Malastare. A forest planet located on the Mid-Rim; it held both external and internal value.
Externally, it was situated right along the Hydian Way, a superlane hyperspace route that had been in use for thousands of years. It also acted as a junction for the Biox Detour, a hyperspace trade route that connected Malastare to the planet Takodana via a mining colony known as the Ring of Kafrene.
Internally, Malastare's core was home to large reserves of a decently efficient fuel that was extracted in great quantities by the native Dugs and sold all over the galaxy. Malastarian Fuel was the planet's chief export and really, only export that the rest of the galaxy cared about.
Still, both of those things combined made it an extremely valuable prize indeed when the galaxy was at war. So long as the Republic held control over Malastare, the fuel would continue to flow and the rest of the Hydian Way going coreward would be safe as well. But if the Separatists made a play for the planet, then both things could be endangered.
Which is why it isn't too surprising to Vader when they've barely arrived in the Malastare System before they receive alerts of incoming Separatist Forces.
"General, a Separatist Fleet has just jumped into the system!"
"Alert all ships. Stay in formation, we were here first so they're going to have to come to us."
At the same time as he's giving orders on the bridge of his flagship, the Resolute, Vader is also alerted to a call coming in from his 'fellow Jedi', Aayla Secura.
"Knight Skywalker, it appears the Council was right to send us to Malastare."
Vader really didn't know what to make of the Twi'lek Jedi Master. In the time that they'd been traveling here via hyperspace, Secura hadn't exactly invited him to her ship or invited herself over to his. However, they had been in constant communication at her insistence through intership comms, something only possible because they were traveling the same hyperspace lane together.
Aayla had… been insistent on meditating together, despite being on entirely different Venator-class Capital Ships. They'd had long conversations about both the nature of the Force and the nature of this war and if Vader didn't know any better, he would think that Master Secura was trying to feel him out on orders from the Council or something.
The only reason Vader didn't think that to be likely was because he was confident Depa would have told him before he left. More than that, he would have sensed such duplicity. No, while there was a sense of deceit when he reached out to Aayla's Force Signature, he didn't get the impression that it went too far beyond her.
Whatever she was trying to figure out, it was of her own volition. And some of the questions she asked him, the way she talked sometimes… was intriguing to say the least. But Vader didn't dare probe for more without being face to face with her. So long as they were on different starships, he wasn't about to risk exposing himself and her potentially escaping the encounter with her life.
They had a battle to fight for the time being anyways.
"It would appear so, Master Secura. Though it is also quite likely that news of our departure from Coruscant also necessitated a Separatist Response."
After all, Vader has recollections of the part that Malastare played in the Clone Wars and this… this didn't line up with what he remembered. What he remembered involved an experimental weapon succeeding at deactivating a droid army down on the planet's surface, but in the process leaving clone troopers stranded. It should have been Master Windu who arrived at the head of the rescue team, and it would have involved an ancient beast long thought extinct on the planet.
That could still happen at some point in the future, Vader supposed, but this right here was new, perhaps a butterfly brought on by Ahsoka being assigned to Obi-Wan and him and Obi-Wan being split up rather than their fleets being joined together with the rest of the Open Circle Armada. Then again, there was still plenty of time for the Open Circle to be created. Time would tell.
Before Secura can react to his theory, Vader's comms officer pipes up.
"General Skywalker! The enemy flagship is hailing us!"
Aayla glances to the side, making it clear that the Twi'lek received the same message. Sharing a nod, they both turn to accept the call at the same time.
Vader… doesn't react overly much as the cybernetic face of one Admiral Trench appears on the screen before him. The male Harch, a species of humanoid spider-like aliens, has half of his head, including a chunk of skull, eye, and mandible, as well as three arms, replaced with cyborg components.
Chuckling as he glares at them both, it becomes imminently obvious that the Separatist Admiral only has eyes for Vader at first.
"Surprised to see me alive, General Skywalker?"
Vader smiles thinly, even as he signals with his hand off-screen to his clones to send Aayla all of the information they have on Trench from the Confederate Blockade of Christophsis from a few months ago.
"Alive? No, that part doesn't surprise me. After all, we never did retrieve your body."
Trench clicks his mandibles at that, glaring at the lack of reaction.
"I could have easily been consumed in the blast when you destroyed the Invincible, General."
Vader just shakes his head.
"But you weren't. At least not completely. No, I anticipated your survival Admiral. However, I AM surprised to see you coming back to the scene of one of your other close brushes with death. Here to reenact the Battle of Malastare Narrows, Trench?"
All six of the alien Admiral's eyes narrow at that, Vader's words making him bristle for a moment.
"You read up on me, General. I'm surprised… and relatively impressed. I did not have you as the type to bother doing your research."
Vader just smirks and stays quiet, letting Aayla fill the silence a moment later. She's had more than enough time to skim the information that the 501st had sent over by now, after all.
"Admiral Trench, I am Jedi Master Aayla Secura and you are outnumbered. Surrender or flee, but the Malastare System will remain under Republic Control."
Turning his attention towards the Twi'lek Jedi Master, its immediately clear that Trench isn't impressed by what he sees. Only prior experience with Harch like Trench allows Vader to make out the 'facial expression' as a sneer, however.
"Master Secura. You say I am outnumbered, but from where I stand, it is you who are outmatched. More than that, your authority is in question. Malastare's leadership has petitioned the Confederacy for membership. My fleet and I are not here as conquerors, but rather liberators."
Ah. Now that was an interesting divergence, though Trench could be lying through his teeth. Of course, Aayla doesn't immediately understand what the Harch Admiral is saying.
"What? Don't be ridiculous. Malastare is a proud member of the Republic. Senator Ainlee Teem was still on Coruscant representing this world when we departed, last I checked."
Now Trench's mandibles morph into the spider-equivalent of a condescending smirk as he shakes his head in amusement.
"It is not the Gran colonizers who have petitioned for our aid… but rather the native species. The Dug Ruling Council has come to us and offered us a fine deal on their fuel… if we can remove the colonizers from their planet and the Republic from their system."
Spreading his six arms wide, Trench clicks his mandibles together in a chuckle.
"I say again, Jedi. We are the liberators. Stand in our way and continue to oppress the Dug if you wish… I will greatly enjoy going through you if I must."
With that, the Separatist Admiral closes the call from his end, leaving nothing but silence in the air for a long moment. Out there on the edge of the system, the Separatist Fleet prepares itself for a defensive hold from the look of things.
While it is true that the 327th and 501st Fleets combined do outnumber Trench's forces, it's not quite a two to one lead as they might prefer. A close inspection of the Separatist Fleet shows it to be an outsized one, no doubt because of Trench's skill as an admiral and his ability to survive death where so many of his peers would fall.
Indeed, they will no doubt take heavy losses if they engage Trench directly here. Going straight into battle with the Harch is exactly what he wants from them. Fortunately, Secura isn't that foolish. Unfortunately, it's not because she's strategically minded, as Vader soon finds out.
"Knight Skywalker, a word in private please."
Humming, Vader inclines his head. He stays on the bridge and Aayla does the same, but both of them move to their command chairs, where they can lock things down so it's just the two of them.
"… Do you think he's telling the truth? Why would the Dug do this?"
Vader hums in amusement. Aayla sounds truly surprised and confused… but then galactic history is too vast and varied for everyone to know everything that's ever happened everywhere. Vader really only knows because… well, once upon a time, as laughable as it might sound, his greatest nemesis was a Dug.
"Malastare is a tale old as time, Master. The Dugs were here first, native to the planet and living in relative peace. Malastarian fuel allowed them to advance enough to signal their existence to the greater galaxy, but they had just barely begun to leave their planet when the Gran showed up."
Staring out at his bridge as Aayla hangs off of ever word, Vader continues on.
"The Gran wanted to colonize Malastare despite the planet already having a sentient species. The Dugs resisted this quite fiercely, but the Gran had the technological advantage. In the end, the Gran went crying to the Republic, since they were already members and ultimately Malastare went to the Gran."
"Wait, but I thought the Republic negotiated an equitable split. Wasn't it that the Gran were given the eastern continent while the Dug were given the western continent?"
Vader snorts derisively and shakes his head.
"Officially, yes. However, how is that remotely equitable?"
When Aayla makes a confused noise in the back of her throat, Vader rolls his eyes, glad she can't see the action. In the end, he has to equate it to something she's more likely to understand. Luckily, it's pretty easy.
"Imagine the Hutts landed on Ryloth and decreed they were splitting the planet down the middle between themselves and your species. Would that be fair and equitable?"
"No, of course not- ah."
Making a quiet noise of understanding, Aayla falls silent for a time. Vader hums.
"Of course, the Dug have managed to make the most of it still. Even after all these years, the Gran still haven't figured out how to properly extract and refine Malastarian Fuel for galactic consumption. The Dug guard those secrets so closely that it's actually given them quite a bit of political pull, even if their Senator is still technically a Gran. Not to mention podracing originated on Malastare."
Vader finds himself smiling in fond remembrance. It's been quite a long time since he podraced. And even if that Boonta Eve was the only race he ever managed to finish, he quite enjoyed every race before it too. After all, it was the only time he'd ever felt free or truly alive as a child. The only time as a slave that his life had truly been in HIS hands and nobody else's.
"… I see. Then what do we do, exactly?"
Raising a bemused eyebrow that he knows she can't see, Vader grunts.
"We prepare for battle, Master. Even if the Dug Ruling Council did ask for the Separatists to come and 'liberate' them, it's not like the Galactic Senate is going to accept that. The Gran certainly won't. And so here we are, to hold the line and maintain the status quo."
Perhaps a bit of bitterness seeps into his voice at the end there, because Aayla's next words sound hesitant.
"And… and you're okay with that?"
Vader, who has every intention of annihilating the status quo beyond recognition in the coming months and years, just chuckles.
"The alternative is just giving Malastare and access to the Hydian Way to Admiral Trench, Master. I doubt the Council would be very happy with you or me if we went that far."
"No, but-!"
Aayla cuts herself off however, sounding supremely frustrated. Vader wonders if it has anything to do with whatever she's been trying to get out of him while they were traveling to Malastare. In the end though, it matters little.
"Priority should be finding out what's going on with the Dug Ruling Council down on the planet. If Trench is lying, if he really doesn't have a leg to stand on, then we don't need to worry about being stabbed in the back at the very least. And if he's telling the truth…"
"Then we're probably going to need reinforcements."
Vader nods as Aayla finishes the sentence.
"Quite right, Master Secura. The question is, which of us should go down to the surface to talk to the Dugs?"
After all, comm calls were notoriously unreliable. If they were going to get to the bottom of Trench's claims, then they needed a face to face conversation with the Dug Ruling Council. One of them had to go down there and suss out exactly what the Dugs were playing at. And in the end, as the highest ranking leader on this little mission, it was Master Secura's call.