Chapter 27 Allies Wanted (Part 1)

Reijar, Ordo System…982 ARR…

Haron sat at his desk, he had taken back some of the administration duties that his long-suffering wife had undertaken in his absence and it was something of a relief to be doing this than leading battles or managing a galactic military. It was certainly less stressful he thought with some relief.

It had been some months now since the end of the Clone Wars and now new year had passed, he and his people were thankfully still being ignored by the Empire but his intelligence sources had informed him that 'exercises' were being planned for the future…exercises that while did not feature names resembled several key Mandalorian systems including Ordo he thought with anger. It was just a matter of time.

And their search for allies wasn't going well either, the hatred of Separatists ran deep and many of his people refused any thought of working with their holdouts and few other factions would even consider it, not wanting to risk angering the Empire in the hopes that they would leave them alone.

That standpoint, while understandable was extremely foolish as Haron knew that the Empire would seek to control all that was within its field of vision. The Emperor would never allow any possible threat to his power and would crush under foot anything that had even the remotest chance of interfering with his rule. Case in point he thought with frustration, the recent arrests of several senators who had joined the Delegation of the 2000. Most of them without charge which meant he wasn't even bothering to come up with 'reasons' or 'evidence' anymore he was simply doing what he wanted.

That didn't bode well Haron thought with concern before he finished his work and checked his personal messages. A new one had shown up while he was working and he opened it, it was to his surprise from one of his contacts in the Senate, a fellow member of the Marisa Club. The Senator from Dac or Mon Calamari or just Mon Cala as it was sometimes known Meena Tills.

He hadn't heard from her in some time and wondered just what it was she wanted and he read the message, his eyes widening slightly as she reported the actions of a rogue Jedi named Ferren Barr who had been doing his utmost to create tension between her planet and the Empire.

While a Jedi encouraging people to fight was hardly unexpected this went way further than any Jedi should Haron thought, using the force to control people and assassinating the Imperial Ambassador. This was beyond their code and Haron realised that he had most likely fallen to the dark side in an obsession with revenge. He was pushing the Mon Calamari and the Quarren that stayed on the planet directly into open conflict with the Empire, one that they would never win alone.

What was his intention here? Haron considered, revenge obviously but did it go deeper than that? Haron could feel in the force that this was a crucial moment. Turning back to the message it seemed that King Lee-Char had at least realised the danger and on his behalf, Meena was reaching out in hopes of establishing an alliance with his people to help in case the Empire came.

Haron smirked, even as leader of his people he would not make such a decision without making sure the House Leaders were on board with it or to find out which ones weren't. However, he was immediately intrigued at the idea, the Mon Calamari and the Quarran had one of the biggest and most powerful merchant fleets in the galaxy, cruisers as large as the new Imperial-class Star Destroyers which with the appropriate refit could easily function as frontline warships, not to mention extensive shipyard facilities there and were skilled space travellers.

This was it, he thought with certainty, it was a big risk…no a huge risk given where it could lead but if they were going to find allies to help them resist the Empire and encourage resistance in turn they had to start somewhere and this he thought was a good place to start.

- x -

Deera and Zara meanwhile were at the clinic, the operation to implant the genetic material from Zara into Deera had been quick and relatively painless. Now they were having a follow up appointment to see if it had taken.

"There we are." The technician said with a smile as he adjusted the scanner over Deera's stomach. Once in position he began adjusting the controls while Deera and Zara held each other's hand, their faces alight with joyful expectation. The technician smiled and told them.

"Congratulations. You're pregnant."

Deera and Zara honestly felt like screaming out in sheer happiness but settled for a passionate snog and they got up to leave, thanking the technician on their way out, holding hands and just smiling so hard it might leave them with a permanent grin.

"A girl! Our little girl!" Zara said with almost tears in her eyes, knowing that it had to be a girl since both of them were women neither had a Y chromosome. A little girl though she thought with excitement. A child of their own! It was so exciting Zara thought with joy.

"We don't think of names just yet." Deera said with a beaming smile that seemed radiant and like a blast of sunshine. "We don't name her till the last month."

"Agreed but at least let's think of names." Zara said with eagerness, she was already so eager for the baby to be here so she could meet her daughter. An eagerness that was shared by Deera who put a hand on her stomach as if to feel her baby which physically she couldn't yet but through the force she felt the baby inside her.

It was such a tiny little light she thought, likening it to a candle in the middle of a dark room. Small but bright and warm. Deera honestly was so in love with her child already she just hoped she would have enough time to prepare for her own role as mother.

- x -

In her forest training ground Luna sat watching as her students trained, the older ones were helping the younger. They had received a whole new class of twenty students from across Mandalorian Space, they were young and would need much training before they would be ready to join the ranks of their order. Young Galen Marek, only three at present was in their youngest class and doing well much to the pride of his parents.

Some students like Lelia Ordo were already on their way, she thought proudly as the eight-year-old girl stood there with training lightsaber in hand and a blindfold on deflecting blaster bolts away from her sent by a pair of training remotes from random directions under Kento's watchful eyes. The other Ordo children including six-year-old Markus the oldest too were developing their powers and would with time would be incredible wielders of the Force and magic Luna thought proudly.

Luna smirked as she saw one of her newest students struggling to get her wordless magic down, Vysa was doing her best to catch up with the rest of them in using the force/magic.

The woman was concentrating like mad and Luna realised she was trying too hard and went over to help her.

Vysa was so caught up in what she was doing that she didn't even realise Luna was there, she lashed out with a kick but Luna easily caught it and prevented the hit from landing.

"You need to relax." Luna told her, ignoring the near miss and told her while projecting calm. "To actively channel the force, you have to be able to feel it. Magic is the same, it is more about what you feel. The unconscious part of you so you have to let go of your fears and just let it flow through you." Luna told her and Vysa looked visibly frustrated before nearly shouting.

"I'm trying!"

Then she went silent as she realised everyone was now looking at her and felt very embarrassed, Luna however kept smiling and told her as she took hold of her hands gently.

"Faith is not an easy thing to master, nor is this and the two are not mutually exclusive. You are thinking too hard, pushing yourself when you need to stop and let yourself go. It will take time but you will get this, it's easier when you're a child to get this but you are trying as an adult so it takes a while." Luna said with a reassuring squeeze of her hand. Then she decided to try a new tactic. "When you were a little girl, what did you pretend when you played make believe?"

"What?" Vysa asked in confusion at the change of topic but at Luna's insistent stare she begrudgingly admitted.

"I used to dream of being a space pilot, of flying through asteroid belts and all the coolest sights in space." Vysa said somewhat sheepishly in a whisper so only Luna could hear her, Luna smiled wondering just how alike Vysa was to Harry.

They both dreamed of flying.

"Then remember that feeling. When you dreamed and imagined yourself flying. How it felt, the joy and the thrill. Capture that feeling and hold it close to your heart." Luna told her with earnest hope that she might finally overcome the block she had in her mind that was stopping her from connecting to the Force.

Vysa, full of confusion and doubt about this but still frustrated by her inability to connect to the Force on a deeper level decided to just try it once. She closed her eyes, casting her mind back to that day when she had been a girl and dreamt of flying across the universe. Her face easing into a warm smile as she felt that excitement again felt her burdens melt away, feeling at ease with herself, she raised her hand again but this time, the rock that she had been struggling to move all day finally lifted into the air.

Luna smiled, glad that at last Vysa was pulling down the barriers and exploring herself.

- x -

The conference room was now hosting a meeting between Haron and the rest of the rest of the House Leaders many of whom attended by hologram, in the back Ara and Neville sat at Haron's side as he outlined the situation for them.

"I know we had been looking for allies but this one seems to be a double-edged sword to me." Harlan said with concern they might be getting themselves in too deep.

"But they are also one of the few species around willing to stand up to the Empire and are worth allying ourselves with." Duke Yarlton said with a look of consideration on his face. The Mon Calamari had extensive facilities and a large merchant fleet which could easily benefit them not to mention they were desperate to make a deal with them.

"But is it worth risking war with the Empire?" Duchess Ti'harn asked with an urgent look in her eye. And she was right, this carried enormous risks but Ijaa shook his head.

"No, the risk is already here. The Empire will come whatever we do. The question we have to ask ourselves is whether we want to face them all on our own? Or will we risk it to trust others so that we can fight alongside them?" Ijaa asked them with a calm but stern look on his face. The others all looked at the table while they considered and Haron nodded gratefully to the old man for his input.

"The fact is if we don't find others to help, the Empire will overwhelm us with the sheer numbers at their command. However strong we are, even the greatest can fall to the multitude. This is a planet that we can trust not to betray us, who keep to their word and can offer us a great deal. More to the point." Haron said pressing home his opinion. "If we fight and win here, it shows the galaxy that the Empire can be beaten. That can embolden others and open doors for those that might be our allies." Haron said with conviction.

The others absorbed his words and slowly the nodded in agreement, it was a huge risk but it was also one that might be worth their while to take.

Haron smiled with satisfaction, feeling nervous at the big step he was taking with his whole people and even his family at stake. But it was their best option, if they were going to build an alliance of people to help fight the Empire, they had to start somewhere and this would be the first step.

With that done, Haron then moved on to another thought he'd had, surprised to be honest that the Mandalorians hadn't done this already.

"When the time comes for us to fight, we must reward our warriors for their deeds in battle. Give them recognition for this beyond what we do now. So, I intend to create a series of medals and other such awards that we can give for their great service. Awards that can be held by the families even if they die." Haron said, calling up a holoimage of some of the ideas he'd had.

The idea seemed strange to the Mandalorians as this was something they had always seen other people do but had never really done themselves as far as they knew. But that being said, it was a good idea. All the usual glory along with official recognition from them for great service.

But while they agreed to let the work on medals begin, it was the signing of the treaty that was the real achievement. It was both an economic trade deal alongside a mutual defence pact. Some of their engineers would also work with their shipwrights and others to work on refitting their ships for war. They also would begin to provide them with the ARC-170 designs to help bolster their fleet.

Haron just hoped there was enough time to get ready for the invasion when it came.

Antar 4, The Inner Rim…

Antar 4 had a very unstable history, during the Clone Wars a massive schism on the planet had divided the population between largely Republic friendly Gotal species and more Separatist aligned groups on the planet. The Separatists had proven victorious and driven most of the Gotal off the planet and replaced them with other species already in favour of the Separatist cause.

With the war now finally over the planet had not sworn itself to the Empire and to make an example of them, while this was already a terrifying thought on its own but who was leading it, especially given the recent Kalderan Invasion…Moff Tarkin.

Moff Tarkin, largely to use the weapon he praised most, fear ordered massive numbers of arrests, executions and even massacres on huge numbers of the population, even if they had been loyal to the Republic or not. All to ensure the Empire was unchallenged on Antar 4 whatever the cost.

However, he had no idea that someone was on the planet, undermining his efforts until they were ready to strike.

The Imperial Prison Camps were thousands of prisoners all being routinely tortured, beaten and executed, mass graves were being dug by excavators. People carrying small cameras and small droids equipped with recording equipment crawled around, doing their best to get all the footage of what the Empire was doing that they could.

A Gossam, a small blue skinned species that had come to live here during the Clone Wars did its level best to slip quietly into one of the Imperial Prison Camps and found a terminal in the camp that was unguarded. It attached slicer gear to it and stole all the data files it could even the encrypted ones in hopes of finding something that could be used to hurt the Empire for what it was doing. Many of her friends had died at the hands of Tarkin and his thugs and she was determined to get revenge she thought seething with rage. Tarkin needed to learn that his actions didn't just cause fear, they caused anger!

Thankfully she was able to slip back out of the camp undetected and met with her partner in the small scale and by large disorganised resistance here. He was a Gotal, one of the native species that had stayed behind. He had lost a brother and his brother's family to these camps and was only too eager to join the fight against them.

"Got the footage?" The Gossam asked and the Gotal nodded.

"All of it, now come on! We need to get out of here before-" He started to say before unfortunately what he had feared came true. A random patrol sweeping the area appeared and surrounded them. The pair grimaced, knowing full well that they were now going to end up in the camps themselves where they would die but were too angry to be afraid. They stood defiantly in front of the Imperial Stormtroopers as they were becoming known.

However, a voice from behind the soldiers interrupted everything.

"Hello there."

The Stormtroopers turned around with their blasters, pointing straight at the hooded figure, none of them however expected that he would reveal a lightsaber, falling into his hand from down his sleeve. Igniting it to reveal a blue blade the Stormtroopers, all enlisted humans rather than clones panicked at first, not sure just what to do when faced with a Jedi but soon settled with shooting him.

However, despite ten men shooting all at once, not a single shot hit the target, the Jedi seemed too able to block every shot despite how hard their tried. Then just to make matters worse, another shorter hooded figure appeared behind them and this one had another blue bladed lightsaber in hand.

Both Jedi advanced on the Stormtroopers, their lightsabers twirling around and deflecting all of the blaster fire away from them before ruthlessly they started cutting down the stormtroopers. It was over quickly, leaving all the troopers dead and the two rebels staring at them in surprised awe.

The taller figure removed his cloak and revealed his face, Obi-Wan Kenobi looking around to see if they were secure while Kalifa lowered her own cloak.

"Come, we must leave the area." Obi-Wan said quickly as he deactivated his weapon, his apprentice following suite. The two local rebels, one of whom had been a Separatist until recently was unsure of whether it was a good idea to trust the Jedi but given that they had just saved their lives it seemed only fair.

The small group made their way to a derelict house on the outskirts of the primary settlement, it was a fairly non-descript building which blended with the others around it. Nothing that made it stand out, which of course made it a good place to hide.

The four made their way inside and Obi-Wan secured the door behind them so they would hopefully remain undisturbed.

There was an R2 unit standing there, it had a purple and silver coloured casing and whistled excitedly as they appeared.

"Yes R4, things are okay." Kalifa said with a smile as she warmly patted its dome. The Droid almost like a pet warbled excitedly as she did so. "We got the footage."

"And so did you." Obi-Wan said with a sad look in his eyes given what they had seen here, he had thought things would be bad but never this bad he thought wishing he had never brought Kalifa here. He just hoped that what she was being forced to witness did not colour her view of the universe.

He had come here solely for the purpose of showing the Empire's true face to the galaxy, to gather evidence and release it as far and wide as he could. He had managed to find much and the resistance it seemed had been gathering much more. He just hoped there was enough to make at least some people realise just what was happening and that the Empire was a bad thing for the galaxy.

He turned to the two rebels an told them. "We'll stay here and then gather what we know, in the meanwhile…Kalifa, we should get some more training in."

"Yes master!" Kalifa said with a smile, eager to learn more from her Master. Obi-Wan nodded and let her to the other side of the room while the two rebels watched with sudden eagerness, now interested in just how Jedi trained.

Obi-Wan took out his lightsaber and ignited it on training mode as did Kalifa, he told her calmly but with disciplined sternness.

"Form 4 lightsaber combat is all about movement, fast switches and feints with acrobatic movements to constantly be in motion so your opponent cannot hit back. But not only does this style have no real defence beyond your own speed but also it uses a lot of energy. My own master Qui-Gon was an Ataru user and in his youth, he used the form quite a lot only to realise as he got older the flaw with using the style.

"While you are quite capable of the normal aspects of Ataru, I will be adding something to your training that my master taught himself and then me when he discovered his problems with using the form. He used heavy two-handed strikes and quick parries as well and this is what you will learn from me today. It gives you some useful offensive abilities when combined with the Form 3 techniques you have learned." Obi-Wan said, demonstrating the moves in question which Kalifa did her best to copy.

Obi-Wan was glad that she was catching on so fast, he knew life could be really short for Jedi these days as he had heard whispers of some kind of Jedi hunting force users being deployed by the Emperor. Inquisitors he called them and they were sadly responsible for killing some of the Jedi that had managed to survive Order 66. So, if the day came that he was killed by the Empire, Kalifa would stand the best chance of survival.

But for now, Obi-Wan thought, making his thoughts return to the moment rather than dwelling on the future as Qui-Gon had often censored him for Obi-Wan thought with a small smile at the memory. He had been training with the techniques Master Yoda had imparted to him but communing with the force spirits so far eluded him. But he would persist, it would take time…but he would learn.

That being said, he was also occasionally and with great care delving into Count Dooku's Holocron, he pondered whether this was a correct move on his part but it had proven exceptionally useful in their work to undermine the Empire. Some of his Form 2 techniques of lightsaber combat that would be helpful in dealing with the Inquisitors if they ever came across each other, his own skill at telekinesis had vastly improved, his own skill at public speaking and Qek-tek meditation which helped him hide himself in the force from force users more effectively and was now teaching this all to Kalifa. He was learning a lot about moulding public opinion and propaganda which was of course vital in fighting the Empire.

He wondered if maybe this was why he had yet to make contact with the spirit of his master? Whether by focusing on more immediate concerns he was blinding himself to connecting to the force more deeply? He wasn't sure exactly what the answer to these questions was but for now he just had to keep going and do whatever he could.

The fight against the Sith had only just begun Obi-Wan thought with determination.

Palpatine's Chambers, Senate Building, Coruscant…A Week Later…

The new Emperor of the Galaxy sat at his desk in the freshly rebuild and redecorated office. He frowned; he had not been entirely happy with all the elements of his rise to power but it had gone well enough. His palace was now under construction and one day would serve as his command centre but for now he would remain the Senate building which would be covered by his palace's shadow one day.

However, this latest blunder of Tarkin's was something that he needed to see addressed, Palpatine thought with frustration at the man's stupidity. If he had not been as useful as he was Palpatine would have executed him for this. Made him a scapegoat but Tarkin was a good administrator for his Empire.

As the man in question came into the room Palpatine glared at him.

"You have seen this?" Palpatine said, indicating a pile of data pads with details of all his actions on Antar 4, even recordings and internal documents that revealed his directly ordering the arrest and then execution of innocent civilians.

"I was merely doing as you instructed and dealing with the issues of insurgents." Tarkin said without a single care in the world. Not caring at all what he'd done and dismissing the consequences completely.

Palpatine being one himself, knew how to spot a fellow psychopath. Tarkin was in some ways far more overt than he was though and had little to restrain him. Palpatine's eyes narrowed as he realised Tarkin might one day think he could replace him and vowed there and then to make sure that he kept a close eye on him so his ambition didn't become a danger.

"Maybe, but the reverse of fear, is anger." Palpatine said to him plainly. "And you are creating a lot of both. While I care not how you carry out your assignments, this has caused me to question my faith in you. So, I will be assigning you to join the planning and then execution of the future Western Reaches Campaign, where I hope you will show greater restraint." Palpatine warned him, wanting him to remember that he was not indispensable. There were many other people ambitious enough in the Empire to do his job, even the man's own aide who would jump at the chance to take Tarkin's position for himself.

"Understood, your majesty." Tarkin said with angry and narrow eyes, not liking the threat or demotion at all but said nothing as he wasn't yet powerful enough to take the position of Emperor away from him. He would need to wait till the Death Star was ready for that he thought with an expectant sneer.

- x -

Jedi Settlement, Auratera…

Tholme was busy at work establishing his hidden network to smuggle Jedi out in the galaxy to a safe location and hopefully one day to help in fighting the Empire.

But now he had to consider another potential threat, he thought with a worried look in his remaining eye.

The Mandalorians had gained the ability to use the force.

It was such a shot out of the blue he had at first thought it impossible but the reports were quite clear, there were force users among the Mandalorians now, combining all their gadgets and equipment with the ability to use the force and to make matters worse they had lightsabers too.

It was troubling, especially with how their people were an ancient enemy of the Jedi but what he wasn't sure of was exactly how advanced their skills in the force were. Reports varied and none were particularly consistent which would have let him get an idea of their skill level.

Apart from a brief period during the Mandalorian Wars nearly four thousand years ago when a group of Jedi had actually defected to their side, the Mandalorians had never had a force culture of their own. It was a troubling development but given their limited resources and abilities right now there was little they could do.

Tholme was forced to let things lie for now and wait for more information before making a plan, he simply didn't have any other options right now. Infiltration was not likely since he had no one particularly skilled in that line of work and those he did have would be in over their heads.

Reijar, Ordo System…One Week Later…

Haron was reading the reports on the first recruits for their special operations teams. All was going well although there were more dropouts than he would like. He had made it clear there was no disgrace to this however nor should it ever be treated as such.

These missions were extremely dangerous and all the training you received was meant to prepare them for it. Not everyone was able to risk it all the way they could.

The same could not be said for Flight Academy, Haron thought with some relief. The new recruits were doing well under Fenn and many had now started joining his 'Sky Hawk' Program for the elite flyers.

But Haron was prevented from going deeper into this by an alert sent from his intelligence network. Imperial Fleet Units had been assembling a task force to try and invade Mon Calamari. Haron frown, he had hoped they would have more time than this to prepare. Most of the Mon Calamari cruisers were still unprepared for combat and their fighter capacity was limited.

He would honour his agreement though and see just what could be done in the time allotted before the invasion came. He knew roughly the size of the taskforce so he would mobilise enough ships to cover it, looking at the local system he saw that the planet in question had a moon and he smirked as he already had a plan in mind. Now he merely had to gather his forces and wait.

- x -

In Orbit of Mon Calamari, Outer Rim…One Week Later…

The Mon Calamari cruisers arrayed themselves between their planet and did their best to prepare themselves for the onslaught to come.

On the bridges of the Profundity and Home One, Admirals Raddus and Ackbar both did their best to keep professional and give their crews the most confidence that they could. Whatever they told their crews this was not likely to be easy, especially as their ships were still largely only civilian in design and had powerful shields but limited weapons. They just hoped their hidden allies would be enough to swing this battle for them.

Soon, the waiting was finally over as the Imperial Fleet appeared.

Four of the brand-new Imperial-class Star Destroyers led the formation, behind them were three Venator-class vessels, Four Victory-class Star Destroyers and twelve Arquitens-class light cruisers.

Raddus and Ackbar knew they were in trouble as compared to their fleet, the Imperials had a lot more firepower.

"Frontal shields to full. All weapons lock on." Raddus ordered on the Profundity.

"All fighters to deploy around us. Do not let them get behind us." Ackbar ordered on Home One.

The Mon Calamari fighters did as they were told. Usually designed for underwater they were not really meant for space and had intended to be replaced with a more favourable model but there hadn't been time before the battle.

The Imperials, led by Tarkin on the bridge of his freshly built new command ship the Sovereign were full of confidence as they pressed forward. Sure, that these fish people as they called them would never be a threat.

However nearby, at the northern pole of Mon Calamari's moon, someone else was waiting.

On the bridge of the Atin, his personal command ship for this battle Haron directed his own forces.

"Wait for the Imperials to deploy their fighters, then move us out of orbit and close in behind them." Haron ordered to the crew who worked like a well-oiled machine. "Launch our fighters."

"All fighters clear to launch." One of the communication officers.

- x -

At the sides of the Atin, its sister ship Echo and three Mirshko-class Heavy Cruisers, the new Viper-class Mark 2s streamed out while the two Lucrehulks they brought launched waves of V-Wing Bombers, ARC-170 heavy assault fighters and Fang-class Interceptors. The fighters formed into their squadrons. Beside them the eight Dreadnaught-class heavy cruisers and two Janus-class Heavy Cruisers, each accompanied by two Crusader-class Corvettes for defence against enemy fighters.

Haron watched as the Imperials launched their own fighters, seeing that his information about the well-tried and trustworthy Republic designs had been replaced with more flimsy Tie fighters as Haron believed they were called. A poor choice Haron thought but as those fighters streamed towards the Mon Calamari ships his second in command for this battle noticed something.

"Have V-Wing Squadrons strafe landing bays on the Venator-class vessels." Neville ordered, seeing they were carrying most of the invasion force and their large dorsal launch bays were particularly vulnerable when open. "Order Fang Squadrons 1 and 2 provide escort."

"Understood." The communication officer said as he relayed those instructions.

"All ships ahead, flank speed." Haron ordered, now was the time to spring his little ambush.

- x -

Tarkin on the bridge of the Sovereign was fully confident of their success that day. These water dwellers were no match for the might of the Empire after all. Personally, after the reprimand he had received from the Emperor he was looking forward to taking his frustrations out on the pathetic water dwellers. Killing a few million would ensure they never dared insult the Empire again he thought with confidence.

"Moff Tarkin. We have enemy ships in sector five three seven." Captain Vist, his aide reported with some fear in his voice. Stopping for a moment till he could check the signals coming from them to confirm their identities. "Mandalorian Ships!"

"Mandalorian." Tarkin said with surprise, not able to grasp just what they were doing here when suddenly he realised just why the water dwellers had been so confident in defying the Empire.

They had an ally. More than that, Tarkin suddenly had a flash of inspiration at just what was happing in front of him.

"It's a trap!" Tarkin said with sudden fear in his voice as he considered the Mandalorians changed everything. The number of ships they had brought alone changed the balance of power but Tarkin was far from one to just accept defeat and ordered. "Order all fighters to return to defend us."

"Not possible sir! They're committed to their target and protecting the landing force first wave." One of the officers reported and Tarkin pulled out his blaster pistol and shot the officer that had told him what he didn't want to hear and the bridge went silent as they witnessed this and prepared to do just that.

- x -

The Landing Force and the swarm of Tie Fighters screamed towards the line of Mon Calamari ships, however the Mandalorians hadn't just hidden ships around the moon, they'd hidden ships there too. Hidden by the larger MC75 and MC80 cruisers, Crusader-class Corvettes emerged and added their own impressive point defence laser system to the blockade.

When the Tie Fighters finally got into range the corvettes and larger ships opened fire as the Mon Calamari fighters tried to engage the Ties. The flimsy and poorly defended Tie fighters found themselves being shredded by the laser fire but they served their purpose as the sheer number meant it was impossible to block all of the landing craft that rushed towards the surface.

- x -

Back in the main fleet action, the Mandalorian ships were now able to fire at the Imperial Fleet. The larger ships had the longest range so they opened fire first. The Atin and Echo let rip with their heavy turbolaser cannons, followed not long after by the Janus class ships. The Atin and the Echo with their more modern turbolasers and better targeting equipment managed to score some early hits on the heavier Imperial ships while the fighters closed in on the enemy.

The Fang class was much like the larger Komr'k class fighter transports with a gyroscopic cockpit while the rest of the fight moved around it. Their yellow blasters started strafing the light cruisers while the Vipers engaged the few Tie fighters the Imperials could scramble.

The ARC-170s too began to strafe the larger Imperial Warships, focusing on the Victory class ships. Their lack of point defence, a thing they shared in common with their larger Imperial class counterparts didn't help them. The Venators did slightly better but not much and being busy with deploying the second wave of landing ships for the assault on Mon Calamari they had left themselves extremely vulnerable. The V-Wings took full advantage and dived straight in for an attack run, unleashing a barrage of concussion missiles straight into the vulnerable and long launch bays.

Explosions ripped along the length of the landing bays, full of fuel and ammunition for the battle secondary explosions did even more damage and left the crews either dead or badly injured, either way cutting off any chance of additional reinforcements being sent to the units that had made it to the surface.

The Mirshko-class ships and the Dreadnaughts then closed in. The Mirshkos directed themselves against the Victory class ships and began opening fire. The Imperials returned fire but being harassed by the fighters this only made their batteries into targets for the fighters.

The Dreadnaughts too joined in this action but three of them surrounded one of the Imperial class ships and began to attack in unison. The large green turbolasers battered the shields of the dreadnaughts but so too did the yellow enhanced turbolasers they were using.

Combined with the heavy fire from the Atin and Echo, this let them take down the shields on one of the Star Destroyers and exposed its weaker hull to their turbolaser fire.

Finally, the big ship could take no more and succumbed to the attack, exploding in a huge fireball and its wreckage crashed into its neighbouring ship, another Imperial class vessel, taking that out of the fight as the collided in a fiery explosion.

However, for the Janus class ships however when the pair of them closed on an Imperial class together, it was a different story. These two were easily seven hundred years old and had only recently been reactivated. The new technology was increasingly difficult to integrate into the original design and many short cuts had to be taken to bring them back into service.

As they fired their larger turbolasers, the batteries were prone to overheating which slowed the rate of fire. Worse yet the shield generators were running hard to keep up with the sustained Imperial fire, but this combined strained on the ship's reactor left severe power drains across the ship. Short circuits and the old equipment began to break down, one of which was a shield generator on one of the two ships.

Suddenly vulnerable on one side, the Imperials took full advantage and fired their main battery through the hole in the ship's defences. Its heavy armour plating did protect it a little but not for long. Vicious green bolts of turbolaser fire tore into the ship's insides and wrecked it. The crew had no choice but to abandon ship and escape pods were launched with as many people crammed aboard as possible but one brave soul, the captain took what helm control he had left and sent the ship crashing straight into the Star Destroyer, killing himself and his ship to take one last stab at the enemy.

Haron saw this from the holographic display of the battlefield and frowned, he looked at the information coming in from the remaining Janus and felt a sudden tremor in the force. Looking around he saw Neville had felt it too and with the space battle well in hand, Haron turned to Neville and told him.

"Neville, you take command. I am joining the battle on the ground. Something is going on down there." Haron said and Neville nodded, understanding the sudden urgency as he could feel something bad was happening on the surface. Haron and his guards which included Din now ran for the landing bay and the first dropship they could find.

Something was wrong, Haron could feel it.

- x -

Dac City, Mon Calamari…

The edge of Dac City was a complete warzone as the first wave of Imperial invaders landed. The Mon Calamari and Quarran were taking whatever shelter they could as they fired back at the Imperials. Blaster fire was flying all over the place.

All Terrain Armoured Transports or AT-AT walkers and the All-Terrain Defence Pods or AT-DP walkers, brand new to the Imperial War Machine trampled their way up from the water and onto the city streets. Trooper carriers moved in, discharging the new Imperial Stormtroopers from their sides as they charged forward with their walkers.

But Haron, having learned from his earlier mistakes had stationed a force in Dac City to help protect it and its people. Not only had heavy blaster and fast repeaters been set up in strategic points to help repel the assault but Mandalorian Warriors were present alongside Skytrooper combat droids, Basilisk war droids and Canderous Assault Tanks.

The Canderous Tanks were their heavy guns and let rip with their mass driver cannons into the cabs of the approaching AT-AT walkers, it took a few shots but time was on the Tank's side as their limited shields gave them an edge over the unshielded but armoured walkers. Time enough to blow the cabs wide open and send the now headless walkers crashing to the ground, some crushing Stormtroopers below them.

The Skytroopers moved alongside their organic counterparts and picked off Stormtroopers alongside the normal Basilisk war droids, fast and accurate blaster fire cutting them down like wheat in a field at harvest.

The heaviest unit the Mandalorians had brought though was the Rancor. Their new droid heavy assault tank, the prototype in fact which was using its heavy blaster cannons to shoot down the smaller AT-DP walkers. They were holding a strong line against the Imperials, made worse by the fact their expected reinforcements were nowhere to be seen.

All this was invigorating to the Mon Calamari and Quarran defenders who drew confidence at their impressive fighting abilities, bolstered by three late arrivals to the battle.

Three Jedi, two Mon Calamari named Rune and Eekar Oki plus a Quarran named San Vals had emerged from hiding to fight for their home world in its time of need. The sign of their lightsabers leading the fighting bolstered their fighting spirit and made them push even harder.

The first Akaan'aran or just Akaan as they were known had joined the battle, with the force guiding them they flew around the battle field and used their powers to down the walkers. Even transfiguring the ground beneath their legs into quick sand so they sank down before slashing at the exposed leg with their lightsabers or changing Stormtroopers weapons into dangerous snakes or other creatures that would attack and kill the very men trying to make use of them.

Seeing this shocked the Jedi, the Mandalorians had the force and lightsabers! At first, they had thought it was just some Jedi that had hidden among the Mandalorians but these new abilities were unlike anything that they had seen before and it terrified them. Skills that powerful and unique were unheard of and they might now be beyond even Jedi skill levels with the force.

Nevertheless, the fight continued until an Imperial Assault Shuttle came down and unloaded its cargo. Seventeen Imperial Purge Troopers emerged, followed by three Inquisitors and finally one seven-foot-tall dark armoured warrior.

Amid the chaos of the battle for Dac City no-one immediately noticed them but the Rancor did and started firing on the shuttle. It exploded behind them but all of them were clear of it before it went up. Turning its heavy laser cannons on the Purge Troopers they all ducked and dodged before it started using the grenade launchers it had equipped.

The explosives did their job and threw many of the purge troopers into the air or bits of them at least. The Inquisitors however found different prey as they saw the three flying Mandalorians equipped with lightsabers and turned to fight them.

Caz, Roon and Makla too noticed them and felt the cold aura of the dark side around each of them, turning to face them and landed in front of each other them with their lightsabers lit.

"You might wear the armour of Mandalorians, but you can't fool us Jedi." The Tenth Brother snarled at them, former Jedi Knight Prosset Dibs thought with disgust at the Jedi being so weak and cowardly they would hide behind Mandalorian thugs.

He however had no way of knowing that the three in front of him had never been Jedi nor would ever even consider being one of them. In fact, all three being brought up Mandalorian despised the Jedi Order and being called one was a great insult.

"Just for that. We are going to kill you all." Makla said with through gritted teeth. They leapt into action and their cyan, yellow and viridian lightsabers clashed with the red blades of the Inquisitors.

The Tenth Brother, Ninth Sister and Sixth Brother all were shocked as they had all been trained to use their knowledge of Jedi training techniques to figure out just who had trained their opponents and use that knowledge to not only predict their moves but to play mind games to weaken them so they could be killed.

But these three didn't use any of the standard Jedi techniques, nothing was familiar at all and now it was the Inquisitors on the back foot as they had no idea just how to undermine their enemy this time. The Mandalorians were fast to seize the opportunity and started attacking with fast and almost wild savage attacks, derived from Revan's own variant of Form 7 which had changed a great deal from the Form 7 used today. This style formed the basis of their lightsaber fighting style and was unknown to the Inquisitors.

Their shorter blades were also more suited to one-on-one fighting, the three battered away at the Inquisitors remorselessly who were slow adapt.

They also incorporated Earth magic into their routines which was even more unnerving to the Inquisitors as this was something completely unknown to them. Hitting them with charms like the Leg Locker Curse, the Dancing Jinx and Ice Jinx, making their legs either spasm uncontrollably, lock together or coat them in an extremely cold sheet of ice.

Despite being trained force users they didn't know how to dispel this kind of attack and they all were slowed down considerably, enough that the three Akaan managed to impale them through the chest with their weapons or cut their heads clean off.

But while they had been distracted by fighting with the Inquisitors and the rest of their forces had been pinned down with other fights, Vader had managed to keep moving forward. When a Canderous Tank noticed this, it turned its main cannons on him but Vader stopped the projectiles mid-air and sent them straight back into the tank itself. The solid objects passing through their shields and impacting on the sides, wrecking both main weapons but he was not done yet.

He levitated the heavy tank into the air and while the crew were panicking at just what was going on, threw it with considerable force into the Rancor Tank nearby. The two heavy objects met and the Canderous exploded with considerable force while inflicting enough damage to the Rancor that it shut down.

Vader then continued on, not willing to let anything interfere with his mission.

- x -

The drop ship carrying Haron and his people landed and they quickly disembarked, he looked around and saw that while his people and the locals had the situation well in hand, they were short one tank and the Rancor was sitting there almost reduced to scrap by what looked like a twisted blackened piece of metal. It only took a moment to realise that it was the remains of the missing tank.

This was confusing as to what in the hell could do that to but then Haron sensed it, being much closer now he could feel the cold and oppressive aura of the dark side and it was far stronger than he would have thought possible. He stretched out his senses and felt it moving closer to the royal palace.

Lee-Char, Haron thought with some worry. He was the target.

Haron wasted no time and took off in hot pursuit which his people quickly followed. He was surprised at the strength of the force presence, whoever it was clearly was very strong in the force and especially in the dark side.

As they flew overhead, they saw the road was lined with bodies. Not just Mon Calamari and Quarran but some Mandalorian bodies as well. Many had what looked like scorched slash marks on their chests or had their necks twisted at odd angles. That was enough to tell Haron they were dealing with a least a Sith Warrior, maybe a Sith Juggernaut. Palpatine had not as far as they knew taken another apprentice yet so this might well be his apprentice or some temporary substitute.

Arriving at the main surface Throne Room as they flew in ahead of them was King Lee-Char and some of his key advisers. His bodyguards and strangely another Jedi lay dead around them but at the centre holding King Lee-Char in a force choke was a tall figure in black armour and a cape. The helmet was making a deep mechanical breathing sound that chilled you to the bone and Haron threw a blasting curse at the dark warrior's exposed back as they landed.

The warrior seemed to sense the coming attack and whipped around with a red lightsaber in hand, but at least this made him lose his hold on King Lee-Char who fell to the floor and scrambled/was dragged away by his advisors.

"Who are you?" Haron demanded, needing to know just what they were dealing with. Whoever he was he was incredibly strong in the force but also the mass of rage and anger was like looking at a volcano erupting before your eyes.

"Darth Vader, apprentice to the Emperor himself. And you will be punished for challenging his will." The now named 'Darth Vader' then tried to grab him in a force choke like he had Lee-Char but Haron was a force/magic user too and managed with effort to dispel the attack which shocked Vader. He then sent out a powerful force wave that threw all of them back. Haron managed to land in a crouched position and pulled the Darksaber from its sheath on his jetpack. Igniting the black coloured blade with his white aura and lightning, he then charged back at Vader.

He and Vader met in the middle where their blades clashed in a shower of sparks. They began exchanging heavy blows as they swung hard at each other. Vader's strength was impressive Haron thought reluctantly as he felt his arms ache from having to match it, he drew deeper from the force and managed to keep up but it wasn't just in his strength that Vader was dangerous, it was his speed. He moved far more quickly than you would expect and that added to the power and effectiveness of his blows.

Haron could match it but was confused at just how Vader was so powerful? He might be just a natural one that had been missed somehow which was entirely possible or something else was going on.

But right now, he couldn't think about that and had to keep his arms moving in a constant motion to deal with Vader's brutal assault. It was taxing even when you drew on the force so Haron switched to Soresu which although he was not an expert in it, he was competent and instead of meeting attacks head on, he deflected and sidestepped away from them which launching a few of his own which Vader easily countered.

Everyone else even Haron's own guards where just shocked into watching as he and Vader clashed. Showers of sparks as their sabers hit with the white lightning created by the Darksaber flashing fiercely. Haron swung a sideways cleave but Vader met it head on, so Haron pivoted to come at him from another direction but Vader was there just a second before the hit would have landed.

They locked their blades and the lightning even began singeing Vader's gloves but he just kept hold, not letting up for a second despite the obvious pain. Although neither could see each other's face under their respective masks, they were both snarling at each other while grimacing with the effort of holding the blade lock.

Eventually they separated and began exchanging heavy blows again, spinning, slamming their blades into one another and neither being able to land a hit but then Vader made an error, probably made of frustration at not being able to kill his enemy. He lunged forward in an obvious attempt to stab Haron but Haron side stepped away and landed a blow on Vader's right arm. He cried out in pain but pulled away before Haron could sever the limb completely and despite what must have been intense pain kept on fighting.

But Haron who was sweating under his helmet was unwillingly impressed at his fortitude and wondering just how the hell he was so strong? He was having to draw deeply on the force just to keep up with him and this couldn't go on too long before one of them broke.

So, they continued to exchange blows with each other, Haron and Vader swung their blades around wildly both trying catch the other each other off guard before Haron took a gamble and intentionally dropped his stance, hoping Vader would take the bait.

As if sensing weakness Vader did just as he expected and swung at his exposed side but Haron moved his body so his right arm which was protected by the beskar armour he wore, it took the blow and with his left swung the Darksaber upwards into Vader's exposed side. The attack did largely miss his chest but was enough to cut his left arm off at the shoulder.

Vader bellowed with pain and let out an enraged force wave that threw Haron back and he barely recovered before Vader was on him again, throwing another telekinetic blast at him but this time Haron was able to call on a blast of his own to counter it.

The two men strained, neither willing to give ground as the air grew intense between them with the two force blasts pushing against each other. Their feet being pushed back a tiny bit as they each pushed, before finally Vader's injury on his right arm and the pain on his left stump broke his concentration for a split second. But it was enough to allow Haron's blast to hit home and sent Vader flying back into the wall…hard. Hard enough to leave a dent in the metal wall.

Vader recovered and charged forward against, despite the immense pain of his body and Haron just wanted end this fight before it got worse. He transconfigured the ground beneath Vader's feet into quick sand which made Vader stagger as he tried to keep moving but Haron then froze it solid, leaving his feet up to the shin trapped into the frozen sand. Haron was charging to meet him but Vader waved his saber around while trying to pull himself free. However, with him trapped Haron now had the advantage, catching his remaining arm with his own left, Haron sliced it off at the elbow with the Darksaber. Then, finally before Vader could recover enough to use the force against him, Haron spun around and cleaved Vader's head clean off his shoulders at the neck.

Haron was breathing hard as he saw Vader's head roll away and his body slump to the ground. He honestly was not sure just what corner of hell had spat that creature out but was hoping never to see his like again.

He looked around and saw that the Royal Court was looking at him with astonishment as were the Jedi that must have arrived at some point during the duel. But his own guards and Din too were staring him with awe. Haron sighed as he knew the cat was well and truly out of the bag now.

Haron nevertheless deactivated the Darksaber and returned it to it sheath on his jetpack and walked over to the King, nodding in greeting as a sign of respect.

"King Lee-Char, we meet at last." Haron said and the young monarch nodded before saying back looking very shocked still.

"Mandalore the Unifier. Your aid in this battle has been most appreciated, I am just glad we managed to emerge victorious although I had no idea you were a force user." The King said with a suspicious look on his face. Haron nodded and could feel the judgemental looks all around him but just said.

"The study of the force is not nor has it ever been the sole province of the Jedi and the Sith. My people have been learning its mysteries along with many others across the galaxy. This is merely the first time we have allowed outsiders to know that we can use it." Haron said, not giving too much away but enough to keep them satisfied.

Well, the King looked satisfied and said with some joy and relief.

"Then Mandalore is all the stronger and we together as allies to face the future." King Lee-Char said and Haron smiled slightly offering his hand which the King took, signifying their unity against a common threat.

"Aye, but today we demonstrated something more to the galaxy. That the Empire isn't invincible, that it can and will be defeated." Haron said proudly and a cheer went up from his people and Lee-Char's. This would hopefully act as a rallying cry for others in the fight against the Empire.

"Be that as it may, what was that thing?" The King asked, looking at Vader's headless corpse with disgust and some fear.

"I cannot say, filled with the dark side but beyond that I don't know your majesty." Haron said with a puzzled and worried look at the body. Turning to one of his own people he gave an order. "I want every bit of this thing analysed, down to the cellular level. I want to know where it came from."

"Yes, Mandalore at once." His people said and went to get a unit to take the body of Vader away. Meanwhile Rune, the Mon Calamari jedi knight that had come to help his world walked over and looked at the body of the dead Iktotchi Jedi who had been apparently slain by Vader before he could arrive.

"Ferren Barr! He killed the Imperial Ambassador! He wanted this invasion to happen!" King Lee-Char exclaimed with disgust at the Jedi who had set him and his people up.

"Then he must have fallen your majesty. I think the pressure of all that has happened must have sent him straight into the jaws of the dark side." Rune said with sadness before bowing before Lee-Char. "But I will do what I can to help your people, our people through this dark time and teach those born in our waters how to use the force." Rune said, pledging himself and his two fellows who followed him in bowing to the king.

Lee-Char didn't exactly look thrilled at that but knew he and his people would need all the help they could get.

"Very well, but know I am not exactly willing to trust a Jedi again so readily." Lee-Char said sternly to the three knights who all nodded, knowing they would need to earn his trust before he would listen to their counsel.

Haron was somewhat annoyed that they seemed to be setting up a new branch of the Jedi Order here on Mon Calamari and would have spoken against it but he didn't want a standoff with the Jedi right now. They had enough to worry about and judging by the looks one of Ferren Barr's apparent disciples was giving them, a blonde-haired human woman they would soon have their first recruit.

"In the meantime, though." Haron said, turning his attention back to the young king. "My people will continue to help your shipwrights prepare your ships for war. Given the right refit those large cruisers of yours would be a match for an Imperial Star Destroyer."

The Mon Calamari and Quarran in the room looked rather pleased at that statement, while they were talking among themselves Haron took the opportunity to see how the space battle was going.

Star Destroyer Sovereign, Orbit of Mon Calamari…

Tarkin meanwhile was far from alright as he witnessed the entire invasion collapse right before his eyes! The ground forces had been decimated, sending back only brief bits of data before they were killed including the rather alarming news that the Mandalorians had managed to acquire the force!

The other ships had been destroyed or disabled and now only the Sovereign remained, fighting against many warships that were converging on them.

Tarkin gritted his teeth, not able to believe things could go so wrong when it was supposed to be a moment of triumph for the Empire. Not after they had received the new Tie fighters from his old friend Raith Sienar and his company which would replace all the outdated Clone Wars starfighters used before as the walkers would replace all the old ground vehicles too. Not to mention the new Star Destroyers.

Imperial Intelligence must be playing games with them he thought to not have informed them of this alliance between the Fish people and the Mandalorians. He would have words with them and have the appropriate people executed to warn the others that such things would not be permitted again and their actions had consequences. He would accelerate the replacement of all the Venator-class vessels with Imperial class ships immediately Tarkin decided before telling the navigation officer.

"Make the jump to lightspeed, this has wasted enough of our time and resources." Tarkin ordered and the officer in question, perhaps given the direness of their situation did not answer back and instead just took the ship out of the system with a single leap.

Palpatine's Office, Coruscant…Two Days Later…

Palpatine had been in rage, so much so no-one had dared approach him for several days.

The Invasion of Mon Calamari should have been a simple victory. They had better ships, better weapons and Vader at its head to deal with the fish people and the meddlesome Jedi that had joined them.

But it had failed! Spectacularly so! Palpatine fumed, everything in the room rattling loudly with the force of his rage. Only one ship had made it back alive and while Tarkin was convinced Imperial Intelligence had merely not wanted to share critical details with the Navy it was simply put that they had missed a great deal!

Palpatine had spent hours torturing the head of Imperial Intelligence service for his failure. This was costly for the Empire, not in the ships or troopers as they could be easily replaced even Vader much to his surprise could be replaced. But for the fact they had failed and the entire galaxy now knew that the Empire's supposed invincibility was nothing more than a myth or just hubris on the part of their propaganda.

Several Separatist Holdouts had been emboldened by this in the Western Reaches, gathering droid armies and banding together to form a larger force. Who was leading them he didn't know but already they were starting to build up their power in preparation for an Imperial Invasion.

Worst of all though, Palpatine thought as a statue was crushed to dust by him using the force. Was the discovery that the Mandalorians had the ability to use the force now! Details on just what they could do were sparse and he had his entire Intelligence group working on finding out but no details had yet emerged. He doubted that they were as powerful or as numerous as even the Jedi were now much to his own disgust at the failures of the Purge, but still they were his enemies and had the force. Apparently even the Mandalore, Haron Ordo had this power and it was supposedly him that had fought and killed Vader!

How was that possible? Palpatine thought with his anger turning inward at his own failure. The man had been under his nose on Coruscant for years and never once had he gained even a whiff of any force sensitivity. While he doubted his servants' abilities, he did not doubt his own and assumed that the words must be nothing more than exaggeration, he thought to reassure himself although when he had finally dealt with the rebels, he would need to capture one of these Mandalorian force wielders and see just what secrets they had.

Western Reaches, Various Star Systems…A Month Later…

The victory against the Empire at Mon Calamari was indeed as effective as the Mandalorians had hopes and the Emperor feared. Separatist Holdouts that had been on the verge of surrendering to the Empire to avoid the same fate as Kaldera now were invigorated, resistance was not pointless. They managed to reactivate their droid armies and several of the larger factions banded together under a new mysterious leader. Combined they had enough forces to resist but not alone.

So, they reached out to the Mandalorians for help.

Now, the Mandalorians were not exactly keen on helping the Separatists, the old hatred due to the raids on their colonies stayed strong but keeping the Separatists in the war was too important to ignore them.

So, they agreed to provide some 'Military Advisers' to guide their defences and occasional military support when it might be useful.

- x -

Ando, Mid Rim…

Ando had been one of the major worlds to leave the Republic and join the Separatists during the Clone Wars. The planet had stayed loyal to the CIS all through the war and had become a bastion and major fortress world for the Separatist Holdouts since the end of the Clone Wars.

It was here that the Separatist Fleet had chosen to make its stand against the Empire, led by their new leader San Hill.

The Muun Business man had seen an opportunity after the failure of the Empire at Mon Calamari and rallied all the holdouts that he could under his banner. It was a somewhat risky and desperate gambit on his part but if he was ever going to have any chance of not living the rest of his life in hiding, this was it.

He was no military genius and had few of them on his payroll but thankfully he did have some help.

"Prepare your ships in a standard defensive line. And prepare your bordering parties." The Mandalorian at his side said with a cold and emotionless voice.

"Yes of course Duke Sarek." The Ship's captain said with some confusion as many of their ground droids had been prepared for bordering operations. It confused many of them as a force of Star Destroyers was now ready to blow them all up and it seemed ambitious to try bordering operations in these conditions. But the Duke had assured them that his people had a weapon that would render the entire enemy fleet defenceless.

As the Imperial Fleet was closing to attack range San was seriously considering the possibility that the Mandalorians were setting them up to be slaughtered when suddenly to the rear of the Imperial Fleet, a number of ships decloaked.

- x -

Four Null Ships, modified Dreadnaught hulls with improved reactors and accompanied by the new Gladius-class heavy corvettes and a few of the Halberd-class Light Cruisers moved into position before decloaking and firing their special weapon on the vulnerable and unprepared Imperials.

The purple energy blasts hit the larger Imperial ships hard, their power sources being completely disabled. The smaller Tie Fighters escaped the onslaught and found themselves alone against the Vulture droids swarming against them.

Making this worse was that the corvettes and light cruisers the Mandalorians had deployed carried extensive missile batteries. Firing concussion missiles towards both the enemy fighters and some of the disabled ships while the Separatist boarding ships came in from one of the planet's moons not far away. The clamped down on the disabled hulls of the Imperial Star Destroyers and started pumping either knock out gas of poison gas in depending on what their orders where before sending in a mix of Commando Droids and B2 Battle Droids to seize the ships.

"We will expect the opportunity to analyse the Imperial ships ourselves." Duke Sarek reminded San Hill who nodded, now keen to see if he could find out what kind of weapon the Mandalorians had used to take down the Imperial Ships but knew better than to push his luck right now.

"Indeed Duke Sarek. These Star Destroyers as they call them will be a useful addition to our fleet and we appreciate your aid highly." San Hill told them, keen to find another ally himself and one that could be of great value to him in the future.

Reports soon started coming in of successful take overs and the capture of the Imperials leading the force Admiral Terrinald Screed, Captain Bannidge Holt along with General Hurst Romodi. All three would be useful sources of information when they broke them San thought with satisfaction. The Mandalorians had offered their help with that and if sharing that intel kept this alliance that secured his own safety was the price it was one that he was happy to pay.

The Western Reaches Campaign had only just begun, San thought with satisfaction and although some worlds had already fallen, the others would not so easily he thought, old droid factories and ship yards were now cranking out new equipment already and he would make full use of it.