Jedi Insurgency 101

Piloting an invisible ARC-170 above Eriadu’s orbit, Corvus silently chuckled as Vader’s rage could be felt from here. 

The Dark Lord was like a volcano that had erupted, his aura of hatred was quite astounding. If Corvus was nearby, he would undoubtedly be snapped in half like a kit-kat bar under Vader’s assault. That, of course, depended on how much damage that black suit sustained. 

Shaking his head with the ghost of a smile on his lips, Corvus was pleased that he had successfully predicted Vader’s next move. As Anakin, he had performed dozens, if not hundreds of flanking maneuvers. And now, he had acted just as he had in the past. 

However, despite his current jubilation, the fact remained, Eriadu City was surrounded by 5 Imperial Legions, and who knows how many Imperial Army regulars. His forces stationed in the capital were at serious risk of being overrun, especially if Vader emerged from the rubble unscathed. Fortunately, he still had the 50,000 beskar armored droids lying in wait. Those killing machines emerging from the lower levels would play a critical role in stalling the Imperial advance. 

Meanwhile, Corvus had a mission to complete. 

Piloting the stealthed ARC-170 towards the enemy command ship, Steadfast, Corvus was initially intent on landing it on one of the many flight decks paused in his action as he felt a premonition in the Force. There was no vision, but his danger sense was prickling down his spine.

Taking a deep breath, Corvus realized that someone-likely Thrawn-had prepared something in wait for him. Perhaps there was an Inquisitor onboard, or a group of men trained against stealth-generators. 

Frowning to himself, Corvus decided to do something slightly more risky, but potentially safer. He was going to copy what Han Solo did, and park his ship on top of the Star Destroyer's bridge! 

Now of course it would look extremely goofy, and there were dozens of ships nearby that would doubtlessly witness this scene. However, his ARC-170 was a stolen craft, and bore the same IFF/markings as any other ARC-170 that belonged to this fleet. By landing on top of the bridge, Corvus could [Shadow Hop] inside, find his man, and then enact the plan. 

If he faced extreme danger, he could always escape back to his ship. Otherwise, should he park inside a hangar, the distance between a Venators bridge and the rest of the ship was separated by a giant frickin elevator. Escape in that scenario would take too long! 

So while it looked goofy, Corvus ultimately decided to listen to this premonition, whilst also deciding to go ahead with his mission. With a heavy heart, Corvus landed on top of the Steadfast's bridge, and then [Shadow Hopped] into the bridge. 

Cloaked in invisibility, he surveyed his surroundings, and spotted a man dressed in all white standing behind a terminal. He had jet black hair, and was stroking his chin in thought as he glanced at a screen. His face didn't show it, but Corvus sensed a subtle glee, and feelings of triumph radiating off the man. According to intelligence reports, this was Grand Admiral Octavian Grant, the commander of this battlegroup. 

Peering over Grant's shoulder, Corvus saw the carnage that was the Eriadu City shield generator, as well as a few other screens depicting the Imperial advance. 

“Send the command. All Legions advance. I want the starfighters in the southern hemisphere to reroute themselves to Eriadu City. Unleash the turbolasers, crush the rebels. Lord Vader’s sacrifice shall not go unpunished!” Grant ordered his officers, and then clasped his hands behind his back, adopting a righteous air of authority. 

Corvus rolled his eyes at the petty politicking, but saw this as his in. [Mind Trick] worked best on people that were unaware of your presence, and was especially effective on people who were arrogant in their actions. 

Right now, Vader was presumed dead or at the very least, MIA. Corvus, of course, knew better, but that didn’t mean he couldn't twist the knife a little deeper. 

Focusing on the Grand Admiral's psyche, Corvus worked his magic. 

‘The destruction of the shield generator is not certain. Direct the bulk of the turbolaser fire aimed for Eriadu City at the shield generators.’ 

Grant was surprisingly difficult to sway, and had a fairly solid mental defense. However, his clear disdain for Vader ended up being Corvus’s ticket into his mind. 

“Alter the trajectory of those turbolasers. I want to ensure the destruction of the shield generators is permanent. Make it so.” Grant brusquely ordered. 

Corvus slightly smirked, imagining Vader’s reaction to surviving that gnarly explosion, only to have hellfire rain down upon his position. 

Slowly working his way around the Admiral's mind, Corvus never once let go, as repeated [Mind Trick's] often didn't work, or could leave a man unconscious. 

“Admiral sir, the Republic fleet is emerging from behind the moon, they are beginning to engage. Orders sir!?” An officer on the bridge hurriedly reported. 

Before Grant could open his mouth, Corvus was already directing him. 

‘The starfighters, send the starfighters into the minefields to create a hole in their defenses. They have served their purpose already. Rearming them would take too long. By the time Eriadu City's infrastructure is seized, the Republic fleet will make orbital bombardment untenable. Do NOT give them the chance to interrupt your largest victory. This is the chance to make your mark on the war. You will be made Fleet Admiral after this!’ 

Grant struggled under Corvus’s sinister whispers, and even held a hand to his head as his veins throbbed, and his rationality warred with his greed. Corvus had some respect for Grant, for being able to resist for this long, clearly he was no simpleton, yet ultimately, he was but a man, whilst Corvus’s mental corruption was like the Devil's poison. 

Breathing heavily, and wiping a drop of blood from his nose, Grant swayed on his feet for a second, before the glint of lust-a lust for power-flashed in his eye. 

“Then we shall meet them head on. Reroute the starfighters, I want them to fly into the minefield and create an opening for us. Their sacrifice shall secure our victory.” 

The officers on the bridge, and clone troopers all glanced at Grant with horror in their eyes, yet within the Empire, orders were absolute. 

“Yes, Admiral.” The officer reluctantly saluted, and then began to issue orders. 

Corvus was starting to feel his hold slip. At this point, Grant was likely to collapse under the strain. That had the potential to lead to undesirable consequences. Whoever took command away from the Grand Admiral was likely to countermand his frankly ludicrous orders, and steer the fleet into a more defensive posture whilst the Imperial ground forces mopped up. Corvus couldn't allow that. 

‘Return to your office, rest.’ 

“I shall be in my office monitoring the situation. Continue the good work, Captain, and perhaps you too shall become an Admiral soon.” Grant offered in compromise, as he too felt that something was off about the entire situation, yet his years of politicking had influenced him even whilst under the sway of [Mind Trick]. 

As Grant returned to his office-which was an adjacent room attached to the bridge-Corvus slipped in behind him. Pulling a sleep dart from his inventory, he pricked the Admiral's neck, then gently lowered him onto the ground. Locking the door, he then cracked his knuckles, and got to work on hacking Grant's terminal…except the dude never logged off, and he had total access. 

Corvus shook his head in disbelief. People, understandably, were incredibly trusting in clones. Hell, there was even a pair standing guard outside Grant's door at all times, preventing entry, but still, to leave yourself logged in? 

Rolling his eyes, Corvus got to work. Although he had had Grant issue some orders verbally, this was the real prize. From here, he could record data, and with the click of a button transmit the troop deployments, and battle plans to Clip & Pots in real time. With this information, the two experienced, veteran officers would be acting as if they had precognition. This was an absolutely filthy strategy. Grinning to himself, he could only imagine how difficult his duel with Vader would be if he had stuck around. In comparison, here he was, altering the entire fate of Eriadu, and he didn’t even have to draw his lightsaber. 

Taking a drink out of his inventory, Corvus popped the lid, making a satisfying hiss sound effect, and he started to transmit that data. Furthermore, he could issue orders at any time from this hub, send emails, memorandums, and could gum up the Imperial fleet with all sorts of minutiae. 

For example, the Imperial fleet was just now reacting to Grant's orders, and moving into formation to confront the incoming Republic fleet. But under Corvus’s ‘care’ a dozen ships were sent to scout a different quadrant for fear of a flanking ambush. A group of transports holding Imperial Army reinforcements had their destination altered to land in an inhospitable, unoccupied desert-that was 20 million men out of the 100 that were brought to Eriadu-forced to reinforce a fucking useless pile of sand! 

And the men who were sent to Eriadu City? Those guys were told to hold their position until the orbital bombardment ceased-spoilers, another dozen ships were told to keep shooting until those ‘shield generators were nothing but slag-it was a great show of Imperial might! 

Taking a big sip of his beverage, Corvus belched, inventoried the empty can, and popped another cold one. Kicking his seat back, he used the Force to interface with the keyboard & mouse, and felt like he was playing an RTS game with how he was directing the Imperial troops. 

Dozens of messages flooded Grant's inbox, and many, many people wanted him to confirm these frankly questionable orders. To which Corvus simply smiled, and sent back text-based replies with official seals, and military-looking documents. He even went a step further, and made it explicitly clear: follow my orders, or face a court-martial. 

It was during this laid back ruination of the enemy invasion, that Corvus found some information that had him suddenly choke on his drink, and spit some dribble down his robes. 

Eyes going wide, he saw that another battlegroup was on their way to Eriadu, and they were due to arrive within the next 3 to 5 days. Coughing into the open air, Corvus swore between coughs in a quiet voice “what the fuck.” 

Sitting up in his seat, he saw that it was a full 10 Legions, and another 100 million Imperial Army regulars! 

Massaging his temples, Corvus groaned as he tried to think of a way out of this. The CIS on Mustafar & Geonosis were relatively close…and they had promised to send reinforcements…

Gritting his teeth, he knew that they would have to do. He could only choose to believe in Poggle the Lesser. After absorbing the fleet under Admiral Tyg-who he had sent to pretend to besiege Geonosis-the bug people had thought it was under ‘Revan's’ influence that they were no longer under siege. Eager to return the favor, Poggle the Lesser had promised his support. 

While he could retreat from Eriadu, that wouldn't look good on the galactic stage. 

Even if he destroyed Octavian's fleet, but was forced to flee, he would be seen as a great loser. People don't team up with losers, and in fact, liked to dogpile on them. As Eriadu was where he made his big debut, and where he had made such a big fuss over the powers of healing, losing this planet in particular would cause nearly irrevocable damage to his brand. If he wanted to inspire billions of people to fight on his side, he had to show that he had what it took to win. 

Therefore…

Retreat was not an option. 

Taking a deep breath to center his thoughts, Corvus was going to continue to issue bunk orders, when suddenly his screen cut out. A second later, the image of a blue skinned man appeared. 

His chiseled features were quite well defined, and despite being in his early 20's, he cut a sharp figure. Caught off guard, Corvus had yet to don his mask, as he had been drinking his beverage a second ago. 

Thrawn’s eyes imperceptibly widened, and drank Corvus’s image in. Although Corvus could sense that Thrawn wasn't aboard this ship, he could glean some emotion from this casual exchange. What was shocking to Corvus, was that this emotion Thrawn uncharacteristically displayed, was surprise. 

The Chiss was quick to mask his astonishment, and slightly inclined his head. “Revan, I presume.” 

Corvus slowly donned his mask, and stared the alien down. 

It would seem he wasn't the only one who had accessed this terminal. Furrowing his brow, he suddenly had an idea as to why the Force had been warning him earlier…

“And you are Mitth’raw’nuruodo. A pleasure to meet the mind behind my student's ambush.” Corvus said in a civil tone, yet there was an edge to his voice. 

“Charmed.” Thrawn replied without a smile. 

Invisible sparks seemed to flare between the two men. The arena of combat was not strictly between swords & guns, nor even between the Light or Darkside of the Force. No, for today's contest was a match of wits, not that of might or magic!