Chapter 209: The Eastern Front

Graham pushed the Sith Emperor back with his lightsaber, meanwhile the Councilor continued to scream on the side as he tried to use his arms to crawl away from the battle. The one Councilor who didn’t join the other simply stared at the scene in front of in awe.

He was so glad that he didn’t join the fight as that could’ve been him crawling on his arms. Some may call him a coward and try to say that he wasn’t a true Sith. But he didn’t care what they were going to say.

He knew he made the right judgment, especially after seeing this fight.

The Sith Emperor charged right back in, using what he learned from observing to try and counter all of Graham’s attacks. But each time he did, Graham would change up the way he moved. It was as if he was adapting faster to whatever moves the Sith Emperor used then the Sith Emperor could adapt to him.

For Graham, he was just trying to see how strong one who calls himself the Sith Emperor was. Graham had already figured out his moves. Every time the Sith Emperor tried to counter, Graham let him, then he turned his counter against him, kicking him in his side and grazing his shoulder with his lightsaber.

The Sith Emperor quickly recovered and held up his lightsaber to block Graham who had charged at him, but his guard was shattered yet again. This time, Graham drove his knee into his ribs, then he punched the Sith Emperor, sending him flying into a nearby pillar.

And before the Sith Emperor could try to get back up, Graham grabbed him by the neck and choked him, until he fell unconscious. The throne room was now quiet except for the legless Councilor, who had finally stopped screaming and was only breathing in short gasps as he was on the verge of death.

"My Lord," Graham said as he held the Sith Emperor’s unconscious body in one hand. "I have brought the Sith Emperor as requested." he said bowing his head while presenting the Sith Emperor’s body.

"Very good Graham." he said, placing a hand on his shoulder, then walking to sit on the Sith Emperor’s throne. On his way there, he saw the lone Councilor who didn’t join the fight and had given him a look which caused the Councilor to throw his lightsaber down and bow his head.

Daimon ignored him and sat on the throne. "The Sith Emperor is no more. From now on, I am the Sith Emperor, and all Sith will follow my orders. Those that refuse to acknowledge this will be executed." he said turning to the lone Councilor.

"You will be my messenger to the other Sith out there. I will send some Balance Keepers to keep eyes on you and to execute those that refuse to follow my orders." Daimon paused for a second thinking about how to convince the other Sith to follow him without having to kill half of them.

"Tell them that if they follow me, I will make them more powerful in the dark side." Daimon said.

The Councilor bowed his head. "As you wish my Lord."

Daimon waved him away and ordered some Balance Keepers to escort him to a ship where he will start his journey. While it would be easy to simply broadcast a message to the galaxy. The Sith would never accept something like that. He needed to force them into submission, that was the only way to show them who’s in charge now.

With that done, Daimon had successfully usurped the Sith Emperor and had effectively ended the war between them and the Republic, creating another buffer zone that the Killiks would have to focus on. Freeing the Republic up from the Sith would allow them to focus their efforts on stopping the Killiks invasion.

It would also make it so that the Aruun wouldn’t be able to use the Sith against Daimon to cause a distraction.

———

In the Imperial controlled Hutt territory, Princess Luna and Princess Vaelora were on the frontlines, with the Empyrean Guards, Imperial clone troopers, and the numerous species that live in the Hutt controlled territories.

They were on the planet Teth, which is controlled by the Killiks. It was held for a few months, before they decided to come and take it back. Luna and Vaelora were side by side staring at the vast number of Killiks in the distance who were waiting for them to attack.

Standing directly behind them were Empyrean Guards and dozens of Balance Keepers.

One of the Balance Keepers, who was in charge of the others, was extremely worried about the safety of the two princesses. Mainly because he knew that the Emperor’s wrath would be unmatched if not only his son’s, but his two daughters were injured as well.

He already had orders to safeguard them from any abnormal enemy, but they kept rushing into battles which made his mission even more difficult as anything could happen in the chaos of a battle. He looked at the Empyrean Guards, and he shook his head in disappointment.

While these particular ones weren’t on Kashyyyk, he still lost a lot of respect for them once he learned that they failed to protect a prince. They were supposed to be able to counter Force Users with their armor and weapons, yet they allowed themselves to be defeated by a person like Aruun and the Prince to be injured.

A few Balance Keepers were also there, but the Empyrean Guards were the one who were in charge of his defense and had 10,000 members on the planet compared to the Balance Keepers who were less than a hundred. If the protection was entrusted to the Balance Keepers, he imagined they would’ve been able to hold Aruun back long enough or even defeat him.

However, his opinion was formed after the fact, and he was only told how powerful Aruun was by Daimon. Still, it was a defeat for the Empyrean Guards who also felt it themselves.

Right now, the two Princesses were surrounded by Empyrean Guards and Imperial Clone troopers who had been waiting for the order to advance for the past hour. The clones held their rifles low and maintained a tight formation.

After a few more minutes had passed, Luna raised her hand and motioned for them to move forward.

The Balance Keeper in charge, a human named Soren who had served in the Imperial Guard for sixty years and still felt too young for the post he had been given, fell in directly behind the two Princesses. He did not like the planet that they were on as Teth’s jungle had stripped in a wide arc around the Killik position. The trees were burned so that anything crossing the open ground would be visible for half a mile.

"Your highnesses," he said getting their attention. "The ridge is mined. Our scouts marked the first line of mines, but not the second behind them. If we go straight at them, we may lose the front rank before we ever reach their frontline."

Vaelora kept walking as she spoke, "We won’t go straight at them." She reached her hand out towards where she sensed the mines. The first line of mines was lifted out of the ground. Luna then closed her fist and the charged detonated mid-air.

The Killiks responded immediately. They rushed over the ridge line in massive wave with their Generals following behind them. The Generals were larger than an Empyrean Guard and they were armored in plates that deflected blaster fire.

"Hold the center!" Luna ordered. "Clones, fire by sections. Do not chase them when they break." She ordered.

The clones opened fire, while the Empyrean Guards met the first wave with their vibroblades. They threw themselves at the Killiks and started to massacre them by the hundreds.

Soren stayed by Luna’s shoulder, while his second, stayed by Vaelora. Some of the Killiks were fast enough that they had bypassed the line to try and kill Luna and Vaelora who were prime targets for them. Soren stepped in and killed them before they even had the chance, but this allowed one of the Killik Generals to break through on the left where it was only the Imperial Clone troopers holding the line.

Three Empyrean Guards went to intercept, with the first losing an arm to a single sweep from its claw. The second drove a blade into one of the Generals joints with the third being able to cut its head off.

The Empyrean Guards had already failed to protect one of the Emperor’s children, and they didn’t plan on making that mistake again.

The other Killik Generals tried to the same as the battle progressed, but they were all killed by the Empyrean Guards before they could even reach the Princesses. Luna and Vaelora had decided to watch the battle this time and only issued commands from the rear as they didn’t want Soren to worry too much and report their actions to their father.

If he did that, then they would probably be banned from commanding the troops. And as much as they hated it, they also understood it. Their brother was critically injured and left in a coma. If something happened to them as well, then what would stop their father from locking every remaining child of his blood behind the palace walls until the war was over. So they stayed where Soren could see them, and they let the soldiers do the work.