Arcona/Taldryan Feud: Run-On

The Consul of Arcona leaned back in his ornate chair, his eyes glancing away from the latest Dark Brotherhood communiqué and looking instead at the Proconsul that stood just over his shoulder.

“Five hours”, the Epis calmly stated, having finished reading the Taldryan Consul’s message as well.

“Did you expect any less?”

“No. And 50 creds says they’re already on their way”.

Halcyon only nodded as he pushed himself away from his desk and rose to his feet, his hand gently stroking the emerald goatee that he kept finely groomed. One day ago, Priest Werdna Elbee, Aedile of Dinaari and Hunter Apollyon "Odium" Dinaarius, Rollmaster of Dinaari, were caught spying on Arcona’s headquarters on Selen. Taldryan has demanded their members back, and has declared war on Arcona for refusing.

“The preparations?” the Elder Arconae asked his right-hand man.

“The entire fleet is now circling the area between Selen and Boral. Both houses are on their way and we’ve recalled as many forces as we can”.

The Adept nodded as he sensed a presence just outside his door, opening it without lifting a finger. The newest Arconae strode into the large offices, his robes billowing behind him.

“Have you been keeping track?” the Rokir asked the Galeres Quaestor, receiving only a curt nod in reply. “Good. Get to the Eye of the Abyss. You’re our first line of defence, Sovereign Imperator. Hold the line”.

A steely resolve entered the Battlelord’s eyes before he turned completely around and made his way out of the office with renewed purpose.

“Strat, those prisoners aren’t going anywhere. If they get their forces on the planet, you’re all we have”.

The Entar nodded his agreement and made his way towards his next destination, leaving the Consul alone. Closing his eyes, Halcyon reached out to the members of his Clan, touching each of their minds.

Taldryan broke into our territory and now they have declared war on us. This is our home, and they shall rue the day they ever decided to set foot in Dajorra. We shall drive them back and show them the might of Arcona. Now, prepare, for today we fight!

The message came through clear as a bell, Ma`ar strolling out of the garden on the space station as it hovered just off of Selen.
The station didn’t seem as small as it once did, but that wouldn’t dampen the spirit of Ma`ar.

Walking along the corridors several droids were buzzing around, the sight of the Vurk had scared a few of them, and caused a few to scramble off.
As Ma`ar made his way to his quarters he could here a slight buzzing.
An in-coming message from the clan headquarters was awaiting him.

“Ma`ar, this is Halcyon. You have the best seat in the house as most of the forces are already scrambling to stop the pending invasion, do what you can to stop this….If you can provide some intel of their fleet, We might be able to find a solution.”

Ma`ar laid the data pad down and grabbed his gear, knowing that the Taldryan fleet wouldn’t be small he figured that a Star Destroyer was looming close by.
“Well this is a good time to break in the Infiltrator.” Ma`ar said.

As the Hangar was three decks below, Ma`ar knew it would be just moments before he was flight ready.

“Captain, I need my ship prepped and readied, I am on my way now. And I do hope you equipped the scanners and sensor equipment as I instructed.” Ma`ar said into the com link.

“Yes sir, your ship is ready and has been that way since we got word of the Invasion. The new equipment is ready and tested. Good luck Sir.”

Ma`ar strolled out of the quarters, and into the main hallway, and proceeded towards the lift.
As the lift came up, Ma`ar stepped inside and watched as the doors closed and the lift descended. The doors drew open a few minutes later, and Ma`ar stepped out into the Hangar, the Sith Infiltrator named “Beholder” was already alive, the engines were fired and the Hangar was filled with blowing smoke.

Ma`ar took one last look over his shoulder of the beautiful garden, that was just on the other side of the Hangar and then walked up the loading ramp.

“Good Morning Master, I trust you’re meditation was pleasant.” Odin Vaaj spoke as Ma`ar walked into the flight deck.

“Odin, what on earth…” Ma`ar uttered seeing his apprentice in his chair was just too much.

“Master, don’t be alarmed, Halcyon just figured with me here you wont go half cocked and do anything foolish.” Odin said with a smile.

“Well then, let’s go. Forward thrusters, impulse power.” Ma`ar looked at Odin and Smiled.

As the craft left the hangar bay, Ma`ar radioed the station and advised them to set coordinates to Eldar. As Selen would be the target for some nasty battles. And the station was too costly of a asset to lose for Ma`ar.

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Quejo decided to stop off at his office in the Galeres HQ on his way to the Eye of the Abyss, and was unsurprised to see his Aedile Sashar lounging in one of the seats with a leg carelessly laid over one of the arms.

“Did you get Halcyons’ call?” the Quaestor asked as he started picking up several data-cards from a neatly organised desk.

“Yeah. Soulfire is already en-route, the Eldar are making for the shelters and our resident Krath are each separating themselves so we have at least one Force-sensitive on each cap-ship.”

“You sure this is a good time to test such an experimental technique?” the Anzat stopped his packing to look directly at his Aedile. Thus far he’d stepped into his duties as if he’d been doing them for years and his judgement was usually sound, especially in situations such as these, however he was still a newcomer to the clan and a wild card.

“Yes. We simply won’t count on it, but utilise it if it works.” Sashar said nonchalantly, pushing himself up off the chair into a standing position. He scooped a bag that was neatly tucked beside the chair and slung the strap over his shoulder.

“Where are you going?” Quejo asked with a hint of amusement in his voice.

“With you. You’ll need someone to hold together the meld.”

“Right answer. Come on.”

-=[]=-

They stood on opposite sides of a large circular display of the space around Selen with 3D representations of the Arcona fleet floating just above the surface.

“Analysis” Quejo said, eyeing his newly-minted Aedile with curiosity.

“They’ve got a Vic-Star, which means we can’t hope to take them on head-on, plus they have an Assault Frigate and a Bulk Cruiser, both are designed for cap-ship combat. We could probably deal with the Bulk cruiser on its own or even the Assault frigate if we put our whole fleet against it, but that’s not an option. We have superior numbers in fighter, out-gunning them nearly 2 to 1, and most of our ships are designed to withstand fighter attacks.”

Sashar paused, contemplating the numbers for a second.

“A concentrated assault on the Vic-star, lowering its shields would be perfect. We could pack the V38’s with either Soulfire or some higher-ranking Dark Jedi and try to take out their main reactor. IF that goes off-line they won’t have enough power to keep her in battle and will withdraw. Without the Vic-star, we’ve won.”

Quejo nodded in assent.

“Bingo.”

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Koskian strode through the halls of the Dark Citadel, replaying the message that he had received from his Consul.

He felt another presence nearby, the Entar who was second in command. One of the few people in Arcona he knew he trusted.

Making his way through the corridors, he entered one of the bases war rooms, Strategos was already standing before a holo-display aligning the Arconan troops.

The Exarch studied the map and smiled, knowing quite well why the Pro-consul was in charge of Arcona's ground forces, even if he was a Krath.

"This should be interesting....are you sure were ready for this Strat?' queried the Obelisk.

"The question is, are THEY ready for it," was all he received as an answer, a small smile on the Krath's face.

"I believe....they are going to strike near the landing pads outside of the base, it's normally used for supply ships that we don't allow into the hangar. It's the quickest route their troops will have. I'm setting up a choke point near the doors leading out to it, we should be able to hold them for some time."

"How soon will it be done though?" asked Kosk.

"I'd say....two more hours for the defensive wall were putting up, another hour for the mine layers to be done laying and disguising them. They're setting up turrets on the wall as we speak, no time to setup an interface so were stuck manning them. I'm putting a small squad of troops there, a mix of rifleman and a few with rockets should they land any tanks." said the Krath.

"Wow. You really are serious about holding that spot....how long before their fleet arrives?"

Strategos sighed, a pained look on his face.

"Two hours."

Ktulu paused as he stood outside the Consuls Office. Frowning his entered and his comfortable sneer took place as he laid eyes upon the Consul. It wasn't the time for him to be his usual self but he couldn't help the sneer. It had been there for some time whenever the Rokir was around.

"I presume you know of your Quaestor's and Aedile's plans regarding you." Halcyon spoke without looking up from his datapad.

Hesiating before he replied, Ktulu watched as the Rokir slowly tore his eyes off the datapad to look at him.

"Ah've got an idea about those said plans." Ktulu stated. He was cautious in his reply. Here alone with the Consul there was no telling what could happen. There was no room for him to start stirring bad blood.

"Well, they are considering making you TET of Qel Droma." Halcyon paused watching for the Priests reaction. "I want you to take control, whether or not they want it. Qel Droma needs a leader in the immediate future. Someone needs to lead them against Taldryan."

Ktulu stiffened at the order he had just recieved. The Rokir was making him do what he wanted to do. Scoffing at the Adept Ktulu turned away. "I'll do what you're telling me to do this one time Rokir. After that, find a different lap dog."

A sadistic grin crept across the Adepts face as the Priest left his office. "Little do you know Xyler, you're family is already my lapdog of choice."

As the doors shut behind him, Ktulu reached for his comm-link intending to contact Quejo when it beeped. Puzzled Ktulu answered and was slightly surprised to find Strat on the other end.

"Ktulu, I need you down here now. I'm in one of the war rooms with Koskian."

Acknowledging Strat, Ktulu cut the link to the Pro-Consul and made his way down to meet up with the Entar.

Strategos and Koskian looked up as the doors to the war room opened, an icy glare forming on the Exarch's face at the sight of Ktulu.

"Whatever it is your planning, Strat, if it involves me and the Xyler you can..." Kosk started to say, before being cut off by the Pro-consul.

"You'll do as your told in this case, d'Tana, regardless of your differences. You and Ktulu are my biggest guns on base, Soulfire is being sent up with the fleet for a special task. All I have left are weaker Jedi and regular troops. The both of YOU!' he growled, pointing at Kosk and Ktulu, "Are going to the landing pad to hold off any enemy troops until the defenses are in place. I have troops building backup defense points at the entrance to the Citadel and the main hall, if they should get that far."

Ktulu glared at the hulking Obelisk, disliking this pair up, and turned for the door.

"Where ya going Krathy, running off already?" jibed Koskian.

"I'm going to the landing pad, as I've been ordered, you d'Tana nitwit." was his response, still walking away.

Koskian grumbled and headed for the door as well.

“I’m not sure how much of the background to this you know, so I’ll just skip all that part and get to the point.”

The members of Soulfire Battle team had been spread about their base on Eldar when the message had come. Knowing that they would be out on the front line, they had gathered any gear that they thought that they would need and headed as fast as they could to the hangar. When they arrived they had found 3 V38 TIE Phantoms waiting for them.

“Soulfire Battle team this is your Aedile. Say hello to your transports. The Phantoms can cloak, making them the ideal vehicle to infiltrate any ship you want, which will come in useful, as you will soon find out. Each holds 3 people, so split into 3 groups and get into those craft. Once you’ve launched, Ethran will explain the plan to you, so be prepared. Good luck people, go show them what you can do.”

And so they had split into 3 groups and boarded the TIE Phantoms. Now they were hanging in space, cloaked and waiting for the enemy to appear as their leader explained the plan to them all.

“As that old saying goes, the quickest way to kill the body is to strike at the head. This is our job. We are being tasked with infiltrating the enemy’s flagship and blowing it up from the inside. Those of you who don’t know what we will be up against, Taldryan’s flagship is a Victory-Class Star Destroyer by the name of Dark Prophet. Out mission is, like I have already said, to sneak inside and blow it up. The cloaks on these ships should keep us covered until we land, which is when the fun starts. I don’t know what we will be facing in there people, but I know that we can win this. I have the utmost confidence in each and every one of you, and I know that nothing can stop us.”

Silence fell over the comm as everyone let the mission before them sink in.

It’s the closest to suicidal I have seen since I had to do that initiation fight.

Nadrin shuddered as he remembered the battering which he had received at the hands of one of the Antei Combat Centres trainers. It had taken him nearly a week to recover, and the memories still brought a cringe of pain to his face.

And this time they won’t be evaluating us, all they will do is kill. We can’t screw up. We won’t screw up.

“Sir, how long until expected arrival?”

“About an hour and a half so I’m told.”

“And how long until our ground forces are fully prepared to defend the prisoners?”

“Not long enough.”

Nadrin grimaced, it wasn’t looking too good at all.

“So, we need to buy as much time as we can for our ground forces?”

“That would be an affirmative there trooper.”

Then time they shall have. How much is another matter entirely though.

Nadrin looked out at the stars which spread into a vista outside the cockpit of the fighter, wondering how much more different the scene would be in under two hours time…

Muttering as he made his way to the landing pad, Ktulu shot a look over his shoulder and noticed the hulking Obelisk lumbering after him. "What you looking at Krathy? You got a crush on me or something?" Smiling Koskian continued walking forward when Ktulu whipped around, his plaited hair flying through the air.

Stopping his twirl so that he faced Koskian, Ktulu looked up into the obelisk's face just as a thin red line stretched across his right cheek. "Look here, ya overgrown obbie. Ah didna want tah be here cuz Ah'm supposed tah be with tha fleet."

Kosk reached up to his cheek and felt the warmth of his blood slowly trickling down his face.

Just as Koskian started to reply, Ktulu's comlink started to beep demanding the Priests attention.

"Ktulu, get your ass on a cap ship now!" Sashar exclaimed. "I'm on the Eye with Quejo now and we need you and the rest of Qel Droma up here with the rest of us."

"Ah can't do that right now Sashar. The Marshall's got me down here on defense duty until he's got his own defenses up."

Still glaring at the Priest, Koskian walked past Ktulu bumping into him as they met and made his way to the landing platform.

"You get your Xyler ass up here now!" Sashar yelled into the comm-link. "Even if it means dis-obeying Strategos."

Frowning at the comm-link, Ktulu spoke into the mic evenly and calmly. "Ah'm doing what Ah'm doing. Now if ya want me up there with tha rest of ya. Ah'm gonna have to finish mah duty here then catch a shuttle up."

Cutting the connection, Ktulu stuffed his comm-link back away and followed the Obelisk to the platform.

Surveying the landing pad, the Obelisk grimaced. A lot of open ground, and no cover, that was both good and bad. No where for the Tally's to hide, no where for the two Arconan's to take cover. Noticing some crates sitting out in the open next to a repolsur sled, the Exarch wandered over to check it.

"Wot are ya gawking at d'Tana, it's just a box" muttered the Krath.

"Shuddaup, I'm just figuring out what's in it."

Ktulu was still shaking his head, staring at the sky and listening to Sashar's continuing stream of profanities over the comlink. Koskian read over the labels on the crates, one containing durasteel plates, another was marked as dangerous.

"Wonder what could be in here...." he mumbled, popping the box open, a big smile on his face as he looked at the contents.

"Uhm, Ktulu, I think the Taldryan are screwed when they land" said the Obelisk, the dumb smile getting bigger.

"Eh....hows that?" asked the Xyler, coming over to check. Looking inside, his face broke into a smile as well.

"Well would ya look at that....some poor soul left us a crate of frag grenades just sitting outside."

The sun brought golden pillars of light trough the clouds above the main land of Selen. The
main planet of Arcona. The Dark Knight watched the armies carefully, these troops were Arcona's
finest and were in a last full scale training mission against the Jedi themselves barely a few
month's ago. Another Dark Knight moved to the side of the one already overlooking the bulk of
the army in front of him.

"This is it?" Archean said a bit dissapointed
"Most of them were in the raid after Gethsemane, they have enough skills to be three men on usual
training." Draken-Korin said almost in a whisper.
"You sure have changed....Drake." Archean said hesitating, still used to call him Ylith.
Drake smirked and turned around to face his friend. "It is for the best Arch, people change because
they have to."
"Or need to." Archean said and Drake narrowed his eyes. "Any secrets I shuold know of Drake?"
"None of your concern now Archean, your job is the Left Flank, I already summoned Bas Tyra or
what was left of it during the Rebel invasion training."
"Very well Drake, be back in one piece alright?" Archean said as he placed his hand on Drake's shoulder
and patted it.
As Archean moved away Drake held him in sight for a moment and sighed and then grabbed his newest
weapon. A Scythe made by Valheru iron, now a symbol of Death amoung those close to him.

"Lord Valheru." an officer said and Drake tilted his head so he watched the officer in the eyes, the green
and yellow eyes of the Valheru staring trough the man.
"Most of our forces are now ready sir, shall I give orders to place the artillery?"
"Yes, make sure they are mostly hidden. I want them to have a nice surprise."
"very well sir." The officer said as he saluted, turned about and moved back into
the crowd of men, shouting orders and pointing.

Drake glanced up to the sky and sighed. "Your time to shine above Galeres."

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Quejo and Sashar had been contemplating how to buy Soulfire for some time, and it had taken them nearly an hour to batter out a workable strategy.

“Okay, to recap: The Eye of the Abyss, Wrathraven, Nighthawk and Maelstrom each move to the far side of Boral, Selen’s moon so that they keep the smaller planetoid in-between them and Taldryan’s entry vector, whilst the lighter ships keep in low orbit of Selen along with 2 squadrons of the Interceptors. The other two squadrons of Interceptors will stay aboard the Maelstrom along with the 6 B-Wings, but the 6 E-Wings will be sent as air support for the ground forces. Once the Taldryan forces decant and begin their attack, the lighter ships fall back towards Selen, drawing the Taldryan armada deeper into the planet’s gravity-well. Once they’re solidly in the main task-force jumps in behind them where they are lighter shielded and armed. Hopefully, we take out their shields and allow Soulfire to board with the V38’s.” Quejo finished, looking a little worried.

“Battle plans, even as simple as this one, rarely survive first contact with the enemy. A lot depends on them not being able to counter us in time, and on one group of frankly green troops. It might be wise to have some insurance.” Sashar mused.

“We haven’t got any more forces to use, though.”

“Not forces, no, but we’ve got plenty of heavy firepower that could make the Taldyran ships think twice.”

“What do you mean?”

“Galeres HQ is disguised as a mining facility, Quejo. Plenty of drilling equipment there.”

“Sash, you’re a genius. Get it mounted on the smaller ships, and also try to scrounge together some of the explosives use to clear tunnels and pack them into the escape pods on the Carrack Cruisers. We’ll use them as breach charges.”

“Does mean the crews on the Cruisers are screwed if they needed to abandon ship.” The Entar reminded his Quaestor, already knowing the answer.

“If they have to abandon ship then they’ve lost Arcona a valuable resource and deserve to die.”

The Mandalorian nodded, secretly loving the thrill of anticipation – he lived for large battles such as these, he’d been taught since he could hold a blaster about warfare and was expertly conditioned to one day lead a Mandalorian task force – this was his bread and butter.

“Soulfire are boarding the TIE Phantoms now, though they seem a little overconfident. I have absolute faith in them, but it might be wise to get some insurance for them.” Sashar said, grimacing slightly. Esca would kill him if he knew he was saying that.

“Hmm, we have Ma’ar and his Infiltrator flitting around out there, we could have him lead the V38’s in, and also give him a bit of a punch when he lands.”
“What do you mean?”

“We’ve got Khobai, arguably one of the best combatants in the Brotherhood. Keep him with Ma’ar and have him go for the bridge whilst Soulfire go for the reactor.”

Sashar grinned. This was why Quejo was Quaestor; he’d completely forgotten about Khobai, the Commander of the Grand Master’s Royal Guard.

“I’ve got the Krath in position, one from Qel-Droma on each of the Cap-ships. We’ll be able to form a battle-meld and relay orders a lot quicker, and react to their tactics hopefully. However, this isn’t field tested, so don’t count on it if we can’t keep it up. I’ll have to act as a router for it and make sure everyone’s linked, but once it’s up we should all be able to help sustain it equally.”

Quejo nodded, staring intently at the display before him.

“Good. Tell me when the Beam Drills are installed on the lure force and when we’ve assembled the detonate charges.”

“Of course.”

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The sounds of hard, leather or armoured heels on the cold metallic floor rung and echoed throughout the complex as it accompanied the annoying beeps and shrieks of the war alarms. The scene was annoying chaotic, as the troopers and Dark Jedi readied themselves against the approaching enemy by making last minute, harshly preparations. Quite different from the comfortable setting Yan Luo had been enjoying on the edges of the headquarter out limits by the shore. Meditating in peace, strengthening his bonds with the force and its dark energies, the young Protector had preparing himself for the trials he was scheduled to faced the next day for his Guardianship when he heard the faint call of the Consul; however the trials seemed to have been unofficially cancelled by the recent threat.

Having been some distance from the base, the run back had been tiring as Yan tired to make it back in time but with the assistance of the Jedi control and speed techniques the Protector found himself in the midst of preparations without any orders. All around him the Obelisk and support made their move to the landing platforms, having decided upon that being the most obvious threat from the invading forces, not surprising he overheard conversations stating that Qel-Droma’s Krath were gone to support the capital ships and the members of Soulfire being tasked with assault on the invading flagship, but these details meant nothing to Yan has he had yet to be assigned to a battle team, despite his constant annoying pleas to the House Summit.

Concluding that his late arrival had left him out of the immediate action, and reminding himself that unofficially he had become the bitch to the clan summit; Yan made his way against the flow of troops and entered into the deeper parts of the complex in search of Strategos or Halcyon, either of whom could task the lowly Protector with some charge.

The fight against the moving flow of troops reminded Yan of his training of endurance as he had been forced to walk upstream against the current, but his actions proved successful as he made his way to the warroom of the Field Marshall; Strategos. While his entry to the room had been a bit grief-ful as a guard tried to detain him, a slight comment of recognition and oath of safe-keeping of the Protector from an entering Krath insured Yan’s entrance.

The warroom was not-surprisingly more full of harsh then the hallways, and having to wait a great deal of time frustrated the Protector but the event was expected. Having served as a slave to the brotherhood prior to his training, Yan was already familiar with the proceedings of the Brotherhood and its clans and as such he was not surprised he was being unnoticed. However, after the Krath Epis had finished his screams of rage at an incompetent soldier and had turned from the situation to look about the room he finally caught the eyes of Yan and moved to address the man.

“I would have expected you to be out busying yourself to avoid my wrath, Yan.” The Krath snarled as he approached.

“Perhaps, but you know damn well I have been completely ignored since my entry and still have yet to find my place in this organization.” Yan countered as he refused to break eye contact as he bowed to the veteran member.

“That may be true, but it seems fate has thrusted a chance for your recognition into our hands.” Strategos stated as he moved to one of the command consuls and directed Yan to follow behind him. “Our main forces are already moving to engage, and I am not about to let you fly out there on your own to meet up with them. Besides, I think that I might have a learning experience best suited for the likes of you. As you might have noticed, our forces here on the ground are moving to the landing pads to hold them. I have assigned two individuals to head the task, but the superior ranking individual is the one I want you to meet up with. The Exarch, Koskian; he’s a foul-mouthed and ill-tempered man….obviously someone you can relate to. Go to him and serve him, and be mindful of all he shows you fore he can teach you much from this conflict. Perhaps if you can even impress him with some deed, it’ll be enough for us to acknowledge your skills and powers as a Guardian.”

The final words of the Epis were drowned by a new alarm of sorts, and it called for Strategos attention. When the Krath looked back to dismiss the Protector, Yan was already off and running to seek out the Obelisk Exarch.

Koskian looked up, listening to the commotion from down the track towards the still building defenses.

"But I have ORDERS damn't, let me through!" he heard a young Jedi yelling at the soldier blocking his way. The Exarch looked on, watching the seargent shake his head and point towards the landing pad, saying something about not letting anyone past.

"The Pro Consul himself sent me you son of a nerf, he'll have your hide for this if you don't LET ME THROUGH!" the tall Krath said, his face turning more red. Kosk smiled, enjoying the young ones attitude.

Ktulu looked on with contempt, shaking his head and waiting for the inevitable Taldryan dropships. He knew as well as Kosk did from the com chatter that Drake was preparing the troops elsewhere, the regular troops, the landing pad wasn't big enough for a full scale battle, but it could be the perfect way to slip in a smaller force to extract the prisoners.

More then likely Taldryan Jedi troops would be coming here. Supported, no doubt, by some of their battledroids. Might as well see what Strategos had burdened them with.

"Seargent, let that Krath through....if he was sent by Strategos, he could have information we need." said the Obelisk.

The taller Krath came running up, skidding to a halt as he saw the bulk of the man before him.

"Ah, I was sent by Epis Strategos, I'm to serve under Exarch d'Tana for the duration of the battle." he stumbled through, uncertain if the large man before him was going to eat him or not.

Koskian cocked his eyebrow up, looking over the Krath....tall....a bit of muscle, but enough flab to slow him down, something to work with he supposed. Noting the katana hanging from his belt and the small blaster pistol stuck in his robe, he looked the young man in the eye.

"What's your name, boy?"

"Protector Yan Luo.....I'm here to do what is nessecary."

"Well, don't get killed in this, if things get too hairy, you get the HELL out of the way, and find someplace bloody safe, ya understand me kid?"

"Yessir, anything to see some action, maybe I'll gain a bit of respect around here."

"You survive this and still get that blade of yours wet with blood, you've earned my respect."

"Pathetic." muttered Khobai. "Don't pamper him Koskian. The only chance he has of surviving this ordeal is if he truly is a coward and refuses to confront his destiny."

Koskian frowned "wonderful words of encouragement, Khobs."

Khobai turned to face Yan Luo "If you retreat so much as a centimeter... I swear... I will hunt you down and destroy you." The Guard Commander's mouth twisted into a sadistic grin.

Even Psyko, who was genuinely accustomed to Khobai's rash behavior, felt slightly disconcerted by that last remark. Was it because Yan Luo was a Krath? Or was something else bothering Khobai--making him act like more of a bastard than usual... Koskian's thoughts began to wander and he twitched in deep contemplation.

The Guard Commander pivoted in place and slowly marched down the corridor. Once Khobai was no longer in sight, Yan Luo turned to Koskian: "he's not very nice is he?"

"No... he's not very nice at all... but I'm really glad he's on our side."

Ma`ar had engaged the thrusters just as soon as the ship cleared the hangar door, as the Infiltrator had made its way to Arconae Primus, Ma`ar knew one thing that Taldryan would certainly be out for blood.
All could be seen was stars, Primus and Secundus was in sight, but there was nothing else.

“Halc, this is Ma`ar do you copy?”

The com was silent for sometime, before an answer had rang back.

“Yes Ma`ar, what can I do for you.” Halc commanded.

“Well I’m under way to Primus and Secundus. As soon as I hear what the plans are….send me some ships.” Ma`ar spoke.

As the Infiltrator was underway, the minutes clocked by and no word from the clan summit or arconae.

“Well Odin, figuring you and me are out here alone, keep you’re eyes on those scanners. If it beeps we will check it out.” Ma`ar said to Odin Vaaj.

“Yes Master, but what is this all about? They broke our trust, not the other way around.” Odin quizzed.

“Well apprentice, if you were sent to check out another clan’s strengths or weakness’, and you got caught. I’m guessing the clan would be just as upset if they wouldn’t release you.” Ma`ar replied.

During the time, no word was received back, and the navigational computer alarmed out with a loud buzz. The ship was entering Primus’s outer orbit.

Ma`ar scanned the area, and then set course towards the center of the two moons, figuring that would be a ideal spot to draw the Taldryan forces through if one could, as it was tight and ships could easily get lost on either side.

Kieran kicked Trepidus in the back of the leg, he was getting frustrated.

“Piss off!” Trepidus yelled over his shoulder.

“What’s taking you so long?” asked the Mandalorian.

“The boots won’t fit,” he replied grunting.

Kieran grinned, a typical trait of the Mandalorian armour was that the boots never ever seemed to fit. The new armour the Soulfire strike team sported had only just become available. It had been designed by Sashar and Kieran and was based loosely around standard Mandalorian armour. Modifications had been made to suite the needs of a Jedi and thus it was much thinner, whilst less protective it allowed greater movement. Sadly they also had to reduce the number of slots for weapons as it would have made the armour too bulky. It contained only a wrist blaster and a wrist rocket launcher with ammunition for two shots.

“The harder you push the harder it is to get in,” replied Kieran looking over Trepidus’ shoulder.

“Got it!” announced Trepidus as the boot slid home, he stood up and gave it the once over with his eyes making sure everything was in place, the matt black armour didn’t catch the light at all, but the steel blue trim shone.

“Looks fine, now lets move,” Kieran said whilst turning towards his TIE Phantom. He ascended the ladder held by a technician and climbed into the cockpit. The Mandalorian placed his TIE helmet on and stowed his armour’s helmet. Unlike the rest of his strike team Kieran did not sport the new armour. Whilst he had been willing to design the suit and had done so he would not part with his armour. It had served him to well in the past and was an extension of his skin.

This thing’s my second skin, it bleeds same as I do so there isn’t a chance in hell I’m gonna give this stuff up.

The Krath activated his comlink and began trolling through the pre-flight checklist. The Force around him was electrified as one would expect on the eve of a battle. Soldiers were preparing themselves for the conflict and the thought of not returning added apprehension and fear. However, you did not need the force to tell people were worried; the look on the technician’s face had been enough to tell Kieran that the man feared greatly for his life. News had trickled down the grape vine of the fleet they were facing. A Victory Star Destroyer waited for them in the depths of space. Kieran however, was excited; the love for the hunt and the thrill of combat sent any true Mandalorian’s blood boiling. His apprehension was not for if he would return, but rather was if his orders would carry him to the thick of the battle or skirt him on the fringes not allowing him his chance to kill. The words of a song sprung to mind as he sat there in the gloomy confines of the cockpit.

Some guys are in it for the glory, some guys are in it to get rich, most guys are in it for a reason, but I’m just in it for the kicks…

Rain began to fall upon the lands of Selen, The outer robe of the Obelisk the only comford the
Jedi could afford at the moment. Not too long ago he was called back by Halcyon for an urgent
discussion about the planetairy defence's.

****

Drake moved trough the main base of Selen HQ, moving towards the war room. The Obelisk
could tell by the crimson glow off of the walls that this base resembled the Sith for a long time
before becoming a multi ordered base.

Great metal doors opened as they made way to allow the Knight to enter, a few feet away Halcyon
sat in a large chair overlooking a table with a planitairy mapping showing all kinds of strategies
the Obelisk was unfamiliar with. Space battle never interested Drake, he would go for the warmth
of his victim's blood rather than the warmth of a laser cannon outside a one person fighter.

Drake bowed lightly as Adept turned around to face the approaching Knight.
"Sir, you ordered my arrival?" Drake said not knowing what to expect.
"Yes, I have news for you and a surprise." Halcyon said and when he did the corners of his lips curled
slightly in a small grin. Though without any hint of humour in it, the grin stayed on the Sith's face
for a while before turning back to the table, pushing a few buttons showing a more familiar land map
around the base where his troops were stationed.

"What are your plans Valheru?"
By the name of the race that contributed a lot to him the Knight narrowed his eyes and twisted his
lizard eyes to watch the Consul's slight grin re-appearing and his eyes unrevealed under his hood.
"Draken-Korin was the last to wield that sword your carrying, am I correct?"
The Knight's gaze turned downwards to the ground and he nodded slightly and Halcyon motioned
to the map again.
Drake moved to the map, avoiding further confrontation and got directly to the point, because all
Obelisk knew that telling stories around the facts is the treachery of the Krath order.

"Archean will lead the left flank of the army, I will take care of the center and Xaviar and Vladeck
will take the rest of Bas Tyra that is left after the Gethsemane base incident to go to the right flank."

"Are you sure about Xaviar?"

"He has shown potential, now his either his time to shine or to die. Rather by the sword than by execution."

Halcyon watched the Valheru carefully and nodded slightly. "What of the artillery?"

"We have hidden them behind the lines into the sand pits and camouflaged them with a special
layer of fabric. It's experimental but deadly for our enemies when used properly."

"What of the rest of Oriens Obscurum?" Halcyon asked

"Some are in space while some are on the planet with me, either way we are fully contributing in
this war and we plan to win."

"Very good job Templar."

At the sound of the title Draken turned his head curiously to Halcyon as he rose and ignited his saber.

"Dark Jedi Knight Draken-Korin Vasarius Devanius Romanae..." Halcyon began while the saber cut trough
the Knight's robes, showing the chest of the Valheru, an 'X' marking his weaknesses as a Journeyman placed
by his previous Master Ciara Tearnan in Tarentum. The Adept used his saber to cut the scar open again and
used to force to heal it rapidly, the 'X' dissapearing under a proper healing treatment, removing most of the
old scar, what was left was just a memory of old training.

"You are now an Obelisk Templar, wear your title with pride and fear no Taldryan weakness. Bring hell onto
them Dragonlord."

Drake kneeled down when Halcyon spoke his words. "I shall not fail you."
After that the new Templar rose from the ground and turned about, moving back to the short range shuttle
to get back to the fields of battle. Within the shuttle a new robe awaited him and the new saber he had
been working on was nowadays. Now he would be able to use the yellow colored blade in combat untill it
turned red of blood again.

******

Draken sighed as he watched the Valheru sword who was planted into the ground for now was engulfed by
the blue flaming aura surrounding it. Drake watched the blade and saw the drops hiss as they dare to touch
the flaming blade. The Alchemy of the sword transformed Ylith into more than man. But trough the change
memories of the Sword's past came with them, and a past of the first wielder in particular.

Suddenly Drake's attention was snapped back into reality as Xaviar moved behind him.

"Master, Vladeck and I are reporting for duties." Xaviar said bowing slightly.

"Support the Right flank, your job is to be a strong leader to the men there, some are nervous
while some are on the edge, keep a look out for any trouble and keep your thoughts to yourself.
We dont want any uprisings when we need to stand ready for the enemy." Drake said as he looked at
both of his apprentices. Xaviar and Vladeck both nodded and moved off to do as they were told and
Drake took a small glance to their direction and sighed slightly.

"Well Dash, whatever mastermind plan you have...I hope you have one" Dash said and he grabbed his
Scythe and stabbed it into the rock surface of Selen. Now he had to wait and hope he would hear about
anything soon to either work on a better plan or to prepare for battle. For now, only fate could tell what
would happen.

The Templar ignoted the yellow beam and whizzed the duel model saber around his body, trying out his
new saber.

"Taldryan...come and bring your worst...I am ready."

The Zabrak Guardian and his sub-ordinate both bowed respectfully to their master and faced the bulk of Bas-Tyra’s main supporting forces. “How many do you think this is, Tetrarch?” Questioned the human Vladeck. Interesting question, hopefully Im good with numbers, the Zabrak thought to himself, “About nine hundred, Vladeck,” Responded the Zabrak after a pause. As a thunder began to shake the sky, Xaviar could already notice tension in the ranks already, a few of the younger troopers flinched with every clap of thunder or strike of lightning.

“Soldiers!” The Zabrak’s voice rang out down the ranks of the troops he commanded. “Soon, the droid armies of Taldryan will attempt to land on Selen. Be forewarned, it is a battle-hardened army, an army that has fought in the Great Jedi War and in past conflicts with Clan Tarentum.” Pausing, the Zabrak studied his troops faces. These men must be defiant… He thought. “This is our planet, this is our land, this…” The Zabrak paused, glancing at his fellow Guardian, Vladeck. “…Is our battle, and we must not let the enemy take it from us!” Xaviar exclaimed, giving a quick smile to his elite troops as they lashed out in assorted chants. “Now, we must prepare for the battle of our times, the battle for Arcona!” Standing aside, he let his human ally to speak. But quickly gesturing to the Zabrak that he preferred not to speak, Xaviar stood back up. “Troops, fall into ranks, officers meet with me now, the rest get organized into your platoons under your respectful banner.” Watching his troops place themselves, thirty-five men and women approached the Guardian.

“This will not be an easy task, hopefully you all know that.” Looking around the group of officers, they all nodded. “Keep the men in line, don’t let any brawls break out. Taldryan could land in minutes or hours, be vigilant. Taldryan shall not take one inch of Selen without every man here dying, so that is where we stand, no way out. Now, return to your positions and maintain overall stamina. That’s all.” Dismissing the officers, the Tetrarch turned to Vladeck. “Vladeck, I want you at my side, don’t wonder off, we can’t afford to lose a commander because he was struck my lightning in the middle of nowhere.” The human chuckled, and began to speak, “Don’t worry, Im not suicidal. But speaking of suicide, I think that is what Taldryan is planning.” The Tetrarch grinned, “Don’t get cocky now, that’s not what I need. Now lets take our positions.” Vladeck nodded and followed Xaviar to the rear of their army.

Retrieving his comm-link and sent a simple message to his master, “Right flank is in position, Master.” We shall defeat Taldryan…the glory will be ours…

Koskian chuckled as he listened in on the main forces over the comlink Looking about he smiled, they were going to hold the landing pad, there was no doubt. Between Ktulu and Khobai and himself, with the Protector Yan standing ready to make a name for himself as well, no Taldryan Jedi or military force was passing this point. The defenses they were building up might even be worthless at this point, non essential.

Chatter over the comm indicated a battle was erupting in space. Glancing up, nothing could be seen except for the faint outline of a Star Destroyer. The Dark Prophet was here, and Soulfire was already on it's way. Glancing at Yan, the Exarch spoke.

"You have a Master yet kid?"

"No sir...most people seem to be ignoring me, I'm not very strong in the Force."

"Neither am I, but I managed to move up through the ranks....keep killing the badguys and you'll do great."

"If I don't get killed....by them or the Commander of the Guard over there"

"Ignore that asshole, he's a tough sob to work with but he'll do more then his fair share of killing today.......hear that noise?" asked the Obelisk.

Looking up at the sky, he saw the first dropships descending, a small flight of TIE's escorting them. He also saw the Citadel's anti-air turrets begin tracking the ships, the Taldryan were prepared for this as well. The TIE's broke off, buzzing the Citadel and firing lasers at it's thick exterior, doing little more then scorch marks as the anti-air automated defenses began firing on them. Kosk groaned, wishing the damn system had blown up at least one dropship.

Five were landing before them, landing ramps opening as they descended.

"Now is the time we find out your worth, Protector, live through this and I may make you my Apprentice."

Lightsabers ignited among the elder Arconae, and battle was met.

“Pfft, sorry dude but im gonna keep on calling you Ylith, Drake is just…too weird.” The Sith said with a smirk on his face. Ylith’s face began to contort but Archean waved it off. Giving him a jokingly punch to the shoulder, Archean turned around and headed for the door to the lower hall of the base. “See ya round, kiddo, I’ll be down soon.” Ylith said.

The sound of the troops rallying outside could be heard echoing through the walls, Archean’s face began to smile, knowing a hellish and brutal battle will ensue, the newly promoted Sith Warrior was ready as could be. He entered the turbo left which shot down, the doors opened and Archean was in the hall. Awaiting the arrival of Ylith he sat and began to focus on the task that would ensue.

It had been a while since Archean used his saber, he gripped it with his right hand and ignited the weapon, the sapphire blade shooting out of the chrome hilt it was incased in.
“Hmm, this is going to be fun.” Archean, disengaging it and returning it to his belt, awaiting the time for the show.

“Archean, it’s Drake, change of plans, I need you to come to where I am, I want to go over the strategy with you.”
“Alright, be there soon.” Archean said as he closed the link and started to make his way to where his friend was waiting for him.

Odin leaned in his chair; his eyes kept watching closely to the scanners and the monitors. His master had chosen to maintain the path between two moons to detect any signal from the enemy's ships. The Guardian glanced at the Battlemaster and found him checking the frequency detection. Once more, the Apprentice had his admiration to Ma'ar, considering his experiences and artistry of battle. This mission of intelligence was a great experience to him.

“Master, I've set wide band frequency-modulated continuous-wave signal to trace them. But I think we need several transmitters to spread the detection wider to make sure that we will have the necessary information from them in time. Well, this is my first time joining a great war...,” Vaaj uttered with a bit nervous.

“Easy.. Odin, the stations in Primus have launched additional satellites and probe transmitters in the perimeter. So we can track them in wider direction,” the Sith Master replied calmly.

“Ahh.. Then we can even trace their communication frequencies and stir them up in triangle demarcation,”

“It is only useful if they are still in their trip to Selen. After they set themselves into attacking position, usually they will shut off any conversation links and change their frequency,” continued Ma'ar.

“I hope we will have the reports in due course and defeat them by our forces,” said Odin.

“We will, because the Force will serve us well,” said the Master clearly. Such confidence of his made the Sith Apprentice relieved.

As, they stopped talking to each other, the scanners beeped, beeped and beeped. Odin pushed some buttons to magnify the illuminations of the targets.

“I hope they aren't passers-by. If these are truly the enemies then the reports should be addressed as soon as possible,” said Vaaj

Nearly time to move. I can’t believe how vulnerable we are right now, one slip and the whole squad will be dead.

Nadrin turned around in his seat to flash a grin at his two companions on the craft.

“Cosy isn’t it? We are set to go as soon as those shields drop, so don’t get comfy.”

Lucius shook his head irritably, a scowl evident on his face.

“Why do we have to wait here, hanging in space? I want to be out there killing something.”

The krath grinned to himself about the Obelisk’s words.

Always want to be in the middle of the action, typical.

“We are an important part of this mission Luc, and this part involves stealth. One of these isn’t likely to survive a direct assault on a Victory Star Destroyer, and even if it got close enough, getting into the hangar would be near enough impossible. The sneaking around out here means we survive long enough to kill things in there.”

Selene finished her statement by jabbing her finger towards the enemy ship that was heading towards the main Arconan fleet. Smaller ships were arrayed around the dagger-shaped craft, fighters already boiling out of the capital ships and spreading out into covering positions around their main fleet.

“I almost feel sorry for them, but then I remember that they sent their people to our home unwanted, and then the empathy dissolves into hate. I just can’t wait to see what Sashar and Quejo pull out of the hat this time.”

Selene looked over at the newest member of the Strike team with a curious look on her face.

“I don’t know about that Nadrin, We are pretty outgunned. What could he do to swing this in our favour?”

Nadrin looked back with a grin spread across his lips.

“Whatever, I think that there will be some fireworks soon though, and I think we need to be prepared. Just a hunch.”

Jubolt looked out of the viewport at the incoming craft, waiting for the unsaid signal that would call for them to spring into action.

The tension of the warriors on the right flank were growing, some were anxious to be in the battle and others were desperately wanting to get out of it, but all were determined to see Arcona prevail and they were ready to give their lives if so required. Vladeck receive a call from Drake on the com link "Vladeck, I want you to support Xaviar and follow his lead. Do not fail me! Encourage the men, make them listen to you and remember the right flank can not fall! I am counting on you guys" The Sith slammed his hand across his chest, "No problem Lord Valheru, we will not fail you"

Vladeck walked to the front line of soldiers and said "Brothers in arms! Now is the time to answer destiny's call!" his voice rising with every call. "Remember we are here to fight for our home, for Arcona! and for eternal Glory!!!" a momentary pause elapsed before the Sith shouted RUSH!!! The soldiers erupted with him, screaming their allegiance to Arcona, as the worried man return to the rear of the group, standing next to Xaviar, patiently awaiting his turn for battle.

The Sergeant watched the Soulfire Troopers that were in the same Phantom as he. They were ready for this, and he knew it. The fight would be instantly brought to the Taldryan flagship, and Ethran didn’t think anyone else could pull it off as well as Soulfire. True that may be conceited, but due to the Strike Team’s recent history, he had every right to think that.

Waiting for the VSD was the hard part. With him wanting to get things done as soon as possible, the Kiffar didn’t know what to do in wait. Jeax and Kryd’r were with the Prelate, and Ethran knew them both before being their commanding officer. It was good to see both progress at such a steady rate, but he was worried that their accomplishments may get to them, and cloud their vision of what would be before them.

Looking out in the depths of space, Ethran sighed. He knew the VSD was out there somewhere, and it was only a matter of time before the Strike Team would be aboard the colossal ship, ready to take it down from the inside. Suddenly a thought came to mind: if they could find the weapons control system of the VSD before the disabled the ship, they could very well disable the entire Taldryan fleet in one sweep. Keeping this in mind until they were successfully on the ship, Ethran smiled to himself, and waited once again.

The final words of the elder Exarch were hardly heard by the young Protector’s ears as the once silent and pleasant environment erupted into a scene of war. All around the Sith the mobile turret emplacements strategically placed by the Exarch and his staff came to life, some firing at the troopers emerging from the landed transports; others firing at the transports themselves. The sounds the turrets made were deafening as they released their charged plasma and energy rounds, and the young Sith found himself bending the force to his will to relieve his mind of the painful experience.

Standing in awe of the situation, Yan took a moment to examine the situation. To the left the Exarch was yelling last minute commands to one of his minions before the Obelisk himself engaged the enemy. Ktulu and the arrogant, sadistic Commander of the Guard were pressing forth against the enemy fire with their light sabres engaged; twisting and bending their bodies to avoid fire while also deflecting some back. The enemy was engaged quite the same as their troopers rushed for cover and sprayed shots back as their randomly popped up from their cover. The sea of colours danced beautifully as red, green and even blue blots of energy were exchanged; adding into the roaring conflict the playful dance of different coloured light sabres were spread randomly in the mix with the odd clash of two striking against each other as the Arconans and Taldryanians met together in the field of battle.

Shaking himself out of his trance, the Protector withdrew his blaster and threw himself on the bank of dirt before him and sprayed shots into the emerging cloud of soldiers. Having not been fully trained in the skill of blasters and rifles his shots regularly went wide of their targets. Luck, or perhaps the force, sometimes directed these badly placed shots into some unfortunate individual but over a matter of moments the Protector found himself hitting more times than not.

As the battle continued to grow with the additional landing of 3 more transports, the familiar warning from his comrades informed the Protector that the frags the Exarch and Klutu had found were being put to good use. As more and more grenades were throw into the fray, dust clouds emerged in the field of battle; giving some cover to storming soldiers. Once the dust clouds grew in density and Yan found himself lacking targets, the Sith holstered his blaster and drew his Katana from its place on his side. Charging into the thick of the conflict with his blade raise high, his voice roared his battlecry as he went in search of his first melee opponent.

The Templar watched in the distance as the first line was attacked. Taldryan drop ships made
their descend and it wouldnt be long before the troops of the enemy clan would also be attacking
Draken's defensive perimiter.

Draken, this isn't your damn war!

"Shut up Ylith, your time had passed."

There are a lot of troops coming, think you can handle those?

"I have been a Valheru Warlord Ylith, I can manage myself."

You want revenge on what happened millenia ago when...

"I told you to shup up, now stop talking I need to focus before going into battle, besides you let
my spirit out of the sword and into your soul. We are one now, so I suggest we work as one."

Fair enough, use my memories and my experience Draken, there are no dragons to ride
anymore. The world of Shi you know is gone. This is Selen.

"I know - Draken said as he unsheated his praised Valheru sword - and I will defend it as I have
come to respect and honour the ways of the Dark Jedi."


Suddenly Archean laid a hand on Drake's shoulder and the Valheru turned around quickly to hold
the Valheru sword up.

"Whoa, no need for that Ylith!"

"I prefer it if you would call me Drake Archean. How is the left flank?"

"Their all good, I just came back for a quick run to tell you good luck and a great battle in our gains."

"Honour to you, Bruth'Kothae."

Archean looked surprised but told himself not to ask. The Sith Warrior turned around and moved trough
the people to meet the front line of the left flank.
Drake moved to the center front as the Valheru sword carved a way trough the rocky soil of the to-be-battle-
ground.
Draken stood in front of the soldiers, some being nervous while other just took their time to sharpen their knives
and allow them some refreshments. Some even took the sheer oppertunity to contact their wives and children
before going into battle. Drake watched this and felt somewhat awckward. Since taking over the Dark Jedi
and making him his host the Valheru spent time figuring out the race he now spent most of his life
with. Even his wife was human, but he quickly saw what Ylith loved in her.

The Valheru shook his head, closing his mind for those thoughts. He had a war to fight soon and he
wouldnt be much of a fighter with his head up in the clouds.
The Valheru glanced at the white scarf tied to his arm for a small moment before laying his eyes on the
yet still small army of Taldryan. Though everyone knew this was only one small wave since in space the
battle was still raging on, stalling Taldryan in taking over Selen even faster.

Drake grabbed his Valheru sword and raised it into the air, a sudden flash of memories came over the
Valheru as he saw a shred of sunlight fall upon his army and the blade, reflecting the ancient markings
onto the rock surface.

Drake carved half a circle into the rock, the blue flames scorching the ground. The men grabbed their gear
and stood ready. Drake threw his Valheru sword up, the blue flame as a tail behind the great weapon. From
out of no-where the artillery that was hidden began to fire. The huge bolts of energy whizzed past the sword,
slamming into the army of Taldryan. The right flank were already firing while the left remained silent. Appearantly
Archean had something up his sleave like a true Sith.

Time to show your worth in battle...Draken-Korin of the Valheru

"Indeed Ylith of the Romanae, indeed....let us both be rid of the hostile host!"

What sounded like a two voiced warcry the Valheru ran forward catching his sword on the way to meet the enemy
host full on. Archean supporting by firing their snipers from a distance of only ten yards. Taking out most of the
first line. The Right flank moved into the enemy host like Drake before him and Archean covered them fron the
left flank by sniper fire and artillery.

The warzone was changed into a blur and slow motion as the Valheru moved trough it. His sword slamming into
the chest of one of the none suspecting Taldryanite. Screams of terror, orders and battle fell over the zone like
a vague noise on the far background as Drake watched the blurry movement of Arcona's black and purple's
soldiers mingling with the orange colored soldiers from Taldryan, all forming a wave of contrast and color.

Drake cursed the few ships that travelled in an arc to be the first strike team on Selen and avoiding most defences.
The Templar figured that this smaller force was designated to get the two Taldryanites our of the hands of
Arcona before the bulk of the army arrived. Drake's guess was that the army on the other side of the planet is
meant as one big diversion to keep Arcona's eyes focussed elsewhere. Allowing the smaller group to do their job.

Suddenly the Valheru was awoken from his thoughts as his shoulder was pulled back violently as a laser slammed
into the metal shoulder of the right arm. In retaliation the Valheru threw his flaming sword into the one who took
the shot and the Templar quickly called the Scythe he had on his back to his hands trough the force.

The battle was entensifying quickly, Archean now sending half his troops into battle due to the steady pressure the
Taldryan host was giving the Arcona home force. While the other half was still picking their kills and shooting non
stop Archean knew that in time they would also need to stop firing and engage in a melee or close firefight.

Xaviar was holding steady, him and Vladeck engaging the Taldryan force but with caution as they did not posses the
strengths or wisdom their Master and his friend posessed. Xaviar had leadership skills in him and quickly got some
men standing and firing in simultanious shots. creating waves of laserfire of which not one would escape from without
a nasty wound.

Drake was impressed by the Taldryan army but he knew that Arcona had the advantage of the home front and as long
as the bulk of Taldryan's army was still outside in space, the advantage was meant to stay for now. The Templar threw
his Scythe trough the Taldryan army, the weapon cutting trough numerous people before coming to a half into a man's
chest.

With a snap hiss the yellow yet sinister blade erupted from the duelist style hilt the Templar got with him. Soon the
blade would taste blood and will feed on it untill the blade will be as red as the crimson sun. In a wave of defensive
slashes to keep the enemy at bay the Templar began his attack, fully using his style to barrage the enemy with
fast and short attacks, making it hard to anticipate. The duelist hilt provided a twist to the blade that allowed the
wielder to use simple wrist movements to have pinpoint precision attacks and defences, and also give the Jedi a
more elegant and honourable look.

The Battle was already raging on Selen and even if the Space force was not in battle the ground force was already
licking it's wounds and giving them as well. Draken-Korin was engulfed by the will to fight for his Clan and Archean,
Xaviar and Vladeck all moved with his rage. Now the battle will begin in it's fullest and it will be here, on Selen, the
destiny of both clan's will be determined.

Even so, the Valheru warrior, last of his kind, will fight for the honour of the Arcona.

“Hold your positions!” Yelled out the Zabrak, “Do not fall! Show your interior and exterior strength! Leave none standing!” His commands obviously weren’t reaching the front lines of his battalion, as they began slowly pulling back, inch by inch. They will not surrender, this is for the glory of Arcona! The Guardian thought to himself. “Vladeck, we’re heading to the front, pick up a blaster and move!” He quickly lashed out at his human counterpart. Vladeck nodded and picked up a E-11 as he tailed behind the Romanae near the front of the battle lines.

“Hold your ground men!” Vladeck yelled out, as he quickly fired a triplet of blaster fire, in which all three bolts landed themselves onto a hopeless battle droid. “This battle is far from over…” Xaviar quietly said to himself. The words Far from over… echoed throughout the Guardians mind. Launching a grenade a few meters in Taldryan’s lines, a pulse of energy was soon emitted, sending both enemy troops and droids flailing in the air.

***

Suddenly leaving the battle, Xaviar found himself standing on a lake side pavilion, watching the sun set. Location : Naboo. The Zabrak stood in a his Royal Naboo uniform, and he leaned against the railing, watching the last bit of sunlight reflect off of the lakes calm waters. From behind, a woman who appeared to be wearing a black dress walked up to him, her skin being tan, and her hair being brown with hints of brown at the tips.

“Greetings, Lisbeth,” Spoke the Zabrak, as he had known she would come, “I’ve been wanting to talk to you.” “About that…” The female woman spoke. The aura of the pavilion instantly changed, and the feeling of uneasiness could be felt in both speakers stomachs. The Zabrak began to softly speak to her.

“Listen, Lisbeth,” He began to say, stopping to allow himself to calm down. “I know I’ve made some mistakes in my past. My dreams…they haunt me every night as I think about the past we shared and the future we could have had. I know that this won’t make a difference in how you perceive me, but I just wanted to say Im sorry. Im sorry for everything I did, I feel so…foolish…the things I said and did to you, weren’t my true side.” Lisbeth shook her head, looked across the lake, and began to speak. “Xaviar…” She spoke, but was soon cut off as the Zabrak embraced her. ‘This is how it should be’ thought the Zabrak, ‘Just…Like…This…’

***

“Xaviar, snap out of it!” Yelled out Vladeck, who’s robes were covered in dirt and dust. “Our troops halted their retreat and are slowly advancing. Inch by inch, Tetrarch.” Astonished, the Zabrak only spoke two words “That’s great…” Retrieving his micro holo-video recorder, Xaviar programmed it to send to the main war-room, warships out orbiting Selen, and any available comm channels as audio. “Message Begin,” Xaviar spoke.

“Commanders and soldiers alike, this is a message from Tetrarch Xaviar Romanae. The armed forces of Arcona, located on the right battle flank, have begun to advance. I urge you to send any air support you can spare to Selen, as the battle is intensifying and hasn’t reached its full, devastating potential…” Suddenly a stray shot deflected from a far away light saber struck the holo-video recorder, ending the message and automatically sent it out to all parties. Bas-Tyra, House Oriens Obscurum, and Arcona, I will fight to deaths end shall it be necessary. The Zabrak thought to himself, as he withdrew The Blade of Solemn Vendetta in one hand and a E-11 in the other, and began firing upon Taldryan once again…

“I hate this!”

Selene’s voice broke the silence that had settled inside the Phantom. The Hunter was so frustrated, patience was the one thing she did not have and right now, the little patience she had was being pushed to the limit.

”What are you smiling at Nadrin?”

The Protector was grinning at his friend, she had changed a lot since become part of the Soulfire team and he knew she needed this fight to prove herself to her new Master.

”Just relax, the fight will begin soon enough, you’re getting as bad as Luc.”

”I know Nadrin, but I want it done with now, we have been waiting for how long? The VSD is there, we just have to go for it!”

”The shields are still up, Sel…”

The ground battle was already on in full force and the girl felt her frustration levels rising, knowing that hundreds of lives were being sacrificed for Arcona and yet, here she sat, waiting, staring at the one thing that could change the outcome of the battle immediately, doing nothing at all.

Selene wished that Odin could have joined them this time round, but as with previous missions, inevitably one member of the battle team ended up being with his or her Master. The cloaked Phantoms hung in the air, the tension between the three ships almost tangible, even Jeax, who usually had enough energy to keep them all going on his own, was quiet. This fight would be a tough one but Soulfire had proven themselves before and will definitely do so again.

”Is everybody ready?”

Esca’s voice came through the comm link and the eight members of Soulfire that were present answered various versions of “yes” to their Sergeant’s call.

”Make me proud Troopers!”

”Finally” Selene breathed, “lets get this show on the road gentlemen.”

Finally, the battle is going to start.

Nadrin looked out at the mammoth capital ships as they finally opened fire on each other, the bright blue of ion bolts a stark contrast to the red and green lasers which were flying through the gap between the two fleets. Proton torpedoes and concussion missiles fizzed towards each fleet, slamming into shields and draining the energy from them slowly but surely.

“One of our smaller ships is heading towards their fleet ahead of the rest. Something is gonna happen, watch out for it.”

Nadrin and his companions looked out of the viewport at one of the fleet’s Carrack cruisers as it sped towards the enemy fleet, shooting towards the rear of the enemy formation, jettisoning something from the space where it’s escape pods should have been.

“Is that the Wraithraven? Why is it shooting its escape pods at them?”

“Just watch, those don’t look like escape pods.”

* * * * *

“Helm, bring us around. The Arconan’s have jumped in behind us with their fleet. Set course for the new arrivals, all weapons fire on that incoming cruiser.”

Someone at one of the stations looked puzzled as a buzzing came from his comlink before turning to his Captain.

“Sir, that cruiser appears to be jettisoning it’s escape pods at us. Orders?”

The Captain of the Renegade, a modified corvette in the service of Taldryan, looked over at the man who was sat at the gunning station with a sneer on his face.

“Escape pods will do no harm, the shields can handle them.”

The weapons controller nodded and spoke into his headset, relaying the orders to the gunners. Another man over at the sensor station stirred at his post before calling out to his Captain.

“Sir, we are picking up very weak comm signals at a place where there is nothing according to our sensors.”

“Ensign, if anything is out there at all, it is not our target in any case. We will carry on to their fleet, all weapons fire on that cruiser!”

A grim smile set on the Captain’s face. It would be a good day for the Taldryan forces, he could feel it.

* * * * *

“Well, I’ll be Kessled. They fell for it. Sashar, good work.”

The Krath looked over at his companion and grinned. Quejo was a Sith, and they rarely trusted battleplans formulated by book-loving Krath.

“Indeed they do. Tell the others to fire on the point where the detonators are going to hit, try to get the shields down. Now we see if your force meld thing really works.”

Sashar nodded before closing his eyes and stretching his senses out so that he touched each of the Krath on the fleet’s ships.

Go for the spot on that corvette’s shields where the escape pods will strike. Get them down, and we will see how much luck we have today.

He opened his eyes and looked out as the fleet’s fire concentrated on a small section of the Corvette, overloading the shields slowly but surely as they gleamed a light pink, trying to contain the energy from all the strikes. Suddenly the pink glow faded completely and the laser blasts began to pound into the hull.

“Shields are down.”

Shashar gave a predators smile as he looked out of the viewport with anticipation.

“And now the fireworks start.”

* * * * *

The two escape pods that had been jettisoned slowly tumbled through the hole in the shields and slammed into the hull of the Corvette. While normal escape pods would have just shattered on the hull, these two had been programmed to explode when the outer shell of the pod had been breached. The explosives which had been packed in recognised the breach in the hull of the pod and set off their charges, blasting outward with incredible force. The explosions tore into the Corvette like a blade through grass, tearing a chunk out of the craft and sending it spinning away, stricken without the systems that had been wiped out by the blast.

“Wow, that’s a pretty explosion.”

Nadrin was going to respond when a buzzing came over the comm.

“Soulfire, we are heading in. Good luck, and let’s kill some invader scum. As soon as the shields go down, full throttle towards the hangar.”

The Kuati and his companions looked out of the viewport, anticipation eating into them as they readied for combat, watching as their fleet all concentrated their fire on the Victory Star Destroyer leading the opponent’s forces. Two of the fleet’s ships were heading towards it, obviously with the same plan as before in mind.

“So, they either shoot at our ships or the explosives, either way they are going to get battered. You have to love the summit sometimes, they come up with sweet plans.”

Selene looked over at his as the Dark Prophet opened fire on the incoming ships as it carried on it’s manoeuvre to turn around so that it could get it’s stronger shields towards the incoming force.

“Not our problem now, we have a job to do.”

Nadrin watches as the fire from the Arconan fleet played over the larger ships shields, draining the strength away from them slowly but surely.

“Yes, yes we do.

What is Death?

Death is when all life has ceased in a person.

What of the Valheru?

We believe that our brother who die will ride with the Horde of our ancestors.

A Horde?

Riders of dragons, thousands of them, riding together to battle the gods.

There are no Gods

Exactly.

Why have you come?

You needed me.

What of those in space?

They have their own fate.

Dont you care for your battle brothers there?

No, they chose to fight without honour.

What is honour?

Looking the enemy in the eye with a sword in hand and death at your side.

Will you fight for them?

...yes.

Then what is honour?

...

*********************

Drake opened his eyes again, just in time to cut trough a man's arm trying to hack into
the Templar with a vibroblade. Before the sword reached the ground the man already lost
a leg and his head as the lightsaber made short attack moves in a fast blur of yellow. The
man was dead before it hit him.

The Valheru was in war with himself, the Dark Jedi who owned this flesh he wore before now
made him think differently. New ways of the Valheru were born while in battle, as they should
be.

The battle was raging on for a few hours now and neither army was planning in giving up so
easily. Draken cursed those in space. He never liked space battle to begin with and because
of those who wanted to fight in space he was now in a position of trouble.
Drake roared as he stabbed his saber backwards, the yellow blade puncturing trough armor,
clothing, flesh and bone. The man screamed in agony before split in two as the saber ripped
trough him in length.

"Archean! Tell those Space bastards to get their asses down here!"

Archean nodded, though Drake's was of saying it was a bit blunt, he knew he had a point. The
planet had to be defended at all cost but it doesnt make any difference when the planet is attacked
already.
Archean sent a message and Drake fought his way to Xaviar and Vladeck. He reached them hiding
behind a pile of bodies, using them as a wall to fire from.

"Master!" Xaviar shouted over the deafening sound of laserfire and screams. "We are beginning
to drive them back!"
"Good, now call your men to stay here, we are the defenders not the attackers. spreading the line will
only cause more weakness and - Drake paused for a moment to deflect a few lasers incoming with his
lightsaber - we need all the strength we can have before those Space cowboys get off their asses and
aid us!"

Xaviar and Vladeck nodded and both startted to shout orders to the men to hold their ground with
oppressive fire and defensive tactics. Draken made his way back and once again cursed the lack
of re-inforcements when he needed them. Suddenly out of no where a snipershot slammed into
the Valheru. The red beam of energy slammed into his metal arm in a slow motion, the outside
layer of metal bending as the Valheru saw the laser hit him. With a snap the metal burst open,
shards of metal flying around while the beam punctured trough the inner systems of the arm,
rendering them all useless. The beam then left the other side with the same furiosity as when he entered.

The arm went silent and before Drake could react the arm exploded due to the energy cell becoming
unstable because of the damage it suffered. In a flash the Templar was thrown away by the explosion
right at his side. Throwing the heavily wounded Obelisk aside, losing his saber in the progress.

***************

Then what is honour?

...

To die for those you care about without a blink

Koskian had a vicious grin on his face as he rushed another group of Taldryan battle droids, spinning his blade as he deflected blaster bolts back. Lashing out with the molten lightsaber, he silenced a pair of droids, glancing back he saw his charge Yan dancing through battle with his katana, a smile on his face. Even Khobai would have to admit the kid wasn’t a coward now, if he lived through it.

Attention brought firmly back to the front line by a near miss blaster bolt, Koskian cursed, spotting a knot of almost a dozen droids and a human moving with them. Reaching into his robes he grabbed one of the many fragmentation grenades they had found, armed it and chucked it towards the group. Droid parts flew through the air as permacrete chunks blasted out of the ground.

Smiling, Kosk surveyed his handy work, blinking in shock to see the human was still standing. And had released a lightsaber. So this was the insertion team, he figured, and yelled at Ktulu.

”Taldrya Jedi have landed! Let none pass Krath or so help me I’ll take your head myself!”

A chuckle could be heard from his right, the Adept Wrathraven walking through the crowd of enemy troops like death himself.

“Don’t rely on the Krathling, Kosk, take care of these fools yourself and show some backbone.” Spat the Commander of the Guard.

Koskian growled, turning to see the lightsaber toting Taldrya coming towards him. A pink lightsaber at that, he realized with a chuckle himself now, recognizing the Dark Jedi Knight Tarax Kor, formerly of his own Clan.

Raising his blade in a mock salute, the Exarch charged the lower ranked Obelisk, orange and violet blades smashing together as droids fell to his comrades left and right.

As the Valheru disappeared from Xaviar's sight, the Zabrak gave a nod to the Tetrarch’s standard bearer. “Halt the advance!” Screamed out the Zabrak, as the standard bearer quickly changed the standard to a red flag with ‘Halt’ written in Aurek-Bresh in black ink. As the Arcona advanced slowly grinded to a stop, battle droids quickly rushed at the front line with there blasters firing. “Snipers, get ready!” Suddenly, a salvo of sniper fire was emitted from some tall foliage hidden five meters to the Tetrarch’s right. As the fire rang out, seven of the eight battle droids were destroyed, the remaining droid retreated back to its front. “Grenade!” Lashed out Vladeck, as a thermal-detonator rolled right next to Xaviar. “Dive!”

***

An explosion appeared on the holo-video screen. “…left no survivors, as the escape pod system malfunctioned seconds before the alleged terrorist attack.” The Imperial Officer paused, allowing himself to relax. Gazing at the screen, the small Zabrak sat there with his eyes wide open. “Among those dead, are two Naboo Citizens, Yesenia and Josef Atjail, who were Appointed Royal Heirs to the Nab--” A tall handmaiden stood behind the young Zabrak, as she had a frown on her face. “Come, Xaviar.” She softly spoke, leading him away from the Atjail family living room. “Xaviar, your parent’s aren’t going to be returning, Im sure you learned this while you watched the holo.” The small Zabrak, maybe only nine years old, gave a slow nod as he faced the floor. Taking a handkerchief, the handmaiden wiped a tear that emitted itself from the young Zabrak’s eye.

“Before your parents left, they told me if anything was to happen to them, I was to take care of you. My name is Guadalupe di’Naberia, and…” The woman was cut off as she suddenly felt the urge to bend down and embrace the young Zabrak, as he softly begin to cry. “Xaviar…” The maiden tried to say, but he continued to cry. The handmaiden slowly weaved her fingers through his hair, and she began to quietly sing.

“From the sky’s of Bespin, to the shores of Calamari, the Republic will always shine. From the lakes of Naboo, to the woods of Kashyyk, the Republic will always shine. As we strive for excellence…intelligence…and unification, All Stars Burn as One…” Guadalupe quietly put a end to her singing, as the Zabrak had fallen asleep in her arms. She swiftly walked over to the nearby couch and laid him down, as she sat in a chair, waiting for him to wakeup.

***

A moment of silence quickly swept Xaviar, as he looked around, three troops died from the explosion, and one had injuries that had been caused from jumping on the detonator. As Vladeck ran up to the Tetrarch, the Human began yelling. “---And they’ve began retreating! We are holding our position by masters orders, but I think we should advance!” Shaking his head in disbelief, Xaviar quickly retrieved his comm link. “Master, Taldryans army is pulling back, shall we follow or hold our ground?” The Guardian spoke. A few seconds later, only static replied to the Tetrarch.

“Fire!” Yelled the Sith Warrior to the artillery behind him, huge bolts flew through the air at break neck speed, piling into the Taldryan forces, the sweat on the brow of Archean intensified, the heat of battle was astonishing, fighters left, right and centre. Through the force he felt something shake inside him, the same feeling during the one of the previous battles that happened with Arcona that involved Drake. Archean knew something was up. Turning around quickly he fended off two Taldyran soldiers, cleaving them in half with two swift strokes of his sapphire blade. Looking around to make sure no one else was coming at him, he quickly moved off to try and find Vladeck and Xavier.

The stench of battle grew thicker as it went on, more bodies lifeless on the ground, smoking blasters lying around, artillery fire going over head, soldiers swarming all over the field. The Bruth’Kothae tried his best to get through to some familiar faces but so far had no luck.

“Damnit.” He thought to himself as he deflected a blaster bolt, sending it back to the soldier directly ahead of him. The Sith, using his communicator, linked to the spaceships above.

“Archean here, we could really use your help right about now, they’re almost swarming all over us.” He barked.
“Roger that, sir.” The voice on the other side declared. Hastily putting the gadget back into his coat while running, the Warrior’s mind alarmed and he quickly ducked, looking slightly above he saw a few bolts pass by. Archean rolled backwards, got back to his feet and swung in a circle motion over his head, completely cleaving the head of a soldier off.

Through the smoke that was bellowing, many figures were slowly showing through the grey stuff, majestically taking care of their foes and barking orders, which to Archean’s ears were quite loud even though they were far away.

Using the force, the Sith’s legs became extremely light and were traveling extremely fast, in the direction of the shadows. “That must be them.” His mind told him.

“Men, hold the position!” Barked an order.
“There’s too many of them!” Another exclaimed
“Just hold!” Came the reply.

The bodies became closer and closer with each passing moment, soon they were directly in front of the blind swordmaster.

“Xaviarr, Vladeck!” The voice shouted. The two finished off their ememies and turned around to a shock.
“Master!” Vladeck exclaimed as he quickly bowed, Archean returned the gesture and shook the hand of Xaviar.
“No time for hello’s, we’ve got a war to win.” Nodded Xaviar. They focused once more and began to hack at the advancing soldiers of Taldryan. Quickly, the Taldyran forces stopped and began moving back. Archean thought the pictures in his mind were deceiving him.

“They’re going back.” Archean asked
“Looks like it, they were retreating before but it may have been a sort of possum routine.” Xavier explained.
“Where is Drake? Wasn’t he with you guy’s?” Asked the Sith Warrior.
“He was, but his arm exploded and shot him off, we don’t know where he is.” Xavier said. A sick feeling overcame Archean’s stomach. He quickly looked around.
“Where was he before this happened?” Asked the Sith
“About 1 kilometre on our left.” Replied Xaviar. Archean nodded and ran in the direction he was told, using the retreating of Taldyran as an opening to conduct his search.

Jogging around, The Swordmaster was scanning the area, finding to find any traces of his fallen comrade, for now, nothing was showing. About 200 metres down the way, a glint sparked in front of Archean’s face. He hastily moved to it, it was his friend’s lightsaber. Archean knelt down and picked it up, putting in one of his coat pockets he got up and continued his search. Soon enough there was his friend, completely knocked out and armless, Archean rushed over and knelt down, making sure there were no other visible injuries he lifted Drake, bringing him back to where Xaviar and Vladeck were.

He is also your friend.

Why? He owes me nothing...

Honour is more than dying

Then what is honour to humans?

To aid your friends when needed and never hesitate in battle

I could live with that

Now rise, I know you can

I will

Show the Valheru pride!

I shall

************************

Drake opened his eyes, closing them again hard as the pain shot trough his body. The Obelisk remembered the
sniper[Expletive Deleted] trough his metal arm and being launched to the other side of the battleground. Opening his eyes again,
the Obelisk glanced upwards to the sky, watching his left side. The shoulder was blackened and his side was
burned heavily. The scarf he wore destroyed completely.

The Valheru closed his eyes and grabbed onto the force, healing himself as good as possible. The internal bleeding
stopped but the flesh of his wound was still burned gravely, almost beyond repair. The Templar rose from the ground,
Archean supporting him for a second before he could stand on his own feet again.

"Status?" The Obelisk said with a scorched voice. Xaviar and Vladeck both bowed slightly.
"Master." they both said simultaniously and Archean was surprised for a moment.
"I am sorry Archean, but I pledge allegiance to the Valheru." Vladeck said with a hint of fear in his voice.
Archean just nodded and Drake placed his hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry Arch."

Archean nodded and Drake looked at Xaviar. "Report."
"We are gaining the upper hand but barely. The right flank is ready holding."
"Archean?" Drake said turning his head to him.
"left flank is steady, Artillery is covering most of them and the sniper line is holding for now."
"Good, what of center?"
"Holding, but barely." Archean said and he reached down his inner robe pocket.
"Try not to lose it again..."

"What do you mean again?"

"Remember the Phoenix Crest?"

"Oh dont start that again!" Drake said as he snatched the saber from Archean's hand.

"So you do remember, Ylith." Archean said narrowing his eyes and Drake fell silent, his gaze reaching
the ground then turning his back on Archean.

"Right..."

Archean places his hand on Drake's shoulder and when Draken glanced backwards Archean smiled slightly.
"Once a brother always a brother, come, lets slay some of those Taldryan scum!"

Drake smirked and ignited his yellow saber with a hiss. Xaviar and Vladeck bowed then startted to fire at
the Taldryan host. Archean and Draken startted to run at the Mid flank and were ready to aid them. Sooner
or later Taldryan will fall.

*********

United we stand
United we stand

***


Almost as if he was on psychedelics, Xaviar’s mind quickly left the battlefield, and he was thrust into the cockpit of a Naboo-Star fighter. The Guardian’s N-1 was spiraling down from the atmosphere, and he could barely make out the border between Naboo’s plains and swamp land. “Bravo Three!” Came a female voice from his headset, “Bravo Three come in! Damnit Atjail, respond!” Unknown to the woman, the Zabrak had blacked out, and was on the edge of consciousness. “Bravo…leader…” Softly spoke the Zabrak, as his fighter rapidly picked up speed, only 9 kilometers from the ground at that point.

“Xaviar, punch out now! That’s an order!” Blasted Bravo Leader, as she began to circle the falling N-1. “Xaviar?” She blurted out, ‘No response…’ She thought. Suddenly, the Zabrak turned to his right and looked at the pilot across from him.

“Syna, go back now…let me fall down in this ship…”
“Never! I won’t let you die while I’m in charge of Bravo Flight.”
“Let go Syna, Let go!”
“Your suicidal Xaviar, and time is quickly drifting away, punch out now!”

Suddenly, the two meter long cockpit ejected from Xaviar’s fighter, and deployed an emergency parachute. As the sun began to set, Syna’s fighter slowly flew over Xaviar’s emergency camp. “Your done with Bravo Flight, lieutenant. I’ll send a rescue party tomorrow and you’ll leave her majesties service the day after.” Syna spoke on her radio, as the Zabrak flipped her his middle finger. Quickly turning on her afterburners, Syna disappeared into the sunset. ‘Is it time?’ Came a familiar voice.


***

“Xaviar, is it time to advance?” Lashed Vladeck, as he fired his blaster towards Taldryan’s lines. “Yes,” Replied the Tetrarch, “We shall set up the line now.” As Xaviar whispered into his standard bearer’s ear, a white banner with a black sniper scope quickly appeared. “To the Far East, almost away from the battle,” Commented the Zabrak. As the standard bearer slew the banner to the right, a line of twenty sharpshooters clandestinely hide off into foliage specifically planted for defensive purposes. “Fire!” Yelled out Xaviar, and a salvo of sniper fire began raining on Taldryan’s front line troops. “Keep Firing!” Xaviar screamed at the top of his lungs, almost blood-curdling. Suddenly, Vladeck turned to Xaviar.

“Tetrarch, when will we advance?!” Questioned the young Human. “When the tide has turned, Tyro, be patient,” Replied the Tetrarch. ‘Which should be any day now…’ Xaviar silently thought. As sniper fire continued to ring out periodically, Xaviar slowly looked to the west, trying to spot Drake or Archean. “I can’t see them either,” Vladeck softly spoke, almost as if he was depressed. “Not to worry,” Xaviar replied, “They can handle themselves.”

An explosion rocked the ship, sending the Captain of the Dark Prophet clattering to the floor. He quickly rose and looked around at his crew.

“What was that? Status report.”

“Sir, we have lost both deflector shields and are leaking atmosphere on out top 3 decks of the bridge tower. One of those canister’s caught us and exploded.”

The Captain refrained from uttering a curse as he looked out at the fleet attacking his ship and Taldryan’s fleet.

“They won’t get us, we will beat them. This is a glorious day for Taldryan, onwards!”

* * * * *

“Their shields are down, head in. Soulfire, to the hangar!”

The cloaked TIE’s sprang to life, accelerating towards the large vessel in front of them, their occupants poised and ready to finally begin combat. The ships sped through space as they approached the hangar that was, fortunately for them, empty. The fighters it had previously held were fighting for their lives against the Arcona fleet, allowing them a way to infiltrate the ship.

“Don’t open fire until we have exited the hangar. If they know they have hostiles in there, they will just vent the atmosphere, then our chance is gone. As soon as you land, exit your ships and get out of the hangar but don’t forget to leave them cloaked.”

The trio of fighters swept into the hangar and set down. Before the wine of the engines had fully died away the occupants were spilling from the ships and running over to the main door which led out of the hangar. They filed into the hallway beyond the door and came to a halt as they huddled in a group.

“OK guys, I’ve been thinking about this, and here is the plan. We will split into two teams. Team one is Selene Trepidus Kryd’r and me. Our mission is to head to the weapon control centre and destroy it. Team two is Jyx, Nadrin, Lucius and Keiran, and you will be heading for the main reactor. Your mission is to set the charges we brought with us, and get the hell off this ship. When they are planted, you will have ten minutes to get out, so don’t forget to tell us so we can escape too. Good luck guys, here are the charges and get moving.”

Ethran passed over the bag of charges to Jyx and gave them a brief salute before leading his team off towards the weapons centre. Jyx looked at his three companions and gave them a brief smile.

“Trust them to give us the hard job. Well, we’d better get moving. Arm yourselves and be prepared to fight, today is the day we thrust Soulfire’s name into the history annals.”

The Arconan's on the landing pad were in good spirits, broken droids laid about the ground and the sounds of battle were lessening. A force of battle droids and several Taldryanite Jedi were retreating to a drop ship, the ships lasers burning towards the Arconan Jedi for cover. The Dark Knight Tarax was back peddling away from his former allies, anger showing on his face. He had been sent down to force the way into the back of the Citadel since he had intimate knowledge of the building. He had failed, the forces holding the platform were too strong.

Koskian and the others watched the fleeing Taldyran, both happy and unhappy. They had stopped a forced entry of their base, but some of the enemy was going to get away. Looking about, Kosk noted no deaths among his allies. Yan had even come out of it mostly unscathed, though he cradled a bleeding arm.

Ktulu looked about as well, pleased with himself.

"Still alive Xyler....what a damn shame," sneered the Exarch, his feelings coming back into play as no opponents were left.

"Ahm not going nowhere, d'Tana, be glad I was here ta keep ya alive, ya witless sod," replied the Krath.

Khobai was wiping oil off his robes, snarled at the Protector and Krath, and began walking back towards the Citadel. Koskian grinned, smacking Yan on the shoulder and motioning to come along as he headed back to the defenses, now fully functional and more then likely staying for some time.

"Koskian, Ktulu, and all others from the Landing Pad, this is Strategos" came over the com links suddenly.

"Head towards the plains, the battle is turning there, I want you to maximize the Taldryan losses before they manage to get off the ground." he ordered.

"Here we go again." muttered Kosk.

Esca ran ahead of his group without waiting. He had the charges, and that is all that really mattered at this point. Selene would be able to command the others as Esca made his way through the many halls of the Star Destroyer trying not to be detected by any of the hostile forces. After exiting the hangar, the Prelate had run into heavy weapons fire, but he had his mind set on a goal, and he was not going to leave until it was completed.

A squad of troopers blocked Esca’s way and the Sergeant drew his saber, igniting it in a blur of motion. The blaster bolts that followed were almost all deflected back on the troopers, and a few fell to the floor. Looking behind him, Esca noticed that his squad was close behind, but he didn’t bother waiting.

The Sergeant made it to a turbolift, but he was unable to get it to work. He pried the doors open and climbed up the maintenance ladder instead, in hopes that he would have the time to accomplish his mission. When he could go no further, Esca jumped out into the next corridor, and cross referenced his position. There wasn’t much time to do anything.

Good thing was, he was on the correct floor as the weapons control station. With a burst of speed almost inhuman, the Arconan raced through a series of doors and rooms, then finally made it to the weapons control station. Drawing his saber once again, Ethran took three officers down, and to his surprise, the rest of his squad barreled in taking the rest of the Taldryan troopers attention off the Sergeant.

Esca quickly tapped into the stations controls and set them to constantly fire upon the Taldryan fleet. He set in a pass code so that no one could override the settings, then set the charges according to plan. This was where it would get heavy.

“We have NO time at all! MOVE!” Ethran yelled.

Posting for KP Jeax Zirv:




The Child melted away into the Adult quickly.

The team flew through the halls, guns firing, lightsabers blurring, screams ringing out as the small portion of SoulFire made their way towards the reactor, taking the Taldryans down quickly with their minds set on their goals.

Kieran and Nadrin fired their blasters, each aiming for any warriors who did not possess a saber, leaving them for Jaixen and Lucius, who worked together quickly, using the force to increase their speed and strength, to trip up the occasional stronger warrior, often helping one another by blocking a warrior’s saber and allowing the other to cut them down, rushing from one to another, dodging the blasts made by both sides, but soon the two wielders acknowledged that this approach would quickly kill the four of them.

~Down and up, you down, get Kieran, we‘ll head to the reactor, you guys go create a distraction. ~ Spoke Jaixen to the Knight.

~Got it. ~

The two quickly flipped backwards and landed next to their perspective warrior, Luc driving his saber into the ground as Jaixen slashed up, each cutting a quick small hole as the two journeymen gave the warriors strong cover fire, then followed each of them as they jumped to their perspective exits.

Jaixen and Nadrin rushed down the air ducts, bodies bent over to fit better in the smaller area, stopping and trying to not fall as an explosion shook it hard as the trip mine that Nadrin had laid at the entrance went off, letting the two know that they were being quickly followed.

The Priest could only pray that the map was right as he glanced at his data pad, speeding through the air ducts, turning left, right, racing as quickly as he could, keeping track of his distance, using the force to mask themselves, being careful to avoid any areas he could think of that would be thin and make noise to alert his foes of their position. The Krath smirked as he heard explosions in other parts of the ship, knowing that Luc and Kieran were doing their work.

The Krath stopped and held up his hand, grimacing slightly as the Protector nearly ran into him.

~A little more warning next time? ~ Asked Nadrin

~Sorry. ~

A quick glance with the force showed the Arconans where technicians were checking on the reactors status through several consoles.

A quick glance to the sword across Nadrin’s back was hint enough for the warrior to draw it alongside his gun. The crimson blade of the Priest activated and dropped them once more, Jaixen quickly reacting and using telekinesis to pick up the dropped metal of the duct and slam it against one of the workers, the two quickly rushing towards the techs and taking them out.

~Quickly! ~ Roared Jaixen as he tossed Nadrin a few explosives and began setting them all before grabbing his comm. “They are set, let’s GO!”

An explosion rocked the entire ship hard and threw the warriors against the wall hard,

“We finally do good damage and its slowing us down, great, come on!” Roared the Krath, grabbing the Protector and increasing his speed using his own force.

The two jumped up into the vents and began running once more, not caring who heard anything as they took off, feet pounding hard against the metal, ringing loudly in their ears as they breathed hard, eyes narrow, working as hard as possible to get to the safety of their ships, to get away from this infernal ship that stood before their clan.

Suddenly an explosion destroyed part of the ducts, sending them flying hard to the ground, Jaixen’s screams ringing out loudly amongst the explosion.

Nadrin got up, putting out any fires on his clothing and checking himself, glad that the explosion had barely missed him, but his attention was quickly turned to Zirv as he noticed him on the ground. Quickly pulling Jaixen to his feet by his shoulders, his eyes widened as he saw the intense burns upon the Priest’s arms, almost surprised they weren’t cleaned down to the bone from the flames.

“We have to keep going!” Pushed the Protector

“Then let’s go!” Growled the Priest, using his entire mind, all of his force, being focused to decrease the pain, his arms limp by his side as he quickly ran towards the hangar of the ship, the Taldryans barely having time to react and attempt any type of attack against the twin blurs.

Esca’s shouts could be heard coming from the hanger as the two approached, his eyes glaring at the two, then quickly practically throwing them into their ships and jumping into his as well, the engines quickly roaring and charging up as blaster fire hit the shields, quickly boosting away at high speeds.

Esca smirked as he looked at the detonator, watching as the clock ticked down, less than barely a minute left.

“Why don’t we just push the button? Do we really need a few extra seconds Boss?” Asked Jaixen, smirking.

“Fireworks, right?” Agreed Ethran

Suddenly simultaneously all their communicators went off and a strong voice spoke.

"This is Consul Halcyon of Arcona, The War is over, Stand down all your weapons immediately. Anyone firing after this message is broadcasted will be executed at sight. Halcyon out."

Esca let out a small sigh and pushed the necessary buttons upon the detonator, watching as the glowing red numbers slowly dimmed before vanishing.

“Well, we have leverage if that counts…” Suggested Jaixen

Posting for OT Draken-Korin Vasarius Romanae:



Draken, Arcona will not hold in this rate

I know, I am trying

Bastards, they dont help us!

Probably Soulfire showing off again...

Probably...bah...

We have to try nonetheless.

Ofcourse, we need to.

I lost one arm, will we survive?

We will

What will we do?

Hold them off, help will come

Wouldnt count on it, honourless space men.

We will see what fate brings us

Ofcourse, lets go

******************

Draken slammed the lightsaber into one's chest, the soldier's scream cut off as the
saber blade was pushed upwards exiting trough the man's skull. A subtle movement
with the wrist and the Obelisk cut off a man's arm and sliced the barrel of the other
man's gun.

The Templar quickly silenced them as the saber slammed trough their skulls, scalping
them Dark Jedi style.
Watching Archean from a distance, the Obelisk moved trough the mass of people trying
to get a reading on the situation. of the 2000 elite soldiers Arcona had as a last defence
now only 800 stood tall. and of the 3000 that attacked the lines only about a 1000 was
still standing.

Archean glanced at Draken and nodded, acknowledging that he knew the same as Drake
did. They were outnumbered and things should red worse in only a matter of time. Another
main problem was that the artillery was now useless. Both armies were mingled into each
other making firing the artillery without severe home army casuality a very high risk.

Suddenly another lightsaber slashed trougha Taldryanite behind Draken, when the
Obelisk turned around Koskian saluted with a smile.
"Quaestor!" the Obelisk said smiling and he moved onward followed by Khobai, Ktulu and
Yan deeper into the battlefield, causing mayhem and havoc within the Taldryan forces
causing as much damage as possible. Draken glanced at Archean who nodded and
moved back to the left flank. Now was the time to push Taldryan back to where they
came from.

----[]----

In Space the Arcona ships were engaging the Taldryan ships with brute force, batteries
fired after another. The smaller ships provided cover for smaller craft like fighters and
missiles while the bigger warships were firing their huge cannons onto each other.

Shards of metal were fired into space as lasers slammed trough the hulls of ships as the
smaller craft did well in avoiding the explosion and the debris coming from the larger ships.

As Galeres did everything to stop the host, some of the invaders got trough, the Taldryan
oppression was hard and there were no additional forces anymore to fend them off. This
due to Taldryan sending some of it's force around the Arcona wave of defence, the ground
forces were now pinned down and unable to lend a hand to the space force, but the same
went the other way around.

"This is Tie Squadron Delta, over."

This is Selen Base, whats your position, over

"We're approaching the battlefield, we were the only ones the Space forces could lend out,
We're assisting the ground troops now over."

Very good, follow these co-ordinates, over

"Will do, Delta out"

---[]---


"Damnit!" Drake shouted as the Taldryan forced were making it very hard for the Arcona
force to make their oppressive move. The droids and soldier of the orange army was now
using all kinds of different flanking patterens and guerilla sort off tactics. Either way, the
battle was far from over yet.

"Khobai! Assist Xaviar and Vladeck on the Right flank! Yan and Ktulu! Go to Archean and
assist in the Left flank! Koskian! Your with me! Lets take those bastards out!" Drake shouted
over the mass off people surrounding them.

A sudden roar over the battlefield caused most soldiers, even the Jedi to look up to see what
was going on. As the Tie fighter pilots looked down as the carnage and destruction of the
Taldryan and Arconan forces they were restless. They watched the blackened fields filled with
bodies either still moving in some way or just splattered over the battleground. A squad
of 5 Tie Fighterssuddenly flew over in a 'V' pattern. They turned aroundin a U-turn and
fired upon the retreating Taldryan forces.

The Morale of the Arconan men was lifted and the battle finally took a turn for the best. And
before Drake realised it the Arconan army was cheering and even more aggressive than before.

Suddenly the Tie bend off their pattern and moved aside, disengaging and suddenly a
voice-only was boosted trough the communication systems of both Arcona and Taldryan.

"This is Consul Halcyon of Arcona, The War is over, Stand down all your weapons immediatly.
Anyone firing after this message is broadcasted will be executed at sight. Halcyon out."

Drake glanced at Koskian and he raised his shoulders.

Was it finally over?