A Journey Throughout Time and Space: Part Point Sxe

by Deathshoki

Set six months after the incident in the Coruscant system, Grand Admiral Grant battles a small Rebel force in the Taldot Sector near Balamak when two unexpected ships appear.

1. Octavian Grant

I got all the Grand Admirals added for these stories! Horray! Not to tute my own horn or anything, but who can say that they got thirteen characters added to this site? Hm? No one I know. But to be fair, I only know one person who reads fanfics so... there's that. And people are using them too! Ah! I'm so happy and proud of myself. Anyway, this is the second prequel to my story 'A Journey Throughout Time and Space: Part Unce.' I've already written and plan on releasing two other stories before the events of that one and after this one. All of these are going to be short stories. Longer than my previous one (Part Point Fuv) but much shorter than my other ones. I'm writing these stories mainly for two reasons, one because I found the Grand Admirals and they're now my favorite part of Star Wars. I love them and the Imperial Civil War. They're so cool and it makes me so sad what Disney Star Wars could've been... But the second reason is I want them to get more attention. Also, the art for this story is made by my nephew. If you like it, follow him on Pinterest. His account is "AlijahArtz"

But as per the usual, please review for constructive criticism.

Over three years before the events on Hoth...

Grand Admiral Octavian Grant sat in his command chair on the bridge of his Star Destroyer, Oriflamme. He gazed out of the viewport at the agriworld of Balamak in the Taldot sector and the ensuing battle. Turbolasers were firing and starfighters were buzzing around the small Rebel fleet. TIE Fighters and Interceptors were engaging the enemy R-41 Starchasers, Rihkxyrk assault fighters and hunted down the NTB-630 naval bombers while the Oriflamme attacked the Rebel Assault frigate Mark I and Mark II, the Quasar Fire-class bulk cruiser and an MC40a light cruiser.

Grant was surprised that the Rebels were putting up a good fight. Even though the Oriflamme was outnumbered, she wasn't outgunned.

"Gunners," said Grant, "concentrate fire on the Quasar."

Grant watched as the octuple barbette turbolasers pierced the smaller ship's shields and broke the ship in two with the next shot.

"Bombers! Attack the MC! Fighters! Clear a path! Gunners! Target the Mark II Assault frigate!"

Grant heard a flurry of acknowledgments and saw his men follow orders.

"Sir!" the sensors officer called, "We have a large ship coming out of hyperspace right behind us!"

"What class?"

"Imperial, sir."

Grant did hear that the Tyrant disappeared in the sector recently. Grant had to act fast.

"Helmsman! Turn our port to the hyperlane."

"Yessir!"

If this was indeed the Tyrant and it got captured by the Rebels, then this simple battle with a small Rebel fleet would get dangerous.

The massive Imperial I-class Star Destroyer came out of hyperspace firing at the Oriflamme. The thought passed through Grant's mind that the ship mistook the Imperials as an enemy. But that thought was quickly proven wrong when the ship launched T-65 X-Wings.

"Comms! Send the distress call! Gunners! Target the shield generators! Interceptors! Disengage from current assignments and screen from enemy X-Wings!"

Grant stood and stared out the viewport. On his left was the Tyrant, now called Rebel Dream the sensors said. And on his right was a battered but not yet broken Mark II and MC40a with the fully functional Mark I wreaking havoc.

"Our port and starboard shields are almost down," called one of the officers.

The TIE Punishers that Grant had picked up from an earlier mission made their last run on the Mon Cal and got lucky. They hit the reactor. Grant watched as the viewports dimmed to near opaqueness because of the flash.

"Sensors! Report!" Grant barked.

"The bombers hit the Valiante and it blew!"

"What was the damage?"

"Whole flight of bombers destroyed. Rebel and TIE starfighters were too close to the blast. Only three flights of TIEs remain. The Mark II, Abolisher got singed and the Mark I, Captor got the whole starboard destroyed."

"What about the Rebel starfighters?"

"Only some wounded Starchasers are left and they're headed to the hyperlane."

Out of two squadrons of TIE Fighters and a squad of TIE Punishers, that was an acceptable loss.

"Tell the bombers to attack the Abolisher. And turn us to face the Tyrant."

The Grand Admiral could tell there was some hesitation from his crew but they obeyed. Now with the full might of the Oriflamme bearing down on the older ship, the battle turned. The only problem was the X-Wings. There were three squadrons of them and only a beaten down squad of TIE Interceptors.

"Order whatever is left of the TIEs to engage the X-Wings," Grant ordered.

Right now they were the biggest threat. The Imperial II could handle its older sister. But the smaller fighters were another thing. There were thirty-six, twelve and a half meter fighters with enough firepower to cripple Grant's ship. If that happened, then the older, less powerful Imperial I would finish them off.

Grant sat back down and watched the two Star Destroyers slug it out.

"Incoming proton torpedos! Brace for impact!" called another officer.

Grant braced in his chair and watched as the torpedos impacted against the Oriflamme's shields and shook the ship.

"Damage report!" Grant ordered.

"Forward shields down! Rebel Dream is hitting our hull!"

"Sir! Another Imperial-class is dropping out of hyperspace!"

"Is the Abolisher destroyed?"

"No, sir. Just crippled."

"Order the bombers forward to attack Rebel Dream."

"Yessir!"

Grant saw another Imperial I come out of hyperspace right behind Rebel Dream. Grant glanced at the sensors and was surprised to see it was Glory.

What is Zaarin doing out here? Grant thought to himself.

"Sir! Glory is launching TIE Defenders!"

The battle had turned. With two Star Destroyers attacking Rebel Dream, the ship tried to turn to escape.

"Disable that ship!" Grant ordered, "Let's return it to its proper owners."

The Oriflamme and Glory's ion cannons quickly shut her down after their combined turbolasers took down her shields.

"Send over a boarding party. Take no prisoners."

"Yes, sir."

"Sir! Admiral Zaarin is contacting you over your personal commlink!"

Grant turned on the privacy on his chair so no one but Zaarin could hear him and activated his comms. A hologram of Demetrius Zaarin appeared before Grant, "Grand Admiral Zaarin. Thank you for your assistance."

"Of course, Grand Admiral." He responded smoothly.

"What do you want in return?"

"Nothing but an hour of your time."

"Then talk."

"Not here. Not like this. I am on my way over to your ship in a shuttle now… so we can talk in person."

"Of course. I'll have you cleared and be down in the hanger for your arrival."

"Most kind, Grand Admiral. I'll see you shortly."

Grant deactivated his commlink and sat in his chair for a minute thinking. Why would Zaarin not want anything from Grant? Why didn't Zaarin rub it in Grant's face that he got tricked by the Rebels? What did Zaarin really want? Grant stayed away from Imperial politics, Moffs and his peers. But he knew from his time as a Tapani lord that Zaarin was up to something. And his gut said it wasn't good.

Grant stood, "Keep me updated on the status of Rebel Dream while I go greet our savior. Have a reception ready for him when I get down to the hanger."

"Yes, sir."

Grant looked out the viewport at the two Star Destroyers before he turned and walked out of the bridge. He straightened his white Grand Admiral's uniform while he was in the turbolift and headed to the hanger when he got out. Grant saw two rows of eight Stormtroopers waiting for him when he entered the hanger and watched the Lambda-class shuttle set down on the deck. He walked to the bottom of the boarding ramp of the shuttle and watched the other Grand Admiral walk down with an escort of two Stormtroopers.

The two men saluted each other, "May we talk in private?" Zaarin asked.

The bad feeling that was in Grant's chest was getting stronger but he replied with a yes and led the shorter man to his quarters. Zaarin left his guards at his shuttle, and when they arrived, Zaarin pulled out what Grant assumed was a listening device scanner.

"What's with all the secrecy?" Grant asked after he sat behind his desk.

"In this day and age, you can never know who's your enemy or who's your friend," Zaarin responded. He seemed satisfied and asked to sit.

Zaarin sat in the other chair when Grant asked, "Why're you way out here? Shouldn't you be in the Parmel sector?"

"I could ask you the same question."

"You first."

"I was in the Thanos system visiting a TIE facility. You?"

"I was putting down a Sneevel uprising in the Kastolar sector when Balamak called for help."

"The Tyrant was guarding this sector, wasn't it?"

"Before it was captured by the Rebels, yes."

"Hm. Moff Jormum is going to hear it from me for losing a Star Destroyer."

"Not if Seerdon gets to him first."

"Grand Moff Seerdon was replaced."

That surprised Grant, "Really?"

"He was replaced by Augustus Turnbull."

"I've never heard of him. Why was Seerdon replaced?"

"Because of the Death Star incident six months ago."

"I only heard it was destroyed when it crashed into Vandor-One in the Coruscant system."

"From what I've gathered from Grand Admirals Makati, Takel and Teshik, the station was escorted from the Mon Calamari system to the Kashyyyk system in the Mytaranor sector that's under the 'protection' of Grand Admiral Syn."

Grant forced himself to not roll his eyes, "Anything 'under the protection' of Peccati Syn is in danger." He muttered.

"From there, Seerdon's forces were to take over of escort duty from Grand Moff Kaine's Scourge Squadron and head to Chandrila. Somewhere along the way, the second Death Star was lost and headed to Coruscant."

"I can see why Seerdon lost his head. Why didn't the others lose theirs too?"

"Makati and Takel were just as confused as everyone else. And Teshik's Star Destroyer was docked with the DSII and launched just before impact."

"Thank you for the update. But I doubt that's what you wanted to talk in private about."

Zaarin smiled, "Do we really know if the house of Palpatine exists?"

Grant looked at the older man confused, "What are you talking about?"

"Naboo turned traitor and was base-delta-zeroed. All records of Naboo have been purged. Do we really know if the house of Palpatine existed? And if it did, is the Emperor so unforgiving of a planet that he even destroys ancient and noble planets like Naboo and Alderaan?"

Grant didn't like where this was headed, "Where are you going with this?"

"What's to say he doesn't do the same to the Tapani sector?"

"Are you talking treason?"

"If we're to cut to the point. I'm talking about a coup."

"I should have you arrested for treason!"

Zaarin's smile looked like one would give a friend, "But you haven't. I've been to the Emperor's Deep Core shipyards. I know what he's planning." Zaarin pulled out a datachip and slid it across the desk.

Grant grabbed a blank datapad and put the chip in. Diagrams of massive ships and devastating superweapons appeared before Grant. He looked up at Zaarin who had an empathetic smile on his face, "How'd you get this?"

"I'm very close to the Emperor's Hand."

Grant looked back at the datapad. Plans for ship lines called the Eclipse-class and the Sovereign-class Star Dreadnaughts were on this. As well as 'Shadow Droids' and a superweapon called the 'Galaxy Gun,' "He plans to replace us with droids!"

"And Force-users. Look further."

Grant saw plans to clone Force-sensitives like Vader and the Royal Guards. Grant put down the datapad and looked at Zaarin, "I don't believe this is true. And even if it is, it can't be close to done."

"Oh but it is!" Zaarin pulled out another chip and slid it to Grant, "I took this while I was there."

Grant put the chip in another blank 'pad. A hologram appeared and showed a massive station that looked like the Galaxy Gun from the plans, "This looks almost done!"

"I'd say a few more years." The image shifted to the shipyards. The Eclipse seemed almost done as well, "Then look at the fleet."

The image shifted again to a massive defensive fleet. There must've been thousands of ships.

"This must be fabricated," Grant said with certainty.

"Check the authenticity for yourself."

"You could've found a way that faked it. You are in weapon development."

"I could've. But I didn't."

Grant risked putting the chips into his computer in his desk and tried to verify them. Everything on Grant's scanners checked out. Grant had one other option. Grant activated the comms in his deck, "Lieutenant!"

"Yes, Grand Admiral?"

"I need you to check the authenticity of a holorecording and a datachip. They're top secret."

"Yessir! By the way, Rebel Dream has been successfully captured."

"Very good. Get back to me as soon as you're done." Grant turned off his comms and looked at Zaarin, "You want me to betray the Empire?"

"Not the Empire. Just to dethrone the Emperor."

"And you take his place?"

"I'm willing to have a council rule with me on it."

"With who on it? You and me?"

"For now."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means, I have plans for more people to be on board."

"Like?"

"Like Teshik and Makati."

"Just the four of us, huh?"

"We would need the likes of Grand Moffs Kaine and Zsinj on our side."

"Anyone else?"

"First, are you in? Or are you out?"

"If I'm out?"

"Then that would be most unfortunate that I arrived too late to save Grand Admiral Octavian Grant and his crew. But he will be remembered as a hero to the Empire."

"Is that a threat?!"

Zarrin chuckled, "Nonsense! It's just hypothetical. I would most prefer it that you will join me willingly."

Grant stayed silent for a few minutes pondering, "I'm not saying no…."

Zaarin frowned, "But you're not saying yes."

"Not until I know what you showed me is true."

Zaarin smiled like he was a friend again, "Then I'll leave you to think!" Zaarin stood, "You wouldn't mind if your ship went into commsilent and moved out of the way, would you? And I'll be aboard my ship just to give you some room to think just so you're not pressured."

Grant shook his head, "Not at all. Thank you for your time, Grand Admiral."

Zaarin turned and left Grant in his chair to think. If Zaarin was leaving… and going to his ship… then Grant could have his gunners shoot down the shuttle. But then he'd have to deal with the TIE Defenders. But if he ordered him dead before he got to his ship… but did Grant really want him dead? If everything Zaarin said and showed him was true… then Grant would be dead and the Tapani sector would be destroyed. Even if the Galaxy Gun didn't work, Palpatine would make a new toy. That's what happened with the Sun Crusher. And even though that was MIA that didn't mean the Empire didn't have it.

Grant activated his commlink and told his men to follow what Zaarin said to do. He got up and started to pace around his quarters while he thought.

How did they know if House Palpatine existed? Zaarin was right. Even if the Emperor was a noble he seemed perfectly alright to destroy noble worlds. But Zaarin wasn't a noble either. He was just a peasant compared to Grant. But he seemed to have a good head on his shoulders and Vader and the Emperor respected him.

Grant stopped in his tracks. Vader! How were they going to deal with Vader?! Vader was more of a threat than the Emperor. But Zaarin said he was close with the Emperor's Hand. So maybe they could handle it.

Grant resumed pacing around the room. Grant had served in the Clone Wars, he had fought against the Separatist and their Droid Army. He had seen the damage done by the Jedi and politicians to the Republic. If the Emperor was going to replace them with those repulsive droids and archaic Force-users then Zaarin had a point in forming a coup.

Those superweapons and super ships Palpatine was building wasn't good. If he got those weapons then anyone in the Galaxy who rebelled against him would be destroyed.

Grant knew what he wanted to do. All he needed was one last thing. And just as he made up his mind, his commlink beeped from his desk. Grant answered it and it confirmed what he needed to do.

Grant called Zaarin, "Yes?" Grant noticed some sleep laced in his voice.

"I'm in."

"You are? Good. I'll be right over to discuss details."

Grant continued to pace around his quarters as he wondered if he did the right thing. A knock came from his door that pulled Grant out of his thoughts. He opened it and let Zaarin in.

"I'm glad you agreed to join me." the other Grand Admiral said after he sat.

"Palpatine can't be trusted with the safety of the Galaxy anymore."

Zaarin nodded, "I agree. Now, I have plans to get the others and a lot rested on you."

"Me?" Grant asked confused.

He nodded again, "Yes. You don't have your loyalties tied to anyone so you'd make a good person to convince the others." Zaarin pulled out a holoprojector and put it on Grant's desk. It activated and showed a map of the Galaxy. Zaarin started to point at certain sectors, "Makati is in the Queli Oversector working with Zsinj. So that's two. Teshik is fighting off native Rebels and pirates in the Brevost sector. And Kaine is still setting up his new base on Entralla for Oversector Outer."

"What about the other Grand Admirals? Mainly Tigellinus, Batch, Takel and Grunger? Tigellinus is dangerous with all of Imperial Center Oversector's forces. Batch has the cloaking device. Takel is a military genius. And Grunger has the Aggressor."

"Batch failed and is in hiding. Grunger will follow us when we take over. Takel is a spice-addict and a coward at heart. And Tigellinus… will be a problem but I hope to bring him on as well. And I hope Teshik will have some way to deal with him."

"What about Isard and Sate Pestage?"

"Pestage is a coward and will follow or die."

"Ysanne Isard isn't."

"No. But she can be dealt with if she doesn't follow."

"Darth Vader will be the biggest issue of them all."

Zaarin leaned forward and put his chin in his hand, "Yes. But I think we can work with the Rebels on that."

"How?"

"By leaking information to them."

"How will that help? Vader has Death Squadron."

"Maybe the Rebels get lucky with our information. But if we can turn Death Squadron to our side then we can kill Vader. But we can hash out the full details of our plan later." Grant did pick up on his inclusion on the plan, "For now, let's get these ships to Thanos for repairs."

"Of course." Grant and Zaarin stood and left to the hanger. Grant watched the other Grand Admiral's shuttle leave before he went back up to the bridge, "Captain." Grant said when he entered.

"Yes, sir?"

"Take the Oriflamme and Tyrant to Thanos to rearm and repair."

"Yes, sir."

Grant sat in his command chair and thought about what he just set in motion. Grant knew he should sleep as he watched the ship jump into hyperspace but he couldn't stop thinking about the ramifications of what he and Zaarin were planning on doing.

"Sir?" Captain Kaerobani said at Grant's side. Grant looked up at him, "You should get some rest."

"I'll rest when we get to Thanos."

"That'll be a few hours."

"That's fine. I need time to think."

"Yes, sir."

When they reached Thanos, they had the Tyrant and Glory right beside them. Grant watched as the lightly damaged Oriflamme flew inside an empty drydock and began repairs. Zaarin commed Grant and told him he was going to see Moff Jormum and that he was gifting his new ally with TIE Defenders to replace Grant's lost starfighters. Grant thanked the Grand Admiral and watched as Glory went into orbit of the planet. Grant took one last look at his ship before he headed to his quarters for the night.