Chapter Thirteen
Hyperion was pleased by what he heard about Republic forces, including the new amphibian force that Inoy could lead across Nogatan's waterways if necessary. He also found that Ashlynn and Dantius could lead their own force upon the land, while Jace could break through the space forces that protected the Sith Emperor from the intrusions of the Jedi. However, the Sith would have four rings of artillery planetside that could likely slow down progress, provided the amphibian forces of Inoy didn't destroy them first. So Hyperion concluded that the amphibious force would attack the artillery ring ahead of the main force with Ashlynn and Jace breaking an entrance open in the space forces.
"The land forces will need to go in three stages with Inoy's attacks on the artillery rings being the first stage," Hyperion began. Inoy bowed and promised that he would have his new army ready for the attack within the hour before his arrival to Nogatan. When he cut transmission, Hyperion continued with his stratagems. "Ideally, Dantius and I should lead the calvary through the first artillery ring and keep no less than half our forces intact by the time we reach the third ring. After Ashlynn and Jace have breached a hole in space defenses with a series of wedge formations and sprays of missiles, Jace will lead reinforcements down to join us for the assault on the palace itself," he added a moment later.
"Why me, might I ask Hyperion?" Jace asked.
"You were there when this war started, you fought alongside Satele Shan and her first master at Korriban. Later, you delivered the wounds that deformed Lord Malgus at Alderaan and helped Satele repel him. Wouldn't you like to see how the war ends?" Hyperion replied.
"I'll see it well enough from space and my days of doing battle on the land are done with. Not to worry, I will lead space forces to victory while Ashlynn leads the reinforcements to join you. Besides, you're gonna need every lightsaber you can throw at the palace once you get there if what you've mentioned already about Dark Lords being there is true," Jace said. Hyperion conceded that point nonverbally and realized it would be far better to have three other lightsabers beside his own than to have two.
"So Ashlynn will lead the reinforcements when we have confirmed that we have blasted through the artillery rings. From there, we'll make a direct assault on the palace and blast our way to Crassus' chamber. Force willing, he will not be able to perform the ceremony in time to make our efforts in vain. I'm recommending that the Republic start out with its droid soldiers on the land first since they won't need to reload their weapons as often and can follow strategy to the tee. Plus, when they're low on batteries, they can be wired to self-destruct so that the enemy cannot reload and reprogram them for their cause," Hyperion said.
"And how do we get in the palace? It's not like we can just waltz to the front door and knock." Ashlynn inquired.
"There's a moat that the aquatic force can ascend if they remain a sustainable force. Should they have the numbers, they can climb on through it, reach the front door from behind and let us in after taking out the gate guards. We'll continue our assault from there once we have the gates opened for us by Inoy's taskforce," Hyperion replied.
"And if they aren't?" Ashlynn continued.
"Then we hijack one of the artillery batteries the Sith have fortified and we blow the gates to hell. Either way, we're not giving Grandpa Crassus the luxury of time to begin feeding on Nogatan's artifacts and life energies," Hyperion countered back with ease. Ashlynn had no more questions for him and when he turned back to strategizing, he concluded with one last little note.
"While the droids engage the artillery batteries, we should have our biologicals hijack the other batteries and destroy any others that could flank us. From there, they'll help us with destroying the other rings and disable palace defenses before we make our assault on the gates. The minute they're opened, we're going in and we're wiping out every last trace of the Sith that we can get our hands on or smuggling what can't be destroyed to Coruscant," Hyperion said. Dantius and Jace both nodded with Ashlynn crossing her arms in reluctance at the idea of listening to Hyperion but ultimately conceded, still carrying a torch for Dantius. When they voted to initiate the plan that Hyperion had devised they moved to battle positions just in time to come out of hyperspace and face overwhelming enemy forces.
"Our first task is getting them too focused on us to notice Inoy's deployment. Don't let up on them until Inoy has confirmed that he's breached the atmosphere then focus your attack on breaking us through," Hyperion said to Jace and Ashlynn. Dantius, meanwhile, prepared the first wave of ground forces that would be following Inoy planetside once the breach was created. But Hyperion summoned his daughter to join the conference room and when she did, he tossed her his yellow lightsaber which she caught with ease. "How'd you like to come with me and Dantius to see your great-grandpa put down forever?" he asked her.
"As long as I can join you and uncle Dantius in doing it, it'll be my genuine pleasure. Thanks for giving me a lightsaber, aunt Morgana was always so stingy with her blades," Morgause told him. Let's hope that wasn't because of a lack of skill Hyperion thought quietly.
"Show me what you can do, run through Shii-Cho standard sequence of attacks real quick," he told her. When she did as she was instructed, igniting her blade to show off the results, he was impressed by the overall smoothness and elegance of her style. She looked like she was every bit the mistress of the second and third forms that her aunt had been in life.
"Show me what you're most good at, what forms can you do the best?" Hyperion asked. She then surprised him with a combination of Ataru, Soresu, Niman, and Makashi with hints of Shien and Juyo in there as well. He couldn't see any reason, other than the one she gave (of losing two of her own blades) for her not being a capable warrior on the battlefield. With that out of the way, the two of them joined Dantius and Ashlynn, preparing for the battle that would determine the fate of the galaxy. And Crassus was at Nogatan's economic and political heart, making the same preparations to ensure his own immortality throughout the life age of the galaxy itself whilst his enemies made every effort they could to stop his eternity.