Chapter 56: Escalation has a King, Not a Queen

Summary: *Queue epic John Willaims Score*

Chapter 56: Escalation has a King, Not a Queen

- Mid 25 BBY – Unnamed System-

As Izuku stood in the command center of the Knight Errant, a mildly-modified Volition-class Heavy Cruiser that now served as the command ship for the fleet gathering around it, he reflected that the sight of said fleet would have sent a panic attack through the Senate had they been aware of it. Thankfully, this system was so desolate that it had only a number, not a name, and the only things here besides them were some refueling and repair facilities. Facilities they had put in here just as an anchor for this very fleet.

Technically, there were also some entertainment options aboard the various small stations. Overall, though, they were fairly spartan and basic. Mostly because the number of civilians allowed at Point Alpha was tiny. A major contributing factor of how, so far, they'd slipped under the galactic radar. Something that was aided and abetted by the fact that Tythe wasn't part of the Republic. Not to mention that their two largest shipyards, by numbers of hulls produces, were located in similarly no-name systems and almost entirely automated. You could hide a lot in the void of space. If you really wanted to.

As he glanced over the final figures of his Order of Battle, he had to admit that the Senate, or the Judicial Forces for that matter, would have been right to shit themselves. Even he had badly underestimated what Mei could do when given carte blanche, along with an ever-growing supply of droids and other extensive automation. That he'd also underestimated Shil Tervo badly didn't help. It had turned out there was a very good reason Kuat allowed their star designer to consult with the man. Between him and Mei, along with a few dozen others that Tervo had cast a wide and fine net to recruit, they'd exceeded Izuku's wildest expectations for what they would have available when they started their…

Well, 'Crusade' was often an ugly word back on Earth. But it certainly fit here.

Twenty-four Volition-class Heavy Cruisers anchored the fleet. Joining them were forty-eight Frigates. Twenty were the Munifex II class, which honestly served as nothing more than a traditional screening element for the heavier ships, not being equipped with many of Mei's special innovations. The remaining twenty-eight were the new Siege-class Frigates that had been designed as a modification of the old Hammerhead-class cruiser that still saw service in some parts of the Republic. While it still vaguely resembled that class, it was considerably more streamlined and shifted in aesthetics to match the Volition-class in a way that the Munifex IIs did not. It was also a good 350 meters long, heavily armed, and packed with several of Mei's nasty surprises. Including a spinal-mount 300-meter MAC cannon that would give anyone a bad day. A gun, in fact, which had inspired the name change. While it didn't have as many of Mei's nasty new surprises as the Volition-class, the new main gun was more than enough to justify the renaming of the class to the Siege-class.

Of course, while those seventy-two ships were the most eye-catching, they weren't the whole of the story either. The carrier variant of the ES series, the ES-24c, provided twenty additional ships to the fleet, all loaded to capacity (and a little beyond, to be honest) with fighters and bombers. Defender II corvettes also swarmed the system, there being four of them for every frigate and two more for each carrier, serving as screening units for the larger ships. Two hundred and thirty-two of those corvettes in total. Which technically rounded out everything that could be considered a 'capital' ship. Minus the logistics freighters, medical ships, and so on. Which were large enough and technically armed, but certainly not intended to see battle. Of course, the capital ship numbers didn't include the hundreds of assault ships present, or the thousand plus fighters out on CAP or running last-minute training maneuvers.

Those assault ships, in particular, had been a hell of a surprise. While some of them were conversions of ES-23 freighters, over half were an entirely new design created by the Gungans and offered up for sale to the League of Free Stars. Izuku had possessed no idea just what sort of a hornet's nest he was stirring up with that particular species when he'd started allowing them into operations. Most people saw the Gungans relatively causal culture and odd accents and dismissed them. But they were a species with a strong warrior culture at core…and much to the shock of both him and the Jedi working with him, it had turned out they were quietly followers of the Living Force.

Apparently, the Living Force really didn't like the slave trade. That had been a bit of an odd revelation for those same Jedi, and to Izuku himself for that matter. Jedi mostly followed the Cosmic Force, which was considerably more detached and only really reacted to mass scale events and shifts. As in, the destruction of planets or worse sort of devastation. The Living Force, on the other hand, was more readily affected by what went on in a specific place. It was much more present 'in the moment,' and could be more readily tainted by misery and suffering if said feelings were not part of the natural order. The death of a prey animal was part of the cycle of life, generally ended quickly, and didn't bother the Living Force at all. Active, malicious torture and brutality toward living things was a different story. The Living Force objected…and the Gungans had enough mystics that were sensitive to such things that they shared that objection on a species-wide level.

As a result, they had responded to a call Izuku hadn't even put out.

In addition to literally tens of thousands of Gungans now serving throughout his fleet and ground forces, the third most common species after Humans and Twi'leks at this point, the Gungans had put their industry to work on the issue as well. Izuku's efforts had, most likely, quite accidently created Queen Amidala's problems with the Gungans arming themselves. His businesses had given them boom economy…and they'd turned that boom economy into production of new military assets, many of which they'd made more profits on in turn by selling to him.

On their own initiative, the Otoh Gunga Bongowerks had partnered with BullbaBong's Spaceworks division and developed a variant of the Mantaris-class amphibious transport. Originally intended as part of a joint colonization effort with the humans of Naboo, the already rugged transport was trimmed of excess and redesigned as a landing craft. The 60-meter version, now called the Nyork-class landing/assault craft, was heavily shielded and armored. Its weapons were mostly defensive, but could more than get the job done of clearing a landing zone to drop troops and vehicles in significant numbers. It had also been the last true hole that had needed patched in the capabilities, and Izuku was more than happy to buy as many of them as the Gungan's could produce. Something he might have quietly 'forgotten' to mention to Naboo's Queen when they'd met…

Oh yes, if that nebulous 'someone' from the Republic, from any leadership capacity, had seen the milling assault fleet at Point Alpha, they'd have had a panic attack. Probably for the best, then that they didn't know this was only one of three such fleets that were about to set the galaxy on fire. This not-so-little section of it, at least. Something that wasn't quite a smile worked its way onto Izuku's lips as he shut down his final review of the plan and keyed the comm that would connect him from the Flag Bridge to the Captain of the Knight Errant.

"Captain Howle, this is Admiral Midoriya. Operation Ignite is, as of this moment, underway. All non-essential comms are to be locked down, and I want us moving within a maximum of eight hours. Signal 2nd and 3rd Fleets to move on their targets. Coordinate with Admiral Lin and Commodore Sail'ada to make sure we hit our targets within as short a time spread as possible. We don't want our hosts to be warned we're coming, now do we?"

There was a hungry growl in Captain Howle's voice as he responded.

"No sir, we certainly don't. Sending the activation orders now. Howle out."

Izuku leaned back and let the weight of what he'd just committed them to settle over him. He'd have preferred Aayla to be here with him, but the one thing they were still sadly weak on was senior military staff. Such was the entire reason he was here, leading 1st Fleet. It really should have been Admiral Lin doing this job. In practical terms, she was the most experienced Fleet Commander they had. Sadly, she was also one of the only Fleet Commanders they had. Their only other 'real' Admiral had been left in charge of Tythe command behind them. Commodore Sail'ada was talented but had never led anything bigger than a 'small' 12 ship anti-piracy raid. Which is why Aayla, who had almost accidently learned Battle Mediation from Izuku's own efforts, had been assigned as the technical commander of 3rd Fleet. Between a lot of simulation practice, and Izuku downloading everything he'd gotten from Rana and others into Aayla's mind over the course of the last year, she should be able to handle 3rd Fleet with Commodore Sail'ada's able assistance.

Admiral Lin, who honestly ought to have 1st Fleet, could easily handle 2nd Fleet by herself. Which left Izuku with 1st Fleet. They had the nastiest target, the one most likely to be able to actually fight back…but it was also the one that was going to grab the galaxy's attention with both hands and a headbutt. Which meant that it needed to be Izuku, as the face of the League of Free Stars and the Liberty Council, who hit 1st Fleet's specific target. He just hoped his own efforts, combined with Battle Meditation, would be enough to win the day. Given how deeply and thoroughly he'd stacked the deck, it should be more than enough. But should and would weren't always the same thing, and he couldn't deny a fair bit of nervousness over the prospect of the actual battle.

Well, however the chips fell, he was strangely at peace with the weight of what they'd just set in motion. There was no nervousness and little regret to be found there, despite fully understanding the sheer scale of what he'd committed them to. Perhaps it was how long he'd been working towards this, for over six years in total now. Perhaps it was the fact that the Force felt remarkably calm, yet at the same time anticipatory. As if it was outright pleased with what was happening. Maybe it was the fact that he genuinely believed in what he was doing, the beating heart of the Hero he'd always wanted to be refusing to sit by and do nothing. Or, just perhaps, reality just hadn't settled in properly yet.

Whatever it was, he did have to idly wonder just what the Jedi High Council would make of the warning and declaration Aayla would be sending them as soon as her own fleet launched into motion…

... ...

- Coruscant – High Council Chamber-

Mace Windu flinched as the high-priority message signal pinged on multiple dataslates throughout the High Council Chamber. Knight Ti, one of their most promising Knights, due to be raised as a Master soon even if she didn't know that yet, trailed off as more than one member of the Council reached for their slates in alarm. Justifiable alarm. High-priority messages straight for the Council were not common. They were reserved for the sorts of events that could either instigate a major destabilization of the Republic or threaten the Order itself in a way the Jedi involved believed couldn't be averted without drastic or dramatic action. Jedi who misused the system could expect to be spending at least the next year, if not the next decade, overseeing an Agri-world. The most boring Agri-world the Council could find for them, just to make the point extra clear.

Suffice it to say, the Emergency Priority System didn't get used often.

In fact, only Yoda and Yaddle even remembered the last time it had been used. Said occasion had been before the time of every other currently sitting High Council member, even if all of them were briefed on the details of it the day they were elevated. Several members of said Council were now darting glances between a positively green looking Mace Windu and their slates, with Adi Gallia finally being the one to break the surprised silence.

"It appears to be a full holo-message from Knight Secura. Should I play it?"

Mace, preempting Yoda this time in his position as Master of the Order, gasped out a response.

"Yes! Play it now! There's…we are at a shatter point. The largest I've ever felt, and I didn't sense it until it was right on top of us."

Looking uneasy at the reaction of the second highest ranking member of the Order, the one who actually ran its day-to-day operations, Master Gallia nevertheless tapped a few commands on her dataslate and sent the message to the central display in the middle of the council room. Knight Ti had, by now, backed away from that position but hadn't left, merely watching from near a wall. She hadn't actually managed to finish her report, after all, which was regarding the final stages of setting up a new government on Karazak. Something that the Order was relieved to finally be able to wash their hands of after so much hard work, and which had delayed Knight Ti's elevation as she'd been the primary contact point on that particular mess since quite early on. Now, she watched along with the High Council as, between heartbeats, the unusually solemn looking face of Knight Aayla Secura, dressed for once in full formal robes, flickered into existence and began to speak.

(A/N: If you want extra epicness, Queue This Here - A patron recommended it and it FITS)

"Salutations, Masters. My apologies for the abrupt use of the priority system, but operational security has prevented me from giving you any warning up to this point. Within less than three hours of receiving this message, a portion of the galaxy will be at war. Not within the Republic, I assure you. But the powers involved have been tied to the Republic for so long that the echoes will undoubtedly cause chaos."

A sharp smirk unfitting for the formal robes she wore flitted across her face…and then she shucked the outer robe of that formal outfit. The gesture was casual, but carried a message in combination with her words that made Shaak Ti's eyes widen.

"I regret that I cannot apologize for that. Nor can I apologize for the fact that I helped cause it, not mitigate it. What I do, I do in the full belief I am doing the correct thing. Unfortunately, I suspect that the Senate will not agree, despite having no legal say in the matter. In light of that fact, and wishing to minimize the backlash on the Order, I officially declared that I am recusing myself from the Jedi Order for the time being. My actions are my own, and it will be up to yourselves to determine if I may ever be allowed to return."

There was a brief pause to let that settle in, then Aayla's expression turned a bit less cheerful.

"I also regret to inform you that I am not the only one who has chosen to walk this new path. Included in this message are the names of 47 additional Jedi who are submitting their own similar declarations. We act now, because it is far past time for a certain cancer on the galaxy to be removed. While I cannot and will not apologize for my actions. I do apologize for the storm that is likely about to descend upon you. The rest of this file includes our names, declarations…and the primary target of the upcoming attack. May the Force be With You, Masters. Aayla'secura out."

The Council Chamber was dead quite as a list of names was displayed, each with indication that there was a file attached with their official declarations. Heading the file was Master Nico Diath and a number of his known acolytes, which gave those who knew of his crusade against slavery a clue where this was going. Without needing to be asked, Master Gallia quickly opened the file about the 'target.' Mace Windu took one look at the primary name boldly headlining the document and reacted with a single word that had the entire room staring at him in shock. Followed by a dead-sounding follow up in the ensuing, shocked, silence.

"Motherfucker…"

"I'm not sure if I should congratulate her or strangle her. I never have liked those bastards."

It took almost a minute before anyone else managed to properly react…

... ...

- Unnamed System Deep in Hutt Territory -

Celeste Morne felt a deep sense of satisfaction well up within her as she pressed a single button in response to the triplicated activation command she'd just received directly from Izuku. Across hundreds of mothballed ships, kept in just enough repair that they could be rapidly brought back into service with enough credits and manpower, atom-splitters and more traditional explosives went off. The vast majority of the ships kept here by the Hutts vanished in thermal nuclear fire that harmed not a single living sentient…but wrecked those ships in a way that was utterly unrecoverable. Even as salvage, they'd be a poor choice for millennia, given most of the bits were now highly irradiated and would need heavy decontamination before use.

Her sense of satisfaction only increased as the dozen ships that were the nicest prizes they'd identified among the detritus and dross completely escaped the explosions…and began moving under their own power. Those formerly derelict ships, having been quietly brought back to life by repair teams and now piloted by skeleton crews of mostly droids, broke away from the flaming wreckage that had been one of the Hutt's primary strategic assets until she pressed that neat little red button (Helpfully supplied by Mei. Celeste could admit it had been a nice touch, if a technically highly unnecessary one). Among the ships now underway were several Centurion-class and Harrower-class ships salvaged from old wars, along with newer but smaller cruisers and frigates that the Hutts had acquired in dribs and drabs as various powers shed them after the Ruusan Reformation.

Perhaps the best part about this was that she knew her erstwhile 'apprentice' was doing the exact same thing at another such 'fleet.' And so was Master Tholme at a third, though it was the last action he would take in this conflict by his own admission. He, like Celeste herself, was still focused on the Sith threat that they were trying to track down. Taking a couple of months off for this not-so-little middle finger to one of the most vile species in the galaxy, however? Totally worth it. And she had a feeling her fellow Jedi Master felt the same way…

... ... ... ... ...

A/N 1: MAWHWHAHAHAHAHAAHAHa. This set of chapters (56-58) are what I've been waiting for since basically word one of this story. It's been agonizing at times, doing all the slow build up and setting everything in place, knowing this was coming. I really, really wanted to get to this point, but didn't want to rush it...

A/N 2: So, yeah...big fleets. They are going to need them. Just a quick reminder? The only reason they've been able to build up so fast is because of the three Infinite Engine Seeds. This is explicitly why I gave those to them. Without them, they simply couldn't have built up a big enough presence to pull this off before the Clone Wars started. Ideally, I would have liked for Izuku to come in 5-10 years earlier to build up more realistically. But since I wanted to pair him with Aayla, that wasn't feasible without massive adjustments to canon. So, I gave them the IESes to make it possible, while still being a serious, grinding effort to pull it off so fast.

A/N 3: Poor Windu. He is going to have SO MANY headaches. Also, I couldn't help but slip in that one glorious word...

A/N 4: New weapons systems. Don't worry, they aren't as unbalanced as they might seem. I've already thought through counters that some enemies are eventually going to evolve to things like the Null Torpedoes. Right now, they are a massive edge, and they are going to seriously rattle the standards of warfare galaxy wide. But they aren't unbeatable super weapons...the League will need to continue to innovate to retain its edge over time.