Star Wars 0027 - Part IV - Commanding the Globes
Randall J. Morrison
A long time ago, in a galaxy
far,
far away . . .
Star Wars 0027
Part IV
Commanding the Globes
Phadrax Monovial harassed the New
Republic’s government and military when he moved in on the field station
of 0016 with an abnormally large fleet and destroyed the base. The
results of the destruction caused much disorder among the Republic and
left them without their largest power in the protection of both
themselves and the galaxy’s citizens.
With the knowledge that 0016 was the Republic’s most powerful fleet,
Monovial continued to move in on the remaining defenses of the New
Republic, weakening them each time a base was destroyed. With the rise of
the Interstellar Sith Allegiance came the fall of the New Republic as
their greatest force, the military, was gradually weakened to only a few
fleets.
Monovial himself, while pleased with the events having transpired in his
conquest to take over the New Republic’s role, remained eager to begin
making his alliance true to its name. Since the beginning, he had given
birth to the ISA for the singular purpose of reviving the Sith race and
bringing them power. With Jedi Knight Dominic Artemius having given up
his career, and the New Republic on the verge of giving up theirs, the
path was clear for him to begin…
Far
too much destruction had plagued the New Republic’s defensive fleets. The
fleet of 0004 was being wiped out fast. As strong as they might have
been, the ISA was stronger. No one could put a finger on how they had
become so powerful, but their fleet was unbeatable. Thousands of TIE
Fighters moved in on the surface of the planet Toloran and dropped sets
of ion bombs over the rebel base.
The snowy
world was bright in the morning, and fortunately for the TIEs, not very
windy either. They ran smoothly, creating a draft that formed snow drifts
which closed up on the walls of the base. A swarm of Fighters swooped
from the sky and blasted downwards at the outdoor ship storage platform.
The linked cannons slapped on the top of the various Republic
starfighters. X-Wings were destroyed from the inside as the turbolaser
blasts exploded on the hull.
Phadrax
Monovial was in an escort shuttle with a large starfighter squire
surrounding the ship. It was his personal goal to do a routine invasion
of the base. Unlike any other ruler of the Empire before him, Monovial
was brave enough to get involved in the assembly of his power amongst the
New Republic. As he did for the many rebel outposts he had dismantled
before, Monovial personally pillaged the base and took it over from the
inside.
The TIEs
had been busy clearing the starship platform to make room for Monovial’s
shuttle. Once a sufficient space had been cleared the escort took off and
the shuttle landed. Squadrons of rebel officers had appeared from the
large exit door. An Imperial flight officer emerged from the door that
led into Monovial’s private room at the back of the ship. “Sir, the fleet
has no hope,” the officer said. “It is not necessary for you to risk your
life once more by going in there.”
Monovial
looked up at the officer from his burgundy chair. His hands were clasped
together and he rested his chin upon them. “I don’t think you realize
what I am trying to do here,” Monovial said. “The New Republic’s defenses
are to be totally destroyed. Wiped out entirely. Leaving them in ruins
means that there are survivors. I don’t want that many survivors.” The
officer was smart enough to not continue arguing with Monovial. He wisely
nodded and left the room with the contemporary salute.
The ramp
behind Monovial began to open. The hydraulics in the compressor rods at
the elevation began to activate, making the ramp’s support much stronger.
Looking out the ramp, Monovial saw that the rebel troops were running up
to the ship. Stormtroopers emerged from one door of the escort shuttle
and began to fire at the officers. Following the stormtroopers, Monovial
walked down the ramp, pulling the hood of his cloak back over his
head.
He had
little difficulty avoiding the blaster fire. His stormtrooper guard was
very solid and protected him soundly as he entered the rebel base of
0004. Inside the large door was the main control deck of the hangar. Many
of the officers at the desk began to draw their blasters, but Monovial
tossed the group to the back of the room with the Force.
All but
one were unconscious, until Monovial thrusted his hands forward again,
sending the man through the window that pointed out to the inside of the
hangar. The smashing of the glass triggered officers from down below.
Most of them stayed where they were and started firing up at Monovial
from down below. However, many of them were also starting to come up the
stairs. Looking back to his guard escort, Monovial saw that his
stormtrooper squad was down to three and dropping fast.
He had
hoped that he wouldn’t have to get too involved in the battle this time,
but it had been unavoidable for each and every one of these invasions. He
pulled the lightsabre from the strap on his back and ignited a single
blade to defend blaster shots with.
He stood
at the top of the stairs as the rebel officers from the hangar began
coming up. There were much more shots than he expected and he couldn’t
hold them off for very long, because their numbers were steadily
increasing. He ran back into the main control deck and jammed the door.
Turning off his lightsabre, Monovial began setting explosive charges in
the main system computer. The explosion of those charges would start a
chain reaction that would send this entire base into shards of metal.
The sound
of blaster fire from outside meant that the rebel officers were trying to
melt through the door. It wasn’t very long before Monovial could see that
the blaster fire was already lighting the bottom of the door with a hot,
red glow. The charges were set and now he had to escape.
It seemed
that the only feasible escape route was through the broken window, and
even then, there would be many rebel soldiers waiting down there as well.
However, it was a much better option than running into the assembly
behind the main door. Looking back, he could see that the pieces of
phobium from the door were beginning to melt off. There was no
time.
He looked
down to the hangar surface and sure enough, there was a squadron of rebel
troops down at the bottom. He took the risk, however. Igniting both ends
of his lightsabre, Monovial dove out the window, executing a mid-air
somersault and landing in a mess of blaster fire. He did nothing but run
through the line of officers, spinning his weapon in all directions to
protect himself.
Then with
a brief focus on the dark side of the Force, Monovial bolted out of the
hangar and back near the ship in seconds. He called to the pilot to close
the exit ramp as rebel officers came running back out into the cold
outdoor platform. Monovial boarded the ship and watched behind him as one
of the last of the New Republic’s bases exploded in a mass of fire,
transforming the snow drifts around them into waterfalls of melted
snow.
* * * *
A large
group was gathered in the New Republic mastery auditorium. A rare
assembly between all of the remaining defensive fleets was about to
occur. The room was very large with an unnecessarily high roof. At the
front, Admiral Torgon volunteered to be the master of ceremonies. He had
been given all the details of the Republic’s situations.
General
Sienar sat beside Commander William Cygnus10 in the area. Torgon the Hutt
stepped up to the large podium that was set up at the front of the room.
Many other high-ranking officers from the other surviving fleets were
also up behind him. Most of them Sienar did not recognize. He was used to
seeing such individuals as Admiral Ackbar, Crix Madine, and other absent
members, who were off rebuilding after the ‘ISA Destruction.’
When 0016
was wiped out, it affected everyone. It was a message that the ISA’s
power was strong enough to wipe out the most mighty starfleet that the
New Republic could come up with. Everything would change tonight,
however. And it began with Torgon’s first words at the podium, “The
Republic is losing.” The entire crowd fell silent. “We are losing
everything,” Torgon continued. “All of you fine officers who are gathered
into this auditorium today are the last hopes of defending the New
Republic’s government. Phadrax Monovial’s Interstellar Sith Allegiance is
tearing us apart, and if it becomes more true to its name in the near
future, nothing will be able to stop the ISA. General Nightrider,
please.” Torgon motioned for Fredern Nightrider to approach the podium
for his more technical perception of the current plight.
“Thank
you, Admiral,” said Nightrider. “Everyone here knows that the ISA has
done considerable damage to our fleets in the past few years that we
haven’t been able to prevent.” Officers behind the General pulled down a
glass screen that hooked near a holoprojector. Nightrider turned it on,
revealing a magnified image of numbers of fleets that had been completely
destroyed. “Monovial first struck at 0016, which was a tactically smart
strategy for him to pull.” The pictures on the screen showed images of
the Imperial fleet of the Super Star Destroyer, House of Lords.
“With this fleet, he made an attack that made certain that the entire
Republic would be aware of his presence in the galaxy. He won against
considerable odds and proceeded from 0016 to 0018. Once that was
destroyed, he moved in to wipe out 0014. From there he moved into 0029.”
Pictures on the screen flashed images from the battles that took place.
“After a large analysis we came up with a battle pattern that Monovial
was following. The entire pattern we had set out was consistent with
every one of his attacks, but one. Judging by the pattern that he had
chosen, after striking the base of 0029 on Sluis Van, he should’ve
attacked the fleet of 0027, but he never did.” Sienar was very interested
now. He held high ranks in 0027 and if it was this important to that
branch of officers, he needed to know about it. “Ultimately, Monovial
moved on to 0030, leaving a large gap of time in between the attacks on
0029 and 0030. We are presuming that this is because he sought out 0027
for quite some time and then had little success finding it, so he moved
on. The fleet of 0027 was put aside and the only reason that it has
survived is because it is the only fleet in our core thirty that has a
perfectly mobile, hyperdrive-capable, base.” Nightrider stepped down and
allowed Torgon the Hutt to step back up to the podium.
“As most
of you know, I am the administrator of fleet 0027 and after many long
hours of discussion with General Nightrider and other noble officers, we
have come to the conclusion that it is possible that the ISA’s scouts or
the fleet itself may never find the base if it is mobile,” Torgon said.
Pictures on the glass screen showed the skeleton of the base and ran
through its interior. “It is not a large base compared to some of the
other fleets, but it will suffice for what we have planned.” Cygnus10
grabbed the drink from his lap and finished it quickly, as if he were
anticipating something big to happen. “We have decided that in our
current line of fire, the New Republic will not survive as leaders of the
galaxy-wide government. When we die out, we will die out hard with
nothing left at all.” More gasps came from the crowd. A man who appeared
to be a civilian stood up in the back.
“What
happened to control?!” the man shouted angrily. “This was supposed to be
a stable government!” A few of the crowd members surrounding him
evidently shared the thoughts he had.
Torgon
shook his bulbous head. “What has happened to the New Republic could not
have possibly been anticipated,” said the Hutt. “Before you start
resigning your applications with us, I wish for all who wish to keep on
fighting to listen to our controversial plan.” The talk in the room
quieted down. Everyone seemed to realize that the New Republic was not
going to survive, and the fact that it would die without anything left
was even scarier. Monovial was certainly smart. He went after the defense
and planned to leave the rest of the government helpless. Torgon
continued, “We have organized a retreat operation that directly involves
the mobile base of 0027. As much as I hate to sign the order to do this,
we are again being forced to run away from our problems. What will
happen, is all members of the remaining starfleets will be moved onto the
mobile base. All government representatives and speakers will be
transported to cruisers that will surround the base. Meaning that the
entire New Republic will exist in one spot at a time. That entire
collection of cruisers and other ships will be shot into hyperspace and
we will travel to the Ottega star system in the Outer Rim Territories. In
the system, there is a moon known as Ivinsnale, one of twenty-six moons
orbiting the planet Vuya. The system itself consists of 75 documented
planets and an additional 622 moons, which will hide us well.” The crowd
was getting more and more curious as to what was going to happen. Much
low talking still echoed throughout the room. Cygnus10 and Sienar kept
silent and intent, however. “From now on the New Republic is going to be
considered gone. It is no more. We will rebuild in the Ottega system and
create some kind of order that builds our power to the point where we can
attack the ISA, who, by then, will have galaxy-wide control. Again we are
back to being a rebellion. A willing rebellion that is fighting for what
is right among galactic citizens. We are also the galaxy’s last true hope
thanks to the actions of the mobile base designed by General Leonardo
Sienar for the fleet of 0027. Collaborating all the information that
leads to what the new rebellion will be, we have come up with a change of
name to the Commonwealth of Rebel Dominion 0027.”
So
that’s it, Sienar thought, After more than twenty years of
building a free New Republic out of a disorganized rebellion, we are
right back where we started. The idea of rebuilding was indeed a
valiant one, and although the New Republic would be gone, it would still
exist in part. At the very least, there would still be something to build
off of.
People
were already leaving the auditorium and some agreed to help build back
the Rebel Dominion, and some immediately went to terminals to resign
their applications to the New Republic’s services. Pay would decrease,
and resources would be more difficult to come by. Torgon had already
spoken to leaders of the small Anti-Imperial strike force of the
Harris56, who also agreed to join up with the Rebel Dominion on
Ivinsnale.
In one
easy speech the New Republic was gone.
* * * *
“Every
squadron reports in negative, sir,” said the voice of Walt Green, Supreme
Commander of the ISA’s scouting operations. “The entire New Republic has
disappeared.” Monovial stood facing a window that looked out upon the
stars. An asteroid belt in the distance reflected off of his eyes. He
turned around to face the flight officer.
“All of
it, Commander?” he asked rhetorically. “I would like to ascertain this
piece of information you are bringing to me. Re-route the House of
Lords fleet to Coruscant. We are going to inspect the Republican
palace personally.” Green wasn’t sure that it was such a smart
idea.
“Sir, if
the New Republic is still at Coruscant, we will all be destroyed. By now
their fleets will have all combined at that location, and we still aren’t
big enough to take on the entire Republic fleet,” said Green. Monovial
smiled.
“All of
it, Commander?” he said, the smile ever increasing in width.
“The
scouts are sometimes known to be wrong, my lord,” Green said nervously.
“The
scouts are right, Commander,” Monovial said. Green took it as an order
and saluted Monovial as he turned and left to give the command. Moments
later the fleet of the House of Lords was moving from it’s
present location and heading in the direction of Coruscant.
They were
currently in the Corporate Sector, but only on the rim of it, meaning
that it wouldn’t be a very long trip through to the Core Worlds. Monovial
hadn’t been to Coruscant once yet. In his entire reign at the top of ISA,
he had never been to the central system of government. Anyone with any
political ties whatsoever had been to Coruscant at least once. But not
Monovial. It wasn’t that he didn’t like the city planet but instead, had
just never had any desire to go there.
The
House of Lords was hurled into hyperspace and Monovial left the
main deck. He approached a terminal and pressed down on a small red
button. “Moff Gujjay, are you waiting in the chambers yet?”
Monovial asked through the terminal. It linked into a small room in the
far corners of the Imperial Super Star Destroyer. Moff Gujjay returned
the answer to the question through a similar terminal in the room.
“Have been
for quite some time, sir,” he said. “I have all of the papers laid out on
the table here. Most of them are fine copies of the very original TIE
blueprints.” Monovial frowned at that.
“All I
want is a picture of the design because the design is good, Moff,”
Monovial replied harshly. “The rest of the technical pieces of the
fighters will be designed right from scratch. What we have to do is to
make an efficient technological construction that matches the design.
I’ll be there in a few minutes.” Monovial left the terminal and began
walking out of the main bridge area and into a long metal corridor.
Finally,
Phadrax Monovial would get down to what he had been planning for months
now. After taking out all of the Rebel bases, he had discovered problems
with the TIE Fighters and even all of the other divisions of TIE. He had
lost many valuable resources in those battles and he wished not for his
starfighters to fail any longer.
He
envisioned something new for awhile and he quite appreciated the sleek
design for the TIE Fighter, but he needed something new in it. For
decades the TIE Fighter, TIE Interceptor and TIE Bomber were not equipped
with any shield system whatsoever. It was time for that to change. He
found no use in wasting excellent pilots because of cheap manufacturing.
Monovial
approached a door at the end of the hallway and opened it with a small
globe-like terminal on the side. Moff Gujjay was waiting at the door and
nodded to greet him. A large glass table at the back of the room. Various
papers were spread across it.
“Alright,
Moff,” Monovial said, “let’s begin.”
* * * *
Admiral
Torgon the Hutt had a lot of work to do. He had boarded on the rebel base
of 0027 nearly an hour ago and had been working ever since. His primary
focus at the moment was sending word of the fall of the New Republic to
absent Republican members. He had just recorded a message to Jedi Knight,
Dominic Artemius, informing him of the disaster. Artemius had left the
service of 0027 six years ago when his apprentice was killed by the ISA’s
leader, Phadrax Monovial.
Torgon
assumed that it was commonplace among the Jedi to take a leave of absence
when a devastation came up. But six years did seem excessive. However,
Torgon couldn’t complain, none of the Jedi who sprung from the Jedi
Academy were paid for their work. He was not obliged to come back if he
so desired.
Artemius
would be one of the few people who would learn of the disappearance of
the New Republic for quite some time. It would be when ambassadors from
planetary governments came to speak with Republicans on Coruscant that
the word would finally get around. When they enter the planet, it
wouldn’t be long before anyone realized that the New Republic didn’t
exist in the Core Worlds. Torgon didn’t want to picture the galaxy
suffering again because of another dictatorship.
The Hutt
moved out of a communications room in the mobile base of 0027. A hallway
outside the door revealed a great many people. Plenty of officers moved
from one end of the base to another. Mostly men and women of the
political genre of the former New Republic. Most likely because they had
nowhere else to go when they left behind the central building at
Coruscant.
Torgon
made his way through the difficult collection of people and finally on to
the main deck of the base. The room was also busy. More officers had
signed up to work the many, many buttons that lined the walls and the
desks in the room. Beeps echoed through the walls and the air was
getting diluted with the breathing of other people. From what he could
see, General Sienar was not in the room, anyhow.
“Looking
for someone, Admiral?” a voice said from behind Torgon. He turned to face
Commander Cygnus10 who was smiling wryly.
“Not you,
Commander. Sorry about that,” Torgon replied politely. He reached into
the pouch attached to his sash and pulled a small ID card with Sienar’s
picture on it. “I have been meaning to give this little item to General
Sienar.” Cygnus10 looked at the card and it read: Colonel Leonardo
Sienar.
“A
Colonel?” Cygnus10 said in surprise. “You are going to promote him to
that high of a rank without any ceremony whatsoever?” Torgon
smiled.
“You do
see the situation in here, correct, Commander?” Torgon said. “There is no
time for such a ceremony. I’m giving him the rank of Colonel for now so
he can be of higher control when we get organized on Ivinsnale. We need a
man of his organizational talents to help out with this operation.”
Cygnus10 nodded. “I plan to bring him up even further once we have
established order. Sienar is a fabulous officer.”
“Need I
remind you, Admiral, that the rank next up from Colonel is your rank. Am
I right?” Cygnus10 said, grinning.
“That’s
correct, Commander,” Torgon replied. “I’ve needed a person who would be
my aide for quite some time. We are expanding, William, and I don’t think
one Admiral will suffice anymore.”
Cygnus10
brushed the thought off to the side with a shrug of the shoulders.
“Anyway, the original reason I came to see you is to call you up to the
front and help coordinate this entire jump. Every one of the transports
and cruisers are awaiting your command, sir.”
Torgon did
get up to the main front window and called upon the rest of the Rebel
Dominion’s fleet to make the jump to hyperspace. In a matter of seconds,
the barrage of starships was gone and the space outside Coruscant was
virtually empty.
- * * * *
The pen in Monovial’s hand was scratching quickly across a large
sheet of paper, roughly sketching what he wanted on his ISA-TIE Fighter.
The design was very similar to the original TIE, but the wings on the
sides were now shorter. The entire grey color was changed to a shiny
black except for the six triangles that made up the solar panels on the
wings. “Where can we get the resources for this sort of construction,
sir?” said Moff Gujjay.
“We will
go back to the shipyard on Fondor and purchase thin layers of black
Doonium and coat the original TIE cockpits in it. The wings will be
re-constructed from the leftover parts and won’t be nearly as shiny as
the cockpit area itself,” Monovial said. “Now what you have to remember
is this: I don’t want money to be an issue here. The regular budget that
you had as the Empire will be scrapped as well. I want any percentage
necessary to go into the starfighters. Pilots are the most important
thing that we have in the ISA.” Monovial reached into the pile of papers
at the far right of the large glass table and pulled out the original
sketches and blueprints of the TIE Bomber. Moff Gujjay was getting rather
impatient with Monovial. They had just spent two hours constructing his
new vision of the ISA-TIE Fighter. If he planned to go through everyone
of the fighters in the fleet, Gujjay didn’t expect to be staying for all
of it.
“Sir, will
we be going through all of the fighters?” Gujjay asked hesitantly.
Monovial
turned to him. “Moff, I don’t think that is possible in the time frame
that I wish to complete this operation. What I need you to do, is take
all of these notes and sketches of my modified TIE and deliver it to the
best division of Sienar Fleet Systems that the ISA has got. There they
will use my design, and create the same types of modifications for all of
the TIE Fighters. However, that doesn’t mean that we are done here yet.”
Monovial grabbed the sketches and notes and handed them to Gujjay. “Take
these down to SFS and when you return you may have a short break. Then we
will scratch and re-design the Interdictor-class Star Destroyer. I
hate it and I want something new. Now go.”
Gujjay
saluted Monovial and left the room.
* * * *
Entering
the atmosphere of Ivinsnale was a strange experience for everyone. The
gravity on the moon was more strict to weight than most planets and every
officer with the Rebel Dominion fleet felt the ground pulling hard at
their feet. “All aggregations follow the mobile base to a large clearing
in the Ivinsnale Rainforest,” said Admiral Torgon into the communications
speaker. The transports and cruisers all obeyed the order and quickly
assembled behind the base to follow close to the surface of the trees.
It wasn’t
long before the clearing was visible. A huge open space in the rainforest
was cut into the lush green area. Sienar looked down at it through a
glass bottom hatch in his quarters and estimated that the circular
clearing had a diameter of ten kilometres.
The mobile
base of 0027 was the first thing to touch down in the centre of the
clearing. Next came the large Calamari cruisers and flagships. In ten
minutes time, the entire remnants of the former New Republic were
surrounded by tall trees and isolated from the civilized universe.
Ivinsnale’s
forest was very humid, and very swampy. The moon itself was mostly
forest, with no body of water large enough to be called an ocean. The
technology of Ivinsnale was not very advanced and its intelligent
inhabitants hadn’t discovered space travel yet. The huge fleet placed in
the middle of the rainforest would be something that they would find very
remarkable indeed.
Outlet
chutes and exit ramps started appearing from some of the cruisers as the
mobile base expanded to its spread-out formation, giving everyone on
board a lot more room to move around. When the base was completely spread
out, a shield bubble shot out from the centre of the structure and
continued to expand until it covered the entire clearing in the forest.
Sienar
exited the base and stepped onto the muddy ground. A light rain was
coming down quickly because of the gravitational force. He knew that he
would get used to the difficult pull from the moon’s core. He had done a
similar thing once before on his trip to Napaj Ode. The gravity on that
planet was even more restrictive than it was on Ivinsnale.
Cygnus10
climbed out the main entrance and met up with Sienar just outside the
base. “Torgon’s looking for you, you know,” he said. “I believe you’re
looking to be promoted.”
“So I’ve
heard,” Sienar replied. “I tried to find him on the trip down, but he was
nowhere in sight. Maybe I’ll try paging him. There is no way he could’ve
got off of the base by now.” Cygnus10 escorted Sienar back into the base
just as two guards came to stand at the door.
“Honestly,
guys!” Cygnus10 said deviously. “Do we really need guards in this place?
Whoever assigned you must’ve been pretty cautious to be worrying about
TIE birdies and Imperial Tree Destroyers!” Sienar laughed.
“I
assigned them, Commander,” he said. Immediately Cygnus10 had a guilty
look plastered across his face. “But it’s okay.”
“Didn’t
mean to offend you, General,” Cygnus10 said. “I meant to say that TIE
birds and Grass Destroyers are very commonplace this time of year.” Both
of them chuckled and entered the base to search for Admiral Torgon so the
fleet could begin to get organized.
* * * *
“Sir, this
is General Tye, the man in charge of SFS currently. He will be overseeing
your project, rather than I,” said Moff Gujjay. Monovial nodded, knowing
that his spacecraft design was already boring Gujjay to the point where
he needed to get a new officer to take his place. “I have already
thoroughly explained him your new TIE Fighter designs.”
“My team
is already working on the other TIE divisions,” said Tye, carrying a
satchel as the two Imperial officers stepped into the room. Tye sat down
at the chair set up on the other side of the glass table. Monovial was
already seated as the General put the satchel on top of the table. From
it, he pulled a holoprojector that was linked to a black control pad. He
set the satchel on the ground and keyed something in on the control pad.
An early image of what Monovial’s TIE Fighter would look like
materialized on the table in front of them.
“That’s
the image, General?” Monovial asked, pointing at the hologram of the
shiny black TIE Fighter.
Tye
nodded. “That’s the one, sir,” he said. “Judging by your requirements and
sketches, this is what the final product should resemble. We do have one
minor change that was necessary for the installation of a shield system,
however.” Monovial raised an eyebrow.
“Really,
General Tye,” Monovial said. “And how minor of a change is this?”
“Not very
big at all, sir,” Tye replied. “Because of the positioning of the shield
system in the fighter, we needed a narrower laser cannon placement.
Meaning that we would need a smaller cannon generator. So we have placed
the generator in the central area in between the shield systems. Because
of the lack of space left in the fighter’s engine area, we needed to
place a Santhe/Incom Laser Generator.” Monovial still looked at him
strangely.
“What is
that supposed to mean to me, General?”
“Well,
sir, the generator’s full title includes development teams from both the
Santhe organization, which was developed in secret nearly thirty years
Pre-Empire date by the old Trade Federation; plus, the name Incom, which
is the organization that develops the technology for most of the Rebel
craft,” Tye said.
“I am
familiar with Incom, General,” Monovial said. “But what does it mean to
me?”
“The
turbolasers fired will be of a weaker charge, but not by a significant
amount.”
“Okay, is
that all?”
“Nothing
more than red laser fire in terms of colour, sir,” Tye said.
Monovial
smiled. “Red laser fire, General?” he said. “It looks like the end of the
world now, doesn’t it?” he said with a laugh. “We’ll never be able to
survive without our green starfighter shots now will we, General?” In an
effort to conform, General Tye smiled alongside Monovial, not sure what
he was so happy about.
“Like I
said, sir,” said Tye, “they are mildly weaker than the green fire.”
“I really
don’t care, General,” Monovial said, still smiling. “If the shield system
is stronger in defensive form, the strength of the laser fire shouldn’t
matter. And if they’re red, that seems even better.”
* * * *
Admiral
Torgon the Hutt was nowhere to be found. The widespread communications
system couldn’t locate him, and neither of the crew members could either.
General Sienar and Cygnus10 searched frantically for him for nearly an
hour, but the Hutt was gone. He was normally noticeable in a large crowd.
Or in a small crowd. But he was gone.
Every
possible location within the compound of the very busy Rebel Dominion was
scouted to find the ambassador of the new coalition. Sienar climbed on to
a tower repulsorlift that sent him high up in the centre of the compound.
Looking over the crowd he could see a lot was happening. Many officers
were repairing, or building new craft. The weather was good on this
planet so all of the craft were being built outside.
He could
see a lot of Cygnus10’s freighter designs being put together near the
back of the shield. He did say that he was going to submit some new
Modified Incom starfighter designs. Unfortunately, his plans for the
XX-Wing were lost with the destruction of the base on Mon Calamari ten
years prior.
Making
another quick glance over the giant compound, Sienar saw no sign of
Torgon the Hutt. The word would spread fast and both Mon Mothma and
Admiral Ackbar agreed that they no longer wished to lead the Rebel
Dominion. There were not too many other high-ranking officers who were
willing to take the responsibility of rebuilding from a rebellion other
than Torgon. Ackbar was to be returning to Ivinsnale in a few days. With
the disappearance of Torgon like this, provided he wouldn’t show up
sooner or later, Ackbar might be forced to take power, or at least
appoint a new leader.
Sienar
lowered the repulsorlift from the top of the tower, noticing that
Cygnus10 was waiting for him at the bottom of the muddy ground. The
gravity pulled his boots ten centimetres under the soil. “Well, General,
it looks like he has disappeared,” Cygnus10 said.
“It’s lot
bigger of a deal than that, William,” Sienar replied, stepping off of the
repulsorlift. “If he doesn’t show up, this entire Rebel Dominion could be
in one big disorganized mess. We need a responsible leader like Torgon to
run this thing. It is a big responsibility.”
“That’s
true, General,” Cygnus10 said. “My son seems to think that he will
return.”
“Don’t
trust the judgement of a ten year-old, Commander,” he said. Cygnus10
laughed.
“Don’t
worry, I don’t,” he replied.
“I want
you to start an assembly outside the base, Commander,” Sienar commanded.
“We need people to know this information. We can’t hide it forever.”
Sienar began running towards the base to clear an area when Cygnus10
pulled him back.
“But,
General,” he said, “what if he does show up?” Sienar let out a sigh
“Honestly
now, Commander. No prestigious officer like him would trek outside of the
compound and into the rainforest. Especially a Hutt. There is no way that
he would’ve been able to leave on a starship without one of the scanning
crews picking it up. He has disappeared and he isn’t coming back.”
* * * *
General
Tye sat in the chair beside Monovial, who stood on the Star Destroyer’s
bridge, looking out the window and waiting for his demonstration to
commence. Laid out on the front of the Star Destroyer was a flat lot
designed to hold spacecraft.
All of his
thousands of hours of work was now all built and right in front of him.
Atop the rectangular piece of the lot were two of the standard issue ISA
TIE Fighters that Monovial had designed, waiting for pilots to board
them. Below in the same collection of two was the new TIE Interceptor
craft. Below that was the TIE Bomber, now equipped with a single ion
turret at the back. A new design for the TIE Advanced Starfighter was
also lined up in two near the bottom of the lot.
But it was
the craft at the very bottom that Monovial was most anxious to see in
action. His personal design for a transport of his own was finally built.
It was the ISA Titan PT. From what it appeared at the bridge of
the Star Destroyer, it looked like nothing more than a shiny, black
rectangular prism. Engravings were visible a short ways into the side of
it and a large, bulbous red signal was positioned near the upper left.
“The
demonstration should begin shortly, sir,” General Tye said. He was also
anxious to see the new craft in working order. The two TIE Fighters took
off from the top of the lot and proceeded to the lot closer to the bridge
of the Star Destroyer. It was lined with numerous dummy Z-95 Headhunters
that had been disabled and were now being used as test subjects for the
starfighters.
Each of
the TIEs went in separate directions, one left and one right. They
grouped together once they had reached a sufficient altitude above the
testing lot and then formed side-by-side and weaved in a figure eight,
narrowly missing each other’s solar panels. This wholly expressed the
precise maneuverability that the new TIEs possessed. Coming out of the
figure eight flight pattern, the fighters dove down towards the lot.
Swooping back up, they blanketed the top of the testing lot with red
laser fire, easily destroying the dummy ships.
One of the
TIEs disappeared out of the vision of the window while the other flew
right near the window where Monovial stood looking out, very impressed
with his work. The ship turned sideways, clearly showing Monovial what
his design had produced up close. The TIE flew off and the other emerged
from the top of the bridge and stopped engine throttle right in front of
the window, displaying to Monovial what the back of the craft looked
like. Pulling it upwards, the ship rotated to display all ends of the new
fighter. Monovial was indeed very impressed with what was placed before
him.
The
remaining TIEs performed similar attack runs on the testing platform.
After the TIE Bombers made their run, there wasn’t too much left but some
heavily shielded X-Wings, who were being saved for the Titan’s
attack run.
General
Tye spoke a brief monologue to the Titan’s testing run. “Sir, your
craft, the ISA Titan PT is a highly maneuverable freighter which
serves many optional leisure purposes as well as a high defense
mechanism. The hull has been constructed, without your immediate
permission, with a substance known as duralinium, plus the black Doonium
coating. The duralinium shell makes it a very heavy craft, but also makes
it nearly invincible. Duralinium is perhaps the most powerful substance
that any organization has ever used for any purpose. This, however, is
the first time the metal has been used in the building of spacecraft.
Duralinium, along with the extraordinarily expensive metal Monaculium and
the very rare Jola Ghenta diamond, is one of three substances known to
have the strength to withstand or resist the power of a lightsabre
blade.” Monovial looked skeptical.
“General,”
he said, drawing up the hilt from the strap on his back and ignited the
two blades on his lightsabre, “these are blades of pure energy. Being
that I have constructed this weapon, I have an extensive knowledge of
what is pressed through the emitter when I turn it on. Raw energy,
General. Every substance forms resistance to the blade, but never have I
encountered something that would successfully block it under extreme
pressure.”
“Duralinium
is not something that is easy to come by, sir,” Tye said. “But you
mentioned how you wanted all funds necessary to go into construction of
your starcraft. Duralinium has been tested to resist such force. If you
wish, you may test it out on your ship itself. I have known you to be
quite skilled with the weapon and you may strike as hard as you like, and
very little or no damage will occur on the hull. In order to actually
penetrate the metal at a mere three-centimetre thickness, it would
require approximately two hundred strikes along the side of the blade,
and nearly 80 strong jabs.”
“Where did
you come up with that statistic, General Tye?” Monovial asked curiously.
“Old
Imperial records from about twenty-five years back had a mineral testing
project in an ore-processing plant near Ord Mantell. Darth Vader himself
performed durability tests on various metals. I don’t know all of the
details, but apparently he used various Force techniques and hurled
chunks of metal into molten pits and into walls and such things. After
that test was finished, then he would bring out the lightsabre. At least
that’s what I heard,” Tye explained.
“I don’t
care about Darth Vader, General,” Monovial said. “If you really want a
test of strength you need to bring in not a Jedi, but a machine to test
objects.”
“Oh, I
assure you, you will not be disappointed.”
The
demonstration commenced, and the Titan’s rectangular shape shifted
into a longer position, revealing a tinted red cockpit window. For its
look, the Titan was very maneuverable. At first sight, it appeared
to move better than even the TIE Interceptor, which was a substantially
flexible craft.
When the
tinted cockpit appeared from the break point in the rectangle, Monovial
was amazed at how accurate of a representation they had made according to
the rough sketches he had come up with weeks ago. The powerful cannons
blasted down hard against the shielded test X-Wings. Leaving significant
damage to the X-Wing’s hull, the Titan swooped upwards and plunged
back down into a nose dive. A small light underneath the cockpit changed
from red to blue and then to yellow. As it swooped very near to the
ground of the testing lot, two heavy rockets emerged from the warhead
launchers in the front.
The
rockets smashed into the three snubfighters on the lot and shattered them
to pieces smaller than the warheads themselves. Monovial was very
impressed. General Tye stood from his chair and looked out the
window beside Monovial. The Titan pulled up to the window and
rotated itself several times to display to Monovial its appearance up
close. “You have many options,” Tye said, looking over at Monovial. “The
interior can be customized to your wishes. You may set up seekers and
various other devices inside if you wish to improve on your skills with
the Force. There is an excellent area near the back of the ship that
already holds a large desk. It hooks up to a HoloNet link and a new
database has just been installed. Imperial Intelligence has expanded a
great deal since the beginning of your reign, sir. And with that, so have
the galactic records. You can find information for pretty well everyone
within the Outer Rim.”
Monovial
smiled and said, “Park the Titan in a small, private hangar. I
would like to try and destroy it if you don’t mind.”
* * * *
Ackbar’s
escort shuttle touched down in a reserved open area in the Rebel
Dominion’s compound. Sienar and Cygnus10 both awaited at the exit ramp
for the prestigious officer to emerge. Ackbar walked slowly out of the
shuttle in the same white uniform he always seemed to wear. He looked
very depressed and had good reason to be. The entire New Republic which
he had worked so hard to help build was destroyed by the actions of
Phadrax Monovial.
Sienar
approached Ackbar. “Admiral, I have arranged all of the former New
Republic’s officers to group together just on the other side of the
mobile base,” he said. “I think it would be wise to get your word on what
will happen here. Or more likely the consent of Mon Mothma.” Ackbar said
nothing but continued to walk faster. A cheap wooden stage had been
constructed for Ackbar’s arrival on the other side of the complex. All
officers were gathered in a group that seemed very large for an outdoor
meeting.
Ackbar
spoke into a connector of the voice amplification box set up on either
side of the scaffold. “Members of the former New Republic,” he began,
sounding very powerful, but very sad. “I have a large amount of
melodramatic news to deliver to you. I would like to begin by saying that
all of you are some of the finest collection of officers to ever fight
for justice in this galaxy. Neither I, nor Mon Mothma, even have the
courage that you do to keep on fighting.” The crowd was edgy about what
that could mean. Sienar, who stood on stage beside Cygnus10, was equally
unsure of what was to emerge from the speech. “What I mean, subliminally,
was that Mon Mothma has officially resigned command of the former New
Republic’s council and wishes no part in the creation of the Commonwealth
of Rebel Dominion 0027. Her command was without a doubt passed down to
me. Being given the chance to become another rebellion is not what I
want, either. All of your courage is respectable here. And after much
analysis, Mon Mothma and I came up with a decent agreement and choice of
leadership.” Already, people were looking for Admiral Crix Madine to
emerge from behind the scaffold. But he didn’t. “After hearing the news
about the disappearance of Admiral Torgon the Hutt, we have decided to
honorably elect a new rank into the Rebel Dominion. For the first time,
the spawning of the old Republic will have created the rank of Grand
Admiral, to command you in the never-ending quest for peace throughout
the galaxy.” The officers in the crowd were breathing heavily, some of
the veterans nearly in tears, watching as Admiral Ackbar made his last
appearance among them. He continued, “I now stand before you, officially
resigning my position of high prestige and responsibility here to your
new leader of the Rebel Dominion, Grand Admiral Leonardo Sienar!”
Everyone gasped. Sienar nearly fell over and Cygnus10 kept his balance
up. Ackbar looked over at Sienar and smiled for the first time that
anyone had seen since he had arrived. He turned back to the crowd. “In my
hand, I am holding a patch of medals, that signifies Sienar as your lead
command of the Rebel Dominion. What few of you may not understand, is the
true ability of Leonardo Sienar. Although he hasn’t truly discovered it
himself, he is a military and tactical genius, with excellent leadership
skills. I pray that you will trust my judgement and take Sienar as your
leader of the Rebel Dominion. I am returning to Mon Calamari, just as Mon
Mothma has returned to her home planet of Chandrila. I bid your quest
against the Interstellar Sith Allegiance good luck, and May the Force be
With You.” Ackbar left without another word. He climbed back into the
escort shuttle and blasted in the direction of his home planet.
Sienar
was going to make a small speech, but had nothing left to say. He
pinned the patch of medals near his left shoulder and stood proud over
the Rebel Dominion as rebuilding commenced in the compound on Ivinsnale.
His hatred for the ISA was increasing rapidly without notice. Under his
command, he hoped he could handle such a war. Monovial was now his equal.
His rival. His enemy.
* * * *
“It seems
that they have all evacuated, sir,” spoke the voice of Moff Gujjay.
Phadrax Monovial was very angry at the comment. His crew had just scouted
out the planet Habassa for the remnants of the alliance known as the
Harris56, the only possible group that could cause a rebellion to the
ISA’s ways. There power was of no match, but the mere annoyance pushed
Monovial to take care of it early.
“What do
you mean they evacuated?!” Monovial shouted. “The Harris56 never leave
here! There is no possible way that they could’ve known that we were
coming! How long have they been gone?”
Gujjay
looked at a small, flashing transmitter in his hand. “Judging by the
looks of it, they disappeared approximately four months ago. Around the
time when the New Repub“
“The New
Republic does not exist!” Monovial shot back, interrupting Gujjay’s
meaningful sentence. “Are you trying to suggest that the weak fleet of
Harris56 joined with the weak remnants of the New Republic to form some
sort of new rebellious vendetta against me?!” Gujjay looked into
Monovial’s angry eyes and saw red. Red eyes that appeared so very angry.
“It is but
a possibility, sir,” said Moff Gujjay. Monovial’s eyes got even redder.
“The New
Republic is DEAD!” Monovial screamed at the top of his lungs. In a
violent rage, he threw his arms out forward, carrying Gujjay’s body
backwards with the Force. He slammed hard into the wall behind him aboard
the ship. Monovial tried to calm down, but he could not stand to hear
anything about the New Republic. It had been four months since he wiped
out 0004 and the rest of them surrendered and ran away. “Understand
something, Moff Gujjay!” he shouted to the officers who was recuperating
from his injury. “I no longer wish to be just ‘sir’. I haven’t worn a
full body-length cloak for nine years, Moff!” Monovial drew his
lightsabre from the strap on his back and held the handle out in front of
his body. Spinning it rapidly, he ignited both blades. “Create a citadel
aboard the House of Lords. Demolish the former chambers of
Militiades and replace them with ones for me. From now on, and spread the
word, I wish to be addressed as Lord Monovial, or my lord, or Dark Lord
Monovialwhatever you find as appropriate for the first of the new Sith. I
have been delaying the re-creation of the Sith for a long time now, Moff!
And I wish to begin now!”
Fear
induced Moff Gujjay, but he listened and obeyed. Every officer he met
upon leaving the room was told about Monovial’s new conquest of the new
Sith race. Everyone would address him as a Dark Lord of the Sith now. Or
they would be terminated in more ways than one.
* * * *
“Grand
Admiral Sienar, you have a visitor,” said a male voice from a small
speaker on Sienar’s desk. The chamber built for him was a comfortable
room with enough monitors to keep track of everything. The Rebel Dominion
had made much progress in the last few months of building.
“Who is
it?” Sienar said back into the speaker.
“A young
Jedi, sir,” the voice came back. Sienar hadn’t heard much from the Jedi
since Dominic Artemius disappeared to Bakura several years ago.
“Send him
in then.” Almost instantly, the door to Sienar’s chamber slid into the
walls and a teenage boy of about fourteen emerged from the door, wearing
the standard Jedi’s undertunic, but no cloak. His hair was white; not a
light blond that had been seen countless times before, but white.
“Why, hello there,” Sienar said as the boy approached the desk.
“Good
morning, Grand Admiral, sir,” the boy said. “I’m not sure if you are
familiar with me. I am Jedi Apprentice Antioch Fi, seeking a request of
you, sir.” Sienar smiled.
“Your name
does sound familiar,” Sienar said. “It has been busy lately, so I’m
afraid my memory isn’t very sharp. Enlighten me, young man.” Antioch
swallowed nervously.
“A long
time ago I was rescued from Alzoc III by the Jedi Ilyssis Pico. I lived
for three years on the planet Habassa II and trained as a Jedi from the
age of five to eight. When I was eight, Dominic Artemius came to Habassa
and took me to meet Pico, who would’ve trained me had he not been killed
too soon,” Antioch said, reluctantly. Sienar was familiar with this
already.
“Yes, I
know who you are, Antioch,” Sienar said. “And what do you request of
me?”
“Well,
sir,” Antioch said, “I have noticed that you need all the help you can
get around here if you are to complete the Rebel Dominion within the
year. I am certain that to save on maintenance for scouting operations,
you could use a Jedi Knight to assist you, rather than putting valuable
workers to the task.”
“That
would be very helpful, Antioch,” Sienar said, “but I’m afraid you are far
too young, and not a true Jedi Knight to perform such a task. Indeed a
respectable offer, but not possible I’m afraid.”
Antioch
shook his head and smiled. “No, not me,” he said. “If need be, I can
locate Dominic Artemius and bring him back to your service. No one else
can do this because I am his only link to this place. As far as he knows,
the New Republic is gone, and nothing came out of it. He doesn’t know
about the Rebel Dominion. Because I know him, I’m almost certain that he
would help us.”
“You can
do that?” Sienar asked curiously.
“Yes, of
course, sir.”
“I won’t
ask questions to stall your time here, Antioch,” Sienar said. “Except
one. You appear to be a well-trained Apprentice with all of the proper
apparel. I know for a fact that since Artemius left six odd years ago,
there has not been a Jedi Knight in our service. Who trains you?” Antioch
smiled, looking down at the lightsabre hilt slung from the side of his
traditional undertunic.
“I train
myself, sir,” Antioch said proudly. “Please don’t doubt my abilities
because of that, sir. I don’t want to be dubbed as incompetent.” Sienar
laughed.
“Well, you
made that didn’t you?” Sienar said, pointing to the lightsabre. “Looks
like fine evidence to me, Antioch. Now do your best and be sure to come
back.” Antioch bid him farewell and set off to find a freighter pilot who
would take him to Bakura, where Artemius lived and most likely was
residing at that time.
* * * *
Monovial’s
Titan was far ahead of the rest of the Imperial fleet. All ships
from the ISA’s collection of craft assembled together just outside the
Roche Asteroid Field and began making a jump for Coruscant. The
Titan had left earlier to land in the area once known as Imperial
City; he had come to clean out the Imperial palace. Since the building
had been abandoned when the New Republic had left, Monovial was certain
that the homeless and others seeking luxury were living in the building
now. With virtually no enforcement to keep them out of the building,
Monovial had decided on doing it himself.
He touched
down on the landing platform nearest to the palace, not requiring a
landing permit from anyone. A few other personal craft and small
Corellian freighters were also parked on the outside of the platform.
This was Monovial’s first sign that someone was in, or in the vicinity of
the building.
Exiting
the Titan, Monovial was carrying the heavy black cloak that he had
constructed by Moff Gujjay’s branch of officers that sewed Imperial
uniforms. It was very dark and very clean. Its sturdy material was
exactly what Monovial wanted. A series of black strands extended off of
the inside of the cloak as Monovial held it upwards in front of him. He
draped the cloak over his shoulders and put his arms through the deep
sleeves. He tied the outside straps to the inside straps and left an open
space between the cloak and the neck-high black shirt underneath.
He was
finally wearing the first of the cloaks that would represent the new
Sith. Walking across a small bridge and on to the main compound of the
palace, Monovial reached into the cloak and behind his side. Upon
reaching the doors, he drew himself backwards and drew out the
long-hilted lightsabre from the strap on his back. Igniting a single
blade he struck downwards on to the small brace lock on the door.
Instantly smashing the lock, he pushed forward with the Force and the two
large doors swung open.
Monovial
draped the hood over his head and walked slowly, gripping the deactivated
weapon in his right hand. Just as he had expected, there were various
people making a small home out of the building. All of which were staring
down at Monovial, wondering what his position here was. He stared to his
left as he walked up along a red carpet to a small family of three
Kamarians. The family had a small fortress built around a column that
appeared to have once held a statuemost likely stolen.
When
Monovial reached the end of the room he turned around and stared at
everything before him in the room. He removed the hood from his head and
it rested on his back. Holding his lightsabre well away from his body, he
ignited the two blades of the weapon. Several of the building’s
inhabitants screamed, most gasped at the shock of seeing such a sight.
A small
human family of four began to run out the door. A man with a moustache
was guiding two little children out the door as their mother fled in
front of all of them. Very suddenly, Monovial bolted to the end of the
room and spun his weapon wildly at the man. Striking upwards, it pierced
the man’s face and he fell to the floor of the palace. The children were
crying as they watched their father lose consciousness instantly.
Monovial
looked over at the children and their mother, when the woman stepped in
front of the kids. She was willing to sacrifice herself to save the
children. Monovial knew that it wouldn’t do a lot of good. He thrusted
his free hand forward and the Force instantly threw the three humans
outside of the door. He then guided the doors shut and turned to face the
rest of the less fortunate residents of this palace.
To his
surprise, four of the residents, two humans and two Rodians were pointing
blaster rifles at him. Three of them had their weapons shaking nervously,
while the fourth remained steady and appeared to be a warrior of some
sort. His apparel consisted of a military-like belt that consisted of
more gadgets such as thermal detonators and a seeker here and there. “Do
not disturb this area, sir,” the man said. “Now if you will kindly leave
the area, we will avoid any further unpleasant conflict.”
Monovial
looked up at the man with no expression. Normally he would smile at the
warrior’s useless efforts, but he was far too busy for that. The Imperial
fleet would be arriving soon and he wished to clear out this building
before they arrived. “You are indeed brave to vocally stand up to a
powerful man as I,” Monovial said calmly, executing a rapid collection of
whirlwinds with his double-bladed lightsabre. He turned off both ends of
the weapon and strapped it to his back.
The man
lowered his weapon as well. “To withdraw your weapon was an honorable
task. I do not recommend fighting me for the power of this facility. I
currently administrate the area unofficially and have never lost to a
power-hungry citizen like yourself,” the man said, assuming a stance that
seemingly prepared for a fist fight of some sort.
Now
Monovial smiled. Stepping forward into the close-quarters of the man, he
also assumed a fighting stance. The Force quickly brought him brief
prophecy and he turned to his left as a blaster bolt came rushing towards
him. Being able to see the action before it happened gave Monovial enough
time to stop the shot in mid-flight. The red beam hovered in the air and
soon dissipated into the atmosphere. “Wonderful trick,” Monovial said to
the man who seemed confused at the situation. Monovial lunged forward
reaching back behind his cloak and drawing a single blade as the hilt
emerged from the strap on his back. Swiping cleanly upwards, the man’s
left arm seemed to disappear and reappear instantly, then falling to the
floor.
His scream
caught the attention of everyone in the building, as many more residents
emerged from upper floors just moments later. The man was still standing
and Monovial held his lightsabre blade high above his head. Another of
the nervous officers fired at Monovial multiple times, but each blast was
deflected. One into the Kamarian family’s hut, and another two into the
body of its originator.
The man no
longer seemed to be in pain, but just looked at Monovial with hatred. The
dark warrior decided that it was time to end this confrontation. Monovial
came down hard on the man, but he rolled out of the way. In light of the
events, Monovial thrusted the man back with the Force towards one of the
metal walls of the building. In mid-air, he executed a half flip and
landed on the wall with his feet, pressing off and landing safely on the
ground.
The mere
fact that this man had survived two direct attacks astonished Monovial
and angered him even further. The next move he made after landing off of
the wall was an offensive. Not smart, Monovial thought to himself,
holding his weapon in a ready position. The man ran forwards and jumped
high in the air. Monovial swung upwards with both blades, but both
narrowly missed the figure. Coming down from the jump, the man planted
his heel into Monovial’s face.
Kicking
back to his feet, Monovial deactivated one blade of his lightsabre and
tightly gripped the long hilt, staring back at his opponent. He charged
forwards at the unarmed man, swinging downwards. The man evaded the
attack and grabbed Monovial’s arm, quickly tossing him over his hip.
Monovial felt winded as the man jammed his heel into his stomach.
Bringing the top of his foot underneath Monovial’s arm, the man flipped
the lightsabre out of his hand and into his own, deactivating the other
blade as well.
“Phadrax
Monovial, I presume,” the man said, looking down at the beaten dark Jedi.
Monovial couldn’t believe it. First of all, he was just defeated by an
unarmed, limbless warrior who had no talent in the Force whatsoever
and he knew his name. He was no longer angry, though. He could tell
now that the man was obviously friendly to the ISA.
“Who are
you?” Monovial said getting up to his feet and straightening out his
cloak. The man smiled and looked up at the taller man.
“My name
is Lotaan Xta Santau, a bounty hunter from Selonia,” he replied. “And in
case you are curious, I wrote a transcript a few years ago that is
available through the HoloNet on a fighting strategy designed to defeat a
Jedi Knight.” Monovial was still looking at him strangely. He was not
aware that any fist-fighting technique could defeat a Jedi. Looking at
the bounty hunter once more, he saw that he was no longer missing an arm.
Lotaan saw his confusion as well. “Oh, and the arm was all part of the
deception.”
“The
deception?” Monovial said, his anger slowly becoming more and more
controlled with the presence of the Imperial-friendly human.
“After the
New Republic left the area, I rigged this room with many holographic
projectors that can create a number of deceptions. I programmed this one
just for you,” Lotaan said. “We will speak more of how I obtained all of
this knowledge when your Imperial fleet arrives in fifteen
minutes.”
* * * *
Antioch
Fi, although not licensed to do so, piloted a small ship off of the moon
of Ivinsnale. Most of the monitors of the hangar assumed that Antioch had
a pilot already waiting in the craft, but he didn’t. Fortunately, most of
his trip didn’t require too much skill with maneuverability. All he
really needed to know was how to operate the hyperspace calculation
system. And he did.
The
Fabritech hyperdrive computer system was not nearly as complicated as
some of the others he knew how to operate, so all he truly had to do was
find his destination on a vast starmap. The map was marked in sectors
that no longer existed, but the outdated system was not hard to follow
either. Most of the sectors that were marked on the starmap had merely
changed hands in power and some had expanded. His destination, Bakura,
was still in the same spot it always was.
Antioch
was always curious as to what Dominic Artemius did on Bakura for six
years of solitude. No doubt he could sense the burdens being placed on
the galaxy without a government and he probably knew that a darker power
would soon have control of everything.
A red
light in the upper board of controls in the cockpit of the starship was
flashing and Antioch pressed it. An image appeared on the navigation
screen in front of him. It appeared to be a smuggling craft that was
tracking Antioch’s ship. It took a few moments for the limited scanners
to pick up the callsign and cargo of the craft, but it identified it as
the Devotee. The passengers were identified as the NaQuoit
Bandits.
Antioch
had researched the Ottega system where Ivinsnale was located, and had
read a great deal about the NaQuoit Bandits. They were an outlaw group
who used to prey upon local space traffic in the system. But the last he
read, the organization ended with the events surrounding the creation of
the Jedi Academy.
Either
way, Antioch suspected that they could be hostile craft and he quickly
re-entered the calculations for Bakura. In short time, a transmission
from the NaQuoit freighter was interrupted by the jump to hyperspace.
Antioch
let out a sigh of relief as he was safely in the hyperspace dimension.
The trip would take some time to get from the Ottega system all the way
to Bakura. Whenever he had a spare moment, he would normally work on his
Jedi skills, but the craft he was on had no remote or seeker equipped to
train with.
He
improvised anyway and went to the sloppy area in back of the ship and
scrambled for useful items. In the cargo hold at the very back he found
some emergency survival items. One of which was a tent that he opened up
in the back of the room. The green canvas appeared to be held together
strongly, so Antioch thought of a relaxing idea that would improve his
skill.
He climbed
inside the tent and laid on his back in the middle. Closing his eyes, he
rested his hands on his chest, concentrating on the Force. Once he had
established a good flow, he let all of his tense muscles become loose and
the tent began to rise. Antioch stopped raising the tent when the top
neared the roof of the starship’s interior and then held it stable. It
was almost like a very relaxing hammock that he was in.
It took a
lot more focus than he expected, though. When a loud beeping blared into
his ears, he lost all of that focus and the entire tent fell back to the
ground. Antioch landed first. His back hit the floor with a loud thud,
but he managed to get up to pull himself out of hyperspace.
Arriving
at the pilot’s seat, he twisted and turned to try and cure the kink in
his back muscles, but couldn’t. He watched the metre beside the
hyperdrive lever and when it hit zero, he yanked on the switch. The
bright, rocky view from the cockpit transformed into starlines and soon
after displayed a close view of Bakura. He had a calm feeling from the
Force once he neared the planet’s atmosphere. He could feel the presence
of Artemius.
But he
became alert and uncontrollably scared again when he increased the
throttle to outrun a craft belonging to the NaQuoit Bandits that had
followed him all the way there.
* * * *
Various
Star Destroyers and other capital ships began to enter the high
stratosphere of Coruscant as the sun set. Phadrax Monovial stood beside
Lotaan as they stared into the sky at the massive fleet. Various
Corvettes and shuttles were coming down to land on some of the platforms
connected to the Imperial palace. Most of them unloaded stormtroopers and
many flight officers. Monovial would escort them into the building, which
Lotaan had emptied as a part of his good will to the ISA.
The
building would be used as the central government quarters for the ISA’s
rule, but Monovial planned to do all of his military work on the House
of Lords. He chose it to be his primary battle station until about
ten years down the road when his capital creation was to be completed. He
had scrapped the Interdictor-class Star Destroyer and designed the
Interdictor 2-class Star Destroyer. The project was to be
completed by the Imperial Navy in about a decade’s time. He couldn’t wait
for it.
Monovial
and Lotaan rode the elevator shaft to the top floor and went into a room
that held a dusty, circular table and various white, cushioned chairs.
“This is where the governmental council will be held,” said the bounty
hunter, smiling. “Judging by your personality traits, I have already
ordered in cleaners and new black chairs.”
“Why thank
you, Lotaan,” Monovial replied wryly. Circling the table, Monovial
observed that there was only enough space in the room to accommodate
about twenty or twenty-five members. “Can we make this table bigger at
all?”
Lotaan
jogged over to a control panel at the side of the entrance door to the
room. Opening a small hatch that blanketed the controls, he punched in a
number sequence on the keypad. “Stand back,” he said. Just then, from
under the table, came more layers of metallic surface that expanded the
console by 40%.
“I see,”
Monovial replied to the action.
“Now it could easily accommodate the use of nearly fifty council members.
Each of the new chairs that we are bringing in have a control pad on them
as well. Most of which operate the holographic projector in the table’s
centre,” Lotaan said, pointing at the bulbous device at the centre of the
table.
“It’s
looking good, Lotaan,” Monovial said. “Let’s hope it is set up by the end
of the day.” With that, he left the room to meet up with more of his
Imperial colleagues.
* * * *
As Antioch
stepped out of the ship, he looked into the sky of Bakura and saw the
NaQuoit Bandit craft approaching fast. He was just outside a small city.
A city where he hoped to be able to find some records of where Artemius
resided on this planet. At the sense of danger, he sprinted into the
city, hoping that the Bandits would lose track of him.
He came
upon a street where many people were busily moving from place to place.
Hiding behind the wall of the nearest building, he peered around the
corner back at his ship. The NaQuoit ship had touched down and about
seven or eight of them emerged from the elevation raft that extended from
the bottom of the hull. Without even stopping to converse with one
another, five of them began running towards the city, while the remaining
ones analyzed Antioch’s ship.
Squinting
hard, Antioch could see that one of the Bandits had spotted him with a
pair of macrobinoculars. He made his move back on to the street, shoving
his way through a crowd of people. He needed to find a place to hide,
because his Jedi undertunic identified him as a Jedi learner without a
doubt.
Scrambling
around the street, he saw a small building perched on the corner of the
street that appeared to be dark inside and full of a lot of beings to
hide amongst. He side-stepped across the street and slid into the small
doorway, bumping into a large, tough-looking member of the Duro species.
Antioch then realized that he was in a tavern and wasn’t exactly the
right age for such a drinking establishment. The Duro turned around and
looked angrily at him with his slit red eyes. He was screaming something
in his own language that Antioch couldn’t pick up on.
The Duro
shoved Antioch backwards and then turned around, blocking the exit and
standing tall over him. He mumbled something else that Antioch assumed
had something to do with identification. Someone tapped on his shoulder
and he turned to face a bulky human carrying a rag. “That Duro there is
the bouncer of this facility, kid. You got some ID, then I can clear you
in here if you want,” said the man.
Antioch
wasn’t quite sure what to do. “II really should be going, I don’t think
I’m old enough to stay here and I don’t want to cause any trouble here,
so I’ll be going now,” he said and began heading out the door. The man
stopped him on his way out.
“Hang on,
kid,” the man said, turning Antioch around. “The legal drinking age on
Bakura is 14, and you look right for the part. Besides, the way you came
bursting in here made it look like you were running from someone. It’s a
pretty safe place here.” Antioch shrugged his shoulders and showed the
Duro his identification card that he had in a small satchel attached to
his belt.
The room
was filled with musty air and thick smoke. Antioch looked around and sat
at a small table near the back. He kept in the corner just in case one of
the NaQuoit Bandits came in searching for him. Shortly thereafter, a
group of about five or six beings entered the pub. Three of them were
Kubaz, another a Barabel and the last one to enter the room was indeed a
NaQuoit Bandit.
Antioch
hid his face from the entranceway by burying his head in his arms and
occasionally glancing up at the Bandit, who had stopped at the door and
was talking to the Duro bouncer. After saying a few words to the bouncer,
the Duro got enraged and pulled a sidearm from his belt. Antioch sat up
quickly and saw that the Bandit had also drawn a blaster rifle from his
side.
Both of
them were staring right at Antioch and ready to fire at him. The Duro
aimed an fired a few sloppy shots at Antioch, most of which were terribly
inaccurate shots that exploded on the wall behind him. Antioch ducked low
under the table and rolled sideways out into the open. He kept low, but
already everyone was focusing on him and he knew that the Duro and the
Bandit would be coming shortly.
Realizing
that he couldn’t run from it, he sprung up on to his feet and unhooked
the lightsabre from his belt, igniting it in defense. The Bandit and the
Duro were coming towards him through the crowd of various species. When
they emerged, both began firing shots at Antioch. A lot of them he was
able to evade, but some he was forced to deflect with some difficulty.
Antioch
rolled forwards and swiped at the Bandit, cleanly carving the barrel off
of the blaster. He quickly ran into the crowd. The Duro turned quickly
and fired back at him. Deactivating his weapon, Antioch dove out the
small entranceway, feeling a sharp pain in his leg as a blaster bolt
pierced his skin. Wounded just above his boot, he realized that he
couldn’t run any further. He was trapped.
He started
dragging himself away from the building, hoping to find someone who would
help him, but the Duro and the Bandit both emerged from the pub, aiming
directly at Antioch’s head. Antioch looked with fear down the barrel of
the Bandit’s small hand pistol. A blaster bolt formed in the centre of
the barrel and projected itself right at Antioch’s eyes. He couldn’t see
anything but a bright green light wave by his face and deflect the bolt
into the Bandit’s throat.
Dominic
Artemius jumped in front of Antioch, who was lying on the road still.
Three shots came from the Duro’s weapon and each was deflected back at
him with blinding speed. Antioch stood up and limped toward Artemius to
thank him. “Quickly, Antioch! Where’s your ship?” Dominic said hastily,
looking over to four other NaQuoit Bandits who were approaching from the
other side of the road.
Antioch
gestured over towards the city exit where the ship was located. A number
of shots came from the other side of the street as the Bandits continued
to close in on Artemius and Antioch. Dominic managed to block most of
them and then pulled Antioch backwards. “Hang on,” he said, and Antioch
gripped tighter around Dominic’s shoulders.
Before he
knew it, they were right near the ship thanks to Artemius’ skillful
manipulation of the Force. Two NaQuoit Bandits emerged from behind the
ship, firing at Antioch. He dropped to the ground, avoiding the shots and
Artemius hit them out of the air with precise accuracy, hitting each of
the Bandits in the chest. “More of them are coming,” Antioch said,
limping on to the ship. “Hurry!”
Artemius
ran on to the entranceway and closed up the ship as Antioch prepared it
for takeoff. The craft lifted off the surface of Bakura and blasted into
hyperspace moments later, heading back to the fleet of 0027 on
Ivinsnale.
* * * *
Phadrax
Monovial stood staring out at the enormous city that was Coruscant.
Finally his tyranny was official. All of the citizens were no longer
under the free, revolutionary control of the New Republic. Monovial
thought that the galaxy was far too scattered and unorganized when the
Empire lost power.
But now
that power was back, and he kept it all to himself, letting only a few
elite officers make important decisions. He had decided that Lotaan Xta
Santau would be one of his personal advisors. He was hardly the one whom
would be the second in the new line of Sith. He had the same qualities as
Reeo Kcranuvelle did years ago, and therefore was not adept enough with
the Force to even begin his training.
Lotaan was
a unique bounty hunter. Most of the bounty hunters that Monovial had had
experience with were scruffy, money-seeking scum. But Lotaan wasn’t there
for money. He was a seeker of information. And very good at his job,
obviously. Monovial still didn’t know who Lotaan’s sources were, but they
were very good ones indeed. They impressed Monovial, and not many things
had done that since he began running the ISA.
He had a
list of things to do that he never intended on creating before he took
the Empire for himself. His first plan was to get known around the
galaxy. He planned a significant battle that would make his presence
known all around the galaxy. Although he hadn’t mentioned it to anyone as
of yet, he intended on carrying that idea out as soon as possible.
Then he
would be known as a terror in the galaxy. His oppressive ways would
replace the Republican government no matter what the people wanted.
* * * *
“Thanks,
Dominic,” Antioch said, emerging from the cockpit of the ship. Artemius
was sitting in a low chair, blankly staring up at him. “I suppose it’s a
rather stupid question, but how did you know I was in trouble?”
Artemius
smiled and then returned to his blank expression. “I knew you were on the
planet for quite some time, Antioch. Just as you felt my presence, I felt
yours,” Artemius said. “I assumed that a person as smart as you would
head to a city or settlement. Fortunately, it was one that I live nearby.
So exactly why are you here, Antioch? I’m hypothesizing that you aren’t
visiting me just to show me how much you’ve grown since I last saw you.”
Dominic smiled as Antioch sat down in the low chair beside him.
“No,
that’s definitely not it,” Antioch said. “The New Republic doesn’t exist
anymore, Dominic. I came here to get your help.”
“Yes, I
know what happened to the Republic. They were wiped out by some group
that just doesn’t seem to want to show their face,” Artemius said with a
frown. “However, I came here to get rid of the life as a Jedi Knight and
defender of peace in the galaxy. I came here to avoid tragedy
again.”
“But it is
very important, Dominic,” Antioch said. “The New Republic didn’t get
wiped out, we merely got chased out of power by the Interstellar Sith
Allegiance. That would be the group you are referring to.”
“Sith?”
Artemius questioned.
“Yes,
Sith,” Antioch replied. “Apparently the association’s leader, Phadrax
Monovial is going to rebuild the Sith race after he becomes known
galaxy-wide.”
“This
Phadrax Monovial isn’t very smart is he?”
“Oh, I
wouldn’t doubt his intelligence, Dominic. He has the military wits to
wipe out every single fleet in the New Republic. That sounds pretty
impressive to me. The remnants of the New Republic fled from Coruscant
with the help of Admiral Torgon and the mobile base of 0027 to a remote,
pre-warp technology world called Ivinsnale way out in the Ottega system.
There they are rebuilding what is now being called the Rebel Dominion, or
something like that.”
“Very
interesting,” Dominic said attentively, scratching his chin. “And you
need my help because . . .”
“Because
we need all the help we can get. Torgon disappeared and no one knows
where he ran off to. The fact is, he doesn’t exist anymore. Admiral
Ackbar and Mon Mothma both retired from the project of becoming a
rebellion again and now Sienar is in control as the first Grand Admiral
rank that we’ve ever had.”
“Did I
really miss that much?” Artemius said. He was quite surprised that so
many events had transpired. Particularly surprised that Mothma would
retire. She was a fighter to the end. “So they are back to being a
rebellion and the cycle is starting all over again, is that it?”
“That’s
it,” Antioch said.
“And what
do those NaQuoit Bandits have to do with it all?”
Antioch
looked puzzled. “I don’t know. I don’t think it has anything to do with
it actually. The NaQuoit Bandits are nothing but outlaws who like to prey
on stray space traffic in the Ottega system. But I’ve never heard of them
hanging around Ivinsnale before.”
“I really
don’t think I can help you, Antioch,” Artemius said. “I defended
alongside Ilyssis a long time ago and that was the prime fundamental in
my professional life as a Jedi Knight. I can’t get that back.”
“Don’t you
want to find Pico’s assailant?”
“Vengeance
has never been my calling, Antioch.”
Antioch
sighed. “Dominic, your talents are far too powerful to be wasted. The
fact is, the former New Republic needs warriors like you. If the new Sith
end up being created, you will surely track down Pico’s aggressor. Then
you might solve that conflict that you seem to have within yourself.
You’re too young to quit.”
Artemius
looked up at the ceiling and thought for a moment, then turning back to
Antioch. “You haven’t been around nearly as long as I, Antioch, but you
have a skill that I could never have.”
“What’s
that?”
“The
ability to talk people into things that they never would’ve done before.”
Antioch smiled and thanked Artemius in every language he could speak.
It was
only months later that the Rebel Dominion established a great deal of
order and a stable government. The fleet was making a lot of progress in
being rebuilt and Dominic Artemius’ actions created more help for the
Rebel Dominion than originally anticipated. Antioch Fi continued to train
himself, despite the many offers to learn under the instruction of
Artemius himself.
Grand
Admiral Sienar kept the Rebel Dominion in hiding for years to build a
powerful fleet and kept track of Monovial’s ISA and their politics. As
much as he would’ve liked to step into battle, Sienar remained in hiding
and aided in the final testing of the new, modified starfighters would
greatly aid them in the near future.
The
Commonwealth of Rebel Dominion 0027 was finally ready to strike.
