Chapter 31: Rising Powers

October 17, 2226.

Life on the Citadel always seemed so detached from the rest of the galaxy, Jane couldn't help but notice. At least on Earth the debate over the two wars that the Federation was fighting at the moment were present and heartfelt, but on the space station it seemed like they were just a distant concern. She wasn't surprised, though: growing up at the imperial court, she knew that it was important to keep the heart of power at ease. The matters of the gruesome fights happening on the frontline had to be kept as far as possible from the eyes on the Citadel.

And especially because the galaxy was about to see a drastic shift in its landscape.

The Spectres had confirmed that somebody in the Terminus was funding the Tambaran, who were now resisting on Korlus, and a larger investigation had found a trail going back to the Citadel itself. It was up to Jane and her crew to find who was the Tambaran contact on the station.

For now, her first hint was a diplomat named Barney Rouzrok, who had been found out having a secret bank account and several generous unaccounted transactions in his favor. It was time to get to the bottom of this.

With her authority as Spectre and Imperial Emissary, Jane had C-SEC arrest Rouzrok and put him into an interrogation room. The woman entered and found one of her colleagues: a Turian named Lycus Tarrit.

"Ah, Shepard. Just in time."

"Nice to see you too, Tarrit. Did he say anything already?"

The diplomat didn't seem that intimidated, at least not until he recognized Jane and looked at her walking on the side of the chair opposite to Lycus. "Do you realize who we are?" she asked to the prisoner.

"I know who you are." he replied, keeping his tone collected. "But you wouldn't dare touch me. I'm a member of the Foreign Ministry and…"

To shut him, Jane quickly took out the pistol and pointed it at his nose. "Listen here." she whispered in a threatening tone. "First of all, you are a traitor and we all know it. They send us because we are not tied down by rules."

The implications were clear: Jane and Lycus could torture him if they wanted, and Rouzrok caught it up very quickly. However, not in the way that Jane expected.

"Sure. Go on, I don't care what happens to me." he said in a tone that wasn't perhaps much brave, but it showed a solid resolution. "My job is already done anyway."

Jane had assumed that the man was only a slimy bureaucrat who had betrayed his country for more money than he actually needed to live, given his prestigious job, but now she started to think that he really had a much higher motive. "What was your job?" she asked.

"Doing my part against the corrupted oligarchy that controls this nation of exploiters."

Jane and Lycus looked at each other with a confused frown. The Turian stepped forward and made next question. "What are you talking about? The ones controlling the Federation are the Empress and the Council, and they don't exploit anyone."

Rouzrok clicked his tongue. "Of course the lapdogs of the Council wouldn't see that. You live in your golden tower, your bellies full and more goods than you actually would ever need for. But did you ever question where all that wealth comes from?"

"And you decided that the best course of action to solve whatever issue you have was to arm a species of brutes?" Lycus retorted.

"The Tambaran are just a pawn to a much greater goal." Rouzrok calmly replied. "But if you really want to dissipate the veil of your ignorance, you might want to reach Block 733 of the Industrial District." he added with a satisfied grin.

The Spectres looked at each other and Lycus nodded, implicitly saying that Shepard could go and he would watch over the prisoner. Immediately, Jane left and contacted the Normandy, asking Wilhelm to take a squad and head for the block she had been given while she took an automatic cab to the destination. They met at one of the piers at Block 732 to organize. There Jane found out that Wilhelm had brought Garrus, the twins and Corporal Matthew Kane of the Normandy's marines. Kane was nicknamed 'Silent' because he spoke even less than Chief, though he certainly wasn't a solitary guy. He was still an efficient Marine of the Systems Alliance, so that was good enough.

They then headed carefully toward the access to Block 733, and there they found out there were some mercenaries with the uniform of the Eclipse mercenary group guarding a door among many.

Jane had EDI look into the C-SEC database and the AI quickly reported that those guys weren't supposed to be there. Jane sent the alert to all Spectres and then ordered her team to storm the docks. With a singularity, Wilhelm easily caught them by surprise, making them scream in terror, then they were all put to sleep after the Major threw a biotic shot that caused an explosion of energy strong enough to slam them all against the wall, without killing.

The squad stormed in. They found a series of deactivated surveillance mechs that quickly came to life. Other mercenaries were coming to see why their colleagues at the entrance had gone silent, but were alerted when Jane's team started a firefight with the mechs.

A brief skirmish ensued, and things quickly turned against the mercs when more Spectres started to show up singularly, appearing from all sides and wreaking havoc among the improvised defenses that the Eclipse shored up. In just eight minutes the resistance was overcame and the mercenaries quickly understood how hopeless their situation was. Many decided to accept Jane's offer to surrender, but before that happened, a small cargo ship managed to speed away from the dock. One of the agents informed the flight control of the Citadel.

Jane went straight for the captain of the Eclipse, who was also among the prisoners.

"What is on that ship?"

"The cargo is expected to reach the Shrike Abyssal, I don't know who our contact is." he replied quite hastily. Clearly, he didn't get paid enough to keep silent, or he thought he might die and not enjoy his pay at all.

The Spectres concluded that they wouldn't get much else out from them and so waited until C-SEC finally arrived a minute later and then they gathered to discuss the situation. Other than Lycus, there were two Salarians, Myro and Kulip, and the Asari Oseria.

"I have checked Rouzrok's recent contacts. Mails and call logs have been mostly erased, but out technicians could still recover some data from the handful he had on his terminal. It seems he was keeping tabs with somebody in the Terminus."

"Then the theory of the Empress seems strengthened." Oseria said. "Something is brewing in the Terminus. And it seems intent on making our life difficult."

"A new subversive organization, or even a new government still acting in the shadow." Myro commented.

"There's a risk that they're using our distraction on the Tambaran to infiltrate the Citadel. We need to make sure Rouzrok was not the only one." Kulip added.

"I agree, gentlemen." Jane said. "But we also don't have much time to waste. You should inform the Empress and continue investigating on the station. Meanwhile, I'll try to see who was waiting for that cargo ship."


October 20, 2226.

"...we shall not stop at anything to defend our freedom. We will not rest until the tyranny of the Empire is crushed. I am Garm Bel Iblis, and I promise to every free soul of the galaxy, that the Commonwealth is prepared to restore true democracy to the galaxy."

Iulius shut off the recording that had been transmitted all over the HoloNet two rotations before. As the prisoners on Crait had anticipated, Iblis and a band of former imperial senators had declared the secession of several worlds in the Trailing Sectors. Among them there were also Cham Syndulla and President of the Pantoran Assembly Radunnari. In fact, this new entity spanned from the southern end of the Corellian Run all the way to Utapau, next to the Rimma Trade Route.

This new state was even more of an immediate threat, for it was dangerously near to Eriadu while Naboo was suddenly on the border, it was a situation that could not stand, but this also meant that he was going to fight a single state with a discrete industrial capacity and manpower pool, not a group of pirates that, albeit large, wasn't able to go toe-to-toe against the Empire.

Again, Iulius had petitioned Coruscant for reinforcements and supplies, and once again Imperial High Command had stalled his request, which meant the only way to get anything out of those bragging aristocrats was to go to their offices and shake them down.

After all, if the Emperor was not answering and wasn't solving the problem, somebody else had to do it, right?

That was his thought as he strolled through the main entrance of the grand building of the Joint Chiefs Committee, where he was going to meet all the top brass of the imperial military. He crossed paths with a few officers who had previously worked in his staff and after Lantillies had been promoted with his recommendation. They instinctively greeted him with respect.

Iulius reached the conference room of the Chiefs. And then they arrived. In total there was eight of them, each belonging to the so called 'Generationals', families of the Core with a millennia-long history of service. All of them more or less sneered when looking at him, as that was the extent of their mental closure. They had never come around the idea that a simpleton from the Outer Rim had managed to get the favor the Emperor, no matter how many results he got.

The meeting started. Iulius had brought with him a disc full of star charts and details over what the intelligence had gathered. He clearly explained how another front had opened and that the Commonwealth had a serious force poised at the borders of the Empire, ready to strike. If they wanted to prevent a collapse of the front, they had to send supplies over there.

"You should first of all learn how to address this commission, Lord-Protector." Overseer Nago Wermise said in a way that couldn't be more stereotypical of the bombastic high-class man. "Your tone seems to imply that you were giving us an order."

Iulius felt the urge of going there and punching the old bag senseless, but he kept his blood pressure in check. "I was merely urging this commission, Overseer. I shouldn't have to come all the way here just to ask you the means to do my duty."

"If you can't do your duty with the plenty of supplies you have been given, then perhaps you are actually embezzling them." Admiral Tallon said with accusation, his pointy mustaches and bald head being the perfect match with his large belly that indicated how he most likely spent most of his time eating and drinking rather than doing his job.

"Plenty?!" Iulius hissed, then whipped out his datapad. "This month you have provided my forces with just a tenth of what is needed to move my ships. A tenth!" he said loudly.

Another officer, Valio Praji, made a moan that sarcastically represented an obnoxious person. "Perhaps the fuel got lost into some depot. We will check them, if you want." he said with a mischievous smirk that just added to Iulius' strain on his nerves.

How could it be that these guys ran the armed forces? The fate of the Empire, and thus their own lives, were at stakes, and yet they were still unable to leave their small world made of preserving prestige and do nothing to solve real problems.

"So you're telling me that you would rather see the homeworld of the Emperor be in the hands of radicals and revolutionaries rather than give me the minimum supplies necessary for me to work?"

"There are many other projects that require resources, as well." the Overseer replied with scorn. "You are not the only one working to save the Empire."

"No, but we are the first line of defense! What could possibly be more important right now?" Iulius insisted as he started to run out of patience, but he also activated the hidden microphone he was hiding in one of his breast pockets.

"That is not necessary for you to know, Lord-Protector. Therefore we invite you to talk less and act more, if you think these rebels are actually a threat."

"So you are saying that you will not refuel the Mid Rim Forces as I ask?"

"Precisely." the Overseer said with a triumphant smile, and the rest of the Committee couldn't have been more evidently satisfied that they had a chance to somewhat humiliated that hated peasant in front of them.

Iulius made a half-grin however, and that surprised the Committee. "A pity you didn't listen to reason." he said in a completely relaxed tone, meanwhile he walked in front of the door. His expression now returned to be dead serious. "I believe you forgot that I am not the only Lord running the Mid Rim. And said Lord is very much upset that you forced his new ship to rot attached to a dockyard."

The officers started looking at each other in confusion, but a moment later the door of the room opened and they all realized what Iulius meant as a mechanical breathing filled the room which had silently gone silent. Wermise was the first to pale and to sweat profusely.

"Gh...L-Lord Vader. What a surprise…" he started with an attempted cordial smile that couldn't hide the sudden sense of fear.

Vader stepped forward, leaving room for even Starkiller, the Death Troopers and a small squad of Shadow Guards, now Vader's personal detachment of the Praetorian Guard, to enter the room. They started running around to go encircle the table while Vader angrily extended a hand toward Wermise, who immediately started to choke even if nobody was touching him.

"Your childish plays have put the Empire in danger for too long." the Dark Lord said with his threatening voice. Wermise was becoming purple. "As of now, I will be taking charge."

He then twitched his fingers and a loud sound of bone fracturing accompanied the sight of Wermise's neck twisting on its own. Then the Overseer fell dead on the ground.

Vader then stepped at the head of the table, making sure that all the officers, who were being encircled by the armored guards, could see him. "From this moment, I assume direct control of this Committee. Any attempt to sabotage the imperial forces will have dire consequences."

Meanwhile Iulius received a message from Yagler: the ISB was moving according to the plan, Moff Gideon was arresting many high officers who had been found responsible for embezzlement and storing away the tons of supplies that were meant for the Mid Rim, as well as seizing said depots. Images were flowing of warehouse filled to the brim with canisters of rhydonium or with food, ammo and so on. All things that had been clearly sitting there for weeks.

In barely two hours, the Committee, the various Arms and the Chiefs that had only proven to be useless in the war were arrested. Those that the ISB already knew were corrupted would undergo some sort of punishment, those who were overall clean would simply have their positions swapped. They would retain prestigious positions, so that their families wouldn't protest too much, but with no real power, so they wouldn't hinder the war effort anymore.

"Allow me to congratulate, Lord Vader. This operation went smoother than I anticipated." Iulius said as they stood on top of the grand staircase of the palace. "Let's just hope the Emperor will see that we're doing this for the good of the Empire."

Palpatine's reaction to all this was the greatest unknown of this whole ordeal. Still, this small coup was happening partially because the Emperor had isolated himself from the matters of government once again.

"Worry not, Lord-Protector." Vader said in a strangely friendly tone. "All we did is removing parasites who had been leeching off the Emperor's generosity. He will see the benefit of our action." Then his head turned toward the Grand Admiral. "And now, you will have everything you need and more. I have great expectations for you."

"Thank you, my Lord." Iulius replied with the due deference.

A person like Vader 'having great expectations' for somebody would usually be a very dangerous factor, since it meant that it would be much easier to fail him, but Iulius was under the impression that Vader was still the best choice to have as head of the armed forces: differently from those aristocrats, he was a warrior, who had seen the front multiple times and knew what was really at stake there.

That said, there was only one last question to settle. "Lord Vader, I know they have been a rare sight in the last few months, but do you have any interest in Jedi we are aware of?"

Vader didn't answer immediately. He made one of his breathing and looked slightly upward. "Yes." he then said, making another pause. "The one they call Skywalker. If you ever happen to cross him, avoid killing him, Grand Admiral. The others, I don't care."

"Very well." the Lord-Protector replied, then grabbed a datapad from his belt pouch. "This is the list of candidates I would like to recommend."

Vader made a slight nod and silently took the datapad. Now that he had the power, he would need to fill all the positions that had suddenly gone vacant. Iulius had petitioned him to fill a handful of key roles with trusted men and women, most of which had served in the Mid Rim Forces.

"Pardon me if I sound intrusive, my Lord, but why are you that interested in that particular boy?"

Again, a short silence followed. "Our destinies are tied. That's all I will say."

That didn't sound convincing at all, but Iulius understood that Vader had something personal with the boy, who on the other hand was also the one who destroyed the Death Star, according to the rebel propaganda. He decided to put the matter to rest.

"I'll inform my people to keep eyes and ears peeled. In the meantime, we have a war to win."

"What's your next plan?" Vader asked calmly.

"We must strike the Trailing Sectors as soon as we can, secure the space next to Eriadu and Naboo, it will also be a good chance to test the strength of Iblis' forces. The Executor will play a vital role, my Lord, so I will be waiting for you on Theed."

"Very well." the Dark Lord concluded and turned around, his cape flowing to follow him.

Iulius instead called his shuttle, and while the last batch of unseated officers was rounded up, he flew back to the Admonitor.


October 21, 2226.

The cruiser Belgorod had flown inside the lower atmosphere of Lothal for as much as she could, then from her hangar a transport shaped like a large box flew downward, escorted by fighters and gunships. Jordan watched as they moved toward the landing zone in Camp Garibaldi that had been designated to welcome the ZV-70: the local athletic stadium. That was because the walls around it would conceal the arrival from the rest of the soldiers, though no doubt all of them would understand that there was something fishy going on.

Jordan watched as the engineers, escorted by a squad of Black Ops soldiers, brought the bomb out of the ramp with a cart. The device itself was fairly big, perhaps slightly more than a Loth-wolf, but the amount of energy inside of it was enough to destroy a planet, which was the reason why there were five defense mechanisms that needed to be removed before activating her, and why that mix of Salarian and Human engineers would have to come aboard and start the countdown once they would be on Byss.

However, the Spectre was unsettled. Two days ago, with Jaral completely recovered, he and his kids had had a flamed argument about using the bomb. The kids categorically said that they would not help or sanction the killing of billions of innocents, no matter what the consequences would be.

It wasn't like he didn't feel horrible at the idea of being the responsible for that, and surely his kids restrained themselves because they could feel his conflict, but what else could it be done?

Letting Project Necromancer escape meant that Jordan would be responsible for leaving a future war to his kids and grandchildren too, and that to him was equally inconceivable. They had to destroy the Project along with the whole planet it sat on, if necessary.

The chief engineer arrived and greeted both Jordan and the commander of the base, General Faraday, who then ordered the bomb to be delivered to the underground vault, to wait until the operation would be ready to start. In preparation, Edrix and Ackbar were going to do the same thing they had done to allow the raid on Scarif: a large offensive on the main front to diver the attention of the imperials. The sudden emergence of the Outer Rim Commonwealth played in their hands, as now the Imperials had to deal with them as well.

Still, Operation Void Pebble was set to begin on November 15. The Constantinople would have to cross half the galaxy all the way to the Coruscant system, avoid the imperial surveillance and reach the secret hyperspace route to Byss, which was going to take other three rotations. They expected to reach the planet safely on December 19.

While they were bringing the bomb to the vault, the group, and particularly Jordan, were surprised to suddenly find Ezra and Jaral waiting for them.

"Is there a problems, gentlemen?" Faraday asked suspicious.

"We're not here to cause trouble, General." Ezra said politely. "We only need to talk with our father."

Jordan and Faraday exchanged a glance. The General said he could handle this and pointed Jordan to a briefing room that should have been free at that moment, so the Bridgers went in and started their family reunion.

"If you are here to tell me to drop the matter, kids, I advise you don't waste anyone else time." Jordan started in an abated tone.

"We're not here to dissuade you from using the bomb." Jaral replied.

That took Jordan by surprise. "So what's the matter?"

"We don't want the people of Byss to be involved, but we thought long about this and...we came up with a plan that might allow us to destroy Necromancer once and for all. Minus the genocide."

Ezra had pronounced the last word with a certain acidity that irritated Jordan, but he forced himself to be comprehensive and to keep listening. He invited them to speak their mind and the siblings started explaining their plan...and the more they went on, the more Jordan thought it was just unfeasible.

"Guys...this plan is just crazy. It basically relies entirely on luck. And don't tell me the Force will be with us, because I can't believe the Force is so monumentally one-sided!" he said clearly.

"No, only for a passage will we rely on the Force." Jaral calmly answered.

"In a delicate operation like this, even relying on the universe for a single phase is extremely dangerous." Jordan insisted.

"And our assault on the imperial dome wasn't a gamble?" was Ezra's rhetorical reply. "The attack on Scarif? The Death Star?"

Jordan didn't want to listen, but his son was making a lot of sound points. Those two had built a reputation on realizing the impossible.

"This is the only plan the Order will accept to partake." Ezra continued in a peremptory voice. "Otherwise...we will not stop you from going. But you know very well that your chances of success without us are basically null."

That was true, true and true! For all the Legionnaire's combat skills, this was just a suicide mission without the help of the Jedi and their abilities. Jordan walked up and down along his side of the table for a couple times, trying to reach a conclusion.

Eventually he sighed and delivered his decision. "All right. We'll do it your way." he said, not entirely convinced, but willing to trust his kids.

The siblings, on their part, gave him two warm and grateful smiles. Without talking, they walked around the table and went to give him a collective hug.

"It will be fine, dad. You'll see." Jaral whispered.


The bell of her door buzzed loudly and Jane was woken up suddenly from her sleep. There were only three people on the whole ship who would use the buzzer, so she lit up the omni-tool and opened the hatch.

The one walking in was Wilhelm, who made resolute steps forward, the kind implicating that he was there to report something.

"Captain, we're reaching…" he halted on top of the small stairs as he noticed that Jane was in her underwear.

She, on the other hand, didn't seem to care much as she stretched her arms before speaking. "Come on, Wil. It's not the first time you saw me like this."

Wilhelm closed his mouth and replied in a flirting tone. "Ach, if I did. And I am thankful for this moment."

Jane smirked to herself and shook her head while she reached for the locker. "So, what are we reaching?"

"The Korkrok system, though I'm sure you were expecting that." the man replied.

Shepard quickly dressed up and they reached the elevator. They stopped at Deck 2 where Wilhelm quickly brought Shepard up to speed on the situation: they had followed the coordinates of the Eclipse's cargo all the way to the Korkrok system, and specifically they were leading them to the second and last planet orbiting the huge star that gave the name to the system.

"The planet is called Densaak. It had been brought into an ecological death by severe mining from a Krogan colony over the centuries. There are a few communities on the surface of Krogan and Asari usually fighting for supremacy, but they date back to even before the Reaper War and they never managed to get out of their anarchy."

"So why was that cargo heading here?" Jane asked, not much as to seek an answer, but to externalize what was going to be the question guiding their investigation.

They waited an hour until EDI had made a thorough scanning of the planet, and finally found something unusual in the northern hemisphere: a shiny new military complex, definitely not something that the scattered and limited communities of the planet could build. It was also worth noting that the base was standing into a strategic position between the bigger tribes of the planet.

The plot was thickening a lot, so it was time to take a closer look. Jane and Wilhelm decided to go themselves with only Garrus and Tali to accompany them. Sarah, Scott and Chief would be waiting with the second Kodiak for a quick extraction in case of necessity. The first shuttle left the hangar and headed to the surface. From orbit, Densaak had a strange color of black and yellow, not it became clear that black were the oceans, polluted beyond any imagination, while the yellow was made of vast deserts where only a few kind of plants were the testimony to how the planet was trying to come back to life.

The squad landed a km or so from the outer perimeter of the facility and then started approaching

it by using the fact that one of the access was at the end of a tight gorge, surrounded by rocky slopes that were basically impassable. It was only when they could clearly see the first watchtower, built at the top of one of the rocky pillars and connected by the equivalent plain of the plateau by a bridge, that they spotted a group of Humans and Turians clad in armors and armed with a clear standardized equipment. Both the design of the armors and the weapons themselves, however, were not in the database of the Systems Alliance.

"Who are those guys?" Garrus asked.

"Maybe if I can enter their transmissions…" Tali started working on her omni-tool, but then they were taken by surprise by a Turian and a Human on patrol who walked out from another path and spotted them.

"Hey, hold it!" the Human ordered as they both raised their weapons.

Wilhelm quickly lit up with biotic energy and threw a drawing bolt that hit both of them, since they were close. The soldiers yelled in surprise, but the Turian managed to fire a few shots, albeit missing entirely, they alerted their comrades, Wilhelm threw a push to send them flying against the walls and make them pass out.

The other sentries rushed to see what was happening and a firefight ensued.

"I have an idea!" said Tali who eyed the two fainted guards. "Cover me!"

"We got you!" Jane reassured as she, Garrus and Wilhelm returned fire with bolts and biotics, trying to have the sentries keep their heads down as they didn't want to cause deaths, if possible.

Tali ran from cover to cover and reached the Human. While crawling on the floor, to have all the cover she had from a small rock, she managed to enter the database of the guy's omni-tool and downloaded some data. After three minutes, it was clear that the squad needed to get out, so Jane alerted the second dropship and the squad fought tooth and nail to keep the enemy reinforcements at bay.

The second dropship finally arrived, with Chief wielding a heavy machine-gun turret in his arms. He and the twins laid down a suppressive barrage that forced those soldiers to give up on the chase and let them escape.

"That could've gone better." Garrus commented after breathing.

"It did, Vakarian." Tali replied in a satisfied tone. She was already looking up the data she recovered and her IV was filtering important information.

"What did we get?" Jane asked.

"These people belong to an organization calling itself 'Terminus Commune of Free Nations'. It seems they are on Densaak to force the peace on the planet and probably bring it under their influence."

"So they're not from the planet itself?" Wilhelm asked.

"No. And that guy was just a private, he didn't have much more intel aside from his personal diary."

"Does the diary say where he comes from?" Scott suggested. "That could give us an idea about their reach."

"Good question…" Tali recognized and tapped the filter to search. After a few moments, the projected interface showed the name of the planet. "That man came from the planet Watson, in the Sigurd Cradle. Except that he referred to it as 'Primigenia'."

"Watson?" Wilhelm asked. "Didn't the Systems Alliance have a colony there, before the Reaper War?"

"I'll have to consult the Codex, but I think I remember that, too." Sarah added. "But what is this story about a Commune?"

Jane pondered for a moment, though for now everything else would be simple conjecture, and she needed solid proof. "For the moment, we'll transmit this intel to the Citadel. The Council will decide what to do next."

The shuttle brought them back on the Normandy, and Mazak called on the Intercom. "Captain, you have a transmission coming from Earth. Sending it to the Comm room."

"Thanks, Mazak." she replied and quickly headed there without removing her armor, only her helmet.

She was quite surprised to find Princess Anastasia's hologram. Her arms crossed and her expression seemed to suppress something painful.

"Anastasia. What a surprise," Jane said cordially. "what's going on?"

The Princess took another moment before replying and Jane felt like something bad was going to hit her.

"Jane...mother has requested your presence. Hastily." and she started crying softly.

"What happened?" Jane asked alarmed.

Anastasia wiped her tears with a hand. "She collapsed an hour ago...she revealed only now that she has a tumor on the spleen...she doesn't have much time left..."