[center][b]Immediately after Anora’s retreat...[/b][/center] --- The force of the explosion threw Nya off her feet. Whatever the Mandolorians rigged had definitely did its job, as the turret went up in bright orange flames. Landing harshly on her back, Nya saw a large piece of metal debris flying to her. She inched back as much as she could while throwing up her arms to block the incoming object. The debris never hit her. When Nya’s arms lowered again, she saw Morrin standing in front of her, using his force powered telekinetic to deflect the debris pieces. The Togorian appeared concentrated, his mind and body worked together to clear the battlefield. After a few force lifts, the debris of the turret now lies safely away from his allies. “I owe you one,” Nya said as Morrin helped her to her feet. “Gotta ask though, where were you during the battle?” “Dealing with an enemy combatant,” the Togorian answered, he pointed to the other side of the turret. “There was a particularly dangerous foe, he wielded a saber-staff and commanded powerful force attacks.” “I assume you got rid of him?” she questioned. “It was a difficult fight,” responded Morrin. “He was unwilling to surrender, even after being disarmed. I had to kill him.” “I understand,” The Firrereo comforted, Nya knew what it was like to kill for the first time. She briefly called an instance 15 years, where she took the life of a kidnapper. The situation presented her no other choices, it was kill or be killed. “You had to do it, or else he would have done far more damage.” Morrin did not respond, instead, he just nodded. Ever since his training accident as a padawan, the jedi feared for this day, a dreaded when his lightsaber meets flesh. But right now was not the time for philosophical thoughts, especially with some enemies still on the lose. Closing his eyes briefly, Morrin reached out to the force, using light side techniques to bolster his sprit and steeling his resolve. “Err, ma’am” a man called out to Nya, this man is sergeant Erick Hemmings, Nya’s second-in-command. “You gotta take a look at this.” “What is it,” Nya turned to face Hemmings, who was flanked by clone commander Zed on his side. “Your alright?” “I’m fine, droids can’t shoot for crap,” Hemmings waved off, pointing the far side, he motioned for Nya to follow. “But these Mandos though, that’s another story. Hit one of them right in the face, walked it off like its nothing. If it were not for Zed here, I’d be Chandrilian cheese right now.” “Mandolorian helmets are made of Beskar, the Mandolorian steel.” Zed said in a matter-of-fact tone. “Aim for the neck, no armor due restriction on mobility.” “Yes,” Morrin chimed in. “That was how master Windu defeated Jango Fett.” “Well then, good to know.”Hemmings nodded awkwardly, walking a few more steps ahead, he waved for the others. “Anyways guys, check this out.” The group, now consisted from the Nya, Morrin, Hemmings, Zed and the surviving fighters, gathered around a hole. It was a couple meters wide, enough for a few humanoids to descend to lower levels. “Lightsaber cut,” the jedi examined, “they escaped in haste.” “Looks like a long way down,” the Firrereo mused. What seemed to her as a death fall was probably nothing to the force-wielders and jetpacking Manolorians. Grabbing a detached B1 droid’s arm, Nya tossed the scrap metal into the hole. Several seconds later, a faint thud resonated from the bottom. “At least 20 levels, definitely a no-go from here.” “Perhaps we can find a lift down?” Zed suggested. “Actually,” Nya returned, looking up from her datapad. The current battlefield showed CIS forces retreating, most of them trying to consolidate their position at the airfield. “I need you and your shock troopers to go to the airfield, friendly units need reinforcements there. Plus, a large force wouldn’t do us too much good in pursuit operations.” “Indeed,” Morrin added, “such a large group would no doubt draw their attentions. The lower levels are dense, with many routes for escapes. We need the element of surprise if we were to intercept our foes.” The clone commander nodded in agreement before snapping to a crisp salute. He rallied the remaining troopers and boarded their drop-ships. Within minutes, the clones were loaded on the aircraft, headed toward their comrades at the airfield. “Ok, the rest of you head back to base and report to captain Pelik” Nya noted. “Sergeant Hemmings and specialist Yann, you two stay with me.” “I will accompany you as well, if you don’t mind.” Morrin offered. “I think these force-wielders are no mere dark jedis. I sense strange auras in them, commander Moire.” “Alright. And please, just call me Nya, there are no ranks between us.” “Thank you, Nya. You may refer to me as Morrin.” --- [center][b]15 minutes later, in a lift headed down to Coruscant’s sub-levels...[/b][/center] --- The lift was a few blocks away from the destroyed turret. Thanks to specialist Yann’s guidance, the group completed their journey in short time. The lift itself, however, appeared damaged. Its metal frame was blackened from what seemed to be burn marks, but beside the surface damage, its controls were mostly intact. “These don’t look like electric fire,”specialist Yann examined. Samira Yann was a female Zabrak, a technical specialist sent by the CPF. “They are similar to improvised incendiary devices from the Westside Riots.” “Home made firebombs?” Nya asked. “Probably, though I haven’t seen Mandos use firebombs. I mean, they have flamethrowers on their wrists.” “Right," said sergeant Hemmings. "Chances are that the bottom dwellers weren’t so happy with their new guests.” “And no reason to assume they’ll be friendly to us either.” Nya reminded him. In the next few brief seconds, the Firrereo took in her surrounding from the elevator window. As deeper they went, less sunlight illuminated their path. The lower levels were dark and gloomy, with a couple of rundown alleyways dimly lit by holo and neon lights. “Morrin,” Nya suddenly remembered. Her squad managed to intercept a brief transmission from the CIS, some sort of creed broadcasted by the CIS field commander. “We got this from enemy comms.” Morrin listened as Nya’s datapad played out the transmission. It was a code, similar to his own jedi code. “There is chaos, and in it we find balance.” Morrin contemplated, “Just as I sensed in our foes, they have both light and dark side energies. Could be grey jedis, I remember master Yoda’s lecture on the unifying force...” He did not finish his thoughts before the elevator came to a sudden halt. The group stumbled by their abrupt stop and Nya almost lost balance. Looking out the small window, they have reached their deepest stop. Nya carefully pressed the green button, opening the door while shouldering her rifle. Beside her, Yann brought up her shotgun and Hemmings did the same with his sniper rifle. Morrin stood in the back, right hand on his lightsaber, ready but not activated.