Alright, it's gonna be a long one because we have a lot to cover.
Secrets of The Outer Rim.
Act III.
The Hunters and The Hunted.
Chapter XXXIX.
The Sith Homeworld.
"We only have a limited amount of time. Once the star destroyer rams the space station, we lose the element of surprise and Imperial reinforcements will be inbound. Admiral Wurrathu, set course for the outermost reaches of the Korriban system, Darth Rezivara, I'm sending you the following contacts, call of them and get any help you can. The rest of you, follow me, we're going to meet Zaliza's prisoner." Phanza announced as the six of us walked briskly through the halls of the Precursor, with Admiral Wurrathu splitting off towards the bridge when she was instructed, Darth Rezivara and Inquisitor Baracyn following suit, leaving just Phanza, Schweva, and I as we headed off to see the young Imperial officer I encountered outside of the officer's quarters. The Venator was already heading for Korriban at just under the speed of light, not quite hyperspace as the dimensional differences between hyperspace and realspace could significantly complicate things. Maybe the transfer of energy would be massive and have a bigger result, or maybe the explosion would only occur in hyperspace without a corresponding event in realspace. All we know is that people that crash in hyperspace die, we don't really know what else goes into that because, obviously, dead people can't report on their collisions. No, we need real, confirmed results here, because we were dramatically, overwhelmingly outnumbered, we needed to soften up the Imperial fleet in any way we could. Hence the star destroyer on route, and hence our attempt to get information out of the Imperials.
"Let me take the lead on this, he knows me best out of us." I decided as we arrived at the interrogation room, two Taaszon troopers flanking the door. Phanza and Schweva obliged, entering the room and standing on either side while I sat down across from the young officer. I watched as the young human sat there, cap on the table as he held his head in his hands, running his fingers through his dirty blonde hair. The Imperial took a deep breath, taking a moment to compose himself, then he leaned back in his chair and faced me, ready to talk to us. I could tell that he was still nervous, the slight quiver in his lip, the little glances he kept throwing at Phanza and Schweva while trying to hide it, and the fact that, even passively, even while trying not to be intrusive, I felt that he wasn't comfortable here. I couldn't exactly blame him either, he didn't know where he was going, he just knew that he was on a moving ship in space, held captive by an enemy that the Empire didn't entirely understand. Even I didn't fully understand the Grand Duchy of Taaszon until I joined it, and I had more first hand exposure to these Sith than any Imperial officer, especially not a young kid like this. That being said, these weren't our concerns right now, right now, we just needed to know everything he could tell us about the Korriban operation. Beyond that, I would try to make sure he's protected and rewarded for his cooperation, but again, that was a matter for another day...assuming any of us survive what's coming next that is. In any case, I began "What's your name?"
"Ensign Hemro Sarvo ma'am, my time on the Providence was my first posting in the Imperial Navy." he answered, trying to be as helpful as possible, giving his name, his rank, and his history in the Imperial Navy, unfortunately, that wasn't exactly what I was looking for. That being said, considering that he was giving us this with very little prompting, I think he'll answer whatever questions we have, though I suppose that there's only one real way to find out about that. Literally, any bit of tactical insight could go a long way, because, if we didn't get any response to our call for help, we had one ship heading towards an entire assembled Imperial fleet on the assumption that, maybe, a jerry-rigged suicide bombing star destroyer will do some damage. Perhaps that's a bit too negative, I think that ramming a star destroyer into the central space station over Korriban is going to do some massive damage, but I'm not sure if it's going to do enough damage to give us an opening on its own, we're going to need some other sort of advantage, and I hope that his information can be that advantage.
"Listen, we know the Imperials are assembled over Korriban and we believe they are searching for a superweapon that will allow them to launch mass surveillance, either against us or their own people. I hope you can see why we would want to stop that. Is there anything you can tell us, anything that could maybe swing the odds in our favor just a little bit?" I asked, knowing that, based on his age, he grew up in the Republic, and he probably remembers a childhood before the Clone Wars and before Palpatine's degradation of democratic institutions, and I had to hope that memory translated into certain values that could go into our favor. I really didn't want to have to resort to any sort of harsh negotiation tactics, but we needed to get our hands on this information, and I suspected that he had to have something - after all, it didn't take very much effort at all for our shock troopers to access the files on the master computer - a computer terminal which Ensign Sarvo would have had access to every day during his time on the Providence.
"I umm...I don't know for sure, our ship wasn't going to be assigned to the Korriban mission, but, from what I know from the briefings...they haven't found anything yet, the search is still ongoing. Umm...our power is concentrated in orbit, I think the operations on the surface are mostly scientific in origin. What else...what else...okay, the Emperor and Lord Vader are periodically visiting the planet personally, if you can time it correctly, I think you'll have an easier time." the Ensign tried to explain, motivated mostly by fear at this point, but still trying to give whatever information he could remember. Now, the thing about power being in orbit and Palpatine and Vader being off-world was helpful, because that at least meant that we knew what we were up against from the hologram. The holographic image also showed that the ships in orbit were Venator-class star destroyers, we still didn't have to face the new Imperial prototype star destroyers.
"Do you have appropriate clearances or joining codes, anything that could get us into the Imperial lines?" Phanza asked, all of a sudden, the red-skinned Nautolan evidently had a plan developing. Getting into the Imperial lines seemed like a strange goal, especially given we've already committed to this ramming idea, which would send the Imperials on high alert, but I don't want to doubt Phanza just yet, perhaps she has a plan that will make all of this work. Maybe it was a plan for us to infiltrate the Imperial lines before the rogue Venator rams the enemy lines and then use the chaos to get to the surface and destroy the Swarm before the Imperials could get their hands on it, or perhaps this was something else entirely, I wasn't sure, but there was no reason why she couldn't at least try, especially given that the Ensign is being cooperative.
"I mean...if you have the data off the master computer, I could find it and umm...and I guess if I used my emergency last survivor override, I could send the codes myself." Ensign Sarvo explained, not having the appropriate codes and clearances memorized, but being able to access them and having the ability, as a bridge officer, to send the codes. I assumed that this last survivor override was some sort of contingency plan for a catastrophic failure that eliminated all of the senior officers, leaving critical command functions to the junior officers. This was likely something unusual and seldom used, but it was the best option we had right now, so, once Phanza nodded and gave me permission, I handed over my holocommunicator to Hemro, giving him access to not just the Korriban visual, but the rest of the data we were able to download off of the master computer, which, fortunately enough, included the exact codes we were looking for. A few moments of searching later, and Ensign Sarvo had some good news "Okay, I think I can work with this."
"Excellent. Schweva, Zaliza, find out anything else you can. Ensign Sarvo, you've been most helpful, but I have some calls to make." Phanza decided, pulling her own holocommunicator off her belt and leaving the room, evidently ready to put whatever plan she had in motion. Meanwhile, Schweva and I continued the interrogation, getting some information out about the kind of armaments the Imperial ships would have, some tactical information of how their ships might maneuver if attacked, and information on the scenarios Imperials most often trained for - apparently ship-to-ship combat training has decreased significantly since the Clone Wars and even more so after the Battle of Taaszon, the primary purpose of star destroyers is now one of occupation and troop transport - a star destroyer now is far more likely to send up shuttles of stormtroopers to engage an irregular military threat on the surface rather than engage in open space combat on equal footing. We could use that to our advantage I think, expose any sloppiness or lack of experience among the Imperial fleet. Then, finally, I thanked the Ensign and promised him that, at the end of all this, I would try and do whatever I can to ensure he is justly rewarded for what he has done. He betrayed the Empire and given us critical information, but that also means he'll never be allowed to return to the Empire again, so he deserves all the compensation we can give him, because this man, either out of his own doubts about the Empire or simply out of fear, has given up his entire Imperial life for our cause.
We were up against a massive Imperial fleet with a mass surveillance superweapon in the balance. We knew that, the second we appeared, Palpatine and Vader would be informed, and we knew that Imperial reinforcements would be on their way almost immediately, needless to say, this was a massive, massive task in front of us, and we needed every advantage we could get. So, here I sat, in the middle of a meditation room onboard the Precursor, sitting crosslegged with my lightsaber in my lap, along with a Sith parts kit and the two left over purple and black crystals from the mines on Taaszon. I thought about them for a second, some of the last relics of Taaszon, because who knows what the Empire has done with the crystal reserve since, now, they were about to get used, used to take the battle to Korriban in an attempt to deny the Empire the chance to take the Swarm. It was a battle for the identity of the Sith in a way, between the more neutral, almost light side faction of Taaszon, and the dark, diabolical rule of two faction of Palpatine. We have more Sith, we have more guns on each starship, but they have many, many more starships and men. We are outnumbered and outgunned, but we have quality on our side. Time will only tell if it will be enough. In my case though, I need to make sure that I'll be as capable as possible, so, at very least, I need to return to using the weapon I'm most familiar with: a double-bladed lightsaber.
I pulled apart my existing weapon with the Force, the round, tubular panels coming apart to reveal the inner mechanical structure - the tube design was to obscure what the lightsaber was, with the intention of maybe being able to keep the weapon with me in public places - that was something I wanted to retain as turned the weapon into a double-bladed lightsaber. I reworked the internal design to make it somewhat more compact, as I wanted the overall weapon to be more like one and a half times longer than my current weapon rather than a full twice as long, the I focused on making the new part of the weapon. I levitated the new pieces into place while I reached out with the Force, trying to establish a connection with the crystals, trying to put some of myself in them and some of them in me, with the goal of making these crystals an extension of myself. Then, once I was satisfied that I could feel myself in the crystals, I levitated them into place, then I closed the lightsaber around it, bringing the pieces together and then closing the black metallic tube around it, with even the emitters covered in the long, circular tube. The only feature was a pair of buttons, and even those two were black buttons set discretely into the matching tube. It was all about making sure that the weapon was not undeniably a lightsaber. That little bit of the benefit of the doubt could one day prove useful, but, until that day, I was going to depend on the two blades, something which may prove critical as I enter the Battle of Korriban, knowing exactly what is in the balance here.
I clicked my lightsaber together and lowered it int my lap, opening my eyes as the weapon fell onto the fabric of my robe. I grabbed my lightsaber and stood up, standing tall in a combat stance in the middle of the chamber, then I ignited the black and purple blades, bathing the dimly lit meditation chamber - artificial lighting can be disruptive to the meditation process, especially for less adept or less focused individuals - in the light of a purple corona surrounding a dark core. I swung my weapon around as I went through the saberstaff fighting stance, sinking bank into my older fighting style after utilizing an impromptu Shien form since surrendering my first lightsaber on Loukhamii. I fell into that form because, like Soresu, it specialized in blocking blaster bolts, but the more aggressive nature of Form V compared to Form III made it a better option when paired with the stately, aggressive sparring form of Makashi employed by Lady Attam and the very aggressive Juyo utilized by Schweva as she attacked with her lightsaber and her whip, utilizing aggression and darkness as she tried to be the ideal Sith apprentice. Shien served me well in that regard, and I think that I will continue to utilize some elements of it, but, as I went through the motions with my double-bladed lightsaber, I knew that this was my natural state, t way that I was supposed to fight. I spun around, swinging my lightsaber around, imagining all of the times that I did the same thing in the Clone Wars, for better or for worse, but, at the same time, I saw Phanza standing there, leaning against the door, the master watching the apprentice.
"Hey," was all she had to offer for now. I shot her a small smile before taking a deep breath and coming to peace with myself, completing the meditative process. I clipped the new and improved lightsaber onto my belt and stood up straight, rising from the combat stance. Then I walked over to Phanza, leaning against the wall next to the Nautolan, knowing full well that this could be one of the last moments we spend together - if things went wrong on Korriban, I could die, she could die, hell, we all could die in the futile struggle to win one over the Empire - and deciding that I wanted to enjoy it while it lasted. My relationship with Phanza was a complicated one, considering that it all started when we were on opposing sides, but then she became my ally, now my master, and, for better or worse, one of the closest friends I've had since Master Avdune sacrificed herself for me. I won't say that everything Phanza did was right, even if Voytana created the Force bond without informing her, Phanza definitely used it to her advantage, trying to influence me and feed me information in such a way as to persuade me to turn to her side. Phanza didn't want a corruption to the Dark Side, she wanted me to become completely and utterly loyal to her by my own doing, and perhaps she has been successful in some ways, but, either way, I was with her now by my own decision. I chose to become her apprentice, so what if she had some influence over the decision, she did not make it for me, that distinction is mine and mine alone.
"Hi," I replied, the two of us were simply exchanging greetings, but there was meaning here beyond the simple words we exchanged, we both knew the stakes of what was about to come, so Phanza was effectively giving me the chance to talk to her before we passed the point of no return. This is another thing that has always fascinated me about Lady Attam, she is literally a Sith Lord, dark robes, red lightsaber, red skin, and harsh black tattoos, yet, despite this harsh outward appearance, she not only cares about me, but she cares about how I'm feeling. There were members of the Jedi Council who were colder towards me than Phanza ever was, Master Windu and Master Ki-Adi Mundi in particular, and that's part of why my opinion on the Sith has changed so much. Even Schweva, who I would describe as having tendencies slightly more towards the Dark Side than Phanza, but even she is an infinitely, infinitely better person than the impression of the Sith that the Jedi Council left me with. I don't know what it means for me with the knowledge of my species, but I know that I feel that this is the best place in the galaxy for me right now. I would rather be with the Grand Duchy than in hiding or turned into a tool of the Empire like Thonna unfortunately was.
"We lost on Taaszon, our entire civilization was devastated. Our fleet was basically left to sacrifice itself as we fled in some ancient, militarily useless mega-ships we didn't even fully understand. Now, we're left with a repaired ship, a handful of Sith Lords, and a ragtag group of soldiers, made up of survivors from Taaszon, fresh conscripts, and the Chiss troopers, anything beyond that...will have to come from the good graces of whoever will ally with us. I don't think we've inspired much confidence among anyone, but...I suppose we'll have to see. All I know is, whatever happens, we're going to be at immense personal risk. We'll be outnumbered, we'll be outflanked, and, overall, we'll be outgunned. A lot of people are going to die on Korriban, the vast majority of them before we even make it to the surface, and, at the end of all that, we still might not be able to get to the Swarm. If there is anything you want to say, anything you're scared about or are struggling with, say it now, because we might not get another chance." Phanza continued, the Nautolan opening up, the woman who always tried to have a plan, always tried to handle every problem immediately and professionally rather than dwelling on it, but, here she was, in a calm moment, showing vulnerability. Phanza saw Taaszon as a massive failure on her part: she was powerless to keep the Empire from taking Operator Rahlkann's wayfinder, her defensive plans buckled one by one as the Empire attacked Taaszon, and her own master was blown away before a single Imperial even made it to the ground. Taaszon was a humiliating failure and the results could not have been worse for the Grand Duchy, now we had to attack the Empire, to either deny them a superweapon or to die trying. The stakes could not be higher, it was a desperate struggle to deny our enemy mass surveillance...we needed to succeed.
"Well...I am scared. We're at a disadvantage on any metric but we cannot fail here. We're not letting the Empire get the Swarm...maybe Sarna Lu was right all along, we shouldn't mess with this kind of stuff. Superweapons were a dangerous idea then and they're a dangerous idea now. " I responded, explaining the stakes, and then getting back to the issue at key here: the fact that this was basically my fault. I'm the one that told the Empire about the Swarm, knowing full well that, with near-infinite resources, the Empire would find it far, far sooner than we could ever hope to, all in the hope of saving my friend. I did save Yevenna, so at least there is that, but despite being grateful that she's alive and despite everything that Phanza has told me since then, I can't help but wonder if one live is worth endangering billions, perhaps trillions of people. If we fail, everything that the Empire will do with the Swarm will basically be my fault, and, while I know that Phanza has said that I did the right thing to protect the Grand Duchy, she knows that too. I've already compromised the Grand Duchy before, Schweva made that clear with the scientists incident, but this time, I had no way of defending myself. It was a snap reaction to save my friend and now, we're confronted with the very real consequences. What happens if Yevenna dies in the fighting over Korriban? What will all this mean then?
"It's okay to be scared...we all are. As for the Swarm, you're right, Sarna Lu was right, these kinds of weapons are too dangerous in a galaxy where Palpatine and his Empire can get their hands on them. We will have no choice but to destroy it when we get to it, especially because I don't think we're going to have the chance to get the Swarm weapon out of there." Phanza replied, explaining that we have no choice but to destroy the Swarm, there is no way we could get that out of there under enemy fire on Korriban. No, it would be hard enough to get to the surface, get to the Swarm, and destroy the superweapon, before getting out of there as soon as physically possible. This was very much going to be a run-and-gun attack because we don't have the people or the ships to do anything else. The longer we spent on Korriban, the higher our chances of failure were, especially if Palpatine and Vader are going to respond to this personally. Phanza's remarks did make me feel somewhat better, because at least this meant we had a very clear goal and, after that, we could leave. Even if things didn't go well, we could have our ships in orbit leave once we landed, effectively sacrificing ourselves to destroy the device. That wouldn't be ideal at all, the last thing Taaszon needed was more death, but, if that was the only option we had to stop the Empire from getting the Swarm...perhaps it was necessary.
"Do you think Sarna Lu and the Lost Sith will help us?" I asked while we were on the subject of the Kaminoan Sith Lord and his faction of the lost and the forgotten. On the most basic level, I would think that Sarna Lu would be interested in destroyed an Imperial superweapon, but he has bigger considerations as well: he has one ancient destroyer and a group of people to protect, and, beyond that, he may think that this is our responsibility, considering that we refused to go along with his suggestion at first, only working out an agreement after beating him in a fight and leaving him with a lightwhip scar across the back, so maybe he isn't going to be particularly interested in coming to our aid. I could see Sarna Lu going either way, superweapons seem to be a sore spot for him - understandable considering he was the combination of the Sith and Kaminoan lineages - but I had to hope that he joined us, because even a three thousand year old destroyer would be a massive boost to our cause. Anything is better than bringing just one capital ship against an entire armada assembled above a planet.
"I don't know...I suppose we'll have to find out." Phanza sighed, not being able to produce a better answer. Phanza didn't know what was going to happen either, she could hope that Sarna Lu and his forces would show up, he was probably among the people Darth Rezivara was contacting, but we wouldn't know what's ultimately going to happen until it happens. She was under pressure, I was under pressure, she was vulnerable, I was vulnerable, it was a shared moment within a shared experience. Phanza leaned back against the wall, offering me her hand, I looked down for a moment before accepting it, putting my hand in hers, red skin against red skin, two different species, two different people, but together in one moment. I let myself feel good here, I let myself enjoy this while the two of us were on a ship already heading towards one of the biggest battles since the end of the Clone Wars. Taaszon was a disaster for us, we lost that battle in every way imaginable, with the only saving grace being those of us who survived, now we were up against a massive Imperial force yet again, with no choice but to win or die trying, because if we fail to get our hands on the Swarm, the war against the Empire is lost anyway.
I joined Phanza and Admiral Wurrathu on the bridge, the two of them standing on the platform overlooking the workings of the ship. We were sat at the very edge of the Korriban system, sitting out of visual range of the planet itself, and using the radar jamming technology on top of that, we were doing everything we could to remain undetected. Doctor Daiyor stood in the corner of the bridge, the Miraluka woman satisfied that her technology was working. Perhaps this wasn't exactly the most sensitive thing to say, but it seemed kind of ironic that the blind woman developed this technology that made us invisible to radar. We were here waiting for our allies to show up, and, if nobody was going to show up, then I suppose we would have no other option but to wait for the rogue Venator to ram the space station and give us the best opening we could hope for. One ship against the entire Imperial blockade would be suicidal, so I hope that it doesn't come to that, but, again, we might not have much of a choice. Once the Venator hits, we have to either attack or lose our opportunity as Palpatine and his reinforcements arrive. The Dark Lord of the Sith isn't going to stand idly by as we try to destroy his superweapon - there's a reason there's so many star destroyers in orbit around Korriban. Palpatine wanted to make sure that his device was secure, and he wanted to offer us bait, giving his forces the chance to eliminate us once and for all. That's all Palpatine saw us as, a pest, he didn't even give us the satisfaction of being hunted by Inquisitors, instead being hunted by Exiim Abarghe.
"A repaired Margraviate-class Super Dreadnought is inbound along with the captured Venator and several support ships. The Venator has been modified with a cloaking device, as you specified, that, combined with the codes, should allow us to send in a Trojan horse." Admiral Wurrathu explained as the ships popped out of hyperspace, another repaired Margraviate ship to match the Precursor, and I finally realized what Phanza wanted out of Ensign Sarvo, as our Venator, now repainted black and purple in the colors of the Grand Duchy, activated its cloaking device, making it appear, for all intents and purposes, gray and drab, just like all the Imperial Venator-class star destroyers. The support ships, meanwhile, were various small battleships and destroyers, little triangular ships that basically filled out the fleet, but, we did have them loaded with as many guns as they could possibly carry - again, the one bright side of less crew is that it made room for more autocannons - so maybe they could prove useful here. Of course, the real reason they were here is because, with the amount of people we had, it took a long time to repair the capital ships and get them working, hence we only had two of our ships operational right now, but it was a lot easier to get these small ships working. Of course, Dromund Kaas didn't have a massive, automated shipyard, so that wasn't helping either, showing the limits of a civilization in exile, having to settle back down in a planet that has been abandoned for nearly four thousand years, especially when the vast majority of that planet was jungle, even at its peak population.
"Excellent, have the Venator move forward, contact the Imperials, and transmit the codes. It will join the blockade on the opposite side to the space station, effectively, when the runaway ship rams the space station, we want a simultaneous attack on the other side, our Venator opening fire and doing as much damage to the Imperial fleet before retreating as we attack from the other side." Phanza finally explained the plan in full, revealing that this attack was going to mirror the ramming tactic going at the space station. The Venator's attack on the far side of the planet depended entirely on the element of surprise, catching the Empire off-guard during the chaos of the space station exploded, we did not expect the Venator to last long, it will fight as long as the element of surprise lasts, and, once that goes away and the ship starts taking heavy damage, it'll flee from the battle. The whole point was to distract the Empire, instill confusion in their ranks, and provide a distraction as we attacked the front side of the planet. It was basically about finding a way to make sure we weren't fighting the brunt of the Imperial fleet, a force which will already be softened by the ramming attack blowing up the space station and adjacent ships, giving us the best chance we could possibly hope for. The Venator moved forward, stopped as it got approval, and then seemed to maneuver into joining the blockade, this left Phanza satisfied with this matter for the time being, so, she turned her attention to the matter at hand, asking Wurrathu "Is anyone else coming?"
"Well, we have the Precursor, the Remnant, and the Venator-class Reaper, along with twelve support ships from Dromund Kaas, that's all we have coming from the Grand Duchy, the Dark Council refuses to spare anything else, they maintain that they need to defend its people in case of disaster. If anyone else is going to come, they're going to be from our allies, so...who knows..." Admiral Wurrathu answered, the Chiss woman admitting that we had nobody else. The news from the Dark Council was distressing, it almost seemed like Darth Mesiphis, Darth Xelecon, and Lord Korzytkos were effectively leaving Lady Attam and Darth Rezivara to die, giving them control over the Grand Duchy, but, on the other hand, I understood why they were doing this: after the trauma of Taaszon, we didn't want to put our entire population into war again, and, as unlikely as it seems, we need to keep a defensive presence on Dromund Kaas. If those goes wrong, Palpatine could get his hands on a wayfinder pointing right to Dromund Kaas, so we cannot leave our people defenseless. As unlikely as it may seem, Dromund Kaas is still in danger even if it is a hidden world, so maybe they were can't spare anything else. I can't be mad at the Dark Council, I can only hope that, somehow, from some place, we'll find an ally that's willing to join in this fight.
"So...we wait." Phanza decided, letting the minutes tick by as tensions grew. We knew that we were cloaked to Imperial radar, but we could see that spec of light from Korriban in the distance, and, more than that, we knew that we had the Reaper - an appropriate name for the ship given its disguised purpose I suppose - surrounded by Imperial ships. This could all go bad very quickly, and we all felt that fear inside of us, that building anticipation as we knew we were running out of time, either we would get found out somehow, or the runaway ship would ram the space station and we would have no choice but to attack with the ships we did have. There was no way to paint this attack as anything other than an immense risk, a borderline suicidal operation, but, at very least, I could argue that every ship we could add to this impromptu armada makes this slightly less risky, giving us all a higher chance of surviving this. Every ship we could add makes getting through the Imperial blockade quicker, and getting through it is critical because this can only succeed if we get to the Swarm before the Imperials send in their reinforcements, which they will begin doing as soon as they receive word that their space station has been rammed.
"Two ships emerging from hyperspace...they seem to be...old Techno Union freighters, modified with armor plating and heavy artillery." Admiral Wurrathu announced, opening up a view screen in front of the bridge, revealing an image of the two Techno Union freighters taking position behind our ships, trying to take cover in the radar shadow created by our two cloaked ships. It wasn't perfect cover, the ships themselves weren't cloaked, but I think that, with the Imperials not having a reason to be on high alert just yet, the interference created by our radar jamming should be enough to keep the freighters hidden. A few moments later, once the ships were satisfied with their hidden position, they hailed us on the holocommunicator "Call coming in from the lead freighter...putting it through now."
"Hello Lady Attam, my name is Aela, I rescued you from the Imperial space station on Loukhamii. Senator Cenetta sends her regards, she wishes that she could be here in person because she understands the weight of the situation, but she sent the biggest force she could. We have two armored and weaponized Techno Union freighters, we have two regiments of battle droids from the Imperial outpost we raided, and I'm taking personal command of this mission. May the Force be with us." the green-skinned Togruta explained, leading the separatist holdout force. Once again, I was hit with a wave of guilt, because Aela was putting herself in danger because of my choices on Cato Neimoidia. Senator Cenetta too...I know that she and Aela have a relationship, but she has to remain back on Loukhamii, continuing the resistance against the Empire, while her girlfriend is across the galaxy, both of them at immense risk. This was the downside of getting help from our allies I suppose, because our allies were real people with real stakes in their lives, and they very well could die. At least most of the men she was bringing into the fight are actually battle droids, but, even then, I have maintained that I am uncomfortable with dismissing battle droids as expendable, and, even if they are, these are crucial troops for the Loukhamii Resistance, the very specialized battle droids we recovered from the Empire, now we were basically using them for our own purposes. To top off the guilt factor, despite knowing all of this and despite putting herself at personal risk, Aela finished with "May the Force be with us," something I never imagined hearing from a separatist just a year ago.
"Thank you Aela, you and Senator Cenetta's contributions are appreciated. And may the Force serve you well" Phanza responded, and I sensed legitimate sincerity and gratefulness in her voice, which I could completely understand. Of course Phanza was being genuine, the arrival of these two freighters turned impromptu battleships already gave our side some more strength - they may not be particularly useful or elegant, but they can at least try to fight Venator-class star destroyers, which is a welcome addition to our still very small fleet, to say the least. I did notice that Phanza also finished off the sentence with "May the Force serve you well," the Sith version of Aela's words, but it came across more like a gentle correction than Phanza actually being offended. In any case, Admiral Wurrathu closed the channel and shutdown the viewscreen for the time being, leaving the rest of us standing there on the bridge, waiting to see what was going to happen next: would anyone else join us, or was this all we were going to get before the runaway ship arrived and we received our cue to enter the Battle of Korriban?
"Another ship is entering the system...Lady Attam, it's the Cluster Galactica!" Admiral Wurrathu announced, the Chiss Admiral getting rather excited at this news, as if it were a big deal. I glanced over at Schweva, wondering if my Chiss Sith counterpart knew anything about this, but she didn't, then I glanced over at Yevenna, but the red-armored Mandalorian was similarly out of the loop. This wasn't just a me problem then, this was something that was important to Phanza but not necessarily something that the rest of us would know. That being said, the Nautolan would quickly move to rectify this knowledge gap, explaining to us exactly what the Cluster Galactica is and why it's important.
"Well...Kyenia Cheraid is more resourceful than I gave her credit for. The Cluster Galactica was a plan, at one point in time, to create a more mobile version of the Star Cluster casino, effectively, a massive gambling ship that sailed across the stars. Of course, the Cluster was also going to be like the Chancellery, in that it was stocked with the arsenal comparable to a Huttese capital ship. Voytana and I scrapped the project, seeing it as too much money and effort for something of questionable use, as well as it being very incriminating if it were ever to be uncovered for what it truly is, so we left it half-finished and half-assembled in a Nar Shaddaa warehouse. Kyenia, on her own initiative, has seen to complete the project, and now the Neo-Revanites have a flagship." Phanza explained, her voice showing that she was both impressed and just a bit alarmed at her servant's independence. The human female from the Chiss Ascendancy was certainly using a lot of Neo-Revanite time and resources on this, without telling Zapnha Tamat about this, yet, at the same time, we're not exactly going to punish her, because, right now, the Cluster Galactica is exactly what we need. Phanza evidently felt the same way, as she didn't stop Wurrathu as she opened the channel.
"A pleasure to see you again, Grandmistress." I didn't know who to expect when the call opened, though I do think it makes sense that it wasn't Kyenia herself, as she is likely under heavy Imperial surveillance after everything which has happened at and around the Star Cluster casino, therefore, she needs to be careful, and piloting a secret capital ship to Korriban is not being careful. No, I didn't think that it was going to be her, but I also didn't think that it was going to be Teeroshkin, the Neo-Revanite enclave boss from Nar Shaddaa, yet, here the human male was, in all his blue holographic glory "Mistress Cheraid has entrusted me with this task, and I have staffed the Cluster Galactica with both my own trusted escapees from Manaan and Kyenia's own recommended men. I only hope that we can serve you well, and I can only hope that, in the skies over a world Revan of many names and faces visited, we may be victorious."
"You speak the truth, Teeroshkin. Our unity under Revan will bring us strength, perhaps enough strength to crush the Empire itself." Phanza responded, putting on her Republic accent and responding as Zapnha Tamat, even entertaining the religiously extreme language of the male Neo-Revanite. I wasn't sure how much secrecy was necessary when capital ships were involved an we all knew Phanza couldn't be holding back in the battle ahead, but, evidently, it works between the two of them, because Teeroshkin was satisfied as he accepted his role in the operation. Thus, the galaxy's largest gambling boat joined our ragtag armada, united by desperation, but with a clear goal ahead of us: deny the Empire this superweapon. Of course, speaking of the topic of Imperial superweapons, that brings up the matter of Sarna Lu and the Lost Sith. The Neo-Revanites were here, the Loukhamii Resistance was here, and reinforcements from Dromund Kaas were here, so, unless the Order of the Screaming Blade happens to have a ship to counter the influence of the Neo-Revanites, the only remaining help we could conceivably hope for would come from the Lost Sith and their ancient destroyer. So, yet again, we were waiting, waiting to see whether or not we were going to get that last bit of help.
"Is anyone else coming?" I asked, voicing my thoughts, well aware of the fact that nobody was actually going to have an answer until and unless someone is actually arriving here, but I had to ask. I suppose I'm of two minds about this, because, while I don't want more people to put themselves at risk over this, I want as much help as possible, because the more help we have the higher chances we have of succeeding, and, on top of that, the more people and more ships we have, the less risk there will be for all of us. Nobody had an answer for me though, and I began to feel this sinking sensation, like all the happiness from the help we have gotten is going away upon the realization that this is all we're getting and it's still not going to be enough. Even assuming for maximum damage from the runaway ship and from our hidden Venator's attack, the Empire is still going to have more capital ships than we do and will do everything they can to ground our assault to a halt for long enough for Imperial reinforcements to arrive. See, this is the advantage that the Empire has: we have to break through their blockade, get to the surface, destroy the Swarm, and get out of there, meanwhile, all they need to do is survive. I suppose the arrival of the Elysium wouldn't change that, it's just an old destroyer after all, but we're still worse off without them than we are with them, if nothing else than the fact that we could add another two Sith to our cause.
"Picking up something on the scanners..." Admiral Wurrathu announced and I allowed myself to get hopeful for a second, thinking that maybe Lord Sarna Lu and the Lost Sith were showing up after all, but, I wasn't so fortunate "It's the runaway Venator, the ship is entering the system. I'm putting it up on the viewscreen now...the ship is travelling as close to hyperspace speeds as its sub-light engines will allow, if the ship can keep up this speed, I'm predicting massive damage to the Imperial blockade. The ship is now as close to Korriban as we are...entering visual distance shortly...there we are. The Imperials have noticed them, right about now they should be hailing them...now they're getting concerned at the lack of a response...and now they're noticing that the ship isn't slowing down. The Imperials should be giving the final warning right about now...and there, the autocannons are rotating. The Imperials have opened fire! The shots are hitting the Venator but shields are holding for now! Closing in fast...shields taking heavy damage now...3...2...1...IMPACT!"
"All ships attack now, this is our opening!" Phanza commanded as soon as Wurrathu reported the impact, the viewscreen disappearing to reveal the Imperial space station exploding on impact, then the shockwave tore through the surrounding Imperial ships, destroying several outright, damaging many more. The beauty of space is, however, that there was nothing to stop the space station from moving, so the momentum of the crash sent it flying into more star destroyers behind it before the impact of a ship trying to move forward finally halted it, albeit with disastrous results for the moving Venator as its nose was blown apart, leading to catastrophic depressurization as the ship was exposed to the vacuum of space. Just like that, we blew a hole in the Imperial lines and reduced much of their fleet to floating rubble, but, at the same time, we also alerted the rest of the fleet and we were now heading directly into that. The Reaper struck next, opening fire from the far side of the planet, managing to blow up two more ships before the Imperials even realized what was going on, and, at the same time, it also diverted the attention of the star destroyers on that side of the planet, preserving our opening for a time.
We didn't have much of an opportunity to concentrate on what the Reaper was doing though, because we now brought ourselves into combat with the surviving ships of the Imperial blockade. The Precursor opened fire with the main guns on either side of the central hangar, the two of them doing massive damage to the lead enemy Venator-class star destroyer, meanwhile, as they opened fire on us, I remember the other function of Doctor Daiyor's radar technology: it disrupted the Republic and Imperial targeting systems, meaning the Imperials were struggling to line up shots on us, the vast majority of them being near misses, many of them sailing clean over the body of the ship as our cannons and turbolasers opened fire. The Remnant next to us had similar technology, but their crew had a different idea as to how they were going to approach this battle, as they instead reared their ship up and deployed the bulk of the ship's undercarriage guns on the Imperial star destroyers, showering them in purple turbolaser fire. This, of course, made the Remnant a target, but the armored undercarriage panels, designed to take the burden of an atmospheric entry, were strong, and the volume of fire coming from the Margraviate-class Super Dreadnought outnumbered anything that the Imperial Venator-class ships could respond with. The Remnant was not the only ship in our fleet to take advantage of the three-dimensional aspect of space as, following our lead, Cenetta's Techno Union armored frigates flew beneath us, allowing them to still use our ships for cover to an extent, but allowing them to use the bulk of their arsenal as well. The use of battle droids meant that they could have the outer hull of the ship exposed to space, so, suddenly, I was watching massive separatist surface artillery pieces jutting out of panels on the frigates, artillery shells flying out as these heavy howitzers were used in a space battle, perhaps for the first time ever. This left the Cluster Galactica alone on the left flank, the gambling ship turned heavy battleship dishing out plenty of damage, but also taking a lot too as it found itself very unsupported in that part of the battlefield, alone while we were in the center and the Remnant was on the right, both of us backed by the separatist frigates.
"Admiral Wurrathu, send all the support ships you can spare to the left flank, do not let the Cluster fall." Phanza ordered, knowing that we were outnumbered badly enough as it is, the last thing we needed was to give the Empire a chance to outflank us on top of everything else. Wurrathu obliged though, so, suddenly, six Despotate-class Destroyers were reinforcing the Cluster Galactica, half of our support ships deployed on that flank as the intervention of the Loukhamii Resistance meant we were well supported in the center and on the right. The small but capable triangular ships seemed to make a difference, both increasing the amount of firepower coming from that end of the battlefield and giving the Empire more targets to have to focus on. Phanza saw this too "Excellent work Admiral, the situation seems to be stabilizing. That means we push forward, put as much pressure on the Empire as we can, force an opening!"
The Imperial star destroyers were doing their best to fill the hole created by the wreckage of the space station, two Venator-class ships moving forward, their very paint scheme a pale imitation of all the values and the bravery that the Grand Army of the Republic once stood for, or claimed to stand for anyway. The two main cannons fired, sending two massive purple lasers at the lead Venator, creating a massive explosion at the base of the tall bridge construct, something which would have been a devastating, killing blow if most of it hadn't been absorbed by the ship's deflector shields. Thankfully, we were doing our best to sap their deflectors dry, railing them with as much purple turbolaser fire as the ship could muster. Of course, the two ships were trying to do the same to us, so someone needed to win sooner rather than later. Fortunately for us, the Techno Union frigate from the center rose up to be level with our ship, firing off its guns - both laser batteries and the impromptu artillery pieces - as it diverted the attention of the secondary Venator, giving us some breathing room as Wurrathu fired off the main cannons again, hitting the nose of the Venator at an angle. One shot exploded right at the tip of the ship, shaking the craft even through its deflector shields, the second, meanwhile, sailed down the length of the Venator for a little while until the slope of the ship finally made impact against the massive laser, causing a second explosion on their left side, making their whole shields flicker under the weight of the damage and sending them rotating. This, however, was not a good sign.
I watched as the side hangar of the Venator came into view, and, not only that, but their broadside cannons revealed themselves as well. The very heavy side cannons that these ships once used to devastating effect in the defense of Coruscant from General Grievous' surprise attack were now turned against us. The Imperials fired off a volley before we could really respond. I was sent tumbling to the ground on the bridge, and, as I pulled myself up by the railing in front of me, I saw our deflector shields flickering in front of me, having taken such a hit from that full burst of cannon fire as to effectively set our ships on equal footing. Our advantage was erased and we were now in a pretty vulnerable spot, and all the while time was ticking down, because I knew that on Coruscant or whether else he may be, Palpatine has been alerted about this already. There's no way that the first Galactic Emperor is going to let this attack stand, so, we had to assume that enemy reinforcements were on the way, fortunately for us though, it seems our call for aid was not entirely on deaf ears after all.
"I warned you of these ancient relics, Lady Attam, they are dangerous. But it pleases me that you have seen that now, and only now will I help you." Sarna Lu spoke, appearing on the holo-call unannounced, just as the Elysium arrived high above Korriban, the unusually heavily armed ancient destroyer opening fire from high above the battlefield, raining down red laser fire on the lead star destroyer and destroying it, finishing the job we started and giving us the chance to recharge and repair our shields. The Kaminoan Sith Lord appeared smug in his holographic image, as if he was ready to arrive at the very beginning of the battle, but waited until we were engaged with the enemy and taking damage before he actually showed himself. I understood the implicit message behind this: Sarna Lu knew we made a bad decision and was only helping us because he saw that we were putting ourselves at risk to rectify it. The message was clear: next time we try and mess with these ancient Sith superweapons, nobody is going to save us. I could assume the same thing was true of the Loukhamii Resistance: they can't spare this many resources again, and even the Neo-Revanites, because, if they lose the Cluster Galactica, what else do they have? No, this was the one change we were going to get, so we had to make it count, the galaxy depends on it.
"Thank you, Sarna...sincerely." Phanza responded rather humbly, a far cry to how she reacted to Sarna Lu when they first met on the bridge of the Elysium all those months ago, but now, here we here, a Grand Ducal ship, a Separatist vessel, and an ancient Sith relic united together in a central push for Korriban, facing up against the one engaged Venator and the four others who were flying into position to engage us. The Imperials were losing ships to this surprise onslaught, but they were also showing that they had the ships to spare. The Precursor engaged these ships, along with the Elysium and the Techno Union frigate, meanwhile, on the right, the Remnant was now flying well above the battlefield, perhaps even above Korriban's north pole, and it was firing down on the star destroyers with its undercarriage turbolaser cannons, meanwhile, their Techno Union frigate was at this point flying straight up, meaning its heavy guns were effectively firing into the bottoms of these Imperial Venators. The right flank was turning into a vertical pincer movement, squeezing the Imperials flat and wiping them out. Inspired by this verticality, Admiral Wurrathu and Aela began this coordinated over-under maneuver, where the armored frigate passed over us while we passed under it, effectively it was just us switching sides, but it changed the terms of agrees and meant that both pairs of Imperial ships now had to adjust their plan of attack. It was just a little way of making the Imperials have to work harder, hopefully something we could take advantage of.
The over-under maneuver had a secondary effect as well, mainly that it distracted the Imperials and guided their attention away from something else going on, meanwhile that the three support ships left in the center - when six went to the left, we split the remaining six into two, ensuring each attack group had at least three Despotate-class Destroyers acting in support - had maneuvered around the Imperial lines, turning around to aim directly at the engines of the Venators. Suddenly, the Imperial ships were getting shot at from both sides, and the engines were the most vulnerable part of the ship as well, ensuring that our support ships were doing as much damage as possible, eventually bringing down two of the star destroyers, shooting their engines to the point that the whole ships exploded. That left just two Imperial star destroyers currently between us and the gap we needed, and we already had three support ships through that gap anyway. This was as best an opportunity as we were going to get.
"Zaliza, Schweva, get down to the hangar immediately, prepare landing parties. Doctor Daiyor, contact two of our forward support ships, tell them to head to the planet search and establish a landing zone, Admiral Wurrathu, we push as hard as we can against these last two star destroyers. Once we are through them, I'm heading to the surface, you have full command over what happens on this ship. Use your best judgement and put the interests of the Grand Duchy first, even if that means abandoning us." Phanza explained, the Nautolan once again taking authoritative control of the situation. I started making my way to the elevator to head down to the central hangar, but I did not miss the fact that Phanza still considered this as a very risky job that could easily turn into a suicide mission, to the point where she straight up told Admiral Wurrathu to leave if Imperial reinforcements arrived and were overwhelming her. Phanza evidently thinks the Grand Duchy of Taaszon, now in exile on Dromund Kaas, needs ships and survivors more than it needs leaders. Now, ships and people are critical to any civilization trying to make its way in the modern galaxy, but leaders are important too, and the last thing I want to see is for Phanza to become a martyr.
A Grand Ducal shuttle stood in front of me, along with the contingent of shock troopers from the Venator mission - I hand-picked them to accompany me on this again, because I think they performed well and I think a group of soldiers that knows me from one encounter is better than one that does not known me at all - along with two young Sith, both dressed in purple robes wearing black and chrome metal masks. These young Sith, one was a Sith Marauder, the other was a Sith Assassin, were now a necessary part of every landing party, because, not only was this operation more important than retrieving the information, but also because we were going to have less shuttles on the ground on top of that. The circumstances were very favorable when we took the Venator, as we had the element of surprise, prior planning, and a clear purpose, here, the plan seems very much rushed, the circumstances were against us, and, in all actuality, we might only be able to get a handful of shuttles about therefore maybe a couple of dozen of our people on the surface. I suppose we had no choice but to hope that that would be enough, because we did not come this far and see an opening into resolving this whole situation only to go on and to fail.
"All shuttles go, we have our opening. HK-107 and I will be on the surface as soon as we can." Phanza soon announced on the intercom, giving the order as soon as she could, and promising that she'll follow as soon as she's able, heading down to the hangar along with a HK-107, her assassin droid was going to be the one at her side as she landed on Korriban. I almost wish that it was me in that position, but I understand that Phanza has already given Schweva and I our tasks. We need every chance we can get at getting to the Swarm, so, without further ado, my troops boarded the shuttle along with the two Sith, and, finally, myself. The ship took off as soon as I was on board, the boarding ramp closing as we flew out of the hangar, the rapidity of it all just illustrating how time was of the essence. We worked hard to open this window, there were a lot of Imperial ships still in orbit and we knew that reinforcements were on the way, that all meant that it was now or never. I realized for a moment that Phanza wasn't even sure if she was going to be able to make it to the surface - she certainly wanted to be there, there was no way she was going to let us take this risk without her if she could do anything about it - which is why she told us to launch while she was on the way. Phanza knew that this opportunity might go to waste if she's not careful, therefore, she made the call, and, a few minutes from now, she'll do everything in her power to launch again, likely in circumstances that will be far from dangerous. That was the risk Phanza was willing to take to help fix my mistake.
I looked out the tiny viewport on the side of the shuttle to see Darth Rezivara and Inquisitor Baracyn launch as well, their shuttles coming from the starboard side hangar to join Schweva and I, and, further in the distance, somewhat above us, I could see the Remnant launching its landing parties as well. The Techno Union frigates sent some battle droid drop pods in behind us, and Phanza was going to be part of the last wave, assuming that the Imperials didn't shut the opening we created that is. This was the strike force we were sending to the surface in all its glory, combined with the two destroyers we sent to the surface. This was the landing party we had to work with, and, as we passed the last Despotate-class destroyer that was supposed to hold the window open for us, I got the impression that we were passing the point of no return: no backing out now, we either destroy the Swarm or die trying. To accentuate that fact, not long after we passed the Grand Ducal support ship, we broke into the uppermost layers of Korriban's atmosphere, heading for the red rock planet below.
A few moments later, we broke into the flak, seeing hastily assembled Imperial anti-aircraft and ARC fighters alike fighting back as, below us, the two destroyers were trying to make a landing as our Bisector-class starfighters and Devastator-class super starfighters, and, all the while, coming in from the north were LAAT gunships - the Imperials must be ferrying in troops and guns to the surface from the far side of the planet - meaning even now we were going to have a fight on our hands. Clone troopers and stormtroopers alike stood between us and the Swarm, we would have to fight for it. The Imperial gunners apparently noticed our presence now, because they started firing at us too, even as purple laser fire rained down on them from our support ships. One of their anti-aircraft rounds exploded near us, sending me stumbling within the shuttle, but our pilots launched evasive maneuvers, weathering the storm as I composed myself only to hear my comlink beeping through all this madness, requiring my attention.
"Zaliza, we think we've identified the main Imperial excavation site, top of the mound a few clicks north of the landing site, right behind the main Imperial lines. We're going to have to break through them." Darth Rezivara informed me, the more experienced Rattataki Sith seemed more composed in these conditions, and she even took the opportunity to scout the area, finding our targets. The Empire had a bit of an advantage here, because they knew our shuttles weren't exactly heavily armored or capable of defending themselves, so they knew we needed a well supported landing zone, which meant all the Imperials had to do was put themselves between us and the excavation site, and they had the high ground as well. The Empire positioned themselves on a mound, the sediment accumulated over the ruins of the ancient Sith structures on Korriban, while we were landing in a low plain at its base. The whole site was a valley of high, rocky walls surrounding this mound, but we couldn't exactly use the walls to our advantage, considering that, one: the Imperials were already using the walls for the anti-aircraft guns, and two: we weren't prepared for a to rappel down from them anyway, as we had planned for a flat landing zone.
"Understood, we'll be coming in for a landing soon. May the Force be...May the Force serve you well." I responded, closing the com channel not entirely sure why I corrected myself there, but not really having time to think about it as the ship jerked to the right to avoid another Imperial flak burst, while, at the same time, the pilot began to bring the nose up, bringing the shuttle into a more forward attitude before swinging around into a circle, bringing the shuttle down facing away from the mound, meaning the landing ramp at the bottom was facing the enemies. As soon as the shuttle doors opened, we were going to be facing the enemy here on the ground. I took a deep breath and then the doors started going down. I glanced back at my shock troopers and Sith supporters for one last moment and then I nodded, we were going in. I stepped out of the shuttle, activated my lightsaber, and gave the order "Move forward! Find some cover and lay down suppressive fire. Do not let the Empire trap you out in the open!"
"Yes my Lord, forward!" the shock trooper Lieutenant replied and, with that, we were moving. My black and purple double-bladed lightsaber blocked Imperial blaster bolts as we ran for two cover barriers ahead, laid down by the preliminary landing parties from the destroyers. At the same time, Schweva's shuttle landed behind me, then Darth Rezivara's, then Baracyn's, and soon enough, we were landing in bulk as the Remnant shuttles and the battle droid drop pods followed us. We seemed to be outnumbered still, the Imperials had more forces on the ground, but we had to try and break through. Meanwhile, the Despotate-class destroyer next to us, hovering just above the LZ, released a massive missile barrage, taking out the anti-aircraft batteries, which also caused rubble to rain down from the tops of the walls surrounding the valley, also sending some rocks falling down onto the Imperial lines, a welcome advantage, but ones the Imperials were trying to fill already as another wave of LAAT gunships arrived over the northern edge of the valley, bringing in more stormtroopers.
Seeing that we were on the ground and the threats that were inbound, the Despotate-class destroyer on the right flew up and away from the landing zone, using its turbolasers to shoot as many of the gunships as they could. The other destroyer continued the guard the shuttles, but opened fire as well, trying to do the best to keep the Imperials from landing more troops, though this also meant that, with the destroyers focused on preventing more troops from arriving and our fighters were preoccupied fighting the Imperial fighters, we didn't exactly have any air force to work with anymore. All we had is these troops on the ground, these metal barriers protecting us, and a series of Imperial defensive lines between us and the excavation site on top of the mound. Fortunately, we also had shock troopers with us, men and women specialized in punching through such defenses like a metal fist. I watched as my assault cannon armed troopers used the barriers as makeshift gunnery platforms, letting them absorb the recoil as they fired off thousands of lasers into the Imperial lines, both inflicting massive damage and providing suppressive fire, giving us the opportunity to push forward, thus, the rest of us did. I led my forces forward as I rotated my black and purple blades around, spinning my weapon in such a way as to make it a shield, blocking whatever shots the Empire was willing to take while under heavy fire from the assault cannons.
I blocked two stray shots as we reached the first Imperial trench, the first feature of their defensive line. We jumped down into their own defenses and I immediately made an impact, stabbing one stormtrooper dead with the high blade from my lightsaber while cutting down another with the lower blade, dispatching two enemies in one move, then following that up by Force pushing another stormtrooper down, allowing a shock trooper to land in the trench and shoot him down immediately. This was an ugly kind of fighting, too brutal, too efficient, but it was necessary, we needed to stop the Empire from getting the Swarm and that meant that this kind of violence was in the interests of the greater good. I wasn't proud of my actions here or with what happened to the crew of the runaway Venator, but we're trying to save the galaxy as a whole from all the potential evils that Palpatine could cause with such a superweapon. All across the length of this trench, we were overwhelming the Imperial forces, and that meant it was time to push forward, because there was nothing else we could do: time was of the essence.
I hopped over the rear of the first trench and ran up the hill to the second trench line, leaping down into a gunnery platform and twisted around with my lightsaber, clearing it before stepping forward and down into the second trench proper. This one was a little bit wider and included some of these impromptu bastions, demonstrating that, even pressed for time and in an unexpected fight, the Imperials were able to form defense in depth tactics and create formidable fortifications. The stormtroopers weren't the same kind of war-ready veterans as the clone troopers, but this fight so far was proof that they were still a considerable obstacle ahead of us. I dodged a shot from an Imperial before swinging my lightsaber into another enemy, then I turned around, Force pushed a third into the wall behind us, crushed a fourth down against the ground then finally got around to swinging my lightsaber into the first, bringing my lightsaber's bottom blade down at the same time to impale the fourth and bring him down...brutal, brutal, brutal, yes, but also an example of how natural the double-bladed lightsaber was for me...I had my weapon back. Meanwhile, behind me, Schweva advanced as well, taking her blue and black lightwhip and swinging it through a group of stormtroopers, then bringing them down with a burst of Force lightning. We stood on the ruins of countless ancient Sith civilizations, but, seeing Schweva like that, in battle, ruthless, and unbridled, it seemed like not much of anything has changed. I watched the Chiss woman take a moment to catch her breath, having charged up the hill, but then she turned her featureless red eyes over to me, still panting a little bit from the exertion, but trying not to let it show, something mirrored in her words.
"Why are you just standing there, come on!" Schweva ordered and then, the two of us, the apprentices of Lady Attam herself, were pushing together into the third Imperial line, well ahead of our troops who were still clearing the trenches behind us, but not having the luxury to wait for them to catch up, not when it was very possible that Palpatine and Vader were both already on their way to Korriban to stop us. So, Schweva and I crashed into the third defensive line - this one was on the surface of the hill instead, made of barriers and gun emplacements, perhaps demonstrating that the Imperials ran out of time to dig trenches - Schweva swung her lightwhip through a gun emplacement, the whip cutting through the barrier and the stormtrooper manning an EWHB-12 heavy repeater blaster while I cut through two stormtroopers before using the Force to throw a third into a barrier of the fourth and final defensive line. I followed that up with the use of Force lightning, blowing a hole through the final defensive line. Schweva joined me in this regard, adding her own lightning to the mix and giving us an opening to get all the way to the top of the hill. There were plenty of clones and stormtroopers behind us, sure, but they were preoccupied with our shock troopers, infantry, Chiss commandos, and even fully-fledged Sith on the battlefield. There was nothing between us and the excavation zone...or so I thought.
As Schweva and I reached the top of the mound, we got a better idea of how the excavation site proper looked like. A series of metal barriers enclosed the square, and likely extended down into the ground as well, helping support the sides, and then they were literally just digging down. I suppose the Imperials must have seen some readings or maps that pointed to the Swarm being in this exact spot, so they were just digging down with no concern for the local archaeology or anything else they might disturb in the process. It didn't much matter to us though, because that just meant we were going to have an easier time getting to the Swarm. Of course, the Empire never makes anything too easy, because, as Schweva and I neared the site, we heard the sound of a grappling hook fire, then I saw the hook grab onto the top of the barriers enclosing the excavation shaft, and finally, we heard the grappling hook pulling up its operator. Schweva and I both stopped, preparing for whatever surprise might be coming as I activated my saberstaff and she activated her own lightsaber - she was pragmatic when it came to choosing whether or not to use the lightwhip - and, all the while, the high-pitched whine of the grappling hook was getting closer and closer.
"Watch out!" Schweva cried out as we began to hear the sound of an assault cannon firing up. Schweva pushed me to the side with the Force as she dived the other way herself. I hit the ground and looked up to see Exiim Abarghe with a grappling hook in one hand and an assault cannon in the other, having fired off one shot as he was repelling, hitting the spot where we had just been standing. I scrambled to my feet, trying to ignore the scorched sand just a couple of feet away from me, and I watched Exiim as he put away the grappling hook and took a better grasp of his assault cannon. Meanwhile, Schweva stumbled as she was getting up, having wound up on an uneven pile of sand, either from the excavation itself or from the trenches dug into the side of the mound earlier. That meant that she was vulnerable - and more so, vulnerable because she saved me first - so the least I could do is take attention off of her.
"Well, well, well, what happened to not standing in the Empire's way? Seems that your word isn't worth very much at all. That's not going to matter very much longer at all though, you see, Emperor Palpatine made me spare you on Cato Neimoidia, but here, it's a very different story. The Emperor commanded me to stop anyone and everyone who would try and take the Swarm away from him...right now, that means you." Exiim replied, still mad that he didn't get the chance to finish us off on Cato Neimoidia, but more than ready to make up for that now. This put me into a difficult spot: I had a cannon aimed at me, a friend struggling to get in a position to defend herself, and limited options on how to proceed. I knew that I had to neutralize the threat posed by Exiim Abarghe, and quickly too, but he would also shoot me dead if I made any sudden moves, that left me with the Force, and, specifically, with using the Force without channeling it through physical movement, which I wasn't used to doing. Nevertheless, I didn't have much choice. I found a rock, one with enough mass to hurt if thrown fast enough, and I picked it up with the Force, ready to fling it, but...I wasn't fast enough. Exiim pulled the trigger, hitting me in the stomach, sending me flying.
I hit the wall at the edge of the valley and then tumbled down a pile of rubble. The last thing I remembered was rolling into a dark room.
Ciao!
