If you want to help me financially, you can do it on https://www.patreon.com/NeverluckySMILE
"Out of my way, out of my way! What are you doing here, this is my...!" an Albingi security officer barged through into the crime scene, only to stop as he saw the back of the grieving counselor. "Brother?"
"Carnon," the Counselor turned, eyes wide with grief and rage. "Carnon, why is my son here? Why is he dead?"
Carnon looked at the corpse numbly. "Little Stripes? But...He wasn't...? That's not...? How did he...?"
His eyes went to the human corpse on the floor, eyes wide and trembling with a growing sense of rage and betrayal.
Qui-Gon frowned, speaking up at last. "You know who this is, don't you?"
Carnon looked to the Jedi sharply but was unable to form a reply.
"Brother," the counselor stalked to his brother, his form trembling in wrath and sorrow. "What have you done? What did you drag my child, your namesake, into!?"
Carnon stood there for a moment, eyes drifting back to his nephew. "Forgive me, Brother. It seems I choose my allies poorly."
The counselor was suddenly upon him, the guards trying to separate the two. But for a politician, the counselor was strong and his brother offered no resistance.
"Counselor," Qui-Gon spoke up, drawing an uneasy silence as the Albingi politician stopped. "Your brother is willing to speak. He is grieving just as much as you."
The counselor looked, truly looked at his brother, and saw Carnon's eyes were numb with horror as if he was in some terrible nightmare that would not end. The counselor did not waver in his anger, but it was held back by mutual understanding. He sagged and waited.
Qui-Gon studied the situation carefully. The basics were easy to deduce. The counselor's brother was part of a conspiracy to ensure their race of Albingi somehow gained power or dominance over the other two. The counselor's son had been involved to some degree. And yet human allies, outsiders obviously were involved, and that somehow led to the young Albingi being killed.
"Brother, I will tell you everything. You can have the Jedi kill me if I try anything," Carnon said solemnly. "But I fear we must move fast. I believe my goals have been betrayed and our entire world might be in danger."
The counselor glanced at Qui-Gon. He wasn't about to be used as an executioner, but he also wouldn't say anything to imply he wouldn't. It would only complicate things at the moment.
The counselor looked at his brother again and nodded. "Tell me what we need to know?"
"There are four more humans. They have access to more samples of the blight and...and the cure," Carnon confessed.
"A cure?" several of the officers muttered in shock and relief.
"If it's real. I don't know any more if that too wasn't a lie," Carnon said with a frown. "But I can tell you where everything is."
"Before you do," Qui-Gon spoke up. "Was that explosion your people's doing?"
Carnon looked to the agents and his brother in bewilderment. "We had reports of a covert attack. I thought that was your doing."
"Your "poor choice of allies" may be covering their tracks then," the counselor said bitterly.
Qui-Gon hummed as he watched events unfold. Ideally, he'd go locate his Padawan now, but-
Speak of the whump-rat. "Counselor, we need to go up a level, to a balcony," Qui-Gon informed after a moment.
"What? What are you talking about?" Carnon questioned.
"I believe my Padawan is on the roof, and he has someone with him," Qui-Gon informed.
Someone connected to all of this in one way or another probably, was the silent understanding.
"Come, and tell them everything, "brother." Guards, send everyone you can to the locations he gives, cautiously," the counselor ordered.
"Counselor, perhaps you should return to your office?" Qui-Gon suggested, concerned for the man's emotional state and physical safety.
"Master Jedi, I have just discovered that my brother may have turned my son into a bigoted soldier to resurrect our planet's race war," the counselor pointed out, dropping every bit of decorum and keeping only a veil of politeness. "I will return to my office only when...when I know what happened today. When I know what to tell my wife. Now, let us go. And someone ...someone get my boy out of this disgusting hole and to the morgue."
Anger was not the Jedi way. Yet this was no Jedi, Qui-Gon knew, but rather a father to a murdered son. Anger was the only thing keeping him from collapsing into sorrow.
Meanwhile
The exchange of blaster fire echoed long and hard across the halls of the Executor. Such full-scale battle was ill-advised in small crafts. In capital ships such as a star destroyer? One merely had to keep in mind how many walls were between them and the vacuum of space. In something as massive as the Executor? It had endured over a year of civil war and was still operational despite the damage it had taken.
And yet, the blaster fire from their enemies grew more hesitant as soon as Vader made his appearance.
"Sir! Captain Advard of the Third Liberator boarding party," the captain saluted from behind his cover. "Happy you're here."
"Our enemies appear rather uncommitted," Vader remarked, pausing as a grenade went off in another hallway.
"Committed enough to not fall back, Sir," Advard countered. "Orders, Sir?"
Vader stared down an officer from across the way who was taking aim at him. Vader scrutinized the man. He was as scared to fire as he was to not fire.
He shot and it missed Vader. Intentionally.
"Sir?" Advard asked again.
"A moment, Captain," Vader said suspiciously as he stepped forward with his lightsaber drawn.
There was a pause as the troopers seemed to realize how close to dying they really were.
The officer sighed to himself. "Kriff this. Everyone, stand down!"
With that, he threw down his weapon and jumped over the cover, with his arms raised.
"You idiot! You'll get us all killed!" one of his comrades yelled out.
"I'll take my chances!" he called out over his shoulder as he made his way towards Vader, hoping the Dark Lord would not slaughter him right away.
Fortunately, Vader did not. But one of the officer's troopers had taken aim to shoot at the man before Vader used the Force to yank the weapon out of hand. No one else dared to try and provoke the Sith further.
Despite the fighting going on in other halls, Vader focused his attention solely on this man. "There is a reason why your forces continue to fight," Vader remarked ominously.
The officer nodded stiffly as he brought his hands up and slowly removed his helmet, tossing it to the far side.
A strange move, but Vader could see the dread in the man's eyes as he stared at the discarded armor.
"Yes, Sir," the trooper started carefully. "Any other circumstances, you would have had the Executor the moment you set foot on it."
"And what circumstances make your men fear Ozzel as much as me?" Vader questioned pointedly.
"Lord Vader? Ozzel is a Nutter."
Vader paused at that. Interesting. Perhaps he should have expected that, that Ozzel had succumbed to such madness. "Tell me everything."
Meanwhile
Plagueis once possessed a fear of heights.
Obviously, that had been torn and ripped from his being during the early days of his Sith training. But it was a useful former habit in that it enabled him to perfectly imitate someone being scared of sliding off a curved roof and falling hundreds of feet to their deaths.
He just had to be sure and sell it with a slip or two of his "unsteady" feet against the wind.
So, this was what fresh Albingi air smiled like? Definitely one of the more pleasant-smelling atmospheres he had experienced.
Putting that aside, he turned his attention back to the Padawan just ahead of him as they made their way to the main building.
His pressence in the Force was just as bright as when he first noticed him back on Coruscant. He definitely needed to try and get this boy to come to the Dark Side, but not now. Ignoring everything else going on in the galaxy, the Jedi were heading to another schism. If there was anything that was going to turn a great many Jedi into Sith candidates, it would be that.
Between that and the upcoming war, he decided to see how things fell and influence them as much as he could.
Still.
What was the connection between Vader and this child, this possible Chosen One?
"Magister! Keep your head down!" Anakin called out over the wind, holding his lightsaber. It was unlit, but his caution was clear.
The Muun looked up and saw there were security officers gathered at the only spot where they could climb back into the safety of the government building. It was hard to say if these were part of the conspiracy or not, or a mix of both.
Regardless, there was a familiar face.
"Anakin!" Qui-Gon called out, observing them carefully.
And no doubt noticed how his Padawan was observing the security agents cautiously even as they approached.
Qui-Gon Jinn. What a dangerous enemy. Not in terms of raw power, no, but more than once had Qui-Gon been close to discovering things Plagueis had no desire to be discovered. His connection to the Force might not be the strongest, but it was definitely...clearer, if Plagueis had to put a word to it, than most Jedi. The Force was less of a mystery to this man, and that made him more dangerous than most could imagine.
For the Dark Side, he was a dangerous element to be training someone like Skywalker, but also very fascinating. After all, what would such a "clear" connection be like, if it were to come to their side of the Force?
"Magister," Anakin spoke up as they approached the edge. "I'll help you up, but be careful. Just in case."
Just in case this turned into a battle, Plagueis understood with a nod. "You should be careful as well, Skywalker."
Anakin had a strange smile at that, as if he had heard that many, many times. Given what he knew of the boy's adventures as a Jedi Padawan, he could imagine as much.
Hego climbed up. It was a short distance, half a dozen feet out of Plagueis's reach. No issue for a Jedi or a Sith, and it would not be surprising for even someone like Hego Damask to be able to manage such a climb. He just had to make it seem like it took more effort than it really did.
He reached up in a silent ask for help as he reached the edge, more than one hand reaching out to aid him.
Beneath every layer of his persona, Plagueis stiffened as one of those helping hands was Qui-Gon himself. This close and it would be so easy for Qui-Gon to sense any thought or feeling just beneath the surface if Plagueis wasn't careful.
But the Dark Side smiled on Plagueis, for the Jedi Master had some rather powerful distraction. Not his Padawan scaling up to safely join them, but the counselor and another Albingi.
They were radiating many dark feelings, and if the counselor had any talent for the force, he'd be looking like a tempting potential Dark Sider to train.
Plagueis smiled to himself when Qui-Gon released his arm, before turning an uncertain look to Carnon.
"Magister Damask," the counselor greeted with a much harder tone than Plagueis could recall the man ever using. "I was told you had left the planet, but I see that was another lie I was fed," he said, glaring at his brother.
Qui-Gon shared a look with Anakin who was very tense while still at the edge of the balcony, staring at all the guards with suspicion. "We already know, Anakin," he informed, nodding to Carnon. "He's confessed to much, including trying to have you assassinated, Magister."
"Ah. I thought I recognized him. I was worried his friend gave me brain damage before your Padawan saved me," Plagueis informed.
"Good. Can I ask the obvious question of why he's not arrested?" Anakin asked, his posture relaxing.
"My brother will pay for his actions later," the counselor remarked. "Their human allies have turned on them and need to be stopped."
Plagueis chuckled in his mind. Yes, it seemed his "little" present had paid off. It had been so easy to weave his control over the counselor's son, a beloved nephew of one of the secret leaders of this conspiracy. The poor boy wasn't a bigot, not by Plagueis's estimation. Simply a soul who believed that his people were heading to civil war once more, as much as he didn't want it to be so. He was so happy someone like Hego Damask was helping preserve peace on this planet.
He could only imagine how confused that boy was when he was suddenly the one in the chair, taking part of the beating inflicted on Hego Damask, and ultimately taking the bullet meant to execute the muun.
All to rouse the ire of the calm counselor and deal an emotional blow to the brother, enough to betray this endeavor to some degree.
Everyone, even Plagueis, jumped at the sound of an explosion coming from down below in the maintenance areas.
"I think we should speed up stopping them, or you might need a new building soon," Anakin remarked with a frown.
The comment wasn't truly a joke, but Plagueis found it funny.
Arden Lyn wouldn't blow up the entire building.
Well, not on purpose. Not for this.
Meanwhile
The battle was still going on, but Vader had made his way into the heart of enemy territory.
-We didn't notice at first. Ozzel was always a bit high-strung.-
Not that they offered any resistance now. In fact, they invited him.
-No one...really planned on following him long-term, I don't think.-
The troopers didn't say a word. They acted like he was just something to move around.
-We couldn't say anything. He can hear us through our radios, even when we're not using them.-
The officers nodded to him though, and there was a tired relief about them. The exhaustion that can only come from fearing for your life every day and seeing an end to that dread at last.
-You've seen the damage on the ship outside, right? He got a Nutter to make a lot of bombs and had them planted at points to cut off Piett and his men.-
Their eyes, their weariness were not unlike that of a slave's, he realized grimly. Similarity to his youngest years always seemed to follow him, even across timelines.
-But...when some of us talked about making peace with Piett...Ozzel had those men spaced.-
He could sense it now, Ozzel. The man's presence was familiar, yet it was now like a rabid animal. Not rabid with rage, but with paranoid fear, ready to launch himself at every disturbance like it was an attempt on his life.
-He gathered everyone at the top, the officers and captains and all of them. He told them he had a bomb. One big enough to send everyone into to void.-
He reached a conference room, filled with a few officers. The door closed behind him and one of the men gestured for him to stand in a specific spot. Vader accepted the silent instruction.
-He said he'd do it if we were going to lose the ship to Piett or...or if he was betrayed.-
They began working on the controls on the side of the table at the center, activating a holo-communicator.
-We don't know if it's true, but...we know that Ozzel believes it. And that's scary enough.-
"What is it?! Why haven't we jumped to Hyperspace yet!?" Ozzel screeched before his form even fully flickered into existence on the device. He wass completely ignorant that the Dark Lord was in the room, off to the side and near the back
The Dark Lord took him in keenly. This man did not resemble the foolish admiral he remembered. Ozzel's eyes were bloodshot, sunken, and twitching. His once clean and crisp uniform was in disarray and stained heavily. His mustache had grown out of control, with a matching beard.
This man was a wreck in every sense of the word.
"Admiral," the officer greeted with a tense salute. "I come bearing news; we believe Lord Vader was killed in a collaps-"
"DO NOT LIE TO ME!" Ozzel screamed, and it sounded more terrified than angry, his sunken eyes almost bulging from their sockets. ""Vader isn't here, it's a lie, a scare tactic! And if he was here, no mere bomb could kill him!"
"Sir, I am only reporting to you what I have heard," The officer said desperately.
"And why haven't I heard of this myself!? Monitoring all these channels isn't easy, but I think I would have heard someone celebrating about killing Vader, fake or not!" Ozzel countered.
Vader had planned to kill Ozzel from the moment he learned of the civil war aboard his ship.
He just didn't think that killing him might be giving the man a mercy.
His hand tightened.
"Now go back and tell the troopers to-GUH!" Ozzel stopped, gasping in terror the instant he felt the invisible hand on his neck.
With reflexes Vader was surprised the man had, Ozzel reached into his belt and pulled out a pen-like device. The Sith Lord could feel the men in the room growing terrified as they saw the hologram of Ozzel try to press the button.
But his thumb would not press down.
Vader calmly walked into view as the others stood back.
He stepped right in front of Ozzel and looked into his eyes as he continued to strangle him with the Force. "It seems your fears have outpaced even your ego, Admiral," Vader said coldly.
Ozzel glared in terror and rage, and still he tried to press the button.
Even when his thumb broke.
Vader watched it in dark fascination. He didn't break Ozzel's thumb, that was entirely the man's own doing, trying to push against Vader's own power. It was no different than a man breaking their thumb against a solid wall. And he kept trying. If he lived long enough, Vader was certain the bones would be exposed from the effort.
He kept the man still as he choked him and refused to let him press the switch to whatever weapon Ozzel believed himself to have.
It was strange. Vader almost felt something akin to pity for the admiral. For all his foolishness, this madness was not Ozzel's own doing. Vader wondered, when had Ozzel lost his mind but had been able to hide it? Had becoming a Nutter been what caused Ozzel to start this war with Piett, or was it his own hubris? Vader didn't know.
So he didn't mock the man further. He gave him a quiet, quick death as he snapped the neck.
Ozzel's corpse dropped, and Vader was mindful enough to keep the trigger from falling. He levitated it down to the surface of Ozzel's own communicator, taking care not to trigger it.
With that, Vader released his power completely and turned to the men.
"It is done," Vader said firmly.
The officer nodded, turning to his comrades. "Send out the word, tell everyone Ozzel is dead and to stand down. We're surrendering."
End of Chapter
Well, that ends the civil war on the Exeecutor. Yeah, Ozzel was a nutter too, and his soldiers were loyal out of fear of a possible bomb Ozzel had to kill everyone on board. Even by Vader's standards, its a fairly reasonable reason to not surrender.
But yeah, when Palgeuis was taking that beating? That was the counselor's son, everyone thinking it was Hego Damask thanks to the illusions. Just our favorte Sith scientist turning the entire conspiracy against itself with his usual ease. Granted, he was very nervous about being exposed by Qui-Gon, unsurprisingly.
Still, the Executor is not Vader's just yet, but the main obstacle is out of the way. Now he just needs to clear up some pests and figure out repairing a super stardestroyer.