Chapter 14: The Arrival
General Ironwood was alone in his office, staring out his window. He was contemplating what the Mandalorian had told him. Djarin had shared his new plan with Ironwood and convinced him to stay in Atlas to help Mantle evacuate. However, regardless of the outcome, the events of the next hours would be a bloodbath. The Mandalorian had returned from an investigation with Ren cloaking his ship, and what they found was dreadful; thousands of flying Grimm were on their way in a dark cloud. Leading the horde was the largest Grimm Ren and the Mandalorian had seen: a massive creature that resembled a whale, with dark red "fins" and large purple crystals on its head. Also at its head was Salem, controlling the whale and leading it to Atlas. So, Ironwood ordered evacuation ships to stay far away from Atlas. And now, he could see the giant cloud coming closer and closer to Atlas. Salem had arrived.
When he thought things couldn't get worse, Ironwood's attention was caught by a loud screeching sound. Turning to his left, he saw a giant grey ship outside Atlas. The screeching sound was coming from a squadron of small black ships, which were on course to Atlas.
"Gods help us all." Ironwood said to himself.
Moff Gideon had managed to send the Imperial forces he was in command of to Remnant. It consisted of three Star Destroyers, each with hundreds of TIE Fighters, and thousands of Stormtroopers ready to obey him without question. Not wanting to take any chances, Gideon was able to find records of the planet that the Empire had long forgotten about. Reading them showed Gideon that Remnant was home to humans, a species called the Faunus, and creatures called the Grimm. It seemed he would encounter much resistance on Remnant. But Gideon was prepared.
He sent one Star Destroyer down to Remnant, with him on it. The other two would monitor activity in case the Mandalorian would try to escape. Even if he did, Gideon would eventually find him; the women who sent him the recordings and coordinates to Remnant also said they were able to plant a homing device on Djarin's ship. It was that device that Gideon was using to find out where on Remnant the Mandalorian was hiding. The device had led him near Remnant's north pole, where he found a floating city.
"We've arrived, Moff Gideon." one of the officers informed him.
"Prepare a squadron of TIE Fighters, we will commence an aerial attack on the city." Gideon ordered.
"Sir, I'm afraid we can't do that."
Gideon quickly turned to the officer that dared to contradict him. "Why not?"
"W-well sir, the beacon we're tracking is nowhere in that city."
"...Where is it?"
"There." the officer pointed to a large black cloud not far from them.
"...Prepare the squadron. Send them to the cloud." Gideon ordered.
"Yes, sir." the officer replied.
A squadron of twenty TIE Fighters flew into the storm. Each pilot was expecting to encounter interference from the thunder and red lightning they could see. What they got was far worse.
"Moff Gideon, we're entering the storm now." a pilot reported. "No sign of the Mandalorian's ship, but- wait. Wait, was is this?"
"What are these things?" the pilots had begun to panic.
"There's hundreds of them! Take evasive action!"
"Too late, they're-" an explosion and static was all the crew of the Star Destroyer could here.
Looking to a computer, Moff Gideon could see green lit TIE Fighters turn red, indicating something in the storm was destroying them.
"Captain, show me what's going on."
"Yes, sir." the officer switched a computer to a screen of a TIE Fighter. It was recording while flying, and what they saw disturbed them greatly. Hundreds of black flying monsters were tearing each ship apart like they were made out of paper. And there was a larger monster in the center of the storm.
"The creatures of Grimm." Moff Gideon said to himself, remembering the files of Remnant he found.
"Moff Gideon, there are too many of them! We can't hold out for long! We are requesting immediate return to the Star Destroyer!"
"Pilot, does your computer still show the beacon in the storm?" Gideon asked.
"Yes sir." the pilot answered.
"Then you will not be leaving. Your orders to find the Mandalorian's ship stand."
"...Sir, if that is the case, we need help!"
Moff Gideon realized the pilot was correct. Breaching the storm would require backup.
"Captain." Moff Gideon turned to the officer. "Fire this ship's weapons into the cloud."
"But sir, there are still TIE Fighters in there! We might hit them!"
"I said fire."
"...Yes, sir." the Captain turned to the crew of the Star Destroyer. "Fire into the cloud when ready."
"Order our other Star Destroyers to do the same." Gideon commanded.
"Yes, sir." the Captain took out a radio and did as he was told.
Suddenly, green bursts of energy came from the sky and made contact with the cloud. The ship Moff Gideon was on also fired.
"Moff Gideon, whatever you're doing is working!" a pilot reported. "These monsters don't know what hit them! We're looking for the ship now!"
After about a minute of firing, Gideon ordered them to stop. The green beams disappeared. He then made contact with the remaining fighters. "Remaining fighters, do you have a position for the ship?"
"...Yes sir, but there must be a mistake." one fighter reported. "My computer is telling me the ship we're looking for is where that... giant thing is."
"That's not a mistake." another pilot reported. "I'm getting the same thing."
"Me too!" a third pilot reported.
Gideon took a moment to think what was happening. "All fighters retreat. There's nothing here, the ones who sent the recording have lied to us."
"No, wait!" one pilot said. "Moff Gideon, I'm seeing what looks like a docking bay on the side of this thing! I see the ship we're looking for!"
Gideon turned to the computer and realized the pilot was right. On the side of the beast was an opening with a gray ship docked in it.
"Captain, prepare a transport vessel. I want Stormtroopers and Death Troopers in there at once."
"Yes, sir."
Moff Gideon had joined the Stormtroopers and Death Troopers. After he ordered the remaining TIE Fighters to return to the ship, he walked onto the Grimm with his soldiers.
"Trooper, search the ship." Gideon ordered a Stormtrooper. The trooper walked up to the ship, opened the door, and walked inside. After hearing a crash, Gideon turned to face the ship. However, the Stormtrooper walked back out.
"It's empty, sir."
"Then we press on."
"Who were those guys?!"
"I don't know, but we have to tell Salem!"
A young man wearing a gray jacket with a picture of a shoe and wings on it was running with a young woman with green hair wearing a white jacket that cut off in the middle. They were running from a platoon of soldiers that had fired on them. Luckily, they had missed every shot.
Reaching a large room, they saw a throne in the middle of it, with a pale woman sitting on it. The woman stood up to face the two children.
"Emerald. Mercury. I can sense that we are losing Grimm. With the way you ran in here, I can safely assume you have an explanation."
"Ma'am." Emerald addressed the Grimm Queen. "We're under attack. Somehow, a group of soldiers breached the castle."
Salem looked slightly surprised. "That...shouldn't be possible." she said. "The Atlesian fleet couldn't breach the cloud, let alone walk in here."
"They're not Atlesian, ma'am." Mercury continued. "We don't know who they are. But they-" an explosion at the door Emerald and Mercury came in from caught everyone's attention.
A group of white soldiers came running into the room, guns pointed at the children and Salem. Following them were six other soldiers in black armor, who kept their weapons pointed down. And following them, was an unmasked man in a black uniform and cape.
Salem's face quickly changed from one of surprise to anger. If looks could kill, all of the intruders would die in an instant.
Salem turned to the apparent leader of this attack. "Who are you?" she asked.
"Who I am...does not matter." the man replied. "You have something I want. You may think you have some idea of what you are in possession of. But you do not."
"You're gravely mistaken."
"I disagree. I know the Mandalorian is here. And since you are refusing to cooperate, I can assume you're working with him."
"I can assure you I have no idea what you're talking about. But you're wasting my time." Salem stepped forward. "I don't know how you breached this castle, but I don't care. Leave."
Moff Gideon stood his ground. "Come out, Mandalorian." he said to the empty room. "Or we will open fire on your allies."
Emerald pulled out her weapons while Mercury got into an attack position. Salem spoke again. "Leave this place, or your final regret will be crossing paths with me."
Before Gideon could reply, a small device flew into the air and landed in between Moff Gideon and Salem. Suddenly, it exploded and caused everyone close to it to fall backwards.
The Mandalorian came out of the smoke and fired his blaster at the stormtroopers. Beside him was the Child's crib. It seems the plan worked.
1 hour ago
"Whoever receives this message, we know you're looking for this Mandalorian. We have the coordinates to the planet he's on. You want him? He's all yours."
The camera on the probe droid's head deactivated. "How was that, Mando?" Fiona asked.
"Perfect." the Mandalorian answered, behind the head. "Sounds like you really want me dead."
"Who says we don't?" Joanna asked. Everyone turned to her. "I'm kidding. Although you kinda deserve it."
"We're putting that behind us, Joanna." Robyn said as she walked out from behind Djarin.
"So, we have the recording. Now what?" May asked.
"The tracing module on this droid showed there's an Imperial ship not far from here." Djarin replied. "We can use my ship's transmitter to show this and the recording of me with the Child. Then, they'll come here."
"Thank you, Talga." Robyn said under her breath. Talga was the one who gave her the droid in the first place so she could spy on Ironwood.
"Mando, I have two questions for you." Ironwood asked, who was standing at his desk. "First, from what you told us, these 'Imperials' are dangerous people. Are you sure bringing them here will help us?"
"General, Ren and I have seen what we're up against." Djarin replied. "And your fleet is no match for it. We need a superior force."
"Which brings me to my second question: what makes you think they'll come here?"
"Moff Gideon was willing to kill me in order to get the Child. I don't know why, but I'm willing to bet other Imperials want him too. Once they see he's here, they'll come."
"And you're going to lead them to Salem?" Joanna asked.
"Yes."
The Mandalorian looked around. The Stormtroopers were still confused, and so was Salem. But his work wasn't over. He needed a diversion.
"Your plan worked, Salem!" he turned to the Grimm Queen and picked up a dead Stormtrooper's blaster. "I need to get out of here, cover me!" he threw the blaster to her.
"What?" Salem asked as she caught the blaster in confusion.
A few Stormtroopers saw Salem holding a blaster and their instincts kicked in. "FIRE!"
The Stormtroopers fired at Salem, and most of the shots hit their target. Salem dropped the blaster and fell to the floor. The Mandalorian ran to the nearest door while holding the crib.
"After him!" Gideon ordered, and ten Stormtroopers chased after him. Gideon and the rest of his men looked at Salem on the floor. Emerald and Mercury were too shocked to do anything.
One trooper walked up to Salem's body and gently kicked it. Nothing happened. He turned back to his fellow Stormtroopers. "Well...that was easy."
Suddenly, he felt a hand grab his ankle. Looking down, he saw Salem's wounds were healing. And he saw Salem's eyes glaring at him with fury.
"Uh oh."
Salem grabbed him by the throat and lifted him off the ground. She threw the trooper at a few other soldiers and they fell to the ground. Turning to her two assassins, she yelled "KILL THEM!"
Emerald and Mercury sprung into action. Emerald shot a few bullets at the Stormtroopers and so did Mercury. Seeing them bounce off their armor, Emerald turned her weapons into their secondary form and attacked them head on. Mercury swung his legs at the troopers, disarming them and breaking their armor.
But the Stormtroopers kept fighting. They fired more blasts at the assassins. They weren't willing to give up easily. If anything, they were willing to die. For the mission. For Gideon. For the Empire.
The Death Troopers were even more resourceful. Their aim was true as they fired on the assassins. Even though they continued to stand and fight, the Death Troopers fired again and again.
Moff Gideon had proved to be an asset in battle. Taking out a black sword, he swung at his new enemies. Making contact with the girl, he was surprised to see the blade had not cut her. He also thought he saw a light green shimmer on her body.
Turning around, Emerald extended her weapon's blades and swung at Gideon. He easily blocked this and they locked blades.
"One way or another, you will tell us where it is. This can be easy or difficult." Gideon said.
"For the last time, we don't know why you're here!" Emerald yelled.
"Difficult then." he kicked her and she flew back a couple of feet. Emerald looked around and saw Mercury was getting tired. The troopers weren't hard to kill, but there were too many of them.
However, the tide of the battle quickly shifted when everyone heard a loud scream. Turning their heads, everyone saw a large man with crystals in his arms running towards them. Swinging his arms, the man fired two electric bursts of energy at the troopers. Both hit their targets as four Stormtroopers hit the ground. Then, the man started punching every trooper he could see. He lifted his arm and rushed towards another one.
"Mother of-" the Stormtrooper didn't even finish as his skull was crushed. More stormtroopers came from the hole where the door used to be. Emerald, Mercury, and Hazel continued to fight.
And Salem just watched and smiled.
Whoever these people were, they made a fatal mistake invading her castle. Wasting her time when she should be invading Atlas.
And now, they would pay with their lives.
And she would find the one in armor that led them here.
And she would invade Atlas.
And she would take the Staff and the Lamp.
And she-
Suddenly, the entire castle started to shake.
"After him!" Gideon ordered.
The ten stormtroopers from the throne room were chasing after the Mandalorian.
They had him in their sights, but he was too fast.
Every blaster bolt missed him.
But whenever the Mandalorian turned around, his aim was true.
Only four Stormtroopers remained when the Mandalorian stopped running.
He stopped at a door with the crib. Noticing the stormtroopers down at the end of the hall, he opened the door and pushed the crib inside.
Then, he fell to the floor as two blaster bolts hit him in his back.
"FINALLY!" one of the troopers yelled. "I thought we would never catch him!" The trooper walked up to the body and gently kicked it. "Looks like he's dead."
"Wait, didn't the Moff want him alive?" the second trooper asked.
"No, he wants the kid alive." the third one answered. "I'm sure he wanted to kill this guy himself, but too late now."
The fourth one bended down and picked up something the Mandalorian was carrying in his other hand. "Hey, what's this?"
The first one looked at it. "Let me see." Looking it over, he saw it was a tool with a dial that counted from 0 to 10. In the middle was a needle that was in the 10 zone. "Looks like this is supposed to measure something."
"Measure what?"
"I don't know. But it doesn't matter now."
"No, maybe it does. It's getting a high reading."
"Wait, do you guys feel that?"
The troopers stopped talking, and realized the fourth one was right. They could feel some sort of vibration. Looking at the tool and seeing that it was in the 10 zone, the first guard understood. "Oh, I think I know what this is."
"You do? What?"
Walking towards the door as it opened, the first trooper walked in to find the metal crib. And a giant heart in the middle of the room.
"Yeah, I get it now. He was leading us to the heart."
"The heart?"
"Yeah, take a look." the second trooper walked into the room. "See how this needle is in the highest point?"
"Yeah." the second trooper answered.
"This tool is supposed to detect vibrations. Once the needle got closer to 10, that meant he would be getting closer to the largest source of vibrations: a giant beating heart."
"Oh, I see. If he could get to the heart before us, he knew we wouldn't risk firing near it."
"Exactly. Otherwise, this thing would crash down to the ground. And we'd all be dead."
"Smart guy." the third one said, kicking the body.
"Yeah, but not quick enough." the fourth trooper said. "Hey, you see the kid in there?"
The first guard looked around. "Yeah, the crib's by the heart."
"Alright, grab it and let's go."
The first trooper walked towards the heart, and the fourth one looked closer at the body. His eye caught something under his cape. Moving it he saw...
"Is that...an umbrella?"
The first trooper grabbed the open crib and turned it around. But there was no kid. Instead, the trooper saw a beeping device.
"BOMB!"
The room exploded, taking the two Stormtroopers and the heart with it.
Suddenly, the "Mandalorian" jumped off the ground, and changed into a short woman.
"Thanks for the help, boys." her voice suddenly changed from male to female as she touched her throat.
Everything began to shake after that. The bomb in the crib destroyed the Grimm's heart. It was going down.
"Gotta run!" Neo suddenly took off running.
1 hour ago
Djarin was walking to his ship and saw Neo standing outside.
"Neo, what are you doing here?" Djarin asked. "You said you were going to protect the Maiden."
"I was, until Ruby told me your plan." Neo replied. "Destroying the Grimm you described...that's most likely going to be a one-way trip, Mando."
"I know." Djarin said. "But it needs to be done."
"I know. Which is why I'm going."
"What?"
"I can fly a ship. I can take your ship and the beacon to that Grimm. Once the Imperials come, I can make Salem and the Imperials fight each other and destroy it."
"Neo, no. We need you."
"Yes. You need me to do this."
"No. I'll go. You stay and watch the kid."
"Mando, no. He needs you. Once this is over, you still need to reunite him with the Jedi. I can't do that."
"Neo...it's like you said. This is probably going to be a one-way trip. Why would you want to do this?"
"Because..." Neo said with tears in her eyes.
"Because I already lost one friend to the Grimm." she then hugged the Mandalorian. "Now I have the power to make sure it doesn't happen again."
Djarin was taken off guard by this. But, he returned Neo's hug. "...You have a plan?"
Neo let go and dried her eyes. "Yeah, I took a couple of things from Pietro's office. I know what to do." She started to walk towards the ship.
"Neo." she turned to the Mandalorian. "Don't rough up the ship. I'll need it...once you get back."
Neo smiled at this. "No promises." she walked in and the ship flew towards the Grimm.
"Good luck."
Turns out the Imperials were dumber than Neo thought. They didn't even bother to check that crash in the Razor Crest. Neo killed the Stormtrooper that walked into the ship and used her Semblance to disguise herself as one of them. When nobody was looking in the throne room, she disguised herself as the Mandalorian and changed the voice box on her throat.
Now she was going to fool them again. Changing back into a Stormtrooper, she looked at the man in black armor and cape.
"Sir, the Child's not here! The Mandalorian planted a bomb in this thing's heart and it EXPLODED! We're going down!"
Moff Gideon looked at Salem, who was in complete shock of what she heard. It didn't take long for Gideon to realize what to do.
Hazel was standing next to Salem and yelled. But Gideon kept his cool. Looking at his left arm, he saw two crystals in them. He took out a blaster and fired at them.
Which both blew up in Salem's face.
Seeing his enemies were distracted, Gideon turned to the "Stormtrooper".
"We're leaving." he said, walking towards the door.
Gideon and the remaining Stormtroopers had made it to the transport, and Neo quickly ran to the Razor Crest. After watching the other vessel leave, Neo took the ship off the ground. As she flew, she looked out the window to see the giant Grimm falling towards the ground. And hundreds of flying Grimm beneath it would be crushed.
She did it. Now, Atlas had a chance. And even better, it seemed this trip wouldn't be one-way after all. She smiled triumphantly as she flew out of the cloud.
Suddenly, one of the engines gave out. Looking at the engine, a Grimm was tearing it apart. The ship suddenly lost control. It was out of the cloud, but it was going to the ground too fast. Neo tried to keep it steady, but her efforts were in vain. Once it hit the ground, everything went black.
"Captain, get us off this planet. Now."
"Yes, sir." the Star Destroyer immediately turned to the sky and flew.
"Sir...what happened?"
"It seems...I underestimated our enemy's ingenuity." Gideon replied. "Wherever he is now, I'm sure he's far away from this planet. Order our other Star Destroyers to leave this system."
"Yes, Moff Gideon." the Captain looked to a computer and sent out an order to the remaining Star Destroyers. Gideon saw them jump in hyperspace.
"And where are we going sir?"
"Nowhere."
"...Sir?"
Gideon looked down at the planet. "We could not claim the asset. But we have something else."
"...Which is?"
"An opportunity." Gideon had his eyes on a certain land mass. Smiling, he turned to the Captain. "For the Empire to evolve."
Ironwood saw a giant Grimm falling from the sky and crash into the ground. After letting out a sigh of relief, he heard his Scroll ding. Pulling it out, he saw a text from Winter.
"Penny has it." Apparently, Penny had managed to claim the power of the Winter Maiden.
"Thank you, Winter. Send her to the Vault." Ironwood texted back. He then made his way to the Vault. Salem may have lost a decent amount of her army, but she was still on her way. Ironwood wasn't going to take any chances.
Salem awoke with a start. Looking around, she saw her greatest weapon had been destroyed. And a...considerable amount of Grimm had been lost. Turning around, she saw Hazel and Mercury help Emerald stand up.
"What...happened?" Emerald asked.
"We crashed." Mercury responded. "And we lost this Grimm."
"This changes things." Hazel said. "We have to go."
"No." they all turned to Salem, who had her eyes on Atlas.
"We have lost many, yes. And our plan has to change. But we will not be leaving."
"Then...what are we going to do?" Mercury asked.
"Attack."
Author's notes: Salem has suffered a major blow. But she continues to fight. Ironwood is prepared to defend the city of Atlas and the Staff...no matter what it will sacrifice. It seems the war for Atlas...has only just begun.
Thanks for reading this, I hope you liked it. Again, sorry this came later. I'm still doing work for finals, but I was able to get enough time to write all of this. I'm not done with this yet, don't worry.
To Rook435, I'm glad you like it. Thanks for commenting on my grammar and spelling, I'm glad you think it's going smoothly.
To Lord Demolitions, I spoke with you earlier about this. I promise I won't include any other Star Wars characters, and I think you'll like what I have later on.
Thank you for reading and all of your kind words. They mean a lot. Until next time!