Saga While the Charcoal Smolders [DDC2021 Second Half]

1 ABY
Fighting, fighting, and more fighting. Enough of it that I, amazingly, feel tired. Not of the battles, I shall never grow weary of sending Imperials to the fires of the Goddess, but the shear physical exertion of it all has become exhausting. Ever since the rebels blew up their precious Death Star the Empire has pushed back, hard. The fires of war grow and dampen in cycles, blow and counterblow. I am busier now than even at the height of the Jedi Purge, one mission after another.

The Genoharadan continues to use me as a diversion and a screener. Suitable work for certain, he would probably object to having the revolution’s partisans incinerated, but though the Empire lacks creativity, many of its soldiers are miserably dogged. They chase and chase, using huge numbers of conscripts and mass-produced droids to try to fill their nets. I know many tricks to escape, but it can be tiring. I have never run through so many tunnels or climbed so many ladders as this year. It is draining. I’ve not the human bones for such a pounding style.

I expect this will not end soon. Both sides have settled into grinding at each other endlessly. Though the Revolution’s support only expands day by day, or so it appears, but the Imperials are entrenched, and they have the guns to match any raw numbers. The flames burn bright and furious, with no hope of any soon decision. Not on Coruscant nor anywhere else, unless Palpatine suddenly loses all his caution and makes some grievous mistake. His minions fear him far too much to break away. And that is base wisdom, the Emperor is dangerous indeed, and those few who’ve dared turn against him have suffered horribly.

If only we could strike at the Emperor. That explosion would blast the fire across the whole galaxy, but all means stand rejected. The Genoharadan burned through an entire shipment of droids calculating possibilities.

The Palace is untouchable, guarded by an army capable of besieging a small planet. Byss is so unreachable we cannot even find out where it is. And Palpatine no longer travels anywhere else. He has not appeared in public since announcing the dissolution of the Senate. There are no chances.

He sends Vader out instead, or other Hands. The former is unstoppable and while the latter can be killed, they are tricky, and hard to trap and put down. Worse, he can always get more. The galaxy may have run out of Jedi, but it holds no shortage of deadly killers.

I never thought I would need to ask for time off the line. I thought I was stronger than that, but Goddess forgive me, I need a break. My devotion is unscathed, but flesh fails the flames within. Perhaps a trip off-world, a chance to see the star up close. That vista is always restorative.

No doubt the Genoharadan can find some suitable mission to match that objective, some shuttle hijacking or satellite bombing. It never gets tired either, but then mechanical and composite does possess that trait. One day, perhaps soon, they will simply break.

That shattering will come soon, I hope. An abomination no less than Vader, both must be given to the flames before this is done.

 

2 ABY
Creativity truly has abandoned the Empire. Apparently Palpatine’s primary counterstrike to open rebellion and widespread civil war is simply to build his old doomsday weapon all over again. Though it seems he wants to make it even bigger this time. Such a childlike bit of theater, very Sith.

It’s not confirmed, no data caches provide the truth, but we know what to look for now, and the signs are unmistakable. Coruscant is the premier manufacturing and shipping hub in the galaxy, the movement of so many specialized goods cannot be concealed from the revolution’s endless eyes. They are trying to build another Death Star.

No one save the Goddess knows where they’re building it, or how far construction has progressed. Something that big, it could take decades, though I’d be surprised if Palpatine has that much patience. We do know that it’s not being built in the Core, too many eyes to hide from here. It’s a problem for the rebels, again. I’m sure the Commandant will tell them, and if the Goddess wills they shall manage to track it down. Frustrating to have no influence at all.

Death Stars seems such a bizarre idea. Blowing planets apart is wasteful, unnecessary. Far less is needed to scourge a world bare. No good reason to waste fuel. Perhaps the Emperor finds the simplicity of the concept attractive. Giant planet killers are certainly that.

The amount of money he’s willing to spend offers a bonanza to us, at least. All these unattributed supplies flood the market and make for ideal raid targets. Makes our work easier. Recruitment too since this new battle station demands new levies. Everyone is angry now, even Galactic City’s apartments bend toward thoughts of revolution.

Total war lies close at hand, the Core in flames. It could be tomorrow, if the Commandant willed it, but he holds back the fullness of his hidden strength.

Strategy. I want no part of it. I fight for Vahl’s glory, and to punish her enemies. But they all know this by now. There are no objections, just plentiful work sending the deserving sacrifices to the fires.

Once more I am the hunter. The Emperor has trained crude servants to replace his depleted Inquisitorious. They are weak things, with meager gifts and little skill, but tough fighters. No more than pawns, truly, but they make suitable offerings and offer the chance to sharpen my own focus while I await the Emperor’s turn.

 

3 ABY
Another year of fighting, and the woes of war have left me upon the brink. I do not even want to think about how long I spent in the tank this time. Injuries do not matter. Pain is meaningless. Only victory matters, and praise to the Goddess, I can now claim some small piece of it.

The ancient techniques work. The mind can follow the burning blue path through hyperspace. It hurts, oh do those colorless flames tear and shatter flesh like nothing of the lighted realm, but I will pay that price willingly. This is my testament, my devotion, and it will deliver my vengeance, though again by other hands.

I charted the path to Byss! I was there when the Revolution fired upon the Emperor’s hidden refuge for the first time. No physical damage occurred, the shields of the secret world are strong, but the illusion of safety was ripped away from the Emperor’s mind and that is a great victory.

The Genoharadan’s data trawls confirm the impact. The Emperor now plans to abandon Byss and Coruscant alike. He has chosen his Death Star as his final throne, to triumph or fall with the fate of his great weapon. Preparations for the move, for the avalanche of protections behind the space voyage, have already been put in motion.

The flames confirm the truth. When the rebels strike the Death Star, as they must, and soon, the Emperor will be there. We have come to the final moment of ignition; all the galaxy is poised. Only the direction of the spark remains unknown.

The soulless machine being believes the rebels will fail and sets droids to endless contemplation of means to halt the superweapon as a contingency. The Commandant hedges, husbanding his assets against a wide ranging of possibilities. I doubt even the rebels believe in their paltry fleet.

But I hold no doubts. Goddess, I am your servant. I know this must be your will, your grand design. All the suffering and struggle, it has all been for this arrangement, the perfect conflagration this one act shall unleash.

I await the coming glory. I will fight until the time comes, as I am called. If my part is done, so be it, but if I have yet a further role to play, oh Vahl, I shall go forward willingly. Hear me, I commit myself to the flame anew. I will give all I am in your service and for the vengeance of the Vahla.

I beg only this one boon: spare me long enough to witness this great conclusion to your mighty work. I am not worthy. I desire nothing more than to watch the grand design unfold, to see the nova come upon the galaxy and the flailing of all those who deny the truth of your fiery grandeur.

Your sworn Ember would look upon that and be content.


Note: This summary does not fully explain the details of this incident. Should I have the chance, I hope to expand it to a full piece in the future.

 

4 ABY
All glory to Vahl!

I must be swift. Word has just come from Endor. The Genoharadan hears all the words of woe the admirals wail in their despair. It has come to pass as the Goddess willed. The Emperor is dead, the Death Star is destroyed, Vader is slain.

We stand in purity at the conflux of destruction. The heart of the galaxy cast into the center of the flame.

The Commandant, I see at last, is an instrument of your plan. He has acted upon this news with perfect speed and will. All forces dispatched; all restraint removed. The Revolution has come. Coruscant will fall before the day is out, the Core will follow, and the galaxy will tear itself apart.

I go now to the Imperial Palace, to slaughter the Royal Guard, seize the remaining sycophants for summary execution, and torch the building down to bare duracrete. Already fires rise. They will only grow. The devastation begins. Your wrath rules all.

Forever Flame!

End.

 

Will you show what happens with the attempt to attack the Imperial Palace whether as an epilogue or another piece or is this the end of the story? I assume this attempt to attack the Imperial Palace is an attempt by either the Commandant or the Genoharden to kill off Sahala since even with the disorder inherent due to Palpatine's death I expect the defenses are too strong for Sahala to win though I expect she might cause significant damage.

 

Ah, well, so the reason this piece ends where it does is because after Endor the continuing saga becomes a massive AU when the Revolution launches into overdrive. Sahala isn't attacking the palace alone, but as part of a large-scale assault by Revolutionary forces acting on the news of the Emperor's death. That's a much larger story than Sahala's own and one I'm not sure I'll ever get around to writing.