Beyond - Legends The Emperors Maneuver: The Next Generation Part 2

Title: The Emperors Maneuver
Author: Mira Grau
Timeframe: 66 ABY
Characters: Yoshihisa Pandionne, Jagged Fel, Jaina Solo-Fel, Elena Kyr, Tahiri Velia
Genre: Adventure, Political Thriller
Summary: Emperor Jagged Fel holds a militiary maneuver to showcase the Imperial Warmachine to the rest of the Galaxy, while shadowy powers begin to make their moves...

This Story is the second one for the next Generation Storyline, which includes other main entries:
Defenders of the Outer Rim

As well as the Spinoffs:
The Dead Lovers of Mykr



One

Yoshihisa dodged below the e-web salvo, it was close, too close for his taste as his cloak was shredded by the fire. Throwing it of his shoulders in a flowing move that also got him closer to the gunner. His blood was pumping, the adrenalin rushing through his body, but now that his battlefield reflexes had kicked in his mind was calm. Calm and collected, a quiet ocean in a world of chaos. The force warned him no second too late as the next number of attacks came in and he made a quick roll onto the concrete pavement, only to be on his feet just a few seconds later. He felt a glowing in his stomach and knew he was grinning as he leapt across the hastily erected barricade, a heartbeat later he was amongst the soldiers.

He saw how several of them grabbed their blades and shock lances, but none even got to raise it before his white blade cut them down, it was like someone hat instantly cut the strings of half a dozen marionettes as the soldiers broke down all around him. But even their defeat gave him only a second to breathe, he had broken into the enemy line, but now their comrades turned to face the new danger in their midst, their pristine white armor flashed, their visors dark and impersonal in the bright sunlight shining through the buildings cracked roof.

Yosh saw the blasters rise, felt already where they were aiming before the soldiers themselves had full made up their minds. It was only a few fractions of seconds, but they were more than enough for an experienced force user like him. He was one with the force in this moment, it told him when and where to dodge, where to attack the enemies to break their defenses. It was just a small tingling in the back of his mind, but it made all the difference, turned him from just a being of flesh and blood into a demigod of battle, who could be stopped by nothing, no one here was a equal to him.

And yet, the danger was always there, their number gave them the edge they needed to stand a chance, and they knew it, each and every man in their unit knew that even if they themselves wouldn`t hit, just keeping up their fire might, just might allow one of their comrades to score the hit. The one hit their needed, the one hit that was enough to instantly make him just a man again, just a collection of bones held upright by a collection of flesh and muscle. Just a mortal like everyone else.

One of the enemy soldiers managed to block his blade with his riot staff and for a second the two men pressed their weapons against each other. Yosh couldn`t see the man´s face but being so close to him the force almost let him hear his opponents thoughts, the man knew he just needed to keep the locking blades for another second, just keep the knight in this position just a little longer… Then pain as Yosh effortlessly broke the block and slammed his blade against the man´s stomach, in the same fluent movement that made him spin around and send the incoming blaster bolts back to their shooters. He saw how the men broke down in their white armor like more fallen puppets, by now the ground was littered with his victims, but his time was running out.

More and more enemies closed in on him from both sides, and Yosh sank down to a knee to dodge the first incoming salvos, he knew that in the crossfire even his force enhanced skills wouldn`t keep him alive for long. But it was long enough, two seconds later their were around him, attacking the enemies from the flank as their sprinted over the ruined concrete, moving through the hostile terrain as it was nothing but an open plain. His men, falling to the flank of the Stormtroopers the fight turned into a slaughter as even the men of the famed 501st legion struggled against an enemy attacking from behind.

To their credit, their reacted fast, seeking new cover and returning the fire on the Tarrinian soldiers. Yosh saw how several of them threw flashbangs, so he closed his eyes and charged blindly further forward. He heard the flashes go off, the cursing of his own men as the extreme light burned into the eyes of everyone who had reacted a second to later, who had just been a little too slow in getting their eyes closed. He felt in the force how most those who had been too later got shot, and in the same attack many of those who had closed their eyes where hit as well before they could open them again.

Then, a second later the second wave arrived, on jump packs they entered through the broken roof, landing all around them, already firing in flight. Some were hit before their could land, but the flash had given most of them enough time to get to the ground without too much trouble, then a second later Yosh raised his blade to accept the unspoken challenge than closed in. Two white blades clashed on a few centimeters above his head. Two white blades, looking up he saw into the eyes of the other Imperial Knight, the eyes of his opponent closed to slits in the concentration as he put all of his strength into the hit.

Jumping back Yosh gave up on the contest of powers, then he raised his blade again and took a breath as he surveyed his opponent. The younger knight raised his blade as well, almost in a mocking fashion, sweat glistering on his blue skin, his long black hair pulled into a tight braid, his enemy wasted no time to resume the attack.

Yosh blocked them as he slowly took a few steps back, the attack had surprised him and he was still trying to find his footing again, just make this a real fight again. Soon he found himself pressed against a solid rock behind himself, that wasn`t good, not at all. With no room to maneuver he knew he had to take a risk and attack himself, he needed room, room to fight, room to win. So he threw himself at his opponent, letting loose a cascade of fast, light attacks and so slowly drove his enemy back. The young Chiss wasn`t bad, but he was not anywhere near the level of the two Sith he and Mira had faced a few months ago. And yet he gave his all, as he knew no doubt what kind of honors would await him if he managed to defeat the famed Yoshihisa Pandionne. Around them the soldiers clashed, now being so close that hand blasters and vibro knives had replaced all forms of heavier weaponry, it was a quick and dangerous form of combat. One where the fighters of the Tarrin Sector had the advantage.

Having been trained for close quarters fighting his men no made short work of the emperors finest, denying them any and all advantages that usually made them one of the deadliest military forces in the entire galaxy.

The young Chiss realized it as well, realized how his side had lost the temporary advantage again, how the fight turned into a rout once more, and how there would be no retreat. With a stubborn scream he threw himself at Yosh, hoping to at least take him down with himself, but his efforts were futile. Now that he had his footing Yosh knew only about a dozen members of the Imperial Knights that were his equal and only one he truly feared but thank the Force that the Empress wasn`t here today. After blocking another desperate his opponent stumbled over a broken piece of concrete and that was more than enough to seal his fate. Yosh´s blade hit him at the upper part of his torso.

The young man froze as the shock pulsed through his body, and the cuff on his tunic recognized the deadly hit he had taken. As he fell to the ground Yosh finally was able to take a true, deep breath of air. “Well fought young one.” He said as he raised his blade again and gave his downed opponent a quick nod. His opponent looked at him, now fully encased by his tunic. He, like all the others who had fallen in the battle would remain this way until the area was clear and one of the red painted medical shuttle would arrive the collect the fallen. They would be brought to the main camp outside the battle zone from which they watch the rest of the maneuver on the holoscreens.

“We stopped the attack over the roof,” Yosh reported twenty minutes later as he had returned to the main strategic command room of the citadel. Here where, protected from almost a hundred different layer of ferocrete and durasteel the High Command of the Defenders was gathered around the holographic map table. “Lost thirteen soldiers, for the elimination of two squads of enemies 68 fallen, including a knight.”

For a moment the cold, dark eyes of General Florian Darius fixated him, then the Commander gave him a nod, “excellent work colonel Pandionne, the attacks to the roof of the citadel could have disrupted our defense, its good we could shut them down as soon as possible.” Turning back to the map table before them he rested his head on the palm of his hand for a moment.

There were many nicknames surrounding the commander of the Tenth Legion, the Iron Butcher, the loyal General, the Scourge of the Unknown Regions, but in Yoshihisa´s mind, the name that applied best was that of the Great Bull of the West. Darius was a man of impressive size and temper, stubborn as a Correllian and dedicated as an Mandalorian, but smarter than both, an excellent commander and one of the Imperium’s best. A soldier since his first days he had fought in the hidden wars and done his utmost to preserve the Imperial Territories in the Unknown Regions, something that, at the time had ironically made him an enemy of the Emperor, a slight that still hung over Darius career, maybe even the reason they were here now, once more enemies of the Emperor.

“Holding on quite well so far,” Natasha Vonreg, the commander of the Citadels Tie Squadrons remarked, “though whether that is because of our skillful defense or the patience of our enemy is hard to say.”

Darius run his hand through his short, tidy kept beard as he thought about it, “so far, they haven`t gambled much that is true. I was expected a cautious approach, but this is truly staggering.”

“The Emperor got time,” Yosh suggested, “and I presume he is rather here than having to deal with the politics on Bastion.” He said it half as a joke but the more he thought about it, it seemed there might be some truth to it.

The Emperors Maneuver was a massive mock battle that was held every few years in the Empire, to test new war machines and give the soldiers some real training they wouldn`t get from the simulators or fighting simple pirates. The maneuver always followed the same schemata, one Legion, usually one with prestigious history was set up against the Emperors own 501st in a larger mock battle. In this year it was the siege of a heavily fortified citadel but in earlier years Yosh had also partaken in a simulated trench warfare a large tank battle as well as a memorable battle underwater. Though so far each and every time he had fought alongside the Emperors own forces, and this was the first time he was fighting for the ‘enemy’.

“If he continues this cautious approach we might score a victory here,” Vonreg suggested with a playful grin that made her scarred face actually presentable for once.

Yosh let out a snorting laugh. While the maneuver was technically and open and fair battle between two Legions, in truth the 501st held all the cards, not only were their force of greater veterancy than any other military formation in the realm, but they also were supported by contingents of the Empires allies, while the opposing Legion had at most a few token support divisions like Yosh´s own Tarrin Battalion. Last but not least the 501st was also supported by a greater number of Imperial Knights, including the Empress Jaina Solo-Fel and first Knight Tahiri Velia themselves. Against that Yosh had only a few of his fellow knights with him, mostly veterans who had already experienced several maneuvers themselves and now considered it a fun challenge to play the ‘bad guys’. But all in all, the Emperors maneuver wasn`t a close affair but a showcase of the Imperial Military, and an opportunity for the Imperial Nobility to gather together and lead the charge in a victorious triumph.

General Darius slowly placed his hand back on the table. “Do you find this funny Captain?” He gave Vonreg a look, then his eyes darted over to Yosh, “or you Colonel?”

Yosh swallowed, then he turned back to the General, “I do sir, it’s a lighthearted…”

Darius dark eyes seemed to pierce through him, “well maybe you should give it more consideration, just because the Moffs treat this as a opportunity to show off and have fun doesn`t mean that we should treat it the same way.”

“Sir I don`t think we…” Vonreg came to Yosh´s defense but Darius starred her down.

“We are training for a real emergency here,” the General said after a moment of silence, “and we are an example for the soldiers. How can we inspire them if we act as if this is a joke?” He made another pause during no one dared to raise their voice against him, “some of the Generals who have been in my position before might have not taken this seriously, but I don`t see this as an opportunity to have a party. If you do you have my leave to end the maneuver now and leave for the leisure in the camps.” He let his words hang in the air for a moment.

No one moved, no one even dared to breathe loudly in the silence that followed. Then, after what seemed like an eternity Darius mouth turned into a grin, “that´s what I wanted to hear. Well ladies and gentlemen, lets get to work and show our Emperors finest how defend a fortress.”

 

great action scenes and nice new characters

 

Thanks


Two

The thundering of the heavy artillery filled the air, and the smell of burned plasma was in the wind that blew the Emperors cape as he lead the small group onto the observation platform. His hair styled perfectly and every medal shining on his pristine white dress uniform he looked far more like a man dressed for a formal event, rather than someone who walked through a warzone.

“A beautiful day for a battle,” he exclaimed as he turned to look up the seep hill leading up to the citadel above. Lightning bolts of artillery filled the in between, and even more could be stopped along the trenches where the infantry of the attackers and defenders fought each other in the shadow of the walls.

Elena Kyr stepped next to Jagged Fel and raised an eyebrow, “in my decades of military service I have come to the conclusion that battle are never beautiful, no matter when or where they happen.”

The Emperor laughed as if this had been an especially hilarious joke and laid a hand on Elena´s shoulder, she had to fight every instinct in her body to not shake it of in an instant. “Ah observer Kyr, why do you Eriaduans always have to be the voice of negativity in circles like this?”

Turning her head to him Elena gave him a courteous smile, “some would say that to the optimist, a realist is always a pessimist, your grace.” She almost bit her tongue at the last two words but kept herself under control. Her smile turning into a grin when she realized that Ulrika would have probably already created an international incident by now.

The invitation hadn`t been surprising, each and every time the Empire held a massive military maneuver like this all the major Nations of the Galaxy, except of course the Hutts, received invitations to send ambassadors and spectators to observe the event. The main purpose being clear, Jagged Fel wanted to show his militaries strength and modern technology to the Outside World, to both frighten and impress his neighbors, allies and rivals.

With the Tof war still ongoing the leadership of the Coalition had been unsure if they should send an ambassador, but had agreed that not sending one would be perceived as an open insult, and even worse as a sign of weakness against the Imperium. With that agreement the notion had also been clear to send a high military figure, and Elena had instantly thrown herself on the sword. She knew that Tobin was far too needed in the defense, and that sending Ulrika was a bomb waiting to go off, some of the other Admirals and Generals had also been options but in the end Elena was the most well known of them as the heroine of Qaelan. And so she had packed her bags, considering this almost as a vacation from her overflowing appointment book. And it would be a good testbed for Kinga Sturm, Ulrika´s designated successor, to take over her duties for a while.

Jagged laughed again as he turned to the others in the group, “there, can anyone still say that the Eriaduans are cultureless barbarians or mindless zealots? If I had known that they train their soldiers in philosophy I would have long since invited several of them into my academies.”

Elena swallowed the rude insult she had on her lips and instead chuckled a bit at Jagged’s comment. “You may attempt to in the future your grace, even if I would suggest you don`t let them take care of training your soldiers, your own officers might develop some serious envy at seeing real soldiers.”

Amongst the festively clothes nobles and diplomates she stuck out, clad in the common military garb of Eriadu, a black tunic and pants with golden applications. Her slightly spiky, blue dyed hair also made her noticeable amongst the group.

For a second the smile disappeared from Jagged`s lips and the same happened with several of his guests, some allowed themselves a weak smile, meanwhile the face of Prince Davin turned into a dark scowl, “Lady Kyr, with all due respect…” but before the younger of the emperors’ sons could continue, he was cut off…

“You must forgive my brother my Lady,” the soft, melodic voice of crown Prince Anakin Fel made his brother lower his head. “He is a good man, but he sometimes takes our families honor a little too seriously.” The crown prince took a look of his long dark borwn hair and twisted it around his finger. “Yet we are ungracious hosts if we treat a woman of your skill and station to jests yet instantly become defensive when you turn our own words against us.” He gave her a courteous bow.

The emperor’s laughter returned as he slowly clapped his hands, “and as always, it’s the youngest who are the wisest amongst us. Especially in these dark times we may never forget how to treat our guests. Don`t you agree Ambassador?”

“I certainly won`t,” Elena replied giving the crown prince a nod, “the youth are our future, and it reassures me that the future of the Empire lays secure in such capable hands.” She gave Prince Davin her brightest smile.

Unlike brothers they were, even now as Anakin wore the robe of a politician, while his brother was clad in the armor and coat of the Imperial Knights. Aged twenty and nineteen, there was little both brothers shared, Anakin had inherited his mother’s brown hair and eyes, but unlike her he was not touched by the force a skilled orator and diplomate and the most sought after bachelor in the galaxy. His brother Davin meanwhile had inherited his father’s black hair and even his sunk stripe, his hair was short and he wore his beard just like his grandfather, the baron Sontir Fel had. He had inherited Jaina´s potential with the force and was one of the strongest Imperial Knights already. The secret service of the Coalition had entire dossiers for both of them, and Elena was very glad that Anakin was the older of the duo.

Davin lowered his head towards Elena and she could see how he had to fight to perform the gesture, “I am apologize ambassador, my behavior was unworthy, especially in the company of a guest like you. You are hailed amongst the Coalitions finest.”

Not wanting to escalate this situation further Elena gave him a polite nod, “you are too kind my Prince.”

“Oh, she is not only handsome and witty, but also humble,” Taryn Zel, the Hapan observer chimed in. “She infiltrated the capital of Slavers of the Iron Alliance and brought it down with only a handful of soldiers.”

Elena raised her hands, “good people, I was hardly alone in that endeavor.”

“A officer is always just as good as the men under their command,” Jagged Fel said solemnly. “But a good leader can turn their soldiers into better one’s don`t you agree.”

“Absolutely,” Elena replied, her gaze being drawn away from the others for a moment as she saw a formation of AT-AT´s move slowly towards the fortress. That and the mention of Qaelan made her twitch and for a moment images appeared in front of her eyes. The battle, Asajj Ventress sprinting through a hail of laser fire, slaughtering slavers and mercenaries as she went. Anela being almost blown to pieces, her torn apart body being dragged back into safety by Hilda and Xela. But most of all she saw Xenia, the young Falleen medic, the first nonhuman in the ORSF, the soldier who had saved them all, and whose face was no displayed on glass windows in churches and shrines all over the Southwest. For a moment she could almost hear them again, the voices of her past…

I can do it! No, that would be pure suicide. If I don`t we are all going to die anyway! I forbid it soldier! You stay here! Sorry ma’am, it was an honor having served under your command. You are not doing this; I order you to stand down! Goodbye Elena, win this one for me… Xenia, no!

She shook a bit and blinked herself back into the present as the flashback subsided, Xenia had saved all of them taking down the modified AT-AT the Iron Alliance had send against them, at the cost of her own life. It was a debt Elena knew she could never, ever hope to repay.

“Ambassador?” The voice of prince Anakin was as soft as always as he called out to her.

Elena looked back up to him, “I am sorry, just an old memory.” She took a deep breath and ordered her thoughts.

“You have spoken about the skills of the Eriaduan soldiers, and we all heard the stories of your victories,” Taryn Zel said, “and I wonder if you could give us a showcase of your abilities. Its rare to see a war heroine such as yourself at work, if I may say so.” Her smile was innocent, but the underlying message clear.

Oh no, Elena froze for a second, that wasn`t good. She wondered if that was how Ulrika felt when someone, usually Ilona made her eat her own words after one boast too many. This was bad, she already saw herself being shoot down after only seconds in battle and being presented as a complete fool in front of everyone here, the noble guests and Emperor Jagged in particular.

“I don`t think we should ask this of ambassador Kyr,” Jagged Fel said, clearly enjoying every bit of the developing situation. “She is long past her prime, no longer the soldier she was on Qaelan.”

Elena turned her head at him, she knew she did exactly what he wanted as she shot, “not old enough to be too old to kick some Imperial behinds.” She gave him a grin. He wanted this to go down, well then, he would have it. She was no young woman anymore, now sixty years old, but the gene therapies of Arkania had preserved her body. She and Ulrika had long debated about this, if they should do it and the moral implications surrounding it. But in the end, they had agreed that if they could have a few decades more with each other and in service for their nation it was a worth the price. Elena had been unsure up until the end, but now she could kiss Ulrika´s feet for having convinced her to do it.

The Emperor gave her a triumphant grin, “and once again you surprise us ambassador. But if it is your wish, we will find a place for you in this.”

“I am sorry, I don`t think this is how we should treat our guest,” Anakin Fel stepped in, apparently determined to get Elena´s neck out of the noose his father had placed around it. “Lady Kyr is our guest and as such she shouldn`t partake in the maneuver.” He turned to Elena, “let me instead invite you to observe the fighting of the day from my personal observer lounge, were any and all of your needs will be catered to by my droid…”

He was cut off, this time it was Davin who overruled his brother, “she can fight with my unit, when we take the gate later tonight.” He gave Elena a smile that was hard to decipher.

His father turned around to him and many of the other observers began to whisper amongst each other. “Davin, that might be a little too far don`t you think?” Jagged asked, “I am sure Ambassador Kyr will be okay with taking part in some of the fighting along the trenches.”

He is afraid, Elena realized, her confidence had clearly worried the Emperor, who now clearly feared to become trapped in the same snare he had laid out for Elena, when she was successful at taking the gate he and his entire military would be humiliated. But why had prince Davin made that offer? Was he hoping Elena would fail? Was he planning to sabotage her himself? Or did he simply hope to one up his brother with her help? Either way, this place was truly a snake pit and if she was to be stuck in it she might as well take the full brunt of it. “I accept your offer.” She said with a short bow to Prince Davin, “if you can issue me with fitting equipment that is.”

“We will surely find something,” the Emperor said and gave one of his aides a wink.

Prince Davin stepped forward and offered Elena his hand, “the attack will begin by nightfall, see you on the battlefield, Colonel Kyr.”

“Indeed,” Elena said as she took his hand, maybe Ulrika causing a international incident wouldn`t have been so bad for the Coalition after all…

 

Love to see Elena in this. With Davin inviting her it will get interesting

 

Indeed, lets find out if the old she wolf still has some teeth then


Three

It was insanity, of course it was, but that, in a weird way was what made it fun. Advancing through the air, with a jetpack strapped to her back, the fire of several anti-air guns filling the night, mixed with some regular fire send in their way was pure suicide and not something that Elena would have ever ordered in an actual battle, in fact if anyone but Ulrika had ordered her to do it she would have probably refused the order. But here, in this incredible elaborate mock battle, even impossible strategies became possible.

And yet, as she was blazing through the night towards her target Elena felt once more the difference in combat doctrine between the Empire and the Coalition. In best ORSF tradition the coalition relied on a comparatively smaller number of extremely well trained and equipped soldiers that would in massive crises supported by a number of regular planetary militias. For the Coalition Unit preservation was the highest doctrine, each and every soldier was a huge investment and so keeping them alive was the top priority.

But in the Empire a different doctrine ruled the battlefield, their military was much, much larger, yet the individual soldiers much less well trained and equipped, all sorts of actual elite forces weren`t careful trained for years in specialized military academies, but flat out pulled from those soldiers who scored the best results in battle. The Legion who currently ‘besieged’ the citadel, the 501st was entirely made up of veterans who had been promoted her for their better than average performances. It was a brutal and risky way, one that let to all legions having a high turnover rate but it seemed that Emperor Jagged was more than willing to pay this price.

Next to her a soldier was hit, she saw how his cuffs recognized the hit and made his armor glow red for a second, then the jump pack took him safely to the ground and outside of danger. As much as she hated them, Elena had to admit that the Empire had spared no costs at setting up this maneuver, this was truly above the ones she had experienced in the ORSF and the Coalition in terms of technical quality and realism.

They came closer and Elena readied herself, this would be harsh, very harsh, storming a fortress, always the worst kind of engagement. As she surveyed the huge mass of the citadel ahead she remembered one of the picture books her dad had given her as a kid, it had been about the human cultures on ancient Coruscant, in the times before humanity had even made their first steps into the stars, showing knights in Iron Armor fighting each other in the attempt to take a large stone castle. And as a child she had been amazed and enhanced by stories like that, even more when her father had told her that House Kyr had already existed in those days, part of human nobility from the dawn of their species.

And yet, growing up she had come to understand that trying to storm a fortification was only the last resort. Humanity had conquered the stars, had developed technology far beyond what their ancestors could even dream of, now their knights fought with blades of pure plasma instead of steel, but one thing had remained, usually heavy fortifications were starved out, were encircled and shelled while the attackers waited for the defenders to run out of supplies. When one stormed a fortress like that one either had no other choice or cared nothing about the lives of one’s soldiers. In that regard this maneuver perfectly fit the spirit of the Empire, be that Palpatines or Jagged Fel´s.

“Now,” Elena whispered into the com of her helmet and reached for her wrist. The Fel Empire had been kind enough to deck her out in a full suit of white Stormtrooper Amor of the 501st Legion, but she had felt it appropriate to add some of the Qaelan Accords own ingenuity to the ensemble. This entire maneuver was a show to brag about the newest technological marvels of ones nation, and thankfully Elena and the soldiers accompanying her had brought some pieces with themselves when they came here.

A shot hit her straight into the helmet, but instead of her wrists noticing the impact the weak blue glow of her personal shield glowed for a second as it absorbed the attack. Representing the newest ingenuity from the Arkanian Dominion these shields were an upgrade on the old personal energy shields used in the days of the old republic, making them stronger and easier to use. For short period of time they would absorb pretty much any attacks incoming against the attacker, letting only slow, kinetic objects through, while giving protection against all kinds of laser based weaponry, and any fast objects as well. Their primary disadvantages being the relatively high cost and the fact that they needed to be recharged quickly, in a protracted battle they wouldn`t be of much use, but for risky, important attacks like this they were ideal.

Thankfully each and every member of the Coalition military and with that her entire escort had been equipped with one, and this mock battle gave them another, unintended advantage, as the training ammunition used by the Imperial blasters and cannons was far weaker in terms of energy than regular blaster bolts, which meant that the shields could take a considerably higher amount of them than in regular battle. Elena wasn`t sure if the Imperials had considered this, but either way, they would undoubtedly be impressed.

She saw similar glows as the shields protected the soldiers in her squad. She had asked her escort to hand over their shields for this battle and they had all agreed on this chance of show up on the Empire. So enjoy our protection Stormies might make you think which nation in this cold war actually cares about their soldiers, Elena tough with a wolfish grin. The investment into the shields had been a large one, but they had already begun to pay off in the war against the Tof, saving the lives of many soldiers in critical moments.

“Brace for impact,” Elena said over com as they came over the gate, as she lowered herself she needed to remind herself that, mock battle or not, slamming full speed into the ferocrete wall would be deadly no matter what. But the adrenaline now pumping through her veins brushed such concerns aside, now only the battle counted.

Landing next to an Anti-Air gun she had taken down its crew in seconds before they could even properly react. Her squad was landing all around her, blasters blazing. Elena´s grin grew a bit, the first bit was done, now it was time to ramp up ‘kills’. She worked her way across the battlements atop the gate, a hand blaster in one hand and a vibro blade in the other. Rejoicing at every hit as she knew that the cuffs were keeping track of her ‘score’ the higher it was, the larger the humiliation for Jagged Fel.

So it was, probably for the first time in her life that Elena felt a true bloodthirst in battle, that she could, almost understand the thoughts of warrior cultures like the Mandalorians. With her shield and the element of surprise she was a she-wolf amongst the sheep and tonight the wolves would feast well.

The inside of the gate complex was battlefield, the shelling of the previous days had weakened the entire structure somewhat and now the soldiers fighting each other in it did their share of damage to it as well. This fight had nothing aesthetic anymore in these close quarters any sense of cohesion and logic had been abandoned, there were no formations anymore. It was a slaughterhouse, were fights one on one ruled and where death came quickly and unforeseeably. In short, a place were the value of shields was raised even further.

After taking down the anti-air guns Elena had decided to give her squad a short moment of respite, they had switched the empty shield batteries for the reserve ones and waited for Prince Davin to strike. He had moved his forces through a tunnel dug in the last few days, so the gatehouse could be attacked from below as well as atop. Originally this part had been the one assigned to Elena, but something, maybe an old fear of enclosed spaces had made her decide to lead the air assault instead.

Now that both sides attacked the gate, in addition to the soldiers in front of it, the fate of the defenders was sealed. And here Elena noticed another diversion from this mock battle to a real one. Being attacked from almost all sides any soldiers in a real battle would have surrendered or retreated deeper into the citadel, but here they fought on, as here death mattered little to each individual soldiers.

Elena kicked another tenth Legion soldier to the ground and gave him a shot into the chest for good measure, only to turn around in the next heartbeat and stab another into the chest, the blunted blade scrapping over the armor but the cuffs noticed the normally deadly hit. Any worries and precautions had left her, now Elena was just immersed in the fighting, the adrenaline overruling and any all coherent thoughts, as her mind worked like a machine, identified the nearest target and how to take it down, then moving ahead to the next, and to the one after that. It had been quite a while since she had felt like this for the last time, but now she realized she had lost none of her old battlefield reflexes.

She was so caught up in the fighting that when Prince Davin`s force met up with hers she had almost attacked them as well, only stopping herself in the last moment, turning the slash she had intended into a gesture of raising her blade to greet her allies.

Prince Davin`s face was covered with dirt, and her had a few bruises on his helmetless face, but the grin on it was the same as Elena´s. “Seems you still got it Ambassador Kyr, not bad of a woman as old as you.” He said as he saw her.

“Hah,” Elena chuckled, “I was taking names before your dad was even old enough to ask your mom out on a date.” She said it with no malice in her voice, for the moment the hatred between their nations was forgotten, currently they were just two soldiers, two soldiers who had just one a great victory.

Offering her hand the Prince surprised her as he grabbed her wrist to wrist but she sincerely returned the gesture. “Good fight, for a green boy like yourself.” She told him.

It was like what she and the other ORSF soldiers had experienced during the war against the Iron Alliance. At first there had been great mistrust and hesitance between the various factions that had allied against the slavers by necessity. But the war had been the baptism of fire for them, had established a bond of trust between the Eriaduans, the Imperial Remnants, the Liberation Front, the various local resistance forces and later the Kathol Republic as well. The war had forged their diverse nations into one. It was as Ilona had said in her inaugural speech, the Coalition had been forged on the field of battle.

A bit of that was now filling her head as well, she felt a camaraderie with the soldiers of the 501st as much as she internally resented that notion she couldn`t fully suppress it right now.

“Let us head up and show the world our victory,” the Prince said and a gave one of the soldiers behind him a gesture who carried a piece of cloth wrapped around a long steel beam.

As the flag bearer of the 501st Legion rammed the standard into the ferocrete of the gate, and unrolled the banner of the Legion of the gatehouse Elena couldn`t help to feel some of the history connected with the banner, the 501st had been the elite of the Old Republic, following Anakin Skywalker into the Clone Wars, the same Legion whose soldiers had saved the lives of Wilhuff Tarkin and Ilona´s father Ethan on another Citadel, half a galaxy away from here. But later they had become a symbol of oppression, still referred to as ‘Vaders Fist’ by some to this day, this very banner had been raised on worlds like Reytha, Zaloriis and Hoth world were the Dark Lord had brutally crushed any and all uprisings into the ground. A banner that had disappeared from the face of the galaxy with Vaders fall, but now it saw a resurgence with another Empire. It saddened and frightened Elena at the same time to see this banner that had once been a symbol of freedom abused this way.

But when Prince Davin took her wrist and lead her to the edge of the gate she followed him without hesitation, pulling her helmet from her face to look down at the ground below, knowing that her blue hair made her easily distinguishable in the light of the glow torches place around them, were she saw hundreds of soldiers now move into the shadow of the gate which was slowly opened. They screamed and yelled in triumph. And at looking at them even Elena´s worries couldn`t stop her from grinning again as she heard them chant, for they chanted not just to their Prince, but also to her.

She wasn`t sure if this was another part of Jagged Fel`s plan to use her for his propaganda or something else, but the news that she was partaking in this attack had spread across the entire Imperial Camp over the cause of the day. In fact Ulrika and Mira had both already read about it on the holonet before she had contacted them and of course the Coalition had done theirs to remind everyone that one of their own would partake in this critical part of the maneuver.

“The eyes of the galaxy are on us,” Prince Davin muttered as he took Elena´s hand, then raised their clenched fists in triumph.

Indeed, they are, Elena thought diabolically. She wasn`t sure if the prince just put on a show, or if he instead savored the fact that for once the spotlight was on him and not his brother, but to her it didn`t matter much. The Imperials had their show, but as she looked across the battlefield she saw the first signs of her own show beginning.

A moment later the Prince saw it as well, and then more and more soldiers, the chanting and cheering stopped, as everyone’s eyes turned back, back towards their own lines, their own camp. The fire of blaster bolts was seen there, fighting, no, not fighting, but a slaughter. While all eyes had been on the gate the defenders had send out a breakout force, right into the attacker’s base camp.

Elena´s grin remained on her face as she heard how more and more troubled reports came in on the Princes commlink. Yosh had fulfilled his part of the bargain well and so had she. He and the defenders had pulled most of their forces from the gate… and meanwhile used the map of the attackers camp that Elena had provided to launch their own devastating counterattack against the camp "killing" hundrets of resting soldiers. She had always been worried about Mira´s relationship with the Imperial Knight, but she couldn`t deny that in moments like this she had nothing against the prospect of the Baron as her son in law.

And yet, as humiliating and troubling these developments were for Jagged Fel, Elena knew that she was dangerously close to overplaying her hand. The aces in her sleeve had allowed her to come this far but now it was best to leave the fighting to the Imperials and spend the rest of her time here just as a quiet and polite observer, because she didn`t need the force to tell her that things wouldn`t go nearly as well if she was forced to step on this mock battlefield a second time…

 

the 501 are like a well known group of soldiers here now fighting. No experience just battle fodder.
Great to see Elena's plan working

 

Indeed, so far Lady Luck is smiling upon her...


Four

“Nearly six dead 501sters for one of us,” a hint of a smile played around General Darius´s mouth as Yoshihisa entered the command post in heart of the citadel again. The baron of the Tarin Sector was tired, tired and pumped out beyond believe. Feeling as if he had just spend hours in a training cage against Empress Jaina Solo or First Knight Tahiri Velia. The latter he hadn`t met on the battlefield but the former had crossed blades with him…

“How did you even get here?” Jaina Solo-Fel asked her most praised student as he drove her back through her luxurious tent. Having been attacked in her sleep she was wearing a simple white tank top and comfortable pants, and Yosh couldn`t help but grin at the fact he was fighting his former teacher in her pajamas.

“There are various tunnel leading out of the citadel, made specifically for an assault like this,” he replied with a grin, not taking her bait to say more. At the entrance of the tent lay two “dead” Imperial Knights, their cuffs having immobilized them after Yosh´s surprise attack had taken both of them down. One of them still had been able to scream and thus awoken Jaina and denied Yosh the opportunity to take down the most dangerous Force user on the other side with a fast sneak attack while she was still asleep.

Jaina deflected his next two attacks, but her reflexes were slow as she still fought with her sleepiness. Her dazed state gave Yosh an advantage, but he knew it was a temporary one, sooner or later she would be fully awake, and then the odds would be stacked against him. So, he threw himself into the fight, using the same combination attacks she had taught him years ago.

“Using my own tricks?” A grin appeared on Jaina´s face, “I am not sure if I should be proud or offended.”

“Whatever my lady prefers,” Yosh replied with a mocking bow. Then only a blink later he resumed the attacks against her.

As her student fighting Jaina wasn`t new to him, and the memories of countless practice duels against the former sword of the Jedi helped him foresee most of her attacks and blocks. But he also knew that she was ultimately stronger than him, at least at this point. Over the years he had closed the gap between them more and more, had come closer and closer to finally becoming her equal, possibly closer than any other Imperial Knight had ever come, but at the same time he had never been able to go that final step of becoming a true equal, no matter how hard he tried. Jaina sometimes teased him about his determination but he also knew that she was quite proud of him, her best student.

Their blades locked against each other both of them pressed against the other with all their strength, Yosh was physically stronger than the aging Empress, but her stronger connection with the force gave her a strength that he couldn`t hope to match. He felt how she slowly began to win this contest of strength, slowly but surely pushing his blade back towards his own chest, bit by bit. Yosh doubled his efforts to slow her down and overpower her. He saw the wolfish grin on her face, the grin of a predator who knew the prey was almost caught and just needed a little further push to…

Jaina froze and her cuff blinked red, then she fell backwards, back onto her luxurious bed, frozen by the hit. Spinning around Yosh saw Lieutenant Yage at the entrance of the tent, his blaster raised, “thought you needed some aid chief.” The young woman said with a grin.

“Good to see you friend,” Yosh replied to the young 10th Legion officer. “Be proud of yourself slayer of the Empress.” Turning back to Jaina he gave his teacher a polite bow, “Sorry my lady, seems for this year the fun is over.”

Jaina smiled but said nothing. This wasn`t the first time she had been taken down during one of the maneuvers, far from it actually. In contrast to her husband she never took this mock battles seriously in the slightest, for her it was just a big fun and so she would often partake in the most risky operations and fight without much regard of her own “life” and so she was also a good sport when she was taken down.

Turning back the Lieutenant Yage, “time to get out of here, we taken their Empress and many of their soldiers, better not risk our luck too much tonight.” He felt thankful that Yage had saved him from Jaina, yet a small part of him still couldn`t help but feel a nagging sense of regret for having missed out on the chance of another proper one on one duel, even if he knew that he would have probably lost it.

“Of course, sir,” Yage replied with a quick salute, “time to head back inside.”

“You`ve got the Empress.” Darius´s smile grew an inch, “well done Lieutenant. If you have one favor to ask of me, it will be yours.” He gave the young woman a salute. “Now I think we have quite a chance to actually win this.”

“There is no greater favor than to fight alongside you General.” Tonya Yage said as she returned the salute.

“Humble even now… the perfect soldier,” Darius smiled and his old featured actually softened a bit for once, giving a humanity one rarely saw in this man who was said to been forged from steel.

“With all due respect sir,” Yosh asked as he sat down in one of the chairs surrounding the hololithic table. “But why are you so determined to win this? I can understand that its an honor, but you seem utterly determined to win one over our Imperial family… I am just curious about your beef with them?”

“My beef?” Darius crossed his arms in front of his chest, “there is no beef with them. I stand over such petty rivalries….” He made a pause. “But I owe it to my soldiers.”


“Sir?” Yosh asked, raising an eyebrow, curious as to what the old general would have to tell.

“Are you familiar with the hidden war?” Darius asked.

Yosh nodded slowly. The atmosphere in the command center had died down, for the night the battle seemed to have finally grinded to a halt, the attackers had taken the gate and so the defenders had fallen back to the second perimeter of defenses. Now both sides licked their wounds and rested, for tomorrow would see the continuation of the fighting.

“Then you know I once fought Jagged Fel´s father,” Darius said slowly.

It was true, the hidden war had been the civil war in the Empire of the Hand, that had begun after Voss Parcks death. On one side was a faction under the leadership of Baron Sontir Fel who wanted to fully join the Chiss Ascendancy, while against them stood a collection of Imperial Loyalists who wanted to remain loyal to the Imperial Remnant. And so, a civil war had broken out in the Imperial Colonial Territories. Both the Chiss and the Imperial Remnant had send weapons, volunteers and instructors to their respective supporters and it had become a long conflict, last for almost an entire decade. And during all of this time the rest of the galaxy had barely acknowledged the war, many simply believed that the Empire of the Hand had been destroyed in the aftermath of the Vong War, or at least been fully absorbed by the Chiss, leading to the name of Hidden War.

It had only been after the end of the Second Galactic Civil War and the Ascension of Jagged Fel to the leadership of the remnant that the war had finally come to a close. It had been Jagger’s first great political victory as he had negotiated a peace treaty with the Chiss, in which the Empire had managed to retain most of the contested worlds in the Unknown Regions, and so the Empire of the Hand had returned to the fold. In a way Jagged’s entire political career had begun with this peace treaty, as it had turned him from a mistrusted Jedi puppet into the legitimate Ruler of the Empire, and with that the dreams of creating a new Imperial dynasty had taken its first roots.

“The Iron Tenth fought the 501st several times during the hidden war,” Darius explained. “As they were loyal to the Baron Fel and the Chiss. Ever since the two Legions have been rivals even after the peace treaty. This rivalry persists to this day, I owe it to my soldiers to try and win this battle against the Legion many of them still view as traitors and sellouts. Just as much as I know it to our Emperor to give the best fight I can. An easy victory is not worth celebrating it. Those commanders who faced the Emperors finest in earlier maneuvers were spinless suck ups whose only goal was to improve their political standing by fighting in a completely inept way to let the Emperors forces look good.” The old man shook his head, “this has made the Empire look foolish, and if we had let the 501st walk straight over us then after tonight the entire galaxy knows that this maneuver is far more serious, if Jagged wins it, then he will have earned his victory.”

“And if he loses?” Asked Lieutenant Yager.

“Then the galaxy will see that the Tenth Legion is a force truly to be reconned with, that the 501st isn`t just an extreme outlier but that other Imperial Legions have a similar quality,” Yosh mused, as he began to understand the generals thinking. “No matter the outcome of the battle, the reputation of the Imperial Forces will improve… Something that maneuvers against obviously inept commanders and legions could never accomplish.” He wondered if that was Jagged Fel´s reasoning as well when the Emperor had picked the Iron Tenth Legion as the opponents for his own in this battle.

“What do you know about this Kyr woman?” Darius suddenly asked, turning his head over to Yosh.

Yosh froze for a moment, but then relaxed himself, not really a topic he wanted to discuss now, but given how Elena´s face was all over the holonet tonight he had little choice. “I mostly know her adoptive niece,” he said, not wanting to give away his communication with Mira early today that had lead him to develop the plan for his attack on the camps. “She is a Jedi Master and we have worked together several times in the past. As far as I know Elena is a decorated veteran of numerous wars. ORSF quality, a truly skilled and capable soldier, even into her advanced age.”

“I heard she used to be a man.” Yage said, shaking her head.

Despite being tired Yosh jumped to his feet, “she is a woman, that is all there is to say to it.”

A weird grin appeared on the Lieutenants face, “sounds you know her quite well, don`t you?”

“We have met a couple of times that´s true,” Yosh admitted, not liking were this was going.

“Then isn’t it strange that she takes part in an attack on the gates just at a moment when our troops there are few?” She took a step towards Yosh. “Have you been telling her?”

“Of course he has,” General Darius said, slowly as he looked up from the map. “And I bet she repaid your kindness by giving you the information’s on the layout of the camps.”

“You had the plan to attack the camps from the start…” Yosh muttered weakly, but lying was pointless, so Yosh decided to go all out, “yes, we had that conversation.”

Yage glared at him, her eyes burning, but Darius smiled. “I don`t know if I should curse you for your betrayal or reward you for your deception… but either way, I know exactly how you will make up for the information’s you gave up.”

 

Great details about the wars fought in the past and about Elena and her plans. And Yosh revealing what he has done

 

Yeah, quite a bit of exposition in that chapter.


Five

“A duel?” Prince Davin raised an eyebrow as he leaned back in his command chair. In the last two days the attackers had done their best to fortify the captured gate and move their command center here.

“Seems Yoshihisa wants even more attention on himself,” his brother Prince Anakin said with a patient smile. “Hardly the first time this has happened.”

“I suspect he might just be upset about the way they took down mum…” Davin said darkly. “Felt that her ‘kill’ was stolen from him.” He shook his head. “I really don`t see why I should even consider accepting that.”

“It’s a matter of honor,” The Emperor said firmly. Even now that he had joined his sons during the assault he wore his pristine dress uniform, apparently still not taking the maneuver actually seriously in the slightest.

Leaning against one of the concrete walls Elena watched the family discussion unfold with only a little bit of respect, this bickering was now going on for two days and so far it had given her little cause nor reason to give it much thought. It was clear to her by now that the two sons of Jagged Fel despised each other and that their father either didn`t care or found these troubles a positive influence on both of them.

Davin took a deep breath, “still, this is a battle, we wouldn`t just risk our lives for an honorable duel in a real war situation.”

“Fear to lose little brother?” Prince Anakin said, his voiced filled with barely hidden enjoyment for the situation.

“Maybe you should go and take the fight in my stead then,” Davin shot back, his hot blooded nature coming back to the surface. “If you are that keen on getting humiliated in front of the cameras.”

Elena could almost see how much Jagged Fel resented her and the other dignitaries being in the room right now. Which made he think that this challenge, just like many other developments in this maneuver weren`t what the Emperor had planned for this mock battle, and that the enemy general Darius would be in serious trouble once this farce was over. The look he now gave his younger son at least was able to easily break through his defenses.

“Fine,” Davin said, “tell them I accept his challenge. We will duel at the Bridge.”

The Bridge, an underground highway over a deep pit was where the current frontline was located. It served as a tight spot that needed to be crossed. A bottleneck for any would be attacker, especially now as the defenders had blown up most alternative routes further into the citadel. Attacking via the bridge was akin to pure suicide as there was little in the ways of cover or protection, just a concrete road, broad enough that even tanks could move on it deeper into the citadel. Elena had seen this magnificent structure herself by now, and already peeked into the deep pit below. The first Knight, Tahiri Velia had told her that this was actually a natural ravine that the Citadel had been build atop off.

“This duel could actually be the perfect distraction.” Prince Anakin Fel said, a smile on his face. “While everyone is focused on them I take a small team through the ravine to circumvent the bridge and capture the enemy positions on the other side. Stars we could even try and take a shot a Darius himself once we are on the other side.”

Elena looked up, so far Prince Anakin hadn`t even considered the possibility of taking part in the battle personally, usually had just hung around at the planning tables and made witty remarks. But now it seemed he actually had some courage within him, or he didn`t want his brother to once more get all the glory in this battle.

“Is it even possible to cross the ravine? How deep does it go down?” The Hapan ambassador Trysta asked.

“It is possible,” said the first Knight, even now little more than a shadow behind the emperor. Elena had read the reports on Tahiri Velia with a shiver. She had once been a Jedi, broken by the horrors of the Vong War she had begun to fanatically cling herself to anyone who could offer her even a modicum amount of stability, first it had been Jacen Solo, and now it was Jagged Fel. Velia was a war criminal, who had escaped justice more than once due to his and the Jedi orders protection, and several believable reports suggested that she had been responsible for the deaths of many who stood in the way of the new Emperor. Now she served as his personal bodyguard and first knight, a thinly veiled threat for any would be assassin. “We mapped out a way years ago, though it was never made official. Darius probably has no idea of its existence.”

“Excellent,” Jagged Fel smiled, “you will lead a squad of our best men over while the duel distracts everyone. Bring me Darius´s head.” He said the last part with just the right amount of seriousness that one could doubt whether he actually had made a joke here. Well given how much trouble Darius had given him so far it might have truly been meant literal, Elena though. Either way, this plan gave her hope that the mock battle would soon find its end and she could escape this farce and return home. The travel back to Eriadu would take around three days, more than enough time to catch up on sleep for once and enjoy the other amenities on the diplomate ship…

“Well if that´s the case,” Anakin´s word pulled her from her thoughts, “ambassador Kyr, will you have the honor of fighting on my side?”

Before Elena could even reply Jagged Fel had picked up his sons drift, if they hadn`t planned this before anyway, “you have to. I feel like a bad father when I just offer one of my sons the chance of having fought alongside a soldier such as skilled and prestigious as you.”

“I…” Elena bit her lip, swallowing the angry rebuke of this ‘request’ she knew she would loose her face if she backed down now. She had known that overplaying her hand at the gate had been risky, and now this was her comeuppance. “I am honored to accompany you, my prince.” She gave Anakin a polite nod, while internally strangling him and his thrice damned father.

“We are almost there,” Anakin Fel whispered two hours later as they slowly climbed up the other side of the ravine. The climb down had already been an adventure, following a small, rocky set of ‘stairs’ if one wanted to call them that down, at least 200 hundred meters down into the darkness of the natural ravine. But what had made it even worse was the knowledge that they needed to repeat this face again on the other side, only this time climbing up into nothingness. They had made a short rest at the bottom of the ravine. Anakin, Elena and the seven Elite soldiers he had chosen as his bodyguard. The Princes´ distaste for Force users seemed strong enough that he had refused any and all Imperial Knights accompanying them. That or he flat out was too arrogant to even consider it.

As they began climbing up Elena could hear the sound of the beginning duel above… well the prelude to the duel as Prince Davin and Yosh currently seemed to mostly snipe at each other. As much as she disliked it she had to agree with Jagged Fel´s younger son, this duel was anything but actually a realistic affair. Even if her thoughts briefly went to the duel Ulrika had fought against that Nagai warlord, a long time ago, at the beginning of their war against the Iron Alliance. Those days seemed like a complete eternity away now, so much had changed in the entire galaxy, as well as her own life since then. But most of all it made her miss Ulrika, she could just hope that in a few hours this farce was finally over and she could finally return home.

Then she saw light above, light and the prince as he offered a hand to her and pulled her up onto a small plateau. As she had finally solid ground beneath her feet again Elena took a moment to rest, as she looked up she saw that they had made it, they were now on the other side of the ravine and could see the bridge from the defenders positions. At the middle of the colossal structure she saw two smaller figures, Yosh and Prince Davin, who had now drawn their lightsabers and begun some early moves. It was clear that both of them took their time with this fight. Spectators from both sides filled the bridge, keeping their distance to the duel as they watched.

“There,” Prince Anakin pointed ahead. As Elena followed his gesture she saw an E-web position, slightly above the bridge. Crewed by a squad of enemy soldiers it had an ideal arch of fire onto the bridge and would prove difficult to overcome for any would be attacker. Without the need for further words the Princes men nodded then they began climbing towards it.

It took them two of their number to take the entrenched position, the enemies were utterly surprised but even then they had been able to put up enough of a fight to eliminate two of their attackers before going down. That worried Elena less than the notion that anyone of them might have been able to warn their comrades on the bridge. But given how the spectators remained on their positions it seemed no alarm had been raised, so far at least.

“You stay here,” the prince then ordered his remaining men. “Ambassador Kyr and I will try to take down the head of the snake.”

“Wait, what?” Elena spun around to him. What was this supposed to mean? Hadn`t they done their duty in securing this immensely vital position?

“Come on ambassador,” Anakin said with a smile. “You haven`t climbed this far just to stop here don`t you? We could take down Darius together. Everyone is focused on the duel.”

“That is extremely risky.” Elena replied.

“And?” The prince shrugged. “If we get taken down, so be it. Then we can spend the rest of the maneuver in the camp without having to sit through the slog of this underground warfare.”

That was true, Elena had to admit, what else could happen? If the Prince failed with his ambitious plot the blame would be on him. And if they succeeded it would be a further triumph for her and the coalition. And either way she could leave this battlefield behind. “Fine…” She finally said.

The attack came just as Elena had begun to relax herself a bit, they had snuck through several empty corridors and past just a handful of guards, now resting for a moment in a small storage room. Everything seemed to go well and she had almost begun to believe that this could end well. She still managed to activate her shield as she heard the attack coming, but… her little demonstration of them at the gate had allowed the Empire to determine their strengths and weaknesses, and so it was a slow swing of a knife that passed from her protection and armor, the blade cutting into her back, but, at least, this short moment of preparation saved her spin from being cut, instead the blade only managed a surface level cut on her back.

But that was enough, as the cuff recognized it as a hit and her amor immobilized her. Falling over and loosing her helmet Elena screamed in shock and pain. Already beginning to struggle against the now hardened plates. Prince Anakin Fel stood over her, a vibro knife in hand, and an expression of remorse on his face, “You have caused my father no end of trouble… ambassador. So please do me a favor and don`t act as if this came unexpected for you… If it helps, I am sorry.”

 

Intrigue and betrayal and what happens next?

 

Well, lets find out.


Six

Bleeding, in pain and cursing herself for her own naivety Elena looked up the prince standing above her, the knife still in his hand. How could she have been so dumb? She Elena Kyr, heroine of the coalition, who had survived so many insanely dangerous situations and battles. How could she have been so dumb as to not except this? Maybe it was her own sense of honor, that she would never expect that even Jagged Fel would determine to kill an ambassador, that even he wasn`t such a complete man child that everyone who even slightly annoyed him needed to die. Maybe it was also her belief that, as Jaina had once helped Ulrika twenty years ago there was some kind of protection, some kind of band of civility between them and the Empire. Or maybe it was her believe that Anakin Fel was a spoiled little boy who did not have it in himself to try and murder someone in cold blood. But she had admit to herself at the knife that determined her fate, above all she had been so dumb because she had wanted this farce to end, because she wanted to finally leave this insanity behind herself and see Ulrika again. And so, she had, in the end overplayed her hand after all, and now it looked like she would never see her wife again.

And yet, even now, in pain and immobilized by the plates of her armor her fighting spirit was still with her, and it awoke, fueled by the anger she felt at herself. She did not want to die here, not like this, and above all not by the hand of this pathetic little boy.

Surveying him she noticed his hand with the knife was shaking as he stood above her. She guessed he had never killed before in his life; his first attack had already been badly aimed, that, in addition to activating her shield was the only reason she was still alive. It wasn`t over yet, and that gave her an opening.

The fear she saw in his eyes echoed the one she felt herself, as she silently begged the goddess to hold her hand over her, like she had done so many times before. “Just tell me, why?” Elena spat at him, if she could get him talking, maybe, just maybe she could survive this. They were behind enemy lines, and if she managed to distract Anakin long enough, someone would hopefully find them.

The prince looked down at her, and she could feel how he fought himself, how one part of him tried to stop the other, or make the other do it, depending on ones point of view. “That you have to ask,” the prince spat out, “your whore of a wife broke his nose, just because he called you out for the pathetic little boy that you are.”

In her life Elena had been confronted with several insane situations, like meeting the former right hand woman of Count Dooku, or running into Tobin on Vong controlled Coruscant, but in a life filled with insanity and danger, this moment took the cake, and so, even helpless and threatened with a knife she had it in her to laugh.

In her life she had been insulted for being Trans before, several times, and early on it had always hurt her a lot, had driven her into bouts of depression. But she had grown above that, had learned that those who insulted her were too pathetic to spend even another thought on. And so she had all but forgotten the celebration at the end of the Vong war, were a young Imperial Noble had insulted her as a ‘pathetic boy wishing to be a girl’. She hadn`t even bothered to dignify this pathetic insult with a reaction, but Ulrika had taken offense, leading to a badly beaten Jagged limping away from that day with a broken nose and several bruises.

“You…” Anakin Fel glared at her, clearly confused by her reaction.

“I…” Elena coughed as she continued to laugh, “I knew your father was pathetic man child, playing with his little toy soldiers and thinking dressing up as a war criminal made him cool, but I didn`t think even he could be that pathetic… This… this just makes him the most pathetic being in the entire cosmos… and you are helping him with that.”

The boy… he wasn`t more than one took a step back. “I am sorry…” He stumbled over his words, clearly Elena showing no fear, but instead amusement threw him completely of his goal.

As he fumbled with his words Elena tightened her muscles and focused all her strength on the plate over her right shoulder, if she could get out of that she would be able to use her arm again, she just needed to win more time. “Tell me then, why does he send you? Why can`t he even do his own dirty work?”

“I…” the young man stumbled across his words, though then he stepped closer towards her again, apparently, he was working up some courage again.

“Has he told you that this is some kind of test?” Elena asked. “That you need to kill someone with your own hands to show you have the guts to be an Emperor?”

She was shooting into the blue, but she knew that the Tarkin’s on Eriadu once had held a similar ‘ritual’ to prove which kids were worthy to lead. And it seemed she wasn`t far from the mark as the young man stumbled over his feet again, almost falling over. “You… how…”

“Listen to me, Anakin,” Elena said, her voice softening, “I think you are not a bad kid, I see you don`t want to do this…”

The Prince avoided her gaze, he was clearly fighting himself, and his princely half was loosing the battle.

“Just help me with his dam armor and we can find a way out of this,” Elena said, she just needed to get back to people, best to Yosh, and then stay visible until she get out of here, she needed to get out of this room, just get into the company of people, that would be enough to protect her. Jagged wouldn`t try to murder her out in the open.

For a moment the Prince just stood above her, then… slowly the Prince faded away and left just Anakin, just a scared boy in over his head, just a boy…

“Yeah, just give me a sec…” He mumbled as he began to bend down… but his hands would never reach the cuff that kept Elena immobilized. It would never reach anything anymore. As while he was still moving his head suddenly exploded, spraying blood, bones and brain matter over Elena. His headless body falling right on top of her, spilling even more blood on her body.

“Finally got you, your little rat…” a voice, completely calm filled the room. Looking up from the dead body atop her Elena saw a man in a white Uniform had entered the room. She had never met him before, but she instantly recognized him. General Darius, commander of the Iron Tenth, strolled into the room as if it was the most casual thing in the world.

“I apologize for the dirt, ambassador Kyr.” He said, as he hooked a boot under the princes’ corpse and casually pulled it from Elena. “I take that I just saved your life?”

Elena´s heart was racing, as were her thoughts, what was going on here? Half of her brain was still trying to fathom how she could convince Anakin Fel not to kill her, while the other had already recognized that she didn`t need to worry about the Crown Prince anymore, that no one ever would again.

“Yes…” she pressed through her teeth, deciding it was probably the best to butter up to the person with the gun in the room. “Guess I owe you.”

“Well,” the general smiled, “consider it repaying for you helping to lure the prince here.”

“Luring?” Elena said, still struggling to free her shoulder from the armor.

“Yeah, of course I knew of the path across the ravine, and the a friend of mine in their camp would push the Prince in that direction, yet you going along… gave him an additional motivation. For that I am thankful.” His voice was calm, yet he made no effort to help Elena up.

“You… you and the your ‘friend’, you set this up?” Elena asked.

“We and others, this maneuver gave us an opportunity we just couldn`t let slip. Finally, the Fel´s were in our vicinity and would be vulnerable trying to play the hero. I am sorry you got sucked into all of this.” The general let out a sigh, “Rest assured that I have no wish on doing any harm to you. You are not my enemy and have done nothing to gain my ire. The question is just, are you for us or against us?”

“Who is that us?” Elena asked, she felt how the plate finally gave in, her arm becoming free, as she slowly moved her hand down the dead princes body next to her, towards the hand blaster in his holster.

“A group of Individuals who are opposed to the direction the galaxy is run these days,” Darius said, slowly. “We see the corruption of the Empire, of the Galactic Alliance, and can`t no longer look away. Our leader is seeing a better path, your father, he was one of us.”

“My father?” Elena froze for a moment, since when had her father had anything to do with the Empire? Yes he had been a Senator, but he had turned on the Empire after the dissolution of the Senate.

“We are a brotherhood fighting for a higher cause,” Darius continued. “You father knew that, and he was once a brother to me.”

“I…” Elena could just stare at the general. When had this happened? She knew that her father had spend his last decades traveling the galaxy, but had always assumed that it had been to sell his books and to speak at meetings of other human centrists. She had accompanied him a couple of time but got bored quickly so she usually spend those times with Ulrika. “What is your goal here?”

“We seek to undermine the Fel dynasty, so it may fall at the proper moment. It took us a long time to prepare for this. But in some parts thanks to you we achieved the first part of our plans.” He glanced at the princes headless body. “We needed to lure Prince Anakin out, in contrast to his brother he is always under strong protection, well… he was… you have done me a great service without even knowing it

Elena looked up to him, “am I right in the assumption that you knew the prince would try to kill me?”

“You are correct,” Darius nodded, “our brotherhood has their eyes and ears everywhere, even in the private circles of Jagged Fel. We saw his request at his son as a potential opportunity to lure him out in the open. This is also why we allowed you to secure that victory at the gate, or rather Prince Davin, because it would put pressure on Anakin to prove his worth as well. The Empire might act all civilized, but in the end they are a barbarous society, were military might counts above everything else.”

“That sounds like a very elaborate plan to say the least,” Elena said.

“Oh it was, sure there were other ways of having Prince Anakin killed, but if possible I needed to be the one who did it.” He smiled.

“Why you?” Elena asked, now she didn`t understand a thing anymore.

Darius shook his head, “we don`t have much time left ambassador. Soon the duel will be over, and Prince Davin will have won, lets just say I asked that favor from our friend Yoshihisa. He will be the glorious victor, solidifying his place as crown Prince.”

“He is a hot-headed fool,” Elena said, “if he becomes Emperor…” Then she realized. “That is your goal?”

“You are thinking quick, I always admired that about your father,” Darius smile grew a bit, in that moment he almost seemed like a kind grandfather. “Now, I don`t have the time to tell you more about us, someone else will, back on Eriadu.”

“On Eriadu?” Elena raised an eyebrow, where was this going?

“I know its much to ask of you, and I apologize for dragging you into this. I also don`t want to force you to do anything, but… please once you have returned home, there is something hidden behind your picture in the gallery of your family, something your father left there for you to find. Can you keep that in mind?” Darius looked at her sharply.

“I… I think I do… even if I don`t get what is going on here at all…” Elena replied, the notion that her father had secrets from her, secrets this large was still shaking her.

“You will, I promise, just follow the leads your father left for you,” he smiled. “I`ll now leave you and we won`t see each other again. I arranged for someone to find you. Please, if you want to see the Empire fall, have trust, the truth will open itself to you. I… just wish we had more time for all of this, there is so much I wanted to tell you… I can only say that your father would be proud of what you achieved here, of how you humiliated the Emperor. He had plans for you… before they killed him.”

“Killed him?” Now Elena was screaming, “It was a natural death, he got sick. He…”

“As I said, no time for that. I just ask one thing of you, don`t the Jagged Fel now what I told you. Take it as repaying me for saving your life.” Darius sad, and there was real sadness in his voice as he left the room. Leaving Elena behind, screaming, confused and alone with the headless body of the man who tried to kill her.

 

What will Elena do now after Darius has told her this?

 

What she always does, get to the bottom of this...


Seven

“Well fought my Prince,” Yosh gave Prince Davin a smile as he took a few steps back to breathe. The duel had been going on for a while now, and as exhausting as it had been, it wasn`t nearly as hard as his duel with Jaina. Davin had given him more than one opening he could have used for a potential finishing blow, but, remembering the favor general Darius had asked of him, he had refrained from using them.

He still didn`t fully understood why the general was now suddenly insistent he should try to make the duel last as long as he could, and ideally even loose. Maybe he planned some sort of trap for the 501st again? It to an extend disappointed Yosh that he wouldn`t be able to see this maneuver through to the end, but he had already done quite well, so it would probably be enough. Maybe once he had done his part, he could spend the rest of the maneuver with Elena in the camp to learn a bit more about Mira´s adoptive aunt.

“Still got some fire in you old man?” Davin fired back as he raised his blade again.

Internally Yosh could only shake his head, was the Prince not even realizing how much he was outmatched? Or was he in truth just trying to keep up a strong appearance? Well, ultimately it didn`t matter, he would win this, as General Darius had asked for. As the Emperor would want. Yosh could see Jagged Fel in the distance, on the other side of the bridge, surrounded by a squad of soldiers, First Knight Tahiri Velia at his side. Even he had come to watch the duel, to watch his son, his younger son, win.

It was a paradoxical relationship the Emperor had with his sons Yosh knew, Jaina had talked about it more than once. In a way Jagged recognized Anakin as his successor, but he also considered him soft, too weak to be a good Emperor, meanwhile Davin may have the guts for that, but he lacked the wits to be even a proper heir. Sure the military liked him, but most of the people looked on the younger Prince as a humorless stick in the mud. Maybe, Yosh mused as he prepared his next steps, maybe this maneuver would improve Davin´s position. So far at least his capture of the gate had given him attention if nothing else, even if Elena had stolen parts of his thunder, either way Yosh doubted that Prince Anakin would just let this stand, probably the was already plotting his reply…

Yosh was pulled from his thoughts by the roaring of engines, heavy engines, the characteristic howling of a TIE fighter, coming from the tunnel in his back. In this moment, even knowing that Davin was probably waiting for a moment of distraction like this, he couldn`t help but turn around. What was going on here? He knew that the tunnel, the main tunnel leading in and out of the citadel was large enough for TIEs to fly through, of course it was to connect to the underground hangars and armoires. But for the maneuver no such moves had been planned, simply because the danger for the participating soldiers was too great when the TIEs were maneuvered right atop their heads in such a narrow, passage. It was in a way a disadvantage for both sides, because a single TIE, could wreck unspeakable havoc here in a place were it was nearly impossible to dodge its…

Yosh heard the screams and the fire of the laser before he saw the incoming star fighter, a blink later he felt it in the Force, pain, shock and panic. This wasn`t a part of the mock battle, this was…

He felt how Davin closed in on him, the prince still being focused on winning the duel and capitalizing on Yosh having turned his back towards him. From one second to the next Yosh´s mind shifted from the mock battle towards his sworn duty as an Imperial Knight, and the force gave him the strength he needed. In one quick move he had turned around and grabbed the surprised Prince by his neck, as he pushed him to the ground. Meanwhile he filled his lungs to let out a shout, which fueled by the Force was loud enough to reach through the entire cavern, “Get down!”

Two seconds later, the TIE was here, a TIE Advanced, all guns blazing came firing out of the tunnel entrance a moved towards him. Yosh saw how soldiers and officers were hit, but the fire of the TIE was unaimed and most hits went into the air or the walls of the tunnel, so most soldiers were able to dodge or take cover but at the same time any and all attempts at counterfire bounced harmlessly of the TIEs shields, of course it did, training ammunition was worthless in a real battle. Yosh stood straight in front of the prince on the ground, ready to protect him with his own body if need be, but the TIE didn`t even bother with him as it shot over their heads and right towards the group on the other side of the bridge, the group Jagged Fel was a inside of.

Yosh realized the plan in the next second and instantly stretched out his hand to stop the TIE from slamming right into the delegation. Then he began to walk towards the Star Fighters back, knowing that a single slip of his grip would allow the pilot, whoever he was to fulfill his plan.

Frustrated that his suicide attack against the Emperor was foiled for the moment the pilot instantly opened fire into the group. Yosh saw how Jagged´s elite bodyguard was torn to pieces, now that the pilot aimed his shots the body count was a multitude higher than before. He saw how Tahiri Veila and two other Imperial Knights stepped in front of the Emperor to block the incoming attacks, but the fire of a TIE was a different matter to that of a blaster. One of the bodyguards was almost completely evaporated, while another got engulfed in flames and broke down screaming as her own cape surrounded her in flames.

Only Tahiri had been able to survive the second salvo, and Yosh saw that even she was struggling, he saw the sweat running across her face as she prepared herself for the next attack. She didn`t have to wait for long, with no other targets around, and unable to dodge because that would mean leaving the emperor unprotected Tahiri had no chance, the next salvo pierced her body and the first Knight and personal shield of the Emperor was sawn in two by the ray of laser fire. Leaving a cowering Jagged Fel open in the face of the TIE. Yosh knew that now only fragments of seconds would decided over life and death of the most powerful man in the galaxy, the man he too had sworn to protect. But he also knew that he alone couldn`t stop the TIE, it was too bulky to be turned around, and his lightsaber was set on training levels of energy so it couldn`t even pierce the shields. He could feel the grim triumph in the pilot as he prepared the shot…

Then, in the next moment Yosh was no longer alone, a second pull threw the TIE backwards and the shoots hit the cavers roof. Looking over his right shoulder Yosh saw Prince Davin was back on his feet, his hands outstretched as he fought with the TIE. The enemy continued to rain fire through the entire cavern. But Yosh saw how several more soldiers entered from the other side, some quickly shielded Jagged Fel with their bodies and moved the Emperor away from the danger. Yosh continued to close in on the TIE. “Keep him down,” he yelled at Davin and saw how the prince nodded.

Then Yosh reached out in the force and found the energy cables inside the back of the TIE, he felt how they pulsed with high voltage. He ran his mind along them for a second, finding the best spot. Then he squeezed. The explosion of the TIE rocked the cavern and for a terrible moment Yosh feared that it may cause the entire structure to collapse, but that didn`t happen. Instead, it was debris from the explosion that filled the air and Yosh threw himself onto the ground to escape it… Several minor explosions filled the air for a moment, then it was over.

 

Yosh saved Davin. But who was at the attack?

 

Well, its obvious, isn`t it?

Eight

The Emperors Maneuver had passed from the minds of the galaxy, instead the death of the Crown Prince now filled every media outlet from Coruscant to Ziost. The pictures of Prince Anakin Fel causing an almost universal wave of sympathy for his father, even the enemy of his nation send their condolences and other well wishes to the grieving parents. His funeral, held three days after the end of General Darius´s mad rampage was attended by dignitaries from all over the galaxy, this time even the Hutts were present. On the flat plateau in the shadow of the citadel the large pyre had been prepared. A purple death veil covering the princes body, hiding the fact that his head was no longer in one piece. Imperial Knights were swarming all over the place, as the danger of a potential second assassination attempt was still looming.

It was a grey, dry and cold evening and Yosh shivered even in armor, but maybe even more because he still tried to understand just how close they had been to loosing the Emperor too. Jagged Fel´s face was like it was made of stone, hard, giving away no emotions as he stared at the Veil of his son. Prince Davin stood next to him, even more solemn that usual it made him look older than the nineteen years he actually was, more like a man than ever. It was Empress Jaina Fel who allowed her tears to flow, following the ancient stereotype that women cried easier than men it seemed.

Next to her stood her own parents, Leia Organa and Han Solo, both old, their hair having turned white, the signs of a harsh life on their faces. Yosh couldn`t help but pity them even more, they had already outlived both of their sons, and now one of their grandchildren as well. The grandchild who had been named after their dead son no less. Yosh asked himself if the name Anakin was cursed, for it surely seemed to have never given its bearer much luck, no matter if their name was Skywalker, Solo or Fel.

Even further the dignitaries from Hapes stood, who had their own victims to mourn for as Ambassador Trysta Zel had lost her sister Taryn to the rampage. She had died as had most of the dignitaries accompanying the Emperor. Taryn husband Zeck was here too, as was their daughter, all three of them made no effort to hide their tears. Whether they cried for the crown prince or the ambassador.

Several of the surviving Commanders of the 501st Legion filled the other side of the square, lead by the overall Commander in Chief Kthira'shi'ktarloo usually known as Ashik, Jagged Fel´s closest personal friend and confidant. His stoic blue face and red eyes gave away no emotion, following the same trend of suppressing emotions that his people it seemed.

Natasha Vonreg stood a bit more distant, with some dignitaries from the Iron Tenth, the fate of their Legion now hanging in the balance. Some, like Lieutenant Yage had already been arrested for questioning and Yosh knew that Vonreg probably had something like that ahead of her as well, even if so far all signs pointed towards Darius being a single perpetrator who had worked on his own.

What had motivated the General to his act of terrorism was still unknown, some believed it was the old grudges over the hidden war, or maybe a completely personal motive. What they had heard from those who had encountered Darius in his last hour no sense could be made. Maybe the General had just lost his mind, even if Yosh doubted that it was truly just a sudden burst of insanity. At least his own actions in saving prince Davin and the emperor himself had made him exempt from any and all suspicion, which greatly relieved him. Though it did not fully overcome the guilt he himself still felt for his own role he had played in Darius´s plans, whatever plans it were.

A bit further he saw the delegation of the Coalition, Elena Kyr standing amidst her escort as she displayed the same emotionlessness as the Emperor, the two opposing factions in this cold war it seemed united in this moment by their shared sense of loss. After stopping Darius´s rampage Yosh had personally found Elena, wounded, bleeding out and still entrapped in the cuffs holding her down. After Darius had murdered the Prince he had left her to die it seemed, confident that the wound his vibro knife had caused would finish her of. Yosh had hoped to gain any kind of information from her about the General´s motives, but she had said that all she had heard were the incoherent ramblings of a madman.

The media of course found a treasure-trove when they had discovered in whose company Prince Anakin had been murdered, and the wealth of disgusting stories that they came up with was already growing exponentially. Some claimed that Elena had been the one to murder the Prince, while others claimed the two of them had engaged in a secret sexual affair when they were attacked. It was almost ludicrously what people all believed. But Yosh assumed that was just the nature of the galaxy, while some grieved others enjoyed the carnage.

As he had talked with her Yosh had felt that Elena was considering on saying something else, telling him something private. But then she had decided against it. And he had, in respect for Elena decided not to investigate further. If it was truly important Mira might tell him about it in the future.

“It is time,” he said quietly to the emperor next to him and Jagged Fel gave him a thankful nod.

Now, with Tahiri dead Yosh had been chosen as the next First Knight and personal bodyguard of the Emperor. It was a huge honor and something Yosh had secretly dreamed of for some time, but now, considering the cost it had come with, he would have preferred to not have been granted the title of the dead bodies of his fellow Knights. Next to Tahiri they had lost two more knights who in the end had protected their Emperor with their own bodies. There was no greater honor for an Imperial Knight and their names, and their deeds would live on in the history of the Knights forever.

Jagged stepped slowly onto the empty square and walked towards the prepared funeral pyre, holding up a torch in his hand. As he reached Anakin´s body he stopped, and adjusted the commlink at his collar, that would make his voice be heard all over the field, not to mention across holoscreens in the entire galaxy.

“My son, Anakin, was the bravest young man I have ever seen. He had so much life inside of him, even now that I stand here I can`t help but remember when I first saw him at his broth, how he instantly tried to grab my nose with his little hands. I knew then and there that he was a strong child, a true fighter, a true son of the Empire, and in the last twenty years there wasn`t a day were he didn`t prove this time and time again. He understood our way of life better than myself at times, he understood the need people have of good government, of someone they had look up to. That living in safety not only means that you are safe from outside threats but also internal ones, the protection from people trying to abuse and mislead them. This galaxy has seen so much suffering in the last decades, ever since the incompetence of the old republic lead to the clone wars, and yet, my son, he was a symbol for a better future, a future were peoples needs are once more attended to, were the right people rule the galaxy for the betterment of all. Where parasites hiding behind empty promises of freedom and self-determination will be given what they deserve, and were the good people of the galaxy can life in peace and prosperity, under the benevolent rule of our Imperial Family. For in the end, everyone is a part of that family, everyone of us here in the Empire is part of our big family. Everyone of us has lost a son, a brother, a cousin, in Anakin Fel. He was taken from us before his time, ripped away from our family by a cowardly act of murder. An act of murder perpetrated by a coward who then also tried to rob our family of its patriarch. My own life had been endangered by this madman, and maybe still be by his cohorts. Some of them might even be here right now, people so in secret cheered at the death of my innocent son, and who wish to see my blood spilled as well. But if that is the case, let me tell them one thing: You will not win, the justice is on our side, the people are on our side, history is on our side. You are pathetic upstarts trying to fight what is right and good in this galaxy, threatening to throw us back into a second darkness, a second dark age, just for your own benefit. Let me tell you that no matter were you hide we will find you, we will find each and every one of you and bring down our blowing blades of justice down on you. There will be no negotiation with terrorists and their allies. I will pay and any price and do anything to ensure the future of my people. Let this be my promise to history, I will see this galaxy become a better place. I will see the Imperial Banner of Justice flow over each and every world that dreams of a better future. There will be no hiding for terrorists and traitors. It will be a galaxy for those who deserve it, those who have the strength to give it the government it deserves. All who want to stand at our side are welcome, yet who doesn`t stand against the darkness stands with it. And I will not let the self interest of a corrupt elite drag the galaxy into another age of war. For my sons blood was spilled in defense of this better future, and I will do everything and anything that is necessary to ensure his blood was not spilled in vain, and that those who chose to rob you your life will be made regret their decision to stand against the Empire. That is my final promise, my promise to you, my beloved child.”

With that Jagged stepped forth and sat fire to the pyre, its flames quickly engulfing the body of the murdered prince. Yet even when the heat reached Yosh, it could do nothing against the deadly, deadly cold he felt inside of him. For the first time in his life, the very first time since he had first met him, he had seen the Emperor with the same eyes Mira did.

 

Great to see that Elena is there and Yosh. What will happen to them?

 

We shall see


Epilogue

Even though she had now served as the head of the reestablished House Kyr for over twenty years now, the gallery of the family still felt like a place belonging to another person. Here it seemed that the ghost of her long dead ancestors was truly still alive. And in all those years it hadn`t even been the ghost of her distant but still there father, but even more alien. The remnants of something she could never connect.

The word gallery was actually a bit misleading as it was more than just a collection of portraits but instead a museum of House Kyr´s past. A private exhibition of thousands of years of power, intrigue, backstabbing, bigotry and elitism. A place only few outside the family ever saw, and even the members of the family only visited rarely.

Still, as dark as its contents were, this place also was the place of some of the happiest times of Elena´s childhood. In those early years after her father had lost his noble title and most of the family business he had often come here when he had felt down and had always taken Elena with him. Here the sadness left him as he told her the stories of her ancestors, of their heroism, their defeats and their victories.

“Remember all the sleepovers we held in this place?” Ulrika asked her, a weak smile on her face.

Elena gave her wife a nod, glad that Ulrika finally seemed to have cooled off a bit. After her return, she had told her, Ilona, Florianne and some of the others about Prince Anakin´s attempt on her life. As she had expected all of them had been upset, but of course Ulrika had flown into a state of complete rage and Elena didn`t need the Force to figure out that her wife had wanted nothing more than to head out right then and there and end Fel´s life.

“Yeah…” Elena smiled, "always when we came up with new pranks for Ilona."

Ulrika laughed, and with that laugh at least some of the sorrow that had been on her face for the last few months disappeared for a moment, making her look much younger and happier, like the woman she had been before being burdened with the responsibilities of being the ranger chief of the Coalition.

After Ulrika had finally stopped yelling at the meeting Ilona and Florianne had reassured both of them that this action of the Emperor would not be forgotten, that they would do what they could to ensure a ‘measured response’ to the attempted assassination. Elena was confident that they would be able to truly hurt Jagged for this, but she wasn`t sure if there was anything they could do that would actually calm down Ulrika enough to stop calling for heads.

They passed through another section of the gallery, here most of the display cases were empty and Elena shivered a bit. Here various pieces of dead aliens had been stored in form of horrific trophies, shrunken heads, skeletons and even a fully stuffed out Hutt corpse. It served as a gruesome reminder of her families past, to the point that her father had eventually decided to have all of it cremated in disgust. As insane as it is, dad was pretty moderate when compared to the rest of the family. Elena though, as she also remembered her aunt, and the ‘pastime activities’ she had engaged in with her betrothed.

Entering the next room they now reached the final part of the family history, the one that was still written. A portrait of her father filled one of the walls, gazing at his daughter with a mild smile. Elena suppressed the impulse to avoid his gaze. There was little Cedryc Kyr had added to the family heritage, she noticed the seal of a senator of the Galactic Empire and his old cavalry saber from his short military career.

It made her own display even more stick out, in his final years her father had no doubt done a lot in that regard, storing whatever memorabilia from his daughters exploits as he could. The Medal of Valor for her actions in the Vong War, next to her folded Peace Brigade Uniform, a yellow and black gang outfit with martial symbols on it, a gift from the Tunnel Cats gang with whom she had spend the final year of that war. A broken piece of armor she had taken from a Pirate Lord she had killed about a decade before the war with the Iron Alliance. Other pieces Elena had added herself: A broken slave collar, a trophy she had taken from the freed slaves on Qaelan, a ceremonial Dathomirian Knife, a gift from Asajj Ventress, a holopicture of Xenia, as well as another one of her and Ulrika´s squad.

“Quite a lot of history, isn’t it?” Ulrika asked, as she examined the pieces.

“Guess its your story as much as mine,” Elena said, solemnly, “doesn`t you family have a similar tradition?”

“We do,” Ulrika nodded, “mom stores her old maid outfit, as well as the dress and mask she stole from yours that one night.”

Elena laughed, Ulrika´s mother Ella had indeed been a maid to the Grau family and quite a lazy one at that, being more immersed in daydreaming and getting in trouble than doing her work. But despite that she and the younger son of the family Arian had been completely and madly in love with each other. To the point that one night during a mask ball in the Grau household she had knocked out the noblewoman for which her sister Magret worked with sleeping pills and stolen her dress and mask to attend herself. A noblewoman who had been at the time in the early stages of her pregnancy with Elena.

“I still sometimes wonder what our mothers thought of the two of us becoming friends, let alone wives.” Elena said with a grin.

Of course, the next day Elena´s mother had been enraged beyond belief and called for the punishment of the servant girl, though she had picked the wrong culprit, Magret, her own servant. In order to save her sister from the punishment Ella had given herself up for what she had done… but instead of being punished the Grau family had instead seen it as a dig against the stuck-up House Kyr and as such shielded her from retribution, and shortly thereafter she and Arian had married, conceiving Ulrika just a few months later.

“They eventually laughed about the whole thing,” Ulrika reminded her.

“Yeah thankfully, would have been awkward if we had ended up on opposite sides of a family feud.” Elena mused.

After she and Ulrika had become friends and stubbornly resisted any attempts of their parents to change that fact, the two families had met to fix the rift and prevent a true family feud. Elena didn`t knew what exactly they had agreed upon but since then their families had a good relationship with each other that only improved in the years to come.

“So, guess its time.” Ulrika said, slowly, “to see if the madman said the truth.”

“Why would he lie about it?” Elena asked, even if she was unsure herself.

“Who knows what is going on in the mind of someone like that, and to what end he was working towards, except his own.”

“He seemed to be determined to kill Jagged Fel,” Elena replied.

“Yeah, and our dear son in law saved the shuttas worthless life.” Ulrika spat.

Elena nodded slowly, for a moment she had actually considered telling Yoshihisa about Prince Anakin´s attack on her life, but in the end her mistrust for him had been just too great. She had told Mira by now, who had promised she would bring up the matter to Yosh, but it was unclear when the two of them would meet in person again, and doing this over the holonet was risky.

Reaching out with her hand Elena found the back of her portrait, then moved further along. “Nothing so far…” she muttered.

“See… nothing but the prank of a…” Ulrika couldn`t finish her sentence as suddenly a click echoed through the room, then piece of the wall moved back, revealing a small alcove.

“There was a switch, I pushed it.” Elena said. The piece of the wall had been so unremarkable before that she never would have guessed… “When did dad build this? Or was it there before?” Stepping closer to examine the contents of the alcove she found several datapads and a golden ring adorned with a symbol she had never seen before.

“So he was right after all,” Ulrika said, her eyes having widened. “I didn`t believe it.”

Elena placed the ring for now on her display case, then she took one of the datapads and activated it. It took a moment to readjust itself, and she noticed that it had been set on offline mode, so not connected to the wider holonet. Finding several stored messages in its menu she sat down on the floor and skimmed the list. One stuck out to her, as it was addressed from General Florian Darius, with shaking fingers she opened the message:

To my most honored brother, Cedryc Kyr, in the year 38 after the battle of Yarvin

I am relieved that you are still in good health my friend. Your latest warnings about being followed were taken with great worry by all of us, the Grandmaster included. He has begun an investigation into this case but so far, he has failed to notice anyone who might have found a trace of our brotherhood. If there is a danger we can both be certainly assured that he will take care of it.

I also want to reiterate on what we assured you during our last meeting, in that we respect your decision not to involve your daughter Elena in the affairs of our order. There are others of us who follow the same path to try and keep their children save. It is a great burden we shoulder, and no one should be forced into it. And rest assured, no matter what happens to you, the brotherhood will look out for her and keep her save.

But now back to the reasons you have contacted me, the situation in the Empire of the Hand is as it has been, the Chiss are fighting us with everything they have, I can`t thank you and the others enough for your support, without it our war here would be much more hopeless. Your suggestion that there is a guiding force behind Fel´s rise to power is truly intriguing, in many other circumstances, a man such as he, someone who betrayed the Empire to the New Republic and then returned to the Empire should have lost all credibility, and yet he hasn`t but instead is a beloved figure in nearly all nations of the galaxy. I fear the movement that could gather around such a person, and that what we are seeing here in the Unknown Regions is just the tip of the Iceberg. Especially if we consider his families relationships with the Antilles, Skywalker and Solo clans. It almost seems as if someone is working behind the scenes to create a dynasty to unify the galaxy, under them. If that truly is the case the Fel family might be the greatest danger to the galaxy since Palpatine, in some ways even more insidious.

If there is a guiding power behind it, then it remains utterly illusive to us, but your theory surely is chilling to consider. I personally never believed the stories about a clone but given the circumstantial evidence you pointed out, it may very well be true. If so then it is of utmost importance that we eliminate this clone and any further. I will ask the Grandmaster about it once things quiet down here for a while.

I hope that your journey will help us in weaking the Fels, maybe even destroy their reputation finally. But then again, we used this strategy before, so it is possible they see it coming. Be sure to be save, from what I know about the Baron than that he is not a man of great intellect, but whoever holds his hand over him and his family might be, and at least some of the Baron´s children have shown clear signs of psychotic behavior. I hope that you can help us fend off this great danger to the galaxy. But most of all, be save my brother, we live in dangerous times.

Your brother spirit

General Florian Darius

P.S: The current developments on Corellia are truly worrisome, but maybe we can turn it into an advantage, need to discuss that during the next meeting.

Elena stared at the letter for a while, then she read it again, then she took a moment to think about it, her heart was racing, this… this couldn`t be real, her father and Darius had truly been brothers? And they had worked against the Fel family even then? That was troubling to read.

“I… I don`t know, this is…” Elena stuttered.

Looking over her shoulder at the letter Ulrika´s eyes narrowed. “What in all nine hells, this is getting weirder and weirder…”

“Indeed,” Elena said with a shiver. She closed the message and looked over the others, there were some older ones by Darius, and many addressed with names she didn`t know, but then. “What the?”

Clicking on the message her fingers began to shiver even harder, her entire body was shivering as she read:

To my most honored brother Cedryc Kyr, in the year 36 after the battle of Yarvin

I absolutely share your worries about the Iron Alliance, early on after their founding most predictions only gave this pirate realm a short life expectancy but by now we can firmly say that the Alliance overcame the odds and proved to be a much larger threat than anyone would have assumed. I can only confirm what we have already feared, they keep strong trade connections going with the Senex Juvex Sector as well as the Hutt space. Other customers might exist as well and I will begin my investigations into them soon. In addition I request additional funds, if we can hire bounty hunters and assassins to eliminate key leaders of the Iron Alliance.

I already made contact with a woman called Cari, no worries she never met me, we just wrote over the holonet. She is a bounty hunter, one of the best in the Southwest and as a victim of the Iron Alliance we can rely on her serving our cause, ideally, she will also be able to recruit additional mercenaries for this endeavor. If that proves successful it could be the winning strategy in this war. But I also suggest further support to the Liberation Front as well the Kathol Republic, I might meet with old Saul Cameron in a couple of months, if we can get a real alliance going against the Iron Alliance it would be a blessing for us all. So, I hope you can also win support on Eriadu for this plan.

Your brother in spirit

Darek Halcion

“Darek?” Elena asked, having reached a point were she didn`t believe anything anymore.

“Cari?” Ulrika was chewing on her lip. “So this brotherhood has been her mysterious employer?”

“It seems so,” Elena said, “she never had many information’s on her employer, only that they were rich and powerful and hated the Iron Alliance.”

“I wonder why Darek never mentioned it…” Ulrika mused. “But… it begins to make sense, didn`t he also convince those mercenary companies to switch sides during the battle of Qaelan?”

“Yes,” Elena said, “but he never said much about where he had acquired those funds. And with all the chaos back then I never really came around to investigate the matter further.”

“Continuing it also makes me wonder why a force user like him got captured by the Iron Alliance as a slave in the first place,” Ulrika mused. “Maybe he arranged for this meeting on the slave market so he could infiltrate the ORSF?”

“Maybe, likely…” Elena continued. “If we wanted he could have probably used a mind trick to get Xela to release him at any time. He probably wanted to stay, maybe to meet you.”

“And if his folks hired Cari, they might have known when we would come to the market, Cari was there that day,” Ulrika added the next piece of the puzzle.

“So an Imperial Admiral, a human centric writer and former Imperial Senator, and a dark Jedi, possibly a former Imperial Inquisitor.” Elena mused, “so far the connection seems to be ex imperials, or in Darius case active ones. But they seem no friends of the Felpire.”

“Indeed,” Ulrika stretched herself, “does Darek still live on Qaelan?”

Elena nodded, “he does, unless he moved very recently. Guess that decides what we need to do, its time to head to Qaelan to ask our old ally a few questions.”

 

Nice epilogue and more cases to solve?