Chapter 11: Distractions
May 3, 2227.
Darvos was still trying to put his head right after hearing Ezra's report. The Empire building another Death Star, and the agency he ran knew absolutely nothing about it. It was all very frustrating and ominous. But it had to wait as the sensors alerted that the first wave of imperial ships was on its way.
The Liberator was waiting behind the main Republican line, which was made up of the Home One and Ackbar's division. Darvos was to coordinate the fighters and send in his naval squad whenever he saw an opportunity to break the imperial formation.
By now, the ICO had confirmed that leading the imperial forces in this theater was Admiral Gallius Rax, the same that Darvos and Ezra had sabotaged and stopped during the campaign to rescue Jaral. It was clear that the Admiral had learned from that blunder, for this time he had secured his logistics while retaining aggressiveness and initiative.
Luckily, it seemed like Ackbar had a plan to stop him right there and then.
"Sir, all squadrons have reported in." Merryl informed.
"Thanks, Merryl. Coordinate with the Home One, let me know when the Marshall needs them."
The Captain nodded and moved toward another console while Darvos remained at the holo-table. On the sides of the Liberator there was the MC-75 cruiser Abyss and a new Endurance-class Star Destroyer, the Courage, acting both as an escort for the carrier and as tactical reserves to send in if the opportunity presented itself for breaking the imperial line.
Suddenly, the alarm bleeped on the table: a fleet was coming out of hyperspace.
"Here they come!" Darvos loudly announced. "All hands to battle stations!"
The general alarm now blared on the bridge and the entire ship. The simulation indicated that the rest of the fleet was doing the same as well.
A few seconds later, a large fleet counting at least 7 ISD with their escorts for a total of 63 ships arrived at destination. By contrast, the allies had only 40 ships, but they did have 7 capitals, for Ackbar had two MC-80 cruisers and a Dauntless-classaccompanying his ship.
And the precedent battle of Ithor, even if it had ended in a disaster for the Republic, had shown that Rax only had two squadrons of TIE Defenders and none of the new classes of TIEs. Darvos still wondered if that was because those models were mostly produced in the Mid Rim, and thus all went to Iulius' fleet, or if Rax didn't want to recognize that his main rival actually built something useful.
Either way, that went much in favor of the allies, for now the Liberator has just received new reinforcements: two squadrons of the new E-Wing, armed with two ELIN-18 cannons. These cannons were the result of a cooperation between the Elkoss Combine of the Milky Way and the Incom Corporation of the New Republic. It mixed the high rate of fire typical of the Federation's fighters with the punch of the blasters. The E-Wing was a heavy fighter, not as agile as the X-Wing, but the cannons alone should have been capable of taking down the shields of a Defender quickly.
Darvos observed as the imperial line refrained from going immediately all-in. Instead a single Star Destroyer flew forward with its squadron. Most likely for a probing attack.
"Launch Red, Rogue, Green and Orange squadrons. Have them on stand-by outside the hangar." he ordered.
Merryl nodded and relayed the order. A few seconds later, the X-Wings flew out of the two major hangars at the center of the carrier. The Y-Wings and their A-Wing escorts were being prepared on the wings' hangars.
The imperial squadron then opened fire on the republican one. The attackers clearly relied mostly on the Victory-class destroyers and their torpedoes, but then Ackbar pulled out his first trick: he simply charged forward.
That took the attackers completely by surprise, since the allied fleet was in defensive formation and normally no one would expect such a disposition to mean anything else than a stationary line. But Ackbar defied that conception by making the rest of his division encircle the small imperial vanguard while the Home One aimed straight at the ISD.
"Receiving orders to send in the fighters." Prax reported.
Darvos immediately opened the channel with Biggs and the other squadron leaders. "Group Anoreth, move in."
"Copy you, Overlord." Biggs replied first, quickly followed by the rest of the commanders.
The veteran pilots of the Liberator joined the fray and they quickly tipped the scale of the fight between snubs. Quickly taking down several TIE Bombers and Fighters, they denied the imperials space superiority and that allowed the major vessels to continue their charge much more easily.
Caught with its guard down and quickly forced into a close battle, the imperial vanguard was soon overrun.
"Yeah...burn, you damn monsters." one of the operators commented sadistically.
Darvos didn't like that statement at all, but he had to recognize the ability of Ackbar: the enemy had not committed wholly and he had exploited that opportunity to even the odds a bit. The imperials had lost a Star Destroyer and 8 more vessels, thus bringing down their number to 54 while the UACT had only lost a few fighters.
At this point, the imperial fleet in the distance started reorganizing, and it soon became clear that Rax wanted to continue with a three-pronged attack. While the main force would focus against the Home One and the other star cruisers of the UACT, there was a lighter force that would try to go through an asteroid field that was covering the left flank of the allied fleet; and another group would try to break in from the right wing.
Ackbar called in. "General Tanis, send your fighters to defend the asteroid field and your cruisers on the right."
"Yes, Marshall. Group Anoreth, move on defensive sector V-3." Darvos said, then turned toward Merryl. "Launch Group Binak."
As the X-Wings rushed to intercept the small imperial vessels that were trying to flank the fleet through the asteroids, the Y-Wings and A-Wings also departed from the carrier, heading for that same direction as they would have to use their superior maneuverability to destroy the Tartan and other frigates while the fighters kept the imperial ones at bay.
"Sir. We are detecting the TIE Defenders on attack vector toward the Home One." Prax alerted.
"Then it's time...Corona. Vanguard. Launch and intercept them."
"This is Corona Squadron, copy."
"This is Vanguard Squadron, moving out."
In thirty seconds, the E-Wings were out in the void and heading at their full speed to the rescue of the Home One, which was having a hard time repelling the shielded TIEs.
Darvos observed the fight on the holo-table. And it was surprised to see that the weapons of the E-Wing performed even better than anticipated: the TIE Defenders went down with just a few hits, but at the same time the E-Wings were not that resistant against a burst of the Defenders' heavy cannons and missiles.
It was a hard dogfight, and since the machines were pretty much even, eventually it was the slightly superior experience of the Republic pilots that won them the confrontation, but not without heavy casualties.
Meanwhile, the fighters had managed to stop the imperial maneuver through the asteroids, repelling their attack after taking out three frigates.
"Abyss to Liberator, an imperial cruiser is heading straight for you!" a voice on the comlink alerted.
Darvos saw the target on the holo-table. His battle group was holding the right flank, but a damaged Victory cruiser had managed to get through that chaos, albeit slightly damaged, and was going at full speed toward the carrier, likely figuring that it would be a huge blow to the UACT fleet if she was taken down.
"If they think we're defenseless, they're in for a rude awakening." Merryl declared loudly. "Move forward, tilt 40 starboard, ready weapons."
The Liberator might have been a carrier, but she still had six twin turbolaser turrets and four twin ion turrets. Enough to take out a ship like the one coming at them.
"Missiles incoming!" a voice shouted on the bridge as the Victory-class fired from its port side, since the other one had been already destroyed.
"Jam them and activate Point-defense." Merryl instructed.
The first two missiles were deviated entirely from the carrier, the remaining three were shot down. The imperial cruiser was still approaching, intending to fire on the carrier with the turbolasers, but then Merryl had the ion cannons fire on her. With the power quickly falling, the cruiser found itself with insufficient firepower and her shields rapidly falling, so when the Liberator fire a broadside, the bridge of the cruiser was quickly blown up and the imperial ship started her descent toward the planet.
It didn't take much longer for the rest of the 82nd to repel the imperial flanking group, and at that point, Rax decided to cut his losses and ordered to fall back to the starting position, where several logistical ships were ready to make emergency repairs on the battle ships.
Still, Darvos found it odd: the imperials had not lost so many ships, this time, and even the allies had lost an MC-80 and at least 6 more ships. Rax still had a considerable advantage to give up so quickly.
Then a doubt made way into his head. He quickly closed the projection on the holo-table and zoomed on the whole region.
And he didn't take long to notice that the imperials were taking much more effort than usual to jam long-range transmissions.
Darvos quickly reached a console where one of his personal assistants was going through dispatched.
"Nobin, I need you to check on frequency sub-92."
The Abednedo nodded and quickly keyed in the codes for the secret frequency that Darvos had set up with Ajan Kloss Base.
"Overlord to Alpha Base. Do you read me?"
After a few beeps, indicating that the security measures were still in place, the voice of Rex reached him.
"Overlord, we got an emergency! An imperial incursion has been reported on Mygeeto."
His fears turning out to be true, Darvos grunted and rushed back to the holo-table to call Ackbar.
"Overlord to Home One. Come in, Home One."
Since the imperial fleet had now pulled back, Ackbar had the time to reply. "We read you, Overlord."
"We have an emergency. Alpha Base just reported an imperial incursion on Mygeeto. This attack is just a part of a larger enemy offensive."
He heard the Calamari humming, thinking of a solution for a few seconds before he gave his new orders. "Overlord, take your heavy squadron and reach Alpha Base. Assess the situation on Mygeeto."
"Are you sure, sir? It might be important, but if Agamar falls…"
"I am aware, General. Don't worry about us, we will manage here." Ackbar replied with a calm confidence.
Darvos decided to trust him. Ackbar had been an officer even before the Clone Wars and had a combat experience second to few in the galaxy. Rax might have been good, but this first phase of the battle had shown that he was nothing that the Grand Marshall couldn't handle.
"Captain Merryl, recall all fighters and set a course for Alpha Base."
"Yes, sir."
Darvos then sent the rendezvous signal to the Courage and the Abyss and their escorts, and together, they headed for Ajan Kloss.
May 4, 2227.
The Razor Crest was orbiting reached the orbit of the system's main planet, allowing Jaral to speak openly on the traffic channel.
"Romin Control, this is Master Jaral Bridger of the Jedi Order. Requesting permission for me and my delegation to land."
"Copy that, Master Bridger. Please transmit your codes." the controller replied on the other side of the comlink.
Jaral did just that and shortly after, the ship and the Gauntlet following her were allowed to land at the capital city of Eliior. The two freighters were allowed to land into one of the major areas of the spaceport, where they shared the same pad, and where a Romin civilian officer was waiting for Jaral.
She led the group of mandalorians and her two Padawans in front of the officer, and she found herself curiously looking at the golden color of his skin, and the nose that was barely sticking out from the rest of the head.
"Greetings, Master Bridger. I'm Pol Nhat. In the name of the Romin Dicastery, I welcome you on our world."
Jaral made a polite bow. "I thank you for your warm welcome, sir Pol Nhat." she said. She had read a few notes that had explained her that the Romin considered extremely important saying the whole name when talking to somebody. Calling him by his surname would have been very disrespectful.
"As you surely know, Master Bridger, our people have recently signed the Yavin Convention, but we are still trying to remain neutral in this conflict. Therefore, I hope your presence here is not related to the war effort."
"A source told us that an imperial governor is hiring bounty hunters to track and kidnap one of our younglings. We need to find him, but this is purely Jedi business. We're not here to bring the war back to your planet."
Pol Nhat grumbled a bit, but replied in a polite tone. "As long as you don't cause chaos on our streets, we are willing to let you go on your business."
"I promise, the people will barely notice that we are around." she replied.
"Then I wish you a good day." the Romin replied before getting away.
The group then stepped out of the pad and into the hallways of the spaceport.
"Okay, now we need to find…" Jaral started, but a voice broke her thoughts.
"Hey! Sword wavers!"
Jaral turned and quickly spotted Ketsu Onyo, waving at them. The dark-skinned mandalorian approached the group and the two women shook hands.
"Nice to see you again, Ketsu. You have been missing for a while."
Ketsu shrugged with a smirk on her face. "It's too early for me to settle down. I crave some more adventure." she then turned to Sellion and Lissia. "How's it going, little fellas?"
"You are just five years older than us." Lissia joked back.
"Compared with teens, five years make me a lot more adult than you." the woman replied in tone.
"While we are at it, Ketsu," Jaral intervened. "Are you Din's source?" she said, pointing a thumb to the fully clad mando next to her.
"You bet. We've crossed paths two or three times." the huntress replied, then nodded her chin to Din. "Hey, tin head, that new armor is dope."
"From what you told me, it might not be long before you get one, too." Din replied with his usual deep voice. "Where is this ferrik?"
"Actually, you came just in time. This guy, Beskrech, hasn't found anyone crazy enough to try and snatch a youngling from the Jedi Academy. But that just means that he's about to leave the planet for the next one with a Bounty Hunger Guild on it."
"Where is he?" Jaral promptly asked, going in combat mode.
"Loading up everything on his Gozanti on bay 32, at the edge of this spaceport. He should be leaving in two hours, which gives us plenty of time to do some recon and plan how we are going to steal all that."
The two women left their companions behind and went on recon. With Jaral's cloaking device, it was quite easy to get near the Gozanti and take a quick look at what the stormtroopers were loading up. She also spotted the Moff and his escort. After taking a look as deep as possible, she returned to Ketsu and they quickly regrouped with their companions.
"Okay, here's the situation: Moff Beskrech does have some beskar bars, I saw at least a medium-sized crate full of it. However, we can't just go in there and seize the cargo, because the Empire could use that as an excuse to invade this planet and we promised the Romins that we would avoid it."
"We can attack them while they're in orbit. The Romins can claim it was an act of piracy that they couldn't prevent." Sellion chimed in.
"That's more or less the plan, except that I don't want to risk blowing up the ship with all its cargo." Jaral replied. "We're going to do it this way…"
And so, Jaral, Din, Lissia and one of the mandalorian warriors, Strax, found themselves holed up into a container of the imperials and into the cargo bay of the Gozanti. Meanwhile the rest of the group had retaken the ships (numbering now three with Ketsu's) and had enacted the part of the orbital attack.
Without getting too close, the freighters were firing on the Gozanti, which in turn was firing back with its dorsal turret and rushing toward the jump point.
"I hope your apprentice doesn't scratch my ship." Din whispered, referring to Sellion.
"Relax. Sellion is a good pilot. Let's worry about ourselves." Jaral replied with the same tone.
They had already heard the alarm blaring on the ship. Now all they had to do was to wait for the PA announcing that the emergency had subsided, and that arrived not too much later.
"Lissia?" Jaral asked, asking her Padawan to use her connection to the Force to see if there was any guard in that holding.
It was the aspect of the Force that the Tolothian girl was incredibly prominent in.
"The room is clear." she finally said after reopening her eyes.
Her Master nodded, materialized her armor and cautiously opened the door of the container. Her scanner also confirmed that there was nobody, as most likely all the guards were guarding something more important in the main hold.
The strike team thus sneaked outside and reached the only door on the cargo.
It was wishful thinking to even assume they could reach the cockpit of the transport without a fight. All those stormtroopers were certainly spreading around the corridors already. All Jaral could do was to try and make her best to only stun or injure those she happened to cross, and hoping that at least Lissia would do the same.
She reached the control panel for the door, put a finger on it and made sure her comrades were ready, then she pushed it.
They only made one turn before they found two stormtroopers that were walking exactly toward them.
"What the…?" one of them asked confused before Jaral used the Force to slam him against the wall.
The second one was a little more responsive and reached the button for the alarm that happened to be next to him before Din shot him down, but the damage was done.
"The main hold should be on the left." Jaral said. "Din, Strax, you secure it. We'll seize the cockpit."
"Agreed." Din replied.
Another group of five stormtroopers came out of the turns. While they were still baffled as to how there were four heavily armed intruders, they didn't hesitate to open fire.
The groups separated, with the mandalorians going to recover their sacred alloy and the Jedi fighting their way to the cockpit. Jinx also hacked the badly defended internal network of the ship and set off every alarm in every sector, making the guards disperse even more and cutting off their comms from one another, which helped the Jedi greatly in reaching the cockpit and breaching it.
They were then greeted by the Death Troopers, who were waiting at the door and fired. Jaral managed to deflect the bolt in a split-second reaction, Lissia managed to dodge it just in time. The women then reacted and used their lightsabers to slash the weapons of the Troopers.
Jaral lifted her weapon to bring down another blow, but the Death Trooper dived and tackled the Jedi, who was taken by surprise. She fell on the ground, losing her lightsaber as the blade smashed against the wall. The Death Trooper promptly took out a vibro-blade that could pierce her armor's shields, but before he could stab her, Jaral quickly hit his chest with one of her palms. It didn't make any damage, but it really helped her increasing her concentration to shoot him on the roof with the Force.
Lissia was not faring much better. Her target had dodged her first blow, and she was taken off-balance as well when he kicked her in the right arm and shoulder, being sent flying back.
The other trooper then had pinned her down with a knee on her stomach and had put his hands around her neck, trying to suffocate her.
Jaral didn't waste any time in recovering her lightsaber with the Force, grab the Trooper to distance him from her Padawan and then stab him in the chest, killing him.
"Are you ok?" Jaral asked quite worried.
Lissia coughed a bit, but waved a positive. "I'm fine...get him."
Inside the cockpit, Jaral recognized an imperial officer with the plaque of a Moff, meaning that he was Beskrech, and he was aiming his pistol at her. He shot a bolt that hit Jaral in the helmet but didn't penetrate her shields, so she used the Force to quickly disarm him. The Master then dashed inside and pointed her blade at the neck of the Moff.
"Tell your men to stand down." she intimated.
Beskrech made an attempt at smirking. "You think you won?" he said with a little difficulty in his voice. "You are exactly where he wants you...Long live the Emperor."
Then he gnashed his teeth and his mouth fizzled with a couple of small electric bolts. Jaral stepped back and saw as the Moff fell on the ground, his mouth leaving out smoke.
Deciding to investigate later, she turned toward the two pilots, two young officers who didn't seem to know what they could do in front of an armored woman that had just killed two Death Troopers and the Moff.
"Step away from the controls!" she ordered them.
They rose their hands and from their chairs, allowing Jaral to step close and make Jinx take over the control of all the ship, including the sealing doors to trap all the stormtroopers that were still spread out around the ship.
"Jaral, this is Din. We've secured the beskar." the mandalorian said just in time. "There is so much it will provide for hundreds of foundlings."
"Glad to hear that." Jaral replied calmly, but with a crescent discomfort in her heart. "I'll try to convince the other troopers to surrender. Once we load the cargo on our ships, they will be free to go."
"We'll stand ready, just in case." Strax replied.
Lissia had recovered and now closed the door of the cockpit. "All right, you two," she said to the pilots. "Sit down here, stay calm, and you will be home in a few hours."
The pilots nodded and seemed in no mood to die heroically, so they compelled.
"Mission accomplished, it seems." the Tolothian commented satisfied at the end.
"Yeah...then why do I have a very bad feeling?" Jaral added grimly.
The return on Naboo had been tranquil, at least for Iulius. Somebody else had been extremely busy in preparation for the ceremony that was about to take place and that the Lord-Protector would officiate.
Right now, he was waiting in his office, reading reports from the Northern Fringe, but mostly staring at the insane order he had just received from Coruscant, and thinking how he could ever pull it off. That was, until Qathora entered in the room with and reprimanded him.
"What are you doing?! The grooms are ready!"
Iulius snapped out of his train of thoughts and put down the datapad. At least he had already tidied his uniform and combed his hair, so all he had to do was walking in the garden of the base and reach the altar before turning toward the quite large public of officers and soldiers of the 101 and people from Jelucan, among which were Ciena's parents and Thane's elder brother, Dalven Kyrell, the only one who had showed up at the wedding.
Nash, being the best man, arrived with Thane at the altar, left him there and then went to take his place on the front row. Iulius smiled at his starfighter Captain, who returned with an extremely nervous smirk as he stood there in his elegant but slightly messed clothing.
Hard to tell why he looked so frantic, but Iulius didn't feel like asking what happened in those last hours and spoil the joyous atmosphere.
The band of the base started playing a revised but touching version of a nuptial march and then Ciena appeared. As per Jelucani tradition, the male came with just a witness while the female was accompanied by two relatives, possibly her parents, to the altar. Contrary to Thane, Ciena was admittedly gorgeous, with the white dress exalting her dark skin and black, curly hair that were now combed behind her back, contrary to her usual ponytail.
On sync with the brief music, the bride was accompanied at the two-steps and then walked up on her own until she was in front of the groom.
Iulius gave a quick glimpse at the several people ready to sit on their chairs. There was pretty much everybody. Qathora, Yagler, Fel and his family, Cody and other stormtroopers, even Iden and her squad were standing behind the last row of chairs, content in just being there.
And then there was also Namedra, in one of the middle rows, chatting with Sekta next to her. He didn't let that thought distract him from his duty, though.
"Please, be seated." he invited in a solemn yet relaxed tone.
Everyone who had a chair complied, and when silence fell Iulius started the ceremony.
"Friends. Comrades. Gawking Naboos." he started. The last one being due to the fact that the garden was just outside the perimeter of the base and was thus a public space, and there were many curious civilians looking at the scene. "We are gathered here today, to celebrate the union of Thane Kyrell and Ciena Ree."
It was now the time for him to add something personal, and with the spouses looking at him with a sincere affection, he decided to loosen up a little and show his sentimental side.
"I have been your commanding officer since your final days at the Academy, and it has been a real pleasure to watch your distracting childish rivalry, evolve into a distracting childish courtship, into what I am sure will be a distracting childish marriage." he started with a tone that was clearly feigning to be serious. The grooms chuckled at that. "I am proud of you...and I love you both."
Ciena and Thane barely held back a cut breath.
"Permission to say it back?" Thane asked moved.
"Permission granted."
"Love you, sir."
"Love you, Grand." Ciena added, pretty much overlapping with Thane.
Iulius smirked, then proceeded. "Now, I assume you prepared your own vows?"
Thane went first. "Yes…" he took a breather and the looked at Ciena straight in the eyes. "Ciena. Today has been quite the day. But I shouldn't be surprised, because ever since the day I met you, all those years before, every day has been unbelievable. There was our first trip to the cave. The day we entered the Academy together. There was our first kiss...and the day you told me yes. And...I don't know what the future holds for us...but I know that, as long as I will be with you, I will never be afraid of it. I love you...and I'm afraid of dancing in front of our boss."
Ciena bursted out chuckling, while Thane turned toward the officiator and said "The end."
After the Senior Commander regained her composure, she began speaking.
"Well. The first time you spoke with me, I would have never imagined that we would end up here. Especially after that period at the Academy, I thought I had lost you forever. But I'm here now...and I have never been happier. Life is unpredictable. Not everything is in our control, but the way that we react to it is. And I know that you, Thane Kyrell, are all I need to do the right thing. As long as I'm with you, I feel like I can overcome everything the universe will throw at us."
Silence fell and the two took each others' hands.
Iulius thus turned toward the crowd.
"Ring-bearer. Please deliver the rings."
Qathora stood up, walked on the altar with a small case and then opened it, revealing the two rings. She handed one to Thane, who prepared to put it on Ciena.
"Do you, Thane Kyrell, take Ciena Ree as your wife?" Iulius asked.
"I absolutely do." Thane replied and put the ring on.
The Togruta handed the other to Ciena.
"And do you, Ciena Ree, take Thane Kyrell to be your husband?"
"With all my heart." she replied.
After they had both put the rings on, Iulius rose a hand in a solemn gesture.
"By the power vested me by the Galactic Empire, I am honored to declare you...husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."
The two abandoned themselves to the kiss as the crowd started clapping loudly. That was followed by the launch of confetti as they walked across the rows and reached the entrance of the garden. Then everybody headed to the mess hall, where they had prepared a modest banquet.
While Iulius was enjoying all of that, it also arrived the moment to take care of business. He managed to call Octis and Admiral Versio to talk in a corner of the room.
"Something wrong, Iulius?" Vinicio asked a bit worried, easily reading the face of his commander and friend.
Iulius made sure they were out of reach for curious ears and then whispered. "Don't break the news today, but we received our next orders...we are tasked with attacking and retaking Ringo Vinda."
The two officers barred their eyes.
"Ringo Vinda?!" Octis asked baffled.
"That planet is a fortress." Versio hissed. "To take it, we would have to gamble half of the Mid Rim Forces."
"I know." Iulius tried to calm them. "But it's true that Admiral Rax's offensive on the Northern Fringe has deviated many rebel units there, and we have intel that the so-called New Republic is sending reinforcements to their allies in the Trailing Sectors. The planet's defenses are tough, but I think we have a shot. Nonetheless...we must be prepared to suffer high casualties."
Silence fell among the officers. All three of them realized that this could be a turning point in the war: an operation to take Ringo Vinda was going to be a massive undertaking, that would draw away a lot of ships and manpower. It could either deny the New Republic of its biggest shipyards, or it could end in a disaster that left the Mid Rim vulnerable.
"Well, whatever it is, I'm sure you'll see us through." Vinicio said all of a sudden, sporting a smile that wasn't there a moment before.
Iulius was left honestly surprised at how much that young Captain trusted him.
"So what are the orders, Grand Admiral?" he insisted.
The Grand Admiral turned toward Versio. Though he didn't smile like Octis, he did seem quite in agreement with that statement.
Iulius sighed, but he found a bit of confidence in their trust. "Ok, I want you two to coordinate and make a thorough recon of the systems surrounding Ringo Vinda. Look for a possible path through the Roche Belt that can stay open for more than two rotations. I will schedule a meeting with Fondor Shipyards to see how many more ships we can have in a month."
"Right away, sir." Versio replied
"We can make this." was Octis' final comment before disappearing.
Iulius closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Attacking Ringo Vinda was the last thing he wanted to do. He would have preferred to focus on the Commonwealth, but the order came directly from Mas Amedda, which meant it was the Emperor's will, and while Iulius might have the control of High Command, he was still a loyal citizen who believed in the hierarchy and the institutions, so all he could do was obey.
He headed back to the mess hall and went straight to the counter to have a cocktail. He really needed that. And perhaps, he should go speak with Namedra.
The Constantinople left hyperspace, with the Ghost still attached to the main hatch. Lothal stood in front of the viewport once again, along with the fleet stationed there to defend the most important asset of the Federation in Andromeda.
"It's good to be home." Jordan commented as he stepped down the Galaxy Map.
"Better enjoy the time here, until we can." Hera added with the same joyful voice.
"Oh, I got it all planned. It's the hot season, so I am bringing Mira and Samira to the beach before I leave again."
"You definitely deserved some time off, after all you've done in the Commonwealth."
"Hey, you have done a great job, too. Maybe take Jacen somewhere."
"I'll take it into consideration."
They both reached the cockpit, for they both had to send their codes to the control tower.
"Lothal Control, this is the Constantinople and the Ghost, requesting permission to land." Rut started in the comlink.
"Constantinople, we are sending your request to the Navy. Please, stand-by." the controller replied. Jordan didn't miss a slight note of urgency in his voice.
Rut looked behind toward the two officers, who were just as confused as him. Why would the Navy manage their landing?
The waiting was quite tense. It took nearly 20 seconds for another controller to reply.
"Constantinople, Ghost, this is the INS Aconcagua, please send your verification codes."
Jordan was starting to get quite alarmed, now. He stepped forward and went to reply directly at the comlink. "Aconcagua, this is Captain Jordan Bridger. I'm sending my Spectre codes." he declared, and then did just that.
"Captain Bridger, your codes are valid."
"Great. Now tell me what's going on."
"The planet is on lockdown, Captain. There is a hostage situation on the surface."
"And you lock down the entire planet?" Jordan asked, his fear increasing. "Where is this happening?"
"The Jedi Academy, Captain."