Alright guys, we're firmly on the road to the end of the story now.
Oh, and, just in case you haven't noticed by now, this story features lesbian characters. I say that because I saw a review on FFN asking about the "weird lezbo vibe" and asking for an "LGBT warning," which rubbed me the wrong way.
Secrets of The Outer Rim.
Act III.
The Hunters and The Hunted.
Chapter XXXV.
The Consequences of Mercy.
A few days after the simultaneous strikes on the Empire, spending some time back on Dromund Kaas, for the time being anywhere. We were planning on further strikes in the future, sometimes simultaneous, sometimes staggered, sometimes just lone incidents, again, all designed to avoid establishing a pattern. The idea now was to give a cool down period, as if we were letting the news of these attacks spread across the galaxy, then, in the near future, we were going to launch the next wave of attacks, framed as copycat attacks inspired by the first set of events. That meant that nothing was really going on for the moment, so, Yevenna and I were sat cross-legged under an awning on the terrace, sheltered from the constant rain. Yevenna Aphlen was dressed in white pants, black boots, a white shirt, and a black jacket as she sharpened a vibroblade, casually maintaining her gear as she spent time at the Imperius Suite. There wasn't exactly a reason for her to be here, but ever since I had that conversation with her, she's been spending more time here, to combat her own loneliness, if nothing else.
Meanwhile, I sat under the awning watching as Phanza trained Schweva on the terrace, the two of them dressed in their robes with their hoods up, unbothered by the rain. Schweva knelt in front of her, in the classic pose of a Sith apprentice, while Phanza, for now anyway, simply paced back and forth in front of us with her red and black curved-hilt lightsaber ignited in her hand. I saw as the rain instantly turned to steam as the drops approached the lightsaber, water instantly vaporized in a very casual display of just how powerful these weapons we used everyday were. There was a reason I wasn't involved in this particular training session, because this was about Phanza teaching Schweva Sith ideology, and that alone was enough to transform how everything appeared to me. The robed figure with an ignited lightsaber pacing back and forth, the bottom of a red face peeking out from the shadow of a hood, a beautiful face and full lips, but somehow still sinister, still powerful, and flanked with a number of those tattooed head-tails on either side. This dark figure, tall and slander, standing alone in the rain, with her most devoted follower bowing at her very feet.
The Chiss woman was bowed there with her head down, unbothered by the fact that her back was getting drenched, not daring to look up at her mistress before she was asked, simply keeping both her head and her big red eyes down. Schweva was so quickly and so willing making herself completely vulnerable, letting Phanza walk around in front of her with an ignited lightsaber while Schweva's weapons were harmlessly turned off on her hips. I knew that Phanza wasn't going to do this, but I knew that, if she wanted to, she could kill her apprentice before Schweva could even ignite either of her weapons. This was the kind of devotion that Sith apprentices but in their masters, or at least pretended to put there, while the Sith Masters constantly made these little reminders that they could kill them easily. Perhaps these were relics of the age of the old Sith Empire where apprentices were expected to rise up and overthrow their masters, or, alternatively, the masters would discard their apprentices and start fresh with another. Whoever died would be dismissed as weak and the cycle would start again. Maybe Phanza felt my discomfort through the Force bond because she eventually stopped directly in front of Schweva and deactivated her lightsaber before beginning to speak.
"Tell me something, Schwevaa'aphere'enda, how did Palpatine seize power in the Republic?" Phanza asked, taking an interesting angle with this particular training session, and, I had to admit, I couldn't be entirely sure if Phanza was using Palpatine as a positive example or a negative example. Part of me wanted to immediately dismiss this idea, there's no way that Phanza would admire anything about Palpatine, in fact, something about Phanza makes me wonder if she could ever really admire any man. I don't exactly know why, but it seems like all of Phanza's idols are female and she has, predominantly, sought to surround herself with other women. On the other hand, part of me felt like, considering this was about Sith ideology, maybe Palpatine is a positive example. I mean, maybe Palpatine just sees Sith ideology as a means to an end, maybe he truly believes in it, but, either way, he has certainly been successful by the standards of Sith Lords. If their objective is to destroy the Jedi and conquer the galaxy, then, well, Palpatine has done exactly that.
"Patience, cunning, and ruthlessness. Palpatine was willing to spend decades working on his plan, he was able to play entire parts of the galaxy against each other, and he was willing to sacrifice millions to make his plans work. At any point, with how many variables he was dealing with, the entire plan could have come crashing down and that would have left him alone on Coruscant with the entire Jedi Order against him." Schweva proposed, offering valid points, if a bit concerningly positive. The truth is that, yes, Palpatine's scheme required lots of time, meticulous planning, and absolute ruthlessness, a gamble to either destroy the Jedi or have his entire faction of Sith, the Rule of Two, to come to an end.
"To a degree, yes. Patience, because Palpatine took the time to build a political career and become an established Senator before he really started his plan, but, in the same way, his plan shows massive impatience too. Palpatine effectively forced his way into the chancellorship by creating a crisis. having his allies in the Trade Federation invade Naboo and blockade the planet. Perhaps that can be called cunning as well, considering that he engineered the situation in such a way that we would win either way, either the trade dispute would would end in the Federation's favor and discredit Chancellor Valorum that way, or Palpatine would emerge as a hero during the crisis while Valorum would become the symbol of dysfunction and crisis. Then ruthlessness, because Palpatine was willing to hold his own homeworld, or at least the place he took as his homeworld, hostage for his plan." Phanza began, addressing what Schweva said, taking it all the way back to the Naboo Crisis, somewhat of a precursor to the Clone Wars in many ways.
"The important thing to understand is that Palpatine used the institutions of the Republic itself to come to power. Naboo was a crisis, and, like all politicians, Palpatine would not let a good crisis go to waste. Of course, the so-called Emperor's ruthlessness comes from the fact that he's willing to create his own crisis. Anyway, Palpatine used the crisis and his status as the Senator from Naboo to garner sympathy and support in his election bid, becoming the Chancellor. Once his term in office was ending, Palpatine was confronted with two problems: he needed to find a way to maintain power and he needed to deal with the threat of multiple planets seceding from the Republic. Sidious decided to deal with both problems with the same crisis: he co-opted the separatist cause by turning the Jedi deserter Count Dooku to his cause and having Dooku create the Confederacy of Independent Systems. This would lead to the Clone Wars, where the separatists were under his control via Dooku and the crisis enabled him to seize emergency powers in the Republic." Phanza continued. I wasn't quite sure where exactly she was going with this, but it seemed like her point was that Palpatine didn't cause a coup, he was, in effect, given absolute power long before Order 66 or the day where he was finally declared Galactic Emperor. In any case, I kept listening as she continued her lecture.
"When politicians seize power, they don't seize it with the intention of giving it away. You can ask Zaliza, as soon as I spent any time around Palpatine at all, I knew he was looking to overthrow the Republic long before I knew he was a Sith Lord. The emergency powers, the harmless old man routine, and how easily he lied and talked circles around the Jedi in his office...it seemed blatantly obvious to me. There was something else though, something I don't even think I've told Zaliza about yet, but, the moment that I refused to show Palpatine the full star chart of the Grand Duchy of Taaszon, I saw the facade crumble for only a split second, I saw his disappointment, the face of a man confronted with an unknown variable, a threat to his plans. I think there is a direct link to that single expression and Palpatine's invasion of Taaszon, as if it was all predetermined that day. Palpatine played the system to his advantage, he produced artificial crises to accelerate his ascension, and he he did it all right under the noses of the Jedi. Palpatine seized emergency powers and named his Sith apprentice Darth Tyranus...he was practically flaunting it before it even happened." Phanza explained. I thought all the way back to that meeting on Coruscant, what felt like a lifetime ago, and I had to admit I couldn't remember that particular expression, maybe I didn't even notice it back then, but I know what she meant by all of that. Even I had a suspicion about Palpatine, and I find it very hard to believe that the members of the Jedi Council didn't have the same concerns.
Maybe they really didn't. Maybe Yoda, Windu, Kenobi, and all the rest really were so far gone that they trusted Palpatine blindly. Maybe they did have concerns but they just, tragically, didn't act on them until it was far too late. I have to wonder how much they knew, how much did they even know about the Clone Army? An army just appeared in time for the Battle of Geonosis, did they not question it? Was there no investigation? By the Jedi Council, by the Senate, by anyone really. Did nobody ask where all these clones came from, who paid for the first batch, and how much money was put into the subsequent orders? It seems like, under any other circumstances, the Grand Army of the Republic would be a massive political issue, taking the Senate by storm, but, instead, Palpatine received approval and the army was expanded and expanded again to fight the droids. Maybe Phanza is right about Palpatine striking a master stroke: he created a crisis big enough that no one would question the suspicious new army or where it came from, instead, we would all just accept them as the only thing between us and getting trampled over by droid armies. Droid armies that were run by the same man who ran the Grand Army.
"Palpatine has spent decades building to all this, his predecessors have been building to this point for over a thousand years in a plot as old as the Republic Constitution Palpatine tore up in a single lifetime. We cannot underestimate Palpatine, we are fighting a determined, stubborn, and endlessly ambitious figure who has just gotten exactly what they want, and he is not going to take kindly to any victory we win. Each attack is going to be harder than the last, each success will have greater and greater consequences, and Palpatine's reaction will be more and more extreme as time goes on. Remember that. We are peasants fighting a giant and he will do everything in his power to stomp on us, and you cannot let that happen." Phanza concluded, this speech turning out to be more about the stakes we were up against than just Sith ideology, and I think that means the speech wasn't just for Schweva, it was for all of us. Lady Attam realized I was listening to, she realized that Yevenna was here after joining in on our crusade against the Empire for the first time, so she felt this was something we all needed to now. We were up against a very capable and very dangerous enemy, and the stakes couldn't be any higher.
"I understand, my mistress, We do what we can though, we hurt the Empire in whatever way we can and we hope that, one day, we create an opportunity to make some real change." Schweva responded, accepting the stakes and then pointing to Phanza's strategy, showing that the apprentice believed this was the best way we had to fix this. I did find it somewhat convenient that Schweva thought the answer to this problem was the very plan that Phanza came up with, but, on the other hand, the strategy does seem to be the best thing we've done so far and there don't seem to be all that many consequences, at least not yet. Maybe Schweva isn't being sycophantic, maybe she legitimately believes that her mistress's plan is the right course of action here. I wish I was able to leave it at that though, I wish I wasn't jealous of the Chiss girl as a rival apprentice. I should, quite frankly, be able to think of myself and only myself, I should view Schweva as an ally and my equal rather than as a rival for our master's attention, yet here I am. I find myself uncomfortable whenever Schweva succeeds in front of Phanza, even when it's a bit of Sith training that doesn't even involve me.
Later that day, the four of us took the Ultimate up into orbit over Dromund Kaas, boarding a Margraviate-class Super Dreadnought that had just finished undergoing repairs after the Battle of Taaszon. This was one of the few ships fortunate enough to make it out of the space battle against Palpatine's fleet - which, according to holonet propaganda reports, was headed by the prototype of the first of a new line of star destroyers, to be christened the Imperial-class in honor of the creation of the new Galactic Empire. First the Venators were painted gray, removing the colorful markings and Republic regalia that marked them as a force of good, now the "Jedi Cruisers" of the Clone Wars would be done away with entirely, replaced with these newer, larger, deadlier ships, purpose-built for Imperial conquest and domination. I'm hardly surprised that Palpatine wanted to test the first of these as his flagship during the Battle of Taaszon. All that being said, are capital ships performed rather well considering they were outnumbered, though they did have somewhat of a home-field advantage. In any case, we had the first of these ships back up and running in combat state, even with the comparatively limited resources of Dromund Kaas.
I saw a few familiar faces as we made our way to the bridge: purple and black armored Taaszon troopers, all of whom stood at attention as we walked by, and I was once again struck by how similar their helmets were to clone troopers. The Taaszon helmets had a single, straight black visor across the eyes, rather than the more T-shaped visor of clone troopers or Mandalorians, but it was still a noticeable similarity in design. I suppose this was an example of how Palpatine was flaunting Sith symbolism in front of us as he subjugated the Republic. The Chiss troopers were here as well, dressed in black armor, with their helmets having a more traditional design, leaving much of their blue faces and red eyes exposed. I imagined this was a point of pride amongst the Chiss soldiers, they wanted their enemies to know who they were, and they felt they were good enough that they didn't need a visor protecting their faces in battle. They stood at attention too, and the number of familiar faces only increased as we finally reached the bridge. Admiral Wurrathu stood in command, obviously, the Chiss woman standing in a black longcoat with her hair up and her hands tied behind her back as she orchestrated the movements. Doctor Oljena Daiyor, the masked human woman from the Sphere of Ancient Knowledge, was here too. Finally, Darth Rezivara and Inquisitor Baracyn were present as well, the Rattataki and the Zabrak seemed to be Phanza's closest allies amongst the Sith of Taaszon, so I can see why she wanted them here as well.
"Lady Attam, I am pleased to report that all systems are functional and that we have even taken the opportunity to install some upgrades to this ship as well." Wurrathu reported to Phanza as I became aware of the fact that this was my first time onboard one of these Taaszon capital ships. I glanced over at Schweva and Yevenna, finding that my two local counterparts seemed a good deal more comfortable here, as if they've been on a bridge like this before, or, at least, they didn't find it overly odd to be on the bridge of a Sith capital ship. I suppose I shouldn't either, given that I was on the bridge of the Elysium not a full week ago, though this is a much larger, much newer ship. The Elysium is an ancient Sith Destroyer, this ship, meanwhile, is a modern Sith ship classed as a Super Dreadnought. The Margraviate is probably around the size of a Venator-class Star Destroyer and more heavily armed, though it was hard to tell scale at the moment. I suppose I would get the chance to tell scale soon enough, considering that the Venator that Wurrathu and her team captured was currently on the surface of Dromund Kaas being pulled apart, researched, and then, I imagine it's going to be brought back into working order and added to our fleet, simply for the sake that we're in need of more capital ships after the losses we took on Taaszon.
"Upgrades, you say? I'm intrigued." Phanza said with a smirk, the Nautolan taking an interest in what the ship could do now. I noticed at this point that Lady Attam probably didn't have much more experience on this type of vessel than I have, I mean, she's certainly been on the bridge of one of these before, but she has never commanded a ship of this size. I suppose Phanza has always preferred the mobility and intimacy of a small ship like the Ultimate over a large and cumbersome Super Dreadnought, especially when stealth was involved. I mean, I don't think the Republic would have responded well to her arriving on Coruscant with one of these, nor could I see it fitting into any of the things we've done together since...until now, that is.
"Well, first of all, I would like to start with my own additions." Doctor Daiyor began, the masked woman in her white lab coat taking over, her voice only slightly mechanically distorted by the apparatus she wore on her face. I wasn't sure why exactly, but it didn't exactly seem all that relevant to ask either, she certainly seemed comfortable and functional despite it "I've been experimenting with the Silent Fleet technology and, while it's still mind-boggling how complicated and alien it all is, I think I've reached a point where I can at least understand how to replicate it, even if I don't know how it works or why. So, experimenting on this technology and mating it with the Margraviate-class systems, I've managed to work up a way to take this ship radar-resistant. I don't think I could introduce eye-level cloaking or invisibility to targeting systems to an existing ship, but, with more time and perhaps with a purpose built platform, I could replicate some of what the Silent Fleet ships can do. So, in effect, for now, our capital ships are invisible to most radar and tracking systems, but we are not invisible to the naked eye and we cannot resist an enemy targeting area in visual distances. This is more of a theoretical, but if a sufficiently large enough tractor beam could be created to catch a ship of this size, I can't find a way to combat that technology with this platform either."
"That is more than enough, Doctor Daiyor, what you've done already gives us the ability to launch surprise attacks on the Imperial fleet with our Super Dreadnoughts, that is more than enough stealth technology for a ship of this class." Phanza praised her ally from the Sphere of Ancient Knowledge. I remember Daiyor working on the cloaking system, saying that the date-range is contemporary to the Rakatan Empire of all things, but it doesn't match any known examples of Rakatan technology, nor does it have their indicative Dark Side signature. The technology onboard the Silent Fleet is bizarre, old, and lost to anyone else in the galaxy, but Oljena has found a way to make it work here, with only a partial understanding of the technology to boot.
"Well then, thank you Lady Attam. That brings us to the second bit of technology, the natural compliment to our radar-resistant technology is expanded radar capability. To that end, my colleagues from the Sphere of Military Technology and I have developed a comprehensive system which can pick up Imperial, separatist, Sith, and Republic radar signatures from across the galaxy, along with distress signals and open-frequency messages from any of the former." Doctor Daiyor spoke as Admiral Wurrathu activated the system she was referring to, bringing up a galaxy map and showing the position of Imperial star destroyers throughout the galaxy, displayed in green, a handful of separatist signals, in blue, seemed to be concentrated mostly in Hutt space at this point, stolen technology I think, and finally, a single red signature appeared somewhere in the Outer Rim, showing the Elysium's new location. Well, there was one more red signature, but that was our location in orbit over Dromund Kaas, so I wasn't exactly counting that.
"Very good Doctor Daiyor, I'm sure these upgrades will serve the Precursor well. What else can I - " Phanza responded, thanking the doctor for her work, rechristening the ship, and it seemed like she was about to ask what else the ship could do when, all of a sudden, she was cut off. The conversation shifted completely after this, but, to focus in on the name for a moment, I think the choice of rechristening this ship as the Precursor was very much a calculated move. This ship represented one of the final few ships of the old Taaszon Navy, now, it was the first operational fleet of the new Taaszon Navy, so Precursor was a sensible name for a ship coming from the current navy's precursor. There also seemed to be a pattern for naming Sith vessels, going for darker, more aggressive themes, and Precursor, oddly enough, seemed to fit that as well. It was a somewhat harsh-sounding word and seemed to refer to an ancient, unknown past, something which not only fit the Sith in general, but seemed to fit the Sith of Taaszon pretty well, I think. Anyway, back to the now well-changed events on the bridge.
"Wait a minute," Yevenna all of a sudden spoke, interrupting the conference "There is an unencrypted Imperial distress call over Geonosis, right where the munitions station we destroyed was." We all looked at the location of Geonosis, and, true to form, the distress signal was right there, the only one of its sort that we could see on the map, and it was right where the munitions station was. How could that be though? I saw the explosion with my own eyes, there was nothing left of that station, so...what's giving a distress signal? Well, maybe it could be an investigation crew that encountered trouble, but then, why is the distress signal being sent across all frequencies, not just private Imperial ones? In theory, we wouldn't be able to see it if it was exclusive to the Empire. This was strange and, considering it happens to be right where we just attacked the Empire, it was suspicious too. Has this signal been going off the whole time and we just haven't known about it or is this a new thing? If its the former, why hasn't anyone responded to it, if it's new, then who is it coming from? We needed some answers here, and soon, because I had a sinking feeling in my stomach that, somehow, the Empire discovered something about us from the course of that attack.
"What is the signal saying?" Phanza asked, wanting more information before she made any decision about this.
"I'm sorry Lady Attam but there is no message to go along with it, it seems like whoever is sending it just sent out an open distress call to whoever is listening without anything to go along with it." Wurrathu explained, focusing in on the instance and trying to get more information onto her computer, but getting nothing. Perhaps its the Geonosians then? Maybe the bugs found an Imperial transmitter and tried to hit it, maybe they saw the space station blow up in orbit and now want to speak with whoever blew it up, organizing an alliance of some sort. That would explain why it's an open transmission, but would the Geonosians have access to separatist technology that could do the same thing, preferably without alerting any Imperials close enough to receive it with standard Imperial transmitters? The only reason we can hear it from this far away is because of this new tracking system that Doctor Oljena developed. So, if it's not the bugs and it doesn't fit standard Imperial protocol, who can it possibly be? That is the million credit question I suppose.
"What do you want to do about this?" Darth Rezivara asked Lady Attam, the Rattataki Dark Councilor was technically Phanza's equal under the current system, but was willing to differ to her in moments like this. I think Rezivara understood what we were going for with the Dark Council better than any of the other members, it's a way for Phanza to take up the mantle she is expected to take without taking on so much responsibility and so many tasks that it harms her ability to be Taaszon's primary operative in the wider galaxy. Phanza needs people like Mesiphis, Xelecon, and indeed Rezivara to take some of the weight of leadership off of her and to share power with her, but Phanza's status as the de facto Grand Duchess, even if she hasn't embraced that title yet, effectively makes her the first among equals when it comes to the Dark Council. Mesiphis, meanwhile, possessing seniority and seeming to have the backing of Xelecon and Lord Korzytkos, is essentially the leader of the opposition, with Rezivara being Phanza's clearest ally on the Council. Anyway, Phanza seemed to be thinking about this, and, from what I could tell between her facial expression and what I felt in the Force bond, she was leaning towards not doing this. Phanza felt that it was too much of a risk and that it seemed like too much of an Imperial trap - perhaps the frequency is open because the Empire has no idea who attacked Geonosis and they're hoping to trap them - but I was more concerned about this. I felt that we had to see what it is and respond appropriately.
"I think we need to investigate it at very least. This isn't how the Republic typically operates and we've never seen any hint of the Empire operating like this before. I think this might be something different, it might even be a rebellious group using Imperial equipment to send out a signature. Worst case scenario, we can just jump to hyperspace and the Empire won't know where we're going." I replied, reasoning that we should at least look and pointing out the advantage of Dromund Kaas being hidden from Palpatine. Dooku never seemed like a particularly cunning Sith to me, of course he was Palpatine's apprentice for a time, of course he committed atrocities as the head of the separatist, and I think he must have had some idea about Palpatine's plans for the larger galaxy, but I couldn't imagine him ever exactly overthrowing Palpatine. It always seemed like Dooku lacked the killing instinct one would expect from a man called Tyranus - I mean, he had hundreds of Jedi surrounded in the arena on Geonosis all those years ago yet he's the one who ended up retreating. That's not to say Geonosis was a good day for the Jedi, it wasn't, and a lot of us only survived because of the arrival of the Clone Army, but still, Dooku basically let the Jedi escape. Perhaps that was part of Palpatine's plan, meant to give the Jedi a reason to depend on the clones, but still. Anyway, the point is, it's a surprise that, after all this time, after Dooku was killed even, to find out that he was more cunning and more aware of Palpatine's untrustworthiness than most of us would have given him credit for.
"Very well. I will lead a small team to take a look, we will not engage the enemy if they are there, and we will return to Dromund Kaas if the signal is found to be coincidental in any way." Phanza accepted after a moment, spelling out the terms of the mission. It seemed like Phanza was doing this primarily because I wanted to, so, she was doing just enough to fulfill my request despite the fact that she didn't think we were going to find anything positive or useful. I was grateful for this, even if I did wish that Phanza truly believed that there was something to check out here, rather than just placating her apprentice, but I'll take what I can get. So, about an hour later, Phanza, Schweva, Yevenna, and I were armed with our assorted standard field loadouts as we boarded the Ultimate once more.
I wasn't sure what I expected: perhaps the worst case scenario was a fleet of awaiting star destroyers, just hoping that someone would hop out of hyperspace in front of us, perhaps the most likely was an Imperial scouting party looking through the wreckage for any sign of what happened to destroy this orbital station, then, least likely but perhaps more desirable, there was the chance that this was someone else, maybe the Geonosians, maybe some sort of inspired rebel faction, trying to make contact with the ones who destroyed the munitions station. Instead, it was just quiet rubble, floating in orbit like they were simply additions to the rings of Geonosis. I felt myself sank and I think Phanza was just about to take us back to Dromund Kaas when, out of place in the rubble of a space station, we all of a sudden came across a wrecked LAAT gunship, floating there, still in Republic colors, yet giving off the Imperial distress signal. This odd sighting was whatever was calling us, so, we decided to investigate it further.
A few moments later, Phanza and I were dressed in full body space suits with tubes attached to the ship's air supply doubling as our tethers in the zero G environment of the Geonosian rings. We slowly floated over to the gunship and grabbed the grates of the door - these LAATs weren't designed for space travel, the lack of an airtight seal was just one example of that - and slid the door open. An empty crew bay revealed itself, well, at least a mostly empty crew bay, because the only thing of note was a small holoprojector on the ground, fixed to the hull of the gunship so it wouldn't flow freely. I reached to activate it, wondering what was on it when, as soon as my hand neared it, it turned itself on and displayed an image against the opposite wall. My eyes widened as I saw the three hunters from Nar Shaddaa, the Imperial scientists for Quesh tied up and suspended from the ceiling, and a message: reading "This mean anything to you?" followed by a set of coordinates. The hunters were trying to tie all the attacks together, and I fear they may have found the way to do it.
"Who are they?" Phanza asked through the Force bond, verbal communication complicated by the space suits and the fact that sound doesn't exactly travel through a vacuum all that easily, but knowing from both my facial expression and the panic I must have been conveying that I recognized them. They were the scientists from Quesh, the ones I spared because I thought that it was the right thing to do, the ones I didn't tell Phanza about, and the ones that the Hunters Palpatine sent after us were now using to make us admit guilt for everything. It's a gamble on the Hunters part, most likely they'll get nothing, but, in the event that it was us on Quesh and on Geonosis, they'll catch one of the biggest threats to the Empire and prove we were responsible for a plethora of strikes against the Empire. If they can prove Quesh and Geonosis, they'll be able to extrapolate all our other shock and awe attacks easily enough.
"Imperial scientists from Quesh. I spared them...I thought that, since they were non-combatants, this was the right thing to do. They didn't know who we were and I couldn't bring myself to kill them. I never expected the Hunters to get involved or for them to put all the pieces together. I thought it would be fine." I desperately tried to explain myself even as I felt Phanza's mood shift to a mixture of disappointment and plotting, already trying to figure out this problem as we were pulled back onboard the Ultimate via the air tethers. Phanza didn't say a word as we took off the space suits, not as I had to explain the situation to Schweva and Yevenna, and not as my decisions turned into an argument. Phanza just sat there in the captain's seat trying to figure out what to do.
"I can't believe this. We went to Quesh for the express purpose of destroying the base, recovering the navigational computer, and leaving without any concrete evidence behind, but you go ahead and spare their entire scientific attache without telling us? How could you?" Schweva pressed, not happy with the fact that I spared them to begin with, but downright outraged at the fact that I didn't share this with the rest of them. I didn't exactly have a defense for that either, I knew that, especially in retrospect, I should have told Phanza and Schweva about what happened, but maybe I thought that they wouldn't allow me to spare them. I don't know for sure what I was thinking though, and the fact that I nearly died later that mission doesn't help matters. So then, instead of defending me keeping this a secret, I decided to try and at least defend myself for sparing them to begin with, hoping to at least alleviate some of the pressure on me.
"They were unarmed non-combatants, scientists cowering for their lives. I thought the best thing I could do was let them go, it was better than killing them and it allowed me to focus in on completing the mission." I responded, trying to defend myself on moral grounds if nothing else. Perhaps I could have done better, perhaps I should have done better. I could have asked them to defect, I could have told them to fake their deaths and assume new false identities, I could have done anything other than just letting them return to the Empire where, of course, somebody was going to ask about the attack on Quesh and try to use them to get to us. I know I'm in the wrong here, I knew I was in the wrong as soon as I saw those scientists held hostage by the Hunters, the last thing I need right now is Schweva chastising me over the mistakes I made.
"Zaliza, they were military scientists for the Empire, they were making weapons, adrenals, and working on whatever Palpatine wanted with that Terminator-class destroyer. They may not wave a blaster around but they are absolutely part of the Imperial war effort. Our goal was to harm the Empire and hamper their ability to wage war and project force across the galaxy: that means you should have killed those scientists or at least told one of us to do it for you." Schweva responded, rejecting my non-combatant premise and making a rather fair, albeit harsh point. They were part of the Imperial war machine, they were military scientists, and, one way or another, they were contributing to Palpatine's evil actions across the galaxy, but does that give me the right to kill someone who is of no direct threat to me? Would telling Schweva or Phanza or E'verta to kill them for me be really all that different from killing them myself? No, fundamentally, causing their deaths isn't any better than killing them directly, it's still my actions causing the death of another, so I could not have absolved myself on a technicality. That being said, I doubt a Sith apprentice is going to see that, I don't even seem to be garnering much sympathy from my master or my best friend here. Phanza was still in silent thought while Yevenna was trying not to make eye contact with me, knowing that I wanted her to help me here but also knowing that she didn't have anything to defend me with. Am I really in the wrong for trying to be merciful and trying to spare a few innocent lives?
"Enough." Phanza eventually declared, stamping out her apprentice's rant with authority "The Hunters don't have anything unless we give that to them, they won't know the scientists mean anything to us unless we prove it. What we have to do here is harsh but it is necessary. We return to Dromund Kaas immediately, all the Hunters will know is that someone investigated this signal, they won't be able to prove who or why. We ignore the Hunters gamble and continue our strategy, hitting the Empire randomly and harshly. With time, the Hunters will realize their gamble failed and hopefully set the scientists loose, unwilling to kill their own people. Or maybe they threaten to execute the scientists in a last ditch attempt to draw us out. In which case, we simply call their bluff. If the Hunters execute their own scientists, they've only hurt the Empire, if they let the loose anyway, then your mercy was not in vain. The only way we lose is if we give them exactly what they want." Phanza replied, my heart sinking as I realized we weren't going to save those scientists. Phanza was willing to let them die to protect the secrecy of our strategy: Phanza is willing to do what I wasn't willing to do on Quesh.
I didn't try to argue. I simply sat silently in my seat as the Ultimate jumped to hyperspace and returned to Dromund Kaas, returned to the ancient Sith homeworld with the Sith warship Precursor in orbit over the planet, and I wondered where things went wrong. How did I get to a point where I'm surrounded with Sith? How did I get to a point where I hardly even think of myself as a Jedi? How did I get to a point where I have to wait for a Sith's permission as to whether or not I save a group of innocent people from an execution? I knew why Phanza made the decision that she did and I understood that this was the right thing for her and for her civilization, but what about me? Was this the path I wanted to head down? I knew that I didn't let those scientists live just to let them get killed, but I also understood that, from a military point of view, saving them didn't make any sense since it would make it clear to the Empire that we're still around and still a massive threat to them. I wanted to be merciful, I wanted to do what I felt was the right thing, but I didn't want to go against Phanza, especially not when I knew that, logically, she was right and that this was too dangerous. I also knew that she was my master know and that I should listen to her. That being said, did I want to be the apprentice of someone who was willing to let non-combatants die? I didn't know, and this argument just kept going around and around and around in my head.
R9-W3 whirred softly as I entered my bedroom back on Dromund Kaas, back in Darth Imperius' apartment, but still locked in the same deep internal argument that I've been locked in since I saw that holoprojector on the gunship. I knew that I wanted to save the scientists regardless of what Phanza and Schweva thought, but, on the other hand, I knew that if I showed up to rescue those scientists, it would also incriminate Phanza, at very least. I may be having doubts about if I belong with these Sith or not, but I cannot change the fact that I've been with them for a long time and that means that my actions have a negative affect on them too. I also thought back to what Phanza told Schweva and I this morning, about how dangerous and cunning Palpatine could be, and I realized this was an example of it. The fact that I spared these scientists to begin with demonstrated to Palpatine that there's a weak link in the organization that attacked Quesh, now, so many attacks later, Palpatine's men are using those scientists to get to that weak link again: me. If I show up at those coordinates, that proves I spared the scientists on Quesh and it proves that I was concerned about the distress signal on Geonosis, that means the Empire can pin at least those attacks on Taaszon. That means more than me: that means Phanza, Schweva, Yevenna, Rezivara, and all the rest. My actions will affect everyone for something only I'm concerned with.
In that respect, it seemed unjustifiable to save the Imperial scientists, they may be non-combatants, but is saving a couple of enemy non-combatants really worth the price of potentially endangering every single one of Taaszon's non-combatants here on Dromund Kaas? From a pure numbers perspective, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, and I suppose I should be content with the greater good in that regard. That being sad, I have the coordinates, I know where the Hunters are, and I know where the hostages are. Theoretically, all I would have to do is find a way to jam their communications signals then the only thing standing between me and the hostages are the three Hunters. Now, from what we've encountered on Nar Shaddaa, these are regular humanoids, perhaps artificially enhanced via adrenals, steroids, and cybernetics, but still regular humanoids, without the Force, which, in short, meant that they could be stopped. I don't think it would be a very easy fight, the fact that we couldn't beat them on the smuggler's moon is proof of that, but I theoretically could do it. Then it's only a matter of defeating the three of them without hurting the scientists. This time, I can free them and do it right - I doubt they'll argue deserting the Empire after being kept hostage - all without endangering the Grand Duchy. This was a big, big ask, of course, but it was possible.
"R9...run these coordinates for me and display them on the galaxy map." I told my red and purple astromech unit before rattling off the coordinates, watching as R9 pulled up the coordinates, revealing that the location was to be a large control tower on the junk planet of Raxus Prime. A deserted, lawless world filled with toxic chemicals and the galaxy's trash, this seemed private enough for Palpatine to try something like this, but the control tower, from what I could tell from R9's hologram, was an interesting choice. It was a relatively large location, a two story octagonal structure with both an outer overlooking section and an inner core, presumably where the hostages will be held. The area was big enough that the Hunters could fight at range with their blasters, but closed off, meaning I couldn't see them coming. The fact that it was an interior location would also increase any and all concussive effects of their blasters, grenades, or dedicated concussive explosives, all of which would make it difficult to use the Force on top of reducing my ability to focus on the fight. The levels and the circular design of the room also gave them a combination of maneuverability, unpredictability, and cover which would be hard to beat. Finally, the garbage and lack of civilians outside meant that they could use as much force as they wanted, not risking anything if I got blown out of the tower. In short, it was pretty obvious how they planned this spot out and how it is going to play into their trap, and that's assuming the numbers and tactics they use are the same as Nar Shaddaa, which is hardly a surefire assumption for an enemy we've really only encountered the one time.
So, I would be up against at least three trained, well armed, enhanced opponents with a home field advantage, all the time in the world to set a trap, familiarity with how I fight from the short little hangar battle on Nar Shaddaa, and I couldn't depend on my allies for help. I also couldn't depend on weapons from Phanza's armory, since she would figure out what I was doing very quickly if I suddenly took a whole bunch of her weapons. So, that meant I was down to my lightsaber, the one weapon I could justify bringing with me when I left the apartment, my only protection would be the robes on my back, due to the same reason, and I would have to figure out transportation and the jamming signal on my own. I needed to jam their communications or else the Hunters would just inform the Empire that it was us who attacked them everywhere, meanwhile, if I jammed communications before the attack, it would simply be a suspicion. Well, maybe that's too much to ask for, considering the Empire has pieced together everything so far, but at least jamming communications would prevent the Hunters from calling in reinforcements.
Now, in the event that things go wrong and I'm not capable of doing this, I cannot have a wayfinder on the ship I use to get to Raxus. This is both for the sake of protecting Dromund Kaas in the event that I get caught and because I doubt I can get Phanza's wayfinder without her knowing about it, so, that meant this trip was one way, with me having to figure out how to get back to Dromund Kaas on my own. I suppose I would have to ask Phanza to pick me up if I were successful, and I suppose in this particular case, it might be better for me to ask for forgiveness rather than permission. Okay, so, that way, even if things go wrong and the Empire proves Taaszon is responsible, they still won't be able to get to our new location. Now, Phanza is still going to lose me and her shock and awe strategy will lose effectiveness in this event, but, considering no harm will come to them, I think this is a workable solution. So then, while massively unlikely, horrifically difficult, and somewhat of a betrayal to my allies and their trust, there is a way for me to do this. That brings me back to the question of if I should.
I think my plan minimizes risk and only puts myself in danger, so that takes away a good amount of my objections to rescuing the scientists, but there is still the practical question to consider. It is one thing to spare the scientists when it's an attack we're launching on the Empire, it's another thing to outright go across the galaxy and rescue them, at extreme risk to myself and to the people who I consider dear to me. One is an act of mercy and the other is an act of heroism, sure, but it is an act of stupid and reckless heroism. Lets be clear here: these Hunters are clearly meant to take on Force users, with armor that can take at very least Force Lightning and quite possible lightsaber bolts as well, they are patient enough to have waited at the Star Cluster casino for months, simply because Vader has a suspicion about us, and they were capable enough to ambush a group of Force users when we did finally show up. Going against the three Hunters alone is practically a suicide mission, so much so that I planned for what might happen if I'm killed in action. Is it really worth it to stick my neck out like this? Especially if Phanza is right and the Hunters aren't actually going to kill the Empire's own people. I know that Palpatine myself might, but these are his subordinates in action, and, even then, these scientists are useful to the Empire so that might be enough to spare them from Palpatine's wrath.
I was thinking in circles, arguing with myself, incapable of making a decision...I realized that I should probably leave the apartment for real, not to sneak out to get to Raxus, but to legitimately go out for a walk to collect my thoughts. So, to that end, I got up, got dressed, and left the room, lightsaber on my hip for familiarity, if nothing else, but, as I reached the first floor of the apartment, I found Schweva sat on the couch. The Chiss Sith sat cross-legged on a couch, lightsaber and lightwhip on her lap, as if she was just about to start meditating or had just finished, and I could tell that she eyed me when I came downstairs, somewhat suspicious as she watched me. I wondered if, perhaps, Phanza was prepared for the fact that I might try something rash, so, even though Yevenna went back to her own apartment and Phanza was back onboard the Precursor, working on getting the capital ship up and running, Schweva was still here to keep an eye on me. I wondered if that meant that I was going to be under constant watch until this particular crisis resolved itself. On one hand that felt like a gross betrayal of my trust, on the other hand, I had just gone through the entire mental exercise of what it would take to rescue the scientists, and I still wasn't completely sure what I was going to do, so maybe I had to begrudgingly admit that Phanza's choice was firm but fair.
"I'm going for a walk around the city. I need to clear my head." I told Schweva when it became evident that she wasn't going to look away from me, the Chiss apprentice far from happy with my reaction to the scientists and hardly trusting me. I imagined that Schwevaa'aphere'enda was not only enthusiastic about spying on me for Phanza, but she wanted our master to take a harsher stance on my actions. I don't think that Schweva is a bad person, not at all, I think that she is a basically good person and that she could have been just as good of a Jedi as I ever was if the circumstances were only slightly different, but she has been born and raised on a Sith planet, she feels she has to do everything in her power to get ahead, and she sees me as a threat to her status as Phanza's apprentice, so, of course she's going to focus on my flaws. The fact that Phanza keeps me around, even as I refuse to take on Sith ideology, even as I make massive mistakes like the one on Quesh, is mind-boggling to Schweva, who doubts herself at every possible moment. Of course she is going to hate me because, for whatever reason, in her mind, it seems like I can get away with anything while she has to struggle for everything she has.
"Why is it a moral conundrum for you? Those scientists were building weapons that the Imperials were going to use to hunt down and kill Jedi, those scientists were making adrenals to make the Empire's chosen child soldiers fight longer and harder in battle, even as the Empire is no longer in a state of war, and those scientists immediately went back to the Empire once you showed mercy. They are not your friends, they are not your responsibility. The very fact that the Hunters have them as hostages is nobody's fault but their own and, should the Hunters kill them, that only serves to weaken the Empire. Worst case scenario, they lose a science team, best case scenario, there is a public outrage over the Empire killing its own people. There is no reason for you to be clearing your head, the answer is painfully obvious and the fact that you don't see that reflects poorly on your intelligence." Schweva cut into me without hesitation, as if she has been rehearsing this argument in her head ever since Phanza cut off our last bout on the Ultimate, now she was throwing all that pent-up aggression at me.
"I'm going for a walk." I replied firmly before turning around and heading for the speeder garage, not wanting to be part of this argument. Schweva, for whatever reason, allowed me to leave, and a few moments later, I was sitting on a bench beneath an awning in the center of Kaas City. Cleared of all the rubble and overgrowth, with restored power, this central square actually looked rather impressive, if a bit drab and impersonal. Gray, grandiose monolithic architecture under gray, stormy skies didn't exactly do much to inspire happiness or creativity. In any case, I sat here and I thought, seeing a handful of people walking through the square in front of me. Some were civilians, some were soldiers, a handful were even Sith acolytes, the next generation of Taaszon's Sith were pulled out of their Academies and relocated to a whole new planet in what was no doubt a stressful experience. There were more people in this square than there were scientists to rescue, several times more in fact, and that was after countless people lost their lives on Taaszon. Could these people really take it if their lives were endangered again? Could I really risk putting an entire civilization through trauma again just to save a couple of people I already spared once?
"Hey," I practically felt myself jump as I looked up to see Phanza, standing there in front of me, the Nautolan joining me under the awning. I suppose she must have gotten back from the Precursor already "I felt your confusion and turmoil through the bond, I came as soon as I could."
"It's okay." I replied, not really sure what I meant or why I said it, it simply felt like what I was supposed to say. I didn't know how to approach this situation, what was safe to say, or even what Phanza already knew. Phanza, meanwhile, only sighed and sat down next to me, my master sitting down and joining me on the bench, looking tired as she did so. Phanza was struggling, even with the authority being delegated across the Dark Council, and facing issues from within her own home was only making it worse...that meant I was only making it worse.
"Let me tell you a story." Phanza began after a few moments of silence "Years ago, when I was just an acolyte coming up through the Exavellos Academy, I came up into competition with another acolyte in my group. We didn't know for sure at the time, but our group was secretly selected by Grand Duchess Voytana to find her next apprentice, and one of my rivals seemed to have found that out. He quickly realized that I was his biggest rival, the biggest obstacle in his path to becoming the Grand Duchess' apprentice, so, naturally, he decided to kill me. He didn't stop to consider what would happen if the overseers found out or Voytana for that matter. Though I suppose that's to be expected, he was strong physically and gifted in the Force, but he was a damn arrogant fool. Do you know what his big plan to kill me was? One night, during one of my trials, he ambushed me and tried to drown me. Drown me."
Phanza and I laughed lightly at the stupid plan. I doubt this acolyte would have succeeded even if Phanza had an ordinary humanoid physiology, but the idea that his big plan was to try and drown a woman from an aquatic species is just ridiculous. It was a stupid plan and it was doomed to fail. Oh. That's what this story is all about, it's not just a funny anecdote, it's a lesson and a warning, making sure that I don't go through with my own stupid, reckless plan to rescue the scientists.
"If you really want to rescue those scientists, there is a smarter way to do it, a way which won't put any of us at risk." Phanza pointed out, smirking as she told me about the new plan she developed, the plan which might just give us both what we want.
Bit of a cliffhanger, I know. Ciao!
