, he activated the comms. "Sirius, begin sending me the troops as planned."
Sitting in a large throne in the great hall of the enclave, Harry reached out and began to channel the force and his magic. Carefully gathering it from the site to fuel his own, he gently focused it and as the first droids entered the chamber he began to let it flow through him towards the array carved on their chests. They marched in, a column without apparent end, thousands passed him and he still gave each a portion of his power.
Eventually it was over and the last transport vessel moved to join the fleet waiting in orbit. Harry stood and watched as the remains of the Blackguard all entered and knelt before him.
Harry removed his helmet and smiled at the beginning of his own acolytes. Thank Merlin for the dark side mind-set, to follow the strongest came naturally for them. A strange though floated through his mind, were the death eaters like that as well?
In the deep black between stars the message was received. Sev'rance Tann keyed in her acknowledgement and opened comms to the fleet. "This is General Tann. Operation Spearhead has been authorised. All stations run through final checks. Move the fleet to condition amber and plot course for Agomar."
She turned to her bodyguards, passing them the datapad, "your father has given us a difficult task, what do you think?"
Horus scanned the orders and passed it to Anubis, they looked at each other, then turned to her in a synchronised motion too smooth for an organic to replicate. She knew that they did to annoy her. Horus spoke first, "father would not assign you the mission if you were incapable of completing it."
Anubis continued, "your service is exemplary other than the time we had to rescue you from the Jedi, your arrogance almost killed you."
Horus carried on, "lead the fleet and armies, leave the Jedi to us."
Hidden amongst the moons of a great gas giant, Admiral Trench received his own orders from the one who terrified him on a level beyond primal instinct. Annoyed at the fact that he had trouble even thinking His name, he shuddered at the thought of Him before opening the file and beginning to read. Operation Unfinished Business was an odd name to choose for his fleet.
He growled at the first target, a minor world, it would be conquered in days at most, he then stopped at the second and stroked a chelicerae in thought. Maybe this would not be so bad after all, a chance to finish earlier unfinished business. Apparently He had a sense of humour. Finishing reading the message he chittered in surprise. How marvellous, finally he was being put to good use.
"Set course for ZeHeth, we are to secure orbital control immediately."
He returned to his quarters, his current search through the legends and myths of his people talked of a great serpent who's gaze turned its prey to stone. It was just an ancient myth, but the ancient poem described the sensation of the beast hunting its victims, he had the same feeling when near Him.
Master Adi Gallia looked over the chaos of the battlefield before her. The B2's and droidekas were fighting each other now, the virus a success, the B1's caught in the middle of the fight were being torn apart.
Returning to her transport shuttle she commed the high council. Waiting only a few minutes she smiled at the gathered masters. "Victory on Agomar, the virus worked. We just have to leave the droids to it for a little longer and then move in and clean up. I believe I can leave the clones to sort that out, where do you need me next masters?"
Master Windu leant forward, "Master Agen Kolar is on route for a rescue mission, we are assigning you to his fleet in case the separatists have a larger force hidden in the region. Your target appears to be in the area around Taris, head there at your fastest speed and contact Master Kolar for any updates."
"As you wish Master Windu." She bowed in respect until the connection ended. "Commander, I am leaving you in charge to clean up this mess, once you are done, fall back to Eriadu and await your next orders."
"Yes General, you heard her, time to start cleaning up."
Adi smiled as her shuttle began to rise to return to her command ship, the droids were a confused melee on the ground below and she watched as her clones began to surround the army and begin removing the threat.
The very last thing she expected to see was a lance of energy from above hammer into the droid forces. The shockwave and following blast tearing the landscape apart, it almost knocked her shuttle out of the air. The sound had been like a great roar as the air was ignited and the pressure difference collapsed. She raised a finger to her ear in shock and found blood on her finger tip.
She watched as a great cloud of dust rose from the impact and managed to turn away before the next strike struck at her command post on the ground. This blast was closer and her shuttle began to fall from the sky. She braced for impact, grabbing hold of the support cables to hold her in place. It was the only thing that saved her life as she watched the front of the shuttle tear off as it struck the ground. Then the darkness came.
She came to a few minutes later, a clone was dragging her from the wreckage, gathering herself she looked around and moved to her feet. Shooting stars filled the skies above, in orbit a large explosion told her a capital ship had died, but who's?
Adi turned to the clone, a mere trooper had saved her, awaiting orders general, his voice sure but it held a tone she was unused to hearing, fear. "General can you hear me? Are you in pain?"
"What happened?"
The trooper took his helmet off and began his report. "General, your forces were moving in as ordered to terminate the separatist threat, as we began the location was struck by orbital fire. This was repeated another six times for seven shots in total. The battlefield was destroyed, the separatist forces were annihilated and your forces have taken heavy losses. The captain tried to contact the commander but nothing was getting through, he then tried to contact orbit, but again no response. Whiner was our comms officer, he said the channel was being blocked completely, he tried to contact anyone else but couldn't get through. Hunter, our pointman, said he saw what looked like vapour trails from landing craft coming down nearby. The captain spotted your shuttle and sent me here to check, he's currently trying to coordinate everything."
Adi listened, processed and nodded to the trooper, "good work, lead me back to the captain, we need to secure a command site and find out what happened."
Harry checked over the ritual circle. The runes were aligned to this planets ley lines, a few crystals he had previously forged through Sith alchemy as batteries and emergency shunts for the energies involved. At the centre sat a gold bowl filled with his own blood, hanging above it was Kraits Ring, bound in strands of his own hair, tied to prongs on the bowls edge at the cardinal points. Where it once sat on his finger rested a painted collection of runes, a sympathetic link to the ritual. He lit the flames at the cardinal points of the ritual circle and threw incense within, letting the smoke rise and spread through the room.
He took a deep breath and entered the circle, he could feel the arrays pulling on his magic and sealed the circle. The flow of energy shifted and the smoke drifted lazily as if the air flowed clockwise around the ritual.
Harry began, the words spilling from his lips, their echoes sent ripples through the fires, the ring glowed and burnt through the hair bindings, falling within the blood. Hissing and bubbling as he continued, pacing around the circle anti-clockwise, against the flow, to unravel the structure. The blood glowed as ripples of gold appeared within the sanguine, a green fire rippled across the surface and the liquid suddenly flared and turned clear with a faint sheen of gold as the light caught it.
As the liquid turned clear, the force energies rushed into the circle, hammering at the seals, with an almost painful hum, the first array collapsed, the energy pouring into the crystals, all bar one burning out, their purpose complete. As the energies settled and returned to normal, Harry stepped forward and raised the bowl to his lips, with a shrug he began to drink, with a grimace this quickly became a race to chug the thick liquid before it came back up. Even Skelegrow wasn't this bad.
Gasping as fire ran throughout his nerves, he grasped at his hand as the runes painted around his finger ignited and seared into the flesh. A black band ran around his right ring finger where the ring had once rested. Harry staggered a moment before his mind settled, the rush of information almost too much for his mind to absorb. He broke the circle carefully, picking up the energized crystal as he went. Sitting at his desk he opened up a section of script of a language now lost to the galaxy.
He smiled as the words came easily to his mind, he spoke them out and could hear the strange words, an almost echo in his mind as he understood them. Lifting the crystal before him he pondered his next actions, putting it back on his desk he picked up his wand and cleaned up his mess. Putting the crystal in a box he dressed for the next stage of his plan.
Nine hours after the Republics forces had been hammered by orbital fire, Master Adi Gallia had a larger understanding of what had occurred, she was currently overlooking the planets largest space port, separatist forces had secured the facility and the city next to it, patrols were moving through the capital, a message was being announced and repeated but they were too far away to hear.
They watched as a shuttle tried to escape and make it to orbit. The anti-aircraft droids turned and turned the shuttle to shrapnel with a speed and accuracy that was unexpected. Hunter had returned in that moment, her distraction of the shuttles destruction letting him move beside her without her notice.
"General, the droids are in patrols securing food, water and medicine stores. They are preparing something in the plaza, a set of scanners and desks are being unloaded. It's odd, they've left people with their weapons, but most of the civvies seem afraid to even go near them. The patrols are much better than normal and are checking locations they would never had previously. I've also been informed that the commanding officer of the invasion has just arrived on world at the palace, it appears he's going to speak publically tomorrow at just after midday."
"Can you get us in?"
"I think I can get a few in, it will be at most five, no more, it don't think we'll get more than that in without notice."
Adi nodded, "Hunter, gather three more men, lead the way. Captain, fall back and secure a base of operations, we'll fight them for every square centimetre of this world. It won't be long before we get reinforcements."
Kento Marek knelt in the shadows alongside the volunteers, the entrance to the facility was below in the ruins at the edge of a great toxic lake of pollution. A single droid stood watch at its post, scanners sweeping the area around it.
They were about to advance when his comm line received an urgent message. He raised his hand to halt his men before checking it.
Knight Marek, find lost asset, await further support, we are on route, will update on arrival. Master Agen Kolar.
Kento sneered at the message, Master Kolar was renowned for being a master of lightsaber combat but lacked diplomatic skills, he was a firm believer in the Jedi code, no doubts in his mind. Kento froze for a moment, they would be rescued and then Kolar would split them up, he would send Mallie to one side of the galaxy and him another, they would never see each other again. That was not acceptable, he had to get her out of there now. With a harsh hand gesture he motioned his men to continue.
Carefully and slowly they lowered themselves, until Kento reached out to just above the droids head and ignited his lightsaber. With a slight screeching buzz, the droid dropped, quickly followed by Kento. He checked the scanners, nothing wrong, so he motioned to his men to open the entrance.
He looked down at the droid at his feet, standard appearance B1 combat droid, damaged by the weather and environment but no combat damage. He nodded as the clones opened the entrance just enough to slip in and moved to follow them, a flicker of anger came to him and he reached towards the droid, closing his hand and made a hard fist, the droid compressed in on itself as if crushed, Kento flicked his hand towards the lake and opened his hand, the droid flew and splashed into the oily liquid, hissing as it slowly sank from sight.
The clones, quietly and efficiently advanced, used melee only they destroyed any droids they came across in their advance, silent and smooth. They soon came to a large storage silo and Kento blinked in shock at what he saw. They must have been building a second malevolence. He motioned to his men. "I will see to Mallie, you deal with those." His finger pointing at the immense ion cannons.
An echoed call came across the base speakers. "Prepare the weapons for transfer, transport vessels on route, estimated two hours."
Kento looked at his men. "Change of plans, set mines to destroy them and get out of here, I'll meet you back at the ship." At their nod, the groups separated.
The only upgraded roger that remained in the facility watched as the infiltrators moved as expected, the discovery of the weapons was the signal to give them a time limit. Their comm channel had already been detected and breached. It triggered its next duty, the message calling for immediate support to the incoming Jedi forces.
It began to selectively record the clones, it prepared the black box as instructed, the programs in the system following their own orders to alter the data which would be recovered.
It sent the first data update, the General would be pleased by the information being gathered here.
Adi stood in the midday sun, her identity hidden by her cloak. The crowd around her muttering fearfully at what was about to happen. Exactly one standard hour after midday, with the crowd getting a little antsy, the leader of the invasion appeared.
His voice carried across the plaza, it seemed to be spoken from just in front of everyone, clear and crisp. She frowned at this, she knew of no technology that could do this without obvious signs of use. Holo-displays showed him on the balcony so that all could see him. A message appeared on her comms telling her that similar displays had been placed in all communities across the planet.
"People of Agomar. Rejoice, for you are now safe. Safe from the lies and deceits spread by the republic and their warhounds the Jedi." He let them murmur and shout angry denials at him for a minute before raising a hand for silence.
"Please, allow me to explain. We have the evidence to back up our claims and it will be provided freely to all who wish to see it tomorrow at dawn. Free access will be given at all libraries and community centres across your world."
"Due to the dragging nature of the conflict on your world, I was sent to bring about an end to the fighting. I was to come and negotiate a peaceful end of hostilities on your world. The battles were spreading and nearing population centres, this was deemed unacceptable to myself and members of the Confederate Senate. We wished to spill no innocent blood, thus I was sent."
"Upon arrival I transmitted diplomatic codes to request a single vessel to approach and begin negotiations. This was acknowledged, I flew my personal vessel towards this world and came under fire from Republic forces. A ship under diplomatic banners to negotiate peace was shot at without provocation." At the angry shouts from the crowd he once more raised his hands for quiet, a calm appearance on his face, with flickers of pain at the memory.
"I managed to escape and return to my fleet. If the republic would not act under their own laws, it was felt that they would subjugate this world and prevent its freedoms. Thus my fleet entered the system."
"On route to orbit we heard disturbing news. The republic had released a nanovirus into the Confederate battle droids. We quickly checked their systems and discovered that this virus reprogrammed the friend or foe programs within the droids, this was a horrifying act of attempted genocide upon your people. The FOF holds within it a line of code, it designates that non-combatants are to be assigned a friend ranking. You, the innocents of this conflict had been put in grave danger, and the republic did not care, they were gleeful and happy at the danger they had unleashed. Laughing and joking."
"Discovering this I ordered the forces infected by the virus to be destroyed immediately before they spread into your homes. I must beg your forgiveness for bombarding a region of your world but I had little time to save as many lives as I could. As this was happening, the republic forces in orbit had begun to either manoeuvre to bombard the planet or escape. We destroyed their fleet to prevent such actions from occurring."
"Now, in order to bring about a fair and open government, my forces have taken control of your world," angry cries echoed around the plaza, "please, let me explain, we are organising elections to be held at the end of the week, all registered citizens are entitled to vote and anybody may put their name forward as a potential for the new government. To become a registered citizen, we have provided a few scanners and archive droids to assist in the creation of a registry of all sentient individuals of Agomar. Every town has been assigned a team, they will be on continuous service until the registry is complete. You will have your details taken, a scan of yourself made and this information will be aligned to records already held. Once this has been completed, you will be assigned a ration record. All registered citizens are entitled to food, water, medicine at the governments cost, but these are resources with a limit and will be fairly distributed, no more or less for each individual citizen, from the richest to the poorest."
"As personal reparation from myself to you, I have assigned a thousand worker droids to construct living space so that every registered citizen has a home. This will take time, please be patient, until then a tented community will be provided for anyone who would fit the criteria. Families with young children and the elderly will be seen as a priority."
"For the registry, honesty is required. Any errors or issues found will be investigated in full, accidental errors will be corrected, active attempts to con the system will be punished severely. I am also offering a thousand droids to act as an interim police force until your people are able to resolve the shortage of manpower. Volunteers will be well received. Criminal actions will be investigated and the perpetuators will be punished to the full letter and spirit of your laws."
"Finally, I promise you that once your government has been chosen, you as a people may decide whether you wish to return to the republic or join the confederacy. Should you wish it, we will leave, the housing project and police force will remain until they are no longer needed at which point, they too shall leave."
"I have come to you to ask you to stand beside the other systems of the confederacy, not to kneel as a subjugated people."
"I thank you for your time and patience. Please form orderly queues and calmly await your turn. Light refreshments will shortly be distributed whilst you wait your turns."
"Oh, one last thing. Jedi, I know you are listening to me right now, I know you are watching this." His eyes now cold swept the plaza, searching for any sign of his quarry, "I offer you an amnesty for the next three days. Any clone trooper or Jedi that surrenders peacefully within that time will be sent back to the republic, intact and unharmed. Please do not force us to hunt you down, should that be required, then we can afford to show you no mercy. You cannot escape us, you have no other options that do not inflict suffering on these innocent people. It is now your move."
The General then bowed and walked back into the palace.
Adi waited as the crowd calmed from being so agitated. Several lines had already formed, the citizens were being processed and added to the records. A droid came nearby carrying a large container of water and disposable cups, distributing the drink to all around it. A second followed with bowls and a soup. Taking a sample of each she left the crowd and snuck away.
Kento snuck down darkened halls until he found Mallie, she was hooked up in a bacta tank, a medical droid was preparing her to decant.
Beside the medical droid stood a B1 droid. "She will live?" It whined.
The medical droid calmly turned and informed the B1. "Indeed. Bone damage repaired, nerve damage repaired, muscle damage repaired, dermal damage repaired and delicate organ damage has been repaired as well. Physically she is fit to be moved to the transport. Mentally is the interrogation department's work to complete. She will be ready to be brought to the shuttle in approximately three minutes."
The B1 just moved to stand beside a repulsorlift bed with attached medical instruments.
Kento calmly watched as they moved their prisoner and silently followed them to the shuttle. He sent a discrete comm to his men, "have found alternate exit, will rendezvous in orbit, continue with your mission."
The droids took Mallie on board a shuttle and began prepping launch procedures, the medical droid secured his patient and checked her vitals. He turned at the snap hiss noise of a lightsaber and fell in two parts. The B1 entered from the cockpit to see what was happening, Kento pulled it to him and impaled it on his blade, quick, quiet and no alarms raised.
Sealing the hatch he moved to the cockpit and continued to prep the launch. The comms burst with noise. "All droids, intruders detected in main storage, seal the area and terminate intruders. Facility is on lockdown until further notice." Then another comm line opened up. "Shuttle three, your clearance has been revoked, secure the prisoner and await further orders." Thankfully the comm line cut before he had to respond.
In the command room, the upgraded roger stood before the holo emitter. "Yes sir, exterior comms was cut upon entry, we have acquired their escape vessel, it was moved to a safe location to provide evidence when the facility is destroyed. A call for aid was sent to the republic, their ships are on route as we speak. The clones are in the designated area, we are recording them defending their position against confederate forces, the record will be transmitted to the black box just before the self-destruct triggers."
James leant forward in the image, "excellent, proceed as planned, give the Jedi a nudge to escape, let him do the rest for us."
As the comms cut, the droid turned to the shuttles comm line. "Shuttle three, intruders may have infiltrated your vessel, open your hatch and prepare for a security team, we will sweep it so you can leave to maintain the schedule. Be aware, Jedi forces are on route to terminate the prisoner. ETA for system entry sixteen minutes."
Kento stared at the comms for a moment in shock, before scrambling to get the ship ready to go as fast as possible. They were coming to kill Mallie? They wouldn't, they were coming to rescue her, unless they thought she had fallen or told secrets to the separatists. He commed his men once again. "Sergeant, I am leaving now, get your men out of there, a fleet is on route, update them and let them deal with the site."
All he got in response was a broken line filled with blaster fire and static. Kento snarled in frustration as he was torn between his men and Mallie.
A knocking at the hatch demanded his attention. He quickly through his engines into active and burned everything on the landing pad as he lifted, he quickly headed up to the launch bay entrance and used the ships guns to blow him an exit. Flying through the wreckage he powered away, straight up, his transponder screaming republic identity codes as he ran, the ship had its hyperspace jump already programmed and waiting so he triggered the autopilot and watched as the republic fleet arrived, fighters and bombers filling the skies, securing their position.
The shuttle jumped away just before a large explosion rippled across the surface, a section of the ruins turned to purple energy and scattered shrapnel into orbit. The purple aura rippled across the planet's atmosphere like an aurora borealis, power and lighting failed. Backup generators failed alongside them. Only hardened systems remained active. For a few moments the world was silent, then the screams of terror began as did the sound of the native wildlife passing through areas long guarded against them, full of easy prey.
In hyperspace Kento began planning the next jump. He needed a doctor to look over Mallie, there was a Wookie who owed him on Kashyyyk, maybe there they could hide and be safe. If they stayed quiet and kept hidden, the Jedi might think they were dead. They would be free of fighting in this horrible war and could be together.
Harry looked at the image before him, the Jedi and clone troopers had entered a hospital. Odd, maybe they required medical supplies, whatever their reasons, this could be used.
"Montu," a shadow entered the light, "this is their current location, get there quickly, kill as many as you can, collateral damage is acceptable. Sirius acquire a republic bomb, set it up to demolish the hospital then do so. Alter the hospital security tapes to imply the Jedi and her men did it as a terrorist action. Then assist Montu in his hunt. I will be seen surveying the building site."
Both droids nodded, "Yes father", then quickly left the room.
"Hedwig, find me suitable candidates for the government, we will need to ensure their victory quietly."
Hedwig nodded, "As you wish father", he moved to a data point and accessed the secure network.
Harry chuckled as he exited the palace, smiling and waving to the press. He got in the landspeeder and headed for the building site, the droids already at work.
An:
Reviews:
Plums: I was unsure how many to do with her, it never felt just right when I cut it down or increased it, so I left it as it was. As for the damage inflicted and her capacity to talk, she was more of a conduit for the visions, her body healing as it was damaged, and you don't need a tongue to scream.
Thorndsword: sorry to hear that. As I noted above I had trouble with those sections.
Guest: thank you.
Theta-McBride: thank you.
Neon1311: I'm seeing that the length appeared to be too much on the visions, something to keep in mind for the future. Anakin's path hasn't diverged much from canon and I have nothing in the works that would change that at this time.
Ksecc1: thank you. I'll try to improve on that issue.
Stallion6 of Deviantart: I'm on the first draft of chapter 18 at the moment and still thick in the clone wars. So a while to go yet I'm afraid.
Lord of Carrion: Palpy as you named him is not impressed, Harry took away some of his toys with that move if the neutrals sign the treaty, the embassy gives the CIS more legitimacy, so they win either way. Your question about Admiral Trench was rather amusing as you may have noticed he appeared here, however he's going to be like Sev'rance tann, a background character. Harry might be tempted to take the position just to get things actually done, or he may use someone in the role, cuts down on the paperwork that way.
C. : thank you, as I've said above, I wasn't too sure about the chapter.
Lycan01: thank you.
BioHazard82: Thank you.
Starboy454: thank you, unfortunately he will be alone on his return.
Beloved Daughter: Thank you, my wife took me out for an awesome meal. Glad to hear you are enjoying it.
Joe Lawyer: You don't have to like something to be good at it. It just felt weird that harry never used the political clout he had in canon. Glad to hear you are enjoying it all.
Ser Vince: Thank you.
Red Demon161: Dooku is the closest to an actual father figure Harry has, so I can see your reasoning working quite nicely. And yes, the betrayal or more accurately the realisation of betrayal when it comes will be painful for him. Ahsoka is one of my viewpoint characters in the story as you may have noticed, it's a bit strange to not have Kenobi or skywalker in such a role, but it is more relevant to this story. Also Harry's flirting skills are pretty useless, he'll get better but it will take time, if he does any, its by accident. :)
AresLaw: Thank you, I hope you enjoy it to its end.
Indecisive Bob: thank you. How do you kill Voldemort, destroy his horcruxes, where's harry again?
Tamagat: Thank you.
Emperor Vanquest: Thank you. I hadn't really developed them much really, but I'll give it a go. James is a humanoid design protocol droid, a sleeker and better armoured version of C3P0, his armour is black with green vines as a motif, his runic array is hidden within the designs on his chest. The armour doesn't look like much but leaves fewer gaps than C3P0's. His internals are much more efficient and hide the parts which give him the full motion capacity as if he were a human, he acts clunky and solid as a cover, but he can flex and move much quicker than others would imagine. Within his chest are hidden two lightsabers. Hedwig and the others have Grievous' legs with the same range of motion as he does, they have a human shaped torso with smooth and curved armour plates. Their heads are skull shaped and smooth, they have four "eyes" which are the same green as harry's, positioned about where our cheek bones and brows are in regards to human eye placements. They have blades hidden within their arms which extend through the hands, two lightsabers are hidden within the chest section. Their runic array is also on their chest. They have a shoulder mounted blaster rifle which can fold backwards to rest by their spine. They are seven foot tall but can stretch further than expected due to the legs. "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away" to us, not to Harry. Midichlorians don't naturally change over time, so he won't get more raw power available to him, but he will learn to use it more effectively. Yoda has less Midichlorians than Anakin in episode one, but the difference in skill and experience is too great for Anakin to win as a child, as an adult he has a better chance than before. On the time sand issue, can't answer due to spoilers, other than its part of what's holding him there. If he knew how to make the philosophers stone then yes, he could make one, but he'd need the Flamel's to learn those secrets.
Ranmaleopard: Thank you.
