Star Wars OPEN War of the Galaxies: Fist of Fire - an Episode XII Story

The Round Endeth

@Kev-Mas_Colcha, @darthbernael, @Mitth_Fisto, @adaml83

 

The Viscount of Ord Bueri

After they left, the Dread Rur attended the Viscount. “Do they know?”

“Doubtful,” the Viscount responded. “Our ancient hyperlane to their galaxy has only acquired recent use thanks to those insufferable Nagai.”

“But we already know that the Mother does not reside near Tof. Or our predecessors would have found her.”

“So they passed through, if they did not leave an appreciable impact upon the natives. The number of cathedral ships sent… it would be impossible for otherwise.”

“It was ten thousand years ago.”

“And yet we still face the consequences of a spat in the Jedi Council twenty five thousand years ago,” the Viscount replied drily.

“As you say.”

“So if they passed through they may found a hyperlane.”

“To Peridea?”

“Doubtful.”

“Why doubtful?” At this the Dread Rur took an unexpectedly sharp tone; unexpected even by himself.

“Because the Mother is not here; they did not return with her.”

“I’m less interested in Mother than I am our long awaited resurgence. For too long we have hid here on Ord Bueri.” The Dread Rur’s eyes enflamed. “Imagine a galaxy conquered by our kin, purged of nonhumans. A Pius Galaxy.”

“We have been Recused, nothing more,” the Viscount admonished. “Conspiring to bring down the enemy from afar.”

“I still attest that Palpatine would have been fine.”

“And I still attest that Abeloth was not the Mother, merely a pretender,” the Viscount bit back. A sigh. “Palpatine would not have recognised us for what we were. The Pius Dea, the expression of the Ordu Aspectu, borne of a Lesser Schism, and yet entwined with the successor Vianists and the Massassi of then-Korriban.”

“We’re Sith.”

“But not Palpatine’s Sith. We would have merely exposed our hopes and fears and he would have played them both.” The Viscount sounded tired. Such arguments had resurrected with each reincarnation of Palpatine, after all. Even Snoke had been considered an appropriate Pius Dea hierophant.

The Dread Rur could not disagree with that. Many lesser Sith cults had been co-opted by Darth Sidious. The Prophets of the Dark Side; the Sorcerors of Tund; the Sith Eternal; the Disciples of Ragnos; the Lost Tribe of the Sith. Each had served Palpatine as mere puppets or pawns. The Viscount would have been no more valuable to the Emperor than Arden Lyn, Darth Maul, Count Dooku, Mara Jade or Grand Admiral Thrawn. At least the Skywalkers had been potential hosts for the soul of Darth Sidious.

The Viscount demurred. “We shall wait out our alliance with the Tof League. See what they know, even if very little, and then send scouts. We have one cathedral ship left. I do not intend to waste it.”

“Will it not take centuries for us to cross the Intergalactic Void?”

“Not with the hyperdrives of Morgan Elsbeth,” the Viscount said, smiling. “Nor are we the Yuuzhan Vong, forced to traverse intergalactic distances by sublight speeds.”

“Which does suggest their galaxy is considerably closer than one would think.”

“In our satellite group, yes,” the Viscount acknowledged begrudgingly. “But we have not the hyperlanes to the Yuuzhan Vong galaxy, nor do we have any known tie to the Yuuzhan Vong and Peridea.”

“No,” the Dread Rur accepted too.

“So we have to play it safe. We don’t want our new Tof allies to discover there is such a hyperlane, if indeed it exists.” The Viscount mused.

“All we do, we do for the Mother, and for Purity.”

“For the Mother,” agreed the Viscount, but the Dread Rur had already vanished into the shadows.

@Mitth_Fisto, @darthbernael, @adaml83. @Kev-Mas_Colcha (mentions only, no direct TAGs)

 

Holocrons and Meetings

The first Holocron belonged to Tulak Hord. Unmistakably. One of several he had made in his lifetime, and twenty-year rule of his Shadow Empire.

The next belonged to Darth Traya. To the original, the second, and the third. Though the second was a limited entry, the three each acted as gatekeepers.

Keira. Atris. Vergere.

The Holocron of Tulak Hord spoke first though. It told of the length and breadth of the Shadow Empire he and four other Dqrk Lords had erected in the Inner Rim. From Balmorra, to Yn, to Ambria , to Arkania, as far rimward as Taris, Corbos, Syngia, Malachor and Chabish. Most of that Empire had fallen to time, let alone the infighting that killed three of the Dark Lords and left one stranded on Kesh. Tulak Hord himself had returned to Korriban to lay claim to the Sith Empire, to drive Darth Andeddu away, but in that conflict he discovered a secret.

A truth.

A hyperlane.

It was used only twice.

Once by Andeddu to flee home.

A second time by the Daragons and Darth Sadow; it was the Daragon Trail to ancient historians, an unlikely route from the Horuset system to Empress Teta in the Deep Core. A route sequestered by the Jedi at the request of the Senate, and almost lost by the Sith.

Tulak Hord had died before he could use it, but nonetheless.

His Holocron bequeathed it upon Darth Mascon, the next Lord of Hate.

@Kev-Mas_Colcha (combo)

@Mitth_Fisto, @darthbernael, @adaml83 (mentions only, no direct TAGs)

 

The Battle of Jaemus

Voort SaBring, the Gamorreon with a genius level IQ, found tracing bloodlines the most annoying project he’d ever partaken in. And once, for fun, he calculated the mathematical likelihood of the Maw Cluster being a natural formation.

But going through genealogy records across four millennia was incredibly trying. He would say, however, with the Wraith contacts, Resistance Intelligence, the Adumari networks and the connections he could summon of other nation-states spynets, Voort - Piggy to his friends - could call upon more data today than he had access to even under the Galactic Alliance.

His eyes unfocused as he looked out the complex transparisteel. The shipyards of Jaemus were a bustle, having been original Imperial, then belonging to the Pentastar Alignment, before the First Order secretly, with Kuat Drive Yards, developed them further. Now they were more potent than even the Yaga Minor shipyards, which had continued to serve the Remnant and First Order. Star Destroyers and other triangular ships were under construction, and Voort reflected absently on how many years he had spent fighting the Empire only to be working with its latest incarnation.

But that was the point. He hadn’t been fighting the Empire, Yuuzhan Vong or even First Order. Voort’s longer perspective on such things meant he knew he was fighting the Palpatine’s, Zsinj’s, Tsavong Lah’s, Borsk Fey’lya’s and Snoke’s and Phasma’s and Hux’s of the galaxy. When he realised that, it had become more palatable to be supporting the resurrection of the Empire under Jagged Fel, let alone his alliances with Nas Choka and even the Nagai. The Nagai hadn’t been much better than the Yuuzhan Vong in the past, but even intergalactic enemies could be allies; if not Choka but then Scut, the Wraith who had shown Voort that enemies were more than those who made up its species or loyalists.

He shook his head and concentrated.

In living memory, the Eternal Fleet had appeared at Chandrila, Exocron and Korriban. It had been briefly seized by a Sith Lord before Jaina Solo Fel cut him down. This occurred in the days after the Battle of Crait, when the First Order was still steamrolling the galaxy, but before the Battle of Mon Gazza, when the allies put a stop to their offensive. Whatever had happened, someone had managed to create a workaround the Eternal Throne, even if briefly.

That was what they needed.

He had tracked down six of the eight bloodlines he needed. Five were required to control the Eternal Throne, he now understood, but securing even five had been a nightmare. One, the smuggler named Kan Mandeen, had already given blood samples but Voort kept him and his speedy ship on retainer anyway.

A Force sensitive bloodline ran through Vincent Mikaru, an Echani who currently dominated the Six Sisters, but he was behind First Order lines at present and Voort doubted the man would be inclined to restore the Empire. Not from his psychological profile anyway.

Worse, the leader of the Sun Guards, a fallen Colcha, he had one too. His belligerence made it almost impossible to imagine him cooperating. They’d have to wrest a blood sample from his cold, dead hands. As in; his corpse. But Mon Calamari was incredibly well defended and the Grysk-Corporate systems lay between them and him.

Thinking of the Grysk made him rumble annoyance in his throat. One bloodline was Mandalorian - a Jedi named Madelyn Linnett, as well as her daughter Eleanor. But both had withdrawn with other warriors to Mandalore, which currently fell inside Grysk territory. An extraction could be proposed, but with how ruined Mandalore had been by a nanoweapon, it was believed the clans had relocated to Gargon; a world at the heart of Grysk control of the sector. That would be difficult to get to; especially as most of the Wraiths were already committed to three or four missions.

Voort continued his analysis. The problem was that two bloodlines had intermingled with the Nagai and Tofs. As unlikely as that was, there was ample evidence that both species had visited this galaxy before even the Outlander lived. A Nagai Padawan had died on Taris, for example. Voort could hardly as the Nagai if they knew who had the DNA they needed for the Throne so early in their alliance, and even then that would only bring one bloodline to him.

That brought him to six.

The other two, they’d been even more difficult to locate. The Jedi and Sith bloodlines had intermarried and then separated, and the most readily accessible sample of the Jedi Braesen’thor’s DNA had been his corpse, kept in a tomb on Chandrila. Not only had it been collapsed fifteen years ago, but the planet was behind enemy lines too.

And the last one?

He couldn’t say if it originally belonged to the Spy, the Hunter, or the Soldier. The Outlander had ended up eight Archetypal entities, their original names lost to history and only their feats in the Galactic Wars remembered. Many of them were immortalised only by their titles; the Champion, the Wrath, and so on.

He had a lead on the last bloodline, but it led to Byss, but that had exploded so it wasn’t much help. Voort began to wonder if there were even five left to take…

Then the news hit about the Battle of Zakuul.

About the Eternal Fleet intervening voluntarily. Voort nearly deleted the entire project there and then. But no. His research might be still needed. He would persist, if only as a hobby.

For now he closed down the data and refocused on the Wraiths. The Yuuzhan Vong Scut was undercover, Face Loran was in the Rishi Maze, and the rest of the Wraiths were on their way to… somewhere, he didn’t know precisely but he’d given Myri Antilles wide operational initiative. To Director Iella Wesseri’s chagrin.

And so it was quite a surprise when alarms keened across the space station. Voort stood, surprised, as warships began to emerge from hyperspace. He could see them with his own eyes, and that meant they were not here to merely visit.

Ten Mark II Assault frigates and ten Invincible-class heavy cruisers, screened by Maurader-class and Crusader-class corvettes and Lancer-class frigates.

That was a full fleet right there.

Worse, five distinctly oblate shaped Hutt cruisers arrived too, eight hundred metres of hull and guns, escorted by frigates and corvettes of similar design. Their ornate red sails were stark contrasts to the punch of their turbolasers.

And behind it all, far enough away that Voort had to use a quick hack into the sensor network to confirm - a single Grysk WarMaster. The bastards had struck first.

Struck back, after the Second Battle of Lwhekk.

Voort watched a cloud of fighters - K-wings, TIE Starhunters, too, engaged with Authority IRDs, Mandalorian Cabur-class starfighters, and Hutt T-wings and Uglies. The enemy starfighters peeled away and the Lancer’s did harm to their defenders, and the big ships began pounding the Golan III platforms.

Voort keyed his comms, already prepped to cut through military bureaucracy to the wing commanders. “Fighters, divert from the main enemy towards the Hutt cruisers. They don’t have Lancer-class frigates protecting them. Golan’s, focus fire on the Iargest cruisers. They’re big targets but ancient designs.”

Indeed, the Invincible-class that the Corporate Sector committed were as large as a Resurgent but based on a three millennia old design; crew intensive, slow, and barely a match for an Imperial Star Destroyer. The Golans conversely could soak up damage from modern craft, and so they diverted their fire.

That left the mark II assault frigates. Originally a Rebel modification of the Rendilli Dreadnaught, the design still had teeth. And in short order those front-wings unleashed heavy fire upon the shipyards. The staccato of detonations was shared by Hutt and Corporate cruisers, but the shipyards too. The Golans began to take hits, and it was clearly about to come to an end.

Voort turned to run before he became a casualty too. But before he did, he saved and uploaded his data, transmitting it. He looked at the burning wreckage, and fire spreading, and back to the console. He couldn’t delete it -

But he had to go -

The shipyards were destroyed, as well as their precious construction, at the cost of the five Hutt cruisers and half of the big Invincible-class warships. The last five held besides the ten assault frigates and committed to mop-up.

In short order though, they, and the Grysk WarMaster, launched into hyperspace.

The Battle of Jaemus was over.

Voort was unaccounted for in the disaster.

His data reached Zakuul, though…

@adaml83. @Kev-Mas_Colcha

@Mitth_Fisto, @darthbernael

(mentions only, no direct TAGs)

 

The Revenge

There were many components to the Revenge of the Nagai.

The Nagai leadership had been sitting on various options to strike back at the Tof. Though the defeats at Lwhekk and Rothana had been unanticipated, the coups reactionary, and the loss of Nagi devastating, they had been developing strategic weapons and proposals. The Revenge was always the Nagai intention. Not just for recent offences but for their ancient enmity too.

The Maccabree and Faruun, even Mand’alor Fenn Shysa, they did not have had the stomach for Tof genocide, but the Nagai always had.

While the death of the Crown Prince Serenno and his father had shattered the Tof Empire back to their homeworld, Knife had wanted more. Many had. But the Nagai played peaceful, sponsoring various joint colony worlds that were eventually abandoned when the alliances between them, the Maccabree and Faruun broke down. But it didn’t matter because the Tof were too weak, and the Mandalorians too strong, for the Tof to consider any action for years.

But they’d quietly perfected their hyperspace technology, stealth efforts, and sonic torture weapons. While the latter hadn’t been used all too much in this most recent war, considered anti-ethical at best, Darth’s Rikis and Nihl were less concerned about such things. The brutal weapons would be reintroduced into Nihl’s personal forces.

But Rikis, with Rem and Rom, had planned for more. They had laced the beskar tugs and cruisers with various programs, many of which had baffled the Tof centuries ago. Their technological edge, as opposed to a species like the Tof which stole rather than developed, was all they had in their uphill struggle.

So when the signal went out across the various networks, they sought the most recent locations of their stolen cruisers and tugs filled with beskar. A single cruiser had been deployed to Kwenn and then redeployed to the Senex when the cloaking device was revealed to be a Sullustan hoax, and that promptly, at the orders of the deep-hidden codes, activated its hyperdrive and rammed into the Senex world it orbited. Karfeddion cracked. From nearby Asmeru, Lady Vandron condemned the attack and immediately called upon the Tofs to compensate them for this war crime, seceding from the Tof-Senex-Sun Guard cooperative.

Conversely, the ships at Tof had a much different experience. Fearful of Grysk-aligned Mandalorians - of Mandalorians in general, with his experiences in the war, and loss of his father and older brother - his Eminence had given extensive orders to dismantle as much as possible from the cruiser and tugs he had kept at Tof itself. Engines, hyperdrives, fuel, ordnance, even light fittings and consoles were ripped out to ensure that they could not be overloaded. They had no hyperdrives. However, the reactor was fused into the ship, a beskar construct that acted as ceremonial hearth and forge.

Each reactor exploded.

A third of the newly expanded Tof shipyard vanished along with the beskar cruiser docked there. Ten bulk cruisers detonated. Twenty remained, but they would be delayed in deployment.

The tugs exploded with the force of a small nuclear weapon, blowing apart much of the civilian capital district, and shaking the palace. Windows shattered, and centuries old structures crumbled. The floating city, abruptly, without much aplomb, dropped. The tidal wave it unleashed was a tsunami itself, and drowned many. The city itself? Who could say how horribly damaged it was. It was hardy, like all Tof constructs, but it had still dropped from the sky. Only luck had that it landed it in the ocean, not atop an island, that would have definitely killed everyone aboard the city.

This was not war.

It was terrorism.

Revenge.

Had the King not taken so many precautions already, the ships would have cracked the planet, killing billions and breaking the League. As it was ten million Tof died. But because of the particularities of their society, almost all the casualties were women and children. To boot, the entire contingent of Gherlid defectors was gone too.

Revenge.

So much lost.

Only the beginning, if Darth Rikis had anything to say about it.

Darth Nihl had withdrawn to the shadows.

But what of Rem and Rom?

@Mitth_Fisto, @darthbernael (direct)

@adaml83. @Kev-Mas_Colcha (mentions only)

 

The Battle of Rodia

The Matalok cruiser, or heavy cruiser analog, was the equivalent of a Mon Calamari star cruiser. They had smaller variants known as light cruisers, and also specialised versions such as the yammosk carrier.

Conversely, the Miid ro’iik, or warship analog, was the equivalent of an Imperial Star Destroyer. The smaller variants were destroyer analogs - Victory-class matches - and the specialised ones the Vua’spar Interdictor.

Their escorts followed the same duality; corvettes and frigates. So too did their dreadnoughts - the Kor Chokk pocket dreadnought and the Koros Strohna, which started around the size of a Kor Chokk but could become as large as a Death Star.

The smaller ships were grown in groves on world, or larger ones in immense shipwombs, if one did not have the patience to push a cruiser to full maturity for example. It was even possible to encourage a merging of multiple smaller capital ships to form a dreadnought - often Kor Chokk were amalgamations of Miid ro’iik for example.

The Yuuzhan Vong fighter craft had similar delineations. Coralskippers that became yorec-vec assault craft, or blastboat analogs. But even they could grow larger. The most specialised variants were the hyperspace capable Slayer craft, with quadruple the firepower and speed of a normal coralskipper.

Of course they had carriers, tenders, landing craft and tugs, like any other navy, but even their dropships could grow into kilometre long mountains.

Warmaster Nas Choka knew all of this. He also knew his forces eschewed traditional designs and the advanced designs such as the yammosk carrier, Vua’spar and slayers were the province of Domain Lah’s forces, who had been secretly on a war footing for decades.

So although most of the capital ships of Domain Lah had been sent to the frontline - and an undercover Scut had noticed the deployments to the Rishi Maze and FireFist - the Warmaster knew he had to be swift and sure.

Decisive.

There was no way he could take the planet; the population of Rodia was immense. He also only had five Mataloks; there was only so much he could achieve. He had to attack, and do what he could.

For not the first time in his career, Nas Choka had disquiet. He had become Warmaster by default, when Zat Lah’s own Domain relative, Tsavong Lah, died. That death meant certain secrets did not pass on, and Shimmra jealously enough guarded them. He wondered how many secrets Zat Lah had, and how many he had kept from the Sun Guard.

He had no doubt Lah was playing the ngdin against the middle.

And so Nas Choka knew he had to strike true.

At no small percentage of light speed his cruisers emerged from darkspace and plowed through the orbital defence line; trusting the intelligence of Scut to lead them to the thinnest portion. Four of the five Mataloks dropped thirty plus coralskippers to defend one of the four cruisers - it held position to distract the most.

The other four pushed on, destroying dozens of picket ships and taking hits from fixed defences; a yorik coral defence platform went down in flames as the four cruisers split to all sides of it and hammered it. Turning they slipped across the atmosphere and focused dovin basils to face the planet or hold to the rear for propulsion; taking any plasma lobbed at them by rakamats and surface volcano cannons. They were suddenly through, the true target evident.

The shipwomb.

The four cruisers rushed forward, and as the womb deployed fighters - and Slayer ships - the last cruiser that had not launched its fighters at the defences’ edge did so. It waded into battle with the fighters despite being outnumbered and taking a mauling from strafing runs. Nas Choka had two of the remaining three cruisers move to block the plasma cannons of the Shipwomb itself, while his Matalok, the Yammka’s Honour, advanced on the womb’s heart itself.

He could see coral ships laden up, many nearly completed, at least ten capital ships and dozens of escorts. Nas Choka grimaced; worse, he could see the womb was pregnant with another of itself. Letting Domain Lah deploy these ships and the shipwomb perform mitosis would be a nightmare.

His resolved steeled, the Honour fired with every plasma launcher and magma missile it had and an eruption grew within the heart of the shipwomb. It was a detonation that went on and on, eventually, and Nas Choka took his matalok and the two surviving cruisers - those he had left behind had been swarmed and died, with their fighters too- and launched into darkspace.

They’d won the Battle of Rodia.

Now they’d head to Xagobah.

@adaml83, @Kev-Mas_Colcha (directly)

@Mitth_Fisto, @darthbernael (mentions only, no direct TAGs)

 

The Battles of Base Alpha, Kamino, Kwenn and Molkivj

The Fel Empire, struck by the First Order and committed at Lwhekk, let alone retreating in the Rishi Maze, committed itself to harassment actions otherwise. Three bomber wings per target were sent. The short distance deployments didn’t involve extra fuel, but those in satellite galaxies involved extra fuel pods and a likelihood the fighters wouldn’t make it home.

Raiders arrived at Nagi and Vhetin and engaged local forces to varying success, but that was a battlefield, and so that was no surprise. Those that went to other worlds encountered just as much variety. The Nagi deployment was erased; the Vhetin deployment fled to Elliad and found shipyards committed to engine projects, of all things.

At Molkivj, a nearby target, they encountered a minimalistic defence network, stripped recently to attack Nagi. The bombers made short work of the orbiting defences and blew apart the cortosis mines, which channeled the energy of the detonations deep into the planets core. The planet sheered apart, cracking, its atmosphere completely disrupted. They leapt for Sarafur.

At Kwenn, the fighters encountered a system that was relatively abandoned. The Tof had ordered their sole beskar plated Republic-class star cruiser to depart for the Senex, leaving a modicum of Sun Guard fighters and jamming equipment. Nonetheless three wings made short work of the defenders, though at great cost to themselves. The Kwenn Space Station itself was opened to atmosphere, drifting, hulled. The surviving thirty or so bombers withdrew to their nearest port of call, Lexrul, at their own initiative.

At Kamino the Yuuzhan Vong were evident in force, capital ships and dozens of scouts and hundreds of fighters. While the initial surprise pass allowed the bombers to target the lightly defended occupation forces - warriors in yorik-trema transports heading to the surface cities - the second pass saw the bombers buried beneath grutchin swarms and coralskippers finish them off. Ten thousand dead warriors for a few dozen bombers.

However at Base Alpha, the Tofs had already moved on to capture Rothana, and were even now engaging a Nagai task force. The mines were already aflame, and the bombers merely finished them off. Indeed, the entire asteroid began to rumble and the only survivor was a single X-wing that emerged from the fury, waggled it wings at them, and buried into hyperspace. Face Loran, presumably. The triple wing vanished into hyperspace after him and left behind a buried mining resource.

Harassment could only achieve so much, but it had thus far achieved much.

@adaml83, @Kev-Mas_Colcha, @Mitth_Fisto, @darthbernael

 

The New Round Doth Not Yet Commence

 

Secret Assets of the Nagai Alliance…

Bernael.

That’s it.

No longer Darth, just Bernael.

The Anzati have waited and watched.

They knew the Sith before they left Korriban.

And now they will watch no more.

The assassins of Anzati live.

A species committed to the shadows.

-------------------------------------------------------

Various Locations

In lifeless systems, along various Ways and Hyper routes flares of ship emergence began to light worlds that never had or had lost the life upon their surfaces. Nothing was there to notice the ships that entered these systems, very few star nations ventured to these systems, most having long since had all their resources stripped by those uncaring nations. Which, as it always had, made them perfect locations for gatherings such as these.

Ships, very few of which matched in size, in class, in shape, slowly maneuvered into position so that even comms were so muted that comm signals wouldn’t travel further than the edges of those systems. That is, if the crews had been using comm broadcasts to communicate. The one and only factor that unified these ships, externally, was the fact that every single one of them was unmarked, nothing distinguished them as belonging to any star nation. They were so unmarked that none of them ever had or did show up on records or registries of any star nation. If any still had maker’s marks they would show that the vessel had been lost, anywhere from just after manufacture to years later.

The ships gathered, the crews, as few as they were, were not entirely pleased that they had gathered. They never gathered in numbers and occasions like these most often took place at home, a place few had returned to, no matter how long it had been. Seniority in each system was determined by strength, he or she that was the most powerful became the one who the others turned to to ensure that what they had heard was truth.

”Truth it is…the Circle has spoken…we shall aid the children of the First’s Son…The ways have been shown…the agreement made...They know not but will find themselves protected…”

Such a command had never been given, not in the long, long history of their people. Something was in the winds of change and the Force and these crews would be a part of that change.

A world's name was bequeathed.

Seatos.

Seatos.

Seatos.

A world the ghosts would know.

From the days of the Nightsisters.

Of the Mother.

Shivers ran through the collected ghosts, at the memory of the Mother. Many knew the history, knew of the relationship of their people and her. The location bequeathed them held familiarity, routes began to be planned for it.

Instructions were passed, verbally, mentally; instructions that had come from the Circle. Aid had been requested and, while they were not given to working in tandem, the reasoning for such aid was understood. As was the reward should they succeed.

One image became burned into their minds, that of an ancient ship, a familiar ship. A low growl of recognition likewise came, that one was, had to be who they all suspected it was. As the various groups began to plan their routes, to ensure they were placed so that the aid needed could be given and that they joined those who needed it, the knowledge that that one would guide them, in the end.

Drives powered up, dark ships moved, all began their final preparations to begin their exodus.

Weavings occurred.

Answers.

Questions.

It was noticed, however.

The Eriaduan commander, Zels, raised a request for information.

So too did Beolar, the Sullustan who had plied Kwenn Space Station as bait and then returned home as Director of SoroSuub.

Brandl expressed curiosity, but his eyes were darkened by events at Rothana involving two of his kin.

The New Separatist Union whirled in calculation.

But none of them knew.

None of them.

Nagai Intelligence paid little heed to anything but the city-ships; the consolidation; the Vhetin freighters that had fled to Saijo warming up their engines; even the apparent suicide of Pedric Cuf after his treason made little waves for what they were doing.

Other things may go past their eyes, but the eyes - and knives - of the Nagai would keep their secrets secret, unless one happened to stray directly into the preparation systems.

Seatos remained whispered.

Whispered.

Whispered.

The ghosts were well placed to hear every rumor, to take in every tidbit of intelligence. World after world had seen them placed upon them, every species had seen at least one of them, whether they knew or not.

When the requests, the almost demands for information filtered to the various groups of shadows, the requests were shuffled to the one who had been disseminating the information that had brought them together.

Ships, small groups of three or four, sometimes a few more, began to jump, plots set to bring them to systems that they could then slip within flotillas of Nagai craft unnoticed or shadow them as they headed for the whispered world.

The erstwhile commander, knowing he was guesstimating at what the one who they all believed was directing them, who would do so soon if all went well, began to send replies. All of which were codes with the same encryption as the requests had come with.

Almost every reply was the same, a suggestion that the dark ones who were the current leaders of the Nagai, the Daritha and the Darth, were…falling out of alignment with the desires of the Alliance. In their place a name, a demi-human whose exploits were easily researched, whose fierce loyalty would be seen in them, was suggested. It made it simpler that the one the ghosts recommended be followed was already a part of the Alliance.

Once the messages were sent the system hopping began in earnest, each jump bringing the shadows closer to their goal, to finding whether the whispers of both the one they molded themselves on and the the Mother were true or not.

TAGS: No one in particular

 

The Colonies

Beyond the ruinous Inner Rim, a maybe impossible line to hold against Echani and Hapans, the First Order held the Colonies.

They erected blockades into the region from the Inner Rim with their four fleets, as a fifth, Mortis, and a dreadnought turned on the Resistance. It was a narrower territory to defend, but with less resources to speak of. The retreat from the Mid Rim saw galleons of resources and slave ships of populations vanish into the Core, as the four fleets had redeployed to the Inner Rim.

Forty Golan’s held Fondor, then twenty to Balmorra, and another twenty to Venjagga. Shipyards; construction facilities; munitions. Two fleets of defenders at Fondor and a fleet each at the other two.

The worlds of Byblos, Koesenayr, Castell and Borleias were garrisoned by starfighters, while the systems of Loronar, Commenor, Giju and Hynestia each sported a fleet of warships.

Loronar had Majestic-class cruisers, Commenor, Imperial II-class Star Destroyers, Giju had its own twenty MC80 Mon Calamari Cruisers, and Hynestia a fleet of locally sourced star cruisers. The four Colonies systems had as many ships as the First Order forces, but they were divided between Loronar and Commenor supporting the First Order and Giju and Hynestia having abject and guarded neutrality.

Separately, bereft a Sun or Arkania itself, the Perave system was covered by a minefield to prevent it being used as a waypoint into the Core. It was a sad state of affairs, as decimated as the distant Ilum system.

Koesenyar immediately appealed to the Fel Empire for its promised relief now the frontline was withdrawing; Loronar was eager to sell Belarus-class and Strike-class medium cruisers to the highest bidder; Castell and its former Separatist leanings were eying the former Nagai Alliance; Borleias had a small population and was merely looking for systems to liberate it and enforce its neutrality as a waypoint.

The Tofs, Nagai, Sun Guard and Fel Empire had many these systems to liberate.

Still Fondor’s shipyards remained inaccessible to intelligence services…

@adaml83, @Kev-Mas_Colcha, @Mitth_Fisto, @darthbernael

 

The First Order Core

The Core Worlds were nonetheless known, finally, to those powers in the Inner Rim.

Double fleet strength defences were evident over Coruscant, Kuat, Corellia and Anaxes. Forty Golan battle stations each was enough to ward off most threats. Each could fight an Imperial Star Destroyer to a tie. Forty could beat any one fleet with aplomb.

Atrisia, Chandrila, Metellos and N’Zoth were all covered by swarms of TIE Whispers, even though N’Zoth had been depopulated years ago. Both it and Metellos were at the tip of hyperlanes into the Unknown Regions, and their roads led to Coruscant. Duro was similarly defended, but it’s cortosis and baradium mines meant that its orbital cities had been converted into battle stations; the equivalent of ten Golan’s hung in orbit.

Rendilli, Isht, Diamal and Corellian each sported a whole fleet. Rendilli had some twenty Republic-class Star Destroyers (an irony, no doubt); Diamal had ten Nebula-class and ten Endurance-class Star Destroyers; Isht had twenty Mon Calamari Star Cruisers; Corellia itself commanded ten Strident-class Star Defenders. Each Strident was as powerful as a Resurgent, but outgunned by the local Golan’s. Corellia as ever rumbled under First Order occupation, and was a tinderbox.

Diamal and Isht hated each other and were as likely to pick opposite sides as any. Rendilli and its fleet was openly inclined to the First Order, but everyone remembered how Rendilli had spurned the Empire after the Battle of Jakku and only took New Republic contracts. The Republic-class clearly should have been the Victory III Star Destroyer, but instead they had offered the newest Imperial warship to the New Republic.

They were not so much the jewel of the First Order as the line between victory and defeat.

@adaml83, @Kev-Mas_Colcha, @Mitth_Fisto, @darthbernael

 

The Deep Core

The Deep Core was, as ever, a kingdom unto itself,

Shipyards at Feorest and Hakassi resources at Empress Teta, Kalist and Vulpter populations at Relus (the second planet in the same system as the wreckage of Byss) and also at Cerberon, but also agriculture at Salliche and history at Tython and Prakith.

But one could hardly say what was happening within its borders. Gravity mines and wings of TIE Daggers pervaded at systems such as Feorest, Kalist and Ceberon, locking the region down to traditional access. Though the routes to Tython and Relus had relatively recently been unlocked anew to defeat the Yuuzhan Vong, who knew; more importantly, who cared? So what if one could traverse the entire Deep Core and bypass half the Core to attack from one end to the other?

Besides, it was far, far too behind First Order lines to be relevant, surely?

@adaml83, @Kev-Mas_Colcha, @Mitth_Fisto, @darthbernael

 

The Rishi Maze

The galaxy was a quiet one.

Half of it was developmental, but also the lack therof. Resources were a premium in the satellite galaxy, though it of course had its moments in the spotlight.

The Battle of Rishi during the Second Galactic War, for example. The Battles of Kamino between the Separatists and Republic. But the Republic won those battles and it is perhaps understated how much success for the Grand Army is due to holding a galaxy.

But could the Rishi Maze be defined as a handful of systems; Kamino, Rothana, Base Alpha, and a former star system formerly occupied by an ancient automated Sith ship?

Of course not. But development, that was always a point.

Three systems began to make themselves known, if only because of refugees from Rothana and Base Alpha, and that selfsame Sith connection.

Rothana refugees fled to Zerecera, a lonely world between Rishi and Kamino. The surviving miners from Base Alpha, they were now pursuing much more dangerous endeavours at Cosm’s Well, mining pulsars for the rare Isotope 5. That left a world above the Mid Rim, at the eastern edge of the Maze; Sebaddon, apparently a former Sith stronghold on the edge of a black hole, but once the host of powerful droid technology.

People made civilisations.

And opportunities.

@adaml83, @Kev-Mas_Colcha, @Mitth_Fisto, @darthbernael

 

Peridea

Who knows?

Well.

Very, very many people would soon realise that many Nagai, and those associated with one Anzati, had just left the galactic disc…

@adaml83, @Kev-Mas_Colcha, @Mitth_Fisto, @darthbernael, @Adalia-Durron

 

The Unknown Regions; Galactic West

Lwhekk, Zakuul, Tiboulen, Roxuli, Mobus, Nirauan, Csilla, and the many worlds between had all fallen within the territory of the Eternal Fel Empire. Not that anyone could confirm where Tiboulen was.

Lehon was abandoned, however. Ilum was bereft of a star or a planet named Ilum, but it still existed in isolation.

Iskallon still belonged to the Grysk; there were reports that the natives were being enslaved to construct a quarter fleet.

Molkivj was galactic debris.

Tenupe stood independent, the surviving Nests keeping to themselves. So too did Tulpaa; probes oft died there, disrupted somehow.

Freeworld was known now, but as suddenly as Intelligence agencies identified it's existence, and the dreadnaught and half a fleet there vanished, abandoning the former pirate world.

The Unknown Regions were not yet uniquely and completely belonging to any one faction, but they all fell under the umbrella of the Eternal Fleet; ten fleets positioned at Zakuul ready to smash any invader.

Galactic North

The Fel Empire reached out to worlds, and many of them were receptive on the basis of being old friends with the Adumari, with the Wraiths, the Fels, or generally Imperial-leaning. Gwori, Dantooine, Taris, Garqi, Halmad, Mygeeto, they came to their own mutual agreements and accords with the Imperials as fighters and escorts were sent to their various worlds.

Bastion and Yaga Minor remained secure, but Jaemus was a painful wreck. Adumar too remained poisoned, and the loss of Kamino cost them research to clear the world.

The looming enemy in the north was the Grysk-Corporate Systems. At Cassander, Polus, Ord Trasi, Gargon and the Corporate Sector, local construction was gearing more and more towards Grysk ships. A whole new fleet of WarMasters was raised.

Serenno stood independent. A former galactic power, once sporting seven fleets, it had long kept out of the fray. The Dooku family had been nearly dragged into the war against Darth Caedus, before quieting again.

The Antemeridian Sector stood with its five Destroyers, eying the Mid Rim more than the Outer Rim. They'd made gains across the Mid Rim for the Sun Guard, after all, at Garos IV and Roche, but not as far as Ord Mantell and Kalaan which stood behind a minefield. Roche and Garos IV committed to the Sun Guard to avoid being further attacked by the Antemerdian Sector.

Mon Calamari increased its defenses and production and strength. Nearby Ord Bueri leveraged its newfound attention to become a trade hub, but it was reported a Pius Dea redoubt, of all things. The Centrality at Erilnar committed to rebuilding it's forces and committed resources to the cause more and more.

The region was harshly divided.

Galactic East

Nal Hutta, Rodia, Rishi, Kwenn, and Erilnar all remained aligned with the Sun Guard, either directly or via the Yuuzhan Vong. They ruled most of the Outer Rim in this area.

Trulalis remained nominally allied with the Nagai, recalling the ships of the failed Rothana offensive home, and Lexrul was collecting ships too. Lothal stood as the Resistance capital, complete with Mon Calamari refugees and a trio of Mon Calamari Star Cruisers.

While Kashyyyk emphasized its desire to stay independent. Bothawui was exerting itself in the south, curiously, and Druckenwell signed a public mutual aid pact. Drogheda, Randon and a small colony on Ruusan spoke up too, but did not publicly commit to a side.

Galactic South

Terminus, Xagobah, Batuu, Bespin, Elliad, Sluis Van, Mustafar, Sullust, Kinooine, Subterrel, Bakura all belonged to the Fel Empire or the Nagai. Naboo and Malastare stayed independent, concerned by developments within the Nagai as much as the alliance with the Empire.

After all, most of the Nagai forces had vanished.

The Senex Lords, that had committed in full to the Tof League, seceded. Karfeddion had been destroyed; Asmeru was furious.

Nocto had been brought into the sphere of influence of Bothawui, over in Galactic West.

The region was clearly leaning one way, though it was divided. It did not belong uniquely and completely to any one faction.

@adaml83, @Kev-Mas_Colcha, @Mitth_Fisto, @darthbernael

 

The Eriaduan Conference

The Nagai had abandoned the alliance between the New Separatist Union, Confederation and Confederacy, let alone the Protectorate. Mustafar, Sullust, Eriadu, Trulalis, Sluis Van.

General Zels was said to be furious.

He called a meeting of the powers that be. The Sullustans sent Beolar;the Separatists sent aged General Bryx; Zels attended himself; the eldest Brandl Dark Jedi attended in person. Admiral For’o of the Bothan Clans requested he attend, as a former ally of Eriadu and Rothana. The latter had seceded from the alliance for the Tof League before its devastation by the Nagai, so Bothawui felt justified in attending on their behalf.

In orbit shortly were five capital ships above Eriadu. A brand new Eriaduan Nebula-class, an elderly but still hefty Trade Federation Subjugator-class, a Dauntless-class Star Cruiser from Sullust, a Protectorate ISD and a Bothan Assault Cruiser, sent from Bothawui rather than Nocto. A smattering of smaller Sluissi escorts, primarily cruiser-carriers laden with E-wings, attended too.

Invitations were sent to the Tof League and Fel Empire - and Lexrul and Bakura out of respect of decades old ties between the ruling Quintad and their respective governments. The Nagai under Darth Rikis and Darth Nihl were expressly forbidden from attending, ditto the Yuuzhan Vong and Grysk, which cut the Sun Guard out too. The Tof were only invited because they’d tried to liberate Rothana from the Nagai; most remembered that the Tof had attacked Rothana twice before them, but the Confederates could not bear to trust the Empire alone; it was their Nagai allies who had abandoned them so. Even Naboo and Malastare were invited, so as to provide neutral observers a place.

Even Chancellor Connix of the Resistance, recently escaped from Ord Bueri, was invited too.

@adaml83, @Kev-Mas_Colcha, @Mitth_Fisto, @darthbernael

 

The Former Galactic Alliance of Six Powers

The Eternal Fel Empire, Adumari Union, Yuuzhan Vong, Bakuran Sector, Nagai Alliance, and Lexrul Resistance

The six powers all changed.

The Eternal Fleet, some ten fleets of capital ships, deployed to defend Zakuul and refuse access to the Unknown Regions by foreign powers. This allowed the Adumari Union and Fel Empire to focus themselves at Bakura, Adumar and Bastion. At Lwhekk, two fleets held keeping the peace and allowed the P'w'eck to take command of their world. The half fleet of Reserves held at Zakuul; another half fleet of ships held at allied Bakura. A fleet came together at Xagobah. The Chiss Ascendancy committed to the Fel Empire, but kept its native defenses close and only committed the remnants of the CEDF to the Reserves. Csilla thus had two fleets in the CDF. The fixed defenses of Zakuul and Bastion each reached a fleet and a half.

In the north, however, what had been intended to be two fleets deployed today was instead missing half a fleet - as well as the Jaemus yards, which took a major hit. The Grysk-Corporate fleet, assisted by Hutt Cruisers, had done that, and moved on. Where they were going next was another question, but there was now a fleet and a half active nearby. The shipyards of Yaga Minor were on high alert, ditto Tiboulen, a secret shipyard the Empire of the Hand had cultivated, but Intelligence snippets were leaking that at full development it would create many capital ships.

The Fel Empire had slipped ships across the southern border with FireFist, deploying fighters to worlds along the frontier such as Terminus, Sarafur, Subterrel, and Coyn. More fighters had retreated from raids to Elliad to refuel and rearm at the Nagai shipyards there. Other fighters arrived at Saijo, the primary Nagai outpost in the southern rim.

The Nagai capital fell.

A variety of attempts only allowed a variety of city-ships to escape, but the death toll was tremendous.

The city-ships buried into hyperspace, leaving Darth Rikis behind, and were matched by a sudden retreat from Saijo by the selfsame refugee ships that had fled Vhetin weeks before. The Nagai people were, abruptly, on the move.

The Third Battle of Rothana was yet another defeat, even if the world was despoiled.

The members of the Nagai Alliance - the New Separatist Union, the Confederacy, the Trulalis Protectorate, they were looking for guidance - and many of their missing ships - and found Rem and Rom missing. Darth Nihl had reported vanished too. Suddenly major worlds such as Mustafar, Sluis Van, Eriadu, Sullust and Bespin were up for grabs. The ships of the Confederacy, Confederation and New Separatist Union had been usurped, and vanished. Only Trulalis held its quarter fleet intact.

The Fel Empire's allies were now merely Darth Rikis, committed to campaign of Revenge in FireFist...

But what of the rest?

Uncontested worlds were promptly swept up by the Fel Empire in the north. Gwori, Dantooine, Taris, Garqi, Halmad, Mygeeto, they came to their own mutual agreements and accords with the Imperials as fighters and escorts were sent to various worlds.

The only bright-spot - beyond the full repair of the two Adumari fleets at Lwhekk, and the near-infinite defensive strength they now commanded from Zakuul - was that Nas Choka blew up the enemy shipwomb at Rodia and fled to Xagobah.

Otherwise the Rishi Maze had fallen to the Sun Guard and Tof League...

... and so too had Fire Fist.

@adaml83, @Kev-Mas_Colcha, @Mitth_Fisto, @darthbernael

 

The Guard, the League, the Domain , the Corporate Systems, the Grysk, the Centrality, the Antemeridians, the Senex, the Hutts; the conflation of factions

While this alliance was vaguely knit at best, many Intelligence agencies could connect the dots.

Nagai escaped the fall of their homeworld, but as many died as did so.

It was brutal, and the fleeing ships resistance only made the damage worse.

But victory was a given.

The FireFist galaxy belonged to the Tof League, supported by their Sun Guard allies.

It could not be underestimated the positive impact such a seizure had. Now the Tof League could expedite the movement of resources and construction, increase their yields, and more besides. The Sun Guard and the Yuuzhan Vong were honoured guests of their allies... notwithstanding the damage that Tof had just taken. Hyperlanes to Ord Bueri, Champala, Gargon and Kinooine now belonged to them.

The Mandalorian ships from Gargon had been seen at Vhetin, so the attempt at a quiet alliance between the Tofs and Grysk was off the table, which would only escalate matters with the Fel Empire. But the rebellion on-world was disdainful of the Adumari and Nagai who came to their 'aid' but fled. Clan Rook intended to manipulate the recent victories to their advantage. She reached out for a private meeting with his Eminence.

Otherwise, the Sun Guard had lent ships to the offensive into Imperial Space, winning the Battle of Jaemus. A stunning victory. The Corporate-Grysk ships had not yet returned home, making one wonder. Polus was currently being garrisoned by a Grysk WarMaster, the species of the late Warlord Gherlid now held close... twenty WarMasters rose up at Ord Trasi.

Better, the Yuuzhan Vong had seized Kamino, slowed by enemy raids, but successfully. Rishi was already theirs, though the damage to Rodia was quite the blow. The shipwomb had been ready to propagate, and double production. Now it was merely broken coral in orbit.

The damage to Rothana and Base Alpha meant the Rishi Maze was largely now underdeveloped resource fodder, but nonetheless it belonged to the Yuuzhan Vong and Tofs. Two galaxies, and with cooperation, the same advantages of the FireFist Galaxy could bear fruit, though not nearly as swiftly as in FireFist.

But the Yuuzhan Vong were now greatly weakened, and Zat Lah was furious.

Now, Yuuzhan Vong capital ships abandoned Kamino for Rodia.

The Sun Guard had two and a half fleets at Mon Calamari besides their Dreadnought, and a fleet and a half of fixed defenses. The Antemeridian Sector had a quarter fleet. The Centrality began developing forces, constructing a quarter fleet of capital ships for the Sun Guard. The Hutts needed more time to rebuild from their losses.

The Tof League had fixed defenses at Tof of one and half fleets, but it delivered no ships due to the damage it had taken. Twenty Tof bulk cruisers were delayed. Ten were destroyed by the Revenge. Maccabree had it's fleet of fixed defences but delivered a full fleet. Thirteen capital ships held at broken Rothana; ten at Faruun and ten at Vhetin.

They each had replete assets at the Nagi.

As we will see.

@adaml83, @Kev-Mas_Colcha, @Mitth_Fisto, @darthbernael

 

The Eternal Offensive

The Eternal Fleet abruptly kept to its word.

Ten fleets was enough to perturb any attacker, and they promptly scattered their forces to secure the territory they claimed for the Eternal Emperor Jagged Fel.

A fleet advanced on Iskallon and burned it to the ground, natives and Grysk occupiers all. Another fleet took Lehon. Another two were each deployed to the edge of Tenupe and Tulpaa, ready to deploy at the request of the Eternal Emperor and his agents. A fleet even headed to Freerock and found an abandoned settlement, while another reinforced Roxuli and yet another held the Ilum system.

But not a single ship left the Unknown Regions.

The Grand Vizier petitioned the Chiss for the opportunity to send a fleet defend Csilla, and to reinforce the hidden world of Tiboulen with another. The Chiss had kept ample ships at home in the CDF and were cool to the offer, however. A tenth and final fleet held at Zakuul with scouts dispatched to patrol Exegol. The fleets not yet deployed to Csilla and Tiboulen lazed above Zakuul, reinforcing the capital further.

By all accounts, the Eternal Fleet had secured the western quadrant for Jagged Fel.

@adaml83, @Kev-Mas_Colcha, @Mitth_Fisto, @darthbernael

 

The Battle of Nagi

The engagement wasn’t over.

Not at all.

Fifteen Tof bulk cruisers held ready.

A Yuuzhan Vong worldship.

Ten Sun Guard Star Destroyers.

A newly arrived hybrid dreadnought of the Sun Guard.

Two groupings of five Nagai warships.

The planetary defences hadn’t only just been stopped, ditto the remaining Nagai city ships; a dozen of them, held in place by gravity well generators that had just been activated by the Sun Guard. The Tof forces were just as pinned in place as the Nagai city ships.

The Yuuzhan Vong worldship didn’t do the same with its replete gravity wells. Zat Lah opened a communications channel to Darth Mascon, furious as to the news about Rodia. Simultaneously the five Yuuzhan Vong capital ships at Kamino would be abandoning the world they had just seized, leaving the entire Rishi Maze to the Tof League. He looped in the local Sun Guard commander, the Yuuzhan Vong who had bridged their dalliance.

Darth Rikis gave orders for her task force to turn around at the edge of the artificial gravity wells and head for space. The other five Nagai warships were to be sacrificed. 1500 droid fighters had already been launched and dispatched to harass the Sun Guard dreadnought. But in the confusion, two of the Nagai capital ships and their escorts tried to follow Darth Rikis. While her task force could turn away and use the others to keep the enemy somewhat pinned down, those two were in the gravity well and were suddenly disabled with the force of attempting to jump in the middle of a gravity well and Tof guns blew them apart.

The remainder three Nagai capital ships - including a battleship and Bulwark - and their escorts and fighters surged towards the Sun Guard line, outnumbered yes but identifying that the gravity well generators were coming not from the Tof but from them. They advanced at speed, energy focused on engines and shields until they were in-range.

The worldship began shifting away from the Sun Guard, sensors reporting its dovin basils preparing for a jump. To Rodia.

The Tof present were watching the Yuuzhan Vong-Sun Guard alliance collapse. The Nagai were desperately trying to save the millions of remaining Nagai.

Darth Rikis and her five ships buried into hyperspace. She would know what had happened to her brothers, and what had been abandoned and lost. Her brief exposure was at an end.

TAG: @Mitth_Fisto, @darthbernael, @adaml83, @Kev-Mas_Colcha (combo)

 

Combos required

1. The Eriadu Accords with @Mitth_Fisto and @adaml83 and @darthbernael
2. Darth Rikis and Darth Nihl @darthbernael
3. The Aftermath of Tof @Mitth_Fisto
4. The Eternal Imperial Council; recriminations @adaml83
5. Zat Lah’s Fury; the Battle of Nagi @Kev-Mas_Colcha, @Mitth_Fisto and @darthbernael
6. Clans Conflict; Rook speaks up @Mitth_Fisto
7. The Armada Advances on Peridea @darthbernael
8. Exodus @darthbernael and @Adalia-Durron (combo already began)

Singles by PM, please

@Mitth_Fisto you can put up your King single.

 

The Round Begins