AN: DOUBLE RELEASE, YA'LL, GO BACK A CHAP
Recall, Vader has mechu-deru, he isn't quite as stiff in the suit as he ordinarily would be. AKA, he's built different.
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Corvus had followed his own advice to Yon, and had flown the Falcon deep behind enemy lines, cloaking the light freighter under the shade of invisibility.
Maneuvering himself behind the cluster of stealth bombers, he parked his ship, and awaited the opening throes of the battle.
He didn't have to wait long.
Within a handful of minutes of taking his position, the Republic ARC-170'S, and Imperial starfighters began to duel.
Gritting his teeth, Corvus watched on as the Imperial forces-a group which outnumbered his by 2 to 1-began to demolish his troops. Each and every death was like a tiny echo in the Force, their emotions upon death were like a tiny needle pinpricking his arm. The blood of his men was on his hands, and his heart bled. Taking a deep breath, Corvus steadied his nerves as he watched the Imperial fleet began to give chase as his starfighters retreated. The damned Imperials smelt blood in the water, and wanted to swallow Eriadu whole.
Corvus couldn't bring himself to grin. The plan may have been a success, and the enemy were forcing themselves down the chokepoint, yet his stomach felt hollow at what had just transpired.
"Wee-woo bee." R4 sadly chirped.
'50,000.' Corvus internalized the droid's words. Less than 10 minutes had passed since the fight had begun, and already a fifth of their clone trooper starfighters had been lost.
Five Legions worth of starfighters had been dispatched, each one fielded 50,000 men. In the blink of an eye, they had turned into little more than space dust. It would have been a much larger number, however, the ARC-170'S acting as bait were able to retreat into the minefields, as the explosives recognized their IFF's.
Grinding his teeth together, Corvus sensed that the stealth bombers nearby were ready to make their moves. A grim aura permeated his cockpit as he used the powers of [Mind Trick] on them. Using his kyber crystal as a focus, and targeting their unprepared minds, he successfully ensorcelled all 50 units.
'Await my order. Do not move until you receive my command.'
Folding his hands into a pyramid, Corvus sat back, and watched with anticipation. The current momentum of the Imperial fleet had driven them into range of the Republic line. A vast barrage of turbolasers were being traded in this relatively narrow corridor. Deflector shields were constantly under threat of bursting. In response, the Imperial commander regularly rotated their ships on the line, so that fresh ships could absorb the brunt of the attacks, whilst those with depleted shields could return to the flank and recharge.
One ship retreated, then another. Narrowing his eyes, Corvus saw half a dozen capital ships with flickering shields slowly maneuver themselves to the back of the formation.
This was it! This was the opportunity Corvus had waited for! The sacrifice from earlier had all been in preparation for this moment. With the Imperials' flanks exposed, none of them would think to expect an attack from their allies.
'In your perception, Imperial IFF and Republic IFF's have switched. Any commander who issues you an order is a spy. Terminate the enemy, fight unto death, give no quarter.' Corvus silently conveyed.
Acting on his orders, the 50 ships split into ten squads of five, and each one picked a capital ship to dump their payloads on. With their weakened shields, they stood no chance. Five capital ships erupted into flames and smoke as the stealth bombers wrecked havoc.
Gripping his fists tightly, Corvus looked on in satisfaction as his plan succeeded. His eyes then settled on the one ship that was in the most safe location at the center of the Imperial formation. It was a Venator class Star Destroyer, and the dark presence of a Force Adept oozed from within. That darkness raged and roiled at what had just occurred. His, and Corvus was rather certain this foe was a he, his anger was unchecked, and erupted with so much power, the very fabric of space seemed to waver for but a second.
Taking a deep gulp, Corvus felt his heart quicken, and his heart began to palpate. Whoever was on that ship was monumentally powerful. His aura was out of this world. It reminded him of a massive sledgehammer being wielded by oddly enough, a muscular dwarf. The dwarf was too short to properly wield the hammer, and lacked finesse, yet his strength was immense. Frowning to himself, Corvus could only think of one person that fit that profile. Uncoordinated and raw after his surgery, it had to be him, it had to be:
Vader.
Breath quickening as a sudden jolt of adrenaline hit his system, immediately entered Pause as he recalled the fright Vader had given him in the Temple during Order 66, and he felt his mouth go dry. Crippled as he was, uncoordinated as he was, Vader was still capable of no-diffing Jedi Masters like they were younglings. While he had a few tricks up his sleeves, fighting Vader one on one was not something he wished to engage in. Knowing that this monster was on the battlefield, he was tempted to grab Jax & Yon, then hightail it out of the System. One did not fight Vader, they survived him.
Steadying his thoughts, Corvus decided he would stick around. Billions of men were on this battlefield. Although he might run into Vader at some point, who was to say that a miracle could not occur during the chaos of war? Heroes could change the outcome of a battle, but one as big as the one right now required more than flashy attacks. Shields, supplies, numbers, positioning, they were all the things necessary to achieve victory. Vader was not unbeatable, and Corvus's victory condition was to endure!...but that didn't mean he couldn't test the waters!
Leaving Pause, he issued his final command to the [Mind Tricked] pilots.
'Kamikaze that ship.' Corvus sent them a visual image of Vader's ship into their minds.
Now that they had been revealed to be traitors, the stealth bombers received incredibly heavy fire as they began their attack run. The dreadnoughts in particular were equipped with a full suite of AA batteries, and blasted one bomber to bits after another one. About twelve got through the heavy barrage, and were about to drop their payloads when an all black Eta-2 Actis-class interceptor, aka, a Jedi Interceptor appeared.
Streaking through the void of space, this relatively small craft was impossibly nimble, and had blasted all 12 remaining bombers into space dust within seconds.
Corvus's eyes practically popped out of their sockets. From what he knew, Vader should be slow and clunky in his new suit. It had been little more than two months since Order 66 had occurred, and Vader was like a newborn baby trying to learn how to walk again.
"How the hell did he manage to move like that?!" He couldn't help but ask himself.
Watching the Jedi Interceptor go on to join the battle, and absolutely dominate Republic starfighters, Corvus was once again reminded of the legendary skills that made Anakin Skywalker so feared. Watching a true protagonist pilot a starfighter in real time was like witnessing a painter finish his masterpiece. It was unreal.
Vader was literally untouchable. Tens of thousands of beams fell within inches of his craft, yet the maneuverability of the Interceptor was mind boggling. Furthermore, his precognition was on another level. Not only did the ship dodge due to his outrageous handling, and incredible speed, but because he could see it all before it happened. Not only that, but he danced through the storm with such precision that his ship was always in position to destroy another starfighter. Every three seconds…literally every three seconds an ARC-170'S or other craft would explode due to his actions. Even more impressive was how ballsy you needed to be to fly one of those interceptors. No shields, no complex scanners or targeting systems, it was just the fastest engines in the galaxy with a gun attached!
Darth Vader was often feared for his imposing visage, deep voice, commanding presence, intimidating Force choke, and lethal lightsaber, yet few people were willing to give him his flowers when it came to his flying ability. Honestly, Corvus was jealous, and it was a scene like the one he was witnessing that made him pleased with his decision to dump his stat points into dex. Because Vader? Vader was not playing by the rulebook. This guy was an absolute beast.
Luke Skywalker might be a legend, but Corvus was witnessing the OG pilot. For a second, he even felt as if there was no hope. His recently boosted morale began to waver in the face of overwhelming power. Only the explosion of an Imperial Venator's hangar broke him out of his fugue.
'That's right, it's not over yet. Yon is out there causing chaos, and I still have to do my part. The master cannot sit idly by whilst the student braves the wilds. Man up. You must fight this great evil.' Corvus thought to himself, and slapped himself across the face to bolster his courage.
The starfighters were important, but the Jedi Interceptor wasn't all that great at taking out capital ships. Whilst Vader was making great headway, and was creating tons of openings for his bombers to make attack runs, Corvus was in a position to wreck the Imperial flanks. He would lead the charge against the capital ships. Each one of those puppies carried with them 20,000-50,000 ground troops! The LAAT's hadn't begun to make their descent yet, so each ship he 'sank' would be way less boots on the ground!
With a heavy heart, he ignored the battle raging on the frontlines, and he began to target those ships that were rotating to the flank where they could regenerate their shields.
From the safety of Pause, he considered his next action carefully. His goal was to destroy or cripple as many ships as possible. To that end, it would be rather foolish to go in guns blazing. By following that route, he could repeatedly reveal himself, then reenter stealth. However, that line of attack would leave him open to encirclement. So long as he was being struck, he could not turn invisible. Besides, as awesome as the refit Falcon was, taking on a capital ship-even one with heavily depleted shields-wasn't guaranteed to achieve his goal.
If he was leading a battalion of starfighters, he wouldn't mind doing some head on fighting, however, he wasn't keen on entering a dogfight with Vader. Maybe he would emerge victorious, but with how nimble the Dark Lord was, he didn't fancy his chances going down that route.
No. What he needed was to approach this like a Jedi Shadow, and not like a saber monkey.
The slowest, and safest option would be to fly behind a Venator or Acclamator's twin bridges, and then slowly ensorcel them with [Mind Trick]. When operating on such a large number, it could be tricky to get them to do what he wanted in a short amount of time. Corvus estimated there should be at least 50-100 people stationed on each bridge, and it would perhaps take 2 to 5 minutes to enact his will on every last one of them. The goal would have to be something simple, like changing their vision on IFF's, and to lock the doors because of borders.
Corvus estimated that this method was risky, because the men who manned the guns wouldn't be under the effects of [Mind Trick] and may not fire upon Imperial targets. Furthermore, even if they did, there was no guarantee that the men stationed onboard wouldn't mutiny or that other Imperial ships would immediately retaliate. After the first two ships exhibited similar signs, someone would be bound to recognize the pattern, and develop a contingency. Afterall, once you were aware that a [Mind Trick] was coming, the ability was much less effective.
Checking his status page to see if there was a solution under the Force Powers tab, Corvus perused the list. Unfortunately, there wasn't something like a rage ability, one that could make his opponents kill one another. There was [Fear], but he didn't find it particularly appealing. As for his [Slow III], it had the potential to poison people, but it was an ability that left his fingertips, and not something he could use from his ship.
Mentally scratching his head as he continued to think deeply on the matter, Corvus came up with a pair of solutions he somewhat liked. Since he was targeting ships with weakened shields, he could place a ton of explosives inside the Falcon's cargo hold. Then, once he was in position, he could jettison the hold to the vacuum of space, and detonate said explosives on the enemy ship. This method would keep the Falcon completely invisible, as it wouldn't have been physically harmed by another object. The only thing Corvus disliked about this plan was that there was no guarantee that his explosives would be able to take out the enemy's bridge.
Lastly, he had the idea to [Shadow Hop] onto the bridge of a Venator or Acclamator. In that second, the Falcon would become visible and exposed. Then, toss out a dozen grenades, and [Force Push) them in a 360 direction. [Shadow Hop] to the next bridge, rinse & repeat, then retreat back onto the Falcon, and resume invisibility. All that should take about 10 seconds in total. This plan did leave the Falcon exposed, but it guaranteed that the ship would be crippled. Without their commanders, navigation, steering, or starship coordinators, a Venator struck in such a manner would be a sitting duck. This was the method that had the highest chance of doing the most damage.
Frowning to himself, he decided he'd test out all three options: [Mind Trick], releasing explosives, and [Shadow Hopping]. This way, he would remain unpredictable, and couldn't be zeroed in on by the enemy strategists.
Enacting his plan, Corvus first [Mind Tricked] an entire bridge crew, and had them begin to shoot a friendly ship with low shields. Their unexpected betrayal was fatal, and the ship they targeted was destroyed!
In the chaos that ensued, he did this one more time, and made every enlisted man act on their Order 66 protocols, making them think the other ship was harboring Jedi. As a bonus, these 'traitorous ships' were then targeted by the rest of the fleet, and four enemy capital ships were destroyed in this manner.
Moving on to the next target, Corvus jettisoned his cargo hold full of thermal detonators right on top of another pair of bridges. Flying a sufficient distance away, he triggered the explosion. Seeing that only minor damage was the result of this maneuver, he could only click his tongue. Not every attack was guaranteed to work.
Shaking his head, he then [Shadow Hopped] onto the bridge, much to the shock of everyone present. Under the influence of [Force Speed], he was too quick for any of them to react, and a dozen+ thermal detonators flew in every direction. Several non-clone officers had looks of extreme fear on their faces as they recognized the source of the beeps, and Corvus cheekily saluted them before he [Shadow Hopped] back to the Falcon.
Repeating this process three more times, he successfully had destroyed a total of eight ships, and crippled four more.
Flying the Falcon to a different quadrant, he began to assess the battlefield from Pause. His actions seemed to have spooked the enemy, and several dozen nearby ships had broken formation. They were beginning to shoot at empty spots in space, trying to guess where he would go next. However, Corvus hadn't limited himself to ships with weaker shields, and had in fact gone after those in the middle of the pack. His act had disturbed the enemy a great deal, and their ability to focus down the Republic fleet had greatly diminished.
That being said, the Imperial assault continued, and thanks to Vader's efforts, they had come within range of Eriadu, and were beginning their ground assault. Tens of thousands of LAAT's were inbound, and large, heavily shielded transport craft were descending all over the planet.
It was inevitable that such a scenario would take place, yet given the circumstances, they had taken their pound of flesh. Due to the limited room to maneuver in this chokepoint, the spacelanes were rather crowded, and even the blind could hit an enemy ship so long as they picked a direction and shot. As a result, the Imperials were racking up casualties at a similar-if not slightly higher rate-than the forces under the Republic. The starfighters acting as bait had been a dangerous gambit, yet it had paid off.
Whilst Corvus was scanning the battlefield, he noticed six crippled ships all within the same vicinity. It would appear that Yon had become brazen in his stealth mission, and gone above and beyond. While he wanted to be mad at the precocious brat for disobeying orders, he couldn't help but admire his work ethic. Every ship crippled was one that was taken out of the fight. However, as he had this thought, Corvus saw that a bolt had actually struck Yon's craft, and made it visible!
Feeling nervous for his Padawan, Corvus Un-Paused, and began to push the Falcon to the limit as he moved to assist.
At that moment, Vader had swung back towards this region of space, and blasted Yon's ship. Thankfully Yon's ARC-170 had been custom fitted by Tech, and even though it took a beating, it still held out. It looked like he was going to make it into the safety of the minefield when a missile hit his rear, and the explosion created a massive cloud of dust and debris.
Corvus couldn't get a better look as it was beyond his line of sight, but the Bond he felt with Yon suddenly went cold. Eyes going red, he felt his vision briefly blur as a tear unconsciously trailed down the side of his face. Then a great pain struck his chest, followed by an ever increasing rage. He had been afraid to meet Vader, knowing what he was capable of. However, at that moment, his desire for revenge outweighed any dread he experienced.
Oftentimes, he would yell out something like 'For the Republic!' at a time like this in an effort to boost morale. Yet all he found himself saying was a heartfelt statement. One that carried more weight than any other one liner he had spewed in the name of some nebulous state. This time, it was personal.
"For Yon."
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AN: Read up to chapter 242 at: patreon.com/KarpQQ