A long time ago in a galaxy far far away

CLIMAX OF WAR!, part TWO

Season 1, Episode 13

40 years passed since

Emperor Palpatine was defeated.

For years and years chaos remained as

the remnants of the Empire tried to maintain control

of the galaxy and the leaders of the Rebel Alliance tried to unite

the people in an organized democracy. Such attempts failed on both sides,

and the galaxy fell back to the political structure it had known before the creation of

the Old Republic. Small systems, bigger systems, coalition of planets, yet some planets are still

divided and self-regulated countries. Democracies, monarchies, empires, warlords, anarchies, even

the Hutts control a few systems, and still some parts of the universe have not been explored or heard of.

Ambulia is attacking Coruscant. Coruscant is attacking Ambulia. Neeah is on Drika's ship, fighting her, trying to prevent her from shooting their weapon, the pulsar, at civilians on the surface of the planet. Amirah has just boarded Drika's ship trying to rescue Neeah. And Luke Skywalker is on Coruscant with grand Aurelius Tribus.

##

The technical screen in the Relians' main headquarters was flashing with dots. Unfortunately, there were less and less dots representing Coruscant ships. This was becoming a lost cause.

– I'm afraid you're going to have to come to the realization that what I had foreseen is happening. You should make alternate plans to avoid casualties.

– But you told me the future was always in motion, master Jedi?

– Nevertheless, unless something unexpected happens, you can't win. I suggest you evacuate. Come with me, I can bring you to safety where you can avoid being bargained as a hostage.

– I cannot abandon my people. And I will not surrender Coruscant to these barbarians.

The general who was in the room with them intervened.

– With all due respect, grand Aurelius, the Jedi is right. We can't win, but maybe we can get you out of here.

– No. I'd rather go to the desperation move we have discussed.

– That's a suicide mission for some officers.

– It's better than occupation. Faced with complete failure, utter defiance is the only response.

Then the Aurelius turned to Luke.

– However, I would suggest that you leave, master Jedi. I also wouldn't want you to be a high prize hostage to be bargained. Your option to abandon is the wise one and I wouldn't let my foolishness extend to you. If we do have to surrender, I would feel a lot better knowing that you are out there free to find a way to get us out of this mess.

There was silence, then Tribus spoke again.

– One cannot order a galactic hero like you. But I strongly strongly suggest it.

Luke tried one last time

– you are being consciously foolish, grand Aurelius. Yes, I will leave, and you should come with me.

Grand Aurelius Tribus shook his head.

– My decision is final. May the Force be with you Master Skywalker.

He turned towards his military officers.

– Now, general, concentrate all firepower on Webell's ship. Perhaps they will panic.

##

The security team on the Ambulia's peak were looking for an intruder, but not one with a lightsaber.

– There he is!

They fired, and Amirah's blade deflected the bolts. This was a waste of time. He jumped on a small ridge above him and slid in the small space behind the turbo lift.

– Get up there, we need to find him before he does any more damage.

Then, as the Lieut. finished his sentence, the ship was rocked severely, and the lights fluctuated.

##

Relian ships were heading straight for the flagship, consciously aware that it was going to be a one-way trip. The strategy was that if they destroyed that ship, with Webell and Drika on it, the offensive would end. One medium size cruiser was shot se onds before it collided with the Peak, the explosion, at point-blank and a short distance, created a shock wave of energy that backlashed on the Ambulia's peak. The rest of the Relian fleet targeted the peak as well. It took heavy damage, but the Relian fleet was paying a heavy price for their boldness as the rest of the Ambulian ships could take them out from behind. On the bridge of Webell's ship, it was chaos. Lights were out, some panels were on fire, and Drika was fighting Neeah. Webell was yelling:

– you fools, why did you fire? They were too close! That makes no sense, we're going to lose the peak! Retreat! Retreat!

Drika struck a blow to Neeah that sent her opponent on her back. Drika turned around and raised her voice.

– Belay that order. They won't last much longer with this desperation strategy. We can sustain it.

Her blade was still lit, and she turned her attention the back to Neeah after she was certain she had made her point.

– Now, where were we?

Neeah was back on her feet, white blade lit.

– You were wasting your saliva trying to convince me to cowardly fall for the easiness of the dark side.

– It's either that, or you die. Very simple.

Drika grinned but Neeah could see the resolve in her face. She meant it.

– How original… Is that all you can think of?

Neeah's play was to stall, prevent Drika from turning our attention to the battle, and delay the firing of the pulsar on the planet. It was working, she could see Drika's cheeks turning red.

– You really piss me off young puppet. And that's where I draw my strength from. You have no idea how the dark side has made me powerful.

Then she attacked, unleashing her anger and determined to put an end to this pitiful resistance as quickly as possible. Neeah could barely stop the first blow, but then was hit in the back by a projectile sent her away by Drika. The second blow came in the much faster and Neeah had to retreat to regain her composure.

– You will be mine!

The bridge was rocked again by enemy fire. The lights were still out. Neeah's took advantage of the distraction to jump away from Drika. Then the turbo lift door slid open and in the darkness of the bridge, a purple blade stood out. Neeah recognized Amirah and felt relieved. Amirah quickly used the Force and detached a large technical panel that was hanging from the ceiling and slammed it to the ground between Drika and Neeah. It caught fire as it exploded when slammed on the ground. The explosion sent both Drika and Neeah backwards, the former withstanding the blow much better than the later. Neeah laid on the ground at Amirah's feet, she could barely muster the energy to crawl into the turbo lift. Amirah had to make a decision, follow her and fulfil his mission to rescue the Padawan, or stay and fight Drika. But he had a mission to fulfil and retreated in the turbo lift as well, leaving Drika with her damaged bridge and her rage, Drika yelled «coward! » as the sliding doors closed.

She turned to her staff

– that weakling Lozof can't escape. Call security I don't want them to get off the ship.

The lights came back. Webell was holding on to a chair and had obviously lost his composure. She ignored him and addressed the senior officer:

– is Coruscant mine yet?

– Not quite, but their resistance has faded.

In the chaos of the battle nobody unnoticed an old B-wing, a relic of the previous generation, leaving the orbit of Coruscant and jumping to lightspeed, carrying Luke Skywalker to safety.

##

The ground assault squad accompanying Brett had done a great job circling the Ambulian headquarters and eliminating their defences. The resistance was disorganized and panicking. In the last gasp of defence, the hangar bay doors opened and out came an unexpected blast of rockets followed by small speeder bikes. From their pattern however it became quite clear that their intent was to escape. Brett had been manning a rocket launcher, which was not precise enough to attack small speeder bikes. So he picked one that passed by him and hit it with a swift stroke of lightsaber on the front directional wings. The driver jumped before the bike started spinning, headed for certain destruction. The Relians were able to destroy or capture most of the other speeder bikes. Brett approached the fallen driver. He knew that this man was their leader.

– Perhaps it's time to surrender and tell your people to stop the bloodshed.

The man indeed had the generals insigna on his uniform. He got up and swept off the sand from his uniform and drew his commlink.

– This is general Vest. We have failed. Surrender now and stop the bloodshed. I'm sure the Jedi here will make sure there are no unnecessary casualties.

He turned to Brett,

– I assume you're one of the honourable' ones…not like her.

Brett's face was tense.

– You have my word.

He then picked up his own Comlink and addressed the Relian forces

– Gen. Upbs, we have secured the headquarters. I have given my word that the Ambulians who have surrendered will not be armed unnecessarily.

He turned to general Vest

– these Relian's seem like honourable people, don't worry.

In an instant all the chaos, the firing of weapons and the noise stopped.

##

Amirah stop turbo lift halfway between levels.

– How do you feel?

– Like a ton of bricks have hit my brains. But I don't think I'm injured. I…felt her anger, her fear. When a dark place to be. It's very unsettling.

Amirah put his hand on her shoulder.

– You were brave, and you were strong. Congratulations.

He followed up by extending his blade and pierce a round hole on the ceiling of the turbo lift. They both got out and jumped on a ledge.

– If I'm right, the hangar bay I came through was right here on this level.

– Isn't it going to be full of people?

– I got a few surprises for them…

The battle raged on outside, but they could feel that the ship wasn't getting rocked as much as before. Perhaps the Ambulians would win this battle after all and take control of Coruscant, which was a scary thought. But he concentrated on his mission, and anyway this was one more reason to get out of here as soon as possible.

When Amirah had gotten out of the Candlebox and they destroyed the glass panel, he also had left sensors on the edge of the opening. He wasn't surprised to see that the panel was now replaced by a force field, holding the integrity of the ship and of the hangar bay. He activated the device, and that power surge caused the force field to collapse. Once again, the hangar bay was depressurized. The air flooded out at an alarming rate, and everything that wasn't magnetically attached to the ground was thrown into the blackness of space. Once again, the few officers who were in the bay were sucked out. After almost a minute, Amirah stopped the device, and the force field was reinstated. He turned to Neeah:

– take a deep breath, we're going in and stealing a ship.

They opened the door and could feel the air of the ship being swallowed by the large room, like a vacuum. In an instant, they had boarded a small shuttle and Amirah had powered the engines. They lifted off the ground, then Amirah activated his device again, cutting off the force field and they escaped through that window.

– Livan, we're out. How are you doing?

– I'm fine, but the Relian's are getting hammered. We must get outta here now. I know Master Luke has.

Amirah was relieved to hear that last part, and it confirmed to him that it was the right path since it was the one Master Luke had chosen. He pulled the lever and they went into hyperspace.

##

The defences around Coruscant had been significantly reduced by concentrating on the Ambulia's peak, and it had failed as the flagship was still holding on despite having taken heavy damage. Ambulian ships were now at a significant numbers advantage and could afford to spare enough resources to protect their flagship while the rest of their fleet were overpowering the weakened Relian defences.

Drika had regained her composure and was directing the battle.

– Power up the pulsar once more.

– It's already loading. Will be ready to fire in two minutes.

– Excellent. Get me Grant Aurelius Tribus. We'll see what wins between his pride and his pathetic love for his people.

It took a minute until Tribus was on screen. Webell stood up to address him

– I am chief elect Webell of Ambulia, as you see…

Drika cut him off.

– Your beloved Coruscant is mine, grand Aurelius. In a minute, I can fire the laser beam directly on your headquarters and there is nothing your pitiful fleet can do to prevent me now. I would hate to destroy such a piece of history. So you have a choice, surrender, or see how much damage the pulsar can inflict on your surface.

– You're a monster.

– Surrender, now!

The image of Tribus disappeared. She turned to the weapons officer.

– How long?

– Fourty seconds.

##

Tribus asked

– how long?

– Less than a minute, sir.

Tribus closed his eyes

– with the firepower this thing has, she would kill a billion people.

– Don't you think she's bluffing?

– No. Not her. She's crazy. Open the comm.

– I surrender Coruscant to you, Webell.

He put the accent on Webell's name, out of spite for her.

The insult hit Drika but in this moment, she chose the exhilarating feeling of power that her successful attack had brought her. She sat down.

– As I had foreseen, Coruscant is mine.

She was all smiles.

– Incoming message from Ambulia:

A young officer appeared on screen

– it's over here, chief elect. General Vest has surrendered and been taken prisoner. The Relians have control of our headquarters and all significant outposts. I'm sorry, but Ambulia is theirs.

##

Brett's X2 wing was escorting the ship that carried general Vest towards the main Relian vessel. Space was surprisingly calm.

– Gen. Upbs, where is everybody?

– I'm afraid that's all there is left master Jedi. We've lost a lot of ships, and they barely have any left, and some have deserted. I think we've got enough to maintain control of the system, but barely. I hope the pirates and the mercenaries will be quiet. It appears however that our colleagues were not as successful in defending Coruscant. I've just received word that Grant Aurelius Tribus has surrendered.

Brett's eyes closed for an instant. What a bizarre turn of events. As he gathered his thoughts, he saw the ship carrying general Vest enter Upbs ship and noticed another X2 wings circling around it.

– Obu, is that you?

– Yes master.

– Feeling better, obviously?

– Of course, but –

She was interrupted when all the alarms and sensors beeped at the same time.

Dozens of ships had entered the system. General Upbs's voice was immediately in Brett's ear.

– Reinforcements? That can't be?

These were not Ambulian reinforcements. Small ships, fighters, larger ships and a few cruisers bigger than any ship Brett had ever seen. They were all of pyramidal shape, green and grey. Before they could react, the remaining Relian ships were fired upon by the coming armada and took heavy damage.

Brett recognized the ships. The armies of Sedror had appeared, out of nowhere. They didn't even bother to hail them before they attacked. Brett was blown away in his mind. Could Drika have aligned herself with these guys? That was a scary thought. But it seemed to him that the alien ships were firing on everybody, Relians and Ambulians alike.

Upbs gave the order right away

- all forces, flee to lightspeed if you're able!

Very few could.

– Obu, let's get outta here well we can.

– Yes master, right away.

It wasn't easy but they managed to manoeuvre through the chaos and jumped to lightspeed.

As they did and Brett could see the stars turning to lines, he shivered when the thought hit him: they were just here to clean up what was left and take control.

##

The defences around Coruscant had shut down when Tribus had surrendered. Webell was still in shock with the news that Ambulia had surrendered as well.

– We've got to do something! We've lost Ambulia, the crown jewel, our Ambulia, my Ambulia…

– The crown jewel is Coruscant. We'll get Ambulia back, in due time. Just like every other planet.

She was sitting in the command chair and visibly enjoying herself, not caring much about Ambulia.

– Send reinforcements! No, I get it, offer a trade, Coruscant for Ambulia?

He was impatient, irritating, incoherent and quite frankly acting like a child. So Drika dismissed him like an insect.

– Stop it, you're wasting my time.

Webell stood up and turned his face to her, mustering all the strength he could to oppose her.

– This is my army, my fleet, my people. And Ambulia is my planet.

But she wasn't listening. Because at the same time, all the sensors and all the alarms started to beep. An invasion force, whose number dwarfed the size of the Ambulian fleet, had simply appeared around them, and before any introductions were made, they started firing and destroying ships, Ambulian or Relian they did not care. A complete fleet with fighters, smaller ships and larger ones, backed up by cruisers bigger than any ship Drika had ever seen. They all looked the same, green and grey pyramidal shaped.

– Who are these people?

She was pissed. Had the Relian's or the Jedi found the new allies to ruin her plans yet again? That seemed far-fetched to her, but as she saw her ships getting gunned down one by one, her anger only escalated.

– There is no match in our database ma'am.

But no one was listening. Webell stepped forward.

– Retreat! Let's go back to Ambulia!

He was frenetic, over exuberant and incoherent.

Drika could barely move as she watched the incoming ships destroy what was left of her fleet in spectacular manner. The officers were looking at her, then at Webell, wondering if she was going to belay his orders or to confirm them. But she remained silent.

– Forget about her, I am the chief elect! Follow my orders, let's go!

He walked towards the command chair in the middle of the bridge where she was sitting.

– I'm relieving you of command. You cost us Ambulia!

She remained calm but finally acknowledged him.

– You fool. Don't you see it's all over? Our depleted fleet won't survive 10 minutes against these guys. The Ambulia's peak has taken a beating and probably cannot even escape even if we wanted to go back to Ambulia. They have cut off all the main escape routes, only small fighters can get out. So, if you want to sit in that chair, just to satisfy your ego, be my guest.

She got up, grabbed and by the Force and threw him in the chair, which he hit violently.

– At least I will have one satisfaction today. Killing a pitiful and pathetic worm posing as a leader.

She raised her right hand and choked him with all her anger. She had been so close to complete success, why would these guys show up now and ruin her plans? She had defeated the Relians and the Jedi for once, yet someone else had to come and ruin the party.

– Let me… Let me… I can't… Breathe…

She closed her fist, finalizing the collapse of Webell's throat. He choked to death and fell to the floor.

She walked to the turbo lift as the bridge was silent. Before she entered, one officer had the courage to ask her:

– What should we do?

– Whatever you want, I couldn't care less.

Then the turbo lift sliding doors shut and she was gone.

She reached her personal ship, a one-person fighter, and she left. As she entered space, she saw that the Ambulia's peak was making a run to jump to hyperspace. But the invaders were both smart and powerful and fired the crucial blow that silenced every voice on that ship in a second.

– At least these bastards won't get their hands on the pulsar.

She felt no relief from that thought, her anger still overwhelming her emotions. She managed to find a hole in the defensive net of the invaders and pulled the lightspeed lever. As the stars turned to lines, she had a scary thought: these aliens, they were just here to clean up what was left and take control.

##

Luke's B- wing was still orbiting Dagobah, as he was wondering what his next move would be and if any of his Order would require assistance. First, he saw a small Ambulian ship drop out of hyperspace.

– Good to see you, Master. I have Neeah with me.

The obviously had recognized Amirah's presence in the Force and his voice.

Then the Candlebox showed up, and finally both X2 wings coming in from Ambulia. He was relieved that all had made it back. But what was left of the known universe, not even the wise Jedi knew.

##

Drika's ship landed at her hideout on Mustafar. This place strong was with the dark side so this was where she had come when she left Luke to continue her learning and hide from the Jedi. To her comfort, when she exited her ship, she saw that Tantrum had made it back safely as well. He walked to greet her.

– I was worried about you, master.

– You worry too much.

– If that's of any comfort to you, I've been scanning and listening. The same fleet that exterminated us around Coruscant also did the same on Ambulia and on all the other significant systems. They have invaded pretty much all the core worlds, and no one was able to resist them.

– Who are these people?

– They haven't said much, but on one planet they did broadcast a message. They call themselves the armies of Sedror. They are here to conquer, they offer no terms, and consider their occupation as their right.

– Impressive. I wish I had met them before I met Webell.

– What are we going to do now?

– I don't know Tantrum. But I will come up with something. When there's a threat there's always an opportunity.

The next minute or so, every inhabited world within range of Coruscant received this audio message on every frequency known. The voice was dry and in broken basic. But there was no doubting the message.

"Attention all planets. We have assumed control. You will now bow to the might of Sedror".

THE END