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“Prepare to cut the hyperspace engines on my mark” said Lord Raze. “3…2…1…mark!” The Hand bucked slightly as it descended out of hyperspace. The massive warship and its battle fleet had entered the system at an acceptable distance away from Mon Calamari. This was to avoid detection by planetary sensors. “Lord Raze”, said Scourge, “do not press our attack until we have received confirmation of a successful diversion at Coruscant.” “Yes, my master” replied Raze. Soon thereafter, the Dark Lord ordered the fleet to settle into stationary positions and await further orders.
“Sir”, said the comm lieutenant aboard the Star Defender flagship Liberty, “we have a group of Star Destroyers exiting from hyperspace in sector 4.” How many are there” asked the Admiral. “Sensors can’t yet detect how many, sir. They are possibly jamming us.” As the lieutenant waited on a reading, the Admiral looked out of the view port to gaze at his fleet. The massive Republic blockade around Coruscant consisted of a few dozen Star Defenders, in addition to the Liberty. Then flagship was seated in orbit at the planet’s north pole. From that vantage, the ships sensors could detect anything happening on any side of the planet. The Admiral heard footsteps clanging across the floor of the bridge from the entryway. As he turned to greet the new arrivals, he was startled at the sight of Lord Rusan. “My Lord” said the Admiral. “Jedi Lord on deck” yelled the Admiral. The entire bridge crew quickly got up at attention and saluted the Jedi. “At ease, Admiral. And do the same for your crew” said Rusan. The Admiral nodded and motioned at the crew to continue work. “How many ships are there, and what class?” asked Rusan. “My Lord”, said the Admiral, “we have detected enemy ships of Imperial and Ssi-ruuk class. Their numbers are not known as of now because they may be jamming our sensors.” “Wait” said the lieutenant. “We finally have confirmation on the number of ships…sir…what the…there appears to be a negligible number of ships. The exact number is…seven warships total. Two Imperial, three Ssi-ruuk.” “What in bloody hell is going on? Are they attempting to make fools out of us?” said the Admiral. “No” replied Lord Rusan. “I believe this is a diversionary force, Admiral. The main attack isn’t going to be on the capital, but on another planet that hold great importance to the Republic.” “Lieutenant, send groups two and three to engage the enemy ships,” said the Admiral. “Yes sir” replied the lieutenant. Rusan wandered about the bridge, contemplating where the Sith force might be striking. She became uneasy as she remembered how Corellia had fared. What scared her even more is that the Sith could do that again if they so chose to. “Admiral” yelled the comm officer. “We have an emergency transmission incoming from Mon Calamari.” Rusan winced in horror as she deduced that is was Mon Calamari that was being assaulted. She ordered the lieutenant to put the transmission over the intercom system. It went as follows:
Mayday. Mayday. This is governor Cilghal of Mon Calamari. A large ---erial and --- -uuk force h-s entered our space begun planetary bomb---ment. Republic fleet we implore you to please help us!
“Admiral, we must go to Mon Calamari immediately” demanded Rusan. “At once my lord” replied the Admiral. “Attention all warships. Groups two, three, and four will remain behind for defense of the capital. Groups one, five, six, seven, eight, nine, and ten are ordered to scramble immediately to Mon Calamari.” And with that, all the designated warship groups began to head for the hyper point to travel to Mon Calamari.
The massive allied armada of Star Destroyers and Ssi-ruuk warships were continuing an unmerciful barrage on the peaceful planet. The bridge of the Hand was ripe with activity as the crew maintained the attack. “Lord Raze, did you allow a distress signal to be sent to Coruscant?” asked Scourge. “Yes, master, just as you had requested,” replied Raze. “Excellent” said Scourge. “The Republic fleet should arrive shortly. We will annihilate them.” As the bombardment continued, Master Scourge wandered over to a view screen. He could see the massive amounts of damage being dealt to the floating cities of the planet. It seemed like a multitude of minutes passed before the Republic fleet finally appeared. “Master” said Raze. “We have a large fleet of warships entering the system in sector two. “Excellent” replied Scourge. “Hand me the comm link. Attention! Attention! All allied warships…the enemy has arrived. Disengage planetary bombardment and engage the Republic ships. You are authorized to deploy all available fighter wings.” Scourge handed the comm link back to Lord Raze. The massive allied fleet began to turn in the direction of the Republic fleet. As both fleets came menacingly close to each other, a swarm of what seemed like thousands of TIE fighters and Ruuk fighters engulfed the Republic fleet. The Defenders responded by deploying all of their own fighter wings. Out of the warships came advanced versions of mainstay fighters from the days of the Rebel Alliance – advanced x-wings, advanced a-wings, advanced b-wings, and the newest addition, the advanced v-wing. The two fleets were now eyeball to eyeball. Green turbolaser fire began to rain from each warship into the void of space in each direction. Many of the fighters on both sides couldn’t get past the net of green laser bolts, and were immediately destroyed. “Master Buwat”said Scourge. You’ve been quite silent for some time now. Have you no words of wisdom to share as you watch your friends be destroyed?” The Jedi didn’t say a word. She merely looked on at the battle raging outside the view port.
“Lord Rusan, we have prepared your Jedi Starfighters as you had requested,” said the Admiral. “Very well. My team and I shall depart immediately,” replied Rusan. She motioned to the three other Jedi who stood behind her, and they departed for the hangar bay. When they arrived, Rusan briefed the other Jedi on her plan to rescue Buwat. “Ok here’s what’s going to happen” said Rusan. “I will take the lead fighter out and you three will cover me. I’ll attempt to disable a TIE so that we can use it to infiltrate the command ship where Buwat is being held. All right are we all ready to go?” “Yes Lord Rusan” the Jedi replied in unison. They all boarded the starfighters, and lifted off from the hangar to join in the battle.
Just outside the safety of the Liberty, the battle was in full overdrive. A swarm of TIE’s descended on a group of XW-A’s, but luckily the turbo lasers form the Liberty picked off the TIE’s before they could attack the XW-A’s. On the other end, all of the Sith allied warships had moved into their strategic positions and were in the thick of the battle. All that is, except for the Hand. Master Scourge was keeping the super destroyer away from the front lines, though it was much capable of fending off multiple ships. Still, regardless of its distance form the battle, many wings of Republic fighters broke away form the main battle to attack the Hand. The defenses of the hand were top-notch, and easily dispatched the unfairly overmatched fighters. “Give me a status check,” demanded Raze. “Sir” said the comm officer. “Shields are holding steady at 250%. Weapons systems are nominal.” “Very good” replied Raze. He smirked as he witnessed a flaming Republic AW-A careen across the bow of the ship and explode. “My Lord, it appears that the Republic flagship is moving to engage us,” said the comm officer. “Very well. Dispatch the TIE advanced X-7’s and all other TIE wings,” said Raze. “Yes, sir, at once” replied the officer.
Lord Rusan was finding it difficult to find a suitable TIE to disable. There were so many of them, and they were so fast. She was able to spot a solitary TIE bomber a single click away from where the battle was taking place. “Perfect” she thought to herself. “This is Lord Rusan to Jedi Strike Force Alpha. I’ve spotted a suitable target. Let’s lure him towards the Liberty and disable it within range of the tractor beam.” “Acknowledged” said the other Jedi in unison. She weaved her starfighter into and in between hordes of TIE’s to get to a cut off angle. When she was within distance of the bomber, she fired a single pair of shots at the bomber. Rusan knew that a single pair of shots at the bomber wouldn’t destroy it, and more importantly it would get the pilot to follow her. She made a 180-degree turn and zipped away from the bomber. It followed her in hot pursuit just as she had expected. The other Jedi followed closely behind the bomber, helping to drive it toward the Liberty. As the pursuit got closer to the warship, Rusan maxed out her throttle. Her craft was much faster than the bomber, and left it far behind. The bomber was still pursuing as she had hoped. She then made a sharp 180 again, and headed straight for the bomber. The TIE opened fire on the Jedi starfighter. Rusan was able to doge each shot with the swiftness that the fighter possessed. She aimed her ion cannon right for the TIE’s sensor plate. When she achieved a lock, she opened fire on the bomber. It took only a few hits before the bomber was successfully disabled. Rusan, caught up in the joy of her accomplishment, forgot that she was closing the distance with the TIE at a furious pace, only a few dozen meters from the TIE, she swerved hard right to avoid a collision. After a deep sigh of relief, she contacted the Liberty. “This is Rusan. Proceed with the tractor beam” said the Jedi.
The battle raged on in the background. Many of the fighters had by now been destroyed on both sides, but the Republic fleet was suffering heavier losses. Five of the Republic’s warships had already been destroyed. The Ssi-ruuk fleet had lost only a single warship, and the Imperial fleet was only down two warships. “Lord Raze” said the com officer. “We have a TIE bomber requesting to dock for emergency repairs.” “Very well. Let him dock and send a tech crew to the hangar to make the repairs” said the dark lord. The single hangar officer on duty watched as the bomber gently settled into a soft dock with a TIE clamp. The tech crew soon arrived afterwards. They took one look at the bomber, and saw that it was in bad shape. When the docking procedure was secure, the officer motioned for the pilot to exit the TIE. The top hatch immediately opened, but no one came out. After about 30 seconds, the officer sent the crew up to the metal gangplank to see if the pilot was alright. As they reached the cockpit, suddenly three figures bursted out of it. The tech men all scrambled to run away, but weren’t fast enough. The Jedi Knights knifed through each one of the techs with their sabers like butter. Lord Rusan leaped from the cockpit onto the hangar floor and pursued the fleeing hangar officer. When she was close enough, she simply used the Force to send her saber swinging like a boomerang…right through the officer. She returned to the Jedi waiting by the TIE. “Good work, my young Jedi warriors” said Lord Rusan. “Our plan appears to have worked. Now let us find Master Buwat.”
As the battle continued outside, the scene was horrific. Most of the allied warships and scores of TIE’s and Ruuk fighters remained, but the Republic fleet was down to about half of the forces it had entered with. “Lord Rusan, come in,” said the Admiral over the comm link. “Yes Admiral” replied Rusan in a hushed tone. “My Lord, I am ordering a full retreat. We have failed here today against the Imperials. We must marshal all remaining forces for defense of the capital. Mon Calamari is lost to us for now.” Lord Rusan went silent for a few moments, and then replied “Very well. You are authorized for a retreat. We’ll meet back at the capital. “Thank you my Lord, and good luck. Admiral Zyyrrec out.”
“Lord Raze” said Scourge. “See to it that Master Buwat is made most uncomfortable in the detention block. I tire of seeing her wretched existence on my bridge.” “Yes, my master” replied Raze. “You four” said the dark lord as he pointed at a few troopers standing guard on the bridge. “Take the Jedi down to the detention area and assign her a cell.” They obediently grabbed Buwat and led her away. “Master…the Republic fleet appears to be in full retreat” exclaimed Raze. “Excellent” replied Scourge. “Order all allied ships to hold their positions and not pursue them. Mon Calamari is ours. We shall build back up what we lost and then conquer Coruscant.” “At once, master,” replied Raze as he went over to the comm panel to relay the order. As Scourge looked at the fleeing Republic fleet, she couldn’t help but let a huge, evil grin cross her face. Mon Calamari and its native’s shipbuilding expertise now belonged the Scourge’s allied forces. This planet would be a great asset to her cause. Scourge looked on as the allied ships began taking blockade positions around the planet. “Master” said the comm officer. “We’ve been informed of a breach in level 3. Apparently the troop escort for Buwat was attacked and killed. The intruder’s last known position was heading towards the hangar. “Very well. Lord Raze go and handle this personally. I want Buwat in our custody for as long as we need her” said Scourge. “Yes my master” said Raze. He hastily departed for the main hangar, his black cape flowing freely behind him.
As he arrived at the seemingly empty hangar, he felt a shock in the Force course through him. He knew what it was. The sight of a group of Jedi boarding a shuttle greeted him. “Not so fast” he said as he hurled a large piece of machinery at the shuttle’s wing. The machine hit the wing hard and broke it off from the shuttle’s body. Rusan exited the shuttle and confronted Raze in the hangar. “Lord Rusan. I thought that you might come to rescue pitiful friend,” said Raze. “Even though you cut off our escape, Raze, there are still other ways to get off this ship. All I have to do to ensure our escape is kill you,” replied Rusan. “Haha. Then let us finish this, once and for all” said Raze as he began to take off his heavy cloak. “You three take Buwat and find a suitable escape vehicle. I will take care of the Sith” said Rusan. Immediately the other Jedi left with Buwat. “Alright…this madness ends here and now, Raze. First you, then your master. I think it’s about time you learned just what the title Jedi Master entails,” said Rusan. “Possibly” said Raze. “But your former apprentice, that pitiful Jedi Zacom, was nearly as skilled as you, yet she was no match for my powers” exclaimed Raze. “I beg to differ” came a voice from the other end of the hangar. Raze and Rusan both turned to gaze at the new arrival. There stood a dark figure, clothed in ancient garments. “No, it can’t be” said Raze. “An acolyte? Impossible. The Sith defeated that Order over 10,000 years ago.” The figure was clothed in the robe and cloak of a member of the Order of the Acolytes. Raze remembered how the order was neither aligned with light nor dark, but rather served its own agenda in both mediums. He couldn’t imagine who or how this acolyte came to be. Rusan was equally as shocked. She’d been told the acolytes were a myth. But here was one who had come back to defy Jedi as well as Sith. “You both look as if you’d seen a ghost,” said the dark figure. “I assure you that I am quite alive. I have business to settle with both of you.” Slowly, the dark figure bowed its head and began to take off the heavy cloak. When the cloak finally came off, the figure kept its head bowed to hide its identity. It reached to its side and pulled out a single lightsaber. The blade ignited and was…blue. The figure’s head tilted up to finally reveal the identity of this traitor to both sides of the Force. There, opposing both the Dark Lord of the Sith and the Lord of the Jedi, stood Soran Zacom.
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