“Great Khan, the Republic’s forces are on the move,” one of his loyal Pictling captains said, bowing . “They are heading for our position here at Raigunoth. Their navy is enormous! The auxiliaries failed us and were utterly crushed! They mean to wipe us out, just as they did our kin at Tavander!"
“Starflier is among them,” Wheil Wavemaker said. It was not a question. “So it is here that history will be decided.” He paused. “You have fought with unswerving loyalty and valor, but if have any doubts or regrets, Captain, you and your men are free to go."
The Pictling captain shook his head. “We have no regrets, Great Khan. You brought us back from the brink, and made the entire galaxy tremble. Never again will they be able to look down on Pictling-kind as they long did. In the coming battle, you will either lead us to victory and a new dawn, or you will see to it that the Pictlings and their Last Stand live forevermore as legends!"
“So you will follow me, to the very end,” the Great Khan said. “You make me proud, Captain."
The captain left to make preparations, and, seated on his throne, Wheil Wavemaker was left staring out into space through the viewport of his new Galleon,
Seething Purpose.
“The days have passed like stars in the void...” he murmured. “From every light, shadow soon falls. Yet briefly bright, like a supernova, the Pictlings go with fury into the night... Standing strong, against unrelenting might..."
He had only lived for thirty-eight galactic standard years. But he would not fail his people now.
The Grand Navy of the Republic arrived.
“We have five heavily-armed stations in the system, and multiple Pictling fleets,” Admiral Moreau reported.
“So the Great Khan is pulling out all of the stops for us,” A”Nikori said, seeming somewhat pleased.
“You have come, Starflier,” the Great Khan’s voice said.
“If you surrender, we can both save ourselves a lot of trouble,” A’Nikori said.
“You bring a sword, and now ask us to bend the knee,” Wavemaker said.
“You made the Ymorz bend theirs knees,” Akano said. “Well, I guess Ymorz don’t have knees, but... what I said still stands!"
“Does an Ether Drake bow to a Tiyanki?” the Great Khan asked. “Or does a man grovel and let himself be made a slave? I have my pride, as do all of the Pictlings who follow me."
“Slavery’s long been outlawed in the-“ Akkano began.
“SILENCE!” the Great Khan boomed. “I truly pity you, young one. And you, Starflier... you are the crux to all of this... If you keep to your present course, you will plunge the entire galaxy into darkness. But I sense there is still a chance for you... a light within your ever more tainted soul. Yet it comes far too late for my kin slaughtered at Tavander by your Star Destroyers. But mere words will not decide my people’s fate, nor that of the galaxy. Face me, Jedi! I will beat back your fleet, and show you how a true warrior fights!"
A galleon commanded by one of the Khan’s captains stood ahead of the rest of the Pictling forces, guarding one of their Void Dwellings.
A mighty ship in its own right, it still could not possibly hold the position own its own, and clearly buying time for the rest of the PIctling’s forces to move into position.
Pounded by proton torpedoes from Y-Wings, harried by Republic corvettes, destroyers, and frigates, and blasted by the turbo lasers of the navy’s Venators, it soon fell.
With the first Galleon taken out, the Republic’s navy advanced, targeting the incoming Pictling fleets and their heavily fortified stations with missiles and proton lances.
The fighting intensified as they neared the pulsar at the heart of the system, as the Khan’s fast-moving raiders and frigates engaged them.
The Republic’s leading two strike groups were battered by the raider's assault, but the Grand Navy, under Admiral Moreau’s command, was steadily advancing in the rear.
The Great Khan’s personal fleet advanced as well, challenging them.
The Khan’s Chosen concentrated turbolaser fire on the nearest Venator, the
Keelhauler VI, swiftly destroying it.
An Acclamator and its crew also perished in a fiery explosion.
But the Republic pressed on, destroying all of the Great Khan’s escorts, save for a pair of Galleons that attempted to flank them.
One of the Galleons, Deepest Blue, fell to a swarm of Y-Wings and a daring attack by an Acclamator.
The Y-Wings then made their way toward the
Seething Purpose, supported by A’Nikori and Akkano in their Delta-7s, while the fleet’s Venators and Acclamators sunk a continuous stream of fire into it.
“Great Khan Wavemaker, your reign is over!” A’Nikori shouted as she strafed the mighty Galleon’s command bridge.
Wheil Wavemaker made no attempt to flee.
“And the reign of darkness begins. But I shall live on in-"
The bridge of the
Seething Purpose erupted in flames.
Doom’s Anchor, the last remaining Galleon, threw itself into a suicidal charge at the sight of the Khan’s death, but it too was blasted into a twisted hulk.
A belated fleet of Pictling reinforcements arrived.
They too, threw themselves at the Republic’s navy without a care for their own lives, and were wiped out.
No sign of the Great Khan’s body was ever found, save for his tattered, empty robe, draped over a bloodstained throne.
The Khan’s throne would be sent back to Coruscant, where it would be stored in a secure vault, ostensibly to keep others who would follow in the Khan’s footsteps from claiming it.
Admiral Moreau was promoted after the victory, and both A’Nikori and Akkano received the personal congratulations of the Chancellor.
A grave threat to the Republic had been vanquished.
The Khan’s last words bothered both A’Nikori and Akkano.
But the Clone Wars against the Separatists were about to kick back into high gear, leaving them precious little time to meditate.
And in her lair on Coruscant, Darth Vidia cackled to herself, knowing that one of the few beings in the galaxy that could have contested her power had just been removed from the stage.
