Chapter 23: Valley of Darkness
September 10.
"I'm honestly surprised." Qathora said as she read the report from Imperial High Command. "That so many people actually listened to you." she quipped.
Said report indicated clearly that in the last two rotations the recruitment of new recruits had skyrocketed right after the speech Iulius had sent to the galaxy. The drive came especially from the Mid Rim, a sign that his policies had, in fact, sorted a great effect in boosting the popular support for the Empire. Apparently, many recruits explicitly said that they believed in him, and that the Empire could win this battle under Iulius' guidance.
"I'm just satisfied." he replied. "But untrained recruits will make us no good. We'll have to hold out until they get through basic training, and I'm still not sure whether we can do that."
"Well, Imperial Command did send us every stormtrooper legion they could afford to move. In a few days, we'll be definitely better prepared." Qathora reassured him.
"I sure hope so." he grimly commented as he also looked at the report of the daily losses.
The Federation had by now dropped at least two entire armies. When the momentum of the assault brigades was over, they had started to deploy their line divisions, armored divisions and who knew how many artillery pieces.
It was also useless to deny this: the Systems Alliance was made of a much higher quality than the neglected Imperial Army. Despite Iulius' reforms, the regular troopers were still green, and one cannot just change the doctrine of an army of millions in just a few months. Pretty much in every skirmish on Lantillies, the Army had been constantly shredded. Not to mention the quality of their weapons and defenses, which was literally from another universe.
The Lantillians were fighting tooth and nails for their planet, but even the few defensive victories they managed to achieve caused more losses to them than to the enemies.
Only the Stormtrooper Corp was fighting on even grounds, but even they could do little once the Federation started to deploy those blasted Legionnaires, who seemed to cut through every fortification with ease.
To compensate this, the Grand Admiral had ordered every single Dark Trooper being sent from Carunoia to the front, but the difference in number was still too great.
As he was breaking his head to think of a solution, the terminal on his desk buzzed, signaling that somebody was at the door. He opened it and was a bit surprised to find Ciena walking in with a puzzled but hopeful face.
"Commander." he greeted.
She made the salute and spoke with a bit of urgency in her otherwise flawless tone. "Grand Admiral, you just received a message from Kashyyyk."
"From whom?" Iulius asked as he looked at the terminal and noticed the mail in the inbox.
He read the sender. Tarfful, one of the Wookie Chieftains with whom he had negotiated a few months before.
Esteemed Lord-Protector,
We have listened to your words. Although we still cannot forgive the Empire for all the evil done upon our people, we recognize that you speak with the heart of a true warrior and have already proven to be a friend of the Wookies.
Many of my warriors have expressed the desire to join you, to thank you for giving us back our dignity and our forests. We are ready to shed our blood for the galaxy that you dream of.
In case you accept, we require transportation from Kashyyyk.
Chieftain Tarfful.
Iulius was surprised at how good the form of that letter was, as he thought (and now felt stupid about it) that the Wookies were unable to use Aurebesh. But his mind was sending literal sparks. An entire force of Wookies was definitely something he needed right now.
"Commander, send an Acclamator to Kashyyyk immediately." he promptly ordered.
Ciena clacked her heel. "Yes sir." she replied and went out of the office to reach the command room.
That message also reminded Iulius of one thing he read on the recruitment report: that there were many aliens who asked to serve, but the Army didn't know what to do, since they had never had to include them. Iulius decided that it was now the time to remove another stupid barrier and give the direct order to allow the non-Humans to serve at the very least as auxiliary units, either on the frontline or in the logistic department.
All of a sudden he felt reinvigorated. The fruits of his constant work to reform the imperial administration were finally showing up. The non-Humans had turned into loyal citizens, ready to answer his call and fight for the State. Now all that was left was to make sure that there would still be an Empire by the time this specific battle would end.
September 12.
Jaral stared at the huge statues and pyramids built into an enormous crevasse going through two charred hills. Even at that distance, they were clearly visible and emitted an arcane evil that the young Jedi was able to feel from afar. Far enough that the fortifications of the stormtroopers were barely lines on the horizon.
The armies had surrounded the valley of the temples. Some of the Republic volunteers had already accused symptoms like hearing voices or having constant nightmares, so it was time to get to the next phase of the plan.
Jaral turned her back from her lookout position and returned in front of the army of Geth troops and walkers waiting for her signal to go on. Next to her stood Cal, Nimbus and Ahsoka.
"You guys ready? We don't know what we're going to find in there." she asked calmly.
"Don't worry." Cal reassured. "We are all prepared for the worst."
The alien women nodded in agreement and Jaral walked to the colossal Geth prime at the head of the small army of synthetics.
"We're ready."
The robot nodded and then warbled something in numeric code, which was the sound the Geth emitted when they communicated between them. With the unit there were a group of four-legged walkers with a body essentially being a giant plasma artillery piece. These machines dug their claws in the terrain and started a bombardment with heavy plasma shells that aimed first at the turbolaser turrets along the imperial line.
After the preliminary shelling, the first batch of units went in. To Jaral's surprise, they weren't 'real' Geth: pretty much every single platform in existence had evolved into an evolved AI after the Reaper War, but they sent in a new batch of drones, which were made after the battle droids of Kalani, that Ezra had sent to the Milky Way two years before.
The droids were welcomed among the Geth, who also came up with these androids with no intelligence that were remotely controlled by the Prime, the only kind of Geth platform with enough processing ability to command entire formations.
These drones were armed with low-quality rifles, as their objective wasn't to breach the enemy lines: much like the drones in space battles used by the Federation, these were made up so the Prime could acquire a more precise estimate of the enemy strength that it would then relay to the other units. In this case, it communicated with Jinx as well, so Jaral could observe the data through the visor of her armor.
While the drones were being easily turned into scrap metal, Jaral found a weakness anyway in their line of defense and turned toward her fellow Jedi (or quasi) and projected a map of the area with her omni-tool.
"Okay, I think we might have a way in, but I'm sending just the three of you while I lead a frontal assault." she said, pointing at a small fortification that wasn't garrisoned much.
"Won't they notice that there is only one of us?" Cal asked.
"These imperial hasn't exactly shown to be the brightest of their Army." Ahsoka commented. "They'll probably think that we're just waiting in the rear for another wave."
"Let's not underestimate them." Nimbus suggested. "At first they'll focus their defense against the main assault, but if we take too long, they might notice that something's off." then she turned her head toward the valley and looked at the statues in the distance. "Besides, I have a feeling that the officers are not the ones in charge, here." she said grimly.
The others looked at her with a confused gaze.
"Is there something you know?" Jaral asked.
"I only sense a presence. It's trying to hide itself but I could never forget it."
"What kind of presence?" Cal asked. "I don't sense anything."
"I told you it's trying to hide. But I could never forget it. It's some Sith Lord. A powerful one."
She probably meant that it was a similar sensation that she used to feel when Vader was around. The others understood, but a question arose.
"You sure you're okay?" Ahsoka asked.
"Don't worry." the Mirialan reassured with a calm tone. "I'll do my part as promised. I'm only recommending that we move with extreme caution. Compared to this place, Malachor was a fun fair." she sentenced.
"We will, Nimbus." Jaral reassured. "Now we better move out before we lose the momentum."
The other Jedi nodded and started running toward their destination, making sure they stayed as far away from the imperial line as possible in order to avoid being spotted. And to help them in this task, Jaral ignited her lightsaber and waived it toward the Geth as she started marching toward the enemy, prompting them to follow.
Moving in formations of riflemen, rocket troopers and Juggernauts supported by armed hovercrafts, the Geth started their advance while the artillery walkers fired another 3 blasts to try and disrupt the imperial defenses just before their companions were in firing range.
The imperials fired back. Jaral easily deflected back the bolts aimed at her, and while a few Geth got wrecked, they were soon onto the first line of trenches. Jaral jumped into them and cut her way through while the Geth kept advancing with the proverbial coldness of a machine.
As the fight intensified, Jaral started hearing blaster fire coming from behind the imperial lines, an unmistakable signal that Cal, Ahsoka and Nimbus had made it through and were wreaking havoc in the headquarters. The stormtroopers fought fanatically and to the death, with a savagery that was uncommon to them and only confirmed Nimbus' theory that they were being influenced by the Dark Side. At a great cost, the Geth forces breached the line and took out the enemy resistance, leaving the Valley of the Temples without defenses anymore.
At least, not military defenses. Who knew what they were going to find inside that black hole?
"Bridger General." the Prime said once it walked to meet the Jedi. "Our forces have secured the perimeter. Should we begin the move toward the valley?"
"Negative. Just make sure that no imperial tries to break into it again. Only me, Cal, Ahsoka and Nimbus will get in there." she decreed.
A few plaques around the head of the torch that was the Geth's head opened up in confusion. "What caused the change in strategy?" the machine asked with its neutral voice.
"Trust me, it's better if only us go in there. And if we don't come out after a certain amount of time, make sure to start the orbital bombardment anyway."
Even the other Geth around the group turned their heads, surely understanding how serious the Jedi Knight was being.
"Understood." the Prime eventually stated. "We'll secure the perimeter." and the smaller units started to spread out in order to comply with the request.
Jaral quickly looked at the other Jedi. Luckily for her, they seemed to trust her judgment, and perhaps they were convinced that it was better not to risk other lives than theirs to neutralize whatever they were going to find. By now even Cal and Ahsoka could feel the primordial evil presence that Nimbus had mentioned, and while the Geth might not have been tainted by it, fear was they would be crushed anyway.
So the four Force users gripped their sabers and ventured into the valley, heading for the source of that evil: one of the biggest temples around. Staring at the large stairs leading to the entrance, the Force users looked at each other one last time, and finally Jaral took the lead and walked those steps while a sinister wind hissed around them, swirling some dust from the ground.
They finally made their way inside the structure, which was dark for the lack of any natural source of light. They all ignited their sabers and used it to lighten the place a bit. Thus they found out, to their surprise, that the interiors of that place were actually covered by slabs of durasteel. There were signs of a well-kept and slightly decorated building, long gone and left to the sands of that cursed planet.
A familiar feeling struck Nimbus as she watched those walls and deduced what that place was.
"It must be the ancient academy of the Sith." she commented.
"The Sith used academies?" Cal asked quite surprised.
"Yes. At the times of the old Empire, their ranks were much larger than today. But since betrayal is part of life when you live with the Dark Side, they eventually crumbled on themselves. Nonetheless, if the Emperor is looking for some juicy secret, this is a good place to start."
She then heard Jaral speak. "Cal, can you use your psychometry to find any clue?"
Cal looked around and tried to focus on the Force, but found nothing. "Not here, at least. Guess we should go deeper."
"Let's go, then." Jaral concluded as she took the lead. "Stay close and keep your eyes open for anything."
Ahsoka and Cal covered her sides while Nimbus took the rear of the formation and walked down the first corridor. By now, they all knew that the mysterious presence was driving them into a precise direction. And since most of other passages had been blocked by collapsed ruins, they had little chance.
That was until Cal halted and said that he sensed a trace that he could analyze with his power. After cutting down a few rock pillars that locked the passage but were not essential to hold up the roof, Cal uncovered what seemed an old recording device. It was broken, consumed by time, but Cal approached his hand to it and the women all saw that, all of a sudden, a swirl of energy sped from the device to his hand, in fact knocking him back a little.
Jaral moved to help him, but Cal kept his stance without much problem and raised a hand to tell her to relax while he focused on the memories that he was reading from that object.
BD beeped why he was taking so long to realize.
"Sorry, buddy." Cal quipped. "But this was a lot…" he added as he turned around to face the ladies.
"What did you see?" Nimbus asked.
Cal sighed before starting. "This device belonged to a Jedi who lived more than 3000 years ago. I'm not sure who he was, but he had come here to investigate the Sith and their Emperor, some Darth Vitiate."
Nimbus' eyes widened. "Vitiate?!" she exclaimed, drawing the attention of the others.
"You heard that name?" Ahsoka asked calmly.
Nimbus started to pace around slowly as she explained. "When I was an Inquisitor, I heard the legend. It is said that Darth Vitiate ruled the ancient Sith Empire for millennia, as he was immortal. But I never believed it. If he was immortal, how could he have been defeated and killed?"
Cal mumbled. "Maybe it wasn't much of a legend. The possessor of this recorder was much convinced of it. Maybe I can find some other memory shards around here."
"Hold up." Jaral said. "That might be the reason why the current Emperor is so interested in this place. If he is always striving to reach absolute power, then finding a way to become immortal would be incredibly useful."
Ahsoka hummed in thought. "Shouldn't we investigate further?"
"We don't have time." Nimbus said. "The fleet will erase this place in around two hours. And we must stop whatever is happening here anyway."
The others nodded in agreement. It was pretty clear that the source of Dark power whispering to them was their main objective. They found another couple of hints along the way that only deepened Cal's belief that the Emperor was indeed looking for something that would help him attain eternal life and untold amount of power. So they decided to cut with it and sped up toward the dark presence.
This led them in front of a stone door, decorated with a large drawing carved into it. None of them knew what it meant, but they could clearly sense that was it. Whatever they were going to find through that door was the reason the Empire was holding up to that forgotten planet.
"Let me handle this." Nimbus said before stepping in front of it and put a hand on the door. As she expected, only by tapping into the Dark Side again she could force it open. And she wasn't going to allow her friends to risk it.
She focused for a few moments, remembering the cruel lessons she was given in the Inquisitorius, but that right now were going to save the day. She called in her anger, and as she failed to open it at first, she made sure to get out all the negative emotions she had and poured them into the lock.
Eventually, she managed to open it and the door started to lift, loudly grinding on the walls. When it was finally wide open, the group entered into the room, which was illuminated by a series of pyres illuminating the sides.
The first thing they noticed was that, after a few meters, there was a pit with boiling lava beneath, and it could be crossed by walking over a boardwalk wide enough for a single person.
However, standing at the opposite end of the pit there was what seemed to be a sarcophagus, standing on an altar. Over the coffin a weird flux of red-colored energy was swirling in front of a man with a black cape, who was raising his hands toward it, but then started talking.
"Long has been since Jedi set foot on this sacred world." he said with a mechanical timbre.
He then turned around to reveal that he was wearing some light armor of purple and white, with two cyborg hands. He had some short hair, and while his mouth was covered by a breather that covered his lower face much like Vader, the man had glowing red irises. The veins visible on his face were darkened, making him look like he was decrepit by the darkness.
"But I must thank you." he said sarcastically. "Your blood will be a perfect sacrifice for the ritual." and he ignited a crimson saber.
"You…" Nimbus said once she was done identifying his face. "You were one of the cultists of the Sith Eternal." she exclaimed.
"Precisely." the man said. "I have never stopped thinking about you, Seventh Sister. You shamed me when you refused to kill me, that day. But perhaps I should be thankful, because you brought me to Lord Sidious."
Nimbus took her lightsaber and ignited one of the blades, followed quickly by the others.
"Who are you?" Jaral calmly asked.
"My name doesn't matter. Soon enough, I will become a true Sith. Once Lord Sidious will know that I found what he sought for so long, he will make me his new Apprentice."
"Right." Cal snorted. "How do you plan to reach him?"
"By getting rid of you, of course." the dark-sider replied in tone. Then he raised his left hand toward the cellar and, to the Jedi's surprise, a group of hidden doors above them opened up. A group of red-hooded people jumped down, igniting a number of red lightsabers or electro-staffs. Those were the cultists that Sidious and probably Vader trained to guard the Valley.
The Jedi were immediately surrounded and they assumed a fighting stance.
"Capture them!" the man ordered from the altar as he pointed his red saber.
The first wave of cultists charged, but they found out to be no match for the four Light users, who quickly cut them down.
"You two go." Ahsoka said to Nimbus and Jaral. "Me and Cal will hold them off."
The mirialan and the armored woman nodded and they dashed forward. Nimbus let Jaral take the lead on the boardwalk and the dark acolyte ran toward them. As he tried to deal the first blow, Jaral used her superior strength to jump over him. Now the two women could take him from both sides, but the acolyte didn't seem bothered at all.
Jaral attacked and the man parried the blow but they entered into a lock. Nimbus quickly used to opportunity to attack as well, but her saber didn't find the man's flesh, rather a field of energy surrounding him and with the same color of that red energy over the coffin.
The man laughed maniacally and used the Force to push Nimbus a few meters back. Caught by surprise, the mirialan barely managed to land on the board and not into the pit. She stood back up and saw Jaral push back the acolyte with a kick before using her omni-tool to launch an incinerating attack toward the coffin, but to their horror, the women saw it dissipate in front of another Force shield.
"Did you really think it would be that easy?" the man gloated before counterattacking Jaral.
Nimbus intervened again, but the acolyte showed to be much faster with the blade than what he wanted them to believe. He managed to hold them off for few, unending minutes. Ahsoka and Cal were holding off the other cultists, but fatigue was catching up with them.
And just when things seemed grim, the acolyte entered another lock. This time with Nimbus, whit whom he had a personal grudge that could be seen in every movement he did against her.
Jaral tried to use the lock to strike again, maybe hoping to find a way to harm him, but the dark-sider, in the span of a second, pushed back Nimbus and managed to slash Jaral right on the chest of her armor.
Nimbus saw in horror as the shield of Jaral exploded and a big cutting sign ran across her friend's chest. Sparkles and small bolts came out of the failing systems of the armor and Jaral eventually fell on the ground.
"NO!" Nimbus yelled.
It took a moment for her to charge against the man, as fear of losing the girl who saved her long ago and wrath toward the guy who might have just killed her soared.
The pain was incredible. But as Jaral lied on the floor, she realized that her body was still unharmed. The slash had fried many systems and the armor had gone into lockdown mode, but something had gone wrong and it was actually making much pressure on her body.
"Jinx...turn it off…" she said in a wheeze.
The AI worked frantically, but after a few seconds, the armor finally disappeared and reentered the omni-tool. In all of this, Jaral had managed to hold tight on her lightsaber, and after a moment to recover her senses completely, she noticed the scene in front of her.
Nimbus was relentlessly attacking the acolyte, who held his own quite good.
"Finally." he said. "I was tired of fighting this shallow copy of you." and pushed her back again.
Jaral could clearly see that Nimbus was giving in to her anger, which was no good. So, in order to make everybody know that she was alive and kicking, she threw a stun shot to the dark-sider, who was caught completely by surprise and stumbled forward.
It worked, as Nimbus peeked over him and saw the Jedi Knight standing on her feet as if nothing had happened.
The acolyte, on his part, grumbled in rage and surprised them by turning toward Jaral and use a Force lightning. Jaral, however, managed to block the bolt with her lightsaber.
Knowing that she no longer had the protection of her armor, Jaral pushed her senses way beyond what she was used to, as the next blow from a saber was going to be much more troublesome.
As if that Force shield around their enemy wasn't enough of a problem already. They needed to find a solution, quickly.
To Jaral's disbelief, Nimbus calmly deactivated her saber and knelt down, leaving herself completely open. Perhaps thinking that she was deeming him unworthy again, the acolyte roared and lifted his saber to strike her with a brute blow. But as he bore down his saber, Nimbus suddenly dashed forward and went to press her hands against his chest.
The sound of a whispered wind followed. The acolyte shook a bit and Jaral noticed that Nimbus was using her powers, perhaps the Dark Side, to absorb the living field that was protecting the man. Her eyes became literal red lights as the darkness entered her, but she didn't let that stop the draining.
Jaral had heard that this was a dark ability, but didn't know that Nimbus had learned to use it.
Eventually, though, the acolyte managed to swing a blow. The sound of the saber hitting a body resonated and the mirialan fell on her knees, exhausted. The acolyte grunted in confusion and Jaral understood that it was now or never. She dashed toward him and stroke again, but the man parried the blow. She attacked again and they entered into another lock.
"You're still...too weak!" he said to her as his implants gave him a slight edge in strength over her. But Jaral kept calm, as she had a hidden ace.
She quickly put down her left arm and activated her omni-tool to materialize it. Kanan's lightsaber appeared into her hand.
Before the enemy could notice that, Jaral pushed the hilt against the man's side and ignited it the moment it touched his body.
The blue blade passed him from hip to hip. The acolyte's eyes widened in surprise and confusion. Jaral lifted her own saber, letting the acolyte lose his own as strength left his body, then she pushed the green saber directly into his heart.
When they saw their leader fall lifeless on the boardwalk, the few remaining cultists decided that it wasn't worthy anymore to stay there and jumped back into the holes they had used to arrive. Ahsoka and Cal were finally able to catch their breaths and reach the other two women.
Nimbus finally fell on her side and Jaral dashed to rescue her, but differently from that time on Malachor, this wound was much more serious, and her vitals were plummeting. Medi-gel wasn't going to be enough.
"Hang on, I'm getting you out of here." Jaral said calmly as she lifted the head of her friend.
The mirialan exhaled a small breath. "No...not this time...princess." she quipped despite life was quickly leaving her.
"It's just…" she gulped down. "I have to make up...for everything…" she said with a regretful tone.
"You already did." the Jedi reassured.
Maybe Nimbus wasn't entirely convinced, but she smiled anyway before lifting a hand. "Listen...this is not over…" she continued as Cal and Ahsoka gathered around as well. "Make sure...that they don't find...the secret of Vitiate…"
"I promise." Jaral vowed without a second thought.
Nimbus chuckled lightly. "Always...eager to help everybody…" she said as she grinned at her. "You truly are...a Jedi…"
As she pronounced the last word, her head fell back and her eyes rolled up.
Jaral gently put her head back down and passed a hand to close her eyes, finally giving her the final rest.
Ahsoka put a hand on Jaral's shoulder. Words were useless now, and perhaps she was feeling the loss even more, as the two alien women had spent months together in order to block every access to the World between Worlds that the Emperor could have used.
Despite all of her misdeeds, the former Seventh Sister of the Inquisitorius had worked hard to repent. It was time for her to rest in peace.
Jaral eventually turned toward the coffin, now laying defenseless. The red swirl of energy was gone, but what seemed to be a crystal nestled on the top of it was beaming of a crimson light. The Jedi carefully approached it and moved her hand to touch it.
Just a few centimeters away from it, Jaral felt as if a metal bar was entering through her arm and was heading directly into her head. The feeling was so sudden that he grunted in pain but held her ground, recalling all the teachings of Master Barrioca. She closed her mind into a shell and resisted the influence that was trying to pry her open.
While she didn't fall to the influence, her mind witnessed a vision. Or maybe the entity was trying to communicate with her.
"You wish for power?…" it whispered. Jaral didn't answer, as she was too busy withstanding the attack. "I can teach you…"
She finally managed to get a hang on Kanan's lightsaber with her free hand and hit the coffin with all of her strength, blowing the crystal into pieces. Ahsoka and Cal rushed to her aid as she stumbled backward and risked falling from the altar.
"You ok?" Cal asked.
Jaral massaged her head and nodded. "I know where they're hiding." she finally declared.
She stood back on her feet and turned around. After recovering Nimbus' body to give her the proper cremation, the group walked back until they finally reached the outside again. There were a few Geth units who apparently were ready to venture into the temple and see if the Jedi were fine.
Jaral was a bit surprised when one of them, seeing the body of the mirialan, immediately said "We are sorry, for the fate of miss Nimbus."
Jaral simply nodded quietly. "Let's get out of here, so the fleet can erase this place."
The geth also nodded and they were escorted at the nearby hovercraft.
September 13.
As Jaral finished the narration, Ezra found himself conflicted.
"You know, a part of me probably never accepted that she had actually become a good person. I guess I was completely wrong." he commented.
"Nimbus gave her life to save that of others. If there's a good way to die, than this is definitely one of them."
"Right after dying of old age, I hope." Ezra quipped.
Jaral chuckled lightly. "Of course."
Ezra then leaned on the railing of the holo-communicator aboard the Amerigo and assumed a more concerned tone. "How are you doing, rather?"
Jaral sighed. "Every time we go to battle, we know it might be the last thing we do. While I don't like to see my friends die, I also know that she died with her mind at ease. That's all there is to know."
"Yeah. She had quite the eventful life. First a Jedi Padawan broken and turned to the Dark Side, only to step out of the shadow and become goodish again."
"Yeah. A story that deserves an entire book about it."
"Maybe somebody will do, after the war." Ezra quipped again.
Jaral made a lopsided grin before continuing the meeting. "Listen, I know that the cultists are hiding something on Dromund Kaas. It's probably the key for the Emperor to attain his immortality, so I guess we'll be stuck here for a while."
"Can you take their fleet on?"
"We don't even know where the planet is. The Geth have sent their drones along the hyperspace routes that we found in the imperial documents, but it might take a few rotations to confirm if we're on the right track."
"Ask for reinforcements if there are too many." Ezra recommended.
"Well, I heard that the offensive on the Hydian Way is going nowhere, so maybe the Coalition will be willing to give us something more. Speaking of which, how's your mission?"
"We made contact with the resistance on Utapau, but I don't want to bring the Amerigo into the system and risk a direct confrontation. For now we're supplying them with weapons and I sent Luke and the Falcon to keep an eye on the situation."
"You trust Luke and Leia to handle that?"
"I do. You might have not seen them much, but they know what they're doing. Besides, I decided that this campaign is perfect to let Luke make as much experience as he can."
Jaral nodded. "Sounds like a great idea." then she asked. "How are Dad and Sabine doing?"
Ezra smirked. "You know Sabine, she can't stay away from me." he whispered. Jaral smiled and shook her head before Ezra returned a bit more serious. "As for Dad, I'm just happy he's here and not on Lantillies. Have you heard the news?"
His sister turned serious as well and nodded gravely. "Yeah. I almost didn't believe the report on the losses. This battle is different from what we saw until now."
"I'm sure our allies will a solution. For now, let's focus on our duties, shall we?"
"Couldn't agree more. Better to cut this short, then."
"See you soon, sis."
"Take care, lil' bro." and her hologram disappeared.
October 3.
"Sir, I see the Lieutenant." the pilot exclaimed.
Dressed in his armor, Iulius entered the cockpit to take a look at the situation. Lieutenant Kyrell, who had been shot down behind enemy lines, was under heavy fire as he was taking cover on top of the hill that Iulius told him to go in order to be rescued. There was a patrol of Krogans and Turians with even a couple of Varrens.
The beasts were charging uphill, but Thane managed to shoot them first.
"Take us down. Order Captain Fel to gun them." Iulius simply ordered, confident that the pilots knew their job.
He loaded his E-22 and went into the cargo bay, where Mickey and two stormtroopers of the 212th, one of the armed with a heavy repeating blaster, were waiting. They also prepared to fire as soon as Iulius took position in front of the door on the right.
The door lifted open, just in time to allow the imperials to spot three TIE Defenders flying past them and release a salvo of concussion missiles each, wreaking havoc upon the federal forces.
That gave the gunship the occasion to lower on the edge of the hill.
"Lieutenant, behind you." Iulius said in the comlink, prompting Thane to turn around and immediately dash toward the vehicle, keeping his head down as much as he could.
From over the fallen tree where the Lieutenant was hiding up to that point came out a Turian and a Krogan. Iulius and his men opened fire on the bigger alien first. Luckily, this forced the two of them to focus on the stormtroopers and not on the running pilot.
The Krogan went down and the Turian lost his shields, which prompted him to run and hide behind a rock, allowing Thane to board the gunship with a jump.
"We got him, go, go!" Iulius ordered and the pilots immediately complied. The Rothana closed her doors and sped away, quickly joined by the Defenders, who formed around it to protect Iulius in case enemy fighters showed up.
In fact, the Grand Admiral being there was incredibly unusual. Thane removed his helmet to breath some fresh air and turned toward him with disbelief.
"Sir...you came here yourself?" he asked.
Iulius put his rifle on his back and removed his helmet, replying with a half-grin. "I couldn't just abandon the best pilot of the 101st, right?" he quipped.
Mickey patted the pilot's shoulder. "You did great, kid. Surviving those things doesn't seem easy at all."
Thane sighed for the fatigue, but then showed a smile. "You got no idea. I wonder why the Krogans like to bring those beasts around, since they could smell me on their own." he commented before reaching for a pouch on his belt.
He took out a small data disc and handed it to Iulius. "This is the footage of my recon, sir."
Remembering that it was the mission Thane had been shot down for in the first place, Iulius gratefully took it from his hand. "Excellent work, Lieutenant. Your TIE?"
"I saw it self-destruct myself, sir. The enemy won't get anything from it…if I may, what happened to my men?"
"They made it back to the base safe and sound, thanks to your sacrifice." Iulius replied as he watched the data disc. Then he put it into his own pouch and turned toward Thane again. "In fact, I wanted to speak with you about it."
"I'm listening, sir."
"You were ready to give up your life for your subordinates. It's not a quality you find in every officer, Kyrell, and I appreciate it."
"Thank you, sir."
"There is a new batch of pilots coming in two rotations. I would like for you to take command and create your own fighter wing, if you agree."
Thane was taken by surprise. Maybe it was the exhaustion and he didn't believe it, but after seeing the stern look in the Grand Admiral's eyes, he understood the situation and assumed a calmer expression.
"Sir, you saved my life. Whatever you need me to do, I'll give it my 200%." he declared with a clear gratitude in his tone.
Iulius made a slow nod. "I appreciate it...Captain."
The squad headed back toward Beigran, ready to fight another day.