The Lomi Plo dropped out of hyperspace in the Ufesha system with eleven other nestships, which each carried a whole fleet of dartships, and found themselves faced with an Empire of the Hand defensive fleet for the namesake gas giant and its ten moons.
Exactly as planned. And in the Kelska and Gerdrush systems, a total of twenty-four nestships, divided evenly between said systems, also dropped out to engage the EH defensive fleets. Also as planned.
And from there, Gorog, as guided by Alema Rar's mind and vastly-increased Force-power, went to battle against all three enemy fleets. The nestships began exchanging fire with the Star Destroyers, cruisers, and corvettes, while the dartships rushed out of their capital vessels' hangar bays to take on the TIE fighters and bombers.
But even as the battles began conventionally enough, it had taken all of five minutes before Alema's Force-power had grown through the sensation of death from the enemy, even with Gorog's numbers getting dwindled by the second, to reach out to individual Force-presences on the EH side. Specifically, she felt out the most commanding presences amidst the Star Destroyers, and one by one, she took control of their bodies and crushed them from the inside out.
Her perception—and, by extension, Gorog's perception—through the Force even allowed Alema to see the deaths of her victims. And they were gloriously grisly, with blood having been squeezed out through their orifices as their subordinates tried vainly to help alleviate the pain from the unseen force that had been applied to their superior officers.
It had taken little more than an hour, but by the end of the triple battle of Ufesha, Kelska, and Gerdrush, Gorog had taken all three systems, with their previous defensive fleets all but wiped out. And with their leaders lost in the course of that time, it didn't take long before chaos and panic overcame even the most disciplined subordinate officers aboard the Star Destroyers and other capital vessels. As for the TIE fighters and bombers, they, too, had been expertly disposed of by the sheer amount of dartships with which they came face to face; combine that with a little Force-pressure on a few of the commanding pilots over the course of the triple battle, and even the snubfighters were decimated to nothing.
So, with nothing left to defend those systems, the victorious, if not triumphant, forces of Gorog took the three systems and began to lay waste to the local populations as they had to Kerspla before. But this time, unlike Kerspla, they would actually begin their occupation.
If Kerspla was merely a self-test of the Dark Nest's might, this triple take was the start of their actual conquest of the Unknown Regions... if not the rest of the galaxy, too.
. . .
When Luke was called away from Shedu Maad by Cal Omas himself to return to Denon, he didn't think that he would be meeting with a representative of the Empire of the Hand in the Chief of State's office. Ambassador Meskli, a male cream-furred Bothan, sat in one of the two guest chairs opposite from Omas' seat; the other seat was empty, since it was obviously reserved for Luke himself.
The only other person in the room, who decided to remain standing next to Meskli, was a former admiral of the Chiss Expansionary Defense Force who was now an advisor in Omas' cabinet, Peecar. Luke was aware that just before war between the Galactic Alliance and the Ascendancy broke out, the admiral had been the victim of a mutiny wherein he was framed for disloyalty to his own people. But during the Battle of Denon, he was able to escape and flee to an undisclosed GA system where he asked for political asylum; after being vetted for two months for his true intentions, which turned out to be exactly as he stated them to be, Peecar's request was granted. Apparently, through his advice, the GA was able to win at least a few victories against the Chiss, though Luke had privately hoped that the older man would have been more useful, given how many losses the Alliance had suffered so far in this war.
Once Luke had been seated, and introductions were made by Omas, Meskli got straight to the point.
"The Empire of the Hand needs the help of the Jedi Order, Master Skywalker," the Bothan said. "The Dark Nest, or Gorog, has just taken three of the Chiss Ascendancy's systems, and that was after a decimating attack on only one weeks ago. We have received confirmation from one of our own, Admiral Hesklon of the Star Destroyer Thrawn's Vindication, that a former member of your Order, Alema Rar, is in control of Gorog and is able to use her Force-powers to turn the tide of battle to her nest's favor. On behalf of the Empire of the Hand, Master Skywalker, I request you and your Jedi Knights' Force-assisted aid to rid this menace once and for all before it overcomes all territory that is protected by the EH."
Luke was silent for a moment as he regarded Meskli warily. Given how naturally resistant Bothans were to Force-probes, he could get very little from the ambassador, and he wasn't too sure if he could trust his gut instinct that what he was telling him was true. Oh, he had no doubt that Gorog would have grown into quite a considerable threat since the Battle of Yoggoy over a year ago, but what Luke was really concerned with was whether or not the Empire of the Hand was plotting some kind of trap to take out both the Dark Nest and Jedi Order simultaneously.
Still, it wouldn't be within good political taste to broach that topic so openly. Instead, Luke finally asked, "Does the Chiss Ascendancy know about this request that you are making, Ambassador Meskli?"
"Quite frankly, Master Skywalker, no, they do not," the Bothan answered simply. "This is an under-the-table kind of deal. In fact, very few in the EH even know that I'm here right now, and they're all within the upper echelons of our military command structure. So if anyone in the Chiss Expansionary Defense Force knows about this, I myself wouldn't know about it."
"So even as your government continues to support the Chiss in warring with the GA by providing supplies and personnel and by defending their territory while they're gone," Luke said, "you're secretly making a deal with one of the GA's allies to destroy one of your threats?"
"That's pretty much what I said, Luke," Omas interjected. "I could hardly believe it myself."
"I share your skepticism, Cal," Luke replied before he returned his attention to Meskli. "Would I be able to speak to Admiral Hesklon, face-to-face, but not over comm, about this matter before I make a decision on behalf of my Order, Ambassador?"
Meskli nodded. "We figured you might want to." He looked at Omas. "Mr. Chief, if you would be so kind?"
Omas said nothing before he pressed a button on his desktop. "Send him up," he said. When he released the button, he looked at Luke and said, "Let's just a wait a couple minutes."
Less than two minutes later, a dark-skinned older man dressed in an old-style Imperial uniform walked into the office and looked directly at Luke, who had turned in his chair to regard him.
"Master Skywalker?" At Luke's nod, the man said, "My name is Admiral Juaput Hesklon. I had figured that you had some questions for me."
. . .
With enough of the furniture moved out of the way in her quarters aboard the Dodonna, Jaina had enough room to keep up her lightsaber practices during her downtime from the Chiss War. These days, she liked to focus in on Djem So and Vaapad as fighting styles more than before; when she was the Sword of the Jedi, she tended to focus in on the more aggressive fighting styles of the Jedi, though she would try her best to use more defensive styles from time to time. Now that she was a Sith, aggressiveness was all she focused on as she slashed down imaginary enemies all around her; Imperial stormtroopers; Yuuzhan Vong warriors; Chiss troopers; Gorog Killiks.
Jedi.
Over and over again, she saw all these enemies in her mind's eye, cutting them down as easily as if they were a B-1 battle droid of the Clone Wars and giving them just as much regard. Even the Jedi, she saw herself cutting down; so many she knew over the years, she would either stab, decapitate, or bisect, for none of them could match her power. She had done this to Saba Sebatyne over a year ago, and she would have had the ability to drown Corran Horn had Jacen not stopped her.
Jacen.
As if coming to her mind, he suddenly appeared right before her, out of thin air.
And right when she was bound to slash her lightsaber over where he was, she stopped right in her tracks. Her crimson-colored blade hovered next to her twin brother's head as he looked back at her blankly.
Then his face twisted into a sneer.
"You're not ready to make the sacrifice yet," Jacen said in Lumiya's voice.
Jaina matched the sneer on her false brother's face as she deactivated her lightsaber and hooked it back to her belt. She panted in exertion, sweat dripping down her body from the workout, as she said, "I need more time."
The image of Jacen transformed into that of the Sith who had taught Jaina for the past year. Lumiya then said, "I can see that. It is why I haven't bestowed upon you your name yet. You are not a full Sith; just an apprentice still."
"What, you want me to hurry up?" Jaina asked bitingly. "This ship goes where Klauskin's ordered to go." Then she said with a smirk, "Or where his dead wife tells him." The smirk disappeared when she continued with, "If you want me to hurry up and kill some Jedi, or kill my brother in particular, why don't you just tell Klauskin to go where they are?"
"Not without arising suspicion from his superiors," Lumiya replied, surprisingly patient for a Sith. "I have to tread lightly when it comes to the illusions of his wife."
"So did you just come here to complain?"
"This was just a little assessment. I find your will wanting so far."
"Like I said, give me more time."
"Did I say I'd be robbing you of that?"
Jaina hesitated. "No."
"Of course not. But with that being said..."
Lumiya trailed off before Jaina heard a familiar screech from behind. She twirled around and instinctively unhooked her lightsaber from her belt, activated it, and blocked a decapitating swing from a snarling Mara Jade Skywalker.
Jaina suddenly found herself backpedaling away from her insane-looking aunt's wildly vicious strikes before her back hit the wall behind her. The Sith then spun out of the way of a downward slash from Mara's blue blade before angling herself back to the center of her quarters. The two women squared off momentarily, determination fierce in both of their eyes, before they shouted and charged at one another; this time, Jaina used Djem So to fend off against Mara's attacks, completely ready now, and both Force-users stayed in place as they exchanged offensive strikes and defensive blocks, with neither of them scoring a hit on the other for a solid five minutes.
By the end of that stretch of time, Mara broke the continuous whirlwind of a stalemate by quickly dropping to her haunches and sweeping a leg from under Jaina. But the Sith was ready, and she flipped back from the underhanded tactic; upon landing, she once again clashed blades with her aunt, though this next engagement went on for a mere ten seconds before Jaina leaped up and, with her free hand, launched a torrent of Force-lightning down upon Mara.
The older woman was trapped in a cage of blue-white pain that continued unabated even after Jaina landed on her feet. The Sith looked at her aunt with a mixture of satisfaction and rage before she decided that enough was enough and struck the Jedi down.
But just as the blade passed through the crown of Mara's head, the Jedi completely disappeared, clothes and all, as if she hadn't been there to begin with.
Jaina turned around and found Lumiya standing before the exit of her quarters; this time, she was wearing a half-smile.
"Well, now," the cybernetic Sith said, "your Aunt Mara wouldn't be much of a sacrifice, would she? Oh, I'm not saying you shouldn't kill her if you had the chance. Still, I wonder..." She then flicked a finger a few times, silently indicating for Jaina to look over her shoulder.
When she did, Jacen stood there again.
And he slapped her, just as Mara did to her on Jwlio over a year ago.
And when she reeled, Luke was before her; and with the hardness of his artificial hand, he slapped Jaina.
Upon reeling from that, Han was next, and he struck Jaina hard. Leia's specter struck Jaina even harder.
Then came Lowie. Then Tahiri. Then Alema. Then Corran Horn.
Then strikes from the dead arrived; from Saba Sebatyne, from Tekli (who seemed to float in the air to accommodate for her height), from Tesar.
The strike from Zekk sent Jaina collapsing to the floor. And when she felt herself being pulled up by her hair, she found herself face-to-face with Jagged Fel.
He grabbed both the sides of her head and she felt as if her whole body was wracked by electricity. The sensation of her skin melting away, her skin burning to a crisp, was so agonizing, she couldn't even muster the strength to scream.
Then Jag and the physical pain disappeared, and Jaina once again fell to her side, panting in shock instead of the exertion of exercise. When she looked back to the door, she found that Lumiya was observing her like a lab rat.
"Tell me, Jaina," the older Sith said, "who among them would be the most painful to divorce yourself from? Who could you not stand to sacrifice if they had done as Mara did when she struck you on Jwlio?"
Jaina gritted her teeth in anger. "I don't have to answer your questions!"
"Well, maybe not now," Lumiya said casually. "And maybe not even to me. But you will have to answer that for yourself. Because it's obvious even to you, isn't it?"
Jaina said nothing before she picked herself up. Then, when she was back on her feet, she asked, "What makes you think I would have cared for Saba, or Corran, or even Jag for that matter?"
"Yes, why would I?" Lumiya retorted. "Why would I?"
The cybernetic Sith snickered before her appearance faded out like a holodrama coming to its end.
Then, as if by using Lumiya's illusory departure as a prompt, the door to her room opened.
Jaina's heart skipped a beat. For a moment, she thought that it was another one of Lumiya's Force-assisted projections. But no; the man with the worried expression before her wasn't another appearance of Jagged Fel, but rather, a man who looked so much like him. He was right around the same height, same build, even the same hair color. Only his rugged features were slightly different, though no less handsome, and with dark brown eyes instead of the pale green that characterized Jag.
And, of course, he was missing the scar that Jag used to have.
"I'm sorry, I used my authorization to override your door lock," the man who looked like Jag said. "Me and some of the guys heard some shouting and you talking in here by yourself apparently. Is everything alright, Miss Niazh?" When Jaina didn't say anything for a while, as she only continued to stare at the man, he repeated, "Miss Niazh? Are you okay?"
Only then did Jaina's features settle into a predatory grin. "What's your name, soldier?"
"My name? Uh... Lieutenant Herush Klass, ma'am."
"Lieutenant Herush Klass," Jaina echoed with a seductive tone. "Yes. Yes, everything's fine in here, Lieutenant. Tell me, you off-duty?"
"Um, well, my shift ended over an hour ago, I was just about to hit the gym, if you must know."
"Would you like to stay for some caf, Herush? I can prep some now."
The lieutenant looked hesitant. But he did say, "I don't see why not." He entered and closed the door behind him.
Less than an hour later, he was asleep, naked under the sheets, next to Jaina, who lay awake brushing a hand over the area of his face where Jag's scar was.
