The emerald King - the old legend against the new promise (Patreon)

Siri Tachi, “The light of the Past” meeting room, Mandalore system

This ship was both impressive and strange, the young Padawan thought, as she walked through the corridors of the scout ship sent by Queen Amidala

Her destination? The meeting room to plan the rescue of Duke Adonai

Siri still couldn't believe she was alive, she was completely sure that she would join the Force with her master, in that old warehouse

However, fate seemed to have other plans

Obi, HER Obi, no matter how much the lofty and arrogant princess wished otherwise, had fallen from the sky like a cosmic envoy and defeated with alarming ease the mercenaries that the master Galia had been unable to defeat

And most incredibly, using techniques that Siri had never seen in her life

Oh she knew perfectly well that it was the Force, however, the young Padawan was not able to identify them

Siri assumed that they were teachings of the Emerald King, that "heretic" who used the Force in the wrong ways for his own benefit

At least those were the words of her old master, when she was still alive

"We're here," Obi-Wan said, as the doors opened, revealing a spacious room, where several warriors in terrifying and impressive black armor were staring at a hologram of the system, they all looked professional and, from what little Siri could hear, they were talking about various ways to attack Concordia

Although all that left Siri's mind, when she observed a familiar face in the command center, talking to whom Siri assumed was some kind of officer in King Harold's service

“The telemetry shows us fortified underground compound; do we have weapons to attack such installations?” asked an old friend of Siri

"Aayla!!” shouted the blonde, as she ran to give a hug to her old friend, whom she had not seen since Naboo

The beautiful Twi'lek looked at Siri in surprise, before smiling and answering

“Siri!” she said, at the same time as she gave her a hug, the relief more than evident on her face

"I'm glad you're okay," said the former padawan, making the blonde smile softly, at the same time as Obi-Wan approached

"Nice to see you Aayla, It seems that you have done well" said Obi-Wan with a small smile, looking at the impressive armor that wore his friend

"Thank you Obi-Wan, I'm glad we got here on time," said the Twi'lek, now watching Princess Satine, who was evidently out of her element, a diplomat in times of fight

Something totally useless, Siri thought

Aayla walked up to the princess and said

"Princess Satine, I'm glad to see that you are safe and sound, Queen Padme feared the worst when she received your transmission" the tone used was professional and courteous, but it certainly lacked the warmth expressed with Obi-Wan and Siri

Satine nodded elegantly, and asked cautiously

“Do you have any news about the republic? Or about my sister and uncle?” The young princess was afraid of the answer

Aayla inhaled hard and responded

"Yes, we have news, though I don't think it will be to your liking," said the Twi'lek maiden, looking at Satine

"The senate will not intervene, it considers the move an internal matter of Mandalore," Aayla said, causing Satine to simply look at her in total surprise

"But... but it's an uprising! How can they say such a thing?” asked the princess, totally furious

And at that moment, Siri watched as one of the warriors stepped forward

"Our intelligence agents reported that the resolution for non-intervention is backed by the Federation, as well as with several sectors close to the Outer Rim that would benefit from the fall of the Kryze clan, your family is a mere piece on the galactic chessboard and, in the eyes of the republic, one that has lost its value."

Another of the soldiers, a woman, was moving her fingers quickly on a holographic terminal

“That's not all, apparently, several private investors contacted Taurek Vizla through an unknown intermediary, only identified as Tyranus, apparently heavy metal and gas mining rights were agreed in the system at a stupidly low price, in exchange for weapons, ships and smuggled military equipment, I share the data" said the warrior, showing on the holographic terminal everything collected, to Satine's horror

"The coup has been in the works for years, however, the scandal that our glorious king caused forced them to speed up the plans, when they learned that Duke Adonai would meet with the Emerald King."

Obi-Wan stroked his chin thoughtfully, an extremely attractive gesture, in Siri's humble opinion, as he analyzed the information

"Mandalore's closeness to Gaia Prime is no secret, I suppose these benefactors feared that, if Mandalore formally allied himself with Harold Potter, their illicit business of billions of credits would be history," the young Jedi knight deduced

Siri watched as the princess shook her head, unable to understand that the causes of so much misfortune in her home were members of the senate that she defended so much, but the evidence was irrefutable

And apparently, everything revolved around this Tyranus

Aayla, taking advantage of the princess's silence, projected a map of the topography of Concordia on the holographic table, highlighting two important points in the

"Our preliminary telemetry results in two major targets, an orbital defense complex, kinetic munitions, with twin cannons capable of shooting down a destroyer with a single shot," said the ancient Padawan, showing a rudimentary hologram of the largest cannons Siri had ever seen

"The other is an underground complex, our scanners only gave us information about the first three levels, but it seems to be a kind of factory or mining center."

At those words, Satine frowned and said

"If it's a mine, I'm sure it's Beskar, all the warriors of the Vizla were clad in the precious metal," Satine said with an icy tone

A second later, Obi-Wan spoke again

"Our priority is the rescue of Duke Adonai, Harold is coming this way, so our priority should be to eliminate the orbital cannon."

Several soldiers nodded, however, Princess Satine frowned in concern and said

"Yes, but Taurek is a coward, if his little toy falls, he will leave the moon and we will lose track of him."

That was quite possible, in Siri's view

And apparently, Aayla agreed

"We will attack both places, Commander Andros will guide his best warriors to sabotage the cannon, while Obi-Wan, Padawan Tachi and I will infiltrate the complex, our priority is simple, to prevent the escape of our enemy" said Aayla taking a seat elegantly and crossing her long legs, thoughtful

"There must be a hangar, if we want to prevent escape, we must destroy the hangar before our presence is detected and preferably, that we have atmospheric superiority," continued Commander Andros

Everyone nodded, the plan was simple, at least in theory

At that moment, a light on the holographic table caught everyone's attention

"Incoming transmission, through our arcane systems, origin, Gaia Prime," said one of the officers on board

"Let it pass," Captain Andros ordered, showing the image of King Harold in person

"Your grace," they all said, beating their breasts and bowing their heads in respect

"Andros, Aayla dear, nice to see you, the Marauder is ready to jump, I request the situation report, to know exactly where in the system we will appear," said the monarch

Siri swallowed, Harold Potter's vision was awe-inspiring, the Force itself seemed alive, something truly impressive, considering it was thousands of light-years away

The Twi'lek maiden smiled radiantly and complacently at the monarch, the feelings more than visible on her beautiful face

"Sharing requested data," Andros said, sending a copy to his king about the situation in the system

Harold Potter did not respond for several minutes, carefully analyzing every detail

"You mention here that you have prisoners, including this Taurek's wife, right?" asked the king

Aayla nodded and said 

"Yes, knight Kenobi captured her, saving Princess Satine in the process," said the maiden Twi'lek, causing a slight blush in the aforementioned Obi-Wan

"Bring her before me," ordered the monarch, and his shadows did not waver, a couple of the warriors present came out of the room to obey the order of their king

"The priority is the orbital cannon, I'm sure your boys can take care of that nuisance Andros, Aayla's plan to infiltrate this mining facility may work, but we lack the necessary information, something I plan to solve," said the king, sowing doubt in the young Padawan

Several minutes later, the pair of soldiers were dragging the prisoner, who had been stripped of her armor and weapons, leaving her in a simple orange uniform

"LET ME GO, YOU SPINELESS CUNTS! WHEN MY HUSBAND LAYS HANDS ON YOU..." However, the annoyed woman's words died in her throat as she reached the room in question

And as soon as he saw Harold Potter's face in the hologram, he began to rant against the monarch

"YOU! YOU ARE THE SICKNESS, THE ONE WHO WILL MAKE MANDALORE A MERE LAP DOG! I WON'T ALLOW IT..." however, the irritating woman's words died in her throat when, suddenly, Harold Potter appeared in front of her

The look of defiance changed to terror, when the monarch did not deign to answer, he simply placed his hand in front of her face and said

"Silence, Harpy" he said with obvious annoyance, while the Force itself trembled

Siri didn't know what the monarch was doing, but whatever it was, it was a big deal

The prisoner opened her eyes in surprise, keeping silent for an instant, before starting to scream in agony, her eyes were unfocused and her legs failed, having to be held by the guards, who watched the act impassively

Siri felt quite uncomfortable and overwhelmed, whatever the emerald king was doing, the Force was pleased, the dark side purred, while the Light seemed... satisfied with the actions

Too many contradictions, the blonde thought

After several uncomfortable minutes, where the prisoner continued to scream until exhaustion left her totally exhausted on the verge of collapse, the emerald king spoke again

"I’m done" he said calmly, as he lowered his hand, causing Talary to moan in agony and pain, totally defeated

Harold then walked over to where Obi-Wan and Aayla were, placing two of his fingers on their foreheads

"This will hurt, but bear it with pride" the king warned, and without waiting for an answer, the Force trembled again

Obi and Aayla gave a short cry of pain, holding their heads with both hands

"I will arrive at the mine in twelve hours, if there are enemy ships I will take care of them, the priority is to save the Duke, may the Lady's blessing always be with you" said the king and then, he simply vanished

As if nothing had happened

Then, both Siri and Satine ran to Obi-Wan, who was still with his eyes closed and his hands on his head

“Obi, are you okay?” Siri asked with shared concern with Satine

Her knight nodded, to the relief of the blonde, and spoke

"Yes, it's just that Harold implanted the whole map of the structure in my mind, I didn't know that was possible, my head is going to explode," said her man massaging his head

"That was terrible" said Aayla, who was in the same situation

Satine caressed Obi-Wan's arm with concern to the obvious annoyance of Siri, who was frowning at her

"We have our plan and our advantage, now, the details," Aayla said, walking towards the holographic table with elegance and calmness

Siri followed, pulling Obi-Wan's arm, an act that the spoiled princess repeated, looking at Siri impassively

Apparently, they would be here for a long time 

Taurek Vizla, Concordia

“Operation report?” Taurek asked absently

The soldier next to him replied

"The Beskar vein is deeper than we expected, we have also detected other important metals, tungsten, palladium and platinum, maybe if we..." the soldier tried, but was interrupted by Taurek

“I'm not interested in other metals, only Beskar is important, don't waste effort on stupid things, do you have any news of my wife?”

The soldier was silent, before shaking his head

"No my Lord, Lady Talary's communicator was disconnected and communication with her ships interrupted, I sent more patrols, but none have been reported," said the young Mandalorian

Taurek just snorted to hide his concern, he had a bad feeling

"Send more ships, I want to know the whereabouts of my wife and..." However, the words of the chief of the Vizla clan died on his lips, as he felt how the mining center shuddered, throwing him to the ground in a daze

"What the hell was that?" he shouted angrily, as he stood up with difficulty

The soldier began to move his fingers quickly in his personal terminal, his expressions denoting enormous concern, much to Taurek's restlessness

“We lost communication with the orbital cannon!” said the worried warrior

Taurek frowned and ordered

"Restart communications then, I want a direct line to Captain Tairos," he ordered

However, the following words made his blood run cold

"I didn't mean that, my lord, the orbital cannon is gone! It was totally destroyed!” said the now alarmed young man

Stunned, Taurek looked at the young man and said a single word

“What?” even without being able to believe your ears

“The cannon was destroyed, a controlled detonation, we are under attack!” said the young man, at the same time that the complex shook again and this time, red lights and alarms began to appear throughout the place

Taurek wasted no time and used his communicator

"Perimeter patrol, situation report," he asked, as he ran

Where? He didn't know it yet, but receiving only static from the patrol, Taurek tried the next

"Group one, situation report," he shouted to his communicator

Ecstatic

"Group two!" he shouted, now heading towards the central part of the complex

Same answer

Groups three and four got him the same

"Group five, report!" he shouted, reaching Adonai's cell

And then, he got an answer

“WE ARE UNDER ATTACK, ELITES ENEMIES, EXTREMELY DANGEROUS, THEY ATTACK US, WE... AGHHHH” were the last words and then...

Static

Taurek shook his head and cursed, as he began to give orders

"To all the warriors of our glorious clan, we are under attack, close the entire complex and meet me in the main hall," Taurek ordered, as he opened the cell where a beaten and tortured, but not broken Adonai Kryze, was

At the sight of him, the imbecile laughed with difficulty, although the act seemed to give him intense pain

“End of the road Taurek?” he said with difficulty, although the mockery was more than evident in his voice

The chief of the Prizla clan bellowed in rage, but merely grabbed Adonai by the throat and dragged him with him

"Take him to the main hall," Taurek ordered, as the young warrior approached him again, this time with a holographic projection

"We have an image of the invaders, this is bad," he said with concern

And when Taurek looked at the images he agreed

The enemies were expert hunters, they used smoke, gas or any distraction and hunted their warriors like simple dogs

There was no mercy, there was no honor, just simple hunters exterminating their prey

Cloaked in black armor and cloaks, carrying weapons similar to those used by Jedi morons, the enemies were full-blown killing machines

"What the hell are those things?"  asked one of his warriors with something he was not used to hearing from them

Fear

"It doesn't matter, let's go to the rally point, there we can mount a counteroffensive" Taurek ordered as he began to run

Being closely followed by the rest of the warriors

As they approached the main hall, the explosions became more frequent and louder, indicating that the enemy presence was getting closer and closer to their position

Upon arriving at the assembly point, Taurek looked at his warriors with pride, all armed and ready for the fight

Like the proud Mandalorians they were

"Brothers, sisters, the enemy is knocking on our doors!" Taurek shouted taking out his most important possession, his ancestor's weapon and raising his hand

A black energy blade was present, beautiful, elegant and lethal

"With unparalleled arrogance, foreign dogs walk our halls, hunting our brothers like pests and destroying our legacy!" Taurek shouted, causing all the warriors present to shout with him

"Concordia is ours!" Mandalore is ours! DEATH TO THE INVADERS!” Taurek shouts, roaring gallantly and inspiring his soldiers

Until...

The doors to the hall exploded, shaking the entire room and stunning the Mandalorians in the process

A second later, a regiment of the now-infamous warriors began to enter with synchrony and discipline, all carrying curious spears with two blades, while an arc of electricity moved between them

Taurek was unaware of how that weapon worked, but he clearly had no intention of finding out

And behind the enemy soldiers, two figures entered calmly and elegantly

A Twi'lek and a Human

The lady was dressed in beautiful armor, a combination of femininity and lethality, she was quite attractive, in her hand, an elegant plasma saber was active and in a defense position

Meanwhile the young man was less impressive, a mere Jedi, about twenty years old, nothing spectacular in his opinion

The enemy soldiers aimed their curious spears in perfect formation, none of them moved a single muscle, evidently waiting for the order to attack

The beautiful lady Twi'lek stepped forward and said

"Surrender now, if you deliver the Duke alive, perhaps your pathetic clan will survive this day."

The tone was casual, almost monotonous, as if the Vizla clan were insignificant

"Listen whore, we..." However, Taurek's words died on his lips, when he received a warning from one of his officers, totally terrified

"My Lord! Hyperspace reading, Marauder designation! The emerald king is here!” Completely terrified scream

Distracting Taurek and the rest of the warriors for an instant, long enough to give the enemy the upper hand

Without warning, the spears lit up, releasing dangerous arcs of electricity toward Taurek and his men

The result was simply devastating, the Beskar was perfect against Blasters, but too vulnerable to electric shocks

Something that, apparently, the emerald king had studied in depth

The first attack wreaked havoc on his soldiers, and Taurek used his jet pack to launch himself towards the enemy, the dark saber in his hand, and his intention more than evident

Only to be intercepted by a blue plasma blade, courtesy of the Jedi accompanying the beautiful lady

"I don't think so," he said simply, looking directly at Taurek with defiance on his face

The Battle of Concordia had begun