Chapter 30: Battle of Crait
After stopping by the mess hall and taking a full tray, Ezra headed to the detention block, with Sabine tailing him and checking her pistol. When they arrived, the guards stood at attention for Ezra.
"I need to speak with the prisoner, please." he said courteously.
The guards didn't object and the one next to the button pushed it. The red force field disappeared and allowed the two to walk in. Cylo was already sitting at small table that, together with the toilet and the bed, was part of the essential furniture of the cells.
With composure and absolute calm, Ezra laid down the tray in front of Cylo and then sat on the other chair of the table, reserved for the interrogators. Meanwhile, Sabine started pacing slowly around the cell, making sure the doctor felt the presence of a furious and fully armed mandalorian around him.
The doctor was behaving like that was nothing, but Ezra noticed very well his shoulders furtively tightening around his neck, as if he was preparing to defend himself.
Ezra then placidly put his intertwined hands on the table.
"What is this?" Cylo asked in a calm tone.
Ezra naturally explained as if it was a completely normal situation. "Let's see, some soup, then cabbage and cow accompanied by purée." then added a comment that just underlined the absurdity of that situation. "Doc, can you imagine how hard it is to find a prime cut in this time and place?"
Cylo inspired with the nose softly and relaxed his back. "I'm not a great fan of beef." he simply said.
"Oh," said Ezra sarcastically. "I'm sorry, I thought you were quite eager to cut open some meat."
A few moments of silence followed, broken only by Sabine who went to lean her back against the wall next to Cylo.
Ezra sighed as if his loth-cat had broken a glass of water and now he had to clean up. "Sabine, would you like a bite?"
"Thanks, but it's kinda difficult for me to eat while staring at a pile of fodder." she said with a more evident but still slight note of threat in her voice.
Ezra shrugged and used the Force with a hand to turn the tray around and bring it on his edge of the table, at which point he took the cutlery and started eating with all the calm in the universe, but before he took the first bite he spoke up to the doctor.
"I looked at your personal logs, and one thing caught my eye. You call yourself Cylo the V." and put the fork in the mouth. Tasting the steak put him in a nicer mood that helped him keep up the facade of the 'good cop'. "Now, you don't come from a noble family. Or from anywhere in particular, it seems. Palpatine probably picked you up and rose you from nothing, that's why you're helping him with his plan."
"You Jedi think you've always all figured out, uh?" the doctor said in a composed tone and only a hint of challenge. "But you lost to my creations."
"Yes, the Astartes. I figured you were behind them since they brought my sister to you. By the way, why weren't they on Denevar to protect you?" Ezra asked back with absolute control.
Cylo hesitated, but eventually answered. "They have been sent to the final destination of my project."
"Which brings us back to my topic. I looked at the files on Project Necromancer. So here is my brilliant theory…" he stopped to take a sip from the card of milk and put it down again. "You already can transfer your conscience from a body to another."
Cylo couldn't hold back an expression of scared surprise and Ezra noticed it.
"But I also imagine that it has something to do with the implants in your brain and the Emperor, for some unfathomable reason, doesn't want to become a cyborg."
"I'm not telling you anything more." Cylo cut short.
But Sabine snapped forward and brought her right wrist at his throat, making a blade sprint out with a loud clack and making the doctor genuinely worried.
"Then I guess it's fine if we turn you into Cylo the VI already." she hissed.
Ezra raised a hand with composure. "No need to get angry, cyar'ika."
Sabine stayed in that position for another two seconds, enough to make sure that Cylo felt the blade and started sweating from those organic parts he had left. Then she stepped back and retracted the weapon into her wrist. Cylo made a silent sigh of relief and passed a hand on his throat, to make sure it was still there.
Ezra resumed eating with absolute nonchalance, throwing in some of the cabbage over the steak.
"As I was saying...since you can transfer your conscience I was wondering why you haven't done it already to escape from us. The way I see it, there are two options." he took another bite, chewed it for a good ten seconds and then gulped down. "One: you transfer your conscience via some virtual net and right now you are simply out of range. Or number two: right now you are afraid of going back and report to your Emperor that you failed to protect his most guarded secret."
Cylo's biological eye started to twitch slightly. Ezra had got him good. Even Cylo understood that, no matter how many bodies he had left, Palpatine was never going to forgive him for the fact that he couldn't prevent the Jedi to learn about Project Necromancer.
"The Emperor has probably already sent assassins on your tail, now that you're a liability at the very least. You won't have a moment of peace until his Empire is still around. But, if you cooperate with us, you will only have to spend a few decades in prison and then go on with your life. The choice is yours."
Cylo's discomfort was clearly visible even as he lowered his head and Ezra kept consuming lunch.
Nearly a minute later, Cylo understood that he was left with his back to the wall and decided that he had nothing left to lose. "What do you want to know?"
Ezra gulped the last bite of the main dish and put down fork and knife. "We already know about Byss, but we also know that is not the final destination of Palpatine's backup plan. Where is he planning to go?"
"An ancient Sith world named Exegol. It's impossible to reach without a device called 'Wayfinder'. Once his ships leave for that place, you will never get to them."
"So the project has not started its final phase, yet?" Ezra asked with a bit more interest.
Cylo shook his head. "We were putting the final touches at Denevar, but even with the destruction of that facility, you only earned a few weeks at best."
Ezra hummed in comprehension, sounding not impressed as he finished the card of milk.
"Good, that's all I wanted to know about it. Tell me something about the twins, rather. I understand you reverse-engineered the omni-tool technology?"
"Morit and Aiolin are just a prototype. So far we can only replicate it through extensive cybernetics. I intended to work on improving them once Necromancer was complete."
"Did you create them specifically to hunt me and my sister?"
"No. They were my first project for the Emperor. Years ago I had the task of exploring new possibilities to improve sentient beings with technology, and try to create a new warrior that may one day become strong enough to replace Lord Vader as the Emperor's right hand. You two have become a liability only recently, but his Majesty did find the idea of putting two couples of siblings against each other, so I worked to upgrade them."
Now that was new, and it might be a terrible news. "Other beings? Are there other like them?"
"Not anymore." Cylo said defeated. "The twins are my greatest achievement, the others died on various missions in the last few years."
Ezra hummed interested and decided that he had learned enough, for the moment. He nodded to Sabine, he thanked the doctor for his cooperation, then walked away with his wife, carrying the empty tray.
"Sometimes, I envy your self-control." Sabine commented after removing her helmet, a mixture of admiration and doubt. "If he had done anything to Tristan, I would've already cut his head off."
"Rage blinds the judgment and often turns out to be self-destructing. Had we killed him already, we wouldn't know about the final pieces of the puzzle."
"You're planning to attack Byss?"
"By now, it's a necessity. We can't allow Palpatine to have a backup body in case we ever manage to kill him. He could return decades after we win and take the galaxy when it is not prepared for him again."
"But how do we capture the planet? Rex made a fair point: we can't bring an army all the way there, right now."
"Then let's hear what my father has to say about this."
October 13, 2226.
Iulius was patiently waiting for news from the ground. The Admonitor was standing in the void right outside the Crait system, the power reduced at minimum like the rebels used to do until just two years ago whenever a Star Destroyer showed up.
The worst part was that they didn't need to: they were outside the range of whomever had established a base on Crait I, but the lack of proton fuel had become ridiculously depressing. Just to give it enough of it to Veer's regiment and to the only three (yes, three, Iulius thought) ships carrying them, The Mid Rim quartermasters had to take it away from a reserve fleet and give it to the two stealth carriers and the same MTC that had scouted the area and now carried Veers and his ground units.
Even moving the Admonitor put a strain on the supply lines that only a few years ago would have been inconceivable, but by now Iulius had understood that the people at High Command were doing everything they could to make his life a living hell, perhaps they hoped that the Coalition would start an offensive and the Mid Rim Forces, hungry and without supplies, would crumble. That would have given the people on Coruscant a reason to finally see the hated upstart Lord-Protector thrown into the mud.
The simple thought drove Iulius crazy: how could it be that, in front of an enemy that was determined to crush the Empire and had the means to do it, the politicians on Coruscant were still carrying on their petty squabbles and rivalries?
His thoughts were interrupted when Ciena called from the deck and informed him that Veers had contacted them. Iulius rushed to the command room, joined along the way by Qathora, and reached the holo-table where there was the projection of the battlefield.
Veers reported that the infiltration had been a success: using the stealth ships, the armored regiment had made planet-fall during the planet's night cycle and took position just outside the sensors of the base. Now, after the Stormcommandos had made a quick recon, the regiment was advancing on the plains of salt in front of the objective. Veer's unit consisted of a mix of motorized infantry aboard ITTs supported by tanks, but the greatest assets were the three AT-AT.
It was probably the tremor caused by the walkers that alerted the people inside the base, who suddenly sprang outside and tried to reach the trenches, but the walkers were already in range and started firing with their heavy cannons, inflicting some casualties.
"Can we identify the hostiles?" Iulius asked, and while he heard Ciena passing the question to Veers, he took a quick look at the frontal section of the deck. Standing in front of the viewport, on the command gangplank, there was Lord Vader, who was staring at the planetary system in front of them.
Clearly, he was itching for a fight. However, Veers was testing a new tactic and Iulius wanted to see how the soldiers would fare without any extraordinary help like the Sith Lord. Vader had acquiesced, if anything he wanted the proof that there were officers in the Empire who could do their job successfully.
"Report, Grand Admiral." Ciena said shortly after. "The hostiles carry weapons and symbols identical to the Rebels, but they don't seem affiliated with the self-proclaimed 'New Republic'."
Iulius took another look at the enhanced frames on the hologram. Indeed, those soldiers were fighting with a certain discipline and organization, but they were not wearing real uniforms, as they resembled more of the rebels before the Federation started supplying them.
They had quickly taken cover inside the trenches, however the surprise had been so sudden that they didn't have the time to man the first one, so the stormtroopers, wearing the snow uniforms as the temperature of the planet was quite cold, had the time to disembark from the ITTs and take the first line for themselves while the AT-AT provided cover.
"Colmas, bring us over the battlefield." Iulius ordered loudly.
"You got it, boss." the helmsman replied.
Among the crew of the Admonitor, the atmosphere was always fairly relaxed, and Vader seemed to disapprove of that as he made one of his breaths and turned his head toward the pilot seat. He returned his gaze forward, though, as by now Iulius had convinced him that the sense of camaraderie that the crew had built was among the main factors that allowed the 101st to achieve the results she was famous for. The men still obeyed orders, so what was the problem if they threw some friendly quips around?
With an in-system jump, the Admonitor arrived over the skies of Crait I, right above the zone of the battle. The AT-AT were effortlessly walking past the first line of trenches while the infantry, supported by the armed transports and the tanks, was storming the second line. The rebels were returning the favor and some troopers fell down, a transport was took out from a rocket launcher, but the rebels were clearly not ready to repel an attack of that proportion.
Soon enough, the defenders understood that they had no chance and broke the line, fleeing toward the main base with the stormtroopers pressing the attack and killing most of them while they were still in the trenches. Only a handful managed to get inside before the armored door fell down.
"Starkiller to Admonitor." the voice of Marek broke in suddenly.
"Go on, Starkiller." Iulius calmly replied.
"Your instinct was correct. I found a tunnel that leads directly inside the rebel base. Most likely they'll try to use it to escape."
"Good. Block that path until reinforcements arrive. Remember: we need prisoners. Possibly the leaders."
"Understood."
Iulius noticed only then that Vader had walked next to the table at some point. He was still staying at a minimal distance to let the officers do their work unimpeded, which was something Iulius interpreted as a tacit sign of respect.
The walkers took position and started pounding the armored door, but that seemed a very slow process. Iulius thus ordered the Stormcommando teams to reach Starkiller and use the caves to attack the rebels from behind. Karashk, now promoted Captain of the 1st Stormcommando Battalion, led his men personally and together with the Sith assassin they took the rebels by surprise. The commandos found where the rebels were keeping their escape transport and destroyed it. With no chance to escape or call for help, the imperials hoped that the rebels would surrender, but unfortunately the opposite happened.
A gruesome fight followed, with the commandos pushing their way toward the center of the cave in search of the controls for the gate. They suffered high losses, and probably they would have been driven away or destroyed if it wasn't for the help of Starkiller. Nonetheless, the assault team managed to find the controls and finally raise the blast door, opening the way for the stormtroopers, which even Cody and his own regiment had joined. The rebels went down with a fight, and it wasn't easy to get close enough to make prisoners with the stun blasters, but at the end of the hour, the imperials were in full control of the base.
"Impressive." said Vader with his mechanical tone.
Iulius smirked subtly, then pushed the button of the comlink. "General Veers, Lord Vader is officially impressed. Excellent work."
"Thank you, Lord Tanis." Veers replied satisfied enough. "The area is clear, you may start your landing."
The two Lords thus headed toward the hangar, where Qathora and Yagler were waiting with heavy coats. The Togruta was holding one for Iulius and behind them, there were Iulius' Death Troopers and on the other side Commander Kimmund with Vader's escort. They all boarded a large Sentinel-class transport which then brought them toward the surface, escorted by Kyrell's TIE Avengers.
Iulius put the coat on and when the vessel was about to touch ground, he stood up and went next to Lord Vader in front of the ramp door. Their escorts aligned behind them and when the ramp opened they walked out onto the white surface of Crait.
As soon as he could see the battlefield with his own two eyes, Iulius noticed the most curious feature of the planet: the surface was actually made of red moist, which became visible the moment any little sweep dusted it off. On that plain, the footsteps of the AT-AT, of the troopers and the trenches left clearly visible traces. Sergeant Mickey was expecting them, and after making the salute he led them inside the base.
A small group of eight prisoners had been rounded up, handcuffed and forced to kneel next to one of the rocky walls. The two lords approached it, Starkiller greeted Vader with a deferential bow while the other small group of stormtroopers stood at attention.
The rebels noticed Vader and their expressions started to show a serious concern, which increased when his breaths became more evident. The Dark Lord first turned his head toward his underling. "Have you recovered their main database?"
"Unfortunately, it was already destroyed. Presumably since we started the attack." Starkiller replied with the eerie timber given by his helmet.
Vader thus stepped forward and towered in front of the rebels. "Ships of the criminal Zann Consortium have been using this planet as a base against the Empire. You will explain everything you have been doing here, or you will die."
The rebels were made up of a human with the ranks of Lieutenant-Commander, then a Gran, who started blabbering in his language while keeping all three eyes shut; then a Vurk, who seemed to be accepting his fate, the others were all Humans, two of which seemed only teenagers and were sweating profusely.
Clearly, the two Lords were mostly interested in the officer, who certainly would have been the most reliable source. In front of his silence, Vader approached the two young rebels, starting at the edge of the line of prisoners. He ignited his crimson saber and the young man started crying.
"Last chance." Vader threatened as he approached the blade on the shoulder of the whimpering rebel.
Iulius noticed that the officer was extremely conflicted.
Vader rose the saber and prepared to strike the prisoner down...just as the Lords had planned.
"Please, wait, Lord Vader." Iulius said calmly, but loud enough to be heard by all the prisoners. "Allow me to solve this without shedding more blood." he asked in a slightly reverential tone.
Vader looked at him, his saber immobile on top of his head. This pause, too, was part of the play. Eventually, Vader hummed briefly, sounding a bit disappointed that he wasn't allowed to finish the execution, but he still deactivated the saber, put her back on his belt, and stepped back.
The rebels looked stunned. They clearly knew about Vader's reputation, and didn't think that anyone was able to talk him out of committing a massacre. Iulius stepped forward and squatted in front of the rebel officer, noticing that his eyes were turning from confused to aware of the situation.
"You know who I am?" Iulius asked.
The officer gulped down what was left of the previous scare and replied. "Yes. I served with your brother since Phoenix Fleet."
"Ah." said Iulius a bit surprised. "Did he send you here?" he asked, though he knew Darvos couldn't possibly be cooperating with murderers and slavers.
"No. Most of us abandoned the New Republic for one reason or the other. I myself left after seeing how they mistreated Colonel Tanis."
That was very interesting for the Lord-Protector: it confirmed that the blatant injustice that had been inflicted on Darvos was only the point of a huge iceberg of dissatisfaction and unrest among the many different souls of the old Rebel Alliance.
"What is Garm Bel Iblis doing in this part of the galaxy?" Iulius kept asking calmly.
"I…" the officer hesitated.
"Lieutenant, I invite you to respond."
"Why should I? You're going to kill all of us anyway." he replied dejected.
"That's not true." the Lord-Protector replied with absolute confidence.
The rebels weren't convinced, but his tone probably made them believe that there was a chance he was telling the truth.
"Just answer to my question, and I promise you will spend the rest of the war at a camp on Naboo. Your lives will be spared."
The prisoners looked at each other. The reputation of the Empire didn't leave much to the imagination, but on the other hand, Iulius had built his own image as a man of his word. The officer eventually sighed.
"You're going to learn about this very soon, anyway."
"About what?"
"Since General Iblis had decided to go his separate way from the Republic, he had been working on forming another state. General Bridger liberated several worlds in the Trailing Sectors last year, so he used the chance to gather supporters."
"And you need the support of the Consortium?" Iulius asked with a hint of disgust, hoping to shake the sense of justice that usually seemed to move the rebels.
"We only buy supplies and minerals from them whenever we need some extra. And each can freely roam the other's territory as long as we both keep the fight against the Empire, but we're not allies." the officer replied with a certain haste and insult.
Iulius stood back up and motioned Cody to bring the prisoners inside the Admonitor's cells.
October 16, 2226.
To Ezra and Jordan's relief, Jaral was expected to make a full recovery by the end of the month. They had returned to Lothal, where the woman was welcomed by her mother with cries and yells, but where she could focus on recovering her strength while also dedicating some precious time to her daughter.
On the other hand, it was also time to come up with a plan to destroy Project Necromancer once and for all. They knew that the main structure was on Byss, and once the Emperor knew about the attack on Denevar, he might conclude that he needed to speed up his exodus into the Unknown Regions. It was imperative they moved quickly, so Jordan took Ezra and they headed at Camp Garibaldi, where they were given a safe channel with the Council and the Empress.
"We received your report, Captain Bridger," Benedetta started. "I'm glad you managed to get your daughter out of that horrible facility."
"I am, too. However, the discoveries we made with this mission has forced me to make this call." Jordan replied composed.
"We read your report, Captain." Tasena replied to that. "I must admit, it's hard to believe that Palpatine might actually achieve immortality, but our knowledge of the universe had been completely turned upside down since the wormhole has opened."
"I sent you all the evidences that we gathered." Jordan said in a wary tone. "Even if you don't believe the testimony of Doctor Cylo, we know that the Sith are planning something big on the planet Byss."
"Absolutely, Captain. We already reviewed the proofs and judged them worthy of trust." Irissa intervened to calm the waters.
"However, how do you propose we take care of this threat?" Councilor Yorhan Vaz asked legitimately. "This planet you mentioned is way out of our fleet's reach, and it's also hard to navigate toward it."
Jordan made a mental breather. He had considered the options time and time again and he didn't like what he had come up with.
"A simple assault is impracticable. There are billions of beings under Palpatine's influence on that planet. Before we have a chance of finding and destroying the project they would swarm us, and there is no guarantee that we can carry enough firepower to destroy them, anyway. Therefore…"
He paused for a moment, allowing the politicians to understand where he was heading.
"I request permission to deliver and detonate a ZV-70 warhead on Byss."
The people in the hologram looked suddenly distressed. Even the Elcor Councilor, Gatan, made a slight movement that seemed appropriate with that of his colleagues. The Empress had almost paled as did her son.
"Captain." Manus said severely. "Do you realize what you're asking?"
Jordan didn't flinch. "I do. I considered all options. This is the only one that guarantees a considerable chance of success."
"You're suggesting to crack a planet open!" Councilor Weygand insisted. "How are we going to justify this? This doesn't make us look better than the Empire with the Death Star."
"Dad, what does this mean?" Ezra asked, clearly alarmed by those words.
Jordan just raised a hand to invite him to patience. "Officially, that planet doesn't exist." he replied sternly. "The imperials won't be able to use its destruction for their propaganda, and if they do...all we need to say is that they were testing some new weapon of mass destruction and screwed up something."
The Councilors and the royals were once again speechless in front of the Captain's readiness to answer their doubts. That probably convinced them that Jordan really was proposing the only course of action they had available.
"Councilors, I suggest we retire to deliberate." the Empress announced after retaking a bit of a steady mind. Her advisors nodded and temporarily disappeared, muting themselves so that Jordan couldn't listen.
The Legionnaire turned toward his son, who by now was seriously worried over what kind of monstrosity his father was planning. "Dad, what kind of plan is this?"
Jordan kept his composure and lit up his omni-tool. "Jinx, explain what a ZV-70 is."
The AI showed a 3d model of a large scaffolding holding a triangular-shaped device. "Following the Krogan Rebellion, the Turian Hierarchy had buried a super-bomb under the surface of Tuchanka." Ezra had read enough history of the Milky Way to know about the Krogan Rebellion. "It had been remained buried for centuries until Commander Shepard led an effort to deactivate it during the Reaper War. This bomb has been since then rediscovered and miniaturized in recent years by a research team. Such project is called ZV-70."
"How powerful is it?" Ezra asked, worried about the answer.
"It's capable of generating enough power to shake an entire planet with an earthquake. Beneath a certain dimension, a planet can possibly crack. To help you visualize, imagine the planet turned into Concord Dawn, or even Anaxes."
"By the Force…" Ezra whispered. "And you intend to use it on a planet full of civilians?!" he then asked indignant.
"We don't have much choice. We can't take the chance that even the slightest of Project Necromancer survives." Jordan replied, his tone clearly expressing that he wasn't going to back down.
"By making our own Alderaan?!" Ezra said exasperated.
"It's one billion people today, or trillions tomorrow, if Palpatine gets through with his shenanigan. Take your choice." Jordan replied sternly.
Put in front of that harsh reality, Ezra could only grunt frustrated and walk around the room to try and calm his nerves. Jordan leaned onto a handrail near them. The thought was persecuting him, too, but such was the situation they were into: forced to choose between committing a genocide or to allow a future conflict to happen. He knew that Spectres were called to make difficult choices, but this was definitely one of the few things he expected to do, especially just after a few months from his induction.
They remained silent, unable to express their emotions further. After five, interminable minutes, the holograms reappeared. If the Councilors had some reserves about the proposal, they weren't showing them as the Empress spoke up.
"Captain, your operation is authorized. We will contact the High Command so that the device will be delivered to Lothal. From that point on, it will be yours to use."
Jordan made a respectful bow. "I thank you, gentlemen. I promise you won't regret this."
The Empress made a tired nod, then she announced the end of the conversation.
