Reaching out with the Force, his mind connected with all the droids in his fleet. He unified their battle perception, connecting their mechanical minds into a single coherent army. The droids became an extension of his will and moved with precision and efficiency unmatched by organic crews. Each ship adjusted its formation, firing arcs, and maneuvers as if guided by Daimon's mind.
Daimon's battle meditation didn't just enhance coordination; it sharpened reactions and predicted enemy movements within the droid-controlled fleet.
The Aegis led the charge, its massive ion cannons and turbo-lasers firing devastating salvos. The Raptor fighters darted forward in wolf pack formation, targeting enemy support vessels, weapon emplacements, and creating chaos in their lines. Destroyers and cruisers from the fleet flanked the enemy, forcing their ships into a defensive crescent.
They launched their own fighters to counter the raptor fighters from Daimon's fleet. As the fighters clashed, it was clear that the battle meditation alongside how advanced the raptor fighters were, managed to take control of the battlefield quickly. The Dark Jedi's fleet could not keep up with the precision and dexterity of Daimon's fleet.
"We've taken out four enemy ships so far and their fighters are being dwindled down," Cortana reported as she analyzed the ongoing battle between the two fleets. This was the first real battle where they could put their training and abilities to use. "The strategy is working perfectly."
The battle went on, positioning shifting and shifting until finally, all twenty enemy ships were destroyed or incapacitated. The battle had gone much smoother than Daimon expected, but exactly how Cortana expected. His battle meditation ability proved to be very effective at improving the coordination of his fleet and demoralizing the enemy fleet.
He had yet to see how effective it would be whenever he got his actual crew members, but he assumed there would be little to no difference between the two.
"Cortana, prepare the assault shuttles. I'm going down there." Daimon ordered. At once, several assault shuttles were launched towards Cadinth. Each shuttle was filled with a series of war droids, armed to the teeth with blasters and primed for combat.
As Daimon's shuttle descended through Cadinth's atmosphere, fierce storms started to rage across the area. To a normal person it may look like just your average storm, but for Daimon, he could sense that these storms were in fact Force storms caused by Zerath Draal himself.
Like many of the Dark Jedi, Zerath Draal had developed the unique ability to use the Force and cause Force storms on whatever planet he was on. These storms consisted of high winds, lightning, and tornados, a chaotic natural defense that could wreak havoc on an invasion force.
But for Daimon, it was just another obstacle to overcome. To counter this and protect his forces, he shielded the assault shuttles with the Force, preventing them from being affected by the Force storms.
As they got closer to the surface, Daimon could sense Zerath Draal's presence growing stronger. Zerath Draal was aware of their approach and was readying his defenses, ordering the mercenaries and other lower ranking Dark Jedi to take up defensive positions.
A dozen assault shuttles swarmed the base, unloading war droids which began their assault on the base. Flying over the base, Daimon opened up the hatch to his shuttle and leaped out.
With his saber already ignited, he landed on the ground as the surrounding mercenaries didn't waste any time and started shooting at him. Most of the shots were absorbed by the Force shield surrounding his body, while some he deflected himself.
At the same time, he was using his battle meditation with the droids on the ground, coordinating their attacks with his movements to overwhelm the mercenaries.
The average mercenary, while hardened fighters, were no match for the combination of Daimon and his war droids. But there were a few mercenaries who were equipped to deal with other force users.
One of these special equipped mercenaries charged towards Daimon with two Ysalamiri tied onto their backs. The Ysalamiri were lizard like tree-dwellers about 50 centimeters in length native to the planet Myrkr and had the ability to repel the Force by creating a Force-neutral bubble around the mercenary.
The mercenary was confident in these lizards and assumed Daimon would be defenseless without the Force. But he underestimated Daimon, who had more than just Force abilities at his disposal.
The mercenary took out his own modified weapon which was based off the lightsabers created by Daimon. It was a Lightwhip, which he started swing towards Daimon hoping to keep him at a distance. Despite him seeing Daimon as useless without his Force powers, it was still evident for all to see how strong Daimon was.
It would take somebody lacking even the most basic form of intelligence for them not to how powerful Daimon was physically.
He swung the whip at Daimon a few times, hoping to keep him at a distance, however, the mercenary forgot one thing. While he was protected against any Force attacks, he also couldn't stop Daimon from using Force abilities on or around himself.
Channeling the Force to enhance his physical strength and speed, Daimon instantly closed the gap between him and the mercenary. The whip, mid-swing, failed to connect as it was grabbed by Daimon, wrapping around his arm. Unlike actual lightsabers, a lightwhip didn't have as strong of an emitter that a lightsaber had making them not that deadly to powerful Force users.
With the whip wrapped around his arm, he pulled the mercenary towards him, kicking him directly in his chest which sent the man hurtling into the ground. The force of the impact left the mercenary unconscious on the ground.
The Ysalamiri that were forcefully strapped onto his back had gotten injured from the fall and were on the verge of dying. To prevent this, Daimon walked up to the mercenary's body and healed the Ysalamiri, while removing the device which kept them entrapped.
In response to this, the Ysalamiri had climbed onto Daimon's back and onto his shoulders. They had become attracted to his Force energy after he healed them and saw him as a safer option compared to their previous captors.
Turning back towards the battle, Daimon saw his war droid making short work of the remaining mercenaries. The battle was almost over, all he needed to do was take out the Dark Jedi and then it would be over.
Approaching what looked like the primary entrance to Zerath Draal's base, Daimon opened the door and made his way through the mercenaries inside. While they were just mercenaries who were just working for money, he still didn't show any mercy to any of them and treated them as he would any enemy whom he went up against.
Reaching the room where Zerath Draal was waiting, Daimon saw a shadowy figure standing in what he recognized as an alchemy room.
"Daimon," the figure spoke. "I've been expecting you." Zerath Draal turned and looked at Daimon. He was wearing dark robes which covered his body, with his lightsaber already in hand.
"I've heard much about you," Zerath continued, his mouth turning into a cold smile. "If you would have stayed with the Order, you might have been able to stop us from growing in power, yet you left which costed the Order."
Shaking his head, Daimon sighed as for some reason most villains always tried to trash talk before their death, "The path I take is much grander than the petty ideals of any Jedi or Dark Jedi. If you think the Dark side is where ultimate power resides then you have already lost."
Taking off his robe, Zerath ignited his lightsaber and took his stance. Daimon just stood there staring at Zerath, who was getting angry because he felt like Daimon was looking down on him.
With a mighty roar, he charged at Daimon swinging his lightsaber in a downward arc. Daimon leaned back, dodging the strike while at the same time attempting to sweep Zerath from under his feet.
Zerath managed to jump over Daimon's attack as he pressed forward, this time thrusting his lightsaber straight at daimon's stomach.
Daimon sidestepped, redirecting Zerath's momentum. Zerath stumbled and growled in frustration as he spun around, unleashing a ferocious barrage of strikes.
Each attack was wild and fueled by anger. Daimon met Zerath's blows with his force infused hands, intercepting every strike without the need for his lightsaber. Zerath's anger and frustration only grew. Here he was fighting to kill him, yet Daimon was fighting him like he was some plaything.
Fortunately, Zerath didn't know that not only was Daimon fighting without his lightsaber, but he was also using battle meditation at the same time. If he knew this, he would probably be completely consumed by his anger.
"You fight like a wild beast," Daimon said, "Emotion doesn't win battles."
Zerath snarled, stepping back and extending his free hand, as he hurled a wave of Force lightning at Daimon.
Daimon raised his left hand, catching the lightning in his hand and added some of his own energy before re-directing the energy back toward Zerath, who tried to deflect it with his lightsaber.
But the Force lightning, which was now enhanced with Daimon's force energy had overpowered even the lightsaber, destroying it entirely.
Before Zerath could recover, Daimon reached out with the Force, pinning him in place. He tried to free himself, but he was helpless against the overwhelming power that held him. Before he could utter any words, his body began to twist and fold.
In his final moments, his only thoughts were about what he would do if he had the power that Daimon had. He could have been the greatest Force user ever and could have used his powers to end the Jedi Order and replace it with a new religion focused on the Dark Arts.
"Cortana," Daimon said, activating his communicator. "Zerath is dead. Secure the base and prepare to retrieve any useful data. I want everything they've been working on."
"Already under way," Cortana replied. "The war droids have secured the remaining areas. This victory was rather decisive, and we have managed to gain a lot of combat data."
"Good," Daimon replied. The first of many battles had been won. Now all he just needed to wait until the location of the other Dark Jedi are found and then kill them as well.
A few hours later, they managed to wrap things up with a few mercenaries being taken as prisoners. Daimon extracted what information he could from them before sending them to the Republic. He himself returned to Tython to resume his duties.