I do not own any of the Star Wars and DC characters and ideas represented in this work.
"I fight because that is what I was made to do and the Empire is the instrument through which I realize my purpose. The Empire is war made manifest. That is why it is perfect." - Darth Malgus
Imperial Navy Battlegroup Obsidian Blade exited hyperspace on the outer edge of the Rimbor Star System. Warships with a gray, dull color boomed out of a blue extra-dimensional tunnel and into real space. In front of the wedge-like formation were two Imperial-class I star destroyers. The one in front of them and in charge of the fleet was the flagship of the New Imperial Navy: the Imperial Navy Ship, the INS Eternal Vigilance, the personal ship of the Emperor, Darth Vader. Flanking on her left and right, respectively, were the two ISDs, INS Almeracia and INS Raacal's Sword.
The Eternal Vigilance was a Tector-class star destroyer. Similar in design to an Imperial-I, a Tector traded off its fighter hangars with more armor and a lot more turbolasers. The Tector star destroyers were designed in mind to engage with capital ships only rather than dealing with smaller vessels and starfighters. Its only way of combating against starfighters was its few point-defense systems and requiring an escort screen.
The backbone of this fleet, the Venator-class star destroyers, were numbered at least twelve behind the ISDs. Behind and protected by the Venators were a dozen Acclamator-class assault ships and other transport vessels with thousands of Imperial Army regulars and a few Stormtrooper units within their hulls. Between the Venator formation were Gladiators, Lancers, Victorys, Nebulons, a couple of Dreadnoughts, and even one prototype Recusant-class light destroyer, the INS Patriotic Fist.
Vader had ordered the fleet to drop off at light speed the moment they entered the system so that they could start jamming communications as soon as possible across the entire system. This was so that no reinforcements could be called on by Rimbor. The battlegroup wasn't alone due to this; two smaller task forces were on two separate sides of the system. Not only to help jamming operations but to also lock down the system and to secure Battlegroup Obsidian Blade's approach to Rimbor. Their orders were plain and simple: No transmission and ship alike may leave or come into the system if it isn't Imperial. They have permission to destroy any ship trying to come in or leave, military and civilian.
At the front of the star destroyer's bridge, looking through the transparisteel window, Darth Vader could see the brown dot being suspended in the vacuum of space. The appearance of the ball made from the disgusting color may look unimportant, and in perfect reality it would. But the forces of scum and corruption took a liking to the dirt world, and so it must be cleaned from the slate.
From reconnaissance reports, Rimbor's defenses mainly consisted of commercially available military hardware. Light cruisers and frigates made up the bulk of the defense fleet, along with mercenaries and pirates periodically being hired. The only threat that could be considered was Rimbor's main capital ship, a purchased Gordanian Class-7 Cruiser. A ship was in the design of a ball with four dorsal fins on its sides; its main armament other than medium and point defense batteries were two prong-like heavy laser cannons that were mounted in front of the ship for engaging capital ships.
Command staff was worried that it might be dangerous against a star destroyer; its heavy cannons were known to cause trouble at long distances. Vader heeded but did not let these concerns get to him; Rimbor's defenses were less than mediocre regardless. A ship like this Class-7 might prove a challenge to a star destroyer, but in the hands of scoundrels and criminals, its efficiency will be drastically diminished.
The Battlegroup now at the halfway point to Rimbor, Vader called out to the admiral of this formation, "Admiral Ultraa."
A man in his late thirties and having an unremarkable appearance walked out of the command suite of the bridge and next to Vader. He stopped and bowed in his new imperial gray uniform, "Yes, my emperor."
"Halt the fleet here and have the Vultures lock themselves on the Star Destroyers' hulls. Send out a transmission to Rimbor in all frequencies so they can hear it. The planetary government has one hour to surrender their military and power to the Empire, if they accept, mercy can be granted. But if they refuse, they will receive none afterwards."
"Of course, My emperor." Ultraa motioned to the communications station in one of the bridge's control trenches, and the comm officer relayed the message in a subspace transmission.
Fifty minutes passed, and in between Vader ordering the call to surrender and receiving the reply, Imperial Vultures exited out the two ISDs' hangars to space. When reaching the hulls, they went onto their walker modes and latched themselves to the star destroyers. Hundreds of Vulture droids on each ISD patiently waited for their next electronic communication command. They scanned nearby space for targets as if they were birds of prey, perched up onto the hulls like on top of a forest's canopy, searching for prey.
When Ultraa returned with the reply, Vader wasn't surprised. "My emperor, the Rimborese government declared that we are in their sovereign territory and demanded we leave. They have no formal answer to your orders."
Vader expected a hive of cowards and crooks to give up when a real significant power arrives, as their greed for wealth wouldn't be able to stop a turbolaser shot. This is why he gave them the privilege of surrendering, so that they all could get this over with. But it would appear they were not that cowardly.
"Very well." Vader said. "Begin the assault, Admiral."
Ultraa bowed, "Yes, my Emperor!" He started to give out orders to the comm center. The order of the assault had begun.
The Eternal Vigilance led the formation deeper into the system as cruisers readied their fighter wings for takeoff. The Battlegoup started to pick up the increased pace, heading towards the ugly ball. The bridge was busy with comm chatter, orders, and commands being relayed to other parts of the fleet. Several of the Venators went in line with the ISDs while the rest continued to have a fair distance to protect the transport ships.
When in view, Rimbor was seen alongside her defenses. An orbital weapons platform was behind the Rimbor PDF fleet. A vast array of ships that had no quality control and seemed more like a band of pirates were in the Imperial fleet's way of taking Rimbor. Very few Rimbor ships were in military design, one of them was the Class-7 Gordanian cruiser.
When the Rimbor fleet was close enough, turbolasers from the ISDs, Venators and their proton torpedo salvos, and the Recusant with its long-range prow turbolaser cannon opened fire onto the mishmashed Rimbor fleet.
Hot bolts of green energy raced through the cold void and collided against a good portion of the fleet. Some of their shields buckled and their hulls were ruptured; smaller ships didn't survive during the first minutes of the volley. Proton torpedoes targeted some of the bold corvettes and smaller vessels that attempted to break formation and head towards the Imperial line but were blown up in clouds of superheated gasses.
As their numbers were getting reduced and the Imperial formation getting closer, the Rimbor fleet was in range to fire as well. Bolts of many colors crossed the space in between and crashed onto the star destroyers' shieldings. Vader felt the light rumble of the Eternal Vigilante's shielding getting hit but stabilizing during the barrage.
Most of the shaking was caused by the Gordanian cruiser's heavy frontal laser cannons. Though the star destroyers' shielding will hold as well their armored hulls, it was a considerable threat to the smaller ships. Vader raised a hand, and the order was given to release the vultures from their roosts and attack the enemy. Vulture droids chattered to each other in anticipation, then unlatched themselves and dashed towards the Rimbor fleet. A large cloud of droids emerged from the star destroyers and began moving towards Rimbor.
Energy bolts and flak destroyed some of their numbers but could stop the storm of droids. Rimbor sent their own starfighters that were just as aftermarket junk as their capital ships. The cloud of vultures swallowed the Rimborese star fighters, their momentum not stopping; their losses could be seen by small balls of fire lighting space like sparks from fireworks, but the screen of Rimbor fighters was totally devastated and was no threat to the Vulture droids. The pilots that did survive the clashes were chased by packs of Vultures who gave no mercy as their programming wouldn't have the definition of it.
The very few survivors that were trying their best not to be slaughtered by the droids will get no relief because behind the swarms of Vultures are formations of TIE-Interceptors and Hunters that were tasked to 'mop up' the leftovers. TIE engines screamed through space and engaged with the very few Rimbor pilots left who had no chance of recovery or mounting a proper counterattack with the relentless Imperial green fire. Multiple dog fights ensued but only lasted for a handful of minutes, Imperial casualties were at the minimal while nearly the entire Rimborese Star-Fighter Corps was crushed under thirty minutes.
When the last Rimbor fighter was destroyed, an electronic order was signaled to the Vultures that their primary objective was to continue searching for enemy starfighters and destroy them, while their secondary objective was to harass the enemy's larger vessels with their discord missiles.
They did so, maneuvering around larger ships in search of prey while some fighters fired their buzz-droid-filled missiles at helpless cruisers who had no fighters to protect them. Blue streaks trailed from the rampaging missiles and detonated near their targets. Instead of what some might think was shrapnel that erupted from the missiles' explosion, it was actually large metal orbs infiltrating the ships' shields and unballing themselves to reveal their three red photoreceptors, their skinny legs, their many tools of sabotage, and their psychopathic, mocking, hyena-like laughter.
Ships that had a buzz-droid infestation on their hulls were like meandering beasts infected with many large lice. The droids went to work; they began to target communication arrays, cutting dishes apart. They used saws to cut off turrets' cannons and rip apart their swivel rings. Some used their control rods to drill into the hulls and began transmitting computer viruses to their hosts' electronics or shutting down controls. Because of this new threat, none of the hired pirates, contracted mercenaries, or official sailors were prepared for this kind of warfare, for their shields were penetrated by the droids and their weapons systems were too large to defend against the mechanical pests.
Many Rimbor casualties after the battle were not created by starfighters dogfighting or capital ship engagements. The after-review reports claimed that the main bulk of Rimborese deaths can contribute to the buzz-droid swarms. Sabotage droids that plagued Rimbor starships killed their quarry by shutting down their prey's life support systems, cracking through their observation windows to let the vacuum of space suck up the crew, overriding the ships' controls so that they crash into one another, or shutting down the ship so that an Imperial boarding party may take it over.
Most of the Rimbor ships that saw their comrades suffer the buzz-droids became terrified at the droids as well as some Imperials, for they were thankful that this weapon was on their side.
Many Rimbor ships, from which they maneuvered and fought, attempted to flee from the battle, but this was a foolish attempt. A detached section of Venators and Dreadnoughts made a half-ring around battle, along with Lancers and Gladiators. This half circle of armor and turbolasers boxed in the Rimbor fleet so that they only had two choices: either head towards the Imperial line or run back to Rimbor; some attempted the former.
Some aftermarket cruisers tried to go out of formation but were harassed by TIE-Bombers that were armed with proton bombs and discord missiles. Those strong enough to survive the swarms of torpedoes and buzz-droids were met with unrelenting fires of turbolasers from Venators, Dreadnoughts, and the Patriotic Fist.
The ISDs, Venators, Victory star destroyers, and the Eternal Vigilance began their push towards Rimbor; the cruisers that made the half circle also closed the gap, making a choking point where the Rimbor fleet will have no else to go other than fight or retreat to planet side.
Some surviving Rimbor pilots lingered and did their best to protect their escorts, but Lancers and TIE pilots drove multiple attacks to their dwindling numbers. Imperial cruisers and Rimbor ships were now at broadside distances, coming close to each other as laser fire sprinkled between space. Some lighter Imperial starships like Nebulons and Arquitens were badly damaged, and a few got destroyed; two Venators were wounded as well from the close range broadside duels, but that wasn't compared to the numbers that Rimbor lost.
Venators broadsided Rimbor cruisers; their heavy turbolasers pounded onto their shields and ripped apart the ships. Victories sent concussion missiles at unfortunate targets who received them en masse. The Patriotic Fist went further into the formation that used to be the enemy's battle lines. The automated ship with its droid brain detected a weak point in their defense and aggressively charged into the Rimbor fleet. Its heavy turbolaser located at it's prow discharged at whatever and whenever it could reach, its batteries firing wildly. Vulture droids that latched onto its hull with a few Tri-Fighter on racks and unplugged themselves caused chaos on the corvette and frigate screens.
A Venator was also wreaking major havoc on the Rimbor fleet; a special prototype Venator cruiser in the name of the INS Almaara's Shield boldly cut through enemy ranks and blasted its heavy turbolaser cannons at the enemy. Much like how the ISD had an up-armored and armed version of itself like the Tector-class, this version was the same as the Venators.
This Type II had no large hangar the Venator-class is associated with in the front hull, instead, large doors don't open in exchange for more armor and turbolasers. Where the hangar used to be, eight more Dual DBY-827 heavy turbolaser turrets were placed there along with more cannons, ion batteries, and point defense systems. Almaara's Shield is the only ship of her class at the moment.
The Eternal Vigilance, Racaal's Sword, Almeracia, Almaara's Shield, Patriotic Fist, and Venators the INS Maximec, Blood Royale, Stargazer, Imperial Justice, and Carnonite's Bane demolished the Rimbor formation with their green fire and proton torpedoes. Whatever wasn't caught in their firing vectors, rendered useless by buzz-droids, or taken apart when trying to flee. Surviving cruisers and smaller ships retreated backward to the space station as a last stand.
The Gordanian cruiser were sending volleys from their heavy cannons at the Imperials, managing to penetrate a Venator's shields and blast a few rounds into its hull. The rest of the Rimbor fleet, with whatever they had left, the space station was participating as well, sending battery volleys to the Imperial fleet.
Vader decided this was his chance to take the stress out of him.
"Prepare my ship and my escort." He said, now turning his back from the battle outside the window, which lasted up untill then for hours, he was loud enough for Ultraa and the ship's captain to hear.
Both looked worried and confused, and Ultraa said, "My emperor, is that wise decision? Perhaps it's best too…" he didn't finish his sentence when Vader whirled around to face the admiral, and Ultraa understood the meaning. "Of course, My Emperor," he bows, "it'll be done."
He motioned to the captain, and the ship's commander transmitted orders to have Vader's wingmen prepare for flight. The Dark Lord exited the bridge and made his way towards the ship's only hangar bay. At the sliding door that led to the large room were two TIE pilots standing with their helmets off for the moment alongside two stormtrooper guards.
On the left was Major Primaa of the Imperial Starfighter Corps. From Neu-Tamarae, she is considered to be one of Almerac's top pilots before the creation of the New Empire. Winning all sorts of piloting awards and being involved with engagements with pirates and bandits, she racked up an impressive record despite being a female, where the male-centric society of Almerac would make it difficult for anyone else.
When her fighter wing was retrofitted to have the new TIE-Interceptors, not only was she the first to get incredibly well at it, but she was the first pilot in the New Empire to destroy an enemy in the TIE when a skirmish happened some weeks prior. Her skills were so great that Vader saw her out, promoted her from captain to major, and made her his personal wingman.
The other TIE pilot was his stepcousin, Duke of Tae Tamarac and cousin to his wife, and a Junior Lieutenant in the Imperial Starfighter Corps, Kristoph. Vader doesn't have much to say about the boy; he was weaker than Maxima, telepathically and physically, had some skill in piloting, but was ultimately unremarkable.
He supposed that he brought him along so that he could keep an eye on him, seeing how the boy has some interesting thoughts about Vader.
"The battle will soon be complete," the Sith Emperor said, "The enemy's fighters are destroyed with most of their fleet, I want to see the final victory at hand."
Major Primaa bowed, "As you wish, my emperor."
Kristoph kept adjusting the crotch area of his black pilot flightsuit. "I'm just getting used to this suit; isn't there a size bigger?" He looked up to Vader as if that was his main concern.
Vader had to fight the urge of grabbing the boy by the throat and telling him all of the pain and discomfort the Sith had to go through for years in his own suit. His only response was to walk past the boy to reach the hangar, and Primaa gave the duke a look of annoyance.
Entering the small hangar, he got into his TIE-Advanced with Major Primaa and Kristoph getting onto their own TIE-Avengers. Starting the ship up, multiple buttons were pressed that warmed up the ship, and he thrust forward outside from the hangar with his escort behind him. Space outside of the Eternal Vigilance was a cacophony of weaving energy; blossoms of light erupted far in the distance; and vultures and TIEs preyed upon whatever fighters were left.
Almaara's Shield was still going through enemy lines head-on, spraying emerald bolts of deadly energy at helpless ships and neutering them with its ion cannons. Much like how the Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker modified some of the Republic Open Circle Fleet Venators to have a SPHA superlaser at the ventral hangers, it was the same for Almaara's Shield, a modification Vader did as well to increase her firepower even more so. She went above one of the very few Rimbor pirate cruisers left; a tight, long beam of green energy exited out of the hangar bay and to the cross section of the marauder cruiser. A massive cloud of heat and debris was birthed from the cruiser; the ship was torn apart and split in half by the beam. It spiraled downward to Rimbor with the planet's gravity well taking the corpse ship to its surface.
Vader effortlessly moved and turned around through the crumbling wreckage, Primaa though less gracefully, did as well; and Kristoph had to go around the flaming ship pieces. Away from the destroyed boat, Vader could see the Gordanian cruiser along with the space defense platform and the very few ships mounting a last ditch defense.
During his time studying the Milky Way, Vader suspected that the Gordanians would not like the new galactic order the Sith would establish, for it would destroy their position in the galaxy and the status quo they thrived under. They will be an enemy for sure. The cruiser was the main force of their navy, as it was reported by Thangarians in their generational conflict. Because of this, Vader wanted the cruiser to be as unharmed as it possibly could during its capture for study. They will have to look for weaknesses and exploits if the New Empire plans to rid the galaxy of such animals.
He pressed into his TIE's comm and ordered through the frequency, "Admiral Ultraa,"
"Yes, my Emperor?" Ultraa's voice entered through the comm channel.
"Alert all commands: the assault will continue towards Rimbor, destroy everything and leave no prisoners alive. But I want that Gordanian cruiser captured and undamaged. Send a squadron of Tri-Droids to my coordinates."
"Of course, my lord." Ultraa's voice disappears.
Vader switched channels to the one that he was connected to, Primaa and Kristoph. "Listen well, we have a new task at hand. I want that Gordanain vessel under Imperial control. The fleet will hold off its attack until the ship is ours. Tri-Fighters will help us in this endeavor."
"I understand, my emperor." Primaa said.
The annoying voice of Vader's step cousin entered the voice channel, "Wait a minute…aren't the other squadrons going to help us?"
"No," Vader bluntly replied, "They will protect the fleet as a starfighter screen until we deal with the last line of defense."
"What?!" Kristoph's voice sounded off in a disbelieving manner. "Just the three of us against those cruisers?"
Vader wanted to force choke the duke he was related to by marriage out of his annoying attitude and lack of understanding the needs of the situation, but his promise to Maxima of not hurting him was holding back that desire.
Vader and his TIE escort were now approaching the last line of defense that made up the Rimbor Defense Fleet. Flak and energy bolts passed and detonated around them. The purchased Gordanian flagship was becoming a bigger globe by each second. "Let us hope then, boy…" Vader said before fully submerging himself into the force, "That Almerac's royal blood in you, will keep you from dying."
***
Flak discharge rocked Kristoph's TIE-Avenger as they were coming up on the final formation of the enemy. That Gordanian cruiser was firing its frontal cannons as if there was no tomorrow, which in their case there won't be. He jokingly and terrifiedly thought at the same time that there wouldn't be a tomorrow for him either, with all of the odds against him. Three of them, against a couple of warships and a planetary defense platform? He thought Vader was cold but not stupid in terms of thinking. While the TIE flightsuit was giving him oxygen and an appropriate amount of air-conditioning, he was sweating profusely.
Him and Major Primaa were behind Vader, trying to keep up with him, but that was difficult due to how much flak and battery fire were trying to hit them. Kristoph's proximity alarm went off, and once he looked at it, he saw nine friendlies moving behind them at tremendous speeds. Grouped up in three packs of threes, the friendlies were fast enough to line up with Kristoph and Primaa along the last of the three going behind Vader. Kristoph saw the friendlies through his TIE's view port and saw them as Tri-Fighters.
The High Mobility Aerodynamic Weaponized Droid Interceptors, HMAWDI, 'Hawks' as they were starting to be called, or Tri-Fighters was the series of combat automata, or droids as they were simply named, that Vader introduced to the Imperial Starfighter Corps. Much like the Vultures droids or the HMP droid gunships, the Tri-Fighters were driven by an integrated droid brain instead of an organic pilot. Kristoph never heard such a thing of a system of piloting being used by a military, but he supposed he can't complain from all of the things here heard and just now seen about them.
The new droid mechanics that were introduced to maintain the fighters would say how they were fascinated by how advanced the droid-thinking brain was on the Tri-fighters. With a gyroscopic core in the middle of its chassis that powered its three independent thrusters, the core was wrapped around by three arches that began at the front and ended at the thruster side of the drone. At the front, it had two predatory-like red eyes that somewhat unnerved the duke on closer inspection. At the bottom of the eyes was a long, heavy laser cannon that came from the core and served it as its main weapon. On the three arches, it also had three smaller cannons for secondary weapons. At the bottom, it had two latches that carried discord missiles.
The trio of Hawk-droids closest to the Duke entered through his comm channel and began chattering into his helmet comm-link, apparently their way of communicating indefinitely, which Kristoph has no way of talking back to them.
"Your Tri-Fighters," Vader said through the comms channel, "Will help you achieve your tasks. You both are to destroy whatever starfighter you come across after my assault and cover me."
Vader's words brought Kristoph's attention to the Rimbor line, the last of the Rimboerese starfighters raced out of their hangars, most of whom came from the space station, and were heading towards the three of them—there had to be at least a hundred of them.
"You expect us to go up against that!" Kristoph protested. "We aren't going to do anything to them!"
"We?" Vader mockingly repeated, "It is foolish to think that you would be doing anything more useful than covering me…dear step cousin."
Vader's TIE sped through space, becoming faster than Primaa and Kristoph can keep up, his Tri-droids kept the pace easily, like a pack of loyal dogs. The reserve of fighters fired their volleys, Kristoph thought that would be the end of Vader but was proven wrong. Vader and his Tri-Droids maneuvered, swayed to the side, dove, went up, and performed all sorts of moves to avoid the barrage that would've seemed impossible to anyone else. The Hawk-Droids spun and turned in directions that would have practically cracked the neck of any organic pilot. Vader's maneuvering was in the same manner.
With no hint of slowing down, Vader bravely entered the swarm of fighters, releasing a hail of green bolts with mouth-dropping accuracy. Every shot he made was a direct hit that killed the recipient. He spun, making a torrent of green hailfire in the swarm, making the fighters disappear in balls of flames. The Tri-Fighters were just as deadly, charging into the fastly dwindling swarm, sending repeating waves of green fire. With every eye blink, it seemed the swarm of enemy star fighters was beginning to be smaller and smaller.
The storm of fighters became small dots after Vader seemed to be finished and made his way to the Rimbor battle line. Kristoph guessed this was what Vader meant by "covering him".
The voice of Primaa appeared in the channel, "I'll get the ones of the left, you got the right."
"Right." Kristoph said.
Taking a stronger grip on the controls, Kristoph searched through his helmet's eye sockets to see six surviving fighters. He uselessly looked side to side at his Hawk-Droid escort. "Uhh…" he had no prior training on giving orders to machines so only he made up, "Go act on your own accord…"
The Hawk-Droids chittered and chattered at him and blurred towards their already calculated targets. Kristoph found a fighter that looked like it was trying to leave the battlefield altogether. He aligned his TIE in the same direction and was getting close to his quarry's behind. The fighter noticed and started to move side to side at a panicking rate. Kristoph followed his prey, shadowing every disparate move. His target lock-ins were engaging and disengaging for how much the fighter was maneuvering. A few passes of the zigzagging fighter, Kristoph made a lucky shot when the enemy was at the perfect vector to be fired on and blasted the ship into space junk.
When he passed through the ball of fire, he realized that he had his first kill. That thought excited and terrified him, he was stunned momentarily. He knew from stories that killing would be hard mentally, but he never knew it would weigh in on him as if gravity were taking its toll on his body.
Kristoph's world then became loud when the proximity threat alarm yelled at him and his thoughts leaving him for instincts kicked in. An enemy fighter trailed much like he stalked his first kill earlier. He sped around, trying to lose his pursuer; he thought his quarry was gone when dangerously going through a destroyed wreckage of a Rimbor frigate but found the fighter was still determined to shoot at Kristoph.
Just when he believed his death was near, he saw one of his Tri-Droids coming at him from the front with no hesitation of stopping. A heartbeat elapsed, and his immediate reaction was to dive down. The moment he did, the droid sent a burst of cannon fire that was so close to his ship that Kristoph saw the pulsing green energy 'whiz' pass above him. Out of view, the enemy fighter's destruction was confirmed with it's signature disappearing from his scanners.
While he was relieved, he was still shaking and his heart pumping to the point that he heard it bashing against his chest. He looked around the cockpit and saw Primaa's Avenger finishing up two fighters with her Tri-Fighters returning from their hunts. When his eyes drew to Vader, whose ship was on the Gordanian cruiser, flying dangerously low at the hull.
Point defense batteries were swiveling around to reach the Emperor and blast him but couldn't with how he was destroying them with pin-point accuracy. With how effortlessly he was dispatching the turrets, he guessed that Vader took out the shield generator, a theory backed up by the fact that there were small smoke plumes emitted from some parts of the ship. Though this didn't damage the ship, which Vader avoided, it more or less neutered and crippled the orb ship to take it's option of escaping.
"Major Primaa, Lieutenant Kristoph," Vader's voice commanded with no concern or strain. "Launch your discord missiles at the cruiser and set them to the preset for capture."
"Yes, my lord." Primaa said obediently, and Kristoph also said but was shaken by the experience moments ago.
With buzz-droids in the discord missiles and the payload obviously attached to the TIE, before launch, they can be electronically preprogrammed to change and make priorities of their targets and objectives. So if a pilot wanted a smaller vessel's engines to be only damaged and nothing else, a few buttons will program the buzz-droids to only attack the engine systems. If a pilot wanted the buzz-droids to attack a ship's life support system, a button of that preprogrammed order can make that happen.
Kristoph charged and primed the missiles while having another hand enter a few buttons to have the buzz-droids at the 'capture' configuration order. When done, he was already facing the Gordanian ship along with Primaa; his thumb undid the safety clip onto the missile button on his yoke and pressed the trigger. Four missiles escaped his TIE's missile launchers and blue lines exhausted from the ordnance; Primaa's missiles also raced to the cruiser. It looked like they were about to hit the cruiser but detonated just before a physical collision was about to happen.
Gray orbs of metal sprinkled out of the concussions and magnetized onto the hull. The domes split open to show the droids' exoskeletons, and the saboteur droids went to work. They began cutting through circuitry, picking apart important parts that required the ship to be controlled. They spread across the ship, and he saw the ship's lights fade. They were dead in the water.
Very little happened after that, well, at least for Kristoph. When the Gordnaian-built cruiser was left afloat and ultimately captured by naval commandos and stormtroopers, whatever was left of the Rimbor fleet was picked apart and destroyed. Venators and ISDs pushed onward, their heavy turbolaser batteries bullying and killing smaller ships with little effort. Lancers and Imperial starfighters, TIE and Droid alike, carroled the smaller ships into a pocket that was inescapable. The Eternal Vigilance, with the help of Venators, Victories, and The Patriotic Fist, destroyed the space station.
The surviving Rimbor ships called out that they were willing to surrender, but no response was given, and Vader personally ordered all Imperials to kill every last man. Kristoph's stomach twisted when he heard the collective telepathic screams and cries of Rimbor sailors, out-of-system merciencies, and pirates when their ships were being attacked and all of them dying in colorful ways.
It wasn't easy for him to forget it, nor was it easy to forget his first kill.
***
The land battles that occurred on Rimbor's surface were just as brutal and bloody as it was fast and quick. With the destruction of the defense space station and complete annihilation of the Rimbor navy and their criminal cohorts, Imperial forces fell upon Rimbor like locusts.
Vader had ordered some parts of the battlegroup to detach from the main force and take and capture smaller objectives and settlements. The main force and attention was to the capital city of the Polygloture that the inhabitants named it in a non-imaginary way, 'Rimbor City'.
Racaal's Sword, Almeracia, Almaara's Shield, and Imperial Justice, with several supporting ships and the bulk of the land invasion armies, were tasked with capturing Rimbor City. The moment the space station was destroyed from the face of the planet, acclamators that were protected by a row of Venators and vessels started their descent to the main region where Rimbor City was located.
LA-AGs, Low Altitude Assault Gunships, an Imperial version of the Republic LAATs, with their gray hulls, longer wings, more boxy design, and armor plating that was similar to AT-AT armor cascaded out of acclaimors and transport ships to secure landing areas for the larger army. Supported by TIE-Bomber and Imperial HMP droid gunships, companies of stormtroopers and Imperial army regulars fought and devastated any Rimbor forces that thought they could stop any advancement from the sky.
Because of the way Rimbor City was built, the city was in a valley where most of the common people resided, while higher officials lived in the center of the city in a large artificial ball with towers protruding from the top. The valleys were a rocky and jagged area, which made it difficult to transport any sort of land-based supplies and commerce. So the Rimbor government contracted some time ago several high-way networks that connected the capital to other parts of the region. These highways were laid on the floor of caverns and valleys, so many of these highways became landing zones for the invading Imperials.
The Rimbor defenders had no time to actually prepare such an invasion, so their tactics and lines collapsed within the first hours. The first waves established a circle that choked the city, with Imperial battlecruisers in the air, denying any form of air power or retreat to the defenders. Because of the narrow way of the jagged valleys, very few AT-ATs and Turbotanks were deployed; most of their operations happened on these highways because they were big enough to support their large bodies.
Armored units like the 14th Armored Brigade and 61st Mechanized Cavalry Corps that were composed of AT-ST walkers with TX-225 'Occupiers', TX-130Ts, and 2-M Saber-class hover tanks supported stormtroopers, and Imperial regulars tightened the grip on the city. Most attempts at resistance in the first days crumbled after first contact.
[Note: you can use your imagination on what the imperial army looks like but in my mind they look like this, I know they're from swotor but i can't find the proper names]
Rimbor militiamen, contracted mercenaries, and bribed pirates had little armored vehicles of their own and fewer anti-armor measures. Most of their combat vehicles were civilian and commercial hover cars converted into armored fighting vehicles, or 'technicals' as commonly known, with a heavy blaster or rocket on their back. They were adorned in makeshift armor that was either cast steel or ripped apart car hulls that were put on at the last minute.
As described before, most defenses were bands of dubious characters and defensive positions made out of cars, and broken rocks obviously fell apart. A good number of defenders that saw armored columns of AT-STs, giant AT-ATs, and battalions of stormtroopers with white armor decided that their allegiance to Rimbor wasn't worth it and surrendered.
Very few Rimbor forces had the privilege of mercy in any case. Professional militiamen were spared from killings and somewhat harsh treatment, but pirates, mercenaries, and criminals that were caught after their surrender received no sympathies. Most were shot while the rest were rounded up and will be transported to Imperial penal installations that will force them to construct the Empire's weapons or plow fields to grow its food.
A week or so passed of Imperial forces pacifying most of the planet; few major cities were in control of the Rimbor forces at the week's end. Some cities surrendered without a shot fired and were given mercy for the right choice.
By the start of the second week, fighting increased and intensified despite the amount of units Rimbor lost and land seized. By the time the Imperial forces reached the outskirts of the last Rimborese-held cities, the criminal arms of the defense forces came to the grim conclusion that they would not receive any type of mercy if they surrendered; as a show of defiance, they fought to the bitter end.
Pressed ganged civilians, crooks, gangsters, street thugs, thieves, pirates, slavers, and mercenaries were the main forces that fought against the Empire during the second and last week. The official Rimborese army had little numbers at that point. Though this was more out of survival and blind pride that they could defeat the Empire than duty or commitment to their former clients.
When the major cities' shield arrays were destroyed by constant orbital bombardment from star destroyers, the brutal part of the quick war truly began. Street fighting was savage and bloody; the more Imperial forces pushed in further into the cities, the more desperate the defenders got and fought harder like cornered animals. The defenders held their ground from street-to-street, house-to-house, and bombing runs from Imperial gunships, and TIE-Bombers reduced many sections of the main cities to rubble. While the war only lasted for two weeks, most Imperial losses occurred in these mini-sieges that afterward, Imperials would call it the 'Rimbor noose' for its barbarity and heavy fighting.
Civilian casualties were high regardless of being purposely caused or not. The quick call for surrender didn't give any time for the civilian population to evacuate or make the Rimbor government care about their citizens during its final days of power. Refugees of many species poured out of the cities in their best ways of not getting into the crossfire. Vader gave orders that civilian casualties were to be kept at an "appropriate minimum." Unless provoked, posing a threat, or clearly an Rimbor soldier, regardless of age or gender, they are to be left alone.
If they wish to receive medical and food aid, then they were told they must swear their allegiance to the New Galactic Empire as Imperial citizens in order to get such amenities, which many did out of the situation.
When the final day of the war approached, Rimbor City was a forest of rubble, ruins, trenches, and constant energy fire bursting from the streets. High command projected that Rimbor City's last ring of defense would collapse the moment Imperial forces entered its governmental sector and took on the parliamentary ball that centered itself in the destroyed city.
Darth Vader sensed the same prediction and so wanted to participate in the final fight himself.
***
The Force was suffused with death as much as it was shown and made abundance in the mundane world when Vader felt it.
Smoke pillars from massive fires from results turbolaser bombardments and bombing runs covered the sky so much that it almost veiled the waning star, almost making it seem it was nighttime in that part of the hemisphere. Artillery strikes shook the ground periodically, and their firing arcs cracked in the air as if a thunderstorm was approaching. TIE-Bombers, Punishers, and Imperial HMP droid-gunships made their way past the city, dropping missiles, precise laser shots, and other deadly ordnance onto the final pockets of resistance.
Almaara's Shield was suspended high in the clouds, her turbolasers raining their emerald hellfire down while occasionally the SPHA cannon in her ventral hangar shot at Rimbor positions down below and made them disappear into clouds of debris and flames.
The street that Vader found himself in by the appearance looked like it must've been a street where many shops and stores were located. Now buildings were reduced to piles of bricks and supporting frames. Speeder cars were scrap and metal. The environment that Vader was in seemed similar to the moon of Warworld when Vader was forced to be in Mongul's games.
Just hours ago, stormtroopers and armored units cleared this section of the city, and their evidence lingered. Spent laser cartridges and ammunition littered the ground as much debris did. Blaster bolts stained destroyed buildings and houses. The Imperial force already picked up the dead but hadn't done so to the enemy, and for good reason. Alien forces made up of various hardy and brutish species laid motionless on the ground, buildings, and other places that showed their last attempts in defense.
He had his Lambda shuttle land several blocks away, and he walked through the center of the city to gaze on the Empire's handiwork. The Sith turned his eyes to the giant ball structure that serves as Rimbor parliamentary building, now it was under siege by Imperial forces. The size and shape of the building reminded Vader of the control core of a Trade Federation Lucrehulk-class control ship.
Rimbor defenders fired blaster bolts of many varieties down at Imperial forces from windows to openings created through heavy fighting. Imperial army regulars, armored vehicles, and stormtroopers returned fire to the enemy. Vader could have let the battle cruisers stationed in the sky and in orbit unleash an assault of turbolasers at the orb like building to be done with the campaign. But he also wanted to see how well his Empire did against a mediocre enemy. He was surprised that a few of the criminals actually fought back and continued to do so. Surprised, but it did not make respect rise for them nor compassion from their eventual death.
Vader resumed his walk through the ruined city, going deeper into the chaotic mess of smoke and fire. Minutes passed of his own path into the city where he was just about to enter the governmental sector when he stopped at an image.
Just under ruins, what used to be a building, crushed by a wall that broke from the structure, were two beings, a child and her mother. Both dead, the mother holding her child within her arms and the child seeking comfort in her mother's arms. The mother and child stuck in the position where they lay. Vader recognized the species as Korugarin, a near-human race with redish pink hair, normally black flowing hair that resembled human hair, and natural yellow eyes.
Their deaths were obviously attributed to the wall crushing them, but what force caused it was a mystery. Rimbor forces? Imperial soldiers? An accident? It didn't matter; they're dead now; nothing can change that. Beings who came across the image of this mother dying would have felt pity, sadness, and pain. Vader felt nothing. If they were bound to die in this war so that order can be brought onto his world, then so be it.
He would've shrugged it off and continued walking but couldn't. He was transfixed at the dead mother and child for what seemed like hours. Why this stopped his mission of bringing down Rimbor's criminal leaders, he wasn't too sure. His legs refused to move, and his eyes were stuck looking at the sad image.
Vader investigated, trying to weed out the source of the anomaly and crush it. He did so, he traversed his endless shadow but accidentally got blinded by unraveling its cloak. It wasn't the light of Anakin Skywalker, though it took on the form of it; rather, it was the immense anger and hatred from one event that was fixed in time and space. A moment that Vader thought he would rather ignore and let be forgotten, but the force itself seems determined to haunt Vader of that sin he committed that day.
The reason why he couldn't look away was because the position of the deceased alien mother and child was in the exact position a Tusken mother was holding her own child. The way the child tried to find shelter in their parents, their demise, the mother's helplessness of the situation, and her inability to save her child brought Vader back to the point of view of the young Padawan learner, Anakin Skywalker.
At that point in time, the Padawan just discovered his mother, who was defiled and tortured for months by a savage tribe of Tusken raiders. The young man's rage was put to bear after his mother died in his own arms; he killed the warriors, their attack dogs, the men, women, and children. None were left alive. On that night, Anakin Skywalker was no Jedi or a mortal for that matter; he was a storm of death and vengeance that couldn't ever be satisfied.
He was a force of nature that couldn't be stopped.
This was the birth of Vader; this was how the seeds that would be his shadow started and sprouted from. This is where the Jedi should have renounced all of his ties to that complacent order and swore his allegiance to the dark side, yet he didn't. The Jedi fool only went back to the order as if nothing happened, as if their mother wasn't dead…
Their mother?…Vader's mother?
No, Vader has no mother or any parent that had any control over him or his past. He created himself, and he only needed himself.
Why would this image of a dead mother and child harp back to the slaughter of the tuskens? He discovered that it was regret, a heavy emotion that seemed difficult to get rid of. What was he regretful about? If he was regretting something, then that meant he was giving something or someone compassion.
Sith don't need such emotions; they are weak forms of feelings.
Vader forced himself to look away from the dead mother and child with every fiber of his dark being. He struggled to turn and paced away from those corpses. Though he was gone afterwards, their bodies still remained in his mind, pestering him. He tried to wash it away with any kind of thought but couldn't.
The Tusken mother and child that the young Jedi slain and the Korugarian mother and child both haunted Vader, no matter how hard he tried to get rid of them.
He continued to walk with silence among the dead city, sounds of blasters in the distance and artillery strikes echoed in the dark air. After several minutes of his thoughts being grasped by the two images of the two mothers and children, he finally reached the center of the city, where the final stages of taking the city were in play.
He passed stormtroopers and Imperial regulars, who were blasting their rifles at top of the giant ball. Enemy fire rained down below; the distance between the soldiers was long but still deadly enough for the advancing Imperials to take cover in the ruins. Vader occasionally used tutaminis with his gloved hand to redirect energy bolts that went upon him. Some of the men stopped what they were doing and gazed at Vader; most wanted to reach out and protect him but was informed earlier that their Emperor will partake in coating the parliament building and so couldn't do anything about it.
The Dark Lord entered what used to be the outside area of the building's entrance, where it was barricaded. Behind ruined air cars was the lead unit taking most of the energy fire. Stormtroopers covered in filth and smoke returned blaster energy with their E-11s and DLT-20as. Vader saw that one of the stormtroopers had a red pauldron that signaled him as a major. He went to the officer, unconcerned with the hailfire around him.
The stormtrooper major was next to his radio operator, a comlink at one hand, requesting more reinforcements. He stopped when Vader loomed over him. The stormtrooper and his men that crouched behind the car bowed as best they could, "My Empeor."
An explosion rocked the street behind him, and Vader let it settle after its eruption. "Report."
The major was taken aback by the appearance of Vader and the request. He gazed at his battalion XO and he shrugged at the Major. The senior officer said, "One third of my battalion is in critical condition, but we fought hard from the start of the government sector to here." He explained, "My battalion is tasked with taking the building, but the enemy is heavily entrenched. I've been sending my sapper squads to open an entrance for my men, but most have been taken out."
Vader turned his head towards the parliament building's main long entrance as blaster bolts passed him. Multiple dead stormtroopers lay on the ground, intertwined with Rimbor soldiers.
He gazed down onto the major, "Do you have any armor to speak of?"
The officer shook his white helmet, though it was stained with dust, and said, "No, my emperor, I've just sent out a request for any vehicle support, but due to the city's debris, they won't be here for some time."
Vader looked at the main entrance and readied his lightsaber. "That will not be a problem, tell your men to charge, I will make an opening for you, and when I do…follow me."
"Yes my emperor!" The Major said with no doubt or question. He gestured heavily to his men, relying on orders and movement of units into positions once Vader created an entrance.
Vader went to the doors and, with a mighty force push, sening the big doors inside to the building. The doors ran over Rimbor defenders and makeshift barricades until they jabbed themselves into a wall. Most of the alien soldiers were crushed and splattered on the floor by the speeding doors. Those who took cover at the right moment got up when they saw Vader standing at the threshold. They trained their blaster weapons and fired at the Sith.
Darth Vader dodged by turning his body left or right and redirected bolts with his red lightsaber or with his bare gloved hand. A slimy alien mercenary thought that he could take out Vader by hurling a speeding rocket from his missile launcher. The alien was stunned from shock when he saw Vader gesture the rocket to stop midair and go back to its source; the alien was blown to meaty chunks.
The stormtrooper units flooded the inside, firing at the Rimbor defenders. With Vader's powers put to bear and the incoming stormtroopers, the defenders were killed or pushed back, making Vader and his stormtroopers pursue.
By observing the way the interior was built, Vader and his Imperial followers behind him went across the hallways to the main parliament room. In between there, desperate Rimbor mercs, pirates, gangsters, and other filth staged defensive positions hallway-to-hallway, room to room. Vader had no plans of clearing the entire building and so allowed the stormtroopers to detach from him when he got closer to the parliament room. They fought the aliens in close quarters combat, fighting in between rooms with large blown up walls and hallways covered in debris and bodies.
Alone, he continued his prowl to the parliament room, it was said by Imperial intelligence that the leaders of the Polygloture were held up in the room as other options of escape and appeasement failed. Vader sliced his way through their defenses, using his red blade to cut and burn bodies, sending energies back to their original sources.
An entire platoon of Okaaran mercenaries in one hallway leading to the parliament room threw several plasma grenades at the Dark Lord when he turned to the corridor. A simple wave later, and the beeping ordnance rolled back to the heavily armored blue brutes. Their jaws dropped as they saw their own grenades roll back to their feet; none were able to scream or react as multiple green flames erupted and atomized them. Vader walked past their ashy remains.
He continued to deliver hell to the diverse alien forces, ripping them apart by his lightsaber or by the powers of the dark side. The hallways he passed were entire graveyards; the smell of cauterized meat and spilled organs ran thick in the parliament building.
After killing hundreds of Rimbor forces, he reached the main doors of their rotunda-like room. The double doors were blocked from the inside; Vader sent a telekinetic command, and the doors were crushed into pieces.
Walking into the room while blocking and redirecting blaster fire, he saw that once large round room that must've housed hundreds of "representatives" of Rimbor now was covered in defensive barriers. Soldiers put themselves in between Vader and the huddling pile of aliens who were the leaders of Rimbor.
Vader, in a blinding motion too fast for most sentients, sent blaster bolts back to the Rimbor forces; he grew bored of this and raised his free hand. All of the armed forces stopped as the dark side gripped their pathetic throats and airways. Some dropped their weapons and put hands onto their necks; others tried to put their weapons aim onto Vader, but the pain of being choked was too great.
The lament of muffling and gasping for air was stopped when Vader closed his hand, and many sounds of crunching necks began and ended quickly. All of the soldiers fell to the ground in heaps, only leaving Vader and the scared huddle of the leaders of Rimbor.
Vader casually paced at the center, where the leaders shook out of fear from the Dark Lord. He halted when he was a few arms lengths away from them. "High court of Rimbor, I presume." He said to the fearful huddle of aliens before him, his voice echoing in the chamber and breathing deafening.
A pudgy, fat, pink-skinned, two-legged, alien with four red eyes and a wrinkled, hairless head stepped from his peers and begged the Sith, "P-Please, mercy, we surrender! There's no need for any more violence!"
Vader lets the alien redundantly finish his plea. "You should have thought of that when I gave you the chance to surrender." Vader mocked and raised his lightsaber up to strike down the fat alien, "Now, you will pay for your foolishness."
"WAIT!" The alien leader of Rimbor guttered out with hands to his face, "Wait! Rimbor is yours! Take whatever you want. Our wealth, our planet, is your own. Let us serve you. for the sake of our lives!" Some of the alien leaders behind him nodded and gave looks of mercy to Vader.
The Dark Lord brought down the lightsaber, but to not kill the alien; rather, he put it to the side, still activated, and gave a dreadful pause that seemed like he considered their proposal. "Very well. I accept your offer." Vader said, giving the aliens expressions of great relief, as if their universes brightened. "Your first task to me..." Vader again raised his lightsaber over his shoulder. "Is to die."
The pudgy alien's scream was stuck in his large throat, and his face of stricken terror was stuck on his head when Vader took it off between his shoulders as the lightsaber decapitated the alien. The head flopped to the ground, and the cauterized neck steamed off with a smell of charred flesh. The body stood upright for a moment and collapsed.
The rest of the aliens screamed, begged, and panicked but had no time to run away as the Sith Lord went into a frenzy-like motion, hacking limbs and taking off heads. He butchered every single alien.
***
After the capture of the Rimborese parliamentary building and Vader's slaughter of their leaders, the defenses of Rimbor quickly folded in suit. Militiamen were allowed to return to their homes while most forms of criminals were shot or taken to forced labor camps off-world.
An imperial garrison was immediately installed and martial law established afterward. Order settled not long after reconstruction was commenced, and martial law lifted when Rimbor inhabitants accepted Imperial rule and authority as the Empire provided temporary homes, medicine, and food.
Some citizens were still skeptical at the new order but changed their minds after the empire's reconstruction efforts were put in place, as well as the imperial might shown during their rule. Slaves were freed and 'inclined' to be model imperial citizens as criminal and Rimbor assets were adsorbed.
After the Rimbor government collapsed and the New Galactic Empire annexed the system and surrounding area, pirates, gangsters, and other criminal elements that involved themselves with Rimbor or allied with them fled the region when the Imperial Navy hunted them like animals. Multiple shipping lanes were established, and ones that were previously plagued by pirates were cleansed. Imperial patrols were formed, a regional governor anointed, and an Imperial regional fleet stationed on the planet.
What Rimbor decided will be in the future has not been made yet, but the way to incorporate the Talcyion system into the Empire is underway; the first victory of the New Galactic Empire has been achieved.
Right now, though, none of that was important, for Vader has a new pest to deal with.
He was back onboard the Eternal Vigilance, the battlegroup was heading towards Almerac while ships that were damaged in the war were sent to the Warworld Naval Yards for repairs. He walked through his star destroyer's clean interiors, passing by sailors who were surprised by his presence in their busy sections of the ship.
He stopped at one of the mess halls and entered. Multiple uniformed sailors were having their meals at the tables or were just about to get their fill. They talked and gossiped over things Vader could care less about. His eyes narrowed to the irritant, who was talking amongst his comrades.
"Leave us." He said loud enough to be heard by the rambling sailors, "Everyone but Lieutenant Kristoph will leave."
Kristoph, his annoying step cousin, stopped his words as well for every Imperial in the mess hall. Without questioning or any sign of protest, the sailors left their trays onto the tables, halted their conversations, and walked to the exit. The last sailor had the door shut. Thirty seconds passed when it was just Vader and Kristoph.
The air was filled with tension, and his step cousin's fear was palpable. Vader walked towards the young duke and folded his arms. "We have many things to discuss, Kristoph."
The duke didn't talk for a moment, "And what will that be?"
"Let's begin with how you were questioning my orders and hesitant to enter battle."
Kristoph shook his head and got less fearful, emotion bleeding into his words. "Your orders almost got me killed!" He exclaimed, "Even though you knew that I had barely any training and promised Maxima about keeping me alive, you just went to the horizon without a second thought about me."
"Maxima has boasted about your skills, and I wanted them to test them and see it myself."
"So you made me your wingman and threw me to the wolves?"
"Some men would be honored in your position, boy; I would suggest you do that."
Kristoph scoffed, "You know nothing of honor!" He pointed a finger at Vader, "Especially not how you treated my cousin!"
Vader let his breathing cycle all the way through, "I married your cousin when few can, I protected your cousin when her throne was under attack and stood alone, and I forged an empire with her by my side. Her protection was never in question because of me."
"I'm not talking about that!" Kristoph said. "I'm talking about how you show no emotions to her, and a sign of respect or love a husband should give to his wife."
Vader's irritation was rising from the depths and heading towards its ceiling. "You don't—,"
Kristoph cuts Vader off, "I don't what?! Understand? It's not my place?! I protected Maxima and comforted her long before you showed up. I still treated her like a sister, even when she was unpopular. I was there for her when her parents and my own died when we were young, leaving me and her the last of the house. What have you done with her emotionally? You just shrug her off when she needs your attention. You just treat her like a tool!"
"I would be careful if I were you, boy, your attitude is not wanted at this moment."
Kristoph didn't heed the warning and turned his back against Vader. "My impressions of you were always right, you're just a heartless man who doesn't care about anyone else. You probably never loved, cared for, or lost anyone close to you."
The words of the brat duke hit Vader like a giant stone. The weight of his words penetrating the shadow veils of Vader's umbra and letting light escape, memories of Anakin Skywalker bombarded Vader's mind.
The young slave boy from Tatooine saw the body of the man who thought the boy to be the chosen one, Qui-Gon Jinn, burned in a Jedi pyre under a Naboo temple. The man who was the only person other than his dear mother to believe in him and to have unwavering compassion and love was now burning because he was killed by an animalistic Sith Lord. The fear of what could happen to his mother festered in him.
The Jedi padawan kneels before his mother's grave on the Lars homestead; the twin suns beating on him, but he doesn't care. Memories of her broken body in his arms are still fresh and haunting him. He cried many times and screamed so much during his slaughter of the Tusken camp that he can't anymore at that moment. "I wasn't strong enough to save you, mom," he said to her grave, stating with past reflection. "But I promise…" he grew determined, "I won't fail again…"
That last memory was of the young Vader who now laid his first eyes through his helmet, his lungs still felt like they were burning, his body damaged beyond proper repair, and days of the droids operating on his body left him tired. But despite the pain and suffering he is in, he gathered enough strength to utter a question through his vocabulator to his master. "Where is Padme?…is she safe? Is she alright?"
The shadow next to him that was his master didn't say anything for a harsh moment and devastated Vader's world with, "I am very sorry, Lord Vader." The shadow's voice echoed in the operating chamber, as if another was mocking the same words back to Vader in repeat. "I'm afraid, she died. It seems in your anger, you killed her."
His masters words burned hotter than the lava had, ruined his soul further, and destroyed his world more than Vader could ever do to himself.
The memories of the star that was Anakin Skywalker brought Vader to a hot rage, his heart becoming a furnace, his dark universe brightening but only from the illumination from the supernova of heat. Vader whirled at Kristoph, the shadows in the room darkened to be pits of pure blackness, and the temperature became sub-zero.
Before Kristoph could do anything, Vader grabbed him and threw him across the room. The young duke landed hard against the wall and dropped to the floor. "YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT LOSS IS! OR KNOW WHAT I LOST!" Vader's rageful words shook the room, breaking drink and sliveware to spread their shards all over, cracked the floor and parts of the transparisteel windows, and made bulkheads warp.
The tables between Vader and Kristoph who was just getting up and badly bruised, crumbled and shattered as the Sith stomped towards the duke. Kristoph attempted to defend himself by summoning what telepathic strength he had to Vader. It didn't stop the Dark Lord's rampage at the duke; he batted it away and sent his own telepathic attack. Kristoph screamed out of pain, grasping his head, and collapsed on the metal floor again.
Vader got to Kristoph, picked him up again, and hurled him across the mess hall once more. The boy landed on an unbroken table, sending unfinished meals away and ruining his uniform while blood poured out of his mouth and nose. He struggled to move as Vader telekinetically lifted him up and sent him to a collision course at the wall.
He crashed again onto the hard metal. Vader can hear some bones cracking and snapping from the impact. The boy wheezed out breaths, his face bloodied, and his left arm crooked unnaturally. Vader put his right hand to a half-closed fist, and the duke grabbed onto his own closing neck. Kristoph tried to get air but couldn't as the dark side strangled him with invisible hands. He whimpered and gasped, his body was flung back again against the wall as if he were pushed up against it, his feet racing up and down to reach ground.
Just when Kristoph sounded like his neck would break and die from lack of air, Vader dropped his unseen hold onto the boy, and Kristoph fell to the floor, grabbing air with harsh wheezing breaths. Vader stomped to Kristoph and looked over him; he grabbed onto the boy's hair and lifted him up at Vader's eye level. He groaned in pain but couldn't do anything.
"In a perfect world," Vader said, his furnace heart somewhat cooling but not completing satisfied, "I would rid you from my presence. But my Wife and your cousin will not allow it. For your own life, the welfare of your cousin, and my commitment to not breaking a promise, let this be a blessing of mercy towards you. You shall never return to Almerac again unless I desire it."
His voice through his vocoder turned into a cold, terrible growl: "If I see you on Almerac without my permission or speak of this to your cousin, I shall give you a fate worse than death than you could possibly imagine. I suggest you busy yourself by making the Empire a better place during your absence and making a great distance between you and me."
Wanting to get rid of the trash, Vader threw Kristoph to the wall for a final time. Kristoph, bloodied and brown hair a mess, plunged into unconsciousness and lay motionless. The Dark Lord stormed out of the destroyed mess hall, and as the doors closed behind him, a crowd of Imperials gathered around the entrance out in the hall. Most were the ones previously in the mess hall, while others stopped to see what the commotion was about. Now they tensed up to see their Emperor fuming and regretted staying at all.
Vader let his respirator inhale and exhale, "You have trash to pick up in the mess hall; go clean it up." Without another word, he moved in the direction of his meditation chamber, the crowd parting away for him.
***
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