Many thanks to those that review the previous chapter, they were most helpful in motivating me through a rough patch in the writing, but I can happily announce that we are, for real, nearing the end of this section of the trilogy. Granted, by nearing, I mean that we have just over ten chapters left, but still. When we get far closer to the end, as to not spoil anything, I will provide a small poll to see what side characters people would want to read more about, to help refill the ranks of main perspective characters, as war you know... people's gonna die, but I shall not say whom. in any regard, much love for my readers, and here's the next chapter. enjoy! ~F
Chapter Fifty One
The Work of a War
Yoda had to say that at the least he was impressed with the massive scope of the new Capital ship that Mrs. Granger had created. The fact that it was completely manned by droids on the other hand, he was less enthusiastic about. There was nothing personal that the Goblin Jedi Master had against droids, but he felt more at ease with living beings that he could sense easier through the Force.
Therefore, he felt better that both he and Luna had brought a large company of their command crews aboard with them, leaving their admirals on their respective cruisers, which would both become part of the primary escort fleet for the Hope's Radiance. Director Granger and Master Isshaartu were waiting for their entourage in the hangar bay, and quickly escorted them to the bridge to get a better feel for how the ship would be run.
"As you can see, the Magi-Tech X-2 officer droids manage the entire readout of the ship, and will obey any command that doesn't jeopardize the integrity of the ship or any biological crew members that you designate." The Direction was explaining, walking them past the rows of seeming protocol droids. Both Jedi Masters already were well aware that these droids were more than they appeared to be, and accepted that the bridge was well protected.
The Wookiee rumbled a comment, mentioning that he would be remaining with them for a time, to oversee how the frontlines were faring to return as a report to the High Council, which put Yoda completely at ease. "Find your ship and its crew acceptable, we do, Director."
"I had hoped that you would," Granger said, "If that is to be the case, I will now turn over command of Hope's Radiance to Jedi Masters Lovegood and Yoda, and take my leave by the Coruscant to prepare the next waves to reinforce the other fronts of the war."
All three Jedi bowed respectfully to the Direction, who smiled and departed with a detachment of her Green Jedi guard, courtesy of Lord Berethon. Soon after she departed the bridge, one of the droids approached. "Generals, the Director's last command was that we plot course for Castell, to be acted upon as soon as her shuttle was clear of the ship, do you wish this command to be followed now that you are in command?"
Luna spoke for the three Jedi in response, "Yes, we need to pursue the Imperial forces, and keep them on the back foot for as long as possible. Once Hermione has left the system, we will continue on."
"Very good, General." The droid acknowledge, departing for its station as Luna opened a channel to all Republic ships, and their allies, that were part of the defensive fleet. "This is Master Luna Lovegood, now in charge of the Hope's Radiance, we proceed on to Castell, to pursue our enemies and drive them back to the Outer Rim, for the Republic, and for Victory!"
The burst of cheering from the other ships was quickly cut as the communication ended, and the droids reported that Director Granger had safely entered Hyperspace back toward the Core.
"Activate Hyperdrive," Luna commanded, and the stars burst into lines around their ship as they sped on to the next battle of the ever deepening war.
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The battle through the expansive promenades toward the hangars of Hapes city, cutting a swath through the throngs of soldiers that tried to block the way of their commandos. Kelrek had to give the Hapans more credit than the trio of Dark Adepts had initially. Their numbers had been reduced quite well by a number of well placed ambushes, and it was clear that the Empire's foes here were well aware of their target, and were likely doing everything in their power to keep the strike team from reaching the hangar before it was supremely defended.
It was brilliant strategy, but there was one thing they overlooked: Jennah's sheer determination to succeed, and the raw power that the Marauder brought to the field in both personal strength and charismatic leadership.
Needless to say, no matter what the Hapans threw at their group of commandos and Dark Adepts, it made little effect on their forward momentum toward the hangars. In the end, their enemy had had to plant automated gun turrets at the entrance of the hangar in the attempt to keep them out.
Pausing behind a low wall to give them cover Srilis, Jennah and Kelrek huddled together to plan their attack on the building while the commandos kept watch.
"Alright," Jennah started, "my thought is to charge the front with Kelrek and the commandos, while Srilis goes in another way and gets the doors open for us. Between you and me, we can knock out the turrets before they pick off any of our troopers, and the soldiers can keep the guards on the defensive until we are ready."
"I noticed a small side access room on a second floor, likely leads to where they are storing their equipment, I'll try to do a bit of damage as I make my way to the door, just hold out till I make it there." Srilis said, eyes glittering with the excitement of another hunt.
Kelrek was hesitant. The courtyard before the hangar was very open, with little to give them cover if it was encircled, which was highly likely if they besieged the building from the front. But the two females weren't about to give him a choice in the matter, as Jennah nodded to Srilis' input, "Excellent, we'll give you a few moments to get into position, then make our attack."
Srilis departed instantly, fading into the shadows around the buildings, and Jennah started to count down for them, and before the Sorcerer could get her to even reconsider her hasty plan, the Marauder threw herself around their cover and activated her weapons.
The hum of the turrets revving started, and Kelrek cursed loudly as he followed the madwoman around the corner, pointing his hands at the far turret and unleashing a torrent of lightning at it, even as the trooper swarmed behind him to start firing at the defensive positions of the Hapan soldiers.
The Force cried out a warning, and Kelrek turned, just in time to catch a thrown grenade and reverse its direction, landing it squarely in the section of Hapan soldiers that had tried to use it against him. The Dark Adept was rewarded with his momentary effort by the resounding explosion that actually collapsed one of the small openings to the plaza. It wasn't much, but a small reduction in the forces they had to face was better than nothing.
On the other side of the plaza, Jennah was dancing powerfully between several groups of fighters, her blades becoming blurs of crimson light as she carved through an entire flank to keep the fire off of their troopers, who were taking the balconies of the hangar building.
The time seemed to slow as Kelrek moved from focusing on the troopers to keeping the turrets from being repaired or reactivated, as they were high enough that it was dangerous to try and get close to destroy them utterly. Sith commandos would get killed from time to time when the Hapans got lucky with a good shot that bypassed the blades of the Dark Adepts.
Just as he had feared, Kelrek saw the reinforcements of their enemies coming to turn this plaza into a death trap, and there was little that they could do about it aside from retreat, or at least attempt to withdraw from the battle, but that would leave Srilirs walking to her own death.
Just as he thought of the wily Assassin, there was a large electrical surge from the direction of the door, and the massive entryway started to appear, Srilis' double-ended weapon flashing as it spun to deflect a hail of blastbolts from within the hangar, and Jennah yelled at them all to charge the Hangar.
Kelrek lingered for a moment, sending bursts of lightning at those who dared to follow the column of commandos as they surged forward to escape the trap and enter their target structure. Only when he had made it in, being the last in line, did Jennah cut the power for the door, forcing it into emergency power and slamming shut of its own, sealing them inside and keeping their foes out.
But their fight had only just started. The Assassin had left a clear trail of bodies leading back to where she had entered no doubt, but there were many more guards and pilots, not to mention the fact that ships were still flying out of the extensive building into the bright sky of the planet.
"I want grenades and rockets primed and taken to the upper levels, no more fighters make it out of this hangar, destroy the bay doors if you have to," Jennah commanded, sending a large section of the commandos running for the nearest lift, with more to back them up with blasters, while she ran forward to assist Srilis in dealing with the guards on the main floor. Kelrek followed behind, his crossguard saber spinning slowly to keep the stray bolt away from him.
Reaching out with the Force, the Sorcerer took hold of one of the ships in the back of the hangar, and with a bit of exertion, wrenched it from its suspensions, throwing it mightily at the last of the guards, who were already fleeing to the back and the safety of cover behind cargo crates and other supplies that littered the floor of the hangar.
"That bought us a few moments," he commented, even as the other two Dark Adepts fell back, allowing the commandos to take their positions and keep a steady stream of blaster fire going down the long chamber of the building, pinning those Hapans that had escaped being crushed by the weight of the fighter.
"If we can delay more fighters long enough, our forces will be able to get through, and launch bombing runs on the area around us, as well as more shuttles with reinforcement," Srilis speculated, and the others nodded, before separating.
Kelrek pulled out a transceiver, hooking it into the nearest port to gather power to contact the fleet and give them an update on their progress, while Srilis took to the nearest lift to support their soldiers up above. Jennah remained behind their defensive line, recuperating her strength for a moment before she too would rejoin the fight. The Marauders expended far too much energy in their fighting styles, and Kelrek knew that this weakness would have been the death of his friend if they had not been so close of a trio, he Jennah and Srilis, each complimenting for the others weaknesses.
The signal went out, and Kelrek nodded as the officer on board their capital ship responded to his call, "This is Kelrek, we have arrived in the hangar and are doing everything in our power to disable the flow of ships to the battle. once you can, punch through and send reinforcements to these coordinates," he sent them the exact location of the hangar, "also bombing runs on all points around us, so that we can evacuate before detonating the building completely."
They were short on time, as the hologram of the officer was already shorting out as the garbled acknowledgement was sent, and the line was cut. The Hapans had expertly trained hackers and had blocked all outgoing communications along their systems, but it was too late for them, as the word had already reached the Sith fleet.
It was just a matter of time before their fighters in the space battle above were thinned enough for them to get through, and then the real battle for Hapes would begin.
A sputtering and hissing started to sound from the direction of the massive door they had sealed, and Kelrek returned to see that the Hapans outside were attempting to cut through the door with welders, forcing their way back in to catch the Sith commandos off guard and attack their flank.
"Jennah, we're going to have some company." He declared, and the Marauder was at his side in a moment.
"Do we retreat to the upper levels, or hold the line here?" he asked, waiting for her command. She was technically in charge of this mission, regardless of how equally they viewed each other's ideas and opinions. "We fight here, but if they bring more then we can handle, get the commandos out, and I will make them pay for every trooper they squeeze in here." she ordered, her sabers flaring to life, as did the crossguard of Kelrek.
The moments seemed to drag on as the flare and sparks of the welding torch cutting through the thick durasteel of the door slowly moved around a tight rectangle, large enough for two abreast to get through sounded, drowned out time and again by the shouts of dying men and explosions from above them as fighters were shot down or destroyed before being able to launch.
Tightening his grip on the saber, Kelrek drew in the Dark Side around him, focusing on his anger and slight fear for his own safety, turning the emotions into his weapons. He knew that Jennah would not allow a single soldier to enter this hangar from outside until their warriors were disembarking from their shuttles, and he would stand by her side to see it, if it took all his strength and connection to the Force to do it.
The welding stopped. Seconds dragged for what felt like hours, and with a sudden explosion, the new door blasted inward, revealing the bright lights from outside, and the armor of the Hapan soldiers as they tried to push their way in over the hot metal.
They were met by the horrendous power of the Force, as Kelrek unleashed a vast amount of the dark power, ripping life directly from their armored bodies, and sending them to the ground with shrieks of agony, even as he himself felt rejuvenated at their misery and pain. More were quick to follow, and Jennah interposed herself in their way, weapons singing as they cut through the armor as though it were simply smoke.
Grenades were thrown inward, only to be redirected away by simple nudges of the Force, exploding outside with great force, and the two Dark Adepts quickly turned the small entryway into a kill zone, leveling anyone foolish enough to come that way.
That was until the Hapan royal guard arrived. Kelrek had read some about these well trained warriors, who held their electrostaffs tightly in two hands, the crackling purple electricity able to catch the magnetic fields of lightsabers and deflect them.
Then the battle emerged in earnest, as the Hapans were able to push inside the hangar once more, two of the guards furiously dueling with Jennah, while a third went for Kelrek. Utilizing a clever feature of his saber, the Sorcerer parried one end of the staff, ducked under the second, and drove one end of the short crossguard into the guard's side, inflicting an albeit minor injury, but limited the guards movement as the torso requirements for the long weapon he wielded.
Dancing back to avoid the electrified ends of the weapon, Kelrek ran through several options. Lightning was out of the question, as that would be absorbed by the staff very easily, and his bladework was not that of Jennah or Sirlis, therefore he did not wish to try and combat the guard head on. telekinesis would affect a large range behind the guard, which was where Jennah was battling her two foes, and he was reluctant to inadvertently put her at a disadvantage.
That left evasion, and trying to get around the guard, opening up another angle to utilize one of the previous tactics. Leaping high into the air, Kelrek shot a small burst of lightning to distract the guard, before he landed on an upper landing, nearer to the second floor, but well within the ability for the man to follow up a nearby flight of maintenance stairs. If the man attempted to turn and fight Jennah, he would attack his unprotected back, but Kelrek was more than assured that he would be pursued.
As he predicted, the man ran up the stairs to follow him, and as soon as the guard made the fatal mistake of leaving direct line of the other, Kelrek struck. Lashing out with the Force, the Sorcerer scooped the man up and slammed him heavily against the wall several times, until the bloody imprint was all that was left of life in the shattered corpse.
Leaving the now dead royal guard, Kelrek hurried back to where Jennah was slowly getting overwhelmed, as the other soldiers were starting to pour in, adding their blaster fire to the din of chaos that strewn their side of the hangar. The commandos were already locked in battle half down the long hangar, and unable to return to assist, which left it up to the Sorcerer.
Drawing all the power of the Dark Side he could muster, Kelrek leapt from the second story, unleashing tremendous lightning as he soared down to the midst of the incoming troopers. Bolts struck several before he even landed, knocking them to the ground, either stunned or dead, while the rest had a powerful Force user to deal with now.
Crossguard saber flaring to life, he swung in a wide arc, forcing several to dodge back out of the way while a pair were caught by the blade and severely cut at the midsection and chest, dropping them as well.
Following up quickly, he blasted another group with lightning, hurtling them away to gain more clearance to use his weapon. Snapping it up to deflect more blaster bolts as the troopers recovered, Kelrek slowly backed toward where Jennah had already defeated another of the royal guards.
Already they could start to hear the whine of incoming fighters from outside, and they knew that their reinforcements had arrived. Leaping backward, the Sorcerer landed at the Marauder's side, stabbing the last royal guard and ending his pitiful life, leaving only the foolish blaster wielders left to deal with two Dark Adepts.
Jennah charged, blades whirling in a frontal cone of defense, and Kelrek brought more lightning to bear, catching the outliers and knocked them roughly about on the ends of the bolts of electricity. Suddenly the ground shook as the bombers unleashed their payloads all around the hangar, knocking them about, but the Force users alone were able to keep their feet.
Once it was all over, the troopers were dead or fleeing, and the hangar front was all but demolished, preventing any new Hapan ships from escaping even if there were pilots to man them.
Srilis and the commandos returned, and they quickly ventured outside, hoping to get away and meet their new landing parties, so that the ground battle for Hapes could begin correctly, with proper leadership.
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Severus spent much of his time on Coruscant moving between the Jedi Temple, where his official residence was located, and to the massive Magi-Tech industries buildings in the Works, adding his support to the Corellian Jedi's attempts to keep Hermione Granger out of any sort of danger, despite her overbearing willingness to launch right into the front lines herself on the maiden voyage of her largest ship to date.
The fact that such a beast of a ship had already been in production, segmented in parts due to the lack of space in their hangars, had already won her massive points in the Senate, and the woman already now owned over half the space in the former industrial zone turned slum. Her need for fresh workers was ridicules, and she had turned to the underbelly of the capital work for hands to man her machines and do the work that the mage-born were too busy with their fabrication to deal with.
While the Green Jedi saw to her personal protection, and the Republic soldiers say to the protection of the equipment and other Mage-born employees, Severus took a more proactive approach, screening every new Coruscanti employee, and making absolutely sure that there would be zero risks in hiring each and every individual.
There were many that had to be turned away, not because of any Sith ties, but local crime syndicates or other ruffians that wanted to get a piece of the action regarding the largest industrial system that the Capital had ever known, but Severus had done everything in his power to make sure that those deserving of the extra work and the massive pay increases that Hermione allotted for her workers got ever opportunity to earn them.
All in all, her work in creating weapons of war had done much in alleviating the capitals worst problem, the unemployment and degenerate state of the working class that lived on the lower levels of the planet. From what he had learned, there was a general gap between those who lived on the highest levels, the politicians and other government workers on Coruscant, and just about everyone else.
The Jedi were something of a side idea, but still generally disliked by the general populace of the capital, as they were seen as no more than special forces for the police, and while Severus did nothing to change their views, he at least saw to it that none of those who wished ill will on any of these parties would have so much as a finger in the business of making the weapons that would go into the hands of the Republic soldiers and Jedi that needed them to protect the Core.
There was another reason that Severus had kept himself so busy. He was receiving nearly daily invitation to meet with the Chancellor of the Republic, Draco Malfoy, regardless of whatever name changes the boy had gone through, and the Potions Master and spy had no desire to have dealings with the boy. He had a supremely bad feeling regarding any association with the politician, who had clearly gone the route of his father, and then some, taking up the mantels of influence and power in this time of crisis.
Severus wasn't aware how, but for some reason the situation felt even worse than whenever Lucius had the ear of the Minister back on old earth, scope of power aside. Especially when the man decided to take matters into his own hands to contact Severus and physically appeared at the massive factory complex that Granger had had built, with his entourage of guards and other governmental followers.
Most of the workers looked simply stunned to even see one of the glorified politicians of their world, let alone the Chancellor himself walking the same halls that they worked, and cleared a path respectfully, leading the man straight to Severus, where he was examining applications to work for Granger by almost several hundred different applicants.
"Severus Snape, reduced to a desk job?" Draco said slowly, as though actually surprised to see it himself, "I honestly would have thought to found you up in the potion labs on the twentieth floor, pouring away over some simmering concoction."
"Sorry to disappoint you?" Severus asked sarcastically, setting aside the current datapad he was holding, filled to bursting with sob stories and pleas for employment and rose to officially greet the man he had not wanted to see. "So I highly doubt you came all the way here to speak to just me…" Severus added, subtly nudging the man to get on with his business and leave Severus alone.
"Of course, but as Hermione's chief of security, it was proper for me to register our visit and all the people I brought with me directly to you, was it not?" Draco countered, flashing a smile that clearly won the hearts of many a lady in the city, but had no effect whatsoever on the man's former Head of House. It galled Severus that the man was indeed correct about their business policy, but still. Nodding briskly, Severus counted the heads and added a touch of Legilimency to those who were clearly not Mage-Born or Force Sensitive, and nodded, "You're clear, go and speak with Hermione, but I would make it quick, she just returned from a trip to the front lines and her head is spinning with new ideas… you know how she gets…"
Draco sighed, "Of course she would, after seeing the condition that our soldiers are in, but I suppose you are indeed right. I was lovely to speak with you again Professor, and I do hope you reconsider some of my offers, I do miss being closer with you, and the others from Hogwarts as well…"
Naturally the man would add in a small barbed jab that Severus had been all but ignoring any transmission from him, and that he had indeed made clear invitations for lunches or to come to this or that event, but Severus was done playing the friend of another Lucius Malfoy, and refused to so much as pass the messages along to other from the old world that the man had desired to speak with as well.
The Chancellor and his party mercifully departed, heading for the lifts to the executive rooms at the very top of the building, and Severus went back to his applications, possibly being a bit harsh on the next several dozen that he saw, but there was no reason to say that they weren't being perfectly safe in screening every possible worker. It wouldn't do to have any of them come into this dangerous place with ideas of sabotage or other destructive purposes.
He was just about to take a small break when Severus noticed another group of people entering the main doorway to these back offices, which was off as there shouldn't have been any more visitors that entire day. Catching sight of a poorly concealed blaster, Severus ducked behind a wall and withdrew his wand. There was about a dozen or so armed men that had entered their offices undetected, which meant that they were at least semi-professional in their craft, which told Severus one thing. Assassins… come here to kill the Chancellor, Director Granger, or both.
He might despise what Draco had become, but he wouldn't allow anyone to commit such an act here on Magi-tech property. Sending a Patronus messenger straight up through the ceiling, he hoped that the word would reach them before the assassins did, as they were clearly well organized, moving silently and efficiently through the crowd of workers, unassuming and unnoticed, which worked in Severus' favor.
Walking with purpose, as he would normally as to not attract attention, Severus went toward the main lifts that would ascend all the way to the Director Suite, and toggled the button, sending the lift far upward without passengers, which would delay anyone seeking entry via that route.
He then turned, aiming to go to the service lifts and take them up himself to block the way of these assassins before they could make it to their target, but the group had just rounded the corner, and stopped upon seeing him.
There was a pregnant moment where Severus just looked at the group of assassins, and they at him, before there was a rush of movement between them. Severus threw himself to the side, grunting as he landed on his side out of the way as the Assassins drew their weapons and fired, triggering alarms all over the complex for blaster fire, which Severus had insisted upon installing. Rolling up to the crouched position, and ignoring the bruise on his shoulder where he had landed, Severus fired a quick trio of spells, all meant to kill if they struck their intended targets.
He wasn't in Dumbledore's old club any longer, and therefore not hindered by the need to take people alive for information. These were hired guns, they probably knew next to nothing about who was paying them, just sent to do the deed that someone else was not willing to dirty their own hands in doing.
The first two spell made contact, severing an arm from one Assassin and piercing a deep hole in the chest of another, dropping the creature dead, while the third spell was dodged by a more nimble adversary.
Not waiting around for them to return fire, Severus leapt to his feet and ran for the service lift, weaving a powerful shield behind him as he ran. Mercifully the offices all opened on the opposite corridor, so no innocents could get caught in their crossfire as the narrow corridor wound its way toward the secondary lift in the freight area.
Blaster shots pinged off his shield, and Severus knew that the group of much younger beings were slowly gaining ground, but he had a few tricked left up his sleeves. Sweeping his hand downward as he ran, the floor transformed to ice, and fractured in several placed as it surged sharp icicles upward to possibly pierce their feet and hinder their running.
Stopping at the corner of the corridor, he fired a few more spells, including his variant on the cutting hex, even as the Assassins reached the icy patch of the floor. The first two slipped and fell hard, and from the twitching movements of one of the pair, Severus knew that an icicle had found its way to the unprotected head of the potential assailant.
Unfortunately, the others were better equipped, and from beneath the large cloaks they wore unveiled jetpacks, launching into the air and flying straight for Severus' position. He swore loudly, snapping off a pair of wide cutting hexes, which missed, and ran for the lift, only turning back to fire more potshots at his pursuers.
Reaching the bay doors to the freight loading and unloading hangar, Severus wondered momentarily where the blasted security droids were, or the Republic soldiers that ought to have appeared when the alarms rang out. He certainly hoped that they were all already neutralized. Weaving a protective shield around himself with his wand, Severus started briskly toward the lift, looking all around for the small compartments in the walls that housed the security droids, thinking he might activate them manually, and almost cried out in triumph on locating that they were on either side of the lift itself.
Granger was as clever as she was resourceful, he praised, rushing to the set of controls that operated the system. His codes as chief security advisor were more than adequate to override whatever had prevented the droids of automatically coming to his aid, and he smiled as they barreled out of their units, saluting him and practically demanded to be put to use.
Standing before the lift, Severus watched as the Assassin's ran through the empty room at him in a mad charge, weapons firing, but their blaster shots he leaned out of the way of or allow his protective shield to absorb. That attack was all that the droids needed in information as to who their enemy were, and turned, their arms loaded down with massive cannons and awaited the single to capture or kill.
Severus was not in a particularly merciful mood. "Kill," he said simply, and the Assassins split their forces, fleeing for any sort of cover as the droids opened up full auto onto them. Two were not very lucky, and were ripped apart by the hailstorm of spell bolts that the siege droids were spewing forth.
Severus, in the chaos, hammered the button for the lift, which was only a few floors up, and waited calmly for it to arrive, watching the droids rampage around the room, their own powerful deflection shields making the assassins' attacks seem all but nuisances to them.
Another three had fallen before the idiots decided to use heavy weapons to bring down the droids, pulling thermal detonators and other explosives from under their cloaks. Severus backed into the lift the moment one of the two droids fell to the combined efforts of the remaining four assassins, and was about to hit the button for the highest floor, when he grunted heavily, turned to the side as a blaster bolt caught him in the shoulder.
The assassin who's arm he had taken at the very beginning had caught up, snarling as he aimed his pistol for another shot at Severus, but the doors to the lift closed, blocking whatever the being had wanted to inflict on Severus, and the lift rose dramatically fast, taking him far from the battle.
He had bought himself some time to reach Hermione before these assassins, and hopefully the woman had gotten his message, just in case there were more that Severus had not as of yet accounted for.
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Zhar watched as the surface of the shuttle started to burn with the speed of their entry to the atmosphere of Mandalore, while his apprentice, Euka, merely contented herself to meditate. The High Prophet of the Dark Council could tell she was centering herself upon the Dark Side for the coming skirmishes, and he was secretly pleased that she was preparing herself for her duty ahead.
The troops on the ground had already been forewarned of their arrival in one of the Mandalorian shuttles, and had prepared a mobile command center just outside the world's capital of Keldabe. It was a harsh place, thick jungle that dominated the area north of the fortress-like city, and not a location that Zhar was eager to assail. But on orders from the Emperor, personal likes were swept aside.
Stepping out of the stolen shuttle, the two powerful Force users approached the mobile command center, while their commandos and other soldiers that had accompanied them reported to their posts, their orders already relayed to them via communication officers as soon as they touched down.
The generals saluted as Zhar entered the command center. "My Lord, we've secured the perimeter and driven away what wild beasts had started to try and threaten our occupation here, we await your word to move in on the city." One said, gesturing to a large holographic map of the area, showing the city in all its glory, from high walls to the massive Palace of Mand'alor, the undisputed leader of all the Mando Clans, and by far the most powerful person on the planet.
If they could defeat him, or her, the likelihood of their victory on the planet would increase substantially, as the clan would vie with each other just as much as with the Imperial Army, trying to succeed the previous Mand'alor as ruler of the system.
The problem was that Keldabe was also the most fortified city on the planet, with high walls of durasteel and massive anti-air guns that would surely shoot down anything that attempted to fly over the city to either bomb or drop soldiers. From what the other general had briefly mentioned, Zhar choice of vehicle was his only saving grace when it came to not being shot at, which naturally was why he had taken it.
Looking for any possible weaknesses in the city's defenses, Zhar suddenly smiled. "There, we'll send some of our forces to distract the Mandalorian in a pitched battle at the front while a specific force will enter through these series of sewage tunnels and attack the city from within."
The generals all nodded, seeing the soundness of his plan immediately. "Euka, you will accompany the team going into the city via the sewers, while they knock out the anti-air towers, you will breach the gates and get the rest of our forces inside. I'm trusting you to do this, do not disappoint me…" Zhar commanded, watching the pride flare up in his apprentice.
"It will be done, my master…" she dutifully intoned, following the general that went to gather the best troops for the infiltration. Meanwhile, Zhar watched the holographic display as their warriors were arrayed to march on the gate of the city, small ordinance and light vehicles comprising what would fit through the jungle foliage.
They had had to leave all artillery and heavy weapons on the ships in orbit, as it would be very difficult and expensive should they lose them to the heavy anti-air fire, and the choice of landing site would make using them nearly impossible. Zhar was not angry with that decision, as it was astutely made and he was more than capable of working with what resources they had available.
To have competent generals was a plus that he had not expected when he had first arrived in the system, with the conceited lump of an admiral that he had quickly disposed of. "My Lord, permission to move forward with the distraction once the infiltration team is in place." the frontline general requested. It felt good to actually have the respect of his men for once, rather than a mixture of duty and fear.
Zhar seemed to have proved himself in the space battle to them, and they all had responded with an upswing in loyalty to the Empire, as well as a notion that they might just win this world after all. "Permission granted general, proceed," Zhar acknowledge, watching their amassed forces circle around the jungle and make for the front doors of the capital Mandalorian city, which seemed to have a massive amount of activity for being a world under siege.
Clearly these Mandalorians were used to being attacked, and hadn't even bothered to stop their twice weekly market days for the civilians to shore up their defenses. Although, with Mandalorians, every man, woman and child was trained as soldiers, so the mass of people in the main market was simply an army waiting to be rallied.
The gates slammed shut as their forces appeared on the grasslands at the edge of the forest and entrance of the city, and Zhar watched as his army quickly set up powerful defensive shields to protect them from the high powered turrets that guarded the parapets of the walls, laying a perfect siege to the city and preventing anyone within from leaving without their notice.
Meanwhile, their infiltration force had made quick work through the dank sewers of the city, already nearing the location where they would enter Keldabe proper, and split for their assignments. Warriors of the Mand'alor, clad in their clan armor and flying through the air on jetpacks were assailing their forces on the front lines, but the shields held well enough, and their retaliation strike were such that the nusiences couldn't stay around for long.
"Move up the command center, to a position just inside the jungle, I want a clearer view of the city itself, and so we're in a prime position to charge the front with all our forces." Zhar commanded, and the massive repuslorlift engines that the command platform was mounted on fired to life, lifting the entire command center and moving them slow through the foliage to the front lines. "We're on the move, my Lord," a nearby general acknowledge, even as the remainder of the reserved formed up behind them, ditching anything that they couldn't immediately pack up and carry.
Zhar had faith that his apprentice would die before failing her task, so there wouldn't be long of a wait for those gate to open wide for them once the infiltration team got inside. "This is team Alpha, we've made contact with the enemy," the holocommunication crackled out, signaling that the team had entered the city itself and were already starting on their assigned missions.
"Commence light bombardment of the walls, I want their attention fixed on us and not those inside," Zhar commanded, and the frontline general, who was a hologram now as he was leading the frontline forces personally, bowed respectfully in reply. The whoosh and explosions of many missiles firing was all the answer that Zhar needed to know he was being obeyed.
This continued for several long minutes, briefly interrupted by several squads inside confirming they had made contact inside the city, and were pushing to their respective goals. Zhar knew that Euka would remain radio silent until her goal was in sight and uncontested, so he did not grow concerned at her delayed silence. None of the other teams had yet reached their anti-air turrets anyway, so there was little need to rush the gates until they were all in position.
"Team Alpha, outside target zero, requesting permission to engage." The communications crackled again. At a nod from Zhar the general overseeing the teams responded, "Permission granted Team Alpha, good hunting…"
"Yes sir!" the team responded, and the beginnings of blaster fire were heard before the line went dead.
Reaching out with the Force, Zhar could sense his apprentice in the city, but he was too far to make out specifics, but as though in Answer, the communications flared to life once more, "This is Sigma, target acquired, begining operation." That was Euka's call sign. Zhar smirked as the gate in the distance started to shunt itself open, little lights in one of the towers on either side flashing dangerously, as though the whirling of a lightsaber blade.
"All units engage, rush the gate, and take the city, for the Empire!" Zhar commanded, and all the generals, both present and holographic, snapped sharp salutes before proceeding with their assigned tasks for entering the city.
The mobile command center lifted off once again, heading for the middle of the army, between the advanced party that had laid siege to the gate and the reserved in the rear, but by the time they arived, shield generators were placed on board and powered on, meanwhile the entire army marched in, blasters drawn and ready for anything. Zhar smiled as they entered. Child's play…