Star Wars: Rise of the Battlemage

Once we returned to the Chariot, we gathered everyone around in the cargo bay. There, we could brief both my crew and Corvak's people at the same time. Once everyone was settled, we spent an hour or so going over the plan, discussing what sort of support we would have, as well as what we could expect from ground and air forces. Unfortunately, there wasn't much information on that last bit.

While I wasn't particularly happy about the lack of information on just what sort of stationed assets we could expect around the vault, I also realized that it wasn't really anyone's fault. You really couldn't know everything after all, not without putting Rebel agents at risk. The lack of information about the vault interior was the most concerning, in my opinion, but it wasn't like we had that sort of intel in the first heist.

Thankfully, by the time we were done with our briefing, no glaring issues had been pointed out by my guys or Corvak's. I would not have enjoyed knocking on Dravens door and adding another change to the list.

Actually, scratch that. I would probably have enjoyed that a lot.

Either way, once the internal briefing was done, we all sat down and had a basic lunch. Han was rather interested in the liquor I brought out to sip with it, pouring glasses for everyone to sip. It was different from the brandy I had shared with Corvak not too long ago, closer to a smoother, more accessible whiskey.

When lunch and the following break was over, we started reorganizing the contents of our ships to better fit the mission, namely moving the droids around so that they could deploy easily and quickly from the Loyal Hound.

On top of that, we needed to clean up the interior of the Chariot. We would be transferring a lot of people around, and while the Loyal Hound should be around to help with the load, I wanted to make sure it wasn't necessary in case it couldn't land. I wanted enough room on the Chariot for all of the ground team and all of the precious metals.

To be honest, between the labor droids and plenty of spare hands, it wasn't exactly grueling work. It was more like an excuse to gather around and talk, everyone unwinding a bit before our mission. Hell, about three hours in, somehow, Han and Corvak ended up competing to see who was better with a blaster pistol. It was a quick competition, with the results showing that Han had a faster and more accurate quick draw, but Corvak was a better shot overall.

Han and Corvak happily accepted the "reward" of a cold lom-ale from Julus as we sat down in the Loyal Hounds bay, after their impromptu competition. While we had mostly avoided it throughout the day, now the topic of the conversation quickly drifted to our upcoming mission.

"I'm optimistic, honestly, especially since Ahsoka hasn't mentioned picking up on anything out of the ordinary," I responded with a shrug, Han sipping from his drink, sitting on a nearby crate.

"And that works? They can just feel when something is going to go bad?" The Corellian asked, raising an eyebrow. "I've seen Luke do some... crazy crap, but feel the future?"

"It's not infallible," I responded with a shrug. "It doesn't pick up on every threat, but it cued us into Grakkus wanting to betray us. Not that it changed our plans or anything. Basically, it's a tool that can be useful, but it's best not to rely on some of the more… esoteric concepts."

"Not like your magic," He pointed out sarcastically, smirking as he leaned back. "That's much more reliable, right?"

"Well, my magic comes from within me rather than from a cosmic, semi-sentient entity with whom I share a symbiotic relationship with," I explained, chuckling at Han's expression. "This is where Ahosoka would slap my shoulder for being so irreverent, but you get the idea. My magic is mine, the Force… it's something and someone else."

"Huh… yeah, that does sound better," He agreed. After a near minute of silence, he asked the question. I could practically feel him wanting to as this whole time. "So you and Ahsoka, huh? How's that working out?"

"It's all very new," I responded honestly. "I'm looking forward to finding out where it leads. Speaking of love interests, where is Princess Leia?"

Chewie chuffed a laugh at my redirection while Han gave me a scowl before giving Chewbacca an unhelpful look and shaking his head.

"The Princess is negotiating a deal for some supplies from a sympathizer," he explained. "I happen to have a large bounty on my head in that system, so she is traveling with other people. She wasn't happy with me, but a man's gotta earn a living, and there's not much I can do about it now."

"Yeah… she seems like an intense woman," I commented. "Fire in her veins and a steel spine."

Again, Chewie chuffed, and I toasted him with my drink before tilting it back and finishing it. The three of us got back to work despite the fact that I once again told both of them that they didn't need to.

Eventually, when everything was set, Ahsoka returned. Not long after that, Han and Chewie headed off to their own ship. The Millenium Falcon would not be coming with us on this mission, which was absolutely for the best, considering the ship's propensity for plot-driven mechanical failure, but they had their own things to prepare. I did give Han a spare beskar uniform, pulling off the Skyforged logo for him to wear.

"I know it clashes with the blood stripes, but I'm the Princess would appreciate you wearing the extra protection," I said with a smirk before turning to Chewie. "I'm not sure we have anything in your size…"

Han laughed as Chewie chuffed a couple of times before continuing in Shyriiwook.

"He says he is good," Han translated. "He'll just hide behind you guys."

"He is more than welcome to," I responded with a smile and a nod.

After the roguish smuggler left, his ever-loyal companion following behind him, I made sure the finishing touches of our prep were complete before settling in to wait for the Rebellion, as they needed to get some things together.

This was at least partially our fault since it was our suggestion to have a secondary fleet ready to engage in case things weren't going our way. The distraction fleet was already fueled and ready to go. In fact, we had passed by the smaller, faster-looking group. Now, they were looking to pull in a couple of their heavy hitters, which was not something they could do at the drop of a hat.

I was also pretty sure Draven was also hunting down the X-wing escort. The way he responded to me, assuming we would have someone guiding us down and keeping air support off us, seemed a bit off, but I hadn't called him out on it. Despite how I may have reacted to his stubborn, hostile nature, I didn't necessarily have it out for the guy. Everything I knew about him, both from this and my own universe, said he wasn't actually a bad guy, just overzealous and misguided.

Still, hard not to push back on him when he kept on pushing me.

While they reworked and moved around their naval forces, the rest of us had nothing to do but wait. Nal kept busy by doing research on our secondary target, feeding Boxi everything he could find about the facility where the ships were being stored. He was hopeful that they would be in flyable condition, but the droids would still have to make their way inside and successfully take the ship. For the most part, I was leaving the process and plan to Boxi. Despite his artificial nature, he seemed to have a solid knack for his work, and the "personality" he was developing was stable enough that I was a bit sad to just throw him away, knowing he might not pull it off.

Of course, that hesitance didn't mean I was going to hold off since it was absolutely a fair trade. Around forty droids, none of which we paid for, in exchange for a non-zero chance to get a ship that would come very close to doubling our fleet's strength? That was a no-brainer.

We ended up waiting for the rest of the day and into the following before finally preparing to leave. Sometime around the morning, part of the secondary fleet gathered in orbit, and we received word that it was time.

As planned, rather than having everyone pile in the Chariot now, we would be leaving Alpha Base in the same grouping as we arrived. As we approached our destination, just before we arrived, we would be landing on an empty planet to transfer the Mandalorians and the Rebel strike team over. This planet was only a four-hour jump from our primary target, Forisa, which was a considerably less daunting journey with that many people on board. The planet was also barren, its environment hostile to most forms of life, but since they would literally just be running from one ship to the other, it was pretty much the perfect spot.

Taking off of Alpha Base was simple, and we met up with the distraction fleet in orbit, sharing hyperspace calculations before making the jump. The first leg of our journey would take a whopping four days, which left me with a whole lot of free time. With all that time, and no resources to do any enchanting, I, of course, set my sights on magic. At this point, Hyperspace was basically the only time I had to set aside for it anyway.

During the trip, I managed to learn two more spells, both of them from the Destruction branch. Icey Spear was a powerful enough spell that I was pretty sure it could be considered anti-armor, while Elemental Blast was, from what the Grimoire described, a pretty decent explosion of fire and shock, like an on-demand grenade.

While I was learning the spells, Ahsoka got a first-hand look at how brutal they could be on my mind and body, sitting still, concentrating on my mana for nearly seventeen hours each. She wasn't a fan of seeing me so mentally exhausted and physically hurting, especially when I explained there was one more level after Expert that would probably require me to learn a spell for nearly twenty hours.

Between me learning my magic, Ahsoka and I spent some time sparring and practicing so she could get used to her new armor. We fought with swords first before Julus, Nal, and I ran around her with blasters set to stun, shooting her repeatedly, letting her block the blasts of energy or dodge them.

It was impressive to watch, her movement a dangerous dance, the stun bolt sometimes getting within inches of her, only for her to swing back or drop out of the way. We celebrated when she managed to survive the constant barrage for nearly four minutes.

By the time we landed on the unnamed barren planet, she claimed to be more or less used to the new protective equipment.

"It's at least partly due to your amulet," She claimed, thumbing her simple necklace, which contained a strength buffing enchantment. "I feel a bit slower with one less dexterity increase, but I can hardly feel the armor."

"Just wait until I start enchanting the armor, too," I said with a smile, passing my partner a cup of water as she sat on a crate. "We are going to get a lot more broken after that."

"Why haven't you started doing that yet?" She asked, slowly sipping her water.

"Resources, experience, and time," I explained. "I wanted to be good enough at enchanting that the benefits were noticeable, but by the time I got to that level, I was out of full soul gems. It also takes a long time to do all this enchanting, especially at higher levels. Plus, it takes a lot out of me, worse than learning new spells."

We continued to chat and spar in between me learning magic, until finally we arrived at our first destination. We dropped out of Hyperspace on the outskirts of the system, making our way to the barren planet.

There, in orbit around the barren planet, was the second part of the secondary fleet, waiting for us to arrive. While the fleets coordinated and shared information, the Loyal Hound, Chariot, and a simple shuttle ship, a make I didn't recognize, headed down to the planet's surface. We landed in the middle of nowhere, with the other two ships following us.

The transfer happened quickly, with the Rebel commandos rushing onboard to avoid being outside any longer than necessary. Corvak and his people were a bit more relaxed, not surprising since their helmets protected them from the toxic environment. In total, on top of the twelve Mandalorians, we took twenty new people on board. Two of those people were Chewie and Han, and another two were the temporary pilot and gunner of the Brick. The pilots immediately requested to be shown the small but upgraded shuttle, which I delegated to Nal since he had the most time flying it out of anyone.

I guided the remaining sixteen soldiers into the back of the first deck. While Calima was in the process of lifting off back into orbit, I addressed the large strike force. In order to be seen by everyone, I climbed up onto a crate.

"Hello everyone!" I called out, getting everyone's attention. "So, I'm sure everyone has already been briefed, but my name is Deacon Roy, and I'll be in charge of the ground portion of this operation."

I looked around, spotting Corvak and his men as they removed their helmets. The Rebel fighters were eyeing them up, clearly unsure of how to react to the idea of fighting beside Mandalorians.

"First thing, this is Tatnia. She is my second in command," I explained, gesturing to her. "If I am somehow unreachable, her words are as good as mine. If for some reason she is not available, then Corvak Syr, Leader of Clan Syr, will take over, though, at that point, this operation will have most likely deteriorated into a retreat."

I gestured across the crowd, the Mandalorian leader raising his hand so that everyone could identify him.

"Now, as you may or may not have heard, yes, I can do magic," I explained before casting Flames above the crowd for just a moment. Everyone ducked, but the fire was already out before they could even react. "Do not be alarmed if I am throwing fire, lightning or ice around, as well as conjuring creatures."

I demonstrated my conjuring by quickly casting Conjure Mage, and then having them cast Flames into the air.

"Basically, if I say I can do something, just assume I can," I continued with a smirk. "You'll save us time and yourself embarrassment when I prove you wrong and rub your faces in it."

That got a chuckle from a few people, who I nodded to appreciatively.

"Fantastic, I'm glad we could get that out of the way. For now, everyone get settled in. We have about four hours until we arrive at Forisa and this party starts. Before that, I plan on coming together again and giving over the plan a final time before we can all settle into whatever pre-fight rituals and observances you might have. If anyone is hungry or thirsty, let one of my people know. You can pick us out by our uniforms."

With my basic introductory speech completed, I jumped down off the crate. I quickly looked around and flagged down the leader of the rebel strike team. I wanted to introduce him directly to Corvak and Tatnia before people started going their separate ways.