I arrived on Radnor literally two days later. Lora must have already started acting, searching for the group working for the "Black Sun". So I'll have to join her. What kind of planet is Radnor? It's located on the Corellian Way, in the Mid Rim, Deymar Sector.
The planet was covered by seas, and on a single continent, there were two cities. Ayubendo and Takto, which were city-states by their classification, but there was still only one senator from the sector. There was an alternation – one term the senator was from Ayubendo, and the next – from Takto. However, the planet's politics didn't concern me much right now. I vaguely remember some story connected with Anakin Skywalker.
But that's a long way off, and the story can only develop with him when he becomes a Padawan. That's a long way off. The version of the DDG I ended up in is more or less classic. Except that the same Feemor is slightly older than his canon prototype, as is Qui-Gon, most likely. But I haven't found any other significant differences, so I wasn't expecting Anakin to appear here. And I would have known about all this already. So, without the chosen one nearby, and understanding that nothing extraordinary would happen on the planet – I calmly landed the ship at the Ayubendo spaceport. The only sign that not everything was so simple was Lora's "Dreadnaught" hanging in orbit.
It was hovering near a defensive space station and two "Dreadnaughts" with five "Gozanti" from the planetary defense forces. The planet was clearly not poor. The Radnorians made a living by creating high-tech weapons. Most of the planet's inhabitants were in cities or urban settlements. The density of construction and its height didn't reach the recognized ecumenopolises, but it was still impressive. The tallest buildings were over twenty, and sometimes fifty stories high. The economy was built on the export of EMP bombs, shock batons, like the one I saw in a crappy movie number seven, mistakenly included in the "so-called Star Wars canon" recently, of course, they also produced electrostaffs, vibro-swords, and improved blasters.
Naturally, the weapons produced on this planet were categorized as "elite." DDG weapons are divided into two vague types. The first is mass-produced weapons, which almost any sentient being can afford, naturally not fearing that a means of bringing other living beings to a lethal state will be registered in their name. However, there are also weapons where the registration number has been "tampered with," or not entered at all, like with the G8 rifle I was sporting a couple of days ago. And there are elite weapons, which they either make for very wealthy clients, or for themselves. And although the laws of the Senate and the Republic can control the creation of such means... But here, it's like with the capital ships that Kuat builds for himself and wealthy clients.
It's forbidden, of course it's forbidden, but if you really want to – you can. Especially if you can sponsor the oversight committee from the Senate. Jedi are rarely bribed; not all of us have such obvious weaknesses as a weakness for credits. Asceticism is instilled in both titular aristocrats, like me, and by origin – I belong to the so-called "nobles," that is, a courtly noble, whose lineage "has the right to serve a whole King." Like those aristocrats who truly have power by birth – like Dooku. He is indeed the son of Count Sereno, and in fact can claim to rule this planet. But for a certain time, as a Jedi – he doesn't care about power. Although one would think... The fact of your origin, family, and so on. But no... And even those Jedi who grow up from poor backgrounds are almost never bribed. Cases happen, but not statistically significant. We have far more problems with ideology and actions within its framework. We are the knights of light for all that is good, against all that is bad. And what is the result? Rampant crime, corruption among our fellow senators and not only them, slave trade, organized crime that has raised its head... And yet, we don't always even have the right to intervene!
Okay... I've thought about this a thousand times. Many people understand the fact that "something needs to be decided here!" Either reforms, or war with some sectors. Already, notes of discontent can be heard. Notes that will lead us to many wars. What conflicts are closest? First of all – the Stark Hyperspace War. Jako Stark – is already a well-known smuggler, sometimes a pirate and a bandit. In some ways, he is similar to Gavens Hornley in Lora's story. More precisely – Stark initially positioned himself as someone who steals from the rich and gives to the poor. Of course, it's not as beautiful as it might have seemed. That's why, by the way, I didn't believe Lora's words that Gavens was a "just man who wants to rid the galaxy of the 'Black Sun'."
A truly "just sentient being." And the fact that he worked for Dalridna at one time, who was a Vigo of the "Black Sun" and who loved to eliminate his competitors – by dunking them into tanks of fuel extracted on Malastare. This fuel was incredibly toxic even for the monsters from that planet, who were nicknamed Zillo. "A cute little creature," a hundred meters tall, for whom rancors, with whom I trained – are small children. In short, I didn't trust Gavens and was preparing to eliminate him... And what about Jako Stark? I can easily find him and also perform an operation on him – body here, and head there, five meters from the body.
And no one will do anything to me, Jako is outside the law, stumbled upon him by chance, killed the poor fellow. But no, killing him now, in my opinion, is too early. The problem is that Jako's actions will trigger a cascade of various events that are beneficial to sentient beings of my views. Ranulf Tarkin, a cousin of the very same Wilhuff Tarkin and a militarist, will be highlighted in Stark's conflict. He, of course, died, in a way, like an idiot, this Ranulf Tarkin. And in some ways, he didn't. But there is an undeniable plus – the militarist faction received a strong reason to push for army reforms.
And the Republic needs an army. Very much so... And it's not about Sidious or even the Yuuzhan Vong. No... The essence of any state is a monopoly on violence. And the army is part of this monopoly. In many ways, the crime rate is so high that not only the police but also the army are unable to literally fly in and blast the criminals with all barrels. These scum, like Alexi Garin, or Gavens Hornley, Cabra, Jabba the Hutt, the Pike Syndicate, and many other organizations – understand this perfectly. Therefore, they do whatever they please. But – the reform of law enforcement agencies, which will begin with the Stark Hyperspace War and end, in essence, with the formation of the GAR – will help us, will help the entire Republic.
Therefore, I will allow this conflict, even though I could contain it. Speaking of containment... With my actions, I have essentially started a conflict of almost similar scale. Only among criminal organizations. And I intend to use it – to destroy Alexi Garin, or to extract information about "Black Sun" from him. I'll decide what to do with him when we meet, but for now, I'm thinking of killing Garin and launching a virus into the general network of his organization that would spy for me. Then I need to eliminate the unknown variable – my temporary allies from PMC "Luna". To me, they were no better than "Black Sun". Laura, of course, can believe whatever she wants about Gaven Hornly, but he's the same scumbag as all the other criminals. Alexi Garin himself, now something like the executioner of the Vigo council – he's done all sorts of dirty deeds, just like his comrades. Gaven, having worked for Dalridn, is also tainted. What to do with the Hutts? And what will I do with them now? This requires a full-scale military campaign, with a fleet consisting of battleships, cruisers, strike craft, escort ships. Full logistics according to the logic of war. And it would be good to destroy their base-delta zero, in such a scenario, but no, even if such a scenario occurs, I will be asked to "take bases by storm," meaning full-fledged assault units will be needed.
Well, in general, to destroy "Black Sun" completely – the same will be required. But for PMC "Luna" much less effort will be needed. So they can be eliminated later, but first, our showdown with "Black Sun". While I was contemplating all these twists and turns, I reached a small building in the industrial sector of Ayubendo. The building was five stories high, and according to the information I obtained, it used to house the production of speeders and droids. I was provided with information about where the "Black Sun" cell was located, and Laura headed there, whom I didn't manage to contact, as she had already started the operation and was in silent mode.
Suddenly, explosions erupted on the roof.
"Looks like she's having fun up there," I clearly felt Laura's moving aura above. She was clearly fighting and... Yes, she was using a jetpack, firing at someone with both hands. I hope she doesn't kill all ten of them who were fighting against her. And there was her group, fighting for her. Well... I need to move upstairs quickly. Using a grappling hook, I jumped first to the first floor, then to the second, third, fourth, and after passing the last one, I soared above the roof. However, not for long. But it was enough for me to analyze the situation. Laura's soldiers were fewer than "Black Sun's" soldiers. And the mandalorian soldiers were clearly losing. Laura herself was acting professionally, shooting three enemies, one of whom – when I soared into the air.
It was time to have some fun. Using the hook, I pulled myself onto the roof, activating my lightsaber.
"What the fuck?" one of Laura's soldiers asked. I stood with my back to them, clearly demonstrating that I was not their enemy. "Black Sun" also ceased fire, clearly understanding that they had stumbled upon a Jedi.
"You, what are you doing here?" Laura appeared nearby, flying up on her jetpack.
"Is that your 'hello'?" I asked Laura. "Chatting during a fight is not the best idea. But I can say this – I have a temporary agreement with Gaven Hornly. You apparently didn't receive the message."
"I was told about a new ally, but I thought Gaven had convinced the Hutts to participate, or attracted someone from outside, but that it was you..."
"Unexpected, nevertheless," I examined "Black Sun's" fighters. Six were on their feet and ready for combat. The fight had just begun, three were clearly eliminated, one more was wounded. Who among them should know the most? Using my senses, I tried to find the one whose equipment looked better. And I found him. A human male, with curly red hair and a well-built physique. So, I should leave him alive, and eliminate the rest. I took a step...
"Stop, Jedi! Don't come any closer!" they opened fire. I charged, deflecting their shots on the go. Throwing grenades? I deflected them with telekinesis. Approaching the first bandit, I slashed his torso, dodged the second's shot, threw my activated lightsaber from my left hand at the third, and pulled the second with the Force and used him as a shield against the shots. I threw the commander against the building's superstructure, clearly knocking him out. Only one remained. The opponent at whom I threw the lightsaber – was killed by him. I pulled the second sword to myself.
"No... no... no... don't!" the man shouted, dropping his weapon. I stopped, having started to walk towards him. A blaster shot streaked through the air and, hitting him, killed him.
"Well, what was that for?" I asked, deactivating my swords and looking at Laura.
"Well, you're a Jedi, and you guys don't kill unarmed people, do you?" the woman noted, landing nearby.
"A Jedi is fighting for us," one of her warriors said with inspiration. "That's very good."
"Don't be so naive," Laura said loudly, "he's not a permanent ally for us. And..." I felt her irritation. I'm sure she was frowning under her helmet. "He's clearly one of those who can use allies, even in a dark way."
"Are you still angry about my 'strategic cunning'?" I asked her, pulling the red-haired commander with telekinesis and holding him in front of us.
"Naturally! You used me and my connection!"
"Oh, come on, Laura," I shrugged, "no one got hurt."
"Except my authority," she grumbled.
"Listen, you're not in civil service, caught by some journalist for corruption, but you simply lost authority among your soldiers. I'm sure a couple of raids against "Black Sun" and everyone will forget about my cunning and how you fell for it. Right? And yes, we don't have time for settling scores. We have a prisoner here, by the way, waiting for interrogation..."
"We'll get back to this," she promised.
"Yes, let's have a drink after all this, chat..."
"I'm not drinking with you!" she snorted, turning away. "Come on, bring him around," the mandalorian demanded.
"And why me?"
"You hit him against the superstructure, so you know how to bring him around..."
Alright, alright... I took an ammonia analog from my medkit pouch and brought it to his nose with telekinesis. The man flinched and opened his eyes.
"YOU!"
"Uh-huh," I put the bottle back. "We."
"Khy," he grimaced, clearly from the smell that got into his nose. "What do you want?"
"Gurzer Nzeur," Laura introduced the man to me. "Wanted in five systems: torture, murder, pedophilia, kidnapping, and, a little bit, spice trafficking. Here he is a scout, led by an acquaintance of Alexi Garin, who flew with him to fight against us."
"Acquaintance?"
"A certain Mighella," Laura said.
"Hmm, she's a Dathomirian witch. I don't like them. One of them killed my mentor," due to my stupidity, I admit. "So, Gurzer, you, as Alexi's spy, surely know where he and his fleet are now?"
"Go to hell, you damn Jedi!" the bandit cursed, spitting. I caught his spit and returned it to his face.
"Do you really think they'll be polite with you here?" I asked Gurzer. "Tell us everything you know. And you'll end up in a Republic prison, not with Gaven Hornly..."
"What, aren't you ashamed that you teamed up with that worthless Hornly, Jedi? I remember him from 'Black Sun', a real scumbag who stabs everyone in the back," Laura's emotions flared up so much that I had to put my hand on her back, "cooling her down a bit." "What do you know about him, Laura, right? He probably presented himself to you as a hero who cares about the Outer Rim residents like his own children. In reality, he's just a traitor. Dalridn, his boss in 'Black Sun', lost to Kabre. That's all. And Hornly just wants revenge, grabbing a bigger piece of our organization. But Alexi will put him in his place, heh-heh-heh... You even united with the Jedi to find him. But that won't help you! You can kill me, but it won't change the outcome. Alexi will come for you, he will come and kill!"
"So much pathos you've gathered," I sighed, pulling a dose of narcotic from my pouch. "I'll have to make you talk..." damn it... This feeling. A moment and I threw Laura and her warriors back with telekinesis. A volley of missiles hit us, judging by the looks of it – nursy (Author's note – unguided aerial missiles. The official name is "nar", but Light calls them "nursy"). I jumped back myself, holding Gurzer with telekinesis.
Enemy? Looking at the position from which the nursy came, the explosion of which I had to absorb with tutaminis, I noticed a "Theta" type shuttle.
In general, it only has laser cannons as standard armament, but it can be modified. And here it had nursy suspended. Soldiers with jetpacks flew out of the shuttle's interior. Hutt, everything has changed. There are fourteen of them, plus we are standing on the surface and our formations are not mixed, which means – the shuttle pilot can open fire without fear of hitting his own. However... I received a lot of energy by absorbing the explosion with tutaminis, so I directed my hand at the soldiers who flew out and struck them with Force lightning, which split into many branches. The enemies were about seventy meters away, the shuttle itself was a hundred meters from us. The lightning reached the soldiers and I heard screams of pain and horror as the lightning struck some of the fighters.
"NK, receive," I activated him shortly before visiting this building. Having ordered him to take a sniper position on the neighboring building, I went to intervene in the conflict.
"Joyfully: master, I've detected many flying bags of meat."
"Excellent, destroy all except the mandalorian Laura, whose signature is loaded into you. Do not touch the surviving soldiers on the roof. Do not kill those whom I knocked out."
"Joyfully: it will be done, master. With slight regret: it's a pity I can't eliminate everyone."
NK began shooting the enemies, while I decided to focus on the shuttle. They will regret it... A pop sounded. I dodged a bullet fired from a kinetic sniper rifle, but I didn't manage to telekinetically remove Gurzer. The man's head exploded from a hit by a round from a local SVD analog.
"How dare you," I hissed maliciously, watching a mandalorian warrior soar up in armor. Throwing Gurzer's body onto the roof, I decided to focus on eliminating the mandalorian, towards whom Laura was already rushing. Her soldiers and NK engaged the landing party that emerged from the shuttle. And the pilot from the shuttle, apparently, prepared another volley of nursy. He fired, the missiles rushed along the roof... Heavenly palm... I used the technique with my right eye, expending the charge. Swapping places with the missile that had just been launched, I attached myself to the shuttle with the hook, and then, using my lightsaber, I gained access inside. There were no turrets or other crew members inside. The pilot clearly didn't understand what had happened. I took advantage of this, entering his cockpit.
"What the..." he only managed to turn in his seat when I activated my lightsaber and ended his life with one stroke.
"I'm expropriating this," throwing the man back with telekinesis, I sat at the shuttle's controls. So... Quickly studying the ship's control panel, I directed it away from Laura, who was flying further away, and the mando who interfered with my interrogation. Laura was firing at him, and he wasn't staying silent either. "Laura, it's me, I'm in the shuttle, don't fire at me."
The woman understood, and I pretended to be about to attack Laura, and then sharply pulled the ship upwards. Distracted by Laura, who was pressing him very hard at that moment, the mandalorian didn't immediately grasp the essence of my plan. I maneuvered the shuttle directly across his path. He didn't have time to react and, at a good speed, crashed into the shuttle's nose. A funny sound... I immediately hooked him with telekinesis, and Laura knocked out his jetpack. After about five minutes, we landed the shuttle and the killer on one of the roofs... And were forced to explain ourselves to the Ayubendo police. However, upon learning that I was a Jedi and was conducting my operation, they decided not to make a fuss. In addition, the building was abandoned and no civilians were harmed. Although they demanded that we leave their territory. We interrogated Gunnos, as the mandalorian introduced himself, on whose armor was the symbol of "Black Sun," already on Laura's "Dreadnought." He was as stubborn as Gurzer. However, this time no one interfered with me, so I administered the drug and Gunnos started talking.
He said that Alexi decided to simulate an attack on Tatooine. The Corellian Run led partly to him. This was only partially logical. It would have been most logical to destroy Gaven Hornly, who, according to rumors, was on Rishi, or in the Rishi system. But...
"We haaave a reeeport," Gunnos said, looking at us with clouded eyes. "Heeeee went theeere... Cooorrriiiidooorrrr of deeeath wiiind."
"It can't be, they found out," Laura said in shock. "But how? Who gave you the report... Hey, what are these tattoos, Light?!"
Strange tattoos spread across his skin, glowing with an ominous green color. And the Force emanating from them... It can't be.
"Laura, let's go!" I grabbed the woman, opened the door, and jumped out of the cell with her in my arms. An explosion sounded... Later, inside, I noted that the cell walls were bent, and Gunnos's blood and remains were splattered all over the room.
"And what was that?"
"That's what Mighella did to him. She put... Something like a mark that destroyed him if he started talking about a certain topic more than necessary. It's..."
"Ritualistic," Revan suggested, appearing nearby. "A ritual at the intersection of Sith and Dathomirian witch knowledge. It would have been impossible to remove the seal with your current abilities. And I myself would have had to be in my physical form. It seems that in your time there are still some remnants of knowledge that would be well to forget."
I recounted Revan's verdict to Laura.
"The good news is that such seals can't be placed on everyone. The bad news is that we found out he wants to use the Corridor of Death Wind. What is that anyway? A hyperspace route?"
"Yes," Laura confirmed my guess. "A secret hyperspace route, running from Ryloth to the planet Rune. Alexi somehow found out where Gaven's base is... He also found out about this route..."
"But Ryloth is deep in Hutt territory, in this conflict, how does he intend to get there? From the name, it can be inferred that the path is dangerous and the slightest deviation can lead to death..."
"Even among the Hutts, not everyone is a supporter of war with 'Black Sun'," she grimaced amusingly, looking at the remnants of Gunnos. "Jabba is a prominent supporter, but there is also Dengo Hutt, his distant relative. He is rumored to have connections with 'Black Sun'. Dengo currently controls part of Ryloth's trade."
"Where does this hyperroute originate from..."
"Besides," Laura continued, "the Hutts are not interested in us getting off with minimal casualties. Ideally, they would like Alexi and Gaven to destroy each other."
"It's not surprising," I said as we left the cell. " The word 'honor' is only familiar to scum from fairy tales. Let's go, Laura. If that's the case, Alexi's fleet is on its way to Ryloth, and we'll head there, wait... And do whatever it takes to win."