Mass Effect: Knight of the Old Republic - Chapter 82 (Patreon)

As much as Revan would have liked otherwise – she couldn’t just hunt down the Asari in the system.

Not only would randomly attacking ‘nonhostile’ Asari assets cause several political problems Revan didn’t have time to deal with, it would likely fail because the Jedi expected that to be her response and several fallback plans set up to trap her or wear down the forces she had in-system. Things she also didn’t have time to deal with at the moment.

Which is why she was planning on using one of the more reliable methods for dealing with Jedi. Using something impressive yet ultimately replaceable as bait to lure them out of the shadows before closing the trap on them instead. Just like she had done at the mining outpost that resulted in her capturing Lymrase and Teveezra the first time.

She didn’t have a convenient fake superweapon or enough time to spread rumors of one this time, but what she did have was a terrorist organization somewhere on the planet with a reputation for almost rabidly tried stealing anything they could get their hands on if it gave them a bit of an advantage over the other species in the galaxy even if that meant massive consequences when they lost control.

Revan was sure Cerberus would be more than willing to try stealing one of her ships if the opportunity presented itself.

Something that was nearly trivial to arrange after Cerberus launched a takeover of one of Tuchanka’s orbital cannon installations and began shooting at her ships until Shepard’s team was able to retake control of the installation.

The Spectre had moved fast, but one of the escorts ‘unfortunately’ took a hit that not only punched a hole through several decks in a way that caused it to leak atmosphere, it also started experiencing cascading electrical failures which meant it needed to land on the planet for repairs in an area just outside where the local krogan forces could reach easily while Revan led the repair teams personally.

Now as far as bait goes, Revan couldn’t get more obvious without broadcasting on an open channel for no one to come steal her stuff. But the beauty of traps like this one were that they remained effective even if everyone knew it was one.

Cerberus wasn’t going to pass up the chance to get an up close look at an imperial ship and potentially steal it. And the normal Asari the Jedi were hiding among couldn’t just let them walk away with something that would give the human terrorist organization a leg up over the Republic’s own forces. Theoretically, the Jedi could just allow the regular Asari to go without them – but what could a bunch of Commandos do against the big scary Sith on the ship?

No, the Jedi would come along too.

Which meant all Revan had to do was wait.

Wait and actually prepare to deal with the Cerberus and Asari forces coming her way. The escort vessel wasn’t a Harrower, but it would be unacceptably embarrassing if Revan actually had one of her ships stolen by being overconfident.

-o-

They didn’t have to wait long before Cerberus launched their attack.

Just like on Sur'Kesh, the human terrorists had decided to approach as stealthily as possible before launching a lightning raid when they were uncovered.

Dozens of assault shuttles swarmed the damaged section of the landed ship and began unloading Cerberus troops even as they were met with Geth platforms trying to prevent them from getting inside and laser turrets trying to shoot down the buzzing aircraft. But the escort ship wasn’t designed to hold off against an assault like that, so Cerberus quickly established several footholds and started pressing deeper into the ship.

Meanwhile, two unmarked shuttles landed behind a rocky outcropping near the grounded ship and unloaded the personnel it had been ferrying – unnoticed by the defenders and attackers above.

-o-

“We’re being pushed back on decks five, seven, and twelve.” The security officer reported. “Cerberus forces are advancing and branching off towards engineering and the main generators.”

“Any signs of demolition charges?” The quarian captain, who along with several other organic members of his crew refused to abandon the ship even when Revan explained it was to be used as bait, asked.

“Enough to cut through any sealed bulkheads they run into, but nothing that looks large enough to destroy the ship.”

“Then they took the bait and are going to try capturing the ship.” the captain nodded. “Any signs of our other guests?”

“Nothing so far, Captain.”

“Then follow the plan. We’ll lure them down the prepared passageways until we can surround and eliminate them. Anything else to add, Empress Revan?"

“Don’t let you guard down.” Revan warned sternly. “Just because they are acting according to our plan now doesn’t mean they can’t surprise us. Cerberus wouldn’t be near the threat they are today if all they did was waste troops by throwing them into a meat grinder.”

Almost immediately after she said that, an alarm started blaring from one of the bridge consoles.

“Data spike! Cerberus is trying to hack into the data servers!” The officer looking over the alert shouted causing Revan to frown.

None of the Cerberus teams should have been far enough to reach anything connected to those servers. Which meant some of their Phantoms had probably slipped past the defenders.

Just as she was about to respond to the officer, the Force rippled slightly as several strong presences revealed themselves.

It seemed the Asari had finally decided to arrive as well.

“Have Lymrase head towards the data servers and deal with the hackers. Another situation just arose that requires my direct attention.”

If the Phantoms were equipped the same way they were on Sur'Kesh, the protosabers they carried would make the close quarters of the ship more of a hindrance to the defenders unless they could catch them out in the open. Something of a challenge when the optical camo the Phantoms used could render them invisible almost at will.

Revan would just have to trust her apprentice to deal with that while she went to deal with the newly arrived Jedi.

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AN: An unfortunately short chapter this week, but I was voluntold to help decorate/coordinate/and otherwise assist with a wedding this week that meant I had absolutely zero free time. I’ll either try expanding on this chapter alongside next week’s one or make the next ME:KotOR chapter longer as compensation.