A/N: Here is the Prewar Galaxy Map. Another one will be created at the end of the war showing all the changes.
(Prewar Galaxy Map)
At one of the Balance Keeper temples, several dozen Balance Keepers and Tython war droids were fighting desperately against Republic forces and Jedi Knights who were attempting to breach the temple's defenses. Master Teth Maluun led the assault, his lightsaber deflecting blaster fire as he advanced with a squad of Jedi Knights behind him.
"Push forward!" Master Maluun commanded. He himself had managed to kill 3 Balance Keepers so far and he was eager for more. The Republic soldiers advanced alongside the Jedi, their formations tight despite taking casualties from the war droids' precise targeting.
The Balance Keepers fought with discipline that surprised Master Maluun; they showed none of the emotional turmoil he expected from Force users who had rejected traditional Jedi teachings.
One Balance Keeper, a Zabrak woman with markings on her face, engaged two Jedi Knights simultaneously. Her fighting style was unlike anything in the Jedi archives. She transitioned between offensive strikes and defensive postures that seemed to anticipate her opponents' moves before they even made them.
"They're too organized," one of the Jedi Knights said to Master Maluun. "It's like they can see our tactics and moves before we execute them."
"They've abandoned the light," Master Maluun replied. "Whatever power they've gained from their heretical practices, it won't save them from justice."
The temple's outer wall was finally breached under concentrated artillery fire. Republic soldiers poured through the gap, only to be met by a wall of Balance Keepers who had been waiting precisely for this moment.
The courtyard became a killing field. War droids provided suppressing fire from elevated positions while Balance Keepers moved through the Republic lines. Master Maluun watched as three more Jedi fell, not to overwhelming force, but to precise strikes that exploited small weaknesses in their defenses.
"Fall back to the secondary entrance!" Master Maluun ordered, realizing the assault was starting to become a stalemate. "Regroup and…."
He didn't get a chance to finish his command as Imperial gunships surrounded their forces. Jumping out of these gunships were the Imperial Immortals that Master Maluun had heard so much about. These were the elite forces of the emperor, which meant that if they were here then the emperor was also present.
A battalion of Immortals had jumped from the gunships and onto the battlefield, forming a protective barrier around the temple with their bodies.
While this was happening, Republic fighters had appeared and had managed to take out a few gunships, causing the rest to initiate evasive maneuvers and retreat. Amongst the Immortals who dropped, Daimon and 100 of the Empyrean Guards had also managed to drop and were now on the battlefield.
Daimon met up with the commander of the Imperial Forces, Guardian Kael Vhoris, who had been coordinating the temple's defense. "Status report."
"My Lord," Guardian Kael bowed quickly, "Republic forces control approximately thirty percent of the planet's surface. They've established forward operating bases in the northern continent and are pushing toward the Great Temple. Jedi strike teams are targeting our meditation sanctuaries across the southern hemisphere."
"Casualties?"
"Two hundred Balance Keepers killed, four hundred wounded. The war droids have sustained forty percent losses. We've inflicted significant damage on their forces, but they keep sending more troops through orbital drops."
Daimon looked up at the sky and could see the hundreds of Republic ships orbiting the planet. If they wanted to get rid of them, then they would need to get rid of this fleet.
"Have all our forces stay behind cover. Myself, the Empyrean Guards, and the Immortals will push the enemy back. Once we get them outside of the temple grounds, then order your forces to engage, but not a moment sooner." Daimon ordered.
"Understood, My Lord." replied Guardian Kael.
Daimon made his way to the front where he saw the Republic soldiers regrouping behind makeshift barriers while Jedi Knights formed defensive perimeters around them. Among them, Master Maluun watched as Daimon came into view. His eyes widened as he recognized the distinctive, purple-skinned giant.
"That's him," Maluun shouted. "The tyrant himself."
"All forces, concentrate fire on the Emperor!" a Republic officer shouted into his comm.
Artillery pieces flew toward Daimon's position. Dozens of blaster rifles opened fire and dozens of Jedi Knights charged forward.
Daimon watched as the artillery pieces flew toward him, but he didn't budge. Instead, the artillery pieces smacked the Force barrier formed around Daimon and the soldiers that were following him, creating a smoke cloud.
As the smoke cloud started to clear, the Republic forces wanted to believe that the emperor was dead, but if what they were told was true, then it would take more than this.
And right they were as once the smoke cloud cleared, Daimon and his soldiers stood untouched by the Republics attacks.
"Let's clear em out" ordered Daimon as he ignited his lightsaber as charged forward. The Empyrean Guards and Immortals charged forward behind him. The Republic soldiers opened fire, but Daimon moved through the blaster bolts like they were nothing more than rain, his lightsaber deflecting shots here and there.
Once he got close, he saw the Republic's reinforcements coming in hot. It looked to be enough reinforcements to overwhelm them completely.
Daimon extended his hand, and a wave of Force energy moved outward like a shockwave. The incoming Republic soldiers were lifted off their feet and thrown backward, crashing into their own formations. Vehicles flipped over, their armor crumpling like paper. The Jedi Knights attempted to shield their troops, but the power behind Daimon's attack shattered their defensive barriers.
"Protect the infantry!" Master Maluun shouted, rallying the remaining Jedi. He charged toward Daimon directly; his lightsaber held in one of the newer saber forms. Three other Masters followed, forming a coordinated attack pattern meant to overwhelm Daimon.
Daimon met them in the middle, parrying the first strike from the first Master, then spinning and delivering a kick that sent the Jedi flying into a collapsed wall.
The second and third Masters attacked simultaneously from different angles. Daimon used his free hand to catch one Master in a Force grip that lifted her off the ground while his lightsaber locked with the other's blade. For a moment they struggled, then daimon pushed harder. The Jedi Master's lightsaber was forced back toward his own face before Daimon unlocked their blades and struck him down with a single blow.
He then pulled the Master that he had in a Force grip towards him and cut her in half. Master Maluun watched in horror as his fellow Masters fell within seconds.
"He's too powerful!" one of the Knights shouted. "We need to retreat!"
"Stand your ground!" Maluun commanded, though when he turned back around, Daimon was already right in front of his face. He tried to raise his lightsaber, but his body was frozen, alongside those around him.
Daimon had put all the Republic forces present in a Force hold that made all of them frozen in place. "Your Master Maluun," said Daimon.
"I can sense that you have killed several Balance Keepers and you think your actions are justified. But let me tell you something." Daimon leaned closer, his voice dropping to a whisper. "Those Balance Keepers you killed? They were defending their home from invaders who fabricated evidence to justify this war. You're not heroes. Your pawns being used by politicians too cowardly to face me themselves."
Master Maluun struggled against the Force hold, his face reddening as he kept trying to free himself. Around him, hundreds of Republic soldiers and Jedi Knights remained suspended, unable to move even a finger. He could kill all of them right now if he wanted to. It would take less effort than breathing, but he had a better use for them.
"But don't worry about those politicians and the Jedi High Council. I'll pay them a personal visit soon enough." He turned around and gestured to his soldiers who were already walking up. "Arrest all the Jedi, then execute the soldiers."
"Copy that, Sir" replied one of the Empyrean Guards as they relayed his orders to the others.
However, Daimon could not relax as he sensed an attack coming from above. A republic cruiser had descended into the atmosphere and had fired on their position, not worried about the friendly casualties.
Daimon waved his hand, blocking the shot from the ship with a Force field. After that, he reached both his hands out and began to drag the cruiser from out the sky.
The cruiser's engines screamed as they tried to compensate for the invisible force pulling it to the ground. Inside the bridge, alarms blared as the crew struggled to understand what was happening. "We're losing altitude!" the pilot shouted. "Engines at maximum thrust but we're still descending!"
The captain didn't know what was going on, but if they didn't do something then the ship was going to crash into the surface. "All power to engines! Emergency ascent protocols!"
It made no difference. Daimon's grip on the vessel was overwhelming. The cruiser tilted forward, its nose pointing toward the ground as it accelerated downward despite every system fighting against it. Republic soldiers on the ground scattered as the shadow of their own ship fell across them.
With a final pull, Daimon brought the cruiser crashing into the ground several hundred meters from the temple. The impact created a massive crater, the ship's hull buckling and tearing apart. Explosions rippled through it as fuel cells ruptured from the impact.
Next, he moved onto the ships in orbit, spreading his consciousness throughout the system. He sensed the hundreds of Republic ships positioned above Tython. Each one represented thousands of lives, but more importantly, each one represented the Republic's arrogance in believing they could simply overwhelm the Imperium through numbers alone.
He extended both hands toward the sky and began to do the same thing he had done on the ship before.
In orbit, the Republic fleet suddenly found their ships' systems failing. Navigation computers sparked and died. Weapons systems locked up. Most critically, their engines began shutting down one by one.
"What's happening?!" Admiral Korvin demanded from the bridge of his flagship, "Engineering, report!"
"Sir, we're experiencing complete systems failure across all departments! It's like something is interfering with every electronic system simultaneously!"
"Impossible! Our systems have redundancies, shielding against electromagnetic interference…."
The ship jumped as its engines died completely. Through the viewport, Korvin watched in horror as the same thing happened to every vessel in his fleet. Ships that had been maintaining orbital positions began drifting, their momentum carrying them in unpredictable directions.
On the surface, Daimon's eyes glowed with Force energy as he manipulated the electromagnetic fields around each vessel. He didn't destroy them outright; instead, he systematically disabled every ship's ability to maintain orbit or mount an offensive.
"Sir, we're caught in Tython's gravity well!" the helmsman shouted. "Without engines, we're going to be pulled down!"
Admiral Korvin gripped the command console. "All ships, emergency protocols! Abandon ship, if necessary, get to the escape pods!"
But Daimon wasn't finished. He reached deeper into the Force, feeling the life signatures aboard each vessel. He then began targeting the escape pods before they could launch, fusing their hatches shut or disabling their propulsion systems. One way or another, the Republic fleet would fall, and their crews would fall with them.
"This is Admiral Korvin to all Republic forces on Tython and in orbit! Full retreat! I repeat, full retreat!"
The order came too late for most. Ship after ship began their descent through the atmosphere, their hulls heating up from reentry without proper shielding or controlled descent protocols. Some broke apart before reaching the surface. Others crashed intact but with such force that survival was impossible.
The Imperial soldiers just stared at Daimon, in awe of what they had just witnessed. They had seen many things, but never before had they witnessed an entire fleet getting pulled from orbit onto the surface of the planet.
"Let's get this area cleaned up." said Daimon noticing that they had stopped to look at him.
Hearing this order, they continued what they were doing while Daimon just stared into the sky. He wasn't done yet, not by a long shot. Once they were done here, he would pay a personal visit to Ossus to have a word with the Jedi High Council.