Chapter Seventeen
For Admiral Zaarin, the operation to capture Emperor Palpatine was going almost too well and he was shocked. However, he wasn't shocked to see that Vader and another pilot had survived the encounter with Gaston as well as Agamemnon and began turning the tide against him. On their own, they would not have stemmed it greatly enough in the Empire's favor victory but then came the Chiss. It'd seem as though I have to meet again as rivals, Vice Admiral Thrawn Demetrius thought to himself sneeringly.
"All crew members, pilot the Glory into position to engage Vanguard. Repeat, position the Glory to engage the Vanguard," he ordered. "Sir, with all due respect, that's suicide! Vice Admiral Thrawn commands the Vanguard and the Mescue!" one crew member exclaimed.
"In addition, he may want you to engage him so that Mescue can board Haven 3 and rescue the Emperor!" another crew member agreed. Demetrius hadn't thought about this but now that he did, he had to admit that they were right. If he engaged Thrawn now, the Mescue could circle around and rescue the Emperor before turning their guns on the Glory's engines. "Very well then, do we still have the shuttles?" Demetrius asked.
"Yeah but not for much longer: Colonel Stele has already destroyed Hellcats 2 and 3 as well as Haven 1. He's currently engaging Hellcat 1 and if he's not stopped, we might as well give him the Emperor back," a third crew member answered. "In that case, redirect four TIE Avengers to stop Maarek and have the rest keep their current focus on enemy squadrons," Zaarin replied. "Yes sir!" the crew member said.
"Sir, Haven 3 has been disabled and Hellcat 1 has been destroyed!" the first crew member shouted. "How is the Z-Alpha Squadron doing out there?" Zaarin asked. "Very poorly sir, the four fighters you requested to stop Stele have already been destroyed by Vanguard torpedoes. As if that isn't bad enough, Vader's brought in three more squadrons of TIE Defenders," an engineer said.
"Which squadrons are those?" Zaarin demanded. "Alpha and Gamma Squadrons from the Ottega battle, sir!" the engineer replied rapidly. Damn, I should have known that there would be survivors of Ottega and Parmel besides Vader and Stele that were ready for this round. Looks as though I'm going to have to beat a very hasty retreat soon he thought to himself.
"We'll not be having the numbers to sustain an attack from those squadrons. Pull out what you can as fast as you can!" Zaarin ordered. "We can't sir: if we do that, we'll expose the Glory to attack from the TIE Defenders and possibly Lord Vader!" the first crew member replied. So I have to sacrifice an entire squadron to save my ship? Dammit this battle's turned out worse than even my calculations indicated it could Zaarin growled to himself.
"Ditch all our forces and prepare the Glory for a lightspeed trip back to Research immediately. Better to live to fight another day even if it costs us good soldiers and great ships," he ordered aloud. "But sir, what about Arden Lyn!?" a captain exclaimed. In the excitement of the battle, he had nearly forgotten her until she reported success in capturing the Emperor.
Then he had forgotten her entirely once her report came in and he attempted to secure the capture of the Emperor. "Have any escape pods been launched out of Haven 3 in the last standard half-hour or so?" he asked. "Yes sir and from the lifescans, there's not a trace of Arden Lyn on board, she must have taken the escape pod after the battle turned ill," the captain answered. Inwardly smiling, he was glad to hear that she had slipped away in the chaos of battle even if not back to Research.
She had to secure the life of herself and her unborn child, after all, and Zaarin wasn't about to force her to endanger his future grandchild any further. "Sir, if we begin the pullout process now we can still saveHaven 2!" the captain added again. "Alright do it, have Haven 2 fall into full retreat right behind us and someone tell me if we can save Haven 3!" Zaarin demanded. "That's a big fat negative sir, we're going to have to leave it behind," the first crew member replied.
"And the crew on board?" Zaarin asked. "They've already begun launching escape pods and are headed back to Research. Some have stayed on board however and I don't think the Emperor's going to dilly-dally about what to do with them," the captain answered. "Order them to activate the self-destruct: better that they go down with the ship than stay around for execution," Zaarin ordered.
"Uh sir, I think they already did," the crew member replied. "Good, now file into retreat formation and prepare to jump to lightspeed: destination, Research in the Parmel system. Do it quickly and do it now or we'll not live for another battle," Zaarin demanded. "The Glory is ready for full retreat sir, Haven 2 called in and said they won't be joining us now but they'll be back at Research," a second engineer answered.
"In that case, tell them to make the jump the moment they have a chance then get us to lightspeed. And someone patch communications to my son, I have to know how well we're doing at the other frontiers that we're attacking," Zaarin replied. "Yes sir, sending transmission now!" a communications officer stated. Making his march back to the communication board, Zaarin stood by and waited until his son received the transmission and in the meantime, Glory made the jump.
When Vice Admiral Thrawn arrived to the scene of the battle, he had to admit that he was slightly unimpressed with the chaos of Zaarin's form. Had the bastard taken any time at all to plan the attack or had he launched the coup on a whim? If the latter, it explained why he ordered an attack on Lord Vader at the Ottega system and attempted his destruction again at Parmel. He wanted to buy time to capture the Emperor with Vader's vaporization being just a bonus in the scheme of things.
However, upon arrival, he was quick to ask Colonel Stele which transport Emperor Palpatine was trapped on. "That would be Haven 3, Vice Admiral! I'm making my round to the other shuttles and seeing about destroying them before going back to the Haven 3 for a rescue operation. Unless you got something else in mind," Stele answered.
"Yes, make your way around to the two shuttles nearest my ship and destroy them. Then make your way back around to the ships closest to Haven 3, spare any that are behind it for later. After that, I want you to report to the Mescue and board Haven 3 from in it and do it quickly before its too late. Lastly, have a medical team on standby: if Arden Lyn subdued the Emperor, he's likely to have serious injuries," Thrawn said.
"Copy that, this is Colonel Maarek Stele signing out," Maarek replied after a short pause to relay the details in his head. After making sure that he was on his way to do it, he then turned his attention to the TIE Avengers attacking the TIE Defender squads already present. "Lord Vader, if you get this then I need you to take the squads of TIE Defenders with you and draw off the Avengers. Do you copy?" Thrawn asked on an Imperial frequency.
At first, Thrawn thought that the Dark Lord of the Sith was too drawn into battle or else too ignorant of Thrawn to answer his communication. However, he did that after the moment of silence and rogered the request whilst making his own moves to grant it. When he saw that the squadrons accompanying Lord Vader were making their way to do the same thing, he made his next move. "All crew members of the Vanguard, see what you can do about directing the ship at Glory," he ordered.
"Sir?" a crew member asked, confused. "I want to see if I can get Admiral Zaarin to engage us and stall him. We need the Mescue to go around to Haven 3 and board it to rescue the Emperor when Stele is through with the shuttles I asked him to destroy," Thrawn answered. To his surprise though, the worst Zaarin did was order four TIE Avengers to go and destroy Colonel Stele's fighter.
"Lieutenant, send four torpedoes to destroy those TIE Avengers headed for Colonel Stele's ship. I don't want them disrupting the plans for the rescue operation too seriously," Thrawn ordered immediately. His order was obeyed immediately and the TIE Avengers were unable to act until it was too late to stop the torpedoes from destroying them. Stele was safe and allowed to continue his operations in peace, the operations themselves soon completed as if in gratitude to Thrawn.
"Hey Vice Admiral, thanks for getting those fighters off my tail. I've finished destroying the shuttles you asked me to take out and I'm making my way around to the Mescue. Do you copy?" Maarek said, moments later. "I copy Colonel and when you arrive, be sure to inform the crew that they begin the rescue when ready and to please remember to have a medical team on standby.
"It is an absolute must if Arden Lyn was asked to capture the Emperor by Zaarin," Thrawn replied. "I copy that Vice Admiral, this is Colonel Maarek signing off, over and out," the Colonel stated before cutting transmission. Thrawn was pleased with the setup that was going on so far despite the fact that he still hadn't managed to goad Zaarin into engaging the Vanguard. "Lord Vader, see what you can do about luring the TIE Avengers away from in front of the Glory, I need to goad Zaarin," he said.
At first, his comlink was static but then he heard the voice of Lord Vader reply that he would obey the order despite his apparent annoyance that Thrawn was giving orders. Get used to it Lord Vader, I command the battlefields I am on when I am on them Thrawn thought quietly. As if that wasn't the only thing to notice, Thrawn observed Vader's forces begin to rout the opposing starfighters. It was an impressive work of art to look at and he almost had the Glory's engines exposed due to the fact that it had turned its back for a full retreat.
Then, just when it seemed that his plan to destroy Zaarin right then and there had been assured, the Glory jumped right into hyperspace thus leaving only the two shuttles behind. In the meantime, Mescuehad gone around to Haven 3 to rescue the Emperor as planned and begun the extraction. Overall, the turnout was not too disappointing although Thrawn would have liked to eliminate Zaarin before he could escape, thus ending his insurrection before it could really begin. But he had to admit, it might yet make for an interesting conflict to add to the Empire's history and to his own resume.
If anyone came anywhere near rivaling Thrawn in strategic and military cunning besides the Emperor and Lord Vader, it would have to be Admiral Zaarin after all. For all his personality problems that Thrawn experienced firsthand, he knew he was no small threat to be dealt with. True that all he would be able to do to the Empire was harass it militarily but he would choose massive targets for that. He would choose targets that were essential to the continuation of the Empire's technological weaponry as well as places that contained the developments of future advances.
As if that wasn't problematic enough, he was once the chief engineer of most Imperial starfighter and cruiser designs thus giving him knowledge of the weaknesses of many of them. Combined with his current strategic capabilities, he would pack a massive punch to the Imperial economy by himself. If combined with the Rebel Alliance, however, it would be the end of the Empire as it was for certain. Nonetheless, Thrawn had the feeling that Zaarin was too proud to join the Alliance and would rely on his own knowledge of Imperial technology plus his own advances more than uniting with the Rebels.
Cunning as he is, he has already doomed himself to fail unless he isn't as prideful of his abilities as I suspect him to be Thrawn observed. Watching as Glory retreated with Haven 2 following suit and Haven 3 self-destructing, an interesting turn of events, he planned his next move. Having received reports of forces at Omar, ZA-13, and RS-32, the Chiss officer knew that Zaarin would be making his next move on any one of those facilities again if he failed to catch them now. At the same time though, Thrawn suspected that he wouldn't make too many moves against those facilities.
Enough failures would compel him to give up on those areas and seek out other frontiers to make a place for himself in the galaxy. Submerging himself in the great ocean of thought, Thrawn concocted a plan oriented on defeating Zaarin and began mentally outlining key systems to push him to. Systems where Thrawn's forces in the Unknown Regions could reach him with relative ease and aid him in the battles. "Sir, do you have any further orders?" a lieutenant asked him suddenly.
Thrawn was slightly surprised by this intrusion into his thinking but he was quick to respond to the subordinate's question. "Await further orders from Lord Vader or the Emperor and in the meantime, prepare to go back to the Imperial Palace should they ask of it. And be sure that no one bothers me at least until we head back to there, I wish to be alone for a little while," he said. "Yes sir, I shall see to it immediately," the lieutenant replied.
That was when it hit Thrawn: before the Haven 3 self-destructed, he had seen an escape pod launch followed by a couple more several minutes later. "Lieutenant, the boarding party that went to Haven 3. Did they see anyone unusual, a woman with a mechanical arm and shoulder-length straight black hair?" Thrawn asked. "No sir, they didn't report seeing such a person though they did mention an escape pod launching shortly before their arrival," the lieutenant answered.
Thrawn thought about this carefully as it confirmed his suspicion that she was still alive but it was an unfortunate development in his plans for her. "Is that all, sir?" the lieutenant inquired, curiously. Thrawn shook his head and dismissed the trooper as he retreated back to his headquarters, disappointment at having not captured Arden Lyn mounting. Where will you go now Arden, back to Zaarin or elsewhere in the universe? he asked himself grimly.
Lord Vader grimaced at the sight of his Master upon rendezvousing with him and Thrawn on the Vanguard. Colonel Stele arrived shortly thereafter from the Mescue and bowed in respect to the Sith Lords. "You have done a great service for the Empire, Colonel Stele. Lord Vader was right to choose you to join the taskforce he brought to my rescue," Palpatine stated proudly.
Beneath his mask, Vader allowed himself a smirk and Maarek looked like he could barely contain a smile himself. As the Emperor was taken into a shuttle that would carry him to a hospital near the Palace, Lord Vader strode up next to the smaller man and patted his shoulder. "You have indeed done a great service to the Empire with your actions in this battle. There is potential for you to become an elite member of the military yet," Vader stated in agreement.
Maarek looked down, as if in submission but Vader knew it was more likely absorbance of what he said. "You are very brave even if a little rash when you don't have to worry about others shooting you down. Was there ever a moment where you were afraid for your life or of the enemy?" Vader inquired. Maarek looked like he thought about that before and was thinking over it again very carefully, knowing that there was only one true answer to the question.
"I had no idea how they had overpowered the Emperor, but I didn't stop to think about it, either… I didn't care. It was my job to save him," Maarek answered at last. "Wise answer Maarek Stele, there is indeed potential for you but not as an ordinary pilot of the Empire," Vader stated. "Sir?" Maarek asked.
"Wait until after the award ceremony for your service is over and you'll see. The Emperor has a profound interest in you now that you have displayed such excellent skill in battle," Vader answered. Then he left to see to it that Palpatine's injuries were attended to enough that he would be able to witness the ceremony. Antinnis Tremayne also had injuries to attend to but his were not serious and he was soon sent back on the trail of Arden Lyn as had been his mission before joining the Emperor.
Then there was the matter of Vice Admiral Thrawn and his service to the Empire during the course of this battle. A promotion for him was in order as well as Colonel Stele's awarding of the Emperor's Will medal in a ceremony fit for the cream of Coruscant society. The cream of Coruscant are seldom ever part of a bigger audiences in these ceremonies anyway Vader reminded himself. But somehow, Vader had the feeling that Thrawn would not obtain his promotion or would not want it yet, at least.
One victorious battle was hardly the stuff of promotions, even if it was a battle to save the Emperor. However, he had no doubt that Thrawn would be given full power to command any and all forces used solely for the destruction of Admiral Zaarin. The Emperor would give him that much in consideration of his intelligence and his efficiency combined with his conservation of soldiers. Whether Zaarin knew it already or not, he was doomed to fail in the insurrection he had started on the Empire.
Admiral Zaarin was somewhat disappointed that the forces he had sent to Omar, ZA-13, RS-32 had not even arrived to begin their battles but he decided it was for the better. Meeting the Omar forces in Parmel, he decided to accompany them after inquiring to the well-being of his son. "I'm perfectly fine dad and more than capable of holding down Research while you wage war," Paris said. "Just remember that the Empire will come for the facility at some point and be on according guard," Demetrius told him.
"Yeah sure dad and one last thing before you go skittering off to have fun, where's Arden?" Paris asked. Demetrius paused, not sure as to how to voice what had happened to her before concluding he could only do it in the honest way. "She hitched a ride on one of the escape pods on Haven 3 before the Imperials forced me to retreat. I couldn't extract her so as far as I know, she could be anywhere but have faith: she is not as easy to kill as even the Emperor would like to think," he stated.
Paris looked like he wanted to leave Research and go search for her but who could blame him? She did carry his (as yet) unborn child and the future of the Zaarin's family name in her womb, after all. "Send Hoar after her if you like but I'm not having you leave to go find her though I understand your desire," Demetrius said. "Arden ordered Hoar to stay beside me, there's no way I'm persuading him considering his loyalty to her," Paris replied.
"Then I suggest you pray that she find her way back to you before the Empire gets us all," Demetrius stated. After that, he cut transmission with his son and ordered the lightspeed trip to Omar to continue. Operation Strategic Warfare had begun with this battle and would continue with three battles at ZA-13, one at RS-32, the Destruction of the Grappler, and would end with another battle at Omar. What he didn't realize however, was that in spite of his occasional victories during Operation Strategic Warfare, the Emperor did not intend to live them down nor would Zaarin's nemesis Thrawn.
During the time of Strategic Warfare, despite that, Paris rose to a status nearly equal to his father thanks to his involvement in the ZA-13 battles and RS-32. In fact, it wasn't long before Paris was declared Demetrius' joint commander in the Zaarin Splinter Government and made heir to his father. Nonetheless, even as he obtained popularity amongst officers that were as old or older than his father, he still yearned to have Arden Lyn back with him. He desperately wished that he could send Hoar after her but the Tusken refused to go, saying that Arden demanded that the two men stick together always.
He longed to feel her warm, beautiful skin against his own again, the feeling being the one thing he would allow to cure him of the coldness of his bed. For the first time in his life, he had found he couldn't just move on to several more one-night stands, not anymore. She carried his future, his seed, and he wasn't about to abandon her just yet. But somehow, he got the feeling they'd never meet again.