1 month later
The Kaminoans and Imperial officials had finished the necessary documents and other stuff required for the accord. The signing ceremony was held on Veldari, where the Kaminoans and Imperial officials had openly revealed the contents of said agreement.
The document covered four primary areas: mutual defense obligations, Kamino-Veldari Joint research initiative, and some economic exclusions. For instance, the economic exclusion would make it so that the Kaminoans could exchange whatever currency they used for Imperial credits in 1:1 ratio.
This would help them when dealing with the other factions of the galaxy as the two most used currencies were Republic credits and Imperial credits. Kamino was relatively small and didn't have such a big population, so something like this would greatly benefit them and help them in the long run.
For the Imperium it was just another agreement signed with another independent pla that wanted to get onto the galactic stage without being threatened by the other bigger powers. This was another thing that Daimon did; which established a sort of Imperial Sphere of influence across the entirety of the galaxy.
After the war with the Republic, Theocratic Dominion, and the Coalition, the Imperium didn't expand through conflict and had instead focused on diplomatic means. But this didn't mean that they didn't use force when it was warranted.
If they met a hostile species that made it impossible to negotiate, that species would either be left alone or invaded, which depended on their strategic positioning and how much the Imperium wanted that system. In most cases, the pla was just left alone and marked down as a red zone which forbid civilian traffic from going to that area.
Once the signing ceremony was over and another month had passed, things were starting to significantly shift in the galaxy. Kamino was just a small part of the shifting power dynamics and the Kaminoans saw numerous empires/factions reach out to try and capitalize off their technology.
The biggest was the recent Sith push on Taris which saw the resistance lose numerous cities in the span of a month.
Jedi Master Ven Orath, who had assumed command of the resistance had attempted to consolidate the surviving cells into a coherent defensive line. But he was fighting a war without adequate resources and a command structure that was assembled with grief and desperation.
He was competent enough and his personal courage was not in question; it's just he didn't have a massive support structure anymore since the Sith had managed to block the smuggled supplies that they used to get. Now they had to conserve their resources, while fighting a healthy Sith army.
Master Orath had already sent a formal request through the Jedi Order's back-channel communications to the High Council on Coruscant. He needed more weapons, credits, and more knights with combat experience in urban environments.
The High Council wanted to send more support, but with the Sith figuring out the secret routes they used, they had to unfortunately decline.
In fact, they told Master Orath to leave the pla with the other Jedi Knights.
Master Orath had objections, but he also understood the current situation. They were going to lose, and no matter how hard he fought, nothing would change that fate.
So, while it hurt him to do it, he reluctantly relinquished his command to some other high ranking resistance officer and left on a transport towards Olaris to leave the pla. With him were 30 other Jedi Masters and Knights who were with him.
The others were given the orders of the Jedi High Council and would also be making their way towards Olaris in the coming days. They wanted to keep their travel secret and not alert the Sith.
But the Sith were already on to them.
As Master Orath was almost to Olaris, his ship was suddenly hit with a missile. The pilot quickly yanked the controls and started pressing all types of buttons on the cockpit while sending out a distress signal.
"Mayday, Mayday, Mayday. We are under fire. Requesting immediate assistance. Our coordinates are…." The second missile took out the rear stabilizers and knocked out their comms.
The ship dropped from its flight path and began spinning through the air towards the ground. Master Orath grabbed the copilot's console and used the Force to try and steady the ship. The other Jedi joined in and focused their attention on keeping the ship straight.
Which worked, but it still didn't stop them from falling towards the ground.
"Brace," yelled Master Orath as the ground got closer.
The Jedi braced just as they hit the ground. The ship slid for a for a few meters before it came to a stop. Miraculously, everybody survived, though some had some minor injuries with two having major injuries.
"We can't stay here." said Master Orath. He knew that if they stayed here near the crash site, then they would be surrounded by Sith troopers within minutes.
They need to keep heading towards Olaris and hopefully get some Imperial assistance. The Jedi had collectively agreed and had grabbed whatever they could from the wrecked transport and began walking in the direction they sensed Olaris.
Sith transports were already minutes away and would converge on the crash site along with some gunships. The Sith was not planning on letting these Jedi live after they had stepped foot on a pla that was rightfully theirs.
But due to the Jedi not knowing where they crashed, and the Sith not paying attention to their battle map. The Imperium was aware of their positions and had received the distress signal.
A few minutes before the crash:
"Come on man, I almost had you that time." said one of the Aurifex Legate's to another over a game of chess. "That move I pulled would've won if you didn't have your queen in that corner."
"Yeah, maybe it would've. But I guess we'll never know since you lost." replied the other Legate.
The second Legate leaned back in his chair; arms crossed with a satisfied smirk on his face. Around them, a handful of others from their unit sat in various states of idle activity, the kind of relaxed alertness that came from being stationed in a place where nothing big ever happened.
The Aurifex Legate's forward operating post was positioned inside one of Olaris's outer administrative buildings, close enough to the perimeter that they could see the line where Imperial authority ended and the contested zone began. It wasn't a glamorous posting, but the Aurifex Legate were here carrying out the Emperor's will.
"Best two out of three," said the first Legate, already resetting the board.
"You said that last time."
"And I meant it last time too. I just also meant it this time."
On the far wall, a terminal chimed, signaling something had popped up. Both of them looked at it since the chime wasn't the standard one.
That's when the AI program started to say the message out loud. "Alert, Alert, distress signal detected within the Imperial zone of control. The ship reported to be hit by a missile while en route to the city. The passengers are confirmed to be Jedi trying to leave the pla."
The Legate's immediately got up and started walking to the armory room where their armor and weapons were at. "Already everybody, let's move." shouted the commander of the post.
The Legate's got to the armory and stepped into their assigned equipment rack where their armor was. In almost an instant, various robotic arms moved around and placed the armor on each Legate, ensuring it was enclosed and on correctly.
Once that was done, they grabbed their weapons which were on the wall next to the rack and started to head outside to the landing pad.
Joining them on the way were 10 of the Balance Keepers who were stationed on the post with them.
"Commander, what do we got." asked the Balance Keeper.
"We've got a downed transport ship carrying Jedi who were trying to leave the pla." reported the Commander.
"Are they inside of our zone of control?" asked the Balance Keeper since if they weren't then the Imperium wouldn't normally respond to it.
"They are just barely inside of it." replied the Commander. The Balance Keeper nodded and kept walking next to the Commander until they got to the landing pad.
Once there, a transport and three gunships could be seen waiting for them to board. The Legate's were running at this point and had quickly boarded the ships and took off.
While in the air, the Commander had received an update from command of additional forces on the way.
"Alright boys, we've got additional fighters and gunships coming in to support just in case from command. They should arrive a few minutes after us." relayed the Commander to the rest of the forces.
"Hell Yeah!" replied one of the Legate's with the other's joining him.
"Do we expect any trouble, Commander?" asked one the Legate's next to him.
"You never know what to expect with the Sith. But considering we're going in to help the Jedi, I expect that this one may turn into a fight so be prepared." The Legate nodded at that answer and checked his weapon one last time.
A few minutes later, they had arrived near the location of the distress signal. Off in the distance they could see the lights of blasters being shot, so the pilots changed course and went to that area.
Flying past them were the support fighters that had caught up with them. They headed straight in and once they were close enough had shot down two of the Sith gunships that circling around the Jedi.
"Woah Commander, are we free to open fire?" asked one of the Legate's since he was confused. That's when inside each of their helmets, a message popped up from the Marshall, which was the Legate in charge of the other 50,000 that were present in the city.
"The Sith have refused to leave our zone so all forces are free to open fire as soon as you arrive. These are orders from the top and the Emperor will be notified in a matter of seconds." the message ended.
The Legate's didn't have much of a rection besides getting ready for combat.
Meanwhile, on the Jedi's side, they had formed a circle and were defending against the numerous Sith troopers and Mandalorians who were rushing them.
In the center of the circle were the injured Jedi from the crash and few who got injured in the current fight.
Master Orath was fighting off one of the Sith Lords who had arrived and he was managing to hold him off well, but he was getting tired and so were the others.
That's when he saw the Sith gunships get taken out and Imperial fighters screech across the sky at insane speeds. He pushed the Sith back a little and the two stared at each other, with Master Orath sensing the hatred that was rising within his opponent.
Master Orath felt relief since they were actually going to make it out of here alive. But the Sith in front of him felt pure hatred towards the Imperium always getting involved in the affairs of the Sith.
He pointed towards the incoming ships and ordered some Mandalorians to take care of them. A dozen Mandalorian warriors took off with their jetpacks and headed towards the gunships with some missile launchers in hand.
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