Interlude: The Bomb Maker
Lieutenant Vanto Bazren, better known as Fuse, marched through the halls towards the office of his temporary commanding officer. As he made his way there, Fuse thought back on how much things had changed for him and his friends in the last few months.
It had been years since Havoc's mission on Ando Prime, but Fuse could still remember it like it was yesterday. What was supposed to have been a fairly straightforward assignment quickly turned into an impossible task as they realized just what kinds of odds they were up against. They had faced impossible odds before and had been victorious, but all of them knew they would die if they stayed on the planet so the Commander called for an immediate extraction.
"I'll get a team there as soon as I can."
Those were the exact words General Garza had told Commander Kardan when he'd contacted her and reported the situation and every member of Havoc Squad had believed her. Believed her until a week had passed with no sign of a rescue, no word from the General, and thousands of Imperial troops closing in on their position. Soon they all realized that they were on their own and that their only chance to survive was to fight their way out.
Of all the missions Fuse had been a part of, the closest he ever came to death was during the one on Ando Prime. Looking back he still couldn't help but be amazed that they'd all managed to escape the planet and return to Coruscant safely. He also couldn't help the rage he felt in his heart when the Commander informed the rest of them of the truth.
"Garza never sent anyone for us. She let the Senate pull the plug and wrote us all off as dead."
In all the years before or since, he'd never seen his Commander so outraged. Nor could he and his friends help their own rage. They were Havoc Squad, the Republic's best soldiers by far and, as soon as things got tough, they were thrown away like trash?! It had been an eye opener and the start of the events that would occur on Ord Mantell.
Commander Karden resigned and handed over command of Havoc to Tavus. He still assisted them from time to time though, usually with missions that were a bit more off the books. He had been the one to reach out to the Empire about defecting to their side when Commander Tavus asked him to do so. Fuse remembered he'd been a little worried at first that their former Commander would have been opposed to them joining the Sith Empire, but then he'd just felt like an idiot when Karden had agreed without hesitation. 'I really should have known better. The Commander always stuck by us before so why should that time have been any different?'
He'd also been the one to point out that it might be a good idea to give the Empire something of great value to prove that they were serious about their intentions. They had plenty of useful intel of course, but Needles had pointed out that the Empire would probably want something a bit more… destructive.
Fuse himself had suggested the ZR-57 orbital strike bomb. It was big, expensive, and very powerful. There was no question the Empire would love to have one so, after the rest of the squad all agreed, they moved to secure one.
Officially, the squad had been enjoying some rare free time for themselves before their next assignment. Unofficially, Wraith and Gearbox were infiltrating a facility where a ZR-57 was being stored. Gearbox made some adjustments to the bomb to make it appear that it was in need of repairs while Wraith altered the facility records to have the bomb shipped to Ord Mantell where their next and last mission for the Republic was going to take place.
However, there was an unexpected development before they departed for the planet. Before they left, Commander Tavus informed them that they'd be getting a new member of Havoc Squad who had been recommended by Garza and was someone who Tavus had no real reason to refuse after getting a look at his short but impressive record. Had they not been about to defect, Fuse would have been thrilled if only because it meant he wouldn't be the youngest member of the squad anymore. But, of course, their new squadmate just turned out to be the first of several unexpected surprises they'd face once they got to Ord Mantell.
The next surprise had been considerably more unwelcome when the transport bringing the ZR-57 to the planet was shot down and the bomb was stolen by the separatists. Needless to say that had gotten Fuse more than a little worried. They had already told the Empire about the bomb and showing up at the rendezvous point without it likely wouldn't have gone well so they had to get it back fast before they found out or worse, the separatists were stupid enough to use it or set it off.
Their new squadmate proved to be a great help with that as he took on missions that helped narrow down the bomb's location until they got confirmation that it was in the separatist stronghold on Mount Avilatan. After learning that the bomb was already at their rendezvous point, the Commander told them it was time. As soon as they left the Republic base, they were no longer Republic soldiers.
Once they arrived at the volcano base the squad got more surprises. Havoc had known for a while that the separatists were being secretly aided by the Empire, but they hadn't realized just how much until they saw the inside of that base. The lower levels had separatist troops as expected, but the upper levels were completely under the Empire's control with Imperial troops in uniform and war droids everywhere and on full display.
When they met their Imperial contact, Colonel Vorr, they were again surprised to discover that not only did the Imperials already have the ZR-57, but they believed that the shuttle crashing had been staged by their squad so that the Imperials could take control of the bomb more easily. That hadn't been the plan, but none of them were going to correct the Imperials so they made their final preparations to leave the planet and join the Empire.
They were just about done when yet another surprise happened. Their new squadmate, who'd been given strict orders to stay behind, appeared in the hangar demanding to know what was going on. Fuse had been expecting the Commander to order Wraith to kill him, but it seemed the newbie had made a good enough impression on Tavus for the Commander to explain their reasons for leaving. Fuse had been more than a little angered by the newbie's comment that they were just defecting because they thought they couldn't cut it anymore, so he'd mockingly thanked him for helping them recover the bomb. The Sergeant had claimed the bomb had been deactivated, but they all knew it was a bluff and shortly after left the base with their prize and left the Sergeant for the Imperials. 'Except it wasn't a bluff.' Fuse thought as he grit his teeth.
No, that had been their last nasty surprise. It turned out that the Sergeant had indeed disabled the ZR-57 and they only found out after they'd already delivered it to the Imperials. Imperial command hadn't been happy to say the least, but they still had it and could reactivate it with time and even better, Havoc Squad had officially joined the Empire. And once word started spreading, hundreds of other soldiers started abandoning the Republic to side with them.
Commander Tavus had been given a flagship to oversee the rest of their operations. For security reasons, Fuse didn't know what operations the rest of his squadmates were part of or even where they were, but that was fine by him. While he was always happy to fight with the rest of the squad, Fuse had been part of many operations where he had to fight alongside soldiers that he didn't know. So fighting alongside Imperial soldiers wasn't really all that different.
Sure, there were definitely some who didn't like or trust him due to his status as a former Republic soldier, but Fuse had already met a few he got along with. Soldiers were soldiers no matter what side they fought on so the adjustment wasn't too difficult.
Then, he'd arrived on Tatooine and met his new commanding officer, Colonel Gorik. He learned two things about the man very quickly. The first was that the Colonel didn't like him. Why exactly this was, Fuse didn't know. But he could tell every time the two of them spoke, even when the Colonel pretended to be polite and was smiling, there was hatred and disgust in his voice. It was faint but it was always there.
The second thing he realized was that Gorik was terrified of his Commander. The first time Fuse had mentioned Commander Tavus to him, the Colonel had gone pale and his eyes started darting around the room as if Tavus would appear out of thin air. Fuse assumed it was because of the Commander's reputation but, again, he didn't know for sure.
Fuse didn't really care about Gorik all that much and focused more on his assignment. The Empire had made it clear that his mission was to design more powerful and effective bombs while Colonel Gorik and his men built and tested the prototypes. Fuse had thought it made perfect sense. He was a well known bomb expert and Gorik and his men knew the best places on the planet to test the bombs without risk of discovery.
However, he found out things weren't as simple as he'd been led to believe. Turned out that while he was right about Gorik and his men choosing the bomb testing locations, they weren't the ones actually making the bombs. The Colonel had reached out to a large group of Geonosians that were on the planet and hired them to build the bombs instead. Fuse thought it was strange since Gorik could have just gotten the resources he needed from the Empire but he had quickly dismissed it and returned to his work and things continued going smoothly.
That is, until he overheard one of the guards mentioning that there were a few survivors from the most recent test.
Survivors? Fuse had just assumed the bombs were being tested in the middle of the empty desert. So what was all the talk about survivors? He couldn't stop wondering and eventually he started doing a little digging to see if he could figure out what exactly Gorik's targets for the bombs were.
He found the answer. And it horrified him.
Anchorhead.
That monster was using his bombs to target and kill innocent people in Anchorhead! According to the numbers, over a hundred people in the settlement had been killed by bombings since he'd first arrived. Fuse felt like he would be sick when he saw that the previous targets that had been destroyed were all highly populated civilian locations.
Fuse wouldn't stand for it. Enemy location or not, he wouldn't allow his weapons to be used to kill innocent people. Which brought him to where he was now, marching to Gorik's office to tell him this slaughter would not continue. He knew there was a very good chance that doing this could have severe consequences, but Fuse refused to just sit back and do nothing while his creations were used to massacre innocents.
Reaching Gorik's office, the guards at the door didn't attempt to stop him from entering. He'd needed to speak with the Colonel a few times before this and they hadn't stopped him before so they saw no reason to this time. When the door slid open he saw the Colonel sitting behind his desk looking over some sort of reports.
Gorik looked the same as always. Imperial officer's uniform spotless and the overhead lights being reflected off his bald head. Fuse guessed the old Colonel was at least as old as Commander Karden, if not a little older with his gray mustache and wrinkled face. Gorik looked up at his entrance and there was a flash of anger in his eyes before it was replaced by a smile. "Ah, Fuse. What can I do for you?" He asked in what Fuse would call a well faked polite voice.
Fuse opened his mouth to speak, but before he could get a single word out, the door opened once more and someone else rushed in. "Colonel, sir!"
Fuse turned and saw it was Captain Thaban, Gorik's second in command. He was a tall man and was bald and had blue eyes like the Colonel, but he had darker skin which had been somewhat tanned due to his time exposed to the planet's twin suns while out on patrol. Fuse considered the man a good soldier but only slightly better than average, nothing exceptional. Certainly not Havoc Squad material. 'Still, he definitely knows better than to just barge in like that.'
Colonel Gorik seemed to be thinking something similar if the annoyed look on his face was any indication. "Captain, I believe I've made it clear how I feel about interruptions."
Thaban didn't even seem to hear him. "Sir, an unscheduled Imperial shuttle is approaching the base and is requesting permission to land." The Captain informed him.
That got Gorik's attention and his annoyance shifted to curiosity. "Has the shuttle transmitted a clearance code?"
The Captain nodded. "Yes, sir. And the code checks out, but…" Thaban hesitated.
Gorik was not one for suspense and his annoyance quickly returned. "But what, Captain?" He demanded.
"It's an Imperial Guard code, sir."
That got both Gorik and Fuse's full attention as the latter turned to face the Captain. The former Republic Lieutenant remembered the few times he and the rest of Havoc Squad had gone up against members of the Imperial Guard in their previous missions and those missions had always been among the most difficult. Their reputation for being the best fighting force in the galaxy was well earned and Fuse knew it. 'I also know that they're usually guarding some of the highest ranking members of the Empire. But what Imperial big shot would come all the way out here? And why?'
While he was wondering about all this, Gorik had gone completely silent. When Fuse turned back to him, he saw the Colonel looking like he might pass out. The fear in his eyes, which were wider than Fuse had ever seen them, was as clear as the sweat that was slowly starting to form on his now pale bald head.
Gorik opened his mouth once but closed it without speaking. The Colonel closed his eyes and swallowed before he took a deep breath, trying to get his fear under control. When he opened them again they were slightly more focused but the fear wasn't gone. "I trust they've been given permission to land, Captain?" Gorik quietly asked. Thaban nodded and Gorik stood up from his desk. "Good. Assemble a squad in the hangar immediately. We'll meet them there. Fuse, with me." Gorik ordered before walking out of the office with Thaban and Fuse following behind him, the former speaking into a communicator to get a squad formed in the hangar and the latter following silently.
Fuse was confused about why Gorik would want him present when he met with whoever had just arrived. But then he thought about it for a few moments and quickly realized that if this big shot was here to punish someone for something or even if things just went badly, a former Republic soldier would make a good fall guy. 'As if I didn't have enough reasons to hate this guy.'
The three continued on their way and found a squad fully assembled in the hangar when they arrived. Both the squad and hangar were rather small with space for only a half dozen shuttles at most with the center landing zone, where the incoming shuttle would most likely touch down, cleared of any obstructions while the squad was lined up with about twenty soldiers on each side side while Fuse, Gorik, and the Captain walked down the middle. The Colonel reached a certain point and just stopped and the other two did the same. After that they just waited for the shuttle to arrive.
They didn't have to wait long as the hangar doors opened a few seconds later with light, heat, and sand being the first things to rush into the hangar. Fuse shielded his eyes from the intense light and didn't see, only heard, the sound of a shuttle touching down. Only once the hangar doors slid shut and the intense light was replaced by the standard lights of the hangar did Fuse lower his hand.
It was just in time for him to see the ramp of the shuttle lowering and its first two occupants march down it. Fuse recognized the two as Imperial Guardsmen immediately. The red armor and robes definitely stood out and the two seemed to move in perfect sync as they walked side by side down the ramp and, upon reaching the bottom, each turned and took position on the right and left side of the ramp.
However, Fuse's attention was already off them and back to the entrance of the shuttle where a third figure was emerging. The third was also clearly part of the Imperial Guard with the same red armor and robes but very different to the other two holding position at the bottom. The new figure was massive. Easily bigger and taller than Gearbox who was well over six feet and Fuse wondered if it was actually a human under the armor or something else. The Lieutenant didn't fail to note that while the other guards were carrying electro staffs, the giant had a lightsaber clipped to his belt. 'Never seen that before.' Fuse thought as the huge Imperial Guardsman stomped down the ramp.
When he reached the bottom and stood before them, Gorik looked like he was about to speak but the armored giant spoke first, his voice booming across the hangar. "Bow now to Darth Rhal, Lord of the Dark Council and successor to Darth Jadus!"
Silence.
The words of the massive warrior seemed to have frozen everyone in the hangar. That is, until footsteps could be heard. Fuse only saw a single black boot appear at the top of the boarding ramp before he dropped to his knees and bowed his head with everyone else in the hangar, save the three Imperial guardsmen, doing the same just as quickly.
A member of the Dark Council? All the way out here? Havoc Squad had encountered and fought many powerful Sith over the years, but never had they been so unlucky as to run into one of the top twelve Sith in the Empire. The Dark Council were a group of twelve Sith who answered only to the Emperor and members of the group were, arguably, the most powerful and influential Sith alive. Fuse knew that wasn't entirely true as many members didn't last too long before being overthrown, but there were a few that had stood out over the years and Darth Jadus was definitely one of them.
Mysterious but incredibly powerful, Jadus had been very good at keeping a low profile during his time but there were still stories floating around about him from time to time. Terrible stories. The stuff out of the very worst nightmares. But that's all it ever seemed to be, stories and rumors. They never had anything more solid than that, nothing. At least, nothing that Fuse had ever heard of. 'I remember hearing he died a little while back though. I guess they found someone to take over for him.' Fuse had never heard of a Sith called Darth Rhal before so this experience would likely turn out to be… educational, if nothing else.
Fuse kept his head down and listened as the footsteps slowly grew louder until they stopped just a few feet away from him, but the bomb maker still kept his head down. Fuse didn't know Darth Rhal, but he did know that many Sith would kill at even the tiniest show of perceived disrespect and he was not going to give a member of the Dark Council any excuses if he could help it. 'Not that all Sith need excuses to kill.' He thought before grimacing at thinking such a careless thought and silently started praying that this Sith Lord didn't read his mind and hear it like they were rumored to. Thankfully he seemed to be in the clear as nothing happened until a voice spoke a few moments later.
"Rise."
Fuse started to stand.
"Not you, Colonel Gorik."
Then stopped for a second before rising back to his full height and finally caught sight of this Dark council member. He wore a black cloak covering him from head to toe and the hood was up, hiding most of his features. From what he could make out, Fuse could tell that Darth Rhal was still fairly young, maybe late twenties early thirties, and actually looked pretty normal for a Sith. The only thing that stood out were his eyes. Blue eyes that made fuse think of ice for some reason. Blue eyes that were locked on the still kneeling Colonel Gorik.
By now, the old Imperial Officer's head was shining with sweat and, looking closely, Fuse could swear the man was shaking when he spoke. "Lord Rhal." He said, his voice surprisingly steady despite his obvious fear. "It is an honor to-"
"Be silent."
Gorik's mouth snapped shut so fast Fuse heard his teeth click.
"I have questions. You will answer them. No more, no less. Do you understand?" Darth Rhal's words were emotionless, but still filled all who heard them with dread.
Gorik's shaking was obvious now. "Y-Yes, my Lord." His voice was far less strong now.
"What is your current mission here?"
Gorik swallowed before answering, "To oversee the development of new bombs and test them."
"Give me a full report of your mission's status. Spare no detail."
The Colonel did as instructed, sparing no detail. Fuse listened as Gorik explained how he'd reached out to the Geonosians to build the bombs after realizing they wouldn't have enough resources. He listened as he explained that the first prototypes had worked wonderfully, though Fuse thought of a very different word, when he admitted that the bombs were tested on areas that would have high civilian casualties and was already preparing further tests in both Anchorhead and some Sand People settlements that his commando teams had located in the desert.
The Zabrak bomb maker nearly lunged at the old Colonel when he said that current casualties were only slightly above estimates and the next batch of bombs would 'surely be far more effective'.
Throughout the report, Darth Rhal didn't speak. He didn't even seem to move at all. He just kept staring at the still kneeling Colonel as he explained the atrocities he'd been committing with Fuse's creations. It got so bad that in any other situation, Fuse would have drawn his blaster and shot the monster dead, even though he knew such an action would definitely get him shot as well. 'If I was lucky.'
So what was stopping him?
Darth Rhal. Or more specifically, his eyes.
Those blue eyes didn't seem to give anything away, but there was just something about them and the way they were looking at Gorik that stopped Fuse from making a move.
Finally, Gorik finished his report and the hangar was silent once more. Not for long though as Darth Rhal spoke once more. "Tell me Colonel, is this facility meant to be used for research purposes or military purposes?"
"Research, my Lord."
"Indeed." Darth Rhal said with a nod. "And when the Empire is researching something of importance, naturally we don't want the Republic finding out about it. Does that make sense to you, Colonel?"
"Yes, my Lord. It does."
Darth Rhal frowned and shook his head. "No, Colonel. It clearly does not." Gorik looked up and opened his mouth to protest, but Rhal held up a hand and his mouth snapped shut. "The purpose of this research facility and your operation here was to design and test more powerful bomb designs without the Republic knowing about it. I would think this would be obvious considering this facility is in the middle of the desert, but your report proves that you either misunderstood your orders or deliberately ignored them."
By this point, Gorik was trembling and his head was down, avoiding the Sith's gaze.. His shaking had gotten even worse and Fuse could see the sweat running down his head almost like a waterfall. It might have been funny if Fuse wasn't also feeling more than slightly afraid of Darth Rhal and his words. He had a dark feeling he knew what was going to happen very shortly and he prayed that the Dark Lord would only direct his fury towards Gorik and not the rest of them.
"Colonel." Darth Rhal said with some intensity, making Gorik look up at him once more. "Your operation here was meant to remain secret. You knew this. You knew this when you reached out to the Geonosians to build the bombs when you should have contacted Imperial command for the necessary resources instead of involving outsiders. You knew this when you sent out your Commando teams to set up outposts near populated areas, greatly increasing the possibility of discovery. You knew this when you ordered the bombs tested on populated areas instead of in the desert where there would be no evidence of your activities. You knew how important secrecy was for your operation yet everything you've done clearly indicates that you either didn't understand the importance or disregarded it." Darth Rhal leaned forward, causing Gorik to lean back. "Which is it, Colonel?" When the Sith spoke Gorik's title this time, it was spoken with disgust.
Gorik, pale, trembling, and covered in sweat was a pathetic sight. Fuse almost felt sorry for the man before remembering what he did and all thoughts of pity vanished from his mind. Instead, he watched with some slight amusement as Gorik opened and closed his mouth several times as he kept trying and failing to come up with something that would get him out of the dangerous situation he'd found himself in.
Darth Rhal, seemingly sick of waiting for Gorik to speak, shook his head and stood up straight. "Very well." Something about the way he said the two words caused Gorik to go still. "Colonel Gorik, for your crimes of compromising Imperial operations, killing scores of innocent civilians, and wasting Imperial resources I, Darth Rhal of the Dark Council, do hereby declare you a traitor to the Empire. You will therefore be stripped of your rank and sentenced to death with the sentence to be carried out immediately. Commander."
Faster than he could blink, Fuse watched as the massive Imperial Guard activated a purple lightsaber and used it to decapitate Gorik before deactivating it and returning it to his belt all in barely a second. Gorik himself didn't seem to realize what had happened and, when he looked down to get a look at what just happened, his head fell off his shoulders and rolled forward, stopping when it met Darth Rhal's boots while his body fell backwards.
The whole thing was unsettling to the Zabrak bomb maker, but Fuse also couldn't help but feel somewhat relieved by the whole thing. Gorik was a monster and while Fuse knew there were some in the Empire that tolerated and even encouraged those like Gorik, he was pleased to see not all Sith were willing to tolerate such behavior.
Darth Rhal gave a nod to the Imperial Guard Commander that was returned before he turned back to the rest of the troops. "Now that that's taken care of, who is the highest ranking military officer present?" He asked, looking around at the assembled troops.
"Here, my Lord. Captain Thaban." The Captain stated, standing at attention.
The Sith turned to face him. "Captain, due to the actions of your previous Commander we must consider this operation and location compromised. The operation is to be terminated immediately and all forces are to begin evacuation procedures. It's a waste but we can't allow the Republic to discover any evidence of our activities here. This base has a self-destruct mechanism, correct?"
Thaban nodded. "Yes, my Lord."
"Good. See to it that copies are made of all data collected here and once that's done, erase all records and initiate the base's self-destruct after evacuations are complete. Is that understood, Captain?" Rhal asked to which the Captain nodded once more. Waving a hand in dismissal, the Captain left to carry out his orders and, surprisingly, the Dark Lord turned his attention to Fuse. "Lieutenant Bazren?"
Fuse was startled as he wasn't expecting to be addressed, but quickly stood at attention. "Yes, uh, my Lord." He said somewhat awkwardly, not being used to using such a title when addressing a superior.
If Darth Rhal was displeased by the greeting, it didn't show on his face which was thankfully looking more calm now and less intense. From out of his cloak, Darth Rhal pulled out a datapad and held it out to Fuse.
The Zabrak took it and, feeling more than a little confused, decided to ask, "Uh, may I ask what this is, my Lord?"
"Your new orders." Darth Rhal replied easily before continuing. "It also contains new orders for your Commander, Harron Tavus, and several important updates I think he should be made aware of."
"Updates, my Lord?"
"If your Commander chooses to share the information with you Lieutenant, he may do so." Fuse only nodded at that, deciding not to press further. "Dismissed."
And with that Darth Rhal and his guards made their way past him and went further into the base. Once they were out of sight Fuse turned his attention to the datapad and saw that there were several files on it and, assuming the one with his name on it were his new orders, opened it and started reading its contents.
By the time he was finished, Fuse's eyes had gone wide and he found he couldn't hide his smile.
A.N.
That's all for now! This actually turned out longer than I expected so I'm sure there's a few questions and, while some of them will be answered in the next chapter, feel free to ask and if I can answer any and help you out I will. Other than that, please review and tell me what you think. As always, thank you all for reading, have a great day, and I'll see you all next time!