"Shadow Squadron, this is Shadow Leader.", Caine broadcasted into the commlink of his viper-like Command Starfighter. "Form up on me and stay tight. We're approaching the first of our targets and I am certain they will have some kind of greeting for us."
Caine stared out through the cockpit glass at the colorful pink and white swirling cloud bands that now filled his view and obscured the entire surface of the planet Anoth. Ahead of him in this thick cloud cover, fleet sensors had detected two capital ships, no doubt serving as a defense of the large, city-sized Imperial compound below on the surface of the planet.
The search is coming to an end, he mused as he gripped the controls of his deadly black fighter tightly. This will be the day of my greatest victory to date.
He took a deep breath and reached out through The Force to the other pilots in his Squadron. He sensed them lock onto his thoughts. They were ready and they were focused. He felt it as plainly as he felt his excited heart beating in his chest.
Caine noticed how natural it seemed to be piloting a starfighter again, how comfortable and so very right he felt in this craft. He allowed himself to smile in confident anticipation not only of leading his troops to victory above and on the surface of Anoth, but also with relief that the hunt for Skywalker was nearing its conclusion. They were on the verge of victory, so close to capturing the last Jedi Master, so close to making the old man kneel in servitude. The thought was almost intoxicating. He needed to put it away for now, however. The eradication of the dying Galactic Empire would come first. He would be the one to finally kill the sick old beast and he would do it without compassion or mercy.
"Wolfe will have the Spearhead's ion cannons fully charged in short order.", Caine communicated to the other fighter pilots. "If these Imperials still remember how to engage an enemy, they will have their fighters launched before then. Leave them to me. Remember, your job is to concentrate on any of the Star Destroyer's laser cannons and take out as many as you can before Wolfe can fire. Keep our landing crafts from taking any damage. Is that understood-!?"
"Copy, Shadow Leader.", voices crackled back over the commlink in succession from all six of his flanking pilots.
The planetary clouds were looming ever closer. In mere seconds he would lead the charge, diving into them to begin the assault. Caine checked one last time over all his starfighter controls, feeling as if he was one with them.
The hunt is on again, he thought gleefully, and THIS time when it is finished, I will finally feast.
Battle klaxons were currently blaring on the bridge of the Imperial Star Destroyer Proxim, and had been for the last two minutes since three huge ships dropped out of hyperspace above Anoth. Captain Gareth Leard was trying valiantly to keep his crew from panicking and so far had managed to do so, but he felt that if he produced so much as one misstep, the tenuous balance he now held could topple quickly. It had been years since this little corner of space had seen any activity. Of course they drilled for situations like this often, and sometimes made examples of the smugglers that used the far side of the planet as a haven when they didn't want to be found, but this was different. These starships that had arrived were enormous, at least twice the size of his, and when they immediately launched several small cruisers with a fighter escort heading right at his ship's position, he knew that today would definitely not be a drill. This was the real thing. If Grand Admiral Chunn was at all serious about The Empire rising back to glory under his command, Gareth thought, this test would either prove their mettle or end it.
"Status report-!", Gareth demanded. "How close are they?"
"They just entered the outer layer of atmospheric clouds.", came a reply from the tactical lieutenant. "Seven fighters seemingly escorting four larger craft. They should be on us in three minutes."
"And they still haven't responded to any of our hails?", he asked.
"No Captain.", came the reply from the comm station. "Complete radio silence on all detected frequencies."
"Did our ship's fighters and Captain Tandosh's squadron launch yet?", Gareth questioned his tactical officer, referring to Proxim's companion Star Destroyer, Nexus.
"Yes, sir.", tactical reported. "We have all twenty-five fighters in our combined compliment ready to engage…with the forward laser batteries on both the Proxim and Nexus also charged and waiting"
"Good.", said Gareth with anxious satisfaction. "I want constant updates and I also want them relayed to The Grand Admiral on the surface. I have a feeling that's where they are heading."
"Yes sir.", the comm lieutenant repeated crisply.
From his command position on the bridge, in front of the large transparisteel windows, Gareth continued his anxious watch into the clouds, anticipating the rapidly approaching invaders. They had been caught somewhat by surprise, to be honest, but that was understandable. There was hardly any activity out here and he had often wondered to himself if the Grand Admiral still had any ambition or was he just content to masquerade for the rest of his days. In mere moments, he guessed, he would find out for sure.
Less than ten seconds later his watchful gaze turned first to confusion and then to grave concern as he saw dozens of starfighters with multiple shapes and sizes burst into view, lasers blasting.
"You said SEVEN fighters-!", He shouted frantically to the bridge crew. "There are about five times that many."
"Captain, I don't underst-….", came the stuttered reply from tactical.
Gareth wasn't listening anymore, however. This was the misstep he was worried about. Panic had broken out and although he didn't know it yet, his crew would not recover from it.
Caine was hoping for a challenge, but he was severely disappointed when he counted only twenty-five TIE Fighters screaming towards him from the two Star Destroyers. He frowned slightly while thinking to himself how easy this would be as he jammed his yoke forward to full acceleration. His fighter immediately tore away from the pack he was leading, firing laser blasts at multiple targets in quick succession. In an instant four TIE fighters were vaporized before they had even had a chance to fire.
"All craft…Go above the field of debris I am going to create.", Caine barked sternly into his communicator while simultaneously executing a spinning maneuver that no star pilot should have been able to pull off at the speed he was pushing. "You'll then have a clear path to start picking off the cannons on the Star Destroyers and get past them to the surface."
Caine heard all his pilots acknowledge the command as his own craft spiraled sharply downward, avoiding the return fire from the remaining TIEs. When he was underneath them, he released a dozen small homing torpedoes that immediately set their sights on the outmatched Imperial fighters. Most of the missiles found their targets and hit the unlucky TIEs from the rear so quickly that their pilots had no chance to avoid them before being struck and incinerated. A few fighters that did manage to maneuver fast enough to elude the torpedoes tried in vain to swing around to get a clean shot on their attacker, but Caine's skills were far superior. He was already pressing back towards them as they turned, drawing a bead on them with his lasers. A few short bursts of fire easily blew them into fine dust.
The remaining TIEs quickly abandoned the confrontation and scattered, some heading back in the direction of their ships and some bolting for what they thought was protection on the surface of Anoth. Caine briefly considered chasing them down but Wolfe's voice interrupted on his comm frequency.
"The Ion cannons are charged, sir. We are ready to fire on the Destroyers.", he stated calmly
Upon hearing this, Caine demanded an update. "Shadow Squadron, what is your current status?"
"No casualties.", Shadow Two responded. "The troop transports have taken some light damage, but we've knocked out quite a few of their cannons and are still on our planned course."
"Get clear of their ships.", Caine ordered to all the craft. "Commander Wolfe will be firing soon and you don't want to get caught in the EMP"
"Khallis, start making final preparations for the ground assault to commence as soon as you land." He instructed his lieutenant who was on one of the troop transports. "My squadron will provide air cover and then join the attack when you give the signal that you are ready to begin"
Once again, all of his troops responded affirmative to his commands over the comm frequencies, the last one being the order to commence firing on the Star Destroyers. Caine watched as two brilliant white blasts from Wolfe's ship rocked the hulls of the wedge-shaped Imperial cruisers that at one time had instilled fear in the heart of anyone who glimpsed them. Within seconds of impact, the lights on each ship dimmed and flickered before finally going out. They were dead in the water…two giant lifeless hulks in the clouds that had fought their last battle and could offer no more resistance. Caine raced his fighter forward, passing these last corpses of the Imperial fleet on his way to rendezvous with his own forces down on the planet's surface.
Outside the Command Room of the Imperial Center on Anoth, Caine and Khallis supervised the placing of explosive charges to blow open the last fortified door in the compound. The battle on the surface of the planet was complete and had been just as quick and easy as the earlier confrontation in the atmosphere. The antiquated walkers and the waves of stormtroopers that the Imperials deployed were no match for the light but deceptively maneuverable tank unit that Khallis commanded and the air support that Caine's Shadow Squadron supplied. With minimal damage and loss of life, they had managed to turn back and wipe out everything that was thrown at them. Now they finally stood ready to retrieve what they came for.
"Be ready for some resistance when we open this.", he advised Khallis and the troops assembled around him. "I sense many people in there, and they aren't all command personnel."
His underlings all nodded agreement, took up defensive positions and raised their weapons to readiness.
"Everyone TAKE COVER-!", Khallis shouted as she hurriedly moved away from the door towards some cover from the upcoming blast.
She pressed a button on a control pad that she held and all the edges of the door immediately disintegrated in a flash of bright white light. It came crumbling down to the floor in multiple pieces and as Caine predicted, laser blasts poured out from within the control room through dust and debris in the air where the door had been just seconds before.
Caine held his open right hand in the air signaling to his troops to maintain their position while red laser bolts whipped by all of them in a frenzy. After about a minute of waiting, the laser fire from inside paused and at that exact moment, he clenched his open hand into a black gloved fist to signal the charge. Khallis immediately ignited her deadly orange bladed lightsaber and leaped through the destroyed doorway. The rest of the troops that were waiting followed, weapons firing surgically at targets inside the room. The air was filled with painful screams and small explosions for a few short moments before a ghastly silence ensued. The end had come for the Empire. All that was left to do was some simple data scavenging before stomping it out of the galaxy forever. Caine smiled as he stepped through the shattered doorway to claim the map to the last Jedi Master.
When Helf Chunn realized thirty years ago that he commanded the last outpost of The Galactic Empire that had survived the Great Civil War and the ensuing rise of The New Republic, he gave himself the title of Grand Admiral. There had been other pockets of resistance from former Imperial Commanders in the years following the death of The Emperor and his lackey Darth Vader, but they had all eventually surrendered like cowards or had been easily destroyed because of their stupid arrogance in believing they could take on The Republic.
Helf, however, realized something that all the other would-be warlords had not grasped. He understood that if he was patient and worked methodically to strengthen his forces, along with recruiting people and whole worlds that had once been satisfied with the peace and order that The Empire brought them, he could someday resurrect the Grand Power and rule it himself. The lessons learned from Palpatine's failure, Helf thought, would guide him to even greater glory than that old, decrepit, out of touch Force user could have imagined.
His grand designs never came to fruition, though. For a while, he was able to lead brilliantly, procure supplies and capital, and even recruit entire planets close to this one to join his cause. Helf expanded his "new" Empire to encompass nearly a dozen star systems in this fringe part of the Outer Rim. He became more and more confident in his ability to actually challenge the traitorous rebels that now called themselves a Republic and just as importantly, he had the men and women under his command convinced of it as well. As the years passed, however, small defeats and poor decisions led to larger defeats until all that remained under his command were his most loyal troops here on Anoth.
And so it had been this existence for the last ten years, lording over an insignificant planet in the lawless Outer Rim fooling himself into thinking that he still held some sort of power. In his true thoughts, though, Helf always knew the day would come when his fiefdom would be dealt a fatal blow. As he watched his forces ruthlessly decimated today, he finally realized that his time was most likely up, but it hadn't truly hit home as a reality until just moments ago. A female warrior dressed entirely in black and brandishing an old Jedi weapon had burst into his command room and slaughtered three of his personal Stormtrooper security force in a matter of seconds. She was followed by a commando unit of soldiers that set to work decimating the rest his security along with several of his lieutenants with cold blooded brutality. Now only a few remained alive, but the worst was yet to come he feared.
"It looks like we have found a GRAND ADMIRAL.", a voice boomed from the decimated doorway that was still swirling with gray smoke.
Helf Chunn didn't like the condescending tone that this unseen stranger used. He vowed to be defiant to the very end in the confrontation with him that was sure to happen, but when he saw the hulking, crimson-eyed figure that the voice belonged to step through the archway into the room, his eyed widened and he momentarily froze in terror. He now wondered if he would be able to find it within himself to produce any words, much less defiance.
"I assumed I would be dealing with a MOFF, at least.", Caine said with heavy sarcasm as he addressed the commander standing across the room.
The Imperial Commander was a balding, overweight man of about sixty years and although he projected an outward appearance of leadership and confidence, Caine could sense the Grand Admiral's doubt and fear as clearly as he could see him.
"Who are you?", the Admiral asked.
Caine ignored the question and motioned to one of his troops who was also an excellent computer slicer to start infiltrating the command station's network.
"I demand to know who you-", the Commander continued but his speech was violently cut off as Caine lifted his hand in the air.
"You are no position to demand anything, GRAND ADMIRAL CHUNN.", Caine finally replied
Chunn's body had become rigid, his neck frozen in place making his head tilt back slightly. His arms were pinned tightly to his sides and his legs were locked at the knees making it look as if he was a first year trooper awaiting a superior's inspection. Caine raised his outstretched arm slightly and the portly man levitated off the ground as if lifted up by some invisible grip. The fear that Caine had sensed earlier could now easily be seen on his round ashen face.
"Download all of their data and let me know when you find information on the Jedi Temples.", Caine commanded to his slicer who had already jacked in to a data terminal and was working furiously.
"I should have guessed….SITH-!", Chunn exclaimed as he hung in the air unable to move. "Your obsession with the Jedi Order continues"
"I AM NOT SITH", Caine growled.
Caine's eyes began to fill with rage and glow orange as if on fire. He clenched his fist and as he did Chunn's rib cage began to tighten. Within seconds, the sound of popping could be heard as one by one his ribs began to break. Caine considered squeezing tighter to kill this worthless excuse for a commander, but before he could, the slicer excitedly exclaimed his success.
"Sir, I have finished downloading their entire archive.", he announced. "I have found locations of nine known Jedi Temples in this half of the galaxy and the data also suggests that there might be others on the far side."
"Good work.", Caine said, grinning triumphantly before turning his attention back to the Imperial.
"I would take some pleasure in killing you myself right here.", Caine taunted Chunn. "But I want you to watch with your own eyes how the mighty Galactic Empire dies."
Caine used The Force to throw the Admiral across the room and into a steel wall. His body hit hard, making a loud smacking sound before he dropped to the floor in a heap. To Caine's surprise, though, Chunn slowly drug himself up to one knee and locked eyes with Caine.
"You may not be Sith.", he croaked as a smirk formed on his face. "But you WILL fail to defeat the Jedi just as Palpatine and Vader did."
Caine felt the rage return, but instead of unleashing his fury for all to see, he simply twisted the neck of the last Imperial Commander from across the room with a flick of his wrist, ending Chunn's life.
"It seems he won't get to see it after all.", Khallis quipped nonchalantly while deactivating her lightsaber.
"We're done here.", Caine remarked to his troops with a hint of irritation in his voice. "We have much to discuss on board the Spearhead after we incinerate what is left of this place. Let's move."
