[IC] Star wars: The End of an Era

[Mcmolly]

@Diabolic

"Darth hm? That's a fancy title, let's see if it helps you in battle," she said, and pointed to the wall once again. "If you're so eager to slaughter, come with me to the wall. While I'm busy getting a door open you can make sure any witnesses that might run off and spoil the fun don't get the chance to do so."

She started to move then paused long enough to look back at him. "My name is Willo Assay, that's all I claim." With that, Willo exited the shadows of the alley and began a quick yet sneaky trek towards the damaged wall of the temple. Ducking between dug up concrete and steel, it didn't take long to close the distance and size up the damage.

A frown found its way over her face, the crack wasn't nearly as large as she'd thought it was, and it didn't penetrate clear through. They'd need another way in, though she wasn't very well versed in hacking. It needed to be quiet, if they called too much attention to themselves the Jedi would mass around them like antibodies and they'd die against the wall.

"I don't suppose the darth has any ideas to get in," she said, not checking to see if he'd followed or not.

[Eschatologist]

"Gamma company this is Battalion Command. Special forces squad Kappa has been assigned to retrieve General Skywalker, some meters due south. Contact the Sergeant 4129 on frequency 143.8, over".

Battalion command's static-filled message ended abruptly, Whit's ears filling back to the brim with the screech of the blaster fire all around him. His company had been heavily engaged by a unit of commando droids, scrambling from cover to cover as they returned fire at Gamma. The company was doing well: their modestly fortified buildings [bunkhouses, one with a windfall armory in the basement] proving more than adequate protection from the spread out enemy fire, and the roaring heavy blasters doing solid work on the moving enemy units.

Dropping back from his firing slit, not much more than a fist-sized shrapnel-gouged hole in a wall, he keyed his radio to return the transmission.

"Battalion Command this is Gamma Company: 10-4, will comply, out."

Tapping his finger deftly on his wrist-computer, he tuned to this commando Sergeant's frequency.

"Kappa Squad, Kappa Squad, Kappa Squad, this is Gamma Company. We are interdicting enemy reinforcements, you have a window to advance to General Skywalker. Be advised, Dark Jedi forces inbound, expect melee contacts, over."

He cut his transmission, and resumed his fire on the commando droids, but was surprised to see their numbers thinning. It was troubling: their numbers should have been enough to try and force their bunkhouse. Just as his mind reached a hypothesis, it was confirmed with a transmission on his radio.

"Captain Captain Captain this is Gamma platoon, we have been engaged by numerous saber contacts. Requesting support, over"

Whit cursed. He had hoped the saber troops would focus on his more fortified position with Alpha platoon, or at the central Beta platoon, therefore in easy range of the other two fortified units. An attack on Gamma platoon was unfortunate, but not entirely unexpected.

"I read you Gamma platoon: Delta is on the way. Do not, I repeat, do not surrender defensive position, out."

Transmitting the reinforcement orders to delta, Whit prepared his own platoon for saber contacts, pulling a number of his soldiers off of windows and slits to mutually cover the open rooms of the bunkhouse. As if on cue, several of the windows facing away from the airfield burst inward, Whit vaguely recognizing black-robed shapes surrounded by charred, splintered wood and shattered glass.

The first dark jedi through the windows met an unfortunate fate. Three windows were entered by charging dark jedi, and three sets of anti-personnel mines exploded an instant later. One of the sabers fell, the other two blocking the flying shrapnel with the force. A second wave of mines caught them entirely off guard however, and the two more aware dark jedi were pasted against the back wall. Unfortunately for the clones, the next wave of dark jedi were not met by any such preparations. Five more dark jedi poured through the windows, and like a knife through butter the better part of a squad were sliced apart by burning red lines. The clones, to their credit, began firing in dissecting lines, managing to avoid friendly fire while catching several dark jedi in the crossfire. Whit, being across the room had a fair vantage point, and began firing into the melee too, and to his satisfaction he watched one of the sabers fall limp, and another withdraw out the window with most of their left leg scorched by blaster fire. The other three, evidently having learned lessons, focused less on reflecting the blaster fire back at the clones and more on flitting around the long room like supersonic, deadly honey bees, slicing another half dozen clone troops into neat chunks. Two of the remaining dark jedi stayed on the opposite side of the room, but one particularly perceptive rodian in the frayed black uniform dashed directly towards Whit, saber flashing wildly behind him deflecting the plaintive shots of his platoon.

Whit did not have time to think. In one smooth motion he dropped his long blaster and threw a grenade forwards, the blinking red light arcing through the air as the dark jedi closed on him. He began shouting 'frag!', hoping his gamble would pay off, but the dark jedi simply pushed the grenade back at Whit, who was grabbing his entrenching tool from the back of his belt. The grenade bounced off his shoulder and arced upwards and behind him, exploding not two meters from the back of the clone captain's head.

Fortunately for Whit, his almost petulant ruse had paid off, and the flashbang exploded like a tiny sun. The dark jedi, acting on blind instinct, lashed out at where Whit had been, the rodian's actions likely guided in some part by the force, but Whit had found that being permanently blinded by a burning white explosion tended to mar ones' focus, and after dodging the first strike Whit brought the entrenching tool down on the back of the recovering rodain's head, caving in the thin skull with a satisfying *crunch*, the poorly-force-guided parry off by more than a foot. With the crumpled body of an at least moderately more skilled dark jedi at his feet, Whit looked up to notice the frenzied battle on the other side of the room had ended, two black-robed corpses surrounded by, after a quick count, a dozen bodies in various stages of mutilation, the smell of charred flesh and bowel evacuation thankfully filtered out by his helmet. A report from the Lt informed the Captain that his count had been accurate.

It had not been a bad engagement. The playing field had been stacked in the clone's favor yet again, with good preparation and traps facing what appeared to be less-than-masterful dark jedi, but the losses were galling nonetheless: a third of a platoon wiped out in less than a minute was never something a commander should celebrate. He and his soldiers, following adrenaline-fueled instinct, took up their positions yet again, different clones replacing their fallen comrade's emplacements, as the commando's re-engaged the company just as reports of similar casualty ratios reached Whit from his other subordinates. He waited patiently for the special forces' reply, his mind busy trying to alter his plans to handle almost 25% casualties.

[Diabolic]

@Mcmolly *Hmmm* Sesran thought, "there is enough noise around here as it is, perhaps if we pull the wall apart it wouldn't be as loud compared to countless explosions and blasters. Other than that, I cannot think of another way in, perhaps upon splitting the wall the ceiling will crush the Jedi inside."

Sesran's plan was a little... lackluster, however there may have been no other way in besides this crack in the wall, seeing as the Jedi had already closed off most if not all entrances and exits.

"This may be our only way.."

[Eschatologist]

Skies over Coruscant, East of the Runway AO

Olvar raced through the clear skies, the familiar, comforting feeling of his slightly-vibrating ship enveloping him in his cockpit. His engines were throttled up, and as he raced to the barely-visible dogfight that more resembled a ball of yarn than a pitched battle he felt the giddy anticipation of combat, the adrenaline flooding his system, his heart beating faster than any time outside a cockpit. A tilt of his head brought his wingman into view, Ivan Krnov's sleek twin-engined fighter steady as a rock below his left wing, matching the supersonic speed with ease. In the distance, he could make out the silhouettes of Fifth Squadron, the pairs of craft in a loose formation.

Olvar had to admire the BB. Despite the truly awful name, it was an excellent craft: great acceleration, excellent armor and shields, and an armament surpassing anything the Pubs had on call. He was told they were bloody expensive, but he didn't get paid enough to worry about that: all he cared about was that the fighter could do work, and in this case it absolutely could.

As he approached the tumbling, buzzing ball of combat, he could begin to make out the shapes his targeting computer was highlighting. The six-winged ARC-170s chasing or being chased by what was left of 4th Sqadron's 22s. His body tensing for the imminent engagement, and as he watched a number of Pub fighters break off to engage the approaching squadron, he keyed his comms, broadcasting his baritone to every friendly fighter in range.

"4th squadron, this is Major Poplen with the 5th. Continue to engage and prepare for reinforcement. 5th squadron, engage on your own initiative. Good luck gentlemen, out."

As soon as he clicked off the comms, he picked his first target and made to engage. Some brave clone charging way out in front, probably looking to make a name for himself. Olvar could understand: downing an enemy ace was the dream of every honest fighter pilot in the galaxy, and the white-painted 22 he was in broadcasted who he was fairly clearly. Unfortunately for this brave clone, Olvar didn't plan on getting taken out by some nobody.

The clone pilot began to slow down in order to fire, and while this was no doubt the correct move against droids, relying on the textbook against sentient veterans would only get you shot down. Olvar gunned the engine, rolling slightly to dodge the oncoming ripples of light, and blew right past the clone, not bothering to shoot with the amount of turbulence and afterburner wobble. In his rear viewscreen Olvar could see the clone roll right and ascend, speeding back up, and Olvar knew the clone was toast. He used his speed to turn faster, and joined the clone in his ascent, square on the doomed fighter's tail. A squeeze of the trigger and the laser cannons on the 22 tore through the rear shields like paper, the rear gunner not able to fire once before being incinerated.

Unfortunately for Olvar, his after-kill high was interrupted by a pilot's most feared noise: missile lock. He began to evade, but quickly realized that he had a rare opportunity; the crippled Pub air defense had let Olvar keep his countermeasures stored up, and it was with great relish that he released the entirety of his stored backup plan, nearly fifty kilos of superheated shrapnel flying in every direction. A second later, the missile lock stopped its blaring. Olvar, not one to waste an opportunity, took advantage of the likely confusion the spray of blindingly bright metal caused his pursuer, and began to spin his craft in a barrel roll, reducing his speed dramatically. The pursuing pilot was no slouch, unlike his now-dead friend, and managed to join Olvar in his roll, falling into the deadly scissor dance. This was acceptable: he'd bet anything that he could out-fly a clone, and as he tightened his roll and began shaving off more and more speed till he was almost stalling, the ARC-170 came in front of him, a little too fast for its own good. Another squeeze of the trigger and the left wing exploded, the rear gunner landing a pair of grazing shots, easily deflected by the Olvar's shields, before the ARC tipped into a dive and span out of control.

A quarter of an hour later the fight was over, one more kill coming Poplen's way. 4th had taken nearly 50% casualties, 5th nearing 20%, and if first counts were to be trusted the republic were down the better part of three of its more seasoned squadrons, inferior pilots diced in inferior planes, without the comforting support of the massive AAA emplacements far below. It was by no means the last battle: clone air units would be pouring into the AO, trying to intercept the CIS' air support which was likely even now dropping munitions right on the heads of hapless troopers [and jedi, if lucky]. Returning to their patrol and absorbing 4th squadron, Poplen made his way slowly back to the runway's airspace, gaining as much altitude as possible and letting the computer do the spotting for him, trying to recover from the shakes and nausea that any honest pilot will admit to after a fight.

[Xyanthra]

Vishara Aashtii showed no visible concern as Master Varrik was whisked away by the Dark Jedi woman that seemed to radiate power. She could have attempted to stop the Pull, but she was interested in what information Master Varrik might learn of their enemy in their encounter. One could learn much about a person while in single combat with them. Instead, she was more focused on the Neo-Crusaders that were rushing toward the nearby defense turret, and the Dark Jedi that were heading toward her and Master Kiana.

Knowing that she and Master Kiana wouldn’t make it to the turret before defeating the black-robed figures, she reached out to Padawan Lenik through the link she had established earlier, saying, Young Lenik, you must do whatever you can to stop those Neo-Crusaders from destroying that defense turret. The safety of the Temple rests in your hands. She felt a response of acknowledgement, and turned her attention to the approaching danger.

Kiana watched Varrik get forcefully pulled toward the mysterious Dark Jedi woman. She could not sit idly by whilst the Seperatists moved further towards the temple... But the two of them could not take them all on alone. "Any good idea's?" she asked. She then noticed a few of them slowly moving to surround the two of them "At this point, a stupid one will do..." she mumbled.

Vishara kept her eyes focused on the five black-robed individuals surrounding them, red lightsabers flashing on. With slight movements, she adopted the graceful poise of a Consular ready for combat, and reached out to the other woman with her mind.

Master Kiana, we will have a difficult time fighting these five. I suggest you allow us to link together using Battle Meditation--with it, we can become as one in our movements and our thought. It will give us an extreme advantage, and will perhaps catch them off-guard.

I will warn you, in all of my years, that's one technique that's mastery has eluded me... But I see little choice. she replied

Their telepathic conversation only took an instant, and as that instant passed, the Dark Jedi pounced. Vishara stood still, calculating their movements, and engaging the Battle Meditation . Mistaking her stillness for fear, one launched herself at Vishara, her double-bladed lightsaber arcing from above in a downward-strike intended to slice the Togruta in two--but the woman was unprepared for the onslaught of the Force that coursed between the two Jedi. Vishara raised her left hand and sent a powerful blast at her, sending her careening backward through the air. She let out a blood-curtling scream filled with rage before she was crushed into a wall, her body falling lifeless to the ground.

The other four Dark Jedi were already pressing their attack, enraged even further by the weakness of their ally. Vishara grasped her lightsaber and activated it in one motion, the silver light quivering into existence in a brief instant. She moved closer to Kiana’s side, adopting the Soresu defensive posture just in time to deflect two of their enemies’ attacks. She could sense Kiana’s movements and reactions, as well as her battle emotions--these were inevitable in any Jedi during combat. Kiana was moving to react to the other Dark Jedi, her own senses enhanced by the Battle Meditation.

Kiana slowly moved forwards into a dueling posture with a Sith, she could identify him as Zabrak under his cloak "Why do you side with them?" she asked him. "Zabrak are one with Dathomir, and yet you throw your life away for the sake of those who destroyed so much." she seethed. The feelings of intense pain that she felt, when the droid armies destroyed the Nightsisters, bubbled deep within her. "HOW DARE YOU CALL YOURSELVES SITH!!!" She screamed, launching herself at him, locking lightsabers with him, before turning to face another that was attempting to flank her. She quickly pushed him away with a force-push, before turning back to the Zabrak and clashing sabers with him several times, she quickly planted her knee in his chest before seeing one vault over the Zabrak to strike at her, she quickly deflected the blow and rolled backwards, throwing her lightsabers away, behind her, towards the first Sith she had thrown, before raising her hands... For a moment, the universe seemed to stand still... She knew it was the Battle Meditation, Vishara was filtering out her non-essential thoughts to keep her brain focused 100% on the fight. She knew exactly what she wanted to do at this moment, what Mother had taught her... Make them suffer. But she wasn't like that, not for 200 years had she ever attacked out of hatred. A calm seemed to engulf her face as she raised both hands and golden streams of lightning flew out, towards the two of them.

Electric Judgement, a technique developed by Master Plo-Kuun and passed down to many of his students, her included. The Sith attempted to block with their Lightsabers, and though one was fast, the Zabrak was not quick enough on the draw and was thrown against the pavement, writhing in agony. The Sith she had thrown her lightsabers at was now laying in two halves on the ground, before she relented with the Judgement and caught her Lightsabers, rushing forwards and locking Lightsabers with the Sith. "TURN AWAY FROM THEIR LIES!!!" She pleaded to the Sith. "ANGER LEADS TO NOTHING BY DESTRUCTION, THE DESTRUCTION OF YOURSELF AND ALL THAT YOU HOLD DEAR! There is a better way." She rasped a little.

The final Sith began to advance on her, although she could sense it, she decided to leave it to Vishara.

Locked in a ferocious duel, Kiana was not reacting to the approaching Dark Jedi wielding two lightsabers. Vishara marveled at how quickly the Master Jedi defeated two of their enemies, but made note of the level of emotion Kiana displayed while fighting. She could sense a complex variety of emotions emanating from her ally, and did the best she could to level those chaotic sensations using her Battle Meditation techniques. Vishara had never linked with Master Kiana before, and felt somewhat troubled by the tumultuous feelings she expressed--it did not seem proper for a Jedi of her power. Knowing that she had trained under Master Plo-Kuun, it did not surprise her when Kiana used Electric Judgement, but it did contribute to Vishara’s concern regarding Kiana’s stability. However, despite this, Kiana seemed completely in control of herself, as if she had already faced certain trials in her past and overcame them. She decided that it would be best to question her about this when the threat against the Jedi Temple passed, and stowed away her thoughts for the time being.

Presently, there was the approaching enemy to consider. While Kiana focused on her own combatant, Vishara moved quickly to intercept the dual-wielding Dark Jedi attempting to strike the other woman from behind. Her own silver lightsaber flashing upward, she swiftly blocked two strikes using Soresu techniques, and leveled an unreadable stare at her new opponent. The man grinned, flashing sharpened teeth at her, and twirled his lightsabers as he circled her in an attempt to intimidate.

Vishara held her lightsaber steady, waiting for him to provide an opening. He lunged at her, his lightsabers pummeling her own in an unrelenting onslaught of power, leaving Vishara breathless as she focused all effort in deflecting his attacks.

Her instinct for survival began to blossom, driving her parrying strikes into counter-attacks, pushing the Dark Jedi backward. Kiana was engaged in her own dance of death, her double-bladed lightsaber whirling at a blinding speed. Vishara felt her own techniques syncing with Kiana’s, and let the Force bond between them guide her hand as she fought the sharp-toothed man, her own emotions becoming more present. Kiana’s feelings were beginning to impact her due to their link, and Vishara’s attacks became more aggressive. Each strike the Dark Jedi made was countered with two of her own, forcing him into a defensive stance. She could see his confidence begin to transform into anger, and knew that a prolonged battle would end in her defeat.

----------

Canderous saw the explosion ring out as one of the defense batteries exploded. "Dammit, what is the defense squad doing over there?" he yelled. He then saw the Mandalorians flying in with their Jetpacks. "Bogies at 4, out of range..." he said, "4319, you keep an eye on them." he said to the sniper. He then walked over to their equipment crate containing their weapons and other equipment and hauled a jetpack out of it, donning it. "General Kiana could need backup at a moments notice, until then, we hold." He saw the Dark Jedi advancing on them "COVERING FIRE!" he ordered before opening fire into the Dark Jedi, most of them were able to deflect the bolts, sending the bolts in random directions, attempting to return them to their origin, but the distance was too great to make it easy.

----------

In that moment, she felt the ripple of death across the Force as Kiana severed the head of her opponent, and as if controlled by an echo of her ally’s actions, Vishara’s lightsaber sliced into the enemy Jedi’s torso, and finally her opponent lay dead at her feet.

Adrenaline rushed through her body, and Vishara took a moment to regain her composure. Just as she was beginning to calm down, an explosion filled her vision, and she sensed the death of Padawan Lenik. She realized that he had failed to defend the turret, but knew that he fought bravely until the end. She rushed toward the remaining Neo-Crusaders with Kiana following closely behind, together dispatching them easily compared to their previous opponents. The turret in ruins, they could do nothing but wait for the enemy’s reaction, as well as figure out what happened between Master Varrik and the unknown Dark Jedi woman.

[Rultaos]

A Dark Jedi whose species and sex was hidden by their loose robes and facemask, was deflecting blue blaster bolts left and right, keeping the firing line of Super Battle Droids behind them safe and free to fire at the Republic position up ahead. The Dark Jedi then saw a spark in the distance. Upon focusing their view into the sparking object, they saw that it was a rocket fired at their position. The Dark Jedi jumped behind the Super Battle Droid line to remain protected from the constant blaster fire as they lowered their lightsaber and channeled the force to redirect the projectile. They stood still as they began causing the rocket to spin wildly in the air, when suddenly a blue sniper bolt came from the Republic position, went through a gap in the droid line and punched right through their chest. Their lightsaber clicked off as they staggered backwards and fell lifelessly to the ground.

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"Target neutralized." Mech reported through their comms. "Good shot, Mech. I couldn't get an angle on the bugger." Spotter replied. Their comms once again came to life, this time a transmission that was crackling with much more static. Spotter pressed two fingers against the side of his helmet as he received the transmission. "Kappa Squad, Kappa Squad, Kappa Squad, this is Gamma Company. We are interdicting enemy reinforcements, you have a window to advance to General Skywalker. Be advised, Dark Jedi forces inbound, expect melee contacts, over." A clone's voice said through the speakers. Spotter saw a waypoint marker appear on his HUD a good distance away from their location denoting the coordinates of Gamma Company.

"This is RC-4129. We read you, Gamma Company. Preparing to make our move now. We'll let you know once we have made contact with General Skywalker's forces. Kappa Squad out." Spotter replied on the frequency while his team shot off a couple more sniper rounds. He then turned to the two Jedi they were with and called their attention.

"Generals! Gamma Company is engaging enemy forces and giving us an opening to move in on General Skywalker's position. We have to move, now!" Spotter shouted to them over the sound of blaster fire. "Then let's start moving out! Squads Epsilon and Beta, stay here and hold this position. Cover us from long range with rifles and heavy weapons. Squads Alpha and Tide, pack it up and get ready to move!" Bikarim ordered while still defending their position from blaster bolts. "Sir, yes sir!" The clone troopers replied. Epsilon and Beta started taking up positions in higher vantage points and setting up E-WeB guns behind debris cover. The 2 other squads had a couple members sling anti-armor and heavy blaster weapons on their back. "Alpha team ready! Tide's ready!" The squads reported while still. "Keep a tight formation, everyone and cover the flanks. Epsilon, Beta, we're waiting on your go signal" Bikarim said as the squads quickly set up a around 3 defensive turrets while the rest continued firing from cover.

"Kappas we're going to split into two. Signal, you're with me. We'll cover our right flank. Cockpit, Mech, you two have our left flank. Switch your DC's to blaster mode and take down anything focusing on us that isn't being shot or suppressed. The Generals will lead the way and clear a path from the center. Keep following the formation, run and gun, and don't lag behind for anything! Understood?" Spotter ordered.
"Yes, squad leader!" They answered simultaneously.

Epsilon's and Beta's heavy guns started firing into the droid line to suppress snipers and Dark Jedi and mow down the unlucky ones in front as their snipers began picking off targets. "E-WeB's ready, sir! GO!" Epsilon's squad leader announced as the heavy blasters started firing a storm of bolts into the enemy position. "Forward!!!" Bikarim cried as he leaped over debris in front of him with Jovardo by his side. The clone troopers all jumped in behind them while Kappa squad took their position on the flanks. The moment they all popped out of cover was a chaotic moment filled with the sound of whizzing blaster bolts, DC's firing, and battle cries of the clones.

"LET'S GO BOYS!"
"Move it! Move MOVE!"
"Don't stop running!"
"For the Republic!"

The formation of two Jedi, 10 clone troopers, and 4 commandos quickly ran through the open ground, firing into the droid positions in the distance. They could see the gunship driven into the ground. It was around a little less than 200 meters away from them, the surviving crew firing from what little cover they had. They continued their advance as Bikarim and Jovardo deflected blaster fire that came through the center. A multitude of droids were shooting at them, and while Epsilon and Beta were occupying a number of them, there were still a few who focused their fire. Spotter heard one clone cry out from being hit barely a minute into their charge. Meanwhile, he was shooting at any droids that were focusing on them for more than 2 seconds.

Red blaster bolts kept flying through the air. A lot passing dangerously close to him. One even hitting him on the shoulder, but was thankfully negated by the Katarn armor's deflector shields as he saw the shield status on his HUD decrease. He kept scanning around for more targets and then saw the CIS forces setting up another heavy gun as the location wasn't being suppressed. It was to the far left of them, already halfway set-up, and judging by the direction it was pointing in, they were going to shoot at them and not the men in the gunship. "General! They're gonna have a heavy turret firing on us from eleven 'o-clock in 5 seconds!" Spotter shouted at the Jedi. "Get to cover! Everyone into that pit!" Bikarim commanded as he pointed at a crater in the ground of the field. Spotter marked it with a waypoint to help direct his squad to it better. He glanced back at the turret and saw the commando droid gunner starting to adjust their aim. "Everybody down!" Spotter shouted as he dived into the crater. The Jedi were already there with their lightsabers off while his squad jumped down with him. The heavy blaster started firing shots through the air above them. While most of them made it inside, a clone trooper carrying an anti-tank rocket launcher was the last go in, and got shredded with blaster shots before dropping dead into the pit.

"Zik, take the launcher!" one of the clone troopers ordered as their squadmate crawled over to the body and undid the straps of the weapon. "We can't stay here, sir! If we stick around too long, they'll flush us out with explosives and cut us down while we're out in the open." Spotter said, facing towards the Jedi masters. Bikarim brought up his arm-mounted communicator as some clones crawled to the edge of the crater and peeked out slightly to return fire. "Epsilon, do you read? Can you or Beta take out the gun position, eleven o-clock from our location? We're pinned down here." He said. "Negative sir! Our position doesn't have an angle on them!" The clone replied on the comms. "Clever droids... What now?" Jovardo asked. One of the clone troopers returning fire flinched as a blaster bolt hit the ground an inch from his face as he retreated deeper into the crater. "That gun's got us pinned down good. We can't advance while its active. And we can't shoot it while its focused on us!" The trooper remarked.

"What about a distraction then? I can come out to draw the gun's attention while you guys take it down!" Cockpit suggested. "Are you crazy? Your shields will be vaporized in seconds!" Signal retorted. "Well we're going to die anyway if we just sit here with a thumb up our rear-guards!" Cockpit replied assertively. "Perhaps I can be the distraction. I can reflect fire as it's coming at me-" Jovardo began. "No way, sir. They've got too much concentrated firepower. You'll be overwhelmed!" A clone trooper interrupted. "Blast it... We're running out of time and we need to do something, fast!" Bikarim exclaimed. Spotter looked away from the group and towards the open ground to their right.

"What if they can't see them..." Spotter said quietly. He turned back towards his allies. "Thermal detonators. I can blow them up in front of Cockpit once he steps out. It will create a large blast and kick up fire and dirt to obscure the gunners vision. Once they can't see him, Cockpit can hit the ground to avoid the blaster fire while we take out the gun position!" Spotter said. "Why Cockpit, sir?" Signal asked. "It's too risky to send out the generals, and they'll have a tough time reflecting blaster fire if they can't see where its coming from behind the blast. Our shields make us the best option." Spotter answered. "We'll keep the shots off of you all once we get up. We all start moving the moment that heavy gun is down!" Bikarim said. "Ok, I'll do it. But you guys better take them out on the first try because I am NOT doing this twice!" Cockpit said as he crawled over to the right edge of the crater next to Spotter. "Kappas, DC's to sniper mode! Everyone get ready to fire." Spotter ordered as he reconfigured his DC-17 into a sniper rifle and then prepared a Thermal Detonator. He waited once everyone had their weapons locked and loaded. Then, he clicked the Detonator's trigger.

"GO! GO! GO!" Spotter shouted as Cockpit jumped out of the crater and fired at the gun emplacement while strafing to the right. "Free target right here, you stupid piles of scrap!" Cockpit shouted as he unloaded at them in blaster mode. The gunner swung the turret to Cockpit's direction while holding down the trigger, with some stray shots from the gun already causing his deflector shields to glow in reaction. Spotter then threw the detonator to land in front of Cockpit, but at a safe enough distance. The detonator exploded and Cockpit went prone as soon as it did, with the gunner still shooting into the smoke, but shooting too high to hit the commando. "TAKE THEM DOWN!" Spotter shouted as they all got up, clones with their guns ready, and the Jedi with their lightsabers drawn. The gunner immediately went down in the initial storm of blaster fire while the units supporting the gunner were quickly sniped by Kappa Squad's sniper fire. They immediately started making a break for it. "Back to blaster mode, squad! Signal, take Cockpit and watch the right flank. Me and Mech have the left!" Spotter ordered as they climbed out. Signal went over to Cockpit and pulled him up as they continued running with the formation. "THIS is why we're NOT supposed be on the frontlines!" Cockpit exclaimed as he got up and ran with him.

"We're getting close to the gunship. Keep going!" Bikarim ordered as they continued running and gunning towards the crashed gunship. Another clone trooper cried out in pain as their closer distance to the droid position made it easier to get hit. Signal and Mech took a few hits as well, causing their shields to glow. Spotter's perception of time was blurred as his shooting and target-selecting became nearly instinctual in the chaos of the charge. They began nearing it and some clone troopers gestured towards the blue 501st soldiers defending the crash site. "Sir, the squad's shields are failing! We need to get to cover now!" Signal shouted. Another unlucky clone carrying a Z-6 Rotary blaster cannon on his back went down as a shot nailed them in the leg. They attempted to continue crawling, but 2 shots to the chest and 1 to their head put them down for good. "Everyone into the trench, now!" Bikarim ordered. They jumped into the trench left by the ship while Bikarim and Jovardo defended them until they were all inside. After the Jedi jumped in, they continued forward towards the ship as they kept their heads low for the final push. "How much did we lose? Jovardo asked as they jogged through the trench. "We lost 4 men, sir. Two from each squad. There's 6 of us left. We lost one rocket launcher and the Z-6 cannon, but we still have one more Anti-tank launcher and a deployable turret as both the turret itself and munition carrier made it." a clone replied. Once they were behind the gunship, they climbed out.

Bikarim and Jovardo took positions on the left and right side of the gunship respectively, immediately starting to deflect blaster fire to defend the clones. "Set up with what we have. Hold this position at all costs!" Bikarim ordered before turning to the 501st soldiers. "How's, Master Skywalker?" Bikarim asked. "He's out of commission, sir! He got knocked out cold when we landed!" The blue-armored clone replied. The clone troopers that the Jedi had brought were already setting up the turret and providing extra firepower with their carbines. Signal and Cockpit supported the two Jedi with blaster fire while Spotter went with Mech to check up on the unconscious Jedi. They saw Anakin Skywalker pressed against the back of the gunship with a clone medic tending to them. "How is he? Spotter asked. "He's still out of it, but he'll live. We just have to make sure he doesn't get killed while he's still unconscious." The medic replied. "Alright then, Mech give Cockpit a hand on his side of the ship. I'll join up with Signal!" Spotter ordered as he took position next to Bikarim, behind a detached ball turret of the gunship. Near him, the remaining clones of Alpha Squad were setting up their E-WeB turret and attaching the power source to get it up and running as Bikarim kept them protected from blaster fire.

He pressed his back against the ball turret and opened up a comm frequency with the leader of Gamma company. Gamma Company. Gamma Company. This is Kappa Squad reporting in. We have made contact with General Skywalker's forces. The General is incapacitated but he's alive. We're holding position with some additional forces to secure the area. We'll update you once extraction arrives." Spotter said into the comms.

He then changed frequencies to contact their advisor. "Advisor, we have reached General Skywalker and are holding position. What's the status on the extraction team?" Spotter asked as he popped out of cover to fire a burst of rounds at a squad of advancing B1's. "Good work, squad. Extraction is still on the way. They have encountered some enemy resistance but nothing too serious. ETA is 15 minutes. Hold out until they arrive to get you all out of there." The advisor replied as the comms shut off. "This is going to be a long 15 minutes... Spotter thought as the droid position didn't seem to have any shortage of combatants. And he was expecting the two Dark Jedi holding their position to make a move at any moment.

[Mcmolly]

Sesran and Willo

Willo considered the Zabrak's plan for a few moments. Pushing through the wall proper would be all but impossible, though the crack in the foundation might provide them with just enough of an advantage to create a small opening. If it worked however, 'Darth Evidian' would be tagging along more closely than she'd anticipated, and she'd have to adjust her plan accordingly.

An explosion in the nearby distance helped her to finalize the decision, and she nodded to him. "Very well, let's make ourselves an entrance," she said.

Taking a few steps back, she prepped herself. If she ever were to admit her weaknesses, attunement with the more visceral and devastating aspects of the force would be among them. Snapping a man's neck was one thing, but summoning up the strength to open up a crack into a proper opening was quite another. Willo let the strength pool within her, let it rise and boil and seep out into her hands as she reached out to the crack in the wall and pushed. Dust trickled free as the rock and steel protested, and slowly, ever so slowly, the crack expanded and the damaged moved inward towards the temple's interior. It would be a long process however, and time was clearly not on their side.

When the Jedi approached them from behind it moved even further from their side. She paused for a moment when she felt their approached, and a quick glance showed that there were two of them. One was older, the other younger, clearly a master and apprentice. Perhaps they thought the two separated Sith were easy pickings. Their mistake.

"Time to see how much that title of yours is worth," she said to Evidian, before returning her focus to the crack in the wall. Putting faith in another was not her ideal situation, but she supposed there was little else to choose from.

"With the exception of a couple limbs, my title will be all that's left of this master and his slave."

Sesran looked towards Willo. "I've seen the corpse, but let's see the skill."

With that, Sesran flipped his hilts out of their holsters and shot the blades towards the Jedi.

"Too late to back out..." Sesran rushed towards the Jedi, swinging first and being blocked while defending a slash from his left from the apprentice. With a clean pirouette Sesran led his sword to the hilt of the Jedi's green saber. Almost touching his fingers.

The apprentice dove towards Sesran in a fury, clearly an unskilled opponent. Sesran blocked and kicked the apprentice back, firing multiple attacks in his direction, the two traded blows back and forth until Sesran's footwork finally paid off. The Jedi's apprentice was off balance giving Sesran time to cut clean through his leg just above the knee, rendering him useless.

"You stay put, you'll see your master slain."

The padawan grasped at his severed leg in agony, his lightsaber tumbled far from his grasp and his mind too muddled to will it back to his hand. He collapsed back, perhaps in shock, but either way that left only the master Jedi and Sesran to square off.

He lunged for the Sith, aiming a few quick slashes for the neck. Sloppy, angry attacks that nonetheless carried weight and power behind them.

Sesran may have been fueld by anger, but his vision was not clouded. He knew exactly what he was doing and why. He ducked and blocked the Master's attacks. Swinging a couple attacks himself, his lightsaber hit the master's shoulder, but just as his shoulder was hit he flipped his saber up to remove Sesran's. He had been wounded badly, but still had his other arm, The master jedi was growing weaker by the second, the fight lasted atleast 10 minutes, back and forth the master and Sesran traded blows. They seemed nigh a fair match.

Sesran had an idea. The master jedi had backed off for a moment. Allowing Sesran to think.
He threw both sabers at the jedi, sheathed but still projectile. In an instant Sesran rolled to the side, and pulled the apprentice's saber through his master. He fell to his knees, dropped his lightsaber, and quietly died.

Sesran looked at the wounded apprentice. "And with your own saber as well."

Looking towards Willo, he pointed to the apprentice and tossed Willo the master's saber. "You finish it."

Willo only half observed the fight between the three warriors. The padawan was easily dispatched as she’d expected, but the master took far longer to take down. Regardless, he fell and her Zabrak ally remained standing. Not a moment too soon, as well.

The crack had been adequately expanded, and she could just barely see the lights inside. The power died down within her and she let out a deep breath, only just reacting in time to catch the saber thrown to her.

“Don’t mind if I do,” she mused, and threw the sword aside as she made her way to the fallen padawan. He was out, and in a battle like this he wouldn’t last long lying out in the open anyway.

Kneeling down beside him she placed a hand on his chest, over where his heart would have been. She could feel the slight beat against her palm, weakly pushing against her own pulse. Was that really all the strength he had to live? With another spark of power she shocked him, not enough to char his form but enough to stop his heart and put him out of his suffering.

With that done, Willo turned back to the new entrance and hopped inside. It would be a tight squeeze to be sure, but it would be even tougher for Evidian. “This way then, let’s see what the Jedi are hiding in here.”

She began to move through, holding her breath in and inching her way closer and closer to the end, until at last she reached the inside of the temple. Now it would be an issue of subtlety until they could find a way to open the doors for the other Sith and Dark Jedi. She checked over her shoulder to see if her ally had made it through.

Sesran followed Willo through the wall.

[Rultaos]

Twenty minutes prior:

"Sir. We have intercepted secure Republic transmissions, sir! Republic forces are moving in to secure Skywalker's wreck." A B1 Droid chimed as he approached the Blackguard commander.

"How much time do we have?" The Blackguard commander asked.

"Around thirty minutes sir." The droid responded.

"Any tanks have a shot on the wreck?" The Commander responded.

"Negative sir." The B1 responded. "Every tank near the front is either destroyed or.." He continued.

"Never mind." The Blackguard commander spoke as he grabbed ahold of the droid with the force and lifted him into the air. "If a tank advancing get's a shot, have him take it." He spoke in a cold tone. "If any of our ships above has a shot, have them take it." He said as he lowered the distraut B1 back down to the ground. The Blackguard commander quickly turned away from his command console, walked down a flight of stairs, and stopped when he stood amongst a group of Blackguard and Dark Jedi alike.

"Ehissra, Torith" The Blackgaurd commander spoke as he pointed out the two Blackguard standing nearby. "Take as many Dark Jedi and commando droids as you need." Pausing as he pointed towards the frontlines of combat. "We have no shot on Skywalkers shuttle, get in there and kill the chosen one by any means nessecary."

"As good as dead." Ehissra spoke in a harsh, quick voice.

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

The two Blackguard, five Dark Jedi as well as twenty Commando Droids silently crept through massive lines of battle droids. The B1's moved forward in an approach march, with B2 battle droids scatetred about in enough numbers to be considered a threat. They would hide behind a droid here, take cover near the wreck of a tank there, all the while the Blackguard and their presence hidden from the Jedi near the crashed Gunship. After twenty minutes they had made their way to within one hundred meters of the downed ship, and as they took cover behind a well placed tank carcass, they decided to plan their attack.

"Torith." Ehissra spoke. "Take three of the Dark Jedi and all the commando droids over the top and engage the Jedi. Myself and the rest will follow in shortly behind and engage Skywalker." Her voice muffled slightly by her helmet.

Torith grabbed his shield off his back, and with a press of a button, activated the energy field on the front. While this technology had long since been phased out in favor of using a saber to deflect projectiles, for those not as skilled in the force as others it made a world of difference if you could find a working unit. "Don't worry ma'am." He said as he activated his light spear, with only a few foot long blade but a long shaft made out of lightsaber resistant material. "Those Jedi are as good as dead. You two, stay close behind me."

Torith dashed from cover in full view of everyone around the area. His tough, dark colored, Blackguard armor standing in stark contrast with the lightly armored Dark Jedi following him from behind. Numerous blaster bolts came flying in, but they caused no damage to his shield. The few that made it past were quickly deflected away by the luck of the Dark Jedi. Soon they reached the downed gunship but did not stop running. With loud, echoing footsteps, they ascended the ruined wings of the downed gunship before leaping into the air above their positions. Torith summoned the force as he slammed down into the ground, sending a few clones flying and causing the Jedi to brace their weapons. A clone trooper readied his weapon to fire but his chest was soon filled with the smouldering crater of a blaster strike as the commando droids were now ontop of the gunship, firing down.

"Come, Master Jedi." Torith spoke as he blocked a few blaster shots with his shield while managing to deflect one more with his saber.


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

"Power generator's live!" A clone trooper shouted, kneeling next to a small box of power behind the rear of the gunship inside of the shallow pit formed by the crash, which was connected to their E-WeB set up right next to the nose of the craft. The clone manning the turret nodded as he adjusted the aim of the gun towards the droid lines. "General, gun's ready! Get clear!" He shouted at te Jedi standing directly in front of them. Bikarim jumped out of the way and the heavy blaster immediately started firing rapidly. "Eat hot plasma you clankers!" The gunner shouted as he mowed down a line of B2 Super Battledroids slowly advancing.

After the row went down, two lines of B1's behind them immediately replaced them and started firing at the gunship position. The gunner continued holding down the trigger to cut down the replacement droids until the clone tending to the power box shouted at him. "Cool off! We're starting to reach the heat limit!" He announced. And when he did, the Jedi jumped back in front of the gun to defend it. Spotter on the other hand, maintained his position on the fallen ball turret just in front of the ship's nose, and shot blaster rounds at the droids to support the General, while Signal and two other clones shot from behind the ship's nose. They all held their DC's left handed so they could make full use of the current cover they had. Mech had climbed up on top of the gunship and was picking off targets with his sniper, while hiding behind the vertical wing for cover, next to one of the 501st Marksmen carrying a DC-15A. The rear end of the ship was being defended by Jovardo, Cockpit, and four other clone troopers along with Commander Appo, but without the support of the heavy turret. "Sig, go get to the other side and give them a hand once our turret's ready to fire again. They could use the firepower." Spotter ordered. "Yes sir!" Signal replied as he poked out of cover to fire a quick burst of rounds.

"We're live!" The gunner announced. As Bikarim jumped out of the way again and the turret cut down the droid lines. Signal ran off to support the other end of the gunship.

The group had only held out for two minutes, but it felt like an hour with the constant enemy assault. Spotter was glad that allies were denying enemy reinforcements if the hostiles already here were giving them this much trouble.

Another line of B1's were knocked down as the gunner stopped firing. "Sir! The enemy is pushing forward! They're moving faster than we can take them down. We'll have to start using explosives once they're halfway here!" The gunner reported. Spotter looked at the advancing line as he fired a couple more bursts. "They're committing a lot of droids to this advance. They wouldn't use this many resources.... unless they've got an Ace up their sleeve." Spotter thought. He then turned to Bikarim. "General! They're going to hit us with more than just these droids!" Spotter said. "What do you mean?" Bikarim asked in between blaster deflections. "I don't know, sir. But they wouldn't have all of their forces advance at this slow of a pace if they didn't think they had something that can take us down. If they attack head-on with only what they have now, they'll be wiped out. They have to be preparing something!" Spotter answered. Bikarim brought up his communicator and spoke "Everyone! Stay alert! Our enemy's planning some kind of attack before this droid advance is over!" He said loudly.

The gunner resumed firing as the droids crept ever closer to their position. Then it happened.

"Multiple droids and Saber contacts incoming!" The 501st marksman on top of the gunship shouted. Spotter turned to look and saw two Dark Jedi and around 20 BX-Commando droids running at full speed towards their position, being led by what appeared to be another Dark Jedi at first glance, but was carrying a heavier set of armor, and wielded a strange light spear of some sort along with a shield that seemed to have deflector systems. They appeared to have come from behind a wrecked AAT near the advancing droid line before they came into view. Spotter immediately focused fire upon them while a few clones on the other side did the same. The heavy gunner changed priorities and started firing at any of them he could get an angle on. Though most of the shots were deflected by the one in front with his shield while the Dark Jedi covered the flanks. The Saber and Spear wielders began to increase their speed as they climbed up the ruined wing of the ship. "They're getting close, brace yourselves!" Bikarim shouted.

In the midst of this, Spotter saw an opening and returned his attention to the Commando droids still making a run for the gunship, lagging behind the Saber-wielders, but getting dangerously close. "Signal! Fry these commando droids with EMP! Cockpit, Mech, prepare Detonators!" Spotter ordered. Signal threw an Electrostatic grenade at the rushing group of commando droids, catching 5 in the front of the group, causing their bodies to temporarily malfunction as they sparked and twitched while exclaiming gibberish. "THROW THEM NOW!" Spotter ordered as he clicked the trigger of his own explosive and threw it at the twitching droids.

Mech and Cockpit did the same as three powerful explosions rocked the ground, eliminating around 7 of the commando droids at the same time that the Spear-wielder force jumped onto the ground, followed by the Dark Jedi as they sent some of troopers from Tide, Alpha, and the 501st to go flying, even out of the pit. A clone of the 501st immediately reacted and prepared to fire, but was cut down as a few of the remaining 13 commando droids jumped onto the gunship with incredible finesse and began firing at the clones with their E-5 Carbines, killing one of the troops of Tide squad and another soldier of the 501st who was already returning fire.

"Take out those droids!" Appo shouted, as he blasted his DC carbine at the Commando droids while backing away from the gunship to avoid their fire.

The rest of the clones followed suit as the Jedi generals jumped into the pit to fight their new enemies. "Kappa squad, 501st, keep the commando droids off of us. Alpha, Tide, hold back the droid infantry line. We'll deal with these!" Jovardo said as he jumped in the air to strike downwards in an Ataru manuever, causing him to lock blades with Torith the spear wielder. "Yes, sir!" The clones replied quickly as the heavy gunner and the plain white clones kept shooting at the advancing B1's, while the 501st exchanged blaster bolts with the commando droids with both teams in open view. Bikarim meanwhile opened up his communicator. "We're going to need a double-time on that extraction. We're facing heavy opposition!" He said as he faced the Dark Jedi and assumed a Soresu stance by putting his open left hand forward to them with his right holding the saber just above his head and pointed at them

Spotter glanced up towards the commando droids on the gunship. "Mech, they see you! Watch out!" He said quickly into his comms. Mech and the Marksman on top engaged the droids. The Marksman rapidly fired his DC at the ones to the left while Mech quickly attacked the one close to him on the right side, driving his wrist-mounted vibroblade through the droid's left shoulder as he brought up his DC-17 in Sniper mode to jam it up the droid's neck and pulled the trigger, sending a sniper round piercing through its head. He then dropped the rifle as he pulled out his sidearm blaster and began firing at the commando droids on the right while using the corpse stuck to his blade as a shield.

"Kappas, take them out as they climb onto the gunship!" Spotter ordered as he started shooting the ones on top of the gunship while maintaining his cover from the B1 lines behind the ball turret, gunning down one of the commando droids at the left edge of the ship by unloading the last few rounds of his magazine. As he reloaded, he saw the heavy gunner get shot out of the corner of his vision, causing the box operator to pull them away and take control of the turret. The Marksman had taken down two of the commando droids that mounted the gunship, but more replaced them and the blue 501st soldier was shot through the chest. He raised his DC-15A up to fire a couple more shots while knocked down, finishing off a 3rd droid in front of him, but a 4th commando droid behind it quickly finished the job by blasting the downed trooper in the head. It then gave its attention to Mech who had already killed 1 of the commando droids and had just blasted a 2nd through the head (while a 3rd one behind it was taken down by Signal and Cockpit's fire). Mech noticed that his shield meter went down and realized he was being shot from behind. He holstered his sidearm, and kicked his DC-17 off the gunship while arming a Thermal Detonator which he attached to the dead BX droid he held, and threw it at the shooter, making them stumble as Mech jumped off to retrieve his gun, just as the Detonator exploded, causing some debris to fly off the gunship and killing one of the commando droids while another one jumped off, landing next to the fallen ball turret, and immediately gunning down the clone hiding behind the nose before anyone could could react, and the droid immediately snapped its head around to face Spotter.

Spotter quickly fired a burst of rounds aimed at the droid's head as he tackled it and sent both of them falling into the pit, next to the E-WeB which was still being fired in bursts. He quickly stabbed the droid's neck with his vibroblade to make extra sure it stayed down.

Not too far from them, the Jedi were locked in combat with their saber-wielding opponents. Jovardo parried a stab from the spearman, sparking the tip of the light-spear and sending it upwards before slashing horizontally to graze them with the tip of the sword, only for Torith to block with his shield before spinning around to horizontally slice Jovardo. An attack which the Jedi Master evaded by somersaulting backwards and steadied his stance before force-leaping forward again and aggressively assaulting Torith by first slashing at the side he held his spear. Torith blocked it by turning towards that side and moving his shield there to parry, then followed by Jovardo cartwheeling to the other side to attempt another quick slash. But Torith was quick on the draw and spun around again to deflect Jovardo's blue lightsaber using his spear's long hilt. Jovardo was constantly keeping Torith on the defense with his flurry of fast and acrobatic attacks, yet only making contact with the spear and shield due to Torith’s reflexes.

Nearby, Bikarim stood before the two Dark Jedi who stood to his front left and front right, a hooded Togrutan and a human respectively, both male. They performed quick and simple yet forceful attacks by hacking away at him diagonally and horizontally. All of which Bikarim skillfully blocked and parried, his green lightsaber constantly clashing and sparking against their red ones with every attack they attempted, making only slight changes to his footing as he alternated blocking between both sides. "You fight like padawans! What a waste of talent…” Bikarim taunted. This evoked an angry exclamation from the one to his right, who began attacking with greater speed and started becoming out of sync with his partner. The partner then tried to increase their pace with them. A fatal mistake on their part as it only made it easier for Bikarim to clash with their sabers defensively. Their sudden desynchronized offensive also left them with little defenses, an opening that a Soresu practitioner like Bikarim easily noticed. When the human made for a powerful overhead slash and the Togrutan prepared an attack as well, Bikarim performed a move similar to the "Reflecting Slash". He quickly grazed the human's stomach horizontally, melting the light armor he wore, and at the same time used his swing momentum for a force-assisted block against the Togrutan, sending both sparks and their blade flying upwards before following up with a fast diagonal slash in the opposite direction right across their chest. Both Dark Jedi lay dead at his feet. “Such a shame… You could’ve learned so much…” Bikarim muttered before turning his attention to Torith, attacking them from behind as Jovardo assaulted the front, forcing the spear wielder to defend against two sides.

Meanwhile, the last 4 remaining commando droids (one of which was the Captain) mounted the charred and smoking top of the gunship as they fired from high ground, focusing on the clones in the pit. Spotter and Mech fired blasters at the Commando droids on the gunship. Signal and Cockpit were firing from behind the aft of the gunship. The Commando Droid Captain turned to the 3 commando droids. "Spread out and occupy the clones. Keep them from stopping our droids' advance." It said in a deep monotone as it holstered its blaster and jumped down while drawing its vibrosword in mid-air to slash at Spotter, who jumped out of the way. The 3 remaining droids followed afterwards and began engaging what was left of troopers. One of the commando droids unloaded at the heavy gunner, causing them to cry in pain and fall over as they were shot in the leg and arm, before the droid was shot in the head with a burst of fire from Mech. The 501st Medic got up from his crouched firing position near Anakin and pulled the wounded gunner next to Skywalker against the gunship. Another droid then began to harass the remaining 501st troopers, shooting one of them before being blasted apart in the crossfire. The last droid jumped down to try and shoot Signal at close range. Signal on the other hand, took the hits with his shield as he punched the carbine out of the droid's hands before kicking them down unloading his ammo clip into the droid's chest and head. He then gave a thumbs up gesture to Cockpit who nodded in response and then both turned to fire at the B1 droids that continued to close the distance. They were a little over 20 meters out now.

"Squad! Focus on keeping the droids away from our position!" Spotter ordered as he sidestepped a vertical slash from the Captain. He aimed with his DC, but the droid swatted it out of his hands with a quick attack, causing Spotter to back away and pull out his sidearm. He fired a shot which the Captain dodged by ducking down and tried to slash upwards from their crouched position. Spotter sidestepped to the left and shot again, hitting the Captain in the back and making them horizontally slash at them. When Spotter dodged backwards again, the Captain drew their blaster carbine with one hand and pointed it at Spotter. But the gun was swiftly shot out of the droid's hand with a blue blaster bolt from the side. Spotter took advantage of the opportunity and rapidly fired into the Captain's face, ending them for good. He turned to look at where the shot came from and saw the wounded gunner leaning against the gunship, was holding up their blaster pistol with their left hand. They lowered it as he nodded at Spotter. "Thanks, trooper." Spotter said as he retrieved his DC and prepared to assist Jovardo and Bikarim.

"We got more sabers incoming!" Cockpit suddenly shouted. And before anyone could react, Ehissra along with 3 Dark Jedi leapt over the gunship wreckage. A Dark Jedi drove their lightsaber into a 501st trooper as they landed. Another one landed and immediately deflected a shot from another clone right back at them, killing the soldier. Ehissra and the third Dark Jedi engaged Jovardo and Bikarim, sandwiching them in the middle as Torith pulled away from Bikarim and helped the Dark Jedi focus down on Jovardo.

Spotter retreated near the nose side of the gunship where Mech was firing upon the droids from behind. "Change priorities! Focus on the sabers." Spotter ordered as the commandos turned around and started blasting at the Dark Jedi that were cutting down the clones. "Advisor, where's our evac?!" Spotter asked frantically through the comms. "A few more minutes Kappa Squad! They're almost there." The advisor quickly answered. Spotter began doubting whether they would last that long. "Regroup at the ship, catch the sabers in a V-shaped crossfire!" Appo ordered as he shot at them. The 501st soldiers fell back while firing at them, but 4 more were cut down before they managed to get into formation at the ship. When they finally arrived, Spotter, Mech, the 501st medic, the wounded gunner (from Alpha), and one 501st trooper were firing from near the nose of the ship. Meanwhile, Signal, Cockpit, Appo, and two other clones troopers (one from the 501st and one from Tide) were firing from the aft.

Jovardo was a blur of movement as he struck spinning blow after spinning blow against Torith, his saber humming loudly through the air. However, his latest jumping attack through the air was cut short by the Dark Jedi assisting Torith, attempting to hit Jovardo with an upward slash. The Rodian moved slightly to the right and force-landed on the ground as he adopted a more defensive stance as the Dark Jedi began a flurry of diagonal slashes with their glowing red saber that Jovardo had to rapidly block.

Bikarim nearby had a frontal guard stance ready, holding his lightsaber diagonally in front of his body, as Ehissra stood before him, pointing her red lightsaber towards her opponent with one hand in what resembled a fencing stance. "Fighting me will be the last mistake you make, Master Jedi." She said coldly. "If it means doing my duty, then it wont be such an undesirable death." Bikarim responded, just before their blades hummed through the air and clashed into one another. Ehissra quickly pulled back her blade and lowered it to her chest before attempting to stab Bikarim, which the Jedi parried. But Ehissra expected that and attempted to use the momentum of the deflection to bring her blade back around to Bikarim's face. An attack that the Jedi master blocked as well before he attempted to follow up with a quick slash at the side of Ehissra that was not holding the saber. She however, reacted swiftly and adjusted her stance so that her shoulder would be facing opponent as she brought up her saber to block the attack by holding her blade vertically in front of her.

Meanwhile, Jovardo jumped over a low sweeping attach by the Dark Jedi before attacking with a diagonal slash at the assailant and spinning 180 degrees to parry an attack from Torith. He then spun around again as he intercepted the Dark Jedi's attacks with his own swings coming from the opposite direction, and intending to harm them if they could simply make contact. He sensed Torith attempting another attack. He turned around to quickly intercept, but found himself bashed by the shield, sending him stumbling backwards. He felt a searing pain as the Dark Jedi diagonally cut his back. Jovardo cried in pain as he fell to his knees. Just before Torith finished him by running his spear through the Jedi's chest and their lightsaber clicked off. "Finish off the other Jedi!" Torith ordered the hooded Dark Jedi who assisted him. Torith then proceeded to turn towards Anakin Skywalker as Ehissra and a Dark Jedi forced Bikarim to constantly defend, while the 2 other Dark Jedi protected them from blaster fire. Torith ran towards the unconscious Jedi Master.

Appo and Spotter took notice of this as they tried to converge on Anakin to defend him from Torith. Appo had just arrived by his side and was about to fire at the spearman as they prepared to run their weapon through Skywalker. Suddenly, the Blackguard was cut short by a blue lightsaber activating and slicing them across their lower chest. As they collapsed to the ground with their light spear shutting off, Anakin got up from a crouched position with his lightsaber drawn.

"This is a mess. What did I wake up to, Appo?"