Good evening, all of my fellow Star Wars Expanded Universe fans. How are you doing on this warm evening of May 29, 2018? I'm doing well, as I figured that I'd get some extra writing in before I go to bed. Now I just have to figure out how to construct this next chapter, as I've got so much going on, it'll be hard to manage it all. Anyway, our heroes are doing amazingly well against the Empire so far, as they've all but taken Darth Vader out of the equation due to the Emperor discovering his actions in Star Wars: Dark Times #11-12. I expect him to receive a demotion similar to the one received in the 2015 Marvel Darth Vader comic book series. I wonder who will take his place though in the Imperial hierarchy. By the way, I've just figured out a brilliant idea on how to have Admiral Shonn Volta return to the Imperial fold in order to secure her cover as a Shadow Alliance agent. And, I discussed with Squasher on how to allow a certain Jedi Grand Master the chance to return to the greater galaxy before he dies. Whether he joins or not is up to him, but I can promise you that he will be very surprised by the changes that have occurred in his self-imposed exile. Oh, by the way, as of today, I've surpassed two hundred and forty thousand words in this story, which has been going on for nearly five months. Oh, before I forget, Master Skywalker 121 is graduating from high school on June 1, and I just wanted to let all of you know in case I finish this chapter by, or after, that date. One final thing, I might have to work tomorrow, so I might not have to write as much as I'd like tomorrow. Well, I'd better get started on the actual chapter, as I've only got so much time left in the evening. May the Force and Iluvatar be with me.
Ten Minutes Later
Twenty-Eight Hours and Fifty Minutes Until Admiral Libel's Arrival
Onboard the Imperial-class Star Destroyer Retaliation
"You're kidding me, Grand Moff Trachta!" Wullf said in pure shock at the news that the Shadow Alliance captured Grand Moff Tarkin, how Trachta and Grand Inquisitor Halmere were put in charge of the operation, and that Darth Vader, a man who would not take orders from anyone other than Darth Sidious himself, was forced to serve under Trachta's command for the duration of the mission.
"I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't heard it from the Emperor himself, Colonel." Trachta calmly said to the ISB colonel, who felt as if he would pass out from either joy or disbelief. Either reason was unacceptable for the Grand Moff, who quickly said, "We still have a battle to continue. And, we need to secure our escape routes in case the Shadow Alliance proves to be too much for us within the next twenty-four hours."
"Considering our losses, and Admiral Screed's death through Jedi infiltration, defeat may indeed prove a definite possibility." Wulff said in agreement, which saddened him, as the Imperial fleet had suffered grievous losses from the capabilities of the Shadow Alliance's disparate groups, and so many good soldiers and officers had lost their lives due to Sidious's dictatorship.
One Hour Later,
Twenty-Seven Hours and Forty-Eight Minutes Until Admiral Libel's Arrival
On the Surface of Lah'mu
Within the Lambda-class T-4a shuttle Lambda
From the fifty Imperial-class Star Destroyers, thirty Victory-class Star Destroyers, twenty Venerator-class Star Destroyers, ten Acclamator-class assault ships, and forty-five Imperial Light Cruisers that invaded the system, only thirty Imperial-class Star Destroyers, seventeen Victory-class Star Destroyers, twelve Venerator-class Star Destroyers, six Acclamator-class assault ships, and twenty-five Imperial Light Cruisers remained functional enough to remain in combat.
Compared to the Shadow Alliance's losses, which had lost approximately eighteen percent of its fighting capabilities in the loss of four hundred starfighters, one of the Yuuzhan Vong's Miid ro'ik, a Remnant tank-like capital ship, and the bulk of the Partisan and Christophsis resistance's ships being destroyed by the Empire.
On the ground, the Empire was in even worse straights, as ten of its Inquisitors were killed, while Prosset Dibs was captured, with the former Jedi turned Inquisitor Iktotchi Ferren Barr leading the nine surviving Inquistors in a fight for survival against the Nimbus Commandos and Arda forces. To further exacerbate the Empire's losses, it had already lost three of its ten battalions, four of the ten Shadow Guards assigned to the siege, and one of its Emperor's Hands, Jeng Droga, while the other Hand, Sarcev Quest, was bedridden after failing to stop the Shadow Alliance from capturing Grand Moff Tarkin.
Shonn Volta, the first nonhuman to reach the rank of admiral within the Imperial Navy, and a recent agent for the Shadow Alliance, was amazed at how resilient and strong her new friends were proving themselves to be, despite the odds that were stacked against them.
She said as much to her "prisoner", Galen Walton Erso, by saying, "I can't believe that our allies are putting up such a fierce fight."
"Well, they have their backs against the wall, and people and animals fight their hardest when they're backed into a corner." Galen said as he readied himself for seeing his former friend and soon-to-be captor, Orson Krennic.
"True enough." Shonn said in concurrence before she sympathetically said to the captured scientist, "Are you ready, Galen?"
"I'm ready, Shonn. I've said my goodbyes to my family, and I know that they'll be safe until I come back. Everything is all in Iluvatar's hands now, my friend." Galen solemnly said, ready to do his part to help the Shadow Alliance bring down the Empire for the many wars to come in the future against even darker evils.
"All right." Shonn said as she stunned the human to ensure that he didn't have any second thoughts about this plan, and then readied her personal Lambda-class Shuttle for departure to the Judicator in order for him to be placed under Krennic's custody.
As she transmitted her pulse transmission for Trachta to send an escort to ensure her safe return, twelve Shadow Alliance V-Wings, as a part of the plan to make her escape as believable as possible, diverged from their present flight plan, and one of them said, "Lambda, your departure was not authorized. Return to your designated landing zone immediately, or risk being fired upon."
"Sorry, but I've got a delivery to make to my superiors, and they'll do worse things to me than what you're promising if I fail them." Shonn said as she sensed the Imperial escort coming her way, and said with false revulsion, "I wish that I could say that it's been a pleasure meeting you traitors, but then I'd be lying. I'll see you all in Chaos."
"You miserable, karking-" The line was then cut off, and several of the Shadow Alliance V-Wings were destroyed by the two TIE Fighter Squadrons that soared to the admiral's defense, forcing the five surviving ex-GAR starfighters to retreat in order to avoid being slaughtered.
Thirty Minutes Later
Twenty-Seven Hours and Fifteen Minutes Until Admiral Libel's Arrival
Onboard the Imperial-class Star Destroyer Judicator
Within the Judicator's Hangar
"You must be so excited for your former friend to return to your pet project, Director Krennic." Moff Ardus Kaine said to the Director of the Advanced Weapons Research division of the Imperial Military, who looked positively giddy with eagerness at getting his hands back on the leading expert on crystallography and energy enrichment after over two years of fruitless searching for him.
"You could say that, Moff Kaine." Orson said with a false sense of calm to the young Moff, who only rolled his eyes at the higher-ranking Imperial's lack of maturity.
Just then, the Lambda shuttle that Admiral Volta was piloting landed, and the near-human admiral carried out a stun-cuffed Galen Erso out, where he was brought to Orson by two of the eight Death Troopers that escorted the two high-ranking Imperials.
"Well, well, well. Galen Erso. I didn't think that I would find you as a simple farmer on such a remote world, of all of the places that you could hide." Orson gloatingly said to his former friend, who merely stared at him with such an intensity that could make most people flinch before his gaze.
"You'll never win this war, Krennic. The people of the galaxy will rise up against the injustices that you and your superiors are committing, and will tear down your vile Empire." Galen firmly said, earning him a slap on the face from the irate weapons director, the force of said slap forced him to the ground.
"I don't know what you thought that you could accomplish with the Jedi and their fellow traitors, but it will end here. I only wish that we couldn't stay for the end of their little rebellion, as we have to get back to Eadu, where you'll meet your new colleagues. Now then…" Orson sadistically said before he turned to face Shonn, and asked, "Where are the rest of the Erso's?"
"They're… not here, Director Krennic." Shonn said, which ruined the human's good mood, as he was hoping to have all of the Erso's here in order to ensure Galen's full compliance in the Death Star project.
Nearly losing his composure over this one piece of inconvenient news, he was unable to form any words, allowing Ardus to take the reigns of the conversation, politely saying to Shonn, "Was there no way to secure Lyra and Jyn Erso, Admiral?"
"They were helping the medics with the wounded, and several Jedi were present. I figured that it would be best if I didn't push my luck, and secure the package with minimal risk to the mission objective." Shonn explained, which earned a nod of understanding from Ardus, who knew how dangerous the Jedi were in combat, especially when they were in groups.
"Well, then I'd say that you made the correct call, Admiral Volta. I'll inform Grand Moff Trachta and Grand Inquisitor Halmere of the success of your objective, and plot a course to Eadu once we have confirmation for our withdrawal." Ardus said in praise of the near human's pragmatic approach to the mission.
He then said, "Get some rest, and report to the tactical room in ten hours, as we'll need a full debriefing for the Emperor when we reach Eadu."
"Thank you, Moff Kaine." Shonn gratefully said to the young Moff, who then left Orson to fume over his plans not going exactly his way, before he calmed down, and went up to the bridge to report the success of Admiral Volta's mission to Trachta and Halmere.
One Hour Later
Twenty-Six Hours and Ten Minutes Until Admiral Libel's Arrival
In Orbit Above Lah'mu
On the Second Chance
"Ventis, Rex, We've got incoming at eight o'clock!" Akku said to the two new gunners on the YT-1300 freighter, both of who immediately opened fire on the TIE Fighters and V-Wings that were foolish enough to try and take a cheap shot at the exact replica of the Millennium Falcon, decimating the twelve fighters with their light turbolasers.
"Hah! That showed them." Ventis enthusiastically said, grateful to be back on the Second Chance after the traumatic ordeal that Rex had to endure in losing Cody to him taking his own life in his fanatical loyalty to the Empire.
"Hey, Akku! We've got a Star Destroyer turning away from the battle. Looks like they're preparing to jump to hyperspace." Rex said from his gunner's position on the ship.
"We see it. Scanners pick it up as the Judicator." Hera said from her copilot's seat in the ship, which earned a look of immediate recognition from Akku. Hera then asked the Anzati captain, "Is this one of those top-secret plans that you can't tell me about?"
"I'm afraid so, Hera." Akku sympathetically said to the teenage Twi'lek, who only huffed in annoyance over having more secrets that people were keeping from her.
Akku then said to Hera, "Don't worry, Hera. You'll be in the loop soon enough. Just keep on the path that you're on, and you'll do great things, just like the original you did. Before long, you'll even own your own ship alongside Chopper."
Hera, grateful for the compliment, and excited at the near prospect of owning her own ship with her grumpy friend from the Clone War, nodded in appreciation for Akku's support for her, and then asked the Second Chance's captain, "Should we alert Tau and the others on the ship fleeing the battle?"
"Yes. They need to know that their plans are working." Akku said as he keyed in Tau's comlink frequency, and said into it, "Tau, do you copy? This is Akku. The Judicator is preparing to jump to hyperspace."
"I hear you, Akku. I guess our friend seized their moment to make their move." Tau said, confusing Hera, who wisely did not say anything as she listened intently to the conversation between the two old friends.
Tau then asked the Anzati Mandalorian, "Anything else, because we've got to prepare for the Imperials' next ground attack, which could happen any minute now?"
"Nothing on our front. We've been repelling wave after wave of Imperial fighters, and I think that they're finally starting to run low on manpower to throw at us." Akku said, noticing a break in the action as the Imperials pulled back to assess the damage to their fleet.
One Hour Later
Twenty-Five Hours and Five Minutes Until Admiral Libel's Arrival
Onboard the Imperial-class Star Destroyer Retribution
Darth Vader could hardly believe that the Imperial fleet, with all of its might and power, was faring so poorly against the motley crews that they were arrayed against.
With the Judicator ordered to flee the battle in order to secure Galen Erso at Eadu, and the Devastator, Obliterator, and Sovereign now fully under the command of the Shadow Alliance teams that infiltrated each Star Destroyer, they had each inflicted terrible losses on the Imperials' flanks, and lowered the Imperials' numbers down to twenty-two Imperial-class Star Destroyers, fifteen Victory-class Star Destroyers, ten Venerator-class Star Destroyers, four Acclamator-class assault ships, and fifteen Imperial Light Cruisers.
He said as much to his direct superior, Grand Moff Trachta, and scathingly said, "It was foolish of you to send the Judicator to Eadu in the middle of a battle, not when our forces are faring so poorly under your command, Trachta."
"Need I remind you, Vader, that the fleet was, up until a handful of hours ago, under your command, and during that time, Grand Moff Tarkin the Devastator, Obliterator, and Sovereign were captured by the Jedi, were which threw much of our forces into disarray. It's a miracle that Grand Inquisitor Halmere and I haven't given the order to withdraw from this quagmire at once." Trachta corrected, fed up with Vader acting like a spoiled child for not being able to own up to his own errors in judgment.
Trachta then said to the bridge's officers, "Pull all our forces back five hundred kilometers, and recall all ground units from their positions so that we can regroup and reassess our losses. Alert all Imperial forces within the adjacent sectors that they are to be diverted to the Lah'mu System at once. And, for crying out loud, shut down the Shadowfeed relays within the next twelve hours. Destroy them if you have to, or I'll have everyone responsible for this gross negligence reassigned to Alzoc III and Tatooine for two ten-year assignments there."
"At once, Sir!" The bridge's communications officer dutifully said as she carried out her superior's orders with diligence and swiftness.
"You should be pressing the attack, Trachta, not giving the enemy a chance to flee the system and seed chaos across the galaxy!" Vader snarled out.
Vader's mockery of Trachta's abilities as a commander made the pale-skinned Grand Moff swirl around in pure unadulterated rage, and screamed out, "I will not have your temper tantrums risk any more lives through just throwing them at the enemy, Vader! These men and women placed their trust in us, and I will not abuse that loyalty by betraying them just to serve your bloodlust, especially when you do not hold command of this mission!"
Vader then walked right up to Trachta's face, and forebodingly said, "Be careful that you do not stumble on your rise to our master's side, Grand Moff Trachta."
Trachta, recognizing the obvious threat that Vader had just made on his life, sarcastically said, "Thank you for your concern, Vader. Now, if you'll excuse me, Grand Inquisitor Halmere and I need to plan our next move." He then turned back to the communications officer, and said to the woman, "Once you are done relaying the orders to all captains, contact Admiral Tennant and Colonel Yularen, and have them and Captain Thrawn join our strategic meeting. We're going to need our best minds if we're to find a way to salvage something out of this mess."
"Yes, Sir." The woman said, astounded at how her direct superior had either the bravery or foolishness to talk back to the disgraced Supreme Commander of the Imperial Military with such a fire.
"And, Vader?" Trachta idly said to his rival, before continuing, saying, "Idle threats like the one you gave me won't intimidate me. I only want what's best for the Empire and the Emperor."
"Then you had better pull a victory out of this disaster, or the Emperor will have both of our heads for this failure." Vader replied, before walking with Trachta to the strategic conference that the Grand Moff had just announced.
Thirty Minutes Later
Twenty-Four Hours and Thirty Minutes Until Admiral Libel's Arrival
On Lah'mu
Within the Second Chance
"The Imperials have retreated to the edge of the adjacent planet of Praven." Berch said to the assembled leaders of the Shadow Alliance from his cell's Providence-Class Dreadnought, the Remember Antar IV, before he continued to speak, saying, "Their ground forces have retreated to their drop ships in order to regroup. I say that we fight our way off of this death trap now, while we've got the upper hand against the enemy."
"I disagree, Commander Teller." Rahm respectfully said, before he continued, strategically saying, "Our forces would suffer too many losses to the Empire's capital ships, and cripple our ability to go on the offensive for when do manage to escape the system. We just have to hold out for another day until our window of opportunity to conduct a fighting retreat arrives."
"So, your plan is to just stay stranded here while we wait for whatever reinforcements that you've got coming?" Cham incredulously said, before continuing, gruffly saying, "Master Jedi, we've still got civilians on Lah'mu to evacuate, not to mention the remaining essential equipment that we still have set up across the area, unless we want either of them to fall into Vader and Sidious's hands."
"Actually, according to the reports that we've managed to intercept from the Retribution, Adomintor, and Retaliation, Vader's been stripped of command of the Imperial fleet for unknown reasons, and Grand Inquisitor Halmere and Grand Moff Trachta have been given command of the fleet." Tau said, while hiding the knowledge that the two of his most prominent Imperial contacts, Trachta and Wullf, shared this knowledge with him, and how Sarcev Quest blabbed about Vader's attempts to subvert Celeste into his Sith Apprentice.
"Wait. Vader's been demoted?" Saw incredulously said, before he laughed at the hilarity of a Dark Lord of the Sith being demoted, and, once he recovered from his fit of laughter, said, "Man, I sure do pity the poor sap that has to face Skywalker's wrath."
"Don't underestimate a fallen Jedi, Saw Gerrera." Cassius sagely said to the Partisan leader, before the Taung continued to speak, saying, "He killed three of my brothers, and stole their bodies for his master's sick cloning experiments."
"Well, then I know what our next mission is, once we evacuate as many of Admiral Volta's people as we can, and sabotage the Empire's mining operations there." Tau said, before he thoughtfully said, "I might know one or two crime lords that would be more than happy to strike a blow against the Kaminoans for their part in the Clone War."
Ahsoka threw him a sideways glance, and worriedly said through their growing Force Bond, You're not thinking of Azzim Anjilic Atirue and his uncle, Vedo, are you, because that would not go over well with General Syndulla and our senatorial allies?
And Popara Anjiliac and his clan, luv. Tau said in confirmation as he winked at his girlfriend, which made her roll her eyes in annoyance at the apparent lack of immaturity, and he then said in complete seriousness, Look, I'm making a plan to bring them onto our side. And, they're decent Hutts who have done business with my Jedi Order before and during my brother's time. I know it's a big risk, but, frankly, we need all of the help that we can get. Besides, the Hutt families want to be on the winning side, and we're going to prove that the Shadow Alliance is going to be the winning horse in this race.
'Winning horse'? What the heck is a horse? Ahsoka confusingly asked her boyfriend.
It's an animal that people on Arda ride on for a quick means of transportation across vast distances. Tau explained, before he telepathically said, We'll talk later, but right now, we need to keep our minds in the here and now.
As Tau and Ahsoka ended their private conversation, they heard bickering between several factions, and Elrond ended the arguing by firmly saying, "Enough. We can plan our next move after we escape the system. For now, we need to focus on preparing to evacuate everyone on this world, so that they can avoid Imperial vengeance."
"Well, we're lucky that there's only a few hundred colonists on the planet." Maarisa replied, before continuing, saying, "They've all been evacuated onto the civilian transports, and most of them have asked to join our alliance after we escape the system."
"Good." Tau said, before he said, "We'll likely have at least a few hours until the Imperials try to break our lines again, so let's all try to get some rest for now. Stay alive, all of you."
With that, Arnine turned off the Second Chance's holonet projector, and Butch licked his master affectionately after being separated from him during the Imperials' onslaught.
"I know, Butch. I wanted you by my side too, but you were needed at the medical wing in order to help calm the minds of the wounded. Don't worry, in a few hours, you'll be able to fight by our side, that's a promise." Tau reassuringly said to the Tuk'ata hound, who looked excited at fighting by his dear friend's side again, and pounced on the clone Jedi, making him laugh from his constant licking of his face.
After he got Butch off of him, he turned to his crew, and their temporary additions of Hera and Rex, and said to them, "Well, we all know what we'll likely face in a few hours, so let's try and get some sleep before they come back. Iluvatar watch over us all."
With that, he turned to head to his cabin, with Ahsoka and Butch following him, and the couple quickly fell onto the bed in exhaustion after one draining battle after another, and the Sith hound watched them get under the covers and snuggle up close to the other before they all quickly fell asleep, knowing that there would be time for flirting and witty banter after they had escaped the Imperial's blockade of the Lah'mu System.
"Are they…?" Rex inquired to Ventis and Akku on what the couple might be up to within Tau's cabin, only to receive incredulous looks from both men.
"Oh, no, Rex. They're just sleeping in the same room together. Fully clothed, I might add, so don't even go there." Ventis ardently denied before he continued to speak, saying, "Tau's a gentleman, so he'll avoid any impromptu decisions on either part."
""Ugh! That's disgusting" Hera exclaimed in a typical teenage fashion over the talk of the possibility of sex between Ahsoka and Tau. She then said, "I'm gonna go get some shuteye before we have to fly again. Let me know if there's anything else to fix before we fly off into battle again."
With that said, each member of the Second Chance headed to their designated sleeping quarters in order to recuperate from today's weary battles.
Well, that ends another chapter of the Siege of Lah'mu. The clock is ticking for both the Empire and Shadow Alliance, and they'd better be ready for when Admiral Libel's fleet arrives, because nothing will be the same after they come into the fray. So, what did you guys think of this chapter? And, as always, be honest, as I value your constructive criticism. How are you all doing on the night of June 2, 2018? I'm a bit exhausted, as I worked a five-hour shift at my movie theater today, and then had dinner with my family at a good restaurant. Also, I worked in the heat yesterday at my local help center, and then pulled a four-plus hour shift at work a few hours afterwards, so I'm pretty worn our right now. Well, at least I have a few days to rest until I might get called in on Wednesday. In video game news, I've finished Dragon Age: Origins and Leliana'a Song, and am ready to tackle Dragon Age: Origins: Awakening tomorrow. Oh, before I forget, tomorrow is Squasher's birthday, so please wish him a happy birthday if you can. Well, I guess that that's it for today. May the Force and Iluvatar be with you all, and Long Live the Expanded Universe!
