I intended to check one more lead. Scrolling through my memories related to the Mandalorian of Chiss origin, besides understanding that from a physical body perspective – she's exactly to my taste, I recalled two facts. First, Laura herself spoke of the one who sent her on a false coordinate when she intended to destroy Jarco's base, as a friend. A very valuable one, most likely. And then I struck the guard with my technique, who stands at the checkpoint in the Judicial Corps Headquarters. And it turned out that the local Admiral Graves, commander of the Corps forces, is friends with Laura. And it seems, a long time ago, they saved each other, became close comrades. If we assume that Graves is the one who fed Laura false information?
A perfectly real option. She trusts him, he's an Admiral and has an excellent reputation in the Judicial Corps as an incorruptible and honest servant who has seemingly given almost thirty years of his life to the Republic. In addition, Laura went straight to him after our conversation. And what should be done? Jarco will play until the end, what does she care about the Jedi? She comes from "Black Sun" and might, or might not, but will fight back. And will try to weaken us as much as possible before the battle. My defeat, which I caused at the information trading post, has definitely reached her. And now she knows for sure that one of those who will come for her is on Iego.
Perhaps she will even move the base, considering she has two fortresses. Although, according to the information VV obtained – Munto-Codru has something like a mansion, or rather, a "hunting lodge." Jarco, based on additional information, likes to buy sentient beings and arrange full-fledged safaris on them. Anzati, what can you expect from her? As a result, she relaxes on Munto-Codru. The object on this planet is not suitable for defense against us, but Pakuuni is a full-fledged fortress that needs to be stormed. A castle built in an old, aristocratic style, but packed with modern defense systems. There are even Planetary Defense cannons, and bombarding the shield from orbit is probably a stupid idea, considering she has endless money. And thus, she could afford quality defense. The castle is built on a cliff overlooking a lake. Pakuuni has a dry climate, not much moisture. But there is something interesting, judging by old photos I dug up on the HoloNet, before the construction of this facility, on the surface, not far from the castle, there were caves. They were supposedly blocked, but excavating them would not be difficult. In addition, they were outside the shield's range, and the passages presumably lead under the castle… Perhaps I could get in there… The entrances are blocked, but not the caves themselves, otherwise the ground around would have sunk a couple of meters. Which was not the case in the latest images, taken by the station's computer's geodetic system, which hangs over the planet. Formally, Pakuuni belongs to the Republic, so even despite the prevalence of pirates, there is information that comes quite officially to the Republic's state bodies. And which I can obtain.
Could she escape her base at all and get lost in the Galaxy? Yes… But… She's a Vigo of "Black Sun," this is her territory, and here nearby is a most valuable resource, one of the most valuable in the Galaxy. So, escaping for her would be humiliation, a huge one at that. No, Jarco will first try to kick our asses. Or inflict the most significant damage she is capable of. And only then will she hit the gas. Reputation in her world means a lot, and this will be her downfall. It simply won't fit in her head: first, one arrogant Jedi destroyed her bot production farm, and then her fortress was destroyed, while she was flying in hyperspace, saving her own skin… Isn't that humiliation? Humiliation. The most offensive and direct. But if she fights back against the Jedi and the Judicial Corps – she will show many in the organization, her subordinates, and so on, that she "can do it." Therefore, I have no doubt that she will defend herself.
I only doubted one thing: do we have enough strength? Dreadnoughts will definitely arrive. Preferably eight to ten. Plus, we can take part of the fleet from Iego. We will also need strike craft and ground forces. Tivokka and I can't pull it all off ourselves; Jarco might have thousands of supporters. So we also need extras… So to speak. But that's all for the future. Now we need to focus on identifying the traitor. Let's assume Admiral Graves works for "Black Sun." The question "why?" is only important if we want to return Admiral to service. And we don't have time to re-recruit him.
And that means we just have to treat him as an enemy. Physically eliminating him, or depriving him of command before the operation – would further alert Jarco. If I overthink it, Jarco might decide: to hell with reputation, life is more valuable, and flee somewhere far away. No, not to scare her off, but to get proof that Graves is a traitor and cannot be trusted with anything in this operation. How to do that? Meet with the Admiral, as a Jedi, and give him some interesting information. Feed him the same information about where the forces will be gathered… So, without much difficulty, I sneaked into Graves's office and calmly waited for him. The Admiral was an imposing, tall man of about fifty, with emerging gray hair. His head was completely bald, and his body was strong, indicating that he keeps in physical shape. Upon entering and noticing a stranger, he immediately aimed his blaster at me.
"Admiral Graves," I greeted him, showing indifference to the blaster aimed at me. "Good evening," outside his impressive office, which contained a work desk and a round table for meetings, the local star was setting beyond the horizon.
"Who are you and what are you doing in my office?" the man asked in a cold tone. "I just returned from inspecting the station and I'm in a bad mood, so if you don't want to die, but just go to prison – tell me what you're doing here?"
"Well, let's start with the fact," I stood up from his chair, "that I have the right to be here. My name is not necessary for you to know. Occupational hazard, but I can reveal something to you. I am a Jedi Knight."
"Ahhh," the Admiral said understandingly, but didn't lower his blaster, "I'll believe you."
"Hmm?" I looked at the man with curiosity. "Yes, indeed, you have no reason to believe me," I moved my hand and snatched the blaster from the Admiral's hands, but he pulled out a second one. "Hey, that's not fair," I exclaimed indignantly.
"There is no concept of honor in battle," the man sighed, and then hid the blaster.
"Have you changed your mind?"
"Well, friends told me that some Jedi would be waiting for their own on Iego, and you certainly look like one of them."
"Anyone gifted can wield the Force, not just Jedi. And you believe me so easily? I snatched your weapon from you with a wave of my hand."
"That's my intuition, boy," the man said. "But… what are you doing here?" he asked me. "Our forces are not yet assembled. So you wouldn't just sneak in here, especially after the mess you made in the smuggler's quarter."
"So you know?" I asked.
"In what sense? The whole city knows! Are you even aware that not all problems can be solved with explosions and murders?"
"Umm, yes. But it's so boring," I said sadly. "Besides, I didn't start it; they started first."
"No, you just chose the wrong tactic, or gave yourself away somehow."
Maybe my suit? I don't change the overall style of my suit. I like it. Besides, when necessary, I know how to hide myself. Back then, on Drongar, I was a bit overconfident; I should have made a voice call, without video.
"What's done is done, Admiral," I moved away from his desk and approached the man. Not a muscle on his stern face twitched. He kept his eyes on me, as if trying to look under the hood… Or rather, everyone tries. "And I came because I have to report on a matter that cannot wait."
"Hm?" the man tilted his head. "And what did you decide to tell me, Jedi? Bypassing all protocols and logic?"
"The problem is that, as you may have noticed, I can no longer just walk around the city or even enter the Judicial Corps through the front door. I've left too much of a trace. But I came to inform you that our plan to destroy the forces of 'Black Sun' is entering a new phase. The Order has developed several lines of defense for our plan, including disinformation for possible agents of Jarco Itari within the local Judicial Corps branch."
"Well," the man sighed, "I won't deny it, her agents have surely infiltrated the fleet entrusted to me. Although I am confident in my senior officers," he sat down at his place. "Would you like a drink?" he took a bottle of Corellian whiskey from a cabinet.
"A little later, at the ashes of Jarco Itari's castle," I replied, shaking my head. "The essence of the Order's disinformation defense consists of an order that was sent to you, instructing you to prepare your troops to unite your and our central group, under my command and the command of Magistrate Tivokka. You were sent an order… Slightly altered."
"Explain," Graves demanded coldly, pouring himself some alcohol into a glass.
"Actually," I noted his changed expression. "The attack will be carried out by two groups," I displayed, using a datapad, an action map that I had painstakingly compiled for about three hours. "The first – yours, attacks head-on from Iego. Your forces – seven combat-ready Dreadnoughts, plus five squadrons of Z-95 class fighters, each with twelve ships, thirteen ships of the 'Law' class, belonging to reconnaissance cruisers – a fleet exclusively for patrolling this system and surrounding systems. Fighters are practically always on patrol. Dreadnoughts are concentrated near known hyperspace exit points for ships and are ready to inspect guests at any moment." "The second – the Jedi, from Coruscant. Ten Dreadnoughts will arrive, five fighter squadrons, two bomber squadrons – represented by A-24 bombers – and escort ships in the form of the same 'Laws'."
"Yes, the composition is correct," the man agreed, nodding.
"But the Jedi group, including myself – will attack not from Iego, with you, but from T'ungla," I pointed to the planet.
A-24 Bomber
Law-class vessel
What the MC told Admiral Graves.
"And naturally, our assembly will be there," I continued. "Your task will be to distract Jarco in the first minutes of the battle. Ours – to strike her flank while she is engaged in battle with you."
"In other words – you are using us as a trap," the admiral said, clasping his hands in front.
"It's a tactical maneuver, not a trap," I corrected him. "You did graduate from Anaxis Citadel. A classic lure."
"Jarco has ten Dreadnoughts, about seventeen Gozantis, and a couple of fighter and bomber squadrons, not to mention that her people effectively command the station hanging over Pakuuni."
Gozanti
"I know," I said. "It is precisely to hack such defenses that we need a clever move," however – she lives well. Ten, damn it, Dreadnoughts. Even if they are likely not fresh off the assembly line, but still! Our forces will be roughly equal. However, there is an interesting idea…"
"And your assembly will be at T'ungla?" the Admiral asked.
"Yes," I confirmed, "I would like to replenish the ammunition of my ship and immediately head to the orbit of this planet."
"Will you provide an escort?"
"I won't need one, Admiral," I waved my hand. "Tivokka and the Judicial Corps fleet will arrive there soon."
"You are so confident in your abilities," the man noted.
"Because the absence of doubt – that's what makes a sentient being stronger," I grinned. "No matter who he is. But regarding ammunition and fuel."
"I will arrange it," the Admiral replied, "transfer your ship to the hangar, I will send the coordinates."
"Thank you."
After replenishing my supplies, I decided to proceed with the simulation of forces arriving at T'ungla. If Graves is a traitor and informs Jarco about everything, an ambush will await me near this planet. My goal is to thin out Jarco's forces that she can bring there and calmly escape to Iego. What to do with the Admiral next? I could arrest him immediately, reassigning the forces from Iego to myself. I haven't ruled out the possibility that any of his close assistants could be the traitor. But in any case – if the information comes from the local Judicial Corps headquarters, then by understanding this, we can manipulate information and enemies as we wish. And for that, we need to get confirmation or refutation. Capturing and "interrogating" as I did with the bandits is not suitable for ordinary sentient beings who are officially on our side, without solid evidence. Otherwise, if I start behaving like this… It won't lead to anything good. It could even lead to Falling to the Dark Side. And I don't want that.
The sphere of the planet T'ungl appeared upon exiting hyperspace. Immediately, I activated and began scanning the surrounding area. The scanner I have is one of the best that could be installed on my ship. Roughly speaking – "military." So, detecting the enemy will not be difficult. Admiral Graves is a smart man, smart enough… After my departure, he checked his office for bugs, and not in vain. I did leave bugs there. Then he tried to contact our group, which was currently in hyperspace and flying to Iego. But he couldn't; there is no hyperspace communication technology yet. Without contacting them, he sent a request from his email regarding the order to his forces and how he should act. But I managed to install redirection software on his PC. The letter came to me, and I confirmed my own words.
If he is not a traitor, I will explain myself to him later. But… My premonitions about betrayal did not deceive me. Ships reacted to my scan. A trio of Z-95, a universal fighter, so to speak, headed towards me. As I expected. I will, of course, need to clarify whether Admiral shared my "nonsense" with other officers. But I am now one hundred percent sure that the mole is in the highest circles of the Judicial Corps. My "order" would have reached the middle and lower officers later, meaning – Graves and his closest assistants. Why was I sure that this trio was from "Black Sun"? Because the scan detected about four Dreadnoughts near the planet, and they were the same as those from Drongar. That is, not just the Dreadnought model, but the exact same ships. The trio of fighters was flying towards me. Well… My fire control system is one of the best that can be bought and installed on my ship, again.
So… I put the vessel into combat mode. We don't have giant armies here, so every fighter counts. And why not thin out Jarco's forces before the main battle? Focusing, I pressed the fire trigger. The turbolasers opened fire. I must admit, they even managed to fire. But my shields can't be broken by fighters right away, and my ship's cannons destroyed two fighters and damaged a third in the first few seconds. The third exploded somewhere behind my ship when I passed it. There are too many fighters here… And then several turbolaser shots flew past my ship. It wasn't the fighters shooting. The Dreadnoughts opened fire… I am already within their weapon range. Besides them, the trio of Gozantis also attacked me. Damn it. Hits from heavy and medium turbolasers, which are on cruisers and dreadnoughts – not the most pleasant thing for my ship.
They fired again when I activated the stygium coating. I dodged the shots by directing the ship downwards. And now they should be panicking. While using stealth mode, I cannot use sensors, relying only on my Force sense and visual information that I see as a pilot. Not all of Jarco's forces are here; apparently, she was counting on the "first salvo" to stun the enemy upon exiting hyperspace. Well… I got the information. In stealth mode, I could have turned around and retreated as far as possible, and then left the planet with a hyperspace jump. But why not take advantage of my tactical advantage?
"Prepare the missiles, VV," I grinned. "We're going to put on a beautiful show for them now."
"Are we going to attack them? With the target acquisition system deactivated?" the droid beeped.
"To acquire a target, VV, it takes about three seconds. Dreadnoughts and Gozantis have older fire control systems. At least these ones. The best result for each ship is five and seven seconds respectively. Z-95 will not do much better. In addition – we will attack not from the front, but from the rear," using my sensors, I will be able to guide the ship between them in their formation. They are positioned to maximize fire from the front, so upon exiting hyperspace, when the ships are almost blind, shields not raised – their rapid attack could have nullified the numerical advantage, and besides, they themselves could have jumped into hyperspace, not staying near the planet until the end. Relying on technology, I guided the ship between the opponents and got behind them. Choosing the engines of one of the dreadnoughts as a target, I prepared the missiles. Without fire control, they cannot be fired adequately; the computer needs to input target data into the projectiles themselves.
Okay, at least I can prepare for the shot. I deactivated stealth. Now they should be shocked that the ship first disappeared and then reappeared behind them. The fighters had already begun to turn, as did the Dreadnoughts' weapons. But they are too slow; the missiles have acquired the target. Salvo… Two missiles rushed towards their targets, I slightly turned the hull and guns, and shot down the engines of the Gozanti on the right. And then opened fire on another Dreadnought. That's enough, stealth. A moment later, an explosion sounded. Hitting the central Dreadnought, or rather its engines – the missiles detonated. Even if I can't destroy this behemoth, damaging it won't hurt. It added to the optimism that all her Dreadnoughts were clearly bought and resold, reassembled more than once. These are too formidable ships for the Galaxy at the moment. If they were even half as good as they were when their construction was completed at Rendili, we would have problems. But the Criminal Syndicate certainly hasn't always managed to keep such ships in good condition. You can repair a Z-95 with anything, sticks and whatever else. But with a Dreadnought and a Gozanti, such tricks won't work. However, even so – they could pose problems. The engines on the second Dreadnought exploded, and apparently, its reactor was less protected from such damage, or it was luck, but the ship, a few seconds later, had a reactor explosion and was destroyed. The simultaneous death of at least five thousand sentient beings is not a pleasant thing. The fighters began to literally swarm around the place where my ship disappeared, like bees. All other ships activated their shields to full power. The central Dreadnought, wounded by me first – was much slower than the other ships. And one of the three Gozantis, whose engines were hit by turbolasers, simply froze. But I left the fighters another surprise in the form of a seismic charge. A moment, and a seismic wave spread in all directions. The shields of the other ships will hold, but the fighters' shields, if the criminals hadn't cranked them up to modify something of their own, wouldn't. Some of the fighters were destroyed, cut by the shockwave.
I, on the other hand, changed position again, deciding to concentrate fire on the wounded Dreadnought, which apparently had a fire in its engines. However, it was still alive and even held its shield. So… Where is the Dreadnought's shield projector? It's external… I recalled ship specs courses. There… I rushed towards the ship, coming out of stealth on the fly. They noticed me and began to aim their weapons, but before they could fire, I destroyed the deflector with a missile, and then went back into stealth, though they managed to fire, draining my shields by seventy-five percent.
One more hit like this and the shields will be gone, and then I'll be destroyed. So I can't afford to expose myself anymore. Flying over the Dreadnought that had lost its shields, I went into its stern, towards the engines, and was about to attack it again, but stopped… A sense of danger… They figured out that I want to destroy this particular Dreadnought and aimed at the position from which I would attack its engines with missiles, a vulnerable zone. If I show myself now, even without using fire control, proper aiming, they will open fire on me. No need to aim; the density of their volleys will do the job.
"Damn it, I don't want to let him go," I said, "but I don't want to end up as space dust either."
If I try to break another shield, they'll figure out I want to destroy that ship. Break everyone's shields? Too big a risk. I'll settle for D'jarko not having any fighters, even though I didn't destroy all her squadrons and a whole Dreadnought. Another one, by the looks of it, will need repairs, as will the Gozanti. Time to go back and figure out what to do with the traitor from the Judicial Corps…
I arrived at Iego incognito, even from Gravz and the Judicial Corps this time. Tiwok'ka and Plo Koon will arrive soon anyway. And Gravz, or the traitor, might have already figured out where the fleet will arrive, but D'jarko won't attack Iego. Most likely, she realized she was played, or rather, her informant was. I was on the roof of the cantina where I first met Lora, meditating peacefully. When suddenly I felt a familiar presence… A moment later, Lora was pressed against the wall of the building on the cantina's roof.
"Let go!" the Mandalorian woman roared.
"Why should I?" I asked her. "What were you going to do with that blaster you aimed at me?"
"I was going to shoot something out of you," the Chiss grumbled. "Jubilar?! What was the lie about?"
"Lie?" I asked.
"That's right! Three days have passed, no one has arrived, even though you promised that Jedi would appear and we would attack Itari's base with them!"
"Ah, you mean that," I chuckled, standing up. "That was a rational trick to figure out if anyone on your crew was leaking data to D'jarko Itari. You have ships under your command, so it's clear that there could be a mole, considering the number of people."
"Only for that reason?" she asked in surprise. "Because of your cynicism and distrust?"
"And why should I believe you, tell me please?" I released the Mandalorian woman, stopping to press her. "I'm seeing you for the second time in my life. Even if I didn't sense any lies in your words. But if a sentient sincerely believes in their words, then even a lie can be considered the truth."
"In our company, Luna, no one ever lies!"
"A debatable assertion," I scoffed. "Well, alright. I've made sure, while you were messing around at Jubilar, that neither you nor your crew, whom you seem to trust very much, are the traitor."
"And did you find out who the traitor is?"
"Admiral Gravz," I said. "I offered him a similar… trap, and then went there myself, got proof. After I returned to Iego, I managed to intercept his conversation with D'jarko."
"I knew it! Even when you told me about Drongar!"
"That's why you went to him. I followed you, and don't be surprised. If you think about it, surveillance and stealth are my forte, it's just a shame you can't win wars with them," I said sadly. To be honest, I didn't quite fit the classic image of a Shadow. I turned out to be a much better warrior. Although I still didn't particularly like acting openly. "But you didn't catch the Admiral, and then you decided to wait for reinforcements at Jubilar. However, I caught the Admiral and fed him the misinformation that the forces would be at T'ungla. I myself headed there, supposedly to wait, like you, and met D'jarko's fleet. But I still had doubts – maybe the traitor was someone from Gravz's inner circle. But then I intercepted the communication between Gravz and D'jarko. So, yes… The circle is closed."
"Why?" Lora asked unexpectedly.
"Why did he betray us? A good question. One should always be interested in motives, especially for such significant actions. And we will find out, after the operation at Pakuuni," the call interception also allowed me to determine that D'jarko had holed up in her fortress on Pakuuni. "It's not profitable to destroy him now. Gravz decided to frame one of his closest subordinates. Commodore Ralph, who is responsible for troop supply. It's been clear in the local Judicial Corps for a long time that Ralph has been selling supposedly decommissioned military equipment on the side. He also informed the Jedi Council and the Central Department of the Judicial Corps. It's for the best…"
"What's for the best?" Lora asked. "During the operation, a high-ranking officer will be working for the enemy!"
"Yes, but we know that he will be working for her, and she knows about it, so she will behave more relaxed, because someone like Gravz is working for her. And at the same time, the enemy doesn't know that we know. This could play into our hands. If Gravz is killed now, D'jarko might get scared enough to run. So, Lora, I'd order you to keep quiet."
"I'm not your subordinate…"
"But you want to participate in the operation, part of the supervision of which is entrusted to me. I agree to approve your participation, but I want to clarify. We don't have an equal partnership. You will either follow orders, in my person, which embodies the Republic and the Jedi Order, or you will not participate in anything. I will simply neutralize you, you will lie there until the end of the battle at Pakuuni, calm down, and then I will release you. So, what do you choose, Lora?"
"As you wish," she sighed. "So what's next, genius of strategy and tactics?"
"And next, Lora, is a massive strike. The fleet will appear at Iego, where we will accumulate all our forces and deliver one powerful blow to D'jarko's fleet, which is currently in orbit around Pakuuni."