"All right boys. We weren't able to get what we wanted last time, so this time, we're going to occupy the capital city until we force it out of them." said the Force user. His name was Cael Vors, a Force user trained and raised by one of Mnggal-Mnggal puppets.
Behind him, 30 transports were all in formation heading towards the Kaminoan capital city. The plan was straightforward. Land on three platforms simultaneously, overwhelm the security response through numbers, and then hold the scientists and anybody else hostage until they got what they came for.
While they did this, the 13 other transports were also heading towards several nearby cities and installations to prevent a quick response from any reinforcements.
What Cael Vors did not know, was that the most dangerous being in the known galaxy was currently waiting for his forces to arrive with more forces on the way.
On the outer platform that connected to the central dome where the Prime Minister was, Daimon stood at the edge of the landing area and watched the first transport emerge through the storm in the distance. Behind him, the Empyrean Guards had fanned out across the platform in a defensive formation.
The Balance Keepers stood closer to Daimon, waiting on him to give them orders. Unlike your average Balance Keeper, these were the best of the best, hand selected by Daimon himself to guard him.
Cortana walked up to his left side showing a map with a bunch of red dots going in different directions. "13 of the 43 transports have diverted to surrounding installations, most likely to cut off any nearby reinforcements."
"How long until our forces arrive?" asked Daimon.
"5 minutes until fighters arrive and 12 minutes until the first ground reinforcements reach the surface." Cortana replied. "The Luminary has located the primary pirate ship on the far side of the planet. It is a modified heavy freighter that looks to have been converted into a mini carrier. It also has a sensor dampening array which explains how they remained undetected till now."
"Make sure to disable it, don't destroy it." Daimon said. "We need to find out as much information as we can about these pirates their motives, and who is behind them."
"Understood." replied Cortana.
A few minutes later, the transports were right on top of the city. The transports split into various groups and headed in different directions all around the city.
4 of those transports headed towards the platform Daimon was standing on.
The first transport didn't even bother with a graceful landing. It slammed onto the platform, its repulsors flaring against the surface of the platform as the side hatch burst open.
Then the pirates poured out with their blaster raised. They expected to find frightened scientists, but instead they found some armored Gen'Dai standing in front of them. Everybody knew how a Gen'Dai looked because of their influence in the galaxy alongside several other physical features.
"Who are you!" shouted one of the pirates. He couldn't clearly see their faces because of the rain and the cloaks that they were wearing, which covered their armor.
The Empyrean Guards raised their weapons in sync and opened fire. Three pirates who were unfortunately standing in the frontline were dropped instantly, their bodies skidding across the platform.
"Return fire!" one of the pirates shouted.
The blaster bolts shot out of their weapons, but none of them reached their targets.
This was because the Balance Keepers had extended their hands, leaving the incoming blaster bolts stopped in mid-air between the two sides.
The pirates were shocked at what they were seeing since they had never encountered a Force user besides their boss. But they didn't have much time to stay shocked as the Balance Keepers had pushed their own blaster bolts back towards them.
Screams could be heard as half a dozen pirates were struck by their own shots, collapsing onto the ground.
The rest hurried to find cover as much as they could behind a short wall on a walkway and some boxes that were nearby.
"Take them alive," ordered Daimon.
The Empyrean Guards and Balance Keepers moved forward, exchanging fire with pirates. The pirates who were outmatched fell one after another, unable to establish any kind of defensive line.
One pirate tried to flank from the left walkway, sprinting low with a vibroblade drawn. But he never reached his target as a Balance Keeper appeared in front of him.
"Oh shit," he said surprised as he swung his vibroblade at the Balance Keeper who blocked it with his arm which was covered in a piece of armor. Then with his free hand he delivered a punch to his abdomen. The punch sent him stumbling a few feet, but the Balance Keeper didn't give him any room to breathe and had delivered a force enhanced punch to his jaw, knocking him out.
Another transport landed behind the first, its ramp lowering and more pirates rushed out with heavy weapons. One of them carried a rotary blaster and immediately opened fire, spraying the platform with a continuous stream of blaster bolts.
2 Empyrean Guards stepped in front of Daimon, their armor taking all of the fire. Daimon reached his hand out, tearing the weapon from the pirate's grip mid-fire. He then twisted it in the air, leaving the man barely any time to register what was happening before the weapon rotated and fired point-blank into his chest and at the surrounding pirates.
While he said take them alive, they could still do with some of them dying. They didn't need everybody alive to interrogate.
The next wave of shots from the Empyrean Guards disabled some of the remaining pirates while the Balance Keepers used their hand-to-hand combat techniques to disarm and knock out them out.
A pirate tried to run back toward one of the transports, but he was slammed down by a Balance Keeper.
Across the platform, the Kaminoan security forces had begun to arrive. They wore white armor and carried long blaster rifles. They stopped briefly as they took in the scene: bodies scattered, pirates subdued or dying, and the elite guards of the Emperor standing unfazed.
"Secure the prisoners," one of the Balance Keepers instructed without looking at them.
The Kaminoans didn't think too much about being ordered around and instead did what the Balance Keeper had instructed them to do.
Binder were applied to all pirates, and the wounded ones were dragged off into containment cells. Those still conscious were forced face-down against the platform.
A third transport had hovered above them, looking at the massacre and decided to pull away. But as they tried to flee, the ship was yanked down onto the landing platform with the ramp partially open.
Daimon walked toward it. Inside a handful of pirates scrambled to gather themselves at the crash landing. Others tried to reach the cockpit in hopes that the engines were still working and they could get away.
As soon as Daimon came into view, one of the pirates fired a shot hoping to take him with one hit. But Daimon moved his head to the side, dodging the blaster bolt and then started to force choke the one who pulled the trigger.
Seeing their buddy lifted off the ground and being choked without anyone being present forces the pirates to freeze out of fear.
"On your knees," he said, ordering them all to get down.
One by one, they complied. Daimon released the pirate he was force choking and watched as the man gathered his breathe and then quickly fall to his knees.
Soon after they were also taken care of.
While this was going on, Imperial forces had finally arrived, landing on another part of city where Cael Vors and his team had entered.
The first ones to follow the carnage left behind by Cael and his team was a group of Balance Keepers who had a few Imperial soldiers behind them.
As they ran through the halls, eventually, they ran into a part of the hallway where a group of pirates had set up a firing position.
"Enemy spotted. Open Fire!" shouted one of the pirates as they unleashed a barrage down the tightly enclosed hall way.
The Balance Keepers ignited their lightsabers and ran down the hall, skillfully deflecting some shots back at the shooters.
One of the pirates, who recognized what the Balance Keeper was wearing, started to freak out. "Oh Shit man! We're so fucked. Do you know who those are!" he shouted as he ducked behind cover.
"I don't know and I don't care who they are. Out fucking mission is to defend this hallway from whoever tries to come through it." said another pirate as he kept shooting his blaster rifle at the Balance Keepers.
"Well, you should be man. These are the Balance Keepers man. They serve the Emperor directly." explained the pirate.
The other pirate, who didn't care who they were at first, changed his expression a little as he had never seen a Balance Keeper nor cared to learn about them as it didn't affect him. But he did know the basics about them. They were the Force users who served the Emperor directly and were considered the greatest Force Order in the galaxy.
He didn't know why they were here, but usually they didn't take prisoners, so why would he stop shooting just to die as a prisoner.
"If they are the Balance Keepers, then all the more reason to raise your gun and shoot before they kill us." he said as he tried to peak his head back and to shoot, but his throat was grabbed by one of the Balance Keepers.
The other pirate watched this happen while throwing his weapon away. "Please, I don't want to die." he cried.
"You're not gonna die today." Said the Balance Keeper.
A sigh of relief filled the man's face, but before he knew it, he was kicked right on the side of his head. "But that doesn't mean I'm not knocking you out." said the Balance Keeper.
The other man whom he grabbed by throat had already lost consciousness and moved forward to where Cael was at.
By this time, Cael had detected that something was off. He was feeling the presence of other Force sensitives which wasn't entirely surprising if he didn't feel his associates dying.
"Hey, hurry up with that!" he shouted towards a pirate who held the hand of a Kaminoan whom he knocked out and used it to access a terminal.
"I'm moving as fast as I can." he replied.
Cael snapped his head towards the door of the room and drew his lightsaber as he could feel somebody coming.
And he was right, as a moment later, the door was blown open and one of the Balance Keepers charged right at him, the two locking blades.
'Shit' said Cael internally.
He wasn't supposed to run into these guys here. His boss had always told him to never get captured by the Imperium and yet here he was fighting a Balance Keeper.
And if there was one, then there was bound to be more around. He started to look around for an exit, while blocking the Balance Keepers hit which was forcing him to focus too hard on the fight.
As he was stuck fighting the Balance Keepers, more of them poured through the door, which was just blown open, following by Imperial soldiers who attacked the pirates around the room.
This was the end of the line for Cael and he was starting to realize it.