Chapter 19: Secrets of the Sith
June 21.
Ezra couldn't help but show a bit of happiness on his face when the signals of Magellan appeared on the sensors of the Amerigo and the eight frigates, with the Constantinople at their head, entered the empty system that had been chosen as rally point.
"Captain Riccardi, Captain Bridger is asking permission to come aboard." one of the operators reported.
"Permission granted." replied the officer. "I'm honestly curious to meet him myself." he added as he crossed Ezra's gaze.
The two watched as the Constantinople approached the bridge so the two ships could connect the airlocks and allow Jordan to come aboard. The small window of time allowed Belisarius and Kherat to reach them, as well. Eventually, the door of the Amerigo opened, revealing Jordan, Thabo, Michalina and Gutierrez. The first three in regular uniforms, the latter in his armor as always.
The Bridgers quickly smiled at each other. Jordan made the salute both for formality and to express his pride toward his son. After Ezra reciprocated, the two hugged in a relatively composed manner.
"Would you look at my General." Jordan commented with a smile, noticing how Ezra's body had become quite buff, but he also exuded a great aura of maturity that was reflected in his face.
"I missed you too, Dad." he kindly replied before breaking the hug. "Good to se you guys again." he said to the Legionnaires behind Jordan.
"We heard you found out your vocation for causing revolutions, kid." Thabo joked.
Ezra chuckled, then stepped aside to let them see the officers of the Amerigo. "Allow me to introduce you Colonel Belisarius," the Legionnaires quickly stood at attention and the Turian nodded. "Major Kherat" and the rite was repeated even in the span of a second. "and Captain Riccardi, the real boss aboard the ship."
Riccardi extended a hand and Jordan shook it respectfully. "I'm glad to meet you, Captain Bridger. Always wondered who the General took from."
Jordan chuckled amused. "I guess I didn't teach him caution, but Ezra is his own person, after all."
"I see. Well, I suppose we better get to work, there is a situation at hand."
"Lead the way, Captain."
As they made their way back toward the bridge, Ezra took a moment to ask his father how were things going back on Lothal.
"I've made visit a couple of times." Jordan answered. "But when we left, they were all doing fine. Sabine seems to have accepted the death of his mother and is helping Tristan rebuild their clan."
"Wasn't expecting anything less from her. What about Jaral and this new Jedi?"
"You mean Cal? He is definitely skilled with the lightsaber. Also, he has this strange but interesting power called psychometry."
"Psycho- what?"
"It allows him to live the history of an object. It's actually incredibly similar to the sensorial abilities of an ancient species of the Milky Way." Jordan explained, finishing just in time to gather around the holo-table.
They waited until the rest of the people taking part in the operation entered the bridge: Luke, Leia, Han, Rex, Kallus and Legionnaire team 'Onyx'.
"Ladies and gentlemen, this is the planet Queyta." Ezra started, making a hologram of said planet appear. "A few rotations ago, the crew of the Falcon has revealed the presence of a heavily fortified imperial complex, purpose unknown. Now, I say heavily fortified but the real trouble is that it's built inside a mountain and there is no way to reach it from the base of it, so an aerial insertion is the only way. Aside from that, our drones show that there should be at most a single battalion of stormtroopers, but their commander is answering directly to one of the Emperor's closest advisors, so whatever they want there, we want it too."
The hologram zoomed into a zone in the northern hemisphere of the planet, revealing a landing pad next to a tower control and that was linked to a column, presumably the access elevator to the underground structure.
"It appears like they're trying to unearth something from that mountain." Kherat commented.
"And if the Emperor is directly implied," said Thabo. "It must be something related to the Force. We can't let him have it."
"You already have a plan, General?" Michalina asked.
Ezra lightened up his omni-tool and showed the hologram of the Kodiak in miniature. "The only way we can access the dig site is from that platform, but if we just jump above them with the Kodiak their air defenses will take us down in a second, not to mention they will probably lock down the base and call a fleet over our heads. So we will airdrop on the opposite side of the mountain and climb all the way up. They don't expect anybody from that side, so it's relatively unguarded, but we'll have to keep our eyes open for probe droids.
"Once inside, we will find what they are looking for and either secure it or destroy it." he then concluded. "Questions?"
"How will we know that we have found any artifact?" one of the Legionnaires asked.
"On a scale from 'weird' to 'absurd', see if it's 'bogus'." Ezra replied in a frank tone.
"Fair enough." the soldier replied.
"The mountain will most likely block our comlinks." Kallus noted. "What if the Empire notices us, surrounds the base anyway and we won't notice?"
"I thought about it, and I decided that, ten minutes after we enter the complex, the Task Force will come out of hyperspace and engage the enemy ships in orbit." Ezra calmly replied, referring to an imperial Star Destroyer along with its escort of two Arquitens and a Raider corvette.
"General," Kolt suddenly spoke up. "May I remind you that the fungoid plants on the surface constantly release a hallucinogenic on the surface?"
"Ah, right." said Ezra, tapping his omni-tool again and showing a hologram of some of the plants and some blue spores flying around. "Preliminary scans have revealed that the air of the planet is breathable, but it's mixed with these spores that contain some toxic element. It should only cause a mild dizziness, but make sure to keep your suits sealed, nonetheless."
No one else raised any other question, so Ezra announced the squads: him, Luke and the Legionnaires in the room would have made up the strike team. Han and Leia would stay on the Falcon and not only assist with the space battle, but also find an opportunity to carry Rex, Kallus and a squad of Marines aboard the Star Destroyer to find additional intel about whatever the Empire was doing on the planet and maybe sabotage the ship from the inside.
Jordan led the Legionnaires into the Constantinople, which was going to be the first to make the jump into the Queyta System, while Ezra went to consult the holocron briefly, but he found nothing that might suggest him what gained the Emperor's attention.
As he walked back toward the airlock, Ezra happened to pass in front of Luke's quarters and decided to wait for him to put on his suit of armor, when he heard Leia's voice from inside the room.
"...honestly, I'm not sure I'm that talented in the Force, so I'm happy to leave this to you." she quipped.
"Like hell you're not. You just prefer politics, and I'll never understand it." Luke replied in tone as the clip of a piece of the armor magnetizing on the suit arrived at Ezra's hear.
After a few moments of silence, Leia spoke with a wary tone. "Listen...maybe I'm just being a bit anxious...but I have a bad feeling about that base on the surface."
"You think we shouldn't attack?" Luke asked with curiosity.
"Oh no. Two Jedi and ten Legionnaires? The Empire doesn't stand a chance. No, I'm sure you guys can pull it off, but there's something...sinister, coming from there. So...be careful, will you, brother?"
Luke stood up and put his hands on Leia's shoulders to reassure her. "I'll keep my eyes open, sister. Thanks for the warning." and then he gently hugged her.
Ezra made a happy smile. It was incredible to see how fast the Skywalker twins had bonded, even though they had never met each other in their lives until a few months before. He walked past the room, confident that Luke would reach him shortly, but also because he wanted to take a minute to think.
Seeing that scene had reminded him of his own sister. Ezra couldn't help but think about how things had changed: not long ago, he wouldn't have taken any important decision without consulting her, as he always considered her to be the mind of the duo. But since the mission aboard the Amerigo started, he had changed considerably. Now he was managing a guerrilla-style campaign far away from home and taking decisions that would risk the lives of thousands all by himself.
He eventually reached the hangar of the Constantinople, where Jordan was just supervising the last preparations for the mission. The Legionnaires were already wearing their armors and were preparing weapons and gear. When Luke arrived a few minutes later, the Constantinople detached and departed from the system, reaching Queyta briefly after. With the cloaking device and with the imperials expecting nobody, as the system had been erased from most star charts and only found thanks to Luke and Leia, it was easy for the Kodiak to slip past the small naval squad in orbit and head toward the surface, bringing her cargo of 8 Legionnaires and 2 Jedi.
Looking outside of the window, Ezra could see the peculiar surface of the planet: the ground was light red, with most of the plants being around that spectrum of color. He also spotted a couple of quadruped animals that ran away when the dropship passed over their heads.
"Reaching the landing zone in 10 seconds. They don't know we're here, yet." the pilot reported and everybody stood up from their seats, preparing to drop.
Discomfort was the only feeling going through Iulius' mind as he watched the signals of Vader's force, assembled with many Sector Fleets from the Core, jumping at light speed along the Perlimian Trade Route. With barely any intel gathered and with the Coalition knowing full well that it was coming, this offensive was starting under very grim auspices. They were supposed to reach the first Coalition-held system, Orleon, in two rotations.
If bad preparations weren't enough, the Core fleet were made entirely of the worst kind of soldiers: rich sons, rampant politicians and members of the upper class who had never fired a turbolaser if not during their training at the various academies. And they were now been sent against battle-hardened veterans.
Just so he could feel a little better, he decided to check on the fallback plan for when the offensive would inevitably go down the drain.
"Reports from Lantillies?" he asked to Ciena as they stood on the bridge of the Admonitor.
"The Governor has already ordered the construction of the shield generators on the major cities and military bases. It should take a month. The local regiments of the Army are also doing drills as you asked." the Commander dutifully replied. "Colonel Veers is heading there to supervise them and reinforce the planet, but…" she stopped, hesitating.
"Speak freely, Commander." Iulius reassured her.
"Sir, do you really think the enemy will get all the way there?"
"If everything burns down, Lantillies is a strategic choke-point. The enemy would have to pass there in order to attack the rest of the Mid Rim, so we better be prepared."
"Understood, sir."
With nothing left to say, Iulius decided that he needed to vent some frustration out and headed toward the training room. He took out the Darksaber and ignited it. Somehow, it felt heavier than usual.
He didn't mind that. He raised the sword and assumed the posture for Form I, the only one he had cared to learn so far, in order to use the saber only when the situation was dire.
He swung it down for the first time and used the momentum to complete the next three hits. Then he kept going, putting his frustrations into every swing, but the saber was becoming increasingly heavier, and it was too soon to call that exhaustion.
"Your emotions betray you." the voice of Marek broke into the room, making Iulius turn his head.
"I'm not in the mood for your philosophy." Iulius grunted as he struggled to swing again.
"That's not philosophy." Marek replied in a paternalistic tone as he walked around the room to get in front of the Grand Admiral and pointed at the saber. "That lightsaber, more than any other, is heavily affected by the, as you call it, 'mood' of the wielder. Your mind is not here. You're hesitating. And the saber knows it."
Iulius took a glimpse at the saber, which was humming as he kept it leaning toward the floor. "And what should I be afraid of?" he asked annoyed.
"I don't know." Marek replied calmly. "But maybe we can find it out."
His right hand came out from his back and took one of his lightsabers, igniting the crimson blade and putting it in front of him, inviting Iulius to participate in the exercise.
"Is this supposed to help?" Iulius grumbled.
"Raise your weapon." Marek said, half-inviting, half-ordering.
A bit bugged, Iulius nonetheless lifted the saber and dealt the first blow, which was easily parried by the assassin.
"Yes. I can feel the anger in you." Marek whispered almost excited. "Tell me. What inspires such rage?"
Iulius grunted and swung once again, and once again Starkiller had no problem deflecting the blow. The Grand Admiral kept pressing the attack. He started to really feel the rage that the dark-sider was stirring in his soul. But clearly, he was frustrated, and he knew full well what was causing it.
"Come on!" Marek urged him as he kept parrying blows. "Say it!"
Iulius roared as he bore down the next cutting blow and Marek stopped it, locking the sabers together.
"I hate…" Iulius grunted at first. Then he exploded. "THAT I'M THE ONLY ONE WHO GIVES A DAMN ABOUT THE EMPIRE!"
He pushed on the struggle with an injection of strength that took Marek by surprise, but the assassin managed to escape the clutch before it could get dangerous.
With every brake removed, Iulius kept talking loudly as he attacked. "Why everybody except me...likes to throw away...lives and resources?! Why...is everyone so blind?!" and he threw another blow, more like he was swinging a bat than a sword, but he still managed to hit Marek's saber with such force that the dark-sider stumbled on the side.
Now, though, Iulius was feeling really tired. He panted for a few seconds, with Marek looking at him with fascination and perhaps a bit impressed. Eventually, the Grand Admiral took a deep breath and turned off the Darksaber, clipping it back on his belt, after which he walked past the door of the room where he found Captain Eclipse, who was probably following Marek. The woman instinctively saluted him, but Iulius wasn't caring too much as he sped into his office.
"Man, you could use a vacation." Qathora commented sarcastically when she saw him enter.
He retained enough composure to simply walk toward the desk. "Not now, Qathora." and sat at the chair.
The Togruta simply looked at him with an undecipherable gaze, which made Iulius feel even more nervous than he already wasn't.
"May I remind you that this room doesn't have listening devices?" she eventually asked.
Iulius grunted. He had no intention to voice the thoughts swirling in his brain as they were borderline treason...or were they? After all, he only wanted the best for the State he had sworn to serve and die for. What was wrong about voicing them even if in private?
"I'm just...tired. Tired of dealing with all this crap." he eventually murmured.
That statement was extremely vague, but Qathora hummed positively, understanding entirely what he was trying to express: he was tired of dealing with the Sith, who were putting the Empire at risk on a whim of the Emperor.
"Iulius Tanis." she proclaimed suddenly in an exaggerated tone. "The last Grand Admiral and Lord-Protector of the Mid Rim...is complaining that he can't do anything."
Said Grand Admiral gave her a venomous gaze but was still resigned. "If the Emperor wills it, then I have no right to interfere."
"Okay, let's agree on that." she said sarcastically before assuming a more serious tone. "But that's just it?" she said, shifting down from her seat on the desk and putting her hands back on the furniture in an assertive pose.
Iulius turned his gaze toward her, a bit confused over what she meant.
"If this offensive will go just as badly as you say, then who do you think the Emperor will run crying after it?" she asked, staring at him. "Are you just going to lay down and let his stupidity destroy the one thing you dedicated your entire life to...or are you going to stand up and do what's best no matter how useless your boss is?"
He should've had her arrested for such words, but in the end he actually found some inspiration from them. Qathora was right. He still had a huge amount of power given by his rank, and he wasn't going to just let the Coalition swallow the Empire, no matter how stupid the decision of the people above Iulius were.
He pushed the chair away from the desk and stood up. If destiny was calling him to spit blood in order to fend off those who threatened to destroy his civilizations, then he was going to anticipate them and damn his soul outright.
It wasn't only the Coalition he was thinking about, though: the recent investigation on Vanquo had shown him that Tyber Zann himself was heading toward Dathomir, a desolate planet not far from the Hydian Way. The transport fell on Vanquo was supposed to bring him some of the ground troops, but whatever he was looking for on Dathomir couldn't be good for the Empire. As if those new Droidekas weren't enough of a hindrance already.
Iulius fixed his uniform and headed back into the main bridge.
"Commander." he said to Ciena, who turned to face him. "Call up the office of the HoloNet on Naboo and set up an appointment. I need to speak with them." he ordered sternly.
"Yes, sir." she dutifully replied.
"This is the Amerigo. We're engaging the enemy forces in orbit."
"Understood, Amerigo, we'll be in and out." Ezra replied before closing the comlink while the elevator was bringing the squad downward, toward the dig site.
It was big enough to allow the entire group to get in at the same time. At the entrance, Jinx had managed to get a plan of the complex, revealing that there were two different paths that eventually converged Ezra had already decided that he would take the team of the Constantinople and take the most heavily defended, while Luke and Onyx Team would take the second one and then each group would try to reach the final room first.
"Remember. Don't be a hero." Ezra recommended with Luke. "Assess the enemy, then move accordingly."
"I'll be fine, Ezra." Luke reassured him.
"Just wanting to be sure you won't overdo it. I know what it feels wanting to prove yourself."
Luke slightly raised his hands to reassure his friend. "Don't worry. I promised some people that I will survive."
"Good enough." Ezra concluded, removing the safe from his M-8 and taking position as the elevator started slowing down.
With the Force, he could clearly sense that there were two sentinels waiting beyond the door and he signaled it to his father, who took position next to him, so when they eventually reached the door and this opened, the Bridgers were ready to knock out said sentinels before they had the time to react.
"All right. Here's where we split up. See you in the main hall." the Jedi Knight said calmly.
"Don't fall behind too much." Luke quipped.
"Luke, what did I just tell you?" Ezra replied, feigning annoyance.
"Don't worry, sir. We'll keep an eye on him." an Onyx quipped.
"Thanks, Bao." he replied before turning around and jog into the corridor, while Luke and his team ran into the other one.
So the assault began. The garrison had already be alerted that the fleet in orbit was under attack. Technically, they should have prepared to blow up the cave in order not to leave anything to the enemy, but the commander must have been quite confident that the assault would be repelled, and Ezra's team had managed to slip in undetected, so when the two teams of Legionnaires stormed their positions, the imperials were caught completely by surprise, especially because Jinx and the AIs of the other super-soldiers were jamming communications.
It took around five minutes of running, shooting, slashing and pushing stormtroopers away with the Force before both teams ended up in front of the reinforced door of the main dig site, which had been sealed.
One of the Legionnaires quickly scanned the door and noted a detail. "It's too thick. Even your lightsabers might take a long while before melting it."
Luckily, Ezra had a backup plan. "Luke, come here." he said as he put away his rifle and stood in front of the door.
The young Skywalker obeyed and went next to his friend.
"Figure the opening mechanism in your mind." he instructed, extending a hand and reaching into the Force.
Luke carefully did the same and focused, though it was difficult to see it with the helmet on. Nonetheless, Ezra felt the aura of Luke as he manipulated the Force along with him and the two easily managed to unlock the door and raise it open.
From their position they were only able to see that the imperials had put a neat white durasteel wall around the cave, but in front of them there was clearly a terrace and probably some stairs, so Ezra took out his lightsaber and motioned the others to follow him.
As he entered the room and went to the handrail to take a look, Ezra quickly realized that the room was wide and large, but at the opposite end stood a strange pillar emanating some kind of energy.
Aside from the many stormtroopers who turned around and pointed their weapons at the intruders, the Jedi were focused on a mysterious man clad in black who was touching the pillar. And at his belt there was a lightsaber.
"I thought the Jedi had some manners." the man loudly said before turning around.
His face was still definitely the one of a normal Human, but Ezra spotted a faint note of gold in his eyes. That man was not a Sith, but a dark-sider nonetheless.
The man made a few steps toward them, ending up at the head of the stormtroopers. Then he took his lightsaber and ignited it, showing its crimson blade.
"But I thank you. Your defeat will start my ascension as a Sith." he said with an evil excitement in his voice. Then he waved his saber toward the armored men. "I'll take the Jedi. Kill the others!" he ordered to the imperials.
The troopers opened fire but also scrambled in search for cover. Ezra and Luke ignited their lightsabers and parried a couple bolts while Jordan and the Legionnaires took cover as well.
"We'll handle the bucket-heads." Jordan said to his son. "Get that creep."
Ezra nodded and turned toward Luke. Without the need to talk, the two vaulted the handrail and jumped down at the level of the imperials, where the dark acolyte was walking toward them with a fiendish grin, clearly looking forward to the battle.
"We'll face him together, but remember that we need to interrogate him." Ezra said to Luke.
"Yes." the other simply replied.
While bolts, grenades and omni-tool powers flew all around them, the duel began.
The acolyte attacked Ezra first, clearly understanding that if he attacked Luke, Ezra would easily cut him down with a flanking maneuver given his skills and experience. The Padawan lifted his saber and attacked, but the dark-sider simply stopped pressing against Ezra and jumped back, parrying Luke's blow with his red saber.
Meanwhile, all around them, the stormtroopers were being quickly overrun. Their numerical superiority was not enough against ten veteran Legionnaires, who also had the high ground. A trooper managed to get close enough to throw a thermal detonator on the small terrace.
"Run for it!" Jordan exclaimed and the Legionnaires jumped down as the bomb exploded. Even so, they had already taken out half of the imperials, and even when the skirmish became close-quarters, the remaining stormtroopers were probably even more at a disadvantage, having to fight head-on against walking tanks.
Meanwhile, the acolyte was clearly understanding the situation he was in. His initial enthusiasm had faded as it became clear that he could not overpower Ezra, who might have had less years than training, but his past experiences and his biology made him a foe way above his level. He thus tried to focus his attacks on Luke, who certainly wasn't used to fight seriously in a saber duel, but despite that he held his own.
It went on for a few minutes. Even when the stormtroopers were wiped out, the acolyte became more aggressive, not wanting to acknowledge that he was beaten, which made Ezra's plan to capture him quite hard.
The Jedi Knight eventually decided to go all-in and attacked with his full might, hoping to wound and disarm him. However, when it became clear that he was outmatched, the dark-sider simply let Ezra slip his saber into his chest, piercing his heart and killing himself. Ezra immediately extracted the saber and tried to rescue the man, but it was too late.
"So much for that." Michalina commented flatly.
"Yes...but what is that glowing thing?" Gutierrez asked, looking at the pillar.
Now that the adrenaline had subsided, Ezra and Luke looked at that strange object and they clearly felt it resonating with the Force. Luke removed his helmet with his hands to look at the pillar with his own eyes, while Ezra dematerialized his own. The two Jedi cautiously approached the thing and after quickly looking at each other they extended an arm each, which were then enveloped into the filaments of green light.
They started to hear voices. Voices of pain and anger. Which quickly turned into screams.
They both retracted their arms. Whatever that thing was, it had a dark mark on it.
"Bridger here." Ezra suddenly heard his father say. He turned around and saw him with two fingers at the side of his helmet.
"Uh-uh...copy that, we're on our way." he replied to whomever was on the other side before turning to the rest of the group. "Guys, bad news. Another Star Destroyer has just entered the system, we need to move before our ships get overwhelmed."
Ezra quickly thought about what he wanted to do and turned toward the explosives' expert. "Micha. Blast that thing open." he adamantly ordered as he stepped away, followed by Luke.
Michalina was taken aback for a second, then shrugged her shoulders. "As you wish, General." she said as she holstered her assault rifle and took out the heavy weapon: an M-100 grenade launcher.
Everybody took a step back.
"Fire in the hole!"
The woman shot once. The grenade exploded violently against the pillar, damaging it consistently but it was still standing. So she shot another pebble and this time the objective came down, crumbling in many pieces.
When the dust settled, a beaming greenish light drew everybody's attention. Ezra immediately stepped forward and knelt down toward the source, finding exactly what he had sensed: a memory crystal.
"What's that?" Thabo asked.
"We'll discuss this on the ship." Ezra urged.
"You heard him, lads. Double time!" Jordan ordered.
Luke quickly put his helmet back on and they all sprinted back toward the elevator and reaching the Kodiak in under three minutes. Immediately the pilots rushed back to the surface, giving Ezra a moment to explain what was that strange rhomboidal piece of glass he was holding between his fingers.
"This is a memory crystal. They are specifically designed to be read only by the holocrons, like the one I have in my cabin."
The Legionnaires had a general idea of what a holocron was, so they were surprised about the news.
"What was that thing doing inside a statue?" an Onyx asked as she held a hand on her helmet in confusion.
"Guess we'll have to find out later." Luke simply stated.
The Kodiak then reached the orbit, where the Amerigo and Magellan were still engaging the imperial flotilla. The fighters had already managed to shot down an Arquitens, which was being attracted, slowly for now, by the gravity of the planet.
The Amerigo had suffered some damages to the hull, but none that seemed critical, contrary to the Star Destroyer, as its shield generators had been blown up and the bombers of the allied forces were slowly taking out the bigger turbolasers. But as the Kodiak with Ezra and the squad was heading into the hangar of the cruiser, Riccardi ordered all fighters to either return to the hangar or cover the retreat and jump into hyperspace with the naval squad.
As soon as the door of the Kodiak opened, Luke and Ezra dashed toward the command bridge, which they reached as the frigates were aligning to make the jump.
"Wasn't there a second Star Destroyer?" Ezra asked.
"Indeed." Kherat answered, showing its signal on the sensors. "But it hasn't intervened, yet. It's like they're watching us."
"For now, that's good enough for us." Riccardi replied. "Make the jump as soon as you can." he ordered to the helmsman.
A minute later, the Amerigo charged the hyperdrive and entered the blue tunnel.