Chapter Fifteen
Demetrius knew that the timing for his attack had to be impeccable in order for the insurrection to even have a chance of survival. So when Vader ordered his forces to destroy the remainder of traitorous Admiral Harkov's fleet, he knew that he had to snatch it up if he didn't want to be in danger. "Remember troopers, have all batteries ready to fire upon Vader's ship the moment he orders us to fire on Harkov. We will have him by surprise then and we need him immobilized before we can ever hope to take on the Emperor," he ordered.
However, Demetrius would not be leading the attack. Instead, that would belong to a longtime friend of his who had shared similar feelings about the Emperor. His name was Agamemnon and he had vowed that he would either wipe out Lord Vader's forces along with the Rebel Alliance's or die trying. "Maarek Stele is most likely going to be with him for this, be careful," Demetrius warned. Agamemnon nodded his acknowledgement of this warning and Demetrius called another friend named Gaston.
"I need you to be ready to intercept Lord Vader's forces should he somehow survive Agamemnon's attack," Demetrius said directly. "Yes Admiral, I'll be ready at the Parmel system to stall them until you make your attack on Imperial Center," Gaston replied with a bow as well. "Good, is everything in position for our assault on the Emperor's headquarters?" Demetrius asked to all the crew. "Yes sir, we only await the arrival of Arden Lyn and the Emperor's exit of the planet in the Majestic," was the reply.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's get Arden up here and have our ships ready to launch into hyperspace the moment my son reports the Emperor's departure," Demetrius ordered. "She's already said her goodbyes and is on her way here as we speak sir," replied one crew member. Perfect, she wasn't too love stricken by my son to remember her duty and her place in this cause he thought.
"Sir, Arden Lyn's cruiser has entered the main hangar bay and she's making her way to the bridge now. She doesn't have the Tusken Raider in tow with her, if that is of any interest to you," another crew member said after some silence. "What do you mean?" Demetrius asked. "She appears to have come alone though she usually doesn't as far as we have known," the crew member answered.
Likely she left him behind to be a guardian for my son while she is away, guess I shouldn't be surprised that she would do that. But does she really think she is powerful enough to take on the Emperor by himself even if we do help her by pinning his ship down? he asked himself. It was something he was going to have to ask her in the privacy of his chambers, seeing as she had said that the Emperor would be a worthy adversary for any man or woman attuned to the Force. However, he suddenly remembered that Hoar himself wasn't Force-sensitive thus, better suited somewhere else.
When she arrived, she simply said hello to him and he had to admit that he was a little amazed to see her in a jumpsuit. The top was had an orange breastplate on it that ran all the way down to her pelvis then came back around the other side to be parallel on her back with shoulders exposed. Her mechanical arm was attached with the help of another strip of strong leather that was equally orange. Its strip covered one of her shoulders that would normally have been exposed by her dress.
She also had boots with the orange color and the only things that prevented the entirety of her clothing being orange were the green stripes running from above her pelvis to her knees. "You look radiant Arden, is that a cloth design based on what you grew up knowing from the Palawa?" he asked. He was truly curious to where she got such a strange taste from and when she answered, he knew at once that it was designed as a reminder of her early days indeed. "We'll soon be ready to make our move against the Emperor, it's only a matter of time before the reports come in that signal us," he said.
"I'm ready," she replied. She did indeed look ready to face the Emperor with the lightsabers clipped at her belt but something else was in her eye. It wasn't fear, that much he could detect immediately or at least not fear of the Emperor and what he could do. Did she fear for Paris' life?
Was she so madly in love with him after six months with him that she would give her life with him? Or was there something else that she and Paris were not telling Demetrius that he would need to know? Suddenly, it occurred to him what it might be when he saw her rubbing her stomach slightly and not noticeably to anyone else. "You're pregnant, aren't you?" he asked in a whisper.
She looked up at him in surprise that he would ask such a question of her but the look was all Demetrius needed to confirm that she was. "My son has tried before to have children with women he professed to love. All of them ended in miscarriages or stillbirths but I'm sure you'll find a way to avoid that fate," he stated in the same whispering tone. Arden continued to rub her stomach in thought of that and had to admit that she herself wasn't looking forward to the risks associated with being pregnant.
"Sir, we have forces ready to be set up at any other frontiers that you desire. You did suggest that we make a series of simultaneous attacks in order to catch the Empire off guard," a captain stated. "Yes I did, send those extra forces to Omar, ZA-13, and RS-32: see if they can capture any of those important frontiers for us," Demetrius ordered. The captain saluted him but Zaarin told him not to launch anything until his forces had engaged Palpatine at Imperial Center which he would make sure to report.
Once again, the hologram of the captain saluted him and cut transmission to make sure that his orders were obeyed. Then another hologram came, this time from Agamemnon who had went into hyperspace shortly after his talk with Demetrius. "We have arrived at Ottega and we will be engaging Vader's forces shortly," he said. "Excellent, engage when ready," Demetrius said.
There was no turning back now, he and Arden Lyn both knew this to be true of their coup d'etat. I hope she's up to the challenge of bringing the Emperor down by herself he thought but didn't say. "Without further ado, ladies and gentleman, let us jump to lightspeed and head for Imperial Center. Will the Emperor be there in time for our ambush?" he asked.
"Yes sir, according to hacked communications that we are receiving, he will be there within the minute or so before our arrival," a crew member answered. "Then let's not keep him waiting, jump to lightspeed when ready," Demetrius ordered. And that was just what the fleet he was commanding for the attack on Imperial Center did. They had crossed the rubicon now, there was no going back for Demetrius or Arden; the latter clutched her belly once again in the hope that they would survive this.
For Lord Vader, the raid on what remained of Admiral Harkov's success was a magnificent success. He had prevented the traitors from fleeing from him and even brought in the Akaga, a brilliant Nebula-B frigate of terrible power, to help finish them off. Now he needed the taskforce that Admiral Zaarin would be sending to assist him in the complete annihilation of Harkov's traitorous forces. However, victory soon became near-disaster as Zaarin's forces began bombarding the Garrett, his ship, rather than the Protector which they had been ordered to destroy.
Finding out that the leader of this taskforce was Captain Agamemnon, a close friend of Demetrius Zaarin and a frequent supporter in his missions. "Captain, what is the meaning of this treason? Halt your fire immediately and turn it on the Protector at once!" he ordered once he had a transmission. "In good time, Lord Vader, in good time: my orders are to deal with you first," Agamemnon replied calmly before disconnecting transmission abruptly.
Admiral Zaarin has defected and has turned several officers against us, Agamemnon being only one of the more obvious. Something's not right, he's attacking me first and not the Emperor Vader observed. That's when it hit him: Zaarin knew that if Vader combined his strength with the Emperor, he would have stood no chance in destroying them. He was trying to incapacitate or destroy Vader first before then turning his eye towards the Emperor for an easier killing.
"All loyal Imperial forces, it would seem as though we have a new enemy. Grand Admiral Demetrius Zaarin and his son have betrayed the Empire and command Captain Agamemnon to kill us. We must destroy Agamemnon and his fighters first before turning our eyes back toward Harkov's forces, if at all possible," Vader ordered in a transmission to his forces. But then he noticed the Alliance was taking this opportunity to have Harkov's ships retreat and let Zaarin have at Vader and his army.
"Lord Vader to Colonel Maarek Stele, repeat Lord Vader to Colonel Maarek Stele, come in. The Harpax has already been taken down but I need you to intercept the Protector before they escape, over and out!" Vader ordered. "Copy that Lord Vader, I'll have them down and out of commission in no time," was the immediate response from the young pilot. Excellent, now I can rest easy and turn my eye back to Zaarin's forces and deal with Agamemnon Vader thought calmly.
One of the corvettes sent to stop him contained Agamemnon and he knew it, the only matter being to find out which one it was. So he ordered his crew to hit all of the corvettes at once with a wave of cannonfire that nothing could dodge once in it. "I need Alpha, Theta, and Rho Squads to destroy Tau and Mu squadron from the insurrectionist forces or at least stall them until Colonel Stele returns. Gamma, Pi, and Rho: I need you to engage the Gamma-class ATR-6 assault transports," Vader ordered.
When the leader of every squad checked in and confirmed reception of his orders, he checked on Stele to see his progress in destroying Protector. "Almost finished Lord Vader, I'll be able to return and help you with the insurrectionists immediately after," Maarek answered. "Excellent but keep an eye out for any Rebel reinforcements and destroy them," Vader told him. "With pleasure sir, may I put in a request for one of the squads if it turns out to be too much for me?" Maarek asked.
"I'll have Pi Squad on standby in case you make the request," Vader answered. "Copy that, sir," Maarek said before cutting transmission and returning to deal with his target, the Protector. Luckily for Lord Vader, more than half of the Admiral Harkov's forces were already wiped out or he would not have said that. All the starfighter squads and cargo containers were vaporized, Akaga was gone, with Protector about to follow suit. Whell and Waq were out of the picture as well as the other two heavy lifters with which the latter was categorized.
Warhawk was also destroyed early on in the battle which just left Protector as well as the insurrectionist forces of Admiral Zaarin. "Wipe them out, wipe them out to the last man!" Vader ordered in concern to Zaarin's forces. Soon though, the reports of Mu and Tau Squads being destroyed came in and it wasn't long before the ATR-6 assault transports followed suit. By this time, Vader had also destroyed Bakaar 1 through 3 of the corvettes and severely damaged Falcon 1.
However, Agamemnon was soon back on and mocking Lord Vader for having not found him yet. "The Emperor chose you to be his executioner when the best you can do is this?" he asked Vader. "There is one thing I can do to remedy that immediately," Vader answered. He grabbed Agamemnon's throat with the Force and watched as several officers tried to help him out of it.
Then one officer made the mistake of naming the ship that Agamemnon was on while the transmission was still on: Arditi 2 was the corvette to hit. Nonetheless, Vader would hit them all anyway and when he heard that Maarek had succeeded he was motivated further. Two Alliance corvettes, two Delta-class JV-7 shuttles joined them, and 3 B-wing starfighters came out of hyperspace after that. However, Maarek dispatched these with ease while Vader wiped out the remaining corvettes thus destroying Agamemnon in his before the battle is over.
When Maarek returned, Vader immediately handpicked him and five other elite pilots for a special mission. He knew the Garrett was too heavily damaged for another engagement and he ordered the crew to take it to the nearest loyal repair facility. "It seems as if Zaarin has developed some dangerous plans, and we believe the Emperor to be in great danger. I want you to join me, Colonel, on an urgent mission. You have trained in the new starfighter.
"I want you to accompany me and break through Zaarin's lines. I must get to Coruscant immediately," Vader said upon Maarek and the pilots arriving. "Yes sir, I will do what I must to serve the Empire," Maarek vowed as did the other pilots. Smiling beneath his mask, Vader boarded his starfighter and took off for the rescue of the Emperor from Admiral Zaarin.
Palpatine sensed something wrong going on with Lord Vader's fight against Harkov's forces but he trusted him to solve it for himself as he always did. "Inquisitor Tremayne, perhaps you should consider taking a break from your hunt for Arden Lyn. I have another task for you at the moment," he said immediately. "Yes milord, what can I do?" Tremayne asked.
"I would like you to come aboard the Majestic with me and journey to Korriban. I could use some company that is capable of killing Jedi in my search for the valuables there," Palpatine answered. "My life revolves only around serving the Master who has but to command and I shall do," Tremayne replied. "Excellent, the ship is ready to go and now we only need to join it through a shuttle we'll be taking from here," Palpatine stated.
"Master, forgive me for saying so but do you not fear the threat Arden Lyn poses while loose?" Tremayne inquired. "I would be a fool not to be afraid of what her powers mean for me now that she is rogue. However, I choose to use that fear fuel my strength and hasten my rise to victory over her through not brute force as would be her domain but sheer cunning," Palpatine explained. She seems to be pretty cunning to me but I will not point that out, my liege Tremayne thought silently.
But indeed, she did seem very cunning for she had commanded the most powerful team of Terras Kasi masters that the Empire or anyone could ever produce. They had done so well as to be able to beat back the Followers of Palawa who originated the ancient fighting style. That could not be done through sheer brutality and force alone but through the cunning of a powerful military figure. And powerful, Arden was in not only the Force but in that aspect as well which made hunting her exciting.
Tremayne lusted for a good challenge and she was the only one besides his Jedi nemesis to have ever injured him and lived to tell about it. But now Torbin was not here to stop Tremayne from killing her and he still felt the passionate vengeance needed for that. "I understand Master but I will be on standby in case she shows up, I have a score to settle anyway," he said aloud. "As I would want you to, Inquisitor Tremayne," Palpatine replied.
"If this fails, Zaarin, I don't know if I'll be able to rejoin you. I may have to beat my own retreat and separate from you to save you the trouble of having anyone Sith hunting you too," Arden warned. "Much as I hate to admit it, you are right and I am prepared to accept that if that is what it comes to," Demetrius said. "If we win though, perhaps we can discuss the joint rule that you mentioned earlier," Arden suggested.
"Don't think too far forward, we still need to kill the Emperor and take his reins over. We'll also need to deal with Lord Vader if Agamemnon hasn't already done so. Lastly, there's securing the loyalties of the Imperial forces or else destroying them as well as possibly the Alliance," he explained. "Understandable, very understandable and how long before we're out of hyperspace?" she asked.
"We should be out any minute now," he answered. Sure enough, they were out of lightspeed just as soon as he said that to her. The Majestic, Palpatine's personal Star Destroyer, lay directly in front of them which worked perfectly for Zaarin who ordered his men to open fire. Zaarin, knowing the cruiser wasn't hanging solo, ordered his Z-Alpha Squadron to counter any other TIE fighter squadrons. Sure enough, Zeta and Eta Squadrons came to the Emperor's defense but Z-Alpha had the numbers to counter them.
"All escort shuttles, had for the cannons and knock out the shields on the Majestic. I'll go for their engines with Glory and knock them out when you have the enemy in position," he added. "Copy that," was the reply from the leaders of the groups. "What do you intend to have them do once they succeed?" Arden asked.
"The troopers on board will be joining you in wiping out all stormtroopers on the Majestic while you fight the Emperor yourself. You don't want the troopers risking their lives anymore greatly by helping you than they are already are without doing it, correct?" he replied. She nodded and saw that the shuttle were already almost done with their part, Haven 3 being recalled to pick Arden up. However, as she prepared to march down and meet it, Zaarin called out to Arden and asked her to come close to him so that only she could hear him speak.
"Be careful with that baby on board, you don't want it distracting you in your fighting or putting you in any pain," he whispered. "Not to worry, it's only a couple days along. Hardly anything to affect my fighting in even the obvious ways," she replied. Smiling, he wished her luck and let her go to the business of marching down to the shuttle and fight the Emperor as he wished.
"I sense the presence of Arden Lyn in all of this, indeed she has allied herself with treacherous foes of the Empire. Perhaps now is your chance for revenge, Inquisitor Tremayne," Palpatine stated. The distress signal from the Majestic's communication board had already been sent and now it was just a matter of time before Vader and reinforcements arrived. "I'm ready, I'll kill that bitch where she stands!" Tremayne hissed.
"It won't be that easy but she will fail today, all the same," Palpatine told him. Tremayne smiled, knowing that even if Arden did miraculously defeat the two of them, she would not survive. The Empire would live beyond her attempt on their lives and prosper as it ever did before or would in the future. Bring the fight on you stupid little bitch, Grand Inquisitor Torbin isn't here to save you now Tremayne thought to himself eagerly.
"Mayday! Mayday! This is the Star Destroyer Majestic, we have been boarded by Imperial traitors," was the signal that Thrawn had received. Zaarin has gone and turned rogue just as I anticipated he would after hearing about how he recruited Arden Thrawn thought silently.
"Star Destroyer Majestic, this is Vice Admiral Thrawn the commander of Vanguard and supervisor of the corvette Mescue. I have received your signal and am en route to Imperial Center now, over and out," Thrawn said before giving the according orders to his crew. The lightspeed trip would be a quick one since he had already ordered his captain to take over mapping the Unknown Regions.
As a result, the transfer to becoming the reinforcements of the Emperor was swift and easy as well as efficient. Now he could focus on the true obsession of his life, getting Arden Lyn back under his wing so he could use her Battle Meditation for his own design. Ever since he saw it in action against the Yuuzhan Vong enemy twenty-three years ago, he had desired to keep it under his grasp. It was an obsession that gnawed at his being even now as he was close to achieving his goals in the Empire.
I just hope I have an opportunity to capture you and take you as my prisoner, Arden Lyn. The Emperor will be most pleased to hear that I wish to imprison you forever he thought excitedly.