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Yep, Eerabik is definitely becoming less subtle. Will A'Nikori realize that she's the Dark Lady of the Sith, or will Eerabik have to tell her?
I've always sympathized with the Sith Code more than the Jedi one, honestly.
I've always sympathized with the Sith Code more than the Jedi one, honestly.
Chapter Sixty-Three: The Temestra Badlands, and the Fall of Dal-Lokkur
The Grand Navy of the Republic reached the Waltom System, but the Separatist Fleet, led by the wily Admiral Taranch, had already dispersed.
While the Grand Navy moved on, a smaller Republic task force was left behind to bombard Waltom IVa, one of the Mechanist Guild’s important forge worlds, from orbit.
While he made his own cowardly retreat, Admiral Taranch left one of his suboorindates, the corrupt Kul-Sarw, to lead the Separatist defense of the planet. Kul-Sarw’s forces were badly outnumbered, but made the Republic fight for every inch of the planet.
But while Waltom Iva would fall, the Lokken’s most important colonies lay on the other side of the vast Temestra Badlands.
Yet even as the Republic advanced through the badlands, fending off hit-and-run attacks from Taranch’s forces, frightening news reached the Core Worlds that Xura Corp’s corporate headquarters had been destroyed by a roving Gray Tempest Fleet. And with XuraCorp’s board members declaring bankruptcy in the wake of the attack, the corporation's remaining assets were swiftly nationalized under executive orders form Supreme Chancellor Eerabik, in the interest of calming galactic markets.
The Republic continued on undaunted, and soon allied fleets began pushing into the Temestra Badlands from the southern hyperlanes.
Meanwhile, the Republic launched its own surprise attack on the Lokken from the north, utilizing jump drives to strike at the Lokken colony of Xurt at Eurav Wass.
And from there, the Republic moved on to attack Dal-Lokkur, the Mechanist Guilds’ own corporate headquarters.
Admiral Taranch, who had been finally been cornered, attempted to self-destruct the system's starbase in the midst of the Republic fleet, callously leaving his own organic soldiers to die as he made his way to a transport ship. But Jedi Knight Akkano barred his way.
Furiously, Taranch tried to charge her on his cybernetic frame.
She deftly defended herself, stepping aside, and then impaled him on her luminous blade.
With the death of Admiral Taranch, General Dolorous was left as the sole leader capable of holding the Separatist movement together, through the sheer terror that his presence commanded.
But little did the galaxy know that work had already begun at the shipyards of Rothana on the ultimate weapon.
Once a Separatist design, it promised to be the Republic’s greatest deterrent against any thought of continuing the insurrection that the late Cor T’Duku had started.
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(Sorry for going AWOL for nearly a month! Work got really busy!)
(Hope you enjoy the new chapter!)
(Hope you enjoy the new chapter!)
Welcome back! Heckuva way to stage a comeback, that bloodbath on Waltom IVa.
And we've got the Death Star! The lifespan of the Separatists is now surely measured in days.
And we've got the Death Star! The lifespan of the Separatists is now surely measured in days.
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Chapter Sixty-Four: The Outer Rim Sieges, and the Ultimate Weapon Fires
Clone Armies led by Opalwan and Akkano advanced along the Outer Rim on the eastern reaches, mopping up the remaining droid armies of the Lokken Mechanist Guilds and moving into space occupied by Separatist commanders in the Sol Sector. These were in turn reinforced by Separatist forces from the Xanid Confederate Suzertainities.
With the fall of Dal-Lokkur, the Outer Rim Sieges had truly begun.
Not only did the sieges proceed in the Eastern Reaches, but along the Northern Rim as well. The Wenkwort System, once an idyllic garden world, had become home to a major naval holdout of the Iferyx Amalgated Trade Fleets.
Taking out the base was one of the Republic’s highest priorities in the north.
And so Chancellor Eerabik gave Admiral Jamishidi the task of dealing with them...
Earth was the focal point of the Outer Rim Sieges in the east, and where General Dolorous had made his base, hiding in the dry, mountainous regions of the planet’s largest continent.
Opalwan was the Jedi sent to bring him to justice.
“Hello there,” the Jedi Master said as dropped in from below, even as the Separatist base had erupted into a maelstrom of fire around them.
“Master Opalwan... you are a fool to come here!” Dolorous sneered, activating his lightsabers. “I have been trained in your Jedi arts by Cor T’Duku!"
“And I trained the Jedi who killed him,” Opalwan replied.
“Then attack, Jedi!” the bio-droid general growled, spinning his blades at high speed.
And so their duel began.
Across the galaxy, Admiral Jamshidi had led the Republic’s orbital battle station, code-named the ‘Death Star’ to its target, the separatist base in the Wenkwort System.
“Admiral, we’re in range of the planet,” an officer said.
“You may fire when ready,” Jamshidi replied coldly. “After all, it is a military target."
The officer nodded, and relayed the order to the gunnery staff. “Commence primary ignition."
Seven tributary beams converged, and a green superlaser lanced from the Death Star toward the verdant world below.
Moments later, the planet exploded into massive fragments that were blasted into space at incredible speeds.
Jamshidi smirked. “No one will dare oppose the Chancellor now. Truly, we stand at the dawn of a new order."
Jedi all across the galaxy felt the shock of Wenkwort Artem’s sudden destruction, the enormous and violent loss of life creating a wound in the Force itself. Opalwan was so startled, he almost suffered a fatal blow from Dolorous, only managing to intercept the cyborg’s blades at the last second.
He didn’t know exactly what it was, but he knew something terrible had happened.
He had a VERY, VERY bad feeling about this.
With the fall of Dal-Lokkur, the Outer Rim Sieges had truly begun.
Not only did the sieges proceed in the Eastern Reaches, but along the Northern Rim as well. The Wenkwort System, once an idyllic garden world, had become home to a major naval holdout of the Iferyx Amalgated Trade Fleets.
Taking out the base was one of the Republic’s highest priorities in the north.
And so Chancellor Eerabik gave Admiral Jamishidi the task of dealing with them...
Earth was the focal point of the Outer Rim Sieges in the east, and where General Dolorous had made his base, hiding in the dry, mountainous regions of the planet’s largest continent.
Opalwan was the Jedi sent to bring him to justice.
“Hello there,” the Jedi Master said as dropped in from below, even as the Separatist base had erupted into a maelstrom of fire around them.
“Master Opalwan... you are a fool to come here!” Dolorous sneered, activating his lightsabers. “I have been trained in your Jedi arts by Cor T’Duku!"
“And I trained the Jedi who killed him,” Opalwan replied.
“Then attack, Jedi!” the bio-droid general growled, spinning his blades at high speed.
And so their duel began.
Across the galaxy, Admiral Jamshidi had led the Republic’s orbital battle station, code-named the ‘Death Star’ to its target, the separatist base in the Wenkwort System.
“Admiral, we’re in range of the planet,” an officer said.
“You may fire when ready,” Jamshidi replied coldly. “After all, it is a military target."
The officer nodded, and relayed the order to the gunnery staff. “Commence primary ignition."
Seven tributary beams converged, and a green superlaser lanced from the Death Star toward the verdant world below.
Moments later, the planet exploded into massive fragments that were blasted into space at incredible speeds.
Jamshidi smirked. “No one will dare oppose the Chancellor now. Truly, we stand at the dawn of a new order."
Jedi all across the galaxy felt the shock of Wenkwort Artem’s sudden destruction, the enormous and violent loss of life creating a wound in the Force itself. Opalwan was so startled, he almost suffered a fatal blow from Dolorous, only managing to intercept the cyborg’s blades at the last second.
He didn’t know exactly what it was, but he knew something terrible had happened.
He had a VERY, VERY bad feeling about this.
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Lotta soul-searching at the Jedi Temple that day.
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That should convince most Separatist worlds to return to the fold.
How long do we have until Eerabik declares the empire?
How will the Jedi react to the firing of the Death Star?
How long do we have until Eerabik declares the empire?
How will the Jedi react to the firing of the Death Star?
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Chapter Sixty-Five: Starflier and Vidia
“Disturbance in the force, like this before, felt, I have not,” Jedi Grand Master Yodex Grogem said by hologram, a grieved look on his face. “Cried out and suddenly silence, millions of voices were."
“It couldn’t possibly be a Separatist weapon,” another Jedi council member said. “They can barely keep their fleets supplied now, and intelligence would know if they were building something like that!"
“Which means it was a Republic weapon that caused destruction on such a scale,” a third council member added gravely. “And the use of such a weapon could only be authorized by the Chancellor."
“Yet know about this weapon, we still did not,” Yodex replied. “The Dark Side has clouded everything."
“But I can see one thing clearly now,” the second council member said. “Nowhere does that cloud seem to hang more strongly than around the Chancellor. And in the last few days, we’ve come across a number of disturbing leads. The Sith didn’t just direct the Separatists through T’Duku. Their plot has formed a labyrinth of evil here on Coruscant. As we’ve investigated the planet’s underworld and corruption in the highest halls of the Senate, one name keeps coming up: Darth Vidia. She is the true mastermind of this war, and is no doubt plotting to destroy us even now. And perhaps Darth Vidia has even managed to gain influence over Chancellor Eerabik."
“We’ve also received reports that Master Opalwan Ben’itoite has engaged with General Dolorous and his forces on in the Sol System,” a fourth council member said.
“If Supreme Chancellor Eerabik does not give up her emergency powers after the destruction of General Dolorous, or authorizes the use of whatever weapon was just unleashed again, then she should be removed from office,” the third Jedi council member said.
“Even using it once should be grounds for her removal,’ the second countered. “Whatever it was, it was a war crime on a scale unlike any this galaxy has ever seen. But we would also need to take control of the Senate to ensure a peaceful transition; Eerabik’s supporters are too well-entrenched for there to be any sort of peace otherwise."
“To a dark place this line of thought will carry us,” Yodex murmured. “Great care we must take."
“Perhaps we should send Starflier to speak to the Chancellor,” one of the council members suggested. “Have her gauge Eerabik’s reactions and see if she would agree to step down peacefully. If she is not... then we will have no choice to act."
Chancellor Eerabik waited patiently in her private office, set off from the main one in which she met with important officials and dignitaries from across the Republic, reading war reports and viewing a hologram displaying the advance of Republic across the galaxy.
She could fear footsteps coming down the hallways, and the faint rustling of feathers.
Starflier was coming.
Excellent.
“Is that you, A’Nikori?” she asked warmly. “Please, come in."
Starflier did as she was bade.
“Opalwan has made contact with General Dolorous,” she said.
“Well, I hope he’s up to the challenge,” Eerabik replied. “Though I still maintain you would have been far more suited to the task. It’s upsetting as always that the Council doesn’t seem to recognize your talents... and that they exclude you from their decision-making."
“But there’s something else, Chancellor,” A’Nikori said. “There has been... a great disturbance in the Force. The Council has felt it as well. In a system far from here, untold millions of lives were extinguished in an instant."
“And do they want to know why?” Eerabik asked, standing up, and pacing. “Or are they simply sending you as their messenger, as their last pretense of civility before my forced ‘resignation’... or shall we be blunt and call it what it will be... my assassination."
“The Council would never-"
“Tell you that outright,” Eerabik finished for A’Nikori. “But surely you know. You can sense it. Oh yes, the Council deceived itself as to its own intentions for quite some time... but in the end, they have decided upon their coup, have they not?"
“I know there are things they aren’t telling me, Chancellor,” A’Nikori said. “Things they don’t tell me about their plans... and things they don’t tell me about the Force."
Eerabik nodded slightly. “They don’t trust you, A’Nikori.” She raised her wing. “Please, walk with me."
Eerabik placed her wing over A’Nikori’s shoulder as they stepped into the hallway. “And do you why they don’t trust you, A’Nikori? They know your power will be too strong for them to control. Far more than myself, you are the single greatest threat to their power. Yet you are not sure that you can step away from the Jedi. So let me help you break through the fog of lies that they use to enslave you. Let me help you understand the subtleties of the Force, and realize the true power you have always held within yourself."
A’Nikori turned her head to Eerabik. “How do you know the ways of the Force?"
“I have always sought to be forthright with you, A’Nikori, insomuch as my circumstances would allow,” Eerabik said. “And as of late, I haven’t been exactly subtle either. Surely you must have known for some time now. Suffice to say, my mentor taught me everything about the Force... even the nature of the Dark Side."
A’Nikori stepped in front of Eerabik. “You know the Dark Side?"
“Of course I do, A’Nikori,” Eerabik replied. “Do not pretend that you are surprised. How else is one to understand the grand mystery of the Force if they refuse to study all of its aspects? The greatest secrets of all lie in darkness, forever beyond the dogmatic, narrow Jedi. And so, like any wise leader, I have long embraced a... larger view of the Force. A view that I will open your eyes to, A’Nikori. Only through me will you discover your true potential, beyond any Jedi.” Her words started to take on a slight snarling sound. "Only through the Dark Side of the Force will you have the power to protect those you care for... and put an end to this war. So use my knowledge, A’Nikori, I beg you."
A’Nikori ignited her blue lightsaber. “You’re the Dark Lady of the Sith!"
“I will not lie to you, A’Nikori,” Eerabik said. “Yes, my name is Darth Vidia. I am the sole surviving Lady of the Sith. Darth Jefferius the Wise was my Master. I have long safeguarded his secrets. And I have done what was necessary to strengthen the Republic, to save it from the corruption and spinelessness eating away at it from with, and from the plotting of the Jedi Council, who would install a theocracy, to enforce their narrow religious views upon us all. But more than all of that, do you know what I have always been?"
“What?” A’Nikori demanded.
“Your friend,” Darth Vidia said. “I have always listened to you, A’Nikori, nurtured you, and tried to expand your horizons, where the Jedi would not. I have seen what you are capable of. You are not content simply to be a pawn of the Council. You want a life of significance. A life of purpose. A life of conscience. And in the end, A’Nikori, that is all that I will ask of you... to simply follow your conscience."
The blue plasma of A’Nikori’s blade hovered before Darth Vidia.
“Are you going to kill me?” Vidia asked.
“I have half a mind too!” A’Nikori shouted, trembling.
“Yes, I know you do,” Vidia replied. “I can feel your anger... it gives you focus, and makes you stronger! But... you’re not sure, are you?” She turned and took a step toward the blade. “What will happen to Republic, once I am gone? What will happen to your friends? And do you really trust the Council, after they have placed so little in you?"
A’Nikori extinguished her blade. “The only way I can be sure is if the whole truth comes out. And so I’ll see to it that you are given a fair hearing. Your talons are stained with blood... but you’ve also been a stronger and wiser leader than any the Republic has had in millennia. The Jedi... I’ll admit we’ve lost our way... but this isn’t like with T’Duku. I’m not going to murder you, Chancellor."
“Yes... because you know that you need my knowledge,” Darth Vidia said silkily. “Yet you already show great wisdom, beyond that of the Council. But... when the Jedi inevitably choose to deny me the fair hearing that you say you’ll guarantee... what will you do then, Starflier?"
“I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it."
“You won’t have long to decide, lest it be decided for you,” Vidia said. “But I know that whatever decision you make in the end will be the right one, Starflier. And when you make it... I will be waiting for you."
“It couldn’t possibly be a Separatist weapon,” another Jedi council member said. “They can barely keep their fleets supplied now, and intelligence would know if they were building something like that!"
“Which means it was a Republic weapon that caused destruction on such a scale,” a third council member added gravely. “And the use of such a weapon could only be authorized by the Chancellor."
“Yet know about this weapon, we still did not,” Yodex replied. “The Dark Side has clouded everything."
“But I can see one thing clearly now,” the second council member said. “Nowhere does that cloud seem to hang more strongly than around the Chancellor. And in the last few days, we’ve come across a number of disturbing leads. The Sith didn’t just direct the Separatists through T’Duku. Their plot has formed a labyrinth of evil here on Coruscant. As we’ve investigated the planet’s underworld and corruption in the highest halls of the Senate, one name keeps coming up: Darth Vidia. She is the true mastermind of this war, and is no doubt plotting to destroy us even now. And perhaps Darth Vidia has even managed to gain influence over Chancellor Eerabik."
“We’ve also received reports that Master Opalwan Ben’itoite has engaged with General Dolorous and his forces on in the Sol System,” a fourth council member said.
“If Supreme Chancellor Eerabik does not give up her emergency powers after the destruction of General Dolorous, or authorizes the use of whatever weapon was just unleashed again, then she should be removed from office,” the third Jedi council member said.
“Even using it once should be grounds for her removal,’ the second countered. “Whatever it was, it was a war crime on a scale unlike any this galaxy has ever seen. But we would also need to take control of the Senate to ensure a peaceful transition; Eerabik’s supporters are too well-entrenched for there to be any sort of peace otherwise."
“To a dark place this line of thought will carry us,” Yodex murmured. “Great care we must take."
“Perhaps we should send Starflier to speak to the Chancellor,” one of the council members suggested. “Have her gauge Eerabik’s reactions and see if she would agree to step down peacefully. If she is not... then we will have no choice to act."
Chancellor Eerabik waited patiently in her private office, set off from the main one in which she met with important officials and dignitaries from across the Republic, reading war reports and viewing a hologram displaying the advance of Republic across the galaxy.
She could fear footsteps coming down the hallways, and the faint rustling of feathers.
Starflier was coming.
Excellent.
“Is that you, A’Nikori?” she asked warmly. “Please, come in."
Starflier did as she was bade.
“Opalwan has made contact with General Dolorous,” she said.
“Well, I hope he’s up to the challenge,” Eerabik replied. “Though I still maintain you would have been far more suited to the task. It’s upsetting as always that the Council doesn’t seem to recognize your talents... and that they exclude you from their decision-making."
“But there’s something else, Chancellor,” A’Nikori said. “There has been... a great disturbance in the Force. The Council has felt it as well. In a system far from here, untold millions of lives were extinguished in an instant."
“And do they want to know why?” Eerabik asked, standing up, and pacing. “Or are they simply sending you as their messenger, as their last pretense of civility before my forced ‘resignation’... or shall we be blunt and call it what it will be... my assassination."
“The Council would never-"
“Tell you that outright,” Eerabik finished for A’Nikori. “But surely you know. You can sense it. Oh yes, the Council deceived itself as to its own intentions for quite some time... but in the end, they have decided upon their coup, have they not?"
“I know there are things they aren’t telling me, Chancellor,” A’Nikori said. “Things they don’t tell me about their plans... and things they don’t tell me about the Force."
Eerabik nodded slightly. “They don’t trust you, A’Nikori.” She raised her wing. “Please, walk with me."
Eerabik placed her wing over A’Nikori’s shoulder as they stepped into the hallway. “And do you why they don’t trust you, A’Nikori? They know your power will be too strong for them to control. Far more than myself, you are the single greatest threat to their power. Yet you are not sure that you can step away from the Jedi. So let me help you break through the fog of lies that they use to enslave you. Let me help you understand the subtleties of the Force, and realize the true power you have always held within yourself."
A’Nikori turned her head to Eerabik. “How do you know the ways of the Force?"
“I have always sought to be forthright with you, A’Nikori, insomuch as my circumstances would allow,” Eerabik said. “And as of late, I haven’t been exactly subtle either. Surely you must have known for some time now. Suffice to say, my mentor taught me everything about the Force... even the nature of the Dark Side."
A’Nikori stepped in front of Eerabik. “You know the Dark Side?"
“Of course I do, A’Nikori,” Eerabik replied. “Do not pretend that you are surprised. How else is one to understand the grand mystery of the Force if they refuse to study all of its aspects? The greatest secrets of all lie in darkness, forever beyond the dogmatic, narrow Jedi. And so, like any wise leader, I have long embraced a... larger view of the Force. A view that I will open your eyes to, A’Nikori. Only through me will you discover your true potential, beyond any Jedi.” Her words started to take on a slight snarling sound. "Only through the Dark Side of the Force will you have the power to protect those you care for... and put an end to this war. So use my knowledge, A’Nikori, I beg you."
A’Nikori ignited her blue lightsaber. “You’re the Dark Lady of the Sith!"
“I will not lie to you, A’Nikori,” Eerabik said. “Yes, my name is Darth Vidia. I am the sole surviving Lady of the Sith. Darth Jefferius the Wise was my Master. I have long safeguarded his secrets. And I have done what was necessary to strengthen the Republic, to save it from the corruption and spinelessness eating away at it from with, and from the plotting of the Jedi Council, who would install a theocracy, to enforce their narrow religious views upon us all. But more than all of that, do you know what I have always been?"
“What?” A’Nikori demanded.
“Your friend,” Darth Vidia said. “I have always listened to you, A’Nikori, nurtured you, and tried to expand your horizons, where the Jedi would not. I have seen what you are capable of. You are not content simply to be a pawn of the Council. You want a life of significance. A life of purpose. A life of conscience. And in the end, A’Nikori, that is all that I will ask of you... to simply follow your conscience."
The blue plasma of A’Nikori’s blade hovered before Darth Vidia.
“Are you going to kill me?” Vidia asked.
“I have half a mind too!” A’Nikori shouted, trembling.
“Yes, I know you do,” Vidia replied. “I can feel your anger... it gives you focus, and makes you stronger! But... you’re not sure, are you?” She turned and took a step toward the blade. “What will happen to Republic, once I am gone? What will happen to your friends? And do you really trust the Council, after they have placed so little in you?"
A’Nikori extinguished her blade. “The only way I can be sure is if the whole truth comes out. And so I’ll see to it that you are given a fair hearing. Your talons are stained with blood... but you’ve also been a stronger and wiser leader than any the Republic has had in millennia. The Jedi... I’ll admit we’ve lost our way... but this isn’t like with T’Duku. I’m not going to murder you, Chancellor."
“Yes... because you know that you need my knowledge,” Darth Vidia said silkily. “Yet you already show great wisdom, beyond that of the Council. But... when the Jedi inevitably choose to deny me the fair hearing that you say you’ll guarantee... what will you do then, Starflier?"
“I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it."
“You won’t have long to decide, lest it be decided for you,” Vidia said. “But I know that whatever decision you make in the end will be the right one, Starflier. And when you make it... I will be waiting for you."
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I feel like a coup is much more justifiable here, but the Jedi Council should wait until they have evidence of the Death Star and its firing. If they present that to the galactic public, Eerabik's support should drop...
What will Eerabik end up tempting A'Nikori with? I don't remember a Padme analogue in this AAR...
What will Eerabik end up tempting A'Nikori with? I don't remember a Padme analogue in this AAR...
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@HistoryDude (Power, respect, her sense of justice, the bond she has with someone who has been like a wise grandmother to her... and the claim that only the Dark Side can offer the power needed to end the wars once and for all and thus protect all those A’Nikori cares for, rather than just one person. Plus, A’Nikori agrees with a lot of Eerabik’s ideology already, over Jedi rules that she has grown skeptical of.)
(Lies, of course, but that’s what the Dark Side specializes in).
(What, overthrowing the chancellor for a using a new weapon to end the war against the hated Separatists? A weapon that was basically the Republic’s version of the Manhattan project? When Eerabik’s allies can easily control the narrative and already have a supermajority in the Senate? Good luck with that. By the time they have such hard evidence for the general public, more planets will have been destroyed by the Death Star.)
(Plus, by launching a coup at all, the Jedi will be doing exactly what Eerabik has long been warning A’Nikori they would...)
(Lies, of course, but that’s what the Dark Side specializes in).
(What, overthrowing the chancellor for a using a new weapon to end the war against the hated Separatists? A weapon that was basically the Republic’s version of the Manhattan project? When Eerabik’s allies can easily control the narrative and already have a supermajority in the Senate? Good luck with that. By the time they have such hard evidence for the general public, more planets will have been destroyed by the Death Star.)
(Plus, by launching a coup at all, the Jedi will be doing exactly what Eerabik has long been warning A’Nikori they would...)
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This chapter seemed almost inevitable after the Death Star's first deployment. Plus, the Senate has become an extension of Eerabik's power, she's basically trying to bait the Jedi into taking hostile action against her. It would be so much easier for her to retaliate against a coup attempt than to manufacture one from scratch.
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Chapter Sixty-Six: Starfall
“A Sith Lady?!"
The Jedi Master’s heart went cold at what Starflier had reported.
If this was true, the Jedi had lost before they had even begun to fight.
Eerabik wasn’t just being influenced by the Sith Lady.
The Chancellor was the Dark Lady of the Sith.
The Republic had fallen years ago.
They had been defending its corpse.
While it maintained the outward appearance of life, the Dark Lady had turned the undead Republic into a military dictatorship, using the war to hasten its transformation.
And they had helped her do it.
But... there were still many who believed in what the Republic stood for.
Could the Republic still be resurrected, and its full corruption into something far worse averted at the last possible moment?
If they could destroy the Dark Lady of the Sith and neutralize her pawns, it might just be possible.
Master Yodex Grogem and Opalwan were far away, but they still several of the Order’s finest Jedi Knights here at the capital.
The will of the Force would see them triumph over the Dark Side.
“Stay here, Starflier,” the Jedi Master instructed. “If what you say is true, then you will have earned all of our trust."
Yet even then, resentment stirred in A’Nikori’s heart.
They didn’t trust her, even now?
And to leave her behind her, like she was some sort of child!
Fear gripped her heart. They needed her! What would happen, if she was not with them when they went to face the Chancellor?
Then, another thought intruded into her mind.
How much did she really need them?
How much had the held her back?
How much had they let the Republic rot, while they were cloistered here in the ivory towers of the Jedi Temple?
And would they keep their promise to arrest the Chancellor and make her stand trial.
No.
Even now, she could sense their impending betrayal. Of her. Of the laws and institutions of the Republic.
The Jedi Council was launching a coup, taking power into their own hands, just as Eerabik/Darth Vidia had predicted they would.
Her anger flared.
What was she doing here?
If she hesitated, then it would already be too late.
She would MAKE them see reason.
Opalwan would have counseled her to take a different course, but he wasn’t here now, was he?
***
“It’s treason, then."
Darth Vidia relished cutting down the Jedi fools. For supposed Masters, they were nothing next to her, whether with the blade or the Force itself. And what could they do, but walk into the trap she had set for them? It was too late for them to bring back the Republic, when she already was, for all practical purposes, the Senate itself. And she had been sure to secretly record their threats, as evidence of their plot against the Republic.
The trickiest thing was leaving one of the Jedi Masters alive long enough for Starflier to arrive.
***
A’Nikori arrived to see Chancellor Eerabik/Darth Vidia forced to the ground in a ransacked office, pressed against the frame of a shattered window overlooking the city. The Jedi who had told her to remain at the temple was pointing a blade of purple plasma at the Chancellor’s throat.
“You are under arrest, my Lady,” the Jedi Master said harshly to the fallen Vidia.
“A’Nikori,” Vidia gasped, her words pained and desperate, but in the kindly tone of Eerabik, “I was right! The Jedi are taking over! And this isn’t an arrest! It’s an assassination! He’s going to kill me!"
“What are you doing?!” A’Nikori demanded of the Master whose blade was aimed at the Chancellor. “She’s supposed to stand trial!"
“I’m going to end this!” the Jedi Master replied. “She’s too dangerous to leave alive!"
He rose his blade to swing, but Vidia released a torrent of lightning from her talons to try to drive her attacker back.
Instead, the Jedi Master caught the lightning with his blade, and began reflecting it back upon Vidia.
Vidia cried out in pain. “A’Nikori! Stop this traitor! He’s... he’s killing me!"
“She's the traitor!” the Jedi Master shouted back.
“Starflier! You must choose!” Vidia pleaded. “Only you can stop... this coup now! Don’t let him kill me! Only I... can give you the power you seek. The power... to seize... your destiny."
“Don’t listen to her, Starflier!” the Jedi Master groaned under the brunt of Vidia’s attack.
But already, the intensity of the lightning was faltering.
“No... I’m... I’m too weak...” Vidia panted as her lightning failed. “I... I can’t hold it any longer."
A’Nikori was agahast. Eerabik/Vidia’s face had been horrifically deformed. The flesh had bubbled along her neck and around her eyes, angry lines pitted her beak, and her fathers had grayed, seemingly aging her by decades in a matter of seconds.
“You are defeated, you Sith disease!” the Jedi Master declared, raising his blade for a fatal swing.
Why had she hesitated?
The anger in A’Nikori’s heart blazed into a surge of hatred.
She was so sick of Jedi hypocrisy!!! And she would not stand by to watch Vidia be murdered!!!
Stepping forward, her lightsaber swept through the Jedi Master’s wrists, disarming him and protecting Eerabik/Vidia, her friend and mentor, who had always told her what the Jedi would not.
Vidia’s now yellowed eyes gleamed in sudden feral delight.
“POWER!!!!!” she screeched triumphantly, releasing a storm of lightning at the stunned Jedi Master, far surpassing the stream she had cast at him before. “UNLIMITED POWER!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Stumbling backward, the Jedi Master was propelled out through the broken window like a rag doll, dead of electrocution long before his corpse hit the ground below.
A’Nikori was under no illusions of what she had just done.
She had turned her back on the lies of the Jedi.
She had chosen Vidia.
There was no going back from this.
But she had never felt so powerful. Drinking in the Dark Side, now freely flowing through her, was... intoxicating. She needed more of this raw power, like a craving that had always been there but now desperately demanded to be satiated like never before.
Yet there was only one being in the galaxy who could show her how to make the most of it.
Darth Vidia rose, dusting herself off.
“You have passed the final test, A’Nikori Starflier,” she said, her voice harsher sounding than before. “As I knew you would. You have taken the first step toward fulfilling your true destiny. Now, it is time for you to take the next. Become my apprentice. Learn to use the Dark Side of the Force, as a Lady of the Sith."
A’Nikori bowed before Darth Vidia.
“ Please... show me how to harness the power the Jedi kept from me. I need it, so that I won’t lose anyone again... and so that I can end this war... and stop those who would plunge us back into chaos."
“It will take many years to unravel the full depth of the mysteries that you seek, but if we work together, there is nothing we cannot accomplish,” Darth Vidia replied.
"I... pledge myself, to your teachings, Lady Vidia."
“Good... Goooood....” Vidia murmured. “The Force is strong in you Starflier.... But Starflier is the name of the Jedi Knight you once were, embodying the weakness of the Jedi that you will destroy within yourself once you master the Dark Side. You will need a new name, a name befitting your new identity as a Lady of the Sith....”
Vidia paused, as if searching in the Force. Then, she said, “Henceforth, you shall be known as Darth... Moeder."
“Thank you... my Mistress,” Darth Moeder replied.
“Rise,Darth Moeder,” Vidia commanded, bidding her to walk at her side. “When the rest of the Jedi learn what has happened here, they will try to kill us.... along with all of the Senators who would oppose their coup."
“I agree,” Moeder nodded.
Vidia pulled a dark hood over her damaged face. “Every single Jedi, including your former Master Opalwan Ben’itoite is now an enemy of the Republic."
“I understand, Mistress,” Darth Moeder said gravely.
“We must move quickly,” Vidia said. “The Jedi will be relentless. If they are not all destroyed, it will be civil war without end."
“What of my former padawan, Akkano?” Moeder asked. “Opalwan is too stubborn, but she may not be as stuck in the Jedi’s ways. If I could turn her to see things form our point of view, she may prove a powerful ally."
“Are you sure your feelings in this matter are clear, Lady Moeder?” Darth Vidia asked. “But I shall permit you to try... for old time’s sake.” She chuckled. “Yet you understand that if she will not be turned, she MUST be destroyed."
“I will not fail in this, my Mistress."
“I have great faith in you, Lady Moeder."
Vidia took a seat at her desk as the Supreme Chancellor. “I want you to take a legion of clone troopers. Storm the Temple and wipe out all the Jedi there. Killing off your ties to them will, quietly literally, greatly strengthen your burgeoning connection to the Dark Side. They will be stepping stones to the ordered galaxy we will create together, so steel yourself Lady Moeder, and do what must be done. Do not hesitate, and show no mercy."
“Consider it done. But what about the other Jedi scattered across the galaxy?” Moeder asked.
“Their betrayal will be dealt with,” Vidia replied. “After you have killed the Jedi in the Temple, you will be my sword and fist, leading my fleets and armies to wipe out the remaining Separatist leaders... and any who would shelter them.”
If Vidia’s beak had permitted her to smile, Moeder sensed that she would have.
“Once more, the Sith shall rule the galaxy.... and we shall have peace. We shall forge this battered Republic anew into a Galactic Imperium that shall stand unmoved against all opposition... and alongside me, this Imperium shall be yours to rule... as my apprentice... and as my daughter, now the true heir to the Sith!"
Vidia’s... daughter?
“Yes, Lady Moeder. I am your mother. Search your feelings. You will know it to be true. You never fit in with the Jedi... because the Dark Side was always within your blood! And now at last, you have found your way back to me!"
Moeder did as she was instructed.
And found that Vidia spoke the truth.
She could not deny the bond that existed between them.
“Thank you... Mother."
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And the fall is complete.
Is this the end? Or will we get to see "Darth Moeder's" duel with Opalwan? Perhaps on a lava planet?
Is this the end? Or will we get to see "Darth Moeder's" duel with Opalwan? Perhaps on a lava planet?
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@HistoryDude
(Of course it’s not the end. For now the time has come... to execute Directive 67.)
(And added a bit at the end of the chapter)
(Of course it’s not the end. For now the time has come... to execute Directive 67.)
(And added a bit at the end of the chapter)
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Woah. Those last few paragraphs hit me like a Starfighter at max speed. I'll need to sit down for a minute to digest the sudden mother-daughter reveal.
The coming cataclysm is going to be the stuff of legends. Maybe Disney will make a TV show about it someday.
The coming cataclysm is going to be the stuff of legends. Maybe Disney will make a TV show about it someday.
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Chapter Sixty-Seven: Directive 67
Row after row of loyal clone troopers marched up the steps leading to the Jedi Temple, led by their new commander, Darth Moeder.
Most of the clones present had worked with Moeder on numerous campaigns, back when she was known as General Starflier. But they did not question the change in her honorific, nor why she was now called Moeder.
They had their orders. The other Jedi had betrayed the Republic. They were to storm the Temple, seize control of its main transmission beacon before the Jedi within could send out a warning to the others, and then terminate any survivors with extreme prejudice.
And good soldiers followed orders.
“Starflier,” one of the sentinels at the gates to the temple said, unsettled by the sight of her leading a legion of stormtroopers straight toward the temple. “What is going on? Where are the Masters who left earlier this evening?"
“There’s been an uprising,” the hooded Oxkox replied. “We’re here to bring things back under control."
“I don’t understand,” the Jedi said. “The only-"
Darth Moeder ignited her lightsaber, still the blue one that A’Nikori Starflier had once used, driving it through the Jedi sentinel without warning.
“There’s no need for you to understand,” Moeder said pitilessly. “But I understand all too well now.” She turned to the clones. “Kill any Jedi you encounter between here and the transmitter. Even younglings should be considered deadly threats. And leave squads at all exits. Make sure that none of them escape."
“Right away, Lady Moeder!"
She would do whatever it took to end the threat that the Jedi posed to her and her mother, the Chancellor, and to realize her true power in the Dark Side.
Meanwhile, back at the Chancellor’s side office, Darth Vidia initiated a secure holo-transmission to Commander Giorgio, the Grand Marshall of the Clone Army, who was currently accompanying Master Opalwan Ben'itoite in the distant Sol System.
“Grand Marshall Giorgio, the time has come,” Vidia said in a rasping voice. “Execute Directive 67."
“Yes, my Lady."
Opalwan, who had only just barely beaten General Dolorous, even resorting to an ‘uncivilized’ weapon to do so, had only a millisecond’s warning before his clones fired on his position.
Blasted into the air, he landed in a nearby pool of water with a great splash, and sank into it like a stone.
And then he felt that something truly terrible had happened.
But most of the Jedi sensed nothing at all from their clones until it was too late. For there was no malice to be sensed from the clones, and the Dark Side had clouded the Jedi’s perception as its shroud darkened everywhere.
They were simply following orders, just as they were made to.
If any clone hesitated for more than a moment, inhibitor chips, implanted into their brains at birth, kicked in to ensure they would carry out Directive 67.
And so all across the galaxy, Jedi died.
Their numbers had already been greatly reduced over the course of the bloody Clone Wars.
Now, most Jedi were isolated in the Outer Rim, surrounded by clone troopers who turned on them in an instant. And if they tried to face the new threat, Separatist droids were unceasing and continued to fire on the now exposed Jedi from behind.
But there were still a few Jedi who managed to escape the initial purge.
And so, after pacifying the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, Darth Moeder began leading the effort to pursue them, while crushing any Separatist forces that stood between them and her quarry.
“Pockets of surviving Jedi have sought refugee among the Ithill Ancients and the Ma’karan Protectors,” she said from the bridge of her new Super Star Destroyer, the first of the Mandator-line. At eight kilometers, it was five times larger than the Imperator-class, and even dwarfed the Rothana Battlecruisers. “Set your course to their home systems!"
The Ithill fought bravely, but they were little match for the fury of the Dark Side.
Darth Moeder then led the fleet into battle against the Ma’Karan Protectors, a deeply spiritualist Fallen Empire, in the Toropia System.
Ma’Karan escorts and battlecruisers threw themselves against Moeder’s fleet, but to no avail.
All that was left was to close her taloned grip around their Celestial Throne, and eliminate the Jedi who had sought refugee among the Ma’Karans.
“All too easy,” Moeder murmured as she prepared to lead her troops down to the surface.
“It is done, Mother,” Moeder reported.
“Very good, Lady Moeder," the newly proclaimed Empress Eerabik replied from her office on Coruscant.
She was still basking in her triumph and thunderous applause that had been showered upon her when the Senate unanimously voted to reorganize the Republic into the First Galactic Imperium, under her leadership, for a safe and secure society! The Jedi Rebellion had been the perfect pretense to purge any remaining opposition to her rule and rally the Senate behind her, along with the continuing menace of the Gray Tempest, which could now be dispensed with.
She would of course, make sure to deal with the foolish being who had botched the official press release and referred to her as ‘Emperor Eerabik' rather than ‘Empress Eerabik’, but all in all, it had been a very good day for the Sith.
Yet... there was something else that Darth Vidia felt in the Force.
“But do not assume the Jedi are wholly defeated quite yet,” she added. “There are still stragglers to deal with on the other side of the galaxy."
“I know...” Moeder replied. “My old Master and my apprentice... I sense them."
“Then do what must be done,” the Empress commanded.
“They will be no match for me if they are foolish enough to oppose,” Moeder replied. “But I will make Akkano see things my way."
The transmission ended.
“And now... I sense that another Jedi is close to me as well,” the Empress mused. “A little green freak.” She got up from her chair. "Well, I shall enjoy this..."
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How many Jedi did the Ma'Karan shelter?
Are you planning on including a duel between Moeder and Opalwan?
Are you planning on including a duel between Moeder and Opalwan?
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@HistoryDude (I don’t have an exact number, but many of those surviving Jedi on the northern fronts of the Clone Wars made their way to the Ma’Karans).
(Yes)
(Yes)
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It's quite fitting that the demise of a Fallen Empire coincides so smoothly with the rise of the new Empress.
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