“—As you can see, my analysis was correct.
The CIS droids can bury Coruscant in their own wreckage and still take the city, provided they don’t lose command.
Tactical droid capabilities won’t be enough to sustain an organized offensive.
They’ll most likely fall back, especially if the Republic—”
“Stop and just give me your assessment.
What do you think happens next?”
“Based on the information available to me, if the Republic concentrates all its forces at Coruscant, it has a real chance of repelling the attack.
But their military strength is spread across the entire galaxy — fighting’s raging in a dozen places, and troops won’t be able to redeploy to defend the capital in time.
There’s also a possibility the Republic strikes back at key CIS leader-worlds instead.
In that case, the Separatists might have to pull ships back from the capital to defend their own territory, though that outcome is unlikely.
By my estimate, the chance of the capital falling exceeds seventy percent.”
“And what about the situation on our planet?”
“According to my calculations, the clone forces here will most likely withdraw to reinforce the capital.
The probability of looting, robbery, and general anarchy breaking out afterward sits at ninety percent.
The current authorities won’t have the manpower to protect the population.”
“Well.
Sounds like a perfect opportunity to get ourselves a personal ship.”
“Agreed.
Given our current resources, I calculate a ninety-three percent chance of successfully stealing a suitable vessel.”
Unfortunately, that didn’t pan out.
Against all reasonable logic, most of the ground garrison stayed put on the planet.
It was the ships parked in orbit that all left for Coruscant instead — though what remained on the ground was still more than enough to keep crime under control.
Very strange.
Their capital was dying, and they still weren’t committing everything they had.
Why?
There was nothing on this planet valuable enough to explain that.
Surely not my lab?
Maybe there was some valuable equipment down there, but not valuable enough to gamble the whole war on.
For days straight, we followed the events unfolding on Coruscant without looking away.
The fate of the entire galaxy hung on the outcome — and, more importantly to me, so did my own.
Every day, the capital’s situation got worse.
CIS droids pressed the defenders harder and harder, and even a steady stream of Republic reinforcements couldn’t turn the tide.
Then the Separatists landed a blow nobody saw coming.
Having thrown every available soldier into defending the city, Republic command made one critical oversight.
Despite his full personal security detail, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine was kidnapped right out of his own chambers.
The pillar holding up the Republic itself, the man who’d propped up this crumbling state, the man everyone said would lead the galaxy into a brighter future — every one of those descriptions pointed to a single person.
Sheev Palpatine, the man who’d spent over a decade dragging the Republic back onto its feet.
His loss hit the Republic forces hard. This story is hosted at novelping.com.
But there was no denying the fact: General Grievous had wiped out the Chancellor’s guards and taken him straight off the planet.
If not for a short delay, the Republic could have been counted as defeated right then.
But Generals Kenobi and Skywalker’s forces reached the battle just in time, pinning Grievous’s ship in orbit.
Jedi managed to board the flagship of that machine-monster, and somehow — by some miracle — they freed Palpatine.
Word later got out that they’d also killed Count Dooku.
Not long after that, the endless waves of arriving Republic reinforcements finally routed the Separatist fleet.
Fighting continued on the ground for a while longer, but with no air support left, the droids were wiped out fast.
Hearing all that, I let out a breath of relief.
So Han had been wrong — the war might drag on for a good while longer.
The CIS fleet and army had taken a serious beating, sure, but their factories were still running flat out, and they were nowhere near out of resources.
Which meant I still had time to build up my own strength and put together a real plan.
Once the Battle of Coruscant was finally over, I let myself relax and turned my attention to sorting and analyzing what we’d pulled from the dispatch room’s computer.
I needed to figure out what exactly was so valuable about this lab — or maybe it wasn’t valuable at all, but it beat leaving my head empty.
Much to my disappointment, the only thing pointing toward an actual thread I could pull on was the name Master Lyman Jay Kurra.
Every attempt to connect the equipment data to any practical application went nowhere.
Way too much raw data.
I’d hand it off to Han later — his brain doesn’t get tired, might as well put it to good use.
To my deep disappointment, everything I managed to dig up boiled down to a handful of words.
Born, lived, died.
A Knight of the Jedi Order, nothing remarkable about him.
Presumed dead for the last fifty years.
His actual fate unknown.
Well.
Slim pickings.
And that pathetic little summary had cost me several days of active digging and buying up scraps of information.
I stretched, stepped out of the room where I’d been rereading the results on a datapad.
Figured I’d grab a bite to eat…
Pain shot through my body — screams, a paralyzing shock, confusion, terror, a whole insane cocktail of emotions flooding my mind all at once.
I dropped to my knees and grabbed my head.
Through the Force I could hear fragments of unclear voices, the cries of the dying.
Over the whole chaotic din, one voice rose above the rest, sounding like it was coming from a thousand places at once.
A cold voice carrying an unshakable sense of power and authority.
I gathered what was left of my will and forced myself to listen, to make out what this figure — a presence that inspired both fear and the urge to bow — was actually saying.
“Execute Order 66.”
“Execute Order 66.”
The Force itself seemed to tear apart from the deaths of countless sentients who shared a close bond with it.
And with it, everyone who could feel it suffered too.
Only that one voice stayed calm, repeating itself over and over, radiating what felt like grim satisfaction.
Like this being was actually savoring the chaos of pain and screaming surrounding it.
“Execute Order 66.” This chapter is updated first at g.com.
A cold, terrifying sense of death washed over my body again.
I remembered dying once already.
It had been terrifying — insanely, unbearably terrifying.
I wanted to curl up as small as I could, hide, run, put off the inevitable for even a second longer.
Fear became the spark for fury, and fury for rage.
I snarled, forced myself to my knees, and tried to stand.
My legs kept buckling, and part of me wanted nothing more than to collapse back to the floor and curl up in the farthest corner.
Fear and pain meant nothing — I was above that.
Rage gave me strength.
I could feel the monster somewhere close by, but it wasn’t trying to seize control.
No — this thing seemed to be waiting, studying this interesting new creature it had found.
“Master?
Are you all right?” Han stood on the stairs, watching me closely.
“I can bring the medkit, if you happen to need—”
“No.
Turn on the live feed from Coruscant.”
“But your condition—”
“I.
Said.
Turn it on.”
The Force vibrated in my voice, filled it, and it obeyed me completely.
“As you say, Master.”
Han activated the holotable and, just as intently as me, listened to the speech of a man whose face was hidden beneath a hood.
Suddenly, it hit me.
I knew this man.
Two images overlapped in my mind.
Darth Sidious — that terrifying creature with sagging skin and yellow eyes from the movies I’d watched as a kid — and the Chancellor of the Galactic Republic, a man radiating warmth and confidence, a man who inspired faith in a brighter future.
They were the same being.
Right now, Palpatine was delivering a speech about a Jedi conspiracy to overthrow the Senate and seize power.
“…And the Jedi Rebellion has been foiled.
The remaining Jedi will be hunted down and defeated!
…The attempt on my life has left me scarred.
I am disfigured!
But I assure you, my resolve has never been stronger.
In the name of security, and in the name of greater stability, the Republic will be reorganized by us into the first Galactic Empire — for the safety, and for the good, of its citizens!”
————— com / BifrostFics