Good evening, everyone! How are you doing on this rainy evening of Thursday, August 30, 2018? I'm doing pretty well, as I have five days until school again, which gives me plenty of time to work on homework, fanfiction writing, and my job. In other news, my parents left for Florida for their wedding anniversary, so my sister and I are home alone for a few days. In other news, I've completed Dragon Age: Inquisition's "Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts", and I'm ready to move onto either the Hissing Waste, or the Frostback Basin. So, how are you doing in school, as I'm doing pretty well so far? Anyway, I'm starting to read a bit again, as I took a little break from reading in order to write more, and to keep up with school. Oh, I just realized that I've almost written over 270 pages in this story in over two months. Now, that is pretty darned impressive. Now, I hope that some of my favorite fanfictions are updated soon, as I'm eager to read more original storylines for my favorite franchises. Well, I guess that I'd better get started on writing, as I've got four hours before I go to bed, on account of having to wake up early to get my sister ready for school tomorrow. May the Force and Iluvatar be with me.
(Friday, August 31, 2018 Addendum.) Hey, everyone. How are you doing on this hot day? I'm pretty ecstatic, as I got two orders from Amazon today, J.R.R. Tolkien's The Fall of Gondolin, and a Dark Horse Star Wars graphic novel. Oh, I can't wait until I have more fantasy books, and I can read my next Mass Effect: Andromeda book, and the next The Witcher book when it's released in paperback form in a couple of months. So, can you guys believe that it's been eight months since 2017 was about to end, because it's mindboggling for me how fast time's passing us by? Soon enough, my sister will be 15 years old and old enough to get her learners permit, which is a very scary thought. I just pray that she'll be a great driver. Well, that's enough rambling on my part, as I've got less than two hours to write until I have to go to work from 4-10. May the Force and Iluvatar be with me.
(Saturday, September 1, 2018 Addendum.) Good afternoon, everyone. What's going on with you on the first day of September? I'm doing well, as I did a little homework and reading, and will now work on my story to write, hopefully, up to fifteen hundred words today. I also went to a nearby Showmars with my neighbor, and I had a Super C combo, which was delicious. So, are you guys reading any good fanfictions lately, because I'm rereading a bunch of good ones in order to keep from going insane from missing the Old Star Wars? Oh, and I've spoken with Squasher a lot last night, and we've come up with some amazing material for one of my later chapters. I'll let you know what it is when I get to that chapter. Well, that's enough chatter for one day, I've got to get back to writing, as I work tomorrow and Monday for a total of thirteen hours in those days, so wish me luck.
(Tuesday, September 4, 2018 Addendum.) Hey, guys. Sorry for another addendum, but I wanted to let you know that this chapter is finally going to be published. Sorry for the long wait, but my chapter needed a major overhaul due to inadequate planning and a lack of creativity on my part. So, I should get this chapter on the Internet by 11:00 pm. Have a blessed night, my friends.
Fifteen Minutes Later
Thirty-Two Minutes From the Had Abbadon System
In the Hound's Medbay
"Is the bomb ready and armed?" Ferren impatiently demanded the two Imperial medics that were preparing to reawaken the enemy Mandalorian.
"Yes, High Inquisitor. The bomb is active, and will detonate upon voice command only. In addition, it has various settings that induce pain in the patient, as it is tied to A'denn's central nervous system. The settings function from Control Factor One, the lowest pain setting, to Control Factor Ten, which will trigger the explosive inside his skull. It should work well for your plans." The lead medic confidently answered.
At that collected response, the Iktotchi smiled, showing off his rotting yellow teeth, "Good. It will work splendidly with my plans. You've done well, both of you. You may now awaken the traitor."
At the command, the two medics injected him with a drug that awoke a comatose A'denn. As soon as he saw the maniacal face of Ferren, he shot up, and moved to throttle the Dark Jedi.
Unfortunately for him, Ferren spoke quicker than he could hope to move and loudly said, "Control Factor Two."
That utterance triggered a small seizure in the Mandalorian, and he felt as if he was experiencing a moderate heart attack, clutching his chest as he fell to his knees in terrible pain.
Fighting through the agony, A'denn growled out, "What… What is this!?"
"You're more resilient than I gave you credit for, A'denn of Mandalore." Ferren grudgingly praised. "The good doctors here have placed an explosive in your skull with enough power to destroy a bacta tank, and were kind enough to install several pain-inducing settings into my voice command. Now, you really have no choice but to do what I say, or I'll detonate the bomb, killing you before you can make amends with the Ryals. Or," Ferren dragged out, "Perhaps I'll let you live, but in perpetual pain to serve as an example of those who dare cross the Emperor's will."
"Oh, save the patriotic routine, Barr! We both know that it's a hoax." A'denn retorted. The mercenary was, quite frankly, sick of Barr's megalomania, and was not afraid to voice it in spite of the mounting threats to his life.
"You never learn, A'denn." Ferren was disappointed as he pulled out his lightsaber, and activated it after aiming it at A'denn.
"When will you learn that resisting me is futile, and that all will either serve the Empire, or be obliterated?" Ferren conversationally asked while swiping at A'denn's right side of his face, destroying the Mandalorian's right eye and leaving a gashing vertical scar where his eye used to be.
A'denn screamed through the insurmountable agony, clutching the bleeding mess with his left hand, with his right gripping his chest through the receding heart attack.
"Perhaps that'll teach you to talk out of turn, scum." Ferren casually scolded while forcing the bounty hunter onto his feet, "Now, we need to get moving for your close-up, since we'll be arriving at Had Abbadon in about half an hour."
Meanwhile, On the Seoncd Chance
Three Hours and Thirty Minutes From the Had Abbadon System
"You certainly don't do anything in stride, Ventis." Naomi commented as she processed what the Jedi Apprentice had just told her: the bounty hunter/vigilante Ghost, now known as Mysta Ryal, nearly strangled him to death before he learnt the truth from Vega and Daniel, and agreed to reserve judgment until he witnessed what kind of man Ventis was trying to become.
"I have too much to atone for to take anything in stride, as you put it, Naomi. I'm going all of the way in my quest, and no one's gong to stop me." Ventis confidently replied.
"Well, if you help rescue my son and the Ryals, then you'll certainly be on your way to doing so." Naomi cautiously praised the reformed Dark Jedi.
"Thank you."
"Ahem." Tau coughed, not wanting to interrupt the careful banter between the two Jedi, but knowing that this conversation would have to wait until the mission was accomplished.
Ventis, getting the message, ended the talk, "Sorry, I've got to go. We need to plan our attack when we reach the system if we're gonna take down Barr and his henchmen. Iluvatar watch over you."
"You too, Ventis." Naomi hesitatingly replied, still finding it incredibly awkward to talk casually to the man who raped her when she was a Jedi Padawan so many years ago.
She then disconnected the Holonet call, and Ventis stood up from his seat to allow Tau to sit down and prepare to contact the flagships of each Shadow Alliance fleet so they could coordinate their ships when they fought High Inquisitor Barr and his fleet.
While Tau primed the Holonet frequency, he nonchalantly asked his apprentice, "So, the talks are progressing along, I take it?"
"More or less, considering what Gallies put her through." Ventis evasively replied.
"Well, it's still better then how you first started out as my pupil. When are you going to contact your brother?"
"Who's to say that I haven't already?"
"That's good. Iluvatar knows that you need to have more to fight for in these terrible times."
"Don't I know it?" Ventis concurred before the holoimages of Vem Carr, Cassius Tarquin, and James Ironwood came into focus, and Ventis took his cue to leave so that the leaders could speak plainly.
"It won't be much longer before we face these murderers in combat." Vem energetically started, eager to have his people in a righteous battle again, with Cassius sharing his sentiment.
"Well, first we need to prepare for battle against Barr and his formidable minions." Tau quickly cautioned before he added, "Oh, and we have to figure out who the double agent is, just in case they're trying to pull a fast one on us."
"Well, it's a little late to worry about that, Tau. We're already committed, and our people are in danger down there, so we'll have to deal with it as we go along." Ironwood responded.
Tau sighed in reluctant agreement, seeing that the Remnant general was right, "Agreed. Let's just hope that Barr decides to stay in the Had Abbadon System long enough for us to intercept them, otherwise, we're in deep poodoo."
Just then, the same hooded individual joined the conversation, and quickly said, "I don't have much time. So listen up: Barr's got orders to bring your Jedi and their buddies to Coruscant after capturing them, so you'd better hurry. I'll do what I can to delay them, but the most I can give you is five hours, so speed it up, you galactic slugs." As immediately as the mysterious ally entered the meeting, they disconnected the channel, leaving a confused group to plan their next move.
"Well, I guess that answers that question." Cassius curiously commented, wondering just who their ally was in this mission.
"So, we'll make it with a little time to spare. We'll have to just hope that they don't get any reinforcements before we attack, or things will get more complicated." Vem added, with everyone else concurring with his sentiment.
"Agreed. My crew is going to get a couple of hours of rest before we engage Barr, and I advise you all to do the same. Stay alive." Tau ended the holocall, and retired to his cabin to take off his boots, and rest next to his sleeping fiancé.
Iluvatar, please keep my friends safe from Barr and his master's darkness. Tau prayed before he held his lover close to him, and slipped into unconsciousness.
Twenty Minutes Later
On Had Abbadon
Within the City of Celani
Five Minutes Until High Inquisitor Barr Arrives In System
"Barr's almost here. I can sense him." Vega feared, dreading the inevitable torture that would come once the three Ryal siblings surrendered to the power-crazy High Inquisitor.
"Great. Once again, this would all have been avoided if we had gone to my bunker in the first place." Mysta fumed, knowing that only eighty percent of Celani's population was safely evacuated from the system, leaving over fifteen hundred innocent souls still at the Empire's nonexistent mercy.
Good thing that I had Gabriel take Daniel and Ruby take the Vengeance's Bane to follow Plan B if it comes to it. Mysta considered, hoping and praying that this plan would work, or everyone that he loved would suffer at the Itkotchi's hands.
Turning to DT-132, he ordered, "Have the transports stand down. They'll never get out of the system before the Imperials revert to realspace."
"Yes, sir." The former Death Trooper complied, radioing the orders to the spaceport's command center, and then retorting, "Because Barr'll be here in mere minutes, and if we have the ships launch now, they'll be picked apart in space. Ghost and the Jedi have a plan, and we need to trust them if we're going to survive this subjugation."
Ending the communication, he said, "All right. The ships will stand down. Now, tell me you guys have a plan besides surrendering, because I doubt that the High Inquisitor will be in a merciful mood when they come here."
Ending the communication, he said, "All right. The ships will stand down. Now, tell me you guys have a plan."
"We have two," Mysta replied, "one's difficult as hell, but the other is a bit," he shot a glare at his siblings before he bit out, "insane."
"Explain."
"Plan A is we're going to push a giant asteroid out towards the fleet and detonate it. Hopefully, the field it produces will be enough to slow him down."
The Death Trooper shook his head at the idea, "You're right. That will be difficult. If we had half a day, I could definitely see it work without a hitch. But we have maybe an hour to pull this off before the Inquisitor gets here. What's Plan B?"
Mysta again shot a glare at his siblings before he answered, "We surrender ourselves. Me, Vega and Elain."
"You're right. That is insane. Ferren would more than likely kill you the moment you stepped on his ship, and even if he doesn't, he might just destroy the city anyway for his own amusement."
"He wouldn't kill us, but that's why we're going with Plan A. We're going to need a lot of explosives."
"We have them, but that won't be the problem. Mounting them onto the asteroid in question will be. You have to remember we need to get the exact placement correct or otherwise it won't work. Besides, don't you still have Baradium?"
"We have exactly one. Hence why we need the extra explosives."
"Like I said, we have them. Hold on, you need more than just a ship killer? Are you trying to blow up a moon?"
"In a manner of speaking," Vega replied, "and don't worry about the placement. We Jedi are coming with you."
"No offense, kid, but you don't look like an engineer or a demolitions expert or even a geologist."
"No, but we have the Force."
"Oh, so you're going to cheat twenty years education then?"
"Yeah, basically," Vega shrugged. The Death Trooper shook his head with a sigh.
"Y'know, I think this is why people don't like you Jedi. You either make us feel inadequate, cheated or just generally frustrated with your insane plans and faith in your ancient religion."
"Sure, but our plans still work… most of the time."
"Yes, it's the other times that have me worried," he then called on his comm to order his men for the necessary preparations for the somehow less insane of the two plans.
"Hey, if things get so bad, we could just throw it at Barr and hope for the best."
"Thank the universe you're not a motivational speaker. Still, if we have to go to Plan B, and assuming Barr doesn't kill you immediately, what will you do?"
"Try to disable the ship from the inside," Mysta replied sardonically.
"Well, good thing we're going with Plan A. Still, it might only slow him down. I'm assuming you might have friends coming?"
"Yes, assuming we can hold up Barr for a few hours. Hopefully by then, Tau and his fleet arrive, because I can sense them entering the Deep Core." Vega commented before he saw a mixed look of surprise cross his brother's face.
The Death Trooper nodded, turning to get to his men as he grumbled, "I should've just stayed on Dantooine, listened to dad and just kept farming," and then he was out of sight.
Before Vega could try to placate his brother due to his perceived anger, Elain soothed him, "Mysta, Tau is trying to look after his friends, and that's a commendable mentality to have. Besides, right now, we need all of the help that we can get. You can't judge a person based on their lineage, even if they are the Emperor's son."
Mysta turned to Elain, "I would've hoped you know me better than that. I don't care that he's the Emperor's son, I hate the fact that he has works with morally disreputable people in his crew."
"Actually, he's his great-great-grandson from the future, and he's more concerned about his apprentice." Vega casually elaborated before he tensed up, and fearfully whispered, "He's here."
At that moment, Mysta's comlink pinged, and DT-132's urgent voice immediately filtered through, "Ryal! Sensors indicate that a Venator and Imperial-class Star Destroyer just entered the system. Their transponders indicate that the Venator's the Hound, and the Imperial's the Exactor. Your orders, sir?"
"Open a channel to the Hound, and keep all civilians from erupting into a panic. Get the bombs ready for transport. We'll keep his attention on us." Mysta then opened a channel to the Hound's bridge, and the smug face of Ferren Barr was revealed.
"So, the fugitive reveals himself to me. Have you come to prostrate yourself before me, or are you going to fight it out to the end, and doom the remaining civilians and traitorous Stormtroopers to a fiery death?" Barr smugly asked Msyta, before he noticed Vega and Elain in the background. He gleefully smiled at seeing the three Ryals all together, and knew that he would get his prize soon enough.
"Well, well, well. Jedi Knight Vega Ryal. At last we meet, face to face. You've caused me quite a lot of trouble in hunting you down." He then turned to Elain, "And you must be the famous Elain Ryal. I never would have guessed that Mysta would have brought you here, of all places, but I suppose that I underestimated the desperation that sentimental idiots will go to in order to protect their loved ones."
He then turned serious, and demanded, "Now, where is Jedi Knight Daniel Valo, as my one loyal trooper reported that he was helping with the evacuations before DT-238 was uncovered?"
"You're too late, Barr. He already left the system an hour before you arrived, and he'll disappear into the fringes of the galaxy, where you'll never find him." Vega smugly retorted.
"Well, then I'll just have to torture you into telling me where he is once you all surrender to me." Barr nonchalantly countered, before he added, "And you'll provide me Captain Ragar and DT-238, as I know that you Shadow Alliance types don't kill defenseless prisoners."
"Give me one good reason why we should do what you say, Barr." Mysta denied, needing to buy time for his plan to go into full swing.
"Oh, I was hoping that you would say that, Mysta." Ferren snarled, before he motioned with his hand for Kravous to drag in A'denn, where both Vega and Elain gasped at the inhumane torture that the High Inquisitor put him through: The Mandalorian had lost his right eye from a lightsaber cut, and there was a small surgical incision on the man's skull, making Mysta narrow his eyes and bar his teeth upon realizing what the Iktotchi had done to his ally.
"You little bastard," Mysta growled, making Ferren chuckle.
"At least he's still alive, Mysta. But, that depends entirely on you." He then paused to say, "Control Factor Three."
Once the High Inquisitor uttered that phrase, A'denn began to uncontrollably spasm while blood came out of his nostrils and ears, making Elain cover her mouth in utter horror, and despite his reservations with the man, Vega was filled with a terrible rage at what was being done.
Sensing the fear that he had put into the two younger Ryals, Ferren gloated to Mysta, "Now, you all have no choice but to surrender, or your new friend will be one head short of a body, and then I'll destroy the entire city."
Mysta, knowing that he was out of options if he was to save the seventeen hundred souls under his command, uttered, "Very well. You let the civilians and Stormtroopers live, and we'll surrender."
"Then we have a deal." Ferren clapped his hands together in maniacal celebration of his victory, and continued, "My shuttle will be there in twenty minutes to pick you up at the spaceport. You'd better not delay, or all of those lives will be destroyed on your account." He then ended the holocall, leaving the three Ryals to prepare to surrender to the Imperials.
"Then we have a deal." Ferren clapped his hands together in maniacal celebration of his victory, and continued, "We will be there within the hour to pick you up at the spaceport. If you are not there, all of those lives will be destroyed on your account. After all, it will be impossible to get 1700 people out in less than an hour." Just before he could end the holo call, A'denn rose to his feet, grabbed Ferren from behind, turned them both around so his back was facing the wall; his head placed just next to Ferren. He placed his hand firmly over his mouth and snarled.
"You said the bomb could destroy a bacta tank right? Well let's see what happens when it's detonated in close proximity to your head!"
Mysta's eyes widened, "What the hell are you doing?!"
Before the threat could be carried out, A'denn suddenly screamed in utter pain as more blood gushed out of his orifices. A white-coated scientist suddenly appeared in the call as he commanded, "Control Level 7."
Now he was spasming in pain so severe that his legs fell out from under him. However, he refused to let Barr go. He knew he had literally seconds before they would rip him off him or before Barr just threw him off. So, he did the only thing he could think off. He removed his hand from Barr's mouth and closed it around his throat. The sickening sound of fingers tearing through flesh echoed in the holo call as blood began to seep through his tightening vise-like grip.
"CONTROL LEVEL 9!" but it didn't matter. A'denn was hell-bent on killing Barr even if he would die in the attempt. So, the scientist did the only thing he could think of: he grabbed a deck officer's sidearm and began pumping stun rounds into A'denn until he dropped unconscious. Unfortunately, the same could be said for Barr as the holo-call finally cut.
A stunned silence followed the end of the message. Elain was naturally mortified, and Vega answered with a "Holy Shit!" But Mysta just shook his head as the ghost of smile crossed his lips.
"I guess I was right about him," Mysta replied rather soberly. Already, he was making plans to rescue A'denn if the chance came. He earned that much at least. He then turned to the rest of the group.
"If Plan A works, I have a follow up plan that will end Barr once and for all."
"What plan is that?" Vega asked.
"My original one, little brother. We fall back to the Bunker and lure Barr there. Then, while he's off the ship, we use The Vengeance's Bane to rescue A'denn. And after that," Mysta concluded with an Arctic smile, "we kill Barr."
5 Minutes later, In Space
Onboard The Vengeance's Bane
"I still can't believe that you guys talked me into this! We shouldn't be hiding from the Empire when so many lives are at stake!" Ruby protested for the umpteenth time to Gabriel and Daniel, who looked as if they were about to snap from Ruby's incessant badgering.
"For the last time, Ruby, we're not hiding forever. We're waiting until the Asteroid blocks the imperial flotilla's path and then we're going to grab the others and head to the bunker." Daniel struggled to keep a calm attitude while hiding his presence from the Dark Siders in this small Imperial fleet.
"Too bad that we don't know who this ally is. For all we know, they could be luring us into a trap." Ruby continued to complain, completely ignoring what Daniel said.
"Enough!" Gabriel sternly reprimanded, sick and tired of having Ruby whine about the safety of her boyfriend and his family when the lives of over seventeen hundred good people were at stake, as well as his own wife.
Taking a deep breath to get his anger under control, Gabriel tried to calmly continue, "Sorry, Ruby, but you need to see things from a wider perspective. If we attack now, then we won't be able to help anyone, because Barr's fighters will overwhelm and capture us. If that happens we're not going to help anyone, and we won't be able to help Vega, or Elain."
"Do you even know who our ally is, or did Mysta keep you in the dark too?" Ruby deflected, struggling to accept this bitter pill.
"Yes, but I won't tell you until we meet him, because we can't afford to jeopardize his cover until we rendezvous with him." Gabriel confirmed. "Now, can you kindly keep quiet until we can make our move? I need to focus."
"Fine." Ruby grumbled while immaturely crossing her arms, leaving a weary Daniel and Gabriel to await Mysta's signal to aid the evacuation.
Forty-Five Minutes Later
Had Abbadon's asteroid belt
As it turned out, finding the target asteroid hadn't been the problem at all. It was quite literally the biggest thing around for hundreds of thousands of miles. The problem was figuring everything else out in a timely manner.
The crux of the plan was the exact placement of the Baradium bomb. It wasn't going to be used to blow up the asteroid. It was going to be used to propel the asteroid and send it hurtling at Barr's fleet. Hence the need for the mountain of explosives the Stormtrooper company had brought with them.
Because they had less than an hour at this point, it was decided that the placement of smaller bombs could wait for the exact judgment of one Jedi. Fortunately, the sheer size of the moon worked to their advantage. In short, they could afford to guess. So, the Stormtroopers were sent out en masse to do exactly this and although they didn't have space suits, they had enough oxygen to perform the operation… barely.
The bigger problem was placing the Baradium. If it was in the wrong place, it could destroy asteroid or at least put a large crater in it. The key to was to put it in a position where the external thrust would send the moon forward in the right trajectory.
This took exactly thirty minutes to accomplish, with constant retries after projections showed it was in the wrong position. Tensions ran high and they were ready to abandon the plan before they finally got the right position. Five minutes later, and the bomb was placed in a volcano shaped cone formation. Once the company was away, the bomb was prepped for detonation.
"I hope you know what you're doing," the Death Trooper said as the last Trooper was brought on board the freighter.
"Me too," Mysta replied as he hit the detonator. There was suddenly a terrific explosion that sent visible shockwaves in all directions as the cone formation was obliterated into an inward crater the size of a small city. The company then gave a cheer as the impact sent the asteroid hurtling out of its orbit at an incalculable speed, plowing its way through the rest of the asteroid field as it began its slow but true acceleration towards its target.
"Do we still have a signal to the other bombs?" Mysta asked. Vega nodded. "And what's the ETA of Barr's fleet?"
"Exactly five minutes. They're probably going to run right into the asteroid before they realize it's even there," the Death Trooper answered.
"And the status of the evacuation?"
"Loading the last of their personnel," a comm officer responded, "they'll be ready to fly in two minutes."
"Good. Once they're in range, we'll detonate the asteroid. That should buy us a few hours."
"And after that?" the Death Trooper asked, "What will happen to us?"
"Oh you're coming with," Vega answered, "since you're in this firmly now, you're gonna help us kill Barr."
"I figured as much," the Death Trooper replied soberly, "that's if this plan works."
"Yeah," Mysta replied as he watched the asteroid go, "let's hope it does."
Well, that ends another chapter of my story. It's hard to believe that I've already completed 25 full chapters of my second Shadow Wars story. A lot's happened in this chapter, with A'denn losing an eye, Tau and his forces preparing to enter the Had Abbadon System, and the Ryals fooling Barr and evacuating the remaining civilians. So, how are you all doing on this warm day of Sunday, September 2, 2018? I'm doing well, as I have to work from 5-10pm tonight at my movie theater, which leaves me under three hours to relax for now. Oh, and I've finished my latest book that I hadn't read for a while yesterday, and I'm going to start on a Billy Graham book now (God rest his soul.). Oh and it won't be long before I reach 300 pages in this story, which is a milestone for me. Well, I'd better get this chapter ready for publishing soon May the Force and Iluvatar be with you all, and Long Live the Expanded Universe!