Author's Note: So this is only the first part of the climax to this story. But don't worry, you won't have to wait a FULL week for the next part; the next chapter should be written and up this upcoming Wednesday, though I make no promises. Anyway, enjoy!
Six divisions of warships belonging to the Chiss Expansionary Force—consisting of multiple Star Destroyers, battle cruisers, frigates, and multiple squadrons of clawcraft fighters in the Destroyers' hangar bays—dropped out of hyperspace at several close spatial intervals in the Corellian system. They were all at least one solar unit away from their intended target: Centerpoint Station.
However, between the Chiss divisions and their target was a whole star system's worth of defensive warships belonging to the inhabitants of the Five Worlds. And without so much as an opening hail being delivered from either side, the Corellians and their Drall and Selonian allies opened fire on the Chiss by orders of their commanders, which included the reluctant Admiral Wedge Antilles, commanding from the Corellian cruiser Corellian Pride.
The Chiss Destroyers and cruisers, in turn, had no problem launching their own volleys of charric fire, proton torpedoes, and concussion missiles at the Corellians even as both sides launched their squadrons of fighters. And as they did that, each of their Destroyers, cruisers, and frigates were angling themselves to present their flanking weapons at the Corellians, as if they were expecting someone to come at them from behind... which they were.
The Chiss clawcraft squads, meanwhile, each had a goal beyond simply blowing away the enemy fighters or capital vessels, and that was to escort the armed and armored troop transports through the lethal light show toward Centerpoint. Aboard each of these transports was a commando squadron, armed and armored to the teeth like the ships ferrying them, and with a rebreather mask over each of their faces for what was about to be brought upon the station ahead.
Not even ten minutes into the battle between the Corellians and Chiss, several flotillas of Galactic Alliance Star Destroyers and other warships dropped out directly behind the latter, pinning the invading blue-skinned aliens between two enemies. And with the GA's Interdictor cruisers going online almost immediately, thus cutting the Chiss off from escaping into hyperspace unless they were to destroy the cruisers, the Expansionary Force divisions had no choice but to fight for their lives simply to achieve their goal of either taking or destroying Centerpoint.
Thankfully for the Chiss, however, they had already been ready for the GA warships' arrival. They were well aware that their enemy in the Outside War had been monitoring them, which was why each of their own capital ships had been angled so that their opposite flanking charric blasters could fire upon the Alliance vessels. Even their reserve clawcraft fighters squads that had, so far, been sitting out the battle instead of helping their brethren escort the troop transports to Centerpoint were launched to take on the GA fighters.
As the battle entered its full swing with the arrival of the Alliance warships, Admiral Bwua'tu, in his command chair aboard the Admiral Ackbar, called out, "Comm! Establish a communication with the Corellian side! I want to inform them that we're here to help them stop the Chiss from getting to Centerpoint Station!"
"On it, Admiral!" one of the comm officers replied. Moments later, that same officer reported back with, "Admiral, all communication frequencies with the Corellians are being jammed!"
"We still have ship-to-ship communication between our own vessels, right?" Bwua'tu asked, keeping his own nervousness out of his voice.
"Give me a moment, sir!" the comm officer called back. A few seconds later, he said, "Yes, Admiral, we still have communications with our own ships!"
Bwua'tu would have released a sigh of relief if not for the fact that he was in the middle—or, rather, in the outer ring—of a pitched battle. Still, part of him was glad that the communication upgrade packages that his warships received just before they set off for this system were standing up to the Chiss' jamming signals between their own ships; the other part of him only wished that it could be done for non-GA military vessels, namely the Corellians.
"Then until we destroy the Chiss ships that are broadcasting the jamming," Bwua'tu declared with determination, "we'll also have to treat the Corellians as our enemies."
From his armrest communicator, Bwua'tu brought up an audio-only communication with the Jedi leading the StealthX squads for the Chiss Admirals who were Sith.
"Master Katarn, Master Ramis, do you copy?" Bwua'tu asked.
"Read you loud and clear, Admiral," Kyle Katarn's voice came through with determination; it was clear he was busy dodging projectiles.
"Likewise, Admiral." Octa Ramis' voice sounded similarly preoccupied.
"Are you and your squads heading to your respective targets?" Bwua'tu inquired.
"Yes, we are, Admiral," Katarn answered. "But it seems like the- Ah! Damn it! Uh, it seems like... the clawcraft... around us... know where we are, Admiral!"
"Sith battle meditation, no doubt," Ramis clarified tersely. "Iosha and Ulaska must know we're here and are doing everything they can to..." She hissed as if reacting to a near miss. "...to try to blow us away before we... get to 'em. We'll let you know as soon as we're aboard their ships, Admiral."
"Good hunting then," Bwua'tu offered before he cut off the communication to focus more intently on the battle in front of him.
. . .
Almost as soon as the battle in space had started, the people living on the Five Worlds did one of two things. Many of them looked up into the skies of their respective planets with fear and trepidation, wondering if they were going to be targeted by these newly arrived enemies. Many others looked at their datapads to watch the live broadcasts from the news report ships who were doing their best to not get caught in the fight. And not long after the arrival of the Galactic Alliance warships, that was when panic among the masses quickly settled in.
Riots broke out in the populated areas of each world, and people scrambled towards their nearest spaceports, destroying and looting as much as they could, as if this battle signified the end times for their planet, if not the whole system. The police forces were quickly overwhelmed so soon after they had mobilized to contain order in the streets just as the battle had started, with many CorSec officers even resorting to outright lethal blaster bolts instead of simple stun blasts against the attacking mobs around them; it was apparent that panic was settling even into their own disciplined minds.
Amidst the mobbing going on in Coronet specifically, Han, Leia, Jaden Korr, and the Noghri bodyguards Cakhmaim and Meewalh were hurrying through the streets as fast as they could to get to the spaceport where the Millennium Falcon had been docked. As for C-3PO, he was being levitated three meters in the air by Jaden's telekinesis; considering the chaos occurring at the ground, he was surprisingly silent about his predicament, as if he understood that he was safer up there than down where the humans and Noghri were.
At a constant jog, which was easy even for someone as old as Han was now, it was only several minutes away from the 'port. But once the Solo party arrived, they found that the front entrance was being swarmed by the most concentrated mob of people who were currently being gunned down—either stunned or killed—by the CorSec presence there.
"Leia, can you take over for Threepio while I take care of those cops?" Jaden asked hurriedly.
"You're not thinking of killing them, are you, Jaden?" Leia asked concernedly.
"Don't worry, I'll just knock 'em out," the Jedi Knight promised.
"Then go take care of it," Han spoke up; Leia indicated her agreement with a silent nod.
She then reached up her own hand and winced as she used her limited practice with the Force to get her own telekinetic hold on Threepio's body; he bobbed up and down a few times in the air, prompting a few worried cries from him, before Leia finally stabilized him.
"Oh, please, do be careful, Mistress Leia!" he whined even as Jaden unhooked and activated his lightsaber. "I don't know if I can survive this height!" The Jedi then ran toward the spaceport.
"It's only three meters, you'll be fine, Goldenrod!" Han countered.
It didn't take long before Jaden got within less than a dozen meters of the squadron of CorSec cops, and that was after the crowd before him parted at the sound and sight of his lightsaber. With a dizzying whirl of his weapon, he deflected all of their incoming bolts either at the ground or into the air before the cops had to recharge their blasters. From there, as Jaden continued to close the distance, he used the Force to rip the blasters from the cops' hands so that the weapons clattered to the ground. Jaden then finished the officers themselves off with a Force-wave that sent them flying back through the glass windows, where they hit the floor inside unconscious.
That was when the crowd surged forward, now unencumbered by a police presence that could stop them from getting to a spacefaring ship, before Han, Leia, the Noghri, and the floating Threepio joined Jaden. By the Jedi Knight's lead, they made their way amidst the crowd for where the Falcon was berthed.
"You don't think we'll have too much trouble leaving the planet?" Jaden asked as they continued to run forward.
"With the chaos goin' on here?" Han retorted. "I think we'll make it out alright."
. . .
Once Jacen and Acheron were released from their holding fields and cells by two groups of Centerpoint guards, they were each given their weapons—Jacen his lightsaber, Acheron her duel vibroblades—before they were brought directly to the Head of Security in his office from separate paths. Once they met up in the corridor leading to the office, neither of them said anything to the other; they only looked at each other with distrusting glances before setting their sights on the path ahead.
Given that Jacen sensed the same fog that prevented him from sensing Jaina coming from Acheron again, he had no doubt that the two Sith were communing through the Force right now.
Upon entering the Head of Security's office, Jacen recognized the man as being the one who knocked Acheron out the night she tried to kill him in his quarters.
"You'll be going with Sergeant Guessis here," the Head of Security said to Jacen as he pointed to one of the guards who released him from his cell. He looked at Acheron and said, "You'll be going with Lieutenant Pantuck. And don't worry about any anti-Jedi traps you might activate; Thrackan's deactivated all of 'em for your convenience. Now go."
Acheron and the guards she was with left the office first. But just before she passed the threshold, she looked back over her shoulder and said, "See ya around, Jacen."
I'll bet, Jacen thought determinedly as he and the guards he was with were next to leave.
. . .
It took a little more than half an hour for the remaining Chiss troop transports—of which there were more than three quarters that had yet to be destroyed by the defending Corellians—to finally arrive within orbit of Centerpoint Station. And when they did, they and the remainders of their clawcraft escorts fired mercilessly with whatever they had left on the station's deflector shields at various strategic points. Centerpoint itself, meanwhile, fired off its own defensive turbolaser batteries and missile and torpedo ports at the invading vessels.
However, within a quarter of an hour, those batteries were reduced to slag, with some of them being destroyed by friendly fire, courtesy of more than a few fancy maneuvers from some of the clawcraft that had all but exhausted the last of their weapons fire and projectiles. And from there, even as the troop transports were now reduced to about two-thirds of their original number, Centerpoint's deflector shields had been breached just enough so that their various shield generators were blown apart; and at that point, all the station had for protection was its outer shell of metallic armor.
From there, though, the troop transports, who were still being defended by the clawcraft that were now getting backup from the GA front of the battle, fired off harpoons from their prows. Those harpoons travelled directly to stick to the outer shell of Centerpoint's various sections before their hyper-durable tips began burrowing through that armor at the speed of sound, punching away at the metal mercilessly.
Within five minutes of those harpoon tips punching through the armor—during which none of the remaining transports were lost—they finally broke through and into the inside of the station proper. That was when the punching stopped so that the tips were quickly retracted back into their respective transports to be replaced just as quickly by nozzles that began spraying a yellow knockout gas.
. . .
Down in Centerpoint's homeless sector, Judicar watched with passive interest as she saw the yellow knockout mist gradually work its way down from the upper section of bulkhead outside the building where she resided. Several storeys below, the three squadrons of armed station guards received a single unified order of "Masks!" from each of their commanders.
Using the Force to create a pocket of oxygen around her, Judicar then jumped out the window from which she observed this development and, after Force-cushioning her crouched landing behind them, bounded back up to her full height.
Then, at the snap-hiss! of her unhooked lightsaber being activated, the three squads of now-masked guards all turned at her. Each of their commanders, as before, commanded with unity, "Open fire!" before they all began spraying blaster bolts at her.
As expected, she deflected each and every one of their shots either up, down, around, or back at the firers even as she advanced upon them. One by one every five seconds, even as the yellow mist now started to settle down around them, the guards fell either dead or unconscious at the deflected bolts until they were all on their backs and out of commission.
With her concentration on her air bubble now ebbing, Judicar wasted no time in ripping off the rebreather of one of the dead guards and placing it over her own face. She breathed in deeply as she finally let go of her Force-concentration.
Then she looked up and adopted a battle-ready stance as she felt the presences of a squad of Chiss commandos now entering the station from here.
Once she was done with them, Judicar thought, she would finally be on her way in getting to her second cousin Thrackan. And from there, she would make her way for this station's control center while the rest of the security here would be dealing with the Chiss.
. . .
In the section of corridor in which Sgt. Guessis had directed his guards and Jacen to, they all had their rebreather masks up and ready before the yellow knockout gas could have overcome them. And while the guards used their infrared goggles to cut through the resultant fog, Jacen relied on his Force-senses to feel for the Chiss commandos who were coming for them.
Not long after the nozzles that sprayed the gas were retracted back to where they came from, the emission of a plasma torch came from the other side and slowly began cutting a circle to widen the hole; no doubt that was meant to allow for the Chiss on the other side to come through.
Jacen and the guards each took their positions that Guessis had signaled to them with his right hand. And when the first commando finally came through, the Centerpoint guards immediately opened fire on him and gunned him down before the alien had a chance to react. Jacen then used the Force to pull the next commando down before he could retract himself from the danger that killed his colleague.
In that order, each of the guards took down each commando that Jacen Force-pulled through until no more came out.
"Is that it?" Guessis asked Jacen once no more commandos had come through.
"That's all I could sense from here," Jacen said. "But that doesn't mean we're done yet."
Indeed, the sounds of blaster and charric fire could be heard from elsewhere in the station.
"Come on, this way!" Guessis commanded as he led his subordinates and Jacen down one direction of the corridor.