Naro's fleet was on the brink of disaster. His eyes flickered back and forth, trying to find a way out. He could feel failure fast approaching.
His opponent was good, better than any he'd faced before. The enemy's fleet had made a feigned retreat in the center, and Naro had given chase, not because he'd been fooled by the feint but rather because he'd assumed his enemy had waited too long to call the retreat. He'd thought he could snap up the retreating force before they made it to their reinforcements. Instead, his opponent had revealed two strike groups on his immediate flanks, far deeper than Naro had thought possible, and now Naro's fleet was at risk of an imminent double envelopment.
Naro looked at his charts, analyzed the data he was getting from his console, then looked at his charts a second time.
His enemy was good. But they had made a crucial error. In order to position the enemy strike groups so close to Naro's force, they had hidden the strike groups in a pair of gas giants on opposite ends of the system. A brilliant ploy, one he'd intended to use himself in the future. Except that one of the gas giants was much further away from Naro's force than the other, and that meant the strike group to Naro's right would take twenty minutes to reach him while the one of his left would take eight.
And I'm in between them.
Naro saw an opportunity in the chaos.
He began directing his ship's movements. A portion of his fleet, two cruisers, three frigates, and a dozen corvettes, was sent to pursue the still retreating enemy center and prevent it from rejoining the battle. A smaller but more maneuverable force of nine corvettes went to harass the strike group on the right with orders to delay it as long as possible.
Naro sent the rest of his fleet, twenty corvettes, ten frigates, eight cruisers and all fifteen of his star destroyers, at the strike group on his left.
He had approximately sixteen minutes to destroy it. Maybe longer, if his corvettes delayed the enemy well enough.
Naro's sudden maneuver clearly caught his enemy off guard. With the bulk of Naro's fleet speeding at it, the leftmost strike group was now closing distance far quicker than planned, and it rushed to reverse its course. But momentum was against it, and the strike group struggled to decelerate from the speed it had built up.
Six minutes after Naro had begun his maneuver, his fleet pounced on the leftmost strike group. It was clearly going to be a one sided affair. While Naro and his enemy had equal fleets overall, locally Naro's ships outnumbered the strike group two to one. And he had all of his star destroyers.
Basic force concentration, one part of him thought. But another part of him was terrified he wasn't going to have enough time.
Naro's star destroyers opened up on the enemy ships as soon as they came into range. Their heavy turbolasers pounded the enemy's star destroyers and in turn drew return fire to them. Both sides started launching their starfighter wings.
Eight minutes after the maneuver began, Naro's cruisers reached engagement range and opened up on the enemy ships. Their fire, combined with the sustained barrages of Naro's star destroyers, tore into the lead ship. Its shields overloaded, and then its hull was ripped apart.
Two more enemy ships soon followed. They became drifting hulks as turbolaser fire raked their central power systems.
Ten minutes after the maneuver, the frigates entered into range. At the same time, the starfighter wings on both sides clashed in the empty space between the two forces. They formed swirling clouds of activity as individual starfighters fought dogfights with each other. Some wings attempted to bypass the opposing starfighters and were targeted by the point-defense systems of each force's screening ships.
Twelve minutes, and Naro knew he was running out of time. His enemy's rightmost strike group was rushing forward, ignoring the harassment of Naro's corvettes, to come to the rescue of their beleaguered comrades on the left. It was the correct decision, but Naro had been hoping his opponent would be less competent.
An enemy star destroyer went down, torn open by the deadly hail of turbolaser fire. Then another was disabled when its bridge was destroyed. But it wasn't fast enough, and Naro could see the rightmost strike group was gaining on him.
All or nothing then.
He ordered his frigates and corvettes to close to point blank range with the enemy ships.
It was a risky move. In doing so he was separating his screens from his ships of the line and leaving the latter exposed to snubfighters. But Naro was almost out of time. He needed to end this engagement before the rightmost strike group was on him. And Naro's frigates carried proton torpedoes.
Thirteen minutes. Naro's line of screens charged forward.
The corvettes went first, being the fastest and most maneuverable, and they smashed through the clouds of starfighters occupying the middle ground. Point-defense systems worked overtime, spraying at starfighter swarms with bursts of superheated tibanna. But they couldn't stop everything, and their proximity made them vulnerable. Enemy starfighters made bombing runs against the corvettes, even as friendly starfighters attempted to intercept them.
Six of Naro's corvettes went down in the span of thirty seconds. His first losses of the engagement. Shortly after, three more were blown apart by enemy starfighters.
Fourteen minutes. The corvettes' sacrifice was not in vain; their actions cleared a lane through the starfighters for Naro's frigates to follow through. At the same time, Naro's cruisers shifted focus from the enemy star destroyers to their line of screens. The small ships were little match for concentrated cruiser fire, and enemy corvettes began to drop like flies.
A path from Naro's frigates to the enemy capital ships started to open.
Fifteen minutes. Naro's frigates turned their thrusters to full power and stormed ahead. One was swarmed by starfighters and forced to pull away, but the others sped on. They armed their torpedoes and selected targets from the enemy capital ships.
The enemy star destroyers shifted their focus and began pounding Naro's frigates with their heavy turbolasers. At close range, it was devastating. Two frigates were sent veering into space from the density of the turbolaser fire. But it was too late, and the remaining seven kept going.
Sixteen minutes from the start of Naro's maneuver, his frigates reached torpedo range and unleashed their payloads all at once. Each ship let loose three dozen proton torpedoes. Enemy point-defense systems couldn't keep up with the mass of incoming ordinance.
Naro watched the enemy capital ships disappear one by one on his console. Every hit was a devastating blow, and most ships were hit by at least two. What remained of their accompanying screens immediately turned to flee; without support from their capital ships they were easy pickings for Naro's cruisers.
Seventeen minutes. Naro began issuing orders to turn his fleet around.
The rightmost strike group was now almost right on top of him, but without a second force to fix his ships in place, their envelopment was worthless. He pulled in his harassing corvettes to screen his star destroyers while what remained of his original screens limped back into formation. His star destroyers began to turn against the enemy strike group and open fire with-
The screen on Naro's console went dark.
A second later, it displayed the words, 'BLUFOR RESIGNS. REDFOR WINS.'
Naro sat back in his simulator's seat and rubbed his face. He took a moment to regain his bearings before exiting the simulator booth and emerging in his fleet maneuvering classroom. Thirty other booths were set up in the room with pairs of students facing each other in naval wargames. It had been three months since Naro had arrived at Carida Academy, and the emphasis in many of his classes had begun to shift from theoretical lectures to the application of what they'd learned in simulators.
"You absolute bastard!" a Coruscanti voice hissed from behind him. Naro turned and found Lynara Valorum storming at him. "I had you! At the start! I had you!" she spat.
"It was close," Naro agreed.
"I had you in the perfect trap!" Lynara fumed. "You fell for it! But, like always, you somehow managed to slip out of it!"
If it was the perfect trap, I wouldn't have managed to slip out of it.
But Naro liked Lynara, despite her aristocratic tendencies, so he said, "It was a good set up, but your forces were too far apart to support each other in time." He smiled because, as he was learning, a smile was an excellent way to disarm hostility. "Brilliant move hiding in the gas giants. If it'd been just a few minutes faster, I would've been obliterated by your double envelopment."
Lynara looked as if she might snap a retort, but then she stopped, took a breath, and let out a small smile. "It was brilliant, wasn't it? But your use of the central position! Classic defeat in detail. How did you know how to adapt to my ambush so quickly?"
In the three months since I've arrived at Carida, I've devoured every piece of military literature I could get my hands on. I theorize on the future of warfare every time I learn something new. At night, I think about the application of new fleet tactics, and my dreams are filled with large scale engagements between conventional opponents.
Naro shrugged. "I was just going with my gut."
Lynara rolled her eyes. "It's not a virtue to pretend you're not good at something. It just makes you less interesting."
"Well in that case, I knew your every move from the second you deployed your ships, and I was only toying with you so I wouldn't have to leave the simulator early," Naro said.
Lynara narrowed her eyes at him and pursed her lips. It took her three full seconds to realize he wasn't being serious; Naro could read it on her face.
She gave a soft laugh. "Was that sarcasm? From you?"
Naro's heart skipped a beat, and his first reaction was to be defensive. "I use sarcasm," he said with the slightest tinge of a whine.
"No you don't," Lynara dismissed instantly. "I've known you just over three months now, and you're usually very serious. It's refreshing, really. I've dealt with enough passive aggressiveness for a lifetime; the perks of being a Valorum I suppose."
"Thanks?" Naro questioned.
"Don't mention it. But I have to admit, coming from you, it isn't the worst. It's… charming, really."
Naro made a mental note to use more sarcasm.
Lynara suddenly looked away. "We're, ah, still on for fencing before dinner, yeah?" she said a little too quickly.
"Naturally," Naro replied, imitating one of her favorite refrains.
"Bastard," she retorted fondly. She grinned.
Naro grinned too.
They both went to be assigned their next simulation partners.
After class, Naro got a decent amount of reading done. He was reading an article about artificial gravity wells and the possible military implications of deploying gravity well projectors, devices that forced passing ships out of hyperspace and prevented them from jumping away. The article made a strong case for their use in static defenses but argued against shipboard deployment due to their hefty power requirements, and Naro's mind was enthralled. He was ahead on all the readings for his classes and had been for a while, so this was purely for his own enjoyment.
Static defenses that can't be bypassed, he marveled.
The possibilities were incredible. A well placed gravity well projector could shut down an entire hyperspace lane, throwing supply lines into chaos and forcing enemies to attack well defended positions. But it would also be an expensive endeavor. The projectors would require a large station to function and then fortifications capable of resisting a fleet to defend them.
The question then was where it would be most cost effective to position such an endeavor. He looked at a map of the galaxy for the…
With a start, Naro realized he'd been considering that question for over two hours now. He rubbed his face with a groan. This always happened whenever he got too deep into a subject. Usually he would keep going until Davek came to collect him for dinner with their friends, but today he had to be somewhere.
Today was a practice day with Lynara . It had become a biweekly, sometimes triweekly, tradition for the two of them to practice fencing with each other. At first Emeris had joined them, but recently it'd mostly been just the two of them. Emeris claimed she was busy getting her flight hours in the simulators.
Naro put aside his datapad, cracked his back against his chair, and then went to change into his workout clothes. He took one last glance at the article he'd been reading.
Davek came into their room. He tossed his datapad onto his desk before flopping down on his bed and letting out a big groan. Only then did he glance at Naro.
Davek raised an eyebrow. "Fencing?" his roommate guessed.
"How did you know?"
"It's the only thing that you'll willingly do besides class and readings," Davek said.
"I…" Naro began, but even he had to admit there was some truth to that.
"With that Valorum girl?" Davek guessed further.
Naro coughed and took a sudden interest in trying to find his water bottle.
Davek let out a chuckle. "You know, I met her back on Coruscant once. I think it was her, at least. Some big event my father was attending at her family's highrise; now that was luxury. You know they have a ballroom with as much floor space as a starfreighter? On the surface of Coruscant! The surface!"
Naro found his water bottle. He turned and asked, "Is there a point to your reminiscing, or are you trying to annoy me?"
"I'm just saying," Davek insisted, "I didn't think she'd be your type. Too rich. Too high society. Too… Core World."
"She is not my type," Naro snapped. "I don't even-" He shook his head. "Whatever you think is happening is just your imagination. Lynara's a friend."
"Which is why you spend twice as much time with her as you do with Hawkor or Galara," Davek snorted.
"They don't fence."
"Emeris does."
"She's busy getting her flight hours in."
Davek rolled his eyes. "Sure she is. You know, I'm fully supportive of you getting with the Valorum girl. If you need the room, just let me know. I was planning on heading to-"
"Thank you for your valuable insight," Naro muttered, and he headed for the door.
"Good luck on your date!" Davek called from behind.
Naro held back some nasty words, and he walked from his room to the fencing salon. He was slightly early, but he knew Lynara would be there already. She had a habit of arriving at least ten minutes early to everything she did. It was something she picked up from her mother, he'd gathered. He opened the door and found her doing stretches.
"You're early," Lynara stated.
"My roommate was being an ass."
"Ah."
Naro joined her in doing stretches. The salon was empty except for the two of them, as it usually was, because they were practicing right before dinner and most other cadets liked to fence either just after classes or after dinner. Lynara had suggested the time after their first few practices. She knew he didn't like being watched while fencing.
As he stretched, his mind began to wander back to gravity well projectors. He imagined a map of the galaxy. There had to be an ideal placement…
"Want to warm up with some light sparring?" Lynara suggested. She had started putting on her gear.
"Sure," Naro said. He went to gather his loaner gear from the lockers and then had a thought. He looked over his shoulder and asked, "Have you ever heard of gravity well projectors?"
Lynara tilted her head. "Yes? I believe I read an article on them once. Meant to pull ships out of hyperspace, correct? The Trade Federation uses them to enforce their tolls."
"That's right," Naro said with a nod. Then he bit his lip. "I didn't know they were used by the Trade Federation," he added.
"You should pay more attention to corporate politics," Lynara chuckled before saying, "Why do you ask?"
"I was reading an article on them and was theorizing about their military uses."
"Naturally."
"I think there's a lot of potential for using them to establish static defenses in strategically important areas."
Lynara put a hand to her chin. "To restrict hyperspace lanes and force attacks on well defended positions," she inferred. She'd finished suiting up and was waiting for him.
Naro finished getting his jacket on and picked up his helmet. "Yes, exactly."
"It'd be expensive. You'd need a station with generators dedicated just to the gravity well projectors, and then you'd need enough defenses to stop a fleet in its tracks. Unless you station your own fleet there, of course, but that'd be even more expensive." She picked up her vibrorapier with jewels inlaid in the pommel. "Still vibrorapier?"
Stars, she's brilliant. Davek wouldn't have understood half as much. She got it instantly.
Naro nodded and borrowed his preferred vibrorapier from the loaner racks. "The projectors would have to be placed in highly beneficial positions for them to be cost effective." He walked into one of the fencing rings and pulled on his helmet. "I've been trying to figure out where those positions would be."
"For the next galaxy-wide war, you mean?" Lynara pulled on her helmet and stepped into the same ring.
"Exactly."
Lynara did her fancy salute. "Ready?"
Naro did his much more basic salute. "Yes."
They began to circle each other. Three months of fencing together meant they both knew what to expect from each other, and they were cautious as a result.
Lynara had her hilt almost at her hip, holding it like a gunslinger, point down. Her free hand was raised in the air, twirling by her head. From experience, Naro knew that the twirling hand was a distraction and that she could bring her point up into a thrust quicker than he could blink if he so much as glanced at it. The fact her gunslinger pose made it look like she was completely exposed was a deception.
Naro advanced, sword extended, in a much more traditional guard. Lynara maintained distance by retreating.
"Who are the opponents?" Lynara suddenly asked, and she followed up her words with a lunging thrust at Naro's head.
Naro parried the thrust while taking a half step back. He immediately riposted, lunging with the compressed strength of his back leg.
Lynara made her own parry and took three steps back, leaving measure.
"What opponents?" Naro asked. He advanced into measure again then made a feint at Lynara's head.
Lynara didn't fall for the feint. She waited, then made a sweeping parry against Naro's real attack. Her vibrorapier came back up for a riposte, and Naro was forced to fall back two steps to avoid it.
Lynara took up her gunslinger pose again. "For your galactic-wide war," she breathed, slightly winded. "Who are the opponents?"
"I hadn't-" Naro began, but as soon as he did, Lynara jumped forward with another lunge.
He parried, barely, and then made a large cut at Lynara's overextended leg. It was hard to cut with a rapier, even a vibrorapier, so his cut was wide and sweeping. She stopped it on her hilt then retreated out of measure, back into her gunslinger pose.
"The opponents matter for the positioning of the gravity well projectors. It's useless to put one at Nal Hutta if your opponent's coming from the Unknown Regions, but it's perfect if you're fighting the Hutts." Lynara took in a few deep breaths. "Were you trying to find a location that would be perfect in all situations?"
In retrospect that was exactly what Naro had been trying to do, and now that he thought about it clearly, he realized it was an incredibly foolish thing to do.
Naro advanced, mostly to cover his sudden realization of his own stupidity, and made a feint at her head which turned into a thrust at her knee.
For once, Lynara fell for his feint and tried to parry high. But when Naro's thrust went low, she simply withdrew her leg, taking a passing step back to avoid it.
They both breathed heavily. Fencing while talking was more exhausting than Naro had expected.
"Let's say…" Naro tried to catch his breath. "Let's say it's the Core Worlds against non-Core business interests. The Trade Federation, Banking Clan, Commerce Guild, and Corporate Alliance. We're on the side of the business interests."
Lynara narrowed her eyes. "Any particular reason why?"
Naro gave a cheeky grin. "I've been told I need to pay more attention to corporate politics."
Lynara rolled her eyes then did a sudden lunge, thrusting at his stomach. Naro went to parry, except Lynara's thrust was a feint, and her true attack rolled around his blade and went directly into his helmet.
Naro winced and stumbled back. He pulled off his helmet.
"Damn," he breathed. "That's an unsatisfying end to that exchange."
Lynara pulled off her own helmet. "Speak for yourself. That felt very satisfying." Her face suddenly gained a blank look. "Corsin," she said.
"Corsin?"
"It's a planet in the Expansion Region. Nothing of much importance there, except that it's the intersection point between the Vaathkree Trade Corridor and the Hydian Way. That's where you want your projectors for your galactic-wide war."
Naro tried to imagine the positioning. He knew vaguely where Corsin was. "That would block off the main route from the Core into the Outer Rim," he realized.
"Naturally," Lynara agreed. "And it would force any serious attack on the Outer Rim to go via the Celanon Spur or the Perlemian Trade Route-"
"Which are on opposite sides of the Outer Rim," Naro finished for her.
Lynara nodded, grinning. "That gives the perfect central position for any defender. You'd have the interior lines, so you could shuffle reinforcements from one side of the Outer Rim to the other in a quarter of the time it takes your opponent to."
"And it forces your opponent to keep a reserve in the Core Worlds in case you make a sudden attack down the Hydian Way." Naro was grinning too.
"Yes, exactly," Lynara said. She continued, "The Banking Clan, Commerce Guild, and Corporate Alliance are all based in the Outer Rim, so that's where the business interests would have their greatest base of support. It'd make the most sense to fall back there, establish a strong base, then use that base to strike at other regions while the Core is struggling to muster its forces."
"That hangs the Trade Federation out to dry," Naro pointed out.
Lynara shrugged. "Cato Neimoidia is too isolated from the others to integrate into a single defensive scheme. The Trade Federation's strong enough to hold out on its own. At very least they could provide a distraction while the Outer Rim makes moves against the Core Worlds. A war on two fronts."
Naro's grin turned into a wide smile. He couldn't help it. She was just… incredible.
"So Corsin then," he said.
Lynara matched his smile. "Corsin."
"I-" Naro began, and right then and there he almost said too much. But he stopped himself and instead said, "I'm recovered; want to do another pass?"
"With you? Always."
Later, after several more passes with Lynara and a quick trip to the refresher, Naro was sitting in the cafeteria with Davek, daydreaming.
"You hear the news?" a voice said, bringing Naro out of his daydream. Hawkor sat down across from him with a tray of food.
"News?" Naro asked.
"Count Dooku is coming to give a lecture at the academy next week on behalf of the Independent Movement for Self-Determination," Hawkor explained.
Davek grumbled, "Ugh, not him again. All he does is rant about the Republic's bureaucracy as if that somehow makes him a great leader." Davek shook his head. "It's all corruption and greed to him. No mention of the benefits the Republic gives."
"But the Republic is corrupt," Naro stated.
Davek inhaled sharply. "Oh stars, not you as well."
Emeris set her tray down and took a seat. "What's up with Naro?" she asked.
"He's a secessionist," Davek sighed.
"I am not!" Naro objected. "Just because I can see the corruption in the Republic doesn't mean I'm a secessionist."
"So are you going to the lecture?" Hawkor questioned.
Naro shrugged. "Maybe." He looked at Davek and asked, "Surely you can't believe self-determination is wrong?"
"Self-determination is just a cover for corporate deregulation and illegal activity," Davek asserted. "Just like corruption is a talking point to ignore the real issue of corporate influence in the Senate."
"Or maybe it's the right of all sentient beings to determine how they are ruled," Naro countered.
"Citizens of the republic do determine how they're ruled," Hawkor said. "That's what the Senate is for."
"The Senate is on Coruscant, thousands of parsecs from the Outer Rim. It represents the Core, nothing more."
"My mother would disagree," Galara jutted in. She sat down next to Naro with a tray loaded with food. "But I'm not her, and I happen to believe deregulation is beneficial for the galaxy. Planetary governments know what's best for their own citizens."
Hawkor leaned forward. "Did you hear that Count Dooku is coming to give a lecture?"
Galara gave a winning smile. "I already have my ticket. The lecture title is, 'On Senatorial Tyranny'."
Davek let out an audible groan. "Workers' protections and corporate regulations are not tyranny!" he spat.
"They are when they're dictated by the whims of a Senate that only cares for the Core," Naro refuted.
Galara nodded. "The Core Worlds outnumber Outer Rim planets in the Senate. It's a tyranny of the majority, plain and simple."
"That's called democracy," Hawkor said. "Would you prefer that the minority dictates galactic policy? If the majority of planets want something; they should get it."
Davek leaned in. "Exactly! The basis of democratic governance is popular rule. You can't just reject a popular decision because you don't like the outcome. The Outer Rim is part of a democratic system and needs to abide by that system's rules."
Galara sat back in her seat. She glanced to the side and made an uneasy face. "Then maybe the Outer Rim shouldn't be part of that system," she said.
There was a stunned silence.
Davek and Hawkor looked at each other but said nothing. Emeris looked very uncomfortable. Naro looked at Galara and also said nothing. They ate the rest of their dinner in awkward silence.
A week later, Naro and Galara were waiting in a packed hall for Count Dooku's lecture. Hawkor had tried to dissuade them by saying the lecture would be filled with dangerous extremists. Davek had called them fools and corporate stooges. Naro and Galara had both decided to go anyway.
They took their seats near the back since that was all that was still available. Neither of them had expected the lecture hall to be full, so they had arrived only a few minutes before the event started. However the event tickets had apparently sold out, and even as the last seat was filled, people came to stand in the back and sit in the aisles. Naro recognized some of the crowd but not many. A disconcerting amount of people in attendance were too old to be Academy cadets.
"Is Count Dooku really this famous?" Naro whispered to Galara.
Galara shrugged. "I have no idea. He's popular on Serenno, but then again he's the Count of Serenno." She shrugged again. "My mother hates his guts, and she's Serenno's senator."
Naro rubbed his forehead. Before this, he'd only vaguely heard of Count Dooku. A former Jedi who'd rejected the Jedi Order. The Count of Serenno. A political activist. But beyond that, pretty much nothing.
A light came on at the front, and the general murmur of the lecture hall died down. An aging man with white hair walked in from the back. His demeanor was clearly noble, yet it was different from the aristocratic tendencies of a Core Worlder. The man walked to the front of the lecture hall and stood before a centrally placed podium.
"That's him," Galara whispered, something that Naro had already guessed.
Count Dooku stretched out his arms and began, "Friends! Compatriots! We live in a time of crisis. Our beloved Republic is in the hands of corrupt bureaucrats and Core World business monopolies. The Senate, trapped in procedure and decadence, only cares for the Core, acting to protect its voting blocs while the rest of the galaxy is openly extorted by pirates and warlords. Yet, even in this time of unprecedented turmoil, the Senate seeks once more to wring the necks of its constituent bodies. It hampers the actions of planetary governments with naval restrictions and arms limitations. It prevents well-meaning corporations from hiring the security necessary to defend their cargoes. The Senate acts as a tyrant, restricting regional actors, and in doing so leaves them vulnerable to the very problems the Senate has created by its inaction. This cannot be allowed to continue!"
A resounding applause erupted from the audience, and Naro found himself clapping. The count raised his right hand, and the applause died off again.
Count Dooku continued his speech. He spoke of the dangers of Senate overreach and of the inherent corruption of the Republic's bureaucracy. He lamented about the decline of the Republic and its lost promise then criticized the dominance of the Core Worlds over the Republic's institutions. Several times he received standing ovations from the crowd. It happened so many times that Naro wondered if the crowd had been paid.
But, at the end, Count Dooku said something that stuck.
"These problems are not new; indeed, they have plagued the Republic for a century. Many have waited for a savior to restore the Republic. But who would be that savior? The Senate is as much a part of the problem as it is incapable of action. The Courts have proven themselves uninterested in anything beyond procedure. The Jedi are complacent, incapable of seeing the evils that have been left to fester under their noses. Faced with this reality, I say that there is no savior. No outside force will come to rescue the Republic. The people must be their own liberators. Their planetary representatives must seize the courage to forge their own solutions. And, if the Republic is to stand in their way, then the Republic must be thrown aside. For the people of the galaxy demand progress, and the march of progress must not be held back!"
A final applause burst out from the crowd, one that both Naro and Galara contributed to. The applause continued, even as the count left the lecture hall.
"Come on!" Galara said, grabbing Naro's hand. "Let's meet him!"
She pulled him through the crowd as it began to head for the exits. Several people turned to take offense, and one man shouted at them. But they pushed their way through them and made it out the door in time to see Count Dooku just turning a corner.
"Count Dooku!" Galara shouted, running after him.
Naro ran with her, but they found their way impeded by two members of the count's security.
"Apologies, the count is busy," one of the security guards said.
"Count Dooku!" Galara shouted over him. "My name is Galara Thaliss! My mother is-"
Count Dooku turned. "Let them through," he ordered.
The two guards abruptly moved out of their way, and Galara went to Count Dooku with Naro following close behind.
"Galara Thaliss, a great pleasure to finally meet you," Count Dooku greeted amicably. "Your mother is a great woman, even if we have our disagreements. She represents our planet as best she can given the circumstances in the Senate."
"Thank you, sir," Galara said, looking more than a little starstruck. "I was at your lecture. It was remarkable! Just remarkable! The way you describe the corruption in the bureaucracy is just… just…"
"Your praise is most generous," Count Dooku said. He looked over at Naro. "And who is your companion?"
"Naro Tarrik," he answered. Then, because he didn't know what else to say, he added "I'm from Raxus Secundus, studying applied tactics and strategy."
"It is good to know the Outer Rim has produced such talented young cadets," Count Dooku praised. "Applied tactics and strategy, hmm?" The count gave a soft smile. "Keep up your studies. They may prove useful in the years to come."
The recognition sent a rush through Naro's chest, and he felt himself perk up. "I will, sir!" he beamed.
Count Dooku nodded. "Apologies, my young friends, but I have important business elsewhere. I wish you good fortune in your future careers."
The count gave a slight bow before walking off with his security, leaving Naro and Galara standing speechless. Naro looked at Galara and grinned.
"That was…" Naro began.
"Enlightening," Galara finished.
Naro nodded in agreement. "We should get back to our dorms before lights out," he said.
"Right," Galara said. "But that part about the Senate being an absent tyrant!"
They talked about Count Dooku's lecture the whole way to the dorms. Eventually they had to part ways as Galara's dorm was on a different floor from Naro's. He said goodbye to her in the turbolift.
"We should do this again!" Galara insisted.
"Attend one of Count Dooku's lectures?" Naro questioned.
"Any lecture!" Galara laughed. "Oh stars, I think I've started to enjoy politics."
"Is this what I sound like about warfare?"
"Yes," she said instantly. She stepped out of the turbolift. "See you at breakfast, yeah?"
"Of course."
The door closed, and Naro went up a floor.
He left the turbolift with a warm feeling running through him. Naro turned a corner and was just passing the showers on the way to his dorm room when a hand wrapped around his mouth.
Someone pulled him backwards. He yelled into the hand, fear and anger spiking. He was pulled into the showers. Two other cadets were in the showers, a man and a woman. He recognized them. Ladrek's friends.
Naro bit the hand on his mouth and pushed. He was released with a curse of pain. Naro turned while backing himself away.
"Kriffing Rimmer," Ladrek swore, nursing his hand.
His two friends came up behind him. They were blocking the exit. Naro found himself being backed into a corner.
"Saw you going to the lecture, Rimmer," Ladrek spat. "Looks like you're just a traitor after all, eh? All you Rimmers are kriffing secessionists."
Naro's eyes flickered back and forth, trying to find a way out. There was nowhere to run, and he wasn't going to win a fight three on one.
Ladrek gave a nasty grin. "Your Valorum schutta's not here to save you now. Bet she'll-"
Naro slammed his fist into Ladrek's nose, the full force of his shoulder and hip behind it. He felt a crunch against his fist, and Ladrek toppled like a flailing toddler. Naro saw the blood on his fist. Ladrek's nose was a mess.
Seize the initiative, the tactical side of his mind had told him. So he had. But another side had done it because he'd wanted to do that for months now.
Stars that's…
Ladrek moaned in pain from the ground.
…satisfying…
Naro kicked him in the head to keep him down a little longer. Ladrek cried out.
Then the other two jumped him.
The woman hit him in the side while the man punched him across the face, and Naro stumbled back. Naro tried to fight, but it was a worthless effort. He punched at the man only to receive the full force of a right hook from the woman. He took another punch in the side which took all the strength from him, and down he went like a sack of vegetables.
Naro curled up, protecting himself as best as he could. But they didn't let up, and he saw a glimpse of Ladrek getting to his feet.
"For the Republic!" the woman snarled as she drove her foot into Naro's side.
"Traitor!" the man spat. The heel of his boot smashed Naro's head into the tile floor.
"Kriffing Rimmer," he heard Ladrek mutter.
Ladrek kicked him in the ribs. Then again.
"Outer. Rim. Scum!" Ladrek hissed. He gave a kick with each syllable.
Naro coughed, painfully sucking in air. Tears ran from his eyes. He knew at least one of his ribs was broken, and he couldn't think past the pain. He kept himself curled up, protecting what he could.
Ladrek's foot drove into him over and over again.
Naro was now certain they were going to kill him.
"Hey!" a familiar voice shouted. But in his state Naro couldn't discern it.
Everything hurt.
"Get the hell away from him!" another familiar voice roared.
Suddenly there was fighting. Blurs of motion occupied the space above him. The kicking stopped, and Naro could understand just a little bit more.
He watched Emeris slug one of Ladrek's friends in the jaw.
Hawkor was blocking punches from the other friend.
Davek brought Ladrek into a grapple, and the two big men wrestled for control.
I can die here, he suddenly thought. Surrounded by friends. My friends.
Naro screamed with the full force of his lungs and got to his feet. Pain flared across his whole body. He got his arms around Ladrek and pulled, even as Davek was trying to throw him. No skill at all. Just rage and fear.
Ladrek toppled back, and Davek pinned his legs. Naro knelt over him and slammed his fists into Ladrek's face. Ladrek cried out, so Naro did it again. And again.
Over and over.
Rage.
Fear.
Hate.
Someone pulled him away, and Naro struggled, but the voice in his ear was Davek's shouting, "Stop! If you kill him, you'll be expelled!"
His other friends, Emeris and Hawkor, had backed away from their opponents. Ladrek's friends didn't seem interested in pursuing them, and one of them went to check on Ladrek.
Naro felt himself collapsing. Adrenaline had done a lot to keep him going, and now it was leaking away. He wondered idly if he was dying. He'd taken a lot of kicks. If he was internally bleeding…
Davek and Hawkor were carrying him somewhere. He could no longer tell where. Only that they were there, and so was Emeris.
"You were… there… for me…" Naro groaned.
Davek looked him in the eye. "Of course we were."
And then he was out.
I had this chapter done a little bit ago, but this site was broken and I couldn't upload it until now. Thank you to every one who has reviewed the story so far. I appreciate every review.