Campaign on Abridon

Abridon a peaceful outer rim world, caught in chaos. The Republic Task Force having received intelligence attacks a Sith Enclave seeking refuge on the mountainous planet! Resulting in yet another planet being caught in the grasp of war and turmoil as battles rage across the fate of the planet as the Republic gain the advantage as Sith Forces pull into a full retreat, while trying to keep the Republic from stumbling onto plans of their secret weapon!

Lucina, Rorwoorr and Kast.

It was a beautiful day on Abridon, if you liked war that is. While normally this mountainous planet was quiet and peaceful, it was thrown into the fires of battle when a sith enclave reared it’s ugly head. Only two out of the four jedi who were dispatched to the planet were still standing and it looked like things were at their darkest. “Stay with me, please.” One of the jedi said, her voice was on the edge of tears as she tried to heal a Mirialan Jedi who had already left them. “Master, shes not responding to my healing.” The female said to the only other jedi with them a wookie.

The female jedi obviously, an apprentice had realized she was gone but she was refused to give up, it was only when a trooper came running up to them that she did. “Sir, the right flank on the front has caved. But we can use your help finishing them off.”

The greying Wookie had his hands over the body of a human Padawan, slowly the padawans breathing began to steady and he let out a brief grunt as he pointed to one of the other troopers who called in a medic, as the Padawan tried to sit up he put his paw on his shoulder. He would have spoken but such would be wasted when the Padawan did not understand Shyrii-wook. He sent a wave of reasurance through the force before turning to face the trooper, before he responded he turned to his own padawan.

[Have heart young one, she is one with the Force. Do not mourn her loss, keep yourself in the here and now. Focus on the task at hand. I need you, he needs you-] he pointed to the Padawan [and the others need you too. We shall send the body back to the temple once we have completed our mission here.] He unclipped his lightsaber from his belt as he stood up, his talk sounding like nothing but a group of roars, grunts and moans to the untrained ear.

[Inform the trooper to lead the way. We must be quick, less the Sith manage to escape and form on another world.]

After the talk from her master the female calmed herself and moved over to the padawan who was in a stable state, the trooper looked over at her expecting her to translate. “Oh I forgot. He said lead the way and make it quick.” She said, the trooper nodded at the girl and then to the wookie and took off running, her master in tow easily keeping pace with the trooper. The girl was alone with the screams and moans of those in pain and those who were dying, she healed all she could this time keeping her emotions under wraps she was able to mend bones and fix internal injuries, burns seemed to disappear with a mere hand wave from her.

She also seemed to have the doctors spirit to her as well, any trooper that needed a reassuring hand hold she was there for she was a smile in a fog of pain for many of these people, it was probably what caused her to care for these people so much is the fact that she got to see them at their worse and even in the worse of pain some still managed to smile as she comforted them, even those who knew it was time to die, died with someone who was a friendly face among all of the pain and suffering that war wrought. She questioned the siths motives and why they didn’t just have the good graces to die out she tired of the pain and suffering they’ve caused the galaxy and they should just go.

She finished her rounds in record time a smile still on her face as she saved a few good men today and that was worth it, exhausted and feeling drained she leaned against a crate of supplies waiting for her master to return with a successful mission and more wounded from the front.

---

As the wookie and trooper approached their destination, they came upon a small forward base in charge of coordinating the troopers on the battle line’s right flank. It was much less a forward base, and more a flat area in which surveillance and command equipment had been set up for the Task Force units to organize themselves. Several troopers stood on the lip of the flat overlooking the battlefield. They carried rifles at the ready, but the Sith forces had been steadily retreating, so they were considerably less cautious.

In the center of the forward base stood a Mandalorian mercenary, his burnished orange and olive armor plating standing out against the stark white armor of the Republic Troopers. While the white plates of the majority of the troopers in the forward base were clean and white, the mercenary’s armor was well worn, scratches and blaster scorches littered the faces of his armor plates. He stood over a holographic map display of the battlefield, staring at the image from behind his visor as a pair of troopers gave a report to him.

Zaheed noticed the trooper he had sent out return with a large wookie in tow, and waved away the troopers that were reporting to him. He picked up a datapad and made a swiping motion, transferring the data from the map display to the pad. Shouldering his rifle, he approached the wookie, eyeing him through his polarized visor. Whatever he was thinking, it was difficult to tell from behind the sealed mask of his helmet.

“Master Jedi,” Kast said plainly, as a way of greeting. “You appear to be short a padawan.” he continued, noting that Rorwoor’s padawan and translator Lucina was missing, as well as implying that communication between the two of them would be more of a one-way process.

“Reports from our scouts show that the Sith are retreating across most fronts, though we have made the most headway here,” Kast stated calmly, showing the Jedi Master the datapad, as he pointed at a spot near their current location.

“The troopers however, seem to have run into some trouble,” Kast continued, pointing at a single red spot in an otherwise clear sector of the map. “There’s a small fort at this location that the sith are holding, and appears to be giving the troopers a run for their money. I believe it to be a data-node or something of importance, as the Sith refuse to give it up, even as the forces around them retreat.”

“I sent an Assault Team to capture the fort a while ago, but we’ve lost contact. I requested back up before we send in another team. Thats you.”

Rorwoorr simply nodded at the Mandalorian before taking the datapad, there wasn’t much point in talking simply to not be understood. He moaned slightly at the datapad, being made for beings with much smaller, and less hairy, hands than his he had to hold it awkwardly just to push the buttons and see the screen at the same time. He looked at the data in question, it was obvious from the deployment that there was something here the Sith were holding onto. Something they were probably trying to destroy before retreating, he was surprised the mix-max band of mercenaries they had encountered so far as well as the occasional Sith acolyte hadn’t just picked up and left when the Republic ships arrived.

Though the Sith didn’t really follow logical training of thinking all of the time, being too clouded to emotion. He merely nodded, they had encountered a Sith Lord earlier in the mission so it was unlikely that there would be another one. He activated his commlink before speaking into it, [Lucina. Come to the command post, leave the medics with the wounded. We are going to need you for this part of the plan.] He turned his commlink off and waited, making it obvious that he was waiting to the mercenary so he wouldn’t just try and leave anyway.

Lucina had been enjoying her little break on the field of battle, when her commlink went off. Her master wanted her at the command post so she went she didn’t bother to reply to him as he knew she would come anyways. She rushed to the command post, republic troopers gave her a wide berth as she rushed passed and to the command post. As soon as she saw her master she was at his side, Mandalorians had always made her nervous. She had heard stories of how fierce they were in battle so she didn’t turn her back on the mandalorian either leaving her standing in a awkward position.

“You called master?” She asked her hands at her side but not very far from her lightsaber. She was tense but it didn’t show on her face, “Let me guess.” She said to both gentlemen “You need a translator?”

Rorwoorr looked at her, giving her a slightly insulted look that only his padawans and former padawans would even be able to read on the Wookies face. [You are much more important to me than that. I also need you to be impressed when I go deal with the Sith-] He handed her the datapad. [-They appear to be holed in, in order to protect some kind of building.]

After handing her the datapad he turned around, as if suddenly having a thought. [Though if you don’t mind I’d like it if you could tell our Mandalorian Friend to hold back. We shall see if we can convince the Sith to allow us entry into the fort and give themselves up. It is the right thing to do.]

Lucina nodded to her master. “He wants you to hold back so we can try to convince them to surrender.” She said to the mandalorian

“Surrender?” Kast repeated, a slight tinge of disbelief in his otherwise even voice. Even from behind his blackened visor, the Jedi could sense his skepticism. “Its not going to work.” He said to them, in a plain, almost definitive voice. The helmet turned from the human padawan to the wookie, then back to the padawan.

The Mandalorian eventually shook his head and shrugged. “Alright then, you’re the boss. I’ll hold the Assault Team back.” He said, waving at a team of troopers on speeders as he walked their way. “As soon as the blasters start firing- and they will start firing- I’ll move in with the Assault Team to assist.”

A trio of Task Force Troopers flew next to them on speeders and dismounted, running back in the direction of the rest of the team to pick up more speeders. Kast walked up to the nearest one and easily mounted the floating vehicle. He looked at the Jedi, well aware of their speed- and the wookie’s size.

“Would you lot care to walk, or ride?”

Lucina looked at the Mandalorian. “I think my master could run faster, but if he wishes to ride I will do as he says.” She told him looking into the visor, she shivered wondering what kind of person was on the other side of that helmet. Mandalorians didn’t even seem to be human to her after some of the stories older Jedi have mentioned.

Rorwoorr shook his head though what he said was mainly for Lucina. [We have to try, and offer them the chance to surrender or we are no better than they.] He felt her unease around the Mandalorian. [The Jedi and the Mandalorians have a strained relationship due to Revan and Malak and the resulting issues it caused. However they are brave and honorable warriors. Do not let the tales of few taint your impression of them all my young Padawan. Keep your mind open.]

He looked at the speeder bikes as they pulled up along side. [You may ride, I shall run along side. It will not tire me but you have much to learn Lucila, if it comes to conflict I would rather you be well rested than tired just trying to keep up.] Lucina nodded “As you wish master.” She said and hopped onto a speeder “You just kinda turn the handles right?” She asked looking around for somebody to answer her

“Have you never ridden a speeder bike before?” Kast asked her, somewhat surprised. His normally flat voice picked up a small inflection of amusement in this.

“I’ve never had to ride on a speeder before because my master is normally too big for this kinda stuff so i just walk with him.” She said shooting a glare so sharp at the Mandalorian that it could cut through his armor

Ignoring her glare, Kast effortlessly sidled his speeder over next to hers, so he could reach over and point at the controls and explain to her.

“Squeeze the handles for throttle, push both forward to accelerate, and pull backwards on the handle in which ever direction you want to turn.”

“Okay.” Lucina said and she shot the Mandalorian a small smile, doing as he said suddenly she was shooting forward and on her way. Luckily the force gave her near perfect reflexes because she nearly hit a few crates and troopers. She was going full throttle. Because she didn’t quite know what what she was doing. She let out a loud whoop as she rode toward their mission.

As Kast watched the young Jedi speed off, he looked up at the large Wookie. “Maybe she should’ve ridden with a trooper.” Kast blinked behind his visor, what was he waiting for? A response from the wookie who couldn’t speak his language?

Looking back at the rest of the Assault Team, he gestured forward with his head. “Lets roll out boys.” Hitting the throttle, Kast zoomed off after the young Jedi, almost a half a dozen 2-man speeders and bikes following behind him.

Lucina saw the Mandalorian trying to catch up and she pushed the throttle forward more kicking up dust as she pushed the speeder to it’s breaking point. She was having a good time her whoops and hollers made her sound very much unlike the city girl she normally was. Maybe just maybe she had been spending too much time around her master.

They reached their location in record time thanks to Lucina’s speeding she pulled the thing into a sharp stop then sent her flying over the handlebars but instead of looking like an idiot and landing on her face she landed perfectly on her feet, she threw out her arms “Ta-dah.” She said to everyone.

Kast and the rest of the Assault Team pulled up behind her not soon afterwards. Some of the troopers seemed a bit shaken, obviously not used to trying to keep up with the Jedi. Kast looked at the Jedi from beneath his visor and nodded, more to himself than her. She had succeeded in impressing him. Granted, she almost killed herself, but impressive nonetheless. That being said, Kast felt more comfortable in the presence of the more powerful- likely more sensible- Wookie Jedi Master.

Kast dismounted the speeder bike, along with the rest of the team, and approached the Jedi. The Assault team consisted of about 12 troopers. 2 of them held long range blaster rifles, and another pair held heavy repeater rifles. The rest carried some carbine blasters and thermal detonators.

Rorwoorr, forcing himself to keep running used the Force to keep him rejuvenated. Years of training both his mind and his body allowed him to keep up with the Speeder bikes over the distance, or more or less. He couldn’t quite catch up with his reckless padawan but at least she was enjoying and appreciating the outdoors, even from a speeder bike that was likely to cause her imminent death.

Upon arriving with everyone else he looked at the others, nodding at them before moving up to his Padawan. [Showing off does not suit you young one, especially when you didn’t mean to do it in the first place.] He kept walking past towards the fort. [Have your lightsaber ready, and inform the troopers to wait here. Until told otherwise.] He kept walking right up as close as he could get, he could already sense several weapons pointed right at him.

[In the name of the Jedi Order and the Galactic Republic, lay down your weapons and you will not be harmed.] He waited for Lucila to translate, and a response.

---

Kast sat on the ridge and watched as the Jedi walked towards the Sith fort and attempted to make parley. This ridge was one of the only positions of cover between them and the fort, and Kast could already spot the bodies of several troopers lying in the flat land- likely members of the first team he had sent in previously. The ground in front of the Sith fortification was flat, scorched earth; blaster impacts pockmarked the ground, and the air was tinted orange and black from various flames that wafted from the wreckages of Republic speeders.

Kast pulled out his rifle and peered into the optic, several of the troopers around him following suit. His optic found the head of what appeared to be a Sith Acolyte, his red light saber illuminating his face. Resting the dot of his crosshair in the center of the Acolyte’s helmet, Kast lifted a single hand to the rest of the team, never taking his eyes off the scope.

“Hold fire until my command. Lets see how these Jedi work.”

Lucina translated for her master “In the name of the Galactic republic lay down your weapons and nobody will come to harm.” She said flatly, she felt nervous scared even but she kept her face calm and stared without a hint of emotion at the sith positions. She kept her light saber in reach but unactivated.

Both padawan and master didn’t have to wait long for a response, a tall dark robed figured walked out to greet them. The figure gave off an aura of dread and malice but was even more disturbing was the figure it dragged behind it. It threw the tortured trooper in front of the two jedi, the poor bastard had been tortured so much that he didn’t even look recognizable. “It should be you who surrenders.” The robed figure said voice as cold as the grave “But.” He continued “I’m not going to give you that option all batteries fire at will.” Sure to his word the batteries locked onto the Jedi and started firing. Lucina drew her saber and went to charge this figure, anger and sadness taking hold but she didn’t even get a hit off before the figure turned around and sent her flying with a force push.

Soon every sith they had left was opening up on the jedi trying to hit both master and padawan. Lucina dove for cover and started shouting into her commlink “We can use some help negotiations didn’t go as planned, so you know do what you do best.”

“Already on it.” Kast replied coldly through the commlink. He pulled the trigger and a trio of laser blasts screamed towards the Sith Acolyte. The Acolyte effortlessly blocked the first blast with his saber, but had not expected the second two blasts to follow it. The two follow up blasts hit the Acolyte in the face, and he flew to the ground. Kast didn’t have time to check if the Acolyte had died, as energy blasts flew towards the ridge in response.

Slinging his rifle and pulling out his blaster pistols, Kast yelled to the troopers. “Alright Assault Team, do what you do! Move!”

--

Rorwoorr felt the push coming and ducked to the side as his Padawan went flying backwards, stretching out with the Force he ensured that her landing was soft as his right arm moved to his belt and unclipped his lighsaber, feeling the familiar wood of the woshyr tree on the hilt he ignited the emerald green blade. He stood straight as tall as he could, he had wanted to manipulate plant life on the side of the fort to create a bridge for the troopers to use however they would just have to either go through the front gate or make a new path. He let out a roar, that would typically be the chieftans job in battle however he was the closest thing right now. If Lucina message didn’t indicate to them it was time to attack, that certainly did.

Looking at the trooper he turned to Lucina [Lead the assault on the fort. I will catch up with you once I am done here.] Lucina protested “But master I have no idea how to lead a battle, you do what if i fail.”[The mercenary will prevent you from wasting any lives. I will be along shortly.] He looked menacingly towards the Sith, whose Aura in the dark side was far stronger than that of those he had faced earlier. Obviously this was the head honcho, and Lucina wasn’t quite ready for that battle. Lucina nodded she knew what her master was going to do, “May the force be with you master.” She said and charged headlong through the blaster bolts into the midst of the sith ranks.

Following behind her was Kast, suspended in the air via his jetpack, dual blaster pistols firing in his hands. Meanwhile, the Assault Team steadily advanced, splitting into three groups of three, while the two snipers and a machine gunner fired from the ridge. The groups would alternatingly advance, two groups laid on the ground and provided suppressing fire while the third group charged forward in short, 5 second sprints. The barrage of blaster fire kept the sith who poked their heads up busy, allowing the teams to steadily approach the front of the gate with minimal casualties. The presence of the jedi- much more valuable targets than mere troopers- may have had an effect on their survival rate.

Lucina wasn’t good at saber combat but she caught them off guard with a force push that knocked a few over and the epicenter of the push sent a few sith flying into walls and doors or just careening off. She waved the troopers forward but was met half way through by what appeared to be a sith apprentice, a student just like her. They stared at each other sizing each other up one waiting for the other to make the first move. He moved first his crimson saber clashing with the padawans green. He was quick and skilled with a saber and had her on the run.

Saber clashed with saber sparks went flying, in that moment all that existed to Lucina was herself and the acolyte, at the moment he had the upper hand and things seemed dark, his saber strikes were like hammer blows and soon she was on the ground trying to protect herself, she brought her left hand up and sent another force push out the acolyte had been too focused on killing her to counter it and went slamming into the ceiling of the base and back to the ground unconscious. “Someone should tie him up.” She said as several troopers stormed into the gate.

The surviving troopers formed a defensive perimeter around the Jedi and her downed foe. There were still plenty of Sith forces in the fortress, and the troopers occasionally fired down the hallways and took cover, but their location was for the most part secure. Kast had since landed, and walked calmly, almost casually into the gate, firing one of his blaster pistols to the side, catching a charging soldier in the neck and sending him to the ground. Kast walked up to the Jedi to examine her handiwork.

Sure enough, the acolyte she was fighting had been the one Kast had shot, his helmet bore scorched puncture marks from blaster shots that didn’t go all the way through. Though Lucina had requested someone to tie him up, Kast paid no attention. Instead, with an armored boot, Kast casually pried and kicked the Acolyte’s mask off. The Acolyte was a human, pale and ashen faced from being behind his mask for too long. The Acolyte was breathing hoarsely, likely from a combination of Kast’s sniper blasts, as well as his defeat at the hand of the Jedi Padawan. Kast leveled his pistol at the Acolyte’s head and shot the sith once between the eyes.

“No point in keeping the small fry alive.” Kast said simply, “He doesn’t know anything other than what his master tells him.” Pausing, Kast reached down and picked up the Acolyte’s lightsaber. He thumbed the the activation switch and held his arm out as the crimson blade shot out of the saber hilt. Kast gave the saber a slow, controlled swing before deactivating the blade and hooking the hilt up to his belt. “I don’t have a red one yet.” Kast commented nonchalantly.

Scurrying along the streets of Virgillia 7, a planet not too far from a battlefield. The young boy, a sith apprentice being the only status he could identify with, looked pass the unyielding clouds above and towards the mass of deathly ripples in the cosmic distance. It was a meeting of energies that he felt now, something that he had been sensing since hi-jacking a small cruiser and making his way to this new location. Tossing back the hood of his dark earthen robes, black being too... obvious in his opinion; Naraal turned to look over his shoulder, to peek and see if anyone was following him. Since leaving his master it had become a subtle and repetitive action of his.

I want to go to the center of that disturbance. Feel the death, pain, and fear up close... take it all in, He thought to himself, feeling the dark side prod at his body. It wasn't quite the same as when his master conjured it but it was good enough, he could feel it just out of reach of his fingertips. If he so chose too, he could take hold of it. Though it would do him very little good, his powers were still infantile and fickle.

I must learn on my own for now. Learn through conflict, He told himself, repeating his master's last words. Until then, it should be okay to search through this colony for some semblance of fun. Even still, with that train of thought in his head, he couldn't help but ponder how a sith was too have fun without being exposed for what they were. His master had not taught him many crucial things, whether on purpose or because of a lack of time Naraal was not sure. He doubted that even if his master wasn't pressed for time that the being would had delved straight into the greater portions of the dark side.

Pausing to simply check out his surroundings, Naraal stood amongst a crowd of others; beings of various races walked idly by, speaking in grunts of both elegant and brutish languages that he didn't understand. It would be his undoing to land in a sector of the colony that housed little to no basic-speaking beings. It wasn't until he started noticing the wondering eyes of the civilians did he silently remove himself. He was no better at blending in than a regular person, his features attracted far too much attention. Silver eyes against the stark contrast of his ravenous hair, pale skin hidden underneath loose yet tied robes; he was built like a willow tree, both sturdy and unnaturally skinny.

"How will I bend this place to my will, to better serve me and my desires?" he asked himself, traversing the small country town of Virgillia 7, the colony a rustic counter-part to its better predecessors. "It's conflict that my master wants me to experience, right?" A small smirk lined his pale lips as he looked up towards the disturbance again.

Sith Data Post, Abridon

The fortified bunker was alive with the sounds of battle as Sith forces made the Republic pay for every inch in rivers of blood. Standing in a breach within the wall was a purple blur that was turning the hole into an impenetrable bottleneck. Sela Kade held a grim expression as she deflected the rain of republic blaster fire back and the troops. Above her a squad of sith troopers were perched on the wall, picking off those that dared break from cover. For the last half hour the republic forces had come in waves, trying to force Sela and her squad out of the gap to no luck. Something was right this time around though. They were being more aggressive, even suicidal

Reaching out around them the young sith sensed a sudden shift in intentions. Flashes of the far side of the wall caused Kade to jump before her conscious mind registered the danger. She flipped over the stone and land in the midst of a republic squad just out of the breach's line of sight. It was clear she'd caught them off guard, the explosives being attached to the wall telling her just what they were doing. Sela raised her offhand blaster and put a clean hole through the forehead of the explosives handler, while deflecting fire from another commando that was quicker to react. Kade ducked allowing another blaster bolt to sing over her head. The smell of burnt hair assaulted her nostrils. Muscles coiled like springs, propelling warrior into the air and over the commandos head. Time seemed to slow for the Sith as she put down two more commandos with her blaster before landing on her feet several meters from the group.

By this time the remaining four republic troops had fully recovered from her sudden appearance and brought their blaster rifles to bare. Sela moved her lightsaber in a purple blur, sending heavy blaster fire in different directions. The encounter was drawing out to long, and once the assaulting troops recovered at the breach could manage to push through in her absence, She needed to end this now. Holstering her blaster Sela raised the now empty left hand and released a torrent of force lightning that threw one commando back into another. The sound of cracking bones from impacting the wall was loud to her senses. A commando with corporal markings on his armor took a step back in fear when the other two were thrown back. Sela threw her lightsaber with a force assisted throw, impaling him. With one more left Sela threw herself at him, knock him off his feet. Straddling his chest Kade once more pulled her blaster and unloaded the remaining power cell into his face.

The warm, wet, sensation of blood painted the sith's right cheek. Sela wiped it with her sleeve as she stood and retrieved her lightsaber. With force assisted sight Kade examined the explosives and removed it from the wall. That had been to close. It would have given the republic access to the interior and allowing them to flank the sith defensive line. The republic was getting smarter, it would only be a matter of time before such tactics succeeded. And when that happened everyone within the bunker would die. It was time to ensure her continued survival.

---

Another hour of fight had continued to maintain the stalemate. The sith were to vicious to beat, but the republic was to numerous to be slowed. But Sela could sense them. Jedi nearby. It wouldn't be long before they joined the assault and then the sith advantage would be nullified. Sela was a loyal member of the Sith, but she would never throw her life away for a plot of land. She was a creature of survival, which was why she found herself in the bowls of the bunker. The door to the room was lockable from the outside which was perfect for her needs. On the floor was a set of shackles. This room had been used for interrogation in the past. Removing her gear Sela stood in nothing but under clothes in the dark. Igniting her lightsaber bathed the room in a purple glow. Taking a few deep breathes of preparation Kade turned the lightsaber in her hand and plunged the blade into her side.

A roar of pain escaped the girls throat. It left like a fire within that was burning her from the inside out. Pulling it out Sela turned it towards the job of give her several superficial cuts. When the job was done the sith warrior returned the lightsaber to her discarded gear. She stored them in a locker in the corner and broke the lock on it. Though the pain from the self inflicted wounds already ebbing the adrenaline from the last two hours was fading, bringing every ache and pain to the surface. Turning to one of the walls Sela took several more breathes before running at it in full tilt. She did this several times, making her face and bloodied and broken mess. Satisfied with the tortured damage she'd inflicted on herself Sela limped to the shackles and secured herself. With everything else complete Sela clamped down on her force presence and waited for the Republic to storm the bunker and find her.

Sentinel Airus Hollows, that's who he was not Airus Shame of the Council or Hollows failure of the order, he was a Jedi knight now attached Taskforce Episilon 217. He was only doing this for what the Council had promised him, he had heard a few other Jedi would be serving among them along with mercenary's and Mandalorian's should be interesting he thought.As the ship shuddered he could feel the presence of the troopers with him, all them veterans under the command of recent attachment, him, they had been sent to Abridon to reinforce those already here, the pilot up front well he was happy, he was craving action. Airus though? He was willing to fight, to defeat those given completely over to the dark side he did not crave but battle but he understood it, his task today was to lead reinforcements to aid Taskforce teams securing intel. As the ship came in low to the ground a just outside of the Sith's compound he nodded to the men they all stood up the eight troopers with him securing there jump-packs, one time use jet-packs for getting to the ground fast. The blast doors opened, the rush of wind greeting Airus who spoke to the men "May the force be with you" and with that he jumped. Airus focused now was not the time to mess up a basic bit of Jedi training, he could feel the ground below approaching he channeled the force and released it, his body slowed immensely, however he had done it slightly to early when his legs hit the ground it was not soft like it should have been, it hurt. However he was still proud he had managed the landing intact he raced forward with the troops in at his side joining in the fight for the compound.

His acute force sight allowing him to dodge incoming bolts, he didn't bother blocking them focusing solely on meeting up with the main force, the first Strong force presence he sensed was of a Jedi and Sith ahead. The Sith presence was weak and by the time he made his way to where he felt it emitting from he could only feel the Jedi the Sith had been returned to the force. He also sensed a highly experienced soldier, no not a trooper a Mandalorian only they were bold enough to take a Light-saber from a still warm corpse. He turned his head slightly as if looking at the Jedi nearby, her force connection was strong. Strong enough that he had spotted her from a distance, nodding to her "Sentinel Airus Hollows, I'm here to reinforce your position and ensure the defeat of the Sith." He said calmly hoping she would not recognize his name from idle gossip at the academy.

Crusade. Such a strange name for a Sith Lord, granted that most of them had pretty weird names when push came to shove. It really didn't matter at all though - he held some position of power above her and she needed to climb up another rung of the ladder. She had to please him, and clearly he wasn't in the mood for some rowdy after-hours action so she would have to please him with her abilities. Jailee thought him to be a strange character, of sorts; although she hadn't had much contact with him, from what she could tell, he was an extremely hard man to please. His arrogance was enough to make her feel that if she did garner his trust, he would hold her in a place of power or at least allow her to get a little closer.

She didn't even know why his power attracted her in such a way - maybe it was because of the fact that she hadn't seen a Sith Lord in years and this one exuded so much power it made her tingle. That was probably it, but either way, the young Sith had quite a good plan for getting his attention and holding it, it just required a fair amount of pain, suffering and a good few betrayals on her side.

Jailee's plan was so deceptively simple that she thought it would be able to be seen through very easily. She was already present when Crusade was torturing the last survivor of the first Republic assault on their fort so, when he was done availing of the fort's prison and numerous tools of torture, Jailee conveyed her demands to the old torturer, who was cleaning his equipment. He was very hesitant at the start, under the belief that if he harmed her, her instincts would take over and she would use the force to rip him asunder. She had control of her abilities.

She was quite proud of her body and her confidence was almost to the point were it could be described as overbearing. So, she had no problem stripping away her armour and letting herself be shackled to the ceiling, half-naked. Jailee couldn't say she wouldn't enjoy it if she was with another, or at least someone more appealing than the old fool who was almost dripping with hunger. He knew his limits though, and only looked, knowing that inappropriate hands would end badly for him. "Hurry up and make me look battered, you fool..." She spoke down to him, willing him onwards as he lifted a particularly nasty looking vibro-blade.

Her master had always taught her that with the force, a Sith can ignore any pain inflicted on them but she couldn't say she shared that skill. Despite closing her eyes and beginning to meditate, every slice brought forth a new flood of pain. She knew that her little body would have a few more scars but she didn't mind it so much - one day, she would never need to try and claw her way upwards. No, on that day, she would be high above the rest and she could do as she pleased.

The torturer seemed jittery after he was done with the blade. She seemed near unconsciousness on the exterior but she was really just channelling her ability to dampen the pain a little. "Go on..." She urged and he hesitantly did as he was told.

When he was done, she looked like a thoroughly damaged soul - it was exactly what she wanted. She was covered in fresh cuts and bruises and she knew that she could easily pass off as a victim of the Sith war-machine. She had time to rest herself as she instructed the hungry-eyed man to leave her be and in this time, she thought over her plan quickly before preparing herself for battle.

Just as she expected, a short while later the compound exploded into a firefight between the assaulting Republic force and the heavily-entrenched Sith garrison. She could sense the presence of Jedi and it was then that she used up all the focus she had augmented, concentrating it into a thick barrier between her core and the all-seeing eyes of the force. Once the barrier was there and she could feel it, she worked about covering it in a camouflage so her enemies could be more-easily deceived. Finally, even a Jedi that was well-versed in the force would find it nigh-on impossible to prove that she had any dark intents within her.

Thankfully, it was then that she picked up on the young girl entering the fort. She was Jedi, it was clear to Jailee. When she felt the presence of the young acolyte leave her senses, she knew he had been killed but she also knew that the young Jedi Padawan had not slain him. That foul deed had fallen into the hands of someone she really should have expected - a Mandalorian.

Jailee tracked their progress the entire way and only broke off when she felt them drawing close to where she was. The torturer was on edge, clearly confused about where he should have been and what he should have been doing. His life was meaningless to her, he was a pawn in her plan to infiltrate the Jedi ranks. As soon as the troopers turned the corner and came face-to-face with the old man, she reacted quicker than they ever could have hoped to. Swinging forward, she wrapped one leg around his shoulders and another around his head, before pulling the two in opposite directions and snapping his neck with ease.

Breathing heavily, she allowed his limp body to fall away as she cast her vision up to the young Padawan. The girl was weak to her emotions, Jailee could feel it - the Jedi would undoubtedly feel something about the dripping blood and her damaged body. She didn't speak a word to them, just hung freely on the shackles as she waited for the eventual aid to arrive.

The swirl of hyperspace did not bother Pax Gerrig nearly as much as the vast emptiness between systems. He sat alone at the command console of his small intersystem shuttle, A Little Luck, and double checked his navigation calculations as a nervous habit. The cockpit was small enough to be a coffin and the air smelled recycled and stale.

“At least it’s only another twelve hours,” he spoke to the integrated astromech droid. He decided to spend the rest of his time prior to landing looking over intelligence reports, eating his ship prepared meal, and sleeping in his cot in the cramped cargo hold that doubled as a cell when he transported suspects. “I mean look at this stuff. There’s not a whole lot that would make the Sith want to take this system. There has to be something more going on.” The astro droid chirped an affirmative response. “And here I am talking to the damn droid.”

It had been close to 36 hours since Gerrig had slept. The day before ended up filled with reviewing data and preparing himself and his gear for the days ahead. As much as he hated saying it, he could not sleep because he was excited to join the Taskforce. It had been a while since he tracked down a Sith and he missed doing what he did best. Gerrig had become synonymous with ‘justice’ among RepSec officers in the core. The only part he dreaded about arriving on planet was working under the Jedi. Master Rorwoor had been assigned to the Taskforce and Pax was to report to him along with his commanding officers and RepSec Intelligence.

“Wonder if the smug bastard will even understand Basic,” he mused to the droid. A message appeared on the screen asserting that Jedi were guardians of justice. “Yeah we’ll see about that. Never liked ‘em. You know the story of Taris, right?” As he finished his sentence, a frosty steel ball of fear settled in his stomach. Slowly, afraid to see what he knew was not there, he turned his head. Out in his periphery he saw his wife.

“You’re not real! I saw you get killed. You weren’t on the ship. I checked before we left!” He spat the practiced words without effect. She still stood there, silent and watching, as he fumbled in a bulkhead compartment for his injector. “What do you even want? You just stand there!” He loaded the cartridge into the injector and put it against his arm. As he pressed the cold nozzle against his forearm he risked eye contact with the apparition. Her eyes poured sadness and regret into his soul. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “You’re just not real.” Pax pushed the button on the rear of the stylus injector with his thumb to flood his system with sedative. As soon as he looked down to activate the injector she disappeared from site.

Groggily, he stood and searched the small interior of his ship to ensure that her ghost had not hidden somewhere. He sat and cleaned his carbine in silence. After, he donned his armor and helmet and lay down on the cot. He checked the chronometer on his forearm to see that his mania had only lasted 12 minutes. Only 11 hours and 48 minutes until Abridon. Pax Gerrig flipped down the visor to seal himself in his climate controlled shame.
“I love you,” he whispered. “I really miss you.”

"I'm not telling you anything, scum" The trooper sneered from his position on his knees, his face was bloodied and bruised, his nose bent in an unnatural way. His breathing was rapid, with every breath his bloody mouth could be seen, several teeth missing from apparent repeated beatings.

"You should tell me."

"You think that will work on me? We've been trained to resist mind tricks. I'm not telling you, anything, period." A smirk appearing on his face.

"That is unfortunate." Kadan Vicitius replied, standing behind the soldier, his voice calm but unsettling, he was cloaked in a dark robe, arms folded over each other, a curved lightsaber hilt hanging from his belt.

"It doesn't matter, you would kill me anyway if I did actually speak."

"It would've saved you from a less painful death, now nothing can stop that." The Sith replied, a smirk appearing underneath the hood covering his head as he said the words, then his hand flinched, the lightsaber unhooking in the air and going up to the hand, his twisted fingers grasping it, one on the button to ignite the blade.

"Do your worst."

"I can try," As the lightsaber was ignited, the trooper letting out a nervous blink as he heard the sound. He then leveled the lightsaber at the trooper's midsection, then slowly slid it into the body, the flesh burning as the blade sliced through. "I can stop when you want me to, just tell me the information I need." Kadan said, almost whispering into the trooper's ear.

"Scr-rew you."

"You're really that committed to them, are you? Willing to die an excruciating death for them?" The Sith spoke, his voice persuasive with a taunting tone to it. The captured soldier did not reply as the blade was in the center of his body, Kadan still moving it. The trooper still alive, but he could feel the man near the breaking point, which was reached when the soldier let out a pain filled scream as Kadan nearly finished.

Kadan sped up the blade, completely bisecting his poor foe, then finished the man off with a stab through the chest. As he turned off his weapon he moved through the base, chatter of the Republic breaking through appearing in his ears, he would need to get out there and aid in the battle, hopefully take down some of the Jedi fools along the way.

He emerged to watch the Republic break through, through the Force sensing Jedi, his eyes scanning the scenario, finding them, he needed to find a moment to strike, even he with all of his strength could not survive getting surrounded by Republic lackeys all while dueling with a Jedi. His thoughts moved to where the escape ships were located in case he was indeed overmatched, then he knew the route to take in order to get away and fight another day. His thoughts interrupted by four Republic soldiers apparently noticing him, their crude blasters leveled.

He sprung into action, his lightsaber in his hand in a flash, the weapon ready for war as he leaped above them, landing behind the troopers, he stabbed backwards and satisfyingly felt his weapon make contact, slicing through the foe like he was a pillow. The three others looking in surprise as Kadan moved to his next target, raising his weapon to deflect a blaster bolt, then to take another swing which chopped one of the trooper's arms clean off. Two left.

He jumped forward, then swung to his right, stabbing through the chest of one of the soldiers, one left, his blaster raised, wildly squeezing the trigger, Kadan blocking the bolts which actually posed a threat to him. He rose a hand, picking the soldier off the ground with the Force, then motioned the hand forward, sending the trooper flying forward towards the entrance, a scream emitting from the man as he slammed into the hard ground. Kadan discarding his cumbersome robe as the man flew, now down to his preferred combat clothing.

Kadan moved forward, eyes focused on the next challenger, his weapon clenched tightly in his right hand, his mind focused. He could sense some remaining Sith soldiers falling in behind him, they needed someone to lead, without a leader they were quite mindless. He needed to make time for a retreat, the Republic had numbers, they would need to fall back, while he hated running from battle, sometimes it was the best option, but that was later for him.

Rorwoorr

The battle had quickly moved away from the fort, with some tactical use of the Force on Rorwoorrs behalf, using the Force to push his foe they had ended up nearer the eastern wall of the compound. He could still sense Lucina inside however she was beyond his control now, he had to focus on what he was doing. The red and green blades clashed as he brought round for a high arc down, before bringing his blade down low in a feint attack. The Sith didn't fall for it and instead blocked his blade as he moved it suddenly for the real attack. He grimaced slightly, it had been too long since he had been in a real lightsaber battle. While the Sith had had enclaves all over the Galaxy recently the calibre of the Sith, and the frequency of enclaves had grown significantly. Something he would need to inform the council off.

He jumped back as the red blade passed too closely to his chest, the tip of the blade blackening his chest plate armour. He turned around in a full arc bringing the blade to blow. When it inevitably contacted the Siths inches from his face he moved his hand up underneath hitting the Sith in the stomach, using all his strength and the Force. The red blade was dropped, and turned off automatically and he brought the but of the lightsaber down on the back of the mans head as he fell. Grabbing the unconscious Sith by the back of his neck he dragged him into the compound and threw him down at the feet of the troopers and walked to where Lucina, Kast and another Jedi stood. [That's one problem dealt with. Lucina, Kast. Head down to the lower levels of the bunker and find any prisoners and any Sith that are hiding out.] He pointed to the other Jedi, hoping he could understand him though if not Lucina was always there to translate.

[You, take the upper levels near communications and I'll take the main level where the data core should be.]

---

The Hásk dropped out of Hyperspace above the planet, turbolasers firing at the nearby Republic ships that had not been expecting a Star Dreadnought to turn up, mainly the riff raff pirate forces he typically sent to such ventures. However this planet had too much information in order for him to simply leave it as it was. He closed his eyes and let the Dark Side flow through him, pouring it at the minds of his men spurring them on, increasing their effectiveness and bringing fear to those who would stand against him. He was almost tempted to laugh, even the weakest Jedi on the planet would be able to sense his presence now.

Though even then they wouldn't understand the full might that he had gathered, nor his plans for the Republic and the Jedi Order, Though there were tasks that first needed completed, and first he would have to see who was worthy enough to serve him by surviving this Republic assault. "Charge the megalaser and target the datacore. Do not fire yet." The commander of the vessel bowed. "Yes, Lord Crusade."

Naraal sat on a small starship with his hood pulled off his head, a farce smile beaming at a barely laughable joke from the girl beside him. Her dark hair fell to her back in straight waves, her brown eyes were warm and innocent. He had convinced this family of two -a mother and her daughter- to allow him to travel with them. Though the initial idea had been to play pitiful and weak, it quickly changed upon noticing that the daughter was near his age. He tugged at her heart-strings until she was just infatuated enough to help him in his campaign to board with them. Of course they had to pay for a extra passenger but he could care less about their credits.

Even now, he could still feel the conflict rippling from a certain planet not too far away; its death and pain latching itself onto him.

"Keskin is okay but I prefer the rural life on Virgillia. It has a very quaint and beautiful aspect to it," spoke the girl, her arm firmly wrapped around Naraal's own.

"Now, now Maria, please remove your arm from his. Don't pester him all day," Her mother intervened with a gentle tone. As the daughter unwound her arm from his, Naraal believed that that would had been the image of his own mother were the roles switched. But then he remembered the greedy contortions that was the last visage he had of her, and the ship shook just a bit from a leak of the dark side inside of him.

The mother and daughter grabbed the seats in front of them before hearing the pilot chime in from the cockpit. "Sorry everyone, a unknown turbulence came out of nowhere. I'll be perceptive of these from here on out." It was but a moment later that Naraal had reigned himself in and wrapped his fingers in Maria's stealthily. He smiled at her as she turned in surprised then oddly enough, turned her surprise into joy far too quickly. "It scared me a bit, I hope that doesn't happen again," whispered Maria, her gripped tightening further.

"Me too, that's why I'm happy I had someone beside me," He told her.

She giggled, unknowing of Naraal's dark plans for this ship. It would be a mess, of that much he was sure. But if he was to get to that battlefield, then he would need to commandeer it. And that meant by any means necessary. Even if it means... death for you all, He thought, still feigning a smile to the flirtatious Maria.

Airus nodded to the Wookie issuing orders and sprinted into the tower drawing both of his yellow blades he blocked shots and cut down the troopers, however as he finished off the last one he froze, a dark wave of energy washing over him, it almost clouded his perception but he moved forward pushing through it he felt unnerved. Sith battle meditation he thought as moved up the stairs silently climbing high towards communications array. It must be battle meditation nothing else could do this he thought catching a glimpse of a Sith soldier brutally tackling a republic commando and the Sith trooper grabbing the poor commando's rifle gunning down to other Task force troops before firing three more times at the beaten troop he had just tackled, he was picked off by a sniper but the enemy had gone suicidal. He turned as he reached the top of the tower both his sabers in hand as he looked around the communications control room.

Lucina stood facing Kast, she raised her hand and the lightsaber floated away from him to her. "This is not a trophy or a toy." She said a hint of annoyance in her voice, "And jedi do not kill unarmed prisoners." She continued a scowl appearing on her face, that scowl remained until her master arrived. "That was quick master." She said and that's all she said as her master gave them their orders. She sighed loudly as she and Kast were once again assigned to each other "Master Rorworr says you are to come with me. Try not to shoot anymore unarmed prisoners this time." She told the Mercenary, the short jedi trying her best to be intimidating to the mandalorian but it was kinda hard when she had to crane her neck to look him in the eyes at least where his eyes would be in his helmet.

The jedi stared the mandalorian down for a few seconds before turning around and walking off, not caring if he was following or not she made her way into the lower levels cutting through doors if she had to, she came upon one interrogation room that held a female in it, she was stripped down to her under clothes and a dead body lay at her feet. She checked the torturer to see if he was still alive, he was dead but this prisoner was still alive. "Did you do this?" She asked as she freed the girl from her shackles, when the girl was freed Lucina gave her a wide berth as something seemed off "What unit are you with?" She asked another question not bothering with the one she already asked.

Kast casually snatched the lightsaber out of the air as it floated away from him. "Its a tool. I have use of tools." He said nonchalantly, clipping it once again to his belt. "And you're right. Jedi don't kill prisoners. I'm no Jedi."

Kast watched as Rorwoorr brought another unconscious Sith into their presence. This one was obvious the dead Acolyte's master. Likely not a particularly powerful Sith on his own, he still must have had some skill to command several Acolytes. Pulling a pair of stun-cuffs from his belt, he quickly bound the Sith, quickly patting the man down for extra weapons and supplies on his person- other than a few insignificant trinkets, the Sith was bare. Like the Acolyte, Kast made sure to remove armored mask from the Sith, to facilitate an easy put-down if the Sith decided to get rowdy. Following this, Rorwoorr ordered Kast to accompany Lucina as she headed deeper into the bunker. She asked him to refrain from shooting more prisoners. Kast merely nodded.

"If they're prisoner's of the Sith, they're quite clearly on our side. If they're on our side, I won't have to put them down."

Entering the lower levels, Kast followed Lucina closely, both blaster pistols drawn and at the ready, pointing them down hallways and corners as the two walked past them. They finally came upon what appeared to be an interrogation room. Entering the room, they were greeted with quite the sight. Kast watched as the prisoner easily killed her torturer while she was chained up. Whoever she was, she certainly was not a mere prisoner. Kast kept his distance as Lucina approached and freed the girl from her shackles. Keeping his pistols at the ready, he leaned over to Lucina and voiced his opinions.

"She's not from any of the Republic Units, none of my Assault teams have females in them."

Kast slowly turned and scanned the room. Something was off. He kept his blasters raised, and for good measure, prepared the weapons on his wrist gauntlets.

Things hadn't gone exactly to plan but it had gone well enough. Thought Naraal as he sat in the passenger chair in the cockpit, his silver eyes glancing towards the nervous pilot beside him. She was a Twi'lek, her skin the palest of blues, her lekkus falling in front of her shoulders freely. She wore the standard garbs for space travel, a uniform that was unspecific of her allegiance and finger-less gloves.

"Was all this really necessary?!" she asked, her voice a bit shaken, her eyes barely daring to glance towards the force user. "I would have taken you there without all of this-this bloodshed!"

Naraal chuckled a bit, his arms hidden within his earthen -and now bloodsoaked- robes, his hood still pulled back. "Let the good times roll is what I say. What's the use in fretting over the past," He commented to her overzealous. It wasn't like he hadn't tried to convince the mother to calm down, her death was her own fault. And in the end, it was of use to him because of her death, the daughter had filed right into line, being dominated by his show and feeding his increasing hunger for the dark side with her fear.

He had never imagined this was how the brutes of the galaxy had maintained control over their captives. A show of malice, of sheer primal aggression, and she was purely frightened; suddenly everyone saw you as some greater being, a cut above the rest. It was no wonder that he was craving the dark side so greedily, he realized that the rush of power drowned out the hurt of betrayal. It left him with a numbness that felt like freedom.

That was an hours ago though, now he approached the epicenter of the ripples, the battleground that prodded at him on Virgilla 7. He had asked the pilot what planet it was, his curiosity filled with exuberance, one that he felt inspired some negative emotion in the woman.

"... Abridon," she answered after a moment of shock, staring out the cockpit window at the battleships in the near-distance. "A-apparently its the battlefield for a war. C-can we not get too close? or how about I just shoot you out towards the planet in a pod."

"Sure," He answered casually, leaving the cockpit and heading towards the very back of the craft to the pods. Once inside, he let the knife that he had killed the mother with fall from his hand. The Twi'lek had known he still held it, he could sense the perpetual fear resonating from her as he sat patiently beside her. It was much more nurturing than just out right killing her. It was like a endless supply of refined snacks.

Now, off to see what this battle is all about. the anguish is calling to me... or rather i'm drawn to it.

Jailee allowed her eyes to roam upwards, taking in the sight of the cautious young padawan and the rather stoic Mandalorian. However, that wasn't a surprise when it came to Mandos; their entire race seemed to be so serious and all about duty. Then again, that seemed to be pretty effective as they had spread out and absorbed enough colonies to fuel a small empire. That's why she hated them, of course, and that's why her people hated them as well. This one seemed to fit into the stereotype really rather well but she would have to gain his trust if she wanted him to hire her. There was no way the Jedi would do it themselves.

When she was asked the first question, she blinked slowly before staring down at the body and then back up to the young girl attempting to appear like she was in charge. When she did peer back up, she had one eyebrow raised and an inquisitive look in her eyes - it was very obvious that she had ended the man's life, the girl saw that when she entered the room. Sighing softly, she stayed silent while Lucina removed the shackles binding her. Despite being hung up there for quite a bit, her legs instinctively absorbed the shock of the fall and she was back on her feet in no time. "Yes. I killed him." Was all she offered as she looked over the young Jedi before back to her friend.

Turning and not answering her second question, Jailee moved further back in the room before ducking down into a cabinet and lifting out a heavy set of armour. She had been been trained in Thyrsian combat so the armour, which was quite scratched, suited her rather well. They had picked it up from a bounty hunter not long before, a Mandalorian bounty hunter at that though. Unlike the other armours they had collected, this one was purposely forged for a woman. "Of course I'm not from the Republic." She cut in, hearing him easily - most force users had heightened senses. "Most Republic units can't even kill with blasters, never mind their feet." After rolling her eyes once more for effect, she slipped the armour on before buckling it down and turning to them. "Right. Lead the way."

The enveloping swirl of light narrowed quickly in to pin point stars as A Little Luck dropped out of hyperspace. The remainder of the trip had been uneventful. Pax Gerrig even managed to get enough sleep to synch with the local-night day cycle of Abridon. From this distance the emerald forests and swirls of clouds on the cerulean planet spoke words of peace into the void of space.

“Looks like a nice place to visit,” he said to himself, but the astromech tootled a happy whistle. Pax rolled his eyes at the droid. “What do you think they have down there for food? I was hoping for some-“ Pax trailed off when he saw the Dreadnaught class cruiser pouring gouts of energy into Republic ships. Bright green and red lances of plasma lanced between the vessels as both sides scrambled to launch their starfighters into the fray. A savage smile burned its way from between Officer Gerrig’s lips.

“Astro droid, what is your designation?” Pax shouted over the adrenaline dumping into his veins. The letters T5-R4 flashed to the screen with a questioning chirp. “Well, Tee-five, todays the day you became a warrior.” He flipped the switch to activate his deflector shields. “I want you take control of the tail gun and blast any Sith fighter that starts tailing us. Also, start the arming process for the fusion torpedoes. I want two ready within the next thirty seconds and the remaining four ready to follow them.” The integrated droid sounded baleful in its new responsibilities but the words <Yes, master,> made their way to the display terminal. “None of this master bantha poodoo. Unlink the blaster cannons. I’m going to need rapid shots with those fighters.” <Yes, sir.>

He thumbed a button on the control stick and activated his helmet mounted mic. “Attention, Republic blockade cruiser, this is Investigator Gerrig. Requesting the remnants of your fighters to form up on me. I have an idea that just might save some of us.”

“Gerrig, this is… well I guess Captain Dalton now. Form up on Nexu Squadron over the remains of blockade cruiser Bastion while we jettison the pods.” Pax could hear the fear in Dalton’s voice even through the garbled comlink. “Transmitting the frequencies and transponder codes, Investigator.”

As his approach vector brought him closer to the cruiser, great gobs of what had been molten armor plating formed a cloud of debris. The broken spine of the cruiser erupted under another volley from the Sith Star Dreadnaught. A gout of flame and pulverized cots burst from what must have been the barracks. Almost instantly the fire died away and cots lazily flew past A Little Luck to be collected in some distant gravity well. Two of the original four Republic fighters fought desperately to contain the Sith and prevent them from blasting the jettisoned escape pods. As soon as Pax piloted his shuttle within range, T5 painted five targets on screen.

“Tee-five, select the two Sith starships closest to planet side and lock the torpedoes onto their signature. Nexu Squadron,” he rocked as a Sith cannon bolt grazed his forward shield, “engage the targets planet side. Keep a distance but light ‘em up with blaster fire.” A clicked acknowledgement keyed over the comlink as T5 began a 2.3 second countdown to weapons lock. The droid droned a low pitched hum, indicating that A Little Luck’s targeting sensors had locked on a split second before Pax trigger the torpedoes. Bright pink comets of energy traced their way toward the Sith fighters as they juked away from Nexu’s blaster cannons.

Pax Gerrig settled into the hunt and turned his attention to the next pair of fighters just moments before the torpedoes found their quarry. He bellowed predatorily as he settled into the hunt. “Nice shooting Nexu!” he keyed over the mic. More debris and energy pummeled his craft. “Just three more fighters to go before we can take the fight to that Dreadnaught.”

An immediate hush fell over the battlefield and the Sith Starfighters disengaged. A curtain of energy tore into one of the Republic Starfighters on his starboard flank. The second disintegrated in a vapor cloud with his port side stabilizer under fire from the Dreadnaught’s battlements. A cold lump filled his stomach as he became the prey. He pulled a tight turn and spun back to the planet. “Tee-five, shunt all energy to aft shields. Randomize a two percent adjustment to my evasive maneuvers until we get within two seconds of the atmosphere.” The same baleful moan from the droid filled the speakers in his helmet. “Contact Dalton, Rorwoor, or anyone else with the taskforce and find me a rendezvous. Things are about to get bumpy.”

Rorwoorr

Rorwoorr picked the Soldier off his feet, throwing him back through the row of troopers standing outside the door of what he presumed was the datacore by all the security he had just went through. He placed his hand on the door, trying to gauge the thickness. Stroking his paw up and down the sides trying to discover the weakest place to force his blade through the door, which would most certainly be deadlocked to prevent him lifting it with the Force. He could almost feel the scrutiny from the Troopers, and he couldn't blame them. The Jedi were still not the most trusted organisation in the Galaxy after what Malak and Revan had done. While Revan had redeemed himself in the eyes of the council it had been a risky move that could have resulted in an even greater threat to the Galaxy.

While that was all over now the legacy remained of the Jedi Civil War as many of those who had fallen from the path of light still lingered in the shadows. It had taken years to cleanse Korriban itself, especially with the destruction of many outer rim Jedi enclaves. He ignited his blade and plunged it to the bottom of the door and sliced along, cutting the seal on the door before lifting it up with the Force. Then, an explosion came from the centre. Rorwoorr forced his arms up to protect his face as he used the Force to push the troopers back, the explosion itself forced him backwards burning his fur as it did so, he could feel shrapnel piercing his body as he landed at the other end of the hall, and then he felt a dark presence.

Crusade

He smirked as the transmission from the datacore went offline, he then turned to the Captain. "Captain Roland."M'lord?""Launch the rest of the fighters, send two squadrons to chase our new friend who decided to fire upon us and send another to intercept the freighter. There is a presence aboard I find most intriguing attempt to get a tractor beam lock upon it.""and the remaining squadrons M'lord?""Have some detatch from the main force with the dropships to pick up any remaining Sith forces. I could not care less about the mercenaries.""Yes Lord Crusade.""and Captain, as soon as our forces are out feel free to make that fort go away.""Yes sir."

On the surface the communication went through, for a full withdrawal. All over the planet the Sith Forces got the message, and those that didn't already know of Crusade showed signs of fear.

The message was from the Emperor himself.

A tremor shook the pod that Naraal stood in, and he had the mind to believe it shook the entire ship as well. At first the youth believed the pilot or daughter to be pulling some idea of vengeance; the thought that they had locked him in had inspired a fresh rush of primordial anger, boiling the dark side inside.

He bent down and picked up the knife that he dropped before ripping open the door with the force. A current of static shrieked as the door jammed in its slider. Stepping out he looked over towards Maria; her face showed a degree of surprise and then noticing him... fear.

The girl posed no threat, he decided. Her body was still rattled with fear, her form physically shaking. So he moved on to the cockpit. “What is going on here? I thought you were going to launch me to Abridon.”

The Twi'lek's was busy at work on the console. “We're trapped in a tractor beam!”

He narrowed his eyes. Just the thought of Jedi possibly pulling him in made him worry. His master had mentioned that force-users could sense others like them. Are they coming for me? He told me not to get caught.

Grasping the back of the pilot's chair, Naraal leaned over the side of the woman; hoping that the dark side would lend him a hand in getting away. Unfortunately it only anchored him to a deep pool of malice, bringing to his attention the ripples that fed him. It had not been the battleground like he had thought, it was... something else entirely.

Fixing his silver eyes on the intangible thread that the dark side led him to, he placed his pale hand onto the Twi'lek's shoulder, relaying an unspoken order to cease her actions. “I think things are about to get interesting for me. Let's see where the ship takes us,” He told her.

“No!” she reproofed. “This is your fault! I won't be swept up in the whims of a chi-”

Silence cut through her words, followed by a spine-chilling gurgling. Naraal looked on coldly as a pool of crimson leaked from the laceration in the Twi'lek's throat. It took but a moment for her to become still, lifeless. “I'm not a child. I'm a Sith.”

With a sigh, he tossed the blade down between her legs before walking back out the cockpit and taking a seat on the opposite row ofthe daughter.That's three people now... I've killed three people since leaving my master, He told himself while reaching back and pulling his hood over his head. I bet I've made my mother proud.

Airus called a trooper over asking him for his helmet as the others finished decryption the everything in the comms station logs, he had just heard the most recent communication from a ship above... It had scared him A explosion rocked the station. Taking the soldiers helmet placing it his head, he opened a channel to all Republic forces in the area he spoke "Pull back, all force's pull back, we have the intel and the Sith are pulling out of the area... He waited a moment then added, "All Jedi please meet me at a shuttle outside I have critical intelligence I'll be waiting on a shuttle outside join me there." Airus and his troop sprinted back down the stairs, he could sense the darkness even stronger now and how much his men despaired at what they had just found out. He arrived at the shuttles telling his pilot pilot to wait five minutes before taking off order his troops to another shuttle he gripped the handle and waited... So the Emperor had commanded the retreat then...The Sith Emperor was alive and coming to take the Republic.

The escape pod shook violently as the cruiser began to turn into debris. Kelim'tel gripped onto anything he could as the pod began to smash into small pieces of debris, sending the pod spinning in different directions. Jedi were known for their bravery and Kelim'tel was no exception....but the thought of his pod exploding in space stuck to his mind as he breathed heavily. If anything, he was silently hoping he would die rather than be captured by some Sith Dreadnought. Suddenly, the pod began to go off course from Abridon and into deep space. Mounting the courage to stand up, he walked over to the pods terminally and began to manually try and target for the planet. "Damn it, come on..." He whispered to himself, but to no avail. The controls had been beaten up in the thrashing around with the debris and was heading for what appeared to be more.

Thinking swiftly, Kelim'tel began to move any debris from the direction of his pod. Luckily, the planets gravitational pull was bringing him in. His hopes began to rise as he entered Abridon's atmosphere. He meditated silently then, waiting for the pod to crash land onto the surface. "Please...please....you can do it..." Almost as soon as he found peace within himself, the pod crashed. It was a couple minutes before he was comfortable with coming out of the pod. As he stepped out, he coughed from the smoke, and looked around for any kind of fort or civilization that he could stay in. Latching his lightsaber onto his belt, he took a flare, and fired it out for any Jedi or Republic Troops in the vicinity.

Kadan had moved away from the fort, finding his cloak and sheathing his weapon. The Republic had overrun it, pushing back any Sith forces left, he barely got away as the least thing he wanted was to be captured by the scum, he had moved into a higher area, ducking behind a large boulder, his eyes scanning the fort, watching for any signs of reinforcements. The feeling of intense dark side power covered the battlefield, it had to be Crusade using his battle meditation. Kadan felt stronger, but not foolish enough to try charging back in and attacking the numerous Republic soldiers plus the multiple Jedi alongside them.

He was taken out of his thoughts as an explosion rocked the ground, likely coming from inside the bunker. As he looked over the fort his eyes wandered, noticing several Sith ships breaking through the sky, reinforcements, exactly what they needed. He prepared to go back into battle when a shuttle landed nearby, a soldier emerging from it, motioning for Kadan to come inside the ship, which he did, jogging over to it. He stepped inside, brushing by the soldier, as he took his seat in the shuttle. After a few moments the shuttle lifted off the ground, heading back into space. He could sense Crusade calling back his forces, he was interested to see what the next step in the leader's plan was.