Chapter 41
(Two-Days Later, Stardestroyer Admonitor)
"The enemy fleet, according to the best intelligence estimations by I.I, is comprised of mostly CIS designed and developed ships, and primarily in supply of Munificent-class star frigates. Supporting these ships, admiral sir, are large and retrofitted Mon-Calamari star cruisers that are arguably equal in size and firepower to a Stardestroyer, of Imperial Class-one make." The now, Senior-Captain Parck, spoke as he pointed towards a spinning image of a ship in the center of the conference desk where to his right and sitting with fingers intertwined before his face, the now vice-admiral Thrawn stared coolly and obviously in deep thought at the image of the Mon-Calamari vessel as the other captain via their own holos beamed into the room and watched the image and listened to Parck give his speech.
"We are not aware in full, but we have been informed by the I.S.B, that an entire Imperial fleet is aiding the URM in their efforts to seed rebellion and attack peaceful Imperial worlds and sectors. We are not yet aware of what system this fleet came from but wherever they came from is besides the point. What matters is that above the world in question, which as you have all been informed, and should have checked your memos supplied to you is Kamino, and it may have several Imperial make ships aiding the URM alongside the droid and Mon-Cal vessels." Parck allowed a flash of several obvious Imperial ships like the Imperial, Victory, and Interdictor class ships flash by and the other captains nodded along and some made small insignificant expressions of varying degrees of thought and even fear, and Parck knew, Thrawn was making a mental list of those who showed the most cowardice. His piercing and often times offsetting red eyes not seeming to move an inch, but calculating every one of them nonetheless. It was enough to make Parck nearly laugh, but what was a good imperial without his sense of composure?
"No word yet has been give to us by Imperial Center on who the commander of the URM forces is, but we can only assume they are competent enough to not only plan and execute an all out assault in space, but land what are undoubtedly thousands of droid units onto Kamino itself."
"So what are you suggesting captain, Parck?" Another captain asked seemingly more intrigued by the choice of Parck's words. Parck made to answer and opened his mouth but was quickly cut off.
"What he is suggesting, captain Rollik," Thrawn spoke, his voice dripping with calm and collected cool. "Is that we are to not underestimate an enemy we have no real intelligence on. Their use of droids is irrelevant, and I have noticed a sad trend within the Imperial naval officer corps to go blindly into battle after battle. Not bothering for a moment to assess an enemy commander, which is doubly as important as the enemy forces composition." Thrawn had hardly moved an inch with his hands still clasped, but he did ever so slightly look to this captain Rollik, who frowned slightly but bowed his head in understanding and remained quiet.
"Please, continue Parck."
"Yes, admiral sir." Parck replied and subtly cleared his throat to go on, and clasped his hands behind his back.
"Now, moving on. A transmission from Imperial Center has dictated our mission is solely to secure and expel all enemy naval forces away from Kamino and nothing more. The world is of highest imperial security clearance only, and war or no war, we are not allowed to land any troops planet-side whatsoever, and any attempts to do so or subvert the Emperors orders will be met with due processing by lord Vader himself, who will also be arriving shortly." There was no helping it really, but every officer save for Thrawn who hid any of his emotions and feelings away with ease, blanched or went pale in the face at the mentioning of the behemoth, Darth Vader. The idea that he would be coming before them to judge them was all the more stressful upon the many ship captains. Even Parck had to admit, he was given an odd chill down his spine when the image of the Supreme Commander ran through his mind.
"Lord Vader will be coming to Kamino to either join in our battle if we have not cleared out naval enemy forces first, or arrive after we've cleared out the orbit of Kamino so he may then authorize a personally led reconquest of Kamino with his detachment of the 501st legion along with his personal fleet, also called, Death Squadron." The men now still seemed a bit shaky at the thought of Vader, but the mentioning of Death Squadron and the 501st legion made them all seem a bit like little children about to go into a toy store. Tales of the actions and achievements and composition of both Death Squadron and the 501st legion was enough to make any officer go starry-eyed with awe.
"Lord Vader will be disappointed I am afraid gentlemen." Thrawn again spoke and this time rose to a stand and brushed off his impeccable admirals outfit allowed to him now as a vice admiral, and he'd taken a liking to it.
"Lord Vader will have his ground battle, but we will have the space above Kamino fully back under our command before the good Supreme Commander comes to us. Now, all of you have been sent the overall battle plans, and I will send over your specific orders, and who will take up positions A through E on our naval movements." Thrawn commented and clasped his hands and smiled. "Thank you gentlemen, and we will be sure to stay in contact with you at all times." The men rose in unison, saluted their admiral, and their holographic images faded away. Leaving behind Thrawn and Parck, and Thrawn's smile returned to a passive face as he began walking out the room with Parck silently following without command needed.
"Keep captain Hiro and his task group confined to mop up duties along with the rest of D squadron. Sweat was pouring off that man, and making his lack of experience and fear obvious. He has no place being one of my front line commanders."
"Of course admiral sir." Parck replied and took note of the name, Hiro.
"Moreover, place captain Rollik at the command of squadron B." Parck raised a surprised brow to that and cleared his throat.
"Rollik sir? That man didn't know what we were even insinuating about an enemy commander we have no clear intelligence upon. I think it would be fair to say his deductive skills are lacking."
"Oh? You would condemn a man asking for confirmation on orders captain Parck?" Thrawn asked coming to a stop and looked toward Parck who bowed.
"No admiral sir. I just assumed he made it quite clear that he is not fit for such a high place in the front line operations of our attack."
"Quite the contrary captain." Thrawn lightly chuckled and motioned for Parck to continue walking with him down one of the many and at times mind numbingly bland halls of the Stardestroyer as they flew through hyperspace.
"Captain Rollik asks questions? Good for him then, no matter how tedious that question may be at least he had some good mind to ask for information on something he did not understand. Or are you the 'yes sir,' type who never asks questions even if you don't understand at all what your commands are? However, even then of them all Rollik was the calmest and took in everything you said with clear interest and was making quite a lot of notes during your little discussion on how our maneuvers were to work at the start of our debrief. He's a listener, captain, as are you, and he is good at following commands. I feel that in a desperate situation he would be confused perhaps, but he would make every effort to try. So, yes captain assign him to squad B's command." Parck conceded and inclined his head to the side.
"Very well, admiral Thrawn sir. Forgive my lack of understanding." Thrawn very lightly laughed and smirked.
"You are forgive captain. Now please, I have final plans to plot out, and we will arrive at Kamino in about two hours time I have been informed correct?" Parck looked to his wrist chrono and nodded. "In that case, do make the final arrangements captain and inform me fifteen minutes before normal space reentry."
"Very good, admiral sir." Parck bowed and turned on a heel toward the bridge as Thrawn made for his quarters which also held his own personal battle map to conduct simulated tactical operations, both offensive and defensive, and he wanted to plan ahead, and he just wanted to get one last strategy plotted out before the battle for Kamino began.
(Stardestroyer Valiant IV, Tapani Sector)
"Do you know of Naga Sadow, my young apprentice?"
"I have heard tales, fables my master. Not much more than that. Stories of figures perhaps prominent in your time are obscure now." Viathan responded as he stood beside his master, and they looked at a holographic representation of the Tapani Sector as their ship traveled through hyperspace back to Fondor to retrieve their reinforcements, and make for phase two of the campaign.
Exar found the statement slightly amusing and laughed a bit.
"True. I suppose Naga Sadow is quite outshone by other Sith, or no Sith at all. This galaxy is strange to me you know." Exar commented with a smile still on his face, and he numbly continued to stare at the map before them with his gray eyes fixed.
"In my time, so long ago now, the Sith and their Empire, were well known by all, and all feared and told stories of them. Never did you walk somewhere within the civilized centers of the galaxy, and speak bu the word alone, 'Sith,' and everyone knew what you spoke of. Now however? Now you can say Sith and people will ask, 'what, Dark Jedi you mean?'" Exar commented seeming a bit humored and yet also annoyed by the fact he spoke while Viathan looked up to his master and nodded his understanding.
"It was always my desire as a young Jedi apprentice to my dear old master Vodo Siosk Baas, to learn the ancient tales and powers and ways of the Sith, and it was there that I learned of Naga Sadow. Master always thought me too impressionable. Like a child, he sought to keep the blinders over my eyes to all things rotten and evil within the galaxy, and evil from his point of view. He often times doted on me you know. He was a rough around the edges and gruff Jedi master. He was however the noted battle-master of the entire order, which was quite large in those days. In hindsight I was lucky to have been apprenticed under him. It was...unfortunate that he did not join me in remaking the galaxy all those generations ago. I wonder what the galaxy would look like now had he joined me, and we defeated the Republic and Jed." Exar mused as his gray eyes narrowed the more he talked of his old master, and he visibly shook himself of such thoughts, and looked down to Viathan who had his head inclined to the side in interest to what his master said.
"Back to my original point though. The dark lord Naga Sadow, was the apex of what I did not desire to be, and yet ended up being closest to in those days."
"How so master?" Exar sighed a single and bitter laugh.
"Sadow made himself dark lord and Emperor of the Sith Empire after the death of his master the great Sith of ancient eras past, Marka Ragnos. He somehow made the Empire believe the Republic had the ability and firepower to invade their Empire and wipe them all out, but the Republic had long since forgotten about Dark Jedi and never even heard of the Sith until Sadow stuck hi nose into places it did not belong." Exar focused in on an area of the map around Mrlsst as he went on and Viathan kept his crimson eyes trained on his masters face.
"Naga Sadow took not a portion, not a half, not a third, the whole kriffing Sith fleet of ships that would make a modern day engineer weep in their design and abilities, at how laughable they are now. He was a fool who bet all his credits on the wrong Shaak, and like any bad gambler he lost nearly everything but that which allowed him to narrowly escape alive. The entire fleet was massacred by the Republic and allied Empress Teta fleets." Exar went on and made note on a datapad after retracting his ace from the map, and he numbly bowed his head to passing officers who also shared the battle and coordination room with he and Viathan.
"Then what you found upon Yavin IV, was it because of Naga Sadow master?" Exar got a deep chuckle from that.
"No, I'm afraid the first person to find Sadows little fortress and last Sith refuge was my original bridge, or gateway into the dark side, and its gatekeeper was a fool for other reasons, Freedon Nadd. Nadd was a fallen Jedi who as far as I know killed a master for simply not stroking his massive ego at some point, and he wandered off into the galaxy to make a big name for himself and in doing so became but a king of Onderon. All the royal family have his blood in their veins whether they like it or not, and he was a most potently cruel and vile man. He was the first to stumble across and learn from Sadows spirit upon Yavin IV, and in the end Nadd supposedly rid himself and the galaxy of that wandering spirit. He too died in time, of old age if you can believe it, and was laid to rest upon his world of Onderon."
Viathan was indeed deeply interested with the story. His master rarely went into these little talks about things more common to him when he was alive in the galaxy. Well, the first time around anyways. That and Viathan liked it better when his master spoke to him, and didn't seem still a bit angry over his not being present as of late due to his little self-discovery tour.
"After I left my master to search for my own way my young apprentice," Viathan's eyes lit up. 'Is this brought on by my leaving?' It was a simple and obvious question, but one that made Viathan slightly smile. Something unseen in weeks for the teen boy.
"I wanted to see and learn and gain for myself the power I knew I could learn and command. The dark side did not command me. For I would command it. Do I command the dark side of the Force my young apprentice?"
"Yes my master. I believe that you do." Exar lopsidedly smirked and chuckled but said nothing in reply.
"I went from world to world for a while and finally came to Onderon and from there Dxun where the Jedi had hidden and moved Nadd's body and tomb. I always wondered why they didn't just blow the thing away, but that's the great question and real mystery of the Jedi. No matter how dangerous something seems they always seem to want to keep, and safeguard Sith or dark side relics, artifacts, and sites." Exar again laughed while looking again at his datapad. Viathan found his point fair, based on things he'd heard about the Jedi keeping objects they said only masters should be allowed to look at. Rather than just destroy them.
"Within I was confronted with the still very much active spirit of Freedon Nadd. The old spirit sought to not only test me, but break me as a Jedi, but he did not break me, but rather, made me far, far stronger than before." Exar laughed a toothy chuckle and then swiftly calmed again.
"I was directed to the site where he became a Sith in his own right, of course that site being Yavin IV, and it was there I was confronted by the Massassi. Rather than just accept and serve me they desired to first try and kill me, and then only after I proved to be not so easy to kill, they finally bound me and sacrificed me to their god before me. A great Wyrm. A gargantuan beast that tried to devour me, but it was through the direction of Nadd I admit, that I summoned to me an ancient amulet the priest Massassi had upon his person and it doubled my senses and connection to the dark side. Through pain I was reborn as something different." Exar looked towards Viathan and faced him in full.
"I slew the Wyrm with my ancient power, some call it simply 'Force blast,' a very broad term for a focused and pure power blast of dark side energies. I slew both my Massassi captors, save for the priest who ordered my sacrifice, and the Wyrm solidified my right to rule the Massassi and it was they who held me up as a god. Not I, though I admit I did not tell them otherwise. Such conviction has served me, as their master well, where other warriors and other allies have bailed out, fallen, and betrayed you."
"The Massassi do serve you with great love and conviction master. Even the one I saw all those weeks ago upon the Scorcher, the one you called Kalgrath. He looks less Massassi and more beast like in nature."
Exar inclined his head to the side, and smiled again.
"Yes Kalgrath. An unfortunate thing it was that I ordered him to stay away from my final ritual killing all the Massassi of the last generation numbering into the thousands. Their children are currently the ones serving me now, and not a one of them denies that what I did to their parents their, siring Massassi, was necessary for my own survival, and not a one of them would say what I did was wrong or wish me to take it back. You'll find the Massassi more incapable of ruling themselves than most aliens out in the galaxy." Viathan bowed his head but looked a bit unsure, and furrowed his brow.
"Do they not rule through their caste system? Mattizz. Surely he's their leader under you of course master."
"Mattizz is indeed the ruling Massassi warrior over them all. Not but a few moments after I released the Massassi from their prison, oddly named the Golden Globe, but names aren't important, but Mattizz made himself their leader by expressing his prowess over the other males of the Massassi. He threw them all down before him, and was the first on pure instinct to find a nearby discarded weapon and brandish it before himself and thus before the horde. He has now chosen his replacement should and when the time comes for himself. Massassi are fast aging. Something I hope to fix in time, and by age seventy-five, poor Mattizz would be so old by his peoples standards he wouldn't be able to move. Luckily he is a young and might Massassi at ten years. As I said they age rapidly." Exar said smilingly when Viathan's eyes went wide.
"Look, Viathan, the point of telling you this story is to not relate to you some profound story of how Exar Kun rose to power, and the Great Sith War is irrelevant now. It is to show to you that all Sith must discover themselves in their own ways. Through battle, death, and rebirth. I do not blame you really for going on your adventure. Indeed you have seemingly become more powerful, and have come to focus some of that deep down hidden rage I sensed within you all those months ago upon Coruscant." Exar placed his hand upon Viathan's shoulder and Viathan felt himself swell with pride. Hearing his master speak to him as if he had worth of any kind made him actually feel of some worth, and not the worthless boy that Valek was.
"In time you will discover for yourself when you shall take on the moniker of Darth, and fully become Darth Viathan, and a Sith lord in your own right. Through this war you and I shall attain power we both never truly had, and we will make this galaxy into the Golden Age that the Sith deserve."
"What of lord Vader master?"
"What about lord Vader?" Exar reiterated with a very subtle tone of...Viathan couldn't tell if it was humor or annoyance honestly.
"Well, lord Vader no doubt wants the Empire for himself, and the galaxy to be made into his own image. You have your image, and despite your partnership with he and his...apprentices, surely you can see that when my mast..I mean the Emperor falls you both will come to a head and be at odds with one another, and the galaxy will not be able to handle two civil wars right after one another."
"How very observant of you my apprentice." Exar laughed and let his hand fall from Viathan's shoulder and lightly brush along his black cloak before he crossed his arms and took on a thoughtful look. As if he wanted to be careful in his wording even with Viathan.
"Lord Vader is a good ally. Indeed I trust him even a bit more than I did the traitor Ulic Qel-Droma at this point. Yet in him I see too much of Qel-Droma. He is arrogant, but aren't all us Jedi and Sith alike?" Exar laughed and Viathan let loose a very small and breathy snicker.
"He is at times bold, but very efficient, and to the point. I like that in an officer, and in an ally. Makes them more efficient. Ulic was far more erratic. Hopped up on whatever chemicals Aleema Keto had running through his body. That witch I would dare say, is one of the main reasons we lost that damnable war. She was always meddling in our plans, and sweet-talking Ulic into doing whatever she wanted. He was intoxicated with her...lets just call it feminine whiles." Exars face contorted sourly for a moment and he looked distant and delved deep into a memory of some sort.
"It was one of those Mandalorians who came running to me to go get Ulic of Coruscant after a failed bloody invasion of the capital! No, actually it was the Mandalorian if I remember correctly. You know for all their old talk of warrior prowess and the whole Human-Taung conflict they sure have become irrelevant in history."
"The Taung are long dead master."
Exar recoiled back and cocked a confused brow.
"What?"
"The Taung master. The true Mandalorian race died out not long after the Mandalorians joined in your war under Ulic Qel-Droma when he bested and made Mandalore the Indomitable his second. The Taung began dying off from their endless war campaigns. They began letting non Taung into the Mandalorian society as a whole. So most Mandalorians, save for some pockets of aliens here and there are actually humans."
Exar shook his head. "You know its funny, with all that I, Naga Sadow, and Freedon Nadd, or even the Keto family did in the galaxy, the thing people seem to remember are the Mandalorians. I don't get what you have to do to be remembered in this kriffing galaxy anymore, but this is all besides the point." Exar interjected himself throwing his hands into the air.
"Back to the point, Vader, I a good ally and we will keep him as an ally until the situation is no longer fruitful for us both or tenable. When that time comes we will have to move fast and hard against House Vader."
"House Vader?" Viathan scrunched his bro and Exar slapped his forehead.
"I didn't tell you anything did I?"
"I only just returned five days ago master. Nearly six really." Viathan added, and Exar still shook his head and groaned.
"Look, it's complicated, but essentially to divide our two groups of acolytes and apprentices lord Vader and I have devised a 'House,' system, in which the name of the House dictates the lord in command o it, and don't worry you qualify even if you're still 'spying' for the Emperor." Exar laughed and Viathan nodded. "Now House Vader is swelling. I don't know what got into Vader's head since I left Coruscant and he...well left you on a desert world to die of heat stroke." Exar joked and smirked broad when a sharp spike of anger boiled in him but was suppressed with great speed as well.
"He has gathered, let's see, one, two, three, four...yes four apprentices as of this moment. Two quick and easy ones being his children. And yes, before you ask, the boy found by the lord's apprentice Starkiller, was indeed the twin brother of that Alderaanian princess you brought who thus can be deduced as the son of Darth Vader. It sounds a lot more like a bad holo-movie when you say it that way too." Exar laughed deeply from within. While Viathan again went wide eyed with shock, but quickly digested it, and shoved any and all thoughts on the matter aside. There was no need, nor any time to think on the Vader...clique.
"Look, Viathan." Exar said and suppressed his often times self pleasing humor. "There will come a time and place for all plans to be laid out and then executed. For now we must stick to the current vision and focus on the tasks at hand and they alone. We have a war to win, and a populace to impress."
"Yes my master. I shall be most useful I assure you, and I look forward to learning under you, and being an actual Sith apprentice. Under your teachings and the wisdom of lord Ruin I will be most productive I think."
"Lord Ruin? Mind telling me who this is?" Viathan bowed lowly and pulled off one of his sabers from his belt and held it forward in a sideways pointing manner.
"This is the saber of a Sith after your time my master. A Darth Ruin. Another fallen Jedi who led some twenty Jedi to go into the galaxy and once more breathe life into the Sith as an order. It was the Force, and the dark sides will that I found his saber, and his holocron. I found another world deep within the Unknown Regions where a wealth of knowledge and power was before me, and I would gladly share all of this with you master."
"I can sense great darkness rolling off that saber in waves. I suppose this, Ruin, was a powerful Sith then?"
"He was the only reason the Sith survived as a renewed order in the galaxy. Otherwise it was a stagnating and archaic idealist order that time and again was defeated by the Jedi Order." Viathan retracted his outstretched hand and clasped the hilt back to his belt, and folded his arms across his dark clothed, chest.
"I will allow you to use this knowledge you yourself discovered my apprentice. However in time I will perhaps delve into the knowledge myself, but for now lets focus on the matter at hand, and leave all this other stuff for a much more appropriate time. Say when we're not fighting a war and talking in stratagem alone."
"Yes my master." Exar and the boy both turned at the same time and refocused their attentions to the map of the Tapani sector, and were soon to formulate a battle plan for phase two of the reconquest's as word reached them of a renewed Moff counterattack at Achillea. However admiral Ulan was reported to be holding his position and would receive ten more ships fully armed and brimming with more troops as backup. This war was not even past the beginning.
(Stardestroyer Admonitor, En-route to Kamino)
"All battle-stations, this is your new Vice Admiral Thrawn speaking." The Chiss said into the ship wide com system. As Parck and his fellow officers for the most part also went quiet as their admiral spoke across the ship.
"We have been called from our duties in the Unknown Regions of the galaxy to aid the Emperor in his new war with the traitorous likes of rebels and Moffs alike, and we now make for one of the most important worlds in all of the galaxy, and a marker, a staging point for the very history of the galaxy itself. For this world was the birthplace of the cloning program that saved the Republic from total defeat by the hands of the droid armies in the Clone Wars. Yet now I can tell you that it has been attacked, and by the very same droid armies. Only now they serve a new master, and are aided by traitors from within the Empire itself and backed by rebels and terrorists from all around the galaxy in direct defiance to civilization and the Emperor, and the New Order itself!" Thrawn made sure to keep his voice even and cool, but betrayed himself just ever so slightly, and allowed his voice to rise some in anger. The notion of their Empire falling to rebels was enough to make the men sick, and Thrawn knew this. He knew that making the men just a bit angry would help them focus and feel a tad more invigorated.
"This mission tasked to us will be a defining moment of this ship and our allied ships now part of our fleet. I say we should define and prove to his majesty the Emperor, and lord Vader the worth and ability of our forces. Not for my sake as your commanding officer, but for the sake of all Imperials confined to the darkest and most forgotten corners of our Empire. In doing this we awaken the Emperor and the Empire to the untapped potential within all of us, and shall force them to see that every man, and every officer, within the Empire is not worth excluding. For today, we shall defeat this enemy and when lord Vader himself arrives, as he will, we will show to him the strength, untapped from our fleet, and from you men! Let us not keep him, and the Empire waiting, and we shall celebrate later today men, with our enemies fallen and destroyed all around us! For the Empire, and good luck!" Thrawn declared and the officers on deck made the proper show of invigoration, not that of some uncivilized farmer turned soldier like the rebels had among them, but stiff salutes and bows of their heads with the light of invigoration in their eyes, and the will to prove themselves within their very beings, and Thrawn gave them all a salute back, and made for the front of the bridge and the viewport with Parck following closely behind.
"We enter into normal space near Kamino any moment now, admiral sir."
"Excellent. I trust that all battle stations and the men know their placements and operational commands, right captain?" Parck nodded a stiff nod, and clasped his hands.
"Yes admiral sir. They are ready and waiting. Pilots are geared and ready to deploy, and all the ships have been given their operational duties and assigned their squadrons, and squadron leads sir."
"Good. Very good. Let us not prove all of ourselves incompetent and push these mere droids from the system, captain, and show lord Vader that not all of officers and soldiers are so...replaceable." Parck smirked and let out a subtle breath and released his anxiety and tension. He needed to be ready for one heck of a good battle with the droids he had long ago only gotten a taste of in battle. It was almost admirably nostalgic to be fighting them once again, and a horror to think that they had returned to the galaxy. Nonetheless, Voss Parck would be sure to aid his admiral and his men and scraping them all in the void of space above Kamino.
"Exiting hyperspace in thirty seconds." The navigation's officer called out and Thrawn gave a single nod to Parck and readied themselves for the battle.
(General View, Kamino)
The Imperial fleet jumped out of hyperspace and the ship captains were not ready for the massive concentration of front-line Imperial-made ships in a wedge formation with three Stardestroyers at the head and flanked by a descending row of Victory-II's on either side, and to their far back was a mass and ready armada of Munificent-class star frigates in a mass clustered and in varying vertical levels above and below one another.
Thrawn merely nodded to himself and simply observed the information as his whole fleet exited hyperspace and both fleets faced one another perfectly.
"Squadrons A, and B move in wolf pack formations now, squadron A is under our command, and form up along the wedges starboard side and draw fire in as squadron B takes the port side of the enemy wedge formation. Squadron C, follow in, in tight formation and spread out into a line after passing under the enemy fleet. Squadron D, is on cleaning and control duties!" Thrawn ordered and the men flew into a frenzy of activity and the enemy wedge line of Imperial-made ships began a synchronized full ahead push forward and the two frontal squads moved to meet them.
Aboard a Munificent-class ship to the far back and above all other vessels classified as the Mourning, inside upon the bridge entered a robed Kellia followed by a personally assigned guard of two B2 Super battle droids.
"Order all forward ships to open fire at once! All Vulture droids, and Tri-fighters launch from the bays and engage the enemy fleet. Pick off as much enemy fighters and interceptors as possible and act as aid for all Imperial-classified ships on our team and broadcasting the friendly codes!" The droids piloting the ship began relaying the orders and deep within the last remaining Mon-Calamari cruiser behind the main fleet a great wave and swarm of metallic droid fighters came flooding out and flew forward past the Munificent's and the droid ships and directly over and under the Imperial ships the URM controlled and streaked forward with the Vultures beginning to fire their blaster cannons at their great speeds as an equally massive cluster of Imperial TIE's from the Imperial fleet met and the two swarms of fighters engaged into a cluster of dogfights among one another.
Then the URM Imperial ships moved a bit further, and opened fire with all forward batteries and great red bolts flew into the Imperial loyalist forces, as the two packs of ships banked to their sides and began firing full broadside counter fire into the enemy imperial fleet as both Imperial fleets engaged in a great flurry of returned fire.
"All bombers break through that cluster and engage the engines of all Imperial class enemy ships now!" Thrawn called and a squadron of vulture droids chased a TIE squad passed the viewport and caused captain Parck to pull back in shock, but dumbly nod, and ordered all bombers to make for the engines now as Squadron C moved under the main two attack forces and under the raging dogfight as both fleets fired on one another, with Thrawn's fleet in broadside positions far more capable of sending flurries of turbolaser and rockets into the frontal spearhead of the enemy Imperial and Victory class ships as the further back ships moved forward and began firing into Thrawn's forward fleet as the C squadron passed under them all and began targeting turbolasers up towards the URM fleet and began blowing and damaging the bellies of the URM ships who began refocusing and shifting some more Victory-II's downward to engage, as Thrawn's Squadron A, and B began firing hard on the ships banking down and exposing the topside of their ships, and focused massive clusters of rapid turbolaser fire and missiles into the still shielded but crippling bridges of the URM vessels as to the far port side of the URM fleet a Victory-II blew and debris flew into its neighboring ship and caused gashes to appear and smoke to pour into the vacuum of space as fires clearly exposed themselves to all ships.
"Bomber squadron 311, begin your attack run on all main engines of enemy ships. Squads 566 and 769 you're with me!" The squadron lead of the main bomber squad announced over their coms and the TIE's flying post, over and under the URM ships, pulled up hard and committed rolls away from the engines and launched their payload into the engines and watched them meet their target and leave scorch marks and blow into the engines, as those above the ships pulled down fats and unleashed with great accuracy their own payloads and watched the engines smoke greatly before blowing from the pressure, as URM TIE and Tri-fighters came around the ships and fired to protect the engines with great ferocity.
"All bombers peel off and make for secondary targets, rinse and repeat to the your third and fourths. TIE interceptors, we could use some help out here!"
"Copy bomber lead. We're coming about." The bombers flew off in all manner of directions from their targets and from the far lefts and rights came flight wings of the forward facing and primary escort TIE interceptors and upon seeing them the bombers banked down hard and allowed them to fire massive flurries into oncoming droid and enemy TIE units. Forcing more Vultures to pull away from the main central engagement and join the dogfights taking place behind the main URM attack force. The interceptors expertly and relentlessly fired green bursts of their main cannons and struck the URM traitorous TIE's and Vultures who fared better. The bombers on the other hand began hoping from one engine to the next. Unleashing their payloads and leaving smoking and burning engines in their wake. The Imperial-Stardestroyer Maverickof the URM fleet and the very tip of the wedge formation, which was now quickly falling apart as a cohesive unit with ships blowing apart and breaking rank for better positions at every corner, but the Maverick was the first of the Imperial classes to suddenly rock with a massive explosion from its central section and two pillars of fire burst forth and into the vacuum before a great shock wave rippled through the ship, twisting metal and cracking it into a sheered two, as a final greater explosion ripped through it as it was fired from the front by the Admonitor, and below from one of Thrawn's Victory-I's called the Juror. The whole ship blew apart and the fires burned bright as the two sections pulled away from one another and the explosion rippled and ripped into the nearest other two Stardestroyers.
However from above squadron C the URM Victory-II's began to rain their fire down upon them. Two of Thrawn's older Victory-I's began to smoke and burn as their topsides began to blow open and plume harsh and thick blackened smoke from within. URM bombers finally managed to pierce Thrawn's dwindling lines and fell upon the exposed tops of the C forces. Droid bomber wings supported by Y-Wing squadrons from the URM Mon-Cal ship came rushing into the battle and flew in close and fast to the Imperial ships and unleashed barrages of thermal detonators, and massive successive explosions rippled across Thrawn's C, task force.
"Captain! Order both our and task force B to commence pincer maneuvers now! Flank their entire fleets now." Thrawn commanded with a calmness only Parck had ever seen the Chiss keep as the Admonitor shook and rocked back and forth, and outside another allied Stardestroyer blew from the bridge section and the whole ship successively exploded from section to section and flew apart into the great void, and all Parck could do was numbly make the orders known, as both task forces A and B began to enclose on an ever tighter URM naval position. Thrawn watched as his tow forces formed in and surrounded the URM ships and encircled them as both their fighters and bomber fought for supremacy in the center of it all and the bombers desperately attacked the other fleet with unrelenting morale and both TIE interceptors and Vulture droids attacked the other bombers.
"All ships fire at maximum firepower from their enemy facing broadside cannons, and missile batteries, and all bombers commit yourselves to the engines now!" Thrawn commanded with Parck relaying and as the circle closed the fleet rained into the cluster of URM ships red turbolaser fire. While the last several ships from task force C fired upwards and smashed cannon fire into the exposed and now fracturing underbellies of the URM ships. One after another they began to crack, explode, break apart, and break ranks and attempt to flee. Thrawn smiled coolly from his view on the Admonitor with his hands clasped behind his back, as the Imperial traitors began to desperately try to break through his pincer, and now encirclement.
"The enemy fleet has our forward ships encircled madam commander. Shall we proceed to provide support? Estimations show the Munificent's can break the enemy fleet with a fifty-one percent chance of success from an elevated position and allow for optimal turbolaser fire." The B1 droid in command of the ship declared with the normal voice expected of droids, and Kellia had her arms crossed across her chest as she stared out to her...'allies,' being massacred, and a thought suddenly came to her.
"Negative captain. However, do remind me, all organic forces of our combined fleet returned to those ships currently fight correct?"
"Except for the organics onboard the Mon-Calamari ship ma'am, and yourself." Kellia nodded and looked back once more, and remembered that she hadn't ordered any of the troopers from these old Imperially allied ships to aid her in the battle on Kamino, and she only left some droid pockets below to give the eventual Imperial invasion a fun time.
"What use are these men now dieing aboard these ships when they have already betrayed their last master the Emperor? They are, many of them, clones too, and what is a clone if not a mistake, and abomination created by other organics and not by the will of the Force? They made their beds, and now let them lay in it. All ships not involved with the battle begin preparations for hyperspace jump to pre-set coordinates. All droid space combatants in the form of Vulture droids and Tri-fighters have two minutes to get back aboard for future reuse. Those are your orders, now relay them."
"Yes ma'am." The droid saluted stiffly and began putting in Kellia's orders and she watched the Imperial ships allied to the URM burn and try to flee, and did not doubt many aboard were wondering why she wouldn't come to help them, and that was their failing. They, these men, these killers, expected a killer to come and save them. SO with cold eyes, Kellia huffed away her disgust and turned on her heel and made for her room out of the bridge, and her loyal and more deserving of soldiers, B2's followed her for her protection as the battle raged on.
Thrawn and Parck were watching the battle unfold when suddenly all the Imperial forces watched the URM massive droid swarms of fighters and bombers suddenly break away and flood back towards the URM unused and fresh naval forces and even Thrawn scrunched his face in confusion. The URM TIE's however did not step their attacks and seemed all the more exposed and unable to do anything as their droid escorts and allies faded away. As the fleet rained down and destroyed what was counted as being nineteen enemy Imperial-made ships the admiral watched with growing suspicion and confusion as the entire remaining fleet of URM ships which he saw contained one Mon-Cal cruiser and many previously unseen CR90-corvettes, begin to move to their general left and in a blink of the eye they jumped into hyperspace and abandoned the ships to their fate, and Thrawn knew in this moment he had been partially robbed of the total victory he desired, but rewarded with a great victory nonetheless.
"Captain, move task force C into the fray, and eliminate all enemy forces. We cannot take the chance that these men would turn on us the second they think it most lucrative for themselves while they would easily lie to save themselves as well. It's certainly not the nicest of jobs, but one that must be done, and form up the planetary perimeter around Kamino and get me some orbital scans."
"Yes admiral sir. Shall I send the reports of the battle to Imperial Center?"
"A very tedious thing considering how much shorter this battle turned out to be than I originally thought, but yes captain. Leave nothing out of your report. I shall be in my quarters if you require my presence captain." Thrawn said with an air of finality about him and Parck bowed his head.
"Of course admiral sir." Parck however saw this battle as a momentous victory and cast a lingering final glance out the viewport of the Admonitor as the enemy ships held up a final and desperate draw of breath in their final moments and would slowly come crashing down. Parck, unlike his mentor and the admiral he looked up to, gave a single satisfied and smiling nod to the viewport as it glowed with the raging blasts of battle, and Kamino was once more the Empire's world.
(Days Later)
The ships came out of hyperspace with the expected lurch and Kellia came walking forward toward the viewport and her breath caught in her throat as she looked before her and spread out across her viewport was a massive fleet of the majestic, and now beautiful Lucrehulks, and they were hers to unleash upon this Imperial and Moff ravaged galaxy.
"Now I will make you sorry the day you poisoned everything I knew and loved old man, and I will love seeing you fall. Bit by bit." She intoned with a smile and gave the orders to secure the fleet with her current one, as they awaited the agent from Geonosis wit the new mass droid controller to arrive. For when they did, Kellia would reactivate all these untapped, unused and fresh droid armies and the mighty Lucrehulks would take the Imperials and Moffs advantage with their Stardestroyers away, and level the playing field.
This galaxy was hers for the taking, and Kellia would bring democracy to it. Whether it wanted it or not.
Authors Note: There you have it. Another space battle and Thrawn oriented chapter, and I hope that you guys are still liking the story as ever. I will try to post another chapter by the mid-weekend range if not sooner, but don't hod your breath. :)
Please, as usual, point out or excuse any and all grammatical errors, and enjoy the chapter/story! Also reviews, commentary, suggestions, and critique not flames, are appreciated. So, enjoy. :)