Hook, Line, and Sinker

-8:00 AM, December 29th, 2055- 

This morning was a great morning. The reason being that today was the day we would get to sucker punch Forest. 

I was standing in a safehouse with Sirius. Before me was a projected map of Ryloth. It showed the planet and its moon. Near the planet was just empty space. However, that wouldn't be the case for long. 

I scratched my chin, wondering what was taking them so long. "Sirius, are you sure you destroyed all of their spice?" 

Sirius nodded. "Yes, I'm sure of it." 

I shook my head. "Hmmmm. Then why haven't they showed up yet... Ah, there they are." 

Suddenly, almost 2 dozen ships appeared in orbit over Ryloth. 

I whistled as I stared at the scanner. "Damn, they sent two CSGs. We really pissed them off." 

I tapped a button on the table. "Overlord, the fish are on the line. I repeat, the fish are on the line." 

(In case anyone hasn't picked up on it, Overlord is the callsign I'm using for the theater controller. They directly interface with the theater commander and distribute orders on their behalf. This allows the commanding officer to focus on analysis and coordination.) 

They replied quickly. "How's the catch looking?" 

I chuckled. "There's a few big ones, but I think the rod can handle it." 

A few seconds passed before he responded again. "Alright. Let's reel them in." 

The communication channel when silent. With great intent, I looked at the scanner. I was waiting for my cue to start the show. 

After about a minute, another 11 ships appeared behind the 22 that had already shown up. One of the 22 faded from the scanner within seconds. The Limitless CSG, my prized possession, had arrived. 

I tapped another button on the table, causing the hologram to disappear. Then, I turned to my padawan. "Come. Operation Twi'leki Freedom is about to begin. We must get the civilians off the streets." 

Sirius nodded. "Let's do this." 

I smiled and reached towards my collar with both hands. I pushed my robes back and rolled my shoulders, letting the robes drop to the floor. It was a chilly morning, but it was about to get hot. 

I had on my brand-new clothes. Great for a battle, right? 

Fitted black pants with built in kneepads hugged my legs. Brown leather boots protected my feet with their steel toe. Under my beige sweater was a Kevlar-like vest to protect my vitals. Additional armor plates were under my sweater on my shoulders and forearms. 

On my neck I wore a black neck gaiter. If there were explosions, the gaiter would allow me to cover my face. The gaiter contrasted with my hair that had turned dirty blond like I had back home from all the sun I'd been under. I had gotten that cut recently. Violet was not very happy with my bun, so I got it cut. It was still long but stayed on my head. 

I had a belt with some injectors and my two lightsabers. My blaster pistol was holstered on my right thigh with my combat knife sheathed on my left. 

Sirius sighed as he watched me bask in my own glory. "Did Violet put that together for you?" 

I nodded proudly. "Yep. Her boyfriend always needs to look good." 

He rolled his eyes and walked towards the door. I followed behind him. 

Sirius had gained a lot of confidence since becoming cancer free. He even had a nice head of black hair with the front flipped back on a combover. With his muscles now filled in, he was a sight to see. Unfortunately, his cancer stuck around long enough for him to be stuck at 5'7. His father was a hulking 6'3 so one could easily imagine how bitter he was about that. At least his kids will be tall! 

Sirius waved his hand and the door slid open. We stepped through and bathed in the early morning screams and sunlight. 

I sighed as I watched countless civilians flee down the street. It was too early for this shit. 

Running against the stream of people, a platoon sized group of armed Twi'lek's ran down the street. I got a bad feeling as I recognized some of them. They were resistance fighters. 

I pushed past Sirius. "Let's go. We need to help them." 

Confusion filled my mind as I tried to figure out why they were in this area. There wasn't supposed to be any fighting this far out if everything went according to plan. Did something change? 

As I was running, I tapped my ear. "T, I need a SITREP." 

After a few seconds, Tomas replied. "The city is in complete chaos as planned. In their haste, they have exposed all their capabilities. They have a brigade's worth of troops here." 

I nodded, still running. "Good. They may outnumber us 5 to 1, but we have the locals on our side. Let's just hope the resistance doesn't go rogue... I gotta go. See you soon." 

I cut off the channel as I reached a hastily constructed defensive line. It was being pulled together before my eyes by the resistance fighters. I sighed as I observed their work. I pointed to a spot. "TIGHTEN THAT GAP!" 

They all paused and looked back, most of them with widened eyes. Several of them even smiled before they all got back to work. 

One of the fighters rushed over. "Master Jedi!" 

I smiled. "Good morning, Captain Pato." I nodded towards the fighters putting together the barrier. "Why'd they look surprised to see me?" 

Pato sighed. "A lot of them weren't sure that you'd actually show up." 

I looked up to the sky. "Have any of you bothered looking up?" 

Pato looked towards the skies and his jaw dropped. Constant flashes of light could be seen through the blue skies. This was clear evidence of heavy fighting in orbit over the city. 

I smiled, beaming with pride. "That's about a billion credits worth of hardware and supplies, and twenty thousand troops coming to your air." I gestured towards my CSG. "That, my friend, is Acta Non Verba." 

Looking back down, I swore I saw a tear running down Pato's face. I walked over and patted him on the shoulder. "There's work to do Captain. Let's make sure we finish rolling out the red carpet." 

Pato rubbed his eye and nodded. "Yes. Of course." He then turned back to his fighters and his expression turned livid. "HEY! NOT LIKE THAT, IDIOT!" He rushed off. 

I heard a beep in my ear as the female robotic voice of ANV's AI sounded in my ear. "Overwatch is now online." 

My eyes lit up as I pulled a small disk from my belt. I squeezed it gently. A hologram of the city appeared. There were many clusters of red and just as many smaller clusters of white moving throughout the city. 

I looked up and caught a glimpse of one of our drones circling above the city. This map was being updated in real time. 

I looked back at the map and found a pulsing blue dot. This was me. Not far away, there was a large cluster of red moving towards my position. 

I tapped my ear as soon as I saw this. "Overlord, this is General Brenko. I need reinforcements at Charlie-Kilo-Alpha-0-2-0-0-9-2. There is a battalion sized unit enroute to my position. ETA is 2 minutes." 

After 10 seconds, there was a reply. "General, please confirm coordinates." 

I sighed, knowing that didn't bode well. "Charlie-Kilo-Alpha-0-2-0-0-9-2." 

Overlord quickly replied this time. "Affirm, General. There are available air assets. ETA 8 minutes. Permission to proceed danger close." 

I clicked my tongue. I knew it. "Permission granted. Tell them I'd like to keep my eyebrows." 

There was a laugh from the other side. "Will do, General." 

I closed the channel and quickly ran over to Pato. "Captain, there's about 400 of them walking down the street. They'll be here in two minutes and my air asset will be here in eight." 

Pato froze for a moment before panic set in. "FOUR HUNDRED?! THERE'S ONLY 50 OF US!" 

I shoved him hard on his chest. He stumbled a few steps before I grabbed his shirt and held him close to me. "Captain, quiet the fuck down. The last thing we need is for your men to lose their cool. Can I count on you?" 

He hesitated for a moment but then nodded. "Y-yes." 

I released him and nodded. "Good. We don't have to do anything crazy. We just need to hold this position for 6 minutes." 

Sirius walked up from behind me. "Master, your rifle." 

I turned around and found Sirius holding my rifle. This was ANV's internally developed blaster rifle. It was shaped exactly like the XM5 that I had become accustomed to back on Earth. My good friend Axillus Braves, the bigwig from the Galaxies Opera House, and his company, Adaptive Arms, had been manufacturing all our weapons and equipment. They were our counterpart to KDY who specialized in weapons platforms. 

Attached to the rifle were shoulder straps so I could let it hang on a cord without wearing a full tactical vest. It would cramp my style. 

I nodded and smiled. "Thanks. And for breakfast this morning, I'll have my usual. Timer is set for 6 minutes." 

Sirius grinned and nodded. "Consider it done." 

He then darted into an alleyway, jumped off the buildings a few times, and then disappeared onto the rooftops.