Rapora War (Introductory RPG)

[BadSamaritan]

OOC: Ok, gotta go get Fett and Seryk first, then its off to pound the Repora a bit.

 

IC: Burt was flying close to the ground in his fighter, when suddenly an X-wing and a strange craft he had never seen before appeared out of a cave they were passing over. The ships flew up next to them, and joined them in their flight. Burt was wondering who they were, when Rendars voice cut across the comm.

 

"Ok, who are these guys? And what kind of fighter is that?" he asked, and a voice came over the comm, one Burt swore he recognized from somehwere.

 

"This is Jacen Solo in the X-wing, and thats a Sekotan fighter that you see with me. We need to go find Luka and Mara, and the man in the Sekotan fighter is going to lead us to them." Jacen said, and Burt smiled. More help is exactly what they needed.

 

"How does he know where they are?" Rendar asked, skeptisism in his voice. But before Jacen could reply, a new vice chimed in, and Burt figured it was from the man in the Sekotan fighter.

 

"Dont ask questions, Just follow me. Time is of the essence." the voice said, and Rendars voice came back in protest.

 

"Hey, first things first. We need to go get Seryk, and Fett. Then we can go find the skywalkers." he said, and the strangers voice came back over the comm.

 

"No. Seryk and Fett can wait. Have one of your other ships get them. We must hurry. Now follow me." he said, and the Sekotan fighter banked to starboard, and rocketed off in the distance. Rendar cursed as the x-wing also began to turn to follow, and soon, Rendar was issuing orders to another ship to go pick up Seryk and Fett as he turned his ship to follow the Sekotan fighter.

 

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

 

Seryk and Fett were waiting outside the small cave in the shadows for Burt to arrive, and While they waited, they also talked. moslty it was about the past, but they also had talked about the future. They had decided to part ways once off the planet, with Seryk going with Luke to wherever, and Fett was going off to find, according to him, some old freinds. Suddenly, a small vessel blasted over where they were standing, and it banked quickly and flew back towards them. And then land. Seryk recognized it as an old Skipray blastboat, but on that had been modified over the years. But he didnt see Burt in the cockpit, nor did he recognize the pilot. Seryk watched as the hatch to the ship opened up, and a older man poked his head out.

 

"Seryk, Fett, Get in! Your friend Burt sent me! he is with Rendar and one of the Solos! They are heading to The Skywalkers now." the man yelled. Upon heaing this, Seryk and Fett dashed towards teh ship, and climbed into the cramped compartment. Once inside, the old man launched the ship again, and took off in a seeming random direction.

 

"Where are we headed?" Fett asked, and the old man looked over to him.

 

"We are going to join up with Rendars group, along with however many other ships join them. From what we have been told, they are going to need all the firepower they can get." the man said, and Seryk nodded.

 

"They will, trust me. Ive faced the Repora already, and they thrashed my ship." he said, and Fett looked over at him.

 

"Do you think a motley bunch of old freightors can handle Reporan fighters?" he asked, and Seryk simply shook his head. Fett sighed, and placed his helmet back on his head.

 

"Well, Im guessing we will end up on the ground again then. Better get ready" he said, and Seryk nodded. Seryk placed his damaged helmet back onto his head, and checked to make sure the rocket Fett had given him was securely in place. He also looked around for a moment, and found a small power port. Taking his saber off of his belt, he placed it into the port, hoping that it would charge fast enough to be of some use in the fight, if it came to that. he had charged it a little back at Fetts cave, but the old pwer cells there werent up to the task of fully charging the saber.

 

Fett moved up to the co-pilots seat, and Sat down in it. Seryk took a seat in the gunners chair, and looked forward out the viewport. Fett glanced down at a few screens and then looked at the old man.

 

"Two minutes to intercept." he said, and the old man nodded. Fett glanced over at the sensor board, and cursed.

 

"Sithspit! We have Reporan fighters, incoming!!" he yelled, and the old man began to whip the ship into a series of evasive manuvers. Seryk turned to his gunners station, and began to power up the weapons sytems.

 

OOC: Take it away Stellar.

[Stellar_Magic]

OOC: My pleasure...

 

"Two, Three engage those E-wings, Four, you're with me, attack pattern Theta Claw," Shren smiled as she watched the two Raporan fighter's break formations and hurtle toward the distant E-wings. Between the fighters and behind the Jedi was the bulky hulk of an aging YT-2400, "Alright Four, we're taking on the frieghter, weapons to full!"

 

The E-wings saw the flight coming and broke formation as the Rapora shot past the Jedi, ignoring them. A dual burst of plasma fire bracketed one of the E-wings ripping its starboard s-foil free and sending it spiraling into the ground. The second fighter only slightly luckier caught a glancing blast which charred through one of the engines. The pilot ejected, his couch shooting clear of the cockpit and into space.

 

Shren dropped below the YT-2400 and fired a plasma blast that flashed into the ventral shields, some bits penetrating to scald the hull, then she was past looping up to come back down on her target. At that moment four criss crossed mere meters from her and broke in a mirror image of her attack.

 

* * *

 

Seryk hissed as the Rapora fighters broke toward him, "Here they come!" He bit his lip as he swiveled the laser cannons into line with one of the fighters, "Looks like they're not carrying Plasma bombs."

 

"Thats an encouraging thought," Dash Rendar called from the cockpit.

 

"In range!" Seryk growled and thumbed down on the trigger sending a barrage of brilliant red laser blasts at the target. The fighter broke off and suddenly collided with a ball of orange plasma from the Sekotan Skip as it moved to cover for them, "Nice shooting!"

 

"Thanks, Outrider, be advised, we've got a number of Raporan mines up ahead, looks like three of them."

 

Dash came back through the com, "Roger, I've picked them up, three mines shooting up from Beggar's Canyon."

 

"This is Admun Spice to Outrider, where do you want us?" Another voice slid through the com.

 

"Whats your force composition Spice?"

 

A slight bemused tone entered the woman's voice that had spoken, "We've got a squadron of modified T-65Cs and three Xityar Transports."

 

Anakin's voice entered the comm, "We could use you, cut across Outrider's vector. Catch those fighters in a crossfire."

 

"Roger that, on our way."

 

Jacen Solo's voice echoed across the com, "Outrider, thirty seconds to the mines."

 

Seryk smiled, "We're ready."

[BadSamaritan]

OOC: Well, Burt and Guri are out of the fight now. Ill assume Guri is out in space, and Burt is in the death spiral, since Guri will be able to survive space much better than Burt. And I had plans for him....

 

IC: Seryk cursed loudly as another blast from the reporan fighters rocked the ship. He watched the sensors carefully, waiting for the reporan fighters to give him a semi-clear shot. But the pilots were good, evading his erratic laser fire with ease. The Sekotan fighter and the X-wing continued to chase after the fighters, which was the only thing keeping the repora from vaporizing the Outrider.

 

"Ten seconds to the mines! Get ready for a hard stop!" Dash yelled from the cockpit, and Seryk wondered what Dash was thinking. A hard stop in a dogfight like this was a good way to make yourself a dead target in a hurry. Suddenly, the ship slowed excessively, and Seryk watched as a Reporan fighter flew over them, barely missing the sheilds of the ship. Seryk then noticed the mine that the fighter was flying towards. A moment before the reporan fighter did. Seryk watched as the the flighter collided with the mine, and was almost thrown from his seat as the shockwave from the explosion crossed over the ship.

 

"Son of the Sith!" Rendar yelled, and he pulled his ship into a hard dive to avoid a series of plasme bursts aimed at the cockpit. As he began the dive, he saw the re-enforcements fly towards the dogfight, and sent a Silent prayer out to the force. He was getting to old for this.

 

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

 

Burt struggled with the controlls of his starfighter, trying to putt it out of the deathspin that it was stuck in. He knew he didnt have long before he would become one iwht the ground, but he was determined to save the fighter. He jerked the control stick to the right, forcing the fighter to stop spinning, and was about to try and pull out of the dive, when he realised that he was out of time. He reached over, and yanked the lever for the ejection seat, firing him out of the fighter. He heard a second, smaller blast, and wondered if the R7 unit had ejected also. He felt the repulors of his ejection sit kick in, and he began to float down to the ground. Then he notced the Sandcrawler that was parked near by. Hopefully they would see his fighter crash, and would come to get it. And maybe, he could hitch a ride with them.

[Stellar_Magic]

OOC: I think you were thinking proxemity mines, these things track your ship and fire medium Plasma Blasts, ouch.

 

The YT-2400 flashed as a brilliant gold blast from one of the mines hit its rear shields and penetrated blasting into the engine compartment. The center of the engine's exhaust flickered and a shower of sparks shot up and down from the ship's disk. The two remaining mines kicked on their engines and raced into pursuit, another fired and caught the YT-2400's tube between the saucer and the bridge nearly severing it. A blast from the dorsal gun battery destroyed the mine which detonated in a blinding flash.

 

The shockwave rippled across the side of one of the Xityar transports which had entered the fight. It's shields shimmered under the heat and shock then failed. The wave rippled across the ship ripping plates free and throwing them like missles. A voice fo shock cut across the comm, "Jade Skimmer come, in damage report!"

 

Then the ship broke at its center spilling both pieces toward the planet where they hit and detonated.

 

Three of the X-wings that had entered the fight had died at the same moment and another one hurtled after the final mine its lasers blaze. A blast caught it dead center destroying both the X-wing and the mine. The shockwave ripped into the Outrider II ripping apart what remained of the sublight drive. Seryk heard Dash yell across the comm, barely audible over the whistling of air streaming through the hulled collar of the bridge, "We're toast I'm setting us down!"

 

"Negative, you've got about a klick to go, we can hold off the fighters that long!" Jacen's voice flooded the channel and Seryk grimaced, so close.

 

"Roger that, keep those sithscum at bay and I'll see how far I can get."

 

* * *

 

Seryk sighed as she broke away fromt he fight, "Malice, Tuvax, they're almost to the Savla, we're out of time!"

[BadSamaritan]

Seryk looked at his sensors, and cursed in his head. They wqere in big trouble now. The OUtrider was falling apart around them, and everyone else was tied up dealing with the reporan fighters. This was not going to end well, short of a miracle. And from what Seryk remembered, he had shorted himself at the miracle bank when he had escaped from the repora the last few times. And to make things even better, the engines of the ship were powering up, preparing for a take-off. He looked more carefully at the sensors, and suddenly a new group of blips appeared.

 

"We have company! Any idea as to who?" he yelled up to the cockpit, and he heard Rendar let out a loup whoop of excitement.

 

"Yah, I know who they are. That the rest of the defence force!" he yelled in excitement, and Seryk pointed the long range sensors directly at them, and he almost joined Rendar in his excitrement. The newcomers werent a bunch of out-dated fighters and freightors like the first group that had arrived, this group comprised of what looked like two squadrons of almost brand new T-65XJs, and almost a dozen more heavily armed freightors, most of which he figured came from the ship lots around Mos Eisley. Things were suddenly looking up.

 

"Rendar, the is Eisley Prime Force. Where do you want us?" came a voice over the comm, and almost immediatly, Redar came back over the comm.

 

"All fighters, there is a dog fight not far from here, go there and re-enforce our people there. All other ships, get in close to that cruiser, and get it to drop its sheilds. He have to get on board!" Rendar yelled into the comm, and Seryk watched as the starfighters broke formation and headed back to help Jacen and Anakin deal with the reporan fighters, and the freightors broke trowards the cruiser, and quickly began to dance around the hull of the ship, sloe enough to it that most of the weapons werew incapable of taking and decent shots at them. Rendar broke off his run an the cruiser, and began to circle it, letting she shields and weapons build up energy again.

 

Seryk watched the bettle unfold, and grimaced as one of the freighters took a direct hit from one of the plasma cannons, and vanished isn a flash of light. Thankfully, the new wave of fighters were going much better, engaging the reporan fighters, and doing a good job of keeping them busy. From what Seryk saw, the pilots were better than your average spacers. They were probably veterns from the war against the Empire and Vong. Suddenly, Seryk had to take yet another look at the sensors, because yet another group of ships entered the fray, this group close enough that he could pick out the largest of the vessels immediatly. This time, Seryk laughed in happiness.

 

"Seryk, Burt, if you can hear this, you are both in deep trouble! All craft, engage that cruiser!" yelled the voice, and Seryk watched the sensors as Karrdes' impressive fleet of smuggling vessels charged in at the cruiser, weapons blazing. The cruiser fired back, but Karrdes' group was well trained, and all of them had flown against the Vong on numerous occasions.

 

"Karrde, how in the name of the force did you find us?" Seryk almost yelled into the comm, but instead of Karrde, the voice of Jacen came back.

 

"I asked for his help. I told him what I knew, he told me what he knew, and we put two and two together." came his voice, stained from the stress of piloting against the Reporan fighters. Seryk nodded in understanding, and he turned his eyes back top the sensors. The fight was quickly turning to their advantage. The reporan fighters had their hands full with Jacen, Anakin, and the Tatooine defence fighters, and the reporan cruiser couldnt seem to hit any of the freightors except with glancing shots. Suddenly, a thought crossed Seryks mind.

 

"Karrde, you have any of those hunter droids with you?" he asked, and Karrde came back over the comm, confusion in his voice.

 

"Yah, I have about two dozen of them on board, why do you ask?" he asked over the comm, and this time, Fett answered.

 

"The skywalkers are on board that cruiser, they were captured. He have to get on there, and free them." he said, and an grunt of understanding came from Karrde.

 

"Alright then, lets get on board that ship." he said, and Seryk watched in amazment as hte majority of Karrdes ships opened fire on teh cruiser with torpedoes and cuncussion missles. Most of them hit shields and exploded, but suddenly, a few impacted against solid hull. Then, almost as one, the freighteros shot to the rear of the ship, and bombarded the ships engines with everything they had. The engines of the ship flickered, and then died as a flurry of laser blasts, torpedoes, and missles impacted them. The ship crashed back down to the ground, and Seryk could see on the sensors that the ship was loosing power to many of its systems.

 

"Alright Seryk, lets all get in close to that ship. Ill unload the droides, and then you guys can go in after. Well make sure the ship doesnt go anywhere any time soon" Karrde ordered over the comm, and Seryk felt the ship Lurch as Rendar took them towards the cruiser. Seryk began to scan the hull of the ship, and found what seemed to be a small hatch on the side of hte ship. He relayed the coordinates of the hatch to Karrde, and he watched as the Wild Karrde Bagan to head in towards the cruiser also. As they got closer, Seryk could see most of the freightors flying around the ship, making sure that the Repora cruiser would be firing their weapons any time soon, while the remaing freightors had shot off to help deal with the fighter situation.

 

Hold on you guys, we are on the way he thought to himself, and Seryk could have sworn he felt something brush against his mind, as if answering his thoughts.

[Stellar_Magic]

Darth Malice pounded in frustration against the controls, “We’re disabled, main engines offline, guns report?â€

[BadSamaritan]

OOC: Ok, can we finally end our trip to this rock, and get going? There is sand getting in my armor!

 

IC: Seryk grimaced as he looked to the destroyed droids on the ground, and Karrde joined him in his thoughts. They only had one squad of droids left, meaning they were going to be extremely outnumbered in this fights. But they had to go in. The Skywalkers had to be saved. Off to his right, Rendar was breathed a bit heavier than a man his age should have.

 

"You know, this is the second time I have had to save Skywalker from trouble. And frankly, I am way to.... retired to be doing this." he said, a smirk on his face. Karrde merely chuckled, and looked over to him, and smiled.

 

"If you want, you can head back to the ships. We could always use a gaurd, sitting in a nice comfy chair." he said, to which Rendar onely glared at him.

 

"Enough! We must move quickly." Anakin sdaid suddenly, and he turned to march into the ship behind the droids, his lightsaber blazing brightly. Jacen followed him closey, and Seryk joined them. He ignited his lightsaber, and then de-activated it. He reached down the the ground, and picked up one of the fallen Reporas sabers, and activated it.

 

"It may be a bit different from mine, but at least it has a full charge." he said, and he ran quickly to follow the other two Jedi. Karrde, Rendar, and Fett all looked at one other.

 

"I guess we take up the rear?" Karrde seemed to ask, and Fett nodded.

 

"I have already faced these repora once, and frankly, I would prefer to be picking up the peices of what those three leave behind, rather than them having to save us constantly." he said, and he turned to walk after the jedi. The sounds of battle were already coming from the inside of the ship, and it sounded fierce. Karrde and Dash looked to each other, and nodded. The followed Fett up into the ship, and prepared for the worst.

 

But what they saw, was far from the worst. The droids were firing their weapons without mercy, cutting down warrior after warrior from one direction, alomst blocking an entire passageway off. The three jedi, facing the opposite direction, were fending off Repora from the other direction. Not knowing exactly where they were needed, they all just picked a direction, and started firing their weapons.

 

"We need to move our way!" Anakin yelled, seeming to parry several blades at once in a flurry of strokes. Slowly. the group began to move, the Jedi pushing fiercly against the wall of Repora in front of them, foricng them back. Dash, Fett, and the droids began a slow march backwards, making sure to drops as many warriors ans they could in the process.

 

As the group moved, more Droideka 'kar began to appear, but there were enough bodies in the corridore to keep them from getting into immediete range. But All knew it wouldnt be long until the droids and warriors overwhelemd them.

 

"We need a better plan then this! ANy ideas?" Karrde yelled, and Jacen yelled an answer in a strained voice.

 

"Yah, move faster!" he said, and with a flurry of strikes, the Jedi cut down the rest of the warriors in front of them. Karrde turned to look at them, and realized what a fight it had been. All of them had numerous burn marks across their clothes, and Seryks halmet had yet another slash in it, this one close to his chin. The droids continued to fire at the warriors behind them, but Anakin turned around, and waved his hands. The droieka'kar behind them, along wit the dfew remaining warriors, flew backwards, and a bulkhead slammed shut, with enough force that Karrde knew that it would be opening any time soon.

 

Dash and Karrde turned towards the rest of the group, and checked their blasters. Dashe quickly changed out the clip in his, tossing the nearly spent pack aside. He looked about, and then over at Jacen and Anakin.

 

"Well, you two seem to have the best Idea as to where we are going, lead the way." he said, and Anakin turned. Reaching out with the force, he quickly pinpointed the part of the ship where the Skywalkers were being help. And he could tell that they were heavily gaurded. He sighed, and turned back to the rest of the group.

 

"The skywalkers were close to the center of the ship. Thjey are heavily gaurded, but Im not sure by how many gaurds." he said, and Karrde shook his head.

 

"Even I could have told you that. We need a better plan than charging straight in at them" he said, disgust in his voice.

 

"What do you take me for, a fool?" anakin asked, anger in his voice. "They are on the same deck as us. Therefor, we take a different deck there." he said, turning has Saber on the floor of the deck. He began to cut a hole into the deck, and soon, a gaping whole was in the floor. Anaking jumped in, quickly followed by Jacen. The rest of them Jumped down into the hole. The last remaining pair of droids jumped down last, landing heavily on the floor. As a group, they began to move, towards teh center of the ship.

 

"We will switch from deck to deck, and hopefully, keep them confused enough to limit how many of them we have to fight" Anakin said. Fett laughed, and Anakin looked over to him.

 

"You are thinking more like a mandalorian, than a Jedi. Confuse your enemy to achieve your objective, and humiliate them at the same time." he said, and Anakin smiled.

 

"If memory serves me, it was the Mandalorians that were humiliated in the end, was it not?" he asked, turning to walk down the hallway. Fett sijply growled, and fell to the back of group. Seryk fell back to walk beside him.

 

"We arent as far gone as people think" Fett said in a low voice. Seryk looked over to him, and wondered what he was talking about. But he diceded that now was not the time to ask. He looked back forward, and noticed a Repora warrior, followed by a pair of Droideka'kars. He raised his saber up, and got ready for another round of fighting.

[Stellar_Magic]

Shren stepped into the command chamber and smiled at the images playing over the holographic projector, "The recruits are serving their purpose I see."

 

Darth Tuvax snorted to himself at the comment, "I think it is foolish to waste our warriors like this, we're sending our worst to stop them when we should be sending our best."

 

Shren shrugged, "We should set a trap, order the honor guard to fortify the deck four coorridor three at the junction with axial cooridor five. Have the assault infantry at the flanks of the T-junction along with a battery of Droideka'kar droids."

 

"How do you know they'll head there?" Tuvax hissed.

 

Shren smiled, "Trust me."

 

* * *

 

Anakin clambered up the hole in the deck floor and glanced along the cooridors, "Its clear, come on up." Within moments Seryk, Jacen, Boba, and Karrde along with a squad of YVH droids were beside him.in the dim cooridor. Ahead the hall seemed deserted and a trio of blast doors appeared at its end. Confidently Boba strolled down the hall to the doors when with a hiss the doors slid open. Behind them a trio of Droideka'kar war droids rolled into position and unfolded into attack position.

 

A three dimensional holo shimmered to life in the middle of the hall showing the distinctive blue features of Shren, "Ah, Jacen Solo and Anakin Skywalker, your commpanions, you have five seconds to lay down your arms or..."

 

Anakin shimmered and disappeared as the transmission cut off.

 

* * *

 

Shren suddenly felt the blazing heat of an ignited lightsaber beneath at her throat, she gasped in shock as a strong hand clasped over her mouth and pulled her off the holo plate.

 

The voice that whispered in her ear brought a nightmare of her own to the forefront, "Call them off Shren, or do I have to kill you?"

 

A snap hiss filled the sparse room and Darth Tuvax stood his lightsaber ignited in his hand, "Release her!"

 

Anakin smiled, "Really?" Then he and Shren disappeared from view.

 

* * *

 

They shimmered to existance in the center of the hallway and Anakin bellowed out to the Rapora, "You all know who I am, drop your arms and release my family, or you all die here."

 

The Rapora, shock visible in their expressions and movements dropped their weapons and stepped away.

 

Shren threw off Anakin's grasp, "You won't get away with this!"

 

"Ah, but I already have..." Anakin raised his lightsaber in a salute at Shren as she retreated. Anakin, smiling, strolled down the cooridor and sliced down through the floor.

 

* * *

 

Luke looked up as the roof began to belt, a brilliant purple blade slicing through the hard metal. Then with a thunderous clap it fell to the floor between him and Mara. Anakin's head appeared in the hole, "Do you want a way out fo here or what?"

[Rattler3]

OOC: Had to find a way back in...

 

IC: The Introvertor appeared back at realspace.

Beside it the assault frigate and Carrack appeared moments later.

 

"Structural integrity on the Carrack?"

 

"Fine sir." Colto nodded and glanced out the viewport.

 

"Son of a... Battle stations. Sensors?"

 

"Sir, Ship of unknown type surrounded by freighters on the ground... Not sure, but the capital ship looks raporan in identity sir."

 

Colton glared at him. "Raporan! This is Tattoine, what the f are they doing out here. It's in the middle of nowhere." It was a pity they had to jump here... this was the nearest location the nav comp had stored...

 

"Sir, 83% probability. It looks disabled though..." Colton breathed a sigh of relief.

 

"Launch fighters, have them form up. Get in contact with those freighters, give me information. Stand by on the troop transports as well."

Not that they had many. 2 of them were all that were left after the battle... there hangers being hit. They had men, but only 40 could fit in each...

Edited October 14, 2004 by Rattler3

[Stellar_Magic]

OOC: I'm begining to wonder how often I'll have to say this...The Cruiser is crash landed on the surface of Tatooine.

[Rattler3]

OOC: My bad... fixed.

[BadSamaritan]

Seryk watched as Luke, mara, and Ben climbed out of their prison, a look of relief on their faces. Seryk and Jecen tossed a pair of confiscated sabers to both Luke and mara, who caught them, and smiled.

 

"I was beginning to wonder when you guys would show up." Mara said, a smile on her face. Karrde simply snorted, and looked over to them.

 

"This isnt over yet. We had a fight just getting in here. And Im willing to bet it isnt going to be easy getting back out." He said, and Luke nodded. Luke then saw Dash, and he smiled.

 

"Dash! I thought you were long since dead!" he said, and Dash shrugged.

 

"You know us smugglers. Harder to kill than a rancor on a rampage." he said, and Anakin turned to them all, a sneer forming on his face.

 

"Well, now that everyone is now caught up, can we please get moving? They are already preparing to lift off again, and we have a ways to go." he said, and he turned and walked down the corridor. Everyone nodded, and began top follow him, with Seryk and Jacen taking up the rear. After a few moments of walking, however, a group of warriors appeared in front of them, and a fight broke out.

 

Anakin waded into the Reporans, his lightsaber dancing quickly between the reporan blades, parrying some of them with ease, barely catching some of them in time. Mara and luke quickly evened the odds, and the Repora began a slow march backwards. Suddenly, yet another group of warriors appeared, this one behind them. Jacen and Seryk lept to the attack, fending them off, with Fett, Dash, and Karrde adding to the Chaos with their blasters.

 

The group pushed forward, until suddenly, the reporan warriors turned, and fled. Anakin cut down the lone remaining repora, a confused look on his face.

 

"Why did they run?" Mara asked, concern in her voice. Then, they felt the ship shudder, as the engines began to warm up once again. Seryk cursed as he realized what was going on.

 

"We need to move quickly! " Anankin yelled, and they all began a fast run down the corridores. The reporan warrios had only been a distraction, keeping the group from the outer hull of the ship while the systems came back on line. As they ran, they suddenly heard a pounding sound. Seryk guessed the smuggler ships and the defence forces were attacking the ship again, trying to keep it on the ground. Then he heard something he didnt expect. Blasterfire. A lot of it.

 

They rounded a corner, and came across the group of Repora that they had just got done fighting locked in combat with a group of troops wearing a mixture of old imperial and new republic gear. They all lept into action, attacking the REporans from behind. Now surrounded, the repora fell with ease, unable to fend off the attacks from both sides. Luke walked up to one of the newcomers, and stared at him.

 

"General Tarsyk, of the Taurian Combine, at your service master Skywalker. Lets get out of here, before any more of those creatures arrive" he said, and he turned, motioneing for his troops to lead the way. Luke looked around the the gouap, and they all came to a silent agreement. They began to move forward, following the troops quickly, hoping that these troops knew what they were doing.

 

"This is Tarsyk, all forces, rally to the entrance point. We have the targets. " the general spoke into his wrsit comm, and a flurry of responces came back. it was then that karrde spoke up.

 

"Tarsyk? As in Arluk Tarsyk?" he asked, awe in his voice. Tarsik simply nodded, as if he was to busy thinking of different ways to leave the ship. Luke turned to Karrde, a look of confusion on his face. Kardde looked over to him to explain.

 

"Tarsyk here lead the Black Star Raiders, at one point in time the most feared commando team in the Empire. They vanished not long after Admiral Daala handed control of the Empire over to Pelleon." he said, and Luke nodded. It was now apparent where thay had gone. Luke knew of teh Taurian Combine. He had helped a number of Refugees get there, much to the annoyance of the high counsil.

 

As the group rounded the corber, they came across a large hallway, wide enough to fit a pair of skyhppers side by side. At the end, stood a group of reporan warriors, their sabers at the ready. Standing in front of them, was a Chiss woman, and two more warriors, all three of which Seryk recognized instantly.

 

"You will travel no farther. Surrender now, or prepare to die" one of the reporan warriors said, and Anakin smiled.

 

"Do you honestly think that we will give up so easily?" he said, and he began to walk towards the group. Luke, mara, Jacen, and Seryk followed. Fett turned to the troops, and held up his hand.

 

"This is there fight, lets just hold the rear." he said, anfd the general nodded. As if on cue, more Taurian troops arived, and on their heels were more reporan warriors, along with a pair of Droideka'kars. Both groups collided, sabers striking, and blaster bolts flying. On the other side of the corridor, the jedi and the Repora began to engage one another, all their movements so fluid and precise, that most who watched it would have assumed it was a dance, and not a fight to the death.

 

OOC: Take it away someone.

[Mad78]

Tuvax stared at the group of jedi closing in on his group. He used the anger the jedi inspired turn into rage, the rage turning into pure dark energy. He lept his saber clashed with Skywalkers. Arc of energy passing between the two blades. Tuvax rotated his blade to try and impale Skywalker with his second blade but he avoided it by jumping back. Tuvax wedged his blade backwards making it go through a soldier who wanted to shoot at his back. Tuvax then lept back towards Skywalker the blades dancing each one guided by the force.

Tuvax managed to trip Skywalker using his tail and pushed his Lightsaber far away using the force. At last Skywalker was at his mercy. Nothing could stop him now. He raised his red blade to give the final blow but a Purple blade blocked it. Tuvax turned his eyes to the stranger who had defended the fallen jedi.

"You should not have done that jeedai. That will be your last mistake." hissed Tuvax

"I don't think so." answered the stranger

Tuvax roared attacked. The blades were moving so fast that they could hardly be seen.

Finally the stranger lashed at Tuvax's leg and cut his artificial claw clean off.

"No!" shouted Tuvax as he fell.

A droideka moved in to give him cover.

[Stellar_Magic]

Shifting his lightsaber into his left hand Anakin leaned into the fire coming from the droid, his hand outstretched, a whispy shield of blue light materialized before him. The droid kept firing shifting its aim to sneak past his defenses. Then with a flick of his wrist Anakin pushed the shield forward eclisping the droids and a discharge of brilliant blue energy lit up the contact. In that same moment int Anakin twirled his blade sneaking past Tuvax's defenses and sliced the lightsaber in his hands in two.

 

Behind Anakin, Luke clambered to his feet as Mara drew her pistol into her left hand. She swiveled and fired a random volley of blasts into an oncoming warrior catching him in the chest and dropping him to the ground. Behind the warrior two more lit their lightsabers and slowly krept forward, their armor glinting in the light.

 

Ben Skywalker crawled to a dropped blaster pistol in the melee, lifting it he sighted in on a Rapora Warrior and fired. The blast caught the unprepared creature in between the legs and pitched him backward and into the wall.

 

Boba stood in the center of one hallway, a blastech DL-44 in each hand firing a steady stream of bolts into the onrushing mob of foes, his shots seemed guided by skills even the jedi could not comprehend, and penetrated the hapless defense of the Rapora. His blasters emptied, Boba threw them at his foes and lifted his gauntleted arms and kept firing, knowing that if it kept up, he'd soon be overwhelmed.

 

Anakin starred at the Rapora he faced, "You fight well, but you have no idea what you've bitten into Tuvax."

 

"What," Tuvax said as Anakin stepped forward and struck. The strike hit the Rapora int he forearm. The stroke, if not for the cortosis weave of the armor he wore would have sliced his arm free, all the same it did horrific damage, and Tuvax's hand went numb and the lightsaber fell from his hand. Tuvax leapt backward and felt his claws grasp into the curving wall behind him.

 

Anakin lazily strolled beneath him hanging from the ceiling, "I have no quarrel with you, leave and live."

 

Tuvax leapt down and spun into a roll, he reached out to grasp the fallen lightsaber and stood to feel the slight heat of a purple blade humming over his throat. With a flash of blue lightning he slumped forward, as the blade disengaged and fell unconscious.

 

Anakin glanced at the battle, "Luke, Mara I'll hold em off, cut through that wall!"

 

Darth Malice brought his lightsaber upto stop a slash from Jacen, "Enough of this charade!" He spun on his heel and lashed out in a side kick that caught Jacen in the hip, the snap of a bone breaking punctured the roar of battle as Jacen fell. Reaching out Malice plucked Jacen's lightsaber from the floor, "I don't think you'll need this anymore Jeedai!"

 

Seryk stepped in beside Jacen and thrust forward catching Malice offguard. His strike slashed into the Sith's cheek blackening it and stuning him.

 

Shren backed away as Anakin stepped forward, his blade lowered to the floor, "I gave you a chance Shren, you know what is coming."

 

The chiss's face turned a ghostly white, her black hair slick with sweat, her eyes seemed to darken to nothingness as she shook her head, "No."

 

"Then surrender, Shren, your brother would surely take you in despite the errors you have made," Anakin raised his lightsaber as Shren backed to the wall, the dim light illuminating a slight glistening of tears on her cheeks.

 

"I cannot go back," Shren stammered her lightsaber falling uselessly to the floor.

 

Anakin smiled, knowing now what would happen, "Then you are truly lost, caught between darkness and righteousness. You will fade into obscurity Shren, none will shake at your name, and none will have reverance in your accomplishments, is that what you want?"

 

Shren straightened, her eyes brightened, "No."

 

"Then come with us," And Anakin, knew looking upon her, that he had won.

 

She straightened somewhat as Malice fell to the floor in front of her incapacitated, his right leg severed. Then she slowly stepped past it, "Lower your weapons!" The Rapora looked to each other, in shock, and surprise but did not drop them. Shren bit her lip, "Lower your weapons!"

 

The clatter of Raporan lightsabers and filled the air and Anakin stepped beside the older chiss, "You will be allowed to leave Tatooine as soon as the we are off, you may return to your war, but I tell you know, if you do, not one of you will survive."

 

The Rapora were not easily swayed by words, but all had seen his abilities, still they all knew their duty, they would return to the front. If they survived their leader's wrath.

 

An hour later, Karrde watched as the lone Raporan Cruiser rose up into the sky, its hull flashing as it sped upward. He sighed, the Rapora had shown themselves to be honorable, still the enormity of their skill would make them opponets unlike any other, and the loss of over fifty percent of the boarding party had shown that. Looking back on it, Karrde knew that the Rapora had maybe lost at most a quarter as many people and droids as they had.

 

"They fight well," Boba said grizzlily as he watched the ship ascend, "I must leave, it was a good fight."

 

"Will you talk to Seryk before you go?" Mara asked from beside the bounty hunter.

 

"I will."

 

OOC: I just had to try and get us off Tatooine quickly, and Shren has switched sides, but lets not trust her for a minute.

[Mad78]

Tuvax did not twitch as a Vaagari medic nursed his crippled arm. How could this have happened? And who was that cloaked jedi?

Tuvax would have to apologise to Fury and find a way to redeem himself.

The Vaagari finished cleaning the blood, bowed and left the room.

Tuvax needed to rest. Another battle would surely soon happen and he did not intend to lose it. He closed his eyes and plunged into a healing transe.

 

***

5 hours later

 

****

The Kar Lur cruiser exited hyperspace infront of Darth Fury's admiral ship.

Tuvax opened his eyes and looked at his arm. All that could be seen was a faint scar.

He limped over to the comlink on the wall and switched it on.

"Prepare my ship"

He then walked over to his personnalk lift. His damaged artificial leg made him look weak. In his infiltrator he could repair it before joining Fury. The lift took him directly to the hangar.

Once on board of his ship he set a course for the Admiral ship.

 

He docked ten minutes later and walked to Fury's chamber with his new protesis. As he entered he noticed Fury's new apprentice standing at the side of his master. On seing this Tuvax couldn't help letting out a hiss.

He bowed.

"Master. I cannot explain my failure."

"I can Tuvax. Skywalker was assisted by a Jedi and some smugglers.

Rise my friend i have a new mission for you."

Tuvax got back to his feet and looked the holo which had just switched on.

A star was highlighted.

"That is the Kuat system. You are to take a small strike force and stop the maximum of convoy to get to it."

"It shall be done my Master."

Tuvax left the room.

[BadSamaritan]

Seryk watched as the Reporan cruiser took off, the damage done to it by all the forces obvious even from a distance. Seryk smiled, happy to know that a group of smugglers and a rag-tag defensice force was capable of dealing with a cruiser. Hopefully, this was a sign that the Repora werent as invincible as they seemed. He felt a hand land on his shoulder, and he turned around, to see Boba standing behind him.

 

"We need to talk Seryk." He said, and Boba turned to walk away. Seryk followed him, wondering what Boba wanted to talk to him about. He had a nagging feeling, however, that it was going to be about something important. As they walked, Boba slowed his pace slightly, to allow Seryk to catch up to him. They walked for a few more moments, and then Boba stopped, truning to look at him.

 

"You fought well today Seryk. You have done well to honor your heritage. You used your instincts, and the force, in harmony with one another. And it is because of this, that I have a mission for you." he said, and he handed a small data chip to Seryk. Seryk reached and took the ship, a confuised look on his face.

 

"Do what the ship says. It is imprtant. You will understand soon enough." boba said, a hint of humor in his voice. Boba slowly turned, and began to walk away. Seryk watched him for a moment, and then a thought crossed his mind.

 

"Boba, how are you getting off of this planet? Your ship was destroyed" he said, and Boba turned around to look at him.

 

"Seryk, you must learn one thing. Mandalorians, are never alone." he said, and is if on cue, a pair of gladiator class starfighters appeared, along with an odd looking vessel. The third vessel was almost diamond shaped, but it ws much wider that it was long. The engines were placed at the very tips of the vessel, with one large engine places in the center of the stern portion of the ship. Boba truned and waved to eh vessels, and the came to a stop above them both. Boba activaed his jetpack, and rocketed up into the air, and a hatch opened up on the larger vessel. Boba flew into it, and the hatch closed. Slowly, all three vessels turned, and flew off into teh Distance. Seryk watched them leave, and he then turned to walk back to the group. He tucked the datachip away in his pocket, decideing that he could reviw it later.

 

As he got back to the group, he could hear another craft appraoching, and he truned to see a old Lambda-class shuttle approaching. the ensignie on teh side was one that he couldnt identify, and it was being escorted by a pair of just as old x-wings. the vessels landed next to karrdes assembled group of ships, and the ramp of the shuttle lowered. Seryk watched as Karrde ran off to greet the newcomers, and Seryk walked over to Dash.

 

"Has anyone heard form Burt yet?" He asked, concern in his voice. He had grown to like the kid in the short time he had been with him, and he had hoped that nothign bad had happened to him.

 

"Yah, Karrde sent a ship to the crash site just now, and another ship up into space to retreive Guri. Im not worried abotu Guri, but Burts ship took a bad hit, and he crashed pretty hard from what I remember. But we are hoping or the best." Dash said, and then he scratched his head.

 

"Oh, and about your ship. its still not even close to being repaired. I can loan you one, if need be." he said, And Seryk shook his head.

 

"No, I will be fine. You just get it repaired whenever possible. ill be back for it eventually." he said, and Dash nodded. Sery then saw Karrde walking over with another gentleman, ths one wearing an obvious military uniform. Dash and Seryk walked over to the rest of the group, and greeted the newcomer.

 

"Gentlemen and ladies, meet Admiral Colton, and the Taurian Combine" Karrde said, motioning to he other man. the man nodded slightly, saluting them all evenly.

 

"Im sorry I was not able to be of mroe assistance, but my forces have already been heavily damaged in battle against these Repora, and Are in no condition to try and tangle with them again." he said, and Luke smiled.

 

"Thats alright Admiral. I understand. better that ou live to fight another day, then Die in a hopless fight." he said, and Colton smiled. Karrde looked at them all, and sighed.

 

"Well, we had all better be off then. We have to get the Skywalkers back to the GFFA, and we all better report everything we know about these Rpora now. The cousil and fleet command will need all the info we can get them." he said, and Everyone nodded n agreement. Slwoly, they all began to head to their repsective ships, the skywalkers, Shren, and Seryk all walking towards the Wild Karrde. Anankin walked over to his Sekotan ship, and jumpoed into the cockpit, immediatly launching, and flying off into the distance. They all boarded the ship anfd slolwy, the assembled group of ships began to lift off.

 

The skywalkers and Shren moved to the back of the ship, to a set of quarters that Karrde had assigned to them. Seryk went up to the bridge, wanting to try and help out with the preperation to get into hyperspace. As he stood there and watched, Karrde turned to him, a smile on his face.

 

"So tell me Seryk, how did burt do on his first important mission?" he asked, humor in his voice. Seryk chuckled, and se t hs helmet down on a console.

 

"he did well. he is an excellent gunner, and a good pilot. He still has a lot to learn, given the fact he managed to trash a perfectly good fighter wihtout even getting a shot off, but still. Everyone has to start somewere." he said, and Karrde nodded. He had just recived word that Burt had been picked up near a jawa sandcrawler, and was a little worse for the wear, but was ok. And if walk Serykl had said was true, he had the prefect place for him already.

 

"Good. Ill give him command of a small ship then, to start him off. Burt is a smart kid, and i think he will earn fast." Karrde said, and Seryk nodded in agreement.

 

"That he will. But just so you know Karrde, I will not be re-joining you. I have a lot of resposibility now, being a jedi. that, and I have to do something for Fett." he said, and Karrde simply smiled.

 

"It wont be the first time I will have lost someone to another orginization. It wont be the last. And besides'" he said, shrugging his shoulders, "you werent that good of a smuggler anyhow." he said, laughing. Seryk jopined him in laughing, and then turned to look out the viewport. In front of them, he could see Admiral Coltons fleet, or what was left of it. It was slowly turning to point out of the system, and preparing to make the jump to lightspeed. Karrdes group caught up wih the fleet, and one by one, all the ships jumped into hyperspace, on their way to the capitol world of the GFFA.

 

*********

 

On board of the partol ship Warriors honor, Fett sat silently in a small seat, watching the smuggeler and Taurian forces leave system. he nodded, an d turned to the other man in the small cockpit.

 

"They are gone." Fett said, and the man turned to him. His face was scarred from years of battle, but in his eyes, Fett could see the fire that still burned within him.

 

"So, you think Seryk is the one? The one Lord Mandalore spoke of?" he asked, curiosity in his voice. Fett slowly nodded, and them man sighed. he truned his attention back to the controls of the ship, and began to set a course into the nav computer.

 

"Well then, we had better be on our way. The high command will need to hear of this." he said, and again, Fett nodded. In the back of his mind, Fett though of the old prophecy, handed down through the generations after the fall of the mandalorian forces to the old republic. Of how one day, a warrior shall rise, weilding the weapon of thier enemies, and lead the Mandalorian race either to great honor, or its final destruction.

[Stellar_Magic]

"Reports continue to flood, in, Raporan ships have launched commerce raids all across our space, with an unusual concentration around the worlds of Kuat, and Fondor,"The Supreme Commander of Outer Rim forces stood before the assembled group of politicians.

 

Beside him Admiral Kre'Fey stood watching the displays, "How have our forces faired against these raids?"

 

Evahe shook his head, "Not well, many times their fighters make a dash for our escort ships and take out one or more fo them in the opening minutes of a fight, we still haven't developed tactics to counter such strikes."

 

The door slid open and an aide appeared his face stretched by an enormous smile, "Sir, Councilors, Luke Skywalker has just arrived in system along with a number of others. They survived!"

 

* * *

 

Anakin smiled tightly as he piloted the Sekotan skip through the rings of debris shrouding the desert planet below. Smiling he keyed the comm, "Members of the Raporan Imperium, heave too and learn, abandon your arms or the fires you will unleash will consume you all."

[BadSamaritan]

Seryk grimaced as he followed the gaurds through teh secret halls to the counsil chanbers. Here he was, a mandalorian warrior, and a jedi Knight, and he was being forced to walk through the dark tunnels underneath the chambers. he had been told that it was for securities sake, but he still didnt like it. It made him feel like he wasn't trusted. Suddenly, the gaurds came to a halt, and the res of the group followed suit. One of the gaurds turned towards the wall, and hit a small paych of wall. Silently, a hidden door slid opne, and he gaurds exited. The rest of the group followed, and they found themselves in teh chambers of the inner counsil.

 

Around a small table sat the higher ups of the GFFA, minus the delegates from the Empire and the Chiss, which he had just learned had been scattered by the Repora. That disturbed him a bit, the Empire was no longer the weak remenant of a former glory, but It had become a respectable government, whith a massive warfleet to defend tself with. And the Chiss had always been a feircom opponent. If the Repora had managed to defeat them already, then maybe the galaxy was in for more than he thought.

 

Slowly, supreme commander Eveha nodded to each of them in turn, and finally looked over to Master Skywalker. he stared at him hard, and then sighed.

 

"Master Skywalker, it is good to see you alive and well. Along with the rest of your... entourage. I hope you have some valuable intelligence to give us all. The repora have been beating us pretty bad. With the empire and the Chiss efectively out of the piocture, we are standing alone now." he said, his voice solemn. The majority of the group looked to one another, and they all realized teh same thing. Their minor vicotry over the Repora at tatooine had been nothing more than a fluke.

 

Slowly, Skywalker took a step forward, and began to explain what had happened at tattooine.

 

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

 

General Hiretok looked over all of his reports, and sighed. The repora were hitting supply shipments, convoys, and everything else thay could find on its way to Kuat. And her e he was, all the ships in his command being stuck at Kuat, under strict orders to defend the yards at all cost. he hated it. people weredying, and he coulsnt stop it. he wasnt even allowed to send out some of his elites units to help defend convoys. And most of teh convoys were civilains being evacuated from Kuat. Thankfully, most of them were making it out of the system.

 

Almost silently, the door to his chamber opened, and Lir'ka, his second on command entered. She stood there for a few moments, waiting paitiantly for him to acknowledge her. He read one last line of the report, and then looked up to her, a smile on his face.

 

"You know you dont have to stand there. We have been through to much to stand on formalities." he said, and Lir'ka smiled. She moved to sit down across from him at his desk, and she planter her feet firmly on the table. He chuckled, knowing that if his superios had seen that move, they both would have been demoted to front-line ground troops faster than they could fly.

 

"The asteroids are all ready, as per your orders. You think your plan will work?" she asked, worry in her voice. Hirotak nodded slwoly, and removed a bottle of old correlian brandy form his desk, along with two small glasses. he poured the brandy into the glasses, and handed on to Lir'ka.

 

"I hope we dont have to implement it. If we do, more than likely, we will lose a lot of our forces, if not all of them. Getting into a slugging match with the Repora has been virtual suicide, so far. But sadly, i think it is our only chance." he said, and Lir'ka nodded. She sipped the brandy, and smiled as she felt it Burn on the way down her throat.

 

"It worked against the Vong, and it worked for the smugglers at the Run, so Im sure it will at least have some effect again. Hopefully enough to give the Repora a bloody nose before they pound our forces into space dust." Hirotak said, a grimace on his face. Lir'ka sighed, and shook her head.

 

"Hiro, we have more than enough ships here to give them a run for theier money, at least. Between the six new Firestorm-class destoryers we have, along will all the other destoryers and cruisers we have here, the Repora are going to have to bring in a pretty big fleet to tangle with us." Lir'ka said, matter-of-factly. Mirotak nodded, and looked over to her.

 

"How are the preperations for moving that yards going?" he asked, wondering how many of them had been equiped for the journey. They all had a long trip ahead of them. That, and the logistics of moving so many yards was astounding. But he was not about to watch as the yards were wiped out again under his command. He had already lost the yards to teh Vong, he was not about to lose them all to the Repora.

 

"30 Percent of the yards are already on the move, and will leave system in less than an hour. But the rest all have ships in them, and it takes time to reay the ships and the yards for a jump" Lir'ka said, and Hiro nodded. he could understand that. he picked up one of the reports, and studied it.

 

"I want yards 23 through 35 to have top priorty, with everything else getting priority according to how complete the ships are." he said, and Lir'ka nodded. Those yards held all the larger Star Destroyers, and two of them held brand new Super Star Destroyers, each of them just needing crews before being ready to launch. Sadly, without the crews, the ships couldnt go anywhere, not without him sacrificing teh crews of his own ships.

 

"It will be done. Ill see to it immediatly" Lir'ka said, and Hiro nodded. Lir'ka stood, and turned to walk out the door. Hirotek watched her leave, and then went back to her reports. he had a lot of planning to do, and he didn't know how long he had to do it.

[Stellar_Magic]

"Their warriors are inventive and deadly, even for jedi," Luke sighed, his expression grim, "We still know little about them, their homeworld, their culture, even the size and extent of their fleet."

 

Admiral Evahe sighed, "We know more then when you left, the worlds of Csilla, Yaga Minor, and Bastion have been siezed by the enemy."

 

Luke felt his pulse quicken, "So the Empire and Chiss Ascendancy are effectively out of the war?"

 

"Yes," Cal answered slowly and sighed, sinking into his chair, "Csilla and Bastion were completely destroyed, their planets utterly shattered by a superweapon." Cal leaned over the table, "Admiral, show them the Resurrector."

 

The hologram in the center of the room displayed an enormous vessel two hundred kilometers from tip to tip in every direction. It's basic shapped looked like a standard satellite, but its sheer size blew away any other comparison except to a Death Star. Admiral Evahe rose and walked beside the holo and pulled a pointer from his shirt, "The ship is enormous as you can see, but in detailed analysis of the ship has revealled that at maximum for an average life form, it is crewed by less then ten thousand beings. Of course their could be many more housed in such a vessel, considering Raporan affection for droid technology its quite possible the majority of its crew is droid."

 

The Evahe pointed to the four enormous pylons shooting fromt eh main assembly, "The station fires a directed plasma weapon, at these pylons are a number of gravitic projectors which focus and direct the beam. Each one of these projectors is capable of ripping apart a ship if aimed directly at a vessel. If these are disabled the primary weapon becomes unfocused, and really of only minimal danger to the target."

 

Cal sighed, "Please define, minimal danger."

 

"A ship could be disabled if caught in the plasma wave, and a planet could suffer slight atmospheric erosion."

 

Mara Jade slowly shook her head, but it was Ben that asked the question she had thought, "Why did they blow up the worlds? Why not just capture them?"

 

Admiral Evahe shrugged, "Our intelligence is uncertain, perhaps to shake up our leadership. I'm planing on dispatching a number of recon flights to those worlds to ascertain the purpose of their distruction."

 

An Aide slipped into the room, "Sir, we've got a transmission from Colonel Solo."

 

Kre'Fey stood, "Put it through."

 

The shimmering image of Jaina Solo appeared in front of the assembly, "Jaina Solo to GFFA command, please respond."

 

"Jedi Solo, this is Admiral Kre'Fey, report."

 

The holo seemed to take forever to hear those words, "Sorry Admiral, we're transmitting from quite a distance here. I'm with with Admiral Oreton at present, along with members of the United Defense Alliance, a joint venture between the chiss and a number of other groups." Jaina turned from the admiral and frowned, "Are you sure?"

 

A calm, well cultured voice answered, "Yes."

 

Jaina sighed, "Alright, I'm going to hand it off to the leader of the United Defense Alliance."

 

Jaina stepped out of the holo and a chiss man stepped to its center, he smiled slightly, "Hello Cal Omas, you may remember me." Cal felt his heart stop, "You knew me as Grand Admiral Thrawn."

[Mad78]

Tuvax and his squadron of Rapora Fighters circled the front of the Kar Lur Cruiser Hunter's Praise who served as admiral ship for his small strike force.

Tuvax had split his forces to cover as many hyperspace routes coming from Kuat as he could. The Comlink of his Fighter crackeled to life.

"Sir a group of ships has just left Kuat. Our gravity field should pull them out in a few seconds."

"Copy. Charge plasma guns and launch all fighters"

 

As the last fighters left the Kar Lur the group of UFFA ships exited hyperspace. It was composed of a Dreadnought, A Carrack Cruiser, A Corellian corvette and Escorte Carrier which had already started to launch its fighters.

"Hunter. Engage the dreadnought and the Carrack. Claw Squadron and Vaagari Squadrons shall take care of the UFFA fighters."

Each squadron leader comfirmed and started maneouvering.

The Kar Lur's Plasma Cannons opened fire on the Dreadnought leaving black marks when some of the plasma pierced the shields.

 

"Sir We need support!" said a Vaagari voice on the Com channel.

It came from Lurak squadron they were trying to take on the Corvette but the Turbolasers and the smaller canonons were posing problem.

"Give me cover. i shall take care of the corvette."

Tuvax dived onto the Corvette his cannons blazing at its shields.

At the last moment he cut the throttle and stopped infront of the Airlock doorway on the side of the ship.

The hatch of his fighter magnetically fixed itself onto the ship. Tuvax got up taking onyl his lghtsaber. It was all he needed.

 

The soldiers on the corvette placed themselves along the corridor infront of the doorway preparing to push back the one who was going to enter.

They watched as the tip of Tuvax's blade slowly cut around the side of the blast door. The soldiers waited when suddenly the Blast door blew inside knocking out several security guards and forcing the others to take cover.

Tuvax roared as he walked down the corridor lightsaber at the ready.

The soldiers opened fire.

 

Ten minutes later Tuvax's fighter unhooked and set a course towards the Kar Lur cruiser who had finished with the capital ships who's wrecks finished consuming themnselves.

"Corvette pacified. Slavage what you can."

[Stellar_Magic]

Cal sank back in his seat, "So, why exactly have you come out fo retirement?"

 

"I've been busy readying forces for a coming war, the war you're looking upon as we speak. The Empire of the Hand was formed to be the first line of the Galaxies defense, but the United Defense Alliance was meant as its hammer. You'll find from General Ioor's account of the battle of Bastion just how effective our ships are."

 

Admiral Kre'Fey nodded slowly, "So you've been preparing all this time for this war?"

 

"Even longer, I joined the Empire in the hope of uniting the galaxy so that it could be defended against such a foe, unfortunately my superior had other designs, and even now works against me." Thrawn shrugged, "I've got Jaina Solo here with me, and I'd like her to remain here as an envoy between our two peoples. Furthermore we have a common enemy."

 

"Yes," Cal answered slowly, "It seems we do." Cal sighed, "What forces can you bring to bear against the Rapora?"

 

Admiral Thrawn smiled, "A fleet half the size of one of your six fleets, and equipped specifically to combat the Rapora." He leaned forward, "My daughter Athien will be heading up a small strike force destined for the world of Kuat. Also, is Master Skywalker there with you?"

 

"I am."

 

"I urge you to head to Zonoma Sekot, to combat the Rapora I believe you will need to bring the Vong into the war."

 

* * *

 

Kyp Durron held tight to the rope that was anchored to the cliff face on Ossus. Beside him xenoarchaelogist Kara Barren swun witha small cutting laser and sensor clasped to her hip. She glanced over to Kyp hanging there and smiled, "Your Jedi tricks not much of a help here?"

 

"Not as much as most other situations," Kyp shrugged, "So what did you tell Tionne?"

 

"Just what I told the High Council, that this structures on the surface are far older then anything else I've ever worked with," Kara brought up the scanner and brushed it across the cliff face.

 

"And why exactly am I hanging here?"

 

"Other then spending a little time with you alone Kyp," She grinned at Kyp's surprised expression. He did admit the woman was pretty, but she wasn't force sensitive, all his relationships thus far had been complete failures, and he wasn't itching to repeat the experience.

 

He shrugged, "So what did you find?"

 

"This," Kara handed the datapad over to Kyp, "The wall here is completely hollow, maybe there's some sort of chamber within it." Smiling broadly she drew the laser cutter from her hip and aimed at the wall, "Lets see, shall we?"

 

* * *

 

Anakin Skywalker dropped out of hyperspace and smiled at the familiar world before him, "Its good to be back." His ship stopped responding to him, but Anakin knew he was safe, the fighter was finally home. It was finally returning to Zonoma Sekot.

 

* * *

 

Han Solo rubbed his eyes as he woke up and growled, his back popped as he stood, a product of age. Beside him Leia yawned and rolled over. Han shook his head, "Who's being lazy now?"

 

"I'm a quick learned," Leai shook her headand dropped back onto the pillow, "Are you going to get that?"

 

"Yeah, yeah, you're one grumpy wife," Han wandered over to the comm and keyed it. The screen flickered and showed the familiar faces of the Skywalkers, "Kid, do you know what time it is here?"

 

"Sorry to wake you," Luke shrugged, "I need a lift."

 

Han chuckled as he felt his weariness ease, "Who's Mara ready to kill this time?"

 

Mara shook her head, "Long story Han, where are you anyway?"

 

"Corprate Sector, now my turn, where are you two?"

 

Ben piped up at that remark, "Three!"

 

Han felt himself chuckle again, "Let me guess, Denon, and you're off to save the galaxy, again."

 

Luke frowned, "I forgot how far afield you two are, there's a war on. I'll explain it once you pick us up."

 

"Alright kid," Han sighed as he flicked off the holocomm and turned to his wife, "Time to save the Galaxy again."

 

OOC: Uh oh, I just had to bring in the rest of the family, didn't I. Also the Council Meeting is over, there may be another pretty soon, but not yet.

[Trejiuvanat]

OOC: I was wondering when you'd bring them back.

 

IC:

 

Admiral Oreton quietly saw Thrawn's Holocomm transmission to the High Council of the Galactic Alliance. Behind Thrawn and -fortunately- out of angle of the holotranceiver Thrawn's Raporan Advisor grunted.

 

Baros Oreton had silently agreed with Veran that to reveal Thrawn's existence to the High Council might be, precipitated to say the least. Much less telling them what to do.

 

Thrawn had argued that the turn of events had been unpredictable since the easy loss of Bastion and thus he had to reform his short term objectives. Oreton understood, or believed to understand some of Thrawn's motives, with the Empire apparently out of the war the GFFA desperately needed an ally, even if it came in the form of a former enemy. To reveal himself so early he had committed himself to trust the Alliance. Oreton knew that Cal Omas, and some other Councilors would see Thrawn's action in that light.

 

Thrawn replied elegantly to one of Luke Skywalker's questions before the transmission cut off.

 

"Athien, you have your orders." Thrawn said, in what seemed to be a perfectly normal conversation between an officer and a senior offficer there was another stronger undertone. A fatherly love for his only child. No matter what he knew about the Chiss, in Thrawn he finally saw a stronger rupture of their ico-cold demeanor even if it was tacit and nearly inperceptible.

 

Athien nodded, hesitated but kissed her father in the cheek. She then nodded to Veran and Baron Fel.

 

"Farewell Admiral."

 

"Farewell Athien. May the Force be with you," Oreton quietly said.

 

Thrawn came closer to the Admiral.

 

"A man will ever rue the day he sees his child part," Oreton quoted his late father's words when he had been sent to fight the Vong.

 

"Fatherly wisdom from your father?" Thrawn asked, his tone neutral and as cold as ever.

 

"Yes, he said it to me when I received notice that I were to take a Star Destroyer and engage the Yuuzhan Vong. He quickly commented that if it would have been possible for him he would have asked Pellaeon for another Star Destroyer."

 

"I do not doubt that," Thrawn said. "Your father was a grave loss to the Empire, although that did not become evident until after Endor. I dispatched Intelligence Teams to retrieve him when I launched my campaign. Their efforts were fruitless, much like his escape from Sluis Van it took me too long to figure out exactly what had happened. His death was undeserved."

 

"He was too old, he tried to do more than he could. His body was failing him." Baros Oreton remembered the death of his fatherduring the Vong campaign. Trampled to death by a desperate crowd that was trying to escape in a convoy Darac Noreto had organized.

 

Thrawn nodded. "Are the modifications to your ship complete?"

 

"I have not yet recieved today's report, Admiral. According to the projected guidelines they would be depuring the interface problems of the phasing cloak and restoring the power lines to install the superlaser."

 

"Good, as soon as the report arrives. Send them a request to transfer a wing of Claw-type Missileboats to Imperious."

 

"Claw-type?"

 

"When I developed the Missileboat I considered the design to be apt for its purposes within the Empire. When the Rapora threat started to regain strength, I focused in continue developing our best designs. With advanced Chiss technology the Missile Boat was complemented. It will fit adequately with your mission."

 

"My mission."

 

"All in its moment, Admiral. We might be expecting another group to assist you."

 

 

OOC: Vong Jedi part later tonight.

[Stellar_Magic]

"What is this place?" Kyp said softly as he stepped through the glowing cavern cut from the rock face. Pulling a glowlight from his backpack he felt an icy chill run down his spine, a feeling all together familiar to him, a feeling of darkness.

 

Kara stepped through the hole and raised her glowlamp to cast a beam across the cavern. Directly before them was a shallow pool of what had once been water, and now was so alkali to appear like a bleach. Cut into the pool a set of narrow steps rose to a flat room, it's center a compass rose with over a hundred points radiating out along the floor. She held up a scanner and focused on the pool, "Looks like there's an electrical current beneath the waves, be careful."

 

"Yeah, yeah," Kyp hissed as he slowly walked along the edge of the pool. A a small piece of rock rolled from beneath his feet and crashed into the pool sending a blaze of brilliant blue lightning across its surface. Kyp felt his chest tighten as he watched the lightning dance across the pool. Slowly lifting the glow rod toward the ceiling, "What is this place?" Then in the gloom the image of a reptilian warrior holding a bladed staff before it, its long black cloak hiding most of the features except the clawed feet, hands, and snout. Automatically Kyp felt himself take a step backward and swung around to see another identical figure carved into the rock. A hiss escaped him, "Rapora." Slowly he stepped past them and caste his gaze upon the steps from the pool and the glyph's and symbol's etched into the stone, "Kara can you translate this?"

 

Kara had slipped past the pool beside Kyp, her face aglow with the pride of the discovery. She knelt down beside him and peered at the writing, "It looks like the sith inscriptions I've seen but, different, these symbols I've never seen before." She paused and touched a finger to one of the glyphs, "I still might be able to make it out though."

 

Kyp felt a half smile slip across his face, "You're good at this."

 

"No, I'm the best," She winked at Kyp out of the corner of his eye and turned back to the glyphs, "Its says, here you are reborn warriors of the End..., no --Never-Ending Empire-- You will arise anew as our lord the Timeless One does, cleansed of you -your- inequities. Defenders of the lord of worlds, you shall remain beyond the empire until the warrior from beyond arises thrice to our future's end."

 

Kyp shook his head, "Some sort of prophecy inbedded in a blessing?"

 

"Thats what it sounds like," Kara said slowly, "But who built this place?"

 

"I think I know."

 

OOC: And the plot advances again...

[ADarkJedi44]

Calmly, Evahe sat in his office. He had only a few moments before he had to leave, to oversee the transfer of Shren and her interogation. He looked around his office, there were portraits of heros of the Rebel Alliance/New Republic, a holoprojection of the galaxy, and a few objects of sentimental value. With a new war begining Evahe knew he might not be in the office for a while. Taking it all in, he looked around one final time.

His comlink beeped.

"Evahe here."

"Sir, we're ready for you."

"Very well, I'm on my way to the Intelligence building."

With that, he stepped out of the office...

***

He stepped into the busy starport. It was a scene he had not seen before, dozens of species and thousands of people. In the chaos, no one paid any particular attention to him. He moved quickly, there was no time to waste. The whole plan depended on perfect timing.

After getting out of the busy starport, he signaled for an air taxi. In a matter of moments, he was at his destination. He handed the driver a few credits without counting and ran off. Darth Fury was doing good on time. Shren was not scheduled to be transfered for a few more minutes and he only had two minutes of jogging before he arrived at his final destination. No one took any special notice of him and he continued to blend in. All was going exactly as planned.

Outside the Intelligence building, he waited. It would not be long now....

[Stellar_Magic]

OOC: I assume Venom came along.

 

Shren rapped her fingers in impatience in the darkened room. She sighed as she watched the expressionless YVH droids stare at the motion of her fingers. With a hiss Jacen Solo slipped into the room a small bottle of water in one hand. Shren leaned back in the plain chair, "A bribe?"

 

"Hardly," Jacen answered dropping the water bottle onto the table in front of her.

 

"What about my lightsaber, I'd like it returned?"

 

Jacen sighed and opened his robe to expose his empty belt, "They wouldn't let me carry one in, you think they'd let you have one?"

 

Shren felt anger and fear flow through her veins, "I need my lightsaber, its not safe here!"

 

The door opened and Admiral Evahe stepped into the room, flanked by Captain Judder Page, "We're taking you to the most secure facility in the Alliance Miss Shren. What are you afraid of?"

 

Shren smashed her fist into the table, "Don't you understand they will stop at nothing until they silence what I know, and take their revenge for my betrayal. Even if you ringed me with armed jedi knights, they'd find a way to get through!"

 

Captain Page glanced at the General, "Perhaps her concerns are valid Admiral. What then?"

 

Evahe shook his head, "There's very little we can do, we have to transfer her to intelligence, I can't think of anyplace safer at the moment."

 

"I hope you're right," Shren said flatly.

 

* * *

 

Darth Venom strode past a pair of wealthy business women shopping in the concourse. She felt a pang of jealousy as she passed, they had the freedom to do whatever they wanted. Then the jealousy faded, she had the truest freedom, freedom given by the force itself. A feeling of dread began to sink through her as she slipped past a rodian couple.

 

Then suddenly she heard the hiss and whir of an electric motor. She turned to see a squad of YVH droids escorting a sullustant, Niev Niuk. The lead droid suddenly stopped and turned to face her, "Master Niev, that woman posesses a lightsaber, she is not int he databanks as a known Jedi however."

 

The Sullustant turned to her, hatred in his eyes, "She's in violation of the weapons prohibition, sieze her!"

 

Without thinking Darth Venom drew her ruby blade and sliced the lead droid in half. Within seconds a signal from the squad had been beamed to Alliance Security.

 

* * *

 

Captain Page knew within moments, he turned to the security guards at the security point that the group was passing, "I want two full combat teams as escorts."

 

One of the officers tossed Jacen his lightsaber along with Shren's blade, "Here Jedi Solo, we hope you won't need them."