Well, here we are everyone, the final chapter. I'll leave a longer author's note than normal both here and at the end, and I hope at least some of you will read it. So, first things first, I want to say thank you to everyone who has read this to the end. I know that my writing is far from perfect and I know that, at several points, I left burnout or external stress during writing this - having started it in late 2019 and finishing here in fall 2021, you can imagine some of the reasons why - but, despite that, this has been my most popular story, both on FFN and on AO3. I'm a pretty niche writer, I'm long-winded, and I quickly move between radically different interests. I understand that limits the scope of how popular my writing will ever be, but a lot of people read this story, a few left some form of like or follow, and a handful of you even left me reviews or comments. I'm grateful for all of you and I want to make sure I give you a satisfactory ending.
I know this story hasn't been perfect, I'll talk about that more in the ending note, but I think it was still a good story and there is always a sense of satisfaction when I get to the end of a long story on this. So, without further adieu, here we go.
Secrets of The Outer Rim.
Act III.
The Hunters and The Hunted.
Chapter XL.
Battle for the Swarm.
I groaned as I got up to my knees, eyes adjusting to the darkness of this hole compared to the bright, reddish surface of Korriban. My body protested from trying to get up on my own power, so I found myself reaching for the nearest wall, using the ancient stone to brace myself. Yeah, I remembered how I got into this situation, Exiim Abarghe hit me in the stomach with an assault cannon, I hit the valley wall and then I tumbled down a pile f rocks to end up here. I took a survey of myself first and foremost. The uppermost layer of my robes was pretty much burned away at my stomach, and the layer below was charred pretty bad. There was probably some residual burns on my stomach even through my robes, but hopefully the Force would heal that pretty quickly. Beyond that, the initial cannon shot hurt my ribs pretty bad, and then impacting the wall probably didn't do much for my back, neither did falling down onto the stones. I could assume that my accelerated healing was already working on putting the bones back together, but right now, it was a tender job at best. So, as I looked up the pile of rubble and the small gap at the top that I must have fallen through, I wasn't exactly in a condition to climb.
I sighed and reached for my forehead. I almost involuntarily wanted to brush my hair back out of my face, but, as I touched my forehead, I stopped when I felt dry, crusted over blood. I turned on my lightsaber and ran the purple and black blade over the stop where I landed, finding a rather nasty blood imprint on the ground from where I ended up...I took a worse hit than I thought apparently. I could, however, still hear the sounds of battle outside, including the sounds of a now recovered Schweva fighting Exiim Abarghe up above. I knew that I should be up there helping out, but, as I tried to lift my arms, I felt a deep pain in my chest, so, when that combined with the fact I knew I took a blow to the head during my fall, I couldn't exactly saw I was in a fighting state. Did that matter though? The Swarm and the power of mass surveillance was something too dangerous to allow to fall into Imperial hands, that meant I had to do everything in my power to stop it, even if I had to sacrifice myself in order to do it. Phanza and had that conversation on board the Precursor, we both knew that either of us could die here, perhaps even both, but we went ahead anyway, I can't allow myself to stop now.
I cried out through the pain as I lifted my arms, grabbed onto the side of a rock and tried to pull myself up. I gained a foothold and then basically threw myself forward, finding a place for my other foot and throwing my arms in front of me to brace myself against one of the higher rocks. It was too high to climb though, so I had to go sideways before I could go up. I shimmed across the rock surface, as I heard the sounds of blaster fire and LAAT gunships above, meaning the Imperials were sending in reinforcements, which meant I had even more reason to get up there right now. Damn the pain, damn the blood, my people need me. I finally made it over to a rock that I could climb, unfortunately it had a pretty found top, not really having a clear place for my feet. I had to try anyway through, so, I reached down onto my ruined robe and ripped off a wide, circular section at about my waist, leaving my midriff covered by just the thin plain black under-layer, but it would have to do for now. I used the piece of my robe like a rope, gripping it around an upper rock, trying to use it to help pull me up the dome of the upper rock.
I gritted my teeth and pushed through the pain in both my chest and arms to pull myself up, landing my feet on the rock and trying to find a stable footing even as my feet slid across the smooth surface of the rock. I think I might have stepped over a pool of my own blood at some point too, because my boots weren't getting any traction. At the same time, the fabric of my robe was realizing that it was never designed to help pull a 110 pound woman up a pile of rubble, so the fabric started giving way. I tried to find some purchase in the corners, wedging my feet into the gaps between the rocks, but it didn't do me any good. The fabric tore and I fell back onto the floor behind me, landing on my back with a painful sounding crack as I just barely managed to keep my head off the ground. My position now left me looking up directly into the gap I was trying to reach, as if it was mocking me, the bright outside, the battle I needed to be involved in, but also the very place I seemed incapable of reaching in this condition. I closed my eyes and sighed, giving into the despair for a moment as I didn't have the effort or the energy in me to try and lift myself off the ground and try to stumble up the rocks again.
"It seems you're in a bit of a predicament, my Padawan." my eyes shot open and I looked up to see the shimmering blue ghost of Ullara Avdune looking down on me, the Mirialan wearing a small, understanding myself as she appeared before me in her Jedi robes, the very appearance of a perfect Jedi, even here on Korriban, even this long after her death. I scrambled up to my feet, or tried to anyway, I more ended up sitting on the ground facing my master as pain shot through my body - apparently when your body is just beginning to heal from a hard fall onto hard stone, the last thing it needs is another fall onto hard stone - but, from here, I could at least confirm what I was seeing. The shimmering blue apparition of Master Ullara Avdune was standing here, on Korriban. This wasn't Taaszon where the cave of crystals stolen from Ilum provided some form of connection to the Jedi, far from it, this was a Sith world through and through, yet, here she was.
"Wh...how?" is all I managed to ask, still confused at seeing her here, and I suppose taking a blow to the head during my first fall wasn't exactly helping my eloquence at all. Master Avdune didn't seem bothered at all, in fact, she just chuckled in amusement, exactly the way she would have in real life, lacking maliciousness but also not letting me off the hook without a little bit of embarrassment. I enjoyed our dynamic greatly and I think it allowed Master Avdune and I to talk about things any other pair of Master and Padawan wouldn't have discussed, such as the sexuality conversation. Then again, on the other hand, getting kissed my your master before she sacrifices herself to save you is probably unique to this particular age group as well. That doesn't change the fact that Ullara was the best master I could have hoped for as a Jedi Padawan and I learned everything I could from her. For better or worse, with her as my master, I knew nothing of my Sith origins and I was striving to not only be a good Jedi, but to be a better Jedi than those I grew up with. Unfortunately, the galaxy had other plans, so Palpatine destroyed the Jedi, killed Master Avdune, and effectively left me with no other option but to seek refuge with the Sith of Taaszon. For all intents and purposes, I'm a Sith apprentice now, using a dark weapon, dressed in dark robes, and fighting alongside Sith, yet, as Master Avdune looked down on me, I didn't see any disappointment. She was just as happy with me as she was on Taaszon, and even back when she was alive.
"The Force is a complicated thing Zaliza, I think we've both come to realize that since we've last spoke. I don't know why the Force does what it does or how it works, I just know that it is a force greater than you and I. The light and the dark...I'm not sure if there is anything real there, having seen what I've seen and what you've done, perhaps the light side and the dark are simply our attempts to describe forces beyond our understanding. Or maybe the Force is more of a spectrum that a dichotomy of light and dark. I don't know right now, I'm not sure if anybody can know. All I know for sure is that, regardless of Jedi, Sith, or any other label you want to put on yourself, I see you her, injured and isolated, but still trying to get to your friends. You want to protect the people you hold dear and you want to protect the galaxy from the horrors Palpatine could unleash with the Swarm. As far as I can tell, you're doing the right thing. No amount of Force lightning or evil lightsaber colors could change that." Ullara explained how she got here - apparently a place strong enough in the Force is a place where she can manifest herself, even if we would call it a Dark Side site - and what she thinks of me. She even finished off with teasing me over my own self concerns. Yup, this was the master that I knew and loved, this was the Ullara Avdune that I lost during Order 66 on Ypherro.
"What about Phanza?" I asked, still concerned about my choice of a new master, and whether or not Ullara would feel like I replaced her. I knew that we talked about this on Taaszon but I wanted to hear it again, I wanted to make sure what I was doing was okay, I knew that Ullara didn't expect me to live up to some kind of legacy she left behind, but I had no idea if I was ever going to see her again, so I wanted to take the chance to make sure she approved of what I was doing and who I was doing it with.
"You don't have to ask me what I think anymore Zaliza, I'm not your master anymore...I'm not even alive anymore. You are your own woman and you have to make your own choices." Ullara replied, stern in what she was saying, but she was right. I knew that she was right, I knew that I had to take responsibility for myself, and I knew that I couldn't be in this apprentice limbo forever. I would eventually have to graduate from learning from Phanza, but what would that look like? And did Ullara even think I was doing the right thing here? Well, apparently sensing my thoughts, she decided to continue "But...as your friend, I can say this. I've been watching you from the moment I died and, from what I can see, Phanza Attam cares about you, she wants to protect you, and I think, in her own way, she loves you too. If this is the place where you want to be and you're comfortable there, then I think it is the right place to be. Just make sure whatever you do, you do it because you want to, not out of some sense of obligation to me, to Phanza, or to anyone else."
"I'm here because I want to save the galaxy from an Imperial regime with the absolute authority to spy on everyone. Phanza and her people are sacrificing everything to help me with that. They're the right people." I reasoned, knowing that this is essentially about fixing my mistake on Cato Neimoidia - I put billions of lives in danger to save one - and now the Grand Duchy of Taaszon, plus our allies, were putting their lives in jeopardy to help stop the Empire from getting the weapon that I told them about. Maybe this isn't the ideal force for good and justice that I had in mind when I was still a Jedi, but this also isn't the shining, idealistic core planet galaxy I used to live on, no, this is the dirty, lawless, gritty world of the Outer Rim and, out here, the Grand Duchy is the best organization I can hope for. This part of the galaxy is sparsely populated, poorly mapped - that's how Taaszon remained hidden for so long, that's how Dromund Kaas is still hidden, having long ago been lost to history - and the degree of Imperial control is incomplete. The war between the separatists and the Republic took its toll on the Outer Rim and a lot of worlds slipped out or ended up in Hutt Space or otherwise ended up lacking sufficient garrisons. This continues even now after the end of the war, where the Imperial presence in the Outer Rim seems to be cluster around places they deem important. There is an Imperial presence on Nar Shaddaa to keep an eye on the Hutts and to access their trade networks if need be, there are Imperial installations on planets like Ryloth because they are home to rare resources, and the Imperial force here on Korriban was basically created for the sole purpose of finding the Swarm. They weren't here before and they won't be here after - well, perhaps the Empire will leave a small science installation here, but it won't be anything like the massive fleet we fought on the way down here.
"Then you're in the right place. Now...there is a man up there who is trying to keep you from the Swarm for long enough for reinforcements to arrive. Palpatine and Vader are coming, you need to beat him." Ullara announced, trying to get me back into the present moment and ready to take on Exiim Abarghe again despite my poor condition. Not only that, but we were pressed for time, because Ullara's spirit in the Force confirmed our worst fears: Palpatine and Darth Vader were on their way to respond to our attack personally. Fortunately, it seems that Ullara has had a lot of time to observe considering she was now one with the Force, so she had some insights to offer "Exiim Abarghe is a hard man to beat, I don't think I need to tell you that, but I also know that Palpatine wouldn't create a weapon he can't control. Exiim has to have some sort of weakness then, and, considering the rarity of the Dark Side of the Force, I have to suspect that the answer is somewhere there. Maybe not Force Lightning, because I know you've tried that before, but...wait...his neck. You've seem all those prongs and cybernetics, what if they aren't just about powering him? What if they're also a failsafe? A failsafe tied to the classic Sith Force Choke."
"You know, there was a time where I couldn't imagine you ever telling me to Force Choke somebody." I pointed out, a tragic smile on my lips, I knew that this meeting was coming to an end - I had a method I could at least try on Exiim Abarghe and I knew time was of the essence - and I also knew that this could be the last time I ever saw Master Avdune. Somehow, I seemed content with that, more so than I did after seeing her on Taaszon, because this time I knew I was on the right path, not only because Ullara was happy enough with me being alive, but because I'm choosing to be here and to be Phanza's apprentice, which is enough for my former master to have given me her blessing. Now, I was content to share one last moment with her, reminiscing on our shared past and what has happened since. I already talked to her about the kiss, about her legacy, and about how she hid my origins from me, and I've accepted all of that, now, I just wanted to end our experience together on a happy note. I'm not sure if I could ever say everything that could be said, but I think I've said enough to accept that this chapter of my life is over with. It is time to return to the present, and it is time to do what the galaxy needs me to do.
"I didn't see this coming either, yet, here we are. Two creatures of the galaxy around us, one alive, one dead, but never apart. I don't know if I'll ever be able to manifest myself like this again, but know this: I'll always be watching you and supporting you, no matter what. I love you Zaliza." my master's spirit announced, the Mirialan brought to tears by her own words, so she came over and hugged me, letting her arms float around me, knowing full well she couldn't actually touch me, but content with the sensation of faking it.
"I love you too, Ullara." I replied, hugging Ullara back, my arms floating where her back would be as I let myself cry a few final tears for my master as she faded away, fading back into the eternal realm of the Force, but she wouldn't really be gone. She may never appear before me again, she may never be able to say another word to me, but I know that she'll be there, watching over me, my guardian angel from beyond the realm of the living. I backed up slightly, giving myself more room, and I approached this more intelligently, using the Force to clear some of the boulders and move some others so as to make a much easier path up there. I realized I was basically opening up the tomb of an ancient Sith Lord here, but I tried not to think of that, just like I saw trying to ignore the lingering pain in my chest as I exerted myself using the Force. The Force is a powerful thing and it allows me to lift things I would never be able to lift on raw strength alone, but strength is a part of it, and I can tell that this is putting a load on my body as it was only beginning to heal from the fall. I suppose I had to be grateful, after all, getting shot with an assault cannon could have been far, far worse, but try telling that to my shattered bones. In any case, I made a path out and, lighting both blades of my lightsaber as I climbed the remaining rocks like a staircase, I was determined to finish this once and for all.
I shielded my eyes for a moment with my free hand as I emerged back in the valley, watching as Schweva swung her lightwhip at Exiim Abarghe only for the hunter to slap it away, his armor appearing burned but, overall, it was unharmed despite the blow. Exiim had the best armor the Empire could offer - no expenses spared for the Emperor's personal assassin - and he said he could be rebuilt from almost any injury, but maybe Ullara was right about the neck being a weak spot. So, a Force Choke, I've seen Phanza do this with just a wave of her hand before, but I'm not that proficient, I'm gonna need to focus on this and I'm gonna need to be perfectly precise with my movements if I'm gonna channel the Force like this. I took a deep breath and tried, raising my left hand into a clawed fist and watching as Exiim jerked upright, dropping his assault cannon and beginning to clutch at his throat. Even through his helmet, I could see the pincers on his neck glow a bright green as I put the pressure on, then I began slowly closing my first - making sure not to go faster than my skill would allow - bringing the Imperial cyborg monstrosity to his knees. I let myself get hopeful for a second, we were about to do it, we were about to take care of the final obstacle between us and the Swarm. Of course, I couldn't be that fortunate, and it was at this moment that I remembered there was still a second hunter that survived Cato Neimoidia.
"Zaliza, watch out!" Schweva cried out as I let go of the Force Choke to dodge heavy blaster rifle fire from the surviving hunter, the surviving lackey of Exiim Abarghe. He had the same armor advantage, but he was a regular human, that meant he could be killed far more easily that Exiim Abarghe, but that didn't seem to count for much when I was forced to take cover behind some rocks to resist his barrage of heavy machine gun fire. The shooting stopped for a moment so I tried to look up, but I was forced to duck down immediately as a blaster bolt took off the top of the rock I was hiding behind - the hunter hadn't run out of ammo, he was just baiting me to expose myself, and I nearly did too - I needed to find a way out of here so that I could deal with the hunter, and I needed to do all of that before finishing off Exiim Abarghe. Fortunately, the Force Choke seemed to work, the bad news is that Schweva can't exactly Force Choke Exiim while fighting him. No, this is a two person job really, one to distract him and the other to choke him. Unfortunately, the second hunter was preventing us from working as a team, and that meant that I had to deal with this little obstacle before getting to the primary obstacle. This was, of course, taking up time, time that Palpatine and Vader were using to travel to Korriban at faster than the speed of light. A high pressure situation, to say the least.
I grabbed a small rock with the Force and threw it as fast as I could, aiming for the hunter's ankle. The rock didn't do much to his armor but, with all that velocity, it was enough to knock him on the ground face first, and that gave me all the opportunity that I needed. I stepped out of cover and used Force Lightning to keep him down - his armor was cushioning the blow, but I think he could still feel it, and, more than that, the forces involved were keeping him trapped against the ground of the valley, which is exactly was I needed right now. I was approaching the hunter to finish him off, hoping to slip my lightsaber between one of the gaps in his armor to finish him off, but he was struggling against the Force Lightning, and, even though he couldn't get up, he was able to get a thermal detonator off his belt and into his hand. I stopped approaching him once I saw the grenade but I didn't stop shooting Force Lightning at him, that meant that he wasn't able to simply throw the grenade. The hunter pressed the detonator on the grenade and only then did I drop the attack and run, hoping to escape the blast radius, but getting knocked on the ground anyway. I laid there on my front in pain, hoping that the point black explosion was enough to break through his armor, but then I heard him getting up behind me. I groaned and turned onto my back in time to see him approaching.
The hunter's right arm was limp, dislocated perhaps, and his fingers were bent in grotesque ways, but his armor seemed to preserve the rest, so, charred and blackened by the grenade and holding the rifle with one arm in his off hand, the second hunter was approaching me. Silently panting above me, I watched as he raised the rifle, movement awkward but not so bad as to prevent him from aiming the heavy blaster's barrel right at me. He was about to shoot me and I needed to react now if I was going to get out of this situation. For lack of better options and despite my body's protests, I was left with no choice but to lunge at him with my double bladed lightsaber, narrowly dodging a blaster bolt on my way up and then ending the threat as I chopped his blaster in half, leaving him without a weapon. The hunter spun around, effectively throwing his limp arm at me with a grunt while grabbing his knife with his left arm and then coming all the way around in an attempt to stab me, but my lightsaber caught his knife dead. Black and purple lightsaber blade against cortosis knife, we struggled. He had the strength advantage but I had the superior weapon, so, even as he pushed his knife against my weapon, all he was really doing is cutting into his own blade with mine. Cortosis is lightsaber resistant, even capable of shortening out a lightsaber in the right circumstances, but, in prolonged contact, a strong lightsaber crystal will always win, and these four crystals from Taaszon were proving to be a powerful set of weapons.
"Argh!" I yelled out as my blade cut through his, the hunter deliberately falling to the ground to avoid my blade cutting into him, but it was too little, too late. I dived down onto him and plunged my lightsaber into a gap in his armor, between his helmet and the collar of his armor, effectively stabbing down from the base of his neck into his spine, delivering a fatal blow. I turned off my lightsaber, stumbled away from the body, and sat down on the ground. I tried to catch my breath, exhausted after what I did considering my condition, but, at the same time, I knew that I didn't have the time, nor the luxury of rest right now. I caught sight of Exiim Abarghe, seeing him dodge Schweva's lightwhip before firing at her with his blaster pistol - the heavy assault cannon was apparently discarded at some point - but Schweva blocked the shot with her lightsaber. Seeing this was as good an opportunity as I was gonna get, I grabbed him in a Force Choke, sending his head back and making him claw at his neck once again. Schweva wasn't taking any chances this time though, so the Chiss woman deactivated her lightwhip and clipped it on her belt before walking over to the final remaining hunter. I watched as Schweva's blue and black lightsaber passed clean through his neck, stabbing in from the front and coming out of the back. Schweva deactivated the lightsaber and Exiim fell onto the ground limp, the hole in his neck smoking and, once he hit the ground, a mixture of blood and the green liquid that powered him poured out "Do you think they'll be able to rebuild him?"
"Who cares? He's down for now and we have bigger problems. We have to deal with the - oh, mistress." Schweva was on the verge of taking control and leading us against the Swarm when Phanza finally arrived on the scene, evidently having found an opportunity to land, but arriving too late to help with the fight against the hunters. I was just glad to see her alive after all that though.
"No, no, continue on Schweva, you're right." Phanza responded, allowing her apprentice to take this moment, the Nautolan proud of how Schweva, the true Sith apprentice was acting here. The Chiss almost seemed surprised, plain red eyes widening as she finally realized that, not only was she Phanza's true apprentice, but that her mistress really did care about her and was impressed by her. I had to admit that Schweva performed well in this fight, standing one on one against Exiim Abarghe and living to tell the tale while I was down in the rubble of the tomb. She survived a fight against the man who led four Jedi on a wild goose chase - while he wanted to get caught, mind you - and cheated death countless times.
"Okay, we have to deal with the Swarm and get out of here. Now come on, we're burning time." Schweva composed herself and announced, before guiding us over to the pit the Imperials dug down to reach the Swarm. The three of us looked down into the shaft, seeing the device on the bottom. The shape was roughly cylindrical, but it was hard to tell as it was covered with the little, almost insect like spy devices. Hundreds of thousands of them covering the whole surface of the device in a number of layers, where they could be shot off in orbit over a planet to seek out targets. We were going to have to get rid of this, and we were going to have to do it thoroughly, because leaving the Empire with enough to potentially reverse-engineer this device. We don't even really know how the engines on the Silent Fleet work, only that they seem to be pre-Rakatan and tied to the Force, but even then, we've managed to reproduce similar technology for our fleet, and this is with a fraction with the amount of scientific mind power and resources as the Empire. Even a single listening device could be enough for the Empire to try and rebuild this, we couldn't have that. A surplus of heavy duty explosives would do wonders here.
"My lord, look up!" a shock trooper called out behind us. Phanza's big black glassy eyes looked up to see a trio of star destroyers arrive in the skies over Korriban, two Venators, but, in the center, marked out by its triangular shape, size, and T-shaped unified bridge, was Palpatine's new Imperial star destroyer. Palpatine was here, Vader was here, and an armada of LAAT gunships were already flying out of their hangars. That wasn't the scariest part, no, the scariest part was the lone black shuttle heading right for the top of the valley. That had to be Palpatine and Vader themselves. They were here and we were out of time. The shock troopers and other soldiers behind us opened fire, trying to shoot down the LAAT gunships, and they had some success, particularly with the assault cannons, but it was like with every gunship we shot down, two more filled the gap as more and more stormtroopers filed out of the hangars of the Imperial vessels. As they got close to the ground, some of our Sith used Force Lightning to knock out the electronics on the gunships, but, again, it was doing little to stop the overwhelming wave of Imperial might crashing down on us, intent on retaking the valley and the device at the bottom of this mound. We were all that stood between them and the ability to spy on whoever they wanted whenever they wanted in absolute secrecy.
"Zaliza! Schweva! Take these explosives, place four of them on the Swarm and two of them on the sides of the shaft, then get out of there immediately. We're going to blow up the Swarm and bring the shaft down on top of it. I'll hold the Imperials off." Lady Attam declared, deciding that she would take Vader and Palpatine on alone while leaving us to use six Taaszon-manufactured bombs to destroy the Swarm with. Was it overkill? Absolutely, but that was also the point. I hesitated though, seeing the black shuttle land on the other side of the shaft and its boarding ramp lower. There, sure as I predicted, walked Palpatine and Vader. The Dark Lord of the Sith himself dressed in a black, hooded robe over his gray, scarred skin, lightsaber deactivated but in his hand, ready to strike. Vader, meanwhile, stood next to him, the loyal apprentice towering over his master in the black suit of armor with his bulky lightsaber hilt in his grasp, just waiting to be activated as his deep, distinctive breathing chilled me to the bones. This was the mastermind behind Order 66 and his personal Jedi killer apprentice, I couldn't let Phanza fight them alone, she'd be outmatched and outnumbered. It would be suicide.
"Phanza, I - " I tried to protest but she interrupted me immediately, having none of it.
"Zaliza, as your master, I gave you an order, now, complete the mission before Palpatine gets his hands on the device." Phanza calmly but authoritatively instructed, making it clear that this wasn't up for discussion, and reminding me of the stakes. Palpatine is here on the surface, he can see the shaft leading down to the Swarm, that meant this was our last chance to destroy it. I still wanted to protest, this reminded me far too much of what happened to Master Avdune on Ypherro, but I also knew that we couldn't let the Empire get its hands on the Swarm, especially considering that I'm the one that told Palpatine about this device to begin with. No, we have to end this now, and, the quicker we do this, the greater of a chance Phanza has to get out of this situation. I joined Schweva and we descended into the shaft, heading down the grappling line left behind by Exiim Abarghe as Phanza put herself between the Sith Lords and us. The last thing I saw before descending the line was Phanza taking a stately Makashi stance as she faced her enemies, mocking the with false pleasantries "Emperor Palpatine, Lord Vader...welcome to Korriban."
"Lady Attam, a pleasure to see you again." Palpatine replied, snarling as he mimicked Phanza's politeness. The facade didn't last long though, because the next thing I heard was Palpatine shoot Force Lightning at Phanza, but she quickly caught it in her left hand, absorbing it into an orb. The Nautolan then glanced to the side to se Vader, with his lightsaber activated, marching towards the shaft, but she fired the bolt of lightning at him, forcing him to dodge. Palpatine, meanwhile, took the opportunity to strike at Phanza, diving at her with a war cry as he spun through the air like a corkscrew. Phanza parried the attack but Palpatine kept up an onslaught at ridiculous speed for a man of his age and appearance, though, all that being said, Phanza was meeting him blow for blow, based on the sound of lightsabers crashing together over and over again. Vader was stalking her though, waiting for an opening to strike her from behind and eliminate her. The Imperials knew they had the luxury of time, their forces would overwhelm us sooner rather than later and they would have the Swarm. We were about to take away that advantage, because Schweva and I had finally reached the bottom of the grappling hook, ready to place the bombs.
"Place the bombs on the side of the shaft, I'll handle the device itself." I decided, tasking Schweva with the shaft. The Chiss woman nodded and placed one bomb above the device before climbing the rope of the grappling hook to place another one further up. At the same time, I got to work placing my bombs. I started with the center of the main cylinder of the device - this seems to be the control device, the thing which shoots out the swarm of listening devices - then I placed two on the far outside, these were meant to destroy the actual spy devices themselves. The final of the four bombs to go on the Swarm I placed underneath, at the bottom of the shaft, right under where the Swarm was sitting. To do this I basically leaned the device over against the wall of the shaft then placed the bomb underneath before putting it back and climbing the rope to get back above it. So, it was getting blown up from inside, from outside, from below, and, when factoring in the bombs in the shaft, from above as well. I don't see how we could be more thorough about this. I looked up to Schweva who found a suitable site up above and was trying to place her second bomb - she was taking awhile because it wasn't easy to plant an explosive while hanging from a rope while listening to a battle raging just above you, but she was almost done. I took the opportunity to think about maybe stealing one of the listening devices off of the Swarm, taking it while we can, and then handing it over to Doctor Daiyor to preserve it. Then I thought about whether or not such a thing should be preserved. No, it's a Sith superweapon and it's dangerous, plus, escaping this planet is no guarantee. The last thing we need is to destroy the Swarm just for the Empire to get a fragment of it off my corpse and use that to reverse engineer the thing. No, this thing needs to be destroyed and destroyed completely. It never should have been invented.
"Are we done?" Schweva asked once her bomb was set, wondering what I was still doing doing here while our master was fighting two Sith Lords up above while the Empire was surrounding us. The Chiss woman had a good point so I immediately started climbing, responding as I went.
"Yes, yes, we're done. Get up there and help Phanza. We need to create an opening of they're just going to pursue us!" I ordered, telling Schweva to get a move on since she was closer to the surface, I would be joining her and Phanza as soon as I could. I climbed up the rope, passing the explosives the Chiss woman had planted before I finally reached the entrance of the shaft, climbing over the edge to see Phanza still engaged with Emperor Palpatine while Schweva was trying to engage Vader, attacking him with her lightwhip, but Vader's stance was firm and he was swatting away her whip with his lightsaber, almost effortlessly. At the moment, it seemed like Schweva needed my help more than Phanza did - it made sure, Palpatine was a Sith master but so was Phanza, whereas Vader is a fully fledged Darth - well, the rule of two makes things weirder because one Darth is apprentice to another, but the point remains, Schweva is not in Vader's league - so I figured I would make it two apprentices against one Darth, something which would hopefully even the odds.
I activated both blades of my lightsaber and leaped into the fight, catching Vader off guard and attacking him with a series of quick lightsaber blows as he scrambled to meet them, but, unfortunately for me, Vader adjusted to my onslaught pretty quickly. Not only that, but, somewhere beneath that asymmetrical mask, I imagined some sense of recognition, like Vader would remember me electrocuting him and throwing him off a bridge on Taaszon, and would now seize revenge. Schweva transitioned to using her lightsaber as well, her blue and black blade attacking Vader from behind while I attacked him with my purple and black saberstaff, forcing Vader to twist around as he dealt with two younger and more mobile opponents. Vader blocked a blue from me and then twisted around to block a blow from Schweva, but this gave me an opportunity, so I swung at his leg. Darth Vader just barely dodged my attack, but my blade cut through his cape, setting the fabric aflame. The Dark Lord was distracted by his cape catching on fire and barely managed to block another blow from Schweva. This is as good of an opening as we're going to get. I unleashed Force Lightning from both hands and hit Vader square in the chest, sending him flying back into the wall of the valley behind us, crashing into it as I continued hitting him with the lightning, aiming to short-circuit his cybernetics.
"Vader!" Palpatine called out, perhaps out of some semblance of actual care for his apprentice, but more likely because he was about to lose an important asset that factored into his plans for galactic hegemony. Phanza took advantage of this uncharacteristic lapse from the Sith Emperor to stab him through the abdomen, the Sith Lord's expression turning to shock as he realized a red and black lightsaber just went through him. Phanza deactivated her weapon and Palpatine fell to the ground. I followed her lead and dropped the Force Lightning on Vader, leaving him smoldering there for a moment, and turned to Phanza, waiting for her to tell us what we were going to do here. On one hand, this represented the best opportunity we were going to get to get out of here, on the other hand, Palpatine and Vader were as vulnerable as they were ever going to be, could this be an opportunity to rid the galaxy of Palpatine's tyranny once and for all? Well, the decision on what we were going to do was taken away from us, before Palpatine, injured as he is, grabbed the holocommunicator off his belt and contacted his Imperial star destroyer "All ships open fire, destroy the heretics and their ships!"
"Run!" Phanza cried out as the star destroyers opened fire, firing down on the trenches, killing Imperial and Grand Ducal forces alike, the bombardment trailing down the hill towards our destroyers. The ships had no choice but to take off and to open fire on the Imperial vessels, trying to divert some attention from the ground, but their effect seemed negligible. Phanza's command reverberated across the men and, soon enough, our whole landing force was in full retreat - well, whoever wasn't already blown up that is - running as we dodged explosions around us, in front of us, behind us, above us...everywhere. Phanza decided the least we could do was add an explosion of our own though, so, once we cleared the mound, she detonated the explosives she gave us. Fire shot out the shaft but, just as quickly, it was extinguished as the rock walls of the shaft collapsed down over it, crushing the Swarm. Hopefully that would be the end of it, but we didn't exactly have the chance to check as we piled into the first shuttle we could, getting as many people inside as we could before taking off. I held onto my seat as we took off before the landing ramp even closed, and good thing we did too, because a turbolaser blew up the spot where we had just been. Others weren't so fortunate, as two shuttles got blown up on the ground, another one just before it got high enough to escape the Imperial bombardment, and, perhaps worst of all, one of the Despotate-class destroyers crumbled under Imperial laser fire, exploding as its sister ship covered out escape, being sure t be the last one out.
I looked out the shuttle viewport to see two more LAAT gunships land at the top of the mound - well, the pile of rubble where the top of the mound used to be - rushing over to Palpatine and Vader. The Dark Lords of the Sith were going to survive their injuries, maybe they would even manage to rebuild Exiim Abarghe again, but at very least they wouldn't have the Swarm. I also imagined that this experience would be rather humbling to Palpatine - he nearly got killed by someone he considers a heretic pest bothering the fringes of his Empire - he already tended to delegate most of the action to Vader, the Inquisitors, and other subordinates, and I think that would only increase going forward. Palpatine has, in effect, won already - he has the former Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems alike for the Sith and he's eliminated the Jedi - anything else is a threat to the success he's already built. On the other hand, he wasn't going to forget about the faction that stabbed him from the abdomen, so I think our secrecy is more important now than ever. Nothing less than a lost planet only accessible by a hidden wayfinder will be enough to keep us safe from the Emperor's wrath. In any case, the Valley of the Dark Lords was fading from view, we survived the hardest part, the surface of Korriban, but we weren't entirely safe yet, we still needed to get on board our ships, gets our fleet together, and escape whatever reinforcements Palpatine had in orbit.
"Admiral Wurrathu, position the Precursor, the Remnant, and any remaining support ships in front of our enemies, we're going to cover their escape first." Phanza announced over here comlink as soon as she step foot in the hangar of the Precursor, sending instructions up to the Chiss Admiral on the bridge. The former captain of the Ultimate got to work quickly, moving the capital ships forward as more shuttles and fighters filtered into our hangars, getting anyone and everyone we could back on board. Losses were impossible to tell right now, but it's clear we lost a great number of shuttles - and therefore a great number of men - a significant number of fighters, and at least one support ship from what I could tell. The last wasn't an insignificant loss at all considering that one out of fifteen ships from the fleet we started with was destroyed, another, the capital ship Reaper, was presumably destroyed as well. We weren't in great shape, but the Swarm was destroyed and we're beginning our escape, doing so in a sensible manner. The separatists have to get to Loukhamii, the Neo-Revanites have to return to Nar Shaddaa, and, while the Elysium didn't have a set destination, the Lost Sith would still end up somewhere in the known galaxy. We were the only ones who knew that we could escape to a place safe from the Empire, so we had to tie them up so they wouldn't follow anyone else. To that end, Phanza, Schweva, and I boarded the elevator, heading up to the bridge, passing people like Yevenna, HK-107, Rezivara, and Baracyn, all of whom lead landing parties, and all of whom wound up back here. Our priority was getting the shuttles on board a ship, not necessarily getting them back to the ship they started on. In any case, we soon arrived on the bridge.
"Lady Attam, a Venator-class star destroyer is approaching us from the far side of the planet. It seems damaged and it's not behaving according to any Imperial attack pattern, your advice?" Wurrathu asked as the viewscreen above the bridge window displayed the image of the damaged Venator circling the planet, heading over to us, hurt but clearly still operational. The Venator knew it was in our range though, so it did two things: first of all, it called us on the holo frequency, second of all, it turned off the cloaking device, revealing the black and purple hull of the Reaper. The Venator, stolen by Admiral Wurrathu and her raiding party while we were attacking the munitions station over Geonosis, was all on its own on the far side of Korriban, ambushing their ships while we were leading the frontal attack, yet, here it was, still standing, still intact. Now we had three capital ships to hold the line while our allies make their escape.
"Lady Attam, Admiral Wurrathu, this is Captain Keelix Marto of the capital ship Reaper. We have sustained damage and Imperial ships are pursuing us, but we're joining the battle line and ready for your commands." the commanding officer of the Reaper explained as his ship maneuvered into position next to the Precursor, adding another capable vessel to our line, one we were going to need. True to Keelix's word, Venator-class star destroyers were coming around from the far side of the planet while Palpatine's Imperial star destroyer was leaving Korriban's atmosphere and entering orbit. We still had a fight on our hands but we were almost out of the situation, one by one we would flee. Maybe, just maybe, the Despotate-class destroyer on the surface will be the last of our casualties.
"Excellent captain, get into the line and open fire on the Imperials. Our aim is to tie them down long enough for our allies to jump into hyperspace without the Imperials giving chase." Phanza explained and, a moment later, the capital ships did their jobs, hitting the Imperial armada with a wave of purple laser fire as our support ships joined in, the eleven remaining destroyers holding the line as our allies escaped one by one. The separatists fled first in their Techno Union armored frigates, they had no obligation to Phanza nor did they have a vendetta against these Sith superweapons, that meant we wanted to make sure they escaped with as many of their droids as possible. Aela and her droids made it out though, then went Teeroshkin and the Cluster Galactica, the casino ship returning to wherever exactly it was hidden on Nar Shaddaa, preferably far away from the prying eyes of the Empire. That left the Elysium, the ancient Sith battleship loading with the maximum possible arsenal and now manned by the unique faction of Lost Sith. Sarna Lu's ship took a few shots at the Empire, likely more as a show of defiance than anything else, before it too fled. Not a moment too soon either, because, with star destroyers coming around Korriban from both ends and Palpatine likely calling for whatever other reinforcements he could get, it was our chance to flee, thus, Phanza gave the command: "All ships, jump to hyperspace!"
"Are we safe?" I asked as the swirling blue patterns of hyperspace filled the view from the bridge window. All signs point to us getting out of this situation but that didn't mean that it was easy to let go of all the adrenaline, the fear, and the anticipation that built up during the battle. We fought the largest space battle since the end of the Clone Wars, we stormed the Imperial trenches on the mound, we fought and killed Exiim Abarghe, we faced Vader and Palpatine in battle, and we destroyed the Swarm once and for all. his is a victory for us, a victory that came with losses, yes, but a victory nonetheless. It won't be easy to replace the people we have lost - we've been replacing so many dead troops lately we might need to wait until the next generation of recruits completes their training - nor will it be easy to repair and replace the ships we've lost. The destroyer is the obvious one but I can't imagine how many fighters, bombers, and shuttles we must have lost during all of that. Not an insignificant loss for a state without a shipyard, though I suppose we'll have to start making one on Dromund Kaas sooner rather than later.
"No change in Imperial activity around Korriban, they don't know where we or anyone else went." Admiral Wurrathu reported after consulting the live galactic radar chart she and Doctor Daiyor installed. I would imagine the Empire would scour the galaxy for threats against them - the Loukhamii separatists in particular might be at risk, considering the Empire already knows about them - but the Techno Union frigates is proof that they are now a space-worthy civilization, therefore, if the worst comes the worst, at least they can flee. Moving an entire civilization is not easy, we know that better than most, but, if need be, they can, and I think they've more than earned our help should they need it. I was just relieved that the problem of the Swarm was over. Palpatine and Vader would survive, their injuries were not enough to be fatal, and their tyranny in the galaxy would continue, but they won't have this as a tool to use against their own people, their enemies, or anybody else. We do not have the resources or the strength to topple the Empire, not yet anyway, and maybe not ever, but we did have the strength to do this, and we should be grateful for that. Every small victory is worth something, and this victory, however small it may seem, may have saved countless lives. We will continue to do what we can to put pressure on the Empire, to harass them, and to make alliances with like-minded people who oppose them, maybe one day we will have a greater effect, but, for today, we can be proud of what we've done.
I left my bedroom in a red tunic and black leggings one morning to see Phanza already up, dressed in a loosely tied black robe, looking out the viewport in the common room of our quarters. We were in orbit over Dromund Kaas, the Reaper and the Remnant in the distance and the planet below. The Nautolan's tattooed head tails hung down her back, a couple others thrown over her shoulders as typical, and she stood there with her hands behind her back. It was a completely casual moment and Phanza seemed like she just threw on a robe when she woke up, yet, despite that, she still managed to look perfect. I knew it wasn't that simple though, she knew we had taken losses and she knew our pitiful navy not only lost a ship, but would need repairs on the other vessels, particularly the Reaper, and that ship also happened to be the most different from our ships, requiring us to manufacture unique parts just for it. That's not to mention the fact that Palpatine and Vader will look to respond to what happened on Korriban. The battle was won and a crisis was averted, but there was still so much to do, so many things to balance, and so many different factions all demanding Phanza's attention. In a way, the story was over, but, at the same time, it wasn't.
"We're going to being landing soon. Wurrathu is waiting for us to join her on the bridge." Phanza spoke softly, so as to not disturb Yevenna and Schweva who both seemed to still be asleep in their respective rooms.
"It can wait a moment I think. You could use a moment to breath." I responded, walking up to her and joining her, the two of us looking out the viewport at the stars of the unknown regions. We don't know who or what else is out there in this part of the galaxy, it's completely unmapped - not only are the existing maps lost, but, even at its height, this region wasn't that perfectly cartographed at all - who knows what these stars hold. Perhaps, one day, we'll start investigating that, looking for worlds to settle and places to expand to as our civilization rebuilds. This far from the core, I can only imagine what mysteries await us.
"Yes...it can." Phanza accepted, knowing that we still had plenty of responsibilities and things to worry about in the future, but accepting this as a welcome lull in the chaos of our lives. The Nautolan offered her hand to me a few moments later. I looked down at the open hand, something which could mean any number of things, then I looked up at her face, seeing her eyes pressed firmly on the planet, not wishing to reveal anything through her facial expression, but, in doing so, revealing quite a bit actually. I took her hand in mine though. The edges of the galaxy are not the only mysteries we may soon face.
Well, I don't know if I can say I'm good at writing endings, but, I tried my best and hopefully you're at least satisfied with how I ended things.
Some things were dropped or ignored in the course of the story, I know as much. One example is that, initially, I tried to stick pretty close to the canon, at one point I was even watching Bad Batch and trying to make sure things didn't contradict that show, but then I got really bored and fell off. I don't know if I can say this story is canon compliant at all, but I don't really know that I care either. As long as I believe this can work with some form of the Star Wars story, I am satisfied. The other big plot line I dropped was the romance one. I initially planned for this story to involve a relationship between Phanza and Zaliza, but, between planning it as a slow burn, focusing on more important aspects of the plot, and a little bit of burn out, that plot line kinda just died. There are elements still and I think the ending shows my intention with the characters, but I didn't think it suited the story or the characters to go hard in the romance direction.
Well, for better of worse, this has been Secrets of the Outer Rim. Hope you enjoyed!
