Chapter 8: Gather Around.
39:4:2 GrS
Above Empress Teta, Empress Teta System, Koros Sector
Imperial-I class Star Destroyer: Adamant
The main focus of Soresu, as I soon found out, was endurance.
Up, down, across, diagonal swing sweep, reverse diagonal swing. Repeat.
Keep the legs bent, the back straight and the elbows tucked into the body. Slow, even breaths. Do not move a muscle from this position.
Sweat poured in unending rivulets down my face, soaking the grey tank top I wore. It felt like molten lava had been poured into my lungs and my arms, legs, core and back ached as lactic acid continued to build up.
Repeat the same simple motions over and over again. . Keep the eyes open, squinting to keep sweat out of them and to keep track of the movements of the humming red blade that danced in front of stop, keep pushing on
That was the idea, at least. Even with the enhanced abilities that a Force user could call upon, a person's body had hard limits that even the Force couldn't bypass.
With a lurching gasp, lungs demanding a break, I fell back to sit on the dojo mat. My lightsaber shutting off as I placed it next to me before falling down on my back with a heavy exhale. I was beat and it wasn't the first time this particular exercise had pushed me past my limits.
~Congratulations Padawan, your time for this exercise was 73 minutes and 55 seconds, surpassing your previous entry.~ The neutral and steady voice of Cin Drallig came from the data holocron, which I had placed on an armor rack before beginning my training. ~Additional theoretical lectures have been added to your curriculum, review them at your leisure before continuing the courses.~
"Damn holocron." I muttered into the empty air. The thing was extremely perceptive when you put it into its instructor mode, being able to record your training sessions, offer advice, and judge when you were ready to move onto the next set of lessons.
I was apparently not ready to move on. Understandable, if frustrating, in my opinion. I'd advanced fine through the starter lessons, picking up the new deflection stances and getting a refresher on Form I deflection stances. Even the slog of Jedi drivel hadn't dampened my enthusiasm, at first. A full week of nonstop training which only resulted in more lectures on the moral obligation one had when using one of the most deadly weapons ever created 'in accordance with the Jedi way' was really getting old.
With a grunt, I clambered back to my feet and made my way over to the data holocron. Don't get me wrong, the lectures about the underlying philosophy of Soresu was fascinating stuff, its emphasis on outlasting opponents and letting them make the fatal mistake along with the mentality of becoming the eye of the maelstrom; were exactly the kind of stuff I needed to grow my abilities. The insistence that this 'eye of the maelstrom' form was solely for defensive purposes was aggravating beyond belief though. Just walk forward Jedi!
The only good thing to come out of the lectures was the idea to throw in a sort of moving meditation during the endurance runs I performed. The idea being to submerge yourself in the Force while you ran yourself into the ground. Surprisingly, I was seeing minute returns from this form of practice with my sense being slightly sharper than they had been a few days before I had started. It wasn't enough to justify the entirety of the lectures however.
Was this a failure on my part I wondered in my free time. Not being able to devise the underlying benefit to my power that resided in the Jedi way that is. Or was my way of using the Force so off center from the Jedi way that what worked for one was not compatible for the other? The troubles of living in a post Force user society. No central repository of knowledge to consult, no diverse groups out and about to seek either. Woe is me.
I picked up the data holocron as I mused and used the Force to turn it off. I had used up my self allotted three hours of training time today. Time to get back to the more important job of surviving.
Following a sonic shower and a change of clothes, I made my way to the Adamant's forward observation deck, a couple of levels below the bridge. I had a picturesque view of the planet below from here. The continent city of Cinnagar shone half with the light of Koros, the system's sun, and half with artificial light. A few more specks of light broke through the atmosphere out in the great ocean of Cinnabar, resort locations or spaceports maybe. It was a pleasing planet to look at.
Empress Teta had certainly weathered the passing of the times well I observed. It had latched onto the Mining Guild back when that organization was first rising to prominence and had lobbied its power and natural resources to become the center of most Deep Core trading. The planetary government had also finagled their way into being the centerpiece of the DCSZ, meaning that any ships wanted to head into the Deep Core had to first stop at Empress Teta; giving the planet a nice increase in traffic that they could make pay increased docking fees at the spaceports.
I broke away from my gazing at the planet to take in the quite less appealing sight of the 13th. The Adamant, Relentless and Pacer were just fine in my eyes. Even the trio of Arquitens-class command cruisers that had flipped to my side during the brief engagement over Prakith didn't draw my eire. I had briefed their captains and all three seemed cowed into obeying my authority. Beyond that core of six ships, the new 'core' of the 13th, was where the problems started.
Whatever combat configuration the 13th had once been intended for had clearly been destroyed during its time in the Deep Core, resulting in a hodgepodge of ship in the fleet's ranks. In the three days since my arrival to Empress Teta, I'd managed to get a comprehensive list of ships hammered out. One Vindicator-class heavy cruiser, one Dreadnought-class heavy cruiser, two Ton-Falk-class heavy carriers, four Imperial II-class frigates and finally a whopping twelve Gozanti-class corvettes.
The part of me that had been in the Imperial military for three years wanted to shout in outrage at this sorry excuse of a fleet. The more pragmatic part of me was happy that the ships hadn't ended up being gradually cannibalized for men like some ships I had come across in the Western Reaches.
The door to the observation deck hissed open and Captain Masal walked in. The older man came to stand next to me, but he made sure to not be directly even with me of course.
"Sir. You wanted to be informed when the final report concerning the supplies of the fleet were in."
"Yes I did." I said, still lingering on the interestingly designed Ton Falks. "I look over it personally but brief me on it if you would."
"Collectively the ships of the 13th have eight to six months of consumables left. Our pick ups from Prakith have two months. The star destroyers have a full complement." Masal said, running through the list of issues like he had memorized them. Perhaps he had. "Most of the TIE pilots are out of practice and are most likely missing a few software updates as well. The vessels that have Army detachments onboard haven't disembarked in over a year so that's more training that needs to be accomplished."
Well frak Masal, tell me the cold hard truth why don't you?
"Any Stormtrooper contingents among them?"
"Only a company on board the Vindicator class."
I considered that issue before making a decision. "Integrate them with the 666th then. What is the state of the fleet's Tibanna gas stores?"
Everything in the galaxy used Tibanna gas in some way. It was almost as important to the galactic way of life as hyperfuel and bacta was.
"The Tibanna stores are at combat acceptable levels among their fleet sir. It's even at the appropriate potency for combat grade Tibanna." Masal practically emanated disdain for his rear echelon comrades. Maybe he suspected that they were siphoning off Tibanna to sell on the black market.
"Might as well get used to referring to all ships as being part of the same fleet Masal, including the Adamant." I saw the twinge of him concealing a grimace in the reflection of the glass. "Come now captain. Sure they aren't up to my standards, or even yours, but we'll have some spare time before we have to go into combat to get them up to snuff."
"As you say sir." Was Masal's only reply.
The sulfur yellow eyes of my reflection glinted at me.
"Has High Command gotten around to transmitting our hyperspace route yet?" I asked, referring to us being allowed on the Imperial Military hyperways which allowed the fleet even faster travel times from one side of the galaxy to the other when the occasion arose.
"Yes sir." He presented me with a holopad
I broke my vacant stare to accept it and quickly read the contents before clicking my tongue in irritation. "Ordered to proceed directly to the mission area and begin combat operations against the target, huh? And they even gave us the most direct route, how nice."
"Indeed my lord." Masal parroted back at me. Sometimes I wish this man didn't rely so much on formality when I had to deal with him. Even Inquisitors appreciate conversation at times you know?
"Well captain we have our marching orders, so we'll follow them." I handed the holopad back to Masal. "Of course, due to the time most of these ships have spent without undergoing proper maintenance there is a chance that a malfunction may happen to occur in, say, those Ton-Falk carriers. If such a thing were to happen to such a critical part of the fleet we would have no choice but to holdover at the nearest shipyards for repairs. A shipyard that would be, of course, out of the way of the main fleet traffic. No need to trouble them with the business of a mere reserver fleet like ours." I tapped a finger against my chin in thought. "What's the nearest shipyard that fits those requirements?"
"Rendili StarDrive sir." Masal said at my prompting.
"Ah yes Rendili. Do be sure that the appropriate pre-departure checks are completed on all ships captain. I shudder at the thought that over a dozen warships, who have gone more than a few years without regular inspection and ammunition resupply, might suffer some issue that could affect our travel time."
I could feel that Masal was onboard with the 'totally not a plan' plan.
"Better send out inspection groups from the Adamant captain. They are the most qualified to conduct such things."
"They will be sent out immediately sir." Masal snapped off a salute.
"Dismissed to your post captain." I replied with a lackadaisical salute in reply, eyeing the back of Masal's grey uniform as he left the observation deck. At least I had bought some more time for me to figure a way out of this disaster I found myself in. The latest reports had Harrsk's numbers at a cool forty Imperial-class Star Destroyers, not counting any other ships below the tonnage of an ISD that had thrown in with Harrsk.
Forty Star Destroyers! And Imperial Center wanted me to fight them!
Even thinking about fighting two, much less forty, ISDs with this lot made me a bit queasy. Hence the totally true mechanical failure, or failures, that would land us at Rendili for repairs and some refits and overhauls on the side.
I don't even know if it was possible to wage open space combat in the Deep Core against Star Destroyers, what with random gravitational effects and astrological anomalies everywhere. It made space combat, as the Empire's school of thought dictated, almost impossible. It was also why the DCSZ had been so effective for nearly twenty years, all you had to do to keep out the unwanted was park some ships at the small number of entry/exit points.
I rubbed a hand against my temples to stave off a building headache. I'd think of something, I had to at this point. I just needed more time.
I checked the chrono I carried around for convenience, noting I had some time before the holocall I had scheduled with the Mining Guild representatives on Empress Teta. Maybe it was finally time to crack open the primer and dig into its contents. The containment circles hadn't been broken by any curse triggering the whole time the primer had been on the ship.
I chuckled grimly. Maybe it had that one spell Naga Sadow used to create dummy ships when he invaded the Republic all those millennia ago. Force knows that would be handy right now.