Unification

Prelude

Braecen Kaeth screamed out in pain as the blue-white lightning spilled from the Grand Master’s hands. Every agonizing second pushed the Consul closer to death. Closer to eternal darkness.

Finally, the terrible arcs of energy ceased their assault. The Consul of Plagueis pushed himself up from the floor. On his hands and knees, with his head bowed, he continued to cough up his own blood. It came forth in cold, hard gasps – dark pools of red upon the durasteel flooring. Braecen dug his nails into the cold metal plates; clawing for a mediocrum of relief from the Grand Master’s wrath.

Two individuals stood over the Corellian. In his full, dark glory, the Dark Lord of the Sith stared down upon the petulant Dark Councilor. His eyes glowed with the malvolent power of the Dark Side from under his raised cowl. And his robes seemed to billow and shift, but no breeze could be found. The articles merely shifted as his force potential and potency beamed through his mortal coil; a palpable aura of darkness.

Behind the Dark Lord, almost obscured in the shadows, stood his Praetor. The powerfully built warrior stood draped in dark, black fabric lined with a silver edging. And where his skin showed, a dull red glow emenated. Motionless, he stood by with an eery detachment from the situation. Braecen wearily eyed the cudgel in the man’s hands. He knew, should he attempt to attack Lord Sarin, that the feigned detachment would cease. Survival, not retaliation, was the only thought that consumed the Corellian’s mind at the time, though.

“You will obey my will,” Sarin said. He reached down and grasped the front of the Krath’s shirt, pulling him up on his knees. “For too long have I pampered you and entertained the fantasy that you would grow out of your self-indulgence.” Braecen attempted to retort, but with a Mastery known only by the Grand Masters of the Brotherhood, his words were choked off. The Dark Side bent to the will of the Dark Lord of the Sith, constricting the trachea by applying pressure with telikenisis. The Krath’s eyes began to swell with the lack of oxygen.

Sarin snarled. He tossed the man with uncanny strength. The nearby bulkhead graciously stopped the Krath. His body folding to the deck upon impact. Shakily, the Corellian began to pick himself up from the floor, yet again. His tunic was torn, his hair smeared with his own blood from a cut above his brow. “Always using the strong armed approach,” Braecen croaked. “Could have just said ‘please’, Sarin.”

The Dark Lord supressed a grin. The relentlessness of the Corellian to try his patience was admirable, if not lethal. “I can simply kill you and reclaim Consulship of this Clan, Braecen.” It was no threat. A mere admission of truth. “I trust you will rally your fleet when I call.” Sarin spun on the ball of his left foot, beginning his march back towards the shuttle bay aboard the Firefox-class Carrier Perdition. Moving into his wake, Raken began to follow.

Braecen called out, “Off so soon?” He managed to pull himself to his feet in the process. “I suppose you have other Consuls to visit.” Sarin halted his advance. “No, I sent messengers to the others.” He turned to look over his shoulder, “I knew that you would be the only one that needed, ah, persuation.”

The Krath nodded to the Praetor at Sarin’s side, “He could have accomplished the same goal.”

“Yet, I would not have gotten the pleasure of disciplining you myself.”

Part One
Into the Shroud

Firefox-class Carrier Perdition
Radama Void, Outer Rim

Alaris Jinn looked out the forward viewport of the vessel. He longed to be aboard his own, personal ship the Victory-class Star Destroyer Ballista. Yet, as Lieutenant Supreme Commander of the Jusadih Armed Forces, he had a responsibility to heed the summons of the Supreme Commander, Braecen Kaeth. And, now, assembled about the Consul of the Clan were a regiment of commanding officers and powerful Dark Jedi.

“Gentlemen,” Braecen began, “The Grand Master has called and we have answered. We, like our sister-clans, will move along our given vectors through the Shroud. Our aim is to retake the Antei System.” A chorus of dissent flared up. One voice, in particular, stood out. Brigadier Admiral Dacien Victae cried out, “That is suicide!” And many shook their heads in agreement to his assessment of the situation.

Alaris scoffed. All eyes turned upon the Proconsul. “We should not pretend that we know the plans of the Dark Lord of the Sith. We are mere pawns in a much larger game, my friends.” The Consul nodded in agreement with Alaris’ wisdom. It was true, in fact, that none of them could glean what the Grand Master had planned.

“Our young prodigy is correct, gentlemen.” The Consul , acclaimed for his quickness with the blade, could also move deftly with words. “We have our orders. I am handing Fleet Command over to Lieutenant Supreme Commander Alaris Jinn. He is far more adept at tactics in this arena than I could ever claim to be. I will be joining the Elders of Our Clan in meditation as I guide us through the Shroud.” He spun on his heel and began the long march towards his shuttle that would escort him to the Ballista.

Dacien moved to Alaris’ side. “Your orders, Sir?” The Twi’lek paused to collect his thoughts. While he was more advanced in this arena than Braecen, he had not been prepared for command to be shifted into his lap. “Move the flag to my ship, Admiral. I will be issuing my orders from my ship.”

He turned to regard the rest of the commanding officers. “Prepare your ships, Officers. We have been issued orders and we will carry them out.”

One man, Alaris recognized him as the commanding officer of the Silent Scream, protested. “My Lord, I do not believe we should proceed without further details. It would be reckless of us to risk our ships with the Jusadih System undefended.” The Lieutenant Supreme Commander let his eyes bore into those of the dissenter. “Noted, Captain.”

The tension was released as the Commanding Officers left the Command Salon. Jinn had satisfied them well enough: a just reward. Their muttering between themselves grew fainter until eventually Alaris was left almost alone on the walkway. He could still feel the presence of Cethgus Kuga, the Clan Rollmaster, Captain of the Instigator, and bane of the Twi'lek's existence. "What can I help you with, Captain?"

The use of his military rank over his Dark Jedi rank was noted by the Iridonian. "I wonder what you stand to gain out of sacrificing our entire fleet." The scar on his face itched slightly but he dare not scratch it. "You never do anything without a reason, Proconsul. What is your purpose here?"

Jinn kept his anger in check and instead made the motion to prepare for the fleet's enter into the shroud. He hoped the extra preparation movement in the room would keep the fellow Prelate from noticing anything. He turned slowly to face Cethgus speaking softly. "My plan is to assist the Dark Council to retake Antei and to ensure Brotherhood security now that this Galactic Alliance is assuming control of the Galaxy."

The Zabrak grinned and bowed his head slightly and carefully. "Of course, Proconsul. Forgive me for questioning."

"Think nothing of it," Jinn stated dismissively. "You'd best hurry to the hanger, lest the Instigator jump to hyperspace without her Commanding Officer." He wanted Kuga gone, both for the immediate future and permanently; his plans for the future counted on it.

Without a word, the Rollmaster turned on his heel and began to walk from the room, gliding seamlessly along the Command Walkway. With half a smirk, he waited only until Kuga had left the room before giving the order to jump. Seconds later, the stars before him began to twist and contort until eventually turning space into the darkness of the Shroud.

The cavernous hangar of the Firefox Class Carrier Perdition was a flurry of activity as techs and pilots alike were running to and fro in preparation for the retaking of the Antei system. However there was one man who, in the current maelstrom of activity, was standing as still as a statue. Obelisk Templar Jaysun Adumarii had, of his own accord and much to the ire of the deck officer, sequestered a long section of the deck approximately forty meters long by ten meters wide.

At various positions along this corridor he'd placed empty cargo containers with head sized pieces of scrap metal sitting on top. In his right arm was cradled his Blastech A280 blaster rifle while in his left hand was a small hydrospanner he was using to adjust the rifles scope. After a few small turns he jammed the spanner into his pocket, shouldered the rifle and fired at a target about thirty meters away, the bolt sizzling through the air to miss its target by inches before racing off though the magcon field into space.

With a grunt of frustration Jaysun screamed “I'm gonna kill who evers been messing with my guns” to nobody in particular. Pulling the hydrospanner back out he adjusted the scope a little more and took aim once again. Pulling the trigger he watched as the ruby red bolt of energy flew through the air and clipped the edge of the target he'd been aiming at. “Well at least I'm getting closer” he said to himself.

With a few more tweaks he was hitting every target he aimed up with unerring accuracy. Satisfied that he'd dialed the scope in to his standards he placed the rifle against the wall and pulled his Westar 34's from there holsters. Firing first the left, then the right blaster he made sure they were in working order. With his weapons all in tip top shape Jaysun slid the pistols back into there holsters, picked up his rifle and, with nothing to do until they reached Antei, headed for the mess hall to grab a bite to eat.

Jaysun made the long walk to the mess hall. As the doors split open, he was greeted by a friendly voice, "Jaysun!" Yzarc cried out. Immediately, the Obelisk wheeled to join the respected di Plagia at his table where a mountain of food surrounded the Quaestor of Exar Kun. The former assassin of the Isradia family identified platters from both the Core Worlds and Outer Rim stacked around the lean, mohawked man. He arched a brow as he wearily eyed a bowl that seemed to be bubbling.

“Well, Quaestor, I didn’t expect you in here, while we’re all on our way to fight the Vong,” Jaysun said as the tall human stuck more food into his cavernous mouth.

Yzarc smiled as he chewed his food, swallowed and said simply, “I eat before I fight. And trust me, Templar, when I fight," he paused to shovel another spoonful of something into his mouth, "I need this energy.” The Kaeth muttered to himself, “Especially when it’s these damn Vong I’m up against.” The di Plagia heard steps entering the mess hall, and looked up to see who it was, but not before having a drink.

Jaysun carefully turned to position himself where he could observe the entire galley. Whatever had piqued his Quaestor's interest, he wanted to keep both of his brown eyes upon. Pivoting on the ball of his left foot, he swung into the seat opposite of the Prelate and watched a procession of Dark Jedi - pilots all - piled into the room. One amongst them, however, stood out more than others. A Barabel of immense stature stalked through the doors and leveled his eyes across the entire room.

Jaysun called out to the reptilian predator, "Virulence!"

As the group spoke loudly to one another, Yzarc took the time to send a message via datapad. Braecen and command would want communication held up, especially between Leaders in this time of war, and his report on the Perdition and its pilots was due. While he preferred the com-link, the man who got the message always had preferred non-verbal messages.

Kal Vorrac looked at the datapad as soon as it beeped, nodding to himself as he did. The report showed a list of all pilots present and accounted for, excluding those already considered AWOL or those specifically unable. The latter were few and far between, as the majority of wounded and recovering patients had been transferred to bacta tanks onboard the many capital ships. Everyone was needed here.

His night-black cloak swirled as he turned around, looking over the complete message and deeming that the higher-ups didn’t need any further knowledge, and that they needed to see everything in front of them, Kal compressed and encrypted the message before sending it along to Braecen. As the Supreme Commander and his Lieutenant were busy with their respective piloting duties, they’d left it on Kal to play messenger onboard Ballista. Hopefully, nothing would make them doubt the decision.

Kal waited for the message to send before walking briskly down the hall, eager to check on his contacts and associates throughout the ship. His black hair was getting far longer than it usually did, though it was still quite short. His ice white skin was clear of any marking or blemish, aside from the scar on the left side of his face, and his emerald eyes sat in what looked like a face carved of ivory. Nothing about him showed any expression to anyone but the most careful and experienced of observers, and few of them remained alive after his return to the Brotherhood.

As he turned a corner, Kal had only a few seconds before his datapad beeped at him, and he was forced to quicken his step. Stepping into a turbolift nearby as it instructed, he read and deleted the message with a slight smirk. One of his contacts had been keeping his eyes open. He assumed mental concentration and allowed the Force to bend light around him, masking his visible presence as he waited for the two other Sith to arrive.

Annedu and Kavon, en route to Turbolift A-8.

VSD Mk. II Ballista
Enroute to The Shroud

Anubis Annedu strolled onboard the Victory-class Mark II Star Destroyer Ballista, proceeding down the halls with Brigadier General and Quaestor of House Satal Keto, Vivackus Kavon. The two Sith each were garbed in something different.

Vivackus was wearing a set of black robes with a red trim lining some of the edges, Bryar pistol and lightsaber clipped onto his belt. His O-7 rank insignia was partially covered by his dark cloak, with the hood lying against his back.

Anubis had been wearing his restored Sith Trooper armour made of black alloys, two DC-15s side arms and lightsaber clipped onto his belt. His O-2 rank insignia was also clipped on his belt, wearing no robes to cover the black plating or helmet of his armour.

The General was stopping various Intelligence officers as they walked through the steel corridors, making sure that they all had an assigned task to perform while they stayed aboard the destroyer, whether it be helping various maintenance officers, or performing regular duties.

“Lieutenant,” called Kavon, to the dark figure that followed him. The armoured Dark Jedi Knight sped up, slowing down once he was beside the robed figure.

“Yes, General?” queried the Tyro, eyebrow quirked beneath the black faceplate that concealed his face. Vivackus shifted his head, looking directly into it.

“When around a leader, people tend to act as they think I'd want them to act. How's the crew's morale, in your opinion? Are we going to have any real trouble?” Anubis shrugged and continued walking as his mind debated an answer, choosing his words carefully as if to not give the Quaestor the wrong idea.

”I believe that the crew’s morale is... shaken, at best. On a personal level, I know none of them... yet as I can interpret their demeanour and sometimes their mood or what they might do through kinetic communication, I believe that some of the crew are worried about what might happen once we reach Antei. My first encounter with the Yuuzhan Vong, there at Antei, was harsh at best.” He shook his head. “They will do their best. If they do not, then we shall fail with our quest to regain the Iron Throne, and perish during our assault.”

”Indeed. Kinetic communication... You’ll have to explain the inner workings of that to me, sometime,” the General smirked. The two proceeded down the corridor, towards one of the turbo-lifts.

Vivackus held out his arm, halting the procession of both Dark Jedi as the turbo-lift's doors opened. A familiar presence lurked nearby. His eyes squinted, but he was not looking. Half-falling, half-embracing the Dark Side of the Force he reached out to touch the hidden individual. A smile quickly bloomed on the Quaestor's face as he identified the man before him. Opening his eyes fully, he raised his voice and projected down the corridor. "So glad you could join us," his voice trailed off for a moment. "My Master."

Kal materialized before the pair of Dark Knight's eyes. Anubis cursed. Yet, he failed to fully conceal the false motion of his hand moving towards his lightsaber. To an untrained eye, it would have appeared as he had not budged a micro-millimeter. The Aedile, however, had caught the fidget. "Good, Anubis." Kal said. His eyes sparkled with mischief. He had always possessed a penchant as a mentor to young talent. "A True Sith would not hesitate to strike down a more powerful foe."

Anubis' face contorted into a sneer. "First, you would have to be more powerful. Sec-"

"That will be enough, Gentlemen." Vivakcus' strong voice cut in. "We cannot ill afford a further blow to crew morale, Anubis. I know you and I were both recently commissioned," his voice was terse, but began to ease, "but we have to provide the facade that all of us are something greater than wolves in sheep's clothing." Kavon looked into the man's eyes, searching for acceptance. The Sith Knight acuested with a slight nod. "Very good."

The trio now began to move in unison, each of the Dark Jedi falling into step with the Brigadier General. Kal seemed nonchalant. A fact that concerned his former Apprentice. "Kal, what is the readiness level of our Fleet? I believe you were tasked with that particular honor before the Elders fell into their subconsciouses." A ripple of emotion flared from his Master. Unreadable to Anubis', it was perfectly clear to Vivackus. Kal, the opportunist, would gladly saber any of the Elders to claim their power and position within the Clan. His Master may be content to use others and work from the shadows, but when the heavy-lifting had to be done... Kal would be there in person.

"I have reports from all ships." Kal said with hesitation.

Vivackus did not miss this either, "Except?"

"Except that we have not heard in from Cethgus Kuga, General."

"Is he not aboard the Victory-class Star Destroyer Instigator?" Anubis inquired.

Kal and Vivackus both barked the same reply, "Aye." Before they suspiciously eyed one another. Kal snorted. "Stealing my thunder, kid."

VSD Mk. II Instigator
Enroute To The Shroud

Sanguinius stood mutely in the hangar bay of the Instigator as the shuttle transporting his Master lowered the entrance ramp, A figure strode down the ramp with a enraged look on his face; his very pose exuded anger and frustration. Sanguinius quickly gulped with fear and stepped forward towards his master. The Journeyman bowed his head in respect. “Welcome Master, I hope all is well?”

The figure snapped back, “Yes, everything is perfectly well you idiot. Don’t try to humour me at a time like this, Sanguinius.” The figure walked briskly forward towards the exit from the hangar brushing past Sang and grazing his shoulder almost shoving him aside. Sang quickly turned and followed after his master not daring to anger him further.

The figure turned his head to look behind him at the Protector and he barked out, “Keep up, stop dragging your feet!” Sang apologised and muttered under his breath as he quickened his pace to walk beside the Prelate. Cethgus scowled as they walked along the corridors of the ship towards the turbo-lift which would take them to the bridge. Ignoring the brief acknowledgements of the ship’s officers and personnel who saluted him, Cethgus dutifully marched towards his goal. Reaching the lift, Sanguinius pressed the button to call the lift and then took a step back. Glancing slyly at his Master, the Obelisk Journeyman had only recent ly just apprenticed to the Rollmaster and was still unsure how to deal with this change. Not so long ago, it had been Cethgus who had been constantly trying to kill him and now he was meant to train him and be his Master. The newly minted Apprentice cursed in his mind at the irony and of the unfairness of a cruel galaxy. The lift doors opened and Cethgus walked inside and turned to face the door with the other following after him. The Protector selected the bridge level and the lift shot upwards towards the bridge.

Sanguinius stared straight ahead. The silence that crept between the two men standing shoulder-to-shoulder bred awkwardness and the Protector began to drift off. He was suddenly brought out of his stupor as Cethgus chuckled. “What’s so funny, Master?” Sang asked. A confused look upon his face. “Nothing that needs concern you, boy.” The lift jolted to a stop as they reached the bridge and the doors slid open, Cethgus strode out onto the bridge and Sanguinius followed closely behind him.

The bridge was a scene of activity. Uniformed officers keeping track of the course heading and control of the ships’ systems in the pits of the bridge. The Duty Officer was standing near the viewing windows of the Bridge with a small girl talking to him. The Officer looked fussed and Sang guessed that such a feeling stemmed from the presence of Cassandra - his Master’s other apprentice. She had been doing what she did best, pestering others. The Obelisk Protector smiled at that and halted behind his Master as the Duty Officer saw Cethgus and hurried over to him.

It seemed as if hours had passed after her Master had left to seek guidance from their Proconsul, although anxious about these circumstances the young girl was left to oversee the final preparations abroad the Command Deck. She could hear the whispers of her presence and many more about how young she looked as she past by each station. For a Dark Jedi this was the first time she ever felt self-conscious about herself, but that did not stop her doing the task she was given.

“Officer Lomax, How are the final preparations going?” She said trying to stick to her strong willing tone.

As the young Journeyman stared out into the darkness of space, she watched the Duty Officer’s reflection grow bigger as he strolled closer towards her. Cassandra turned to face him with high expectations; it was a brief discussion however the Jedi Hunter seemed to acknowledge more than enough to understand how things work around here. As they spoke she felt alone in the force up until the moment her master set foot abroad his ship, her face went glum as she felt with each step he took an echo of rage passed through the living force. The turbo lift whooshed open, a smile of welcoming grew back on her face but it was not so bright for the Duty Officer.

Cassandra remained at the window for now staring out to the mists of space blocked by the fleet that bared the name of Plagueis. She looked around spotting a new face, she knew of him through expeditions within her House of Satal Keto. At first it didn’t reach her mind but she could feel it, as a student she knew this was her replacement.

As she wandered over to her master with a smile she giggled as she tried to speak, “Well Master, it seems as if you could use a bubble bath to calm you down?”.

She could hear the Journeyman beside her chuckle but he was silenced by a arrogant grunt from the Rollmaster. Cethgus sighed and then spoke strongly still feeling the pain of stress and rage. “ Cassandra, grow up! You are no longer a little child, now let me introduce you to Sanguinius. . . We have been brought together here as Master and Student as you now progress to the role of Knight …Now if you excuse me I have some pressing matters to deal with”

At heart the young girl felt almost broken, she felt lost but angry as her thoughts of bitterness echoed in her mind against her master. Trying to look brighter on the outside, she simple turned away and stared hopelessly out of the viewpoint.

Growling the Prelate’s temper had already been annoyed once today. Alaris considered the Prelate a threat, that was obvious in his eyes. Standing on the command deck of this magnificent ship. Catalina Tzong stood beside the Obelisk on his other side stood Sanguinius. Cassandra had turned herself to the other side of the command deck and was currently starring out of the view port. A small sigh escaped the Captain’s lips; he looked at her and wondered what to say.

“Cassie, I am sorry for the outburst of anger, it was not suiting of me” some of the crew allowed themselves to turn their heads unable to believe what they had heard.

“Sang, Cassie, we need to be on top of our games, you both are held very high in my views” Calm and collect he sighed and then looked to his Executive Officer.

It was the female who spoke first “Sir, shouldn’t we report into the fleet the others will want to know we are ready”

Grinning Cethgus shook his head “We will let them wait a bit longer, give them some time to ponder, and we will wait for them to contact us"

Standing on the bridge the Rollmaster started to speak with his Executive Officer, finding out how everything was on the ship. It didn’t take long to get the clear that the Instigator was at full operations and ready. Cethgus took a distinct stand at the front of the bridge, looking out of the view port he waited. As Sang and Cassie stood with him he turned and looked at his XO and a small smirk came to his lips. Catalina looked confused but she was about to get her answer soon enough.

“You know were going to be in for one hell of a ride” His voice had some sort of arrogance in it.

VSD Mk. II Ballista

Enroute to The Shroud

Eludajae entered in her Huntress robes, robes partially armored something the brotherhood had moved to as they began to come closer to this very day, the beginning of the attack that would retake the Dark Hall from our enemies. Her upper body was armored slightly and her captains rank was on her collar. Her presence was shadowed by her wife behind her in her much more skimpy "fighting robes."

She had made her way to the bridge of the Ballista, Impetus had passed off some information to her that Alaris needed to know. As the two walked onto the bridge proper Lieutenant Supreme Commander Alaris was pacing like a lion ready to pounce on his prey.

"Has the Instigator checked in yet?" Alaris asked with anger slipping into the question.

The Communications officer winced at the Proconsul's anger, "N..no sire. Nothing yet." as the communications officer began to sweat from the piercing look of Alaris.

"Open..." Alaris was just then interupted.

"That would only be playing into Cethgus' ploy," Eludajae said interrupting him, "He is being stubborn, there is nothing wrong aboard his ship."

Alaris almost lost his temper his hand on his light saber but he felt a presence behind him it was Impetus, he forced a thin smile at the fact that he just now remembered these two ran as a pair almost always. He could defeat Eludajae or Impetus alone, but together they would rip him apart.

"I assume that you have, intelligence, indicating this?" Alaris retorted as polite a tone as he muster, however, it only made it sound more fake.

Eludajae smiled, nodded at her wife, "Yes, Impetus has been scanning the ship she knows her apprentice well. He is at this moment simply playing one of his games with you. Opening the channel to him will do only one thing. Fulfill his ego further."

Alaris' anger with the two of them waned a little, as he realized he was just about to end up with egg on his face from Cethgus' little ploy. At the same time now he realized just how much of a threat both of these woman could be.

"Perhaps it is wise just to enter the Shroud and force him to fall into line or answer to our beloved dictator." Eludajae said with a smile.

Alaris nodded, she was not the Consul's Aide just because she was pretty this fact had just been shown to Alaris. Now yet again another faction in the form of a Sith Warrior and Krath Epis needed to be watched.

Eludajae smiled and nodded to her Proconsul and stepped back away next to her wife and they glanced at each other as something passed between them unspoken that made both turn back and regard Alaris with a smile...almost predatory in nature.

46 Hours to Antei

The footsteps of three pairs of boots clicking in unison off the durasteel floor rang out along the hallway. Brigadier General and Quaestor, Vivackus Kavon, set the pace. Anubis' synchronous motion with his superior was likely a subconscious action, while Kal's perfect mimicry was no doubt a deliberate decision.

It was entirely possible that Cethgus was simply trying to spite Vivackus; the bad blood between the two was no secret in the Clan. Unfortunately, the Ketoan Quaestor had no time to indulge a petty grudge, not at a time like this. The Sith began making a mental list of his contacts stationed on the Instigator. Almost immediately, his thoughts were interrupted by a datapad 'bleep.' Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kal's hand ruffle through his robes.

"Better late than never, I suppose," Kal muttered, his voice dripping with contempt. "It seems our unpunctual Prelate had been otherwise delayed."

Vivackus made a slight nod as acknowledgement and then turned a corner. Reaching the small office that he liked to think of as the nerve center for Plagueis Intelligence, Vivackus dismissed his two followers. "Gentlemen, report to your posts. Intel has been scant here on in. We need to be on guard." Anubis made a hasty bow before striding off to attend to his other duties. Kal, however, remained in the doorway. The Dark Jedi Knight took several steps and peered out the window into the impassive void of space.

This is it. Without noticing it, Vivackus' tongue snaked across his lips. Rarely was a Dark Jedi Knight given control of a House; their tenures almost always ending... less than favorably. Bring it on, he thought. The Vong had given him a chance to prove himself to those higher than even Consul Kaeth.

Breaking the silence, Kal spoke quietly, "Are you ready, Quaestor?" The mention of rank was not lost on Vivackus. Kal was probing.

The Dark Jed Knight turned and said with a smirk, "Is anyone truly ready for something like this? I trust in myself, your training, and the Force." It was of vital importance that he, as a leader, appear confident, perhaps to Kal more than anyone.

Failure was not an option.

The Guardian sat still inside his cabin onboard the Ballista, eyes closed, opening himself to the Force. Mograine hadn’t done much besides meditating the last couple of days, in a faint attempt to focus during the pre-operational chaos that obviously lurked onboard every ship in the Brotherhood fleet. Naturally people was scared, especially the young and inexperienced. Slowly he opened his eyes, letting out a heavy breath. It didn’t matter how much he meditated, he was as anxious as ever, both about this operation and about the recent actions of his master, Kal. Just weeks ago, the Sith Warrior Kal Vorrac, Mograine’s master, gave the young Guardian a notorious wound on his right handpalm during a furious duel between them inside the Master’s office. Even if it was several weeks ago, the scar he’d gained still hurt, from time to time, and Mograine had noticed that it looked like some sort of hourglass. He didn’t despise his Master for doing it, but it certainly had created an cold tension between the master and the apprentice.

The Sith rose to his feet and moved through his small cabin, over to his locker. The cabin of each person in a Victory class-Star Destroyer wasn’t anything to boast about, barely space for a bed and locker, and to Mograine, it looked more like a prison cell than a sleeping quarter.

He opened his locker and examined his equipment, again… The locker contained nothing more than weapons, clothes, armors and a hologram of Mograine’s ysalamiri pet, which he had left back at Kapsina. Mograine went through his locker, looking for something he needed before leaving his cabin. There were a set of black robes; identical to the one Mograine wore at the moment, a more formal military uniform, the old clone airborne trooper armor, which Mograine had inherited from his dad, a DC-15 blaster pistol, an E-11s sniper rifle… After searching the quite filled locker for a while, Mograine finally found what was looking for, his armory lightsaber. The Guardian grabbed the lightsaber, and clipped it to his belt, shortly after he left his cabin, moving through the living quarter of the Ballista, toward the turbolift.

He’d better visit the command deck to check if there were any updates. On the way over to the lift, he gave a large numbers of nods and salutes to dark jedi he knew and didn’t know. Apparently, during war, people were acting more polite to each other.

“What a shame that this is what’s needed for a little bit of courtesy…” Mograine thought to himself, as he entered the turbolift, and pushed the button saying: ‘Command Deck’.

VSD Mk. II Ballista

“Wisdom is power, Alaris,” Impetus said serenely, “And no-one ever became wise while their lips were moving.” Her voice seemed to echo with a peaceful and friendly presence unique among Dark Jedi. “Your position binds you more than it empowers you. You lack the freedom to act as we can. Battles are won on the front lines, but wars are fought in the shadows.” While many had heard the twi’lek’s voice in her media career, it always came as a shock to many just how soft spoken she was in person.

To her it felt right helping Alaris, it was rare to see another of her race in the Brotherhood, especially in a successful Dark Jedi career. The last twi’lek she had seen among the Dark Jedi was a year ago, a young girl named Elena Vos, who Impetus claimed as a student before the girl vanished from existence as a mere Acolyte.

Eludajae smiled at Impetus. “You’ll have to go a long way to find someone wiser than my pet.” Impetus’ hand absent-mindedly stroked her collar, bringing attention to the words ‘Property of Eludajae M’Nar’ emblazoned across it.

“My allegiance is simple,” Impetus’ voice never seemed to deviate from the soft spoken serenity no matter what she said. “I serve who my Mistress tells me to. But I’m sure you have things to be getting on with, so we’ll leave you be for now.” Impetus said, giving a respectful nod and the cute smile that almost perpetually adorned her face before the M’Nars left the bridge, departing for their quarters aboard the ship. The turbolift away from the bridge arrived with passengers, the door opened to reveal Mograine heading towards his own meeting with Alaris.

"Evening General and Captain M'Nar," Mograine said politely upon seeing them.

"Impie will do," Impetus smiled. It wasn't hard to guess that he was on his away to meet Alaris, so she wished him luck with the meeting before her and Eludajae carried on towards their quarters.

Victory-class Star Destroyer Instigator
46 Hours to Antei

Being onboard the capitol ship had been, thus far, normal for the Prodigy of Plagueis, Kara Rohana. There was not much to do, yet. The Fleet was still very far from combat, but not far from danger. Thus, her job as a calming influence and leader was rather easy. As she attuned herself to the Living Force, she felt a brief flicker of Cethgus' presence. 'That could be more trying than the actual trip,' she thought dubiously. 'Nay, it would be a larger challenge then the war itself.' The Captain of the Instigator has asked her aboard as a consultant, a tactical advisor of sorts.

At first, Kara had been inclined to say "No." She did not have a familiarity with the tactics of Naval combat, but she knew others would be at his side to provide that sort of knowledge. She, instead, opted to use it as an exercise to learn. Gathering practical knowledge was much easier if you were courtside to the actual experience. Subcounciously, she also knew that if she had declined his offer that Cethgus would have either overrode her or Alaris would have planted her aboard the ship as his eyes. The fact that tension between Braecen and Alaris had begun to grow was no secret. Neither was it a secret that Cethgus had moved to act as Braecen's shield from the upstart Proconsul.

She moved from the tactical salon into the bridge - overtly working her way to the rear of the massive space. She leaned against a half-wall near one of the communication stations. The position gave her an unobstructed view of the entire scene. It also gave her the ability to send a quick message to Alaris, should there be need. Already, she had heard a few things and was preparing an encoded message for her Master. 'I hope my skills are still ship-shape,' she thought.

Cethgus stood quietly at his position. His hard, stern gaze pouring outward towards the rest of the Fleet. He glanced - just once - back towards the Dark Knight. Kara smiled softly and the Iridonian turned his head - and his line of sight - back towards the void of space. Her fingers poured over her datapad as she composed the message. A single, silent beep came from her device: conformation her message had been sent.

Message Encoded: Instigator prepared for battle. Proceed with mission. Crew will not disobey, nor have they been ordered to.

Her eyes had darted downward to review the status of the message. When she rose her gaze, she met the somber eyes of the Protector known as Sanguinius. For a moment she felt the urge to run, but she fought the primal fear and conquered it. Her Master would have been proud. She silently chastised herself for becoming alarmed over a mere Protector, but he had been recently Apprenticed to Cethgus. Kara hoped that his loyalty to self-preservation was greater than that to his newly assigned mentor.

As the moments passed, she became less entertained with the notion he knew anything. Cethgus could continue to play his games with Alaris under the immunity provided by the Consul. That immunity, however, would not be infinite; either allegiances would shift or Braecen would be killed. Kara knew that, regardless of what people thought, that both Dark Councilors and their subordinates on the Dark Summit possessed access to powerful knowledge and arcane secrets. The Knight had faced those powers on more than one occassion. And she was in no rush to do so again.

'If Cethgus chose that path...' She let the thought linger for a minute as a smile blossomed on her face.

VSD Mk. II Instigator
Enroute To The Shroud

Galaphile Dupar stood on the gallant VSD. It was another one of those times again. Where yet again he would have to fight for his Clan and the Brotherhood in whole. The Yuuzhan Vong still needed to be eradicated from them. After their warriors took Antei, it was a crushing blow to the Brotherhood, showing them one thing. We were not invincible.

One of the most battle seasoned warriors on the ship. Galaphile couldn't help but wonder for the moraility of his fellow comrades. Were they content and ready to fight yet again. To retake the honor they may have lost during the last battle against the Vong. Who knew for sure. But he could feel their presence within the Force.

Cethgus, Vivackus, Kal, Anubis...

The ones he knew of well enough. The others he was now getting acquainted to. What was to come? Of course he knew not. His powers hadn't manifested much further since his last skirmish. But he was still physically deadly. Something that would get him far enough for what he hoped to achieve. Donning his Paladin Obelisk cloak and armor, he thrummed a tattoo on his curved saber.

He needed some action. The beast that was within him that had came at the price of Dark Side Adept Jonaleth Isradia's gift. Had not disturbed him for quite sometime. It was disconcerting to not be bothered by the beast that usually craved bloodshed in the most unnatural of times. He knew not the meaning of it. But he was sure enough that he would find out.

He continued to walk towards where the rest of his comrades were. So that he may ease his own growing tension.

The smile did not last, turning into a curious expression as a young boy stepped on to the bridge. He was only four feet tall, and his face said his first whiskers were still some years ahead. But Kara knew better. Here was a Dark Jedi who, at first glance, did not strike fear into the hearts of all those around him. He certainly struck something – a sense of unease, like talking to someone when you weren't quite sure if they were listening to you, or aware of you. The impression was misleading, however, as details slowly trickled in. The lightsaber tucked into a sash around the waist of his alchemist-style robes; the cold steel half-mask that covered the right side of his face, with the Clan seal engraved across the cheek; the knowledge that this was a Pontifex, one of the most powerful of Plagueis' Jedi. Strange that he took so little interest in politics.

“Greetings, Denath,” Kara said with a sweet smile.
“Prodigy,” the boy replied with a curt nod. He gave her a quick glance before surveying the rest of the room. “Rollmaster.”
“Captain,” Cethgus corrected over his shoulder. Denath did not appear to hear him.
“We're less than two days from Antei, and I'm more inclined to spar than sit,” the boy continued. “Why am I on the bridge?”
“I just wanted to impress on you that you're one of our strongest Krath. I hope you are ready for trouble – the Shroud is not an easy ride.” Not that reading was prone to danger, he thought to himself. Denath narrowed his eyes at the Captain as he turned to face him with a pleasant smile.
“I am always prepared, Captain.”
“Then you may return to your sparring – I'm sure you'll excuse the interruption.”

Denath smirked at him. He'd earnt a smirk. Like a piece on a board, Cethgus' summons was just that; a summons. He called, Denath came. He corrected rank, Denath learnt. A slight crease of worry marked Kara's face as the boy turned and slowly left. “I'll be in the mess hall if I'm needed,” he said over his shoulder. Here was a piece of the puzzle that didn't mind being moved – perhaps his stance on politics could be altered, Kara thought to herself.

CRV Silent Scream
The Shroud

Callus lay on his assigned bunk on the crew deck of the antiquated CSC CR90 Corvette staring up at the bottom of the bunk above him. This was the most annoying part about space travel, all the wasted time. Callus was not a member of the Naval branch of the Plagueis military, he was Army. His assignment on the Scream was one of peace keeping acting as security not only for handling crew issues such as theft and the mess hall brawls - its hard to imagine them happening on a ship like the corvettes where the mess hall was so tiny but they did happen - Callus also was in charge of shipboard defense should they be boarded. It was his duty to organize a repelling force and do his best to keep the invaders off the ship. Little did the crew know; that unless they were boarded by a cadre of Vong warriors, Callus was the only repelling force they would need.

To the crew Callus was just your average Army Major, and thats how it was intended to be. No one needed to know that he was in truth an Obelisk Prelate it wouldn't change his assignment it would only serve to isolate him from the crew and that didn’t seem like a good idea especially seeing what they were about to face. Callus didn't know what other members of the clan were assigned to the Corvette but as much as he had seen so far he was the only one, but with hot bunking he never got to see all of the crew, the only way that would happen is if the ship went into a state of alert. So far however the trip had been routine and things were going smoothly. Some others of the clan would let their paranoid delusions go wild with the ease of the trip, saying it only allowed for trouble later and blah, blah, blah. Callus had a more pragmatic view of the situation.

If they weren't gettin shot at it was a good day.

All crews were on standby alert in the shroud as navigating the blasted thing was nearly impossible without some sort of force use. Callus didn't know but was quite sure that the navigator was a Jedi using his abilities to keep their ship on course with the others. As Callus hadn't yet set foot on the bridge he hadn’t met the navigator. Callus probably wouldn’t go on the bridge unless an emergency arose where a double homicide took place or something weird like that. In fact Callus had only met the captain of the ship once, when he was welcomed onboard the ship. The captain, insofar as Callus could tell was a decent commander who knew what he was up to. Callus sent the occasional report to the skipper as per protocol but other than that Callus knew nothing about the man. Callus didn’t tell the captain how to captain and the captain didn’t tell Callus how to do whatever his duty entailed at the time.

To Callus that was just fine he was comfortable remaining undercover as it were and being able to sit and converse with the crew members when the mood struck. For now he decided that his best course of action would be to try and get some sleep.

It was slow going through the shroud under normal circumstances, but with the entire fleet and on the look out for Vong patrols and other such nonsense it would slow them even more. Callus yanked off his boots and set them in the cubby hole under his bunk he pulled his lightsaber from its concealed place strapped to his thigh made to look like a utility light and set it under his pillow.

He looked at his datapad and saw he had 2 unread messages, none of them seemed urgent, just duty rotations and a note from the head of mechanics about some missing hydro spanners. They could wait. He slapped the panel beside him and the glow rod affixed to the bunk above him turned off. He rolled to his side and tried to sleep.

Victory-class Star Destroyer Instigator
44 Hours to Antei

Koga Kage sat in the quarters of the clan's ground forces awaiting further orders. He rummaged through his gear to double, and triple, check to make sure everything was in order. The entire time a memory playing out in his head like a film stuck on repeat. It involved a younger Koga, a child, and a tragic event. The same event that now fueled his rage.

He reflected that this - the replaying of his childhood memory - had become a tradition on the eve of war. 'The best way to prepare for one's death - and over come that fear - is to remind one's self they are already dead,' he thought cynically. 'Once you do that, you have no fear, no consequences... no remorse.' Koga kept telling himself that. Knowing that one day, perhaps, he might actually believe it.

Koga threw down his gear in disgust. The calm before the storm materializing as anxiousness in his form. Waiting on the call of their forthcoming landing had begun to gnaw at him. In an attempt to distract himself, he thought of his fellow Dark Knight Kara Rohana. She had become his obsession, his new and only love; the only thing left in his life worth living for. He reflected on that thought and chortled. "Its funny," he said to no one in particular. "When you get to a point where you know you might not make it, you finally start thinking about the stuff you want to keep living for."

Koga jumped to his feet. He was determined to spend some of this voyage at Kara's side during the trip. He knew that she was serving aboard the Instigator as a Tactical Officer. Logically, he reasoned she would be aboard the bridge. As he exited his room and began the long walk in that direction, he had a moment of revelation. Picking up his com-link, he paged the bridge.

A calm female voice answered, "This is the bridge. How may I assist, Lieutenant Kage?" Koga circumspectly asked if Kara Rohana was present with the leadership at the bridge. "No, Sir." came the quick response from the Communications Officer. "She did mention, however, that she was moving towards the Officer's mess hall."

Aeshi wandered down the hallways of the Victory-Class Star Destroyer Ballista. She was making her way to the bridge where she hoped to find Alaris. As she walked down the halls, she was taken aback by the sheer scale of the place. She had been on spacecraft before but they where only small transport ships, this was something completely different.

She eventually found her way to one of the turbolifts that would take her to her destination was she walked to the door it opening and out walked two female Dark Jedi; a Twi’lek and a human. She bowed to the two as they walked passed her. She entered the empty turbolift and pressed the button that would take her to the Bridge.

The Bridge was full of people the sound of rushing about and the barking of orders. She could hear the different beeps and clicks of the various controls, none of which meant anything to her. Through the sea of uniformed personal she spotted Alaris, her Master. The Proconsul was looking down upon the whole bridge overseeing the various things the needed to be done.

“Master,” She said bowing her head as a sign of respect. She noticed by the look on Alaris face that something was bothering him. “Is something the matter?"

VSD-II Ballista
Somewhere In The Shroud
36 Hours to Antei

"I'm not sure anymore, Aeshi," the blue-skinned twi'lek replied in a somber tone, his voice low to stop it carrying, "Everything is getting out of-"

"Commander! Contact, five hundred metres and closing, port-side!" The crewman's loud voice rang out clearly as the Proconsul of Plagueis span on his heel, twin lekku twirling faintly as he did.

"Scan it, I want details on-"

"Sir," Yet another voice piped up, "Not picking up any metallic or computerized readings. Contact is organic, repeat, contact is organic in nature."

A faint curse escaped Alaris' lips as he momentarily probed the Force, feeling the disturbing void of even a sense of danger, let alone anything alive. Within five hundred metres and at their speed, only one enemy didn't even appear on ones' senses. It seemed they had found the Vong, at last.

"Issue orders, gentlemen, I want everyone on this ship at full combat alert. Send warnings to the other ships in the fleet." He strode across the bridge quickly, his mind tense and ready for the storm sure to come. "Send word to Perdition, have them-"

"Pardon, Commander," One of the men said meekly, as if afraid of impending death. "Coralskippers on approach, on... erratic vectors."

The Prelate's face got a look of confusion as he rushed to the viewport, seeing the oncoming Vong fighters, the distance between them and the ship becoming shorter by the minute. Even so... he'd heard that the vicious organic craft were faster, and the trio of ships seemed to stutter in its movements, the starboard wingman listing faintly to the left. More disconcerting to the eye was the pale discoloration of the ship's yaret-kor cannon, the way its membranous cockpit seemed similarly pale in color. Even the ship's coral construction seemed sickly, dotted here and there with diseased-looking welts. Clearly, something wasn't right.

"The Vong aren't known for leniency, gentlemen. Light 'em up." Three affirmative replies were followed by turbolaser control inputs, the huge cannons pumping bursts of deadly green light out as if it begged for release.

The reaction of the fighters was both surprising and anti-climactic, as they lazily tried to swerve past the vicious bolts. The leader and portside wingman were instantly incinerated as the vicious bolts of caustic energy slammed into them, the starboard ship listing just far enough to burn a sizeable hole in its coral carapace. Air and half-burned organs seemed to spill out of the ship, along with a half-destroyed pilot who was soon flash-frozen by the icy vacuum, a dead cognition hood clinging in its barbed death-grip on his neck. Gasps and sighs of relief were simultaneous as the fighters were destroyed, and Alaris looked on with a stunned expression, disbelieving what he saw.

Coralskippers were deadly by every account he'd heard, with vicious and acute pilots at the helm and an uncanny ability to somehow absorb all but the most unyielding and well-timed assaults. These three had floated along as if crippled, unable to roll aside from the attack and completely defenseless. Discussion ran rampant until the Miid Ro'ik Cruiser Analog came into view and the crew had a second dose of shock.

The ship's coral-grown hull was sickly and pale, covered in welts and blisters and listing horribly, all but dead in space. Surrounded by what almost looked like thousands of coral-like shards, the bodies of dead yorik-et fighters seemed to tumble aimlessly, clearly as dead as the pilots within. Had the term limping applied in space, the few skippers left alive seemed to embody it, almost as if they had to struggle to move at all. paled branches that held still-docked skippers hung off of the miid ro'ik as if about to fall off, and what looked like a monstrous umbilical cord with teeth appeared to be hanging out of its lower hull. Even its Dread Weapon was dead.

"Captain..." Alaris gave his words thought before he intoned, "Use the tractor beam, I want that skipper wreck hauled in and examined. I demand proper containment for it, though, whatever they've got isn't going to spread on my ship."

As he was acknowledged, a faint whisper escaped Aeshi's lips as she mumbled "By the Force..."

Alaris shook his head at the words. "No, Aeshi. Not in the least." Looking at his crewmen, he said "I want Captain Kuga contacted, he'd better take a look at this."

Firefox-Class Carrier Perdition
The Shroud


Conversation in the mess hall came to a sudden halt as alarm claxons sounded throughout the ship signaling the transition to red alert. Everyone simultaneously froze for a split second as the reality of the situation was processed in their minds. Jaysun was the first out of his seat, taking off like a shot towards the door with the massive Barabel right on his heels, the sound of food trays slamming onto the ground behind them as everyone jumped to their feet and followed suit.


The doors had barely parted before the Templar had squeezed through and was off towards his assigned station. Virulence did not have the luxury of squeezing through much of anything with his size, and hissed as he was held up for the slightest moment waiting for the doors to fully part. The reptile made an immediate left and swiftly marched down the corridor towards the turbolift as ship personnel scurried to their posts, the sound of boots against durasteel thundering all around him.


Thrusting his clawed right hand into the quickly diminishing space between door and frame, the Sith managed to stop the turbolift door from closing and caused it to reopen, his luminescent red eyes flared and narrowed to slits as he stepped onto an already nearly full lift causing the other occupants, mostly pilots, to press themselves as firmly to the sides as they could to accommodate his imposing stature. The turbolift rocketed down to the hangar bays, reaching them in mere seconds, the door quickly opening and spewing out Starfighter Corp pilots in all directions.


“It’s about time.” Virulence hissed to himself, heading towards the section of the hangar where his flight group had already began to assemble, a malevolent grin starting to form across his rough and jagged lips. His razor sharp teeth parted as he roared out “Void Squadron sound off!”

INT Atrum Pars II
The Shroud


A presence brushed Ralph's mind through the Dark Side. As if he stood beside him, the voice of Braecen Kaeth rang crsystal clear through the Force. 'All squadrons on alert.' The words chilled the Aedile's blood. His anxiousness continued to grow as a second, less precise message came from the Dark Jedi Master Force, 'Tell Yzarc to come aboard the Ballista.'

“Yes, my Lord. All are prepared. I am eager to enter the battle and return the favor to those who have taken so much from us.

“How about the crew? Are they as eager as you seem to be?” The Aedile saw the hesitation in those red eyes, and knew all was not as it should be. He took off his sunglasses – something he rarely did – and looked the captain in the eyes, asking again, “Are the crew prepared to take back our home and rid the galaxy of these smegging Vong?”

“Sir, I cannot lie. There are doubts among the crew.”

“Doubts?”

“Yes. Some are questioning the wisdom of our Lord Consul, and the Dark Lord. They feel that this is rash and suicidal. Others have doubts about those in command, Sir.”

The Cerean looked at him, “Do you doubt me as well, Captain?” The hesitation was all he needed as he struck out with the force and threw the veteran Chiss across the Ready Room. He replaced his glasses on his face and drew the sword he carried, speaking sternly to the man who was on the floor, “I find your lack of trust disturbing, Upham. Your personal opinions and actions dictate the attitude of the crew. If you are against Yzarc and myself, you will turn the whole crew against us as well. You will find that trust mister, and I expect your allegiance to myself, Quaestor Yzarc, and House Exar Kun.” He leveled his sword at the Chiss’ throat, not moving it until he had sufficiently sworn his life to the House and its leadership again.

Having the captain dealt with, The Hunter walked onto the bridge as if nothing had happened. After a moment, Ralph gave the order to begin all final preparations for approaching Antei, and to meet the Vong. The Atrum Pars II’s TIE squadrons were put on alert, and their pilots prepped themselves for battle. The Cerean stepped into his Ready Room once more to make contact with his Lord Quaestor to confirm that everything was ready, and to prepare for the coming battle.

VSD-II Ballista
Somewhere In The Shroud

Mograine had just saluted the two CO’s away, and continued his march toward the bridge. The young Guardian was caught off-guard and jumped when the sound of the alarm started and red lights flashed throughout the corridor. He wasn’t the only one, because it seemed that everyone else in the corridor was as confused as he was. However, the confusion lasted for only a pair of seconds, followed by everyone started running to wherever they were supposed to be. Officers with navy uniforms, who were probably going to the mess hall, made a quick turn and ran back toward the bridge, while the men with starfighter jumpsuits squeezed into the turbolift to make it to the hangar. Mograine just stood there all still, watching what everyone else did, then after the brief moment, made a run toward the bridge. It felt like he was going to be sick, his vision was blurry and the repetitive alarm sounds and flashing lights didn’t make it any better.

When he reached the bridgehead he noticed that it was filled with people, both navy officers who was supposed to be there and everyone else who wasn’t supposed to be there. Just the sight made Mograine consider leaving the bridge, but not until he knew what that had just happened.

He slowly approached the nearest navy officer sitting in the pit and asked “What the blast happened?”

“There were a couple of Skippers approaching us, but our turbolasers made them to crisps.”

Didn’t felt like we were getting hit at all, did our turbolasers take em’ out that easy? The Guardian thought for himself, and then asked the officer another question “They didn’t hit us?”

“They were heading directly at us, didn’t even try maneuver out of the way for our turbolasers, odd if you ask me… The Coralskippers are mostly hard to take out.” the young officer replied.

Mograine was already on the move again, walking through the mess of people gathered around the viewport. He hoped to reach a friendly face of the Clan, one who could bring him into the loop.

VSD-II Instigator
Somewhere In The Shroud




The bridge was letting sounds out as the crew had just had their first contact with the Vong. A small smirk came over the Obelisk’s lips as he realised that something wasn’t right with the enemy. As the crew checked all of the ship, though if this was going to be what the war would be like, the Prelate doubted they would have any problems. Cassandra and Sang looked at their master, who just nodded to both of them. It seemed as if the crew were waiting for him to comment.

“Well done crew” The captain’s voice echoed around the room.

A cheer erupted around the bridge, though the Executive Officer knew that something wasn’t right, as the crew started to quite down, he noticed that his apprentices continued to look around out of the view ports.

Sitting back into his command chair the Prelate started to rub his chin without realising, he looked around and sighed. Something didn’t seem right, he knew that, and that was what was worrying him. As he looked at the ships, he could see that something wasn’t right, as his Executive Officer walked over to him. He looked at her as she spoke.

“Cethgus, you know they didn’t fight back” Her voice was calm and collected.

“I know, it isn’t right, I mean they were completely defenceless” he didn’t look at her as his eyes continued to stare out at the ships.

“What do you think then, I have never heard of the Vong achieving like this” Nodding the Prelate stood up and looked at Catalina Tzong.

“I think we will soon know everything we need to, let us wait and see what happens” as the Prelate walked over to his apprentices his voice was called across the bridge.

“Captain” a voice echoed, instantly the Obelisk knew who it was, Lt. Olivia Morian the ships Communications officer.

Turning on his heals he looked at her “What is it then Lieutenant?”

“Sir, its Alaris, he wants to talk to you” she looked at him and waited for a reply.

“I will take it in the tactical room” as he said that he walked off of the bridge into the tactical room. The room itself had computer screen and holograms, it was a private room for the Captain and his inner group, normally his Executive officer and students, and today it was him alone.

“Captain” The voice echoed around the room, there was no doubt it was the annoying Proconsul. It was obvious the two didn’t like each other.

“Ah Prelate” Cethgus knew that it was distasting to call him by his rank. But he continued to talk and ask the question “ So What do you want? I have better things to do than be called for no reason.

"And that is an order, Cethgus." Alaris said. The tone of the Proconsul suggested their conversation was - finally - at an end.

The image of the Proconsul continued to twist in a myriad of complex, distorted images - unable to solidify due to the interference of the Shroud. It was uncommon for long-range transmissions to penetrate the quagmire of space dust and energy. Yet, in close proximity, the ships were able to send short wave transmissions with the upgrades aboard their ships from the Verpine technicians. And even then, with the most potent technology at their disposal, the Fleet of Clan Plagueis was limited to connecting only to ships adjoined to their perimeter.

The constant static and fuss in the communication arrays limited what Cethgus could glean from his conversation with the Proconsul. What he had determined, however, was that after a brief, albeit anti-climatic, exchange of verbose barbs and insults, was that Cethgus was needed aboard the Ballista.

The battle between the surely coralskippers and the larger frigate had been short lived. No sooner had the squadrons been deployed and the battle meld of the Elders established, the turbo-lasers of the Victory-class Star Destroyers, and their larger counterpart The Baron, had chewed through the approaching enemies. Tactical data had been logged and immediately dissected aboard the tactical salon of the Ballista and The Baron; knowledge assimilated and a conclusion drawn via the unique mind-meld created by the network of Elders and high level Equites.

Cethgus, the Captain of the Instigator, had been unable to join in analysis. With summons issued by the Lieutenant Supreme Commander, he was to obey. And he did so without hesitation. His feet slamming down in powerful steps as he marched through the corridors to the forward hangar bay where a Delta X-9 transport awaited to ferry him to the flagship, The Ballista.

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

The shuttle listed slightly to the left. A common maneuver oft used to evade another vessel. The Iridonian's eyes flashed to his right peripherals where the silhouette of another transport was angling towards the rear hangar of the Ballista. Closing his eyes, he focused on the power that raged within his blood - boiling to the point where it threatened to consume him.

Cethgus unleashed the Dark Side of the Force and it cooled as he bent it to his will. Flattening his sphere of perception into a cone, then flattening it into a long, lone tendril of power - he reached across the black void between the shuttles. A familiar presence, another of the Clan's Prelates, touched against his outstretched senses.

The extended tendril was severed, but not by Cethgus and not before a reprimand. Using the same, outstretched path between them a powerful wave crashed against the Zabrak's senses. Like a cold wave, the power of Yzarc Kaeth di Plagia washed over him and threatened to tear him from the Living Force. A subtle reminder that those whom possessed the Clan Honorific were neither weak nor without their own secrets. And, as a former Proconsul, Yzarc had access to tomes and grimoires full of arcane mysticism reserved for members of the Dark Summit.

An immense sense of satisfaction swelled from the ship before Cethgus. The Kaeth was pleased with himself. A shudder climbed up and down Cethgus' spine as the similarities between Yzarc and Braecen became more and more evident with each passing day.

The Captain of the Instigator turned his eyes towards the pilot of his vessel. "Can't this tub move any faster?" he sneered.

"Yes, Milord."

The Zabrak's nostrils flared. "Then make it so." As he continued to near the Ballista, Cethgus could feel that all of the Clan's Commanding Officers had been summoned. As well as the fourth-tier Equites and Elders. A sly grin crept onto his face at that thought. 'With Braecen present,' his thoughts swirled mischievously, 'I can continue to vex Alaris.'

VSD Mk. II Ballista
12 Hours to Antei

Why didn't I know about this? The question ran through Vivackus' head repeatedly, but any answer remained obfuscated. The confusion and concern was uncharacteristically visible on the Dark Jedi Knight's face; among such company, feigning calm would have been an exercise in futility. Consul Braecen Kaeth, Proconsul Alaris, Dark Adept Jonaleth Isradia, Master, Corran Force; the only person in attendance of lower rank than the Satal Keto Quaestor was Ralph Vundu, Exar Kun's Aedile. The unexpected weakness of Vong forces necessitated a council of the entire Clan leadership.

Snapped from his thoughts by a hand on his shoulder, Vivackus snapped his head to the side and met the steady gaze of Kal. Words which were not his own filled Vivackus' thoughts. Calm yourself, apprentice. If the Dark Council had not known, there is know way you could have. As he had been doused with water while in deep slumber, Vivackus regained his composure.

The door to the conference room opened with Rollmaster Cethgus finally arriving, though not a single person in attendance had turned when he entered "How good of you to join us." Alaris hissed, still bent over the holoprojector.

All eyes were on the miniature image of a Vong corralskipper. Projected in the characteristic blue hue, it was nonetheless distinctly evident that the ship was not in functioning order. Tentatively, Vivackus skimmed his datapad and spoke, "As close as we can tell, at contact, only a dozen of their Yorik-et were still alive. Of those, by the time we had recognized the problem this was the only one we had yet to-"

He was cut off by Cethgus, "Seems like our Intelligence division dropped the ball on this one." The Zabrack took the easy shot at Vivackus.

Coming to his Quaestor's rescue, Kal retorted, "There is no way intel could have found this out. Sarin didn't even know about this beforehand."

The Rollmaster let out a loud, bark-like laugh. "And how could you possibly know that?"

Without missing a second, Kal replied coldly, "Because if this was all we were up against, would the Grand Master have needed to mobilize the Clans? If this is the state of the entire Vong forces, the Iron throne hardly needs our help. Bringing us together without a strong common enemy would no doubt result in substantial infighting." Without a snappy retort, Cethgus was silent.

VSD Mk.II Ballista

The Shroud

12 Hours to Antei



The awkward mood left in the room by the Twi’lek and the Iridonian was almost akin to an aftertaste, staining the thoughts and minds of everybody assembled. Silence perforated every aspect of the meeting, ended only by the Kunian Quaestor. Yzarc stood quickly, his electric-blue Mohawk bouncing faintly with the speed of his motion as he gestured to the Corellian at the transparisteel viewport. “What matter is so important that it requires all of us, just before war?” Faint surprise blossomed on every face in the room, from the emotion-driven Zabrak to the Ketoan Aedile’s frigid-eyed control. “We are surely needed at Antei, where we must proceed with all haste. Let’s get to this wild bantha chase, already!”



Braecen’s face turned to look upon his former student with a scowl. “As always, Yzarc, you are the outspoken one.” The human Prelate’s face paled for a moment and he swallowed, realizing he’d overstepped himself, until the Consul’s face softened into an amused smile. “Perhaps next time, I’ll not be so forgiving.”



A wave of Braecen’s hand was the only attempt in calming the bristling Iridonian at the table, who soon began pelting the Kunian Quaestor with profanity in both basic and his own native tongue. Yzarc merely laughed in his face, returning with a stream equally as colourful and creative. While Vorrac sat and chuckled softly, Vivackus and Ralph made an effort to calm the pair. It was only when the Master in the room, Jonaleth, found his reserve of patience drained that his voice rang out.



“Silence, you worms!” He shouted, his voice carrying both in volume and effect to quiet everyone assembled. “Allow the Consul to speak!”



Alaris nodded in agreement, blue lekku bobbing as he did, his face showing only a hint of amusement at the entire spectacle. “Indeed,” he said, “Let Braecen speak. That way, he can be left to his… studies, while the true Dark Jedi here prepare for battle.”



With only a hint of exasperation on his face, the Corellian decided to allow that barb to pass as he spoke. “You were asked to assemble to be informed of the situation. That is done, and now I only ask that you follow my orders, and those of Alaris, to the letter. There truly is no margin for error, here.”



The assembly of Equites and Elders nodded one by one, each in submission to the will of the Consul but all with clearly differing opinions. The only two of the group that made no motion at all were those standing in the corner, aside from the meeting. Their minds were alike, knowing each other to the last fibres of their being, but they had yet to fully gain the Summit’s trust since their defection to Plagueis. Even so, Braecen knew of them, of how useful they could be to him. He would need skills like theirs in the days to come, especially with a pair as unlikely to fight between themselves as these. Waving his hand in a dismissive gesture, he spoke one final time to the assembled Leaders and Elders.



“This meeting is at an end. Return to your ships. There will be an officer at each of your shuttles with a sealed document containing your orders.”



As he spoke, they nodded and moved away, though some discontented grumbling from the Kunians, along with some whispered comments between the Leaders of Satal Keto. All of these were quickly silenced by a glare from Cethgus, whose anger seemed directed at the moment toward keeping the groups in line with the Consul’s will. Only Kal Vorrac grinned mockingly at him for a moment, stoking the flames and making the Iridonian stomp angrily from the room after the group.



Isradia looked over at his former Apprentice before turning, his cold gaze taking in the Corellian’s features as he shook his head in despair. The human had constantly fallen short of his Master’s achievements, and even now his accomplishments were short of Isradia’s lofty expectations. Turning on his heel to return the cold gaze he could almost feel, Braecen smiled at his former teacher, despite the lines of fatigue and frustration on his face left by navigation of the fleet through the Shroud. The Anzat turned away, his head lifted to show superiority over his former pupil as he strode away.



Once the palpable presence of the Dark Jedi Master had passed, Braecen lowered his head and held it in his hands, trying to regain composure and fortitude as he returned his formidable mental abilities toward the fleet’s navigation. Having given orders to each of his subordinates, he would have to expect full compliance as his head snapped up, his eyes alert once more. He still had one more order to give. It was imperative that it would be followed, even without the fact that the pair would enjoy it.

VSD Mk.II Ballista

The Shroud

12 Hours to Antei

As the group began to disperse, the conversation obviously at a close, the Consul called after the M'Nars. "Ladies," he shouted indiscriminately. Several heads turned, but no one questioned that Braecen had meant to call those two specifically. A sly grin blossomed on both of their faces as they turned to approach the Dark Adept. Eludajae, her tongue as sharp as her perception, closed ranks first. "Have something on your mind, my Dictator?”

Impetus followed up behind her wife with the usual calm graceful demeanor she always seemed to have even in the most tense of situations. Eludajae and Impetus were not just becoming known as a couple and spouses within the Clan, it had become apparent there was more of a bond there than simple emotion. The more people were around them the more the two seemed to almost moving as one, it became eerie when they finished each other sentences which were more common.

“Yes you two are charged with preceding the fleet out of the Shroud and take our findings to the Grandmaster and Admiral Malin, it is imperative that you get there as soon as possible. You have my leave to make use of a ship you feel will accommodate your needs.” Braecen Said.

“As you…” Eludajae started, “wish my Consul.” Impetus finished. They nodded in consort with the other and smiled almost eerily at the same time. Turn on their heels together Impetus hesitated and Eludajae took the lead followed by her beautiful wife to the turbo life as Eludajae raised her com-link to her mouth and spoke as she turned around facing the Consul.

“By order of the Supreme Commander have the Silent Scream move in and soft dock with the command ship. General M’Nar and I are taking command of the vessel for a mission for His Excellency the Dictator.” Elduajae said as the turbo door closed to Braecen now smiling, I will have to be more careful with my wording with that one.

CRV Silent Scream

The Shroud, En route to Antei

After boarding the Silent Scream Eludajae came to the bridge with her wife right on her heels as was a common sight. The commander of the Silent Scream looked over at Impetus basically ignoring the “Captain” in front of him and before he could even speak. Impetus’ hand rose to halt him, “My wife will be heading this operations commander, defer to her.” Impetus, voice was serene and almost sing song in tone, the commander went to speak to her directly again and Impetus added, ‘That’s an order.”


The commander nodded in typical military fashion, “Yes General, of course ma’am.” It was clear to him that Impetus considered him beneath her to interact with him directly, he both loathed and respected her for that at the same time, “Well Captain M’Nar it seems you are in command here.”

Eludajae smiled, “You’re about to see why commander,” she walked forward and motioned for Impetus to join her, “Helm and Navigation you’re relieved till we exit the Shroud,” They snapped out of the chairs as the commander raised an eye brow. The two sat down and reached for their respective consoles then reached for the others hands and interlaced them. “Commander, full tactical speed ahead we have a date.” Eludajae said as the two Equites began using instinctive astrogation to guide the Silent Scream at full speed towards the destination on the other side of the Shroud.

The sight of these two beautiful women holding hands and eyes closed navigating a capital ship at maximum tactical speed through the Shroud was both amazing and nerve-racking for the bridge crew that usually had the ship under their control; the Commander was noticeably sweating when several unusual sounds of the Hull moaning echoed through the ship. “They are going to kill us all.” his executive officer said to him quietly.

“Not like I have any intentions of interrupting them lieutenant…not at this speed in the Shroud, now calm yourself and act your position.” The commander rebuked.

“Yessir,” just as the ship shuddered and moaned like the Hull was being twisted or crushed hit, “Great Maker…” the lieutenant whispered.
Then as if a leaving a trance the two Dark Jedi’s eyes open and rolled back forward and the smiled at the other, “helm and navigation take your posts, “ Eludajae said as they moved out of the officers way, “take us to all slow.”

“All slow!” the Executive officer echoed, the command was repeated several times as the bridge crew all sighed with relief at the familiar sounds of naval operations took hold on the bridge after watching those two “sorceress’ “ at the helm of their ship. Just was everyone was back to business as normal, the Silent Scream pierced the Shroud, like a dense fog lifting or a dark current being drawn slowly to let the day inside, the Silent Screams nose poked through then the rest of the ship came clawing its way out of the Shroud…that’s when the light almost hurting their eyes came into view.

Eludajae looked down upon Antei, the home of the Brotherhood, for a moment it was surreal, home was right there, and then the alarms went off. “CONTACT 2 O’CLOCK” the ships alarms went off and the lights dimmed and the red lights of general stations gave the bridge a dreamlike look to it. “Enemy contact barring 2, Niner, 1200 meters out and closing.” The con sensor officer yelled out. The alarm still sounding, “Turn that damn alarm off.” The commander ordered, “Aye aye.” The alarm went silent moments after the command was given. “Enemy, is moving away, no wait, it’s…”the sensor officer looked over his shoulder, “It’s listing at a thirty five degree angle…sensors indicate its dead sir…completely dead.”

“Look,” Eludajae said pointing, “can you see them love? Look at them…” there was a little wonder and confusion in her voice. “Yes love I can…” Impetus looked back at the captain, “main sensor on command screen.” Her first order which was obeyed as if given by the commander himself, they walked over to the command screen, “just look at them all.”

In varying states of chaos, the once mighty Vong fleet was nothing but a massive gathering of space hulks, lifeless, rolling off their centers some slowly tumbling like held in water, some listing so far off their center there was no possibility of direction or even gravity within them now. The commander walked forward and blinked, “what in the Force happened here?”


Just as Eludajae was about to say something, the 8Th Fleet jumped out of Hyperspace into the system, they had successful made the jump, Eludajae walked swiftly forward, “Would you look at that, they did it, they actually made it.”

Impetus leaned forward now watching the ships as the dropped out of hyperspace into formation and finally the Grandmasters flagship the Nightfall entered the system, “Amazing, that was supposed to be impossible…a hyperspace jump through the Shroud into the far planetary orbit, the power to defy the rigors of the Shroud and a gravity well of Antei itself, truly amazing. “

“I don’t believe it. Almost the whole fleet survived.” The commander said in disbelief.

Eludajae smiled and remembered what she heard one of the Grandmasters say to their apprentice. She remembered it vividly, “You’re a god amongst insects, don’t let anyone tell you different.” Is what the Grandmaster said, “Demi-gods have a way of doing the impossible commander.” Eludajae said to the commander.

“Hail the Nightfall, tell them who we are, and that we have information they need.” Eludajae ordered. The Silent Scream slowly moved towards the 8th fleet as their communications officer started to relay the secure codes and identity to the fleet in front of them.

Part Two
Arrival

VSD Mk. II Ballista
The Shroud
Zero Hour

"Brace for impact!" The words rang across the ship's broadcast speakers moments before shards of debris scattered across the hull, the ship bucking wildly as its passengers stumbled. Some fell, while others caught themselves. Even this close to the destination, the Shroud hid many dangers and obstacles. Pieces of metallic junk and what looked like an old, flash-frozen corpse skidded off of viewports in every direction, remnants of a skirmish from the First Battle of Antei. The Shroud's darkness worked with the extensive damages to the junk to make its origin impossible to determine.

"To think we were worried about the Vong," Vivackus, leaning against a wall in the bridge, said coldly, "When the real threat comes from our own navigators."

Kal, standing next to him, chuckled faintly. "Relax, student," he said, looking over the men assembled on the bridge with cold, studious eyes. "We'll make it out."

The Summits of the Clan were gathered, along with anyone who could be spared, on the bridge for the big moment. In a few seconds, the bridge would break free of the Shroud and they would get their first look at the lost world of the Brotherhood in two years. For those such as Kal and Braecen, this was a moment of homecoming, a long-awaited step back into their domain. It was time to make the Vong pay for taking so much from them, and the results of examining the corpses of skips and their pilots promised an easy victory. For others, such as Vivackus and almost every Journeyman there, it was an exciting chance to see the focus of so many legends. The majority of the younger members had never seen Antei before, and their feelings were a mixture of anticipation and nervousness. Even the crewmen bristled with excitement and eagerness, if only to be free of the damnable Shroud.

Alaris Jinn closed his eyes and reached out with the Force for a split second before shouting, "Five o'clock! Blast it!" The result was a trio of turbolaser quarrels, ripping apart what would have been a wrecked TIE fighter before it could smash into the bridge's forward deflector shields. The turbolasers continued in a ridiculous amount of blasts, trying to minimize damage as shards of ships, vacuum-exposed bodies, diseased and dead Vong, and even similar turbolasers threatened them. "This is ridiculous, gentlemen. Divert all available power to the forward shields, we can't afford to die now!"

What looked like the bridge of a craft, complete with bodies trapped on it, managed to slip past the barrage of green lasers and stabbed into the hull, the deflector shields visibly flashing before it made a small cut. Flames issued from the hole, as did a number of unfortunate crewmen and inanimate objects, accompanied by one of the turbolasers cooling off. "Hull breach, turbo nineteen. Area is sealed and awaiting repairs, sir,"

"Estimated... oh, never mind!" Alaris growled, walking further toward the observation window to see the damage for himself. "Intensify forward firepower, don't let anything else through!"

"That will not be necessary," Braecen's calm yet fatigued voice rang out. "Use the Force, Alaris. The obstacles have passed. All lasers, ceasefire, we don't want the Eighth Fleet or the Silent Scream accidentally damaged."

It was then that the nose of the craft began to disappear further out of the fog, piercing the Shroud. Everyone, man and woman, crewman and Dark Jedi alike held their breath as it did, eager for the view before them. The dark mists and tiny objects of the Shroud lifted and curled away from the craft in what seemed sluggish motion, peeling away so slowly that it made the pivotal moments seem seconds before the fog finally thinned and curled away from the viewport. The unanimous release of breath took the form of relieved sighs, surprised gasps, and expressions of awe at the sight before them.

Antei, the headquarters of the Dark Jedi Brotherhood, loomed before the eyes of everyone assembled. The planet's dim surface was sliced in half at the equator, the night side of the world exposing only the northern hemisphere for all the onlookers to gaze upon. Thin, shadowed wisps of cloud, too light for true rain, drifted across the twilight surface of the planet, the light of the star Antares casting light as the Dark Star Ante sat close enough for all to witness, its dim surface radiating wisps of reddish light and energy in a way that spoke of a long-passed evil. Lyspair, relatively close to the fleet now, hovered above the world as a child toward its mother, the desolate surface almost completely consumed in night. The planet itself had been seen on viewscreens, in holograms, and even in simple 2-D photographs by all assembled, and yet the reality amazed and stunned all of them. Furthermore, their amazement was heightened by what lay in orbit.

Where the younger members saw the assembled Vong force for the first time, exclaiming over its size and the very appearances of the ships themselves, the older members of the Clan were left with wide eyes, jaws dropped in amazement as a few more ships leapt from Hyperspace to join the assembled Eighth Fleet. Though a few noted ships were absent from its ranks, others scarred and dented noticeably by debris within the Shroud, the impossible had been achieved. It had altogether been a stunning success, though a few on the bridge were glad that any bodies sucked through damaged hulls and into rapid deceleration had done so within the massive fog. A few shards of metal and chunks of rock embedded in a couple of ships was well worth it, for this.

"By the Force..." Jonaleth Isradia's words came as a hissed whisper as they surveyed the Vong fleet, but were cut short as the bridge surged with noice and movement. Communications snapped back up between the many craft of Plagueis and the Eighth Fleet, as well as those Clans already there or arriving. Hails and queries sounded loudly and garbled against each other, as consoles flooded with data and the crewmen ran back and forth in an effort to catch up. The Elder silently debated using Battle Meditation to help them, before he heard one of the messages with a familiar ring.

"...tell me what the kark we're looking at?" Cethgus Kuga's voice rang out of a speaker, a message from the Instigator. "These Vong look worse than what we burned in the Shroud!" He didn't get time for an answer, though, as the senses of all of the stronger Dark Jedi onboard were filled with a feel of calm and light, and the loudspeaker rang out with the voice of Darth Sarin.

"All Brotherhood craft, prepare for surface deployment." Sarin's voice was full of fury, clearly because of the beacon in the Force before them. "It's time we came home."

B/DREAD Nightfall

Antei System: Pre-Clan Arrival

Docked within the great underbelly of the Nightfall, the Silent Scream underwent the minor refuel and repairs for its journey through the Shroud. Within, its crew looked on in awe, each and every one of them shocked and amazed by what lay before them. The ship was huge, magnificent in very regard, but it was the presence of the Dark Lord aboard that shocked the two Dark Jedi aboard the corvette. Any would have said that his presence was not dominating, but rather like an eclipse, overtaking and overwhelming that of everyone near him. After it finished docking, the M'Nars disembarked, Impetus carrying the intel and data that their Consul had sent them through the Shroud to deliver.

As usual for an event like this, the only man they saw was Raken, Praetor to the Grand Master. Neither Sarin, nor his Admiral, would have greeted them directly. The huge man strode through the halls toward the room where the M'nars had been told to wait, a small room with a huge viewport, his every step screaming of clear purpose and inner shadow. The two women waiting within had so much before them that they didn't notice.

Looking from the viewport to the world and the clearly dead Vong fleet in orbit, a sigh escaped from Eludajae as she looked down toward Antei, her arms folded and her mind full of questions. She could not help but wonder what had happened down there, what had taken the life of apparently every Yuuzhan Vong in the area. She had heard enough to know it was a biological weapon, but who had launched it? The ones responsible had taken her one chance for revenge on the Vong, her chance to revenge the destruction of her home of Nar Shaddaa and the glory of killing them in combat.

"Relax, Mistress," Impetus' cool voice flowed melodiously from her lips as she placed a hand on her Sith lover, calming her almost instantly.

"Something is horribly wrong here, Pet. We face an enemy far more dangerous than the Vong." Eludajae replied, turning her head to gently kiss the fingers of her lover, drawing heavily on the Epis' calm presence to cool her nerves.

Soon, the door opened and in strode the massive, red-skinned form of Warlord Raken, the Grand Master's hound. He walked in and briefly inspected the two of them, his face unchanging as he looked over the women. They were both stunning and dressed to impress for such a mission, but he was too far into the darkness now, too long gone to appreciate beauty or a great many things anymore. His life had been a torrent of shadows, and his close proximity to the Grand Master had only shadowed his soul further.

"Where is this information you were commanded to give us?"
Looking to Impetus, who simply nodded and slid to stand behind her lover, Eludajae strode forward to face the monster before them, taking a simple data disc from her robes and handing it to him. He looked it over before saying, "This is all?"

Again, the Warrior remained silent, lifting a secure silver case and opening it, showing its contents. It seemed to be pulled from her grip, closing itself as it flew to the Warlord's outstretched hand. Glancing at it, and at the pair, he gave his commands. "The pair of you are to remain here until summoned or dismissed." He was glad that neither chose to engage in pointless wordplay as the door slid closed behind him and he returned to his master's side.

Eludajae looked to her wife, ~House arrest for performing well. It seems they don't trust us.~ She mused telepathically.

~Would you? Braecen sent two of his best intelligence operatives simply to drop off intel to them? No, they think we are here to move when the Grand Master isn't looking. We both have jaded pasts and are trained assassins. One does not send assassins to deliver intelligence.~ Impetus mused back with a faint smile.

Several hours later, a droid came into the room and Eludajae and Impetus looked up quickly. They were "borrowing the table" for a little relaxation, entangled and quite nude as they looked up at the protocol droid. "Oh... oh my, pardon me ladies... er... you've been cleared to leave. The Clans have arrived." The droid turned and left, muttering something to itself.

The pair laughed hysterically as they donned their clothing, taking their time as the guards filed into the room, completely unembarassed. As they walked by the many troopers, Eludajae flashed a smile and said, "At least you have something to talk about later in the mess hall. Lead the way."

CRV Silent Scream

The Invasion of Antei

When they'd finally returned to the Silent Scream and departed from the overwhelming presence of the Nightfall, Eludajae looked around. Her lover saw something hidden in her eyes. "What is it?" Impetus asked.

"Nothing, lover. We have orders coming in. Apparently, the Army of the Iron Throne has established a beachhead and we are being ordered to shuttle to the surface." Eludajae cast another look up at the Nightfall, remembering the darkness aboard, how the continuous cold of it reminded her of Nar Shaddaa, the great ship reminding her of the blackness of the Smuggler's Moon. Walking from the bridge of the Silent Scream as other vessels spewed forth dropships, they were soon aboard the single combat shuttle that launched from the Silent Scream.

Watching from the shuttle as dropships carrying Dark Jedi of the Clan to the surface passed them, Eludajae smiled. "Either our Grand Master is very wise, or very diabolical. I think the latter, personally. No clan troops allowed on the planet, and yet he orders all the Clan Dark Jedi to the surface. It seems a good way to thin the ranks of your rivals," The Warrior mused, walking over to her equipment.

"You trust no one, do you, love?" Impetus said softly to her lover.

Eludajae leaned in and kissed her softly. "Only you, but no one else. I wonder if the Grand Master is going to be nostalgic about it. You know, keeping the same special order code the Emperor used on the Jedi Order, Order 66?"

Combat Shuttle & LZ Touch down

Dark Brotherhood Beach Head


Their shuttle roared and was surrounded by flames as it entered the atmosphere, lurching and making Impetus grab her chair. She noticed her wife, who had made her life running from rooftop to rooftop, building to building, and alleyway to alleyway, simply swaying with the motion as she equipped herself. Holstering her pistols, one DX and one DE-10 that was custom-made by a weaponsmith on Corellia, her lightsaber on her hip as well, just off center as it seemed to ride the inside of her thigh. The shuttle landed and the two M'Nars, its only passengers, left with their equipment and each other. Heading down the ramp into the LZ of the beachhead, they soon glanced around and got their bearings. Fighting could be heard in the distance, signaling that the offensive was already underway. Walking into the encampment, they heard a few catcalls that only made them smile as they finally approached the Plagueis encampment. They were greeted by their Quaestor's voice, barking out orders and assignments to the Dark Jedi of the Clan.

"Eludajae," Viv said, addressing them as they walked up. "It's good of you to join us, Captain. You have an assignment with the Third Legion Recon, head over there as soon as you get your things stowed. General M'Nar, you're wanted in Command and Control. Lieutenant Supreme Commander Alaris is briefing the general staff in 30 minutes. Ok, people, let's move like we've got a purpose!"

Eludajae leaned over, kissing her wife as she said "See you in 35 minutes, love. After that, I head out on Recon."

The war had begun.

Clan Plagueis Encampment
Shortly After Landing

“Take care, Mistress,” Impetus said softly, her teeth tugging playfully at Eludajae’s lower lip as they broke apart from their loving kiss.

“You too, pet,” Eludajae responded with that rare soft, adoring tone that very few besides Impetus ever heard before they went their separate ways, Impetus to Command and Control, Eludajae to join up with Third Legion Recon. It seemed that the entire clan had been deployed and ready to play their role in the reclamation of the Brotherhood homeland. This would be all or nothing for the Dark Brotherhood, either they would wrench back their home from the clutches of the Jedi that had taken it, or they would fail, and the ones who couldn’t be converted to the Light would be killed.

Impetus casually strolled through the Clan Plagueis encampment, her defection from Scholae Palatinae may have only occurred a couple of months before the war started but it already felt like home as she saw the familiar faces of Cethgus, Ood and Yzarc. The Plagueis encampment had an air of tension across it, everyone seemed on edge as the war truly began to start.

Impetus was dressed for battle, although her weapons; her lightsaber, The Dragon’s Tail, Cremation, and an Amethyst Kukri felt like little more than decorations as she headed for Command and Control. As a Brigadier General, chances were she wasn’t going to see an awful lot of action in the war, that honour would be left to her wife. Upon realising this, Impetus thought it made little sense that she was the one carrying the most weapons. “Mistress!” she called across the encampment as she chased after her.

Eludajae turned to see her wife running up to her. “What is it, lover?” she asked once Impetus came to a stop in front of her.

“I thought you could make more use out of my weapons than I could in Command and Control, Mistress. Take whatever you want.”

Eludajae smiled and took Cremation, the fire whip, from Impetus. To her, The Dragon’s Tail was her wife’s special weapon, and she doubted the upper authorities would be keen on the idea of an Amethyst Kukri being loaned to someone who hadn’t formally earned it. “Thank you, pet,” she smiled, always honoured that Impetus had that level of faith and trust in her to offer her any one of her possessions. “And now we had better head to our destinations. Take care, my love.” They shared a tight embrace and a soft kiss before heading back their separate ways.

Alaris’ voice sounded across the Plagueis encampment. “All General class officers report to Command and Control in 15 minutes! Repeat, all General class officers report to Command and Control in 15 minutes!”

Clan Plagueis Encampment
Shortly After Landing

Bal walked around in the encampment and hummed quietly to himself, trying to give himself something to do before the next operation began. He had been walking around for quite some time now, surverying the whole of the encampment to see how everybody was. He still had his own Obelisk Fury around with him, trying to get used to carrying the heavy sword around.

He had heard rumors of the next attack around the camp, as he had heard of the next operation himself earlier in the day. He had heard the announcement for all of the generals to assemble about a half-hour ago. They had not reappeared yet, so he assumed that they were busy in control, plotting the next action. He went back to the shelter where he was set up, a somewhat crowded barracks, but it wasn't designed for comfort necessarily...they were soldiers after all.

He was anxious to get into the action himself as he hadn't seen any on the way down. He knew patience was a virtue though, so he'd just have to sigh and tap a foot while waiting for his time to come.

"Sooner rather than later I hope" he thought silently to himself.

Krath Pontifex Denath Ciarus brushed past Bal without a second glace, stepping inside the pre-fabricated Command and Control Centre. He had not been inside one of the newer models of Brotherhood pre-fabs, and while he waited for his eyes to adjust, he took note of his surroundings. A handful of officers busied themselves with whatever their duties were, in their own self-important manner. Broken lines of terminals whirred and hummed, but not all of them were on; this was clearly not intended to be a prominent facility. No surprise there, the boy thought to himself. So far the war had been quite dull, since Plagueis was one of the last Clans to join with the ground forces of the Eighth Fleet, a sleight many had taken notice of. Not only that, but here in the beachhead, there wasn't much fighting going on, this area having been chosen for holding a smaller concentration of enemies. It was cleared eventually – again, by another Clan – and the front lines of battle were drawn several miles away.

The boy marched towards a cleared area around the back, where the assembly of command staff was gathered. He crossed his arms as he took in the situation. “...and the second group will take this route here.” The Quaestor of Satal Keto, Vivackus Kavon, stood in front of a map mounted like a chart, using a laser pointer to indicate colored lines. Denath wondered briefly where Braecen was. Probably watching from concealment somewhere, or dealing with the Dark Council in some way. As Consul, Denath had taken a very hands on approach. This military habit of having others in Plagueis deal with orders struck the boy as unusual, but it seemed to work well. His glance flicked to Cethgus as he noted it also kept attention off the Consul's back. There was some tension in the air, and the wolves had clearly been snapping at each others heels. He smirked as he returned to the chart.

“How nice of you to join us,” Vivackus greeted the boy, his voice dripping of sarcasm like pancakes with too much syrup – if there was such a thing. “I'm not going to repeat myself. Next ti-”
“I did not ask,” the boy replied, cutting him off as he stepped towards the chart, ideas buzzing through his head. “You're going to divide our forces over claimed and clear territory, heading away from the real fighting.” Vivackus glared at the boy, who had pretty accurately recounted the plan so far. The laser pointer snapped to Denath's hand, and he rested its point on a ridge across the map. “Why not take this line here?”
“The cliffside terrain is too rough for our AT-ATs,” Alaris announced, stepping towards Denath slowly. Like most of Plagueis, he wasn't sure what to make of the ex-Arconan. He kept mostly to himself, but seemed to be making an effort to reverse that now that war was upon the Brotherhood. “Diving our forces through this valley is the best way to push past any forces that may have been overlooked in this area.”
“Then I'll take a small swoop team through there. Now define our objective,” Denath instructed Vivackus. The Brigadier General set his jaw, returning the boy's gaze.
“I'm not going to repeat myself.”

He aimed his laser pointer back towards the map, clearly intending to continue the briefing. The pointer fell abruptly as he grabbed his throat. Denath turned to Alaris, whose eyes had widened at the outrage this little upstart was committing. Others in the gathered group shifted around, some nervous and some entertained.
“Define our objective,” Denath instructed Alaris, “quickly.” The Twi'lek responded by removing his lightsaber and activating the blade, sneering down at the boy as Vivackus began to struggle out of the grip. With a surge of the Force, Denath pushed Vivackus back and spun underneath Alaris' reach, removing his own lightsaber and pressing the hilt firmly into the Proconsul's spine, gripping his right hand firmly across the wrist. “I'm feeling quite bored, cooped up in this encampment, and if you don't answer me in the next few seconds, you never will.”
“The Dark Council has ordered us to take a communications outpost to the north.”

Denath released his Proconsul, stepping back to examine the chart. A small red picture of a spider at the other end of two colored lines marked the target. “I shall take a swoop across this ridge and take out any observers, then hit the spider from the other side as you bring our combined forces across this line.” Denath rested a finger on the higher of the pre-drawn lines. “You can divide your forces when you get closer. With the Dark lord of the Sith watching Antei from Nightfall, I'm sure that whatever Clan was sent to clear some of this area first...”
“Tarentum.”
“...has done the best job of clearing possible. Besides, those who lack the piloting skill or Force proficiency to follow me will be travelling with our main force. I'm sure you'll be able to overwhelm anything along the way, and I'll have already silenced any observers, giving you some element of surprise. We should also request urgent reinforcements now - I'm sure a target this valuable will want to be held.” Denath slowly turned towards Alaris, who was considering the idea. His impatience got the best of him, however. “Regardless of what plan you pick, I'm going scout hunting.” The Proconsul glared as Denath pushed past the gathered Plagueians.

Part Three
Old Rivalries

Jedi Communications Outpost
Northern Antei
Operation Spider

The small, pre-fabricated dome surrounding the communications array was a simplistic building, filled with an array of machines and computers for sending, recieving, and monitoring transmissions. Around a dozen B1 droids worked to recieve, transmit, encode, and decipher messages, their routines and programming all very predictable. Each was armed with a blaster pistol, though none were programmed for combat. That particular task had been left to another sea of B1 droids, along with a number of B2 models in what looked like commanding roles. Two Hailfire droid tanks rumbled in a light patrol route, the main line of defense should any vehicular contingent come this way. Behind the outpost, a flight of Vulture droids stalked, awaiting the order to take to the air and kill.

All of these droids, however, failed to even spark the interest of the Jedi within the dome. Her name was Aelema Noth, a Falleen Jedi Knight, and her blue skin tone spoke of boredom as she oversaw the operations. Having been granted the rank of Knight only two Coruscanti weeks prior, she had been bursting with pride until she was told of her assignment. Defending a droid-flooded dome in the middle of nowhere, monitoring a communications outpost, had instantly been percieved by her as grunt work. Now, instead of fighting the Sith on the frontlines, she was left to babysit droids. While her faith in Crask was complete, she doubted the great Rade would have been left to such pathetic duties.

"Master Jedi," the B1's mechanical buzz of a voice broke her concentration, and her yellow eyes snapped quickly to focus on its face. "We've just lost contact with the southern relay posts."

"Which ones?!" Noth sprang from her seat on the folding chair, her skin rapidly shifting to an orange hue of chagrined surprise in a pattern that would have made anyone but a droid blink.

"All of them, Master Jedi," the droid said in a monotone pitch. "Each went down in a pattern leading directly here. The few transmission fragments we've recieved detailed the sound of swoop engines before contact was lost. They went down too fast to send one complete message."

Noth took in the information with shock, feeling the blood drain from her face as she quickly put the events together. Closing her eyes and clearing her mind, she tried to calm herself well enough to see through the fog that was the Force, even now finding it unwilling to aid her at times. After a few minutes, she gathered her concentration, reaching out to what lay to the South. What hit her senses was like a wave of darkness, a tide of hate, fury, and grim determination that made her want to scream out in terror. There was only one possible reason for it.

"All droids on combat alert alpha!" She shouted around the tent, watching them scramble to relay her orders. "The Sith are incoming to our position!"

Feeling the presence of the machine that had stood at her side like some soulless guard dog, she glanced backward, feeling a twinge of dislike as she saw it. Aside from the Jedi-brown cloak it wore, the IG-100 Magnaguard left to help her in just this sort of situation looked far from anything she'd call an ally. Its metallic chassis was clearly built for quick movement and sharp response time, and its red photoreceptors gave it a look of menace. Even without seeing them fight, Aelema could tell that it was a killing machine. Eyeing its electrostaff, she addressed it with a note of caution in her voice.

"Looks like you finally get to break some heads open," she said, though her attention was soon grabbed by the sound of an explosion outside the dome.

Headquarters Platoon
Bravo Company
1/12 Armor
Command AT-AT
Operation Spider

"Commander," Callus addressed the man piloting the All Terrain Armored Transport as he looked on the droids before him, "I want those Hailfire droids marked as priority targets. If either of them gets a chance to fire, we're in trouble."

"Yes, Sir," he responded, before picking up his comm. transmitter. "All units, priority targets are Hailfire tanks. Repeat, Hailfire tanks are priority targets."

Glancing behind him at the troops held within the great AT-AT, both soldier and Force user, Callus couldn't help but smirk at those gathered behind him. Attired in armor for once, though it had been a fight to make him wear it, the Prelate had even shaved, looking every inch the imposing warrior and inspiring commander as he readied for combat. His lightsaber was clipped to his belt, but he was more inclined toward the blaster rifle slung over his shoulder.

“Are you ready, boys?” He asked, chuckling at the cheer that came from the men.

Looking out the viewport, he grabbed onto a handrail as the first of the shots pelted from the AT-AT, watching as the target Hailfire skidded around on its treads to avoid them. Placing a helmet like those of the troops over his face, he grinned behind it as the HUD within flashed on and gave him a reading of his heart rate and adjusted for the dim light within the walker.

“Soldiers! Prepare to drop!”

Grabbing his rifle and taking hold of one of the ropes hanging from the ceiling, Callus couldn’t help but feel excitement as the AT-AT came to a stop and the hatch below their feet fell open.

TIE/In Interceptor
Red Squadron
Operation Spider

“All fighters, form up.”

The command came over the communications system in the fighter as Sanguinius piloted the Interceptor, looking from behind the black flight suit’s helmet to the controls with a hint of uneasiness. He’d been working in the simulators full-time, and hadn’t had a simulated crash in four months. He had never crashed an actual fighter, but then again, he’d never been in a real dogfight. Some of the other pilots had joked about this being his “first time.”

“This is Red Leader. All wings, report in.” The call came loud and clear, making Sang even more nervous as he gave his craft one more look-over.

“Red 7, reporting in.” Another voice came over the comm., followed by a number of others.

“Red 9, reporting in.”

“Red 5, reporting in.”

Sang’s turn finally came up, and he said as calmly as he could muster, “Red 2, reporting in.”

The others finished their reporting, followed by Red Leader’s voice. “Alright, everyone, be careful out there. These clankers aren’t going to give us any mercy, so don’t wait to be sure if you think you’ve seen a target. All of you green boys, remember your practice, and stay off of stall vectors. We all know what happens, and this thing makes a pretty big boom when it hits the ground.”

“Well, that’s reassuring,” Sang said to himself, preparing himself.

“We have incoming, get ready!” Red Leader called out, just before a flight of Vulture droids took to the air. “Looks like they know we’re here.”


LAAT/i Gunship
Brotherhood Beachhead
Clan Plagueis Landing Pad

“Koga, you don’t have to come with me,” Kara Rohana said, her face the picture of stress as she spoke. “I’ll be fine!”

Koga Kage shook his head, looking at Kara with a calm, unshaken face. “There’s too much of a chance that this could go wrong,” he said, ignoring her sigh of irritation. “I don’t want to lose you, Kara.”

“Lovebirds,” Mograine muttered coldly, glancing back at them with a look of disgust on his face.

His Master, Kal Vorrac, laughed as he spoke. “Mograine, let’s not ruin the mood.” Looking back at Kara, he gave her a grin that just made her scowl. “It’s not our place.”

Vivackus Kavon, sitting across the transport from the pair, looked at Kal oddly. His former Master had once been in a known relationship with Kara Rohana, but Viv knew Kal better than that. If anything, the relationship had been a ruse, and yet Kal seemed to make a point of it to Kara. It was like he was trying to push her buttons.

“Gentlemen,” he said, getting Mograine’s immediate attention while Kal’s gaze lazily met his, “We have a job to do. We get to the communications center, empty it, take what we can, and plant some charges.” Looking at the other Intelligence division Jedi that had come along for the ride, he nodded before finishing “Try to confuse whoever’s on the other end, if we can. Miss Rohana, let’s be about it.”

With that, Kara started the controls to the gunship and took off, the LAAT/i cruising toward its destination.

Callus hit the ground running, the dust swirling around him and those in his party. Callus readied his rifle and once clear of the towering shadow of the AT-AT began firing on the droids in the vicinity. Callus and his men made their way off to the left of the large formation of droids as the massive walker continued straight into the heart of the enemy. They made their way to a large rock formation that they had scouted beforehand as a good place to asses the situation from.

Callus waited a moment behind the rock and then quickly poked out his head to take a fresh look at the enemy. They all seemed to be concentrating on the walker, as was the plan. The standard droids didn’t have the ordinance to take down an AT-AT and the Hailfire tanks were still well out of range. Callus grabbed one of the troopers by the shoulder and pulled him back to the ground as a blaster shot zipped right through where his faceplate would have been if he wasn’t on his back in the dirt. “How about don’t get shot yet?” Callus said to the trooper before he led his men around the opposite side of the rock formation, leaving 2 to provide covering fire and to try and draw fire away from the team that is moving.

Callus and his small group with him were attacking the droid formation from the flank taking down a good number of them before they knew what was going on. The droids spun and unleashed fire on Callus and his team just as the AT-AT opened up with its main gun blasting gaping holes in the droid formation. Then before you could see what was going on the droid army was mixed in with the forces of the Iron Throne in a battle of Man vs. Machine. Mettle vs. Metal.

Callus ducked a shot and coming out of the crouch bashed a droid with the butt of his rifle, dislodging its head from its torso. The Obelisk then popped of 3 quick shots taking down a droid who was taking aim at him. Running with decent speed Callus laid his shoulder into one of the Super Battle Droids who had lined up with its rocket on one of the troopers under Callus’ command. The creaking of Callus’ impact armor followed by the sound of rending metal and the two landing in a heap was lost to the winds as, almost before they had hit the ground Callus had his lightsaber out and had nicely skewered the droid through its processing unit and then deflecting a blast, turning his weapon in a classic Soresu arc halved two of the B1 series droids.

Callus pulled from his belt a thermal detonator and lobbed it into a crowd of droids who looked like they were about to push on Callus’ position. The grenade exploded and instantly vaporized the droids at the center of the explosion with the resulting concussion leveling droids in the vicinity. Apparently Callus hadn’t thrown the detonator far enough as in the blink of an eye, he too was on his back trying to blink away stars. Callus felt some outside force moving his body as some sort of weapon exploded nearby launching him into the air again, this time covering a good bit of distance.

Callus fumbled for the seals of his helmet and tossed it off trying to get some air. The sky was full of smoke and fire he couldn’t catch his wind or straighten his vision. He just had this purple streak that seemed to be burned into his eyes. He knew that meant that the Hailfire droids were in range and firing but for some reason his body wouldn’t cooperate with his mind. Callus took a few deep breaths and drawing on the force to get his body back in order he was able to regain muscle control. Not a second too late.

Callus rolled out of the way as the Hailfire droid zipped right over where he had just been laying. Callus scrambled to his feet and readied himself for another pass. For whatever reason this droid seemed intent on running Callus over and making him into and Obelisk pancake. Callus knew how to end that.

The droid’s massive wheels spun kicking up dirt behind them and then rocketed towards the Prelate. Callus also ran headlong at the droid. Callus’ mind wasn’t focused on the task of running, but rather on the force around him, feeling for the slightest changes around him. At the instant when it seemed the droid’s chassis would splatter Callus’ head and shoulders all over itself. Callus was gone and the droid rolled on for a dozen or so more yards before exploding in a hail of shrapnel. Callus was laying on the ground his lightsaber held above his head in the same spot as where the droid had rolled over it.

Callus gets to his feet and brushes some dust from his shoulders. He spares a glance skyward and can see a group of Brotherhood TIEs going at it with a squadron of Vulture droids. One moment a vulture is flying through the sky, the next it is just pieces of shrapnel falling to the ground. There was a time when Callus would have been up in the skies dogging it out with the best of them but he was getting old and rusty now, probably couldn’t keep up with even the greenest of the pilots today. He liked having ground under his feet anyway.

Callus exhaled a breath and allowed himself a small grin, that is until an explosion much closer to home shook the ground around him. The AT-AT that had dropped Callus and his troops just suffered a massive barrage from a Hailfire droid. Callus looked up in time to see the head explode and the hulking mammoth fall to the ground, crushing a few droids as it went.

Frack Callus cursed to himself as, looking to the horizon he saw what seemed to be a large metallic mass advancing toward the battle zone. Callus knew what they were instantly, a great big group of enemy reinforcements. Callus reached up and touched the comlink in his ear. “Hey command, what’s the status on the intelligence team? Things are about to get nasty down here.” A crisp voice responded a moment later.

“They are loaded and preparing for liftoff. Be advised your OverWatch support will be limited while the fighters clear a path for the LAAT’s.” The channel went dead after that. Callus then started running toward where the AT-AT had gone down. He double tapped on his comlink bringing up the frequency for his group.

“Everyone we’ve got some company on the way. We can hole up where the walker went down. Get there and we’ll have a better chance to get out of this with all of our blood still in our bodies.” Callus didn’t wait for confirmation as he took off at full speed for the downed walker. He spared one last look for the droid reinforcements on the horizon. Maybe today IS a good day to die.

As the LAAT/i gunship roared through the air toward the destination, Kara made a clear and concerted effort on looking ahead of her, keeping her eyes firmly off of the form of Koga Kage. Still as a stone, he stood there like some dark sentinel, ready to tear apart any who would strike at her. The fact that they were making quick, in-and-out drops didn't seem to have made any difference. Ignoring the snickers that came from the assembled men behind her, she couldn't help but feel a sense of warmth and security. While he probably could have been useful in the field, his theory was that a lowly 1st Lieutenant could get away with a stunt like this.

"Miss Rohana," Kal said from the back, his eyes opening from meditation to show them half-gold, "I believe the situation's changed."

Raising an eyebrow at the comment, Kara looked ahead until they came over the ridge. "By the Force..."

The transport came over the ridge to a scene of chaos and death, the forces of the Iron Throne locked in a vicious battle with a force of droids. Those around the soldiers seemed like a pile of junk, though it was the sea of metallic forms that frightened her, B2 Super Battle Droids marching along as Hailfire tanks and DSD-1s crept onto the battlefield, along with a number of rolling droidekas. Vulture droids and TIE fighters whizzed by in a vicious dogfight, though the fire that came from them grazed both Kara's dropship and those others that were dropping regular reinforcements.

"Aren't you glad I'm here?" Koga said, looking down at the falling corpse of a recently-blasted AT-AT with an expression of concern on his face.

"Not overly," she said, looking at the carnage with fear dawning in her eyes, not so much for herself as for everyone else. "I kind of wish you were back at the beachhead."

Beginning the approach, the soldiers in the turrets of the gunship soon let their green lasers pulse out, cutting down the rows of droids around the landing zone as the ship came to hover about two feet off the ground. The men inside quickly jumped out, lightsabers leaping to life and blasters charging as they took their first targets in the mass of droids. As the drop bay finally cleared, Kara motioned for Koga to follow, only to see him shake his head. She gasped in exasperation, but silently thanked the Force for her guardian's vigilance. He was a comforting presence, even if he did have all the brains of a womp rat.

Taking off, the pair held on tightly as small-arms fire and a few of the smaller explosives grazed their hull, finally getting to the air in time to just miss a rocket from a hailfire droid. The blast threw the ship off center for a moment, and warning lights and alarms kicked on. Silencing them, Kara muttered a curse as she cut speed, working the throttle and controls to stabilize the craft. As it finally centered itself, she breathed a sigh of relief, glad of the air around her as she took off. Even the sensors of the ship didn't see the Vulture droid behind her, and the alarm bells only resumed in time to tell her of the missile two seconds before it shattered her portside wing.

"Mayday! We're going down! May-" was all she got to shout over the comm. system before the ship plummeted into a gulch nearby.

Meanwhile

Sanguinius whooped with glee as he swung his fighter down into the fight brawling upon Antei’s surface. Red Squadron had been tasked with supporting the drop ships and they swooped through the skies as the Vulture Droids rose up to meet them, lasers flashing through the skies as the massed numbers of droids took their toll upon Red Squadron. The Protector saw a bright explosion to his right as the lead craft of his flight wing took a direct hit from an energy torpedo and Red Six was no more. Sang lamented the death of Buri, the flight leader was always joking with the rest of the squadron and he knew that the Squadron would miss his presence.

Sanguinius was brought out of his reverie as warning sirens went off that indicated he was target locked by a Vulture Droid, wrenching the steering yoke to the left the Obelisk turned the Tie Interceptor into a spin hoping to break the target lock. The energy torpedo shot past his right wing as Sang breathed a sigh of relief at the narrow escape. Calling over the com-links on the squadron frequency he demanded to know where his support was but was cut off by the death cries of another Red Squadron member as the superior numbers of the Vulture Droids took their toll.

Sang’s remaining wing-mate Red Eight kept in close formation slightly above and behind his right wing. “Alright Red Eight, lets do this.”

“Roger Red Two, lets smoke us some clankers.” Red Eight responded over the com-links.

The pair of Interceptors swept through the smoke in the skies and managed to target a pair of Vulture Droids, bringing the pair down with sustained laser fire Red Two and Red Eight caught sight of a LAAT-I Drop Ship being chased by a number of Vulture Droids which had snuck through the Iron Throne’s air cover as Red Squadron was busy handling another incoming squadron of Vulture Droids.

Sanguinius felt the death of another of his squadron mates as it was snuffed out in the sensory of the Force and he felt rage at the death of another of his friends. Chasing the droids attacking the LAAT-I Drop Ship the Protector wished he had missiles which would’ve made his job so much easier. Unfortunately all that they were armed with were laser cannons which weren’t the most effective weapon in this current predicament. Bright bolts of destructive light flashed passed the drop ship as it jinked skilfully trying to evade the fire, Sang was willing it to survive as Red Eight destroyed one of the chasing Vulture Droids but alas the LAAT-I shuddered as a proton torpedo smashed into it and turned the rear of the craft into a fireball as it hurtled towards the ground.

“Damn it Weskins we’re going to be in the doghouse for this.” Sang called over to Red Eight as they watched the LAAT impact upon Antei’s surface surrounded by the masses of troops and droids fighting upon the bleak desert. More laser fire flashed pass the pair of Interceptors and gouged grooves into the left wing of Sanguinius’ fighter resulting in Sang fighting at the controls to keep the craft steady. Shouting out over the com-link “BREAK BREAK BREAK!!” the pair of fighters split up to try and escape the mass of Vulture Droids which had now turned their attention upon the duo.

Outside the Jedi Communications Outpost
Northern Antei

Vivackus hit the ground in a crouch to dampen the force from the jump. His arms spread wide, like a predatory bird, and the red beam of light extending horizontally from his right palm. To his left, his Aedile, Kal fell down into a similar position, and on the other side of Kal, Mograine. The rush of adrenaline served to momentarily calm the Dark Jedi Knight, allowing him to focus on the droids standing between him and his destination. In that instant, the droids were all there was. Kal's disconcertingly positive attitude toward Mograine: nonexistent. The knowledge that they were fighting an entrenched enemy who had prepared for their attack: assuaged. Vivackus' own growing feeling of helplessness: unimportant.

On the battlefield, the larger Hailfire droids seemed mostly preoccupied with Plagueis' air support, firing missile after missile into the black sky, their trails of smoke obscuring the communications array behind them. Turning, Vivackus motioned with his left hand to the nearby soldier. The soldier made a quick nod before hoisted the PLX over his shoulder. He peered into the viewing window for several seconds and pulled the trigger. Light burst out of both ends, and the tube kicked upwards. The rocket screamed into the nearest Hailfire droid, causing a chain reaction as it set off the droid's remaining missiles which fired erratically into the sea of droids.

Vivackus grinned. Turning around, he realized that Kal and Mograine were already yards ahead of him, among the the rest of the soldiers, only discernible by their red and green lightsabers. The Quaestor felt moment of indignation, before snapping back to the present. There wasn't time to be worried about such things. He took a deep breath, drawing in extra energy, before sprinting faster than his legs could naturally take him. The wind zipped by his face and Vivackus squinted, lining up a shot with his Bryar Pistol.

Even as the dogfight continued overhead, the forces of Plagueis inexorably pushed the droids back. Upon reaching the front line, Vivackus' lightsaber spun, intercepting several blaster bolts. Again, Vivackus pulled the trigger of his Bryar Pistol, this time holding it as the pistol began to vibrate. He released the shot into the droid line, blowing a hole through a B2.

Wind rushed from Vivackus' back another LAAT had dropped down carrying reinforcements. Their line had been thinned significantly, though not as badly as the droids'. As the ship lifted off again, all four of its laser turrets cut parallel streaks through the droids, parting the forces in two. Into his earpiece, Vivckus addressed what was left of the first wave, "Here's our chance, soldiers. Get to that dome."

Again, Vivackus took off and was quickly joined by Kal and Mograine as they spearheaded the push to the dome.

VSD Instigator

The command deck seemed restless, shouts and screams echoed into the young girl’s ears as the crew remained confident of victory. The ship shuddered against impacts as its defence was beginning to crumble against the droids hidden advantages. Cassandra had remained upon the Instigator with the permission of her master although he had left the cruiser in the hands of his Executive Officer she felt obliged to help out. The young Jedi Hunter thought she knew it probably be a lot harder for him to get back to his Victory Class Star Destroyer at this time, enemy fighters shot through the desolate shadows of space and already seemed to have quite a good effect against pre-made defences.

“Ma’am we have just lost contact with another LAAT/I Dropship… Officers Kara Rohana, Koga were abroad that vessel at the time” Cassandra explained with a faint loss in her voice over the communications system.

Catalina Tzong sighed in reply at least to settle her concentration back to her station she was ordered to oversee. Although she was trying to calm others around her Tzong had been on the edge since enemy fighters appeared on radar. She was most respectful having the young sith aboard to aid her in her command but yet felt off ease without having the ship’s Captain by her side.

“Err Catalina…Ma’am the last drop ship has been deployed and requiring fighter escort….Wait….What do you mean destroyed!” Cassandra spoke again but then the communications to the docking was seized.

The young girl growled with aggression, watching the losses of yet another drop-ship echo in her vulnerable mind. Cassandra felt it as she continued looking at in a different view, she could feel the sense of betrayal and the disloyalty of Plagueis sister Clans.

“Cassandra, don’t you halt a communication with me, what the hell is going on!” the Executive Officer snapped over another open communications from the Bridge.

The girl sighed and then replied in her mouse like voice, “Ma’am that last drop ship launched wasn’t destroyed by say any droid weapon…more along the lines of fire power from the Tarentum baring on our left, radar picked up no enemy fighters incoming…those gits seem to think they can…”

However before the girl could finish Catalina had shut the young journeyman’s voice with her own, “Report to the Bridge…Captain Cethgus is making his final approach from the Planet surface, I suggest it be you to explain this situation”.

The turbo-lift seemed much slower than usual, being left in orders of the vessel’s XO she hurried to completed the tasks set in front of her. As the doors opened, she looked upon the rushed crewmen serving on the bridge. Staring at the tactical screen she could see the brigades of star-fighters struggle against the incursions with the vulture droids. She walked upon the stretched walkway looking at the Executive Officer; her eyes darted to the viewpoint looking at the many dogfights that raided the orbit of Antei.

“Ah Cassandra, I would send a word to the Baron and Ballista of your finding…If you are correct, this could well be a threat to our operations” Catalina ordered as she watched the young girls reflection grow closer to hers.

The Jedi Hunter didn’t even open her mouth to speak; she turned away towards the Comms station drawing closer to its functions. Pushing past the officer, fiddling with the controls to link a direct message both vessels were so confusing and with that she hadn’t even spotted the return of her master. No one bothered to at least shout the command of “Captain on Deck”, Cethgus dropped from his feet into the captains chair feeling an uneasy flow through his body from the rough ride back from the planets surface.

Greeted by his XO they both looked to the Communication station as it sparked with an overload, a simple explosion destroying the souls of men around it. Cassandra dived out of the way, screaming against the horrid pain as she tried to escape the blast. Electrical sparks flung into the air, claiming one life, leaving another in a critical state. However Cassandra lay on the cold metallic floor sobbing as she felt electrical burns echo pain into her body from her back, her eyes grew weaker as she could just make out the vision of her Master in the faded distance.

Callus and his men sat behind the downed form of the AT-AT, smoke and flames pouring out from where the machines “head” used to be, its pilots reduced to little more than ashes blown across the surface of Antei. Poking his head above the section of hull he was using for cover Callus could see a line of advancing droids, both B1's and the larger B2's there blasters pouring terajoules of energy into the downed walker in an effort to eliminate there enemy.

“Here they come boys!” shouted Callus over the incoming fire.

He was about to order his troops to open fire on the droids when one of the men shouted “Sir look!”

Off in the distance a dust cloud seemed to be approaching at rapid speed. Pulling a pair of macro-binoculars from his belt he looked through the lens and saw a trio of the Brotherhoods Armored Personnel Carriers barreling through the dusty plains of Antei at full speed closing in on there position. With a grin he called to his men “Reinforcements are on there way boys, let's lay down some cover fire for 'em” before setting an example for his men and laying down a barrage of fire at the incoming droids.

Less than a minute later the APC's came to a halt less than ten meters from the downed walker, there ramps dropping down to disgorge there deadly cargo. As the first lines of soldiers exited the vehicles they hurled grenades at the approaching enemy, blowing ragged holes in the droid lines and bringing a cheer from Callus men. From the nearest APC a trooper, looking no different to any of the others, but carrying himself in such a way that he seemed more deadly than the rest approached Callus and took a knee. Popping the seals on his helmet the trooper pulled it off to reveal Jaysun Adumarii, his face split by his ever present cocky grin.

“Looks like you need a little help” he said to Callus as the men he'd brought with him joined Callus troops in firing at the approaching droids.

Callus however was in no mood for any of Jaysun's crap as he asked “Where the hell have you been?”

“I was waiting for these guys to arrive. Believe me I would have much preferred to be here when the fighting started” Jaysun replied.

“Who are they Jaysun?” Callus queried.

His grin getting wider Jaysun replied “Reinforcements, soldiers from Bravo company 2nd Battalion 41st Infantry”

“Well than, lets not sit around and let them have all the fun” Callus said as he rose to his feet and opened fire. Never one to say no to a fight Jaysun pulled his helmet back on and joined the Prelate as he blasted away at the oncoming waves of enemy droids. Slowly but surely the forces of the Iron Throne began to turn the tide as droids began to drop left, right and center under the sustained fire of the forces under the Jedi's control.

Jaysun was about to suggest a charge when, in the distance, he saw half a dozen approaching shapes. Grabbing some macro-binoculars Jaysun scanned the horizon until he found what he was looking for. Drooping the binoculars Jaysun yelled “Spider Droids incoming!”

Downed LAAT/i Dropship

Large Ditch in Northern Antei

Operation Spider

Lifting his head and blinking away his blurred vision as best he could, Koga slowly sat up, his ears ringing from the explosion and the impact. Feeling a sharp pain in his temple, he raised his fingers to his brow to discover blood trickling from over his left eye. Trying to stand, he was rewarded with twinges of pain throughout his body, along with a sharp spike of pain as he realized that a shard of metal was stabbed through his calf.

Looking at the blood spattered across the floor from his injuries, Koga was hit with memories of the past. The blood was not his, it was his parents' blood, spattered on not just the floor. It covered the walls, the surfaces, and the cieling for a split second, though the traumatic memory faded when he realized that Kara was not by his side.

"Kara!" he shouted, looking around in a panic. "Kara, where are you?!"

His vision still blurred, his head spinning as he yelled. Limping toward the cockpit of the dropship, he looked feverishly for her, ignoring the faint trickle of blood still streaming from his body. Seeing the wreckage of the cockpit, he was hit with a pang of fear until he saw Kara's form, thrown from the cockpit to lay in a crumpled pile on the ground.

Rushing as well as he could with the shard still in his leg, Koga limped toward her at full speed to drop to his knees by her side. Lifting her head up, he saw a cut on her cheek with a faint trickle of blood and many bruises, but no apparent wounds. Shaking her lightly, he spoke to her quickly, determined to wake her up.

"Kara, please. We need to move. Kara..."

"Hmm?" She mumbled as her eyes fluttered open, trying to move before grasping in pain. "What happened?" As her memory came back and she saw the fallen dropship, she chuckled weakly. "Well, aren't you going to say it?"

Koga laughed softly and nodded. "I told you so."

Their reunion was cut short as the sound of droids approaching broke the silence and Koga stood, his lightsaber leaping to life in his hands as Kara slowly got to her feet. Taking cover behind the downed ship, Kara's saber blade soon joined his own as the pair deflected the first blaster bolts of a barrage. Ducking behind cover, Kage growled faintly before grabbing his comlink and shouting into it.

"This is Koga Kage, we're by the downed dropship! We have wounded, need extraction!"

Insertion Zone

Jedi Communications Dome

Operation Spider

The Intelligence strike team moved quickly through the masses of droids, using speed to keep themselves from being overwhelmed by the mass of robotic reinforcements as they headed toward their objective. The Aedile took point at the front, his blade elegantly moving through Makashi strikes at a vicious speed to keep their path clean. His recent Apprentice Mograine followed him, along with the soldiers, while the Quaestor Vivackus stayed back, fighting back any that tried to sneak up behind them. They moved quickly through the broken lines of the enemy, barely able to dodge the blaster fire that they couldn't deflect. Thankfully, the droids paid little attention to them, as the forces of the Iron Throne were putting up a vicious fight. Reinforcements had just arrived, and the droids were now working harder than ever to eliminate the force of Jedi and soldiers.

As they neared the dome, their easy approach was hindered by a group of B2s that broke from the others, targeting the strike team instead. Kal cursed, quickly turning to deflect their blaster bolts, only to be joined by his former apprentice, Viv.

"Mograine, take the men up to the dome, prepare them for a breach and clear." Kal's orders rang loud and clear, but Mograine shook his head.

"You need my help," he said, looking at the battle droids. "There are too many of them!"

"Follow your orders, Guardian!" Vivackus shouted, his orders carrying an intimidating tone.

The Journeyman hesitated for a moment before following his orders, running to the dome along with the soldiers. Seeing it, he could only liken it to a huge durasteel bowl turned upside-down. As he and the others prepared to breach, they were approached by another contingent of soldiers, led by a man Mograine couldn't identify. When they approached, the man addressed Mograine.

"Y'Kcoc Dartsab, Jedi Hunter, Lieutenant of the 2nd Batallion, 41st Infantry. Who are you supposed to be?" His arrogance made Mograine raise an eyebrow.

"Guardian Mograine, Military Intelligence Division." His response was brushed off quickly by the Hunter.

"We were commanded to flank the enemy, but as you boys were about to make a move on the HQ, I guess we'll just take command of the situation and lead the assault." He motioned to his men, who began preparing charges.

"I don't think so," Mograine said, unable to believe that anyone was this full of himself. "This operation is lead personally by the Quaestor and Aedile of House Satal Keto!"
Dartsab's eyes flashed with a light of ambition. "Well, then, they'd appreciate my assistance in your operation! If you aren't going to cooperate, stay out of my way." Activating his lightsaber, Dartsab waited for the charges to be set with an air of impatience.

"We don't know what to expect inside!" Mograine shouted at him, a comment the man ignored.

The explosives then detonated, throwing back the durasteel door to crush a pair of B1s immediately as the cocky Hunter and his team stormed in. Blaster fire and explosions were soon heard from within, along with another lightsaber activating and an odd buzzing noise. Back on the frontlines, Kavon and Vorrac had just dealt with the last of the B2s, running over and expecting the worst, only to see Mograine and the strike team standing outside the entrance.

"What the blast is going on here?" Kal shouted at him, eyes gold in the grip of the Dark Side, anger clearly at its limits.

Mograine quickly elaborated on the situation, how Y'Kcoc Dartsab had stormed in to take control of the situation. The Quaestor and Aedile listened to the sounds within for barely a moment before stepping in, followed by the strike team. Before them, they saw the last of the soldiers with Dartsab dispatched by a Magnaguard, a good number of dead B2s on the ground or in pieces while eight more stood ready. The B1 droids had largely joined in the fight, and were engaged by the soldiers of the strike team. What caught the eyes of the three Dark Jedi was Y'Kcoc, engaged in combat with a Falleen female Jedi. His blade was knocked aside again and again until she gracefully disarmed him, her blade coming up to remove his head in one clean stroke.

"Come, Sith," she said, a glint in her eyes. "Who's next?"

Jedi Communications Dome
Inside the Dome
Operation Spider

The Magnaguard rushed forward just as the troopers rolled to both sides, each seeking what cover he could find in the dome and returning a blistering hail of blaster bolts to the droids. The machines reciprocated their fire fully, unafraid and unrelenting as a soldier went down, accompanied by two B2 Battle droids. The IG-100 quickly rushed toward Mograine, whom it analyzed was the weakest target, but soon found the blade of Vivackus aiding that of Mograine. The two rushed the machine, its phrik electrostaff spewing sparks as it deflected their blades harmlessly. Spinning in a circle as it struck it, it deflected their blades as they moved to its front and back, the machine seeming to flow emotionlessly from stance to stance.

"Don't let it through, Mog!" Viv shouted over the volume of the blaster rifles. "It's just a machine, we can kill it!"

Mog nodded, though uncertainty flashed in his eyes. "Yes, sir!"

Walking quickly past them, Kal Vorrac's emerald eyes finished the conversion to molten gold, twirling his blade to a Makashi stance as he pulled the Force to him, forced it to his will. The Jedi emanated calm focus, her mind controlled as she kept her emotions under control, not letting the darkness overtake her. Viv noted in the back of his mind how the two contrasted, one wrapped in the darkness, one emanating the light. It seemed almost a religious event, the confrontation between deity and demon. As Kal neared her, his crimson weapon darted in toward her sides, the easy jabs at her midriff deflected with little effort as she stepped forward and struck for his head, her blade parried in its swing as his snaked around to deflect it, before a sequence of three jabs and a slice aimed for the thigh. Both stepped back after the sequence, weighing each other.

"Come now, child, you can do better than that." Kal said, his grin taunting in every way.

"You haven't seen anything yet," The falleen said, her orange skin fading to a greenish-blue as she regained composure.

The two continued their fierce duel, their ferocity mirrored in both of Kal's students, old and new, as they battled the automaton before them. The thing's staff would knock Mog's blade to the side, its other end spinning toward his head before it had to defend from Viv's blade. As it did so, Mog's would dart for its unprotected side and the machine would have to defend yet again. Whenever one began to lose, the other would press the attack, and the droid eventually took multiple light hits to its chassis. Its expertise and perfection of design were shown as it landed hits of its own, its electrified staff smacking across Mograine's face to dizzy him, the other head cracking against Viv's knee. The melee continued, with both parties damaging the other until the Magnaguard showed that it still had a few surprises. It whipped around, planting a metallic foot in Viv's gut and knocking him backward as it struck viciously at Mograine, knocking his saber from his hand and pushing him to the ground. As it lifted its weapon for a killing strike, a scarlet blade erupting through its chest made it convulse. In that split second, Mograine grabbed the blaster rifle of a fallen trooper, firing a full-auto burst from the E-11's muzzle and watching as the droid fell, the lightsaber cutting free as its victim fell to the ground, smoking and twitching. Vivackus ended the combat with a quick strike, cutting it across the chest and leaving it in pieces. The Guardian stood, the pair of them nodding to one another before they joined the assault on the droids. Machine after machine fell to Mograine's precision with the rifle, while their own attacks were thrown back by the crimson blade of Vivackus. In a few moments, the last of the droids fell under the onslaught, though only three of what had been nine men still stood, one of those wounded.

As the Magnaguard fell and Viv and Mog turned to the droids, the combat between Kal and the Falleen intensified. Vicious crackling and an angry dual thrumming seemed to perforate the air around them, the smell of ozone almost overpowering as the weapons clashed against each other. The woman used the form of Djem So, her combination of attack and defense parried by Kal's masterful Makashi and his more basic learnings of Dun Moch. Her strikes bounded off of his blade again and again, as the bloody glow of his blade flashed against hers. The Falleen's strikes were practiced, but she was not yet one with the Form she commanded, not yet as naturally graceful with a blade as Kal. The two danced between strike after strike before coming together in a saber lock, the Sith laughing.

"If only I knew your name," Kal said, "I'd have something to call the failures of my students."

"My name is Aelema Noth, Sith," she said coolly, her skin taking its relaxed green hue, "And you will teach no more when I am done."

The lock was interrupted as a pair of lightsaber blades burst from Noth's chest, the Force warning Kal of the danger at the last second, leaving him moments to jump backward to avoid being skewered. The Falleen's skin turned a bright yellow of surprise for a moment, before both blades were removed and she fell, her skin becoming a faded green as she died. Looking at Mograine and Vivackus, Kal watched the pair warily, waiting for them to deactivate their blades before he did. Motioning for them to exit, he got an odd grin on his face.

"After you," he said, his still-golden eyes flitting between both Vivackus and Mograine.

Mograine was first out of the dome, his blade snapping back to life quickly, soon joined by that of Vorrac and Kavon. Blaster bolts and explosives flew by in every direction, the droid forces never stopping as the Army of the Iron Throne laid into them, the bright flares of lightsabers among them. More Vulture droids rocketed through the skies than before, the forms of TIE Interceptors racing after them. Occasionally, the wrecked form of a fighter or shards of debris would crash to the battlefield, taking out both droids and the odd cluster of soldiers. Obviously, it was a one-sided conflict. Vivackus quickly took the comlink off of his belt, falling behind his Master and Mograine to speak into it.

"All forces, fall back! I want every dropship available for extraction!" he shouted before looking back to the three soldiers left. "See to his wound and plant the charges. It's time for us to leave."

As the soldier saluted him and ran to his task, the three Sith were caught off guard as new starfighters came over the ridge, a squadron of TIE Interceptors and a flight of three TIE Bombers, the former engaging the Vulture droids as the latter began carpet-bombing the marching enemy forces again and again. The forces of the Iron Throne cheered, up until the bombers came back, slowing to attack speed above the soldiers. Kal and Viv both reached out to the Force, feeling the Dark Jedi pilots and grimacing. As the bombs began to rain, Vivackus grabbed the comlink and shouted into it again.

"Incoming Tarentum forces!" he shouted, looking at the emblem on the leader's Interceptor. "Tarentum forces are classed as hostile, repeat, Tarentum forces are classed as hostile!"

“This is Koga Kage, we're by the downed dropship! We have wounded, need extraction!”

The arid landscape of Adas shrugged its indifference in waves of dust that collided against the translucent visor of a young boy piloting a swoop for all he was worth. A great battle raged ahead, he knew. He had arrived hours ago, eliminating the look out posts to clear the way for the main Plagueian-led strike force. With a bit of free time on his hands, he had taken a look around. Despite the sizeable force left to guard the communications centre, there was nothing else in the immediate vicinity, save some scattered Tarentum forces. They were worrying – Tarentum held a fearsome reputation, and a strong group of Foxtrot-Uniforms, and had been chosen for frontline fighting. They shouldn't be back here. A sinking feeling of dread in the Force had urged him to make his return, his radio emphasising the point.

The wreckage of the downed LAAT/i gunship provided excellent cover, but even with this, they would be hard pressed to survive another wave of droids. A half dozen scattered robots littered the area, the remains of a small scouting group sent to investigate the crash. She had dealt with them swiftly, and Kara glanced at her guardian one more time. He swayed a little, and she steeled herself, knowing that despite Koga's remarkable determination, she was their best hope of survival – if that was to be their fate. “We should move now,” Kara decided, crossing to the other side of the downed transport. She raised his lightsaber to block some more blaster fire, cursing under her breath as another group of droids approached. She turned to speak over her shoulder, but stopped when she saw Koga fall to the ground. She choked down a cold knot of fear as Koga immediately rose to one knee, the strain clearly visible on his face. A brief warning in the Force caused her to turn back to the droids and block more blaster fire.

A swoop bike zoomed into view. The pilot somersaulted off, landing like a cat – but while the bike was aimed well, the downward pressure of his jump forced it into the ground. It bounced, striking sparks, and spun through the air. The squad of B1 droids watched in equal confusion with their prey as the bike passed over their heads. With an exasperated sigh, the pilot raised a hand, freezing the swoop in midair before slamming into the droids. They were vaporised in an explosion that seemed to large to come from a swoop. Kara breathed a sigh of relief as a short figure stepped into view – Denath Ciarus. “Denath! I'm glad you're here. Koga has been hurt.” He glanced over her own injuries as he ran around the wreckage to where the Obelisk Knight was struggling to stand, pulling together some confidence to inspire his teammates with.

“Keep watch!” Denath commanded as he noticed the shard of metal stuck in Koga's leg. Denath removed a strange lightsaber from his sash and looked through the emitter, raising his fingers to it carefully. “Its from a Light Jedi that was watching the last observation post,” the boy answered a curious look. “I was tossing detonation packs into the posts as I went past, but had a strange feeling, and decided to smash the last one myself. Good thing I did – that extra pack came in handy.” He jerked a thumb at the fused lumps of metal some distance away. “That looks bad,” he finished. Koga glanced self-consciously at Kara's back before nodding.
“I don't plan to die at the hands of some machine,” Koga confided. Denath concentrated on the captured lightsaber, firing a tiny shock of Force lightning through the emitter and hopefully across the focusing crystal. “I'd rather be cut down by the Jedi than fall to this scum.” Denath pulled the shard of metal out of Koga's leg, who yelped and fell over. A crushing weight fell against his chest as Denath held him down with the Force. The boy then ignited the captured lightsaber, its green blade faint and almost flickering. “You can let the droids get here first!” The sound of the scuffle caught Kara's attention, and she ran over as Denath leveled the blade over Koga, slowly and carefully inching it towards the cut in his leg.
“This will hurt.” The Obelisk Knight readied himself, letting the Force flow through him and reduce his pain. Denath tickled the tip of the damaged lightsaber across the hole in his leg.

Koga clamped his jaw shut as he growled in pain that lasted for only moments before he lost consciousness. Denath threw the damaged lightsaber away and caught Kara's stunned look. “In my last life, I used to train Jedi for Lord Arcona's army. We didn't have enough training lightsabers to go around, so I tried to de-stabilise the power of a lightsaber with a focused jolt of Force lightning through the emitter. If the student was lucky, it would produce a weak blade when activated.”
“If he wasn't lucky?” Kara asked as she knelt beside Koga, checking for a reassuring pulse.
“They lost their hand.” Denath also knelt beside Koga, placing a hand across his chest and concentrating on the Force. He had never tried to heal someone else before, believing for a long time that the weak should be culled. However, in a war, every soldier mattered. He cleared his mind and focused.

Koga shuddered and woke up. “Thank you,” he nodded as Kara helped him to his feet.
“How's the leg?” she asked, her voice as creased with worry lines as her forehead.
“I'm fine.” He did his best to shrug it off, but the dubious look on his face made it clear that Denath's attempts to heal had not helped much. “I can walk all right, but I don't know if I can fight.” A roaring sound ripped them all to their senses as several explosions echoed nearby.
“TIE Bombers...” Denath whispered. “We need to reach the downed AT-AT. We can circumvent most of the remaining droids if we curve around, but we'll need to move fast.” Koga's radio crackled to life as the TIE Bombers spun back around, Vivackus' sharp words appraising them of Tarentum's attack. The boy snatched the radio up. “All Plagueis forces mix in with Eighth Fleet troopers. If we're lucky, Tarentum will not risk killing Sarin's army.”
“And if we're not?” someone replied over the radio. Kara and Denath shared a worried glance.
“You have to move, fast. You'll need to help him.” She nodded, accepting some of Koga's weight on her shoulder. He was heavy, but she could handle it. “You need to get to the AT-AT wreckage. Go around that way.” Denath pointed vaguely towards the swoop wreckage.
“Where are you going?” Kara asked as his words sank in.
“First.”

Denath snatched her lightsaber from her belt and marched to the edge of the LAAT/i wreckage. He had often wondered why he remained Krath. He was a mighty warrior in his last life, and was still a warrior at heart; he had started training in Jar'Kai and dual saber Sokan a month ago, and he liked to believe he was doing all right. He ignited both lightsabers as he called upon the Force to inspire himself with confidence. Come on, you can do this, he reassured himself. You don't have to fight, just reflect blaster fire from the millions of gun happy droids between you and the AT-AT. The actual number was probably less he noted to himself as the TIE Bombers discharged a second wave of bombs, cutting another large swathe through something, somewhere. He gripped the lightsabers securely. Sure, its been four thousand years, but whos counting? He glanced over his shoulder. They are counting, on you. He steeled himself, hoping that his expertise in Soresu and Sokan would be enough to compensate. He didn't have to fight, just block.

“If you fall behind, you stay behind,” the boy commanded over his shoulder as he jumped out, leading the way around the edges of the battle.

In Transit

The LAAT shot downwards with speed that only could be described as reckless. There were several with it, though this one seemed to be going faster than the rest. Upon reaching its designated flight ceiling the side paneling door would pop out and slide backwards, revealing the insides. There was roughly 10 Iron Throne Soldiers there, Jaecyn Kai Interm amongst them.

His eyes would dart from the forward line of the Army Forces, to the Corps Starfighters darting around in the sky, engaging in extravagant dog fights. He shifted his position as the ship rocked hard to the right, a projectile missile flying feet from the right wing. He looked to the others, their nervous faces a bit funny to him. They mostly held blasters, intended for evac support only.

Jaecyn heard the COM link crackle from the front of the ship as a very familiar voice broke through, "Incoming Tarentum forces! Tarentum forces are classed as hostile, repeat, Tarentum forces are classed as hostile!" Jaecyn felt a ping of worry fall off of his shoulders only to be replaced by more as he saw a string of explosions appear below a line of fighters that he could only guess as Tarentum fighters. He leaned backwards so he could get a clear view to the pilot, “Can’t this thing move any fas…” his comment was cut short as a string of blaster bolts shot through the windshield and into the rear cabin, killing both pilots and taking out 5 of the 10 Iron Throne soldiers inside, wounding another 3. Jaecyn had nearly been thrown out of the ship by the attack, catching the bar near the edge at the last second. His eyes widened as the ship veered off course and began plummeting to the ground.

He gripped the bar with another hand and forced himself inside. He could see the bodies of the other men of the Iron Throne being whipped out of the shuttle as it shot downwards. He looked to the cockpit in front of him, it so close yet so far away. Wind shot through the broken cockpit windshield making the free fall faster and faster. He managed to push himself down to the edge of the cockpit doorway, grabbing onto both sides and pulling himself inside, his face turning red with the force. He pushed the dead pilot out of the seat, taking his place. He quickly punched in a course correction and evasion command for the auto-pilot, flipping the auto-pilot safety cover and then the switch underneath. The ship immediately lurched upwards as its repulsors kicked on and the ship slowed, veering to the right hard.

Jaecyn looked up just in time to see the right side of the wing barely clip the side of the Antennae of the Communications Array. He sighed and fell back in his seat, relieved and a bit sick at the same time. His moment of relaxation was crushed as he immediately heard a voice crackle over the comlink though he didn’t quite get what it said. He shot up in his seat, flipping the auto-pilot off and assuming manual control of the ship. He put on the headset from the fallen pilot and brought the mic to his mouth, and then he caught the tail end of the voice saying, “-Dome. Repeat. This is General Kavon, requesting Evac. From the north side of the Communications Dome.”

“General Kavon, this is Jaecyn. I am starting my descent to your location. ETA 30 seconds.” He spoke, his voice fluid as the ship moved in and out of steams of blaster fire. The ship arced towards his location, moving rather quickly despite the injured status. He saw the patch of land on the opposite side of the dome, though he noticed rather large white flashes, as he drew nearer he saw the distinct outline of 2 red beams and one green, knowing full well what they were.

The LAAT shot downwards, landing behind them, him pulling back on the stick shortly before reaching the destination, so the back end touched down first followed by the forward end. He looked out the broken cockpit windows to battle ensuing outside. He wanted to rip out his lightsaber and join, but he knew he would only become a liability.

The other LAAT’s that had survived entry also began landing around them, the support troops filing outwards and moving towards the injured or the cutoff to help them make their way to the extraction. He saw several of them cut down within moments of exiting the ship. Others didn’t even make it that far as their ships spiraled from a hit engine directly into the ground, a massive explosion following. Jaecyn would wait for the others to board the transport, his hand on the stick and the throttle, ready to shoot off the moment they were all safely on board. He seemed a bit on edge, like he wanted to get out of here before any more good soldiers lost their lives.

Vivackus leaned forward and covered his face with the back of his left hand, his hair and robes pulling at his back with the rush of heated air. To his left, a LAAT dropship, filled with soldiers about to be evacuated, lifted off, and was promptly hit in the right wing by several blaster cannon rounds, and fell back to the ground like an injured bird, spilling the soldiers out into fire once more.

Without a second thought, he filed in behind Kal, Mograine, and several injured soldiers, pushing through to the cockpit where Jaecyn was seated. Vivackus rested a hand on the Protector's shoulder; Jaecyn needed-and deserved-recognition, and at the moment, this was all Vivackus could afford to provide. "Get us out of here." He told Jaecyn, before resuming barking orders into the COMM link. "Sergeant, do you have those charges ready?... No?" Flicking a switch, "All available units, give support to Second Squad.... That's all I can do, Sergeant, these Tarentae slime-dogs seem to have caught us by surprise."

As the ship lurched upward, Vivackus braced himself, continuing to speak into his COMM, in an increasingly loud voice, as the wind began to rush through the broken cockpit windshield. Suddenly, red lights on the panel in front of Jaecyn began blinking ominously. The Protector turned his head. No sound came out above the roaring wind, but Vivackus could easily make out his lips forming the words, 'We're being trailed.'

The Quaestor turned around, yelling in the direction of his fellow Plagueians, "Why aren't we firing back?"

"With what?" Mograine's voice screamed back, "The weapons were knocked-"

He was cut off when the LAAT banked violently to the right, as several shots fired past where the fuselage had been moments earlier. Vivackus was knocked against the wall with the centripetal force, and felt the familiar sickening sensation in his stomach as it became painfully clear that his life was not in his own hands.

"Three interceptors... I don't think I can hold them off for much longer." Jaecyn said has he righted the ship.

"Fly low over the dome." Vivackus said, his face having broken into a suicidal grin.

"Excuse me?"

"That's an order, Jaecyn. Over the dome, and for Revan's sake, don't look back." Vivackus snapped. The LAAT banked again, controls straining under Jaecyn's grip. The array, in places smoking from being hit by stray shots, and impacted by one crashed Vulture Droid, flashed by underneath their view.

"Detonate NOW!" Vivackus shouted into the COMM, grabbing hold of the back of the pilot's seat.

Almost immediately, the ship beneath him pitched forward as smoke engulfed the ship, plunging all into darkness. The hull shook violently, threatening to rip itself apart. After several seconds, fearing that the darkness would never abate, the LAAT defiantly broke free of the cloud to see plasma streaking across the horizon once more.

Vivackus breathed a sigh of relief. "Well done, Jaecyn." he said before turning and walking back into the main body of the LAAT. Relief and celebration were evident on all but one of the passengers. Kal was studying Viv intently, his gaze unwavering. The Dark Jedi Knight had hoped for a little more time, unfortunately the Force, it seemed, had other plans.

"Who is that?" Kal asked, his voice, while to the layperson calm, showed more surprise than Vivackus had ever heard from him.

The Quaestor replied with his trademark smirk, "That would be my apprentice, Jaecyn Interm."

Looking at Cassie who was on the floor the Prelate glanced around “Get medics up here now”

The Medical crew came along and grabbed her and took her off to the medical bay, leaving the bridge back to normal once again.

Standing on the bridge of the Instigator once more, the Prelate knew that they had a lot more coming up against them. His boots strode across the command deck as he looked out of the view ports. He growled as he knew that they had to be ready to extract clan members from the surface if need be.

“Move the ship closer to Antei.” His voice echoed around the room.

“Captain?” Catalina Tzong voice was quick to reply.

“Listen, I want this ship nearer that planet, get used at the front and ready to extract people if we need to.” His voice was calm as he looked at the planet.

“Understood, sir.” She was quick to bark orders around to the men.

The Instigator began to move in front of the rest of the clan’s fleet. Sitting back into his chair, the captain watched, knowing that to help the clan, his ship was now out in the open and at the fore front of Clan Plagueis’s fleet. His fingers gripped the arms of his chair, as the ship stopped its movement, it was near the atmosphere. Leaving the Clan a quick option for extraction if they needed to.

“Movement completed Captain.”

“Good, very good” His voice spoke clearly.

But he knew all too well that the position him and his ship were in would test people. He wondered if anyone would strike at him and his ship for the move. It had given people who wished him dead that opportunity, but at the same time given the clan another one if they needed it. Turning to his XO he grinned.

“All hands, prepare for combat, all weapons ready, and ready to move if we need to.” His voice echoed around the bridge as everyone began to prepare.

Denath glanced over his shoulder, checking to see if his Clanmates were still following. They had circled around, sticking to the underside of the hills to avoid line of sight with the remnants of the main droid army. So far it had kept them hidden, but it was slow going. Kara was limping as heavily as Koga now, and he suspected they would soon have to stop and rest. The boy started approaching them before a bolt of red light zipped past him. He spun around, both lightsabers whirling to deflect the next bolt. Droids. With a quick pulse of the Force, Denath closed the distance between them, bouncing blaster fire away at odd angles until he could slash out its legs, then decapitate the droid. He glanced around the horizon, taking in the approaching numbers. Their cover was definitely blown. A loud groan behind him drew his attention back. Kara had fallen.

Denath skidded to a halt next to his companions. “Its her ankle,” Koga explained. He had struggled to his feet, his lightsaber in his hands, but Denath knew he was in no condition to fight. “She must've twisted it when we crashed. She's also been breathing funny.” A worried look flashed across the boy's face. “She was thrown out of the LAAT before it crashed.”
“She would've hit the ground hard, then...” Denath mused. “She may some broken ribs. Was she conscious when you found her?” Koga shook his head. The boy cursed. “Radio ahead for anyone, anywhere to meet us.”
“I already have,” the Obelisk replied. “I did not get an answer. Is she going to be all right?”
“Let's just hope someone heard you.” Koga nodded and looked around, before pointing out a cluster of medium-sized rocks. Denath helped him carry Kara's unconscious form to some cover. He laid her down carefully before resting himself, the strain of their escape overwhelming him for a few moments.
“Now we wait?” Koga asked as Denath glanced out from their cover. The boy nodded, and the Obelisk, noticing the worried look on the boy, chuckled to himself. “Sounds like a plan.”
“I wish my master, D'hak, was here. He could carve his way through an army of droids. He was a clone, an experiment, some kind of super soldier.”
“I wish he was here too,” Koga replied. “Did he face odds like ours?”
“Many times. He risked his life so many times to serve those he was loyal to.” Denath considered telling him a story, and his mind drifted through the adventures he had, looking for one that seemed plausable to someone who didn't know them. It was a stall, to buy time. Time before a squad of two dozen droids marched over that hilltop and wiped them out. Maybe they should have stayed at the LAAT. The boy drew in a deep breath as he turned to Koga. “My turn.”

His pulse pounded under the excitement – it had been too long since he had a real challenge, and his mediocre training in dual sabers certainly presented one. He rolled, ducked and dodged blaster fire from the squad of droids that had broken off to search for them, using his and Kara's lightsabers to deflect anything that veered too close. For once in this second life time, Denath was grateful he was so small. He couldn't keep this up for long, however, so his next roll took him down the hill. One of the B2s punched a B1 out of its way as he led their advance across the horizon. He had bought them a couple of minutes, the boy thought to himself as he crouched so low to the ground, he felt like he was part of it. He shuffled around to the side, then used the Force to pull a large rock across, setting it between him and them. He deactivated both of the lightsabers and cleared his mind as he waited for the squad to appear.

As the squad of droids slowly rounded the hill, they glanced around in disappointment. Their target had vanished, which meant... that he had to be behind that rock right there! The first couple of droids started to turn as Denath dashed around, throwing Kara's lightsaber at the nearest droid. It bashed across his chest and fell to the ground, its disabler switch having shut it off in mid-air. His own blade whirled as he dived into the fight, following with an overhead attack before rolling away, his raised lightsaber following the classical Sokan movement in a slash that cut through their legs. He had grabbed Kara's lightsaber on the way up, and he began to execute a spin as a wall of blaster fire raced past him – from behind. Searing pain shot across his shoulder, and he hit the ground, rolling down the hill. His lightsabers gone, he raised defiantly to one knee, fixing the droids with a hateful glare. Only one was looking at him. Jaysun and Callus rushed through the squad of droids, slicing them apart as their troopers fired on the rest – all but one. In the moment it took Jaysun to slice off its arm, one of the B2s fired.

“She's coming around,” someone said. There was some shuffling. Denath opened his eyes, then closed them again. The skies of Adas made the difference hard to notice. He tried to sit up, but a sharp pain in his side told him that was a bad idea. The events of the last few hours started to play in his head.
“Rise and shine, Kara,” another voice said. He was smiling, but it was the weak, fake kind of smile you used when talking to sick people. “You're lucky we found you.”
“What happened, Jaysun?” a woman, Kara, asked. Denath frowned as he tried to turn his head and see what was going on. The same sharp pain convinced him otherwise, so instead he concentrated on the Force, trying to establish some awareness of his surroundings. Footsteps slid around the dirt, and a couple of stray emotions came his way – mostly anxiety, and a little relief.
“When the communications dome exploded, a lot of the droids started drifting north, then Alaris sent down some orders to evacuate everybody,” Jaysun replied. “Shooting down that last Tarentum Bomber helped us clear a path to where you and Koga where. That thing made a hell of a mess when it crashed.”
“Who shot it down?” she asked. Jaysun's grin was all the answer she needed.
“We're in pretty bad shape,” someone else said. “I should be fine when my leg heals, and you'll have to take it easy with those broken ribs. The medics aren't sure how you managed to drag me this far from the wreckage on a twisted ankle, but I told them they don't know you. Here, I'll help you up.” Denath surmised that this was Koga talking.
“Where's the little thief who stole my lightsaber?” He made a mental note to raise that with her later.
“He's over here.” Footsteps approached. “The medics are going to dope him up with some painkillers so we can carry him out of here to the evacuation site.” On cue, a soldier leaned into Denath's view.

The next thing Denath heard was heavy stomping. He opened his eyes, catching sight of a group of droids and soldiers from Bravo company blasting away at each other. A few lightsabers whirled around the fight, some light blue and one yellow. They looked like they were pushing the droids back, but the bodies of several soldiers testified to the cost of their defense. A bright lance of green energy slashed across the squad of droids as a LAAT/i gunship whirred overhead, and a small cheer came from the Jedi as it fired another pulse. Denath tried to sit up, the pain from before now less severe. He stood slowly, removed his lightsaber and looked around. “Thats the second transport!” someone shouted from the small skirmish. The last of the droids fell, and Jaysun, Koga, Callus and a handful of soldiers from the 41st Battalion starting jogging down.
“Rise and shine, Denath,” a woman said from the side. Denath turned to face Kara, nodding a greeting.
“What happened?” he asked.
“A droid shot you in the chest. Jaysun says he cut its arm off while it was powering up, and the medics say you should rest for a day or two. They gave you some bacta and painkillers to help move you to our evacuation zone.” Denath nodded slowly as he pieced things together. Fresh soldiers jumped out of the new LAAT to take position behind the advancing Plagueians. Kara started limping towards a LAAT that had already landed some time ago, bringing fresh troops to secure their position until the second transport arrived.
“I'll be fine tomorrow, I just need to clear my head. Are we leaving now?” Denath jumped on board the LAAT. Kara nodded and turned to watch as the others climbed aboard the second LAAT, Koga and a few tired soldiers heading for them. The Clan had sustained heavy losses on this raid, and they would all be glad to get out of here, even for just a little while. She doubted her Master would let them rest, though, and as she helped a battle-weary Koga on board their LAAT she wondered what was so urgent, that Alaris had ordered a full evacuation to the Clan Plagueis headquarters back at the Beachhead...

Part Four
Pushed to the limit

Droid Control Node
West of Codei Prison
Objective: Gundark

The howling wind that blasted across the vicious terrain did little to attract the notice of the droids, a sea of metal surrounding the bunker that housed one of their control centers. Vulture droids stalked across the ground surrounding the structure, while Hailfire tanks and AATs patrolled around, complemented by B2 Super Battle Droids and the rolling forms of vicious Droidekas. B1s served only in specialist roles, some wielding sniper rifles or missile systems while still others possessed repair equipment, or were active within the bunker. Altogether, it was a fearsome force, all dedicated to protecting the equipment within.

Buried beneath the durasteel, permacrete, and stone, a droid control node was placed. B1 service models attended the duties necessary, while the robed forms of six Jedi sat around it, waiting patiently for attack. They'd felt the incident at the bunker, called Operation Spider by the Sith, as surely as they'd felt the fierce combat of the following retreat, coded as Operation Cold Stone. The few Sith and soldiers left behind told them that much, though little else had come from the hardened captives before their deaths. Now, it was clear that the bunker and its contents were discovered, and surely the Sith would soon try to take out the controlling intelligence behind the surrounding droid forces. When they came, the Jedi were ready.

Along with the Jedi around the control node itself, Magnaguards and B2s patrolled the halls and ramps that led into the bunker, ready to hold off any descending enemies. The target here was essential, and even if the Sith and their army found their way to it, they would suffer great losses long before the Jedi brought the righteous fury of the Light down on their head, showing them the true power of the Force. For now, the Jedi sat in meditation, their minds joined in the calm embrace of a Force Meld, strengthening their conjoined senses as they waited. They did not have long left to sit, though, for quickly the approaching tide of determination and fear that signaled the soldiers on approach was comingled with hatred, anger, and even stronger senses of fear and dread. The Sith were like angry beacons, not just ruled by their emotions but feeding off of them, their teachings of the Dark Side making them seem like pillars of flame in a sea of candles, seeking to consume all around them before they burnt out.

"They are here," one of the Jedi, a kiffar female with two cylindrical silver hilts at her belt, said.

"Indeed," A Mon Cal Jedi, this one bearing a single blade with a long hilt, said. "Now is the time."

The droids surrounding them nodded, rushing off to relay their orders through the control center. In a matter of moments, the many droids outside shifted to combat priority Alpha, all of them monitoring, waiting for the approaching Sith. The patrolling droids picked up their searches, sweeping more intensely as the ocean of droids powered up their weapons, some of them unfolding the specialized sonic equipment, stun rounds, and flechette launchers they had. This time, there would be Sith blood on the ground, to pay for that of Aelema Noth and all of the other Jedi that had died so far. As the droids readied themselves, the Jedi within used their combined senses, reaching out with the Force to find their enemies.

"Enemies come from the South," another of the Jedi, a large male Cathar with a double-ended weapon, said calmly. "They bring walkers, and a few starfighters join them. I sense the ones that killed Aelema, and the youth with dual blades."

The droid nodded. "Yes, sir. Deploying forces now." He input the orders, the many droids moving off to their assignment.

A fourth of the six, a Zabrak with a curved hilt on her belt, spoke to the Cathar. "We all miss Aelema, Drathen. She is one with the Force, now. Don't let hatred consume you."

The Cathar nodded, though the resentment of the Sith within him didn't lessen. "Yes, Master Soth. I just wish she'd lived..."

The others in the room nodded. Aelema Noth had been a good friend to them, but to Drathen she'd been his only friend in his rougher street life, the one who had guided him to the Jedi. The young Cathar had a surprisingly strong body, and though he had a gentle soul beneath it, his rage could be nearly unstoppable. Verda Soth looked on him with worry, unsure of how the young one would handle himself. If he gave into the Dark Side, let go of his control...

That won't happen She thought to herself. We won't let it.

* * *

Headquarters Platoon
Alpha Company
1/12 Armor
Command AT-TE
Objective Gundark

Alaris Jinn stood in the walker, reaching out with the Force as they approached. He sensed a huge mass of droids, along with what almost felt like a beacon of the Force. The Twi'Lek was amazed not only at the focus and clarity of the beacon, but at its purity, the calm feeling that seemed to emanate off of it. Shaking his head faintly, the two lekku draped over his shoulders swaying faintly as he did so, he concluded that Jedi must have been nearby. Everyone in the group that could touch the Force would feel that, and Alaris only hoped that the others had the clarity to know the weakness behind the power before them. Deserters were the last thing that they needed. Taking a comlink from his belt, he spoke into it, his voice somewhat cold.

"Quaestor Kavon, anything sighted yet?" The young Quaestor had been stretched to the limit lately, and it never hurt to be thorough.

"We're fine here, Proconsul," the voice of Kal Vorrac came over the comlink, irritating Alaris. The man seemed to shadow Kavon, as if linked to him by some unseen thread.

"Yes, Alaris," Vivackus replied shortly after, irritation showing in his voice as well. "All clear, ready to engage."

Alaris nodded for a moment, before his senses caught something else moments before the sensors in the AT-TE picked it up. The Force relayed to him what felt like a storm of static energy, tiny electrical pulses in the millions approaching. Droids themselves weren't alive, and so couldn't be sensed, but any Jedi could pick up the feeling of the surges of power relaying across their circuits and networks, oftentimes more easily than sensing a living thing. By the number of tiny impulses, there were many droids, and the forces climbing the sloping hill that led into the canyon had only moments before the first Hailfire droids rolled over the hill, firing like mad.

"We're under attack!" Alaris shouted, now knowing why the Jedi gave off the Force so strongly here. "All forces, prepare for combat!"

The huge tank droids were soon followed up by a number of running droids, B2s and the terrifying rolling forms of Droidekas. Alaris hadn't even managed to order their fighters forward before Vulture droids crested the hill, surging forward with a vengeance. The fighters of Clan Plagueis and the few of the Iron Throne that had joined them soon found themselves locked in combat, even as the first few shots thundered out of the AT-TE's cannon, blasting through a Hailfire droid. Soon, fire was exchanged by the various walkers, the few other AT-ATs or AT-TEs firing at larger targets while the AT-STs and AT-RTs tried to thin the infantry ranks. The fire was soon returned, infantry pouring out of AT-ATs and other transports in time to engage the waves of droids, smoke from blaster shots and explosions filling the air as the ears of everyone picked up the drowning noise of combat. Alaris growled before snarling into the comlink once more.

"All forces, ahead at full speed!" He shouted, his hooded eyes looking onward in a mixture of anger and frustration. "Get us over that hill!"

* * *

VSD Mk.II Instigator
Orbital Blockade
During Objective Gundark

"Bring us above the objective, gentlemen," Cethgus Kuga said, his eyes flickering from crewman to crewman as the men rushed about, reporting to him in hurried voices.

"Sir," a man shouted from the pit, "The droids outnumber us approximately three to one, how can we hope to-"

Cethgus cut him off. "That's it, then," he said eagerly, a light of chaos springing up in his eyes. "Target the objective, prepare for bombardment on my-"

"Sir!" One of the men shouted, pointing out of the viewport with terror in his voice, "Contact incoming!"

Kuga, the crewmen, and the other Force users on the bridge had only moments to brace themselves before the ship's hull shuddered, impacts tearing into it. Standing quickly, Cethgus looked out of a viewport, his eyes witnessing the impossible. Meteorites ripped into his ship in varying sizes and compositions, guided by silvery trails as they punched holes in the Instigator. The shields held off what they could before collapsing, sections of the hull tearing open to pour the forms of crewmen into space before they sealed off.

"Bring the ship about!" the Iridonian shouted angrily. "Protect the engines-"

The ship had only begun to rotate before a resounding impact shook them all, one of the crewmen looking up. "Aft engine is out, sir! Maneuvering with remaining engines."

Cethgus nodded, seeing the meteorites headed for the bridge. "Intensify forward deflector shields!"

The Zabrak could feel as the power was dumped into the shields, feeling the electrical surge from systems through the Force as the forward shields thickened and the engines were rotated out of harm's way. Meteorites of various sizes bounced or broke off of the shield, though the Prelate could feel it weakening under each strike. Soon it would collapse, and he could only hope the worst of the storm would pass before they gave out, hope that the bridge wouldn't be shredded. The storm began to thin, and the Obelisk felt a flicker of hope toward their chances. Only the tail of the storm remained now.

The shields gave out.

"Brace for-" The crewman didn't have time to finish his thought at the debris ripped through the viewport, the glass shattering as meteorites ripped across the bridge.

A chorus of screams and cries erupted on the bridge as it decompressed, people grabbing what they could, some punched throughout by meteorites while others were simply sucked into space. The debris that hit no one smashed through computers and monitors, red emergency lights flickering on as alarm klaxons blared to life. The Force users on the bridge took what cover they could, bracing behind a monitor or chair as they had to, some using their sabers in a futile effort to ward off debris. Cethgus himself was one of these, barely knocking a piece of debris off-course before it slammed into a computer system, the machine exploding and peppering the Iridonian with shards of shrapnel. The entire instance only lasted a few moments before the blast shields closed over the viewport and the crew thudded back to the bridge, many coughing or panting as the last few light impacts of the storm passed.

"Sir!" one of the crewmen ran to Cethgus' side as the Iridonian struggled upward, small trickles of blood emanating all over his body from the shrapnel piercings. "Are you-?"

"I'm fine!" The Obelisk shouted, standing up with a rough cough as he looked at his shattered bridge. "Report!"

"Aft engines destroyed, sir, all others intact," one crewman said, looking at a cracked monitor and reading the information to the best of his ability.

"Communications?" He said, looking at another man.

"Damaged, sir, but still functioning." he said, typing a few controls.

"Send a communique to the other ships, find out if this hit them!" he shouted angrily, coughing again before asking the pivotal question. "Weapons?"

"We're operating at 23% firing capacity, sir," a woman at one of the monitors, a Force user that had stepped in for the dead service officer, shouted. "Repairs will take time."

Cethgus growled as the communique was returned by the other ships, reporting similar damages. Bombardment would be impossible.

"May the Force be with us," he muttered, looking at the damaged monitor of the ground conflict. "We're going to need it."

As Cethgus stood shakily on the Instigator's brigde, he noticed that there were many injured people that needed help straight away. His body was weak from his injury, as blood continued to stain his robes, trickling down his arm, a few drops hitting the floor of the bridge. He was too busy with the state of the ship to worry about himself. Turning to his XO, who looked around slowly, stunned by what had just happened, he gave his orders.

"Get me medical teams up here straight away," Cethgus said to his Executive Officer.

Nodding, she obeyed his orders. Medical crews quickly set to getting people out of the way, though it was obvious that the ship had taken serious damage. Oxygen leaked out of holes in the ship where containment had been breached, and as the Prelate looked out the viewport shock came into his body, realising that his ship had taken quite a beating. He had to get it back into the cover of the fleet. At the moment the Instigator was a sitting target, which the Prelate would not allow.

"Move us back into line with the fleet!" His orders barked across the bridge, followed by another hacking cough.

Instantly men were getting to work bringing the ship to its wounded top speed, as turning with the damaged engines was taking time. They knew that it would be slow, but the Prelate didn’t expect it to be this slow, and it was all he could do to keep his temper in check as the ship shuddered back toward the line. As the bridge was cleared of wounded, it was apparent that they had lost a few men, but more were lost throughout the ship. The anger of the Prelate was obvious as he slammed his fist into his chair. Bloody marks were left. As he moved back to he middle of the bridge, he looked about to see the Instigator finally near safety once more.

"Commander, you should really..." As the Executive officer turned to face her commander she didn’t believe her eyes.

Cethgus felt his knees give out as time seemed to slow. He fell to the metal deck, looking down to see his robes stained crimson by his own blood. Letting his fingers touch his robes, he looked at the blood on his hand. His body continued to give out as he heard the shouts of the medical teams approaching him, seeing boots running toward him from his blurred vision and hearing a few shouts as he fell unconscious, blackness taking him.

Jaecyn stood near the front of the AT-TE containing Vivackus Kavon and Kal Vorrac. His feet would be firmly placed in an almost at east stance behind the head pilot’s chair. His eyes would drift across the controls, relaying them in his head over and over again. His eyes would widen a bit as he saw the massive sea of droids spill over the crest of the hill, coming towards them.

“Commence Firing.” The voice of the spotter would echo through the communications network setup for the AT-TE, sending the signal to the 5 gunners manning the Anti-Personnel laser cannons that the All Terrain Tactical Enforcer was equipped with. The blue lights streaked forward from the 4 forward cannons, suppressed only by the ear shattering loudness of the Mass-Drive Cannon above.

Almost immediately the front lines of the Droid wave were cut down in a line of explosions, the Mass Drive Cannon taking out an group of B2’s near the crest of the hill. Jaecyn smiled with victory as he saw so many get destroyed, though the opening volley was returned almost 2 fold. Rockets and Red lasers traced through the closing gap between the AT-TE’s, AT-ST’s and AT-RT’s. Several of the AT-RT’s pilots were dismounted immediately, most of their body unrecognizable after they were hit 20 or so times before they hit the ground.

Jaecyn felt the AT-TE rock a bit as it received its volley from the forces. Its armor was holding up fairly well against the droids. Though it only needed to hold out long enough for them to get to the center or close to it. He saw that the lower left hand turret wasn’t firing anymore, moving from the cockpit he circled around to the spherical firing platform that was one of the Anti-Personnel laser cannons. The pilot had been hit by a single blaster bolt through the head, a clear view of where the bolt had gone through the plating. He pulled the dead soldier out of the chair and assumed his place, placing his hands moving onto the side-stick firing controls and locking onto the closest array of battle droids, the line dropping almost instantly. He continued his firing, being lucky enough not suffer the same fate as his fellow soldier, who now lay dead on the floor.

He looked to his left and saw the other AT-TE’s in line with them, a constant strain of red and blue tracing between them. They were pressing forth though, even though he saw the first of the AT-TE’s burst into flames and explode. He concentrated on firing after seeing that, as they were closing in on cresting the hilltop and descending into the valley.

Kal looked over to see Jaecyn take the seat of the turret, a grin spreading across his pale face. The young man's drive was impressive, his eagerness to succeed more than welcome. More than anything, though, it seemed he was reaching for Viv's approval. Vivackus was stretched in his duties as Quaestor in Wartime and his duties as the boy's Master, and so the young one probably felt neglected. It was something Kal could use. Even so, Vivackus had shown considerable skill in hiding the boy from his own Master, and for that Vorrac applauded him. As the Tactical Enforcer took even more hits, the hilltop was approaching, their goal nearby. The machine's legs were unsteady as it marched forward, the huge pistons crushing droids beneath it as it gunned its way forward.

"Master," he heard to his right, seeing Mograine's worried face. "There are so many. How can we win?"

Kal smirked, a display of false confidence as the same question punched through his mind. "It's simple... we just have to take out that control node. It'll likely shut down all of the droids here."

Vivackus looked over at Kal, his blue eyes flashing faintly as Vorrac spoke. He knew as well as Kal did that they'd be hard-pressed to reach the control node, even without the Jedi within screaming that they were there. The young Quaestor closed his eyes for a moment, lost in thought. Looking at the droids, he felt the same doubts as his peers within the walker before he voiced his concerns.

"Kal," he said, avoiding the word Master around Jaecyn and Mograine, "What do you make of them?"

Kal understood the question without asking. "By the response times of these droids, the Jedi are using a Force Meld, or a similar joining, to boost their sensory abilities."

Viv nodded, though Kal could feel the stress on him, and the irritation he felt at needing Kal there. While the others in the AT-TE had their talents, Kavon being a skillful leader, Kal had the strongest mental capabilities of any of them. He didn't often admit it, but sometimes Kal's insight was all that helped Viv through the day. The Aedile was content with remaining off the record, but even so, he wished his Apprentice would take less of an aggressive stance toward him. Viv's ascension was in both of their best interests, and the board's pieces would have to shift considerably before that changed. The Warrior's line of thought was interrupted as the AT-TE reached the top of the hill and a rocket from a Hailfire droid glanced off of its right forward leg, crippling the machine and sending it sliding a few feet into the bowl-like canyon.

"Time to go," Kal shouted, picking himself up off of the ground along with the others.

Mograine was quickest to his feet, the hilt of his lightsaber coming to his hand in a fluid, practiced motion. The young one had been given suitable credit for his actions at Operation Spider and Operation Cold Stone that followed, and his bravery was rewarded and his skill recognized before this day by his promotion by Braecen to Jedi Hunter. After the death of the Falleen and with the Jedi before them, it seemed more appropriate than ever. They really would hunt Jedi this day. Kal and Viv were on their feet one after the other, shortly before they looked to Jaecyn. The youth continued to fight from the turret until Viv shouted to him, running to help him by deflecting blaster shots. The Guardian, appointed so after a similar promotion to Mograine's for saving both Quaestor and Aedile, soon joined the group and the four of them gathered, sabers coming to life as they rushed into the sea of droids.

A rolling droideka was cut in half before it could deploy by the quick Warrior, whose back was covered by the Knight behind him. The Hunter and Guardian soon worked together, their blades carving a path through the masses of B2s as the two more-experienced Sith stopped droidekas from unfolding. Soon, a ring of emptiness surrounded them, littered with droid bodies. They regrouped, the older of the pair slicing an elegant path before them while the two younger ones kept their backs covered. Their blades worked rapidly, Kal impaling a droid through the chest before cutting another two down, more leaping into their paths as Viv's blade took off their arms, swinging to bisect another few. Jaecyn and Mograine made sure none closed in behind, a stab from Mograine joined by a slash from Jaecyn, their weapons deflecting bolts that flew their way. As they again cleared the nearby group of droids only to see an approaching Hailfire droid, Kal smirked and spoke in a cold tone.

"We'll be at this all day," he said, just as more B2s ran forward to overwhelm the four.

The young Jedi Hunter drove his emerald blade through yet another B2 Super battle droid, barely holding the infinite horde of metal clankers off the group’s tail. Beside him, the even younger, Jaecyn Kai Interm, dodged a scorching flurry of red laser, and then leapt forward to decapitating the droid in front of him. Both of the journeymen had a tough time holding the droids back, but they did well enough, or so they though at least, since they were all still alive. Barely two meters behind the journeymen, the plagueian Quaestor and Aedile swung their crimson blades viciously through the masses of droids, throwing the head or limbless droid remains out of their way with the force in the process.

Now, about fifty meters behind them, the forces of the 1st Battalion’s 12th Armor had clashed together with the enemy forces, but as if hit by an unstoppable force, the forces of the Iron Throne suffered for each meter they advanced forward. In order to give the armored walkers time to unload their troops, the AT-RTs and AT-STs ran past their larger ‘brethren’ and gave support fire. As the troops jumped out from the AT-TEs and rappelled out from the AT-ATs, the lines of light walkers, which had given cover fire, were thinned out dramatically. The Iron Throne troops ran forward, engaging the droids, using the destroyed AT-RTs and AT-STs as cover, as well as the abandoned AT-TE from Vivackus’s group.

“Master, Alaris and his forces have engaged the droids, but they are—“ was all Mograine got to say before sensing an imminent danger, then ducked as a blaster bolt sizzled an inch from his head. At the same moment, he heard the voice of Vivackus Kavon yell "Sniper!” before another red bolt come flying, this time directed at the Guardian.

Jaecyn managed to avoid the bolt even faster than Mograine did, obviously because he had a more agile build than his ‘Hunter’ brother. Immediately after the shot had fell, the two of them were back at their feet, deflecting blaster fire and slicing droids in half again. They were both getting tired and exhausted, feeling the sweat trickle down their forehead. At their Masters’ front, Kal now stood alone, battering away the flechette projectiles from a group of modified B2s, who had replaced their ordinary blaster cannon with a flechette launcher. Vivackus, had positioned himself behind the crimson wall, as Kal could be described as, while calling the closest AT-AT.

“Armored Walker 1, do you copy? This is Quaestor Vivackus Kavon, requesting immediately support! Repeat, this is Quaestor Vivackus Kavon, requesting immediately support!” the Dark Jedi Knight yelled into his comlink. “Quaestor, this is Armored Walker 1, what do you need?” came a static voice of the AT-AT commander. “We’re under heavy sniper fire, target should be positioned around the area: delta-three-two-two-one, and if you could clear out some enemies around us, it would be much appreciated!” Vivackus said with a commanding tone in his voice. A couple of seconds later, a pair of red streaks shot out from the AT-AT’s MS-1 heavy cannons and landed in a fortified foxhole close to the bunker, a couple of hundred meters in front of them, blowing away the entire foxhole. Then a barrage came of repeating blaster fire from the AT-AT’s smaller cannons, creating a protective ring of fire around the Quaestor’s group.

When the smoke from the burning droids was about to clear, a single canister shot through the smoke and detonated approximately ten meters from the group, releasing a number of razor sharp flechettes. Most of the projectiles missed, but about half a dozen, hit the Sith Warrior’s upper body. Vivackus, Mograine and Jaecyn watched their friend in horror, as he slowly turned around facing them, having metal darts sticking out from his chest and arms.

TIE Interceptor Squadron (Red Squadron)
Skies over objective.
Operation: Gundark

His brow furrowed in consternation as his squadron emerged from the cloud cover over the mission objective, explosions blossomed as the armour attachments to the Plagueian forces engaged the droids defending the control node. Fiddling with his controls to tighten up the aim on his laser cannons as the com-link came alive with the sounds of his squadron leader’s voice. “Red squadron we are clear to engage, lets clear the skies.”

Various voices replied in assent, their call signs filtering over the speakers in Sanguinius’ helmet, calling out his own call sign of “Red Two.” the Guardian muttered a quick prayer to the force as the Interceptors screamed into their next battle. His thoughts of the narrow escape he had during Operation Spider still fresh on his mind, he owed Red Eight and Red Leader a drink for that, the two veterans had saved his life in the skies that day.

Laser fire and Anti-Aircraft missiles shot up into the sky from Hellfire tanks as the Vulture droids patrolling the Control Node swept up into the sky, their laser cannons flashing death at the Interceptors. The fighters dipped and weaved amongst one another in an elegant dance around the sky, bright flashes of red and green lasers punctuated the clouds as fighters began to fall. A pair of Vulture Droids exploded by concentrated laser fire from a flight wing of 3 Interceptors as the training of the airmen took it’s toll upon the droids.

Hearing his flight leader’s voice over the com-link telling his pair of wingmen to tighten up as a Bomber wing headed towards the structure housing the Control Node. ”Lets give some air cover to the bombers Red Two and Eight.”

Weskins’ and Sanguinius’ voices crackled over the speakers with a ”Roger, heading to point .492 degrees.” The trio of fighters swooped up over cannon fire, miniature explosions peppering the sky as the A.A. Fire continued. Red Squadron weren’t the only fighters in the sky who had noticed the arrival of the TIE Bombers as several Vulture Droids retargeted the bigger threat to their programmed orders.

The calls of the bomber pilots fell upon the ears of Red Squadron who raced to their salvation, splashing 4 Vulture Droids in the process, Sang swore as his fire seemed to stop in mid-burst. Checking the computer banks it told him that the laser cannons were beginning to overheat due to their overuse, the computer estimated a cool down period of 30 seconds, which in aerial combat meant the difference between life and death. Targeting lock alarms screamed out as a Tri-fighter shot past Red Two, causing Sang to spin his fighter wildly to evade the torpedoes. ”RED LEADER, WE’VE GOT A NEW KIND OF DROID HERE.” The guardian shouted over the comm.

Acknowledgement of this new encounter reached his ears just as the bombers started their bombing run, hoping to clear a path for the attacking forces.

Jaecyn’s eyes had lingered on the momentarily frozen form of Kal Vorrac for only a moment too long, him being ripped back into the battle as a blaster bolt grazed his upper right shoulder , which was then followed by another contacting his lower left thigh. Jaecyn bared his teeth, stumbling for a moment and bringing his lightsaber up to deflect the incoming bolts from the droid that had shot him back into it. The sea of droids had only been halted momentarily, their counterparts moving over their dead brethren, their blasters firing.

Jaecyn continued deflecting blaster bolts, catching a glimpse of Mograine’s face he realized it was still frozen on Kal’s injured form. He quickly screamed his name, “MOGRAINE SNAP OUT OF IT!” He twirled his blade once, then twice, the red blade of his armory lightsaber still deflecting the incoming blaster fire but he could not hold off the quickly re-gathering force by himself for much longer. He felt another bolt sing into his arm, his teeth clenching as he tried not to think of the pain, though it was becoming increasingly difficult. Mograine soon joined in the defense while Vivackus moved to Kal in an attempt to help him as the wounds weren’t fatal.

The Sith Warrior didn’t appear to be in the best shape, though Kal was a lot tougher then he appeared as well. Vivackus had begun ripping out the shrapnel, Kal clenching his teeth but showing no emotions otherwise, almost seeming irritated that his former apprentice was doing this. Jaecyn caught a glimpse of Mograine getting hit in the leg, then he heard Vivackus’s voice blare out over the battle. “The Bunker isn’t far, if we make a run for it we might make it!” his voice roared. Jaecyn turned and made his way towards them. Vivackus was helping Kal walk, his arm around his shoulders, while Mograine and Jaecyn took up flanking positions to protect and work their way through the wave of droids.

Jaecyn and Mograine took another blaster bolt to their bodies, them wearing down quickly. They weren’t far off from the base but they weren’t going to last long due to the amount of fire power coming in. Just when they seemed as though they were going to be overwhelmed the AT-AT behind them that was providing support fired a volley that lined them up with a path directly into the Bunker access way. Jaecyn and Viv both took Kal and ran while Mograine provided protective support from behind them. Once in the access way they had a relatively safe moment to breath.

Jaecyn moved up against the wall, his eyes glazed over from the pain of the singed blaster bolt wounds. His robes were torn up pretty badly, as were most of the others. He quickly pressed the release lock for the door, though it did not open. In anger he drove his lightsaber through the controls, it shooting open and letting them into an airlock chamber that gave them precious moments to collect their thoughts and heal.

Vivackus was momentarily in awe of the waves of droids washing around them. TIE Bombers unloaded their payloads and downed fighters crashed below, but in terms of making a dent in the droid forces, such measures were like throwing rocks into the sea to stop the tide from coming in. Somewhere out there, other members of Clan Plagueis were fighting against the unending hoard to the bunker as well. They had better hurry; there were obviously multiple Jedi nearby.

Above, fighters engaged in dogfights with the swarming Vulture droids, most of them too preoccupied with their own survival to help the soldiers on the ground. In his comm-link the competing chatter from various sources canceled each other out to form what amounted to white noise. Vivackus turned it off.

"Jaecyn, Mograine, are you two all right?" Viv asked.

"Great, Master." Jaecyn replied, though his face told a different story, if his gritted teeth and squinting eyes were any indication.

The Knight's eyes fell to Kal, his injury by far the most serious. "Kal, you better not die."

"Why is that?" Kal responded, his voice notably devoid of his usual quiet confidence.

"Because then I will not have the pleasure of killing you." Vivackus said, grinning weakly. Kal's eyes cut through him before he could look away. The Quaestor closed his eyes and breathed deeply. In truth, at that moment, killing Kal was the last thing on his mind; his former master's injury suddenly caused him to question his own resolve. He pushed these things from his mind. The only thing that mattered was taking the bunker... all else would have to wait.

Outside, Vivackus could see several lightsabers cutting through the masses of droids, closing on their current position. "I'll take the lead and Kal, cover the rear until we get backup." Gripping what was left of his left sleeve, Vivackus ripped it sharply, allowing the tattered cloth to drop to the floor. The look in his eye was so intense that it was dull, having forced everything from his consciousness but the objective.

Kal spoke into his own comm-link, his voice straining slightly to remain level. "We've breached the bunker."

The low hum of the LAAT/i's engine was vaguely soothing, Denath thought to himself as he recalled the events of that morning. Intelligence had identified a major target north of the communications dome, a droid control bunker, and the briefing had centered around its capture and destruction. It was Kal Vorrac who had come up with their eventual plan – hit the armies outside of the bunker with what they had, to cause a big enough distraction for two groups of Dark Jedi to fight their way inside. It was a gamble, certainly; the heavy walkers and all of the Eighth Fleet soldiers would be tied up keeping the droids busy, and there would still be a sizeable army of droids to wade through. A bump in the ride broke Denath's concentration. “We're approaching the combat zone,” their pilot announced.

The boy stood to attention, loosening his lightsaber. As fun as it had been to wield a pair of the weapons earlier, he hoped he wouldn't have to again. In his previous life time around the Great Sith War, he had mastered the arts of Jar'kai and Juyo. It inspired him to pursue a martial training regime, hoping to one day master Lord Exar Kun's fascinating invention, the double-bladed lightsaber. That was, however, some time away and he cursed this weakling form yet again for its lack of size and strength. He stared at the sides of the LAAT, waiting for them to open as the LAAT began to rock back and forth, dodging and swerving its way towards a suitable drop off point.

Koga flinched a little as the swerving LAAT shifted his weight sharply from one leg to the other. He had been given as much bacta as was safely possible, and had spent a lot of the night calling on the Force to strengthen him. He felt as if he could take on the army of droids by himself, the familiar pride of the Dark Side coursing through his mind and fortifying him for the battle to come. In a war like this, there was no room for doubt...
“This Operation is going to be bigger than the last one, and that almost killed us. You shouldn't be going,” Kara snapped at Koga. He was so stubborn sometimes. Granted, he was walking pretty well today, a testament to the skill of the doctors here, but she knew the damage was worse than he was letting on. Still, she knew the idea of not being involved in the battle was eating away at him. She could sympathise with that. She had spent the entire night in the field hospital, and being stuck with the injured had gnawed away at her as she imagined the faces of her Clanmates on the surrounding patients. She hated this war.
“I'll be back before you know it,” Koga replied as he turned to leave, hiding his limp inside a steady march.
“Just be careful,” she whispered as he left the building.

“This is it,” Denath shouted as the side doors of the LAAT/i gunship slowly opened, revealing the chaos outside. “We push out as a group. Stay together, eliminate the droids you can, but remember that our focus is on survival. Deflect blaster fire, dodge droidekas and shoot down any B2 with a strange arm.” The boy activated his yellow blade, and the rest of the Plagueian Dark Jedi followed suit as the LAAT/i hovered above the ground. “Rely on bomber and AT-AT support to clear our path behind Vivackus' group. With a little luck, we should be there in no time.”

Outside, Vivackus could see several lightsabers cutting through the masses of droids, closing on their current position. Kal spoke into his comm-link as Denath stepped to the side of the airlock door, his voice straining slightly to remain level. “We've breached the bunker.” The boy bounced a few stray bolts away as his group of Dark Jedi marched inside, finally following Eludajae into the airlock. He concentrated on the Force, tearing the airlock door closed. With the controls broken, it would hopefully take any pursuing droids some time to break through. Denath looked over the group before him, surveying the gathered injuries. Some were quite moderate, but others would be fine. The boy removed his own field bacta injector from his belt and handed it to Kal, hoping that it would help. When this war was over, Denath was going to spend a week in the nearest cantina; he imagined he would have company.
“This whole engagement rests on the effectiveness of this strike,” Denath announced. “We should split up to cover more ground. Some should keep an eye on this point in case the droids manage to blast that door open. Some should go through the door on that side of the room, and some through the other. According to intelligence, this bunker is modeled from a fairly straight-forward prefab, so we should all meet up eventually. Lets show these Lightsiders how to win a war!”

“A sound plan,” Impetus said serenely as she looked over the group, a varied bunch of Dark Jedi that seemed to have been present on a ‘whoever happened to be there at the time’ basis. She was grateful that she had ended up in the same place as Eludajae, whip she nestled in the arms of in amongst the group huddled together in the entrance. Dark Jedi of all ranks and statures stood in the bunker, mentally preparing themselves for the battle ahead. Soft whispers filled the room as the group organised themselves into their three groups, Attack Group One, Attack Group Two, and the Exit Guard keeping an eye on the airlock.

Impetus turned to Eludajae. “Where do you want to go, Mistress?” she asked, her aura of peace flowed around the room like the silky smooth, melodious tone of her voice. It was like she was in a temple or a library, anywhere except the battlefield of the bloody war of man against machine, Dark against Light.

“Let’s stay behind, Pet,” Eludajae smiled, even in a time of war Impetus wouldn’t hesitate to ask her what she wanted to do. “We’ll have some time to prepare, and when the fighting comes we’ll have our fair share of action.”

“Sounds good to me, Mistress,” Impetus said before looking back over to the rest of the group, who had already efficiently separated themselves into two groups of similar strength. Yzarc, Ralph, Anubis and Denath had formed Group One, with Jaysun, Koga, Mograine, Jaecen, Vivackus and Kal making up the other. Impetus and Eludajae were alone keeping an eye on the airlock, but as it seemed that they would be far from any hostile Light Jedi it seemed appropriate their group would be smaller than the rest.

“Everyone ready?” Denath asked above the group, taking command of the mission again. The plan was relatively simple, there was no need to overcomplicate it with a meticulous plan that would inevitably be forgotten in the heat of battle. “Let’s move out, and crush these Lightsiders with the power of the Dark Side!”

As Impetus and Eludajae took their places at the airlock and Denath's group rushed off down one hall, Group Two took off down another. The initial hall was fairly straightforward, with Kal reaching out to crush a security camera in the grip of the Dark Side while the Force reached from the palm of Jaysun to suck the energy from a door lock with a series of crackles and pops. The door shot open, mere moments of recognition passing before the droids behind here ready, Magnaguards twirling their staves in readiness as a flurry of blaster bolts fired from the B2s behind them.

Koga Kage and Vivackus Kavon showed equal determination as they stepped forward, the Dark Side possessing each of them as their blades spun. The yellow weapon of Koga made an interesting contrast to the crimson weapon wielded by Viv, bolt after bolt bouncing from their weapons. Mograine and the somewhat-wounded Jaecyn stepped forward to do the same, another fiery lance of bloody light joining the wall as Mograine's emerald beam of death burst forth. The four blades moved in an almost coordinated pattern, the younger Sith taking direction from the older Dark Jedi as their weapons formed a wall of thrumming fury. B2s fell from deflected impacts as Magnaguards either dodged the blasts, shrugged off minor hits, or took them to joints or power cells. The majority kept on clanking over their fallen allies, their glowing red eyes making the visage a fearful thing to witness.

As the IG droids stepped near to striking range, they were surprised as the forms of Kal Vorrac and Jaysun Adumarii seemed to flow in between those before them. Vorrac and Jaysun showed their skill in their seamless movement, Kal moving between the Apprentices he knew so well, his wounds lessened by the bacta injector for a time. Their weapons flowed like water along the rapids, smooth and determined yet ferocious all the same. The vicious scarlet of Kal's weapon clashed against that of a Magnaguard as Jaysun's powdery blue lightsaber whipped across to bisect the wounded machine before the pair took the next, Jaysun battling at its staff as Kal cut its leg pistons, the sapphire weapon of Adumarii taking its head and piercing its proverbial heart. The third Magnaguard in the line had only a few moments to block the blades of the vicious duo before a pair of Sith and Obelisk blades found its chest, each ripping through it in a different direction to tear the droid apart.

The assault continued for a few moments, the group moving down the hall in this fashion, one moment deflecting a blaster bolt as the next was taken batting back a Magnaguard that soon found its doom at the hands of the two Equites. It was the image of how Sarin wanted the Brotherhood, of how it could have been. Dark Jedi of all ranks, working in unison. The image was ruined as reinforcement droids poured up the ramps, a blaster bolt grazing the ear of Jaecyn as one that would have burned through his eye was batted back by Mograine. More than once, the wounded muscles of Vorrac failed to block a Magnaguard's staff, the electric weight crackling painfully across his back before the other Equite rescued him. The entire group took hits here or there, until the tide of Magnaguards finally circled in all around them and the real bladework began.

"Hold your ground!" Jaysun shouted, his icy weapon carving into a Magnaguard with Shii-Cho practicality as two more came to face him.

"Give them nothing!" Kal shouted afterward, his body screaming in pain as some of the puncture wounds tore open, trails of blood trickling from the maddened, golden-eyed Sith.

One thought perforated the mind of Koga Kage as the battle intensified, his blade doing all it could and himself falling in beside Vivackus' crimson Makashi grace for support. The thought of Kara, the girl he'd left on the dropship, kept him going. The thought of losing her was joined by visions of trauma as the stress built up, his fellows taking hits even as they viciously teamed up on droids, giving them no quarter. He saw the blood that flew in droplets from Kal's wounds as his parents' blood, heard the yelp as one of the younger members took a light hit and heard a noise like that from a friend. It built up on him, enraging him until his mind clouded and he lost control. Koga Kage went mad.

"Koga!" Kavon shouted angrily as the man broke rank, rushing under a Magnaguard to attack a pair of B2s, "Get your karking hide back here!"

Koga swept into the droids, dodging a wrist rocket instinctively as he took out their legs, his blade coming to impale another before swinging up into a third, the ovoid hide splitting along its middle as the metal contraption fell to burnt bits. His rage knew no bounds as another pair of the defenseless ranged weapons fell beneath his blade, turning to take the elbow joint of a Magnaguard before others closed on him, calculating easy prey. His blade went mad, causing slices across two while depressurizing the leg of another with a sliced hydraulic piston before the electrostaves came down, beating viciously at him. The others struggled to get closer, though they were without hope, the end of a staff coming down. The machine was eager to spill the brains of an Obelisk, before a commanding voice rang out and its weapon stopped in mid-air, held by an unknown force.

"Stop!" The voice of the middle-aged female Zabrak was forceful yet calm as she walked forward, releasing the Force on the Magnaguard's weapon. Kneeling, she looked at the battered form of Kage, taking his lightsaber and clipping it to her belt. "I feel your pain, young one," she said, reaching a hand out as the Force released calming waves over Koga, cooling his mind, "And your love for her. You can be saved."

Koga was conscious for a few moments as he saw the hulking form of a Cathar, a long silvery hilt in his hand. "Master Soth," his deep voice intoned, "Are these the ones?"

"The three Sith that killed her, Drathen," she nodded, the hilt of the Cathar spinning in his monstrous hand as two blue ends shot from its ends with a snap-hiss, "Pure evil. Cleanse them." Looking to the Magnaguards, she commanded, "Bring this one with me, to the escape tunnel. We will not risk his salvation on the outcome of this fight." Koga only got to see the forms of two IG-100s roughly grab his sore arms before a sharp impact hit his head and his vision faded slowly into murky blackness.


((OOC: i wanna apolagise for holding this up so long but i wanna thank Kal for the kick ass Post. this is ALL him. thanks man))

Denath watched with some satisfaction as he cut down the last of the droids. "That was a little easy," he said over his shoulder as he poked his head around the next corner.
"Maybe we should have gone the other way," Yzarc replied. "I thought this bunker would be well defended, but this has been almost sad."
"I think I know why," Denath groaned. The Quaestor of House Exar Kun looked around the corner as well. It was a dead end. "I think they made a few changes to the prefab." The four Plagueians turned around in disgust and began retracing their steps down the darkened corridor.

Impetus raised her lightsaber, the purple blade deflecting a stray shot. While collapsing the doorway had certainly bought time, such a commodity was running out. "Why did we agree to stay back here, Mistress?" she grumbled as some more of the rubble fell away.
"I thought that since they spent so much time watching our behinds, we'd return the favour." Eludajae's own lightsaber glowered vehemently. A sudden explosion rocked the room, shaking some more of the rubble loose. The twi'lek glanced once more at her mistress as they waited for the rocket that would finally hit its target. They didn't have to wait long, and the remaining rubble was blasted away, to crash against a wall of Force raised by the two women. They held it in place for just a moment as a small group of droids stepped into the gaping hole, then threw the rubble at them with as much strength as they could muster. They quickly dashed to either side of the breach, to flank the next group of droids. A mix of B1s and B2s rushed inside, and the M'Nars dived into the fight, carving half the group apart before they realised where the attack had come from. As they whirled around, one of the doors to the airlock chamber slipped open, and Yzarc's group came running in, lightsabers blazing hungrily at the short-lived promise of battle.
"So this is where they are," Ralph quipped as he slashed apart the last droid.
"When they realise this airlock has been breached, they're going to flood in," Yzarc warned. "We'd better catch up to the others. Denath, collapse both of the corridors." As the Pontifex began concentrating, a small smirk slid across his face.
"How many detonation packs did we bring to sabotage this place with?" the boy asked. The smirk spread around the group. "Think we have a spare or two?"

Skies above Control Node
Operation Gundark
Red Squadron

Red Seven screamed out over the com-link in pain as flames engulfed his cockpit, splitting the Interceptor apart. Another fighter exploded in flames, the pilot’s death cries filtering out over the com-link. The Droid Tri-Fighters were all over them. Concussion missiles had taken out over half the squadron, leaving just Red Leader, Two, Eight and Eleven left alive.

Sanguinius threw his yoke into a desperate right movement, his fighter responding perfectly to his touch as it curved sharply out of the firing lines of the droids. Red Eight was still with him as he called out frantically over the com-link. “Red Leader, come in Red Leader, we’re getting killed out here. Where the hell are our reinforcements?” Red laser fire flashed past the Guardian’s cockpit as Vulture droids gave chase, the Plagueian jinked and weaved, relying on the force to keep him out of harm’s way.

Red Leader’s voice tried to compete with static as he replied to the rookie. “We…tsssst….got fri..tsssssssst….incoming….tssst.” Green laser fire flashed from the squadron leader’s fighter as it chased after a Droid Tri-Fighter, clipping it with his fire, causing smoke to billow from the fighter. “Waa-hoo!” Sang whooped as he saw the veteran pilot continue to pour fire into the armoured speedy fighter, eventually exploding it in a gout of flame. The squadron leader had managed to stick with the starfighter the whole way, truly he was a brilliant pilot.

Weskins called out over the com-link, “Red Two break left, you’ve got two on your tail. Try and shake them.” Sang heeded his wingman’s words as he broke left, the G-Forces at this altitude almost overwhelmed the young man, he praised the technicians who had installed the inertial dampeners, they had saved him from blacking out and dying. Sweating inside his suit the young man caught a Vulture Droid in his sights, his thumbs slammed down on the trigger button, the laser cannons situated in his wings opened fire, the heavy lasers punched through the sky impacting on the droid, exploding it in a wave of fire and shrapnel, which peppered the Interceptor as it flew past the rapidly falling piece of junk. Sang smiled under his helmet, that was 4 kills in total now over these two missions. One more and he would be an ace.

The Journeyman was dragged from his daydreaming as Red Eight screamed over the com-link, ”Red Two, where the hell are you? I’m needing your help here to get these fething droids off my back.”

Sang quickly cut the forward engine as he cut backwards behind the droids, the forms of Red Eight and Three Vulture Droids shot past him as the Plagueian completed this manoeuvre, restarting the forward momentum, Red Two fired his laser cannons at one of the Droids as it came into his firing lock, Green beams of light collided with the metallic body of the droid, the lasers cutting through its armour into the wiring underneath, causing the droid to short out. The Vulture droid exploded from the inside-out, a gout of white superheated flame peppered the air as Weskins continued to jink and weave through the fire from the two remaining droids. Lasers gouged shallow grooves in Red Eight’s wings as the pilot’s skill managed to keep the laser fire from doing serious harm. ”What the hell are you doing out there?” Weskins shouted over the com-link.

”I’m doing the best I can Weskins, just be patient, I’ve almost got the shot.” Another droid exploded under his concentrated fire, Crying out with glee Sang celebrated in his head. He was an Ace, that would be something to laugh and joke about when Red Squadron returned to base. ”Just one more Red Eight.”

A proton torpedo shot from the Vulture droid towards Red Eight, the close range and speed of the missile meant that Red Eight had no chance of evasion. The torpedo impacted with the Interceptor, blowing it apart in a massive fireball. ”ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!” Weskin’s death cry was the last thing Red Two heard from his friend. ”NOOOO” Sang cried out as Red Eight died, tears gathered at the corner of his eyes as the fireball slammed into the ground, crushing droids underneath it.

The Dark Jedi’s rage caught up with him as he gunned his Interceptor forward, accelerating to pass the Vulture Droid, his heavy laser cannons flashing death at the droid. His lasers found their target and blew the killer from the skies. The Droid Tri-Fighters had regrouped and were now bearing down on the last three remaining members of Red Squadron, the flight wing of TIE Bombers had long since departed, their payloads spent upon the vast horde of droids. Red Two, Eleven and Red Leader formed up into a standard three man Fighter Wing, ”Here we go boys, lets give them hell.” Red Leader called out over the com-link.

”Roger that Red Leader.” Red Eleven replied.

”I’m going to kill these fething bastards.” Red Two replied.

The three remaining TIE Interceptors of Red Squadron faced off against four Droid Tri-Fighters and a Squadron’s worth of Vulture Droids, all three pilots knew their fate was to die today in the skies, but each one was determined to make the cost of his life dear. ”Lets do this boys!” Red Leader swung his fighter up towards the oncoming Droid Tri-Fighters, Red Two and Eleven followed closely behind him, their laser cannons filling the air with fiery death.

A Tri-Fighter exploded in a ball of flame as laser fire came in from behind it, twelve small black specks zoomed towards the dogfight, they rapidly expanded in size as they grew closer. A voice came over the com-link, ”Here’s your reinforcements Red Squadron, let’s scrap some clankers.”


Sanguinius was elated by his narrow escape from death as the droid fighters rapidly spun out of their attack runs, they were trying to escape and regain the advantage. Red Squadron and the newly arrived Gold Squadron had no intention of letting that happen.

”Sound off Gold Squadron.” The squadron leader’s voice filtered over the com-link.

”Gold Seven standing by.”

”Gold Three standing by.”

Then Octavia chirped up with her own call sign. ”Gold Six reporting in.” Her fingers flying over the control panel as she checked the targeting vectors. This was her first atmospheric combat mission, Gold Squadron had been running escort duty for the capital ships. Released for reinforcements for Operation Gundark, the squadron of twelve TIE Interceptors screamed through the thin wavy clouds. The rest of Gold Squadron continued to call out their call signs.

The Guardian was thankful that she had tied her hair back within her helmet, the sealed suit had heated up her body, causing beads of sweat to collect on her forehead, the last thing the Kunian needed was her sight getting interfered with. The targeting computer screamed out that it had a lock, the alarm blaring as the woman’s thumbs put pressure on the trigger button, heavy cannon fire erupted from her wings, the rest of Gold Squadron opened fire as one, green lasers impacting amongst the scattering droids. A call of thanks came over the com-link as the remainder of Red Squadron linked up with the reinforcing fighters.

Exhilaration filled the Guardian after she realized what she had just help do; however, she could feel they weren’t done yet. Tiny hands dancing over the control panel, she could feel through the Force things weren’t right, and the sinking feeling welling up in her chest didn’t help. Sighing the young Guardian chirped over the com-link to her flight wing. “Gentlemen, I hate to ruin the party, but this isn’t over yet-” Octavia stopped in mid sentence when her ship shook slightly with the passing of the red beams of light that barely missed her vessel. Turning her fighter around, she realized the droids had regrouped, and were coming straight for them.

Missiles and laser fire streaked through the air at the oncoming fighters as the droids targeted the newcomers to the fight. Their droid brains chirping to each other in binary code, the Tri-Fighters spinning as they poured fire into the Interceptors.

“Gold Five through Eight, take the left. Gold Nine through to Twelve take the right, and the rest of you boys down the middle with me” The Gold squadron leader’s voice filtered over the com link and was followed by a chorus of “Yes sir” as they fell into formation. Explosions blanketed the sky as missiles collided with their targets or each other as the human pilots jinked and weaved through the oncoming fire.

Red Squadron swung up to support Gold Squadron, the two groups of Interceptors catching the droids between them, as if they were the hammer and anvil, the jaws of death swung shut as several fighters became rapidly falling fireballs. Sanguinius and Octavia could feel several lives snuffed out in Gold Squadron in return for the heavy cannon fire smashing the Vultures from the sky.

Droid Control Node
West of Codei Prison
Objective: Gundark

Group 2: Vivackus, Kal, Jaysun, Jaecyn & Mograine

The group consisting of Vivackus, Kal, Jaysun, Jaecyn and Mograine had just been given a bare glimpse of Koga Kage, who ran through the crowd of droids. As they speeded up with hacking their way further into the bunker to, they used the flashing light of Koga’s lightsaber to know where to go. Suddenly the rampage of Koga Kage came to a sudden end, twenty meters in front of the group, behind a wall of battle droids.
“Damn it, he’s fallen… We got to reach him before any of the droids finish him off!” Vivackus yelled angrily, making the subordinate trio of journeymen: Mograine, Jaysun and Jaecyn, run forward in an even greater pace while slashing through the droid ranks.

At the same time, the Ketoan Aedile gracefully sliced his crimson blade through the legs of a B2 Super battle droid. The droid immediately fell backward, and while being in mid-air, Kal stepped atop of the falling droid and leapt forward, landing upon the shoulders of another B2. The surrounding droids noted the threat that now stood atop of one of their own and turned their blasters at Kal. The red barrages of laser came from all sides, directed at Vorrac, but before they hit, the Sith was already gone from the B2’s shoulders, running atop of the next couple of droids. As he ran, he swiftly swung his blade around to both sides, lobbing the heads off each single droid that was unlucky to stand in Kal’s path of destruction. After a quick sprint and a pair of leaps, the Sith Warrior finally arrived to the location where they had seen the Knight fall, but there was no Koga…

Jumping off the staggering B1 droid, the Aedile landed at an empty spot on the floor. It was Koga’s location or his previous known location at least. There were blood traces and a lightsaber hilt lying here, and if Kal was not wrong, it belonged to Koga. Quickly before scouting around for the missing Dark Jedi, the Aedile picked up the lightsaber hilt and clipped it to his belt. The scouting didn’t take long since there wasn’t anywhere else Koga could be than further into the bunker, and to Kal’s annoyance, he noticed a pair of Magna Guards dragging the unconscious body of the Dark Jedi Knight. What disturbed Kal was that the Magna Guards were lead by a female Zabrak, a Jedi, and due to the enormous presence of the light side in the force, Kal suspected the Zabrak to be a powerful Jedi.

Just as he was to pursue the enemies who had Koga, he sensed a disturbance in the force, a distinctive sensation of danger, danger from behind himself! Just as the Sith turned to activate his lightsaber and face the danger, a large furry hand shot forth and hit him dead-on in his face, sending him flying backwards, blood streaming from his nose and mouth. Before landing, he slammed through a pair of B1s, who was too busy to shoot at the three most inexperienced journeymen, and when finally hit the ground; he got hit in his back with some metallic object, most likely a body-part of a destroyed droid, leaving him in great pain. The Cathar stood still like a statue, looking at the wounded Kal with a tortured smile on his face, spinning his double-bladed lightsaber in his right hand.

A white hot line burnt down the middle of the B2 Super Battle Droid as Vivackus' red lightsaber sliced almost effortlessly from the top of its head and exiting between the robotic legs. The two halves fell in opposite directions and without a second thought, the Knight stepped into his newly manufactured void, looking over his shoulder as he did so. "Don't loose sight of that Zabrak!" Mograine gave a quick nod, and Jaysun continued to wade silently through the droid mass, which at last appeared to be thinning. Jaecyn however, gave Vivackus a concerned look, no doubt concerned for his master's safety against this new, formidable, adversary. The Quaestor's eyes narrowed, indicating to his apprentice that he was to follow orders. Grudgingly, he turned and left Vivackus' field of view.

The powerful growl of the Cathar rung out above the din. "Droids, cover Master Soth. I will take care of these two." Sweat dropped off the Knight's forehead and his muscles were beginning to burn from fatigue. The several remaining droids began to file out, while Kal rolled across the floor, narrowly avoiding a sweeping motion from the Cathar's blade. The Warrior managed to scramble to his knees, bringing up his lightsaber as the Cathar threatened to cleave him in two.

The Cathar was angry; could the pair of Sith use this against him? Kal's molten gold eyes gave an inhuman quality to his snarl as he began to buckle under the Cathar's superior strength. Vivackus broke the stalemate stabbing at the Cathar's side. Without missing a beat, the Jedi put his entire weight onto the clashing lightsabers, vaulting over Kal, his double-bladed saber spinning like a propeller to bat away Vivackus' jab. Landing on the other side of the Warrior, he delivered a swift kick to the small of his back, causing Kal to go sprawling.

Turning to Vivackus, the Cathar extended his left palm. Against his will, the Knight felt himself lifted from his feet and thrown back against the far wall near where Kal lay prone.

Vivackus winced and through squinted eyes caught the gaze of his Aedile. For an instant, Kal appeared to look through him, the glowing suns that were the Warrior's eyes seemed to show confusion.

"I told you not to die, Kal." Vivackus grunted as he felt the shadow of the large Cathar fall on him, and this seemed to snap Kal back to the present. The Knight felt himself lifted by an iron grip at his neck, the fur of the Cathar's palm doing little to dampen the force against Vivackus' throat. Vivackus felt claws bite into his skin dangerously close to his jugular. The Cathar pinned Vivackus against the wall, one arm at Vivackus' throat, the other immobilizing the Knight's lightsaber arm.

"You are the ones that killed Aelema, aren't you?" The Cathar growled as Vivackus felt his feet lifted from the floor, and his legs began flailing.

Vivackus tried to meet his gaze, as his face began to become flushed, and his lightsaber hilt slipped from his palm. "You're angry." He gasped. "Not a very... Jedi-like emotion. Feels good, doesn't it?" Swiftly, he gave the Cathar a kick between the legs.

The Jedi released him, doubling over and Vivackus fell to the ground. Vivackus had hoped to buy himself more time, but the Cathar shrugged it off more quickly than he anticipated. "That's it!" He roared. "I will end this!" The twin blue blades hissed into existence.

VSD Instigator

The medical droids buzzed and blundered on with their duties, each caring for many injured after the ship had been struck with the meteorite blast. One reached over a small body, gleaming as the burns on her back seemed to have changed drastically into scars. Cassandra pulled herself up, dazed at the number of injured within the medical bay as well as knowing that she must have missed out on the main event.

“Are...You alright Ma’am?” the droid spoke with its tone deaf voice.

Although she struggled to stand, the Jedi Hunter kept herself steady on her feet. Freeing her tongue from its silence, her words pushed past the medical droid.

“Im fine….What happened …Hang on…Master!”

Her voiced echoed over the restless noise, looking at a medical team crawl in with more injured one of which was Cethgus. Pushing passed everyone she help lift the Zabrak through the crowd, her hand resting upon his back not even realising the warm blood dripping down her skin. Feeling his pain and his cries pass through the force, Cassandra felt drained and knew this fight was not over.

The Instigator shuddered as the ship passed through the atmosphere, the damage it had sustained was still playing havoc with its core systems. The girl leaned on the side of the turbo-lift, waiting as it slowly shot up to the command deck. Cassandra dragged her feet along the metallic floor, looking around at the damaged consoles and at the manic spread throughout all officers. As she took her first step, her presence wasn’t welcomed but almost ignored.

“Ma’am fighter squadrons two and three are reporting heavy losses….No Communication has been made with Red squadron, The Baron is sending in cover fire to our precision, shields are now holding” The duty officer reported to Tzong.

She stared out into the darkness of space, watching the droid star-fighters tear through it shadows opening fire on anything that stood in their way. But then her eyes darted to the hull of the ship, smoke passed from its inner core damage and from the chunks that were ripped away when the meteorites had struck. Feeling left out from what had happened Cassandra watched as Catalina walked towards her with a limb.

“I’m sorry young one but this is no place for you… there is too much going for you to get in the way, go help with the medical emergencies” The Executive officer snapped at the Jedi Hunter.

Cassandra crossed her arms looking hopelessly at the older female, hoping for some recognition. Her lips parted as she slowly spoke, “Let me stay …I can help here as much as I can help anywhere else….Please for Cethgus?”

Tzong grunted knowing that deep down the girl would just be in the way; putting a hand on the journeyman’s shoulder she spoke much lighter.

“Fine…Just…be careful this time…and Cassandra…It’s nice to see you’re alright”

In enemy captivity


Koga awoke up in a strange room, his vision still blurred due from the strike to his head, but slowly, his sight recovered. Not that there was much to see. He was bound to a cold durasteel wall, a bright light illuminating only a bright cone; all else was dark.

"Wha..where am I. Who are you!?" Koga shouted out to the captors that he instinctively knew to be there, unseen.

"Worry not young one. I know your pain, but your love for her is your weakness, I can make it your strength." The voice hit Koga's ears. Stepping into view, the Elder female Zabrak appeared. The woman slowly walked over to Koga, who struggled against the bonds. The Knight reached out to the Force, but it felt distant, deaf to his calls. The Zabrak extended her hand for Koga's forehead. Squirming under the restraint he continued to resist until her skin met his.

Images of Koga's family flashed through his head as if it was playing on a projector; memories recalled against his will. Koga arched his back, clenching his teeth as this invisible nail was driven into his skull. The scene had been etched into his mind despite his attempts to forget, and now he was there again, as helpless now as he was that fateful day. He could hear his parents' screams, see their charred bodies, smell the burnt flesh. Standing above them was that lone Jedi, hooded face illuminated by the glow of his green lightsaber. But there was another figure. Had it always been there? The pain sharpened as he tried to recall, breaking the Knight's concentration. There must have always been two. Yes. The red glow of the second blade was as unmistakable as the primary assailant's purple one. But figure, flanked by two others, as she had always been, seemed a great deal more familiar than he had recalled it being. Another stab of pain. Her long, strawberry blond hair flowed in the wind. Koga gasped. Why had he not seen it before? Was it some trick? The cold realization gripped his chest, extinguishing any doubt. He had been deceived the whole time. They had tried to hide the truth, but at last his eyes were opened.

The Zabrak removed her hand. "It is done, his strength is now to our advantage." Koga stood and gazed off into the distance as if he could see through the walls. She waved her hand and the cuffs opened, dropping Koga onto all fours. He remained there for several seconds before rising slowly. A magnaguard walked into view, clanking loudly on the floor. "See him to the exit tunnel" She commanded, "and give him a speeder." The droid turned, and Koga followed.




Plagueis Base

Planetary Beachhead

Antei




Koga zipped through rocks and hills, and saw the fighting overhead the explosions erupting all around him. At the same time, the visions planted in his head continued to play out like a broken record. Must get revenge.. I must eliminate... the Brotherhood... Kill Kara... Koga thought, but with caution. as if he may still have some inch of consciousness left in him. The beachhead where the injured were being held - where we would find Kara - was coming into view. Koga stopped the bike and jumped off, igniting his saber while walking towards the downed LAAT shuttle where Kara was staying. A Journeyman saw him coming and ran to the Knight.

As the boy approached, Koga finally recognized him for what he was. He had been there. "Kage, you're back! We were worried abo-" Koga showed as little mercy as he had shown Koga's parents. A swift strike impaled the young man through the chest. The boy stared incredulously at the Knight before him as they slowly slumped to their knees, gasping out their last few breaths, the journeyman collapsed to the ground and lay still. Koga withdrew his lightsaber and gazed down at the corpse.

The sudden commotion attracted the attention of the other injured who started to scramble away from the Obelisk. A young woman hobbled towards Koga on crutches from out of the shuttle's doors, puzzlement upon her face as she faced Koga. "Koga, what happened? What did you do?" The sound of her voice raised Koga from his reverie over the boy and he turned his head to look at Kara, a look of fanaticism on his face caused Kara to take a step backwards. "Why are you looking at me like that for? What's wrong?" The Krath Knight reached out a hand towards the man standing before her.


Koga's hand smacked Kara's arm back as he shouted at her, his anger beginning to show through. "I can't believe you lied to me all these years. It was you all along!' The saber shifted slightly in his grip, preparing himself to strike down the young woman. Kara stumbled back from the show of force before her. "Wha..what are you talking about Koga? It's me..Kara..."

"YOU DID IT! IT WAS YOUR FAULT!" Koga yelled at the top of his lungs as his hand swept forwards, pushing Kara off her feet as she flew backwards through the air into the hull of the shuttle with a loud crunch as bones cracked under the pressure. A shrill cry of pain escaped her lips as the woman struggled to raise her head to look at the man she loved.


A young Protector who had been assigned to the medical outpost ran towards Kage with his crimson blade ignited. Calling out as he ran, "Die traitor!" The Obelisk simply sliced the journeyman's head off as they came into range of his lightsaber, his eyes alight with rage and the memory of his past.


Kara screamed as the head rolled into her from the protector, with great effort she dragged her body away from the shuttle and Koga, glancing back she saw Koga stalking after her. "Koga, what are you doing? Have you gone mad?!" The newly reborn Koga grinned as he reached the woman and bent down to grasp her by the neck, lifting her up off the ground to dangle limply in his grip. Staring up at her he spat out "Don't play dumb you [Expletive Deleted], I know it was you...I SAW YOU!" Throwing her aside, she slammed into a boulder and cracked her head against it. Kara bounced off the rock and lay still on the ground, blood trickling from her head to pool on the ground.

"This ends here bitch."

The smells of singed metal, ozone, and oily smoke pervaded the air thickly as the Warrior gazed around, his body and mind still in the thrall of the Dark Side. Metallic and booted feet moved all around him, the Jedi discernible by their fluid dances of death as the droids clanked onward. Raising his blurry gaze upward, Kal saw the Cathar grip his student by the throat. Vivackus retorted to what the Cathar said, following it with a boot to the groin. As the Cathar doubled over, Vivackus landed only to have the formidable Jedi before him stand and twirl its saber.

Good boy, the Warrior thought, piercing the hazed gloom of his mind. Anger the beast to force it off of a cliff.

His every muscle screamed in protest as he stood, the torn sections from the shrapnel reopened and now soaked through with blood and sweat. As he brought his branded right hand up to wipe the sweat that rolled down his brow, Kal was forced to face his age for the first time in years. The scars that were hidden across his body felt white-hot, old bone breaks feeling flimsy and sore as he stood. The last four and a half decades had never been kind to the Sith. Not since childhood, his career as an assassin, or the Dark Side and its embrace had he ever felt the calm life that most enjoyed. Now, his mind filled throughout with fury and pain, he seized on the darkness, the Dark Pride so prized by the Sith flowing through him as he bathed in the agony. Standing shakily, his wounds bleeding, the Warrior assumed a ready stance and spat his words at his Apprentice and the Jedi.

"Come, Kavon," he said, a sadistic grin on his face as the Force filled him with adrenaline and confidence that were not his own, "Let's reunite this pawn with his Falleen friend!"

A savage growl left the Cathar's lips as he turned, storming toward Vorrac, blades growling a steady thrum as if in eagerness for blood. The Dark Side could be felt in this one, pain and loss turned into a fury that threatened to consume the mind of the Lightsider. Kal anticipated the first blow, pain and weariness put aside as the Dark Pride filled him, his blade barely touching the weapon of the feline as he struck, just enough to redirect the momentum. The cat was quicker than he looked, though, spinning in complete disregard for the Magnaguard that fell aside as his weapon came. Six lightning strikes were barely held off by the Sith, who kept his twisted smile and laughed softly as the Cathar fought. The Force was beginning to fall from his grasp, the Pride beginning to falter and die within him, but he held the grin as best he could, striking with all of his ability to divert and block the weapons of his enemy. All his years of experience came into play, his mastery of Makashi and his speed coupling with the faint hints of Dun Moch in his technique.

"Come, beast!" He yelled at the monster from behind the smile that was becoming more and more a mask. "You disgust me! Your weakness puts shame to her memory!"

Kal spotted Vivackus deflecting blaster bolts here or there, cutting down a stray magnaguard that was headed for Jaysun. Time seemed to stop for a moment as what Vorrac was doing came to his mind, what his intent was for this moment in time. He had spent his life learning to kill, learning to pull the strings of the galaxy. That said, Kal Vorrac was a frequently-broken man, his age accelerated faintly by the wounds he'd taken over the years, his age already rather far ahead for one hoping to rule the Brotherhood. In this realization, he'd seen Vivackus, had taken the student beneath his wing. In Kavon he could see a new age, he could see the youth commanding legions against great foes. Lightning would pour from Viv's fingertips and millions would bow to his strength. All of Kal's wasted potential found its equal and its superior in Vivackus. The moment passed, and Kal saw the end in sight, tried to deflect a strike, feeling his first true loss in some time. His wounded left arm failed to divert the strike of the Cathar, the sapphire blade knocking away the crimson as its twin lanced up, cleaving the limb clean from the Warrior's body only inches below the shoulder. As Kal's knees buckled in pain, the feline span about, his attack sequence cutting both of his foes legs off just above the knee before the weapon came down for a killing stroke.

"Agh!" The shout of fury that tore from Vivackus shocked everyone in the room that heard it as he rushed at the Cathar, wordless and yet carrying the weight of murder like a cudgel as his infernal blade darted in, cutting the feline's weapon in half before finding its mark as it passed through the Jedi's stomach.

The Cathar had moments to snarl in pain before he fell to his knees, semi-cauterized innards spilling to the ground as a shout was heard from deeper within the bunker. Three Jedi rushed into the combat, the long-hilted weapon of a Mon Calamari meeting Jaysun's weapon as a slender Kiffar female leaped over the droids, two white blades leaping to life as she engaged Mograine and Jaecyn at the same time, her face determined rage. A human male darted in as his violet blade sprang to life, the dark skin of his face shrouded by long dreadlocks as he attacked Vivackus.

"This is over, Sith!" he shouted, though his confidence faded as loud booms rang out in the bunker and another voice joined the mayhem.

"I think not," Denath said, his yellow weapon leaping to life as his comrades joined him in a charge, the Pontifex lashing out with his palm to Shock a B2 to death before his blade met those of the Kiffar.

Denath took in his surroundings with a glance. Mograine, Jaysun and Jaecyn were arriving at Kal and Viv; where had they been? The first two Lightsiders engaged them, a Kiffar and a Mon Calamari. A human dived past, to strike at Vivackus. Kal... what was left of him lay propped against the wall, unconscious. A rare spate of fury ignited in the Pontifex; he wasn't prone to anger, a side effect of the innocent mind he inhabited. This is what had led to his decision to join the Krath. Had he been resurrected in a stronger body, with a harder mind... he spun forward, cleaving droids out of his path, leaving the rest of his team to mop them up. Yzarc and Ralph marched forward, one using his training in Djem So and the other, Soresu to repel small bursts of blaster fire as this little group of droids was crushed under their heels. More droids stood on the far side of the Jedi combatants, but for now, they seemed happy to let their masters deal with the intruders. Whether this was to avoid crossfire, or spectate, Denath did not know.

Mograine and Jaecyn blocked furiously as the Kiffar female brought her weapons about, flicking them out like whips to strike at head and toe, driving them back towards Vivackus and the dreadlock Jedi, who were deadlocked against each other. Both were Makashi adherents, Denath surmised by the precise angles of each others parries. The Mon Calamari, however, was clearly Djem So. His oversized lightsaber and rippling muscles did not give him the advantage he would normally have, as Jaysun was well-versed in similar styles; another pair of deadlocked duelists, though the crowd of fidgetting droids behind them gave Denath cause for concern. Gathering in the Force, he dashed forward.

Mograine stopped the right silver blade dead in its tracks once again, and this time he pushed, throwing the Kiffar just a little off-balance. Jaecyns parries were enough to stop her, but now he could press the assault a little. The Kiffar's jaw tightened as she suddenly ducked low and spun, slashing at their feet. They both jumped back, and she hopped forward to skewer them. She had underestimated the distance, however, and they swung their lightsabers in front of them, sweeping the overextended lightsabers out to each side.

Vivackus stepped back, his feet following a careful line as the dreadlocked Jedi started to gain an advantage. He was a little stronger than the Aedile, and far more rested. A blur dashed past him, and Yzarc stepped up with a vicious swing. Mr Dreadlock flicked out, stopping the blade before flicking back at Vivackus. His advantage, however, was lost and the two Quaestors of Clan Plagueis began to bear down on him as more figures rushed past, Ralph kneeling in front of Kal.

Denath turned and slashed at the dual-wielding woman, who deftly blocked this as she brought her other lightsaber to bear, striking through Jaecyn's block. Mograine stopped this, however, and could have slain her then and there if the boy had not wandered off. She turned back to the lower ranks as Vivackus yelped in pain. Responding to his masters voice, Jaecyn glanced over his shoulder. The dreadlocked Jedi was only a few feet away. He lunged in to skewer him from behind, but he turned and parried first Yzarc, then Jaecyn, assuming his light shiim against Vivackus would hold him in check. It had only served to anger him, however, and seizing the opportunity presented, he stabbed the Jedi from behind. Yzarc reached back and decapitated him, and Vivackus gave the head a solid kick, ignoring the pain in his leg from the minor cut he had been dealt. "What are you doing back here?" Vivackus demanded of Jaecyn.
"The Zabrak sealed the doors in front of us, its a dead end."

Mograine grunted as he tried to tap the Force for more strength. The Kiffar had brought both lightsabers across in a vicious swing, overbearing her abandoned opponent. She held his lightsaber down with one weapon and raised the other arm as a dreadlocked head thumped into the wall nearby, putting her off for the fraction of a second Mograine needed to escape the saber lock. He tried to step forward and instead found himself jerked back as Impetus and Eludajae stepped up to the Kiffar. "Why don't you boys cool off?" Eludajae instructed the younger Plagueian, as their lightsabers snapped on. The two experienced fighters lunged forward, forcing the Kiffar back closer to Jaysun and Denath.

Finally aggravated with his opponent, the Mon Calamari pushed out with the Force, forcing Jaysun back a step. It gave him the opportunity to swing at the little brat, who simply pinwheeled over the top and continued on his way, slashing into the line of waiting droids. Caught off guard and under orders not to fire, Denath carved through their ranks with a wide, open swing before centering himself back to his Ataru mindset. He lunged, hopped to the side and slashed upwards before rolling forwards, running the lightsaber out to cut at their legs as Jaysun lunged himself. The Mon Calamari sidestepped and parried, but couldn't bring his lightsaber around in time for another strike; anticipating the dodge, Jaysun had swung his weapon back, and the saber lock pulled the fish-faced Lightsider off balance. Jaysun kicked him with some satisfaction, sending him into the pool of droids. "Open fire!" he shouted as he felt a wave of Force rush past him, followed by a lot of clattering. He quickly rolled to his feet, nearly tripping on droid parts as Denath ran through the fallen line of B2s, quickly skewering their heads or slicing off forearms. Some were starting to get back to their feet after having been thrown back, and Jaysun joined Denath in taking them apart. The Mon Calamari briefly wished they'd had more droids as he prepared for another attack against the boy.

Its a dead end. Jaecyn's words echoed in Impetus' mind. So where did these Jedi come from? She ducked a wide, desperate swing and looked around, catching sight of an open door that appeared to lead into a large room. That must have been where the Lightsiders came from. She hopped up and blocked another wild swing, freeing up her Mistress so that she could lunge in. The Kiffar tried to twist away, but the blood red blade bit into her back. She shouted and took a few steps back, past that door. "Mistress, follow me!" the Twi'lek shouted as she ducked into the large room. A little startled, Eludajae dashed in behind her. This room was much larger, which would give them room enough to employ their Ataru skills. Every wall was lined with weapon racks, most of them empty.
"This explains why Denath led his group into a dead end," Eludajae exclaimed. "This must be the barracks! Sealing the other corridor forces intruders to go through it." She turned to face the door as the wounded Kiffar ran in.
"I think they came through here to attack the other group," Impetus added as she stepped to her wife's side. "So that door behind us should lead to the core. And if we've beaten all the droids here..." Eludajae acknowledged her clever thinking with a quick nod as the Kiffar rushed at them.
"You won't get to see it," the Kiffar promised. Impetus cast a loving look towards Eludajae and smirked.
"We keep all our promises, Jedi," she smugly pointed out. "Shall we see if you can keep yours?"

Mograine stepped up to Ralph’s side, not saying a word. The shock of seeing three of his master’s limbs being cleaved right off hadn’t left the Jedi Hunter yet, and all he could manage to do was ask Ralph if his master was going to be alright. The Dark Jedi Knight checked the unconscious Sith Warrior’s pulse, and then stated “He will be, but we have to get him out of here”. Ralph grabbed his fellow Aedile, and placed him over his shoulder, then started a quick pace down the corridor from where they had arrived. The still-shocked Jedi Hunter fell down on his knees in front of the three limbs and a saber hilt, all four of them, belonged to his master. He felt the lunch he had eaten before the bunker assault was forcing itself up his throat, wanting to escape the human body of his. Before the eruption, he gathered himself, forcing the lunch to crawl back down again. He clipped Kal’s lightsaber to his belt and slowly gathered his master's limbs, then rose to his feet, pacing after Ralph, who was half-way to the exit, his quick stride setting the pace.

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As the ferocious battle took place between the M’Nars and the Kiffar in the newly discovered chamber, the Mon Calamari Jedi was desperately ordering all of the remaining droids to attack the Krath Pontifex and Obelisk Templar, but it was all in vain as the two very experienced dark Jedi fed on the dark side and ripped through the droids as if walking through the corn fields of Concord Dawn. A minute later, if not seconds, the Mon Cal stood along in front of the two Plagueians, who themselves; stood in a sea of fallen droids.

“Surrender your lightsaber and your death will be quick and painless…” the Pontifex promised, but was replied with the Mon Cal lunging forward at him rapidly. Denath was just quick enough to parry the oncoming blue blade, and retreated backwards. Jaysun snickered at the Mon Calamari, “You Mon Calamaris are just as clumsy as a blind Gungan, perhaps your fish species have got some relation to each other?”, a taunt that made the Jedi yell something of a curse in Mon Calamarian tongue and charge the Krath. The Mon Cal’s blade met the one of Jaysun, and the fight extended again to a full climax as the Mon Calamari’s Djem-So met the Shii-Cho of Jaysun. The raw kinetic energy between the two blades made duelling pair stagger backwards from one another, the Mon Calamari used this temporary lull to launch another attack at the Pontifex. Denath jumped out of the blade’s way, giving Jaysun an opening to attack. The Obelisk took this opportunity and slashed his blade in a downward angle, slicing through both of the Mon Cal’s hands. They dropped to the floor, the lightsaber clattering as it rolled along. The Mon Cal, who accepted his defeat, closed his bulbous eyes and opened himself completely to the force, something that Pontifex Denath almost respected; almost, before delivering a rapid horizontal slash that decapitated the Jedi.

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Mograine caught up with Ralph at the exit portal leading outside. Kal was still unconscious and still hung over Ralph’s shoulder. From behind the enormous durasteel blast-door, the pair could hear the sounds of explosions, blasterfire and turbolasers, and even once and again, the sound of a starfighter that came flying by outside the bunker, either delivering a flurry of laser at the enemy or crashing down at the rocky ground. Ralph pushed in a couple of buttons on the console beside the door, and with a shushing noise it opened the bunker up to the theatre of war. Outside there were troops tightly engaged with the droids, AT-TEs with Hailfire droid tanks, the few AT-ATs with the Spider droids, and in the skies, Mograine and Ralph saw the TIE interceptors slightly winning over the vulture droids. Mograine placed all three of Kal’s limbs under his left arm, as he found his comlink and opened a channel to Red Squadron's frequency. “Sang, if you can hear me, this is Mograine. I need coveringfire at the bunker main entrance, and please contact an empty LAAT/I, Ralph and i need a rapid-extraction…” he said coldly into the comlink.

Immediately, Sanguinius confirmed “You're clear to go Mog, Red Squadron will cover your back. LAAT on its way, get to that crashed Vulture droid directly ahead of you, the LAAT will be there in 30 seconds.” At the same time, a TIE interceptor with the symbol of Satal Keto on its wings came darting down from the skies firing its wing mounted laser cannons, the green beams of light smashing through the bodies of droids as it created a droid-less gap between the bunker and the crashed vulture droid, fifty meters from the bunker.

In the meanwhile, Mograine had taken Kal’s dark cloak off his robe and placed it over his body, covering it from face to feet. Both Ralph and Mograine readied themselves to run, and as Sang delivered a second flurry of cannon fire at the droids, they ran towards the Vulture Droid as fast as they could. Few droids took note of them, due to the chaotic battle that was ongoing, and when the dark Jedi were half-way to the extraction point, they could see a LAAT/I approach in the distance. Sanguinius, who just had gained altitude after his second run, studied the figures of the two Dark Jedi, who ran through the gap. Or was it three of them? He noticed that the figure of Ralph was carrying something or something he could not identify. “Who’s that? Someone’s hurt?”he asked over the comlink. “It’s nothing, just cover our backs…” Mograine replied even more coldly than before. Sanguinius relented in his questions with a quick "Alright, alright Mog, just get the hell out of here." His Interceptor swung back up into the sky.

The LAAT/I landed in front of the crashed vulture droid; it was completely empty besides from the pilot and the gunners, and as the two journeymen jumped aboard, the shuttle took off and headed away from the battlefield. As Ralph ordered the emergency med droid, which was in the shuttle's locker room to treat Kal with whatever medical supplies the shuttlecraft had to offer, the wounded Warrior’s apprentice stood dangerously close to the exit hatch of the troop bay, watching the distant battle as they flew away from it. While steadying himself with his left hand, his right gripped the hilt of his own Armory Lightsaber, a weapon he had wielded with pride until this day. He was disgusted by the weapon, and didn’t want it near himself anymore. Without hesitation, he threw the weapon out of the troop bay doors, watching the hilt spiral down onto the scene of death below.

The Kiffar raised her twin blades in salute to the two women before her. ”We’ll see….” The pair of Dark Jedi rushed forward, Impetus dancing around the Kiffar, her amethyst blade flashing through the air to be pushed aside by the pure white blades of the Jedi Knight, Eludajae’s crimson blade swung in from the right and was instantly parried as the pair moved constantly around the woman before them, their combined attacks slowly pushing the Kiffar backwards.

Impetus darted behind the Jedi and swung her lightsaber in a horizontal swing at the unprotected back of the Kiffar as Ludy attacked from the woman’s front, the Kiffar ducked under the swipes and kicked out with her foot at the human before her knocking Eludajae off balance. Impetus cried out as her mistress crumpled to the floor from the attack and quickly went back on the offensive, her attacks speeding up, her amethyst blade meeting the pair of white lightsabers time and time again, the Jedi Knight was certainly skilled in Jar’Kai Niman the Twi’lek thought. The brute force of the Kiffar meeting the delicacy of the Epis as the pair danced the duel of death.

The yellow skinned Twi’lek spun on her left leg, her thin skirt lifting up slightly as she swept through the air towards the woman. Her lightsaber swept down in an arc, the Kiffar simply raised her blades to defend the attack, crossing them together in a X-shape. The tiny Krath was easily pushed backwards from her attack as the Jedi went on the offensive, her twin blades flashing through the air in wide sweeping arcs. Impetus' frail form was barely able to block the strikes as she dodged each swing of the enemy's lightsaber.

Eludajae backflipped off the floor and instantly jumped back into the combat, her presence instantly turning the tide of the battle as those twin blades turned their focus from one person to two. "I don't think you're going to be able to keep that promise Jedi." Ludy spat at the Kiffar. The trio of females continued their duel, the two Dark Jedi continuing to outmaneuvere the Jedi Knight, the Kiffar kept on managing to block all of those quick blows with her skill. But all it took was one fatal mistake, or to be too slow and death would claim you. All three of them knew this, all they had to do was wait for the opening and take it.

The Kiffar was tiring from the effort it took to defend from these two monsters before her and her concentration slipped for just a second as a blow from Impetus came towards her. That simple slip cost the Jedi her life as the amethyst blade of the Epis cut through flesh and bone, the Kiffar cried out in pain and frantically swung her remaining blade at Impetus. That second mistake left her wide open to to Eludajae, who took the opening and her crimson blade lunged forward to pierce the young woman in the heart. As the body slid slowly off of the Sith's blade to the ground Ludy laughed softly. "I told you we kept our promises." Looking over at the yellow-skinned Twi'lek beside her she smiled slightly. "Come pet, we have more work to do." The Krath bowed her head in submission and followed her beloved mistress further into the bunker.

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

The remaining Plagueians in the bunker gathered in the room they had just cleared of the hated Jedi. Yzarc was deep in conversation with his Ketoan counterpart Vivackus as Denath, Jaysun and Jaecyn made sure that each droid and Jedi was extremely dead. "Impetus and Eludajae have the necessary explosives to complete the objective, we need to make our way to the exit and secure an avenue of escape." The electric blue mohawked Quaestor told Kavon.

"You're right, come on Jaecyn, i am eager to leave this place." The Guardian moved towards his master as the group made their way towards the exit. "Call in an evac Jaecyn, i want to check on my Aedile." Jaecyn nodded and made the necessary arrangements through the comlink he had brought with him. "Denath, Jaysun. I will leave you two with Yzarc as i return to the forward base." The young boy nodded as the templar moved up beside him. "Yes Quaestor, that will be done."

Vivackus swept from the room with his student running after him, Jaysun turned to Yzarc as soon as the pair were out of hearing range. "Whats up with him?"

"He's a Sith, they're all uptight bastards."

Jaysun laughed along with Yzarc as Denath tutted in annoyance, the Pontifex quickly told the pair to be quiet as he felt the two lovers returning and with great speed. "They return." he pointed towards the room that the pair disappeared into. "They've done the deed, lets leave now."

Impetus and Eludajae burst into the room and shouted at the trio of Plagueians to follow them. The group sprinted up the corridor of the bunker and quickly opened the bunker's blast doors when they reached them. The five Dark Jedi ran away from the entrance as internal explosions wracked the insides of the bunker, destroying the control node and stopping the control signal from being broadcast.

Droids deactivated and Vulture Droids crashed from the skies onto the battlefield as all control ceased and they powered down. The troops of the Iron Throne started to cheer in victory as a lone LAAT-I Shuttle rose into the sky. Vivackus's face was blank as he sat in the troop bay. The thought of his master dying not by his hand the only thing running through his mind as his apprentice sat beside him, open worry upon his face as he glanced sideways at his master that he was so eager to impress.

Confusion and anger were the driving forces in Koga's mind as he stood over Kara. Her body was weakened already by the shuttle accident and now being knocked out by Koga didn’t help things. Blood was flowing freely from her head. She could feel it as she reached into the Force to try and put a stopper in that wound. Right now her main concern was trying to pull herself from the edges of death. Knowing that her body was slipping from that world she tried hard to fight it. What was going on with Koga? He had never acted this way before. She couldn’t think about that right now. This was a time for healing her body. It only took moments for her to regain enough strength to open her eyes. The blood had stopped as she looked into Koga's eyes. All she saw was a wild man trying to come to grips with something.

In a weak voice she called out to him. “Koga, What are you doing? I am not your enemy.” Was all she said before she started to drift.

“You killed them. You were the one that killed my parents. I shall take your life now as you took theirs. You don’t deserve to live.”

Kogas rage had him picking up things and throwing them around the camp. He didn’t even really know he was doing it. In the state he was in he was finding it hard to control the Force. The pure rage that he was gripped in by the images of Kara killing his family made him crazy. How could she have done that to him?

“I couldn’t have done that Koga…. I wasn’t there…..” Was all she said as she started to drift out once more.

Those words hung in the air somewhere in his mind. Then as they stuck there playing over and over the images started to change again. Nothing was right with his mind. He couldn’t see the memory clearly any longer. It kept changing between what he knew was real and what he was told was real. He couldn’t deal with it as he started to move away from Kara. Things around him started to float and shoot off in different directions. Not knowing what was real and what was fake any longer he didn’t understand what was going on.

Alaris Jinn sensed the moment Koga was captured and had left the group to hunt him down. The last thing he needed was for a member of his clan to be kidnapped at this point in their war. Moving through the enemy forces trying to get to where they had taken the man wasn’t as easy as he first thought it would be. It took him much longer then he wanted it to but then just as he was going to reach his goal he felt Koga change in some way. It was as if the man was running on pure rage and anger. Not that he wasn’t always a very angry man, but now it was worse. Something had happened and Alaris wanted to know more.

Reaching into the Force, he knew just where Koga was headed now. With the speed only one who was driven by the Force could run at he turned quickly, changing his objective. Now it was to make sure Koga didn’t cause their side damage. What ever that Jedi did to him had fueled his rage much more then any thing they could have ever done to the Knight. When Jinn reached the outside area of the bunker they had been meaning to blow up he found a battle ragering and some speeder bikes that would come in handy right now.

With little time to catch up with Koga, Alaris used the Force to push the droid on the nearest bike off and into the wall of the bunker, distorting it. Then quickly he hopped onto the bike racing off at top speeds heading for the home base set up for their clan. He knew there he would find Kara the young knight had been injured and Koga seemed to want to kill her right now if he could trust his instinct in the Force.

The moment the Twi’lek reached the beachhead he knew right then and there that things were not right. It didn’t take him long to find Koga, however. The man was standing there with Kara at his feet crumbled into the ground with blood pooled around her head. Alaris reached out in the force to gauge just how bad Kara was. When he knew she was alive and trying to heal herself he turned his gaze on Koga. Right now the fight was within the dark Knight that seemed so confused.

“Koga Kage! What have you done?” Alaris said in a deep booming voice as he walked over to the knight.


Koga turned, seeing the man and frowned. “You shall die like the others. It is all your fault.” He screamed as he rushed at Alaris.

Rather than wanting to kill such a strong fighter that could be used for their gain he used the Force, throwing the man back. As he did Koga hit the side of a shuttle that had been housing the injured. The force of the hit to Koga's back and head knocked him out leaving him a crumpled mess on the ground. His saber falling out of his hand and deactivating. Walking over the Proconsul of Clan plagueis picked up the knight's saber then went to his former student.

“Kara, rest. Heal, we will need you soon.” Was all Kara heard from Alaris as she fell into a deep healing sleep with her master's help. Alaris then went through the process of cleaning up and trying to find out what happened.

Part Five
The End Approaches

Dark Brotherhood Beachhead
Clan Plagueis Base of Operations

The remaining fighters of Red and Gold Squadrons flew in over the beachhead with a loud whine of ion engines, coming in over the landing pad to gently land atop the tarmac, maintenance crews wheeling over scaffolding and equipment to service the machines. Climbing from one of the Interceptors, Sanguinius Tsucyra undid the seals on his flight suit and pulled off his helmet, taking in a deep breath of the chill air as he wiped sweat from his brow. Sighing as he leaned back against the wing of his TIE, he enjoyed the faint warmth of the wing-mounted solar panels as the service crews scurried about him, droids coming in to join them in their repairs.

“Un-karking-believable…” he mumbled to himself, thinking over the events of the battle just past.

When he’d signed up for the Fighter Corps back in Jusadih, he’d expected to go to war, to fly in an epic dogfight. All of the holovids had prepared him for the adrenaline, the excitement, the thrill of combat. None had prepared him for the terror of foes bearing down upon him, the merciless strikes of the soulless aerial weapons, or the screams of death and burning carcasses of pilots he’d befriended before the battle tumbling to the ground. He’d not been ready for the high-G headaches that the simulator so poorly recreated, the shock on the body from a sharp turn.

What he’d seen below him, however, had been the worst.

Nothing could have prepared him for the sea of metal, light, and fire on the ground below him. Every time he rolled, he had caught sight of an exploding droid tank, a Brotherhood walker taking fire. Here or there, the glow of a lightsaber had flashed through droids all around it just to be snuffed by the near-endless masses that replaced their kills. Worst of all was the unsettling sensation as the droid fighters deactivated, dropping into the mass as the sea of metallic fighters came to a dead halt. It seemed so… eerie, though he’d heard the ground cheer in his cockpit.

“Sang!” a familiar voice shouted, the voice of Octavia Kuga as she strode forward, helmet under her arm and hair let loose of its tie to fall loose around her face. “Good fighting up there!”

Tsucyra couldn’t help but crack a grin as he responded. “Yeah, good because you showed up to thin the ranks out!” he chuckled as he walked up to her, clasping her hand in victory. “That was too close.”

As they strode off of the landing pad, they were joined by the few remaining pilots as Sang shouted to them, “When this rock is ours again, I’m buying you all a round!” He was met with as great a cheer as any.

* * *

“How did it happen?” Alaris asked, his eyes focused on the medical machines moving around the med table as they performed their duties on the Warrior before them.

“He took a round from one of their flechette launchers,” Vivackus said, his own face shadowed by the faint light of the observation booth. “He continued to fight afterward, and for reasons I am unsure of, he defended my life.”

Jinn looked over at Viv sharply, his head snapping around with a twirl of indigo lekku. “I thought you Sith didn’t believe in letting the weak live.”

Vivackus shook his head, his face showing confusion mingled with what looked like disappointment. “He is still too useful to me to dispose of, Proconsul,” he said calmly, eyes never leaving the medical droids as they worked. “He has more eyes and ears than either of us know.”

“Indeed,” Alaris admitted, “Along with his mental capacity. One like that would be hard to replace.”

As the pair turned, Vivackus spoke once more. “Proconsul, if it’s not too much to ask, I ask that we keep the extent of my Aedile’s injuries a secret. If anyone else knew, he would be a target and we would destabilize further.”

Alaris nodded in agreement. “It was my intent to leave the decision of publicity open to him, but you may be correct.” Walking from the medical prefab, the Twi’lek paused only a moment to look at the recovering forms of Kara and Koga, both drugged and unconscious before leaving the structure.

Stopping in mid-stride, Vivackus’ mind was a jumble of thoughts and emotions, all of which complicated matters. While he certainly felt no form of love for his former Master, he had to admit a sort of reliance, even a hint of kinship between them at times. He had made his purpose defiance for so long that a life without Kal seemed empty, as if the mission had ended badly, long before it should have. Even without the bond of Mastery between them, Vorrac had an astute mind and many contacts in many places. Viv still had trouble mapping out the parts of the network he’d discovered, while others still eluded him completely. Turning to Jaecyn, he spoke as he walked, beckoning the youth to follow him.

“Come, Jaecyn,” he said, “Do not linger here. Prepare yourself, for we move tomorrow at first light.” Only Mograine was left within the tent, adjusting the settings on a blaster rifle he’d procured from a fallen troop’s gear.

* * *

Operation Bloodfin
Temple Bellseph
Narmar

The crisp afternoon air of Narmar was perforated by red and green laser blasts and the thrumming and crackling of lightsabers at work, smoke issuing from wrecked carcasses of a walker here and there as the bodies of overwhelmed droid forces exploded in brilliant flashes. Rested troops joined those from the reserve forces as they rushed forward, forming clusters to repel the droid fire and tear holes in their lines as Jedi fought amongst them, three or four staying with a group of soldiers to deflect enemy fire. The tactic made for a vicious assault, droids falling in large numbers as only a few men died per group.

Above them, fighters rocketed about, the replenished ranks of Red and Gold Squadrons dancing with a cluster of Vulture droids. TIE Interceptors raced about as they blasted into the flying weapons, a droid falling even as a TIE took a hit. The droid forces truly had been stretched thin, and with efforts toward the Dark Hall intensifying reinforcements were largely busy.

“Forward!” Alaris shouted over a comlink, standing atop a hill, lightsaber deflecting bolts that came his way. “Leave the temple intact!”

“Sir!” A soldier shouted to Alaris, tearing off his helmet as he ran up a hill. “Enemy reinforcements inbound! Enemy-“ His words were cut short as a blaster bolt flash-burnt a hole through his forehead, the man crumpling to the ground.

“By the Force…” Alaris mumbled, turning to look at the enemy on approach.

Airborne transports floated in, at least six of the behemoth craft on approach. Another swarm of Vultures joined them, ready to defend their charges with their metallic hides. The sight made Alaris utter a curse as he grabbed his comlink, shouting into it as he ran toward the temple.

“All forces, inside the temple!” he shouted. “Enemy inbound! All forces, into the temple! Fight your way through now!”

Aeshi ran across the surface of the planet toward the entrance of the Temple Bellseph, her body heavy and weak from the battle. Looking around her, she saw that the death count was great, the ground was littered with the dead. The fear inside her threatened to burst free, but she forced it back down with all of her might. Her eyes caught sight of Alaris through the chaos and she ran, diving out of the way of a blaster shot to his side.

“Master what’s the plan?”

“Get inside as fast as possible,” He said looking down at her, both of them showing the effects of the raging battle.

The earth beneath them was covered in a great shadow as the pair saw the fiery wreck of a fighter come plummeting toward the ground with them in its path, Alaris grabbed his student and flung her across the ground out of its way before throwing himself out of its path. Aeshi shakily got to her feet, still in shock of the speed the event had happened, walking back over to Alaris’s side.

Aeshi walked over to the wreck, Alaris shortly joining her. The ship was carrying the symbol of Satal Keto, seeing that the hull was reasonably undamaged Aeshi ran over to her hatch, using all of her strength to pull it open. She looked down into the cockpit into the face of Sanguinius Tsucyra.
“Sang!” She shouted down at him before gripping him under the arms and pulling him out of the wreck and laying him gently on the floor. He twitched as he regained consciousness, looking up into her face.

“Aeshi?,” He asked, confused.

“Can you walk?” Alaris asked sharply, appearing behind Aeshi as his gaze pierced Sanguinius.

“Think so,” he said, taking Aeshi's hand as she helped him to his feet.

Anubis winced as the Proconsul’s voice came blasting over the comlink wired into his helmet’s armour, the acid yellow blade of his lightsaber cutting through another metal body of a B-2 series Battle Droid. There were several holes in his armour’s body glove, blood slowly flowing down his left arm. Turning his head towards the men fighting at his right, he grunted. “You heard the man! Push forward, we need to get inside the temple!

Dozens of troops began to move forward, the front lines firing at anything in their way as they attempted to get themselves to the safety of the stone temple. Alaris, Sang, Aeshi, and Yzarc met up with the Dark Jedi Knight, deflecting various blaster shots as the mass of Brotherhood forces raced forth.

“Where the hell have you been!?” screamed Alaris, lightsaber slicing through the body of a droid in several places as they moved – slowed by the injured pilot. Anubis turned his head to look at him for a moment, but moved onwards. Spotting a wide line of droid remains in their way, a quick idea came to his mind.

“Throw the droids!” he brought his free hand upwards, telekinetically grabbing the body of a broken droid and throwing it backwards into the enemy lines, clearing a short path the length of several droids. Yzarc and Alaris repeated this, their attempts much more successful with their greater connections to the Force. Again using Telekinesis, Yzarc threw his lightsaber hilt forward, spinning it to ensure that it would do more damage. The sapphire blade cut through the metal bodies of the droids, five of them falling to the ground inactive as the di Plagia retrieved his lightsaber and continued forth.

Sanguinius and Aeshi moved much slower then others, which forced the Knight’s hand. While he deserved to be struck down for his weakness on the matter, Anubis stayed with them – and the Proconsul, as they moved.

All around them, blaster fire was both seen and heard, filling the air like a deadly poison. In the skies, a heavier battle was in place. Mix-matched Brotherhood fighters were fighting against Vulture droids, their dogfights incredible as they danced. One of the Vultures landed a critical blow on a TIE Interceptor, its wing being completely blasted off as it tumbled toward the mixed forces of droids and men. Crashing into the rock hard ground in a large inferno, the flaming hull of the TIE Interceptor exploded and sent a shockwave which knocked twenty or so men and droids off of their feet, the ones that were underneath exterminated by the heat and weight of the blow that had hit them.

Having finally made it to the steps of the temple, the scattered forces continued to give it their all as they ran for the large and fairly unprotected doors of the great structure. Most of the droids had been outside fighting, which meant that the battle inside was going to be much easier on their soldiers. Several shots from flechette launchers rained down, quickly taking out any troops and inexperienced Dark Jedi as they ripped through the advancing men.

Throwing several droids away from their position as Anubis stayed at the rear to deflect blaster fire from hitting his comrades, Alaris continued to use his abilities in the force to toss the metal bodies of the enemy away from them as they moved.

A large, wide line of B-2 Battle droids awaited them at the top, the last protection of the temple against Brotherhood forces. Each was carrying a flechette launcher, which they had been all firing at any organic they spotted. Realizing this, Jinn called to several Dark Jedi to form a line. Five did so, lightsabers drawn as if on queue they all charged forward and began slicing at the droids. Three were easily killed, while the other two experienced Force users and the Prelate continued to cut down the B-2 battle droids.

Still, men moved forth and into the open doors of the temple, wanting to get to safety as quick as they could. Aeshi carried the injured Sanguinius with all of the strength her body would allow, even sometimes bolstering it with the use of the Force as she moved with the Guardian along. When they were in the temple, she carefully set the injured man down away from the oncoming rush and looked for the nearest medical officer. Anubis had stopped at the doors like many other Dark Jedi, trying to ensure that everybody that had the ability to get inside, could.

“Wait until everybody is inside!” the Knight called, drawing one of his DC-15s side arms as he deflected another blaster bolt back in the direction it had came. Raising the pistol, he made several fast shots towards a droid that had been moving up from the right, before taking a direct shot from one of their flechette launchers to his left side.

Crumpling to the ground as he barely held on, pain screamed at the Lorrdian’s side. His lightsaber fell to the ground deactivated, his DC-15s and cybernetic forearm having been mangled from the shot. It didn’t take long for nearly all of the Brotherhood forces in the area to make it inside the temple from that point, preferring life over death. Soon, the Dark Jedi began proceeding backwards as well, not noticing that there was still a spark of life within the Knight. Yzarc stepped back past the radius that the doors would reach, and began barking orders to those around him.

“Close the doors! Prepare to mount a defence against the droid attack! Heal all wounded as soon as you can!”

A few moments later, the large stone doors of the temple began to shut. It was then that he noticed that Anubis was not standing among them, and looked back to see him crumpled on the ground. His senses reaching outwards, he felt the faint life force of Annedu. Lifting his right hand as swiftly as he could, he grabbed the unconscious man through the sheer power of the force and threw him back towards the Brotherhood forces with as much speed as he could muster before the doors closed.

The large heavy doors closed a split second after the Sith’s right arm made it through, and carefully set him down on the floor. Looking about for other injured people, he again used his telekinetic abilities to move him near the fallen Sanguinius where a medic had been tending to the injured pilots wounds.

The Instigator pulled about as it struggled to move at is normal speed, the command deck populated by those officers injured lightly enough to continue their duties. Cassandra stood by the viewport overlooking the ship, listening to the barking orders that Catalina shouted out before her vision turned to the communications officer that worked at his station. She listened to what little of his thoughts the Force would allow her, before hearing the words that rang into his ears.

The tactical display hologram showed the progress of the Clan’s movement down on the planet, Plagueis had its name written across the lower lands of the Narmar Sunside. From the earlier incursions the Clan, working with the army, had done much more than originally expected. It was a shock at first to the eyes of the crew as a blip appeared above the Temple of Bellseph. It flashed red multiple times and then simply disappeared again; Cassandra could feel a loss at heart and a strong loss of balance within the force.

“Ma’am, ground command have ordered another push to reclaim the Temple Bellseph. They are requiring assistance and reinforcements” Lt. Morian snapped.

“Send word to the ground tactical advisors, our ship is in no state to provide any support…there will be no reinforcements from the Instigator.” the Executive Officer said as she pointed out the distress signals calling around their vessel.

“No, wait…Catalina, even you said yourself how little I can do here…I have friends down there! I’m quite able to provide assistance, and I’m quite sure I can round up some troopers to come with me!” Cassandra snapped as she turned to face the crew.

“But the Captain wanted you to remain aboard this ship!” The Executive officer said with a demanding tone.

“My master is incapable of having any word in this; I'm going. Morian, what is the situation down on the surface?” The young teenager snapped back with a temper.

Tzong could feel a recognizable chill as the mind of Cethgus reached out to her own, almost telling her not to let the young Sith go. However she couldn’t stop her, knowing what little even an Executive Officer could do against a Dark Jedi. She waved her hand to silence the command deck as her voice shot into their ears.

“Cassandra, if you go, your life is not in my hands any more. Hangar three is still intact, you should find a drop-ship there, but it’s damaged from earlier encounters. I will send a word to the pilots and attempt to give you fighter escort. The rest is in your hands.” The words came from Catalina’s mouth with an odd twist, as if she were concerned or afraid.

The young Journeyman looked at the tactical display and then back towards the communication officer.

“Lieutenant, send word to the ground. I will be arriving shortly.” The girl said and then took off to the turbo-lift.

The Marine Sergeant looked around at his five men, when he heard about the return of Antei he was proud to serve for the Dark Brotherhood. However he was much disappointed when he found out that his squad would be stationed abroad the “Instigator”; their weapons would be clean and unused during such a great battle. The cantina had not sustained much damage but when a young Sith strolled into its walls everything turned towards something darker.

“Aramus, gather your men. Ground command has ordered for reinforcements and I need someone to accompany me to the surface” the girl snapped from the shadows.

The male stood up and was towering over the young Dark Jedi, looking at her smirk he chuckled as his men gathered by his side. He had not known the Sith for long but liked her style, just something about her echoed a feeling within him. He took up his A280 blaster rifle and nodded with a grin growing from his lips.

As they progressed towards the dock, pilots Val Miran and Cyrus Tess awaited there arrival. After they had received word from the XO, the two men acted quickly to bring their LAAT/I to operational capacity once again. They ran several checks and repairs but the vessel’s second engine wasn’t functioning to its full capability.

When Cassandra and the troopers arrived in the hangar they knew that their repairs would have to wait. The young girl was excited to get a piece of the action, but yet in the back of her mind crawled the faint fear of what really awaited their arrival. She boarded the transport followed by the marines who still questioned the girl’s attitude. As the side doors closed the craft whooshed out of the hangar into the darkness of space. It swung about and began its descent to the Clan’s Command centre; Val chuckled over the comm as he spotted their fighter escort.

“Ma’am, we have just two TIE Interceptors on our six. Lets hope this journey is a safe one.” his voice rang out and then a tense silence was all that followed.

Mk II ISD Instigator
Around Orbit of Antei

Cethgus felt his body tingling as he growled slowly, his eyes prying themselves open to the light above him. Sensing that he was laying down he looked around the room and found that droids were wandering around caring to the wounded. Instantly the Prelate knew where he was and wasn’t happy about it.

“Ugh, medical bay, what a dump” The Obelisk slowly sat up on the side of the bed and looked around, he noticed that some of the lights were out and sparks were crackling here and there. Shaking his head to clear the dullness he felt from the pain medication, the officer stood up and began walking gingerly, The medical droid saw Cethgus moved and rushed over and looked at him.

“You’re not going anywhere, Sir” the droid was silenced by a look from the Zabrak.

A hissing noise was heard in the medical bay before the droid dropped to the floor cut cleanly in half by the Iridonian’s orange lightsaber. Rage filling the mind of the Equite, Cethgus looked down at his uniform that had been shredded by the shrapnel which had ripped into his flesh. The medical team had removed all the pieces of shrapnel but his body was still in shock.

Moving slowly he headed towards the bridge, were he fully intended to meet up with his student, as he walked his paces were slow and cautious. Every sense in his body was in overload as pain continued to ripple through out. As he used the force he allowed the pain to lessen though he was aware that it was still there in the background.

As he marched onto the deck, the crew of the Instigator stood and saluted. A quick first glance gave the Obelisk all of the information that he needed. The ship was patched up to minimum standards but it would need a full refit as soon as possible to correct the damage.

Standing in the centre of the bridge he looked around and waited for the man that approached him, as he walked forward he handed the Obelisk the repair report. It gave him all of the data that he needed to know about what had been repaired and what would require more work. As he finished the list he shook his head, Where was his student? He had not seen her when he had entered the command deck.

“Where is Cassandra?” his voice echoed around the bridge.

“She went to the planet's surface”] a females voice was coming closer as she spoke to her commanding officer.

Turning around anger was already swelling inside of the Obelisk was he spoke. He knew who had spoken to him. Catalina was standing there, her uniform looked perfect as she stood before him, only infuriating the Obelisk even more that she didn’t seem to be helping the repairs at all.

He felt the power rush through the force, his fingers reached out, instantly the Executive Officer was grabbing at her throat, she was unable to breath, as the crew around the bridge watched unable to help.

“You failed me Catalina, now face the consequences” His voice was a growl as he continued to use the force.

As he watched her die, he let his grip go, her body slumping to the floor, lifeless. Her eyes glazed over as he stood over her slowly cooling corpse. Turning to the crew he looked at them all, each of them had great respect for him out of fear.

"Let that be a lesson to each and everyone of you, no one is irreplaceable." He shouted out to the whole of the bridge.

As the medical team came and removed the body from the bridge. The prelate sat back into his command seat. “Let’s get back to work.” his orders were obeyed instantly. Leaving the Instigator once again back in command of it's Captain.

This ends here. The tiny Kunian thought to herself. Her rage was gathering strength as she watched her friend’s ship fall from the sky in flames. Octavia tried to stay focused, but failed miserably as silent tears trickled down her face to pool within her helmet. She had seen too much in the last few weeks, and this pushed her over the edge. Feeling something snap, the young Guardian let her anger and hate for the Vong, for the Jedi and for the War take over. Adrenaline coursed through her as she pushed her engines to the limit and broke formation, following the first Vulture droid that caught her attention. As soon as she broke formation her Commander’s voice boomed over the comlink in her fighter.

“Gold six, where the hell are you going?!”

Choosing to ignore him she jinked around incoming fire as her sleek TIE Interceptor raced toward her chosen target. Finally coming into range, her sensors sounded as the droid fighter was in her sights. She put pressure on the firing trigger, unleashing heavy cannon fire into the compact droid. Watching the machine explode into a ball of flame, the Guardian wheeled the Interceptor through the air, rotating on its axis while firing at another droid. Pouring shot after shot into its reinforced armour, she whooped as gouts of flame suddenly came to life on the port wing of the Vulture. It plummeted to its doom, feeding her seething urge to kill. The comlink spurted to life as her squadron leader's angry voice filled the cockpit.

“What the hell are you thinking Gold Six?! You could have gotten us all killed!”

The Guardian rolled her eyes and pressed the com link "Sorry Gold Leader, won't happen again."

"Damn right it won't happen again."


Octavia's Interceptor swept up towards a pair of fighters marked with the Plagueis symbol as she rejoined formation. "Lets get on with our job and target those dropships, Gold Squadron. Blow them out of the sky!"

The trio of Interceptors screamed through the air toward the incoming shuttles, firing their lasers at the monstrous behemoths. Vulture droids continued to be a nuisance to Gold and Red Squadron as several Interceptors were pounced upon and quickly dispatched by the cold, calculating droid brains within the metallic aircraft.

One of the monstrous shuttles caught fire as a lucky shot grazed the engine piping and the engines started to overheat. Losing control of its landing trajectory the shuttle started to veer to the left toward another of its brethren. The two shuttles collided with vicious force and a massive fireball bloomed as fuel ignited and shredded the armour of the two craft. Shards of them and the bodies of a few hundred inactive droids were scattered along the sand.

Octavia cried out with glee as she witnessed the massive explosion, the shockwave buffeting her sleek fighter as she raced away from the fireball. Thank the Force for that. Maybe Sang might be okay after all.

Callus and his remaining 3 troopers were late getting to the temple and the doors had sealed as the dropships landed. Callus and his small group were about 200 yards to the east watching as the massive droid ships landed. The Prelate raised a pair of macro binoculars to his eyes. There were certainly a lot of droids being deployed and that didn’t bode well for the defenders inside the temple.

Callus turned to his men and as he was about to speak a group of TIE Interceptors roared overhead down on the deck. “FRACK!” He pulled out his comm link and probed until he got Gold Squadrons frequency. “What in the Seven Hells was that about? We’re stuck out here and you try and take our heads off!”

“Sorry about that pal. Keep your head down though.” The voice crackled over the comm and then beeped off.

“Alright guys,” Callus said addressing his men, “We are in an interesting situation. Our fighters are about to start hitting the ground where we wanna’ go with lots of fire. We could sit and watch the fireworks. Or…” Callus was cut off.

“Or we could go and get completely involved and risk death?” one of the troopers finished for him with a hint of excitement in his voice.

“You got it Mok. We all know your vote and I wouldn’t mind going down in a blaze of glory. What about the rest of you?”

“Well I’m 2 days away from retirement, might as well have fun at work for once.” One of the troopers, Creem, said as he sealed his helmet. The last trooper didn’t speak, Callus wasn’t sure but he didn’t think that the trooper spoke basic. He checked the power pack in his rifle and nodded. Callus grinned as he put his own helmet on and waited for the HUD to come to life as he signaled Gold Squadron again.

“Hey Golds, this is Kamikaze squad, what do you say to giving us a break from the light show for about 2 minutes while we get in and have a bit of fun?” Callus said looking over to where the interceptors were making another pass on the landing craft. 2 of the massive ships had already touched down and were setting out droids and tanks. The fighters were concentrating their fire on one of the landers, trying to take it out before it was able to deploy its troops.

“Let us take out this lander and then you can have your two minutes.”

“Sounds good. Clear Skies.”

“Yea… so I guess we wont be talking again?”

“You never know. If you guys don’t blow us up we might have a chance. They are just droids after all.”

“Right… well get ready then Kamikaze, and good luck.”

Callus cut the channel and readied a thermal detonator. “Alright guys, standard delta pattern when the det goes off we should be just hitting their flank. Take ‘em down hard and don’t be afraid to improvise with your weapons, the tin cans don’t react well to being smacked around.”

“Or lopped in half sir?” Mok joked.

“I dunno I hear that they enjoy it to a degree.” Callus said with a grin behind his helmet as he patted his lightsaber on his hip.

A massive explosion went nova right near the temple as one of the giant landers imploded and started to tumble to the ground. “Alright Kamikaze,” Gold Leader came over the comm, “have fun.” Callus and his men began to sprint towards the growing formation of droids, when they were about 50 yards away Callus threw the detonator with aid from the force. It arced into the middle of the formation. Nearby droids turned to investigate and then began to scatter. At 15 yards Callus and his men opened fire on the droid’s flank, pouring coherent beams of red anger into the metal plating. The detonator exploded sending several droids into the air as Callus and his men arrived at the side of the droids.

Most of the droids had already turned and begun firing, but Callus and his troops were faster, crouching low to avoid fire and shouldering droids out of the way. Callus helped to clear a path with a wave of force energy knocking droids away from them.

The 4 black clad soldiers stopped in the middle of the formation and simultaneously they detached thermal detonators and threw them off in opposite directions. The droids were beginning to converge as the troopers let loose with their repeating rifles. Callus however had different plans. He spun on his heel and smashed his rifle butt into the chest of an approaching battle droid. He let the rifle fly from his hand and drew his lightsaber and brought it up through the center of the droid watching it fall in half.

“Now it REALLY gets fun.”

Sanguinius grimaced and flinched at the touch of the medical corpsman, the Jedi Hunter was propped up against a pillar as the trooper gently applied pressure to his torso. The corpsman looked up at the Ketoan, "Looks like you've got a couple of broken ribs and a slight concussion, you got lucky sir, most men die in a crash."

Sang snapped angrily at the man, "Well i don't feel lucky right now trooper, i feel in a lot of pain."

"I understand sir, i'm going to give you something for the pain, okay?" The corpsman rummaged through his kitbag and pulled out a syringe and prepped it for use, raising it upwards, he flicked the needle and a clear fluid oozed out to run down the needle. "Alright, this won't hurt too much sir." The trooper plunged the needle into Sanguinius' exposed forearm and pushed down on the top of the syringe to fill the Jedi Hunter's bloodstream with morphine.

Sanguinius could feel it rush around his body as the pain slowly dulled and subsided, breathing a sigh of relief, the young man gained a doped up smile as he looked over at Aeshi, the young girl standing next to her master, the Proconsul. "Okay sir, you should be good for now." The corpsman's voice brought Sang back to the present, "I'm going to have to check on this poor bastard now." He nodded towards the Knight next to Sang, "Damn idiot got shot with a flechette launcher, lucky he was wearing armour."

The man started his work on the Plagueian Knight as Sang watched him work. Anubis was still, unmoving as the soldier worked to save his life. "Hmm, seems his prosthetics took the brunt of the shot, but he's got some fragments in his side." The man muttered to himself. "Ghoran, get your ass over here and give me a hand." He shouted to another corpsman checking on a wounded trooper. Ghoran nodded and rushed over, "Alright Corrul, what do you need me to do?"

Corrul gestured to Anubis' armour, "See if you can get that off so i can get at that shrapnel."

"Got it, give me a sec." Ghoran slowly and carefully removed each segment of armour on the Ketoan and setting them aside on the floor.

"He seems to be losing alot of blood Corrul, we need to work faster."

"Okay, okay, just hurry the feth up Ghoran." The original corpsman pulled out the apparatus he needed to perform field surgery, not adequate to put a man back in a fighting position, but it was damn well good enough to save lives.

The two men worked furiously upon the comatose Knight as the other troopers and assorted Foxtrot Uniforms started to fortify the inner hall to the temple. Alaris was shouting orders as men moved statues, tables and assorted objects towards the thick doors to keep out the droids. "FASTER MEN, I WANT THIS PLACE READY 5 MINUTES AGO!" The Twi'lek shouted at the men and women under his charge.

Sanguinius took in all of this in slow motion as the morphine ate away at his reflexes and reaction times, his head lolling slightly to the side, the young man didn't seem to realise the severity of the situation he was in. Injured, surrounded and corralled in a tomb, which was ready to claim his body and the bodies of all those around him. The doors to the inner hall of the temple shuddered under a strong impact on it, the thick doors protecting the troopers, the persistant sounds of hammering against the doors worked away at the fragile nerves of the troops of the Iron Throne, they gritted their teeth and said their prayers to whatever deities they worshipped, or said goodbye mentally to their loved ones. The doors shuddered under impact once more as the two corpsmen stopped work on the Dark Jedi Knight.

"Looks like the lucky bugger will make a full recovery."

"You're right there Ghoran, shame he'll need another new arm though."

"Ahh, he's a Foxtrot Uniform, they're tough bastards."

Anubis' eyes blinked open almost in response to what Ghoran had said as he glanced around quickly and groaned at the pain he was feeling in his side, his hand instantly reaching for his injured flesh. "Where am i? What the hell happened?"

"You got shot sir, but Ghoran and i saved your life."

"My thanks to you both....." Anubis gritted his teeth and groaned again as he shifted his weight, he would have to try and concentrate on healing his body quickly through use of the force, never his strong point he though to himself.

The doors shuddered again under impact as the droids continued to try to get in, the B1 Droids obviously unpossessing of explosives to dent the thick doors. The two Journeymen sitting side by side stared at each other as they noticed each other's presence. "Looks like things keep getting better and better eh Sang?" Anubis jested.

"Yeah....." The Jedi Hunter mumbled in response, the morphine still dulling his senses.

The doors shuddered one last time as the suddenly blew inwards, a large explosion shoving them open. The collective of men and women inside the temple recoiled from the heat and pressure of the blast as B1 droids marched up the steps and into the temple, firing as they moved.

As the doors were blown open and a large number of B-1 Battle Droids started climbing the steps, any smile within the temple was now its opposite. Everybody turned towards the doors, and as many that could drew their weapons. All of the Dark Jedi that were able to, instantly grasped the hilts of their lightsabers and ignited their blades as ruby blaster bolts began to rain into the large hall. Sanguinius had tried to remove his lightsaber from his belt, but found that his speed in doing so was slow; having then remembered that he had been given a solution of painkillers to dull the pain he had been experiencing.

Looking over the Jedi Hunter, Anubis grimaced as he dulled the pain he had been experiencing in his side through the Force. Alaris called to the crowd, his voice firm and strong. “They’ve made it through the defence! All Dark Jedi form a defensive line and deflect some of those bolts! Get everybody into other parts of the temple!” Anubis quickly reached down with his other prosthetic arm, drawing his second DC-15s side arm from its holster and handing it to the man. “In case you run into trouble,” he said, moving forward as he used telekinesis to call Sanguinius’ armoury lightsaber to his hands.

Holding what remained of his left arm close to his side; Anubis activated the ruby blade contained within the hilt as he started to move towards the front of the crowd – and the droids. Recognizing that his armour had been removed when he was given medical treatment for his injury, the Knight sneered as he brought the weapon up to block several shots. It was going to be tricky. Several meters ahead of him, a line of twenty Dark Jedi including members of all three orders; Obelisk, Sith, and Krath, had formed armed each with their varying lightsabers as they deflected shots back at the droids while the soldiers behind them prepared their gear.

Those requiring medical attention were the first to be moved away from the battle as an onslaught had begun at the helm of the temple proper. They were going to have to make due with what they had available to them, or else they would be annihilated by a bunch of scrap metal. Soldiers from the Army of the Iron Throne joined their Jedi brethren in the battle, allowing them to move forward and start slicing up the droids that they could. Most were Journeyman, while there were a few Equite members mixed within the group here and there.

The Proconsul and his predecessor were included in the fight, utilizing their Obelisk abilities to quickly cut down any opposition that managed to get in their way. While the B-1 series wasn’t too hard to deal with, when their numbers swelled they posed a significant problem. As if synchronized, several Equites created a torrent of telekinetic energy; throwing the targeted droids into whirlwinds which allowed their allies an upper hand. They had the Force on their side. They were the ones that swelled in immediate numbers. They were the ones that were going to win this war.

Sanguinius stayed near the rear, taking a shot with the power regenerating pistol whenever he saw a droid getting too close to the wounded. By now, forty percent of the injured had been evacuated out of the temple proper into various other parts of the temple, and were quickly being fortified while the soldiers at the helm slowly began their retreat. The Dark Jedi followed their blaster-armed allies in the retreat, most of them deflecting blaster bolts. A plan to give them more time popped into Alaris’ head, to which he called out to the other Dark Jedi in the immediate area. “All Dark Jedi, focus on the doors! Use telekinesis to slam them shut!”

The Dark Jedi stopped what they were doing, allowing the squads of soldiers around them to provide cover fire while they worked. The few dozen that had received training in the Force forced their bodies to work quickly, not matter their prowess as they wrapped the large stone doors in a field of telekinetic energy and slowly started to force them shut. With everybody working together, it didn’t take long for the alchemized stone to seal the occupants inside once more.

Taking a moment to breath, Jinn looked around. “Hurry, find anything to can to barricade these doors shut while we move the rest of the injured out of the area. Setup a post here with at least five squads, armed with one Jedi each. I want similar posts placed throughout the temple while we wait for reinforcements to arrive. Patrols moving through the entire temple in case the metal heads decide to attack using a different vantage point. Move quickly, and may the Force be with you all.”

Dark Brotherhood Beachhead
Skies above Clan Plagueis Base of Operations

The blood red sky was low and threatening, the heavy sounds of war came like thunder driving panic into the souls who fought on the ground of Antei. The ground looked like a dark spike compared to the twilight sky as a LAAT/I drop-ship passed through its atmosphere. The young Sith felt a growing anger echo from the “Instigator” but ignored its cause, her new mission was on the surface. Val pulled the vessel into control as it was struck a swarm of Vulture Droids, the buzzed through the air and spun around for another fly by.

“Pilot, How long?” Sergeant Aramus shouted.

There was no reply for a minute was the drop-ship dived down further to avoid more damage. As their fighter escort tried their best to hold up the flying machines, Cyrus let a sigh of relief escape from his throat and finally spoke.

“Be at the Command Centre in 2 minutes, wait …Oh hell!”

The line went dead and with it the vessel shook violently, heat filled the holding room and the girl could feel a life on the edge of murder within the cockpit. The drop-ship plummeted towards the surface, until Val finally took control of its quick descent. His voice was croaky as words escape his lips into the comm system.

“Command, this pilot Val Miran…we are coming in hot, pilot two …is …down” He said reaching his voice out the Plagueis command post.

Flames escape the back of the ship as they finally settled down on the landing pad, Cassandra jumped out breathing the fresh yet bitter air of the Brotherhood’s home. As her security squad came by her side, she wished that her master had not ordered them to stick by her. The commanding officer greeted the Dark Jedi’s arrival; he was most pleased to see reinforcements. She watched him approach and then her eyes darted to a medical team as they dealt with the pilots injuries.

“Ah Cassandra I presume…Welcome…its not the brightest of places, but its home…now then, I have three Throne squads prepped and ready for action…that’s all we have managed to gather” He said looking down at her.

“That’s no where near enough to complete our mission Commander” She snapped back.

“Look Young Sith…this is a war…numbers are limited, we have men out at the temple as it is” He barked back.

Cassandra pushed past him with a grunt, she looked out into the horizon feeling the urgency growing.

“Those men may aswell be dead… why else would the Proconsul, himself order for backup? Now then…I suggest you find me some extra men, or at least a squad of some dam AT-AT’s” She spoke back trying not let her anger rip the officer into parts.

She stormed off with her guardsmen by her side, as they reached the tactical room each witnessed the struggle it was to make this final push. Out in the open, in the Narmar sunside enemy vessels had dropped of numbers far greater than their own. Feeling the pressure within, the young sith growled under her breath.

“Sir, Callus and his force has made contact just outside the temple…No word from Alaris yet either….Three AT-AT walkers are just arriving now, that’s all the throne army could spare” the Communication Officer barked.

The Commanding Officer nodded and stared towards the young Jedi Hunter, with a smirk he gave the all clear to move out. She huffed and spun around, with her own Drop-ship damaged badly she would have to travel with the other men. The girl’s saber swung at her belt as she strode out into the darkness from outside, the walkers had already set off. Whilst she stared at the squads, the Throne troopers prepared themselves to board the drop-ships provided to them. The young Sith held her head high admiring their presence, pulling her strength together she set off to join them hoping that these reinforcements were enough to strike a blow at the droid army.

As some went on barricading the doors, the rest of the Iron Throne forces along with their allied Foxtrot-Uniforms divided themselves into squads and were dispatched to several locations around the temple complex. At these locations, they would set up a security outpost, and guard the perimeter for any hostile attempt of entrance. An Acolyte approached one battle group, and saluted a hooded figure clad in a regular trooper garment.

The Jedi Hunter had felt the force presence in the person and had assumed that he was a fellow Dark Jedi, even though he wore regular trooper armor and a blaster rifle, instead of the ordinary robe and lightsaber. The Jedi Hunter then gave a brief nod to the squad’s Lieutenant, making him order all the men of the five squads to move on to their location.

They headed over to the other side of the ground floor, into a much smaller section that could be called the temple’s staircase-section since the room had no other purpose but to link the floors to each other with one single staircase going from the ground floor to the normally-highly-restricted third floor. The squad entered the third floor, and apparently, there had to be one last stairway in there, connecting the third floor with the even more ‘restricted’ fourth floor, where the Dark Jedi Masters usually resided while meditating. The third floor itself reminded them of a library, and was most likely some kind of archive of ancient sources of information about the force, as for all of the dusty books, scrolls and holobooks.

They rapidly cleared the floor, but were all drawn to a nearby viewport that depicted the droid forces outside when they heard the humming sounds of gunships. About 50 meters from the viewport, two single droid gunships approached and as they did, they elevated to the height of the temple’s roof. They’ll be entering from the roof. the hooded figure thought, pulling his comlink out from under his hooded cloak.

“This is Jedi Hunter Mograine, there are two enemy gunships approaching, they will be entering from the roof any moments.” he said loud and clear into the comlink.

“What is your location and how many men do you have?” the former proconsul asked.

Mograine turned to look at his two sniper teams and the subordinate Dark Jedi before replying “Two sniper teams and a junior Journeyman…” There was a short pause in the conversation.

“Take the men you've got with you and engage the enemy. Do not let the firefight happen at the archive; our orders are to leave the temple and its interior as intact as possible.”

Mograine closed his comlink and turned toward the stairs leading up to the final floor, with his men closely behind him. The group entered the top level just in time to hear the alarming sounds of gunships landing at the roof. The floor itself might contain several rooms, which might serve as the sleeping quarters to the highest ranked Dark Jedi of the temple, but besides these smaller rooms, the main quarter was the large square-shaped room in the middle. This main quarter was approximately forty times forty meters to each side.

The sniper squads’ lieutenant ordered each group to position themselves at the northern and southern part of the room, behind the black marble pillars, which were near the room’s walls of the large quadrangle room. The lieutenant himself joined the squad at the northern wall. Using the pillars as cover, they could perfectly ambush the droids from each side, as the clankers came out from the turbolift at the western wall.

“What weapons do you have? Do you have an armory lightsaber yet?” Mograine asked the clearly more inexperienced Journeymen, who didn’t look more than 20 years old.

“I’m sorry, sir, but I’m still an Acolyte. I just got an old BlasTech E-11 and a sidearm." he said in a sorrowful tone, as if he had disappointed the superior Dark Jedi.

“Don’t worry, Acolyte. Just stick close to the others and don’t take any risky shots at the droids.” The Jedi Hunter said kindly.

The young man then walked over to the lieutenant’s side, taking a position behind one of the thick stone pillars. Mograine moved over to the opposite side as he heard the sound of a turbolift moving down from the roof. He kneeled down in a crouched position, and clipped the safety pin off from the A280 he had acquired. The entire night before moving out to the temple, he had attached a longer barrel and a sniper scope to the weapon, which was commonly used as an assault weapon. Slowly, he peeked out from his cover, and raised his weapon.

Glancing through the sniper scope, he watched a B2 step out from the turbolift, followed by a large number of B1s. As the droids marched toward the stairs leading to the archive, the rest of the men peeked outside with the heads and weapons and took aim, and when the leading B2 was almost in the middle of the room the troopers of the Iron Throne opened a ruby storm of laser fire.

Temple Bellseph
Narmar Region
Seige on Clan Plagueis
Five Hours In

Alaris Jinn sat on the floor of a basement chamber of the Temple Bellseph, one hand gently stroking the bandage on his left arm where a blaster bolt had grazed him. Even the Proconsul of Plagueis, an Obelisk Prelate and a skilled warrior all around, had been shown he was a mortal man. Even with the aid of the Force, with the lightsaber at his belt that would cleave through metal like butter, he could have died in seconds. It was a disconcerting reality, one that the Brotherhood’s Jedi had scarcely ever had to face. Of course, the odds were against them.

Looking around the room with his hooded eyes, the twi’lek sighed as he saw the forces assembled around them. Mograine, in his set of trooper armour and with that modified rifle, had been instrumental in stopping what would have been an assault on the roof. Sadly, it had taken the lives of the troopers that had joined him and the blood of an Acolyte with an E-11 to keep the droids at bay, and reinforcements had arrived only in time to block off the door to the room.

Other incidents had happened similarly, with the massive droid army outside forcing their way through doors, windows, and even bare walls to get into the Dark Jedi and their soldiers. The many forces had fallen back, blocking off doors and sealing off hallways as best they could before coming to this chamber. The door was blocked, but it would only be a matter of time before even that last door was broken through and the inevitable last stand would occur.

“Sir,” one of the troopers said calmly, though a hint of fear was on his voice as he addressed the Proconsul, “What are we going to do?”

The Prelate looked around before talking to the soldier, the Obelisk within him trying to inspire morale. “We will form the main assault against the droids, soldier. You do what you do best.”

“We’re…” the soldier began, before sighing and taking his helmet off, speaking slowly. “We’re not going to make it out of this, are we?”

Alaris looked on the man, dark hair over blue eyes in a mediocre face, frighteningly young for the captaincy rank he held. “What is your name, soldier?”

“Tomas Yzin, sir,” he said calmly, his young eyes showing stress that didn’t belong in one so young.

“Well, Captain Yzin,” the twi’lek said, adjusting his tone to inspire morale and hope, “If we get out of this, your services will be retained by my Clan, along with a citation of bravery and valor.”

The man nodded, smiling faintly. He’d been a junior officer when this began, but three deaths before his appointment had given him both rank and experience in combat beyond his years. Many of the soldiers were both wounded and traumatised, but this man had shown himself to grow stronger with pressure, to be tactical. He would spread morale properly amongst those below him before his life ended. Alaris didn’t even twitch as he came to this conclusion. He’d been immersed too deep within the darkness for too long to feel for others anymore.

Looking at the Proconsul with a feeling of anger, Anubis Annedu sat next to Sanguinius Tsucyra, both of them clearly weary as they assessed the situation. Anubis sat for once without his distinctive Sith armour, the Lorrdian’s pale skin coated in sweat as he held his remaining pistol in his working hand. He’d tried to fight the droids with a lightsaber, but his wounded arm and body made it difficult and so he’d been using the weapon. Sang cradled a rifle he’d taken from a fallen soldier, having used it as best he could in absence of his saber. The pilot was looking a bit unsteady with his concussion, and so he couldn’t hope to handle a lightsaber.

“What are we going to do, Anbu?” Sang asked him, having spoken at length with the Lorrdian over the past few hours.

“The only thing we can do, Sang,” he said calmly, having resigned himself to the inevitable as many others had. “We’re going to kill as many droids as we can, and hope for the best.”

Looking to the cluster of Dark Jedi that stood aside from the soldiers, Sang sighed faintly. Many Journeymen he didn’t know where among that group, along with the more-familiar Equites. The M’Nar couple, Denath Ciarus, and Vivackus Kavon spoke quietly between themselves, while Jaysun Adumarii and Jaecyn Kai Interm spoke with Yzarc Rellik Kaeth. The Jedi were all rather ragged, the collective Force users that had been in good enough shape bunched together to face the assault at Bellseph. Had all gone according to plan, they’d probably have been back at the base, discussing their victory over food and drink.

“Here they come,” Anubis said, hearing the noise of fusioncutters as they cut through the doors before their room. “It won’t be long now.”

* * *

Callus Bo’Amar sat with a dejected look on his face, his soldiers long since dead as the conflict had gone on. He himself had survived only because he’d been extremely lucky, and had shown a surprising spurt of cowardice. He estimated his kills so far at over one hundred and fifty droids of various makes, models, and purposes. He and his troopers had destroyed the machines in a hit-and-run pattern, using guerrilla tactics at their finest against the droids. Were they fighting people, their last attack could have worked a little better. Sadly, they faced cold machines, devoid of fear and panic. No amount of losses mattered to the droids, so long as they finished their goal.

“Well, this is it…” Callus thought, as droids approached his hiding spot noisily, their parts clanking loudly as they did.

The machines had been patrolling for quite some time, and now the tired Plagueian could do little but ready himself to use his lightsaber one last time. He could only hope that the forces inside the temple had found a way out. He’d been killing patrols and running for some time, but there were just too many machines out there for him.

“Come on…” Callus mumbled, his lightsaber hissing to life, “Don’t make me wait…”

The sounds of heavy laser fire and loud blasts were coupled with machine death as the droids scrambled away, a heavy stomping sound joining them in an unsettling rhythm that Callus knew but dared not believe. Peeking out from his vantage point, he let out a faint whoop as he saw what approached, a light of hope springing up in him where the last had died hours ago.

Three AT-AT walkers marched forward as soldiers deployed from them in large numbers, sliding down zip-lines before opening up on the droids. The machines tried to rush forward, but were cut down by the walkers’ cannons in droves even as they surged forward. Callus almost thought the day won before a pair of the Vulture droids still alive made their attack, striking out at an AT-AT and making a flame bloom from its side as their energy torpedoes made contact.

“Gold Squadron,” Callus shouted into his comlink, “Give the damn walkers some cover!”

* * *

Octavia Kuga banked her fighter into a vicious spin as she shot down another pair of fighters, her few remaining pilots helping her. Red Squadron had only two men left to it, while three remained for Gold, her wingmen. Taking aim and firing at one of the Vultures chasing one of the Reds, she heard Callus’ voice break over the comm. with a hint of shock. She’d thought he would be dead by now.

“Gold Squad… damn walkers… cover!”

Raising an eyebrow, she turned her vision to the ground beneath and gasped at the sight of the All-Terrain Assault Transports, seeing the Vultures begin to thin out and swoop down on the walkers. Her focus snapping back to the droids in front of her, she banked into a dive before coming out of it to gun down another three of the craft. The Force was with her, aiding her every manoeuvre as she attacked.

“They’re focusing on the walkers, boys,” she shouted into the comm., having taken lead of the squadron after Gold Leader and his immediate successor had died. “Form up, hit their blind side!”

The five fighters flew to form an attack line, speeding toward the AT-AT walkers and the fighters swarming them in droves. Around twenty of the craft remained, their droid brains working to assault the AT-ATs with everything they had. The walkers wouldn’t last long under those torpedoes.

“Come on boys, let’s bathe ‘em!” She shouted, opening up viciously as the remainder of the squadrons banked to join her.

The fighters threw aside any sense of tactics and strategy as they fired like mad, green lasers pulsing down toward the Vultures. Targeting only those who flew away from the walkers, they whooped with glee as the ships began to fall. While they’d drop the Vulture droids out of the sky, the lasers couldn’t even damage the AT-AT armour without sustained fire for a long time. Within moments, only five Vultures remained, either assaulted in teams by the fighters or taken down by the walkers. As the last fell and cheers rang out among the pilots, Octavia banked toward the ground and began firing at the hordes of droids.

“We have a chance, boys and girls,” She shouted happily, “Let’s wear these clankers down!”

As the sparking whine of fusion cutters filled the room, troops and Dark Jedi alike took up positions on the walls, and any cover they could find from pillars, staircases, and other parts of Bellseph. “Get ready, here they come!” called Alaris, lightsaber thumbing the activation switch as a few beads of sweat dripped down his lekku. Yzarc, the M’nar couple, and Vivackus were positioned with a squad of soldiers of the iron Throne in the center of the room, prepped for what was about to come.

The Proconsul, Sanguinius, the young Denath, and Aeshi made were positioned at the far right as they waited for the droids to enter, anxious to make it out of the temple alive. Anubis, Jaecyn, and Jasyun made up the left flank, all three holding a blaster weapon to unleash on the metal denizens once they had bypassed the doors.

When the fusion cutters had finished cutting their large hole in the door, the sparks ceased as the equipment was powered off. All was quiet for a moment, until a small explosion rocked the other side of the door, causing the weighty material to fall forward towards the Brotherhood forces. The loud crashing of the door hitting the stone floor, cracking it in several places, signalled the start of the battle.

Blaster fire began filling the air, B-1 and B-2 Battle Droids trying to make their way into the room as Dark Jedi reflected the bolts fired from the metal bodies of the droids, and soldiers fired their own weapons at the new entryway. At first, it was just the electric bodies of the droids that had been falling to the floor broken and disabled, but it soon became evenly matched by both forces as they began to equally lose firepower.

Alaris grunted as he deflected several bolts seemingly at once, his body pushing itself to its utter limits as the blade of Adegan energy twirled like a fan at the incoming energy. All of the Dark Jedi in the room that carried a lightsaber did the same, making it a point to deflect as many shots away from their own forces as they could.

“God damn it! Somebody pass me another pack, I’m out!” called Sanguinius, having been trigger happy unloaded as much ammunition as he could into the droids. The solder in front of him reached to his belt, quickly looking away from the door to toss the Jedi Hunter the pack. When he returned his gaze forward and began firing again, a lucky shot from a B-1 series battle droid struck him in the throat; dropping him instantly.

“Sith’s blood!” called Sang, quickly popping out the empty cartridge in his rifle and replacing it with the one he had received from the trooper. Across the room, Anubis had been unloading continuous shots with his DC-15s side arm, pegging any droids he could with the regenerative pistol. Jaecyn would have been firing a rifle as well, if he had any skill to do such a thing.

Instead, he was passing people ammunition as they quickly ran out, and attempted to drag a few of the injured away from the line of fire as the Brotherhood forces inside the room began taking heavy losses. “Where the hell are the reinforcements we requested?” cried Vivackus, expertly bringing up his lightsaber to deflect shots that had been fired in his general region. The Quaestor’s question was a good one. Their reinforcements shouldhave been there by now.

“We need to hold them off!” yelled Anubis, still taking shots whenever the opportunity presented itself. Easier said then done. Now some of the B-1 series droids were beginning to make it past the door, which forced some of the soldiers to switch their line of fire in order to keep their numbers from taking too heavy of losses. “Cover me!” Yzarc moved forward, calling on the Force to increase his speed momentarily as he raced to a few of the droids that had made it through, the blue blade of the di Plagia swinging wildly as he separated the droid bodies in two.

Denath joined his companion, allowing his superior skill to guide his movements as he too cut down droids that had made it through. Now it seemed to be an all out bloodbath between the two forces, with the men that served the Iron Throne attempting to hold the Temple of Bellseph from the droids until their relief arrived.

Out of nowhere, the droids began decimating those inside. If help didn’t arrive, they would quickly lose this fight and never see the surface of Antei again. Sanguinius continued to unload on the droids, trying desperately to keep up with the others around him as his injures impaired his abilities. When the Jedi Hunter’s rifle began to overheat, he tossed it to the side and called one from a fallen trooper to his hands, continuing his firing.

Beach head
Home Base Clan Plagueis



It was tough dealing with war. Even harder when it was your own friends or loved ones that turned on you. Kara lay sleeping on a bed in the makeshift medical tent they had set up for the injured, Koga was in the bed next to her but she didn’t know this. Both of them had been though a lot over the last few days, rest she had been told, to heal your body. She had broken bones and a minor concussion, It felt as if her body had been thrown around like it was a rag doll. In her dreams she saw it all again but felt so confused over the whole event.

Just then Koga opened his eyes, he couldn’t remember any thing from the last few days. Where am I? He thought to himself as he looked about the tent, his eyes quickly fell up on the fragile looking Kara. She looked so small and helpless in that bed and fear gripped him as he pushed off the bed to get to her. A medical droid saw Koga trying to move and pushed him back to the bed.

“You are not well enough to move yet sir.”

“Get out of my way you damn droid. I have to help her, I have to be by her side, what happened to her?

The droid looked at Koga. “Do you not remember the last few days sir?”

“If I knew what happened, would I be asking a droid?” His anger growing out of concern for the woman before him, as he thought about crushing the medical droid. But he knew he would not get the answers he wanted. The Knight reached out and touched Kara's soft hand and stared at her still form, worry lining his face as he watched over the woman he loved.


“Her injuries were caused by you sir. She is here due to the fact that you seem to have lost control. I was told by the Proconsul that you were ineffectively brainwashed by the Jedi sir.” The droid looked at Koga, that little piece of information stunned the Kunian, surprise and self-hatred taking control of his outer emotions, pushing away the open worry.


“You need to get back in your bed sir, let me examine you please.” The medical droid said in his tinny voice.

“I am at fault? No…..I have to stay by her side, get away from me you damn droid.” He pushed the droid away.

With one quick look at the droid Koga glared at it as the machine wandered off, its processor deducting that as the wisest action to follow. Turning his head back quickly to Kara, he couldn’t believe that this was his fault. Closing his eyes he searched his mind for the truth, he had to find out what he had done and why. Unsure of what to do he decided to allow his body and mind to go into a meditative state to try and find the answers to his problems.

It seemed like hours later when Koga felt a hand squeezing his, like out of a dream his eyes snapped open to see Kara’s deep emerald green eyes. He still didn’t fully know what had happened but as the memories of the last few hours slowly filtered through the recesses of his mind, he felt nothing but regret and shame. He was even scared that Kara would never forgive him, It wasn’t going to be easy to rebuild the unique friendship of their's. Yet as those eyes sparked and a soft smile came to her rosey lips, he couldn’t help but feel she was going to forgive him.

Kara could feel the shame and regret welling up in Koga as well as the fear, she almost pulled away when she saw him, but she saw that look in his eyes. The one that told Kara that the man sitting next to her loved her more than anything else in the the galaxy.

“Are you better Koga?” She said as she pulled away from him warily, still not sure of his intentions.


The reaction didn’t surprise Koga, but it did hurt. “I don’t remember everything but I know I hurt you, for that I am sorry, I know you didn’t do anything to my parents Kara….It wasn’t you…. the memory is still foggy but I will find the answers i seek. Wi..will you ever forgive and trust me again?”

His hope for her love was so strong that Kara could feel it with little effort through her bond with the Force, with a bright smile she put her hand back on his and pulled him close to her. “Nothing would give me more joy then to forget everything that happened, I know you want to track down the person who tricked you, but right now the clan needs us for the war. We will have our revenge some day, i promise you.”


Kara still had a bit of fear, but it was now more of what Koga could do if his anger was unleashed. It was something Kara couldn’t let happen again and she knew she had to get stronger, there was no way she would be hurt like this again from his rage. Both of them had a lot of work to do, but for now she would be by his side to do it together.

In that moment however Koga leaned over and gave her a soft kiss that made Kara forget all of her thoughts, worries, hopes and dreams. Everything would get better, Kara knew that now. With their soft lips touching, it sent shivers through them both, letting them both know just how much the other cared. Their love seemed to make that bond between them that much stronger. Kara knew that they would get though this as she knew the Clan would get though this War.

The LAAT/I Drop-ships pulled off the ground; dust blew around them as their engines raised themselves to full capabilities. The men inside breathed deeply preparing themselves for a battle that needed to be won, to save the souls of Plagueis they would bring havoc to the Droid army that stood strong around the Temple of Bellseph. Cassandra held her saber ready, listening to the screams echo across the force that spread across the whole planet side of Antei. Feeling as if she was about to join then in sacrifice to save others, the girl brought herself together standing broader as the ships shot off from the command centre.

“Aramus, let the others do their work…Stay by my side…it’s gonna be…tough” She whispered towards her personal guardsman.

He smiled as she tried to keep his balance whilst the vessel turned to the right avoiding aerial fire from below, looking around at the other troopers from the Throne army he felt out of place. The young Dark Jedi grew anxious as the comms never silenced; she could feel the battle for the Temple worsen in some cases. But then the ships made their final pass much faster than she expected. For a journey she thought to be a life time, the drop-ships settled down upon the dying ground on the Narmar Sunside.

The side doors shot open and Cassandra dived forwards avoiding enemy blaster fire as it shot through their craft, she pulled herself to her feet staring at the vast numbers of B1 Battle-droids. The temple was in the distance, but yet for now the fight was here. She ripped her saber from her belt activating its blade, blocking various blaster shots as the soldier’s abanded their transport. Aramus knelt to one side unleashing several rounds with his A280 blaster rifle into the carapace of a battle droid.

“Bring these droids to nothing men; let them know the Brotherhood’s name and wrath!” A Sergeant screamed as he looked at the swarm of droids.

The girl spun around feeling the presence of the squads thicken in numbers and power as they slowly struck down the droids, she lashed her saber through another droid but then rolled to one side avoiding the fire power of a flechette launcher. Her eyes darted back to the men she stood amongst not long ago, listening to their cries as the round struck down at least three of the troopers. Cassandra snarled as she brought some debris together by the force and threw it viciously towards the onslaught of machines. She lashed her saber up through another droid and then dodged the wicked arm of one B2 Battle droid that stood almost alone. Aramus snapped his weapon in aim and unleashed bolts of fury into its armour; the girl smirked and then spun her body around along with her saber cutting the much stronger machine in half.

“Lieutenant…Move your men forwards push against the droids ranks, we must cut down their numbers at all costs!” Cassandra shrieked out.

“Yes Ma’am! Squad three are flanking the main bulk of the army whilst two and my own press forwards…” the Lieutenant shouted back as he pulled one of his men to one side before he would be struck down by blaster fire.

Cassandra nodded in reply her saber buried itself deep within another battle droid rending it to an immobile state, she looked up as the LAAT/I Drop-ships pulled off the ground two of which were instantly destroyed as Vulture droids swung down through the air rattling them with fire and no mercy. Listening to the wreckage strike the ground, the Jedi Hunter pulled her mind back to battle. Although her forces had just arrived it seemed much effort would have to be pulled of to cut the army in pieces, she hadn’t even thought about where were the three AT-AT walkers there was just too much for even her to handle.

Aramus ran by her side with his men avoiding the blaster fire and shot back with his weapon. It wasn’t until the Sergeant stood by the young Jedi Hunter until he snarled with pain, he then went pale and weak and dropped down to his knees. The Sith watched him as his breathing slowly died off, her eyes leaked her tears as she felt his last heart beat silence. Looking down at his wounds and blood she saw what damage a Flechette round can cause. Cassandra growled but was almost saddened within; she spun around lashing out with her saber taking two more droids down bringing herself back to the battle. The Sergeant’s men still knew their duty; they could morn the loss of Aramus later.

The Jedi Hunter and the Army of the Throne troopers stood together trying their best to bring down this droid incursion, yet slowly their numbers weakened. The girl fought on amongst the mess hoping that this whole mission would be a success, her saber felt strong within her grip as she brought Plagueis’s name down upon the machines that served the Jedi.

Temple Bellseph
Narmar Region
Seige on Clan Plagueis

Gold Six cried out with glee and murderous intent as countless battle droids fell to the ground under her sustained laser fire, pulling up out of her attack run she knew that time was running out for the defenders in the temple. Too many droids had gotten through those large entrance doors and the reinforcements were moving too slowly. They had to hurry if Sang had any chance of surviving.

Without looking the Guardian could feel her two wingmen's presence through the force, bright sparks of life surrounded by a metal shell as the trio of fighters swooped down again, firing their laser cannons at the droids below. Thank the Force that there were no tanks, otherwise this would be a completely different story Octavia thought to herself.

With those Vulture Droids gone, the troopers of the Iron Throne were easily pushing through the horde of droids, those monstrous AT-AT's more than a match for anything these last remnants of that fool Crask's faction could throw at them. Nine of these leviathans had leveled Echo Base years before, now these three were doing the same to these droids. Laser fire and wrist rockets shot up towards these giants to little effect. They simply continued along their path crushing these metal lifeforms under their feet.

* * *

Callus threw himself out of cover at a run, his lightsaber coming to life with a hiss-crack as he carved through a small patrol of droids rushing towards the approaching forces of the Iron Throne. The Prelate was exhausted, but he knew that he had to link up with friendly troops in order to turn this fight into a massacre. Quickly leaving the scene of this quick skirmish between himself and the droids he sprinted with leaps and bounds towards the trio of AT-AT's. Smoke billowing from the side of one of them as they doggedly advanced upon the ancient temple. Small arms fire was exchanged between the troopers and droids as the Iron Throne forces slowly created a salient within the droid horde.

Cassandra felt a presence in the force as Callus leapt through the horde to land beside her, having honed in on her presence his lightsaber flashed through the air to deflect several shots back at the droids. "Nice to see you here girl."

"It's good to be here Prelate." Cassie replied with a smile upon her face as she cut down a droid, an noise of electronic chatter issuing from its internal speakers as it perished.

Callus laughed and doubled his efforts, the combined presence of the two Foxtrot Uniforms easily pushed the attacking force towards the temple entrance. Troopers ran up the stairs, their blaster rifles cutting down the droids as a few men fell in retaliation. The majority of the droid army had concentrated upon the AT-ATs and were now paying the price as they were smashed down by the monstrous machines.

Cassandra frowned as she crossed the threshold of the entrance hall, a few smoking remains of droids were all that awaited her, the crack troops of the 2/21st having beaten her to the punch. She gestured to an officer to approach her. Upon reaching her he bowed his head slightly in acknowledgement. "Yes young miss?"

"Lieutenant, i sense them below us, send your men ahead of us. But tell them to be careful, we may have to take a shortcut in order to reach them in time."

The officer nodded and called over two sergeants. "Lets show the lady how the 2/21st works boys. Get demo packs up here, i'm sure we can blame the damage on the droids." The lieutenant grinned at that thought as the two men ran off to get the job done.

* * *

Alaris knew that they didn't have long, if they didn't get any reinforcements then his name would go down in infamy as the man who led Plagueis to its demise. Barely 20 men and women still stood, the rest long dead, killed by this emotionless automatons as they marched relentlessly through the crypt after them. Flashes of light flew through the air as the two sides fought, one to survive, the other to slaughter.

Vivackus glanced over at the Proconsul as he effortlessly decapitated a B1 droid, he was growing tired, but he used his anger and fear to his advantage as he thought of his master and the plans for the future. Anubis hiding behind a pillar as he shot at the droids, thankful that his blasters recharged. At least he'd take some of the fethers with him.

An explosion rocked the room and a cloud of smoke entered through the doors, temporarily blinding the droids as they switched to infra-red mode. Several of them falling down in a hail of laser fire as troopers of the Iron Throne stormed through the doors. Callus and Cassandra directing their efforts as they hacked down the last few remaining droids.

Alaris grinned as defeat was turned into victory, he strode forward to grasp Callus by the arm, grinning inately the Twi'lek thanked the Prelate. "Well done man, i couldn't have done a better job myself."

Callus laughed, "While i'd like to take all of the credit Pronconsul, it was this young lady who did all the work." He gestured to Cassie who stood beside him.

Alaris was taken aback at such news, the student of one of his more outspoken enemies had saved him. Recovering quickly he nodded at the Jedi Hunter. "Well done journeyman, i shall make sure that your master hears of your exploits." Thinking to himself quickly, the Prelate had to find a way to turn this into an advantage over his enemy. "I'm sure he shall be pleased."

Cassandra flashed a large grin, her cheekiness showing as she said a quick "Thank you." before skipping over towards Sanguinius. Bending down to look at her fellow student in the eyes, she whispered a few words in his ear which made him frown. "Thanks for saving my ass Cassie, just try not to let it go to your head." Aeshi was standing nearby as two corpsmen lifted Sanguinius onto a stretcher, concern showing on her face as the two women walked alongside Sang.

"Everything will be alright Sang." Aeshi murmured, more for her benefit than Sanguinius'. The trio slowly made their way down the stairs outside the temple as sunlight broke through the clouds to shine brightly upon the temple. The three journeymen knew then that their future was certain, Antei was theirs once more. Plagueis was supreme in the Narmar region and the Dark Council would be pleased with the Ascendant Clan.

Vivackus followed closely behind as his student Jaecyn limped after him. "Come young one, we have much work to do."

Alaris frowned at the receeding back of the Ketoan Quaestor before almost jumping out of his skin in surprise as he noticed a young boy beside him. "I do wish you wouldn't do that Denath."

The Pontifex frowned at the Obelisk. "I didn't intend to do anything Alaris. I just wished to gain your attention upon the fact that we could've lost here today. I just hope next time your best efforts are indeed better." The implicit threat was there in his words as the Krath strode away.

A young trooper ran over towards Aeshi, Cassandra and Sanguinius as the corpsmen put him gently down in a medicae station. "I was told that i would find you two here, I have a message from someone for you."

The three youngsters looked at each other in confusion as the man showed them a hand-held hologram projector. As it flashed into life, their look of confusion was turned to fear as they saw the face of the Clan Rollmaster. Cethgus was scowling at them, the minature picture of him exuding malice and anger as it said a single sentence. "Cassandra, Sanguinius. We need to talk....."

Victory-class Star Destroyer Ballista
Orbit, Antei

The Consul of Clan Plagueis watched as reports from the ground streamed before his eyes. He sat alone within the tactical salon of the vessel, the lights extinguished and the bright words streaming across an invisible tablet. Several times he paused the streaming data to review a specific report. Many of the Clan's warriors had been listed as Killed In Action or Missing In Action. Defections were regular, but this particular campaign was irregular and he surmised that many of these individuals would never be found.

Braecen released a breath he had not realized he was holding. The continual services as Consul was taxing and not without err, regrets or miscalculations. He had hoped, as an emerging Clan, he would be given lesser assignments than the rival Clans.Yet, as an experienced and tenured Consul, Braecen had been given numerous assignments from Darth Sarin that pushed the Krath Adept and Clan Plagueis to their limits. The result was a leaner, hardened Clan that would blossom in the aftermath.

The cost, however, had been in blood. And Braecen was not sure it would simply end here and now. With the many casualties incurred by the entirety of the Brotherhood, he knew some of his individuals might reveal themselves as true leaders and assets for the Brotherhood's continued development. In fact, Braecen would be abhorred if none of his promising Equites attained positions within the Dark Summit. In this time of rebuilding, he would place extra value on younger, zealous members than the washed-up and tiring Elders. Despite the gifts of the Dark Side of the Force, it was impossible to artificially instill the pride and fierce hunger that new members possessed in abundance.

His console beeped. The frost-bitten orbs turned to regard the flashing button that indicated an incoming message. Pale, gaunt fingers danced over the command chain in the tactical salon of the Victory-class Star Destroyer. A hologram flickered into existence to relay the distorted, scrolling image of the Clan's Proconsul.

Alaris dipped his head in feigned respect. "I have much to report, Consul. The campaign has drawn to a close, but the Deputy Grand Master has requested all available Dark Jedi proceed to the Dark Hall within Adas. I believe we should be in attendance for the final edict of this war."

"And so we will be."

"How will we tackle the forthcoming political maneuvering, though?" Alaris asked, genuinely curios. "There are going to be discussions of comings and goings."

"We should not speak of such things, Alaris. Let us, instead, whisper of such eventualities such as your rise to Consul."

A perplexed look passed over the Twi'lek for the faintest of moments. It had been faint and he had quickly recovered, but it had not escaped the notice of the Adept. Braecen elected to ignore the promising Equite's slip. He would learn in due time. Much like Clan Plagueis would discover a new breath of life with the emergence of new leaders, new ideas and the daring resolve to see things through.

Braecen's lips blossomed into a tell-tale Corellian smirk. He was not sure what the future would hold for Clan Plagueis, but he knew he would enjoy watching them succeed as a unified clan under the steady hand of the Iron Throne.

A chapter was coming to a close, but the story would continue. The story always continued.