Chapter Ten
Having successfully recovered her apprentice from the Podraces of Malastare, Arden Lyn was now prepared to face the Yuuzhan Vong counterattack fully. "If all calculations are correct, they should be entering our end of the Hydian Way in no more than two days," a Chiss officer stated. "Good, plenty of time for us to make a plan of assault and I already know where I want to begin. The Ember of Vahla will pilot the starfighters under Depa Billaba's command and her Battle Meld.
"From here, I will take on Battle Meditation and help all our forces overcome the Yuuzhan Vong counterattack fleet to the best of my ability. But before I go into the trance, the Sorcerers of Tund will incite blessings that grant the starfighters temporary invincibility. I want our soldiers finding out the weaknesses in the fleet's vehicles and relating them back to us before they perish. One of the mistakes my husband and I made at Colomus was not gathering enough intelligence on where we could hit our Jedi enemies hardest," Arden explained.
"With due respect Mistress, perhaps it would be better if both you and I joined the fleet rather than one of us out here? Battle Meld normally requires the 'Melding' of two minds as per the name and if you and I did that, we could be very effective," Depa asked. "If I did that, we would only be effective as our two minds working to one goal in the same space and time. No, if our powers remained separate though for the same purpose, we would be able to give twice the power our soldiers need," Arden answered.
"I see Mistress, it will give the soldiers even more capability for victory though they are already highly trained and ingenious as far as fighting is concerned," Depa said. Arden nodded and repeated her sentiment about why the Battle of Colomus went out of hand as quickly as it did. "Of course, it was a massacre and the last thing you want is yet another massacre with forces under your command," the officer agreed. "Perhaps, in the meantime, we can have the Sorcerers begin their incantations immediately and you can prepare your Battle Meditation?" the same officer suggested after a moment.
Arden nodded and stated that it would indeed work to their advantage to have that going for them before the counterattack came. It took the Sorcerers less than a day to reach all the starfighters and recite their blessings and for Arden to warm up into her trance. Fortunately, it didn't take her apprentice nearly that long to get into her Battle Meld trance mode. Unfortunately, it also wasn't that long before the enemy fleet, earlier than anticipated though not much, in fact.
"To arms, we're at war!" Depas ordered to the Ember of Vahla. Luckily for her and her Mistress, it didn't take the Vahla that long to get to the starfighters they needed to be in. Nor for that matter, did it take them long to meet Depa in space as they met their Yuuzhan Vong equivalents and the cruisers from whence they came. "Follow my orders exactly and we shall be out of this in no time!" Depa shouted to all her soldiers via comlink. In the meantime, the Sorcerers were obeying orders from the Chiss officer back in the cruiser that the fighters had been carried in.
Bo-Katan had been following Kenobi since he had landed on Mandalore and disguised himself as a Death Watch soldier. She knew it was him almost immediately because who else would want to come and rescue her sister? Satine's only had one love interest in her life and it was Kenobi. All she ever talked about for the first eight months after their separation was how she missed him she thought, remembering when they were teens.
But maybe there was some sort of secret that Satine was hiding from her and from Kenobi. If they all survived to see the end of this, she would have to ask her about it. However, since both were possibly going to be executed, the time to worry about the past or the future was not now. The Death Watch Soldiers had assigned droids to clean the wreckage but as Bo observed, they overlooked Kenobi's lightsaber. To think that a Jedi can lose their lightsaber as many times as he has and still be respectable is unbelievable Bo thought.
She picked it up as the cleaning droids finished up their work and she called for her soldiers to secure the shipping docks for the Duchess and the Jedi. If the third escape attempt was to actually succeed, the Night Owls were going to have to truly fight against their enemy. No longer could they keep waging guerilla warfare with the knowledge that Maul would inevitably route them out. She and her soldiers knew this was coming from the beginning and would be ready for it.
But would Bo be ready for it with her slowly developing pregnancy? Would the baby hold her back or would it not be a problem since it had yet to swell her belly? She wanted to hope that it wouldn't but there were other effects of pregnancy with the belly only the most obvious of them all. Smacking those thoughts out of her head, she grabbed Kenobi's saber and told them that she wanted the docks secured by the time she returned with Kenobi and the Duchess.
"I don't care if you have to fight off Death Watch soldiers in the meantime, just make sure at least one of our ships is in the dock and can transport the prisoners out of Mandalore. After that, all bets are off and we will engage Death Watch fully, understood?" she added. Her lieutenants nodded and suggested that she at least take four soldiers with her to which she agreed. For her rescue plan to work, she couldn't afford to be alone and fighting against the Sith brothers that held Mandalore.
"And get me a pack with a female-designed suit of armor too. If the Duchess is going to be jetpacking around Mandalore, she's going to need something she can magnetize the pack to," Bo ordered. A soldier nodded and provided her with the package, attaching it to her chest since her jetpack made it impossible for her to place it on her back. The four soldiers she selected were the ones that were each considered the best in the four greatest squads in the Night Owls.
"Quality over quantity for a rescue mission, remember that men. It's what Pre Vizsla used to tell us and it's what we'll continue to do," Bo stated when asked about it. The memory of Death Watch's old leader made her shiver slightly because she never got over what happened to him. After all, he was the father of her unborn child, how could she ever find it in her heart to forgive Maul killing him?
How could she forgive the Zabrak for robbing Bo of her dreams for a life with Pre Vizsla after Mandalore was their? And how could she ever forgive him now that he tainted the legacy of Mandalore with his presence on the throne? Revenge would come to her as sure as Maul was hoping revenge would be his against Kenobi now. Only difference was that unlike him, she knew revenge would be hers whereas he only thought it would be his.
For Prime Minister Almec, the return of Obi-Wan Kenobi and his attempt to free Duchess Satine was nothing short of chaotic. After all, Maul and Savage had managed to catch them but not before they had to blow a ship, causing chaos in the shipping docks. The people had thought they saw the end of these sorts of attacks when Almec was reinstated and as a result, were unsettled again. "You promised us that Mandalore would again be strong yet here's another attack!" one citizen shouted.
"And in not even two days since you were reinstated too!" another added in agreement. "People of Mandalore, I realize that there has been a disturbance in the shipping docks. However, this was caused by Duchess Satine's second attempt to escape Sundari prison and her own destiny in there. In a desperate desire to be restored to power after murdering Pre Vizsla, the Duchess has persuaded her sister Bo-Katan and the Night Owls to join her in her path of deception and death! Another request Vizsla had made before he passed away was that I wipe out Bo and her Night Owls, using the red pain you see on my soldiers now for distinguishment," he began.
"Then why do they still live, you bumbling buffoon? And why are more people joining them now than they did when you were reinstated as Prime Minister? They numbered only dozens yesterday and now number almost a couple thousand thanks to the citizens who saw their fight and joined them!" yet another citizen interrupted. "Any citizen who joins the cause of the Night Owls and Duchess Satine is immediately guilty of treason and anyone who remains loyal to Mandalore is charged with their deaths," Almec answered.
This was met with many boos from the majority of the crowd. "I know that you all hate the idea of this but this is a war and in order for Mandalore to remain ours, we must win," Almec replied. "Bullshit! We want Satine back: Vive la Duchesse!" the same citizen shouted.
Then, as if tainted with some extremely contagious disease, the crowd rapidly began chanting 'Vive la Duchesse' repeatedly as if it was all they could say. Maul's not going to like this when he hears the crowd chanting. He may even kill me and dissolve my administration forever Almec thought, gulping at that prospect. Nonetheless, he would have to report this to him now that he had returned from capturing the Duchess and Kenobi.
For now though, he would have to make due with his own intuition and state yet another lie. "It has come to my attention that Kenobi was captured during the attack at the shipping dock. However, when they tried to bring the Duchess, they found her too aggressive to be kept alive," he said. "No way the Duchess would do something that stupid, not with men like Death Watch taking her in!" the starter of the cheer shouted in reply.
"Perhaps that is true and perhaps not, either way, the Duchess is dead and I am your only choice," Almec said. This caused an uproar so great that people began throwing rocks at Almec's balcony, trying desperately to hit him. "Vive la New Mandalorians, Vive la Duchesse!" the citizens shouted again. This forced Almec to incite the soldiers with him to restore order by killing the ones who started it all and forcing the rest back with blaster shots and spurts from the flamethrowers.
However, just when he thought things were beginning to improve, the horned supercommando came to him. "Lord Maul has heard the people cheering for the people, you are responsible for their support of your rule, are you not?" he asked. Almec gulped, knowing what the commando's question indicated for his future well-being. "Yes and it's just a few rioters that have temporarily turned the crowd against me, nothing more," Almec answered.
"Maul doesn't feel it's that way at all. In fact, he feels that your usefulness has just come to an end," the commando said. "Please tell him there's still so much to be done, I've yet to have even been given a chance to deal with the renegade Night Owls!" Almec begged, falling to his knees. "You beg... true Mandalorians don't beg and neither do they fear death and pain," the commando stated.
"You won't kill me, you can't kill me! I order you not to!" Almec shouted desperately. "Sorry pal, my orders come from a higher authority: after your death, I'm to take over as the new Prime Minister. I'll spread the lie you started about the Duchess' death and see to it that my soldiers finish the Night Owls where you couldn't," the commando said.
Then he grabbed Almec by the neck and lunged back so as to pull him over his head and shoulders. "No please, have mercy!" Almec begged. But as he felt the hands of the trooper go to his shoulder blades and just above his waist, he knew there would be none. "Mandalorians don't beg for mercy either, it's a wonder Maul didn't order your death sooner," the commando stated.
The trooper carried Almec back on the balcony and at first, Almec thought he was going to let him down on it long enough to apologize to the people. Instead, the man merely held him long enough to get the people's attention as well as their cheers of encouragement. "Hope you can fly better than you can talk," the commando said sarcastically. Then, before Almec could ask what he meant, the trooper bent his arms then pushed forward and bent his back toward the edge of the balcony as he did so.
And as Almec plummeted a couple thousand meters to his death, he listened as the people applauded, screamed, and whistled at the new face before them. Oh gods on high, what have I done to deserve this cruel fate? he asked as his body rotated so he could see where he was landing. As he got closer to the ground, he accepted the reality: he was a failure and one that now had to be erased. Accepting this reality, he managed to calm himself before making contact with the ground; the white flash and of contact was the last thing before the darkness of death consumed him forever.
Czulkang had been called out of a training session with his son Tsavong for an "emergency". He made no reservation to show his aggravation in being pulled away from his son's training. However, the matter for which he was pulled out was a nasty one as he would soon discover firsthand. "Mighty Warmaster, Shimrra's counterattack fleet has arrived on schedule but there is a problem.
"Our Chiss enemy seems to have sent a fleet of their own to intercept us just outside of Malastare. We are presently engaged with them but we do not have the capacity to sustain a long term conflict with them," an officer explained. "Then withdraw the fleet now, you fools! The counterattack has clearly failed to even enter the galaxy without an encounter with Thrawn's forces," Czulkang demanded.
"We would but the Supreme Overlord has just ordered us to overcome them and continue with the plan by any means necessary. He has no regard for what we will have left when the fighting is over so long as we are victorious," the officer replied. The fool has no sense of strategy, that is why I am the Warmaster and not him Czulkang thought but didn't say. In a situation like this, there was only one thing that Czulkang could do: he would have to overrule Shimrra's orders.
According to the Yuuzhan Vong code, if a Supreme Overlord's orders came and were not in the best interest of the people, the most powerful current Warmaster or the most powerful Intendant could overrule it. Nom Anor was the most influential Intendant and could protect Czulkang, the most powerful Warmaster, where it was necessary to do so should the Overlord void the overrule. Much as he hated doing so, Czulkang was going to have to trust in Nom Anor if he ever hoped to survive the brunt of Shimrra's wrath.
"The Supreme Overlord's orders are to be overruled, they will endanger the fleet if we keep to them. And as Head Warmaster, I will not sacrifice lives unnecessarily: the counterattack has failed and we should react accordingly. Get as many out as we can when we can and not a moment later," he said. "Sir, you really sure it's wise to defy the Supreme Overlord on a mission he masterminded and created?" his secondary officer asked.
"Not entirely but I know it's for the better that we do so whether he likes it or not," Czulkang answered. "It'll be awhile before the order is be relayed via Vongsense and our other means of communication but we'll get it done as soon as we can," the officer said. Czulkang was reminded, by that comment, of the deficiency of current communicative technology. It was slow as hell compared to the system the Chiss had with their holograms and the frequencies that they can be used at.
"Do what you can and when the fleet has withdrawn, let me know immediately. I'm going to have to have a talk with the Supreme Overlord about his plan. Worse, I'm going to have to tell them that they'll have to be postponed or else canceled," Czulkang replied. That jester Onimi has interfered for the last time he was saying silently.
Luckily for him, the Supreme Overlord happened to be available and the Warmaster wasted no time in voicing his complaints. "What is this about ordering the fleet to continue after the attack is over? There might not be anything left for an attack on one planet, never mind the entirety of Chiss defenses!" he shouted. "The fleet was never meant to complete their mission but rather, for me to find out if the Chiss have any allies on their side," Shimrra replied.
When Czulkang said nothing, Shimrra continued with what he had to say about it. "Though the Chiss patent is on the ships and the cruiser, no Chiss is piloting the fighters. And there are no more than about a dozen or so Chiss officers aboard the cruiser itself. Thrawn might have known about the fleet but there was no way he could have been able to do anything about it if he has sent his allies to stop us.
"You see Czulkang, the fleet was nothing more than a test of calculations in the Chiss defenses. I asked myself these questions: have I spread them thinly or do I still need work? If I still need work, where do I need it most? Lastly, if I need no further work, where can I hit them hardest to shatter the defenses and bring the main force into the galaxy at last?
"While you and Nom Anor were busy playing the part of the public leaders of this fleet, I was puppeteering its true purpose from in the darkness. I never intended to stop you from overruling my orders because I knew you or Nom Anor would eventually do just that. Rather, I intended to make the orders just to see where I need to strike hardest in the future now that they've been overruled. Now I know and it is safe for the fleet to withdraw what remains of itself when they can," Shimrra explained.
Czulkang couldn't believe what he was hearing: if what Shimrra said was true, a Warmaster had been played for a fool. And a very big fool considering the full depth of Shimrra's curiosity for knowledge of his enemy. But the way Shimrra explained it revealed something that probably was common knowledge by now: Shimrra was not really saying them.
Instead, Onimi was saying them with Shimrra as his face, it had been his idea more than the Supreme Overlord's. Onimi's got his hand so far up Shimrra's ass that our Supreme Overlord is little more than a mit for him now Czulkang thought but didn't say. Too long had the Shamed One, who rose through the ranks rapidly, been controlling the ruler of the Yuuzhan Vong. Now there was only one thing to do: see if he could conspire with Nom Anor to kill Onimi and restore the real Shimrra.
The enemy of his enemy was not a friend but an ally and a very cunning one at that. Nom would know how to either use his own resources to eliminate Onimi or use the allies of Thrawn to their end. Like the Intendant said, he wanted many things and in time he would get them all. But for now, he needed to put aside his own wants and help Czulkang for the greater good of their people.
Fortunately, Czulkang did not have to overdo his lack for a gift of words as Nom had also come to the same conclusion after the Warmaster relayed Shimrra's speech. "There is only one thing we can do: we can sit back and wait to see if Thrawn's allies will come to us. We cannot openly challenge Onimi or Shimrra without inducing internal conflict not seen since Quoreal's demise," Nom stated. Czulkang agreed that it wouldn't work to their best interest but was a little but was baffled when Nom said he had a little secret to show the Warmaster.
"When Quoreal was killed, I was part of the team that was supposed to dispose of his body. For the public to think, I told him I had done just that. However, that is not the real story," Nom said. "What are you implying, Intendant?" Czulkang asked.
"It's not safe to speak of it here but I want to show you the true fate of Quoreal's body and the... modifications I've made to the broken remains. Dead as he might be, I still have a use for the former Supreme Overlord," Nom answered. Czulkang raised an eyebrow in suspicion and followed Anor to see what he was speaking of. He would become aghast with horror and shock at what Nom would show him back in his own personal Palace deep in the capital of the Yuuzhan Vong Empire mostly because of-did it deserve to be called it?- unnatural, it was.