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Fate of the Force
A squadron of fighters blazed past the viewport of the Dragon Queen, pursuing a flight of separatist fighters as fire blossomed all over the flagship's shields. Space was filled with turbolasers and missiles, as the mighty weapons of the Hapes Consortium battled it out, with their forces fighting one another with all their potent ferocity.
Battle Dragons were pounding at one another's shields, and another rebel ship blew apart under concentrated fire from some of Tenel Ka's Nova Cruisers. Several more were impeding the abilities of the smaller frigates that were backing up the rebel fleet, cutting them off and preventing them from pounding at the Miy'til fighters which the Queen Mother's forces were using to incredible effect. Beta cruisers, led by the Starsprite had cut the two main factions of this rebel gathering off from the other, and now Tenel Ka's forces were encircling them, pounding away at their command ships as the Dragon Queen bore down on what was the main communications ship, her turbolasers shredding the enemy Battle Dragon into fiery shards of scrap, sending the rebel fleet further into disarray.
"Majesty, we have the advantage, several of the smaller task forces are already making a break for it, and we're receiving offers of surrender from several vessels." Espara reported and Tenel Ka allowed herself a smile, it was about time something went their way.
Small rebel ships started to jump away, avoiding the punishment of the bombers employed by the royalist faction, which in turn allowed them to turn their attention back to the enemy Battle Dragons and Nova cruisers, and Tenel Ka watched as a damaged rebel Nova cruiser plunged into the side of one of their Battle Dragons, opening a hole in their defences.
"Pursue the advantage admiral, but accept all offers of surrender. Allow the smaller ships to escape, the cruisers are the real threat if we can stop them then this rebellion will lose a lot of their firepower." She ordered, and Espara nodded, relaying her orders as Zekk appeared at her shoulder, and Tenel Ka craned her neck back to hear what he had to say.
"You're forgetting your history, the rebels didn't have many heavy warships in the early days either." He muttered, and she allowed herself a grim smile.
"Yes, that's true, but don't forget, the good guys won." She reminded him and he grinned humourlessly.
"Not everyone thinks we're the good guys though, that's the thing." He lamented, wincing as a rebel fighter slammed into the shields of the ship, making the entire ship shudder.
"Majesty, Admiral, we've completed our scan, the Kendall isn't present." A lieutenant called from her post, and Tenel Ka cursed, but then, it would have been too easy for her to be here anyway.
"Any indications as to where AlGray might be?" she asked hopefully, but received no reply, making her sigh sadly.
"We've done some damage to them your majesty, and we've captured a few of their nobles, it isn't a complete loss." Espara counselled, and Tenel Ka nodded when a hologram of her father, currently commanding from his own flagship, the Song of War, materialised before her, and he looked quite alarmed, his normally perfect hair was in disarray and there seemed to be quite the commotion going on behind him.
"Father, what's wrong?" she asked sharply, and he grimaced.
"Well, I was keeping an eye on Relephon as you asked, and as we figured, AlGray did have a second force here, which appears to be her main task force. The problem is, they detected one of our signals and laced the area with long range turbolaser fire, we barely got away. But they left, the whole fleet." He informed her, and she exchanged a dark look with Zekk, they had figured that AlGray would have another task force, but the fact that Isolder had lost them was quite irritating, hardly his fault, but still, it meant AlGray had escaped and was now doing who knew what.
"But that doesn't make any sense, surely she would have come here to reinforce her supporters…unless they were the distraction." Espara realised, and Tenel Ka bit down a curse, obviously, that was why the intelligence had been so good, she had duped them into heading after the staging area while preparing their own forces to attack elsewhere.
"We haven't had any alerts though, what could she be after?" Zekk asked in confusion, and suddenly, the truth clicked in the mind of the Queen Mother.
AlGray's entire position was basically built on her disdain for Tenel Ka and her relationship with the Alliance and the Jedi. If push came to shove, the Alliance would (well in theory, they could hardly afford the ships to transport a courier at the moment) eventually intercede with the military and help Tenel Ka keep the throne. AlGray's entire campaign relied on removing Alliance support, and the easiest way to do that, while pleasing the most extreme of her own supporters and giving herself a ton of credibility was…
"Vena!" she cried in alarm, and Espara turned to the crew, already barking orders.
"Recall all fighters, Ducha AlGray is en route to attack Vena, this is but a staging area, we need to go after the bulk of the main fleet!" she bellowed, and Taryn emerged onto the bridge, Trista behind her and Allana holding her hand, looking worriedly up at the screen.
"Cousin if we abandon this battle now, these ships will simply regroup and haunt us elsewhere." Trista warned, and Tenel Ka bit her lip, she was right, but if AlGray did what she thought she was going to do, the civil war within the cluster would be the least of her worries.
"I know, but if we don't stop her, AlGray will be attacking an Alliance world with Hapan forces, which the galaxy could easily see as an act of war, which will quickly unite the Alliance and possible the Empire and bring them all down on our heads. It isn't ideal, I know that but we don't have a lot of choice. We've dealt them enough of a blow, the rest can be dealt with later. Set a course for Vena, now!" she ordered, and despite her own reservations, and the conflicted look her supreme commander sent her, the Dragon Queen began to accelerate away from the battle.
"I will summon my own task force and meet you there. You realise if we're wrong, we're going to have a lot of explaining to do." Isolder warned, and she snorted humourlessly.
"If we're wrong, I can cope. If I'm right though, and she is making a move on Vena, it could doom the entire Consortium. Hurry father, we will meet you there!" she urged, and his holo flickered out while her own forces sped away from the probably very confused rebel ships and headed to hyperspace.
XX
The tunnel of hyperspace faded into lines as the Dragon Queen and the rest of the royalist fleet left lightspeed, arriving right behind Isolder's fleet, as Miy'til fighters and bombers began to speed from their mother ships heading towards the green blue marble of Vena. But she saw now that it was too late, and even worse, she had been right.
The entire rebel armada was here, hundreds of Battle Dragons, Nova cruisers and Beta cruisers, among other smaller ships, frigates and cruisers that they had collected from outside the cluster, were now all engaged with the full might of the Galactic Alliance Second Fleet. X-Wings sped against Miy'til fighters while Battle Dragons exchanged fire with the Galactic class Battle Carrier that was the flagship of the fleet, the Dodonna.
"Majesty…" Espara breathed in shock, as the full enormity of what was going on here hit her.
The Hapan rebels were trying to expand Hapes, but they weren't doing it the way Lecersen was expanding the Empire, no, they were attacking outright and trying to conquer a planet, which, due to the recent attack by Collonzas and his pirates, had attracted the full might of the Galactic Alliance, who, with all the ground they had lost recently, had to make a stand somewhere and had chosen Vena to make a show of force. However, that conflicted with the aims of the rebels, and now it appeared as if Hapes was at war with the Alliance.
"Contact Admiral Klauskin immediately, we need to get a handle on this now!" Tenel Ka snapped as her own forces closed in on the rebels, and Zekk gave her a grim smile.
"We've got her, don't you see? She's right between us and the Alliance fleet, she can't escape, AlGray's backed herself into a corner, she's screwed!" he laughed, almost giddy with relief, and at his words, Tenel Ka allowed herself a small smile, he was right, between the two forces they could easily wipe out the rebel faction, yes it would make them martyrs, especially when she used the Alliance to help her end the conflict, but he was right, AlGray had overplayed her hand, she was right where she needed her to finally end her.
"Um, Admiral, Majesty, we're receiving some alarming reports from the planet…the government has fallen, they're declaring their intentions to join Hapes, which AlGray has apparently promised them!" the lieutenant called, and Tenel Ka felt the blood drain from her face.
"Engage her fleet at once, we need to stop this before it goes any further, inform Klauskin that we are entering the battle, tell him he can do what he wants but the Kendall is mine!" she yelled as her whole fleet moved to engage the rebels.
Up close, the battle was even worse as the Galactic Alliance fleet pounded into the Hapans, which while outnumbering the Second Fleet, didn't outgun them. Several Battle Dragons were already fiery, twisted wrecks, and the entire space above the planet was filled with debris as the two mighty forces clashed. The Harbinger, the Mon Calamari cruiser that had gained notoriety during the Vong War, was leading a flanking manoeuvre, the powerful cruiser's weapons ripping into two Nova class cruisers, its thrust into the Heritage Fleet breaking their line. The Dodonna was now entering the field itself, its heavy turbolaser weapons pounding as it decimated the shields of a Battle Dragon, breaking into the throng of the enemy fleet and plunging like a dagger straight up the middle. A Strident class Star Defender was leading another such attack on the far side of the Heritage fleet, which was beginning to buckle under the pressure.
"Open fire, it doesn't matter what happens on the planet, we can deal with that later, let's just focus on ending this." Tenel Ka commanded, but then felt a warning develop in the Force, and she suddenly felt her eyes drawn to the command screen.
The Dodonna was directly ahead, exchanging fire with several enemy craft at once, but as it approached, Tenel Ka felt the Force surge in warning, and Zekk shared her look of alarm as fire filled with the viewports and alarms started to blare.
XX
Vena was a battleground. As reports came in from all over, confused captains and pilots were requesting orders as there was now over three hundred Hapan warships in Galactic Alliance airspace, even if the planet was in revolt against the government.
"Admiral, we have many ships requesting orders, what do we do?" Commander Fiav Fenn pleaded with Klauskin, who grimaced as Hapan turbolaser batteries opened fire, blasting away at the ships, and hence the people, under his command.
Once again he wondered what his wife, his dearly departed Edela, would encourage him to do in this situation, she had been his rock, his soul…until the Swarm War terrorists had taken her from him. But recently she had been coming to him in dreams, telling him that they could one day be together again but she wouldn't say how, and she hadn't appeared to him for a while now. But either way, he could almost hear her voice, encouraging him to do the right thing, to protect the people under his command, to protect the Alliance.
"We don't have a choice commander." He told her grimly, as a damaged A-Wing slammed into the bridge of the Swift Liberty, a VSD, fire blossoming against its shields, and Fenn looked at the admiral desperately, waiting for him to finish.
"We have no choice, we must take action. Open fire on the approaching Hapan vessels." He ordered, and many of the crew were nodding their approval of his decision.
"But admiral, the Queen Mother's out there." Fenn mumbled to him, and he fixed her with a regretful look, gesturing at the battlefield outside, as an Assault Frigate Mark II was destroyed by a concentrated barrage from many Beta cruisers.
"I know commander, I don't much like it myself, but we have an invading warfleet out there, and we have no way of telling which ship belongs to which faction. The Queen Mother may be out there, but until we know which ships support who, we can't take the risk." He said worriedly, as a Weequay crewman looked at him in alarm.
"Sir, the Elegos A'kla is dead in space, and Cheesmeer has been seized by a tractor beam by one of the Hapan vessels!" he warned, as if punctuating his admiral's statement, and Fenn nodded sadly, her soul torn, and Klauskin laid a hand on her shoulder, Hapan fire was lighting up and destroying his ships, and in that situation, he had no way of telling who was who.
The order was given, and his ship opened fire, right into the path of the newly arrived oncoming Battle Dragons, and Klauskin could only hope that Edela would be proud of him.
XX
Fire slammed into the Dragon Queen, the shields barely holding as the Alliance warship turned its guns on the flagship. However, the Ascendant Heritage, another Royalist Battle Dragon, was not so lucky, the Dodonna's weapons puncturing the midsection of the ship, creating a small supernova as the ship exploded.
Nor was it the only ship to have done so. While the bulk of the Alliance fleet was still firing on the Heritage fleet, several of the more heavily armed warships were now opening fire on the Royalist fleet as well, and Tenel Ka felt the surge in the Force as her warriors were destroyed by those who were meant to be their allies. The Harbinger destroyed two of her Beta Cruisers and the Mon Adapyne, an MC80B class cruiser, opened fire, destroying another Battle Dragon, the debris of which slammed into one of her escort carriers, destroying that ship as well as Tenel Ka looked around in dismay as the Alliance fired upon her own ships.
"What the hell is he doing?" she demanded as the Royalist fleet began to return fire with the Alliance fleet as more shots shook the ship, and Zekk, his face white, looked at her in despair.
"He won't know which faction is which, the IFF won't be able to differentiate between us, all he'll see is a massive Hapan war fleet, he won't know which ship belongs to which faction." He explained, and Espara, who was at a console, nodded darky.
"He's right Queen Mother, his message to the fleet is that the Hapan fleet is attempting to take Vena, while they know that there are two factions here, they can't take the risk that alliances will shift in this battle. And now, our own forces are returning fire, regardless of what else may happen." She concluded, and Tenel Ka could feel it all collapsing around her as the Galactic Alliance, the very government she had allied them with, opened fire on the two Hapan fleets indiscriminately, unable to take the risk that they wouldn't be a rebel ship.
She had no way out of this mess.
But as she watched the Dodonna destroy a Star Destroyer belonging to her faction, she felt her blood boil with anger, she had been backed into a corner that there was no way out of, she was now trapped between two factions of warring factions, and neither were that opposed to blowing up the Royalist forces. She had to take action, Hapan lives were being lost to Alliance guns, and regardless of whatever else the Heritage fleet may be, they were still Hapans, and the Alliance had opened fire upon them.
She crossed to the console, shoving Espara out of the way, earning her a reproving look as she seized the headset of an enthralled looking crewman as he beheld his queen.
"This is Queen Mother Tenel Ka to all Hapan forces, including those of the Heritage Fleet! The Galactic Alliance fleet has opened fire on all Hapans, and Admiral Klauskin has committed an act of war with his actions, so I say to you all, all Hapan forces, I extend the temporary blanket of truce to all Heritage fleet ships, join with us, and force the Alliance back!" she snarled into the comm, and various cheers came across the channel from the multitude of Hapan vessels.
"Queen Mother, this Ducha AlGray, we stand with you in this." She purred smugly, as the Kendallturned its guns onto the Dodonna, combining its firepower with that of the Dragon Queen and the Song of War as the Battle Dragons came together to fight their one common enemy.
XX
"The Hapans are opening fire sir, we can't hold position any longer!" a Bothan boy yelled from his monitor just before it blew up in his face, sending his smoking defaced body to the deck as fires erupted around the bridge, alarm klaxons blaring throughout the ship as the entire might of the Hapan fleet came to bear against them.
"We can't hold this position!" Fevv squeaked as she helped a medical droid evacuate a wounded Houk from the bridge, and Klauskin nodded, his eyes filled with despair and panic as he watched the combined might of Hapes blast away at his forces, one of his ISDs exploding in hail of blue laser fire, a Nebulon frigate splitting in two as several Nova class cruisers concentrated their fire on it, one of his CC7700s erupting like a volcano as its gravity well generators exploded, taking out two Ranger class gunships in the process as Miy'til bombers continued to blast away at his ships.
"Signal the fleet, the situation is untenable…full retreat, we've done what we can, set a course for Taanab." He ordered, defeated, feeling each destroyed ship was his own personal failure, and he feared that his failure here would make it even longer before Edala appeared to him again.
With that, his fleet turned their attention to escaping, their guns shredding their way through several Battle Dragons and other cruisers, as fighters of all shapes and sizes sped alongside, fleeing the swarms of Miy'til fighters that were now pursuing them, the beleaguered Alliance vessels blasting their way out of the swarm of Hapan warships, and as the Independent cleared the fleet, his ships began to zoom away into hyperspace, leaving Vena to its fate.
XX
The Alliance fleet jumped away, and Tenel Ka breathed a sigh of relief, but the ship then rocked as the Kendall opened fire on her flagship as the truce broke, the rebels turning their guns back on the Royalists, and worse, because Tenel Ka had just had to open fire on Alliance ships, their numbers had just had a sudden surge in strength. Space was filled with fire as the rebels pursued their advantage, their weapons ripping into the disorientated Royalist fleet, blowing a few ships apart as the rebels rebuilt their line and pushed back against the Royalist fleet, splitting their fleet in two.
"They have the advantage, our own forces are in chaos, majesty, we must retreat!" Espara insisted as the entire ship rocked from the bombardment, and Tenel Ka looked out in despair as several Battle Dragons broke off from the rebel fleet, launching shuttles towards Vena in order to finish securing their prize, as more ships, emboldened by AlGray's actions turned against their queen.
"We need to regroup cousin, we need to take stock, try and sort all this out." Taryn persuaded, and reluctantly, feeling her heart break as she did so, Tenel Ka nodded, and with that the defeated Royalist fleet turned and headed for home, leaving the separatists to take Vena and expand the Hapes Consortium, as they scored their first major victory in the Hapan Civil War.
XX
Ord Biniir wasn't far from Mygeeto, and was a popular location for podracing, as the planet was riddled with deep canyons which made it one of the hardest courses in the galaxy for those who followed the events of that circuit.
However, podracing wasn't the reason that the eyes of the galaxy were drawn to the planet, rather it was the two ISDs in orbit around the planet, the Empire Maker and the Overliege, the flagships of Moff Lecersen and Quille respectively.
While rumours persisted of Vong advances near the borders of Imperial space, which had prompted Pellaeon to leave Bastion on the Chimaera to investigate himself, the worlds closest to the border of the Unknown Regions, which was where the Vong were bound to strike from should a new war be in the offing, were clamouring for protection, and after the successful accession of Mygeeto back into the Empire, many more worlds were now petitioning Bastion for renewed membership in the Empire. Now, the heads of state of Ord Biniir, Moltok and Garqi were sitting inside the stateroom of the Empire Maker, and all three of them had just signed on the dotted line.
"Then it is my great pleasure to welcome you gentlemen back to the Empire." Lecersen said with a smile and the room filled with applause as the three heads of state shook hands with the three men who had just greatly advanced his plans for the Empire.
"Good to be back Moff Lecersen." The leader of Garqi, a moustached man said jovially as TIE Interceptors sped past the viewport, as Quille shook hands with the leader of Moltok.
"And we are delighted to have you back." Quille said happily, leading the men to the reception where they were met with more applause.
Hours later, Lecersen sat down in his office, raising his glass to a delighted Quille, who chinked glasses with him as he sat down.
"A job well done I'd say, three more worlds have now officially joined the Empire." Quille said, and Lecersen chuckled.
"Boy are you behind on the times, when news got out that those planets had joined, we didn't just take the planets, my friend, we took their whole sectors, the Empire just grew three sectors, and even better, the Alliance and Pellaeon can't do a single thing about it." He said in savage, gloating triumph and Quille barked out a laugh, downing his glass and pouring the two Moffs another.
"Lumiya will be pleased." He purred, and Lecersen nodded, looking at the galactic map, with the territory of the Remnant now having been expanded to encompass their newest acquisitions.
"Not as pleased as I am. Pellaeon won't be able to hold out much longer, while he battles phantom Vong threats and funds Daala's fixation with that wretched slaver, we are the ones doing the true work of the Empire, and very soon, no one will be able to deny that the time has come for Pellaeon to stand down…and allow a true son of the Empire to take the throne, and return the Empire to what it ought to be." He promised, his voice thick with triumph and conviction, and Quille smiled.
"I believe we can both drink to that." He said with a malicious grin as the newest planets to rejoin the Empire celebrated below them as for the first time in decades, Star Destroyers cruised above their homes in a display of the Imperial might which was once more theirs to control.
XX
The day had gone from bad to worse as soon as she had woken up. Granted she had only been sleeping in her chair, and Wynn had wisely advised that she not be disturbed, however when four Jedi Council members, the Supreme Commander and the Director of Intelligence all arrived at her door, each looking equally grim, he had relented, but only after making her some coffee to try and soften the blow from the latest batch of bad news.
Releqy looked at Kalenda in disbelief as she finished her report.
"Do you mean to tell me that from the time it took me to have a small nap, I've lost three whole karking sectors to that murglak Lecersen, and Vena has been taken by the Hapan separatists, and what's more, Admiral Klauskin for whatever damned reason, didn't bother to differentiate targets among the Hapans and shot at Tenel Ka as well, is that what you're telling me?" she asked, hardly daring to believe her ears, and Kalenda nodded, though she did look incredibly apologetic as she did so.
"I'm afraid so Chief A'kla. Heh, you picked the wrong time to be sleeping on the job." She said, trying to inject some cheer into the situation however the look Releqy gave her was colder than Hoth at the height of winter, so she desisted and looked at her feet.
Releqy got to her feet, looked out the window at the setting Coruscant sun, her head already pounding. They had all told her this would be a tough job, but this, this was beyond tough, it was sabotage, there was no way she could be this unlucky, the whole galaxy was going to hell and it was happening on her watch, and worst of all she was completely powerless to stop it. She crossed to the drinks cabinet, contemplating whether it would be bad to have a drink.
"Oh to hell with it all." She grumbled, and reached in, pulling out some glasses and some brandy, pouring each of them a glass as she sat down at her desk wearily, keeping the bottle in striking distance as she downed her glass.
"Your health Chief A'kla…you look like you need it." Kyp muttered, earning him a glare but she went no further, instead fixing her steely eyes on Niathal.
"Alright we'll start with you, what in the name of the Sith was Klauskin playing at?" she demanded, trying to control her temper, but really, he had opened fire on all the Hapans indiscriminately, the reason the Second Fleet had been at Vena was because they were meant to be backing up the Royalists should they need it, not firing at them.
Niathal sighed as she considered her drink.
"To be fair, it isn't really his fault. The separatist fleet emerged from hyperspace at the same time as the coup commenced on the planet, and the rebels on the planet quickly took over. Klauskin tried to stop them, to turn them back, and they refused. However, when Tenel Ka arrived, what was he meant to do? All any of us really know is that there's a civil war in Hapes, and considering the treacherous nature of Hapan politics at the best of times, there was no way really for him to identify who was who. Admittedly he could have identified the Dragon Queen, but consider it, his fleet was vastly outnumbered and suddenly another fleet hundreds of Battle Dragons strong drops out of hyperspace. Having a fully armed Hapan armada bearing down on you can't be any good for anyone, especially when you don't know who's fighting who. The Hapans promised us that the conflict would be kept within the Transitory Mists, and it wasn't, hence, their refusal to share their IFF codes with us helped bring this on more than Klauskin's actions." She told her, and Releqy seethed silently.
"Admiral, there were two fleets, one arrived after the other, and clearly had the Queen Mother within it, surely it was obvious that that was the Royalist fleet? Now he's lost Vena and the entire balance of power in that area of space had been disturbed, and what's more, while he did harm the rebel fleet, he also attacked the Royalist fleet, which is commanded by one of our allies!" she stormed, and Niathal sighed tiredly, her skin looking dry and pale.
"I know it's a mess Chief A'kla, but the other commanders all said that they would make the same call, as do various other Admirals. Speaking for myself, while I would make sure not to fire on the Dragon Queen itself, I very likely would have done the same thing, he was facing an overwhelming armada, any of whom could have turned on him at a seconds notice, he was covering his bases." She told her, and deep down, while irresponsible and illogical, she knew that Klauskin had done what most other commanders would have done, he had been concerned with protecting his people, she could hardly blame him for that, even if his methods had made an already tense situation a billion times worse.
"Oh kark it all. So AlGray has taken Vena, which is a disaster in and of itself, it's now given the separatists legitimacy, and worse, in the process we have managed to alienate Tenel Ka and severely undermine her position. What were the losses like?" she asked, and Niathal sighed.
"We lost twelve ships, including one of our ISDs. It appears as if we destroyed at least seven Royalist Battle Dragons and several support cruisers, but if it's any consolation, we did a lot more damage to the separatists. We took out a good twenty off of their Battle Dragons and a good number of support cruisers." She supplied dully, and Releqy kneaded her temples wearily.
"Have we had any word from Tenel Ka?" she asked, and Niathal shook her head.
"No, but that is understandable, she's bound to be trying to establish control over the nobles especially since we played right into the hands of the separatists, and considering she was forced to open fire on us, I doubt she's particularly pleased to hear from us right now." She explained, and Releqy sighed wearily, fixing this was going to be a major headache.
"Frak. Alright, and Vena has suffered a coup, how did we not know about this?" she asked wearily, and Kalenda pursed her lips.
"There's always been a faction arguing for unification with Hapes on Vena, particularly since the wars that Baroness Omnino waged against her own people. You see, her ruthless strategies, and the fact that she opened Vena to the Republic which benefitted only the rich and turned a blind eye to the Baroness' abuses of power gave the people a desire for protection, and at the time Hapes was the only other body capable of providing that. And as Venans are descended from Hapan exiles originally anyway…" she listed off, and Releqy groaned.
"Well, god bless Qui Gon Jinn for killing Omnino then, otherwise Vena might have been the Republic's problem and not mine." She grumbled, making the others smile grimly.
"Well as a result, there was always a considerable body of opinion, which has only been growing stronger along with anti-Alliance and Jedi sentiment, particularly with the Vong War and all the other problems. With everyone focused on Hapes, the group took advantage and now Baron Krinto is in charge having executed the rest, and has joined forces with AlGray, and pledged Vena's loyalty to Hapes, particularly the separatists who are now using it as their capital, which is quite a clever move, it's outside the cluster and has easier access to trade which will be severely impacted because of this, no one will want to enter Hapes to trade in case they get caught up in the conflict. To make matters worse, it will further embolden other rebels, and what's more it's severely weakened Tenel Ka's position." She explained, and Releqy sighed in exhaustion.
"Very well, what options have we?" she asked tiredly, rubbing her eyes and considering another swig of brandy.
"Very few. We could send the Second Fleet back, but, that is technically stepping on Tenel Ka's toes, and what's more, it could easily precipitate a war with Hapes, even if it's the rebels who have taken the planet. Diplomatic missions are out of the question, it would play right into the hands of the separatists and make Tenel Ka's position even worse, and by the same token, the Jedi are ruled out too. Theoretically, we could send one in, but with the laws that Senator Treen passed it'll be translated as an outright show of aggression, and not to mention, Vena has little use for Jedi, much like Mandalore." Kalenda reported
"And as Krindo has executed everyone who was a supporter of the Alliance, we can't really send anyone in to remove him from power either." Niathal added, and Releqy could swear she just felt another few wrinkles materialise on her person as she sighed.
"So basically, I can do nothing other than try and mend fences with Tenel Ka and hope for the best?" she asked, and the room at large nodded sheepishly, and she rolled her eyes.
"Of course I can't, why would I be able to do something? Alright, can someone explain how in the name of the stars Lecersen managed to add another three sodding sectors to the Empire?" she asked, sounding supremely fed up, and Kalenda gave her a conciliatory look.
"Same as usual. It's pretty obvious that we're spread out, there's civil wars popping up everywhere, we can't rely on the Jedi as much due to a vast and quite unprecedented rise in anti-Jedi sentiment," she said, sounding puzzled at the ferocity of the Jedi opposition, "we still have ships vanishing, the Vong are probing our defences...when you add together all the problems we have, other than knocking years off our prospective lifespans, you have to wonder how it looks to individual planetary governments, a lot of them are starting to question if we can protect what we have. So, instead, along comes a spider and said spider offers them protection and stability, which we can't totally provide at the moment, and they all fall over themselves to sign on the dotted line. Lecersen is telling them what they want to hear, and offering them what looks like, to them at least, more stability and security than we can offer."
Releqy closed her eyes for a second, wishing that when she opened them the last few weeks would be a bad dream and that she'd be tucked up in bed. She opened them and sighed. No such luck.
"I need to talk to Pellaeon, we need to do Lecersen, or both of us will need to polish up our resumes at this rate." She grumbled, and Octa looked thoughtful.
"To be fair, Pellaeon probably won't have to, he could probably just retire." She mused, earning her a lethal look from the chief of state.
"Master Ramis, please don't take this the wrong way but please, shut up and stop depressing people." She commanded huffily, and Octa nodded, though she did look slightly amused.
Releqy got to her feet, and closed the window shade, activating the galactic map that was installed on her wall, wincing as she saw the now expanded Empire. Them taking Mygeeto, while a nuisance, could be dealt with, but as she'd thought, Lecersen wasn't content with just one marble, he wanted a bag at least, and now he'd taken several more planets and added them to his collection, which would undermine both her and Pellaeon. And then there was the Hapan crisis, which had worsened considerably this morning when the separatists had taken Vena.
"I want Klauskin reprimanded." She commanded, and Niathal nodded.
"I agree, his actions, while not entirely unreasonable, have still put us in a worse situation than we were in. Admiral Parova said she would handle the affair. What do you want done with the Second Fleet?" she asked, and Releqy looked at the galactic map, contemplating her next move.
"Leave it at Taanab for now, I can't do anything until I speak to Tenel Ka. We can figure from there what our next move will be, for now we'll keep it close enough to Vena to make them think. Hmm, actually, have a few ships go on scouting missions if at all possible, have them just out and sit at the edge of the system for a while or until they're spotted, just keep reminding them we're there too." She ordered, and Niathal nodded.
"There is another problem Chief A'kla. The Senate, however they react to this, will come to one conclusion: that Hapes as a whole is responsible for the loss of Vena. That means they will want to at the very least impose sanctions on Hapes as a whole, regardless of the side, if not they will want to withdraw Alliance friendship. And of course the more militaristic ones will want war." Tionne warned, and Releqy sniffed derisively.
"We can't afford to brush our teeth at the moment, let alone fight a war, especially not with everything else going on. But you are right, the Senate will be a nightmare. If nothing else, this and Lecersen's shenanigans will only embolden Treen and her faction, the Senate will be after blood, and since we can't get the Hapans, mine will have to do." She lamented, and the four Jedi exchanged looks with the admiral and director, she sounded so exhausted and world weary when only a few weeks ago she had been full with vigour and enjoying her job.
Releqy had turned to consider the galactic map again, but then she turned, looking at the four Jedi curiously.
"Alright, I get why this two are here being the harbingers of doom, but why are you four here?" she asked curiously, and the four Jedi looked at each other, clearly focusing on Tionne, who shot them a dirty look before turning back to Releqy.
"For the last few months, the Council have noticed something. When Master Skywalker left, he asked us to keep it quiet, which was supported by Master Hamner among others, but others among the Council disagreed, and we believe that you have a right to know, especially with everything else that's going on. Now, we took a vote, and we were at deadlock, and obviously we don't have either Master Skywalker here to cast the deciding vote, so, we're telling you regardless." She said bravely and Releqy groaned.
"Great, that means you lot will have a civil war now too, that's all I need. Alright it clearly isn't good so out with it, you might as well give me all the bad news at once." She told them irritably, and the other two present were looking at them curiously as well.
Kyp then took a deep breath and took the plunge.
"Our ability to use the Force has diminished." He admitted, and the three non Force users in the room looked at him in shock.
"Diminished? How?" Releqy asked sharply, an old memory tugging at the back of her head but she couldn't quite place it yet.
"We can no longer perceive events like we could. We also can't predict the future like we used to be able to, it's like we're being slowly blinded to the Force, or at least the long term applications of it. We're being effectively nullified, rendered useless in the long term." Kyp explained, and Kalenda looked at him, her face worried.
"Do you think this is related to the madness affecting the younger ones?" she asked, and Saba tapped her chin thoughtfully.
"We are unsure. This one believez that there may be some correlation between the two." She said, and Tionne nodded.
"It's too much of a coincidence not to be, at least we think so." She admitted, and Niathal looked at them in concern.
"Do you have any idea what could be causing it?" she asked, but to her, and the Jedi's surprise, it was Releqy who answered, her face clouded.
"The dark side." She whispered in fear, and they all looked at her in shock.
"Chief A'kla?" Kalenda asked weakly, not used to the head of state coming across as so mystical.
"It's the dark side. I knew it rang a bell. As you might remember, I am related to a Jedi Master by the name of Ylenic It'kla. He once told my father, who then told me, the tale of the fall of the Jedi. And it began when the dark side of the Force grew in such strength to render the Jedi to all that moved…and it was then that…"
"The Emperor took over." Niathal concluded grimly, and Releqy nodded.
"And with anti-Jedi sentiment, with us being forced to impose oversight on them, Treen's factions and the young ones going insane…I will not let history repeat itself. The dark side will not reclaim the galaxy. It can go to hell in a handbasket, the entire thing can implode, but the dark side will not take back the galaxy." She vowed, turning back to the map, and strangely, there was a sort of reinvigorated fire in her eyes as she did so.
"So, the dark side is once more at play…that might help explain the state the galaxy's in if nothing else. The Alliance is spread far too thin. The slave revolts, the vanishing ships, the destabilised economy, the goods shortages in the rims, the multitude of civil wars, the Jedi going insane, Master Skywalker vanishing, slavers, pirates, the Empire gaining systems, the Hapans acting out, the senate becoming more concerned with means than ends, all of it, it's all combining, and it's breaking apart the Alliance. The worst part is the Empire and the Hapans are just the same, only they can hide it better, they're smaller. We're barely holding on, and something must be done, or I fear we will lose all of it." She concluded darkly, and Saba let out a lot growl.
"We will not let that happen. You will not be the last leader of the Alliance." She promised, and Releqy offered her a small smile, her beady eyes boring into the galactic map, watching as more and more crisis points started to glow red on the board.
"There's another problem Chief." Wynn muttered as he entered the room, and she closed her eyes wearily
"Of course there is. What now?" she asked, and Octa piped up.
"Well we did receive a message from Master Skywalker," she said, earning her an irked look from Wynn, who apparently hadn't been going to say that, "he encountered Admiral Daala, who asked him to try and get her some reinforcements to help her contain Nazarn, she has the firepower, she lacks the means from what we understand." She said, and Releqy looked at Niathal, who smacked her lips in irritated contemplation.
"More ships? Is she crazy? I'm down twelve warships from Vena alone, the Third Fleet is spread far too thin, I've had to reassign some of the protection fleets and the Tenth Fleet just to make ends meet, I'm down several convoys and there's no sign of any of them, and as a result some of our ships further out are barely functioning, and Daala, who was an enemy of the New Republic and has only been left alone because she's a friend of Pellaeon and defended the arms and outer reaches in the Vong War, wants to borrow some of my ships when I can barely manage to put together an honour guard?" she asked, sounding slightly hysterical, and Releqy rolled her eyes.
"Admiral, only one of us can break down at a time, and until further notice, it's my turn. What is it Daala needs?" she asked curiously, and Kyp scowled.
"A good kick up the…"
"What she needs is either marines, or more interdictors, she has the firepower she doesn't get the time to finish him." Octa said, glaring at Kyp, who went slightly red, but was soothed by a wink from Niathal, who seemed to agree with his sentiments.
"And she is doing something for us admiral, the longer she deals with Nazarn the longer before we need to do anything." Kalenda pointed out, and Niathal sighed in disgust.
"Very well, I'll see what I can do, but I'm not promising anything." She said, and Releqy nodded before looking back at Octa.
"And does Master Skywalker have any idea when he will return?" she asked hopefully, and Octa simply shook her head, making the Caamasi huff in annoyance.
"As I was saying Chief," Wynn sniped, sending a nettled look at Octa who looked a bit sheepish, "we have another problem. Our scientists on Woteba report that the Killiks are getting antsy." He told her, and Releqy groaned, the last thing she needed when she was already facing Vong Wars: The Vong Strike Back was Killik Wars: Return of the Colony.
"Antsy how? Can't we do something, I don't know, write to them and ask them to stow their nonsense till we stabilise the galaxy a little bit?" she asked hopefully, earning her a grin from Kalenda.
"Apparently not unfortunately. From what they said, they seem to be building up supplies, stockpiling, and a lot of them seem to be trying to stow away on our ships when they resupply the scientific teams. It's like they're preparing for something, but it's not just Woteba, it's all the planets, Sarm, Tenupe, all of them." He explained, and Releqy pondered, that was strange.
"Master Jedi, could this perhaps be handled by one of your graces?" she asked hopefully, and Tionne nodded.
"We can certainly send someone Chief, perhaps even Raynar Thul." She mused, and Niathal frowned.
"Is that wise given the boy's history with the Killiks?" she asked, and Saba looked at her, her eyes boring the admiral out.
"That is what the test shall be, to see if Cilghal is right to believe he is truly recovered." She responded, and Releqy gently shook her head, the Jedi had enough problems without them telling them how to use their knights.
"And his oversight group will head with him, as will another Jedi and their oversight group too, it'll be perfectly safe." Octa promised, and Releqy nodded.
"Very well my friends. Investigate the Killiks, I have Dr Quee reporting to me on the Vong as well. It's about time something went out way. But if you're right, and the dark side is on the rise, we ought to be careful, there's no telling what might be the real, unseen threat out there." She muttered, her eyes focused on the Coruscant skyline as the galaxy went dark around them.
XX
Plasma splashed against the shields of the Chimaera as grutchins descended from the Kor Chokk cruiser that had dared to impose itself into Imperial territory. Pellaeon cursed as more ribbons of plasma fired, blasting away at the strike cruisers that he had summoned in order to block the Vong incursion, one of the ships being ripped apart as coralskippers blazed through space, going head to head with his TIE squadrons.
"Admiral, the Obliterator has just arrived, it's launching it's TIEs." Captain Tschel reported as the ship shook a little, and Pellaeon nodded, his eyes on the situation.
The Kor Chokk was the Vong equivalent of a Super Star Destroyer, which Pellaeon didn't exactly have many of, and to be quite frank he couldn't really be bothered with the little Moff class temper tantrums should he remove the Megador or Dominion from their current positions. He had been intending to check out Mygeeto, doing his part of head of state inspecting the newest addition and to calm down the Lurmen who were still quite excitable about the Vong when they had picked up a distress signal from Taspir III. Departing with the Chimaera and its honour guard, he had arrived to find the Kor Chokk moving towards the planet with the intention of razing it from the looks of it, and the VSD that had been here on an inspection was a slagged hulk drifting in space while escape pods burned up in the atmosphere, and all that remained were a couple of IPV patrol craft and a Carrack cruiser.
Quickly rallying with the arrival of the Grand Admiral, the three remaining ships had flocked to the Chimaera, combining their forces and their remaining fighters with those of the Chimaera and the two strike cruisers and four Carracks that had come with it.
Warding the cruiser off from the planet, Pellaeon had then summoned reinforcements, and now the Obliterator had arrived, complete with two Victory II frigates and four of the new Burst Fire class patrol ships, and now more TIEs were speeding into action.
"The Tyrannic and the Death's Head are both en route Admiral and will be here within five minutes." Tschel reported, and Pellaeon considered his options as the Kor Chokk blasted more plasma into the air, destroying one of the IPVs.
"Blast it all. We've prepared for this, contact Admiral Riege, have him commence the Thrawn Siege." He ordered, and Tschel smiled, clearly fondly remembering the very tactic that Pellaeon had named this manoeuvre after.
Answering the younger captain's smile with one of his own, Pellaeon watched in satisfaction as the Obliterator moved into position, joining the heavy turbolaser barrage that the Chimaera was sending in the direction of the Kor Chokk. But two Star Destroyers and their support ships wouldn't be enough to defeat the enemy ship, and the other Star Destroyers, and Riege's trap, were still a bit far out.
"Take us in, have the smaller ships use our superstructures for cover and prepare to engage the enemy at point blank range." Pellaeon ordered, the two Star Destroyers moving towards the fortress like vessel, when a young lieutenant (Haldere if memory served, real history buff), piped up from the crewpit as the Kor Chokk intensified its firepower, its weapons and grutchins chewing away at the Chimaera as it closed into range.
"Admiral, there's a task force approaching. Stars, it's Home One!" he yelped in a sort of respectful, delighted shock, and Pellaeon looked down at the boy curiously, Home One was in a museum on Dac, a testament to one of their greatest sons, Admiral Ackbar.
Before he could correct him however, space flickered and there was indeed an MC80 battlecruiser launching from hyperspace, fighters spilling from the hold, and looking very similar to Home One.
"Sir, isn't that the Independence?" Tschel asked weakly, not having seen a ship like that since the Orinda campaign, and Pellaeon smiled.
"That it is, close lieutenant." He consoled the young history buff and considering they were sister ships it was an easy enough mistake to make.
The Independence was indeed there, and was backed up by two Assault Frigate Mark IIs and two dreadnaughts. Caught by surprise, the Kor Chokk suddenly blossomed with fire as the Alliance task force added its guns to those of the Empire, and Pellaeon watched as their fighters joined the melee, turning the tide against the coralskippers.
The two forces, united once more to face the Vong, accelerated towards the Kor Chokk, bombarding the cruiser heavily, overwhelming the dovin basals, allowing them to press their advantage. While they had the numerical superiority, the surprise attack of the Alliance forces had thrown the coralskippers for six, and with the 18st Fighter Squadron, launched from the Chimaera and under the command of Commander Arjet Wulf (handpicked successor of General Phennir), leading the attack and combining with the power of the Alliance forces, the coralskippers were losing the initiative, scattering across the battlefield.
"Admiral, the Death's Head and Tyrannic have arrived too sir!" Haldere called as the two Star Destroyers lanced onto the battlefield, Interceptors and Fighters swarming from their hangars as the heavy turbolasers of the two new Star Destroyers added to the maelstrom the combined fleet was causing.
"All we need now is Admiral Riege." Tschel commented, and Pellaeon grinned.
"He's already here." He told him, and just as the words left his mouth, seven Turbulent class Star Destroyers shimmered out of cloak, appearing right above the Kor Chokk, and they let loose a torrential firestorm of green turbolaser fire.
Pellaeon watched with savage satisfaction as the seven new Turbulent class Star Destroyers, outfitted with cloaking generators that Daala had found plans for among the data she had from Maw Installation, pounded down on the Kor Chokk, all of them shimmering in and out of existence to confuse the ability of the enemy cruiser to target them. The Turbulent class was just a shade smaller than a VSD, but still outfitted with all the weaponry of an ISD, and came complete with three fighter squadrons apiece. Not wanting the cloaking technology she had found to go to waste, Daala had given it to Pellaeon, who had slipped it into the plans for the new Star Destroyer for a rainy day, and it was more than proving its worth today.
"They're done sir." Haldere reported as the Kor Chokk buckled and broke into segments under the combined firepower of the normal Star Destroyers, the new cloak capable Turbulent class and the Alliance task force, the organic ship dying a fiery death as the combined fighter forces began to mop up the last of the coralskippers.
"I'd say the first combat test of the new Star Destroyers was a success, wouldn't you?" Pellaeon asked cheerfully, proud of their accomplishments, and Tschel nodded before looking at the admiral with a worried sideways glance.
"And from the looks of things we're going to need them. Do you reckon this was the first strike in a new Vong War?" he asked nervously, and Pellaeon mused on it before shaking his head.
"No, this was merely a probe, to test our strength, like they've been doing all this time, maybe it hoped to take the planet unawares but because the Determination was here it didn't get the chance. But they are getting bolder, that's obvious. Ask the captain of the Independence to come over for a drink, and the two of us can touch base with Coruscant together. Thank the others and instruct the Obliterator to remain here until the situation settles down. After we've talked to A'kla, we'll head to Mygeeto. But with Lecersen expanding the Empire every chance he gets, we're going to see more of this sort of thing, the Vong sense weakness and they're trying to take advantage of it. And I'm afraid that the further we expand…the easier it will be for them to take it all away from us again." He grumbled as a red striped Interceptor blasted apart a coralskipper right in front of the viewport.
XX
It was a simple gesture, the passing of the skull staff wielded by the Amani chieftain to the leader of the Lurmen village, and with that, a new accord was forged, to the cheers and applause of all those present. Reports had also come in of a new accord being reached on Xilxash, freeing the enslaved labourers and making them equal to their overlords, which had in turn doubled production. As a result Madhi Vaandt was covering the reports there, but the news from Maridun was also causing quite the stir, particularly when the Amani were generally less than pleasant according to most of the galaxy. With the approval, or at least acceptance of the Amani, the Lurmen here were now also petitioning to join the Alliance, which would further spread the Alliance out and weaken their ability to retain their already tenuous grip on power. More worlds were following suit, either granting freedom to slaves or giving equality to the downtrodden. However, the worlds where they had succeeded were of no concern to the Lost Tribe. No, it was the worlds yet to succeed that were of the most concern to Lord Vol and his forces.
Yasvan slipped away from the crowd of spectators as the cheers filled her ears. This crisis was exactly what the tribe needed to forward their plans. She slipped behind one of the pod houses which belonged to the Lurmen, and activated the signal, allowing Lord Vol to flicker to existence before her.
"Saber Yasvan, report." Vol ordered, and she smiled in a predatory fashion.
"Lady Shia was correct Grand Lord. The chaos that plagues the Alliance is all that we need to destroy it. Even in failure, we will succeed as it will further stretch out the Alliance. The slave revolts and the equality demands are straining them to the limit, and combined with the power of our assuming control of the press and stoking resentment against the government and the Jedi, we have all we need." She assured him, and Vol smiled.
"Excellent. Find yourself your next planet Saber Yasvan, and continue to advance the aims of the Tribe." He ordered, and she bowed her head as he flickered out.
XX
Ackmena winced as she beheld the news. Worlds in Hutt space were now beginning to get antsy, and there were reports that the Hutts were using increasingly brutal methods to put down the merest possibility of a slave revolt, and they weren't the only ones to be doing so. The Alliance had deployed a Rejuvenator class Star Destroyer to Ereesus in order to stop the increasingly murderous slave owners from massacring the increasingly disgruntled slave populace. But that wasn't all, with all the civil wars springing up, these acts were getting even worse as uprisings, civil wars, riots and protests rippled across the galaxy, overstretching the Alliance to an alarming degree. For Ackmena, who had given her life to the cause of the slaves, the situation was looking all the more bleak as time went on. Nazarn was still out there, and the way it was going the Alliance wouldn't be able to keep the peace for much longer. And without the Alliance, or the Jedi, able to guarantee the safety of the slaves, Nazarn and the Hutts would do whatever they could to end the threat to their dominion over other sentient life.
If the Jedi and the Alliance were unable to act, she needed forces who could. If Nazarn could be stopped, or the Hutts made to back off, she could very well see the end of slavery in her lifetime, but with the galaxy in the state it was in, that looked unlikely. So she, and hence Freedom Flight, had to take action.
Or else the slaves who had been freed would soon find themselves back in the same powerless position they had always been, and slavery would never be eradicated.
XX
Lwhekk had been left far behind as the survivors of Ivpikkis purge departed their homeworld, never to return, the last remaining gold, green and brown scales making their way away from their home, to try and prevent the total destruction of everything they held dear. Lwhekk was all but deserted since the admiral had emptied most of the fleet in preparation for his assault upon the Bakuran system, and the few ships remaining in orbit had simply thought them to be stragglers and hadn't challenged them.
And now the Shree class cruiser and the two Fw'Sen class picket ships bore the Isolationists, those who defied Ivpikkis' military dictatorship left their homeworld far behind.
On board the Shree class cruiser, the Shurtarian, G'nikoh scratched his stump of a tale, cursing as crusted, bloodied golden scales dropped to the floor. In annoyance he turned to his brown scaled friend, his second in command of the Isolationists, Shir'fut, who looked out at the starlines as they jumped to hyperspace in wonder. Clapping his friend on his shoulder, he jerked the brownscale out of his reverie.
"Apologies priest G'nikoh." He muttered, but G'nikoh waved him off.
"Nonsense, I know you longed to join the warrior caste but were unable to do so, I can hardly begrudge you enjoying the view. What news have we had?" he asked darkly, and Shir'fut hissed, his tongue flickering.
"Ivpikkis was victorious as expected, and the process of conquest and entechment has already begun. The Bakurans have had survivors though, and some of their warships escaped, which is emboldening the resistance on the planet. Ivpikkis cannot take full control. And what is more, according to our spies, some of the ships throughout the rest of the system also avoided the attack and are wandering listlessly at sublight, if they could be made to join with the Bakuran fleet, they could provide a substantial obstacle to Ivpikkis." He reported, and G'nikoh chuckled.
"Serves the old snake right. Well, it appears friend, as if we have no choice. If we are to free our world from the yoke of war, to prevent that Vong witch from using us as her pawns, and if we are to heal our world and our people from the murderous damage Ivpikkis and his cohorts inflicted upon us, we have but one option. We must set course for Bakura, and find these resistance fighters. If we can help them, unite them, then we may end the reign of that warmonger and restore our glorious Imperium to what it once was." He said stoutly, his voice not broadcasting the terror he felt or his trepidation that they were now going to have to try to convince people who his species had done nothing but harm to that they were actually on their side.
Well Happy New Year to you all!
I thought I'd kick off the year with the next installment of Fate of the Force, but before I get to my blurb on the chapter, I have to confess: I saw Force Awakens
As a film, its good dont get me wrong. However as a Star Wars film, its simply a rehash of episode four with a bit of five thrown in, and was basically a carbon copy of the Jedi Academy trilogy and Legacy of the Force, so all I can wonder is, they threw away all of the EU for that? Really? Though admittedly BB8 was quite cute, and I have to admit, I quite liked General Hux though purely for less than scrupulous reasons...
Anyway back to Fate of the Force. The Hapan Civil War has taken a new direction as Klauskin made the questionable decision to shoot at them all, and to make matters worse, the separatists now have Vena. On top of that, Lecersen has taken three more sectors but while his plans are advancing, the rest of the galaxy is in chaos and its only going to get worse from here on out.
And the Ssi-Ruuk isolationists, the survivors of the purge, are now heading to join the Bakurans, if they'll have them
Next time we're back with the gang on the Falcon, and of course Lumiya shall be back on form with her usual level of snark
So until then please read and review!