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Chapter 8
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Part 3
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3 AIF (After Imperial Founding)/
15.08.2552 UNSC Military Calendar/
Flag Bridge
Victory, Mandator II class Star Dreadnought
Coruscant System
Corcusca Galaxy
The Force rippled around a kneeling Chiss woman. Hoarfrost gathered around her lithe armored form while she kept pushing deeper and deeper into the Dark Side during her meditation.
"Worlds burn, yet the Hunger consumes. Stars darken. The Force screams as golden fire murders world after world. It slumbers Master, waiting to be freed. Its hunger knows no bounds! Roots digging into flesh and minds! Everything burns in a golden fire!"
The Sith's Apprentice shook when the vision ended. Her solid red eyes shot open, and she looked wildly around.
"I've seen it in your mind, Master. It's like Crimson, yet different. It's a disease, a parasite of the flesh and mind!" Aria Astra shuddered in disgust. "The Dark Side, no, the Force, hates it, just as they loathe the golden fire."
"Those are the same visions I've been having," Mandalore noted from where he sat nearby. His polished armor gleamed with reflected light from idle holoprojectors showing assumed strategic deployments per various contingencies. Now and again, an image would refresh and update with new data. "Time is up. We will arrive momentarily. Your first task is to secure my niece and, thus, the line of succession. Bring her, my wife, and any strays she might have picked up this time on board."
Mandalore stood up, tall and proud in his armor. The refined symbol of his Clan was a stark contrast to the otherwise gray-metal armor he wore. The stylized cog of the long-vanished Sith Empire stood proudly on display for all to see.
"Wanna bet what kind of stray mother picked up this time?" The form of a stunning blond woman with short hair identical to Bo-Katan's preferred style shimmered to life between the Dark Lord of the Sith and his Apprentice.
"I stopped wondering after she adopted a certain warship," Veil chuckled. "Time to real-space transition, Vicky?"
"Momentarily. I didn't hear you protest, father," Victoria pointed out.
A barely perceptive shift in momentum, followed by an upsurge of the Force for those who could feel it, heralded the arrival of the Mandalorian fleet in the Coruscant system. The tactical plot was updated with fresh sensor data, showing the Victory surrounded by her escorting fleets—over a dozen cruisers of different classes and forty-three light escorts. Sensors came fully online and swept the system. Communications channels burst to life, linking with sensor networks and the tactical nets of friendly battle groups.
Coruscant appeared in the main holotank, ringed by defense stations, which in turn were surrounded by constellations of weapons platforms. From their point of arrival, they couldn't directly observe the Galactic City region. Yet, there were clouds of smoke and ashes in the atmosphere, joined by black columns from burning scars on the surface.
"We are linked with the system's sensor network. No hostile units are currently present in the system," Victoria announced. "Communications lines opened with Admiral Coburn and Imperial High Command. I have General Valentra and the Admiral ready to speak with you, sir. Establishing a link with Imperial Guard units and locating Imperial Throne Successor… Link established. Location classified. Authorization confirmed. The Princess is ready for transport to me. Mother is with her, and she has indeed picked up a stray – one Leia Skywalker," The Droid intelligence integrated into the warship happily announced. "Empress Kenobi is on board Coruscant's Shield. Establishing connection…"
"Send the following message – this is General Veil. I am assuming operational control over the Coruscant Area of Operations. Admiral Coburn retains tactical command over Coruscant's defense. Now, patch them up," Mandalore the Restorer announced.
Three holographic figures formed from moths of light. To the right sat a scowling Zabrak with a polished crown of horns growing from his head. Next to him appeared the weathered visage of Admiral Coburn. Finally, the Empress' armored form came to life in all her holographic glory.
Beside them, a tactical display rapidly updated with all ships in the system.
"Your Imperial Majesty, I'm at your disposal," There was dark humor in Veil's voice. "Who needs killing?"
The Empress glowered at her brother-in-law.
"Alleged theocratic state calling itself the Covenant. They represent a clear strategic threat. I am certain the Senate will vote for a declaration of war as soon as we have a quorum," Satine's eyes flashed dangerously. "Did you foresee something like this happening?" She demanded.
"I've had many visions from the Dark Side. Most of them are not to be trusted. As it happens, I've had a repeating number of them every time I try to meditate on the current situation since I learned of it. My Apprentice shares them," All trace of deadly amusement left the Sith. "Worlds are burning in golden fire. Hunger, like no other, is slumbering, awaiting some bloody fool to poke at it. There is danger on the other side, potentially more than this Covenant. Or perhaps because of them. Fanatics, who knows what they might do in the name of their gods?"
"I can corroborate, Empress," Aria moved to stand beside her Master and bowed.
"Make sure you take appropriate precautions when you get in contact with Obi-Wan and the Imperial Knights deployed on the other side of the portal," Satine grumbled. "This is the last thing we needed. Crimson is supposed to be gone!"
"Neither the universe nor the Force usually cares. I burned the facility of origin and sterilized that whole rock. As you know, the damned horror was supposed to be destroyed over three thousand years ago in the first place. What are my formal orders, Your Majesty?"
"General Veil, you are to plan and execute the removal of the Covenant as a strategic threat to the Federal Empire and its member nations by any and all means necessary. Coruscant can't burn again. Too many of our world burned in the war. We made a pledge and will honor it. Never again!" Satine's posture changed, and pure steel shined through her eyes.
"I listen and obey, my Empress," One could hear the smile in the Dark Lord of the Sith's voice.
"And make sure Fay is protected," With those parting words, the Empress cut the connection on her side.
"You heard the lady, my friends. We have a job to do. I need to get fully up to speed on the situation. What exactly are we dealing with here? Telar, what can you give me for deployment without compromising existing commitments and the ongoing replenishment of our military?"
"At maximum effort, we can allow to deploy a Sector Fleet equivalent from our active and reserve forces. Doing so would slow down recovery efforts but not cripple them. On the ground forces front, as you know, our primary practical limitation was and is logistics," General Valentra, the man in charge of Imperial logistics, looked less than pleased despite his professional and calm voice.
"We all know better. There are tasks we can't ask green formations to reasonably accomplish," The last months of the war proved that, and the price was paid in blood.
No matter how eager or well-equipped, whole armies that had yet to see heavy combat didn't fare well on the offensive against the entrenched state-of-the-art droid armies and near-fanatical Confederate veteran units. When they didn't break against the enemy defenses, they often had to drown them in blood to get the job done. The bloodbath was politically unsustainable.
To a lesser extent, the same was true in space. Green crews without months of training in executing intricate fleet maneuvers had to either rely on Battle Meditation to even the odds or fall back on simple tactics and suffer heavy casualties against numerically inferior Confederate battle groups, despite theoretical firepower advantage.
Nowadays, the Empire was using the ongoing low-intensity conflicts to bloody its green units after maintaining training standards that they could only dream of during the height of the war. Despite that, and better equipment being available in massive numbers, the Imperial military at large was still in the process of a comprehensive overhaul and rebuilding cycle. They didn't want or need an all-out war against a peer opponent.
"I'll appreciate it if you don't have to deploy a whole Sector Fleet with all the necessary support elements to the other side of the galaxy and keep it there indefinitely," Valentra requested.
"That would entirely depend on the strategic situation we find ourselves in. Admiral Coburn? Give me a report on the fleet actions so far and your thoughts on the enemy's capabilities," Veil stared intently at live sensor feeds from Coruscant's Defense Fleet and the Gollan Stations above Galactic City. "And run me through the thought process that required unrestricted use of capital scale weaponry planet side on the Capital."
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Part 4
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3 AIF (After Imperial Founding)/
15.08.2552 UNSC Military Calendar/
Flag Bridge
Victory, Mandator II class Star Dreadnought
Coruscant System
Corcusca Galaxy
Aria left to do as ordered, leaving the Sith Lord alone in the Flag Bridge with Victoria. He listened to Admiral Coburn's explanation while carefully watching camera and sensor recordings of the engagements with the Covenant ships. That name, the color, and the designs of the alien vessels made his brain itch. They were achingly familiar, yet he couldn't recall from where. Perhaps something from his life before he became a Sith? Most of those memories were gone now. They were little more than mirages that rarely bothered him when he slept at night instead of meditating.
What he remembered clearly from the time before were ideas and concepts he explored the plausibility and feasibility of as a Sith serving the Sith Empire of old. His best guess was it was due to the Force he could recall clearly everything he experienced after beginning his training on Korriban. He could even sharpen his memories using specific techniques and drag otherwise seemingly forgotten details to the surface. Yet, nothing he hadn't often been thinking of and planning around since the Sith Academy was particularly clear.
Up until now, that wasn't much of an issue. Yet, the fresh warnings from the Force, and the familiar shapes of the Covenant ships, all rang alarm bells in his mind.
"Vicky, contact Admiral Holt and have her form a task force from our escorts. She is to escort Fay and Leia back to Mandalore. Bo as well, if she is willing to go. Coordinate with Chancellor Yomaget to ensure they have an appropriate protection detail on top of the Imperial Guard detachment that will leave with them."
Joanna Holt was a former Corellian Admiral, and the CO of his flagship during the early Clone Wars, up until Sullust. Since Kamino, she has been one of Veil's creatures, alongside tens of thousands of Clones who survived the war. The other, most notable ally he earned that way was Wilhuf Tarkin. All it took was sacrificing Kamino to achieve multiple goals. The death screams of the whole world, combined with Battle Meditation linking all present Republic forces, allowed him to subvert them, not unlike what Revan did four thousand years ago at Malachor V. Burning Kamino and blaming it on a Mind Bomb deployed by the Confederacy to disrupt his Battle Meditation served to also neutralize the Republic's source of Clones at a time the Jedi were executing a coup with an uncertain outcome. Regular troops might have thought twice about shooting their commander because they were ordered to without an excellent reason. The Clones? They were conditioned to follow orders since before birth and, generally, genetically engineered to listen to authority as well.
When all was said and done, if necessary, subverting armies of regular soldiers and earning their undying loyalty was much more feasible and straightforward than the Clone Armies of the defunct Republic.
"I am doing so as we speak," Vicky nodded. "I'm dispatching my droid avatar to get the girls on board safely."
"Good," Veil muttered absentmindedly while focusing on the final exchanges of firepower between the Covenant reinforcements and Coburn's ships.
"We have an advantage in firepower when going all out," The General noted. "If not for those plasma and energy beams being particularly effective against deflectors, our defenses would be stronger too. Our armor is better, though that's mitigated by the armor schemes on our ships being compromised by the installation of the Guardian system." Veil concluded. "That, of course, means little when the enemy can field ships that greatly out-mass ours. There's a lot to be said about a sheer brute force approach."
"We haven't been able to use the Silencers on this side of the portal. The last report I got from the Emperor tells us he was in no position to use them conventionally and instead used them as kamikazes by overloading their hypermatter reactors," Coburn explained.
"In the atmosphere? Otherwise, shooting the Silencers would have been more effective."
"The Covenant fleet in the system was already entering the atmosphere at the time, heading straight for the Senate and, presumably, after it, here."
"We can't have that," The Sith shook his head. "Reinforcements and moving a few more Gollan stations above the portal should allow us to reasonably lock it down on this side. However, suppose they can push a super capital through. In that case, that thing's reactors going critical would devastate Coruscant even with theater shields in place. They don't need to gut the planet conventionally with a portal leading straight into the atmosphere. We need to fortify the other side and keep it that way until the Covenant is no longer a threat, perhaps until those UNSC fellows are firmly attached to our side through economic and political ties as well…. "
"I agree. The Emperor is of the same mind and has seen more of the enemy than us for the time being. He is also in contact with the locals, though language issues persist. They should be able to offer more intelligence on the Covenant."
"This UNSC…" The United Nations Space Command… Veil thought in his mind in English, something he hadn't had to do in a very long time. Could it be? Earth? He shook his head. Such speculations were pointless right now. "Yularen should have disassembled Gollan stations ready for transport to create or reinforce system defenses, as well as stocks of weapons platforms. Vicky, contact him and have the good commander of our Strategic Reserve bring some forward for deployment to the other side. Do we have prisoners for interrogation?"
"I am unsure if any made it through Case Omega. At any rate, we should get some while capturing their super capital ships," Coburn noted.
"I'll speak with the Emperor and get official permission to throw them to Zash and the Imperial Knights for interrogation," Veil looked at the live feed from above the Galactic City. Climate control and air recycling installations across the planet were doing their best to stabilize the damage to the atmosphere. Rains helped put down firestorms while local authorities and military personnel were busy with search and rescue.
"This time, I don't think anyone would feel like objecting," Coburn didn't seem particularly happy at the idea. Yet, he wasn't about to fight it.
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3 AIF (After Imperial Founding)/
15.08.2552 UNSC Military Calendar/
CSO Long Night of Solace
Reach
Epsilon Eridiani System
Milky Way Galaxy
They had to walk over a carpet of charred Covenant bodies to advance. The closer the allied forces got to the reactors, the more desperate and fanatic the enemy resistance was. About half a kilometer away, they encountered automatic defenses mounted in various parts of the corridors leading closer to the prize. Turrets popped up, filling whole compartments with scorching plasma. At that point, the marines and ODST had to fall back into a supporting position. They weren't equipped to walk into what was, for all intents and purposes, furnaces.
Cortana did her best to hack those defenses. However, they were linked up to a hard-line network, likely controlled by the ship's main engineering. Suppose they had the time, tools, and a team of engineers familiar with Covenant tech. In that case, it might have been possible to establish a hard-link connection after Skywalker tore off two turrets off their mounting with his mind.
Lacking such luxuries, the power-armored soldiers advanced with grim determination. They got to a T-shaped junction, with a solid wall facing the corridor the Imperials finally cleared through massed use of automatic grenade launchers. This time around, John and his fellow Spartans had to slog through an ankle-deep sloshing mess that used to be Brutes and Elites.
"I don't need to tell you that they're waiting for us just around the corner, do I?" Cortana warned.
"Internal sensors?" John inquired.
"Intercepted communications. A lot of chatter is coming just ahead: this time, it is highly encrypted for Covenant. I don't think we'll be facing more cannon fodder, John," Cortana then shared her observation with the Imperials. They had paused briefly to let shields recharge, reload their weapons and restock on ammo from a resupply drop that had just reached the forward attack parties.
"Yes, I can sense them. The corridors ahead are packed," Skywalker nodded in agreement.
John saw a few Spartans tilt their helmets, looking at the Knight curiously on top of everything he had done before them to date. It was becoming increasingly clear that he could somehow react before the Covenant even decided to aim at him. First, they thought it was merely advanced cybernetics and enhancements surpassing theirs, alongside whatever allowed him to move objects with his mind. The implications were startling. Whatever Skywalker was doing was an incredible power multiplier. How do you take down someone faster than you who can anticipate your every move before you do it? Throwing massive numbers and using overwhelming firepower at the problem wasn't working for the Covenant. Then again, it usually wasn't working against Spartans either.
"Grenades," Skywalker ordered. Soon, the Imperials produced a few hundred grenades of all types. Skywalker had them all floating like toys in front of him. He lowered his head at them, and their safeties disengaged. Then the grenades flew in two streams toward the end of the corridor and bounced off the ceiling.
The Covenant didn't even have time to scream before explosions and more exotic effects turned their ambush into a bloody piece of modern art. Ice, fire, good old fragmentation grenades to shatter and shred frozen and scorched flesh. Some blue glowing… jelly covered the Covenant, sticking them in place on the floor or walls like super-glue. Others emitted a high-pitched keening sound that forced everyone's helmets to dampen the shrieks to protect their ears.
The Imperial Knight pointed ahead, finally refusing to take point and letting Imperial soldiers take point while he took some time to rest. John felt a relief knowing that Skywalker couldn't simply go on using his space magic indefinitely without rest.