Ch5 - The Return of Hope
Light Freighter Mist, Hyperspace, 10 BBY
Nico was sparring with Orion in the training room of the Mist when Achilles walked in.
The pair of them sheathed their sabres the moment they saw him, bowing to one another and walking across to the Onderonian Jedi.
"Nico, we're approaching the coordinates that Ahsoka sent us. You were right; it's Felucia."
Nico nodded. "Heartlands of the Confederacy. If Organa wanted something from out here, it's going to be old CIS equipment of some sort."
Achilles shrugged, leaning against the jamb of the door. "She also said that Organa would fill us in with more information when we got there - who do you want me to gather in?"
"The kids are still far too young to get into a fight," Nico reminded him, "get Patroclus and Menelaus, and the three of us will go as well."
Achilles turned to leave, before Nico caught his attention once more.
"Oh, and Djoser?"
The Onderonian turned sharply on the spot, a questioning eyebrow raised.
"Remind the kids not to blow anything up this time?"
The man walked off, chuckling to himself. Now that had been an entertaining conversation.
Felucia System, Thanium Sector, Outer Rim, 10 BBY
"I can tell why you didn't want the mission," Nico told Ahsoka's holographic likeness wryly, and the Togruta folded her arms, rocking her weight onto her back leg. "What's the target?"
"My sources have told me that there's a cache of old Republic weapons along route Zephyr from the assault landing ground towards the old Separatist base," she told Nico, "I know you've got more space than you'd ever need for transporting kit, so the Mist was the ideal choice to run the mission."
"Hey, hey," Nico placated, "There's bad memories across the galaxy for everyone. It just so happens that this one wasn't great for you. There's planets that I don't particularly want to see again either."
"You've been teaching younglings too long," Ahsoka sighed, "you were always perceptive. I didn't think that you could get worse."
"Complaining doesn't mean that we're not talking about this when we get back," Nico warned her, "you can't even expect me to forget - Sa-Dev's going to remember regardless.
The Togruta who operated under the codename of 'Orion' shrugged, merely sitting back when Ahsoka sent him a betrayed look.
"We'll get back to you once we've secured the cache Ahsoka," Nico told his friend, "Catch you later Snips."
"Later, Shadows," Ahsoka replied, "May the Force be with you."
"And may it be with you too."
Felucia, Thanium Sector, Outer Rim, 10 BBY
The team of five left the ship together, moving quickly and taking cover from view as the vessel took off once more. The ship was of little use to them grounded, both in the case of being found, and if they found themselves in a fight.
To Nico, the people who were with him being found wasn't a concern; each of them was either a fully trained Jedi Knight who had passed the trials, or trusted implicitly by their Master to get the job done safely. If any one of them were to be separated from their peers, nothing short of a pair of Inquisitors or more unlikely still, a Sith Lord, would prevent them from returning in one piece.
Once the Mist was out of the Felucian forest and presumably hovering somewhere in the upper atmosphere, the team of five moved off.
They stayed close to one another, making sure to stay off the track as they wound their way through the wreckage of the Republic's assault. Even now, scraps of plastoid armour lay, littered across the surface of the planet, among the burnt-out husks of the AT-TE Tanks and AT-OT Infantry Transports that had been condemned over the nine years since the battle to the rust and moss that ate away at them, leaving them unrecognisable.
"Yellow stripe," Achilles noted, "Your boys?"
"No," Nico replied, crouching down to examine the blackened barrel of an AT-TE. "Star Corps. Aayla Secura's 327th, if I remember correctly."
"Never met her," Achilles remarked.
"You wouldn't have," Nico told him. "She died here, actually. They were here to take a Separatist base and to prevent the Commerce Guild from poisoning the water supply. She was killed by her own troops, and the droids were deactivated when Mustafar fell."
Achilles nodded, and bowed his head briefly.
"This was a battlefield?" Patroclus asked, picking up a discarded droid blaster. It was unusable, of course, but the sight of the weapon alone sent a shiver down Nico's spine.
"Come on," Nico beckoned, setting off down the track once more, grimacing as the Separatist station roomed into view.
"That's meant to be a tunnel into the stores," Orion informed the group, crouching by an old outhouse, "Ahsoka thinks that they're still monitoring this site, even though they've left it. Probably looking out for any Clone Deserters or folks trying to steal from the food caches."
"Then we'll have to be vigilant," Nico surmised. "Menelaus, take the lead, Orion and I will go in with you. Achilles and Patroclus will stand guard at the exit."
The Pau'an unclasped his double-bladed sabre from where it was stashed, slung across his back. A whoosh and a flash of blue light accompanied the engagement of the blade, and the two others accompanying him into the building complex did the same, setting off into the darkness.
ISD Emperor's Fist, Florrum System, Sertar Sector, Outer Rim, 10 BBY
Thalia Grace entered the Bridge of ISD Emperor's Fist in a hurry, and immediately Percy knew that something was going on. His battlegroup, made up of his own I-Class Star Destroyer, a pair of II-Class Star Destroyers and a supporting pair of cruisers had been deployed to monitor Pirate activity in the Sertar sector, and to provide rapid support to other, smaller Sector Fleets throughout The Slice.
The deployment had been a quiet one thus far, with Stormtrooper Platoons being dispatched from the Star Destroyers to the various planets in the nearby area, aiding their governments with various different tasks that were ongoing at the time.
A secondary duty had been a more security-based one, monitoring growing Zygerrian activity in the Sector. Luke Castellan's Dark Tide had been sent out on multiple occasions to provide a show of Imperial Force in the eyes of the Slavers, and to dissuade them from taking any meaningful action.
Three Slave Shuttles had been captured in this time, with Castellan's Pilots earning several lower level awards for gallantry. Indeed, both of the Captains deployed alongside him, Castellan and Nakamura, were due promotions in the not-too distant future. The Mandalorian's suspicion was that they would come in the next round of changes at the top level, when he was expected to leave the 5th Fleet, having spent the past nine years at its helm, and the one before that with its Republican Predecessor.
"Lieutenant Commander Grace, how can I help you?" he asked the pilot, promoted to her new station a few weeks ago.
"We've got reports of smugglers on Felucia," she informed him, "We believe they're targeting the weapons cache inside the old Separatist Base there. Local authorities sent out a message for aid, we've got the closest rapid response team."
"Send out a team of Probe Droids," he told her, "By the time they send intel back, we'll have our cruiser ready to move."
"Is it not already?" Thalia wondered aloud, and Percy leaned back in his seat.
"For an airborne threat, yes," he explained. "We want to capture them on the ground, though. We need Stormtroopers, and the landing craft that'll take them down. Once the Probes get data back, our troops will have the full image of what's going on."
"Roger that, Sir," Thalia nodded, and left the Bridge.
Separatist Weapons Cache, Felucia, Thanium Sector, Outer Rim, 10 BBY
The three sent in to retrieve the weapons from within the base emerged slowly, the repulsors on the bottom of the mammoth crates helping in some small way to transport them, though they weren't getting anywhere in a hurry.
A quick glance around told Nico that nothing had changed drastically, with Achilles and Patroclus chatting to one another in hushed tones, Master and Apprentice both at ease.
They were far from vulnerable, of course, as Nico could feel them reaching out in the Force, searching for any threats as they relaxed.
In fact, it almost seemed that they had found something just as the three carrying their newly stolen weapons had emerged from the caverns. Two sabres were drawn, fast as light, and with a whoosh, an Imperial Probe Droid was dragged from the treeline and sliced in half.
Nico sprung into action.
"Probe droids," he informed the confused Orion behind him, "The Empire won't be far behind."
"Master!" Called the voice of young Atalanta. The Twi'lek was currently in the copilot's seat, and by the sounds of it, more than a little stressed. "Imperial Cruiser's just come out of Hyperspace; Shuttle with troopers aboard going down towards you!"
"Iyneda, listen to me" Nico instructed calmly, "I want you to meet us at the coordinates that Sa-Dev sends you, alright? Tell Karn not to land, and to divert power from the guns to the shields. We'll meet you there in ten minutes. Do you understand?"
"But, Master…" the young girl stuttered.
"Atalanta, do you understand me?"
"Y-yes, Master."
"Good."
Nico turned to the assembled Jedi around him, and explained the situation that Atalanta had given him. "Remember," he added, "They're shooting to kill. Protect yourself first and foremost; there's no point in us losing two people just because one of us decided to be a hero."
His companions nodded, and together, they took off.
ISD Emperor's Fist, Florrum System, Sertar Sector, Outer Rim, 10 BBY
"Sir, first transport making ground now," said the Lieutenant at the helm of the deployed Arquitens-Class Cruiser, Astraeus. "Heat seeking searches have tracked the insurgents to the forests, and they appear to be attempting a rendezvous with an unmarked Corellian XS Stock Freighter."
"Deploy TIE Assets to drive them to ground," Percy advised, "Be wary of the suspected Jedi; Inquisitors are being dispatched to the system and should be with you within the hour."
"Understood, Admiral," the Lieutenant replied, "They shall not be required; my troopers will have the Jedi dogs dead and paraded on the streets of Coruscant in half that time."
Percy shook his head at the man's bravado and turned to Thalia on his right.
"You sure you still want that Fighter Squadron?" he joked to the young Coruscanti Noble, "There might be a spare cruiser going by the end of today, the way this idiot's playing it."
Thalia chuckled, but shook her head.
"Have it your way," The Mandalorian Admiral grumbled. "Start preparing your pilots for flight. If we're called in, you're first out."
Thalia shot him a smile and left the bridge.
She hadn't been gone for five minutes when the alarms aboard the Fist started blaring, the lights of the hallways of the gargantuan Star Destroyer flashing red three times.
Battle Stations, Jumping to Hyperspace.
Evidently the Astraeus had run into trouble.
She wasn't sure, of course; their enemy was confined to one single ship, with significantly weaker armament than any Imperial Vessel would ever use, and no fighter support to speak of.
Either they were confronted with an incredibly good pilot, or led by a fool.
Thalia was willing to bet good money on the latter.
A buzz from her communicator had her pausing at the base of the ladder to her cockpit.
"Cruiser has hit enemy contact," Percy told her sharply, "Prepare to deploy into a fight upon exit from Hyperspace."
"Roger," Thalia replied, ascending the stairs and taking her seat in her cockpit.
ISD Emperor's Fist, Felucia System, Thanium Sector, Outer Rim, 10 BBY
Percy watched as the ship emerged from Hyperspace, and immediately an ensign flicked a series of switches that opened up the hangar bays for TIE Fighter Assets to take off.
"Lightning Squadron, you're cleared to go," Percy informed, and his message was affirmed with the sight of a full squadron of TIEs moving out of the left hand hangar.
His tactics during the Clone Wars had been very much dependent on the elite skill of Clone Pilots in the air, and his ability to rely on them to negate enemy pilots from the fight, even make their own moves on the enemy's Capital Ships.
The new Imperial Navy, however, had none of those doctrines embedded within its core, and he had been forced to change. Where he, Jason and Reyna had written much of what provided the foundation of Imperial Doctrine, it had, in all honesty, largely been Reyna's strategies that had found themselves best aligned with Tarkin's foreign policy, and indeed the Emperor's desire for massive shows of force.
The forefront of a battle was to be the Star Destroyer; the biggest, most destructive vessel deployable to the battlespace at a minute's notice.
A fight was to be won by the side who fired more shots, and the side who sent in the biggest vessel.
Percy, for his own part, had taken it as a challenge to reinvent his strategic identity, keeping the underlying spirit of Mandalorian warfare that he used so well, and yet making use of the incredible feats of engineering that he had at his disposal. The Interdictor and Defender projects that he and Thrawn had spent so long together working away at was one small step towards freeing up the brilliance of their own minds to fight battles as they were meant to be fought, instead of the poor state in which they were being fought in the present day.
"Sir, Insurgent freighter attempting a run at our topside!" an officer exclaimed, panicking somewhat.
It was understandable, Percy supposed; it was the first time that the Fist had come under any form of attack, no matter how insignificant their opponent.
"Engage portside tractor beam and open fire from all topside light weaponry," Percy instructed his fire control officer, who nodded and relayed the message to his gunners.
The insurgent craft fired, unleashing an impressive battery from a range of evidently retrofitted weaponry. Thick puffs of black smoke formed as the turbolaser bolts struck the Fist's shields, and the mighty vessel itself shook slightly at the thunderous impact from close range.
When the counterbatteries opened up, however, Percy couldn't keep the smile off his face. Jedi or not, he knew that any pilot's first instinct would be to move off the line of fire, and this particular pilot had done it in spectacular fashion.
As both sets of topside batteries fired upon their retreating backs, however, the insurgent craft turned sharply for the surface, leaving behind it the smoking yet intact Cruiser Astraeus and the unharmed but seething Star Destroyer, Emperor's Fist.
"Fist, this is Grace, requesting permission to pursue," Thalia asked, her TIE Advanced still within the protective range of the Fist's light weapons.
"Pursue," Percy confirmed, "Aim to force them to ground; Inquisitors on the ground aiming to capture. Acknowledge last."
"Acknowledged, Fist," Thalia confirmed.
Felucia, Thanium Sector, Outer Rim, 10 BBY
"Master, we'll hold them off!" Achilles exclaimed, peeling off the track, his padawan copying his actions as the pair drew their sabres. The other three continued sprinting, the clearing in the forest that marked their destination a few hundred metres away, and with the Mist hurtling into view.
The obstacle, however, was the platoon of Stormtroopers moving to cut them off from their right hand side, while a second pursued from the rear.
Already, the team of Jedi had confronted and dealt with one platoon, though the force that remained was far from broken.
Still, the white plastoid armour of Imperial soldiers poured out of the trees, the Felucian Jungles erupting in noise around them as the three Jedi moving gargantuan crates of munitions strained at the sinew to escape their pursuers.
Their problems, however, were only about to get worse.
As the pair of Master and Padawan drew their sabres to make a stand, the sound was mirrored by two more.
Nico swore.
"Troopers, leave us," spoke the sibilant voice of a Pau'an, "My comrades and I shall deal with these puny excuses for Jedi."
And suddenly, Nico found himself unable to intervene in a fight that one of his Jedi was not equipped to fight.
"Master?" Orion called, still running ahead of Nico.
"Keep going," he told the Togruta, "Achilles knows what he's doing."
"And Patroclus?"
"Achilles knows what he's doing," Nico reiterated. "Trust him, and we'll get out of here."
On they went, the Mist appearing in view where it hovered, a hundred or so metres away, and Karn Skorr in the pilot's seat was using the forward battery to fire deadly laser bolts over head; not close enough to hurt any of those approaching the Freighter, but certainly enough to put off a pursuing Trooper, as was evidenced by the panicked shouts of the soldiers behind him.
"Bellerophon, come in!" Nico demanded into his communicator, "Come in now!"
"Hearing you Master," Karn Skorr confirmed, "We can see you."
"Stop firing!" Nico demanded, "Achilles and Patroclus are still behind us in the forest!"
"Roger that Master," Skorr replied, "We'll give you cover in a different way, then."
The Jedi broke the treeline just as the Mist's ramp opened, four of the younger Padawan learners aboard the craft appearing in the entranceway, Clone War-Era DC-15 Blaster Rifles in hand and opening up on the troopers, visible in the dense foliage around them as a result of their shining white plastoid armour. TIE Fighters soared overhead, making strafing runs at close range upon the freighter, and without the power diverted to shields at the expense of the ship's weapons systems, the Jedi ship would likely have been left stranded there.
Three troopers hit the ground in quick succession to stunners before the first weapons crate was even close enough to be loaded on, and Nico saw to it that the task wasn't a lengthy one with an almost desperate shove in the force, hurling the Pau'an Knight Menelaus into the storage hold with his crate not far behind him.
Orion took the hint, moving his own crate into the hold as Nico turned to cover him, drawing his sabre.
"Sa-Dev, don't wait for me," Nico instructed his companion, "That's an order."
"But, Master…"
"An order, Sa-Dev!"
The Togruta shut his mouth, and the ramp closed.
Releasing a breath, Nico steeled his nerves, and charged.
Somewhere deep within his mind, something ignited.
The white armour; the misty haze that was rolling in from the fires burning in the distance; the distant tug of one of his students on the brink of life and death; the darkness.
He tapped into a form which he had not accessed since the day that the order had fallen.
ISD Emperor's Fist, Felucia System, Thanium Sector, Outer Rim, 10 BBY
"Sir, one Jedi insurgent dead," the Stormtrooper Captain on the ground informed Percy, "We're starting to take losses to their reinforcements, though. Both inquisitors missing or dead."
"More Jedi?" Percy wondered aloud, what force exactly had they run into; a full fledged remnant of the order? Surely not.
"Cannot confirm, Sir, we were engaged from range with stunning blaster fire."
"Weapons systems?"
"Old Republic gear, Sir," the Captain replied. "DC variants."
"Assume them to be mercenaries of some sort," Percy concluded. "How many have drawn sabres? We can't positively ID them as Jedi if we haven't seen lightsabers."
"Two confirmed, Sir," the Captain said with some degree of conviction, "Sir, wait out a second here, we're hearing about a counterattack."
The communication cut out.
Percy swore. "Get me heat seeking on that shuttle now!" he ordered, and immediately two officers moved off to get it done.
What he saw left him without a doubt that the number of Jedi in this insurgent cell was certainly more than two, or indeed, now, taking into account the one that they had reportedly killed.
One figure was moving at speed through the Imperial forward operating base, a concentrated heat source which could only be a lightsaber whirling around themself as they cut a path for a comrade trailing behind, bearing a warm object in their arms.
They were attempting to get their dead out.
"Captain, get your troops out of there, there's nothing you can do to stop them," he ordered.
"Roger that Admiral," the captain replied.
"TIEs take control," Percy instructed, "You have clearance to down the stolen shuttle and any other aircraft they deploy to resist us."
"Roger that," Thalia replied, "You'll have to give us a second; they've deployed two times Jedi Interceptors."
"Isolate them," Percy told her immediately, "They need hyperspace rings to escape; they'll need the Freighter to get them out. Acknowledge."
"Acknowledged, Fist. Grace out."
The Mandalorian switched his attentions to the ongoing aerial battle, now, switching from heat seeking to more conventional scanners that were capable of detecting ships' signatures.
Thalia's squadron were obvious; eight TIE fighters including her own Interceptor hunting the enemy in pairs and zipping in and out of the Freighter's arcs of fire.
The Jedi Aethersprite Interceptors, for their own part, were clearly piloted by individuals with quite some skill in the air; an interceptor such as that one was rarely piloted by a fool, by virtue of the fact that the craft relied on immaculate reflexes and incredible training, or, indeed, the anticipation of one with the foresight of the force, to maintain the speeds that it did.
The last ship in the fight was perhaps the most vulnerable. After all, the Lambda-Class shuttle was far from the most agile ship, and it certainly wasn't meant to be used for evasion tactics.
Then again, there was a Jedi at the controls.
The group of four ships formed up, the Interceptors holding the flanks while the stolen shuttle took the lead. Together, they began to accelerate, moving with a rather obvious target; a Hyperspace Jump vector.
"They have comms," Percy observed, "Jam them. Prepare to engage Tractor Beam."
The Electronic Warfare controller immediately set to work, sending a set of commands across to his team, sat somewhere deeper within the Star Destroyer. Where, Percy cared not. "Comms jammed, Sir," the controller reported back, and Percy nodded.
"Tractor beam coming online, Admiral," another officer informed the bridge at large, "Interceptor squadron on standby."
"Deploy them," Percy instructed, "Shoot to kill."
The insurgent group, however, did not slow down at the arrival of new fighters to the battle.
"They're preparing to jump, Sir!" one man observed.
"Impossible," Percy countered, "Kuat didn't put a hyperdrive into the Delta-7. Prepare to take out what's left."
His words, however, were rendered useless when the entire group of four fighters jumped to light speed.
"Get me Anaxes," Percy instructed, "Now."
Light Freighter Mist, Hyperspace, 10 BBY
"We lost Patroclus," Nico told Ahsoka darkly. "I shouldn't have let him go."
"You're not the first Jedi to lose a student, Nico," Ahsoka told him gently. "You won't be the last, either."
"As though that should make it any easier, Ahsoka," the Umbaran shot back.
"Master Yoda would say that Patroclus is one with the Cosmic Force once more."
"And Master Kenobi would tell me that his death wasn't my fault and that his life should be remembered. What's your point?" Nico cut back irritably.
"I'll meet you guys at your base in a few days, and we're going to talk, Nico," Ahsoka asserted. "Firstly about the responsibility you feel to a kid that you never even trained."
"He called me Master, snips," he muttered."
"How many people have you called Master, Nico?" Ahsoka asked him, "And how many would you expect to feel this level of concern for your wellbeing? Would you even expect Anakin to have felt that level of concern for you?"
"I… I don't know," Nico admitted."
"Then meditate over it, Nico," she told him. "I may not be much of a Jedi, but even I can see when a friend starts toeing the line of the code."
Nico nodded. "See you soon, Ahsoka."
He cut off the call.
Imperial Naval Admiralty, Coruscant, Galactic Core, 10 BBY
"Hey Rey," Percy greeted as his wife strode into his office. The pair of them had found themselves on Coruscant at the same time for the first time in a good while, and it was for a significant event.
After nine years, the Emperor and his most senior advisers had deemed the chain of command of the Empire to be stable.
This was good, of course, but it also marked the point where a great number of the most senior members of that chain of command had reached the age where they were considering leaving the service.
Indeed, a fair few had already stopped taking active duty missions, preferring to pass those duties on to their younger Captains, taking more strategically oriented roles back at their fleet stations than they did missions into the field.
They were the next generation of politicians and ambassadors; Zeus, Athena, Hephaestus, Ares and their ilk. Indeed, a few of their cadre; veterans of the Stark Hyperspace War and then the Clone War that succeeded it, had turned away from the uniform of the empire, instead taking up local governing roles on their home planets.
When the change happened, there would be roles to fill, and High Command had set this year as the one where the entirety of the Imperial Military turned itself on its head, with promotions to take place en-masse, and the cycle to repeat itself every three years.
It was a groundbreaking event, and the first in Percy's seventeen years wearing the uniform of the Republic, and then the Empire.
Reyna broke him out of his musings by collapsing into the sofa across the room from his desk, stretching herself out and kicking off her boots.
Percy released an amused huff, setting aside the paperwork that he had been working through and rolled his chair back, propping his booted feet on the desk in front of him.
"So, Governor, what brings you to this carefully scheduled meeting?"
"Got bored," Reyna deadpanned, a small smirk on her face. "Decided that you couldn't possibly be doing anything particularly important two weeks before your job changes, so I came here to bother you."
"Consider me bothered," Percy told her with a smile. "Believe me, as much as I'd love to shove this on whoever takes on the Fifth after me, I'm still held accountable for seven I-Class Star Destroyers, and double that of II-Classes."
"You have a second in command," Reyna pointed out, "And those aren't getting moved, meaning that you should really be dumping paperwork on them, whoever they are."
Percy sighed, and Reyna smirked, knowing she had won.
"You lost a fight," the Governor of Corulag remarked, "That doesn't happen often."
"Not much of a fight when the enemy doesn't want to be there," he replied, "They just run away and we're left chasing shadows."
"Sounds like you know what the problem is," Reyna noted.
"The existence of a hyperdrive?" Percy scoffed, "I know the Empire has power, Rey, but we can't exactly ban the use of Hyperdrives. That's literally a breach of people's rights."
"You're being stubborn because you don't want to look at the facts," his wife chastised, "restart the Interdictor program."
"You know how many toes that treads on?" Percy asked her, though he knew that the defence was a futile one. Reyna did too, and the look that she gave him had him sending off messages to the relevant people.
In the meantime, he also had a Chiss Admiral to speak to.
"Thrawn's not going to be happy," Percy told the Anaxes-born woman, "The Defender was going to be the single best air superiority and interceptor in the Navy, since that X-Wing deal with Incom collapsed."
"And you can get on with that project once you're actually able to fight the enemy that's taking up arms against you," Reyna told him. "If you want to appease Thrawn, just offer him a wargame against some of the guys from back home."
Percy scoffed, but inclined his head towards her. "Simple but effective cyar'ika," he remarked. "You're on my team, though."
Reyna laughed and left the office.
Imperial Naval Admiralty, Coruscant, Galactic Core, 10 BBY
"I've got bad news for your Defender project, Thrawn," Percy told the Chiss man, who nodded as though this was to be expected, leaning against the wall behind him.
"I must admit, Perseus, that it was to be expected."
Percy nodded grimly. "Nobody that we face is going to stand and fight us; we need a way to ensure that they do, not more excuses for them to keep running."
"And how do you plan on using these… creations?" Thrawn wondered aloud, and Percy gave him a small smile.
"I've had an idea or two of my own," the Mandalorian admitted. "It's hardly a solo vessel with its lack of shielding and weaponry."
"Agreed," Thrawn said immediately, though he gestured for Percy to carry on.
"So, it either becomes the centrepiece of a task force of smaller vessels; Gozantis, Arquitens, Quasars-"
"-or it becomes a fringe piece to a force of titans," The Chiss concluded, and Percy nodded. "You have a prototype?"
"I will do in a year," Percy told his friend and companion. "If it's wargaming you're after, the guys on Kuat have already built up a few scenarios that we can mess around with."
"I think, Perseus, that we will have to do just that. Though, while we may not have the eccentric minds of the insurgent pilots, I wonder if we could involve some of your more - oh, how do I put this - vaunted comrades?"
"You know, Thrawn, you can just ask if we can get Jason and Rey involved?"
The Admiral floundered for a moment, before shaking his head. Percy chuckled. Some people really were too easy to please.
"I'll ask Triton and Father if they'd like to get involved too," he informed the Chiss, "The Manda alone know how much the pair of them have helped with the Interdictor's design."
Thrawn smiled.
Garel, Lothal Sector, Outer Rim, 9 BBY
Nico turned the corner, ignoring the street vendors as they attempted to sell him their various wares. He had been sent a tip-off by a source regarding one of the biggest instances in the Galaxy, so far as the Jedi were concerned.
Word was that Obi Wan Kenobi was alive.
Even more significant than that, he was on a mission crucial to the Jedi Order's continued survival.
As such, Nico had sent his charges across the galaxy, looking for information.
If Kenobi was truly alive, then this was significant. Of course, the Empire had played its fair share of tricks, first with the corpse of Master Luminara Unduli, and then again with the idea of Master Quinlan Voss' survival.
As much as Nico had attempted to put word out that neither was a possibility for those looking to see the Order restored, he knew that many Jedi had fallen victim to these ploys.
"Orpheus seeks the location of the Pilot," he told a Rodian man who happened to be stood in a nearby corner. He didn't know quite why he felt that this particular individual was the right one, but he posed the question anyway.
The Rodian nodded, jabbing a thumb over his shoulder to indicate the door behind him.
Nico nodded, and entered.
The sight he found within the hidden away launchpad was a surprising one, but time and experience had told him that he couldn't judge a book by its cover.
"Put your blasters down, Hera Syndulla," he instructed calmly, "I do not come here to harm you."
"That's what someone here trying to harm me would say," the Twi'lek deadpanned, "Give me a reason not to blow your brains out."
"I fought on Ryloth," he told her, "fought alongside the 212th at Nabat, and flew for the 38th Task Force over the great deserts of Ryloth."
"You are no clone," the young woman noted, a hint of accusation in her tone. "Perseus Jackson is taller, Mace Windu dead and Obi Wan Kenobi running from the Empire's agents with the Hidden Path."
"Correct, to my knowledge," Nico told her.
"Then you are the Umbaran. Niccolò di Angelo."
"Names have power, Miss Syndulla" he told her. "Orpheus is a far better name to utilise outside of pleasant company."
"You're Nico di Angelo?" A voice demanded from Nico's right. The Umbaran didn't bother turning; a force wielder such as this one was difficult to miss, especially when one had spent so long meditating over the mysteries of the galaxy.
"And you are Caleb Dume," Nico remarked. "A remarkable warrior, if a little front-footed."
"I… don't use that name anymore," the former Jedi Padawan told the Master. "Not since the Order fell."
"If you seek to retake your status within the order, Dume, then you need only ask," he told the man. "We may not have the grandeur or the ceremony of what we lost in the great purge, but there is still an order, if you look in the right places."
Kanan sent Hera a look.
"No, Master, unfortunately not. I left that life behind some time ago."
Nico nodded.
"Your work as smugglers and thieves has caught attention among those who are wise enough to look. The network known as Fulcrum seeks to hold you as an informant and a partner."
"And what is the purpose of this network?" Hera questioned.
"The downfall of the Empire, and the restoration of the Republic," Nico answered.
Hera nodded.
"By the light of Lothal's Moons, Agent Hera Syndulla," Nico told her, "By the light of Lothal's Moons. Forget that we ever met, and may the Force be with you."
"May the Force be with you, Agent Orpheus," the pair of them echoed.
Imperial Naval Admiralty, Coruscant, Galactic Core, 10 BBY
The last time that Percy had seen the entirety of the Admiralty assembled like this had been the day that the foundation of the Empire had been announced.
That the Governors of all Imperial-Controlled worlds were present here as well simply added to the scale of the occasion.
There would be very little speech today; not with the thousands present in this room. Names would be read out, ranks assigned and roles handed out.
The process would be a long one, but Percy recognised why it was necessary, to an extent.
The surprise, however, was his posting.
No longer did he hold a warfleet of ships. That was not to say that he was no longer within the Imperial Military, of course; instead, he had been given a role that would most certainly get the chance to see through some of the more ambitious projects being undertaken by the Empire, from Interdictor through to Defender.
His posting was at Sundari, the Capital of Mandalore.
With it came one of the biggest academies of the entire Empire, as well as a gargantuan defensive fleet.
All that he would retain from his posting on Anaxes was his own Battleship, the Emperor's Fist.
There was a lot changing in the galaxy around him, and this was but one small part of it.
Royal Palace of Alderaan, Core Worlds, 9 BBY
"Perseus, Reyna, I'm so glad that you came," Organa said, smiling at the pair of Mandalorians, armed and armoured in the manner of their clan. "It is certainly a pleasant surprise that it was the two of you that Poseidon sent; I was expecting Delphin at most, not any of the Tritonis Family themselves."
"We heard that Leia had gone missing," Reyna answered by way of explanation, "Thought it was worth saying hi to the little one, and it wouldn't hurt to get a favourable deal for my father either."
Organa laughed heartily, shaking each of their hands and leading them to his conference room.
"Tell me one thing, Perseus," Organa asked.
Percy inclined his head.
"Do you wish to see the Republic reinstated?"
Percy's eyes widened.
"Speak freely, old friend; the Empire cannot reach us here."
Still, the Mandalorian sent a glance towards his wife. Reyna sent him an imperceptible nod.
"I… I have no quarrel with the concept of centralised authority, Bail," he reasoned slowly. "The staff at the top of the empire, however, are not fit for governance."
"Well reasoned, Perseus," Bail praised, "I will not push you into anything at this moment in time, but I would certainly ask the pair of you to do what you can to lay the foundations of the coup that is to come."
"What makes you believe that you can succeed, Senator?" Reyna asked, and Organa nodded thoughtfully.
"There is a spark, Lady Tritonis," Organa told her. "A spark that has existed since the fall of the Republic. The reason that my daughter is safe, and the reason that I know for sure that the Galaxy will be returned to order once more."
"What, Bail?" Percy pressed.
"Give me your word, both of you, that what I reveal to you goes no further than this room," Bail asserted, "It is of critical importance."
The Mandalorians nodded.
"Then come outside; I believe Leia and my Wife are with him now. They have much to discuss, of course, after their little misadventure together."
The group of three walked out of the hall, stepping onto one of the many sky bridges that linked the upper tiers of Alderaan's buildings. At the end was a landing pad, on which a group of three were in conversation against the backdrop of the glorious mountains of the Core Planet.
Two were instantly recognisable; Leia, from her diminutive form and Breha, immaculately dressed as always.
The third, however, had the pair of Mandalorians rooted to the spot.
Obi Wan Kenobi looked up from the little girl to whom he was talking, and she noticed immediately, poking him in the arm impatiently to regain his attention.
"One moment, Leia," he told the girl, "I believe that your father has some people for me to meet."
Behind Bail were two Mandalorian warriors, bedecked in the colours of one of the old Death Watch clans. Whether it was Wren or Tritonis he could not quite tell.
Every instinct in his body told him to draw his sabre, to fight them and protect the progeny of Anakin Skywalker from those who sought to do away with the Jedi.
"Mister Percy! Miss Rey!" Leia exclaimed, darting away from the Jedi Master and towards the new pair.
Kenobi didn't know whether to laugh or run.
The choice, of course, was rendered useless when the pair of them removed their helmets.
"You've changed, General."
A/N
So, big old time jump, but a necessary one. The death of Patroclus was a bit of a spontaneous one, and it's going to come back.
In the meantime, we get to see some of the more fun stuff that's going on in the galaxy, from huge change in the military, and the first whisperings of a Rebellion.
Not sure what else to say, except thanks to Dudududhehe for his help with this chapter, check out his work if you haven't already, good shit going on there.
Until next time, then,
Sol
(I don't own PJO, Star Wars or any related media)