Chapter 34: Depths of Byss
December 10, 2226.
The imperial offensive had started well, though not as much as Iulius had hoped. The Commonwealth had turned out to be much more organized than anticipated, and had put up a flexible resistance on D'Qar, using hit-and-run tactics both on the surface and in the orbit. D'Qar was made up almost entirely of forests and jungles, and it hosted a population of over a billion souls who hated the Empire and were still fighting. Iulius had to set with just leaving the planet after destroying the Commonwealth's forces. After all, that planet was secondary, and even if Iulius now had all the resources the Empire could give him, that didn't mean that he could afford to leave a garrison on every single world.
Vader had had more success, if anything because the fleets of the Commonwealth ran at the mere sight of the Executor, avoiding a confrontation at all costs. The imperials had some Immobilizer cruisers waiting in reserve, but Iulius intended to use them only when there were the conditions for a decisive battle, otherwise the rebels might decided that they would have to avoid a confrontation at all costs.
And what was worse: all this time was spent just to overcome a buffer. Most of the rebel forces were positioned along the Corellian Run, while they only deployed a couple of skirmish groups in that area of their space.
They needed to move the situation, and quickly. Which meant it was time to give Captain Octis a chance to prove his theory.
A fascinating theory, to be honest. Iulius had considered his campaign on Mandalore his masterpiece of improvisation, but that was it: improvisation. Even he didn't expect such an overwhelming success at Taris, and from that point on, it was all about seizing the opportunity that appeared in front of him, just like Thrawn had taught him. But truth be told, if the fights on Mandalore had lasted more than three rotations, Iulius' forces would have ended up exhausted.
Octis instead had presented a logical way by which a new tactic could have been invented and adopted to counter a guerrilla war like the one Iblis was waging.
For testing this strategy, the asteroids of Vergesso were certainly going to prove a valuable ground. The Commonwealth had set up several logistic bases hidden on the bigger bodies of the system. They might have been difficult to navigate, but that made them also difficult to strike for any aggressor, especially one that usually made use of massive ships like the Empire.
Iulius had wanted Octis to strike a major one but not too much inside the system, not wanting the raiders to risk too much. After all, he had given him some of his most experienced crews for this task.
However, the young Captain seemed sure that this attack could take out the main space station at the heart of the system. There was a confidence that reminded Iulius of himself and Thrawn whenever facing apparently impossible odds, so he had decided to trust him.
Now Iulius was waiting patiently on the bridge of the Admonitor while looking at the holo-table. Around the Star Destroyer were a formation of three Victory-II, seven Vindicator and five Raider ships. Leading this formation was the Tidal Wind, theVictory-IIassigned to Octis.
"Admonitor to Tidal Wave. What's your status, over?" he calmly asked.
"This is the Tidal Wave, we're ready to move."
Iulius then moved to the vice-commander of the maneuver. "Squad two, are you ready?"
"This is the Minder, we're ready to move." the voice of Senior-Commander Ciena Ree replied.
With the High Command finally rid of the bureaucrats who had tried to hamper the 101st out of spite, Iulius had finally achieved the promotion for his most trusted officer, and now she was in command of a Vindicator frigate, leading the escort groups of the 101st. This was going to be her first battle as commander of her own ship.
With an MTC next to them, the small flotilla had managed to avoid the sensors of the Commonwealth and was now waiting outside the Vergesso system. Once they had, hopefully, destroyed the main station, another fleet would strike down the main trade route and attack again the Commonwealth fleet that was staunchly resisting inside the Stend system.
"Copy. You have green light, people. Good luck." Iulius sentenced.
The small and fast imperial ships started moving. The MTC followed them for a few hundred km, providing them with a jammer that hid the relatively small group to the enemy sensors as long as they stayed in range of the instrument, and also analyzing which path they could use to make an in-system jump and maximizing the surprise by jumping right over the main station when it was undefended.
They stayed in position for about three minutes, until the AI on the MTC finally found the time window and the raiders jumped into the system, reaching the shipyard a few seconds later.
STEVE was intercepting rebel transmissions with surprised voices that, at first, didn't know how to reach as the imperial ships opened fire. Ciena was the first to open the maneuver. Leading the frigates, she had divided them in two squads and they were fanning out to clear the sides for the missile cruisers. The few corvettes of the rebels that were patrolling the area were quickly decimated and forced to run.
What followed next made Iulius understand why Octis had requested the Victory-II to be the core of his raiders, as the three cruisers first targeted a heavy corellian cruiser that was still docked at one of the bays with a large salvo of missiles and crippled it enough that it wouldn't be a bother for a long time, then they turned their weapons onto the shipyards. The turbolasers of the station fired on them, adding a few missiles of their own, but the imperial ships managed to dodge them while the shields could take a little pounding.
Once the next torpedoes had been loaded, Octis aimed his squadron at the station and opened fire on the two hangars of the structure, which blew up in a hellfire.
Systematically, the three cruisers in the following two minutes aimed at the shield generator and then at the main antenna, while TIE Avengers and Defenders had already departed from the hangars of the ships and were fighting against the rebel interceptors.
After four minutes of aggressive destruction, it was time to retreat, since the shipyard was now out of commission and would need months to be operational again.
The Admonitor didn't even need to intervene: by the time the Commonwealth fleet inside Vergesso had mobilized and reached the shipyard, the imperials were already preparing to make the jump toward their lines and so they did.
After circa three hours of navigation, they arrived inside the Stend system, where the bulk of the imperial fleet was already attacking and the Commonwealth navies, left without orders, were either standing their ground or scattering in search of salvation outside of the system. The Admonitor herself bumped into a cruiser that was quickly destroyed.
In just four hours, the imperials had taken the orbit of Stend, and while a small naval squad was taking position among the small inhabitable world of the system, A reserve battle division was heading toward Vergesso with the rest of the navy to exploit the confusion among the enemy forces as much as possible.
And while the offensive progressed, Iulius took a moment to make a call to Octis and Ciena.
"My friends, you have my utmost respect and the Empire's gratitude. Excellent performance." he said formally but with a clear smile on his face.
The other two were clearly pleased. "Thank you, sir." Octis replied.
"Any losses?" Iulius asked more serious.
"Unfortunately, three TIE Avengers and their pilots." Ciena reported. "But all ships are operational and my crew only has a few wounded for the explosion of an enemy torpedo."
"Given the odds, that number borders the miracle." Iulius calmly said. "By the way, take some time to repair and let your crews recover. Once the 101st arrives, we'll proceed with the advance. And Captain Octis…"
"Yes, Lord Tanis?"
"I'd like to formalize your new unit. Take a shuttle and come see me in my office to discuss the details."
"At once, sir. And thank you for your trust."
The holograms disappeared.
December 15, 2226.
Byss was right in front of the screens. After weeks of navigation inside imperial territory, sometimes even avoiding imperial patrols by a margin, the Constantinople, the Ibn Battuta and the reorganized TF Magellan had finally managed to reach the secret world of the Emperor. Now it was time to enact the first part of the plan to take down Project Necromancer.
News from the front had been bleak, recently. The Commonwealth had suffered a major defeat at Vergesso and it was unclear whether the newborn nation could actually hope to survive until the end of this year. It was a problem for the Coalition because the Federation had already started to recall some of its forces from Andromeda to face the stubborn resistance of the Tambaran, and while the New Republic was getting stronger by the day, they feared that a renewed imperial offensive against them might put them at risk.
This operation had to succeed. If it did, the imperials might decided that none of their world was secure and therefore might decide to disperse their fleets to defend even the Core. Right now, the worlds of the Core were pretty much defenseless, which was one of the reasons that the task force had managed to get this deep. However the Empire had made huge leaps in electronic warfare and surveillance in the last two years. There were a few hints indicating that they knew the Ibn Battuta was wandering around the heart of the Empire, but perhaps they didn't expect that they would arrive on Byss.
Now the first phase was to go there and blow up at least one of the space station around the planet. And that duty fell onto the Constantinople and her Spectre commander.
It didn't need to be one of the bigger structures, as they were too well-defended with even Star Destroyers, but there was a small listening outpost at the periphery of the imperial perimeter that suited the plan just perfectly, as the last recon had provided.
"Jordan, I notice heavy traffic in imperial comms." Raniza reported. "They're clearly on high alert, though most of the officers seem quite tired."
"They have been probably been in that state for a few weeks." Jinx suggested. "Psychological and physical weariness would be inevitable."
"Which means their reaction time will be slightly delayed. It's a good thing." Jordan calmly said.
"I sure hope so." the Asari muttered.
"The listening post only has a few light turbolasers." Rut reported. "You might have a better chance to approach undetected with a shuttle."
"I'll prepare the squad immediately. You stay out of their radars and ready for a quick pickup."
"Yes, sir." Rut replied.
Jordan then headed for the elevator and reached Deck 5, where the atmosphere was silent and tense. The Marines were preparing for the imminent battle and the squad leaders were making one last inspection of their teams before they jumped into the fray.
Jordan nodded to his Legionnaires, who answered in kind and silently followed him aboard the Kodiak. The Marines all turned toward their Captain and saluted him to bid him farewell and he returned the gesture as the door closed and the engines whirred up.
Shortly after, the Kodiak left the Constantinople and entered the silent void of the universe, heading toward the isolated listening post. Actually, there were a couple of Tartan patrol cruisers, but they were very easy to elude and the shuttle could approach the airlock of the dumpster. From there, Jordan, Gutierrez, Michalina and Thabo left the shuttle and moved around with their armors' thrusters, allowing the shuttle to slip back toward the frigate undetected.
Jinx easily hacked the door, a few kilos of waste were ejected and then the Legionnaires quickly slipped inside, knowing that the imperial systems might detect a flaw and someone would come to investigate.
And that happened. In barely a minute, a patrol of Navy troopers came in running, but luckily the Legionnaires had managed to find a few places to hide among the waste. The troopers walked around, but eventually concluded that there was only a malfunction of the airlock. They signaled it for maintenance to take care as soon as possible, then they left, not suspecting that anyone could have possibly entered from a door that went into the void.
After the patrol left, the Legionnaires regrouped.
"We need to find the generator of this station and blow it up." Jordan explained. "See if you can find a map around." he instructed.
Finding a map meant finding a terminal where any of them could access with their omni-tools or their AIs. They quickly found one at a console that wasn't guarded as it wasn't a primary system. Jordan went on and had Jinx hack inside, finding a map of the structure in no time.
The Legionnaires quickly consulted it and found out where their objective was and how much time they would have to escape before the station started collapsing or falling toward the planet.
And just as they found that out, their sensors picked up another patrol coming up on them, this time with no places to hide.
The super-soldiers decided to take it down. They ambushed the soldiers and then jumped on them the moment they passed in front of their corner, however it turned out that there were 8 troopers, twice the number of Legionnaires. Inevitably, before being taken down, one of them managed to scream into his comlink that there were intruders.
The alarms started blaring.
"Sounds like the sneaking is over." Gutierrez said.
"You know what I say," commented Thabo. "if you have to mess up, do it quickly."
"Then let's move before they corner us!" Michalina added and Jordan was in agreement.
They started sprinting away, hoping that they could take the garrison while it was still scattered. A tactic that worked fine with their increased speed and agility, however they still bumped into a couple of patrols that engaged them in a furious firefight inside the tight hallways.
However, the post was really ill-defended: there wasn't a single stormtrooper or superior class of imperial soldier who tried to stop them, so the Legionnaires reached the main reactor fairly easily and placed a time charge.
"Spirit to Constantinople, start the attack on the station."
It didn't take long before the structure started shaking violently as the GARDIAN lasers of the frigate penetrated the armor and caused holes everywhere except for the escape path of the soldiers that led to the small hangar.
There, the Kodiak barged in as soon as the shield fell, loaded the Legionnaires and spirited away while the unlucky imperials were siphoned out into the void to freeze.
"The Captain has left the objective. No losses." the commander of the Ibn Battuta reported to the siblings, who nodded.
"Reaction of the imperial fleet?" Jaral asked.
"An Acclamator cruiser is moving to investigate," the sensor officer reported. "but the rest is closing the ranks around the major dockyard."
"Which I guess confirms our hypothesis." Ezra said.
"Yes." Jaral added with a good degree of certainty. "They have likely stored the necessary for transferring Project Necromancer on those transports." she was referring to the numerous dots on the screen.
"Should we prepare for the drop?" asked General Taxius, the Turian who would lead the federal division on the Ibn Battuta.
"Yes. There is no time to lose." Ezra sentenced. "Captain, keep the ship out of their radars while we reach the capital city."
"Yes, General."
Without adding more, the siblings quickly took the elevator to the main hangar where the soldiers were jumping on the dropships ready to fall toward the surface of Byss. All the Jedi, Padawans, Knights and Master Kota, were on their transports, ready to jump onto the battlefield. The siblings entered running toward the Silver Bullet, where Sabine and most of the mando volunteers were waiting for them with the engine warming up, in the first line with the fighters.
"Specter-6 to all units," Jaral said in the comlink. "the operation is a-go. May the Force be with us."
The Silver Bullet was the first to lift from the floor of the massive hangar and then to dive toward the surface. It was soon followed by the fighters and then the dropships. They were all coming from the port hangar. The Ghost was leading the charge from the other side.
Thanks to the AIs aboard the various major ships of the Task Force that were jamming the imperial network, the swarm of allied ships managed to arrive over the biggest city of Byss, renamed simply 'Capitol' for convenience, and head straight for the suburbs, where they intended to establish a beachhead.
Anti-air cannons still spotted them with simple visual contact and opened fire. A couple dropships were shot down, but the fighters and strike bombers of the Systems Alliance quickly spotted and destroyed the batteries around the area designated for the drop.
There were two main reasons why the siblings had decided to take position in an urban area:
-Knowing that the city hosted the structures of Project Necromancer, the Star Destroyers in orbit wouldn't have dared to execute an orbital bombardment before everything had been safely evacuated.
-Even if the planet was full of imperial soldiers, urban areas offered much more defensive options. After the allies had driven out the civilians, they could dig in and wait until the imperials came to get them.
Ezra and Jaral left the commands of the ship to Raze and headed into the passenger bay. As usual, them and the mandalorians would compose the first, rapid punch to the imperial defenses, throwing them into confusion and distracting them from the bulk of allied forces that would instead secure the area.
And mayhem they caused. The imperials were already reeling from the complete surprise, as the news of the destruction of the listening post still hadn't made way to the whole network. The Jedi and the mandalorians split into four squads that attacked patrols, observation posts and turrets around the suburbs, and all the while the allies made landfall with their stormtroopers.
"Set up a perimeter around the town square, we'll free it up." Ezra instructed inside the comlink while speaking with Taxius.
The first air-dropped squads converged on the square, which was built around a highway leading toward the metropolitan area of the city. The imperials, both civilians and military, were already fleeing along the road. In order to avoid civilian casualties, the siblings ordered the soldiers to just fire in the air while keeping their cover, and fire on the imperial soldiers only with clean shots, meanwhile they stood well in sight in order to draw enemy fire and deflect it with their lightsabers.
Eventually, the first drop was quick. The allies managed to push the imperials outside of the town, beyond a small river where they decided to build their fortifications.
"Good job, soldiers." Ezra said loudly after getting atop a small pile of rubble. "We'll set up a wall here. Remember: we are only here to buy time, so don't get out of the perimeter unnecessarily."
Then the voice of his sister spoke inside his head. "Ezra, I need your help to set up the HQ. Can you come back to the square?"
"I'm on my way." he simply replied.
He waved at the soldiers then went on his way to the square.
However, it didn't take long before he came across Ahsoka and her two Padawans helping some troopers to gather the dead on the side of the streets.
And in particular, Chuvi was kneeling in front of two bodies that didn't have a uniform on. Ahsoka was keeping a hand on her shoulder while Newak was still carrying on his duty, but his eyes, too, were not serene at all.
Sensing a terrible feeling, he approached the group and heard that Chuvi was crying with her face covered in her hands. The bodies in front of her were those of a civilian mother and a little boy probably only five years old.
They had burns and signs that they most likely died from an explosion, and they were just outside one of the houses that had been hit as collateral damage during the first airstrike.
Ezra didn't say anything as he moved in front of the two victims of this battle, knowing that there were most likely others to recover. He didn't say anything, he didn't make any comment or speech that would try to justify what happened.
The Jedi had just caused the death of innocent people.
Chuvi stopped sobbing and looked up to him, unsure what to do, but Ezra didn't remove his gaze from the mother and child.
"Kriffing war." he just hissed before heading back to what he was doing.
December 16, 2226.
Korlus was finally under complete federal control. However, before the Alliance could attack Doisac, they needed intel, and they still needed to wait until reinforcements from Andromeda came.
And in order to provide such intel, the Normandy had been dispatched to Doisac, to make a recon and find out especially where the leader of the Tambaran, Atriox, was.
The first thing Jane and everybody else on the bridge noticed was that there was a pretty large fleet around the homeworld of the aliens.
"Where did they get all those?" Wilhelm asked.
"Look at the design," Mazak suggested. "aren't they similar to the dreadnought we captured on Ilium?"
"You're right." Jane conceded. "Which can only mean one thing: the Commune is helping the Tambaran."
"But why? What did we do to them?" Scott asked.
"I guess that's what we need to find out." Wilhelm concluded. "How do we proceed, Captain?"
"The usual. A family trip." Jane replied with a serious tone with just a hint of smug. "Let's gear up. EDI, scan the surface and find where their capital is. Mazak, bring us past those ships." she concluded with a pat on the helmsman's shoulder then headed toward the elevator, quickly followed by the rest of her family.
After waiting a few minutes for EDI to make her analysis and for Mazak to slip the Normandy past the blockade of the Tambaran and Commune's ships, the Shepards studied the map and decided how to approach the capital, or at least what seemed to be the bigger settlements and where EDI had detected a large concentration of Commune's signals.
Doisac was a tropical planet, covered in jungles and lush vegetation of various colors, but it seemed like the main settlement was built upon tall trees. According to the Codex, the Tambaran were only one of the many predator species on the planet, and in order to avoid the bigger ones that dwelt on the ground, the sentient aliens had built their cities and villages on the trees.
The pilot of the shuttle brought the Kodiak a km away from the city, but given the deep vegetation, it was safe to assume that they could arrive undetected. The four N7 started to walk, guns at the hand in case things went south, and hasted toward the settlement.
To their relief, they only encountered a patrol that quickly swung past them, but it seemed like the Tambaran didn't like to get too far from their turfs. So they eventually arrived in sight of the city, and there they spotted the first metal infrastructures: elevators, landing pads and other signs of advanced technology.
Now they could see not only Tambaran warriors but also soldiers of other species dressed in military armor, and the Humans reminded the Shepards of the one they had encountered on Densaak, except that the colors and gear had been adapted for the jungle. Still, with the necessary caution and a wise use of their portable cloaking devices, they managed to slip inside one of the access elevators at the periphery. There, they managed to find a platform that wasn't guarded and that would give Jane a whole visual on the main set of buildings.
She placed her 'Black Widow' rifle on the ground and laid down. "Kids, stay on guard. Wil, take the spotter." she instructed.
Scott and Sara went to watch the elevator, a task that promised to be long and tedious, while the two adults took position and started observing the village.
After observing for a few minutes, Wilhelm made his first analysis. "I think it's the first time I saw women and children of the Tambaran. But aside from the warriors, I don't see anyone important."
"There has to be something. Let's keep watch for an hour, then we'll try to find out where their forces are gathering." Jane replied.
They waited only twenty minutes before a group of Tambaran and Terminus soldiers drew her attention.
"Wait, look there."
Wilhelm had also spotted them and was looking that way with his micro-binoculars. "Scheiße, that's Atriox!" he whispered strongly.
"Yeah. I figured." Jane agreed. "And...there is a Human next to him. No uniform, but I can't see who it is."
"Just wait a second. Seems like they're about to cross that bridge, should give us a glimpse."
And that happened. Atriox, with his escort following him at a certain distance, wearing his whole battle armor, was walking side-by-side with a Human that wasn't wearing any battle gear. On the contrary, he was wearing rather low-cost clothing.
Yet, when Jane looked at that man, who was young and had a blonde ponytail accompanied by a beard, she froze in place.
Wilhelm, too, seemed extremely confused and distressed. "Hey...isn't that…"
"Federico…?"
He seemed a man who had lived a little more than 27, and yet a facial scanner confirmed their suspicions: that man was prince Federico dei Vignoli, who more than a year before had cut all contacts with his family and didn't even show up at the funeral of his own mother.
"What in the mother…?" Wilhelm said, but just couldn't come up with anything else. To him, a monarchist to the core, to think that an imperial prince was working with the enemies of the Imperial Federation was shocking.
"This is way too big. Let's record this and report to the Emperor." Jane decided.
"Wait, what? Do you realize what's happening? We're in the shooting range to kill Atriox."
"No. At this distance, a single bullet won't get through his armor. There is nothing else we can do. Let's collect evidence and pull out, we need…"
Jane stopped as she took another look inside the scope and saw that Federico had made the group halt and was clearly looking toward the Shepards' direction, his hands calmly collected behind his back, and his calm eyes were slowly turning purple.
It was at that moment that Jane remembered that Federico was the only child of Benedetta who had inherited a considerable amount of psionic power and she realized that he had spotted them.
"Get out! They know we're here!" she ordered.
A moment later, a ball of energy exploded at the top branches of the tree, right above them. A flow of the Flux started to fall down and then swirled around them, but nothing happened. The Shepards realized that Federico had marked them for the Tambaran, but perhaps he was just too far to grab them with his powers.
Deciding that there was no time to use the elevator, Wilhelm quickly created a platform with his biotic powers.
"Jump on!" he ordered. The others did it and he glided them downward in an oblique path right when weapons from the nearby Tambaran sentries started firing on their former position.
They ran and ran back toward the ship, having to fend off a few aliens who were very quick inside their home environment, but with a good coordination of fire and biotic powers, the Shepards managed to never stop and cut down a few of their pursuers until they reached the Kodiak. The pilot had already been alerted, so they flew away with haste and the cloaking of the shuttle prevented Tambaran air patrols from intercepting them.
Quickly, they went back to the Normandy, then Jane ordered a full retreat as the Commune fleet was also on high alert now. The squad went outside the Kodiak and Jane felt the need to lean against the handrail. Then her discipline kicked in and she decided what to do next. As the crew was gathering around, worried that she might be wounded, she instead stood on her feet and headed straight for the Comm Room.
She dialed in the contact of her father and waited until his hologram appeared.
"Jane, I wasn't expecting you so soon." he commented surprised.
"There has been...a complication." she said, leaning on the console as she tried to find the words.
John noticed the hesitation in his daughter's voice and insisted. "What has happened?"
Jane sighed, quickly scratched her head and replied frankly. "We scouted the main Tambaran camp. There are forces of the Commune guarding the system. And most importantly we found Atriox...talking to Prince Federico."
John couldn't avoid his pupils widening. "You kidding?"
"I wish." Jane replied tired. "He used his psionic powers to find us out the moment we realized it was him. We barely escaped."
"Good Lord." John replied dejected.
"Pa, do you think it could really be him? I know Federico has always been a republican, but this…"
"Yeah, this is way too much. Something has happened since he disappeared. Do you have any evidence it was him?"
"I'm sending you the recordings I made, but there isn't much else." Jane said as she lit up her omni-tool to start the transfer.
"I'm sure the Emperor will be able to handle this. For now, return to the fleet. If the Commune is defending Doisac, we will have to wait new instructions from the Citadel."
The sudden appearance of a third party made the attack on Doisac a tricky situation. The Systems Alliance could not fire on a neutral force unless the latter attacked first, and the Council still wanted to learn more about the Terminus Commune before deciding how to consider them.
"Yes, sir." Jane finished before closing the communication.
The division was making way toward the center of Byss Capitol, slow and steady, but the losses among the federal stormtroopers were starting to pile up.
However this was exactly as Ezra and Jaral intended. Because, as a consequence of the attack on Byss, the imperials were hastily evacuating everything that was left of Project Necromancer. All the ships were exclusively dedicated to this task, meaning that only a handful of TIEs were used to support the ground troops, and the Star Destroyers didn't dare to launch an orbital bombardment that risked destroying any major infrastructure of the Project.
And as the allies were making way toward the main structure of the Project, the imperial defense became stiffer and stiffer. Stormtroopers and praetorian guards had come out of their barracks and were now counter-attacking, though their attacks were basically crashing against the consistent group of Jedi.
Also, it was time for the allies to leave, since their main objective had been cleared: cause panic.
They had managed to take control of a grand park, which had enough space that the middle-sized transports could land, load tens of troops at the same time and return to orbit, where the Ibn Battuta was still holding up her cover.
The imperials were not eager to let these invaders just slip away after the insult of attacking the sacred world for the Emperor's immortality, but after three assaults had been repelled mostly because of the Jedi, they had taken a more conservative approach, firing from the line of buildings and refraining from making another frontal charge.
"You think they'll show up?" Ahsoka asked to the siblings as they stood at the center of the park, ready to intervene wherever they deemed necessary.
"I'm sure they will."
And indeed, merely five minutes later the shots all around ceased and Taxius called the siblings.
"Bridgers. There are two imperials who wish to negotiate with you two."
The siblings looked at each other and made a very small nod, then clad in their armors they headed for the east gate of the park, where Taxius had gone last.
There they found a Turian company of Armigers pointing their guns outside but not shooting. In the same way there was a company of stormtroopers aligned in front of the row of buildings, they had even brought an E-web and they were just pointing their guns.
However, in front of those imperials stood the Astartes.
"Bridgers!" Morit yelled. "I bet you can't stand this massacre anymore. How about we settle this the four of us? Let the galaxy witness whether the Jedi still have a place in it or not."
"General, have your men stand back and keep your eyes peeled." Jaral calmly instructed as she and Ezra walked outside the gate.
The Turian simply nodded and started reorganizing his men, while the two couples of siblings ignited their sabers and started walking toward each other, away from their armies to meet in the rather large no-man's land that was filled with burns, small craters and corpses from both sides.
They stopped around six meters away, then, to the siblings' surprise, the twins stood rigid and put their sabers in front of their faces in a show of respect.
Ezra and Jaral returned the gesture, then both took their ready stances.
In a glimpse, they were at each other, crossing their sabers and sending sparks all around. The siblings had trained harshly ever since Jaral's rescue and with a few improvements of their armors they were now able to keep up with the speed of the Astartes. The soldiers of both sides quickly lost interest in each other and instead looked at the unusual confrontation happening in front of their eyes. Seeing two champions of each sides reminded the imperials of some ancient myths, while the federals thought of the medieval knights of human history, fighting on behalf of whole armies in order to decide the outcome of a battle.
At first it was Ezra against Morit and Jaral against Aiolin. They both crossed swords inconclusively, then the siblings, using their unmatched ability to coordinate managed to swap opponents and as it turned out, each of them had prepared to fight one specific adversary, believing that Ezra was only focused on strength and Jaral on agility, but in reality the two Jedi were all-encompassing fighters. This way, they threw the twins off-balance, though they managed to regain their footing and keep up their defenses. They resorted to their electronic warfare, using the Overload and Incinerate powers, but the Bridgers managed to counter them.
By all means, they were on an equal level, and even when it seemed that Ezra was about to hit Aiolin, Morit surprisingly came to his sister's rescue, fending off the blow and allowing her to stand up again.
Then they went into another lull, only broken by the sound of engines. The last federal transport had arrived to take the rearguard out of the planet.
Aiolin turned around and pointed her saber toward the park. "Commander, focus on…" she fell into silence.
Morit looked first at her, confused, then turned around.
Only at that moment did the twins noticed that the imperials had left their post.
"What…?"
"You should work on your awareness, guys. They have left over three minutes ago." Jaral said to them.
Yes, while they were fighting, only Bridgers noticed that the stormtroopers had pull out, presumably to reach their own transports.
And as to prove it, a Sentinel took off from a landing zone a couple of streets away, and the twins looked stunned. They were being left behind and just couldn't believe it.
"But...but the Project…" Aiolin stuttered, her face contrived in surprise and sadness.
"It was meant for Sidious, not for you guys." Ezra calmly explained. "You two were just tools for the Emperor."
"No...he...he promised…" Morit tried to counter.
"He has promised many things in his life, but never held a single one. I'm pretty sure that if you look up his history, you'll see for yourself." Jaral returned.
Two Turians came out of the gate and aimed their Phaestons at the twins, but Ezra perceived them, turned around and after shutting off his lightsaber, he simply gestured them to hold fire and just reach the transport. The soldiers nodded and ran in the opposite direction.
All the while the twins looked completely lost in direction and hope. They had been indoctrinated to think that they were to serve the Emperor and that he would reward them in some way, perhaps by granting them the same immortality. But now they were just being discarded just so they could hold back the Jedi a little.
On their part, the Jedi put away their lightsabers and dematerialized their helmets, waiting until the twins would be in the mood to talk to them again.
It was Morit who just sat on the ground and said in resignation "Just kill us."
"We don't have a reason to." Ezra patiently replied.
The twins looked at them with a mixture of contempt but also hope that they wouldn't leave the two of them just wandering aimlessly from there on.
"You two are capable, and you have each other." Jaral added in the same tone as her brother. "The Emperor decided that you are not worthy, so it's time for you to search your destiny. Whatever you will do from now on is entirely your choice. With that said...farewell. You have been worthy adversaries."
The siblings then turned around and headed for the transport, which by now had loaded everyone else and Taxius was waiting for them at the ramp. He couldn't have heard what they were talking about, but he certainly saw what had happened.
"Are you sure it is a good idea to just let them go?"
"They have been abandoned by the only person they ever believed in. We weren't going to kill them just because." Ezra explained.
"Well, this is your fight, colleague." the Turian general replied. "It's up to you."
Ezra nodded. "Do you have any report from our father?"
"He left yesterday just as we hoped. But hard to say how far Exegol really is."
December 20, 2226.
'Dark'. This word is either used to indicate a concept, something evil, or to indicate a place where light is scarce. If one were to describe a place, 'dark' would refer to the latter meaning.
Yet, Exegol could mean both. Byss orbited a lonely star, but at least it was a world where life could thrive. The planet that Jordan was looking through the viewport, however, was simply the embodiment of darkness, with every negative concept mankind instinctively associates to it.
Exegol was the only planet orbiting a blue giant, a dying one just to set the mood. Plus, the Constantinople had already circled around the planet, but for some reason the light of the star always seemed on the opposite side, even when the ship had passed between the two bodies, the surface of Exegol had always been constantly pitch black to the eyes.
Scanners indicated that the planet was entirely covered by a mist of storms and lightnings that were impossible to cross unless somebody knew where to look.
And luckily for Jordan, there were plenty of ships showing the way at that moment. All the transports that had been moving in the equipment and resources for Project Necromancer had flown into that gap every hour, and Jinx had had all the chances to calculate the right path.
When the imperial transmissions confirmed that the last shipment had been finally delivered, it was time to go on the surface.
"Everyone buckle up." Rut said on the intercom. "This will be a...very shaky ride."
Jordan sat in the free seat available in the cockpit at the right of the helmsman and then observed as the Constantinople headed toward the storm.
Technically, the frigate would be able to land as the gravity of the planet wasn't that high, as the ZV-70 couldn't be brought down with a Kodiak, not to mention the mining drill necessary.
The ride was indeed shaky, but the available route among the mist meant that it was bearable and that the ship managed to eventually get past it with no damage and could finally see the surface of the planet.
Not that there was much to see: Exegol was simply a dead wasteland. There was no sign of life on the surface made of barren rock, made dead by the lack of light from the local star. However, the geo-scanners were also picking up the presence of a network of caves beneath the surface, perhaps there was oxygen down there.
Still, the only thing Jordan cared for was the fact that they were only a few km away from where all the imperial ships had finally landed. I mattered little whether they were in sight of them or not, because that entire hemisphere would soon end up to be dust.
As the Constantinople landed, surrounded by winds, fog and lightning bolts, Jordan unfastened his seat belt and stood up. "Get the red light on. And keep the engines running." he instructed.
"Of course. I can't wait to get out of here." Rut replied, trying to sound humorous, but he couldn't hide a clear note of discomfort in his voice.
As he entered the hangar, Jordan found his Legionnaires, the Marines and the battle engineers with the equipment necessary ready to disembark. He took his rifle, walked up to the front and then gave the signal to open the ramp. The red lights turned to green and the slab of metal started moving as its gear creaked.
"Move out, lads. The sooner we plant that thing, the sooner we get out." he said loudly in the comlink.
Then he moved outside, leading by example as he always did, and the Marines didn't hesitate to follow him. The Legionnaires fanned out and watched their surroundings while Vetra coordinated the disembark of the troops and the equipment.
They managed to get a hundred meters away from the Constantinople, the bare minimum space they needed to set up the drill, and then the engineers went right at work while the combatants set up a perimeter.
"Captain, once we set the drill, the enemy will most likely detect us." the leader of the engineers, a Salarian named Ennim, warned.
"Understood. Fire it up." was Jordan's quick reply.
In order to plant the ZV-70, the drill needed to create a hole at least 7 meters deep, tall 3 and 4 large. The drill had been set to do that and it worked with a laser, much faster than the normal tool made of steel and a mechanical arm.
The laser fired up and the humming managed to overcome even the incessant storm.
Then, just as predicted, some imperials appeared from one of the caves to control why the ground was shaking. They were two men clad in large robes and with their faces covered. The moment they spotted the federals, they ran back inside the cave. Jordan concluded that they were probably just workers, or scientists, or whoever was in that project.
"Prepare yourselves. We'll have company, soon."
The laser was already halfway through when the first stormtroopers, clad in pressurized suits, appeared from the cave and rushed toward the crew of the Constantinople. However, not only were the Marines well dug-in, but the frigate herself was right next to them, meaning that she used her lasers and a salvo of missiles to tear the attackers apart.
The first wave was repelled easily, and while the imperials gathered strength for another attack, the federals noticed that in the sky part of the mist was strangely descending toward them, forming a singular cloud that was clearly aiming at them.
"Can they manipulate it for real?!" Thabo asked.
"No." said Jordan. By now he could realize on his own what the Force could do. "It's the Emperor."
The cloud was getting close, but it seemed like it could do little but throw lightning bolts randomly.
"Set up a localized shield." the Legionnaire promptly ordered. "Spirit to Constantinople, all power to the shields."
The engineers had brought a bubble shield that was readily set up exactly to protect the gear from the bad weather, still, those bolts were very close and there was no way to tell if that low-energy cover would be enough if one hit them.
"Prepare for impact…" Michalina commented.
They all did, lowering on the ground and praying that nothing would happen to them.
Then two bolts in rapid succession hit the shield strongly. They were clearly directed to some degree, and while still very imprecise, it wasn't that hard to miss the bubble, which couldn't sustain all that voltage and fell.
Then another bolt struck the ZV-70 before the cloud dissipated.
"Bloody...secure the bomb!" Jordan ordered.
The engineers immediately went to work and see if there was any damage. Meanwhile another wave of stormtroopers attacked, and they, too, were cut down fairly easily. The Legionnaires thus reunited next to the bomb.
"The good news is, the bomb is mostly intact. The bad news is that the timer is damaged." Ennim said inside the comlink.
The implications were clear to anyone. A brief silence followed.
The only Human of the engineers, a young man of 28 stood up and said. "I'll stay behind and activate it…"
Gutierrez immediately shut him down with his usual composed tone. "Yeah, nice try, hijo. Whoever stays here will most likely have to fend off another wave before the Constantinople will be far enough to detonate the bomb. Which means I will stay it."
The calm and rapidity with which Gutierrez had exposed his reasoning and determination to do what was necessary had Jordan feel a bit of shame, because he was actually hesitating.
"Are you sure?" he asked with a formal tone. "I can't ask you to do it, Lieutenant."
Gutierrez slightly shook his head. "Being a soldier is the only thing I haven't screwed up in all my life, jefe. At least allow me to go out with a bang."
Again, Gutierrez didn't seem fazed at all. If there was any emotion it would've been relief in his voice. Jordan knew the personal history of his officer, so he kinda understood why he felt serene about all this.
Bridger gave a quick look at his two other brothers. They were not fine with leaving him behind, but they were soldiers, and every single one of them knew the risks of the job.
"All right, then." he said in the end.
Gutierrez nodded and turned toward the engineers, lighting up his omni-tool so they could link the activation of the bomb to his device.
By now, the hole was completed and while Ennim transferred the activation procedure to Gutierrez, Thabo and Michalina used their strength to help put the bomb inside the ground. Normally, it matters little where one puts the ZV-70, but on that planet, with all that wind, it was necessary to stabilize it a little.
And now, that condition was about to claim the life of a Legionnaire.
"Spirit to all units. Retreat, we're leaving." Jordan ordered.
The Marines didn't need to hear it twice. They dismounted the two turrets they had planted and ran back to the ship.
The engineers also completed the setting, then the small group around Gutierrez gathered around him one last time.
"I appreciate what you're doing, Pablo." was Jordan's only way to express his grief.
"Don't be sad for me. I would've hated to leave Ezra and Jaral orphaned." Gutierrez joked.
Jordan could only make a faint nod. Even in a situation like this, Gutierrez was putting the future of his brothers up to his own. If there was a Legionnaire to the core, that was him.
"Hasta la vista, caballero." Thabo said while the two clasped their hands.
"Take care of the others, Thabo." was Pablo's cordial response.
Michalina seemed a little overwhelmed to say anything, so she simply put a hand on Gutierrez's shoulder. He returned the gesture with a pat to tell them it was time they left.
With a heavy stone on his heart, Jordan motioned the other two to leave with him immediately. The sooner they left, the sooner Gutierrez could activate the bomb before more imperials came and risked overrunning him.
The Constantinople closed her ramp, lifted and then sped back to the orbit. It took five minutes to reach the orbit. Communicating with the ground inside the mist was impossible, so when the ship reached the orbit all Jordan could do was watch and hope that Gutierrez would manage to trigger the explosive.
Then, on the edge of the hemisphere he was looking at, the mist gave way to a radiant ball of fire that shone even brighter than the local star. It expanded by the second, and all the while the surface of the planet lost the black cloaking as huge, bright red cracks were splitting the surface.
The cracks extended for half the planet before the planet split in two, sending huge continents to wander around the void.
Exegol, and Project Necromancer, were no more.