Chapter 26: One By One

August 11, 2227.

Another attack. This time, the rebel fleet was much more consistent. With at least 10 MC cruisers accompanied by 4 Nebula Destroyers and nearly 60 other types of ships, they could pose a real threat for the blockade.

"Contact confirmed." Mouris alerted from the pit. "The Home One has been identified."

Iulius observed the screens and spotted the large Mon Calamari cruiser, flagship of the rebel Grand Marshall Gial Ackbar.

The only time the two had fought had been at the first battle of Lianna, and in that occasion the battle was interrupted by the destruction of the Death Star and the hasty retreat imposed to the 101st by the Emperor. Now, the two top commander of both factions were about to face off in an all-out battle.

Thing was, that Iulius had an ace up his sleeve that the rebels had no way to counter, at that moment.

"Contact the Warlord. Have them jump and join the battle." he calmly ordered to Nash.

The rebel fleet surged forward, assuming a cone-shaped formation, with the escorts forming the outer shell and the major ships firing from behind. The fighters of both sides also moved in and clashed halfway. This time, it seemed like the imperial ones were holding their own, instead of being steadily pushed back. A sign that the constant upgrade of the TIE variants was finally paying out.

Still, it soon became evident that the two fleets were more or less of equal strength...for the moment.

For now, all Iulius had to do was to hold the line for around 40 minutes, the ETA of the Bellator-class dreadnought.

"Maintain the defensive line. Keep Task Force 89 in reserve and ready to strike."

"Alert. Possible enemy reinforcements on their way." STEVE announced all of a sudden.

"Report." Iulius replied calmly.

"Intercepted a transmission from the enemy flagship. They sent an all-clear message to a nearby system."

"Mouris, do we have a reading?"

"Negative, sir. They're jamming long-range sensors, but we just got readings of a consistent mass entering hyperspace from Abhean."

"STEVE, enhance the readings and see what you can find out."

"Yes, Grand Admiral."

Focusing back on the fight happening outside the Admonitor, Iulius gave another glimpse at the situation and quickly noticed that the rebels were sending forward a squadron on their right wing. Made up of a heavy MC carrier escorted by around five sizable cruisers and a few blockade runners. Presumably, it was carrying a whole fighter wing to strike the imperials on the flank.

"Reinforce our left, put the 89 on high readiness."

"Sir, their cruisers are focusing fire. The Elysia and the Death's Head report heavy damage." Nash reported urgently.

The Home One was at the forefront, leading a squadron that was bombarding the right flank of the imperials with a barrage of ion bolts that deactivated the shields and left the huge Star Destroyers vulnerable to the Nebula-classes.

"Send in three Procursator cruisers to retaliate. Silence those cannons."

The imperial cruisers reacted quickly, but the rebels were already pressing the attack so much that they eventually destroyed the Death's Head and five minor vessels. As soon as the Procursators opened fire with their ion barrages, they forced the rebel fleet to withdraw, meanwhile the left side also managed to shut down the engines of the large Mon Cala Carrier, leaving her a sitting duck.

"Fire on that carrier, but don't chase if she gets away."

"On it." Nash replied, then he sent the order to destroy the ship's engines, first.

The imperial ships and the bombers achieved that with surgical precision, so the carrier was forced to stay and make a last stand to at least cover the survivors of her squad.

After all this, right on point, the Warlord finally emerged from hyperspace, positioned on the flank of the battle, aiming as a knife toward the space between the two sides.

"All forces, assume offensive formation, put strength on the left wing." Iulius ordered.

The fleet quickly reorganized. The arrival of the dreadnought forced the rebels to assume a defensive formation, however Iulius was a little suspicious that they were staying and fight: Ackbar wasn't one to waste his forces on a desperate last stand, if he could avoid it, and the rebels were out of range of the Immobilizers, so they could easily escape if they wanted.

Then he remembered something.

"STEVE, what about that large mass?" he asked.

"Five minutes until it comes out of hyperspace. They'll be in range for an accurate reading in a few seconds."

"Whatever reinforcements they might bring, the Warlord can easily torn them to pieces." Nash said with no worry.

"Careful with these assessment, Commander. Our foe is everything but clueless." Iulius warned as he kept watching the battle. His instinct was saying that something was very off. The rebels were slowly backing, drawing the imperial fleet away from the ring.

"All ships, hold your position." he then ordered firmly.

The ships halted, just in time for STEVE to speak up while glowing red.

"Warning. A large ship is coming out of hyperspace."

"What?" Nash asked surprised.

Iulius made a step closer to the viewport, as if that would somehow better his vision on the matter, even if the human eye can barely see anything distant in space.

However, even his eyes caught a clear dot coming out of hyperspace. In the blink of an eye, that small figure arrived on the battlefield and occupied the entire glass, even if it was several km away. Iulius' eyes widened as he realized that it was a massive warship, with a clear Mon Calamari design. It was as large as the Executor and even at that distance the Grand Admiral could spot several large cannons.

"All units fall back! Tell the Warlord to converge on us!" he promptly ordered.

Nash snapped out of his own shock and quickly delivered the order. A moment later, the Admonitor was shaken by a few ion shots. Iulius turned around and saw a literal rain of bolts, red and blue, flying toward the imperial fleet from that single dreadnought, while new squadrons of rebel fighters were departing from her numerous hangars.

"Status report!" he demanded.

"Our shields have fallen to 72%. 4th Squadron is suffering heavy damage." Echiris reported.

"Move the Procursator cruisers to fire on that dreadnought. Order the 3rd and the 181st Wings to target their cannons."

Just in time before that Calamari dreadnought could cause extensive damage, the Warlord finally entered in range and focused fire on her rebel counterpart. The two giants started a confrontation while the fleets kept firing at each other in the meantime. However, it soon became clear that the Calamari dreadnought was superior: her shields were much more durable and her ion cannons quickly disabled the defenses of the Warlord, leaving her vulnerable. Kyrell and Fel led their wings bravely, but the enemy ship simply had too many guns for them to make a difference in a brief time.

Iulius observed and could only grunt in frustration before giving his next order.

"Fall back! Get near our batteries and cover the Warlord."

Despite the surprise and the sudden weight of the battle turning against them, the crews of the 101st kept their cool and managed a fighting retreat as they moved toward their controlled side of the ring. Of course, as in every retreat, that was the moment where they were more vulnerable, and they lost three Star Destroyers with all their escorts.

At least, the Warlord managed to get to safety, but it was a meager consolation, especially given the damage she had suffered.

"What in death's name is that?" Iulius asked in frustration as he looked at the distant silhouette of the Calamari dreadnought.

"I'm confronting it with the databases of the Navy and the Intelligence." STEVE reported. "However, if they were aware, it is unlikely that they forgot to report it to you."

The AI had said that in good faith, but Iulius couldn't hold back a remark. "Oh, sure...they would definitely tell me…"

He still couldn't get rid of what the Bridgers told him a few days before. Just how many secrets were being withheld from him? And most importantly, what else were the Emperor and his collaborators doing that was squandering the imperial resources?

But that was a problem for another time. Right now, he needed to solve the imminent danger in front of him.

"Call Admiral Bolo. I want all our Bellator here." he said to Nash.

The Commander nodded and started to type the message.

"And...ask for assistance from the Executor." the Grand Admiral. added a little more grimly.

From the screens of the New Republic field headquarters, Ezra and Jaral could see how the Viscount had just forced the undefeated 101st imperial fleet to retreat.

"I legit never thought I would see a scene like this." Rotay commented.

"True, but we only have one of those ships, the Empire has many more." Jaral reminded. "We need to get moving before they call up the reinforcements."

"Right." the General replied and then turned around toward the large number of people and gear in the hangar. "All right, everyone! Pack everything up, we got a week to ship all of this away! Go! Go! Go!"

The workers and soldiers assisting in the dismantling of the shipyards increased their pace. The traffic was intense as they had already dismantled one of the minor structures and were ready to load them onto the transports that coming out of the Viscount right at that moment.

Yet, while they should have been happy, the siblings were more focused on the fact that the UACT had recently decided that, even after they had shipped away all the shipbuilding facilities from Ringo Vinda, the troops would still stay there and keep wearing down the imperial offensive for as long as possible, condemning them to a battle of attrition that mostly hoped to diver the attention of the Lord-Protector away from the offensive on Sullust, which was right now in full swing.

After all, Ringo Vinda's ring had already been turned into a fortress that the imperials could not ignore, so why let it go to waste?

For Jaral and Ezra, however, that only meant that more people would die. And they could do little to avoid that, since Dhara was still busy organizing and gathering the people and resources to establish a neutral hospital of the Order.

With the New Republic able to contest the control of the orbit, it also meant that the thousands of wounded soldiers could finally be evacuated, even without the Jedi taking care of them. And that was exactly what the two Masters set out to do.

Just as they were on the magnetic coach heading for Section 23, news reached the siblings that the imperials were launching another ground assault. To protect the local medical outpost as the personnel evacuated it, the Jedi rushed to the frontline to try and fend the attack. They reached the main barricade, where dead and wounded defenders were already lying around, the remaining were firing wildly on the other side.

The siblings materialized their armors and ignited their lightsabers, knowing how galvanizing that simple sight was for the Republic soldiers, and they jumped on top of the barricade. From there, they saw the human wave coming at them, despite several people with the imperial uniform were already on the ground. They repelled a few bolts then fired back with their pistols, but some imperials still managed to reach the barricade and a close quarter fight ensued.

It was at that moment that, seemingly out of nowhere, the siblings felt a surge of danger through the Force and jumped out of their positions, only to find Starkiller landing where they were and attempting a blow with his two lightsabers.

While the battle raged all around them, nobody dare to draw the attention of the Force-users on neither side, and the three entered into a confrontation that was unique on that battlefield.

"Greetings, Jedi." the Assassin said through the metallic voice of his helmet, which couldn't hide the note of trepidation in his voice.

"Hello, Galen." Ezra joked as he and Jaral took their stances.

The dark-sider then assumed an offensive pose and dashed forward with great speed. His two sabers smashed against the blades of the siblings, but he quickly realize he had made a grave mistake, for the two of them together easily pushed him back with pure strength. Just as promptly, he jumped back before the Jedi could put him into a dire situation.

Ezra moved forward and delivered a few heavy and quick blows, but the assassin was able to deflect and even parry one of those. Jaral was however ready to take her brother's place and unleashed a barrage of slashes and omni-tool powers against the assassin. Starkiller was hit by a freezing bolt on his right arm, but still managed to parry an additional blow from Ezra.

At the same time the battle around them had boiled down to a furious melee between the two sides, with the imperials pushing forward despite heavy casualties. The republicans were forced to retreat to their second barricade, from which their reserves were already firing on the imperials. Ezra and Jaral didn't waste more time in joining the retreat and acting as rearguards while Starkiller kept chasing them.

"Deploy the shields!" an imperial officer yelled.

Soon enough, the Jedi spotted two squads of engineers running on the battlefield with some strange box. They put them down quickly behind their first line and then activated them, and from them came out two bubble shields.

What alerted the siblings, though, was the fact that the soldiers were still firing at them from inside the shield, while the bolts they deflected just bounced on the bubble.

"What the kriff?" Jaral asked.

"Looks like they made some kind of shield like the Droidekas'." Ezra replied.

In front of that barrage, Starkiller had withdrawn to stay next to his allies, leaving the Jedi to protect their own who were being cut down without a chance to hit their foes.

"Fall back!" Jaral yelled to the soldiers, activating her own bubble shield to at least deny a free line of fire to the imperials. Ezra quickly did the same, so they managed to at least give a temporary cover to the republicans.

Except that Starkiller pointed his left saber toward them.

"Lieutenant. Focus fire on those shields." he instructed in a tone that wasn't as imperious as Vader's. It sounded like there was a clear trust between the Sith assassin and those soldiers.

"You heard him! 1st and 2nd Platoon, focus on the right!" the officer followed.

The soldiers took position inside the shields, a knelt line and one standing behind. Then they aimed their weapons so that the two halves would target a shield each.

"Could have gone better." Ezra commented.

"Get back!" his sister yelled instead.

They ran outside their shields and toward the second barricade, right before the imperials fired their salvos that quickly overcharged the bubble shields and quickly dispelled them. Nonetheless, the Republic survivors had got to safety, so the siblings used the door of the barricade before sealing it behind them.

The Jedi then reached the top of the barricade, which was a three-meters-tall wall, to see if Starkiller would attempt to jump on top, but in the end the imperials were repelled and forced to shore up some defenses at the first barricade, with the engineers quickly bringing in new portable fortifications and turning around whatever they had captured from the republicans in order to build some kind of shelter. The defenders kept firing for a while, until the attackers had essentially put up some defenses and had halted their attack, content with what they had taken and waiting for reinforcements.

Seeing that they couldn't hit them that easily anymore, the republicans on the barricade eventually ceased fire, limiting themselves to just observe and staying on guard for any possible enemy sortie.

With the silence of the guns, the painful voices of the wounded laying around started filling the air. In the space between the two lines, now barely 20 meters, there were still dozens of bodies, most of them still moving or barely breathing.

The siblings could now see what kind of battle was occurring on that ring. It was something they had never seen or imagined up to that point: seeing so many bodies amassed and so many dead in such a tight space. It was impossible to look anywhere without feeling death.

And the survivors were clearly feeling that, too. The siblings quickly noticed that some soldiers had already put their hands on their ears to try and chase away those sounds. Others were looking carefully over the top, as if they were looking for someone. Perhaps a friend that they couldn't find.

That was the scene until they heard a flapping of winds. Everybody looked that way and saw a republican sergeant, a Toydarian, fly over the barricade with a medikit and two flasks of water, and headed into the killing field.

"Sergeant Nuro! What…?" the commanding officer yelled, but Ezra rose a hand to halt him.

The Republic sergeant had gone straight to provide first aid to the first wounded he met: an imperial soldier who was barely able to move. No response came from the other trench, but even they had to be seeing that scene.

Ezra and Jaral looked at each other and didn't hesitate. They jumped over the top and landed on the ground, then immediately rose their hands toward the imperial trench and calmly moved forward, signaling that they had no intention to fight. They saw their troopers looking through the shields: some of them rose their weapons in confusion, but none of them seemed willing to interrupt.

Then Starkiller jumped out of the line, he himself unarmed, and walked into the neutral ground.

Standing at two different edges, the Force-users could still see each other clearly.

Starkiller calmly brought his hands to the helmet and took it off, putting it under his left arm and staring at the siblings.

As a sign of respect, the two dematerialized their armors and exchanged a silent glance with him. To their surprise, the Sith assassin made a slow nod, but despite the surprise, the siblings understood him perfectly.

They nodded back and turned their heads up and backward. "Get the medics out!" Jaral ordered firmly.

Starkiller turned around and gestured his comrades.

Soon enough, the medics of both sides entered the field, carrying medicines and stretchers, looking for the survivors.

After silently signing their armistice, the Force-users also joined the effort.

August 12, 2227.

Luke had been provided with the new synthetic hand; the Falcon was out there with Lando and Chewbacca looking for any trace of Han and the bounty hunter who had taken him. In the meantime, the joint fleet was about to take its first real step for the offensive of Sullust.

As the Constantinople and other stealth frigates entered the system of Bavva, Jordan checked in with the other teams of Legionnaires that were about to be dropped on the surface of the planet below to hit several imperial facilities and pave the way for an assault against the main base of the system.

And since the team of the Constantinople was by far the one with the greatest experience in fighting this kind of raids against the Galactic Empire, and since they had the only Jedi of the expedition with them, they had been assigned to deal with the most fortified of those outposts.

Jordan entered the Hangar Bay, where preparations were in full swing, since the rest of the Marines, led by Vetra, would storm the main base once the outer defenses had been taken care of.

At the Kodiak ready for launch, Michalina and Thabo were already geared up, with Luke tagging along. With his suit out of commission, the young Jedi was now wearing a black set of clothes that he had lent from the armory. His right hand also had a black glove to cover the prosthetic.

"You sure you're ready for field duty, kid?" the Spectre asked.

"Yeah. I'm ready. Figured you might use a wizard more." he joked, referring to Thabo.

"But you haven't even built another lightsaber, yet." Jordan added worried. "At least take an armor with you."

"Yeah, I probably should have taken a lesson or two about building one, but I already have another crystal, I'll come up with something. Also, I feel like having those armors limits my abilities. I need to learn how to trust the Force completely, if I am to become a Jedi."

Jordan stared at him for a moment. Skywalker was completely calm in that statement and didn't budge in the slightest even in front of the frowning of the Legionnaire. Thabo and Michalina waited in front of the shuttle's door for the outcome.

Jordan sighed. "Fine. But there will be dozens of imperials shooting at us, down there, so you better get in touch with the Force quickly." he concluded.

"Trust me." Luke replied with a modest smile.

With that settled, Jordan called up the Strategic Room. "Control, this is Spirit, we are ready for launch."

"Copy that, Spirit." the voice of Leia replied. "We just received news from the fleet that they will be over the planet in an hour."

"Then we better hurry up. Come on, everyone!" Jordan concluded.

A few moments later, the strike team was aboard, the shuttle fired up the engines, the hangar door opened and they flew out toward the surface. On the screen of the passenger bay, Jordan saw the signals of the other five teams that were descending on the surface. The structures they were about to hit were a mixture of radar, hangar and supply depots. Meanwhile, the team of the Constantinople was about to hit the outpost with several barracks and weapon caches, basically the hidden reserves of the base.

"Remember: our main objective is to blow up the underground rail that connects this base to the fortress and all their vehicles. That way, the reserves won't be able to join up the defense of the fortress." the Spectre explained during the insertion.

"If we move fast enough, we should be able to avoid needless killing." Luke noted.

"This is war, dude." Thabo commented. "Don't forget that."

"I haven't." the Jedi said. "I'm just saying, we can blow up the depots and the railway without killing anybody."

"Well, they will be harmless anyway, if they get stranded here." Michalina agreed. "We will do our best."

It was quite incredible to see how much Luke had matured after his fight against Vader. Not that he enjoyed killing before that, but he certainly didn't hesitate to do so. Jordan felt an honest admiration for that young man. For sure, he had entered a new phase of his growth as a person and as a Jedi.

Then the pilot announced they were touching down and the team prepared in front of the door. It was almost dawn, the perfect time to strike a sleeping imperial base.

The shuttle dropped them a km away and the team started its march on the mossy ground of the planet. Not long after, they entered in sight of the outpost, a fairly simple compound with 3-meters tall walls and only a few guard towers.

"There's the gate." Thabo pointed. "Seems to be our only way in."

"Any ideas?" Jordan asked.

"I think the answer just found us." Luke said in a quipping tone.

He then pointed to a patrol of two imperial soldiers that was walking toward the gate but was passing close enough to the bushes the infiltration team was hiding behind.

Luke then quickly slipped out of the bush with little to no noise. Jordan barely had the time to realize it and try to recall him, but to no avail. Luke quickly knelt toward the two guards, ended behind them, tapped their shoulders and, once they jolted around, passed his hands in front of their eyes. The soldiers fell down like bags of potatoes, already deeply asleep.

The Legionnaires approached and Luke said "Give them a little jab on their heads."

"Uh...what?" Jordan asked, representing his brethren, too.

"If they find them just sleeping, they might get executed. If they a visible bruise, they will have a chance to defend themselves from their superiors."

Jordan had to concede that it was a fair reasoning, but it seemed just unnecessary. But if that made Luke feel better…

So him and Michalina grabbed their pistols and quickly banged them on the helmets of the guards, deforming them, but they were sure they were controlling their strength, and the successive bio-scan indicated that the troopers were indeed still alive and relatively well.

After that, Luke scanned one of the guards and stored the image for his holographic projector.

"All right, mate. What do you intend to do?" Jordan asked.

"Me and Michalina enter through the front door with these disguises and distract the guards so you and Thabo can slip in with your cloaking. Then we sneak in, she plants the explosives and we regroup at the rail, of which you will take care of, in the meantime." Luke explained.

The Legionnaires looked at each other in the eyes. Then Thabo shrugged. "Eh, seems sound enough."

Behind his helmet, Jordan smirked, then activated his holographic projection of the trooper.

"All right, Luke. Let's do this your way."

August 13, 2227.

The Liberator left hyperspace, followed shortly by her MTC escort, which was masking her signal as they were approaching a lonely but still imperial-controlled system: Zchtek.

Darvos called up Rex and the Jedi strike team, made up by Ahsoka, Cal, their apprentices and Lissia. Two battalions of the 501st were instead waiting in the hangar of the carrier, ready to launch the incursion.

"Ahsoka. Has your network confirmed the intel?" the General asked as they all gathered around the holo-table.

"Yes. Now we know that the Imperial Weapons Division own the facility on the surface of this planet. Like other remote systems of the Mid Rim, despite its location, it falls under the administration of Coruscant." the Togruta explained.

"Which means there must be a lead about the position of the Death Star." Cal concluded.

"Very well...Captain Merryl?"

"Scans indicate a large enemy presence, sir. They even have a hangar just outside the main facility."

"Me and my crew can take care of it." Cal offered. "The Mantis will have an easier time landing on the surface, then me and Kubari can head over and put that hangar out of commission before the main attack."

"Then we will trust you with that."

"We will need to act fast." Newak reminded. "We might be far from major military bases, but we're still in imperial territory. Once we attack, it won't be long before they send someone to investigate."

"And if this facility is actually connected with the Emperor's personal interest, it's not a long shot to believe that they might send a Star Destroyer." Rex added.

"That will depend on your speed, Commander." Darvos replied. "Once you get down, head straight for their archives. Destroying the base is just a secondary objective, and the Liberator has enough firepower for an orbital bombardment, anyway."

"Don't worry, Darvos, I'll make sure the old man keeps the pace." Ahsoka quipped.

Rex chuckled. "I missed you too, kid."

The others smirked, and Darvos felt a little bit safer: he had forgotten that those two had been working together for a long time, and Rex's command skills always made sure his men were there to support whatever Jedi task Ahsoka had to perform.

"If that's the case, Cal, prepare your crew. Rex, get the landing force ready and tell the fighters to stand ready for launch." Darvos concluded.

"Aye, sir."

"May the Force be with you." the General finally wished, then the Jedi and the clone left the room while he returned to his console.

In the next two hours, everything went as hoped: Cal and Kubari landed far enough from the imperial base, then proceeded on foot until they managed to slip into the hangar and blow it up, causing an explosion that was clearly visible even with the sensors working at half-power.

"Enemy air force neutralized. All forces, commence the operation." he ordered on the main channel.

Immediately, the X-Wings fired up their engines while the troopers rushed to their Pelicans, even loading up a tank for additional firepower.

"This is Vanguard Leader, we're heading for the surface."

Vanguard Squadron was the new fighter squadron sent by Hera to be assigned to the operations of the 501st. Its leader was Kierah Koovah, a female Mimbanese who had been fighting the Empire since the final days of the Clone Wars, when her planet was one of the first to oppose the new regime and fought a long-drawn campaign but was eventually occupied.

The rest of the Squadron was also made up of pilots that had been fighting for a long time for the Rebellion, making it a squad of veterans with much experience in hit-and-run attacks. They immediately showed it as they headed to the surface and destroyed the defensive turrets that the MTC had detected, clearing the path for the landing force.

Caught by surprise, the imperial garrison of stormtroopers still opposed a tenacious resistance, but with a large team of Jedi leading the assault, they only inflicted minor casualties to the attackers before being completely overrun.

"Fulcrum here," the voice of Ahsoka called in once the courtyard of the facility was completely in the hands of the Republic. "we're breaching into the building. Starting the search for data."

"Acknowledged, Fulcrum. Be advised, we detected an imperial distress call that had been picked up. A Star Destroyer is heading here, so you have ten minutes before we start the retreat."

"Shouldn't take that long." Ahsoka reassured.

It took eventually eight minutes for the strike team to find the mainframe of the imperials, stop the technicians from initiating a memory wipe, steal some memory banks entirely and then bring them back to the shuttles, allowing the entire force to leave right when the Star Destroyer emerged from hyperspace.

"A textbook operation, Rex." Darvos complimented at the debriefing. "Tell your men they can have all the alcohol they want once we get back to the base."

"With pleasure, General." the old clone smiled.

The devices had already been loaded on a cart. Iulius ordered the soldier pushing it to head for engineering, so the specialists could start and take a look inside them during the return.

Aside from the success itself, this operation had also showed that the MTC was capable of hiding the signal of a ship as large as the Liberator from imperial scanners. This marked a significant turning point, because it meant that the New Republic could make incursions beyond the imperial front, but it could also be very useful in larger battles, if the Admirals used it correctly.

Of course, the imperials might also learn from this experience and use the MTC in the same way. For sure, Darvos and the analysts of the ICU now had a lot to ponder over.

"We found another base, but Balak and his men had already abandoned it." John reported, not hiding a certain frustration.

"How is it possible that a dreadnought can move so fast? Where does he get the fuel?" one of the Admirals gathered around the table asked.

"It's a Prothean ship." a Salarian officer noted. "From what information we have gathered from Tuìnia, while old, that ship is still more advanced than ours."

Sitting at the head of the table in the conference room at the Alliance HQ in Vancouver, Francesco pondered.

"Javik also said that most of the latest Prothean ships needed little to no fuel, much like our own ships. But if she's even faster than the Normandy, the problem is not whether we find that ship, but how do we hope to catch it?"

"The only way is to lure Balak into a decisive battle." another Admiral stated. "But we need to fight him on our own conditions."

"Without knowing what he plans to do, however, we can't even know what could bait him."

"Actually, Admirals, I think I have an idea about his whereabouts." John intervened.

The attention shifted again toward his hologram. "We're listening, Admiral." Francesco said.

"Balak knows that he can't just take our fleet head-on. Still, he has an extremely powerful ships, and we know that he is behind the one armed conflict we still haven't managed to solve."

"The Tambaran?" another officer asked.

John nodded. "Yes. I think he's waiting somewhere around Doisac. Maybe he is influencing the Tambaran to boycott the peace talks in the hope that we will attack, and then he will engage us in a decisive battle."

The Emperor and his officers looked at each other. The reasoning was far from being mere speculation: not only John knew Balak quite well, but the strategy itself made sense. It could be that Balak intended to use the Penumbra Apex while the Alliance fleet would be busy either fighting the small navy the Tambaran had rebuilt or while they were busy invading the planet. And that dreadnought was bound to cause immense casualties if not completely destroy a fleet unprepared to fight her.

Finally, Francesco decided on the next move. "Admiral Shepard, you and your Task Force return immediately to Earth. We need a plan to end this crisis once and for all."

John stood at attention and made the salute. "As you wish, Your Majesty."

Once his hologram was gone, the Emperor turned toward the board of Admirals. "I want the Sentinel brought to full readiness. We can't hope to take on the Penumbra Apex without her. Prepare a plan for a possible invasion of Doisac."

The Admirals didn't bat an eye. They just nodded, then Francesco adjourned the meeting. The Admirals headed back to the war room, while he was intercepted by Anastasia.

"Franci, Federico just tried to reach you." she announced quietly.

The monarch was surprised, but he still hurried to reserve a communication room and call his brother.

"Ciao, Franci." the younger Vignoli greeted cordially.

Francesco knew that the tone of voice was a great indicator of whether the speaker brought good or bad news, so he smiled and returned the courtesy.

"What can I do for you, little brother?"

"I am bringing a message from the Commune, along with a request."

"Go on."

"The images of Tuìnia are circulating all around the Commune, and they are having quite the effect: even the radicals who believed Balak to be a possible ally of the Revolution have finally understood that he's just a slaver, and that he would not hesitate to burn our worlds down, if he wants."

"Better late than never." Francesco commented.

"That also means that our border members have agreed to stop helping the Tambaran, so long as they are allied to Balak."

Now that was huge news: the Federation had long hesitated to invade Doisac because there was a risk of alienating the public opinion of the Commune. This meant that the plan of luring Balak over the Tambaran homeworld may not spark a reaction from the new galactic power.

"That's good, but since we are here, please remind the Union that we have no wish of subjugating the Tambaran. If the Commune can convince them to sit down and initiate peace talks, the Federation is more than eager to accept them."

"I will remind them. Now, about the request...the Defense Committee has been positively impressed about our joint operation on Tuìnia. They are trying to convince the politicians to seek closer ties with the Federation. They are proposing we request a partnership with the UACT."

Francesco now barred his eyes. This was more than a good news: it was a momentous occasion to secure a lasting peace between the two major powers of the Milky Way.

Even if he couldn't hide a strong emotion on his face, Francesco replied in a calm and cordial tone. "I can't take that decision on my own. But we host the ambassadors of the other signatories on the Citadel. Tell your friends that, if they wish to discuss it, they are more than welcome to send a delegation."

Federico smirked. He clearly expected no opposition from his brother, but he was still happy that the conversation was going that way.

"I knew I could count on you."

Francesco huffed amused. "If you come, too, you may finally meet my daughter."

"If they include me in the delegation, I'll be glad to do so. I don't want to take more of your time, so I will contact you once the Commune reaches a conclusion."

"See you soon, Fede."

Federico waved a hand and then closed the communication.

Francesco couldn't hold back a relieved smile. Despite Balak doing his worst to threaten the stability of the galaxy, the peoples had no intention to let him plunge the galaxy into war and terror, and that was a huge boost to his confidence.

All that was left, was to just catch that guy, then peace could be restored to the galaxy.