Hello there, here we are after a short hiatus. From now on, chapters will be released every 4 days since events are moving quickly and all closely linked. I might make it 5 days if I feel like it's going too fast though.
For the next few chapters, the little previews are much more ambiguous like this chapter's is. There'll be a little explanation of what each one means in the author's notes, and why I picked it for each chapter. The main reason for this is that these chapters don't have such easily distinguishable 'sections' as previous ones and are all deeply linked. Rather than doing a boring ambiguous summary, I decided to just do something fancier with them.
This time: "There are things in the universe that are simply and purely evil. A warrior does not seek to understand them, or to compromise with them. He seeks only to obliterate them."
"They'll be smart enough to be expecting an attack. Even if they aren't already in their positions, they'll have plenty of warning once we enter the system."
Pellaeon folded his arms and cast a discerning eye over the projection of the dig site and the expected fleet position above it. He'd run it by the Myrmidon's bridge crew once already, but it never hurt to do it again. They were minutes away from the system now, and it was a good way to ease everyone's pre-battle nerves.
They'd all seen their fair share of battles over the years. However, aside from the unexpected tussle above Site Two and a few stray pirates lurking in the Unknown Regions, none of them had seen real combat since Lothal. Pellaeon trusted his crew's skills and instincts all the same, but even the finest soldiers would feel uncertain about battle after so long.
His First Officer, Lieutenant Handel, pointed down to the ships in the projection. "How are we sure they won't go into orbit?", he asked.
"They know we won't risk damaging the dig site unless we know exactly what we're dealing with. The closer they are, the more we have to check our shots. One stray laser might cause us all sorts of problems", Pellaeon explained, pointing the map.
It wasn't ideal. The thought process was one Pellaeon was familiar with from the Clone Wars, having seen or heard of the Separatists using such tactics over occupied Republic worlds.
"So", Pellaeon looked to the senior officers of his ships gathered around the strategy table, "All clear on the plan?"
"Aye, Captain", First Officer Handel answered.
Lieutenant Yara nodded too, her mind already moving on to her tasks as Sensor Officer. Lieutenant Henri had internalised the plan the first time, and Pellaeon expected nothing less from his Weapons Officer; their lives depended on him doing his job, which Pellaeon knew he would.
"All clear over here too, sir", came a call from the helm station. Commander Kenic was, quite wisely, still at his station guiding the ship as they prepared their emergence from hyperspace.
"Alright", Pellaeon lowered his arms to his sides, "I don't need to stress how important this is. We stop this, we save countless people back home. More importantly, we'll actually get to go back to that home after seven bloody years of this mess."
"Don't tempt fate, sir", Yara's lightheartedness didn't mask the undercurrent of fear.
Pellaeon smiled. It would be his luck to die here, but worrying wouldn't change that. All they could do was their best, and he knew they all would.
"Let's not let that happen then, Lieutenant. Everyone to your stations."
None of his crew wasted time on salutes and instead sprung to action. Each one peeled away to their stations, sliding into their seats and joining up with the junior officers already working on the bridge. Pellaeon turned on his heel and walked up to the end of the bridge to get the best position to command from. And the best view.
It wasn't long before Commander Kenic delivered the news they'd been waiting for.
"Co-ordinates approaching. Disengaging hyperdrive."
This is it.
Pellaeon shifted his weight on his feet as the hyperspace vortex began to slow through the viewport. Slowly, the swirling blue corridor melted into a dark space with lines of white that fell to pinpricks of stars.
Before them was the planet they'd come here for. Rocky, dark orange, uninviting. Tartarus as Thrawn had since named. Pellaeon didn't know where that name came from, but Thrawn was convinced that it was appropriate.
Thrawn's Omnipotence had emerged just before them, its unusual form off the Myrmidon's port side. Soon after, Vanto's Unyielding came up on starboard, then finally Faro and the Chimaera.
There was a crackling of the comm over the bridge's sound system as the command channels flared to life.
"All ships accounted for", Thrawn announced coolly.
"Scanners shows the ships low above the dig site", Faro and the Chimaera were already on the ball, "Don't think they've noticed us yet."
Pellaeon held his comm up to his mouth, "Let's make sure they don't do that until as late as possible."
"Agreed", Vanto concurred, "We're ready when you are, Grand Admiral."
Thrawn had kept the Imperial rank even on his Chiss ship, at least for this mission. Most here knew him as such anyway, and trying to work in a new title this late was needlessly complicated for everyone. It was the same thing Pellaeon had done, keeping his Captain title despite now being a Commodore.
"Very well. Make for the coordinates of the dig site, be on alert."
"May the force be with us", Skywalker added, also apparently patched into the channel.
The four ships held in tight formation as they approached the planet. Pellaeon periodically glanced from the view back to Lieutenant Yara at the sensor station, waiting for any signs of movement from Canady and Hux below. The approach to the planet would only take minutes, but each second dragged. Every second they gained here would be precious, getting them as close as possible to landing Skywalker and Tano on the ground. However, every second they lost was one more the Fourth Sister had to do something stupid, dangerous, or more likely both.
"Movement!"
Pellaeon snapped his head back at Yara's voice. "Lieutenant Henri, weapons ready."
"Awaiting command, sir!", the man answered immediately.
"Enemy ships moving out of position", Thrawn confirmed over the comm channel. "Confirming...", there was a few seconds delay as they made sure their predictions had been correct, "Confirmed, Solicitude moving to engage with the Invictus and Aeternus in support. All ships, prepare to engage."
Their own ships edged ever nearer, waiting to get as close as possible before engaging.
"Skywalker, are you ready to launch?", Faro asked over the comm channel.
There was a few seconds of delay. "Affirmative, just say the word", the Jedi answered.
A few more seconds passed. The Myrmidon started to enter the atmosphere, the completely clear skies of this world giving a wide view of the terrain far below. Finally, Pellaeon caught sight of the Solicitude's silhouette against the bland planet surface as it ascended to its defensive position. Now.
"All ships: open fire."
Thrawn's calm command was all that was needed.
Simultaneously, all four of their ships erupted with intense but controlled bursts of fire from their cannons. The green blasts of the Star Destroyers soared down beside the icy blue fire of the Chiss ships towards their target.
The enemy was outgunned, but their defensive advantage worked many ways. They couldn't just outright destroy the Solicitude or its wreckage could crash down where they needed to go. They needed to suppress it, get it out of position, or damage it just enough in just the right ways to avoid showering their teams on the ground with a few thousand tons of molten metal.
Faro's voice once more sounded over the comm. "Skywalker your time is now. Invictus marked for you. Get it out of position and let's get the boots on the ground."
"Got it", Skywalker sighed audibly, "Here goes nothing."
Pellaeon reached for his comm again, "Acknowledged, Skywalker. TIE escorts launching now."
Behind him, Pellaeon heard the confirmation call from his hangar officer as the TIE fighters started to launch.
It was a sight to see off their starboard bow as Skywalker's Jedi shuttle headed towards the surface, flanked by a dozen TIEs from the Myrmidon's cohort. The periodic blasts of Imperial and Chiss starship fire around them embodied the unexpected, unorthodox, and hopefully unbeatable alliance they'd thrown together.
Pellaeon smiled to himself. Hell, we might actually pull this off.
"Enemy ships!", Canady screamed over the comm.
The Fourth Sister slammed her hand on the filed HQ's map table. "Defensive formations, now!"
The various frigate Captains nodded and broke the hologram connection, leaving just her and the three lead Imperials.
"Solicitude is moving to orbital position, Aeternus and Invictus in support." Canady's holographic figure paused and looked at her, "Are you sure this is... this is what it wants?"
She narrowed her eyes. "Of course I know what He wants." Her Master had made it abundantly clear.
Canady turned to Veers, "General?"
Veers skimmed his eyes over the map table and then up to Canady. Ever since the old Imperial had seen Him and spoken to Him, Veers had been silent and removed.
"Yeah...", he nodded uncertainly. "Half up there, half down here... just like He said."
The Fourth Sister smirked at his meekness. Veers had been the only real thorn in her side since Thrawn left and to see him so utterly in awe of her Master was glorious. Now, the General would never think to question her actions. Better yet, Hux and Canady had seen the change in him too and were both far too cowardly to question what had made him that way. You shall see soon enough.
"They outnumber us!", Hux blathered out the obvious, "How are we-"
"We have a defensive advantage, Commandant", the Fourth Sister didn't even care enough to be annoyed by him. "Besides, we have a few tricks up our sleeve that Thrawn won't be able to handle."
Veers lifted his head, a flash of his usual determination returning briefly. "You think Sloane will get here in time?"
"Possibly." She thought back to what her Master had told her mere days ago. "Not that we need her to."
Of course, her Master hadn't told Veers everything about His plan. Instead, he'd saved some of the crucial details for her ear's only. Veers, Hux, Canady, and the others did have their places, but so did she.
"And where will you be, Inquisitor?", Canady asked on cue.
"Down below. With Him."
The Captain's hologram squirmed uncomfortably and gave a gruff nod. "Right, right...", he looked around and saw that Veers was in no place to be decisive, "Well then, we'll get into position. We'll try to stop Thrawn, the Jedi, and the others too."
"Dismissed, Captain", she nodded to both Canady and Hux.
They shared an uncomfortable look before their blue projections disappeared from the table.
"I'll be with the walkers", Veers mumbled and made to leave.
She didn't bother to reply, and only watched the shaken man ruh out of the small building and off to his position. Now, everyone but her was in place. It would take Thrawn long enough to whittle down their defences even with his numbers - the Chiss was far too careful to risk damaging what was down here. No, Thrawn would send the Jedi down here, to her Master. He'd send them right where He needed them.
Her Master had given them everything they needed. A plan, a mission, a purpose. As of their meeting hours earlier, even his name. Their future was about to be realised.
Not waiting any more time, the Fourth Sister turned on her heel and marched out the door. Once more, she felt her hands shaking. Not fear, she tried telling herself, it's just adrenaline...
Luke's eyes kept glancing at the sensor screens out of instinct more than anything else. Not at the Star Destroyer in lower orbit he was fast approaching, but at the TIEs on his wings. Never had he flown with TIEs before, aside from that one time from Endor as a prisoner. It felt strange to have them watching his back and fighting to keep him safe. Weirdest part was that he'd do the same for them. They were in this together now.
Another burst of fire erupted from their ships down towards the planet. Their opponents weren't firing back yet, probably still trying to pull themselves together from the surprise. It wouldn't be long before that happened though, and getting to the surface under such fire was going to be tough.
Trying to calm his mind as he closed the distance, Luke hit the comm.
"Ahsoka, everything ready on your end?"
The Togruta's voice came instantly, "All set, just waiting on you."
"Well, I'll try not to let you down."
Ahsoka chuckled, "I'm sure you won't."
Ahsoka was waiting on board the Chimaera in an Imperial shuttle with some of the ground teams. The Chimaera and the Unyielding had about a dozen teams each ready to land, split evenly between Imperial stormtroopers and Chiss marines. Luke didn't know what to expect from the latter, but anything was good as long as it got them to that ruin.
"I'll see you down there, may the force be with you." Luke cut the comm and focused ahead.
The skies here were completely clear and let Luke see a wide view of the ground below. The grey of the Solicitude stood out above the rocky surface below. The two smaller Arquitens-class cruisers were also clear too, flying on either side of the Star Destroyer.
That's the one. Luke looked at the cruiser on the right-hand side. The Invictus.
Luke checked the scanners behind him. He was widening the gap between himself and their fleet, but they'd be upon their enemy soon enough.
Then, a sensation in the force caught his attention.
"All wings, bank right!"
The Solicitude's turrets erupted with streams of green laser fire as soon as the command was out. Luke pulled the stick right and saw the TIEs with him follow suit. It only took a few seconds for the laser fire to stream through his previous position. The stream kept coming, the guns giving a constant barrage of fire. Their enemy didn't have to worry about stray shots hitting anything, so there'd be no gaps for Luke to catch his breath.
"Break formation and avoid that fire. Don't give them a swarm to shoot at", Luke told the TIEs.
"Copy that, blue leader."
Blue leader. It was appropriate. Picking targets would get messy with TIEs and stormtroopers on both sides of this fight. To combat that, all of the stormtroopers and TIEs on the Chimaera and the Myrmidon had spent the journey doing some customisation. In honour of their Chiss allies and Grand Admiral, many had settled on painting things blue. The TIE fighter wings were all painted with streaks of blue in various patterns and the same thing had been done to many of the stormtrooper's uniforms.
The escorting TIEs split apart in various directions. As that happened, alarms started to blare in the cockpit. Luke glanced at the screen. Enemy TIEs.
"We have incoming!", called one of the pilots.
Thrawn's voice interrupted over the comm channel, "All TIEs engage enemy fighters, get Skywalker to the Invictus at all costs."
Luke didn't answer and just took the moment to breath. As his shuttle made a beeline towards the Invictus, he could see the swarm of enemy TIEs fast approaching. The rangefinder ticked closer and closer, counting down the moments until all hell broke lose. Finally, it came.
Luke squeezed the trigger and a torrent of blue lasers spat out of his ship. The approaching wall of TIEs split apart as fast as they could, only one getting caught in his opening attack.
Then, the entire sky erupted in green. Both TIE groups opened fire almost simultaneously and everything around them descended into chaos. Luke banked hard to the right, avoiding the two TIEs that had gone straight for him. As he did, a handful of allied TIEs flew past his view, weapons hot as the two swarms clashed violently.
Luke looked around, checking for any way he could help those with him. Dozens of ships buzzed around him, zipping in every direction and spewing laser fire as they did. Through the chaos, he picked out one of the friendly TIEs with an Imperial on his tail. Luke hit the engines and swung left to help. The more of the TIEs that survived, the better the chance they'd have of pulling this off.
"Gah, I'm hit!", one of the pilots screamed over the comm before it abruptly cut out.
He kept his focus on the TIE in his sights. Another Imperial TIE zoomed past right in front of him, one of his allies hot on its tail. A second later, Luke had his clear shot. He squeezed the trigger and sent off two quick bursts. They hit their target perfectly, and the enemy fighter exploded on impact.
"Woah!", came the relieved sigh of a pilot over the comm, "Owe you one, Blue leader."
Luke brushed it off, "Let's get this thing over with before we start keeping score."
A sudden impact jolted him back into the action. A few glancing blows hit the rear shield. No damage, but Luke didn't want to give them a chance to do some. The shuttle pulled down and Luke checked his sensors to see where the shot came from. It was no use, the whole space around him was a chaotic mess. TIEs criss-crossed, turned, and spun around so much that he was losing track of which way was up.
Another pilot came over the comm, "Got one! Gonna see if I- Agh!"
Dammit. Luke saw the fireball up to his right, another one of their pilots taken out of the fight.
"Skywalker!", Commodore Faro's voice interrupted, "How's that frigate looking?"
"Oh, right", Luke snapped his head to look over at the Invictus. He was close, but not as close as he'd like. The swarms had collided just a bit too far from the enemy ships and he'd be exposed for too long on his approach.
"Don't delay, Skywalker. We need that opening."
He clenched his teeth. "Got it, Commodore." Luke looked over at the frigate again and sighed, "Making my approach now."
Focusing on the bigger picture, Luke left the TIEs behind and turned towards the enemy ships. The Star Destroyer and both frigates were all focused on firing at the capital ships. They were giving it their all, trying their best to stop them getting to ground.
The swarm thinned out as Luke cleared it, leaving a short but dangerous area of open space between him and the Invictus. Luke pushed the accelerator forward as far as it'd go and watched the turrets on the enemy ship as close as he could. The moment they noticed him, he'd be in trouble.
"Come on, come on", Luke repeated to himself.
Miraculously, he'd made it half way before he saw the first of the Invictus' autoturrets start to swivel.
"Ah, better than nothing", he grumbled and banked hard to the right.
Luke unlocked the wings and set them to spin like he'd done above the Temple planet to make himself a more difficult target. Within seconds, more of the Invictus' turrets had noticed him and were filling the space around him with fire. He swerved right, arcing the shuttle downwards, then hit the engines and pulled up. The turrets were too slow to get a bead on him but he was closing fast. The closer he got, the more dangerous this would get.
He checked his scopes. Their own fleet of ships were closing on the TIE swarm behind him. They needed that opening now or this whole plan was going to fail.
"Ah, sithspit", Luke muttered and pushed the shuttle to go faster.
Luke pulled back on the stick and arced the ship up in clear view of the frigate's bridge, then pulled down again. The shuttle swooped down and soared low over the frigate. His shuttle zoomed past the autoturrets and swung by the bridge, doing everything he could to get their attention. Every turret was doing its best to follow him, but little else.
"Dammit, dammit", Luke grumbled as he went around for another pass.
The shuttle swung back around to come from behind, making sure to give the Solicitude a wide berth as it turned around. Luke needed to get their attention this time. Thinking of a bad idea, Luke aimed the shuttle to fly over the bridge on the second pass. He picked up speed, pushing the shuttle as fast as he could to close the gap. Draw them out, Luke. Taunt them.
His shuttle was almost coming up on the Invictus when he made his move. Luke cut the engines to a crawl and hit the decelerator, letting the momentum alone guide the shuttle over the low bridge of the frigate. The stream of turret fire following him started to draw closer as his shuttle slowed down.
"Come on, take the bait..."
The shuttle lurched over the bridge and Luke gently pushed the stick down. He'd be in full view of the entire bridge, taunting them and hopefully getting them to do something stupid.
Every second, the turrets got closer to hitting their mark. It was starting to give him another bad idea. The next bursts hit closer to his shuttle as it slowed to a crawl, the gravity of the planet below still having an effect at this altitude.
He braced himself, "Any sec-"
The entire shuttle rocked as the first barrage hit him. As soon as they did, he powered up the engines and pulled forward at full throttle. The shields had tanked the blow, but the Invictus had tasted blood now. Hopefully they'd be eager to finish the job.
Finally, there was a spark of energy from their engines. Gotcha!
Luke dropped his speed slightly and kept listing to the left. Slowly but surely, the Invictus also turned to follow him, making sure its turrets could get the clearest shot. Every few seconds, Luke slowed a little bit more, letting a few shots get too close or just skim the shields to keep them encouraged.
"We see you, Skywalker", Pellaeon's voice came over the comm, "They're moving out of position. Just a little more and we'll hit their broadside with everything we've got."
"Copy that...", Luke trailed off as he focused everything on keeping their attention.
Just a little more... More turret shots bounced off the shield. A little more...
Another volley hit him. The shield was starting to strain now.
A little farther...
The Invictus' kept turning, caught up in trying to take him down. The frigate kept coming until its broadside was completely exposed to Thrawn's ships. There.
Thrawn was ready and waiting with the order. "All ships, redirect fire. Take out the Invictus."
Luke saw countless blasts of light as all four of their ships fired simultaneously at the exposed frigate. The Solicitude might have been able to take the shorter bursts with its powerful shields, but the sustained fire all at once was too much for the small Arquitens-class frigate.
Its shields didn't hold for more than a few seconds. It tried in vain to correct course but it was too late. Luke could see the shield straining under the firepower before the first shots broke through into the hull. It was over in seconds. The side of the frigate melted away under the laser fire, and then the whole magazine went up in flames.
"Now's our window!", Faro announced over the comm, "Vanto, we'll follow you!"
Luke's sensors picked up the burst of energy as both Vanto and Faro's ships floored their sub-light engines and made a break for it. Vanto took the lead, the swarming TIEs scattering as the Chiss warship surged through the gap left by the Invictus. Charred shards of the frigate bounced harmlessly off the Unyielding's shields as it opened up the next phase of the battle.
The scattered Imperial TIEs regrouped and started to head back to the Solicitude. Meanwhile, his own allied TIEs started to head over towards Luke. They still had a job to do, and the Invictus was only the first step to stopping this threat once and for all.
Luke focused on the mission and turned planetward. "Alright blue group", he announced over the comm, "Let's clear out their surface defences."
The Chimaera's bridge watched the Invictus break apart without uttering a word. Skywalker's shuttle and his TIE escort were already heading down to the surface and Vanto's ship. That left the Chimaera stuck behind, watching everything unfold before them.
Thrawn and Pellaeon seemed to have the attention of the Solicitude and the Aeternus. It was a good thing that they did, those guns would tear their ground forces apart if they got the chance. Hopefully, they'd be able to slip past the blockade without Canady coming to his senses.
Saying it out loud... all of a sudden, that didn't seem like such a solid idea.
"We're behind them, heading to engage the Cunctator now!", came Vanto's voice over the comm.
"Great, Unyielding", Faro replied, "Keep Hux distracted as long as you can, we're coming now."
They were on to stage two. Now, Vanto needed to distract Hux's ships long enough for the Chimaera to get Ahsoka and her ground teams on to the surface. Then, they'd help Vanto get Hux out of the picture too.
"Agral", Faro looked over to her Helm Officer, "Full speed ahead. Get us through."
"Aye, Commodore."
Faro turned back and looked out at the scene in front of her. They were a few tens of thousands of feet above ground but the unusually clear sky let her see everything below them. The Solicitude loomed large just off to the port side, the Aeternus a bit further, streams of heavy fire spewing out towards Pellaeon and Thrawn's ships. Directly in front of her was open space, save for the Invictus' smouldering remains falling down into the planet's gravity.
She felt a hint of inertia as the engines fired up again and the Chimaera moved forward. As they moved, Faro got on with the next stage of the plan.
"Ground teams. Get ready to launch", she barked into her comm, "TIE escorts, get launching."
"Red group launching now, Commodore."
Satisfied, she lowered her comm. She looked over at the Solicitude again, a few ineffectual bursts of turret fire from the Myrmidon dissipating against its shields. A moment later she noticed something: hang on, the Solicitude' stopped firing.
She'd barely turned her head when Commander Hammerly started shouting.
"Commodore! Burst of energy from the Solicitude's engines, multiple TIEs launching too!"
He's coming for us. Dammit, Canady.
Sure enough, the Solicitude started to turn in their direction. Ignoring the other two ships already firing at it, Canady's Star Destroyer was coming right for them instead. The aforementioned flight of TIEs was also starting to come into view. Then, all of the enemy turrets opened fire at once.
"Incoming!", Hammerly braced herself on the map table.
Faro did the same. "Shields will hold! Stay focused!"
The first few impacts started hitting their shields. They'd hold, Faro hoped at least. It didn't matter so long as they got their people on the ground. The barrage didn't let up as every single gun on the Solicitude unleashed on them. The squadron of enemy TIEs had closed fast do, moving quickly in to range. They needed to launch now or they were never going to.
Once again, she went for her comm. "Red leader, you have incoming."
"We see 'em", Red Leader answered, "We're just leaving the hangar. Should be- Ahhh!"
The call cut abruptly with a loud crash.
"Red leader? Red leader?!"
Another desperate voice came over the channel, "We lost Red Leader! Too much fire! Too muc - Noo!"
Another audible crash came as the call fizzled out.
"Commodore, Red Three. Those guns are slaughtering us the moment we get out the hangar and those enemy TIEs won't help anything!"
Faro cursed under her breath. They could wait until they were past the Solicitude, but that wouldn't solve the TIEs swarming their underside. If they waited to launch their own fighters, the enemy TIEs could clear out the underside cannons and just blast anything that came out of the hangar. No, they needed to get their own fighters to launch, take out those TIEs, and launch the ground teams, all while making sure the Soliciutde's guns didn't rip them apart as they did.
"He's right, Commodore!", Ahsoka added urgently, "Our ground teams will be picked off easily by those fighters and turrets."
Faro looked up and saw Hammerly's worried face. "What do we do, Commodore?"
She gritted her teeth. Cover from those guns, that's what they need. If only we could put something in the way of their guns and our hangar... An epiphany hit her like a hovertrain. Yes! That's it!
"Tano, Red Three", she breathed into the comm, "If we can cover you from those turrets, you think you can handle the TIEs before they get too comfortable?"
There was a moment's silence. "Uhh...", Red Three didn't sound too hopeful, "If you can be quick about it, maybe. Another minute and those TIEs will be right on top of us and there'll be no hope."
She looked to her First Officer. "Hammerly, how long can our dorsal shields hold?", Faro asked suddenly.
Hammerly looked confused, "Depends what you're asking them to do..."
"Just to get us past the Solicitude." Faro raised her head and shouted across the bridge, "Divert all power to the dorsal shields!"
"But they'll rip our flanks apart!", Hammerly said quietly but urgently, not wanting to make too much of a show of questioning her."
"We won't give them a chance, Commander", Faro answered. "Agral, put us on a full seventy-degree tilt, maintain maximum speed."
The young man did a double-take as he put it together, "Aye aye, Commodore."
It was Ahsoka's idea that had given her the answer. Marg Sabl. Thrawn had explained the tactic to her only a few days ago. Republic Venators had dorsal hangars, so Ahsoka had titled her Venator at the Battle of Ryloth with the underside facing the enemy to give her own fighters enough cover to launch. Imperial Star Destroyers were the other way around, with their hangars on the ship's underside. All Faro had to do was reverse the trick: turn the Chimaera on its side with the topside pointing towards the enemy, and the hangar beneath protected from the Solicitude's turrets.
The Chimaera started to tilt and all the power went to the dorsal shields. The artificial gravity kept the crew on the right alignment as everything outside moved around them.
Faro went for her comm again, "Red group, launch! Establish a perimeter and stop those enemy TIEs."
"Aye, Commodore. We're clear to launch", Red Three replied.
Faro let out a sigh of relief. She took a moment to watch the sight outside of the bridge. The dorsal shields were rippling around them as an entire's Star Destroyer's payload slammed into them. Faro didn't know if they were designed to take that, but damn if it wasn't working right now.
She turned her head to the scanners. The Chimaera's scanners were starting to pick up the enemy TIEs swarming beneath them, but they were picking up even more of their own. One by one, the red blips on the radar blinked out as they got close. Perfect.
"Shields are taking a beating, Commodore!", Pyrondi shouted, pulling her attention back to the bridge's situation.
"Just a little longer, we just need to pass the Solicitude's field of fire."
Faro tried to look out the bridge viewport, but it was no use. The Solicitude was hitting them with everything they had and all she could see were the ripples of hundreds of turbolasers hitting the shield. The faint muffled sounds of it starting to strain just made it through the thin atmosphere in high orbit.
Come on, come on, you can hold.
"Enemy TIEs breaking off!"
There was a small cheer at Red Three's words. It worked.
Faro wasted no time, "You heard him, ground teams. It's clear, go!"
"On it, Commodore", Ahsoka replied instantly. "Though, I have to say, good plan."
Faro smiled a bit, "Can't take the credit, Tano. I owe you one."
"Shield's straining!", Pyrondi updated from his station.
Faro put her comm away and looked back on her crew. "How much farther until we're out of shot for them?", she asked Hammerly.
The Commander looked frantically at her reports. "Uhhh... not long. Solicitude has stopped turning but they're still firing. Forty seconds maybe."
Better than fifty. The shield was still under intense fire outside. The muffled noises were starting to sound more and more strained.
"Keep our hangar out of sight of those turrets. Agral, adjust course as we pass, turn us a bit as we go", Faro ordered.
"Aye, Commodore", the helmsman answered.
"Shields really struggling now!"
Faro shut her eyes. There was nothing else they could right now. Just wait and listen as every laser pushed the shields to breaking point. Faro couldn't even hear the individual impacts as each one was drowned out by two more.
"Thirty seconds!", Hammerly shouted.
Come on, girl. Hold together.
The noises kept getting louder and louder. Faro opened her eyes and could see the flashes of green more brightly than before as the shield struggled to hold.
"We're overheating!"
"Keep it together! We're almost through!", she shouted.
Hammerly gripped the map table just a little tighter. "Twenty seconds!"
Faro shut her eyes again. Almost there. Almost there.
"Ten", Hammerly counted, "Nin-"
"Shield breach!"
Faro screamed at the top of her lungs, "Brace!"
There was a deafening screech as part of the shield sputtered and gave out. Then the entire ship shook.
"Gah!", the impact threw Faro forward over the table.
"We're hit!"
Multiple impacts rocked the Chimaera as the rear shields failed. The bridge shook as shots started to find their mark. Alarms started blaring, sirens starting going, and everything seemed to slow down.
Faro took in a few deep breaths. Every shudder forced her to hold on to keep her balance. A Star Destroyer could take some hits without its shield, but you were playing with fire. Too many shots in one place, or just one shot in the wrong place, would end it.
We can do this... we can do this.
More shots hit the Chimaera. Faro didn't know where they were hitting, but the alarms were bad enough. At least the bridge was still here.
Then, the jolts seemed to slow. They became softer and less intense. In a matter of seconds, the jolting impacts ebbed away.
"We're through!", Hammerly was almost jumping for joy, "Moving out of effective range. Solicitude moving back to engage the Omnipotence and the Myrmidon!"
Faro let out a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding. For a second there she thought they were in trouble. She heard a few relieved cheers from the bridge crew, but most people managed to keep their cool.
She didn't let herself get too calm though, they still had a job to do.
"Status report!", she shouted to her crew, waiting for someone to answer.
Hammerly was quick to answer. "Still waiting for data...", she looked at her screen in anticipation. "Looks like mostly superficial damage. Lost a few armour plates on the ship's rear, one of the sensor orbs was damaged, lost a few surface turrets and...", the colour drained from her face as more data came through, "And the hyperdrive."
Karabast...
"Well", Faro sighed, "We don't need it right now. We're here to deal with the Fourth Sister and the ruin, we'll figure out how to get home later."
"Aye, Commodore", Hammerly nodded and shut the screen off. Out of sight, out of mind.
Faro clasped her hands behind her back and started to walk up the bridge. "Let's rejoin Vanto and get Hux out of the way", she brought her crew's minds back to the task at hand.
There were some murmurs of agreement as everyone refocused. Faro looked down at the surface and could see that their ground team were safely away. Vanto's ship had already engaged Hux and everything seemed to be going to plan.
Still, part of her was a little more worried than she wanted to admit. Without a hyperdrive, they weren't getting off this planet. Slowly and without drawing the crew's attention, she reached for her comm and keyed in an address.
"Lieutenant Xoxtin", she whispered, "Just to get a sense of things, how many shuttles do we have left?"
There was a short pause. "Not many, Commodore", Xoxtin replied. "We used most of them for the ground crews, why?"
Faro cursed silently. Better than zero.
She didn't let on any concern in front the Lieutenant. "Just... make sure they're prepped."
"Aye aye, ma'am." If Xoxtin had caught the worry in her voice, the other woman had hidden it well.
Setting it aside for now, Faro focused her mind on the battle. She could see Vanto's ship exchanging fire with Hux's Star Destroyer and the small specks of the shuttles as the ground teams reached their destination. Great, she thought, now for the hard part.
Marg Sabl, huh? Ahsoka didn't try to hide her smile as their shuttle barrelled towards the surface. She'd never imagined that the tactic could work for a Star Destroyer too. Desperate times, she supposed.
Faro's quick thinking had gotten them through. The ground team's shuttles were making straight for the dig site below. This world reminded her too much of the Temple world with its barren landscapes and hidden structures. However, this world was different in the force. While the Temple world reeked of death and pain after whatever happened there, this planet felt different. There was an evil here, focused and precise, but there was something different about it to anything she'd seen before.
Either way, this was the right place. One way or another, this ended here.
The Togruta ducked out of the cockpit of the Imperial shuttle and back into the hold.
"Get ready! We're almost on the ground", she announced to the teams.
The hold was filled with a dozen stormtroopers from the Chimaera. Ahsoka had never imagined fighting alongside them, especially not after she'd killed some of them, but then again she couldn't have imagined most of what had happened in her life. To avoid confusion, their stormtroopers had spent the journey from Csilla customising their armour to set them apart. Every helmet, breastplate, or pouldron had been splashed with paint. Some of them had only bothered to put a few marks to set themselves apart, others had gone all in with logos, full face paintings, or other things that meant something to them. Sabine would be proud.
However, the similarity to Mandalore hadn't escaped her. The last time she'd fought alongside a real army, they too had injected a bit of creativity to honour their mission. Ahsoka wished she still had one of those orange 501st helmets, even in spite of what had happened after. Even more than that, she wanted to have the men in those helmets back. What she wouldn't have given to have any of the Clones back at her side for this - Cody, Fives, Wolffe, and of course, Rex.
Her hand instinctively went to the brooch around her neck. It took her a second to remember that she'd already given it to Luke. Mandalore had ended badly for all of them, but this fight wouldn't be the same. She'd made sure of that.
Ahsoka watched them check their weapons one last time before one-by-one they signalled that they were ready.
"What are your orders, ma'am?", the Sergeant beside her asked.
For a moment, she didn't know what to say. It'd been so long since she'd done this.
She snapped back to it soon enough. Ahsoka knew the plan off by heart. "We're landing just south of the dig site. There'll be some resistance but nothing we can't handle. We advance to a nearby building and work on taking out those walkers. Then, myself and Skywalker head down to this ruin while you secure the surface. Simple, right?"
"Yes, ma'am!"
Ahsoka smiled and passed through them to wait at the ramp. As soon as that door opened, she'd lead the way. After all, the best commanders lead by example, and she'd learnt from the best.
The shuttle flew smoothly as it neared the landing zone. The combined effort of Vanto, Faro, and Luke was keeping the remaining enemy fighters and capital ships occupied, letting them get to ground without being attacked. Ahsoka was grateful for that, she had far too many unpleasant memories of being stuck in a shuttle under fire with nothing she could do about it.
"Get ready!", the pilots shouted from behind.
Ahsoka brought her hands down to her waist and used the force to pull her sabers into her hand.
The shuttle lurched to a hover and then down, hitting the ground with a thud as the landing gear hit hard rock. The ramp hissed and lowered, letting the light outside pour into the shuttle.
"Go! Go! Go!"
Ahsoka ignited her sabers. The ramp was barely open before blaster shots started flying in. She caught every one, reflecting them back out and shielding her squad from harm.
Outside, enemy stormtroopers were already waiting for them. An open area of ground lay between them and their target building up on a small hill - a hut apparently used as living quarters by that Inquisitor - with some large rocks spread out on the approach to give some cover. About eight enemy troopers were ducked behind the rocks, firing over at them with everything they had.
"Jedi! Jedi!", she heard one of them shout.
Ahsoka turned her head back to her squad, "Follow me."
Her sabers still swirling about her catching every shot, Ahsoka charged down the ramp with her cloak billowing behind her. She heard a yell from her squad as they joined her, a cascade of red laser fire coming out from behind her.
Ahsoka made for the first piece of cover about ten metres away, covering her squad as best she could as they ran for it. She stood on top of it, drawing what fire she could. She managed to get one of the enemy shots at the right angle and deflected it back through the air, catching the enemy in the chest as he peaked out. Three of her troopers slid behind the rock she was on, catching their breath.
"Nice shot, ma'am", one shouted from below.
The Togruta jumped down from the rock and kept pushing up the hill. The rest of her squad had fanned out across the slope, using what cover they could to push up. Another one of the enemies fell to a blaster shot up ahead.
Ahsoka leapt over another rock, to the shock of the enemy trooper already behind it. The trooper tried to scramble away but she soared over him and cut his weapon in half as she hit the ground. Before he could react, Ahsoka sent the trooper flying back into the stone with a strong push. It was enough to knock him out cold for a bit, and if he was smart he'd pretend to stay that way.
She heard another enemy trooper go down to her left, then another off to her right. The final three enemy troopers had broken from cover and were trying to run up the hill. Her squad caught one in the leg just as he got over the crest of the hill, the trooper falling to the ground clutching his injury.
Ahsoka led the charge up the final few metres. They reached the peak of the hill and it levelled out, the Fourth Sister's hut standing alone and apart from the rest of the Imperial structures down here.
The two enemy stormtroopers stared at her for a moment, then looked at each other, before throwing their weapons to the ground.
"We give up, we give up", they muttered and raised their hands.
"Smart move", Ahsoka kept her sabers pointed at them just in case. "Sergeant?", she looked behind her as the rest of the squad joined her.
Two of her own troopers walked up to take their weapons and march them away somewhere safer. Ahsoka was glad they didn't have to keep killing everyone. Many of these men had served side-by-side only weeks before, so any chance to spare their lives was welcome.
They double-checked their squad quickly before moving on. Luckily, they hadn't lost anyone on the charge up the hill.
Ahsoka stepped around the small grey prefab building. It was a dismal little thing far from anyone else, just the place a dark-sider would find homely. It was right by the dig site though, making it a perfect place to launch their final run into the ruins below.
From the small hill, she could see down over the place they'd come here for. A large square area had been dug out fifty metres down and at least the same size around all its edges. A metal stairs led the way down on the side closest to her and Ahsoka could see the gaping door at the bottom of the pit. A lone podium stood in front of it, catching her attention for a reason she couldn't quite place.
Again, she felt the presence strongly. She could feel the subtle difference it had to anything she'd seen before. It did remind her of Malachor, but something was just a bit off. The force was strong here but also strangely weak. It was as if it lacked something or had something taken from it. It was broken, damaged, even wounded. Maybe they'd had it all wrong. Maybe they weren't here to destroy something, they were here to fix it.
Her thoughts were cut off by a warning in the force. Her eyes shot out to her left, at the area overlooking the pit. Walkers. She'd almost forgotten that five walkers were stationed side-by-side along the pit's edge, ready to attack anyone that tried to get close - ready to attack her.
Move!
She didn't second guess her instincts as she jumped back from the small rise. One of the AT-ATs fired its main cannons and the building exploded in shards of red-hot plasteel. Her squad was already diving back down the hill they'd climbed up, trying to get out of view of the AT-ATs. Ahsoka joined them, sliding down onto the ground as another shot destroyed what was left of the Inquisitor's hut.
The plan had been for her to deal with them, but that wasn't happening. Panting for breath, she pulled her comm to her mouth instead. "Luke?", she asked into it, "We're pinned. We need those walkers gone, now!"
"Alright, alright", Luke banked hard as he avoided another eager enemy TIE. "Working my way down!"
Luke looked out of the window at the ground below. He could see the various landing sites around the area as their ground teams poured out. The Imperial shuttles and Chiss clawcraft dotted around the area stood out against the rocky surface, as did the thousands of blue and red blaster blots flying across it.
He looked for Ahsoka's landing site near the edge of the dig site. To his left, the smouldering remains of a small building drew his attention and he could see small figures pinned down in cover nearly. There you are.
Next, he looked over to the line of AT-ATs nearby. The one at the end of the line closest to Ahsoka was firing in her general direction, while the others were focusing fire elsewhere in the area. Awfully close together, Luke thought, barely a few metres between most of them.
"Here goes nothing", he muttered as he banked right to come around and make a better pass.
The rest of blue group was handling the enemy TIEs and red group had just joined them from the Chimaera. Hux in his Star Destroyer wasn't quite the opponent Canady was, and the combined effort of Faro and Vanto was keeping him occupied.
Luke lined up his shuttle diagonally with the line of AT-ATs. He didn't think any of them had noticed him yet as he started to come down guns blazing. His blue bolts collided with the AT-AT at the centre of the line, and dissipated harmlessly on its armour.
"What?! Dammit!"
The walker barely flinched as it took the shots. Its head started to move and search for him, spotting him easily as he made straight for them.
Karabast! Luke broke off his attack and shot off to the left, running parallel to the line of walkers and passing right over Ahsoka's position. His target started trying to hit him but couldn't get a lead. It did, however, get the attention of the rest of the walkers all packed close together, who all started to aim in his direction.
"Oh, great", Luke sighed unhappily, "I get your attention easily..."
He kept his speed up, just to make sure the slow moving AT-ATs couldn't catch him with their guns. He started to bring the shuttle around again, coming in from the left side of line.
Think, Luke, think! His guns did nothing, this thing didn't have any tow cables, and he sure wasn't going to chance a seismic charge that close to the target. He needed something powerful, precise, and strong enough to knock them down like Corellian dominoes.
His hands tightened on the controls. I'm having a lot of bad ideas today...
Biting his lip, he hailed Ahsoka again. "Uh, Ahsoka...", he swallowed awkwardly, "How much do you like this shuttle?"
"A lot...", his friend replied, "Don't tell me you're going to-"
"I'm going to", Luke winced, waiting for an angry Ahsoka to object.
The Togruta sighed on the other end of the comm. "Alright, fine. Just get down here quickly."
Luke breathed a sigh of relief as the shuttle lined up with the side of the first AT-AT. Confident in the trajectory, Luke took a final solemn moment before hitting the emergency door release.
Then, he stood up, quickly grabbed his small bag from the seat beside him, and ran for the door.
"Where's the Jedi?!", the co-pilot shouted.
Veers darted his head around, trying to find that Republic Shuttle. Damn field of view in this thing... useless. Pulling down the scopes, Veers swivelled them around to try and find the Jedi. He looked off to the right, following where it had gone after that first pass.
It took him a few seconds to spot it among the chaos around them.
"Right side", he called to his crew. "Coming in quickly...", Veers checked the rangefinder. Too quickly.
"Moving now", the pilot said. "Get us a shot, Jarkins."
It didn't take the co-pilot long to realise what Veers already had. "I... he's coming in too fast. We won't be able to move in time."
Veers kept watching through the rangefinder as the walker slowly stomped its feet, trying to turn. The shuttle was still approaching but its guns were silent. It wasn't trying to shoot at them yet. As it kept coming for them, its course unchanging, he realised what it was doing. It's coming right for us.
"Sir?", the co-pilot looked back to him, "What do we do?"
The General didn't answer him. Instead, he let go of the scope and looked ahead at the pit before them. They could try in vain to shoot that shuttle down, or they could let it find its mark.
Veers wasn't superstitious. His whole life he'd found rational explanations to everything. But, what he saw down there, that wasn't rational. That didn't have an explanation he could understand. That thing down there wasn't anything he's seen. Ever since he saw it, he knew exactly why Thrawn had made every choice he'd made, he knew exactly why the Chiss had called the Jedi here, and he knew exactly why those Jedi had to succeed.
He gave no orders. In the final seconds, the two pilots screamed and leapt out of their seats, barging past him to try and get to the escape speeders.
Veers never knew if they made it.
Ahsoka loved that shuttle. It had been a gift from Riyo Chuchi a few years ago, a relic from the Clone Wars. She'd taken it gladly, but it had needed a few things. Thankfully, a certain Weequay pirate owed her a few favours, and that had turned it from a simple shuttle to a formidable and practical vessel. It had been the ship that had helped her guard the World Between Worlds, it had carried her and Sabine off to rescue Ezra from the depths of the Unknown Regions, it had served her and Rex as they scoured the galaxy for clues about this mystery, and it had brought her and Luke out here to solve that mystery. All that, just to end up as a glorified bowling ball.
Her beloved ship exploded on impact with the first AT-AT, engulfing the entire walker in flames. The explosion sent one of the shuttle's wings loose too, detaching it and launching it into the next AT-AT in the line. The force of that sent the second one falling over, which knocked the third and then the fourth. The fourth one came down and smashed the final walker's leg, sending it keeling over onto the ground. All five down. Thanks, old friend.
Luke jumped from the shuttle as it passed overhead. He used the force to soften the impact as he hit the ground somewhere off to her side. As she watched the burning remnants of her ship and the enemy walkers, Luke headed over to her, a nervous expression on his face.
Ahsoka sighed, staring at the destruction. "I really liked that ship."
"Yeah, sorry about that", Luke winced. "I'll buy you a new one?"
She shook her head, "Don't worry about it." Ahsoka finally looked at him, "You're like your father, you know that?"
"I'll take that as a compliment", Luke replied jokingly.
Ahsoka rolled her eyes and motioned to her squad. "Come on", she set aside her sentiments for now, "Let's get this over with."
Alright, so this is a very busy chapter with a lot of small things to talk about. Quickly, the preview quote is from the first canon Thrawn novel and felt like a perfect fit for this chapter. Not much more to say on it really.
The space battle isn't really a space battle but an upper-atmosphere battle. The basic idea is that the Solicitude, Aeternus, and Invictus are in orbit to slow Thrawn's attacking forces down while Hux's remaining ships cover the stuff on the ground. Obviously, the Imperials are outgunned, so it's a losing fight, but they do exploit the fact that the allied fleet won't risk missing shots and hitting the ruins below. Basically, it's a plot reason for why the allied ships don't just tear through Canady immediately. They have to fire in short, controlled bursts to avoid any stray shots, while Canady and his ships can attack to their heart's content. The TIE squadrons that the allied fleet uses are Blue group for Luke's escort and Red group for Ahsoka's escort. They're named purely for convenience.
Faro uses a version of the Marg Sabl, the same fleet tactic Ahsoka uses at Ryloth and the one Thrawn mentions back in Chapter 31. I took a lot of liberties with how shields work and stuff like that, hopefully it wasn't too far-fetched. The Chimaera has taken a bit of damage and lost its hyperdrive, but the ship is still perfectly capable of participating in the battle. The problem now is just getting its crew off-world when the battle is done.
There hasn't been much death in the story so far, but in this chapter we lose people and ships that have been around for a while. General Veers is the most obvious death. He's the first non-original character I've killed and I wanted his death to be somewhat redeeming. I intentionally left what happened at the end of the last chapter ambiguous for a few reasons, but suffice it to say that it deeply disturbed Veers. I don't think Veers is evil, I think he's more like Pellaeon or Faro in that he's willing to see a bigger picture. Unfortunately, he saw it too late, and could only accept his death in his final moments. We also lost the Invictus and its remaining crew, the ship that saw our first Ahsoka and Sabine action section in Chapter 7. Speaking of ships, Ahsoka's little red shuttle is also gone. That shuttle was a surprisingly important part of this story and turns up in almost every chapter, so I felt like it deserved a nice send-off. There's still the Imperial shuttles around the place that Ahsoka and Luke can use to escape, so don't worry about things on that end.
Next time: "In those seconds I saw a vista which will ever afterward torment me in dreams. I never sought to return to those tenebrous labyrinths, nor would I direct any sane man thither if I could."