3/09/7957 C.R.C

  Sundari Palace, Mandalore

  “Lona.”

  “Mnmph.”

  “Lona, you need to get up.”

  “Mmmnnoo.”

  I sighed, then kept poking the cocoon of blankets on the bed.

  “Lona, I have advanced scanners in my optics, you helped make them. I can tell that you’ve been awake for nearly twenty minutes now. Don’t you want to see the new Trinitaur Gunships today?” I asked.

  “Mmmmffiiinneeennnuuhhh.”

  I tilted my head. “How are you like this? You’ve been in the 104th for like eight months now. We’re literally a military.”

  “Mmnot a morning person, Blitz.” Lona grunted sleepily. “Bed comfy. Lemme sleep.”

  I sighed again. “Alright. Lona, I’m gonna be back in ten minutes, I have to speak with Omen.” I turned and started walking away. “If you’re not out of bed by the time I get back, I’m pulling you out with my Gravity Guns. And I will pull rank if you retaliate.”

  I didn’t catch her mumbled response as I left her room and walked out into the common room. Omen ,who had been waiting for Lona and I, was sitting in a fancy leather chair while looking at a datapad, occasionally swiping to a different article or typing on it. I sat down in the chair opposite him, uncoupling and setting my wing assembly down next to the chair as I sat.

  “Any news?” I asked after I had gotten settled in the seat.

  “There is always news in war, but I believe that a planet known as Esseles may catch your optic, General.” Omen replied, looking up at me.

  I raised an eyeridge. “Esseles? That’s a core world, is it not?”

  He nodded. “It is. And there has been quite a bit of trouble brewing in the Darpa Sector while we were on the other side of the galaxy. CIS Intelligence reports that the planet has been caught in a civil war between the upper class elites and the lower classes for about a month now. The nobility and corporate elites, no surprise here, are big supporters of the Republic, and a majority are corrupt almost to the point of parody, their king especially. The average citizenry; the farmers, lower class merchants, middle class families and the like, they all support the Confederacy, albeit their opinions are suppressed by the local elites.”

  “Obviously, the lower classes didn’t really like that, after decades upon decades of already dealing with the corrupt elites and nobility, so they bided their time until the Clone Wars broke out.” He continued. “And as tensions rose the malcontents slowly amassed their resources, and then one day after the tension reached a boiling point, there was suddenly open warfare on the streets. The elites had no idea what was going on for a good four weeks straight, letting the revolutionaries take over quite a bit of their planet. However, their armed rebellion has since been downgraded from a revolution to a high-intensity though poorly funded insurgency thanks to information gained by the spy network.”

  He swiped to a different page on his datapad. “According to what the spies have learned, there are a lot of off-world mercenaries on the planet now, brought in by the scent of credits, notoriety, and potential affairs with the local women. They’ve been hired by the nobility and high ranking mercantile elites to protect their interests, taking the fight back to the CIS aligned resistance in the process. That has only soured the middle and low class's opinion of them, because the mercenaries apparently don’t care about civilian casualties when searching for revolutionaries and anyone suspected of being aligned with or actively protecting the interests of said resistance. The planetary news network is obviously covering all of that up though, and painting them as heroic protectors of the planet.”

  I furrowed my metallic brow in thought. “Hmm. Anything else?”

  He nodded his head. “Just one more thing, sir, though it doesn’t relate to Esseles. One of the Magnaguards overheard Dooku speaking with the Quarren representatives of Mon Cala. I believe you should be expecting a holocall from the Count regarding that planet soon. Things seem to be a bit volatile on that water world and he may call upon you to resolve the issue.”

  “I see.” I slowly nodded. “...Update me whenever anything new comes out of Esseles.”

  Omen nodded, “Of course, Blitz. Any particular reason why?”

  I shrugged. “Not really, but there has to be some reason that Esseles of all planets is popping up on our radar.” I stood up and paced over to the large window at the far end of the room, which let me gaze out at the city unimpeded. “The planet is in the heart of the core worlds, only seven hyperjumps away from Coruscant itself, and a single jump away from Chandrila, where the 3rd Sector Army, Steel Sword Command, is headquartered. Establishing a permanent presence on Esseles or any planet close to it on the Perlemian Trade Route would give us a foothold directly into the very heart of the Republic. If we can take the besieged world of Castell, the homeworld of the Commerce Guild’s current Presidente in the process, then that just makes it all the sweeter.”

  “What’s that about Esseles and Castell?”

  I turned around to see a sleepy looking Lona walking out of her room, wearing some casual clothes.

  “Oh, just intel about Esseles being one of the Corellian hells at the moment.” I responded. “One of many in this galaxy, I suppose.”

  Lona snorted. “Yeah, I figured.” The blue-skinned togruta clapped her hands together over her head and started to stretch. “So, what’s on the agenda today, besides the Trinitaurs?”

  I turned and walked back to my seat, putting my hands on the top and leaning slightly onto it. “As soon as you eat some breakfast, we’ll be heading out to watch demonstrations of the new Fang Fighters, the Kimogila, and the Trinitaur, in that order.”

  She looked around, slightly confused. “Where do I even get food in this literal castle?”

  “The dining hall, I assume.” I reached down and grabbed my wings, then reattached them and started walking to the entrance. “Let’s go, you two.”

  The three of us left our combined rooms, and while Lona was looking around at the walls of the palace with fresh eyes, I checked the time.

  “Hmm. Eight-thirty local time. We’ve got an hour before the demonstrations are set to begin.” I mused. “Is that enough time for you to eat?”

  “I could be done in five minutes if I rushed.” Lona said.

  “Yea, let’s not do that.” I replied with a stern look. “Organic digestive systems tend to react negatively to eating too quickly.”

  “Speaking from experience, general?” Omen asked.

  I shook my head. “Unfortunately.” I looked at the mech. “You know, you took my being a former human better than Lona did.”

  The former B1 shrugged. “I’ve seen and read a lot of crazy things in my life. With how human you seem sometimes, I was honestly not surprised that you turned out to actually be the main character from an Isekai novel.”

  I rolled my optics. “I’m not a main character in this galaxy, Omen, not by a long shot.”

  “Then who the kriff is in this crazy galaxy of ours? General Skywalker?” He scoffed. “That’d be rich.” He shook his head. “No, after everything you’ve done so far, you’ve gotta be the main character of something.”

  I didn’t get a chance to answer, not that I even wanted to in fear of enraging the Living Force itself, because at that moment we walked into the dining hall.

  Obviously, talking about my extra-universal status is relegated to only myself, Omen, and Lona. Only the three of us, and Cad Bane for the last couple minutes of his life, know about me being an ‘Isekai’ as the Japanese call it. Omen found out shortly after Lona did, and he actually figured out most of it by himself, surprisingly enough. Although he did think that I was a force ghost from some long-dead dark Jedi or Sith returned to the living plane to destroy the Jedi once and for all. Realizing that sort of novel actually existed was actually pretty entertaining, even if they never outright said it was a Sith.

  The three of us entered the large room, where I noticed that Satine and Bo-Katan were already sitting and eating their own breakfasts at the giant oval-shaped table in the center. Satine was dressed in a similar outfit she wore yesterday, while Bo-Katan was wearing her armor, her helmet hooked onto her hip.

  “Ah, good morning to all three of you.” Satine greeted. “I was just about to send an aide to wake you.”

  “No need, Senator.” I replied politely, before smirking at Lona. “Only one of us really needed a wake-up call.”

  Lona promptly sent a force-enhanced elbow into my side and half-heartedly glared at me while I chuckled at her.

  “Laserbrain.” She muttered as she stalked off to the table and sat down.

  Omen and I sat down as well, Omen on my left, and Lona on my right. As Lona was loading up her plate with food for her carnivore-biased diet, I noticed Bo-Katan looking between us strangely.

  “Are all your subordinates so informal with you, General?” The Mand'alor finally asked.

  I opened my mouth to respond, then glanced at Lona. She nodded at me, busy eating, so I replied.

  “Lona is a bit of a special case, regarding formalities with me.” I explained. “She is a former Jedi, long removed from the walls of the temple on Coruscant.”

  “I was fifteen when I was abandoned by my Master.” Lona surprisingly added.

  ‘Nice to finally have a concrete age for when that happened.’ I thought as Satine’s jaw dropped in shock, while Bo-Katan’s brow furrowed.

  “You were abandoned by your buir?” Bo-Katan asked heatedly.

  The togruta sat straight up. “My Mando’a may be a bit rusty, but I know what you mean, and that man was never my buir.” Lona said after swallowing her food. She scowled. “He abandoned me on some backwater called Takodana after a mission went wrong. I've seen all the horrors of the Outer Rim throughout Hutt Space and supposedly Republic space for the last decade of my life. I have no empathy left in my heart for him. If I ever see him again, the only thing he’ll receive from me is a force-enhanced kick straight to his family jewels.”

  Despite not being organic for nearly a year now, and with my new manhood surrounded by armor at all times, I still shuddered in phantom empathy for the poor bastard if he ever unfortunately crosses paths with Lona in the future.

  “Is he someone we know from the order?” Satine asked.

  “He’s on the council and one of their more stubborn members, and that’s all I’ll say on the matter.” Lona replied, before she sighed. “Sorry for ruining the mood. What was your original question?”

  “It was no problem, we all have our grievances with the modern Jedi. I asked why you were so informal with General Blitzkrieg and he with you.” Bo-Katan said.

  “Ah. That’s because I’m only partially a member of the CIS military. I’m more along the lines of a civilian contractor that can choose to fight on the front-lines if I wish. I’m not that good at combat from a Jedi standpoint, but Blitz has been helping me train with my saber. But my best skills are more in line with engineering and things like that.”

  “Hence why she is the Chief Engineer of the entire 104th Mixed Fleet, along with why she’s here for the demonstrations.” I added.

  Lona let out a small snort. “Would you believe I was just a mechanic in the anti-corporate revolutionaries on Telos before this?”

  “You were on Telos during its civil war?” Satine asked in shock.

  “Indeed I was. I was there for four years, with them, and it was before the last big push the revolutionaries had before the 104th showed up in orbit and ended it that I started thinking the civil war would never end. Thankfully Blitz showed up and put a stop to it.”

  “You have lived an interesting life, for sure, then.” Bo-Katan remarked.

  “I’m sure other people have more interesting lives.” She twirled around a piece of food on her fork. “I’ve just been all over the place in the Outer Rim. It's not really that interesting.”

  I rolled my optics. “Lona, unless they’re military, mercenary, bounty hunter, or some form of intergalactic politician, most people don’t even leave the planet they live on. Those that do leave their planet likely have a job that depends upon it. And even then a lot of them don’t even leave their own system or barely travel in the galaxy. You’ve likely been to more planets than many Senators have been to.”

  “I agree.” Satine said. “You have been to more planets than I thought you would have, and I have been to quite a few different systems as the leader of the Neutral Systems Coalition.” Satine tilted her head. “Actually, speaking of that old organization, how have the new members been faring?”

  I smiled. “The systems where I personally oversaw their induction into the CIS are already seeing improvements thanks to the shiploads of B1s I’ve sent to assist with construction. It’s quite a sight to see.”

  Satine smiled. “I’m so glad that those worlds are being uplifted, Blitzkrieg.”

  I smiled back at her, and breakfast continued on for the next half hour, filled with small talk about the new systems, their status, and the recent completion of the Telos Defense Ring, which had Bo-Katan remarking that she wished Mandalore had one of those. She also joked that her sister would have turned it into an orbiting garden though, which got a giggle out of the normally prim and proper former Duchess.

  Soon breakfast was finished, and both Satine and Bo-Katan stood up.

  “Please follow us, General.” Satine said. “The demonstration ground is outside the city.”

  “Very well.” I replied as I stood up as well, Lona and Omen standing up with me.

  The twin rulers of Mandalore then led us out of the castle and into a waiting airspeeder.

  –

  The demonstration area was actually outside the city itself.

  I realized where we were going when we left through the conveniently large hole that the Tector had made when it crashed down through the dome of the city. Prefab buildings had been set up on the eastern side of the city, along with a large prefab warehouse set up near a massive training yard, which I could see Mandalorians training at.

  “Snazzy.” I commented sarcastically as we landed. “Perfect for an air show, I believe.”

  Satine chuckled. “It may not be like some other demonstration areas that you’ve likely seen, but this is merely a temporary setup for now.” She explained. “A permanent building is being built in a city further north for our more military-focused projects. This is merely a hastily retrofitted training ground which is still in use by the commandos at the moment.”

  “Who else will be joining us?”

  “A few others from your cohort and my own.” Bo-Katan replied. “Your pilot, Osprey, is being briefed on the Trinitaur as we speak, no doubt.”

  I slowly nodded. “I have to admit, I’m looking forward to these demonstrations as much as you probably are, Mandalor. It’ll be like an air show, I’m sure.”

  “Oh trust me, with the lineup we are having for today, I believe we’re all in for a treat.” She remarked.

  The group exited the airspeeder and I almost felt the temperature change into the hot desert-like conditions of Mandalore’s surface.

  “And I thought it was just a warm day in Sundari.” I remarked as my cooling fans kicked on.

  “Closing the dome back up is one of our biggest priorities at the moment.” Bo-Katan said as we walked towards the demonstration area. “The warriors only really come out here to train in the heat. It lets them work up a good sweat. Please, follow me.”

  We followed the woman until we reached a large gazebo-like structure, which looked similar to a sort of forward command outpost, if I’m being honest.

  “Please take a seat, the demonstration will begin in a few moments.” Satine said.

  “These seats are comfy.” Lona commented as she sat down next to me.

  “I have to say, I quite like this small building.” I remarked.

  My audials picked up the sound of ship engines at full burn, making me turn to the Mand'alor with a questioning gaze.

  Bo-Katan simply smiled back at me. “That means you'll have a good place to watch an air show featuring our brand new fighters.”

  Four rocketed over us close together, nearly touching each other like something out of an... air show.

  “Did you have the pilots train to do an actual air show?” I asked.

  The two sisters simply grinned back at me.

  An air show I asked, and an air show I received. They dived, rolled, flew in frankly ridiculous formations that had the old tactical droid programming in me grimacing at how close they were, while the rest of me was enthralled by the aerobatics display they were putting on. It was marvelous how well they were flying together.

  “How long have these pilots been flying?” I asked.

  “All their lives, if you’d believe them.” Bo-Katan replied. “Many of the Mandalorians that followed the Supercommando Codex spent most of their lives traveling the galaxy, which meant they spent most of their time on their ships flying through the void. Obviously some would conceive their own children or adopt whatever orphan street rat that tries to pickpocket them, and then they would spend their lives traveling from planet to planet. These are some of the most experienced in that regard. Their families hadn’t had a permanent planetside home for at least two-hundred years, I believe.”

  “Born with pilot controls in hand.” I mused.

  The leader of the Mandalorians smirked. “Just about.”

  After pulling off a move I distantly remember seeing at one point during a Blue Angels air show video on youtube, the fighters finally finished off their show and started to come in for a landing.

  “That was incredible!” Lona nearly exclaimed.

  “Indeed. It was an amazing display of skill from the Mandalorian pilots.” Omen commented.

  “Bo-Katan, I would like to enter negotiations with MandalMotors or SoroSuub or whichever one owns the rights to this fighter. I can see it being a welcome addition to the Star Wreckers, as well as your own military.” I said.

  “I’ll see if I can set up a meeting.” The Mand'alor replied, a bit of pride in her voice for my interest in the fighter.

  “Now for the... , I believe.” I said, quickly pulling up the demonstration list on my Hud for a few moments.

  Bo-Katan nodded. “You’re correct, General. Here it comes now.”

  The large starfighter flew over the demonstration area, and to my mild surprise, dozens of holographic targets popped up across the area.

  “Holgraphic targets?” I queried.

  “Perfect for the training cannons and dummy missiles we have loaded into it at this point.” Bo-Katan replied.

  As soon as she finished saying that, pale blue training bolts shot out of the two wind-mounted cannons and the nose-mounted cannon, hitting their targets and making the holograms fizzle out. The ship did a full run through the entire range, getting pretty good accuracy, even on the fast moving targets, before it stopped firing and flew back to the beginning. Then holograms fizzled back to life, and seemingly nothing happened after the ship set itself back up at the beginning of the range.

  However... nothing happened.

  “...Is som-”

  I was cut off only a second later when dozens of missiles literally screamed out of the launchers attached to the undersides of the wings with a high-pitched animalistic shriek, like some sort of aerial Kaiju diving at Godzilla. Every one of the missiles then either impacted a target or a space near multiple ones. Once the dummy missiles hit the ground, a blue dome estimating their individual blast radius popped up, covering the field with dozens of domes, some intersecting with each other.

  All of that happened in about four seconds, and left me damn near speechless.

  “...Wow.” I finally voiced. “Is that the targeting system?”

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  “Our engineers have been working tirelessly, General.” Bo-Katan replied. “You all might want to prepare yourselves though.”

  “What do you mean by that?” Lona asked.

  “We might have come up with something... interesting for the Kimogila.” She smirked. “For that though, take a look at these screens first.”

  Satine clicked a button on the console in front of her, and numerous screens popped up, showcasing another Kimogila in another part of Mandalore. A small blinking [LIVE] notification could easily be seen in the top-left corner.

  “Where is this?” I asked.

  “Around five hundred kilometers west from here.” Bo-Katan replied.” Now watch the skies after it performs a little trick for all of you.”

  We watched the life footage, then after a few moments, the ship almost seemed to disappear into hyperspace. But I knew the telltale signs of a ship engaging its hyperdrive, and that wasn’t it. It almost looked like the booster system that the mechanic lady from the Mandalorian show, I can’t remember her name to be honest, had added to Din Djarin’s N-1 starfighter.

  “Was that it’s hyperdrive?” Lona asked. “Is it a new model or something?”

  “You’ll see.” Bo-Katan replied, refusing to elaborate.

  About two minutes later, the ship suddenly appeared over the skies, accompanied by a sonic boom that rattled the building as it slowed and began circling the demonstration area, before starting to come in for a landing.

  “Holy kriff, what was that!?” Lona exclaimed.

  “That... was not a hyperdrive.” I remarked flatly, before turning to look at Bo-Katan. “Was it?”

  The Mand'alor grinned. “Nope. Say hello to the SubLight Acceleration Motor system, or , as the engineers have coined, designed by one absolutely crazy bastard from MandalMotors’ engineering division. What you just saw was the ship accelerating from a hover to Mach Six in less than a second.”

  “Jeez, I hope the inertial dampeners are robust on that thing.” I commented.

  Bo-Katan nodded. “They are some of the strongest we could build, but pilots still need to wear a pressure suit because without one they’ll constantly be experiencing at least eight to ten Gs throughout the SLAM’s use, well over the limit for most humans and near-humans to handle for extended periods of time. However, there’s no need for one in space, despite the massive speed increase it gets.”

  “How fast?” Lona asked with an excited gleam in her eye.

  “In space the engineers first put it at upwards of Mach Twenty.” She smirked. “However, the speedometer they were using stopped working after we reached Mach twenty-four, actually.”

  “You could travel from here on Mandalore all the way to Concordia in less than a day at that speed.” I remarked after doing some “quick” math.

  “We tried pushing it to the limit with a droid pilot and a better speedometer, but it ripped itself apart after reaching Mach twenty-nine. It was still accelerating when it broke into pieces, actually, so with physics out of the way it could probably go even faster than that. And that was four Machs after the inertial dampeners finally gave out and pushed the droid pilot back against the seat with force that would've pulped an organic pilot.”

  I blinked. “So, it has limiters now, I hope?”

  Bo-Katan nodded. “It’s limited to Mach twenty-four with the limiters, but they can be deactivated and reactivated during emergencies to really give the ship a massive burst of speed.”

  “I see. This could be useful in aerial battles. Quick escapes, ambush attacks, those sorts of things.”

  “Could also have some kriffing amazing races with these things, too.” Lona remarked.

  I slowly nodded. “I can see that too. It’d be like Pod Racing, but a lot faster.” I shook my head. “Anyway, what else do we need to know about this ship?”

  “Thanks to not needing a hyperdrive, a lot more heat sinks were added into it.” Bo-Katan explained. “So the Kimogila has a better heat tolerance than normal starfighters. It also has a 37% parts compatibility with the Vulture Droid, so repairs and overhauls can be somewhat streamlined between them.”

  I nodded in interest as the pilot of the other Kimogilia finally shut off the fighter. “Not bad. Is that all?”

  Bo-Katan returned the nod. “Besides its missiles needing five seconds to arm and lock onto a target before launching, that’s it.”

  I turned and watched as the two Kimogila starfighters sat down next to each other. “Very well. Now, shall we continue on with the next ship then?”

  “We shall.” Bo-Katan lifted up her arm and clicked a few buttons, making a hologram of an armored Mandalorian woman pop up. “Are you ready, Kast?”

  The hologram nodded. “We are, Mandalor. General Blitzkrieg’s pilot is briefed and ready as well.”

  “Good. Let the demonstration begin then.”

  “I have a feeling Osprey loves it already.” I muttered to Lona, who giggled.

  My audials soon picked up another set of engines coming in, ones that were far beefier than the Fang Fighters or even the Kimogila. The Trinitaur then roared onto the demonstration area, already painted in the Star Wrecker’s livery.

  “You really have high hopes for this one... don’t you?” I asked.

  Bo-Katan grinned a little sheepishly. “We might have already painted this one up in preparation for mass-production. Our hopes are very high for this ship.”

  I chuckled, then looked out at the ship as it flew over the demonstration area. Its chin-mounted Imperators spat out waves of training bolts into the targets, along with the dummy missiles on its wing mounts, while its point-defense turrets shot down targeting drones that buzzed around in the air.

  It was glorious. It truly had become the CIS’s version of the LA-AT.

  After finishing up its attack run, the Trinitaur then hovered over a collection of cargo containers before its magnetic clamps locked on to one of them. Osprey then demonstrated the ship’s speed and precision in cargo transport by picking up and quickly dropping off the containers in designated areas, able to carry more cargo than an LA-AT thanks to its electromagnetic hooks that grappled onto everything almost like tentacles. They acted almost like they were tentacles, in a strange way.

  After the gunship finished the cargo storage portion of the demonstration, a hovered onto the field. I raised an eyeridge, wondering why the speeder was there. My answer swiftly came, as the gunship flew over to it, then picked it up after a few seconds of the electromagnetic hooks finding their marks on the vehicle. With the tank in its grasp, the gunship lifted it up off the ground and carried it up to a spot on top of a few containers that had been placed together.

  Once the tank was settled onto the containers, both the ship and tank came under fire by automated turrets and more flying drones. The gunship quickly picked the tank back up while being under fire, then hoisted it up until it was secured on the underbelly of the ship. The Trinitaur then weaved through training bolts, its shields easily eating up what did hit it, and returned fire with twofold damage simulated against the automated turrets that had been set up. The turrets and training drones were all quickly “destroyed” by the blasterfire, and the ship moved on.

  “Osprey is doing well with such a brand-new ship.” I commented.

  “I’m surprised that your pilot is so experienced.” Bo-Katan remarked. “I’ve seen fighter pilots evade blasterfire, but Osprey is taking it to a new level with her skills.”

  I shrugged. “She has experience with flying in hot zones. She was our air support on Saleucami throughout the entire battle. It's partially why I've assigned her as my personal pilot when I’m not using my wings to fly.”

  The Trinitaur then deployed the tank, which then hovered along until it reached a simulated control point like in a video game. The ship then landed near the tank and back of it opened up, letting a whole squad of Mandalorian Supercommandos quickly file out and take up perimeter positions around the point itself. After nearly twenty seconds, the point, which displayed a hologram of a red pirate insignia, turned blue and changed to the coat of arms for Mandalore. Just like a control point being captured in Battlefront or another game like it.

  “Impressive.” I mused.

  “Only the best for our soldiers, Blitzkrieg.” Bo-Katan said proudly. “What do you think?”

  “I think that all three of them will be entering mass-production as soon as possible. You’ve made some great ships here. And you have definitely proven that the people of Mandalore still have some fight left in them.”

  Bo-Katan smiled. “We may have been wounded by the last war, but we now stand stronger than ever, thanks to you.”

  I shook my head with a smile of my own. “I cannot take all the credit, dear Mandalor. It was you who took charge and brought back what this planet and its culture means to so many.”

  If I hadn’t had some really advanced optics in my head focused on her, I wouldn’t have noticed the extremely faint blush that barely reddened her cheeks.

  “Yes, well... I had my sister to help me along the way.” Bo-Katan replied, before standing up. “Now, this concludes the demonstrations of the ships we have now, but there is one more thing I wish to show you.”

  “Very well.” I replied as I stood up myself, Lona and the rest following my lead.

  “Then please, follow me.”

  Glancing at Omen and Lona, who both shrugged, we followed the Mand'alor and the Senator, while Ransack and Athena followed close behind. Osprey joined us a few minutes later after landing and shutting down the ship.

  “I will personally admit, the ship we’re designing has me excited. It’s the first capital ship that Mandalore will produce in years, decades even.” Bo rambled as we walked into the warehouse and into a large control room.

  Huh.

  This looks remarkably similar to the control room in A New Hope but with a Mandalorian twist. Interesting.

  Bo-Katan walked over to a large central console and typed on a keyboard for a few seconds, then clicked a button. A large hologram of a slightly familiar ship appeared in full color.

  “This is the biggest ship we can feasibly produce at this time, pulled from archives in MandalMotors’ records. Say hello to the , or Cruiser, but I personally prefer to call it the former, rather than the latter.” Bo-Katan explained.

  “Now that is certainly a battleship.” I remarked as I leaned in a bit to take in the specifications that were showing up under it. “Impressive armament and size. One thousand, eight-hundred meters of ship is nothing to sneeze at, but I believe that the Providence-class has more firepower, however.”

  “Oh, those are just the base armaments from the original design created back during the Stark Hyperspace War.” She replied. “The engineers are planning on at the very least almost doubling the amount of heavy turbolasers and ion cannons on it. At eighteen-hundred meters long, it definitely has the room for more than forty heavy cannons. And with all the technological advances that the TVEC has been putting out lately, I believe we can make this ship at the very least twenty percent more powerful at every metric than the Imperator-class Star Destroyers that are being spotted in battlespaces with increasing frequency.”

  “More powerful than the Imperator-class, eh?” I mused as I looked up at the hologram.

  Bo-Katan nodded. “Just the Imperator Rotary Cannons that the TVEC designed based on your old rotary blaster would make it absolutely terrifying at Point Defense.”

  That could certainly be useful as a frontline capital ship.

  “We also have a selection of other ships that you can peruse as well.” The Mand'alor said, gesturing at the console. “Two of each besides the capital ship, but I doubt we’d be making anything like that for quite a while.”

  I clicked a button on the console, and a bunch of icons in a grid replaced the Keldabe. But when I saw the selection of ships, I blinked.

  Then reset my optics.

  Then reset the connection between my processor and my optics.

  Then I reset my optics one more time, then blinked again.

  Huh.

  Those are literally just some of the UNSC ships from Halo, but remade with Star Wars tech in mind.

  “Your engineers have been busy.” I remarked, gesturing at the selection of ships on the console.

  “The collaboration between Mandalore’s shipbuilders and the TVEC has been very fruitful, to say the least.” Bo-Katan said. “I’ve never seen a place filled with such an eccentric group of caffeine addicted inventors and mad scientists. How did you even cultivate such a group?”

  “Good pay, good benefits, and as close to a blank check as I can manage for all their out-there ideas.” I briefly explained as I tried to wrap my processor around Halo ships potentially being in Star Wars now.

  Y’know, that’s actually about what I expect the Mandalorians to build for warships, to be honest. The ships from that series did strike me as looking like something that Bo-Katan would want to have a couple dozen fleets of.

  Lets see what I can remember from my time playing the Halo games...

  For Corvettes I believe that those two are the Gladius-class Heavy Corvette and the Lancer-class Fast-Attack Corvette, now ‘renamed’ as the Blade and Beviin-class corvettes respectively. For the Destroyers they’ve got the Halberd-class Light Destroyer and the Able-class Heavy Destroyer, now as the Munit’kad-class and Miitra-class Destroyers. As for the Frigates, that’s a Strident-class Heavy Frigate now named the Kandoshii-class Heavy Escort Frigate and the other is what I’m pretty sure is a Charon-class Light Frigate which is now known as the Haran-class Light Frigate.

  The Cruisers consisted of the Valiant-class super-heavy cruiser now the Mirsko-class Light Battleship and for the other, at first I thought that was just the Pillar of Autumn itself, but after a closer inspection, I realized it was called the Autumn-class Heavy Cruiser with the new designation of Dral’Han-class Heavy Cruiser. And as for the Capital warships, they really outdid themselves and pulled out the four-thousand meter long Punic-class supercarrier, or as it’s known here, the Adenn-class Star Dreadnought.

  And much to my shock, what looked to be the Infinity herself was at the very bottom of the list, unnamed and with the most amount of [REDACTED] and digital black ink I have ever seen in a file in all my life previous and current combined.

  Must be rather secretive.

  “These are quite the selection of ships.” I remarked. “They look rather similar to each other.”

  “Function over form is the design philosophy for all of these ships. If we design them all to be used with the same armor molds and parts compatibility, we can save a ridiculous amount of credits, time, and effort to build them.” Bo-Katan explained.

  Yep.

  Just what I expected from Mandalorians.

  “I see that there’s rather large holes for central firepower on all of them.” I observed.

  “Yes, those.” Bo-Katan grimaced slightly. “The designers had already completed the frames of the ships by the time the designs were selected to be shown here for you. They had an idea for a massive central coilgun to puncture through shielding and armor alike as a main weapon, similar to the hull-mounted superheavy turbolasers on the Munificent-class. However, we don’t have the right technical expertise and resources to even approach building a prototype. We could go the Munificent route and place the same type of turbolaser in it, but...”

  Hmm. I see an opportunity here.

  “Is this room secure?” I asked.

  Bo-Katan nodded. “Of course. We take Op-Sec seriously in places like this, especially with the designs on this console.”

  “Good, but allow me to ensure we aren’t overheard by anyone.”

  A slot on my side opened, and I reached in and pulled out what looked like half a thermal detonator, but it was white with blue accents. I placed it on the central console, then clicked a red button on top of it. A second passed, then a noticeable hum filled the air for a few moments. Then around the button, a ring of green light lit up as the humming stopped. I nodded to myself, then picked it back up and slid it back into the hole in my side. I then turned back to the Mand'alor as the slot closed back up.

  “What was that all about?” Bo-Katan asked, gesturing at everything I’d just done.

  “This is a device that, when active, will scramble any listening devices in a twenty meter radius. So you may need to recalibrate any handheld communication devices you may have.” I explained. “But on the bright side, we are now completely and utterly safe from any and all bugs that might have been planted in here.”

  “Handy.” Bo remarked. “Now what’s with the secrecy?”

  “Simple. This.”

  A small section on the bottom of my right arm close to my wrist clicked open, letting a scomp-link slide out. I grabbed onto it and pulled it out, a long cable connected to the back of it extending from my arm, similar to the Personal Links from Cyberpunk 2077. Then I gracefully slotted the scomp-link into a data-port and started working.

  “My folks in R&D back on Telos have been busy with various projects that I’ve commissioned. New weapons, new vehicles, new tech, both for the military and for the civilian market. But I think you will be very interested in one project in particular.” I rambled as the link clicked and whirred in the port.

  The holoscreen switched to something else, and both Bo-Katan and Satine gasped.

  “Is that...”

  “Are those...”

  “Say hello to Project: Arclight.” I announced with a grin.

  The gasps that Bo-Katan and Satine let out were because of the video that was now playing. The screen showed Snow Droids and other cold-weather resistant bots harvesting kyber crystals in an icy cave, and gently placing them in containers.

  “You’re harvesting kyber crystals? Why?” Satine asked.

  “Because kyber crystals are among some of the most interesting minerals in this galaxy, ahead of Phrik, Agrocite, Cortosis, and even Beskar. When placed in a lightsaber, attached to a Diatium power cell, and run through a focusing crystal, they can emit a blade of pure plasma that can cut through objects better than any cutting torch, act as effective lights in the dark, and can be attuned to fit with any force-user that acquires them.” I explained. “But they also have one very interesting property that others have no doubt discovered before, their ability to store and release energy.”

  In the video, one of the Snow Droids experimentally starts shooting a blaster at a green crystal about the size of my head. The crystal begins glowing brighter and brighter as it absorbs the bolts, until ten blaster shots have been absorbed into it. The crystal began to vibrate as crackles of energy raced over it, before a beam of energy fired out of the narrow end of it and lanced into a nearby wall. After the beam died down, a scan was taken, and I pulled up the report that stated that just ten blaster shots had created an energy beam that would penetrate through twenty-five feet of packed Illum ice.

  “Now, ten blaster shots to create a beam of energy that can pierce through twenty-five feet of packed ice is all well and good, but I then thought to myself: What if we massively increase the power going into the crystal, creating super-powerful turbolasers? Thus began Project Arclight, however it eventually grew into an umbrella project for kyber energy research. Now one of the main goals of this research was weapons production to gain an edge over the Republic, but over time it eventually evolved into what you see now.”

  “And this all started because you wanted kyber-enhanced turbolasers?” Bo-Katan asked.

  I nodded. “Yes, surprisingly enough.”

  “...You’ve revealed this project for a reason I suspect?” Satine inquired.

  I nodded. “Yes I did. These Arclight Superlasers would be perfect to mount in these central mounts on the ships your people have designed. Coilguns like what you had first wanted can be added to some once the technology can be effectively produced, but I think you might not want them if the math going through my processor about these Superlasers is right.”

  “I suppose we’ll just have to wait and see then, Blitzkrieg.” Bo-Katan said, before clicking a few buttons on her vambrace. “Well, this is pretty much the end of the demonstration, unless you’ve got anything else you want to share?”

  I paused, then opened my internal comm.

  “General Blitzkrieg to Telosian Pride.” I said.

  “This is Telosian Pride, sir. What do you need?” An officer replied.

  “Bring my gifts to the Mand'alor and Senator to my location. Sending a ping now.”

  “Ping received sir. The packages will be delivered as soon as possible.”

  “Good. General Blitzkrieg, out.”

  Pulling my scomp-link out, I turned to Bo-Katan and Satine with a smile on my face, then gestured outside.

  “Well, ladies, I have a gift for each of you, to show my thanks for all of the work you and your people have done.” I said, before turning and starting to walk outside.

  “What kind of gift?” Bo-Katan asked as she and Satine followed me, the rest of the entourage following behind.

  “The kind you enjoy.” I replied jokingly.

  The blue-skinned togruta at my side let out a quiet groan. “Please excuse the horrible humor of my superior, Ms. Kryze.” Lona apologized.

  “Don’t think I didn't see you smother that snort, Lona.” I retorted.

  Lona rolled her eyes again while Bo-Katan and Satine shared a chuckle. After a few more moments of walking, we exited the warehouse and came out to see that the demonstration area had been taken back over by training Mandalorians.

  “So, what exactly is it that you wanted to give to us?” Bo-Katan asked.

  My audials picked up the sound of an approaching engine, and I turned to see an LAAT/c approaching, one of the ten that still remained functional out of the original twenty-five or so that had been salvaged from the Liberation of Telos, as it's called nowadays. Lack of parts meant that maintaining them was becoming harder and harder, even with the new LAATs that had been “strategically transferred” out of the GAR’s hands. LAATs just weren’t built for CIS logistics to maintain. So the Trinitaur was definitely necessary, since it’d come with its own logistics line directly from Telos.

  Attached to the loading hooks of the LAAT/c was a massive container, big enough to hold a couple Rancors easily.

  “General?” Satine queried.

  I simply smiled at her, then began walking over as the LAAT dropped down and released the container, then started flying away. Once I reached the massive metal crate, I pulled out my scomp-link again and unlocked the doors.

  “Say hello to your gifts, ladies.” I declared as I threw the doors open.

  Satine’s jaw dropped as she lost all her composure. Bo-Katan let out a strangled gasp and took a step back, before a grin brighter than the twin suns of Tatooine formed on her face.

  “You didn’t!” She exclaimed.

  “I did.” I replied with a grin.

  “You did not!”

  “Yep.”

  “HOLY KRIFF ARE THOSE BASILISK WAR DROIDS!?!?” Satine screamed.

  ...I was expecting that reaction from Bo-Katan to be honest. Not Satine.

  True to Satine’s words, there were two fresh-of-the-line Basilisk War Droids sitting in the container. Both painted white with blue accents and with the Kryze coat of arms on one pauldron, and the Mandalore coat of arms on the other. Honestly, I had forgotten that the Basilisks looked like giant armored shrimps when I first pulled up the designs of them. I did make a few modifications, like lowering the mount so that the pilot would be more protected by the bulk of the machine, but that was the biggest. The rest of the Basilisk was untouched from a design standpoint.

  “Indeed they are, ladies. Say hello to your gifts from me to you.” I announced.

  Both of the women immediately moved over to the machines. The Basilisks took notice and looked at them, then scanned their features. Bo-Katan’s Basilisk kneeled to let her climb on, then once it skittered out of the container it stood tall, almost like a guardian. Satine’s however...

  “Who’s a good boy?” Satine cooed as she scritched the highly lethal military battle droid where its ears would normally be.

  The Basilisk’s tail was wagging, and I watched in total bewilderment as she led it out and kept petting it.

  Bo-Katan saw my expression and let out a giggle, before sliding off her Basilisk and walking over.

  “Bet you didn’t expect that, right?” she asked.

  “Definitely not.” I replied.

  She snorted. “Satine may have looked all prim and proper and acted like a pacifist princess, but this right here was her guilty pleasure.” She pointed at Satine and her Basilisk, who had now rolled onto its side and was receiving belly rubs from the woman.

  Bo let out another giggle as I watched my view of Satine as a prim and proper noble lady crumble into dust.

  “She was absolutely obsessed with Basilisks when we were younger.” She explained. “I can’t even remember how many times she’d asked dad for one before the war happened. You’ve probably made her entire year with this.”

  “I just wanted to give you two a token of appreciation.” I looked at her. “At least you’re acting somewhat normal.”

  She looked at me with a bland smile on her face, but her eyes told a much different story. “Oh believe me, all my training has given me better self-control than Satine. If I didn’t have that, I would be dragging you to my personal chambers to test out a certain new upgrade that I know you have.”

  I blinked, and finally realized what that look in her eyes was.

  “Ah.”

  Lona giggled as I took a step away from the Mand’alor.

  “What’s wrong, Blitz? Scared of a woman half your size?” She jokingly asked.

  “Yes, very much so, especially with the look she’s giving me.” I replied quickly. “I fear for my pelvis despite it being reinforced with a Beskar endoskeleton.”

  Bo-Katan giggled again, then waved me off. “Relax, General. I have much better self control than that.” Her expression then changed to a sultry one. “Unless you’d rather find out just how grateful I really am?~”

  “NO-” I cleared my throat as my cooling fans kicked on. “Uh, no thank you, I’ll be fine.”

  Lona and Bo glanced at each other, then broke down into giggles as my cooling fans kicked up a notch, audibly and visibly venting heat from my chassis.

  I let out a deep sigh. “I hate you.” I deadpanned at Lona.

  My chief engineer did the mature thing and simply stuck her tongue out at me.

  “Bo-Katan, I will leave you and your sister to your new toys. Have fun.” I said.

  “Don’t worry, I will.” She replied as she jumped back onto her Basilisk.

  Leaving the two sisters to test out their new toys, I walked over to a large bench seating like you’d see at a football field and sat down, content to watch the Mandalorian warriors training with each other. Lona walked over as well, sitting down next to me and pulling out a datapad.

  I have to admit, watching a bunch of athletic alcoholics Mandalorian Warriors running, jumping, and sparring with one another all while in form-fitting clothing was rather appealing to my human sensibilities. It felt nice to just relax for a few minutes and watch the eye-candy on the mats, even if I only recently regained a particular part of my manhood. I didn’t understand, however, how I could handle this, yet flirting had me “blushing” like a damned schoolboy. I’m not a teenager, I’m in my early twenties for God’s sake!

  While ruminating on my inability to handle being flirted at, I couldn’t help but notice that Lona was eyeing up the female Mandalorians rather than the males, though.

  Interesting.

  —

  3/15/7957

  Mon Cala/Dac

  Mon Calay

  In the underwater capital of Mon Cala, Mon Calay, an argument was brewing between one young Mon Calamari and his family.

  “The Separatists do not have our best interests at heart, son.” Morlai growled.

  “Father, stop putting your head in the sand!” Kreller exclaimed. “Surely you’ve seen what happened in the Mandalore System?! And what happened on Pantora as well? The Republic has been corrupt for centuries now. It has only been recently that the peoples of the Outer Rim have finally become fed up with the core!”

  “Son, please. Your father has made up his mind.” Keeli interrupted. “The Republic needs to stay together.”

  “I can’t believe this, mother!” Kreller jerked back in the water. “Weren’t you harassed by some Republic officer just before the war started!?”

  His mother shook her head. “That officer was an exception. The Republic has our best interests at heart, Kreller.”

  “Your mother is right. And to make matters worse, your elder brother’s siding with the CIS has brought shame upon the Aluvian name! And you see what happened to him when he tried attacking Kamino!”

  “Shame upon the Aluvian name!? We bring shame upon ourselves siding with these xenophobic bastards in the first place!”

  “Kreller Aluvian that is enough!” Morlai roared. “Go cool off!”

  “Fine! But don’t come crying to me when the Republic doesn’t magically solve all the problems of the Outer Rim if the CIS loses this war!” Kreller bellowed before darting off out of the room.

  Kreller swam out of the house his parents lived in, trying to calm himself down. The vast structures of Mon Cala stretched around him like towering reefs of living coral, illuminated by soft bioluminescent lights. Schools of fish darted through the open avenues while transports glided between the great domes of the capital.

  But Kreller barely noticed the beauty of it as he aimlessly swam. His mind was a storm of angered thoughts. He couldn’t believe that after everything he and his parents had seen, that they’d willingly side with the Republic. Centuries of corruption by the megacorporations that sucked planets dry of their natural resources. The whole Outer Rim being treated like a glorified resource for the Core’s arrogance and greed. And yet his family still believed the Senate would somehow fix it.

  He eventually swam into a park near the palace, and settled down onto one of the benches and covered his face with his hands. He sat there for a few minutes, before a voice pulled him from his ever darkening thoughts.

  “Kreller.”

  Kreller looked up to see a tall Quarren gliding toward him, his formal robes flowing gracefully through the water. It was his friend and mentor in the political arena.

  “Nossor Ri.” Kreller greeted. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen you.”

  “It has been a while indeed, young warrior.” Nossor Ri replied as he sat down next to him. “And you, my friend, you look as though you have just been in quite the argument.”

  Kreller scoffed. “Just my parents.” He muttered bitterly. “They still think the Republic will save us after everything we’ve seen.”

  “Your brother thought the same when he went to join the Confederates.”

  “Yes.” He replied quietly. “And now my parents act as if he never had a point, and barely act as if he was even family. As if the Republic didn’t drive him to it with all they’ve done.”

  The Quarren folded his hands together, his tentacles shifting thoughtfully as he stared out at the city before them.

  “The galaxy is changing faster than ever these days.” Nossor Ri said after a few moments. “And many are being forced to choose sides sooner than they would like. Many just want the war to be over and for everything to go back to normal.”

  Kreller looked out across the park quietly. Tall coral structures rose like ancient pillars around them, their surfaces glowing faintly from bioluminescent algae. Streams of small aquatic creatures drifted lazily between the arches of the garden, while palace guards patrolled in the distance.

  “It shouldn’t even be a question of who’s side to join.” Kreller muttered. “The Republic has had centuries to fix the corruption in the Senate. And yet they did nothing but continue to grow fatter off the spoils that the Outer Rim worked so hard to produce.”

  “And yet...” Nossor Ri said. “Many still believe unity is better than separation. Better the known evil than the unknown one.”

  Kreller scoffed. “Unity under a known evil is still siding with evil.”

  For a moment, neither of them spoke, simply letting the world pass them by as they silently watched the people of Mon Cala go about their days. But then Nossor Ri paused, then leaned in closer to Kreller.

  “I have heard something rather interesting from the king and his court.” He said.

  “Oh? What’s that?” Kreller asked.

  “With the Isolation League stirring up so much silt out here, the King has asked for the Republic to send diplomatic assistance. In response, I have requested that the CIS sent diplomats as well. And guess who is coming?”

  Kreller paused, then his eyes widened. “...Are you serious?”

  The older Quarren nodded. “I am. General Blitzkrieg is coming to Mon Cala to assist in the negotiations.”

  “This may be my chance!” Kreller quietly exclaimed.

  Nossor Ri raised a curious brow ridge. “Your chance for what, exactly?”

  Kreller leaned forward on the bench, the agitation that had filled him earlier now draining away and being replaced with something more focused.

  “To prove that the Confederacy isn’t the monster everyone here thinks it is.” He said. “If I could speak with him, just once, maybe I could convince him that Mon Cala isn’t as united with the Republic as the King’s court wants him to believe.”

  “You wish to involve yourself in these negotiations?” Nossor Ri asked, studying him carefully.

  “Not the negotiations themselves. But if the CIS truly wants an ally out of Mon Cala, they need to know that there are those of us here who are no longer willing to listen to the King.”

  Nossor Ri regarded his mentee quietly. The young Mon Calamari seemed determined to speak with General Blitzkrieg.

  “You do realize that even just speaking with General Blitzkrieg will damage your reputation with your family again?” He prodded. “You already walk a fine line with your parents after your brother’s... actions.”

  Kreller let out a bitter chuckle. “My father already thinks I’m halfway to treason. Why shouldn’t I prove him right?”

  Nossor Ri patted his young apprentice on the shoulder, and the two lapsed into silence again for a few minutes. Then Kreller spoke again.

  “I think I know a way to get into the palace for the negotiations.” He said.

  “And what is that?” The Quarren asked.

  “The prince.”

  “Ah... your old friend.”

  “You know that he and I grew up together. If anyone could get me into the palace, it’ll be him.”

  Nossor Ri folded his hands together. “Provided he agrees to help you.”

  Kreller’s confident expression wavered. “Yeah…”

  That was the complication. Prince Lee-Char had always believed strongly in the Republic and its ideals. Even before the war had begun, he spoke passionately about unity in the Senate and the dangers of breaking apart the galaxy. The Separatist Crisis only emboldened his speeches of unity between the Core and Rim.

  Lately, their conversations had grown… tense.

  Still, they were friends. At least, Kreller hoped they were.

  “I’ll convince him to help me.” The young Mon Calamari said.

  Nossor Ri watched him for another moment before giving a slow nod.

  “Very well.” He replied. “Just be careful, Kreller. The arrival of a CIS general on Mon Cala will already stir enough tension without additional... complications.”

  Kreller floated up from the bench, determination in his posture.

  “When will the General arrive?” He asked.

  Within the next five days or so.” Nossor Ri replied. “He should soon be close to the Calamari sector.”

  Kreller stood and gave a respectful nod to his mentor.

  “Then I’d better go speak with the prince and see if I can salvage enough of our friendship for me to get in.”

  “Good luck and fair currents to you, Kreller Aluvian.”

  “You have my thanks, my mentor. I don’t think I would have gotten out of that gloom without your help.”

  Nossor Ri rolled his eyes as he waved away the young Mon Calamari. “Just go do your political machinations and leave me to my peace.” He grumbled good-naturedly.

  Kreller grinned, then swam off.

  “...I hope you get to speak to the General, Kreller.” Nossor Ri said. “I really hope you do.”