Rise of Emperor Phantom (Star wars x DP crossover)

Chapter 40: The pirates

"Master, can we talk about something?" Ahsoka asked.

It was one of the quiet moments on the unimportant post within the Republic space. Everyone present on Skywalker's flagship was entertaining themselves however they could. The Togruta noticed that there was another trait Anakin and her father shared. They both had a passion for fiddling with the machinery. But if in Danny's case that were ectotechs: blasters, generators, etc, then Skywalker loved modifying his yellow starfighter. And at the moment he was fiddling with something beneath it. Anakin rolled from there on the small platform and looked up.

"Sure, go ahead, Snips."

Ah, yes, the nickname he had given her.

"I just wanted to ask...what do you think of Phantom?" Ahsoka asked carefully.

"He is a coward, ran away and preferred the droids to fight instead of him. Or is it me who is just scary?" Anakin inquired, tightening the screws.

"Uhm, no, you are not, it's just...he saved me, you know?"

Now the Jedi Knight was curious.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Grievous was trying to find me, but he distracted that tin can."

"It could be an accident."

Ahsoka shook her head. "No, he looked straight into my eyes. And smirked."

Anakin was silent. "What could he possibly want from you?" He asked thoughtfully.

"I don't know."

Skywalker shook his head and continued working on the starfighter. Yes, it was a mystery indeed. Unknowingly to him, Ahsoka was memorizing what he said because her father asked her to. Apparently, the encounter on Ruusan gave Anakin the undivided attention of the Emperor. Only Phantom knew what he was planning to achieve with that.

Danny was quite busy at the time, he was busy with protecting his lands. The Republican strategy was now known to him, so Thrawn was able to build an impenetrable defence. Trusting the Grand Admiral's judgment, Phantom let him take all leadership of the fleets and it worked perfectly. It was like a multileveled bear trap, one step to Mygeeto system led to the destruction of an entire attacking force, Thyfera and Bestine surrendered without a single shot were only to make the Republic leave the garrisons, destroying them piece after piece, shortening the amount of the enemy forces, until the numbers became equal, so Thrawn could destroy them.

But then Phantom ordered to develop the victory not on the outside, but to wipe out the surrounded Republican forces on the South, since the reinforcements wouldn't be coming to the rescue. Meanwhile, Danny didn't hurry with sharing the information. He was risking, of course, putting his interests above that of the Confederacy. But no one was going to find out, the data was kept on only one device. After such a devastating defeat the Republic was going to review their strategy, but it was a defeat nevertheless.

The CIS only lost in places outside of Phantom's zone of control. Needless to say that his authority grew immensely. The interesting thing was the 'dictator's' relationship with the Banking Clan. Of course, Chairman Hill still disliked him, and his hatred became even bigger when the fleet left Muunilist, his headquarters, alone. It was a part of the strategic plan. The Republic wouldn't have missed such a desirable prey. And yes, that was a trap.

However, Phantom had other, more interesting and important task.

"No, Dani, that's not how you do that," he commented with crossed hands.

The girl looked at her father as the ectoplasm flushed to her cheeks. It wasn't a private training session, after all. Neither it was a common training, however. It was in the only forest on Babylon. Phantom had thought it was a good place for the Paladins to meditate, being together with nature. And speaking of, most of those who weren't somewhere on the mission for the Empire were watching with curiosity and eager, especially the younger ones. Of course they would be, the Emperor didn't come so often, Komand mostly managed the stuff.