Good evening, everyone! How are you doing on this warm night of Friday, January 6, 2023? I'm well, as nothing bad happened today, and I had a good day of work before I started writing this chapter. I got some feedback from one of my Beta Readers a few hours ago on Chapter 9 and will wait a few days for my other friend before I post the piece. Oh, and I'm enjoying my Star Wars Legends book before I start Star Wars: Shadow of the Sith. I know it's a "Canon" novel, and I know I'll hate plenty about the book lore-wise, at the bare minimum, but I need to research how Star Wars cults operate to prepare for my post-Jedi Odyssey series. I just hope the novel will surpass my expectations in other areas. Oh, and I have work tomorrow for 8 hours followed by dinner with my family, so I won't be able to write as much as I'd like then. Well, I'd best go to bed soon, since I will need to be at work before 8 AM tomorrow. May the Lord be with us all in these difficult times, and Long Live the Expanded Universe!
Four Hours Earlier
0320 Hours, Selona 14th, 59 ABY
Within Darth Krayt's Citadel
Vestara deflected the last of the six bolts fired her way and took a quick look around the hangar. Not seeing any of her comrades in open battle, she deactivated her lightsaber with a loud sigh... "Well, at least that's all of them in this part of the fortress."
"That you know of, if Krayt didn't leave any other surprises in store for us." Jaing skeptically corrected her. Having dealt with at least a hundred droids, each of a differetn configurations throughout their scouring of the citadel to escape and rejoin the battle outside, not one of Vestara or Chelli's suggestions had borne fruit as of now.
"Meanwhile, our friends and teammates can't hold out for much longer against Krayt's hordes, and we still can't do anything to help them while trapped in here. Which means, since we don't have any ships to use, either you Jedi use the Force and blast us a way out of here, or we take our chances with a few well-placed explosives at the base's main entrance."
As if on cue, a faint explosion could be heard from directly above, and the sounds of battle were made plain to all. Reaching out through the Force to sense was occurring, Soldier alerted everyone, "Looks like Inferno Squad's having difficulties against their opponents." Growing contemplative, he suggested, "But I think I know a way to help them before we can find a way to the others."
"How? We're trapped in here, you blasted di'kut jetti!" Ghes angrily snapped before getting slapped by Chelli and scolded by Parja,
"Oh, don't be a di'kut yourself, buir! Thanks to our friends, we have two killer droids that can hack into the enemy's comms and break through the Sith's jamming field, and an army's worth of Force Users that could boost our friends' morale and make their opponents slip up. Once the Sith's personal clone squad is dealt with, we can focus on getting back into the fight and sticking it right to these Sith cowards in their shebs."
"That's the spirit. Kind of." Ben amusingly chuckled at the Mandalorian slang before everyone got to work in escaping the Sith's trap before all was lost.
0340 Hours
Just Outside Darth Krayt's Citadel
Inferno Squad, for all its valor and ingenuity, was terribly losing the fight against their adversaries in all of SCAR Squadron 99's genetically enhanced commandos. Not only did the clones hold the vantage of terrain against the Jedi-loyal soldiers, but, while it galled Iden to admit this, the enemy squad was superior to the six of them in every conceivable way.
While the Infernos held their own against the Sith commandos for a while, keeping them off-balance and dividing their focus with Robonino's help before they foolishly sent him away to aid the main battle group, eventually the SCAR Squad rallied and pressed every advantage on them.
Now, after six exhausting hours of holding them back, the Infernos had run out of time. Nearly out of ammunition, stamina, and wily tricks, Squad 99 was readying to deliver the finishing blows on each Inferno, with a sadistic Kreel vastly entertained by the show of his teammates torturing their enemies, whether by slowly bleeding to death by dozens of cuts, suffering from sonic pulses, or having broken and displaced bones, they were no longer able to defend themselves, let alone retreat.
Before they could carry out their finishing blows, a deafening scream could be heard in each commando's Imperial helmet. Clutching their heads in agony after ripping off the headpiece, the distraction left Kreel and two of his men vulnerable to a series of electric shocks from a quiet BT-0, while the rest of the Sith squad being hit by several darts strong enough to keep a fully-grown gundark tranquil for days without any trouble.
Del Meeko, the only commando in a position to rise onto his feet, shakily raised his blaster at the mysterious saviors before nearly collapsing from the overwhelming exhaustion and his many wounds. But he was kept on his feet by an unseen force until Ben and Soldier came to firmly hold the weary Imperial soldier, escorting him into to the citadel.
"Easy, Del." Soldier kindly spoke. "Don't waste any more energy right now. You're going to need every bit of it soon enough."
"How-how did you get out?" Del whimpered. "The fortress-"
"We're stubborn fools who don't know when to quit. Kind of like all of you." Ben lightly answered, observing the others of his group spread out, covering the careful recovery of Inferno Squad, administering medical supplies to treat what wounds could be healed without using the Force, while ensuring Kreel's squad was incapacitated until they could be properly recovered and interrogated by the Alliance of Light.
Back in the Present
0750 Hours, Selona 14th, 59 ABY
Korriban, Sith Catacombs
Just Outside Darth Krayt's Citadel
Jerking up, panting from his heart racing as if a defibrillator had just restarted his heart, Tau nearly vomited his last pack of rations from overwhelming nausea before forcing the bile down. Recalling how he was right in the middle of a frenzied fight for survival in Sith territory, now was hardly the time to lose focus or suffer from bodily distractions.
Thanking whoever injected his last med-stim into his system, Tau immediately got back to his feet, seeing the pandemonium raging before him while ignoring the sweat running down all over his body and realizing he was in a different position across the citadel after he lost consciousness. With Vestara and Chelli's force, along with the rejuvenated members of Inferno Squad, somehow liberating themselves from the enemy's trap, the fresh division was quickly putting their abilities and energies to good use. And for reasons he could only guess, it seemed that virtually all forces from either were now in full retreat, with the Sith withdrawing deeper into the catacombs while the Alliance and its allies worked their way towards the Aquilians' drill fortresses as their vector of escape, one of which the Sith-bred clone was right next to.
Unfortunately for the Sith, it seemed that a few of their more stubborn Lords and their war beasts were refusing the withdrawal order, and they would soon meet a fatal and inglorious end. Witnessing Inferno Squad, now fighting alongside the Aquilian Paladins, all their soldiers were aptly proving to the One Sith and their enthralled beasts the fatal mistake of underestimating any opponent.
Sensing who was behind him before she gripped his shoulder, Tau sighed before greeting her, "Thanks for getting me out of that mess, Phasma. But don't…" He trailed off, seeing the bloodied Mandalorian Phasma was carrying over her left shoulder, and innately grasped the situation now.
Nodding in stoic understanding, Tau noticed Grace tending to a few of her fellow Paladins, and yelled, "When do we pull out?"
"Right now." Grace regretfully confirmed. "Chelli and her team found the citadel empty of anything we can use or anyone to rescue, so there's no reason for us to stay down here any longer. It's time we get out of here before we lose any more people and fall any deeper into Krayt's trap."
Suddenly sensing a duo of familiar presences, both ones that deeply stirred many of Tau's implanted memories, he couldn't believe what he felt, even if he should've seen that event coming a lightyear away.
What in the blazes were Adari and Allana thinking to come out here in a single ship right in the middle of such a pitched battle?! He understood why Adari was here, since the Keshiri Palpatine was key to saving Edaan from his brainwashing and couldn't bear to lose her love to the Dark Side. But Allana, a Hapan princess, rising Jedi Knight, and prodigy in war strategy and blooming leader of two great powers, she should have more sense than to bring her with so little protection. Was her old bond with Edaan blinding her to the utter reality of the situation, or was her Solo blood driving her to emulate her reckless relatives?
In both women's intentions to try to do good and save the day, they might as well have signed their own death warrants in the process, and doom Edaan and the galaxy to eternal slavery to the Dark Side when they perished above Korriban, with Tau powerless to do anything to stop it.
0800 Hours
Sunrise System Outskirts
Aboard the Conquest
Shakily taking in breaths of air to try and prepare herself for her conference, the woman who once called herself Elscol Loro recalled all the battles she took part in throughout her long and storied life. Bitterly recalling all those she abandoned, and the principles she forsook to save this mad galaxy from itself, she wondered how her long-dead husband and oldest friends, both living and deceased would judge her if they saw what she had become.
Starting out as leader of a local anti-Imperial resistance on her homeworld in the Colonies, Elscol grew in fame and notoriety when she joined Rogue Squadron in the chaos surrounding the first few months after the Battle of Endor.
Known as a maverick among rebels who had a penchant for killing Imperials and disobeying orders to satisfy her unending vendetta for the murders of both her husband and best friend before her insubordinate nature led her to be dishonorably discharged from the squadron, she quickly started over again by joining with disaffected Imperial Special Forces commandos to in fighting the Empire on their terms, building local resistance networks, and liberating Imperial strongholds over the years. And in a twist of fate, or the Will of the Force, as she later discerned, she would eventually fight alongside the Rogues again to topple the Imperial-backed government of Thyferra and end the Bacta Wars, but not without testing their alliance by attempting more extreme actions than the Rogues condoned.
This pattern continued for years until the official end of the First Galactic Civil War. After the Pellaeon-Gavrisom Treaty, Elscol and her teammates tried to settle down into a life of peace, but those six brief years of tranquility were shattered by the arrival of the Yuuzhan Vong. Among the first to fight the extragalactic invaders, oftentimes bereft of official New Republic support by its incompetent political and military leadership, the ragtag army of guerilla fighters found itself facing severe casualties after virtually every battle.
With each defeat the free galaxy suffered, and every battle the Jedi and government they allied with refused to use their full might to protect those they swore to serve, it only heightened everyone's sense of betrayal and made them more willing to fight the Yuuzhan Vong by using their own brutality against them. But shortly before the war's second year concluded, when Elscol's remnants of an army were resupplying in Bilbringi's asteroid shipyards before a mysterious man contacted them, with an offer to ally and plan a new insurgency campaign against the marauders, predicting the New Republic was about to collapse from pressure from all angles within and outside.
Suspecting a trap but unable to turn down the chance of striking back against the Yuuzhan Vong, Elscol and the last of her forces met with the strange group, only to be captured by the fledgling One Sith and taken to their strongholds on Korriban. Brought before the order's founder, Darth Krayt, he slowly helped her see that the New Republic, due to its rampant corruption and vaunted principles, was doomed to lose this war, and even if the survivors rebuilt their precious government after they carried the day, the cycle of war would only continue unless a strong hand could take up the reins of ruling the galaxy.
But even more importantly, Krayt helped Elscol see that many of her victories, her miraculous strokes of survival and incredible victories, much of the credit belonged not simply to her leadership and experience in war, but to her strong but untapped connection to the Force. Convinced that the only way to truly help the galaxy's people, she agreed to learn the ways of the Dark Side, a decision made easier when the Galactic Alliance and its Jedi puppet masters allowed the Yuuzhan Vong to live in exile on a seedling world of their ancient home, safe in the Unknown Regions. Such a decision, an unprecedented and treasonous act of mercy after all the scars of war the race inflicted on the galaxy, it only enraged her and her followers and convinced them the necessity of the Sith, allowing her to fully join the Sith as Darth Irola. The next twelve years only helped to further cement that belief after the Swarm War and Second Galactic Civil War were triggered by two rogue members of Luke Skywalker's Jedi Order.
Helping to build the One Sith's armies and training dozens of insurgent groups to destabilize Jedi-friendly regimes across the Outer Rim and undermine the Galactic Alliance's tenuous hold over the outlying worlds, she and her loyal retinue built up an impressive army of contacts, militias, and rogues that served as the Sith's version of the Jedi Order's Great River project, aiding the Grand Design while preparing a network of bolt holes and refuges if this war turned against them.
But now, she was faced with a choice between following the letter of the orders being given to her or following her spirit and finding a better way to cripple the Chiss's oppressive hold over this sector of the Unknown Regions without wasting twenty million lives. Letting out a rueful chuckle at the irony of seeking mercy over vengeance, she could only imagine Wedge and all her former friends and what they would say if they knew where she was and what she was about to do.
Interrupting her reverie with General Yiv, his most trusted captains in the Nikardun Remnant, along with the Nagai and Tof fleet commanders and the captured Xodlak fleet, Irola knew the time had come to act. Addressing all twenty officers, she got right to the heart of the matter. "You all know why I've called you here. We've been ordered to conduct an elaborate ruse by using Syndic Xodlak'li'eara's illegal fleet to bombard the planet and pin the blame on the Chiss Ascendancy."
"But I believe this is a waste of resources and potential allies and will only work to set the entire Ascendancy against us, especially after the Aristocras just made their pledges known to all their subjects. Instead, I have a much more effective and better long-term plan that can deliver to us a new army while denying the Chiss their precious Nyix mines and destroying several of the Alliance of Light's key assets."
"Well, Malleus won't miss us for too long, so let's hear this supposed plan of yours, Irola." A Tof captain impatiently urged, everyone else quietly voicing similar sentiments.
"Very well." Irola agreed. "I've spoken with Maladius and his fellow Agbui, and they're willing to stoke chaos and indecision in the Alliance and Chiss's ranks while we work to extract all the fighters our ships can carry, provided we take the initiative right away. While my fleets and your transports move in to save the rebels and your force, you'll take your capital ships to bombard every Nyix mine that isn't occupied by any of our forces. There are a dozen particular strongholds along with the southern hemisphere, one of which is a priority target of ours."
"What about Malleus?" A Nagai commodore objected. "Don't mistake my hesitance for loyalty to that old windbag, I'm on board with this plan. But when he learns what we're plotting-"
"Leave my colleague to me." Irola cryptically interrupted. "I'll make sure he does not interfere in our mission nor target any of you in retribution."
0810 Hours
Horuset System, Near Korriban's Orbit
Aboard the Phoenix Whirlwind
Clutching her chest with one hand, trying to hold back the tears and emotional outpour from Edaan's complete descent into darkness, Allana found herself unable to effectively protect her personal ship from attacks on all sides. Unable to reach the Megador with Ship and two of the Sith's capital ships pursuing them, and Adari's brainwashed husband utilizing the meditation sphere's capabilities to gnaw away at the resolve of the two women aboard the Phoenix Whirlwind while it kept bleeding power from a cracked reactor, the two women were quickly finding themselves out of options to fight back, let alone escape.
Ready to go down fighting rather than face Sith captivity, Adari unclipped her lightsaber to face the enemy head-on before she heard an unfamiliar voice emanate from the ship's faltering comm system. "Get your vac-suits on, both of you! You're not going to have very long to get to your rescuers while my people keep the Sith distracted."
Recognizing the voice, Allana crisply responded to Bardan, "Acknowledged, Razor Crest. We'll owe you a big one for this."
Glancing at Adari, she urged, "Come on. We'd better get ready while there's still time. We're only going to get one chance at this."
"You go. I'm staying." Adari stubbornly stated. "I'm not going to abandon Edaan now, not when-"
"If you stay behind now, you'll either die along with your daughter, or both be slaves to the Sith and all will be lost." Allana countered, using her regal training in her voice to try and drive the point home to her friend. "You'll have other chances to save him, but now's not the right time, not with the giant war raging right before us."
Glaring daggers at Allana, Adari hatefully gritted out, "You'd better be right about this."
'I wish I wasn't.' Allana lamented while leading Adari to where she kept the vac-suits, all while berating herself for acting so recklessly and endangering everyone in the system with her giant stunt.
Knowing Edaan would commit countless atrocities while under Darth Krayt's control, and how it would break his wife's heart and demoralize many others, it reminded the Chume'da of her late father and his sins as Darth Caedus. Not wanting to lose a dear friend to the darkness and a potent symbol of the Jedi and their shared cause with so many, Allana had forsaken reason and caution to charge straight into the enemy's trap. In trying to save the one who allowed her to forgive Jacen's spirit after speaking to his ghost nearly a decade ago, she had to relearn a lesson in patience she ought to have gasped many ages ago.
If she and Adari survived past the day, then she would endure whatever punishment set forth by the Jedi. It was the least she deserved for endangering so many so irresponsibly.
0820 Hours
Bastion, Imperial Capital
Imperial Headquarters
Within the Diplomatic Embassies
"Lord Repawl. A pleasure to meet you again, even under such dire circumstances as these." Jagged politely greeted the Arkanian noble sitting before him in the embassy's main reception area, earning a chuckle from the aged ambassador.
"I thank you for your hospitality, especially during a war that has everyone on edge." Invidious graciously nodded. "I'll try to keep this visit short as possible." Eyeing one of his primary targets, the Sith Lord faux-kindly smiled, "A pleasure to see you again, Grand Moff Sarreti."
"Likewise, Sir." Ephin nodded. Seeing his friend's intentful stare at the young Jedi Apprentice, he introduced him, "Ah, that's right! You haven't met any of Head of State Fel's children yet, haven't you?"
"No, I haven't." Invidious confirmed.
"My name is Jayce Solo Fel, Apprentice of the Jedi Order and ambassador of the Galactic Empire." The teenage boy formally introduced himself.
"Well, well. It seems you've got quite the enthusiastic and loyal son." Invidious warmly chuckled, more than impressed at the boy's work ethic and already-immensely strong connection to the Force.
Ochi, growing more than a little anxious, tactfully suggested in his role as an attendant, addressed Invidious, "Humble apologies, Master, but perhaps we should move forward from the pleasantries and begin the actual substance of this meeting."
"A wise idea." The Sith Lord wholeheartedly agreed. "We all have more important matters to attend to than idle chit chat, and they won't be done by just lollygagging around. This meeting will decide much for many, and we need to make our choices rather quickly before this opportunity slips by us."
0835 Hours
Within the Imperial Intelligence Bureau
Inside Admiral Versio's Office
Swearing under his breath, Garrick Versio, long serving admiral of the Imperial Navy and leading member of Imperial Intelligence, intensively reviewed the data files the Mandalorians gave him on the Ghost for the fifth time, hoping to notice even a single anomaly that the Sith might have missed in using Colonel Wren's stolen vessel. But eventually, he gave into his anger, uncharacteristically throwing the datapad against the wall before slamming his hands on his desk.
'Not one worthwhile lead, not even after everything Sabine gave us on her prized vessel!' Garrick mentally ranted before forcing himself to calm down. Getting angry and lashing out around him would do no one any good and waste his time and efforts. Deep down, he knew the prime source of his anxiety, and it infuriated him to have such little faith in his daughter, even on an unforgiving world like Korriban.
Knowing Iden and her team could take care of herself and give the Sith a good thrashing, Garrick put aside his worries and refocused his energies into the mission Head of State Fel gave him. Perhaps he was looking at this from the wrong angle. Instead of trying to find a single ship amidst a sea of them, maybe he ought to widen the search to several other Sith-affiliated vessels and see if one of them would lead to the Mandalorian's quarry.
Pulling up the files on known Sith ships from the Imperial Ubiqtorate, Garrick scanned through the profiles and plugged the data into Bastion's entire computer network. Not expecting more than a handful results, but hoping for even a single lead to follow, the admiral was amazed to get not even one, but two probable matches from the databases after about ten minutes of combing through and cross-referencing countless terabytes of footage and information.
Pulling up the files, Garrick suddenly felt a pang of anxiety course through his being. Learning of the probability that the Bestoon Legacy, the prized vessel of an infamous Jedi hunter and assassin of Ochi's dark caliber and reputation, might have been able to land on Bastion without any hassle or suspicion under an alias, it gave the admiral a harrowing fear the Sith had infiltrated themselves deeper inside the Empire than anyone thought.
Running a deeper analysis of the Subpro Corporation WTK-85A Interstellar Transport's previously provided clearance codes, Garrick noticed a suspicious pattern running from the stream of the data. Recalling it from somewhere, he ran the data through a thorough analysis, and paled at realizing just who Ochi might be working with.
Pulling out his comlink while sending the data to the director of Imperial Intelligence and the Jedi enclave, Garrick prepared to order his staff to assemble a Level Five scan of 'Obo Jarl's' Jolly Remnant and Lord Repawl's diplomatic yacht. Intergovernmental consequences be damned, he'd personally apologize to the Arkanian ambassador and Head of State, even prostrate himself before the entirety of Imperial High Command, if necessary, should this lead proved to be another dead end. But if his hunch was right, this needed to be stopped now, before anyone else was in danger.
It was then, after he prepared to send the order, that all he saw as a blinding flash, immediately followed by an all-encompassing black and no longer able to feel any sensations at all.
(Tuesday, February 7, 2023, Addendum.) Hello, everyone. I hope you're all doing well and are ready for a double update in one day. I know I'm quite late in getting these chapters out, but I wanted to make them the best I could, so I sought out another Beta Reader's help, and they recommended to me that I break up Chapter 10 into two pieces to best break up the story and avoid pouring too much into one chapter. I hope you're all ready for plenty of great twists and game changers for the story, as they'll leave things rather dark for one side. Which is why the Imperial plot point is placed here, to give you all a taste of what is to come very soon. Well, I'd best get the next two chapters published. I hope you all have a blessed night, and Long Live the Expanded Universe!
