The Outer Rim Wars (Book)

The Outer Rim Wars is the first book of the Reclamation Era Series by Aidan Hunter.

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The Galactic Republic fell in 19 BBY. in 4 ABY, the Empire unofficially collapsed. 30 years later, the main governing body of the galaxy was The New Republic. In 35 ABY, the First Order fired their weapon at Starkiller Base, annihilating the Hosnian System, where the New Republic’s capital was located. 50 years later, The main governing body is The Galactic Authority of the State of Coruscant, or in simpler terms, The Authority. Jedi and Sith lords have long since been forgotten. The Authority is run by the Kaiser, a hooded being who is little known. All we know about the Kaiser is that he has been ruling The Authority since The Collapse. The Outer Rim Coalition has been posing a threat to The Authority, as it is an alliance between almost all The Outer Rim territories against The Authority. We’ve been fighting This Great War for almost 4 years, and we haven’t been winning. Politicians clash in the War Council, whereas the Kaiser has been almost unseen.

The War has taken us to one of the most peaceful planets in the galaxy, Naboo. Many years ago, after the Glassing of Malastare, orbital bombardment has been labeled as a war crime. However, The ORC has been glassing planets left and right. Planets such as Mygeeto, Cato Neimoidia, and Kashyyyk have all been glassed in this war, killing billions of Muuns, Wookies, and Neimoidians. We are afraid that the people of Naboo are to suffer the same fate.

Location: Amidala City, Capital of Naboo.

Imagine looking into the distance, and seeing a massive cruise-carrier sitting in the sky. Then imagine it slowly open up its main gun, and unleashing a kyber beam, similar to the Death Star built long ago. Now open your eyes. You didn’t imagine this.

“Go go go, they fired a kyber beam!”

The only thought in your mind, run.

Faster and faster you run, along with the rest of your squad. Zap. To the left of you see the puddle of blood and guts that was your friend Jon.

No time to avenge, keep going.

The gunship is just ahead, you’re almost there. Then you make the mistake of looking behind you. What was once a horizon was now a tsunami of rock and dirt and the buildings of what was once Theed, rushing towards you. Faster you sprint. The gunship doors open. Blaster fire erupts everywhere. In an instant your entire squad, reduced to mounds of flesh, and bone. One shot hits your leg. Gone. Lying on the ground, you look up to see a Pau’an warrior standing over you. Then he looks up in horror, and in an instant, your world is flattened by rock and dirt. Welcome to the Warfront.

My name is Alsten Gabbett, a commander for the Authoritarian Army, and what I just witnessed sent a chill down my spine forever. For weeks now we’ve been fighting for Naboo. So many ships have been destroyed that a sort of ring has formed around the planet. The conflict in space has been bloody, but the ground fight has been full of gore. The people of Amidala City, as well as the Gungan forces, have rallied to our cause, and fought alongside us. Up until today, we were winning. About ten minutes ago, almost 40 Coalition cruisers jumped out of hyperspace. They laid waste to our blockade, and then fired a kyber beam onto the planet. We are now looking at the fiery wasteland that was once Naboo. Only 13% of our fighters made it back, along with some Naboo and Gungan forces.

“Commander, incoming transmission from Coruscant,” said the computer suddenly.

The transmission played: “Commander Gabbett, this is Chief Executive Myn Eberle of the Kaiser’s Office. It appears the Kaiser requests your audience. This should be an honor, and it must be a paramount priority that you attend. Thank you.”

Alrighty then. Looks like we are going to Coruscant.

“Bane, set course for Coruscant.”

“Yes sir!” replied Admiral Bane Pahlee.

~

When I arrived on the surface of Coruscant, I was immediately escorted by Royal Guards to the Kaiser’s Office. When we made it, a Twi’lek woman stopped me.

“My name is Myn Eberle, I was the one who sent the transmission.”

Before I could say anything she cut me off and kept going.

“Let’s get one thing straight, you are meeting with the most powerful man in the galaxy. Don’t try anything.”

And with that, I was escorted into the office. The room was red, but dark. The only light being from a massive window onlooking the busy city.

“Please Commander Gabbett, sit down.” said a man’s voice. My military instincts suddenly kicked in. Judging by his voice, he is a man in his mid 70’s with a Stewjon accent. I was able to see his silhouette in the corner of the room, but his face was in the dark. He then stepped forward.

“My name is Jelahan Mozh, and I am your Kaiser. Now I am sure you have plenty of questions so I am giving you the time to ask them.”

I sat there for a minute. Then I asked, “The year is 87 ABY, and you have been ruling The Authority since The Collapse….why remain a mystery?”

Kaiser Mozh remained silent for a moment, then replied, “In 19 BBY, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine was kidnapped by General Grievous of the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Now of course we know that it was all a part of Palpatine’s plan, and he was indeed the Sith Lord, but he was captured because he was well known. In 4 ABY, Jedi Master Luke Skywalker was able to kill his father Darth Vader, and end the reign of Lord Sidious because they were well known and thought that if they were to show themselves as the higher power, there would be peace. We all know what happened to The Empire. And we know what happened to the First Order. I choose to remain in hiding not for me, but for the betterment of The Authority. Now Commander, I am sure you are wondering as to why you are sitting in the Kaiser’s Office today, so I am here to tell you. We intercepted a transmission from Nal Hutta speaking of the ORC’s headquartered planet. We now have confirmed reports that the Coalition is operating out of Rhen Var. Before I go any further, Commander can I ask you, have you ever heard of The Infinite Empire?”

The Infinite Empire? Why is he asking about old myths and legends?

“No sir, can’t say I have.”

Mozh went on, “Well, The Infinite Empire existed millions of years before the formation of The Old Republic. The Infinite Empire was led by an advanced species known as the Rakata, whom over thousands of years, were eventually able to enslave the entire galaxy. Now eventually a virus took them over, and revolts from their slaves led to their downfall, but what is significant about their empire, was the fact that they were very advanced. More advanced than we are today. Deep in their homeworld of Lehon, lie unfathomable technology and secrets. This transmission not only stated that The Coalition’s headquartered world is Rhen Var, but it also said that they are mining up the surface of Lehon in search of ‘The Space Gate.’ Now I know what you are thinking. Let me tell you that the Rakata were no fairytale, they were real. If you don’t believe me, then you can travel to the Unknown Regions by yourself and see.”

I sat there for a minute, taking it all in.

“Just by the name of it sir, this Space Gate sounds like it either brings something into the galaxy, or pushes something out.”

“You do make a good point… Here is what I want you to do. You are on of our most skilled commanders, leading us through battles like Sullust, Umbara, and Charros IV. I want you to take four cruisers, and travel to Lehon.”

“Bane set course for Lehon.”

Admiral Pahlee looked at me confused.

“Sir Lehon isn’t in our databanks are you sure you have the right name?”

“Try setting course for the Tempered Wastes, Lehon is located in that region.”

Admiral Pahlee typed in Tempered Wastes, and then we whooshed into hyperspace.

When we jumped out of hyperspace I was a bit startled at what we saw outside the Bridge’s windows. Ruined ships everywhere. It looked like the sight of one of the fiercest battles that took place. In the distance, a bluish planet was present, surround by a blockade of Coalition spacecraft. Seemly out of options, I came up with a plan. We were to take a cargo shuttle, load it with 2 battalions of troops, plus myself, and travel to Lehon.

Off we went. When we reached the blockade, a voice transmission came through, “ Cargo shuttle XYZ-998 you are trespassing in restricted area, what is your cargo?”

Think fast Alsten…

“Cargo shuttle XYZ-998 coming from Rhen Var carrying weaponry, and extragalactic cargo.”

One soldier’s voice piped up, “Extragalactic cargo? Nobody’s is importing goods from out of the galaxy, nobody knows what’s out there!”

Before anyone could respond, the voice answered, “ you may proceed Cargo Shuttle XYZ-998.”

Everyone on board the shuttle was silent. As we descended onto the planet, we noticed something very out of place. A massive metallic structure standing at least 1600 meters tall and 3000 meters wide was present, and it was pulsating blue substance into the air. The blue substance was forming a vortex above the structure. Out of the vortex poured hundreds upon hundreds of starcraft. This starships were nothing I’ve ever seen before. We landed in a thicket of shrubbery and rolled out of the shuttle. I told one battalion to stay stationed at the shuttle, and the other one to follow me. We made route for what I assumed to be The Space Gate. As we got closer, we got a better look at the ships, and who was coming out of these ships. Strange alien creatures unknown to the soldiers or I standing at least 1.8 meters tall were present. These creatures were humanoid, but had scarred features, and lacked a nose. In fact, it’s as if the nose was ripped off the creature. Some of these humanoids were holding staffs, that were also alive. A few Rodians were speaking to who seemed to be the leader of this race of aliens. The rodian was addressing the being as Supreme Overlord Shimrra. We stayed close to a tree line when suddenly we heard a loud, grotesque yell from behind us. Blaster fire erupted from near the shuttle. Supreme Overlord Shimrra looked around, then trained his eyes directly on me. Suddenly I felt a sensation of being sucked towards him, like that of a vacuum. He looked at me with his piercing eyes and said,

“Intruder. Welcome to Lehon, the new capital of the Yuuzhan Vong Empire. After 20 millenia we are back to our galaxy which will soon be ours again.”

The Rodian looked at him confused, and then began telling Shimrra that they are here on behalf of the Coalition and not as their own Empire. Shimrra looked at him, and the Rodian started screaming in pain. He collapsed onto the ground and started bleeding from his eyes. Then, his whole head imploded on itself. I exchanged a look between the dead Rodian and Shimrra, and I decided to play with the act. I got on me knees.

“Very good,” said Shimrra, “Clearly even a creature so vile as a human knows a higher power when he sees one. Your friends will all be spared, except one. I would like you to travel back to Yuuzhan’tar, and tell your leader that he is to discuss his surrender terms with me immediately.”

I was confused, “Supreme Overlord, where exactly is Yuuzhan’tar?”

“I believe you humans call this planet Coruscant. Travel there.”

And with that, I blinked and I was back on board the shuttle, with all my troops except one.

By the time our hyperdrive got us to Coruscant, the Vong warships were already there in battle with our cruisers defending the surface. My four cruisers remained on the outskirts of the fight, as we watched in horror of the immense power the Yuuzhan Vong warships were capable of. I took a shuttle to Mozh’s palace, and stormed into his office. Jelahan was watching the fight from his window, onlooking as debris from our capital ships belted the city below.

“Commander Gabbett, I presume you’ve found out what the Coalition is doing on Lehon. This species sure does like to put on a show.”

“Kaiser sir, with all do respect, we need to surrender all forces to the Yuuzhan Vong, they are going to annihilate us.”

“So the Yuuzhan Vong have returned. Commander you certainly do need to refresh your history in the Jedi Archives. The Yuuzhan Vong used to live in our galaxy. On Coruscant with us in fact. Us humans and Yuuzhan Vong lived in harmony, until The Infinite Empire came and enslaved our races. Don’t worry Gabbett, I know all about Shimrra, and his people. They will be dealt with swiftly.”

I looked at him dumbfounded. “Kaiser, half our Navy is being blown to smithereens up there. How are we going to stop them.”

Jelahan sighed.

“Myn? Would you be so kind as to execute Order 68?”

We watched from his window at the events that were unfolding above, when suddenly, a massive hole opened up from the depths of the city below. Then, a massive green kyber beam shot up from the ground up towards the battle ensuing above. The Kaiser looked at me and chuckled as I watch in horror as a hundred Vong warships crashed to the surface.

“Commander, when the Clone Program was initiated, many Contingency Orders were established, the most famous being Order 66. Palpatine was an evil person, but he was also very smart. He established The Iron Shield on Coruscant, which was pretty much a bunch of massive kyber cannons that would unleash hell onto the enemy above.”

I realized how smart the Kaiser was, but how stupid he was in that very instant.

“Kaiser, Shimrra has hundreds of his warships pouring out of The Space Gate as we speak. The Iron Shield won’t stop them, it will only slow them.”

“You may be right, but the Yuuzhan Vong will know their place soon enough. In the meantime, the Coalition have begun an invasion on Byss. As you know, Byss is the second most populated planet next to Coruscant, not to mention it has our largest military presence. We cannot allow them to glass this planet. I want you to take your four ships, and 20 more I have enlisted into your armada, and intercept the Coalition.”

I had nothing else to say to the Kaiser, so I just left his office.

When we arrived at Byss, we were immediately embraced with the open arms of laser fire. All fighters scrambled, and we sent dropships to the surface. I felt very weary that the Yuuzhan Vong would attack us, so I kept my four capital ships on the outskirts of the battle.

The battle above was fierce, but we managed to force the ships into a retreat. On the surface, our spec ops troopers were able to round up many Coalition soldiers. Instead of the routine execution, I wanted to question them in hopes of figuring out more about the Vong. If they didn’t answer the questions, we just simply launched them out to space. Surprisingly we were able to get some information out of some soldiers. Turns out the Vong were for the most part staying in the Unknown Regions near Zaadja and Zenoma Sekot, both planets I’ve never heard of. The Coalition unfortunately has been unable to contain the Yuuzhan Vong, and are no longer in alliance with them.

The Outer Rim Wars have now become a three way tug-a-war.

The eventual win on Byss was a turning point for the war. We were able to push the Coalition into their territory, with crushing wins over Tatooine, Utapau, and Geonosis. Then came the big fight. The fight for Hutt Space. The Battle for Ganath was one of the worst. It was a mass slaughter of our troops. The only reason we one that battle was because the Coalition glassed their own planet, killing their own people. During our invasion of Nal Hutta, we were able to arrest key pawns in the Hutt Cartel, but we also found something that was very pivotal in the war. We found out that the leader of the Coalition was Rodric Maxx, A human from Alderaan. This confused many people, including Kaiser Mozh, because the destruction of Alderaan happened nearly ninety years ago. I decided to take a trip to the Jedi Archives, just to see if there was anything about him.

The librarian directed me to Alderaan’s censuses dating before its obliteration. I found no results, so then I decided to search the galaxy-wide census dating from 4 ABY and below. What I found was very troubling and didn’t make any sense. The only name that popped up for Rodric Maxx was a Muun named Hego Damask II, from the planet Mygeeto. He worked for the Banking Clan during the Naboo Crisis over 100 years ago. How can a man who was born around 170 years ago be operating a joint military operation that spans nearly ⅔ of the galaxy? I went to Mozh to fill him in on my discovery.

When I told him, Mozh looked at me with an uneasy look in his eyes.

“Hego Damask II. I haven’t heard that name in a very long time.”

“Well do you know who he is,” I asked.

“I do,” replied Mozh, “Hego Damask II was that leader of the Banking Clan during the Naboo Crisis in 32 BBY. Hego Damask II also happens to be the name of the mysterious, yet notorious Sith Lord named Darth Plagueis. We must put an end to the Coalition as quickly as possible, I want all ships to prioritize an attack on Rhen Var. There is an ancient Sith Temple located on the planet, and I am sure that if this is really is Plagueis, we must kill him.”

Location: Rhen Var

80 of our best cruiser zoomed out of hyperspace, instantaneously firing their cannons and weaponry at the massive blockade surrounded Rhen Var. The world was shielded with one access point. We couldn’t afford to waste any time, so we decided to test a highly unstable experimental EMP MAC gun on the shield’s entry point. It worked, the shield’s on the planet were lifted. As we were starting our ground assault, an alert popped up on our war table. 30 unidentified capital cruisers were coming out of hyperspace.

The Yuuzhan Vong were relentless, shooting down both our ships, and the Coalition’s. We managed to send an army to Rhen Var relatively unscathed. I went down with them in hopes to confront Plagueis. The surface of the planet is a barren frozen wasteland. Our dropships were being shot down left and right. When we got to the surface and the doors to the dropship opened, we were immediately greeted with gunfire. It’s a horror to watch the men you command being torn to shreds by bolts of flaming light traveling thousands of feet per second.

Up in Space the battle was fierce. For every Yuuzhan Vong warship we brought down, 2 of ours were brought down with it. On board Gabbett’s capital ship, things were intense. The Yuuzhan Vong have been tearing their shields apart. Admiral Pahlee was ready to call a full retreat and abandon Gabbett and his forces, when all of a sudden, the ship’s main power shut down. Suddenly, there was a loud bang, and four more bangs after that.

In the lower decks of the ship, people were confused as to what the bangs were, as they got closer to the source, they noticed large metal protrusions sticking into the ship. The ends of the objects opened up into five sections, and clamped against the hull of the ship. Out poured Yuuzhan Vong warriors slaughtering every human in their path. Their long snake-like staffs ripped people apart. Ares Tolod, a first mate, watched in horror as his friends slowly bled to death before him. Then a lumbering giant stood in front of him. Tolod raised his weapon and pointed it at the Vong.

“Pitiful human,” said Shimrra, “A waste of life you are, to think you can even attempt to best the mighty Shimrra.”

Shimrra looked at the rifle, and looked at the petrified eyes of Ares Tolod. Then unwillingly Tolod slowly started turning the gun around so that the barrel was pointed at his face. Tolod screamed in horror, as for he had no control over his body, as his finger slowly wrapped around the trigger. Then in an instant, a loud blast was heard, and Tolod withered to the ground, as the searing flesh that was his head melting down his body.

We were severely outnumbered. Coalition soldiers poured down the side of the mountain like ants coming out of their hill. Screw this. I rounded up 20 guys and told everyone else to fall back to the gunships, and take off in exactly 10 minutes.

Me and my soldiers snuck around the side of the citadel, and climbed the face of the mountain it rested on. When we reached the summit, we were immediately greeted by a battalion of Rodian Coalition soldiers. Then they all looked at us, looked at themselves, and dropped their guns. Then one by one they lined up, faced the edge of the mountain, and one at a time ran towards the edge and dove off. Each individual did this, as if they had no control of their body After the last one jumped, a tall being stepped forward. As if willed by his mind, all of my men's guns were thrown from their hands, and suspended in air, facing us. Then simultaneously, the triggers were pulled, and every one of my men sunk to the floor.

“Alsten Gabbett, you are a bold one. Traveling to the edges of the Outer Rim, to find me. Well, welcome, my name is Hego Damask.”

“I know who you are.”

“Then you should know my power. The thought was that no Jedi or Sith remained. That thought is wrong. But let me tell you Alsten, I am but a pawn. The Coalition is only a strategic maneuver in this game of Chess, and so is your Authority. Let me tell you, that I am not the enemy. The real enemy is Onimi, and he is coming.”

“You son of a ―”

Suddenly my throat started closing up as if someone was suffocating me.

“Choose your words wisely Mister Gabbett, you are in the midst of someone who has power beyond anything you can believe. Now, if you are ready to listen, I want to tell you about Onimi.”

He released his grasp around my neck.

“Onimi is the God of the Yuuzhan Vong, the only Vong to have a connection to The Force. He is far more power than anyone ever, and I can prove this. From my cruiser, I watched Onimi cause the planet Raxus Prime to collapse on itself. Now I don’t believe anyone would want someone with such a power in the galaxy, so I am offering you an ultimatum. Surrender The Authority, and I will stop the Yuuzhan Vong Invasion. Failure to do so, and well, none of us will have a fun time.”

“What makes you think I have the power to surrender the entire Authority?”

“Well, I have foreseen the future, and I believe that you personally sign the treaty that ends the war, not Jelahan Mozh. Mozh is not who he says he is. He is far more powerful than anyone would ever suspect.”

I didn’t want to believe another word coming out of this bastard's mouth. I whipped out my pistol and kneecapped him.

“Gunship 1, this is Alsten Gabbett, I have retrieved the package, and I am requesting immediate evac.”

We barely escaped. Normally, the admiral is supposed to go down with his ship. Screw that. The officers in the bridge bolted to the escape pods, and hightailed it out of the ship towards the nearby ship The Venerator. We decided as a collective that if we launched a High Power EMP at that enemy ships, then fired a Magnetic Pole at Rhen Var, it would be enough to incapacitate The Coalition. So that is exactly what we did. The EMP cut the power to all Coalition ships. We launched the Magnetic Pole at Rhen Var. We watched as it crashed into the surface, causing a shockwave obliterating anything attached to the surface. We then all retreated to Coruscant, with Plagueis onboard.

We escorted Plagueis to the prisons on Coruscant to a maximum security level. Kaiser Mozh wanted to have a word with Plagueis, but he was to be executed went brought to the prisons. The execution was quick and to the point, and Plagueis’s body was burned, however as it was burning, a green smoke emerged from his body. Curious. After that was done, the Kaiser was scheduled to host his first Senate meeting in a very long time. Much of the Outer Rim was now in the custody of The Authority. I felt very suspicious of Mozh after what Hego Damask said about him. So, I decided to sneak into Kaiser’s Vault, a secret databank and archives network specifically for the eyes of the Kaiser only. It is rumored that lost secrets from the Galactic Republic and even before were located there. I thought maybe something could be of use. Kaiser’s Palace was not easy to break into. The first 2 levels are open to the public, the rest is restricted. The Kaiser’s Office was on Floor 152, and the final 2 levels after are dedicated to  the Kaiser’s eyes only. After several hours of crawling through ventilation shafts, I reached Kaiser’s Vault. It happened to be located in the main spire of the building.

I searched for awhile and I was only finding different military blueprints from the Empire, and previous ruling parties. I then found a file labeled Operation ShadowStick. When I opened the file, my eyes were glued on three words: The Space Gate. The passage said

Nearly 50,000 years ago, The Rakata Empire created an extragalactic teleporter. There, the Rakata were able to build their Empire up, in the event that the day came that they fell. The Space Gate (translated loosely from Rakatan texts,) was never dismantled or destroyed to date, and is located on the planet of Lehon. The Galactic Republic has acknowledged the presence of The Space Gate, and keeps at round-the-clock blockade around the planet so nobody would activate it, bringing back the Rakata, or worse, the Yuuzhan Vong ….

The file was corrupted after Yuuzhan Vong. I put the file aside, and scanned the texts for other time Yuuzhan Vong was said, and I found another file.

The Yuuzhan Vong are a sentient species of extreme danger. They resemble humans in that they have four appendages, but they lack a nose. The Yuuzhan Vong are most widely known for believing that anything mechanical is an abomination, and should be eradicated. All of their weaponry and spacecraft is 100% Organic. The Yuuzhan Vong are of concern to the Jedi Order, because they lack in being sensed by the Force. They originally lived in The Galaxy, but fled do to the spread of The Infinite Empire, and the enslavement of their people. The First Yuuzhan Vong Invasion happened approximately 1200 years before the Naboo Crisis…

Interesting. So the Yuuzhan Vong have invaded the Galaxy before, but we did stop them. I decided to scan for one more name, Jelahan Mohz.

Jelahan Mohz, born in 48 BBY was a Jedi Master during The Clone Wars. After the death of his friend and ally Pong Krell, Mohz fell from the Order, and began on a killing spree of his fellow jedi and clones. Krell and Mohz were eventually found to be scheming against the Republic and the Jedi Order. During the Galactic Civil War, Mohz exiled himself on the planet of Lehon. After The Collapse, with the Galaxy in disarray, Mohz stepped up as the Kaiser of The Galactic Authority of the State of Coruscant, which has been ruling the Galaxy every since.

After reading that, I felt a burning anger swell up in me. I wanted to kill Jelahan, for his lies and crimes against the Galactic Republic. Then I heard someone enter the room.

“Having fun Commander Gabbett,” said Mohz.

“You. You are a Sith Lord!”

“No I’m not; do you see me carrying a lightsaber? Now grant it I may have one or two, maybe even five, but these aren’t mine.”

“How can you be over 100 years old that’s impossible!”

“Well actually it’s not, because I’m not human. I am Yuuzhan Vong. My name isn’t Jelahan Mohz. My name is Onimi. I believe you have heard of me.”

And with that, Onimi raised his hand, hoisting Alsten into the air and smashed him up against the wall.

“Your Galactic Republic was a failed institute led by a failed leader. Sheev Palpatine should have never used the Clones from Kamino. What do you think you are? Instead of recruiting an army, I simply hired the wondrous Kaminoan cloners and used the Jango Fett copy. Gabbett, you are nothing more than a puppet. What was interesting about this process were the Contingency Orders. You saw me use one on Shimrra’s armada. Order 54 is my personal favorite. The mass genocide of innocent civilians. Why would the Republic even need that? It’s outrageous!”

Onimi used the Force to twist my leg in an unimaginable position. The pain rattled my mind, and I started to blackout.

“Commander, don’t give up on me! There is so much that has to be done.Yuuzhan’tar must be liberated of the vile human population. So…. Clone Commander Alsten Gabbett, the time has come. Execute Order 54.”

Alsten Gabbett barely stood up, “It will be done my Lord.”