CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
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Around Centrepoint Station
Corellian system
The sudden destruction of the Pride of Corellia had certainly changed the makeup of the battle. With their massive flagship gone and most of their fleet in total disarray, the Five Worlds Liberation Front had scattered and run for cover. The Kilrathi had capitalised upon this and moved in to occupy the area around Centrepoint Station. The Galactic Alliance had attempted to do the same thing, but they were further away, and thus were not able to get there in time. It was something of a bittersweet moment; an enemy fleet had just been removed from that vital position, only to be replaced by that of yet another enemy. And one that would have to be deadlier, to boot.
The Alliance forces had not come through unscathed either. It was estimated that roughly one third of their number had been destroyed in the fighting, and many of those that survived had suffered considerable damage.
To that end, Leia and Wedge had agreed to pull their forces back for the time being. While nobody wished to leave the Kilrathi in control of Centrepoint Station for any length of time, it would do no good if they attacked at anything less than full strength.
Wedge Antilles had called the rest of Renegade Squadron back onboard the Dragon's Claw. The massive hanger deck was enough to accommodate all of the X-wings, plus the Millennium Falcon, and the remaining pilots gathered together for an impromptu meeting. All around them, deckhands rushed to hammer out the dents on their craft and clean up the scoring marks from blaster impacts. Similarly, droid technicians did their best to ensure that the astromech droids were still in fully functioning condition, as more than a few had suffered some damage.
Wedge sat on an empty cargo container. Surrounding him were the fourteen remaining pilots of Renegade Squadron, along with Han Solo, who was flanked by Lumpwaroo and Tenel Ka. Not surprisingly, Jacen had positioned himself to be standing next to the young red-haired warrior woman.
"Alright," Wedge began tiredly. "We managed to knock out the Five Worlds forces and dislodge them from around Centrepoint Station. And as an added bonus, we took out their flagship. Lensi gave his life to do that, so let's make damn sure that his sacrifice was not in vain." Murmurs from the assembled crowd gave their agreement.
"Also," Wedge continued, "it has not been confirmed, but all indications claim that the leader of the insurgent movement, one Thracken Sal-Solo," here he and other members of the group cast sideways glances at Han, whose own face took on a mild sneer, "was commanding their forces from that ship. Since we did not see any escape craft prior to its destruction, I think it is safe to say that he went down with the ship."
"Good riddance," Han uttered loudly enough for everybody to hear. He had been focused on piloting the Falcon when he saw the Pride of Corellia crash and explode. Had he not been, he would have been sorely tempted to jump out of his seat and perform a little victory dance and the sight of his despised cousin's death.
Still, there would be time for that later.
"That's the good news," Wedge went on. "Now for the bad news. As I'm sure you will have noticed, the Kilrathi have gone ahead and made themselves right at home at Centrepoint. I don't have to tell you that this is a very bad omen indeed. If they figure out how to use the Station, it is going to be an extremely rough time for us, to say the very least.
"Now, obviously, we cannot let them remain in control, so we need to strike at them while we can. Unfortunately, we've lost about a third of our ships, and the remaining two thirds are mostly damaged. If we attack now, it will be a miracle if we succeed. In order to do that, we need to fix our ships, and get some new ones to replace our losses.
"So here's what we are going to do: I'm going to head up to the bridge and place a call to Alliance command, and see if they can spare us any ships and troops." He looked at Tenel Ka. "Tenel Ka, if you will allow me, I would like you to see if the Hapans can donate anything else to the battle." The warrior princess paused for a moment, then nodded in affirmation.
"As for the rest of you, I want you all to rest up. We're going to need all of you at full strength for what's about to happen."
As Gilkarg nar Kiranka marched purposefully through the hallways and corridors of Centrepoint Station, he was struck by the very design of the facility. Such a contrast to what one would typically find on a vessel or facility constructed by the Kilrathi. Their design was based on sheer basic functionality. Their architects cared very little for aesthetic design; not worrying about whether or not something looked good or matched together symmetrically. As long as the object in question functioned properly, anything else came in second place, if even that.
By contrast, the walls and rooms of Centrepoint Station were all smooth and matched up together quite nicely. So much so that Gilkarg was often left wondering exactly what purpose lay behind one particular room that he found himself in. It was all so uniform in design that it served only to confuse and baffle the Supreme Commander. And this station was believed to be at least a hundred thousand years old, of all things!
Striding to the room that had since been ascertained to be the Command Centre, Gilkarg swept his eyes around the room. Several of the black and crimson armoured Drakhai warriors; personal bodyguards of the Imperial Family of Kilrah; stood guard around the room. Their large assault rifles were at the ready, and their claws and fangs were bared.
On the floor lay the bodies of three Humans. Two of them, a male and a female, lay face down; their blood pooling together to create one large puddle. The other one, another male, was face up. His abdomen had been slashed open and his hands had been pressed to it in a vain and ineffective attempt to keep his internal organs from spilling out. His face was locked in a grimace of pain and shock. All of them wore armbands that denoted them as members of the Five Worlds Liberation Front.
Three more Humans, two females and another male, were on their knees with their hands on their heads; a gesture of surrender and submission. Like their butchered companions, they too wore the mark of the FWLF. In this position, they could do little other than shake and whimper with fear. To Gilkarg, it was both pathetic and amusing.
Gilkarg went over to the sole surviving Human male and leant down to his face. He enjoyed the look of fear on his visage, not to mention the scent of it simply pouring off the man. "Are you the one in charge?" Gilkarg asked in the Galactic Basic language spoken frequently across the galaxy.
The man seemed positively shocked that this Kilrathi would not only speak the same language as him, but also take the time to talk when he could have just as easily disembowled him like the other three. It took him a few seconds to find his voice.
"Y-Y… Yes."
"What is your name?"
"Uh… m-my-my name is… uh, it's, uh… Doral."
"Doral," Gilkarg stated, testing the name out on his tongue. "I am Gilkarg nar Kiranka. I am the Kalralahr of the fleet that just defeated yours."
Doral looked up at the Kilrathi. "Uh, I'm afraid that I… uh, I don't know…w-what a Kal… uh, Kal…"
"Kalralahr," Gilkarg supplied.
"Yes," Doral continued nervously. "I don't know what that is." Amazingly, he managed to finish the sentence without stammering or hesitating.
"Fair enough," Gilkarg accepted, standing up. "After all, not many people across the galaxy are familiar with our tongue. A Kalralahr is what you would call the Supreme Commander of the Kilrathi forces." He looked down at the trembling man. "Who would your Kalralahr be?"
"Uh, I guess that would be… Thracken Sal-Solo."
"Thracken?" Gilkarg seemed somewhat amused. "I find that rather funny, because you see, I have a son named Thrakhath. Very similar alliteration, wouldn't you say?"
Doral looked up at the Kilrathi in confusion. Still trembling he managed to come out with an answer. "I-I suppose it is… rather amusing."
Gilkarg already knew much of the information he was attempting to retrieve. He had researched it quite thoroughly before undertaking his mission. If nothing else, he was attempting to placate the Human and make him more open to suggestion. Brute force was effective, but it only went so far in some instances.
"Tell me," the Supreme Commander continued, "I am told that this station is not only very ancient, it is also quite powerful. I have heard that it has the ability to create entire systems, as well as destroy them. From this one point, it can target anywhere in the galaxy, destroying it with mere impunity. Now that makes for an impressive weapon, wouldn't you agree?" He did not pause for a reply. "So I cannot help but wonder why it has not been used before. Would you care to elaborate on this?"
Doral was positively hunched over by this point; his nerves getting the better of him. "You may stand up, Doral," Gilkarg offered. "While you are explaining, you might as well be somewhat comfortable. And it cannot be comfortable to be kneeling like that all the time."
Doral was left in shock at this point, and it was only after Gilkarg made a gesture with his clawed hand that he finally got to his feet.
Clearing his throat, he did his best to explain while keeping the tremors out of his voice. "This station has not been used before because nobody has figured out how. Centrepoint may be hundreds of thousands of years old, but it was only about fifteen years ago that it was reactivated, during Thracken's last insurrection."
"How was it reactivated?"
"By some Jedi kid named Anakin Solo. Apparently his father is Thracken's cousin, and the two of them don't get on. Anyway, his biometric data was tied to the Stations programming, and so only he could use it."
"And where is this… Anakin Solo now?"
"Uh… he died a few years ago. During the Yuuzhan Vong War."
"Ah," Gilkarg murmed. "A setback."
"But not a big one," Doral continued, his eyes suddenly taking on an excited look. As fearsome as the Kilrathi were, he was still eager to describe his work to anyone, if only because it would convince them to spare his life. "You see, Thracken wanted to get the Station back online, and he tasked me to come up with a way. I found a revolutionary method that actually replicated someone's biometric data without them even being involved. It took over two years of hard work, but I did it! I recreated his biometric data and imprinted them into Centrepoint's computer. While I did that, the workers set about repairing the damage the Yuuzhan Vong did."
Gilkarg's mind began to tick over. "So, the Station has been repaired."
Doral nodded. "Yes, it has."
"And with your data put into the system, then virtually anybody could use it?"
Doral's face started to fall, as he was just starting to see the Kilrathi commander's ambitions. "I suppose so, yes," he answered hesitantly.
Gilkarg's face broke into a predatory smile. "Well then, I'd say it is time for a little test. Wouldn't you say?"
Doral started to sputter, his face going absolutely white. He had known full well the ambitions of Thracken Sal-Slo, but even he had a certain degree of restraint about him. He had only been planning to threaten the rest of the galaxy unless the Corellian system was given its independence. The Kilrathi, on the other hand, had simply come across as bloodthirsty creatures who wanted to spill the blood simply for the sake of spilling blood. To have them in charge of a deadly device like Centrepoint was…
Oh no, Doral thought in aghast. What have I done?
Squaring his shoulders, he looked up at Gilkarg with as much defiance as he could muster; which unfortunately was not a great deal. "I am sorry, but I cannot obey that order."
He half expected for the Kilrathi commander to fly into a rage. But instead, Gilkarg took a step closer, and positively loomed over him. The feline being's breath permeated his nostrils.
"Doral," he began in a slow and deliberate pace, "I am not only the Kalralahr of the Kilrathi Imperial forces, I am also the son of the Emperor, and the next in line to the Throne of Kilrah. If you assist me now, I may see that your pathetic little system is spared from our wrath. Otherwise, I might just be conviced to cleanse all five planets of every form of life, one at a time."
Doral felt what was left of his confidence fade away, and it took every ounce of his remaining willpower not to soil himself at that moment. Swallowing heavily, he looked up at the Kilrathi. "What target would you wish, sir?"
Gilkarg paused for a moment. "If I remember correctly, we attacked a planet called Naboo, intending to wipe out its inhabitants. Instead, we were driven off by our enemies. I believe we should remove that taint. And by that, I mean remove the entire planet." He leaned closer. "If not, then maybe your planet will suffice."
Doral swallowed again. "Very well, I'll just, uh, input the target coordinates."
As he turned around and began to work, Doral was sure that if Hell really did exist, he had just earned himself a place in its deepest and darkest depths.
Within the ancient and powerful depths, deadly machinery and circuits hummed to life for the first time in years. The last time is had been used was just a few years previously during the Yuuzhan Vong War, when it had made the tragic error of destroying much of the Hapan fleet in addition to that of the enemy. The time before that had been in the previous insurrection when the five planets had attempted to break away from the New Republic.
Ironically, both of those instances had been the doing of one Thracken Sal-Solo.
Before then, the ancient and titanic behemoth had lain dormant for uncounted millennia, just waiting for someone else who possessed the ability and foresight to utilise it again. And now, it was about to strike once more.
And this time, it was not Thracken who would be doing it. No, his charred remains were now located somewhere on the hull of the station, amongst the smouldering crater that had formed upon the destruction of his massive dreadnought, the Pride of Corellia.
But in what was perhaps the greatest irony of all, Thracken would have one more part to play in Centrepoint Station's final act. One that would have devastating consequences that not even he could have foreseen.
In his rush to carry out Gilkarg's orders, the harried scientist named Doral had neglected to take note that the impact of the dreadnought had done far more damage than originally thought. It had quietly been assumed that the impact would be merely superficial; which could be covered up with simple repairs and a massive paint job.
This was not the case. Instead, the Pride of Corellia had penetrated much deeper than anybody realised. So much so that certain vital systems of the Station had been greatly damaged. Vital systems related to the Starbuster firing mechanism, and the gravity generator that kept the Station hovering between the Double Worlds of Talus and Tralus.
Had he been aware of this, then Doral would have insisted to Gilkarg that they take some time to properly repair the damage. But the man had been so terrified at the thought of the Kilrathi disembowelling him that he completely overlooked it.
As it was, Doral simply input the co-ordinates of the supposed target; Naboo, and pressed the 'fire' button.
Gilkarg was the only individual who managed to remain on his feet as the entirety of Centrepoint Station shook with a massive tremor. Everyone else, Human and Kilrathi alike, were thrown off their feet. Doral was tossed forward and smashed his head on the panel.
The Supreme Commander barked out a string of vehement curses in his native tongue. "What is going on?!" he demanded.
Doral managed to clamber back to his feet, blood streaming from the gash on his forehead. Steadying himself, he quickly read the control panel, attempting to make sense of this sudden and unexpected turn of events.
After about twenty seconds, he turned back to Gilkarg. "Something terrible has happened!" he said, his face now positively white with fear. "Apparently the impact of our dreadnought has damaged several critical systems, and the activation of the weapon has sent the whole network into overdrive!"
Gilkarg's features darkened into a scowl. "Well, then, shut it down!"
Before Doral could even say anything else, an alarm sounded from many terminals in the control room. The scientist rushed over to one of them and hurriedly typed in some commands. When he was finshed, he seemed frozen in fear and disbelief for a couple of seconds before turning back to Gilkarg.
"The gravity well putting the Station between the Double Worlds has become greatly corrupted! It's actually…" he trailed off, as if the very thought of verbalising it was too much.
"It's actually WHAT?!"
"It's actually pulling the two planets in towards the Station!"
On the Dragon's Claw, many members of the Skywalker/Solo family rushed on to the bridge. The alarms were blaring all over the vessel.
"What is happening?" Luke demanded.
"I don't know!" Wedge cried. "One minute, we were keeping an eye on the Kilrathi fleet around Centrepoint, and the next, the entire Station itself seems to be going crazy!"
Looking out the front viewport, in the distance, the massive form of Centrepoint Station seemed to shudder and warp slightly. In the space around it, the assembled Kilrathi fleet had started to disperse, eager to get away from the place before things got much worse.
"Look, Talus is moving towards the Station!" Jaina cried out.
"So is Tralus!" Jacen added.
Sure enough, both of the Double Worlds began to move inwards towards each other, and Centrepoint Station in between them. They started out slowly, gradually picking up speed as they rapidly closed the distance.
For the first time in many years, Gilkarg nar Kiranka felt icy cold fear course through his veins. The implications of what the Human had just told him were simply terrifying.
He had embarked upon this crusade to capture Centrepoint Station, and add its amazing power to the arsenal of the Kilrathi Emire. With that, they would have brought the entire galaxy to heel. Instead, his own hubris had stripped him of that weapon, and most likely his life as well.
He turned to Doral one more time. "Is there any way to reverse the process?"
Doral hesitated fearfully before answering with a shake of his head.
"How much time is left?"
"Less-less than a minute."
Gilkarg let of a soft growl. "Then I have no further need of you." With that, he struck out and buried his claws deep into the Human's abdomen. Doral let out a sound that was a mix of a choke and a gargle as Gilkarg dragged his hand upwards, further ripping open the man's flesh and causing large amounts of blood to spill out, along with his stomach, liver, and some of his intestines. When he saw the life finally leave the man's eyes, he dropped his lifeless corpse to the floor.
Sweeping his gaze across the computer monitors, Gilkarg did his best to block out the blaring alarms as he watched the twin planets draw closer and closer, bringing with them his death, and the destruction of the weapon he sought so dearly.
"Forgive me, Father," Gilkarg uttered, "for I have failed you."
The sight would have been considered impressive, were it not so devastating.
Talus and Tralus drew ever closer together, until finally they each smashed into one end of Centrepoint Station. The ancient facility had stood between the two planets for more than a hundred thousand years, and now it was crushed in between them like an empty been can.
Upon meeting at the middle of the Station, the Double Worlds impacted with each other, pulverising into millions of rocks and debris. Those who had been on the planets when the destruction occurred would have been met with the site of the other planet drawing closer and closer, until they finally impacted.
At one point, Talus and Tralus had actually merged together to form one world, but this lasted less than a second, and the remains of the planets continued to crash into each other, destroying what was left.
In the end, there was nothing left of the Double Worlds but a floating field of debris; mainly rocky, save for the occasional bit of metal from Centrepoint Station.
Most of the Kilrathi fleet had been destroyed, but a small number had gotten away in time, jumping back to their own little corner of space.
And through the Force, the sound of three billion lives being snuffed out in an instant.
Ok, so I destroyed Centrepoint, but I decided to do so in a much more devastating way than in LOTF. Although, to be fair, I may have been inspired by the same thing happening in another fanfic.
Anyway, that was the climax of the story. There's only a couple of short chapters left.