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Chapter 15
Noma Sommos was pacing back and forth restlessly, watching the planet below through the viewport. General Derred was leading the ground assault for the past few hours, without much progress. They've already sent a few more EMP bombs at the city. Unfortunately, though, by doing it, they've also harmed their forces. But Derred asked for the assistance from the orbit, reasoning that they need it to breach the Command Center. But they still haven't succeeded.
"Grand Admiral, we have an incoming connection from Lord Revan" a Lieutenant reported.
Shit, she mused, before taking in a few calming breaths.
"I'll answer him" she replied, faking calmness. A few seconds had passed before a holoprojection of Lord Revan appeared on the bridge. As usual, she didn't see his eyes – only a black eyehole of his mask. "My Lord" she acknowledged him, bowing down.
"Grand Admiral" he replied with the same tone. "How is going the siege of Ziost?"
"We've caught them by surprise when we've jumped out of hyperspace" she began the report, deciding to go with the good news first. "Their defenses were insignificant, compared to our strength. General Derred, Darth Voren, and Yuthura Ban landed in the city and are leading the ground assault, accompanied by…"
"ARE leading?" Revan asked; suspicions rising in his tone.
"Yes, My Lord" Noma replied, doing her best to not show embarrassment. "The city proved to be much more well-defended than we've originally anticipated. General Derred has been on the ground for the past few hours and…"
"Few hours and he still didn't manage to capture one building?" Revan queried, surprisingly calm.
"My Lord, it was your order to leave the Command Center intact. If it wasn't for that, Ziost would have been in our hands for the past seven hours" she replied, mimicking the same calm tone, even though her lip trembled a little.
"I'll return to you in a few minutes" Revan replied after a moment of silence. "Open the hangar bay for my ship to land."
"Of course, My Lord" Noma replied, once again, bowing down. With that, the holoprojection disappeared, leaving the Grand Admiral on the bridge alone, excluding the personnel responsible for operating the ship. She sighed heavily. This is not going to be pleasant, she mused, preparing herself for Revan's return.
The few minutes that it took Revan to reach the bridge seemed to last as long as a few hours to Noma. As soon as the door that led to the bridge opened, the Grand Admiral took in a few calming breaths, preparing herself for the worse.
"What does it mean that General Derred has been on the planet for the entire day and he still hasn't succeeded?" Revan asked immediately after entering the bridge. The soldiers and the staff saluted him, though he paid them no mind, as he was focused on the Grand Admiral in front of him. I expect it to be done upon my return – Revan's words echoed In Noma's mind as she trembled slightly.
"As I've said before, your orders indicated that the Command Center must remain intact" Noma explained. "General Derred informed me that if it wasn't for that specific order, he would have conquered it by now."
"Prepare my shuttle immediately, Grand Admiral. I'll take the Death Squad along" Revan ordered. "Fox, Wolfie, Atton, you're coming with me" he ordered his men who were standing behind him. "And you, Halan" he added, looking at the Intelligence Officer. "Take what you'll need to do your job at the Command Center."
"Of course, Lord Revan" he replied.
"If that's all, let's go to the hangar" Revan ordered, leaving the bridge. The four men followed him, remaining a few steps behind.
Not as bad as it might have been, Noma thought.
Revan left the shuttle as soon as they landed on Ziost. Thanks to Derred's deeds, they were able to land right next to the Command Center that was under siege. The HK units were standing in random spots – turned off, while soldiers were patrolling the rooftops, occasionally shooting down someone they've noticed. The Dark Jedi, Darth Voren and Yuthura Ban were gathered around General Derred, who was, apparently, giving orders. He stopped, though, as soon as they've noticed Revan.
"My Lord" General Derred greeted him, running up to him. "I know that it's been taking a while now, but we're making significant progress and…"
"If that was the case, I wouldn't have come here, General" Revan replied, cutting him off. "For the past few hours you haven't made any progress whatsoever and I want to know why. And why I couldn't contact you via your communicator."
"My Lord, it's been your direct order that the Command Center remains intact," Derred said, carefully picking his words. "We would have taken this building long ago if you didn't say otherwise. And when it comes to your second question, we needed more EMP bombs to make it difficult for the Empire to defend itself."
"I think that the EMP bombs had the exact opposite effect than originally anticipated" Revan commented. "And I've heard that excuse long enough. Blast that damned door to the Command Center" he ordered.
"But, My Lord, you've said yourself that the building cannot be destroyed and…"
"Are you so stupid to think that they've stored the data inside the door?" Revan queried, turning around to look directly at Derred. General trembled a little when he made the eye contact with the black eyehole of Revan's mask. "Blast the door to the Command Center, that's my direct order!" Revan repeated.
"Of course, My Lord. Plant the mines!" he ordered his soldiers.
"If you want something to be done, you have to do it yourself" Revan murmured, loud enough for General Derred to hear it, though. The man looked down in shame.
"I'll gather the troops and we'll begin the assault on the Command Center as soon as the door is blasted" Derred reported.
"You and your troops already had the time to prove yourselves. There is no room for mistakes now. I will use the Death Squad" Revan countered, signalizing that their chat was over.
"Of course, My Lord" Derred replied, a little reluctantly, though. "Make way for the boys in black!" he ordered the soldiers who were planting the mines.
"Voren!" Revan called out, summoning the bald man.
"Yes, My Lord?" the man replied, bowing down.
"Take Yuthura and all your Dark Jedi. You're coming inside with me."
"Of course, My Lord" Voren said, once again bowing down. He returned to his original spot, spreading Revan's orders to the rest.
"Fox, Wolfie, Atton, you're coming with me as well" Revan ordered his men who were standing a few steps behind him. "You too, Halan" he added after a moment of hesitation. "As soon as we get inside, you'll do your job on their computers."
"Of course, My Lord" Halan replied.
"All men, on your positions!" Derred ordered as soon as the soldiers were done setting up the mines. All of the sappers were standing at both sides of the door, wanting to stay away from the explosion range. One of them started counting down towards the detonation. After a few seconds, the same soldier pressed a button that caused all the mines to blow up. As soon as the explosion happened the door was broken down off its hinges. It fell to the ground with a loud thud. Revan felt the Force tremble a little in the same moment when the explosion happened. He chose to ignore that, though.
"Follow me" Revan ordered his soldiers as soon as the cloud of smoke and dust vanished. He unclipped both of his lightsabers; Voren, Yuthura and the Dark Jedi followed his example. "Leave no survivors" he added before charging into the building.
Almost immediately, the remaining Sith soldiers started firing at them, doing their best to fight off the invaders. Leading the charge, Revan worked as a living shield, protecting his soldiers from the lasers. Soon, more and more of the Dark Jedi joined him at the front line, mimicking his movements. All of them were swaying their lightsabers, deflecting the shots at the soldiers who fired them. It created an unbreakable shield that allowed Revan's forces to advance. The Sith soldiers that didn't die from their shots deflected at them were killed by the precise shots of the Death Squad. Revan and his men quickly captured the first room of the Command Center – a few survivors were able to retreat.
"Spread out" Revan ordered. "Voren, you lead one group, Yuthura leads the second one and I take the rest. Head towards the center of the building and once again, leave no survivors" he reminded them. Once again, he felt the same subtle movement in the Force but once again he decided to ignore that.
The Death Squad and the Dark Jedi split into the three groups – one led by Revan, another one led by Darth Voren and the last one led by Yuthura Ban. Fox, Wolfie, Atton, and Halan followed Revan loyally.
They've entered one of the few corridors, hoping that it would lead them towards the main room. The entire building was dark – the effect of the EMP bombs. In order to see anything, they had to rely on the lightsabers and the flashlights. The soldiers were pointing their rifles in every direction, not wanting to be taken by surprise by the enemy forces. The armor of the Death Squad troopers was blending with the walls of the building. The Dark Jedi – led by Revan – were also providing some light with their lightsabers. Also, with the Force, they were able to somehow scan the area in front of them, eliminating any possibility of walking into a trap.
"Something's wrong" Revan commented after a dozen or so minutes of walking through the empty corridors. They've already reached the second floor and so far they haven't encountered any resistance, except for the soldiers that were waiting for them at the entrance. What's more, Revan couldn't feel any life in the building – except for their forces.
"This place seems… dead" Fox commented.
"Yeah" Wolfie confirmed.
It wasn't long before Revan's group was joined by Voren and not much later by Yuthura and their respective teams.
"There was no sign of life, Lord Revan" Voren reported.
"Same here" Yuthura added.
"Brace yourselves" Revan ordered. "Our objective lies behind this door," he said, pointing towards the entrance to the room on the highest floor. Just as he was about to open the door, all of the lamps in the building turned on simultaneously – the EMP shot has lost its effects.
"Fox, contact General Derred, tell him that no more EMP bombs are to be sent down here, that's my order."
"Of course, My Lord" Fox replied and proceeded with the given task.
"Ready your weapons" Revan ordered before he used the Force Push to break down the door off its hinges.
It's hard to say what Revan expected to find in the main room but certainly what they came upon wasn't what he expected to see. The entire staff of the Command Center was laying on the floor or partially on the computers – dead. Their blood was splattered all over the room.
"What happened here?" Atton queried more to himself, not hoping to receive any answer.
"They've committed suicide" Revan stated, examining one of the corpses. The soldier he checked out had a hole in his head that went through both of his temples – a trace of him killing himself.
"Why would they do that?" Halan wondered.
"Perhaps they've realized that they have no hopes on winning against us" Fox commented cockily, kicking one of the bodies.
"Officer Halan, get down to the computers and do your job" Revan ordered.
"Right away, My Lord."
"Has any message been sent from Ziost?" Revan asked after a few minutes. Once again, he felt something through the Force. The rest of their team was walking across the room, checking if any of their enemies was still alive in order to finish off any possible survivors.
"Not even one, My Lord" Halan reported proudly. "As soon as we've jumped out of hyperspace we've set up a blockade that made it impossible for them to send anything. And later, the EMP bombs eliminated their electricity."
"And have you checked if they've been sending any messages earlier on a regular basis?" Revan queried, stretching out his senses in order to find the source of the disturbances in the Force that he started to feel earlier.
Officer Halan withered completely, stopping what he was doing at the computer. He didn't reply to the question in any way.
"Have you?" Revan repeated his question, now looking at the Intel Officer.
"We… haven't" Halan admitted. There was no sign of his previous pride in his voice.
"Then what are you waiting for?" Revan asked, slowly losing his temper. "Check it now!" he added, coming closer to the spot where Halan was, glancing at the terminal over the Officer's shoulder. After a few minutes, the man gulped loudly.
"And?" Revan urged him on, though he began to guess the answer already.
"Indeed, they have been sending the messages on a regular basis" Halan confirmed his worries. "Every twelve hours they've been broadcasting a signal – each time the same one."
"Did we interrupt the schedule?"
"Yes, Lord Revan," Halan said weakly, paling visibly. "The signal was supposed to be sent an hour ago. But they didn't send it."
The disturbances in the Force that Revan felt earlier became clear now. The Empire was aware of their presence on Ziost.
"Officer, collect the codes" he ordered. "General Derred," he said, activating his communicator.
"Yes, My Lord?" the man replied.
"Prepare your shuttle and order your men to return to the orbit, we're leaving, now!"
"Right away, My Lord."
"My Lord?" It was Noma.
"What is it?" he asked, switching the channel in his communicator.
"Our sensors have detected a large number of objects in the hyperspace heading towards our position" Noma reported.
"It's the Empire" Revan informed her. "Prepare all of the Squadrons, send them to space to prepare for battle. We'll return to you in a few minutes. Revan out" he ended the conversation without waiting for a response.
"I have their codes, My Lord" Halan reported.
"Our task here is done. We're returning to the orbit" he ordered his forces.
They quickly left the building and headed towards the shuttle with which they arrived on the planet. The disturbance in the Force was growing larger and larger with every passing minute. They've entered the ship and took off as soon as possible, returning to their fleet.
"Are the Squadrons ready?" Revan asked as he entered the bridge. Their capital ships were now facing the area from which their enemy was coming.
"Yes, My Lord" Noma replied, jumping a little at the Revan's sudden appearance.
"Good. Wolfie, Atton" Revan now turned to his men. "Go to the hangar bay and prepare your Squadrons. This battle will be much heavier than your previous one and we need as many pilots in space as we can put up.
"Of course, General" they've said simultaneously and left the bridge.
"Excuse me, My Lord, but how did the Empire find out about our presence here?" Noma queried, coming closer to Revan. "Ziost didn't send any message or a call for help, we've made sure of it."
"And that's how they found out" he replied, looking at the Grand Admiral. Like most of his men, Noma shuddered a little after making eye contact with the black eyehole of Revan's mask. "They used to send an update message regularly and we have disrupted this schedule" he informed her. Noma didn't reply in any way. "Prepare for the fight!" Revan shouted towards every woman and man on deck.
He starred through the viewport into the empty space, feeling the presence of their enemies approaching. After a moment, the empty space began to fill up with the Empire's capital ships.
"It can't be right" Noma commented, observing the readings from the sensors. "Thirty… no, wait, forty ships!"
"Concentrate full firepower on the nearest ships" Revan ordered. "All Squadrons, engage the enemy, create a barrier between us and them. Admiral Sommos," he addressed the woman who was still standing next to him. "All capital ships must set seventy percent of power on the front shields, keep the life support systems at the minimum and focus the rest of the power on batteries."
"You've heard Lord Revan," Noma said loudly, wanting to be heard by all people who were on the bridge. "Carry out!"
"Setting up the front shields at seventy percent of power, life support systems reduced to the minimum, the rest of power focused on batteries" the Lieutenant confirmed, bringing Revan's orders to life and passing them to the rest of their ships.
Revan was focused on the projector that displayed the layout of the ships – both his and their enemies. The screen was covered with hundreds of small and large triangles in various colors. Their enemies were colored red and his forces were mostly green, except for the fighters Squadrons that were colored respectively to their names.
For someone who wasn't experienced in combat tactics, the display on the screen would seem to be a total mess, but after waging two wars, Revan was able to see clearly through the small shapes. He imagined that that's what Meetra and Malak had to see during the final battle of the Mandalorian Wars. Unfortunately, he was forced to spend the events that took place above Malachor V on the enemy's ship.
"Grey Squadron rendezvous with the Arrow Squadron and engage the nearest capital ship" Noma ordered via her communicator, observing the battlefield alongside Revan.
"Right away, Admiral" Wolfie replied and proceeded to do Noma's orders.
Why, oh why did I have to send Bastila away? He wondered, for the first time in a while remembering his wife. Her Battle Meditation would be useful now… and even later, he added to himself after a moment. And then, an idea came to his mind, seemingly out of nowhere.
"Officer Halan," he addressed the man who was back at the terminal. "I think it's about damn time we make good use of those codes we've acquired. Check if we can spy on their ship-to-ship communication."
"Right away, My Lord" Halan replied, turning to fulfill the orders he received. He took out the datapad out of his pocket and inserted it into the ship's computer.
"Green Squadron, spread out and disengage" Noma ordered. "You're being surrounded by the enemy's fighters, it's a trap!"
"We're pulling back, Admiral" the Green Leader replied. He and his Squadron maneuvered their fighters in the nick of time before they could get trapped. But they still haven't escaped safely from the enemy forces.
"Alpha Leader, help the Green Squadron and create for them some cover fire."
"Right away, Admiral."
"Admiral Sommos, this is Arrow Leader" Atton contacted her. "The capital ship we've engaged has taken some heavy damage – their life support systems have been destroyed, as well as half of their engines but we'll need some bigger firepower to take this ship down."
"Copy that, Arrow Leader" Noma replied and turned towards the people on the bridge. "All batteries, concentrate fire on the ship ahead, take it down!" she ordered.
"Concentrating firepower of all batteries on the ship ahead" the Lieutenant confirmed. Noma watched through the viewport as their ship's turrets focused fire on the ship ahead, bringing it down. After a few seconds of continuous firing, the Empire's capital ship started to explode in several places until it completely disappeared from space, leaving only individual pieces of what used to be a glorious Harrower-class dreadnaught. Noma allowed a small smile to find its way onto her lips as she watched the ship disappear also from the screen.
"Squadrons, continue what you've been doing and take out the rest of their ships as well" she broadcasted fleet-wide.
"My Lord, I've gain access to the information sent between their ships" Halan reported proudly after a few minutes of working at the terminal.
"Well done, Officer" Revan praised him. "See if there's something we can use in this battle" he ordered.
"Of course, My Lord" Halan replied, browsing the Empire's communication. "Incoming fighters, right above us!" he said after a few seconds.
"How many?" Noma asked.
"Three Squadrons" Halan informed her.
"Grey, Arrow and Alpha Squadron pull back and help us here" Noma ordered the Squadron Leaders.
"On our way, Admiral" the Leaders replied. Since the screen which displayed the battlefield was two-dimensional, Noma tried to see through the viewport the fighters above them, but it proved to be impossible. She only caught a glimpse of their fighters flying past the bridge.
"Five of their ships have broken down shields – they should be an easy target for us" Halan gave another info after a few minutes.
"Which ones?" Noma queried.
"I'll mark them on screen," the Intel Officer said and ran up to the projector. He took an indicator and touched five of the big red triangles.
"Send out the bombers" Revan ordered. One of the Lieutenants passed on his orders to the pilots who were still in the hangars.
"Bomber Leader, this is Admiral Sommos, I'm sending you the coordinates of your targets. These ships have no shields – take them down!" she ordered.
"We're at it, Admiral" the Bomber Squadron Leader replied. After a few seconds, a new group of triangles appeared on the screen and headed towards the five ships that Halan marked.
"This is going smoothly" Noma commented.
"Indeed," Revan said. "Order our Interdictors to focus the firepower on every capital ship that is closest to them" he added.
"Of course, My Lord" Noma replied and passed on Revan's orders further.
The battle over Ziost continued in this way. Halan was finding crucial information in the Empire's ship-to-ship communication and thanks to this, Revan and Noma could exploit it to the fullest. It turned out to be almost lossless skirmish for Revan's Empire.
A few hours after the battle, Revan, his top Generals and a few people that Revan chose personally were sitting in the conference room on board of the capital ship. Even Darth Traya arrived from Malachor V, summoned by her old apprentice. Moreover, HK managed to send him back the Ebon Hawk from Telos IV.
"We have won our first two battles" Revan began. "Though I must say that I'm a little… disappointed about the outcome of the Ziost campaign" he added. General Derred and Commander Gran who were leading the ground assault looked down in shame. "But we've succeeded nevertheless. The codes we've acquired on the planet below proved to come in handy in the space battle recently. We have an enormous advantage over our enemy now and we must exploit it to the fullest."
"What are your orders, My Lord?" Noma queried with her usual, official tone.
"The fleets that participated in the conquest of Ziost will remain here" Revan declared. "We're close enough to Malachor V to send reinforcements both ways. As for now, we must establish our position on Ziost in order to not lose it too fast, so, we all have a moment to catch our breath and lick our wounds after the recent battles. Queen Talia" he addressed the monarch of Onderon. "I want you to contact Bendak Starkiller on Dxun. He can start sending some of the Mandalorians to us but he must stay on that moon and wait for more of our people to show up."
"I'll do as you ask, Revan" she replied.
"Darth Traya," Revan said, directing his gaze at the old woman. He shuddered a little. It seemed that she could see well past beyond the eyehole in his mask. "The time is appropriate for you to start looking for Meetra." Traya nodded in response. "She might be exiled and she might have forgotten much from her original training, but she still is a Jedi. I want you to train her in the same way you trained me. Help her regain her connection to the Force, I will need her in this war."
"I'll do my best, Revan."
"Atton, you'll go with Darth Traya" Revan declared, now looking at one of the best of his assassins. "You've proved before that you can hunt down any Jedi and now this ability might be crucial."
"I'll do as you command, My Lord" Atton replied, though Revan heard a small trace of reluctance in his voice.
"T3 will go with you as well. You'll take the Ebon Hawk and that small droid can easily fly that ship. That's all from me. You all may leave" Revan said.
The crowd began to leave the conference room. Soon it was empty, except for Revan who was still reading something on the datapad.
"Are you sure it's a good idea that I go as well?" Atton asked. Revan directed his gaze from the datapad at the man. "It's been a while since the last time I've hunted down the Jedi and I think that I will prove to be more useful in the battles ahead."
"It might have been a while since your last hunt but your skills didn't disappear" Revan replied, turning off the datapad. "And finding Meetra will be much more useful in our war than having one more Squadron Leader. And I wouldn't pick any random person for this task."
"So that's it then?" Atton asked, giving up. "I will travel with that old witch and some astro droid?"
"Yes, you will set off as soon as possible. First, you must rest after the recent battles."
"And you trust me to be the adequate person to do this?" Atton asked, hoping to be reassigned in the last moment possible.
"I trust you to not do anything stupid… Jaq."
Well, well, well, we're approaching the events of KotOR 2 rapidly so don't be surprised if in the next chapter Revan will move over and you'll see Meetra in action. Okay, let me know what you thought of this chapter and see you later ;).