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"Attention all crews of the Liberator, Emancipator, and Thunderflare! This is Admiral Pyrl. The situation is as follows: Admiral Ozzel has attempted to go rogue with the Executor but has been opposed by a faction led by Captain Piett. Lord Vader has already boarded the Executor and secured the Hyperdrive Generator to prevent it from leaving the system.
The Executor itself is significantly damaged and both sides have taken control of different parts of the ship. As we advance, all boarding parties keep in mind that our enemies will be fellow Stormer Troopers. And no ship is to fire upon the Executor without my approval. We are here to reclaim the Executor, not destroy it."
With that, she ended the transmission, and all the while she stared out at the massive ship. It hung in space like a wounded beast. One, ironically, they were coming to aid.
"Amazing, isn't it?"
Pyrl turned to see the captain of the Thunderflare, a former lieutenant of hers. "Captain Vero."
"Admiral," Linis Vero returned with a nod, smiling wistfully out the window of the control bridge. "I never thought I'd see the like of her again."
Tanda nodded in agreement. "We were all starting to suspect we might not find the Executor, but Lord Vader couldn't take the chance of it falling into anyone else's hands."
Vero hummed. "How bad is it really on there?"
"Both sides have become entrenched after a year of fighting. And some of the crew went insane. Apparently, there is a horde of weaponized Mouser droids that Lord Vader helped contain," Pyrl explained with a headshake. "I can only hope that trying to repair this behemoth won't break us."
"I wonder if this is how the rebels always felt in terms of resources, scrounging about for supplies the best they could," Vero remarked. "How likely are we to be fired upon?"
"Minimally. The plan is to take out any turrets that fire upon us, but only if we have to," Pyrl answered, her shoulders stiff and her frame rigid.
"This isn't the first time we've had to fight fellow imperials," Vero remained offhandedly.
"Vero, the Executor had nearly three-hundred thousand personnel, almost all military trained. It had four times the number of stormtroopers as any Star Destroyer," Pyrl reminded firmly, scowling at him. "There are literally enough people in there to have a genuine war between both factions."
"Ahh. Yes, when you put it in numbers like that, I see your point," Vero said grimly. "You don't think we brought enough?"
"I think I'm thankful we have allies abroad with a foothold. Even Lord Vader could only minimize our losses so much if Ozzel had complete control of the ship and crew."
Elsewhere, Vader regrouped with Piett. "Lord Vader, I'm afraid I have good news and bad news to report," Piett informed grimly.
"Ozzel's forces have opened fire," Vader concluded.
"Yes, some have. Others have surrendered," Piett explained. "It is, in a word, chaos, My Lord. My men are growing worried those that have surrendered are merely feints, to attempt to attack us from behind."
Possible. It would be unlike Ozzel, but clearly others were doing the planning instead of just that fool. The Executor was massive though, and it would take time for the forces of the Death Squadron to traverse them to meet up with them.
"Has there been any approach by the enemy to the Hyperdrive generator?" Vader questioned.
"Negative, My Lord," Piett answered.
"You may want to change that answer, Admiral."
They both turned to see Retwin approaching.
"Squads are moving this way, approaching from the sternward halls," he informed, looking to Piett. "I think they're blocker teams, Sir."
"Dammit," Piett said, looking to Vader, knowing he wouldn't understand the term. "They may be planning to collapse the halls to block us from advancing from here."
"Ozzel is attempting to delay our reunion," Vader said in an ominously cold tone. "I shall have to disappoint him."
And like that, he went off in the direction Retwin came from.
"Ozzel's desperate if he'd risk that kind of damage down here," Retwin remarked to Piett. "He could cut off power to vital systems, his sections of the ship and ours."
"I don't think Ozzel is concerned with the long term when he shall doubtfully see tomorrow," Piett remarked as he watched Vader leave for the front lines.
Meanwhile
Anakin was happy to say that the deeper into this technical area of the government building, the fewer guards there were. It seemed whatever nefarious group was behind this was only using the front most portion.
That said, there were some close calls.
Anakin peeked his head out, just enough to look out from behind the thin passage covered in thick cables. "Alright, we're clear on this side," he said quietly.
Damask winced as he moved out of the gap, his large frame a bit more cramped in it. "Those guards didn't seem to be in a hurry. So I don't think we've been discovered yet," he observed.
"That or they're trying to keep this quiet," Anakin said. "I don't suppose you have any idea who those humans were or why they're involved in this?"
"I know as much as you do, young Jedi," Plagueis lied smoothly. "I can safely guess what they're after though."
"One of the three Albingi races is trying to take over the planet from the other two, maybe even wipe out the other two," Anakin said with a frown.
"I heard something about that Vader," Plagueis mused. "Do you think he is somehow behind this?"
"No, they sounded scared of Vader finding them, not of failing him, "Anakin reasoned. He debated how much he should share with this Muun. "Do you know anything about Albingi architecture?"
"Just that they're a race that is primarily left-handed," he answered idly. "Can you contact your master? With the Force perhaps?"
"Not exactly," Anakin said with a sigh. "I could if we're close enough. But he knows something is wrong, so he should be-"
Anakin stopped as the alarm went off loudly, red lights blaring overhead.
"They know," Plagueis mused with a frown.
"I...don't think that was us," Anakin said, looking off to the side with a strange look on his face.
"Hm?" Plaguies looked, truly looked through Force.
He sensed Arden Lyn.
And then there was an explosion.
"What was that!?" Anakin exclaimed in surprise. It had sounded fairly close, close and strong enough to make the ground tremble beneath them.
"I don't know," Plagueis answered, and he meant it. By all the Tombs of Korriban, what was that woman doing now?
Anakin decided to make a gut reaction. "Come on, we need to try and get further away, they'll be investigating whatever that was," Anakin said as they hurried down a corridor that, hopefully, led away from the explosion.
Normally, Anakin might investigate it, but he was currently already rescuing this Muun.
Hego followed him, both trying to make haste without making too much noise, the sound carrying in these halls. It didn't take long before they ran into a dead end filled with electrical boxes.
"Damn. No way out," Damask cursed, feigning labored breath as he pretended to clutch his not-so-injured chest.
"Wait a minute," Anakin said as he examined the machinery. "Okay, I don't know one bit of the Albingi written language, but I know my equipment. I think this is relays for an emergency generator."
"And that helps us how?" Hego asked with a furrowed brow.
Plagueis had a good guess of where they were going but wasn't about to steal the boy's thunder.
"Well, normally there'd be an emergency way to get into a space like this, to get to it easily," Anakin mused, looking around the area for any sign of an exit. "Ahh. Magister?" Anakin said, looking straight up.
"Hmm?" Plagueis looked up and saw a hatch in the ceiling, almost hidden among the cables. It was far too high for the padawan to reach on his own and it would be a bit strange for an injured Damask to have the strength to do it on his own. "I suppose you will need a lift, Young Jedi?" he asked with a sigh.
"Sorry, but yes," Anakin said, feeling sorry for the injured man. "I'll try and be quick. Force willing it isn't jammed or rusted shut."
Hego nodded and bent down slightly to help get the boy on his shoulders.
"Okay, I got it, and...it won't budge. Wait. Left-handed?" Anakin murmured as he tried the other way and found it steadily turning. "And...there...we...go!" Anakin grunted as he pushed it open.
Hego awkwardly pretended to be strained while holding the boy as he did all this.
Anakin climbed off his shoulder and halfway out the hole to look around before jumping back down. "Okay, Magister? It is a way out, but..."
"I can see, Padawan," Hego said, looking up through the hole and perceiving the skies of Albigni "It leads to the roof."
Anakin nodded. "It's a bit windy up there and that ceiling isn't exactly flat. Do you think you can hold your footing?"
"I believe I can," Hego answered. "I trust you'll try to save me if I can't."
Anakin smiled reassuringly.
Meanwhile
The situation was about what Vader expected.
The hallways were turned into miniature war zones, blaster fire traded back and forth. A great deal more seemed to be coming from the enemies to the sound of sentry guns and heavy repeater blasters.
Vader had to give them credit, it was a well-thought-out team setup. Heavy weapons to suppress enemy movements while they prepared the explosives to cave in the hall.
"Sir! We can't get through that firepower!" a captain yelled over the blaster fire. "Orders?!"
Vader stood at the edge, calm despite the rain of plasma in front of him. "Troopers, stand down," Vader ordered loudly yet calmly, his voice echoing over the cacophony. "I shall deal with this."
"Wha- I mean, yes, My Lord!" the captain answered as Vader stepped out.
He didn't ignite his lightsaber.
The blaster fire ceased, but the sound of their firing did not.
Slowly, cautiously, the troopers peeked out and looked out in awe at what they were seeing.
Vader stood before them with one hand outstretched, the hail of blaster fire stopping in mid-air, right in front of him. It was getting so bright that it was almost painful to look at.
"I never knew he could do that..." one of the troopers whispered in disbelief.
With a twist of his hand, Vader sent every shot back from where it had come from.
"Oh, please, NO!" someone on the other side yelled before the hallways echoed with screams and death.
Vader approached without hesitation. Large sections of the walls were blackened with scorch marks, and well over a dozen troopers lay dead, but some had managed to get to cover and were just looking out to see the source of what happened.
"Oh, kriff, it really is him!" one trooper said in terror.
Vader's saber ignited now.
The trooper dropped his weapon frantically, holding his hands up in surrender. "L-Lord Vader, please! I'm not a traitor! I thought for sure someone was imitating you with that announcement!"
"Coward!" a trooper further back, one with an entire arm missing and cauterized from the redirected mass of plasma attacks. In his state of pain and anger, he used his one remaining hand to point a pistol not at Vader, but at the trooper surrendering to the Sith Lord.
Vader had never stopped his approach and swung his lightsaber.
The surrendering stormtrooper went still as he saw the crimson blade just inches from him, deflecting a shot back at his former comrade, who collapsed from a final shot to the chest.
"Does anyone else wish to consider surrendering?" Vader offered a final time.
There was a pause before four troops made a run for a turn in the hallway.
Retreating wasn't surrendering.
The fleeing troopers found themselves pulled back by their feet, tripping them to the floor as they were dragged backward across the carnage and destruction.
One of them was screaming madly while they all struggled. "No, no, no! Someone, shoot me already!" he begged, having lost his own pistol.
The others paid him no heed, trying to shoot at Vader who merely deflected the attacks away before he raised a hand. All four were suddenly in the air, clutching their necks as their windpipes were being strangled.
With a sickening snap, they went limp and were dropped to the floor.
"Umm, Lord Vader?" a voice called from behind a set of crates used as cover. "I surrender and all, but I can't move without blowing up the hall."
Vader approached carefully, looking down to see just what the situation was.
He saw an engineer trooper. Below him was a large mine with a red light atop, and a reader.
"It was supposed to be for thirty seconds," the engineer said bitterly. "Someone changed it to three."
Troopers unknowingly fulfilling a suicide mission. Ozzel was desperate.
Vader had only one word for the soldier. "Run."
The trooper hesitated before he obeyed. He didn't look back until he heard the explosion go off. He saw Vader standing there, the fire and destruction contained in an invisible ball.
With the threat neutralized, the engineer and surrendering troopers both approached the dark Lord cautiously, fearing for their lives yet knowing that fleeing would only do worse.
"Lord Vader?" the first trooper asked, swallowing thickly. "W-what should we do now?"
"Turn yourselves into my troop," Vader ordered sternly. "I do not intend to waste more lives on this foolishness than I am required to."
They nodded quickly, accepting the warning for what it was, before heading to Vader's forces. Wisely, they went unarmed.
"Lord Vader!" Piett's voice came over the comms.
"Yes, Admiral?" Vader acknowledged. "I have dealt with one of the sabotage teams. Have any of the others gone off?"
"That's just it, Sir. Several of Ozzel's forces turned on each other. Two of the hallways collapsed, but the others are being taken by us and the defectors very rapidly," Piett informed.
"Interesting," Vader acknowledged. "What is the progress of the forces from the Death Squadron?"
"They have boarded and are moving in on Ozzel's location. They are meeting resistance from the traitors and the Nutters."
That was expected. Still, why were the Officers remaining with Ozzel? He hadn't been depending on it, but he had almost expected a coup to be launched against the man as those under him tried to get back into Vader's own good graces.
On that notion, he was somewhat surprised Ozzel hadn't been deposed and overthrown in the past year.
"I am proceeding to the front. Alert me if there is any change down here," Vader ordered.
"Yes, My Lord!"
Meanwhile
"Counselor, there's been an issue in the maintenance area."
Qui-Gon didn't know what to think of that, but he knew had an uneasy feeling about it.
He had followed the Albingi Head of State as the security agents led him to where the ceremonial and pomp of the government building gave way to halls of pipes and wires.
Most would find this place dark and creepy just for the sake of it, but even Qui-Gon could feel the Dark Side stirring here. May not from use of it, but terrible things had happened here and recently.
They were led into a room that was poorly lit, save for the lights the security had set up.
In the middle was a chair, and two corpses.
One on the floor, a human.
The other in the chair, a young albingi male.
Qui-Gon didn't know who either was, but he felt the reaction before it came.
"...Carlon," the Counselor whispered in horror as he stumbled to the corpse, brutalized and shot. "My boy...?" he breathed, his voice choking on emotion.
Qui-Gon looked to the Security captain, who seemed to debate about telling him anything before relenting. "We think there was some sort of terrorist attack. There was a small explosion deeper in the tunnels. That's how we discovered this."
So, the people behind this blight had killed the Counselor's son to make some kind of political message?
That would be the easy answer, but Qui-Gon had his doubts. Still, it was a lead. A tragic one.
The question was, with all this chaos going on, just where had his Padawan gone off to?
...And was he the cause of the explosion?