Mid Rim
Truum sector, Contruum System
ISD-II 'Hope of Empire'
2 standard months, counted according to Courscant time standards, that was how many days had passed since the death of the Emperor and the beginning of the end of the old Empire. During all this time, much in the galaxy has changed, and above all, the old order began to break, never to return in the same form.
It didn't take long before the various factions of the Galactic Empire were at each other's throats. The first to declare its separation from the Courscant bureaucrats was the Alignment of Powers, which also launched its first attack on other Imperial territories. The victory in the second battle of Operation Scarlet Dawn meant a huge success and the possibility of annexing - under the threat of devastating force - many sectors and systems, up to the Hydian-Way. A great communication and trade route that became a more or less formal border between the Alignment of Powers and the territory controlled by Prince Admiral Treuten Zsinj.
Lord Regent Lanz personally flew through space, continuing this unbroken streak of annexation until the previously mentioned border. He had in his arsenal a very convincing argument that left little room for negotiation. It was the powerful Star Dreadnought, Iron Fist, which, with a strong escort of the supplemented Scarlet Fleet, provided a convincing argument in the negotiations that only in one sector this solution did not bring immediate results. However, it did not matter much, because the Sector Governor was quickly dismissed from his position, as a result of the decision of his own subordinates, who apparently had no intention of even dying because of the stubbornness of one man.
Apart from that one incident of momentary refusal to comply, everything was going according to the Lord Regent's wishes. However, having to share territory with someone else put him in a foul but very well-disguised mood, mainly thanks to his helmet with a scarlet visor. Regardless, he achieved his goal and much more than he initially planned, so it was a very effective consolation. Especially since immediately after announcing this great victory on AlignmNet, he started receiving messages and recordings of congratulations, both from the Alignment General Staff and the Moffs, who lavished praise on him.
When you are successful, they praise you to the skies. However, when a crisis, a turning point or a time of failure comes, all these sycophants will either leave or they will blame you for everything and, on this flimsy basis, try to undermine your position and perhaps even undermine your power.
When Lanz read all these messages a few days after the victory, he paid more attention only to those sent from members of the Alignment General Staff. The rest was unimportant to him and he only devoted his time to it during one of the dinners. Then he had a droid - which was going to have its memory wiped anyway - read out all the congratulations from the Moffs. He laughed at how unfriendly they all were to him now and declared their complete loyalty.
Idiots. Lanz thought of them seethingly that evening. You are so loyal in part because of my mindwashing of your weak minds. In fact, you only have your positions because I had no intention of purging you and creating chaos at a crucial moment. As long as you don't make any glaring mistakes, you can keep your positions, and you are only doing so because neither I nor Grand Moff Tagge have any intention of doing so. Not to mention the strong propaganda from APPED, which will only strengthen the loyalty of ordinary soldiers, low- and middle-level officers to the central government. Soon, you will be completely unnecessary in the decision-making process and perhaps even be able to dissolve this facade legislative body, this glorified parliament, without consequences.
However, it was a fleeting moment and Lanz had to assess the situation very quickly before taking the next steps that lead to today.
A few days ago, the Lord Regent was reading intelligence reports on other micro empires and the New Republic. It quickly became clear to him that his position at essentially the edge of the galaxy meant he had no enemies at the moment. Prince Admiral Zsinj is focused on militarization and gathering his forces. Meanwhile, no one else felt like attacking him for the not-so-distant display of strength and capability. Only the New Republic, at least according to Director Lucian Pryce, could try to weaken him with some small forces, but Lanz dismissed this suggestion.
Why would the rebels attempt this petty confrontation with me? That was his thought when he finally decided to call it extremely unlikely. My territory is too distant from those currently occupied by the rebels for them to be interested in any form of attack. Besides, they will now be fighting on two fronts if other reports are correct. Such a move would be pointless, not to mention the problems with replenishing combat losses.
Ultimately, Lanz merely left the supervision of this matter in the hands of the ASB and did not touch on the subject. Instead, he focused entirely on a new course of action, and that was large-scale preparations for a guerrilla war, against his greatest rival at the moment, with whom he would eventually have to come into conflict sooner or later, the Prince Admiral and his micro empire.
Although the recent division of territories, without many dispute systems, makes our relations - at least I think - bearable, I have no intention of falling into inaction like Pentastar in Legends. The Lord Regent considered for quite a long time how to act against a powerful rival, but he had neither the knowledge nor the reference point for a sensibly conducted guerrilla campaign, so he started with the simplest possible preparatory operation. First of all, for this type of long-term action it is necessary to build bases that can hold enough supplies to replenish and provide a regrouping point for ships. What happens next, only time will tell. However, I will need solid foundations to prevent this operation from ending in a complete disaster.
His thoughts began to come true, because together with part of the Scarlet Fleet, he participated in establishing a base in one of the asteroid polys, in the Prakla sector, far from the eyes of the potential and basically inevitable enemy.
Everything was going quite smoothly and for the last 2 days, all Lanz had been doing was training regularly with the death troopers and reading reports every day, mixed with giving appropriate orders. The latter was tedious and required all his patience, considering that sometimes the reports concerned insignificant matters that he simply ignored.
However, just 2 standard hours ago, a bored Lanz decided to go on a light hunt and try to capture the first prize of the guerrilla war. With a small task force. Although it was definitely too early for this, as none of the bases had been completed yet, he still decided to make this move. All this because of the push he felt in the Force that this might be a good decision.
With that said, he traveled near one of the hyperspace belts in the Contruum system, where he waited for some sign from the force. It took some time, but after several dozen minutes of waiting, he finally received an impulse. He immediately ordered the activation of the gravity well projectors to the Captain of the Hunter, the Interdictor-class Star Destroyer. It was a rare ship, acquired as a gift from one of the governors of a sector recently joined to the Alignment of Powers. A destroyer with a powerful device that will undoubtedly be put to good use by the Scalet Fleet again and again.
However, as for the event itself and what the activation of the gravity well caused, it was the tearing out of hyperspace of another Star Destroyer. However, this was not the type of destroyer Lanz might have expected.
It was the Aggressor-class Star Destroyer, a ship with enormous firepower, mainly due to the two main guns mounted on the front hull, which could easily obliterate smaller ships such as Victory Star Destroyers into stardust. Immediately after seeing this structure, Lanz began to think about it quite intensely, especially since he sensed another stimulus coming from the Force, this time notifying the presence of someone sensitive to it on board.
Although designed by the Kuat Drive Yard, the Empire never intended to use this type of destroyer due to its fundamental unwieldiness, combined with high production costs and the ship's general vulnerability, apart from the highly emergency one its two main forward guns. Interesting ship, designed in Legends by Zann Consortium. Although the mentioned organization exists according to old ISB reports, it has never been able to gain the same power as in another timeline. Regardless, it's a factor I won't be able to ignore in the future. Regardless, I'm curious about who is on board and why exactly his presence in the Force emanates so intensely.
Lanz and the commander of the fleet accompanying the Hope of Empire, the recently promoted Commander Ericlia Megas, wasted no time. The ship was quickly identified as Consortium. However, as the Lord Regent quickly learned, there was never any recorded incident involving this ship, or even its presence in Imperial records. All this only became more and more interesting for Lanza, who no longer had the slightest doubt that whatever was there could bring him much more benefits than he could ever have predicted.
However, apart from his personal thoughts, the order was quickly issued for the ships accompanying the Hope of Empire to begin an attack and encirclement maneuver. All this before the enemy Star Destroyer began firing its main weapon, causing both shots to be completely off target.
It was the least I could do, with my limited knowledge of the realities of space warfare, which seems to have much more in common with the naval warfare known from my world. Still, it's good to know that I have at least some sense of command and competent subordinates who are perfectly capable of correcting or preventing my mistakes.
Meanwhile, Hope Of Empire, the accompanying 2 Victory II Star Destroyers, Gorc and Pic, not to mention Hunter, began a concentrated fire on the Consortium and released their TIEs. The crew of the enemy ship did not intend to leave this unanswered, so they also released their small ships. In this case, they were Kihraxz assault fighters, which engaged in a fierce battle with the recently released TIE Interceptor II, which continued and caused Lanz quite heavy losses among the squadron crews.
"The pilots of these small attack frigates are performing extremely well." Commander Ericlia Megas commented on the entire spectacle as she and Lanz looked through the porthole of the Hope of Empire command bridge.
"Indeed." The Lord Regent replied, standing a few steps in front of her. "Even though our pilots have new, improved and much better ships than before, they still cannot defeat the enemy quickly enough."
He then turned to the woman in charge of this small task force. "Can you explain this to me, Commander."
Commander Megas swallowed nervously, obviously expecting some kind of reprimand or more severe punishment for this failure. However, Lanz had no intention of stressing her out.
"Calm down, I'm just asking and to be clear, I'm not going to punish you for something that's not up to you. When it's all over, I'll have to talk to the Interceptor commander, because 30% casualties per squadron is way too high for a fight against an enemy that outnumbers us almost 5 to 1." Lanz then looked out over the battlefield, perfect to spot another downed TIE. "It's pathetic, however... this way of coordinating between the frigates, as if they were acting as one and not panicking despite the losses they had suffered."
Commander Megas seemed to be contemplating something for a moment before Lanz turned to her, seeing the surprise on her lips that the woman was trying to hide at the mere sight of the red and ominous visor.
"Please tell me what's on your mind at this point, Commander Megas." Lanz spoke to her calmly. "No idea or explanation is stupid, at least not as long as it leads us to success in this battle."
The female officer licked her lips nervously before answering after a moment. "Well, while reading about the traitors of the Empire, the Jedi, I came across a slight mention that some users of this so-called Force, whatever it actually is, were supposed to be able to use this magic to command entire troops in warfare and even influence morale of the combatants, encouraging them to work hard and demotivating their opponents."
Seeing the lack of a quick response, she hurriedly added. "Of course, I think this is just an exaggeration, because everything seems to me to be just too simple to be true, and besides…"
"You are not mistaken, Commander, and the name of this specific skill, or rather ways of using the Force, is battle meditation, and you actually quite correctly described how to use and influence those who fight on the battlefield."
"With all due respect…" The Commander didn't have the opportunity to finish, because Lanz stretched his hand in front of him and pointed his fingers at her, stopping her in place and preventing her from uttering a single word.
"Whether you believe it or not doesn't really matter, especially since it's a hard fact." Lanz lowered his hand and ended the demonstration, so Commander Megas could speak freely. "And if it continues like this, we may have a big problem."
Well, such circumstances mean that we must adapt accordingly, that is…
Lanz thought about his plan for a few moments, then decided to put it into action. "Let Gorc and Pic concentrate their fire on these small frigates while our Interceptors regroup. When the pilots are ready to attack again, we will attack with full force while I try to disrupt the battle meditation."
Well, from what I know about the Force, and I don't know much and less than I would like, even though I am a fan of this universe, something like this should be possible after all. Admittedly, no one seemed to have ever tried it, but well, apparently I'll have the honor of being the first. Did I?
Without waiting for an answer, Lanz reached out with great urgency and determination for the Force, thus summoning this mystical force at his command. First, they tried to detect any signs of influence on the minds of the pilots, and it didn't take long, because the power user aboard the destroyer was not very subtle. Lanz quickly began to touch the bond in the Force between the enemy ship's commander and the crews of the small frigates.
And now... The Lord Regent mentally attacked this bond with a large dose of his inner strength, so much so that it had an effect.
"My lord!" Commander Megas turned to him while staring at the computers in one of the recesses. "It appears that coordination between enemy pilots has clearly broken down and a large number of attack frigates have broken out of formation."
So it all works, that said... Lanz thought before preparing to launch another mental attack on his opponent. "Very well, let the accompanying Star Destroyers continue to fire at the enemy frigates, with a little…" Definitely not luck! "...in a positive turn of events for us, we will manage to shoot down a few before we attack again."
"Yes, my lord." The officer replied without much conviction before issuing orders to the appropriate communications officers.
Meanwhile, Lanz was fully focused on the spiritual aspect of this clash with a being who had apparently realized that he was dealing with another Force user. The Lord Regent sensed his almost desperate attempt to re-establish the once disrupted bond, but did not give his opponent such an opportunity. Lanz only increased his mental pressure and reached for even more power, concentrating on throwing his opponent more and more off balance.
This had the desired effect quite quickly - his opponent's battle meditation was disturbed so much that even the gunners manning the anti-starfighter batteries began to shoot more and more inaccurately.
It's sad, but hey, if he allowed it... Lanz was so pleased with himself that he broke his own concentration, which had quite serious consequences.
The enemy, the commander of this Star Destroyer, sensed his presence in the Force almost immediately, and it did not take long for the answer to come.
This… Lanz almost winced as his opponent returned the mental attack he wasn't ready to receive or defend. Fucki…
The Lord Regent did not have the opportunity to finish this, as his senses were treated quite brutally, while his opponent began to slowly restore his battle meditation bond, resulting in laser and ion fire from the Consortium. The attack frigates also returned to their formations as tensions began to mount with another piece of information.
"My lord, squadron commanders report that the Interceptors have managed to regroup and will begin their attack shortly." A sound reached Lanzo's ears, which, in his current state of deep immersion in the Force, seemed to be reaching him from outside of time and space.
"Excellent." The Lord Regent grimaced at the great effort it was taking him to defend himself against a Force-strong attacker. Let's see how much longer you can endure after such a strong attack and who will be the first to lose strength.
Lanz pushed aside his opponent's mental onslaught long enough to gather his strength, focus in the Force, and force his own temporary power-up. With that, he launched his own mental assault on his opponent, who seemed confused that anyone had managed to repel his attack. However, this was not the end, because Lanz focused entirely on knocking him out of battle meditation, aggressively attacking this bond, which brought results very quickly.
The Lord Regent could feel the confusion and panic of the numerous enemies in the attack frigates and on the firing positions aboard the Star Destroyer. And a few moments later, the attack of the Interceptors, reinforced by the fire of the turbolasers of both VSDs. Meanwhile, the seemingly endless death spiral that followed began to sing to Lanz an extremely pleasant and sweet song of numerous deaths.
"Commander, please redirect power to the ion cannons immediately, we are joining the fight." Lanz tried to suppress the tremble in his voice caused by the recent mental effort and use of the Force in such a way.
"Yes my lord." Commander Ericlia Megas replied, then hesitated for a brief moment. "Should I give the order to prepare some of the stormtrooper contingent for boarding?"
"Yes, I personally lead them into battle and apart from that, I leave everything in your hands, clean up these bandits in this piece of space. There may not be many of them anymore, but I don't want any surprises."
Lanz turned on his heel from the porthole and, passing Commander Megas, other bridge officers, and maintenance staff, headed as quickly as possible to one of the boarding airlocks on the Star Destroyer's side. Meanwhile, the 6 death troopers accompanying him followed him and among them was one of the non-commissioned officers, Ensign Zethar, who was in command of his comrades.
They reached their destination after about a few minutes of walking, and at the same time Lanz received several messages. It appears that the disorganized cadre of enemy pilots was very quickly overwhelmed and they were either destroyed in combat or disabled their ships' systems in sign of surrender. Meanwhile, the enemy ship was quite easily disabled and seemed to put up no resistance. But what is the reason for this?
Lanz did not have time to answer this question, because walking quickly, he soon reached the entrance to the airlock, where in a gray corridor with several portholes and a view of the approaching enemy Star Destroyer, an entire platoon of stormtroopers from the 409th Legion, consisting of 50 men in gray uniforms, was waiting. armor, mainly men and a few women.
Overall, this platoon reflected quite well the changes Lanz had forced and which had a significant impact on the equipment of his Stormtrooper Corps. E-11 Blaster Rifles have mostly become a thing of the past, except for NCOs and officers. If out of 10 stormtroopers there was 1 non-commissioned officer equipped with an E-11, 8 had an E-22, while the last one had a DLT-19 heavy blaster rifle, as it provided the unit with solid firepower. The goal of the Lord Regent and the officers working on this change was to rally the entire team around the one with the heavy blaster rifle.
"My lord." The approaching man in black was greeted by one of the gray stormtroopers, who was the only one with a white shoulder plate, indicating his rank as a non-commissioned officer. "Sergeant Gauls reports on order."
"Prepare your men, Sergeant, we are about to make contact with the enemy and I don't want us to lose too many men." Lanz replied calmly, already composed after a short but exhausting mental duel.
The Lord Regent then looked out the porthole, seeing the Hope of Empire approaching its destination, and then the airlock connected, shaking the deck slightly, but no one lost their balance.
"0128, 0245, ready your heavy blasters!" The sergeant gave the order, and two of his subordinates in shiny black armor hurried to obey the order, taking up positions at the gate. "Stand aside so you don't get in the line of fire, I forbid you from dying like idiots!"
When this is all over, I must remember to give this man a promotion to Lieutenant and keep him close to me. Lanz thought, meanwhile activating one of his scarlet blades and preparing to fight. Competent people, compared to the average rabble, are rare and cannot be wasted.
A few moments later, the gates began to open and the waiting soldiers were greeted by intense fire from light and heavy blaster rifles. The two stormtroopers at the front did not remain obedient and also responded with fire, but on both sides it was blind fire, intended to overwhelm the enemy.
Lanz had no intention of prolonging it and, deflecting all the bullets coming towards him, he decided to use the Force and pushed his opponents, all of whom fell on their backs under the influence of the unexpected force. At the same time, both stormtroopers with heavy blaster rifles only intensified their fire, but they still had to fire bursts of 15 bolts to at least minimize the risk of overheating and, in the worst case scenario, melting the blaster weapons.
Lanz rushed through the airlock as quickly as possible, deflecting individual bolts sent his way. Thus, he finally had the opportunity to realize that his opponents were a quite well-organized and uniformly uniformed band of mercenaries. The vast majority were the reptile-like and extremely dangerous species of natural hunters, Trandoshans.
If these creatures are capable of hunting Wookiees, I would rather not even attempt to physically confront them unless it is absolutely necessary. Lanz thought with a shiver down his spine before moving on and exiting the airlock. Interestingly, although they are mainly reptiles, there are also people among them. So is this some sort of interspecies mercenary company? Not that it makes it any easier for me to identify, however...
His thoughts were interrupted by the furious roar of one of the Trandoshans, who wildly lunged at the Lord Regent with his vibroblade. Given his smooth and decisive movements, he was clearly experienced and well trained in melee combat.
After all, this humanoid reptile was not trained to fight against someone wielding a lightsaber, so Lanz easily deflected the slash, and although the vibroblade was not cut, giving him a chance for another attack, the Lord Regent wasted no time. He strengthened his Body and movements with the Force, first depriving his opponent of his arm, then the second one along with his arm. However, when the obviously stubborn Trandoshan tried to use his reptilian mouth, Lanz made another, quite smooth cut.
It wasn't long before part of the humanoid reptile's face fell off. The entire jaw, mouth and most of the nose, leaving the rest untouched. Trandoshan then blinked a few times and then began to emit what could best be described as an expression of agony, coupled with a large amount of blood leaking from those wounds that had not been sealed by the lightsaber. Finally, the brave and brave representative of the alien species fell limply to the ground and some of the gushing blood stained the armor and helmet of the former Inquisitor.
Lanz could easily sense the fear among the mercenaries at this brutal display, and some of them began to flee in panic while others tried to resist. The Lord Regent, however, had no difficulty deflecting the uncoordinated barrage of red and sometimes yellow bolts. This became even more easy when death troopers and other stormtroopers came on board and began mercilessly shooting at the enemies they encountered, killing many and wounding a few.
"Continue to advance and secure this ship!" Lanz gave the order and then moved forward with his guards.
"Yes, my lord!" Sergeant Gauls replied, then pulled out his communicator and transmitted the appropriate message. "Captain, orders have come from the Lord Inquisitor, we are to begin taking control of the ship immediately!"
Lanz didn't bother listening to this though and just kept moving forward, deflecting the bullets fired by the retreating mercenaries. However, it was a wasted effort on their part, which neither slowed down the former Inquisitor, and could even be harmful as he regularly bounced bolts back at attackers, often resulting in the death or injury of retreating mercenaries.
The retreat of his enemies ended when he and his escort reached the intersection connecting three other corridors with theirs. There, two units were already waiting for them, a total of 21 mercenaries, one of whom had a heavy blaster rifle and behind makeshift barricades made of crates. The situation gave Lanz no choice but to power push hard and take down his opponents.
Some of the mix of Trandoshans and Humans fell to the ground or slid down the corridor behind them, while others were not so lucky. Three of them impaled themselves on protruding bars from the walls, while others hit their heads on the walls so hard that they either lost consciousness at best, suffered internal fractures, or broken bones cut through the skin causing bleeding.
Lanz, however, focused all his attention on the 5 who had not lost consciousness or been impaled on anything, who still had blasters in the elephants, including one of the reptiles, a very tall individual even by the standards of the species - or at least he was definitely larger than the rest of the ones encountered here - which allowed him to wield a heavy blaster with ease.
Their resistance, although undoubtedly worthy of attention, is doomed to failure, just like everything that is done without much thought. Lanz thought mockingly, but he didn't stop for a moment and instead continued to fire more shots, aided by two Death Troopers who were firing virtually non-stop and accurate fire with their improved Blater rifles.
One of the last surviving mercenaries decided to make one last, extremely desperate move and pulled a thermal detonator from his pocket. Lanz, however, caught the killing blow in time as a Force impulse of danger flowed into him, and he threw it back.
Achtung! Pomegranate! Lanz couldn't help but smile sneeringly, but it faded slightly at the moment of the explosion and the reflexive need to cover his head with his hands with elements of black armor.
The sight that followed the explosion also gave him no reason to be happy; although a large part of the bodies and organic tissue in general had evaporated or been pushed away, there were also many burned and strangely twisted. Many limbs were also separated from their previous owners. The culmination of all this was a large fragment of the large intestine of one of the human mercenaries, which hung on one of the cables hanging from the ceiling. There was no need to mention the huge amounts of blood.
"We don't stop, we keep going straight to the command bridge, the enemy commander must be there!" Lanz ordered, to which the elite stormtroopers responded in affirmation with their distorted and quasi-robotic voices. I'm so glad I've mastered Sores, otherwise I could have had a big problem.
XXX
The humanoid with blood red eyes and black armor growled furiously before slamming both fists into one of the numerous terminals on the command bridge. Duros, known within the organization as the Inquisitorius as a Fourth Brother, growled furiously as sparks from the destroyed console flew in all directions.
"Sithspit!" He growled once more as his eyes began to open and close intensely in pure and uncontrollable rage. "Status!"
His appointed Captain of the ship and one of the human officers of the mercenary company immediately approached him with a report that more than accurately painted a picture of the hopelessness of their situation.
"My lord, stormtroopers are flooding the ship and have already defeated many troops. We only had contact with half of the ship's section. The engine room and hyperdrive are defending themselves fiercely, but without support they can't do much."
Fourth Brother could barely contain himself from swearing in the language of his race before his foul mood descended into a state of cold but poorly concealed fury. Of the many Inquisitors he encountered, he was probably the most prone to outbursts of anger or loss of control over his own behavior due to his own confrontational nature.
It was supposed to be a quiet mission, reaching the target system and searching the facility on the planet's surface. However, for some reason, a formation undoubtedly belonging to Prince Admiral Treuten Zsinj had to intercept me and the ship is now lost. Fourth Brother thought, while trying to think of any reasonable way to get out of this situation. I've already lost all my smaller ships and am on a fast track to losing control of the Consortium. Regardless, I must get through and at least return to Dathomir and report that Treuten Zsinj has the support of an experienced Force user.
He then came to a conclusion and turned to the Captain of the Consortium. "Our mission is doomed to failure at this point. All we can do is try to escape."
"You may succeed, my lord, but we are unlikely to escape." The captain stated the obvious truth with a sense of pessimism and something approaching reproach. "Meanwhile, the Prince Admiral was never known for treating prisoners well. His officers undoubtedly reflect his preference for killing prisoners outright, and aliens like our reptilian combat companions may suffer an even worse fate."
"I know it perfectly well, I have to try anyway and you will help me with it." The Inquisitor replied unnaturally calmly before grabbing his disc lightsaber and activating a single blade. "Or you will pay the price now and with no chance of survival."
The young man, in his early thirties, paled out of sheer fear. "As you wish, my lord."
The Inquisitor merely smiled and deactivated the blade, before his expression dropped to cold contemplation. This Force user of Zsinj's siblings is more powerful than I initially thought. He successfully knocked me out of battle meditation, although the Force confrontation was lost at my own request. If only I had been much more patient and waited for my opportunity, but instead I recklessly engaged in a fight with a fierce opponent, thus allowing the bond with the pilots and turbolaser operators to collapse.
Fourth Brother shook his head. Now it doesn't really matter, either I get rid of the enemy, and I have no doubt that he is heading in that direction, or the mission will be not only a disaster, but also my end.
His mind was flooded with memories from the past for a few moments. Memories from the Inquisitorius Citadel, from the trials he had to undergo there. Memories from at least three other and different - in purely environmental terms - planets. However, this was nothing compared to several years of training with other Force-sensitives, all as part of the - literally - murderous training of 3rd generation Inquisitors. Either extremely exhausting training or a fight to the death with others recruited by the inquisiotrs.
It was during one of his last training sessions that Fourth Brother was confronted by the person who became almost like a soulmate to him and who comforted him in difficult times. The Inquisitor returned the favor by supporting the new kind, and within a few days, they became very close, almost like the closest of friends. Unfortunately, he had to fight her, and Fourth Brother could have sworn that the decision-makers in this matter, Darth Vader and the Emperor, were well aware of their bond.
It ended in a reluctant and somewhat stiff fight until they were told that either one of them would win or they would both die. In other words, one or none.
Fourth Brother was then more than willing to sacrifice himself, but then he noticed fear in his friend's eyes. Fear, panic and determination to kill him and save herself. It was as if the bond they had formed together meant nothing anymore, in the face of a life and death struggle
Sile. The Inquisitor recalled her name in his mind, a name that would undoubtedly haunt him until the end.
A name that hurt more to remember than the few vibroblade wounds he had been inflicted on. Finally, after a minute of being on the defensive and a huge roar of rage, a sign of losing control, he charged in furiously. After a fierce exchange of blows, he disarmed his former friend and support in his life by cutting off both of her hands. But that wasn't the end, because he knocked her to the ground and everything else seemed to him now like a blurry and chaotic image of several scenes.
Crushed cheeks, broken teeth, her lekku torn off, her nose broken, blood seeping from her head crushed into a fleshy pulp. The Inquisitor shuddered with disgust and the precision with which these isolated fragments, disorganized in time, were embedded in his memory. That's why I have to fight, that's why I have to survive to fight and stand another day. All for those whom I killed and who died in my name, their lives cannot be wasted, otherwise their lives would have no meaning. Absolutely none, and each of us could just as well have simply died, because the life of each of us is only worth as much as we can achieve or to what extent we contribute to the success of someone else, greater than ourselves.
Sensing that his opponent was close and had reached the gate, the Inquisitor focused, managed to drive away the specter of the past that consumed him from his mind so that he could face the present.
The durasteel doors opened, revealing 7 armored men. 6 death troopers and one man in armor that was very famous for Fourth Brother.
Another Inquisitor? Duros thought, completely surprised by this turn of events that he never expected.
However, he could not think about it for long, because the elite stormtroopers almost immediately started firing their blasters, sending several dozen accurate bolts towards the bridge crew, killing everyone.
Meanwhile, Fourth Brother was forced to activate both blades of his lightsaber and fight for his life, repeatedly deflecting the bolts, two of which hit the arm and leg of two death troopers, injuring them and effectively putting them out of the fight.
"Hold your fire!" Unknown to Duros, a brother from the Inquisition announced, and his guards stopped firing. "Get the wounded out of here, your presence here will only potentially be a nuisance."
"My Lord?" One of the elite stormtroopers asked him, without the characteristic modulation or distortion of his voice.
"That will be it, two of you can stay if you so desire." The Inquisitor replied calmly, activating a single blade and turning his full attention to the Duros in front of him. "He's mine and it's not like you can fight a Force user, and one armed with a lightsaber at that."
This time the response was coded, and the masked man addressed Duros directly. "Hello, to tell you the truth, I didn't know that I would meet one of my brothers or sisters so soon."
"And yet you undoubtedly sensed me, my battle meditation, and yet it did not occur to you that I might be one." Duros replied dryly before adopting a defensive fighting stance. "Who are you and what exactly do you want from me?"
"The first part of your question, about my identity, is irrelevant." The enemy Inquisitor also assumed a defensive form that Duros easily recognized as Soresu, although he had never practiced it himself. "As for the second, I relied on an exceptionally strong impulse from the Force immediately after entering this system."
Fourth Brother looked at him with no particular expression or feeling on the subject. "Well, that's unfortunate for me, but also for you. I have a mission to complete for my superiors, and I will complete it, no matter what."
"Unfortunate for you, indeed, for in such a case I have no choice but to defeat you." The Inquisitor didn't sound really sad, but instead ready for a fight and as if waiting for a trick or a surprise attack. "It's a pity, after all, fate or the Force did not break my chains with the death of our Emperor, so that I should now retreat or be killed."
"No, I must accomplish what is the goal of any rational being with self-preservation. I must survive at all costs! The determination in his modulated and distorted voice increased.
Durso was ready to fight and focused on the impulses coming from the Force, yet he couldn't help but taunt a little. "It's a bit funny that fate broke our chains, and yet we both put our own on each other. I'm for my other, more powerful and intelligent Inquisitor brothers and sisters than me, while you're for some pathetic powerless scoundrel who thinks he can become the new Galactic Emperor."
His opponent laughed before Duros in the Force sensed his return to composure and calm. "Who told you, you fool, that I swore an oath of loyalty to this self-proclaimed Prince Admiral, brother?"
Fourth Brother was genuinely surprised and narrowed his eyes a bit, not knowing how to respond to this, until a question came to his mind. "So who are you and what do you want, brother?"
Duros could clearly feel the laughter and amusement on the other Inquisitor's face and soul.
"Who am I, my dear brother?" Came a sarcastic reply, which resulted in the removal of the black helmet with the red visor, and the unfastening of the clasp holding the cape.
Both pieces of his clothing fell to the ground, his helmet crashed against steel, and the Inquisitor saw a young adult with quite short but clearly growing blond hair and ruby eyes. "Upon my name as Lanz, Lord Regent of the Alignment of Powers, at service."
The presentation was crowned with a half-mocking bow with a mocking smile, which, although demeaning the seriousness of the whole situation, was quickly replaced with focus and seriousness.]
Duros didn't even need to sense in the Force that his opponent was also focused on the stimuli coming from this energy that unites and binds the universe. Regardless, this show was pathetic and unnecessary.
"You're a pompous idiot." Fourth Brother stated offhandedly and with a slight growl. "I'm fed up with this unproductive chatter, fight brother."
"I thought you would never ask that, brother." Lanz abruptly changed his fighting position, which Duros himself recognized only at the last moment. "Die!"
The self-proclaimed Lord Regent did not immediately attack, instead jumping onto one of the ship's systems consoles and attempting a Hawk Bat Swoop, with little success.
Plus bloody Ataru? Duros asked himself mentally, then simply stretched out his hand and simply pushed his opponent back, who fell to the ground. Well, I can't wait to confront my Djem So with this.
Lanz rose quickly and within a fraction of a second - undoubtedly - using the support of his body through the Force. This time, taking a purely defensive position in Soresu.
"You are pathetic, is that all a member of the great Inquisition can do?" Duros commented on this first win dryly but with the aim of provoking his opponent. "You are a disgrace to those you killed and those who trained you."
Lanz didn't answer right away or change his expression, just tilted his head slightly in a mocking gesture. "Are you done yet, you pompous creature?"
Just as Fourth Brother was about to answer the question, the Lord Regent returned to Atar and lunged at his opponent, this time with the intention of performing a simple rear slash.
Predictable and stupid. The Inquisitor thought contemptuously, once again stretching his hand and fingers out in front of him to push his opponent away.
However, much to his surprise, this time Lanz responded with the same gesture and the two reached an impasse that lasted until both Force users were pushed away. Lanz almost fell on his back again, but managed to keep his balance as Fourth Brother landed on the main console in front of the porthole, damaging the electronics and causing sparks to fly into the air.
Or not. Duros couldn't get up fast enough to create a stalemate because his opponent was faster. I seriously underestimated him.
With these thoughts, Fourth Brother rose to take the defensive and repeatedly deflected Lanzo's slashes, into which he put quite a lot of energy and strength. In total, the enemy Inquisitor attacked this way 6 times, until the 7th time he decided to make a risky move, trying to cut completely at an angle.
Not expecting this type of move, Fourth Brother was forced to jump to the side while his opponent adjusted to his new position. Duros, however, did not give him even the slightest chance to stabilize his position, because he immediately launched an attack, trying primarily to use his own physical advantage over the enemy, which he was at least two heads larger than.
Lanz, however, skillfully deflected the attacks, not giving the enemy the opportunity to take advantage of this advantage and constantly moving backwards until he jumped back to a slightly greater distance. This resulted in both of them staring at each other for a few moments, possibly changing attack or defense positions from time to time. It lasted dozens of seconds, several minutes, during which they both tested each other.
Undoubtedly, I am dealing with a dangerous opponent, great in defense, but his Ataru and offensive abilities leave much to be desired, more than the margin of error. So if I don't win this, at least I won't be the loser in this fight, undoubtedly.
Fed up with waiting, Duros, with a furious roar and a desire to end this matter as quickly as possible, attacked while Lanz gracefully deflected the blows with quick movements, moving backwards again until he reached one of the terminals adjacent to the wall. Only then was the Inquisitor stopped retreating and instead was forced to accept the attack of the enemy, who was clearly supported by the energies of the Dark Side of the Force.
Soon, however, he too drew on this energy, appealing to his passion, anger and desperate desire to survive at all costs. Fourth Brother sensed this without much difficulty, and the two were locked in a fierce duel. This is how the next minutes passed, during which Duros struck more blows until he discovered something surprising for him.
Even though he is on the defensive, he is still able to move forward and in order to continue attacking effectively, I have to move back, so... Argh! Unexpectedly, Fourth Brother was kicked in the knee and Force pushed, causing him to stagger back while Lanz moved away from the wall.
The Inquisitor had had enough of this, with a furious roar and, even more strengthened by the Dark Side of the Force, allowing himself to be driven by his fury, he attacked and rushed at the opponent waiting for him. This time, however, Lanz behaved extremely defensively, not giving the enemy even the slightest chance to launch any attack that would threaten his life. When the attacks were clearly too strong for him to stop, he simply jumped to the side and backed away.
The enemy's tactics enraged the Inquisitor even more, and he began to furiously and somewhat mindlessly chase them around the bridge. Lanz jumped onto the terminals while Fourth Brother destroyed and slashed them with both blades of his lightsaber. However, when the former Inquisitor deflected the attacks with his lightsaber, Duros only became even more furious. What Fourth Brother didn't notice, however, was that his opponent wasn't weakening and instead was feeding on his anger, waiting for a good opportunity.
It went on for a few more minutes, but eventually even the unbridled and destructive fury had to fade away, like heated plasma without the inflow of new, additional energy. As a result, Duros only began to weaken and his attacks became more and more sloppy. However, he was not even aware of it in the slightest until he noticed the smile on his opponent's face - covered with light and carefully groomed blond stubble.
I played this Bantha's game, Karabast! The inquisitor thought, in the meantime he managed to slash at the left arm of his opponent, who howled in pain and retreated, but it didn't matter.
Duros was quickly disarmed when his opponent got his crimson blade past his defenses and made a quick downward slash, cutting the sword in two and slicing off a good portion of the Inquisitor's fingers in the process.
Fourth Brother howled in pain as soon as he felt his knee being struck with the tip of the blade, causing him to fall with a thud on one leg, taking breath after breath, tired and defeated. In the meantime, he also bit his tongue, which caused a lot of blood to quickly accumulate in his mouth.
"Looks like I won, brother." Duros looked up, meeting the proud gaze of his opponent, who aimed his blade at his neck. "Do you have anything else to add?"
Fourth Brother spat bloodily onto the ground, despite his more than obvious exhaustion, he had no intention of showing even the slightest hint of humility or acceptance of the move. "Go to hell, traitor! We are brothers from the Inquisitorius, we should stick together in these times of chaos, while you have chosen to betray the empire, betray us, your brothers and sisters."
Lanz, however, continued to look at him in the same way and without any visible reaction. "It's hard to betray men and women, people I've never known or met. What's more, I don't even know exactly how many of us there are."
"None of us know that, brother." Fourth Brother replied. "There could be hundreds, thousands of us…"
"Or at most dozens." Lanz finished for him. "Honestly, I favor the latter option. This is most likely, especially considering all the murderous tests and training that each of us was subjected to. Not to mention many of our competitors killed during training, by us or not."
"Good point, brother." The Inquisitor replied tartly, with a small smile and humor that slowly gave way to anger. "I would tell you to do your worst, but I won't give you the opportunity."
Fourth Brother concentrated the energy of the Dark Side of the Force into his other and intact hand, his crimson eyes brightening with a wild yellow before he extended his limb forward, along with all his fingers, from which powerful and blue Force Lightning flew out at the same moment.
"Die, traitor!" The Inquisitor shouted furiously, in this last and desperate act, aimed at at least killing his opponent. His stormtroopers will undoubtedly kill me, but at least I will drag him and his pathetic micro empire to the bottom.
Lanz screamed as his body was treated to the raw power of the Dark Side of the Force. However, he managed to raise his light blade high enough to block the attack and thus Force Lightning attacked the aggressor, who was forced to quickly stop.
Lanz brought the blade closer to the disarmed opponent's throat again. "Any last words, brother?"
Even in these last moments, disarmed and completely defeated, Duros had no intention of giving his opponent the satisfaction of victory. "Do your worst when you are committed to something greater than yourself and with all your heart, you will not fear the final end, brother."
"Then die with the belief that your death will be in vain." Lanz replied mockingly, but he didn't kill him, not immediately.
The Lord Inquisitor watched his defeated opponent for several long - seemingly endless - moments.
Duros was surprised that such a smug and pompous man could sniff himself before dealing the final blow to a defeated opponent. At that moment, however, he remembered the words of the deceased Emperor, whom he admired with all his heart and respected as much as he feared his power or wrath.
"The galaxy is a big place, Inquisitor. Big and extremely wide, and literally anything can happen here. You can also meet many people and from my personal experience I know that in such a large place things happen that are so bizarre and absurd that they cannot be talked about. However, none of these things are sufficiently bizarre and absurd that they couldn't happen."
Am I just witnessing one of these things? Fourth Brother asked himself, mentally. The self-proclaimed Lord Regent Lanz, a powerful Force user and the first of the Imperial Warlords to refuse to obey the decision-makers on Coruscant. Undeniably, an ambitious creature, eager to survive and yet hesitant to kill a defeated enemy.
Duros continued to wait silently and defiantly for the blow, while Lanz seemed to be in internal conflict, as if unable to bring himself to cut off his head.
Funny how he didn't hesitate before massacring my mercenaries and ship's defenders. Fourth Brother, he mentally sneered. On the other hand, there was a battle and in the chaotic killing spree, anyone can do anything.
Eventually, however, after an indeterminate amount of time, Duros drained the Dark Side of the Force energy accumulating in the Lord Regent. Fourth Brother had no doubts about what he was dealing with. A powerful call calling you to unleash your inner beast, which is impossible to refuse.
After that, everything happened very quickly. Lanz stopped sniffing and made a quick move, the effects of which Duros initially did not feel until he lost feeling in his body and the ability to move and began to fall.
However, his head turned at such an angle that he easily noticed rest of his also falling body.
But none of this mattered much to him, not in the face of the last and soothing thought that echoed in his mind. Sile.
XXX
Lanz watched with cold, stiff and unmoving eyes as his opponent's head landed on the ground, the rest of the celestial body tumbling in the background.
Initially, he was reminded of the joy of executing an opponent who had caused him pain. After a while, however, he froze and became terrified. So I executed my defeated opponent so easily?
His left, free but injured hand, shook with reflex convulsions. He felt an incomprehensible grip on his stomach and a weight that turned into a pimple. If he could compare this feeling to anything, it would be when he ordered an orbital bombardment that resulted in the death of many civilians.
Lanz refrained from a series of loud inhales and exhales, reminding himself of the two death troopers still present in the room, neither of whom had interfered in the fight. Both of them seemed to have faith in the Lord Inquisitor's abilities. I cannot show weakness to my subordinates. I have chosen a social role as a decisive leader, so now I must stick to it consistently. If I lose strength, authority and decisiveness with my subordinates, I run the risk of at best distrusting my leadership, while at worst they may come to believe that they too can rule an interstellar state, which is a direct path to dismantling and destroying whatever it was that was trying to fight back for survival.
His somewhat chaotic thoughts at this point began to take a specific direction, and that was the identity of his opponent. I know he was an Inquisitor, as am I, but I'm surprised that he and the others decided to cooperate. Considering they are users of the Dark Side of the Force, I would rather expect them to be at each other's throats.
At that moment, however, he remembered the ethos of the new Inquisition, designed by the Emperor and instilled in all agents. Yes, clearly the failures of his old brothers and sisters, their harmful rivalry, must have forced him to instill an ethos of cooperation. Considering that both he and Vader must have concluded that we were - after all - no major threat to their position. They must have believed that even if we rose up against them, we would still be defeated, given their power, and they had every logical reason to believe so. Well, it's becoming more and more obvious that the first two generations of Inquisitors were like prisoners of war sent into a minefield to see which way to go.
Lanz wanted to find it a little humiliating for him, but he couldn't bring himself to do so. Still, he had won his first full-fledged fight against a Force user, and despite the painful wound and being struck by Force lightning, he was quite satisfied with the result.
Reaching into the Force, he easily located the nearest intercom and, demanding obedience from this mystical energy, easily found a way to transmit the message to everyone on the ship, although he did not know how to use these types of systems, slightly different from the equipment on his flagship Star Destroyer. "Attention, message to everyone on Consortium! Your Commander and the Ship's Captain are dead, as is everyone else on the bridge. I have control over the systems and there is no point in continuing to fight. Your choice is simple, surrender or die."
Lanz allowed his senses to be clouded by the sensations flowing straight to him from the Force, leaving aside the song of destruction, death, stress and fear, suddenly everything began to fade and fade away. The Lord Regent could easily feel various mercenaries throughout the ship surrendering and handing themselves over to his stormtroopers.
Is this the mark of true power in the Force, dark side or not? Lanz had some thoughts as he tried to read the thoughts and feelings of so many people. Ability to read and study other beings. At least as much as the Force allows.
This was not the first time he tried to read the feelings and thoughts of many individuals. He did this quite often and regularly, first at the very beginning, when he found himself in this body on the first day and enjoyed the sensations and energies flowing into him, seemingly coming from all over the universe. Later, he tried to be more accurate and during conversations or meetings, he read the direction of thoughts and feelings of others, everyone around him. Sometimes, before going to sleep, in order to get into this blissful and pleasant state, he would try to mentally reach the sleeping or falling asleep members of the Hope of Empire crew. Despite all these practices, it was not easy and involved a lot of his mental strength, and in extreme cases he almost lost consciousness.
But then, his communicator beeped, throwing him off balance and requiring him to snap back to reality. "Did something happen?"
"Lord Inquisitor." A reply came from the other end of the communication line. "Here is Captain Vavel, the mercenary forces are surrendering en masse. However, in the heat of battle, we lost an entire company of stormtroopers and I lost half of mine."
"So, am I to understand that there are many dead and wounded?" Lanz asked.
"Most of them were injured, but some of them lost limbs." The captain obediently reported. "I saw with my own eyes how one of these overgrown reptiles bit off the limb of one Sergeant from my company."
Lanz grimaced with some disgust as he tried to imagine the scene. But he had other things to do than concern himself with the figments of his own mind. "I understand that most of you will survive these… brutal trials."
"We have already administered bacterium to them and most of them were taken by medics on board the destroyer. As for the mercenaries, their leader wants to talk to you, my lord."
"Brave or stupid." Lanz scoffed, earning chuckles from the Captain and the death troopers, both of which were oddly garbled and therefore somewhat grotesque. "So be it, I will fulfill his wish, but if it will be a waste of my time, you can repay him for all your combat comrades, Captain, who have lost legs or arms or other body parts. Also, send an order from me to the Commander to send a technical team on board."
Ending the conversation, the Lord Regent put away his communicator and Force-pulled his helmet. However, he had to come personally to get the cloak. I still find using the Force to influence matter much more difficult than I would like. However, if patience in this matter is going to benefit me in the long run, then I am more than willing to wait and work on my abilities.
Putting on his red visored helmet and cape, and strapping his lightsaber to his belt, Lanz was ready and moved forward, the fabric billowing proudly. His death troopers never left his side.
The trio made their way through the ship, encountering either stormtroopers in gray armor or Stormtrooper Corps officers in black uniforms and matching armor along the way. They all saluted them respectfully, but Lanz did not respond or react to it. I have many other, much more important issues at the moment than the answer to gymnastic exercises.
The Force led the Lord Regent to one of the Star Destroyer's hangars, where about 40 elite soldiers in gleaming gray armor were keeping watch over the captives, about 100 of whom were crowded into a circle in the very center of the hangar, devoid of ships, at least apart from the two unidentified transports.
"My lord." A stormtrooper with an orange pauldron, which instantly gave away his rank as Captain, approached the trio. "Here are the prisoners and there is the commander of these mercenaries."
Lanz followed the officer's hand gesture and saw a Trandoshan, slightly shorter than the average representative of this species, in a gray suit with a half cape hanging on a gold buckle.
"What is your name, mercenary?" Lanz asked as soon as he got within 10 feet of the Trandoshan.
"Commander Tesh." The humanoid reptile replied, with a somewhat cartoonish flick of its tongue and a hiss. "I am the commander of those People."
"Intriguing." Lanz stated dryly, eyeing him for a brief moment and assessing him. Well, it is undoubtedly a typical representative of its species. Now that I see him, I begin to fully understand why representatives of this Trandoshan kind are able to hunt Wookies and be such great hunters. They are basically hunters designed by biology, or perhaps evolution, primarily for this purpose.
"I hope there's a specific reason you wanted to talk to me." Lanz added this after a short while, in a voice that, despite the helmet and voice deformation, sounded almost conversational. "I would be, to put it mildly, displeased if it turned out that your request was motivated by a desire to prolong your life by a few extra minutes."
"I guarantee you won't be disappointed…" Trandoshan stopped mid-sentence as one of the stormtroopers guarding him, in this case an ensign, hit him in the stomach with a blaster butt.
"Speak with respect to the Lord Inquisitor, you scum!" The elite non-commissioned officer shouted at the alien, who, however, straightened up quite quickly, making it seem as if the blow had no major effect on him.
The stormtrooper wanted to throw another punch, but stopped himself when the Lord Regent raised his hand in the air as a silent command, while being more than pleased that the ensign had played the role of bad cop for him, even though Lanz hadn't planned on it. "Forgive the overzealousness of my soldiers, but when in the eyes of idealists and people devoted to the cause you become the only hope for saving what is close to their hearts, it is not so strange that they treat you with respect and are ready to beat or flay anyone who does not address with respect the object of their hopes."
"I am not in a position to make any complaints, Lord Inquisitor." Trandoshan cackled, sounding almost caricatured like a humanoid reptile. "Regardless of this, my lord, I would like to make you an offer that, given the death of my employer, may bring some benefits to both of us."
Lanz didn't even look at the others, just smiled mockingly under his helmet. "Well, it really says a lot about your loyalty if you decided to switch sides so quickly."
"Lord Inquisitor, it is difficult to change sides when your employer is dead." Tesh replied, but without humor and instead with what could best be described as a negotiating tone of voice. "Actually, you turned our side, my lord, by killing that Inquisitor, I think his name was Fourth Brother."
"In fact, I cut off his head." Lanz replied, trying to control himself and his voice enough so as not to break down and not to show even the slightest trace of weakness. "So what do you propose? However, I advise you to choose your words carefully, considering the number of deaths and injuries suffered by my stormtroopers."
Tash wasn't worried, Lanz would have sensed it in the Force, he was competent enough in this field, especially since Trandoshans weren't that different from humans, at least in terms of expressing and feeling emotions. Individual entities without a common connection such as hive consciousness.
"My lord, I offer you our services as mercenaries. While this may seem suspicious, I am sure that someone with the resources you have, my lord, and may, sooner or later, be faced with the prospect of fighting other warlords or New…" Tash coughed, trying to pretend the last word was has been misunderstood. "... or rebels, you will need as many soldiers or battle-hardened warriors as possible."
Tash didn't speak, so Lanz decided to do it for him, with a pretty clear guess as to where his interlocutor was heading.
"Continue." Was all that came out of the Lord Regent's helmet speakers.
"That's why I asked for this interview, my companions and I are members of the Tranman League, a company of human Trandoshans mercenaries. We have been hired by some Imperial Admiral to assist your Inquisition brother in securing a certain planet."
"What planet exactly?" Lanz asked him, becoming more and more intrigued.
"I didn't ask, but the navigation computer should have the appropriate coordinates." Tash licked his lips while baring his teeth in what should have been a smile, but the Lord Regent had legitimate doubts about it. "My proposition, Lord Inquisitor, is that I and my boys and ladies agree to work for you. Our league has already received half of the agreed payment, in exchange for sparing our lives we will work for you and will be happy to put you in touch with the league management if you ever need additional labor."
Lanz didn't answer right away, instead focusing on the sensations coming from the Force, and that expressed more than thousands or hundreds of words of outrage. Virtually all of the stormtroopers are absolutely furious, and honestly I'm not surprised. On the other hand, it would be the height of stupidity to reject this type of offer, having said that...
Lanz looked straight into the eyes of the mercenary commander. "So be it, in exchange for your help, I will spare your lives. However, if you ever cheat on me, don't count on a discount. On the contrary, you will receive fire and blood."
"I see." Commander Tash licked his lips once again. "So we have a deal, my lord?"
Definitely. Besides, if I ever need to go somewhere discreetly and without my people, more private and informal, you will be more than useful. Definitely…
AN: My dear readers, I warmly and wholeheartedly welcome you after a VERY long break, although it was not as long as between the first two chapters and the sequel (for those of you who don't know, it was about 2 years).
Now, however, let's focus on the future, because it is much more important than something that was and will not come back.
A trickster, a trickster and a swindler would confess to you and beg for forgiveness, so I won't ask you for anything!
Instead, I will focus on what is important, my thanks to you. Thanks that so many of you read every day and refresh yourself on this story, the plot and everything that has happened so far. On the one hand, it's proof of your commitment and, at the same time, a silent statement that at least I was able to handle the plot decently.
Truly, there is probably no better reward and motivator for me as an author than seeing hundreds or dozens of visits on the official statistics. Now that we've got that out of the way, let me answer a few questions that - at least I have the impression - seemed to concern you the most, and I answered one of them indirectly in this chapter.
Lanz feels great respect for both Palpatine and Vader, primarily due to their previous memories and feelings. It may seem strange to some that the Inquisition received a new ethos, which theoretically gave many opportunities for agents of this organization to attempt assassinations or take Vader's place. Nevertheless, at this stage - several years before Endor - both Siths were already so confident in their Power that, in their opinion, the inferior darksiders were not a major threat to them.
Why do the New Republic and idealistic policymakers decide to prepare for war with the Alignment of Powers? Well, the answer is simple and I thought that each of you would be able to read it easily, but I'm in a hurry to answer anyway. Both Mom Mothma and Leia - who lost her adoptive family due to the actions of the empire - have no reason to consider the Alignment of Powers as anything other than an interstellar kingdom ruled by ambitious warlords, solely due to better treatment of civilians and a more humane approach to managing subordinates worlds. Personally, I try to convey in this way that there are certain limits to idealism and the resulting naivety. From the perspective of the New Republic and its decision-makers, everything Alignment of Powers is doing is a ruse and an attempt to gain public support in order to long-term prepare for an interstellar total war on many fronts at the same time. I won't even mention ensuring peace from local uprisings because it is more than obvious.
That's all from my side, I say goodbye to you and see you in the future. -King's Snake