Hey, everyone! How are you all holding up on this warm night of Wednesday, October 14, 2020? I'm doing well, as I'm waiting on the revised draft of Ch. 39, and have been plenty busy with homework, exercising, reading, and other important stuff. Man, I can't believe I still haven't found a new job. Guess the job market's still in a bit of a bind these days, huh? Anyway, I wanted to let you know that I'm going to try and work on Ch. 40 while I still have some time before work starts back up in at least a month. I hope you're all ready for a big action-packed chapter, with plenty of planning and scheming by both sides. Well, I guess I'd better get started. May God be with us all in these difficult times.
(Friday, October 16, 2020 Addendum) Good evening, everyone! How are you all doing on this warm night? I'm hanging in there, as I might go vote early tomorrow morning, and do more homework and reading before writing. Oh, and I have an online job interview to take care of tomorrow, and that'll be a doozy. At least I found one place that might hire me. I just hope I can manage the interview and bag a new job, as I don't think the movie theater business will be recovering from this pandemic in the near future. Well, I'd better get back to writing, as I've got a long way to go with this chapter. May God be with us all in these difficult times, especially with the US 2020 Presidential Election right around the corner.
(Tuesday, October 20, 2020 Addendum) Hey, everyone! How are you all doing on this warm night? I'm doing well, as I finished a major project yesterday, and started on another one today. Man, is school being tough on me. At least I only have six more classes to take after this semester. And in better news, I have another job interview set up for this Thursday for a seasonal position at Home Depot. I just hope I can get the position. Sorry I haven't gotten this chapter finished yet, I've been busy with schoolwork. I'll be busy for a while, so I'll need to budget my time accordingly. In other news, I've been playing a lot of The Witcher III Complete Edition and have beaten both the base game and the Hearts of Stone DLC. I got over 300 Gamerscore points from the last few days. And now it's time to start on the Blood and Wine DLC in a couple days or so. I'm so looking forward to that arc. Well, that's enough talk for today. I'd better figure out what else to write about for tonight before I retire for the night.
Meanwhile, On Lothal
Within the Erudite Plains
Aboard the Outrider
"We're here." Vega said.
"You sure your vaunted senses aren't messing with you, Vega? Only things I see out here are giant rocks around for miles." Jaing skeptically asked.
"No. It's here. We both can feel the vergence in the Force." Eeth confirmed. "Don't you remember from Tau's records that the temple was constructed into the natural landscape? Set us down just outside the formation"
"Right." Jaing nodded, "But wasn't this temple specifically made to open only for Jedi, and a Master and Apprentice duo? Last I checked, we only have a Jedi Knight and a retired Jedi Master with us, so I don't think that qualifies."
"We'll just have to improvise." Vega sighed.
"I think we can make it work, considering that I returned to the Order as a Jedi Master shortly before our departure." Eeth acknowledged. "It may be rather unconventional, but since I've been helping Vega train and hone his skills, it should hopefully be enough to satisfy the temple's requirements."
"So, we're gonna sneak into an old Jedi temple through a loophole in the rules?" Chelli surmised, "That's kinda funny."
"It is." Micah confirmed, firmly warning her, "And we'll need to listen to the Jedi and Captain Jaing when we enter the structure, because Force knows what defenses the ancient Jedi left behind to protect this place. That means no going off exploring on your own, okay?"
"Okay, Dad." Chelli sighed before she mischievously smirked, "But I guess the same rule applies to you too. You do love to look at all the fancy writings these temples leave behind."
Warmly shaking his head at her daughter's smart mouth, the archeologist admitted, "I guess I do. I suppose you had to pick up your eager pursuit of knowledge from someone."
"All right. I think you two've had enough father-daughter time for one day. Let's finally get this mission underway." Jaing bluntly interrupted the two Aphras as he set the ship down and prepared to depart it.
Meanwhile, In the Nihil Retreat
Aboard the First Light's Main Hangar
"Be on your guard from the Yuuzhan Vong, for even a handful of them will be just as deadly as the best Jedi Knights that lived before the Purge began." Maul warned his squads of Mandalorian Supercommandos from within their ambush positions.
"Please. How can a bunch of nature-lovers possibly be a threat to us, Lord Maul?" Tiber Saxon, Gar's younger brother, arrogantly asked the Dathomirian Zabrak.
"Do not underestimate them, Captain. Even one of them proved to be a challenge for me in my younger days, and she was not at full strength. These warriors will be far deadlier than the gladiator, and the New Republic has a small army of them.
"Make sure that the Yuuzhan Vong and any other New Republic forces do not interfere in my fight with Kenobi and his Jedi once I give the signal. I wish to test the full extent of my new abilities against our enemies, without any interference." Maul concluded his orders with an air of finality as the four Jedi Starfighters and four Yuuzhan Vong transports landed.
They opened to reveal three Jedi Masters Maul instantly recognized: Obi-Wan Kenobi, Rahm Kota, and A'Sharad Hett. Each Jedi was a reputed military leader and Jedi of esteemed renown from the Clone War, and they would each prove to be a worthy challenge for the former Sith Lord.
But the blue-haired human woman that accompanied them, Maul did not recognize, even though she had a strong connection with the Force. Perhaps she was a new recruit, or a Teutonic Knight loaned to them for this mission.
In a way, the situation reminded him of his failure at Naboo. Qui-Gon Jinn had been his first and only Jedi Master kill, and he'd very nearly been overwhelmed by the humans almost ruthless determination. Without the perfect timing of that ray-shield to give Maul time to breath and dry the Jedi to the position where he killed him, the Zabrak was certain Qui-Gon could've easily knocked him into the reactor shaft.
Now, he'd have to do the same against four Jedi and whoever else they brought with them. He would not lie, the prospect gave him a shiver of fear. Especially since he needed to ensure the resulting battle didn't cripple his flagship or kill any of his vital lieutenants.
Pushing such thoughts aside, he emerged from the shadows with a fanged grin, "Welcome, Master Jedi. I suppose I should be flattered that you came all this way to track me, given the fact that you have far greater enemies than me."
The Tusken was the first to counter, pointing his emerald saber at him. "You have information we need to stop one of those enemies, and you've been a thorn in the galaxy's side for long enough. It's time that you were excised from the galaxy like the cancer that you are."
"We will give you one chance to surrender, Maul," Kenobi added, "while you must answer for your crimes, you will receive a fair trial. That much I promise. Your revenge must end here."
Maul darkly chuckled at that. "A generous offer, Kenobi, but I must pass. For I am not here for vendetta's sake; I hurt you enough when I murdered the Duchess. No, I am here on far more ambitious goals now, and I have the power to achieve them."
"Your alliance with Salem, you mean?" Rahm probed.
"Far more than that, General Kota. Just as you all are about to find out the hard way." Maul acknowledged as he gathered his dark energies to attack, just as the Yuuzhan Vong warriors finished debarking their organic vessels.
Pulling out his ancient Sith cane, he activated his double-bladed lightsaber within, and provided the signal for his men to split up the New Republic force.
Launching their rockets from their hidden positions, the Mandalorians destroyed two transports and all of the Jedi's Starfighters.
Tiber smiled satisfyingly at the destruction, and ordered all his men, "Attack!"
They quickly launched themselves at the Yuuzhan Vong, just as Maul unleashed a flurry of Force Lightning to separate the Jedi from their allies.
Now, the real fun begins. Tiber eagerly mused as he activated his vibrodagger against one of the New Republic Vong.
Meanwhile, In Orbit Above Tython
Aboard the Bellicose
Within the Command Center
Darth Bahl'al was reviewing the many reports that were coming in from his agents across the galaxy, and each operation was proceeding all according to his plans:
The Tython System's first two Phalanx Dreadnaughts' outer hulls were about halfway completion, while the installation of the core systems was now underway, and the development and construction of the warships' super lasers were well underway.
In addition, the Dark Side Elite Program was swelling with recruits from both within the Imperial's ranks and in its prisoners' ranks, with its numbers making their way to precisely one hundred followers, and that was just the tip of the iceberg for his program's efforts.
Once his three most loyal and competent Inquisitors, Trilla Suduri, Macara Tide, and Sariss, had recovered the list that the deceased Jedi Master Bodo Baas had hidden in order to prepare for the Jedi Order's fall and rebirth, every single Force-Sensitive in the known galaxy would join the Dark Side's ranks, and secure the Empire's future for all of eternity.
Pushing the future out of his mind for now, for Bahl'al knew that no plan was ever assured of victory, he returned his focus towards the construction of the prototype fleet of Star Destroyers within the Kuat Drive Yards.
He would have preferred that one of the shipyards in the Deep Core would have taken on this commission, given that the Star Destroyers were each equipped with an Isotope-5 reactor that had been discovered and utilized by Revitalized Sith Empire during the latter two Galactic Wars. Such a rare and powerful element had made these Destroyers far more dangerous than their ordinary counterparts but required the utmost secrecy in order to ensure that the enemy did not steal them for themselves.
Unfortunately, the Emperor had considered this a test for the Sith Apprentice to see if he could live up to the initiatives he was proposing for the Empire, and to see how he could handle a more subtle and covert task instead of the brute force work the original Vader was accustomed to.
Bahl'al briefly wondered if Sidious wanted him to fail in order to have an excuse to remove him from command and resume total control of the war effort. Fortunately for him, he almost immediately brushed aside those paranoid fantasies and returned to reality.
Both Sith Lords knew that they needed each other in order to survive the Empire's growing list of enemies, and they needed to work in perfect synchrony for each of their designs were to reach completion. Which meant that for now, the Banite Sith's most vital tradition of struggle between master and apprentice would be forestalled for the Empire's greater good.
Resuming his purview of his agents' reports, he turned to the datapad on Lothal and its rumored Jedi Temple, and noticed several minor anomalies in the data that reached the highest levels of the planetary government: Someone in the Governor Ryder Azadi's office was moving around large sums of money to finance operations that had gone unreported in the Imperial network, and a Gotal minister was wanted in connection to a terrorist attack on a local residence.
In addition, several wanted individuals on the planet had disappeared before they could be apprehended. Finally, when pro-Jedi historian Antron Bach was captured on Lothal three years ago, a dozen of his illegal artifacts went unaccounted for, and were presumed to have been taken off world.
Couldn't hurt to have Imperial Intelligence take a look at the Lothal situation alongside Inspector Thanoth. Bahl'al mused, making a note to contact Cronal into sending an agent or two after he checked up on the arrival of his latest recruit's status.
Contacting Vader, he inquired, "Lord Vader, I trust that Jedi Uriel is secured and on his way to my facility?"
"He's in his quarters while under heavy guard and Force binders, per your recommendation. Curiously, he seems to be developing a friendly relationship with my men. Merits of shared complaining, I suppose."
"I see. I wish to speak to him at your nearest convenience."
"As you wish." Vader acquiesced before departing from the hologram, leaving Bahl'al to contemplate the new surge of Dark Side energy coming from a region of space unfamiliar to the Sith Apprentice.
While the galactic position was unfamiliar, he recognized the signature of the Dark Sider from his master's cloning experiments and wondered just how Maul could have become so powerful throughout the five years following the Clone War's conclusion.
Could this mysterious Salem have increased his connection to the Force, or did Maul somehow discover a Force Nexus that could augment his abilities? Well, he knew that merely thinking about the issue wouldn't solve anything, but he could prepare countermeasures whenever Maul made his move on the Empire. And perhaps he could convince Cradossk to find some independent bounty hunters to covertly investigate Remnant and see if any portion of Salem's power base can be turned to his side, or if any rituals she might have could be used by the Sith.
Meanwhile, Aboard the Yavanna's Forests
"Admiral, we've lost contact with Tulkas Platoon, and the Peregrine's reporting that several dozen squads of Supercommandos are wreaking havoc on its outer flanks." A communications officer advised Vem, who was studying the battle through his Cognition-hood.
The Yuuzhan Vong's quick and decisive thinking and aggressive response to Maul's psychic attack had kept the Shadow Collective from cutting a swath through the New Republic's fleet and allowed it to maintain its offensive.
Unfortunately, the combined force had still suffered high casualties from the brief period of disarray it suffered. As a result, it would need a bold and innovative new strategy quickly in order to secure victory from this uncertain battle.
Fortunately for the New Republic, Vem Carr had nearly completed work on just that sort of plan and would quickly work with Master Saa and the remaining fleet commanders in perfecting it before the battle became unwinnable.
Of course, the success of the strategy depended on the Jedi keeping Maul at bay for at least half an hour, and if Tulkas Platoon was eliminated as Vem suspected, then they would probably be hard-pressed to buy even half of that time.
Fifteen Minutes Later
Aboard the First Light's Main Hangar
So, this is how a Sith Lord fights! Arden observed as she ducked away from Maul's storm of lightning while A'Sharad and Rahm were blasted by a wide telekinetic wave across the deck. That left her and Obi-Wan to engage the empowered warlord, and both were already left battered by his relentless assault.
And yet, as she saw the two men rolling along with the blast, she felt something… unnatural, about the Zabrak.
She knew from the Jedi's reports that he was a formidable adversary, but how could he have increased his reservoir of Force energies so quickly? He had launched barrage after barrage at the Jedi, but he showed no signs of exhaustion or fatigue. And how did he mastered the art of Force Lightning when all reports indicated that he had no prior training with the technique?
Her reflections were interrupted by Obi-Wan's labored taunting, "I take it Salem gave you these new powers in exchange for your service towards her? I'd have thought the services of a Sith Lord of your caliber, even a disgraced one, would be worth more than a few new abilities."
Simply smirking, Maul gloatingly answered, "She taught me many useful skills, more than you and your feeble Jedi mind could possibly comprehend, Kenobi. And far more than Sidious could ever hope to achieve. Allow me to demonstrate one of the darkest of them for you."
He launched another storm of lightning at them, before reaching out and lifting a struggling Rahm into the air. He quickly pulled the grizzled human towards him until he gripped his neck with enough force to nearly break the Jedi Master's spine. Then, something horrible and unspeakable began: Rahm began to feel his connection to the Force drain away from him and be absorbed by Maul.
"NO!" The three Light-Siders, including a rising A'Sharad, horrifically screamed as they rushed to prevent the transference, but it was far too late.
Already, Maul could feel his connection in the Force grow immensely stronger with every passing second. He was all but bursting with power, and the darkness within him begged for release. So, he simply gave it an outlet, and unleashed a primal scream that blew away the three incoming enemies, leaving several burns on their bodies as their clothes were set on fire from the combustible atoms.
He was not done. In fact, he was just getting started. The ex-Sith Lord was still full of energy and rage that needed release and immediately aimed the surge of Dark Side energy at ten Yuuzhan Vong warriors that was on the verge of ending the lives of Tiber and his personal retinue of Supercommandos.
Focusing on the air that surrounded the Force-immune warriors, he immediately stopped the flow of oxygen from their windpipes, and the extragalactic aliens were left completely vulnerable to the Zabrak's Force-guided lightsaber swing, which left them feeling rather… lightheaded.
The lead Yuuzhan Vong Warrior, seeing the battle had irrevocably turned against the New Republic, quickly contacted Vem with his villip, "Admiral, the Jedi and my men are being decimated by Maul and his Mandalorians. He's far too powerful for us. We need an immediate diversion so we can evacuate the First Light."
"Acknowledged, Captain. I'll divert a force to your position immediately to cover your withdrawal. Just focus on saving your remaining men and the Jedi." Vem replied.
"Oh, I don't think that will be needed, Admiral Carr." Maul chuckled after he grabbed the villip, maintaining the unorthodox communication through his training with Salem's allied Vong. "As a matter of fact, I'm going to let your Jedi and your men go this time, as you are, for the moment, far more valuable to me alive than dead."
"What are you talking about, you dishonorable Sith?" Vem spat.
Ignoring the chance to trade verbal barbs with a leading Yuuzhan Vong after the species destroyed their own galaxy, Maul explained, "You and your New Republic are distracting my master from me and my own plans and keeping him from hunting my Shadow Collective, so I guess you could say that I owe you a favor. Besides, I will deal with you all in due time, so there is no need to rush things along and risk biting off more than I can chew."
"And what is to stop my fleet from destroying yours once you let the Jedi go?" Vem warned him.
"Because, if you continue your attack, I will destroy the minds of the Jedi and Minister Bel Iblis and continue to decimate your fleet before your surviving forces leave the system. Imagine how much that will set back your cause for freedom without three of its high councilors, one of the only two Jedi in their ruined order that knows Battle Meditation, and over two-dozen of its capital ships and all of its personnel." Maul gloated, turning the villip to allow Vem to see the burnt and wounded forms of the four Jedi.
Snarling in anger, Vem reluctantly nodded, "I will begin pulling back my forces and withdraw, but only when the Jedi and my surviving soldiers have returned to a safe proximity to the fleet. Will that work for you?"
"That will be acceptable." Maul agreed, before exchanging one last taunt with the Admiral, "Your men fought well. They took down many of my Mandalorians before I stepped in. A shame you all are fighting for a lost cause such as the Jedi's."
"This isn't over." Vem angrily reminded him before turning off the villip.
For now, anyway. Maul smirked before he noticed Tiber and his retinue of Supercommandos about to execute the Jedi and blocking the surviving Yuuzhan Vong from protecting them, and he angrily ordered his troopers, "Have your men stand down, Captain Saxon. They are free to return to their fleet and withdraw from the system."
"But, my lord? We have the Jedi dead to rights, and you want to let them go?!" Tiber hatefully argued as he aimed his blaster at the downed and burnt Obi-Wan.
"I will not have my orders questioned by anyone. Especially not by an idiotic neophyte that has no true grasp of strategy and warfare. Now stand down, or I will put you down!"
Staring at the warlord for a moment before relenting, Tiber saluted his leader before allowing the surviving enemies to pick up their wounded, and escort them to their surviving transports.
As soon as they took off, Maul contacted Dryden, "Vos, I have defeated the Jedi, and arranged for the New Republic to withdraw from the system. Allow them to flee; but take care to capture or salvage any ships which can be repaired or salvaged for ours or our client's usage."
"Let them go?" Dryden repeated before realization of his master's strategy dawned on him. "Ah, now I see. Divide and paralyze the New Republic through fear and uncertainty, then. An excellent strategy, my Lord. I will spread the order throughout the fleet at once."
Twenty Minutes Later
In Hyperspace
Aboard the Gauntlet
115 Hours From the Tython System
Within the Gauntlet's Training Facility
"Whaddya want, Bahl'al? You's lackey already ensured that I can't have any good drinks, and I can't tell my stories to your boys without something to leave everyone parched or misty eyed." Connor groaned before he observed the Sith clone's setup for a training room.
Seeing the various combat droids, training remotes, and point-laser defense systems, Connor whistled, "Guess you Sith take your training very seriously."
"It helps for one to be properly motivated when you are surrounded by enemies on all sides." Bahl'al agreed, before daring to add, "I reviewed the footage of your battle on Kynachi, and I was impressed with your aptitude for combat and command of the Force. You must have inherited much of your skills from your father."
"Why are you asking these questions?"
"I merely wished to test your abilities before we reached my stronghold in order to assess your skill set, and your true training would begin."
"I see," Connor warily nodded, "and once you've come to yer conclusions? Then the brainwashin' starts?"
"That would be redundant, you are here of your own freewill. Besides, I'm more concerned about the prisoner from Occisor's Chaos cult. He and what he represents are far more dangerous to the Empire than the Jedi, for the power that they wield is virtually limitless and unknown to both our factions."
Connor's eyes darkened, "Lemme at him. I'll break him."
"You'll have your chance. In the meantime, use these facilities to train. Vader will observe, control the scenarios and send any relevant data to me. Don't expect him to go easy on you."
"I didn't expect him to. Let's get started."
Thirty Minutes Later
Aboard the Second Chance
Thirteen Hours and Ten Minutes From the Adegan System
"How are they?" Ahsoka worriedly asked Vem and T'Ra after they finished giving their report on this utter disaster of a mission.
No one expected the Shadow Collective fleet to survive the encounter with only fifteen percent losses, never mind Maul thoroughly devastating the New Republic's fleet through a psychic attack. And no one especially thought Maul could deal such horrific wounds to four of the New Republic's best operatives and leaders.
Clearly, they had underestimated their enhanced enemy, and paid a steep price for it with the loss of six capital ships, several escort craft, and three-dozen squadrons of fighters.
"They've sustained many injuries from Maul's attack, and Master Kota suffered much damage to his spinal cord." T'Ra gravely answered before calmly reassuring the Togruta, "But do not worry, Commander Tano. They are in intensive care and are being prepped for their bacta tanks. And Minister Bel Iblis is making excellent progress in his recovery, while Master Kota's connection to the Force is steadily returning. They're all going to pull through."
"That's the only good news we have from this disaster. But now we need to figure out just how the hell we went wrong on this operation, because we cannot allow this level of a defeat for us to repeat itself." Bail angrily shook his head.
"I think I know, and it's as simple as it is disgraceful for all of us." Tau grimly answered. "We grew too overconfident from our string of victories, and as a result, we underestimated our enemy and paid a steep price for it."
"I agree." Kal ruefully piped up. "It was bound to happen sooner or later, but at least we can have something beneficial come out of this disaster. We'll need to overhaul our war doctrine to be more flexible and versatile, all the while accelerating our naval buildup. And that means we need more shipyards and resources in order to build the ships from Tau's time, and especially more military minds to adapt to the tides of war."
No one could argue with such simple but decisive logic, but Anakin confusingly added, "Even so, none of that even comes close to explain how Maul was able to drain Rahm's Force energy, never mind use Force Lighting. I thought he didn't have any those abilities."
"Clearly, Salem must have found a way to artificially grant Maul these powers." Daniel pointed out. Given that Remnant was now at greater risk from the Shadow Collective's corrupting influence, he was invited to this meeting in order to represent and brief the rest of Remnant's leaders.
Sighing, Bail ordered Vem, "Send over all the data you gathered on Maul's fleet to Jedi Valo and our analysists. We cannot let a defeat of this magnitude happen again, especially not when the New Republic is still very fragile."
"I will do so right away, Sir."
"Good." Bail turned to Ventis, and ordered him, "I heard about your son's desperate gambit, and I sympathize with your dilemma. But the New Republic cannot launch any rescue mission for him, not when we don't even know which stronghold he's being taken to, especially in the heart of Imperial territory."
Ventis looked as if he wanted to protest the decision, nodded in deep regret, "I understand, Sir."
"But try to take comfort in the fact that your master and his wife will be working very hard for the New Republic to make amends for their lapse in judgement. And you have your family and their friends in your home sector to help you through this difficult period." Bail consoled him while sternly reprimanding the Palpatine couple.
"We will, Sir. I… We owe everyone a great deal for our recklessness, especially me. I'll do what it takes to make things right." Tau earnestly agreed with Ahsoka nodding in support.
"Good. Then as soon as you arrive to Ossus to pick up the Jedi and their most sacred artifacts, you will return straight to Varon to prepare for your role in the Chiss-New Republic summit. And to ensure that you don't pull any more dangerous and unauthorized stunts, Minister Mothma will be accompanying you."
Great. In addition to being without Ahsoka for a few weeks, now I have to deal with Mothma, her pacifistic approach and utter aversion to risks. Tau quietly groaned before nodding and respectfully adding, "I understand. But if I could make just one recommendation, allow me and Master Morne to try and awake Master Bnar from his slumber. We cannot leave anyone behind for the Sith's utter lack of mercy, especially a Jedi Master who's guarding a treasure trove of lightsabers."
"And how much time would you need for this extraction?" Wulff suspiciously asked.
"Give us no more than two hours, one hour, if that's all we have, to wake him up." Tau proposed. "If he doesn't wake up by then, then I suppose we'll have to cut our losses."
Bail looked at everyone, who didn't have any objections to the plan, nodded, "Very well. But make no mistake, consider the two of you on notice for the time being. No more mistakes."
"Yes, Chief Organa." Ahsoka dejectedly agreed.
"Good. Then get going, and may the Force be with you all." Bail said as he disconnected the comm channel.
"Well, I guess we've got some calls to make to your brother and family." Celeste observed from her seat.
"Calls? What are you talking about?" Ventis confusingly asked.
"Oh, come on, Ventis. Don't tell me you didn't catch Chief Organa's subtle hints. He wanted you to call your family and come up with a workable plan to rescue Connor." Ahsoka explained.
"He said that the New Republic couldn't get involved. But he didn't say anything about the Teutonic Sector. He's counting on you guys to figure something out. And the whole crew'll help out any way we can. I owe you that and so much more." Tau piped up.
"Yes, you do." Ventis coldly agreed before typing in his brother's holofrequency, and quickly advised the couple, "You ought to go for now, just so my brother doesn't try to swear an oath to kill you. He's even more protective of his family than I am."
One Hour Later
"You're kidding. Tell me you're kidding, Dad." Elias told his father after Ventis finished informing his family on Connor's disastrous predicament.
"I wish I was, Elias." Ventis despondently admitted.
"Well, what are we going to do about this?! We can't let Connor stay in Bahl'al's clutches, especially at the center of his powerbase and surrounded by legions of his men." Satele attempted to rally everyone.
"Satele, I want to help Connor as much as you do but going into the heart of Imperial territory alone would be suicide." Kaiden reminded his wife. "We don't have the power to break through the blockade around the Deep Core, and we can't risk losing the worlds under the New Republic's protection for just one man, even a member of the family."
"So, you're just going to give up on him? Just like that?" Elias disappointedly asked the Imperial defector.
"Of course not. I'm not a heartless monster." Kaiden ardently denied. "What I'm saying is that we can't go in there with guns blazing at the enemy, especially one that will be on the prowl for us when we do make our move."
"Then we'll rely on our brains and cunning instead of brute force." Robert replied, going along with Ventis and Benjen in this briefing to sway the Uriel family to partake in this rescue mission. "I've got a lot of favors in the Core Worlds and Deep Core, and this is a cause that's more than worthy of cashing them in for."
"If we do anything, we'll be on our own. I doubt the Chief Organa and the rest of the New Republic will be keen to expend resources for a personal suicide mission." Ventis warned everyone.
"Well, then we'd better get to work, because Connor doesn't have much time, and we need to come up with a plan before Ventis goes off to Chiss Space, and we need a plan to present to Teutonic High Command that'll approve." Benjen advised everyone.
Well, I think this is a good place to end the chapter for now. I hope you all enjoyed, as I'm sure that the multiple arcs will keep you all riveted for a while. Sorry that the Maul arc was so short, but with all of the ex-Sith Lord's powers that Salem's Grimm Parasite granted him, it was inevitable for him to beat all the Jedi. And I wish that Tau and Ahsoka didn't have to get punished, but there need to be consequences for radical and unauthorized action, even those that went off the rails due to unforeseen interference. So, how are you all holding up on this warm night of Wednesday, October 21, 2020? I'm doing well, as I bought a good lore book today, did a bit of homework, and have decided to take a break from The Witcher III to start Assassin's Creed: Liberation: Remastered Edition. It's pretty good so far, and I look forward to finishing it in a week or so. And, in better news, I've got a big job call tomorrow, and a job interview tomorrow, so I'd better take a break from writing in order to focus on schoolwork and my search for a job. Well, I guess I'd better get this chapter to Squasher and JSailer for their review and revisions. I hope you all have a blessed night, and Long Live the Expanded Universe!
