I don't own Star Wars. Which is too bad really; because if I did, Episodes I & II wouldn't have happened.
Prologue- A planet's death
It was pure chaos. The black void was split by flashes of red and green as sleek fighters performed their elegant dance of death and destruction. Basilisk war droids, the very symbol of Mandalorian power and ferocity, streaked passed the Republic fighters, plowing a path of carnage and destruction behind them before erupting into a short lived ball of fire as they died. Capital ships faced off on opposing sides firing at each other across the battle zone.
The Republic had larger numbers, but the Mandalorians were a people who thrived on war, and they had become quite good at it. For every Mandalorian that perished they took with them ten Republic soldiers into oblivion. Even if the Republic was victorious today, it would be feeling the effects of this war for generations.
But it was too late to turn back now, not that either side would. One way or another every soldier fighting knew that the fate of the Galaxy was to be decided in this battle.
Arielynn Tinn watched the battle from the bridge of her flagship, the Arbalest. She was of moderate height with ash-blond hair that had been placed into a thick braid running down her back. Dressed insimple beige robes she looked somewhat out of place on the bridge of a warship. Her grey eyes were focused on a large holographic display of the entire battle zone stood. Littered throughout the three-dimensional display were colored indicators representing the individual ships of the opposing forces. Many times a second one of the small dots representing individual fighters would blink off as another pilot paid the ultimate sacrifice for the cause.
She felt each of their deaths through the Force, as they cried out in fear and rage before being silenced forever. Shaking away the feelings, Arielynn turned to an orderly who stood nearby. She had a war to fight and it wouldn't do for a general to get emotional over the death of a single soldier.
"Send a message to the captains of the Fate's Triumph and the Jedi's Blade. Tell them to tighten up their formations, a Gamorrean could outflank them. And warn the Endar Spire that we expect reinforcements to come from that sector." The orderly snapped off a salute and ran to fulfill her orders.
Turning to the viewport, she watched as a Mandalorian Battle Cruiser splintered into pieces as half a dozen Republic Dreadnaught-class ships concentrated their fire upon it. The victory was short-lived however; as two of the Dreadnaughts were destroyed as a monolithic Mandalorian vessel avenged the death of its comrade. Arielynn didn't need to check the display to place a name on the Mandalorian ship. It was the Mandalorian Honor, the flagship of the entire Mandalorian navy and the personal vessel of Mandalore himself.
She was about to order the Arbalest to reinforce the Dreadnaughts when the ship's captain, a male human by the name of Conners, walked up to her and saluted. "General Tinn, Vice-Admiral Malak has requested communication with you."
"Is he here?" she asked, surprised.
"No Ma'am. He is on channel four."
Arielynn suddenly felt a disturbing sense of foreboding through the Force. Malak didn't usually communicate over Holovid during battles unless it was extremely important. The Jedi swordsman had a very unusual outlook on technology and preferred to meet in person whenever possible. Apparently only an enclosed room, behind meter-thick reinforced durasteel walls with seven kinds of jamming was safe enough for him.
"Thank you, Captain. Put him through." The Jedi-general said turning to the hologram projector. Soon she was looking at the familiar face of the second-in-command of the entire Republic Navy.
He was a bald man with four large tattoos on his head. He had a straight nose and a powerfully built jaw. Though the hologram didn't show color Arielynn could imagine his steely-blue eyes as they stared at her. Malak was a man who exhibited confidence and strength.
"Hello Malak, I take it that this is important."
The image nodded grimly. Arielynn noticed that he looked tired, and he sported a gash along his left cheekbone that hadn't been there last time she had seen him. "I'm afraid so, General Tinn. I've just come back from Malachor V."
Arielynn knew where this was going. "Enjoying a little new scenery? And drop the formality, you know I hate it."
Malak smirked slightly. "I wish, friend." His smile fade, "I have just come back from the mission to place the Mass-Shadow Generator. It was successful. I'm sure I don't need to tell you what that means."
Arielynn shook her head sadly. "Of course not. After all, I'm the one who pushed the idea to Revan in the first place."
Malak's hologram nodded, "And that's why Revan wants you to give the order to activate it. It's only fair right?"
"Fair isn't quite the word I would use," Arielynn sighed.
Malak's eyes softened and showed concern, "Are you all right? I could give the order for you, if you'd like."
Arielynn shook her head and wave the suggestion away. "No. It's my responsibility. I'll do it." She summoned her orderly over, "Summon technician Bao-Dur." The orderly snapped a salute and ran off.
Turning back to the Holovid screen she saluted her superior officer, "Tell Grand Admiral Revan to order the Republic Navy to fall back, this is going to make one huge mess."
Malak nodded, "I'll relay the message." He paused momentarily, checking for eavesdroppers on his end. "She trusts your judgment, Lynn," he said, using the nickname he had given her years ago.
Arielynn sighed. "I know, Mal. Tell you what, when this is all over you two treat me to all I can drink and I'll call it even," she said with a grin.
Malak laughed, "It's a deal. I need to go move my fleet away from the blast zone; you make sure you don't get caught up in the mess."
She grinned, almost feline like. "Why Malak, is that concern I detect in your voice?"
It was all she could do not to laugh at the flabbergasted look on her friend's face. She was sure that if the holo-projector showed color his face would be bright red.
"See you when this is all over, Mal. May the Force be with you." She saluted one last time which he returned, still somewhat dazed. Then the hologram fazed out of existence and she was left alone with her thoughts again.
The Jedi-general turned to look out the viewport again. From the looks of it, the Republic had somehow managed to force the Mandalorian Honor to fall back. Now the two forces were locked into some kind of nightmarish stalemate. Neither side ever managed to gain an advantage over the other and the death toll just climbed higher and higher.
It continued on like that for almost half a standard hour. Then she saw it. The Republic's ranks began to fall back, away from the planet with the largest Republic War Cruisers staying to act as rear guards. Stretching out her senses Arielynn could feel the rage and indignation coming from the Mandalorian forces. No doubt they thought that the Republic was running away. She laughed mirthlessly, they had no idea what was in store for them.
"General. We have retrieved technician Bao-Dur as requested. We have also received orders to fall back with the rest of the Navy, shall we comply?" Captain Conners asked as he saluted.
Arielynn nodded, "Stay away from the Mandalorians, but stay within signal range of the planet."
"Yes Ma'am." The Captain saluted and walked away leaving her alone with the technician.
Bao-Dur was a Zabrak, from the world of Iridonia, and he bore the same horns and facial tattoos as the rest of his kind. He wasn't much older than her but Arielynn knew that he was very intelligent and had an incredible knack for computers and machinery. He had been the one to come up with the plans for the Mass-Shadow Generator.
"Well Bao-Dur," she addressed the mechanic. "It seems the only way this war will end is if we kill a planet."
"Yes, General." He replied. Despite his somewhat imposing appearance the mechanic was very soft-spoken and mellow, although she didn't know if that was a racial trait or not. She hadn't met enough Zabrak to know.
"We'll wait for the fleet to move further and then activate the Generator. I presume you have the activation codes," she inquired to the mechanic.
He chuckled softly. "Right up here, General." He tapped his temple with a gloved finger on his left hand. "It's the only place I know I won't lose them."
Arielynn nodded and turned back to the tactical display. The Mandalorians were now attempting to pursue the retreating Republic fleet but were being held back by two Republic Defender-class ships, the Mandalorian Bane and the Behemoth. Arielynn watched as these two ships were set upon by the first of the pursuing Mandalorians. The fighting was fierce and she almost cried out as dozens of lives were snuffed out in seconds. Those two ships were among the most powerful ships in the Republic Navy but she knew that even they wouldn't stand up to the entire Mandalorian Armada for long.
"General, the Republic fleet is out of the danger zone," the communications officer called out.
"Not all of it," the Jedi-general muttered. "Open up channels to the Bane and the Behemoth."
It wasn't long until she found herself looking at the holographic projections of the captains of the two vessels. Captain Raylar Krish'lya of the Mandalorian Bane was an elderly Bothan who despite his respectable age, his fur had lost its brown color long ago, was still very much a strong and competent leader. Captain Allan Saix of the Behemoth was human and just over thirty standard years old. Both captains saluted her respectively, which she returned.
"Gentlemen, you are to take your ships and fall back immediately."
Saix was first to answer, "I'm sorry General Tinn, but I cannot do that. I cannot risk allowing the Mandalorians to escape the blast zone."
"I agree," Captain Krish'lya's gravely voice added, "If we allow them past then they'll just continue their brutal rape of the Republic. It would bring great shame to clan Ayla if I was to allow them to escape just so I could protect myself. The Mandalorians must be stopped here."
"Even if it means the certain deaths of you and all your crew?" she questioned. "Enough men have died today; don't add to that number needlessly."
"I hardly consider ending this war needless, General." Captain Krish'lya stated frowning sternly. "No one aboard the Bane is here against their will. We have resigned ourselves to our fates."
"Same here." Captain Saix interjected. "We will not abandon our duty to the Republic."
Arielynn was getting frustrated. "I understand your feeling, but you don't understand. There won't be enough of you and your ships left to fill a storage canister, it's not worth it. I'm ordering you to fall back immediately."
Krish'lya's furry eyebrows furrowed and his facial fur rippled, a sure sign that the Bothan was annoyed. "With all due respect, General, I'm afraid I must re-" the image of the captain flashed brightly than vanished.
"Captain! Captain Krish'lya, do you copy!" Arielynn screamed into the comm. But it stayed silent. She turned to the communications officer, "Status report! What happened to that channel?"
Bao-Dur's perpetually calm voice cut through her anxiety. "General, just look out the viewport."
The Jedi-general did so and saw her fears verified. Where the Mandalorian Bane had once been were several large flaming chunks of metal. The Mandalorians had destroyed it.
Turning back to the projection Arielynn addressed Saix. "Captain, please get away. Do you really want your son to grow up fatherless? Your death will not bring the Republic any joy."
The captain grimly set his jaw, "I'm afraid it's too late for us, General. Please do what you need to before it's too late." And with that, Captain Saix ended the transmission. Arielynn punched the terminal angrily, bringing up a hand to hide her face.
"General?" Bao-Dur asked timidly, as if afraid to interrupt her in her anger, "What are your orders?"
Arielynn glanced out the viewport and watched as the Behemoth bravely tried to hold back the Mandalorian lines. But there was only so much one ship could do and Mandalorians were already beginning to slip past and head towards the rest of the Republic's fleet. She felt the feelings of the soldiers fighting in the battle and she thought back to all the soldiers who had already died. She would not let their deaths be for nothing. Going against everything her Jedi training had taught her she turned to the mechanic and nodded. "Do it." She said grimly. "Activate the Mass-Shadow Generator, Bao-Dur."
The mechanic snapped a salute and punched something into the communications terminal. Arielynn turned and watch out the viewport and tried to mentally steel herself against what was about to happen."
The fires raked across the Behemoth's hull as the Mandalorians abandoned it dead in space and moved past it towards the remainder of the Republic fleet, the Mandalorian Honor taking the lead. For a few painstaking moments nothing happened and Arielynn feared that it hadn't worked and the Mandalorians would reach the fleet. But then she felt something from the planet.
She recognized the feelings of something alive as it struggled against its inevitable death; she had felt that same feeling from every soldier as he died. But this was on an infinitely larger scale. The entire planet was screaming through the Force, like the flame that blazes wildly before being snuffed out.
In the space of three seconds the entire galaxy fell apart around her. First the planet groaned as the Mass-Shadow Generator warped the already strange gravity anomalies and caused the planet to rip itself apart from the core, spraying rock and fire outwards. Many Mandalorians were destroyed this way, as their ships and Basilisks were shredded by the very planet they considered sacred. But even that destruction was nothing compared to what would happen next.
As all the life on the planet died at once it sent a massive shock-wave through the Force. Combined with the outburst of gravitational energy, entire starships were crushed to the size of a holocron and tossed aside as the wave crashed outward from the planet. Arielynn saw some of the Mandalorians escape into hyperspace before the Arbalest felt the effects of the destruction.
Fortunately they were far away enough as to avoid outright obliteration but as the shockwave slammed into the ship it shook as if it had been rammed by a massive space slug. Arielynn almost lost her balance and had to grasp onto the tactical display projector to keep from falling.
But the physical effects were nothing compared to the mental. Somewhere in the back of her mind Arielynn heard dozens of crewmates scream out in pain, despite the fact that they were not Force-sensitive as all the anguish and rage of the lives lost cried out in their heads. Behind her, Bao-Dur fell to his knees clutching his head screaming in pain before a violent jerk sent him sprawling across the deck. Arielynn was so overcome with despair and pain that it was all she could do to stay conscious.
The wave was so powerful that it shattered her mental defenses like they were nothing and all the pain, rage, sorrow and fear of billions of lost lives poured into her mind. As she heard the screams of millions and millions of men and women and countless more insentient life forms echo throughout her mind she fell to her knees, tears falling freely and clutched at her head.
"Stop it!" she cried. But the screams continued as if they hadn't heard her. She could no longer see out of her eyes and it was becoming hard to breathe. She tried to gasp for air but it was useless. Her lungs filled with some strange sort of thickness and her entire body felt as if it was being compressed. The Force raked through her brain as the world around her began to deteriorate around her. Struggling for air she could feel her body begin to give way; her darkened eyes were pierced by a sparkling white light. Maybe the pain would stop if she gave in; becoming one with the Force didn't seem so bad.
Awaken.
As the world collapsed around her, Arielynn let out a final, primal scream of despair and released all the pent up Force energy she contained within herself.
The glass of the kolto tank shattered outwards.
I'd like to thank everyone who has read this far. I can assure you that I'm going to do my best to ensure that this story is worthy of the Star Wars Legacy. Reviews are always appreciated and so is criticism. I can only improve if I'm told what I'm lacking. Chapter 1 should be up soon.