Hello everyone, I'm here to alleviate the cliffhanger of two weeks ago. We're now over 100,000 words into this story on both FFN and AO3, and I hope you enjoy this next chapter as well.
Secrets of The Outer Rim.
Act II.
The Heart of Darkness.
Chapter XVII.
The Price of Subterfuge.
The four of us stood there for a moment, sizing up Operator Rahlkann and the other Intelligentsia members that just entered the room. Rahlkann gave us information on the Empire, now we had to pay him and his organization back, I understood that part. I, however, didn't understand the extent of this - the threatening arrival of his goons and the insistence on each of us giving a piece of information - it was highly unfair. The idea that any one of us was sufficient for returning this information to Taaszon was absurd, we obviously intended to return to the capital world with all four of us alive and well, but...judging by the blaster pistols and rifles in this room, there wasn't exactly room for negotiation. I did, however, know I had a valuable piece of information, so I stepped up first. I had to hope that the fact that I was a Jedi would be worth something to the Intelligentsia, ideally, worth enough for all four of us to get out of here unscathed. They had to be able to do something with that information, whether its an insight into Phanza and her power base, confirmation that there are Jedi survivors to Order 66, or simply as just potential blackmail material against me should our paths cross again. They specialize in intelligence, they can figure something out.
"I'm not really Phanza's apprentice. My name is Zaliza Vyvan and I am a surrounding Padawan of the Jedi Order." I declared, thinking that the remark would have more of an impact than it did, though, perhaps that is not entirely true. I think it is possible that my reveal did have an impact, but, considering that Rahlkann was a master spy and wore cybernetics over his eyes to show that, he wasn't exactly going to reveal anything with an expression. I would imagine that high level Sith spying and espionage requires a rather significant Sabaac face. In any case, I instinctively backed up into the line with Phanza and the rest of our companions, waiting to hear what the Operator's reaction was going to be.
"Well..." Rahlkann began slowly, no doubt this was a deliberate effort with no purpose other than to raise suspense and keep us terrified for our lives. I wasn't sure if that was necessarily a smart thing to do in the presence of a Sith Lord, but Phanza has proven herself to be merciful and restrained in tough scenarios, this is no exception, though I'm sure the importance of the Intelligentsia plays into that. Phanza said it herself, she doesn't want to be the one to ruin centuries of cooperation between Taaszon and their semi-autonomous network of spies. So perhaps this was a different kind of mercy and restraint. Nar Shaddaa was yet a different kind, with Phanza knowing that she wasn't prepared to fight Vader, an Inquisitor, and their whole force of stormtroopers, but, she could, instead, outsmart them for just long enough to escape them. Of course, the fact that Thonna let us go was fortunate as well, but even then, Phanza's plan had gotten us so far that there was only an Inquisitor between us and our ship, with Phanza keeping her lightsaber no less.
"On with it," Phanza urged Rahlkann, making the cyborg cease his theatrics, after all, we still, potentially, had three people's worth of secrets to go through. I was a bit worried about Yevenna, yes, she demonstrated that she could be serious and quiet under pressure, but she is also talkative by nature, I didn't want to see her accidentally reveal anything, and I saw how paranoid Phanza was all about this, even back on Taaszon, and I'm sure that Ceyla has her reservations as well. I had to, therefore, hope that my own secret was enough for all of us, but I had to admit that I doubted Rahlkann would accept that. Even if the information truly was just as valuable, if not more so, to what he gave us on the Empire, he had the opportunity to get information out of Lady Attam herself, and he was going to take it. I could already guess that Phanza has been historically tight-lipped to him, and Rahlkann wanted to change that.
"The truth of your identity, Ms. Vyvan, is indeed a valuable bit of information. Both about yourself, about what Lady Attam is up to, and for what it says about potential survivors of Order 66. You are free to go. The others, however, are not." true to my predictions, even though this information does impact Phanza - which Operator Rahlkann admitted himself - he still wants information from her directly. I was free to go, but I still stayed right here, waiting for my friends to wish, and hoping that nothing was going to happen to Ceyla, Yevenna, or Phanza. I wasn't exactly comfortable here, surrounded by armed spies and their soldiers, but I was even less comfortable with the idea of leaving my friends to deal with this themselves. Phanza was the only reason why I managed to escape Ypherro, she's the only reason that Ullara's sacrifice can mean anything, I was forever going to be grateful for that and everything that she's done for me since. Yevenna, meanwhile, is someone who I can really talk to and trust on Taaszon, and I'm grateful for her friendship. Ceyla, then, is important to me as a friend and ally of both Phanza and Yevenna. I wasn't going to let anything happen to these three if I can prevent it, not after what happened to Master Avdune.
"Three Mandalorian warriors from our enclave recently went on a raid into Hutt territory. They managed to uncover a secret deal between Sokkuta the Hutt and the Bounty Hunters Guild to remove him from the Black Sun Syndicate." Ceyla spoke next, revealing some information that was valuable, yet didn't say anything about Phanza or her operations. Instead, she revealed some news about the Black Sun Syndicate potentially beginning to crumble after the events on Mandalore, with Sokkuta, a minor Hutt warlord, trying to escape. Sokkuta's success or failure could determine the future of the Black Sun Syndicate, especially since Darth Maul hasn't resurfaced yet. Perhaps he is still paranoid over Order 66, given that he was apparently in Republic custody when the order was issued. A Sith as dangerous and unpredictable as Maul on the loose was dangerous, but, right now, it was the Empire's problem.
"Interesting, I shall be sending agents to both Sokkuta's camp and the Black Sun then." Rahlkann revealed, the Operator - presumably the rank indicated that he had some level of control over the Intelligentsia, perhaps conducting the operatives beneath him - indicated he wanted to play both sides of that potential squabble. I couldn't see any honor or justice in that, but the spy business isn't about honor or justice I suppose, it never was. Rahlkann and the Intelligentsia were interested about learning more and having leverage over more of the galaxy, they were, presumably, also interested in furthering Taaszon's interests. Perhaps, I should say, they were interested in furthering what they perceived as in Taaszon's interests, but the point remains. This means that, rather than sending spies out for ideological or political reasons, Rahlkann is sending them out to maximize his own position relative to anyone and everyone else, both friend and foe. I suppose the saying in his world goes, friend or foe, you never knew who will be which at any given time. In any case, Yevenna stepped up to speak next.
"It was a few months ago when I was fighting the separatists on New Ziost with some other Mandalorians. We came across and defeated a group of new commando droids. These were updated models with more armor, more speed, and a deadly set of gadgets to go with the typical stealth and the blades. We managed to find the blueprints of these droids with the prototypes and the locations of the factories. It may be worth it to look into what the Empire is now going with those factories." Yevenna's bit of intelligence was wordy, but, again, she managed to avoid revealing anything about Phanza and her power base directly. Instead, she had this story about the droids and handed over a datastick with the information on it - perhaps Ceyla and Yevenna had prepared for this before the fact - and Rahlkann did accept it. Curiously, he slipped it up the sleeve of his overcoat then seemed to focus on his lenses for awhile - did his cybernetics include a data drive in his wrist? It seemed ridiculous, but, considering what we've seen of the Intelligentsia so far, it wouldn't be the most shocking thing in the world.
"Not the most up to date information, I admit, but I suppose it will do. I didn't expect much more from a Mandalorian in training." Operator Rahlkann sighed, disparaging Yevenna Aphlen for no reason as he accepted the information. I could see now why Lady Attam was no fan of the Intelligentsia now. Speaking of Phanza, she now became the object of everyone's attention: Rahlkann finally wanted to gain information on her and the rest of us wanted to know how Phanza was going to try and wiggle her way out of this one. I was somewhat disappointed, I revealed something so important to me, but it really had no effect - I couldn't help but think my information would be more valuable if I was more careful about hiding who I was, perhaps the Intelligentsia already knew about me, or at least had suspicions - Ceyla and Yevenna managed to get away with giving relatively minor information, but Rahlkann wasn't looking for their information anyway. This was always about getting something out of Phanza, interrogating the rest of us four was just a bonus for the Intelligentsia. The Human Cyborg smirked as he finally spoke "Well, well Lady Attam, the moment of truth. I gave you what you wanted on the Empire, all of your friends paid their price, now it's time for you to pay yours."
"How is this for information? From what I can tell, two of the five operatives you have behind you are deceiving you. They aren't loyal to the Intelligentsia, they're counterespionage agents from the Chiss. They answer to Admiral Wurra'thuundo'oma and have been ever since they got into the Intelligentsia. Let me and my friends out of here, and I will reveal which two I'm speaking of." Phanza smirked in return, revealing her own gambit. I noticed she had been quiet during all of this, even in the Force, but I suppose that is because she was prodding Rahlkann and his men, trying to find a weakness, trying to find an opening, anything to avoid having to actually give information about herself. It was a bold move, and it was also a somewhat shocking remainder that Phanza was a Sith Lord and she was going to do what Sith Lords did. That included violating people's mental state and privacy if it suited her needs, that included putting other people's lives at risk, and that included this deception and underhandedness. Rahlkann looked at me for a moment, perhaps hoping that, as a Jedi, I would do something, and perhaps I should have, but I didn't. I stood there and let Phanza make her threats, thinking that this was for the greater good.
"No deal." Operator Rahlkann repealed and pulled a device of some sort from his coat. My eyes widened as it took just a few button presses before all five of the men in question were electrocuted and killed, their corpses unceremoniously falling to the ground. All five of them were instantly executed on mere suspicion that just two of them were traitors, and, as if that wasn't bad enough, before they even hit the ground, Rahlkann pressed another few buttons. I watched, appalled, as five more men entered the room, taking the places of the dead - in some cases, literally stepping over the bodies of the dead - in yet another harsh reminder of the fact that I was dealing with Sith. Rahlkann, letting the moment sink in, soon spoke again "You know what I am capable of, Lady Attam, and you know what information I want. The location and the access codes of the ancient Sith cybernetic factory on Manaan, now."
"Underwater, northwest quadrant. There is a coral reef growing over the facility right now, but the place itself is waterproof. Your exact location and the access codes are on this datastick. Satisfied?" Phanza's voice sunk an octave as, without a physical movement, she used the Force to levitate a datastick off her belt over to Operator Rahlkann. It was just as much of a show of force as Rahlkann executing the five men. Rahlkann could and would kill his own men with just the press of a few buttons if necessary, but Phanza had the Force, and she could kill him without the Cyborg even being able to see it coming. No amount of information of intelligence could compete with the Force, and, even though Rahlkann now had this cybernetic facility which he apparently wanted, he would never have the Force. It was a chilling reminder of Phanza's power and her willingness to use it all, Light or Dark.
"Six years I have waited for this day. Pleasure doing business with you, Lady Attam. You and your companions are free to go." Operator Rahlkann spoke, then having the arrogance to turn around and walk away. I wasn't even part of this life or this civilization, but even I knew you couldn't turn your back on a Sith Lord, not like that. I took a deep breath, just waiting for the moment that Phanza snapped and killed Operator Rahlkann, and I wouldn't have even really blamed her for doing it. Operator Rahlkann was clearly not a good man, willing to kill five men just because of his stubbornness over this information. This particular piece of information too - all of this, because Phanza knew about an ancient laboratory that Rahlkann wanted access to, for even more cybernetics no less - it all seemed so worthless and so morbid over nothing. To her credit, Phanza simply released an exhale, turned around, and walked back to the elevator, the four of us following right behind her. We rode the elevator up and walked back on board the Ultimate, simple as that. Not a word was uttered until we were onboard the ship.
"Ceyla, set a course for Taaszon. I'm going to my room." was the first thing out of Phanza's voice when we boarded the ship, the Nautolan not even turning around as she spoke, her sentence came out short and clipped. Phanza was struggling to stay composed and she did as much as she could to keep up the regal and confident image before storming off to her room. The Mandalorians took their helmets off and went to the cockpit while I stood there for a moment, conflicted. I heard the engines fire up, the sound drawing out the uneven patter of water dripping off of my robes, and I felt the ship leave the landing pad and the Intelligentsia base behind, soon to leave Cipher-9 altogether, but I stayed standing right where I was. I wanted to speak with Phanza, to make sure she was okay, but I wasn't sure if this was the right time. She seemed so upset, and part of me wanted to just give her space, but another part of me knew that wasn't the right thing to do. I knew better than most people what it's like to be trapped with your own negative thoughts and feelings -and even though I'm nowhere near solving my own issues - I wanted to help Phanza right now. I took a deep breath, mentally confirmed my decision, and headed off to her room, best intentions in mind.
I felt Phanza's mood before I saw her. The rage was heavy in the air, as if particles of the natural Force itself, floating in the air, were being dragged to her, dragged to this source of raw power and anger right here. I stopped in the doorway, seeing Phanza standing in the middle of her room, hands balled up into fists, breathing heavy, and her power concentrating even thicker this close, getting to the point where it was starting to be reminiscent of Grand Duchess Voytana and her throne room. The Force itself was gravitating around her, waiting for Phanza to release it, waiting for the outburst. For the first time, perhaps ever, I was truly frightened of the Nautolan, not because I thought she would do anything to me, but because of the idea of what she could do. I heard her inhale sharply, the bestial noise of a predator far larger than her, and I saw her turn her head. Her large black eyes were narrowed, their obsidian surface filled with the glassy reflection of a thousand silent screams of the unknown victims of the Dark Side, these were the eyes of a full-fledged Sith Lord.
This was the side of Phanza that Master Avdune had warned me about, the side the Jedi were always expecting to come out, and I thought my whole new world view was shattering. I thought that everything I believed about Lady Attam, about how she was really a good presence, more of a middle-ground purple than the Dark Side red I had been warned about, was wrong. I was terrified that she truly was a Sith Lord, that this was all a manipulation to turn me into her apprentice, and that all it took to make Phanza drop her facade was Operator Rahlkann getting one over her, but then, Phanza's eyes softened, the chokehold on power released, and I released a breath that I didn't even realize I was holding. Phanza was capable of being the apex predator, she was capable of great disasters and destruction, but that wasn't her, in reality, she was a strong and ambitious woman, with real emotions and pain. Rahlkann grilling her for information, this whole trip to Cipher-9 really, it hurt her. This experience bit into Phanza's pride, it upset the pedestal she built for herself, and that hurt her. This wasn't horror, this was humanity.
"The facility on Manaan is an ancient underwater laboratory. The Sith Empire was using this facility to experiment with Kolto-injecting, reflex-enhancing cybernetics. The idea was to heal wounds and inject steroids to soldiers during the battle, always keeping them at peak efficiency and preventing casualties due to wounds or exhaustion. Of course, the Sith Empire collapsed before the research there was complete, but my spies uncovered the facility a few years ago. Operator Rahlkann, of course, found out about this, and he's wanted to know the location of that facility ever since. I wanted to use the research to help Taaszon, to potentially reach the breakthrough our predecessors were looking for and unlock the secret to an army of super-soldiers, but my time and resources have been distracted elsewhere. Right now, I can only spare enough to maintain the research we have, no expansions, no breakthroughs right now. Rahlkann, however, has no interest in the project or in improving our troops. Rahlkann just wants the facility and the research for himself, adding to his own list of cybernetics." Phanza explained, giving me the whole story.
I couldn't help but feel sympathy for her. The cybernetics on the soldiers seemed immoral, but, considering I spent most of my last few years as a Jedi fighting alongside artificially grown child soldiers, I can't really judge that, and, under present circumstances, I could definitely see why Phanza would want to revive such a progress. Instead though, the information on this facility was given to Rahlkann, who would no doubt raid the facility for himself, modifying his own body at the expense of everyone else. I didn't know how to feel, I knew that Phanza's anger was justified, to an extent anyway, and I knew that Operator Rahlkann was absolutely the villain in this situation, but that didn't change the fact that Phanza's anger really did terrify me there. She is composed, pleasant even in her normal persona, but she is absolutely capable of great darkness and bloodshed, and this was a harsh reality check for me. I didn't want to forgive this, I didn't want to start finding situations where Sith behavior was acceptable, but I also didn't want to make Phanza feel wrong or isolated right now, not after she helped me so much. It was a difficult situation, but...I guess the Jedi thing to do would be to be forgiving and nonjudgmental, to take the moral high ground. The high ground was always important to the Jedi, I remember Master Kenobi emphasizing that while assisting Master Yoda on a lesson.
"I know this was unfortunate Phanza, I know, but we have to stay focused. We have the information we need now, three Imperial star destroyers, with combat data seemingly based on Taaszon. We absolutely need to do something about these ships and this is the best opportunity we're gonna get." I tried to remind Phanza of our mission, letting her know that she didn't trade away that information for nothing. We had a group of ships, very possibly ships that are going to attack the Grand Duchy of Taaszon, and we have an opportunity to attack them without being the most obvious culprits. An opportunity like this is not going to come up again, so we're going to need to seize it. I wasn't crazy about this mission, we would be killing a lot of clones, including noncombatants, and we were going to, very likely, cause reprisals against the innocent - in this case anyway - separatist holdouts, but that isn't what Phanza needs to hear right now. There is also the fact that telling Rahlkann where the laboratory is doesn't guarantee anything. Phanza could still have the location secured, locked down, or perhaps even gutted before the Intelligentsia member even has the chance to get to Manaan. This situation isn't over yet, no need to despair.
"Right, right, of course. We're going to Taaszon to pick up some supplies and a cloaking device, then we're going to head to the space station over Loukhamii." Phanza announced, regaining her composure and her focus. I could tell that she was still stressed out over Rahlkann, both from her facial expression and because of what I felt through our bond, but she wasn't going to let it interfere with our mission. I took a long look at the Nautolan, making sure she was okay, but the red-skinned Nautolan Sith Lord had sunk fully into her mission, ignoring her own feelings and trying to keep Operator Rahlkann out of her mind. I accepted that this was going to be the best I get out of Phanza and I slipped out of the room, heading to my quarters instead. We would return to Taaszon, make our final preparations for the mission, then head out to face the Empire for the first time. A cloaking device was a wise decision, both because it would actually allow us to slip past the Imperial defenses, and because it would conceal the fact that the Ultimate is obviously not a separatist design. Phanza, even in her distress, was able to avoid mistakes in such a mission, and that have me some confidence. This could actually work.
"Separatist explosives. We confiscated these from the supplies left over from the Battle of Imperius Prime. We don't intend to leave much of the space station or the star destroyers behind, but, if the Empire does manage an investigation, we want to be extra careful." Phanza explained as some of her soldiers wheeled a crate of separatist charges into the hangar. These were relatively standard bombs, nothing created specifically for the invasion of Taaszon. We weren't sure what the Loukhamii resistance was armed with, but it was more than conceivable that any separatist resistance could be equipped with this kind of weaponry. Phanza really had thought of everything, to the point that she handed me the pair of custom blaster pistols I had on Nar Shaddaa - using lightsaber would leave behind the tell tale scorch marks behind - though we weren't going so far as to wear disguises. First of all, we didn't want to dress like our Nar Shaddaa disguises as the Empire has seen them, second of all, we don't intend to leave any evidence of our identity behind. So long as all the physical evidence points to a separatist attack and no one is around to say otherwise, it doesn't matter what we wear on such a mission.
"Lady Attam and I are going to place explosives on the space station itself. We want you two to go out and arm explosives on the reactors of the star destroyers. This way, we have to place more bombs while you two need to cover more distance." Ceyla explained, giving out the different jobs for her and Phanza, and then Yevenna and I. It was an understandable compromise, and, in truth, Phanza and Ceyla would have to cover some significant ground as well. They would need to place bombs on the superstructure of the space station, on the reactor, the back-up generators, and the security room, in order to destroy any evidence of our presence. All we really needed to do was to hit the three reactors in the engine rooms of the three ships, all of which would be configured identically. I wasn't sure where exactly the Constitution, the Benevolence, and the Geonosian had served during the Clone Wars - though I could predict that the latter either served at Geonosis or was named after the battle - though I had plenty of experience onboard the Venator-class ships, particularly the Sage.
"Understood Ceyla, I won't let you down, I promise!" Yevenna enthusiastically agreed, I smiled. The Mirialan definitely answered with a few more words than were strictly necessary and she was a bit too excitable for her role, but she was my friend and I was going to be fighting alongside her. I did think that her personality clashed with the stereotypical image of the Mandalorian, but that didn't mean that I disliked it, actually, I found her pleasant and refreshing to be around. After everything I had experienced lately, all the loss, the war, and the grim nature of the galaxy, it was nice to see someone who was legitimately a happy person, by nature no less. I also thought it made her more of an individual. I don't think I'd like a typical Mandalorian this much.
"Good, lets go." Phanza gave the command and we all boarded the Ultimate once again. I took a seat in the cockpit next to Yevenna, Ceyla in the pilot's seat and Phanza next to her, the separated by the navicompter and the receptacle for the wayfinder. I took a deep breath as I realized I was going to see clones again, thousands of identical faces of my former friends and comrades, just under those all too familiar helmets. I was going to have to shoot many of them dead, after all, Phanza was clear that no witnesses was crucial to this operation. Not only did I have to do that, but I needed to kill them quickly. Ideally, all the clones would die before they could send any outside report, if that didn't work, then the plan was to get in and out before Imperial reinforcements arrived. That second part was, of course, easier said than done, and that only added to the stress of this mission.
The Ultimate stopped short of Loukhamii, this was in order to activate the cloaking device. Suddenly, the ship became invisible from the outside, and, not only that, but active jamming technology worked to make it invisible on any radar or scanners, particles of ice from the rings of Taaszon were dumped over the engines too, to mask the heat presence of the thrusters. The cloaking device and the accessories to it really did make the ship disappear, but it came with a price. A number of prices really, one: the cloaking device didn't work in hyperspace, so an immediate fast escape wasn't an option if something did give us away. Two: the Ultimate had its black angular armored plating, some of these plates could retract to reveal the ship's extensive arsenal, however, the cloaking device couldn't handle that, so weapons weren't an option either. Finally: while invisible at a distance, we could still be seen up closer by the naked eye - it was difficult to miss a starship-shaped distortion of the stars and wild space behind it - meaning our cover would be blown as soon as we made a move to actually enter the space station. It was imperfect, but we didn't exactly have any better options, so I readied my two blaster pistols.
They weren't ideal, I would much rather have had my double-bladed lightsaber, but I understood the present circumstances. It didn't matter what weapon I was most comfortable with, it mattered what weapons would allow for plausible deniability - everything we had to use on this mission was either going to be separatist equipment or things that the separatists could conceivably get - now, at the same time, we weren't exactly going to riddle separatist paraphernalia around the place either. It had to be conceivable as a rogue attack by a separatist survival cell, one which would obviously not want to be caught. I, especially, wanted that. It was perhaps a little naive of me, but I wanted to hope that there was a conceivable way for this mission to end without the Empire identifying a suspect. I wanted the Empire to have to wonder who did it, because maybe that way those on Loukhamii wouldn't have to suffer for our crimes. I could tell myself that they were separatists and that they deserved it, but I knew that wasn't true.
Separatist civilians were innocent of the Clone Wars. They legitimately believed that the Republic was going down the wrong path and they wanted to break away, they didn't know that their cause had been co-opted by corporate interests and, worse, the Sith. They were victims of Palpatine just as much as the people of the former Republic, and the people of Loukhamii were even going so far as to resist Palpatine and his reign. These separatist holdouts weren't our enemies, they never were, and, perhaps, they could even serve as our allies. I did recognize that I was, perhaps, being a bit too idealistic though. Phanza and the rest of us didn't want to spend any more time in the Loukhamii system than strictly necessary, and the Empire wold attack whoever they damn well please, regardless of our actions. This might spark reprisals, but make no mistake, Palpatine intended to crush this resistance sooner rather than later anyway. At least, that is what I tried to tell myself to justify this mission for myself, because I knew that this was the right thing for Taaszon.
"Our scanners show that a group of ARC fighters are preparing for a patrol. We're going to have to take that opportunity to slip into the hangar. The rayshield will be open and, if we do stay out, the fighters will catch us." Ceyla explained, showing that it truly was now or never. I took a deep breath and steeled myself as the three fighters left the hanger. The colorful, heroic red and white paint scheme of the Republic fighters was replaced with a uniform gray and black scheme, as if it was Palpatine's whole mission to sanitize the galaxy and rob it of all individuality. Everything had to fit his austere Imperial theme, everything had to be forced to submit before the uniform image of the Empire. I didn't have much time to remark on these fighters however, because, soon after, the Ultimate lurched forward. Ceyla tightly turned the ship left into the hangar, docking in the space station. The cloaking device no longer necessary, Ceyla and Phanza got to work, dropping the disguise and opening up some of the panels on the ship, revealing both the landing gear and the weapons.
"I'm deploying the localized jammer, we have enough power to keep this hangar from reporting to the security office for thirty minutes." Phanza explained, activity a device on the ship and giving her and Ceyla a time table with which to destroy the security office. At the same time, Ceyla used a gun mounted on the nose of the craft to gun down the clones in the hangar, clearing a landing zone for us. Yevenna and I, meanwhile, got up and heading to the landing ramp, standing there at the ready, just waiting for the ramp to open before storming out of the ship and hitting the remaining clones hard. I was somewhat relieved at this stage, actually preferring that I had the blaster pistols now. Shooting at the clones was a lot more impersonal compared to having to go face to face with my corner comrades and cut them up. Though again, that was mostly just me struggling to find a bright side to this situation.
"The ramp is opening, get ready!" Yevenna shouted as soon as we touched down and the landing ramp began lowering. I took one more breath and readied myself, feeling the Force flow through me as we readied ourselves. Finally, the ramp hit the ground and the two of us stormed out, Yevenna eagerly opening fire with her twin pistols and I followed with slower, less experienced shots. Taking time to aim and using the Force to augment my shots did help me score hits on the clones, but I clearly was not as experienced in this department as the Mandalorian was. I kept my high accuracy approach as Yevenna launched herself into the air with her jetpack, gunning down the clones who took cover. Anyone who popped up was quickly shot down by me, and anyone who remained ducked down felt Yevenna come down with a storm of blaster fire on them. We were making good progress, and, at the same time, Ceyla and Phanza emerged from the cockpit. I watched as Ceyla, seizing the opportunity, released her backpack missile on the control center for the hangar, ensuring that they couldn't contact the security office even if we stopped jamming them. Of course, the security office would still respond if they received no word from this hangar after some time, but Ceyla and Phanza were more than capable of neutralizing the security office before then.
Black laser bolts flew threw the room as Phanza opened fire with a long and elegant scoped blaster pistol. I could clearly tell that Phanza Attam favored her lightsaber, as all Force users did, but she seemed to look perfect with this blaster pistol as well. The blaster bolts themselves were interesting - they were reminiscent of her red and black lightsaber, but rather than the red glow, these black bolts seemed to have a plain white one - on top of that, they were also extremely deadly. As Phanza shot two clones dead, I noticed that the wounds still burned with a black and white smoke, exactly the same color as her blaster pistol. It was a deadly weapon, certainly not one I wanted to be on the receiving end of, and Phanza seemed almost arrogant as she holstered the weapon yet again. The Nautolan smirked as well, which didn't exactly help matters. Perhaps she was taking some of her aggression at Operator Rahlkann out on these clones.
"Call us on the mics if anything goes wrong, otherwise, head right back here when you're done. If we arrive first, we'll have the ship fired up and ready to go, otherwise, you fire up the ship and wait for us." Phanza ordered as we split up. A fast escape was important to this plan, after all, it only took the slightest mistake to have the Empire come crashing down on us. That is why I think Phanza and Ceyla are going to head for the security room first - I would imagine that they would even go so far as to clear it out before rigging it to blow - and I hope they do, because I do no want to see any one of these three ships getting word of our attack and slipping away, especially not if Yevenna and I were onboard when it happened. I think the two of us are good fighters, but I can't see us two commandeering a star destroyer all on our own. In any case, I hope it doesn't come to that, I would prefer if this operation goes smoothly.
Yevenna and I headed out of the hangar and followed the circular structure of the space station - the Empire was still relying on Republic designs and equipment, I've been on stations of this exact design once or twice before - heading to the docks for the first of the three star destroyers. As we walked, I noticed that the red armored Mandalorian had holstered her pistols and switched to the rifle she had with her ever since we left for Cipher-9, and I had to imagine that meant that her instincts were expecting the arrival of some clones any moment now. The hallway was about to narrow and straighten out when Yevenna suddenly took cover on one side of the narrowing, I mimicked her actions on the opposite side, raising an eyebrow as I wondered what was going on. The Mandalorian helmet, unfortunately, wasn't all that expressive. Yevenna threw a charge onto the roof - a little disk off of her belt - and she motioned for me to wait. It was soon revealed why as a patrol of clones rounded the corner and rushed into the hallway.
The clones filed in, perhaps even to investigation the commotion in the hangar, but then Yevenna deployed her charge. A sonic boom filled the hallway, killing some clones instantly, knocking others around, and disorientating the rest. I didn't even hesitate and I popped out of cover and unloaded both my blaster pistols into the hall, taking down any clones who survived, before Yevenna could even spring into action with her rifle. The last clone fell and I lowered my arms, holstering my blasters, and taking a moment to realize what I had done. A whole hallway of dead clone troopers, my former friends, right in front of me, and it was my doing. Perhaps I would've been able to stomach it under different circumstances, perhaps I would have been able to use their faceless helmets to dehumanize them in my mind, but the visor of the clone right under the charge had been shattered. I saw, through the mangled remains of that helmet, the face of the clones I had fought with. I saw the faces of Warlock, Wishlist, Warden, Witchcraft, Winch...all of them. They may have betrayed me, they may have led to Master Avdune's death, but they saved my life so many times before that, they fought alongside me so many times, they had been my friends...
"Zaliza...I'm so-look, I'm sorry, but...we need to keep going. We still have a mission to complete. A mission, you remember that right? You're with me, Zaliza, right? Me? Yevenna Aphlen? Your friend?" Yevenna asked, the Mirialan even taking off her helmet out of worry over how disconnected I seemed in that moment, but I snapped out of it. She was right, we did have a mission to finish, and we haven't even armed one of the cruisers yet. I was well aware of the fact that clones were going to die in this mission - we were blowing up three Venators and a space station after all - so why did it affect me so much? These men, these particular men even, could be Jedi killers for all I know. They may have gunned down a Jedi Knight or even a Master without a second thought, because of what? Brainwashing? Mind control chips? I wasn't entirely sure, but I did know that I shouldn't have complete sympathy for these clones. It didn't matter if they looked like my former comrades, right now, they were instruments of Palpatine, working to make the galaxy suffer.
"Right, right, lets go." I finally recovered, Yevenna and I rushing off the the first of the three ships - though not before Yevenna picked up the charge she used, paying close attention to not leaving behind any damming evidence - our first target. I wasn't sure exactly which ship we were hitting and when we were doing it - even if ships had their own strong identity before the Imperial takeover, Palpatine was making all of that disappear now - but I did know that we reached the first ship without much further resistance. Whichever ship this was, they were all configured basically the same, and we had a reactor to strike. Thus, Yevenna and I proceeded through the open airlock, exiting the space station and entering the first star destroyer. I took note of the fact that the decor hardly changed as we switched over, the same uniform interior design present in both the space station and this star destroyer. Considering that the airlock had been entirely open when we passed through - the space station had an insulating sleeve over the airlock, meaning that doors weren't necessary in this case, the whole apparatus was sealed shut from space - an untrained eye may not even recognize we changed vessels.
"This way," I whispered to Yevenna as I led the way to the engine room, doing my best to avoid the clone troopers. Hiding was somewhat easier said than done considering that I was dressed in black and purple robes while Yevenna was in a red and black suit of Mandalorian armor - neither of which particularly blended in with the gray, black, and white decor of a star destroyer - but the ship was also a big place and we were able to stay out of the path of the patrols we did encounter, regardless of our colorful outfits. We could win a fair fight against these patrols, we had the firepower to do so, but Yevenna and I both preferred not to try it - first of all because any commotion could draw more clones to the scene, second of all because I didn't particularly want to kill any more clones - managing to make our way to the engine level. I covered Yevenna as she took out a security spike and opened up the door to the engine room, knowing that there would be guards inside and that particular fight would be unavoidable.
"Ready? Now!" Yevenna declared, the door opened and I immediately rose a blaster and shot the clone at the communication station dead - the last thing we needed was to get to the engine room only for the clones to sound the alarm - the other clones rose their blasters at me in response. I reached into the Force, not trusting my eyesight, but rather trusting in the natural power within me to line up my blaster and pull the trigger, and the Force didn't let me down. Time and time again, my shots landed, and, at the same time, Yevenna opened fire with her rifle, rapidly finishing off the remaining clones before any of them could make it to the communication station. A silent glance at each other and we both got to work, Yevenna Aphlen heading to arm the reactor, while I set to work cleaning this mess up, not trying to leave any evidence behind. We had to make sure the clones would remain unaware of our activities for long enough for us to get everything rigged to blow. An empty engine room was suspicious, but an engine room with dead bodies all over it left no room for interpretation.
I started with gently lifting the dead clone off of the communication console, making sure his body didn't bump into any of the buttons on the console and accidentally alert the bridge. I managed to maneuver the clone out of the console and then, left without much other option, I unceremoniously dumped him off the catwalk. The reactor was essentially in a massive room, extending from the bottom of the star destroyer all the way to the top of it, and the exterior walls were a far way off as well, and all of this was as a safety measure. An explosion of the reactor would take out the whole ship and then some, there's no avoiding that, but this large room was designed to shield other parts of the ship in the event of a radioactive leak or a power surge off of the reactor. Regardless of the reasoning, the room was so big it looked like an endless drop from this catwalk, so I threw the clone corpses down there, encasing them in the shadows. The last clone body was disposed of as Yevenna finished priming the explosive on the reactor - buried in such a place where it was not immediately evident - again, the point was not to avoid suspicion, simply to avoid getting caught for long enough for our plan to succeed.
"One down, two to go." Yevenna summarized as we made our way out of the engine room and off the ship, continuing our mission.
"We're priming the second engine room, how is it going on your end?" I asked Phanza over the holocommunicator as, the second time around, I decided to be quite a bit smarted about disposing of the clones. Rather than manually throwing each of them over the edge, I levitating their bodies up with the Force and released them over the void, letting the ship's artificial gravity do the rest. That, obviously, meaning that I was done before Yevenna was, so, while keeping an eye out for future intruders, I took the opportunity to contact Phanza, wondering how the Nautolan Sith and the Echani Mandalorian were doing.
"We took over and neutralized the security center, placing the separatist charges. Right now, Ceyla and I are placing charges on the superstructure of the space station. That way, anything that survives the explosions within the base and off the star destroyers suffers from the depressurization." Phanza explained, revealing the overlapping contingencies within her plan. Between the explosions inside the space station and the reactors of three star destroyers going off right next to the space station, it was very likely that the whole thing would be destroyed, but, even if it wasn't, the exposure to open space would finish the job. The space station and the star destroyers weren't going to survive this operation, we were sure of that. Technically speaking, the star destroyers were the only necessary target anyway, since they had the combat data, but taking out the space station would, one: hurt the Empire more, and two: make more sense as an operation by the Loukhamii separatists. A group trying to liberate their whole planet would want to destroy the Empire's whole presence in the skies above them, not just the three star destroyers dispatched to crush them. We were doing everything we could to maintain this deception.
"How exactly are you doing that?" I asked. Ceyla had her jetpack, so presumably the Mandalorian was just floating as she armed bombs to the supporting pillars of the super structure, but how was Phanza doing that?
"I'm levitating, obviously. I would've thought that holding a 110 pound object still for a few moments at a time with the Force was well within your skill level." Phanza replied, and I could practically feel the Sith Lord smirking as she spoke. Yes, I could hold a Phanza sized object still for a few moments, even pull her back up if I had enough focus, but it took quite a bit of focus and spatial awareness to do that to yourself. There was also the fact that, as Phanza has already demonstrated a fair bit, she's proficient enough in using the Force that she doesn't need to channel her power through her arm. If I was holding Phanza still, I would have to reach for her, sending the power through my hand, but she's obviously levitating herself just fine. That was indicative of a level of ability with the Force that I simply didn't possess, and it only made Lady Attam seem that much more powerful.
"You don't have to mock me." I replied, my tone was tight in reply. Not only was Phanza flaunting her own power, but the way she said it implied that this was a simply, almost juvenile ability, as if it was laughable that I was a Force user this old who couldn't levitate. Well, the fact is, I can't levitate, I wouldn't trust myself over that kind of drop, even if I do know I could hold an object of my weight with the Force. I mean, I just held and dropped those clones who were, one: larger than me, and two: wearing a suit of armor, but I didn't trust myself levitating myself. It was easier to focus on an external object than focusing on holding myself, and I didn't care if that made me sound weak or stupid in some way. I knew I was capable of doing great things with the Force - this whole mission I've been throwing clones a lot and using the Force to aim my shots - but I also knew that I had limits.
"I'm not mocking you, Zaliza. In fact, I believe that you're actually stronger than me in the Force. The only thing that is potentially holding you back is your unwillingness to use all sides of the Force. The Force is not an omnipotent being waiting to punish you, it is a natural force and you have the ability to manipulate it, to tap into it, and to use it. I am one hundred percent confident that you could learn to levitate." Phanza explained, again getting into her ideology, basically reducing the Force to a weapon. I had to admit, she did make it sound a bit foolish to think that the Force was a greater being than we were, as if it was some boogeyman that could hit back at any moment. Perhaps the Force wasn't that, but there were absolutely consequences to abusing the Force. The hideous, gray, scarred face of Chancellor Palpatine nowadays is proof of that, a disfigured old man, but one with all of the power of the Dark Side at his disposal. I know that Phanza insists that the Force can be forced to submit and the Dark Side can be used without consequences, but I have to admit, I find that hard to believe.
"Look...now is not the time. We'll talk on the ship or something." I deviated, ending the call as I saw Yevenna finish up with the bomb. The blue hologram of Phanza faded away and I put my communicator away before the two of us slipped out of the second engine room. Two of the star destroyers were armed to blow, the security center of the space station was taken over, and Phanza and Ceyla were arming the super structure itself - we were almost done with this mission. I didn't want to take a sigh of relief too early, but this mission was going well, and, in fact, it continued going well. Yevenna and I even managed to get off of the second ship, head through the space station, and board the third Venator without getting caught, this mission was going better than I could have possibly expected. Of course, I loved that this was going well, I didn't want to have to fight and kill clone troopers - now, of course, I was completely aware of the fact that all of the clones on these vessels were going to die when we blew up the separatist explosives, but that was far less personal - I understood that this was a necessary act in opposition for the Empire, but it still hurt to kill the faces of the people who I fought alongside for the entire Clone Wars.
Yevenna Aphlen and I managed to sneak through the star destroyer yet again, another good sign. Once again, the Mandalorian hacked the door - she was, admittedly, better at demolitions and hacking than I was - one consequence of being a Jedi is an overdependence on the Force and my lightsaber. In conventional circumstances, I would cut down this door with my lightsaber and then blow the clones away with the Force, but we were trying to be stealthy here, hiding our identity and trying to make this attack seem like a separatist strike. I took a deep breath and, once the door opened, I shot down the clones again, clearing the first walkway. The four catwalks of this room converged on the reactor, and Yevenna and I moved out as we gunned down the clones on the other walkways, trying to be rapid about this. In these fights, speed was of the essence, because any moment the clones could call for reinforcements. A final two clones from the opposite walkway rounded the reactor. I rose my left hand and gunned down the one on the left while, next to me, Yevenna raised one of her blaster pistols and killed the one on the right, our actions in perfect sync. Aphlen holstered her pistol and went to work arming the final reactor as I used the Force to dispose of the clones.
"...protocols, with which our troops will be ready to - where are the patrols?" I ducked behind the communication console and Yevenna used the reactor for cover while still arming the charge, both of us trying to hide from the two Imperial officers who just entered the room. I cursed mentally, this was not good. One officer unholstered his blaster pistol and the other readied his com, ready to contact the bridge. Ideally, Yevenna and I would shoot one each, but she was busy arming the reactor, meaning that it wasn't an option this case. I did, however, have two pistols in my capacity. I could, theoretically, shoot both, but I was running out of time. The first officer started rounding the reactor, coming close to discovering Yevenna, while the other kept standing on the other side of the reactor, where I couldn't shoot him directly. I took a deep breath and made a decision, based on the fact that Phanza said I was strong in the Force.
I aimed my blaster pistol at the one rounding the reactor, confident in my ability to hit him directly without the Force, and I prepared to use the Force to make my second shot work. I was going to shoot up in the arm with my right blaster and, then, I was going to use the Force to angle it down and to the left, going back around the reactor and killing the second officer. I exhaled, mentally preparing myself, and I took my shots. The first officer, rounding the reactor on the left, was shot in the far shoulder, not a fatal shot, but the force of it also knocked him off the platform, sending him screaming to his death. That scream wouldn't told the second officer exactly what was going on and he could've alerted the bridge if I wasn't careful, but, fortunately, both shots were simultaneous. The second blaster bolt came around and hit the second officer right square in the chest, killing him instantly. I took the opportunity to sigh in relief before disposing of the second officer's body. Yevenna armed the bomb and, just like that, our part of the mission was complete, with minimal incident too.
"I mean, I do think it's a shame that the Imperials are going to target Loukhamii in response, but, like you said, the Empire was going to target them anyway. They knew what the price was when they rose up against the Empire. It's not like we could take credit either, because then it's going to be Taaszon which is gonna get targeted. It's a - they're coming." Yevenna and I were just talking about the morality of this mission when we heard a hail of blaster fire, a hail of blaster fire which was getting closer. Naturally, we assumed this was Phanza and Ceyla. Yevenna took the pilot seat, firing the ship up, while I hopped in the copilot seat and took control of the nose gun, swinging it around and getting a feel for the controls.
"Go! Go! Go!" Phanza shouted as she and Ceyla ran for the ramp, Imperials behind them. I gave them covering fire as they boarded the ramp, and the moment they were both on it, Yevenna swung the Ultimate out of the hangar and simultaneously raised the ramp. Phanza and Ceyla rushed straight to the cockpit as soon as they were aboard.
"They'll have fighters heading after us any moment and they'll check for explosives, you need to blow it as soon as we're clear." Ceyla advised, taking a grim estimation of events. The two of them took seats in the back, Phanza priming the detonator as none of us had any time to shift position.
"Wait for it...wait for it..." Phanza knew that time was up against us, but she also knew that the explosion from the space station and the star destroyers was going to be a big one. It was going to take some distance before we were safe, and we couldn't promise that the detonator would work when we were in hyperspace. Phanza took a look at the distance between us and the space station, took a breath though gritted teeth, and hit the detonator "Now!"
The explosion of the space station and the Venators detonated behind us, all of it blowing up as we finally won a victory over the Empire. The four of us wanted to celebrate, making good of the costly information from Cipher-9...but then the shockwave reached us. The last thing I felt was the ship lurching forward from the blast as we were left alone and unconscious in the space above Loukhamii.