After a few days of fighting, Tirahnn was almost free from the Sith invasion force. The only thing remaining was the Sith Lord in command of the invasion who was making a last defense on the far side of the planet.
She couldn't retreat because her fleet was forced to flee from Republic reinforcements, leaving her behind to fight. Naturally, whoever gave the order to flee would be killed since this Sith Lord was also part of the Sith council.
And with a Progenitor now leading the Republic, nobody wanted to take the blame for losing, so they pinned it on her. This left her stuck in a situation where there was no escape, unless she could somehow kill Progenitor Nyssa.
This would be impossible, even if she had the strength of a hundred Sith Lords. But she had no choice. Her only path back to power was through victory against impossible odds.
Inside the fortification where she made her last stand, the Sith Lord looked at the gathered troops. She only had about a hundred Sith Knights with her. Most of her forces had already been killed or captured, leaving only the most fanatical followers to fight to the end.
They had a few hundred droids, but the majority of those were malfunctioning, and they had no engineers left to repair them. The Republic's advance had been too overwhelming for them to hold off. It had broken the morale of all but her most loyal supporters.
"Prepare yourselves," she said, holding her lightsaber. "The Republic is coming, and I expect no less than total commitment. If we are to die, let us die in glory. And if we are to live, let it be as victors, not cowards." Her voice traveled through the chamber, a mix of despair and determination.
The Sith around her shouted their agreement and commitment to this last stand.
Outside, the Republic forces led by Progenitor Nyssa approached the final stronghold. They moved with precision, surrounding the perimeter and cutting off any possible escape routes. Nyssa had already sent a full report to the Chancellor, declaring the engagement on Tirahnn a decisive success. The Republic now had the upper hand, and the Sith knew it.
She stood at the forefront of the attack, Republic troopers advancing in perfect unison. The once-mighty Sith forces were now reduced to a cornered remnant.
"Bring their walls down," Nyssa ordered. Heavy artillery moved into position, and the fortification began to tremble under the barrage. The walls shook, and debris rained down on the defenders inside.
The Sith Lord watched as the walls began to crack. She closed her eyes for a moment, gathering her thoughts. This was either her end or the beginning of a new ascension. There would be no middle ground.
"Fight!" she screamed, igniting her lightsaber and rushing to the breaking wall. The other Sith followed, charging towards the Republic troops with every ounce of hatred they could muster.
The Republic forces met them head-on, blasters and lightsabers clashing as the battle erupted. The Sith fought with the ferocity of beings who knew they had nothing to lose, but the Republic fought with nothing.
They were fresh, newly inspired, and guided by the strength of a leader who had promised them victory. It was over even before it began. Nyssa cut through the disorganized Sith like a blade through paper.
The Sith Lord herself tried to rally her forces, but they were outnumbered, outmatched, and without the overwhelming strength they once had.
Her Knights fell one by one, and she found herself alone amidst the bodies of her followers. She looked up to see Nyssa approaching, surrounded by a squad of Republic soldiers.
The battle around them was winding down, and the remaining Sith were surrendering or being cut down. The Sith Lord gritted her teeth and lunged forward with a desperate strike.
Nyssa caught her arm, twisted it behind her back, and forced her to her knees. "You're defeated," Nyssa said. "Acknowledging it now will save you and your people a great deal of further humiliation." The Sith Lord's pride was shattered, and she finally let her lightsaber fall from her hand.
"I will die before I submit to the Republic," she spat.
"Your death isn't required," Nyssa replied. "But if you wish it, I'm sure the Republic courts will honor that request after the war." She gave a signal, and two Republic troopers moved in to take the Sith Lord into custody.
The battle for Tirahnn was officially over. The victory was more than just strategic. It was a turning point that resonated throughout the galaxy. The Republic, once on the brink of collapse, was now showing signs of defiance and resurgence.
Progenitor Nyssa's leadership had sparked hope in places that had long given up, and the legend of her command began to spread among the troops and civilians alike.
Back on Coruscant, Chancellor Ranik used the victory to rally more support. With the sudden reversal in military fortunes, the Senate was gaining confidence in his leadership. Corporations that had been hesitant now started to flock to his side with renewed contracts and offers of aid. The Jedi Order, which had been on the verge of fracturing again, began to reunite under the pressure of the war.
Throughout the Republic, a sense of unity was returning. It wasn't perfect, and the scars of the earlier defeats were still fresh, but for the first time since the start of the war, victory seemed possible.
Entire planets, once on the verge of surrender, now resisted with newfound determination. They even began to organize their own militias and defenses, taking inspiration from Nyssa's example. The war was far from over, but the narrative was changing.
The Republic was no longer seen as a dying power. The Sith Empire, though still powerful, now faced an enemy that refused to be crushed.
Meanwhile, on Yoggoy, Aruun the Unbound, had grown bored of sitting around. Because of this, he started to pay more attention to the war between the Sith and the Republic. He favored the Sith because they were dark side force users, and hated the Republic who houses the Jedi that worshipped the light side of the Force similar to his sister.
Seeing the involvement of one of Daimon's Progenitor's, Aruun was looking to help the Sith out a little.
To do this, he was about to send one of his subordinates, a Miraluka who was captured and converted to the dark side. The Miraluka are a near-human force sensitive species from the planet Alpheridies which had not been discovered by the wider galaxy yet.
They differed from baseline humans as they lacked eyes, only retaining vestigial eye sockets. Because of this, they perceived the environment around them through Force sight.
Aruun had captured a few hundred of them, converted them, and then trained about a dozen of them. Those dozen that he trained would then continue the training of any other Force sensitive that they find for his use.
He was planning to send the Miraluka, namedKirsi alongside a few others to the Sith Emperor to help them out. But this wasn't only to help them out, but he also wanted to see how the Republic would adapt to an unexpected change in the darkness.
Kirsi and her group would arrive on Korriban in a few days, onboard a powerful ship to meet with the Emperor and offer their services.
———
On a dead world in the Unknown Regions, Mnggal-Mnggal was thinking about a matter that still bothered him. The two force sensitives that he sent to investigate what happened to Darth Rune had returned but reported that nothing was out of the norm.
Darth Rune was acting like he usually did, and there were no signs of battle. But the fact that the connection was severed meant that something happened. Whether Darth Rune severed it himself and was pretending, or someone else did was constantly on his mind.
But this didn't stop his plans. In fact, he had just implemented one of his new plans. Due to Progenitor Nyssa being within the Republic, this made her very vulnerable, since the Imperial Intelligence Directorate didn't wield that much power in the Republic, allowing his agents to get inside no problem.
His plan was to have a few of his agents infiltrate the Republic and potentially try to assassinate the Progenitor which will make one less enemy he has to fight in the future.
It was easier to do it now since she was outside of the Imperium and without the protection from her legion.
Was there a risk of being potentially found out by the Emperor? Yes, and he had already done the proper procedures in case that does happen. He has already found another planet to hide on should that come to be.
He would lose all of the things he built, but he would have survived and fooled the Emperor which was worth the risk.