They're here...no. No, no, nonono! It's too early! Blasted Jedi scum...
Pesegam, in the ancient times, before the Republic. Moraband, as known by the Jedi Order. To the galaxy at large, a lifeless, nameless rock whose existence few outside of the most dedicated of historians cared to remember.
Korriban, and the Dark Lords of the Sith buried within its arid crust, cared nothing for the galaxy's remembrance.
A small wink of light flashed, and a G9 Rigger-class Corellian freighter blinked out of Hyperspace. The Twilight, twice damaged, once crippled, and thrice restored, exited the FTL dimension about half a million kilometers from the rust-colored world. Two of the three occupants within looked grimly out the viewport.
"I never thought the day would come that I'd...visit...this place." -said Obi-Wan, running a hand through his brown and gray hair.
Anakin gave him a raised eyebrow. "I doubt anyone has ever thought coming here can be qualified as a 'visit'. Everything stays away from this cursed world."
It was no joke. Korriban was the sole celestial body in the Horuset system, aside of course from its star. No gas giants, no asteroid belt. Only a barren tomb world and its moons.
The Twilight quickly made its way toward the dark world. A thin, glinting ring of metal surrounded the planet.
"I never knew Moraband to be a ringed planet." -said Obi-Wan, clearly trying to mask his growing dread. Even from the controlled atmosphere within the freighter, the aging Jedi Master felt the cold originating from the world ahead, seeping deep into his bones.
"Korriban wasn't, originally. The 'ring' is made up entirely out of the remains of hundreds of warships and space stations, thousands of years since destroyed. Remnants, of the old Sith Empire and its war with the Old Republic, picked clean by scavengers and xeno-archaeologists ever since -and before you worry about it, no, no Sith artifacts were amongst the treasures they took." -Anakin said, with a sarcastic smirk.
The Jedi Master frowned. "Well, you don't have to put it like that. Sith artifacts are dangerous. How do you know they haven't? Palpatine had some inside his vault. One of them killed Masters Tiin and Kolar simply by being near it."
"So that's what happened to them." -he mused, then he gave a sideways look at his former teacher. "This isn't my first trip to Korriban, Master. Becoming a Rogue means blending the best of both worlds. Literally, in this case; Korriban, Tython, and a dozen other worlds the Force pays a...particular attention to, regardless of which side is interested. Sith artifacts are designed to be used by Sith. They're almost always rigged to kill anyone who isn't, Force-sensitive or not. I can only imagine Darth Sidious made a...convincing...case for himself, to have made it off the planet with them."
Obi-Wan crossed his arms. "Oh? You certainly seem adamant to use the correct terminology."
The Rogue shrugged. "Names have power, Obi-Wan. Darth Sidious may have been a vile man, a murderer, and a traitor, but he was still a Dark Lord of the Sith. Given we're about to reach their homeworld, I'd advise against disrespect. Even in death, they're...prickly, about that."
Obi-Wan rubbed his beard pensively. Anakin closed his eyes, letting the Force guide his hand. Nexus worlds like Korriban were tricky to navigate, to say the least. Amongst the hundreds of ruins of Harrower-class Imperial Dreadnoughts and Hammerhead-class Republic cruisers, one could easily find a few, newer ships, whose owners had disregarded their own safety by believing Korriban to be simply another world, when in truth, it could be said that the Sith homeworld had a life of its own -and a penchant for causing untimely death.
The Twilight zoomed by the ring, taking on the layers of the atmosphere one by one. Choosing a spot on the planet's night side, Anakin maneuvered the freighter across the thin cloud cover, and soon the ancient valleys, mountains, and crevices filled their view.
Obi-Wan checked the lifeform scanners, finding nothing. The same went for electronic signals. "We are alone."
A chill swept through the air at his statement, but only for a moment. Anakin smirked, eyes still closed. "No. We are the only living beings in the world...but we aren't the only ones here. They don't call Korriban a tomb world for nothing."
Obi-Wan scowled. "Remind me to have a serious talk with Master Windu when we return. How many of them are buried here?"
Anakin opened his eyes, his sky-blue irises tinged with amber. "Well, that depends. Sith, as in the original species? Millions, I'd assume. Sith Lords, however, are a different story. It's impossible to tell, in the entire planet, but the Valley of the Dark Lords, which is our destination, contains less than two dozen tombs, only the most powerful of them all. Darth Nihilus, Darth Traya, Darth Malgus...and of course, Darth Bane. I imagine Lord Sidious' spirit is less than pleased to have been denied burial among them." -he said, unable to keep the smirk off his face.
"What are you on about? His spirit?"
Anakin nodded seriously. "The Jedi believe that the soul passes on to the Netherworld of the Force, after death; that it finds new form and life within it. The Sith defy these beliefs, claiming that their essence remains in this realm, as Force ghosts...or worse. They all cling to whatever form of existence brings them closer back to life."
Obi-Wan shook his head as the Twilight began its landing sequence. "And who has the right of it? Jedi, or Sith?"
Anakin gave him a mischievous smile. "I'm sorry, Master. That's not my secret to tell. Now come on, we have a few tombs to ransack."
"Kriff!" -cursed Ahsoka, banking hard to avoid the imminent collision.
"I think I was right to feel concerned!" -said Leia, gripping the edge of her seat.
The Daughter narrowly missed the Destroyer's hull, flying along its starboard flank and keeping out of view of the enormous turbolaser cannons slowly swivelling to target them.
Ahsoka switched on the deflectors and started to warm up the cannons and missile tubes. "Look alive, Krayt! We've got a date with a familiar Destroyer." -she said grimly. She turned to Leia. "Open me a line to the Ghost."
The first green turbolasers began to fill their transparisteel viewscreen. A regular Gozanti would be in deep trouble -they were known for being incredibly slow- but the Daughter was as custom as they came: overhauled ion engines, improved duranium and neutronium enhanced hull, and frigate-grade turbolasers were amongst her tricks. Individual Jedi usually didn't have much in the way of possessions, but the New Republic usually provided them with single man interceptors, and the Order granted Knights and Masters upgrades for their ships, depending on their accomplishments both on and off the field of battle. While most Jedi had a single interceptor to their name, Ahsoka had lucked out with the old gunship, a parting gift from her people when she'd gone back to Coruscant. Anakin, in his urge to atone for his malevolent outburst, had made sure the Daughter ended up as a force to be reckoned with.
"Geez, Ahsoka! The Ghost almost lived up to its name." -said Hera, annoyed.
The three vessels scattered, Maris' tiny interceptor easily zooming away, towards Tatooine's primary moon, while the two freighters struggled to evade the massive warship's attacks.
Ahsoka gave a strained smirk. "Not my intention, I assure you. Ok, change of plans - we need the intel on Fett, but we won't be able to do that with that Destroyer hanging above our heads. We need to draw it out or disable it so Maris can question Jabba."
A warning for a tractor field ahead screamed, and Ahsoka pulled away, shifting the shielding to compensate. The Ghost was faster and more maneuverable, but smaller and weaker, so Hera had resorted to keeping the repurposed freighter clear of the Destroyer's range.
An exasperated sigh came from Hera. "I guess we're playing rabbit. What about you, though?"
Leia looked at Ahsoka resignedly. "Please don't…"
The Togruta frowned in thought. "The plans Lyra Blissex gave us had a 'blind' sensor spot, behind the bridge's tower and above the engines. We'll pull a Mynock -the Destroyer's certainly large enough for it- and then…"
Ahsoka gave Leia a mad smile. "We're boarding that Destroyer." -they both said, though Leia's tone was decidedly less excited.
"You're crazy. But then again, so are we for being here. We're in. We'll cover you." -said Hera, then cut the line.
The Ghost dive-bombed the warship, laser cannons blazing. The shots did negligible damage to the shields, but they were enough to shift the Imperator's attention. Ahsoka powered up the Hyperdrive and just as quickly switched it off, feinting a jump, then maneuvered the Daughter to the Destroyer's blind spot, magnetically attaching the gunship to the gray hull, and powering down the non-essential systems.
Ahsoka and Leia both rose and jogged to the common area, where Fireteam Krayt was standing in full armor and looking a little dizzy.
Lara shook her head. "What did we just get into?"
"Nothing. At least, not yet. We're clinging to the Imperator, and looking to board it. Any ideas?" -asked Ahsoka.
To their credit, Krayt didn't bat an eye at their situation. "Do you have EVA suits?" -asked Jaina dubiously, eyeing Ahsoka's less than traditional garb.
"We're each assigned EVA field generators, good for about five minutes at a time." -answered Leia.
Jaina pursed her lips. "It'll take longer than that to breach the hull, if Blissex's designs are still accurate. It's way too thick for just a simple breaching charge."
Zek raised an eyebrow. "Just use a lightsaber, right?"
Before Ahsoka could raise an eyebrow, the team's heavy weapons specialist hummed his approval.
"It could work. They'll know we're inside immediately from the decompression though." -said Ari.
Lara pursed her lips. "They're bound to know anyway, at least this way is quicker, leaves less room for them to prepare."
"They'll shoot the Daughter off when they figure it out." -Ahsoka pointed out.
"So I stay behind and pilot it away. Make it look like a surprise attack and keep them busy. I'd appreciate it if you guys could do something in there to soften up the firepower, though. I don't fancy my chances against those turbolasers." -said Leia.
Ahsoka thought for a moment and nodded. "Alright. Fireteam Krayt and I will breach the Imperator's hull, and Leia will keep the Daughter handy. Our main objective is sabotage, secondary objectives include gathering intel and the capture of whoever's high ranking in this thing. Clear?"
The team shouted their assent. Ahsoka produced two field generators and left one to Leia. The team readied their weapons and locked their armors for EVA. Ahsoka put a comforting hand to Leia's shoulders.
"We'll be fine, Leia. Keep safe, and may the Force be with you." -said Ahsoka.
"It's not me you should worry about, Master, but I'll be careful. May the Force be with you as well." -said Leia, managing a shaky smile.
Ahsoka nodded, walking over to the airlock, where Lara punched the hatch opening, revealing the white film that separated the interior from the cold void of space.
Fireteam Krayt immediately stuck to the Daughter's hull, slowly walking the small distance to the Destroyer's gray metal. Ahsoka, lacking the magnetic boots, performed a Force-assisted leap, landing right beside them and grabbing a 'ledge' formed from the space between two massive hull panels.
"Right there, Commander." -pointed Jaina at a spot on the hull over team comm. Ahsoka nodded, producing her regular lightsaber and igniting it. The field generator beeped a warning that the lightsaber was overtaxing the system, so Ahsoka grit her teeth and plunged the green blade into the hull, making use of her considerable wiry strength to drag it in a wide circle. Slowly but surely, the hole took shape, and before she could finish, the pressure balance won over and the piece of hull flew away with the room's atmosphere.
Ahsoka immediately switched her saber off, narrowly avoiding being blown away. Just then, powerful blue turbolaser bolts impacted the hull, clear of them, but near enough that Ahsoka could appreciate the brilliance of the action: by shooting so close to their breaching point, it was possible the sensors of the warship would mistake the breach for damage from the attack. The Daughter passed them by rapidly, almost close enough to scrape vertically against the tower-like bridge. She could feel the hull thunder at her fingertips with every shot from its massive gun emplacements.
Ahsoka would praise Leia later, when her oxygen wasn't reaching critical levels.
The Jedi and Krayt quickly entered the ship, and Jaina set to work, locally slicing the nearest terminal to give them access to a pressurized room. Ahsoka's field generator flashed red, indicating she had seconds left, but Jaina worked her magic and they got to an adjacent room, whose door closed seconds after they rushed in.
"Cutting it kinda close there, Jaina." -said Zek with a smirk, depolarizing his visor. The rest of the team followed suit.
Jaina raised an eyebrow, but Ahsoka held up a hand. "It was precisely in time, Sergeant Teck. Thank you."
The human nodded. Lara piped up. "Right. Good work Krayt. Jaina, pull up the schematics."
Jaina complied, pulling up the Imperator designs in a hologram. "We're on deck 7, but it's a long elevator ride or service passage trek up to the bridge. The main reactor room is five decks below."
"Are we noticed yet?" -asked Lara.
The human engineer shook her head. "We'd be swimming in blaster fire, so I think Leia's trick worked. I can't give you the exact numbers without risking raising alarms, but this Destroyer is designed to smash orbital defenses and launch a surface invasion, so it can hold thousands of troops and vehicles. If it's anything like a Venator, it should have similar patrols, too."
Ahsoka thought for a moment. "The nearest New Republic fleet is about ten parsecs away. We must prevent this vessel from leaving until it gets here, which would be around an hour after we call them."
Lara nodded. "Agreed. We disable the Hyperdrive or reactor and seal the bridge behind us."
Zek shook his head. "It's too big a ship…can we hold it with just the six of us?"
"Basic military tactics - we have the element of surprise, and the lay of the land. Keep the fighting in close quarters and use their numbers against them." -said Lara, looking at Ahsoka.
The Togruta nodded. "Avoid large hangars and vehicle bays as much as possible. Commander, you know your team." -she said.
Lara narrowed her eyes in thought. "We need an exit strategy, one saboteur team and an assault squad. Ari, Jaina and Zek, disable the reactor, but don't blow it up; I don't want to risk this ship falling on Anchorhead. Mira, find us a way out, preferably one that doesn't involve another spacewalk. Knight Tano and I will bust their bridge."
The team nodded, and everyone but the two of them jogged off. "Commander." -said Lara, looking at Ahsoka.
"Good plan. Stay behind the lightsabers." -she said, producing her green and amber blades, and jogging away to find the elevator.
Have you ever noticed how easy it always seems to be to board enemy ships in the Star Wars universe? Who do you think is rambling in italics? You'll find out soon...hopefully you'll enjoy that little reveal :D