Chapter 27: Setting Up
August 20, 2227.
The battle for Bavva had been quick and a decisive victory for the Coalition. But it was only the beginning in the plan to take Sullust, for now the fleet would have to assault the world of Dolla, the next world along the Nothoiin Corridor, which was several thousands of light years away from Bavva, meaning that the attack would have to succeed on the first try, or the fleet risked to be left stranded in space.
Luckily, it seemed like Admiral Edrix had a plan for that. Or at least, Jordan and Luke hoped so as they walked through the corridors of the Palaven, as they were being led by a security officer toward the bridge.
Luke was looking around. He had never been aboard another Alliance ship aside from the Constantinople.
"The atmosphere here is so...rigid." he commented.
"True, but nobody takes war seriously like the Turian. It's a good thing that everyone does its job without distractions." Jordan explained.
Shortly later, they arrived on the bridge. Admiral Edrix was at the edge of the holotable, presiding a meeting with the officers of the dreadnought. The holograms of the Alliance's major vessels were covering the table.
The two went at the opposite edge of the table, where Luke made a respectful bow and Jordan the military salute.
"Captain Bridger, reporting for duty."
Edrix returned the salute. "At ease, Captain. Sir Skywalker, welcome aboard."
"Thank you, Admiral."
"I appreciate your availability. We need your set of skills if we want a chance to a swift victory at Dolla."
"We're listening." said Jordan.
Edrix nodded to the operator of the table, who keyed something on the board and the holograms changed to show the Dolla system, with its only inhabitable planet surrounded by an imperial flotilla.
"Our probes show that the only major threat over Dolla is this Star Destroyer, the Duster. Now, since I would like to spare our fleet as much as possible before we reach Eriadu, our best chance is to hit that ISD from the inside. I would like to ask the Constantinople to take care of that. Once we engage the imperial fleet, your cloaking technology will give you the edge you need to land on the Destroyer before they notice you."
Jordan studied the formation for a bit: other imperial ships included 22 light ships and three Victory-class cruisers. Once the Palaven and Monte Bianco would show themselves, they would be way too busy with them to notice the Constantinople.
"Me and my crew took on the entire Dome back on Lothal. An ISD will be a piece of cake." he then replied confidently. "Luke, what do you think?"
"I'm in. Maybe, if we capture their commander, we might get them to surrender."
"It won't hurt to try, but if you are coming aboard, that thing can't wait anymore."
"Agreed." the Jedi conceded.
"Is there anything you need?" Edrix asked genuinely.
"Oh, we already have all we need, Admiral, but thanks. If there's nothing more, I ask permission to start our preparations."
"You're a Spectre, Captain. You don't exactly need my authorization." the Turian replied with a hint of amusement.
Jordan smirked. "Then we better get going. When do we leave?"
"In two hours. It will take approximately 30 hours to reach Dolla, and I don't want to give the imperials any more time to bring in reinforcements."
"Understood. Come on, Luke."
After getting back to the Constantinople and notifying the crew of the imminent departure, Jordan invited Luke to take all the pieces he needed for building his lightsaber and head for the laboratory. The Jedi did that and appeared inside said room with a bunch of components and the green kyber crystal he had harvested on that remote temple Ezra brought him in, two years before.
"I'm still not sure if I got the gist of it." the young man said a little hesitantly.
"Don't fret it, mate. You are in good hands." he said, pointing at the only other person in the room: a Batarian. "Engineer Rast has studied the lightsabers ever since he came to this galaxy."
"Really? Why so?" Luke asked with curiosity.
"Why? Because they're so damn cool." Rast replied in the most serious tone. "Now get over here. I always wanted to actually build one."
Luke huffed amused and complied. He put the pieces and the crystal on the table indicated by the Batarian, where a strong light gave a perfect view over the small details and then a holographic blueprint came up after the table scanned the available components.
"These are the options suggested." Rast explained. "At the very least, the weapon is sure not to blow up when you ignite it."
"I see." Luke said as he analyzed the various alternatives. If anything, he had to learn where the various electric components were supposed to go in order for the lightsaber to work properly.
By now, Jordan knew that Luke didn't need to think too much about the mechanical part. Seeing the young Padawan struggling, he walked forward and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Don't sweat too much on the details. I'm sure that both Ezra and Thabo would tell you to trust your instinct. Close your eyes. Listen to the Force. The pieces will come together."
Luke seemed to find a sudden confidence in those words, then they heard the door hiss open and turned toward it.
They were pleasantly surprised to see Leia walk in.
"Hey, I heard Luke is building his new light stick." she quipped.
"You heard it, or you felt it?" Luke teased her.
Leia conceded with a shrug. "Okay, maybe both." and approached the table, as well. "Uh, choosing the pattern?"
"More or less."
"Whatever you do, don't pick that one, please." she said, pointing at the third on the right.
Luke chuckled, clearly sharing the sentiment. "Don't worry, I was ignoring it completely."
After bantering a little more, Luke proceeded with a question. "Any news from Lando and Chewie?"
Leia sighed. "They are backtracking that bounty hunter, but it's not that easy. I can only hope they won't get themselves in a trouble they can't come out from."
"Well, I trust them. For now, Jordan is right: I can't wait on this, anymore."
Leia nodded and stepped back, leaving Luke alone with his own thoughts and focus. The three people in the room observed with much admiration as Luke, after laying his hands on the table, motionless, suddenly raised his right hand gently, and the pieces started flying and moving around on their own, including the kyber.
The pieces then started hurling in a more harmonious way. Even if with a bit of struggle, eventually they all lined up exactly as one of the blueprints suggested, with Luke only changing the outer appearance without messing up the right order for the complicated triggers and devices. The kyber, too, was gently encased and positioned in the chamber destined for it. Finally, the hilt was closed and sealed shut, forming up the new lightsaber.
The weapon then gently fell down into Luke's hand. The Jedi turned around and stepped in the middle of the room, inspecting his new creation with what seemed to be a mixture of trepidation, anxiety and emotion.
"Well? Don't leave us hanging." Leia encouraged him.
Luke walked past them, just to be sure the blade wouldn't get close to his friends. He then grabbed the hilt in a more appropriate way and finally ignited it. The unique sound was heard very well in the room and a green plasma blade came out, to the delight of everyone in the room.
August 21, 2227.
"Sir, the Iron Fist lost shields!" Echiris reported from the pit.
From his viewport on the Admonitor's bridge, Iulius could see one of the Star Destroyers starting to be seriously damaged.
"Tell them to break off. Commander Windrider, what's the status of the enemy line?"
"A third of the rebel ships is either destroyed or has broken off, but that battleship is taking a toll on our forces, too."
More importantly, the last group of rebel transports were about to leave the ring with the last shipyard equipment.
"It's now or never. Order the heavy squadron to attack." Iulius decreed. "Fighters are to clear a path. We need to take down that dreadnought."
"Yes, sir...would've been more easy with the Executor, though." Nash mumbled.
"Hey. We took on a much larger ship with the Bellators, we won't be stopped by that." Iulius encouraged.
In reality, he was still quite frustrated that Vader had turned down his request for help. The Executor had been built to obliterate large enemy ships and fleets, not for him to go on a personal hunt for a single Jedi. The Viscount, as apparently that Calamari dreadnought was called, should've been considered the highest threat to the Empire, and at least the military considered it so.
The Joint Chief Commission had immediately authorized the redeployment of all the Bellators and other Star Destroyers, but they simply could not order Vader to bring his squadron about. Not if they valued their lives.
The massive reassignment had also significantly slowed down the offensives of both Sloane and Krybos in their regions, as if they weren't already encountering a bloody stiff resistance.
"Put the light cruisers and frigates on the first line. Heavy cruisers and corvettes defend the Star Destroyers." Iulius instructed. "Task Force 89 will attack on the flank."
This was going to be a battle of attrition. Both fleets had the planet and its huge gravitational pull on one side, which limited their maneuverability on that side. Clearly, Ackbar had to have something prepared for an attack on the only exposed side, and Iulius was sending in his best officer hoping that he would be able to counter any sudden change.
Under the threatening, but imprecise barrage of the dreadnoughts, both sides reshuffled their formations. The imperials took the offensive formation decreed by the Grand Admiral, while the rebels assumed a strange oblique formation, with the Viscount right behind it.
"All units, attack!"
The imperial fleet sprang into action immediately. The wall of durasteel moved toward the rebel fleet, with the fighters anticipating the vessels to weaken the enemy ones and clear a path for the bombers to hit the ships shielding the Calamari dreadnought.
But despite all the training, what followed was pure chaos. In engagements so close as that, everything boiled down to smaller formations trying to make their own way or to survive if they found themselves in inferiority.
The fire of the rebel ships was also very precise, and the weapons of the Nebula destroyers proved once again just how destructive they were, tearing through the minor imperial vessels with ease.
Despite that, the imperials also tore through the first rebel line, and with several vessels already destroyed on both sides, the massive ships entered in contact. On the side, Task Force 89 crashed into the enemy formation, however it was at that point that Iulius realized the reasoning behind the rebel formation: that oblique positioning allowed the entire fleet to react quickly in case it was attacked on the flanks, and it was exactly what happened.
Still, the Bellators were unleashing their full power on the Viscount, only to basically find out that the ship could eat all of that and still manage to disable the shields of the Atlas.
"Octis to Tanis. I just spotted the Home One circling around the dreadnought. They're trying to hit us on the flank." the voice of the Captain came suddenly.
"Can you stop them?"
"Not without reinforcements."
Iulius quickly looked at the holo-table and realized that he had no reserves: all the ships were committed to this attack, and they were already losing a staggering amount.
It was a heavy decision, but he wasn't going to order his best Captain to die for an uncertain result.
"Captain, break off your attack and rejoin the line. Form up behind us."
"Yes, sir!"
The 89th rushed back to its allies, and Iulius felt a huge frustration as he saw Ackbar's new group barge in to cover the Viscount. Not only that, but the ISD Century suddenly blew up as some proton torpedoes from rebel bombers managed to get their way into the lower hangar. The Star Destroyer almost immediately was cracked in two and the explosion continued to expand, separating even the bridge from the rest of the ship.
Meanwhile, after two of them had been already exposed and had suffered some structural damage, the Bellators had finally managed to disable the shields of the Viscount.
"Sir, the rebel flagship is turning around!" Echiris reported.
"Keep pressing! Order the bombers to target the engines." Iulius insisted.
But his hopes were quickly dashed as not only the Viscount turned out to be way more agile than any other ship of its class, but the rebels quickly organized a rearguard of two MC80, a Nebula Destroyer and several heavy frigates that quickly formed up a wall to protect the retreat of the dreadnought.
The imperials tried to press, but the first ships that tried were still out of formation and were quickly picked out one by one.
Despite the frustration, Iulius had to suspend the attack, reform his lines and then go back at it. Even if the rebel rearguard was almost entirely destroyed, losing the Calamari cruisers and the frigates, the Viscount got out of range of the imperial batteries, all the while a new rebel fleet came out of hyperspace to defend the dreadnought.
"All ships...cease fire." Iulius ordered once it was clear that there was nothing more to gain.
That area had become a huge debris field. Wrecks and bodies were spacing out in the empty void.
A quick report from STEVE highlighted that the imperials had lost more ships, but the rebels had lost overall more tonnage.
But that hardly sounded as a victory: two Bellators had suffered heavy damage and would have to go back to a shipyard, leaving the imperial fleet unable to make another attempt like this.
Right now, both sides found themselves on equal terms. Meaning that a stalemate in the space battle was inevitable.
And if that wasn't enough, the rebel transports had left pretty much undisturbed. There was no reason for Iulius to risk yet more expensive ships and veteran crewmen in another fight.
"STEVE, what is your analysis on that dreadnought?" Iulius asked after retaking his composure.
The AI brought up a hologram surrounded by two layers of its own shape. "I concluded that the Viscount is equipped with two shield barriers. The external one appears to have a redundant matrix, which is capable of immediately restoring the shield when it is destroyed."
Those words horrified the Grand Admiral, though he managed to hide it. "How is that possible? Our cannons just damaged that ship."
"Yes, but I noticed it during the battle: not only those shields are incredibly sturdy, but the first layer also regenerated almost immediately after falling. It's the main reason why our ships needed more firepower than anticipated to take down both shields."
Iulius made a loud sigh with his nose. "Any luck hacking their systems?"
"I tried, but their firewall are many, and extremely sophisticated. I suspect the electronic countermeasures for the Viscount have been provided by the Federation."
"Ok. Send all the data to Namedra. I want our engineers to work on a solution for those defences."
"Transmitting."
As the AI silently did its job, Iulius looked outside the viewport again. He thus noticed that the rebel fleet was backing away way too much.
Before he could ask it, Mouris reported "Grand Admiral, there are more ships coming out of hyperspace."
"Of what kind?" Iulius asked calmly.
Mouris didn't reply immediately, and when he did, he sounded puzzled. "They seem...transports?"
Iulius was puzzled too, but then he remembered something.
"On screen."
Shortly later, out of hyperspace came indeed some transports. A mixed batch of Gallofree and other freighters, all bearing either the symbol of the new Jedi Order or the Red Sigil.
It was a group of five. Two reached the side of the ring controlled by the rebels, the other three kept going. Heading toward the imperial fleet.
"Sir, one of their transports is hailing us." Nash reported.
"Answer them." Iulius replied.
He put himself in the middle of the gangplank of the bridge, so the person on the other end could use their hologram.
It turned out to be none other than Dhara Leonis.
"Greetings, Grand Admiral Tanis."
"Miss Leonis." he replied cordially. "I assume you are here for the new hospital?"
"Indeed. As stipulated by the Masters, we're sending you our clearances and manifests. If you wish so, feel free to send an inspection team on our vessels."
The young woman had gone straight to the point, so much that Iulius didn't even feel like actually sending the parties, but the politicians on Coruscant were already smearing him for accepting any deal with the Jedi. Had he just let them pass through his lines without making sure that they weren't smuggling weapons would have doomed him.
"I will order my troops to behave at their best." he replied then.
Leonis didn't seem to believe in that one bit. Despite her cold expression, she replied with a warm tone. "You will find everything in perfect order."
"Coordinate with my traffic controller. As you can see, this place is...tricky to navigate."
"Thank you for your consideration." Dhara replied before closing the transmission.
Another fight was over. Despite heavy losses, the imperials had finally pushed the Republic out of Section 23. Ezra and Jaral found themselves exhausted for the first time in a while, after they and their mandalorian allies had fought with a rage to defend their allies' retreat. Now, the Republic had just dug in into the next part of the ring.
"Master Bridger, message from General Rotay." a soldier with a radio on his back said as he approached the group. "Your volunteers have just arrived. A convoy is being inspected by the imperials."
"Thank you, Private. See if you can get Dhara Leonis on the line, once the convoy docks."
"Yes, sir." the soldier replied before leaving.
With his muscles sore, Ezra pushed himself up, and so did his sister. They took their leave from their mandalorian companions and then headed for the blast door separating the two warring factions.
How weird, he thought, that a thin door was all that separated two groups of people from firing at each other.
The two Jedi sent a message on the other side, asking permission to reach the hangar where the first transport was going to unload the supplies and the personnel, and aboard which Dhara was supposed to be. The imperials allowed them through, after clearly hiding some of their weapons so the Jedi wouldn't report them to the rebel officers.
The siblings thus arrived at the hangar, where the volunteers of the Order were unloading whole crates of medicines, hospital gear, instruments, stretchers...truly enough stuff to set up a little hospital wing.
And among the volunteers, it wasn't difficult to spot Dhara, who was wearing her white nurse uniform while everyone else was wearing either orange or red uniforms.
"Hey, Dhara." Jaral greeted.
The young woman turned and saw them.
"Guys." she greeted, showing a moderate happiness to see them again. "It's good to see you alive."
"You can say that again." Ezra replied.
"So far, we barely gave a look at the situation. Is it so horrible as the reports say?"
The siblings honestly didn't have the strength to answer that question. Just thinking about the fight occurred two hours ago was enough to kill any word they could come up to describe what was going on.
"I see." Dhara eventually mumbled in a fatalistic resignation.
"Do you already know where to set up the facility?" Jaral asked instead.
Dhara invited them to walk a little away from the rest of the organization. With the datapad she had in hand, she brought up a map of the local part of the ring, and a few rooms were highlighted. All connected to each other.
"The Grand Admiral said that the Empire has no interest in taking this part of the ring, since apparently they are now empty storages."
The siblings quickly looked it up.
"We know that place." said Ezra. "Come."
Passing hallways stained with old blood and wrecked beyond functionality, the Jedi got through a few imperial outposts, where the soldiers looked at them with a mixture of simple curiosity or outright mistrust, but still let them go unmolested. They thus reached the area designated by Iulius: a stocking area that was in the internal side of the ring and relatively isolated, thus it had been spared by the fighting, and the rooms were still in good shape. The only thing left to do was to redirect some power and restore the lights.
"It's way more than I expected." Dhara commented relieved. "And look, there is also a docking area for a shuttle. Even if the battle moves somewhere else, we can send it wherever and then stay between the ring and the planet to take the wounded here."
"Sounds great. But are you sure the imperials will allow Republic patients to get out, once they're done?" Jaral asked.
"Tanis reassured me that they won't interfere with our activities in any way. I guess all we can do is to trust his word."
"I guess." Ezra mumbled. "All right, then, we'll leave it to you. We need to return."
"May the Force be with you." Dhara wished.
"With all of us." Jaral corrected grimly. "With all of us." she repeated before leaving.
The joint fleet had already engaged the imperial fleet, which in return was staying exactly with the planet behind it, denying the ranged advantage of the Alliance's dreadnoughts and cruisers. It was time for the Constantinople to spring into action.
As the battle raged between the ships of the Republic and the Empire, fighting at close range, while a squadron of the Alliance was attempting to flank, the Constantinople moved in toward the Star Destroyer that was sitting in the middle of the imperial formation.
"That formation is tight, sir." Rut reported. "I don't think you can just waltz in with the shuttle."
"Find the weak spot and signal it to the fleet. It will be up to them to open us a path."
"Understood." the Salarian replied before linking with Jinx.
The two saw a point defended solely by two Arquitens cruisers that were almost in range of the turian cruisers.
"Constantinople to fleet, our way is blocked. We need you to take out these targets."
"Constantinople, this is the Monte Bianco," the Captain of the human dreadnought replied. "We read you. Firing solution in twenty-two seconds."
The crew waited. The battle was still raging outside. Bolts flew around, fighters sped in space, explosions sometime enveloped a ship. Then, after the estimated time, Jordan could see a the trail of the salvo that had departed from the Monte Bianco and three cruisers, heading straight for the predestined position. The projectiles hit the Arquitens, causing one to split in two and another one to simply be pulverized.
"All right, take us in." Jordan ordered before he rushed to the hangar and jumped aboard the shuttle, where his Legionnaires and Luke were waiting for him.
As soon as the Constantinople slipped past the imperial line, the shuttle was launched. They were right behind the Star Destroyer Duster, so they could head straight for the back of the bridge's support pillar, where there was notoriously a hatch that all boarding parties could exploit.
With the stealth device of the Kodiak and Jinx scrambling the local sensors, the team breached the hatch without the entire ship knowing. They quickly gunned down two Navy troopers guarding the area then proceeded toward the bridge.
But just as they sprinted down the hallway, Luke halted. Jordan had just the time to realize it, then the Jedi yelled. "No, stop!"
Barely had he finished, that a ray shield enclosed the Legionnaires. Luke was out of the perimeter by a hair's breadth.
"Kurwa!" Michalina grunted.
Luke looked around, trying to spot the source of the shield, but already they all heard the sound of numerous stormtrooper armors clanging as they closed on their position.
"Luke, hide!" Jordan promptly ordered.
The Jedi looked around and spotted an air vent large enough for him to fit into it. He ignited his lightsaber, threw it, broke the vent open and then jumped in as soon as the saber had returned in his hand and he could put it back on his belt.
It didn't take any longer before two entire platoons of stormtroopers arrived, surrounding the Legionnaires and pointing their weapons at them.
Then the shield was deactivated, leaving the two sides on a standstill.
"I suggest you lay down your weapons." a familiar voice said loudly and calmly.
One of the lines of stormtroopers opened up, revealing Mara Jade among them.
Jordan could only acknowledge that, in that situation, even three Legionnaires like them would be quickly gunned down.
"Stand down, guys." he finally ordered, lifting his left arm.
Reluctantly, his brethren also lifted their arms and surrendered their weapons.
"A wise choice." Mara said, then she took her comlink. "Captain, we have them."
"Understood. All ships, disengage and retreat." the voice of an old man replied.
As the alarm sounded all around the ship, signaling that they were repositioning for a jump to hyperspace, Mara ordered the Legionnaires to remove their armors, which they did.
"Your triggers, as well." she clarified.
The three looked at each other, and even if that was nothing short of a humiliation, they had no choice but to surrender their devices.
Then the red-haired woman took out a holo-transmitter and answered a call, turning the device toward the Legionnaires. What came out was the figure of a young human male with a dark imperial uniform and a rank plaque that Jordan didn't recognize.
"Ah, Captain Bridger. On behalf of the Emperor, I offer you my greetings. I am Prelate Verge." the man said with a sadistic complacency. "Make yourself comfortable aboard the ship, because I assure you: once you are in my hands, your permanence will be anything but merry."