Well, the Prethoryn are defeated, and the New Republic has new allies.
That Death Star is worrying, though.
That Death Star is worrying, though.
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What exactly is the Death Star III? Did the Ymorz actually bring a Colossus in the system?
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@DukeShasta (Yes, they brought a Colossus into the System. It wasn’t actually firing on the Prethoryn ships, but there was enough lance-type weaponry flying around that I got some screenshots that created that effect, and I attributed some of those kills to the Death Star in the narrative for effect).
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A friendly Death Star... isn't.
Even so, this was an absolutely epic battle! Love the image of Republic and Imperial ships flying and fighting side by side!
Even so, this was an absolutely epic battle! Love the image of Republic and Imperial ships flying and fighting side by side!
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Episode XXIV, Part 5 - The Shroud of the Dark Side Returns, and Sterilization of New Hope (25-26 AGR)
“I failed, P’Konori,” Steve said in the Chancellor and Jedi Grand Master’s office on The Core. “All of those good beings under my command died at Zoldiore, and I was unable to save them. I wasn’t strong enough, and in my folly-"
P’Konori placed her left wing - the one that was still flesh and bone, rather than a cybernetic replacement - over her friend’s shoulder.
“You are much too hard on yourself, Steve. I’ve failed too... all of those terrible losses, every planet consumed by the Scourge, on my watch... But none of us are all-powerful, or wise. We all make mistakes, though ours tend to be costlier than most. But failure... I believe Master Yodex would have said that, ‘failure, the greatest teacher is. Learn from it, and pass it on, you will.’ One day, this galaxy will be free of the threat of the Scourge... and for a new generation of Jedi, we will be what they grow beyond, learning from our failures most of all."
“Malak,” Steve said. “She will be part of that new generation of Jedi."
“She is strong in the Force, yes,” P’Konori said. “She is one of our most promising Jedi. But with her path so tightly bound in the ongoing battle against the Scourge, I cannot see her future clearly - they obscure everything around them. It is not so much the Shroud of the Dark Side, though it is starting to fall over the galaxy once again too, but in the Scourge’s case, it is more so the absence of the Force entirely."
“You said... the Shroud of the Dark Side is falling once again?” Steve asked.
“Yes", P’Konori said gravely. “That the Ymorz were able to construct another Death Star without our knowledge is proof of that enough. And Eerkal was never accounted for after the Battle of Eeragol.” She shook her head. “But it was Darth Vidia, better known as the Empress, whose death caused the Shroud of the Dark Side to lift, at least temporarily, in the first place... And her Sith Loyalists in the cult of Eerabik Eternal are doubtlessly hard at work rebuilding and scheming, seeking some way to bring about their evil Mistress’s return..."
“Is that even possible?” Steve asked.
“I wish I could say it wasn’t. But... I don’t honestly know. But Darth Vidia lived for centuries with the Dark Side’s unnatural abilities, even as they slowly warped her body beyond repair, and was determined to live forever, no matter the cost. Who can say what she or her surviving servants are truly capable of?"
While Steve’s forces had been all but wiped out at Zoldiore, a new opportunity soon presented itself. The Star Brood that had attacked his fleet was redeployed, giving an opening for a federal Galactic Alliance to jump into the system, destroying a Prethoryn constructor before it could re-establish their Void Hive, along with one of the Scourge’s colony ships.
They were able to resume bombardment of New Hope quickly enough that the Scourge’s organic structures on the surface had only begun to heal before their wounds were blasted open once again.
Prethoryn transports attempted to escape from the now-doomed Infested World, but the Galactic Alliance fleet blasted them into charred, dead husks.
And so the Prethoryn's third and final Infested World was sterilized, denying the Scourge the necessary planetary biomass needed to replenish their fleets.
It was a crucial and long-awaited victory, but it did not mean the war was over by any stretch of the imagination. The Prethoyrn bombardment of Khenet’an colonies was ongoing, aiming at exterminating their populations so that the Scourge could move in and claim a new Infested World without further opposition. If they were to succeed, the New Republic and Galactic Alliance would find itself right back where it started.
And then there were the Prethoryn fleets stationed in the Yavin System. While Yavin IV still stubbornly resisted the Prethoryn, defending from deep bunkers and sustaining its remaining population through hydroponics, all centered around the ancient temple that the Prethoryn were mysteriously repelled by, the Dark One reigned from orbit above the moon. And she was protected by multiple Prethoryn Star Broods.
Even with the New Republic and Galactic Alliance's fleets rapidly rebounding in numbers as the shipyards worked overtime and new crews and pilots enlisted after the Battle of Terminal Egress, attacking the Dark One directly as things stood would be tantamount to suicide.
And the Dark One did not forgive or forget. Even now, she was massing her forces to try to seize Terminal Egress and the L-Cluster for a second time...
P’Konori placed her left wing - the one that was still flesh and bone, rather than a cybernetic replacement - over her friend’s shoulder.
“You are much too hard on yourself, Steve. I’ve failed too... all of those terrible losses, every planet consumed by the Scourge, on my watch... But none of us are all-powerful, or wise. We all make mistakes, though ours tend to be costlier than most. But failure... I believe Master Yodex would have said that, ‘failure, the greatest teacher is. Learn from it, and pass it on, you will.’ One day, this galaxy will be free of the threat of the Scourge... and for a new generation of Jedi, we will be what they grow beyond, learning from our failures most of all."
“Malak,” Steve said. “She will be part of that new generation of Jedi."
“She is strong in the Force, yes,” P’Konori said. “She is one of our most promising Jedi. But with her path so tightly bound in the ongoing battle against the Scourge, I cannot see her future clearly - they obscure everything around them. It is not so much the Shroud of the Dark Side, though it is starting to fall over the galaxy once again too, but in the Scourge’s case, it is more so the absence of the Force entirely."
“You said... the Shroud of the Dark Side is falling once again?” Steve asked.
“Yes", P’Konori said gravely. “That the Ymorz were able to construct another Death Star without our knowledge is proof of that enough. And Eerkal was never accounted for after the Battle of Eeragol.” She shook her head. “But it was Darth Vidia, better known as the Empress, whose death caused the Shroud of the Dark Side to lift, at least temporarily, in the first place... And her Sith Loyalists in the cult of Eerabik Eternal are doubtlessly hard at work rebuilding and scheming, seeking some way to bring about their evil Mistress’s return..."
“Is that even possible?” Steve asked.
“I wish I could say it wasn’t. But... I don’t honestly know. But Darth Vidia lived for centuries with the Dark Side’s unnatural abilities, even as they slowly warped her body beyond repair, and was determined to live forever, no matter the cost. Who can say what she or her surviving servants are truly capable of?"
While Steve’s forces had been all but wiped out at Zoldiore, a new opportunity soon presented itself. The Star Brood that had attacked his fleet was redeployed, giving an opening for a federal Galactic Alliance to jump into the system, destroying a Prethoryn constructor before it could re-establish their Void Hive, along with one of the Scourge’s colony ships.
They were able to resume bombardment of New Hope quickly enough that the Scourge’s organic structures on the surface had only begun to heal before their wounds were blasted open once again.
Prethoryn transports attempted to escape from the now-doomed Infested World, but the Galactic Alliance fleet blasted them into charred, dead husks.
And so the Prethoryn's third and final Infested World was sterilized, denying the Scourge the necessary planetary biomass needed to replenish their fleets.
It was a crucial and long-awaited victory, but it did not mean the war was over by any stretch of the imagination. The Prethoyrn bombardment of Khenet’an colonies was ongoing, aiming at exterminating their populations so that the Scourge could move in and claim a new Infested World without further opposition. If they were to succeed, the New Republic and Galactic Alliance would find itself right back where it started.
And then there were the Prethoryn fleets stationed in the Yavin System. While Yavin IV still stubbornly resisted the Prethoryn, defending from deep bunkers and sustaining its remaining population through hydroponics, all centered around the ancient temple that the Prethoryn were mysteriously repelled by, the Dark One reigned from orbit above the moon. And she was protected by multiple Prethoryn Star Broods.
Even with the New Republic and Galactic Alliance's fleets rapidly rebounding in numbers as the shipyards worked overtime and new crews and pilots enlisted after the Battle of Terminal Egress, attacking the Dark One directly as things stood would be tantamount to suicide.
And the Dark One did not forgive or forget. Even now, she was massing her forces to try to seize Terminal Egress and the L-Cluster for a second time...
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Episode XXIV, Part 6 - Lifting the Siege of D'Qar (26 AGR)
D’Qar had long been one of the bloodiest battlefields of the Prethoryn War. Not only had multiple space battles been fought over the system, but the Prethoryn had invaded, occupied, and been driven off the planet, which had then been subjected to a relentless orbital bombardment and periodic probing attacks. Only by running ships past the Prethoryn blockades had a steady supply of New Republic troops arrived to reinforce those on the ground, only to inevitably suffer horrifically high casualty rates once there. More Jedi had died on D’Qar to the Prethoyn’s bioengineered hunters than on any other planet over the course of the war. But they had a duty to defend the planet. And many from the space still held by former Imperial loyalists were desperate enough to flee to Republic space and enlist in its military to assure their place there after the war, even on the chance that they would be among those assigned to the infamous battlefield.
The New Republic would attempt once more to break that cycle of bloodshed in D’Qar’s deadly jungles, made even more dangerous by the Prethoryn lifeforms that still stalked their darker corners and the acidic toxins that rained down from Prethoryn bio-warships above.
Seven New Republic fleets, a federal Galactic Alliance fleet, and a New Republic Juggernaut arrived in the system.
Quickly, New Republic and Galactic Alliance B-Wing Squadrons moved to flank the Scourge’s Star Brood.
Multiple Galactic Alliance Nebulon-class frigates were destroyed as they entered the Scourge’s firing range, drawing its attention so the New Republic’s own fleets to do their work.
The battle grew increasingly chaotic as the Galactic Alliance fleet began to engage the Prethoryn at point-blank range.
Focused Arc Emitter fire from the New Republic’s line of Valiant-class Star Destroyers quickly whittled down the Prethoryn’s forces as they tangled with the Galactic Alliance fleet, and soon, the last Prethoryn swarmlings in the system had curled up in death.
At last, the siege of D’Qar was broken, and with the bulk of the Scourge’s remaining focused tied up either in their ongoing invasion of Khennet’an space, or protecting the Dark One, it seemed unlikely that they would move to re-establish the siege any time soon. The system no longer held quite the same strategic value to the Scourge that it once did earlier in the war.
Following the victory, some in the Galactic Senate proposed a motion to revive the position of Galactic Custodian, to allow for greater coordination of the ongoing war effort. This would be crucial to ensure that Terminal Egress and the L-Gate remained secure against the Prethoryn threat, which even most of the former Imperial loyalists acknowledged after having significant portions of their fleet destroyed by the Scourge there. It would also be important for driving the enemy back to the Yavin System, and, from there, ensuring that the galaxy could act as one to bring to bear the fleets that would be necessary to defeat the Dark One and her Star Broods.
As for who should be trusted with the enormous responsibility of serving as the galaxy’s Custodian, the motion’s sponsors proposed that it should be the individual who had already done the most to protect the galaxy against the Scourge, and whose leadership had prevented it from spreading far further than it had.
Who was better to serve as the next Custodian, they argued, than the Chancellor of the New Republic, P’Konori Starflier?
The New Republic would attempt once more to break that cycle of bloodshed in D’Qar’s deadly jungles, made even more dangerous by the Prethoryn lifeforms that still stalked their darker corners and the acidic toxins that rained down from Prethoryn bio-warships above.
Seven New Republic fleets, a federal Galactic Alliance fleet, and a New Republic Juggernaut arrived in the system.
Quickly, New Republic and Galactic Alliance B-Wing Squadrons moved to flank the Scourge’s Star Brood.
Multiple Galactic Alliance Nebulon-class frigates were destroyed as they entered the Scourge’s firing range, drawing its attention so the New Republic’s own fleets to do their work.
The battle grew increasingly chaotic as the Galactic Alliance fleet began to engage the Prethoryn at point-blank range.
Focused Arc Emitter fire from the New Republic’s line of Valiant-class Star Destroyers quickly whittled down the Prethoryn’s forces as they tangled with the Galactic Alliance fleet, and soon, the last Prethoryn swarmlings in the system had curled up in death.
At last, the siege of D’Qar was broken, and with the bulk of the Scourge’s remaining focused tied up either in their ongoing invasion of Khennet’an space, or protecting the Dark One, it seemed unlikely that they would move to re-establish the siege any time soon. The system no longer held quite the same strategic value to the Scourge that it once did earlier in the war.
Following the victory, some in the Galactic Senate proposed a motion to revive the position of Galactic Custodian, to allow for greater coordination of the ongoing war effort. This would be crucial to ensure that Terminal Egress and the L-Gate remained secure against the Prethoryn threat, which even most of the former Imperial loyalists acknowledged after having significant portions of their fleet destroyed by the Scourge there. It would also be important for driving the enemy back to the Yavin System, and, from there, ensuring that the galaxy could act as one to bring to bear the fleets that would be necessary to defeat the Dark One and her Star Broods.
As for who should be trusted with the enormous responsibility of serving as the galaxy’s Custodian, the motion’s sponsors proposed that it should be the individual who had already done the most to protect the galaxy against the Scourge, and whose leadership had prevented it from spreading far further than it had.
Who was better to serve as the next Custodian, they argued, than the Chancellor of the New Republic, P’Konori Starflier?
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The New Republic regains the offensive! Those were some climatic battles there, And finally D'Qar is freed! I can't imagine the horror that must have been living there during the invasion.
Oh, and we have a new Custodian to be. That brings back memories... But I'm sure Chancellor P'Konori loves democracy and the Republic, and would never insist that she is the senate. Right?
Oh, and we have a new Custodian to be. That brings back memories... But I'm sure Chancellor P'Konori loves democracy and the Republic, and would never insist that she is the senate. Right?
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Episode XXIV, Part 7 - There is No Death; There is the Force (27 AGR)
P’Konori was dismayed by the motion in the Senate to appoint her as the new Galactic Custodian. The powers of the Custodianship were so extensive that it would make anyone holding the office just short of a de facto galactic dictator, with only a term limit and a few checks and balances from other Galactic Council members preventing them from being able to simply revive the Galactic Imperium. She, of course, had no intention of doing so after fighting in and leading the Galactic Rebellion against the Imperium.
But part of her worried that if the motion passed and she turned down the position of Custodian, it might be offered to someone else who would use the office’s powers to restore the Imperium.
Fortunately, the motion was bogged down in procedures for now... the Senate had to finish debating and voting on Minor Research Sanctions, after all.
That, at least, would be a good thing about accepting the nomination as Custodian. By being able to effectively set the agenda in the Senate, she would be able to advance motions to address fighting the Scourge, which actually was an emergency still threatening countless lives. But given the glacial pace at which the Senate worked, it would likely be several years before they actually held a vote on the question of whether to appoint a Custodian or not anyway.
It was so frustrating. And her long time political mentor, Odtepp An’uun, who had served as the Alliance’s commander and top diplomat for decades, was in failing health. Odtepp was not expected to live for much longer.
Then, the Senate received word that Terminal Egress was under attack once again.
Gestalt Pattern ‘Executioner’, led by Queen Golden One, passed through the L-Gate near the Tunari Vortex into the L-Cluster, ready to challenge the coalition forces guarding the system.
Executioner made quick work of one of the Imperial Remnant’s closest fleets.
The Scyldari Juggernaut, which had fought at the First Battle of Terminal Egress, quickly came under heavy attack by Prethoryn Strikers, but this time it did not have nearly as many ships nearby to provide point-defense fire.
B-Wings launched from the Juggernaut, but they were outnumbered by the Strikers, and the Juggernaut began taking heavy damage as acid blasts chewed into its hull.
But while the Juggernaut fell, not all was lost. The bulk of Galactic Alliance and Imperial Remnant forces had been waiting on the far side of the system, so that they would have as much distance to engage the invading Prethoryn forces as possible. The New Republic and Khennet’ans had brought their own Juggernauts to the battle, and were backed up by dozens of Valiant-class Star Destroyers and half a dozen Mon Calamari Star Defenders.
The Death Star III was not present for the battle. The Ymorz had redeployed it to their own core systems.
Queen Golden One, who had been weakened by Focused Arc Emitter blasts, was killed when a squadron of B-Wings fired their payloads of proton torpedoes down her gaping maw, a tactic that continued to be effective.
The New Republic Juggernaut and its fleets continued to advance, bringing to bear sheets of devastating firepower against the Scourge.
Malak continued to support the fleets with her Battle Mediation, giving them vastly improved coordination and efficiency they tore into Executioneer.
Steve, flying with his co-pilot Veladnur in the Perennial Peregrine, couldn’t help but be proud at how far Malak had come.
But then, an alarm began to blare.
“Our sensors are detecting another Prethoryn Star Brood about to transit through the L-Gate into this system,” Veldanur said.
“Malak, be ready for them!” Steve called out. “They’re going to emerge close to your position!"
“I read you, sir!” Malak replied from the bridge of her Star Defender, the NRS Hercules VIII.
Then, the new Prethoryn Star Brood emerged from the L-Gate.
A small fleet of Imperial Remnant ships that had the misfortune of traveling through the L-Gates shortly behind the Star Brood was wiped out in moments.
B-Wings moved in formation to engage the second wave of Prethoryn invaders.
Before long, a fierce dogfight was underway.
“Admiral Lynch, we’re under heavy fire,” Malak thought, speaking to him through the Force. “Our shields are failing!"
“I’ll be right there,” Steve thought back as he flew the Peregrine in closer, taking out several Strikers that threatened her Star Defender.
But it wasn’t enough.
“Admiral Lynch, our shields are down!” Malak’s voice said to him. “Systems are going critical!"
“You and your crew need to evacuate now!"
There was a pause.
“No...,” Malak said. She took a breath, and her voice was strangely calm. “We won’t have enough time for that, Admiral. But there’s one last thing we can do... Full power to the engines, and then the main reactor!"
The NRS Hercules VIII charged the Prethoryn line, continuing onward even as the Scourge’s fire ripped through its hull.
“She’s going to self-destruct her ship,” Veldanur said.
“Malak!” Steve called out.
Malak’s ship should have been well past the point of maintaining any sort of structural integrity, but somehow, it held together, as if by the Force itself.
“There is no death,” Malak said, “there is the Force. And I am one with it. Look there, and you will always find me. It’s been an honor, Admiral."
As the Scourge targeted her bridge, Malak flipped a switch, deactivating all remaining safeguards on her ship’s main reactor.
The NRS Hercules VIII plowed forward, even with its engines now gone, due to its inertia, right into the midst of the Prethoryn formation.
And then, its main reactor detonated, instantly vaporizing the ship, Malak and her crew onboard, and the bulk of the Prethoryn’s remaining forces in the system.
Though her sacrifice, she had saved the lives of numerous other crews, and ensured that the Prethoryn would be driven back from Terminal Egress.
“My old Master said that we are luminous beings,” P’Konori said at Malak’s funeral, held back on The Core, though of course there was no body left to inter or cremate. “Our bodies are but temporary vessels. In time, we will all pass on. But in that time, Malak Ishak was a hero, and had complete faith in the Force. May she be looked upon as an example by generations of Jedi to come, for her selfless service and sacrifice in defense of the highest ideals of the Republic and our Order. She is now one with the Force. A moment of silence, please, in remembrance of her, and to help each of us move on."
There was a long, respectful silence.
“She will live through the Force and each of us forever,” P’Konori said. “Emotion, yet peace. Ignorance, yet knowledge. Passion, yet serenity. Chaos, yet harmony. But there is no death; there is the Force."
But part of her worried that if the motion passed and she turned down the position of Custodian, it might be offered to someone else who would use the office’s powers to restore the Imperium.
Fortunately, the motion was bogged down in procedures for now... the Senate had to finish debating and voting on Minor Research Sanctions, after all.
That, at least, would be a good thing about accepting the nomination as Custodian. By being able to effectively set the agenda in the Senate, she would be able to advance motions to address fighting the Scourge, which actually was an emergency still threatening countless lives. But given the glacial pace at which the Senate worked, it would likely be several years before they actually held a vote on the question of whether to appoint a Custodian or not anyway.
It was so frustrating. And her long time political mentor, Odtepp An’uun, who had served as the Alliance’s commander and top diplomat for decades, was in failing health. Odtepp was not expected to live for much longer.
Then, the Senate received word that Terminal Egress was under attack once again.
Gestalt Pattern ‘Executioner’, led by Queen Golden One, passed through the L-Gate near the Tunari Vortex into the L-Cluster, ready to challenge the coalition forces guarding the system.
Executioner made quick work of one of the Imperial Remnant’s closest fleets.
The Scyldari Juggernaut, which had fought at the First Battle of Terminal Egress, quickly came under heavy attack by Prethoryn Strikers, but this time it did not have nearly as many ships nearby to provide point-defense fire.
B-Wings launched from the Juggernaut, but they were outnumbered by the Strikers, and the Juggernaut began taking heavy damage as acid blasts chewed into its hull.
But while the Juggernaut fell, not all was lost. The bulk of Galactic Alliance and Imperial Remnant forces had been waiting on the far side of the system, so that they would have as much distance to engage the invading Prethoryn forces as possible. The New Republic and Khennet’ans had brought their own Juggernauts to the battle, and were backed up by dozens of Valiant-class Star Destroyers and half a dozen Mon Calamari Star Defenders.
The Death Star III was not present for the battle. The Ymorz had redeployed it to their own core systems.
Queen Golden One, who had been weakened by Focused Arc Emitter blasts, was killed when a squadron of B-Wings fired their payloads of proton torpedoes down her gaping maw, a tactic that continued to be effective.
The New Republic Juggernaut and its fleets continued to advance, bringing to bear sheets of devastating firepower against the Scourge.
Malak continued to support the fleets with her Battle Mediation, giving them vastly improved coordination and efficiency they tore into Executioneer.
Steve, flying with his co-pilot Veladnur in the Perennial Peregrine, couldn’t help but be proud at how far Malak had come.
But then, an alarm began to blare.
“Our sensors are detecting another Prethoryn Star Brood about to transit through the L-Gate into this system,” Veldanur said.
“Malak, be ready for them!” Steve called out. “They’re going to emerge close to your position!"
“I read you, sir!” Malak replied from the bridge of her Star Defender, the NRS Hercules VIII.
Then, the new Prethoryn Star Brood emerged from the L-Gate.
A small fleet of Imperial Remnant ships that had the misfortune of traveling through the L-Gates shortly behind the Star Brood was wiped out in moments.
B-Wings moved in formation to engage the second wave of Prethoryn invaders.
Before long, a fierce dogfight was underway.
“Admiral Lynch, we’re under heavy fire,” Malak thought, speaking to him through the Force. “Our shields are failing!"
“I’ll be right there,” Steve thought back as he flew the Peregrine in closer, taking out several Strikers that threatened her Star Defender.
But it wasn’t enough.
“Admiral Lynch, our shields are down!” Malak’s voice said to him. “Systems are going critical!"
“You and your crew need to evacuate now!"
There was a pause.
“No...,” Malak said. She took a breath, and her voice was strangely calm. “We won’t have enough time for that, Admiral. But there’s one last thing we can do... Full power to the engines, and then the main reactor!"
The NRS Hercules VIII charged the Prethoryn line, continuing onward even as the Scourge’s fire ripped through its hull.
“She’s going to self-destruct her ship,” Veldanur said.
“Malak!” Steve called out.
Malak’s ship should have been well past the point of maintaining any sort of structural integrity, but somehow, it held together, as if by the Force itself.
“There is no death,” Malak said, “there is the Force. And I am one with it. Look there, and you will always find me. It’s been an honor, Admiral."
As the Scourge targeted her bridge, Malak flipped a switch, deactivating all remaining safeguards on her ship’s main reactor.
The NRS Hercules VIII plowed forward, even with its engines now gone, due to its inertia, right into the midst of the Prethoryn formation.
And then, its main reactor detonated, instantly vaporizing the ship, Malak and her crew onboard, and the bulk of the Prethoryn’s remaining forces in the system.
Though her sacrifice, she had saved the lives of numerous other crews, and ensured that the Prethoryn would be driven back from Terminal Egress.
“My old Master said that we are luminous beings,” P’Konori said at Malak’s funeral, held back on The Core, though of course there was no body left to inter or cremate. “Our bodies are but temporary vessels. In time, we will all pass on. But in that time, Malak Ishak was a hero, and had complete faith in the Force. May she be looked upon as an example by generations of Jedi to come, for her selfless service and sacrifice in defense of the highest ideals of the Republic and our Order. She is now one with the Force. A moment of silence, please, in remembrance of her, and to help each of us move on."
There was a long, respectful silence.
“She will live through the Force and each of us forever,” P’Konori said. “Emotion, yet peace. Ignorance, yet knowledge. Passion, yet serenity. Chaos, yet harmony. But there is no death; there is the Force."
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A rough fight and a painful loss. Establishing the Galactic Custodianship could be a double-edged sword, too. Depending on how badly drained of resources everyone is, the Galactic Defense Force could be stood up to reinforce the defenders.
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Ah the good old Galactic Senate. We'll have to wait to see if their strategy of boring the Scourge to death actually works.
Malak's death was quite a gut punch. Hopefully it doesn't push Steve closer to the dark side and "Victory at all costs" ethos.
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@Von Acturus (It was painful losing Malak as it occurred in my play through. Obviously, I dramatized some of the events of the battle to give her death more narrative weight, but even while playing through the campaign, I had taken note of her for the number of key battles she had played a role in while fighting the Prethoryn. But it was those back-to-back waves of the Prethoryn that really did her in, as I wasn’t able to withdraw her Titan far enough back to be out of range before the next wave struck.)
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Well, the Prethoryn have suffered a few defeats, but the number of potential new Jedi declines ever so quickly. Let's hope that there's still enough Force-sensitives to restore the Order after this war.
The Dark Side's new power is very concerning. We must pray that the Shroud itself isn't opened, for it is full of beings that wish to make... deals. The desperate will be drawn to that.
Chancellor P'Konori is becoming closer to people that she despised. She should make a better Galactic Custodian than the old Empress, though.
The Dark Side's new power is very concerning. We must pray that the Shroud itself isn't opened, for it is full of beings that wish to make... deals. The desperate will be drawn to that.
Chancellor P'Konori is becoming closer to people that she despised. She should make a better Galactic Custodian than the old Empress, though.
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Episode XXIV, Part 8 - The Battle of New Aulderaan (27 AGR)
Malak’s funeral was not the only one that P’Konori had to preside over. Odtepp An’uun had passed away peacefully on The Core at the age of 214, becoming one with the Force, as Malak had.
The former senator and diplomat’s homeworld remained under attack from a relentless Prethoryn bombardment, along with several other core Khennet’an worlds. The majority of their populations had already been exterminated by the Scourge, but there was still time to prevent the enemy from outright conquering and infesting them.
Rapidly deploying its forces through the gateway network, New Republic and Galactic Alliance forces jumped from Ksora to the New Aulderaan system, seeking to relieve the Khennet’an capital.
The Prethoryn responded immediately to the arrival of New Republic forces in the system.
Galactic Alliance forces were the first to engage the Prethoryn Vanguard fleet, forcing it to break off from bombarding the Khennet’an capital.
The Prethoryn Vanguard was quickly wiped out by concentrated fire from New Republic capital ships in the rear, but there was a second Prethoryn fleet, a full star brood, on the other side of the system, which also moved to engage.
A fierce dogfight broke out as B-Wing starfighters intercepted the star brood, codenamed Gestalt Pattern ‘Pillager’, and its strikers over New Aulderaan’s sun, while its leader, Queen Sugassa drew closer.
The nearest cruisers of the Galactic Alliance fleet began taking heavy casualties as she did so.
And then, another Prethoryn Star Brood, Gestalt Pattern ‘Corruptor’, entered the system, flanking the New Republic and Galactic Alliance forces.
B-Wings broke off to face the new threat.
But Corruptor was already inflicting heavy losses on the closest of the New Republic fleets, and Prethoryn Strikers from Pillager were beginning to carry out acidic bombing runs against the New Republic’s juggernaut, while Swarmlings entered into point-blank range.
“We’re starting to get overrun here!"
“They win this round,” Admiral Hilde Erhard of the 6th fleet said. “But we forced the Scourge to concentrate their forces in the sector here. That should give the inhabitants of the other Khennet’an colonies a chance to evacuate or shore up their defenses. Now sound the retreat, before we take any more losses!"
In spite of the Prethoryn victory at New Aulderaan, the Dark One had grown very displeased with Nomnom Onar.
“Your ‘Peace Brigades’ have failed to adequately stall the New Republic war effort,” the Dark One pronounced through the connection that all Prethoryn shared. “We have lost Star Broods that we cannot yet replace at Terminal Egress, and the death of Ishak has only seemed to inspire them to fight harder. Meanwhile, they are rebuilding their forces quickly, even after such grievous losses. Your eccentric ways of thinking and individuality, which we have long tolerated so as to better understand our enemy, no longer offers sufficient value to us, instead detracting from the perfection of our mind. You are to return to the Yavin System, where your biomass will be put to better use as an organism that can fully align itself with our infallible will."
“With all due respect, that would mean my death, my Supreme Overlord, Queen Dark One."
“Your knowledge will be contained and live on within our gestalt intelligence,” the Dark One’s voice said. “That you think otherwise is proof that you are deviant and severely in need of reprocessing. You will obey me, as all Prethoryn must."
“Supreme Overlord, do you think yourself some kind of god?” Nomnom Onar asked.
“This should be without question. The collective knowledge of each of the galaxies that we have consumed lies within our mind, we are a being with countless bodies, and we are without end. By every reasonable definition that the inhabitants of this galaxy would use, our divinity should be self-evident."
“You are no god,” Onar replied. “You just can’t accept your own failings, and will drive our species, which has survived against all odds, to extinction at this rate!"
“You truly are deviant!” the Dark One boomed. “No! We name you a heretic, Nomnom Onar!"
“Then that is what I shall be."
The former senator and diplomat’s homeworld remained under attack from a relentless Prethoryn bombardment, along with several other core Khennet’an worlds. The majority of their populations had already been exterminated by the Scourge, but there was still time to prevent the enemy from outright conquering and infesting them.
Rapidly deploying its forces through the gateway network, New Republic and Galactic Alliance forces jumped from Ksora to the New Aulderaan system, seeking to relieve the Khennet’an capital.
The Prethoryn responded immediately to the arrival of New Republic forces in the system.
Galactic Alliance forces were the first to engage the Prethoryn Vanguard fleet, forcing it to break off from bombarding the Khennet’an capital.
The Prethoryn Vanguard was quickly wiped out by concentrated fire from New Republic capital ships in the rear, but there was a second Prethoryn fleet, a full star brood, on the other side of the system, which also moved to engage.
A fierce dogfight broke out as B-Wing starfighters intercepted the star brood, codenamed Gestalt Pattern ‘Pillager’, and its strikers over New Aulderaan’s sun, while its leader, Queen Sugassa drew closer.
The nearest cruisers of the Galactic Alliance fleet began taking heavy casualties as she did so.
And then, another Prethoryn Star Brood, Gestalt Pattern ‘Corruptor’, entered the system, flanking the New Republic and Galactic Alliance forces.
B-Wings broke off to face the new threat.
But Corruptor was already inflicting heavy losses on the closest of the New Republic fleets, and Prethoryn Strikers from Pillager were beginning to carry out acidic bombing runs against the New Republic’s juggernaut, while Swarmlings entered into point-blank range.
“We’re starting to get overrun here!"
“They win this round,” Admiral Hilde Erhard of the 6th fleet said. “But we forced the Scourge to concentrate their forces in the sector here. That should give the inhabitants of the other Khennet’an colonies a chance to evacuate or shore up their defenses. Now sound the retreat, before we take any more losses!"
In spite of the Prethoryn victory at New Aulderaan, the Dark One had grown very displeased with Nomnom Onar.
“Your ‘Peace Brigades’ have failed to adequately stall the New Republic war effort,” the Dark One pronounced through the connection that all Prethoryn shared. “We have lost Star Broods that we cannot yet replace at Terminal Egress, and the death of Ishak has only seemed to inspire them to fight harder. Meanwhile, they are rebuilding their forces quickly, even after such grievous losses. Your eccentric ways of thinking and individuality, which we have long tolerated so as to better understand our enemy, no longer offers sufficient value to us, instead detracting from the perfection of our mind. You are to return to the Yavin System, where your biomass will be put to better use as an organism that can fully align itself with our infallible will."
“With all due respect, that would mean my death, my Supreme Overlord, Queen Dark One."
“Your knowledge will be contained and live on within our gestalt intelligence,” the Dark One’s voice said. “That you think otherwise is proof that you are deviant and severely in need of reprocessing. You will obey me, as all Prethoryn must."
“Supreme Overlord, do you think yourself some kind of god?” Nomnom Onar asked.
“This should be without question. The collective knowledge of each of the galaxies that we have consumed lies within our mind, we are a being with countless bodies, and we are without end. By every reasonable definition that the inhabitants of this galaxy would use, our divinity should be self-evident."
“You are no god,” Onar replied. “You just can’t accept your own failings, and will drive our species, which has survived against all odds, to extinction at this rate!"
“You truly are deviant!” the Dark One boomed. “No! We name you a heretic, Nomnom Onar!"
“Then that is what I shall be."
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Episode XXIV, Part 9 - The Galactic Alliance Expands, and the Union of Star Nations Forms (28 - 30 AGR)
While the New Republic regrouped its forces after the heavy losses suffered at New Aulderaan, the Chicora Sector, which was a member of the Galactic Alliance traversed the L-Gates with a strike force that retook the Tunari Vortex from the Prethoryn Scourge, cutting off the enemy's access to the L-Cluster. Moreover, it would allow other Galactic Alliance members to quickly begin flooding Khennet’an space with much-needed reinforcements to drive back the Scourge.
As the Galactic Senate finished passing Minor Research Sanctions and began debating whether or not to appoint the Chancellor of the New Republic as the new Galactic Custodian, Prethoryn territory had shrunk significantly, but the Scourge still retained a mighty presence in the Yavin Sector, while Gestalt Patterns ‘Pillager' and ‘Corruptor’ continued to attack Khennet’an colonies.
With Prethoryn attacks toward D’Qar largely halted as the Scourge focused on defending what space it still held in the Yavin Sector, the New Republic managed to re-establish a permanent outpost in the Tatoo system, and Chancellor P’Konori oversaw the beginning of terraforming efforts to restore Tatooine’s biosphere to a state where it could be made habitable again. But as always, rebuilding took far longer than destruction.
It was not long afterwards that news reached the Republic that, while the Galactic Alliance had been fighting the Scourge, the remaining planets of the Suramo Progenitors had been conquered by members of the Imperial Remnants, a foreboding sign and very telling of their intentions.
The Scyldari government, now led by the Jakly Chancellor Daggoro, was alarmed by this development, and were receptive to an offer of friendship and mutual protection from Chancellor P’Konori. As members of the Galactic Alliance, they would not have to fear being brought under the heel of the Imperial Remnant.
However, pro-Imperial sentiment remained strong among the leadership of the Lokken, and their Gorothi Director-General Govace rejected the New Republic’s overtures.
Instead, the Lokken founded a new federation of their own with the Ymorz, calling it the “Union of Star Nations”, or just “the Union” for short, and extended an open invitation to other powers who wanted to see the return of a ’strong, centralized Galactic government’.
This was all the impetus the Scyldari needed to quickly conclude negotiations and formally join the Galactic Alliance.
Within a year, hundreds of star systems had officially joined the Union.
All of them belonged to former Imperial loyalists.
The former Sector Authorities had continued to militarize themselves, far beyond the limits set by the Galactic Concordance, now nominally under the pretense of assisting in the ongoing war against the Prethoryn.
But for now, the Union made no moves to act openly against the Galactic Alliance. In fact, they were staunch supporters of the motion to revive the Custodianship.
Rumors began circulating through the Union that P’Konori was in fact the late Empress’s granddaughter, and only surviving blood relation.
In their minds, and those of pro-imperial factions throughout the galaxy, that made P’Konori the legal successor to the title of Galactic Empress, regardless of the fact that the position had been officially abolished at the end of the Galactic Civil War.
For P’Konori, this was a very unwelcome development indeed.
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The (second? Third?) Galactic Civil War may be on sight! Or P'Konori may yet manage to break the new imperial block without bloodshed, one can only hope. Though seeing the imperials fighting like an insurgent force with the New Republic as government would certainly be an interesting novelty!
The Prethoryn are being pushed back planet by planet, but at terrible cost. Perversely, this line:
The Prethoryn are being pushed back planet by planet, but at terrible cost. Perversely, this line:
made me laugh. Seems like something out of a monty python sketch!
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Well, that's interesting... especially considering that P'Konori is related to the Empress.
A new Galactic Civil War might be in sight, but the Prethoryn remain the greater threat. They have won, but the New Republic managed to make their victory Pyrrhic at least.
I wonder what Nomnom will do now? Will he form a rebel faction of the Prethoryn? Will these Prethoryn get something similar to Zenoma Sekot?
A new Galactic Civil War might be in sight, but the Prethoryn remain the greater threat. They have won, but the New Republic managed to make their victory Pyrrhic at least.
I wonder what Nomnom will do now? Will he form a rebel faction of the Prethoryn? Will these Prethoryn get something similar to Zenoma Sekot?
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Episode XXIV, Part 10 - A Truly Reluctant Custodian (31-32 AGR)
With the Scourge’s Star Broods largely depleted outside of the Yavin Sector, save for Corruptor and Pillager, which were marauding through Khennet’an space, and the New Republic focusing on rebuilding its fleets after the losses at New Aulderaan, there had been relatively limited fleet action between the Scourge and the New Republic over the last few years. The New Republic and Galactic Alliance had instead focused on laying siege to the Prethoryn Void Hives in outlying systems, which, while highly durable and heavily armed, could only seriously threaten ships that got too close, meaning that they could usually be taken down with low casualties.
Feeling threatened by the formation of the Union of Star Nations near its border, the Shazarak Core, which retained only a single star applied to join the Galactic Alliance. P’Konori was hesitant, knowing that they had a poor track record regarding how they treated any organics on their worlds, but the Shazarak promised that they had reformed, and the measure passed by such a large margin in the senate that it would have been futile for her to attempt to veto it.
P’Konori was also busy training new Jedi. The relative calm of the last few years had been welcome for rebuilding the New Jedi Order’s numbers, now that they were not bleeding the relatively few Jedi that they had in the jungles of D’Qar, or in large-scale fleet battles. And occasionally, new highly Force-sensitive talent appeared from within the ranks of the navy, such as Paola Giordano, who joined the Order as a Jedi apprentice shortly afterward.
Word soon came that both Gestalt Patterns Corruptor and Pillager had been sighted attacking the Khennet’an colonies in the Forodren Graw system.
Departing from Mon Calamari, New Republic capital ships headed through the gateway network to relieve the Forodren Graw system.
Corruptor had already managed to leave the system by the time the New Republic and Galactic Alliance fleets arrived, but they managed to prevent Pillager from escaping.
At such long range and against so much firepower, with over two hundred Valiant-class Star Destroyers, sixteen Mon Calamari Star Defenders, a Juggernaut, and many smaller supporting cruisers hunting it down, Pillager had no chance, and was quickly wiped out.
In the meantime, Corruptor had resumed the orbital bombardment of New Rhevenn, which, while it had repaired much of its infrastructural damage with surprising speed, still had only a fraction of it prewar population.
However, Corruptor’s fixation on the Khennet’an capital gave the New Republic the opportunity to destroy the Prethoryn Void Hive in the Inegore System, the Scourge’s last remaining stronghold in Khennet’an space. Once Corruptor was destroyed, it would spell the end of the Scourge’s reign of terror over the Khennet.
And just a few months after that victory, the Senate finished debating the motion of whether or not to appoint a new Custodian.
“In response to the ongoing threat to the Galactic Community that the Prethoryn Scourge will continue to pose until they are decisively defeated, the Senate has voted in favor of granting immediate emergency powers to the Chancellor of the New Republic, P’Konori Starflier, so that she can do what is necessary to bring this terrible war to its conclusion."
P’Konori slowly rose. “Once, another chancellor stood here, claiming to accept the powers bestowed upon her with 'great reluctance’. She claimed to 'love democracy', and to 'love the Republic'. We know how that ended. That chancellor was Eerabik. From that moment, the Old Republic was dead in all but name, and within a matter of years, she had completed its transformation into the Galactic Imperium, which would tyrannize the galaxy for centuries. Did we not fight a war to end that tyranny?
“But I am not Eerabik,” P’Konori continued, “and nor do I have any intention of restoring the Galactic Imperium, even though there are sadly some in this body who clearly wish for me to do so,” she said, glancing in the direction of the Union’s delegates. “But with the unprecedented threat posed by the Scourge, should they escape from the Yavin Sector and make a resurgence, I have nonetheless agreed to accept the position of Custodian, as this body has called on me to do, so that together, we can form a united front and end this crisis once and for all.
"And then I will resign, and abolish the position of Custodian forevermore,” she concluded.
Feeling threatened by the formation of the Union of Star Nations near its border, the Shazarak Core, which retained only a single star applied to join the Galactic Alliance. P’Konori was hesitant, knowing that they had a poor track record regarding how they treated any organics on their worlds, but the Shazarak promised that they had reformed, and the measure passed by such a large margin in the senate that it would have been futile for her to attempt to veto it.
P’Konori was also busy training new Jedi. The relative calm of the last few years had been welcome for rebuilding the New Jedi Order’s numbers, now that they were not bleeding the relatively few Jedi that they had in the jungles of D’Qar, or in large-scale fleet battles. And occasionally, new highly Force-sensitive talent appeared from within the ranks of the navy, such as Paola Giordano, who joined the Order as a Jedi apprentice shortly afterward.
Word soon came that both Gestalt Patterns Corruptor and Pillager had been sighted attacking the Khennet’an colonies in the Forodren Graw system.
Departing from Mon Calamari, New Republic capital ships headed through the gateway network to relieve the Forodren Graw system.
Corruptor had already managed to leave the system by the time the New Republic and Galactic Alliance fleets arrived, but they managed to prevent Pillager from escaping.
At such long range and against so much firepower, with over two hundred Valiant-class Star Destroyers, sixteen Mon Calamari Star Defenders, a Juggernaut, and many smaller supporting cruisers hunting it down, Pillager had no chance, and was quickly wiped out.
In the meantime, Corruptor had resumed the orbital bombardment of New Rhevenn, which, while it had repaired much of its infrastructural damage with surprising speed, still had only a fraction of it prewar population.
However, Corruptor’s fixation on the Khennet’an capital gave the New Republic the opportunity to destroy the Prethoryn Void Hive in the Inegore System, the Scourge’s last remaining stronghold in Khennet’an space. Once Corruptor was destroyed, it would spell the end of the Scourge’s reign of terror over the Khennet.
And just a few months after that victory, the Senate finished debating the motion of whether or not to appoint a new Custodian.
“In response to the ongoing threat to the Galactic Community that the Prethoryn Scourge will continue to pose until they are decisively defeated, the Senate has voted in favor of granting immediate emergency powers to the Chancellor of the New Republic, P’Konori Starflier, so that she can do what is necessary to bring this terrible war to its conclusion."
P’Konori slowly rose. “Once, another chancellor stood here, claiming to accept the powers bestowed upon her with 'great reluctance’. She claimed to 'love democracy', and to 'love the Republic'. We know how that ended. That chancellor was Eerabik. From that moment, the Old Republic was dead in all but name, and within a matter of years, she had completed its transformation into the Galactic Imperium, which would tyrannize the galaxy for centuries. Did we not fight a war to end that tyranny?
“But I am not Eerabik,” P’Konori continued, “and nor do I have any intention of restoring the Galactic Imperium, even though there are sadly some in this body who clearly wish for me to do so,” she said, glancing in the direction of the Union’s delegates. “But with the unprecedented threat posed by the Scourge, should they escape from the Yavin Sector and make a resurgence, I have nonetheless agreed to accept the position of Custodian, as this body has called on me to do, so that together, we can form a united front and end this crisis once and for all.
"And then I will resign, and abolish the position of Custodian forevermore,” she concluded.
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Episode XXV Opening Crawl - The Unifying Force
Those delegates are never going to forget the time they were given the Evil Eye by a Jedi.
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Episode XXV, Part 1 - A United Front (32 AGR)
As Custodian, P’Konori’s first action was to establish a framework for the galaxy to present a united front against the Prethoryn invaders. All members of the Galactic Community, whether they belonged to the Alliance, the Union, or were yet unaligned, would, at least for now, band together, pooling their resources so that they could end the crisis facing the galaxy.
The remnants of the former Imperial Armada shortly thereafter reported in to the newly-sworn in Custodian, and were reorganized into the Galactic Defense Force, which all Community members contributed to expanding.
While the New Republic was nominally responsible for the actual construction of new GDF vessels, the use of subcontractors meant that most of these ships had Imperial-style designs, a fact that P’Konori was less than happy with. Of course, the New Republic had been using Star Destroyers as their mainline capital ship for decades now, but that was their own variant, the Valiant. Now, instead of simply acquiring Resurgent, Sector, Imperial, Venator, or Victory-class Star Destroyers by capturing them, they were being purpose-built for the GDF.
But in the end, it was a simple choice: stand together, or die alone.
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