Robert Meta
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Star Wars: Rise of the Battlemage - Chapter 180
🕑 Added 2024-11-11 17:01:57 +0000 UTCThis chapter is a bit shorter than I had originally intended due to me uncovering a large error late in the editing process. I tried to patch it as best I could, but there was only so much I could do. I apologize and hope that you still enjoy the content.
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About an hour and one nap later, Ahsoka and I were still lying in my bed, quietly enjoying each other's company. Both of us had underestimated how much being away from each other would affect us, and once we were together, it had all come tumbling out. Her head was on my chest as we talked quietly about everything that was going on, from meeting Yoda to what sort of training she thought Luke was going through. After I made a comment about knowing where Yoda was, she went quiet for a moment. I winced, realizing I might have picked at a conversation that was better left settled, when she spoke up, asking a question that caught me off guard.
"Deacon… How much do you know about me?" She asked. "You knew my name, new I trained under Anakin… How much did you know? How do you know all of this?"
Her voice sounded worried, revealing how concerned she actually was about the question, and I honestly couldn't blame her. I had shown before that I knew some pretty specific details about some topics, and I would feel weird being with someone who knew everything about me before we even met. Rather than immediately answer her first question, I started answering her second. This was something I had put a lot of thought into, especially how I would explain it to her specifically.
"Imagine that the galaxy was filled with threads," I started, Ahsoka shifting to look up at me in confusion. "These threads follow through people, places, even ships, items, and concepts. Some of them are thin and barely visible, while others are thicker and more robust. Those are usually important things, threads in which the whole galaxy pivots around."
"Like Luke?" She asked, giving my analogy the benefit of the doubt for now.
"Luke is more like a rope than a thread," I said with a snort. "The poor kid had so much fate and destiny on his shoulders that it hurts my heart to just think about it. But yes, he is one of those important threads. So was his father, so was Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon, Padme, a couple of Mandalorians, quite a few Jedi."
"And me?"
"And you," I confirmed with a nod. "I know the path of some of those threads. Where they intersect, what they did, how they suffered, and how they triumphed. Some of those threads, I know like the back of my hand. For some of them, I only know their highlights or when they intersect with other threads that I know better. And some I only know by name and not much else."
"You make it sound like you know the future," She asked, pulling back a bit to look at me more closely. "Do you?"
"I did," I explained with a lot more casualness than that reveal probably deserved. "I knew a lot of it. But the problem is… I don't exist in the threads."
"What do you mean?" She asked, looking confused. "How could you not exist?"
"I don't know, but I would have to guess that I just never left my home planet," I said, hating even the partial lie. "Either way, I never showed up in any of them. Never helped Tatnia, Nal and Miru break out of Nar Shadda, never helped Julus avenge his friend, never started the Skyforged, never found Omega Station, or interacted with Luke. The Rebels never found Alpha Base if we hadn't found that CIS computer core."
"You're changing the threads," She said. "For the better?"
"So far," I responded, laying back on my bed. "But there's no way to know the long-term effects."
For a moment, we were quiet, neither of us saying anything. Eventually, after what felt like forever, Ahsoka laid back down against me.
"You're lucky I have Jedi training," She said, her head back on my chest. "I am so tempted to ask about the future… But I know how badly prophetic dreams can go. There is just as much danger, if not more so, in knowing the future than there is not knowing."
"Why do you think I work so hard not to reveal that I do?" I pointed out. "If people knew I knew the future, even one that was technically invalid..."
We were quiet for another long moment before my partner spoke up again.
"You never answered my question," She pointed out, her nervousness returning. "How much did you know about me?"
"Not as much as you're worried about," I assured her. "I know next to nothing about the last twenty years. Before that, I know bits and pieces of your time with Anakin. Other than that… Oh, I know that Plo Koon is the Jedi Master who brought you into the temple. And… I also know what your Order 66 experience was like."
She listened to what I was saying, nodding as I spoke. She froze a bit as I mentioned the order, and I held her closely.
"Is that more or less than most people?" She asked after a moment.
"Depends on who we are talking about, but generally, less," I responded. "I wouldn't have started this relationship, Ahsoka if I knew every moment of your life. That would be so manipulative and gross..."
"So you pushing me to move past the Jedi Order? To grow and accept the change we need to make? You didn't know I needed to do that already?"
"I knew you had some pretty significant baggage with the Order," I admitted. "But not your issues. That was just plain old observation and wanting to help."
She hummed, seemingly satisfied with my answer. We lay there, together, for a while longer before finally deciding it was time to get up. We showered and dressed, but as we were about to leave, Ahsoka stopped me.
"I don't expect you to share everything you know," She said, her hand reaching out to catch mine. "By the sounds of it, it would be pointless and probably take way too long. But… please let me know if we are following a thread you know or heading into a situation you have knowledge of. If nothing more than to have someone else who knows the situation and can help. Tatnia seems happy to just follow your lead, but..."
"I get it. It's not something everyone can stomach. I'll try my best to keep you in the loop," I agreed with a smile. "Keep in mind, though, that sometimes it comes on very fast."
"I understand," She said, pulling me back as I tried to head for the door. "One last thing. Knowing all this, it must weigh on you. If you ever need to talk about a thread, get something off your chest, I'm here to listen."
I turned back fully now, putting my arms around her hips and leaning in to give her a kiss. When I pulled back, I had a smile on my face, as did she.
"I appreciate that," I said honestly. "And I'll probably take you up on that if something happens. Thank you."
She nodded, and we both left the room, heading off to first get some breakfast. It was nothing special, just whatever one of the cafeterias was serving, but we arrived around the same time as Tatnia, Julus, and Miru, which was nice. When breakfast was over, I said my goodbyes and headed off to start enchanting. I had another week of enchanting, at least, before I was done.
As my crew enjoyed their downtime after their successful mission, and Tatnia negotiated with General Syndulla for rights to the battlefield materials, the Second Group returned. They brought with them an almost completely undamaged C-Roc, as well as the wreck of another. Their mission had been partially successful, with the intact C-Roc in pretty good condition, and the wreck holding some decent parts to salvage. They also got several starfighters, which we almost immediately sold, most of them to the Rebellion. We would have kept some of them, but none of them were small enough to fit inside the C-Roc hangars.
The remainder of the week passed, and the first few days of the next as well, before I was finally done with the enchanting. All of our ground teams and all of our combat critical crew were now wearing fully enchanted uniforms and accessories, six in total for each, while the remaining crew had lesser, but still potent enchantments spread out through the group. All of my forces now had significant advantages against any other crew in existence, experienced or not.
To celebrate, we shipped in food from Nirn, happily hunted for by our very own Mandalorians. It was a massive feast, planned carefully by Tatnia and Ashoka, when they learned I was getting close to finishing my project. I thanked everyone for their hard work, toasting both of them, as well as everyone who fought for us and those who supported us from the station. I was told that there was also a feast going on at Vercopa'Yaim to celebrate our people becoming even stronger.
After the celebration, and after recovering from the celebration, the First Group, including myself, went off to start recruiting. We had several ships to fill, and even if some of them weren't even in our possession yet, it was better to start filling the ships we did have so the new hires could have more time to get used to their new roles.
Not long after that, the second group went out on another ship hunt, this time targeting a slaver group known to use a C-Roc, as well as a few other ships. Even better, this was a target that Captain Irsee was confident that he could ambush properly since they had gotten predictable in the more lawless areas of the Outer Rim. With any luck, they would be able to catch them with their pants down, freeing any captives they have and grabbing ships for us.
Once we returned with our first batch of recruits, their families moving into Omega Station, we could finally get the Anvil running. The new captain, Captain Gimbel, was another Clone War veteran who left for the rim when the Empire took over. He was eager to stand on the helm of a ship once more, especially an Arquitens, as most of his career had been spent serving on one. He wasn't ecstatic about the large complement of navy droids that were his crew's backup, nor the even larger company of B2s that served as security, but he eventually agreed.
While the new crew worked on settling in, the repair teams worked on the new C-Roc. Miru insisted on fully repairing everything before they could get started on modifications, something her subordinate and lead repair manager agreed with.
"Modifying something that isn't fully fixed is how you lose track of broken things," Miru explained. "A stress fracture might get covered up, or a wiring short might get overlooked. Better to make sure everything is as good as it can get. Then, we can start the modifications."
The young Twi'lek was incredibly eager to get started on the modifications. Apparently, she had significantly improved on her previous design while also adding secondary alterations on top of the hangar bays.
While the Second Team went out looking to capture another C-Roc, the First Group was stuck looking for missions. There were plenty of small-scale bounties we could take, but at this point, those were only worth our time if they came with a chance to get our hands on some loot, like enemy ships, equipment, or supplies as well.
About two days into looking for a good bounty worth taking, Sheora came to us with a message from General Syndulla. Apparently, they had finally cracked another significant portion of the computer core, and, apparently, this one was a doozy.
"It is a stand-alone repair yard," the general explained through holoprojecter communications. "One with room for at least three capital ships and several smaller. Some of the details were lost, but from what we can see, there was at least one large capital ship berthed there, undergoing repairs."
"Holy hell... That is big," I said, my eyes wide as I considered just how much a fully automated repair station could do for the Rebellion and the Skyforged.
"It could be. Unfortunately, this will not be a barely defended outpost or a self-sabotaging insane droid," She pointed out. "There is evidence of a sizable defense force, led by at least one Lucrehulk-class capital ship."
"That... Okay, we need to get together to plan this," I said, General Syndulla nodding on the other side. "We will pack it up and head over to Alpha Base. I assume that's where you want to run the mission?"
We talked a bit longer about who I was bringing, and I explained that my second group was tangled up in their own mission at the moment, already set up for an ambush. Depending on how long we took to plan, they may or may not be available to assist. As it was, however only group one was available, including the newly crewed Forward Charge.
The First Group quickly prepared for our next mission, packing up and settling into the Chariot. The ship was now newly reorganized, with a pair of newly repaired Saber tanks in the hangar bay opposite the Brick since they could deploy directly from the hangar despite the drop. There was also more B2 in the Cargo hold, as well as four Dwarf Droids. The Chariot was very quickly becoming more of a rapid ground troops deployer than a pocket carrier, which, at this point, I was fine with. We had the Whale Shark as an actual carrier, and soon, we would have the Hammer, Tongs, and Punch as well.
Once everything was packed and secure, Group One took off from the various hangar bays along the side of Omega Station, heading out past the Huntress, as well as the Anvil, which was still technically in training. They were on call, however, in case we decided we needed a bit more firepower.
Once we jumped to lightspeed, we settled in for the few-day trip to Alpha Base.
Comments
Jeffrey Iverson
Have you considered having deacon going out to find the missing katana fleet? With access to a capital class ship yard they would really help both groups.
Fortunis
Holy shit. A Lucrehulk is a massive ship. I'd absolutely love to see them take that. It's basically already a huge carrier and logistics ship. They could easily use it as a mobile repair/refit vessel and mobile base. Or hell even just park it in Nirn orbit and use it as a space station. I'm looking forward to seeing what else is possible to loot.
Elaine
good chappie
Monkeywrench
Good chapter! But, with everything going so good, I forsee the other shoe dropping.
Lord Belly
I had an odd thought, could he not enchant a ring to give someone Magicka? If so, he could probably have them build it up on their own and poof, mages
Robert Meta
There isn't anything I have crossed out specifically
Freya
Tyftc
Alex
Thanks for the chapter. You said it's a bit shorter than you wanted, but this chapter is still pretty damn big!
Commander Miggs
"rabid ground troops deployer" evokes some fun images. It works, but I think "rapid ground troops deployer" was intended.
Noob
Tftc
Cmols897
Okay so I have a question about Brink and Back, I'm asking it here so I don't forget it. Are there any tech trees you've decided aren't going to be in the story no mater what? Like would 40k be a possible tech tree?
Cmols897
That's a good way to tell Ahsoka the truth without telling her the full truth, or making her think that there is more truth compared
andrew rousseau
Oooh big time score, i wanna see the vanguard get ahold of an intact Muni/Recu maybe even a Providence Cruiser/destroyer, best benefit of the cis ships is they only need a few hundred crew thanks to the automation
Duke of Coffee
Oh boy surviving droids in the automated repair station, let see they get it intact.
