Chapter 1: Opening Moves
January 16, 2227.
Just as expected, after only ten days of refitting and preparations, Task Force 89 was ready to move and the 101st to deliver the killing blow at the right moment. Iulius observed as Octis' group jumped to hyperspace from the waypoint of space they were traversing to reach Spice Terminus.
He had faith in his new Captain. Octis was smart and quick to adapt. In fact, he was the embodiment of a phenomenon that Iulius had started noticing and was making him optimistic in the perspectives for the war: many young officers had finally started to understand what it actually meant to be a soldier, since now the academies spent less time indoctrinating the cadets and used that time to prepare them for war.
It would still take a lot of time for this generation to make a real difference in the conduct of the war, but at least the seed was there. If the elite of the Empire didn't make anything incredibly stupid again, there was a chance to slowly and steadily retake the whole galaxy.
He took a look behind him. Nash, as his new Commander, was standing at the end of the gangplank, waiting for orders to deliver. The Minder was floating a few km away from the starboard side of the Admonitor's bridge, as her position of leader of the escort squadron demanded.
A few minutes passed until Nash received a notification on his datapad and promptly reported it.
"Grand Admiral, the 89th has made contact with the enemy at Spice Terminus."
Iulius calmly turned around and headed for the holo-projector. "On screen." he ordered with his usual collected voice.
The operator brought up the reconstruction that STEVE was providing with the shared sensors of the 89th.
Octis' new flagship, the ISD Revenant, was protected by two rings made of the other ships. The Vindicator frigates and Arquitens light cruisers formed the outer strata, while the Gladiator cruisers and the Victory-II were right next to the Revenant, ready to protect it or thrust forward according to the Captain's orders.
For this attack, Iulius had lent a Procursator heavy cruiser with an ion loadout to provide additional support. And it was going to be useful since it quickly became apparent that the Commonwealth had militarized the station.
Spice Terminus was originally a simple outpost in the middle of a waypoint on its trade route. The station was bigger than the others of its category, but still a small one. Now, the rebels had moved four asteroids around it and built bases upon it, while disseminating the area with defensive satellites.
A thing that Iulius noticed immediately was that the garrison fleet of the rebels was waiting on the opposite side of the space complex: knowing that the enemy could arrive only from a certain direction, they had taken the necessary precautions so they would not be jumped upon right at the start of the confrontation. It didn't matter how much intel the imperials had, that positioning made sure that the Revenant and the 89th had to go through or around the space station first.
Surely enough, Octis understood that as well, but he wasn't looking to destroy the enemy fleet yet: his task was to weaken the stationary defenses for the 101st to barge in with relative safety. Therefore he immediately concentrated fire on the two forward asteroids, ordering the bombers to aim for the launch bays and torpedo launchers.
The Victory-II cruisers aimed their precise missiles and ion cannons at the satellite grid.
The rebel fleet answered to that by sending its fighters to attack the 89th through the narrow passages between the construction while the major vessels attempted to circle around in order to take the Revenant on its rear. Octis had anticipated that and moved two Vindicator frigates and the Procursatorto fend them off while he finished demolishing the first line of defenses.
"The first defensive grid has been destroyed." Nash reported.
"Jump to hyperspace." Iulius promptly ordered.
Quickly enough, the entire 101st made the jump and reached the system in two minutes, heading straight to intercept the rebel fleet. This, being caught off-guard by the sudden reinforcements, had no choice but to stand and fight while scrambling to prepare a withdrawal.
However it was too late. The Procursator quickly targeted the MC80 cruiser that the rebel had at their disposal, breaking its shields and allowing the Star Destroyers to open fire. Still, the cruiser went forward, surprising the imperials as the crew sacrificed themselves to give their allies a chance to escape.
The imperial frigates and TIEs gave chase, but once the rebels managed to get behind their second lines of defense, there was little they could do and the survivors of the Commonwealth managed to slip away.
Iulius regretted not having brought one of the Immobilizers, but he was still convinced that it was better to use them only when they could force the enemy into a decisive battle.
"Press the attack on the static defenses and prepare the boarding parties for the station." he instructed Nash.
"Yes, sir." the Commander replied and turned around to coordinate the other officers while Iulius returned to the holo-projector.
Something wasn't sitting right: this was way too easy. The rebels had paid dearly by losing a cruiser they could hardly afford to replace. Or was it that hard?
As soon as the asteroid bases were wiped out he ordered the fleet to assume a defensive formation around the station while the boarding parties were being prepared. Again, his instinct was whispering that there was something off. Iulius tried to think about everything. Eventually the only thing that came to his head was to order a scan to see if the station was rigged to explode.
Maurice replied that there was nothing. Instead there were still many people aboard the station, probably civilians.
Then what was it? He turned around to ponder and saw that Qathora was looking out of the viewport with a certain attention, even putting her hand on the viewport, like that would change the fact that it's quite impossible to see most things in the void of space, especially a place like that which was a few light years away from the nearest star.
"What's going on?" he asked as he reached her.
The Togruta had her eyes shut and seemed to focus on her montrals for hearing.
"There's something out there...could they have a cloaking device?" she asked.
Iulius was briefly taken aback. How did she come to think of it? It was true that since she was born and raised by her people, Qathora had the instincts of a huntress, but that seemed way too much. However, if she was saying it…
"Contact! Unidentified ship right below the fleet. Frigate-size!" Maurice snapped all of a sudden.
"Where…?" Iulius was about to ask, but then realized it didn't matter. "On screen. Move to intercept!"
"Torpedoes launched! They're heading for the Challenger!"
"Track their origin!" Nash ordered.
Meanwhile, Iulius had rushed back to the projector to take a better look at whatever the sensors were picking up. However, to his great discomfort, the frigate had already disappeared.
"They have a cloaking device." he murmured. Then he remembered something. "STEVE, take a look into the archives of the old Republic."
The AI beeped and went to work, meanwhile, the Grand Admiral took a look at the projector again and saw that the Challenger, a Victory-II cruiser of the 101st, had been hit in one of its missile launch bay.
"Another signal! A second frigate has fired!" Maurice added.
"Where are they coming from?!" Nash asked with a yell.
"Impact. The Sunrider suffered damage to one engine."
"Abort the boarding of the station." Iulius replied. "All ships assume defensive formation Shutter-3 and focus on the shields."
"We'll be sitting ducks." Nash noted.
"Yes, but an ISD can take a beating. Defend the MTC at all costs, or we won't be able to track the rebels."
The ships moved, except the Challenger which was unable to move just as quickly and was forced to stay outside the formation, which created a sphere formed by the major ships to cover the smaller ones. The latter, in the meantime, had to reorganize their formation and be ready to spring into action once the enemy had been baited to come closer.
In this case, it was mostly to give the MTC the time to find a way to track the stealth frigates.
"Grand Admiral, I found a match in the archives." STEVE said while the fleet got in position.
"Show me."
Jinx brought up the model of an old ship.
"During the Clone Wars, the Republic had developed a stealth corvette, the IPV-2C. It was equipped with cloaking projectors that allowed her to become invisible to most organic eyes, but the project was abandoned after the end of the war, as the Empire saw no need for it."
"You think the ships that attacked us might be of that model?"
"They appeared for a short time, and even if there are some differences, the LADAR confirms that they are."
"All right, give me the spec…"
"Grand Admiral, we have rebel ships coming out of hyperspace." Maurice announced suddenly, forcing Iulius to focus again on the map.
Next moment, a group of ships which included an old Venator cruiser, some frigates and two ships that he remembered only seeing in the ranks of the Zann Consortium, appeared on the sensors and headed straight for the fleet.
Or better said, for the damaged ships that were still exposed.
"Send our fighters to cover the Challenger and the Sunrise." Iulius ordered.
"Grand Admiral, this is Octis, my Task Force is in the perfect position to counterattack."
"You're clear, Captain. But don't take useless risk: keep them away from our damaged ships."
"Understood."
The 89th thus sprang forward to cover their injured allies, only to find their path blocked by another salvo of missiles from the stealth frigates, which this time attacked at the same moment, revealing themselves as they dashed toward their allies.
Octis was forced to enact evasive maneuvers with his squad that costed valuable time. In the meantime, the Venator had launched a huge swarm of fighters and the two unknown frigates were moving at incredible speed despite their apparent size.
"Order the MTC to jam their fire controls." Iulius said, hoping to give his ships the time to escape while avoiding the enemy fire.
"Sir, I identified the Peregrine among the rebel ships." Maurice added.
Iulius took another look. He himself had noticed a Dreadnought-class cruiser but didn't think it would be Iblis' ships in the durasteel. Now he clearly saw that the Peregrine was pointing toward the targeted imperial ships.
And before reinforcements could arrive, the Sunrise was reached by the quick rebel crafts. Iulius noticed only too late that beside the X-Wings, there was a new kind of fighter that had the form of a cross with one of the axis shorter than the other.
These new fighters suddenly spewed out a lot of proton torpedoes that headed straight toward the Sunrise.
The imperial cruiser suffered multiple explosions and quickly started to lose power.
"Call the bridge." Iulius demanded.
"We can't raise them, sir." the comm officer replied a little frightened by what they just saw.
"Damn it, cover the Challenger while they withdraw."
The other Victory-II had already turned tail and started to flee, but the rebel fighters were already upon them. Things improved when a squadron of TIE Hunters arrived at their incredible speed and managed to destroy several X-Wings, forcing the rebels to fight them, however the Peregrine and the old republican cruiser were chasing her as the flaming remnants of the Sunrise finally exploded. Iulius saw on sensors that there were a few escape pods coming from the ship, but in the middle of a fight it was impossible to raise them.
However, before the imperial squadron forced the rebel ships to flee, the Peregrine shot another salvo of torpedoes that hit the engines of the Challenger and then its reactor. This ship, too started to go down in flames.
And just as quickly as the rebels had arrived, they started to withdraw before the imperials could overwhelm them.
Iulius could only watch with a seething anger as Iblis escaped after basically making fun of him.
An astonished silence crept on the bridge before Nash snapped them out quickly.
"What are you looking at? Our friends are out there. Send the shuttles to search for escape pods."
The officers snapped out and returned to work. Iulius also registered those words but he needed a moment to take what had happened in.
For the first time in his life, he had been handed over a defeat, however small. Iblis had exploited him and his men as lab rats to test new ships and a new hit-and-run tactic that had proven devastating.
He forced himself to calm. No, he didn't need to look at this that way. The simple fact was that Iblis had actually learned since Iulius had whooped his butt last time, and this time he had turned the tables and used the surprise to his advantage.
"Well played, old man." he murmured as a silent recognition of his foe's potential. Then he turned his focus on continuing the operation.
January 18, 2226.
The base on Ajan Kloss had been set up, now it was time for the real operations to start. Darvos was analyzing a report from a squad of Pathfinders that had gone ahead and scouted the next objective of the 501st Division: Moltok, in the Dartibek system. A midway point between Kloss and Mygeeto, home of two settlements. One belonging to the insectoid Ho'Din species, who had long grown dissatisfied with the Empire following the continued Humanocentrism in that corner of space. The other were the Makurth, a particular culture of Human colonists.
Despite initial frictions, the Makurth had eventually allied with the Empire and served in the imperial Army in the war, while the Ho'Din had tried to stay neutral and had thus chased away from their lands and relegated into unproductive regions. Now they were willing to welcome the New Republic in exchange for restoration of their old settlement, which meant fighting the Makurth militia and any imperial garrison on the planet.
With that accord in mind, the 501st had dropped a contingent in the mountains where the Ho'Din had been exiled and as the sun dawned on that region, they prepared to cross a river in order to destroy some AA defenses.
Problem was, the imperials knew that someone was coming and were trying to dig in on the other side of the river, as Darvos observed on top of the hill they had positioned themselves onto.
"I count three E-webs and at least fifty riflemen along all the line of the ford." the General said to his Commander and the leader who gave the name to the division.
"Same here. They may not have had the time to build barricades, but this isn't going to be easy anyway. They may also have reserved waiting not too far." Rex added.
Darvos looked further. At least behind the imperial line there was no altitude. As the Ho'Din had said, if they managed to pass this ford then it was all plain until the settlement.
"We'll throw some smoke grenades, then we'll have to cross the ford and move from each islet to the other." Darvos said, referring to the three small pieces of land that stood out from the water. They were small, but they were still slightly higher than the land on the other side, meaning they could offer a small amount of cover to those who laid on their belly.
"We put a weapon team on each of them, we should be able to return the fire of their turrets easily." Rex answered.
Darvos hummed in agreement. There was no more time to waste. He nodded to Rex and they both backed toward the side of the hill opposite to the river. There, hidden from the enemy's sight, a battalion of the 501st were ready to attack, even with two mortar teams and a Warthog being warmed up.
They reached the various team leaders who were in waiting.
"They are digging up, but if we attack now we will caught them in the open." Darvos explained and turned to the Captains of the three companies that formed a battalion in the New Republic Army. "Dobbith, Reez and Tartyq, you will be the first line. Go straight for the first islet and open a path for a weapon team. Then we will do the same for each of the other two islets. We gain the advantage in firepower, we will force them to withdraw. Then we will send the Warthog through. The objective is to secure a bridgehead so the engineers can lay a pontoon and bring the heavy vehicles."
"We'll get them, General." Reez replied.
The Captains quickly organized their men and the mass of 900 soldiers of different species, though mainly Humans, gripped their rifles and started to march to the top of the hill, ready to start running as soon as they entered in sight of the river. They knew that the imperials would immediately spot them, so they had to cut the time short. The two mortar teams followed on the flanks, ready to set their weapons the moment the attack commenced and provide some cover for their comrades.
Darvos would have wanted to be in front of them, but Rex wouldn't allow that, neither would the other officers, for if anything happened to him, they would've been doomed. And by the way, they argued, it was up to him to direct the mortars and decide when to send in the Warthog and call for the reinforcements waiting on the transports they had brought in last night.
The moment the first troopers passed the top, the sound of running feet filled the air. Ten seconds later, the first shots from the turrets of the imperials fired. Then the gunshots, from both sides. The republicans placed their mortars, which then started to fire on turn.
It didn't take long, however, before other artillery rounds started raining down on the battlefield, and this time they arrived from the opposite side of the river. Darvos rushed to the top of the hill and prepared his binocular.
Before he looked into it, he saw an enemy shell rock the terrain among the mass of his men. The soldiers were of course spread out, yet five of them were instantly killed or wounded by the explosion. The other were still advancing, firing back, shouting. There were already wounded, some badly maimed who screamed in a way that Darvos didn't remember hearing before. However, it was too soon to send in the medics.
Looking inside the binocular, Darvos could now clearly see the enemy by the muzzles of their weapons. What surprised him was to see that the Makurth had some sort of slug throwers. The shots were made of energy, but they seemed a hybrid tech between energy weapons and projectile ones and they fired smaller tracers with a yellow color, making it very clear where the E-webs were.
The E-Webs were firing wildly, cutting through the Republic troopers who stayed too high. One of them, however, was particularly exposed, as there was only a handful of trees on the other side.
"Lieutenant!" Darvos yelled to the officer of the mortar squad. "Focus fire on grid 3. 850 meters!"
"Got it!" the officer replied and immediately turned to the artillerymen.
The mortars fired two shots and they landed squarely on the turret, wiping it out along with a few militiamen.
"Sweep the trees. Take out the other turrets!" the General added, looking with anger and a feeling of powerlessness as he saw more of his men fall. However, with a turret less, a riflemen platoon managed to reach the first islet and could fire back with a bit of cover. A weapon team made of a two men with heavy repeaters and three with rocket launchers rushed forward, took position and started to rain fire on the places where the red bolts were coming.
He turned around and yelled at the few men left at the bottom of that side.
"Medics forward!"
The rescue teams sprang in action. They were made up of two different teams: the first one were the medics capable of doing a triage, who had to mark on the unit's network where the wounded were and what kind of color between green, yellow and red their code was, with green being the one that they could stabilize with just a stim-pack or some medi-gel.
After they had done this, the stretcher-bearers went in and started to load up the wounded according to the severity of the code and whether they could reach them or not. The medics had the strict orders to go only if the environment was relatively safe, hoping that the imperials would have some simple decency and not shoot on people bearing the marks of a medic plainly.
Other men fell, this time in the water. The current wasn't strong and the ford relatively low, so they ended up there as some comrades risked their lives to drag the wounded on an islet waiting for the medics.
Nonetheless, the soldiers could now throw smoke grenades on the third and bigger islet, creating a screen that severely reduced the accuracy of both sides, but at least the attackers could get closer more easily.
"Warthog, move in." Darvos ordered on the comlink.
The light vehicle roared and easily climbed the hill with its wheels. The driver took a route on the side of the formation, trying to avoid the bodies of their comrades and not to hinder the work of the medics. As the bolts kept flying, and as they were still under bombardment from the enemy, the troopers on the river had managed to mark a safe path for the Warthog to cross the river, and as the smokescreen started to descend, the final attack began.
The Makurth suddenly found themselves overrun. Weakened by the Republic mortars, the defenders were soon decimated and few of them managed to run away.
Imperial artillery was still pounding the attackers, but now that the stage was clear, Darvos sent forward he combat engineers to set up some portable deflector shields. The troopers on the bridgehead were already digging in frantically with their shovels in order to take some cover from the mortal rain falling upon them.
"Has the drone found them yet?" Darvos asked impatient.
Rex hummed in thought. "These are plasma mortars. And judging by the sound of their projectiles...they should be that way. 1250 meters, behind that rocky formation."
Darvos took a look with the binocular. It was thin, but indeed he spotted a small cloud of smoke that quickly dissipated and then another one.
"Warthog. I'm marking a position. The enemy artillery should be there. Go and clear it out." he quickly instructed.
"Yes, sir!" the commander of the crew replied infuriated.
Observing through the electric lens, Darvos saw as the Warthog sped through the plain, reached the side of the rocky formation and then the gunner fired with the machine-gun turret for a few twelve seconds.
Finally, the enemy mortars stopped.
"Good job, Sergeant. Scout the area and see if you can find the AA. I'll call in the fleet." Darvos congratulated.
As the Republic consolidated its position and more wounded were evacuated, Darvos turned around to the skies and saw the Liberator and her Task Force in the distance, out of the range of the medium-range AA guns the Empire had on the planet. The fleet was waiting just outside of the system. Now that the imperials knew they were under attack, there was no need to keep hiding.
Darvos and Rex headed for the ford, ready to reach the other side and take a better look at the situation.
Along the way, Darvos couldn't help but see some of the faces of his dead soldiers. He counted at least 43 people laying on the ground, others were squirming or crawling waiting for a medic. The stench of burned flesh of different species filled his nostrils.
Suddenly, someone gripped his ankle. Darvos jolted his head downward and saw a human around his 30s. One of his legs had been severed and was nowhere to be seen. His bloody flesh and a piece of bone standing from where once the knee was.
"Help…" he pleaded weakly, his eyes covered by dirt and blood, he probably didn't even realize who he was grabbing.
Instinctively the General knelt down and put his hands on the back pack of the soldier. It was small, and each of them had some medical supplies.
Remembering Mira's lessons, Darvos found a tourniquet and put it around the thigh to stop the bleeding.
"Hang on, buddy. You'll be okay." he said as he looked for a stim-pack and then found it. Rex put the soldier in the recovery position and Darvos could inject the vial.
The troopers seemed to feel a bit relieved, then luckily a medic arrived to take over and the two officers walked toward the river.
"I appreciate your effort, sir." Rex said, anticipating a mild reprimand. "But with all due respect, you need to focus on commanding. It's not the time to look at the wounded."
"How can I look my wife in the eyes if I refuse to help someone in need?" he simply replied with absolute faith in that statement.
Right, his wife. The new Grand-Master of the Jedi Order alongside her brother. Darvos had regretted not being able to go back to Lothal after being told about it. Maybe after taking Moltok he would call her.
January 19, 2226.
Bonadan reminded Ezra and Jaral of the condition Lothal was around the final months of the imperial occupation: a huge stripmined land, with entire continents deprived of life. Lothal had had a chance to recover before it was completely destroyed, and the Guardians had brought it to its original beauty.
Bonadan did not have that luck: the planet had been extremely polluted since the final century of the old Republic. It was home to ten huge spaceports around just as many metropolis. The Corporate Authority had now been supplanted by a civilian government called the Outer Rim Autonomous Region, under the protection of the New Republic, and at least it had started some projects to restore some green to the planet.
Inside Port Dusha, the main spaceport of the planet, Ezra and Jaral were to meet with the leader of Crimson Dawn, as the syndicate apparently ran a few operations and companies on the planet.
"I still feel like we're heading toward a lot of troubles, by the way." Jaral commented before they reached the place where they were told to go.
"Relax. Why would they help us free you only to kill us now?" Ezra replied optimistically.
"It's not about them that I worry about, rather what they are sending us to do."
"We'll be fine. We're Jedi Masters, now." Ezra joked.
They halted in front of a humanoid with blue skin and a thin yellow line painted on his face from eye to eye. He was guarding the access to a set of stairs heading downward to what looked like a nightclub.
"Someone told me there is no better merch around the whole planet."
"Sounds like a smart person. Who was it?" the alien replied with a relaxed attitude.
"Yensar." Ezra replied.
The alien waved his right hand and stepped aside. "Come on in. The boss is waiting for you."
Ezra nodded gratefully and led the way. Jaral was still much wary of their circumstances as they entered the club and the loud music assailed them. The place was crowded with people dancing, drinking and likely abusing some drugs.
"Maybe we should hide our lightsabers." Jaral thought down the bond.
"Point taken." Ezra conceded and the two dematerialized their weapons to conceal their real identity.
As they stepped in, another huge alien who was clearly a bodyguard stopped in front of them and pointed a thumb to 'kindly' ask them to follow him with no complaints. The siblings decided to pardon his tone since they knew he was likely used to deal with the most dangerous people in the galaxy and had to show the teeth.
They were thus accompanied to the exclusive part of the club, behind a group of guards and a tape. A circular table with three separated curved sofas composed an elegantly furnished corner where the greatest payers could enjoy their time and drinks away from the mess going on at the center of the structure. It also happened to have a sound field that kept the music as a mere background and allowed people to talk privately.
Sitting on the bench that gave the back to the wall was a mature woman with a brown bob hair, wearing a bright red lipstick that emphasized her mouth, blue hair and an attire that reminded that of a bounty hunter, but the fabrics and the overall style was much more expensive.
"Greetings, Ezra and Jaral Bridger. Make yourself comfortable." the woman invited with a gentle attitude.
The siblings quickly looked at each other and then welcomed the invite.
"Nice to meet you." Ezra started cordially. "How should we call you?"
"My name is Qi'ra. Don't worry: it's my real name." the woman quipped. "I must say, it's an honor to meet you two. I am a great fan."
"My brother told me that I owe my thanks to you for my rescue at Denevar." Jaral started her own part of the conversation.
"Oh, that was nothing. After all, that led you to destroy Project Necromancer, which had been a great service to the galaxy as a whole."
"I get it that you don't have a very positive opinion about the Emperor." Ezra rhetorically commented.
"You would be right, Master Ezra. Though, in my case it might be conditioned a little by my former boss."
The siblings got curious. "Who was him?" Jaral asked.
Qi'ra's face became a little more cautious and much serious. She waited for a moment before replying. "A former Sith named Maul."
Ezra and Jaral furrowed their brows lightly. "Wait...Maul was the leader of Crimson Dawn?" Ezra asked a little surprised.
The woman made a small nod. "He was. Until he went to a place named Malachor and we lost traces of him. Though I have the impression that you two might now more than me about his eventual fate."
"If that's the case, you might want to be prepared for a surprise…" the Jedi added, then proceeded to give a quick story of everything that had happened to the siblings since they had met Maul on Malachor, and his eventual demise by the hands of Obi-Wan.
At the end of it, Qi'ra seemed clearly interested, though not much surprised of hearing of Maul's death, since she had clearly suspected it a long time before. "Ironic. Maul had always lived for his revenge against the Emperor and Obi-Wan. And that consumed him…"
She halted, savoring that moment of contemplation.
"If Maul was your boss, why do you hate the Sith so much? Usually they don't trust anyone who doesn't worship them." Jaral interrupted the pondering after a few moments.
"True, he demanded a certain amount of loyalty, but mostly he was obsessed with his projects so much that he didn't actually care about it. I myself have killed one of his most trusted lieutenants and took his place. After that I started learning more about the Force, about the Dark Side...and why it's a danger that can't be allowed to exist."
"Glad to see someone has the lucidity to understand that." Jaral replied. "So, what do you need that you would use your hook on us?"
"You're right. We already spent too much time. I need your set of skill to clear out a pirate base and to recover a prisoner." Qi'ra said without hesitating.
"And who is that?" Ezra asked, now showing a little more of caution.
"Actually...I don't know." Qi'ra replied by opening her arms. "All I know is that both the agents of the Emperor and even the Zann Consortium are looking for a prisoner held by a group of raiders. Both have send bounty hunters to recover them, but so far none succeeded."
"You really have no clue as to who we're trying to find?" Jaral asked suspicious.
"All I could find is that they are supposed to be around 40 years. Non-Human. And most importantly, it seems like the imperials were looking for this person as a vital part of the now defunct Project Necromancer."
That last sentence made the siblings look at each other with a quiet understanding.
"If this is true…" Jaral thought.
"Then there is a chance that Palpatine will try to replicate the project." Ezra replied.
The two looked at Qi'ra with a new determination. "All right, we'll do it." said Jaral. "But why is Zann also looking for this guy?"
"You'll have to ask him for that." was Qi'ra's response. "What I do know is that Zann is trying to grasp the secrets of the Sith, too. Though, I think he's more interested in the fabled secret treasures of the Emperor."
"And I suppose that, if we weaken Zann, that leaves more room for you." Jaral noted sarcastically.
Qi'ra shrugged and quipped back. "I am a businesswoman, Master Bridger. I wouldn't ask your help without some return."
"It's not like we're on friendly terms with the Consortium anyway." Ezra added. "Last year I took out a number of operations of theirs."
"I heard about that. Which is why I don't see why you should refuse."
"Very well, we will investigate, but we reserve the right not to kill if we can avoid it."
"That's good for me, as long as you discover what they are hiding and get it away from the wrong hands." Qi'ra replied with a surprisingly accommodating tone.
Then she reached her jacket's pockets and took out a few credit bars, pushing them toward the siblings, who looked at them in surprise and perhaps a little disgust.
"Calm down. They're enough to buy you food and fuel to reach the Plesstil system." she replied. "It's a small contribution to prove that I don't want to just use you.
The siblings looked at each other, then counted the money. There 5400 credits. Indeed, just enough to buy the fuel to reach a system that was at the extreme point of the galaxy, beyond Dantooine, and to buy all the other supplies they might need.
"Then thanks." Ezra concluded. "We better move, now."
"Of course. Thank you for your time." Qi'ra said as a goodbye.
The siblings were then escorted out of the club. Outside on the surface, night was falling on the city, and they needed to reach the Silver Bullet.
"It's weird." Jaral said. "I don't really trust her, but you are right: the Force is telling that there is something important on the planet we're going to."
"Precisely. Now, how about we look for food while we're here? I was thinking we could make a pevedonian stew." her brother replied with a lighthearted tone.
Deciding that there was time before they needed to get worried, Jaral made a lopsided grin and replied. "That thing will ruin your circulation. We're gonna buy some veggies, as well."
January 20, 2226.
A group of heavily armed guards guarded the vaulted door. They were part of the new Senate Guard and all Jordan had to do was to approach the console next to the door and present his ID with the omni-tool.
"Spectre status acknowledged." the automatic voice said and the door opened.
The room was nothing more than a space reserved for briefings, but the people inside it justified the security: President Mothma, Grand Marshall Ackbar, Admiral Edrix and Prince Claudio. All of them interrupted their talks when they saw him step in.
Jordan didn't expect so many important people when he had been summoned to Lianna at the main HQ of the New Republic Armed Forces. He certainly didn't expect his federal superiors. Still, he reached the table and made the salute.
"Madam President. Sirs. I must say you caught me off-guard here." he said with a serious tone.
"Pardon the secrecy, Captain Bridger, but we needed to speak with you in private and without much warning." Mothma started in an apologizing tone.
"Fear of possible leaks?"
"It's not just imperial spies we have to look out for, Captain." Ackbar said in response and with a cryptic tone that was quite unusual for him.
"Before we start, we need to wait for another…" Claudio started, but then the door hissed open again and everyone looked that way, including Jordan.
"Ah, General Syndulla. Right on spot." Mothma greeted cordially.
Jordan was both surprised and a bit relieved to find a face that he considered his peer, and seeing Hera joining the meeting made him feel much more at home.
"Madam and sirs." the Twi'lek replied first in a formal tone, then her head turned toward Jordan and she spoke with a more friendly tone. "Nice to see you again, Jordan. I know it's a bit late, but I'm sorry for your friend."
The Legionnaire's mind returned quickly to Exegol and to the brother-in-arms that he had to leave behind in order to detonate the bomb that destroyed the planet and Project Necromancer. The marines of the Constantinople in particular were still reorganizing after the death of Gutierrez, though they were all ready to go back in action after resting for so long.
"Thank, Hera." he replied cordially. "So what is the big news?" he then asked in general.
Admiral Edrix replied by keying something on the keyboard of the holo-table and showing up a map of the galaxy with various colors and flags to represent the current fronts.
"Our joint offensive has not started well." the Turian said bluntly. "While General Tanis is making good progress in the Northern Fringe, as we expected, our thrusts down the Hydian Way and the Perlimian Trade Route have achieved almost nothing. They are not good as a distraction anymore."
"We need to tie down the imperial fleet if we want General Tanis to succeed." Ackbar said. "And right now, our only chance seems to help the Outer Rim Commonwealth to mount a more effective defense."
"I thought they didn't want anything to do with us." Jordan commented.
"That's what we thought, but I have been keeping contacts with my father." Hera said. "He revealed to me that their politics is more dictated by the fact that their main sponsor is the Zann Consortium."
Jordan hummed. "So the rumors were true."
"It seemed way too unrealistic that the worlds of the Commonwealth, with so little industrial capacity, had actually managed to raise a decent fleet in so little time since their independence." Claudio explained. "Not to mention, most of that region had been under the direct control of the Consortium before that."
"So the Commonwealth is just a puppet in the hands of Zann?"
"It exerts a great influence," Mothma answered. "but Iblis and his peers are not happy with that state of affairs. Which is why I authorized an operation that will require the help of the Constantinople and of your skill, Captain."
"What do you want me to do?" Jordan asked without questioning it too much, his discipline as a soldier kicking in.
"You remember why your daughter, my predecessor, sent you to the Trailing Sectors in the first place?" Ackbar asked.
"Yes, both to open another front and possibly to liberate Sullust."
The Calamari nodded. "You succeeded in the first objective, but unfortunately the disaster at Lantillies forced us to scrap that effort. Now, however, we intend to set a secret base in the region in order to supply the Commonwealth with weapons and special forces. In the best case scenario, we will be able to launch an offensive on Sullust."
"But will the population actually welcome us? During my last mission we listened to many transmissions and observed some imperial planets of the Mid Rim. The aliens there seem to have been fully integrated and happy with the new government of the Lord-Protector."
"That's true, however there is something odd about Sullust." Mothma said, then left the word to the Prince.
"A local rebel movement has constantly kept contacts with us throughout the years. Despite being in the Mid Rim, Sullust has always remained under the control of the central government, and the local Moff is still keeping the Sullustians as slaves, working them to the bone and shipping away the huge mineral output to somewhere else."
Jordan was a bit surprised to hear that. Sullust had some of the most productive shipyards in the galaxy and was a planet rich of raw materials to supply them. How come Iulius hadn't made pressures to have that planet?
Yet, Jordan's instinct was saying that there was something more at play here. That thought convinced him to take on the mission without doubts.
"You already have a planet that we can use?" he asked.
"Thanks to the map provided by Ezra during his campaign, we do." Hera said and keyed a set of coordinates.
The map highlighted a planet on the Ison Corridor, inside a remote sector where the imperials had small to no presence.
"Say hello to Hoth." Hera joked.
The Legionnaire looked at it, trying to confront it with the map of the galaxy he remembered. "Is that on our maps?" he asked slightly confused.
"No. It was on Ezra's holocron. Which means the Empire will not be able to track us." Hera added confidently.
Jordan chuckled. "Just like old times, uh? Well, the Constantinople is ready to take off."
"Good." said Ackbar. "General Syndulla will lead the effort to map a way to the planet and establish the base. After that, the operation will pass on to General Rieekan."
"I already spoke with the Council." Claudio added. "Your task, Captain, is to assist this operation as best as you can. You have free rein. Once the base is established, though, it's up to you to decide where you wish to intervene in the war."
Jordan clacked his heel and made the salute. "Yes, sir."
"Thank you, Captain Bridger." Mothma concluded. "Now, this meeting is adjourned."
Jordan and Hera were the first to leave the room. The Legionnaire caught the opportunity to make a few more questions.
"To be fair, I thought you were still responsible for 'Starhawk'." he whispered.
"I still am, in fact. But right now it's almost impossible to carry it on." Hera replied discouraged.
"Why is that?"
"The construction of Starhawk was based on capturing and reusing the materials of Star Destroyers. It was quite easy until Iulius' reforms, since now the Star Destroyers are always heavily guarded by smaller ships, and we don't have enough factories to spare to supply the constructions on our own. That's another reason why we need Sullust on our side."
Jordan hummed. "I see."
They walked for a while longer. They were about to reach the door and separate when Hera made one last question. "Any news from Ezra and Jaral?"
He shook his head slightly. "Sabine sent me a message that they went out on a Jedi mission, but they are not answering to any question. Which means they are doing something dangerous." he commented, more jokingly frustrated than angry.
"They are the Masters, now." Hera chuckled. "You can't ask them to stay quiet and sit back."
"I guess not...well, let me know when your fleet is ready to depart. We'll make sure to be there." he concluded.
"It's good to have you with us, Jordan. See you later." and then they went their separate ways.
Landing on Noveria had been fairly easy. Now it was about entering the Elanus Risk Control and gently ask why the assassin on T'au had turned out to be equipped with a sniper rifle they still had to commercialize.
Not that Jane expected this to be easy, or she wouldn't have come down fully armored and armed with assault rifle and shotgun. Not to mention she was bringing Garrus, Javik and Kane, all also bringing a considerable firepower with them.
That, however, didn't seem to be enough for the Administrator.
"I respect the mandate of the Emperor, miss Shepard, but I can't let you bring all those weapons into one of our major investors in security." he said both diplomatically and frightened.
"Then maybe you can go gently ask them yourself why they are trying to drag the Federation into another war." Shepard replied coldly and sarcastically.
"As I said, I will grant you access, but you can't…" the Administrator tried to reply.
"Last time a Shepard came here, the Administrator was caught with his hands full of dirt. Do you really want to take this risk?" she replied confidently, but in reality it was quite the bluff.
The Administrator, however, started sweating and his eyes wandered around. Eventually he sighed in defeat. "You have permission to reach the ERS on Mount Rerkat."
Jane smirked. "Thank you for your cooperation."
The team proceeded with a shuttle toward the facility. There they were halted by local security, made of two Turians and a Human, in order the two main species working at Elanus. A guard asked for their credentials and when Jane showed her warrant, the guard had to call his superior to know what they were supposed to do. Said superior was another Turian named Axios, a former soldier like many of his species who still upheld the laws very much.
After making sure that the document was genuine, Axios escorted the squad directly to the president of the corporation: Quinius Jesix.
"What's going on here?" the Turian asked.
"Captain Shepard, Spectre." Jane replied bluntly as she showed up the hologram of the warrant. "I have a few questions for you regarding the incident of T'au."
Jesix seemed genuinely surprised. "I heard about the incident, but what does it have to do with the company?"
Javik was observing him with his four eyes, and whispered to Jane's hear. "He speaks true, Captain. I don't think he is actually involved."
"Good." Jane whispered back, then turned again toward Jesix. "The assassin I stopped from killing the Emperor or the Commune's ambassador had a rifle that, supposedly, is still in development in your labs. The Kubin-4."
Quinius jumped on his chair. "This is absurd! That weapon is under strict secret as stipulated in our contract with the Systems Alliance."
"Then would you like to explain this?" Jane insisted, showing a picture of the assassin laying dead with the Kubin still in his hands.
The Turian looked in pure horror, the third and final sign that he wasn't involved in this whole affair. Then an expression of raging doubt appeared on his face as he slightly tilted his head, perhaps a revelation over what this could be about.
"Axios, take us to Vice-Director Maxwell." he ordered.
The turian guard nodded and then led the way toward the office of the other manager. They found the door closed tight so Axios used his codes to force it open. Inside they found clear signs that Maxwell had rushed out of the office, bringing away a few datapads, but the holo-terminal on the desk was still and open on the desktop.
"Garrus, start taking a look through his files. The others with me." Jane quickly instructed, realizing there was no time to waste.
Before that Quinius made a gesture to Axios, who lit up the wrist part of his omni-tool and spoke inside the microphone, which was then broadcast all around the building through PA.
"Attention. This is Chief Axios speaking. Vice-Director Maxwell is accused of breaching corporate trust and is wanted by the Imperial Federation. All agents stop him if you see him."
A few seconds later, a guard replied. "This is Reszinski, the Vice-Director was heading to platform 3 through corridor 5-B just two minutes ago and he had an escort."
Axios thus tried to see if there were guards in that corridor, but there was no ally signal, meaning that those people might have been other mercenaries disguised as ERS guards.
"Damn it." he exclaimed. "I'll take a squad and catch up."
"Might be too late by then." Jane replied. "Is there a way we can cut him off?"
Quinius responded almost immediately by pointing her the right direction. "If you run through the offices you should be able to get to the platform before them."
"Thanks."
The three members of the Normandy started running, trying not to bump into the employees, however they did manage to arrive onto a higher platform in front of the landing pad where they quickly spotted an elegant man accompanied by four armed guards.
Jane took out her rifle, followed by Kane with his Revenant and Javik with his Particle Rifle.
"Freeze!" she yelled.
The group was startled and spotted the group. For a moment they didn't react, then Maxwell yelled back "Kill them!" and ran for the nearest cover.
The guards also scrambled for cover while firing back, but their first burst was imprecise because of the movements, so Jane quickly planted a burst of her Vindicator that pierced the shields and then the head of a guard.
A firefight ensued. The environment was now that of a hallway where Jane and her companions had the high ground, but little room to maneuver. However they managed to keep the fugitives occupied until Axios arrived with another squad behind them. They took out another guard and the others surrendered, then apprehended Maxwell.
"Excellent work, Chief Axios." Jane complimented once she reached them.
"Thanks, Commander. I'll prepare him for transfer on your ship." the Turian replied.
"You think you solved this?!" Maxwell barked menacingly, full of frustration. "I'm just a pawn in a much bigger game. You better get off our necks before it's too late, Captain."
"Maybe. For now, your neck will spend some time in a cell for conspiracy against the Emperor." she replied calmly. Then nodded to Axios, who brought him away.
"Shepard, this is Garrus. I found some very interesting mails and credit movements on the terminal. I'll send them all to the Normandy."
"Good work, Garrus. Meet us at the landing pad once you're finished. I'm afraid we just uncovered a hornet's nest." she replied.
The words of Maxwell seemed like the prelude to something much more sinister and obscure. Jesix clearly had nothing to do with the attempt of making the Federation and the Commune go to war with each other, and Maxwell alone couldn't have organized all by himself. Was he part of some sort of ring? Whatever the case, Jane knew she had to get to the bottom of this, and make sure that the upcoming talks between the Council and the Commune would go smoother than the meeting between the two princes.