Chapter 76: Shifting Currents

Summary: Pebbles in the pond can shift currents, if you toss enough of them...

Warning! Chapters 75-78 were all posted back-to-back! Make sure you don't miss any of them!

Chapter 76: Shifting Currents

-Orbit of Nar Haaska – Ten Days Post Battle of Tisht-

Rana was extremely pleased with her new Flagship. Her new Flag Captain, Captain Fich, hadn't been as pleased with her when she'd ordered it to meet her at Nar Haaska instead of her meeting the Paladin over Nal Hutta, but she had her reasons. While she was supposed to be forming up a new command that would initiate the second round of attacks on the Hutts in due time, the truth was that she wasn't really needed for that. After the battle of Tisht, Sovereign Midoriya and Admiral Secura had retired to Nal Hutta's orbit aboard the Knight Errant. Something had happened to cause a stir with the Force Sensitive sorts and a conference of some kind was being had.

Rana didn't know or care about the details of that. What she did care about was that it meant two entirely capable senior officers were currently in the Nal Hutta system to deal with any initial teething problems for a fleet that was barely a third complete yet anyway. Which meant that she was free to follow her instincts. Instincts that were insisting Nar Haaska was the place most likely to feel the next retaliatory hammer blow from the Hutts.

She'd been impressed and pleased with the reports of how well Commodore Sail'ada had done defending Nar Kreeta. Yet it was that very defense, backed with the first use of their stripped down Ultra-class ODPs, that made Rana virtually certain additional attacks wouldn't be coming in via the Republic side just yet. Eventually? Certainly. There were far, far more assets for the Hutts to mobilize from within the Republic than out in Wild Space.

However, the fleet Commodore Sail'ada had smashed hadn't been a small thing. Not at all. At least not by modern standards. Light on true capital ships, perhaps, but not small. Building up something bigger than that was going to take the Hutts more time and money, and the performance of the ODPs was going to make any commander that attempted another assault wary. Not nearly wary enough, honestly, given that Commodore Sail'ada had intelligently hidden the true range capabilities of the oddly named Plus-class stations. But wary nevertheless.

Nar Haaska was, as it happened, was the only route held by the League that didn't have such defenses yet.

It would, eventually. They'd manufactured a considerable stockpile of the stripped-down defense platforms, designed to be carried in by a handful of large freighters and then assembled in orbit over important worlds. Those platforms were, in fact, a critical part of their long-term plans for Hutt Space. Without them, they would have needed four times the Fleet strength to even think about conquering all of Hutt Space, as they'd be forced to leave major fleet elements over every critical world.

With the rather terrifying particle beams that the Plus-class defense platforms added to each nodal defense world, they could hold the same worlds with a fraction of the mobile assets required. Doubly so as they started to also deploy Minion-class platforms, which were smaller and more numerous, but lacked the particle beam weaponry of the Plus or Ultra class stations. Instead, they contained the same Null Torpedo and Graviton Beam weapons that the Volition-class used. Much more traditionally ranged, but nasty for anything that got close enough to the planet to properly engage.

Back to the point, however, was that Nar Haaska didn't have its defense stations yet. Just because they had stockpiles of the modular station components, didn't mean their logistics wasn't straining to deliver and assemble them in each of the systems taken in their blitz of Hutt Space. The Outland Transit Station was currently in the process of getting theirs, but Nar Haaska wouldn't see first delivery of its station components until a week from now. Even then, only enough personnel and construction ships to assemble one at a time would be arriving with the pieces. Meaning it would be at least another two weeks after arrival before the trio of stations mandated for each nodal world would be properly online.

Rana's instincts were telling her that the Hutts knew that. Possibly not all of the details, but at least that Nar Haaska didn't have its protective ODPs yet. Combined with a fairly substantial loss of assets at Nar Kreeta, her strategic senses were telling her that the next blow would come here. Somewhere that they didn't have to worry about the new weapon that had smashed their first serious attempt. Probably, whatever fleet they scrounged up for the attempt would mostly be made up of Wild Space forces in the Hutts employ, as well. Making for a lot of unknowns the Hutts would likely be hoping to use in their favor.

Well, let them come if that was the case. If they waited too long, they'd be dealing with fresh Volitions that were coming to relieve some of her damaged ships, along with the Plus and Minion defensive stations. If, as she thought, they arrived before those stations were completed? Well, then she'd get to test out her new command ship earlier than expected…

... ...

Chewbacca howled in triumph as the last of the Trandoshan scum went down. His own howl of victory was echoed by those of several dozen other Wookiees, even as their allies shook their heads and moved deeper into the compound. That was fine. The humans, Gungans, and others were all smiling, or their species equivalent. Even if they didn't share his own people's hatred for the Trandoshans specifically, these people still hated slavers in general. Which was more than enough for Chewbacca. Particularly given that it had produced the result of one less Trandoshan clan in existence to prey on his people.

That was something worth celebrating. Doubly so given it was the third such clan that his people had been involved in gutting since arriving on Tsyk. Abstractly, he knew that the world was somewhat important as it had a minor hyperlane exit from Hutt Space. It was one that had already been effectively cut off by the League's control of Hollastin, but pushing fully out to where the hyperlane met contested space at Unagin was at least modestly important. Unagin was a minor trade world with Hutt ties…but which didn't actually like the Hutts. Much like many of the unaligned worlds in the region, there was a good chance it would leap at the chance to join the League of Free Stars, if only the group could prove it had the staying power to be worth joining.

Frankly though, despite being at least dimly aware of those details, Chewbacca cared more about what the Wookiees were getting out of this immediately. Let his father and King worry about the long-term consequences. For Chewie, it was enough to have the chance to lead his clansmen in a long-overdue crusade against slavers of all stripes. Especially Trandoshans, of course. But, even if he eventually ran out of the despicable lizards to kill, any slaving scum would do in a pinch…

... ...

As they settled into the passenger accommodations of the light freighter Serious Arseho, after entirely too long listening to the captain whine about her ex sticking her with that ship name before he died, Obi-wan looked over at his Padawan. Not that he looked much like a Padawan at the moment, of course. Both of them had ditched their Jedi Robes for mundane traveling clothes that wouldn't be out of place on a thousand worlds. They weren't openly carrying their lightsabers, either. Though they hadn't gone quite so far as to change their names. They were trying to fly under the radar, yes. But since no one should be looking for them, simply swapping to civilian IDs and not being obvious about being Jedi should be more than enough.

"So, are you satisfied with our assignment, Anakin?"

Obi-wan was careful to keep his touch with the Force light as he assessed his Padawan's response. Thankfully, while the emotions that came with it were just as mixed as his expressions, they also matched. His student was, at least, being entirely truthful rather than trying to suppress how he felt about their orders.

"Not completely, Master. I would rather be out there, in Hutt Space, freeing slaves. But…" Anakin struggled for a moment, obviously trying to put what he was feeling into words. "…but what we are doing is just as important, right? The only reason the slavery laws are ignored so much is because of the corruption in the Senate. Or something like that…"

Obi-wan's lips twitched at the 'or something like that.' Anakin was a Guardian through a through, with very little time for or interest in politics. Despite Obi-wan's best efforts, his Padawan's skills in areas like diplomacy, negotiation, and other non-lightsaber-oriented pursuits were somewhat lacking. Partially, that was a result of having so far to catch up on in terms of general education after joining the Order. Mostly, however, it was down to an utter lack of interest from someone who preferred to solve problems with a ship blaster or lightsaber. Well, Anakin was hardly the only one like that in the Order, even at the Knight and Master levels. Besides, he still had a few years yet to settle down before Knighthood.

"Exactly, Anakin. If the lead on Iseno, regarding Senator Ronet Coorr, proves to be accurate, we'll be able to cut out another piece of that corruption. As will the many other Jedi that the High Council dispatched. The trouble in Hutt Space, combined with that temporary ripple in the Veil of the Darkside, means we have a chance to rip out some of the worst of the corruption for the first time in centuries. Which could potentially cripple things like the legal slave trade, and other horrible acts just like it. Even the complete destruction of the Hutts wouldn't be enough to make more than a splash in the pond, if similar groups within the Republic aren't burned out as well."

Anakin nodded, his emotions firming up at the reminder that there current mission was in support of getting rid of similar evils to the Hutts. It was just aimed at factions within the Republic. Something that would have been unthinkable just a few weeks ago, given the political backlash investigating senators tended to create. But the ripples in the Veil had pulled the blinders from many eyes within the Jedi Order. No longer could anyone pretend that the Republic was anything but a dying edifice with a lot of problems.

Possibly even too many to fix.

They had to try, though, even if it meant taking uncomfortably radical actions. That much everyone agreed on. Having a series of focal points much closer to home which the High Council was firmly in support of dealing with had also, thankfully, provided an outlet for the simmering frustration of the Knights. The Masters among the Order weren't quite so quick to put aside the arguments that had sprung up due to the Hutt Crusade. But with at least one pressure release valve letting off the tension within the Order, the Masters could take their time to debate more calmly. The fact that the stakes had changed as well, causing some shifting among who was pushing for what, meant that the situation was…stabilizing.

It wasn't exactly properly stable. Not yet, at least. The revelation of how blind they'd been was also dragging a lot of other concerns into the light, reigniting a whole plethora of policy debates. That much, however, could be handled. Not swiftly, and possibly not without a few additional groups like the Grey Paladins splintering off from the main Order before it was all over with. But at least without the fear of the entire Jedi Order falling to infighting. Which had been a growing concern for entirely too many Masters and Knights that could see the tensions building, without knowing how to stop the proverbial speeder crash they'd all seen coming.

Nothing quite like a wake-up call about how horribly close the entire galaxy was to fracturing into a much larger problem to put your own differences into perspective. Hopefully, their own mission to Iseno would be one of several dozen that would begin putting bandages on what the Order now realized were seeping, infected wounds. If their sight was right, Ronet Coorr had been accepting bribes to utterly screw over parts of the Outer Rim farther down the Corellian Run. A section of space that just-so-happened to be where the League of Free Stars was basing itself out of Tythe. If they could prove it, they could possibly reverse some of the damage, easing resentment both of the Republic and the Jedi out in this direction.

Theirs wasn't the only such mission, of course. Several dozen Jedi teams had been sent out or re-routed to deal with similar issues. Brushfires between neighbors that the Jedi had been ignorant of. Abusive corporations holding parts of the Rim practically hostage, a few Dark spots in the Force that were more than a little concerning. Hopefully, dealing with as many of the issues that various Jedi had sensed would manage to restore some life and sanity to the Republic. Which they were now all-to-painfully aware was a half-undead lumbering hulk just waiting for something to set it on fire…

... ...

Celeste was both torn and pleased at the same time. Torn because what had happened during the Assault on Tisht had been the sort of thing she was very curious about investigating, yet couldn't because of the reason she was pleased. Specifically, that Beldorion the Hutt had possessed awful data security and a pair of valuable leads on the Sith she'd been chasing. The leads were old, but Beldorion's isolation meant that it was very possible that the Sith hadn't cleaned up these particular threads as they had so many of the other dead-ends leads she'd tried to follow.

Beldorion had recorded actual, blatant, contact with the Sith. The first such completely straightforward records of such that she'd found in all her time looking thus far. All other previous leads had been whispers and rumors, chasing shadows cast by red lightsabers and quiet assassinations done using the Force. In this case, however, Beldorion had outright engaged in trade with two separate individuals who had self-identified themselves as Sith, going by Sith names. The presence of such a set of leads had resulted in her leaving the system as soon as she could confirm that there wasn't anything else in the Hutt's database that might shed more light on the Sith.

The first lead had been close to a hundred and twenty years old, regarding contact with a Sith going by the name of Darth Tenebrous. A Bith who had traded quite a few of the potent defensive guns in use by the Hutt in exchange for a small supply of the Force Amplifying crystals. Beldorion had been enraged that the Sith refused to supply him with a ship, there being some indications in the Hutt’s written ravings that the Bith in question was some sort of ship designer that should have been able to do so easily.

That was interesting. Very much so since it implied Beldorion had recognized the Bith’s public persona. Meaning said persona had probably been some degree of famous, and in a field that she might be able to track down. However, given how long ago the contact had been, it was unlikely this Tenebrous was still active. A worthwhile lead to track down as it might lead to assets still in use by his successors. But the lesser of the two leads, overall.

The second lead had been a series of contacts, across roughly a twenty-year period and terminating roughly 60 standard years previously. That Sith, identifying himself as Darth Plagueis, had been the one to provide Beldorion with the means to produce Terentateks. Apparently an expert in Sith Alchemy, the Darth had traded quite a few tricks and secrets to the Hutt, allowing the fallen Jedi to enhance himself and his forces. In turn, he'd gotten a significantly larger number of the Force amplifying crystals than Tenebrous had acquired. Which was…concerning.

Still, concerns for what might have been done with those crystals or how hard they might make taking on a true Sith that had access to them aside, the more recent contacts were the better lead. Sort of. Sadly, Plagueis had been more careful in his contacts with the Hutt, never revealing even his race, and Beldorion hadn't possessed the slightest idea who the Darth was to the rest of the galaxy. Even so, she did have contact dates, some details about the man's ship, and quite a few more bits and pieces to work with. It would take some investigating, and there was every chance this Sith had since been replaced as well. But it was a recent enough start that she just might get lucky and either discover he was still active…or at least who he had been to the rest of the galaxy. The latter option possibly leading to more leads of who any apprentices were or had been.

Now, she just had to try and run that information down before anyone who realized Beldorion was dead, and had possibly been in possession of the information, might try to cut the thread short before she could make use of it…

... ...

Cadet First Class Aleste Greenscale was practically salivating at the chance before him. He, along with a few dozen of the other most promising students of the current form for the Tythe-based Academy of Naval Engineering, had been called up and shipped out for a special opportunity. Now, the geeky history-of-ships buff inside his soul was practically vibrating with excitement as he toured the old ship that his group was being given a chance to work on and study! The Inexpugnable-class tactical command ship had been one of the largest Republic Warships of its day, even now hardly being a lightweight at 3,100 meters in both length and width.

It was a true battleship, even if it had mostly served as a fleet command vessel.

The fact that it was a relic of the Mandalorian Wars didn't change that fact.

He had learned from the briefing they'd all gotten when they'd arrived at the deep-space rendezvous, one where an entire fleet of wildly irregular ship types had waited under minimal overwatch, that the Resplendent Guardian had been one of many ships recovered from Hutt Mothball fleets. He'd personally managed to identify a Harrower-class, a Centurion-class, and what he was almost sure had been an old Invincible-class heavy cruiser. But there's been at least two dozen more capital-ships of varying sizes that he hadn't been as easily able to pin down.

In his opinion though, Resplendent Guardian was the crown jewel of the impressive collection, and not just because it was an awesome piece of history. No, just as important was their assignment now that they were on board. Orders had come down from on high that they were to metaphorically take the ship apart and figure out everything that its designers had done right, and everything that they had gotten wrong. He suspected similar orders had been cut for the Harrower and Centurion class ships, which had already been alive with dozens of construction/repair ships and droids when he'd gotten his glimpse of them.

To Aleste's mind, that could only mean one thing.

The League was in the early stages of planning a proper battleship of their own, possibly even a Star Dreadnaught! And he had the chance to get in on the ground floor of working on it…

... ...

Asajj was numb.

There wasn't really any other way to describe how she felt. Disbelief had come first, when they'd pulled her out of the bacta tank. She'd been unconscious when her Master died, having been knocked out by the point-blank Force Scream she'd been subjected too. She'd half-believed her Master's death to be a dream as a result, only to wake up nearly two weeks later to the reality that it hadn't been anything of the sort.

Master Narec was dead.

She'd wanted to rage about that, wanted to scream that it was all unfair. Yet, as she'd bathed in bacta she'd been shown the entire event. Not just his heroic death, but the ripples it had sent through the Force. She couldn't remember most of them, her mind not having been in a state to absorb them fully, but she was left with a sure and certain knowledge that his death hadn't been in vain. That he'd died how he lived, protecting others and making the galaxy a better place.

She couldn't rage about that. Couldn't find it in herself to be angry that he'd gone out exactly as he'd have wanted to. She couldn't even find fault with the Jedi who'd brought him along, who had treated him and her both as two of their own and invited them to help excise a great evil. Asajj herself had been even more committed to the idea than her Master, who had hardly been against it. There was pride, even, that she had managed to hurt the Hutt and her Master had been instrumental in his ultimate destruction.

That didn't change the fact that there was a gaping hole in her heart where her father-in-all-but-name should be.

She barely noticed as another presence joined her in staring out the window, out into the lines of hyperspace as they headed back towards Nal Hutta. Hyper rapture was a risk, but not much of one for Jedi, and the lines were somehow soothing. If for no other reason than as a reminder that she was free of Rattatak. A part of her wanted to go back and finish the job there, as a way to complete her Master's work, but her heart wasn't fully in it. Perhaps someday, assuming she ever stopped feeling numb.

"The worst part is when you reach out for the bond by reflex and it's not there. Just…gone."

The words, spoken quietly, pierced the numbness around Asajj's heart. Tears came, without her saying that was okay.

"I remember what it was like, when I woke up to realize my own Master was gone. For a while, my mind refused to even let me remember, as if that lack of memory would protect me from the pain that was waiting. Yet, even with my memory addled at the time, there were moments I would reach for something and simply find myself crying and not know why. When I did, finally, remember…it was worse."

Knight Secura. That's who was talking to her. Asajj latched onto that detail as an anchor in the sea of emotion that was now flooding through where the numbness had been. A hand touched her shoulder and she felt a not-quite-foreign feeling of…not calm, but a sense of being centered. She recognized it, latched onto the idea of it, drew in a great breath and tried to copy it. It took time, a painfully long amount she thought, though she couldn't have said how much time had physically passed. Finally, she found her own center again, copying the basic feeling of equilibrium in the Force that had been passed to her not as a command or an imposition, but as a suggestion. The hand on her shoulder squeezed gently, a pulse of approval flowing into Asajj from the slightly older woman.

"Too many Jedi would tell you to let all of that emotion go into the Force. They would lie to your face and say there 'is no emotion, only peace,' forgetting what that line was supposed to be all about. That way lies madness, or at least darkness. Instead, I will ask you only this…would you tell me about him? I had little enough time to get to know your Master, and I wish to remember him for all that he was."

The words came pouring out of Asajj. It would be quite some time before they stopped…

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

AN 1: Yes, I really named the space station variants Plus and Ultra. Remember, Mei is one of the League's primary designers ;-). The Minion-class I actually debated calling the Bakugo-class, just as a measure of spite from her calling them smaller and less important. But since I haven't really built up the background for Mei and Izuku back in the MHA universe, I decided it didn't make much sense to given Mei a sudden bout of petty grudge against him.

AN 2: Chewie! Honestly, I just felt like he was a good cameo to show how some of the ground fighting is going. Tsyk is a minor detail that needed dealing with too, in case anyone has actually been double checking my details on the galaxy map :-p.

AN 3: Anakin and Obi-wan are back! Also, they are showing off the Council's reaction. Which is, shockingly, a useful one. They've pivoted their internal crisis into focusing on dealing with some corruption issues. Of course, while this will do some good and cause Palpy some headaches, it's far too little, too late, to stop the Clone Wars from coming entirely. At best, they can delay them a bit.

AN 4: Celeste has a target! One that just might end up being important...

AN 5: Ohhhhh, so that's where all those mothball ships went! Most of them aren't worth putting back into the line of battle. But many of them are from eras with major warfare, meaning they have a lot to teach the engineers taking them apart about building better warships. Of course, WE already know that the Paladin is the first battleship in production by the League. So Cadet Greenscales other thought about just how large of a ship might be in the works is something to take note of ;-).

AN 6: Poor Asajj :-(. Still, this time she has someone else who understands to lean on and help her through the loss...