A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away….
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STAR WARS
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CHRONICLES OF THE OLD REPUBLIC
THE PATH OF REVAN
It is a time of rising conflict.
Almost four thousand years prior
to the rise of the Galactic Empire,
The Republic is in turmoil.
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Mandalorian Crusaders, led by
the tyrant MANDALORE THE
ULTIMATE, have struck from the
outer rim, conquering entire
civilisations on their conquest of
the galaxy.
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Unaided by the resolute Jedi
Order, Republic forces have been
dispatched to the outer rim to
protect as many planets as
possible….
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- — Part 1: For Fear and Glory — -
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— Prologue —
Space. The stars, the nebulae and all other forces of cosmic luminance spatter the black canvas with specks of radiant glimmer. Once a sight of incomprehensible awe and wonder, Carth Onasi now acknowledges it as a reminder of the countless years spent speeding between planets - chasing down criminals and foes of all might and calibre. A once-easy job. 'Maybe not even worth all the countless commendations', Carth thought to himself. But even he knew everything was changing for the Republic, more specifically for its military. Everything was changing for the worse since the Mand'alor declared war.
'How many battles will I face? How many people will I have to watch die?'
Carth shook the thoughts from his head and looked back up at the sky - the stars. The glow of the morning sun was sweeping over the horizon on the planet of Serroco. Carth appreciated every moment he spent between chaos on new worlds. He let the breeze run by his neck, opening his palms to catch the cool air.
"Onasi!" An authorial voice rang out. 'Admiral Saul Karath', Carth mentally recited. He spun and saluted his Commanding Officer, who continued. "At ease. I need you and your team in the hangar. Looks like the Chancellor was right; They're coming sooner than we expected." With one last breath of fresh mountain air, Carth Onasi turned toward the Republic camp, and the makeshift landing zone generously dubbed 'the hangar'.
The camp that had been set up on Serroco was not permanent, Carth knew, and was made quickly under order of the Supreme Chancellor. The current initiative of aiding planets and systems under imminent subjugation from the Mandalorians meant that the Republic military was being stretched thin, with too little time to establish long-term bases across previously politically-neutral worlds. 'If there's one thing that ends neutrality, it's the threat of war', Carth thought to himself. The planet of Serroco fell strongly into the category of neutrality, with the native race - the Stereb - holding a peaceful and pacifistic belief system.
"Shouldn't you be on the bridge?" Carth inquired with a touch of sly cheek only a close friend could get away with.
"Needed the walk. Anything to get even a slight break from the tents. Besides, I couldn't miss the chance to send you off."
Carth grinned. He had come a long way from being a student of Karath's at the Republic Flight Academy. "I guess this is what it feels like, being at war." He remarked, brow furrowed.
"Don't sweat it." Saul shrugged. "Last time this happened, the Republic had to deal with both Jedi and Sith maniacs running around, causing havoc."
"Well.. This is it I suppose. Good luck." Carth sighed. The idea of death being an imminent possibility was only just dawning on him. 'You'd think signing up as a military pilot would have drawn me to that conclusion years ago..'
"I'll see you soon, Onasi." Saul smiled. There was a seriousness and a sombreness that penetrated his grin, such that Carth couldn't help but feel that this may be a final goodbye.
In what felt like slow motion, Carth traversed the moist and grassy ground back to the base. He travelled past the tents, through the operations buildings, and into the open space within which stood two squadrons of Aurek-class Tactical Strikefighters. Carth chuckled to himself, remembering how difficult he found the name in the Flight Academy. 'Aureks' for short, he reminded himself.
Carth Onasi was a simple man. Roughly styled brown hair, a layer of clean stubble, his well-defined face was the only attribute of his appearance that separated him from much of the military. 'Inoffensively unremarkable', he had always dubbed himself. For the majority of his life, he knew that flying was what he wanted to do. Ever since he had attended his first swoop race on Telos IV, he had desired nothing more than to feel the speed and the reckless freedom of flight. 'The Flight Academy had heard that story a million times', he chuckled. But it was true - and now here he was, with his own ship, on the eve of battle.
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A dark, hulking Mandalorian Capital Warship cut across the expanse of space, slowly piercing the atmosphere of Serroco. Flanked by two impressively designed battleships each holding a small fleet of Davaab-type Starfighters. The Warship had become an icon of destruction and death to the planets it had visited. The armour bore the scars of past grisly victories, and its sides displayed the red and black sigil of the Mandalorian Neo-Crusaders.
The artist of the oncoming destruction was Field Marshal Cassus Fett. A stone-cold being, Fett had lost his humanity long ago. Morality, compassion, empathy were all traits that had been beaten and lectured out of him as heir to a line of high-born Mandalorian Marshals and Commanders.
As the fleet began to push through the clouds of Serroco, Fett internally recited the Mandalorian war chant in his native Mando'a tongue, drawing strength from its words.
'Oya'cye, Kyr'am, Mare'cye, Darasuum, Oya! Oya!'
'Life, Death, Revelation, Eternity, Let's Live! Let's Hunt!'
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"Battle stations!"
Carth snapped back to reality. Sat in the tight cockpit of his Aurek fighter, he shook his head and flicked the thrusters on. They rumbled to life - sending a familiar shudder through the light chassis of the ship and sending a fiercely satisfying grumble into the air.
"Dorn squadron cleared for takeoff!" The Air Traffic Controller called through the comms. The first squadron of strikefighters lifted off slowly, eventually blasting away into the sky in tight formation. "Esk squadron cleared for takeoff!" Carth pulled back on the joystick, letting his ship leave the ground with a slight grin.
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Saul Karath stood on the bridge of his command ship, a large and steady Hammerhead-class cruiser christened The Vigilant. Republic Officers and flight crew sat around him, working away to prepare the ship for flight. Through the wide viewport, he spotted the Mandalorian warships emerging from the clouds.
"Blast it." He cursed. Members of the crew followed his gaze to the incoming ships. "Get us airborne!" Saul reminded them, reorienting their focus.
The Vigilant, flanked by two identical cruisers, came to life with the groan and shuddering of large engines, one-by-one beginning to rise into the air.
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Carth imagined how the wind would feel against his skin as he glided through the fresh morning air, warm sunlight reflecting off the windshield. He eyed his squad members, who were all in formation around him.
"Keep it steady." He advised, noticing a slight drift in trajectory due to the wind. He wrestled with the elements to keep the warships in front of him, within his sights.
"All fighters, hold fire until my signal." Admiral Karath's voice buzzed from the comms. Carth found the shoot-first-ask-questions-later attitude from the Republic morbidly refreshing. After years of failed diplomacy and fruitless scout runs on obvious criminals for piles of paperwork that could prove beyond a shadow of doubt their criminal ties, a direct attitude devoid of deliberation was what he felt the Mandalorians deserved. 'But then again', he thought, 'maybe that's how the Mandalorians feel about us.'
In a flurry of movement, Mandlorian starfighters were suddenly ejected from the hangar bays of the two flanking battleships.
"Admiral, eyes on two enemy squadrons!" Carth yelled into the comms.
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Saul's eyes narrowed. The only outcome was an aerial dogfight, but it was how this would play out that was the lingering thought on his mind.
"Dorn squadron! on my mark, break left. Esk squadron, break right." He stroked his chin, thinking ahead to mentally play out his own plan.
"Copy that!" Dorn Leader responded.
"Copy!" Carth called out.
The squadrons drew closer and closer to one another. As he waited for the perfect moment, Saul spoke to the bridge personnel.
"Captain Hardell, move your cruiser close to the surface and under the enemy to position yourself behind them. Captain Troming and I will stay between them and the city."
"Copy that, Admiral." Hardell replied. Saul knew that the Cruisers were strong and could withstand a heavy frontal assault, and such was the case with the enemy. However, in his experience with Capital ships, the underside bore the weakest artillery and, while armoured enough to render heavy attacks pointless, could not deter ships moving beneath, as with Captain Hardell. Meanwhile, it was his and Troming's responsibility to protect the people on the planet's surface, as commanded by the Chancellor.
"Break now!" Saul yelled. Immediately, Dorn squadron broke left, and Esk squadron broke right - scrambling the Mandalorian starfighters.
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Carth, having yanked his strikefighter to the right, pushed back against the G-force as lasers filled the air. They buzzed past his ship, but he managed to clear the field of death with ease as the enemy fighters struggled to bank fast enough to stay behind them. "Draw the enemy fighters back toward us!" Saul called. Carth made eye contact with the three other ships in his squadron, all of which were close by and in some semblance of their previous formation.
"Dern and Lee, you climb and get behind the enemy fighters when they give chase! Kymm and I will draw them back to the cruisers!" The three pilots all responded with similar notes of understanding as the loose formation broke.
The Mandalorian Starfighters, having recovered from the hard bank, began to give chase - just as Carth had expected.
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Cassus Fett watched the chaos begin to unfold beneath him. His gilded mask hid whatever emotions he may have been displaying. A Mandalorian Officer beside him looked over with an air of nervousness.
"Sir, an enemy cruiser is descending to pass beneath us."
"Send Ardus down after it. Do not let them pass." Fett replied calmly and coolly. The Field Marshal scanned the planet's surface. At strategic points in the wide and sprawling Capital city, he spotted the Republic camps - now mostly empty. He cursed. "They've built their bases, military outposts, into the cities and homes of others. I see what they're doing. I see a defence without honour. Let them see what such a defence deserves. Let them burn."
"Sir?" The warship's Captain inquired. Her armour was slightly more stylised than those around her, but bore the same uniform aesthetic: A faded blue colouring; orange T-shaped visor; layered metal plating for mobility and a traditionalist, forged look - contrasting the more technology-based designs of the Republic military.
"Captain Wren, prepare the missiles for ejection." Fett said.
"How many will we be using?"
"All of them."
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Carth weaved in and out of gunfire, skilfully dodging impossibly fast lasers hissing past the fragile and weakly-shielded chassis of his ship. Keeping his hands firmly on the joystick, he made sure to maintain a steady bank back towards Saul and The Vigilant.
BANG. A laser smashed into the back of his fighter, scoring a hole right through a panel.
"Damn!" Carth jerked forward with the impact.
"We're not fast enough!" Kymm yelled, struggling to keep evading fire.
"Divert weaponry to engine power!" Carth called back. "That should give you the edge!" Following his own advice, he could feel the ship begin to speed up with the new reserve of energy.
Kymm followed suit. "Ah, that's bet-"
BANG. Another laser blew into the thruster of Kymm's strikefighter, igniting the fuel and engulfing the craft in a blinding flame.
"Kymm!"
BOOM. The fighter blew apart, sending flaming debris in all directions. A shard of metal hit Carth's windshield, causing it to crack slightly and him to bank out of the way.
"Carth, the enemies are falling back!" Lee shouted. Carth looked back to see the Mandalorian squadron giving up pursuit of his craft and doubling back to the enemy warships.
"What the…" Before Carth could figure out his next move, Saul's voice rang out over the comms.
"Dorn and Esk Squadrons, get clear! The enemy is preparing for heavy artillery fire!"
Carth turned to inspect the lead Mandalorian battleship. The massive missile cannons lining the front of the imposing hull had begun to open up.
"Copy that, Admiral!"
Carth's squadron, in unison, immediately broke right again to scramble away from the raging dogfight and move out from between the two opposing factions' Capital ships.
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Saul, still glued to the spot on his bridge, observed the missile launchers with a very visible dread.
"All stations, climb! Climb!"
"Admiral, we're not going to make it out-"
"Climb, damn it! Get us as clear as you can!"
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Carth, desperate to get as far away as possible from the missiles, was still dodging heavy gunfire.
"Lee, Dern, get close to the ground away from the city! Use the landscape to your advantage!"
"Copy that, Esk Leader. I-"
BOOM. A hail of sudden gunfire rammed into Dern's strikefighter, igniting it immediately and blowing the ship into pieces before Carth could register anything.
"Dern!" Lee called out in shocked dismay.
Carth expertly dodged the continued gunfire, spinning before sending his craft hurtling down toward the trees below.
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"Field Marshal, the missiles are ready." Captain Wren anxiously awaited her superior's response.
"Fire them all. You know your targets."
The missiles exploded from their hatches, blasting toward the Republic fleet.
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Saul Karath had spent 38 years in the Republic military, and had seen everything from Manaan to Sullust. His multiple campaigns had introduced him to all kinds of people from all walks of life. He had loved, lost, hated and killed - all in the search for a life well-lived. After all he had learned, everything he had seen, only one thought settled in his mind as the missiles approached: I don't want to die. And so he closed his eyes, utterly unprepared for his imminent demise…
…Which, despite everything, never came.
"What's happening? Where did they go?!" Saul yelled, his heart racing and his confusion evident as the realisation that the missiles never hit dawned on him.
"Missiles tracking around The Vigilant! Repeat, missiles tracking around The Vigilant! They weren't aimed at the fleet! They were heading for—"
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Far down below, Stereb families watched the aerial skirmish take place above. Parents held their children close, uncertain as to what their fates would be after this battle. They had long rejected the aid of The Republic, choosing to stay neutral in respect of their tradition of pacifism. 'So much for peace', many Stereb individuals had thought during the past few days. This was the day that their dissatisfaction was proven, as explosions and lasers lit up the golden sky. Now, with a horror that few in the galaxy could have described, many Sterebs slowly realised that the growing, bright sparks in the sky weren't debris, but were the pinnacle of Mandalorian warfare - hurtling toward them at ridiculous speed with an explosive potential unlike anything the Republic had ever dared to engineer. The Stereb parents who had happened to realise their fate first had enough time to hug their children tightly. Others realised only a second before their world ended - others never knew what happened.
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Carth Onasi watched with dawning terror as the ground where once stood a magnificent city succumbed to a flash of death before mushroom clouds rose from the fire. No words came to mind to adequately express the thoughts running through his head, and he had just finished registering what had just happened when the shockwave slammed into him, nearly ripping the wings of the strikefighter off - meanwhile tearing branches from trees. Carth recovered quick enough to watch Lee fail to recover from the pressure wave, being sent from the sky into the trees just below.
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Saul, momentarily frozen with horror, came to with an urgency he had never experienced.
"Who's still out there?"
"Esk Leader, still here." Carth bluntly responded.
"Dorn 2." Another pilot replied.
"Dorn 4." A final reply.
Saul absent-mindedly ran his hands through his hair.
"All fighters, retreat. Do not engage. Repeat, do not engage!" The Admiral looked out at Captain Hardell's Cruiser, which had passed from beneath Fett's Warship. It was sustaining heavy fire from both of the Mandalorian battleships.
"Hardell, climb to orbit!" In response, Hardell's voice crackled over the comms.
"Copy that, Admiral. I think-"
The sentence was cut short by the sudden explosion of his cruiser. Saul looked on in shock. He turned to view Troming's Cruiser, which was still climbing alongside his own.
"Troming, continue the ascent. The moment you make it to the hyperspace lane - jump straight to Wayland!"
"Copy that, Admiral. Straight to Wayland." Troming replied.
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Carth was racing over the treetops, trying not to look at the flaming area of devastation where a city used to be. 'Less than an hour ago, I was standing somewhere in that destruction.' He thought grimly. His guidance display beeped in warning; Two Mandalorian starfighters were hot in pursuit. Now fully focused, Carth pulled back on the joystick, peeling his ship from the canopy of the trees below and rising with a sudden and violent speed. The enemy craft immediately gave chase; Lasers zipped past him from all sides. Carth fixed his eyes on the two ascending Hammerheads above - his target.
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A beep on his holocom informed Saul that he was getting a call from the only person who had access to it - Supreme Chancellor Tol Cressa.
"Admiral, how goes the defence?" The opulently-robed man asked, his transparent blue form flickering and glitching.
"Chancellor.. The city is lost."
"Casualty rates?"
"We have no way of knowing. It seems as though the city has suffered total devastation." There is silence for a few moments. "The fleet is also taking heavy blows. We may not be able to survive if we continue the offensive - I've advised we retreat to Wayland."
"Very well, Admiral. I will inform the rest of the Serroco defence forces." Cressa disappeared with an electrical fizz. Saul nodded to the Officer beside him, who pulled back on the throttle - unleashing the full speed of the Cruiser.
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Carth's ship was still weaving in and out of laser fire. Behind him, the Mandalorian fighters were slowly, but surely, catching up. With a sigh and an internal damnation of his recklessness, Carth diverted his shield energy to his thrusters - allowing the ship to utilise the full range of its speed capabilities.
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Cassus Fett watched his slowly-dawning victory with what lesser men would call pride.
"They're afraid. Let them run. Let them live to share the dread of defeat to the rest of their Republic. For now, target the rest of the civilians." He ordered. Wren nodded, turning to deliver these commands to her fellow Captains. Fett glared at the retreating Republic Cruisers. "Dishonour begets dishonour." The two flanking battleships began to descend toward the burning craters on the planet's surface. "They will see what their dishonour brings them."
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"Admiral, they're going to target civilians!" Taking his eyes off the Republic Cruisers, Carth noticed the Mandalorian battleships racing to destroy any surviving Stereb.
"Carth, just get up here, okay?"
"But Admiral-"
"That's an order!"
Carth still maintained eye contact with the enemy battleships. 'If I don't do anything, hundreds, maybe thousands, more will die.' His face contorted with conflict.
"Saul, I can't-"
"Damn it, Carth, I have my orders from the Chancellor! This is no time to be a hero! Get up here now so we can make the jump!"
'No time to be a hero…' Carth internalised. 'If now isn't the time, when is..'
Looking back and forth between the Republic cruisers and the Mandalorian battleships, Carth realised for the first time in his cockpit that he had no idea what to do next. This choice would spell doom for himself, or for the people below. Maybe trying to help would be pointless. But maybe it would save just one life.. Just one..
Both hands on the joystick, he readied to make the fateful decision. As he steadied his breathing, he remembered the promise of the Mand'alor, as was taught to him in the Academy. 'For the Glory of Mandalore.' With contempt, he shook his head. 'What kind of glory is this?'
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