Have no fear, Grubkiller is here.
Hey guys and gals, sorry its been a while since my last update.
I've been really busy lately with work and such, and I've been working on multiple stories.
But anyway, please enjoy this latest chapter.
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Mustafar, Fortress Vader, secret hanger.
Juno knew better than to expect a rapturous reception upon their return, but even so she was disappointed. The secret hanger was empty when the Rogue Shadow docked. A successful mission deserved some sort of acknowledgement, surely. Even after Callos . . .
She pushed the thought away. The job was done. What more needed to be said? She had done it well - in her eyes, at least, although Starkiller had barely acknowledged the fact on returning to the ship - and they had lived to fight another day. Or to kill more Jedi Knights, if that was what Lord Vader's scruffy, incommunicative agent was really up to. She had seen the second lightsaber hilt hanging from his belt, and she knew what that probably meant.
It had taken thousands of clone warriors to completely wipe out the Jedi. That was the official version - ignoring rumors she'd heard about Darth Vader's ongoing hunt for the last survivors of that strange and deadly sect. From the stories her father had told her as a child she'd imagined them to be monsters ten feet high sucking the lifeblood out of the Republic. Now it turned out they still existed, and young men went forth to do battle with them alone.
Could they really really be so reduced, these villains that had once held the galaxy in their thrall?
Or . . . could the young man who was now her traveling companion possibly be so powerful?
The landing struts had barely touched metal hen he was on his feet and heading for the door.
She leaned back into her seat and ran her hands across her temples. Her skin felt oily and covered in grit, as though she had been the one running around in the smoke and the mess above Nar Shaddaa instead of watching it from the feeds she'd managed to slice into from one of the facility's security cams, footage of which she scrubbed so that no one could find out about the apprentice. She wanted to check over the ship and get into the refresher and scrub the dirt away.
She hadn't felt clean for weeks . . .
The voice of Starkiller almost made her jump out of her skin. she had thought jim long gone.
"Good work, Juno," he said. "I'll leave PROXY here to help you run through the checklist."
"Thank you, but I-" By the time she turned her seat around, the cockpit was empty of anyone but her and the droid. PROXY stared back at her with unwinking photo-receptors. She didn't want to admit that he made her slightly nervous, so she flashed her warmest smile and hauled herself out of the seat.
"Well, let's get to it. I've got a report to write before I get any rest - if anyone other than me will ever read it . . ."
PROXY proved an efficient and unobtrusive co-worker. He followed instructions, showed initiative, and did his level best to stay out of her way. That was more than she could say for half of the real people she had worked with since graduating from the Imperial Academy on Corulag. Together they checked over the ship in record time, noting only a few small carbon scores on its port side and, near the aft sensor array, a blaster burn that had been weakened so much by the shields, it would barely have fried an egg.
When they were done, she dismissed the droid, telling him to go take an oil bath or whatever he did for relaxation, and then set off to her quarters to work on the mission report she insisted had to be completed.
That wasn't entirely a lie. She did need to report in detail to word Vader, just as she had on every mission she'd ever flown for him. The thing was, she didn't really need to do it right away. It could wait a standard hour or two or even until the morning. But there was something else on her mind, something much more important that really couldn't wait any longer.
'Is there a psychological profile in there, too?' She had asked the droid before they'd set out on their first mission together.
'Yes', the machine had told her, 'but it's restricted.'
That fact had burned in her all the way to Nar Shaddaa. It came as no surprise that such a file existed somewhere in the vast bureaucracy that was the Imperial Navy. Everyone probably had one, except Darth Vader and the Emperor. What rankled was that it was being talked about. PROXY knew where it was. The wretched machine might even have read it, for all his protest about it being restricted. A droid capable of impersonating Jedi Knights might have unknown capacities for deception.
She wanted to know what that profile contained. What was it telling people about her? What secrets did it reveal to the galaxy in general - about her early life, her father, her career? About Callos?
Her mouth was set in a determined line when she reached her quarters a few levels above the hanger bay and activated her data pad. Handpicked for special duties by Darth Vader himself, she had a certain degree of access to files normally hidden to those of her rank. Would that be sufficient for her to locate and read the file she wanted? There was only one way to find out.
Carefully, and thoroughly, she began slicing into the Fort's data banks.
The first files she found concerning her just contained basic information that PROXY already had given to Starkiller in the hanger before their first mission. Then she began probing deeper into the databanks, seeking forgotten or overlooked corners of information. More snippets emerged. One talked about her mother, a women she barely remembered, and who was killed in crossfire between Imperial loyalists and insurgents, during her planet's brief civil war, during a coup on Imperial Center that nearly killed the Emperor.
Her mother had been a teacher. The file contained a holo Juno had not seen before, an image of her mother with her long blond hair inned back by a brooch made from a round black stone. Her eyes looked lively and amused. She seemed terribly young to be a mother, and dead.
Among a list of high-ranking Corulag graduates, she came across her name appended to her complete academic record. The list of subjects and grades filled her with pride, as it always did, but with that emotion also came sadness. She had worked so hard and achieved so much, not just for herself, but for her father, too. A distant and strict man, especially after the death of his life, he had been a fierce admirer of those serving the Empire. A civilian engineer, he would have signed up for the Academy himself had he not failed the physical. So he should have been proud of his daughter, who had graduated with such honor and gone on to achieve everything he had ever wanted. Why, then, had he not even shown up at her graduation? It didn't make any sense.
That was an old, familiar hurt. The profile could talk about that aspect of her life as much as it wanted and she wouldn't think twice. She hadn't seen her father in years and wouldn't mind if she never did again. Only in recent days, away from her former squadron mates and lying alone in her bunk-room at night, did she ever wonder what had become of him. Would she end up as bitter as he was? How many more missions like Callos would it take before she forgot why she had joined up in the first place?
In a small holo appended to the last file she found, her father looked at her with empty eyes around his narrow, imperious nose. She closed that window with an impatient flick of her index finger.
This was getting her nowhere. Searching through archives for her name could leave her mired in trivia for days. There had to be a better way.
She leaned back in her seat and thought for a moment. It was PROXY who had alerted her to the existence of the file, so the droid must have access to its location, if not the actual contents. Therefore, if she could somehow pin down the information PROXY had scanned in the last day or two, she might get a result.
It took her a few minutes to find an ID that looked like it might belong to the droid and to begin following it through the databanks.
But then, without warning, her screen cleared. She blinked bleary eyes at a new view, a data feed she appeared to have unintentionally sliced into. It was one occasionally accessed by PROXY, showing a gunmetal-gray corridor leading to a heavy, secure door. The view came with sound. She could hear footsteps, faintly, from the other side of the door. Someone was pacing restlessly back and forth. And breathing: heavy, rhythmic breathing, as of lungs straining at a mechanical respirator . . .
A shock of adrenaline rushed through her. Only one person in the galaxy breathed like that. She must have patched by accident into Lord Vader's private chambers. Her hand reached up to cancel the feed lest she be discovered spying on him, but before she could complete the command, the door hissed open and her curiosity was caught.
Revealed in the doorway was Starkiller, a picture of impatience and restrain. He had clearly been waiting to speak to his Dark Lord all this time. In four quick paces he walked past the vantage point of her hidden security cam and out of view.
With a series of hesitant commands, not quite believing her audacity, she tested to see if the viewpoint was movable. It rotated smoothly to bring Starkiller back into sight, revealing a room that was empty of personality, unlike the rest of Vader's Fortress. The Dark Lord himself stood with his back to the room, staring at the molten red landscape outside.
Starkiller knelt behind Vader and waited. He seemed well accustomed to doing that, despite the energy boiling through him, barely contained by his skin. Without turning, Lord Vader asked, "Master Kota is dead?"
Starkiller didn't answer straightaway. He raised his head, considered the question, and then said, "Yes."
"His lightsaber."
Starkiller unclipped the second weapon from his belt. Vader turned just enough to reach out with one hand. The fallen Jedi's lightsaber was snatched into Lord Vader's grasp as though by invisible fingers.
Juno let out a surprised gasp and stifled it underbought hands, irrationally afraid that the Dark Lord might hear her through the one-way security link.
Oblivious to her scrutiny, he turned back to the viewport and examined the lightsaber in his hands. Starkiller waited, immobile, as though he could have knelt there all night.
Finally Vader spoke again.
"My spies have been watching another Jedi. Kazdan Paratus is hiding on the junk world of Raxus Prime."
"I'll deal with him as I dealt with Rahm Kota," said Starkiller unhesitatingly.
Well, that's that, thought Juno, abandoning all hope of sleep that night. No rest for the wicked. She moved to disconnect and get ready for the call to arms, but her finger hovered over the switch, unable to let the moment go. Her position was an illicit but privileged one, and hard to abandon.
Vader looked up from the lightsaber and turned to face the young man kneeling before him.
"Kazdan Paratus is far more powerful than you," the black-masked figure said, filling her with apprehension. "I do not expect you to survive. But should you succeed, you will be one step closer to your destiny."
Starkiller nodded eagerly. "The Emperor."
"Yes. Only together can we defeat him."
"I will not fail you, Lord-"
Juno's finger stabbed down hard on the cutoff switch and she recoiled into her chair. Apprehension had become pure horror. Could she possibly have heard correctly? The Emperor? Vader and his dark apprentice were going to betray the Emperor?
No, she told herself, getting up from her chair and pacing back and forth across the small room. it couldn't be true. There must be more to it than she thought. Perhaps if she'd kept listening . . .
When she tried to get the feed back, the connection was gone. The screen remained resolutely blank as though taunting her fearful concerns.
Darth Vader had been the Imperial Supreme Commander of the military for as long as Palpatine had been Emperor. It was inconceivable that he would turn on his Master now. Even if he was considering it, what could he and one scruffy agent do against the Imperial Guards and well-armed aides who attended the Emperor everywhere he went? The thought was preposterous. She had to put it out of her mind as a product of fatigue and go about her duty as though nothing had happened.
It wasn't as if she could turn either of them in on such flimsy evidence. If she tried, she'd be killed for sure, whether the accusation was true or not . . .
Right on cue, her communicator buzzed.
"Yes? She said, speaking as though nothing untoward had happened.
"I need you in the Rogue Shadow," Starkiller informed her, as she had known he would. "We have a new mission."
"I'll be right there."
She took a moment to smooth her uniform and her hair, and to rub the dark circles under her eyes, then she hurriedly shut down her data-pad and left the room.
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Mustafar, Lower levels of Fortress Vader.
When Vader's secret apprentice went into a hyperspace, the Dark Lord saw fit to go into the cave complex beneath the castle he had built. In fact, he had built this castle here for this exact reason. He was trying to uncover the vast secrets of the Dark Side Locus.
Using the power of dark side, and channeling it through the Castle, he directed the uncontrollable amount of Sith energy into the stone table before him, which ripped open the fabric of time and space.
"Finally," he said to himself as he was about to step into the portal.
But then his com-link went off. He begrudgingly answered it, and a pair of holograms appeared in front of him. One was an Utapaun known as the Grand Inquisitor. The other one was a human officer that Vader was all too familiar with.
Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin, governor of the Outer Rim, and overseer of the other Moffs and their sectors.
"Lord Vader. We have captured the leader of a rebel cell from the Lothal Sector. A Jedi named Kanan Jarrus." The Inquisitor said.
"What about the rest of his allies?"
"That was why we brought him here. I want to know what this Jedi has to say, so that we may deal with his rebel friends." Tarkin said. "That is, if your interrogation techniques are up to par."
Vader stared at the Grand Moff for a few seconds. Most people would shudder under this gaze . . . but Tarkin didn't.
"Deliver him to the Fortress and begin the interrogation process." Vader said while looking at the Inquisitor. "I will join you after I have completed another matter. I am not to be disturbed under any circumstances." Vader ordered.
Before they could say another word, Vader shut down the holo-projector and stepped into the portal.
He had been waiting for this moment for so long.
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Fortress Vader.
In another part of the facility, Kanan Jarrus, the Jedi prisoner captured on Lothal, was forcibly escorted across the landing pad and into the Dark Castle, where it was rumored that Jedi survivors were sent to be interrogated and executed.
As far as Kanan knew, no one knew that he was here.
But that wasn't true. His friends, the members of the Ghost crew, the Specters, were here for him.
Hera Syndulla, the twi'lek leader of the group, watched her lover disappear inside the Fort's entrance through her micro-binoculars. She closed her eyes and breathed in heavily. She then turned to her fellow crew-mates, who were escorted here by some of the natives, including a tribal leader, Chief Kkkt.
"Alright, everyone. Kanan was just taken into the facility. We're going in to save him. Zeb, when we get inside the facility, I want you and Sabine to find the power source for the defense grid that Chopper located, and blow it to slag, and then you're going to find us a ride out of here. When the defenses are down, Father Kkkt's forces will launch an all out assault on the Fort, and that should keep them distracted long enough for me and Ezra to find Kanan's cell, and then we're getting out of here."
Everyone nodded in affirmation.
"But what about the rest of your rebellion?" Chief Kkkt said. "Will they not be joining us?"
Hera let out a sigh. "We don't know. Our contacts are doing the best they can to send help our way. We're most likely on our own. But are your people will be take such a big risk?"
Chief Kkkt crossed his arms. "We have suffered under Imperial rule for too long. They plunder our world, steal our resources, and use us for forced labor. We are more than willing to make them pay for what they've done.
Hera and her friends smiled.
"Alright people, let's do this."
As Chief Kkkt and his warriors went to rejoin their people out on the lava plains, Hera, Sabine, Ezra and Zeb all went to blindspot at the bottom of the Fort, where the durasteel wall met the surface. Sabine used her scanner to look for a structural weakpoint in the wall. When the scanner went off, she pointed to the wall.
"Right here," she said.
Ezra stepped forward and took out his recently constructed lightsaber, ignited the blue blade, and plunged it straight into the Fort's wall, before cutting a large circle out of the wall.
When he was done, Zeb stepped forward and began to push against the wall, using his raw strength to push the large metal slab until it fell into the building. They all stepped into the hole and then Zeb pushed the slab back into place, as if it was never cut.
"Alright, stick to the plan and we might make it through this. Let's go." Hera said.
And with that, they split up.
Sabine and Zeb went for the defense grid's power complex, while Ezra and Hera ran for the detention block.
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Gateway world.
When he first stepped through, he noticed that his armor was shed from his body, and he was just the way he was before he was horribly scarred. He then started to walk through the dimension of the Dark Side, where he began to walk past other structures that had been his other designs of his fortress before the final design was complete.
But something was different. The structures all began to merge until they were formed into a place he was all too familiar with.
The Jedi Temple.
Vader began to march up the staircase with two red lightsabers drawn. And behind him, thousands of Imperial Stormtroopers marched behind him. And when they reached the top, they were met by many of the Jedi that Vader knew in his previous life.
They included Yoda, Mace Windu, Shaak Ti, Plo Koon, Saesee Tiin, Ki-Adi Mundi, and several others.
Vader pointed one of his lightsabers forward, and the Imperial troopers behind him stormed the temple, all guns blazing. As the troopers and Jedi Knights did battle, Vader went to work killing the visions of the Jedi Masters that betrayed him.
A vicious duel commenced, but Vader got the upper hand. One by one the Jedi Masters all fell before him. As he waded through the pile of limbs and severed heads, only Yoda remained, who tried to leap at Vader, who merely plunged his swords deep into the little Jedi's abdomen.
Let the past die. Kill it if you have to.
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ISD Sovereign, low orbit over Mustafar.
On the bridge of the ISD Sovereign, Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin stood in front of the viewport that towered over the massive Imperial Star-Destroyer, a massive space-faring fortress of turbo-lasers and durasteel.
The Grand Moff was disinterested, as usual, with the personal affairs of the dark wizards that were always going on missions for the Galactic Emperor. But for once their efforts have finally bared fruit, for they had captured a Jedi.
One of the few who escaped the Emperor's contingency protocol 66.
And even better, was a member of a rebel cell that has been harassing Imperial shipping for several months now, including shipments of kyber crystals that were crucial to project Stardust.
The aging veteran smiled. With his project safe, it will soon be completed, and the galaxy will finally know peace.
Suddenly, an alarm started blaring across the ship. Officers and crewmen started scrambling to their stations.
"What's going on Captain?" Tarkin asked.
An officer rushed up to his side. "Sir, we're detecting multiple signatures approaching through hyperspace."
"Shields up. Activate ion cannons and tractor beams. I want to capture as many of these pitiful rebels as possible."
As the Imperial gunnery crews started to man their stations, several small corvettes and blockade runners emerged from hyperspace, surrounded by flights of Y-wing bombers, Z-95 headhunters, and A-wing interceptors.
"Captain, you may fire when ready." Tarkin said, with his signature calm voice.
"Open fire!" The captain called out.
And suddenly a maelstrom of green turbo-laser fire was unleashed upon the rebel fighters, which broke off once the flak erupted around them. Then, ion cannons opened up on the larger ships, trying to deactivate them. Two rebel blockade runners were stopped dead in the water, but the rest continued forward, trying to get in close to the Star-Destroyer.
Soon, dozens of TIE fighters were unleashed, and began to engage in dogfights with the superior, but far less numerous rebel fighters.
Many TIEs were shot down. But they could be replaced.
The rebels had to make every shot count, for they had very few men and ships to spare.
The battle over Mustafar was on.
Fortress Vader, generator complex.
Sabine and Zeb began to rush through the corridors of this dark fortress, avoiding Stormtrooper patrols and MSE-series "mouse" droids.
Sabine led the way with her wrist-mounted holo-map, which showed a model of the Fortress, but not a detailed layout, sense this facility was mostly 'off the grid' for most people outside of this system. Instead, all they could do was lock onto a certain power source, and feel their way through the fortress almost blindly.
Zeb peaked around a corner just as a pair of stormtroopers walked by on their patrol. Then he looked back at Sabine. "Have you found it yet, or are we going to run into another dead end?"
"Look, if you wanna hold the map, be my guest. But it's not easy to find a power source when we can't see the hallways." Sabine said as she continued to study the hologram of the fortress emanating from wrist unit. When she brought up where she and Zeb were in relation to the power source, showing up as two yellow dots near a massive red blob, she went to see if the coast was clear again before charging towards the source again. "This way, hurry."
After running around for another thirty seconds, Sabine found a pair of metal doors that led straight to where her map was pointing them to. "This is it." She said as she started to press a few buttons on the door's key pad. When it flashed red and the text read "access denied", Sabine groaned. "Uhhh, my security codes won't get us through. We'll have to do this the old fashioned way."
She then stepped aside and gestured to the door with her hands in a presenting manner. "It's all yours big guy."
Zeb flashed a toothy smirk before cracking his knuckles. "Heh-heh-heh." He laughed as he walked over to the door and began to pull it open with his bare hands, using his raw lasat strength to pull the door apart. There was some resistance, and Zeb struggled, but the door was soon open.
"A-hah... Oh!" He exclaimed in surprise.
"What's wrong?" Sabine asked, not able to see through the door or past Zeb.
But then she heard rifles clicking and boot clattering against the deck.
"Who are you?" Said a voice on the other side of the door.
"Uhhhh-" Zeb stuttered.
"Freeze."
"Hands where I can see 'em!"
Realizing that Zeb was likely being held up by stormtroopers, she immediately pressed a few buttons on her wrist comm, jamming their short-range comms, before pulling the antennae on the side of her helmet down. She flipped through several visor settings before detecting several heat signatures behind the door, including Zeb's, the stormtroopers, and the reactors in the large room.
She then isolated the heat signatures that were immediately on the other side of the door, and saw four figures standing on the other side.
Sabine smiled. She pulled a disk out of one of her belt pouches and slid it underneath Zeb's legs, and it slid across the deck. The stormtroopers became agitated by this, but before they could do anything about it, Sabine pressed a button, and the small disk released an energy pulse that electrocuted the four troopers, locking them in place.
As they locked up and groaned in pain, Sabine slid across the floor underneath Zeb, who was still holding the door open, and pulled out her dual blaster pistols and unleashed a series of blaster bolts that hit all four troopers. Two of them fell to the deck, and the other two tumbled over the side of the walkway, which had no railings.
With less rifles aimed at him, Zeb let go of the doors and jumped through, allowing the door to slam shut behind him. He then pulled his Bo rifle off of his back and went to support Sabine, targeting Stormtroopers who were protecting the reactors.
"Blast them!"
The two specters started dodging blaster fire and went to take cover in a circles of computer terminals in the center of the room.
"Get those charges set up, I'll cover you!" Zeb shouted, as Sabine started tossing detonators onto the large reactors that connected the ceilings to the floor. She then started throwing several more onto the control panels.
As this was happening, the Stormtroopers and Zeb continued to exchange fire. As they kept him pinned down, more troopers went in to get close and flush them out and hopefully start disarming the bombs.
That's when Zeb jumped over cover and started firing on several troopers, before switching his rifle to its Bo-staff mode, which basically turned it into an electro-staff, which he used to knock several troopers over the side of the walkways. One trooper tried to jump on his back. But Zeb jumped back against the side of a reactor, knocking the trooper out cold, before he threw him at several more troopers like a rag doll, knocking down several more.
But more troopers started to pour in.
"Hurry it up Sabine."
"Done!" Sabine said as she linked the last of the charges to her wrist device. "Let's get out of here."
The two began to retreat under heavy fire, before they headed back to the door they came through. But instead of ripping it open, Sabine threw a thermal detonator at the door, demolishing it, Escaping the room without a scratch.
But as they passed through the demolished door, Zeb noticed that the troopers weren't chasing them. Instead, they were starting to gather up the bombs and disarm them
"Wait a minute, they'll try to disarm the bombs!" Zeb exclaimed.
That's when Sabine, while still running, pressed the detonation button on her wrist comm. Then seconds later, several explosions rumbled through the fortress, and a massive explosion ripped through the side of the tower, as the two specters could see out a viewport they were running along.
"YEAH!"
Sabine just stared at it, awestruck.
The way the orange explosion matched up well with the landscape of Mustafar perfectly.
"Now that... is a work of art."
Gahenn Plains.
Outside the Fort, which was being struck by a purple lightning that rippled through the clouds, a squadron of Imperial Stormtroopers led by an imperial officer were out on patrol, walking along the rocky landscape, which emitted column of ash and steam from the creaks of magma that ran through the soil like molten veins.
Ash storm started to blow across the region, making visibility more difficult.
And the heat - by the Force, the heat - was unbearable.
"Uh, I hate this planet." One trooper complained over the team's personal channel. "It's hot. And I don't like the soil. It's rough, course, irritating, and by god, it gets everywhere."
"Yeah, and it's so boring. The only thing to shoot out here are those natives, and even they haven't attacked in a while."
"Both of you, can it!" The squad leader called out. "We've got a job to do. Lord Vader wants to make sure that no one can interrupt his experiments."
"And what the hell is he doing all the time anyway? Every time he conducts his experiments, the tower ends up blowing up, and then he comes down to kill another one of those egg-heads."
"I don't care. Just do your job right, and you won't be the next one he's mad at."
"Sir, yes sir," the troopers all groaned in 'semi'-unison, as they reached a cliff that overlooked a molten lava-fall.
Suddenly, a massive explosion erupted from the side of the tower behind them.
The troopers turned around to see what it was.
"See?" One trooper called out while gesturing at the tower. "Every time, it never fails. Vader locks himself away, lightning show, and then- BAM, tower explodes."
But there was something off about this explosion. Usually, it happened just as the lightning storm started, and the roof would explode just as the lightning made contact with the roof. But this time, it was coming from the side, and inside.
And then something else happened. The power would usually flicker on and off, and then go back to normal. But this time, the lights went out, and massive sound of power draining echoed across the landscape.
"Wait a minute. I don't think that was Vader's project." The sergeant said.
As they all looked at the fort, no one saw a spear piercing a trooper through the un-armored throat. When he let out a muffled grunt, everyone turned around just in time to see him falling over the edge.
"Armang!" The stormtrooper sergeant exclaimed as he and two other troopers went to try and catch the injured trooper.
But he fell of the ledge and into the orange-glowing ash cloud below them. They tried to see where he went, or where the attacker came from. But then they heard chattering. from hundreds of different directions, echoing across the valley.
"What the hell?"
"Keep your weapons hot. Something's coming."
The troopers all gathered on the cliff with their weapons aimed. Just in time to see dozens of large war beetles marching up the side of the cliff, with Mustafar native-warriors riding them.
"BUGS!" One trooper called out before cutting loose with his DLT-19 Heavy Blaster Rifle.
"And natives too. We're under attack!"
As the other troopers started firing, several natives and their war beetles started to fall to the ground and river below. But for every target they took out, ten more seemed to take their place.
"Fall back!" The sergeant called out. "Get back to the Fort!"
The stormtrooper beat feet in the direction of the fort, just when the first beetle climbed over the cliff and began to charge towards the Fort. The symbol of the native plight on Mustafar.
'By the end of this day', thought Chief Kkkt, 'this dark castle will fall.'
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Detention block, interrogation chamber, Fortress Vader.
Deep within the bowels of Fortress Vader a dark, vial agent of the Dark Side, watched as interrogation droids - 'Mind probes' - hovered around the Jedi prisoner, who was bound to a table.
The droids injected mind altering substances into Kanan Jarrus. The chemical caused great pain across his body, while also making him remain conscious. He groaned in pain as the droid continued to hover around him, recording his reactions.
The Grand Inquisitor walked over to Kanan, and used the Force to cause his table to stand up vertically, allowing him to look at him face-to-face.
"You certainly are a Jedi, considering how well you resist the mind probes. But now I grow tired of this game. So until you tell me what I want to know about your rebel friends," he said as he raised his hand, and started to use the force on Kanan's mind, "you will know terrible pain."
Kanan grunted and groaned, as he felt the Dark Side invading his mind, as if his very brain was being slowly crushed by his own skull.
"I won't talk, blasted Sith scum." Kanan said through clenched teeth.
The Inquisitor tried harder. "Tell me about the other Jedi."
"No!" Kanan groaned. "Ezra."
"Go on. . ." The Grand Inquisitor said. "What do you see?"
"I see... I see," Kanan said, before he opened his eyes and looked at the Inquisitor, "you, growing more... and more... frustrated."
The Inquisitor frowned. He then let go of Kanan's mind.
Kanan breathed in heavily, recovering from the ordeal.
"How very perceptive of you," the Grand Inquisitor said as he used the force to summon to electro-prods that were attached to the ceiling. He then activated them and caused energy to cover Kanan's body, overcoming him with pain.
"AAHHHHH!"
Fortress Vader, detention area.
Hera Syndulla and Ezra Bridger continued to move through the fortress, trying to look for the detention block. As they moved deeper and deeper into the building, they felt it rumble around them, as an explosion shook the building.
"Sounds like Sabine and Zeb are having a good time up top." Ezra said.
"Then Father Kkkt's forces will soon start the attack, and draw forces outside." Hera said. "We'd better hurry."
Ezra and Hera ran through winding corridors and dead ends until they were able to find the detention block, which was guarded by more than a couple dozen Stormtroopers.
The twi'lek pilot and young Jedi both hugged the wall to stay out of sight.
"What are we going to do? I can't fight through all of them." Ezra said.
Before Hera could say anything, the base's alarm started to go off, and an announcement was made of the base's PA system.
"All personnel, this is Admiral Karius. We are under attack. This is not a drill. All available units are to report to the outer wall, immediately."
In response to the announcement, about two-thirds of the troopers guarding the detention area scrambled to get top side, running right passed Ezra and Hera, who continued to hide within the wall conduits.
When all the troopers passed, Hera and Ezra looked back to see only a handful of stormtroopers still stationed in the detention block.
Ezra nodded in approval. "Not bad for those natives, there's only like eight of them left."
"Can you handle it?" Hera asked.
Ezra looked at her and smiled. "Watch this." He said before he ran around the corner and opened fire with the blaster portion of his lightsaber, striking one stormtrooper.
The others turned to see him charging down the hall before he ignited his lightsaber.
"It's a Jedi, get him!" One trooper called out before the rest opened fire.
But Ezra expertly blocked the oncoming shots as he advanced, redirecting one back into the nearest trooper. He then started to run along the wall, and then jump to the opposite wall and do the same, continuing to avoid blaster fire. He then pounced at the nearest trooper and slashes through his weapon and chest, killing him instantly.
Hiding behind another wall conduit, Ezra took cover from the remaining troopers, who continued to pour fire onto his position. He waved Hera forward, who emerged from her hiding space to open fire on the Imperials at the end of the hall, taking one of them down.
When she started to draw their fire, Ezra re-emerged and started to block the shots that were being sent Hera's way, back into the Imperials until only one remained. Ezra deactivated his saber and opened fire on the trooper, taking him down.
The corridor was now littered with the remains of eight stormtroopers.
"Nice work, Ezra." Hera said as she placed her hand on his shoulder. "Kanan taught you well."
Ezra smiled and shrugged.
"Now come on." Hera said as they moved deeper into the detention block.
But they eventually came across an intersection that led to multiple hallways filled with even more cells.
"Gah, how are we supposed to find him now?" Hera asked, frustrated.
Ezra walked into the middle of the intersection and sat down on his knees. He then started to reach out with the force, using the connection that he had to his master. But after a few moments, he heard screams, and felt terrible pain. And then he saw an image of Kanan being interrogated, before he was ripped from his vision.
"Kanan!" Ezra shouted, before he found himself on the ground.
"What is it?" Hera asked as she went to help him up. "What did you see?"
Ezra breathed heavily as he tried to recount his vision.
"I... I saw." Ezra stuttered. "It's Kanan. He was in pain."
Hera looked at him with worry. "Then we need to find him."
Ezra looked off in the direction that his vision was leading him to.
"I know where to find him." Ezra said, before he suddenly felt very cold. "And someone else."
Interrogation chamber.
Screams continued to echo from Kanan's cell as electricity covered his body, shocking all of his systems, while a seemingly bored Inquisitor watched over him.
"Still protecting you precious crew?" The Utapuan agent asked before he shut down the electro-probs. "Hm, quite admirable. But what I want to know is about the other rebels. We've already removed General Kota from the . But what about this . . . Fulcrum?"
"I'm not telling you anything," Kanan said between heavy breaths, "I'd rather give my life than tell you."
The Grand Inquisitor began to pace back and forth in front of the table. "So heroic. Just like your master. What was her name . . . Master Depa Billaba, was it?"
Kanan looked down. A move that caught the Inquisitor's attention.
"Ah, so it is true. You are Jedi Padawan Caleb Dume." The Inquisitor said before he leaned in next to Kanan's face. "Tell me, how did you survive Order 66?"
Kanan remained silent.
"Ah, she laid her life down for you, didn't she? What were her last words to you, before she died?"
Kanan's lip started to quiver, and his eyes started to become watery.
"What do you constantly hear when you wake from your nightmares? What did she say with her last dying breath, that still haunts you to this day?"
Then Kanan finally spoke in a hushed tone, uttering a single word. "Run."
The Inquisitor stood back up and walked away. "Ah, I see. And do your friends know? How do you think they would react if they found out their leader was a coward?" He asked as he pulled Kanan's lightsaber from another table and put it together before igniting it. "You're even afraid of your own power. You're not even brave enough to wear your full saber out in the open." He said before he pointed the blue blade in Kanan's face. "But let me tell you something, Jedi. You are right to be afraid. You couldn't save your master back then, and you can't help your followers now."
Suddenly, they heard the door open behind the inquisitor, and then two energy bolts flew through the open doorway, and the Inquisitor barely had time to block both of them with Kanan's lightsaber.
Kanan looked over the Grand Inquisitor's shoulder to see Ezra standing in the doorway. The young boy activated his lightsaber.
"Hey, baldly, come and get me." Ezra taunted.
"Ezra, no!" Kanan shouted.
The Inquisitor placed Kanan's saber on his belt before reached for his own, activating it and bringing one of the crimson blades to life. He then lunged forward and started to lash out against the young Jedi, who started to parry the Inquisitor's strikes. They took the fight out into the corridor, and were soon out of Kanan's sight.
He struggled to get out of the bonds, but to no avail.
But then, someone else entered his cell. A beautiful twi'lek wearing a form-fitting jumpsuit, which hugged her curvaceous body in all the right places. Her eyes emerald eyes sparkled, making her green face look angelic, making Kanan think for a moment that he had crossed into the afterlife.
"Hera?!" Kanan asked as she released his bonds, allowing him to slide down from the table. "What are you doing here?"
Before she answered him, she pressed up against him and pushed him against the table, before smashing her lips against his for one long, passionate kiss.
After a few moments, they broke apart. "What's the matter, love?" She asked as she cupped his cheeks. "Don't you know a rescue when you see one?"
He grasped her hands in his own before standing back up. He then kissed her knuckles in a gentlemanly sign of gratitude, before they both ran out to help Ezra, who was currently in the middle of a fight for his life.
Ezra fought as hard as he could, trying to stay of the Inquisitor's range and parrying his strikes. But he couldn't seem to get passed the Inquisitor's defenses. When the parried the Inquisitor's strikes, he crouched down and performed a sweeping saber strike, aimed at the Utapuan's legs.
But the Dark Side warrior jumped and then thrust his saber at Ezra's face, which he was able to block. With Ezra caught in a saber-lock, the Inquisitor broke the dead-lock to use the force, grabbing a hold of Ezra and tossing him into a nearby wall, and then into the ceiling, before finally slamming him down into the deck.
Ezra groaned as he struggled to get back up.
He looked up to see the Inquisitor pointing his red blade into his face.
"The master and the apprentice, both in my grasp." The Inquisitor monologued in delight. "This is a very fortunate day."
"Wanna bet?" A new voice asked before the Inquisitor felt Kanan's lightsaber being snatched from his belt.
He turned around just in time to see the saber flying into Kanan's grasp. He then activated it, and assumed a fighting stance. The Inquisitor turned around and saw Ezra get back up, also assuming a defensive posture.
"Ah, finally a challenge worthy of my skill." The Grand Inquisitor said.
Kanan turned to Hera. "Hera, go find the others and find a way out of here. We'll catch up."
She nodded, and ran off to go join the others, leaving Kanan and Ezra to face the Inquisitor alone. For a few moments, nobody made a move, until Kanan launched his own attack, using a blaster pistol to open fire on the Inquisitor, who was forced to deflect the blasts as Kanan charged forward with his lightsaber and unleashed several strikes against the Dark Sider's defense.
The Inquisitor parried, and thrust his saber forward, trying to impale Kanan. But he dodged and tried to strike at the Inquisitor from the side, who jumped back in time to catch Kanan in a saber lock. But then, Ezra leaped into the fray, trying to strike the Dark Sider's exposed back.
The Inquisitor pushed Kanan back and activated the other end of his saber, using both blades to defend himself and parry the strikes of both Jedi.
But the Sith was a cornered animal that was going to fight hard to gat out of this mess alive.
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Rebel flagship, Phoenix Home.
On the bridge of a modified Pelta-class heavy transport, the Phoenix Home, Commander Jun Sato watched the battle above Mustafar taking place in front of him.
Several of the Golan-I orbital defense platforms had taken some damage in the initial bombing runs made by the rebels, but a pair of light cruisers and an Imperial Star Destroyer were effectively keeping the Rebels from launching any attacks on the surface.
Large, building-sized turbo-laser blasts pierced through some of the larger Rebel corvettes. But the smaller transports and gunships just disappeared in a puff of flame that lasted all of a few seconds.
Many TIE fighters were destroyed, but they could be replaced. The rebels had lost nearly half of their ships, and about three-fourths of their fighters, and their was almost no chance of replacing them. So they had to make every shot and ship count.
"Commander Sato, the Sovereign's too strong. We've got to pull back." Said a panicked voice over the comm.
The veteran commander stabbed his finger into the comm. "Negative. We have to rescue our operatives on the ground. We won't get another chance to attack this target. Take that monster of ship down no matter what the cost."
The Imperial Tie fighters continued to throw themselves at the rebel fleet with mixed success. But every time the Rebel ships got anywhere near the Star Destroyer's kill-zone it was a death sentence.
"All ships, engage." Sato ordered. "Wedged formation, Hammerhead cruisers in front."
On his order, every ship in the fleet engaged their thrusters and powered on towards the Imperial fleet. The trio of heavily armed Sphyrna-class corvettes took the brunt of the attack, while the remaining corvettes and fighters were tucked in behind.
Their heavy guns, combined with that of the fighters and corvettes, ripped the two Imperial light cruiser apart. But it came with a cost. Two of the hammerheads were ripped apart and shredded by Imperial turbo-laser fire at close range, before exploding with all hands aboard.
The last hammerhead, as well as the Phoenix Home, were heavily damaged. But the former kept going, heading straight for the Star Destroyer with all remaining guns blazing. It managed to destroy one of the Shield generators on the bridge superstructure, heavily weakening the shields. The heavy corvette them rammed into the hull, causing a hull breech before exploding.
"Sir, the enemy ship's shields have faded." One of the crew members called out.
"Now's our chance. All remaining bombers, hit that destroyer with everything you've got."
On Sato's command, the six Y-wings that remained flew straight towards the Star-Destroyer.
Realizing what was about to happen, the Star Destroyer unleashed a barrage of turbo-laser fire onto the oncoming Y-Wings, throwing up a wall of green and black puffs of flak. One bomber was vaporized on impact, while another spun out of control after having its port-side engine sheered off.
But it was already too late, as the bombers unleashed their payload onto the hull of the destroyer, with some of the proton bombs hitting the hull breech from earlier, and striking the main reactor. Suddenly, all of the power in the Star Destroyer was shut down, leaving it just one giant paper weight, slowly succumbing to the planet's gravity.
The crew let out a hardy cheer as they scored their first Star Destroyer kill.
But as they passed, all Sato could see was the floating wreckage of rebel fighters and corvettes that was scattered all over the place, floating lifelessly into the never-ending void of space.
But Sato would have to mourn them later. They had a mission to complete. And the Commander watched as his ships knifed through the clouds towards the surface.
ISD Sovereign.
On the bridge of the crippled Star Destroyer, the crew were trying desperately to save their ship from being engulfed in flames. The crew was diverting all power into the engines, in order to escape the planet's gravity.
But to very little avail.
An officer ran up to Grand Moff Tarkin. "Sir, we've diverted all power to the engines. All we have left is emergency power and life support. But we don't have enough power. Respectfully, you might want to consider giving the order to abandon ship and-"
Tarkin turned around to face the young officer. "And you might want to consider diverting all power to the engines. I've just sent a message to the rest of the fleet to send reinforcements. They'll tow the ship out of orbit and then crush the rebels. And you will return to your post, and save this ship."
But before another word could be uttered, a massive explosion erupted just in front of the bridge superstructure, right where the main reactor was located. Tarkin held his forehead and started massaging a headache before he turned around, and forced himself to look at the explosion. Just then, three more Star Destroyers and several support ships came out of hyperspace, with the intent of saving Tarkin's ship.
But clearly they were too late.
So Tarkin continued to stare at the flames, brooding.
"Sir, the ship lost." The officer said more assertively. "It's time to abandon ship."
Tarkin turned around and looked at the young man, who was expecting another backlash, only to be acknowledged by a silent nod. As the captain sounded the alarm to abandon ship, and the crew started to scramble to safety, Tarkin just casually walked through his ship one last time as he was escorted to the hanger where his personal shuttle awaited.
When he was finally flown off the ship, he watched as the Sovereign continued to towards the surface, becoming engulfed in flames as it entered the atmosphere. As sheets of metal melted off of the hull, a powerful explosion ripped through the ship, scattering chunks of the ship into different directions across the planet.
"The rebels are heading for the surface, sir." The pilot said as he began to fly the ship towards the Imperial reinforcements.
Tarkin just continued to stare at the burning remains of his flagship of sixteen years. "I can see that for myself, lieutenant."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Gateway world.
Vader continued on through the temple, which was in rubble and on fire.
But before he could continue, a sword was suddenly slashed through his right arm above the elbow, just like on Geonosis. He turned around in a rage to see who it was, expecting Count Dooku. Only it wasn't the Count.
It was Qui-Gon Jinn.
"We should have left you on Tatooine." The vision said.
Vader lashed out in anger and cut vision Qui-Gon in half at the waist.
With that done, Vader kept going, with only one arm to defend himself with. He kept going until he heard someone running behind him. He turned around just in time to see an orange blur with two green lightsabers. But before he could get a good look at her, she jumped over his head and lashed out with one of her swords. A scar was left behind over his face, nearly taking his eye out.
He held his face and groaned, before he turned around to see Ahsoka Tano standing before him.
"I trusted you, master. But then you abandoned me. How could you do that?"
Vader growled out in anger before using the force to choke the life out of the former Jedi, before tossing her corpse aside, which disappeared in a puff of smoke. He continued on ahead until he found an archway leading out to a veranda.
The Temple was burning down all around him.
He had to hurry.
But before he stepped through, he saw two familiar figures standing on either side.
Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Sidious. They were both dueling in front of Anakin's path.
"Lord Vader. I have the power to save the one you love. Help me." Sidious said.
"You were my brother Anakin, I loved you." Obi-Wan said.
Anakin raised his arm and unleashed a powerful arc of red Sith lightning on of his old father figures, who both promised so much, yet delivered nothing but pain and misery. Both men disintegrated into ash, clearing the way in front of him.
He finally stepped out onto the veranda, where he found a beautiful woman with creamy skin, and long, flowing brown hair with little blue flowers braided in, and wearing a blue gown, stood with her back to Vader. She looked out over the distant landscape, which was under constant bombardment from a purple lightning storm.
Tears began to well up in Vader's eyes.
"Padme." He said as he began to reach out. "I'm here. Take my hand. Come with me. I can save you. I can save us both."
She didn't move. But she did speak.
"Are you an angel?" She asked before she turned to face him. "They're the most beautiful creatures in the universe?"
"Please?" Vader pleaded. "We have to go."
"Why? I don't know you," Padme said before her face began to glow red, and lightning lashed out from her hands, blasting off Vader's legs. He began to scream in agony before he looked back up to her. She wore a demonic smile, and her face began to decay. "Anakin Skywalker is dead. And you killed him."
"No!" Vader said.
"You killed me." Padme said before she began to choke herself, before she fell back over the veranda and began to fall to her death.
"NNOOOO!" Vader screamed.
A huge explosion of Force energy sent Vader flying from the portal, and smashed him into the opposite wall.
He was wearing his armor once again. And he was once again without the one he loved most.
"No!" He said as he clenched his fists. "NO!"
He then slammed his robotic arms into the rock slab that allowed the portal to form in the first place.
The purple and red light that illuminated the cave was now gone, and only darkness remained. He sat there in silence for hours, before suddenly, he could hear the Fortress' alarms going off.
"All personnel, we are under attack. This is not a drill."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Fortress Vader, exterior, landscape.
Outside, on the molten landscape of Mustafar, an army of native warriors, riding large lava beetles, charged towards the fortress that belonged to the Bane of Mustafar himself. The Imperial garrison rallied to defend the castle. And with the defense grid down, the automatic turrets and electric mines outside were down, making it much harder to defend the base.
Stormtroopers gathered on the outer walls of the Fortress perimeter and fired down on the beetles that were charging across open ground. Many warriors and beetles fell to the ground below when they were hit, but dozens more took their place.
But the Stormtroopers were running low on ammo and being overrun, and the beetles began to spew lava from their maws to melt dozens of stormtroopers, and even the large turbo-laser towers that kept the skies clear weren't safe from this onslaught. The Stormtroopers fell back to the inner wall of Vader's castle, and held firm, sending waves of blast bolts at the oncoming beetles, dead bodies of which began to pile up against the perimeter wall.
TIE fighters screamed overhead and peppered the landscape with dual laser fire.
"Keep firing! We can beat these things back." The commander called out to his men.
"Sir, look!"
Suddenly, several chunks of debris from what had once been an Imperial Star-Destroyer pierced the clouds like meteorites, and slammed into the ground. Seconds later, a fleet of rebel CR-90 corvettes and A-wing star-fighters swooped in and attacked the fortress.
Explosions blossomed on the side of the castle, and the TIE fighters were forced to peel off to engage the rebel air support.
Turbo-laser towards were then melted by the lava spewing war beetles that continued to swarm over the Fortress grounds.
This was all clearly apart of a large coordinated effort between the natives and the rebels to destroy this castle and whoever ruled from it. The natives attacked from the ground, with support from rebels in the air.
"Fall back!" The commander called out to his remaining men. "Fall back to the Fort's interior!"
"You will do no such thing!" A deep voice said, booming across the Fort's inner courtyard.
The troopers turned to see Lord Vader walking down the courtyard, completely ignoring the explosions and blaster bolts whizzing past him. He the raised his hands, and an invisible force grabbed a hold of two U-Wing gunships that were flying circles around the Fort. They were them slammed into each other, creating a massive ball of fire in the sky.
Vader then stood on the wall, and then waved to his troopers. "Show the natives and rebel filth the meaning of Empire." He then ignited his lightsaber. "Let me show you."
The Dark Lord then jumped down from the wall and started hacking away at the native warriors that tried to swarm him. He even cut open one of the massive lava beetles, and the lava poured out of its belly, and began to melt the native warriors surrounding it.
The stormtroopers of the 501st Legion watched as their Dark Lord used the force to blast waves of warriors into the lava rivers below, and slash through many more with his lightsaber.
"You heard Lord Vader. Attack!" The commander shouted as he jumped off the wall to join Lord Vader.
Dozens of more troopers followed.
"For Lord Vader!"
"For the Empire!"
The Stormtroopers opened fire, and began cutting down any native that Lord Vader missed. As the battle wore on, the burning sulfur began to stick to the Stormtrooper armor. It amounted them, and gave their white armor a dark, gritty look
When their blaster packs ran dry, they turned to their vibe-blades, and began hacking away at the natives. And when their blades turned dull, they used their hands. They were all inspired by the presence of Lord Vader.
They were the 501st Legion.
Some were veterans of the Clone Wars, while others were fresh-faced humans from many different parts of the galaxy to fight for the Empire.
They were Vader's Fist.
The Emperor's elite.
They were unbeatable.
And as far as the Native warriors of Mustafar were concerned, that statement was fact.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Detention area, Fortress Vader.
Back in the depths of Vader's Castle, Kanan Jarrus and Ezra Bridger continued to fight against the Grand Inquisitor. Both Jedi attacked viciously from either side, using quick strikes to keep the Sith warrior on the defensive.
The Inquisitor used the force to push Ezra back down the hall, before turning to Kanan. He then swung his spinning saber over Kanan's head, who ducked just in time, only to be knead in the face. When Kanan stumbled back, the Inquisitor delivered a pair of swift kicks that sent Kanan back onto the ground.
Just before Kanan and Ezra could re-engage the Inquisitor, an A-wing fighter crashed into the side of the building, before plowing into the detention area. Ezra could sense it, and jumped forward out of the way, just before he could be run over by the fiery crash.
That's when the Inquisitor threw his dual-edged saber at Ezra, who barely had time to react. He held his saber up to block the spinning sword, which deflected off of his defenses, but still slashed at his cheek.
"AHH!" Ezra yelled as he dropped his saber and stumbled back
"Ezra!" Kanan shouted, before his apprentice stumbled back and fell through the hole in the side of the building, and falling out of sight to the lava rivers below. "NO!"
The Inquisitor watched in satisfaction as Kanan grieved over the loss of his apprentice.
Kanan then looked at the Inquisitor with a glare that could kill. "You shouldn't have done that."
The Inquisitor smiled. "Why? Are you upset that you have no one left to die for you?"
Kanan shook his head. "No. Now I have nothing left to fear." He said as he summoned Ezra's lightsaber to him, giving himself a second weapon.
The Inquisitor was stunned slightly by Kanan's newfound resolve. Both fighters assumed a defensive stance before they charged at one another, and parrying and striking at one another. But as they fought, Ezra managed to climb back up the side of the building and into the hole he fell out of, with his hand covering the two scars that were left on his face by the Inquisitor.
He was dreading the idea of climbing back up to see his teacher's corpse before the devilish Utapaun. But was relieved to see that not only was Kanan still alive, he was holding his own.
Ezra's com-link started to beep. He then answered it, and found that it was Hera.
"Ezra. We're waiting for you two at the landing pad. I've been trying to reach Kanan. Is he alright?" She asked with concern.
The young boy from Lothal just continued to watch the fight, as Kanan used two lightsabers, and the blaster function, to keep the Sith warrior on the defensive, as he frantically tried to parry all of Kanan's successive saber strikes.
Ezra nodded before he spoke into the com-link. "Yeah. I think he's better than okay."
As he said this, the Inquisitor began to spin his lightsaber to try and push Kanan back. But he only created an opening for Kanan to plunge both sabers into the circular hand guard, and slice the red lightsabers to pieces, leaving the Inquisitor unarmed.
Terrified and disarmed, the Inquisitor began to walk backwards, unaware of Ezra walking up behind him.
Ezra used the force to push the Inquisitor forward towards Kanan, who used the hilt of his main saber to bonk the Sith warrior on the head, sweep his leg out, and trip the Inquisitor, who fell onto his back.
Kanan, pointing his saber at the Inquisitor's neck. He then looked up, and was surprised, but relieved, to see that Ezra was still alive, before tossing him his lightsaber. He then gave a nod of approval before turning back to the Inquisitor.
"You're beaten. I suppose the dark side isn't as powerful as you boast." Kanan said.
The Inquisitor bared his teeth and snarled. "Fool, you have no idea what you and your little rebellion have unleashed here today."
"What are you talking about?" Ezra asked, holding the tip of his saber at the Inquisitor's tattooed forehead.
But before any questions could be answered, the Inquisitor used the force to make Kanan plunge his saber into his chest, much to the Jedi's shock.
"There... there are, some things, that are worse ..." He started to say before the life drained from his eyes, "than death."
When the inquisitor was finally dead, Kanan withdrew his saber. He and Ezra shared a look of uncertainty, before the building was rocked by another explosion.
"Let's get out of here." Kanan said, before they started running out of the detention block.
Modified VCX-100 Light Freighter, the Ghost.
As the battle of Fortress Vader continued down below, a mysterious hooded figure watched from high above through holo-table that recorded the whole scene. The agent, going by the code-name 'Fulcrum' skipped through the different camera angles and watched the battle from several different ships and corvettes that were on station.
Fulcrum saw the castle on fire, and fighters chasing one another in the ash-filled skies above.
But one image above all else caught the agent's attention.
The image of Darth Vader, who the agent has been trying to uncover more knowledge about since the end of the Clone Wars.
"Hm, there's just no way you could be capable of this much destruction," Fulcrum said in a hushed tone.
That's when a transmission was put out on all channels. Coming from one of Fulcrum's newest contacts.
Hera Syndulla.
Fulcrum answered it, and could immediately hear blaster fire in the background.
"Mayday, mayday, this is Hera Syndulla of Specter team. We're on platform D on the cliff-facing side of the Fortress. We need pickup, right away."
"This is Fulcrum. We're reading you, Captain Syndulla. And we're on station to assist. We'll be down as soon as possible."
Hera couldn't make out what Fulcrum's real voice was on the other side of the comm, for the voice was distorted to cover up the true identity. Just the way any secret agent would want to keep it.
"Copy that. Thank you, Fulcrum. We'll be waiting."
Fulcrum then walked over to the cockpit of the Ghost, where two member of her personal spec ops team were flying the ship, while the droid known as Specter three navigated.
"Ma'am, the landing zone's a bit hot. Are you sure that you want to make this landing?"
"There are operatives down there that are crucial to our cause. We can't afford to lose them." She said. "Now take us down."
The pilot acknowledged and flew down into the battle below.
Fortress Vader, Landing Platform.
Hera, Zeb, and Sabine were all pinned down on the landing pad by Stormtroopers. Both sides continued to exchange fire, but the rebels were running out of gas clips to charge their weapons.
Hera decided to try her comm one more time. "Kanan, where are you, we're taking heavy fire!"
But then she heard a familiar voice that wasn't coming from the comm.
"I'm a little pre-occupied at the moment!" Kanan shouted as he and Ezra charged onto the platform, using the force to push the squad of Stormtroopers aside.
Hera and her comrades soon realized that their two Jedi companions were being chased by a squad of Imperial Purge Troopers. Elite troopers that were trained to hunt Jedi.
The Jedi made a stand and began to deflect the enemy blaster fire. But these troopers were much smarted than most, and began to fan out and fire on the Jedi from multiple angles, making it much more difficult to defend themselves. Hera, Zeb, and Sabine joined in to keep pressure off of their Jedi friends.
But the troopers turned out to be equipped with shield generators.
The rebels couldn't keep up, and were about to be overrun. But when all hope seemed lost, a volley of proton torpedoes were unleashed onto the castle entrance, demolishing the door, and the corridor that led into the palace.
Then blaster fire was unleashed onto the Purge Troopers.
The Specters turned around to see their ship, their home, hovering above the platform, and slowly touching down to land. When the lower ramp opened up, a squad of Alliance Commandoes stormed onto the platform and began to provide covering fire for the specters.
"Heard you guys could use a ride out of here!" The squad leader called out as he and his men began to lay down heavy blaster fire on the remaining Imperial troopers.
"Glad you guys decided to join the party," Sabine called out before she and the others started towards the ship.
"Likewise, now get aboard. Move! Move!"
Ezra and Kanan were the last to start boarding, using their lightsabers to cover the commandoes as they began to filing back onto the ship. As the Ghost started to take off, Kanan and Ezra leaped onto the ramp before it could close, before taking off into the sky.
But unbeknownst to anyone, one intrepid Imperial Purge Trooper lined up a perfect shot on the escaping rebel ship, placing a tracking device on the hull, and indicating it's flight path directly to the trooper, and soon the entire Imperial Fleet.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Outer Perimeter, Vader's Castle.
Back on the surface, Imperial Stormtroopers continued to fight off wave after waver of native warriors.
Under normal circumstances, troopers would have broken at the sight of such an overwhelming force. But under the leadership of Lord Vader, they realized that the garrison itself was an overwhelming force.
The troopers used their superior training to draw the natives into overlapping fields of fire, and slaughter them by the handful.
Vader stood over the wall and continued to deflect blaster fire coming from the natives, and used the force to keep their beetle mounds from spewing lava onto the defenses, instead throwing it back at them.
Rebel warships continued to circle around the Fortress, firing on the defense towers and blasting away at the walls and hanger bays. Unfazed, Vader reached up and used the force to grab a hold of one of the Corellian Corvettes and smashed it against the surface, swiping it through the army of natives like a large broomstick. He then used the force to cause geysers of lava to spew up from the rivers, and throwing rebel fighters that were too close to the ground off course, or risk flying into molten lava.
It was a deadly display that made fighting Darth Vader seem almost pointless.
High above the battlefield, Commander Sato and his crew watched from the Phoenix Home's bridge as the men and women of Phoenix Squadron tried to swarm the Fortress, only to be blasted out of the sky by the Imperial defenders, who rallied to the Sith Lord's side.
But the Natives were having the worst time of all, for the Sith Lord they came here to destroy was just unstoppable.
"How can this monster cause so much destruction?" One of the pilots asked over the comm.
"Keep pressing the attack," Sato said.
Suddenly, a hologram of Sato's superior, Fulcrum, materialized in front of him. As usual's the agent's features were obscured, and the voice was heavily edited. "Commander, pull the fleet back to the Lothal Sector. There's been enough suffering today."
Sato was shocked. "But, Fulcrum-"
Just as he said this, a second CR90 corvette exploded as a plume of lava exploded out of the rivers below and engulfed it in molten magma. The ship then exploded and crashed into the cliff, killing many more lava beetles and their riders.
"Our main objective has been complete." Fulcrum said. "Withdraw the fleet before we suffer anymore casualties."
Then the hologram disappeared. Everyone turned to Sato, who frowned as he once again had to withdraw his forces.
"Well, you heard her. Let's get back to the Rendezvous point." Sato ordered.
The helmsmen nodded, before bringing the ship about and leading what was left of Phoenix Squadron back up to the atmosphere, where Imperial reinforcements were securing the system.
Imperial Perimeter Wall, Gahenn Plains.
Vader watched as the fleet escaped. As his stormtroopers mopped up what was left of the natives, he began to turn back towards the Fortress.
But then he sensed something.
A presence that he had not felt since the Clone Wars.
If it was who he thought it was, then he could not allow her to interfere with his plans.
He stormed off to the command center, where he was pleased to find out that the rebel fleet was being tracked. It was time to see what the Rebels were up to.
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Well folks, that was part 3 of this story.
I hope that you're enjoying this story so far.
I'll try to get part 4 published as soon as possible.
Until then, this is Grubkiller, signing out.