Hey, everybody. Back with another chapter.
Let's get to it.
Chapter 3- First Contact
As the final shuttle touches down on the surface of this new planet, the commander of the 61st Motorized Infantry Brigade, Colonel Petro Shevchenko scans the area up ahead with binoculars, but without a sign of sentient life anywhere in sight.
The 61st was a decent show of Terran land power. The brigade was made up of 4,092 Ukrainian troops, with a number specialized for operation in mountainous regions. The brigade included a tank battalion of 52 T-72 main battle tanks, 3 rifle battalions, and an artillery regiment.
Shevchenko knows his orders. The 61st is assigned to simply survey the area. Initial scans of the planet suggested that there may be sentient life somewhere in an area about the size of the state of Texas in America. The 61st has been ordered to survey the area and attempt to find out what sentient life inhabits this planet.
His XO comes up to Shevchenko. "Colonel, we are ready to move," the Lieutenant Colonel says.
Shevchenko nods. He then pulls out a map he was given that was hastily made of the area where he landed, then pulls out a compass he brought from home. Looking at the compass and comparing where it's pointing to landmarks shown on the map, Shevchenko says, "Alright. We will move towards magnetic north-east. That should take us right through the center of the search area."
"Understood," the XO says before he starts issuing orders to the brigade.
Within a few minutes, the brigade begins moving towards magnetic northeast. Shevchenko keeps the tank battalion in the middle of the brigade to avoid overly intimidating any sentient life they come across. Shevchenko is riding in his personal Kozak-2 armored truck.
As the brigade moves north, the scouts at the front of the formation are continually scanning the horizon with electronic surveillance equipment and simple binoculars, looking for any sign of life forms. Although they spot animals running across the landscape, mostly fleeing from the advancing brigade, they see no sign of intelligent life.
For hours, the 61st continues its advance over the landscape, moving relatively slow to ensure they don't miss anything important.
After almost 5 hours of searching, the brigade has traveled almost 120 miles. So far they have seen nothing, and no sign of civilization. The troops of the brigade are starting to get a bit bored, and wondering if there really is going to be any intelligent life here on this planet.
In his truck, Colonel Shevchenko has actually fallen asleep. For the first three hours, he'd been on full alert, but after that, he had started to get less alert, and given how long he had been awake without sleep, he'd finally fallen asleep a little over 4 hours into the search.
Suddenly, he feels himself being shaken awake. He looks to his right and sees his XO is the one shaking him awake.
"What is it?" Shevchenko asks.
"Colonel, the scouts have spotted buildings up ahead, and they believe them to be inhabited. Do you wish to proceed?" the Lieutenant Colonel asks.
"Yes. Proceed towards the settlement. Tell the scouts to alert me as soon as they get a look at the inhabitants," Shevchenko orders.
The brigade slows down slightly as it proceeds towards the settlement. As they get closer, they realize it's not a tiny village, but at least a decent sized town, if not a small city. Trained negotiators move to the front of the brigade, ready to try and begin negotiating with the natives. A protocol droid with a large repertoire of languages is with them. At the same time, Colonel Shevchenko moves up closer to the front of the brigade.
As the first platoon approaches in several trucks up to the town, the Ukrainian troops can see figures beginning to come out of the town towards them. It only takes them a moment to realize that the individuals in question are all armed with medieval type weapons.
One of the lieutenants in the platoon calls out on the radio, "Inform Colonel Shevchenko: the natives are coming out to meet us, and they are armed. Awaiting further instructions."
As they approach, the soldiers suddenly see the figures starting to break out running right at them. As the figure get close, the soldiers see that these creatures are red skinned humanoids.
Then, suddenly, the humanoids start shooting energy arrows at them, and several charge with swords towards the nearest trucks. One soldier on top of a truck is hit in the arm by an energy arrow and is forced to duck down into the truck.
"S***! They're attacking!" one soldier calls out.
"Lay down cover fire! Do not shoot to kill, and inform Colonel Shevchenko!" the platoon commander calls out. The Ukrainian troops begin firing their assault rifles and a machine gun towards the humanoids. One humanoid is hit and wounded, and they begin to back off, shouting in their language at the Ukrainians.
In his truck, Colonel Shevchenko hears that the lead platoon is being attacked. He reacts quickly and says, "Pull the lead units back, and order the tank battalion forward! Contact Admiral Pellaeon!" He then calls to his driver, "Take me to the front line!"
As Shevchenko's orders ripple through the brigade, the leading platoons pull back to the main body of the brigade. At the same time, the brigade's 52 T-72s move forward. The lead platoons continue intermittent rifle fire until the tanks finally reach the front lines. As the tanks come through the front lines and take their positions in front of the brigade, the natives stop trying to pursue the Ukrainians and pull back, knowing they can't stand against them.
The two sides both kind of settle into an uneasy ceasefire, both sides still formed up and facing each other. The Ukrainian T-72s keep their guns levelled at the natives, who refuse to advance while the guns are pointed at them.
Colonel Shevchenko soon reaches the front line. As he climbs out of his truck, a lieutenant walks up to Shevchenko. "Colonel, the natives are holding their positions. They haven't moved since the tanks came up here."
Shevchenko nods before he walks in front of the tanks, pulling out his pair of binoculars. He raises them to his eyes and looks across the no mans land towards the inhabitants of the town.
It takes him a moment to get a good look at the natives. As he looks at them through his binoculars, something is bothering him. Something about their appearance just seems familiar. Then, he begins to realize what that is. Their red skin, tendrils on the sides of their mouths, thick bony structures over their eyes. They look exactly like pictures he's seen in a book he once read on major species of the Andromeda Galaxy.
"Holy s***! Those are Sith!" Shevchenko says in shock.
"Sith? I thought the Emperor and Vader were both dead," his XO says, not realizing what Shevchenko meant.
"No, not Sith Lords. Sith, the species that the Sith Lords got that name from. An ancient species that was powerful in the dark side. History books say they all but died out a long time ago. What the hell is a colony doing here?" Shevchenko responds, the last sentence more directed at himself.
Shevchenko continues to look at the natives through binoculars for a minute before he finally lowers his binoculars and pulls out his commlink. He activates it, and a few seconds later, an image of Admiral Pellaeon comes up.
"What is it, Colonel?" Pellaeon asks.
"Admiral, we've found the natives, and you're not gonna believe what we found. The locals are Sith. And by that, I mean the original Sith species originally native to Korriban. They appear somewhat hostile, or at least extremely defensive. We're kind of in a stalemate right now with them," Shevchenko says.
Pellaeon stands there for a few moments, considering the situation. After a few long moments of silence, he finally says, "Understood. I will come down to the surface myself with Major Ronen and TC-92." TC-92 was one of the protocol droids aboard the Hood that was actually programmed to translate the ancient language of the Sith. TC-92 had been sent with the Hood simply because the Hood's mission was to locate Exegol, a Sith redoubt.
"Understood. We will hold current positions," Colonel Shevchenko responds before cutting the transmission.
Shevchenko looks around at everyone around him. "All units will maintain current positions. Show no aggression unless directly attacked," he orders.
"Yes, sir!" everyone within earshot responds sharply.
The 61st maintains its position, unmoving, but still at full readiness, waiting for either the Sith to make a move or Admiral Pellaeon to arrive. Thankfully, within just 20 minutes, they hear the familiar sounds of engines, and look up to see an MC-58 Wraith descending towards the planet's surface. The Wraith lands in a small open space not far from the front lines.
Shevchenko hurries to meet the shuttle. His armored truck pulls up to the shuttle right as Admiral Pellaeon and Major Ronen come walking down the boarding ramp, their bodyguards following alongside him. Following behind them is TC-92, which looks like a standard protocol droid with a green paint job.
Shevchenko salutes Pellaeon, who returns the salute. Shevchenko then asks, "What do you wish to do, Admiral?"
"I will lead a negotiation party. You will remain with your brigade, Colonel. Major Rone, TC-92, and I, along with a tank platoon will move to the village and attempt to negotiate with the Sith. You will maintain your brigade at full readiness while we are attempting to negotiate. You will not open fire unless ordered to or we are killed. Despite them being Sith, I want there to be at least a chance of friendship. Understood?" Pellaeon answers.
"Yes, sir," Shevchenko responds without hesitation.
An armored truck comes up to take Pellaeon and his entourage. Pellaeon and his companions, including the droid, get into the truck, which sets off towards the front lines, accompanied by three more armored trucks carrying almost a platoon of soldiers. As the truck reaches the front lines, 4 T-72s start up their engines and follow the four trucks.
The trucks and tanks move slowly across the no man's land at only 10 miles per hour. Although the tanks do not have their guns specifically trained on the Sith, they have rounds loaded in the main guns and the machine guns ready.
In the armored truck, Pellaeon and Ronen are discussing the situation. "Are you sure this will work, Admiral? The Sith were naturally strong in the darkness, and one could say they are naturally evil."
"Perhaps, Major. But we need allies, and if this planet has resources we need to repair the ship and refuel the engines and hyperdrive, we cannot get those resources without these Sith. We have to try and negotiate with them," Pellaeon insists.
"Alright," Ronen responds, but clearly is still uncertain. Of course, Pellaeon isn't entirely surprised. Given Ronen was initially trained as a Jedi before joining the ASAT team, it's natural that he would be suspicious of the Sith species.
The 8 vehicles finally come to a stop less than a hundred yards from the lines that the Sith had set up. The tank crews keep the engines running and stay ready to fight in case the Sith show aggression while Pellaeon and his entourage exit their trucks. There's almost three dozen soldiers gathered around Pellaeon, Ronen, and TC-92. The group moves slowly across the remaining distance between themselves and the Sith. As they are walking, Pellaeon turns to TC-92. "Anything I speak, you will translate to these Sith in the ancient Sith language," he says, hoping that these Sith still speak the language of their ancestors.
Pellaeon and his group stop a few yards away from the Sith. The Sith are eying them with suspicion, but so far not making any suspicious moves.
Pellaeon looks at the Sith and asks, "We come in peace. Who here speaks for this people?" TC-92 translates this into the ancient language of the Sith. To Pellaeon's relief, he sees surprise come over the faces of the Sith. He knows this must mean that they do in fact speak their ancient language, and the surprise must be at TC-92 knowing said language.
After several long moments, a Sith walks forward. He is wearing elaborate jewelry and some kind of headgear. The Sith takes a few steps in front of his fellows and begins speaking in his language. TC-92 waits until the Sith individual stops speaking before turning to Pellaeon and translating, "I am Albaron, leader of this people. Who are you to come in arms to my people's homes? I demand to know who you are and why you have come here."
"Tell him 'I am Admiral Pellaeon. We have been traveling the stars for many moons, lost and looking for a world that could save us. Our ship is currently above this planet, and we sent down this group simply to see what lives on this planet'," Pellaeon says.
TC-92 translates this to Albaron. Albaron listen before he responds with a few sentences. TC-92 then turns to Pellaeon and translates, "Why have you come here in arms? How do we know you do not come here in war?"
"We only took precautions in case any inhabitants of this world proved hostile. We do not wish to subjugate you. As you may have noticed, when your people attacked us at first, we did not attempt to kill them only to hold them at bay, and we have not fired at you since. We only need to replenish our food stock and to repair our ship. We are willing to provide gifts to your people in exchange for your help. I will order my troops to pull back if you promise our safety," Pellaeon says.
TC-92 translates this to Albaron. Albaron narrows his eyes, suspicious. Pellaeon then says, "I give you my word we mean you no harm. If you wish us to leave, we will do so. But we promise a temporary alliance between us will be mutually beneficial. We only ask that you be willing to listen to what we ask for and be willing to host our presence for a short time. As a show of good faith, we give you some of your weapons."
As TC-92 translates, Pellaeon looks at one of the squads that accompanied him. "You 10, lay your weapons down on the ground for our hosts," he orders. The soldiers look a bit uncomfortable, but only hesitate for a moment before they lay their assault rifles on the ground, as well as their pistols.
Pellaeon then turns to Ronen. "Major, if you would give them to our hosts," he says wryly. Ronen, knowing what he's asking, nods. He then raises a hand closes his eyes, reaching out with the Force and lifting the weapons into the air. The Sith begin to gasp and point as they realize Ronen is using the Force. Unperturbed by their shock, Ronen carefully moves the weapons over and then sits them down in front of Albaron.
Alb aron looks down at the weapons, picking one up to examine it. After a few moments, he looks at Admiral Pellaeon and says, "Very well. Order the rest of your troops save your guard to withdraw a short distance. Once they have done that, I will believe you, and we can discuss particulars of what you desire and if it is reasonable." TC-92 translates his words to Pellaeon.
Pellaeon nods. He then pulls out his commlink and activates it. A few seconds later, Colonel Shevchenko appears as hologram on the commlink. "Yes, Admiral?" Shevchenko asks.
"We are making progress in the negotiations, Colonel. As a sign of good faith, please pull your brigade back two miles, but remain at full readiness," Pellaeon orders.
"Understood, Admiral. We will begin pulling back immediately," Shevchenko responds before cutting the transmission. Sure enough, within a minute, the 61st begins pulling back away from the Sith town.
As Albaron sees that the 61st is pulling back, he finally feels satisfied. Although still suspicious of these new arrivals, he is now confident that they mean him no immediate harm, and feels it may indeed be beneficial to his people to hear Pellaeon out. He speaks several lines in his language, which TC-92 translates to, "Very well, one called Pellaeon. Come with me into our town. We will speak in my home, and you will tell me where you come from and what it is you desire of us."
Pellaeon feels a sense of hope. Although he can tell the Sith are still a bit distrustful of them, hopefully this is a step towards alliance and possible friendship between them.
And, I'll end the chapter there.
I hope you guys liked the surprise of them encountering a colony of Sith purebloods. The backstory of this colony will be explained in future chapters.
So, the next three chapters will cover the Hood's time on this planet before they leave and move on. However, the colony will appear again once more near the end of the story.
Next chapter will be up soon. Until it's up, please leave a review, and stay tuned!