Run-on: The Yuuzhan Vong Incursion

DAY ONE

VSD Dark Prophet
Clan Taldryan Flagship
Antei System, Shroud’s Edge

The sensation was completely foreign. It had been decades since he felt it last, that startling sensation. Nothing ever took Grand Master Jac Cotelin by surprise, but this did. Like a small shock of electricity, it came and went; the residue effect was fleeting. Cotelin sensed the death. Cotelin did not sense the death coming.

The retired Grand Master sat up in his bed. He was weary from the recent military exercises. Years had passed since the Dark Lord had last commanded a clan in battle. Although no "rust" had formed--Cotelin was as sharp as ever--the physical endurance it took to win the Rite of Supremacy was hard to come by. Jac was not twenty-five anymore. Once the youngest Grand Master to ascend to the Iron Throne, Cotelin now peered into his fifth decade of life.

And not since he was twenty-five has he been so surprised.

Grand Masters are trained in the art of foresight. It is simply what they do. Jac had, for years, looked to the future to see what would befall the Dark Jedi Brotherhood. Although he was not as gifted as Lord Firefox in the area, Jac could generally sense a looming attack. But the death of this fighter pilot did not cross through his meditation. He could not sense the source of the attack. He could not feel any enemies. Cotelin was blind but for the now scurrying members of the Brotherhood.

Probing with the force, the Grand Master searched for the answers. He looked to the bridge of his residence ship. Consul Duga Arkarso Taldrya was there, furiously directing his forces. Cotelin probed the mind of a Command Attache nearby. No one really knew what was happening, so the Dark Lord moved on.

Halcyon Rokir; Cotelin knew that the Combat Master would know the source of this attack. Upon the command bridge of the Venator Katarn, Halcyon was too preparing his forces for battle, but Jac's probing led him to no answers.

Even Shadow Taldyra, on board the VSD Vae Victus and near the Dark Council during the attack did not know who this new enemy was.

The Dark Lord was frustrated. No one dared to attack the might of the Brotherhood like this. But as the screams of men began to fill his senses, Cotelin's ego and hope dwindled. Jac knew this was different.

With a touch of concentration, Jac opened a communications channel to the bridge of the Dark Prophet.

"Priest Vao. Inform Consul Arkarso that I am in need of a full briefing, immediately."

"That's right, pull everyone to the right flank, you heard me!" Duga shouting to navigation on the bridge of the Dark Prophet. It was total chaos as men were running all around, ships in the area all scattering into different formations, and a visible force approaching their position fast. This award ceremony had turned into full pandemonium, and apparently no one could sense it coming.

"Attention, Clan Taldryan forces, this is your Consul. We have an unknown enemy force approaching rapidly. This is not a drill, I repeat, this is definitely not a drill. Everyone report to your stations, gunners get prepared, fighters to your ships. We are at war!"

Duga knew something was coming, something big, yet everything here didn't make sense. All he could do was prepare his forces and take the enemy on head strong.

"Officer, get all the intelligence officers on this immediately, we need to know whatever we can." the Consul direct towards a young lieutenant who obviously wasn't ready for this.

Ricco Vao, a Krath Priest who had been helping direct the communications to the Clan officers, turned to Duga. “Consul Arkarso,” the Priest plead, “Lord Cotelin asks for a briefing on our enemy.”

Duga had expected the Grand Master’s inquiry, but desperately wished Jac would simply come to the bridge instead of force these communications. “Tell him that we have no information yet. I will send word when we do. Duplicate my console view to the station in his quarters.” Duga turned his attention back to the incoming enemies.

“Get me Master Rokir.”

The awards ceremony had turned out well for Vodo. His new medals shone proudly across his breast as he strutted through the well-lit corridors of the VEN Katarn. Taldryan had done well in the Grand Master's Combat Exercises, dominating the other clans as expected. The excitement, and pride aboard the ship was clearly audible through the Force.

AS if to disturb the moment however, the normal white lighting of the ship dimmed, and was replaced by pulsing red lights and the klaxon of a horn. The mood aboard the ship could be felt to change as one, as though the "Brotherhood Within A Brotherhood" shared one mind.

"Attention, Clan Taldryan forces, this is your Consul. We have an unknown enemy force approaching rapidly. This is not a drill, I repeat, this is definitely not a drill. Everyone report to your stations, gunners get prepared, fighters to your ships. We are at war!", the Consul announced

A com on Vodo's belt line began beeping in alarm until he took it in his grasp and answered the voice on the other end, "This is Aedile Biask".

"Your presence is required on the Bridge Master Biask" the Ensign sounded as though the term Master was applied sparingly, unsure whether it was the right honorific. Vodo noted the man's thoughts were not focused on the battle commencing outside, and decided he would pursue this error later.

"I'm en route as we speak", he replied, picking up the pace.

Vodo made a left turn at an intersection at which he had intended to go straight, which would have lead him to his quarters, and reached a Turbo-Lift that carried him to the top. The sliding doors opened to the site of a Bridge in a clamor to get the fighters launched and a defensive line established in accordance with the Deputy Grand Master's will. His presence on the command deck was announced by a Adjutant at a nearby station. The Twi'lek waved the crew back to work, and strode to the forward view port.

From the instant he had been alerted to the attack, one thing had been chewing at his gut. He could not sense the enemy. As a Dark Jedi Knight, his force powers were nowhere as attuned as an Equite's, or an Elder's, but he still would have been able to sense an aggressor force large enough to threaten a large majority of the Brotherhood's Combined Fleets. As he gazed out the view port, his breath was literally taken from him by the sight of a well coordinated fighter swarm, accompanied by large Cruiser and Destroyer analogs. All the enemy craft appeared to consist of rock and coral, more so than the designs favored by the Aquatic Mon Calamari ship builders.

"Captain Vordin" Vodo called out, "What am I looking at?"
"Unknown sir. The Dark Prophet and Brotherhood Command are attempting to clear that up right now"
"Where is Lord Matsuki?"
"He's been summoned m'Lord", The Captain stood sharply. He did not cower as the lower officers did before the Dark Jedi they served, but rather was more focused on his duties rather than appeasing the Dark Masters of Taldryan. Vodo liked that.
"Very good. Ready the fighters who have not been launched. Is Master Sklib still on the Flight Deck?" Vodo had left him there after returning from the ceremony
"He is m'Lord"
"Ask the Quaestor if he would join the pilots when they go out"

Telaris, Mav to his friends, groaned as he heard the orders over the comm, slamming a fist down upon his desk in frustration. “I knew I would regret attending this ceremony,” he grumbled aloud. As Telaris Cantor pulled himself to his feet, he blinked his eyes shut for a moment, probing the mind of those around him. Finding only confusion and disarray, he widened his view, only to find... nothing. No, not nothing – something. Something was out there, but nothing that he could sense.

The Prophet had come to acknowledge and congratulate his Taldryan brethren on their success – at least, that is what Jac had convinced him to do. Yet when it came to the ceremony itself, Telaris politely declined – he was never one for the ritual awardings that followed the training events that the Brotherhood was so fond of – at least, not when he wasn't one of those receiving an award. It wasn't that he didn't care for Taldryan – he did, fiercely so – it was just that he merely expected the Clan to dominate the others, and saw little reason to do much in the way of celebration with the inevitable dominance was recognized. Either way, he had expected this day to find that his Clan had earned some impressive award or great status symbol of some sort. But by the confusion he sensed around him, that was not the case. No, something was very wrong here.

He had been temporarily placed in quarters aboard the Katarn. The quarters were somewhat small compared to the large complex on Antei that his status as a former Deputy Grand Master afforded him, but it would have served him well enough for the brief visit to the ship during the ceremonies. With a flick of his wrist, his lightsabers flew into his hands from the nightstand next to his bed. Clipping the weapons to his belt, he headed for the door of his chambers.

As the durosteel doors slid open, Telaris stepped forth into the rush of confusion he had sensed moments earlier. All about him, members of the great Clan hurried to their battle stations. Telaris himself knew he would be needed on the bridge, and set on his way to meet with the captain of the ship. Halc would know what in hells was going on.

Not long before he was second only to the Grand Master. Now Halcyon strode onto the bridge of the Katarn as a controlled chaos swirled around him. He felt the mental touch of another Grand Master, Jac’s queries going unanswered as the emerald-haired man was busy sifting through the information he was being inundated with.

“Captain”, Halcyon called out over the maelstrom of noise, “report”.

“I am submitting orders to the squadron Commanders to prepare their pilots and launch”.

“Good”, was the cur answer from the veteran Sith, nodding in the direction of the Knight who stood on the bridge as a communications officer called from his station.

“The Consul wishes to speak with you, Master Rokir”.

“Trasnfer him here”, Halcyon answered back, moving to the nearest console himself. “Duga, go ahead”, formality between the two men unnecessary in the heated atmosphere.

“We need those fighters out, Halcyon, defending us from these things”.

“Already on it. Any word from the rest of the fleet?”

“Nothing. No one knows a damn things. We’re all out for ourselves. We need to get out of here in once piece. Those fighters need to watch our backs”.

“Understood. Halcyon out”.

An old design, the Katarn was one of the newest vessels in the Taldryan fleet, it’s crew however veterans of countless battles. Halcyon looked through the viewport, asteroid-like shapes were spewing death upon the countless Dark Brotherhood vessels arrayed in space. An enormous fighter carrier, the veteran Sith could feel the vibrational thrum as her hanger bay doors began to open, preparing for the release of her own deadly weapons.

Hel-Pa heard the hiss of the hangar bay doors open, knowing that the fighters within the Katarn were quickly spewing from the openings in the great ship. One of his favorite students, Guardian Figzer, was strolling with him before the attack began, discussing various leadership techniques with the Battle Team Leader of Hex, Sklib's own Battle Team he was once leader of years ago.

Hel-Pa stood in front of a nearby holocam, letting the device capture his words and movements and routing them to the bridge. A red light turned green, and the bust of Combat Master Halcyon appeared in front of Quaestor. “Master Halcyon,” the Tarasin croaked, “I wish to join the pilots of the A-Wing squadron, Spectre, to be exact. My personal A-Wing is located in the hangar with the other six, all of which are ready to fly.”

“Permission granted, Templar. May the Force be with you. Join Quaestor Crix on his patrol route” the Master replied, his emerald-tone hair flickering as the hologram faded. Hel-Pa stood motionless, his arms folded across his chest leaving the spikes along his arm to flare outward from him.

He pivoted toward the Guardian, telling Figzer in a quiet, yet commanding tone, “You will accompany me as my wingman. Don't ever leave my side, and we'll both be okay. Got it?” The Battle Team Leader nodded. “Good.” The Templar climbed into his personal ship, the Chupacabra, and harnessed himself into the cockpit. He glanced over his shoulder, spotting Figzer and another pilot arguing, ending shortly with a quick punch to the jaw, sending the bloodied pilot to the ground. Sklib smirked at the site, knowing his student was embracing the emotions of fear and hate.

“Control, this is Spectre Oh-Seven, ready for take off.”

“Roger that Spectre Oh-Seven, you are cleared for take off.”

Vladet Xavier swore as warning klaxons sounded throughout the Dark Prophet. He was looking forward to some well deserved rest from his duties when Duga's voice cut through the piercing wails of the alarms.

"Attention, Clan Taldryan forces, this is your Consul. We have an unknown enemy force approaching rapidly. This is not a drill, I repeat, this is definitely not a drill. Everyone report to your stations, gunners get prepared, fighters to your ships. We are at war!"

His irritation vanishing on the spot, Vladet broke into a sprint towards the nearest turbolift. Despite his prestigious position of Aedile, there was little for him to do in an emergency like this. His first instinct was to head to the bridge to take command of something, but then he realized that more senior members of the Clan were taking care of it.

The turbolift descended and brought him to the main hallway leading to the Victory Star Destroyer's massive hangar bay. Vlad knew the best way to serve Taldryan against this new threat was to lead a fighter squadron into battle personally. Just like the old days, he sighed. Vlad missed the rigid discipline the Imperial Navy had given him, but times had changed and here he was. No time to reminisce about the good days ...

Just before he reached the main hangar bay Vlad ran into a pilot ready room and immediately took control. "I need eleven of you, no questions asked," he snapped, taking in the motley collection of pilots. "Report to the hangar in five minutes." The pilots looked at each other for a moment before realizing that it would do no good to argue with the Jedi who had just pressed them into his personal service. Vladet hastily shed his annoying robes and began to put on a standard TIE Fighter pilot suit, already feeling the lust for battle.

Four minutes later Vlad ran into the hangar bay where his pilots had assembled. Only two of them were at least Force sensitive - Gobhainn and someone Vlad could not recall - which only made Vlad grin; the rest were standard Brotherhood recruits.

"More kills for me," he muttered, looking them over. "Right, we're going to be flying in TIE Interceptors today, gentlemen," he said, gesturing to the dozen sleek starfighters hanging from their storage racks. "As soon as we clear the hangar and get a good look at what's going on, you'll receive your orders."

He paused, enjoying the feeling of leading a military squadron once more. "This sounds serious so stick together - standard starfighter superiority is our role ... for now anyway." He nodded. "Good luck."

The dozen pilots broke ranks and began to run to their respective lifts.

Boom! Turret fire rang out in the Bridge as the Dark Prophet was pummeled by unknown forces.

“Sir, we are under attack!” A young, frantic man screamed across the Bridge to his Commander Gunnery Officer.

“How many are attacking us?” A deep, husky voice replied to the man.

“We are unsure, sir. All of the radars are saying they are unidentified craft.”

“Find out who, what and how many are attacking us; and I mean ASAP!”

“Yes, Sir!” The man saluted and turned back to the radars.

A light hum came over the com-link on Rannik’s side. It was his Consul, Duga. Warning all of Taldryan that they have just entered yet another War.

Attention, Clan Taldryan forces, this is your Consul. We have an unknown enemy force approaching rapidly. This is not a drill, I repeat, this is definitely not a drill. Everyone report to your stations, gunners get prepared, fighters to your ships. We are at war!

Rannik’s eyes widened as he listened closely to the alarming announcement. He quickly turned around and ran to the main gunner.

“Ready all of the guns! Consul Duga has confirmed that we are at war! Man the turrets and fire on my command! Aim! Set! FIRE!!!!" The Gunnery Commander screamed.

Rannik turned around facing the outside of the Dark Prophet in astonishment.

"I can not believe we are in another war. It has not been a full two years since the last one." He thought to himself. "We need to find out what exactly is going on and why we are being attacked!"

Crix looked over the group of pilots that had assembled in the ready room of the Frigate Suppressor and sighed. Not the best squad, but considering how long he had to put it together he was content. His formal robes had been replaced with a standard jumpsuit and his helmet was sitting on the table in front of him. “Listen up guys, we don’t have a lot of time.” Conversations stopped and eleven sets of eyes focused on the Sith. “To be completely honest with you, nobody has any clue what we’re up against. The ships don’t register on any of our databases and we can’t identify any of their markings.” He paused for a moment and let this sink in. “Which means that we have no idea what these ships can do, so everyone needs to be extremely careful. Stick with your wingman and don’t break formation unless I order it.” Crix swept the room quickly, seeing agreement on all his pilot’s faces. “Alright everyone, to your ships and wait for the scramble order.” The Battlelord picked up his helmet and walked to the hanger, not waiting for the other pilots.

Crix ran across the hanger deck with his helmet tucked under his arm and jumped into the cockpit of his Hyperion fighter with the assistance of the Force. He ran through his preflight and donned the helmet and closed the canopy. It was only then that he allowed him to think back to the last time that he was ordered to scramble on such short notice. It was many years ago, he couldn’t even remember which battle it had been; after so many, they all run together. For the last few years he’d seen many more bridges then fighter cockpits, and it felt great for Crix to get back to his fighter pilot roots.

Crix’s com flashed a message from the Suppressor’s bridge. “My Lord Matsuki,” Captain Altuso started, “I’ve been ordered to scramble all squadrons, you are clear to launch.”

“Understood, Captain.” Crix replied. As he flicked the switches to raise his fighter off the deck he switched over to the tactical channel and announced “Hyperion Flight is green for launch, repeat: TALLY-HO!”

The twelve Hyperion fighters lifted off the deck and shot out into the darkness. “Form up on me, line abreast, and don’t break until ordered.” He received acknowledgments from his squad as they came into position.

With a sore fist and a dark smile, Figzer looked over to his Quaestor, who was already in his signature blue and white A-Wing and beginning take off procedures. Hurriedly, the Guardian ran over to his assigned fighter and jumped in. Without bothering to buckle in, he began preparing his fighter for take off.

All of the other Spectre pilots, with the exception of one, were already strapped in and waiting for him to give the sign that he was ready so they could leave in formation. Though Figzer hadn’t participated in many real space related fights, he knew how to fly, and more importantly, he knew how to kill.

After what seemed forever, but was only a few seconds, his fighter’s engines sprang to life, and he sent the signal that he was ready to leave. Figzer brought the tight straps around his chest and locked them into place, then tossed the helmet that was resting near him out of the fighter before he closed the canopy.

“Ready Fig?” came Hel-Pa’s voice over the comm.

“I don’t know if I’m ready to engage an unknown enemy that can hide from the Force, but the ships definitely ready,” came the Elomin’s reply.

“Don’t worry about this, I’m sure it’s nothing we can’t handle. And once we get out there we’ll be able to see them, so it’s not like they’re invisible.” The Templar didn’t give Figzer a chance to say anything else, he had already began giving commands to the fleet, so Figzer simply closed his eyes and attempted to clear his mind before leaving the hangar.

With a brush of the Force sent out by Hel-Pa, all of the pilots were suddenly alert and connected to one another. One after another, the small fighters began lifting off the ground and leaving the hangar, immediately coming into perfect formation when they were outside the protection of the Katarn. After only seconds of leaving the hangar, it was obvious there was something terribly wrong with what was going on. The enemy capitol ships were in plain sight, but only with physical eyes.
There was a buzz over the comm, then the voice of the Hyperion Flight leader.

“This is Crix, I don’t know what’s going on, so we’re coming in along side you, Sklib.”

“Roger that, Crix.”

The Hyperion Flight commander brought his ranks into view and slowed down slightly, letting Spectre catch up.

"Attention, Clan Taldryan forces, this is your Consul. We have an unknown enemy force approaching rapidly. This is not a drill, I repeat, this is definitely not a drill. Everyone report to your stations, gunners get prepared, fighters to your ships. We are at war!"

Bubbs sighed, putting her bowl down on the table No [Expletive Deleted]. she thought to herself, licking the spoon clean, You put half the Brotherhood fleet together, and then get surprised when one of the Clans decides to have a pop at Tally? Reluctantly she let the spoon fall into the bowl of half melted ice-cream, looking at it longingly, "Later. I promise."

Heading out of the kitchens, she made her way quickly to Tetrach Lauria's quarters. Finding them empty, she sat herself down at Lauria's desk and opened a Comms channel to the Bridge "This is Krath Epis Bubbles, requesting orders."

The short pause before a young male voice replied told her things were busy, the slight shake in his voice told her just how busy, "Please stand by Bubbles, things are a little hectic here."

Bubbs tapped her fingers on Lauria's desk, after what seemed like minutes, tho in reality was probably just seconds, the young man's voice crackled over the comms system again, "Bubbles? Duga asked me to let you know that this does NOT, I repeat does NOT look like an attack from one of the other Clans, as yet we have no idea who it is. Please head to the hanger bays, boarding parties don't look out of the question."

"Received", replied Bubbles quickly, "I'm on my way. Let Duga know I'll pick up anyone that looks lost on the way and make sure they've got something to do."

Through the hustle, Telaris made his way slowly to the bridge – slowly primarily for two reasons. First, the alert – everyone was on the move. Everyone. Second, he hardly knew the Katarn, or it's class of cruisers, and decided that rather than pluck the deck assignments from some young Guardian running by, he'd make his own way there. Whatever Clan, whatever force had struck Taldryan, they could wait a few moments – plus, he was too angry to reach the bridge now, he assured himself. Unleashing the Force upon the hapless ships of the attackers would undoubtedly wreak havoc upon them, but it might cause damage to the Brotherhood's assembled armadas as well. Which, Telaris added to himself, might not be a bad thing. He was content enough now to brood on his way to the command deck.

After all, once he reached the bridge, there would be hell to pay. Not only had they interrupted his attempts at meditation, they had also, apparently, interrupted the grand ceremony - or at least the celebrations that were meant to follow it. Now, there were many things more tragic in his mind than a simple interrupted ceremony, but this was something more. This was personal. He had taken the time to join the Clan, HIS Clan, out here in the middle of damn nowhere and he wasn't about to let some fool who thought it would be a brilliant idea to ignite a war in the middle of the Brotherhood. What appalling disrespect, to the Brotherhood, and to Taldryan, here on the eve of their victory.

And that disrespect he could not stand for. So as the Prophet slipped between hordes of rushing journeymen, he slowly brooded over what painful methods he would use once he finally found out what in the blazes was going on.

Turning a corner, Telaris stopped in his tracks and shook his head. He had been so wrapped up in his own thoughts, he had missed the turbolift to the bridge. Frustrated more with a lack of understanding of the current situation than having taken a few steps too many down the hallway, he thought to himself, Halc, you better know who I can strangle. That's it he added mere seconds afterwards, concentrating on the essence that he knew was Halycon as he attempted to contact the man telepathically.

Activity stirred the corridors of the Katarn to a hornet's nest. Activity with intent was tolerable, but this seemed to Alanna more like confusion. She couldn't abide mess. A young crewmember knocked against her as he hurried past with a message for his officer. A jolt of pain along his arm drew his attention to the error. Others would have had his head for the insult; Alanna was more pragmatic - the message he was carrying could be important.

A quick telepathic message to Mav showed that he had no better idea what was attacking them than she. Halc was even less forthcoming and much more abrupt, but he too was unable to help. Alanna let a small breath of exasperation escape her lips. All of this activity, and no-one knew why. Ignoring the curious glances of various crewmembers, the Dark Jedi Mistress sat down in the middle of the corridor, her back to the wall.

"Ma'am.... are you alright? ... Can we get you..."

The voice died away to an annoying whisper as the former KHP pushed her mind out from her body and into the cold blackness. They were blind, and for a Krath such as her, a lack of knowledge was tantamount to weakness. She had to know who their unexpected visitors were. Her mind crossed the void in the space of a thought, encountering the familiar feel of Brotherhood ships, paused briefly to consider and discard them, and moved on again. It was several minutes before she started to feel the beginnings of frustration; they were all Brotherhood ships.

-----------------------

Sabre had come across Alanna in the corridor quite by accident, and just in time to stop the idiot trying to waken her. That was easily solved, and the lesson was permanent. As their companion screamed and died, the other crewmembers averted their eyes and hurried away. Sabre was momentarily torn. So much to do, and yet the idea of working again with his former Mistress held a certain appeal. He decided to wait.

-----------------------

Pulling her mind back, she considered. She didn't claim to be an expert at warfare - such was a suitable pastime for occupying the lesser Brotherhood members who styled themselves 'Sith' - but she knew enough to identify the supposed position of the enemy. Concentrating again, her mind sought out the area, and found nothing... no, not quite nothing... more like the absence of anything. There was a void... and there was another. A void in the Force? That was impossible - everything has at least a trace of the Force. Everything except...

Alanna's eyes snapped open. "I know who they are," she whispered.

Sabre knelt to hear what Alanna had to say, and then straightened. He had to inform the others. The idea that Alanna might be wrong never occurred to him and anyway, it made a terrible kind of sense - the Vong had finally turned their attention towards the Brotherhood.

“War…?” Sena looked up from an information pad he was reading. He was sitting on his bunk in his quarters aboard the Dark Prophet when the intercom spoke. “Is this for real?” he asked himself out loud.
He had been a few battles, even a clan feud, but was undoubtedly the most inexperienced on the entire ship. If this was really war, then what could he possibly do? Confusion hit him. “Get off the ship” his instinct told him. “No, focus…” he jumped up from his bed. What did his superiors expect from him? “I’m not good with a star fighter. What can I do?” He quickly looked around his quarters. His eyes fell on the sword that decorated one of the walls. Lokasena clicked a sheath on to the left side of his belt and walked up to the sword. Black steel blade and red-wooden handle. “Mormegill” it read. He grasped the weapon and slid it, along his left thumb, into its sheath. “This is what I do best.” He felt the deck plating vibrate under his feet. “So this is what I’ll do…!” He said aloud and walked out into the corridor.

All sorts of staff were scrambling to get to their posts. Lokasena thought that he would be best fitted to fight off boarding parties, so he made his way to the hangar bay. The deck shuddered again, and again. Lokasena was making his way through the corridors as fast as he could. Wounded crewmembers decorated the path to the hangar. A grim reminder of the seriousness of this situation. Then the ship shook violently and Sena could swear he heard something bending and breaking in the metal that made up the vessels outer hull. The sound came closer and the Guardian saw a red glow on the wall. Alarm bells went of in his mind. “Run for cover!” he yelled. Grabbing the first person closest to him he ran, towards the turbo-lift door at the end of the corridor, away from the coming disaster. He was to late. The wall ruptured and the atmosphere blew into the cold vacuum of space, along with several crewmembers.
Sena jumped as the door to the lift opened and with his right hand he grabbed the open door while he held the anonymous crewmember in his left arm. There were two crewmen standing in the turbo-lift as it opened. Not expecting the danger ahead, they were blown out into the corridor. One of them flew directly into space, while the other tried to grasp Sena’s robes. The Krath knew that the extra mass would not allow him to pull himself to safety. The grasping crewman yelled in fear. Sena couldn’t make out what the man was saying, with all the atmosphere blowing past him, but he had a good idea what it might be. “Let go.” he commanded.
The crewman’s mouth moved but Sena couldn’t hear him. The streign on his right arm was getting unbearable. He kicked the crewman in his chest. The man let go immediately. Terror in his eyes as he flew out into the vacuum. With all his strength Lokasena pulled himself and the man in his arms into the lift. The anonymous man quickly pressed a button on the control panel. The doors closed. They were safe, for now.
“Thank you, sir.” The man said to Lokasena as they both sat across from each other on the floor of the turbo-lift. Sena faintly acknowledged the man’s gratitude, the terror of the other crewman's eyes still very fresh in his mind. Directing the lift two decks down The two men got to their feet. However the crewman almost immediately lost consciousness. Sena knew that spontaneous decompression could render a man unconscious. Feeling the effects himself, he concentrated to remain awake. Sena picked the crewman up as the lift doors opened. Before him was a corridor much like the previous one. Except without the huge, gaping hole.
Among the crewmembers that were making their way through, Sena recognized a young woman’s brown-red hair. It was Bubbles.
“Hey Bubbles, wait up.” Lokasena shouted. Dragging the unconscious man on his left side, Sena made his way through the crowd towards the Krath Epis. She might be able to clear up his current confusion and give him a suitable task.

Even after he had contacted Master Rokir, as Duga had asked, it was frantic on the bridge. Everyone wanted to know everything and Duga was getting stressed. The Krath watched as his Consul tried to handle his worried crew. He was proud to serve on the bridge with the Obelisk and would help in any way he could. The communication skills of Duga impressed the Priest and it gave him a feeling of reassurance and confidence.

“Ricco, get people to the hangers now boarding parties are expected!”

The Aedile jumped to the task rounding up a group of solicitous young members and directing them to help Bubbs defend the hanger. The orders kept coming from Duga everyone had their jobs outlined clearly and his voice was commanding,

“Rannik have you found out the type of craft and any weaknesses yet? Report to Ricco if you have!”

Ricco rushed over to the gunnery commander to find out all that he could and to get note of incoming attacks.

“Five more attacks are forming on their front, fighters only at this time they seem to be made up of three triangles, joined from apex to base, but what they are made from I do not know sir.”

“Thanks commander, looks like a type of crystal to me, I shall inform the Duga, keep me posted”

Ricco went back over and waited for the Consul, he told him all that he had learned and then informed all of their fighter pilots about the threat they faced. He then felt the presence of Master Cotelin approach the bridge and waited on more orders.

As soon as he could Ace had gotten himself to the bridge to see if he could help. He knew that being only a Jedi Hunter he would not be able to do much but he could do something. When he got to the bridge he asked his Consul, Duga, if there was anything for him to do, as only a Jedi Hunter any people could kill him without hesitation so he was always cautious and scared, so his voice was weak and dry when he asked his Consul what he could do.

“You can make sure everyone knows what there orders are.” Duga said seeing how scared I was.

“Ok, sir.” I replied more confidently.

For the next many minutes I assume, I was too busy to tell, I gave anyone on the comm. ink orders from Duga. That was very annoying though, I get a message on the comm. link for orders, and I ask Duga who is only getting more annoyed with the battle. But it wasn’t long until everyone had there orders and I had nothing to do, so I went back to Duga.

“Everyone has there orders, sir, what do you need me to do know.” I asked as Duga was commanding the battle.

“Actually, I have something very important for you to do.” Duga replied with a grinning.

“What sir.”

“I need you to go get Lord Jac.” He said still grinning.

“Yes sir.” I said just realizing I had to go get a Grand Master.

Though I was scared for my life, getting a Grand master isn’t a good thing especially when you don’t have a lightsaber. I walk off of the bridge and broke into a run, I didn’t want to get there too late.

Dark Sabre sprinted down the corridor with superhuman speed, leaving behind the Dark Jedi Mistress to organize the troops in anticipation of boarding parties. With a deep breath and a moment’s concentration, he connected his mind to Halc’s. The Combat Master was obviously busy with the attack, but the Epis impressed upon him the importance of his message.

Alanna has just confirmed the identity of the attackers: Yuuzhan Vong, the Krath gasped. I’ll join you in the bridge momentarily; get me an intelligence console.

He felt the Sith brusquely acknowledge his comment before hastily turning back to the battle raging outside the transparisteel windows. Cutting through the crowd of bustling crew members with momentary contortions and the occasional telekinetic adjustment, the former Ektrosis Quaestor quickly reached a lift to the bridge.

* * *

“Clear a console for the Epis!” Halc shouted as the lift doors opened.

With a flick of his wrist, Dark Sabre helped the lowest-ranking intelligence officer along his way before leaping to the desk. Flipping on the headset, he first soothed the emotional turmoil boiling inside of him. A deep breath cooled the fires of confusion while fanning the embers of rage. He then ordered the computer to connect him to both Halcyon and the bridge of the nearby Dark Prophet.

“According to Lannie, we’re dealing with Yuuzhan Vong here. Brotherhood intel is spotty, but I know that they cannot be felt through the Force. They’re from a different galaxy, and their technology is entirely living and organic. They are extremely dangerous, nearly invincible. I advise the utmost caution. I’ll pass along any more information we find.”

The Krath sensed the data disseminate through the fleet, and he set to work organizing the men and women around him.

“Research everything relevant to Vong weapons technology and how to defend against it. Pass everything along the internal chain of command, which will culminate in me. If you find something extremely urgent you are authorized to report to Consul Arkarso directly.

“I expect most things will be quite urgent.”

Hel-Pa Sklib pulled his A-wing around quickly, simultaneously dodging incoming fire and putting himself into a position from which he could attempt to help the Hyperion commander. Almost immediately after the squadrons had formed up, the battle turned into a frenzy. Neither Hel-pa nor Taku had been able to keep their squadrons organized. Crix himself had been caught in a stalemate with one of those...things...for a good minute. Neither the enemy craft, nor the Archanis Quaestor had been able to gain any sort of advantage. Sklib would turn that tide. "Crix," the Ektrosis leader said into his comm, "turn to mark oh seven two. I'll be there in a moment. Figzer, watch my tail."

As the A-wing sped toward its prey, Sklib could not help but wonder why other enemies were not engaging Crix. While many were caught in similar engagements with the other Hyperion commanders, surely there were more of the ships that could assist Taku's foe. Or perhaps this was a race that prided themselves on the individual's mettle in battle.

Sklib, however, had no shame in helping his clanmate. The Ektrosis Quaestor opened fire as he pulled in behind the pod-shaped craft. His lasers were utterly ineffective. The energy skidded across the craft, failing to penetrate and hit any piece. When he first saw that effect a few minutes ago, Sklib knew that this battle would be hard to win. In fact, in the five minutes of the engagement, only one enemy fighter had been destroyed. Meanwhile, Hel-pa had lost two of his A-wings and one of the Hyperion fighters had gone down quickly.

Two now. As Sklib continued his ineffective barrage of the enemy craft, a Hyperion fighter, close to his proximity, was hit. The blast tore a hole through the ship's thin hull and caused the fighter to dive into a spin. Hel-pa Sklib shielded his eyes briefly as the second and third blasts hit, destroying the craft and sending debris in all directions....in Sklib's direction.

He was not the greatest pilot. He wasn't even great, and he hesitated too long. The broken hull of the Hyperion fighter would hit him. This was the end.
_____________________

Grand Master Jac Cotelin's mind was torn between so many tasks that he barely had any time to think for himself. Within minutes of the attack, Jac had been barraged with probes of the force from people hoping he knew what this was. He did not, and he could not help them. Jac did what he could to get the Taldryan members moving to their proper roles by prodding them with the force and boosting their confidence. He tried to coordinate messages; intercepting thoughts that were important and passing them on to Duga and Halcyon. The Grand Master, in his meditation, increased the efficiency of the Taldryan forces. He used to hate the role that his powers gave him. Meditation and coordination were not the same as commanding, but the Dark Lord knew where he was most useful.

The beep signaling someone outside his quarters barely registered with the Dark Lord. Jac was reaching out to Alanna, probing the force with her, helping her find the answers. The former Krath High Priestess was the most educated among them; the Krath Scholar would surely know their enemy. Jac emboldened her powers, helping her find the answers. And that she did. As the revelation struck the lady, horror struck the Dark Lord. He knew scant details of this enemy, but what he did know was enough. Jac let the horror pass; he needed to concentrate. He would think later on the failures of the Star Chamber.

The beep at his door signaled again and Cotelin redoubled his efforts. He called out to the Taldryan commanders, garnering the attention of some, but not of the important ones; they were too engaged. Feeding the force into the muscles of Dark Sabre, Cotelin helped the Jedi speed along toward the bridge to bring the message to the commanders directly. With every ounce of his powers, Cotelin reached out and attempted to relay what he knew to those on the Dark Council and to those Taldrya who needed the information. As Jac expected, Bloodfyre already knew; Oberst would surely recognize any craft, anywhere. Timeros and Braecen seemed not to care; their problems were mounting too quickly. Xia Long cared little, also; her efforts to restore communication were more important. Muz knew. More importantly, Sarin knew.

The doors to Cotelin's quarters slid open and a young, nervous Jedi walked in. Just as Dark Ace began to speak, he found himself thrown against a wall, held up by an invisible hand. His throat began to tighten; the man sent to fetch the Dark Lord could barely breathe.

Cotelin turned his head slightly as something grabbed his attention. He sensed the three blasts that destroyed one of the Taldrya ships and he sensed the danger to one of his own. With little effort, Cotelin reached out and just ever so slightly pushed the burning shell of the Hyperion fighter. As the wreckage skimmed over the A-wing of the Ektrosis Quaestor without hitting it, Cotelin could feel the relief emanating from Hel-Pa Sklib. The Dark Lord took brief satisfaction and turned to a new task. "Chaos," he projected to the Taldryan Proconsul, "you need to relieve Halcyon. His skills as a fighter pilot are needed now."

With no pressing tasks left at the moment, Cotelin released his hold on the young Jedi in his chambers. Dark Ace fell to his knees, gasping for precious air. "Thank you for waiting. We can go now."

The Proconsul was already in the lift, managing to send off an acknowledgement to the Grand Master as he was briefly tossed about inside the small space, the Katarn having taken a hit across her bow. Righting himself as the lift-doors opened, the Prelate strode purposefully out, immediately seeing the emerald-haired man as he directed the bridge crew.

Halcyon immediately sensed the presence, turning to see the Obelisk stride up to him.

“Get to a fighter and take control out there. I’ll take the reigns here”.

The veteran Sith nodded, not wasting any breath as he made his way to the lift, Chaosrain immediately heading to Vodo and the Captain for updates.

Halc, what the hell is happening?, the overpowering mental shout from Taldryan’s resident Prophet filled the Rokir’s head.

Vong have attacked. I’m heading to the hanger. Meet me there now.

No verbal response was forthcoming, but the sense of acknowledgement came through. Emerging onto the hanger deck, another insistent mind forced it’s way into the Combat Master’s own, What the hell’s…, but the thought was immediately cut off as Rokir forced in his own response, Hanger. Now.

“Yacks is on his way”, Halcyon called out to Mav, a small smile creeping onto the Prophet’s lips.

Keirdagh, former Sith High Warrior and Justicar, came barreling around the corner, seeing the other two Elders standing by the hanger doors. Halcyon led them in, the two men deferring to the less-experienced Elder for the time being, the Combat Master currently having the most information on what’s been happening.

“Vong have attacked. They’ve been taking on the New Republic for some time”, Rokir began as all three men entered the chaotic hanger. “They’re onto us I guess. I haven’t been able to sense them in the force. They’re dead to our senses and their tech is all organic-based. We don’t have any tactical information on how to combat them, so we’re flying blind”.

Halcyon stopped in front of a large group of fighters being prepped. “Yack, looks like we’re down to the Eta’s. You get Fury and I’ll be heading up Katar. Mav, we need shuttles out there picking up lost pilots. We’ve received a number of distress calls already”.

“Got anything older there, Halc?” Cantor asked, looking at the craft.

“Other than you, no. We're wasting time. Go”.

"Right, we're going to be flying in TIE Interceptors today, gentlemen," Vadet said, gesturing to the dozen sleek starfighters hanging from their storage racks. "As soon as we clear the hangar and get a good look at what's going on, you'll receive your orders. This sounds serious so stick together - standard starfighter superiority is our role ... for now anyway. Good luck."

You can go toe to toe if you want; I’ve got something more important to do. Sgath thought silently at Xavier.

With this thought, Gobhainn Sgath stepped onto the lift that took him to the Tie Interceptor designated T/I Prophet 2-2. The Sith slipped expertly through the ship’s hatch and into the flight harness and activated the set/ready signal. This would cycle the launch computer to start the drop sequence that would drop him from the hanger into space.

For the first time, as he waited for the jolt that would mark his launch from the hangar, the Dark Jedi Knight thought about what was awaiting him. How could any thing have gotten this close to the brotherhood without having been detected? Antei had some of the strongest seers and prophets in the galaxy and the Force should have alerted them to the arrival of any large number of lifeforms into the sector. How could this attack be happening and who were these beings?

I guess I’ll find out in a moment. Sgath thought to himself as he felt the jolt of his launch claw extending and his viewport showed the vast expanse of space open up before him.

Igniting his twin ion engines, Gobhainn waited for the claw to release him. Some pilots did not advance the throttle until they had dropped free of the ship and it gravity field in order to lessen the shock of acceleration; but not him. As the claw reached its full extension, just before it released him, the knight jammed the throttle to full and felt the ship shudder as the engines strained against the grip of the claw.

Then the claw opened and Sgath’s fighter shot forward, slamming Sgath back into his seat with the force of a multitude of Gs. In seconds, he had cleared the underside of the Prophet and was hurtling through the void.

Activating his sensors and the shields that had been installed on the Interceptor, the Sith opened his mind and relaxed into combat mode. He adjusted his weapons and shield recharge rate. The drain on the powercore dropped his peak velocity, but Sgath seldom relied on speed as the key factor in his fighting.

Now for the first time he looked into the sensor screen. The ships and vessels of the brotherhood were clearly marked in a white IFF box each. The hostiles were shown in red boxes.

“Bane’s Blood!” Sgath whispered as he saw the forces arrayed against the Brotherhood.

The sensors showed thirty capital ships, some of which were about the size of an Imperial Class II Star Destroyer, and several waves of what seemed to be one man fighters.

With that many vessels, Sgath felt that even he should have been able to have sensed them.

As his sensors showed, he looked out his side port and saw the rest of his flight forming up in a Staggered – X formation.

Well I guess that pounder might know a little about space combat after all. Sgath smirked.

Opening his comm, Sgath called out to the Flight Leader.

“Prophet 2-1, this is Prophet 2-2. I’ll take position 5.”

With this he dropped into formation.

And watched as a formation of Archanis’ Hyperion class fighters pulled along side their formation.

Crix. Sgath noted. Very few pilots were qualified to fly the tempermental Hyperions and Crix, the Archanis Quaestor, had selected and trained them all. That made it obvious who was going to take the command of this Flight.

*Crix,* Gobhainn reached out to touch his House Leader’s mind with Force empowered telepathy. *Don’t be surprised by anything I do out here. I have a plan that might help the fleet. I don’t know these Dinaari well enough to trust them with it though, so I’m going for it alone. Don’t worry, I’m not feeling suicidal*

Adept Syn Kaek hadn’t moved since the attack began. He had mused quietly as the alarms sounded. He had only turned slightly to watch as Duga made his announcement. Standing silently in the shadows towards the back of the bridge, his face was expressionless – the others scurried about trying to comprehend what was going on and rushing to fulfill their duties. It was not out of arrogance that he waited – but more like fatalism. Ok – maybe also a little arrogance. Everyone on the bridge was focusing on monitoring the attack: Kaek was monitoring everyone on the bridge. He had a bad feeling about this attack.

Kaek watched as a younger member known as Ace ran towards the Consul and engaged his attention. If Kaek had been in a non-combat situation, he’d probably think poorly of the Jedi Hunter – trying to suck up to the Consul by volunteering for more work? Bah. But this particular situation was different. Duga quickly issued his directives to the Hunter and motioned him off. From the fear emanating from Ace’s mind, Kaek surmised that he had been instructed to attend to Grand Master Cotelin. The Adept imagined Jac’s reaction and a small grin spread across his face. Kaek had the nasty habit of smiling at exactly the wrong time – life was simply too ironic sometimes.

A few minutes passed by after Ace had left. Kaek stroked his chin and sighed. He reached out with the Force and communicated briefly with several of his fellow Elders. He was surprised to feel fear and apprehension. Was this new enemy indeed that strong? Perhaps he should take things more seriously. Kaek reached out and felt for Jac who immediately returned a strong “Get off your ass” signal. Without so much as a second thought, the Adept moved out of the shadows and headed towards the Consul. His ‘bad feeling’ had suddenly become much worse. But he wasn’t about to betray that to anyone present.

“Consul,” Kaek began gruffly as he approached Duga.

“Councilor,” Duga responded as tersely.

“Are we currently aware of what kind of enemy we are facing?”

“No,” Duga began, “But as you’ve no doubt already ascertained, they have a rather unique Force signature – if you can call it that.”

Kaek hadn’t actually checked. But now was as good a time as ever. He reached out and felt nothing – there was absolutely nothing. Or was there? There was a vague emptiness. The enemy appeared not to exist within the Force. Kaek quickly fed this information to Jac through their telepathic link but apparently he already knew. Jac quickly responded with information he had gleaned from others. Jac shared Alanna’s revelation about the identity of the enemy and Kaek suddenly realized what they were facing. He wasn’t personally familiar with the Vong but Jac quickly placed all the information that he had into Kaek’s mind.

“Ah yes, so I see,” Kaek said. “Tell me, Consul, are you familiar with the Yuuzhan Vong?”

Duga waved him away. “I am getting all the information that you’re getting, Kaek.”

“Are you so sure of that?” Kaek asked patiently. He knew for a fact that Duga wasn’t. The Consul was too busy with command – he hadn’t been in touch with Jac yet: hence the need for sending the Hunter.

“Yes, yes” Duga replied curtly. “Kaek – can you make yourself useful? You’re our resident technophile. Can you do anything to assist the technical efficiency of the ships systems?”

Kaek sighed. Duga was busy. Kaek didn’t want to fight for attention – not in this situation. He shrugged and replied in the affirmative and then slowly walked towards the nearest computer console. His feelings of negativity kept increasing and he began to feel fear as well. He knew he had to contribute somehow to helping his Clan – he couldn’t just sit back and watch anymore. Just as he was beginning to reach out with the Force and engage the computer, he received a telepathic call from the Grand Master. He was being summoned.

Kaek stood up and returned to Duga’s side. “Consul, the Grand Master summons me. I will return.” Duga nodded quickly and returned his attention to the business at hand. Kaek strolled briskly off the bridge and headed towards the Grand Master’s quarters.

Adept Shadow Taldrya, proud Obelisk warrior and member of Taldryan, the most powerful Clan in the Brotherhood, was roughly thrown forward by two hulking creatures into a small room that he could only guess was a prison cell. A moment later he was joined by five other Brotherhood members, all of which were in opposing Clans. Shadow only knew two of them by name, but he wasn’t exactly on speaking terms with either the Tarentae or the Palpatinae. Shadow felt a vague pressure in his mind. One or more of his fellow captives were trying to communicate silently. The Adept stoically ignored the attempt and stepped to the front of the room eyeing down his captors.

They were completely alien to Shadow. The creatures were tall and muscular, almost human-like, except they were hideously scarred with pointed ears and ridged foreheads. Their skin was grayish in tone and their hair long and black. Their armor was unlike anything the Adept had seen before. It seemed almost alive… the creatures wore it with an almost symbiotic ease. The most perplexing and unnerving trait, however, was that Shadow could not sense these creatures with the Force. And, as he found out when they had captured him, Force-based attacks didn’t have an effect either.

The largest of the aliens made a long grunting sound and pointed towards the prisoners. Shadow could only understand the last word uttered. “Jeedai.” Three of the creatures instantly sprang into the cell shoving the Jedi further back. Shadow was grabbed roughly by the arms. Instinctively he struggled to break free. The Force, fueled by his rage, coursed through his body. With all the strength he could muster, the Adept managed to heave the creature off of him sending it flying into the prison wall. His fellow Jedi winced when they heard the creature’s back break through it’s armor.

One of the other creatures let out a rasp and the others moved to grab their strange, staff-like weapons. The leader quickly stopped them. After a short conversation the Jedi captives were herded together and led from the prison cells. Behind them could be heard the screams of the non-Jedi captives, but those were quickly silenced. Shadow was pushed ahead of the other Jedi being led through a twisting maze of corridors. The Adept fixed everything he saw into his mind in hopes of later using something to his advantage.

Finally, the prisoners were led into a large room with several twisted, rack-like devices hanging in a row on the wall. One by one the Jedi were taken to stand in front of the weird devices then turned around to face the leader. Shadow had a good idea what was about to happen and expected to see looks of pleasure on the twisted faces of his captors, but all he saw was a look of fervor as they eyed the devices. Shadow’s eyes glanced to the left to see his fellow Brotherhood members waiting with their eyes closed. He returned his eyes to the aliens in time to see the leader nod his head.

The six Jedi were pushed backwards into the restraints, which quickly wrapped around their chests. Before he could react, Shadow felt excruciating pain spread throughout his entire body. A scream tore itself out of his throat as his eyes were blinded by the pain. Next to him he could hear and feel the other Jedi as their devices activated one after the other. The Adept gritted his teeth and prepared for the worst.

The klaxon aboard the Dark Prophet blared angrily as the call to general quarters was sounded. Sithspawn cursed to himself as he finished lacing his boots, tugging upon the clasp of the vibroblade sheath strapped to his ankle to verify that it was stowed securely.

Disturbed from his meditation by a most disturbing premonition only moments before the attack began, Sithspawn had methodically donned his cloak and robes, clipping his lightsaber to his belt. The stale air of the cramped quarters aboard the Dark Prophet penetrated his nostrils, allowing him to appreciate for the first time just how much he longed to back upon Karufr. The Zabrak ran his hands down the length of his body, methodically verifying that every item was properly stowed. Echani daggers sat concealed within wrist sheaths, and a Bryar pistol lay concealed within the folds of his cloak. Numerous other items lay secreted within pouches strategically sewn into the cloak. With a longing glance at the Stouker concussion rifle lying disassembled upon the table, Sithspawn strode out of the door into the chaos that had overtaken the ship. Taldryan forces ran through the ship, hurrying to their assigned battle stations. Pilots and technicians weaved and dodged around Sithspawn as he stalked down the hallway, struggling to understand of what he was sensing outside of the Star Destroyer.

The Dark Prophet shook as incoming fire pelted the ship. Sithspawn raised an eyebrow as he quickened his pace. Something was definitely amiss. Tarentum’s naval forces should never have allowed craft to penetrate secure space without at least some sort of warning. Several visiting dignitaries crowded in the center of the corridor outside their quarters. With a sneer at the fear emanating from the party, Sithspawn telekinetically pinned them against the wall, running through a list of possible causes for the attack in his mind. Perhaps the Dark Council has finally recognized Taldryan for the threat that it was, and mobilized the other clans against Taldryan forces. The thought was dismissed from his mind as quickly as it had entered. Even the Council would not dare to be so bold. Nor would it explain the strange void he felt outside of the ship. He needed to reach the bridge, to confer with Duga. Dinaari forces would surely be standing ready to strike down those that dared attack Taldryan, and Sithspawn wanted to personally oversee his house’s response to the threat.

The Dark Prophet lurched suddenly as it took a particularly heavy barrage. Sithspawn immediately sensed a change in the ship’s atmospheric pressure, accented by the sudden appearance of an acute pain within his joints. Dashing to a nearby panel, Sithspawn confirmed his fear as a diagnostic of the ship showed a hull breach several decks below. The ship continued to vent atmosphere into empty space. Sithspawn cursed to himself as he turned and broke out into a dash towards the nearest turbolift. As he dodged in and out of frenzied crewmembers, he found himself alongside Bubbles and Lokasena. With a nod, Sithspawn joined ranks with the two Ektrosis members.

Keirdagh mounted up in one of the Eta-2 Interceptors that he’d appropriated from Fury Squadron and took a quick survey of the fighter’s capabilities. Keying his comm unit he addressed the men and women that would be flying support with him. “Okay kiddies... whatever the hell we’re facing doesn’t like us, and also apparently doesn’t like dying. We’re here to disabuse them of that notion. I want tight flying, want you watching your wingmen, and I want you to call for help if you need it.”

Kicking in his drive, Keirdagh was surprised to feel the capabilities of his fighter, though the fighter may be older than even him, it wasn’t too far below the speed and armament of an X-Wing. Having achieved standing orbit near the Katarn’s command deck, Keirdagh looked out towards the battle raging around him. “Yacks, you there?” Halcyon’s voice boomed through Keirdagh’s headset. “From the looks of it, we’re taking a beating out here… we need to get this under control.”
“Obviously… see if you can get through to the Prophet’s fighter controller, and see where he wants us, I’m going to start trying to get the Squadrons out here organized.” With a squelch, Keirdagh knew Halcyon was busy contacting the fighter controller on the Dark Prophet’s bridge, trying to figure out orders to bring some organization to the chaotic hell that was the result of supposedly enlightened force sensitive Jedi, being ambushed like some idiotic cadets fresh out of the academy.

“Yacks, Fighter command came back, they want us to hook up with Crix and Hyperion Flight, and try to blow a hole through the enemy fighter perimeter, and try to engage with their capital ships… didn’t bother giving us any ideas about how to do it though… Hyperion Flight is on TAC 3.”

Before either of the men could ask though, Crix’s voice broke through their comms. “Halc, Yacks… get your ass over here. We’re right in the thick of it and not getting much done. We keep hitting them, but not doing any damage, and for some reason, we’re having a hell of a time maintaining our shield integrity… every time we start recharging it again, we have a failure and it drops to zero power.”

The Combat Master wasted no time, “We’ll be right there Crix, Katar Squadron, lock on to Hyperion Flights signal and assist,” he ordered, “Fury Squadron, stay with us!”

Lord Cotelin and Ace stood outside the Grand Master's quarters and Ace told Cotelin that Duga had sent for him.

"I know, already. Learn to shelter your thoughts," the Dark Lord said as if he had done this a million times.

It disturbed Ace that someone could just walk into his mind, but he put thoughts aside as he didn't want Jac to read them. He was scared that if he didn't stay concentrated then he'd do something wrong and Cotelin would kill him without hesitation. They walked for a couple minutes, though it seemed like hours to Ace. When a wounded pilot, being taken to a medical bay, passed by them on a repulsor stretcher, Cotelin and his younger counterpart turned back. The pilot's wounds were deep and he had lost a lot of blood; he would be dead before he even got to the medical bay. Lord Cotelin raised his head and ordered the men with the wounded man to stop.

"But sir if we …" the man stopped as he was thrown against a wall.

"Know your place." Jac said.

The Dark Lord concentrated for a few moments and the wounds began to heal. The bleeding subsided and the man's breathing steadied. Cotelin finished just as the man that he had knocked against the wall got up.

"….sir, I...." The other man said stupefied by the Sith's powers.

"I have done enough to keep him alive," interrupted the Dark Lord. "Double your efforts."

With the injured pilot out of sight Jac and Ace continued to walk to the bridge when the Grand Master stopped again

"M'lord, is something wrong?" Ace asked not actually expecting answer.

"No, just contacting someone," Jac surprisingly answered.

"…ok…" Ace said wondering if he should bother asking further about who Cotelin contacted.

"Master Kaek will be here shortly. Come." The Sith Lord said, as if he were not even there.

Probably talking to someone else, Ace thought.

"Why yes I am." Jac said smiling.

The shuttle landed with a thump and as the doors opened the first thing Anga heard was: “Are you guys ok?”
Anga looked up into the face of her friend, Epis Bubbles. With a nod Anga walked over to her and gave her a big hug before beginning her tale.
“Sharad and I were…uh…well…you know, making out after the ceremonies. Shadow was standing around making weird gestures and flirting with every journey man that wandered by, you know how he is…was. Then, Consul Durga made the announcement that we were under attack. Sharad, Shadow and I ran off in the direction of the shuttles, but he got pushed away by the mob and ended up in a different one than ours.”
Anga looked over at where Sharad was talking to some high ranking people, probably telling them the same story. Bubbles nodded here head and asked her to continue. Anga told the rest of the story in a breaking voice: “We could see his shuttle go off in a slightly different direction than ours, but then…a blast and an explosion shook his vehicle. Sharad was all set to go rescue Shadow, but Durga gave the order to stop and head towards the Dark Prophet immediately. Shadow is to be considered as dead in action.”
Bubbles and Anga stared at each other and as a tear ran down Anga’s face, a spoon, a bowl and a small container of ice-cream appeared in Bubbles’ hand. It was time for some comfort. Minutes later, empty bowl sitting on the floor, the girls began directing traffic and getting things ready for the expected new arrivals. Anga began readying first aid supplies and checking escape pod provisions.

Vladet closed his eyes and relaxed as his TIE Interceptor, Prophet 1, ran through its emergency pre-flight checklist. There was no time for a full diagnostic scan which made him slightly uneasy - preparation was key to victory after all - but he sensed great turmoil all around him in the battle. Of the enemy ... he felt nothing. Odd ...

His computer pinged as he opened his eyes, gripping the flight yoke. "Prophet Squadron ready for launch," he reported to the deck officer, his voice crisp and clear.

"You are clear for immediate take off, Aedile Xavier. May the Force be with you."

"Roger. Prophet Leader out," he replied as his TIE Interceptor was lowered towards the open floor of the hangar. Everything in his personal TIE Interceptor was running at optimum level and his shields were fully powered. "Prophets, we launch single file by number. Flight formation will be updated as soon as we're all clear."

Acknowledgments came over his comm but he paid them no mind; the storage claw had released his ship as he opened his throttle to full. Vlad's TIE Interceptor blasted out of the Dark Prophet's belly hangar followed closely by his impromptu squad mates.

Vlad grimaced as his comm suddenly came alive with chatter and his sensor screens lit up. The screen was so full of different colored dots he had no chance to decipher who was who. "Hide friendly ships," he muttered to his flight computer which instantly refreshed his screen. Only hordes of red dots remained. "Target nearest enemy."

A picture of the most bizarre craft ever splashed onto his main targeting screen. It was an oblong mass of something he had never seen before in his life - it seemed to be more organic than metal. There was also no IFF signal emitting from it ... everything was just stamped UNKNOWN except for the thing's current speed.

The horde of unknown ships were ten kilometers out and closing fast while starfighters from both sides rushed towards one another. Shrugging, he reached out through the Force to try and gauge his enemy.

Nothing.

What? Realization dawned that he couldn't sense anything from this new threat ... not the pilots nor ships or anything. It was like they didn't exist in the Force at all. Impossible ...

"This is Prophet Leader, divide into wing pairs and engage unknown enemy ships. We need to keep them at bay until things get organized above us - maintain starfighter superiority." The vast majority of his squad couldn't use the Force anyway, so there was no point in demoralizing them with this shocking news.

Vlad heard his squad looking for their respective partners via the comm as he said "You're with me, Two. Keep on my six and don't fall behind."

"Two complying with your order, Lead."

He smiled as there was little military discipline in the Brotherhood itself, much less in his Clan. No doubt his wingman was a standard non-Force recruit but at least it would make for an easier ride. Oh do I miss the days of being in the military proper, he sighed.

The enemy starfighters were six kilometers out and closing fast. Already dogfights were erupting with ruby red explosions filling the void of space. The occasional yell or scream erupted from the comm and oddly enough no enemy ships had vanished from his sensors yet - things were going badly already.

"Lead, this is Five," his second flight leader called.

"Don't worry about it, Five," Vlad responded dryly. "Form up with me and Two."

"Yes sir," replied Five, sounding a bit confused.

The Aedile had been sensing Gobhainn's urge to join with his fellow House-mates since his hasty briefing and wasn't about to argue with a stubborn Dark Jedi Knight in the middle of a battle. He watched Gobhainn's Interceptor veer off towards Crix's squadron; however he wanted to fight and die was up to him, after all.

Vladet felt out through the Force to his own comrades and identified Crix and Yacks, his superiors in this space battle. He could tell they were organizing something, although he had not been given any real orders by anyone yet. Not really a problem ... enough targets for everyone it seems.

The enemy starfighters were now three kilometers out.

"Fire at will."

Ben grumbled, steadying himself against a railing as the Prophet shuddered against an enemy barrage. "Figures...I get sent down here to fix some small problem and suddenly some group of jerks start shooting at us."

The sound of klaxons echoed off the smooth walls of the reactor shaft. With Ben's help, the technicians had narrowed down the problem to three of the five coolant sensors in this shaft malfunctioning. The other two were already replaced, and Ben had been ready to return to his quarters to catch the end of the award ceremony when the Star Destroyer had to engage some unknown attackers. The constant shaking of battle made it impossible for the technicians to venture out on the thin walkway to replace the last sensor.

Broken sensor in hand, Ben steadily made his way back to the control room across the narrow walkway. Suddenly, Duga's voice entered Ben's mind.

Ben. No time to explain. Kaek needs to meet up with Jac, do what you can to keep us flying.

Tossing the broken equipment aside, Ben ran the rest of the distance to the control room and lightly tossed the technician working at the nearest console out of his seat. “Let's see here. Don't need any of this running. Can probably get away with a little less engine power for now” Ben muttered as he flicked a few switches. Turning to the tech that he tossed out of his seat, Ben ordered the man to see what they could do about pushing the reactor just a little above standard capacity. Encouragingly, he mentioned to the tech, “Lower the dampeners if you must. We can survive a little radiation poisoning, getting vaporized by someone's turbolaser is quite final on the other hand”.

Spectre had been broken up after only minutes of leaving the hangar. As soon as Hyperion Squadron had joined their ranks, the unknown enemy attacked both fleets. Within seconds, one Hyperion Squad member had gone down, quickly followed by a Spectre, then another, then another. All the while, nobody seemed to take down any of the opposing ships.

The Chupacabra had nearly been destroyed only minutes ago by debris from a now extinct Hyperion Squad ship. With only three vessels left in Spectre Squadron, and no dent in the enemy’s numbers, things were looking bad. Terrible. There was a beep over the comm., followed by Sklib’s voice.

“Figzer, I assume you’re still alive.”

“Yeah, but I don’t know how long that’s gonna last.”

“Well cover me close, and keep a sharp eye out for flying debris. If you happen to see any, try to drag it behind you.” The comm. shut off, and the Quaestor of Ektrosis pulled sharply upward, then flipped around and began off in the opposite direction. Figzer mimicked the maneuver as well as he could manage, and followed en suite.

Fortunately, there were chunks of metal just about everywhere. Pieces of star fighters littered the battle field, and large pieces of the Dark Prophet’s haul were shot out in every direction when it had been hit. The Elomin had no idea if he could use the Force to grab onto pieces of debris and keep them in his possession at speeds like this, especially with the constant thoughts of fear and doubt filling his mind, leaving him unable to concentrate.

Sklib already had a small trail of metal following his fighter, and was collecting more each passing second. Figzer attempted to reach out with the Force and grab a small piece that was nearing him. When it was within his grasp, he gave a sharp pull, drawing the hunk of what appeared to be a bit of a wing toward his fighter, but keeping it far enough so it wouldn’t make direct contact with his ship. He easily pulled it around behind the A-wing, and let it follow him for a few seconds to make sure he could hold on to it.

Figzer reached down and pressed the button that opened the communication channels between his and Sklib’s fighter.

“What exactly are we going to do with all this?” Figzer was already confused about the enemy and the battle taking place, and the thought of pulling large chunks of metal didn’t ease his mind.

“It’s simple. Our lasers won’t work against them. I figure they’re too weak to get through those shields, and even when they do, they’re weakened dramatically. So… if they’re gonna throw rocks at us, we’re gonna throw them back.”

Sklib's plan of action was simple: make the enemy fly into the debris behind his ship. Figzer was left speechless over the com, in awe at the ingenuity of the plot, as well as the high chance of failure. Already, most of the debris was fading away from the Chupacabra. Hel-Pa struggled to keep a piece a Hyperion fighter, roughly the same size as a human, following his ship. A lone Vong fighter barrel-rolled onto Sklib's rear, the young Quaestor unable to shake the bogey. Using only basic dodging techniques, Hel-Pa was barely able to roll his way in and out of the molten lava-rock spurting around his craft.

Figzer performed a 360 degree loop, placing him behind the Vong, firing at the craft with all of the weaponry in his arsenal. The lasers ricocheted off the fighter, doing no damage whatsoever. The broken wing was still dragging behind Hel-Pa's fighter, the Templar not wanting to release it from his grasp and risk injuring his House-mate. Telepathically, the Quaestor communicated to his Battle Team Leader, ”Fire at the metal behind my ship.”

”What?”

”Just do it!” Figzer clenched his teeth together, pulling back the trigger that fired the lasers, quickly heating up the durasteel and putting it into a magma-like state. Hel-Pa let go of the Force's grasp over the chunk of metal, sending the white-hot fragments hurling toward the organic fighter trailing him. Hel-Pa turned around and looked over his seat, watching the fragments sink right into the ship, as if the craft was “absorbing” it. ”What the frack?”

”What was that, Sir?” the Elomin inquired to Hel-Pa's lack of composure.

”Nothing,” he replied, using a traditional mind trick to convince Figzer it had never happened. As Sklib turned back around to face forward, another A-Wing of Spectre Squadron careened into the Chupacabra, breaking the glass in Sklib's cockpit and letting the vacuum sink in. The Quaestor donned his helmet fully, clipping all the necessary parts to allow for vacuum survival. All electrical power had faded, and the Templar was left a sitting duck in a sea of fire.

The scene from the Command Bridge aboard the VEN Katarn was frightening. The coordination of the enemy fighters, the dogged determination of the Jedi and Non-Jedi fighters attempting to beat them back, and the brutal assault the Dark Prophet was absorbing. Reports from computer readouts had a hard time keeping up with the shear amount of mental footnotes Taldyran's resident Grand Master was feeding the command staff. Still near the bottom end of the totem pole, Vodo had not had the experience, nor the training to deal with the entire message, and managed to bottle most of it out of his mind, figuring the Proconsul would inform him of what he would need to know.

Vodo tasked himself with coordinating the smaller picket ships and the Katarn's fighter screen. He directed Novir and Rage squadrons, both ARC-170 Fighter Squadrons, to protect the ventral hangar openings, while the third ARC-170 squadron, Tyrans, was to act as the movable screen from scene to scene as needed. The rest were already deployed and engaging the Alien craft.

"Sir, Autarch requests more fighter cover. The smaller Clan Fleets are under equipped", a TAC officer stood to announce this to Chaosrain and Vodo Biask.

Chaos, preoccupied directing the battle closer to home nodded to Vodo, giving him reign over the issue, "Assign Apocalypse, Blade, and Chaos squadrons to reach the DC Proper ASAP, with Stalker, and Typhoon squadrons following with all due haste."

Vodo mentally cursed the pathetic clans that were tasked to be the rear guard and flank anchors. Their own adequacy was now threatening Taldryan. A decision had to be made while they still could in order to protect the Dark prophet. The loss of any more fighters, either to other clans or the enemy, would inevitably threaten the Brotherhood even further.

"CAG, order the Dark Storm, and Renegade to form on the Dark Prophet. Command Picket Duty as Primary. They may move to reinforce close-in friendlies, but may not leave the Prophet's side. The Suppressor and Leviathan are to move forward till they can draw the enemy fighters into a fire lane between the Dark Prophet and Katarn. Warn our fighters to only enter kill zone if they can reasonably assume survival."

The Commander of Air Group nodded his acknowledgment to the Dark Jedi Knight, and began issuing orders. The Gravitational anomalies that trailed the Vong craft seemed to stop the standard fighter's lasers. But perhaps an overwhelming amount of heavy turbolaser fire could solve that problem.

Crix had flown a fighter in combat more times then he could remember. Some of those battles went well and some didn’t, but this was the worst battle that he’d ever been involved in. Half of his squadron were dead and the other half weren’t doing much better. The Taldryan fighters had only scored a total of three kills of their own, two of them by Crix. He’d noticed a pattern in those kills, though, and thought he’d found a way to take a few ships down.

“Crix to all Taldryan fighters,” Crix said into his com, The only time I can score a hit on these ships is when I get two or three ships to hammer them with fire, has anyone else noticed that too?”

A few pilots spoke up, saying that they’d noticed the same thing. Crix listened to the reports as he slammed his flight stick forward, diving to avoid a head-to-head shot with one of these mystery ships.

“All pilots stick with a wingman, attack a single target together from different angles and put as many shots on the ship as you can. Hopefully you can overload their shields and take a few of them out.” Crix said, rolling to port to avoid another blast.

Just then, Crix had an idea. If it was just a matter of overloading shields then maybe it would be possible to use the debris floating around to bring down their shields. He’d have to use the Force to move the debris so the tactic wouldn’t work for non-jedi pilots, but it would free up his Dark Jedi to engage one-on-one and do damage.

Crix reached out with the Force and grabbed onto as many floating pieces of metal as he could handle and formed them into a cloud around his ship. “Crix! What are you doing?” His com cracked to life as one of the other pilots saw the strange sight.

“I have an idea.” Was all he said as he picked his test subject. With the target locked, Crix quickly closed the distance and set his lasers and ion cannons to fire in sequence when he pulled the trigger. When he was close enough, Crix redirected his grip on his cloud of metal and sent it hurling at the enemy craft. At the same time he squeezed and held the trigger, filling the blackness with laser and ion bolts.

As the debris cloud hit the ship something strange happened. Crix had expected the shields to overload and drop, which would let his lasers hit the ship's hull, but instead the ship simply disappeared. He couldn't find it visually or on his sensors, one second it'd been there, then the ship and debris had vanished and his laser shots had flown through where everything had been a moment before. A ship that isn't there is a ship that can't shoot me he thought to himself as he relayed this information to the rest of the fleet.

Maybe now they’d have a chance.

Keirdagh and his squadron had only made it about half way through the fracas, when Crix's message came out over the comm. Looking out to his port, he saw another one of the fighters from Katar squadron flash into a flaming cloud. “Halc, you still there? I think Crix is right, we need to pump some massive combined fire into these bastards to make them hurt.”

“Yeah Yacks, I’m still here… just barely. What’s the plan?”

Keying his comm to the tactical frequencies of both Katar and Fury Squadrons, he laid out the plan. “You heard Crix people; we need to overload their defences, because it’s not happening normally. So here’s what we do, each wing pair, team with another one. Four fighters at the minimum target a single pod, and hit it with a concentrated burst, all lasers, all ions… if what Crix said is right, we can overload whatever shields they have, and put a good a hurt on them.”

Viewing the space that still separated the two interceptor squadrons and Hyperion Flight, it seemed as if there were still parsecs to go. “The Hype’s are taking some heavy losses people, we need to get there quick. Flight leaders, pick your targets, and engage.” The remaining two flights from each of the two squadrons formed up into new wing pairs, looking more like a patrol flight than star fighters that were in the midst of one of the hairiest melee’s Keirdagh had ever seen. Halcyon’s flight element was the first to engage one of the pod-like fighters, and in almost complete unison, the four interceptors opened up with their laser and ion cannons.

At first it seemed as though the tactic wasn’t working at all, but after a few seconds of sustained fire, the shots started ranging closer and closer, until almost without warning, a stream of fire connected and burned deep into the hull, and the pod went spinning off into space. “That’s it people! Spread out so you can still manoeuvre around incoming fire, and give them all you got! Katar 6, relay the plan back to the CAG, and set up for another pass!”

Keirdagh took a deep breath, and set his element after another target, and tried to get to his beleaguered Quaestor before anything else managed to go wrong…

“Sit still, you fool. I have to tie this off or you’ll die within minutes.” Komari shouted at the wounded crewman she was tending to. The man was screaming and curling his body in all directions. Probably because of the ten centimetre long, deep gash in his thigh. Komari quickly tied a tourniquet around the mans leg. “Okay, now listen to me.” Her piercing green eyes locked with the crewman’s glance. “You need to release the pressure every fifteen minutes. That will allow minimal blood flow, but afterwards we’ll be able to save your leg.”
She got to her feet and looked around the hangar bay of the Dark Prophet. She wasn’t a pilot, neither was she a very good fighter. She was a Krath Novice. But what she did know, was medical first aid. Her eyes travelling over the deck to see anyone else needed her.
“There…” she said softly as she saw four people walking into the hangar.

“Sena.” she shouted. One of the men, who was carrying a wounded man, looked up in her direction. Komari ran towards him. “Sena, what’s going on?” “I’m not sure. We’re hit pretty bad. I don’t think the Prophet can take much more of this.” Komari saw the seriousness in Lokasena’s eyes. She also noticed that the two other people were waiting anxiously for Lokasena to come with them. “Give him to me.” Komari said to her friend. “I’ll take care of him. You go and do what you need to.” The Guardian handed her the unconscious crewman and smiled at her nervously. “Okay I’ll go.” He said. “But I’ll come back for you.”
“What ever, just get going.” Komari smiled nervously. She suddenly had a bad feeling about all of this. As Lokasena walked off with the other man and woman, she got a feeling she would never see him again.

The Chupacabra looked as if it was frozen in space. All of the lights were out, and Figzer couldn’t make a connection to his Quaestor’s communication line. First, the Elomin sent out a wave of Force energy, trying to determine whether or not his only true teacher was even alive. The Guardian felt Sklib’s presence within the failing A-Wing, so he sent a message through the mind of the Templar.

Are you alright? What’s happening? There was no response for several seconds, then he heard the whisper of Sklib’s voice in his head.

I’m ok. The Chupacabra, not so great. Is there anything you can do from where you are? His response felt strangled. He could tell Hel-Pa had to concentrate to get his message through.

The best I can think of is to somehow push you back to the Katarn. Figzer, not stupid enough to keep his A-Wing still in the middle of a fire fight, circled round the Tarasin’s ship for several seconds, trying to formulate a plan in his panicking mind. There was a beep over the comm.

"Hey wingman, there's no response from Sklib. What's going on?" said a voice. Figzer had to look at the display to identify the host of the voice.

"Damned recruit hit him. Everything's fine Yacks. And my name is Figzer." was the Elomin's irritated reply. "Just fly around and tell me if anything is coming our way, I'm calling in more cover."

Figzer changed the frequencies of the comm. link so he could get a hold of Crix.

“Crix, can you hear me?” Figzer nearly yelled into the comm. The reply was almost instant.

“I’m a little busy right now, this better be important.” There was the sound of an explosion over the communication link. “Hell yeah! Got another one!”

“This is Guardian Figzer, I need cover while I get Sklib’s ship back to the Katarn.”

“What happened? He isn’t dead, is he?”

“No, some recruit lost control and hit him. He’s alright for now, but his fighter’s disabled and he’s on full oxygen support.. Just bring some of your men over here and provide cover while I take him in.”

“Alright, we’re closing in on you now… How are you planning on getting him back?”

“I have an idea, but if it doesn’t work we’ll need to find a new Quaestor for Ektrosis.” Figzer shut off the link and sent Sklib a message, which was quickly received. I just talked to Crix, he’s bringing in his pilots to cover us while I bring you in.

I know, I just heard from him, too. He said you were gonna try to kill me or something. There was no pain in Sklib’s mind, no thoughts of anger towards the Elomin, which must have meant he knew the Guardian wouldn’t try to get rid of him.

Crix and several other fighters came in around Figzer and Sklib, then split off into several groups and formed a small blockade between the two Ekkies and the threat of death on the other side. With a thank you message sent out to Crix, Figzer studied the area around him for what he needed.

Only a few meters ahead of him was a piece of what was probably the Dark Prophet. It was about half the size of the Elomin’s A-Wing, but it was only a thin layer, which Figzer was able to bring behind the Chupacabra with ease. With a gentle push from the Force, the piece of metal collided softly with the rear thrusters of Sklib’s A-Wing, and sent him sailing smoothly back toward the Katarn, which was nearly a kilometer away.

After all of his time away from the cockpit, Figzer had forgotten how easily things could be pushed around in space, and under estimated how far his gentle push could take the Chupacabra. His initial idea was to just move the entire ship itself, but dismissed that idea, as it was too heavy. And now he had under guessed how much force it would take from the much lighter piece of metal to push along the small fighter.

"Are you stupid? You're gonna wind up killing him faster than the Vong if you keep smackin his ass with metal!!" Yacks' voice seemed to jump from the comm. "No good journeyman trying to make a rescue attempt..." his words trailed off and became a slight grumble, then the light of the comm. link when out. "And another thing," he shouted back into his comm. "I'm not your damn wingman. Tell me what to do again and I'll shove a piece of metal in YOUR ass!"

"Stop here for a moment," Cotelin said to the Jedi Hunter at his side. The Dark Lord and Ace had barely made it half-way to the bridge yet. Jac frequently stopped to focus on things outside of the ship. This time, he needed to sit.

"Are you alright, my lord?" The question came before thought, and Ace soon regretted it when he found himself forced down to his knees against the wall. For some reason, he really wanted to just sit there, be quiet and wait for Kaek.

Cotelin closed his eyes to concentrate.

____________________

“…Tell me what to do again and I'll shove a piece of metal in YOUR ass!"

The Dark Jedi Master's admonition's barely registered with Figzer. He had better things to worry about, like the massive grouping of enemy fighters that the Dark Prophet was laying into at the moment. The Dark Jedi knew that he was supposed to direct his fire there, despite no order to the contrary.

Figzer paid no heed to the task he had been working on, and as he willed his A-wing forward, he completely ignored the radio calls from Hel-pa Sklib, who now was really wondering what was going on. Crix and Yacko were headed that way too, working to engage the enemy.

The Guardian's comm link flashed and the familiar voice of Consul Arkarso filled his ears. "The Dark Council has ordered us in tight with Naga Sadow. Dark Prophet will pull lead. Chaos and others: hold the rear; Plagueis is not going to last long. All fighters, it seems our best hope is concentration on single targets. Attack on the marks given by my ship."

Of course, Figzer already knew all of that. The voice in his head had already told him.

____________________

Telaris, old friend, important package in A-wing designated Chupacabra: Hel-pa Sklib. Bring our Quaestor back alive. Pick up who you can along the way.

The Dark Prophet didn't need any prodding from the Grand Master, though Jac provided it anyway. Mav was already in "his" shuttle, dropping from the hangar of the Katarn. While it had taken him a few minutes to fully prep the takeoff--Mav had not flown a Lambda in some time--the Dark Jedi was ready now to assist in any way he could.

Saving the life of a Quaestor sounded important enough. Perhaps it was good that Mav came along, after all.

____________________

Duga Arkarso watched as the battle raged in front of him. His pilots were flying superbly, but were unable to make a dent in the enemy lines. His ships were operating impeccably but were sustaining massive amounts of damage. The Consul of Taldryan had yet to lose a battle while in command of his Clan, yet his first defeat was now looming.

The commands that Duga sent fleet-wide changed the course of the ships slightly. Muz had ordered Taldryan to work in conjunction with its allies in Naga Sadow. Duga did not hesitate in bringing his ships into line; the Brotherhood would not survive unless it worked together. With a brief thought, the Consul opened a comm channel to his second-in-command. "Chaosrain..." Duga paused. What caught his eye was simply unfathomable. In the distance, beyond the scarred hull of the Vae Victus, one Brotherhood capital ship was firing on another.

The pit in Duga's stomach was remarkable. "Are you seeing this, Chaos?" Duga asked. "Ricco, get me identific..."

"Scholae Palatinae, my lord. Firing on Arcona's Eye of Abyss." Ricco replied all too quickly, having already retrieved the information in anticipation of the question.

The comm hissed. "The Brotherhood is not going to survive with those fools at our side." Duga could hear the disgust in his Proconsul's voice, even over the crackling communication.

Concentrate on the tasks at hand. Jac's voice punctured Duga’s mind.

Although annoying, the Grand Master was right. The Consul refocused his attention on the looming graveyard.

____________________

"I can't seem to make it work again!" Crix yelled into his helmet as his trick to kill the Vong failed for the fourth time. He had been lucky, evidentially. He was unable to repeat what he had done with any sort of consistency. His hope was fading fast.

Keirdagh Cantor and Halcyon Rokir were fairing little better. Although the concentrated fire had taken down four or five Vong fighters out of the twenty they tried, organizing the attacks was taking entirely too long...and the enemy had picked up on the tactics. More of the pod fighters began to pour into the kill zone. By the hundreds, the Vong focused on Taldryan. Even one of the larger "capital" craft had turned toward the Dark Prophet. The giant, organic ship was still a distance away, but its visage grew larger by the second.

The loss of fighters was coming with increasing frequency. The Clan had a contingent of several hundred fighters, almost a third of which had been destroyed or disabled by now. Crix barely even gave a second thought to the Tie Interceptor that exploded nearly in his flight path. He and the other Jedi pilots were now working in unison. Crix fired all of his cannons at their intended target.

Nothing.

"Pull around and try again!" commanded Halcyon.

____________________

I agree, Jac, was all the Dark Lord could get in response.

Cotelin stood quickly just as Dark Adept Kaek came running into site. "No need to get up for me, Jac." Kaek tried to charm.

"Lord Sarin is considering a full retreat. Scholae Palatinae has fired on Arcona, Tarentum and Taldryan are taking direct attacks from Vong capital ships, and the rear guard is not fairing well." Cotelin remarked coldly. "I garner it will be a matter of minutes before Sarin makes the call. Duga will relay the message. We need to be prepared." Cotelin turned to Dark Ace. "You need to run to the engine rooms and assist Benevolent in whatever way you can." The Jedi Hunter did not hesitate to run off.

"Kaek, come. We need to be near the hangars for the survivors."

Jac Cotelin and Syn Kaek ran with all the speed the force could give them.

Telaris gazed out across the star scape, noting the fighters converging, attempting to single out targets and concentrate fire. The tactic could not exactly be described as successful, though it did seem that it may have had some impact on the Vong. His anger began to boil inside him at the sight of the extragalactic invaders – but he had no time for brooding, not now. He had to go about finding a stranded quaestor.

Taking only a moment to glance down at the ship's instruments, Telaris effortlessly directed the ship towards the feint signs of life from the one that had been identified to him as Hel-pa Sklib. He did not know the man personally, and likely never would. But his duty was clear; if Jac felt the life of this one was important enough to save, it was. There was never questioning of the Grand Master, not in things such as this.

“S-sir,” croaked the Guardian seated next to Telaris, a finger pointing towards the plasteel viewport. He was one of the regulars assigned to Quatro Squadron, the designation for the Lambda shuttles and their pilots. The co-pilot wiggled his finger in alarm.

“Yes, I see it,” came the Prophet's frustrated reply. A large piece of metal was lodged behind the craft, driving it forward, careening it out of control roughly in the direction of the Katarn. Roughly, Telaris estimated, because the trajectory would likely cause the chunk of metal either to hurl into the bridge or miss the ship entirely.

Further, it had complicated matters because it was wedged into the ship in such a way that if Hel-pa Sklib attempted to eject, the cockpit would burst forth directly into the large piece of metal stuck into the Sklib's fighter, the Chupacabra – if it even could. No, the quaestor likely couldn't eject, anyway... Debris seemed to have literally crumpled parts of the cockpit, and he could almost guarantee that the ejection would have happened already if it possibly could have. Telaris could tell that Sklib was still conscious, at least - that was a blessing for what would come soon.

With a slight frown, and without so much as lifting a finger off the controls, Telaris froze the two objects in space as his shuttle passed over the top of them. He brought the rescue craft back around, dislodging the piece of metal and giving it a soft “push” away from Sklib and his ruined craft, leaving Telaris a better view of the stranded craft. Now, Telaris thought to himself, how to get him out of there...

“Hey, hey… are you awake?”
The crewman was waking up to the sound of Komari’s voice. He opened his eyes and saw her red hair, pale skin and bright green eyes. “Am I dead?” Vosa smiled. “I hope not! That would mean that I’m dead to. And I plan to go out with a bang.” Komari supported the man’s shoulders so he could sit up. “Come on, you need to move to edge of the landing area. We’ll probably be receiving more support craft.” She helped the man get across the yellow and black outlines of the landing area. Looking around, she saw that not everyone was following her example.
“Hey you…” She shouted to an anonymous deck-officer. “Get those people out of harms way. We need to get the wounded ready for a possible evac.” The deck-officer wavered for a moment, not sure whether this woman had the authority to command him. Realizing that her comment made sense, however, he decided to comply.

Komari was running back and forth between the wounded men and women who had now gathered near a wide bulkhead. She needed to keep as many of these people alive until they could be brought to a safe and proper medical facility. Making snap decisions about peoples lives. Some were so severely injured that they couldn’t be helped. The deck was slowly covered in blood. The pain and suffering took hold of Komari’s mind. She needed to focus, but all these cries for help withheld her from processing any information at all. This was her first combat experience and it was a lot different then she imagined. All the romantic stories about heroic deeds and honourable defeat didn’t mean anything here. People were suffering and dying all around. Where was the honour in bleeding to death on a cold hangar bay deck plate?

Having been launched with the other fighters, the young Sith Warrior Vardar now flew close to the on-going battle, sensing the transpirings within the Katarn, the deaths outside of it, and the overwhelming confusion that possessed even him. After having battled with his robes for fifteen minutes (which were stuck on the wheel), he meditated upon what was happening beneath him.
It felt like an eternity since he had last been inside his old X-Wing's cockpit and he suspected he might be rusty from all the recent ground combat drills. Trying to figure out some kind of way to beat the attacking force, to discover some hole in their strategy he felt something was a-miss. There was something strange about the attacking force, and he couldn't pinpoint what it was exactly. This made him even more confused.

"It's going to be one of those days... R6, I don't know if they checked you back at the hangar, are you on alright?"
*beeping*
"Alright, I hope you still have all my orders stored.. Can you perform command RX67?"

No sooner had Vardar said it, a spare lightsaber came out of an orifice on the side of the X-Wing: "Alright! One of these is always handy to have around.."
"Now then... lock on on the.. thirty second enemy fighter on the right.."
*beeping*
"Load all shields to the starboard wing"
*beeping*
"Now perform command KK1."
*beeping*
"What? I'm not suicidal!"
*beeping*
"PERFORM THE DAMN COMMAND BEFORE I WIPE YOUR MEMORY!!"

No sooner had he threatened the droid, the X-Wing began accelarating to near lightspeed the engines seemed stress by this jumpstart, Vardar focused with all his might to enable his reflexes at a maximum, as the ship came to an abrupt halt it was an inch from a raging enemy fighter. Turning fast he hit the enemy figher's engine with the starboard wing as it went critical and exploded, Vardar rapidly normalized the shield to surround the entire ship once more. Leaving behind decoy waste Vardar retured to his original position overviewing the battle.

"R6, flight report, skill.. 100%. Now let's see if we can teach these guys what it means to mess with the children of Taldryan."
*beeping from R6*

A bulkhead came crashing down onto the bridge of the Suppressor straight on top of the CO, Sorin Altuso, with a surprisingly amusing squelching noise KP Werdna Elbee thought as he oversaw the situation.

The battle against the unknown enemy hadn't been going well. Many of Taldryan's fighters were gone and the capital ships were taking a battering. Sharp to take charge, now that the CO was little more than a pool of red leaking out from under the bulkhead, Werdna called out his commands.

“Move us behind the Katarn! We can't take any more shots from their capital ships!” Checking the status of the other ships he knew that they were fairing no better than the Suppressor but he foresaw that retreat was inevitable and every working hyperdrive was valuable no matter what class they were.

Werdna ran to a terminal pushing an ensign out of the way and clattering her to the floor. Checking up on the status of the hanger bay he quickly spotted that a Hyperion fighter had come in for repairs. “Lieutenant Goshman,” Werdna yelled to the man at Weapons' Supervision Control, “take charge. If I come back to find this ship destroyed I'll deny you a peaceful afterlife.”

KP Elbee ran down the corridors, and impatiently paced around the various slow elevators, to eventually get to the hanger bay. A pilot was just about to get into the Hyperion and Werdna had no time to stop them. Spotting an engineers equipment set to his side, the Dark Jedi force pushed the set into the pilots direction. Sharp instruments buried into the pilot's limbs making the man cry in pain, only for a wrench to the back of the head to silence him.

“That man is injured. I shall take his place.”

Alanna stalked the corridors looking for a job. Not a particularly good fighter pilot, she felt a bit at a loss. It wasn't that she couldn't be a good fighter pilot if she put her mind to it, but she'd never really bothered - she had Sith for that sort of thing. As she stalked, she realised that in all the chaos nobody had considered the possibility of a Vong-boarding party. Brotherhood ships were rarely boarded, but the Mistress didn't like to leave such things to chance. She pursed her lips. She supposed that she should also ensure her clan members were aware of the Vong immunity to the Force. Such things were common knowledge to her, but the less well educated members of the Brotherhood might not be aware of it. She would have to find a way to notify the Sith and Obelisk.

Alanna found a wall communicator and sent a brief message throughout the ship.

"All unoccupied jedi please join me in the hangar bay to prepare contingencies for boarding."

"Unoccupied Jedi?" Alanna thought, to herself "Ha!" And then telekinetically to a young Novice trying to convince the human guards to let him onto the bridge:

"Don't ask them, tell them." She gave the two humans a mental 'thwack' around the head for their insolence without breaking step. The Novice turned to thank her.

"Just don't get in the way in there."

"Mistress Alanna!" she heard a shout from behind. It was the Archanis Acolyte Itachi. "What do you need me to do?"

"We're facing the Vong, Acolyte. We need to create small teams of jedi and guards that can respond quickly to any encursions upon our vessel. Your Obelisk training should serve you well in this. They also need to be briefed on techniques that can be used against the Vong. That will be my role."

"Yes, Mistress. Why the hangar?"

"It's a convenient meeting place, and I want to get an update on our fighter's progress. I'm also hoping that that's where I'll find our more combat-oriented Brethren."

Since the onset of the battle, Fire-Knight hadn't had a chance to communicate with Crix to inform him he had been with the squad since launch. Not being the most amazing pilot, FK had to focus all of his attention of just staying near Crix and staying alive. To this point he had been successful, as he was one of the few Hyperion pilots remaining.

Coming in on a run, FK focused fire with Crix and managed to score the enemy's hull ever so slightly, but the damage just wasn't enough. Wheeling their ship's back around the two Hyperion fighters pulled into a small lull in the battle.

"Crix, I've got your back, Sorry I didn't tell you sooner been a bit busy." Fk said as he activated his comms.

"FK I didn't see you in the briefing room?" Crix replied almost instantly

"I'm kind of hard to miss, but things are a bit hectic."

"Roger, cover my six and don't die."

Completing their wheel, FK and Crix began to reengage the enemy fighters, focusing fire and very occasionally managing to bring one down. Looking down at his tac display Fk watched as yet another Hyperion dropped off the radar. Glancing through his view port he realized the fighters that had taken the hyp were now wheeling in towards Crix.

"Crix you have two coming in on your six, remain on vector, I'm going to broadside them and try to break them off."

No verbal response was necessary, the two Dark Jedi had worked together for years and trust was never a problem between them. Wheeling sharply so he could come in on the enemy pilots 3 o'clock. Watching their distance and speed, Fire-Knight aimed at the nose of pilot closest to him. Approaching at max speed, Fk let off several bursts of fire which glanced harmlessly off the enemies ships. 'I need more power' The templar thought. Pulling all power from his shields and brining his life support to nearly Zero FK once again took aim. Firing in three bursts, Fk watched as the first seemed to have minimal effect, the second slightly blackened the enemy fighters hull, and the third made direct contact sending the enemy fighter spinning off course but still making minimal damage. The second fighter broke off of Crix's tail and began firing on the Templars defenseless Fighter.

"Thanks FK, minimal damage how you doing." Crix's voice came over the comm.

"Taking fire, Shield power and life support have been redirected.. I'm a sitting duck Crix!" Fk replied over the comm, a degree of panic rarely heard beginning to enter his voice.

Several shots made contact, as Fk tried to lose the fighter, and ripped off a portion of the Hyperion's right wing. The enemy pilot seemed to be lining up for the final shot, when several Tally fighters came from above and focused fire forcing the ship to break off.

"Thanks Halc." Fk said as he re-routed power back to his Shields and life support. The grunt that came in reply said enough.

"Everyone reform we need to keep working in unison." Crix's voiced as his mind returned to the battle.

Surveying the remaining Tally fighters, Fk felt his his Gut drop as fear began to reach the inner portions of his mind... this battle wasn't going to end well for anyone.

As Anga was checking the supplies in the last escape pod she overheard a young Novice shouting at a deck officer: “Hey you get those people out of harms way. We need to get the wounded ready for a possible evac.” The DJK nodded her head in approval of the girl’s logical thinking.

It was time to go and help administer first aid to those people who were returning to the Dark Prophet after their ineffectual skirmishes with the enemy. As she grabbed her kit and walked towards the wounded man that had just descended from his fighter. While she tended to his wounds she used her mind to check on her husband. Having been absent for so long made Anga feel clumsy and out of place, and having Sharad near her would be a great help. He was off talking to some of Taldryan’s officers and getting ready to fight off any enemy soldiers who might try to get on the ship.

Bubbles came over to check on Anga and the injured man she was taking caring for. “Been a long time, you’ve finally come home, and this is what you find.” Bubbles whispered to Anga. Anga smiled up at her and nodding her head answered: “Yeah, I was buried neck deep in research on Babali. I finally come back to find out that we’re being attacked by the something I can’t sense. What exactly are they? Why can’t I feel them? It’s like all that’s out there is Us and a black hole.” Anga whipped out her little notebook, archaic but useful, and prepared to take notes that would aid her in research on this unknown entity. Being a Krath, Anga could fight just enough to survive, but research was her strongpoint.

Bubbles shook her head and said: “Not now Anga, we need to get everyone patched up, and Alanna wants us to get ready to fight off any one attempting to board the Dark Prophet!” Anga gaped at Bubbles and answered: “Oh, right!” Standing in the hangar Anga wondered why she had chosen this moment to return to the Clan. Anga followed Bubbles as she began rounding people up to give them specific assignments in case they were boarded by the enemy.

The brief success of a fighter tatic to overwhelm the enemy defenses was now nulled as the Yuuzhan Vong became privy to it. The Dark Prophet was still taking a majority of the pounding from the enemy fleet, and the Consul, standing stage center aboard it's Bridge was still issuing commands. The news of Scholae Palantinae firing on the Eye of the Abyss seemed to make everyone's head spin all that much more.

"Sir, the Prophet's shields just fluctuated!" An officer stood from his post to address Chaosrain.

Vodo's head shot back to the man, then out the viewport once more. The massive sillouette of the Victory Star Destroyer, Taldryan's long time Flagship, appeared to be in bad shape. The loss of shields in time would only spell disaster for the valiant vessel.

Sarin better order that withdrawl soon, or he'll regret the loss of the Prophet...

Vodo shot the message to Chaos who seemed to be focusing less on the mentral commands and updates passed around by the elders, and was now directing the combat seen with an open fist, He'll regret a lot more than the loss of one ship seeing the way things are going at the moment.

A small swarm of Vong fighters, lured into the fire lane between the Dark Prophet and the Katarn took an unexpected hit as the combined firepower of the two large ships, their fire escorts, and the Suppressor and the Leviathan, rained down upon them. The five fighters' sheilding, overwhelmed by the multiple vectors of attack, and intensity of the capitol-class weapons, dissappeared in a puff of ionized debris.

The Vong craft that had been following in their wake broke off in unison, as though called by some unseen power. Vodo witnessed the manuever, and compaired it to the Dark jedi flying against them. The Dark Jedi could connect via the force, and coordinate attacks accordingly, but their timing and effect left something to be desired. The enemy forces on the otherhand seemed to move as one entity, as a single mind. There was no mistakes, and there was no room for individual thought.

Could they be hive-minded?, he asked his Proconsul

Grand Master Cotelin interjected his own thoughts before Chaos could, probably saving the Proconsul his attention for more important matters, I've dealt with hive-minds, such as the Verpine. You can still sense their decisions and thought process'. I do get that from these Vong.

The comment surprised Vodo at first, but could only barely begin to grasp what sort of power Master Cotelin must posses.

"Update?", Chaos paced over to a TAC officer.

"Emporer's Shield destroyed. Eye of the Abyss crittically damaged. Dark Prophet is reporting heavy damage to fire control and propulsion. Our fighter groups are reporting more than 1/3 casualties. Pick up teams are suffering heavy fire en route to targets."

"Osik!", Vodo wondered where his Proconsul had picked up the Mando'a curse word.

Chaosrain paced as he contemplated what should be done. He wanted to fight this freaks to the death, but he also did not want to send his brothers and sisters to their death. Casualties were normal in a war; Chaos knew this, but the damage Taldryan’s fleet was taking was ridiculous compared to the amount of damage those things had taken. He believed that retreat would bring relief to his clan, but he knew that if they didn’t fight they would have no real chance of escape.

“Vodo. Tell the shuttle pilots to hurry up and tell the fighter pilots to protect the shuttles. We can replace our ships and staff, but replacing our brethren Taldrya is impossible,” barked Chaos.

“Yes sir!” responded Vodo.

“Who ever is over the cannons you need to fix your [Expletive Deleted F-word]ing aim and put some quality shots on those bastards. Protect our men from those [Expletive Deleted F-word]ers or I’m going to send you out after them.”

“Yes sir!” said the person in the gunnery officer’s seat.

“Where’s the update I asked for!”

“There is no new information to report at this time.”

“Damn it…” the Prelate said under his breath.

Chaosrain then looked at the Dark Prophet through the viewport. The star of Taldryan’s fleet was not fairing nearly as well as the older Katarn.

“Chaos we have a slight problem,” exclaimed the Ektrosian Aedile, “it seems one of their fighters has crashed into the hull of the Katarn!”

Before the Taldrya could say anything a voice echoed through his head. Get that ship now. It may give us a few answers. Chaos wasn’t sure how it would help, but he knew that Jac knew best.

“Get that area sealed off and bring that fighter to a safe place. It seems we were just given a gift.”

As he broke free from Flight Prophet 2 in pursuit of one of the seed shaped enemy fighters, Sgath noted something unusual. The lasers that his comrades were firing at the enemy ships were not ricocheting off shields or hulls they were bending and distorting just as they neared their target. Some type of energy field was distorting light as it neared the vessel. There were only a few things that could bend light that way and Sgath’s mind boggled at the thought of anyone able to harness any of them.

“This clenches it. We have to have more data on these fighters and their capital ships.” Sgath growled to himself.

He wasn’t the best dogfighter out here and even if he was he doubted he could make much of a difference; others far better were barely holding their own and the brother hood as a whole was getting smashed. His specialty was Heavy Assault; he knew how to use his starfighter against capital ships. These stranger’s ships were unfamiliar; so he did not know their weak points. He could however guess weapons placement from the physics of defense.

Taking evasive maneuvers, dodging both fireballs and lasers, the Dark Jedi waited until a hole opened up in the lines and then shot through to the enemy’s side of the front. Sgath then set his course towards the largest of the foreign ships, figuring that it would be the command vessel. He then opened a channel to both the Dark Prophet and the Katarn.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Aboard the Dark Prophet, Jedi Hunter Rannik Narius had been watching in dismay at the carnage taking place amongst the fighter squadrons on his command console. He had given up trying to direct the battle. No type of planning was going to achieve anything when they were losing fighters at a rate of ten to one. All he could do was relay data to Consul Duga Arkarso as the fighting progressed. Suddenly something caught his eye; a single fighter, Prophet 2-2 had darted through the lines and was making a line for the largest enemy ship. Almost as soon as he noted this, the console in front of him indicated that same fighter was now hailing both the Prophet and the Katarn.

“Command, this is Prophet 2-2. Are you receiving?”

Rannik instantly recognized the voice as belonging the Archanis Rollmaster, Gobhainn Sgath and groaned inwardly as he suspect that the Dark Jedi Knight was about to commence one of the insane stunts for which he was infamous.

Rannik responded, “Affirmative, Prophet 2-2, I hear you. Go ahead”

The Katarn’s operator responded as well.

Sgath continued: “Affirmative, Command, Open channel One-Niner-Niner and prepare to receive a concentrated data stream on narrow beam transmission. I can’t seem to damage these rockheads, so I’m going to scan them instead. Maybe if you can analyze the data fast enough, you can tell us how to fight them.”

Rannik stood and started gesticulating wildly trying to grab Consul Arkarso’s attention. Unfortunately, by the time, Duga had seen Rannik and worked his way to the crew pit, Prophet 2-2 had ended his transmission.

Rannik quickly asked for a repeat; “Prophet 2-2, Am unsure of your previous statement; Please repeat.”

Sgath’s reply was abrupt and aggressive.

“You heard me, Command. I am going to try to scan their Command ship. Now open that fraggin channel and prepare to receive. I have a feeling I’ll only get one shot at this. I’ve already picked up two on my tail.”

Sure enough, the display showed that two of the enemy fighters had circled back and were closing on Prophet 2-2.

Duga stood shaking his head in amazement. That pilot, Duga was sure he knew who it was, was taking on the equivalent of a suicide mission.

“Sgath, Right?” Duga asked.

“Yes, Sir.” Rannik replied.

“Well, He’ll be the one to pull it off. Open the channel. Any data he might send us will be invaluable.” Duga told the Jedi Hunter.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Bane’s Blood!”

Sgath cursed as he completed the twisting barrel roll that had allowed him to dodge the twin spheres of energized magma that had come from the two fighters closing behind him.
He had set his course to intercept the largest vessel. Ovoid in shape, and striped by black plates and about the size of a Imperial I-class Destroyer . It also had several long arms sprouting from the vessel's sides that looked like some type of seaweed.

Sgath was maintaing typical Interceptor combat speed of 125 MGLT. He wanted the foe to think that that was the top speed for his ship. He needed them to be calculatig trajectories based on that speed when he reached his target. Otherwise he was most assuredly dead.

The knight pulled a hard rolling bank as yet another fireball camehutling at him from the rear. They were getting closer, but he was now within firing range of the command ship.
Gobhainn quickly fired his lasers, all four linked, at the enemy vessel. He didn’t think that they would have any effect, but he had to be sure.

Sure enough, just before impact the bolts veer toward a strange looking nodule on the hull and dissapated.
Now the dark Jedi was starting to have to dodge fireballs erupting from tubules in the vessel’s hull as well as from the fighters behind him. Things were starting to get a little tricky, so Gobhainn Sgath decided to play his trump.
Reaching to his controls, Sgath diverted all power from his lasers and shields to the engines. The interceptor shook as the engines surged with the extra power and accelerated to over 165 MGLT. Instantly pulled away from following fighters and plunged toward the hull of the capital ship.

When he had closed to a distance of one half click to the vessel, Gobhain activated his scanners and started transmitting the readings on narrow beam to the Katarn and the Dark Prophet.

As he tried to pull up to skim the ship however, Sgath found that the controls were sluggish and erratic. Barely pulling up before impacting the hull, he saw that his console was giving wild readings. And as he passed over the hull he was yanked first one way and then another. The knight was barely able to control his ship and had no idea what the scanners were getting or transmitting. Also his shields, now unpowered were draining much faster than they should have been.

“Gravo-Magnetic fields” he muttered. “Have to be Gravo-Magnetic fields to do this to me. Well I hope they’re getting some good readings cause this is it.”

Gobhainn fought to complete the pass down the length of the vessel for full readings. Fireball shot from tubules in front and behind him, some coming very close, but never quite hitting him. He was tooclose to the hull and going too fas to achieve a good track and fire sequence. Even the enemy fighters had backed off lest their own fireball impact their own ship.
Suddenly , he was done; His interceptor cleared the strange vessel and was in open space again. Sgath slammed the stick forward going ito a steep dive until his course was now perpindicular to the alien ships, Taking him out of sight of the enemy fighters and hopefully into a sensor blind spot for the big vessel.

“Command, I hope you got something, because I’m out of here.” Sgath commed in.

With that Gobhainn cut all power and put his interceptor into a wild spin. Letting inertia carry him away from the enemy fleet, he even ejected one solar wing to simulate damage. As he entered Force Hibernation, the Sith warrior thouht to himself.

“I hope playig dead fools them, otherwise I won’t be playing.”

As he drifted off he set his subconcious to wake him in 36 hours.

Lokasena stood in the hangar bay, directing medical teams and helping to carry the wounded that were constantly being brought in. He saw Komari across the huge landing area. She was shouting at someone. With all sorts of noise going on around him, he could not hear what it was about. Besides, he had other things to worry about. “Corporal, get a team of five people ready.” Sena said to a blond woman standing over one of the wounded. Make sure they have fire arms. I want them to keep a close eye on any incoming craft. If something so much as smells suspicious, I want you to kill it. Whatever’s doing all that damage out there, we sure as hell don’t want any of them in here.” “Yes, sir!” the woman said eagerly. Bubbels walked up to Sena. “Do you really think they could get through?” “I don’t want to take that risk, do you?” Bubbles knew that the Guardian was right. For it was also on her mind. “Better safe than sorry.” She winked at Sena, then returned to the job at hand. “Sir.” Sena turned around. “Here are the five men you asked for, sir.” The blond haired corporal proudly pointed to five men armed with blasters. “That’s beautiful, corporal.” Lokasena said with a heavy tone of sarcasm in his voice. “Now how about you get these men deployed? What the hell are you waiting for, woman?” Sena didn’t notice Bubbles throwing him and glance that was hardly friendly. But she quickly realized that the Guardian was stressed, and decided not to hold the comment against him.
Then, one of the doors opened. A man walked in, hunched over. He was carrying something and seemed very disoriented. “Hey, are you all right?” Sena asked. The man didn’t respond. Lokasena walked up to him. “Hey you, are you okay?” he said, a bit louder this time. About a meter away from the Krath, the man suddenly straitened his back. Lokasena took a step back. The man was indeed carrying something. His own innards. Sena was horrified by this grim scene. “Komari…!!!” He shouted in crescendo. Vosa was the only person he knew had medical knowledge. The Novice turned to see where the call was coming from. She quickly ran towards Sena, seemingly relieved that her friend had not yet left. “Yeah, what is i…” She fell silent as she noticed the gruesome situation. “By the Gods!” the young woman exclaimed.
“Help me to lay him on his back.” They both grabbed the man by an arm and persuaded him to lie down. “Somebody get me a micro-suture kit. Fast…!” one crewman who had seen everything started running towards a medical team. Sena looked the wounded man in the eyes. They were wide open. His lips were moving as if to speak. Komari was holding the bloody package, trying to keep everything in place. Slowly, Lokasena saw the life drain from the mans face. “Never mind.” he said softly to the Novice. “His worries are over.”

Things were not going so well.

Prophet Squadron had just dived into the thick of the battle and already they were losing. The strange new ships were very fast and didn't seem to be shooting lasers. Hot flaming rocks shot out of the front of the fighters and easily passed through the shields of nearby Brotherhood ships. One by one another fell until the numbers noticeably favored the enemy.

"Break formations and take what you can," Vlad growled through his comm. "Don't stray more than two kliks from your wing mate."

The shielded TIE Interceptors of Prophet Squadron suddenly broke apart and began converging on any fighter they could target. Vlad banked his Interceptor hard to miss a shot from the ship he was fighting and applied rudder to move in behind it. Grinning, he held down his flight yoke's trigger, sending quad bursts of lasers into the aft of the enemy starfighter. To his surprise an unknown object appeared between them and sucked the lasers into nothingness. He fired again and again but nothing would pass through to the ship. I think we might have a problem here ...

"Two, get over here and help me out with something."

"Acknowledged, One."

Vlad swore and continued firing at the enemy starfighter, watching helplessly as his lasers were sucked into what appeared to be a mini black hole. Suddenly a scream erupted over the comm and was immediately cut off as Prophet Four blinked off his screen. Wonderful ...

His wingman pulled alongside him and immediately began spraying fire at his target. Both sets of lasers were easily sucked into the black hole which only angered Vlad further. Without thinking he pulled a quick scissors roll and fired at the ship's bow. The black hole tracked his fire but left the rear of the ship vulnerable to his wingman. Prophet Two's lasers cut right into the starfighter, causing atmosphere to vent. The black hole moved to block Two's lasers but Vlad only grinned as he fired off a clean shot right into the middle of the craft, causing it spin off and apparently die.

Guess they can only cover one spot at a time ... but how can a pilot fly his ship and direct those black holes at the same time? he wondered. Either the enemy pilots were very intelligent aliens or those were some incredible sentient starfighters.

"Nice shooting, Two," he said, searching for another target.

"Than-" Two's transmission was cut off as two flaming molten rocks shredded the hull of his TIE Interceptor into smoldering debris. Vlad pulled his yoke back sharply as several volleys of molten rock went shooting past him.

"Prophets, reform into wing pairs. We need to take them on together."

No one answered his call. Frowning, he checked a secondary status screen and was surprised to see only four TIE Interceptors left in his squadron, not including the detached Prophet Six. His squadron was no doubt too busy concentrating on surviving the battle rather than fighting it.

Vlad opened up with the Force again to try and understand what was going on elsewhere. The fleet's TAC channel was far too busy to comprehend anything being said. Everyone seemed to be confused or too preoccupied to supply him with information. He picked up odd phrases and words such as Vong and coral.

Shrugging, he targeted another enemy fighter and raced towards it, dodging streams of molten rock. There was nothing left for him to do except wait for the orders to retreat or die gloriously in battle; the latter he wouldn't accept.

"Prophets, form up on me! We need to buy more time," he urged.

Not that it would do much good, he thought. Several of the Brotherhood's main capital ships were destroyed or damaged beyond repair. The "Vong" capital ships also seemed to be firing off molten rocks while the Brotherhood's turbolasers all seemed to be sucked into one of dozens of black holes protecting the larger Vong ships.

They were not going to win this battle.

Snarling, Vlad recklessly piloted his Interceptor closer towards the heart of the enemy fleet, his few remaining wingmen trying to keep up.

The damage was severe. The Dark Prophet has been the lead capital ship to the right flank of the Council; the ships’ hull integrity showed that fact. Duga had lost count of the outer-shell breaches after the third. Casualties were high, but luckily, some of the elder Jedi had been near to assist. Reports that Sithspawn had, of his own accord, sealed off one section of a hull breach and saved countless lives were encouraging. Perhaps, together they would get through this.

But not if they stayed. Cotelin had relayed some time ago that retreat was imminent, but the Taldryan Consul wondered why the order had yet to be given. Looking out to the battle that had long ago been lost, Duga could only imagine the damage they would sustain if they stayed. He hoped this was not about pride.

Movement to the port side of the Prophet gave Duga the signal he wanted. As the Brotherhood flagship, the Autarch, began to turn away from the battle, Duga knew that it was time to go. He had yet to receive word from the Grand Master, but the disengagement was the only evidence he needed. “Ricco, open a link to all our forces.”

“Sir!“ Ricco Vao replied, dutifully opening the channel so that the Consul could speak to the fleet. Duga had only moments. He composed his thoughts and prepared his orders.

“Taldryan. Prepare for a full withdrawal of our forces from this system. Wait for my mark on the rendezvous coordinates. Dark Prophet will be the first to jump; pilots return here now. I want the Suppressor and Katarn to hold the rear. Bring in your pilots only right before jump to keep fire off of the capital ships. All other ships, jump as soon as you can. Cut losses and bring in all rescue teams now.”

“It’s over.” Crix heard from one of his fellow Hyperion pilots.

“It’s not over yet,” the Archanis Quaestor replied, steady as always. “You heard the Consul; we are the last to go. Move to the bow of the Suppressor and continue pulling fire away from the Prophet. We need to keep this area clear for our retreat.” Crix himself swerved into line with two other Taldryan fighters. In unison they fired on one of the pods, successfully making contact with the actual ship. The Vong craft died as the Brotherhood fighters swarmed past.

“Good hit, Taku.” Keirdagh Cantor remarked over their headsets. The Dark Jedi Master and Crix had made some progress on destroying the Vong ships, but obviously not enough to turn the tide.

“Thanks, Yacks,” Crix managed to reply while dodging an incoming barrage of molten rock. “Hyperion Four, follow me on a run past the Suppressor. Mark my target and fire on my command.” Crix could see the other Hyperion fighter come in on his starboard side, but didn’t even blink when the ship was hit and exploded into a ball of flaming wreckage.

“That’s half of Hyperion.” Halcyon commented. “I got you, Crix. Let’s take a few more down.”

Rannik Narius watched as the ships in Taldryan’s fleet amassed precisely as Duga had ordered. The Dark Prophet’s fighters were returning and in a few moments they would be jumping. With many of the Prophet’s turbolasers destroyed or overheated, Rannik’s job in commanding the gunners on the bridge had become a waiting game. He had tried to keep busy, but there was little he could do to help now.

Pulling his gaze from the battle, Rannik looked up and out of the lower pit where he stood towards Duga’s command station. The small holographic image of the Grand Master hadn’t been there moments before, and quickly disappeared. That had to be the message.

Indeed it was. “Taldryan, we are jumping to rendezvous point gamma. Proceed with the withdrawal. Benevolent, give me everything you have down there.” Rannik was amazed at the Consul’s poise even in the face of Taldryan’s first defeat in ages. Duga continued, “On my mark.”

Narius braced his leg against a wall and concentrated his powers to steady himself for the jump.

“Jump.”

“That’s another!” Halcyon exclaimed over the comm as he and Crix managed to destroy their second Vong in a row. Crix couldn’t help but revel in the excitement of battle; his adrenaline was flowing and his performance was at its peak. Even in the face of utter defeat, the Archanis Quaestor felt at home in his fighter. This was where he was meant to be. He was calm and collected in battle. His breathing was steady.

Crix rolled his Hyperion to the left and came in behind another enemy craft. His wingmen weren’t there to assist, but Crix, hoping to get lucky, let the energy fly anyway. Letting the craft go once it dodged and discontinued its path, the Dark Jedi targeted a ship heading toward and firing on the Suppressor. Matsuki gauged a vector to cut off the fighter, and was able to steer its fire clear from the Taldryan capital ship.

The Battlelord turned toward the Dark Prophet as Duga’s message blared over his comlink. The last of the Prophet’s ships were on board, and they would soon jump to safety. When the order came, Crix let his attention sway toward the ship in the hopes to see it off safely.

His hopes were for naught. Like some invisible hand had grabbed it and pulled backwards, the Dark Prophet was sucked out of its hyperspace jump. As it happened, a swarm of creatures enveloped the hull of the Taldryan flagship making it barely visible. Crix had never seen anything like it in all of his life.

The expletives over the comm channels mimicked Crix’s thoughts exactly. The Dark Prophet looked to be in bad shape, but as the ace pilot’s alarms sounded he could afford to look no more. They had watched too long.

“Concentrate, everyone. We have a job to do.” Crix calmly commanded to his pilots. “All remaining Hyperion pilots: engage enemies closest to the Dark Prophet. Let’s keep her safe.”

Turning slightly, Crix found his path, but not before a Vong found him. “Halc. On my tail…” Using all of his remaining nerves, powers and reflexes, Crix tried to dodge out of the continuous path of fire laid down by the enemy on his six. Feeding all power into his engines, the Archanis leader rolled through debris and other dogfights to no avail. He couldn’t shake this one. “A little help here, guys.”

“Hold on,“ yelled Yacko to the weaving Hyperion. “Five seconds.”

Crix pulled hard right, toward the other Dark Jedi fighters. His breathing was steady.

Amid the fury of the hangar, no one noticed the Grand Master stop but Kaek. Something was wrong. The former Master at Arms concentrated all of his powers to try and sense what the Dark Lord was not forthcoming with, but until the Dark Lord reached out and grabbed his shoulder, Kaek could not see what Jac could.

But then he did. And he watched as the third of three Vong fighters loosed a salvo of plasma directly into the hull of a Hyperion fighter. And he heard Halc’s screams through the comm. And he watched as Keirdagh, whose eyes he was looking through, turned his raging machine toward the nearest aggressor. And then Jac let the vision fade.

“Crix…” Kaek said below his breath. Reaching out again with his senses, the Dark Adept probed for any life that may still be there. He found nothing but emptiness.

“We reflect later,” Cotelin ordered. “Come with me.”

The failed attempt at hyperspace had jolted the crew and severely strained the ship. Alarms blared as the ship listed starboard. The Dark Prophet had already sustained so much damage. Kaek did not know at this point if the ship would survive.

Syn Kaek followed the Grand Master quickly down the corridor. Jac had not said much at all recently; since the order to retreat, he had been both working here and elsewhere, doing what Grand Masters do. In the hangar, they had assisted with unloading and healing those pilots that were recovered, and moving those that came back deceased. But, evidentially, the Dark Lord had more important plans for the Dark Adept.

An explosion rocked the Dark Prophet and Kaek barely managed to stay on his feet. Above him he sensed the deaths of many; the crying out and sudden silence told Syn Kaek all he needed to know about the hull breach. They were losing their crew to space.

“I need to know how long we have.” Cotelin said, opening a maintenance hatch and turning on a console there.

Now the Dark Adept knew his role. He stepped up to the console and worked his magic. Able to control the ship’s functions better than anyone, save Benevolent, Kaek quickly ran an analysis of the ship and saw what he needed. “The damage is critical and fatal. We have four minutes.”

Jac nodded as he began back toward the hangar. “Let’s…”

“I can get us three more,” Kaek interrupted.

The Dark Lord took a moment to look at his long-time friend. “I understand. It’s your choice.”

Without hesitation, Kaek turned and sprinted toward the engine room as Duga’s evacuation order blared over the loudspeakers.

Rannik tried to steady himself as the Dark Prophet jerked roughly out of hyperspace.

“What happened?” Rannik asked with a steady voice.

“We were pulled out of Hyperspace,” Duga replied, “We need to get off this ship; and fast!”

Rannik looked out the window to see nothing more then hundreds of bug like creatures swarming all around the ship. He didn't know if they had covered the entire ship or not, but he did not like the looks of it. Narius quickly turned his attention to his Consul and his Aedile.

“I do think we should leave now.” Rannik said with a sarcastic tone.

“Yes, I do think you might be right.” Ricco answered.

Duga, Ricco, and Rannik turned and headed for the door leading out of the Bridge. They left the bridge in a hurry only to run in the middle of a large crowd of panicking crew members; all hoping to get to the Hanger before the ship blew up. The alarms were beeping and the red light were flashing. All three of the Dark Jedi knew they only had little time left before the ship would explode. All of these panicking crew members made even harder for the three Jedi to get to the hanger on time.

Rannik having a short temper finally got sick of moving through the crowd of people; so he finally just extended both of his arms and started to block people from passing and shoving them against the wall to make room for his Consul and Aedile. All of the members he was shoving against the wall was being physically abused by the monstrous Gen`Dai. Rannik didn't care for anyone but himself and the safety of his Summits behind him. He was only thinking of getting out alive.

Duga and the other two finally made it through the panicking crew in less time than what it would of taken if Rannik had not shoved everyone out of the way. They only had about four or five minutes left until the ship went down in a ball of flames.

Ace was relieved when Cotelin sent him off to the engine room to help Ben. Being away from the Dark Lord would probably be good for his health. Ace had known that there wouldn't much time until the retreat was called, so he had sprinted to the engine room to help. Ace was there when the Prophet attempted its jump to hyperspace. The jump dislodge part of the ceiling in the console station where Benevolent was working and Ace saw it fall.

"Ben, watch out!" the Jedi Hunter cried out.

But it was too late; Ben didn't even have time to look up at Ace before the ceiling came down around him.

"BEN!" Ace said yelling. He flung himself at the ruble trying to get too Ben.

Not knowing what else to do, Ace did what first popped into his mind. "Jac, the roof it it just fell on Ben!" Ace said to Cotelin telekinetically.

"Relax; use the Force to get him out, now." He replied.

Ace did as he was told, it seemed he did that a lot around here; he used the Force to fling all of the rubble that he could and still didn't find Ben. It wasn't heavy material, so Ace had little trouble with it. There was just a lot of it. Ace was desperate and angry, with his anger building; he threw more and more of the ruble using the Force. Nothing. Damn it, Ace thought to himself. Then he saw an arm, a moving arm! Please let it be Ben, Ace thought to himself. Using all of his power Ace lifted a rather big piece of the fallen ceiling uncovering Ben.

"There you are!" Ace said relived, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah." Ben said gasping for fresh air.

"We need to get to the Hangars. The ship is in bad shape." Ace said calmly.

"Yeah, come on lets get a move on!" the older Jedi said in response.

Ace didn't need to hear it twice; he started running to the Hangars with Ben beside him. They needed to get off that hunk of junk ship before it fell apart or worse.

Somehow Ben and Ace made it past the crowd to the same level of the hangars, generally because anyone in their way was thrown against a wall or into another person by Ben and sometimes Ace.

"Alright, Ben, we are going to make it." Ace said in relief just as Ben collapsed.

"Ben, are you alright?" Ace asked he nearly got trampled by the crowd.

"...damn….I think my leg is broken," he said in pain. "Help me."

"Ok, I got you." Ace said as he leaned Ben against him.

The two slowly, but steadily got to the Hangars and found a shuttle.

"Wow, its empty.' Ace remarked.

"That wont last long," Ben said as Ace strapped him in, "this is probably for the important people like Jac and Duga."

Ace strapped himself in and waited for take off, hoping that the others would get in before they took off.

Kaek jogged briskly down the corridors heading towards the engine room. He knew that if he could get himself tapped into the ship’s systems, he could maximize the number of survivors that made it to the hangar. A few extra minutes is all that they needed – just a few more minutes and a large portion of Clan Taldryan could be saved. Without these people, a long scale war against the Vong would be nearly unwinnable. After he had ensured the survival of the remaining personnel, he could worry about his own survival. But there was precious little time left.

There was chaos in the corridors. Duga had issued the evacuation order and everyone was trying to make their way down to the hangar; trying to save themselves. Kaek was the single soul who was heading away from the hangar. The crowds broke away before him as he used the Force to part the sea of distraught survivors. On the way down, he caught a glimpse of Ace and Ben making their way to the hangar. Ben looked badly wounded but Kaek figured that he would be ok if they could make it to the shuttles and get away. Of course – those extra minutes would be essential to ensuring such an escape.

After what seemed like an eternity, the Adept finally arrived at the engine room. It was in pretty bad shape but there were a few consoles that could still be accessed. And Kaek didn’t necessarily even need to physically access the console to manipulate it: all he had to do was be near the machine. Fortunately, the closest console was accessible.

He quickly moved towards the machine. The ship rocked around him and he sensed waves of terror from higher decks – evidently several more hull breaches had opened up. The Sith reached out with the Force and embraced the technical nuances of the computer. His hands danced over the console at an inhuman speed. Bypassing his own visual system, the information he needed from the computer system flowed into his mind and commands flowed out at an exponential rate.

The Adept immediately drained all non-essential systems and transferred them into life-support. The ship wasn’t going to survive now – but some of her crew still had a chance. Kaek continued to access as much information as he could on the hull breaches. Some of them were spreading but some of them were contained. The ship’s computer had essentially failed and hadn’t contained several of the breaches: probably the result of the severe damage to the vessel. In other parts of the ship, the systems that were supposed to seal off breaches had been utterly destroyed. There were still survivors in some of those areas – either protected by the Force or in compartments that were sealed but cutoff from escape. Some emergency doors remained open and were serving as escape routes for a few of the survivors. Kaek had no choice but to condemn these people to their deaths. He had to stop the depressurization or risk the acceleration of the ship’s destruction. To that end, he began closing emergency doors manually through the Force. It was unfortunate that so many had to die but it was necessary for the survival of the majority of the crew.

After about twenty seconds or so, the Adept sensed that most people had left the upper decks. As the decks emptied, he quickly shut off life support to them and transferred the power elsewhere so as to support the rest of the evacuation. Time was ticking away quickly. Kaek reached into the computer’s central core and accessed the primary data records. Most of the computer’s information was centrally stored and a lot of it was vital to the Clan. There must be some way for him to save it. He scanned the information quickly and tried to figure out how he could transmit it away.

The ship rocked again and his attention was diverted. More people were dying somewhere else on the vessel. The Adept quickly switched back to supporting the escape of those survivors. He remained tapped into the system core. Another twenty seconds passed by and Kaek did a quick calculation on how much time he had left. There were about three minutes and thirty seconds left. Still so many survivors – some of them were so close to the hangar.

Slowly it dawned on him that there would be no chance for his escape if he stayed any longer. For a split second he paused – was this the end? A harsh jolt shuddered through the ship and Kaek’s mind rapidly switched back to trying to save the remaining crew. No time to think of what was going to happen. He’d made his choice – better to save the Clan and potentially the Brotherhood than save his own ass. He focused on the task at hand doing his best to keep everyone alive for as long as he could. There were only three minutes of life left for the ship – and maybe for the Adept as well.

Bubbles, Komari and Lokasena were standing in the hangar of the Dark Prophet doing the best they could to make sure everyone was making it to the escape transports. Bubbles turned to Lokasena. “Sena, what about the bridge? What if any of the summit members are injured?”
Lokasena had to think for a moment, then decided against it. “They can take care of themselves. We need to get off with the last of the wounded.” Sena saw that there were only a limited amount of transports and still a lot of people.
“But Sena.” Komari shouted through all the noise. “We can’t just leave them there?” Her eyes were pleading. “That’s exactly what we should do! Think for a minute. They have a lot more experience with this than we have.”

The Guardian looked around for a moment. “Komari, get to that shuttle over there and save us a seat. Bubbles and I will be right behind you.” The young woman didn’t hesitate to do as her friend suggested. As soon as she was out of range, Lokasena turned to Bubbles. “Can we locate the summit with the internal sensors?” Bubbles frowned in thought. “Maybe, but I can’t access the sensors from down here. We’d need to go three decks up.” “Damn, than it’s out of the question isn’t it?” “Yes, I wont let you go. You were right. We need to leave.”

The Guardian’s eyes travelled across the hangar. On the other side he saw Master Cotelin walk in. The man commanded respect, even from a distance.
“HEY Sena, snap out of it!” Bubbles bellowed. “We are leaving!” She grabbed the confused Guardian by the arm and pulled him towards the shuttle that already held Komari.

Bubbles almost threw Sena into the shuttle as they finally reached it. “Both of you stay there. I’m not having the whole of Phoenix going up in flames,” she winked at them, “besides, I’m sure you’re both much better pilots than me. Once this shuttle’s full, get it out of here, I’m going to make sure this place doesn’t turn into a riot.”

“You’re not serious”, Sena replied, “If you’re not getting in then...”

“You ARE staying right where I put you Guardian. And you ARE leaving this ship as soon as the shuttle is full. Do you understand me?” Without waiting for a reply, Bubbles threw the nearest crew members into the shuttle behind Sena.

Looked around she caught sight of Ace helping Ben onto a shuttle, and she’d already seen Jac. So where on earth is Duga? Bubbs thought to herself.

Pushing her way through the crowd she headed towards Jac, as an explosion in one corner of the hanger bay notched the temperature up a few more degrees. Bubbs glanced back and smiled at the flames, And yet again Phoenix will be reborn.

“Jac,” Bubbs called with her usual respect for position as soon as she was within shouting distance, figuring that he would already have enough going on in his head without her adding another voice to the confusion inside, “where the hell is Duga?”

A round of expletives was heard on the bridge of the Katarn. It was supposed to be a sigh a of relief, but something had happened to the Dark Prophet.

It should be gone now. thought the Prelate.

“Chaos! Communications with the Prophet have been cut. It’s going down!” exclaimed Vodo.

“Get all of our fighters over there now!” yelled the Proconsul.

As Chaos stared out of the portview he thought to himself, now all we can do is watch.

“Sir, one of the pilots has a message for you,” said the communications officer in a meek voice.

“Put him through.” was all the Prelate had to say.

“Chaos, it’s Halc. We are doing the best we can to protect his shuttles, but we need more Jedi out here.”

“We have everyone out there that we can spare. If you, Yacks, and Crix can’t take their fire I don’t think anyone could.”

“Crix isn’t out here anymore.”

“Why the hell would he come back aboard one of the ships when he needs to be out there saving those shuttles!”

“He didn’t go back aboard the ships. He got shot down.”

“What!?” exclaimed the Taldrya.

“No, I saw it.”

“Protect those shuttles. We will need everyone we have alive if we are going to make those bastards pay!”

The Prelate slammed his fist into the console, and now there would be no hiding of his emotions. He was pissed and it was clear to everyone in the room. To Chaos, Crix was like a brother. They had worked together for so long, and no Crix was gone. Chaos wanted the Vong to pay, and to pay dearly. He wanted to be the one there when the last of them died.

“I think we better do as she says.” Komari said to Lokasena. She recognized the look in Sena’s eyes. The look he got when he was about to do something foolish. “SENA, please. We need to get this shuttle out of here. We’re already full.” “Fine.” Sena snapped. He pushed some crewman out of his way while walking up to the cockpit. “Come on, I need you!” he said as he passed Komari. The two of them made their way to the cockpit and strapped themselves into the chairs. “Fire her up.” Sena said as he checked the onboard systems.
“Thrusters active.” Komari replied.

Sena switched on the com-unit. “Prophet hangar command. This is the shuttle Tomalack requesting permission to take off.” For a moment there was only static. Then… “Shuttle Tomalack, you are cleared for departure. Engage main drive as soon as you clear the hangar. Good luck!” “Thank you command, we’re out of here.” Sena grabbed the helm controls. “Hang on! It’s been a while.” The shuttle shook as it broke contact with the deck of the landing area. “Komari, I want shields on maximum as soon as we clear the ship.” “You got it.”

The shuttle slowly moved towards the pressure field. The slight shudder, as it passed though the field, made some passengers jump. “Sit tight, we’re not out of harms way yet.” The Guardian told them. As the shuttle emerged from the Prophet, Sena and Komari could finally see what was going on outside. They both wished they couldn’t. Strange vessels looming over the Taldryan fleet. “What are they, Sena?” Komari asked with fear in her voice. “I have no idea. Neither do I know where I’m supposed to go.” The Guardian flicked a switch on the com-link. “This is Taldryan shuttle Tomalack to Katarn. Katarn, please respond.” Nothing. “Taldryan shuttle to Katarn, please acknowledge.” Sena muddled with the frequency for a moment. “Katarn, can you hear me?” “We hear you Tomalack. You are cleared for landing area nine.” Lokasena turned to Komari, who was smiling nervously. “You think the rest will make it?” The young woman sounded afraid. “I hope so.” Lokasena was afraid to.

“Damn.” Vosa cursed. “ These things don’t show up on sensors at all.” She could see one of the strange fighters coming towards them. “Sena LOOK!!!”
“Damn it!” The Guardian activated the com again. “This is shuttle Tomalack to any friendly craft. We need support!” They were still a few minutes away from the Katarn.
The enemy vessel bared down on them. “Hang on to something.” Sena shouted. Looking outside, Komari could suddenly see the enemy getting pounded by laser fire. It quickly broke off it’s attack.

“Thanks guys.” Sena said over the com as they relaxed. “Komari, she feels sluggish. Can you check propulsion while I try to evade these dogs?” “I can try.” Vosa replied.
She accessed the propulsion section of the data-base at her console. “There seems to be a slight energy variance in the reactor. But I’m not an engineer. I don’t know what to do.”
“It’s okay, we’ll just have to manage.” The Katarn was getting closer and closer. It looked as they were going to make it.

Lokasena let the shuttle dive and laid in an approach-vector. “Katarn, this is Tomalack. We are approaching the docking perimeter.” “Confirmed, please cut main drive at a hundred meters and enter on thrusters only.” “Affirmative Katarn. Thanks for having us. Tomalack out.”
Lokasena took the shuttle in gently. “Cut main drive.” “Done.” Komari replied. “We’re on thrusters only.” The Guardian followed the flight path to area nine. The Katarn’s hangar was bursting with activity. “Deploy landing struts.”
“Ahm…” Vosa hesitated. “What?” Sena said. “Talk to me.” The Novice looked at him. “The struts are jammed.” “Oh, great! Surviving a battle only to crash after rescue? Not on my watch!”
He quickly steered the shuttle parallel to the landing zone. Using the intercom, Komari warned any bystanders on the landing zone. “All personnel in area nine, please stand aside. I repeat… Please stand aside.” People outside the shuttle were scattering. Lokasena managed to land the craft with a loud ‘Thonk!’. “That was smooth.” Komari Vosa said as she relaxed her grip on the seat of her chair.

Sweat poured profusely from Rokir’s face, his hair plastered to his face as he threw his fighter into maneuvers that only a being with the force could stay conscious through. The aged fighter was barely keeping together, too many close calls showing themselves clearly on the small hall. The veins in Halcyon’s head thrummed as he will the small ship to keep together a bit long.

His ears rang with the death cries of other Taldryan pilots, the aliens making quick work of their forces. For every one fighter they downed, another 10 were destroyed by the Vong. He could still feel the raging anger from his Proconsul at the news one of their own had fallen to the aliens. His hands gripped the yoke tighter, his own thoughts turning to the destruction of the invaders.

Keep it together. We’ll get them soon, came the thought from the other battle-hardened Master, Yacks briefly appearing at his side before weaving back into the chaotic furball.

Another hard turn brought him before the dying flagship of their fleet, the Dark Prophet. A stream of vessels were leaving the hanger, making a straight line for the Katarn, who had managed to move itself for easier ship recovery. From the corner of his eye he saw an incoming wave of Vong fighters shooting their way towards the fleeing vessels.

“Tal fighters, form up on this signal now. Shields full forward and full throttle. Go now!” he screamed, emphasizing the point with a powerful force suggestion, ensuring all fighters would come to him, his head pounding with the effort.

Remaining fighters quickly moved in at his position as the veteran Sith slammed all power to his engines as the quick and agile fighter surged forward.

“On my mark, fire all weapons you have”.

The growing number of Taldryan fighters followed the Combat Master’s fighter as it headed straight into the incoming throng of Vong ships.

“NOW!”

A wave of lasers, ion cannons and projectiles barreled forward, slamming into the incoming enemy fighters. Their dovin basals worked overtime to fend off the sudden barrage, but many still veered off, were damaged or out-right destroyed as the Tal fighters ran continued straight through. An open line had now opened up for the large contingent of evacuating ships, many Taldryan having sacrificed themselves in the brazen maneuver.

Let’s not try that again, Halc.

We’ll see, Yacks.

“Any fighters under 50% operability, head to the Katarn now. All others, stick close to the Dark Prophet and keep the last few evacuees safe”.

The last desperate measure had left his fighter on the bring of a complete shut-down, but Halcyon ignored his orders and headed in to protect the fleeing vessels, his mind turning his eyes towards the engine room of the dying ship, a chill crawling up his spine.

Komari and Lokasena both got up from their seats. The other passengers were a bit shaken up, but at least they were alive. “Alright everybody, get out! Come on, hurry up. There are still a lot of people aboard the Prophet.” Lokasena had to restrain his urge to ‘assist’ some of them. “You plan to go back?” Komari asked. “Yes, I do. As soon as you’re off.” “Then I’m NOT leaving!” The young woman looked very serious. “My dear Komari, I do believe this is insubordination.” “I’ll look forward to the court-martial.”

Lokasena was losing his patience. “Get of the shuttle Komari, I mean it! I have to go back.”
“Then let me go with you…” A strange feeling came over Lokasena. “Neither of you will go.” said a calm and gentle voice. Sena immediately recognized it. “My Lady, It is my honour to serve you.” He bowed deep and motioned Komari to do the same. For in the doorway stood the commanding presence of Dark Jedi Mistress Alanna Taldrya.
“The Dark Prophet will not last much longer.” Alanna continued. “It would be a waste of both your lives. There has been enough of that this day.”
“Your will, Mistress.” Sena said as he straitened himself again. Alanna examined the two yourneymen.
“If you really want to help, then come with me.” She turned gracefully around and walked back onto the landing zone.

“What do you think she’s planning for us?” Komari asked Sena. “I don’t know but I sure she will be able to clear up a few things about this situation.” They two of them quickly followed in Alanna’s footsteps.

As Ace waited in the Shuttle he wondered when Duga and Jac would get here…if they would get here.

"We have only a few minutes until this thing blows, we need to get at least Duga on here," Ace said to Ben.

"Don't worry. Duga is with Ricco and Rannik. Plus, Jac is still out there probably to make sure that Duga makes it here," Ban replied lifting his leg up.

"Well I'm not going to wait, I'll be back soon," Ace said getting out of his seat.

Ace walked out the door to find chaos in the hangar. People were hurredly trying to get on a shuttle. Ace wondered why many of them stayed away from his ride

"Jac, do you know were Duga is?" Ace asked telekinetically.

"No, I've been searching for him, get back into the shuttle."

"Not until I find Duga." Ace pushed through the crowd in search of Duga.

"He'll be with Ricco and Rannik."

It was not easy for Ace pushing through that crowd. He used the Force as much he could but sometimes there were just too many people to even lift his own hand. Ace thought that he may not even get twenty feet away from the shuttle.

As Ace was looking the shuttle standing next to him took off blowing him a couple of feet to the right. One after another the shuttles were taking off and the hangar was becoming less cramped.

"Get back to the shuttle. Duga will be there and so will I, in a minute." Ace heard Jac's voice say in his head.

Ace decided that it would be for the best if he got back to the shuttle, though for some reason he didn't believe Jac in both the things he said.

As Ace strapped himself into a seat he realized that there was no pilot, he got up and went to the cockpit just as Duga, Ricco, and Rannik came on.

"Good to see you all." Ace said relieved.

"Ok, we got a pilot?" Arkarso said looking at Ace.

"I guess me and one of you." Ace said somehow not scared of Duga.

"I will, I'm the best here," Duga said, "Ace, you're Sith. You be my copilot."

"Ok." Ace said as he and Arkarso strapped in and started to lift into the air, leaving the Grand Master on the hangar floor.

Grand Master Jac Cotelin ignored the pleas from his counterparts to enter a shuttle. He would, in time, but for now the Dark Lord was determined to see as many people off of the ship as possible. When Duga and the others from the bridge came through the hangar, Jac knew that the clock was winding down, but he trusted in Kaek to deliver as much time as he could. Jac watched as the Taldryan Consul's shuttle skirted towards safety.

"Siths," the Dark Lord imparted to Sithspawn Taldrya who had just entered the hangar bay, "those wounded, there, go on your shuttle." Without word, the Dinaari Quaestor began to pull the suffering Taldryan soldiers and pilots onto one of the last remaining shuttles. Jac watched as the ramp closed and the shuttle left the bay.

Jac continued his efforts to push the remaining crew toward one shuttle or another. He had herded them like they were wild Anteian buffalo, making the evacuation much smoother than it would have been without his instructions. The numbers had dwindled down; Jac knew that the lives he sensed elsewhere in the ship had no chance to make it off.

Except one.

Come on Kaek, Jac thought. It was atypical for a man of Jac's caliber to care so much for the individual. Any other Grand Master would have gladly accepted his soldier's sacrifice and stepped onto a shuttle without risk. But Jac...Jac was anything but typical. He was, above all, loyal to those he served with; Cotelin would not leave anyone behind unnecessarily. While Kaek's efforts were anything but that, Jac still had to wait.

Stepping toward the last remaining shuttle, the Dark Lord called out to his comrade. There was no answer. The Dark Lord could feel the Adept, but Kaek was trying his best to give Jac the time to escape. Cotelin could not let that go wasted, and as the last moments of the Dark Prophet's life ticked down, the Grand Master gave the shuttle commander his permission to take off.

Jac boarded the shuttle. As the thrusters kicked in, Cotelin tended to a wounded pilot he had carried on board. Having been picked up by rescue shuttles and then left for dead in the hangar amongst the fury of withdrawal, the pilot looked absolutely terrible. His body was shattered; though Jac had stopped the bleeding and steadied the pilot's regulatory systems, he was unsure if the man inside was still there.

The Dark Lord again reached out with the Force toward the dying ship, intending to comfort those aboard, when he felt a strange fluxuation. The disturbance put the Dark Lord upright in his seat. All of the losses that day, all of the strife; it had come to this. The Dark Lord focused his rage, his anger and his hope into one solitary task. He reached out with the force as he had been taught long ago, using a rare and untested technique to help his friend who was attempting the same.

A cough let Jac knew it worked. The old man looked to the soldier at his side as the wounded being opened his eyes.

"Jac..." mumbled the soldier, his voice but a whisper next to the sound of the raging shuttle engines.

The Dark Lord smiled for the first time in a long time. "Rest, Kaek."

The explosion of the Dark Prophet rocked the shuttle. The cries of two thousand brave Taldryan soldiers and crew were silenced. The rage burned in a Dark Lord's heart.

“We don't have time for this,” Telaris said angrily as Sklib tried to fiddle with the instruments on his stranded fight. Telaris, on a rescue mission aboard a Lambda shuttle, was still trying to get his first pilot free – a Quaestor by the name of Hel-Pa Sklib. Sklib had been trapped inside his fighter when something had collided with the cockpit of his fighter, leaving him unable to eject. The fighter had then drifted in space, until it had been 'helped along' closer to the Katarn.

Use your lightsaber, Telaris telepathically told Sklib. The pilot seemed to nod his head, then fumbled around in the cockpit of his awing. Finally, Telaris saw the light of a bright beam inside the cockpit as Sklib jammed it into the side of the cockpit and cut along the lower frame of the plasteel viewport. Focusing on the blade, then it's handle, he helped the pilot cut himself fere.

It was then that Telaris heard the announcement – the call for retreat. By this point, he knew it was coming. Had he not been so focused on helping the weakened Sklib guide his lightsaber with the Force, he likely would have been furious. But there was hardly time for such things now; he had to get the quaestor free and tend to the others.

Telaris glanced at his nervous co-pilot. “Lock on Sklib the second he pushes himself free, and bring him aboard. There is more yet to do today before we are done.”

The journeymen gave a nod, then adjusted some instruments. “It's ready,” he said with the greatest degree of confidence Telaris had heard all day from the young man. At least he knew his ship.

Sklib, push yourself free... the cockpit first, yes... like that. Telaris watched as the cockpit floated harmlessly away from the two ships. Now, pull yourself out. Telaris quickly responded to the question before it could be asked. Yes, yes, the tractor is locked.

Not on me, my ship! Sklib frightfully... or angrily... responded telepathically.

“Your what?” Telaris said aloud, broadcasting the message to Sklib. “There's no time, do it now.”

Sklib responded with what would best be described as a grumble as he climbed out of the awing, floating freely away from the craft. Moments later, the tractor beam locked on him and slowly brought him about the shuttle craft.

Telaris turned to his co-pilot. “Tend to the quaestor, I'll take us towards our next target.” With that, the Prophet brought his ship around and headed towards the retreating line of decimated craft.

Figzer had been separated from the dogfight that was taking place near the Katarn. After he saw Mav coming to Sklib’s aid, the Elomin darted off towards the Dark Prophet to help cover any fleeing crafts. He had only made it half of the distance when was it torn apart before his eyes. There was a rush of energy from the explosion, followed by the hallow screams in the Force of the dead. A large scrap of burnt metal flew his way, and he was barely able to dodge it, letting it scrape across the side of his A-wing. The damage wasn’t bad, but even if it were, the young Guardian wouldn’t have noticed.

It seemed only seconds ago the call for evacuation had come in over his comm., and Figzer fought his way out of the field of metal that was the end of many lives. Lasers and molten rocks flew in every direction, and the Battle Team Leader was lucky enough to not be hit directly by any of it. He tried desperately to reach Crix and his gang of fighters, but had arrived too late to do any good. With a small explosion and a final surge of Dark Side energy, it had seemed Crix was gone. Figzer probed the area with his mind, stretching out as far as he could, but felt nothing but cold space. Knowing nothing could be done, Figzer turned his attention toward the Prophet.

That was only a few minutes ago, and now Taldryan’s flagship was gone, along with the lives on board. Figzer, still maneuvering around enemy fire, made his way toward the Katarn as fast as he could. Not knowing what to do, he enabled his comm. and switched through frequencies until he made contact with the one he was searching for.

After several seconds of tuning and yelling, he finally got the response he wanted.

“Hello?” Figzer’s voice was frantic, “Telaris, are you there?”

“This is Telaris, what is it Guardian?”

“What am I supposed to do now? There are almost no fighters left out here and I’m going to be dead soon.”

“Will you try for a second to calm down? Just get back to the Katarn and cover her. Help out anyone you can on your way.” The comm. shut off and Figzer was left alone in his pilot’s seat.

He made his way to the Katarn, trying with all his might to not run from any approaching enemy fighters on his way. He didn’t run into many, and the few that were there were already under attack from several Taldryan vessels. With only a few strafing shots from his A-wing’s lasers, Figzer rushed to the safety of the Katarn’s side. Once there, he simply followed the large ship, tempted to dock in the hangar bay, but refused that idea. He had already pissed off enough people today, and defying orders from Mav wasn’t going to make anyone happy.

Sena’s mouth fell open at the scene of the Taldryan flagship exploding, through the pressure shield of the Katarn’s hangar bay.. Pain filled his heart. A cloth of fear was pulled down Komari’s face. What went on inside the Lady Alanna’s mind, they could only guess. How many of their comrades hadn’t made it off? The cold hand that gripped his heart was melting by the fire of his hatred towards this enemy. “What the hell are they?” Sena’s voice carried across the landing area. “How could this have happened?” Komari tried to comfort Sena. But his emotions ran very deep. The Krath Guardian fell to his knees. He didn’t care who saw him. This waste of life was almost to much to bare. Flashes of faces shot before Sena’s eyes. Screams filled his ears.
It was as if he could feel all the accumulated pain of all the victims. His shoulders were heavy. A tear formed in his right eye. He felt the warm liquid ran down his face. He tasted its saltiness as it reached the corner of his mouth. Totally oblivious of all the others, Lokasena Corvinus sat there. He had not yet experienced such a great loss. The clan had been his family. For it to take such losses… Sena felt so helpless. Full of hate and no way to express it.
His left hand tightened around the red-wooden hilt of his black steel Mormegill blade.
“Someone will pay for this.” Sena said under his breath. His eyes and lunges burned. His nostrils flared and his head throbbed. The hole that the victims of this brutal act had made, was filling with Darkness. It was powerful. It made him strong with the Dark Side.
After this, his eyes would never be the same. The green of his irises had mingled with crimson lines that extended far across the white of his eyes. As he slowly got to his feet, the grip in his sword relaxed. The sharp rocks of pain were now covered by a tide of Darkness.
Hoping that his next mission would combat duty, he swore to have his vengeance. For Taldryan…!

Itachi Uchiha, a proud Obelisk warrior, was stunned when the Katarn came under attack. He was even more stunned when the Dark Prophet was destroyed.

“I hope the others are alright,” Itachi thought as he saw the escape pods eject into space.

"Who would dare attack the Dark Brotherhood," Itachi thought to himself as he rushed down the halls of the Katarn trying to find his commanding officer, Alanna. As he ran passed a viewport he got a look at the enemy ships.

"What the hell are those things," thought Itachi as he saw the huge Vong ships closing in on the fleet. When he found Alanna he got his orders.

"Itachi, you are to go to the hanger and help with rescue operations," Alanna told him. Itachi took off down the hall and saw that the path to the hanger was blocked.

"I'll have to find another way," thought Itachi as he turned and started to head the long way to the hanger. He was within 100 yards of the hanger when he saw a badly hurt trooper.

"You there," he called out to Itachi.

"Make sure you take one of those bastards out for me," the trooper wheezed out with his dying breath. For the first time in his life, Itachi was beginning to wonder if he would make it out alive.

"I am a member of the Clan Taldryan and House Archanis, and a member of the Dark Brotherhood. If I die I will die and glory and be a hero," Itachi thought to himself as he made it to the hanger.

When he made it to the hanger he saw chaos at the highest level. There were injured and dead all over the place.

"Protector Itachi, you were sent for rescue right?" someone had asked him.

"Yes sir,” was his reply.

"Good. Help offload wounded with the others," the Knight had commanded him.

Once he reached the shuttle he could see all the dead and injured. For once in his life, Itachi was scared of what was happening.

"Let’s get the injured off this shuttle for treatment," ordered Itachi.

"Yes sir," came the reply.

"This is going to be a long day," Itachi thought to himself as he watched the injured get carried off the shuttle.

"Move the Katarn into a Rear Guard position. Bring the Suppressor about to our three o'clock, lower quarters so that they can cover the holes in our picket. Move those fighter's back to cover the Prophet's retreat. Get those corvettes back on the line, we'll need them on our flank." Vodo started issuing orders after the Consul had confirmed both Grand Maters' orders.

Proconsul Chaosrain was furiously pacing the bridge, taking in the view from the forward view ports, the reads from screens, and verbal reports from officers, Vodo, shield your eyes...

Vodo instantly knew what he meant. But instead of doing as order, his neck twisted quickly so that his eyes could see. The Victory Star Destroyer Dark Prophet, the Flagship and Pride of Clan Taldryan, the lead ship of many combined Brotherhood assaults, and the anchor of the right flank in the current fight, stood in silhouette against the field of space. The fighters had pulled back from it, and friendlies were quickly dashing to nearby ships and the Katarn itself, leaving the ship alone, and deserted. It sat silently, the vacuum of space preserving the image the soundless frame of the view port from the Katarn's view port.

A lone shuttle raced away, far behind the rest of the pack. Vodo saw it in the corner of his vision, and felt the presence of Master Cotelin aboard. He watched the Dark Prophet though as it's dagger tip broke off, and the hull plates separated and bloated, until the massive reactor that powered the ship went critical and the ship exploded in a white fury of released pressure and power.

Chaos shouted quickly, "Brace for impact! Full shielding to the Starboard side!"

All hands reached for something that was bolted down as the shock wave enveloped the Venator-class. Vodo, alone stood without stabilizing himself. He planted his feet to the floor using the power of the Force. His mind was blank. The Prophet was gone. Gone.

"Damage report!" an officer requested
"The shields took the majority of the debris, our fighter screen lost a few wings!"
Proconsul Chaos stood, "And Master Cotelin?"
"He managed to make it within the shields in time".

Vodo turned back to the bridge, his head hung slightly. The voices of those aboard the dying ship as it had exploded raced through his mind over and over. He'd been present in war a few times by now as part of the Brotherhood, but never had a single great source of death caused him such empathy. He'd known these voices, he had served them, they had served him, and they had fought with one another for many years.

"Proconsul, with your leave, I wish to tend to our wounded on the flight deck..."
Chaos sensed the anger and sadness in his subordinate, "Go."

Vodo left the bridge without a word or hesitation.

Pain. Pain unlike anything he had ever felt before laced through Shadow’s entire body. Every nerve was searing in agony as the torture device pulsed around him. Struggling against the pain, the Adept finally managed to pull in a quick breath, having had the air ripped from his lungs the moment the device had been activated. With all the strength he could muster, Shadow focused the Force within himself. At first there was no change. The pain continued unabated, but after a few seconds of constant focus the pain lessened ever so slightly. Shadow was able to concentrate harder on controlling the pain and slowly he suppressed the effects of the device. At last the Adept opened his eyes to see that his fellow Jedi captives had managed to eliminate the pain as well. With a growl of rage, Shadow’s Force-fuelled arms ripped open the tentacled arms that encased him.

While his strength was still peaked, Shadow rushed the nearest captor and landed a devastating kick just above the creature’s crotch sending him reeling backwards into the other aliens. Following his lead, the other Jedi broke free and attacked their captors together before they had a chance to draw their weapons.

“You two,” Shadow thrusted a hand in the direction of the two younger Jedi. “Throw the torture devices around them.” Though they loathed following the orders of a rival Clan member, the two were far too weak to challenge a fully enraged Dark Adept and rushed to do his bidding. Shadow grabbed his own restraint and quickly tossed it around one of the downed aliens.

“Let’s get out of here… back to our shuttles.” Shadow kicked open the door and led the way back through the myriad of halls to where they had been forced to land in what one could only assume was a hangar bay.

Only moments into their escape sirens blared throughout the ship. Shadow stopped his misfit group of Jedi and ducked into an empty room. He eyed each of them critically noticing that all of them shifted uneasily as his gazed passed over them. Only the Warlord, Welshman, was unfazed. Shadow quickly checked the corridor and, finding it empty, began to formulate a plan to save his life… and maybe theirs by extension.

“Now listen up as we don’t have much time,” Shadow began. He wasn’t usually so harsh while in command, but then there was no love lost between him and non-Taldryan members. “We have to move fast if we’re going to get out of here. I don’t know what the hell these things are or where they came from, but it’s clear now that most of our powers won’t work against them or the rest of their technology. “We need to get back to our ships if we’re going to get out of here.”

“How do we even know our ships are space-worthy?” The Tarentae asked smugly. Shadow leveled a glare at the Sith Warlord. The last thing he needed was for this Tarentum scum to frighten the rest out of listening to him.

“We don’t, now do we?” Shadow said sarcastically before returning his gaze to the rest of the group. “It’s our only hope. If they aren’t, we’re going to have to try to grab one of their ships—”

“But our own forces might shoot us down!” The female interrupted. Shadow sighed… pathetic.

“When we’re close enough for that to happen you’ll be able to communicate with members of the Brotherhood so that shouldn’t be an issue.” The Adept cocked his head to the side listening. Footsteps were getting closer. “Okay. We need to work together. These things are stronger than us and we’re outnumbered. If attacked, fight as a team no matter how you feel about it or we’re not getting out of here alive.” The footsteps were just outside the door now. “Remember,” Shadow’s voice was no more than a whisper now, “use the Force as best you can to enhance your physical strength and endurance. It’s our only edge.” Growls could be heard on the other side of the door. “Let’s go.”

The door flew inwards just after Shadow finished talking, but he was prepared. The Adept delivered a powerful kick knocking the door back into the raging captors. The door shattered as it came in contact with one of the alien’s grotesque heads. “Together!” Shadow yelled. The Jedi jumped forward as one and combined their strength to push back the attacking aliens.

Shadow ducked under the swing of a sinister-looking, black staff and slammed his opponent with an uppercut to its exposed chin. The creature was thrown backwards clearing the doorway. “Move,” Shadow commanded as the others had overcome their opponents as well. They continued through the halls with the Taldryan Adept in the lead. Several times they ran across small patrols of two to three creatures, but each time they managed to fight their way forward. Finally, several battles after their initial escape, the six Jedi managed to break into the hangar bay. Shadow cursed at the sight.

Where their ships had been there was nothing but a pile of scrap metal. The shuttles had been violently torn to shreds.

“Well nice work oh great leader,” the Tarentae started in again. “Looks like we’re all going to die here after all.” Shadow had already brought his arm back to strike at the pompous Sith, but before he could release his anger a squad of heavily armed warriors entered the hangar. Behind them their exit was cut off by an equal amount of guards. Shadow scanned the room searching for some way to escape his inevitable death. In the far corner, beyond the squad of soldiers, was something he might be able to use. Now he just had to get through his enemies and ditch his fellow prisoners.

“Don’t just stand there, fools. Attack them,” The Obelisk shouted as he ran towards the squad that was in his way.

Two of the Jedi joined him while the other three took on the other squad. Shadow knew he had to plan this just right if it was going to work. The younger Jedi dove towards the enemy fist and foot first, but they were clearly not going to win this fight. Shadow used the Force to pull one of them backwards just as one of the aliens was about to land a killing blow with its staff weapon. Instead of releasing him from the grip of the Force, Shadow instead guided his power with his hands outstretched. Before he could react to it, the young Knight was thrust forward at the attacking creatures. Shadow was using the journeyman as a Zeltron-club. It was quite satisfying to the Adept as he heard bones break upon the thick armor of the enemy. But, Shadow was too caught up in his attack to notice one of the aliens had broken off and was coming in on his right side.

The Adept managed to narrowly avoid the attack he saw coming from the corner of his eye. The Knight was dropped to the ground with a thud as Shadow turned to this new threat. Heart pounding, adrenaline pumping, Shadow fought back against his opponent landing ineffective blows and dodging the dangerous staff. As he was about to feint right and throw a punch to his enemy’s unguarded left side, the staff connected hitting the Obelisk square in the chest.

Shadow fell back momentarily winded. He raised his head to see a finishing blow coming. In desperation the Adept raised his clawed hand and unleashed the terrible power of the Dark Side. Arcing bolts of blue lightning erupted from his fingertips racing towards his enemy. Shadow was fully expecting his attack to be as impotent as the other attempts to use the Force on these creatures, but unbelievably the creature let out a howl of agony as the lightning struck. It twisted in pain - its attack cut short - and finally fell to the ground twitching.

Shadow lifted himself off the ground and spun to face the squad in his way. Lightning still flickered between the Adept’s fingers and he stalked towards the enemy. His anger was now running unchecked and could finally be used to put an end to his captivity. The remaining creatures rose up against him, while the two Jedi cowered away. Shadow glared at his attackers for a brief moment before unleashing his full power into the disgusting warriors. The lightning struck and traveled through their thick, organic armor causing the creatures to squeal and shriek in terror.

Shadow walked forward past the fallen defense as the last body stopped twitching. Behind him his fellow Jedi were still battling fiercely, unable to match the power of the Dark Adept. His way clear, Shadow sprinted towards his goal – a group of odd escape pods. His prodding managed to open the hatch and he dove into the unfamiliar pod. After a full minute of hitting random things within the capsule the thing roared to life. Shadow was about to fly blindly out into a horrific battle, unaware of anything that had transpired. He only hoped his brothers would be able to find him before it was too late.

The escape pod blasted from the hangar carrying the Adept into the unknown. Shadow quietly took a seat, not even bothering to look back at the Jedi he had left behind.

Keirdagh finished his loop, making sure that all of the strange alien ships were clear of the vector that Jac’s shuttle had used to enter the Katarn, before he took canvass of what he had left in his Squadron. Fury Squadron, once boasting 12 outdated Republic Interceptors, was down to four ships. Given their age, and the casualties that had been fielded this day, perhaps it wasn’t so bad, but the Dark Jedi Master was not used to losing pilots under his command. The sheer thought of losing 8 pilots would normally have sent him into a homicidal rage… however compared to the other event that was infuriating Keirdagh, it was like comparing a candle with a star. The Dark Prophet, the ship that Grand Master Cotelin had commissioned in Keirdagh’s honour, was destroyed. “Halc, I’ve had enough of this defensive bull[Expletive Deleted]. These alien dogs need to die, and they need to die, RIGHT NOW!” Suiting his actions to his words, Keirdagh engaged his drive at full power, and shot directly towards the largest capital ship in the enemy fleet.

The remainder of Fury Squadron shot off after Keirdagh, knowing that massed fire and teamwork were the only way they’d survive this day, and having seen the piloting skills of the Jedi Master, they felt confident that if they had to fight, sticking with him would leave them the best chance of survival. “Yacks, keep your head on, we’re following behind and picking up your crumbs… lets make them bleed!”

Having witnessed the attempts of other Jedi pilots to slingshot combat debris toward the alien fighters, Keirdagh had seen only limited amounts of success, but with the rage that was pulsing through him; he'd come up with a plan to lower those odds. Fueling all of his anger into a vengeful rage, Keirdagh mentally grasped onto a piece of debris that had come from the Dark Prophet’s hull, a piece of debris that was roughly the size of a small house. In their efforts, small pieces of debris could only occasionally overpower the alien shielding, they would find it to be a much more difficult task to absorb the damage this would cause. “Fury Squadron, parade formation, we’re keeping it tight until we’re through their lines!” Wielding the piece of debris as though it were a gigantic shield, Keirdagh drove the remainder of his Squadron through the enemy lines, smashing multiple small craft off of it as he went. Those that managed to avoid the gigantic piece of durasteel bearing down on them, their maneuvering left them sorely open to the lasers of Halcyon’s squadron.

“Here it is people, we start exacting the blood price right now!” screamed Keirdagh, his rage coming to a crescendo as he put all of his strength into hurling the giant piece of hull towards the capital ship. In the frictionless void of space, the wedge of Keirdagh’s former home reached extraordinary speeds, before it slammed into what looked like a hangar bay of the capital ship. The kinetic energy it had accumulated drove the chunk far into the alien vessel, causing whatever had accounted for atmosphere in it to vent explosively into space. Keirdagh saw multiple bodies eject into the cold dark vacuum, and one small craft. “You don’t get away from me that easily!” shouted Keirdagh, his rage boiling to a head again at the sight of someone escaping his slaughter.

“Commander Cantor, the capital ship, which was largely ignoring us before has seemingly taken offense to your assault… I think we’re targets now sir!” said one of his pilots in a shaky voice. Sure enough, the space swirling around them, which had been largely clear was started to be illuminated by the strange weaponry that these aliens had.

“Understood Fury 6, we’re taking this last dog out, then we’ll go and help out the rest of the rear guard.” Swinging his fighter around on the six of the small pod like craft, “Squad, form wide delta v and engage on my mark… same drill as before with these little bastards.” This pod however wasn’t maneuvering nearly as much as the ones before, and killing it should be easy, “FIRE!” The four fighters shot out with a withering hail of energy, and the shields started to collapse. Sending another burst, Keirdagh was happy to see char marks form just above the cockpit, before he was rocked forward by a blow to the back of his head. Thinking he’d finally reached his end, Keirdagh checked his rear scopes, only to find them clear. “CEASE FIRE!” he yelled at his squadron, his mind finally clicking in. Focusing now, moving passed the blood rage; Keirdagh located the source of the telekinetic slap he’d just received. “Squadron, Adept Shadow is in that alien ship, form up escort!”

Dropping in on a flanking position, Fury Squadron and Katar followed the fighter in to the Katarn, recognizing the importance of having one of these damned abominations intact…

The message was perfectly clear to Chaosrain Taldrya: “ships...int...he...Shroud...four-oh...tw...mark...seve...ecute.” The distorted image of Grand Master Sarin was a welcome sight given the state of the Taldryan fleet. With their hyperspace routs seemingly cut-off by the Vong, the only place to go was into the Shroud. However, it would not be an easy flight. Danger was all that would find the Taldryan fleet within that distorted cloud of energy and rock, but danger was something Chaos could deal with. Here, all that remained for him and his brothers was death.

“You heard the man. Recall the remaining fighters. Suppressor remains as rear guard. Ships form in tight and maintain visual contact. Enable all backup communications systems. When we are clear of the enemy fleet we will take inventory of the damage. Get Master Cantor up here. You there,” Chaos said, pointing to the man at the navigation console, “as soon as Master Cantor arrives, you will follow his instructions exactly. Once false move, and we’re all dead.”

Chaos knew that out of all of the clans who would be entering the Shroud, Taldryan had the best chance of survival. With a Grand Master, a Dark Prophet and many more elders, there would be very little navigation troubles, relative to the Shroud. Keirdagh Cantor was their best pilot and commander; the Taldryan Proconsul trusted that the former Justicar would see them through to Antei, if that’s where they were going.

Chaos looked out to the battlefield again. The Vong had made short work of the much celebrated Dark Brotherhood fleet. Perhaps this was the final order, and the Dark Jedi were not meant to be a part of it.

“Why the hell aren’t we moving yet?” the Prelate demanded.

“We’re just bringing in the last few fighters now, my lord. Master Cantor is among them, and, supposedly, Master Shadow as well in one of the enemy’s craft.”

“Shadow’s alive?” Chaos said to himself. Maybe the losses were not so bad.

______________________

Sithspawn Taldrya was the first to exit his shuttle. He looked around at the chaotic hangar of the Katarn, attempting to get his bearings. What he saw was encouraging to a point. Many of the younger Jedi were engaged in helping as many wounded crew members as they could. While Sithspawn did not know the new Taldryan members personally, he could recognize potential when he saw it. These kids had potential.

His eyes darted over to one area where Alanna Taldrya and her counterpart, Bubbles were discussing something intently. They each made gestures to different areas of the hangar, looking to be discussing organizational thoughts. Good. Ziggy thought. A few thousand refugees aboard this ship would need food, medical attention and a place to sleep. It seemed that job was under control, a relief to Sithspawn who would have despised the organizational role.
The Primarch walked over toward the entrance to the hangar where a young Jedi Hunter was standing. Ziggy recognized him; it was the new kid named Ace. “You there,” the older Jedi called out as he approached, “where’s the Consul and the Grand Master?” Sithspawn felt the presence of the two leaders on board the ship, but given so many people on the ship and his unfamiliarity with the layout, he could not pinpoint where they were at all.

“Command level. I think they’re heading up to the bridge,” Ace replied energetically. As the Primarch walked past the Jedi Hunter, Ace tossed aside his nerves: “Hey can I come with you?” the young Jedi asked excitedly. “I…I’m no help down here.”

Sithspawn paused. “Sure, kid. Come on”

____________________

Eccentric qualities abound in Dark Jedi. For Jac Cotelin, a fear of stepping onto the bridge of capital ships was his choice quality. He did not like the vulnerability. But today, he stepped over the threshold into the command center without so much of a thought.

“Status.” Duga Taldrya Arkarso commanded as he, the Grand Master and a few others entered the bridge.

“We are a go with all…the remaining personnel,” replied a nervous command attaché. “Master Cantor’s squadron has just landed with Master Shadow. We are thirty seconds from the edge of the shroud.”

“Chaos, I assume that our visual communication systems are online?”

“Yes, sir.”

“What’s the status of the enemy?” Duga hoped they would not follow.

“Sir, the enemy forces have disengaged our fleet and are focusing on the remaining Dark Council vessels,” Vodo Biask answered from his station. “The Autarch is on its way out; it seems the Deputy Grand is taking the rear in the Vae Victus.”

As Duga continued to question his soldiers about the status of the ship, its crew and the battle, the former Dark Lord of the Sith walked calmly over to the edge of the pit where the various navigation stations were arrayed. Looking out at the approaching Shroud and focusing on the currents within, Jac knelt to the operators at his feet. “Starboard point zero two eight degrees. Hold for twenty-five second and return to this course. Bring the Dark Seraphim in half the distance.”

Jac had traveled the Shroud many times. While taking a capital ship through the swirling mass was not the easiest task, it was easy for a Grand Master. The tricky part this time, was navigating for the entire Taldryan fleet. It could be done, however. It would be done.

The Venator-class Star Destroy rocked slightly as the Shroud enveloped it. The edge of the anomaly was rather defined; the outer portion of the Shroud was the densest. “Keep on your toes,” Jac said calmly, sensing the fear of the pilots. “One false move and we die. Follow the directions of Master Cantor precisely. You’ll be fine.”

Cotelin stepped back towards a nearby wall and placed his back and head against it. He watched as his clanmates discussed the tasks at hand. Sliding to the ground, the Grand Master sat and contemplated, trying to piece together the events of the past hour. He smiled as the energetic Ace came onto the bridge, nipping at the heels of the Dinaari Quaestor. He watched as Yacko strolled onto the bridge in time to take effective command of the ship. He was relieved to see Dark Adept Shadow again, and curious to talk to the man soon. Jac was glad to feel the weight of the day being carried by so many competent leaders and soldiers. They didn’t need the old man now. He was so very tired. Now he could rest. For but a few moments he could rest. He could close his eyes.

DAY TWO

VEN Katarn
Acting Clan Taldryan Flagship
Somewhere in the Shroud


Cotelin had been unable to to fix the pilot's mangled body. Jac had done what he could to temper the wounds and stem the bleeding, but there was simply too much damage for even a Grand Master to handle. And as the pilot's body followed its soul into the void, the former Dark Lord of the Sith empowered a transfer once again.

"Thank you, Jac," came the voice inside the Dark Lord's head. Using a power that was rarely used by any Grand Master, let alone Cotelin, Jac had managed to twice transfer the life essence of Syn Kaek: once into the dying pilot, and now into Jac himself. Cotelin had done similar things before; but it was generally he who intruded upon other's souls.

Now the intruder would not let the Grand Master be.

"Get up!" Kaek cried like an itch in Jac's ear. "You can't be tired. You're Jac! Now Get up." Cotelin tried to disregard the voice; he concentrated on pinning Kaek to an unused side of his mind, but the the bodiless Dark Adept would have none of it. Crawling through Jac's memories and disturbing the old man's rest, Kaek was like a tick dug into a remote spot far away from sight.

As the former Master at Arms inventoried the Grand Master's head, asking Jac for specifics about some choice memories, Cotelin got up and began the long walk back towards activity. He left the bridge; those there needed him less and less as more Jedi stammered onto the command deck. Keirdagh Cantor was clearly in charge of the navigating; he had already redirected course a handful of times. Duga Arkarso was spouting off some instructions to a Krath Priestess named Kara Zor-El, while two Taldryan Quaestors, Hel-pa Sklib and Sithspawn waited for the Consul to finish. Werdna Elbee and William Flechette were also waiting patiently for their orders. Jac expected that they were to be sent to other ships for telepathic communications.

In the hallway immediately outside of the bridge, Jac ran into his new sidekick of sorts, Ace. With Kaek flinging nonsense in his head and Ace talking rapidly, there was too much for Jac to handle. Kaek, if you don't shut up, I'll transfer you to the Katarn's computer system, Jac thought to his new friend. Kaek, obviously not wanting to test the patience of his host body, quieted down so Jac could hear everything Ace had to say.

"We don't have enough people, my lord." Ace sprouted off, no longer fearing a choke from the older, more powerful man. "Vodo, Bubbles, Sena, Komari, Sionest and I are working our hardest, but we need more time and more people. They sent me to find you and see if you can help."

"I'll be down shortly, Ace." Cotelin said dismissively. Shooing the young Dark Jedi away, Jac finally set off for where he wanted to be: near that Vong ship that was lodged into the side of the Katarn. The Dark Lord took a turbolift down to the level above where the most damage was. He knew there was no hull breach there, having felt the presence of the team sent to extract the ship. "What word?" Jac asked, as he stepped out of the lift.

"Lord Cotelin," Alanna Taldrya addressed the man immediately, "we are still trying to find the best way to make this work. We have nine of us working through the various repairs on all of the ships. Removing this craft is the first priority, as we both need it for research and we must patch the hole."

Jac looked at those around him. Itachi, Ricco, Benevolent, Alanna, Rannik, Pyralis, Figzer, Wolve; each one was very capable of adapting to the Shroud's complexities in repairing the damage. Cotelin wasn't needed here either; and so, over Kaek's objection, Jac moved on.

"Come on, Jac." Kaek quipped in the Dark Lord's mind. "I'm curious about those ships, aren't you?"

All in due time, Kaek, thought Cotelin while walking back onto the turbo lift. Jac made his way down toward the hangar and to the pilot debriefing room. Scuttling through the wreckage, parts, bodies and crew, the Grand Master quickly made his way to where some of the elder Taldryan members were discussing the day's events.

"Jac." Telaris Cantor nodded to the Dark Lord as he entered. Next to Mav, Anga Salinas dropped into a low bow. Dark Sabre and Sharad were also in the room, listening intently to the story from Shadow Taldrya.

Cotelin took a seat. "Start from the beginning, Shadow. I want to know it all, and everything about them."

Bubbles looked up from the pilot lying in front of her and grimaced at the sight that met her gaze. The Medical Wing was full of the injured, they lay there dead or dying. She shuddered. It was some little comfort knowing that most of those she knew well had escaped in one piece. There were rumours trickling down to the bay about Crix not making it back on board, but Bubbs blotted them out, not daring to think about it.

Looking back at the pilot in front of her, she concentrated her mind again, trying with all her powers to stem the flow of blood from his wounds. Glancing up at his face, she saw his pain, his hope, his trust in her ability to heal him. She took a deep breath, “It’s all going to be fine, I’ll have you patched up in no time. This may just feel a little... unusual...”.

Biting her bottom lip she placed her right hand on his forehead, her left on his chest. She had killed with the force before, but this was different. He would be dead either way, that she knew, but still she felt a pang of regret as his life ebbed from him.

A moment or two passed before she stirred, and as she moved to stand, her attention was drawn to a scrap of paper in his clenched fist. Easing it out, she carefully opened it. The child’s face grinning up at her caught her slightly by surprise, a reminder that her job would not be done, even when every person on the ship was dead or stable. A lone tear trickled down her face as she carefully stowed the picture in her pocket. Wiping it away hurridly she stood and turned to the nearest uninjured pilot. “You,” she barked, more harshly than she might usually have been, “another one for our makeshift morgue. Get him out of here, we need the space.”

Watching the chaos for a moment or two as she brushed her hair back from her eyes, smearing the dead pilot’s blood over her forehead, she searched the room for a space to kneel by her next patient. Unable to find any space much larger than she would need to stand in, she shouted across to Vodo who was trying to calm a rather agitated crowd, “They need more space to work Vodo, any ideas? And what’s taking Ace so long?!?”

The Tarasin, Hel-Pa Sklib, was still a bit shaken up from his near-death experience in the Chupacabra, but the dedicated leader of Ektrosis convinced himself everything was alright. Keirdagh was already barking orders on the bridge of the Katarn, the Master of the Dark Side's presence was noticeable as the crew obeyed his orders instinctively. Hel-Pa knew the hindrance the Shroud could be in ship-to-ship communications, and pulled the Prophet away from the deck for a moment.

“Master, I believe my presence is needed on the Praetorian. Do I have your permission to take my shuttle to the ship, and relay your instructions to the Captain?”

“Yes, Hel-Pa. I will give you orders telepathically, and you will relay them to the Captain, a Shalla Arundel. Good luck.”

Hel-Pa bowed, then briskly made his way to the nearby hangar bay where his shuttle Wolf I was located. He leaned into his com, commanding the ship's pilot, “Prepare my ship for immediate takeoff.”

“Wilco,” the pilot replied.

--------------------------------------------------------------

The Lambda-class shuttle's doors hissed open, Sklib quickly climbing through the hatch and into a seat directly behind the pilot. After a minute of standard takeoff procedures, the shuttle lifted from the ground, levitating over the hangar bay's floor. The ship headed toward the shield that prevented vacuum from entering the hangar, then began unfolding its “wings” to the flight position.

The Shroud was thick, and only a Force-sensitive pilot, such as Sklib's, could navigate the thick hazy substance which protected Antei. The Reptilian had changed his robes, donning more appropriate attire instead of his inner-robes used exclusively in battle. Minutes later, the Wolf I docked inside the Praetorian's hangar bay, securing itself on a pad.

“Keep the ship here, we won't be leaving for a while.”

“Yes sir,” the obedient pilot replied. The Templar departed from his shuttle, following the cadre of Journeyman that were assigned to escort Hel-Pa to the bridge where Arundel awaited. He hadn't felt the vibrations of any attacks from the enemy in a while, relieved that they might be retreating from the Shroud.

Minutes later, a door opened and Sklib saw himself on the deck of the Praetorian easily identifying the Captain. The Quaestor approached the seasoned veteran of war, and coolly asked, “Give me a status report, Captain.”

"I have to see him! Let me through!"
"Are they alright?"
"I haven't seen my buddy since the attack, is she still alive?"
"Let me in!"

Vodo held back the crowd of stranded pilots, technicians, mechanics, and random crew members who all wanted to help out, to see the wounded, and comfort their friends. But the cavernous hangar would become crowded quickly if he even let half the people enter. They'd only get in the way and endanger the lies of those they wanted to help. With the aide of a compliment of Marines from Dark Prophet, Vodo was able to keep the crowd at bay.

"I am ordering this crowd to disperse, immediately! Those who do not comply will confined to duty stations! You have thirty seconds", Vodo shouted, amplifying his voice, "We have all lost friends and lovers today, but do not let your emotions cloud your judgment, rather control them, and become stronger because of it!"

Several people shouted back at him, but many began to leave. The Twi'lek nodded to the Marine's commander, to ensure he had recognized the potential trouble makers. Those who voiced dissent or stayed after the allotted time were carefully escorted off the flight deck by the soldiers. Once every straggler was removed, Vodo was freed, and returned to Bubbles as she was comforting yet another dying wounded. He was not surprised to see her take his life, and sensed it was not the first time today.

"I have not seen Ace at all since I arrived. I suspect he's along with master Cotelin at the moment. In the mean time, I'll get to work on triage. See if you can set up an IC (Intensive Care) Unit in the corner over there and there", he pointed out opposite bulk heads so that medics would not have to go far, "This is your show from now on Bubbles."

The moans and groans of the dying and wounded filled the massive hangar. The fighters and shuttles that usually crowded the floor had been moved to the bow, and were practically sitting wing to wing to maximize floor space for the many thousands who lay occupying it now.

Vodo pulled his comlink from his robes and held it his mouth, "This is Aedile Biask. I need to know if there is any room for fighters on another vessel. We need every available inch down here."

“Sir, we’re running low on medical supplies.” one of the medics said to Lokasena. “This is a disaster.” Sena replied loudly while his right hand was buried deep in a man’s chest. “We need to find a way to sterilize the used equipment. Get me an ultra-sonic generator… Get me alcohol… Get me a pan of boiling water if you have to. Just improvise.” The medic hesitated a moment, deciding what he should try first.
“Sir, we have a rhythm.” A young medic was looking at a heart monitor. “Good… Keep an eye on him.” Sena said as he removed his hand from the patients chest.

A new patient was brought in. A young female officer. “What happened?” Sena asked the Novice that brought her in. “I think she bumped her head, sir.” the young man replied nervously. He seemed to care a great deal about this woman. Sena forced the woman’s eyelids open and performed a quick retina scan. “Looks like a sub-dural haematoma.” Lokasena looked up at one of the medics. “Help me get her up on one of the bio-beds.” After the woman was placed on the bed, the computer automatically started monitoring her life signs. They were very faint. “b.p. one-ten over sixty.” The medic said. “She has a bleeding in her brain.” Sena explained to the Novice who had brought the patient in. “We need to repair the artery and relieve the pressure.” The medic, whom had assisted in moving the patient on to the bed, handed Sena a small cylindrical device. Lokasena started to move the device over the woman’s forehead. “Blood pressure’s normal.” the medic said calmly. “Excellent, now we need to extract the excess fluids in her brain.” Sena responded, still not certain that it would be all right. The medic took the cylindrical device from Sena and handed him a different device. The long, sharp extension on the object told the Novice that the next procedure would be a lot more invasive.

Sena placed three small hooks on the patients head and then attached the sharp object. Pressing a button on its handle, Sena moved the needle like extension into her skull. Everything was going smoothly, until… “B.p.’s falling!” the medic jumped. “Damn…!” Sena said. Quickly scanning the patient, he made a terrible discovery. “Another bleeder… We need to stabilize her fast, or we’ll lose her.” He started to work very fast, injections, scans, other invasive procedures. Suddenly the life sign monitor beeped loudly. Sena didn’t look up. He already knew. “Asystolie…” the medic informed him. After another scan, Sena saw that blood vessels were rupturing all over the patients body. “What’s happening?” The concerned Novice looked very worried. “It’s over, I’m sorry.” Sena said without emotion. He had let it all go in the hangar bay. Now he was running on auto-pilot.

Itachi had just gotten his orders to go and remove the enemy ship from the Starboard Hull. He ran as quckily as he could down the hall wondering how the ship would look.
“I heard they are not mechanical more like organic” Itachi thought as he picked up the pace

"Wonder if it looks like normal ships." Itachi thought a he kept running down the hall when he got there is jaw droped.

"What in Siths Blood is that" he said outloud as he looked at the ship.

"It looks organic and alive" Ricco said It was Itachi Ricco and Wolve was assigned to get the ship out

“That’s just what I was about to say anyway how are we going to get it out” Itachi asked the others

“I have no idea” Wolve said to the others.

“We could try welding it out” Itachi thought.


“No no that would take much too long”Ricco said

“Also we need to get the ship out in one piece for study” Wolve announced

“They Grandmaster wants to know how these ships fly” Ricco said to the others

“The Grandmaster himself wants this info” Itachi yelled

“Then we better not mess up or we could find ourselves on the receiving end of some force lighting” Wolve said. That made all three of the gulp and they wanted to make sure this got done right.

"Lets get to work then this will take a long time" Itachi said as they got in their space suits ready to remove that thing and have it studied.

Shadow sighed. He had already been forced to re-create the experience once today, now he would have to go through the entire ordeal again because the Grand Master needed the information first hand. He sighed again. If there was any chance what he knew could help he’d have to share it with Jac. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat as all eyes were staring directly at him. Though not one for modesty, the Adept didn’t really appreciate having an in-depth debriefing while he was shirtless and being checked on by a nurse.

“Look,” he began, speaking directly to Cotelin, “there isn’t much I can tell that you haven’t already figured out.” The Grand Master folded his arms. Another sigh. “We were ambushed when we left the ceremony a bit early—"

“We?” Dark Sabre interrupted. He had been late in arriving and had missed most of the story.

“There were a few civilian passengers, the crew, and five other Brotherhood members all of different Clans. I’m not exactly sure what happened to them, but they were kind enough to provide a distraction while I escaped.” Though no one was in much of a laughing mood, Shadow noticed that a satisfied grin flickered on the faces of Telaris and Sharad.

“Alanna informs us that the creatures that captured you are called the Vong and they’ve been waging war on the Republic for some time now. What else can you tell us about them?”

Shadow closed his eyes and searched for answers. “Well,” he began again, “the… Vong? They are immune to the Force for the most part. However, I did discover that lightning was able to kill them. All other powers, even sending them, is impossible.”

Jac stroked his chin in thought. “That explains why we were unable to detect any forms of life, but what of their ships? Their technology? We could not sense or affect either.”

“Whatever their technology is made from, it shares the same absence in the Force that they do.” Shadow’s eyes shifted from the Grand Master’s to the others in the room. “Now what’s going on here? No one’s told me anything or answered my questions.” An odd look passed among them. “What happened in the battle? And why aren’t we on the Dark Prophet?”

This time it was Jac who sighed. He glanced down at his robes briefly before returning the Adept’s gaze. “I’m afraid we lost the Prophet in the battle.” Shadow let out an involuntary gasp. The loss of the Taldryan flagship was a devastating blow to the Clan. “And,” Jac continued, “I’m afraid that’s not all we lost.”

Lokasena Corvinus sat, hunched over, on a bench in the medical ward. His fingers going through his dark blond hair, then running down his face again. All around him people were suffering. Most because of the battle. But, on top of everything else, there was a new problem.
The last patient they had treated had been stable, until they administered a mild sedative for the pain. Almost immediately, the patient’s eyes and tongue had started swelling. His heart rhythm very irregular. “Is an effect from the Vong weapons?” a young medical officer had asked. After a quick examination, Sena concluded something else. “No, anaphylaxis… He’s having an allergic reaction!” The team had sped to for a remedy, too late.

“This is not going to work.” Sena said to a small team of medics. “A lot of people here have special needs. We need a detailed medical history on all of them. I will not allow anymore people to die, because we administered the wrong dosage of painkiller!”
“But sir, most of these people are from the Prophet. Their medical records were destroyed with the ship.” Sena looked at the man who had made the comment. The Guardian knew he was right. “If there was a way to contact Taldryan headquarters…” the man continued.
“Out of the question. They may have the records, but we can’t transmit a signal. Not through the shroud.” Sena replied. “And we don’t have the time examine everyone thoroughly when they’re brought in. Not even with the help of the Force.” Sena sighed deeply. Then he looked up.

“You…” He pointed to a random medic from his team. “Novice Vosa is working triage. Tell her to get as much info on her patients as she possibly can, before bringing them in for treatment.” “Yes, sir!” The medic jumped up and ran through the door. “I hope this works.” Sena whispered under his breath. “cause I’m fresh out of ideas.”

Alanna let the others take the lead as she donned a spacesuit. Technical things weren't really her area of expertise. Sure, she knew the basics and she'd even picked up a maintenance handbook once, but she'd gotten bored pretty quickly and Bubbles had been eating ice-cream in the other room...

She was really here for the Vong ship. As the others talked about electrical sproings and cylindrical wobbles (or so it sounded to Alanna), she was busy trying to remember what she'd read about the Vong. She desperately wanted to get into the library, and there was no doubt that that would be important soon, but for the moment they had a brief respite and so retrieving this ship was a top priority. What she had managed to recall of the Vong was that they had eschewed technology; she wanted to see what a technology-free ship looked like and, combined with the species' absence in the Force, there would be the small matter of how to bring the ship inside the Katarn without an 'on' switch or any idea how the controls worked. She suspected that the Sith and Obbies might require a little Krath assistance at that point, although they would never admit it.

Alanna watched as the others climbed into their spacesuits with confidence and ease. She surreptitiously copied Ricco as he fastened all of the airtight seals on his suit, and for a moment there was silence. The Dark Jedi Mistress closed her eyes and relaxed. She'd always found chaos draining, and she hadn't had the chance to sit down since the Vong had arrived, added to which was the uncertainty of not know who had survived the Prophet...

She startled as a banging on her spacesuit visor pushed her a little off balance and she took a couple of clumsy steps backwards. Regaining her balance, she looked up to see Ricco's grinning face and his gesticulation towards her comms unit. Sighing, she turned it on.

"You're normally so graceful, my lady!" The glee in his voice was barely concealed. Alanna let it pass - there were always laxative-laced cookies to get him back with. She smiled, and Ricco's grin turned into a slightly worried grimace.

"Well, lets get on with this then!" She said with more enthusiasm than she was feeling.

No sooner had Vardar stepped off his X-wing that his starboard wing fell to the ground, he felt Itachi approaching.

Vardar - Hey, I thought you were going to get that weird thing out of our ship's hull?
Itachi - Yes, I'm taking a break.
Vardar - It's that lodged in?
Itachi - Yes.
Vardar - I see...do you need some help or-
Itachi - No I don't need some help, why don't you go on and help fixing the smaller ships.
Vardar - 'the hell's your problem, mate?
Itachi - Nothing, let's just get back to business, if I need help carrying stuff in I'll be sure to send for the muscle *he said walking away*
Vardar - Hey who do you think you're tal- ... he left... Well...guess I'd better get started on this wing *he said grabbing the hydrospanner*

-- Half an hour later --

Vardar - Now if I can just connect these wires here.....
Itachi - Hey.
Vardar - *dropping everything* Holy!! Geez! What the-! Don't sneak up on people like that, it's f*cking rude you know?.
Itachi - *sighing* Look, I just need you to look at something. *he said handing Vardar something bulbousy*
Vardar - ...looks like something bulbousy...
Itachi - ... Where *does* all the intelligence come from...
Vardar - Hey do you mind easing off for a moment? Looks like a kind of... organic engine valve or something...where did you get this?
Itachi - It's a part of the ship I've been getting from the Katarn's hull.
Vardar - ... You're getting it one bulb at a time?
Itachi - ...
Vardar - ...Relax...that was a joke... Like I said seems like an engine part to me.. though there's a strange wire-like thing going around it...it might connect to something else... keep digging and if you need more help I'll be here.

As Itachi walked away Vardar resumed fixing his wing...

--- Another fifteen minutes later ---

Vardar - Ok, now that the wing's fixed let's go check out some of the other ships...
Crew Member Nº1 - Sir!
Vardar - Yes?
Crew Member Nº1 - We need help with a ship that just came in, every pilot is dead except two, it's unprecendented damage sir.

Vardar looked towards the end of the hangar and indeed, Lokasena was attending to the surviving couple.

Vardar - Ok, take me to this ship of yours..

--- five minutes later ---

Vardar - Is...this the ship?...
Crew Member Nº1 - Yes, sir.
Vardar - ...oh... SWEET MERCIFUL CRAP!!! Have you looked at this damage? LOOK AT THE HULL!!! It's GONE! What the hell happened??? And *HOW* did those two guys survived?? Do they not breathe??
Crew Member Nº1 - Sir...
Vardar - Yes, yes, leave me to this, ok?

Vardar inspected the damage done to the ship, it was absolutely baffling how so much of a shielded ship's hull had been utterly destroyed by the Yuuuzhan Vong invaders. Strange marks were all over the hull indicating the Vong weren't using any conventional weapons, but Vardar had no idea what they were using.

Vardar - Hey, you!
Crew Member Nº2 - Me sir?
Vardar - No, your twin brother.
Crew Member Nº2 - Sir?...
Vardar - OF COURSE YOU! Strip this ship, get whatever's left of the engines to the ships being repaired and save the consoles too, that wiring isn't cheap.
Crew Member Nº2 - But..But sir!
Vardar - BUT NOTHING! This ship can't be salvaged! There's NOTHING that can be repaired because there's next to nothing left! NOW STRIP IT APART!
Crew Member Nº2 - Yes, sir!
Vardar - Yes sir, huh? Hey you! Yes you, come here.
Crew Member Nº3 - Yes, sir?
Vardar - This is one of your fellow crew members. *pointing at the crew member*
Crew Member Nº3 - Yes.
Vardar - This is one of your fellow crew members after disobeying one of my orders. *As the Sith Warrior spoke, the crewman choked and fell to the ground dead.* Now... strip this ship and get the needed parts to the other ships being repaired.
Crew Member Nº3 - Yes, Sir!
Vardar - Good man. *Before leaving, Vardar tore off a part of the ship's hull, it offered no resistance*

"...It came off so easily...what are these Vong doing to our ships..."

Vardar - Hey Itachi!
Itachi - Yes?
Vardar - I have something else for show and tell. *He said giving Itachi the hull piece.*
Itachi - It's a part of a fighter's hull, so what?
Vardar - Try to bend it.
Itachi - What the... *he exclaimed as the iron quickly bent*
Vardar - Exactly. Are you taking a break?
Itachi - Well yes, for the moment, these space walks aren't exactly relaxing.
Vardar - Good, could you do me a favour?
Itachi - *suspicious* A favour?
Vardar - Well yes, I can't leave all these ships unrepaired, could you please give this to Pyralis?
Itachi - Pyralis?
Vardar - Yes, he might know something about this kind of weapon damage, just tell him I sent you ok?
Itachi - I'm not your errand boy.
Vardar - Please do this for me, I have my hands full, I can't leave this, Pyralis is repairing some other ships on the other side of the hangar.
Itachi - Fine. But you owe me.
Vardar - Thanks.

As Itachi left Vardar got called aside by a pilot.

Pilot - Sir! Could you please take a look at these ships that just came in.
Vardar - *sighing* of course...

As Vardar looked back he saw a TIE Defender with only two wings. As he took a few steps towards it a huge rumbling was heard and, as the top wing hurled to the ground, Vardar used the Force to pull one of the engineers from under the falling wing.

Vardar *rolling up his sleeves.* - "I should be in space preventing this kind of stuff not here trying to fix it..." WE'RE GOING TO NEED A CRANE OVER HERE!!!

"Sigh where is Pyralis I cant remember" Itachi thought as he ran the down the hall full speed

"Still this kind of damage I have never seen before very odd" He thought as he kept running down the hall.

"Thats right he is repairing hull damage of the port side of the ship" Itachi sighed he had been running the wrong way the whole time. He quickly turned around and took off running at double the speed before. After a few mins of running he at last found Pyralis

" Pyralis hey" Itachi had called out

"Yes Itachi how can I help you" Pyralis replyed

"Take a look at this piece of hull try to bend it" Itachi said. He went and easily bent the hull.

"Why this is.. who did you get this from"

"Vardar why?" asked Itachi

"I will tell him what type of damage this is why dont you go back to work on getting that ship out of the hull." Pyralis said


" Arg I hate those spacewalks but I will get back to work see you later Pyralis" Itachi said as he took off running to the opposite side of the ship. When he got there he dawned his spacesuit and got ready for the walk.

"I dont know how much longer this will take but it is getting on my nerves" groaned Itachi has he made sure all of his airtight seals were done good so he did not die out there and undid the airlock.


"Still I wonder what did that to that ship" Itachi thought. He sighed and got back to the hard work of removeing the ship from the hull.

Kara walked around the ship as if in a daze. Never, in all the time she'd been alive, did she ever think she would see such carnage. "And they say Zabrak are nothing better than animals!" she snarled under her breath. She knew quite well that both navigation and communications would be useless with both stations broken. So, she set to fixing what she could, and trying to help anywhere else.

Those damned Vong had really packed a whallop when they attacked. She'd have spat on the floor, such was her contempt for those grey-skinned, Force-void, sons of space dirt!, but why waste good saliva...especially on a low-life like that scum! She worked, oblivious to anyone else around her, trying to get as much of the ship repaired as she could with what little knowledge she possessed.

If they got back alive, she just HAD to take more academy courses. But, since wishful thinking wasn't going to get them out of this predicament, she had to focus on what was before her and hope that things would work out for the best.

Ricco and Alanna began the trek to the Vong ship. He had been delayed in coming to assist Alanna as Duga had noticed a gun turret malfunction and asked him and Halc to evaluate the damage and repair it. He had been all around searching for Halcyon and when he found him he was in the engine room. They decided to work on it from inside shutting down its system and then sending out a robot that Halc controlled out to assess the damage. With the spare parts it was easily replaced and Ricco was able to get the system up and running again for the gunman to control. That was when he received Alanna's message and rushed off to help out. He was glad to be beside his old master and would help out in any way possible.

They walked along the gangways on the outside of the ship towards the docked Vong ship. Space looked so beautiful from there and all around them stars glimmered. Ricco quizzed Alanna “How are we going to remove the ship if it is organic doesn’t it have a will of its own?” the lady answered “we may be able to succumb it to a sleeping drug or another kind of drug that will help us”. Ricco looked confused but agreed that it was an unusual threat.

They passed others who were salvaging parts from other ships and those who were repairing the damage the ship had received. When they reached the Crystal like ship Alanna perked up, she loved new things and finding out about different species, and her warm smile made the Priest happier too. They entered the ship with caution and were amazed at what they saw inside.

Keirdagh’s eyes were closed as he reached through the force, feeling out the space before him, sifting through it’s many layers as he saw the clear paths slowly come into focus. His mind reach out to one of the assistants who stood nearby, the Priest Werdna, who relayed the orders to the navigations officer. The Katarn turned in the proper direction, gliding through the murky surroundings, delving deeper into the unknown.

The Zabrak was still pinned under the communications console, her fingers careful as she re-attached the various loose wiring.

Hel-Pa and Sithspawn each nodded as they felt the projections of the Dark Master enter their minds, the course becoming clear. Commanding the Praetorian and Dark Seraphim respectively, they kept their vessels in line with the larger carrier. From their bridges officers began to send signals relaying the new coordinates to the other surviving vessels in their fleet. Lights blinking in seemingly random flashes filled the darkness, the system designed for the wargames during the Rite of Supremacy coming into full use to help Taldryan survive the flight from the enemy.

Aboard each vessel, dark jedi worked hand in hand with the enlisted personnel, working tirelessly to repair the heavy damages the aliens had caused, while others were elbow-deep in the blood and anguish of the dead or dying, sifting through those who had survived and saving whom they could. They threw themselves into their assigned duties, forgoing thoughts of what had occurred. That the mightiest Clan in the Dark Brotherhood; the entire Dark Brotherhood itself; had been humiliated and sent running into the darkness. Such thoughts were clamped down on, their focus on the immediate.

For some however, they could do nothing more but re-hash what had happened, laying out on the table what had happened to them and their brethren. Re-count the lives lost and gather together information on why this had been allowed to occur.

= = |0| = =

Halcyon sat with his hands lightly on the controls of a shuttle, eyes closed as his arms moved of their own volition, taking the craft farther away from the rest of the fleet, and deeper into the Shroud. He had left his repair duties to those more suited to such endeavors, as his skills were needed elsewhere.

Beside him in the co-pilot’s seat was the Knight Gobhainn, his eyes peering out through the viewport, scanning the area for any strange vessels. Scanners were useless within the Shroud, and the Master’s senses could penetrate only what existed within the Force. Sgath were his eyes on this mission, scouting ahead for their fleet to ensure a safe passage.

Rokir could feel at the edges of his mind the confusion of the other Clans. He felt others also reaching out, grasping for what else was out there.

“Anything”, the veteran Sith asked, his eyes never opening.
“Nothing out there”, the Knight answered, still staring outside as they continued their mission in silence.

= = |0| = =

An office off the bridge of the Katarn had been taken over by the Consul, the desk he sat behind littered with reports, statistics and continued updates on the mounting deaths. His eyes roamed over each name on the list, many of them unrecognizable, but a few he did know well. Most had known true battle, and had proven themselves on countless occasions.

Another new report had just arrived, an assistant he didn’t know yet quickly moving away to leave the Primarch to his thoughts. Reading through, he saw that even in such dark times some had managed to prove themselves worthy of the name Taldryan.

Closure and a new beginning would be needed soon. Once more he would need the Clan to rally behind one banner, to prove themselves once more and overcome an implacable foe.

Ace found himself back at the medical bay, a place he hated. Ace didn’t like blood and didn’t know much beyond 1st aide.

“Where’s Jac.” Asked Vodo.

“He’s coming.” Ace said avoiding a bloody patient.

“You should stay, learn something.” Bubbs said while caring to a patient.

“I guess.” Andryan said not wanting to do this.

Ace stayed and learned a fair amount of different medical things from Bubbles. He saved a couple of people but still didn’t want to be there.

Jac arrived when Ace was using the Force to heal one injured pilot.

“I thought you weren’t a medic.” Jac said as we looked at the chaos in the room.

“Bubbles taught me.” Ace answered.

“I’m lucky though, I’m getting the people that wound’s aren’t that bad.” Ace said to Jac in a whisper.

Now that Jac was there the healing was going much faster and the Dark Lord was able to save people that we couldn’t. Not needed there I went outside of the room.

Cotelin followed me outside.

“You don’t want to be here, go get people situated in Dark Seraphim and get some medical supplies.”

“Ok.” Ace said relieved to get away and that the former Grand Master took a liking to him.

“Its nice having someone look out for you”, Ace thought to himself, “wait that reminds me…”

“Where’s Crix.” Andryan asked Cotelin.

“…he’s dead.” Jac said with sorrow.

Crix had looked out for Ace and was like an older brother, a much stronger in charge of him older brother, “If that makes any sense” Ace thought. But this wasn’t the time to morn.

Ace got to a shuttle and filled it up with people that were going to go on the Dark Seraphim. Knowing that he would need the Force to navigate though the Shroud Ace took the pilot’s seat. The shuttle lifted off the hangar floor and into the Shroud. It was not hard for Andryan to navigate though the short distance in between the Katarn and the Dark Seraphim. When Ace landed in the Dark Seraphim there was someone to bring him to the bridge.

“What, we don’t have any space for more people.” The captain said.

Ace through the non Jedi captain against the wall.

“Do you think we have room on the Katarn, we have the people of the Katarn plus the survivors of the Prophet!” Ace yelled, feeling good that he had power over someone.

“Ok.” The captain said as Ace released him.

Andryan spent the next many hours on the Dark Seraphim helping getting people quarters and sorting out the medical supplies. Ace left with the very much needed medical supplies.

When Ace got back to where the wounded where being kept he found that there was a little bit less chaos but still a lot. Andryan gave the medical supplies to Bubbles and went back to healing those that were not hurt badly.

"Consul," Duga's assistant said timidly, "Lord Cotelin is here to see you."

"I know," replied the worn out leader of Clan Taldryan. "Send him in."

"Yes sir," came a quick response. As the young man turned on his heel, he almost walked right into Jac. Dodging quickly to the side, the assistant scurried off to do more of the Consul's bidding.

"My lord," Duga said, standing and bowing to the elder Jedi.

Jac would have none of it. "None of that." Cotelin moved across from Duga's cluttered desk and took a seat in a metal chair there. With a flick of his wrist, he dragged a datapad to his hand; Cotelin had come to hear what Duga knew about the extent of the damage and about their casualties. The datapad held little, so Jac just asked: "How bad?"

"We're still counting the dead," Duga said, sitting slowly. "I heard you were in the medical center for a while."

"Aye."

"Well, we have ours here at full capacity. The other ships in the fleet have been taking our stable patients while we take their emergency supplies. Even then, we are going to run low." Duga shook his head. "The current count is that we lost close to fifteen hundred men. Another two-hundred are wounded or dying, spread among our ships. Even then, we were lucky to get out with what we still have."

Cotelin didn't respond. As usual, the Grand Master was lost in his own thoughts and was unwilling to share them with the Consul. It was an unusual relationship at times. While Jac tried to stay away from running the Clan that he used to control, there was no escaping the fact that the Grand Master carried authority. The meeting between he and Duga even; Jac did not intend to have Duga debrief him like a subordinate, but that was how it felt.

"Repairs have progressed well," Arkarso continued. "I'm sure you already know this, but we were able to retrieve that ship from the hull."

The Dark Lord perked up. "Oh?"

"Ah, that makes sense. You can't feel its movement."

"How was it retrieved?" Cotelin's curiosity had been perked. The Yuuzhan Vong ship that was in the hull of the Katarn was of tremendous value to their efforts to learn more about the enemy. The craft that Shadow had returned in had turned out to be little more than some type of escape craft. Jac was interested in the fighter.

Duga shook his head. "Well, it took some negotiating. Alanna was creative: she had some of the younger Jedi wrap the fighter in the sheet metal that is used for hull breaches. Once wrapped, she was able to slowly push it from the hull toward the hangar. I believe some of the elders are down there now, attempting to break into the craft. He's still in there. Dead, but there."

Jac nodded, noting the fate of the Vong pilot. "The repairs have progressed otherwise?"

"Yes. We're almost back to full speed. Which reminds me." Duga paused. "Where is Yacko taking us?"

"To Antei, of course." Cotelin stood and turned to exit.

"Ah. For a moment I hoped we were heading to the edge of this thing and then back home." The leaders locked gazes. It was an awkward moment. Cotelin had obviously given the order to move to the Brotherhood's homeworld, without consulting Duga at that.

Jac pushed back the voice of Kaek in his head telling him that perhaps there would be no confusion of command if Jac didn't make commands. "We will need to be ready in a few days. I am sure the others are on their way with intentions that are not becoming of a Brotherhood." Jac walked towards the door. "We are running out of room for the dead. Most of the wounded will not be saved."

"You have a suggestion then?" Duga asked, knowing that Jac was prodding for the question.

"We must not wait for the funeral proceedings. Let us call together those who we can, and send off our dead in a manner fitting of their sacrifice. And let's do that today."

"I will have the arrangements taken care of within the hour." Duga watched as the Grand Master exited. After a brief moment, the Taldryan Consul called for his assistant.

___________________________________

Within the hour Duga had solidified plans to honor the dead of the clan. Although he himself knew what was largely the premise of the quick funeral, he tried to keep that premise from becoming widely known. Alanna had questioned him on the unusual practice; Duga was certain that she found the real reason for the rush in his innermost thoughts. Generally, the clan had always waited for a few days before any sort of formalities were arranged, but given the circumstances and the vast amount of dead on the ship, Duga did not want to wait. He thought Alanna understood.

As the Consul entered the hangar, he was taken aback by the sight. The black durasteel tubes that were generally used as coffins were not in sufficient number to bury the dead. He had asked his men to improvise; so they constructed make-shift, multi-person caskets from the hulls of unsalvageable ships. Duga counted four of the creations, each, he guessed, holding fifty bodies. The "caskets" had been placed carefully along one side of the hangar bay door. Along the other side were at least thirty of the black tubes that Duga was familiar with. Seven in the center were covered in cloth representing both the rank and order of a fallen Jedi. Duga knew the one in the middle with the red cloth was empty; it represented their lost Archanis Quaestor. The Consul wondered if there was one casket representing Kaek or not, and if even if Kaek could technically be considered dead.

Virtually the entire non essential crew was assembled in the large area. There was little order to their make-shift assembly; people simply crowded around the "coffins" and watched as their Consul walked to a platform that had been placed behind the row of black tubes.

Still not knowing what to say, Duga took the stage, turned to his assembled clan and began to speak.

Anga stood stiffly beside Sharad and Shadow as they listened to the Consul’s speech. She looked over at the caskets and felt anger swell up inside her, there were too many of them in this place. These people had been her friends and her family, and now it was time to say good-bye for ever.

She would make sure that their deaths were avenged and had already taken measures to accomplish this. She had spent the morning interviewing pilots who had been in the battle against the Vong. She had also been present when Grand Master Cotelin, Sharad, Mav and Dark Sabre interrogated Shadow about the events that had occurred since his capture. They had all been surprised to see that he had made it out alive while five other Jedi had perished in the escape.

Now she glanced at the other members standing in the hangar and listening to the Consul’s word she saw the hardening of facial muscles indicating anger and determination. Alanna and Bubbles stood next to each other and behind them stood the entire Phoenix Phyle. Every head in the Phyle was bowed as they remembered their fallen comrades. Anga felt as if she needed to be there with Bubbles and Alanna, but she also felt that her place right now was next to her husband and their friend.

Uncertainty as to what would happen next gnawed at her innards, but Anga was sure that everyone present at this solemn ceremony were determined to fight to the end and expel these invaders who seemed to be immune to the Force. This was still a puzzling concept to Anga.

Shaking her head, Anga tried to bring her mind back to what the Consul was saying but try as she might she could not. Her mind kept going back to the Library on boardship and her fingers kept moving as though she were writing into her notebook.

Feeling restless Anga glanced up in time to catch Grand Master Cotelin’s eye. He just nodded his head and turned back to the ceremony that was just ending. All the military personnel who were present saluted, the non-military personnel stood silently at attention as a few crew people began sending the durasteel coffins out into space through the converted escape pod hatch.

Ace, Sena, and Komari had the gross task of piling the dead into the “coffins” as Vodo and Bubbles continued to heal until the ceremony. As much as Ace had disliked having to heal the bloody wounded solders he loathed doing this even more. Though we hated what he was doing he felt the sorrow of all those lost in the horrible battle. Ace held a red banner and placed it on one coffin as tears started to role down his face. Ace had grown quite found of his Quaestor as he was sure Crix had of him. Crix was like an older brother that he never had. Andryan regained his composer as more and more people flooded into the hangars. Ace found his Aedile, Ricco, and walked over to him.

“I can’t believe that Crix is dead.” Ace said as he watched Duga come into the hangar.

“Neither can I.” Ricco said.

Ace looked around for Jac, he knew that the Dark Lord would know what to do but he couldn’t find him in the massive amount of people.

Ricco left Ace’s side to go over to Alanna and Bubbles. Andryan not wanting to be alone followed the Aedile over to Alanna. Ace not knowing who Alanna was started at her.

“Yes?” She said sadly but strongly.

“I…I just haven’t seen you before, who are you.”

“You mean you’re a Krath and haven’t heard of Alanna.” Ricco said already knowing the answer, “She was the Krath High Priestess, she’s one of the smartest Krath there is.”

“Oh.” Ace said still staring at Alanna.

Andryan listened to Duga’s word’s, though even he could tell that Duga didn’t know what to say, and watched as the coffins were sent out into space. He watched one coffin in particular, the one with the red banner on it, Crix’s.

Gobhainn Sgath sat beside the Elder Halcyon Rokir, eyes focused through the viewport in front of him. The Shroud blinded all sensors and strained even Force guided navigation; it required an elder like Rokir to find new routes through it. And a new route was exactly what this emergency withdrawal was. The ten remaining ships of the Taldryan fleet had not been in a position to use the Clan’s Traditional route.

Instead they had retreated directly into an uncharted portion of the outer reaches of the Shroud. Here the planetary debris tumbled erratically pulled in seemingly random paths by the complex gravitational signature of the binary system. It was taking all the skill and power that Dark Master Halcyon could muster to both navigate and maintain a telepathic link to the various ship commanders.

That is why Consul Duga Arkarso had instructed Gobhainn to accompany Halcyon on the scout/patrol shuttle. While the Dark Jedi Master’s attention was focused through the Force, Sgath could be his physical eyes. The combination of his light sensitive eyes and the optical enhancement visor allowed the Sith to see not only the physical dangers of the Shroud such as asteroids, but also the complex streams of electromagnetic energies that swirled around them. Where most people could only see the debris of the Obscuration, Gobhain observed a veritable kaleidoscope of energies and matter. This was allowing him to give directions of a physical nature to complement Halcyon’s Force Prescience and Instinctive Astrogation.

“Master Rokir, we are approaching a cluster of asteroids caught in a magnetic stream; I suggest either raising or lowering our approach by fifteen degrees to avoid it.

________________________________________________________

Sgath was unsure of where he was when an outside entity pulled him from his self induce hibernation. Opening his eye he looked up into the face of Krath Epis whom he had seen before but never spoken with; Bubbles from House Ektrosis, if he remembered her name correctly.

“Good of you to rejoin us” the epis remarked acidly.

“Where am I?” the knight inquired.

“You’re on the Katarn, in what is one of many makeshift medical units.” Bubbles replied.

“How did I get here? The last I remember, I was playing dead in the middle of the enemy fleet. Did we overcome them after all?” Gobhainn asked in a hurried stream of questions, as he raised himself to a sitting position.

“No, we did not defeat the Vong. In fact, we are in retreat into the Shroud to escape them. As for how you got here; from what I hear, Duga sent a flight of fighters and a transport just to recover you. Several pilots died so that you could be here now. You were brought aboard just before we entered the Shroud.” the Ektrosian Tyro explained. “I don’t know what you did to deserve all this but there it is. Duga told me to awaken you the first chance I got and I have. Now I have to get back to those who are truly injured and not just sleeping.”

Gobhainn watched the woman as she turned and moved to another body lying on a near by pallet. He decided that her waspishness toward him had been the result of exhaustion and clearly visible sorrow and decided to let it slide. Normally he would have responded in intense anger at having been spoken to in such a manner. But these were exceptional circumstances.

A medical droid whisked up to Sgath and plied him with a stimulant beverage, saying that it would help clear his thoughts. The knight downed it in two swallows.

Getting to his feet, Gobhainn turned to the Epis.

“Well, if the Consul wanted you to wake me, then he must need to speak with me. I will leave you to those in more need of your gentle touch than I.” he spoke with a feigned politeness.

At this, the Sith turned and departed from the makeshift hospital.

_______________________________________________________________

Standing before the desk of the Taldryan Consul Duga Arkarso, Gobhainn Sgath trembled with angry disbelief over what he had heard as rumor as he had searched to find the office that the Consul had commandeered. People had been talking about the loss of the Dark Prophet, Fifteen hundred dead including someone called Kaek and unbelievably, Crix. That one fact had brought shock to the Dark Jedi Knight’s mind.

Crix was one of the few friends that Gobhainn had in the Brotherhood. They had met when Gobhainn had first joined the Emperor’s Hammer Fleet Tie Corps. Both members of the Avenger Task Force, Crix had introduced Sgath to Admiral Firefox. Together Crix and the Admiral had convinced the Coruscanti to enter the Dark Brotherhood. Through all the trials that came after, Sgath’s actions would be primarily driven by his friendship with Crix and his loyalty to House Archanis and to Firefox.

Now Crix was gone.

And these strangers, the Yuuzhan Vong, had dealt the blow to Gobhainn’s universe; taking his closest friend and severely damaging the only family that the knight had left.

These interlopers have made the worst mistake of their worthless lives. I will see them all dead. They don’t exist in the force; I’ll see to it they cease to exist at all.

Duga’s voice brought him out of his dark reverie.

“You and Ricco Vao are in charge of House Archanis for now. However right now we must all work together for Taldryan’s survival. Although your little stunt back at the encounter has provided us with valuable scientific data about theirs ships, we can not afford for anyone to go off on his own like a rogue comet.”

“I’m assigning you to assist Dark Jedi Master Halcyon Rokir of House Dinaari in scouting a path for the Clan through the Shroud. It’ll keep you busy and under someone’s direct command and control, as well as keeping you separate from most of the rest of the Clan. You are not the most popular person right now.”

“Only a few of the clan know of what you did and the enormous risk you took for all of us. They have just heard reports of how you broke formation and disappeared and that you were brought back, at high cost, in a self induced hibernation. Most are wondering why you lived and Crix died.”

“So I’m going to keep you out of sight as much as possible until the truth can be disseminated among the ranks. Besides those eyes and that visor might actually be of some use out in the Shroud.” Duga concluded “Now go find Halcyon and get to work. Dismissed!”

Gobhain turned an was about to leave when the Consul’s voice reached him once more.

“I’m sorry about Crix; he was my friend as well. And by the way, Good work back there.”

The Sith paused for a moment and the walked through the door to find Rokir and begin his new assignment.

________________________________________________________


So here he was working with yet another non-Archanis. At least, Rokir was truly above him in rank and position. The Dinaari was also the Combat Master and Champion of Antei. Besides the job they were doing was best done in silence and concentration. The only interaction the two were having during these long hours were course changes and obstruction warnings.

The only other words that Halcyon had said to him since they had piloted the shuttle out of Katarn’s hangar had been a simple command/request:

“Keep control of your anger; you are emanating so strong you could distract me and that would be bad for us all.”

Itachi watched sadly as Duga talked.

"We have lost many good friends here today and great warriors one of the greatest being Crix." Duga began to talk about everything Crix had done and how he had died. Itachi thought back to how he knew Crix. Quaestor of his house Archanis, he helped Itachi when he first joined the Brotherhood. Help him rise through the rank till today when he was a Guardian. Itachi would never cry no matter what the case. However he had lost a friend that was like an older brother to him and could not help but cry. Itachi looked down the line and saw that he was not the only person crying.

"We have truely lost a good man and friend here today" Itachi thought to himself as he kept crying at the lose of an older brother.

"The battered Clan of Taldryan will continue without Crix however it will never be the same" Itachi thought as Duga kept talking. Now Duga started talking about all the other who had died. There were so many many people were shocked.

"I cant believe we lost 1500 people" Itachi thought. So many had died that day and Itachi had no doubt in his mind that everyone in the Clan wanted revenge. Duga kept talking about all those who had died and how there deaths will not be in vain.

"I can't wait to get my hands on one of them and tear it apart limb by limb." Itachi now thought with anger. Yet doubt filled his mind if he would be able to kill one if he ran into one.

"Even if I die I will besure to take the bastard with me." Itachi thought. His mind started to drift after sometime as he thought up ways to get revenge of the Vong and avenge Crix and the others who had died.

Vodo did not have the time to directly attend the proceedings taking place near the bow of the ship, a few levels up. The Hangar deck, though open through the middle, actually consisted of close to ten stacked shelves on either side so that the interior space was put the greatest use. The wounded still needed his attention, whether that was triage, the rapid assessment of the patient's situation, or his minor ability to treat small wounds and burns.

His and the staff available to heal the dying and wounded listened to Duga speak through a comlink, that was broadcasting the speech all over the ship. No doubt, someone was translating the message into the light system the fleet used for communication within the shroud as well so that all could take part in the mourning.

"The tragedy that has befallen us can not be seen as weakness however. We were bested by a foe who strength was superior to even ours. That does not mean however that this fight is over."

Vodo listened on an off, lost in his own thoughts and task at hand. The loss of 1500 men and women, both Dark Jedi and not, had deeply affected him. He'd known these people, having served under them, and having served over them, for many years now. While on the bridge, he'd heard their screams, seen their faces. It wasn't pleasant. Still, their haunting presence was with him, in the faces of the dying and wounded, in the moans of pain, and the eery lines of corpses that had been present along the sidelines until the Consul's decision to commemorate them.

"This new enemy, the Yuuzhan Vong, cannot be sensed in the Force, and appears to not exist in it either. But rather than see that as a disadvantage for us, I would see it only as an advantage we can use over them. And with our brethren at our back, and the Dark Side of the Force in our hearts, there is no force, not even the Vong, that can stop us! WE ARE TALDRYAN!"

Vladet Xavier drifted in and out of thought as Duga's speech filled the hangar bay.

He supposed he should be feeling saddened by the massive loss of life but he only felt empty and perhaps a little bitter. When he was serving the Imperial Navy they did not pay much tribute to their dead - usually a notice would appear for a minute on the ship's internal holonet network and then vanish. If a fellow pilot had died, his squad mates would raise a toast in their honor and within a week he would be forgotten.

Interesting transition here, Vlad ...

Vlad was surprised by the raw emotion he felt from the members of Taldryan, both Force users and not. The Force users were saddened, he could tell, but their will showed determination for revenge and bloodshed. The non-Force users were scared, full of despair, and weary. Who can blame them? The galaxy just got a lot darker for them, he mused.

Duga continued on with his speech, sometimes making remarks about a particular member or two. Vlad shrugged slightly, wondering when the ceremony would be over. He didn't think he was being disrespectful as so much being practical - the enemy could strike at any moment to finish what they started and it would be a shameful end to Taldryan if they were caught with their pants down. If they are naked to the Force, who says they can't penetrate the Shroud, too?

Crix, the Archanis Quaestor, was mentioned and Vlad glanced at the former Quaestor's coffin. They had not recovered the body - as if there had been time - but Vlad had respected Crix's pilot skills and dedication to the Clan. Loyalty was hard to find in times like this but he appreciated it all the same. Vlad was surprised that he had been able to make it through the funeral without becoming too impatient.

Not bad for my first funeral, he thought darkly, thinking of the violence that was sure to come soon ...

Keirdagh's steely gaze never broke, never faltered once as he stared out the viewport of the bridge of the Katarn. Duga's voice echoed on the bridge around him, attempting to smother him in a cocoon of grief. But Keirdagh, one who had known Crix well, refused to listen to the mourning. Crix had been his apprentice for a time, had learned the ropes of leadership under his tutelage, and had been a valued friend, but one thing Keirdagh knew, was he would not want to be mourned. Crix was a fighter, and there was still an enemy out there to be fought. Nor would he want to be avenged for personal reasons, he was too honourable a soldier for that. Crix knew, as did Keirdagh, that you fight in order to guard your friends, and to revel in the challenges that battle brought. Senseless revenge, throwing away more lives in pointless acts of vengeance would not let Crix rest easier in death, only vanquishing the enemies of Taldryan would do that, and flying off the hilt into more danger was not a way to achieve victory.

Sensing a disturbance in the eddies of the shroud in front of him, Keirdagh barked out to the helmsman "vector shift, port 12 degrees, bring the nose up 8 degrees and cut speed by half." Concentrating, Keirdagh sought out both Sklib and Sithspawn, making sure they knew to follow the orders as well.

The danger now past, Keirdagh returned to his musings over his friend’s death. No he thought, vengeful rage will gain us nothing... first we must learn of our new foes... and then, then my old friend, then we will pay them back in kind, and emerge victorious. Then, I will mourn you. But not until my duty is done.

Keirdagh, his gaze that of etched durasteel, continued to stare out into the void facing the duty still at hand, and vowing not to fail those who counted on him,

Ricco had been under Crix’s tutelage since he entered the brotherhood. He had worked hard under him in Ektrosis and Crix had helped him through the ranks. When Archanis opened its doors Crix had asked Ricco to be on his team to rebuild the once powerful house. The Krath could hardly refuse. He then worked beside his mentor helping to rebuild the house and furthering himself in the Brotherhood. He also worked with him as Tribune and they became a great team.

His silver eyes did not leave the sight of the Sith’s casket and showed no emotion, a glazed stare was all people noticed, but inside a well of emotion overflowed and his fists clenched with hatred and animosity for these rancid creatures. He would avenge the death of his friend and mentor and his anger would fuel the power needed to do this.

He calmed himself when his good friend Alanna came to stand next to him. She approached elegantly and smiled softly, “Do not remember this awful day but the happy memories you shared and the good times and adventures you had. Death is a time to celebrate the life of that person.” She was wise and intelligent and Ricco relaxed and embraced the Master with ardour. Ace also stood next him both feeling the same pain...

Alanna hugged Ricco, and then cast her eyes over the other members of Taldryan who had gathered for the ceremony. She noted with approval the number of young jedi that had come to pay their respects. This was a good lesson for them to see - that the dark side brought great power, but the price could be high. So many thought themselves infallible when they arrived on Karufr; discovering that this wasn’t the case was a painful lesson.

Ace, the young enthusiastic Jedi next to her, was staring at Crix’s coffin as were many of the others in the room. She could feel his pain emanating from him and she touched his shoulder in sympathy. There was little else she could do except help him to channel that emotion into the work that would follow.

She had counted herself as a friend to Crix and would miss him deeply. She also recognised many of the crewmembers who had lost their lives today, although she had to admit that she didn’t know them as well as she would have liked to. She would mourn them all in private later. This ceremony was more for communal than for private grief.

Even though she had guessed the true reason behind the hurried ceremony, she nevertheless approved. People needed to see the results of the attack by the Vong so that their abstract feelings of loss could be solidified. They needed the hatred and thirst for vengeance that this funeral would instill; they would fight twice as hard tomorrow.

Telaris “Mav” Cantor sat uneasily between two Taldryan Jedi he didn't know in the least. A few seats down on his left he noticed his copilot from his rescue mission during the Vong attack. Across the ways, and all around were faces somewhat familiar to him. Some he knew better than others, like the Krath, Alanna. A long-time friend of the Prophet's, Alanna had served with him since the founding of Taldryan. Still, he hardly knew her these days. He watched as she embraced a Dark Jedi he didn't know at all, then turned back towards the coffins. Duga, the Consul of Taldryan, was still speaking.

Taldryan had assembled the makeshift funeral as quickly as possible once they figured they were as safe as they could be in the Shroud – which was to say, they weren't really safe at all, they just couldn't detect anything yet. Still, the funeral was a necessary part of this new war against the Yuuzhan Vong. Taldryan had to refocus and rearm itself for the coming fight, whatever it was.

Mav himself barely knew any of those who had died – or disappeared – during the Vong attack. He barely knew Crix, but it seemed as if his loss, above all others, troubled his clansmen the most. It would make sense, considering his high rank and position as Quaestor of House Archanis. And while the loss of so many loyal to Taldryan did anger him, Mav was somewhat troubled by the very fact that he did not feel more for due to their losses. The hatred and anger that Taldryan felt permeated the ceremony, the need for vengeance thick. Though he felt somewhat out of place, he was somewhat comforted by the intense dark energies. He leaned back and glanced once more around those assembled, finally refocusing on Duga, just as the Consul finished his speech.

“...We shall not let their sacrifice go in vain. As our fallen friends and allies depart, let us remember them, and draw upon their strength and power – let our anger and our hatred focus on our true enemies, let our vengeance be swift upon those who have wronged us, and let us power be absolute in destroying that which would destroy us. In this cause, we can not fail. For the memories of our fallen friends, we shall not fail.”

Duga stepped away from the caskets and back towards the others as he finished his speech. Glances towards an officer seated near the airlock controls, he gave a short telepathic message and sealed it with a nod of his head. Behind him, the airlock doors sealed as the “caskets” were released into space.

As the ceremony ended, the Dark Jedi slowly gathered themselves and quietly exited the hangar.

As the hangar bay emptied, Duga walked down from the platform from which he had spoken and nodded to his Proconsul, Chaosrain. Chaos nodded, closing his eyes for a moment in concentration. As he did, four Jedi who were among the dispersing crowd turned and walked around the bay doors to where the Taldryan leaders were standing. As if by instinct, they aligned themselves by order of rank, and bowed to their elders.

The highest ranking among them, Jedi Hunter Vladet Xavier, Aedile of Dinaari, was the first to speak. "Masters, how may we serve?"

"Your service has already been shown to us, Xavier," Duga said quickly, moving over to stand in front of his assembled Jedi. "Each of you have through the Rite and our battle yesterday, proved in your own ways your mettle in battle, your understanding of the force, and your commitment to Taldryan. While I would have very much liked this to be under better circumstances, in a way that is more fitting for your acts, our current situation does not allow for that." The Consul looked to the first of the Dark Jedi in front of him. "Wolverine Berkana: you are hereby elevated to the rank of Novice. Your powers are developing quite nicely. You should be duly proud." Wolve dipped his head in thanks, saying nothing.

Duga turned to the next Jedi. "Komari Vosa: you are hereby elevated to the rank of Acolyte. You have shown great strength here today; I am confident in the fine addition you make to our noble clan." Unable to hold in a smile, Komari bowed deeply.

"Itachi Uchiha: I hereby elevate you to the rank of Protector. I am most proud of your accomplishments and contributions. This honor is fitting of your service."

"Thank you, my master," Itachi said as he dropped to a low bow.

Duga pulled a small pouch from the inside of his robes. "To you, Vladet Xavier, I present this Adegan crystal. You have passed the final challenge among those assigned to you as a Jedi Hunter. You have joined the ranks of the Knights. I commend you and welcome you to this elite circle. I expect great things from you."

"I shall not fail you my Lord," replied the Aedile, relieved to have his trials completed and the construction of a new Lightsaber awaiting him.

When it was clear that Duga was finished, the Jedi took a brief moment to congratulate each other. Then, just as quickly, they dispersed to their various stations on the ship. There was still much work to do.

Jac Cotelin remained, though. Silent throughout the funeral and the festivities after, Jac had been sitting against a wall to Duga's left. He watched as the four young Jedi received their honors. The Grand Master was glad that Duga had remembered to take care of his people on this day.

Getting up, the Dark Lord set his sights on two objects in the distance: the Yuuzhan Vong ships. He worked his way through the crew members who were once again pulling out their equipment to repair damaged fighters and shuttles. As he approached the ships, the Dark Lord tried various techniques to move or alter the ships to no avail. Within a foot of the fighters, the Dark Lord loosed a volley of blue sparks toward the craft. The scorch mark proved that Shadow was right. The Grand Master smiled.

Closing his eyes in concentration, Cotelin called out to the Jedi that he could feel on the ship: The first three who come back to the hangar bay will be welcome in helping me open this Yuuzhan Vong ship. I am interested in the pilot.

Feeling the disappointment of some who could not leave their current assignments, Cotelin waited for those who wanted to be involved.

Vodo's sorrow, and sense of loss had been transformed by the funeral service into a cold, deep rooted hatred for the enemy. He wanted closure, revenge. Yes, vengeance was what he needed. The Aedile, though occupied by the task of treating the wounded, dropped what he was doing when the Grand Master's summons reached him. His hands were soaked in blood and sweat, each of which had mixed with the others to formed a light pink stain on his dark skin.

"Bubbles can handle the rest. I'll be attending to some... Business" he informed a nurse as he departed the partioned surgery, and healing area that had been cordoned off for their use using some curtains.

As soon as he was clear of the curtains, Vodo began to run, with all the available strength the Dark Side could provide him in his Anger. He was forced several times to leap several rows of wounded laying upon the deck, but as soon as they were out from underfoot, he began his run once more. The place at which the captured enemy fighter was held in the massive hangar turned out to be no more than several hundred meters from his position, and he arrived swiftly, apparently the first to respond to Master Cotelin's summons.

Slightly breathless from his short, yet hard run, Vodo managed to say, "I live to serve you my Master."

Vodo bent to kneel on one knee, and lowered his head, "I wish to know my enemy, to know how and why my friends aboard the Prophet had to die. I have to know, Master Cotelin".

"Rise Aedile. You are not alone", was the Grand Master's only consolation.

Lokasena ran as hard he could. In the final corridor leading to the hangar, he bumbed into newly promoted Acolyte Vosa. “Hey Sena, look!” the young, beautiful woman said. Sena stopped and took the time to view her insignia. “Congratulations Komari, you deserve it.” He really meant it. She had worked very hard for this. “I’m sorry but, I have to go now. I’ll catch up with you later. We’ll celebrate… bye.” Corvinus continued his sprint toward the hangar, leaving his friend in the corridor.

He had heard Jac’s call in his mind. As a Krath, Sena always had an insatiable thirst for knowledge. He needed to respond quickly, hoping he would have Jac’s approval to join this assignment.

As Lokasena entered, he saw that Vodo had already arrived. Slowly he walked in the direction of the two men, while slowing his heart beat and catching his breath.
He nodded as he approached them. “Vodo. Master Cotelin. I would like to volunteer to assist you with finding out more about our new enemy.” He knew that it was of the utmost importance to study these beings. “If knowledge is power, then to be unknown is to be unconquerable. I mean to strip them of that advantage.”

The Krath Guardian bowed down, hiding the smile grew on his visage. With Master Cotelin's permission, he would have his vengeance.

Ace had slowly walked off away from Ricco and Alanna into a hallway he had never been in. Andryan wondered around opening up random doors and seeing what was inside. Most of the rooms served as quarters for the still crowded ship, but some held different weapons and spare parts. Ace looked around not sad or angry but…well he didn’t know, he was sad that all those had died but needed revenge for their deaths.

Ace came up to the end of the hallway, there was a big door. Andryan opened the door to find something like a library. Fascinated with his discovery Ace didn’t think if he was allowed here, he just plunged into the information there like any Krath would do.

Ace read about lightsabers, several forms, how to make one, and components of a saber, he already knew most of this information so he moved on to different material. He read about the basics of Sith Alchemy, which he really liked though he couldn’t do much of it, he read about Force philosophy, and he found more information on Sith Holocrons. When he was done reading he looked at the time and realized that he had been reading for just over three hours.
Just then he heard footsteps outside the door, before he could do anything the Krath Dark Jedi Master Alanna walked in.

“Been doing some reading?” She asked as she saw the mess of books on the table Andryan was sitting at and on the floor.

“Heh, yeah I stumbled in here and I started reading, now its three hours later.” Ace said putting the books back.

“Wait, let me.” Alanna said as she flicked her hand and every book went back into its place.

“Thanks, am I suppose to be here.” Ace said wishing he could use that Force like that.

“Well…no, this is a study for those who are given permission, though it’s nothing in comparison so my study back home but seeing that you are only looking for knowledge like any Krath and everything that is for higher ranked Jedi is code locked I you have my permission.”

“Cool.” The Jedi Hunter said. “Why did you come here?”

“To look for you, I figured that since you weren’t helping out you were exploring the ship.” Alanna said, seeming to be the smartest Jedi ever.

“Why do you need me?” Ace asked.

“Shadow and I are discussing the Vong and we want another opinion, an opinion from a younger Jedi, ones that sensible.” The Dark Jedi Master said while looking through the black bag she had with her.

Alanna lead the way to a room with a couple of black comfy looking chairs and were Shadow was sitting sipping on a hot drink, he poured some for Alanna and Andryan and they started in a deep conversation about what they knew of the Vong.

Werdna Elbee grew tired of being Keirdagh’s messenger boy on the Katarn. 110 degrees port this, 50 degrees starboard that. It was bad enough he had to spend his one break sitting through a funeral for those who had died in the previous massacre than to go on with this monotony of running away like scared children.

It’s not that he didn’t like or dislike the people who died. He just couldn’t see the point of crying over those who were too slow, clumsy or ‘brave’ enough to save the others. After being taught that the only person you could trust was yourself and mastery of the Dark Side means that you have to be rightfully selfish, Werdna was not willing to shed a tear for those who saved him.

Another message entered Werdna’s mind that came from Keirdagh “73 degrees port, reinforce forward shields …it’s a tight gap”. Keirdagh was sat not 3 feet away, yet with a sigh, Werdna walked over the Navigator who was sat 9 feet away to relay the message.

I did my bit, Werdna thought to himself, I jumped into the fighter in place of the forceless nothing that I had to cripple to take his place. I’m the one who was smart enough to position the Suppressor out of the far too superior fire. Yet those who got killed get remembered.

Walking back over to his ‘place’ Werdna only had one thought. “Damned if I’m going to die to save this lot. It’s all about self-preservation now against this new threat.”

"I'm afraid I really need time in the library if I'm to give you a comprehensive overview of what is known about the Vong," Alanna complained. Shadow rolled his eyes.

"You Krath and your... thoroughness. Look, this is just an informal attempt to piece together what we know so far. I'm sure that if you're a very good girl, you'll be allowed to go back to your library soon," he grinned. Alanna scowled.

"Fine. The Vong have no presence in the Force. That much even the Obbies will have picked up on by now," she looked pointedly at Shadow who merely raised an eyebrow.

"I seem to recall it being something to do with where they come from. There's no Force there at all, or there's something suppressing the Force or something like that. But it means that all their ships and weapons are similarly not affected by our powers." Shadow nodded.

"It was weird coming up against that with no warning. I thought they must have given me something to dull my powers. Luckily, as an Obelisk, I had other weapons in my arsenal," he gave Alanna a big grin.

"You mean like your sharp wit?"

Ace was listening to the exchange with concern. "So, if they can't be affected by the Force, how do we fight them?"

"That, my boy, is the question. And the answer is that we fight them just like any non-Jedi would do. With guns and bombs and big explosions!"

"Oh, like that worked so well just now..." Alanna observed.

"Well, what do you suggest?"

"If had time to get to the library, I could tell you..."

"Biask, Sena, we will attempt this together", The Grand Master had folded his two arms into his sleeves, and stood brooding with his hood down. Vodo had not often seen the man without his hood up, or over his face, and had certainly never stood in his presence. The Dark Side seethed from the man's very pores. It was as though he were the physical incarnation of the Dark Side of the Force. It both frightened, and excited the Twi'lek knight.

"Yes M'Lord. May I inquire the techniques you've applied so far?" Lokasena, rose to his feet to join Vodo, a few meters from the alien craft.

"I have applied none. I have neither attempted to meddle with the vessel, no tried to open it. You'll find my only experiment in the scorch marks along this side".

Vodo and Lokasena both shifted their positions in order to see the extent of Master Cotelin's experiment, "Moons of Corescant!"

Vodo's eyes darted to Lokasena, wondering who actually said something like that any longer, but he couldn't help but agree with the exclamation. The Grand Master's experiment had ripped shards of rocks from the sides of the alien fighter, and planted deep burn marks in the material that remained. It looked as though the ship had suffered the celestial plasma cutter.

Vodo, not one to wait and watch any longer, drew his light saber from his belt, but did not ignite it, "With your leave my lord?"

Jac Cotelin merely nodded to Vodo, who proceeded to step closer to the ship with caution, as though the vessel might suddenly come alive and attack him. The thing was a monster from his childhood nightmares, something unexplainable, something unknown, something truly scary. He approached the ship, and though he tried with all his concentration, he could not sense the thing in the Force. He could sense the air around it, the deck it sat on, the space it occupied, but the ship itself was as though it did not exist.

Snap-hisss, his violet blade jumped to life as he flipped the trip switch. The Aedile studied his target, and found a seam at which he supposed the rock like armor may have parted at one time to accommodate a pilot. It was here he plunged his Saber. The blade of light pierced the coral-like armor up to an inch and stopped. Vodo put his weight into the attack, but could not feel any meaningful progress. After a few moments, the coral began to glow cherry red with heat, and after a few more, began spouting white-hot sparks of discarded material, but still the blade did not move.

"That's enough Aedile", Vodo withdrew his blade, and deactivated it, embarrassed.

The Grand Master did not condescend however. He merely took a deep breath, and exhaled in a controlled release.

Halcyon piloted the shuttle back into the hangar with a practiced ease, despite the hazardous conditions outside the Katarn. It had been a long shift; charting a course through the Shroud for the remaining ships of the Taldryan battlegroup had required him to be focused in the use of the force for an extended period of time. The effort had left him tired and drained, but the Dark Jedi Master and his copilot, Dark Jedi Knight Gobhainn Sgath had managed to lead the fleet through the outermost layer of the dark anomaly the encompassed the Antei and well into the second layer. Now at the limit of both their abilities, it was time to rest and recharge before heading out again.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

As the shuttle touched down on the hangar floor, Rokir and Sgath could see three of their Taldryan brethren standing around what appeared to be one of the stranger's fighters. One of them appeared to be Grand Master Emeritus Jac Cotelin, whom Gobhainn had met briefly on occasion; the othe two persons were unfamiliar to the knight.

Before he had gone out with Rokir, Gobhainn had heard rumors that a fighter had crashed into the Katarn and that the wreckage had been recovered. This was obviously true. Gobhainn wished that he could be part of the team that investigated the alien technology, but others were more qualified than him.

As he disembarked from the shuttle, Sgath noticed that one of the two strangers was trying to cut into the ship with his Loghtsaber but, unbelieveably, without success. He also notice some burned gouges in the side of the vessel that showed that they had tried some other form of high energy to pentrate the vessel but had failed.

Unable to resist his curiosity, the knight walked over and looked closely at the ship. It was made of a kind of stone that reminded Gobhainn of oceanic corals, with ts pores, bumps and convolutions; the idea of corals that grew to a specific function and design seemd beyond belief and especially the idea that they did so in the vacuum of space. Even stranger was the fact that other parts of the ship, like its weapon and what seemed to be hosing running down the side appeared to be some sort of flesh like matter. For all appearances, the fighter had not been made; it had been grown. Looking through the panes of the cockpit , Sgath saw the remains of a humanoid figure recumbent in a flightseat that seemed to be molded right out of the ship's mass. He could not see the pilot's face however; the corpse's head was encapsulated in some sort of baglike structure. Sgath wonderd how the pilot could have seen or even breathed with his head encased like that.

Although he had not been asked, Gobhainn blurted out an idea as he turned and walked toward the ready room to get out of his flightgear.

"If that is truly oganic, then that stone is probably calcium and silicate based; you might get someone to get some acid from the science division and try to burn through it. Just be careful not to burn through our own bulkheads."

And with that the knight left.

It worked.

Whatever it was that the nearby crew of engineers had come up with to pour on the ship had slowly but surely eaten away at the shell. Within a matter of minutes, there was a long hole about the width of a fist. Jac Cotelin walked up to the craft and moved to grab onto the edge of the new opening.

"I wouldn't try that if I were you," remarked a nearby member of the engineering team. Normally that blunt comment would have resulted in the man's death, but given all that had happened already in the last 48 hours, Jac ignored the comment and went ahead with his plan.

The Grand Master concentrated on his hand and arm as he grabbed the opening. With brute strength buoyed by the Force, Cotelin ripped the remainder of the "cockpit" open. He discarded the scrap, and took a brief moment to engage the receding burn marks on his hand. Small drips of the acid dropped to the floor as Cotelin pushed the liquid out of the pours in his hand. Slipping the hand into his robe; Cotelin turned and began walking away.

"Take him out and strap him to a table. No one is to touch him. You gentlemen are welcome to work on the ship. I will return tomorrow to help."

Lokasena and Vodo lifted the larger Alien out of the craft. His dead weight was not too much for two men, assisted by the Dark Side, to lift, merely a lot of trouble. The first obstacle had been to remove the appendage-like mask that covered his face. Vodo resisted the urge to rip it in half, reminding himself rather that there were those that would prefer to study this craft intact. Once the Vong Pilot was freed of the craft, he was laid upon a stretcher, and per protocol, was strapped down at the waist, to ensure the body would not fall off.

With the Aedile's approval, the Vong was carried away, out of the hangar, towards the Morgue. The room, now emptied of most of the victims of the attack, would be sufficient for studying his remains, and preform a thorough autopsy.

"Jedi Hunter, accompany the body. I don't want anyone to feel as though they have a right to that body. I want it to make it to the morgue safely."

Lokasena threw his hood over his head and bowed, "As you wish Aedile Biask".

Vodo saw the fellow journeyman out of the Hangar, and returned to the craft. It filled the role of a fighter, as he had witnessed during the battle, and possessed some sort of shield that bent light, or even swallowed it. To his knowledge of physics, the only thing that could accomplish such a task was an immense source of gravity, such as a black hole. Was it possible that the Vong had equipped each of their fighters, and ships, with miniature black holes? He had no clue how something like that could be conjured one moment, and become stable the next.

The Twi'lek climbed the coral-like armor of the fighter and lowered himself into the cockpit. His attention was focused on the seat and the space itself, and did not mind his hand placement. A jagged edge, caused by the acidic erosion of the organic material slashed a long deep line across his left palm. He winced in pain, but let the Force stop the bleeding. Vodo used the pain to keep himself awake, realizing he was going on thirty hours awake-time.

Finally in the cockpit, he made himself comfortable in the pilot's seat, which was a bit larger than he would have preferred. His hefty outer robes however made up for the lack of mass, and filled the seat for him. The chair seemed formed to the pilot, and was slightly uncomfortable for him to sit in, his anatomy slightly differing from that of the Alien.

There were no controls and no gauges to speak of. the interior of the craft looked exactly like the exterior, save that the interior coral was smoother, more gentle on the touch. The only oddity was the mask hanging limply in his lap, from where it extruded from the bulkhead in front of him. The two halves of his brain instantly took sides. The more rational, intelligent side of his mind immediately said no, absolutely not. The more exhausted half of his brain, the half that was currently in command, gave him the green light.

The Aedile reached down, lifted the mask up to his face, and put the thing on.

It was made of a flexible material, and was warm to the touch. Vodo did not realize it at first, but the mask conformed itself to his face, matching the contours exactly. He panicked, and tried to pull it off before he couldn't breath, but soon found that his air supply had not been compromised, and was fine. The mask was growing, slowly, until it enveloped his entire head, and then the upper portion of his shoulder, whereon it stopped.

He couldn't be sure at first, but became more aware of it after a few moments. Finally, Vodo surrendered his awareness over to the hood, and became the craft itself. He had no body, and had no hands. His body was the fighter, and his hands were the weapons. The fighter yearned to fly, so he obliged. It rose off the deck of the Katarn, and floated in the air, supported by an invisible cushion of anti-gravity. He turned it, and moved it forward a few meters. By this time, the technicians nearby, and several soldiers, had taken notice.

Many began to run, and scream for help, while a few drew their weapons and took cover behind various craft and objects. Vodo tried to warn them by yelling, but could tell he wasn't being heard. The Knight lowered the fighter to the deck, and removed the mask, or hood, from his head, with relative ease. The men with the weapons moved forward swiftly to secure the ship. Inside, they found Vodo, grinning with joy.

Surely, Hel-Pa responded to Yacks through telepathy. The Clan's retreat into the Shroud was largely uneventful, but the Quaestor now had other things on his mind. His recent conversations with the Twi'lek Lomora kept his mind occupied; the Ektrosian outpost on Karufr had defied Sklib's orders and conducted operations prohibited by Hel-Pa. Lomora managed to escape from the outpost with her life, and sanity, and told the Templar of everything that went on at Suthist. While he spent the majority of his time on the bridge of the Praetorian relaying commands from Keirdagh to the ship's captain, the few hours he could spare, he spent with Lomora. Originally it was purely because of the Suthist mishap, but at this point it was a mere excuse for the Tarasin to be with her.

She had separate quarters than Sklib, obviously, but the evidence was clear that the Twi'lek had similar feelings toward the respectable Quaestor. Hel-Pa shook his head, clearing his mind of the sexual tension and focusing at the task at hand. The Clan's fleet was under attack, and all measures needed to be taken to avoid the disaster that happened outside of the Shroud. Various Vong contingent fighters were pecking at their ships, but they found it difficult to navigate the Shroud and could not coordinate an effective attack, he noticed. “Captain, how are the repairs on the starboard engines coming along? We need those at 100% efficiency as soon as possible.”

“Sir, our repair crews are quite less than we had originally foreseen; several crews are dedicated solely to helping out wounded.”

“I need half of those crews back doing repairs, save only the wounded that you can. I don't want our crew wasting time on those who will die anyway.”

“But sir...”

“Do not question me, Captain. I want those engines fixed and ready to go.”

“Yes sir, it will be done.”

“I want a report of the ships total casualties, and an estimated time until each damaged component of the ship is repaired, and I want it soon.”

“Yes sir.”

Hel-Pa reached out to Keir, “Are there any particulars that require my service?”

“Not at the moment, just keep the ship headed toward Antei and in good condition.”

“Thy will be done.”

Ace watched as Alanna angrily walked out of the room were Shadow, Alanna, and him had been, well…suppose to talk about the Vong.

Ace sighed

“That went well.” Andryan said taking a sip of his drink, he still didn’t know what is was but it tasted good.

“The only good thing that came out if this was that Alanna didn’t kill us.” Shadow said looking at the door where Alanna had left from.

“True, on an unrelated subject this is the first time I’ve really talked to you, nice to meet you err talk to, I guess.”

Shadow smiled at the Jedi Hunter’s words and his ease with those older and stronger than him.

_____________________________

“Look Shadow, I need to get to the library, the thing is that I don’t know anything about the Vong.” Alanna said starting to get annoyed with Shadow.

“Exactly, that’s why we are here, to share ideas about the Vong so we know something about them!” Shadow yelled at Alanna, Shadow was much more than annoyed with Alanna now.

“No we don’t but at the library there is lots of information on the Vong.” Alanna said calmly.

Ace had been brought here by Alanna to what he thought would be a nice discussion about the Vong but both Shadow and Alanna were being unreasonable with each other, though Shadow was making more sense than Alanna. Andryan just sat back in his chair, sipped on his drink, and watched the two bicker until they both lost it.

“NO, I NEED TO GO TO THE LIBRARY! Alanna said screaming so loud that Ace had to cover his ears; the really bad thing though was that they each kept getting louder and louder.

“NO, YOU NEED TO TALK TO USE ABOUT WHAT WE ALREADY KNOW!” Shadow shouted so loudly that a couple of people cam rushing to the door to make sure everything was alright.

“ENOUGH!” Ace said, deciding to take the risk of being killed.

“YOU ARE BOTH ACTING LIKE IDIOTIC SPOILED KIDS, SO JUST SHUTUP!” Andryan yelled trying to top the other two’s yells.

“UGGG, I’M LEAVING!” Alanna said as she stomped out of the room.

_______________________

“I think I know where she went, I’ll go get her.” Ace said getting out of his chair for the first time.

“Alright, …..I guess I’ll stay here….” And with that Andryan was on his way to the library that Alanna had been screaming about for the last twenty minutes.

Ace speed down to the library that he had once found.

“Alanna, you in here?” Ace asked to seemingly no one.

Ace sighed. “Great, just freaking great, Alanna is gone and now I got nothing to do, and no quarters, just freaking great.”

Not knowing anywhere else to look for Alanna Andryan returned to the room that Shadow was in, to find that he was gone. Not having anything to do Ace poured more of the drink he had grown to love, looked at the labile.

“Huh, Autumn’s Gold.” Andryan opened a cabinet behind the table that the Autumn’s Gold bottle was on, to find many bottles of Autumn’s Gold.

Ace took his drink and sat himself down in the chair he had been sitting in and waited for someone to come tell him what to do.

Bubbs nodded appreciatively at the scene in front of her.

It had taken many hours, and many painful deaths, but at long last things were under control. Looking around the make-shift medical suite, she couldn't help but feel a swell of pride as the well-oiled machine that was Taldryan went about it's business. An hour or two of madness, and then clean, efficient business as usual. Any other Clan would still have been reeling from the shear weight of numbers of injured.

She looked down at her robes, the deep redness that had pervaded them slowly turning black, Well, almsot clean...

Wobbling slightly as she pushed herself away from the cool wall she had been leaning on, she realised quite how exhausted she was. Killing with the force once was never easy at the best of times. And this was not once, and was most assuridly not the best of times. Running her fingers through her hair to try and make herself vaugly presentable, she began her tour of the make-shift facilities for one last time to ensure there were no more niggles to be worked out.

Then she should check on Vodo and whatever urgent 'business' it was that had pulled him away from his surgery. She had some memonry of Jac, and a Vong pilot, but whatever it was was a blur in her memory, and she wanted to make sure Vodo was not up to his neck in trouble as usual.

Then she should find Alanna, and find the library, and figure out who exactly the fleet was fighting. She sighed as a million other things to do filled her mind. Finally, a small smile crept across her face as she reached the entrance to the next Medical Bay.

Next, she would get ice-cream.

Lokasena was a bit annoyed. Here he was, escorting a corpse of one of these wretched things, when he much rather would inspect the alien craft. Unfortunately, a good soldier had to do as he was told. The chain of command had to be respected. Those who fight against rebellion, must not themselves rebel…
There was an up-side to this. Duga had called him Jedi Hunter. Perhaps the Aedile had made a mistake? On the other hand, it might be a sign that Sena’s next promotion was imminent. He hoped it would be the latter.

As he escorted the crewmen carrying the body to the morgue, Sena could see the extensive damage in the corridors of the Katarn.
He hoped that Master Cotelin, Mistress Alanna and Aedile Biask would soon find a weakness. Then the Brotherhood could make the Vong pay for what they had done.

Entering the Morgue, the two crewmen set the covered stretcher down on one of the examination tables. After setting down the burden, the two men stood in attention. Lokasena positioned himself in front of them. “I trust you understand that this information is not to be dispersed through the ranks.” Sena said sternly. The crewmen nodded hesitantly. “Aedile Biask was very clear. No one is to view this body. Tell none what you know!” Lokasena spotted a flicker in one of the men’s eyes.
Sena sighed as he put his right hand on the handle of Mormegill. He immediately noticed the reaction of the two men. Fear in their eyes. “No sir, please… We’ll tell nobody… PLEASE.”

Sena turned and walked out of the morgue to take a guard position at the door. The two crewmen would not walk out. It was a good thing they had already been in the morgue.
The Dark Side grew within the Guardian. The Clan’s interests had to be protected, by any means necessary.

Komari Vosa walked out of the medical bay. Most of the patients were stable. Bubbles Taldrya had taken care of the critical patients.
Komari’s hands were drenched in blood. She was tired. Also curious. Her friend Sena had rushed off for some assignment. Komari had dealt with death and misery for long enough now. She wanted to know more about the enemy. The one person that could inform her, was hard to find in the best of times.
Lokasena’s stealthy nature had always surprised Komari. The man was almost two meters tall and weighed more than a hundred kilograms. Despite that fact, he was always able to disappear fast and reappear where ever he wished.
Vosa stretched out with the Force. She could sense her friend’s presence, even though he was trying to shield his thoughts.

As Komari made her way to the morgue, she wondered what Sena was doing down there. It made no sense to have a Guardian protect such a non-essential part of the ship. Especially now that boarding parties were not an immediate threat.

She walked down the corridor that would take her to the morgue. At the end of the corridor she saw Lokasena standing beside the door.
“Sena, what are you doing here?” Lokasena looked sternly. “You shouldn’t be here, Komari.”
“Why not? What’s going on?” Vosa was getting very nervous. Her friend had never been this evasive. “Just go…!” Lokasena bellowed. Komari shot an angry look at Lokasena. She knew not to cross him. What ever the cause, she was sure that Sena had a good reason to act this way. “Okay, I’m going… See later, alright?” Sena sighed. “Yeah… Sure…”

Having nothing to do Itachi walked the ship aimless and without purpose.

"Sigh the service got my spirits down I need something to do to get it out of my mind." Itachi said as he walked down the hall to his room.

"Sigh I need something to drink." thougth Itachi

"No have to stay level headed can’t run off and go get drunk I should just go and train for a bit." After walking into his room Itachi began his normal training session.

"If I can't hit this dummy 100 times when it is in the air then its 200 pushups!" Yelled Itachi as he sent the dummy flying in the air.

" 96 97 98 99!" yelled Itachi as his last punch missed and only had 99 hits

"Sometimes I hate myself for doing things like this" sighed Itachi on his 100th pushup. After he had finished his 200 push up he began training with his katana.

"I can't wait for the day when I get my saber" thought Itachi as he sword fought with a training droid

"If I live long enough for it" Itachi then thought grimly as he cut the droids right arm off.

"Ok I’m done with that now time for some shuriken practice" thought Itachi as he pulled out his shuriken and sent them souring at a target

"Only 5 on the bulls eye! oh well I guess that’s enough training for today." sighed Itachi

"Ok time to relax something I have not done for two whole days." thought Itachi as he turned on his Video Game and listened to so loud music to pass the time as he waited for orders.

The emerald-haired man rubbed at the bridge of his nose, walking slowly down the corridors as he tried to rub away the pains that pounded in his temples. It was over-exertion of his powers that got him here, and using more to alleviate it wouldn’t help at all.

Blinking away what he could, he continued down. The fleet, for the moment was safe. They had managed to make it through the first layer of the Shroud in what amounted to one piece, without any sign of the invaders. Forgoing any debriefing, Halcyon had instead sent a brief report up, detailing their scouting mission.

The Katarn was buzzing with activity, as information on their enemy slowly trickled in, feeling the tension in the air as members did what they could to keep busy during uncertain times. For the Combat Master he wanted rest, seeing a small lounge for just such a thing.

He had heard shouting coming from the room, and watched a few figures quickly emerge and take down the corridor themselves. Shrugging, Rokir made his way inside, his senses still off as he never noticed the Obelisk who sat inside, his own hand rubbing at his temples.

“Tough day?” Halcyon cautiously asked, sensing a greater amount of tension in the room as he fell into a chair.

Shadow slowly nodded, blinking himself as he looked up. “See anything out there?”

“No”, the pilot answered, shaking his head. “Some debris, but couldn’t tell the ships. Just dead space. And what about you? I haven’t had a chance to catch up since we fled”.

The Adept cracked a small, painful smile as he began to re-count his adventures to the attentive Sith.

Vladet Xavier grinned as he entered his private cabin aboard the Katarn and locked the door. Normally a low ranking member would not get a cabin of their own but due to his position of Aedile, he was afforded a small one to himself. Just as well, he thought. I don't want to be disturbed.

Just a few hours ago he had been promoted by Duga to the rank of Dark Jedi Knight which meant that he could construct his own lightsaber. Normally the process of constructing a new lightsaber would take weeks, but Vlad had slowly begun building his for the past two months. He couldn't quite get it to work - something was missing - but he knew he could complete his work this time. It was as if some new path of power was open to him and he would waste no time using it for his benefit.

Letting the Force flow through his body and thoughts, Vlad went into a trance as he began toying with the interior of his lightsaber. Training texts and other Jedi said that the user and his weapon needed to form a harmonious relationship in order to work at peak efficiency. He didn't exactly know what was supposed to happen, but as long as it worked he would be satisfied.

Hours passed as Vlad continued to work on his lightsaber. He did not get up to use the 'fresher or even take a break for food or drink. He was determined to build the lightsaber before his next encounter with the Vong as it would greatly aid him in combat.

More time passed as Vlad finally withdrew from his robes the Adegan crystal that Duga had given him at his impromptu promotion ceremony. Inserting the crystal was the final step before completion of the lightsaber. He focused his thoughts and the Force into the crystal, trying to align it properly with the focusing crystal activator.

Another hour passed and Vlad sighed. He was getting frustrated and he knew that it would be more difficult to complete his work now. He hadn't paid any attention to how much time had passed but it didn't matter ... he had to get it done. Taking a relaxing breath, he closed his eyes and let the Force guide his actions.

Finally, after what seemed like eternity something clicked, both in Vlad's mind and in the saber itself. Looks good, anyway, he thought while attaching the other half of the exterior. Grinning, he made a few final adjustments on the handle and stood up, ignoring the stiffness in his joints.

His thumb hovered over the switch and he hesitated. Horrible accidents had occurred when a lightsaber was not built correctly and he wasn't about to have a limb chopped off for no good reason. Should I have someone else activate it? No, that wouldn't be right. It was his personal lightsaber and it would have to be him.

Extending his arm, he pressed the thumb switch twice rapidly and watched as a long blue light shot out of the blade emitter shroud with a distinct and familiar snap-hiss noise.

He twirled the lightsaber in his hand gracefully, watching the dark blue blade arc through the air.

"I am a Jedi," he whispered to himself, realizing that his quest to greater power had just begun.

Sena hated guard duty. Disloyalty to a friend was unspeakably ugly to him. Yet he had no choice but to refuse to inform Komari of his duties. He had come to realize the value of that which he was guarding. More intelligence on these creatures could be of great importance to the war effort.
The job itself, however, was tedious. After a few hours, Sena even wished for someone to come and keep him busy. He got his wish…

A very smug, non-Force sensitive man turned the corner of the corridor that lead to morgue. As he came closer, Sena could see he held the rank of captain. He also saw the two armed security officers in his wake. The man’s stride was steady and unwavering. He halted only a meter in front of the Krath.

“Step aside Guardian. I have orders to check all areas of the lower decks for plasma leaks. There are some power drains on deck nine.” The captain was lying. Sena could sense it with ease. “I’m very sorry captain, but no one is allowed to enter the morgue by order of Aedile Biask.” The captain sniffed. “Guardian, I suggest that you stand back. I would hate for my guards to have to attack one of our own.” The man grinned at Sena, totally convinced of his own superiority. The two guards behind him smiled. They believed that their cause was righteous. “I would hate that too, but I doubt your men would be willing to attack an armed Jedi Guardian.” Now it was Sena’s turn to smile, while he laid his right hand on the wooden grip of his Mormegill sword. The guards started to move uneasily.
“Is that a threat, Guardian?” the captain said as he took a step forward. In a flash, Sena had unsheathed Mormegill and held the tip of the black steel blade to the officer’s neck. “STAND DOWN…!” Sena bellowed. The captain let out a slight shriek. “Shoot him.” He ordered his guards. The two men had no intention of following that order. “Looks like your men no longer have your back, captain.” Sena hissed at the officer. “I will not ask you to leave again. I will simply show you how committed this mere Guardian can be.”

“Very well…” the captain said, trying to steady his voice. He motioned his guards to retreat down the corridor after which he quickly followed.
“Well.” Sena said to himself. “That was tense.” He returned the sword to its sheath.
“At least I’m not bored anymore.”

Lokasena’s brief glee came quickly to an end as the sound of commotion emanated from the other side of the morgue door. “If they found another way in, I will kill them with my bare hands.”

The Dark Jedi entered the six-digit code to unlock the door and stepped in. His eyes were immediately drawn to his feet, at which lay the mangled body of one two crewmen he had just recently left in the morgue. Sena’s hand instinctively drew his weapon; he looked throughout the room for the other crew member but no one was in sight. The Jedi bent down to take a closer look at the man below him. The morgue attendee’s head was covered in blood and in such a position that indicated it had been snapped back, killing the man instantly.

Sena drew quietly over to the place where he had left the crew: next to the stretcher and body of the Vong. The body was now covered with a sheet; Sena believed that the men had tired of looking at the disgusting beast. But a closer look showed that there was blood on the cloth. Human blood. Lokasena pulled back the sheet and by the time he saw the dead glare of the other crew member, it was too late.

The long spike that protruded from the Yuuzhan Vong’s Crab Armor plunged deep into Sena’s lower back. It twisted in place, tearing even more flesh before it was quickly removed. Lokasena collapsed to the floor under his own weight.

Any normal being would have died from the wound, but Sena was a Dark Jedi. He let all of his concentration flow to the injury, but for one last message he sent out. “…Komai…”

And as the Yuuzhan Vong warrior silently left the morgue, the Dark Jedi lost consciousness in a pool of his own blood, his heart still beating if only by the will of the Force alone.

______________________________

Andan Taldrya Marshall felt the disturbance before he saw the woman running toward him. She was fraught and disheveled, sprinting as fast as her legs could take her in the direction opposite of where Andan was heading. She needed help.

“Komari: stop,” commanded the elder of the two Dark Jedi as Komari Vosa came into view. The Zabrack warrior stood in the middle of the corridor to ensure she would not get past. “What’s going on?”

“…Sena…hurt…” said the female between breaths. She had little more information than that and began running again, ducking under the arm of Marshall.

The Sith Battlelord paused for a brief moment and then started down after the panicking woman.

________________________________

The proximity alarm blared across the bridge as Keirdagh Cantor had just given his navigations team another order. “Report!” blurted the Dark Jedi Master.

“Sir,” called back a nervous crewman, “they’ve found us.”

The blood stirred within the Taldrya’s veins. He concentrated quickly, intending to send his words both to the local crew and those in the bridges of the ships surrounding them. “Slow to attack speed,” commanded Cantor. He looked to his console where one large red dot had formed on the ship’s starboard side. “Bring the fleet around seventy degrees starboard and form the line. Keep rear turrets focused on the shroud debris. Shields full power. Launch what fighters we have. Priority on Jedi fighters.”

The commotion on the bridge started immediately as Keirdagh finished his commands. They were deeper into the Shroud now where navigation was not as hard, but the debris was still a large factor and communications were not clear.

Keirdagh looked up as his ship turned. The enemy came into view and the Dark Jedi Master was relieved to see that this was a much smaller fleet than they had previously faced. Two of the smaller capital ships that he had seen before were coming into range, spewing fighters from their underbellies.

Both Duga and Jac’s inquiries came at the same time, and Keirdagh reported that he thought they could win. But there would be no sleep again tonight.

No one on the bridge noticed the red lights flashing on the ship’s internal security display as reports began to trickling in about dead bodies found randomly on the lower decks.

Andan blinked as the krath Protector ran past him. He sprinted after her, easily overtaking the woman. He put his hand on her shoulder and said "Stop," adding a slight nudge from the Force to help her overcome her apparent fear and regain her senses. She immediately dropped to her knees, gasping for breath. "What happened?" Andan asked as he bent down to hear her, clearly confused.

"Sena...hurt...morgue...fear...pain" She said between breaths.

Andan let go of her and stood up quickly. "Send a message to Master Keirdagh that something happened in the morgue and I'm taking care of it." he said as he stood up and quickly made his way to the makeshift morgue.

Andan usually kept a low profile around Taldryan, not wanting to attract attention to himself. He'd become a Taldrya, yet his name was hardly well known at all. Rushing into battle like this was against his usual nature. Oh well things change, he though to himself as he reached the door to the morgue. The first thing that he noticed was the unlocked door, which struck him as odd, but at the rate that Komari had been moving Andan doubted that the woman had even thought of locking it. He removed his lightsaber from his belt and held it, deactivated, as he pushed the door open.

The Sith was greeted with a sight he'd seen many times before: mangled, bloody corpses. However, he usually had some idea of what made that sort of mess and this time he was clueless. He did a quick scan of the room with the Force, finding all of the occupants dead except for one. He rushed over to the one faint sign of life that he detected and immediately let the Force flow from him into the severely wounded man. The Battlelord usually wouldn't have spent the time to save such a low ranked dark jedi, but he hoped that this man could tell him what caused the destruction he saw.

The wound in Sena's back quickly closed, he wasn't fully healed and there would be a visible scar but Andan was mainly interested in finding out what happened; if the wounded dark jedi was worth saving then he'd be able to finish healing himself anyway.

"Sena," Andan said when the man's eyes opened. "I'm sure you don't recognize me but that isn't the point. You will tell me what happened here."

Sena coughed and felt his back where he'd been stabbed. He sighed in relief when he realized that he wound had been healed. "I healed you enough to keep you alive, don't try to do much until you've had time to heal yourself more or it'll reopen and you'll die."

The other man nodded and told Andan the story of finding the empty table and being stabbed by the supposedly dead Vong. Andan listened and thanked Sena. He stood and contacted Yacks, Jac and Duga. Our Vong pilot isn't dead, he's running free through the lower decks. I'm going to do what I can to find him, if there are any elders or equites who aren't busy I could use their help.

Andan left Sena where he laid and began his search for the renegade Vong trapped on the Katarn.

There was some kind of screaming inside Ace’s head.

“Wha….I must have fallen asleep, wait what is that….THE ALARM.” Ace said as he jumped out of his chair and ran out the door.

Andryan has trying to figure out here or who he could learn what has going on.

“The bridge…no it will take too long…Duga or Chaos…no too busy….Jac!” Ace said out loud as he made a turn to go towards the hangars.

When Ace finally arrived at the hangar he was not surprised to see Jac leaving, Andryan ran toward Cotelin and the Dark Lord turned to face Ace.

“Ace, this had better be important.” Jac said.

“What is going on?” Andryan said gasping for air and apparently not hearing Jac or just ignoring him.

“A small Vong fleet has found us.” Lord Cotelin said hesitantly, “I would suggest you go get in a fighter so you can help.” Jac said wanting Ace to get off the ship immediately.

Andryan stood were he was and wondered why Lord Cotelin wanted Ace off the Katarn this time instead of wanting him to stay on the Dark Prophet and not go with the last of pilots like last time, deciding not to question the former Dark Lord of the Sith Ace walked away wanting to make sure that people knew he was coming this time.

Ace found his Envoy and good friend Gobhainn Sgath.

“Gob, how are you still going?” Ace asked the Dark Jedi Knight.

“I got a bit of sleep and some stims.” Gob said, “Are you flying?”

“Yeah, I need to join up with a squad; I’d join up with Hyperion…but they are all dead….” Ace said trailing off.

“Yeah, we both need to join up with a squad, follow me.” Gob said.

As had always admired Gob’s way of making people do things and this was just another example. It would have taken Andryan hours to do what just did in a couple of minutes.

“My Lord, the Katarn is reporting enemy contact. Your orders?”

Commodore Raif Slaxton stood rigid, awaiting a response.

Sithspawn exhaled the breath that he had been holding and allowed his eyes to open. Tilting his head to one side, he allowed his mind to analyze the tactical objectives Keirdagh had suddenly pulsated through the Force. He nodded to himself, and issued the commands.

“Sound General Quarters. Bring the ship hard to port. Increase to flank speed. Bring us alongside the Suppressor and prepare all fighters for deployment. Have we restored aft hull integrity, Commodore?”

Slaxton nodded and replied, “For now. Our engineers have assured us that it will withstand a barrage, but they are not particularly optimistic about receiving a broadside on the starboard rear quarter”.

Sithspawn's lips curled up into a grim smile as the klaxon sounded the call to general quarters, and replied “I'm not particularly optimistic about that happening either, Raif”.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The deck of the Dark Seraphim thrummed with power as the sublight engines engaged, maneuvering the ship alongside the battle-scarred bulk-cruiser. Squadrons of TIE Fighters began to stream forth from hangers, most operating at significantly less-than-full strength. Gaps in the formation of a squadron foretold of the ultimate sacrifice made by a wing mate. The squadrons slowly dispersed, taking up holding patterns off of the bow of the Dark Seraphim.

Sithspawn frowned and turned to the complement of Sith journeyman standing nervously by the turbolift. Fear radiated from several of the younger Sith, cloaking the bridge in a sense of unease to all those attuned to sensing it. Sithspawn opened his mind to the Dark Side, stoking the still-burning fire of rage from the loss of his comrades to bolster the confidence of the Dark Jedi. He closed the distance rapidly and calmly began to instruct the cluster of Sith.

“Many of our fighter pilots lack experience fighting within the Shroud. Sequester yourselves within Fighter Control and assist them in compensating. Regardless of what you may be thinking right now, whatever you may be feeling, you are ready for this. I am proud to call you family. For the glory of Taldryan. Dismissed,” spoke the Primarch.

As the journeymen, instilled with a new sense of pride and self-worth, boarded the turbolift, Sithspawn
turned back to the view port and gazed into the Shroud, waiting.

"All pilots to battle stations, hostiles incoming. Repeat, Battle Stations; all hands, general quarters."

The soldiers that had just been frightened by Vodo's short escapade, were now running to their ready positions, at maintenance stations, fuel pumps, boarding response quarters, and the thousand other jobs preformed by the Hangar crew during combat. Vodo was not a pilot, but this opportunity was too good to pass up. Beneath his feet was an enemy fighter craft, something he could perhaps use to his advantage.

"Crewman, I require several items, and I need them now."

The Crewman detoured from his run to ready stations, to face the Dark Jedi, "Yes my Lord?"

"I require a long range IFF Beacon, an emergency Com-link, and a Normal Suit. Bring them here now, and I'll consider passing word along to your crew boss that a promotion is in order."

The crewman bowed slightly as he back pedaled towards the direction he could retrieve the objects requested. Vodo assisted him by giving the man a gentle nudge with the force, and took a small amount of pleasure seeing the unexpected push cause him to stumble briefly. The man was able to catch himself, but got the message, and doubled his pace.

All below him, on the main deck of the massive Hangar, Vodo could see the squadrons preparing to take off, and then all at once, he saw them rise into the air, and fly off. The massive ventral hangar doors above him opened to the swirling eddies of the Shroud just outside the ship, discolored blue by the protective Force Field that held the fragile atmosphere inside, and the harsh vacuum out. Minutes passed, and the crewman returned with the items. Vodo took them waved him off, to resume his duties elsewhere.

The Twi'lek removed his outer robes, and then his inner robes, not bothering to check whether there was someone to see him in his near naked state, and then donned the tight fitting normal suit worn by pilots in cramped cockpits, and athletic persons. The helmet, made for a human, did not fit with his two Lekku Head-Tails, but Vodo did not require the helmet's use, as his head would be protected by the Vong craft's hood. With his robes piled against the bulk head and the deck, Vodo climbed into the cockpit of the craft, his light saber clipped onto his belt, along with the com-link.

He placed the com-link to a broad frequency, and attached it to his head, and the IFF Transponder beside his right leg. Both devices designed to accommodate a pilot's emergency kit, so that they could be found and contact their support, Vodo was now using them so he would not be shot down.

He lifted the hood to his face, but hesitated. His heart was racing, and his hands shaking. A deep breath calmed his spirit, turning the fear into a hatred for the Vong. A cool flame now pounded in his chest as he placed the mask onto his face, and let it envelop his head, down to the shoulders. He was not sure whether it would protect him from the ravages of space, but the Knight figured that he would find out in a moment anyways.

The fighter lifted into the air, again with no aide of any visible technology, and followed his mental commands to fly forward, and up to the force field that separated the hangar from space.

"This is Aedile Vodo Biask, launching from the main bay. I have claimed the Alien fighter, stand down weapons, I am broadcasting on IFF Frequency 215.12.879".

There was a slight pause on the com-link, before an unknown voice answered, "Acknowledged Aedile. May the Force Be With You."

"And you".

With a simple thought, he propelled the fighter forward out of the Katarn and into space. He could feel the instant change in pressure through the Normal suit, but did not feel any leaks or signs of imminent death. He could see the space around him, as though he had a 360 degree awareness, and could see the Venator-class Cruiser growing smaller behind him. Ahead, through the swirling eddies and random hunks of rock, the distant shapes of fighters engaging the enemy could be recognized.

Vodo would not want to fly through the midsts of the battle, getting shot down by his own clan mates, but would rather skirt the battle, and find some way he could exploit his deception.

Sharad cracked his neck. He hadn’t gotten much sleep in the past few days. What little sleep he did manage was riddled with nightmares and terrible visions. He woke up covered in sweat each time he managed to drift off.

The Dark Side Adept was tired of all these space battles. He just wanted to get his hands around his sabers and show these Vong the power of the Dark Side. He walked slowly down the corridor, his fists clenching and unclenching as he thought about those that had been lost. Hett wiped the sweat from his brow and tried to rub the sleep deprivation from his vision. It was hard to keep functioning properly from the lack of sleep, but he knew things wouldn’t be changing in the near future either.

An odd sensation crawled over his body. He was no stranger to the feeling. Someone nearby was dead. It came as no surprise to him. The exhaustion everyone was going through was sure to wear some of the weaker ones out. However, this one seemed different. He felt the power emanate from the dead body. Clearly, this was no mere person, but rather one of his Dark Side comrades. His slow walk broke into a run as he moved to the source of death.

As Sharad turned the corner his fear was confirmed. A Jedi had indeed fallen, but certainly not from natural causes. This human was mauled. His throat was ripped out. The small chunk of flesh still remained on the floor nearby. Sharad cursed. Something strange was happening aboard the ship.

Anga walked into the library where she saw a dead body laying on one of the computer consoles.

Using her powers told her that there was an injured person somewhere in the room. She rounded the corner of one of the stacks and saw a booted foot poking into the aisle. Running over to the mangled body, she saw that the person’s clothing was ripped and beneath it peeked the blue tattoo identifying this person as a member of the Phoenix Phyle. The person was so critically injured that it would not be worth trying to save her.

“What happened? Who did this to you?” Anga asked the Acolyte.

“B…b…big” gasped the girl “Vvvv …on” Anga felt the life leave the girl’s body as she held her in her arms.

Getting up to her feet Anga went back to inspect the first body and saw that this one was mangled as well. The man’s head had been bashed into the computer and the fatal wound seemed to be have been caused by a long spear like object being thrust in from the back and exiting through the chest, destroying the heart in the process.

Using her comlink Anga reported the find to her superiors. She was also told to keep on the look out for the Vong and to inform them if she saw him. Anga was nervous about this job as she was not the type to go readily into battle, but this creature was killing off members of her family and invading her ‘home away from home’.

Withdrawing her lightsabre from her robes Anga began checking all the nooks and crannies of the library. The only thing she found was a large bloodstained footprint leading away from the second body and out the second library doors.

As she ran out the door, following the footprint, Anga sensed a powerful Jedi coming her way. She stopped and waited for the individual to turn the corner of the corridor before going in his direction. It was Telaris, or Mav as she thought of him.

“Telaris, I’m tracking the Vong. He’s headed that way, his footprint is fresh.” Anga pointed in the direction of the cantina where the wounded were being kept.

“Let’s go!” ordered Mav briskly.

They ran in the direction of the cantina while Anga sent a telepathic message to Sharad.
“Meet Mav and I at the Cantina!”

Telaris broke into a brisk run, Anga a few paces behind him. They were tracking what they believed to be a Vong warrior. All over the ship, reports of slain Jedi and crew were filtering across the com and it was clear that the ship had been boarded. The two rounded another corner to find yet another dead humanoid.

Leaning over the fallen crew member, they both quickly discerned this one hadn't Force sensitive, just one of Taldryan's enlisted servicemen. Force sensitivity wouldn't have helped him against the Vong, anyway. The man had appeared to have been taken completely unprepared. Half his side had been cut open, and he had bled to death within minutes of receiving the wound. Telaris reached for his comm link, notifying the bridge of the death before he and Anga gathered themselves and resumed their chase.

Out in space, the battle was no doubt already beginning. Though Telaris could not sense the Vong beginning their strike, he did sense the rush of his comrades as they made their way to their battle stations. Even now, in the corridors that winded their way towards the small cantina aboard the Katarn, Anga and Telaris had to step out of the way to avoid the forces of Taldryan who were rushing to battle stations.

Telaris slowed to a stop, then gestured around the next bend. “The cantina should be that way, I think.”

The trail of bloody footprints had dwindled, but the path was still clear. The creature they were tracking was clearly heading towards the cantina. From the spacing between the footprints, it had almost been bounding towards the cantina. Telaris wondered to himself if the creatures could smell blood and wounded, and if it knew it could find easy victims within the cantina.

Anga nodded at Telaris. “Sharad should be with us any moment, and he says he has some help.”

Hel-Pa opened his eyes quickly, analyzing Keirdagh's orders immediately and calling out to the Praetorian's captain, “Bring the vessel around seventy degrees starboard and form up with the line. Keep rear turrets focused on the shroud debris. Shields full power. Launch what fighters we have.”

The captain relayed the orders to his bridge crew, the various officers scrambling their headsets on their skulls and shouting amidst the sea of ringing klaxons. The Quaestor stood motionless at the bridge, his arms crossed as he observed the frantic naval officers doing their duty. This isn't where I should be. I am a warrior! the Tarasin thought to himself. He had proved he was not an able starfighter pilot, and could only cause more damage to his allies than the enemy. He was merely a middle-man at this point, relaying orders from Yacks to the ship's captain. The Quaestor was embarrassed that he could not commandeer a capital ship effectively, he was still relatively inexperienced with House leadership and was not entirely comfortable doing things he could not do well or near perfection.

“Focus!” a sharp hiss rang in Hel-Pa's ear. He recognized the voice as Jac's, the Tarasin frowning as he lowered his head in submission to the Grand Master. Jac was right, and Hel-Pa needed to focus on the task at hand, and perform what he was capable of doing. Now was the time to prove his salt, to show he was a true leader of Taldryan, the legendary House of Ektrosis to be exact.

“Captain!” he growled ferociously, “fire all turrets at the nearest enemy ship. Avoid Brotherhood vessels if possible, but do not hesitate to fire a volley of shells into a Scholae ship if given the opportunity. I want all available fighters launched and engaging those coralrunners or whatever the hell they were called.”

“Yes sir!”

Sklib briskly walked over to a nearby intercom, picking up the microphone and flicking a switch, “Soldiers of Taldryan. Do not fear our enemy; nothing stands up next to our great Clan's might. Every soldier is as important as another, your lives will not be in vain! Many of you will die with honor, your great sacrifice for Taldryan is the greatest gift you can give. We have proven to be scholars, champions of the Force, supreme Clan of the Brotherhood. Let us prove that yet again! Let your name be a legend! Prepare for glory!”

Gobhainn rushed to the ready room, trusting that Andryan Queldom remained right behind him. There were other pilots responding to the alarm and all of them seemed as exhausted as Gobhainn felt. However there was a tangible air of anger and hatred filling the room; these people wanted another chance to hit those beings who had caused all this trouble. Altogether the Knight counted ten pilots along with Andryan and himself.

Deciding to take the initiative and not wait for assignments, Sgath took command and spoke out.

“Listen up! I want you to divide into teams of three; I will lead one and Jedi Hunter Queldom will lead another. You choose between yourselves the other two leaders. We’re all too tired to try standard one-man fighter tactics; therefore we are going to take out the ARC-170s. We leaders will be the pilots and one team member will man the main guns and the remaining member will man the tail gun. This will let us focus on one task each and will compensate for our weariness.

We’ll have a flight of four ships so we’ll fly in pairs. There are some key points to remember.

One: we’re still in the middle layer of the Shroud, so while debris will be less, our NavComm and Sensor systems will be tenuous at best. Also remember that these Vong creatures and their equipment are void of the Force; so you won’t be able to sense or predict them using the Force. We’ll be flying and fighting by skill and instinct only. Therefore stay close to your wingman and don’t lose sight of the Katarn.

Two: Remember the lessons we learned about the Vong fighters from our first encounter. Their technology seems to swallow up individual attacks; however seem to fail under an onslaught of multiple weaker attacks. Therefore attack in pairs and from different angles and strike continuously; don’t fire and wait for the lasers to recharge. This is where the tailgun will be essential. As the forward guns complete their pass the tailgun will pick it up. We’ll wear them down one fighter at a time. Also remember that their ships also drain shields by mere proximity, so don’t get too close or let one close on you.

Finally, remember that their weapons fire magma and/or plasma, the bolts have mass as well as energy and so can knock you spinning if one hits you even if it doesn’t penetrate your shields. They are however significantly slower than the speed of lasers, so we should be able to evade as long as we prevent them from teaming up against each of us.

Pilots, save your missiles. They’ll be of little use against the fighters, but we may be able to use them against the capital ships.

Good luck and may the Spirit of Taldrya guide each of us.

We launch in four minutes. Andryan, You’re my wingman.”

After completing his speech, Gobhainn opened his locker and swiftly changed in to his flight suit. He grabbed an open faced helmet that would allow him to keep his visor; ARC-170s had their own environment controls, so he didn’t need a rebreather helmet.

As he entered the hangar floor, a flight tech hurried over to Gobhainn and his squad.

“We’ve got shielded Interceptors ready for launch over here” the tech directed.

“We’re not taking the T/Is; we’re taking four ARCs. Get droids in them and ready them to launch now.” Sgath commanded.

“Sir, I don’t have clearance to issue you…” the tech started to contradict.

In a blur of motion and a snap/hiss, the tech found himself standing with the tip of the knight’s crimson lightsaber mere millimeters from his open mouth.

“Here’s all the clearance I need. Now, get…those …ships…ready” the Sith hissed.

With that the tech rushed off.

“Andryan, follow him and make sure he does prep the ships; if he doesn’t…Kill him.” Gobhainn ordered.

“Will do” Ace replied, a little shaken by Sgath’s sudden violence toward a clan member. Gobhainn was normally very protective and loyal to all members of Clan Taldryan. The Archanis Rollmaster was arrogant and demanding and self assured, but this type of abuse was unheard of from him.

Ace hurried after the tech to see that Gobhainn’s orders were followed.

Gobhainn deactivated his lightsaber and returned it to its sheath. He then turned and walked over to an intercom and signaled the bridge of the Katarn.

“Duga, This is Sgath. I’m taking four ARC-170s. If anyone complains, tell them to humor me. I really don’t want to hurt anyone, but I will have things my way one way or another and you know it. You can reprimand me after all this is over, but for now, lets just keep things moving.” And with that, Sgath closed the comm. without waiting for a reply.

The knight leaned against the bulkhead and waited. It took about ten minutes for the requisitioned ships to be prepped. By the time Gobhainn and his team were loading into their fighters, the sounds of battle had been in his ears for a good six minutes. The Sith itched to be out amongst the blaze as quickly as possible, but he was not going to risk the rest of his flight for his impatience. Too many Taldrya had passed already; He wanted each of the eleven men accompanying him back in one peace; he wanted that as much as he wanted to lash out against the Vong.

As Sgath was strapping in, Andryan approached his ship.

"Uh,Gob," the younger pilot stammered, "I'm not to familiar with the systems of these ARCs. I think I'm going to take my regular fighter instead. Guardian Figzer of Ektrosis is taking the other lead and I'll meet you outside"

The Sith ground his teeth at the change, but now was not the time for arguments. Evidently some of his independence was rubbing off on to other members of the house.

"Fine, but stay close and follow the plan I laid out." He replied.

Gobhainn completed his preflight checks quickly, muttering to himself, and waited for each of the other ships to signal completion as well.

When the last had signaled his readiness, Sgath commed Flight Control and issued the command to launch.

The four fighters repulsed of the flight deck and hurtled through the hangar shield and into the haze of the Shroud.

"It was so peaceful" thought Itachi as he ran for the hanger knowing that he needed to launch as soon as he got there.

"I can't believe a fleet found us well at least I can get so action" thought Itachi as he ran into the hanger.

"Is the Oblivion ready for launch?" asked Itachi to the repair chief.

"Yes sir all set for launch" was the reply. Itachi hoped into the cockpit of his Tie Defender and was set for launch.

"May the spirit of Taldryan be with you" the repair chief said

"FOR TALDRYAN!" yelled Itachi as he launched himself out into space.

"Gob come in can you read me?" asked Itachi as he flew away from the Katarn.

"This is Gob what is it you need Itachi" asked Gob

"I need to join a squad can I come with you?" ask the tired Guardian

"Sure we need all the help we can get." answered Gob as they began to engage a fighter. Itachi watched as the fighter was cornered then shot down by Gobs squad.

“Take that you Vong Scum" yelled Ace

"Everyone keep a level head we can’t lose any more people so stick close to your wingman and make sure you dont let them behind you." commanded Itachi. In most cases the Archanis Guardian would like to show off and go off on his own. But from what he read on the Vong it seems that the only way to take them out was to corner them then blast them to bits from all sides.

"Well then let’s get started!" yelled Itachi as the Oblivion roared into space with his wingman behind him hunting for helpless Vong fighters.

Ace rushed to his locker, got his flight uniform on and got his astromech droid, Al. Andryan went back down to the deck that Gob was on, he saw the ships take off , then he saw one other fighter take off after them.

“Itachi.” Ace said out loud.

Knowing that he didn’t have much time Andryan hurried up to the next flight deck were his ship, the Raven, was docked.

I hate how Gob is sometimes, I have never called him “sir” before, Ace thought.

“Get my ship ready!” Ace yelled.

“Yes, sir.” Some crewman said.

Andryan watched as his astromech droid was put into his ship and then Ace climbed in.

“You ready to go buddy.”

Ace heard beeps that sounded excited.

Andryan did the pre-flight check and lifted the Raven off of the hangar ground.

“Alright, who’s leading who and who is in what?” Ace asked over the com link.

Just then Ace remembered that in the Shroud the navigating and communications devices don't work, "I need to listen to Gob more." Andryan thought to himself.

luckily Ace was able to answer his own question by looking at the fighters formation.

Ace looked at the stars through his view port, Andryan had always loved to look at the stars, they were peaceful and relaxing to look at, but before battles they just mad Ace angry, they represented so much suffering, suffering that Andryan knew he could stop. The thing was though, to stop suffering wasn’t Ace’s goal, it was to find his father. So Queldom what to wonder why he cared, and why he only cared before battles.

Ace watched as the gap between him and the enemy Vong fighters became smaller and smaller until there was no gap.

Lokasena sat on the floor of the morgue, concentrating on healing himself, as Komari Vosa entered. “Sena, are you all right?” she asked concerned. “Yes, yes, I’m fine…” the Guardian replied. “The bastard stabbed me with something. I thought he was dead!” Lokasena said, obviously annoyed with himself. “It was a foolish mistake. I should have checked the room better before entering.” “Don’t be so hard on yourself. We don’t know what kind of strange tricks this creature has up his sleeve. I’m just glad your still alive…” For a moment their eyes locked and there was a thundering silence.

Lokasena looked away first. “Can you help me up?” he asked the young woman. “Sure thing.” Komari answered as she took a deep breath. With a deep grunt, Sena reared up and leaned on Komari. “Thank you… Ready for a little hunt?” Sena smiled at Komari, then quickly wished he hadn’t. “Are you crazy…?” Komari bellowed, her brow folded in a tight frown. “You’ve just been stabbed, you idiot.” She was not about to give in easily to Sena’s crazy idea.

“Come on, Komari… The whole ship is looking for that piece of filth by now. I want to help, get even with him. Plus,” the Guardian mused “I still outrank you.”
“Fine, we’ll go and hunt this thing. But if you collapse, I’m leaving you.” “Loyal to the end!” Lokasena smiled at her. “Seriously, I feel much better. Let’s do this.”
They both checked their weapons before running, out of the morgue, to the Vong’s last known location.

The space between the Taldryan Fleet and the Yuuzhan Vong was quickly filling with fighter's of various designs and make, and where jockying for a dominant position. Vodo steered clear of this engagment, and watched for an opportunity that he hoped to present itself. The coral skipper which he piloted was nimble, agile, and fast. He had not dared test the weapon system yet, but he could tell from what the ship was telling him, that they did indeed still work.

The sensation was odd. It was not as though it was a normal navisystem or command computer, inwhich the end user was feed the information, but rather, Vodo sensed what it wanted him to know. The ship made no distinction between him and it's former operator, but was far from mastering the ship.

The Yuuzhan Vong ships were displayed out before him, arrayed in all their glory, and in no particular hurry to directly engage the Taldyran captial ships just yet. The coral skippers however were moving into position to attack the reamining cover of the Clan's fighter screen. By this time, the kngiht ahd moved in behind the approaching fighter swarm, having pulled far out into the shroud, keeping the enemy fleet in visual range, and came in laterally to get close to the enemy ships.

The hood began issuing a long harsh command in an alien language, a question or an order, mused Vodo. He did not attempt to answer, knowing his words would be as understood as their's were to him. The commands ceased, yet no one moved to intercept him. He was allowed to move in close to the fleet.

Itachi's TIE Defender soared into the dog fighting that was going on and he was enjoying every second of it even if he was tired.

"I haven't had this much fun since that raid on Kessel" yelled Itachi as he and Ace corned a fighter and destroyed it.

"Man what a rush got to shoot more down" thought Itachi as he looked out his cockpit trying to find fighters by themselves.

"This is Gob all fighters fall back the Vong are attacking the Katarn" yelled Gob as his fighter soared to the defense of the Katarn.

"Roger this is Itachi falling back" Itachi replied as he turned his defender around and joined the other. By the time Itachi reached the Katarn one of the biggest dogfights he had ever seens was going on. Fighters of every kind, laser blast flying all over the place it was chaos at its highest.

"Now the party really begins lets ROCK!!" yelled Itachi as he sent his fighter into what looked like a hell to most people.

"Ace watch it you got one on your tail!" yelled Gob

"I can't shake him!" yelled Ace

"His on me tight someone get him off me!" yelled Ace

"Gob me and you should be able to handal it" Itachi said to Gob

"Ace just keep trying to lose him me and Itachi are on our way" God told Ace. As soon as Itachi got his guns locked on the Vong fighter he fired and Gob soon fired after. After a few seconds of firing the Vong ship was down.

"Thanks guys now let’s go" thanked Ace as the three of them assumed formation and continued to shoot down fighters.

The hangar of the Katarn was still extremely noisy. Vardar preferred silenece as he worked but he knew there was no chance of it, in times of war. As he lay down fixing an engine in someone's A-Wing he heard someone calling out to him. Startled at first he then realized this person was speaking through the Force...

"Vardar."
"Vodo, is that you?"
"Yes. What are you doing?"
"I'm repairing some of the ships to get them ready for battle... Where are you?"
"It doesn't matter. Ace and the others need your help, they're fighting alone against hundreds of Vong."
"Why didn't they s- ...telepath something?"
"I'm guessing they're a little busy. Get out there and help them out."
"Why would I help them? I'm ok with one or two beginners...tragically dying for our war."
"You have sworn an oath to this clan, and you will uphold it."
"Fine...I'll go help."

As Vardar slided from under the A-Wing, naturally upset with having his work interrupted, one of the engineers came towards him.

'Sir, is the A-Wing ready for-'
'NO!' - and as Vardar said this, he pushed the engineer to the wall of the hangar. Trying to calm himself down before entering space he didn't even look back to see if the engineer was dead or unconscious.

Vardar raced to his ship, struggling to get his robes straight before entering the cockpit. He could see inumerous blasts hitting the hangar shield. Every blast hitting the shield was one that Taldryan's fighters had evaded, so it seemed to him they were doing a good job...so far. The Sith Warrior sat on the cockpit and immediately radioed the fighter pilots.

'This is Lone Wolf preparing for take off. Will provide assistance to current engaging force. Over.'
'Welcome aboard, Lone Wolf, let's show these guys how we take out the trash. Over.' - Ace replied.

This was all Vardar needed to hear. He was, after all, mandalorian, and needed nothing more than the honour of battle. And so he took off. As he entered space he was immediately received with a volley of blasts from unkown weapons. Adopting evasive maneuvres he was able to escape unscratched.

'R6, scan the surroundings, tell me if there are any Vong fighters going around the Katarn.'
*inquisitive beep*
'Just do it, I have a feeling...'
*beeps*
'I knew it. Ok, reverse the engine flux and let's back out of the battle slowly, R6.'

As Vardar's X-wing began to rise over the battle, two Vong fighters appeared from the other side of the Katarn attempting to swoop in on Ace and Itachi.

'Lone Wolf why are you not in the battle? Over.' - Figzer said over the radio.

Vardar payed no notice. As the Vong fighters prepared to attack Ace and Itachi, he shot them down.

'Good work, Lone Wolf, now get in formation.' - said Ace
*beep*
'What do you mean?' - said Vardar
*beep*
'I am most certainly *not* getting old! I shot them down because it was the easier thing to do and I'm feeling rather lazy.'
*beep*
'Just because I'm not using my usual suicidal techniques doesn't mean I lost it. And I'm *not* getting softer.'
'Alright men! Standard formation, if I should, for any reason, break off, each of you will have to go at it alone. Think you can handle it? You'd better. Over.' - Vardar said, this time, over the radio.

And all fighters fell into formation in front of the Katarn, for the time being.

Vladet sighed as his shielded TIE Interceptor dropped out of the bottom hangar of the Katarn followed by seven wingmen. The battle was already raging but Vlad didn't bother with the giant furball that was going on around the main ship. The Corvette Renegade seemed to be drawing a lot of fire from the enemy ships and was already falling behind the rest of the Taldryan fleet. While it was just a Corvette, the Clan couldn't really afford to lose any more capital ships and Vlad was determined to save the it.

"Talon Squad, we're heading towards the Renegade ... protect it at all costs from enemy starfighters."

His impromptu squadron - named after his first Imperial squadron - acknowledged and blasted off towards the Corellian Corvette. Already the long vessel was exchanging turbolaser fire with several Vong starfighters. Turbolasers against starfighters? Not a chance. While Corvettes did have a few laser cannons specifically meant to counter starfighters, there were simply too many Vong ships to track.

When Vlad's group of starfighters was five kilometers out from the Corvette, he glanced at his sensors and grimaced. There were only a few friendly ships near the Renegade, which seemed to be slowly losing speed. Perhaps their engine block got hit ... Corvettes are supposed to be fast ...

"Renegade, this is Aedile Xavier. What is your status?"

A few seconds of silence answered him followed by a crackle over the comm. Vlad sighed, realizing that communication would be difficult within the Shroud.

"Shields are fal- ... rapidly," replied a gruff voice nearly ten seconds later which Vlad recognized as the captain of the Corvette. "Rear ... are shot and our .... have taken damage ... no ETA on repairs."

"I see it, Captain," Vlad replied, examining the Corvette's status on his primary target screen. "Protect your engines as best as possible ... my squad is three kliks from your location. Stand by."

"Thanks, Ae-."

Vlad switched TAC channels and addressed his squad. "Break by wing pairs and engage ... you need to try and sync your fire with your wingman. Don't bother trying to tackle them solo. Protect the Renegade, especially its engines."

The eight shielded TIE Interceptors broke apart as each wing pair selected a separate target and began their runs. Vlad was hoping that the Vong would go after the starfighter threats and ignore the Corvette, letting the larger vessel catch up with the rest of the fleet. If it gets within range of the Katarn it should be safe. Now to make that happen ...

"Stay with me, Two."

He banked his Interceptor hard to port as a volley of plasma fire ripped through the space where his ship had just been. Applying rudder he easily got behind the enemy starfighter and began firing away with linked quad laser bursts. Talon Two took slightly longer to catch up and began firing as well. Both sets of lasers were easily sucked into the void shields.

"Attack from a different angle, Two ... you need to hit a different part of the ship ... their voids can't seem to cover two places at once."

"Acknowledged, Lead."

Two's Interceptor sped up and banked starboard sharply before coming back towards the enemy starfighter, spraying fire. Two's first shots missed their target but the second quad burst clipped the enemy starfighter. The void tried to protect against Two's lasers but that only left the rear of the ship open to Vlad. He fired off two clean quad bursts into the 'engines' of the ship and watched it burn itself into nothing but a chunk of scorched coral.

Vlad's grin of triumph was quickly killed by an explosion just outside his view port. Turning his Interceptor towards the Corvette Renegade he saw a volley of plasma pass through the depleted ship's shields and breech the hull.

Telaris and Anga ran into the cantina where the wounded lay in neat and orderly rows. Bubbles was standing in a corner talking to one of the medics and glanced up worriedly when they entered.

“What is going on with you guys?” She looked from Telaris to Anga and back. Just as Telaris was about to answer the doors slid open with a mechanical ‘woosh’ and Sharad entered at a run followed by some Obelisks.

“Bubbs, we were tracking the Vong warrior that escaped. He killed some Phoenix Tyros in the Library, both of them Krath. His footprints led this way!” Anga hurriedly explained what was going on. Bubbles was shaking her head.

“No Vong Warrior in here, sorry!” She gestured to the wounded and those who were still trying to heal them.

Just then a scream ricocheted through the room, it was emanating from the galley area behind the cantina. It had been converted into a temporary office for medical records and it had its own separate entrance.

Anga stood back as Sharad and the Obbies ran to investigate the cause of the scream.

“Two dead, one fainted. All three Non-Force users…Two were using the computers when they were attacked.” Sharad sent the message to Jac and Duga.

Anga stood looking at her husband and thinking that this made up at least five people who’d been killed while using technology. She looked down at her datapad, then glanced around nervously. She wished she had her scrolls and quills rather than this piece of technology, granted that would still not ensure her safety…the warrior seemed to be killing everyone who was in his way. Still, technology users really seemed to enrage him even more.

“Out of my way…!” Komari Vosa yelled as she and Lokasena were running through the corridors. Crewmen jumped left and right. Some even throwing themselves against the bulkheads to avoid being smacked by the two Dark Jedi.
They entered a turbo-lift and caught their breath for a moment. “So, up or down?” Komari said while still panting. “Well, according to the latest reports, this thing hates technology.”
Lokasena leaned back against the lift wall. “It might be a good bet to check out the engineering section. Make sure he doesn’t surprise us down there.” Komari smiled at him. “Good thinking!” She gave the lift the necessary commands.

Noticing the lift, Lokasena looked worried. “What is it?” Komari asked. “I don’t know. Guess I’m a bit nervous.” Sena answered. “This bastard stabbed me. He got the better of me once already.” “Not this time.” Komari said. “This time, you have me to back you up.”
Again their eyes locked. This time Komari moved closer. Her breath still irregular. But it had nothing to do with the sprint. They both leaned forward and their lips met into a passionate kiss. As the lift came to a halt on the engineering level, they both pulled back slowly.
That moment of physical contact had been long in the making.

Walking out of the lift, they both looked a bit flushed. As they turned the corner of the main engineering room, their minds quickly returned to the seriousness of the situation.
There he stood, towering over the crewmen he’d just killed. The Vong was still lifting one of them up off the ground with the use of his left arm. He must have noticed the two Jedi. His horrible visage turned to look straight at them. With a swoop of his arm, he slammed the crewman into a computer console. The man’s head shattered a monitor on the console.

“Jeedai…” the Vong hissed. As if repelled by an unseen force, Sena and Komari both took a step back. “You think he means us?” Komari whispered. “Since we’re the only ones still standing in here, yes I do.”
Watching the Yuuzahn Vong closely, Lokasena touched a communications panel on the wall.
“This is Phoenix Tetrarch Corvinus to all forces. We have located the Vong. He’s in engineering section Beta.” The warrior slowly began to walk towards them. “And hurry up!”
Sena added. The two Krath pulled out their weapons. Lokasena his Mormegill and Komari her Valaroukar. They were ready to fight.

"Stay in Formation!" yelled Itachi as the two star fighter groups ran head on into each other. Bolt of plasma flying all over the place it was hard not to get hit.

"Ace I’ve got one on my scope come with Me." said Gob as he and Ace cornered a Vong fighter and destoryed it.

"This is Vlad to all Taldryan pilots we have lost the Renegade repeat we have lost the Renegade." Vlad's voice echoed on the communicator.

"Damn we lost another capital ship we can't afford to lose anymore" Thought Itachi as he and his wingman shot down another fighter. The battle continued with no side gaining an advantage.

"At this rate we will be out here for some time." thought Itachi as he downed another fighter with his wingman.

"This is Gob to all Taldryan pilots my squad managed to clear a hole in the Vong fighter line we are headed for the capital ships to see what damage we can do" Gob's voice rang over the Commentator.



"Yes, now we can get back at them for destroying the Prophet and the Renegade." Itachi thought as he and his wingman followed Gobs squad for an attack on the Vong capital ships.

"Still how can we damage those ships we never even had the chance to fire on the capital ships when they ambushed us I believe." thought Itachi. If the capital ships were like the fighters then they would be hard to damage at all let alone destroy one of them.

"May the Force be with us." said Itachi as the squad got set for an attack run on the first capital ship they ran into.

"May the Force be with the defenders of the Katarn too." thought Itachi as the battle near the Katarn was getting more chaotic by the minute.

Telaris took a quick survey of the gallery room. The bodies had been dead for some time... Several minutes, at least. The scream couldn't have come from one of the dead in the gallery. No, it appeared that the feinted person had found the dead. Hence why she herself had not been killed by the Vong.

“The one who fainted – she found them. The Vong did this some time ago,” Telaris said to the small group behind him. There were no signs of the Vong. The small party that contained a handful of Obelisk warriors, Sharad, Anga, and Telaris himself were tracking one Vong warrior through the ship. It had moved from the library, to the back of the cantina, and had now made it's exit... and none of them could tell in what direction. Unlike the previous chase, there was no evidence of the Vong to follow.

It was then that Telaris' comm blared aloud the location of a Vong in engineering. The section of the ship was quite a ways away, yet he knew there were access corridors down the left hallway that could lead the group to engineering via one of the lifts. They weren't too far that if the group hurried, the might arrive in time to turn the tide of the battle.

The entire group had heard the message. The Vong had been found and cornered. Now it would die. The only question was if the group could reach the trapped Dark Jedi before the Vong took them down.

"Uchiha, bank hard to port!"

Vladet watched Itachi's TIE Defender narrowly dodge an incoming volley of Vong plasma fire from three enemy ships. The Aedile of Dinaari sighed in relief - if he had not been watching his sensors carefully he would not have noticed the trio of enemy starfighters converging on Itachi's Defender. Itachi began rolling his ship faster to avoid the enemy fire.

"Get back in the Katarn's shadow, Uchiha. You should lose them there," Vlad said, eyeing an enemy starfighter that had begun a strafing run on his escort.

"What about the survivors of the Renegade? We need to pick them up before the Vong get them!"

Vladet frowned as he looked at his targeting computer. "What are you talking about? The Corvette is still trying to make it back to the fleet ...

"You just said the Renegade had been destroyed!"

This was surprising. Apparently combat fatigue and panic had caused the young dark Jedi to start hallucinating. "I said the Renegade had been hit, not destroyed," he replied coldly while pulling alongside his wing man. "I think you should retire for the day, Uchiha. Go help them back on the ship. We'll cover for you."

Ignoring the young Jedi's protest, Vlad switched to his squadron TAC channel and balanced his shields. "Keep it up, Talons. The Renegade should be within range of our fleet in four minutes. Keep those Vong off that Corvette!"

We just may be able to save this Corvette yet, Vlad thought. The Corvette's shields were holding and his squadron of TIE Interceptors had seemed to be keeping the enemy at bay.

"Scanners report a dozen new contacts," reported Talon Four. "Estimated time to arrival ... two minutes."

Vladet swore and watched as another dozen enemy starfighters launched off from the nearest Vong capital ship. Interesting ... they don't launch from a hangar. Almost like they just park anywhere on the surface. He nodded in appreciation of their ingenuity. Tricky bastards.

The new ships immediatly spotted the sluggish Corvette and Vladet noticed they were setting up for a major strafing run against the larger ship. His squad was outnumbered heavily and there would be no time for reinforcements to arrive. Vladet sighed heavily, running the numbers in his head. There was no other way ...

"For Taldryan," he muttered softly.

"What was that lead?"

"Nothing," he snapped, making his decision without emotion. "Form up on me ... we're going to meet them head on."

He watched his wingmen hesitate for a moment before forming up in a large X formation beside him. "Shields double front, lasers set to studder fire. Start firing as soon as you're in range ... don't break ranks for anything."

The Vong fighters were two kilometers out and closing fast. It was now or never ...

"Open fire."

The eight TIE Interceptors of Talon Squadron began spraying the Vong ships with an impressive display of firepower. Most of their shots were sucked into the voids but a few stray shots made it through. The distance closed quickly as every Vong starfighter fired off volleys of plasma.

The next few moments were a blur for Vladet as his starfighter was hit, sending it spinning wildly off course. He heard yells and curses over his comm unit and saw explosions rip through space. His teeth grinding, Vladet managed to pull back his flight yoke enough to balance out his Interceptor. His shields were gone and there was some slight hull damage, but everything seemed to be working for the most part.

Then his combat log revealed the horrible truth.

Half of his squad was destroyed from the showdown and another two were damaged beyond combat capability. Two of us left to fight, he thought as he turned towards the fight again. He would take down as many as he could before they destroyed him ...

But the Vong starfighters did not return to the furball. They continued on towards the Renegade and began firing off volleys of plasma into the already damaged Corvette. Vladet watched the Corvette's shields flash for an instant before they were buckled. Plasma fire ripped through armor plates and vented atmosphere all over the ship. The second wave of Vong starfighters pounced on their target, delivering a crushing onslaught of plasma.

The Renegade began drifting slightly before all of the running lights on the vessel shut off at once. A moment later the Corvette ripped apart in a huge fireball, sending debris everywhere. Vladet could only watch as the debris of the Corvette floated in the void of space along with several bodies of former crew members.

There was nothing left to save. "Three and six, get back to the Katarn ... there's nothing more you can do." He paused, trying to decide his next course of action. "Five, you're with me. Let's get back to the main furball and buy the rest of the fleet enough time."

There would be time to mourn the dead later.

The loss of the Renegade weighed heavy on the Taldryan Consul's mind as status reports of the incident started to pour in. He knew at that moment the inconvenient truth of it all: the Dark Jedi Brotherhood would not survive this. They were being hunted, by a far superior opponent nonetheless. For the first time, Duga understood what it felt like to be in the shoes of those who normally faced Dark Jedi. The force was a great advantage. However, a complete lack of force seemed to be an even greater trait.

"No survivors, my lord," called Ricco Vao from a nearby console. "There was no way we could have retrieved anyone."

"And the Jedi?" Duga asked, inquiring about the important losses.

"No one was assigned to the Renegade." Ricco answered. The lack of Dark Jedi deaths was the only good news so far.

Duga looked to the map on his display. The red flecks that represented the enemy fighters were again swarming over his own. Even though the Yuuzhan Vong fleet was much smaller in comparison to the one they had previously faced, the Taldryan fleet was outmatched, and this time, there was no Shroud behind them to escape into.

The Consul paused in contemplation of the clan's next move. "Loss report."

"Renegade. Forty-five fighters and counting, sir," replied a crew member. "Many squadrons are reporting loss of deflectors. Count now forty-six.

The Taldryan Consul knew what had to be done. Without hesitation, he called out to the Elders of his clan. "Infractus Taldrya!"

Jac Cotelin began moving before the command was even called. He knew it would come to this; he knew what he would have to do. The Dark Lord sped towards the bridge of the Katarn, crew members in the hallway all darting to the side well ahead of when Jac came passing. Cotelin entered the final lift and took a deep breathe. He hated being on the bridge, but this was needed.

“I need to find whatever memory it is that keeps you out of the bridge, Jac” remarked the essence of Kaek, still in Jac’s mind, rummaging endlessly through the Dark Lord’s thoughts. Cotelin ignored him.

The door slid open and the Grand Master emerged. He quickly walked to Duga’s side, took a brief look at the console and then glanced out of the large windows in front of them. “I can’t see the fighters well enough. I won’t be able to hit them without hitting our own.”

“I know,” Duga replied quietly. “We just need to hit the big ones. These, especially.” He pointed to five medium sized streaks of red that had recently left the largest Yuuzhan Vong ship. “We believe they are transports.”

“Aye.”

“I’ve informed the others. Our ships are disengaging. We are ready when you are.”

“I know.”
_______________________________

Confusion rocked the core of many crew members and younger jedi as the Taldryan Elders each stopped in their tracks. Telaris, Halcyon, Keirdagh, Alanna, Pyralis, Shadow, Flech and Sharad all discarded what they were doing when the signal came. They had more important things to attend to.

One by one, the Elders of Taldryan focused his or her energies outward toward a single focal point, the resident Grand Master. Their powers fused with his, giving him a feed on the Dark Side unmatched by any single living being. And they could feel it as the Dark Lord sucked the energy from them at an accelerating pace.

Hel-Pa felt the change in the Force around him immediately. It was a flux of power unlike anything he had felt before. Despite his tries, no one responded to his calls about what was happening. But then he saw it with his own eyes. The multicolor shroud and the particles and debris floating in it began to swirl before them. The objects seemed to pick up speed, all floating weapons that met and formed to bigger pieces in the vicinity of the enemy fleet. Sklib watched as the different pieces of the Shroud crashed through lines of enemy fighter craft, but skirted by the fleeing friendly starships.

When he saw the first spark of blue he understood. The Quaestor had never seen a force storm before, but he had heard tales of the fury. He understood the draw of the power; the Dark Lord needed everything he could get.

“Make us small. Bring us in as close as you can to the Katarn as fast as you can,” Hel-Pa ordered, adding a degree of urgency to his voice.

He watched as the storm gained in power, twirling vertically around the main contingent of Vong ships so Hel-Pa looked down the center of the fury. Small streaks of lightning rippled along the outer perimeter of the swirling mass. The energy grew I size from small cracks in the sky to large chasms that tore it in two.

The Quaestor could feel the hate, anger and rage in the force as the Dark Lord finally directed the deadly mass at the intended targets.

_________________________________

Cotelin kept his eyes open and focused on the largest of the vessels ahead of him. He normally had the benefit of his full senses; without that, he needed his entire physical prowess to aim his attacks.

The Dark Lord loosed the lightning and debris at once; each of the weapons of his fury reacting instantly to his beck and call. The blue electricity streaked through space, dozens of lines of the powerful attack hitting a handful of targets. At the same time, the rocks and debris of the Shroud that had swirled around the Yuuzhan Vong fleet disengaged their paths and descended on the enemy.

The defenses of the enemy fleet failed and the attacks struck their targets. Vong fighters that Cotelin could hit were thrown off course where they sputtered and died. The larger ships, taking the brunt of the lightning, seemed to just float like lifeless, charred boulders in the sky. The few remaining targets fled toward what safety they could, in a direction that led them square into the remaining Taldryan fighters. The pairs and groups of starfighters engaged the fleeing Vong, dispensing of them in a well-coordinated ambush.

The Dark Lord ended his fury with a whimper. He stumbled backwards, the act having physically drained him of all energy. Duga looked to the Dark Lord who was kneeling and clutching his chest. Jac looked as if he had aged ten years in the course of ten minutes. He moved to say something, but before he could, the Grand Master stood and limped for the exit. Duga let him go. He would thank Jac later.

“Status?”

“We lost ten to the storm, my lord.” Ricco Vao answered again. “And sir: it seems we missed one of them.”

Duga’s gaze stole to the window where all he saw was the burnt remains of the Vong fleet. He then looked down to his tactical display. There was one red dot moving; it was one of those medium cruisers they had spotted before. It was converging on the Dark Seraphim. They had missed it in the heat of it all.

“Urgent communication from Sithspawn, my lord.”

The Consul nodded. The fighters had been recalled, there was nothing there to stop the ship. It was too small and fast for the Dark Seraphim to target correctly. Duga knew that crew would have a fight on its hands within the minute.

“Tell Sithspawn that we will be sending backup momentarily,” Duga ordered. “Prepare two transports. The Dark Seraphim is being boarded.”

Telaris blinked his eyes open. He had answered the call issued by the Dark Lord, and had known the price he would pay. He glanced around, and noticed that Sharad, too, was just shaking off the draining effects of the Force Storm they had created together. It took him a second to return to the situation.

“What just-” Anga began, but was quickly interrupted by Sharad and Telaris at the same time.

“Not now,” the two elders said in unison. Telaris gathered himself quickly and looked off down the corridor. Not far away was the lift leading to engineering.

“Sharad, Anga... The Dark Seraphim is under attack. They need you there. I'll take care of this. Go. Now. Get to the hangar.” Telaris turned to the three obelisk warriors that Sharad had recruited for their effort. “The three of you, go with them. I will handle this alone.”

Without waiting for a response, the Dark Prophet darted down the hallway at an inhuman speed.
______________________________

On engineering section beta, two Dark Jedi were fighting for their lives. Protector Komari Vosa and her Valaraukar whip side-stepped and back-stepped, dodging the Vong's various assaults and ducking behind engineering equipment. The Tetrarch of Phoenix Phyle, Guardian Lokasena Corvinus, attempted to weave behind the creature, his blade at the ready. But he couldn't find an opening, and the creature seemed intent upon attacking the Protector, first.

Luckily for the Katarn and all aboard her, nothing that the Vong was spraying with poison seemed overly important. At least not at the time. Various computer systems were sparking, a few had erupted into flames. As of yet, nothing had completely exploded. The Vong howled in triumph, beating his chest before unleashing another spray of poison at Komari. She managed to roll out of the way, but found herself exposed and in the open, directly in front of the lift door. The warrior shouted praise to his god Yun-Yammka.

Neither the Vong, nor Komari, noticed the turoblift door open. Telaris, stepped through the door the instant it cracked open, spinning in front of the Protector and thrusting a hand forward, finger tips extended. He had nearly fully recovered from earlier – luckily for him and for the Tyro he now stood in front of.

The poison evaporated in midair as it was intercepted by arcing lightning that sprayed forth from the fingertips of the Dark Prophet. Telaris had arrived in the engineering bay just in time to unleash a storm of force lightning upon the Vong. The lightning, however, did not dissipate as it evaporated the poison. Instead it dashed onward, colliding with the chest of the Vong. The creature cried out in it's guttural language. “Jeeedai,” it hissed, before cursing angrily, clutching itself as it stumbled forward.

Telaris smirked, stepping closer to the creature; the lightning pulsed over the Yuuzhan Vong warrior, choking it. Though Force lightning was often used simply to disable, that was not the intent of this strike. The creature withered in agony, falling to it's knees. It's skin began to sizzle.

But the Vong was not done yet. The creature forced an arm to its side, pulling something free. It summoned the last of it's strength and hurled it's coufee end over end at Telaris.

Had the Dark Prophet been caught unaware, it likely would have impacted his chest and potentially killed him. Telaris had been expecting it to make such an attack of exasperation, and waved his hand the second the creature flung the blade. The coufee was met in midair with a wall of air that hit the blade with such force that it pushed the blade back the way it had come, straight down into the skull of the Yuuzhan Vong. A horrible, skull-cracking noise echoed through engineering as the blade cut straight into the warrior's head, ending his life instantly. He collapsed into a pool of his own fluids, still sizzling as the lightning withdrew from his charred corpse.

Keirdagh staggered against the bulk head, leaning heavily against the cold steel while attempting to regain his composure, and a measure of his energy. The exhaustion of leading the Fleet through the shroud, no sleep in over two days, and then offering up his strength to help focus and energize Jac whilst he was creating the force storm threatened to overwhelm the Dark Jedi Master. After a moments rest though, the stubbornness for which Keirdagh was famous for resurfaced, and he pushed off the bulkhead and began walking with a slow steady stride towards the hangar bay. "I'm getting too old for this shyte" he thought ruefully, as he rounded a corner and entered a turbo lift. Thankfully he'd not actually managed to make it to the hangar and get into a fighter before Jac's mental summons had come, there'd have been no way he would have been able to fly as well as feed the Grand Master energy.

The force however, seemed to still be with him, as the turbo lift doors opened. He saw Sharad and Anga sprinting down the corridor towards the auxiliary hangar, and set off after them. "Shar, what are you doing?" he yelled down towards the Adept.

"Mav says the Seraphim has been boarded, we're heading over there to reinforce them... what the hell you still doing on the ship?" Sharad had fully expected Keirdagh to be leading one of the fighter squadrons in space.

"Damned if I know.. but I might as well ferry your asses over there... you might need some fancy flying to get you through the void."

As Keirdagh sprinted up the ramp to one of the Clan's Lambda shuttles, he heard a quiet, yet intense string of expletives coming out of the cock pit. Pulling himself through the access hatch, he found the source. Bubbles, deep in thought, was attempting to figure out how to engage the repulsorlifts, by poking at the atmospheric control board. "Bubbs, honey... let me handle this. Run back there and see what kinda surprises you can cook up for those monsters with Sharad and Anga."

With a glance of intense relief, Bubbles slid out of the cockpit and went aft. "Duga, this is Yacks in shuttle Lambda Quatro Tango 7... I've got Sharad, Anga and Bubbles here, and we're heading over to reinforce the Seraphim... launching in 2 minutes, you'd better get word out, if anyone wants to come with us, they'd better get down to the auxiliary hangar pronto!"

Bubbles moved gratefully into the aft of the shuttle. She had never been so glad to see Keirdagh before, but now his appearance had come at exactly the right moment. Flying had never been her forte, even at the best of times. But desperate times called for desperate measures, and this, well, the current events certainly classed as desperate. Taldryan was in bad shape, and Bubbs had no intention of letting it even slightly worse.

In the make-shift medical bay, she had been ready to collapse with exhaustion, but then things had got personal. The Vong had attacked and killed a member of Phoenix, and had attacked her Tetrach. Ever since she had joined the Brotherhood, the Phyle had been her family, and it was common knowledge amongst those who knew her that she would protect her Phyle with every ounce of her energy. The instant the message had come through from Sena, her exhaustion had faded, replaced with anger and hatred, enough to keep her going at least for a few more hours.

She nodded to Anga and Sharad as she took her seat in the back of the shuttle, the brief looks that passed between the three of them enough to confirm what each was feeling. A slight smile passed Bubbs’ lips, “It’s been too long,” She paused momentarily, glad to be back amongst friends and away for a moment at least from the death that was surrounding them, “So, any idea how we kill these things? Preferably slowly, and painfully?”

Alanna had known that her place was in the library, so when Jac's call came she was sitting comfortably in a secluded section where people wouldn't bother her, in a nice a squidgy chair - proof of the validity of her instincts if she had ever found any. She would have to remember to make a pointed comment about it to Shadow as further evidence that Krath were the smartest of the orders. Libraries were useful for many more things than people imagined. The Jedi Mistress closed her eyes and let the Force flow out of her body. She had expended a fair amount of her power earlier establishing the face of her enemy, and later manipulating the Vong ship out of the side of the Katarn's hull. But she still had a little to spare for her former Grand Master.

She didn't mind too much being distracted from her reading. She had been engrossed, but it hadn't yielded much return to date. There were glimpses of the Vong, bare references in passing that aluded to their existence, but it seemed that few observers were left alive after encounters with the species to record it. She had found the reference that she had been trying to recall about their aversion to technology, but it served only to confirm what they had discovered from the living Vong ship, and there was no mention of the strange gravity effect that had rendered their weapons useless. To date there had been no known weaknesses that could be easily exploited and no secret weapons that had made the Vong more susceptible to attack.

As Jac's call on her relaxed, she took a deep breath and reached for the next book.

Bubbles listened as patiently as possible to the suggestions of the young Obelisk about how to kill the Vong; trying not to let her exacerbation show as each in turn suggested a slight variant on the ‘brute-force’ methodology. She gave Anga a look that left no doubt as to her feelings about the ‘average’ Obelisk, following it up with an apologetic shrug to Sharad.

“So,” she said, turning back to the three eager Obelisk, “We just walk in there, hit them a few times, and that’ll be it?”

“Well, yes Ma’am.” Relied the warrior furthest from her, “Of course, I wouldn’t expect you to understand the, err, complexities, of our methods, you being, umm….Krath and all…”

Flashing her best ‘I’m a girl, please play gently smile’ towards the warrior, she studied his form, noting his well muscled torso, broad shoulders, thick skull, and most notably his eyes that left no doubt in her mind that this would be his first ever ‘live’ combat situation. “Thank you for being so observant, it’s good to know that myself and Anga will be in such…experienced…hands” came her reply, sounding almost sincere. Fingering her sabre, she made a mental note of his face, vowing to make him realise the true power of the Krath, and the proper respect for his betters, if she didn’t use him for a shield or cut off his head first.

Resisting the urge to teach the warrior his lesson right there on the shuttle, she leant back in her chair, channelling her anger away from those who dared underestimate her Order, towards what little she knew of the Vong; toying with it and caressing it, ensuring it bubbled just below the surface of her mind, ready to draw on it at a moments notice.

Sithspawn watched the Vong cruiser rapidly close the distance between it and the Dark Seraphim, dovin basals absorbing the Seraphim's turbolaser blasts. It slowed as it approached, and a tube slowly began to extend from the bow of the cruiser.. Realizing the intent of the Vong, Sithspawn yelled to Raif Slaxton. “Concentrate all fire on that tube. They're preparing to board.”

Sithspawn watched with horror as the dovin basals continued to absorb the firepower thrown at the cruiser. A lone TIE Fighter zoomed in towards the ship on a suicide run. Sensing the futility of the pilot's gesture before it actually occurred, Sithspawn opened his mouth to yell for the pilot to break off. His action proved to be just as futile, as a dovin basal swallowed the fighter before he could speak.

The tension on the command deck built as the tube protruding from the Vong ship connected with the hull of the Dark Seraphim. In the distance, Sithspawn could sense several transports from the Katarn depart with reinforcements. Allowing his head to hang at his failure to stop the craft from approaching, Sithspawn gritted his teeth, flicked the intercom switch, and uttered words that those aboard a ship dreaded to hear.

“All hands, prepare to repel boarders.”

Reaching beneath his cloak to draw his lightsaber, Sithspawn turned to Commodore Slaxton.

“Raif,” The Primarch said quietly as he began walking towards the rear of the command deck, “seal the doors behind me. If they are breached, you have my permission to do whatever is necessary to prevent our capture.”

The veteran Sith managed to get his fighter into the hanger in one piece, smoke rising from his small fighter having survived the sudden melee against the invaders, as well as the counter-attack from their resident Grand Master. Not knowing if he would be able to get back to the Katarn, Halcyon had instead opted for the closer Dark Seraphim. A handful of other fighters had followed their lead, the small hanger bay bustling with activity.

The Master leapt out of the cockpit, tossing his flight helmet to the closest technician, making his way towards the doors as he heard the announcement blare out over the speakers, “All hands, prepare to repel boarders”.

Rokir’s hands shot to the hilt that hung at his waist, a jedi of any kind never leaving their weapon behind. He grasped the marbled hilt, leaving it depowered for the moment as he strode into the corridor.

Where do you need me? the Elder called out to Primarch, striding toward the closest set of lifts. He never heard the response however, as he could see and smell smoke wafting down the end of the corridor, the unmistakable stench of burning metal and wiring filling the enclosed space. Stretching out all of his senses, the smell hit him even harder, but it was the sounds emanating from the smoke that got his attention. Inhuman noises were emanating from just beyond, a number of distinct voices clearly talking between them. With a wave of his hand Halcyon threw back the smoke clearing the corridor for a better view. Narrowing his eyes he could see the alien beings at the far end, the entire section having been torn apart as a large mouth-like appendage released a few more of the warriors.

“Wait, doesn’t it make sense to put aside our differences now while we’re trying to fight off this enemy?” Anga asked Sharad and the others as they disembarked from their shuttle onto the Seraphim.

“You’re just saying that because…” A second Obelisk began, but then he looked up at Sharad and noticed the look on his face. “…I mean, my Lady, I beg to differ with you…but…” He broke off in confusion.

The first Obelisk put a hand to the second man’s shoulder and pushed him back. Stepping up the first man said: “My Lady, what he is trying to say is that you, as a Krath, lean towards book knowledge and use of the occult. But it doesn’t work with the Vong, we know how to kill it using weapons.”

Just then they heard the alarm and the voice directing all hands to prepare to repel the boarding party. The Jedi warriors had their lightsabers out and at the ready. Anga stood somewhat behind the Obelisk and next to Bubbles. As soon as the first Vong came into sight in the hangar bay the two girls began using the Force to hurl things at the enemy in an effort to distract them. Meanwhile the rest of the people in the hangar bay had begun fighting with sabres and blasters.

Anga used her Vortex power to manipulate the air around them so that large canisters and metal tools began flying at the enemy warrior. One of the poles impaled itself into his large misshapen head, killing him.

Anga went over to Bubbles and together they used their Force powers to control the equipment in the hangar, and turning them into deadly weapons. Poles, knives and other sharp objects imbedded themselves into another enemy warrior. The pain and surprise method in which he was being attacked caused the Vong to be distracted enough to put down his guard. Sharad cut off the warrior's head and smiled up at his wife.

“Not bad dear. Not bad for a Krath!” Said Sharad as he looked down at the bodies, "But we're not done yet!"

The Vong were rushing at the Jedi in droves. The young Obelisk Sharad had brought with him were fierce, but highly inexperienced. The three of them were barely managing to keep a warrior Vong busy. Finally, a Vong’s head fell to the floor. Unfortunately it was met with one of the Obelisk’s heads as well. The two heads rolled across the floor side by side almost battling each other in death.

Sharad quickly released a locust knife at the Vong who had killed one of his Obelisk. The knife flew through the air in a zig-zag as the Dark Side Adept used the Force to keep it on path. At last the knife found its mark. The Vong gurgled loudly as he fell to his knees. The knife protruding from his throat was more than even he could handle. With a loud growl his face fell to the floor and the knife pushed further into his neck, its end slightly protruding from the back of his neck.

Sharad looked over at the blaster doors to the interior of the ship and smiled as they opened with a bang. Reinforcements had arrived. The Dark Jedi Master, Halcyon Rokir, strode through the doors with a purpose. He jumped through the air, his saber a blur as it cut through the air. Vong succumbed to the powerful Dark Sider’s fighting prowess as warrior after warrior was cut down.

Sithspawn quickly followed through the door. He had been glad to leave command of the ship to the Commodore and get to some real fighting. His staff seemed to spin in his hands as he struck with deadly accuracy, using both blades to perfection.

Sharad watched for a moment longer and surprise hit him. Vong followed the two Jedi through the doors. He ran quickly to their aid. His two sabers made quick work of a handful of Vong. He channeled the Force through his hands as he manipulated the air around the dead bodies and created a wind that pushed the Vong into their comrades. The handful of Jedi were slowly pushing the Vong from behind them back into the ship. Unfortunately, the battle was not faring so well from the other boarding force.

The group of Jedi worked quickly to dispatch the boarding force, but despite their success the Vong seemed endless. Another ship landed in the hangar and the Jedi groaned as more Vong poured from its ramps.

Even with so many powerful Dark Siders among the force to repel the invaders, Sharad was unsure of their victory. They were losing ground quickly. Suddenly, Sithspawn sounded the retreat back. The Jedi pulled back into the blast doors, hoping to funnel the Vong into a more manageable arrangement where numbers counted for less. Vong were coming from both directions, but the narrow corridor would allow them to make use of their small numbers more efficiently.

Vodo could not find the single situation in which his use of the stolen Coral Skipper would effectivly be anything more than using a stolen alien craft. He needed to make his mark, do something that would catch the eye of someone who was watching. It was a selfish desire, but then again, isn't war selfish. Vodo chided himself for thinking far too much. Flying was not an area he claimed any expertise in, and far from that, any joy from, but he knew the value of a well rounded education and combat record.

He had weathered the storm by his distance from the enemy fleet, not having been close enough to have been caught in what appeared to be miles long tendrils of pure force lightning striking the Vong fleet from the bridge of the VEN Katarn and followed by a vicious storm. He knew what it was in his gut, but the pure essence of the attack left him speechless as to its power. This was the clan's mastery of Elementalism through the Dark Side of the Force. Likely as focused thorugh Grand Master Emeritus, Jac Cotelin.

"Repel... We ha... Get... H..g. .. Seraphi..."

His com cackled as the message was recieved. His personal use com was not strong enough to make the link solid in even this portion of the Shroud, but the message seemed dinstinct enough.

I'm inbound on the Seraphim, Lord, though only a Knight, Vodo was confident the Exarch would recieve the message. Almostg as though Duga were reassuring him in his belief, the response came almost immiediatly.

Port side hangar bay, May the Force Be With You

Vodo engaged the Coral Skipper's propulsion, something he hadn't quite figured out just yet. THe craft lurched forward as the command was given, sending him sailing across the rock filled shroud. Vodo waas abled to respond efficiantly to the largest of obstacles as he proceeded, hindered only by the small rocks that his shield-like void could not grab in enough quantities. Soon enough however, he was present just outside the Hangar, and within, he could see the enemy ship disgorging it's occupents.

I have a bad feeling about this, Vodo uttered, hardly considering often that sentiment was used

He ordered his coral skipper to unleash a volley of plasma into the aft hull of the enemy Ship. He was not usre weather the voids would shield the vong ship, or protect it like any other attack. The gamble paid off though as the Vong ship recognized the Skipper as onw of it's own, and did not lend it's Dovin Basals to that area of the ship. The plasma struck the aft of the ship, searing shards and chuncks of plating off the coral-like armor the Vong employed. Then, all at once, the Voids kicked in, dissallowing Vodo to rake the back side of the ship anylonger. He reversed his course and set down in the hangar, leaping from the cockpit, and engaged his saber.

The scent of seared flesh, fresh blood, and ripped mechanical components filled the gentle atmosphere of the hangar as Vodo's blade descended on an unsuspecting vong, his Saber deflecting off the creature's armor. He made a note to strike somewhere softer next time, and brought the blade in a broad sweep through the vong's knee join and down through the warrior's face as he crashed into the deck. His saber dived around behind him defencivly, blocking the horizontal strike from a new attacker, who was then impailed by a flying rebar. A glance to his left showed Bubbles, now a Taldrya, waving to him.

He wved back and reentered the mellee.

The grin on Bubbles’ face grew steadily wilder as each Vong head in turn hit the deck of the hanger bay. Determined not to be out-done by some whipersnapers calling themselves Jedi, she did her best to recall her days spent training the younger members of Phoenix the art of the sabre. Muttering to herself about her stupidity in letting herself get even a little rusty, she relished the chance to reaffirm her fighting style in a somewhat more stimulating situation than a practice hall.

A familiar figure in the corner of her eye drew her attention, and she took the moment to ensure Vodo was aware that he was far from alone in the combat he now found himself in the centre of. Her moment of slight relaxation was broken by a shout from Sharad, “Bubbs!”, the urgency was more than tangible, her reflexes still sharp enough to duck instantaneously, the Vong blade missing her head by mere inches, closely followed by his head as Sharad neatly separated it from his shoulders.

Bubbs winked at Sharad as she deflected the next blow, aimed at her torso, “Just testing...”.

Preferring to fight close alongside those she knew well, she slowly edged towards Vodo, leaving Anga in the more than safe hands of her husband. As she reached his side, she glanced across at him, quickly checking for any serious wounds that might impede his ability to defend himself. “You look like crap, when this is all over, I really am going to have to teach you to look after yourself.”

Not sharing Bubbles’ passion for long conversations during battle, he grunted a reply as they engaged their next foes.

Keirdagh stepped through the slowly opening blast doors to be confronted with a scene of utter chaos. Just over a half-dozen of his fellow Jedi were being pushed together by two squads of Vong warriors, rushing the greatly outnumbered Taldryans. His hand gravely lowered to his belt, where hung is elegant golden lightsaber, a weapon of immense power, and drew it to his right hand. A mental flick and the gold blade hummed to life, drawing the eyes of each combatant.

The Dark Jedi Master’s sharp green eyes welled with hate. The death of his brethren would end now. An unconscious cry of rage escaped his lips, as his left hand rose to chest height, fingers clawed and stretching out towards the Vong before him. Jagged, blue bolts of lightning short forth from his hand, twisting and expanding as they raced through the air towards the dread enemy. The dark side unleashed crashed into the raging Vong attackers, dropping them to the ground. Their flesh began to smoke from inside their thick crab armor, as the lightning burnt them from the inside out.

Across the corridor, galvanized by Keirdagh’s appearance, Sharad Hett and Halcyon Rokir twisted towards the other group of Vong. Each raised a hand to their enemy and summoned power from the surrounding Equite-ranked Jedi in order to unleash their own devastating gouts of Force Lightning. As their power extended, the other Jedi jumped forward with lightsabers raised, eager to finish off the weakened Vong.

The cacophony of Keirdagh’s power cut off abruptly, leaving his enemies weak and vulnerable. He jumped at them, gripping his lightsaber with both hands and landed swinging. The charred black armor gave way as his golden blade hacked and sliced through the horribly scarred Vong. He continued screaming, a terrible war cry powered by vengeance until the last of the Vong fell to the floor dead.

Lightsabers deactivated one-by-one leaving the hallway silent except for the heavy breathing of the defenders. The Dark Seraphim shuddered violently under foot. Keirdagh looked around worried. If another ship had boarded, they were already doomed. A terrible ripping sound came from the umbilical cord attached to the ship’s hull. Sending the impending catastrophe, the Dark Jedi Master acted quickly, drawing a large panel from the inside of the corridor and slamming it against the open hole. As the Vong boarding ship was destroyed, the vacuum it left sucked the panel tightly to the wall, allowing Keirdagh to, with the help of Halcyon, fuse it together with energy from the Force.

“What the hell was that?” Hett asked still slightly on edge.

A voice crackled over the communications system. “This is Raif. Those Vong won't be coming back. I ordered one of your Jedi pilots to take the ship out.” The comm crackled and went quiet.

“Bloody, Raif,” Sithspawn vented. “He almost got us killed in here.” The other Jedi nodded their agreement, some slumping to the floor in exhaustion. Keirdagh, however, wasn’t finished yet. Jac had bought them the time they needed; now he had to get them moving again. In a flash of his inhuman speed he was moving towards the bridge.


* * *


The Taldryan fleet, a mere shell of its former glory, orbited above the half-lit world of Antei. The Brotherhood’s base of operation, for so long a seat of indomitable strength, lay alone and unprotected. Grand Master Jac Cotelin stared down at the scarred world, his emotions raging through him, though his face showed none of that. Beside him, on the bridge of the Venator-class Star Destroyer Katarn, stood the Taldryan Consul. Both were exhausted. The voice of Syn Kaek muttered to him, but he ignored it.

“As in all things,” he said mostly to himself. “There is a beginning and an end…”

“Poetry, my Lord?” Duga asked softly. Jac found it slightly annoying that the young Consul would interfere with his thoughts, but conversed with him softly, his eyes never leaving the image of Antei. Duga eventually left him to his thoughts, called away by whatever new catastrophe had managed to spring up. Jac sighed and closed his eyes wearily. Now the real battle could begin.

DAY 5
VEN Katarn
Clan Taldryan Flagship
Holding High Orbit Above Antei

Duga Taldrya Arkarso, Consul of Taldryan continued to stare at the planet of Antei through the bridge's main view port. He had just finished discussing their current situation with Captain Vordin and he was now relaxing before the battle that was sure to come. It was here, he decided, that Taldryan would make its last stand against the Yuuzhan Vong. No other Clan in the Brotherhood would uphold their honor for the Brotherhood it seemed. Grand Master Jac Cotelin had also been looking at Antei for the past several minutes until he suddenly retreated from the bridge. Still afraid of being on a ship's bridge, Duga mused.

Suddenly he jerked his head towards the Shroud in the distance. Who is that? Korras ... and Bloodfyre? Tarentum arrives at last. Duga almost sighed in relief at the reinforcements but almost immediately he sensed a strange mood from the flags of Tarentum; They were not coming to defend, but to capture the Iron Throne. Duga's eyes blazed.

He gazed down into the crew pit and sensed surprise from his chief sensors officer. No doubt they were just picking up Tarentum's armada emerging from the Shroud.

"We have confirmed contact with Tarentum, My Lord!" The young Ensign shouted, his eyes still on his screen. "But their profile is strange ... I think they mean to attack us!"

Duga nodded. "Yes, I think so."

"Orders, sir?"

Duga sighed and contemplated their next move. To engage the other Clan would be foolish, as the Vong would no doubt be emerging from the Shroud as well. While their own fleet had far more firepower than Tarentum's, they would need everything they had to keep the Vong from invading Antei. But still, Tarentum will seek to destroy us for their own selfish reasons ... the fools.

The Consul turned towards the captain of the Katarn who immediately snapped to attention in response. "Captain Vordin, get us out of the gravity well and prepare for attack. Launch all available fighters from around the fleet and prepare the crew."

"Yes, sir."

As Vordin started issuing orders to the crew, Duga went back to staring at Antei through the bridge's main view port. It was a spectacular sight and he knew why Taldryan had to defend it.

"ETA, Captain?"

"Just over thirty minutes, My Lord."

Duga nodded. The Battle for Antei was about to begin ...

It begins soon.

The three simple words shook Telaris from his meditation. He knew what they meant, and who they were from. Grand Master Cotelin was alerting him to the impending attack. Telaris didn't need to check. He knew who would come for Taldryan first.

Tarentum.

He hadn't needed Jac to inform him, but was grateful for the confirmation, anyhow. He had hoped it would not come to this. He had needed it not to come to this. This battle threatened to destroy the Brotherhood.

Telaris sighed heavily. Where is Sarin? He telepathically asked Jac. The Grand Master made no reply. No one knew where Sarin was. He was likely the only one that could settle this before it destroyed them all.

It was not Tarentum that Telaris feared, but the Vong. Tarentum were an annoyance. They could prattle on, harassing Taldryan and weakening the combined forces of the Brotherhood enough that the Vong would be able to sweep all of them from the field. How they could not see this, Telaris did not know. For a Clan that prided itself on strategy, Tarentum was running an incredibly dangerous gambit that could cost the entire Brotherhood it's existence.

Telaris weighed his options. If they were to destroy Tarentum, openly slaughter them, it would leave them incredibly vulnerable. Plus, in their current position, Taldryan was at a slight disadvantage. Nothing he thought they couldn't overcome, but a disadvantage all the same. There was no doubt that Tarentum would provide no quarter for Taldryan. With another sigh, the Dark Prophet headed out of his quarters and off to the bridge. He had to find out what the Clan had planned.

“Status report, Captain,” Quaestor Sklib hissed to his subordinate.

“The ship is mostly functional, our engines and hyperdrive are working at maximum capacity. Unfortunately some of our weapons systems are temporarily off-line at the Chief Engineer's request.”

“And what happens if they're online?”

“We're... not entirely sure my Lord. Some circuitry has been damaged in the main turbolaser batteries and the fear is they might react to the exposed conduits and... explode,” he hesitated.

“What can we get operational without the risk of further damage?”

“A probable chance that the light turbolaser batteries will be fully operational, and half of the turbolaser batteries are clear from the damaged circuitry.”

“I want those running at maximum efficiency immediately. How long will that take, Captain?”

“According to our repair crews, only another 45 minutes.”

Hel-Pa frowned, displeased with the answer and showing his discontent to the Captain. “And the other turbolasers?”

“About two hours.”

“We don't have that kind of time here, get more people working on that if that'll speed up the process. According to the Consul we have less than thirty minutes to spare, now get on it!”

“Right away sir,” he salutes and briskly walked to a pair of younger officers and gave them their orders.

“Oh, and Captain,” Sklib continued, “Use whoever you can to help, even if that means those tending the wounded and deceased.”

“Of course.”

The Ektrosian scratched his chin with his claws, released a deep sigh from his frustrated mind. Enemy Clans were approaching, fast, and the Praetorian was nearly a sitting duck amidst the frantic actions of the Taldryan fleet. He knew his crews could get the weapons working in time, and he still had a fully functioning ship of soldiers willing to man their battlestations and defend Taldryan. But even this many enemies coming our way is dangerous for our great fleet. Sure we could take them on individually, but their hate unites them.

He let his eyelids slide down over his vision, reaching out into the Force and opening a gateway of telepathy to his Aedile, Vodo Biask's, mind. “They're coming. Be strong, and don't feed into your emotions as they do. Use reason and logic to overcome our enemy. Your actions here will determine your fate in the Final Way, do not disappoint me.”

The elders were off talking about something important and Anga was left behind to dispose of all the bodies. She looked around the hangar bay and called over a few of the Apprentices who were hovering around the area.

“Hey, you two guys, start moving these bodies to the side of the hangar bay, we need them out of the way!” Anga gestured to two young Dark Jedi who were staring with a stunned look on their faces. They had recently joined the Clan, and were feeling quite lucky to be alive after everything that had happened.


The Vong warriors would jettisoned out the airlocks while the Clan members' bodies were put into a sealed container. The Clan would hold a funeral for the Taldryan dead when there was time to breathe and think. Right now everyone was occupied with the non-stop battle.


“Dear, I have to go to the bridge; it seems that Tarentum is getting ready to attack us.” Anga looked up at her husband and nodded before bending down to grab the legs of one of the Vong warriors and dragging them to where a small mountain consisting of alien body parts was beginning to take shape.

“Anga, come here and take over directing this mess! I need to go take care of some of the more critically wounded, and this area needs to be cleared soon.” Bubbles called out to Anga, who nodded and dropped the head she was carrying onto the gruesome pile. Walking over to where a group of techs and Apprentices worked she began to shout out orders. Soon the pile of Vong bodies and parts had been expelled through the airlock and the container of Jedi was sealed and stored for the funeral.

Exhaustion was everywhere and people seemed to be slowing down. Clumsiness increased and Anga wished that she could go take a nap. Anga had hoped that now that they were near Antei no more Taldryan people would die, but that seemed like a hopeless dream now that Tarentum had decided to enter the fray. Bone weary, the Dark Jedi left the hangar bay to catch up on the situation and to find some sustenance.

The Dark Seraphim moved into position along with the rest of the fleet, arraying itself into the necessary formation as the frantic preparations continued. Sithspawn barked out orders, his clothing still a torn mess as he hadn’t gone back to change since the battle down at the hanger.

Officers scurried around the bridge of the great ship, as Halcyon was off to one side, manipulating various controls himself as he helped with what he could. His own face was still scarred from where a thud bug had managed to hit, the swelling having gone down considerably since then. As he moved to another console, a sudden premonition slammed into his consciousness, the Dark Master wavering and needing support to keep on his feet.

The Obelisk turned his head, feeling the sudden emotional surge, but Rokir waved him off, stumbling for the lift and quickly exiting the bridge. The lift opened, Halcyon regaining his composure as he strode out into the chaotic mess that was the hanger deck. Work crews still busily cleared the debris, his eyes catching a few of the Krath who had joined in the melee some hours ago. He however ignored them all, purposefully walking into the hanger. The handful of fighters that still seemed operational were quickly being manned by pilot, the Sith casually waving a hand and sending one of them careening across the floor.

He could hear shouted questions behind him, but continued to ignore them, easily tossing himself into the cockpit of the barely operational ETA-2 fighter, grasping the controls and moving out into open space. Without another look he banked the small fighter hard right, directing himself straight towards Antei

Gobhainn was now well beyond upset; yet again the all stations alarm was sounding and with him having only had about four hours of sleep. His body was still recovering from the adrenaline jag of the last battle and now it was back out to the firezone again. The Sith had had enough; this time he would clear the skies or burn trying. Whoever, whatever was out there was going down.

As Sgath reached the briefing room, he was joined by Aedile Xavier and several other pilots including Itachi Uchiha and Andan Queldom. Ricco Vao, acting as the Katarn’s Tactical Operator was already waiting with a Battle Situation map already projected on the briefing screen. As Sgath and the other starfighter pilots entered the briefing room,the Krath Priest signaled for everyone’s attention.

“As most of you know, we,the Taldryan battlegroup, arrived here at Antei about five hours ago. The plan was that we would rendezvous with the fleets of the other clans and to make a stand to protect Antei together. Six minutes ago, the first of the other clans, Tarentum, arrived. However rather than signaling to join forces, the Tarentum immediately moved into an aggressive intercept course with us. Their current path indicates that they intend to try and engage us while our ships are still within Antei’s gravity well and less maneuverable. It is obvious that they intend to try and destroy us and seize Antei.”

There were several scoffing laughs from pilots around the room; obviously most felt that Tarentum was destroying themselves by pitting their paltry forces against the might of Taldryan..

Ricco continued.

“While Tarentum would not normally be a threat worth considering, the fact is that with the Yuuzhan Vong undoubtedly on their way., we can ill afford to lose time or forces in a extended disciplinary action. If Tarentum has chosen this course, we can only assume that some of the other clans will as well. Therefore we must eliminate them judiciously and prepare to meet the Vong by ourselves.

To this end, we will be taking defensive stance. Most of you will be assigned to Eta -2 Actis Interceptors and Alpha -3 V-Wings; your role will be to provide a fighter screen to prevent Tarentum fighters from reaching firing range of our fleet. We suspect that they may have Missile Boats and for those to get within firing range would be devastating.

We will also be launching two squadrons of ARC -170s to take care of any larger assault vehicles such as assault transports and escort shuttles

Remember, The goal here is to neutralize their fighter capability while protecting our forces for the arrival of the Yuuzhan Vong. Strike Hard, Strike fast and go for the vitals; we don’t know how long before others will arrive so let’s do this quickly.

Because our Houses and battleteams are scattered among the various ships of our fleet, you are free to linkup in squadrons as you please, choosing the ships you feel most comfortable operating.
Now go and prepare. We launch in ten minutes and expect to engage in sixteen. Good Luck.”

Duga Arkarso stared at the holographic tactical engagement display in front of him. Taldryan's fleet was still struggling to escape from Antei's gravity well as Tarentum's fleet was moving in for the kill. It wasn't the best of situations, Duga considered.

"Tarentum will be on us before we escape the gravity well," Captain Vordin said darkly as he also stared at the hologram. It didn't take a Dark Jedi to read the Consul's thoughts at at the moment.

"What do you think our best plan of action is, Captain?" asked Duga. While Vordin did not have access to the powers of the Force, the Taldryan Consul respected the captain's battle experience and tactical prowess. He's a much better military strategist than Oberst and without all the ego to boot ... this I like.

The captain sighed. "It will take us at least fifteen minutes to escape the gravity well which leaves us at a disadvantage, certainly. Once we escape from Antei's shadow we should not have any problems finishing off Tarentum's fleet."

Duga nodded and looked directly at the Katarn's captain. "Any specific recommendations before we escape from Antei's gravity well?"

Vordin remained silent for a few moments before his face lit up. "See this ship on the fringe of our fleet? The Suppressor? That is a Nebulan B-2 Frigate which is specifically built for escort duty. Its weapons are designed to defend against starfighters and capital ships ..." Vordin trailed off, no doubt running some numbers in his head.

"Indeed," Duga said, realizing the plan. "But the Suppressor won't be able to handle their main attack alone, no?"

"Probably not," said Vordin, shaking his head. "The Gunship Outcast and Assault Frigate Praetorian are the closest ships to the frigate. They will be our spear against Tarentum ... they have enough firepower of various kinds to soak up their initial attack and take out their bombers and main fighter groups."

"Is the captain of the Suppressor able to handle coordinating three ships under that type of pressure?" Duga asked, although he already knew the answer by sensing Vordin's thoughts.

"Altuso? No," said Vordin. "We would probably need a Jedi to handle this." The captain paused, considering his next words. "The ships probably won't survive the battle if we carry out this plan."

"But this would keep a lot of firepower off the rest of the fleet?"

"I think so, My Lord."

The Consul of Taldryan nodded and turned towards the robed figure behind him. "Chaos, can you do this? I want someone I can trust leading the spear."

The Obelisk Prelate bowed. "It will be done."

Duga watched as his Proconsul quickly left the bridge to catch a shuttle to the Suppressor. They still had over ten minutes before the first shots were fired, more than enough time for Chaos to arrive at the B-2 Frigate and get ready for the battle.

The Obelisk Exarch turned his back on the tactical hologram and stared out the bridge's main view port again towards Antei. The next few hours would go down in Taldryan history ...

After being briefed about the situation by his Aedile, Ricco Vao, Ace had headed down to the hangar with some of the other pilots, Gob, Xavier, and Itachi. They were joined by the Sith Warrior, Vardar, and they stood in the hangar watching as their ships wee being readied for battle.

Since Andryan’s ship had been hit several times and it was over heated Ace had no other choice than to get another ship for the upcoming battle. Not knowing the ARC-170 systems very well Ace choice to fight in an Eta-2 Interceptor.

The Jedi Hunter watched as his astromech R2-D2 droid was put in the Interceptor.

“Hey, you all getting ready for the battle with Tar?” Came a voice from behind the group of pilots.


“Yes.” Said Gob turning around to see Vardar only a couple of inches away from him.

“And could you back up some.” Sgath said politely to Vardar.

“Heh, sorry.” He said backing up.

“We don’t have that long until the battle starts.” Xavier said.

“How long do you think we have?” Andryan asked in a serious voice.

“I don’t know, ten minutes or less, point is we should be ready at any moment to just in a fighter and start fighting.” The Aedile answered.

Knowing that Xavier was right Ace walked to his ship to inspect it.

“Is the Raven ready for battle?” Andryan asked the tech working on his ship.

“No, two of its engines are still out and so is all of its weaponry.”

“Damn, well I guess I am using that Eta-2 Interceptor.” Ace thought out loud.

The pilot walked over to the Eta-2 Interceptor he would be using, he looked at in and approved it.

“With the lack of shield I’m a little worried about flying this but it’s all Tal can spare.” Thought Queldom.

Alanna had sensed a shift in the Force, something about the situation had changed. Leaving her books behind, she headed up to the Katarn's bridge where the topic of conversation seemed to be... Tarentum. That couldn't be right. Casting an eye over the screen of the technician in front of her, she raised an eyebrow. Tarentum's ships had formed up into an attack position, and seemed to have gained a momentary advantage due to enjoying the benefit of Antei's gravity well.

The Dark Jedi Mistress struggled to suppress a laugh; it would not have been seemly given the circumstances... but the idea that Tarentum thought themselves sufficiently strong to take on her clan was just downright funny. She wondered whether the Vong found the situation as amusing as she did... for entirely different reasons. Shaking her head, she looked around at the others on the bridge. Duga was in control of the situation and in deep conversation with Captain Vordin, Chaos was on his way to a shuttle called the Suppressor if the communications technician to her left was correct, and her former student Ricco was occupied relaying orders to pilots. He had really come into his own in recent months; the position of Tribune suited his enthusiasm well. Everyone seemed to have a job and a role to play in the current predicament, and she wasn't sure how much help she could be.

Stepping backwards into a corner she caught Ricco's eye to let him know that she was here to help, and then stood quietly observing the activity around her. She wondered whether there were any Force tricks she knew that could help them to clear the gravity well. If they really were entering combat with Tarentum as well as the Vong, a little Battle Meditation might be in order as well.

The crew of the Praetorian had been working relentlessly to repair the weapons systems, and had achieved more success in the past hour than Hel-Pa had expected. He underestimated the flyboys and techies on the ship, and noted their prowess and skill of their craft. One of the deck officers called out to the Quaestor of Ektrosis, “Master Sklib, we have an incoming transmission from Captain Vordin.”

“Patch him through.” The spectral blue hologram of the human appeared before his eyes. Hel-Pa clicked a button on the console in front of him, allowing a holograph of himself to be sent to the Captain as he had done to Sklib.

“Quaestor Sklib, Consul Duga has instructed your ship to enter formation with the Supressor and Outcast. You are to spearhead a counter-attack onto the Tarentum fleet. We expect many casualties, but we feel that this will spare the rest of the fleet some time and destroy many of Bloodfyre's ships in the process.”

Hel-Pa nodded, affirming his loyalty to Taldryan and replying, “I will do so immediately.”

“Good luck, Quaestor.” Hel-Pa frowned, then clicked the holoprojector's button to shut it down without giving Vordin a reply. The Templar stood with his arms crossed for a brief moment, contemplating his orders and could not help but wonder his fate. Surely many would die, but they would die as heroes of Taldryan and become legends of the Brotherhood. This could very well be the defining moment of Hel-Pa's life; his actions now would echo in all of his future endeavors... if he had any.

“Captain,” Hel-Pa calmly beckoned.

“Yes, sir?”

“You heard the orders. All men at their battle stations, but keep as many working on the damaged circuitry as you can without sparing men to operate the weapons.” Hel-Pa unfolded his arms and let his robes slide down his arms and cling to his elbows as he used to hands to illustrate the plan of battle to the Captain. “We have a little less than ten minutes before the turbolasers of the Tarentae ships reach us, so we have more than enough time to prepare.” The captain nodded, taking Hel-Pa's words in carefully. “I want us to send all power to the engines and head full speed at those fighter and bomber contingents. Avoid the capital ships if possible, we just want to focus on the smaller craft. Once we near them, cut all power to the engines and pump it into the weapons and shields. We need to be able to take a considerable amount of damage, but also eradicate all of their bombers and fighters if possible. The other two ships with us will have similar assignments, but OUR main priority is those fighters. What's the status on those repairs?”

“Nearly all of them are safe to operate, we believe. There are one or two turbolasers we are uncomfortable with, but there's a 80% chance they'll operate normally.”

“And what happens in that other 20%?”

“The weapons could... malfunction and possibly explode, causing considerable damage to our ship.”

“Are they starboard or port?”

“Port, sir.”

“Well then, make sure we attack them from the appropriate angle then, do you understand, captain?”

“Yes Master Sklib, it will be done.”

“Bubbs?” Anga asked, prodding Bubbles to get her attention back. Bubbs started, and turned her focus from the departing Halc’s shuttle back to the task at hand.

“Sorry, I was just....wondering...” she replied, her expression switching from bemused to amused as the pilot Halcyon had so carelessly flung across the hanger bay struggled to pick himself up.

Anga gestured around her, bringing Bubbs’ attention firmly back to the klaxons resonating throughout the bay. The noise snapped her out of the daydream she was sinking into as her tiredness slowly took hold. “Yes. Of course. You finish organising this rabble, get things cleared up here as quickly as you can, the Sith will need this place fully functioning again, without any dead bodies littering their flightpaths.” She paused, uncertain if her terminology had been quite right, “Or whatever they call them when they’re landing and taking off.....I’ll head up to the medical facilities, if they’re as stretched here as they were on the Katarn they’ll take some organising to be ready for the next wave, join me as soon as things are sorted here.”

Heading out of the hanger bay, she was struck by the number of injured lurking in corridors, rolling her eyes and breaking into a sprint, she made for the main medical facility. Reaching her destination, the sight before her brought her up short. There was very little that could make Bubbles visibly pale, but the situation in the medical facility managed it in less than a second. The room was filthy for a start, the walls smeared top to bottom in dried blood, used instruments were discarded over the floors, patients were strewn about untidily, more on the floors and propped against walls than on beds, and the noise, how anyone could think, let alone deal with medical emergencies was beyond her.

Bubbs took a deep breath as a Tech bumped into her, spilling the contents of someone’s stomach down her robes. Resisting the urge to relieve him of his head, she took a deep breath. Less than twenty minutes to get things sorted, she thought to herself, plenty of time. Removing her outer robes and starting the ‘things to find a bin for’ pile, she grabbed the next five people to walk past her, and began giving orders.

Alanna could feel the muted tension in the room as the Katarn battled to exit Antei's gravity well before the Tarentum fleet could get into position. Into the relative quiet, one of the communications officers looked up from his station and spoke.

"Sir?" he directed at Captain Vordin, "The Praetorian is requesting additional Force users to support their attack on the Tarentum fleet."

Duga responded before the Captain could do so. "Ricco, send whomever they need."

"Yes, Sir." Ricco turned to the Jedi Mistress and raised an eyebrow. "Lannie, feel up to a little ride and some Battle Meditation?"

"Why not?" She smiled, pleased to be of use. Addressing the communications officer, she directed him to let Sklib know that she was would be with him shortly. Making her way to the hanger bay, she was pleased to discover a currently unspoken for shuttle with a pilot wondering whether he'd have time for a quick break before his next run. He didn't.

"The Praetorian" was the only direction the Jedi Mistress gave as she jumped up into the craft. The pilot nodded and eased the shuttle out of the hangar. As it exited into space, Alanna could see the gathering mass of ships that she was aiming for. The flighters were tiny speckles against a background of stars. She was always intrigued by the vastness of space, so big and quiet. The contrast to the furious activity now going on onboard the Praetorian was, she was sure, immense.

"This won't take long, ma'am."

Gobhainn Sgath had settled into a quiet fury by the time his ARC-170 was launched. Tarentum was a clan of fools; they had to know that they had no chance of victory against Taldryan, yet here they were attacking.

But with their up-to-date fighters they're going to hurt us. Gobhainn thought. What they lack in numbers, they make up in technology. We'll lose our antiquated fighters at a rate of six to one. We' ll take BloodFyre down but we may not have enough fighters to face the Vong when they arrive.

As Sgath's fighter dropped from the hangar into space, the knight opened up his com and signaled the other eleven fighters in his squadron.

"Tyran Squadron, form up in pairs. When we engage, do not, I repeat, do not attempt to dogfight with our opponent's fighters. They are faster and more manuverable than we are. Set your LST balance to Throttle 100%, Shields double forward. We will make a head on assault and then punch through. Tail gunners will maintain firing until we pass beyond range. Once we are through, we will reset the LST to 75% Throttle and 75% Weapons and circle around. Our primary targets will be the missile boats and any heavy vheicles like shuttles and transport that Tarentum may launch. Stay in pairs and defend each other from attack by enemy fighters. If you have to engage fighters then two pairs team up so that four ships are engaging one and able to maintain a steady stream of fire. Good Luck, People.

Gobhainn's mind reeld through the numbers; twelve ARC-170s, thirty-six people; odds of survival - six to one. That meant he could expect only one or two, possibly three ships of his squadron to return from this battle; Twenty-seven to thirty-three warriors dead to add to the hundreds already slain over the last four days. The other squadrons would take heavy losses as well. If Taldryan survived this debacle at all, the clan will have lost nearly all its fighters and its experienced pilots.

Gobhainn hoped that he would be one who survived. Not that he was afraid to die; after all he had nothing to lose, no family, few friends and no heritage. The Dark Brotherhood, Clan Taldryan and House Archanis were the only things of importance to him. However, there would have to be a rebuilding and Sgath knew that his skills would be vital there.

If nothing else, I should be able to convince Duga, Chaos and our new Quaestor to supply the funds to finish developing the Wyvern and build at least one squadron. IF I survive, that is. the knight chuckled.

Bane's Blood! I wish I had the Wyvern here now.

By now, the Taldryan fighter squadrons had closed to within two and a half kilometers of the approaching waves of Tarentum fighters. Gohainn's sensors showed forty-eight fighters of various classes. This was dramatically less then Taldryan's one hundred and seventy-six ships. But what Tarentum lacked in numbers they made up for in quality. Taldryan's fighters best hope was to overwhelm Tarentum in the first pass. If it fell to dogfighting, Tarentum could quickly turn the tables.

Obivously someone else was thinking the same thing as Gobhainn's comm crackled to life.

"All Flights, close at full throttle and at one point seven five clicks, open fire. Let's light up the sky. Immediately begin evasive manuvers while maintaining fire on approach."

Gobhainn thought that the voice sounded like Sith Warrior Vardar but was not sure. He was not going to let the Warrior get his squadron slaughtered though.

"Tyran Squadron, keep to the original plan. Punch through and attack from their rear. Do not engage fighters one on one."
Gobhainn countermanded.

One point seven five kilometers.

The void lit up as laser bolts shot like incandescent arrows from both sides. Ships flared and imploded on both sides. Sgath's
squadron was pounded with laser fire but endured thanks to the double forward shields. Gobhainn wasn't even trying to register which ships his copilot was firing upon; his sole attention was on evading the incomin bolts and flying through the gaps in the line left by destroyed enemy fighters.

Six seconds. It seemed like an eternity and yet he had survived and was through. Gobhainn immediately equalized his shield and ordered the rest of his sqaudron to do the same. The tail gunners were still firing on ships now at their rear. Sgath continued to fly away from the line while he allowed their primary weapons to recharge. He took those few seconds to analyze the battle situation.

The sensors showed that Taldryan had taken heay damage, losing around thirty fighters on initial engagement. However Tarentum appeared to have lost twelve ships which was more damaging to them than the losses had been for Taldryan.

It only took a moment for Gobhainn to spot what he had been expecting; the sensors showed a flight of three Missile Boats were moving through the lines while being protected by four Tie Defenders.

Gobhainn had expected this when they had not been assualted by missile upon the approach. Tarentum was saving their ordinance to weaken up Taldryan's capital ships before engaging them ship to ship.

Sgath opened his command issued his command to the squadron.

"Tyran Squadron, Come about! Tyran Two through Six, follow me to take out those Missile Boats; Target their engines first so that they can't SLAM away from us. Tyran Seven through Twelve, distract those Defenders until we destroy the Missile Boats. This is what we're here for and its going to hurt but those missile boats can not be allowed to lock on to any Taldryan ships"

With that the twelve ARC-170s banked around and dove into the chaos.

Bubbles looked around the medical suite and nodded approvingly. Severing the Tech’s head had, in the long run, made things much, much simpler. At first the crew had been reluctant to listen to someone who had never set foot on their ship, let alone in their medical bay before, even if they were a Jedi. The small amount of persuasion had convinced them quite how serious she was.

The medical bay was still a hubbub of activity, but now there was some order to the madness. The newest techs, those with the least experience in doing anything remotely medical, were clearing up as best they could. The beds that had been littered with discarded implements and body parts were cleared and cleaned, and were being filled with injured pilots. The walls had been washed down and disinfected, and the floor was gradually being cleared of rubbish, albeit into two large piles – one with a makeshift sign declaring ‘clinical waste’, the other labelled ‘special waste’. Bubbles cast an enquiring eye over the piles to ensure only the correct materials were being stacked in each, finding them up to her exacting standards, she moved onto organising those actually treating the patients.

Grabbing the first vaguely-competent looking person she walked past, she pulled them to a slightly quieter side of the medical bay. “So, where’s triage set up? And what sort of organisation do you have for grouping the patients by? Injury type? Severity? Medical speciality required?” The tech looked at her blankly. “Triage?” Bubbs repeated, hopefully. The tech shook his head. Bubbles paled for the second time within 10 minutes. “In which case, I want everyone, and I mean every single member of the medical crew in the bay stood in front of me in 2 minutes time. Make sure the patients are stable enough to look after themselves for a minute or two. We need everyone to know what they’re doing, and where they’re doing it.”

"Sith's Blood I'm late!" yelled Itachi as he ran into the hanger trying a fighter to fly as the Oblivion was damaged and was in need of repairs.

"Sir we have a choice of a Arc-170 or an Eta-2 Starfighter it’s your choice." the Repair Team told Itachi as he heard a fighter crash into the hull of the Katarn.

"Give me the Eta-2 and make it fast!" yelled Itachi as got prepped for launch. Get on his helmet and his suit Itachi was ready to go before they even had the ship ready for launch.

"You call yourselves a Launch Team you have to be the slowest in the Galaxy!" yelled Itachi as the Launch Team tried to ignore his ranting and raving.

"We're done sir when your.." the Launch Team started to say but before they were finished they heard.

"Itachi Uchiha ready for launch." Itachi said as he was already in the cockpit ready to go.

"Go ahead Itachi." the Launch Team sighed as Itachi launched

"For Taldryan!!" yelled Itachi as he soared into the growing battle outside of the Katarn

"Now to find something to do." thought Itachi as he saw a TIE fighter come at him.

"You think you can beat me in that junk heap." laughed Itachi as he did a Barrel Roll to avoid the TIE's attack then opened fire on it and destroyed it.

"Well that was easy" thought Itachi as his Adrenaline l got going and he was just itching for a fight.

"That one looks good." thought Itachi as he saw an A-wing just below him he dived and got on the poor mans six o'clock and blasted away like there was no tomorrow.

"Now that I'm warmed up now what can I do." laughed Itachi

"Uchiha back in formation." yelled Gob as he took out a TIE.

"Yes, sir" said Itachi as he joined the others in the formation.

“Sorry it took me so long, we couldn’t find enough…” Anga came to a sudden stop as she looked up and saw the medical personnel standing in a long, straight line with Bubbles glaring at them. She glanced around and saw that the medical ward was clean and organized, the tools were all sterilized and gleaming. Anga could not figure out why everyone was so tense. Bubbles gave Anga a look that spoke volumes then turned back to the medics while Anga stood behind her.

“It has come to my attention that this medical ward is suffering from lack of organization. There seems to be no rhyme or reason for this. We need to get going quickly and smoothly, so listen up…” Bubbles began handing out assignments to the weary staff, they seemed somewhat relieved to have someone who knew what she was doing take control of the situation.

Anga was assigned the duty of patching up the minor injuries while Bubbles was conducting the more advanced procedures. Several orderlies were assigned to assist them, while others had the tasks of moving patients and cleaning instruments. Anga washed her hands, rolled up the sleeves of her inner robes and began stitching up cuts on the first patient. As she made neat little stitches in the man’s face, Anga sent her husband a telepathic message asking what was happening.
“Shar, what do we know about the situation?”

“Nothing, other than Tarentum seems to be coming at us with weapons loaded. Our fighters are getting into position to do battle right now. I need to go help the others right now. I’ll get in touch with you later.” Sharad’s mind was on other things, and knowing his wife was safe and busy he got busy.

Anga had finished seewing up the man's wound and began setting the arm of a young woman who had been caught in the corridor when the Vong had breached the hull. She was lucky, she had a few bruises, a broken arm and some broken ribs but at least she was alive.

The young Elomin Guardian walked the halls of the Katarn, searching for anything to do. He hadn’t been assigned any specific duties this time around, which he saw as an insult. So instead of complaining about his lack of work, he set off to find his own. He ran past the hall that led to the medical bay, not even considering aiding the dying.

Maybe I should borrow a fighter… Figzer thought to himself. He had been in nearly every fray since the beginning of this war and was sure he could come in handy now. No, if they needed me, I’d have been assigned to a ship. Instead, he hadn’t been assigned anywhere.

The Elomin made his way to the nearest lift. He was sure someone on the bridge could assign him something. Making his way out of the lift and towards the bridge, Figzer noticed the lack of personnel that he had assumed would be everywhere right now. No time to think about that now. As he neared the door to the bridge, the inexperienced Guardian tried to make himself appearable. He straightened his robes, attempted to hide the annoyance on his face, and stepped up to the door so that it would whoosh open. It didn’t. The Sergeant took a few steps back, then walked calmly towards the door again. It remained closed. Stretching out with the Force, Figzer felt around the door to make sure it wasn’t for some reason jammed. He knew a thing or two about this kind of machinery, and could feel nothing wrong with it. Frustrated, the Elomin walked toward the door so that his nose brushed against the cold metal surface. He felt a rush of energy that didn’t come from himself, then the door opened too quickly to see from his angle.

Duga Arkarso stood only a meter away from the flustered Guardian, arms crossed with an annoyed look upon man’s face.

“We have nothing for you to do here, Journeyman,” came the cold answer to Figzer’s unspoken question.

“There has to be something I can do around here, um, sir.” Figzer had never formally met anyone this high up on the command chain, and didn’t want to sound like he was making the commands.

“We have too much to worry about, Figzer. I don’t have the time or patience to make you do anything. If I assign you somewhere, I’ll have to send a message to wherever you’re going and tell them what you’re doing there. I will also have to keep an eye on you, for if you make a mistake, there is a possibility it will come back on me, which is something I really don’t need right now,” Duga seemed calm now. It seemed he almost enjoyed telling the Guardian that he wasn’t worth his time. Maybe it relieved some of the pressures he was going through right now.

“Yes, Consul. I understand,” Figzer bowed low, then turned sharply to make his way back to the lift.

“Sergeant,” came a call from behind. “I won’t assign you anywhere, but that doesn’t mean you can’t do things on your own. You command a battle team, you’ve survived everything we’ve been through, and you can fly. You have a number of options open to you. Take advantage of them.”

Figzer turned around to look Duga in the eye. What he had just said gave the Elomin encouragement, but he wasn’t sure he was making sense of what the Consul meant.

“Sir, are you saying that I should, without permission…” Figzer didn’t have time to finish. The Primarch simply gave a curious smile, then waved the doors closed.

Running toward the nearest hangar bay, Figzer decided that Duga had, in fact, told him to act without permission. Hopefully there would be an operable fighter left.

A lone fighter entered the furball, the deadly lights flashing off it’s dotted and scarred hull as it quickly weaved a path through the melee, making a straight line for the planet below. The Elder at the controls gripped them firmly, his eyes half-closed as he saw a pattern through the chaos, finding the cleanest path to his destination.

As the fighting thinned out a stray laser bolt slammed into one of the engines, the fighter buckling as Halcyon willed the craft to stay together. The Eta-2 slammed into the upper atmosphere, alarms blaring inside the cockpit as flames encircled the craft, the force tearing at the already weakened craft.

Rokir’s faced was covered in sweat, his hair matted down as he wrestled with the controls, watching as plating came flying off the fighter as a wing was sheared off. The fighter flashes through the cloud-cover, the Master’s eyes seeing the ground come up quickly as flames continued to lick just outside. The Dark Hall went flying below, his destination up further ahead.

The engines finally gave way, smoke now filling the small cockpit. Seeing the structure coming up the Sith ejected from the craft, tossed up into the air as the fighter turned into a fireball and went careening into the side of the large building. In only a torn flightsuit, Halcyon had no parachute as he flew through the air. Eyes now fully closed, he did what he could to slow his descent, pushing down on the ground below as he came crashing down, slamming into the stone roof.

The Combat Master had no idea how long he had been out, but a familiar stench brought his eyes open, the dull eyes of a Stennes glowering over him with a cigar between his lips.

Alanna's shuttle reached its destination. As the Praetorian opened its doors to them, she reached out with her mind.

--Sklib, I've arrived--

--Alanna! Excellent, please join me on the bridge--

Thanking her pilot, who looked a little surprised at the gesture from a Dark Jedi, she stepped down out of the shuttle and onto the deck. The Praetorian looked much more practical a ship than the Katarn, many of its workstations operated by droids thereby freeing up the troops and the Jedi for combat. Exiting the hangar deck, Alanna consulted an information point on the wall for a map of the ship and quickly worked out how to reach the bridge.

The corridors of ships vary very little from one to another, and so Alanna's mind wandered whilst she walked. Battle Meditation... certainly Tarentum's fleet would be doing this too, but she thought her clan outweighed them in numbers of Krath equites and elders, and certainly in skill.

Two guards stood to either side of the entrance to the bridge. One flicked a glance towards her, obviously uncertain who she was. He made the correct decision to remain stationary as she passed.

"Sklib, where do you need me?"

"Alanna, excellent," He smiled as she entered and gestured to a member of staff, "You, find the Jedi Mistress a chair and bring it to the bridge." Turning back to Alanna he enquired, "I hope you don't mind a bit of concentrated Force play?"

"When have I ever?" she smiled. "Do we have any other Krath on board who might be joining me?"

Sklib frowned as he turned around to face his old mentor, Alanna. “Unfortunately no, I'm the only 'trained' Force-sensitive on this ship; that's the core reason I invited you,” he joked sarcastically.

Alanna grinned, and slowly walked to the chair the officer had placed before her, and laid her hands on the tip of it. “It's always a change of pace when your former student is now your leader...” she whispered just loud enough for Hel-Pa to hear. The Quaestor did not respond, and left the solitary chair and the Master to do her job. The former Krath Priestess had a strong connection with the Force, greater than most. Sklib was a warrior, taking more interest to draw blood from an enemy than ponder literature in a library.

“I'll leave you here, then. Good luck, and may the Force be with you.”

Alanna smiled again and shook her head, a wisp of hair falling over her face, “So cliché, but same to you.” She brushed the hair back over her ear and closed her eyes, letting the Force flow through her as she began her intensive Battle Meditation.

The Captain's Executive Officer hollered over the chatter of other officers and deckhands, “Sir! Our fighters have engaged with the enemy's! Estimated thirty seconds until the Praetorian is in firing range.”

“Cut the engines, transfer all power to shields and weapons! Split it fifty fifty. All turbolasers fire, fire, fire!” he bellowed to the officers on the bridge. The echo of the lasers rang through the ship as the large streaks of green created a spray of deathly artillery. “Target those interceptors!” he cried as a squad of A-9's could be spotted approaching rapidly toward the bridge. Suicide fighters...? A pair of green streaks ripped through two ships, one of them colliding into a third as the fighters spun wildly toward the medical bay.

“TIE Defenders have scored a few hits off the starboard valve!”

“Amplify shields! Draw power from the port weapons and direct into the shields, do it now!”

The bridge vibrated violently as a lone TIE crashed into a part of the ship about 100 meters away, a few deck officers falling out of their chairs and clambering back up to their stations. The Praetorian was in good shape still, and the crew had already downed several Tarentae Interceptors, things were going well. He could only assume due to Alanna's deep meditation.

Shadow stepped through the blastdoors into the command center of the aging Destroyer, his eyes quickly finding the Consul who appeared to be glued to the holographic projections shimmering in and out of focus. He surveyed the rest of the room and immediately noticed the absence of the Grand Master, who had barely left the bridge in the last four days. Perplexed, Shadow walked by the scurrying soldiers, pilots and technicians to Duga’s right side. The Primarch nodded briefly at his arrival, but otherwise failed to acknowledge him. Something was obviously wrong.

“Duga,” Shadow addressed the man by name, the Taldrya having long ago abstained from the niceties of protocol. “Why isn’t Jac here? Tarentum is about to rain hell down upon us and he’s not here?”

Duga finally glanced up from the tactical display, scanning the Adept’s eyes for no more than a second, then returning back to the display. “The Grand Master has… retired… to his quarters.” The bitterness in the word retired was blatantly obvious.

Shadow, sensing the undercurrent of tension in the Consul, just nodded quietly and walked back towards the blast doors. He would get to the bottom of this. It was unlike Jac to just up and ditch the Clan in its moment of need. And they surely needed him now. From his brief look at the holographic image he could see that Tarentum was ripping through the aged Taldryan starfighters and they still had a functional Victory-class Star Destroyer at their disposal. That Jac would leave now just added to the anger already stirring in the Adept. Anger over the Vong. Anger over Tarentum. The Brotherhood as they knew it was about to be eradicated and it seemed that no one could do anything to stop it.
_____________________

The enemy TIE Defender took several direct laser hits, smoke and flames billowing from its left fuselage. The aggressive fighter spun briefly out of control before exploding in a ball of blue, the ion engine shredding the ship into deadly pieces of debris. Two of the Interceptors trailing the enemy fighter were consumed by the small blaze, while the remainder of the squad pulled hard six to avoid the wreckage.

Tarentum’s pincer attack was proving to be very effective against the heavily damaged Taldryan fleet. Already the enemy capital ships had started firing on the Praetorian; the Assault Frigate was taking heavy damage from both turbolasers and Missile Boat barrages. The Quaestor of Ektrosis was valiantly trying to keep his ship fighting, while the Lady Alanna focused her power into manipulating the tides of battle.

A heavy blast hit the port side. “Where the hell did that come from,” Sklib asked trying to steady himself. Thus far the Tarentum fleet had maintained a presense on only the port side of the vessel. Another blast rocked the ship, more crewmembers falling to the ground. “Balance the shields! What’s firing at us?” The Quaestor was frantically shouting commands to the bridge officers.
_____________________

Shadow angrily lifted his hand to the cabin door and forced it open with a fist of telekinesis. The Grand Master spun around, having been hunched over a desk focusing on something. Shadow stalked into the room glaring at the old man before him.

“Taldryan is about to be wiped off the face of the galaxy and you decide it’s time for a rest?” He bellowed at Cotelin, clearly unimpressed at the former Consul’s lack of support.

Jac’s face twisted in rage as he took several steps towards the Adept. “This is not the battle we were meant to fight.” He gestured wildly at a viewport that encapsulated the distant battle. “Instead of working together the Clans have thrown away any hope of the DB for avarice.”

“And that’s reason to avoid the battle at hand?” Shadow demanded.

“Don’t press me, Shadow. This course of action has terrible repercussions for us all. And, while we jump into battle over wounded pride and egotism, the Vong will step in behind to shred us to pieces.”

“Coward,” the Adept hissed. Suddenly he was flying through the air, Jac throwing him with the Force into the cabin wall. He hit with a grunt, and attempted to counter the attack. Jac’s power, however, was far too immense for the Adept to handle.

Invisible fingers slipped slowly around his neck, tightening vice-like as the Grand Master walked to within two steps of the Obelisk. Shadow was struggling to break the grip, but Jac just watched with fire in his eyes. Seconds past in complete silence. Suddenly, the Grand Master’s features went slack and his powerful grip on Shadow relaxed, dropping the Adept to the floor.

“What--?”

But Cotelin cut him off with a glare and cocked his head to the side as though he was listening to the air. After a moment he returned his gaze to Shadow’s and spoke softly. “Naga Sadow has exited the Shroud with what remains of their forces.” His glare sharpened. “They have just launched on attack on both us and the Tarentae.”

“So, you're not very talkative today,” Swiper motioned at the R2 rolling alongside him.

“Beep, beep, beep,” R2-69 buzzed back at Swiper.

“Yeah, I know. It sucks but hey, Chaos told me before he left for the hangar bay that he needed this turbolaser repaired and he needed an experienced Jedi, blah, blah. You know him.”

Swiper walked unevenly as he lugged his toolbox at his side heading towards the starboard side of the ship. “So many damn tools... wait a second R2.” Swiper stopped and kneeled down and opened his toolbox and started moving a couple tools around.

“Bleep, bleep, beep – beep,” the R2 unit said.

“Yeah, no. Everything is okay, I just had to make sure I grabbed my fusioncutter, for some reason I thought I left it on the bench.”

“Beeeeep,” the R2 replied.

“Okay, lets keep going, I told Chaos I'd have this fixed as soon as possible!” Swiper commented, moving a little more briskly now. He and the droid rolled up on a panel that had already been opened where the turbolaser was damaged.
“Ah, here we are, R2,” Swiper said as he slammed his toolbox on the ground and stood in front of the damaged console. “I wish people wouldn't try to fix things they didn't know how to do, eh R2?” Swiper said as he rolled his eyes at his little companion. “Look at that, they wired this back wrong.” Swiper said as he started cutting and soldering wires back to correct locations. “R2, can you mess with that capacitor down there while I work on this?”

“Beep… beep” the droid replied as it rolled closer and started working below Swiper. The Exarch grabbed his aforementioned fusion cutter and continued working away.

Itachi had been doing what he could piloting his Eta-2 and he was actually having a fun time shooting down whoever he could.

"Ha ha take that you dumb X-wing I showed you ha ha sigh I must be one of those people who get a hoot out of blowing things up... I don't care about that right now just need to keep a level head." Itachi said as he looked around and saw another fleet coming for them.

"This is Duga to all Taldryan pilots Naga Sadow has just come out of the Shroud and has started attacking both fleets divide up so you can handle both fleets at one time." Duga told everyone telepathically.

"So 3 fleets all fighting each other in a free for all well that should be fun now let’s get this party started!" yelled Itachi as he went with Gob's squad to fight the Sadow fleet. The fleet was now like this with the Katarn in the middle surrounded by the rest of the capital ships with a few fighter squads back to cover them. Coming from the right flank were the Sadow and from the left flank Tarentum with the fighters squads divided almost evenly so they could attack both fleets and protect the Taldryan fleet.

"Fresh meat!" yelled Itachi as he downed a Y-wing and then dove and shot down an Interceptor laughing the whole time.

"Man I need a psych evaluation." thought Itachi as they continued to hammer on both clans hoping to drive them back before a Vong fleet showed up.

Just Shadow was informed of the new development by the Grand Master, the CON’s question was answered by a stunned sensory technician.

“Sir, those blasts! They came from Naga Sadow ships! They’re attacking Us AND Tarentum!”

Duga took a deep breath and closed his eyes before making his announcement to the Clan.
“Attention all hands, attention all hands. Naga Sadow forces have just exited the Shroud and have begun attacking the Tarentum and Taldryan fleet.”

~*~*~*~

In the medical bay Anga and Bubbles glanced at each other and sighed. With a groan of exhaustion and a bit of despair the Dark Jedi Knight finished suturing a deep gash in a Jedi Hunter’s scalp. She then quickly called the medical staff together and ordered those without critical patients to begin preparations for the new wave of casualties that were sure to come.

There were few left who needed medical attention and Anga knew that the medical droids and Bubbles were better able to take care of them. She wished that they had time to take a rest, after more than 48 hours without sleep she was barely able to stand on her own two feet, but she had to begin doing inventory of the supplies that were left in the medical bay. Anga was willing to bet that the other medical facilities in the Clan’s fleet were as depleted as that on the Dark Seraphim.

“Too bad we can’t just land, we’re so close to Antei as it is!” Anga muttered to herself.

“I can’t believe that this war has expanded so that instead of fighting one enemy, we will now have to fight three of them!” Bubbles said from behind her back, causing Anga to jump.

Together Anga and Bubbles sent the last of the mildly injured on their way and prepared beds to receive those who would come. When they were done, they sat down on the bed and began to meditate in order to ready themselves.

Ace looked at the incoming fleet. “Great, another enemy, seeing this the other clans that come out of the Shroud are probably going to get in the fight too, and I don’t even want to think about what would happen if the Vong come, which they will cause that is just the day we have been having.” The pilot thought to himself barely paying attention to the battle all around him.

“Oh crap.” Andryan said as Tar fighter was hit and nearly crashed into him.

Ace punched it and rolled out of the way of the on coming ship.

“I have to be more careful.” Ace said to himself.

Looking at the battle it didn’t seem good, the Tarentae fighters were breaking through the Taldrya fighters and now the fighters from Naga Sadow would be joining them.

“I hope I make it through this.” The Sith thought to himself.

It wasn’t that Andryan was afraid of death; it is just that he still had so much that he wanted to do with his life.

Ace locked onto a TIE Defender and shot it down. “I am doing alright but I could be doing better, Tar has lost a lot of it’s fighter but so have we. They are still making it through, some of their capital ships are firing at the Praetorian, We are going to get [Expletive Deleted F-word]ed up.” The Jedi Hunter thought as he destroyed yet another Tarentae fighter.

“Queldom behind you!” Came a voice over the comm. link that sounded like Vardar.

And sure enough just a second after Andryan heard that he heard blaster fire from behind him and then his ship vibrated violently.

“Damn it, I should have been paying more attention!” Ace yelled, angry at himself.

“Are you alright?” Asked Gob’s voice telepathically.

“Yeah…I need to be careful though, another hit like that and I’m dead” Ace replied.

Keirdagh surveyed the scene in front of his eyes from the bridge of the Dark Seraphim, and could not help but let out a guttural burst of laughter. The damned insane fools would be the death of everyone, and the supposed tactical genius of Oberst was the reason behind it. Even had they been left alone, the odds of defeating the Vong were not high, now that egomaniacal son of a bitch had launched the Brotherhood into a vengeful war against itself, and costing the best chance they had left. "If it means I get to Oberst's head floating in the void before I go though, so be it" Keirdagh muttered beneath his breath. There was a time and a place for flitting around the sky in a fighter, and despite Keirdagh's skill in such matters, he was also a seasoned Fleet Commander, and if you really wanted to inflict pain on people, you used the biggest guns you had available to you.

With the destruction of the Dark Prophet, the flag of Taldryan's Vigilance Battlegroup had been transferred to the Seraphim, and that meant even now, on it's flanks sat the Leviathan, Ravager, and Sinister. Stepping up next to the ships Captain, Keirdagh looked toward his communications officer and started barking out orders. "Contact the battlegroup, form up into bastion formation, and then set course to put us right across the bow of Wandering Soul. Recall whats left of Telaris and Valyorm Squadrons, and have them form up behind us, using us as a shield. When we exchange broadsides, I want them to break formation with us, loop behind our formation and engage the Wandering Soul in our After Arc. Order the Sinister and Ravager to concentrate their attack patterns in our forward arc... and then you're to hold the Seraphim and Leviathan directly in that bastard's path until it's blown out of the sky!" The crew sat silently for a moment, staring at the new commander of their vessel. "NOW!" screamed Keirdagh, and the momentary lull was broken, as the crew began issuing orders and battening down hatches in preparation of full capital ship engagement.

Gobhainn was headed back to the Katarn. Tyran Squadron had done what he had meant for it to do; they had destroyed all of Tarentum’s Missile Boats and two Escort Shuttles as well. But it had come at a heavy price; nine of the original twelve ARC-170s that had comprised Tyran were little more than debris and bodies drifting through the battle. Even his own ship was out of the battle; he had taken a hit from a concussion missile while trying to dodge a second missile. It had slain his gunner and his co-pilot and destroyed his main cannons. Only his piloting skills and the work of the R4 droid were keeping the ship flying at all.

Tarentum’s fighter had mostly been decimated. There was an A-Wing or two and some Star Wings still out there trying to dodge what remained of Archanis’ fighters. They had managed to take out the largest threats though, not a single ship remained of Tarentum’s Tie Defenders, Missile Boats or X-Wings. A few enemy fighters had gotten through, to be sure, but those had been dispatched by the capital ships’ own defenses.


They had also encountered four B-Wings and destroyed them; it was the B-wings that had destroyed Tyran Squadron. Only when a flight of Eta’s had joined the fracas had they been able to turn the table on the heavy bombers. Now Gobhainn was taking his flight out of the fight; none of the three ARCs was undamaged, though neither the other two were not as badly torn up as his own. There was no sense in continuing to fight in damaged ships. With Tarentum’s fighters’ gone, it would come down to the turbolasers of the capital ships competing against each other and Taldryan would win that match.

Just as Sgath was leaving the warzone, his sensors showed eight new capital ships entering the conflict and he received the Consul’s telepathic message about Naga Sadow joining the fray. Cursing violently, the knight gave his fighter the last bit of throttle that it could handle. He had no choice but to get to the Katarn now.

Gobhainn opened a channel on his com and hailed the Katarn.

“Katarn, this is Tyran One. Ready Hangar Two; Tyran Squadron is coming in hot.

Prepare the Scimitars of Cotelin Squadron. I’ll need five more people beside the six I have, but we’re going to go right back out and end this debacle.”

The frustrated knight then hailed Sith Warrior Vardar

“Vardar, I’d suggest that you get some of the others and get to the Suppresor. Things just got a little hotter here and we could use those TIE Hunters she has sitting in her Hangar. I’m going after the Scimitars.”

Chaos reigned in the vast stretch of space above the planet Antei, as the three Clans of the Brotherhood sought to wipe one another from the face of the galaxy once and for all. Lasers, red and green, shot forth from fighter and capital ship alike, while blue ion cannons aimed to disable craft for later capture. And, amidst all the streaks of fire screamed the ever-launching warheads, which soared through space towards their targets, damaging or destroying ships with each new volley. Debris from all the wrecked ships were becoming as much of an obstacle as the asteroids they had all left behind in the Shroud. Already several unwary fighters had had their lives cut short by flying straight into the shattered hull of the various shuttles and fighters.

Aboard his flagship, the Venator-class Star Destroyer Katarn, Primarch Duga Arkarso watched as the tide of battle shifted in favor from first one Clan to the other, never a clear victor in sight. Behind him the comm chatter continued unceasing. The sounds of deaths, of successful strikes, of prayers and violent oaths permeated the bridge of the Destroyer, adding to the muffled sounds of the constant turbolaser fire. The mighty ship rocked with each explosion that marked the near-hit of a proton torpedo.

The Consul’s face was set with bitter determination as members of his command staff listed their casualties. The report that the worst of the Tarentae fighters had been destroyed was greatly tempered by what it had cost them. Just under half of their Eta-2 Interceptors had been destroyed along with an entire wing of the aging V-Wing starfighters.

“Sir,” a panting Lieutenant sprinted down the walkway towards him, sweat soaking his face like a fine mist.

“What is it?” Duga demanded as the young man slid to a stop only a few feet away. He could already tell the news would not be good.

“It’s the Outcast, sir,” he said referring to the Clan’s only gunship. “It took heavy hull damage from the enemy Missile Boats’s advanced concussion missile barrage. I…” the man was stuttering now, “I’m afraid the ship has been destroyed, my Lord.”

Duga immediately turned back to the projector showing a holographic view of the ongoing battle. He hadn’t even felt it. He hadn’t even felt the loss of one of his capital ships to those damned Tarentae. There was just so much going on that even the destruction of a valuable warship had slipped through the cracks, undetected but from the lack of return communication.

“What are we doing?” The Consul whispered aloud to himself, horror filling his gaze as more starfighters burst into flames before the grand viewport of the Katarn. The Captain standing next to him dismissed the Lieutenant with a curt nod and returned to giving commands at the Primarch’s behest.

In the distance, the Dark Seraphim was gathering together the Vigilance Battlegroup. Keirdagh, Duga thought, as he felt the Dark Jedi Master order the entire Battlegroup towards the Sadow Strike Cruiser, Wandering Soul. The vessels formed up with the Dreadnaught taking the fore and the shielded Interceptors of Telaris and Valorym squadrons slipping into the wake of the Vibre-class Assault Cruisers. It was a desperate gamble, the Consul thought, but he knew if anyone in the Clan could pull it off it would be Keirdagh Cantor.

Itachi was busy dodging enemy fire when he heard that the Outcast had been destroyed.

"Damn we lost another ship I swear some one is going to pay for all this!" Itachi yelled as he did a dive to get below the Katarn in order to destroy some of the fighters below. He locked on to an X-wing and decided that he was the man who was going to pay for all this by becoming one with the force. Itachi rained fire on that X-wing like there was no tomorrow and destroyed it.

"Well good thing I got that out of my system now I have a level head." thought Itachi as he let his senses kick in and his Adrenaline got pumped up. He then thought of everything that had happened in the pst few days and began to get Angry and he lost his cool. Then at that very moment a Tie-Defender got on his tail and started firing at him and got a hit. Itachi had an angry look on his face that could have killed the pilot if he saw him.

"I'll kill you, you Bastard!!"yelled Itachi as he began messing with his controls and the Eta-2 fighter dropped under the Defender and at that same moment cut the engine for one second then back on then up and he was right on the poor man’s tail.

"TAKE THIS!!!" yelled Itachi as he shot off one of the three wings and it started to spin.

"NOW I'll finish you!!" yelled Itachi as he opened fire once more and destroyed the TIE defender. A few seconds after that an X-wing got on his tail.

"You fool you can't hit me" yelled Itachi as he spun upward and let the X-wing pass the got on his Six.

"I am the last member of the Uchiha Clan and a Guardian in Clan Taldryan you thought you could win!!" yelled Itachi as he unleashed everything he had on the poor X-wing and destroyed it. Right after that a TIE Avenger got on him.

"You all bring it on I am Itachi Uchiha and you don't have a hope in this galaxy to defeat me." he yelled once more as he did a barrel roll then braked let the TIE pass and blew it up.

"Uchiha calm yourself you are not thinking stright!." yelled Gob as Itachi almost charged into the pack of starfighters. He managed to pull up at the last second and once more messing with his controls boosted a fast as he could back to the Taldryan defense parameter.
He was breathing hard as he calmed down in the back of the ranks.

"The last time I had a rage that bad was.." Itachi thought back to his past and sighed he knew he only had one moment in his life when his rage was that bad.

"When I killed my family." thought Itachi as he slowly began crying in his cockpit remembering the horrible thing he had done in his childhood.

"I better go join the others.” Thought Itachi as he raced back to the frontline shaking off the bad memories the only thing he need to focuse on now was the battle.

Chaos winced as the Gunship Outcast ripped itself apart in a brilliant explosion just a kilometer from the Suppressor. Captain Vordin's plan had been going well until the gunship had been destroyed; Tarentum's initial assault had been stopped, leaving Taldryan in a good position to finish off the stubborn Clan. Of course we just had to witness the height of stupidity today, Chaos thought darkly. Clan Naga Sadow was moving in to engage both Taldryan and Tarentum throwing the battle into a whole new realm.

"Guns, more power to the starboard turbolasers! I want that Marauder Corvette out of this fight now!" yelled captain Altuso, commanding officer of the B-2 Frigate. Chaos noticed that the strain of battle was starting to show on the young ship captain. The Obelisk Prelate closed his eyes in concentration for a moment, trying to calm down the captain. He's due for early retirement, that's for sure ...

Chaos watched the Suppressor exchange fire with the Anubis, Tarentum's Marauder-class Corvette, while dozens of starfighters blasted around the larger ships like insects. It was a frantic battle of Jedi versus Jedi and while they, Taldryan, would probably win the engagement, Chaos wondered how much they would pay for their victory.

"Tarentum gunships entering the fray, captain," came a shout from the small crew pit. Chaos and Captain Altuso looked up to see two Corellian DP-20 Gunships overtake the Anubis and begin to spray fire at the Suppressor and its starfighter escorts. A large blast rocked the frigate causing Altuso to fall to the deck.

"Damage report!" yelled Chaos, ignoring Altuso.

"Hull breach in the port wing pylon!"

"Seal it off, reinforce the shields over there, and someone get Sklib on the line and tell him to get the Praetorian back over here!" Chaos said coldly, crossing his arms. Panic was starting to sink in and he had to do everything in his power to prevent that.

"Assault Frigate Praetorian is two minutes out, My Lord!" yelled the Ensign in charge of communications. "All of their systems are at full power and they're coming in hot!"

Chaos nodded and turned towards the small bridge view port. Things were looking very dark and with Naga Sadow about to bring down their hammer, it was impossible to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

If the Vong emerged from the Shroud during this fight it would all be over ... and no one would be left to save what remained of the Dark Jedi Brotherhood.

= = = = = = = = = = =
Antei Combat Centre
= = = = = = = = = = =

“Done destroyin’ the place?”

Halcyon blinked back the pain, focusing on the grey form standing over him. Gingerly rising to his feet he saw the smoke that billowed out from the one side of the Combat Centre, the fighter’s explosion managing to gut a portion of the ancient structure.

“Least of the problems right now”, Rokir answered, pushing his sore and tired body passed the smaller man as he strode towards the entrance to the facility.

“Where the hell are ya goin’?” Dalthid yelled out, anger evident in his voice as his hands moved towards the two hilts that dangled from his waist.

The human pivoted on his heel quickly, emerald hilt in hand as he stared down the Stennes, “We’ve been invaded, the Clans are at war and the invaders are nearly at our doorstep. Help me or leave me alone. I will put you down otherwise”.

Dalthid blinked twice, Halcyon’s voice never rising, but the force behind the words clearly evident. Without waiting for a word Rokir shoved the images of the last few days into the former Combat Master’s head, giving him first hand experience with what they were dealing with and why he was here. Satisfied he turned back around, long strides taking him to the entrance and inside the Combat Centre.

Not too far behind he could hear the footsteps of the older man coming closer, the cigar fumes now wafting into the building as he quickly made his way to his side.

“Where d’we begin?”

As Ace rolled out of the way of the next volley of attacks from the A_Wing on his tail he cut his engines expecting to see the A-Wing move blindly in front of him and then be able to take that bastard out but Andryan didn’t see anything but debris that he had before.

It took a moment in Ace’s head to register that the A-Wing also must have cut it engines and be behind him. Unfortunately by the time the Sith had realized this and started to accelerate the Tar fighter had already sent another volley of blaster bolts.

Ace used his piloting skills to avoid most of the attack but he took a second too long to turn and has hit hard in the left wing of his ship. “Damn, these freaking A-Wing own this battle if it is one to one.” Andryan thought to himself.

Just as the A-Wing made it’s round for the finishing attack on the crippled ship Ace hit the throttle and stopped in an area clear of enemies. Not even paying attention to the seemingly hundreds of voices on the comm. link asking if he was alright.

Queldom looked for the nearest ship to land in before the Tarentum fighters came in for an attack run. “Were should I be able to get too fast enough, the Katarn is too far away, Tar hitting the Praetorian and the Suppressor hard and I though I heard the Outcast was destroyed…” Andryan thought to himself knowing that there wasn’t much time until he was going to be a target for the bastards that care more about a petty rivalry than the survival of the brotherhood again. “Hmm…the Dark Seraphim is close, I guess I don’t really have a choice.” With that decided Ace turned his smoking ship around and headed straight for the Dark Seraphim.

“Dark Seraphim, this is Andryan “Ace” Queldom, I have been hit badly and need to land in your hangar.” Andryan said.

“Ok, be careful we have some fighters in there and we have the sealed bodies.” A man’s voice replied.

Ace was having a hard time keeping the interceptor steady and straight, “Well this should be interesting.” He thought to himself.

Trying to slow down as he reached the hangar he found that he had miss calculated the time it would take for the ship to slow down and came in too fast. Ace jerked the ship to the right to try to avoid the ships in the hangar but that didn’t work, as the old Interceptor made a noise worse than nails on a chalkboard as it slide across the hangar Andryan could see the crew diving out of the way. Ace kicked open the fighter and jumped out just before it crashed into the casket holding the bodies sending them fliying in every direction.

"Oh crap." Ace said to himself.

“Ahh…damn it!” Ace heard one of the techs say.

Before Andryan could turn around to see the tech that said that he saw the tech's head drop to the floor.

"What the hell is going on in here! Anga yelled angrily into Ace's ear.

"Ow, don't be so loud." Andryan said.

"I'll be loud now since we have to get a new casket and put all the bodies back in it!"

"I'm sorry."

"Damn it, i have never killed anyone like that before, it was actually kinda cool."

"...ok..." Ace said frightened because of his lack of a saber.

"Why are you here?" Anga asked as she approached Ace in a now calm voice

“Well my ship is damaged and I need a new one.” He replied.

“Hmm, there are some ships over there.” Anga said.

“Ok.”

"Why are you here, in the hangar?" Andryan asked.

"Well...I needed to move around some." The Krath replied.

"Oh, ok."

Andryan walked away from Anga to a TIE Interceptor. “This should do, it has good shields, weaponry, and it is pretty maneuverable.” Ace thought to him self.

“Hey, you, get this ship ready to take off.” The Sith said to one of the tech.

“Yes, sir.”

It didn’t take long for the TIE Interceptor to be readied for battle, once it was ready Ace took off without doing a pre-flight check, “I would like to do one but there just isn’t time” The Jedi Hunter thought to himself.

Once Andryan was out of the Dark Seraphim he flipped one the comm. channel for the Telaris squad.

“Hey, I’m joining up with you all.”

“Ahh, I’m hit.” The squad leader said ignoring Ace.

Just a second after that the three Tar Interceptors that had hit the squad leader hit him again making his ship exploded.

“That’s great.” Andryan said over the comm. link.

After a couple of minutes it seemed that no one was going to step up to be the squad’s leader and knowing that it wouldn’t be long until the squad became unorganized and soon would be picked off one by one Ace decided to tale charge.

“Alright, that was screwed up, since that happened I’m taking over, none of you, everyone got that?” Ace said over the comm. link.

“Yes, yeah.” He heard the squad say in response.

“Alright, we will do better if we from up behind VACs, the Ravager and the Sinister.” The Sith commanded.

The Squad did as he said, “It would seem that we are moving pretty fast, I want to be ready for whatever Yacks and all of those leaders have planned.” Ace thought to himself

And sure enough Ace heard a voice that he didn’t know.

“This is Yacks to all people in battleteam Vigilance; we have finally come to broadside the enemy's Strike Cruiser, the Wandering Soul.

Telaris was entirely focused. Despite his heightened senses and awareness, he stood rigid, his eyes closed. He was on the bridge of the Katarn, but off to the side such that no one even passed very close to him. He did not hear when someone delivered a report to Duga that the Suppressor was taking heavy damage. Telaris, however, did not hear the message, and in truth, he did not need to.

His attention was focused on meditation, though a more apt description may have been that it was split by battle meditation. He was reaching out, guiding pilots and captains, adjusting courses. Momentarily his attention shifted to the fighters defending the Suppressor, then to the gunners aboard the B-2 Frigate. A gunner aimed, then fired at the Anubis. Telaris' influence did not linger long on the ship, as he was forced from his meditation by a communication from Duga.

His Consul had not spoken, nor moved. He had interrupted Telaris' meditation with a telepathic message that stated simply, Battlegroup Vigilance. Duga had known what Telaris was doing, and he was directing the Dark Prophet to where he felt his aid was needed most. Telaris gazed out the viewport and noticed the Dark Seraphim leading the battlegroup. He quickly closed his eyes, focusing on the Modified Dreadnought. His old friend Keirdagh was commanding the ship as it plowed through enemy lines.

Inhaling deeply, Telaris returned to his meditation, lending himself to the Dark Seraphim and the rest of the battlegroup. If they were to live through this day, they would need all the help they could get.

Keirdagh watched as the formation he sat at the head of waded into a sea of turbolaser fire. "Steady gentlemen... they're ranging shots... wait till ours will actually hurt them" he cautioned to the weapons and sensor techs. Squinting his eyes, Keirdagh felt the subtle change that fell over his crew when under the influence of battle meditation. He even felt it himself, the distractions of his mind calmed, the understanding of his fellows heightened, the insights granted to him by the force more poignant... it was a wonderful thing, and extremely helpful in the chaotic hell that was battle.

He nodded as a full powered turbolaser washed across the deflectors in front of him. The captain of the Wandering Soul had found the range, though he didn't seem to know it yet. "Fire! Full cascade pattern, rake his bow as we cross him!" In sequence, the guns of the mighty Dreadnaught Battle Cruiser lit up, sending terajoules of energy sizzling in at the enemy Strike Cruiser. Hitting one wave after another, the cruisers bow shields were systematically destroyed, never having given the chance to recover from one salvo. Keirdagh was rewarded with seeing black marks begin to char, and peel away armor plates on the Tarentum vessel.

Just as the Dark Seraphim came amidships to the Tarentum Cruiser, Keirdagh put the rest of his desperate plan into action. Hitting his comm unit he shouted "Leviathan, Ravager, Sinister.. continue forward and loop into the Soul's port sector and concentrate fire against his reactor core. Telaris and Valyorm Squadrons are to loop behind us, and start pounding away at their Starboard weapons clusters... keep the bastards honest!" As soon as he finished barking orders, the Wandering Soul struck back, and a wave of it's own energy bit into the Seraphim's hull. "Helmsman, keep us directly in front of the bastard, keep him pointing right at our belly... begin axial roll, maintain solid shields in between us and him."

So far the plan had worked, being barraged from three sides quickly worked the shields on the Strike Cruiser down into a critical state, and the captain of the Tarentum vessel knew he was in dire straights. The sensor officer yelled out from the pits, the same moment Keirdagh felt the Tarentum commander switch his thoughts to retreat. "Captain, Wandering Soul is maneuvering starboard, he looks to be engaging the starfighters directly and ignoring us." The gamble had truly worked, and the prey was taking the bait. By deliberately only leaving starfighters to attack his starboard flank, the Captain of the Wandering Soul saw it as his easiest escape route.

Nodding to himself, he looked at the communications station. "That's the signal, send the Vibre's in." Utilizing their special characteristics, the Vibre Class Assault Cruisers Ravager and Sinister shot in on the now unprotected aft of the Tarentum shuttle and performed a combat breach maneuver using the cutting lasers around their docking bays. Normally used to disgorge stormtroopers into a hostile ship, the troopers aboard Taldryan's picket ships had a different job. After only three short minutes, the Vibre's detached themselves from the hull of the Wandering Soul and reformed with the Leviathan.

"Master Cantor, the Commandos report success."

"Excellent... order Vigilance to withdraw to a safer distance, but keep the Soul within range of our guns... we don't want them to suspect that anything is up, after all..." However it didn't appear that the Strike Cruiser thought too much about anything, except fleeing the trap it had walked into. Another minute passed, and suddenly, the Strike Cruiser's aft section flared and ballooned out, the reactor core going nova. The explosive charges that the Vibre's assault commando's had put on the reactor cooling lines in the aft section had blown a minute previously. Without coolant, and without shutting down the reactor whilst under Keirdagh's guns, the Captain had gambled that his reactor would hold, and he had lost.

Nodding grimly, and taking in the scenes around him, celebrations would come later. Now, there was still a battle to be fought. "Reform Vigilance into Bastion Formation, and start driving us towards the Katarn. Request orders and engage targets of opportunity until we get them."

Vladet Xavier grimaced as another one of his wingmen was killed. He had led his impromptu squadron into the thick of the initial battle with Tarentum's forces and it had not been going so well. Tarentum's pride is going to kill us all!

Talon Squadron was down to seven starfighters from its original twelve. Vlad was leading the squadron in his shielded TIE Interceptor while seven other pilots flew Eta-2 Interceptors. The remaining four ships were Scimitar Assault Bombers and it was Vlad's job to escort these bombers around the battle and let the impressive ships unload their massive payloads. So far the Scimitars had caused several Tarentum capital ships to break off from the fighting and withdraw back to their main fleet and now with Naga Sadow closing in fast, Vlad figured it was time to let the other ignorant Clan pay.

"Alright, men, let's head towards that Naga Sadow Frigate. Form up on me," Vlad said, turning towards the incoming enemy fleet. "Range to target, Nine?"

"Four minutes," replied a gruff voice with a heavy accent. "Keep us safe and we'll vent her atmosphere real good."

"Understood, Nine. We got you covered."

Diverting power from his weapons, Vladet fed the excess energy into his engines as he shot past the Scimitar Assault Bombers along with the handful of Eta-2 Interceptors left in his squadron. Vladet could start to see the finer details of the Nebulan B Frigate Foresight as his squadron moved in closer.

"I have new contacts launching from the Foresight, Lead!" shouted Talon Four in a voice slightly more shaky than Vlad liked. "Sensors report six A-Wings and a dozen standard TIE Fighters."

"I see it, Four. Let's buy our bombers some more time, shall we?"

Vladet could physically see the new starfighters launch from the Frigate's hangar as he shook his head. There was little chance his squadron of mixed fighters could stand up to this new threat, but there was little choice in the matter. They had to buy more time for the rest of the fleet.

Outnumbered but never out gunned, he reminded himself.

= = = = = = = = = = =
Antei Combat Centre
= = = = = = = = = = =

“How many are still left in the Centre?”

“Coupla techs an’ maint’nance folks, but no staff”.

Halcyon nodded to himself, turning another corner as he came upon his new office. Without stopping he entered, seeing boxes and other materials strewn about.

“Tryin’ ta clean up before ya got here”, Dalthid commented from behind, standing by the doors. Resigning from his long-time post as Combat Master, the older Dark Master had returned to Antei before the Rite of Supremacy ceremonies, intent of departing before his replacement came in. Times dictated differently, the two veterans once more having to work together.

Rokir seated himself at the desk, quickly calling up the communications, “All personnel, evacuate immediately. The Combat Centre is shut down for the immediate future”. Shutting down the communications, the emerald-haired man leaned back in the chair, pressing his fingers together as he looked at the Stennes, “I assume all passcodes are still in your possession?”

“Didn’t get the chance ta change ‘em yet”.
“We need the crystal”.

A sour look crossed the old man’s face, a small scowl following as he seemed to chew on the cigar even harder, the stench growing stronger in the enclosed space. “D’we really need to do this?”

“You know what I’ve seen”.
“Ya think it’ll get there?”
“Can’t take the chance”.

Another scowl came form Dalthid’s face, “Hate this sorcery crap”.

Halcyon only shrugged his shoulder, watching as the former Combat Master walked to a corner of the room, his hands moving over the wall, a small click coming from where his hands where. A panel opened up, the Stennes reaching in and pulling out an opaque crystal, the milky-white object a perfect sphere that contrasted sharply with the large, calloused hands.

Halcyon’s eyes were half-closed, concentrating within himself and gathering to him his own energies. Dalthid placed the object carefully upon the desk, taking a seat himself.

The laws of the Antei Combat Centre were not that of the mortal world. Long ago, the former Oracle had mapped the forces that were contained within the ancient walls, describing the powers that this force exerted upon those within. This was why there were no deaths during combat. The medical facility can heal the body, but the essence of life was held by a more powerful force, its whims currently coinciding with the needs of the Combat Centre.

The Oracle had however left devices that would ensure the cooperation of this force, such a device now sitting between the two Master’s. Halcyon briefly opened his eyes, looking at Dalthid and mentally prodding him. With an unsatisfied grunt Dalthid allowed his own eyes to close, following suit with Halcyon. The two Elder’s began a series of phrases, ones memorized as a last resort. As they spoke they could feel the Centre tremble before them, a wail of pain running through the halls.

Their voices never wavering, the wail grew louder, the room itself gusting with sudden winds, yet neither Master nor the object moved from where they were. With a final, deafening cry the wailing stopped, a sudden flash of blinding light filled the room as it all exploded.

As the dust cleared, the Master’s were still seated, their immediate area untouched by the explosion. Before them the jewel was still on the desk, although now ebony in colour. Rokir reached over, palming the object and carefully slipping it into a pocket. Slowly rising to his feet, he took a quick look around the room, “Sorry about the mess”.

Without waiting the human quickly made his way out, leaving Dalthid to salvage what he could.

Shadow adjusted the two gleaming metal hilts at his belt, while looking around the crowded troop transport at the battle-hardened special ops team and the few Jedi Duga had been able to spare for the venture. Both Benevolent Whiner and Sharad Hett were resting on their haunches, ignoring the soldiers and concentrating on the immediate presence of enemy ships. Laser fire, deflected by the ships shields, rocked the transport every few minutes as their pilot weaved throughout the chaotic battle. Soon they’d arrive at their target – the Victory I-class Star Destroyer Corsair.

The crouching Adept suddenly jumped to his feet and pushed through the soldiers towards the cockpit. “Pilot,” he screamed. “Pull up and bank left. NOW!” The man immediately complied, him and his co-pilot quickly tapping the controls.

Shadow was nearly jerked from his feet as the transport spun in the air. A split-second after Sharad had given the command, a warhead exploded a mere hundred meters away, deflected by the telekinetic powers of the Adept who had sensed the projectile. The resulting energy wave rocked the shuttle, causing a brief fluctuation in their shields, but it quickly subsided.

“Close one,” Benevolent muttered still crouched in the same position he had been in since they departed. He was completely unfazed, only mildly annoyed at the bumpiness of the ride.
______________________

Warning sirens flared throughout the bridge of the Suppressor, as the crew valiantly tried to repair the damaged hull and escape the devastating attack of Tarentum’s twin Gunships. Heavy turbolaser fire ripped into the Frigate’s shields, while concussion missiles pounded into the already severely damaged hull. Damage reports were being updated every twenty seconds, one officer delivering his report before the other had even finished.

“Enough,” Chaosrain bellowed at the gathered officers. “Things are bad, but we need to hold this line as long as we can.” The officers awaited his command, while Captain Altuso looked on, already prepared for the worst. Chaos spun around to stare at the holographic projection of the battle and nodded. “Turn hard to port, shields double front. I want the rest drained into the aft turbolasers.” The Obelisk Prelate slammed his fist onto the console before him. “If we’re going down I want to take both those bastards with us. Concentrate the aft guns on the Havoc. Captain Altuso?”

“Yes, my Lord?”

“Increase speed: full throttle. Let us give the Suppressor one last bit of glory before its put to rest.” The officers ran off to the barking orders of their Captain who had remained behind with the Proconsul. He stood silently for a moment listening to the distant sounds of thunder, warheads and laser fire rebounding off of shields and ships.

“Sir,” the young Captain began. “Do you have a plan to escape this madness?” The man already knew the answer. He had worked far too long with these Dark Jedi to not know it.

“Oh yes, Captain. I’m afraid only one commander has to go down with this ship.” Chaos replied calmly. “And… I wouldn’t bet on it being me. You know what to do.”

“Yes, my lord.” Captain Altuso saluted. He did indeed know. He had known since he signed on to this crew. He knew it was his duty to sacrifice himself in order to protect the Clan. And now, his time had finally come.
______________________

“Faster, damnit. They’re being torn to shreds,” Hel-Pa Sklib roared towards the viewport of the Assault Frigate. Not far away, less than two minutes in fact, he could see the Suppressor being bombarded by two Corellian Gunships. Warheads rained down upon the ship’s hull blasting off fragments of the thick durasteel plates. If only we had been closer, he thought hopelessly to himself.

“It’s too late,” a serene female voice came from behind him. Lady Alanna walked slowly from the shadows to stand beside the Quaestor. “Chaos has chosen his path. We must act now before we are cut in that hellstorm.”

Sklib stared at her in horror before twisting back round to watch as the Frigate shifted directions, barreling towards one of the gunships, while firing solely on the other. This wasn’t going to end well for the Suppressor.

“They’re buying us time,” he announced to the bridge crew. “Let’s put it to good use. Reverse thrusters, equalize our shields and get us back to the rest of the fleet.” The orders were acted upon before the last word had left his mouth. In silence, with the Dark Jedi Mistress by his side, Sklib said a silent farewell to the Nebulan B2 Frigate.
______________________

The three Jedi members of the strike team all sat bolt up, feeling the strange disturbance at the same time. The pilot called back to them not even a second later to confirm what they had felt. The Suppressor had just rammed full speed into one of the enemy’s capital ships, destroying them both.

“Contact the Katarn, I want to know what the hell just happened,” Shadow demanded as he pushed his way into the cockpit.

“Sir,” the pilot replied looking blankly at the control panel before him. “I can’t. All communications just died as I was getting the report.” He fiddled with different dials for a second but could produce no more than a thick static. “We’re cut off from the rest of the fleet.”

Shadow stared out into the blackness of space as they closed in on the heavily engaged Destroyer. If this had been some power of the Tarentae they would have used it long before now. He had a bad feeling, and the fact that he couldn’t sense what was wrong spoke volumes about who could be behind it.

“We need to move fast. Get us aboard that ship before the Vong wipe us all out.” The Adept demanded.

The pilot blinked in surprise. “The Vong? They’re here?!”

Shadow stared at the man with cold, hazel eyes. “Oh yes. They’ve found us.”

Gobhainn clenched his jaw as he made the transition from the Katarn’s gravity to the zero-g of space. He did not like bombers. While he knew that the bulky ships had their role in combat, the knight hated their lack of maneuverability and speed. Yet here he was taking one of the two remaining Scimitars out into the chaos that was exploding over Antei.

His ARC-170 was out of the fight having been badly damaged by a missle, yet Sgath was not going to stand by aboard the Katarn while the tides of insanity tried to wash Taldryan from the universe. His life had been destroyed once, by the New Republic, He was not going to sit still and let the idiocy of the other clans destroy the life he had built upon the ashes of his family. So now he and an naval trooper were strapped into a flying coffin with a load of eight heavy rockets and were about to shove Tarentum’s and Naga Sadow’s mutual stupidity right back down their throats.

At least this box has shields, Gobhainn thought. I might actually have a chance of coming back alive.

Sgath knew his target even as he launched; Tarentum’s Escort Carrier Anubis. Although it had disgorged its complement of fighters, it still carried its stockpile of fuel and weapons, allowing it to resupply Tarentum’s fighters as they used up their ordinance in the battle. Sgath planned on eliminating those supplies.

Addressing his co-pilot/bombardier, Gobhainn explained his tactics as they cleared the shadow of the Katarn.

“Lieutenant, we are going after the Anubis. Escort Carriers have ten laser cannons an one missile launcher; decent defenses against a typical starfighter assault. However these defenses are anchored around defending the flanks and its hangar. It has a gap in its defenses on its aft keel, just in front of its engine nozzles. I’m going to bring us in from behind and below; when we are point two-five click from the hull, I want you to empty all tubes in as tight of a cluster as you can manage. Even if the rockets fail to breach the shields, the concussion should still damage the reactor and engines and lead to an explosive overload.”

“Yes, sir” the junior officer replied. “We‘ll take the Tarentum down a notch.”

Only if we’re lucky, Gobhainn thought, but we are going to hurt them.

The knight had just isolated his target on his sensors and set himself on his approach when he felt the death of the Suppressor in the Force.

Bane’s Blood! Not another one. We’re running out of capital ships. Sgath cursed to himself.

The knight adjusted his course so that he was actually leaving the combat zone; he did not want to be engaging and dodging starfighters all the way to his target.

At last ht swung the Scimitar into a clear approach on the belly of the Anubis. Resetting his LTS for maximum speed, Sgath charge the Tarentum vessel. He could hear the targeting computer give the initial lock tone, but they were too far out. The rockets would have to be released at near point blank range to avoid laser interception. Even now the two belly turrets of the carrier were firing, trying to get a sequence on the rapidly approaching bomber. Sgath put the scimitar into a spiraling roll and continued his approach.

Dodging lasers, the Sith continued his drive on the vulnerable belly of the Tarentum ship. Suddenly he had reached the fire zone.

“Fire” he commanded as he also activated the bombers twin lasers to help weaken the Anubis’ shields.

The bomber shuddered as four pairs of rockets were actuated and launched from the bay in sequence. Sgath pulled hard on the yoke to pull the scimitar from the blast radius, all the while continuing to strafe the Anubis with laser fire. Seconds later a shockwave sent the bomber spinning, tumbling out into open space.

It took a few moments to get the Scimitar back under control. When he had control, Sgath angled the ship back to look at the damage. The Anubis had a series of impact marks on her keel and Sgath was sure he saw venting gases.

“Report!” Gobhainn demanded of his co-pilot.

“Sensors show five direct impacts on the hull; severe structural damage; venting atmosphere and coolant gas. Radiation output critical and rising. It appears that we rupture the reactor containment. She’s dead even if she doesn’t implode.” The lieutenant replyed.

As the junior officer completed, a fountain of superheated gases erupted from the crack in the keel and the Anubis ‘ aft quarter split and broke away from the rest of the ship.

Sgath smiled. “It’s dead alright” he said.

Suddenly the smile was torn from his face as he received a telepathic message; the very one he had been dreading.

*Clan Plagueis has arrived and they’ve brought the Vong with them*

Gobhainn set his course to return to the Katarn.

“Were going back to the Katarn. We can’t do anything out here now but die.” He told his co-pilot in an angry hiss..

"Sir?"

"What is it, Ensign?" Captain Vordin asked, turning around to face the young communications chief. It must have been serious, whatever it was, because crew pit members never left the pit. He debated telling Ensign Carter this little fact, but held back the reprimand. Hopefully there will be time later ...

"Sir," the Ensign began, looking nervous. "All communications are down, Captain."

What? Vordin shook his head. "Impossible, Ensign. Maybe there's just been a malfunction. Reset the system if you need to."

Ensign Carter swallowed the knot in his throat. "We tried that, sir. All ship-to-ship communications in the fleet are down. We've tried everything, sir."

Vordin turned to Taldryan's Consul, seeking an explanation. These Jedi always know what's going on, it seems.

"The Suppressor is going down," Duga said softly, still staring out the view port.

Vordin walked up beside the Consul and looked out towards the distant battle. He could make out the B-2 Frigate slugging it out with two smaller ships while numerous starfighters buzzed around the battle. While he could not make out damage from this observation, he knew that the limited return fire and the lack of shield flashes meant that the frigate was taking a beating.

"Projection: Suppressor," he said firmly, turning around towards the tactical holo-projector behind him. Immediately a three-dimensional representation of the Suppressor displayed itself, showing extensive battle damage. "Zoom out," Vordin muttered. The image blinked off for a second before refreshing to show the area around the frigate.

"The frigate is currently fighting a pair of Gunships, My Lord," Vordin said, staring at the holo. "There is no hope of saving it at this point," he sighed. Captain Vordin had seen a lot of death and destruction in his extensive military service. Even so, every time a ship under his command had been destroyed he couldn't help but get a little emotional. Not everyone appreciated just how many people a capital ship could hold and even though virtually every cruiser had escape pods, military crews rarely abandoned their posts before they went down.

"There it goes," Duga said flatly, pointing at the holo.

Vordin watched as flames and explosions ripped across the entire hull of the B-2 frigate. Every running light switched off at once as the Suppressor lost all control and began its death roll. But before the fire consumed the entire ship, the frigate fired off one last salvo of turbolaser fire into one of the surrounding Tarentum gunships. The smaller gunship exploded, spraying debris everywhere.

"Doesn't seem like a fair trade,' Vordin sighed.

The Suppressor looked like it was about to finally break apart until a small burst from the engines sent it slightly to port. Duga and Vordin watched as the remaining Tarentum gunship tried to get away but it was too late - the B-2 frigate lurched towards it until it exploded just meters from the other capital ship. The shock wave of the explosion slammed into the Gunship, buckling its remaining shields and crumpling armor plates, leaving it to drift in space. Seconds later a pair of Taldryan starfighters swooped in and finished off what was left of the Gunship with a small barrage of concussion missiles.

"For Taldyran," Duga muttered, turning back towards the view port. He did not sense anything from Chaos, his Proconsul. It seemed as if the Prelate had not made it off in time. The battle still raged on, with no clear victor in sight.

The Grand Master mused to himself in his quarters, the battle raging on without him. Jac has made the conscious decision – the right decision – not to engage directly in this battle and thereby dramatically alter its potential outcome. He was well aware of what Shadow had come to say to him but Jac had more important things to think of than just the well being of Taldryan alone. The Grand Master had to think of the Brotherhood and what this battle meant to it as a whole. The Vong were the true enemy – not those pretentious fools from Naga Sadow and Tarentum.

Deep in the back of Jac’s mind, his essence slowly fading as the entire ordeal carried on, some life yet remained in Syn Kaek’s soul. The Adept had been losing power as Jac’s focus on maintaining his existence waned. Both of them had realized long ago that Kaek could not last forever in this condition but there had not yet been anytime to resolve the situation. It may have already been too late for him anyways. Still, Kaek was of a different opinion than Jac about the ongoing battle and he was most definitely going to express that opinion to his cohabitant.

“Jac,” Kaek started, his tone giving away his intentions.

“I don’t want to hear it, Kaek, I have my reasons for making this decision,” Jac replied mentally. There was a beat of silence and then Kaek resumed.

“I can read your thoughts so I know just as well as you do what your beliefs are but do you honestly think that’s significant at a time like this? The Vong are here Jac! They’re destroying us and everything around us.” He paused. Jac said nothing

“Jac, this is irresponsible,” Kaek continued, “You know that your powers could turn this battle in our favor. We have the ability to not only wipe out the Vong but also to destroy some of our rivals – who cares about the overall power of the Brotherhood! We’re in this for ourselves: we’re selfish. We don’t—,”

Jac cut the Adept off. “Kaek, I understand how you feel but now is not the time. To engage Naga Sadow and Tarentum in battle right now along with the Vong would be disastrous for other reasons and you know very well what I mean. I will hold back – but Taldryan is strong enough to do what needs to be done without me.”

Kaek sneered in the back of his mind – Jac’s mind for all that it mattered. “If you would believe Tarentum’s nonsense about their ‘great military leadership’ you’d assume that they too should have no problems.”

Jac smiled. “They shouldn’t have any problems – but not against us. It would almost be like pulling the wings off a fly if I were to involve myself in this.”

“Nevertheless, Jac,” Kaek continued, “How you can sit here and ignore our battle with the Vong…I cannot agree with your course of action.”

Jac shrugged. “There is little you can do about it in your current state.”

Another pause.

“Speaking of which and seeing as I am not going to be able to persuade you otherwise, have you any thoughts on how to rectify my current situation?” the Adept asked hopefully, Jac’s words stinging his pride.

“I have an idea, but we must wait until this conflict is over. I hope you can stay anchored to me for that long,” Jac replied.

Silenced resumed its control over the room. Kaek did not want to think of what would happen if he couldn’t.

Taldryan's fleet slowly closed around the Katarn, a defensive formation designed to repel the coming attack from all sides. Tarentum, Naga Sadow... and now the Yuuzhan Vong. Keirdagh's Battlegroup Vigilance had extended itself deep within the enemy fleets, but was fighting it's way back into formation with the rest of Taldryan. As such, Telaris' attention was focused on bringing the wayward battlegroup 'home.'

Fighters dodged and weaved, avoiding laser fire from both Naga Sadow and Tarentum ships. They had all known the Vong would arrive soon, but they had not known it would be in the middle of the battle... and the Consuls of all the clans were too busy fighting one another to properly dedicate themselves to repelling the attacks of the invaders. The main forces of the Yuuzhan Vong closed on the Brotherhood's rear, lead by the Miid Ro'ik No Peace, literally devouring the vessels of the 'heathens' as it went.

Another force of Vong drove through the middle of the Brotherhood fray lead by the Matalok Cruiser Perfect Agony. The angle of their cut was such that Keirdagh was headed straight into them. Telaris, still helping to direct the combined forces of the battlegroup, sensed the lack of Force where the Vong force was attacking, but had no way to change the direction of Vigilance's return to the Katarn. Furthermore, if they reversed their movement, they risked being caught in the Vong's pincer movement that would likely trap the majority of the Brotherhood's fleets.

Telaris focused himself on the task at hand. He guided the smaller ships of the Vigilance battlegroup, nudging a pilot here or there to dodge laser fire, while directing the pilots of the larger ships to maximize their efforts. If Keirdagh's battlegroup was fast, there would be limited time in which they would be directly vulnerable to the Vong warships. They could use the Tarentum fleet currently battering the Katarn's battlegroup as “cover.”

As Telaris' influence guided the battlegroup onward, he noticed a single enemy fighter practically pulled away from incoming laser blasts at the last second. Had he been capable of doing so while meditating, it would have caused him to blink. Instead, he payed little attention as the fighter resumed it's attack run and was quickly destroyed by a barrage of laser fire.

Then another peculiarity. This time, a Taldryan benefactor. An interceptor banked away from incoming laser fire, then barrel rolled to avoid a second enemy burst, only to find itself rolling head first into the remnants of some destroyed capital ship. Before Telaris could reach out and “nudge” the pilot in such a way to abort his maneuver, the ship was jostled off course, sent spinning harmlessly back towards the center of the battlegroup. Someone else was at work guiding the ships in the fray.

Telaris momentarily broke his battle meditation, focusing his attention instead on the battle itself. Here and there, he noticed the effects of the enemy clan's battle meditation... then noticed something far greater, and far more powerful. This was beyond the scope of any within the Clans, except perhaps Jac... and there was no activity from Jac's quarters.

As Telaris watched a ship near the edges of the massive Brotherhood engagement get thrown off course and away from an incoming attack from a Yuuzhan Vong ship, his focus widened even further. It was then that he sensed one that would be capable of what he was witnessing... it was then that he saw that there was another player who had just entered the stage over Antei.

“Sarin,” Telaris spoke aloud. The Grand Master had returned to his throne... and he had brought powerful 'friends.'

Itachi had become tired and wanted this fight to come to an end but sure enough fate was not with him today. As the Vong fleet pulled out Itachi shouted every curse word he knew but began to calm down.

"So now the Vong are in this fight well now we are in some big trouble." thought Itachi as he circled around the Katarn get a big picture of the battlefield which he had become tired of seeing.

"Let’s just hope some help gets here soon." sighed Itachi as he knew that was not going to happen for some time. The battle was now out of hand fighters dodged laser fire only to end up hitting another ship.

"I have never seen a battle of this scale before." thought Itachi as it was a free for all with five fleets playing one another. Itachi had been dodging fire doing his best to avoid getting hit this went on for some time before he saw a ship that had not been there ten minutes ago.

"Thats Sarins ships so has he come to support one of us?" thought Itachi, but as he was thinking this he got hit and bad if he did not get repairs soon then he would be a goner.

"This is Itachi Uchiha to the Katarn I’ve been hit badly and I'm coming in for repairs." said Itachi to the people in the Katarns hanger.

"Roger Itachi go ahead and land." they said as Itachi pulled into the hanger and got out of his Eta-2 starfighter.

"It's messed up bad sir you are going to have to sit the rest of this battle out cause all of the ships fighters are in use of destroyed right now." the Repair Crew Chief had told Itachi. At first he was pissed but he calmed down and walked to his room. He looked at his bed and fell down on it the tiredness had caught up to him and he let sleep take over knowing he had done all he could to help.

DAY SIX
VEN Katarn
Clan Taldryan Flagship
Antei System, Battle of Antei

The bridge had fallen into chaos. The most powerful, the most skilled the Brotherhood had to offer were at a loss as their communications had withered and died only moments ago. Every officer and Jedi aboard the ailing Venator Star Destroyer was frantically trying to restore communications. To bring their outlying ships back into contact with the Katarn, in the impossible hope that it would matter. Duga knew better than that. He already knew what everyone else knew but failed to accept. The Vong had returned to the system hot on the heels of Clan Plagueis. The fools had led the Vong straight to Antei, yet still Tarentum and Naga Sadow continued to bombard one another. The Vong didn’t even need their fleet. They could have just sat back on their own homeworld and waited for the Jedi to kill themselves. Everything had gone terribly wrong. Jac had been right, but then he usually was.

“Captain Vordin,” the Consul addressed the man who was constantly shouting a stream of commands, curses and prayers. He had been doing so since they had lost contact with the rest of the fleet, fearing that the worst had happened. Duga supposed that it had. “Our communications aren’t going to magically return. It’s the Vong.” The Captain stopped mid-sentence and spun towards the Primarch, who was now watching the distant flickers of laser fire, his holographic projector now emitting nothing but static. “Send our shuttles to the last known coordinates of any of our ships. I want them all to return to the Katarn. We only have one last chance to mount a proper defense, and we sure as hell can’t do it spread out across the system.”

Duga had left it clear that he would broker no argument and the Captain knew it. He nodded his acceptance of the new orders and hurried to relay them to his officers who would in turn relay it to the shuttle pilots. If they were lucky they would get the message sent before the Vong wiped them out completely and took Antei unopposed.

“Duga,” a shout sounded from behind him. He spun slowly to see Telaris Cantor rushing towards him. He looked his question at the Prophet. “It’s Sarin,” Mav explained, the recent stress of altering the course of battle was evident on the man’s face. “He’s slipped out of the Shroud with a fleet of ships.”

“A new fleet?” Duga asked stunned. Maybe they could turn the tide of battle. Maybe they could keep Antei from falling to the Vong. Maybe.
______________________

Daar Kareth rolled his V-Wing hard right, narrowly dodging the debris of what used to be a Tarentum capital ship. The Belaris Medium Cruiser had exploded without warning before he had managed to make his attack run. Now he was left to wonder how the cruiser had been suddenly split in two. He didn’t have to wonder long, though. Looming beyond the explosions was a massive vessel of alien design. The Vong. But this was a much bigger ship than what he had seen at the initial battle. What could it mean?

His sensors had long ago been damaged by an enemy starfighter leaving him to rely on information from his only surviving wingman. A squadron of TIE Defenders had taken out the rest of the squadron. The two of them had been lucky to escape at all, someone had been watching out for them, but they had continued on with the mission. If they failed, there’d be no chance for reprimand. Taldryan would be wiped out.

Daar made a quick pass over the other V-Wing, hoping to grab the other pilot’s attention. It worked, and immediately a stream of data passed between them. “Second enemy fleet,” was the only transmission he got. If only the man had been a Jedi they could have communicated with greater ease.

The Sith Commander let out an involuntary gasp. Behind the alien warship was a fleet that dwarfed the one they had fought outside the Shroud. From his vantage point he could see both Vong fleets converging as though he was the focal point. He managed to send a quick message, “Find the Katarn,” before pulling hard six and putting all power to his thrusters. As the V-Wing gathered speed, Daar reached out with the Force. He was a mere Journeyman member of the Clan, but fear gave him the strength he needed. Across the abyss between them, the Hunter touched the mind of his Consul. Behind him another ship lit up the sky with orange and blue flames. He only hoped Duga would hear his message.

The Combat Master never looked back, his path now a certainty. The bravado he had shown however was only a mask for his own internal unease, the choices he had made could very-well ruin all the progress that had been made in the Centre since the Exodus.

The weight of the crystal tugged at him, the presence inside pushing at its newfound boundaries, looking for an escape. Rokir was exhausted, the effort expended to perform the previous incantation made his head spin, his movements unsteady as the willed his body to the hanger.

The Master grumbled to himself as his eyes focused on the available craft, remember that they held only training craft, and nothing with weaponry or shielding. Mumbling a curse under his breath, he shuffled to the closest on, gingerly climbing inside and quickly getting the power running through the small fighter. With practiced ease he expertly lifted the craft off the ground, his free hand punching in the access codes, the hanger doors opening before him.

Without any further delay the Elder slammed the throttle forward, throwing the fighter forward and kicking it towards space. Making good time he burst into the chaotic battle, lasers and deadly projectiles racing around him. Instinct took over as he maneuvered around the debris that had quickly been accumulated while he was on the ground. He could make out a few of his Clan mate, but he was useless inside of the fighter, instead his gaze finding the Katarn nearby, banking the fighter around and headed for home port.

Alanna turned to Sklib, holding her hands together at her waist and speaking soft, in an almost monotonous tone; it was clear that she was relaying orders from someone... presumably Duga. “All ships retreat and regroup with the Katarn,” she quietly spoke, “this is urgent, set your course to your destination in the formation ASAP.” She shook her head violently, losing herself from her trance and looking into her Quaestor's eyes, awaiting for his response.


“Right,” he mumbled. “Captain!”


“Yes sir?”


“Increase shield and engine power, draw power from our weapons; we're going back to regroup with the rest of the Clan.”


“Right away, sir.”


The increasing roar of the Praetorian's shield generators could be dimly heard through the ship's interior, the crew frantically scrambling around to regroup with the Katarn and pump the shields up to maximum capacity. The Yuuzhan Vong were now firing at his ship, which had somehow miraculously survived this long in combat, all while in decent shape. Proconsul Chaosrain on the Suppresor had created enough of a distraction, and a shield, that the other capital ships spearheading the attack could retreat to the ranks of the rest of the Clan.


Alanna smirked as the prospect of rest and recuperation lingered; the battle meditation had taken much out of the Krath. Hel-Pa could sense her eagerness to return to the Clan's flagship and be with her other fellow comrades, but the Quaestor knew his place; right aboard the Praetorian. The Alanna and Sklib pair had proved to be a great factor in their ships survival, but unfortunately the battle they were retreating from would continue biting at their heels. Sklib turned to the large viewport on the bridge and thought to himself, “What could possibly follow this massive death and destruction?”

Alanna was looking forward to returning to the Katarn. It wasn't that she exactly minded being out in the middle of the battle on a ship that had lots of guns but few amenities, but rather that she'd always preferred to be out of the firing line. She liked to be the one with the trigger and the telescopic sights. She also had to admit to being dead tired. First shed had Jac's drain upon her Force energies and now some rather concentrated Battle Meditation; she could do with a stiff drink. It hadn't been all bad tho - making that Tarentum fighter 'dodge' into his comrade had definitely been a highlight that she would have to recount in the bar later.

She reflected that Sklib had comported himself rather well too. She would have to remember to mention it to Duga when this was all over. A former pupil of hers, he was a definite success story. He would make an excellent Elder one day... assuming he lived long enough.

The Praetorian took a small hit from a shuttle that had gotten a little to close for comfort. Alanna mentally slapped the pilot across the face with her telekinesis. In his surprise he didn't notice the cruisers turrets targetting him. It was his last mistake. Alanna smiled; men were too easily distracted.

"Sir, we are closing on the Katarn," a young man at a control pannel addressed to Sklib.

"Good, fall in alongside. Signal that we are entering formation," he replied.

Shadow watched as explosions wracked the capital ships near to their transport. The Vong had found them only moments ago and already the Brotherhood's forces were being decimated. The transport shuddered underfoot, rocked by the waves of debris from shattered starfighters. The shield generator whined under the stress of deflecting both laser bolts and bits of hull. They'd be damn lucky to get out of this mess, he thought.

His head turned towards the cockpit when the pilot shouted, "They've spotted us! Three fighters inbound." To his left, Sharad cursed, while to his right Benevolent merely prepared himself for the imminent attack. “Shields up, drawing power from guns to the engines.” The pilot informed them. “If you can do anything to help now is the time.”

Shadow doubted they could do much to help. They couldn’t even feel the Vong starfighters, though he could see the odd shaped, purple vessels streaking towards them. The protrusions on the outsides of the starfighters widened slightly and suddenly there were numerous streaks of flaming rock rapidly approaching them.

“Pull up!” Shadow yelled to the pilot. The man grunted as he pulled back on the control stick, forcing the transport into an upward dive. The first of the shots barely missed their engines, the close proximity creating turbulence, but of the second volley a few shots smashed across their flank. The shields crackled unable to do more than slow the flaming rocks before they crashed into the ship’s hull. The three Dark Jedi were instantly up and using the Force to hold the rest of the ship together, keeping it from tearing asunder before they reached the Katarn.

A capital ship nearby was torn apart by a combination of Brotherhood and Vong fighters sending fragments of durasteel plates blasting through space. Sharad, having felt the debris flying towards them, reached out with the Force and grasped for one of the larger chunks. Using its forward momentum, along with his own power, he managed to deflect the twisted metal piece into the path of the Vong fighters that were chasing them.

The starfighters veered off from the wall of durasteel. Shadow grabbed the co-pilot by the neck and turned the man to him. “Drain all powers from every other system into the engines. NOW!” The man rushed to comply causing the transport to pick up speed. The Destroyer loomed ahead of them, almost within reach, when a violent crack sounded from the engines. They hadn’t been able to hold the ship together long enough and now they were spiraling towards the Katarn at an impossible speed.

Halcyon had been given the clearance to proceed in, the hanger ominously empty as most of the fighters were still in the furball outside, fighting for their lives. He knew many wouldn’t make it back, if they even managed to survive the day.

Hopping out of the parked fighter, Rokir could see a number of technicians coming his way, shouting out questions as to the nature of the craft, but the Master only ignored him as he was wrapped up in his own thoughts. His feet took him into the corridor, down to the lift. Still lost in thought, he put in his destination, the crystal still active in his pocket. His mind focused as the doors opened, the noise of the bridge bringing him to the present.

Orders were being thrown around, a dazzling display of light occurring outside the viewport. Halcyon felt the floor beneath him pitch and shudder, another turbolaser blast finding it’s way through and slamming into the current Taldryan flagship. The Combat Master kept his balance, moving forward once more and into the heart of the command centre. His eyes briefly caught the flashing displays that he walked by, damage reports, ship locations and sensor details only a few of the vast amounts of information that was all around him.

The Consul felt the Elder’s presence, his head beginning to turn as the communications system suddenly came to life, overriding everything else.

“Brethern”, the voice of the Grand Master began, the sounds unmistakable to the former Deputy Grand Master, “We have failed, but in the providence of darkness, failure often proves an omen”…

“…There will be no counter-attack. Those of you who have heard the rumors of a new fleet, have heard correctly. But this fleet is not yet ready nor, I fear, are we ready or equal to the task of destroying this foe. You have fought the enemy well. Unfortunately, you have fought each other better…” Sarin’s voice penetrated the static on the Scimitar’s comm.. Gobhainn had been taken by surprise by the sound of the Grand Master’s voice when it had erupted from the Vong induced white noise. But he had miss most of the beginning as he was forced to dodge debris. Almost all of his concentration was on getting back to the Katarn alive and preferably in one piece.

When the Yuuzhan Vong had appeared, Gobhainn had cut all power to both lasers and shields and put everything to the engines; they were all but useless against the Vong anyway. He had just put the debris field between himself and the Vong interlopers when a second larger Vong fleet slid out of the Shroud. Although the ships were still a distance off, Gobhainn did not enjoy the prospect of being caught between the two alien fleets.
With the engines shuddering at double power output, the knight drove his fighter directly into the debris field. The debris would limit the range of those plasma –magma cannons and also require that vong starfighters slow down to navigate it. Of course the Scimitar’s top speed barely equaled that of a fighter so Sgath thought it was a fair trade.

Maneuvering towards the Katarn’s last position, Sgath laughed at the Grand Master’s last observation.

“If you had not hightailed it, the other clans might not have seen it as a chance to seize power”. Gobhainn muttered.

Gobhainn spotted the Katarn at the same moment that his co-pilot announced that he thought he saw four Vong Fighters trying to close on them.


The Scimitar cleared the Debris field and was about three clicks from the Katarn. However since he had cleared the field, Gobhainn knew that the Vong would clear it in moments as well.

“So it’s a race. Lieutenant, hold on! This is going to get wild” The Sith warned his companion.

Setting his craft once more into a spiraling roll, Gobhain added jinks in random directions and times. This was all he was able to do to prevent the tailing fighters from getting a clean shot. If he tried any thing more elaborate he would actually add to the distance he had to travel to reach the Katarn.

The Scimitar rocked as a sphere of magma clipped one of the ship’s radiator panels. Sgath immediately threw the bomber into a jink in that direction as most pilots would naturally pull away from the attack and could be anticipated. Sure enough, another sphere shot by him on the opposite side.

Reaching out with his mind, Sgath telepathically screamed someone, anyone to prep the Hangar for a crash landing. The knight was not going to slow down and wait on the Tractor beam to pull him in; he was coming in hot.

*I’d also appreciate it if some one could use a turbolaser to bet these pieces of rancor dung off my butt.*

No sooner had he finished when bolts of laserfire shot by him as he aimed for the hangar opening in the belly of the Katarn.

Moments later the Scimtar crashed through the hangar’s magnetic field. Without the tractor beam to support it and under the pressure of its own velocity, the bomber nosed into the hangar floor and started to twist and roll across the deck, followed closely by a single ball of magma that had been fired by a vong fighter a second before.

Sgath and his co-pilot were tossed around like ragdolls and were quickly rendered unconscious.

The ship went careening toward the Katarn’s hangar, bits of debris flying off the hull from their rapid descent. The Jedi didn’t have enough willpower left to hold it together and it was coming apart, fast. Sharad looked around the ship desperately, hoping something would jump out at him. Nothing did. He reached out with the Force to aid him, but nothing was forthcoming. He cursed when he saw his comrades were having the same luck. Shadow’s eyes lit up when an important point entered his mind that had entirely escaped him during the heat of the moment.

“Sharad, the Katarn has six tractor beams on it!” the Adept yelled to his friend. “You’re the stronger one in the Force, take care of it!”

Sharad breathed a sigh of relief as he reached out to the Katarn, searching for Duga’s presence on the bridge. He was getting no reading on life in the area, so his mind drifted slightly further. Damn!

“Duga, get back to the bridge and activate the tractor beams! We’re coming in fast and it’s the only way! Shadow, Ben, and I need your help now!” Sharad screamed into Duga’s mind.

“I can’t! I'm trying to coordinate the entire Clan to keep us from being wiped out," Duga retorted. "Figure something else out.” Duga muttered under his breath that Shadow was really more pain than he was worth.

Sharad cursed. He shifted his focus back to the bridge and wished he had paid more attention to his ship command training.

“You’ll have to walk me through the controls, Shadow,” Sharad shouted above the noise. “Duga’s being a pain and this is all we’ve got.”

“It’s been a while, but I think it’s the up-down type switches near the front.” Shadow replied.

Sharad grunted and prayed. As quickly as the distant telekinesis would allow, he activated the first tractor beam switch. A sudden jolt from the ship threw the three Taldryanites forward as they bashed their heads on various controls and smoke erupted from within. The ship threw its weight forward as it strained against the tug of the tractor beam that slowed its path. The transport slid across the hangar floor, objects flung aside and soldiers crushed underneath its path. After a hair-pulling amount of time, the shuttle finally grinded to a halt.

Ben, Shadow, and Sharad exited the craft in a trancelike state, barely conscious after the encounter. The pilot had died from the emergency landing, which the Dark Siders could care less about. A loud voice over the loudspeaker vaguely informed them that they were still alive. Medical personnel rushed to their sides before they promptly passed out and were taken away.

The speech from the Grand Master had been consuming the radios and intercoms of the Praetorian, all the soldiers and Dark Jedi of Clan Taldryan listening intently to the Dark Lord of the Sith's words. It was a sad day for the Brotherhood, the Vong had capitalized on the Clans' fighting amongst themselves and the devastation of the week-long battle searing a deep wound into the Brotherhood. Hel-Pa focused his attention back onto the Grand Master's sorrow speech, gathering the Grand Master's depressing words in his thoughts.

“The Final Way will continue, albeit in a new form. We will learn the lessons given here and grow stronger or die. That is the way of the Force,” Sklib heard Sarin speak. His eyes darted around the bridge, observing a few smiling faces of the ship's officers. There was still hope for the Brotherhood.

“Master Sklib, we've reached formation with the Katarn,” the Captain called out to the Templar.

He saw Alanna grin out of the corner of his eye, he could feel her want and desire to go back aboard the humongous ship. Hel-Pa replied to the Captain whom he had grown to respect over the last six days, “Very good. Prepare a shuttle for Lady Alanna, destination Katarn.”

“With pleasure,” he coolly replied. Alanna made a slight gesture at Sklib, a small bow as a formality more than anything. The Tarasin nodded his head as he watched the Master briskly exit the bridge and traverse down a corridor to the shuttle that awaited her.

“Consuls, you are directed to execute the Baraata Option immediately. I say again, execute the Baraata Option. As Grand Master of the Dark Jedi Brotherhood, I hereby order a full retreat from the Antei system.”

As Anga heard the Grand Master’s words her heart filled with despair and her mind with anger. Those bastards had put the entire Brotherhood in jeopardy to try and further their own positions within it. They didn’t care about the Brotherhood as a whole, they didn’t even care about their own lives, they just wanted power. Now, her husband was off in a transport headed away from her, she was freaked out a little.

Then Anga brought her head up and looked around at the people standing in the medical bay with her, and they all had the same stunned look on their faces, only it was turning into a puzzled look. She was sure they were all wondering just what exactly the Baraata Option was. Anga thought that whatever it was it had an ominous sound to it; it sent chills up and down her spine.

“Where do you think we’ll go, my lady?” an injured crewman asked Anga in a whisper.

“I don’t know, I can only hope that we head back to Kr’Tal. I can’t wait to see Taruma again.” Anga said to him, but didn’t finish her train of thought out loud… “I wonder if we’ll make it out of this alive, and if I’ll ever see Sharad again.”

“We’ll be fine, you’ll see.” Anga looked down at the man and then walked over to one of the portholes to look out at the fleet as it began to gather closer together.

Destroyer Bridge
VEN Katarn

“--I hereby order a full retreat from the Antei system.” The transmission continued unabated as the battle for Antei raged endlessly in the dark recesses of space. The crucial words would be a godsend to many, but Duga knew better. In reality the message was little more than a confirmation of their defeat; of the failure of their so-called Brotherhood. It had all been for naught. “We are leaving, gentlemen, and if you have vessels in proximity to Antei, get clear of the Autarch. End transmission.” So there it was. The final solution. And it had only cost them the lives of hundreds upon hundreds of Jedi and the stability of their fleets. All decimated before the might of their enemy.

Duga Taldrya Arkarso stood on the bridge of the Katarn, surrounded by people diligently working to keep their Clan alive, yet he had never felt more alone. None but Lord Cotelin would know what the command had meant and he was nowhere to be seen on the deck of the destroyer. Beside him stood Telaris Cantor who, though continuing is battle meditation efforts, had managed to listen to every word the Grand Master had said. A puzzled look crossed his face at the mention of the Baraata Option, but he understood the important parts. They had to flee.
______________________

Cockpit
Lambda-class Shuttle

Chaosrain was glad to have run into Werdna enroute to the Suppressor’s only shuttle. It had saved him from having to try his hand at flying through the turmoil of the ongoing battle. Behind them the frigate, along with two Tarentum gunships, were lighting up the battle, the Taldryan vessel having rammed into one enemy ship, while unloading a full payload on the other. They had barely managed to escape the devastation. The rest of the crew had not been so lucky.

The Prelate suddenly pitched forward as the shuttle’s shield took a powerful hit. He hadn’t felt anything in the Force, which he now knew to mean one thing.

“Vong,” Werdna said, looking down at the radar to see a number of oddly shaped fighters slip in behind them. He immediately doubled the energy to the aft shield, while twisting the ship in a wave pattern in the hopes of avoiding anymore direct shots. The gambit wasn’t very successful as the Vong fighters were closing in on either side of them.

Chaos twisted his head to the starboard viewport to see the purple-looking fighters streak by. But then, all of a sudden, they backed off. “What the hell just happened?” He demanded of the Krath at his side. But Werdna couldn’t answer. “Switch sensors to long-range,” Chaos demanded.

The radar flickered briefly then displayed a larger portion of the battle. Some distance away a large Vong capital ship began to expand outwards. They focused in on the scene until it appeared that the ship was expelling its innards into the cold vacuum of space. After a while it had stopped moving and just lay there, like a deceased whale.

“What?” Was all the Priest could say. Chaos shook his head in disbelief. Either it had been destroyed by the Brotherhood, highly unlikely from what he had seen, or it had destroyed itself… but that didn’t make any sense.

“Get us back to the Katarn before anything else happens,” Chaos commanded Werdna. The man looked annoyed at the command, but plotted their course anyway. Before they could get much farther a voice crackled to life over the speakers. A voice both Jedi recognized with ease.

“Brethren.”

Alanna's shuttle ride was surprisingly serene. She had expected to have to duck and weave around laserfire, maybe try and divert a couple of enemy pilots off course, produce some minor miracles and finally land the ship using only the power of her mind. The reality was that the enemy were too occupied with the Brotherhood's fighters to worry about her little transport crossing the relatively short distance, which it did uneventfully. She admitted to a slight disappointment as it docked peacefully with the Katarn.

Opening the transport door, the illusion of serenity vanished. The hangar was full of technicians running backwards and forwards, refuelling ships, helping injured pilots onto the floor, and making battle-repairs as the ships turned around to leave again. But Alanna noted with interest that fewer ships were attempting to leave again than were landing. The order must have been given to regroup; only a small number of craft would be left flying defence as the bulk of Taldryan's fighters returned to the Katarn.

Making her way quickly towards the bridge, she wondered how Duga felt about the order to retreat. 'Retreat' was one of those words that was easy to say, and yet so much more difficult to put into practice. For one, the enemy might have other ideas. For another... well, Dark Jedi weren't known for being cowards.

And what on earth was the Baraata Option? This was something of which Alanna knew nothing; and such things were relatively rare. She didn't like being in such a position.

Chaosrain and Werdna stepped off their shuttle, the only survivors of the Suppressor crew barring the pilots who were already out in their fighters, and were quickly swept up in the organised madness that was an overcrowded hanger bay.

“I must head to the bridge right away,” Chaos informed Werdna. The crowd of people seemed to part for Chaos as he walked out of the Hanger. No such luck for Werdna who decided to join in the hustle and bustle to see if he could lend a hand with any engineering. While not an engineer by trade, as a pilot Werdna liked to know everything about the craft that was supposed to be keeping him alive out in the vacuum of space, so stepped over to a heavily damaged TIE Hunter.

The TIE Hunter easily stood out of place because it too was a refugee from the Suppressor. The similarities were not lost on Werdna. It wasn’t just the fact that it was the Krath Priest’s previous ship, but he had always felt out of place in Taldryan. The black sheep.

Most of this was down to Werdna’s distant, self-serving nature. He could never understand how Dark Jedi, who are all about the self, could work with and respect others around them without any difficulty.

Such philosophies could easily be seen with the other clans opportunistically in-fighting to control a greater share of the Dark Brotherhood. With the Vong’s invasion this had proven disastrous, with this share of power being a fraction of ever decreasing value because no one could work together to defeat a common enemy.

For most Dark Jedi, these bonds are a weakness to be exploited.

Yet in Taldryan they are their greatest strength.

Gobhainn Sgath woke up in a red haze. Someone had dragged him from the wreckage of the Scimitar and he was laid out on the deck of the hangar. His helmet and visor had bee removed and the light stung his eyes. Rolling onto his side, the knight surveyed his surroundings. The crew had sprayed foam over both the Scimitar and the deck. Apparently a Vong fireball had followed him into the hangar, spraying the deck, several deckhands and the wrecked bomber with magma. There had been more casualties; there were medics tending people with severe burns and there were three figures underneath a tarp.

The knight turned the other direction and saw his copilot. The lieutenant was sitting with his back leaning against a bulkhead. Sgath guessed that from the way the man was holding his arm that it was broken. He also appeared to have some moderately severe burns.

Sgath tried to sit up but as he did so waves of agony shot through his left leg and a tight stretching and burning sensation spread across his back and arms. The only way the Sith was able to prevent himself from passing out was to allow himself to lie back and close his eyes to relax. The sensations quickly faded.

“So you’re awake; you shouldn’t be. You have enough anesthetics and narcotics in you to drop a Krayt.” Gobhaiin heard as he became aware of someone approaching him. Opening his eyes once more, he saw one of the medics who had been attending the other wounded now starting to kneel beside him.

“Actually you should be dead. You have third degree burns over forty-eight percent of your body, three broken ribs and a fractured tibia in your left leg. As soon as the fire doors release, we’re getting you into a bacta tank.”

“What happened?” Sgath asked the talkative medic.

“What happened? You tried to see if that Scimitar could do cartwheels across the hangar and you brought a present with you” The medic exclaimed. “You crushed two men and a third was immolated when that fireball crashed into the deck beside him.”

Sgath shook his head in denial; “No, I mean – What’s happening with the fleet? How is the battle going?”

The medic shook his head.

"I don't know. Thanks to you thies place has been kind of chaotic. Between your crash and the fireball the bridge sealed off this hangar until all threat of fire is removed. Something seems to be happening though; we can't get anyone to answer the interccomm.

You, however , don't need to worry about it. Whether you use that healing trance you Jedi have or rely on regular bacta, you're as much out of commission as that bomber. In fact it may be returned to active status before you.

Now relax and let those drugs do their job. I have other injured I have to deal with." the medic concluded

Sgath let his eyes close and his head and neck relax. Within moments he could feel the narcotics pulling him toward sleep.

For the majority of the bridge crew, Sarin's words meant little. Nothing had changed – yet – in the battle above Antei. The Vong were still mercilessly slaughtering the Brotherhood, and the Clans were still engaged in a ridiculous melee. To Consul Duga, however, it meant a great deal. He had never believed the Baraata Option would ever be necessary. Secretly, many consuls even scoffed at the notion.

Now, however, was the time to put it into effect.

“Captain,” Duga said, taking a few steps towards Tak Vordin.

The human turned, hurriedly bowing to the Consul. “Y-yes sir?”

“Take us out of here. All the way out. Order the line of sight comms to communicate the order to the rest of our fleet. Have them form up behind the Katarn. Take us to Kr'tal.”

Vordin blinked, but did not question the order. “Yes sir,” he said as he turned, moving quickly to one of the comm stations aboard the bridge. Communications had been switched to line of sight – using coordinated lights transmissions between vessels to relay instructions. Within moments, Taldryan fleets had been ordered into tactical retreat. Dark Jedi across the fleet passed along the message.

Within moments, the captain had his report, returning to Duga and addressing the Consul. “Leviathan and Darkstorm taking rear positions as we move out, sir. Dark Seraphim moving in behind us as we head towards the edge of the Shroud.”

Duga nodded his head, his gaze set out through one of the main bridge view ports. “Make sure we keep distance from the Autarch,” he remarked to Vordin. The man bowed, then returned to barking orders to the bridge crew.

As Taldryan put the Baraata Option into motion, Telaris listened, still meditating. Now more than ever, the fleet needed his concentration. Still, he was aware of what was going on around him, curious to learn what exactly was involved in the Baraata Option. Because of this, he noticed when the main bridge door opened. No one else seemed to. He also saw the figure step onto the bridge, give a look about, then proceed to walk towards Duga. He recognized who it was, but it made little impact on him at the time, as his attention was diverted elsewhere.

But when Duga turned, it made an impact on him. The Consul turned and froze in place, clearly astounded. He had just had what was likely to be the only 'good news' of the day walk right up to him.

As Chaosrain walked onto the bridge of the Katarn to find most of the people surprised to see him alive. The Proconsul then walked over to Duga to figure out what had happened while he was gone, but he was being questioned by his Consul before he could ask any question of his own.

“How are you alive?” asked the Consul.

“I took a shuttle off of the Suppressor. Luckily I ran into Werdna on the way to the shuttle or else I would probably still be trying to land in the hangar,” replied the Prelate.

“Good thing you did. Did anyone else escape?” asked the Primarch.

“Just the few that could make it to the ships and shuttles,” said the Taldrya.

“Oh,” this was all that Duga had to say.

“I heard Sarin’s announcement. I take it we can’t win this thing then?” Chaos said to Duga through the Force.

“We can’t,” replied the Consul.

“One loss won’t kill us,” the Prelate told Duga, “As long as the clan is together we can regain what was lost this week.”

“So what is the Baraata Option?” asked the Proconsul.

“Basically, everyone runs,” replied the Primarch.

“Oh. That isn’t nearly as cool as he made it sound,” Chaos said in a slightly saddened tone.

“Yeah, but it is the only real option we have, and I’ll not have the clan dying while I’m Consul,” Duga said.

“I guess,” the Proconsul said, “but at least we will be able to survive.”

“Yes, and then we can finish the others off,” said the Consul.

“Sir,” the Executive Officer of the Praetorian called out to to the Captain, “We're observing a visual light sequence coming from the Katarn.”

“Well... what does it say?” he replied in an eager tone.

The XO let his finger slide across his computer's screen as he read off the orders given by Consul Duga himself, “All Taldryan vessels form up to the rear of the Katarn; we're going home.”

Hel-Pa darted his gaze over to the two officers and questioned them, “You're sure this what the Consul ordered?”

“Yes m'lord,” the Captain replied.

“Very well,” the Tarasin hissed. Now it was standard operating procedure for the crew, the Quaestor was no longer needed. He closed his eyes and let the sounds of officers voices and bleeping computers fill his ears; all was peaceful. There was no fighting; relaxation and sleep were the first thing on Hel-Pa's mind. “I'll be in the temporary quarters, Captain. I'm sure you can take it from here. Please don't disturb me, you'll not like the consequences.”

“Of course, sir,” the Captain grinned as he saluted the Ektrosian and returned to his position on the bridge. Sklib, his head high and shoulders broad, walked towards the nearest turbolift without losing his composure. Though many lives had been lost, the ship had performed extraordinarily well. There would be rewards for the men of the Praetorian for their dashing courage to fight in the face of almost certain death and battle the odds against them.

That would be at a later time, he concluded. The whir of the engine inside the lift was resonant through the claustrophobic space, filling his ears with the first constant sound he had heard in days. That was one thing he learned he took for granted, stability. His reptilian head darted up as the turbolift clicked to a stop, and the door slid open with a loud hiss. The Quaestor stood for a moment before walking through, gathering his composure and finesse before walking into public again.

“All ships are in position. They’re ready to move on our mark.” Only moments before the Captain had sent the coded signal to the pitiful remains of the Taldryan fleet, the final command given for the Battle of Antei, and it had come long overdue. The powerful Dreadnaught Dark Seraphim and Assault Frigate Praetorian had formed along the flanks of the flagship, while the Corvette Darkstorm and Bulk Cruiser Leviathan took the rear guard. At the fore of the formation and scouting ahead were the twin Vibre-class Assault Cruisers Ravager and Sinister, reporting back an all clear.

They had precious seconds to spare as, not far from their position, the Brotherhood flagship Autarch was drifting recklessly towards the largest of the Vong cruisers. Even without his prescient powers, Duga knew what Sarin had planned to buy the Clans time. Time enough to run like cowards, he thought bitterly.

“Sir,” Vordin interrupted. “We have a problem.”

“What now?” Duga demanded. How much more could possibly go wrong?

“The Leviathan and Darkstorm are reporting engine troubles. They’ve lagged behind.”

Duga swung around to look at the holoprojection. He could see that the rest of the fleet was quickly outdistancing the two ships, and the Autarch was now almost on top of the Vong cruiser. “How many Jedi personnel on those ships?”

“Sir, I-”

“How many?!” Duga shouted at the captain who was now rifling through sheets of flimsies trying to dig up the information. Duga watched as the Brotherhood flagship took hit after hit from point-blank range. Much more and it would be torn to shreds… but he guessed that that was the idea.

“None,” Captain Vordin finally said, having shifted through every piece of information in front of him. “There are no Jedi aboard either vessel.” Duga sighed. At least there was that much “Should I send the shuttles to assist them?”

Duga’s eyes trailed up from the hologram to the captain’s dark eyes. “No,” he said slowly, “I’m afraid there’s nothing we can do for them now.”

At the end of his pronouncement, the Primarch felt dark tremors in the Force. He immediately turned towards the view screen to see the Autarch ram full-speed into the enemy flagship. Though the blast was soundless over the distance of space, Duga could feel the power behind it as the hull of the ship splintered on impact sending out a blast of durasteel shrapnel that hurtled in an ever-widening circle around the two ships. The cries of terror roared in the Force as, from behind the fleet, the two Taldryan vessels left stranded took the brunt of the fallout. The shields failed under the stress, finally giving way to allow large shards of metal to pierce the hulls of the ships.

Vivid splashes of yellow and orange flared through the darkness, streaked with gouts of blue flame as the engines went critical and exploded. Eventually the faint whispers of death dissipated leaving in their wake the numbness Duga had come to associate with loss.

“Report,” was all he could manage to say.

Captain Vordin’s eyes were downcast, his chest constricting tightly as he suffered the pain of more lives lost. “They’re gone, my Lord. All gone.”

Duga nodded. “And the Autarch?”

“I’m afraid that, thought it has weakened the enemy flagship, it failed to destroy it.” He tapped a few buttons on the console to bring up an image of the alien ships. “Their fleet is moving in to protect the wounded vessel. We have our time now.”

“Get us moving,” Duga turned his back on the bridge, the officer, and his Proconsul. “Let me know when we’re clear of the comm interference. I have something to say to the Clan.” And with that he departed the bridge of the Katarn, walking stiffly towards the nearest turbolift and away from the responsibilities of command. If only for a moment…

As the final words of the Grand Master’s speech echoed throughout the Medical Bay, Bubbles felt a shudder as her spine prickled with pins and needles. The tension was so palpable it almost felt as if you could cut through it with a sabre.

Looking around, Bubbs saw Anga walk across to the portholes, lost in her thoughts. Sharad, Bubbles thought to herself. Reaching out to Anga with her thoughts, she sent her the best mental hug she could manage, "Don’t you worry about him, I’ve never known a man able to dig himself out of such impressive holes.” She winked to Anga as the younger Jedi turned to face her. “Right now, I need you to be strong. There’re enough people in here about to panic, without you going all girlie on me.” . Anga nodded slightly, and turned back away from the portholes.

“Now listen up,” began Bubbles as she addressed the gathered Medical Staff and patients, “As you’ve all heard, we are retreating from the Antei system. The other Clans, damn them, have finally allowed their petty squabbles to put the future of the Brotherhood in danger. Will will NOT let their mistakes lead to the downfall of us all. You all know full well that Taldryan has the strength of arms and mind to survive this, and we will be back. The Vong will come to rue the day they attacked us. But for now, it is not the time. Now is the time to allow out superiors to carry out this Baraata Option, and for us to re-group, to consolidate, and to ensure that when they call on us, we are ready to fight again,” she paused, looking around the bay, “Now get back to work.”

As she stepped away from the gathered crowds, she took a deep breath. Things were not going at all well, and the thought of the Baraata Option, whatever the hell that was, intrigued her.

Anga had gone back to help the medics after Bubble’s little speech when she heard the Consul’s voice come through to make an announcement.

“Brethren, the Grand Master has ordered our withdrawal from this war. We have some difficult times coming our way and we will need to have a solid plan of action. With this in mind I am ordering all Jedi members to return to the Katarn immediately. I repeat, Jedi members return to the Katarn immediately.”

Bubbs and Anga froze and looked at each other before putting down whatever they’d been holding. After calming the medical technicians, who had gone into a panic thinking that they would be left as fodder for any pursuing Vong, Anga used her comm link to reach Kierdagh and Sithspawn to arrange for them to all travel in the same shuttle. Meanwhile, Bubbles had been assigning duties to the medical technicians and chose one of the more experienced ones to be in charge of everything.

“Remember not to let the organization of this place lapse. It was a disgrace when Anga and I first got here, and that cannot be allowed to happen again.”

Bubbles turned and marched out the door with Anga at her side. The women met the two men in the hangar bay. Kierdagh had been giving instructions to Captain Slaxton before their departure. As they entered the shuttle, Sithspawn took the pilot’s seat leaving the others to sit in the back and talk.

They were worried about the future of the Clan and the Brotherhood, but Anga was relieved that they were finally going to be going home.

Settling back into the almost-comfortable seats of the shuttle, Bubbles was glad to once again have someone with experience at the controls. Almost blushing she remembered the look at Keirdagh’s face when he had found her trying her best to work them out. At least he had had the decency not to make a point of her inadequacy. She smiled inwardly, perhaps all Sith were not that bad afterall, or maybe it was just Taldryan’s Sith who were bearable.

Leaning back in her chair, she closed her eyes. Sleep would come soon enough, but for now she needed to organise her thoughts, but the memories of all she had done out of her mind to allow her to focus on the things to come. Taldryan had lost many brave souls in the last few hours, it was an impact that would reverberate through the echelons of the Clan for quite some time to come. And those who had been dealing with the aftermath of the fight outside the ships would struggle too, many of them had never come across death in quite so blatant a form before, and they would need help dealing with it. But in time they would grow strong, and would learn from all they had been required to do.

Quieting her thoughts, she managed to find a state of almost tranquillity within the turmoil. Grabbing hold of it, she built on it, reordering her mind to allow her to concentrate on the job at hand. Opening her eyes once more, she glanced down at herself, then across at Anga.

Never before have I seen two Krath in such a state , she thought, laughing to herself, I wonder how long Keirdagh will be able to cope with the stench for .

"...I am ordering all Jedi members to return to the Katarn immediately. I repeat, Jedi members return to the Katarn immediately.”

The announcement caught Alanna midstride towards the bridge, and she paused for comic effect before turning 180 degrees back the way she came. The order had been given to head home and the Jedi Mistress wasn't certain how she felt about that. She had to acknowledge that it made sense, but it was so unsatisfying. She guessed that the Sith and Obelisk would be even less pleased about it.

Turning a corner, she nodded to a young Apprentice stationned outside the conference room; she didn't recognise him. Must be from Archanis or Dinaari. They're so young these days. Entering, she greeted her Proconsul and noticed that she was the first to arrive besides him.

"Chaos, good to see you. Is this the 'going-home' debriefing?"

"Alanna, you know I won't spoil the surprise. I'm just here to babysit you all until Duga arrives." There was a pause, "I'm glad to see you in one piece."

"So, do we know who else will be joining us?" Alanna asked the question tactfully.

"Werdna flew me off the Suppressor and Mav's on the bridge here but them aside, I don't know."

"Sklib was alive when I left him. Goodness knows what he's got up to without me tho!" Alanna smiled nervously. She was worried to see who would return. Both Jedi knew better than to speculate about battle casualties - the reality of who had made it through a fight and who hadn't was often a surprise - but without conversation the room just felt a little too empty.

A feeling of intense relief overtook all four Jedi as they stepped off their shuttle onto the deck of the Katarn. The journey across from the Seraphim had been a little awkward. No-one had known quite what to say, and commenting on events past seemed inappropriate.

The group looked at each other, exchanging knowing looks before heading in the direction of the conference room at a fast walk. The quietness of the corridors seemed somewhat eerie to Bubbles in comparison to the manic bustle of the Seraphim’s medical bays, but that struck her less than their comparative cleanliness.

Desperately trying to drag her fingers through her matted hair, she fought to look at least vaugly presentable at what she had no doubt would be a defining moment of Taldryan’s history. A glance across at Anga told her the Jedi Knight was having similar thoughts. Rueing the lack of wash facilities on the shuttles, Bubbles finished smoothing her robes as they neared the conference room.

As they got closer, the pace of all four slowed subconsciously, each unsure of what they would find within, and each apprehensive, wondering who they would find alive. The Apprentice stationed at the door straightened as they approached and, not wanting to appear anxious, Bubbles did her best not to let her stride pause as he opened the door for them.

As she stepped through the door, a grin cracked across Bubbles’ face as she noted gladly that at least two of her old friends were alive and in one piece, “Lannie! And here I was thinking you had been asleep through all of this...”

"I'm sure that the Consul and the summit will understand if you don't attend; after all you are seriosly wounded" Gobhainn's nurse explained as she tried to push him back onto the bed upo which he had awoken to find himself .

It would appear that the had finally manged to to get him to the madical bay. He could'nt remeber the transfer. In fact the last thing he did remember was talking to a medic in the hangar. Now he was in a small room by himself except for the nurse who was foolishly trying to restrain him.

Duga's telepathic summons had reached Sgath and pulled him awake even thriugh the drugs.

Apparently the staff had been preping him for immersion in a bacta tank. Gobhainn's flight suit or rather what remained of it had been cut away leaving the knight laying on the bed in only his personals. A wweight belt had been on the bed; thenurse had been trying to work it around his waist when Gobhainn had awoken.

The Sith warrior felt like death warmed over. Although his leg had been set and splinted, it still had a dull ache shooting up through the hip. There was still the tightnes anburning pain across his back and uppe arms where the fire in the hangar had seared him. In fact Gobhaiin could smell the acrid sweet smell of his burns accenting their pain.

As much as he would like to drop back into unconciousness, the Clan had summoned all surviving Jedi members to a council. Sgath was alive; he would be there.

Facing the nurse, Sgath confronted her wis as much sterness as he could work into his torn and tired frame.

"Look, this is beyond you. Or your doctors. I"m going to that meeting. So you can get me a set of robes and some stims or you can get out of my way. Either one; anything else will only get you hurt.

I appreciate your concern but now is not the time."

"At least let me order you a lift chair." the nurse riposted

As she was speaking, the nurse opened up a closet and pulled a white medical robe from ithe shelf. She turned only to find Gobhainn glaring at her. She looked at the Dark Jedi glowering at the white smock in her hands. After a moment she shook her head and threw the robe back into the closet and shut it.

"I will not enter the presence of my peers as an invaild. Nor do I want painkillers; I need a clear mind. Just get me some "decent " clothes and those stims. I'll take care of the rest." Sgath replied.

The nurse left to get the clothes and the meds that Sgath had requested. Sgath knew that she was also going to contact the medical officer. He didn't care; as a Dark Jedi he outranked all mundane officers; the only people who could order him to stay put were going to be at the meeting themselves.

Taking a deep breath Sgath drew power from the Force and used it to lessen the pain and close the suppreations in the burns. Anything more would take more time and strength.

As Gobhainn reached the point where he was able to stand , abiet with ninety percent of his weight on his right leg, the nurse return with a set of black robes in her arms. And sure enough, following right behind, was a man in a officer's uniform.

The knight took the robes and swung them over his shoulders ands slipped each arm gently into the sleeves. Taking the cloth belt from the nurse, Gobhainn tied the robe closed loosely but securely. He knew that the medical officer, a major, it appeared, was waiting repectfully until he had finished dressing to confront him. Sgath decided not to give him the chance.

" Major, I appreciate you coming to escort me to the Clan meeting. Although I am obliged to go, I must confess that travesing these corridors without help would prove taxing. We both can agree that conserving my strength is essential right now."

Gobhaiin stared at the Major who stood with his mouth open as though he had wanted to speak. They both knew that the knight's arguments had cleanly undercut everything that the officer had been about to say.

Sgath turned back to the nurse.

"Now about those stims?"

The nurse held out her hand and droped three pills into Gobhainn's hand. He popped them into his mouth and swallowed them dry.

After a moment, Gobhaiin sat back down on the bed and telekinetically pulled his boots to him. He had spooted them in the corner wher they had carelessly dropped after they had been removed. He stared down at his legs specifically the spint on his left leg. Dropping the left boot, he handed the right to the nurse.

" Give me a hand with this," he instructed her. "I can't bend over for some odd reason."

After they had worked the boot into place, Sgath stood once more. He tried to walk a few paces by himself but pain shot through his body. And between the hieght of his boot's sole and heel on the right foot and the plint on his left leg, the balance was off.

Gobhaiin reached out and took grip on the Major's shoulder. Putting a portion of his weight on the man, he motion for the man to proceed.

"Let's go. Get me to rhe conference room and I'll make sure that your efforts are justified." He told the frustrated officer.

It took them a while to slowly work their way through the corridors and turbolifts, but they eventually reached the coference room door with its Apprentice Guardian. Gobhainn stopped just outside the door, transferring his weight from the major's shoulder to the wall behind him."

"Thank you, Major. I can manage from here. Come to my office on Volcanus and we'll see what we can come up with for recompense" Gobhainn stated.

"That won't be necessary, Sir. All of us are here to serve Taldryan" The major replied.

"As you will. Dismissed." Gobhainn intoned.

"Sir" the major said with a salute as he turned and walked away.

Gobhainn waited until the man was out of sight and then motioned the apprentice to open the door. Supporting himself on the wall, Sgath entered the conference room.

Most of the others were already there. He saw Ricco, Bubbles, Lokasenea, Chaos and others, but Duga, Jac and Halcyon had yet to arrive. A few turned and notice Gobhainn as he made his way to a chair and slowly, painfully lowered himself into it.

Just as he finished sitting, several of those present caught the odor of the salves and the aroma of Gobhainn's burns. Ther was a general migration away from the Sith pilot.

Itachi Uchiha approached and with his usual bluntnes commented to Gobhainn

"Lords, Gob, what did you do out there? Try and fly through the sun?"

"No, Itachi, I just did what I had to do and I paid the price of it. Not as heavy as others though." Gobhainn replied. "And, Itachi ..., I've told you several times that in formal situations not to callme by that nickname. I hate it. Gobhainn... or Sgath or Rollmaster are all preferable especially in situations like this."

And with that Gobhainn motioned the junior journeyman away and dropped into a pain-relieving trance to await the Consul and his retinue.

Anga looked up as she heard Bubbles’ laugh at the sight of the people already present in the conference room. She sighed in relief at knowing that her friend, Alanna, had made it safely through the whole ordeal. She noted that the Proconsul looked tired and yet still somewhat cocky as he spoke to Alanna.

Shadow, Sharad, and Ben had entered the room soon after Anga’s own arrival. Anga went to stand next to her husband and his friends. Sharad was talking to the guys and smiled warmly as she leaned against him. Without pausing in his conversation Sharad snaked an arm around Anga's shoulders and pulled her snuggly against his side.

Feeling somewhat secure in the circle of Sharad’s arm, she watched as more of the clan members arrived to the meeting. Her spirits lifted a little more each time a clansperson walked into the room. Bubbles and Alanna were talking and looking perkier than they had in a long while. Maybe laughter was the best medicine after all.

The tension was thick and suspense was building within the room. Everyone was anxious to find out what would be the next step, and what would be the fate of this clan. But more importantly, everyone was curious to know if Duga would divulge the meaning of the Baraata Option, and if there was any chance that there would be even a smidgen of positive outcome from a plan with such an ominous sounding name.

Anga wished Duga would arrive soon and give them the information they all thirsted for. It was time for the Clan to go home and lick their wounds in order to begin the healing process. With a sigh, Anga closed her eyes settled herself more comfortably against Sharad's strong body and waited.

The order released by Consul Duga demanded all members of Clan Taldryan, or at least the “significant” ones Hel-Pa assumed, to return to the Katarn for some type of post-op briefing the Quaestor assumed. “Ready my shuttle,” he growled at a nearby officer as he strolled down the corridors of the massive frigate.

“Right away, sir,” he replied and saluted to the Ektrosian leader. The Tarasin continued walking down the corridor, hearing the voice of the officer fade as he barked through his comm to the crew in the hangar bay. Hel-Pa turned a corner and strode past numerous droids and crewmen, the occasional Taldrya soldier gaping as the Quaestor walked past them so casually. Sklib reached a turbolift and tapped a sequence of buttons, the door opening in a matter of seconds. He walked through the door and pushed another sequence of numbers, sending the Templar shooting toward the hangar bay where the shuttle awaited for him. He could sense something important coming, but the details were cloudy, only time would tell.

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“Welcome to the Katarn,” a female robotic voice greeted the Quaestor as he unboarded his shuttle on the Taldryan flagship. He was greeted by several younger Journeymen from his House, most of which he did not recognize.

“Right this way, sir,” a Zabrak coolly called to his leader. The cadre briskly walked to the nearest door, which Hel-Pa observed yet another turbolift behind.

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The Obelisk entered the large room with composure, glancing around and seeing a few familiar faces from the beloved Clan. A few Summit members motioned for him to come to them, and the Templar met the group near the front of the room, waiting for the entrance of Consul Duga and waiting to see what the Clan's intentions were after the disaster at Antei.

Duga slowed his pace before reaching the corridor that would lead him to where the rest of the Clan was waiting eager to hear about Taldryan’s future. He cleared his mind and he carefully plotted out what he was going to say. He couldn’t just tell them everything; there was just too much they wouldn’t understand. Before he reached towards the console that would open the door he released a weary sigh. It felt as though he hadn’t slept in forever and there was still much to do. He entered the room to streams of conversations as old friends reunited happy to see one another again. He walked quickly to the dais where Chaos already stood waiting and took his place behind the podium.

His eyes briefly took in the venerable Grand Master, who stood alone in the far corner of the room, his gaze distant. It was obvious he was only here for appearances because his mind was clearly elsewhere. Duga wasn’t sure, but he felt that Jac had been pre-occupied since the initial attack. His heart hadn’t been into assisting the command of the fleet. He was just… distant. Though a lot of people were distant now. Eyes drifted from familiar faces and then back up towards the raised dais upon which he stood. They had never suffered such a loss and had no idea how to cope with the pain of so much loss. Hopefully his words would strengthen their resolve. Taldryan needed strength and unity now more than ever.

“My brothers and sisters,” he began, immediately quieting the rest of the room. All eyes were now focused on him. “We have come along way in six short days. We have lost much to the Vong, and to those the Grand Master would have us call brethren. For all those who have fallen, I ask that we share a moment of silence.” He nodded his head, eyes cast downwards as the silence echoed throughout the room.

It was a long moment. Longer than necessary, but he needed the time to play. The Brotherhood was at a crucial point of its existence, which put the fate of the Clan in a state of flux. Everything would change now. With the Baraata Option in play a great many things would change.

“Many have paid with their lives," he continued, "but, they did not die in vain. No. For from the ashes of this defeat, Taldryan will unite stronger than ever before. Our mettle has been tested. Truly test like never before. And our enemies found us lacking, but they foolishly allowed us to escape.” His voice had risen with passion, each word sentence a light of hope in the eyes of those he led.

“We will rebuild what we once had and we will make it better. Many of you already know, and I will tell the rest of you now, that Sarin has purchased a fleet of ships. These powerful new vessels will replace the losses we have suffered and I intend to see that Taldryan sees recompense for defending the Brotherhood.” His fist slammed onto the podium before him. “And one day we will lead the charge against the Vong. And we will wipe their race from the galaxy once and for all.

“And we. Will. Rise. Again.” Each word punctuated by another fist strike against the polished wood. Those assembled before him harkened to the call. They cheered as one, proud as always to be members of Taldryan, knowing full well that vengeance will one day be theirs. A promise was all he could give them right now, but soon he would return with all he could wring from Sarin’s coffers.

With a nod, Duga signaled his Proconsul to disperse the Clan and send Jedi back throughout the fleet to see them through the Shroud. Now the real work began, he thought as he paced briskly back and forth sending out a silent summons to certain individuals in the crowd. The War Council would have to convene to discuss their next move.

The conference room had emptied, leaving only the few War Council members remaining. The Consul motioned for the others to take a seat.

“So what are our moves now? What all does this Baraata Option mean?” asked Chaos. The meaning wasn’t fully known to any in the room besides the Consul and the Grand Master, who was obviously not there mentally and ready to leave.

“What it means is that all the Clans need to return to their home systems. I’ll need to take the Katarn alone to another location to meet up with the Dark Council. Like we all saw at the battle, Sarin has acquired a new fleet. How? I don’t know, but I know we will get our just earnings.” said the tired Consul, taking a few moments before he spoke again. “What’s to come of the Antei system and all we have, well, that should be obvious now to everyone here as well. The destruction by the Vong is apparent. The overwhelming force left us no choice but to abandon the Dark Council’s seat of power. What’s to come we will find out once I meet with Sarin.”

The group didn’t have much to say, everyone soaking in the truth. While the speech to the general members was uplifting, these men knew the cost of this War and that it would take time to get over it. The loss was catastrophic, the destruction was everywhere, and they barely made it out in the end.

As everyone began to get up and leave, Duga turned to Chaos to speak. “Take the other ships back and secure Kr’Tal. Once I figure out everything I’ll report back to you and get home as soon as possible. Hopefully the Vong will avoid our system, but keep our backup plan in mind.”

The Taldryan Proconsul nodded and gathered his things to move to the Dreadnought. The only good thing Duga could think of at the time was at least this wasn’t an end, but a new beginning, another chapter for the First Clan, and he intended to make it worth the loss.

Hours passed and he stayed quiet. Very quiet. For the first time in days Syn Kaek paid attention not to the domain of a Grand Master's mind, but rather to the happenstance of life. He watched through Cotelin's eyes, gazing at the open book before him. He read as Jac read, the words of the ancient Sith purchasing his attention. This was about his existence.

This was about his continued existence.

As Cotelin turned the page, Kaek again attempted to use the Force to do so ahead of the Grand Master. It was to no avail. Although he could feel the Force around him, his will found no success in bending it like he had been able to in his own body and even the body of the dying soldier. It was curious, his state of being. The transfer of his essence had left Cotelin weakened, attempting to keep his hold on his friend's soul. It had left Kaek stranded in the feeble mind of a Dark Lord. Neither could survive in their present state.

But after hours of searching, they had found the answer in this book.

Cotelin turned on his heel and left the dark quarters. Neither he nor Kaek would be returning to Kr'Tal.

Not yet...