Force Fall Episode III: Battlefronts/narrative

Part 1
A Squadron of fifteen Void Hounds approached Kraga, a planet that housed a wide array of businesses, so well known for it that it had earned the nickname of “Planet Business” among those familiar with it. The biggest businesses were allowed to own sectors and make their own laws, so long as the laws did not interfere with the other sectors and as long as the planetary leadership was paid proper tribute. The business based sectors were responsible for hiring their own security and enforcing their own laws; the Kragan Government only enforced its laws in the “Government Sector”, which was where a large portion of the planet's population lived (employees that worked for companies that owned business sectors tended to live in whichever sector the company they worked for owned, usually for benefits). Startech was one such business that had its own sector on Kraga.

The cockpit of Florence Jader's Void Hound was silent with the exception of the occasional beeping instrument. The silence eventually broke when Raleigh Hinarian's old, gruff voice came through the comms. “The largest building in the Startech Sector is our target. As you all should know, they've been producing those advanced ships, those of make like the one that Bright brought back to us, so if we fail this war is going to be that much more difficult. Bomb em, Torpedo em, whatever. We just don't want that building standing.” Gravin Brimoire's voice broke as his voice came through the communications channel in reply, “What about collateral damage, Raleigh?” “Collateral damage is acceptable as long as it is contained to the Startech Sector, but avoid it if you can, Brimoire. We are already going to be killing hundreds of civilians who are at work in that blasted factory.” Florence Jader opened his mouth to speak, but was beaten to it by another voice, Jamillon Parsus. “This doesn't sit right with me.” “It isn't about what sits right, Parsus, it's about what gets the job done and saves more lives. Remember the Devotee code, “Save what you can, forget about what you can't.” We can't save everyone, but if we destroy this factory we will save a lot of lives by removing such an effective weapon from the war.”

The Startech factory was now in view, so were the automated Anti-Air Turrets that covered the facility grounds. ''This isn't right. I won't kill innocents. I'll focus on the turrets.'' Florence brought up his targeting computer as he twisted, rolled, and dodged laser fire with his Void Hound. Raleigh's voice boomed over the comm speakers once more, “Startech Defenders inbound.” ''Damn. Now civilians are going to be shooting at me.'' Void Hounds and Startech Defenders littered the airspace over the Startech Factory, stray laser and torpedo blasts occasionally struck the ground near the Factory as the two opposing sides fired volley after volley upon each other. Florence tended to what Anti-Air Turrets he could as the other Devotees made sure that the Startech Defenders blinked out of existence one-by-one.

Startech Defenders stopped arriving to reinforce the factory and to replace those that had been destroyed. Florence stared at the factory in thought as the last of the Defenders were moped up. ''They don't stand a chance against us, but it's self-defense, right? No. We initiated this, this is a slaughter.'' Screams of pain and terror filled the cockpit. To Jader's horror, Void Hounds began falling from the sky instantaneously; one, two, three, four, five... Gravin Brimoire's panicked voice shot through the comms, “By the stars! What is doing this? Is it some sort of super-weapon?”. “No, it's a ship. A fast one. Picture proof of why we must destroy that factory.” Raleigh replied. Jader was able to detect the pilot for a split second, his signature in the Force was ever so faint. A moment of clarity overcame Jader, he shared his revelation with the other Devotees with a trembling voice, “The pilot is a Force User”.

Tilsen Xeema chortled as he shot down the tenth Void Hound. “Five left!” he exclaimed as he positioned his Star Phantom for another strike. A small series of explosion came from the factory below, Tilsen watched on as the building refused to be penetrated. The Devaronian's sharp teeth glistened as he smiled, “You fools. That factory is nigh impenetrable, your aerial attacks are futile”.

He readjusted again and took down the eleventh Void Hound. The four remaining Void Hounds veered away, towards space. Another laugh escaped the butcher of Void Hounds, “They're retreating. Do I have permission to pursue?”. “No. That factory is key, if it is destroyed we would be driven to a stalemate. Reinforcements shall be there within the hour” responded Darro Blood through the other end of the communications system. Tilsen sighed as the Void Hounds escaped his view.

Florence Jader threw his cracked helmet on the ground as he climbed out of his downed Void Hound. “At least I crashed at the factory” he said to himself dryly. He looked up at the sky to count the remaining Void Hounds, there were four, he watched as they quickly left the planet's atmosphere. ''Many innocents died here, I can't let this mission end in failure or they will have died for less than nothing. I wonder..'' Florence thrust his arm into the wreckage, fishing around and around until he found what he was seeking. He pulled his arm back out with the Void Hound's fuel cell in hand. ''YES! If I can find the proper spot, I should be able to take the factory out of commission.''

The Star Phantom Factory stood still, under a full lock-down with all employees inside. This did not deter Florence Jader, he strolled up to the factory door with a fuel cell in his left hand, his lightsaber in his right and began to carve into the factory door. Although strong and resilient, the door was no match for a lightsaber. Wherever the yellow blade traveled, the door melted like butter in a skillet. Florence stepped through the perfectly carved circle in the door and stopped at the entry-way taking in the site. Conveyer belts, assembly machines, computers and unarmed factory workers everywhere. Different materials forming various shapes, Star Phantoms in different stages of development, also littered the factory. A set of railed stairs sat off to the side of one of the many conveyer belts, it led up to a catwalk which in turn led to the administrative office. The administrative office was positioned in such a way that the entire facility was in view. Two armed guards stood on the catwalk up above with their blaster rifles drawn and aimed at Florence. Calling upon the Force, Florence Jader augmented his voice to an astonishingly loud decibel, loud enough that it rang throughout the entirety of the factory “Everyone get out, now”.

The guards naturally took offense to his demands and fired. With skill and precision Jader batted the bolts of energy back into the guards; they were hit with such force that they fell over the railing and crashed into machinery. The factory workers ran for the exit as soon as it became apparent that the intruder was the only armed person in the facility, all of them made it as Florence Jader had intended with the exception of the two deceased guards. The Devotee of Ashla set about slashing the various construction instruments as he looked around for the perfect place to set the fuel cell, now a makeshift bomb.

The Startech factory exploded. Signs of the facility's northern wall and a sizable crater was all that remained of the production plant. Shock-waves rippled through the sky causing Tilsen to struggle keeping his Star Phantom airborne. Tilsen's smile disappeared from his face and was replaced with a grimace upon his realization of the factory's destruction. The Devaronian patched into Darro Blood's private channel “Master Blood, I've failed you. The factory has been destroyed”. No verbal response came from Darro Blood, but his breathing was audible. Xeema desperately continued “Someone had to have infiltrated the factory from the ground. I picked the sky clean.” “Capture the saboteur and bring them to Aila or die.” “Yes, Master Blood.”

Part 2
Sacrilege awoke screaming. He felt a single thing, pain. The pain was searing and all enveloping, it was absolute. Sacrilege tried to lift his arms, but found himself unable to do so. His eyes darted around absorbing everything and his environment soon became logical to him. Various medical machines and surgeons garbed in surgical masks surrounded him, most of the surgeons had traces of blood on their outfits. “Inhale and exhale” instructed a male Human surgeon, Sacrilege obeyed. “Why are my arms bound” he asked. “You struggle in your sleep. You actually socked one of the surgeons” replied a female Bothan nurse. “I'm feeding the tubes more anesthetic and sleeping aids. He should be back under momentarily.” relayed a surgeon who was correct. Sacrilege passed out before being able to see who had made the comment.

Sacrilege slowly opened his eyes as they attempted to take in and adjust to the light. A red mask flashed into view startling Sacrilege, the figure brought its mask covered face right up to his. The former Devotee struggled to raise his arms and move his legs, but found them to be bound. The unwelcome visitor spoke mockingly at first, the tone of his male voice became more serious the more sentences passed “Poor Hemlin Bright, all alone and without purpose. Yet, you struggle to stay alive, odd. Odd like me. We aren't so different, you and I.” Shivers traveled down Sacrilege's spine. “I very much doubt that.” “Oh, but we are. I can see everything that goes on in this little galaxy and I know all about YOU. We both disagreed with our order's leadership, fought like hell and lost, been maimed and subjected to a terrible explosion and we have both stood on the precipice of change.” Sacrilege imagined that he was smiling behind his mask. “Who are you and want do you want with me?” “Who am I? I am someone whose name has been lost to the ages, but perhaps you could properly reintroduce it were I to relay it to you. I am Jagar and I want you to come free me. Save me from my damnable confinement and I shall give you power beyond imagination”. “I refuse to trust a man who will not show his face and why do you want me to do it anyway? Why not someone else?” “Certain conditions and compatibilities must be met and you and I are so similar that they've definitely been met. As for my face, very well.” Jagar slowly removed the mask from his face, terror struck throughout every fiber of Sacrilege's being. Jagar's face was blank, no eyes, no nose, no mouth, no anything.

Deep inhales and exhales came from Sacrilege when he awoke to find himself in a hospital bed. It wasn't real and yet it had been. He quickly lost himself in thought. ''That dream, it felt so real. I- No, wait. That... that was a vision!''

The female Bothan nurse that had been present for the operation pulled back the privacy curtain that surrounded Sacrilege's hospital bed. “Ah, good. You are awake.” she said. Sacrilege began to speak, but stopped when he felt something on his head begin to move, it almost felt like something was trying to unravel. He brought his arms to his head, as he did so he noticed that both of his arms were wrapped in bandages, he felt his head, it too was wrapped in bandages. “Are the bandages until I get a Bacta treatment? I'm starting to feel like a mummy.” he said dryly. The Bothan sat in a chair situated next to his bed, gently put a hand on his shoulder and spoke softly “Your burns are too severe for Bacta treatment, the damage is permanent. You'll have to change your bandages twice every day.” “B-but, what about skin grafts?” The Bothan removed her hand from his shoulder. “My dear, you don't have enough unburned skin for grafting. Roughly eighty-five percent of your body has suffered third degree burns.” Sacrilege struggled to contain his anger, he began speaking through gritted teeth, “I see. When am I able to be discharged?” “Technically, you are in about as good as shape as you are going to get. We are just going to keep you here for a couple of weeks to make sure that there are no complications. There's also the matter of payment and the local authorities stopping by to question you as to how you got so badly burnt. They'll actually be here pretty soon.” “Uh-huh. I had a family heirloom on me when I fainted. It is metallic and stick shaped, would you please bring it to me?” “Sure.” The Bothan scurried off and hurriedly returned with the lightsaber, she placed it in Sacrilege's outstretched hand. “Thanks, I get nervous without it.”

A union of the Bombaasa Cartel, Exchange, and The Flail fleets jumped out of hyperspace and came to pause over Bastion, as if hesitating. Bastion was the capital world of the Galactic Federation as it had been with the Imperial Remnant and Fel Empire which had came before it. The planet was heavily fortified with turrets and Anti-Air Batteries, Bastion had a reputation for being impregnable. Only high ranking government officials and veteran Galactic Federation troops were permitted entry, even their families were barred access to the planet for the sake of security. A Predator-class Star Dreadnaught, twelve Prosecutor-class Star Battlecruisers and their full compliments of ST-1 Star Guards scrambled towards the united criminal force. Although the united criminal force had a wide assortment of ships and superior numbers, they were in fact the inferior fighting force, for most of their ships were antiquated and their pilots lacked the experience to match that of the Galactic Federation's.

Rabo Blood stood beside Trevyn Zann, the head of the Zann Consortium, on the bridge of the Zann Consortium's flagship, Variant Nine. Variant Nine was a mess of various cobbled together ships, it had originally been a Star Destroyer, but now it was something else entirely, unique. “It's time Trevyn. Bring us out of hyperspace up behind the Star Dreadnaught and retreat once I launch in the infiltration pod. I'll need you to retrieve me from Bastion.” Trevyn Zann nodded in reply, Rabo Blood descended Variant Nine's bridge and climbed inside the infiltration pod. Variant Nine came out of hyperspace ending up behind the Star Dreadnaught just as planned. The infiltration pod shot out from Variant Nine and latched onto the Star Dreadnaught's bridge. The infiltration pod's metallic pincers tore a hole in the bridge causing the oxygen to leak out of the ship, all hands on the bridge had suffocated by the time Rabo Blood had stepped on board the dreadnaught. Rabo Blood ignited his lightsaber and struck the dreadnaught's controls insuring that it would crash into Bastion. Scores of Federation troops lined the corridor leading to the bridge. Lightning began to form from the fingers of Blood's left hand, he released torrent after torrent of lightning. The Force conjured lightning arced from one Federation trooper to the next due to their close proximity to each other, each trooper acted as a conductor of sorts.

After the troops lie dead, Rabo walked on their bodies as if they were steps and into the hangar. Rabo calmly waited in a shuttle until the doomed Star Dreadnaught broke through Bastion's atmosphere and then launched from the hangar.

Part 3
Supreme Chancellor, Ellep Horn watched from his office window in abject horror as the Star Dreadnaught broke through Bastion's atmosphere and crashed into the ground. The fiery explosion temporarily blinded him, but he was unable to pull his gaze away from the window. The explosion had died down by the time his vision had come back to him, most of the buildings had been wiped out without a trace, those that still stood were covered in scorch marks and a deep crater sat where the dreadnaught had impacted. The Zabrak felt lucky to be alive. Unk Durr ran into the Chancellor's Office and grabbed the Chancellor by the arm “It's time to go, I've called for a transport.” “Let me grab some things first.” “There is no time. A Force user is slaughtering the planetary guard, we cannot delay!” “B-but, how? What about the Ysalamiri?” “What a stupid question. Most, if not all, were incinerated by the impact. Now come on, let's go!” The Supreme Chancellor begrudgingly obliged and followed the Gran as closely as his legs would allow him.

Vieus Vulpter, the pudgy and balding Grand Marshal of the Galactic Federation, sat back in a recliner on his temporary quarters aboard the Prosecutor-class Star Battlecruiser Duty. I can't wait to get off of this glorified asteroid zapper. I miss Empyrean. The beeping holoprojector under Vulpter's uniform stirred him from his thoughts. He reached into a hidden pocket underneath his jacket and pulled out the holoprojector. Unk Durr's likeness appeared on the holoprojector and began to speak “Bastion has been breached, I'm going to grab our pawn. Send a gunship to retrieve us from the bottom floor of the Supreme Chancellor's Office.” The image flickered off as the recording reached its end.

Vultper removed himself from the recliner with great effort and exited his quarters. He strolled through Duty's hallway as if he owned the ship, he eventually reached the fighter simulation area. His eyes immediately picked up Graves and Gordo Sansax, both were preoccupied practicing in different flight simulations. He opened the doors to both simulation pods “Both of you are coming with me.” The two federation pilots exited their pods and followed the Marshal. After five minutes of traveling, Graves spoke “Where are we going, sir?”. “I need you two to fly the A-1 Gun Runner. I can't give you anymore details than that, with the exception of don't screw this up.” Vulpter replied in a sharp tone.

The three men piled in the gunship, Gordo and Graves acting as pilot and co-pilot, while Vieus sat at the controls of one of the four rotary turrets. Vieus Vultper pulled out a short-range communicator and patched into Shade Weizmann's personal frequency. “Hello?” Weizmann's voice responded. “This is Vieus, I'm taking the A-1 Gun Runner and a couple of your boys on a high priority mission. The details of the mission are restricted to a need to know basis.” “Fine. Do you want us to bring in Duty or are you going to make the hyperspace jump in the A-1 and go dark?” “Jumping in the A-1 and going dark.” Vieus Vultper flipped off the communicator, the two pilots got the hint and took the gunship out of the hangar and through hyperspace.

Tilsen Xeema brought his Star Phantom around for another pass of the destroyed facility, he made out a running figure down below, it was fleeing from the destroyed factory. The Devaronian landed his Star Phantom in the figure's way, opened the cockpit and leaped out towards the figure, lightsaber at the ready.

Florence Jader froze as a spacecraft landed in front of him, it was of the same make as the one that Hemlin Bright had brought to Pelgrin. A Devaronian leaped out of the star fighter, landing just a couple of feet from Jader. The Devaronian smiled revealing his sharp and gnarled teeth as he raised his left hand revealing the lightsaber it contained. “It's not often that I fail at my job. My master has taken an interest in you.” Jader reached for his lightsaber as he replied “Who is your master and what does it want?” “My master is the rightful ruler of the galaxy, B-Darro Blood. I know not for certain what he wants with you, but I presume he intends to make you suffer for destroying that factory. It was quite important to the war effort. Surrender and I shall ask him to be merciful.” “The hell I'll surrender!” Jader ignited and brought down his yellow blade, attempting to cleave his opponent in two. Tilsen effortlessly skirted backwards and ignited his lightsaber, bringing his red blade to bear.

The two combatants had at each other, red and yellow illuminated all, leaving no shadows. The two blades struck together causing both duelists to stagger back, Florence recovered quicker and swept his blade at his opponents legs. Xeema hopped over the blade and struck downward at Florence's head only to have Florence dodge and swing back, Xeema ducked, but came up a bit short, the lightsaber claimed his left horn. Both fighters adopted a two-handed grip on their sabers and swung at each other again, managing to lock blades. The two men's faces were separated from each other only by inches. Jader saw his opponent's mouth move and then... nothing. Discomfort wracked through him as his face became wet and sticky, this caused him to become distracted and allowed Tilsen Xeema to knock the lightsaber from his hand. It took a couple of seconds for Florence to register what had happened, his opponent had spat in his eyes. When Florence could again see, he saw the tip of his opponent's blade aimed at his bare throat. The Devaronian snarled and spoke once more “It appears that hell has come.”

Part 4
The A-1 Gun Runner entered space around Bastion, it was a mess of debris and stray fire. A couple dozen ships remained in combat. A Predator-class Star Dreadnaught, seven Prosecutor-class Star Battlecruisers, and the various fighters that accompanied were still engaged with the remnants of the Bombaasa Cartel and Exchange fleets which comprised of six Capital ships each. The Flail had been completely annihilated as evidenced by most of the debris which contained their insignia.

Graves looked on with disgust as the A-1 Gun Runner passed the debris and prepared for atmospheric entry, “There is so much death. This is horrible.” “The dying can never be stopped, but it can be controlled. It won't be manageable until the Force is gone.” Vieus Vulpter replied absentmindedly. “The Force?” “The Force is a- a virus of sorts. It grants supernatural abilities to those that it infects and they inevitably come to believe that they are better than everyone else, gods. After one discovers that they have the Force, they usually end up finding someone else that does as well and it's not before long that they start fighting. Not that it stops at that, oh no, that would be too easy. Force infected usually end up dragging the entire galaxy into their feuds, like now.” Silence filled the ship for the rest of the flight to Bastion.

The gunship breached Bastion's atmosphere without incident, the majority of Sartinaynian City was rubble and crater. Only the sturdiest constructed buildings still stood, and most of them were missing rooms and floors. Two buildings of particular interest still stood, the Supreme Chancellor Office building and the Senate building, this was thanks to the very expensive materials that went into their construction, no expense was spared on either building. The A-1 Gun Runner gently landed on the side-walk next to the Supreme Chancellor's Office.

Unk Durr and Ellep Horn watched as the Galactic Federation gunship descended. “Thank my lucky stars.” Ellep Horn muttered as the craft touched the ground outside of the building. Twelve heavily armored Galactic Federation Troopers with the sole function of ensuring the Supreme Chancellor's survival followed as Unk Durr pressed a key pad ending the lock-down on the building and causing the electric-powered sliding doors to open. Unk Durr's eyes hovered beyond the gunship, approximately 54 yards away, a masked figure garbed in black robes stood with an ignited red lightsaber in hand. The figure began to sprint towards the building. Unk Durr lightly pushed the Chancellor forward “Run! Get to the gunship!” he then turned his head back towards the troopers and added “Off in the distance!”

The troopers must have saw the figure after Unk Durr's comment, as they began switching the safeties off on their blasters. “Lock and load! Protect the Vice Chair and the Chancellor at all cost!” shouted the one in charge. Unk Durr and Ellep Horn dashed for the gunship at full speed, not slowing. The figure had closed a considerable distance, about 14 yards remained between them. The Supreme Chancellor and Vice Chair clamored aboard the gunship, Graves slid the door shut. “Go! Go! Go!” shouted Unk Durr. Graves and Gordo began the lift off procedures as the figure continued his approach. Vieus Vulpter started to fire the turret, the turret shot a fairly solid laser beam out and at the figure. The robed figure flipped over the beam and its successors as he continued his sprint, the beam blasts hardly delayed him at all. The troopers moved to the side of the gunship that the figure was bound for and began to fire. The engines kicked on and the gunship slowly began its ascension.

Rabo Blood cursed under his breath as the gunship began to lift off. He threw his lightsaber and guided it with the Force, while summoning streaks of lightning from his fingers and assailing the troopers with it. The troopers writhed in pain on the ground. The unit commander resisted the lightning for a brief moment and stared up at the gunship from the ground and raised his gun, he fired and struck the Force guided lightsaber in the blade causing it to go off its intended course, which made it miss the gunship by mere inches. The gunship cleared the danger-zone unscathed. ''Damn. I failed. Still, I did manage to kill the entirety of the senate save those two.''

Rabo spoke to Trevyn Zann through his mask's built in communications system “I'm ready for retrieval.” “Find your own way off. I caught wise to your scheme before you even launched in the Infiltration Pod. You intended for The Flail, Exchange and Bombaasa Cartel to get destroyed in that space escapade above Bastion. I bet you were planning to use that glorified glow-stick on me or you were going to try to pit Black Sun and I against each other. If I leave you down there then my chances of survival go up and I'm going to be down another annoying Force User, that's the way I see it.”

“Clever Zann, but not clever enough. You've just angered me and you really don't want to anger me. While it's true that I didn't expect the fleets to survive, I knew that the Exchange and likely the Bombaasa Cartel as well, would survive, for there is always another ready to move up the chain. The Flail, however, is definitely finished. I'd intended to leave you alive, because organized crime has it's uses, but now I think that I'll leave that bit to Black Sun. I'm coming for you once I get off this planet.”

“I'll be waiting, Sith wannabe.”

Rabo closed the channel interface and stood surveying the area. ''I won't find a ship in this wreck. I've got a lot of walking to do before I reach the next city. Still, I'd say I succeeded in stirring things up. The Galactic Federation and the galactic underworld is going to be in a state of chaos for a while. The galaxy is going to be preoccupied replacing their fallen leaders, while the Blood Conglomerate strikes hard.''