Chapter 102
Our eyes opened together.
I was standing over him as he laid on the stone bed in the central Nightsister auditorium. As I watched, the veins of ichor in it flashed, the substance retreating and the channels it had used returned to ordinary contoured stone.
Savage's eyes now were the distinctive yellow of Dark Side corruption, the inflamed tiny red veins surrounding his cornea were pretty severe and intimidating. I retreated my senses completely and looked at him anew. Trying to see him as if I was looking at a new artwork. It was very good work that Talzin had done and it renewed my own resolve to one day come and study the ichor on Dathomir in person.
He was now just over two meters tall and considerable muscle had been generated for him. This improvement extended even to his internal organs, which naturally had to be improved to keep up with the greater demands placed on it. Talzin might as well have made Savage a Space Marine-lite with what I was sensing of his internal physiology. The ichor imbuement had also amplified his strength in the Force as well, but Talzin had been very careful to not ramp it to ridiculous levels.
She could have created an utter monster in Savage or any other nightsister or brother, but she had enough wisdom to never do so.
I took a step back and the ichor that had been hovering around my legs retreated back to the nearby pool.
Asajj and the six other sisters who had been conducting the entire process lowered their arms and were clearly very tired. Talzin didn't even look phased at what she had just done.
I personally just wanted to disconnect from this bloody proxy and sleep for a week in the sanctity of my own head for once.
"Rise, Savage," Talzin said.
He obeyed, sitting up and looked around at the sisters and me with consideration, throwing blunt and clumsy probes in the Force at us.
I smirked and easily slapped them away. He could do so much better, but I had trained my new spy with all of my own levels of paranoia.
He threw his legs over the side of the stone bed and immediately rose to his new height with no complications whatsoever. I had carefully forced Savage's internal perception of himself in our mind link to slowly conform to what was being done in the real world. There would be no need for acclimatization or training to get used to his improved body. Not enough time for that.
Talzin gestured to the pool of ichor and I felt the matter being rearranged inside it.
Rising out of it was a tall halberd-like weapon that didn't have a pike, but featured two curved blades on either side of the head.
Just sensing that thing was an unpleasant experience. It didn't have the cutting power of a proper lightsaber, but it came very close. It was almost a mono-molecular blade and was radiating something very nasty. Getting a mere papercut from this thing was not advisable.
The weapon floated over to Savage who grabbed it immediately.
"You cannot be presented to do Dooku unarmed, so we gift you this blade imbued with our most potent powers," Talzin said. "He will at some point guide you through the process of building your own lightsaber. When that happens this blade will serve another purpose, merely hold it and your thoughts will reach me no matter where you are in this galaxy. Anyone else touching this blade, will die horribly."
"Understood, mother."
"Dooku will be arriving in twenty hours, Savage," I informed him after looking at my HUD. "Spend your last free time wisely."
He planted his weapon onto the floor, "I will, master."
I shook my head, "You really shouldn't call me that anymore. I was your teacher in the mind link and I learned a lot in that process."
"I understand, but it is what you are and will always be. I might pretend otherwise from here on, but it is a core truth that will always stay with me, a fact I will protect to the death."
I walked up to him and held out my right arm.
We grabbed each other's forearms. His hand phased through the holosheathe and found only metal, but through the Force the sentiment was carried properly.
"Know that your greatest trial is now beginning, Savage. The ichor might insulate you from the corruption of the Dark Side, but Dooku's training will be difficult. Hold to the Book of Law and my own training and you will see yourself victorious."
"Yes, master. Thank you," he said with a nod.
We let go of each other and I stepped back, giving Talzin and Asajj a last nod. "Goodbye and thank you. May the Force be with us all."
My eyes closed and I plunged backward through the Force, leaving the proxy droid and Dathomir behind.
"Sorry about this, master."
Anakin, seated next to my bed in the small quarters I had appropriated aboard the VCX-88 stealth ship, shook his head and brought up the spoon to feed me. "Don't be sorry, learn from it. And what did we learn?"
I chewed and swallowed, "Don't do ichor related Force rituals and a two year relative mind link on the other end of experimental technology. It could have annoying and dangerous consequences, like extreme body dysphasia."
"Correct," he glared at me. "Even your autonomic systems were having trouble, any more and your subconscious wouldn't even be able to pump your own heart!"
"Aren't you glad Skyguy that you learned some healing from me?"
"I'm ecstatic," he deadpanned, shoving more food into my mouth.
I giggled as I chewed, "You can relax, master. I just need food, a proper sleep cycle, then I can enter a healing meditation. Full day of recovery at worst. This price to pay is very small compared to the benefit it will bring."
"It's hard to imagine Savage being any benefit to us," he shook his head. "When Dooku has finished training him, what do you think is the first task he's going to get?"
"He'll be sent south-"
Anakin patted my lips with the spoon, making me wish I could lift my hands at the moment to slap him. "No, I'm not asking for specific prescience. I'm talking in general. He's going to be used against the Jedi, Snips."
"Of course," I could only barely nod my head. "Dooku will order him to do what Asajj did. He'll fight against the GAR, he'll lead the CIS in the field. He won't command fleets, that is not his strength, they'll assign a tac droid or senior commander to work alongside him. If Dooku tells him to kill a Jedi… then Savage will do it."
"And that's fine with you?!" Anakin burst out, nearly spilling the bowl of food from his lap.
"Naturally it's not, master," I glared pointedly at him. "But he is now a deep cover spy and has to maintain that cover for the greater goal. If not Savage, then it would be someone else. Sidious set in motion these events, I have to twist the various probability lines to slowly turn against him. The blood of the Jedi that Savage kill under Dooku's orders are on Dooku's hands and by extension Sidious'."
Anakin stirred the bowl listlessly, I could feel him hating the fact that I was right on this. As a foolish wise man once said, the whole situation was bent over, cheeks spread wide. At least this way Fulcrum would finally be in the heart of Dooku's operation, which by extension would put it a step away from Sidious.
Utilizing Savage's intelligence would have to be done very carefully. I didn't doubt that there would be times when we wouldn't be able to act on it at all, simply because it would reveal the obvious presence of a traitor to the enemy.
"This big picture nerfshit," he scoffed in frustration, feeding me another piece of pre-cut meat.
"Any updates on our situation here?" I asked after swallowing.
"Nothing changed, we're a few hours away from Celanon. The Helios should arrive just behind Dooku as he drops out of hyper. I've been meaning to ask, why did you choose that name for the ship? It sounds like the name you'd give to a droid."
I smiled knowingly at him, "A long time ago, in another lifetime, an ancient culture chose that name as the god of the local star. Most often he was depicted as driving a chariot pulled by equinoids through the sky and wearing a radiant crown of light."
"Snips, you chose to name a stealth ship after a god who embodies light?"
"The name would be associated with many things over many millennia by the successor cultures, even when worship of that god had long faded into obscurity. In this case, it's mostly the flying chariot bit that caused the name to be associated with space travel. It's also our mastery of light and the rest of the spectrum that allows us to become invisible. So looking at it from that point of view, it's quite a fitting name."
"Interesting," he frowned. Scraping the last bits of meat together, he delivered it into my mouth.
His comlink chirped for attention as I was chewing.
"Yes, M8?"
"Jedi Skywalker, incoming transmission from the Jedi Council."
"I'll take it down here." He put down the empty bowl and focused his comlink to only show his own head and nothing of the environment.
The miniaturized full body holo of Mace Windu appeared on his arm.
"Master Windu," he greeted.
"Knight Skywalker, apologies for getting back to you so late. The Separatists have launched fresh offensives across practically every battlespace in the last few days. The Council has reviewed your report, while it's unfortunate you were not successful in Dooku's capture, we consider it a job well done in just surviving. He's clearly been delving deeper into the Dark Side than we imagined. Are you still in pursuit?"
"Yes, master."
"As much as I wish otherwise, we're going to have to recall you. The Council agrees that this renewed Separatist offensive is just a cover to draw as much attention as possible, to pull our attention and spread ourselves too thin."
"Leaving the door open for their true goal," Anakin nodded in agreement.
"That is why we want you both to rejoin the Resolute, a task group is being created with the purpose of being a ready reserve to counter any surprise move when it appears."
"Understood master, we'll set a rendezvous course immediately."
"Good, Force be with you."
The connection cut.
He immediately brought up a holo star chart and started plotting intercept courses with the Resolute's current position.
"Got it," he dismissed the holo before I could get a good look.
"Skyguy," I complained.
"You get sleep and focus on healing, I'll handle the rest. I have a feeling you need to be at your best for what's coming."
I sighed wearily… he had a point. "Yes, master."
It would take a further five days of travel to meet up with the Resolute in the Lantilles system.
It sat on a crossroad on the Perlimian Trade Route and the Randon Run, acting as a handy bridge for those on the Lesse Lantiillian Route, giving ships a handy route up the eastern sectors of the galaxy. It was home to the headquarters of the GAR's 12th Army and the Lantillian Shipwrights - who were owners of the local shipyards that mostly built civilian vessels.
Resolute had already arrived there three days ago and used the time to get itself fully restocked and repaired from the Umbaran campaign.
We landed the Helios in Hangar Bay 2 with no pomp or ceremony, whereupon he quickly received his own lightsaber back from the proxy droid that was obediently waiting to deliver it.
Also waiting was Admiral Yularen and Chewie.
"Welcome back to the both of you," Yularen said professionally, though I could feel the slight warmth and relief in his tone.
"Thank you, Admiral, good to be back," Anakin said as they traded salutes. "Chewie."
The big wookiee greeted me with relief and a rather unprofessional hug that nearly lifted me off my feet.
"I'm okay, Chewie, I'm fine," I reassured, patting him on the shoulder.
"Your smell tells me you were not fine," he rumbled in Shyriiwook.
"True, I was on my back for a day to two, but all's fine now."
He gave me a considerate flinty stare before letting me back on my feet.
"General Skywalker, there's been a development," Yularen began in a tone that did not bode well. "Intelligence has lost track of a substantial number of Separatist ships in the last few days."
"How is that possible? Did the scouts make a mistake?"
Both sides now used cloaked scouts to keep tabs on the major known fleets and movements of certain ships. Not to mention actively monitoring critical systems at all times. Hyperspace navigation meant that you could have reasonable coverage, but the vastness of space still meant it was possible to hide and there were only so many cloaked ships and trained crews for them. So you had to prioritize.
"That is a possibility, there are a number of competing theories of what is going on. Nothing definite yet."
Anakin pursed his lips, "Very well, how far out are the other ships of our task force?"
"The first of them should start arriving by 0800 tomorrow."
"All right, I want to begin battle drills and simulation for the Resolute tomorrow as well. We'll begin incorporating fleet exercises as well as more ships of the task force arrive."
"Yes, general."
A very tiring two days followed, filled with simulation, procedures, checklists and drills. As such it was a relief to finally be back in my quarters aboard Resolute again. My counter-intel procedures for the bug inside it was still working, no others had been placed.
It was as I was getting out of the refresher in the evening that one of my encrypted datapads started signaling for attention.
I wrapped a towel around myself before sitting down in front of my desk with a weary huff and began unlocking the datapad.
The holo of a familiar bloodthirsty droid resolved itself.
"HK, report." I said without a preamble.
"Statement: My target has been terminated, master."
At his words I dove down the probability lines and smirked at how the kaleidoscope had changed. Sora Bulq was indeed dead and with it went someone would've gone on to train many future dark acolytes in Vaapad and prevented hundreds more from death, especially one crucial person for the general political landscape of the galaxy. "How was it achieved?"
"Explanation: A regrettable accident, master. The meatbag was experimenting with a number of Dark Side techniques, taught to him by Dooku. Alas, during one such training session, he had finally gotten around to replacing his lightsaber crystal with a red one. An artificial kyber crystal that he had corrupted with the Dark Side. At first activation it unfortunately couldn't handle the power from the diatum cell and it exploded in his hand."
Knowing how much power the lightsaber power cell could hold, well, it certainly wasn't a surprise that Bulq had died from that. Especially if he first activated it in a typical starting stance that I remembered him using all the time during his classes.
"Is there enough of him left for an identification at least?"
"Answer: Of course, master. Smug Statement: I'm not an amateur. Explanation: I managed to sabotage his lightsaber using nanodroids of my own design, master. They created small flaws over time that led to a number of problems. Enough that his difficulty with the redesign of his lightsaber became a known issue. It even got to the point that he managed to swallow his pride and contact Dooku about the problem. I made sure that the nanodroids stayed dormant at this point, lulling him into thinking that the issue was solved. At the crucial moment, when his eagerness, triumph and other dark emotions dominated at having solved the problem and in so doing blinding him to the future - the nanodroids struck. They introduced a tiny flaw in both the primary kyber crystal and the focusing lenses."
I had to admit, my brain was boggled at that. "And you can somehow control that explosion enough that he isn't vaped?"
"Smug answer: Yes, master. Explanation: It was rather easy. The nanodroids had long since mapped the unique structure of the kyber crystal and Bulq's lightsaber in general. It's just a matter of calculation at that point, master. All that remains of him is sections of his upper skull and feet."
"Thank you for that vivid description, HK," I said dryly.
"Cheerful answer: You're welcome, master."
"Anyway, now that you're done with that. I need you to infiltrate yourself to the following sector," I tapped in the coordinates. "You can have your usual fun with local residents, since they're just a bunch of slavers, but be ready for my call to come running."
"Sincere Gratitude: Thank you, master. My circuits sing with joy at the meatbag irritants that are going to be purged from the galaxy!"
"Go!" I snapped in annoyance and cut the link before he could get another word in edgewise.
I chucked the datapad to my desk and had barely gotten up to get dressed in some pajamas when the comlink chimed again.
Only my sense of who was on the other side stopped me from delivering an earful of invective that would make a Corellian spacer proud.
I picked up the link, adjusting it to only scan my head, then opened the channel.
"Master Koon," I smiled at the half-body holo that appeared over my desk.
"Ahsoka," he greeted me somberly. "I bring difficult news."
I let my outer mask frown with worry and confusion, "Master?"
"We thought it best to tell you in a private setting and not in the middle of a briefing room with everyone around you. Kiros has been invaded by Separatists."
Even though I knew it was coming, as much as I had trained myself, as much distance there was between me and the togrutan race as a whole, my stomach still felt like a void had opened up in it. An old nightmare of mine was that I would doom Shili and Kiros somehow by my own actions against the enemy.
"How did it happen? There should be no way for the Separatists to break through Ord Mantell, all the way past Dorin, down two sectors of the Namaadi corridor… wait, that's impossible, too many of our forces would be in the way. It'd take too long. They found a new hyper route didn't they?"
Koon nodded, "That is the conclusion that Intelligence has reached. Governor Gupat Roshti contacted Master Yoda asking for urgent aid, he managed to tell us that at least a full combat fleet of enemy ships had arrived in orbit, before interstellar communications were jammed."
"Bah, he should've contacted Shili," I scoffed with disgust. "The Royal Togruta Fleet is powerful enough to smash any standard CIS combat group. They would've been there in less than six hours."
"In ideal circumstances, yes, but Roshti didn't want there to be any bloodshed, so he declined to contact the homewold and surrendered."
Bloody pacifist! I swore inwardly.
"Please tell me the Council at least alerted the Royal Fleet after the call was ended."
"We did, but Queen Yovet didn't want to send her forces and weaken the defenses around the togruta homeworld, fearing it was just a ruse to draw them away."
I didn't have a high regard for Regasa Yovet, the queen of the togruta, supreme huntress of the united tribes, as she was very much a product of her time - a leader mired by the thinking of a galaxy at peace.
"And any recon ship she sends will die the instant it reverts from hyperspace, since they have no cloaked ships. She has some sense at least."
"Precisely. She has asked the Republic to investigate and send a reconnaissance force. If there is now a Separatist fleet lurking at that part of the Hydian, then they are far behind our lines and there's nothing within three sectors that can fight it."
"Not to mention we need to find this new hyperlane, assuming it terminates somewhere in the Kiros system. Has there been any reports from systems along the Hydian in that sector?"
Master Koon shook his head, "None so far, either this enemy fleet is maintaining a low profile or they're destroying anyone who manages to get a look at them, before they can even send out a distress call."
I tapped my desk terminal to bring up a navigational chart of the Hydian hyperlane closest to Shili and Kiros. The objective was bloody obvious if I put myself in the CIS' shoes and it left me feeling like my stomach wanted to fall through the floor. Not only did this threaten the world of my birth, my race, it also threatened the Mandalore sector if you thought in terms of a long term enemy objective.
Would the enemy truly do that? All in the service of bringing me to his side? To turn me to the Dark Side?
What a stupid question. Of course, he would. This is the man that wanted a planet killer at his fingertips.
"We need to go. Now, Master Koon."
"Your task group is only at 80% strength, Ahsoka. We have no idea the disposition of the enemy fleet, there could even be a dreadnought among them. Patience, little 'Soka."
I scowled and nodded, "Very well, Master Koon."
"The last ships of your group will be arriving by tomorrow. Rest, gather strength, I have a strong feeling you'll be needing it in the days to come."
"I will, Master."
"Good night, may the Force be with you."
"And you, Master."
I closed the comlink and considered whether that performance had been good enough.
Palpatine would be watching closely from here on and I had to be ready.
The task force plunged into hyperspace late evening the next day.
Resolute and a further five Venators, six Gun Acclamators and five Bastion cruisers began racing at top speed along the Perlimian Trade Route for six hours, before turning north at the Gizer system.
Two days were spent powering up the Vaathkree Trade Corridor and in that time, no intelligence of any attacks along the Hydian on ships or planets reached us.
I ordered a brief pause in the Comkin system and sent a cloaked scout ahead of the fleet.
The Trade Corridor ended in the next system, Corsin, and acted as a crossroads for ships to turn onto the Hydian. It was one of the two systems that you needed to interdict if you wanted to severely isolate the core worlds from the mid-rim and the rest of the galactic north. Then if the CIS truly wanted to cut the galaxy effectively in half, they would just have to conquer Uvuiy Exen and Ord Mantell outright.
Admiral Yularen looked up from the datapad I had handed him.
"I hope you are wrong about this, commander."
"So am I, admiral, but the Hydian is the backbone of travel and trade to the north. If the Separatists can interdict it successfully and establish a new frontline at Uvuiy Exen, the frontline battlespace at Botajef will be cut off from resupply and reinforcement. If that front falls, in one fell swoop we lose four sectors, including Shili, Taris and Mandalore."
Yularen looked at my reasoning and grew increasingly worried as his own strategic mind connected the dots. "Blast it! Where could that enemy fleet be?" he asked in frustration, staring at the projected hyperspace charts in the holo in front of my command chair.
"Commander Tano. Incoming coms from the scout," reported Comms.
"Thanks Comms," I tapped the controls on my armrest.
The image of a naval clone lieutenant appeared in front of me. "Scout 132, reporting. Corsin has no detectable enemy activity. It's traffic as usual, commander."
"Are you sure, lieutenant?" I asked severely.
"Yes, commander. We even took the time to do microjumps into the system's Oort Clouds. They're not hiding in the outer peripheries of the system either. It could be possible they're hiding in a hyperspace orbit of the system, waiting for the fleet to arrive then ambush us that way."
"Possible but they can't keep that up for too long either, it'd impact their fuel reserves too much," I pointed out. "Unless they have dedicated fleet logistic tenders as well." It felt strange to be on the other side of my own tactic.
"Nav, jump the fleet to hyper, best speed to Corsin."
"Roger commander, best speed to Corsin."
We arrived in the system at full combat readiness, fighters ready to launch, torpedo salvoes programmed, interceptor grids and guns bristling with power. We probably gave every civilian ship captain around the hyper point in Corsin heart attacks as their sensors registered our arrival, combined with the energy levels radiating from the fleet.
Anakin was in his fighter, ready to lead the starfighter forces into battle, as was his preference.
I could feel everyone in the entire fleet sitting on tenterhooks, ready to spring into action in whatever job they had.
A minute passed.
"Sensors, anything?"
"Nothing, commander. No hyper signatures."
The clock hit two minutes and nothing registered.
I stood from my command chair and began pacing in front of the large transparisteel windows that looked into the black of space. The various ships clustering around the emergence point were barely larger specks of light at the range we had chosen. It wouldn't be a good idea to start a battle amongst all the civilian ships, after all.
Five minutes.
Nothing.
Ten minutes.
Nothing.
At fifteen minutes, I sat down in the command chair, "Fleet, this is command, stand down to Condition Two."
I sensed more than heard the various captains give acknowledgement through the light blanket of Battle Meditation I had on them.
The active sensors were secured and everyone breathed easier, sitting back in their chairs. Pilots remained in their fighters, but the engines were spooled down to standby.
"Nav, set a course for the fleet to the onward Draria hyper point, standard burn. Admiral Yularen, I want two layers deep of cloaked scouts ahead and behind us as we go down the Hydian."
"At once, commander."
With a few taps of my controls, the holo of a naval clone captain appeared in front of me. "Commander?"
"Captain Galt, I'm going to need you to remain here at Corsin. Hide your Venator at a random rock in the Oort Belt of the system. If the enemy attacks the shipping going through here you have full permission to engage with fighters, but preserve your command at all costs. Is that understood?"
"Understood, Commander. We'll get it done. Huntress out."
"Admiral, as we go I want minimally crewed, hyper capable shuttles dropped at each system we stop. I do not want to be caught unawares by this enemy fleet. If they so much as stick their noses in any system of the Hydian in our AO, I want to know."
Thirty-three hours later the task force arrived in the Bogden system.
Three systems had come and gone in our reconnaissance-in-force along the Hydian and yet there was still no sign of the enemy from scouts, nor any ambush sprung.
This system had the adjoining hyper point that let ships onto the relatively small hyperlane that would take you to Kiros and eventually Shili.
The only inhabitable planet in Bogden had the galactic record for the most moons around any such world, coming in at a staggering 20 recognized orbiting bodies of significant enough mass to be classified as such. The tidal stresses placed on the surface of Bogden IV were difficult to comprehend and the planet barely went a week without multiple major or minor groundquakes.
This made the population small, which mostly consisted of the desperate, smugglers, bounty hunters and those on the run. Most actually preferred living in artificial habitats built right into those moons. What passed for a government was more like a farmer's cooperative, loosely aligned settlements where everyone was armed to the teeth and very polite. Everyone coming to Bogden knew to pay what little tax was charged and to shut up.
Why did I know about this?
There was a hidden Mandalorian enclave on one of those moon habitats that belonged to Clan Vizsla. It was a place where any Mandalorian plying the bounty hunter trade could retreat to. Unfortunately, I couldn't openly contact them for any intel they had.
So, I contacted the Bogden Cooperative.
"No!" said the scowling woman who looked like she was in her early sixties, with long gray hair tied into a ponytail, wearing an outfit that didn't look out of place on a farm. "No clankers passed through the system, young lady."
"Are you sure, Madam Oshi?"
"We know full well what those Seppie ships look like. Our scanners might not be as fresh and new as what you no doubt have on those shiny ships of yours, but we know what happens in our space."
"Out of interest, just how far does your sensor coverage extend from Bogden IV?"
"If it has engines, we know about it all the way to Bogden IX."
"I see, thank you Madam Oshi, I'll not take up more of your time."
"You've got that right, missy. I was busy hanging up over a hundred renda pelts for drying when you called. Safe travels."
The holo of the old woman vanished.
"Where is that blasted fleet?" Yularen griped, scowling at a datapad of scouting reports.
"That is a good question, admiral. Yet we can't overly delay, our primary mission is still liberating Kiros. Nav, set your course, jump to hyper the moment the fleet clears the mass shadow."
I was now facing a hard dilemma. Do I weaken the fleet further by detaching another Venator to continue down the Hydian toward Uviuy Exen? So that there was some defense at least if the enemy fleet attacked there. Yet, that risked leading me to a defeat in detail if I was spreading the fleet out too much.
"Admiral, keep our scouts going down the Hydian."
He looked at me and I could see in his eyes that he also saw the problem. "Yes, commander. For what it's worth, you're making the right decision."
"It'll be cold comfort to the families of the dead. That I sacrifice their sons, daughters, brothers and sisters in the mathematics of war."
"We've spoken about this in our lessons, commander," he softly reminded me.
"I remember them, admiral. You warned that this moment would come. Yet now that it has…" The whine of the hyperdrive resounded, stars streaked outside to be replaced by the rapidly shifting tunnel of hyperspace. "The die is cast. I cannot be everywhere. The blood that will be shed is on my enemy's hands. Not my own."
If there was any world that could be called an idyllic jewel, then Kiros would stand in the dictionary as an example.
It ranked right alongside Naboo and when I was very young on Shili, I could vaguely remember my mother telling me bedtime stories of it. How brave the first colonists were in settling the world with no weapons. Naturally, the truth was that while the colonists didn't have weapons, they had the Togruta Royal Guard to protect them from the nasty predator fauna that the planet held. Afterwards, they relied on perimeter fencing and stun guns.
My hand swiped through the holo of the planet and dismissed the image.
"Commander, the fleet is in a hyperspace orbit around the system. Scouts have detected no enemy ships and they're approaching Kiros now," Yularen reported.
"This is getting ridiculous," I muttered in frustration. The CIS was playing silly buggers and not even properly defending their recently conquered world. Kiros was a pristine world and kept that way by togruta royal decree, no mining exploration had been done on it and theoretically it could be home to any number of strategic minerals and elements.
"They want to keep the initiative, by not offering battle and only engaging on their own terms," Yularen said as the scans came in.
"Orbital satellite debris detected, looks like remains of the colony's hypercom repeaters," the scout said over the live comlink.
"If they actively defend the system, it also gives us clues as to the location of the hyperpoint of their new route," I pointed out to Yularen.
"Clever, security through obscurity."
"Registering active droid signatures at the location of the artisan settlement. A full company and one squadron of AATs out in the open, patrolling the streets. No aerospace complement, except one unknown ship silhouette landed on a pad just outside the central colony building."
My hand swiped through the holo field of my command chair, a few taps later I was looking at the data feed from the scout directly.
"M8, do a cross reference on this ship's silhouette."
From above it was a blocky thing, roughly 52 meters in length, with booms extending outward from the main body leading to articulated thruster nacelles on either side.
"Scanning mistress… match found. It's a YV-865 Aurore-class freighter built by the CEC. Production of this line was discontinued more than nine centuries ago, when the technology for repulsor based ion thrusters was rediscovered. The primary customer for this ship was the Zygerrian Empire."
"Zygerrians?" Yularen frowned. "The slaver empire? But they've been in isolation in the far north-east of the galaxy for centuries."
"With the Republic now distracted by a galactic war, it seems as good a time as any for them to emerge and try to resume their predacious ways," I said grimly. "They're technically now in Separatist space and I wouldn't put it past Dooku to reach out to them for support in the war. Zygerrians also have no fond memories of the Jedi, given how the Order and Republic clamped down on their operations after the Ruusan Reformation. Scout Lieutenant, you have permission for a low orbit, give me an active lifesign scan of that settlement."
"Roger, commander."
A few minutes later the answer came.
"They're not there," Yularen commented grimly. "Lieutenant, widen your scan."
"Yes, admiral… scanning to 1000 km radius… no togrutan lifesigns detected. Two thousand… three… four… nothing, admiral. I would need to reposition to retain enough resolution."
"Do so, I want that entire planet scanned."
I shook my head. "They're not there, admiral. I can deduce well enough what happened. The entire colony has been captured. At this point they're well on their way to Zygerria by now."
"How many people were here?"
"Last census was roughly 52 000," I stood up from the command chair. "Admiral, the rest of the fleet is to stay in the local Oort Cloud. Resolute and one Acclamator will make the approach to Kiros. We'll deploy 1st ARC Recon company with 4th Armored to secure the settlement, whilst General Skywalker and myself have a little chat with the owner of that ship."
The gunship shuddered as it made atmospheric entry.
Four minutes later the turbulence died down and the first wave of twelve gunships followed by fifteen carriers, each with an underslung AT-TE made the translation into the upper atmosphere.
Anakin stared through the viewing slits and beheld a world of beauty.
The gunships passed over long meandering rivers that looked like some artist had lovingly draped them on carpets of pristine green. Tall alien trees with wondrous colors stippled into forests that covered entire continents. Waterfalls that sprayed moisture high into the air, creating rainbows that spanned his entire field of view.
It felt… almost like a crime to come to this place with anything less than pure intentions. Yet here they were, flying in with machines of war.
He could almost understand the artisan colonists' intentions in coming here.
'They really are gone,' Ahsoka thought to him. "I had hoped they were just hiding underground or…"
He gave her a brief look as she gripped the overhead handhold next to him. He closed his eyes and surged his senses forward only to be met with nothing. There was only a single sentient mind within the Force ahead for thousands of kilometers around them. Beyond that, only the dense concentration of flora and fauna as far as he could sense below.
'Yes, though there is one sentient alive down there.'
Her Mandalorian pattern helmet glinted in the sunlight, "He's a zygerrian, ordering a bunch of droids around, carrying cages of captured kirosian birds and other unique fauna. Clearly not just a slaver, but also a collector."
He had to deal with an almost instinctual anger that arose at the mere thought of it. Zygerrians. He almost hadn't believed it when he heard the news. It was the one part of history studies in the Jedi Academy as a child that had stuck in his mind. An entire empire built on the backs of slaves.
Such things weren't new in the history of the galaxy, but the zygerrians practiced it to a ludicrous degree even though they had the technology and automation to get rid of the practice. For them it was about status and culture.
Now here they were, taking an entire colony of peaceful togrutans into forcible slavery.
'He's testing us both with this one, again,' Anakin thought with anger.
She nodded, 'Yes, he wants to push our buttons. Your history with slavery and the fact that it's my race being abducted.'
'What I can't believe is that this zygerrian is still here. They had to know we would come eventually. He should've detected us coming into orbit, yet is content to remain and still gather animals.'
'It's because he wants a chance to capture a Jedi.'
'Seriously?' he thought incredulously.
'Yes, we are legendary boogeymen to the zygerrians at this point.'
"On final approach!" announced the pilot.
All the troopers went through final checks of weapons and armor. Anakin spotted Chewbacca being rather vigorous with his bowcaster's cocking mechanism. The wookiee was another person in their little band that had a very complicated history with slavery.
"You alright there, Chewie?"
"I hope there are some zygerrians down here," the wookiee growled. "I would enjoy feeding them their own arms."
He couldn't help but wince at the mental imagery those words evoked. "There is one, Chewie and we need him alive. It's more than likely he knows about the new hyperspace lane and its coordinates."
"His ship's navicomputer will have it," Chewie pointed out.
"The enemy won't be so cavalier about such sensitive information. His ship's computers are likely trapped and will erase that data."
The gunship flared and came in for a landing.
The large side doors slid open and the ARC troopers poured out with weapons raised.
The only thing that greeted them was silence.
No droids surged out of the large settlement to offer battle.
He stepped foot on the soft wild grass of Kiros and for the time in this war, a wholly uncontested landing.
The gunships unloaded their troops and the AT-TEs were released onto the field.
"Rex! Get the AT-TEs advancing down that road!" shouted Ahsoka, gesturing at a wide central road that would be wide enough. "Advance by squad, I want this settlement cleared!"
The settlement was clearly built around accommodating pedestrian traffic only.
The buildings themselves had organic lines and almost seemed to mirror natural plants, combined with unique artistic flares. None were similar. Trees were abundant between them and Anakin had never seen a settlement that had achieved so little impact on the natural landscape.
The rapid mechanical sound of the bipedal scout AT-RTs emerged as they were dropped from the rear cargo holds of the TEs.
He lit his lightsaber and joined Ahsoka as they began their running advance alongside the troops in a long skirmish line and entered the settlement outskirts.
Chewie roared in a battlecry and fired his bowcaster at the first building they encountered, scrapping a commando droid that had been about to fire a sniper rifle from the roof.
Sporadic fire erupted across the line of advancing troopers as enemy droids revealed themselves to attack.
Anakin deflected the shots from a new form of droideka model that featured a single barrel sniper rifle centrally mounted.
His will reached out through the Force and lifted it off the roof before crushing it.
Ahsoka jumped up into the air, her boot jets flaring into flight, carrying her high up.
All three blades were raised and she practically crashed down onto a roof down the street.
Four commando droids exploded outward from the radiant Force Shockwave she released on landing, shredding their chassis and weapons, which also included a missile launcher.
Six B1s flying STAPs appeared overhead to begin strafing the troops with their mounted Repeaters.
All six died when various ARC troopers shot them with pin point accurate fire from their DC15 long rifles. The STAPs spun out of control to crash into the ground or explode against the buildings.
Ahsoka jumped to another building roof and her lightsabers danced around her, slicing up four B2s that had been waiting in ambush.
At the next street, which adjoined the wide central street, the lead AT-TEs fired their main guns against two AATs.
Both died and exploded, but at the cost of an AT-TE getting hit.
It also exploded, sending debris streaking outward and large fireball climbing into the sky.
"General Skywalker! We have a problem!"
It was one of the first company's sappers. He was kneeling next to a high wall for a garden and was carefully waving his scanner in one hand whilst his pistol was up and firing at the approaching enemy. A dozen B1s flying armed speeders charging towards them.
Anakin deflected shots straight back at the rapidly approaching enemy as he blurred toward the sapper.
He only needed one look at what scanner showed before slashing his lightsaber through the solid wall.
"Go, sergeant!" The sapper dove through the new gap. "Rex, keep the advance going!"
"Yes, sir!" replied the clone captain over the din of battle.
Anakin entered a pristinely beautiful, hand manicured garden, but he could spare no further thought for that as he saw what had been cruelly planted in the middle of it.
The sapper had already blasted two B1s who had been standing guard over it.
It was clearly a large bomb, dodecahedron shaped with spikes jutting out of it in every direction.
"Estimated yield, sergeant?"
The trooper carefully adjusted his scanner, going to passive mode. "Has to be at least a kiloton. No active scanning emissions. We can approach safely. RF detected, must be linked to a remote detonator."
Anakin played a hunch, "Scan that frequency."
The trooper nodded before he froze in astonishment and tilted the handheld scanner's screen, so Anakin could see the results.
"Sithspit! Ahsoka, come in!"
"Yes, master?!" she said in the comlink over the sound of slashing lightsabers.
"The entire settlement has been seeded with explosives, enough to entirely vaporize it. This is a trap."
"Figured something was off! The zygerrian had to have some form of trump card to play. Argh, frak off already! Hah!" He heard the sound of rending metal and clattering durasteel. "Frakking commando droids! Master, we need to keep the bombs in play. If we disarm them, the zygerrian will run to his ship and there's no guarantee the Resolute can intercept him. We need the data on the hyperspace lane!"
"Got it. Sergeant, get your kit out, we have a bomb to jury rig. We better hope we don't frak this up!"
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