The rain fell from the sky slower and slower as the weather as the weather let up. Darth Vader sat on a rock as the water dripped down his helmet and cape. He stared at his dirt covered boots; his breathing was calm and slow as he meditated. The sound of the rain hitting the dirt and puddles surrounding Vader helped him focus using the force to levitate the parts to his lightsaber in front of him. The parts all rotated slowly except for one; the blood red crimson kyber crystal the floated mere inches from the center of Vaders mask. The crystal once belonged to jedi master Kirak Infil'a, one of the first jedi the Dark lord had tracked down after Order 66. Killing the jedi and bleeding his crystal basically served as his initiation into the sith order and his apprenticeship to Sidious. The crystal travel away from Vaders mask as all the parts stopped sipping in a straight line with the blood red rock is in the center. One by one the pieces covered the small glass like stone until the weapon was complete, using the force the saber Vader turned up right. The sith lifted his helmeted face to see the weapon twirling; he grabbed it and ignited the crimson blade mere inches from his mask. The rain evaporated the instant it touched the saber the steam rising into the cold black eyes of Vader. The deactivated the blade and attached it to his belt making his way back to the cave were his troops had taken cover from the rain.
The campaign on Akiva was already a week in and it was a mess. When Vader originally landed his troops he planned on a swift victory but the insurgents were more than prepared. Thanks to the separatist sympathizers they had encountered more clone wars era tech than any veteran serving with Vader had ever before on one planet. Proton cannons destroyed four out of the six transports Vader brought down from the Executor. The walkers fared no better as the Gozanti cruisers that arrived just after the fleet had destroyed the insurgent ships were shot down along with one of the walkers. Once on the ground Vader discovered how unprepared they were when separatist battle droids of all kinds marched on them from all sides. They had lost more troops than Vader had been willing to sacrifice and their numbers were already thin.
The rain turned into a light drizzle as Vader approached the cave. All of the stromtroopers white armor was dirtied by mud, blood, and blaster scorch marks. Senior Lieutenant Hanto Nar was the acting commander of Vaders ground forces since his superior had gone down with his ship. Nar heard Vaders footsteps and turned to meet him. The man was taller than most officers in the military but still shorter than Vader; he had dark black hair that was cover by his trooper helmet that now sat under his arm at his side. A long red scar traveled down his face over his eye it was in much contrast to the man's dark skin.
"What is complete assessment of our forces Commander?" Vader asked using the title of Nar's recent promotion
"We have just a quarter of the original battalion left along with a number of wounded" Nar responded quickly
"And the walkers" Vader added
"2 and 3 are a full capacity 4 is at about half with damaged weapon stems" Nar said with equal haste as before
Vader turned away looking to the mud puddles left by the now passing rain. During this whole operation Vader had a strange feeling that the deck was stacked completely in the insurgents favor. Like somehow they had received the weapons and ships they had from someone or somewhere other than the separatist sympathizers. But the he had no to time speculation now; he had a job to do and he was going to wipe out the remaining insurgents.
"Have communications been reestablish with the fleet?" Vader question as he walked back to the commander
"No my Lord, we are still being jammed" Nar answered, a hint of weariness in his voice "The fleet must still be in combat with the ships that arrived when we landed. A trap that no one could've seen coming"
Vader crossed his cybernetic arms and exhaled "Do you have a plan to remedy our current situation commander?"
"Yes sir" Nar answered removing a holo projector from his belt activating it, a small mad of their surrounding area appeared "there is a communications outpost in the forest about 3 cliques east of us. If we were to capture it a massage could be sent to the fleet"
Darth Vader looked over the small map with a green arrow indicating where his forces where and red for the location of the outpost. The idea seemed foolproof enough to work and he was ready for blood after the fool these rebels took him for.
"Good commander gather your best squads and move out as soon as possible" Vader ordered stepping out of the cave and walking in the direction of the outpost.
A very confused and concerned look washed over Nar's face "where are you going sir?"
"To fight Commander" Vader responded