AN: Sorry for the long wait. Here's the third chapter; I hope you like the story so far!
And no, the courier did not plant a bug in Palpatine's office. Speaking of Palpatine, remember the part with him and Rex talking about Order 66? That happened on the day that the courier gave him a message. Also speaking of Palpatine, he didn't convert Anakin to the dark side in this universe, as he was too distracted with political matters with the OAC to carry out any large plans, even in the background.
Luckiswithyouall: No, Ben isn't Jacob's son or Miranda's; he's Miranda's cousin and Jacob's nephew. Explanation: Ben's family moved away from Luna (the home of the rest of the family) in 2539, as Ben's father wanted to pursue a career in architecture. They ended up on Andalus, where Ben was born just after their arrival.
Date: November 14, 2561
Location: Near Naboo, Naboo System, Galactic Republic, Triangulum Galaxy
In the Naboo system, the three OAC ships floated silently next to the freighter. The small ship had been carrying a cargo of metal, particularly durasteel, to Naboo, but Separatist Remnant actions had blocked all jump routes from the outer system to the planet. The only option was to head in at sublight speeds. It wouldn't take long; the freighter had gotten within a few hundred thousand kilometers of Naboo's gravity well, and the only reason the warships were there was to protect it for those last sixteen hours.
"Well, the space around the planet seems clear. Should we leave?"
The captain of the UNSC New Alexandria, Alana Wittenfeld, turned to her sensor operator. "Our mission is to stay with the freighter and our battlegroup until orbit is achieved around Naboo. Then we can leave."
"This is the most pointless mission I've ever been on-the system is clear!"
"Stow the bellyaching, Vicks."
She turned back to the screen and watched as her two companion ships, the Faith and Prosperity and the Louhi's Mirror, alter their angles relative to the freighter. As the four ships passed into the gravity well, they rotated ninety degrees and prepared to burn.
"Retrograde burn on my mark. Three, two, one, mark."
The engines of the New Alexandria burst into flaming life as the ship performed its retrograde burn. The other ships followws suit.
"Orbit achieved, ma'am."
"Good work."
Just as the group entered Naboo orbit, several blips appeared on the scanner.
"Captain, I'm seeing some large contacts moving at what appears to be hyperspace velocities-I think they're headed for our location."
"Roger. All crew, battle stations! We're finally seeing some action!"
The combat crew raced to their weapons stations as the contacts began to slow. Finally, they came into view.
"What the hell is that?"
"Those aren't Remnant forces!"
The seven ships were in a tight diamond formation, and had sharp edges. They resembled Republic ships, but more knife-like.
"Hail them. See what they want."
The comms officer of the New Alexandria opened up a COM channel between the cruiser and the contacts.
"This is Captain Alana Wittenfeld of the UNSC New Alexandria. State your purpose for being here."
"I am Imperial Admiral Denakt Mutane. I have been sent by the great Emperor Palpatine himself to ask you to hand over the freighter to us."
"'Emperor' Palpatine? He's the Chancellor!"
"You were not notified of the Declaration?"
"Apparently not."
"I have no time to give you a holobook's worth of explanation. Hand over the freighter."
"Why do you want it so badly?"
"Our intelligence suggests that there are Jedi fugitives on it."
"I thought you liked-"
"The Jedi are traitors and bringers of death. We despise them. Now, I say to you the last time, hand over the ship."
"No."
"Very well then. Gunner, target the largest ship."
The COM link went dead. In the weapons stations, the combat crew was on edge. Then, a mere five seconds later, streaks of red light came shooting across the blackness. The lasers impacted the shields of the cruiser and were absorbed.
"Gunners, give that son-of-a-bitch a response!"
The ship rotated toward the formation of destroyers, and a resounding boom echoed through the halls. The MAC round smashed into the ship in the center of the diamond, tearing a hole in the lower hull. That ship was knocked away with a jet of air shooting it into space. The destroyers retaliated with another volley.
On the Mirror, Commander Keyes was frantic.
"Get the Archers and Rapiers loaded! Heat up the MAC coils!"
The rushing bridge crew complied, and soon the destroyer was turning to face the enemy ships.
"Fire both barrels, take two in one salvo!"
The ship shook and rumbled as the two MAC guns fired their rounds. Two of the enemy near the back of the now-disintegrating diamond were hit, and began to roll and pitch as atmosphere was forcefully vented into the vacuum. The remaining four ships began to line up, but the Faith managed to catch one off-guard with a plasma lance to the bridge. With their numbers reduced to three, the enemy destroyers combined their power into one huge volley and let loose at the New Alexandria. The shields were broken, and beams of red tore through the titanium-A hull plate. The ship's decks began to go dark, one by one.
"No!"
Just as the cruiser broke in half from the structural damage, lifepods shot out of it. They aimed directly for the friendly ships.
"Fire again! Show those bastards what we mean!"
Suddenly, a transmission from Shipmaster Yeney appeared on the viewscreen.
"Commander, we hold them off while you get other ship down to planet."
"Shipmaster, it's too dangerous for a ship the size of yours."
"We be fine. Go! We kill the rest."
"Whatever you say."
The destroyer and the freighter head off for Naboo with the remaining lifepods safely aboard.
"Enemy approaching! Fire torpedoes!"
At the Shipmaster's command, five white-hot plasma torpedoes shot sizzling from the emitters. They tracked the first and second enemy ships, impacting with deadly effect. The first one had its bridge perforated, rendering it crippled, and the second's reactors were destroyed.
"We got him!"
"Good job. There is one left-kill it!"
The energy projectors on the corvette sparked to life with flaming blue beams shooting through the night. The final enemy ship was bifurcated, with each half tumbling away.
"Is the orbit clear, Shipmaster?"
"Yes. Orbit is clear, enemy is dead."
"Good, the freighter has entered the atmosphere; we're on our way out."
Yeney watched as the destroyer rose into a high orbit, passing the broken hulk of the New Alexandria. He then waddled back to his shipmaster's throne and ordered another jump-this time, back to Coruscant.
"Bridge crew, stand by for entry to Naboo Gate."
The Louhi's Mirror fired its engines and disappeared into Slipspace. Three days later, it exited along with the Faith and Prosperity at Coruscant and went to dock at Rubaiyat Station. After equalizing orbits, Ben finally saw Rubaiyat-at least what was left of it.
"What happened here?!"
"Dock 5 was sheared off!"
"Where are the supercarriers?"
He stared, wide-eyed, at the carnage. Docks 5, 8, and 13 were gone, and the other docks were unusable. The traffic control module was cracked open like an egg, while the CSOs that had been there for refit were gone. To top it all off, there were sixteen of the dagger-like ships guarding the wreckage.
"Helm, get us out of here and notify the Faith. We're going into the atmosphere."
The helmsman nodded and radioed the corvette, then turned retrograde and cranked the ship's throttle up to full. The orbit steadily dropped until it ended around the area of the CSC garrison.
"Hopefully CSC is alright…"
"Sir! What the hell happened to Rubaiyat Station?!"
"I don't know! Get Admiral Wexler on the line!"
A COM link was barely established. The background was not that of Rubaiyat control.
"General, the Imperials razed our station! The supercarriers were damaged and barely got away!"
"Where are you, exactly?"
"On one of the supercarriers! We're trying to regroup with the other remaining ships for a counter-attack."
"Wait-do you know anything of the status of the Jedi Temple?"
"Last I heard, it was being bombarded by turbo fire."
-THREE HOURS EARLIER—
Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi stared out the window of one of the Jedi Temple's towers. He'd heard rumblings of Palpatine declaring a "New Order," around the district, but he had dismissed that as simple rumors. However, on that day he'd be proven wrong.
As Obi-Wan left his spot in the tower, he happened to gaze off into the horizon. What he saw astonished him. Three dagger-shaped destroyers had entered the lower atmosphere and were on a direct course for the Temple. The aging Jedi broke into a run. He sprinted to the Council Spire and burst into a conversation between Masters Mundi, Yoda, and Plo.
"Master Kenobi," Plo began, "what troubles you?"
"Come with me. I will show you."
The four Masters walked briskly to a nearby panoramic window.
"There, you see? They are headed straight for us."
"Mean that they are hostile, it does not, Master Kenobi."
"Have you seen these ships before, Master Yoda? I certainly have not."
"Seen them, I have not. Research, we must."
Yoda gestured for the other Jedi to follow him, which they did. The group walked to the Archives with a hologram of the approaching ships. They presented it to Head Librarian Nu and asked if any ships such as these were in the Archives.
"No, I've never seen these before. Perhaps a new ship class in the Republic Navy?"
"I don't think these are Repu-"
They are interrupted by a thunderous crash from above.
"What the- we need to get up there!"
The four Jedi head for a large courtyard in the front of the temple. Outside, the three dagger-like ships hung like clouds in the sky, along with several Acclamator-class assault ships.
"What is this?"