Chapter 35

Orbit of Vorzyd V, Vorzyd System

Vorzyd Sector

The Harbinger was a beautiful ship. Scout watched as Master Skywalker lingered under the viewports–a rare, unguarded expression gracing his face as he trailed his gloved fingers along each and every shiny and flat surface of his flagship’s bridge. The surfaces Scout had slaved away every night since her assignment to memorise and learn, until she could draw their internal circuitry on the back of her hand.

After all, her master was going to be the Anakin Skywalker. How could she have not heard of his seemingly defining characteristic?

Whenever and wherever military types crossed paths—in battle, in briefings, in small talk with a drink in whatever mess hall, or even the occasional civilian bar. Even the Jedi who fought on the front lines talked about him, too. Everyone who relied on the massive Republic warships knew that their odds of survival had increased because Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker liked to muck about with machines—when he wasn’t busy being the scourge of the Separatists.

So Scout learned to keep up. The long-range scanning station, comms, helm, tactical, atmospherics, and everything else that kept Harbinger lumbering along and fighting. And yet, no matter how much she tried, she knew she would never understand Master Skywalker’s love for his machines. She doubted anybody would.

Oblivious to his audience, to the urgency of their mission, the Jedi Knight communed in leisurely silence with the newly commissioned cruiser. As though they shared a telepathic conversation– as if the ship were whispering secrets in his ear.

Anakin Skywalker loves machines as if they were living, breathing creatures.

She knew this. She knew this because each and every component was pristine and spotless; no blaster burns, no scorch marks from shorted wiring, no war wounds at all. And Anakin Skywalker could only ever regard all of it with this subdued, rueful smile. One nearly wishful.

Because Anakin Skywalker had a pristine, spotless cruiser before. His very first. The very first command he ever received following his ascension to Jedi Knight.

Resolute.

And on Resolute’s very first major engagement, she was shot and torn apart. The very moment Anakin Skywalker departed his first flagship to battle on the crystal grounds of Christophsis, the Separatists struck like a viper and made him pay dearly.

Firsts… were important. Scout knew this. Resolute must’ve felt like tangible proof that he was truly a Jedi Knight–a Jedi General–more so than any ceremonious Knighting or removal of Padawan braid. And he failed that responsibility.

Scout knew this because she knew that feeling all too well. After all, Master Skywalker was tangible proof that she truly was a Jedi Padawan–more so than any dumb tournament. She felt a tiny prickle of fright. No, no, no. Don’t think about that, don’t think like that. I’ve prepared for this, fought for this.

Besides, once assigned to this man she had made her own private and personal vow quite apart from the public oaths she’d sworn in the Jedi Temple.

I will not be the Padawan who gets the Chosen One killed.

Even more so after everything he’s done for me.

“Unpleasant thoughts, Commander?”

If it wasn’t for the shiver that ran through her body beforehand, Scout might’ve just leapt out of her skin at Admiral Yularen’s sudden comment. Her precognition was the only Force ability she had any pride in, but the Admiral somehow had a way of sneaking up on her every time. No, not just her; the man was not unlike a cat, slinking around, which she supposed kept the crew on their toes in every waking hour.

He took her startled silence as its own answer, “A word of advice, Commander. If even I can infer your thoughts from mere conjecture, then your mind is most certainly laid bare to the General.”

Scout stared at Master Skywalker. If the Jedi Knight did indeed, then he never showed it.

“…Is there anything I must relay to the General, Admiral sir?” she asked.

“What do you suppose it will be?” Admiral Yularen looked down at her, an eyebrow raised.

Scout observed the quiet hustle of the datapits, then at the fleet of Horgo Shive just a scant few million klicks away. The Siege of Vorzyd V was in a deadlock, with the Separatist Havoc Squadron stubbornly refusing to sally out from the range of Vorzyd’s ground-to-orbit batteries.

After a brief scuffle on Nam Chorios, their battle group was ordered to pin down Havoc Squadron while High General Rancisis led the assault on Columex. Scout had heard that it was much the same for other elements of the Open Circle, with General Kenobi’s half besieging Sy Myrth in order to hold the entire Triellus Trade Route hostage. The strategy was simple; deprive the Separatists of their numerical superiority by pinning down as many of their fleet assets as possible by positioning their inferior numbers in strategically critical locations.

It worked, as last she heard, the joint Sector Fleets outnumbered the Separatists–a true statistical anomaly. On the other hand, Scout couldn’t help but notice that it was the Open Circle Fleet that had been sidelined to this menial–albeit crucial–task. If she had to hazard a guess, Scout would say Republic High Command depended on Columex as a badly needed victory, and couldn’t risk the Jedi Command taking credit.

Regardless, after their objective had been completed, Governor-General Renau soon gave the order to assault the Vorzyd System directly. But to Scout’s buried, traitorous relief, it appeared that Horgo Shive had learned his lesson from his defeat at Vjun. Now, the Muun commander refused to leave the umbrella of Vorzyd’s orbital defences, and after the terrifying reminder of what GTO artillery could accomplish at Salvara, Admiral Yularen wasn’t willing to risk approaching either. To make matters worse, Havoc Squadron and the Vorzyd System Defence Fleet had taken to forming a battle lattice that hugged the hemisphere of the planet. Whenever Admiral Yularen tried to manoeuvre around and prod for a weakpoint, the battle lattice would shadow them.

It was a stalemate.

Scout hoped a Republic victory at Columex would soon arrive, prompting Horgo Shive and Vorzyd to surrender. The battle must be over by now.

And now, Admiral Yularen had news for the General. Scout could only think of two reasons why, and a quick quiver from the Force told her she was correct.

“Either we assault Vorzyd immediately,” she started, “Or we are to withdraw.”

Admiral Yularen crossed his arms, “A Jedi’s funny feeling?”

“No sir–” Scout started, before thinking better of it, “Well… maybe a little.”

The Admiral regarded her with leonine eyes, “That may be beyond me, but try not to undersell yourself, Commander. Know your strengths, you’ll find yourself walking far. Come, let’s take this to the General.”

It was obvious Master Skywalker was expectant, from the tight smile he flicked at them. Anakin Skywalker was notoriously impatient, even more so when it was self-inflicted. As the commanding Jedi General of the battle group, even Admiral Yularen had to defer to him–and thus there was nothing stopping him from ordering an all out assault on the enemy positions.

Nothing, other than the fact that they were facing a Separatist battle lattice. The same tactic Anakin Skywalker had suffered greatly at the hands of, twice now. Obviously, Horgo Shive knew that too. Internally, a small part of Scout hoped his hesitation was also a symptom of their personal exchange only a scant few weeks ago.

“We have an incoming transmission from Horgo Shive’s flagship,” the Admiral informed bluntly.

Her stomach leapt. Incoming transmission? Does that mean he’s surrendering?

Master Skywalker shot her a brief glare, and Scout crushed her internal monologue just as swiftly.

“Let’s hear it,” the Jedi Knight replied calmly,

“Put it through, Lieutenant!” Yularen called.

Lieutenant Avrey, their resident chief comms officer, hastily saluted and fiddled with her console, prompting a holographic bust of a Muun commander to burst out of the forward dashboard. Horgo Shive sported an impossibly smug, self-satisfied smile that immediately tossed her hopes into doubt.

“Good day, General Skywalker,” The Muun commander spoke in a tone that suggested he was a victor speaking to the vanquished, “You must have received the news by now. The Republic Senate had just extended an offer of ceasefire to the Confederacy. All fighting in the Near Perlemian is to end, effective immediately. I suggest we bring this affair to an end, and that you comply with your government’s wishes by lifting your blockade.”

With an effort Scout smoothed her expression into uncaring blandness, mirroring her Master’s similarly emotionless expression. It was at this point that Scout wished she possessed Ahsoka’s empathic talents, so that she could peer into Master Skywalker’s impenetrable poise for even a moment.

General Anakin Skywalker turned to face Admiral Yularen, and for a brief moment Scout felt like an intruder upon the silent conversation the two men shared.

Master Skywalker released an imperceptibly small breath, and turned back to their enemy, “We will begin withdrawing our forces. No in-system shipping will be molested from my men from this point onwards, you have my word.”

“…Let me ask you this, Master Jedi,” Horgo Shive leaned forward, holding his chin with spindly fingers, “Do you believe your Senate’s vision of peace is attainable?”

“No,” Master Skywalker’s answer was swift and blunt, “Not against you Separatists.”

“Enlightening as always, you mystics,” Shive chuckled, before haphazardly cutting the connection.

Master Skywalker’s shoulders lifted, and plunged down in an explosive sigh, “So we lost.”

“The lack of communications is concerning, and suggests great disarray,” Admiral Yularen noted, “But our scoutships have been reporting signs of emergency jumps into nearby systems from the direction of Columex. I am afraid you may be correct, General.”

We lost. The greatest–largest–fleet in the history of the Republic lost against the Separatists.

“Still, peace?” her Master muttered, “I must speak to the Council on this.”

“I will send a request for orders,” Admiral Yularen whirled around and marched back towards the Battle Room, with Master Skywalker close on his tail.

“Tallisibeth,” said her Master, not even looking over his shoulder–as if in an afterthought, “How many times do I have to tell you? Our thoughts create our reality. Cut it out.”

Her cheeks burned in shame, hating how her Master always seemed to be able to sense her true feelings. Was it the same for Ahsoka? Scout was doubtful–Master Kenobi probably wasn’t as… inclement as Master Skywalker. A confused sense of envy rose in her. Would she prefer Obi-Wan Kenobi as her master?

In an unusual outburst of defiance, Scout unwisely decides to test her Master– “Speaking from experience, Master?”

Anakin Skywalker froze, and she immediately knew she ought to be on her knees begging for forgiveness. But she didn’t, and as the Chosen One slowly. creakily, turned around, Scout decided she would endure any punishment if she was able to get an answer out of him.

His glance down at her was severe, “The things I know that you don’t, Padawan, would fill a Corellian spice freighter. Twice.”

O-oh, okay.

“…Yes, Master.”

The Battle Room was inhabited by the holographic Jedi Council, including Master Kcaj and Master Kolar–who had replaced Master Mundi and Master Koth respectively–along with a dozen more front line Jedi, for an ad hoc strategy conference.

Impatient and insubordinate as always, Anakin Skywalker declared– “How is it that I found out about this peace effort from a Separatist commander–?” the moment he stepped into the sensor range of the holoproj table.

“Anakin… must you?” Master Kenobi was audibly exasperated as Scout meekly followed in her Master’s shadow. The moment her skin prickled from the holoproj scanning and inserting her form, Ahsoka noticed and gave a subtle wave.

Scout grinned, and waved back.

“What?” Anakin Skywalker asked, “We lost. So just how badly did we lose? HQ must be regretting not having the Open Circle participate in the battle.”

“That’s enough out of you, Skywalker,” Master Windu was grim and humourless, “Master Rancisis has fallen.”

A sombre blanket fell over the meeting, and even Master Skywalker sobered up– “How?”

How did Oppo Rancisis fall? How did three Councilmembers lose their lives in the first year of the war?

“From what the survivors tell us,” Master Plo Koon said, “It appears the Separatists unveiled a new superweapon, destroying both of Kuat’s dreadnoughts and much of the combined fleet.”

“And peace is the Senate’s answer?” Master Even Piell scowled, “Do they not realise that we are winning? Loss or no loss, we have still captured half of the Foundry, and our northern fleets had just liberated Dantooine and Ord Trasi. Not to mention our southern fronts are proceeding smoothly, with Knight Alrix on route to Vondarc as we speak.”

The diminutive Jedi Master gestured towards a tall, flinty woman dressed head to toe in stark white plastoid armour, not unlike a cloned troopers’. Even an entire galaxy away, Scout still heard tales of the Jedi Knight from chit-chatting officers in the mess. It was said that the Coburn Plan was originally meant to be nothing more than a limited offensive entirely contained in the Colonies and Inner Rim, until the Emerald Banner Command leveraged its influence to expand the effort to encompass the entire Rimma Trade Route.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Most were pessimistic about the strategy. Even with both the Emerald Banner Fleet and embattled Night Hammer Fleet, the combined Separatist forces on the Rimma outnumbered Republic fleets three-to-one. That was, until Jedi Knight Rees Alrix took command and scored victory after victory every step of the way down the Rimma Trade Route, crushing numerically superior enemy fleets as it was only natural.

“It’s a matter of perspective, Master Piell,” Master Kenobi reasoned, “To the citizens, we have just suffered the single largest defeat and loss of life since the New Sith Wars. Both the Senate and public are outraged, and demanding answers.”

Master Piell wasn’t done; “This could have been avoided if we–”

“Trust us, the Republic does not,” Master Yoda cut in mournfully, “Not after our failure at Christophsis, hm?”

“They had Master Rancisis take command of the combined fleet,” Master Fisto pointed out.

Master Gallia, one of the few Councilmembers still present on Coruscant, shook her head, “The Senate is demanding answers from High Command, and High Command is demanding answers from the Jedi Temple. They are blaming the defeat on Master Rancisis’ failure of command.”

Anakin Skywalker slammed his fists on the table, “Those chickenshit bastards–!”

“Anakin!” Master Kenobi snapped in a rare display of ire, “Control yourself! Remind yourself that you are no longer a Padawan.”

Scout looked away as her Master silently fumed.

“Increasingly isolated, the Temple is,” Master Yoda lamented, “Return to Coruscant, Master Ti, Master Kenobi, and Master Windu will.”

“Master Windu as well?” Master Skywalker questioned, “What about the Bothans?”