POV Palpatine
Even since I was reborn, things had gone from bad to worse. The Empire had collapsed, but I didn't care about that much as Operation: Cinder should be started by Sate Pestage. He was loyal even now, and I wanted to make sure that the worlds that failed to stay with the Empire were annihilated, and those that stayed but failed to meet my expectations were exterminated as well.
'If I can't have them, then no one will.'
But despite Operation: Cinder being enacted, I was not happy as I was trapped on Bastion. Over the past several months, the defenses I had gathered here had been destroyed and dismantled. None of the 1023 Defense Platforms were left. They were meant to turn this system into an impregnable fortress, and instead, they caused damage to the planetary shield generator. We had to turn it off to make repairs, which destroyed the 24 w-165 planetary turbolasers. The enemy had snuck onto the planet while I slept and planted numerous bombs. What's worse was that they did so without ever being detected.
'That imbecile C'baoth couldn't even sense them! If he didn't still have some value, I would have tortured him to death.'
I hated to admit it, but he was needed. Making another clone would take too long, and I didn't have much time. I knew my enemies were going to attack soon. What I found most displeasing was that I had nearly no forces to my name. In orbit, I had 12 Imperial-IIs, 4 Tectors, and the Mandator-II, but nothing else. I had more, but that bastard attacker destroyed anything weaker than an Imperial-II. I was tempted to call Thrawn back from Wild Space, but I knew that would be too risky.
'His loyalty has always been suspect. He cares little for the Empire and is only interested in making the galaxy ready for the Yuuzhan Vong. He is just as likely to assist me as he is to betray me and earn a position in Valkorion's Empire.'
That name made me beyond furious. He had taken everything from me. I hated him more than I had hated any being in existence. But my incompetent Hand had failed to deliver the holocron here. I knew she was still alive, but I was no longer able to sense her. I believed Valkorion likely captured her. He had ambushed many fleets. Even the ships meant to come here were far fewer than originally planned. I had planned to send 250k starfighters to this system, but only 86k made it. And with the constant attacks and sabotages, we had lost all but 22k. I knew it was not nearly enough to defend this system. Not against Valkorion.
'I can still make sure that I take down Valkorion with me. I just need to follow the steps Dramath has taught me. And if what we learned is true and Valkorion takes longer each time to return, then it will earn me enough time to reclaim the galaxy.'
Despite my claims, I was unable to think of the impractical nature of said plan. My mind had already been claimed by the madness of the faulty cloning.
POV Rio
I read over the reports of our preparations. We were about to replicate what happened at the Grand Strategy Conference. The virus was already uploaded to the Imperial-IIs; all that we were waiting for was the right time. Specifically, when Palpatine went to sleep again. We had been depriving him of sleep constantly. Whenever he slept, something bad happened. We did so as it was forcing his Clone Madness to advance rapidly. His own fanatical followers were terrified of being anywhere near him as he would randomly kill people with no warning. Even the Grand Moff was getting nervous and was looking for a way out.
'Too bad I have no need for such a dangerous and power-hungry man. He will do better if he dies with the rest of the Empire.'
I didn't hate Ardus Kaine, but I knew he was a very strict adherent to the New Order philosophy. Which meant human supremacy. The only reason he wasn't at the Grand Strategy Conference was because he was told he couldn't go. But his flagship, the Reaper, was sent in his stead. So it can be seen as quite lucky he wasn't there. But with the loss of his flagship, his authority would have been completely lost. But thanks to him being one of the few Grand Moffs left in the galaxy after the meeting, he was instead given a very important task by Palpatine and even given the second Mandator-II that was purchased from Kuat after we destroyed it.
Beep Beep
I checked the alert and saw that Palpatine had fallen asleep. I pulled out a button and pressed it.
Button: "That was easy."
I chuckle to myself as the button makes that sound. With that button press, the virus activated, and now the Mandator-II is being attacked by 12 Imperial-IIs. I knew that it was unlikely that they would be able to destroy the Mandator and 4 Tectors, but the damage caused would be devastating. The planetary shield had still not been fully repaired and was likely not going to if all the crashing ships on the planet had anything to say about it. This means Palpatine has 2 options. Turn on the shield and let all that mass crash into it and hope it holds. Or leave it off and let the planet have numerous massive ships crash into it.
'So what will you choose, Palpatine?'
POV Ardus Kaine
I watch from my shuttle as the Mandator-II crashes into the planetary shield and explodes. The surprise attack was devastating. It happened while most of the crew was swapping shifts. With the support of the Tector, we were able to destroy the traitors, but it was not without severe losses. Only 2 Tectors survived, and both were damaged. They would need repairs soon, but whether or not that was feasible was in question. As I was thinking about what to do, I saw the planetary shield flicker before breaking. I looked away from the devastation that was caused by the billions of tons of material crashing into the surface. I hated to admit it, but I was considering taking my shuttle and fleeing before the Emperor called for me to answer.
'If I am called, it will be my end. He has never been known for mercy, and that is especially true now. At least that madman didn't die in the battle.'
I knew C'baoth was insane, but the Emperor valued him, so I made sure to ensure C'baoth escaped the battle after he passed out. I just had to hope that my value was high enough that Palpatine spared my life for my failure.
'Even if there was nothing I could have possibly done to predict this. It was those traitors' fault. If I can spin this properly, I can say I stopped the traitors from escaping the system or even attacking the planet.'
I knew the odds were not in my favor, but I had to take the chance. As there was no way I would be spared if I tried to surrender to our enemy. Reports said that they leave no survivors. Or any traces of the fleets and troops that go missing. I had even heard whispers of what was happening in the Core. Numerous planets were scorched and destroyed under the flag of the New Republic or purging traitors. The numerous warlords that appeared recently would kill me as soon as I appeared, even if I brought the 2 Tectors with me.
'I am on this sinking ship, and I will stay until the end. There is no point in trying to flee.'
I didn't have time to think about anything else as my shuttle exploded mere moments later.
POV Rio
With the only remaining forces being around 18k starfighters and 2 Tectors. I ordered the attack once the TIEs had reached their time limit. We jumped at close range and destroyed several thousand craft in an instant. The Tectors were hit with a MAC round each from afar, making them not notice our presence until it was too late. The Subjugator had launched an Ion Pulse, and it disabled the Tectors and several thousand more TIEs. Within a few seconds of our arrival, we had disabled most of the space forces, and with no ground threats for now, the battle was almost over before it even began.
Rio: "Launch all fighters and start cleaning up the enemy."
For once, I was not going to be fighting in a starfighter. I would instead be using Battle Meditation. The Jedi would fly their ships and assist the few starfighters we had left. We did produce an additional 20k Vulture droids, so we were not outnumbered. It took only a few minutes to wipe out all resistance. All that was left was a ground assault. But we were not going to do that. Instead, I took a plan out of the Federation's playbook and used all the bioweapons Earth had, as well as the ones we collected while going through the galaxy. There were no civilians to worry about, as Palpatine didn't let anyone who wasn't 100% loyal be stationed here.
'Or they were brainwashed. Regardless, I have no issues using them since they would never surrender or retreat anyway. Might as well save my men the trouble.'
I ordered the ships to retreat to a safe distance, and then we took stock of any losses. We lost 9k Vulture Droids, but they were disposable, so otherwise, we lost nothing.
'Now we just wait.'
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Authors Note:
If anyone is curious, Rio didn't glass the planet because Bastion is a prime planet to be made into a fortress world. And the Vong could still use the planet if it is glassed, so using the normally useless bioweapons instead means Rio kills two birds with one stone. That, and he saves time and manpower doing so. While giving Rio time to check for any remaining traps, Sidious might leave. Until next time Ciao.