Taking the initiative this week, and making sure that my chapter is out before I run about all day and forget... your welcome. Anyway, very happy with how all is progressing, and people's ideas are extremely welcome and useful, even if some of the speculation makes me laugh. Some of you are so close to what actually is planned that its rather glorious, while others... not so much. Still, every Review has had its worth recently, and for that I thank you all. Now please, enjoy! ~F
Chapter Twenty One
War in the North
The Assassin had rarely been to the Imperial Capital world of Dromund Kaas, but he relished the opportunity to go to his Lord's great planet. There was much to be enjoyed about the overgrown jungle on the outskirts of the powerfully built spires and durasteel buildings of New Kaas City, and the feeling of being in his master's presence was worth the trip a hundred times over.
The high rise apartment-like area of the Imperial Palace was magnificent, decked in all things befitting the Emperor of the Neo-Sith Empire, and Colin felt surprisingly underdressed among all the gold and silks that adorned the chambers.
"My Lord," he said, kneeling upon the floor as Veneficus appeared from another room, but the Sith Lord seemed more annoyed at his proper respect than acknowledging.
"I gather by your presence here that you have accomplished my design, and have brought me the crystal to go with the Jedi Holocron that I have already received." Veneficus said simply, holding out a hand for the item, which Colin retrieved from a pouch and presented to his master.
"Your work has been excellent, as always Colin…" Veneficus said silkily, the praise feeling like a warm rush up the Assassin's back. "Follow me and I shall give you your next assignment."
Rising quickly, Colin followed as his Lord and Master retraced his steps into what seemed to be a private library. Amid hundreds of dusty tomes and other items lay the innocent looking cube that Colin had stolen out of the Jedi Temple, and as Veneficus gestured to it, the object rose into the air and gently fractured apart, small pieces rearranging themselves to create a space within.
The crystal floated from Veneficus' hand into the midst of the Holocron, which sealed itself around the little green gem, and then started to glow radiantly. "Behold the Jedi's map to every Force sensitive child in the Galaxy…" Veneficus announced, smirking at the small map that had been projected, with thousands of dots spread throughout the cosmos.
"You want me to eliminate these before they can be taken by the Jedi, my Lord?" Colin asked, trying to understand why his master would be interested in these little ones.
"No…" Veneficus said patiently, "I want them alive; and taken back to our old school on earth…"
To say Colin was surprised to hear that was an understatement. "Do not worry about the reasoning," the Sith Master continued, "things on our old home have changed, and there will be those there waiting to receive them." turning back to the map, Veneficus' words took a far more sinister tone, sending shivers down Colin's back and making him forget all about the praise he had received earlier. "We will take far better care of this future generation than the Jedi will be able to…"
"As you command my Lord," he replied, accepting the now active Holocron map and departing at the dismissive wave of his master. Returning quickly to the shuttle that would return him to the orbital platform where his ship awaited, Colin studied the nearest gleaming dots that indicated Force sensitive children. His mission for Lord Veneficus just became of the utmost importance, and he would do whatsoever was necessary in fulfilling this command. His body thrummed with excitement as he left the docking port and flared into open space, the gaggle of stars around him warping into the eerie blue lines of Hyperspace.
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Johell beat the head in of another K'lor'slug with his training sword, irritation battling with his resignation to the mundane task. It seemed that for every one he killed, three more burrowed out of the ground to see what was going on. and what was worse, the only others he had seen out here doing this same task had had the distinct feeling of slaves to him, with their ragged clothing and less than pleased expressions for the task.
After killing thirty or so of the annoying pests, Johell took a break, crouching in the shade of the nearby tomb to ward off the heat of the planet. He had been given nothing to sate either thirst or hunger, and the little K'lor'slugs hadn't had anything worth bartering for a few creds to buy such things with, so he was terribly thirsty with nothing to do about it.
Rising to his feet unsteadily, Johell knew that if he was going to get anything on this planet, surrounded by Sith, he had to play the part and earn his keep. While he had originally wanted to avoid delving into the forbidden Sith tombs, he clearly had no choice if he wanted to get anything of value to exchange for water and food, so he picked up the training sword, his only weapon, and started for the nearest large stone opening.
While seemingly dark and foreboding, there were nevertheless quite a few people working just inside the first few chambers, archeologists by the look of it, trying to completely remove all the dust and dirt of ages past from the tomb's walls and floors. Johell presumed that the Darksiders had a certain right to know their history as much as the rest of the Galaxy.
"You there, Initiate…" said a stern voice behind him, and the former Padawan turned to see a man wearing a slightly dusty Imperial officer uniform. "Make yourself useful, these whiny archeologists refuse to go deeper into the tomb because of the shyracks, worthless cowards… Go clear them out, and maybe we can come to an agreement of some sort of payment."
Johell was too numb to disagree, instead simply turning and proceeding further into the tomb. Despite its age, the taint of the Dark Side was still quite present; more of a mild annoyance than an overwhelming power now, but that was offset by all the other Darkside Adepts on the planet, and still made the Padawan nauseated.
'What weakness, give in to your anger boy; let the hatred flow through you!' said a voice in the back of his mind, sounding very much like the Holocron of Darth Veneficus. Shaking himself to dislodge the effects of the ethereal voice, Johell steeled himself as he came across the first of the bat-like creatures that infested these old tombs. Leaping forward, he slashed violently with the training blade; earning a severe blow to the middle of the shyrack's body and knocking it clean out of the air. The creature gave an ear piercing shriek, and was responded to by a chorus of similar cries from just ahead, as well as the beating of wings.
Johell barely had time to recognize the danger before a veritable flock of the winged monsters flew out of the darkness at him, shrieking from their eyeless heads and claws trying to rake at his uncovered face and arms.
Swinging the training blade wildly, Johell tried to keep his mind calm even through the frenzy of biting and scratching as the crazed animals tried to tear him apart. 'Use the power of the Dark Side; let the energy of the tomb guide you!' said the voice of the Sith Holocron in his mind, and in a moment of desperation, Johell acted upon its advice, drawing upon his resentment of the Sith and their followers, as well as his depression and fear for being on their world, pushing outward violently with the Force.
The resultant burst of power was so devastatingly strong that it sent all of the shyracks hurtling into the walls of the tomb with a collective crunching noise. At the same time, the overwhelming addictive power of the Dark Side ran over Johell in a rush, both tantalizing and sickening him all at once. He fell to his knees amid the fallen skyracks, retching at the horrific sensation of the hatred and rage of the tomb running through his young body.
He understood now, from firsthand experience the draw and subtlety of the Dark Side. His Masters in the Jedi Order would have been pleased with his newfound appreciation for their warnings, but probably not at the price that Johell had had to pay for the knowledge. The most sickening part was that, as much as he found using the Dark Side again repulsive, he yearned to taste it just once more, to make sure that he truly understood what it meant to wield the dark power.
That frightened him all the more about it, and he desired nothing more than to return to the Temple on Coruscant and rest in the room of a thousand fountains for a long time, until he could not remember the disgusting sensation anymore. That, sadly, was not an option, and the forcefully made Dark Side initiate had a man to report to about the dead skyracks.
Before he left however, Johell noticed a small tablet with carving in it, which had been strangely clutched in one of the winged creature's claws. Picking it up, he was unable to decipher the writing or understand the symbols on it, but it seemed to be in the same fashion as the tomb he was in, so perhaps the archeologists would be interested in it as well in exchange for some food or water.
Staggering back, practically dragging his training sword, he soon returned to the main chamber, and the officer over the dig team approached him quickly, "Report initiate, did you succeed in driving out the skyracks?"
The small rush of combat draining away, Johell could do little but nod his head and rest on his weapon, clutching the stone tablet in his other hand.
"What is that you have? It looks like some sort of carving…" the officer continued, gesturing for the tablet. Johell didn't so much hand it over as have it pried from his weakening grasp. Utterly oblivious to the plight of the young man in front of him, the officer grew excited upon looking at the Sith tablet. "This is… this is fantastic! You've managed to push our research ahead by at least a month or two. I don't know how we can ever thank… hey; you don't look so good kid,"
Johell felt himself being grabbed by the arms, but he was so tired and weak that he could do little but allow himself to be dragged to the wall of the tomb and sit back against the cold stone. Annoyingly, something hard slapped his face a few times, and he shook his head, trying to ward off another hit, "Hey, stay awake, we need you to drink this."
Words were getting blurry in his mind, but as something wet was pressed to his mouth, Johell greedily started to try and drain the precious moisture into him, while something cold and soothing was pressed to the scratches on his face and arms. There were quite a few people hovering over him, but he did not pay any attention to them, far too consumed with making sure that he had his fill of precious liquid. He almost groaned in sorrow as it was pulled away however, but someone shushed him, not that he could make out who it was as his vision swam.
"Not so fast, you'll make yourself sick drinking like that." a voice said, before the merciful wetness was returned to his mouth. Agonizingly slowly, Johell did pace himself, and soon felt much better than he had minutes ago. He did not complain when the water source was removed again, and instead replaced with some sort of ration bar being pressed to his mouth. Resisting the urge to greedily snap at it, Johell cautious took a small bite, working the dried food in his mouth first to soften it before swallowing. The blessed nourishment was just what his body needed, and he sighed in relief before drifting off to the blackness of sleep.
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Hermione was outraged to learn that importance guests from the Republic had been attacked on her world. Granted, she wasn't actually head of state for New Terra, that would have been the governing council, which was run by Neville Longbottom and his staff, but he was an old friend from Hogwarts, and Hermione held power with the might of her company's vast economic wealth and influence.
She was able to get Aurors over to get information in no time, and soon the entire planet would know that old Death Eaters were still among them. What she had found most puzzling was the Emperor of sorts that the leader of the group had mentioned, according to Luna and the other Jedi it could only be a reference to the Sith Emperor, but that was absurd, as how could any of their people, who by and large had remained on world since its beginning, could have had any interaction with that sort of lot?
Not that Hermione was wishing to challenge their speculation, but she was entitled to her own opinion regardless. Hoping to forestall any political fallout with the Jedi or the Republic, Neville and his council worked in tandem with Hermione to resolve the issue as quickly as possible, but sadly the criminals were nowhere to be found, as though they had intentionally disappeared into the night.
Most worrisome indeed, but that had been weeks ago, and Luna and her group had departed soon after to return to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, and soon enough a few Jedi overseers would arrive to stay and keep watch over the new orbital shipyard, which had already finished the first ships of the new Republic fleet.
Hermione would have thought it would be swifter if they upgraded the current fleets first, but with the war it was understandable that the Republic would want every available ship to defend themselves with until her more powerful ships were ready, then cycle their older vessels out for the new ones for upgrading.
Still, her host of magical engineers was working around the clock, literally as the case with time-turners would have it, and they expected to be finished with the rest of the first fleet within the month. Hopefully the Jedi overseers would approve it for combat and petition the Republic to send naval officers and soldiers to take command of the ships, so that Hermione could have the docking space back to begin work on another as swiftly as possible.
Hermione herself was just finishing the details on an upgraded one man fighter when she heard someone rustling in her workshop behind her. Whirling quickly, she blinked at the figure that stepped out of the shadows, before launching herself at the man with a squeal of surprise and joy, "Oh Harry! You're back!"
The man who had inspired her grunted softly as she made contact, but whirled her around once before setting her on her own feet again. "Good to see you as well Hermione…" Harry said, smiling faintly as he looked around the seemingly tornado strewn office and workshop, "working hard as ever I see."
"Well, you know me Harry, never a dull moment when there's a project to work on," she replied, shrugging unapologetically. "It's wonderful to see you, but why the sudden reappearance, I thought you were out exploring the Outer Rim."
"I was," Harry replied, moving over to a small stool, and clearing off the papers that were stacked on it to another place before taking a seat, "but the Empire started to push their way out there, so I had to vacate rather quickly. They were conquering world after world, consigning all technology that they wanted off to their own worlds, and leaving the citizens of their new acquisitions high and dry."
"That's awful." Hermione breathed, wondering what monsters these Sith were supposed to be.
"Worse than that," Harry confirmed, "anyone that didn't agree, they killed immediately, so I booked it the moment I got, but they were chasing me, so I came back here. I need some new stealth technology so they can't find me again; do you have anything in mind?"
Hermione thought hard for a moment, cycling through her many projects mentally, "I think I have a few ideas and you're just in time for your other request you made a while ago, regarding the time-turners. I managed to recreate them," she mentioned, sifting through a few papers and pulling out the ones she wanted.
"That's fantastic Hermione…" Harry said, happily taking the old fashioned parchment that still circulated through some of her older plans, rather than the galactic accepted flimsi, and looking over the plans. "These are exactly what I needed…" he said, turning to leave.
Hermione was rather shocked, normally Harry at least spent the day with her before disappearing into the wide Galaxy again, "You have to leave so soon?" she asked, hoping that the brilliant boy would change his mind. His appearances were always a delight for her, so much more stimulating that her everyday occurrences that did little more than to prove how superior she was to the average person, mage-born or not. Sadly, even the Jedi that had come to learn how the ship were being constructed still paled before her sheer intellect, wise in their own way notwithstanding.
"Unfortunately, I have quite a few deadlines to meet in short order, and that will take be quite a ways from here. The sooner I depart the better for my work." Harry said, "But thank you for the concern, it's rare that I meet anyone willing to express the good old fashioned common courtesy anymore."
Hermione nodded, feeling a bout of sadness as she watched him go, but knowing that once the boy's mind was made up there was no stopping him. "Would you at least tell me who your manufacturer is, I've always wondered how you found anyone capable enough to understand and operate upon my designs."
"That would be telling," Harry said, smirking as he departed. What little warmth and inspiration that Hermione had had in the room went with him. Sighing to herself, she attempted to return to her work on the new fighters, but there was no point. The plans were nearly done as it was, and could wait till her motivation returned, probably by that evening. Right now however she needed a leisurely stroll to break up the feeling of loss that accompanied every time that Harry left New Terra.
Walking out on the extended terrace that went around the penthouse of her companies' building, the cool night air wafted through the powerful shields that protected the building from accident and potential attacks, all the more feasible after the Death Eater remnants tried to bully the Jedi from her world.
Just the thought of that despicable attack brought a fire back to her, a desire to make sure that the traitors to her kind and those who supported the vile Sith Empire be defeated by the new ships she needed to build for the Republic. Tapping her data pad as she walked, the night air all but forgotten, she signaled for the foreman of the Shipyards in orbit. "Master Tega'oven'remou, please inform the workers that the schedule for the fleet needs to be advanced as much as possible, on my orders."
The red eyed, blue skinned Jedi Master, a Chiss from just on the edge of the Unknown Regions smiled briefly at the news, "As you wish, Director Granger, although I doubt that the workers could go any faster than they are now."
Hermione smiled at the Jedi's approval. Currently there were three Jedi on the station, along with Master Tega'oven'remou, there were two Jedi Knights, a female Aqualish named Deres Umba, who was Healer by skill and incredibly gentle by nature, despite her fearsome appearance. The second was totally opposite, being exactly as dangerous as he appeared, Bela Deshlatin, a male Barabel; a race of reptilian creatures that had powerful tempers and a strong sense of honor.
Together they had greatly inspired the workers and engineers up on the orbital shipyard, and had very nearly tripled productivity on their own. Keeping the three of them informed of everything that occurred in relation to the shipyard was priority one. "If that's the case, let the secondary team begin production of the next wave of ships in the newly finished wing of the platform, we need to get as many ships done as fast as possible."
"Understood, Director." The Jedi Master said, bowing once before Hermione happily shut off the communicator. There was only so much she could do down here. Hermione strong debated just moving her office altogether to the space station, which would allow her more access to the parts and materials for her experiments, especially those that would be potentially productive to the war effort.
"Yes, that's it; a change of scenery would do wonders for my motivation." She declared, turning back to her office and wondering how quickly her workplace could be shipped up to the station. Theodore might even like the separation of their home life and her work life, although she may end up spending significantly more time in the office than at home, which was why she had put the two together in the first place.
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Bellatrix was extremely pleased with the news from the Dark Council meeting, delivered grudgingly by Ocraadi Nuhok and ordering for Bellatrix to go, alone, back to the capital Sith world for reassignment.
To say that the Togruta would miss her was a reasonable understatement, although it was clearly masked behind her irritation and jealousy for garnering the attention of the Emperor himself so quickly. Not that the High Prophetess had any idea that Bellatrix knew the true identity of the Dark Lord of the Sith, thanks to her planet of birth and intimate knowledge of the Emperor's powerful mentor from so long ago.
It was still nagging at her though, that there was some important piece of information missing from her recollection, something important regarding the Dark Lord and Veneficus, but she brushed it aside just as quickly, she had far more important things to get to than probing her internal functioning.
Taking out the Death Eater from the world and jumping to Hyperspace, Bellatrix plotted her course to Dromund Kaas, settling in for some in depth reading and tactics studies for her new leadership of an entire command fleet.
It was an entirely new concept to her, as under the Dark Lord Voldemort she had only ever commanded small squads of Death Eaters at the most, but this was an entirely different animal. Adding ship and air maneuvers to the mix, and there was still so very much for the witch to learn.
Alas, that amount of time would have to wait until after she had assumed her command, as far sooner than she wished the ship pulled automatically out of Hyperspace over the dense jungle world of the Sith Capital, and switched over to manual controls. It was not the sacred planet that she directed the Death Eater to, but the downright massive collection of capital ships in orbit. The bulk of the unassigned fleet congregated over the capital.
As she pinged her clearance codes over to the central hub of the fleet, the comms officer directed her to a set of ships that were on the outermost section of the fleet, preparing for her arrival. "This is the Death Eater, coming aboard." Bellatrix announced, containing her excitement for an air of professionalism in front of her new underlings.
"Understood Death Eater, we are prepared to receive you aboard the Krayt Dragon, welcome to the fleet, Commander." The officer responded diligently, and Bellatrix smiled at the thought of all the soldiers and workers that were about to serve under her leadership as they brought the fight closer to the Republic and other enemies of the Emperor.
As the vastly armed freighter touched down inside the largest of the capital ships, Bellatrix set it to its automatic recharging mode and lowered the docking ramp. There was already a full military precession waiting for her appearance, and Bellatrix spent a few moments picking at her robes, which were still rather frayed and patched from months of work out in the tundra of her previous assignment. Some time she might have to go about procuring more appropriate clothing for her new rank as a fleet commander, but that was a thought for another time. She had troops to inspire fear and respect in at the moment.
As she descended the ramp, all the troopers and officers saluted, aside from the one at the far end waiting for her approach. The female Twi'lek was wearing a white uniform with several bangles and medals, which indicated that this woman was indeed a powerful figure in the Imperial Military, and Bellatrix was leaning toward being impressed, but was going to wait until she had a good sense of the alien's personality before passing judgment.
"Admiral Heb'Lolu at your service, Commander," the Twi'lek said, saluting once as Bellatrix crossed the long line of soldiers and stopped near her. "It is an honor to be working with one so trusted by the Emperor as yourself."
"Why thank you…" Bellatrix replied, simpering as she looked around her new ship's interior.
"If you will follow me, I will give you the preliminary tour of the important parts of the ship, and we can depart immediately when you are ready," Heb'Lolu continued, turning for the exit as the precession broke up and returned to their normal duties.
"Of course, of course," Bella replied, only partially listening as she fiddled with her wand, charms to improve her hearing and memory on her lips.
The ship was run like a well oiled machine, she noticed as they strolled casually through the pristine corridors. Soldiers and engineers alike stopped and saluted as they passed, before running off to catch up on their assignments. "I have looked into a small amount of background information regarding you, Commander LeStrange," the admiral admitted, nodding at a pair of Ensigns that had stopped mid conversation to salute, "and I have to say I am most impressed. You are the first non Dark Side Adept to be chosen to command a fleet. That speaks volumes about the levels of trust you are given and your skill in command and battle. The men and I look forward to seeing your prowess in the field."
"Yes, there will be many opportunities for that, now won't there," Bellatrix said casually, "It also seems to me that you are quite the stickler for regulations, as I have yet to see a single thing out of place, or even one soldier make a mistake."
"Well, normally that is the truth, but I believe that they are making an extra special effort to impress you as well, Commander," the Admiral said with a soft smile. "There was a lengthy section of your public report that mentioned your intolerance of failure, and the punishments that you were capable of extorting on those who were found wanting."
Bellatrix smiled to herself, it was good that these sorts of truths were let out before she even arrived, that way she didn't have to set up her reputation more than to confirm it. "And you seem less than agreeable to my methods?" she said, catching on the tone of the Twi'lek as she had spoken.
"Personally I do not condone the torture of my own men, however I understand not everyone acts as I do, and the fleet is under your command. However I must warn you up front that I will not tolerate any deliberate attempts to send my men to their deaths. I have a record of perfection that both I and my men struggle to uphold in every mission, and while losses are anticipated, I will not needlessly throw away those who so willingly support me." She said, standing tall in her declaration.
"A woman of principle, I think I can respect that," Bellatrix said, smiling. It was indeed a far different cry from working with the High Prophet Ocraadi Nuhok, who had been as brutal and uncompromising as Bellatrix herself. She could see this arrangement working out just as well; merely different from what she had done for the beginning of the war.
"Good, then I see no issues with our command of this fleet as we pursue the will of the Emperor." Heb'Lolu said, smiling herself as well.
"So I hear our mission is to start conquering the worlds of the northwestern part of the Galaxy, while another fleet, lead by some creature named Gor-lak, takes the eastern section." Bellatrix said, half asking for more information, but not wanting it to sound like she was completely unaware of their assignment.
"Yes, we will be launching from the Dathomir system and heading eastward, while the fleet surrounding the Dread Seeker, Gor'lak's flagship, will leave from Yavin to the surrounding systems." The admiral responded, nodding.
This was good, and Bellatrix was eager for them to launch, "as soon as we are prepared, let's move out then." She commanded, turning to watch as the officers and engineers rushed about the bridge to get all things in order for the jump to Hyperspace.
It was actually quite interesting, watching all the different components, from communications to even weapon systems that were checked, rechecked and prepared for a launch to Hyperspace, even though their destination was an allied system. It seemed that Heb'Lolu was more than correct in saying that she held to the regulations of maintaining complete order and regiment on her ships, as the comms were signaling the same activities taking place across the other five ships of their fleet.
"Make the jump on my mark," the admiral said when all was declared shipshape. "Mark." She commanded, and the stars blurred around them as the ship slipped into the swirling vortex that pulled them through space faster than light itself.
This would prove to be a great change in Bellatrix's life, she decided as she watched the bustle of the bridge a few moments longer, before excusing herself to her own quarters. The active nature of this war was something of a mystery to even her, and she relished the new challenge that her Lord had given her to accomplish.
She would do whatsoever she could to please the Emperor, with the same level of devotion that she had promised the Dark Lord so many years ago. The north systems would crumble before her, even while she operated within the guidelines of her commanding officer. Just because she couldn't risk her soldier's lives, didn't mean that she couldn't use the teeth that this fleet entitled to her.
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The jungle moon of Yavin was an interesting place, although the ancient Orken spirit Gor-lak the Cruel was not overwhelmingly impressed with flora and fauna. Admiral Uardono, the horn headed Iridonian that served under him as commanding officer of his fleet had made the jump to Hyperspace the moment his ship had landed from old Terra, and Gor-lak was pleased with the alien's promptness and decisive choice to move out immediately.
Pomp and routine were beneath the destructive creature that was Gor-lak, even if the Emperor had demanded that he wear the bangles and adornments that would mark him as a Dark Side wielder for all intents and purposes. Odd that the boy turned Sith Emperor wanted to control and draw out the loyalty of his people as long as possible, rather than simply revel in their fear of his overwhelming might and power, as Gor-lak himself had done. Granted the Je'daii of ancient days had come and defeated him, crushed his empire and annihilated his race, but that was hardly the act of any of the races that he had enslaved. If not for the Je'daii, he would have ruled for the entirety of his life, just as his forefathers had done for millennia before the star wanderers had appeared.
"My Lord," Uardono said as they exited the wormhole of power that had transported them to this world, "there are many nearby systems we can jump to now to begin our campaign, I'll pull up a galactic map for you to review."
"Good," Gor-lak said, his voice oddly robotic and muffled from the ancient Sith mask he was to wear for his performance.
Scanning the three dimensional image that projected up from the central console on the bridge of the Dread Seeker, his personal flagship, Gor-lak traced a large white line that ran through several glimmering star systems near their position, "Here," he said, indicating one nearest to where Dathomir, and the witch Bellatrix LeStrange, would be, "We shall start here, and clear the positions between Yavin and Dathomir first, then work backward along this trade route until we return to the Sith Core worlds."
The screen zoomed in on the world he had selected, displaying information and other recorded knowledge regarding the occupied planet in the area, some world known as Junction. Apparently it was some sort of factory world, which could possibly yield another advantage for the Empire when conquered, in scientists and engineers, along with a wealth of information, provided that it wasn't all destroyed in the conquest of their planet.
"Primary species, Humans," Gor-lak read, "along with Twi'leks and Duros… all slave races if you were to ask me…"
The admiral said nothing, but the Ork could tell that his words had pricked a nerve on the iridonian, not that he cared. The admiral's duty was to follow Gor-lak's orders, nothing more.
"Set course for Junction, and we will see to taking this factory world from the Republic's grasp before they can respond." Gor-lak commanded, his words being relayed down to engineering. The fleet turned, slowly, to face the correct direction.
But before they could make the jump, one of the junior officers, manning the sensor arrays, cried out a warning, "Multiple ships incoming from Republic space," he declared.
"Man battle stations, code red," the admiral ordered, overriding Gor-lak's desire to move on already, but the Ork wasn't about to complain when there was battle to be waged first.
"Odd that the Republic managed to scrap together enough ships to attack back," he did wonder aloud, "I had presumed that they were all cowering in their little core worlds like the frightened children that they are…"
"Apparently our information was incorrect," the admiral said, shrugging, before turning all his attention to the view screens, where a good dozen medium sized Frigates appeared, surrounding a trio of capital-class ships.
Gor-lak had never seen Republic ships before, but from the look that crossed his admiral's face, he figured something was off about these, "What is it?" he asked, folding his arms across his chest in anticipation.
"These ships are far older than any the Republic ought to be using." Admiral Uardono replied, gesturing for several officers to start running scans and reading their turrets and fighters. "I'm not sure what to expect, as the signatures here are strangely off from what I'm used to seeing."
Without warning, the fifteen ships instantly opened fire upon the Sith fleet, peppering their powerful shields with plasma bolts and missiles. Fighters launched from the bellies of the three capital ships, and the battle started in earnest.
"Scramble fighters!" one officer was yelling into his communication unit, while a pair of aides were following the Admiral around, relaying statistics and readings from across the flagship. "Shields holding at eighty-five percent sir," one was saying, while the other read reports from the sensors regarding the enemy ships.
"Nothing over communications, they're letting us eat static as they attack," an officer from across the bridge shouted over the din of voices.
"This isn't good, there's no standard Republic attack pattern here," Uardono said, rubbing his bare chin with a gloved hand. "Just who are these people and what are they up to?"
Just them a fighter screamed past the viewing window out in space, and they all flinched as the room shook slightly from the nearness of the ship. "That symbol..." one of the junior officers said, pointing at the ship as it past, "I remember seeing it from old records of the Cold War after the treaty of Coruscant ages ago. It's the symbol of Havoc Squad, the Republics most elite warriors, but they went rogue toward the end of the conflict…"
"Well, whether they are the infamous Havoc Squad or not, we need to crush them," Uardono said sternly, slamming a hand on a consol to steady himself as the ship rocked again, "All ships forward, heavy cannons focus fire on the nearest capital ship while the others pick off the frigates. Launch all available fighters to keep their ships from broadsiding us or making any sort of boarding."
"Understood, sir!" the officers shouted in response, and all immediately redoubled their efforts to coordinate the battle.
Gor'lak felt strangely at a loss of anything to do. His magic was not nearly as effective as the Force over long distances, and he had no experience out in this sort of battle to lend any sort of advice or command. He was far too used to simply giving the orders and having other follow through and create plans for him, but the admiral was already anticipating the needs of his own fleet, making the ork spirit mostly unnecessary.
"Sir, the fighters were too slow, boarders have already gotten onto the Firebird." An officer said, turning to Gor-lak and Uardono.
"Blast, they'll possibly require help repelling the boarders…" Uardono said, more to himself, but that gave a purpose for Gor-lak.
"Consider it done," the master of cruelty said, turning and storming away before the admiral could say anything to contradict his decision. He may be useless on the bridge, but his magic and blade would be far more effective carving through the weak slave races that formed this offensive force.
The alarms overhead were blaring as Gor-lak made his way to the turbolifts to get to the hangar, and the ship shuddered again. "Warning, boarding parties detected piercing the hull of the ship on levels: Four, Seven, Nine and Ten," the eerily calm feminine voice of the ships automated system said.
"My Lord," said a voice nearby, and Gor-lak turned to see a squad of Sith troopers running toward him, "We're with you, sir."
The ork nodded the helmeted human head that he wore, and drew forth his emerald blade of fire from the æther, "Let's clear the ship before going to rescue the Firebird," he commanded, and the four soldiers ran behind him as they made their way to the lifts. The Bridge was located on the twelfth and highest floor of the ship, so Gor-lak punched the level ten button for the lift to take them down two levels.
Spying the ranking on one of the trooper's armor, he ordered the man, "Lieutenant, patch into the ships systems and locate the groups of boarders on the ninth and tenth floors for us, we'll cover you."
"Yes Sir!" the man responded, immediately moving to a console just outside the lift as it halted, and his three squadmates clustered around him, facing outward with weapons raised. Gor-lak paced around them as an added level of defense, muttering spells under his breath to increase his strength and awareness in this slave race's body.
"I have it!" the Lieutenant said, "Corridor 14D, just outside the officer quarters."
"Let's move!" Gor'lak shouted, his guttural speech slurring the words in the human's mouth of his new body, before charging in the direction the trooper indicated.
There would be a great deal of blood and battle for him now, and these Republic slave dogs would feel the wrath of an ancient Empire, not only that of the Sith they now face, but the ancient Orken Sorcery that would rend flesh from bones.