Exile's Revenge: Chapter 5 "The War Begins"

11 Months After Death of Malachor V

Troy Blukam walked up to where Revan sat in his Force-cage. It had been nearly three hours since Revan had been captured. During the three hours, Troy had questioned Revan about his activities during the past five years. The majority of his activities during the first year had been common knowledge and Troy had learned most of it beforehand. After the Republic Fleet had been destroyed at the battle of the Star Forge, Revan continued his assault on the Mid-rim and the Colonies. As the year went on though, the invasion began to slow until it eventually stopped completely. The Republic had recieved intellegance that the Star Forge had been inexplicably destroyed, now Troy found out that not even Revan knew what had caused its destruction. According to Revan, not long after the destruction of the Star Forge he began getting his memories back. Nearly a year after the Battle of the Star Forge, Revan left the known Galaxy and went looking for his old outposts. He had been searching for a lost superweapon, a forgotten relic of the Anciet Sith Empire that he had discovered during the Mandalorian Wars. Unfourtunately Revan didn't have the co-ordinates of the planet where the weapon was stored, he didn't even know if the weapon was located at a planet, shipyard, outpost or moon. Just under a year after the Battle of the Star Forge, Bastila contacted Revan and informed him of a rising number of dissidents on Korriban. She said these insurgants were planning open rebellion and told him to return immediately. He had been on in the other side of the Galaxy, near the Outer Rim world of Utapau, and it had taken him almost two weeks to get to Korriban. By the time he arrived there was open warfare, the different factions each trying to fill the appearant power-vacuum Revan had left. Bastila's unit was holed up in the Academy, but they were surrounded on all sides and running out of supplies. The initial bombardment from Revan's Flagship at the time, Destroyer, had destroyed the enemy emcampments near the Dreshdae spaceport. Revan then landed an extraction squad to get Bastila's soldiers out. Once they liberated Bastila's soldiers within the Academy, they captured most of the remaining Capital ships and left the planet. Bastila and her forces decided to try to restore order but ultimately she had to flee as well, leaving the Sith rebel factions to fight it out on the ground.

The first part of the second year started much like the first year ended. Revan renewed his search for the Ancient Sith Superweapon, but instead stumbled into the remnants of the origional Sith Empire whom he had met before but didn't remember. Upon re-meeting the Dark Lord, Darth Necros, many of Revan's memories returned. However the location of the Superweapon remained lost. The remainder of the year was spent regaining the trust of Necros and his followers. Though the Sith Empire was relatively small, only a few hundred systems, the Sith Lords themselves were quite powerful and had devised a completely different philosophy from previous Sith. These Sith ruled as a Council, similar to the Jedi Council, except that Necros was the head of the Council while the others only served as Governors of the outlaying systems. In total, there were ten Governors and Necros, all of whom were of the Sith species. Revan managed to get a few dozen systems to join the Sith and became the Governor of those systems, earning himself a place on the Council, which was extended from eleven to twelve to accomodate him.

Years three, four, and part of five were spent rebuilding Revan's Navy and recruiting new soldiers for his Army. During this time Revan conquered many worlds and convinced even more to join his cause. Revan wanted dominance over the 'True' Sith so he could launch another assault on the Republic and control the entire Galaxy. However his plans were spoiled by the treachery one of Bastila's apprentices, Hesus Marr.

"What, did you say 'Marr?" Troy asked when he heard the name of the traitorous apprentice.

"Yes," Revan said, looking up. He tried to read the slightly younger man's thoughts, but Troy was blocking him. "Why?"

"Was he a Miraluka?" Troy asked.

"Yes, how did you know?" Revan was confused. How had Troy, who had been thousands of lightyears away, known that much about one of Bastila's apprentices?

"I knew a relative of his," Troy's voice became softer, like he was remembering an old friend. "She... she died about eleven months ago, at the hand of her former master. We lost a lot of good people fighting against Nihilus, Visas, Mandalore and seven other Mandalorian warriors."

"Mandalorians?" Revan looked contemplative and seemed to be speaking almost to himself. "So Canderous, you did it after all. Rebuilt the clans."

"You knew a Mandalorian?" Troy was shocked. Last time he had seen Revan, the older man would've killed a Mandalorian on sight. "You've changed since the Wars."

"Canderous, of Clan Ordo," Revan spoke, his old voice returning. "He joined me against Malak after I had lost my memories."

"Clan Ordo," Troy looked surprised. "You mean... was he Mandalore?"

"I guess he was. Last time I spoke to him he said he was going to..."

Their conversation was cut short by the horrible wailing sound of the proximity alarm. Troy pulled his comlink out of his armor and contacted Colonel Zrillar.

"Colonel, status report." Troy asked, immediately falling back into his role of General. It was something you never lost, no matter how long it had been. Troy, like Revan, was born a natural leader.

"It's the Sith Fleet, sir." She replied. "They've breached the outer defenses. The alert fighters have been launched and the orbital lasers are priming as we speak."

"I'll be right there, General Blukam out." Troy turned to Revan. "Heh, looks like Bastila finally decided to come after you. I know I trained her to cautious, but you've been here nearly five hours. She sould've come much sooner, but maybe that can be attributed to her Sith training?"

Before Revan could respond, Troy was gone. Revan sat in his Force-cage and, like Troy, wondered why it had taken Bastila so long to come get him.

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Bastila's Command Ship, Deathbringer. Half-an-Hour Before

"Order the fleet to execute maneuver Delta Seven," Bastila ordered after talking with the Officer in Command of Outpost Kreion. "Once we clear the asteroids, have starfighter wings Alpha and Theta cover the transports. Deathbringer and its support craft are to assault the starboard section of the Outpost, while Relentless and its support craft are to attack the port side."

"Yes Ma'am," Said her Second in Command, a Captain named Jenson. He walked over to the Tactical Display Unit and watched the fleet disribute itself according to Delta Seven. The ships under Bastila's direct command moving into a protective triangle around the transports that held the Sith Marine units that would board the enemy Outpost. The ships under Revan's command formed a diagonal line along the port side of the triangle. The last two surviving Wings of the Sith Starfighter Corps flew defensively around the transports. He watched on the T.D.U. as the Fleet passed between the twin asteriod-sized moons that orbited the planet around which Outpost Kreion also orbited. He focused the sensors on the Outpost, searching for weapons emplacements, and docking bays.

Meanwhile on the dark side of the asteroids, not seen by Jenson's sensors, a formation of Republic starfighters waited for the order to attack. They relied on the station to triangulate the position of incoming enemies and send them the co-ordinates of the Sith Fleet because the asteroids also blocked their sensors.

The proximity alarm went off and the Starfighters split up and came around the asteroid, the Sith officers would later comment that the maneuver resembled insects swarming around a rock. The Republic starfighters began their assault by targeting two of the frigates with a flurry or proton torpedoes and volley after volley of laser bolts. The first frigate took the brunt of the assault and its shields collapsed within seconds under the firepower of so many ships. One of the torpedoes found its way to the engine core and caused a system's overload, causing power surges and overloads all over the ship. The frigate was dead within seconds, its hull fracturing along numerous power conduits. The second frigate suffered a much slower death, three proton torpedoes ruptured the hull in three places. Great gouts of flame erupted from the bowels of the ship as it lazily spun to its death. By this time the Sith fighters had engaged their Republic counterparts, while the Capital Ships provided covering fire. The area surrounding the Sith Fleet was bright with the flashes of numerous turbolaser blasts, proton torpedoes and the smaller lasers that made up the Fighters' armaments.

"Captain!" Bastila yelled at Jensen. "Where in the name of the Force did those Starfighters come from?!"

"The dark side of the asteroids, Ma'am." He replied, turning from the T.D.U. to look at her. "The Outpost must have been sending its sensor readings to them, that's how they knew where we were."

"How many are there?" She asked, trying to sound calmer than she was. Commanding Ships was not her strength, co-ordinating them was.

"I count over One-hundred-fifty, seperated into six squadrons, though that number is declining rapidly." He replied. "However, they're harrassing the transports and our numbers of fighters are also thinning quickly."

"Captain, you have the Bridge," Bastila began. "I'll use my Battle Meditation to aid our fighters and transports."

With that, she left the main Bridge and entered a smaller area off to the side. It contained a smaller version of the T.D.U. and the fact that she was away from the chaos of the Bridge meant she could concentrate better. She kneeled in front of the T.D.U. and began by boosting the confidence and abilities of the Sith fighter pilots. Using Battle Meditation was a very draining experience, and only if she concentrated extremely hard on it would it work. When she tried to extend her influence and take away the abilities and confidence of the Republic pilots however, she made a shocking discovery.

"Droids?" She gasped. Her power was useless against automated opponents, the only thing she could do was aid he own pilots. While trying to maintain her hold over the pilots, she entered the Main Bridge again. "Captain, we have a problem."

"What is it?" He asked, seeing the pained expression one usually wore when using the Battle Meditation power and mistaking it for something else.

"The Republic fighters," She began, her words sounding harsh as she tried to force them out while still maintaining her influence over her followers. "They're piloted... by... Droids."

"Droids?" He asked, all she could do was nod her head in response. "Designs for automated starfighters were still extremely experimental before we left for the Unknown Regions. The Republic has come a long way in only five years."

"I can't... effect them..." She began, the effort of conversing with the Captain and using her powers was begining to wear her out much quicker than just using her powers. "...My Battle... Meditation... only works... on... organics. I... can't slow... them. You... must figure... this out... by yourself." With that, she left the Main Bridge so she could concentrate better on her power, leaving Jensen to come up with an effective counter-measure to use against the droids.

"Commander, come here." He called to his second-in-command, coming up with an idea. "To we still have that EMP weapon we used against the Sith on Tantek 6 installed?"

"Yes, sir," Commander Wallace replied. "But it's not charged. We'd need at least fifteen minutes to bring it on-line."

"Tell Engineering they've got ten," Jensen ordered. "And inform the other ships in the Fleet to prepare for electro-magnetic disturbances."

"Right away, sir."

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"Colonel, what's the status of the automated defence turrets?" Troy asked as he entered the Command Deck of the Outpost.

"The turrets are almost charged, sir." Col. Zrillar replied. "Less than one minute until they are ready to fire."

"What's the status of our droid-controlled fighters?" He asked turning to the T.D.U. off to the side of the room.

"Squadron three took the brunt of the Sith's assault, most of the wing was destroyed." She began. "However, they did manage to take out two of the enemy Frigates and four Transports. Squadron one is still mostly intact and, along with the remnants of Squads three and two are holding back the Sith fighters. Squadron four is currently assaulting the main Fleet, using ion cannons as you requested. Squad five is being held at bay on the starboard side of the enemy formation, while six is attacking from the rear." She indicated the various locations of the Squadrons as she spoke. The battle appeared to be going in their favor, many of the Sith ships were crippled or dead in space due to the ion cannons employed by Squadron four. The Sith fighters on the other hand were consistantly outmaneuvering and outperforming their Republic counterparts.

"Bastila's using her Battle Meditation," Troy began as he watched the blue dots representing Squadrons one, two and three decrease at an alarming rate. "What's the status of the defence turrets?"

"They're on-line and firing... now." Said the Lieutenant at the controls.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

In the Battle outside the station, the area between the twin asteroids lit up with the blasts of numerous weapons emplacements on the asteroids' surfaces. Dozens of concealed turrets opened fire similtainiously, causing havoc within the attacking Fleet. Ships whose shields were barely active were immediately blown away. The ion cannons of the turrets and fighters fried circuitry along the main power conduits of the capital ships, disabling them for later capture. However, during the confusion caused by the myriad of lasers, ion cannons and torpedoes, the Sith transport ships were able to land in several of the docking bays around the Outpost.

"We've been boarded!" Said the security officer from his console. "Five Sith transports have landed. Two in docking bay E and three in docking bay F. I'm sending security teams to intercept."

"How many Sith per ship?" Troy asked, knowing the number was going to be too large.

"Judging from the size of the vessels, I would say roughly fifty per ship."

"Are you trying to tell me that there are about two-hundred-and-fifty enemy soldiers in My facility?" Troy asked.

"Affermative, sir."

"Activate the droids, have them assist the security forces." Troy said, heading for the door.

"But, sir, those droids are untested..."

"What better way to test them...?" Troy asked as he headed to the turbolift that would take him to the docking bays.