Chapter 5: Into the enemy camp
February 8.
Back on Felucia. Jordan certainly wasn't much enthusiast of this, and neither were the others, but the Empire had struck there when everybody assumed that Iulius was still too busy reorganizing the Imperial forces and that the double offensive of the Rebels and the Mandalorians on two fronts would put him on the defensive.
It also bothered him that last day was his daughter's birthday and all he could do was to send a holo-message.
Still, MI6 was expecting another attack on Lianna, since a big imperial fleet was still sitting in the orbit of Arcan and the previous offensive had forced the coalition to leave Felucia only partially defended.
If the imperials retook the planet, they could use the Felucia Trail to attack Lianna on the flank, and this couldn't be allowed. So while the Taus were sending their fleet to reinforce the position, the federal naval squadron in orbit had been forced to already cede part of the orbit to the numerically superior imperial fleet.
Which meant that, as soon as the planet's rotation allowed it, the imperials had dropped an army on the surface near the coalition's strongholds and started the battle for control.
Now Jordan had been requested to investigate a missing patrol on the surface of Felucia. It was near a heated battlefield, where a Victory-class Star Destroyer and an Alliance cruiser were even battling a few thousand meters above the ground.
"Captain, we're approaching the transponder of the lost patrol, but we can't pick any signal." the co-pilot reported.
"Sign of enemy forces?" Jordan asked.
"There are no life-signs, sir."
"Ok, drop us in, then get airborne and cover us." the Legionnaire concluded.
"Yes, sir." the pilot replied while the Captain returned into the cargo hold.
There were Michalina, Thabo and Gutierrez. They were simply sitting on the seats or watching at the screen projecting a view given by the external sensors of the Kodiak, but when Jordan re-entered, they understood they were about to land, so they stood up around him.
"All right, listen. We're coming up on the last known position of the patrol. We don't know what happened, so we're looking for survivors and for whatever might have killed them."
"Jordan," said Michalina with a suspicious tone. "why are they asking us to check on a missing patrol?"
"Because this one had three Legionnaires in it, all Aquilae. And yet they got overrun in a matter of minutes." he sternly replied. "And it's not the first time. In the last few days we lost two squads of our brothers, so we must understand if it's the fauna, or if the imperials are sending some specialist to hunt our kind down."
"So...we're going to investigate a possible Legionnaire-killing weapon...as Legionnaires?" Thabo asked a bit incredulous.
"This is definitely a trap." Gutierrez said.
"I know, but if Command's worst fears are true, then we need to know. Just stay sharp. Thabo, keep your psionic senses particularly open." the Captain instructed.
The other three soldiers nodded. A few seconds later, they could see that the shuttle was touching down.
The scene was terrible. The burned carcass of an APC was standing in the middle of one of the few paths free from the tall plants of Felucia, and around it laid the corpses of three Legionnaires and three Marines.
The squad of the Constantinople cautiously approached the corpses while the Kodiak was flying circles over their heads.
Jordan used Jinx's scanner to reveal the identities of the bodies. One of the Legionnaires was just 19. Pretty much the same as Ezra.
He couldn't allow such grim thoughts to cloud his mind, or he could wind up dead as well. So he did the next logical thing: try to recover the memory card of the Legionnaire's cameras. When he linked the omni-tools, however, he found out that the card wasn't there.
"Same as the previous attacks." he commented to his brethren. "Whoever did this, they knew how to wipe out any record."
"They can't hide from me." Thabo said resolutely. The other three turned toward him and saw that he was extending his hand in front of him, using the Flux to search for any clues.
"Found something, hechicero?" Gutierrez asked.
"I sense a small group. No more than half a km south-west." the psionic replied.
Jordan put two fingers on the side of his helmet and called the Constantinople.
"Bridger to Constantinople, can you make a scan south-west of our position?"
The crew executed the command, then Undir replied. "The spores on the surface confuse the heat scanners, however there seems to be some kind of anomaly 632 meters in that direction."
"Understood, we'll check it out, keep an eye on it." he instructed as he adjusted his grasp on the rifle in his hands. "Form up, team."
The squad assumed a line formation with Thabo at the head and marched in a loose formation, so they could cover all sides of the team and would not be wiped out by a single grenade if one suddenly hit them. The sounds of the battle could still be heard in the distance. With the psionic still signaling the presence he felt, the team finally spotted a black wall and they got to cover before taking a closer look.
The wall was not very tall, perhaps only two meters and a half high, and that was clearly a temporary imperial outpost. Still, the entrance was guarded by two turrets, though only one was manned at that moment.
But what got the attention of the Legionnaires were two soldiers standing right beneath the threshold. They wore gray armors never seen before, wielded heavy repeaters and seemed to be talking with an officer.
"Who the hell are those guys?" Michalina asked in the comlink of the squad.
"Jordan, I detect energy readings very similar to your armors. They have personal shields." Jinx alerted.
"Can you scan for others like them?" the Captain calmly asked.
"Scan completed. The heartbeat sensor has detected a total of 15 signals inside that compound. However, I can't identify similar signals."
Jordan took another look at the enemy. He had to decide quickly.
Those two men in armor probably weren't the only ones to have massacred the patrol, meaning that other soldiers like them could be nearby. However, the Federals were four Legionnaires and this time they were going to have the element of surprise.
He signaled Gutierrez to take position behind one of the bulb-like trees. "Aim at the gunner on that turret, I'll take out the officer." he instructed. "Micha, Thabo, get ready."
The super-soldiers got in position. When Jordan gave the signal, he and Gutierrez opened fire. The stormtrooper on the turret and the officer immediately got their heads pierced by the plasma of the weapons. The armored soldiers immediately noticed them and by the time the Legionnaires fired toward them, the closest one activated his jetpack and flew upward with incredible speed.
The other fired back with a heavy blaster rifle, placing a precise shot against Jordan, who saw his shields go down by half strength, which prompted him to roll behind a cover.
Meanwhile, the second gray soldier landed right on the left flank of the Legionnaires and fired with a TL-50 toward Thabo and Michalina. The former dived on the ground, avoiding the red bolts and firing back with his rifle, while Michalina reacted instantly against their foe. The Legionnaires saw the woman's bolts stopping against the shields of the imperial, so Thabo lightened up his omni-tool and used Overload against the enemy.
Indeed, the shields of the imperial fell, but the guy quickly drew out a concussion grenade and threw it in between the two Legionnaires, who quickly ducked behind their covers. By the time the grenade blew and they aimed their guns again, the gray soldier had flew back toward the gate, where the second one was still firing back at Jordan and Gutierrez.
"I've had enough of this." Thabo said as he charged a psionic lance in his right hand.
He quickly gathered the energy and the bolt formed in his hand. The Legionnaire prepared to launch it as a javelin and then jolted.
He hit the first gray soldier squarely in the chest and a painful scream was enough to send the message.
The second soldier dashed to rescue his comrade, which honestly surprised the Legionnaires for a second, but then the other stormtroopers appeared from behind the threshold and unleashed a rain of blaster fire toward the Legionnaires, while the gray soldier lifted the body of his comrade and headed further inside the outpost, with the stormtroopers following suit.
"Don't let them get away!" Jordan ordered and the squad charged. The Captain and Gutierrez activated the directional shields of their omni-tools, but when they reached the gate, they all noticed that the imperials were mounting inside a Lambda shuttle. The gray soldiers had already disappeared and only five troopers were still visible. They fired at the Legionnaires, who instantly returned fire and killed three of them, but they were eventually too far to stop the shuttle from taking off.
"Blimey!" Jordan grunted, realizing that air support wouldn't get there in time to shoot it down.
"Jordan, there is still a signal inside that tent." Jinx alerted.
The Legionnaires immediately went to check in. However, all they found inside of it, besides some empty tables, was a Togruta with a deep blue skin frenetically working on a terminal.
Jordan pointed his rifle. "Stop right there!" he intimated.
The Togruta calmly raised her hands, then turned to face them with a relaxed attitude. "Easy, gentlemen. We're on the same side."
"Grand Admiral, one of our probe droids confirmed. Agent Qathora has been taken by enemy forces, but it doesn't look like they restrained her." Ciena reported in the command room of the bridge.
"Thank you, Lieutenant Commander." Iulius calmly replied as he observed the holotable. "As soon as the ground team return on the Admonitor, we're leaving. Order Admiral Oderis to continue the campaign."
"Yes, sir." the woman replied before composing the message on her keyboard.
Iulius wasn't expecting this guy to take Felucia, but right now, he only needed the Federation to think that he was trying to still take Lianna while he was actually eyeing another prey, that he would take on with the 101st alone.
He had to wait around 15 minutes, as the shuttle with the Dark Troopers had to take a longer path to avoid the fight going on between the two fleets in orbit.
And just as the ship was approaching the Admonitor, which was observing at the edge of the planet's gravitational pull, the radar operator warned Iulius.
"Grand Admiral, we detect a squadron of ships coming out of hyperspace, arriving from enemy space."
"Signature?"
"Unknown, sir." the officer replied.
Iulius' eyes wandered around suspiciously. "Get them on the scopes." he ordered, prompting him to transmit the signal of the sensors and Ciena to put them on the holotable, making the galaxy map disappear.
Not long after, those ships appeared. They were definitely not the usual federal ships, but on the biggest one of them he quickly spotted the insignia.
"Ah. The T'au." Iulius murmured interested, then turned to Ciena. "Cancel the order to leave the system, Commander, I want to observe them. Deploy the TIE Phantom squad."
"Yes, sir." Ciena replied.
Thus, the hologram now showed the holograms in small scale of the two fleets. The imperial fleet was engaging the federals around one of the moons of the planet, and it seemed like it was winning, mostly because of their numerical superiority and because Iulius had been ordering Oderis around until a few hours ago, much like Thrawn did on Ryloth with Captain Slavin, not letting the enemy know who was actually pulling the strings.
The Tau squadron was composed of 20 ships. 12 escort ships (as they were too small to be line ships), the rest were cruisers and one massive ship that was most likely a battleship, which was clearly the command vessel of the squadron.
They came out on the flank of the imperial fleet, and Oderis quickly sent a group of five Star Destroyers and a Quasar-class carrier and her escort of light cruisers.
The Taus took position next to the moon, which was a barren rock but surrounded by various asteroid fields and a pretty big nebula.
Both parts immediately launched their own fighters. Iulius noticed that those of the Taus were much faster, probably because they had bigger engines, which also released an azure trail behind the apparels.
Still, Iulius noticed that the fighters took off from the battleship and only two of the cruisers, which had the form of a half-circle.
"Mark those ships as carrier into the database." Iulius instructed and Ciena obeyed.
As the fighters started to clash, Iulius noticed that they went down quite easily, once the imperial pilots managed to hit them. The scanners confirmed that they didn't have shields, contrary to the fighters of the Federation, which confirmed that the Taus had an advanced technology, but lacked the resources to give the best countermeasures to everybody.
While the flying vehicles fought, the Tau ships opened fire at an insane range, and to Iulius' surprise, their shots impacted almost instantly on the imperial ships. They had the form of plasma rays, which traveled at a considerable fraction of the speed of light.
While they weren't enough to penetrate the imperial shields, they certainly weakened them.
Especially when they continued to fire when the imperial ships were still in the open and out of range of the turbolasers. They fired some torpedoes, hoping to do some damage, but the Tau ships turned out to have point-defense batteries that fired a rain of small bolts specifically targeting the torpedoes, blowing them up before they landed on the target.
Then, when the imperial ships were approaching too much, the Tau formation started to navigate on a parable, separating in two groups and trying to keep the distance between them and the imperials while flanking them.
Clearly, Oderis wasn't expecting that, and the imperial ships just sat there for two minutes while the Admiral was probably stressing his brain out in order to find a solution.
Eventually, he ordered the imperial squadron to attack the taus on their right, meaning the group with the battleship, judging that they were being slower.
To answer that, the battleship suddenly turned toward one of the Arquitens. Then from the middle of her hull a blue muzzle appeared, followed by the clear trail of a slug being thrown at high velocity toward the imperial cruiser. The shot easily penetrated the armor and then exploded inside the ship, cracking it in two.
The imperial ships thus gave full power to the engines, intent on closing the gap and finally get their revenge on the aliens.
Indeed, the sprint allowed them to get into firing range and the turbolasers started to muzzle and fly all around.
And once the fight became closer, Iulius easily noticed that the Tau ships were much more frail than expected, as one of the line cruisers easily went down.
Still, their weapons were still terrifying, and after losing a Star Destroyer and other two ships, the imperial squadron fell back and tried to rejoin the fleet, only to be cut off by the other Tau squadron and suffering even more losses, exposing the flank of the imperial fleet.
"Interesting. Order Kyrell's squadron to return." Iulius finally ordered to Ciena. "Lieutenant Windrider, set the course for Corsin."
"Yes, Grand Admiral." Nash replied from the pit.
As soon as Thane and the TIE Phantoms were back into the hangar, the Admonitor was ready to jump into hyperspace and leave that front, heading for the one that Iulius cared for.
February 10.
Jaral was just frustrated. Dealing with politicians and their bullshit was definitely not what she signed up for.
"Told you they wouldn't know what to do without you in charge." Darvos said to lift her spirits a bit.
"Wonderful." she replied sarcastically. "Rather, tell me about this new informant we're about to meet." she added just as they mounted on the Kodiak and headed toward the Constantinople, which was sitting in the orbit of Mon Cala.
Darvos took out his datapad and tapped it to get the intel provided so far by Jordan and his crew, while two Alliance Marines watched over them.
"Jordan and his Legionnaires apprehended her into an imperial outpost on Felucia. She calls herself Qathora. Apparently, she gave them a data disc with the plans the imperial fleet has for the Mid Rim."
"The Empire was leaving a non-Human wander around a military camp?" Jaral asked suspicious.
"That's why your father thought this might be of interest to us." Darvos calmly concluded as he put away the datapad.
"Guess we'll have to wait and see." Jaral commented as the Kodiak was leaving the atmosphere.
It took a few minutes for them to land on the frigate, being welcomed by Jordan and then led to the only prison cell that the Constantinople had on board, in the back of Deck 2. The cell itself had a rectangular shape, with a cot, a folding chair and a toilette which at least was hidden from the sight of the guards, but for the sake of decency, Jordan had decided to put only the female Marines to guard the prisoner.
The Togruta herself was now slumping on the bed, apparently using a datapad that the crew gave her with some novels and games to spend time, but when she heard the door slid open, she looked in that direction and straightened up a bit when she saw Jaral and Darvos.
Particularly, she seemed a bit fascinated by the latter.
"Anything to report?" Jordan asked to the guard.
"No, sir." replied the woman. "She hasn't tried anything funny."
"Thanks, Corporal. Dismissed."
The marine put away her rifle and eagerly headed out.
Jaral and Darvos went in front of the transparent wall that delimited the cell. The Togruta was looking at them with a calm demeanor.
Jordan approached them, too, and by that time, the prisoner chuckled.
"You really are identical to your brother." she said to Darvos, making the three Humans surprised.
"You...You know Iulius?" he asked.
"Everybody who has lived in imperial space in the last few months knows him. But as it would happen...I am his personal secretary."
"You can't be serious." Jordan dismissed the claim.
"You sure about that?" Qathora replied calmly.
Right at that moment, Jinx intervened. "Jordan, she is telling the truth. I just found this in the archives of the HoloNet."
It was a newscast of July of last year. Specifically when Iulius had just completed his campaign in the Outer Rim and was being welcomed by a crowd back on Coruscant.
Jinx had just noticed that Qathora was there, as well. In a couple of frames, though she stayed at a distance from Iulius and was never the focus of the camera, she was there, following him around along with two Death Troopers.
As he projected the clip, the Humans remained speechless.
"How come we never noticed it?" Jordan asked quite irritated.
"MI6 noticed." Jinx explained. "But it was assumed that she was simply a servant, considering the Empire's policy about non-Humans."
"He's not entirely wrong." Qathora commented from the cell, making the Humans turn toward her again.
Jaral stepped a bit closer to the wall. "What do you mean?"
Qathora quickly nodded toward Darvos. "Last year, I was forced to serve your father, Chimbros Tanis. When Iulius was recalled to Coruscant and it was clear that he was going to be promoted from Captain to something more, the Admiral decided to give his son a 'gift'."
Darvos stepped closer as well. A bit disgusted, but he asked already knowing the answer. "But Iulius freed you immediately, right?"
The Togruta made a half-grin. "You really know your brother. Yes, first thing he did when we met was to free me from the electric collar your father had slapped on my neck. Then he offered me to go free when we reached Coruscant, but I figured I would be better off by staying with him. And he appreciated my set of skills, so it was a win-win."
Jaral and Darvos looked at each other for a moment. Then Darvos nodded, knowing with what his wife was thinking.
Jaral stepped in front of the door and Jordan opened it with a command of the omni-tool. Thus allowing Jaral to go grab the chair and sit in front of the Togruta, who was sitting on the bed with the back touching the shorter wall behind her and her legs crossed in a relaxed attitude.
"So why are you betraying him?" Jaral asked bluntly while focusing on Qathora's aura.
The Togruta lowered her head, clearly ashamed, but replied honestly. "I am loyal to Iulius and I consider him a friend. But I can't stand the Empire. Especially not after Alderaan."
Jaral could sense that the Togruta was telling the truth.
"By helping us, you put his life at risk." she noted.
"I am aware." Qathora replied. "But I also know that you guys prefer prisoners. Especially your Jedi brother and you, Grand Marshall Bridger."
"You want him out of harms way." Jaral said.
The Togruta made a nod. "Iulius thinks he can reform the Empire and save it. True, he had made some progress, but his is only wishful thinking. The Moffs hate him simply because he dared to do his job right. He's not fighting you rebels and the Federation, he's fighting against a state that was wrong in its conception."
The Jedi Knight could sense a mix of emotions inside Qathora. Rage, fear...but also a great sincerity. Indeed, she thought she was doing the right choice.
"Okay, I believe you." the Grand Marshall concluded. "So...do you know what Iulius is planning to do?"
"Not exactly. Actually, me being captured is part of his plan."
That alarmed Jaral, but she managed to hide it. "What do you mean?"
"He thinks he still has me on his leash and that, since I'm an alien, you guys would have accepted me as a possible candidate for your Fulcrum initiative. But that ends today. To answer your question, last time I left, Iulius was gathering forces on Lantillies, including his 101st Fleet."
"Jinx, bring up the galaxy map." Jaral calmly asked toward his omni-tool, which then lightened up and the map appeared.
Lantillies sat right at the border between the Mid Rim and the Expansion Region, on the Perlimian Trade Route. Right now, the Coalition was going on two massive offensives: the one led by Iblis and the Mandalorians siege of Taris.
From that system, Iulius could have actually moved against both of them, but he had to know that he actually had the resources to focus on one at a time.
"So you don't know where he is going?"
"No. I guess he didn't want to risk me telling you when he decided to use me as a double-agent."
Jaral lowered her head to think. Then she stood up and left the cell to go and ponder the question with the two men as they gathered on the other side of the room and started to confabulate.
"I know what you're thinking, Jari, and I'm against it." Darvos immediately said.
"She's telling the truth, Darvos. I sensed it." Jaral calmly replied.
"And Gods know how much we need a source to know anything about Iulius. He is incredibly good at keeping his fleet's secrets." Jordan argued.
"I know, but my gut says that something is very off, here. If she's telling the truth, I don't believe that Iulius didn't notice that she wanted to betray him. There must be something else behind it."
"You don't believe her story?" Jaral asked.
"It's not that. You say she's sincere, I accept it. I just think that she's being manipulated by Iulius to misguide us, or worse."
"You think he would be able to do that?"
Darvos sighed lightly. "I don't know him anymore. But he was already a long-term player, and do I have to remind you that he has been tutored by Thrawn for an entire year?"
That was actually a valid point, Jaral thought. There was a chance that this was all a ruse on Iulius' part. She took a look at Qathora, who still sat in her cell.
"Guess there is one way to know if she's lying." she concluded. "We need to verify the intel about Lantillies."
The two men looked at each other, then back at Jaral.
"Sounds fair. I'll arrange a scouting party." Darvos concluded.
Jaral then nodded toward the cell, signaling Jordan to free the Togruta, but to keep an eye on her.
And as her father went to execute the order of the person who now was also his direct superior as Admiral of the Systems Alliance, Jaral left the cell block and headed for the strategy room, followed by Darvos.
Hi there.
Just wanted to update on the status of this work. You guys surely noticed that I'm slowing down with the publishing of chapters. Mostly because I need to come up with a plot that is not based on Canon material, for now.
Plus, I just started my last semester at the University, meaning I have to focus on the lessons and preparing the graduation thesis.
Also, this last week I've been kinda shocked about the situation in Ukraine. As a European, the fact that two countries in this continent have gone to war against each other had me question a lot of things.
I strongly believe that war is always wrong, and the fact that I put a nation that reunites all of mankind in this Saga should really tell that I want mankind to finally band together and reach for the stars, literally.
War should only be relegated to history books or fictional works like the one I'm writing.
Sorry about the rant, but I wanted to share my thoughts.
Anyway, I know our favorite heroes didn't show up in this chapter, but I promise next time we will see what they are doing aboard their new space-faring fortress.
See you next chapter.
Ganel750