Chapter Nineteen – The Bombed-Out Plains
Aindri picked her way over and through rocks and depressions made by years of combat, Vette paying close attention to where she stepped as they crossed ravage terrain, craters scattered across expansive flatland with the odd rocky outcrop jutting out into the sky, tightly clutching the pack holding the explosives.
It still taken them the better of two days to reach the satellite facility because of the detours they'd taken to disable a bunch of seismic sensors. And reprogram the gun emplacements surrounding Sobrik to target rebels, which was after they got involved in the op Vette had listened into the briefing of when leaving the Imperial Headquarters and helped clear the caves of rebels who'd been targeting the Trodia Convoys. Then there were also the generators.
Vette decided she liked the generator mission more than the previous ones, since it involved explosives.
A lot of explosives.
And when the Neebray Warehouses had gone up in massive bright orange fireballs, pitch black smoke curling high into an already dark grey sky, she had no shame in saying she'd stared at it like a child seeing something amazing for the first time, her mouthing making a small 'O' before she followed after Aindri grinning widely.
If the boss was seeking to throw the Jedi investigator off the scent then Vette deemed it mission accomplished, that it was a lot of fun, because making things go boom was always fun, was just a bonus. Upon comming them, Lieutenant Davrill had been absolutely thrilled to hear rebel activity around Sobrik had died down, meaning they could finally focus on the rebels elsewhere.
It only pleased him more that they'd received reports Vol Argen had been furious about the generators and warehouses destruction as well.
That evening, eating rations which caused both of them to grimace, when Vette asked why she'd bothered helping with all those operations the Sith had replied, "When put in charge of bringing a planet to under control, those in power look for those who have made a mark."
Setting aside her rations, Aindri gave it a pained look, which after a couple of weeks of Mira's cooking Vette really couldn't blame her and started to absently twirl her knife in her hand, something Vette had noticed was a habit of hers.
"Even when we have finished covering Rylon's tracks and knowing we know where he is, simply killing him is not wise. Not when an inspector sent by the Jedi is likely scrutinising his actions. So, we play circumspect and wait for an opportunity. The planetary government will send me to his location one way or another."
"And when they do no one will know you're there for a very specific reason, since a single corpse amongst other corpses won't make people raise an eyebrow," Vette concluded, knowing she got it right when Aindri nodded and was a little worried about the idea of being sent into assault the inevitable fortress the rebels had made their base into.
Aindri likely sensing her worry with that weird Force thing of hers then went to reassure her, "Do not worry we won't be sent in alone. For such a large-scale assault we will have troops at our back. Another reason to wait for being called in by the overseeing powers."
"Huh." Vette murmured around the fork in her mouth as she allowed the Sith's words to sink in. It was rather impressive how far ahead the boss managed to think.
Impressive and scary.
When they did arrive at the Markaran Plains Outpost a day and a half after leaving Sobrik, the explosives were waiting for them – Aindri giving an impressed hum at Quinn's efficiency – Vette checking them over as the Sith had a short conversation with the bases commanding officer. They then spent the rest of the day planning their assault, going over the floor plan, making sure each of them knew how to set up the bomb just in case the other was unable, before heading out onto the plains proper the next morning.
There, they not only took care of rebel mercenaries recruited from offworld and who'd proved to be pain for regular Imperial forces but also dealt with the fallout of a special ops raid gone wrong in the Okara Droid Factory. They'd reached the factory into time to save the only survivor of the First Platoon, a Lieutenant Rutau, and after getting him to an evac point, completed his mission uploading virus packets to probe droids before finally heading to the satellite control tower.
"Urgh reminds me of Grathan's place." Vette muttered as she gazed at the slew of droids from behind the rock she was crouched against.
Of course, after the droid factory dealing with them was pretty easy since they both knew where the Balmorran droid's weakness lay and together they got through them relatively quickly.
Reaching the tower door, Aindri waved Vette forward from where she'd taken cover in a deep crater some artillery shell had made prior to their arrival. Dusting her trousers, the Twi'lek stood and jogged over, holstering her blasters as she drew close but violet eyes still scanning the area.
When she reaches the door, Vette crouches down and removes the doors control panel before diving into the mess of wires. Considering it was supposed to be a military facility, doing so was stupidly simple. Replacing the panel, she gave the Sith a thumbs up and stood back as the doors opened and Aindri strode through first, lightsaber singing.
The explosions of the past few days had echoed across Balmorra and the story that in one day a single Sith had cleared the area around Sobrik of any rebel activity had spread quickly. And it seemed they were set to claim the entirety of the Markaran plains in a single day as well.
Quinn had put two and two together and was rather astounded at how quickly Baras's apprentice had turned around events to benefit the Empire in such a short amount of time. Rigel had been impossible, crowing how he'd been responsible for getting her involved and how Breaking Point was finally making headway in the mess hall.
Quinn avoided the place at the best of times, largely preferring peace and quiet but now he didn't even step in there to get coffee. It was lucky he had his own private stash in his office.
In any case it had somewhat dampened his worry regarding the apprentice's assault on the control tower but as he looked over the monitor showing the facilities interior from where he'd sliced in its security cameras allowing him eyes, if not necessarily ears, inside the place, he was still concerned. A fact Baras seemed to pick up on from over the holo.
"You needn't be concerned, Quinn," The Darth asserted with amusement, "My apprentice has prevailed in situations deemed difficult before. I am of no doubted she will overcome this challenge."
Behind his mask Baras was frowning. He was pleased Hallow was taking precautions to cover her own tracks as she destroyed any traces of Rylons, it showed a level of independent thought which would be useful if it could be manipulated. But it was also concerning, and her success at dealing with Balmorra's rebels spoke of her growing strength and abilities.
He would be a fool not to realise the danger his apprentice would eventually pose and with every task successfully completed, Baras grew more and more convinced she was the apprentice who might lead to his downfall. Such power and she was still so young.
"Yes, my Lord," Quinn nodded, drawing Baras away from his thoughts as the lieutenant turned briefly from the monitor, "I only wish to properly calculate her chances at success to mitigate any unexpected complications should they arise."
Noticing movement in the corner of his eye, Quinn turned back to see said Sith stepping into the tower, absently marking she'd switched from red to a dark grey cloak for the assault, painting herself less of a target on the battlefield.
"My Lord, your apprentice has entered the tower and is engaging its security forces."
Not that they were doing much good.
A single powerful, but wild Force Push had sent the droids slamming into the wall where they were offlined by several well-placed blaster shots, the first scoring a droid's eye piece, whilst the second and third blow out another droids knee joints the before hitting the same droids chassis.
If nothing else, Quinn would admit the Twi'lek was a surprisingly good shot given what he had seen of her was a largely undisciplined nature, looking around his office with barely disguised curiosity and subtly humming throughout his briefing.
As they advance deeper into the facility, the Sith apprentice lights her saber and dances, never showing pause or doubt and flowing fluidly from one manoeuvre to the next. He could only describe her defence as beautiful, swift and gentle strokes blocking and deflecting or redirecting blaster fire.
Then when enemy fire slowed to a stop she moved.
Almost too fast for his eyes to see apprentice Hallow appeared in front of a droid, bisecting it with a single strike, sparks flying into the air. She then stepped forward and cut down three more, leaning her head to the side to allow a single red bolt fly past her and hit the droid between its eyes.
A low whistle brought Quinn back to reality and he looked back towards his men who were staring at the screen with awe on their faces. He frowned, impressive or not they all had a job to do and it was not acting like mindless devotees.
"Be ready!" He barked out and they jumped before scrambling back to their stations, "They'll reach the control room soon."
"An update Lieutenant?" Baras asked.
"She is doing well, my Lord." He answered promptly, think of the files he received on lightsaber combat and ones on the Force available to those outside the Sith Order sitting in his barracks as he recalled Baras's instructions to assess his apprentice's abilities, "Her Force abilities seem, raw, but her bladework, from what I can tell given my limited understanding, is astounding."
Of course, Quinn thinks as he watches the two enter the towers command centre and quickly dispatch the droids there, Hallow was still young and it showed through some reckless strikes and the odd wasteful movement. But was interesting was she seemed to be improving mid-combat and those movements becoming fewer even as he watched them.
Still, she seemed to rely mostly on her lightsaber and her speed and less so on attacks with the Force, though Quinn suspected the mysterious energy field had something to do with her almost supernatural ability to land critical strikes and ability to seemingly know were a blaster bolt would hit as soon as it was shot.
With the room cleared, the apprentice knelt down, and pries open the central panel before carefully taking the explosives from Vette and deftly connects it to the maze of wires and datachips which makes up the mainframe as the Twi'lek moves to stand by the door with her blasters raised.
"As I am uncertain how valuable my analysis will be," Quinn continued, "I will forward you the footage along with my report, so you can better ascertain her skills for yourself, my Lord."
"Very well," Baras acquiesced and folded his arms behind his back, "Now I have another task for you. An Ensign Durmat in the Republic military has come to my attention. You are to gather information and give your findings to my apprentice."
"Yes, my Lord." Quinn replied, wondering why the Darth wanted him to investigate an ensign yet knowing better than to ask, before a chime came from his terminal and the apprentice's moving figure flickered into existence.
"Lieutenant," He looked at the monitor and saw her striding back through the tower with Vette on her heels, "The explosives have been set."
"Understood, my Lord," Said Quinn as he checked the other monitor to see the charge was indeed armed, "I have been marking your progress and will detonate when you are at a safe distance."
"Good," There was a brief pause and Quinn wondered whether he should disconnect or she was going to do so first before she asked, "Is there anything else Lieutenant?"
Baras chuckled darkly, "It seems my apprentice has anticipated my presence. Put her on the line Quinn, I will inform her of her next task."
Bowing his head in acknowledgement he turned back to the apprentice who was now several meters away from the control tower, "I have Darth Baras on holo for you, my Lord. I will retreat and leave the line secure for the two of you."
Upon a dismissive nod, he connected the two lines and stepped off the call as this was a conversation Baras had decided he was not privy to hear.
With a sigh, he consigned himself to several hours of sifting through databases and once again being unable to complete his paperwork, but Baras's orders were not to be denied. At least it wasn't overdue like several other officers which meant he didn't have to deal with a large backlog of paper.
This didn't prevent his soft groan at the realisation this meant he'd have to deal with the idiot Pirrell who by some miracle of the Emperor had been put in charge of military intelligence. He thanked whatever deity was out there, Imperial Intelligence had for unknown reason re-upped their interest in Balmorra a month ago as at least it meant there was some up to date information. It also made his job slicing into Republic and Balmorran systems much easier.
Heaving himself out of his chair, he left the room after giving orders to detonate the T-4 once the Sith and her associate were a hundred metres out of range and headed off to hunt down the incompetent Lieutenant Major. He hoped that Cathar which constantly hung about him was absent for a change, but then Quinn wasn't exactly holding his breath.
Aindri's holo wavered for a brief second, leaving a momentary void before her Baras's stockier form took Quinn's place as she ducked behind a rocky outcrop.
"You have need of me, master?" She asked once the connection stabilised, Vette keeping a look out in case a rebel was stupid enough to attempt to sneak up on them.
"Indeed, I do, apprentice. We have one more potentially compromising thing to take care of before you can confront my spy Commander Rylon. You are hunting a Republic Ensign Durmat. He is Rylon's son, and the commander confided his true identity to him. He must be silenced, permanently."
She gave a brief shake of her head, "Rylon was foolish to tell his son."
"The one chink in his otherwise flawless armour," Baras agreed, "Quinn is getting the necessary information as we speak. He will give you the details upon your return to Sobrik. Be swift, apprentice."
She bowed her head as the holo flickered then darkened and she stowed in it in a pocket of her robes before getting her bearings and heading back towards the Imperial Outpost where they were amiably put up for the night by the places garrison.
Vette thought the guy in charge was much more open minded when they'd arrived after a day on the plains. It wasn't that he hadn't been attentive to Aindri's needs before, but there was a more a sense of willingness than before when he had done so simply because she was Sith.
When they did return to Sobrik, Aindri sent Vette to the ship to gather a few things, whilst she headed to the room given to them in the Imperial Headquarters to sweep for bugs. It may be paranoia, but then longer-lived Sith did not live to their autumn years by being careless.
Still, it was a nice room and Aindri wondered which Officer had been forced to vacate theirs. She doubted they had rooms specifically set aside for Sith, the planet not exactly high priority enough to warrant frequent visits by members of her order. There was a bed of relative comfort, an extra cot had been placed in the room's far corner for Vette, a desk with a lamp and even a private holoterminal.
Determining the room was clean of bugs, she removed her mask set it on the desk before stripping off her cloak, boots and armour. She examined the durasteel for damage, lightly running her fingers down the material for anything worse than scorch marks. Hearing a hiss, she glanced up from inspecting her gauntlets to see Vette standing with two bags in the doorway.
"You are to be in your own tonight Vette." Aindri announced, taking her bag from Vette and set down on floor, retaking her original position on the bed and returning to her previous activity.
"Err, thanks?" Vette dumped her bag on her own cot before asking, "Not that I'm complaining but why?"
Aindri remained silent for a moment before finally setting aside her right gauntlet and running a hand through crimson hair, "I simply require time to… recharge. So, to speak."
Vette nodded. They had after all, been running around Balmorra for almost a week and the rations they ate hardly counted as food. One of the first things she learned about the Sith was she liked time to herself, and she hadn't really had any since they stepped foot off the ship.
She looked all set for a nice night in.
"Cool. I'll hit up one of the cantinas and see what trouble I can find. You'll be okay food wise?"
"I will be fine," Aindri reassured her, "If trouble finds you do name drop and do not be back too late. We will be back in the field tomorrow."
Nodding once more, Vette grabbed a leather jacket and was about walk out the door when the Sith gave one final instruction, turning back to meet her eyes, "And Vette? Listen."
Grinning, the Twi'lek gave her boss a two fingered salute before bouncing down the hallway with the aim of heading to the cantina with the near highest concentration of soldiers, as while there were a couple of things she was good at, one of them was listening. Sure, being a Twi'lek got her an odd glance now and then but she was still able to slip into conversations easier than her boss.
Being a Sith tended to make people shut up whenever she was near them.
Jumping from one cantina to the next, it seemed the main stories of the evening, from what Vette could tell, was of their own exploits and how some supposed spook from Intelligence had been haunting the military headquarters for the past few days. Nobody knew the reason, but it had more than one soldier jumping at shadows. Another of the more persistent rumours was a Lieutenant Major Pirrell hiring a bounty hunter to take his superior, Colonel Sartius, down a peg or two, or three.
She shuddered when a relatively drunk and snot-nosed ensign cried about his squad being eaten by these nasty massive bugs called colicoids. They had to deal with them on their way to the Markan and it was decidedly icky. She ended up buying the poor kid another drink before he was hauled out of the building by his mates.
When Vette returned to Sobrik Military Headquarters, she was positively buzzed but not drunk enough to complete impair her motor functions or make a complete fool of herself, which she was sure would go down with the Sith well, not, and her mind was full of juicy little titbits of information.
"What have you heard?" Aindri asked, setting aside her datapad as Vette flopped down on the surprisingly comfortable desk chair, spinning around idly for a moment before stopping.
"Other than that, gossiping soldiers could give housewives or grannys a run for their money?" Vette grinned, shifting so she could sit cross-legged on the chair.
"For a start it seems you're not the only Sith who arrived recently. Turned up a few days before we did. Basically, put fear of the Emperor in everyone just by walking. Lachris I think," Vette cocked her head trying to recall what she overheard in one of the busier cantinas, "Yep Lachris. Seems this place has becoming a dumping ground for military people. Lots of senior officers but it's the junior guys like Quinn doing everything."
"Yes, I noticed," Aindri scowling lightly at the thought, wasting talent annoyed her to no end, before tipping her head to the side in contemplation, "Lachris is Darth Marr's apprentice. I met her once before when she was still a Lord."
So Lachris was on Balmorra, interesting. She had trained with the older woman once or twice and had yet to see her once she became a Darth.
"Marr…. That's the guy who runs the Sphere of Defence right?" Vette asked, recalling the rundown the Sith had given her on the Empires upper echelons when they were in the Revanite compound.
"Huh," She said at the Sith's nod, "Well anyway, dark and scary was sent to clear up the mess, free up forces," Vette shrugged, "Hasn't been able to do much yet though."
"And Quinn?" She asked,
"Wellll," Vette began, dragging out the word, "Like I said, Mr. Stick-Up-His-Butt Lieutenant Quinn is basically running the whole show, well his division at least. And all by himself. Apparently, he managed to get some General, Wallace I think, to hand over this nifty rubber stamp. Nobody likes him very much, I think the exact words were 'rigid bastard' but they'll follow his orders since he manages to keep causalities down."
Vette cocked her head, "As I said, dumping ground. One of the guys said they don't understand why General Iver, something or other, swaps him for one of the senior guys. Pretty much universal opinion this Pirrell dude is useless."
The Twi'lek frowned, "It's weird, you'd think given how good he is at his job, he would've been assigned somewhere I don't know? More important? According to base gossip he's always passed over for transfer and trust me it seems he's made plenty of requests for one, and promotion too."
Aindri tilted her own head to gaze at the ceiling as she mulled over what her companion had told her. The most obvious and likely answer was the Lieutenant had done something against an individual higher up the military food chain and given how consistently he seems to have been blocked she doubted whoever he'd angered was below a general in rank.
This was only reinforced by Baras's comment on Quinn owing him his career, and she had no doubt her master would hold such a fact over the man. She wouldn't even be surprised when if Quinn did get free from whatever current chains shackled him to such a backwater planet he would long remain Baras's pawn until he broke free.
As she fell asleep that night, she thought of the final lines of Sith Code and hoped Quinn would find his victory over her master, if only to break his chains and set himself free.