Jedi Insurgency 211

Having produced a plethora of incriminating evidence, Corvus decided to amuse himself with the executive's terminal. 

Going through the security cams, he played a guessing game with himself who he thought was one of Madine's men disguised, and then checked with the Force to see if there were any clues. Although he had difficulties seeing someone's possible future through their shadows, he wanted to see if it was easier with a visual contact. 

For example, when he was in person-face to face-it was much easier to portend someone's possible fate. However, like Vader, Corvus had discovered that choking someone across the galaxy was much easier when establishing visual contact. Applying that same concept to this shadow divinity ability that he was learning, he concentrated on a worker who he suspected to be a rebel commando, and focused on his shadow. 

Although it took his entire focus, and left him open to attack, he could indeed catch a hint of what might come next! This worker was a commando, and in the near future, he would go on to put on a gas mask, and collect some knocked out scientists! From there, he would then escort his target alongside other commandos under the pretext of taking them to medical after a lab accident. By being so open, they would easily sneak past the security guards! Dumping the unconscious bodies into supply bins, the rebels would then push hover carts towards a docking bay for transports! 

Corvus let loose with a low whistle. Madine's plan called for zero casualties, and aggressive action was to be the last resort. Manufacturing a ‘lab accident’ was genius! 

However, just as he was about to pull away from this vision, Corvus foresaw a squadron of freshly trained, Human volunteer stormtroopers stopping them at the gate! The commando's fate then faded black, as a red bolt caught him in the face. 

‘Damn, poor sod didn't have plot armor.’ Corvus clucked his tongue as he recalled the holy trinity of Luke, Han, & Leia evading hundreds of lasers just by ducking their heads, or hiding behind a pillar. 

Unfortunately for these commandos, stormtroopers were legit. Their Legends armor gave them aim assist, and a whole host of useful features. Additionally, the men who could become stormtroopers were like the marines from Earth. They were the dudes who ate crayons, and suicidally threw themselves into the meatgrinder to chew bubblegum, and tear the enemy a new asshole. The fandom loved to make fun of these mooks, but only an idiot-or a Jedi Master-could ignore them. 

Closing his eyes, Corvus figured there was about an hour before the end of this vision came to fruition. Madine's Madlads must've taken his threats to heart, and hauled ass. 

“Hmm, the question is though, how the hell did the stormtroopers know to be there? Were they suspicious due to the alarms constantly going off, or were they tipped off by a traitor?” Corvus asked himself, stroking his chin. “Imagine if it was that one fangirl?” He asked himself in amusement, hoping he hadn't let another traitorous bitch slip through his fingers. 

Narrowing his eyes, he silently tapped away at the keyboard, searching for any recent communiques that might point towards collusion between the Imperial forces, and the research facility. Naturally, there was a strong relationship between the two of them, and the Empire actually had a garrison stationed inside the facility. Upon further research, Corvus concluded it was purely coincidental. The small spaceport located on the base was put on lockdown as per protocol once the alarms were set off. 

That made things tricky, it appeared that the commandos were doomed to die. At least, that would be the case if Corvus wasn't watching everything behind the scenes. 

A small smirk spread across his face. Of course, he could solve this dilemma with ease. A few taps on the keyboard, and he could reroute the unit, making Madine's escape completely clean. This method would be ideal, as it didn't reveal rebel activities. At least, it would be ideal, if they weren't kidnapping the scientists. The Imperials weren't stupid. Those vacancies would be noticed within a day, thus, the benefits from ordering the stormtroopers away were diminishing as fast as Vader's hairline during a lava bath on Mustafar. 

Drumming his fingers across the desk, he thought about just showing up ahead of time, and killing them all. He could do a repeat of his infiltration into the Inspectorate, and cut them into bits & pieces. Use the Force to just go ham, and defeat these elites like the fodder they were. For a Jedi Master, and any long term videogame player, there was nothing more cathartic than blending through a unit of stormtroopers. Although he had talked them up, that was only in relation to regular people. For Corvus, he could only treat these hapless Imperial loyalists as cannon fodder scrubs meant to relieve boredom. At this point, they were barely worth the exp! 

…but as tantalizing as that sounded, he didn't want to leave any evidence that a Jedi-or Force Adept-had been present. At this point in time, most Jedi who survived Order 66 were either in hiding, on Ilum, Alderaan, hiding in one of Xizor's bases, or were on campaign. Pretty much the only Jedi out and about committing warcrimes, and terorrism these days were linked to Revan, Jax, and Yon. Personally, Corvus didn't want to be linked to Gyndine, as he feared some bastard like Thrawn or Vader would catch on to his involvement, and install contingencies. 

This was a fortress world that created a chokepoint in the hyperlane, and would be assaulted by the CIS, Jedi or Republic forces at some point in the future. He preferred to leave a few nasty backdoors for his allies to exploit, so if he revealed his hand now, and they were discovered, then it would only be a loss. Therefore, as satisfying as a direct confrontation-or shadowy assassination-would be, that wouldn't work either. 

Instead, there truly only was one optimal path to clear out these stormtroopers. 

Flipping to a screen displaying the factory floor, a conveyor belt had stalled, and there, glistening in all its gun-metal grey glory was the chicken walker of his dreams. The AT-ST was practically calling out to him, begging him to pilot her, and commit violence against the cannon fodder boys who wore plastic armor. 

Corvus nodded to himself with a smile, embracing the feeling. The AT-ST was a prototype designed for war in narrow spaces, such as cities or between buildings. 

He was such a nice guy, he was willing to take it on an attack run as a proof of concept! 

Flicking through several more security feeds, and forging several more emails, documents, and general sabotage for Kuat Drive Yards-including acquiring the schematics for several experimental designs-he reluctantly logged off. Turning towards Donathon's corpse, Corvus saluted the poor bastard, and just as he was about to leave, the Force warned him. 

Dodge! 

Jumping backwards, he applied his buffs, and prepared to [Shadow Hop] out of the room at a moment's notice. 

The door to the executive suite slid open, and a canister of gas was tossed in, emitting a bright, pink smoke. Fortunately, he had a mask on, but even if he didn't, the Force had his back. Seconds later, Crix Madine entered the room, blaster pointed forward. Sweeping the suite with his pistol, wide circular blue waves of energy spread out in several directions in quick succession. 

‘Setting his weapon to stun? This way, he can clear the room of any hidden foes or fry some electronics…this guy's a genius!’ Corvus internally praised. 

Using his incredible speed, he could've dodged, he could've [Mind Tricked] the super commando, or used a dozen other methods to escape this stun beam, but decided to have a little fun. Afterall, tonight was supposed to be like Halloween, right? 

As soon as the blue circle of energy collided with him, [Energy Resistance] blocked it, and he became visible. Using [Mind Trick] he made it look like a 8ft tall Wookie had suddenly broken out of a camo-cloak, and was running straight at him with a personal shield protecting the furry alien. 

Madine's face went milk white, as the unexpected jungle monster was closing the distance. Perhaps knowing he didn't have much of a chance, he still chose to act. The blonde man tossed out a flashbang, and at the same time, rolled forward-directly under where the Wookie was about to slash-and using his momentum, unsheathed a vibroknife from his boot, and swiped at the furry creature's ankle…only for the big brown furred Wookie to disappear like a broken mirage. 

“Most impressive.” Corvus said from behind, and began to clap. 

Madine-still high strung-spun around lightning fast, his speed no lesser than that of a Padawan-and leveled his blaster pistol at Corvus. The super commando was 0.1 seconds away from pulling the trigger, but his self control, and bodily control were perfect. Slowly lowering his gun, Madine gave him a brief, sharp glare, before assessing the room. 

“You've made a right mess of things here, General. I was planning on taking Mr. Donathon as a hostage to exchange for one of my boys.” Madine said in an irate tone. 

Corvus stared at the man as he turned his back to him. Sensing waves of repressed anger, and relief at being alive, he chose not to sass the man, knowing that the commando genuinely wanted to save everyone he could. 

“My apologies Commander, for the little prank. As stated earlier, this operation has served somewhat as a test for you. As for your imprisoned comrade, there shall be leverage enough to secure his freedom.” Corvus at first spoke sternly, inclining his head, before speaking in an amused, confident tone. 

Madine wasn't stupid, and glanced at the executive, then at the factory reset terminal. 

“You work fast, General. I hope whatever you obtained was worth it.” Madine ran a tired hand through his greasy, sweat stained hair, and said. 

Corvus saw that the man was retaining his professionalism, despite being irate, and felt his respect for the commando go up a notch. 

“Let's just say Kuat Drive Yards may one day rejoin the fold, but the seeds sown today may take more time to sprout than you would like. Blackmail, my daring Commander, is only useful when used sparingly.” Corvus spoke somewhat cryptically. Letting Madine know that something of value was accomplished, but trusting him to understand that any knowledge obtained was on a need-to-know basis. 

“Understood. Do you have any orders for me, sir?” Madine was quick to gather himself, and asked. 

“I have foreseen that your men will be apprehended at the extraction point by a company of stormtroopers. Once I rig the facility with explosives, I shall steal an AT-ST, and use it against the Imperials, clearing the way. As for you, Commander, I suggest you let your people know that reinforcements are on the way.” Corvus grinned, patted the commando on the shoulder, and then disappeared into the corridor. 

Although the incredibly stressful Coruscant mission was around the corner, it was important to let loose every once in a while. 

By the end of the day, the Imperials would have a much better understanding just how powerful their new little toy was! 

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AN: After this arc, I'm cooking up another round of Interludes, are there any POV's in particular you would like to see?