ScottotheUnwise
Verified Crack (fic) Dealer
- Location
- Mulberry, Fl
"But I had the higher moral ground!"
The Weaving Force
- Thread starter LD1449
- Start date
-
- Tags
- star wars worm alexandria crossover
"But I had the higher moral ground!"
johnwedd
Above Average man
- Location
- usa
huh, no longer on the path of emo dark sider, more of ruthless lightsider. Do the right thing, with maximum aggression.
- Location
- Florida
I don't think that is quite it I think it's more they strive to understand and master their emotions, so they do not control you. It can look like repression, but it is different. I am basing this on Yoda's discussions with several Padawans about the nature of Grief and Love in Yoda Dark Rendezvous it's called Mastering yourself after all. For instance, I am absolutely sure Yoda, Plo, Obi-wan, Yaddle, Mace, and similar Jedi Masters would be able to completely ignore Vicky's ability just because they understand who they are and their own mind and emotions after decades of study they have truly earned the title of Jedi master.
LD1449
To the last; Kill them all
- Location
- The other side of the labyrinth.
Ok I agree on the whole, but I'll say that IMO the Jedi who understand that difference is the minority. Plo-Koon, Yoda, Mace etc are the ones who DO understand it and thus they're the "best of the best" but most of your "run of the mill" Masters *do not* understand that and do simply practice "repression"
These Masters she's teaching are, by definition "run of the mill"
Chapter 103
LD1449
To the last; Kill them all
- Location
- The other side of the labyrinth.
Chapter 103:
Dennis:
When the ship ramp opened he felt the genuine, heartfelt smile tug at his lips, seeing Miss M there, waiting for him.
It was… it was nice…
"Hey, Miss M." He said as the whining of the engines began to die down, stepping off the ramp only to be enveloped in a hug.
He hugged her back, enjoying the welcome for however long or short it was before she pulled away, looking him over with a concerned eye.
"It's ok." He reassured, smiling toothily even as he tried to make his voice sincere. "We're all ok, we all came back."
Hannah took a deep breath through her nose, the look in her eyes remaining completely serious.
"I sent you on that mission and four people died! You could've been one of them!" She shot back. "So I'll worry as much as I damn well please!"
Dennis winced, feeling the sliver of guilt coiling through his chest. He could only imagine how she and Satine received the news that four of the royal guard were dead. Aras was a royal guard himself, and it was a very clear, stark reminder that her husband was now a part of the army and that just because Vicky was his CO didn't guarantee his safety.
"Sorry." He said, a bit less glib, a bit more real this time in a way she could see.
She looked at him for a second longer, then sighed and nodded, turning her eyes up to the ship. "Ventress and Rugess?"
"You know Rugg" He nodded. "He likes to double check everything before he leaves… and Ventress..." He trailed off, looking behind him for a second before he leaned closer to whisper his words.
Hannah caught on, tilting her head to offer her ear.
"She had a bit of a close call." He said. "Think it shook her more than she'll admit."
Normally he respected secrets, but…
"I'm not sure how to help…" He chewed on his next words. "Back on Earth… did you ever… you know, have a friend in a similar boat?"
Hannah remained still for a second, thinking, then she nodded. "I'll talk to her. Don't worry," She preempted his protest. "I heard it from the royal guards and Master Fay's report, not you." She promised.
Dennis smiled. "You're the best."
Hannah finally found it in herself to smile back. "You dropped Vicky off on Coruscant… you… well…"
Ahh.
"I'm happy to say, yes, I did check on your big ol' love muffin, Miss M. Hubby is doing just fine, even making friends with all the other kids!" She rolled her eyes at his tone but he could see how relieved she was. "Hell, he was pleased as a pickle that we brought him a present… Well… Vicky did."
Hannah raised an eyebrow. "Should I be worried?"
Dennis shrugged. "If he can find a way to lift it, it's everyone else who's gonna have a fucking problem."
The hero turned Mando now looked incredulous. "If he can lift- Are we talking about my husband?" She asked, as if to say: 'Of course he can lift it.'
And while her confidence wouldn't have been misplaced in any other circumstance, unless Aras was hiding about half a ton of power armored suit somewhere, he highly doubted the man would manage.
Aras:
"Is this what it's like on Life Days, sir?" One of the men asked. That one had yet to earn his name, but he was competent enough. One of the nineteen he'd flagged as worthy of the beskar Dallon had brought them as spoils of her victory.
It fit the boy well enough.
His fellows cheered, laughing, pleased and proud beyond measure to be wearing true Mandalorian steel.
Firsts among equals, as far as their fellow clones were concerned.
Aras let them have their joy, their moment of elation. Battles would come soon enough to rob them of it.
The most senior of them, one who'd earned the name Slipstream, for his skill in following Dallon in the skies as her shadow during the battle of Ilum, looked towards Aras. "What about you, sir? What are you going to do with your Life Day present from the General?"
Aras answered with a voice that was as dry as the wastes of Mandalore. It was a stupid question.
"I will wield it." He said.
The boy looked incredulous.
"No offense, sir, but I think even the Commander might have a tough time using it. If only for how unwieldy and big it is."
"Maybe he'll mount it on a speeder." One of the others shrugged.
Aras did not sigh or roll his eyes, reminding himself they'd only had a short ten years of life.
"If it is too big to wield-" He said. "-what's the natural solution?" He asked half rhetorically, as he made his way over towards the box the clones had been too busy examining their own gifts to notice.
They hesitated, no doubt wary of looking foolish.
"Ummm… Make it smalle-"
He reached down, snapping open the locks on the crate.
It fell open, revealing that what had once been the massive head of the beskar forged glaive, was now reshaped as a monstrously large, curved greatsword.
Too large for most men to wield.
But he was not 'most men'.
"Correct." He said, reaching for the newly forged handle, fighting down his own smile as he appreciated Dallon's very welcome gift.
He always did enjoy Life Day.
—
Pors Tonith:
Life as a prisoner was a dull affair.
He was woken up and fed every morning. Allowed some recreational and exercise time in a cordoned off section of the ship. Overseen every day by clone officers. His room was checked frequently for everything that could be used to do… much of anything, be it harming his wardens or, more likely, himself.
He'd heard the Jedi did not harm or torture prisoners, but perhaps that'd been a bit of propaganda on their end.
Strictly speaking, merely leaving a prisoner in his cell was not torture. He was not in absolute solitary confinement, though it perhaps felt like it at times.
Nor was serving them ship available rations a method of torture recognized on most worlds.
But after several… days? Weeks? It felt like weeks of this mind numbing, unbroken, unchanging routine… Pors could see an argument could be made for such.
Dataslates were not allowed, too much risk of him using one for any number of things. Holonet activity was similarly not permitted.
That part didn't surprise him, really. They would not wish him to access information regarding the war or somehow perhaps send a communique.
But it did make for mind numbingly boring days.
"Assuming y equals 500 times the result of x squared minus x itself. To invert the equation I'd need to divide both sides by 500, before completing the square by adding 0.25 on both sides. Afterwards, I'll apply the binomial formula on the x side to transform it into the square of x minus 0.5. Finally, I extract the root and add 0.5 on both sides, arriving at the inverted equation of x equals 0.5 added to the square root of y divided by 500 plus 0.25."
As such.´, math had become his pastime.
Sometimes difficult. Sometimes easy. But they broke the tedium.
And kept his skills sharp. Necessary skills considering who had captured him, and what he was likely to contend with soon enough.
Still, this day he did not get any indication that things would change…
So he was somewhat surprised, pleasantly so mind you, when they did.
—
The clones led him through the ship, his hands in cuffs. Two clones stood behind him, two in front, more than an arm's length distance, even for his considerably longer arms.
He would say it was a tad paranoid. Even if he were to… somehow overpower the comparably stronger human species soldiers in straight hand-to-hand combat… there were very slim odds of actually making it anywhere remotely close to an escape on this ship. Not to mention that he had no idea where in space they currently were. It could be in the middle of the Republic Fleet's largest staging grounds.
Even so, paranoid or not, the clones did lead him to his destination. A small conference room, it seemed.
There was a bare metal table, roughly octagonal in shape, a holoplinth in its center.
And someone waiting for him.
General Kenobi sat on one of the available seats, one leg crossed over the other, fingers interlaced over his stomach.
"Ahh." The Negotiator smiled. "Admiral Pors, a pleasure to see you again."
"General Kenobi." The Muun smiled even as he began the prepared… countermeasures.
"Let the biquadrate of the product of x and 4 be equal to the square of y. Also let the biquadrate of x be equal to the square root of the product of y and 256-"
"Please." Obi-Wan gestured. "Have a seat."
Pors bowed ever so slightly in 'gratitude' and stepped forward, his long legs swallowing the distance before he took the offered seat that was much too small for his long limbed and tall species.
Obi-Wan slid a cup of what looked like tea, still steaming with heat.
Pors took it, eying the drink warily.
"I assure you, it's not poisoned. " The man's voice was droll, but pleasant sounding enough. Pors looked at the General famously known throughout the galaxy as 'The Negotiator' and raised a brow ridge.
"Considering that I am your prisoner, General Kenobi, poisoning my tea would be a rather needlessly complicated way of delivering my execution." He noted drily.
The man smiled, a hint of teeth showing past the lips and beard. "Well, you have been staring at it for quite a long time." He answered. "A man might begin to think there's no trust between us commanders at all."
"In the first equation, taking square roots on both sides, the square of the product of x with 4 would be equal to y."
Pors allowed himself a smile.
"It's not your potential execution method that concerns me, General." Pors laughed, taking hold of the cheap styrofoam cup placed on the table between them. "Rather your… ability to provide something that can be qualified as tea at all."
"You wound me, Admiral Tonith." The Negotiator sighed, as Pors took the first sip of the provided tea.
Sapir. A classic. But barely more than tepid water with the way it was made here.
The Jedi General leaned back in his seat, allowing Pors the moment to drink and place the cup back on the metal table. "I suppose you know why I'm here?" He said, breaking the silence.
Pors nodded. "That's academic." The Muun answered drily. "Though I will say, it was in poor form leaving me in a cell for so long before initiating this conversation. I didn't think Jedi were as… crass as all that."
"Or in other words, y would be equal to 16 times the square of x."
"Truthfully, an emergency required the attention of many Jedi Masters." Kenobi answered. "Myself included."
That piqued Pors curiosity. "Oh?" None of his subordinates or colleagues had anything that could have altered the predicted course of events so much as to necessitate the attention of many Jedi Masters.
At least not that he knew of.
"Putting this value of y in the second equation, we have the biquadrate of x being equal to the square root of the product between 16, 256 and the square of x."
"Nothing related to the war that's proceeding well within expected parameters."
That made him smile. "Which is to say, you're losing. And that leads you inexorably… to me."
The Jedi did not deny it, sighing instead. "I'm more than aware that someone of your intellect has… run the numbers," Pors let his smirk grow just a bit. "And I'm sure someone of your intellect realizes that long term, this will only end one way if you don't cooperate."
Pointedly, Pors took another sip of his tea. "Threats already, General Kenobi?"
Obi-Wan shrugged. "Frankly I have neither the time nor the patience to try and dance around with what we both know is happening here. I've been sent as the velvet glove. There is a very large, very heavy iron fist beneath it that few would probably wish to get acquainted with, and even fewer aren't willing to hit you with as hard as they feasibly can. "
"I believe you Jedi are quite famous for not harming your prisoners." Pors noted easily.
"Hence the biquadrate of x would be equal to the product of x with the square root of 4096. By dividing both sides with x, the cube of x would be equal to the square root of 4096."
"Jedi, yes." Kenobi nodded easily. "The Republic behind us… less so.
"The corrupt sack of bloated political creatures and idealistic fools." Pors laughed at the absurdity. "That is your threat, Kenobi? I expected better from you, honestly."
The Negotiator's own smile didn't so much as twitch on his face, looking at Poors with a man carrying utter confidence.
"Hence, the biquadrate of x would be equal to the product of x with the square root of 4096. By dividing both sides with x, the cube of x would be equal to the square root of 4096."
"As I said," Obi-Wan continued. "I'm simply here as the velvet glove. The kind offer. The one made before anything unpleasant needs to happen.
"Therefore, the cube of x is equal to 64. In other words, the value of x must be 4. If that is the case, then from the third equation the value of y must be 16 times the square of 4. Hence the value of y is 16 times 16 or 256-"
"Hence x is 4 and y is 256." The human said suddenly.
Pors could feel his body go utterly still, stiffening in something that was not quite dread, yet not far removed from it either.
He stared at the unassuming General.
Kenobi stared back, the glint in his eyes not smug… predatory.
"So… it is true…" Pors nodded. "Jedi can read thoughts."
Obi-Wan's smile grew just a bit, almost mocking in its veneer. "You were being rudely loud with them." He commented glibly.
"That is the general idea." Pors answered. It was an old trick, written in the histories of the ancient conflicts.
Jedi could read minds.
Thus, fill your mind with useless thoughts.
Math was always useful, but the point stood.
The Jedi General reached for the small folder that had been resting beside his hand.
Opening it, Pors saw several pictures of star charts.
Kenobi took a moment as his hand passed over the images, hesitating before he grabbed the first.
"If I walk out this door, its likely the last time we'll ever speak before the less pleasant means of discovering the necessary information replace me at this table. So, I will simply show you some simple, galactic map coordinates. You need not say a word. Merely look at the pictures."
Pors did not speak.
Kenobi pulled up the first image, looking Pors in the eye as he did. "Also, no, it isn't quite considered torture if I need to order my men to force your eyes open. So let's avoid that… petty unpleasantness."
—
Taylor:
When the door to the security room opened after a handful of minutes, I wasn't surprised to find that Obi-Wan was staring at me with a look that was perhaps demanding, in a way. It was a look he often gave to Anakin.
It said 'Alright, I've followed through with your bad idea so there'd better be a payoff now'.
Following said look, came his voice. "I will remind you again that if this idea of yours doesn't work, you've deprived us of a significant advantage. Even if we bring in Karla now, the initial surprise or concern she might read to more accurately determine what worlds are vital to the Separatists might not be there with him having advance warning."
"I'm aware." I nodded quietly, thanking the clone who finished uploading the security footage from the various hidden cameras and handing me the datastick. "But it won't be a problem."
"I trust that you have a plan." Obi-Wan nodded. "But I'd still like to know some details now."
I shrugged.
"Fair enough." I said, pulling out my communicator and sifting through the very few contacts I had on it for a number I wouldn't usually call.
It rang three times.
It usually did. I'm sure she hesitated as much as I did.
"Hebert." I heard after a moment.
"Alexandria." I nodded.
"If you need something, I'll be on Coruscant again in about three hours." She finally said.
"I wasn't aware you'd gone back to Mandalore." I noted, almost thinking aloud. Three hours was inconvenient, but hardly a big deal.
"I'd be surprised if you heard that, yes."
Secretive about something… something I needed to worry about? Some scheme of hers?
I narrowed my eyes, thoughts churning as I tried to figure what she could be hiding with one thought process even as the other reminded me that playing nice and asking her was preferable to exploiting Karla for her power before she even knew what it really was.
"Now, what did you need?" The woman asked, seemingly as suspicious as I was.
That was fine too… I doubted we'd ever like each other.
Using each other though; that had always been on the table.
"Something that might give us a leg up in the war… if you can get an accurate read."
I heard her snort, I'm sure the bait was obvious.
"My office, seven thirty standard."
She hung up.
Good enough.
(X)(X)(X)
My thanks go out to Alaya's Ghost and Tzardok for providing the math equations for this chapter.
Next chapter we have a bit of a treat with seeing some of Karla's combat application with her new abilities and you all FINALLY get to discover where the next big battle is going to take place.
As usual there are three chapters available right now on Patreon and in those 3 chapters 106 specifically we've made it to the 'Final numbers' of the available Fleet compositions for both sides. Things are gonna be picking up very Very fast and by 108 I estimate is when Fecal matter will hit the Rapidly spinning ventialtion system.
-Its gonna be *big*
Dennis:
When the ship ramp opened he felt the genuine, heartfelt smile tug at his lips, seeing Miss M there, waiting for him.
It was… it was nice…
"Hey, Miss M." He said as the whining of the engines began to die down, stepping off the ramp only to be enveloped in a hug.
He hugged her back, enjoying the welcome for however long or short it was before she pulled away, looking him over with a concerned eye.
"It's ok." He reassured, smiling toothily even as he tried to make his voice sincere. "We're all ok, we all came back."
Hannah took a deep breath through her nose, the look in her eyes remaining completely serious.
"I sent you on that mission and four people died! You could've been one of them!" She shot back. "So I'll worry as much as I damn well please!"
Dennis winced, feeling the sliver of guilt coiling through his chest. He could only imagine how she and Satine received the news that four of the royal guard were dead. Aras was a royal guard himself, and it was a very clear, stark reminder that her husband was now a part of the army and that just because Vicky was his CO didn't guarantee his safety.
"Sorry." He said, a bit less glib, a bit more real this time in a way she could see.
She looked at him for a second longer, then sighed and nodded, turning her eyes up to the ship. "Ventress and Rugess?"
"You know Rugg" He nodded. "He likes to double check everything before he leaves… and Ventress..." He trailed off, looking behind him for a second before he leaned closer to whisper his words.
Hannah caught on, tilting her head to offer her ear.
"She had a bit of a close call." He said. "Think it shook her more than she'll admit."
Normally he respected secrets, but…
"I'm not sure how to help…" He chewed on his next words. "Back on Earth… did you ever… you know, have a friend in a similar boat?"
Hannah remained still for a second, thinking, then she nodded. "I'll talk to her. Don't worry," She preempted his protest. "I heard it from the royal guards and Master Fay's report, not you." She promised.
Dennis smiled. "You're the best."
Hannah finally found it in herself to smile back. "You dropped Vicky off on Coruscant… you… well…"
Ahh.
"I'm happy to say, yes, I did check on your big ol' love muffin, Miss M. Hubby is doing just fine, even making friends with all the other kids!" She rolled her eyes at his tone but he could see how relieved she was. "Hell, he was pleased as a pickle that we brought him a present… Well… Vicky did."
Hannah raised an eyebrow. "Should I be worried?"
Dennis shrugged. "If he can find a way to lift it, it's everyone else who's gonna have a fucking problem."
The hero turned Mando now looked incredulous. "If he can lift- Are we talking about my husband?" She asked, as if to say: 'Of course he can lift it.'
And while her confidence wouldn't have been misplaced in any other circumstance, unless Aras was hiding about half a ton of power armored suit somewhere, he highly doubted the man would manage.
Aras:
"Is this what it's like on Life Days, sir?" One of the men asked. That one had yet to earn his name, but he was competent enough. One of the nineteen he'd flagged as worthy of the beskar Dallon had brought them as spoils of her victory.
It fit the boy well enough.
His fellows cheered, laughing, pleased and proud beyond measure to be wearing true Mandalorian steel.
Firsts among equals, as far as their fellow clones were concerned.
Aras let them have their joy, their moment of elation. Battles would come soon enough to rob them of it.
The most senior of them, one who'd earned the name Slipstream, for his skill in following Dallon in the skies as her shadow during the battle of Ilum, looked towards Aras. "What about you, sir? What are you going to do with your Life Day present from the General?"
Aras answered with a voice that was as dry as the wastes of Mandalore. It was a stupid question.
"I will wield it." He said.
The boy looked incredulous.
"No offense, sir, but I think even the Commander might have a tough time using it. If only for how unwieldy and big it is."
"Maybe he'll mount it on a speeder." One of the others shrugged.
Aras did not sigh or roll his eyes, reminding himself they'd only had a short ten years of life.
"If it is too big to wield-" He said. "-what's the natural solution?" He asked half rhetorically, as he made his way over towards the box the clones had been too busy examining their own gifts to notice.
They hesitated, no doubt wary of looking foolish.
"Ummm… Make it smalle-"
He reached down, snapping open the locks on the crate.
It fell open, revealing that what had once been the massive head of the beskar forged glaive, was now reshaped as a monstrously large, curved greatsword.
Too large for most men to wield.
But he was not 'most men'.
"Correct." He said, reaching for the newly forged handle, fighting down his own smile as he appreciated Dallon's very welcome gift.
He always did enjoy Life Day.
—
Pors Tonith:
Life as a prisoner was a dull affair.
He was woken up and fed every morning. Allowed some recreational and exercise time in a cordoned off section of the ship. Overseen every day by clone officers. His room was checked frequently for everything that could be used to do… much of anything, be it harming his wardens or, more likely, himself.
He'd heard the Jedi did not harm or torture prisoners, but perhaps that'd been a bit of propaganda on their end.
Strictly speaking, merely leaving a prisoner in his cell was not torture. He was not in absolute solitary confinement, though it perhaps felt like it at times.
Nor was serving them ship available rations a method of torture recognized on most worlds.
But after several… days? Weeks? It felt like weeks of this mind numbing, unbroken, unchanging routine… Pors could see an argument could be made for such.
Dataslates were not allowed, too much risk of him using one for any number of things. Holonet activity was similarly not permitted.
That part didn't surprise him, really. They would not wish him to access information regarding the war or somehow perhaps send a communique.
But it did make for mind numbingly boring days.
"Assuming y equals 500 times the result of x squared minus x itself. To invert the equation I'd need to divide both sides by 500, before completing the square by adding 0.25 on both sides. Afterwards, I'll apply the binomial formula on the x side to transform it into the square of x minus 0.5. Finally, I extract the root and add 0.5 on both sides, arriving at the inverted equation of x equals 0.5 added to the square root of y divided by 500 plus 0.25."
As such.´, math had become his pastime.
Sometimes difficult. Sometimes easy. But they broke the tedium.
And kept his skills sharp. Necessary skills considering who had captured him, and what he was likely to contend with soon enough.
Still, this day he did not get any indication that things would change…
So he was somewhat surprised, pleasantly so mind you, when they did.
—
The clones led him through the ship, his hands in cuffs. Two clones stood behind him, two in front, more than an arm's length distance, even for his considerably longer arms.
He would say it was a tad paranoid. Even if he were to… somehow overpower the comparably stronger human species soldiers in straight hand-to-hand combat… there were very slim odds of actually making it anywhere remotely close to an escape on this ship. Not to mention that he had no idea where in space they currently were. It could be in the middle of the Republic Fleet's largest staging grounds.
Even so, paranoid or not, the clones did lead him to his destination. A small conference room, it seemed.
There was a bare metal table, roughly octagonal in shape, a holoplinth in its center.
And someone waiting for him.
General Kenobi sat on one of the available seats, one leg crossed over the other, fingers interlaced over his stomach.
"Ahh." The Negotiator smiled. "Admiral Pors, a pleasure to see you again."
"General Kenobi." The Muun smiled even as he began the prepared… countermeasures.
"Let the biquadrate of the product of x and 4 be equal to the square of y. Also let the biquadrate of x be equal to the square root of the product of y and 256-"
"Please." Obi-Wan gestured. "Have a seat."
Pors bowed ever so slightly in 'gratitude' and stepped forward, his long legs swallowing the distance before he took the offered seat that was much too small for his long limbed and tall species.
Obi-Wan slid a cup of what looked like tea, still steaming with heat.
Pors took it, eying the drink warily.
"I assure you, it's not poisoned. " The man's voice was droll, but pleasant sounding enough. Pors looked at the General famously known throughout the galaxy as 'The Negotiator' and raised a brow ridge.
"Considering that I am your prisoner, General Kenobi, poisoning my tea would be a rather needlessly complicated way of delivering my execution." He noted drily.
The man smiled, a hint of teeth showing past the lips and beard. "Well, you have been staring at it for quite a long time." He answered. "A man might begin to think there's no trust between us commanders at all."
"In the first equation, taking square roots on both sides, the square of the product of x with 4 would be equal to y."
Pors allowed himself a smile.
"It's not your potential execution method that concerns me, General." Pors laughed, taking hold of the cheap styrofoam cup placed on the table between them. "Rather your… ability to provide something that can be qualified as tea at all."
"You wound me, Admiral Tonith." The Negotiator sighed, as Pors took the first sip of the provided tea.
Sapir. A classic. But barely more than tepid water with the way it was made here.
The Jedi General leaned back in his seat, allowing Pors the moment to drink and place the cup back on the metal table. "I suppose you know why I'm here?" He said, breaking the silence.
Pors nodded. "That's academic." The Muun answered drily. "Though I will say, it was in poor form leaving me in a cell for so long before initiating this conversation. I didn't think Jedi were as… crass as all that."
"Or in other words, y would be equal to 16 times the square of x."
"Truthfully, an emergency required the attention of many Jedi Masters." Kenobi answered. "Myself included."
That piqued Pors curiosity. "Oh?" None of his subordinates or colleagues had anything that could have altered the predicted course of events so much as to necessitate the attention of many Jedi Masters.
At least not that he knew of.
"Putting this value of y in the second equation, we have the biquadrate of x being equal to the square root of the product between 16, 256 and the square of x."
"Nothing related to the war that's proceeding well within expected parameters."
That made him smile. "Which is to say, you're losing. And that leads you inexorably… to me."
The Jedi did not deny it, sighing instead. "I'm more than aware that someone of your intellect has… run the numbers," Pors let his smirk grow just a bit. "And I'm sure someone of your intellect realizes that long term, this will only end one way if you don't cooperate."
Pointedly, Pors took another sip of his tea. "Threats already, General Kenobi?"
Obi-Wan shrugged. "Frankly I have neither the time nor the patience to try and dance around with what we both know is happening here. I've been sent as the velvet glove. There is a very large, very heavy iron fist beneath it that few would probably wish to get acquainted with, and even fewer aren't willing to hit you with as hard as they feasibly can. "
"I believe you Jedi are quite famous for not harming your prisoners." Pors noted easily.
"Hence the biquadrate of x would be equal to the product of x with the square root of 4096. By dividing both sides with x, the cube of x would be equal to the square root of 4096."
"Jedi, yes." Kenobi nodded easily. "The Republic behind us… less so.
"The corrupt sack of bloated political creatures and idealistic fools." Pors laughed at the absurdity. "That is your threat, Kenobi? I expected better from you, honestly."
The Negotiator's own smile didn't so much as twitch on his face, looking at Poors with a man carrying utter confidence.
"Hence, the biquadrate of x would be equal to the product of x with the square root of 4096. By dividing both sides with x, the cube of x would be equal to the square root of 4096."
"As I said," Obi-Wan continued. "I'm simply here as the velvet glove. The kind offer. The one made before anything unpleasant needs to happen.
"Therefore, the cube of x is equal to 64. In other words, the value of x must be 4. If that is the case, then from the third equation the value of y must be 16 times the square of 4. Hence the value of y is 16 times 16 or 256-"
"Hence x is 4 and y is 256." The human said suddenly.
Pors could feel his body go utterly still, stiffening in something that was not quite dread, yet not far removed from it either.
He stared at the unassuming General.
Kenobi stared back, the glint in his eyes not smug… predatory.
"So… it is true…" Pors nodded. "Jedi can read thoughts."
Obi-Wan's smile grew just a bit, almost mocking in its veneer. "You were being rudely loud with them." He commented glibly.
"That is the general idea." Pors answered. It was an old trick, written in the histories of the ancient conflicts.
Jedi could read minds.
Thus, fill your mind with useless thoughts.
Math was always useful, but the point stood.
The Jedi General reached for the small folder that had been resting beside his hand.
Opening it, Pors saw several pictures of star charts.
Kenobi took a moment as his hand passed over the images, hesitating before he grabbed the first.
"If I walk out this door, its likely the last time we'll ever speak before the less pleasant means of discovering the necessary information replace me at this table. So, I will simply show you some simple, galactic map coordinates. You need not say a word. Merely look at the pictures."
Pors did not speak.
Kenobi pulled up the first image, looking Pors in the eye as he did. "Also, no, it isn't quite considered torture if I need to order my men to force your eyes open. So let's avoid that… petty unpleasantness."
—
Taylor:
When the door to the security room opened after a handful of minutes, I wasn't surprised to find that Obi-Wan was staring at me with a look that was perhaps demanding, in a way. It was a look he often gave to Anakin.
It said 'Alright, I've followed through with your bad idea so there'd better be a payoff now'.
Following said look, came his voice. "I will remind you again that if this idea of yours doesn't work, you've deprived us of a significant advantage. Even if we bring in Karla now, the initial surprise or concern she might read to more accurately determine what worlds are vital to the Separatists might not be there with him having advance warning."
"I'm aware." I nodded quietly, thanking the clone who finished uploading the security footage from the various hidden cameras and handing me the datastick. "But it won't be a problem."
"I trust that you have a plan." Obi-Wan nodded. "But I'd still like to know some details now."
I shrugged.
"Fair enough." I said, pulling out my communicator and sifting through the very few contacts I had on it for a number I wouldn't usually call.
It rang three times.
It usually did. I'm sure she hesitated as much as I did.
"Hebert." I heard after a moment.
"Alexandria." I nodded.
"If you need something, I'll be on Coruscant again in about three hours." She finally said.
"I wasn't aware you'd gone back to Mandalore." I noted, almost thinking aloud. Three hours was inconvenient, but hardly a big deal.
"I'd be surprised if you heard that, yes."
Secretive about something… something I needed to worry about? Some scheme of hers?
I narrowed my eyes, thoughts churning as I tried to figure what she could be hiding with one thought process even as the other reminded me that playing nice and asking her was preferable to exploiting Karla for her power before she even knew what it really was.
"Now, what did you need?" The woman asked, seemingly as suspicious as I was.
That was fine too… I doubted we'd ever like each other.
Using each other though; that had always been on the table.
"Something that might give us a leg up in the war… if you can get an accurate read."
I heard her snort, I'm sure the bait was obvious.
"My office, seven thirty standard."
She hung up.
Good enough.
(X)(X)(X)
My thanks go out to Alaya's Ghost and Tzardok for providing the math equations for this chapter.
Next chapter we have a bit of a treat with seeing some of Karla's combat application with her new abilities and you all FINALLY get to discover where the next big battle is going to take place.
As usual there are three chapters available right now on Patreon and in those 3 chapters 106 specifically we've made it to the 'Final numbers' of the available Fleet compositions for both sides. Things are gonna be picking up very Very fast and by 108 I estimate is when Fecal matter will hit the Rapidly spinning ventialtion system.
-Its gonna be *big*
Icipall
Don't worry, we can fanfix that!
- Location
- Cold snow fields of Finland
I mean, it is no Narsil reforged into Anduril, but it will do.
Boredom!
FTFY
Ah, so that's how they're going to do it.
Taylor - You may not traumatize my innocent empath.
Obi-won - Do you have an alternative?
Taylor - Here, use this non-innocent one.
Obi-won - Do you have an alternative?
Taylor - Here, use this non-innocent one.
Last edited:
Chapter 104
LD1449
To the last; Kill them all
- Location
- The other side of the labyrinth.
Chapter 104:
Taylor:
By the time I was done with most of my tasks and double checking the footage I'd gotten from the 212th and Obi-Wan, I still had about an hour before I was set to meet with Alexandria.
The Coruscanti sun was beginning to go down, but it wasn't quite 'bed time' for most of the Masters in the Temple yet.
Which means I had time to arrange a last minute… thing
"Thank you for agreeing to help." I said, allowing my gratitude to leak out through the Force, even if my voice and expression were as placid as ever.
"I'm more than happy to." Master Drallig nodded with an easy smile on his features. For all his title of Battlemaster sounded fierce and stern and imposing, I'd generally say the man was probably one of the kinder, more personable Masters I knew in the Order. Probably because we interacted together more than most given my duties as Crechemaster.
Right now, Cin walked by my side. Some of the other Jedi couldn't quite hide their surprise at seeing us together while others offered the Battlemaster and myself respectful and polite nods, even as the man spoke.
"I am curious, however," He began. "We did have the practice seminar that Master Dallon assisted me with earlier. Why did you not ask for my help before that?"
"Honestly, everything is happening all at once." I answered simply, refraining from mentioning that, unlike us, he was still tucked away in this nice, insulated, safe temple. Not on the battlegrounds and all the complications that came with it. "I hadn't thought of it until now. I actually asked Vicky before, but realized you'd be a better pick."
"Oh?" Cin raised an eyebrow. "I do believe Master Dallon is more powerful than I at this point." He admitted easily.
I could appreciate a man who didn't have an overinflated ego.
More Defiant and less Armsmaster.
"Not looking for power." I clarified. "Looking for skill."
He made an acknowledging, considering sound, seemingly thinking on the words for a moment before offering an understanding nod.
Vicky was widely considered, and rightly so in my absolutely unbiased and objective opinion, one of the most powerful Jedi in the galaxy right now.
But that strength was coming partly by leveraging two distinct strengths in tandem, her passenger and the Force itself.
The Sith, unless something had dramatically changed, didn't have that.
So taking Fragile One out of the equation, Vicky was still strong…
But there were a lot of others who were just better.
Cin was one of those.
Someone I could feasibly see being on the level of the threats we were fighting. Jorus, Komari and the shadowy 'Master'.
So he would be the perfect measuring stick.
And he was a better teacher than most. Better than me in some respects.
So, in short, he was perfect for my current needs.
"What exactly are you hoping to find through my… skill?" He asked after a moment's quiet, giving into his curiosity.
"How much have you heard about the recent developments with Karla?" I asked. Best to know how much I would have to explain.
"Hmm, not much." He admitted. "I've heard that she has developed abilities in a similar vein to your own. Sensing her earlier, I did note her signature had become far more like yours and Dallon's but hardly wished to pry. Word would get around eventually."
I nodded. "Fair enough. To satisfy your curiosity, Karla has developed what we'd call a Thinker ability back home. More specifically, empath. She's hyper accurate on reading people's emotions. Much more so than what Jedi normally are and…" Here came the problematic part. "As a side benefit, so to speak, she can control her own emotional spectrum to an almost unheard of degree."
He looked confused, taking a second to fully grasp the implications before his brow furrowed. "I'm… not entirely sure I understand."
I could see on his face that he understood perfectly. He was just hoping he was wrong.
I shook my head. "Any emotion: anxiety, nervousness, fear, anger, she can turn it on, or off, near instantly. Just like you and I flick on lights in a hallway."
"And other things? Calm? Joy? Pride?"
"Everything."
The man looked troubled. "That's…"
"A potential issue, I'm aware." I cut him off, sighing as I rubbed a spot on my head. "Master Vushan has already agreed to research every Jedi and species that's ever had unique emotional developments and needs that he can find in the archive. Other Council members will be keeping an eye on her and I will be too. You're probably not going to say anything that hasn't run through my head already."
The Battlemaster eyed me for a moment before nodding. "I understand." He answered cautiously after a second. "But I'm not seeing the connection with my services."
Well, it's… simple." I shrugged. "I want to see if her emotional control can have the applicability I suspect as a combat thinker.
—
A few minutes later, after taking the time to reassure the Battlemaster that 'No, I don't intend to have my Padawan become a raging berserker for a test,' we found ourselves in the communal eating area.
It wasn't quite a mess hall, of course. More like a lounge, or an assortment of loosely spread out tables you'd find in one of those upper end cafes or college campuses.
At this hour the place was quite full, or at least as close to full as it could get these days with so many Jedi off-world across a hundred thousand battlefronts.
Some of my old students caught sight of me and Master Drallig, now Padawans in their own right, and it took me a few moments to say hello to all of the ones who eagerly ran up to me before continuing on.
When I finally reached my intended targets I… found myself blinking.
"That is way too much sugar!" I said.
Vicky paused, a spoonful of blue milk based ice cream stuffed into her gob; just one tiny, infinitesimal fraction of the mountain of blue confectionery of cream, sprinkles, chocolate, bananas and syrup dominating the middle of the table like a giant centerpiece.
"It's for the children." She mumbled, with the spoon still stuffed there. "They deserve it."
"Iskt is cold blooded and would probably have preferred a hot chocolate." I deadpanned.
Iskt nodded, getting a couple of hasty slaps to his shoulder for his honesty.
I caught the little troll's needle tooth smirk on the side of his face that I could see. "No, Miss Taylor, I'm not gonna go into hypothermia because of a little ice cream." He said before stuffing a rather large spoonful into his own mouth with deliberate, languid slowness, mimicking the lethargy he would be experiencing in that state if it were happening.
"You are so grounded," Vicky hissed into his ear.
"It was all her idea!" Anakin said with his mouth full, Ahsoka cradling her face in her hands with a helpless groan of 'Master'.
"Let me guess." I drawled, crossing my arms. "You two idiots challenged each other to something like who could eat the most ice cream?"
"No!" Vicky protested.
Karla raised her hand.
I looked at her.
"It was to see who wouldn't get brain freeze." Karla 'helped', her little legs swinging back and forth as they dangled from her chair.
I looked at Vicky.
She looked back.
Then she smiled. "I'm winning by the way!"
"As if!"
I opened my mouth, ready to say something when Vicky took the readily available out standing right next to me.
"Oh, hey, Master Drallig!" She waved. "You want some? It's really good!"
"I'm sure it is." The man answered with a somewhat bemused chuckle. "But I think I was brought here for something a tad bit less… delicious." He finished diplomatically.
"Oh!" Vicky perked up. "What're we doing?"
"You remember how we discussed some of Karla's potential combat thinker applications?" I explained with shorthand. Vicky nodded, following easily. "Master Drallig agreed to help test things."
My blonde partner grinned, offering a thumbs up. "Nice! Always knew I liked you, Master Cin! I mean that this time."
"You mean you didn't mean it all the other times?" Iskt asked 'innocently' as Vicky gave him a stink eye, Anakin guffawed and Ahsoka choked on a mouthful of ice cream.
"You're a terrible influence, Skywalker!"
As Anakin and Vicky argued, my eyes trailed towards Karla, finding her eyes almost darting between the four at the table, wide and… enraptured, the smile growing bit by bit on her face.
I reached out with an ethereal hand, brushing her thoughts as subtly as I could.
My eyes trailed towards Vicky, who met my gaze for a split second midargument, offering me a blink and you miss it wink before she went back to her bickering.
I fought down my own smile, reminded one more time as to who exactly I was dating…
—
I couldn't stay for Cin's test with Karla, but I did tell Vicky where exactly I was going, which made her worry a bit. It was no secret that I'd rarely allowed myself to be alone anywhere with Alexandria. There was always some kind of buffer between us. Witnesses were useful for both our sakes.
But I didn't want to leave Karla alone, either.
So, Vicky stayed.
It'd be fine.
I could handle one conversation.
The speeder ride to the Senate rotunda was somehow too long and too short all at once, the massive, dome-like structure looming in the distance. An impossibility of architecture.
I'd heard somewhere, maybe in the archives, maybe from a tour guide, that the dome was so large that droids were needed to regulate the temperatures and accumulated humidity.
Otherwise the top of the dome might develop its own, pseudo weather system.
Ships flew to and from the gargantuan structure, giving the impression of a giant, oversized beehive on an impossibly large scale.
It was massive, bloated, entirely ostentatious and impossible to manage.
It represented the Republic perfectly.
Soon enough, the speeder made its way towards the designated docking ramp. Section C-22FC. I knew where Alexandria's office was, and being this close, I could see through my bugs that the woman was already in her office doing her equivalent of paperwork.
Good. She wasn't pettily trying to pull the cheap power move of making me wait.
Bellhops greeted me, and asked me if I needed directions towards the senator's office or if I needed an escort. My robes marked me as a Jedi, which gave me free access for the most part.
It was genuinely mind boggling how absurdly lacking security was here.
I remember commenting on it once. I think the senator from Alderaan told me that the Senate was meant to represent people, not exclude them, or some pithy naivete.
More likely than not it was just easier for criminals to make their way inside if they just donned the right disguise for discretion on who their clients were.
I put it out of my mind.
The Senate, and its entirely corrupt processes, wasn't my problem to deal with.
I made my way through the halls quietly, most people barely doing more than giving me the odd doubletake. Jedi weren't unknown, but they were still uncommon within the halls of the Senate.
Making it to Alexandria's office, the receptionist was an alien girl, Mirialan with long hair and olive green skin.
"Hello." She said pleasantly. "Are you…" She looked down at her datapad. "Jedi Master Hebert?"
I nodded. "I am."
"That's good, the Senator just arrived and is expecting you." The young woman smiled.
Personally, I don't think she suited the atmosphere of Alexandria's office at all.
Then again… maybe the woman hired her specifically for said contrast.
Marching towards the door, it whooshed into the wall and I found the flying Brute sitting at her desk, paperwork and pen in hand as she turned her eyes up, away from the document and towards me.
"Alexandria." I greeted
"Hebert." She gestured for me to take a seat.
Walking across the office, I appreciated the decor. Dark grain hardwood floors and black leather seats with a handful of art pieces that didn't look like someone twisted up a piece of Laffy Taffy and decided to call it sophisticated.
She waited until I took a seat before she continued, eyes fixated on me. "It's not your usual choice to contact me directly." She said in lieu of the actual question.
"No, it isn't." I admitted, no use pretending otherwise.
Pulling free the datastick, I saw her raise a slender eyebrow in askance as I floated the device over to her, letting her fingers pluck it out of the air.
"There's footage on it." I explained. "Of an interview with a Muun Separatist Admiral. We're trying to discover where their primary staging ground or manufacturing plant is."
"And you were hoping my skills could be used to read him." She deduced.
I nodded
Alexandria looked thoughtful for a moment, twirling the datastick between her fingers.
Then, something seemed to click in her mind, her free hand moving towards a panel on her desk.
Soon, I was hearing the chime of a call being made.
"Who are you contacting?" I asked, my curiosity getting the better of me.
"Cook."
Dennis?
"Why?" The question was born out of genuine confusion. Dennis got along with Alexandria even less than I did.
"He undertook a mission where he acquired some information on potential bases recently, if you'll recall."
"Yeah, with Vicky." I nodded. "But that was a Death Watch raid, not necessarily Separatist, and he didn't share any of the information with the Council."
"Ever since losing the Vista, Cook does not trust Coruscant channels, and the Council's information security even less so. Likely, he handed off the information to the Mandalorian Royal Guard, trusting that if it was relevant, they would inform the Republic and thus, the Council, leaving ties to him rather distant in the grand scheme of things." She explained.
Made sense. If I'd have been nearly blown up on a top secret transport mission, I'd be pretty paranoid about trusting information to the Council too.
Alexandria continued, still patiently waiting for the call to go through. "Death Watch is working with the Separatists. If Cook's information lines up with what I might find here… well…" She shrugged. "Safe to say you've found their base."
Fair enough, I suppose.
The call went through.
I was a bit surprised he even picked up.
I saw the holo flicker for a second, and was greeted by the sight of a bleary eyed Dennis blinking away the sleep before he finally registered the two people on the other side of his screen.
"Ahh, fuck." He groaned.
—
Vicky:
The clash and crackle of lightsabers sent lights dancing across the room. The exchange was quick, like an actual fight, not a practice round. Cin's green saber moved with expert, fluid precision, dominating the space with the Makashi form to Karla's hybridized Djem So.
Even so, the girl's attacks were relentless, unceasing, and Vicky genuinely thought she almost had it for a second or two before Cin expertly disarmed her with barely a twirl of his wrist, his saber, set to stun, striking at the young woman's hand twice in quick succession during a split second opening.
"Well done." The Battlemaster smiled, reaching with the Force to catch the blade mid-fall before returning it to the young Twi'lek, who rubbed the sting out of her arm and wrist.
Vicky smiled, patting Ahsoka and Iskt on their backs. "Ok, you two, you're up." She urged, pushing them towards the practice ring, Anakin and her sharing a discreet nod as Skywalker took the moment to offer a balm for Karla's stinging wrist, distracting the girl as Cin made his way closer to Vicky.
"Well?" She said as quietly as she could. "What'd ya think?"
The Battlemaster took a deep breath, almost visibly recomposing himself to her eye. "It was… disorienting."
"So she can screw with Force users during a fight." Vicky found a smirk tugging at her lip, almost smug at the little fact. "Ohhh, we're gonna have some fun testing that.
Cin nodded. "Indeed. My skill, speed, strength, experience… they're all vastly superior to hers but I was finding myself almost overwhelmed by the perceived speed and suddenness of her attacks."
"Perceived." Vicky squinted at him. "That's a deliberate choice of word."
"Because it is." Cin admitted. "She's not faster today than she was yesterday, but I can't sense her. It's almost like fighting a droid, even though I can sense the Force in her. It's extremely disorienting. My mind is searching for the warning in her intent and emotions, only to suddenly find the blade halfway towards me with nothing in the way of warning."
Vicky nodded. It almost sounded like what Komari had pulled on her on Nar Shaddaa to get that sneak attack in. Only it was working even when looking straight at Karla.
"Even more than that-" He sighed. "-the disorientation is exacerbated manyfold when I begin winning the bout."
She did not blink stupidly, no matter what anyone said. "Huh?"
"Think about it." He explained. "I cannot sense her anxiety, her nervousness, the thrum of surprise when I strike somewhere unexpected, or the thrill of momentary fear when she's on the back foot. She is utterly calm. I can sense nothing, so while in my mind I know I'm winning, looking and seeing her mind-"
"Makes you feel like she's the one in control." Vicky's eyes went a little wide. "That's… pretty huge actually." More than once she herself took her cues from the emotional reads she got on her opponents. And when she had to force that, her fear aura made the openings for her.
Karla just completely shutting down that aspect of a fight, the turning of momentum…
Yeah… yeah that was really big.
Her inner cape geek, long having been dormant, sparked to life, and she couldn't contain her giddiness at the thought that they were only just scratching the surface.
"Why are you smiling like that?"
"No I'm not!"
Cin sighed, rubbing at his forehead.
Then his holo chimed.
She heard Anakin's holo do the same.
Then her own, vibrating at her hip.
The giddiness left, and all three of them shared an immediate look before scrambling to check their messages.
"What's going on?" Ahsoka called, her bout with Iskt put on immediate hold.
Anakin answered first.
"The Council is calling in all Knights and Masters." He answered grimly. "They've finally discovered a major Separatist base and manufacturing plant."
"Where?" Iskt called, staring straight at her.
Vicky shrugged. She had no reason to hide it.
"Geonosis."
(X)(X)(X)
Alright! Here you all finally got to see a *glimpse* of Karla's future potential as a Combat Thinker, particularly against Force users
Anyway; not gonna lie; the chapter I was working on right now (107) came together *ridiculously* quickly. It was mainly crossing T's and Dotting I's. The last "pieces" falling into place for the big battle of... well... Geonosis
But I can't promise I'm gonna get *the next* chapter (108) Done anywhere NEAR as fast.
Because Geonosis is, beyond a shadow of a doubt the largest "single" battle I've ever written, and so the chapters for it are going to need to be suitably "large" in word count in order to encompass *all* of it consisely.
I want the battle to be "wrapped up" in about 4 chapters. 5 tops.
That means we're going to need much *beefier* chapters than the average length I normally go for.
So depending on inspiration/how quickly things come together without the need for rewrites and revisions it might take me a while to finish up these chapters.
So you're probably not gonna see another ridiculously fast update like THIS one and instead it will probably take me the full 7-10 days to get each of the subsequent chapters done, until the battle is concluded.
You'll all get a much greater sense of 'scale' next chapter (105). But I'm not joking when I say its got the most moving parts of any single war/battle I've ever done, dwarfing Corellia and Illum both.
For those of you interested you can join us on Patreon for just $1.00 per month and get immediate access to all the available chapters and be the first to see the Battle of Geonosis next update as it opens up.
Grab your popcorn everybody!
Taylor:
By the time I was done with most of my tasks and double checking the footage I'd gotten from the 212th and Obi-Wan, I still had about an hour before I was set to meet with Alexandria.
The Coruscanti sun was beginning to go down, but it wasn't quite 'bed time' for most of the Masters in the Temple yet.
Which means I had time to arrange a last minute… thing
"Thank you for agreeing to help." I said, allowing my gratitude to leak out through the Force, even if my voice and expression were as placid as ever.
"I'm more than happy to." Master Drallig nodded with an easy smile on his features. For all his title of Battlemaster sounded fierce and stern and imposing, I'd generally say the man was probably one of the kinder, more personable Masters I knew in the Order. Probably because we interacted together more than most given my duties as Crechemaster.
Right now, Cin walked by my side. Some of the other Jedi couldn't quite hide their surprise at seeing us together while others offered the Battlemaster and myself respectful and polite nods, even as the man spoke.
"I am curious, however," He began. "We did have the practice seminar that Master Dallon assisted me with earlier. Why did you not ask for my help before that?"
"Honestly, everything is happening all at once." I answered simply, refraining from mentioning that, unlike us, he was still tucked away in this nice, insulated, safe temple. Not on the battlegrounds and all the complications that came with it. "I hadn't thought of it until now. I actually asked Vicky before, but realized you'd be a better pick."
"Oh?" Cin raised an eyebrow. "I do believe Master Dallon is more powerful than I at this point." He admitted easily.
I could appreciate a man who didn't have an overinflated ego.
More Defiant and less Armsmaster.
"Not looking for power." I clarified. "Looking for skill."
He made an acknowledging, considering sound, seemingly thinking on the words for a moment before offering an understanding nod.
Vicky was widely considered, and rightly so in my absolutely unbiased and objective opinion, one of the most powerful Jedi in the galaxy right now.
But that strength was coming partly by leveraging two distinct strengths in tandem, her passenger and the Force itself.
The Sith, unless something had dramatically changed, didn't have that.
So taking Fragile One out of the equation, Vicky was still strong…
But there were a lot of others who were just better.
Cin was one of those.
Someone I could feasibly see being on the level of the threats we were fighting. Jorus, Komari and the shadowy 'Master'.
So he would be the perfect measuring stick.
And he was a better teacher than most. Better than me in some respects.
So, in short, he was perfect for my current needs.
"What exactly are you hoping to find through my… skill?" He asked after a moment's quiet, giving into his curiosity.
"How much have you heard about the recent developments with Karla?" I asked. Best to know how much I would have to explain.
"Hmm, not much." He admitted. "I've heard that she has developed abilities in a similar vein to your own. Sensing her earlier, I did note her signature had become far more like yours and Dallon's but hardly wished to pry. Word would get around eventually."
I nodded. "Fair enough. To satisfy your curiosity, Karla has developed what we'd call a Thinker ability back home. More specifically, empath. She's hyper accurate on reading people's emotions. Much more so than what Jedi normally are and…" Here came the problematic part. "As a side benefit, so to speak, she can control her own emotional spectrum to an almost unheard of degree."
He looked confused, taking a second to fully grasp the implications before his brow furrowed. "I'm… not entirely sure I understand."
I could see on his face that he understood perfectly. He was just hoping he was wrong.
I shook my head. "Any emotion: anxiety, nervousness, fear, anger, she can turn it on, or off, near instantly. Just like you and I flick on lights in a hallway."
"And other things? Calm? Joy? Pride?"
"Everything."
The man looked troubled. "That's…"
"A potential issue, I'm aware." I cut him off, sighing as I rubbed a spot on my head. "Master Vushan has already agreed to research every Jedi and species that's ever had unique emotional developments and needs that he can find in the archive. Other Council members will be keeping an eye on her and I will be too. You're probably not going to say anything that hasn't run through my head already."
The Battlemaster eyed me for a moment before nodding. "I understand." He answered cautiously after a second. "But I'm not seeing the connection with my services."
Well, it's… simple." I shrugged. "I want to see if her emotional control can have the applicability I suspect as a combat thinker.
—
A few minutes later, after taking the time to reassure the Battlemaster that 'No, I don't intend to have my Padawan become a raging berserker for a test,' we found ourselves in the communal eating area.
It wasn't quite a mess hall, of course. More like a lounge, or an assortment of loosely spread out tables you'd find in one of those upper end cafes or college campuses.
At this hour the place was quite full, or at least as close to full as it could get these days with so many Jedi off-world across a hundred thousand battlefronts.
Some of my old students caught sight of me and Master Drallig, now Padawans in their own right, and it took me a few moments to say hello to all of the ones who eagerly ran up to me before continuing on.
When I finally reached my intended targets I… found myself blinking.
"That is way too much sugar!" I said.
Vicky paused, a spoonful of blue milk based ice cream stuffed into her gob; just one tiny, infinitesimal fraction of the mountain of blue confectionery of cream, sprinkles, chocolate, bananas and syrup dominating the middle of the table like a giant centerpiece.
"It's for the children." She mumbled, with the spoon still stuffed there. "They deserve it."
"Iskt is cold blooded and would probably have preferred a hot chocolate." I deadpanned.
Iskt nodded, getting a couple of hasty slaps to his shoulder for his honesty.
I caught the little troll's needle tooth smirk on the side of his face that I could see. "No, Miss Taylor, I'm not gonna go into hypothermia because of a little ice cream." He said before stuffing a rather large spoonful into his own mouth with deliberate, languid slowness, mimicking the lethargy he would be experiencing in that state if it were happening.
"You are so grounded," Vicky hissed into his ear.
"It was all her idea!" Anakin said with his mouth full, Ahsoka cradling her face in her hands with a helpless groan of 'Master'.
"Let me guess." I drawled, crossing my arms. "You two idiots challenged each other to something like who could eat the most ice cream?"
"No!" Vicky protested.
Karla raised her hand.
I looked at her.
"It was to see who wouldn't get brain freeze." Karla 'helped', her little legs swinging back and forth as they dangled from her chair.
I looked at Vicky.
She looked back.
Then she smiled. "I'm winning by the way!"
"As if!"
I opened my mouth, ready to say something when Vicky took the readily available out standing right next to me.
"Oh, hey, Master Drallig!" She waved. "You want some? It's really good!"
"I'm sure it is." The man answered with a somewhat bemused chuckle. "But I think I was brought here for something a tad bit less… delicious." He finished diplomatically.
"Oh!" Vicky perked up. "What're we doing?"
"You remember how we discussed some of Karla's potential combat thinker applications?" I explained with shorthand. Vicky nodded, following easily. "Master Drallig agreed to help test things."
My blonde partner grinned, offering a thumbs up. "Nice! Always knew I liked you, Master Cin! I mean that this time."
"You mean you didn't mean it all the other times?" Iskt asked 'innocently' as Vicky gave him a stink eye, Anakin guffawed and Ahsoka choked on a mouthful of ice cream.
"You're a terrible influence, Skywalker!"
As Anakin and Vicky argued, my eyes trailed towards Karla, finding her eyes almost darting between the four at the table, wide and… enraptured, the smile growing bit by bit on her face.
I reached out with an ethereal hand, brushing her thoughts as subtly as I could.
My eyes trailed towards Vicky, who met my gaze for a split second midargument, offering me a blink and you miss it wink before she went back to her bickering.
I fought down my own smile, reminded one more time as to who exactly I was dating…
—
I couldn't stay for Cin's test with Karla, but I did tell Vicky where exactly I was going, which made her worry a bit. It was no secret that I'd rarely allowed myself to be alone anywhere with Alexandria. There was always some kind of buffer between us. Witnesses were useful for both our sakes.
But I didn't want to leave Karla alone, either.
So, Vicky stayed.
It'd be fine.
I could handle one conversation.
The speeder ride to the Senate rotunda was somehow too long and too short all at once, the massive, dome-like structure looming in the distance. An impossibility of architecture.
I'd heard somewhere, maybe in the archives, maybe from a tour guide, that the dome was so large that droids were needed to regulate the temperatures and accumulated humidity.
Otherwise the top of the dome might develop its own, pseudo weather system.
Ships flew to and from the gargantuan structure, giving the impression of a giant, oversized beehive on an impossibly large scale.
It was massive, bloated, entirely ostentatious and impossible to manage.
It represented the Republic perfectly.
Soon enough, the speeder made its way towards the designated docking ramp. Section C-22FC. I knew where Alexandria's office was, and being this close, I could see through my bugs that the woman was already in her office doing her equivalent of paperwork.
Good. She wasn't pettily trying to pull the cheap power move of making me wait.
Bellhops greeted me, and asked me if I needed directions towards the senator's office or if I needed an escort. My robes marked me as a Jedi, which gave me free access for the most part.
It was genuinely mind boggling how absurdly lacking security was here.
I remember commenting on it once. I think the senator from Alderaan told me that the Senate was meant to represent people, not exclude them, or some pithy naivete.
More likely than not it was just easier for criminals to make their way inside if they just donned the right disguise for discretion on who their clients were.
I put it out of my mind.
The Senate, and its entirely corrupt processes, wasn't my problem to deal with.
I made my way through the halls quietly, most people barely doing more than giving me the odd doubletake. Jedi weren't unknown, but they were still uncommon within the halls of the Senate.
Making it to Alexandria's office, the receptionist was an alien girl, Mirialan with long hair and olive green skin.
"Hello." She said pleasantly. "Are you…" She looked down at her datapad. "Jedi Master Hebert?"
I nodded. "I am."
"That's good, the Senator just arrived and is expecting you." The young woman smiled.
Personally, I don't think she suited the atmosphere of Alexandria's office at all.
Then again… maybe the woman hired her specifically for said contrast.
Marching towards the door, it whooshed into the wall and I found the flying Brute sitting at her desk, paperwork and pen in hand as she turned her eyes up, away from the document and towards me.
"Alexandria." I greeted
"Hebert." She gestured for me to take a seat.
Walking across the office, I appreciated the decor. Dark grain hardwood floors and black leather seats with a handful of art pieces that didn't look like someone twisted up a piece of Laffy Taffy and decided to call it sophisticated.
She waited until I took a seat before she continued, eyes fixated on me. "It's not your usual choice to contact me directly." She said in lieu of the actual question.
"No, it isn't." I admitted, no use pretending otherwise.
Pulling free the datastick, I saw her raise a slender eyebrow in askance as I floated the device over to her, letting her fingers pluck it out of the air.
"There's footage on it." I explained. "Of an interview with a Muun Separatist Admiral. We're trying to discover where their primary staging ground or manufacturing plant is."
"And you were hoping my skills could be used to read him." She deduced.
I nodded
Alexandria looked thoughtful for a moment, twirling the datastick between her fingers.
Then, something seemed to click in her mind, her free hand moving towards a panel on her desk.
Soon, I was hearing the chime of a call being made.
"Who are you contacting?" I asked, my curiosity getting the better of me.
"Cook."
Dennis?
"Why?" The question was born out of genuine confusion. Dennis got along with Alexandria even less than I did.
"He undertook a mission where he acquired some information on potential bases recently, if you'll recall."
"Yeah, with Vicky." I nodded. "But that was a Death Watch raid, not necessarily Separatist, and he didn't share any of the information with the Council."
"Ever since losing the Vista, Cook does not trust Coruscant channels, and the Council's information security even less so. Likely, he handed off the information to the Mandalorian Royal Guard, trusting that if it was relevant, they would inform the Republic and thus, the Council, leaving ties to him rather distant in the grand scheme of things." She explained.
Made sense. If I'd have been nearly blown up on a top secret transport mission, I'd be pretty paranoid about trusting information to the Council too.
Alexandria continued, still patiently waiting for the call to go through. "Death Watch is working with the Separatists. If Cook's information lines up with what I might find here… well…" She shrugged. "Safe to say you've found their base."
Fair enough, I suppose.
The call went through.
I was a bit surprised he even picked up.
I saw the holo flicker for a second, and was greeted by the sight of a bleary eyed Dennis blinking away the sleep before he finally registered the two people on the other side of his screen.
"Ahh, fuck." He groaned.
—
Vicky:
The clash and crackle of lightsabers sent lights dancing across the room. The exchange was quick, like an actual fight, not a practice round. Cin's green saber moved with expert, fluid precision, dominating the space with the Makashi form to Karla's hybridized Djem So.
Even so, the girl's attacks were relentless, unceasing, and Vicky genuinely thought she almost had it for a second or two before Cin expertly disarmed her with barely a twirl of his wrist, his saber, set to stun, striking at the young woman's hand twice in quick succession during a split second opening.
"Well done." The Battlemaster smiled, reaching with the Force to catch the blade mid-fall before returning it to the young Twi'lek, who rubbed the sting out of her arm and wrist.
Vicky smiled, patting Ahsoka and Iskt on their backs. "Ok, you two, you're up." She urged, pushing them towards the practice ring, Anakin and her sharing a discreet nod as Skywalker took the moment to offer a balm for Karla's stinging wrist, distracting the girl as Cin made his way closer to Vicky.
"Well?" She said as quietly as she could. "What'd ya think?"
The Battlemaster took a deep breath, almost visibly recomposing himself to her eye. "It was… disorienting."
"So she can screw with Force users during a fight." Vicky found a smirk tugging at her lip, almost smug at the little fact. "Ohhh, we're gonna have some fun testing that.
Cin nodded. "Indeed. My skill, speed, strength, experience… they're all vastly superior to hers but I was finding myself almost overwhelmed by the perceived speed and suddenness of her attacks."
"Perceived." Vicky squinted at him. "That's a deliberate choice of word."
"Because it is." Cin admitted. "She's not faster today than she was yesterday, but I can't sense her. It's almost like fighting a droid, even though I can sense the Force in her. It's extremely disorienting. My mind is searching for the warning in her intent and emotions, only to suddenly find the blade halfway towards me with nothing in the way of warning."
Vicky nodded. It almost sounded like what Komari had pulled on her on Nar Shaddaa to get that sneak attack in. Only it was working even when looking straight at Karla.
"Even more than that-" He sighed. "-the disorientation is exacerbated manyfold when I begin winning the bout."
She did not blink stupidly, no matter what anyone said. "Huh?"
"Think about it." He explained. "I cannot sense her anxiety, her nervousness, the thrum of surprise when I strike somewhere unexpected, or the thrill of momentary fear when she's on the back foot. She is utterly calm. I can sense nothing, so while in my mind I know I'm winning, looking and seeing her mind-"
"Makes you feel like she's the one in control." Vicky's eyes went a little wide. "That's… pretty huge actually." More than once she herself took her cues from the emotional reads she got on her opponents. And when she had to force that, her fear aura made the openings for her.
Karla just completely shutting down that aspect of a fight, the turning of momentum…
Yeah… yeah that was really big.
Her inner cape geek, long having been dormant, sparked to life, and she couldn't contain her giddiness at the thought that they were only just scratching the surface.
"Why are you smiling like that?"
"No I'm not!"
Cin sighed, rubbing at his forehead.
Then his holo chimed.
She heard Anakin's holo do the same.
Then her own, vibrating at her hip.
The giddiness left, and all three of them shared an immediate look before scrambling to check their messages.
"What's going on?" Ahsoka called, her bout with Iskt put on immediate hold.
Anakin answered first.
"The Council is calling in all Knights and Masters." He answered grimly. "They've finally discovered a major Separatist base and manufacturing plant."
"Where?" Iskt called, staring straight at her.
Vicky shrugged. She had no reason to hide it.
"Geonosis."
(X)(X)(X)
Alright! Here you all finally got to see a *glimpse* of Karla's future potential as a Combat Thinker, particularly against Force users
Anyway; not gonna lie; the chapter I was working on right now (107) came together *ridiculously* quickly. It was mainly crossing T's and Dotting I's. The last "pieces" falling into place for the big battle of... well... Geonosis
But I can't promise I'm gonna get *the next* chapter (108) Done anywhere NEAR as fast.
Because Geonosis is, beyond a shadow of a doubt the largest "single" battle I've ever written, and so the chapters for it are going to need to be suitably "large" in word count in order to encompass *all* of it consisely.
I want the battle to be "wrapped up" in about 4 chapters. 5 tops.
That means we're going to need much *beefier* chapters than the average length I normally go for.
So depending on inspiration/how quickly things come together without the need for rewrites and revisions it might take me a while to finish up these chapters.
So you're probably not gonna see another ridiculously fast update like THIS one and instead it will probably take me the full 7-10 days to get each of the subsequent chapters done, until the battle is concluded.
You'll all get a much greater sense of 'scale' next chapter (105). But I'm not joking when I say its got the most moving parts of any single war/battle I've ever done, dwarfing Corellia and Illum both.
For those of you interested you can join us on Patreon for just $1.00 per month and get immediate access to all the available chapters and be the first to see the Battle of Geonosis next update as it opens up.
Grab your popcorn everybody!
Icipall
Don't worry, we can fanfix that!
- Location
- Cold snow fields of Finland
Skill and experience.
The surprising thing is that you're surprised, Taylor.
Almost not awkward.
Dennis luck.
So it does give you advantage due to the surprise of it, until the opponent acclimates to it.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIunw3H-cs0
Some more released images from Patreon
LD1449
To the last; Kill them all
- Location
- The other side of the labyrinth.
So bit of backstory on this image;
At first I considered doing an image that would have the family either at home or in a place that was recognizably in "The Star Wars" setting; but halfway through I reconsidered (and thank god my artist didn't kill me for it at that point in the process.)
I thought to myself "Hey, I've been having Militia acclimatizing to the Star Wars universe, but in a few "Culture different" couples that I know, sometimes its a two-way street. Where both sides need to adapt to what the other is used to"
So I was like 'What if, on one of their anniversaries, Aras (using it was the kids idea as an excuse) got everyone together and decided to do something that Hannah would have been able to do back on her world, a family outing to the park, dressed in the clothes that you'd find on her world and just letting her have a bit of 'Home' back and I thought it was a neat thing to juxtapose any images that follow that are gonna have them in Star Wars armor/tech and such.
And so here we have the end result, the Saxon family taking a day to show mom they care.
Go give your mothers a Hug friends, they deserve one
I'll admit; I'm indulging here a bit.
But this is the preliminary sketch work for a full on depiction of Tay and Noble Team. The artwork is a direct Homage to 2003's Clone Wars cartoon and the finished version is now my Wallpaper on the computer. Its available for download on Patreon if you'd like to join and the finished version looks absolutely amazing and takes you back to the Tartovsky cartoon like a vietnam flashback. Its probably recency bias talking but its my favorite pic on the Patreon page right now xD
Icipall
Don't worry, we can fanfix that!
- Location
- Cold snow fields of Finland
Very neat.
That they do.
Chapter 105
LD1449
To the last; Kill them all
- Location
- The other side of the labyrinth.
Chapter 105:
Taylor:
The Council Chambers were full to bursting. Not with just Council members, but nearly every single combat capable and ready Master and Knight available to the Order.
The ones that couldn't physically fit inside the room were gathered in various antechambers, watching and listening intently via holo plinths.
Well over four hundred Jedi.
All for a single war council.
"Has this information been verified?"
"As much as we can with available instruments," Obi-Wan answered Master Auset with his signature calm confidence.
It didn't take my fellow Jedi long to pounce on the information Alexandria and Dennis had given me, once I reported it to them.
I kept my name out of it as much as I could, of course. I didn't need the political enemies making things harder than it had to be.
But it seemed like I hadn't needed to.
Everyone knew: we were losing this war.
Everyone knew that we needed to hit a target that would cripple Confederacy's industrial capacity enough for the clone production to match and eventually surpass the CIS's expendable droid numbers.
The Jedi were fighting a war for survival and at least on some level, they knew it.
So they acted with a startling level of decisiveness here.
Within hours - not weeks or days, hours - probe droids, recon teams, spies and informants had been contacted and findings returned.
The conclusion was clear, and, as more and more evidence piled up, became indisputable: Geonosis wasn't just a manufacturing plant. It was the largest military base the Republic had ever seen.
Conservative estimates placed the number of ships, defense platforms and satellite-fortresses in orbit in the hundreds. Amongst those were nothing less than ten super heavy capital ships and two dozen Lucrehulks converted into full on battleships.
The troop projections, between estimated droid stockpiles and native Geonosian soldiers on the surface, numbered in the billions.
Probe droid scans indicated that there were no less than twenty massive fortresses on the planet, each guarding either a titanic anti-orbital cannon, the entrance to the underground hives or the factories, or some combination of the above.
On top of that, the relative isolation of the system meant that there was only one hyperlane for the Republic to use.
Which meant the whole fleet would be dropping out of hyperspace from one direction. Either bottlenecked or - more likely - giving their enemies hours or even a day's advance warning by needing to drop out of hyperspace much further away so as to avoid the natural death trap.
Master Auset looked grim, his eyes lowering once more to the dataslate as he read over it again.
"Do we have estimates," Master Piell began, "of how many forces would be needed to even begin to take this world?"
"The droids are updating their calculations as new data comes in," Kenobi replied with professional calmness, "but our current projected force requirements are… greater than we're comfortable with."
"Out with it, Master Kenobi," Sora Bulq cut in, a scowl on his wrinkled features.
Obi-Wan sighed, bowing his head.
"According to preliminary estimates, we would need to commit no less than fifteen percent of the entire Clone Army, almost seventeen percent of the current Republic Navy, and six to eight percent of the Jedi Order's battle strength."
I could feel the congregation scattered across its various rooms go utterly cold. Vicky hissed at my side with a long, drawn-out 'Fuuuuuck' under her breath. Fear, anxiety and dread formed a thick cocktail of stress around us.
"That," Master Plo Koon began with visible hesitation, "is not a level of force we can spare lightly… if at all."
"It's just one planet," Adi Gallia whispered, her voice horrified. "This… this can't be accurate."
"It's an important planet," Master Piell groused. "One that they've had months, if not years, to fortify and refortify, testing wargame after wargame, until it's become what we see here. It very much can be accurate, much as we might not like it."
"The orbital war is where they will have the greatest advantage," Master Tiin, the greatest Fleetmaster of the Jedi, observed, fingers brushing over his datapad. "Once we break through there, we should have the advantage on the ground."
"If we can break through," Master Koth said quickly. "These anti-orbital defenses are not for show. And their commander will likely be Sev'rance Tann. She is a prodigy in void warfare."
"Even if we break through, our infantry and ground combat capabilities might be too compromised to launch a ground invasion," Ki-Adi-Mundi noted.
"We have no other choice than to attack," Sora Bulq commented. "Regardless of how many losses we endure, if we do not strike at that droid plant, we'll lose the war. Who knows how much longer it will be before we find another target of similar value, and it is all but guaranteed any we find will be similarly fortified."
"If we attack with this many forces and fail, we'll lose the war outright. The Jedi will be beyond crippled." Master Billaba spoke up for the first time. "While Obi-Wan stated it would be seven percent of the Jedi order… it will be the most senior seven percent. The Masters, the Knights, Padawans on the cusp of Knighthood. We'll be utterly decapitated."
At long last, Master Yoda… moved.
The little green man leaned forward, all eyes turning to him as he spoke. His steady, even voice calmed the other Masters and assembled Knights.
"Hrm… A responsibility… neither the Jedi nor the Clone Army alone can bear, this attack is." He nodded. "But alone, we are not. Allies, we have."
"You mean the Enclaves?" Master Mundi asked. "Their numbers will not turn the tide here, and many of those numbers are derived from our own stock in terms of their senior staff."
Yoda shook his head. "No. Others. Invested in this war they have become. Corellia…" He paused. "Mandalore."
Some shifted in clear surprise at the proposal.
"The Jedi are defenders." Mace spoke up, looking at the Grand Master. "Can we still claim to be that if we're calling on other worlds to prevent us from suffering casualties? To make them suffer in our place?"
"The Jedi have never fought wars alone," Obi-Wan pointed out, raising a single finger even as his arms remained on the armrests of his chair. "And while we are defenders, we no longer have the numbers to be what the galaxy needs. Not alone. If Corellia and Mandalore are willing to cooperate with us, whether to avenge the attack on Coronet or to go after their Death Watch terrorists… Well, beyond stiff necked pride, I see no reason to discourage them."
"Beyond Corellians and Mandalorians dying in droves, you mean," Koth protested.
Master Poof turned his head towards the Zabrak. "The Clones are not 'more expendable' than either of those factions. Or are you suggesting otherwise?"
The rebuke made his fellow Council member wince, clearly realizing his error at the unwitting implication.
"On that note," Obi-Wan swept into the opening very quickly to point out, "the Corellians and Mandalorians have the luxury of volunteering. They would fully know the risks involved, and have the power to accept or shy away of said risks. But, tactically speaking, we cannot afford to turn away any form of help given the sheer scale of this operation and the manpower resources needed to undertake it effectively."
Mace Windu breathed, pinching the bridge of his nose before he spoke up in a voice serrated with an edge of impatience. "We're getting ahead of ourselves. We haven't even fully discussed what battle groups, legions, and reserve forces we ourselves can commit to this offensive. How many Jedi Masters and Knights are ready and willing to take either command or front line positions within it? This battle will easily dwarf any we've been involved in previously."
All eyes turned to Rancisis and Poof, the designated General and Logistician - respectively - for most large scale operations
"Currently, on Coruscant, we have eight fresh and fully armed battle groups," Poof reported. "Knight Skywalker's 501st, Master Kenobi's 212th, Master Dallon's 707th, Master Bulq's 309th, Masters Tiin's and Rancisis' 219th and 408th. Additionally, there is the Coruscant Defense Force as an emergency reserve, but I imagine we would not wish to commit them. On Kamino, I've been informed by Master Ti that there are four additional legions prepared. They, however, lack any combat experience."
"All combined, how many soldiers does that give us?" Ausar demanded.
"As you know, many of the legions have less than uniform numbers due to casualties, replacements, and unique battleforce compositions for various tasks and roles. But, all in all, we would have roughly thirty-seven point eight million clones.
"Not nearly enough," Piell sneered at his screen. "How many other legions can we divert to add to this force?"
"The bulk of my command can be committed," Master Windu offered. "Operations here are almost at a close. It's not ideal, but I could roughly bring eighty percent of my available forces."
"That would bring us to roughly forty million clones," Poof said, nodding as he received that reassurance, his large head on his long neck looking very stiff. "By our current data and estimates, one clone is worth upwards of twenty battle droids on average, which would equate to roughly eight hundred million as a projected value. Not factoring in Jedi assistance."
"It also assumes all clones will make it onto the planet." Piell pointed out. "That's not a guarantee, especially if Corellia doesn't join us in sufficient numbers to act as the void war spearhead."
"I wouldn't worry about that," Master Halcyon cut in, one leg crossed over the other, fingers interlaced over his stomach. "I know my fellow Corellians. I expect they'll exceed even your most generous estimates at a chance to avenge the attack on Coronet."
"I'll count those particular eggs once they've hatched," Piell scowled.
Halcyon shrugged. "Fair enough. I can also pull a part of my forces away to commit to this offensive. Fifty to sixty percent."
"If we can scrape together even more reserves from the Enclave defense forces," Master Billaba mused aloud, "and assuming Mandalore joins us as well, it might be possible to take this world. But we would need many Jedi bringing enough of their strength to bear directly on the battlefield to make up the difference in manpower and swing the tide in our favor."
"Hey, uhhhh… aren't we forgetting something?"
It took a second to realize someone other than the Council members had spoken.
All eyes swiveled over towards-
"Anakin?" Obi-Wan called.
The young knight bowed quickly, stepping forward. "Sorry, Masters, but… we're discussing things as if droids are the only thing we might be facing here when… I think it's rather obvious that won't be the case."
He gestured behind him, towards Vicky. "Just recently, Master Dallon confronted a weapon possibly funded by the CIS as a means of killing her specifically. We just ran a seminar on how to counter Jedi Hunter droids, with cortosis armor. On Ilum we confronted a Dark Jedi, and we've already pointed out how the Seps have had time to fortify this place to an absurd level. Who's to say what other weapons and tricks they have that we haven't seen, not to mention whatever the Sith might be up to. We have a confirmed sighting of Vosa, recently, but we have no idea what's been happening with C'baoth, much less the elusive Sith Master."
"Get to the point, Skywalker," Bulq said.
I could sense the annoyance in Anakin's Force presence, though he suppressed it quickly. "The point, Master, is that I don't think this is a battleground where we can afford half measures and non commitments. As Master Billaba pointed out, if we lose here, we've lost. Period. So we have to commit everything. The Council members that have commands that are tied down elsewhere need to give command to a subordinate they trust and come here for this battle. All Knights and available Masters here in the Temple need to be placed in legions as quickly as possible and assigned command roles if possible. Jedi task forces need to be made to hit valuable targets with clone commandos. And yes, even the Coruscant Defense Force needs to be committed as well. If the Chancellor or the Senate disagree with that last measure, that's fine, but the effort and argument should still be made to them. We can't assume that we'll be facing the same old droids as usual. Not with a target this valuable to the CIS war effort."
"We are-"
"Correct, young Skywalker is," Master Yaddle cut in, surprising the others.
It wasn't often the most pacifist of the order advocated for what was effectively total war on this scale.
The small green woman breathed deep and slow.
"Strong, the dark side has grown. Sense it, I do, that in direct conflict we will be on this world, Geonosis." She looked to Yoda, who nodded gravely in response, agreeing with her assessment.
"Present upon this world, I too believe the Sith to be." the Grand Master said. "Go there, the Council as a whole must. Contend with it. Defeat it we must. As many Masters and Knights that can be found, march to battle they must. Agree with Knight Skywalker, I do."
That shut up any protests pretty damn quick.
—
By the time the meeting was done - or, at least, done for the day, because I had no doubt the Council would be reconvening tomorrow and the next day and the next day and all the days and weeks it would take to finalize everything before we set out for Geonosis - the amount of clones we'd roughly be committing to this attack was scraping the upper fifties in terms of millions. The number of Jedi Masters was around two hundred, and Jedi Knights were almost a thousand.
Corellia and Mandalore would be contacted. And, whatever they added, if they added anything, would be put on the scales before a battle plan would be drawn up, redrawn, discussed and redrawn again before finally being finalized.
Every single Jedi Council member would be committed to the battlefield barring four: Master Yaddle, Master Poof, Master Gallia, and Master Tsui Choi would remain behind.
Just in case the worst happened, those four would be entrusted to lead the Jedi Order through the harrowing times ahead.
A possibility and task that no one really wanted to contemplate.
There was a disquiet now hanging like a pall over the Temple. A dread and - yes - fear clouding everyone's mind. The halls were choked with it like a thick miasma.
It was suffocating.
I couldn't blame them. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't more than a little nervous myself.
My conscious mind couldn't even really grasp the scale of what was about to happen. In just a few weeks, the entire surface of a single planet and the space surrounding it would be engulfed by wholescale war.
It brought to mind Scion. The Warrior. The flashes and fragmented shards of memory of my final battle with him. Where worlds burned and millions died to buy time and nothing more.
Needless to say… I wasn't exactly in a better headspace right now than the Jedi at large.
I felt Vicky's hand slip into mind, the touch hidden by the fold of our robes as others marched past us.
I turned, looking at her, and I wasn't surprised to find that she was looking at me in concern.
"You ok?" she whispered
I nodded… then hesitated. "Don't know," I answered honestly. "Think so. You?"
She took a long, deep breath, pausing for a fair moment before she shook her head. "I don't know, either," she laughed. "This is… this is so much bigger all of a sudden, ya know?"
I did know. I did understand.
I just… wasn't really sure how to help.
"Taylor. Victoria."
We both turned, looking behind us to find Master Plo standing patiently behind us.
Vicky let my hand go. We owed Master Plo some discretion, if only nominally.
She turned, smiling. "Hey, Master. You good?"
"I was about to ask both of you the same," he answered gently, gesturing for us to follow into a nearby balcony for some privacy.
We did.
As the Coruscanti sun kissed our faces, I saw Master Plo pause, his silence stretching on for a long, long while. Long enough that Vicky and I shared a look of concern.
"Master?" Vicky called.
"I wish…" He paused. "The coming battle on Geonosis will be… dangerous. Chaotic. And it is inevitable, given your abilities, that the Council will request the two of you undertake immeasurable amounts of the fighting onto yourselves. Tactically, I'm already aware it's not possible to keep the two of you in one location. You're just too valuable."
Vicky winced and the bugs around me began to hiss and snap in agitation.
I hadn't considered that.
But he was right.
It made the most sense that, when we deployed, Vicky would be committed to one side of the battlefront and I to another.
That's how we usually did things.
Only, our battlefronts were usually measured in kilometers. Not planets.
"I'm… not asking for the both of you to simply be careful… but to be wary." He paused again, and this time I could sense the conflict within him. A personal war waging within himself . "Of the orders you receive."
Vicky and I went stiff.
"W-wait a sec," Vicky said hesitantly next to me. "Are you saying…?"
"You think someone in command will give us bad orders to get us killed? That they'd risk that? There? With the stakes being so high?" I demanded, a list of suspects shooting up to the forefront of my mind.
"I… cannot claim with certainty that they won't," he answered, somewhat dodging the question as he shook his head. "I sense… a darkness amidst the Council. Like the darkness in the galaxy, growing, devouring. I will discuss it with Masters Yoda, Windu and Yaddle… but… just…" He sighed, turning to face us. "Be careful."
Vicky nodded. "We will. We promise…" Then she shot out her finger, poking Master Plo in the chest. "But you gotta promise us something, too!" she demanded.
The Kel Dor waited patiently.
"If anything does happen to us, then you gotta take care of Karla and Iskt!" She demanded.
I didn't like contemplating either of us dying. But the possibility, I knew, was all too real.
So, my own disquiet aside… I looked at Plo Koon, nodding wordlessly.
There wasn't anyone on or off the Council I'd trust more.
"You took on two students before, so clearly you're the best qualified!" Vicky continued. "And you can teach Iskt to stop being so snarky."
"I wasn't able to manage that with you," Plo joked, making a smile tug at my own lips.
"I am clever!" Vicky corrected, her hand going to her chest. "Not snarky."
"Says the woman with a stylized V on her lightsaber hilt," I deadpanned.
"See!" she gestured towards me with a cheeky grin. "Clever! He gets all his snark from her side of the family!"
Plo Koon shook his head. He was still troubled, we all were, but I think he appreciated Vicky's attempt at easing his mind. Distracting him.
Either that, or I was just projecting.
Geonosis - its implications and its dangers - still loomed very, very large in all our minds… probably most of all in Vicky's.
(X)(X)(X)
And so here we have the "sense of scale" I told you all would be coming. Now you've got an idea as to what numbers we'll be playing around with in the upcoming battle (which is already underway on Patreon btw)
But I personally had a lot of fun with this, I have fun with most of the Council Scenes but adding in some good old military logistics is just icing on the cake for a nerd like me
Taylor:
The Council Chambers were full to bursting. Not with just Council members, but nearly every single combat capable and ready Master and Knight available to the Order.
The ones that couldn't physically fit inside the room were gathered in various antechambers, watching and listening intently via holo plinths.
Well over four hundred Jedi.
All for a single war council.
"Has this information been verified?"
"As much as we can with available instruments," Obi-Wan answered Master Auset with his signature calm confidence.
It didn't take my fellow Jedi long to pounce on the information Alexandria and Dennis had given me, once I reported it to them.
I kept my name out of it as much as I could, of course. I didn't need the political enemies making things harder than it had to be.
But it seemed like I hadn't needed to.
Everyone knew: we were losing this war.
Everyone knew that we needed to hit a target that would cripple Confederacy's industrial capacity enough for the clone production to match and eventually surpass the CIS's expendable droid numbers.
The Jedi were fighting a war for survival and at least on some level, they knew it.
So they acted with a startling level of decisiveness here.
Within hours - not weeks or days, hours - probe droids, recon teams, spies and informants had been contacted and findings returned.
The conclusion was clear, and, as more and more evidence piled up, became indisputable: Geonosis wasn't just a manufacturing plant. It was the largest military base the Republic had ever seen.
Conservative estimates placed the number of ships, defense platforms and satellite-fortresses in orbit in the hundreds. Amongst those were nothing less than ten super heavy capital ships and two dozen Lucrehulks converted into full on battleships.
The troop projections, between estimated droid stockpiles and native Geonosian soldiers on the surface, numbered in the billions.
Probe droid scans indicated that there were no less than twenty massive fortresses on the planet, each guarding either a titanic anti-orbital cannon, the entrance to the underground hives or the factories, or some combination of the above.
On top of that, the relative isolation of the system meant that there was only one hyperlane for the Republic to use.
Which meant the whole fleet would be dropping out of hyperspace from one direction. Either bottlenecked or - more likely - giving their enemies hours or even a day's advance warning by needing to drop out of hyperspace much further away so as to avoid the natural death trap.
Master Auset looked grim, his eyes lowering once more to the dataslate as he read over it again.
"Do we have estimates," Master Piell began, "of how many forces would be needed to even begin to take this world?"
"The droids are updating their calculations as new data comes in," Kenobi replied with professional calmness, "but our current projected force requirements are… greater than we're comfortable with."
"Out with it, Master Kenobi," Sora Bulq cut in, a scowl on his wrinkled features.
Obi-Wan sighed, bowing his head.
"According to preliminary estimates, we would need to commit no less than fifteen percent of the entire Clone Army, almost seventeen percent of the current Republic Navy, and six to eight percent of the Jedi Order's battle strength."
I could feel the congregation scattered across its various rooms go utterly cold. Vicky hissed at my side with a long, drawn-out 'Fuuuuuck' under her breath. Fear, anxiety and dread formed a thick cocktail of stress around us.
"That," Master Plo Koon began with visible hesitation, "is not a level of force we can spare lightly… if at all."
"It's just one planet," Adi Gallia whispered, her voice horrified. "This… this can't be accurate."
"It's an important planet," Master Piell groused. "One that they've had months, if not years, to fortify and refortify, testing wargame after wargame, until it's become what we see here. It very much can be accurate, much as we might not like it."
"The orbital war is where they will have the greatest advantage," Master Tiin, the greatest Fleetmaster of the Jedi, observed, fingers brushing over his datapad. "Once we break through there, we should have the advantage on the ground."
"If we can break through," Master Koth said quickly. "These anti-orbital defenses are not for show. And their commander will likely be Sev'rance Tann. She is a prodigy in void warfare."
"Even if we break through, our infantry and ground combat capabilities might be too compromised to launch a ground invasion," Ki-Adi-Mundi noted.
"We have no other choice than to attack," Sora Bulq commented. "Regardless of how many losses we endure, if we do not strike at that droid plant, we'll lose the war. Who knows how much longer it will be before we find another target of similar value, and it is all but guaranteed any we find will be similarly fortified."
"If we attack with this many forces and fail, we'll lose the war outright. The Jedi will be beyond crippled." Master Billaba spoke up for the first time. "While Obi-Wan stated it would be seven percent of the Jedi order… it will be the most senior seven percent. The Masters, the Knights, Padawans on the cusp of Knighthood. We'll be utterly decapitated."
At long last, Master Yoda… moved.
The little green man leaned forward, all eyes turning to him as he spoke. His steady, even voice calmed the other Masters and assembled Knights.
"Hrm… A responsibility… neither the Jedi nor the Clone Army alone can bear, this attack is." He nodded. "But alone, we are not. Allies, we have."
"You mean the Enclaves?" Master Mundi asked. "Their numbers will not turn the tide here, and many of those numbers are derived from our own stock in terms of their senior staff."
Yoda shook his head. "No. Others. Invested in this war they have become. Corellia…" He paused. "Mandalore."
Some shifted in clear surprise at the proposal.
"The Jedi are defenders." Mace spoke up, looking at the Grand Master. "Can we still claim to be that if we're calling on other worlds to prevent us from suffering casualties? To make them suffer in our place?"
"The Jedi have never fought wars alone," Obi-Wan pointed out, raising a single finger even as his arms remained on the armrests of his chair. "And while we are defenders, we no longer have the numbers to be what the galaxy needs. Not alone. If Corellia and Mandalore are willing to cooperate with us, whether to avenge the attack on Coronet or to go after their Death Watch terrorists… Well, beyond stiff necked pride, I see no reason to discourage them."
"Beyond Corellians and Mandalorians dying in droves, you mean," Koth protested.
Master Poof turned his head towards the Zabrak. "The Clones are not 'more expendable' than either of those factions. Or are you suggesting otherwise?"
The rebuke made his fellow Council member wince, clearly realizing his error at the unwitting implication.
"On that note," Obi-Wan swept into the opening very quickly to point out, "the Corellians and Mandalorians have the luxury of volunteering. They would fully know the risks involved, and have the power to accept or shy away of said risks. But, tactically speaking, we cannot afford to turn away any form of help given the sheer scale of this operation and the manpower resources needed to undertake it effectively."
Mace Windu breathed, pinching the bridge of his nose before he spoke up in a voice serrated with an edge of impatience. "We're getting ahead of ourselves. We haven't even fully discussed what battle groups, legions, and reserve forces we ourselves can commit to this offensive. How many Jedi Masters and Knights are ready and willing to take either command or front line positions within it? This battle will easily dwarf any we've been involved in previously."
All eyes turned to Rancisis and Poof, the designated General and Logistician - respectively - for most large scale operations
"Currently, on Coruscant, we have eight fresh and fully armed battle groups," Poof reported. "Knight Skywalker's 501st, Master Kenobi's 212th, Master Dallon's 707th, Master Bulq's 309th, Masters Tiin's and Rancisis' 219th and 408th. Additionally, there is the Coruscant Defense Force as an emergency reserve, but I imagine we would not wish to commit them. On Kamino, I've been informed by Master Ti that there are four additional legions prepared. They, however, lack any combat experience."
"All combined, how many soldiers does that give us?" Ausar demanded.
"As you know, many of the legions have less than uniform numbers due to casualties, replacements, and unique battleforce compositions for various tasks and roles. But, all in all, we would have roughly thirty-seven point eight million clones.
"Not nearly enough," Piell sneered at his screen. "How many other legions can we divert to add to this force?"
"The bulk of my command can be committed," Master Windu offered. "Operations here are almost at a close. It's not ideal, but I could roughly bring eighty percent of my available forces."
"That would bring us to roughly forty million clones," Poof said, nodding as he received that reassurance, his large head on his long neck looking very stiff. "By our current data and estimates, one clone is worth upwards of twenty battle droids on average, which would equate to roughly eight hundred million as a projected value. Not factoring in Jedi assistance."
"It also assumes all clones will make it onto the planet." Piell pointed out. "That's not a guarantee, especially if Corellia doesn't join us in sufficient numbers to act as the void war spearhead."
"I wouldn't worry about that," Master Halcyon cut in, one leg crossed over the other, fingers interlaced over his stomach. "I know my fellow Corellians. I expect they'll exceed even your most generous estimates at a chance to avenge the attack on Coronet."
"I'll count those particular eggs once they've hatched," Piell scowled.
Halcyon shrugged. "Fair enough. I can also pull a part of my forces away to commit to this offensive. Fifty to sixty percent."
"If we can scrape together even more reserves from the Enclave defense forces," Master Billaba mused aloud, "and assuming Mandalore joins us as well, it might be possible to take this world. But we would need many Jedi bringing enough of their strength to bear directly on the battlefield to make up the difference in manpower and swing the tide in our favor."
"Hey, uhhhh… aren't we forgetting something?"
It took a second to realize someone other than the Council members had spoken.
All eyes swiveled over towards-
"Anakin?" Obi-Wan called.
The young knight bowed quickly, stepping forward. "Sorry, Masters, but… we're discussing things as if droids are the only thing we might be facing here when… I think it's rather obvious that won't be the case."
He gestured behind him, towards Vicky. "Just recently, Master Dallon confronted a weapon possibly funded by the CIS as a means of killing her specifically. We just ran a seminar on how to counter Jedi Hunter droids, with cortosis armor. On Ilum we confronted a Dark Jedi, and we've already pointed out how the Seps have had time to fortify this place to an absurd level. Who's to say what other weapons and tricks they have that we haven't seen, not to mention whatever the Sith might be up to. We have a confirmed sighting of Vosa, recently, but we have no idea what's been happening with C'baoth, much less the elusive Sith Master."
"Get to the point, Skywalker," Bulq said.
I could sense the annoyance in Anakin's Force presence, though he suppressed it quickly. "The point, Master, is that I don't think this is a battleground where we can afford half measures and non commitments. As Master Billaba pointed out, if we lose here, we've lost. Period. So we have to commit everything. The Council members that have commands that are tied down elsewhere need to give command to a subordinate they trust and come here for this battle. All Knights and available Masters here in the Temple need to be placed in legions as quickly as possible and assigned command roles if possible. Jedi task forces need to be made to hit valuable targets with clone commandos. And yes, even the Coruscant Defense Force needs to be committed as well. If the Chancellor or the Senate disagree with that last measure, that's fine, but the effort and argument should still be made to them. We can't assume that we'll be facing the same old droids as usual. Not with a target this valuable to the CIS war effort."
"We are-"
"Correct, young Skywalker is," Master Yaddle cut in, surprising the others.
It wasn't often the most pacifist of the order advocated for what was effectively total war on this scale.
The small green woman breathed deep and slow.
"Strong, the dark side has grown. Sense it, I do, that in direct conflict we will be on this world, Geonosis." She looked to Yoda, who nodded gravely in response, agreeing with her assessment.
"Present upon this world, I too believe the Sith to be." the Grand Master said. "Go there, the Council as a whole must. Contend with it. Defeat it we must. As many Masters and Knights that can be found, march to battle they must. Agree with Knight Skywalker, I do."
That shut up any protests pretty damn quick.
—
By the time the meeting was done - or, at least, done for the day, because I had no doubt the Council would be reconvening tomorrow and the next day and the next day and all the days and weeks it would take to finalize everything before we set out for Geonosis - the amount of clones we'd roughly be committing to this attack was scraping the upper fifties in terms of millions. The number of Jedi Masters was around two hundred, and Jedi Knights were almost a thousand.
Corellia and Mandalore would be contacted. And, whatever they added, if they added anything, would be put on the scales before a battle plan would be drawn up, redrawn, discussed and redrawn again before finally being finalized.
Every single Jedi Council member would be committed to the battlefield barring four: Master Yaddle, Master Poof, Master Gallia, and Master Tsui Choi would remain behind.
Just in case the worst happened, those four would be entrusted to lead the Jedi Order through the harrowing times ahead.
A possibility and task that no one really wanted to contemplate.
There was a disquiet now hanging like a pall over the Temple. A dread and - yes - fear clouding everyone's mind. The halls were choked with it like a thick miasma.
It was suffocating.
I couldn't blame them. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't more than a little nervous myself.
My conscious mind couldn't even really grasp the scale of what was about to happen. In just a few weeks, the entire surface of a single planet and the space surrounding it would be engulfed by wholescale war.
It brought to mind Scion. The Warrior. The flashes and fragmented shards of memory of my final battle with him. Where worlds burned and millions died to buy time and nothing more.
Needless to say… I wasn't exactly in a better headspace right now than the Jedi at large.
I felt Vicky's hand slip into mind, the touch hidden by the fold of our robes as others marched past us.
I turned, looking at her, and I wasn't surprised to find that she was looking at me in concern.
"You ok?" she whispered
I nodded… then hesitated. "Don't know," I answered honestly. "Think so. You?"
She took a long, deep breath, pausing for a fair moment before she shook her head. "I don't know, either," she laughed. "This is… this is so much bigger all of a sudden, ya know?"
I did know. I did understand.
I just… wasn't really sure how to help.
"Taylor. Victoria."
We both turned, looking behind us to find Master Plo standing patiently behind us.
Vicky let my hand go. We owed Master Plo some discretion, if only nominally.
She turned, smiling. "Hey, Master. You good?"
"I was about to ask both of you the same," he answered gently, gesturing for us to follow into a nearby balcony for some privacy.
We did.
As the Coruscanti sun kissed our faces, I saw Master Plo pause, his silence stretching on for a long, long while. Long enough that Vicky and I shared a look of concern.
"Master?" Vicky called.
"I wish…" He paused. "The coming battle on Geonosis will be… dangerous. Chaotic. And it is inevitable, given your abilities, that the Council will request the two of you undertake immeasurable amounts of the fighting onto yourselves. Tactically, I'm already aware it's not possible to keep the two of you in one location. You're just too valuable."
Vicky winced and the bugs around me began to hiss and snap in agitation.
I hadn't considered that.
But he was right.
It made the most sense that, when we deployed, Vicky would be committed to one side of the battlefront and I to another.
That's how we usually did things.
Only, our battlefronts were usually measured in kilometers. Not planets.
"I'm… not asking for the both of you to simply be careful… but to be wary." He paused again, and this time I could sense the conflict within him. A personal war waging within himself . "Of the orders you receive."
Vicky and I went stiff.
"W-wait a sec," Vicky said hesitantly next to me. "Are you saying…?"
"You think someone in command will give us bad orders to get us killed? That they'd risk that? There? With the stakes being so high?" I demanded, a list of suspects shooting up to the forefront of my mind.
"I… cannot claim with certainty that they won't," he answered, somewhat dodging the question as he shook his head. "I sense… a darkness amidst the Council. Like the darkness in the galaxy, growing, devouring. I will discuss it with Masters Yoda, Windu and Yaddle… but… just…" He sighed, turning to face us. "Be careful."
Vicky nodded. "We will. We promise…" Then she shot out her finger, poking Master Plo in the chest. "But you gotta promise us something, too!" she demanded.
The Kel Dor waited patiently.
"If anything does happen to us, then you gotta take care of Karla and Iskt!" She demanded.
I didn't like contemplating either of us dying. But the possibility, I knew, was all too real.
So, my own disquiet aside… I looked at Plo Koon, nodding wordlessly.
There wasn't anyone on or off the Council I'd trust more.
"You took on two students before, so clearly you're the best qualified!" Vicky continued. "And you can teach Iskt to stop being so snarky."
"I wasn't able to manage that with you," Plo joked, making a smile tug at my own lips.
"I am clever!" Vicky corrected, her hand going to her chest. "Not snarky."
"Says the woman with a stylized V on her lightsaber hilt," I deadpanned.
"See!" she gestured towards me with a cheeky grin. "Clever! He gets all his snark from her side of the family!"
Plo Koon shook his head. He was still troubled, we all were, but I think he appreciated Vicky's attempt at easing his mind. Distracting him.
Either that, or I was just projecting.
Geonosis - its implications and its dangers - still loomed very, very large in all our minds… probably most of all in Vicky's.
(X)(X)(X)
And so here we have the "sense of scale" I told you all would be coming. Now you've got an idea as to what numbers we'll be playing around with in the upcoming battle (which is already underway on Patreon btw)
But I personally had a lot of fun with this, I have fun with most of the Council Scenes but adding in some good old military logistics is just icing on the cake for a nerd like me
Icipall
Don't worry, we can fanfix that!
- Location
- Cold snow fields of Finland
That's a tough nut to crack.
That is a massive concentration of force.
Go big or go home.
It has been a long time since you played around in a single city, or fought a single, super powerful baddie.
Do they have to take that planet at all? if it has only one hyperlane into the system, can they just blockade it (Bottlenecks work both ways!). That way they dont need to risk that many Troops, and cut of the CIS-forces in the galaxy from their biggest manufacoring planet. That way they eliminate Geonosis as mayor factor without mayor losses.
They just need a big enough Fleet to blockade the planet, no forces to invade it, and can hunt other bases that cant get any reinforcements from Geonosis. They can come back later, when its the last big target left, and have more troops free.
A planet with that manufactoring capacity needs lots of resources, with a blockade they cut them of those too, so the planets defenses cant be upgraded foerever.
Only downside is, that for us reader a blockade is not a exiting to read as a big multi-capter battle
They just need a big enough Fleet to blockade the planet, no forces to invade it, and can hunt other bases that cant get any reinforcements from Geonosis. They can come back later, when its the last big target left, and have more troops free.
A planet with that manufactoring capacity needs lots of resources, with a blockade they cut them of those too, so the planets defenses cant be upgraded foerever.
Only downside is, that for us reader a blockade is not a exiting to read as a big multi-capter battle
LD1449
To the last; Kill them all
- Location
- The other side of the labyrinth.
Do they have to take that planet at all? if it has only one hyperlane into the system, can they just blockade it (Bottlenecks work both ways!). That way they dont need to risk that many Troops, and cut of the CIS-forces in the galaxy from their biggest manufacoring planet. That way they eliminate Geonosis as mayor factor without mayor losses.
They just need a big enough Fleet to blockade the planet, no forces to invade it, and can hunt other bases that cant get any reinforcements from Geonosis. They can come back later, when its the last big target left, and have more troops free.
A planet with that manufactoring capacity needs lots of resources, with a blockade they cut them of those too, so the planets defenses cant be upgraded foerever.
Only downside is, that for us reader a blockade is not a exiting to read as a big multi-capter battle
Only one Hyperlane FOR THE REPUBLIC
Geonosis has a backdoor that goes through Tattoine. AKA Jabba's back yard AKA "No way in fucking hell am I allowing a fleet to move through here- Try it and that Pirate fleet that was Over Ryloth is coming back, with more friends."
So yeah, they kinda have to.
Not to mention tying up a 5th of your fleet to a single system for an unknown length of time in a war you're already low key losing is... complicated.
Icipall
Don't worry, we can fanfix that!
- Location
- Cold snow fields of Finland
There is also the fact that you don't have to follow established big hyperlanes to travel through hyperspace, it is just much easier, faster, safer and cheaper to travel by them. Even if there was only one big hyperlane there, blockading it would not be bottlenecking them. It would be the equivalent of blockading the highway to a city, leaving all the smaller roads untouched. Bad for the city, but not a full cordoning.
- Location
- The Internet?
I like the chunky logistics and plottin'! Thanks for sharing it with us.
Well, you know what I mean, right?
I know they telepaths, but this is 'mine?' I mean, not mine, but Taylor's, unless, like, she counts herself as Vicky's, which is to say-
Well, you know what I mean, right?
- Location
- Best England - United Kingdom
Well good luck to the Republic finding the Plans because as we all know the
Yes, their biggest, but not their only. And yes, blockades work both ways. Which means...they leave a significant portion of their fleet in that one and only hyperlance they have access to, leaving said fleet primed for the fleet of CIS from the -other- manufactoring planets to build up their fleet to send against the blockade fleet. Now Geonosis isn't just the biggest manu-planet, it's now a giant anvil that the incoming CIS fleet will act as a hammer for. Remember, the CIS can replace their losses in the fraction of the time the Republic could. It's an all or nothing gambit and one they have no choice but to make.
Crayz9000
Deranged Bounty Hunter
- Location
- Improbably superpositioned
I can't remember if it came up in the story before what happens when Taylor's power encounters sapient insectoid aliens.