Prior to the debriefs leading up to the incursion behind Sith-Imperial lines Kainan had never heard of the planet. Generis. And yet, it was given the utmost priority. From going as deep as to strike at Helgard and then pulling back to friendly territory, it felt that they were retreading downtrodden ground. But the objectives suggested otherwise. From the infrastructure on the planet, claiming it meant they could orchestrate even more devastating assaults upon the Sith Empire, worse than Helgard. And in the future, when the Sith threat was gone, it meant connection with the Unknown Regions and the mysterious entities in the unmapped areas of space.
But that would have to wait until the Sith threat was gone.
Kainan, Once Sith, Now, Knight of the Empire had work to do.
Eradicate the Sith.
By any means.
Kainan hurried through the busy hangar to get to his shuttle. The bulk of the New Imperial Armed Forces would make a move for Generis Base, to seize the communications structure on the planet while the forces in orbit worked to seize the space station. However, Kainan’s mission differed. The Imperial Force Corps was tasked with acquiring the Crucifixion Engine. Preferable for the Empire to wield it in place of the Sith, the Imperator’s trusted Order of Knights was deployed in place of the more common soldier of the Stormtrooper Corps.
The immense blast doors that secured the hangar bay opened, revealing the backdrop of obsidian filled with the pinpricks of distant ivory stars. The New Imperial Armada was already ensnared with the hostile forces in orbit. Arriving at the foot of the ladder that would lead up to the TIE Interceptor, Kainan began his climb. Tugging his cloak off to the side and out of his way as he descended into the cockpit. The starfighter had already gone through the preflight check by the time he arrived. The cockpits roof shut over him, and the Imperial Knight’s hands found the controls.
Freed of the fuel lines, the Interceptor hovered above the ground, repulsors active. Emerald light flew passed the opened hangar, and he shoved the sticks forwards, propelling the TIE forwards and out into the void of space, on the tail of a vanguard squadron. Behind him, his Special Operations Squad raised in his wake.
“
SF-Aurek. Hang back, I’ll clear a path for you to the planet below.” Shutting off the commline, his danger sense flared, and he yanked on the sticks, lifting, and spiraling out of the way of fiery TIE wreckage. The point defense cannons of the orbital station were active. Molars grinding against each other, on the IFF map Kainan saw multiple Sith fighter squadrons being pinged on approach to the New Order’s battle fleet. As reckless as ever, Kainan engaged.
The interceptor’s speed was great in comparison to the naked eye, and its maneuverability greater. Thankful for the inertial compensators built in, Kainan pushed the Interceptor straight for the Sith fighters. Ahead, the TIE Vanguard squad ahead engaged with them. Fire was traded, and Kainan did his best to maneuver around the debris that he whipped past, and those he did not harmlessly reflected off his shields before he barreled past. Naturally, the fighters split apart, breaking into half a dozen duos and trios chasing after each other, and with the path open he made straight for the station.
“
Comeoncomeoncomeon,” Kainan muttered, obviously uneasy in his seat. Flipping up on the tab that sat atop one of the sticks, he could not see them, but he could sense that he was about to come under fire from the stations defenses. Fast approach, the responsive automated turrets rotated about to find him. Pushing his senses so far out ahead of him, he could practically
see it happening as if it were point blank in front of him. The first spurts of fire shot out towards him, and the Interceptor was angled down, target acquisition lost.
“
Feth,” he muttered.
“
Legate Actual, are we clear?” The voice of SF-Aurek’s pilot could be heard. As he opened his mouth to respond, the TIE Interceptor shook, crimson bolts lancing from the station splashing across the forward shields of the TIE.
“
Almost there!” Kainan groaned, shutting off the commline. Distance closed rapidly as he crossed the expanse of space, the overwhelming amount of New Imperial forces made it easy for the defensive guns to lose track of him. A split second into the future he saw the console flash green, and his thumb slammed down on the stick. A duo of bright blue missiles firing from his TIE. Cutting off the engines, he rolled the sticks, flipping over to angle down to the planet as momentum brought him closer to the station.
Throwing a glance over his shoulder, through the cockpit’s viewport and into the expanse of space, he could see the disruptor torpedoes impacting the surface of the orbital station. Ionic energy arcing sporadically across the impact zone, shutting off both guns and interior lights as he cleared the blast. Just as he kicked on the engine again and it propelled him to the planet one of those ionic arcs lanced up, as if it could sense the systems powering his TIE and reached out to touch it.
The Interceptor went dark, and all Kainan could do was slam the console as he was dragged into the planets atmosphere.
At first the downwards spiral into Generis’ orbit had not bothered Kainan, and with eyes closed he focused inward, counting down the time until he would be able to make his escape from the earthbound metal prison. Initially careless, without the use of the built-in systems to protect the occupant, he weaved the Force around himself first, and then expanded it outwards as his hands reached towards the viewport. The Force encompassed solely the cockpit of the TIE, acting as the first layer of protection as the first wing snapped off. Wrenched free of its fused and bent tube that connected it to the cockpit, Kainan poured more of his will into maintaining the integrity of the ball.
Even with the Force shield surrounding him, the build up of heat was too much. Forced to maintain the shield simultaneously, it faltered, and cracks formed in the cockpit’s viewport. It was hot. Hot enough to rival the heat from the twin suns of Thyrsus and Tatooine combined. Sweat formed on his forehead behind his helmet, and as it dripped past his long locks, he could not help but to reach and yank it free from his head.
Just in time to have passed through the atmosphere, when his hands dropped, the barrier weaved by the Force did as well. Cracks deepened in the glasteel as he rapidly plummeted to the forests. He reached across the controls to bring the TIE back to life. Slamming the console again when no responsive hum greeted him, the Young Conqueror widened his eyes upon seeing the rapidly approaching structure below.
Another few hundred metres down, and he tried at bringing the fighter back to life. And the second time, it did. The engines kicked on, thrusting the ship downwards faster. The viewport shattered, and a hand raised to cover his face. He could feel himself lifting, being pulled from his seat as the wind sucked everything it could from that cockpit. Reaching one hand to the belts release button, he tucked his legs up as far as they could.
And after a short mental countdown, he pressed, the straps snapped back away from his torso and lap. He lifted, and with the Force aiding him, he shot his legs back to push against the TIEs seat and thrusted himself out into open air.
The long seconds he spent falling to his mundane death gave him the time to draw from his lessons. His impatience turned to frustration, long since pushed down and suppressed saw him regretting the actions he had taken. Perhaps if he had been faster, he could have gotten away from the ion explosion, or if he had fired them earlier. Kainan’s fists clenched, the wind trying to steal his breath as his obsidian cloak snapped in the wind behind him.
From his own hands, he pushed with the Force, shoving himself onto a proper trajectory to the Rakatan Temple. His momentum was too much to stop, but he could slow it, he realized. And as he fell, he reached out ahead, to the roof of the Temple he was aiming for, fashioning a cushion of the Force to meet him. Too quick, he thought, the Force weaved itself around him as an explosion leapt up into the sky in the proximity of the Temple. And a moment later, Kainan’s form crashed into the roof.
