Corruption of a Jedi

‘Well not as bad as I thought but still a lot worse than I hoped,’ Dray lamented wiping a drop of lubricant off his cheek, ‘I have dents all over the passage from where the paperweight bounced down the corridor’ he glared at Jax ‘gonna take a week just to clean up the fluids it has leaked in the crew quarters, scorch marks on the hull should wash off ok but there are a couple of scratches where you landing struts came in contact and settled in and I know there is more damage dents and kriff under them. My poor Baby’

Sarus shook his head ‘And mechanically?’ he sighed

‘OH that most of my avionics are shot, sensors, hyper drive, long range communications, weapons controlls and shields/cloak. I will build an impressive junk heap at the edge of the tree line by the time Thing and I are done but I should have the stuff to fix most of it.’ Dray answered ‘I try to keep spare parts for critical systems on hand in case I have to make a quick switch or something burns out. May be close on connectors and external circuits but I should be up in… 36 – 48 hours, unless we sleep. Then of course there is configuration, tweaking and the unforeseen speed bumps.’

‘There is a few hours work on the Luck as well. Between Ara and Dawn and Jax should not take to long. Then they can help you. We were not immune to the Ion blast as I hoped,’ Sarus wagged his finger and grinned ‘and let me tell you something. If there are ANY scratches on my landing struts, you will be buffing them out with your hair,’

‘You are not going to leave me alone with Dusk and Jax are you?’ Aragorn asked ‘I am not sure they will survive the encounter’

‘Interrogative: What do you think will happen meatbag?’ asked Jax.

Aragorn gestured at the droid,

Ptolemy looked around at the massive trees on this world then at Aragorn ‘Camouflage projectors looks good did you get the jamming gear in place and powered up?’ The trees kind of reminded him of Kashik the Wookie home world.

‘Yes for the fifth fraking time... hey wait’ exclaimed Dusk obviously counting in his head, and fingers ‘Me, Jax, Dray, Thing and Ara that s every one but you two, I thought we had to “pull together” to get these repairs done!!’

‘Well, someone has to stay back and fix and defend the ships’ Ptolemy Shrugged

‘And someone has to go scout and find out their capabilities.’ Added Sarus

‘With the camo and point defenses there will not be much defending’ Dusk muttered.

‘I think we have seen what they are capable of’ Thing pointed out.

‘Probably wouldn’t notice I was gone for a bit’ thought Dusk and turned and trudged up the ramp in to the Chikita.

‘True but we need to know what else they may have.’ Said Sarus ‘If they sent everything they have to attack the JvS retreat they would be foolish’

‘Sarus and I are best equipped to go in and find out with out being detected. They would hear the rest of you coming two klicks away.’ finished Ptolemy. ‘I don’t suppose you have any speeders in that heap.’

‘No’ Sarus said with a grimace, ‘I will from now on, but not at the moment. We are hoofin it.’

‘Fun’ Ptolemy quipped ‘OK! When I looked at the sensor logs I was able to estimate we are about 20 klicks from any base structures at a heading of about 55 degrees. There is a small village a bit closer to the west at 90 degrees but I am not sure we should venture in to a town. With the Crusaders being so prevalent, they will be looking for those that do not belong. Though, it would be a good place to get information.’

Sarus nodded ‘As much as I dislike the idea, you are right, good place to get information but I think we need to find a way into the installation quickly.’

‘Agreed’ Ptolemy said taping his staff ‘Shall we?’

‘Dray’ Saraus looked at Ptolemy and shook his head ‘I do not believe I am saying this, Dray you are in charge. Get the ships ready to fly as quick as you can, concentrate on hyperdrive then shields. In case we need to get off this rock quickly.’ He turned to Ptolemy ‘let’s get it started’

‘HAMMERTIME!!’ they heard Dray exclaim as he turned and danced toward the Baby Chikita.

‘I’m gonna kill someone’ Aragorn muttered as he and Thing turned toward the ships ‘have you seen Dusk?’

Sarus and Ptolemy turned toward the forest and started their trek to the base.

From the tree line Dusk and Jax watched as Sarus and Ptolemy dissapeared into the forest. With a look at Jax Dusk started into the woods as quiet as mice on a course that should parallel the unlikely pair ahead of them.

‘If we lag far enough behind they should not be able to hear us.’ Dusk thought.

‘what are you doing’ Asked Sarus as he looked over at Ptolemy. They were making good time evern with Ptolemy’s limp becoming more pronounced. It seemed that he had the mental control of a master as he didn’t let the old injury slow him and did not utter a complaint but for the last thirty minutes Ptolemy had seemed deep in thought as though something was bothering him.

‘I think I have found it’ Ptolemy said as another example of the fauna of this planet burst from the brush. It was less than a meter tall walking on all four feet, with a deep green pelt that looked to consist of small feathers interlocked and lying flat across its body. The feathers seemed out of place as there were no wings on the creature though it had an angular face and a wickedly curved beak. It looked up at the pair with dark brown eyes and let out a croak. Ptolemy looked at the creature and concentrated for a moment. The creature stood up on its hind legs flexing the talons on his front feet and croaked again. Turned and ran ahead on all fours. ‘Well crap’ Ptolemy chuckled ‘that will make a good scout but I really was hoping for a ride’

‘Animal control?’ Sarus said ‘I have not seen that ever, there are stories of the beast masters on Onderon and several other places. Taming the Drexel, Wompas and a few other species that are to dangerous with out some sort of mental control’

‘I am surprised you have not studied the technique’ Ptolemy said

‘I found it to much like dominate mind that the sith tend to use.’ Sarus answered.

‘It is the same just with a creature rather than a sentient,’ Ptolemy said ‘it is actually more…’ Suddenly there was a crash as a tree came down behind them and a much larger version of the creature that had just ran ahead stepped from the trees. This creature was three meters tall at the shoulder.

‘Oh good my ride is here.’ Ptolemy quipped as the beast roared and looked at the pair. ‘This may be a parent of the youth I just sent ahead.’ Ptolemy pointed his staff at the beast and pushed with the force. The beast stopped its advance and roared again this time it fixed it’s stare on Ptolemy and again took a step. Sarus gathered force to him ready to attack as Ptolemy squinted one eye at the beast. Beads of sweat began to form on his forehead. Regret and pain suddenly showed on his face as the beast again stopped and shook its head at Ptolemy.

‘I am sorry old man’ Ptolemy said with sorrow as he walked to the beast and patted its neck. ‘I had to break the beast,’ He looked at Sarus ‘One of the dangers is that once you start, the beast will attack it you let up. Sometimes you have to crush the beast’s mind, now it will never again be able to survive on its own.’ Ptolemy paused ‘I had no choice He would have killed us both easily’ Ptolemy jumped onto the back of the beast. ‘One good thing is we will be ale to move much faster now.’

The repair team walked into the engine room of the Chikita, and all fell into a preoccupied look.

"Well.....better start fellas." said Dray, as he pulled out his tool kit from the shelf next to the door, and began to work first on the hyperdrive.

"So, im gonna need to replace the hyperdrive. Luckily i always bring extra parts with me, so its just a case of switching this stuff. But we need to take out this one. and its haywired to a lot of stuff in this room. So start cutting what i tell you to..."

"Hey Dray, you sure you can put this ship back together? I mean, its pretty much a trashcan right now"

"Dont you call my Baby a trashcan! She has saved my life many times, and saved your guys too! So start repaying her! With cuddles and upgrades! Now, I want you to cut off the engine connection, but be careful, the wires are fine, so just cut the limits between the hyperdrive and the wires, so that i wont have to replace those too."

Thing started working on the wires, with a confusion in his eyes, watching as a miriad of probably dozens of them popped beneath the hatch of the hyperdrive-engine connections. He sorted, what would be for minutes, till he finally found all the wires needed to cut. With a cutting torch on his hand, he began to disable the wires from the hyperdrive. Pityful as it is, the Luck decided to weight shift on the Chikita, probably due to a bad connection to its roof, causing it to tilt, and also causing a slight bump onboard, wich made poor Thing slightly dismaneuver, and damage another 3 wires that were intact.

"I really hate that ship humping my Baby..."

"Uh Dray..." spouted Thing "I may have...accidentally...cut off some good wires..."

Dray looked over to the hatch panel, and started breathing deeply. He got up, and took the torch away from Thing, followed by ordering.

"Give me that damn thing...you go take out the debrees of the room."

The repairs were beggining well it seemed....Only better when Aragorn came onto the Chikita and into the Engine room.

"Hey Dray?"

"What?"

"Have u seen Dawn....?"

Dray stood up and suddenly realized he had not been paying attention with all the commotion. He quickly sensed into the Force, reeaching out for the devilish Dusk.

"Oh that lil son of a Rancor....HE TOOK OFF AFTER SARUS AND PTOLEMY! IM GONNA KILL HIM WHEN HE GETS BACK!"

"And you didnt see this?"

"No! With all my ship tore to bits, i wasnt focusing on you guys. Damn it."

"Well now what? Should we go after him?" Thing was unsettled with having to clean the trash, and was looking for a more interesting thing to do.
Dray thought for a bit, and looked at Aragorn, who was probably thinking the same.

"No, we need to repair this stuff ASAP. Only then we can get out of this rock. Let him go, he wont go long without being noticed by Sarus. I guess he thought he was smarter."

Aragorn nodded in agreement, and everyone got back to work.

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

Back in the Luck, Aragorn was attempting to repair the damages done to the Communications and Hyperdrive.

"Oh boy..." He exclaimed, as he looked to the sparkling engine, and panel boards, fried by the Super Ion Cannon "Im screwed. How do i get myself into these situations? I should be...waving my saber around, not playing with a hydro spanner, or fixing stuff....*sigh*."

And so he began slowly and painfully, removing the debres and fried parts off the boards, molding fluxes that had gone dented, cutting off wires short circuiting, wich resulted in a various number of uuu's and aaa's from small electrocutions.

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

Hours passed in the Baby Chikita, and events proceeded, Hyperdrive was fixed, and so we're the Communications.

"Damn, they must be blocking comms....grr, im starting to get a nerve with these Crusaders." Dray spouted, as he attempted to communicate with the JvS temple, but only heard the void of malfunction.

"Maybe you forgot to fix something?" Exclamated Thing.

"Hey, i know this ship from head to toe, if something was missing Thing...i would know."

"Then whats that cable hanging under the front panel, and that one laying on the floor?"

"Well thats....the power coupling to the....communication core...."

"So, you missed something...."

"OK, I MISSED STH, BIG DEAL"

"Well im jsut saying, for someone who knows his ship from head to toe, that was a pretty..." Thing was interrupted by Dray "Computer, EXECUTE protocol SDASU!"
At that point Thing was brought down by the flawless gravity well, created by the ship.

"Im glad i fixed that thing quickly too...good girl. Now..." Dray connected the two wires that had bumped off in the dogfight, and the panel lit up,"AH! Success....Now we do this and....ah" Again, the sound of void was heared, but this time, off the interference screen "WELL, guess what Thing, they are blocking communications anyway, so that whole shebang was futile...."

"Llleet....mm..ee..go..o. you.....a..a..s.s..s.ss..." Thing said between his lips, glued to the floor.

"Computer, turn off SDASU..."

The gravity well disengaged and Thing took a deep breath and stood up, bit tumbling from the lightness.

"WHAT WAS THAT FOR?"

"For pissing me off during the trip...now lets go fix the Guns."

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

"GRRR, WHAT DO YOU MEAN INSUFFICIENT POWER? I ALREADY CONNECTED YOU TO EVERY POWER COUPLING IN THE WHOLE SHIP!" Aragorn was becoming frustrated, as he had found a guiding tool in the ship on a nifty security pad. It activated when he accidentally got short circuited by a wire in the mainframe, and a panel with digits from 0 to 9 appeared, accompanied by a blue screened mini holo prjector. It had been spouting the needed repairs on the Luck for 2 hours now, and was driving Aragorn insane.

"To direct to Communications guide, press 9...."

"Urgh, i just want to fix this damn gunning turret connection!"

"To direct to Armory guide, press 11"

"THERE IS NO ELEVEN! YOU BLOODY..."

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

In the Chikita, Dray and Thing were finalizing on the Manual turret to the right side of the Chikita, as its automated processes had fried as well. They were hearing al ot of bangings from above, as poor Aragorn struggled with the ship repairs, shouting and moaning to the cold unresponsive Luck.

"UUUU, That boy is in need of some tea or something...i think hes breaking more stuff then fixing it." giggled Thing.

"Yeah, damn straight. I hope Sarus isnt expecting a 5 star prontitude. We'll go help him once we finish the guns."

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

"Ouf..."

"Ouf..."

"Damn ship....ouf"

Sighed the three Jedi, as repairs were finally finished in both ships. They sat outside the hatch, dipped in oil, smudges, and, for Aragorn, elecric burns too...

"Dude...you got pwned by a ship..." said Dray, laughing histerically at Aragorn. The Knight looked back with a gaze and sat quietly...resting from the job.

_____________________________________________

Xzavier, BG, and Nightwolf were on there way back to the sith crusader.

“Homeward bound, finally.” Came from BG.

“Yea, thank god that we got out alive. That fight wasn’t easy. And there saber skills were far superior than I thought. I mean god, that one guy blocked me and you at the same time.”

“Yea at least you 2 had a guy 2 on 1.”

“Nightwolf, its way better than a 2 on 3. We would’ve gotten killed probably. That was probably the best opponent you have ever fought to the death. Im proud that you made it out alive.”

“Yea and theirs this data that was on the ships navi comp that I got off it.”

“good work on that too BG-”

Xzavier cut himself off in mid sentence.

“get down” Xzavier whispered.

The party instantly dropped to the rocks besides them.

“oh god I feel that uneasy presence again.”

This time they knew what they were up against.

“wait… don’t rush in. they know were here, something’s calling me to wait though.”

Coming from Xzavier that was kind of weird. Considering normally Xzavier would’ve tried to jump them.

They sat and waited.
About 10 minutes later Xzavier asked BG “How far away from that scorers ship are we?”

“Mabbe 5 miles why. The hill by where we landed is right there.”

“dangit! Ok. I feel something in the force I haven’t felt in forever. Do both of you trust me?”

“We sort of have to, or lay will have our heads.”

“yea bro.”

“good, now follow me, get ready to run like never before.”

“NOW”

They all sprinted off to the left over by more rocks and possible more cover.
Ran until they could run no more. They found a small cave and ran into it.

“ok so we mabbe have 5 minutes.”

“What the… Xzavier check this out.”

BG had found a odd rock that seemed out of place against the back wall. He smashed it with all his might and for a second he could tell that the wall to his left opened enough for the trio to fit into.

“lets go. This could be our way out.”

“tight fit don’t ya think.”

The slab slammed behind Nightwolf. Who was the last one to enter. Now that they were inside they felt they had lost the sorcers for sure.

“what’s going on?” Xzavier asked himself.

The force was calling him down the tunnel.

“lets go. Down this way. They wont feel our presence and we will have a better place to hide.”

“alright dude. I hope you know what your doing.”

After 3 winding turns and descending tunnels they walked into a giant crevice in the rock face.
Big enough to be a training room.

“Hello Brother.”

“KELROCK?”

“Yes brother.”

“What happened!?” Xzavier demanded.

“All I know right now is that your tainting this place, with your darkness brother.”

“TELL ME! WHY DID YOU GO INTO HIDING.”

“What difference does it make. You’re a sith that is trespassing on a Jedi’s sanctuary.”

Xzavier’s saber ignited at this last sentence.

“Ah, I see you still hold my saber. Must kill you now. The thought of using a Jedi’s Light saber to slaughter innocent people.”

“I WILL FORCE IT OUT OF YOU!”

Xzavier ran at Kelrock, who, at the last second ignited his saber before Xzavier’s strike caught him on the arm.

“I think somebody’s forgetting what rank there brother was.”

“WHAT HAPPENED TO THE ACADAMY!”

Xzavier was getting furious. So many memories were swirling into his head as he fought his brother.
Kelrock moved to end the fight quickly by subduing his brother with a strike to his brothers saber knocking it to the right while he kicked his brothers open chest.

“You always had to be like this. Didn’t you, always being fair and just.”

Meanwhile BG and Nightwolf were standing on the outskirt of the room wondering what was going on.
“So… either our leaders going crazy or were going crazy.”

“leader defiantly.”

The response came from BG as he saw the silver and green clash again. Xzavier backed off hoping that Kelrock would rush forward and try to catch him while he was preparing for his next move. He did, but not in the way Xzavier was hoping. Kelrock rushed at Xzavier knowing his brothers tactics and instead of turning into Xzavier as he sidestepped he spun around the opposite direction while spinning his body out of Xzavier’s reach as the green saber passed by where his body was fractions of a second ago hitting it in the same direction to knock it free of Xzavier’s hand.

“I hope this is a good guy he’s fighting otherwise if he beats Xzavier then were screwed.”

“Yea, but on a brighter note were away from those sorcerers.”

The conversation continued as green and silver flashes light up the room.

“Still if Xzavier wins we get home free. And--”

Nightwolf was cutoff by the fighting. As it was getting louder and more intense they both stood and watched, speechless and clueless as they had no clue what was going on.”

“Still want more brother.”

Kelrock said as he was blasted back by a force blast for Xzavier.
He simply grabbed the wall he was thrown into and jumped back off it. Seemed to Xzavier as he over jumped and was going to go over him so he started to swing in the air in front of him. Timing it so when Kelrock passes him he would get hit. Kelrock though, didn’t over jump and all. He blasted Xzavier back in mid jump right to where he was landing and kicked him in the chest pinning him to the ground with his feet as he landed.

“Always the better fighter, or so you thought Kelrock!”

Xzavier said as he blasted Kelrock off of him.
Kelrock knew he was the better fighter, he also knew that his younger brother had improved over the years he had gone in hiding. Kelrock was fighting cautiously, but for certain not passively. They both stood staring each other down. Trying to predict the others next move. Then Kelrock provided it by rushing in and slamming Xzavier into the side of the cave with a blast then as Xzavier started to sidestep to hit Kelrock in the back Kelrock turned and disarmed his brother. As Xzavier went to pull his saber back Kelrock pinned Xzavier against the wall with the force.

“WHY!”

“Because you have forgotten who you are.”

“TELL ME!”

“Brother chill out.”

Xzavier slowly was cooling off.

“I will tell you everything in time. Just realize who you were and what you are.”

“Alright.”

The anger was leaving Xzavier’s voice. He was feeling the light in the force again. His tone was completely changing.

“Xzavier. I believe we are what we were again.”

“Yea, you got that right.”

“So who are they.”

“Meet BGfighter and Nightwolf. 2 sith from the JvS academy, where I am now.”

“I think ill check this place out.”

“Kelrock Bgfighter, Bgfighter Kelrock.”

“Hey”

“Hey”

“This is night wolf. Both were under me. But now that I’m a Jedi again things will change.”

“Lets get back to my ship Kelrock, ill tell you the long, long story on the way. And what our current peril is.”

“Alright. Ill help ya guys out.”

It was a far shorter trip with Kelrock as a guide. They told him everything.
It wasn’t five minutes until they were back on the surface.

“The sweet smell of fresh air.”

“So what was it like being a crazy hermit for a while.”

“Felt good, didn’t have anybody hunting me or any drama.”

“I feel what you spoke of. Its defiantly the sorcerers I don’t know much about them, but ill hold the entrance while you all enter the ship. Then we take off. Sound like a plan.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

The party ran for the ship as they were perused by the sorcerers, BGfighter was the first on the ship, closely followed by Nightwolf. Who were already getting ready for takeoff, By the time Xzavier was on the ship Kelrock was fending off 2 sorcerers at once, holding them back. Then he stood at the entrance dropped into a refined form of soresu. He only had to last about 15 seconds thank god. Which was all he could do. As the ship took off he jumped on board at the last second right as the engines blasted them out of there.

“Close one aye?”

“Yea, oh and I drive.”

“Fine. Now lets go. We got a lot to report.”

The ship was headed towards the JvS Academy.

BIO:
Name: Kelrock
Age:23
Forms: soresu, djem-so, makashi, Shien, vaapad.
Lightsaber: Silver
Attributes: Quick thinker, strong and fast, white skinned human.
Force abilities: Force blast, the ability to pin somebody, grip(rarely used), Heal, speed and jump

Brother to Xzavier, is a JG in a no longer existing academy, possess incredible skills with a light saber.
Somewhat mysterious but trusting and a good friend. Someone who you want on your side of the fight.

Sarus and Ptolemy rode on in silence for a long while, the only sounds, the grunting of the beast and the thud of it's footfalls. Both knew why the silence was occurring, and both knew they would need to talk about it before they would ever be able to work together. But both were weary from the long trek and in no mood for drama, so they just let the beast take them to the edge of the forest with no further conversation.

Eventually the beast came to a stop and Sarus performed a Force Leap to dismount. Pto followed suit, lowering himself to the ground gently with the Force. The two walked to the top of a ridge and looked out over the settlement they had chosen. It was set like most towns would be, bunkers surrounded the edges of the town with a spattering of warehouses mixed in to hold supplies. In the center of the town was a small grouping of entertainment buildings including a tavern, a few restaurants, and what looked like holo vacation centers. Beyond the entertainment buildings were a few control centers, and in the disance the rim of the weapon could be seen.

"Are we going to go in like this?" Ptolemy asked breaking the silence for the first time in several hours. "It's dangerous for us to go in if we don't trust each other."

"Is there anything I can really say that I haven't already said?" Sarus replied, "I don't approve of your mental techniques, and that's not going to change. I seriously doubt your views on the issue will change either."

"I didn't have a choice," Pto answered, "it would have attacked if I hadn't dominated it's mind. We probably could have dealt with it, but a fight like that would have blown our cover. You should know that better then anyone."

"I do." Sarus replied finally turning to look at his partner, "But if you couldn't control it then you shouldn't have attempted it in the first place. It was reckless, and for what, a free ride?"

"I realize it's not the most virtuous thing I've done, and yes it comes close to the darkside, but so do some of your own powers." Pto answered standing his ground, "There's another reason why you have a problem with it, something you're not telling me."

"There is, but it's not something I share with anyone," Sarus responded, glaring at Pto and being glared back at. The Chiss broke contact first, "But this is beside the point. I trust you to do what's best for this mission, and that's what is important."

"Very well," Pto replied, knowing better then to press the issue at that time. "Then on to something more pressing. What do you want to do about our tail?" He asked gesturing behind the two.

Sarus glanced back more out of reflex then a desire to see what Pto was indicating. He knew very well that Dawn was back in the forest, hidden, but he also knew he was too far back to visually see. "Leave him be for now, I have a feeling we'll need his assitance in a bit."

Ptolemy simply nodded, "I assume you have a plan then?"

"Perception field," Sarus replied, "I can generate a field that will divert curiousity arround us, and project a perceptive illusion. That should give us a decent enough cover as long as we don't stay too long."

"Perceptive illusion?"

"It's a mix on the perception field ability, I can create a small mental intrusion into a person's mind and adjust how their senses perceive our own. In this case creating an illusion of us having an 'open-mind.' It'll make us look like we have the same brain-washed status as everyone else to casual observation, but it won't fool them if they actually try to go into our minds."

"That sounds... complicated," Pto commented non-commitally.

"It is, which is why you're here."

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

The two walked through the doorway into the tavern. It was filled with the traditional after-work group, so it was a bit crowded, but not so much that they couldn't find a table. They made their way to a table along the back wall and sat down, looking out over the crowd gathered, noting the many species and the high number of Force Sensitives. The tavern itself was the cliche tan and brown style with plenty signs of wear and tear, only some of which were actually real. Another remarkable sight was the number of high-powered blaster rifles and lightsabers.

A waitress came over to the table to get their order. She was a Rodian and her demeanor was remarkably cheering for an individual that had been obviously brain-washed. "What can I get for you gents?"

"A couple Fog Blasters would be just fine ma'am," Sarus replied before Ptolemy could speak, sensing a reason behind the order he simply nodded his ascent.

"Right away," she responded, then turned and left.

"And the reason for the paint peeler is?" Pto asked quietly.

"Because it diverts suspecion away from us if she thinks we'll be too hammered to think," Sarus answered with a smile.

"And not letting me tell her that?"

"She sees you as a Trandoshan, not many of them speak Basic. It was the only way I could disguise your walking stick and limp," Sarus replied as the waitress returned and handed them their drinks.

"Let me know if you two need anything else." She said, moving on to the next table.

"So if I'm a Trandoshan, how am I going to ask questions to get the information we need?" Pto asked once the Rodian was out of earshot.

"You won't be asking anyone, you'll be scanning minds." Sarus replied taking a sip of his drink.

"I thought you had a problem with that?"

"I have a problem with breaking someone's will," Sarus replied, "as long as you remain on the surface thoughts I shouldn't have to worry about you doing that right?"

Ptolemy raised a questioning eyebrow at the Chiss, but he was already looking away. The insult was obvious to both of them, and it truly did hurt Pto that he had lost Sarus' trust, but that was something he could only gain back with time. And this was not the time to do that. The Jedi closed his eyes and reached out to the minds in the tavern, careful not to do more then skim the surface of each person.

"Gotta fix that converter...."

"Step, turn, kick, spin, slash...."

"Generator low, need to refuel...."

"Something's wrong," Pto spoke up, "I'm not getting any of the idle thoughts I normally get, it's almost like they're still working."

"There's a reason for that," Sarus replied putting his glass down with more force then he needed, his empty glass.

Then it hit Pto, the reason everyone was thinking about work is because none of them were drunk, the drinks had all the flavor but none of the negative effects of their real counter parts. Now that he looked closer he could also see that none of them were having fun, they looked like they were, they had the outside appearance of it, but inside they were thinking about their duties.

"This isn't a tavern, it's a training facility," Sarus said through clenched teeth. "They're teaching their men to act like normal sentients so that they can infiltrate other Temples and everyday society."

"The perfect spy organization," Pto stated. "Loyal, dedicated to their job, and absolutely no free will. They don't care for their lives, and they won't ever question what they're doing."

Sarus nodded, "Which makes this mission even more imperitive. We need to stop them before they get inserted into areas all over the Galaxy."

"If that's so then there's nothing I can do with their surface thoughts, I'll have to directly invade someone's mind..." Pto started.

"And our cover will be blown." Sarus finished, thinking for a moment, "We don't have a choice, we need to know the access point and the access code for that weapon. We'll have to trust the Force to give us an exit."

"Be ready, this will happen quickly," Pto said as he closed his eyes. He extended his senses again, skimming along the minds for key words until he one caught his eye. It was a Togorian who was one of the primary technicians on a very large and complicated weapon, which was most likely the weapon they had seen. Throwing caution to the wind he dove into the sentient's mind.

"80' 95'... Right off Barreks 5-D.... Access code: Delta-7-9-0-0-4-2-8-5 Charlie Xenon.... INTRUDER!"

Ptolemy's eyes snapped open after the last word he had heard to the sight of over a dozen heavy blaster rifles and half-a-dozen lightsabers. All pointing at the pair of Jedi.

"Got it?" Sarus asked.

"Yeah." Pto replied, "Now what?"

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

"Concern: Master, I'm not sure this is the wisest course of action." Jax stated as he and Dusk walked right into the settlement with no attempt to conceal themselves.

"They did it," Dusk replied referring to Sarus and Ptolemy, "and they were fine, we should be too."

"Query: Are you sure they were not using some kind of Force technique to hide themselves?" Jax asked his arm poised over the hidden compartment where his blaster pistol was.

"No, but I've been itching for some action for over a week now anyway, so I don't really care if they notice I'm not one of them." Dusk responded with a smile.

"Statement: Master there are far more sane ways to pick a fight."

"Dawn's the sane one Jax." Dusk said as he approached the tavern Pto and Sarus had walked into.

He walked down the three stairs to the doorway and was blocked by a bouncer. "Aren't you a little young to be drinking?"

"Aren't you a little weak to be standing in my way?" Dusk asked with a smile

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

"Any idea when our exit will be appearing?" Ptolemy asked again, obviously uncomfortable with having so many weapons trained on him, a feeling Sarus shared.

"Soon I hope," Sarus replied, starting to gather Force energy incase they needed to make a break for it.

As if on cue the wall opposite them blasted in, showering the area with dust and debris. Both men acted at once, Sarus jumping up and over the heads of the men right in front of them, Ptolemy whipping out his staff and sweeping the men's feet out from under them. Taking advantage of the sweep Sarus gripped the men with the Force and hurled them into the crowd that was still distracted by the wall blowing in, knocking most off-balance and confusing the rest. All of this happened in the span of a single second and resulted in a tavern plunged into chaos. Blasters started going off, randomly at first, but quickly tracking to the front of the building where Dusk could be seen spinning his blade in and out of combat like a mad man.

"I think that's our cue to get out of here," Sarus said summoning two lightsabers to him with the Force, and tossing them to Pto. "Cut us an exit," he said turning back around, "I'll go back-up Dusk."

The Initiate nodded and started cutting a hole in the permacrete as the Force Warrior Force Leapt up over the crowd, landing in front of a Crusader and palm thrusting up into the surprised man's chin, snapping his head back, then kicked out, knocking the already dazed man back into his blaster wielding allies. Sarus stood back up and let loose with a Force Blast to blow the Crusaders surrounding Dusk away. The Sith looked back at the Force Warrior, surprised by the sudden aide, but the eye contact was fleeting as both got a Force Premonition and had to dodge continuing attacks from the Crusaders.

Sarus spun away from a downward swing and lashed out with a back-handed punch, then ducked a flurry of blaster issuing from behind him. Reaching out with the Force the Chiss Gripped two of the Crusaders and yanked them forward into their allies, but he had no time to enjoy the move as he was forced to backflip a lightsaber that would have bisected him. He knew the fight was going nowhere, there was no way the four of them could win against this many opponents, the only reason they were having any success so far was because of the mass of bodies in the building. If even half of the Crusaders here could get a clear shot they would be cut down instantly, and the way Dusk was chopping people up it wouldn't be long before enough of them did have a clear shot.

"Dusk we need to go, now!" Sarus yelled as he landed and raised his hand to deflect a Blaster shot. Glad I took the time to learn hand deflection.

"Why?" Dusk asked, obviously enjoying the carnage, "We're winning!"

"That's only because most of these guys can't fire past their friend's bodies," Sarus replied backpedalling against a lightsaber wielding Crusader, "but they will if you keep cutting down our cover."

"Cover?" Dusk asked as he decapitated a Crusader that had gotten too close. Just then a barrage of blaster fire buzzed by the Sith Lord barely an inch away, "Oh THEM!" He said as comprehension dawned on him.

Sarus leaned back as a blow just barely missed him then lashed out with a quick jab that broke his opponent's wrist and caused him to drop his lightsaber. He Leapt away and down next to Dusk, "Yes them! Didn't you notice that Jax hasn't been covering you for some time now?"

Dusk's face grew dark with anger, "No I hadn't."

"He's been providing cover fire so we can make it to the exit Ptolemy cut," Sarus stated, answering Dusk's unspoken question. When Dusk didn't give any indication of leaving Sarus grabbed his tunic, "We're leaving," he said as he Force Sped to the hole, dragging Dusk along.

The Force Warrior closed on the exit rapidly, not even bothering to evade the incoming attacks, but just 3 meters short he paid for his carelessness as a Blaster bolt got a lucky shot in and hit the Chiss' shin causing him to fall just a few feet short of safety. Sarus shut his eyes, knowing that without his mobility he wouldn't be able to get away, and that no one would come for him. It was too much risk, and he understood the consequences when he devised the plan, but he had gotten over confident, trusted his abilites to overcome his foolishness. Which was why he was surprised when the next thing he felt wasn't the heat of a blaster bolt or lightsaber, but instead felt an invisible hand tighten around his body and throw him.

Sarus opened his eyes, not quite sure what to expect, but grateful for whatever improvement it may have been. He saw Ptolemy spinning his staff to deflect incoming blaster fire from around the settlement, and saw Jax still firing into the tavern. He realized what had happened a second later, Dusk had thrown him to safety after he had been shot in the leg, and was still inside the tavern, covering their exit.

Sarus rolled to his knees and tried to put pressure on his leg, but found it unable to hold any weight. It was a bad scenario, everyone was distracted excapt for Sarus and he was unable to go to anyone's aid, There's only one thing I can do. The Force Warrior closed his eyes and reached out into the Force, into the minds of everyone in combat around them, into the darkness inside them, plunging deep into their very being. Deeper, he thought, commanding himself to go past where he was to go to the one place in the Crusader's minds that still was heavily guarded, where the brainwashing had taken place, until he broke through to the very core of their minds. There he implanted one word, just one word, and everything changed for a brief moment.

Sarus opened his eyes and saw all their attackers frozen in place and confused looks on the faces of Dusk and Ptolemy. Pto's was the first to understand, "You implanted a command, just like their Leader."

Sarus nodded, "I can do it because there's no will actively opposing me," the Chiss grimaced in pain, "but there's too many here, I can't keep them like this for long. We need to get to safety while we can."

"You implanted a command, just like their Leader." Ptolemy said a bit irritated.

Sarus nodded, "I can do it because there's no will actively opposing me," the Chiss grimaced in pain, "but there's too many here, I can't keep them like this for long. We need to get to safety while we can."

Ptolemy raised his fingers to his lips and whistled he then turned and helped Sarus to his feet. From the tavern the hum of a lightsaber indicated that Dusk was still on his feet. Jax came around the building and resumed firing into the tavern in support of Dusk. Ptolemy looked toward the tree line expectantly as the beast leaped from the forest and skid to a stop next to Ptolemy.

‘Dusk!’ Ptolemy yelled as he threw the Chiss on to the beast ‘Time to go!’

Ptolemy Looked back to the hole he had cut in the wall as Dusk walked out and switched off his light saber. Jax squeezed off a couple more rounds from his blaster rifle.

‘Observation: It appears that all of the meat bags in the Bar are no longer breathing.’ Jax said ‘Interrogative: should we continue our efforts at ‘negotiations’ with the locals master??’ the droids voice seemed to be quivering with excitement.

‘We need to go Dusk!’ Ptolemy said again as the beast wheeled around and headed for the forest.

‘We need to get to the weapon’ Sarus grimaced

‘We need to get your leg taken care of first.’ Ptolemy shot back ‘you are of no use with that bum leg and I cannot do this alone.’

Sarus looked back and saw Dusk and Jax a bit behind the beast. Jax was firing at the occasional target and Dusk deflecting blaster bolts that came close to him. The beast enters the trees and began weaving around the trees forcing Sarus to loose sight of the pair.

=============================================

‘Announcement: Three more coming from the south master.’ Jax said as he fired at a man wielding a lightsaber. The man deflected the blasterbolt into a group of crusaders firing weapons killing one of them.

‘Tey are strong’ Dusk said as he turned his head to the south and grinned. ‘Amost as strong as I am’ he adjusted his grip on his lightsaber deflecting a blaster bolt into the Rhodian that fired it. ‘This should be fun’

Blaster fire tapered off and stopped as the three Humans came into view around the corner of a building.

‘Jax’ Dusk said with out turning away from the three.

Jax raised his blaster and fired at the men. The man in the lead ignited his light saber and deflected the bolts back toward the pair. Dusk caught most of them on his blade but one got through and struck Jax in the torso knocking him back and to the ground.

‘That was my kriffing droid’ Dusk said drawing on the rage that this generated, Dusk used the rage to draw on the darkside burning deep with in him. ‘Now I am gonna have to get him fixed. And you are gonna pay for the parts.’

‘The dark side is strong in this one’ One of the men said.

The man in the center cocked his head as though listening and walked forward igniting his light saber.

Dusk could hear the sparking of jax trying to reroute critical systems. ‘Get yourself operational Jax or I will leave you here.’ Then Dusk said to the crusader walking toward him ‘Your joking right? There is no one on this planet that can best me.’

The man closed to with in 20 feet and launched a wave of force at Dusk. Dusk planted his feet and launched a force wave of his own knocking the Human back 50 feet. ‘You realy think that will impress me?’ dusk laughed and reached out with the force and gripped the man pinning his arms against his side. Dusk sneered as the man launched attack after attack in the force completely ineffective as Dusk brushed them aside. Finally tired of the game, Dusk crushed the man’s heart in his chest and tossed him back at the other two who stood watching.

The second man walked forward and force leapt igniting his saber coming down in an over hand strike intended to over whelm the Sith Lord quickly. Dusk quickly stepped aside and brought his saber up bisecting the man at the waist. He then tossed the pieces back at the last man of the group. Dusk brought his saber up with a flourish handle over his head blade pointed toward the third man, his left arm extended palm up and motioned for the man to come closer.

The third man stepped over the bodies of his comrades with out a second look. And ignited his light saber and blades of light sprung from each end. With a flourish the man walked forward to attack the young sith. Dusk uttered a guttural almost primal noise from the back of his throat and launched himself at the man that was left. The man met his attacks with seeming ease turning dusk’s attacks into momentum for his own attacks and in fairly short order Dusk found him self on the defensive. Not being pressed but when he tried to attack he would have to react to an attack. When he recognized a pattern it would change. Finally he saw an opening and brought his saber up trying to split the man in half. The man jumped back but Dusk’s blade split the man’s staff destroying one side of it. Dusk followed up with a force push trying to get some distance between them. The push was only partially effective as the man flew back about 10’ landing on his back his half a saber rolling from his had. Dusk rushed the man and was kicked in his chest for his trouble. The kick sent him sprawling back off balance. The Crusader launched a force lightning attack at the vulnerable sith. Dusk screamed as the perverted and twisted force powers ripped through his body. Feeding from the pain to gather force to him to begin to absorb the attack. The pain stopped and there was a flash as the man took Dusks left arm off at the elbow severing the mechanical arm that was there.

‘OH Hell no,’ Dusk shouted as he leapt up and out of range of the man’s saber, ‘You did not just cut off my arm!!’ Dusk called his saber to him catching it in his right hand. ‘Now you got no chance.’ Dusk launched his attack against the man knocking him off balance then removing his head at the shoulder. Dusk had a premonition but not quickly enough as he spun and brought up his saber a T’Wielek jammed a stun baton into his side. Dusk had the satisfaction of seeing his blade cut into the T’weilek’s chest before he blacked out completely.

Jax lay in the street and watched as his master was tied up and carried away. It seemed that everyone was ignoring him. It continued to reroute circuitry until it resumed mobility it then got up and made its way into the forest.

=============================================

Ptolemy brought the beast to a halt and slid down the beast’s side to the ground, he then turned and eased Sarus to the ground as well.

‘Lucky shot’ The Chiss hissed through clenched teeth.

‘Carelessness’ Ptolemy chuckled as he cut away the leg of Sarus’s pants. ‘The lucky one is you… doesn’t look like anything important is hit.’

Ptolemy opened a pack on his belt and took out a stim pack and pressed it against the Chiss’s thigh. After a moment the wound showed signs of healing and pulled a bandage from the pack, broke the bacta capsule and wrapped the bandage around Sarus’s shin.

‘Give that a few minutes and you will be good to go.’ Ptolemy said

‘We don’t have a few minutes’ Sarus said

‘No, we don’t’ answered Ptolemy ‘but we don’t have much choice either. You are no good to anyone if you cannot walk much less run.’

Sarus climbed to his feet ‘where is Dusk? He was behind us when we went into the trees.’

Ptolemy closed his eyes for a moment, ‘I do not sense him, he is either unconscious, dead or has advanced cloak skills.’

‘If he has been captured we could be in trouble.’ Sarus said

‘Well it will take a little while to do anything with him. And I do not think he will break easily.’ Ptolemy said thoughtfully, ‘I do not see Dusk as someone that will “go with the flow”. Can you walk now?’

The Chiss nodded and clamored back up on the back of the beast and Ptolemy joined him as the beast turned and headed for Barracks 5-D.

Thing was inside Just My Luck with Aragorn and Dray

He felt a weird sensation in his nose
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" Thing sneezed.

"Bless you" said Dray and Aragorn, who were in other parts of the ship, in almost perfect unison, and through the Force he sensed Ptolmey say "bless you" too. Thing was in total disbelief that Ptolmey had that much power to communicate with him, and also in disbelief because his sneeze could be felt through the Force.

"Thing, Sarus shot but healing, Dawn captured. Fix ship's fast!" said Ptolmey through the Force.

"Guys?"

"What is it?"said Aragorn

"We better hurry fixing her up, Dawn's been captured and Sarus was shot!" yelled Thing to alert the crew.

"What?! Sarus was shot?!" yelled Dray in surprise.

"Yeah, but he's healing."

"And Dawn's been captured? Must've been a helluva fight." Said Aragorn

"How the hell do you know this?" asked Dray.

"Ptolmey tol' me through the Force" said Thing.

"Why the hell would he tell you first?"

"Why? You jealous...?"

"Of course not, but I'm in charge here."

"Who the kriff said you're in charge?" said Thing, taken aback by his response.

"Well Sarus did, remember?"

"No he didn't you liar!"

"Computer activate SDASU."

Total silence rang through the ship, except for the creaking of the ship.

"Computer, activate.."

"We're not on your ship, idiot." interrupted Thing.

"Don't call me in idiot, stoopa."

Thing lunged at Dray, trying to get at least one good hit on him, swiping at his feet and punching for his stomach. Now, Dray is a great fighter and he could probably disarm any other man in literal hand to hand combat but, Thing had battle meditation, which heightened his senses and allowed him to see what his opponent was going to do next. Aragorn saw his two friends fighting, which made him even more aggitated, on top of the fact that his father and friends were in some sort of danger. After about a minute of fighting, Aragorn had had enough.

"What the hell are you doing!?! My father is out there, as well as my two friends and you're fighting about who's in charge?! Grow the hell up you two!"

Even though the two heard this, they still kept at it, and this is when action was taken. Aragorn built up force energy and pushed the two apart and pinned them against the wall.

"OI! ARE YOU BLOODY DEAF! I TOLD YOU TO QUIT IT!" exerting more pressure on the two.

"Anyway, Sarus said Dray was in charge, now get back to work" Aragorn said, releasing the pair, with worry in his voice for his father and his friends. He then left to finish up his repairs.

"Damn, I've never seen Aragorn so mad before..." said Thing.

"He's just worried about them, C'mon, lets get back to work." said Dray rubbing his arm.

“Like I said, I drive.”

“Bg, go chill with border and night wolf.”

“yes sir.”

“So Kelrock. What did you like better. Being a hermit or being hunted,”

“Hermit for sure. Less academy’s get destroyed.”

“hahaha, really. Selfless you over there.”

Something finally hit Xzavier. He couldn’t figure out what was wrong, then it hit him.

“Wait… How do you know where JvS is?”

“Easy, I don’t. were not going there.”

“New I shouldn’t have let you drive.”

Nightwolf was getting inquisitive about this new “completely trustworthy” character.

“So where are we going then?” Asked night wolf.

“Tatooine.”

“Why?”

“Why not?”

“So let me get this straight, were not going home, were going away, being led by a guy who just was fighting with my leader a few hours ago.”

“Don’t forget he saved your life covering the ship…” The reminder came from the little brother.

“Yea. that’s right.”

Nightwolf had a completely blank expression on his face.

“Going to clue them in yet?”

“No. they need to learn patience…”

“Fail Kelrock, teaching sith patience.”

“Not my fault there around me.”

They were forced to be patient and trusting, much to there dismay. They wernt as worried as confused, they understood they had a incredible nice fighter leading them, but as far as they knew. He could be leading them blindly.

Finally they landed in the middle of a desert.

“Nice landing. Now where’s the civilization?”

“Why would I go there. I’m a hermit remember Xzavier…”

The party followed Kelrock to what appeared to be a small cove. As they walked inside the air suddenly felt colder, more comfortable. Almost the at home feeling. Then once they came to the back wall out of nowhere Kelrock said:

“Slip out the back.” Kelrock said fairly loud

“Before they know you were there.” A voice that seemed like It came from the wall whispered back.

“At the worst you’ll see nobody cares.” Kelrock responded.

“Uh… Am I going crazy or is your brother talking to the wall… and its talking back?”

“Yea he is, deal with it. I didn’t expect you to be so dull as to not realize it’s a door and a doorman…”

Suddenly the Back wall of the cave seemed to shift. Opening up a tight isle way for about 5 feet until there was a open room.

“What’s with you and caves?” Bg asked.

“What’s with you and not being in caves, Bg I go to caves because they are almost the best place to go undetected, and when your hunted, you learn to love them.”

“Who was hunting you anyway?”

“Your about to find out.”

As soon as they were all in the room 10 lightsabers instantly ignited. Of all colors and types. It was a small room, There welcome area.

“Warm welcome much brothers?”

“Impossible.”

“Unbelievable”

“Amazing”

“How??”

“Silence. Students fall in.”

“Sorry. I am Reddawn. This is the survivors of your previous academy. I Took them in, and have been teaching them slowly. But now they are all elite fighters, almost par with me, the crazy hermit.”

“Red, thank you for taking them in. Now I know this is only the third time we have met, but…”

“Ask it, you have already displayed control and friendship.”

“I need a ship.”

“May I ask why?”

“No.”
“Seriously, I don’t give ships so somebody can go from point A to point B, but I know you want it for more than that.”

“Its ok, he can just travel with us.” Xzavier interjected in there conversation.

“Incredibly long time, and never saw your face. Xzavier.”

“Thank you red.”

“May I ask who your other party members are?”

“Yes I am Xzavier, My older brother Kelrock, who you know clearly. This is Nightwolf, and Bg.”

“Nice to meet you all.”

“Nice to meet you to.” They both said in unison.

“Kelrock, this is why you wanted us to come to Tatooine.”

“Yes, The force is telling me that JvS is not in a state worth landing in at the moment, so where spending a few nights here, listen to this man, and he will make all of you far better fighters.”

“Students disperse.”

All the sabers instantly were all extinguished.

“Were staying here for the night.”

“Daygall, please show them to the guest quarters.”

“Yes sir.”

Daygall lead the party down some corridors to what looked like dorms, then as they all got settled he left to report.

“Night all.”

As the party was sleeping Reddawn called a meeting with his fellow leaders.

“I should hope you all know why I called this. Its simple, 4 new people walk in. We use them while we have them, there clearly into hiding.” Red stated.

“Red we all know this. But the question is if they can be trusted.” Iceman was a morning person and already was thinking straight.

‘Iceman we already have to trust them, they know the gate pass ,and they know our hideout.” Red pointed out.

“But Red surly you realize that-” Iceman was cut off by Red.

“Iceman always being cautious. Stop and think, We know Kelrock and Xzavier can tackle just about anything. They have proven that multiple times.” Red was simply refreshing the council's brains on what the brothers could do.

“Yes, I understand that, I’m not worried about them. I’m worried about Bg and Nightwolf.” Iceman was oppenly expressing his worries.

“Yea, I agree with Iceman on this one Red…” Jester was a bit cautious which is rare for him.

“Jester, You know I feel the same way, but were going to keep them on a short leash. As of right now they have done nothing wrong.”

“Agreed” Said Jester.

“Agreed” Said Iceman.

“Daygall, I haven’t heard you speak up during this whole talk so far, what are you thinking on this one.” Asked Red, who knows Daygall well enough to know hes thinking deeply at the moment.

“Simply thinking, id like to take Xzavier and Kelrock out on a test mission. Just around here, we would stay on Tatooine, I know of a few places that need to be, quote, taken care of.” Daygall asked with all seriousness.

“Your joking Daygall, you want to take the brothers on a mission of that importance and not let them know what awaits them?” Seto couldnt believe Daygall was bringing the idea up.

“I’m not joking Seto.” Said Daygall sternly.

The Circle in the meeting room was silent, Red looked over all his fellow leaders, to the right was Iceman Daygall, to the left was Seto, and Jester. Red looked around the silent room. Knowing everybody was thinking about the current dilemma.

___________________________________________________________________________________
The party was just waking up. The room was cold and damp, unusual for the middle of a desert.

“So what do we have planned here for today, oh wise leader.” Asked Xzavier in a sarcastic voice.

“Simple.” Said Kelrock after a long pause.

“…I’m waiting” Xzavier was getting frustrated.

“We help these guys out. Then in a few days we go back to the academy.”

“Ok sounds like a plan.” Xzavier agreed and whole heartedly trusted his brother.

Bg and Nightwolf were just now getting out of bed.

“What did I miss?” Asked Bg over his shoulder.

Both Xzavier and Kelrock looked over and said:

“Nothing.” At the same time in the same monotone voice.

“So what are we doing today?” Asked Nightwolf, feeling good enough to take on a army after his rest.

“Following orders.” Said Kelrock.

“Really…” Responded Bg.

“Yea, Nightwolf and Bg, you guys are going to stay here, make friends and spar around with some of the guys here.”

“Sounds fun…” Nightwolf responed, in a halfhearted voice.

The look on the two faces of Bg and Nightwolf made the brothers fall to the floor in laughter.

“Hahahaha, by the look of your faces your saying I'd rather go back to sleep.” Xzavier barely said threw his laughing.

“No, hahaha, there saying I am going back to sleep, deal with it!” Kelrock was joking around with his little brother.

“Hahaha, your right.” Xzavier continued the joke.

“Ok, ok, ok, you can shut up now. We get the point. Were going to spar around with a few of the guys here.” Bg finnaly caved in.

“Good, me and Kelrock are going to go ask and see if Red has anything he wants us to do.” Said Xzavier.

________________________________________________________________


The two knew better than to question why. All they could do is Lay puzzled getting a few extra hours of sleep. The brothers walked down the corridor to the meeting room, on the way they were catching up on what happened.

“So this is what happened after I gave you the saber, I took the assassins ship back to the academy, found the assassins already there, most of us never had a chance… The people I could get out are the people in this room. I Dumped them all at this rock, then I made sure the assassins kept following me. Then I went back to my own cave, made it look like they had me pinned on the back wall, then I did what I do best.” Kelrock explained to Xzavier, very slowly, emphasizing the details.

“Disappear” Xzavier said for him.

“And reappear behind them.”

“You can only do that once before they catch on.”

“I only need to do it once, I killed one like that. The others turned to me, I simply laughed as I blasted them into the back wall, knocking most cold, the few still conscious I killed on the floor. It was way to easy, but a maneuver only possible alone.”

“Actually I remember one time we pulled it off together. Only time you have ever done that trick with somebody else.”

“Yea, back on Dantooine, was funny, stupid assassins thought they had us, kind of funny actually, the small cove. They came at us. I disappeared, they acted like no big deal and all focused on you, then you disappeared, they never realized that it wasn’t a shallow cave, and that It was a mine. They all turned back around and we jumped em in the back. Oh the good old days.”

Finally the brothers made it to the meeting room, they walked in and everybody was dead still and silent, meditating.
_________________________________________________________

“Sorry if we are interrupting something.” Xzavier said, as he realized he just bursted into a room of meditating jedi.

“Not to worry, we were actually just waiting for you two to come here.” Replied Red, completely calm and undisturbed.

“So what did you want us for Red.” Asked Kelrock, puzzled.

“A mission, very simple, you will go with Daygall.” Said Red, holding back a smile.

“That’s all, just a mission?” Xzavier expected there to be a catch.

“… Any hint of what kind of mission.” Asked Kelrock wondering what Red wanted them to do.

“No, you will just follow Daygall and listen to his orders.” Responded Red.

“Alright we accept, I trust Daygall, as I remembered him at the academy.” Agreed Kelrock.

“Then follow me.” Daygall said. Smiling as he turned away from the party, only for a second.

The three leave the room.

“Will this really work Red.” Asked Seto, wondering if the two old friends could solve most there problems in a day or two.

“I believe it will Seto.” Responded Red, who had thought it threw multiple times.

"I really should have taken more time out to learn Healing," Sarus mumbled as he hobbled along behind Ptolemy. It was something he was having trouble adjusting to, not being the able-bodied one of the two.

"Sorry I can't help you much there," Pto responded coming to stop and looking around for a moment before heading off to the right, "I never had much use for it. Always preferred keeping myself hidden, but it does surprise me that you don't know it. You are a Force Warrior after all."

"Oh I know the basics," Sarus replied absently, instead pouring most of his focus on fixing his leg, "but I never thought I would need it. My field is more the information gathering kind," the Chiss tested his weight on his foot again, but it still wasn't able to hold his full weight, "I'm not used to getting shot at."

"Well I hope you learn fast," Pto said, "because I have a feeling we'll be seeing a lot more of them in the near future."

"Speaking of our near future," Sarus replied falling down onto a log, "I think we need to plan something before we go barging in there."

Pto looked around concerned, "I agree, but this isn't exactly the most secluded area."

"And I have a low pain tolerance," Sarus replied, "I need to rest and concentrate what little healing ability I have on this wound. We may as well plan our next move while I'm doing that."

Pto looked around and found a rough stump a few feet away he decided to use as a seat, "Very well, I know we need to disable that weapon, and the defenses in order to get away."

Sarus nodded, "Wouldn't be a bad idea to get some specs on exactly what that weapon does and what it's range is. That Ion Pulse can't be the only purpose. Probably wouldn't hurt to get troop strengths either."

"I don't think that's the main problem," Pto replied, chin in hand, "we don't exactly have anything to damage the weapon with."

"Stang, I can't believe I forgot ordinance," Sarus said slapping his head with his head, "we'll have to improvise once we get there."

"Maybe not," Pto replied. The Initiate felt inside his cloak for a moment and brought out a palm sized data card, "This should work well enough," Pto said lifting it up to the light to inspect it for any flaws. The Jedi reached into the other side of his cloak and pulled out a datapad which he then inserted the data card into. A few moments later a second card popped out of a slot beside the first. Pto pulled the card out and handed it to Sarus.

Sarus took the card, eying it suspiciously, "And this is?"

"A virus, well a computer virus," Pto corrected as he slid the datapad back into his cloak. "A pretty vicious one too. It's something I picked up on Nar Shadaa, essentially the virus introduces into a system as an update and queries the system for information. From there it uploads a faulty power requirement to the weapon, communication, and sensor equipment, and simultaneously copys and downloads the information from the entire system, or at least as much as it can fit."

"What's the 'faulty power requirement' do then?" Sarus asked still staring at the card.

"Surges more power into the equipment then it can handle, melting the firing mechanisms."

"Yeah, that sounds like every update I've ever gotten," Sarus murmured to himself. "So we have a way to disable the equipment, now we just need to think of way to get there."

"Well our cover's been busted so I doubt your perception field will work again," Pto commented, "and obviously fighting our way in is no option if we can't even fend off a bar full of Crusaders without having an injury. That pretty much just leaves sneaking in."

"Agreed. How good is your Cloaking technique?"

"Fooled quiet a few Force-users with it so I think I can sneak past these weak-minded fools. I even bothered to learn the full concealment technique, so I can completely vanish if need be."

"Never got to Concealment, Cloak was enough for me, but it's good that you know it. I doubt Cloak would get past the severe scrutiny the guards and technicians will have after our little show." Sarus fell silent for a moment as he considered his options. He knew that they would have to split up, have one infiltrate a command center to disable the defenses and one to sneak into the weapon to disable it until they could get reinforcements, but he was torn between what his sense of duty told him to do and what his logic told him was the only way. Logically Ptolemy was the best choice for infiltrating the weapon since security would be tighter there then in the Command Center, but his sense of duty told him he had no right to risk Pto's life on something that wasn't his job.

Pto seemed to sense the path of Sarus' thoughts and spoke up, "I volunteered for this mission Sarus, I know you think the Council forced me to take it but if I hadn't wanted to go I could have easily influenced their decision. I have my reasons, and I understood the risks coming in to this, so do what's best for the mission."

Sarus nodded, "The mission says that I'm out of my element and less skilled in the Stealth arts so I should take the mission with less risk." Sarus stood, "You'll have to take out the weapon, and you'll have to do it without help. I do not envy you this task." Sarus stuck his hand out and Pto took it with a firm grip, "May the Force be with you, friend."

"And with you," Pto replied.

The two men let go and walked their separate ways.

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

Sarus crouched low as he approached the fence surrounding the Command Center. It had taken him the better part of an hour just to figure out which of the nondescript buildings housed the equipment he was looking for, and, in the end, he had just wound up following a man in a technicians uniform until he came across a building with an abnormally high level of security. The building was surrounded by an electric fence that was positively antique, but still effective enough to kill you if you didn't happen to be covered in rubber. There were two entrances on either side where a pair of Force-Sensitive Crusaders stood guard, as well as half a dozen snipers at various positions along the roof to provide cover should the guards need it. The building itself was a dome encased in a large squat building about two stories high and rung by subsections that most likely held the rooms and that could be sealed off in the event of a security breach.

In short it was very well guarded, and there was no way to sneak in for any normal human. Luckily Sarus wasn't normal, nor human. After observing the building for another thirty minutes Sarus has managed to spot a security hole that was out of sight of both entrances and in the severe perifery of the sniper. So Sarus had waited for night to come, focusing his attention on healing his leg and so when it was finally dark enough for his liking his leg was healed enough that he could run, even if not at full speed.

Sarus had drawn his cloak around him until it was strong as it would get then rushed forward as quietly as he could, careful to keep the pounding of his feet under audible level. Now he was in the trickiest part of his entrance, he had to maintain his cloak and Force Jump over the fence, low enough to not draw attention, but high enough to keep himself from getting electrocuted. Here goes nothing, Sarus thought as he ran forward then used the Force to propel himself into a parabolic arc, barely skimming over the fence and still getting a small zap as a reminder that he was still not in peak condition, but the small shock was soon forgotten as the Force Warrior landed and had to bite his lip to keep from yelping in pain. No definitely not in peak health.

Sarus quickly jog over to the wall in a crouch and proceeded to slide along it until he reached the door directly behind the guards. Sarus peered through a crack in the door to determine how high the light level was inside, if it was too high the guards would notice the light spilling out of the door, but only half the lights were on, most likely due to the lateness of the hour. Satisfied he could get in without attracting attention Sarus pushed the door open just enough, slide in and closed it as quietly as he could.

The Chiss sat squatted for a moment and looked around. The hall he was in was full of doors in varying places running the entire length with two corridors leading off, on right a third of the way up and one left in the middle, and a set of double doors at the end of the hall that most likely led to the command center itself. No one was in the hallway right then and Sarus couldn't feel anyone in the Force that was close enough to worry about so he headed down the hallway, hanging in the shadows as much as he could purely out of habit.

Sarus neared the door, only a meter away when he danger sense activated. It wasn't the kind of sense of immediate danger, more that of iminent if he continued, the kind of feeling he would get if he was about to step on a mine, say one thing too much, or step into view of a security camera. The Chiss stopped and took a step back for extra measure, then looked up to see if he could see a surveillance device, but nothing popped out to him so he put his hand to the ground and extended his senses into the walls, searching for a concentration of energy and sure enough he found it. A pressure sensor on the floor in front of the door that would activate a facial recognition scanner built into the door. It was a smart security measure, not obvious, and by the time you figured out something was out of place it was already too late, you probably would have a hole in the back of your head before you could spin around.

Looks like quiet is out of the question, Sarus thought with a wry grin, but then again I never much liked quiet. Keeping his hand to the ground Sarus shot a small Ionize beam out of his hand and at the pressure sensor, causing it to short and register false weight. In the days of the Old Republic the power had been known as Ionize, or Disable Droid to laymen, it had the ability to damage or completely destroy electronic systems, but had been lost as a Force power because of how close it came to Force Lightning, and by the fact that it was inferior to Force Lightning. But Sarus had taken the time to learn the power because sometimes a malfunctioning system could help you spy more effectively, and now was one of those times.

Sarus Leaped up to the ceiling and used the Force to hold him there as the two guards from outside came in to investigate the system. He watched as the two approached slowly, checking each corridor and door as they went in a standard sweeping approach, and approach that was not a friend of anyone using an exhaustive Force technique like levitation to keep them out of sight. Finally the two made it to the door, one knelt down and the other stood, blaster ready but not raised.

"It's broken," the kneeling one said.

"How?" the standing one asked.

"Short-circuit," Kneel replied.

"Open the door so we can tell the Major," Stand said.

Kneel stood up and pressed a button on the door eliciting the scanner. A beam passed over his face then retracted and the doors slid open immediately. Almost there, Sarus thought, his concentration beginning to wane through the constant exertion. The two guards walked in and started down a flight of stairs. Sarus released his grip, landing hard on his feet, but pushing past it and diving through the door just as it slid closed, and continuing his momentum into another jump that landed him direstly on the transparisteel dome housing the actual Command Center. Sarus cringed for a moment as the clang rang out, extremely load to his own ears, but apparently not to anyone else.

The Chiss looked around again to get his barrings. He was in a duracrete dome that housed this smaller transparisteel dome, on the wall surrounding the dome were a series of small black dots that ran up and down the entire length of the dome. Around the base of the dome was a ring about a foot wide and ran the entire length of the dome. Inside the dome were a series of old computers and flat holo-screens that were completely outdated compared to current galactic standards, but obviously still in working order. There was only one person inside the dome monitoring the security of the compound and as the Chiss watched he came to a door and pressed his palm against it to open the door. A biometric lock, how quaint, Sarus thought to himself as he carefully worked his way down the side of the dome towards the ground.

"The pressure sensor is broken again," Kneel said to the new man.

"I'll get to it when my shift is done," the new man said with a sigh. The man was remarkably close to normal for a brain-washed minion.

"It is broken now," Stand said.

"And I'm busy now," the new man said, Sarus figured he was probably the Major they had been referring to in the hall. "It can wait, unless you two are so bad your jobs that you need a kriffing droid to do your jobs."

"We will leave, but Leader will not be happy until it's fixed," Kneel said and the two walked off without another word.

"Is he ever?" The Major asked rhetorically under his breath as he turned to walk back to his station.

Sarus watched in silence pondering how he could get in without alerting the entire base. The biometric lock was an antique, easily bypassed by most modern day equipment, but it might as well have been a force field to the Force Warrior for two reason. One, the lock was on the inside only so odds were that there would always be at least one person inside to raise the alarm, and two, he had no equipment other then a datapad, comlink, and the data chip that held the virus.

I never was fond of hacking, now I pay the price for not being prepared. The only way he would be able to get in was to lure the Major out and slip in unnoticed, but it was too risky with the entire compound already on alert for anything suspicious. Unless... no, I couldn't. I didn't study the technique enough to be sure of myself, and if there's any sort of current running through the glass it'll disrupt the power. Then again, I don't really have that many options.

The Chiss tossed the thought around for a few more minutes while he watched the Major, hoping that the man would take a caf break. In his travels as a Force Warrior he had come across many rare and unique Force powers, so many so that despite his best efforts he could never even begin on half of them, much less Master them. So he had ended up picking and choosing which powers he would ignore, which he would learn the basics of, and which he would Master. One such power was known as Force Phase, a powerful technique that allowed the user to move through solid object without disruption, the only draw back being that it couldn't do the same with energy.

But, despite the Force Warrior's best effort the technique had proved elusive. It required constant concentration and constant manipulation to move through even the simplest of objects, and he often found himself only partially through when he lost control of it, and a chunk of those failures required help to get him extracted. But then again most of those times were with Durasteel, not transparisteel, and transparisteel is much less dense. It won't require as much manipulation.

Sarus looked at his chrono. It was getting late, he would have barely an hour before sunrise, barely enough time to get in and out if he rushed it. He had no choice, the only way to get it uploaded and still maintain his stealth would be with Phase. May the Force be with me.. Sarus thought before holding his breath and plunging in.

The Chiss closed his eyes and reached out, feeling the transparisteel, feeling all it's flaws and imperfections, all the micro fractures and inherent instability. He touch it, imagining the transparisteel moving up his arm and into his body, assimilating him into the structure of the glass, lunging deeper and deeper, assimilating new layers onto himself as his body plunged deeper into the dome. Then he felt air, felt his hand punch through into the interior. A wave of elation rushed up at the success but he quickly quashed it, lest his feelings interfere with the rest of the process. He continued passing the known assimilations through his body until his back foot finally slide out.

Sarus was almost overjoyed by the successful Phase, but it quickly passed as he realized he was still 20 feet off the ground and falling all too quickly to the ground. Too late to stop it now, Sarus hit the ground and rolled, transferring his energy into forward momentum and leapt at the Major just as the man was turning. He splayed his palm and built up a small electric shock in it, he reached up and pushed against the Crusader's back, sending a powerful electronic surge through the man's back, causing him to fall unconscious, but otherwise unharmed. Although, luckily for Sarus, he would have a few minutes of memory loss.

The Shadow looked around to see if the man had managed to get off a signal before he could render him senseless, but all was quiet, save the equipment inside the dome with him. He let out a sigh of relief and dug inside his belt for the data chip, as we walked over to what looked like the main console. After a moment of searching he found the input slot along the top of the panel and inserted the data chip Pto had given him.

The screen, which had been displaying the various sensor readings for the settlement, went black, then popped back up with the same readings and a command prompt situated in the center of the screen. As he watched he saw various computer code flash across the screen in a quick tumble, some he understood, most he didn't, but after two minutes the screen flashed black again, then ejected the data chip. The screen came back up displaying the words "Update Complete" for a brief second then went back to the previous sensor readings.

Sarus grabbed the card out of the slot, tempted to look at the information it held, but afraid of any traces of the virus that might be left on it. Best to let the tech boys figure this out back home, he thought as he put the chip back in his belt pocket.

The Chiss went over the the unconscious Major and hauled the man's body onto his shoulder. He walked over to the door, grunting at the man's weight, and placed the man's palm on the biometric scanner. A light passed over his palm and the door slide open. Sarus dumped the body and stepped out quickly allowing the door to shut behind him. Now comes the trick, Sarus thought with a smile as he reached out in the Force, picked up the man's body and levitated it back to his chair and set him down gently. When the Major woke up he would simply assume that he had fallen asleep watching the monitors.

The Chiss looked up the stairs leading back to the entrance he had come from. His job was almost done, all that was left to exfiltrate, get Ptolemy, and get to the ships, It's all up to you now Pto.

"I volunteered for this mission Sarus, I know you think the Council forced me to take it but if I hadn't wanted to go I could have easily influenced their decision. I have my reasons, and I understood the risks coming in to this, so do what's best for the mission."

Sarus nodded, "The mission says that I'm out of my element and less skilled in the Stealth arts so I should take the mission with less risk." Sarus stood, "You'll have to take out the weapon, and you'll have to do it without help. I do not envy you this task." Sarus stuck his hand out and Pto took it with a firm grip, "May the Force be with you, friend."

"And with you," Pto replied. And watched the Chiss turn and walk away still limping a bit.

Ptolemy then turned and made his way to the perimeter of the Citadel. Finding the weapon was not difficult. The dome housing the super ION canon was huge and so was house in the largest complex of buildings surrounded by forest on the north side of town. There 5- 6 buildings, gray and a little worn down, gathered in a loose cluster around the base of the dome that housed the weapon. Ptolemy found that there was an area cleared from the fence about 100 feet. The clearing would be problematic but the true issue was going to be the fence. 10 feet high and electrified a slip would mean a painful death. There needed to be a distraction to get into the building. The beast that had been so useful in the past pushed on his back as though eager to get moving. Ptolemy reached up and patted the beast’s neck to sooth the beast. Ptolemy watched for several hours noting the regularity of patrols, the sentries posted at the door and several gun emplacements that were present on the perimeter and covering the entrance and approach to the main entrance. Ptolemy made his way around the perimeter of the cluster of buildings looking for an alternate way in. Finally, he found what he was looking for, a small door with a guard outside. Nodding with approval Ptolemy settled in to watch the door and the area.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

Ptolemy waited in the trees outside the fence and looked around one more time. The sun was just touching the horizon so it would be to Ptolemy’s back. The beast was curled up in a ball sleeping. He needed the beast to be well rested if things went south inside he would need a distraction on the outside to aid in his escape. Ptolemy watched as the guard walked his beat, left to right, almost bored with his duty approached and passed his hiding place. Ptolemy wrapped himself in concealment, almost like putting on a comfortable cloak, and walked to the fence. 10 feet high and with enough power coursing through it to fry a man where he stood. Ptolemy looked at the top of the fence and, using the force, jumped the fence landing in a crouch. Looking to his right he saw the guard stop and turn as though he heard something. The guard took a step back and cried out in surprise as he tripped over a stone and fell right into the fence. The man’s scream was cut short as the power coursing through the fence fried the meat from the man’s bones.

Ptolemy winced, turned from the man’s scream and made his way to the wall beside the door he had found earlier. The guard was looking toward the fence where the man’s screams had stopped but the fireworks were still going on as the fence finished it grisly work. It was a simple thing for Ptolemy to implant a thought in their minds that they needed to see what was happening. Ptolemy stood for a moment allowing them to move off. He then moved to the door and entered the code he retrieved in the bar earlier. The light on the key pad flicked from red to green and there was a click as the lock released. Ptolemy looked around and the looked through the small window in the door before he opened the door and slipped in, heading down the corridor and into more heavily travelled areas of the citadel careful not to look at anyone directly, senses alert for any sign that he had been seen. More than once he had to flatten himself against the wall as Crusaders hurried past on their way to their duties. The dark side was strong in this place not from anger or pain but fear. There were those that were completely brainwashed but for some the take over was not as pronounced or had not happened. Those that were not brainwashed were in mortal fear.

Ptolemy walked along the corridor and stopped at a data terminal set in the wall. He tapped at its surface navigating several screens finding schematics of the citadel. He studied the schematic for a moment and found the room he was looking for. He looked around the area. The corridors were gray and lifeless, studded with doors at seemingly regular intervals some with indicators some with out. The place was built like a maze, all the corridors identical with no indentifying marks, door signs or directional signs. This is to confuse and disorient invaders hoping they will get lost. There are always indicators of what doors are used more often and which doors have tighter security protocols. This base was in a poor state of repair as though functionality was an after thought. Trash was scattered around in corners and some door ways.

Ptolemy looked up and down the corridor again and started walking up a winding set of stairs and into an empty lift. He punched the sub5 button for sub level 5 and backed into a corner of the lift car. It seemed like an eternity as the lift stopped and let passengers on and off seemingly at every level from the ground down to sub5. Finally the doors opened and Ptolemy made his way off of the lift and flattened himself against the wall as a crusader dashed onto the lift. On this level there were armed guards posted at seemingly regular intervals and outside some doors as a further measure to deter infiltrators. Ptolemy almost chuckled as he walked to the door he needed. There was a guard out side the door, an indication that he was in the right place. Through the force, Ptolemy convinced the guard he heard cries for help in the control room. The guard drew his weapon and listened at the door for a moment. He then placed his hand on a hand scanner the door opened and the guard burst into the room followed closely by Ptolemy.

The room was the command center for the massive ION canon that had downed the Chikita and, apparently, controlled several other weapons grids on the planet. There were half dozen techs at various stations around the far side of the room. View screens dotted the wall around the room displaying data on the status, maintenance levels and the weapons power levels and the several other grids as well. Ptolemy moved off to the right away from the door as it shut behind them.

‘What’s going on in here?’ the guard shouted as he swung his weapon to cover the dozen or so technicians in the room.

Ptolemy moved along the wall in search of a data port.

‘We are working you kriffing idiot!’ one of the techs said obviously not used to being at the business end of a blaster.


‘Who was shouting?’ The guard asked swinging his weapon to cover the tech, ‘Someone was in trouble, shouting for help’

Ptolemy looked and made sure the techs attention was not on their screens and placed the data card into a slot and looked at the screen over the data port then glancing back over his shoulder at the techs. The guard had the techs full attention.

‘No one was shouting for help’ said a tech which was obviously senior trying to calm the man down. ‘I think you may need to report to the med bay for a physical’

The screen flashed and displayed a progress bar for a split second and displayed update complete data download commencing.

The guard lowered his weapon ‘maybe you are right’ he said and holstered his weapon.

Relieved, one of the techs glanced back at his screen ‘Hey what have you se…?’

Ptolemy focused on the tech and concentrated using a technique called Malacia, this usually invokes dizziness and nausea and is usually incapacitating. He pushed hard with the technique and suddenly a wave of nausea swept over the tech and he suddenly vomited on his console completely covering his data screen with bile. The guard and the other techs now looked at the sick crusader as he grabbed onto the console and lurched to one side as his grip slipped on the bile, hitting his head and falling to the floor in a heap.

‘Oh God’ he said as he retched again adding another layer of his dinner to what was dripping from his console. The tech rolled and pushed himself up on his hands and knees as his stomach tied itself in knots. One hand again slipped on the bile and he lost his balance again and slipped face first into his own vomit.

The screen next to Ptolemy displayed copy complete and the data card popped out of its slot and went back to its normal display. Ptolemy took the card and looked at it; the flashing red light on the card showed the card was at capacity. He placed it in a pocket of his robe.

‘Get a doctor!’ The senior tech shouted at the guard as he stepped toward the downed tech. The guard spun around and ran from the room again closely followed by Ptolemy.

Ptolemy heard the sick tech croak ‘There was something that showed up on… mmmph…Not again!’ then the door slammed on the sounds of semi liquids splashing on the floor yet again. The guard stopped and leaned against the wall with his hand to his mouth. Ptolemy grinned and started back to the lift after a moment he reached the lift and waited for the doors to open. He waited for the crusaders to exit and slipped in with several others. With a little urging through the force one of the crusaders pressed the button for ground level and his companion slapped him on the back of the head.

‘We were going to sub10’ he said hitting the override and then pressing the down button there was a chime as the crusader placed his face up to a scanner.

A monotone voice crackled from the speaker ‘Access to sub10 granted’

‘Kriffing idiot’ the slapper said

‘What did I do?’ the first crusader asked

‘You hit the wrong kriffing button moron’ the slapper said ‘no one likes going there but we have to deliver these to Denoncro.’ He gestured with a small case with a medical symbol on it.

As the lift sank into the bowls of the Citadel, Ptolemy sensed a presence that was stronger and darker than most. The presence grew stronger as they sank into the earth and Ptolemy burrowed deeper into the concealment he was counting on to keep him safe and out of site. As the door slid open, it was as if the door opened into a blast furnace being fueled by the dark side of the force. From the relative safety of the lift Ptolemy could see hallways similar to those in the rest of the Citadel but he could sense almost immediately a dozen different force sensitives under assault both with physical pain and the force. There was a concerted effort to break these people and brainwash them. Among them there was a familiar presence. Dusk was there strapped to a rack helpless and in excruciating pain. Ptolemy could almost hear Dusk laughing at his captors, taunting them, cursing them and trying to break free. Ptolemy considered trying to get Dusk but the information he carried was to important to take more risk than he was already. Then the two crusaders stepped out of the lift and the doors closed.

Alone in the lift Ptolemy crouched leaned against back in the corner and put his head in his hands. The assault of the dark side on his senses was making it difficult to maintain his concentration. The lift started to rise and so the presence began to fade. Ptolemy stood as the doors opened and a guard stepped into the lift and hit the button to return to the ground floor. Ptolemy was having trouble getting the cries of the force sensitives in the bowels of the Citadel. That coupled with the stress of the mission and lack of sleep spelled trouble and he knew it. He felt his concentration slipping and the crusader in the lift with him stiffened and turned. Ptolemy jabbed the crusader in the sternum with his staff, knocking the breath out of him; Ptolemy then spun his staff and brought it down striking the back of the man’s head knocking him cold. Ptolemy hit the switch that stopped the lift and began poking at the ceiling with his staff till he found the access hatch. He then opened it and carefully levitated the man onto the top of the lift and closed the access hatch. Ptolemy then took a deep breath and, using breathing and mental techniques that were taught to him when he was a child, he centered himself meditating for a moment quickly refreshing his mind and body but he didn’t have very long to do so. The lift override light came on and the lift began moving again. After a moment Ptolemy again wrapped him self in concealment and backed in to a corner of the lift. The lift came to a stop on the main level and the door opened. A bored looking tech stepped in and looked at the control panel

‘Fierfek!!’ the tech reached out and flipped the stop switch to run ‘How does this kriffing happen?’

Ptolemy stepped around the tech and made his way toward the exit he had come in on. Staying out of the way of crusaders as they hurried from post to post was the easy part as he was still having problems maintaining his concentration. Exhausted, he reached the door he came in seemingly hours before. The guard was on post out side. The number pad next to the door blinked at him. Ptolemy looked back along the passage. No one was coming. Ptolemy looked out the small window and reached out with the force sending a suggestion to the guard. One of the guards turned and looked in the window and reached to open the door. The other guard moved as the door opened and Ptolemy slipped out of the door and into the night air. Quickly he skirted along the building till he could se the scorched mark on the fence where the hapless guard fell into the fence and unwittingly provided the means for Ptolemy’s entrance in to the Citadel. After a brief inspection to insure the coast was clear, Ptolemy walked to the fence, jumped over and made his way into the trees. He then summoned the beast and climbed heavily on to it’s shoulders. Collapsing mentally exhausted onto its broad back as it headed for the site he was to meet up with Sarus.

You are no longer important...

Your life is pointless...

You have no longer have strength...

Your power is gone...

You no longer have free will...

Your Self has abandoned you...

We are your body...

We are your mind...

We are your strength...

We are your will...

You are nothing without Him...

But He is everything without you...

Hahahahaha... Do you really think this will work on ME?!

Lehel felt a force building inside the subject's mind and recognized it for what it was, a Domination technique. The Interrigator pulled out of the subject's mind immediately and looked over at his fellow interrigator only to realize that his partner was still inside the subject's mind. He began reaching out, to warn his comrade through the Force, but was forced to withdraw when we felt the ripple of a powerful mental technique pass by.

Lehel instictively put up his hands to shield himself from the unseen attack, even though there was no physical harm. He hoped for the best, maybe his partner had erected a mental barrier to shield himself, but even as he dropped his hands he knew it wasn't true. The room was dark, designed that wy on purpose to give subjects no reference for time or place, and the only funishings were three chairs, one for the subject, two for the interrigators. The only light came from a single weak glowrod install in the ceilings center, but even with so little light, Lehhel knew his comrade was gone. He couldn't feel the man's Force prescence at all, and the look in the man's eyes showed complete vacancy. His body was fine, breathing regularly, fully functioning, but there was no life in him; his psyche had been shatterred.

Lehel looked over at the test subject and let his indigation that this infidel would harm any of them in the slightest, "How dare you!?!? You... you peon!"

The subject, a young teenager, just smiled and stared at Lehel, his head hung low, making the torture and malnutrition obvious to anyone, "My name is Dusk, di'kut, you'd do well to remember that." The subject looked over at the empty shell of Lehel's partner, "And you guys keep forgetting that once you enter my mind, I can enter yours."

The Crusader rose from his seat, grabbed the subject by his robes and slammed him up against the wall, "You had no right to do that! You're a close-minded Sith who believes himself omnipotent when all you really are is a cowardly excuse for a dark-sider!"

Dusk just smiled back at him, "That upset at what I did to your buddy?" The subject lifted his chin and thrust it forward. Behind him Lehel could here a whoosh and then a sickening thump that sounded like raw meat hitting rock, Lehel didn't need to turn to know what had happened. "There, I finished him the proper way," the man said very quietly, so quietly that he nearly had to read the man's lips.

The Crusader slammed him up against the wall again then threw the man's body aside, while the subject laughed hard and loud. A laugh so bizarre and twisted that it would haunt the Crusader long after he had left the room and the echoes of Dusks laughs faded.

He couldn't figure it out. They had had the subject for a full 24 hours and in all that time they had yielded no results. It usually took no more then one, two hours at most to break someone and they seldom lost any interrigators to backlash, but this subject was different, nothing like the others. In the course of twelve hours they had lost half a dozen interrigators to psychic and physical backlash, and when they had re-doubled their efforts the effect had only become that much stronger.

Counting the most recent loss it was up to 23 casualties with Lehel the sole survivor of any session, which was even stranger given he was one of the two that had started on the false Sith. No matter what happened, he always had just enough warning to get out of the way, or to withdraw right before the almost inevitable counter, but Lehel didn't think that was due to his skills. No, he wants me to live, he wants me to suffer and agonize over what to do, and that thought gauled him even more. The subject had evoked feelings in him he had long thought supressed: anger, rage, guilt, feelings with no side effect that would help him, but feeling that no doubt fed the false Sith. He didn't know whether or not he should report to the Dark One to get his feelings supressed again, or if they would help him win against the infidel.

He only knew one thing. It was personal now.

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

"Any word yet?" Iron asked as he made yet another lap around the holo table in the command center.

"None yet Master, I'll be sure to inform you when there is," the Padawan replied with a sigh.

"See that you do," Iron replied unnecessarily. He knew this was getting to him, more so then it should, but ever since the two cruisers had left he had developed a sense of foreboding that grew stronger as the days went on, until he had felt a massive cry in the force. A cry any Force user would recognize as a massive loss of life made all the more powerful since they were the deaths of Force-Sensitives. The cry was so strong that he couldn't sleep, every time he closed his eyes he saw the faces of all the Padawans and Initiates he had inducted and trained staring back at him. Screaming at him. Asking him why they had to die in a pointless battle.

"You don't look well old friend," a familiar voice said from his side. Startled by the voice the Grand Master had jolted a bit but now recognized the face of the Battle Master, Champion. Iron hadn't even felt the man approach in the Force, or his common sense, he knew that wasn't good. He was shutting himself off so he wouldn't have to deal with the feelings and was so sleep-deprivaed that he couldn't focus. As he gazed at Champion, the Battle Master frowned, "What's wrong?"

"What isn't?" Iron asked rhetorically, his hand to his chin. "The planners gone to Xendor, a chunk of both Jedi and Sith are now lying dead on a battlefield, and I'm sitting here with nothing to tell their friends and family except 'Oops.'"

"Yes, I felt it as well," Champ replied, gazing at the sensor screen absently, "so much death. We've miscalculated severely."

"That's putting it mildly," Iron said with a chuckle that had no mirth, "we should have listened to Sarus, gathered more intelligence. We acted foolishly, out of arrogance, thinking we were invulnerable."

"We acted, that's what matters," Champ replied calmly, "if we had listened to Sarus we would have no information at all and been left waiting for an inevitable attack. At least we've forced them to act."

"Yes, we've spent dozens of lives to get them to act," the Grand Master replied, "I wonder what the cost will be to actually win."

"Victory requires sacrifice," Champ replied bluntly. "You know this better the most."

"Yes, but I fear after this sacrifice, there will be nothing left to hold us together..."

Before either man could contineu the conversation the Padawan spoke up, "Cruiser Power emerging from hyperspace... No hostiles."

"Good," Iron responded, walking towards the exit it," Comm her, tell her to proceed directly to Alliance Council Chambers ASAP."

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

Peppa burst through the ante chamber doors to the Alliance Council with all the grace of a charging Ronto and marched briskly through the room. No one stopped her, no one yelled at her, they all knew now was not the time to stand on tradition. They had all felt it through the Force, it would be hard not to. The Marauder kept marching up to and through the doors into the main Chamber and saw the Alliance Council already seated and awaiting her report.

"What has transpired?" Spanish asked, hands clasped together in front of himself. It was obvious they all knew that the plan had failed, but that wasn't what the Dark Lord meant. The Force was a great tool, capable of relaying many feelings across vast distances, but that's all they were, feelings. They weren't troop counts, repair logs, or casualty reports, just feelings that tended one way or another. It was Peppa's job to relay the details to them.

"We lost, badly," Peppa responded. "I'm not sure I could cover everything if I just reported blindly, so ask me what you want and I'll do tell you what I know."

"How many have we lost?" Champ asked.

"I don't have any hard numbers on that," Peppa replied, shuffling a little out of nervousness, "the Power was responsible for clearing a path and covering the Balance while it retrieved as many as it could. What I can tell you is that we lost many Jedi and Sith, at least half of the Retreat, or so the Battle Coordinators tell me." Battle Coordinators were Sith and Jedi skilled in the art of Battle Meditation, that would remain at a command post to relay information and coordinate troops from afar. They were effective, if imprecise, tools.

"And where is the Balance?" Iron asked, obviously aggitated. Being the Grand Master, a Jedi dedicated to the lives of his students and the reformation of anyone who desired it. He would have been the hardest hit by the massive loss of life.

"Last I saw, the Balance had a clear path and was ready for the jump to hyperspace, but I was unable to follow up on it." The Marauder looked at the ground as if ashamed at what she was about to say next. She knew that she had done everything logical and within her power, but it still seemed like she had let the Sentinel down somehow, "I was unable to rejoin him however, the Crusader forces pursued use most of the way here, only disengaging a dozen light years back. By that time it was too late to go back."

Lay leaned forward, brow furrowed in thought, "We must have been severely out-numbered in both ships and man power."

"My advisors estimate that we were out-numbered twelve to one on land and in space," Peppa said bluntly.

The news shocked the room into silence. They needed to know what they faced, and there was no gentle way to put it when the odds were so highly stacked against them.

"How much of their overall force did you encounter?" Dante finally asked, breaking the silence.

"There's no way to know for sure, it could have been half, it could have been a tenth, but I doubt they would have dedicated any more to this attack then we did, probably less since we're but one piece of many."

"And what's your estimation of their troops?" Siris asked, "Are they powerful, weak, untamed, focused?"

Peppa thought for a moment before answering, "Mixed. Much like us. They seem to absorb Force Sensitives from other Temples, so they very in skill level, but they don't seem to develop skills over time."

"It would make sense," Ares replied, "when the mind no longer has the will to do as it desires it no longer has the ability to discover new techniques."

"So they're stagnant," Stamp suggested.

"But does that mean they're weak?" Sinestra asked.

"They don't learn, but they're not weak," Peppa answered. "They're ferocious, they don't care what they have to do, or who they have to cut down to complete their mission. The Battle Coordinators reported more then a few times that the Crusaders would actually cut through their own to get at our members."

"Malicious then," Camus interjected. "They have no inhibitions, they do what they feel must be done and accomplish it by any means."

"That could work for us," Dante spoke, "with the right strategies would could lower their numbers without even engaging them."

"We shouldn't be so quick to fight again," Ares commented, "our first encounter did not go so well. We should consolidate our forces before acting again."

"There's no time for that," Champion snapped, "they know that we know about them. They'll attack again to press their advantage, so we need all the tactical help we can get."

"You're both right," Iron said calmly, "we need to be ready be we shouldn't seek a confrontation. Let them come to us."

"If we do that then we gain the advantage of territory, but loose the element of surprise," Spanish said. "And we also have to consider that allowing them to come here gives us no option to Retreat."

"You act as if you would take such an option," Layfon commented.

"I wouldn't, but the Sith might," Spanish said with a sigh, "the Sith need to survive even if I do not."

"Comforting to know the Dark Lord has some common sense," Champion said sarcastically. "As shocking as that may be we should proceed with the meeting, no?"

Spanish glared at the Battle Master for a moment as if he would love to fight the man right there, but let it drop a moment later, "Very well. What's their average skill level? How many can we resonably be expected to win against?"

"Depends on who you face, but my advisors say they average about the skill level of a talented Padawan or Dark Jedi," Peppa answered. "Although we do have to consider the possibility of them using a Sith Destroyer, in which case we'll need a minimum combined effort of three Overlords or their Jedi equivilant."

"That's another issue we need to consider," Iron spoke, his calmness apparently back, or at least the prescence felt that way, "we haven't been able to determine whether that Destroyer Kami faced was a unique phenomenon, common place, or only possible with certain individuals."

"That's because you haven't ever ventured as close to the dark side as we have," Layfon interjected. "Both Spanish and I have felt the true raw power of he dark side, and both of us are able to ta[ into it should we decide it's necessary, but it's not something everyone can do."

"And exactly how many of the Dark Council are able to use this power?" Champion asked, eyebrow lifted.

"Most," Spanish answered head lowered slightly, "I believe the only ones unable to do so at this time are Stamp and Sinestra."

"So most Sith at the Marauder level are able to transform themselves into Destroyers?" Camus asked, keeping himself outwardly calm, but obviously outraged by the impression he left in the Force. "Why didn't you say something before?"

"Be cause we knew you would react this way," Dante answered for the Dark Lord, "and truthfully it's closer to half. It's only possible with a certain amount of raw power and years of meditation."

"Would it be possible to bypass this meditation in someone if they had control of the subject's mind?" Ares asked.

"No," Spanish answered, "it's a path of self-discovery that leads a Sith to the knowledge, and everyone has a different way they must discover it. It's impossible to force it."

"So the number of Destroyers they can produce is limited," Siris finished. "At least we don't have to worry about an army of Super Sith."

"No, but you do have to worry about an army," Peppa spoke up. "They're regrouping now, but they'll be coming to us soon, and my guess would be with even larger numbers."

"Then we need to prepare sooner, rather then later," Iron said standing. "Is there anything else you feel needs to be said Marauder?"

"Just one," she answered somberly. "They're cruel, don't underestimate how cruel they can be. We may be forced to fight our own men in circumstances, so our members should be prepared to show no mercy."

----------------------------------
**BEGIN GRAPHIC CONTENT**

The door opened on the interrogation room giving Dusk a brief glimpse of the hall outside. It was a glimpse he had seen a dozen times, and it never changed, but it was a signal for him. A signal that meant he had another chance to kill these Crusader, another chance to feast on their fear and rage.

Dusk looked up as the two men entered the room, both with neutral expression, black hair, and blue eyes. They could have been brothers, and they quite possibly were. "I always like to start these things with an introduction," Dusk said with a grin. "Hi, my name's Dusk, I'll be your executioner today. I would wave but the stun cuffs get in the way.

"Quiet infidel," one of the men said, as he closed the door behind him.

"But I hardly get any time to speak, what with the rush most of you have to die...."

"I said quiet!" The man said again, raising his hand to send Force Lightning through Dusk's body.

The pain was excrutiating, it felt like every cell in his body was on fire, but at the same time it invigorated him, "Now see that's what I'm talking about, you guys are always in such a rush. We could have a nice pleasant chat you know."

"Silence!" The man yelled again as he once again threw lightning through the Sith Lord's body. He was starting to let his anger get the better of him.

Dusk drank in all the power hungrily, letting it feed him, "Ah my friend, you're in even more of a rush then most. You sure you don't want to talk before you die? Might help you get something off your chest."

"BE SILENT!" He screamed once again, throwing up his other hand to pour even more energy into the Lightning.

His brother had apparently seen enough though, "Thadius, stop, you're only doing what he wants you to do," he said reaching out to his brother.

Dusk took the opportunity to invade the man's mind. Not enough to control him only enough to influence him. He wants you to stop, Dusk whispered in the man's mind, he's against you, he's on the infidel's side.

No that's not true, the man thought back, he's my flesh and blood, my brother and friend, he would never betray me for some infidel.

Dusk chuckled to himself. The doubt was already there, already planted deep inside his mind, all he had to do was exploit it, If he's on your side then why's he trying to stop you? This infidel has already killed dozens of us, the Dark One wants him dead.

No, no, I'm the interrigator, I'm supposed to break people. He wouldn't send me here if he wanted the infidel dead.

Wouldn't he? You've killed subjects before, the Dark One knows this. He wants you to kill him, he wants you to prove that you'll do what's best for the group. Your brother knows it too, he wants to stop you because he knows it's his last chance to save the infidel.

What... what do I do?

Kill him! Kill the traitor! Kill him now, all you have to do is turn....

"NO!" The man yelled. He turned at his brother and sent the energy coursing through his body, pushing harder and harder down in on him, watching the traitor spasm. Watching him beg and plead for mercy like the spineless coward he was. It sickened the man that he had ever viewed this infidel as a friend, that he was even related. He couldn't stand the thought of the blood in his veins. It was a plague, his own blood, soon he would be a coward too, helping the infidels of his own free will and feeling justified in doing it. It was only a matter of time, he knew it, he had to stop it now, but how? How could he remove the plague from himself?

His brother was speaking to him now, asking him why he had hurt him, saying he was sorry for ever doubting him. He must have been talking about the Dark One, it was working on his brother, if it worked on his brother it could work on him too, all he had to do was turn the power on himself, burn it out from the inside. It was so simple, a quick turn of his hands and he would be free of this cursed virus.

And so he did, and felt the excurtiating pain the power could cause, felt it coursing through his body until it found his blood, and felt it boil the blood in his body, felt the curse as it poured out of his mouth and eyes, as it poured out everywhere it could. He was free, finally free, fatally free...

Dusk watched in twisted amusement as the interrigator's mutilated corpse dropped to the floor with a smile on it's face. He watched as the blood pooled around the body and watched as the man's brother looked on in horror at what had happened, knowing that the Sith Lord had caused it somehow but too weak from the attack to do anything but watch and hate. And Dusk drank it in greedily, happily. It nourished him, sustained him without the need of food or water, fed him better then any meal had. He had been missing out all this time, pain, pain and suffering were the greatest delicacies he had ever tasted and they were so easy to get out of these miserable excuses for Sith.

But he could feel the man's feelings waning as the pain turned into anger and the suffering turned into resolve. Soon the interrigator would turn and attack and Dusk would be forced to finish the man, It really is a pity to kill them. Anguish is always better the second time.

The Sith Lord watched as the man got to his feet and splayed his hands to channel more Force Lightning and in that moment Dusk took his chance. Through the Force he imagined a fist in front of the man, not three feet away, then imagined the fist plowing into the man's throat, crushing his larynx. He opened his eyes and saw the brother take a step back, gasping for air and clasping his throat as if trying to grasp it and pull it back open, but it wouldn't work. His windpipe was crushed and there was no way anyone could save him now. If the man had been smart he would have used his last seconds to lash out at his attacker and deal a fatal blow to ensure both died, but none of them were ever that smart. So the man simply gasped and held his throat until he lost consciousness and fell on the ground landing in his own brother's blood, dead.

Almost poetic, he thought as he closed his eyes to rest. His efforts always wore him out anymore, and he knew when he awoke the bodies would be gone, at least they had learned enough to take advantage of his sleep cycles. maybe that meant they would eventually prove more of a challenge, Doubt it though.

**END GRAPHIC CONTENT**
---------------------------------

Sarus walked up the steps leading to the Temple still in awe of the size. It was easily five stories high and had been visible from the viewport of the transport he arrived in long before they entered the atmosphere. It wasn't the size that truly got to him, he had seen much larger constructs in his 10 months of wondering around the Galaxy, but this building was different. It inspired awe in the spirit, not in the physical, there was something ancient and timeless about the place, something that drew you in and comforted you. Something that told you you were safe here.

The Chiss continued ascending the stairs one by one as he looked until he finally reached the top. The entry was a wide open gateway with pillars interpersed to give the illusion of halls, and at the front of each were young boys and girls, no older then he was, standing guard. Each had a long braid somewhere on their head and a long metal rod at their side. Sarus had heard of Jedi, but they weren't a common site outside their Academies, and he could only suppose that this must be one such Academy.

He walked inside unimpeded and came out into a small crowd gathered in certain areas. The area itself was huge, towering high up and wide enough to fit a battalion of troops easily, at the front was a desk and to his left and right were doorways leading into other parts of the Temple. On the outside they both looked the same, but Sarus felt drawn to the doorway on his left. As he approached he noticed a sign on the door panel, "Hall under rennovations, please follow detour" follow by and arrow point right, but Sarus still felt drawn to this doorway so he went in anyway, pushing past the curtain.

Inside was another hall, a much smaller one, but still not to be considered small by any sentient being. Along the hall were a series of holos depicting men and women of varying species, all sporting lightsabers of one kind or another, along with a data terminal and plaque in front, but this did not hold the Chiss' attention for long. Ahead, not twenty feet away were two men standing in front of a holo-projector as a tech worked the side panel. One was a tall man with a shaven head and well-muscled, early in his years, no more then twenty or twenty-five, he was wearing a loose form-fitting, brown robe and an assortment of lightsabers at his belt. The other was a bit older, obviously at least fourty, with long, free-flowing, black hair, a lean toned body, and wore a brown robe with a black cloak over-top.

As he watched the bald man spoke up, "I'm not sure about this Iron."

"I thought we had agreed on this Champ," his partner replied a little confused, "you believed just as the rest of the Council that his actions were worthy of remembrance."

"I do, but it seems too soon," Champ repsonded, "he hasn't even been dead a month. I fear the image of him here will dredge up painful memories for some."

The man called Iron looked back at the pedastal in silence for a moment before turning back to his friend, "Perhaps, but perhaps it will remind those same people that his actions mattered, that all we do matters." The man looked up the hall, "There is no such thing as a minor Jedi, just good and great ones."

The man called Champion remained silent himself for a time, with the only sounds that of the technician and breathing. It seemed a long time before he spoke again, "Your right of course, but it will still be hard to see him every time I pass. He was my Padawan, and my friend, and he's done more for this Temple then I ever will. But no Master should have to see their Padawan die."

Iron reached up and patted Champ's shoulder, "I know it's hard, but we have to look to the future, not dwell in the past. It hurts now, but this may inspire future Jedi to greatness, and at the same time remind them that while powerful, we are not infallible, nor immortal."

Champ nodded, "You do have a way with words my friend, whether you realize it or not."

"No, the Force has a way with words, I only listen and repeat what it tells me," Iron said with a smile. "Now let's get this projector running, can't keep the Initiates waiting forever, can we?" The man said clapping his hands and rubbing them as if about to dig into a fresh Bantha steak. "How's it coming?"

A thud could be heard across the hull then a string of curses in several different languages as the technician undoubtedly bashed himself against some part of the projector's inside. "What's that mean?" Iron asked confused at the noises.

It was quiet a moment, then suddenly the technician spoke, "If I told you, you would never let me in the Enclave." The voice answered finally.

"Trust me Iron," Champ said raising his hand to forstall the man's next question, "you really don't want to know."

"You think that's impressive? You should hear Spanish when he's drunk," the technician replied. "The man could made a binary load-lifter blush."

"Could you just hurry this up Sith?" Champ said rolling his eyes.

"Former Sith, thank you very much," the technician said pulling himself up from inside the projector, "and I finished ten minutes ago." The man flicked a switch and a holo appeared of another bald man with dark skin in a set of casual clothes with a blazer over top and a lightsaber at his belt.

"Then what have you been doing?" Champ asked.

"Oh listening to your conversation and tweaking the calibration on my tools. Just seemed so rude to interrupt your conversation," the technician answer finally walking out into view. The man was younger then the others, obviously barely twenty with medium brown hair and a goatee, he was dressed in bright white robes with a black cloak and had a pair of lightsabers hanging from his belt.

"Oh great, a Sith with a sense of honor," Champ replied with a scoff.

"You know I don't get you," the technician replied, "I'm trying to change, I gave up my rank and all the privilages that came with it, I've done everything I can for the Enclave, and yet you still don't trust me. What do I have to do?"

"Prove me wrong," the man replied simply.

The technician looked as if he was ready to attack the man but Iron stepped him, "Easy there. You have to remember, you were a Marauder for a very long time Kami. His concerns are justified, even if a bit stubborn."

The technician, Kami, looked at Iron, at Champ, then back at Iron, took a deep breath and let it out, "You're right." The man moved away, "I guess I'll just have to prove myself the diplomatic way." Suddenly the man froze and looked around, finally zoning in on Sarus's hiding spot, "You know we have a visitor right?"

Champ looked back, surprised, but Iron just nodded, "Yes I felt him enter quite a while ago."

"And you didn't say anything?" Champ queried regaining his composure.

"The Force told me not to, I'm not quite sure why yet, but I suggest you invite him over here Mister Aardvark," Iron replied glancing over to the technician.

"Me? I'm no good with kids!" Kami exclaimed.

"I have a feeling this time will be different," Iron said with a smile, then nodded at Sarus. "Now go."

The technician was obviously warry, but obeyed nonetheless and started walking over. For a moment Sarus panicked, unsure whether this man meant him harm, not sure how serious eavesdropping would be considered for these Jedi, and scared because he was simply a boy, no more then 14 years of age. He got his feet under him and turned, ready to run for as long and as far was necessary to keep himself safe.

But he didn't, something told him it wasn't necessary, that he was safe, even when every bit of training and common sense told him to not take a chance on the unknown. So he stayed, and waited until the man named Kami came up to him and knelt down in front of him, "Hi, I'm Kami, what's your name?"

Then Sarus realized why he hadn't run. He wasn't sure why or how, but he knew this man had made bad choices too, terrible choices that had earned him the ire of his peers. He knew the pain and dispair of bad choices, but he hadn't let them paralyze him. He had continued against the struggle and was seeking to come out better for it, something Sarus could easily relate to.

Overwhelmed the Chiss ran up and hugged the man, shocking him into stillness. Then his muscles relaxed as if he could feel what Sarus had, "You've been through a lot, but I think I can help you, if you'll let me..."

"Sarus!"

The Force Warrior's eyes snapped open and he rolled instinctively, realizing even as he did so that it was Ptolemy that had called his name. And also that he needed to do something fast because he was fifty feet up on a tree branch he was about to fall off of, Not again... The Chiss reached out and snatched the branch with his hand as he rolled off, stopping his fall before it could happen, but still jolting his arm enough to bring him fully alert.

He looked around at the ground and at Ptolemy, still riding the beast, right underneath him looking up in confusion. He had initially climbed the tree to get a better view of Pto when he appraoched, and had decided to stay up there to avoid any patrols that might come by. He hadn't expected to fall asleep, but given the fact that he had been awake for almost three days, it wasn't that surprising.

"Did you fall asleep?" Pto called, asking the very same question Sarus had asked himself.

"If I said no, would you believe me?" Sarus called back.

The Jedi thought a minute, "No."

Sarus let go of the branch and landed directly on the beasts back, this time only getting a small jolt of pain, "Then yes I fell asleep."

Pto nodded, "You don't strike me as the kind of man to fall asleep on the job, no matter how tired you are."

"You're right," Sarus replied finding a good place to sit on the beast's back, "normally I can last well over a week before I succumb to sleep."

Pto turned to face Sarus as the beast began plodding off towards the landing site where the Chikita and Luck were, "Maybe the Force is trying to tell you something. Did you dream at all during your little nap?"

Sarus shook his head, "I'm not sure you could call it a dream. More like a memory, a memory I haven't thought of in over 5 years. A memory that happened ten years ago."

"That would be about the time you came to the Academy," Pto stated.

"Yes, it is, I met up with the Jedi soon after I was exiled."

"That's something that's been nagging at me. You say you joined the Jedi ten years ago, yet you have the mannerisms of a soldier."

"Yes, well, Chiss train for what they want to become from the moment they can choose a profession," Sarus answered looking down as if remembering a painful memory. "You have to realize Chiss are not like humans, we're born observant, we're born thinking logically. There are seldom childhood dreams, what you first believe is your best fit is what you become, and by the time you're nine you've already been brought in as an learner to a much more experienced adult. By the time you're twelve you've taken the first steps to fully entering your position."

"I take it then that you have seen actual combat, as a child even," Pto commented, obviously repulsed by the idea of turning an adolescent into a soldier by choice.

"I already had the basics down in the first three months. By the time I entered the Naval Academy I could snipe a target at 300 meters and was a deadeye with a blaster pistol," the Shadow smiled sadly, "had already killed half a dozen enemy soldiers. Ironically the only childhood I had was under the tutilage of Kami."

"I'm not sure what to say honestly," Pto said after a moment, "to me that's repulsive, but it's normal for Chiss. I'm not sure about your standing on it."

"I don't have one," Sarus replied, "I never cared to develop one."

"Maybe that's why the Force is bringing it back to you," Pto suggested, "you may need to wrestle with these inner demons yourself."

"It's waited ten years, it can wait until this is over," Sarus responded. "Right now we need to get back to the Temple."

"And how do we plan to leave?"

"The fastest way possible, we blow out of here and hope that virus does it's job."

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

"Break!" Lehel screamed as he slammed the subject's body against the wall once again, "Break you infidel!" But the only response he got from the man was a twisted laugh, a laugh that never stopped, a laugh he would have given anything to be rid of.

"You know, that was the cleanest kill I've ever done?" The Sith Lord spoke casually, "I've never actually killed anyone without at least some show of violence. But that opportunity was just too good," the man laughed again.

"Why? Why do you do this?" The interrigator asked. He looked the Sith straight in the eye, searching for some feeling of remorse, guilt, fear, anything human, and he found none, "Why do you let me live when I could kill you in a second?"

The man just smiled, "Because it's fun of course. Your misery and guilt are so satisfying, I look forward to it each and every day. And do you know why?" Dusk leaned closer and look the Crusader right in the eye, "You feel, you know what I can do and are helpless before me, and you know it. You deny it but you know it to be true in your heart, and you flounder before me, trying to bear your fangs and failing miserably."

Lehel sneared and threw the subject to the ground, the man was getting to him more and ore but he couldn't let the Sith know that. "Me, helpless before you? Rediculous, your life is in my hands and I can end it now if I please. The Dark One would thank me for it."

Dusk just laughed. It was all he ever did, his only response to the interrigators assertations, it would strike most as pathetic. But the problem was it worked on him and he knew it shouldn't. "You keep me alive, not because of your orders, but because I want you to. You're my puppet now, my minion, and you don't even know it." The man shook his head, "Look at your most recently deceased partner. You think I chose an brain aneurism randomly? I chose to do that because of that stupid smirk he had on his face, I did it so his face would stay that way when I finally killed him. He never knew what hit him, and I get to enjoy that ignorant, pompass attitude of his, but even more so, I get to enjoy watching you squirm. I get to watch you, knowing that everytime you close your eyes you'll see you friend's smirk frozen in time, and the lifelessness in his eyes."

He was right, Lehel did see the faces of all his partners when he closed his eyes. He couldn't sleep, and if he ever did manage all he dreamed about was those faces staring at him, asking him why he had lived when they had all died, and he had no answer for them. And when he tried to stammer out some answer out of obligation, all that came out was that stupid laugh.

He knew what he had to do. It had gone too far, they'd lost too many. The Dark One would understand when Lehel explained it to the man. This one Sith was not worth even five Crusaders, much less thirty. So he pulled the lightsaber out he had started to bring to the interrogations for safety and ignited the blade, turning as he did so to look the subject of his ire even as the blade sprung to life. "You won't hurt anyone anymore, I'll finish you myself."

Dusk began to laugh again, that same monotonous, haunting laugh, and Lehel lost it. He swung blindly aiming at the man's mouth, wanting to finally put an end to the laughing, but the blow never connected. Instead his hand stopped a few inches short of the Sith's cheek. He tried moving the saber but it wouldn't budge, he tried to move his body but it too was frozen, and even as he tried to break free of the invisible vise he felt his fingers loosen on the blade, and watch as the hilt fell to the ground, inactive.

Dusk stood up in front of him, flexed his arms and pulled hard on the stun cuffs binding his hands. The notion of breaking the cuffs through sheer strength was rediculous for even a healthy man, much less a malnurished man, but to Lehel's surprise the cuffs snapped and the Sith's hands were free. He pulled his hand in front and rubbed his wrist to stimulate circulation in the inactive limb, "I told you already. I'm in control here, not you. I always have been, you've just been to ignorant to see it." The interrigator felt as the vise tightened around him, forcing his body into a kneeling position, despite his struggles, "You are my minion, and I am your Lord. You may not wish it, but I can force it, just as I force you to kneel before a man you view as an infidel."

The subject, now Lehel's captor, held out his hand and called the interrigator's dropped lightsaber to himself, igniting it the moment it slapped into his palm. The blade glowed a deep blood orange that cast a harsh glow on the Sith's face, a face that showed no acceptance for anything that didn't fit his plans, a face not unlike the Dark One's. No I can't think that, this man is nothing like the Dark One, it's blasphemy to even think such a thing. But he couldn't help it, in different circumstance he could very well have been the willing pet of this man and not the true Dark One.

"I could kill you," Dusk spoke as he wove the blade through the air, studying it the entire time. "I should kill you. But you might still be worth something." He took the blade and placed it under Lehel's chin, "How about it weakling? Do you want suffering or death? Do you have the courage to really end your own life? If so I will finally end it, give you an escape from this life? What say you?"

"Yes," he said, his body slackening in defeat. He had no option now, he couldn't resits, it would do no good, but he couldn't betray his master either. He closed his eyes and prepared for the end. He heard the hum as the blade was raised for a strike, then suddenly the hum stopped and he heard a thud followed by the sound of the lightsaber falling to the ground. He opened his eyes to look and discovered that the Grip Dusk had had on him was gone. He looked up and saw the Sith flat against the wall, arms and legs splayed, and obviously trying to break free of a Force Grasp himself.

Lehel stood and looked back at the door to see the Dark One standing there, hand held out to pin Dusk to the wall. He approached and entered the light, bringing his form in full view. He was a tall man over 2 meters in height with long black hair tied back in a pony tail, his face was an example in hard living, meticulous from a physical point of view, but lined with wrinkles of a hard life, and many betrayals. He wore a black form-fitting robe, with black gloves, and a Sith Amulet around his neck.

As he watched, awed by the man's prescence, he felt the Dark One's cold stare turn on him and realized he was standing in the prescence of his Lord. He immediately kneeled again and bowed his head, "My Lord, thank you for saving my-"

"Why can I not invade his mind?" The Dark One asked, interrupting Lehel's gratitude.

"I do not know my Lord," Lehel spoke slowly, "his mind appears to be too strong for conventional brain-washing."

The Dark One turned away and walked toward the Sith still struggling to break free, "And what is your name?"

"Dusk," he replied with a smile. "It's nice to finally have a challenge."

The Dark One turned his head from side to side, "And why can I not corrupt you, Dusk? I have had no trouble with any other I have encountered."

"Because gods cannot be corrupted by mortals," the man replied in a low tone.

The Dark One cocked an eyebrow, "You intrigue me boy. I sense your power, raw and untapped. I could change that, teach you ways to use it you've never dreamed of, ways you could never imagine."

"And what would I have to do to be taught these ways?" Dusk asked genuinely interested in the offer, and offer Lehel could hardly believe the Dark One was making. How could ? What could he be thinking? This man had killed dozens of Crusaders.

"You would have to submit to me. Learn from me. Obey me, without question. And betray me at your first chance," the Dark One answered, leaning in close, so close that Lehel could hardly hear the next words to come out of the man's mouth, "and when you do, you will cement your own death at the hands of the person you once trusted most."

"We don't have much of a choice this time do we?" Iron asked Spanish after the last of the Alliance Councilors had left the room.

"We can run," Spanish suggested as he gathered his things from his seat, "separate, scatter. They wouldn't be able to get at enough of us to make it worth their while."

Iron stepped down off the daise reserved for the two faction leaders, "You really think that's an option? We're probably the largest remaining Academy out there. If we run, then the others won't be far behind."

"There's still the Order and the Dread Knights," Spanish continued, pulling his cloak over his shoulders. "They could put up a good fight. Probably get some Temples to help. We aren't the sole influence on Force Users in this Galaxy."

"No but we have a large voice," Iron responded, "if we go, many will scatter as well." The Grand Master looked the Dark Lord in the eye, "Do you honestly think they have a chance if we don't put up a fight as well? No, if we scatter then the Crusaders win."

"They may win anyway," Spanish replied.

"That they may," Iron said idlly toying with his lightsaber, "but I'll be damned if I let them have it without a fight. If they get it, they'll pay in blood."

"That's a very un-Jedi attitude," Spanish replied raising an eyebrow. "I think you may be hanging around Sith too often."

Iron put on his own robe, "I don't see you running either Dark Lord. Maybe you've been hanging around Jedi too often."

The Sith laughed a deep joyful laugh, "Oh my friend, I think we're both a bit crazy."

The Jedi smiled, "Perhaps, but I'm not going to let sanity stand in my way. I'm fine playing the diplomat in a room full of violent psychopaths, but when you threaten my students. The talking is over."

"Glad to hear it," Spanish said patting the Grand Master's shoulder, "I'll have Layfon prepare the Sith forces while I get the Academy defenses up."

"Champ will corrdinate the Jedi forces as well," Iron replied, "while I get the civilians to a safe place."

The two men walked through the double doors and out into the ante chamber, and eventually the hall. "I never thought we would ever use our defenses," Spanish said, looking out but not seeing anything. "You realize we've never actually tested them before?"

"Does that matter anymore?" Iron asked, "They either will and we stand a chance, or they won't and we'll die. Either way I'll remain and fight, and I suspect you will too."

Spanish nodded, "Then may the Force be with us all."

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

"We need barricades here, here, and here," Champ said pointing at various places along the Great Hall, "with mirrors of them in both Legend Halls, as well as the Greeting areas."

"Doorways should have both full an partial barricades," Layfon ordered, hands in his sleeves. The two were in the communications center coordinating their troops together. There was a tension in the air, a tension that can only arise when two equal combatants with a deep hatred of each other could generate when forced to be in each other's prescence. The techs in the room could feel it too and were giving the two a wide berth, "Anything we can do to keep them from swarming will give us better odds, and making them jump over a hurdle limits how many can come through."

"They'll seek to cut off our supplies first so they'll most likely try to invade from the Private Hanger," Champ responded, hands on the holo table.

"We'll need to concentrate groups in the Hanger and Great Hall then, with smaller groups taking up positions and in Gretting and Legend Halls, then minimal resistence in the connecting cooridors."

"We'll need forces stationed in the Courtyards and Garden as well so we won't be flanked."

"Dark and Master Councilors should be evenly divided between groups. Battlelords and Paladins should be staretgically placed in the cooridors and the outer perimeter where they'll be relatively safe and most effective."

"We should ask for volunteers among the civilians. Anyone willing to take a blaster would be an asset."

"What about the village? The our defenses don't encompass the village starport."

"Leave it. It's a risk of a foothold, but we can't divide our forces on buildings and possibilities. The civilians are here, and we're the only line keeping them safe."

"That's a big risk Champ," Lay commented calmly, "you're risking a prolonged conflict."

"A long fight is better then a slaughter," Champ responded a little annoyed that the Sith had used his nickname without permission. "Would you agree Fon-fon?"

The Sith'Ari's brow furrowed and he stared at the Battle Master with barely contained rage, "You forget. They can call for reinforcements, we can't."

"And you're forgetting that we're missing nearly a third of our members. We couldn't win a fight for the starport, we'd be bombarded the moment we left the shield."

The Sith'Ari fell silent and nodded his consent. He obviously disagreed, but was willing to accept the logic. The two may have been enemies, but they still accepted logic. "What about the Assassins and Warriors? They would be an asset if used in tandem."

"Sarus is the only official Force Warrior the Jedi have, and the only one training for it is Gal3rm. I don't know how many Assassins the Sith have, but I don't imagine you have many."

"We have three right now, two more in training, but that's not enough to make a significant difference in the long run. At this point they may be best used as a distraction for the forces landing at the starport."

"They're your forces," Champ replied with a disapproving tone. "They'll be heavily out-numbered."

"We're all outnumbered anyway," Lay responded with a shrug, "it's not stopping us, it won't stop them."

"You know you're sending them to their deaths," Champ said, not a question, but a statement. The Sith'Ari wouldn't miss something so obvious.

"Champ, I think we're sending everyone to their deaths. Even you and I."

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

"Fire her up boys," Spanish said waving at the viewport in front of him that over looked the Core of the Academy's Generator. The room was a simple one with a long console stationed in front of the viewport and another behind it a few feet higher. To the left on the raised level was another console that functioned as a less efficient Master Control in case the generator had to be maintained with less then it's usual four-man team. To the right was a single door that led out into a wide area which branched to both right and left to form shelters for refugees and evacuees. The Core beyond the view screen was a cylinder of a room with a green core spaning the height of the chamber and four prongs along the top and bottom fed power into the Core itself and controlled it's level of output.

As the Dark Lord watched the generator pulse once, then twice, building up exponentially until it was pulsing so fast that it was impossible to see with the human eye. "Generator up and running sir," a tech reported from the front console, "current output at 30%. Ready for increase."

"Diagnotics report all clear on all connections," the tech to his immediate left said.

"Likewise on the receivers," The tech to his right commented. "Primed and ready."

"Confinement beam is stable," the other tech fron the front console reported. "Degredation within range." The tech turned and looked at the Dark Lord, "She's in remarkably good condition sir. Reletively no degredation. She was installed well and maintained well."

"Keep it that way," Spanish replied turning to leave, "we lose this. We lose for good."

The ships started the humbling of engines.

"Damn, lets hope this works..." Dray said as he flinged the switch to turn on the engines and hyperdrive. With a chackling and a bit shaking, the engines slowly, but surely, turned on, returning life to the ship. The rest of the systems followed the same pattern of roaring, as if they had awaken from a long sleep.

"YES, ITS ALIIIIVE!" Dray exclamated in euphoria.

"Uhm, yeah good job, can we get this stuff fired off and get the heck out of here?"

"Comm link me to Ara" Thing switched on the communications, but only the close range ones, they were not ready to reveal themselves...yet. He proceeded to sit back on his chair, and rest a bit.

"Ara you reading?"

"Yes Dray, the Luck is ready to go." Ara said thru a criptic distorted comm link, that gradually faded into a clean signal.

"Then get that thing off my back will you please."

"Right on."

Aragorn sat on the captains chair in the Luck, and flinged its propulsers on, while disengaging the hooks that tied it to the ship below. They springed loudly off the Chikita, and in the ship, Dray and Thing heard the croaking as weight laid off of them.

"Finally, my Baby gets some relief."

The Luck was holding on fine, and thru all his misadventures, Aragorn seemed to have pulled a good job fixing it.

"Ok Thing, our ships are ready. We should go find Sarus. Full throttle on the propulsers, keep an eye on for the balance gauges." Dray took controls, and started lifting the Chikita off ground, with a ounce of fear in his face, hoping they had done a good job too. The ship hovered safely off the ground and both lifted into the air. Now they were ready to proceed.

"Ok Ara, we gotta fly low."

"Yeah, i dont wanna get in a dogfight so soon after the last one. We need to fly next to the tree dome. Now lets go find my father and Sarus."

Both ships took off slowly, in the direction of the village, keeping aware of possible enemies, and flying at low speed, so they wont miss Sarus.

"Im gonna try and pop up the comms Dray, to see if i can pick up any message from Sarus' comm link."

"Ok Thing, tune in to his frequency. But dont broadcast anything yet."

Thing popped on the frequency they decided to use for communications, and started picking up distortion and silence at first. The voidness kept on for some minutes, as both ships flew in search of their friends. They had no idea where they could be, and it would be hard even for Dray to catch their Force presence.

"Dray, cant you find them in the Force?" asked Thing.

"I dont know. I cant pinpoint a exact location. Sarus' conceals his presence really well, and so does Ptolemy. With all the dark side in this place...Its hard for me to focus on a position. But...i can at least guide us to a area."

Dray closed his eyes and reached out to his friends...His mind sore thru the trees, looking into the blackness of the night in this planet. It was pitch dark. He searched for life, but even in the forest....life was sparse. As if it gave up existing in this place. He searched deeper and deeper, into the connections. He surfed the connections of the Force, focusing on the clustered points of those connections. Finally, he heard a whisper...he followed it. Suddenly, images flashed. Sarus and Ptolemy, running away. Sarus injured. The flashes intermit. He could not see well. It was like looking thru a keyhole into the universe. But it guided his direction.

"That way." Dray wrote some plot trajectories in the datapad center.

"Ara, can you read?"

"Loud and clear....oh fearless leader. What's wrong?"

"Im sending you some trajectories. Ive been able to find the direction where they are, but nothing else. Something is clouding my powers, i guess the dark side is strong in this place."

"Ok, ill follow you." Ara said thru the Comm. In the loneliness of the Luck, Aragorn could not avoid but think. Thoughts that he did not want to have. Not again. Thoughts that kept him awake.

"I hope your ok father...so many years, searching....I cant lose you just now, I just found you, hold on father. Dont get yourself killed."
The same message popped into his conscience. As much as he wanted to rest from it, this singular line would not leave him. His feelings were manifestating. After all, it was another loved one. Someone he could not lose. He had lost too much already. His fear was justified thou. One he cared for so much was again, in a dangerous plot. He did not want to feel that loss again.
The Knight merely kept trying to concentrate in the task ahead. Checking systems, reading overlays, tuning the ship, he kept this tasks as shields for his mind, but the thoughts were there, making him awake, making him be on the edge of himself. His goal was set, and he could not rest until the ones close to him were ok.

"Ara?" Dray broke thru the comm. "Are you there?"

"Yeah yeah....just blacked out for a second..."

"Are you ok?"

"As much as one can be in this situation..."

"Its ok...hold on there buddy. We'll find them."

"I hope so Dray, i hope so."

Silence kept there, for more minutes, nothing. They were flying silent, waiting for a sign. And then, it broke free.

"Dray, im picking up something!"

"On the comm? Focus the signal!"

In the comm speaker, a distortion kept irregulating, until voices could be heard. One voice. Sarus, followed by more distortion. They could not yet read well what was being said.
"Focus that sign Thing!"

Finally, his words kept coming into sense.

"...Chikita....ru.......away......dange........get out!...." and suddenly, the connection went down.

"Do you think they caught him?" asked Thing.

"No, patch this thru to Ara, the comm wasnt cut, Sarus was just sending a warning signal."

"Warning? for what?"

"Danger. Send him a message, he prolly has it on for receiving, and pinpoint the location."

"Ok, i got their location, its a few miles ahead from here."

Ok, let me check my radar signal." Dray looked carefully, hoping to spot a good get away spot for them to land. Gasped, he found one, close to Sarus' position."Here. It shows a clearing over here, we can land the ships there. Tell Sarus to change his course 30 degrees, then head straight forward to the clearing ahead. We will be there waiting for him."

"Ok." Thing popped on the broadcaster, and sent the message.

"Attention, this is the Chikita! Sarus, if your listening, change ur course 30 degrees to the left, and keep on that path as much as you can. Head till you find a grassland plain, we will wait there!"

"Lets hope he hears it."

"Dray, we need to go in fast, i sense a grave danger ahead." Aragorn spoke thru the comm.

"I know. And if i know Sarus, this isnt some little problem we have."
Ara sped up the Luck, following the Chikita, as they bursted in speed to the landing spot.

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"Well then, lets not waste more time. On we go." Ptolemy arched his feet slightly into the beasts' side and focused his mind on telling it to go faster. They plowed thru forest, at a steady rate, in silence, as if any more words would cause something bad to happen. Sarus was still wandering his mind after his sleep, but could still concentrate in his surroundings, as he was trained to do in the path of the Force Warrior. Ptolemy had no thoughts except the thought of getting out of there and back to his family.

All seemed to go well, until Sarus felt a slight disturbance. It was a moment, but it was a dark moment.

"I felt something." He spoke in a low tone to Ptolemy. Suddenly, like a heartbeat, the disturbance came back.

"And again. Did you feel it?"

"Yes, i think i did. Like a sudden fear hits you and goes a way. a.." Before Ptolemy could say more, they both felt it again, now having a direction from where it is coming. And more shockingly, it seemed that this dark pulse beated at a faster rate, stronger one too.

"Its getting close. Dear...its as if staring into the evil of the universe."

"What could it be?"

"Whatever it is, its coming towards us." Sarus looked around the forest, trying to spot any more dangers, but it was as if everything had disappeared of their surroundings. As if all life had fled.

"Well Ptolemy....i have a bad feeling about this."

"So do i. You should contact the others. We are far enough form the village for comms to be safe now i think. Plus that virus wont let them have ears for much longer..."

Sarus started looking in his bandoleer for his comm link, when the beat ceased to be a beat, and was now a full fledged disturbance of dark energy.

The jedis shook themselves in creeps, staring at where it was coming from for a few moments, while the beast kept on a steady pace, and Sarus realized finally what could produce such a feeling in their hearts.

"I need to call Dray right away. They need to get out of here now." Sarus searched frenetically in his pouch, looking for his comm link, until he finally found the lil black piece of electronic.

"What is it?"

"Something that comes from the dark side. To endanger us all."

Sarus turned his comm and used their frequency to communicate a message.

"Baby Chikita, you guys have to get away from here now!..."

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

The ships arrived at the plain in the middle of the forest, and landed both, this time, side by side.

"Glad you didnt land it on me...again." Dray spoke into the comm receptacle

"Yeah well, your welcome."

The captain got up form his chair and headed to the loading bay, to where he proceeded to lower the ramp. Thing followed behind him.
"So we wait now?"

"Yes, lets hope they got the message. i can feel them coming closer, but something is not letting me see clearly."

Ara found the two outside, as he came out from the Luck himself.

"So fearless leader, is there anything else to be done?"

"I dunno, you think there is? If not i can indulge you in a dance to entert.."

"I THINK ill go check on the landing pads, see if they were damaged when i hooked off your ship."

"Coward..." Dray smirked.

And so the three jedis awaited their comrades to arrive.

Minutes passed, the three preparating themselves, centering themselves, ready to act in a quick swift to bust out of there. Dray was leaned against one of the Chikita's landing pads, focusing on the position of their friends, trying to lock on to where they were, but it was like seeing shadow, when he came close to seeing them, something made their presence vanish, cloaking it in a shadow. Ara was studying his surroundings, looking into the forest around them, finding its weakspots and escape routes, something imbedded into him, into his nature. Thing was playing with his saber, levitating it with the Force. Something in his nature as well...

The forest kept its shadowy nature. No sounds, no light, no movement, not even a breeze. The grass in the plains was still, and the forest was deaf. The trees seemed passive beings that no longer carried their own will. In the night, it was as if colors dissipated from the environment, giving a sleek black texture to everything. It caused quite a chilly feeling in everyone's mind.A good reason that made the Crusaders base themselves here. The constant small fear in the back of someone's head was enough to make one's mind break easier. It also made them come together under the shadow of their strong leader. Clever indeed.

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

After waiting for a while, Dray suddenly moved forward and opened his eyes.

"They're here."

Both Thing and Aragorn, looked at Dray with antecipation, as he stared into the forest ahead of him, to wich the two knights proceeded to look to as well. It was covered in darkness, and vegetation that surrounded the trees. Finally a small thump could be heard coming towards them, and in a instant the thump growed loudly, and a beast leaped from the bushes ahead. A sudden reflex came to Aragorn and Thing, pulling their sabers to their hands, common when you train your reflexes in situations like this, but Dray knew who it was, and slowly walked towards the beast. Thing and Aragorn realized that it was carrying two passengers, and dropped their guards.

"Glad to see you are ok. Did everything go well?"

Sarus leaped down from the beast and approached Dray in a frenetic way.

"We need to leave. NOW. There is something coming after us, and its getting closer."

Ptolemy dropped from the beast as well and went up to his son. They shared a brief hug, a sign of relief for both.

"We need to leave son. There is danger behind us. Go preparate the ship."

"Ok father. And...im glad to see you are ok."

"Likewise son, likewise..." Aragorn went up the ramp and started up the Luck, as Sarus approached Ptolemy, and directed themselves to the ship.

"Uh, Sarus? GUYS??" Thing exalted and everyone looked at him.

"Where is Dawn??"

Silence among the group, as if all feared telling the young Knight what had happened to his friend.
Sarus decided to break the silence, and feeling responsible, guilty, he had to tell him what happened.

"Dusk came after us, and after helping me and Ptolemy fight off some Crusaders, he stayed to fight him. Ptolemy told me during the trip, that while he infiltrated the base, he felt Dusk's presence underground...he was captured Thing. Im sorry...there was nothing we could do..." The sadness fell in all, as Thing received the tragic news.

"Well, are we just gonna leave him there? WE will do nothing??" The knight exalted, frustrated at what the situation brought them to.

"Im sorry Thing, but they have us outnumbered, outpowered, and to infiltrate and rescue would be almost impossible, near zero impossible without putting us and this mission in jeopardy."

"But.."

"I would do anything to help him as i can Thing, but there is nothing we can do...if you want to help him, help him defeat these Crusaders by going back and preparing our Academy for what we saw here."

Thing kept silent, bulked his head down, and headed into the Chikita, punching the wall as he lead up the loading ramp. Sarus was finally receiving the consequences of this mission on him, he knew this could happen, but he could never prepare himself to this degree of lost that fell amongst them.

"Sarus, we gotta go dude. Dont blame yourself...remember what i told you back in JvS... what happens here is not your fault, it is THEIR fault."

Sarus lifted his head, and while he still felt a bit down for the events, he was decisive now, and was focusing on the job.

"Let us go then, im quite fed up of this planet." Ptolemy said, as all three remaining outside head into their ships. And when everything seemed going well, Dray stopped suddenly.
"STOP, we have company..."

As he turned to the same bushes Sarus and Ptolemy appeared from, as the other two followed his look.

"Damn he's here."

"Who's here Sarus?" Dray looked worried into the Warrior's red eyes.

"Something you guys know all too well...The epitomy of distortion of the dark side." The bushes and trees trembled and in a giant wave, they were swept aside and forwards, as a torso naked Iktotch, filled with tatoos all over his body, gloomed by a red aura, appeared, ravaging the hearts of our heroes, releasing a giant growl that pushed them back.

"A Sith Destroyer..." The words shook the heart of all, but specially of the three knights that were there, in DAJ, three years ago. Aragorn had come running outside, and Thing was looking thru the cockpit, terrified. Worser than him was Aragorn, with images of the past flooding him.

"Ah....that IS dangerous." Dray exalted, gulping, and preparing himself in a defensive stance. Aragorn was standing paralysed.

The figure was a scarred, sith-like appearance, an Iktotch, with one of his horns broken, and his face exuming of dark side. His eyes were pitch black, and he was muscularly oversized, a disfigurement made by the dark side no doubt. He was looking at the group, as a predator looks upon its prey.

"Dray, we need a plan."

"Yeah i know that. Ptolemy, any ideas? Quickly too."

"I never faced something like this. But i know we gotta end it quickly, otherwise he will drain us out."
Sarus, in a desperate attempt, loaded a Force Push in his hand, and when it reached full potential, released his fist straight forward onto the Destroyer. The blast swept away the grass on its path, leaving a dented trail, as it finally hit the dark sider, but he shoved it away as if it was a simple breeze.

"Damn, hes too powerful, and im out of energy! I...I dont know what to do."

"Dray, its about time you put that power to use, isnt it??" Ptolemy exclamated looking at the captain, as Dray looked back at him.

"I know what you can do Dray, your bonds, your sight, your presence...you can kill him now! Save us from losing anyone else."

Dray was surprised that the old man had picked up on him.

"What are you talking about Ptolemy?" Sarus looked into the old mans eyes.

The monster suddenly roared again, and started walking towards the group, increasing his pace gradually, and pulling out his red lightsaber.

"Dray, do it now!"

"This is a terrible thing to do to someone Ptolemy!"

"Failure for us will mean much more terrible things!"

Dray looked as the monster now run towards them. In a rare occasion, Dray unhooked his lightsaber, igniting it, and force leaped against the monster, clashing their sabers diagonally, as he held his stand against the Crusader. The beast was now looking him in the eyes, as Dray struggled against his force. He was holding his own, but was struggling hard for it. He gave a final push, shrugging the Destroyer away from him.

"Blasted...i have to do it...."

"SO BE IT!"
Dray lowered his crimson lightsaber and stretched his arm and open palm to the Crusader. He closed his eyes, and silenced everything in his head. All this was happening in a second, and in the emptyness that he created in his mind, the Crusader appeared, but on the form of the Force. Light and connections. Even the dark side was luminous, but a frightening light, one feels fear of staring into. He saw as Force gathered around the Crusaders body, and like branches stretching up, emanating from a main thicker line, like a log. The branches were the Force imbedded in the Destroyer, feeding every part of him, and the log was his connection to the Force. A normal being normally has more presence other than these branches, smaller connections spread thru out, but due to the fact that Destroyers give themselves 100% into the dark side, their bodies are eaten alive by this connection, and by this time, the only thing keeping them alive is the connection itself.
By this, it was concluded that they had found something back in the base of their presence, and activated one of these warriors, to hunt the jedis down before escaping. The power Ptolemy was speaking of, the one Dray had learned in his trips, the one he hid in fear of using it, was called Sever Force. It was the power to cut a being from the Force, a punishment used by the Jedi, it was the most devastating light side power one could use in a Force Sensitive.

"I imprison you in a wall of light. A fortress to block you from the Force…blind you to your powers…" the words in his mind, as Dray concentrated in the main chord of Force that fed the Crusader. It would be like putting a bubble around him, and by doing so, he would be cutting the one thing that kept this monster alive. It was a terrible punishment, to vanish someone from the Force itself, but it had to be done. In any other case, this would simply deafen the victim, not killing it. But this situation would mean killing it.

As Dray's eyes opened suddenly, in the time span that took these thoughts, the Crusader had charged close to him, and was a few split seconds from reaching him with his saber, when his body stopped, as if frozen suddenly, his muscles clinged, he dropped his saber, as small beams of light reached up form the ground and slowly vanished. Dray had to focus during this, or he would not cut him completely. His hand shaked, and he struggled to finish it, almost in pain while doing so. The Crusader gradually diminished in presence, everything that was him, vanishing...

Dray let loose, took a deep breath, and fell on his knees, almost fainting, falling on his arms, holding himself, gasping as if he just ran around the planet non-stop. The Crusader fell on the ground, his cornea growing in size, and finally, his body dropped dead. Empty. Nothing but a corpse now. Not a trace of his existence left in that body.

Sarus looked in awe at what happened, he and Ptolemy both gasped by the exhibit. Dray fell to his side, laying on the grass, making both jedis look and run towards him to see if he was ok.

"Dray? Dray?" Sarus crouched next to him.

"You ok?" Ptolemy was behind Sarus, standing and looking for any signs of damage on the fallen Jedi. Dray was still gasping, eyes closed, and slowly opened them and answered.

"Im fine. Just...this is not something i do very often...if you havent noticed. Plus...it completely drains me...temporarly."

"Can you walk?"

"Yeah..." He got up, slowly, as Sarus held him, holding him. Dray let go and stood firmly.

"That was quite a display. Why didnt you tell me you had this power?"

"Well, i kinda assumed you would know, seeing your so deductive and such. Guess i hid it better then i thought. Not well enough from Ptolemy thou." looking sarcastically to the old man.

"I have seen people like you. The bonds you formed, the suffering you had from death...plus, i felt it, as if the Force was telling me, somehow..."

"Yeah yeah, save those big words for another time."

"But why did you hide it?"

"I just...its not a good thing. To cut off one from the Force. It is like deafening, blinding, but far worse. Its like losing the capacity to love. Its voiding you of a meaning. When i was travelling, I learned it in Ossus. They sought me there, saw my capabilities, and decided they would teach me this. It is a burden, to be able to do this."

"Cause you fear having to face situations like these...where you must apply it. If you didnt know it..."

"I wouldnt need to worry using it. Yes. If it was now...i think i would have refused their teachings."

"Dont say that. You probably just saved us all. And this mission."

"Im sure you would of thought something out. Probably. Besides, i can do it once, then im out of the fight."

"Still, dont undermine this asset."

"Ok, ill heed to your words my friend... Lets just go. We can talk about this more in depth when this is over."

By this time. Aragorn had come close to them.

"Dray...that was quite something. You alright?"

"Yeah."

"Gosh, thats some neat power you got there..."

"Yeah well...i can only regret..."

"Why?"

"3 years ago...i could of helped you...i could of saved you...both."

"Its ok Dray. We had no idea what we were gonna face. This is THEIR fault. Not anyone else's."
Dray looked at Sarus, hoping the warrior had caught what the Knight said.

"Your right. Lets get out of here shall we?"

"Yes...master."

"Dont make me hammertime you! Ham..ouch" As his back cracked "Ow...ok...maybe some other time..." The captain held his side and walked slowly into his ship.

"Hmmph, guess these Crusaders are good for SOMEthing at least." Aragorn smirked, and headed into the Luck with his father and the elusive Warrior.

In the cockpit of the Chikita:
"Hey Thing, how are you doing?"

"Screw that, HOW ARE YOU DOING? DUDE, THAT WAS AWESOME!"

"Yeah well, it looks better then what it really is...and its not that nice. Are you pulling out alright?"

"You mean about Dawn? Well i hope we get a chance to save him...after we defeat these crusaders."

Dray smiled as he realized how optimistic the Knight was, still guessing that they would defeat the evil-doers. It was good for all, to have someone that was keeping them up. Win or Lose, they couldnt lose their will to fight back.

"Tell you what. If we get a chance at getting him back...we will all do our best to do so."

"Thanks."

"Its alright brah. Now pop on my engines. Lets burn sky till we see lines. Im FED UP with this place."

"Roger captain."

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

"Nice work with my ship Ara. How hard was it?" Sarus implied, impressed that everything had been arranged neatly.

"Dont even mention it please. I rather be surrounded by 10 Crusaders then fixing this ship EVER again."

"Ah, had some troubles i see..." Sarus noticed the open panel that Aragorn had discovered before. "Oh, did you use this?"

"Yes. And i never felt like destroying something so much in my life. I dont know how you work with it for so many years."

"Ahahah. I didnt. Bought the ship from some shady guys, but it was cheap ship, and it had what i needed. Dude, this is broken, unfixable really. it has some vital wiring for the ship in it, so i couldnt remove it. Basically i just ripped off its holo power, and closed it. You actually were able to use it?"

"I wouldnt call 'use it' the term for what i did with it...More like 'go insane with it'."

"Hmph, i see. well good job nonetheless, you surely had to put a effort."

"Good job son, certainly this will help you deal with future mechanical problems."

"Yeah well, itll make me lose hours of meditation too dad. Just to forget the trauma it left on me."

Sarus sat on his chair, and turned on the ship, making it hover off the ground.

Both ships lifted off, and flew into space, finally.



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


The captain sat back on his chair, right after plotting the hyperspace route, and Dray sighed in relief.

"Ouf...finally."

"Dray, i think ill go take some sleep, im so tired..."

"Ok dude, the ship is in auto, no need to maneuver it."

Thing headed into the crew quarters, and laid in the bed in the corner, at the end of a row of 3 beds. The Knight was so exhausted that didnt even take off his robe, and simply collapsed on the mattress, going to sleep.
Dray left the cockpit, taking a comm link with him, and headed down the main hall, passing by the crew quarters, where Thing was.

"Poor kid, so much stuff in such a little time period, with such a young age....you sure need some rest."
Dray thought, as he continued down the hall. passing by the Engine room, where the hyperdrive was again humming its regular ticks. Dray then proceeded into the Med room, to check on himself, on any wounds he might have had.

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

The hyperdrive trip was going to take 1 or 2 days to reach the JvS planet. Sarus checked on the last things of the ship, making sure Aragorn had not missed one or two spots in the middle of the confusion he had upon him.

"Well everything checks. You really did a good job. Now...we need to plot our next course of events."

"True, so we go back home now and tell them our info?"

"Yes, yes we do. We also have to report the connection between the Sith they found in the DAJ attack and these Crusaders...two Sith Destroyers like these...its a rare site. Too rare."

"I agree..." spoke Ptolemy."We must gather forces, quickly, before these Crusaders gather more to their cause...and with this base location...what they do in there..."Ptolemy went silent, as if he was no longer there, his eyes staring into the distance.

"What DO they do there old man?"asked Sarus.

Ptolemy looked at the Chiss suddenly and stuttered the words."They destroy what you are, cleanse you of your true self, and embed in you the adoration and blindness for the dark side. In there i felt...i felt such intensity. They are bathing themselves in the dark side...i found Dusk too, but there was nothing i could do. They were torturing him, but i feel they will be unsuccessful."Ptolemy grabbed his chair, and slowly sat in it, gathering strength form the mental stress the underground base had put in him.

"Are you ok dad?"

"Yes my son. That place was just...so dark. It needs to be destroyed. As soon as possible."

Aragorn put his hand on the old man's shoulder, and looked at him.

"Whatever we face...we will stand together. I promise you. We dont have to face danger alone. Not anymore."

"I know son...i know." Both smiled at each other. This father-son bond would reinforce them and their minds, and these moments were cherished by the two Jedi. Sarus had noticed their family union, and was heightened by the moral the two showed. As if the Force glowed when they were together.

"Fraternity...It's good indeed to have it with you."
To have someone to help you, and for you to help him, for the reason of union and fraternal love, was something the Chiss had forgotten in his travels. But now, traveling with others, had brought back these feelings to him. It was odd for a Chiss to be more then a logical being, but as an organic one, it was not impossible. And not completely rare either.

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

Thing had woken up from a long sleep, walking out the crew quarters, and headed to the cockpit, just to find that it was empty.

"Where's Dray?" The Knight thought. He started going into the remaining ship areas, and heard tweaking noises from the Comm room. As he entered it, he looked to his left. The Comm room was across from the Crew Quarters, separated by the main hall of the ship. The Comm room included in the center, a Holo table, capable of strategic and communication commands. In the corner, where the Knight was staring at, the captain of the ship was half way up the ladders that led to the top hull laser cannons of the Chikita.

"Dray? What you doing up there?"

"Oh hey there little man, i was just giving some new features on my laser. Bigger shot rating. more PEW PEW for me!"

"Aaah, awesome. So, are we there yet?"

Dray looked at his companion, as if stating his despise for the possible nuisance this could cause.

"AS A MATTER OF FACT, we're almost there."

Dray headed to the cockpit, cleaning his hands with a tissue, as Thing followed him. They popped on their seats and started preparing the ship.

"Sarus, approaching final destination."

"Roger that Chikita, also id like to report that you are indeed going to fail to reach the final destination before me, for i am full of win."

"Negative, Your argument is , in fact, invalid, Chikita out."

Thing spoke to the captain:"You know, some day, you and Sarus are gonna have to start making sense to me..."

"Hmm....maybe. But probably not."

"Roger that Dray."

Back in the Luck:

"Ok, prepare the ship for exiting hyperspace." Sarus spoke, as Ptolemy and Aragorn had taken their seats in the cockpit.

Suddenly, the lines of space that involved them dissipated, as void space came in front, and in the distance, a green colored planet.

"JvS."

"Finally." spoke Aragorn in relief.

The Chikita followed the Luck, as both headed towards the planet.

"Mr Sarus." spoke Dray through the comm link "Would you call this a successful mission?"

"I believe i would my friend, i believe i wou" Sarus was interrupted by a beeping sound in the commands. The ship had detected hyperspace routes opening. Few seconds after the Chiss looked at it, the hyperspace route enlarged and enlarged, until behind them, a fleet of old Destroyers and such popped.

"BLAST, they followed us!!" said the Chiss, startled by the persistence and tenacity of their enemies.

"How??" asked Aragorn, staring at the screens that showed the massive fleet entailing them.

"They probably picked up our routes when we left the planet. Our ships are slower in hyperspace, so they must have picked up the pace while traveling. It doesn't matter. Dray!"

"Yeah i know...lets get the hell out of here as fast we can. You know...these guys are starting to get on my nerves."

Both ships ensued in a dodging maneuver, and flew at max speed in direction for the planet.

"What about the temple? The people there?"

"They will be prepared, after that fight in Dantooine, the carriers must be back by now, they must of prepped the defenses for an attack."

"Thats a big IF Sarus."

"Yes well, hope is getting sparse these days. ill take any i can have."

"JvS Temple, this is Shadow, i repeat, this is Shadow. Do you read?"

"Roger that Shadow, and i see you brought company. Fly as fast as you can into our docks, after you land we will activate the ground shields immediately. Hurry up."

"Thats gonna be a tight landing." said Aragorn.

"Yes well, me and Dray can handle, just focus on getting any fighters off our back. GOD, this day is starting so bad already!"

"Want a Sith cookie Sarus? I stole some from their kitchen before we left JvS."

"Maybe later Dray!"

Both ships adopted erratic flying patterns, and flew down to the planet, while the auto turrets of the Chikita were keeping fighters off of them.

"Dray can you take out those three fighters in our tail? We cant land with them following us."

"Will do."

Dray sat where Dusk used to be, and prepared the turrets to fire on them.

"Thing, take command of the ship. Quickly, i cant drive and shoot at the same time!"

"But i thought you said never to drive your..."

"JUST DO IT!"

The little knight sat on the captain chair nervously, and began to execute steady, but dodging maneuvers, giving some stability for Dray to take out the fighters.

The captain shot a succession of laser blasts that took out two of them, making them plummet in the canyons below, but one was canny at dodging the shots.

"Im tired of these kriffing fighters! Now go down already! Shoo!" exalted the captain, sniping one of the wings of the enemy, finally releasing their tail.

"YEAH!"

"Alright, nice shot Dray."

"Yeah, now get off my captain chair."

Both the Luck and the Chikita were now approaching the temple docking bay, As they came in flying fast, and finally landing.

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


"Alright, they're in, now activate the shields!" said Master Skorpion, who was on the control room of the JvS defenses. At his order, the technicians in the room turned the power on the ground shields, which would avoid any direct bombardment from the Destroyers above. They were also capable of activating all main defenses thru out the temple, as sky turrets, and shielded passages were turned on all at the same time. In the main entrance hall, the Sith'Ari and Battlemaster watched as all systems were turned on, and the door in front of them, leading to the outside, closed carefully, which signified the soon beginning of the battle.

"Hmmm, they came sooner then expected."

"Goodie, now i dont have to wait more for the fun."

"Hardly..."

"First one to 100 wins."

"Hmmph, 100? You sloppy or something? 200 or Nothing."

"Ok mr bravery."

"You wont know what hit you."

"Less talk more action, Champ."

Both saberists ignited their sabers, purple and red, as other troops were behind them heading into the adjacent halls of honor. The two leaders were posted in the main entrance, so that the majority of forces that came thru there were filtered by their sabers.


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

Dray got up his seat, and walked quickly towards the loading ramp. He pulled out the package he had brought with him in the trip, and put it in his back.

"Well looks like im gonna use this after all."

"What is it?"

"You'll see it soon enough."

The loading ramp descended as Thing and Dray walked out of the Chikita.

Sarus and the others came out of the Luck as well.

"Hey Sarus!"

"What?" answered the Chiss, as both walked towards each other, and the exit at the same time.

"Now it REALLY is...Hammer time."



"Got ya." As they headed towards the docking bay exit, while members of the order were running outside, preparing for the fight ahead.
//

Sarus watched Dray disappear into the cooridor off the private hanger, not sure what the Jedi would do, but trusting it was for the best. The Knight had surprised him with the power, and although he was glad the man knew it, he was unsure of his own skills now. He was a Force Warrior, judging the skill and power of a Force user was his forte, but he had been unable to sense such a massive skill in a friend. It made him worry about what others may have been hiding. The Force Warrior had always placed himself as the groups strongest member in Force techniques, but now he wasn't so sure.

But I can't worry about that now, he thought to himself, shaking his head to dispel the notion, later, but not now. Not when we have a battle to be waged.

The Chiss looked around the hanger, just now noticing how quiet it was compared to normal. There were a variety of private and academy ships around him, but the normal complement of technicians and pilots were no where to be seen. In fact he saw no one in the immediate vicinity.

It was odd. Even during a state of emergency there were usually crew maintaining the star fighters so they could provide a screen, Where are the starfighters anyway? Or for that matter where's the Power? They couldn't have beaten the JvS cruisers back, and he had seen them make a retreat from Dantooine, so where were they? Unless.... Oh Peppa you are a clever one.

The sound of footsteps running brought Sarus out of his thoughts and he glanced over to see a Padawan coming out of the doorway to his right. The boy couldn't have been more then twelve and the braid trailing behind his head gave away his Padawan status. As he watched the boy slowed and came to a stop a meter away from the group, "Greetings Jedi," he said in gasps, winded from what was undoubtedly a long run, "the Grand Master requests your prescence. If you'll come with me," the boy motioned back to the door through which he had entered, "I'll lead you to him." When no one made a move to join him he added, "Time is a factor here gentlemen."

The three turned to Sarus as if asking his opinion, followed by the Padawan. "Go ahead," the Chiss said nodding to the Padawan and trying to hide his embaressment. It was normal for people to continue looking to a team leader for a while after the mission was over, the mindset of taking orders took time to adjust back to normal. He should have known and still been in that mindset himself, but the shock of not knowing Dray as well as he had thought had shook his mind from any measure of leadership. "I'll catch up in a few minutes," he continued.

"We can wait," Ara replied.

Just then a tremor ran through the floor as if just to prove the Knight wrong. They all looked up instinctively to see what had happened, and even though they saw nothing, they knew what it was. The preliminary bombardment had started, and it wouldn't be long before the ground troops struck as well. "No you don't," Sarus said answering Aragorn. "I'll be fine, I can catch up in a few minutes and Ptolemy already has my datachip." The Force Warrior waved them off and started up the ramp as if he had already dismissed them.

There was silence for a few minutes, then he head the padding of footsteps retreating into the distance at a jog. Had they not been in the mindset for taking orders he doubt they would have left, but Sarus was glad they had been because he had no intention of following the group. He could feel the Force leading him in another direction. It was not a small or subtle feeling either, it was more like a drive, an instinct. That was how feelings manifested for him, not as hints or thoughts, but as primal urges that drove him. He didn't like the implications of that thought either, it put him closer to an animal then a man. How had he gone from a logical being to this? When had it happened? I don't have time for this! He slammed his fist into the bulkhead and got a spike of pain for it, but the pain took his mind off himself, cleared his mind, and he needed that desperately.

The Shadow reached out with the Force and felt along the cabinet until he felt an open pocket, then he pulled his attention to the top of that cabinet and felt the lock in his mind. With little effort he flipped the lock open and the cabinet beside him popped open and flipped down. Inside, the space was very barren, a smuggling compartment that normally required a transmitter to open, but the Warrior had found more use in it when he could just use the Force to activate it. It made the cabinet all but impossible to find, and it was something only a Force-Sensitive would have a chance at feeling.

He reached in and felt a cold metallic object settle into his grip. It was the only thing in the compartment, the only thing Sarus had ever felt needed to be kept so safe. He withdrew his hand and looked down at the object, a metal cylinder with a clip at one end and an emitter at the other with just two buttons on the surface. A lightsaber.

"Master, it is illogical for me to make a lightsaber if I choose to follow the path of the Force Warrior," Sarus had said in a calm collected manner. "I will never have use for such a tool, the tehcniques I learn will be all the tool I need."

Kami had chuckled, "So you know why Jedi use a lightsaber Sarus? It is not the hardest weapon to use, nor is it the most powerful. In fact it is very limited in conventional terms. So why do you think Jedi would use such a weapon?"

Sarus had had no answer. It was a question he had asked himself many times but never come to a conclusion. So he just stood in silence awaiting the Jedi's answer. He had no answer so he saw no reason to speak, a notion he had noticed, made many uncomfortable around him. But it never seemed to bother his Master.

Kami continued after a suitable amount of time, "It is because there is a bond between a Jedi and his lightsaber. I don't mean that in any mystic sense. When a Jedi constructs a lightsaber with the Force he bonds with the crystal and his power is magnified, and when they are separate they are both weakened. There are many techniques in the Force that can never be accomplished without the aid of a lightsaber."

The memory was as fresh in his mind as the day it had happened, but that was a characteristic of Chiss. They didn't view memory as humans did with the fluidity and the ability to trick themselves into believe they saw something they didn't. A Chiss' memory was like a recording that could be played back at any point. It was what made them such excellent obervers, it was also what made them seem so cold to others.

Sarus clipped the hilt to his belt and exited the Luck. He took one final glance at the doorway Ara, Pto and Thing had left too, briefly considering following the group despite his feeling in the Force, but another low rumble from the shield generator shook him of the notion. The Force Warrior turned to the other doorway and Force Sped towards it, still not sure what awaited him, but knowing he needed to hurry, before it was too late.

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

The bombardment was even louder in the Great Hall due to the acoustics of the room. It was meant to be that way so that the Grand Master and Dark Lord could adress recruits and know they were being heard. But at that moment Champ regretted the setup. The way it reflected in the Hall made it seem so much worse then it was, and he could feel both the Jedi and Sith getting worried and anxious.

"They'll be fine," Lay said answering his unspoken worry, "once battle is upon them they'll have no choice. It's sad but this is when you find out who is really cut out for this life and who are cowards."

"You don't have to be a fighter to be a contribution to society," Champ replied a bit annoyed that he had let himself be read.

"Can't be of much use if there is no society. You have to protect your way of life to have a way of life," Lay replied coldly.

"That's a very simplistic way of looking at it."

"Am I wrong?"

Champ was quiet for a few moments, "No."

Suddenly the bombardment stopped and all was silent both inside and outside the Academy. Champ signaled silently to the Knights to get into position, knowing the quiet could only mean one thing. Ground troops. The Battle Master rushed up to the side of the entrance near the Jedi half of the Temple while Lay took up position directly across from him.

The blast doors were lowered, blocking off all entrances into the Academy, and the defensive turrets were active along the exterior of the building. It was a defense most armies couldn't penetrate without a lot of casualties, and could potentially hold for hours before an entrance could be breached, but this was no normal army. It was an army of former Jedi and Sith from across the Galaxy, the defenses would catch the first wave by surprise, and take out a few foolish Crusaders in the second wave, but after the initital surprise they would be quick to defeat the turret defenses. After that a lightsaber would make simple work of the doors. Champ figured they had about five minutes once the turrets began, then all hell would break loose, and he intended to meet it head on.

It didn't take long for the turrets to active, but once they did it was something to behold, even if all that could be gotten from it were the beats from the rapid firing and the screams of Crusaders being injured and killed. Each scream, while horrible, gave the Battle Master hope that they could win out with the numbers they had. After a few minute the screaming stopped, followed shortly by the turrets, all too shortly for the Battle Master.

The Jedi took a single hilt off his belt and held it loose but ready in his hand, across the hall Lay was following suit. A pair of blades, one orange one green stabbed through the door and began making circles in the durasteel at each end. Champ looked back at a Paladin stationed behind the Greeting desk and nodded. The Paladin, in turn hit a switch under him cutting off all power in the Great Hall, and plunged the entire room into darkness.

The Battle Master watched as the blades completed their cuts and retracted taking the last remnants of light with them. Then with a spurt of activity the hole were kicked out and a flood of Crusaders burst through the hole, blades drawn. The procession continued for a few seconds until the blades numbered well over fifty, then the follow stopped just as suddenly as it had begun.

He could feel the confusion of the Crusaders and their commander as they looked for victims and found none. He could feel them reach out in the Force and find nothing, felt their moods change as they went to the doors leading into the Legend Halls on either side of the darkened Great Hall. He watched ever patiently as they plunged their blades in to the sealed doors and worked on cutting their way through, and again felt their confusion when they came across nothing. As he watched he saw another two groups of fifty or so rush in through the holes and take up positions in the three Halls, still unaware anyone was in with them.

Even after all these years you still find ways to amaze me old friend, Champ thought with a sly grin. It really was an incredible feat on the Grand Master's part, casting an illusion of nothing by playing on the most primal of all instincts any sentient has, to remain alive. Despite what their demeanor and Force prescence spoke about their blood lust, deep down, on an instinctual level, they didn't want to find anything. Because if they found no enemy they were safe. The Grand Master was able to manipulate this instinct in them by inserting into their already open minds and letting them see what they wanted to see, but it was also a powerful ability that took a lot of effort, and try as he might Iron would only be able to extend this field to encompass the three Halls and two Greeting areas. But it was still enough to stage a massive ambush.

The Battle Master could sense the Crusader's apprehension as they cut into the third area and again found nothing, and he saw the final two groups of fifty rush through the holes they had cut in the front, stationing themselves as reinforcements. Now or never.

Champ leapt into the air above the largest group of Crusaders, a group of five and ignited his blade. The ignition caught their attention, but too late as he swept the blade across, decapitating three of his foes in a single move, then landed in a crouch and yanked the two others with the Force into range and ran them through with a thrust. The whole attack had taken less then a second to complete, and across the hall he could see Layfon had similarly dispatched a smaller group of three. Despite their rivalry the two thought and acted alike, and it made them a deadly team.

All over the five areas blade could be heard springing to life and taking action, no doubt catching many of the Crusaders off-guard, but they could pay little attention to such things. Most of the Crusaders had been taken completely by surprise in the Great Hall, but those who hadn't, or who had been lucky enough to be too far from any JvS immediately identified the Battle Master and Sith'Ari as the two major threats.

Layfon smiled and twirled his blade tauntingly, "Been so long since I had a real challenge."

Champ grinned, "Just be sure to keep up Fon-fon. I don't like completely out-matching you."

The Sith'Ari just smiled fiercly and jumped into the nearest group Crusaders, his red blade churning so quick that it almost looked as if his opponents were hemmorraging. He briefly wondered if that was a purposeful effort on his part, or if he had subconsciously chosen a color so close to that of blood to sate his desire for violence.

He shook the thought away and backflipped, twisting in the air as he did so, to land a few feet away from the cuts in the durasteel where more Crusaders were entering. "Lightsaber Forms, Lesson 1: Shii-Cho," he began flicking the blade between his hands. The Crusaders didn't care, they just rushed him slashing wildly to try to overwhelm the Battle Master, but Champion was in motion dodging left right, up, down just enough to avoid getting hit as he continued his speech, "This Form comprises the basics of lightsaber combat, focusing mainly on how the blade is weighted and how easily it cuts." He ducked one blade and kicked the man's hand to loosen his grip then bisected the man from pelvis to head, "It uses kicks and punches to throw an enemy off-guard," he stood and flicked his lightsaber at another attacker coming as his side and shaved a third of the man's skull off, "as well as minor flicks to take advantage of its nearly unstopable blade." The Jedi ducked an attack and twirled just out of reach, "As such it is required learning for all Jedi, but can also be a great aid if chosen as a main style given it's unpredictable nature and loose guidelines."

The remaining Crusaders were joined by even more and renewed their attack. Champ just sighed and continued, "Lesson 2: Makashi," he ducked out of the way of an attack to close to his gut but remained unphased, "this Form focuses more on the precise movements of the blade, and the flourishes that draw attention away from their true goal," he clashed with the blade of one Crusader and twisted his blade, bringing enough torque in to make the man loose his grip then stabbed him through the throat and withdrew. "It is a poor Form for taking on multiple opponents, but experienced usesr can adapt the speed of their actions to account for this," he dropped low with a flourish, drawing the attention of the men to him, then slung the blade around, using the Force to control it's trajectory and decapitating anyone immediately surrounding him.

The Battle Master rose up and brought his purple blade in close, grasping the hilt firmly with two hands, "Lesson 3: Soresu," the Crusaders pursued him getting smarter this time and surrounding him before pressing the attack, "this Form focuses on blocking. It relies on an opponent's own foolishness to do the work for the user," he batted the blades away calmly, centering himself and extending his senses, "then when the moment is just right," he felt one over-balance on a thrust and acted. He batted the blade away and dragged the saber across the man's torso, not dismembering him, but killing him instantly nonetheless, "He strikes one fatal blow. It is best used for prolonged battles, or battles with many opponents."

Champ suddenly changed styles and pushed forward swinging back and forth right and left, hard and light against a pair of opponents forcing them back and away from the rest of their allies, "Lesson 4: Ataru and Sokan. This forms uses the lightsabers light weight and a Jedi's acrobatic ability to attack ferociously, relentlessly, and oddly," he yanked one forward with the Force into the blade of his ally and flipped over the other decapitating him as he went, "it uses flips, and the environment to gain the upper edge, and is the first Form to actively use the Force."

The Jedi jumped high and pushed himself off one of the many pillars in the Great Hall to propel himself back into the midst of the Crusaders, "Lesson 5: Djem-So and Shien. This form is one that tries to combine the offensive aspects of Ataru with the defensive aspects of Soresu. It is an interchanging style that is wildly different from all others." He blocked an attack from the lead man and kicked him hard in the stomach, sending him realing back, then took the moment to swing down, battering what weak resistence the man could mount and cutting a deep gash, "Djem-So, a power style that relies on brute strength and powerful kicks to overwhelm a wielders opponent quickly and efficiently." he sensed a strike coming in from behind him and met it with a hit of equal strength, causing the blades to stall but not clash, then pushed forward, skewering the man and burning through his lightsaber, "And Shien, a defensive counter style that relies on balanced strikes and decisive quick strikes to dispatch an enemy before they realize what's happening."

Champ brought his saber back in and remained standing where he was, "Lesson 6: Niman. This form is the most mundane of all forms," he batted away a few attacks and proceeded with careful measure counters, causing a back and forth struggle to occur, "it has no strength, no weakness, and is the simplest to learn and easiest to maintain. Otherwise it has no good points," he finished finally manage close the distance enough to set the Crusaders in an uncomfortably close formation around him, then he simply ducked and let the men hit each other, "but it's mundane attitude can provide significant progress if used properly in concert with Sokan style combat."

The Battle Master stood and let his opponents fall around him, four in all. He looped his blade in front of his body, inviting the men to take a chance at his open defense, an invite they were more then happy to accept, "Final Lesson: Vaapad, Jar'kai, and Juyo," he started as he backpedaled the Crusader advance, "this form is less one form then it is three fighting styles that all accomplish the goal of being unpredictable. First is Vaapad," Champ suddenly ceased his retreat and wove his way forward among the blades managing to get close but still evade them even at seemingly random strike. Then suddenly without warning shut off his blade, jammed the hilt hard up into a Crusader's jaw to send the man flying, then activated the blade at the limit of range, spearing his head, and brought it down in a diagonal slash that slahsed through another enemy's torso, "Vaapad requires that one give themself to the Force and enjoy battle, but not the act of killing, and requires a careful equilibrium to maintain." He fell forward, instinctively dodging a thrust then brought his foot up into the attacker's hand to jar the blade loose, continuing his moment into a sommersault that ended with his lightsaber cutting a long furrow up the man's torso.

"Next is Jar'kai," Champ continued bring his saber up with one hand and batting away the plethora of strikes aimed at him, "it's a two blade style that focuses on using one hand for defense," he crossed his left hand in front of him, another single hilt shinning brightly in his hand, and activated the lightsaber, gutting one man and slicing across to gut the other two, "and one hand for offense." Champ brought both blades back to a loose position one on either side, prepared for anything his foes would mount, but surprised when none did. Then he felt it a Crusader rush him from behind and he brought his left hand up to block the overhead strike, "This Form can remain random because the arm for attacking and the arm for defending," he brought his right saber across the man's chest as he landed, "are constantly changing."

The Battle Master withdrew his blades and stood back, ready for any attack the Crusaders would mount, "Now what's that leave?"

"Oh Champ I'm disappointed," Lay yelled across the room from where he stood engaged in a saber lock with two Crusaders. The Sith'Ari was holding his staff and pressing his weight into his attackers, then suddenly let up and twist his staff hard to the side, disarming both in one second, then reversing the swing and beheading him the next. He backpedalled then leapt back a few feet to land beside Champion, "You were doing so well. How could you forget Juyo?"

"Oh right," the Jedi said feigning surprise. "Well Mister Layfon, I think I may need some help with this one. If you'd be so kind as to demonstrate for me?"

The Sith smiled, "But of course," he said charging the group and leaving Champ the duty of explaining.

"Juyo is a form unlike any other. Unlike most it can only be used when a Force user gives in to rage and lets it direct his movement," as he spoke Layfon met the group, lunging in with a twist, managing to avoid thier blades while impaling his own on the lead attacker. "It is random in that anger ebbs and flows, and so does the Form. It makes use fast and powerful strikes, along with a variety of offensive Force powers," the Sith'Ari spun away from his victim and lashed out with his blade to clear room, some were fast enough to avoid the saber, others were not so lucky and fell dead at his feet. With the Force he lashed out with Force Lightning, catching a few off-balance Crusaders off-guard and frying them before they even knew what was happening, "It is perhaps most noteable," Champ continued unphased, "for the fact that a user of the Form is fueled by the success of his attacks, getting stronger, not weaker as he fights." Lay cocked his arm back and flung his lightsaber out, putting an unnaturally fast spin on the blade. The twirling blade cut through the enemy ranks like so much butter, flying so quickly as to be nearly impossible to see, and even harder to block, allowing it to continue throw over ten Crusaders before beings deflected up, but by that time the Sith'Ari was already moving, drawing his two remaining single blades and spearing the distracted men. "Unlike the other two forms in Form VII, this Form is not limited to any one style of blade. Indeed the style feeds off of diversity to make it less predictable and more lethal." Layfon ripped his lightsabers away, lettign the bodies fall, then reversing grip to block two attackers from his side. Holding the attacks off, he gathered the Force to him, fueling the power with his rage and blood lust until it built up then released it all around him causing an all encompassing Force Wave to ripple out. Caught by surprise the Crusaders around him had no time to raise any sort defense and were thrown back into the walls and pillars, their bodies making sickening noise as they impacted.

The Sith'Ari lowered his blades and looked around to see no enemies around him, but Champ still standing where he had left him, his cloak not even out of place from the powerful pulse. The two were among the few still standing in the hall, and only now could they take account of the heavy casualties, many of which were enemys, but also quite a few JvS. Even as the two combatants stood surveying the damage, the sound of more Crusaders piling in from the entrance could be heard.

"Took them long enough," Champ noted, twirling his lightsabers in impatience, "I was beginning to think they had run out of fighters."

"Why Champ, I didn't know you were so blood thirsty," Lay commented with a grin as he clipped his two blade back to his belt and recalled his staff.

"I'm not," the Battle Master replied, "but I'm only at 30 so far."

The Sith scoffed, "Thirty? I was at that before I became your example. I'm at Fifty now."

"That'll change soon enough," Champ responded with a smile, he began spinning his blades faster as the number of Crusaders increased. The sheer number was astounding, it looked as if a small army of Jedi had suddenly appeared, and it was growing even more as he watched. "Time for the Meatgrinder."

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

Sarus could feel them more then see them. The hall he was in was deserted, but otherwise showed no signs of violence, no clue that the entire Academy was under attack, but through the Force is was obvious. He had already felt the massive loss of life as the Crusaders rushed the outer-defenses, and then the lose of life on both sides as they cut their way in and engaged the Temple's forces.

The Force Warrior rounded another corner and had barely enough time to register the site he saw before he was forced to duck under a lightsaber. He was on the upper level of the Temple outside the Alliance Council chamber that overlooked the garden. Around signs of engagement could be seen as Crusaders engaged Jedi and Sith, offen with overwhelming odds in favor of the crazed dark siders, but still there were far more Crusader bodies then JvS members.

He took all this in in the split second before the attack came, and processed all the information as he ducked under the blade and used the momentum to push off and up into a backflip that carried him forward and away from his attacker. As he flew through the air he saw two more foes pressing a Jedi from the front, and so directed his descent at the pair, grasping their heads as he landed and using the Force to amplify his strength, giving his push just enough force to crush the craniums of both men.

Keeping the power inside his body, he focused all his efforts on improving his strength, agility, and senses, so when his initial attacker came at him from behind he was able to spin away, while elbowing the mans arm with enough force to break it. He let the Jedi take care of the final deed and instead jumped into the garden.

The Chiss landed in the midst of three and immediately grabbed the two nearest Crusaders and flung them across the courtyard. He sensed the third swinging as he let go and duck the swing, dropping into a crouch and kicking up into the mans chin and elliciting a sharp crack as his neck snapped. The Force Warrior spun himself up, sensing his enemy's movements through the Force rather then actually seeing them. He felt one of his attackers lunging and raised his hand to push the man's arm up and the lightsaber off-balance, then pressed the advantage and lashed out with a punch forceful enough to break his ribs.

Sarus stepped back to avoid the down swing of his final attacker and swung a backhand fist into the Crusader's windpipe, crushing it. The two weren't dead yet, but they would be soon enough. Normally he would have felt bad for giving lethal injuries and not finishing the job, leaving someone to suffer when he could end their life easily, but he was far from his normal state of mind. His mind at that moment was that of a trained soldier concerned only with dispatching enemies and conserving as much energy as possible. So he moved away from the soon-to-be-dead men and focused his attention on more important matters.

He saw a dual flash of green out of the corner of his eye and headed towards it, a good idea of who owned that green double-blade. The Chiss ran, low to the ground to minimoze attention until he was right behind one of four Crusaders attacking a single man, then at the last moment came up and knocked the man on the side of the head, ensuring enough power was behind it to cave the man's skull in, then lashed out with a round-house kick to the side of another's chin, snapping his neck sharply to the side.

By the time the Force Warrior had finished these two, the JvS had cut down the other two. He was obviously a skilled fighter, and one Sarus had known since before he had left on his undercover mission five years ago, Camus. "Fancy meeting you here," the Consular said with a nod that was cut short by an attack from behind he was forced to block. Sarus spun around to see another attacker charging them and gave the man a powerful Force Push onto a Falleen Rose Bush. A most painful way to die, given the bushes' poison worked by chemically burning away the blood.

The two Jedi stood back to back against an array of enemies, "You really should be careful who you let in here," the Chiss quiped.

"Yeah well Open House and all," Camus replied.

"I don't suppose we have a fall-back point?"

The Consular smiled, "No just a trap." Suddenly a barrage of blaster fire peppered the Crusaders around the two Jedi, cutting them down like so much grass, and it wasn't just around the pair. All around the garden Crusaders were falling to precisely aimed blaster fire.

"Paladins?" Sarus guessed.

"Iron had us concentrate most of them here to protect the entrance to the lower levels," Camus said by way of answer.

"Let me guess. This is the fall back point?" Sarus ventured as he saw new blast doors lower into place not just around the doorways, but in front of the walls as well.

Camus nodded, "Yep. We needed a plan, but we couldn't fortify one area particularly well or they would concentrate there. Now that the attack's begun and most of their forces are already in action we can lock down this area." The Consular waved at the walls, "The secondary blast doors in this area are a cortosis alloy mixing both type 1 and type 2. Impenetrable to any lightsaber."

Sarus nodded approval, "Clever, but that still leaves the halls as a viable intrusion point."

"Ah my friend that's why you're here," Camus lifted his hand to indicate the top level on the Alliance Council side of the garden. Standing there was a young Jedi, with long hair and no lightsaber, Gal3rm, "And that's why he's here too."

"Two Force Warriors against an army of Crusaders?" Sarus asked with a grin, "Not very fair. They don't have nearly enough numbers for that."

As Sarus finished his line, he felt sth coming towards him fast, and ducked, just to see a crusader hit the wall he and Camus were standing next to. By the crushing sound of it, the Crusader was either knocked unconscience for a long time, or knocked out dead. They both looked the other way, as Dray had already walked up next to them.

"That bastard clipped out a chunk of my jacket! Look!"

Dray picked up a loose end of his ribbed jacket and showed the tearing of a lightsaber scratch.

"Damn...i liked this jacket..."

Suddenly, Dray activated his lightsaber and thrust it backwards over his shoulder with one hand, clashing it with another Crusader that attacked him from behind. He then strengthened up, and with a quick swing, threw the Crusader's lightsaber far away, as he used the thrust of his swing to spin the blade in his wrist, doing a circular move, and was now holding the blade in reverse style, and finished by stabbing the Crusader in the stomach, as he came up from below now. The Crusader fell back and Dray turned off his blade.

"Well dont worry Dray, ill buy you a new one if it makes you feel better."

"Ok my lil blue friend. Ouf, these guys are really starting to annoy me. Oh hi Camus."

"Hi Dray. Doing quite a display as always i see. Get prepped to pick off the Crusaders when they breach thru the Halls."

"Where's Champ?"

"Your Master is fending off the Crusaders with Layfon in the frontlines."

"Pfft. Show offs."

Dray suddenly noticed somethin on Sarus' belt.

"Oh? And what is this? A lightsaber? YOU?"

The Chiss became a bit speechless for a while.

"Ah well...uh...you know, its my old stuff. I might need it, and better to be prepared for anything right? Its a long story. Later maybe."

"I guess...glad to see you wearing it. Im gonna head and wait in front of the entrance doors. Make em pay my jacket in numbers."

"Be wary of the dark side Dray."spoke Camus.

"Oh you mistaken me. Im not gonna fall to the dark side Camus. But i believe they owe me a jacket now, and thus, im just enforcing the law and making them come forth with their payment for a new one in the only way they can. Bodies. Besides, the dark side is for wimps. Later."

Sarus and Camus watched as the Knight walked towards the Great Hall.

"He is kinda weird dont ya think?"

"Weird? He seems quite normal to me. Anyway, soooo whats the plan with me and Galarm exactly? Anything specific or you just gonna let us do our thing?"

The ship shook as yet another turbolaser came into contact with the Power's weakened shields. The cruiser was already in bad condition of course. The technicians at the Academy had only been able to complete a third of the repairs planned before the sensors had picked up multiple hyperspace windows openning, and they were forced into a confrontation. The numbers issue didn't help either, even in prime condition it was unlikely the ship could have stood up the number of enemy ships.

There were over a dozen mixed cruisers and frigates of varying ages and designs, a rag-tag fleet if there had ever been one, but the Commander of the fleet was intelligent. He had combined Imperial, Corellian, and Calamari designs to give himself a force capable of orbital bombardment and direct combat with space forces. Normally the Power's starfighter complement could overcome some of the numbers, but the Commander had even had enough foresight to bring along a couple of old anto-starfighter Lancer frigates.

As such what starfighers they had were forced to hold in a protective formation around the Power and even then they were being slowly picked off by the barrage of fire from four Mon Calamari cruisers arrayed around them. If something didn't change soon they stood no chance, and neither did the Temple.

The cruiser shook again, and this time Peppa was forced to use the force to keep her standing up right, "Status?" She barked out hoping the crew had been sensible enough to strap in this time.

"We've lost a fourth of our remaining turbolasers, and our shields are approaching critical. We have hull breaches on decks four, five, and fifteen," the sensor officer replied, holding to his console for dear life. "Recommend we bring all non-essential crew into the center portions of the ship, our hull can take part of the beating to give our shields time to recharge if we're careful."

"Do it!" The Marauder turned to the front of the ship, "Helm, full forward, and add a spin in there if you can. No arguments this time!" She added for good measure. She believed the crew to be smarter then that, at a time like this, but she also knew she couldn't take the time to answer questions.

The cruiser lurched as the enertial dampeners took a moment to catch up to their task, but to the engineers credit it did hold together and managed to make a grandual spin as it powered forward at one half it's normal top speed. The idea was very simple, plunge forward to make them flinch, and if they just kept tracking fire veer between two and active the hyperdrive for a small jump. The two Mon Cal ships would be left firing on each other for a few seconds and the Power would be off their sensors for a few brief seconds. The spin was to spread the damage they were taking over the most area to avoid severe damage.

"Ten seconds until point of no return, five, four, three, two, one," the helmsman said getting more and more worried with each word.

Peppa waited until a few seconds more passed then ordered the ship to a sharp right. She knew it would contact the enemy cruiser but that was the point, if they could come into direct contact with one of the ships and skimm off it's hull their shields would quickly fail, then once safely free they could jump away and the Mon Cal's ally would do the rest for them. It was a risky move, too close and they would sheer their own ship in two, too far and they wouldn't deal enough damage to collapse the enemy's shields, but this was a desperate time, and she needed any advantage she could get.

The Marauder watched as the two ships closed the distance. The Mon Cal cruiser getting larger and larger until it dominated the entire viewport. She watched until she could actually distinguish the weapons batteries, and almost see the crew opporating them. Then the impact came.

The impact was strong enough that even with the aid of the Force she could not remain upright and was forced to grab at the railing, even then almost being throw across the bridge. She could see crew thrown hard against their harnesses, some of which couldn't take the strain and broke under the stress, and some of which held but in which the sitter didn't. She was forced to close her eyes as the blood from one such crewman hit her face. But as bad as the experience was, it was nothing compared to the sound that issued forth as the two hulls collided and tore into each other. Rending metal that almost sounded like shrill shreak, as if the ship itself was screaming in pain. Explosions could be heard under the shreak, explosions from turbolaser batteries colliding and detonating, dealing even more damage to the two weakened hull.

Then with one final loud groan the two ships broke away, and the Sith could feel her body unceremoniously drop to the floor. With a now free hand she wiped the blood away from here eyes and opened them to get a look at the bridge. It was like a scene from a horror holo, bodies and body parts strewn about the deck, all belonging to the dead or dying. One such crew member was in front of her, his legs missing and reaching out to her, pleading for help. So she did the only thing she could, she lit her lightsaber and ended his life quickly, it was an act of mercy, or as close as Sith got to such things.

She stood and looked to make sure someone was still at helm, "Hyperspace, half second burst, now!"

The man didn't argue, didn't even hesitate, just activated the drive and sent them hurtling them into and out of hyperspace in the time it took to blink. As they emerged Peppa barked out orders, "Bring the shields down and start recharging them now. Give me tactical status, what's the condition of the hull?"

"Shields down and recharging," the tactical officer replied. "We've lost the entire port side of the ship, except for engines and hyperdrive. Hull integrity at sixty percent, weapons at twenty-seven."

"And the Crusaders?"

"Two Mon Cal cruisers down, one heavily damaged, both are taking up positions between us and the Star Destroyers bombarding the planet."

"Two? We must have exposed their engine core," Peppa said talking aloud to herself. "They must be withdrawing because we've lost what little threat we posed. The only thing we could do now is ram them, even then we'd only take out the two Mon Cals."

"There is another way ma'am," the boy responded. "If we overload our core and throw ourselves back into hyperspace we may be able to take out a couple Star Destroyers as well as the Mon Cals."

Peppa considered it for a moment. It was a foolish notion, it had no chance of taking out the threat entirely, but then again they never had, and if they could take out that many the M-wings might be able to do the rest. It would leave the crew stranded and easily picked off, but if the M-wings could finish off the last two SDs then the rest would probably break and run. She nodded, "Do it. Prime the escape pods, prepare the core for overload, and get me a lock on the Mon Calamari cruiser with the better status."

"On it ma'am," the tactical officer replied with a smile. "Core ready, pods primed," he said after a moment, "once we get the hyperspace lock we're good to go."

"Helm?"

"Can't get a lock," the halmsman replied, "something's interfering with the gravitational fields."

"Interdictor ten kilometers off our bow!" A surprised man yelled from across the bridge.

"What?!" Peppa responded, indignant and annoyed, "How'd they get so close?"

"They must have come in on our port, the sensors are down on that side from the collision."

"Can we outrun them?" The Marauder asked, directing her question back at navigation.

The helmsman shook his head, "We're down to one third drive power."

"Then the only way out is to fight," Peppa said walking forward on the bridge walkway with her hands behind her back. "Rotate us ninety degrees starboard, bring all working cannons online and target their engines, and tell Gold Squadron to get busy."

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

"We'll be fine he says, no need to give us back-up he says, they don't have enough Crusaders he says," Gal3rm ranted behind the Chiss.

"Oh come now Gal, you're a Force Warrior," Sarus replied with a smile, "this is what you signed up for, or did you miss the Warrior part of the name?"

"Force Warrior in training," Gal corrected, "technically I'm a normal Knight right now, and what's wrong with having help?"

"Trust me, they'd only get in the way," the Shadow responded.

Sarus could practically hear the man's eyes roll, "Yeah well I'd still rather have someone to rely on besides you. No offense man but you tire too quickly."

"Oh I think you'll be surprised just how long I can last when I need to," he replied still grinning. "Now prepare yourself, they're almost here."

"Speaking of which, how am I supposed to take them out? Nothing to throw in case you didn't noticed."

Sarus sighed and reach out with the Force, letting his awareness seep into the walls on either side of him, feeling the cracks and impurities. He extended his grip into the walls, imagining tendrils slipping into the invisible cracks and weaknesses, then tightening his grip and yanking both with the force and with his hands. The walls cracked and fell in around the Knight behind him, surrounding him with chunks of all sizes and shapes to throw.

"Happy?"

"How did you do that without destroying the foundation?" Gal replied, both impressed and worried.

"Carefully," Sarus replied. "I don't recommend hitting them too hard by the way." The sound of footsteps on pavement could be heard now off in the distance, but approaching rapidly, "One more thing. What happens here, stays between the two of us. Got it?"

Gal nodded, understanding the implied undertone perfectly. That what he might be forced to do would get very close to the dark side. It was something anyone trained so heavily in the Force would understand, especially if they didn't have a lightsaber. There were some things you just didn't tell the Masters.

"Do you know why Jedi don't use moves like Force Lightning?" Kami had asked in one of their many sessions.

"Because it is a power of the dark side," a younger, more naive Sarus had replied bluntly.

"Yes, but do you know why it's a power of the dark side?" Kami had persisted.

"No," Sarus had responded.

"It is actually very simple. No power in the Force is inately good or bad, it is the way in which they are used that makes them light or dark. Jedi use the Force for self defense and aiding those without the means to aid themselves. Sith use it for personal gain and pleasure. Any power used needlessly, or for personal gain is dark, this includes killing, and is the main difference. Jedi will not kill using the Force, but Sith will."

"That makes no sense. Jedi use the Force to anticipate and enemies move and through that are able to end their lives. Does that not constitue killing with the Force?" Sarus had asked.

"No. Using the Force in combat is a fine line. A Jedi uses the Force only to anticipate their opponent's move then use the lightsaber to kill, the same with a Push. A Jedi may push someone over a cliff, but that's not killing with the Force because the fall is what actually kills them."

Sarus had hesitated, "That's semantics. You still kill them with the aid of the Force, just one is direct, the other indirect."

"It's more a measure by which the philosophy works. As imperfect beings we have imperfect urges that bring us closer to the light or dark, most of this is simply in what you derive pleasure from. Regret killing, or kill only when necessary and you will remain light because you will never go in excess. Killing and liking it is different, if you like killing you will kill more, needlessly. And in that is where the measure comes, using the Force to end someone's life shows the power you have over them, and leads to a less rigid view of killing, eventually ending in darkness. Rely on your environment or your blade and it shows how imperfect you are, how much in err you can be and makes killing an act you don't wish to pursue."

Sarus had looked confused, but not over the explanation. That he had been able to follow. Instead he was confused as to the purpose of the explanation so he had decided to voice his confusion, "This is interesting Master, but what does it have to do with my training as a Force Warrior?"

Kami had sighed, "Because I'm about to teach you something completely against everything the Jedi teach. I'm going to teach you how to kill with the Force." Sarus had tried to speak but the Jedi had put up his hand to forstall questions, "This is not something you should ever use if you can help it, nor is it something you should tell to anyone else, but you need to know. You need to know because the day may come when you have no choice but to use it."

The Master had stood and walked away a few feet, hands behind his back and head hung low, "But you must always remember one thing. Never enjoy doing this, never give in to fear, rage, or blood lust. The moment you do, you will be lost to the darkness."

He had kept that in mind, never using the techniques if there was any other possible way, and he had succeeded many many times, but it was something that had to be done here. The Crusaders could now be seen as well as heard. There was a group of fifty running at the two Force Warriors, lightsabers lit, and the Force at their side.

"So what's the plan?" Gal asked, sweeping the debris he was about to use into a whirlwind so as to be ready when needed.

"Nothing too fancy," Sarus replied. He closed his eys extending his senses forward, letting the same tendrils he had used before, mix into the group, testing their defenses. Wrapping around those with little defense, ignoring those with too much, then he tightened his grip, both physically and in the force, imagining a fist closing around them even as his own closed. He brought his arms up to either side, lifting a fourth of the Crusaders into the air where they remained helpless until Gal3rm speared them with a barrage of debris.

The Chiss released his grip on them and concentrated his efforts up, reaching into the ceiling this time, and using the same method he had used with the walls, broke a large chunk off and brought it crashing down on the Crusaders too distracted or dim-witted to notice, crushing all in its path. Along him he could both feel and hear duracrete whip past him as Gal3rm continued pick off those not caught in the brunt of the Shadow's attack.

The Warrior opened his eyes and saw half a dozen Crusaders that made it past Gal's barrage and were closing rapidly on the two. Their sabers drawn they divided their efforts, two jumping, one dodging left, another right, and the last two coming directly at him. He closed his hands, Force Gripping the two jumpers, and hurled them into the two dodging around him, letting go just in time to duck one swing and spin away from the other. Gathering the Force in his hands as he moved, continuing his spin, he came in on the side and let loose with a powerful Push that crushed the men against the wall.

Grasping with the Force at the four men on the floor, he managed to get hold of their robes, then, yanking hard back, he pulled the men towards and past him, into the ranks of their allies. The sounds of the men being cut down for impeeding their comrades' paths didn't surprise the Chiss in the slightest. He expected the cruelty, had relied on it in fact. He turned to see the remaining half dozen be slowly picked off by Gal's continuing assault, until the first wave had all but vanished.

"That was intense," Gal said, breathing hard from the exertion and adrenaline, "I thought they had us for a moment."

"They almost did," Sarus responded, watching for the next wave. He reached out for the chunk of ceiling, reaching in to break it down into smaller more usuable pieces and pulling them back into Gal's whirlwind, adding to the Warrior's ammo. "How much longer can you last?"

"One more wave, maybe two," the Knight admitted, "if you've got any tricks you may want to use them now."

"I've got one," Sarus replied, "but I'll need a minute to prepare myself for it. You'll have to handle the next wave alone."

Gal3rm nodded, "I can handle it, but I'll be all but useless after this."

Sarus nodded, walking around behind the Knight to give the man a clear line of sight, "As long as you keep enough energy to haul both our asses out of here."

Sarus centered himself in the Force, drawing in power and calming it at the same time. He had learned long ago that there were methods one could learn to purify the Force of either Light or Dark elements. It was a technique used by both Jedi and Sith so they could remain just as powerful in areas strong in one particular side of the Force, but it was never meant to be used in concert. A purification that would eliminate both Light and Dark elements at the same time, leaving raw untapped Force. A gray area in the Force, which was exactly what the Warrior would need for this next move. It tread a careful line, one that if not balanced carefully, could destroy a user's body entirely.

He still had his eyes open, and so could see as the next wave of Crusaders rounded the corner, driving in much like the last one with a mixture of talents, skills, and powers. He could also see Gal3rm. The Knight was stopping his whirlwind and aligning the debris in a grid spread out over the entire width of the hallway, his hands were splayed as if he was trying to lift an invisible boulder. The Force Warrior stepped forward, cocked his hands back, then brought them forward with incredible speed, a speed the debris mimicked. One second the projectiles were there, the next they were gone, hurtling down with a supernatural speed that caught all in it's wake by surprise. The attackers were speared, beheaded, bisected, and ground into bloody pulps that showed little of what they had once been.

Only a group of five survived the barrage in any condition to fight, but didn't retain enough sense to run, and instead charged the Knight, not realizing, or not caring, that they were rushing to their deaths. Whatever their states of mind, it made little difference to Gal, he simply swept them all up in powerful Force Grips, and used the same throw he had used with the debris, this time sending their bodies flying and impacting into the wall at the far end. An impact that disintegrated their bodies leaving only bloody smears on the wall.

The Knight remained standing for a few moments before finally falling to his knees, breathing heavily, this time from the effort of using the Force for something so large. Sarus stood and walked over to the Warrior, patting his shoulder and walking past. The Jedi had done a good job buying him enough time, but now it was the Chiss' turn to live up to his end of the deal.

Sarus unlatched his lightsaber and ignited it. For a moment only sputtering could be heard, as if it was a vehicle that had been neglected far too long, then suddenly sprang to life, humming with the intensity only a lightsaber could produce. The blade was a dark forest green, almost black except for a few lighter tints around the edges, it cast a dark light that obscured more then it illuminated. It was a deliberate combination Sarus had decided on after reading up on Mandalorian armor, and what the colors of the armor signified. The black signifying justice, and the green duty. Kami had been baffled at the level of thought he put into the saber's construction given that the Chiss had never intended to use the blade. Honestly even Sarus didn't know why he had put so much effort into it, but he had.

The Force Warrior flipped the switch to stay on then slung the weapon at the ceiling, imbedding the hilt into the duracrete, and leaving the actual blade itself dangling. He could now hear the third wave coming, and knew he had only a few moments to compose himself before he would have to act. He drew on the energy he had been storing, gathering it into his arms and hands, subtly adjusting it to the right output before manifesting it in his palm.

His foes rounded the corner just as the lightning started sparking in his hands, building slowly so as not to arouse suspicion, waiting until they neared closer and the first of the group came underneath his lightsaber, then he let loose with a powerful confined beam of Force Lightning. But it wasn't aimed at the Crusaders approaching him, it was aimed at his lightsaber dangling from the ceiling. The energy coursed over the blade pulsing up and down faster and faster, with more and more lightning added by the second as he continued forcing the energy out. The Crusaders didn't even hesitate, then ignored the display entirely, choosing instead to angle at the prone Force Warrior.

When the lightning grew so dense that he could not longer see the lightsaber itself, Sarus cut off the flow and leapt back to avoid a swing that would have seperated his torso from his legs. He brought his arms down and splayed them out in a seemingly random gesture. Then a second later the Lightning released from the lightsaber, storming out in all directions with raw unstopable Force energy. The display continued for over ten seconds with no sign of diminishing, then just as quickly as it had appeared the storm ended and the lightsaber sputtered out and dropped to the ground among the chared bodies of his fallen enemies.

It was a technique Kami had taught him. Much more powerful then normal Force Lightning the attack relied on a lightsaber's conductive qualities to both catch and store the energy expended. It required a special power cell to hold the extensive charge so that the power could build to a critical level. Then when no more power could be stored, it could be overloaded and activated, firing an intense beam of lightning that would burn through almost any defense imaginable, even another lightsaber. A powerful and dangerous technique that could just as easily backfire on the user, but when done properly it was a terrifying sight.

Sarus called the lightsaber back to his palm and promptly collapsed to the ground, his drained body no longer able to support him. Then everything went dark.

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

Layfon flicked his staff to a single blade, parried one strike, ducked under the next, then stabbed the opponent on his right, and reactived the second side of his staff to impale the man to the left. Both fell unceremoniously to the ground, smoking hole where their hearts had been. The Sith'Ari spun and lashed out with a Force Wave in all directions to create a small area to maneuver in, then unhitched his two single lightsaber and whipped them out in a saber throw to cut throut a couple lines of Crusaders, and backflipped to land back-to-back with his only ally in the room.

"Having fun?" Champion asked as he batted away blades with one hand, and cut enemies open with the other.

"Eh, it's getting tedious," Lay replied non-chalantly keeping his staff up to deflect attacks.

"Probably about time to get out of here then," the Battle Master responded after ducking a partciularly close stab. "Shall we initiate Phase Two?"

The Sith smiled, "Sounds good." Without waiting for further conversation he dashed forward, low to the ground, sweeping his blade back and forth to cut a swath through the forces.

Champ let go of his blades, keeping them aloft with the Force and began spinning the lightsabers, both single sabers and his staff, to form a protective barrier around himself, and ran after the Sith'Ari. It was a form of telekinetic lightsaber combat that had it's origins in the Jedi Civil War, but one that was often considered impossibly difficult to use due to the heavy reliance on both Force power and knowledge of Lightsaber Forms. But it was something the Battle Master had long ago mastered for this very reason, it could protect him for a short time and given him complete freedom of movement.

His enemies didn't seem to care though, they continued their attacks, sometimes going so far as to jump at the barrier and getting themselves chopped to ribbons in the process. It went beyond relentless pursuit, this was a Form that was nearly impossible to penetrate, and often required multiple highly skilled combatants to break, these men were not so, and as such were just throwing their lives away needlessly.

Eventually Champ reached the fron of the room where Layfon stood holding off attack from multiple angles and still managing to look bored through it all. "'Bout time you got here," he said irritated. "Did you take the scenic route?"

The Battle Master reached out and grabbed his two single hilts again, taking physical control, while sending a telekinetic command to his staff to cut a way to the hallway opening behind Layfon. While his staff spun, the Jedi reversed grip on his singles, blocking a pair of overhead attacks, then ripped down and back to cut down the men behind him.

He saw his path finally clear ahead and dahed forward with astounding speed, reaching the hallway before any of the foes near him realized what he was doing. "Fon-fon, you may want to get in here soon," he said opening a panel on the side of the hallway. The hidden panel opened displaying four toggles, three buttons, and a small numerical keypad. As he waited for the Sith's response he flicked the four toggles to up and began entering a code into the key pad.

"I thought Jedi advised patience?" Layfon asked as he backflipped to the doorway.

Champ finished with the code and pressed the blue button, soliciting a constant chime from the panel speaker, "Iron does. I advise hauling ass," the Battle Master's hand now hovered over the third button, a large green one, direct center on the panel, "now are you coming or not?"

"Yeah, yeah one second," The Sith'Ari deflected another flurry of swings with his right, then let loose with Force Lightning to blow his enemies away. The man leapt back and nodded.

Champion didn't even hesitate, hit he the button and the blast door swung shut, locking the Crusaders out. They would be able to cut through the door in a few seconds of course, but they wouldn't have those few seconds. Barely a moment after the door shut, a series of explosions could be heard and felt coming from the Great Hall followed shortly by screaming and very load thuds that made the ground beneath them shake so heard the two feared it may actually give way. But it held, and the thuds trailed off a few moments after the explosions did. The Great Hall was now on giant pile of rubble, a last ditch effort in case they couldn't hold the Hall against the assault. Explosives had been set around key structural points around the Hall and wired to a control panel in the guest living quarters, if they so chose they could prime the explosives and blow them, causing the Hall to collapse in and kill anyone still inside.

"So who gets credit for that?" Layfon asked jerking his hand at the blast door.

"The person who set it up I guess," Champ shrugged.

"Dammit," Lay said kicking a loose rock that had made it's way into the hall they were standing in, "and I was only fifteen away from winning."

"Fifteen? You must be loosing your touch I only had ten left."

The Sith'Ari scowled at the Battle Master, "It isn't over yet," he said turning to walk away.

Champ followed after him, "Where are you going?"

"To cut an exit, where else?" Layfon answered kicking in a door activating a single hilt.

Champ rolled his eyes, "You are one stubborn bastard you know that?" The Battle Master ignited his own blade and plunged it through the wall as well, "When this is over I am so gonna kill you."

"Greetings Jedi," A padawan said in gasps, winded from what was undoubtedly a long run, "the Grand Master requests your presence. If you'll come with me," the boy motioned back to the door through which he had entered, "I'll lead you to him." When no one made a move to join him he added, "Time is a factor here gentlemen."

The three turned to Sarus as if asking his opinion, followed by the Padawan. "Go ahead," the Chiss said nodding to the Padawan and trying to hide his embarrassment. It was normal for people to continue looking to a team leader for a while after the mission was over, the mindset of taking orders took time to adjust back to normal. He should have known and still been in that mindset himself, but the shock of not knowing Dray as well as he had thought had shook his mind from any measure of leadership. "I'll catch up in a few minutes," he continued.

"We can wait," Ara replied.

Just then a tremor ran through the floor as if just to prove the Knight wrong. They all looked up instinctively to see what had happened, and even though they saw nothing, they knew what it was. The preliminary bombardment had started, and it wouldn't be long before the ground troops struck as well. "No you can’t" Sarus said answering Aragorn. "I'll be fine, I can catch up in a few minutes and Ptolemy already has my data chip." The Force Warrior waved them off and started up the ramp.

Ptolemy patted the pocket in which he had both data chips. During the run back to JvS he had disabled the virus on the data chips. Ptolemy turned to the young padawan.

‘Lead on young one’ Ptolemy said as he pulled on his chain mail gauntlets.

The Padawan turned and sped off with Ptolemy, Aragorn and Thing in tow. They ran from the hangar through the halls of the enclave. Past cargo bays, Long and deserted hallways, past a courtyard and into the garden at the center of the Enclave.

‘Aragorn, you have intel?’ Camus asked

Aragorn gestured to Ptolemy ‘My father and Sarus were able to infiltrate the Crusader base.’

‘Father?’ Camus exclaimed as he looked at Ptolemy, ‘That is a story I will be interested in hearing’

‘And I will be more than happy to relate,’ Said Ptolemy ‘Aragorn has not heard the entire story as yet.’

Camus nodded ‘Of course this will have to wait, get them to the command center. The attack has begun and there is much to do.’

The padawan nodded and stepped off the path prodding with his foot. He nodded as he found what he was looking for and tapped his foot in a rhythm. A large part of the path slowly rose from the ground and slid back revealing a set of stairs that disappeared under the garden.

‘Quickly gentlemen,’ the padawan said as he started down the steps from the main entrance there sounded the sounds of blaster fire and the hum of lightsabers.

Ptolemy indicated thing to precede them into the passage and looked toward the sound. The clash of battle grew louder as Ptolemy and Aragorn looked toward the west entrance as several crusaders leapt over the low wall separating the garden from the passage on that side. Camus ignited his staff and Aragorn his saber. Aragorn dropped into the familiar Soresu stance and met the crusader attack head on deflecting a overhand blow from a crusader and in the same motion caught a strike that would have taken his head. Fluidly he shifted his grip and brought the tip of his saber up and split the crusader open from his crotch up till his saber point exited about halfway through his chest. Aragorn changed the direction of his weapon and took the top half of another crusader’s head off just above his ears. Aragorn then back pedaled and looked toward Camus looking for more foes. There were none.

‘Looks like a couple of them got through;’ Camus observed ‘there will be more I am certain. You three get below. We will be fine here; Sarus should be along any moment’

Aragorn shut his saber off and followed his father down the steps. The padawan pressed a panel on the corridor wall and the path slid back over and lowered into place. He then stepped into a lift and, once everyone was aboard, he punched a button and said ‘Hold on’. The lift seemed to drop from under them falling at an alarming rate.

‘Gahhh!!!’ Thing shouted as he felt the sensation of weightlessness the others in the lift chuckled as his arms flaied around and he staggered a bit to get used to the rate of decent and keep his balance. Then the lift slowed and stopped flinging Thing to his hands and knees. Ptolemy reached down and helped the young knight to his feet and helped brush him off as the lift doors opened. Ptolemy looked up and saw a corridor leading off. The padawan again took off at a brisk jog that ate up distance quickly. After several twists and turns down corridors that looked identical they came to a doorway that it seemed they had passed many times before as there was not signage or and indication of where they even were. Inside the door was a command center bustling with activity, there were monitors showing views of corridors both choked with jedi and sith struggling against the crusaders and those that were seemingly deserted except for a view of the carnage that had been wrought in the struggle between the crusaders and the forces of JvS. On other monitors there were maps of various areas of the enclave with markers indicating Crusaders and JvS. The view of the maps was a cold and impersonal representation of the battle that was being waged above. The Grand Master of the JvS enclave, Ironrat stood studying the monitors and readouts shifting personnel other technicians were sending warnings to other JvS members that there were forces coming or ahead of their advance. As the trio entered the room Iron looked at them.

‘Chain mail? Realy?’ Iron asked Ptolemy in a matter o fact voice and shook his head ‘You have something for me?’

Ptolemy removed a gauntlet and his hand disappeared into the folds of his robe. His hand reappeared holding the data chips that the information had been placed on.

‘That is everything,’ Ptolemy said ‘The only thing I have done is remove the virus that we used to disable the Crusader base. Could probably use it again with the setup they have it may not be to difficult.’

Iron took the chips and passed them to a tech that turned and placed the chips in slots on the console.

‘This console is isolated from the rest of the system,’ the tech said to no one in particular, ‘there is no chance of the virus affecting any other system.’ Information began dancing across the screens of the console. ‘It will take a little while to sort through this but initially, it looks like this was just a satellite base camp or training facility. There will be some good stuff in here. Schedules and coordinates to several other bases.’

‘Do quick analyses then compress the data and send it to the other Jedi enclaves and Sith temples. That way, if we do not make it, they will have knowledge of this threat and so they know where they are needed.’ Iron looked at Aragorn ‘What of the other sith that went? Dawn or is it Dusk? I understand he did not make it back.’

Aragorn bowed his head ‘He followed Sarus and Ptolemy to the enemy base,’ he started

‘He was of great help to us but he fell and seems to have been captured sir’ Ptolemy related his brief foray into the bowels of the Crusader base.

‘I am not sure if this is good or bad.’ Iron said ‘I am confident in Dusk’s ability to be a pain in the ass but if he is offered something better…’ Iron looked up and speared Thing with his gaze ‘You need to get back to the surface and begin battle meditation to support our efforts. Aragorn, You and Ptolemy are set as guards. Keep Thing alive.’

There was a chorus of ‘yes sirs’ and the padawan escorted the three to a lift.

‘Hold on’ The padawan said as he pressed a button and the lift took off upward like a shot. The G-forces of the rising cabin staggered most in the cabin except for Thing, who used the force to stabilize himself. Thing grinned at his friends with a sense of accomplishment and Ptolemy chuckled to himself. The Lift came to a stop and the doors opened to reveal the landing bays.

‘Thing,’ Ptolemy said ‘Into the Chikita, we will be able to protect you there.’

Dray passed the Medbay and Cantina areas, slingshoting using the force to speed up, and headed towards the Great Hall area. He was now in the gardens in front of it, and slowed down his pace. Around the area there was little action, the few insurgences of Crusaders that had sneaked up the wall perimeters or holes were pratically devastated. But not without consequences, around the area were scattered bodies of both JvS and Crusader armies. The latter being in much bigger number. Still Dray felt a bit of faintness to the heart, feeling death around him. But unlike in Dantooine, he had to stay concentrated and fight the pain.Suddenly he looked forward. The Great Hall entrances were all locked up, and smoke was coming from beyond the first wall he could see. On the right side, a chunk of wall started to be pushed, and suddenly it exploded. From it, a red lightsaber appeared, held by the Sith'Ari, and following him was Dray's master, Champion.

He headed towards them, as they both were clogged in smudges and with slightly ripped robes.

"Well looks like you two had some fun." Dray spoke, approaching them.

"Ah Dray, you're here. Im glad to see you alive. How is the rest of the mission crew? Did you succeed in your mission." asked Champion, cleaning off some dirt off his clothes.

"Yeah we did...but not without some costs. They captured Dusk."

"Oh? Pity. He was a promising Sith. Very dark, very full of anger." spoke Layfon, in a light tone. As one of the Sith rulers, he reflected a expected level of uncaring for his brotherhood. Not totally, but mostly.

"Yeah well, whats up with that smoke?"

"Oh its just a little surprise we had installed for our most recent 'guests'."

"Ah. I thought i smelled something. Did you manage to hold them off?"

"Yes well, as much as we would like to stay more, we had to bail out. We cut off many waves, but there are still more coming."

"Ah i see...well let us show our guests some proper welcoming..."

"Ah i taught you well my old padawan."

"Indeed you did."

"How amusing." Layfon spoke, rolling his eyeballs.

Dray and the two leaders stood there waiting for the next flow of Crusaders to come.

"Say, where is Sarus Dray?"

"He's on the other side, doing what we are doing, accompanied by Galarm.."

"Sounds entertaining."

Dray clipped out his lightsaber, the mysterious package still on his back from when he left the Chikita.

"I see you brought that old thing into battle." spoke Champion, as he noticed the black container on Dray's back.

"Yeah well...i thought i might as well be prepared for anything..."

Suddenly from the Great Hall, a low rumbling noise started to grow.

"Oh goodie, more of em. I was starting to get disapointed." Layfon unhooked his single blade and turned it on, followed by Champ and Dray. From the hole they had come from, a red aura started coming, growing, until the aura turned into a flashing light, red as blood, but the feeling it gave was cold as ice. The Crusaders emanated from the hole, and as they started, Layfon unleashed a mirage of Force Lighting onto them, directing it at the hole, as it fried any incoming target that came there. The hole started crumbling, and another, bigger chunk of the wall collapsed, making a larger opening, from wich the enemy flooded in. They charged at the three, and in a instance, Champion and Layfon fired in flanks, left and right respectively, as Dray charged forward, his lightsaber horizontally in front of him. The Battlemaster reached the side, to cover and avoide that they surrounded them, as Layfon covered the right. The three jumped high. Dray swapped a saber to the side, wich flinged towards a Crusaders head, cutting it vertically in half before shutting down, as the same time Dray's blade cut off clean a head. He landed, crouching immediatly, and swinging his blade very fast in a spinning horizontal move, cutting 2 or 3 enemies by the waist who had been hasty to attack him from above. He stood up and fired a Force push in front of him, while parrying a blad that came down on him. The force push impaled a Crusader in his comrades blades, who proceeded to slash him off, and charge into Dray.

Champion was performing a kata perfectly made for when you are surrounded by 3 or more enemies. He swirled his blade horizontally, while performing a spin mid air, followed by letting the blade go out of his hand for a mere second and coming back, so it could hit one more enemy that was too far for physical reaching, before returning to his hand, as he turned to slice off a leg and then a head, using the impulse to turn yet AGAIN, moving forward bringing the blade down with strength on another reckless Crusader. He flurried while speeding in front of him, cleaning off a corridor of targets, as he ended with a powerful Force Push towards the ground, wich swept away into the air any enemies nearby.

Layfon was using Crusader after Crusader to throw them at his comrades, falling in their tradition of cutting their way even thru their own ranks to attack the enemy. He pulled his lightsaber in a upper movement, clashing with another blade, and using the lightweight of the weapon, quickly pulled it down on the Crusaders head. Followed by this, he ducked from a horizontal swing to his head, to wich he brought a diagonal swing that swept away the enemies arm, and then pulled to the side, cutting off his head, in less then a second. He charged more enemies with tons and tons of electricity, as he fired upon their ranks with Force Lightning, burning their organs and destroying them instantly.

The Crusaders kept pouring through the hole, in what seemed a non stop wave of enemies, that the three members of the Temple were cutting down quickly.

"Hey Master, you've been lacking in training? You used to be a lot faster taking out enemies eh?"

"AH, Dray, you should know better. Im just getting warmed up."

"Hey Champ." spoke Layfon as he jumped and landed on a Crusaders head, crushing it with his fall.

"What is it Fon Fon?" Champ said as he had ignited a second lightsaber and was now walking forward, slashing away bodies.

"Zero." Layfon said as he swept away a final Crusaders torso.

"Blasted! i had 2 left!"

"Wanna make another 100?"

"Deal" said Champ as he performed a butterfly move with his lightsabers forward, cutting off any enemies in its path, and as he finished it, he spinned quickly, using the Force to his aid, slashing anything in the path of his blades, even any blockings they could have made, in wich resulted half a dozen of bodies collapsing around him.

Dray had jumped in the air, and was now blocking blade after blade, followed by many jumps, practicing his Ataru in wich each leap was followed by landing a kill or more. Finding himself surrounded by multiple blades running at him, he lifted himself from the ground, ducking at the same time, and jumped to the side, swinging away his blade as he flipped, and the space he had occupied was now filled with bodies of the Crusaders who had impaled each others.

"LOOK MA, ONE HAND!" said Dray to Champion, as the Knight was now flurrying and attacking with only one hand, while the other rested behind his back. Three enemies lashed onto him at the same time, bringing down three blades to Dray, wich parried them all at the same time, holding his blade horizontally. Then, with the Force, he quickly pushed upwards, disarming the three foes, and landing a swing that chopped off the three heads.

"Dray stop fooling around and lets finish this up quickly before we get overwhelmed." Champ said, pushing a couple of enemies against a wall, landing them incapacitated by their broken bones.

"Oh ok...party pooper." Dray held his saber with two hands now, and was walking quickly forward, finishing off a dozen of Crusaders left around him, by slsashing diagonally up n down at the enemies, blocking any erratic attack that came towards them, and finishing off with the slashing.
Layfon swirled, moving at amazing speed, as a flood of enemies rushed at him, only to find the touch of his blade on their bodies, as the Sith'Ari used seemingly random swings and lunges, all while spinning, to destroy anyone who came in his way.
As Champion slaid one last Crusader, there was suddenly silence, as only his two blades humming could be heard, and in the distance two more blades. The wave had finished, and the Crusaders had stopped coming thru the breached wall.

"Well wasnt that fun."spoke Layfon deactivating his blade, and stepping over the bodies on the floor.

"Ouf...that was quite a sway of enemies there." Dray spoke sitting back on the floor, breathing with relief. He checked again for the torn on his jacket.
"Damn Crusaders have no consideration for people..."

"Awkward... very silent here. We should be on alert for more enemies. This wont last long. they must be gathering more troops to attack."

"Cant wait..."sighed Dray.

"And i can see you havent lacked in your lightsaber training my old apprentice."

"Ah yes. Cant forget the daily lightsword practice."

"Its good we came outside, much better for maneuvering that that stuffed old Hall." Layfon said, as he took a deep breath and waited along with the two Jedi.

"Now we wait?" asked Dray.

"Now we wait..." responded his master.

Red finally dismissed his council and waited at the door. He motioned for Seto to stay behind.

“Hey Seto, I was wondering--”

“When aren’t you wondering you old philosopher?”

“Alright shut it. Anyway I was thinking about going back and teaching the brothers companions how to hold there own in a full scale battle.” He noticed that Seto actually made himself look presentable for the meeting. His old Samurai outfit complete with gold trim, and his dojo hat from the old academy.

“Whats the occasion?” Seto asked, noticing Red had also dressed up, in full battle gear with Red trim and silver robe.

“Why do you keep asking stupid questions, you know the answer? First lesson we look like the warriors we are… Trained in the force and the blade.” Red was recalling his old days as a silent sword. Shadow in the dark. Days of undying and partnership with Seto.

“Anyway lets go. We through them in the only dorm rooms we have. You know how small this place is? Its freaking our dorms, the council room, and the dojo…” He spoke as they started walking down the hall towards border and Bg.

“What more do we need? Really, what part of, SMALL SCALE, didn’t you get hahaha.” Red was mocking him openly, all in good humor.

“I see your point, at least there’s no long walks like there were back at the academy.” Seto wasn’t very proactive unless needed.

__________________________________________________________________


Border and BG were back in the dorm room wondering what was going on. They had woken up late, Xzavier and Kelrock were both gone. The room was nicely organized, almost as if never used.

“On the bright side we can relax for a while. And were alive, who knows what’s going on back at the academy.” Border was simply pondering, wondering what’s happening to his friends at the academy.

“I think somebody is coming. Why can we never just sit back and take a day off…” Red and Seto knocked at the door.

“Come in.” BG said without thinking. “So where have you broth--” He cut himself off at the awe of the appearance of the residents in the rock. Looking like kings of old, shimmering in the small light of a lamp, With Red and gold trim looking like they were out of the movies.

“We aren’t Xzavier and Kelrock, I am Red Dawn, or simply Red, and this is Seto.”

“Hello, I am BG this is Border. Why did you come down here anyway?” Everybody noticed the annoyed tone of his voice.

“To train you and make sure you hold your own while keeping up with fighters far better than yourself.”
Seto said without any harsh gestures .

“We accept, Like we have anything better to do while waiting around.” Border responded completely sarcastic.

“Then follow us.” Red said as the two walked out the door.

BG shot border a glance, “Why did you accept again, we coulda had a day off?”

“Cause they look like gods of war, why not?” Border said as he got up and walked out the door, quickly catching up to the two warriors.

“The Dojo isn’t very far.” Red said as the party walked towards the dojo.

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


Daygall was enjoying himself while keeping Xzavier and Kelrock Completely puzzled as to what they were supposed to do. So far he had them accompany him across the vast, treacherous, desert. Learn the latest gossip to make sure nobody was onto the fact that a mini-enclave was nearby.

“Are we ever going to get anywhere?” The younger brother was wiping sand off his robes, a dull brown in the bright sun.

“Yes I’m sure of it lil’ bro.” Kelrock was also wondering what there mission was on this planet.

“Will you two stop complaining. Ill finally tell you what your goal is.” Daygall sighed, he was smart enough to dress light In the intense heat, only a light brown tunic with no trim. “Seriously, all I was ordered to do is prove that you two are still loyal to your friends… and, to put you threw a difficult trial.”

“Like?” Kelrock was getting irritated, they should’ve done this at the academy.

“Like killing clearing out a Crusader camp here. Actually the one nearest to the enclave.” Daygall was happy they finally would be able to return, they were all sweating heavily under the sun.

“Why couldn’t we just do that initially instead of doing your chores first? Xzavier said frustrated as he wiped the sweat off his brow.

“Cause then I would have to do my chores.” Daygall gave the younger brother a big smile.

“So where is ‘said camp’ by your enclave?” Kelrock was determined on finishing it off as quickly as possible. Something was calling him to make haste. He didn’t have a clue why.

“Follow me, ill take you to the rock that overlooks it.” Daygall said.

“Sorry did you say ‘rock’… I don’t see a rock anywhere?” Xzavier said as he turned and saw nothing but sand for unending miles.

Daygall gave a long sigh, He had always hated traveling with narrow minded people. “The crusaders aren’t stupid. You need to look for them to be able to see them. Now follow me and make haste!” He started to run underneath the beaming sun and blue skies. Quickly followed by the brothers.

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

The Dojo was filled with training dummies, poles, and markings on the ground. It was a fairly large room, not big enough for a school, but large enough for a family. Which was all the inhabitants needed.

“Lets see what you got.” Red said at Border as he stepped into the ring. Border went to draw his sabers, and was promptly told. “This is a dojo, not a academy, put those away and go over to that wall and choose two swords.” He pointed over to the far wall, which looked like it had enough swords to suit a army. All beautifully deadly, some were just for training, those had a dull shine, but others with the cortises weave in the smelting process were magnificent, and deadly.

Border walked over and took two twin swords, both with hilts that are dragon heads eating the blade, magnificently wrought from the finest of irons. Red Withdrew a long sword off his back, that had gems inlayed as a cross in the hilt, then the beautiful blade coming off the tip of the cross.

“You ready?” Red asked. Knowing that Border probably never fought with swords before.

“Ill try, but these feel weird in my hand, they don’t feel like the light sabers I’m so used to.” Red Smiled as he watched his sparring partner reach for the new blades. Anticipating these words, and smiling as he heard them.

“Alright lets go, Show me your best!” Red said as he took up a stance unlike any Border or BG had ever seen. He was walking gracefully around the ring, circling his pray. With his blade held out at arms length twisted as if he were to twirl for his first move. Border reacted by dropping into a shien form, showing clearly that he was waiting for Red to attack first.

Outside of the ring Seto turned to BG, “This will be a fight you want to observe, cause you will be sparring Red next, look to see if you can find a weakness.” Who were on a raised balcony looking down at the pair.

BG spoke without turning, watching in awe as the fighter took up a stance foreign to him. “Nothing happening but I’ve never seen anybody stand like that to fight before.”

“Just watch.” Seto said as he turned to see Red charge leaping in the air with a twist of his body as he jumped to the right of Border. Swinging with all his might into Borders blades. Border who had never seen a move like such before, didn’t know what to expect. He instinctively side stepped and turned to clash to reds back who forced his sword resting on his own neck as he spun to face him.

“Well done, I see you are trained as a fighter, but you don’t know what your getting into.” Red now had his own sword behind his neck blunt side facing, with borders swords trying to pull and seal the lock.

“Don’t I have you know?” Border asked, he knew it was to easy, having already pinned Reds sword to his neck.

“Fighting is a manipulation of the mind and weapon. Ask yourself, who is in control of this fight at the moment.” With a roar red spun sweeping his sword around his back disarming one of borders swords and knocking the other away, ending with the point at borders neck.

“HOW IN HELL DID YOU JUST DO THAT!?” everybody heard BG scream. Border had a completely puzzled look on his face. Just a second ago he had locked Reds sword behind his neck, then in one fluid motion had a sword disarmed and another brushed to the side.

Seto and Red just smiled. “There are many tricks to combat, you must think outside the realm of normality, you can do things in combat that are unreal, that trick did not involve the force at all, but when you put the force into play… You can be a incredibly deadly warrior.” Red explained.

“Border you have skill as a fighter, but I will show you the tricks to become a warrior who is unstoppable on the field. Now Its your turn BG.”

Border stepped out of the ring and went to put up the swords.

“Keep them, as a gift.” Seto said.

“You serious?” Border responded. As he was walking up to the balcony to watch the spar between BG and Red.

“Yes, keep them. God knows we have enough.” Seto said with a grin.

BG entered the ring and Red asked “Same thing as Border, go grab a sword.” BG walked over to the wall a picked out a long sword with a bronze hilt that appeared as a serpent with its tongue being the blade. He liked the way it rested in his hand and walked back over to the arena.

“I am ready now Red.” BG said as he instantly dropped into Djem-so stance, firmly gripping the sword with both hands. Walking slowing getting ready to charge. Red had taken his beautiful blade and held it with one hand gracefully spinning it occasionally as if baiting him. Holding it very relaxed and flexible.

Then BG made his move, A lightning fast roll aided by a leap from the force as he struck down over Reds head, Red who seeing this coming the second BG went to leap from the roll moved to the side and let BG cleave to air. Still spinning his sword baiting him. BG landed still in control of his actions turned to face his opponent who had rushed him while still twirling his sword with one hand loosely. Then out of nowhere he gripped it with both hands and twirled while crossing his sword across what would’ve been BG’s chest had it not been for BGs sword which blocked to strike at the last second.

Then Red continued as if not fazed by the block at all and spun to twirl threw his back, BG reflexively turned to block and meet the incoming blow but Red hit the floor and swept BG’s Feet as He hopped in the nick of time.

“Nicely done, you can react well, lets see how well you do offensively.” Red taunted beckoning for BG to rush him. BG came at him with a fast slice to cross Reds chest, Red simply back away to avoid the hit.

“Surely you can do better than that.” Red said still backing away from BG’s flurry of seemingly random strikes. Then as one of the strikes lashed out and as Red stepped back he dropped his sword and grabbed BG’s arm. Twisting it behind his back pinning him.

“What in Gods name??” Border said, slightly less shocked than BG’s yell. Seto and Red smiled again.

“Its just another trick.” Red explained as he walked over to pick up and strap his sword across his back. “So what would you say Seto. Start em off with the simple one two?” Red asked his friend.

“Why not, that seems like a great place to start for there skill level.” Seto responded, as he took border down into the main area of the Dojo.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After running for about a hour, Daygall sits down in the middle of a rocky outcrop. Followed by the brothers.

“This will protect us from the elements as we devise a plan. We can relax here.” Daygall said, as he took out his sword and began drawing in the sand. Sweating like mad like the brothers.

“So know were back to the good childhood draw in the sand days aren’t we.” Xzavier openly mocked, as he was laying down in the shade breathing deeply.

“You really that dull bro? you cant see he’s drawing what were going to be entering. See that’s then roof, theres the door, that’s a hallway-” Something hit him. “Daygall how do you know all this?” He asked.
“Follow me and ill show you.” He got up and walked to the highest tip of the outcrop. It gave a clear view of a other from that angle, invisible fortress. Its defenses were clearly its secrecy, Its entrance could barley be seen. Xzavier caught the glimpse of what looked like a window in the rock and spotted the seams in a rock where the door was.

“So this is what were invading? Doesn’t look to hard.” Xzavier said, happy to see such a small building in the rock.

“Too bad its floors go down and not up. What were going to do is simple. Go in, bang some heads, make sure were not noticed, bang more heads, disappear, reappear and steal as much Intel as possible, they have been too quiet recently for our liking, we think there planning something. And were going to find out what it is.”

“Remind me why I hate missions like these.” Xzavier complained. Realizing this mission was gonna be more hard work than fun.

“Cause you cant run and gun, we go unnoticed.” Kelrock replied, as they were walking back to the patch of sand where Daygall was sketching as much of the blueprint as he could recall scouting out personally.

“OK so this is the plan, see this room.” He pointed to a large square that forks into four wings. “that’s the ‘welcoming room’ as we term it, its where most the grunt work is done, its gonna have your receptionist, the likes, and a welcoming party just in case, getting past it unnoticed is the hardest part. This is what I was thinking, we enter separately, sneak around the shadows, then split in different directions using the force, at the end of each of the forks are elevators, its simple we hit the buttons for them to go down then he hop on top of it as the doors close, the we cut threw the roof to get to level two, I will take out the cameras, so I’m going the forward wing, Kelrock take right, Xzavier left. don’t mess with the side rooms, I’ve done this a hundred times so don’t worry about me taking forever to disable the cameras.”

“Phaze/floor two. We meet back up in the second large room, its like a meeting place to issue orders, then from there, ill show you where they have a elevator in the middle of the room, this is the second hardest part, somebody is gonna play dummy and empty the room while they chase him out of the building, that should be Kelrock, if he got cornered he would hold his own till we hit em from behind, down that elevator is where they have all there organization: schedules, Travel logs, ect. Then we haul ass out of there, and hopefully Kelrock had given em enough chase before he disappears in the rocks. Sound good?”

“I like it, I get the easy part.” Xzavier said, stunned at the simplicity yet efficiency of this plan.

“Sounds good, I get the hard part, but ill take it willingly. And I think you forgot to mention, we don’t activate light sabers unless absolutely needed, I’m sure Daygall will use his sword occasionally but we go in silently, I get to activate my saber when I give them something to chase. We take out only what we need to move forward and we do so silently.” Kelrock said, as he relaxed leaning against a wall while Daygall wiped away his hard work in the sand.

“We will relax here for a few hours, then we move. Get yourself ready to move quietly and kill even quieter.” Daygall sad as he lay down.

Thing, Aragorn and Ptolemy stepped from the lift. ‘Thing,’ Ptolemy said ‘Into the Chikita, we will be able to protect you there.’

Thing nodded and he headed up the ramp and into the ship. Ptolemy’s hand disappeared into the folds of his robe and brought out a small device. He popped a chip out of it and tossed it to the middle of the adjoining landing pad and pressed a few buttons on the device. The chip on the pad popped open and came to rest on a small tripod formed from the casing material and a red light began to blink. Ptolemy then looked back at the device and pressed a series of buttons an indicator light flashed yellow then a steady green. He nodded to himself and the device disappeared back into the folds of his robes.

‘I have summoned the Dawn Treader He told Aragorn Nice ship with some suprises we should be able to use in the defense of this bay’

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

Thing quickly walked down a passage toward the crew compartment. He stepped in looked for a moment and pulled a mattress from a bunk. Dragging the thin, he proceeded back to the engine room and threw the mattress to the floor. He then turned and secured the door from the inside.

‘If they get to this point it will not matter much I don’t think’ Thing said to himself grimly ‘but why make it any easier than it has to be?

Thing straightened the matress and sat cross legged on it, placed his hands on his knees and closed his eyes and began to meditate.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

Aragorn looked at his father. ‘They will be drawn to Thing like a moth to a flame’ he said ‘I am starting to feel the effects of the meditation now; it will not be long… There are 2 entrances,’ Aragorn gestured to the north side

‘True’ Ptolemy agreed and looked into Aragorn’s eyes ‘we cannot be drawn into duels. Dispatch as many as possible as quickly as possible, none can get by.’ Aragorn nodded ‘You must kill and disable with out remorse, with out hesitation.’

Ptolemy stretched his hand toward the north entrance as they heard shouts coming from the corridor. He projected the force into the cracks and imperfections of the wall there up to and into the ceiling. Feeling out the cracks in the ceiling Ptolemy began to tighten his grip and the wall and ceiling began to crack. The shouts became louder and were intermingled with the hum of light sabers as the first of the Crusaders burst through the doors. Aragorn leapt toward the south doors and Ptolemy yanked his arms down bringing the wall and ceiling on the crusaders trying to get into the hangar. Many of the crusaders were crushed beneath the debris that completely sealed the north entrance to the hanger areas. Ptolemy winced as those that were injured screamed. He held his staff flat in front of him and stepped toward the crusaders that made it in before the walls came down. Slowly he began to spin his staff as the crusaders rushed toward him. With the force, Ptolemy picked up several boxes and containers and slammed them into the group rushing toward him crushing several beneath them and leaving the rest with broken limbs and generally in effective. He then looked to the south doors and ran that way to assist his son

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

Aragorn heard the sounds of quickly approaching crusaders and saw his father stretch out a hand toward the north entrance. He turned to the south and, using the force, leapt to the door and assumed a classic Djem-So stance and immediately began attacking trying to hit multiple enemies with a single stroke with out unbalancing him self. He switched from Djem-So to Shii-Cho and back as the situation demanded. Aragorn relaxed, feeling the ebb and flow of the battle and those around him standing in the door and letting no one get past him. Ptolemy watched with more than a bit of concern. It looked as though Aragorn was taking some chances in the method of his defense.

One of the crusaders side stepped Aragorn’s blade and swung his saber at the head of his son. With out thinking Ptolemy reached out with the force and yanked him away from Aragorn and pinned him to the ground. Ptolemy walked over the crusader and stepped on the man’s throat, crushing his larynx and, ultimately, suffocating the man. Aragorn, focused on the fight at hand, didn’t notice the demise of the man. Ptolemy came to stand behind Aragorn ready to helping as needed launching a push there and griping a crusader that was getting to close. Soon the pair had to back out of the door and into the hanger. Fighting the pair back pedaled toward the chikita giving up every inch begrudgingly, the crusaders pushing for every inch they gained.

Aragorn’s light blade seemed to be everywhere, licking out to caress the crusaders almost gently but leaving the dead and dying in his wake. Ptolemy was spinning his staff in a web of defense and death, crushing skulls and breaking bones with extreme prejudice and a deceptive grace. Ptolemy threw up his arm in time to catch the blade of a lightsaber on the arm of his armor the chain mail stopped the lightsaber’s blade but the shock of the impact shook Ptolemy and almost broke his arm. The force of the blow knocked him back a couple of feet where he rolled and came back onto his feet.

Ptolemy jabbed his staff at the crusader and, using a technique called force fighting, hit him with concentrated force, breaking his jaw and throwing him back into the crowd where he was cut down by the group in a frenzy of destruction. Ptolemy struck again and again with his staff. Throwing the force attacks to all sides in an attempt to keep the crusaders from reaching the Chikita.

Suddenly a ship, The Dawn Treader, came in for a landing the thrusters sent many of the crusaders flying and the Antipersonel weapons on the ship began firing as it settled on it’s skids. The blaster fire caught the Crusaders by surprised and between the Treader, Aragorn and Ptolemy the remaining crusaders fell. Aragorn looked at his father the look on his face reflected the pain and suffering he had created around him.

‘Aragorn’ Ptolemy said trying to comfort the knight ‘these sentients were just as sane and lucid as you and I, some were Jedi most seem to have been Sith. The pain you feel from these was not created by you but it was ended by you.’

Aragorn nodded in understanding ‘There are just so many… I do not know how long I can do this.’

Ptolemy nodded as he walked over and picked up a light saber staff from one of the bodies. At one time it was an elegant and deadly weapon. Now Ptolemy had to wipe the blood and grime from its surface. He ignited first one side then the other.

‘We stand together in defense of this enclave,’ Ptolemy said as he tested the weight and reach of the weapon he had recovered. ‘We will do our duty and then we will do what is needed.’

Back in the front side of the temple, Champ, Lay and Dray were holding off another wave, this time a bit smaller then the previous ones, as they had cut down thru 2 already.

As Dray flurried his lightsaber leaping forward, spinning it vertically left and right, he entoned, and aided by the two leaders.

"Patty cake, Patty cake, ..." started Dray

"Baker 's MAN!" said Champ, force pushing three enemies away.

"Bake me a cake..." Dray chopped off an arm.

"AS FAST AS YOU CAN!" finished Lay, swapping off three heads at one swing.

And after a few more 'patty cakes', the wave was over, and more bodies laid on the floor. The garden was no more green, no more fresh, instead it was cadaverized, immersed in red.

"Well, time out..."

"I wonder how Peppa is doing up there." spoke Lay , as he gazed to the sky, watching the distant flashes of explosions and turbolasers being fired in the heated battle above.

He opened the door and glimpsed at his new room. It was nothing special, a dull gray room with a single bed, with a nightstand next to it and a medium sized desk on the far side of the room. On the desk was a small computer terminal that had access to the Crusaders’ databank

A door led into a small living room complete with HoloNet reception, small couch, mini-fridge and a plant.

“Jax, start downloading files off of the databa-” Dusk started to say before he remembered what happened “Right...”
 He opened the fridge to see what it contained inside only to find a few beverages and cold nerf steak.

“Well..I guess I'm heading to bed” Dusk said as he climbed in the surprisingly comfy bed and began to doze off

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

“What do you think you are doing?” a voice said in Dusk's dream “Remember that I am in this body as well!”

“..What?” Dusk said as he found himself on a circular area with the Twilight's family crest embedded in the ground emitting a soft rays of light as it glowed throughout the darkness
(I'm going for a Kingdom Hearts dive into heart moment)

“What do you think you are doing?” the voice said as Dusk turned around to see Dawn standing there in white robes with two sabers hanging from his belt.

“Becoming stronger” Dusk replied

“Why do you think you can do as you please? This is my body!” Dawn said as he launched a force wave at Dusk catching him off guard with the ferocity of the attack, knocking Dusk off of the platform falling into darkness. Dusk slammed into the ground of what appeared to be a similar column in the darkness but this time with images of Dawn and him embedded in it, again emitting a soft glow.


“Are you trying to get us killed?!” Dawn said appearing in front of Dusk once more

“As long as I am here, this is MY body and I make the decisions, not YOU” Dusk said as he ignited his saber

He charged at his alter ego slashing diagonally to do as much damage as possible. At the last moment Dawn ignited one of his two lightsabers emitting a emerald green glow and blocked Dusk's attack, then switched into a Soresu stance waiting for his opponents next move.

Dusk switched to his normal Djem-So style and began slashing away at Dawn only to have each attack blocked. A barrage of lightning was sent at Dawn, who caught it on his lightsaber. While He was busy with the lighting Dusk charged him going in for a fatal slash maintaining the barrage. Dawn ignited his second sapphire blue blade and deflected the attack, while also pushing Dusk back. He unleashed three force waves at Dusk then charged at him. Dusk deflected each of the waves and then slashed at Dawn in order to catch him in the middle of his charge. Dawn flipped over Dusk twirling around and slashed at his back. Dusk spinned as well and kicked Dawn midair in the neck sending him off of the pillar falling into the darkness.

Dusk charged off the edge after Dawn sending a barrage of force blasts after him.

He caught himself on his hands flipping backwards hoping to dodge the blasts and regain his stance.

Dusk landed feet first on the new Pillar which displayed all Dawn's friends and allies. He charged at Dawn only to be knocked back by a kick to the chest.

Dawn settled into a Jar'Kai stance awaiting Dusk's next move. Dusk unleashed a barrage of diagonal and vertical slashes at Dawn only to be blocked and deflected by his Jar'Kai. Dawn then unleashed a wave of alternating Horizontal and Diagonal fans at Dusk forcing him to retreat into a Soresu style defense. As Dusk struggled with blocking the blows he waited for a opening then kicked his opponent back and used a shun maneuver to gather up some power to knock Dawn back some more. The attack worked and Dawn was knocked back, and was wide open.

Dusk attacked him with a more concentrated burst of lightning and then sent a force wave knocking the now fried Dawn off of the pillar.

Dawn was helpless as he plummeted to the ground and landed on another pillar, unable to move, his lightsabers landed next to him, shorted out from the barrage. The image of this one was of a Master, emitting a brighter glow then the rest of the pillars thus far.

Dusk landed on the pillar feet away from Dawn

“Well, it seems like your attempt to regain control has failed” Dusk said “Sadly, this was your last chance” he said as he summoned up another barrage of lightning.

“Die.” he said unleashing the wave of blue energy only to have it blocked by a blade

The blade belonged to a man in a cloak which hid his identity from the combatants, although Dusk knew this presence.

“You!” Dusk said

“This body does not belong to you, Monster.” said the Man

“The dead have no say in this fight” Dusk said “Leave.”

Dusk charged at the man with a powerful downward slash only to have it be deflected and him knocked back. Dusk dodged the man's next attack by flipping backwards and then slid into Soresu again as the man unleashed a more powerful and mastered Jar'Kai upon him. Dusk was taken back and losing the fight having all of his force and physical attacks deflected or blocked.

The duel ended with the stranger's blades cutting across Dusk's Torso.

------

Dusk woke up in a cold sweat from this dream realizing that it was only a dream.

Dusk walked over into the restroom attached to the quarters and began washing his face in cold water. He looked up into the mirror and saw the X pattern cut in his robes from the duel in his dream.

“After my training is complete, you won't be able to protect him” Dusk said knowing he was watching.

--------

Two Plasma bolts flew at the guards outside of the complex killing them instantly.

“Stupid Meatbags.”

A metallic hand grabbed their key cards and let himself in to the Crusader's complex.

Moving through as a regular protocol droid looking for a data terminal.

Data is required in order to rescue his master.

The terminal was hacked and security codes, blueprints and everything else important uploaded to main memory core. Metallic feet walk down the hall in search of his target, no where to start but the cell blocks.

Reports of Crusaders being found dead throughtout the complex and seemingly no one to have done it. Prisoners killed in their cells. Crusaders killed. Security footage erased.

No sight of his master. This might take a while thought the droid.

“You, protocol droid, we need you to translate what this prisoner is saying for our interrogation” Said a Crusader

“Reply: Of course sir” Responded Jax

The Prisoner was a enemy Dark Jedi, but not like his master at all. Weak, helpless and afraid for his life.

“This one is nothing compared to the Dark One's new apprentice” one of the interrogators said outside of the cell

“I still cannot believe he would take someone who has killed countless Crusaders for fun” Lehel said

“The Dark One must see something else other then a monster in him” The Interrogator said

This must be my Master they are discussing about Jax calculated as he walked away from the Crusaders who were in no more use of him.

They shall pay for separating him from his Master.


----------
He dreamed about his life since he joined JvS, The friends he made, the battles he had fought in, how he lost his arm and a dear friend. How this monster took control of his body and his losing fight to regain control.

Dawn awoke on the pillar unable to move most of his body

“I...I'm alive?” He said “Did he spare me just to torture me?”

Dawn then noticed a familiar object on the ground a few meters away. He had not seen this object for a few years, when he was a Padawan.

“I see...” He said “Thank you.”
------------------------

The Next Morning....

A knock was at the door waking Dusk up from his nightmares

“What do you want!” he yelled throwing a small force wave at the door.

“My lord, The Dark one requests your presence in his Private Training Chambers” Said the Crusader

“Now?” Dusk asked

“Yes My Lord, he wants you to wear the training garments in the dresser” The Crusader responded

Dusk looked down at his damaged robes. Blaster singes, light marks, dirt and grime from being dragged into the crusaders complex and blood from all of the fun he had being “interrogated”

He went over to the dresser and took out a simple training outfit, a Black with red trimming tunic and pants, along with taking the shoes off of the dresser top. He put on the outfit and met the Crusader outside the door

“Ready” Dusk said

“This way My lord” The Crusader said

– Outside of The Dark One's Chambers -

“In here please” The Crusader said stopping and moving over to the wall ask Dusk passes him

Dusk beginning to open the door as the Crusader ignited his saber and attacked Dusk. Dusk dodged the saber and then immediately caught him in a force grasp and crushed his body in.

“Hello apprentice” The Dark One said

“What was with that assassin!” Dusk yelled
“That was just a simple...Quiz for you” The Dark One replied “Have to keep you on your toes after all.”

Dusk glared at him not letting his guard down.

“Well, shall we get started?” The Dark One said leading Dusk into a room with a weird looking device.

“This is called the Embrace of Pain, it was used by the Yuuzhan Vong as a sort of...Meditation” The Dark One said.

“It can turn the Nobelist of Jedi into Sith.” He explained “And that is why we are using it. To get rid of the Light in you.”

“Right...” Dusk said

“well, it seems that you will be gone before my training is over...” Dusk said to Dawn

“Step in it please.” The Dark One said hooking Dusk up “You might feel a slight...Pinch”

Dusk screamed in Agony as the device was turned on

“Use the pain to destroy the Light in you and then get out of the device.” The Dark One said “This is your first test.”

-----

Bones cracked as a Metallic being snapped the neck of a guard in the Security Camera Room

Robotic hands searching through countless camera feeds looking to find his Master.

A scream of Agony coming from a familiar voice

“Aggressive Statement: You shall not harm my Master any more!” Jax said as he ran to the coordanites in the complex his Master was being tortured in.

----

More Screams of Agony are being emitted from The Dark One's chambers frightening all of the Crusaders who happen to pass by in the corridors. Scared of what could ever emit those horrible sounds and the agony spreading throughout the Force.

“Use your Pain, Suffering and destroy your Light!” The Dark One yelled “Crush your weak side and become a true Sith!”

--One Hour Later--

“You don't seem to be making any progress...” The Dark One said “Allow me to help” as he tried to enter Dusk's mind he was instead given a vision of a Man in Jedi robes with two lightsabers on his belt. Along with a distinct mark in the Force.

“You shall not have this one” The man said

“You...You are the one that our Destroyer took care of..” The Dark One stated “Hiding from death are you Jedi?”

“I am one with the Force. You cannot harm me” The Man said

“I cannot harm you, but I can harm this boy” The Dark One said “There is nothing you can do”

“You may be right, but there is something someone else can do” The Man said as the vision started to fade away and The Dark One was back in the Chambers with a screaming Dusk

“Someone Else?” The Dark one said as a Plasma bolt melted the entrance followed by a barrage of blaster fire disabling the embrace and causing Dusk to drop to the floor.

“Statement: I have come to save you Master!” Jax said as he fired a Plasma bolt at The Dark One only to have it be knocked aside into the wall by a force push

“Whats this? A Toy of yours?” The Dark One said destroying Jax with a concentrated bolt of Lightning

“Jax!” Dusk yelled igniting his saber and attacking the Dark One with a force amplified swing

Dusk was knocked back against the wall in a powerful force grasp

“I'm sorry, but my Apprentices aren't allowed to have 'Toys' to play with” The Dark One said sending Jax's inoperative body into the wall “I'm the only one who gets 'Toys' and he broke mine”


---Hours Later---

“SYSTEM REBOOT COMPLETE” Sounded Jax's internal systems

Jax awoke among a pile of scrap metal from destroyed droids, buildings, ships, vehicles, anything and everything. Making the area look like a small version of Raxus Prime

“Pledge: I will save you Master” Jax said

---End---

Duece is a nickname for the second class of Imperial Star Destroyer.
________________________

"Shields are down General!" The tactical officer screamed over the din of claxons and explosions that had once been far off, but were now getting closer with each passing minute. The ship was lurching back and forth from the impacts it was sustaining and the enertial dampeners had begun failing long ago.

"I noticed," Peppa replied. The Marauder had been thrown to the ground as she approached the helm to take over navigation for the now dead officer who was lying on the ground beside his post, neck wrenched at an unnatural angle. She gripped the railing and hauled herself up, using the rail to steady her as she made her way to the seat.

The tactical officer continued, "Hull integrity down to twenty-four percent, we've lost decks eleven through twenty, and five through eight." The ship shook again as if to emphasize the man's point, "We're down to three weapons emplacements and the sublight drives are completely offline."

Peppa pulled herslef into the seat and strapped herself in, she couldn't afford to concentrate on both the Force and navigating the ship. She needed all the help she could get at this point. The Marauder studied the console for a moment to get acquianted with the contorls then fired the maneuvering thrusters to rotate the hull away from the incoming fire, hopefully it would give them a few more minutes of life, "What about them?" She asked as her hands flew over the console to execute the turn.

"One interdictor is dead in space, coutesy of a lucky shot on our side," the officer replied with a grim smile, "it's no threat to us now."

"And the other?"

The man shook his head, "Still at full power."

The Marauder bit her lip. With so little fire power and the hull on the brink of collapse, they were no match for the Interdictor, even dated as it was. If they continued, all they would succeed in accomplishing was their own destruction, the logical course of action would be to retreat, regroup, and plan a new strategy. Yes that would be the logical thing to do, but logical wasn't always right, at the moment, if she left, the Academy would have no chance of winning. Even if she did stay there was little chance the Temple would survive the assault, but they could improve the odds slightly in thier favor.

"Sound the evacuation alarm," Peppa brought up the engineering panel and started typing in comands, "we're abandoning ship."

Her tactical officer, the only one aside from herself still alive on the bridge, just stared at her as if she had grown a second head, "Abandon ship ma'am?"

The Sith General didn't turn to look at the man and just continued her work, "I'm going to overload our core, detonate it. We can't win, but we can take more of them with us. Make them pay for their victory."

"There has to be another way ma'am," the man was shaking his head in disbelief, "the starfighters could-"

She slammed her fist down on the console so hard she drew blood, silencing the man. Slowly she uncurled her hand, and spun in her chair to face the officer finally, to look the man in the eye, convey the severity of their situation in a way words could never do. "We have no starfighters, we have no defense, we'll be lucky if we hold together long enough to detonate this ship and blow that interdictor away," she heaved, still angry and trying to clam down. "Now do as I say, or get off my bridge," The Marauder turned back to her console and continued the sequence that would send the ship's reactor into a meltdown cycle, eventually resulting in an overload. It was the only way she could produce a self-destruct on a ship that had none.

Behind she could hear the officer shuffling his feet, thinking about what had been said to him and deciding what to do. She couldn't necessarily blame him for questioning her, self-destruct was always a last resort and something no one wanted to accept, much less face, but there was no other option. She'd be damned if she let those bastards destroy her ship and get off scot free. She heard the officer go to his console and bring up communications, sounding the evacuation order as instructed, a tone of both exasperation and resignation. The man obviously didn't want to give the order, but he felt duty bound to do so.

"What can I do for you now ma'am?" He asked after he finished issuing the orders. A new claxon now joined the myriad others going off in the ship, but this one made specifically to draw the most attention, even with all that had gone wrong on the hsip and all the warnings that had gone off, this one drew her attention at an instinctual level.

"Get to an escape pod," she ordered putting the final touches on the self-destruct and entering it into the system. Aborting would be impossible now, even if she had changed her mind.

"Are you coming with me?" He asked, tone hopeful.

She shook her head, "My place is here, if something goes wrong I'll have to deal with it. Now go."

The man made no attempt to move from his post, "With all due respect ma'am, I'm your first officer now, and my job is to look after you're well-being. Let me do this for you," he pleaded, as subborn as he was loyal.

She turned her head slightly able to see the man out of the corner of her eye, "I'm not leaving, boy," she turned back to avoid meeting the man's eyes. "Save yourself."

"Then neither am I," he replied resolutely.

Peppa could only smile at that. She had gotten most of the crew killed in an effort that, in the end, would accomplish little, but the men and women on this ship were still loyal to her, to the very end, "Very well mister..."

"Drist," the man supplied.

"Mister Drist," she was relieved in a way, she may have been a Sith, but she didn't wish to die alone. She wondered when that had happened, "continue strafing fire across their bow. Can't well let them know we intend to blow ourselves to Xendor and take them with us now can we?"

"No we-" the officer suddenly stopped and looked at his console closely, slack-jawed, as if he must be reading what he saw wrong. "We may not have to ma'am." He looked up and out the viewports in front of him, awed to the point of silence. Peppa turned to see what had captured the man's attention and in turn was left speechless.

Ahead, just outside the viewport, a fleet of ships had emerged from hyperspace just a few dozen kilometers away. The three cruisers and three frigates opened up on the interdictor they had been so close to taking out themselves. It took only seconds for the interdictor's shields to be overwhelmed, leaving it's hull vulnerable to fire that raked across the surface turning durasteel to slag and weapons to molten craters a mere shadow of their former selves. Then with a tremendous backlash, the entire ship collapsed, exploding outwards, ballistic shratnel bouncing off the attacker's ships and tearing into the first interdictor, ripping the derelict to pieces. Whether by design, or by the grace of the Force, very little of shrapnel hit the Power and what little did didn't appear to effect the ship's working systems.

The entire display had taken less then half a minute to start and finish, all the while both bridge crew members watched in shocked disbelief, only looking away when the explosion became to bright to bear, and only reluctantly at that. "I hope they're on our side," Peppa commented into the silence that ensued, and it took her a few moment to even get her mouth to work that well.

Drist, however, was reading his console, one hand cupped to his ear as if to hear a particularly garbled message, "Getting a holo comm ma'am." He fiddled with the controls, "Cleaning it up." The man jerked back as if he had been hit, then looked at the Sith General, a smile, a true smile, playing across his face "You're not going to believe this."

The viewport in front of her shimmered for a moment and buzzed with static that slowly faded to show a man in long Jedi robes standing with his hands on his hips, a man the Marauder knew all to well, "Hello Miss Peppa," the Jedi said bowing deeply, "I heard you could use a hand."

"Ba... Bazariel?" She couldn't quite believe what she was seeing, "I thought you were dead."

The Sentinel smiled sadly, "Yes, I know. Sorry for taking so long, but I had to ran into some friends on the way that wanted to help." Bazariel waved to a man outside the shot and the view screen suddenly resolved into a six pieces, each with a different man framed there, "Top level, beside my own image from left to right are two DAJ Masters, Mazik Darza and Kell Osiac. Bottom level are Warriors Anshin, Red, and Seto from a small Academy on Tatooine."

Peppa nodded at each name in turn to show them a level of respect, but not bowing as would normally be considered proper. These men were her equal, so it was unnecessary, and all were Jedi, she felt she had to represent the Sith to them, show them they pulled their own weight and more, "Glad you guys decided to show up," she said careful to moderate her voice between gratful and firm, "We didn't have enough time to repair the Power so we'll need whatever you can muster."

The man named Red spoke up, "Our Temple is in possession of three Ardent-class frigates, they are not powerful ships, they are meant for quick strikes, but we'll do what we can in terms of fire-power."

The Dark Angel Master Mazik spoke next, "Since our last incident we've revamped our own space forces," the man crossed his arms, "we possess two MC-90 Mon Calamari cruisers. We can hold our own against their forces, but these are primarily defensive ships."

"And we haven't finished repairs either," Bazariel reported, "we've managed to repair shields, and most of our turbolasers are opperational, but we're still down two engines and our hull integrity is much lower then I would like."

The Marauder sighed and draped her hand across her face. They were help, she couldn't deny that and she was grateful for any assitance they could get, but it didn't stop her from wishing for more, "So in other words this will still be a tough fight."

The Sentinel nodded solemnly, "I'm afraid so, and our sensors show your reactor is beyond repair as well. You'll need to jettison yourselves and let us take you aboard."

"And I lose my ship on top of it all," she slumped back in defeat momentarily, she knew when she entered the command that it was too late to stip it, but she still cursed the inoportune timing. Nothing to be done by complaining, gotta make the best of it, her head snapped forward and she started entering commands on her console. "Well they won't get me without a fight. Our sublight engines are down, but the hyperdirve still has enough power to make on final jump."

"You're not seriously going to make a suicide run?" Bazariel asked, brow lifted in surprise at the sudden decision. The man may have been a High General, but he didn't think in terms of taking out enemies at all costs, he thought like a Jedi first and foremost. He would rather save resources then use them to destroy an enemy, it made him good at gathering allies and coordinating forces, but horrible at seeing the hard decisions that had to be done. Even when they stared him in the face.

"Don't be an idiot," the Sith General replied as she finished typing and stood, gathering together what little dignity she had left as a General, "my ship is going to make a suicide run."

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

Thing centered himself in the Force, letting his mind calm, letting his senses expend. The world seemed to fall away from him, stripped of all meaning with nothing to distract or hinder his progress. Slowly he added materials to his senses, life at first, feeling the flow of it through the myriad of organisms around him, then he began sensing the objects, those things not imbued with the Force but could still be defined by it, then, finally, he added flows in the Force.

The people around him showed up as sillouettes, blank slates that he could determine the strength and intention of, the better the intention the bluer they became, and the worse the intention the redder they became, the brightness of those colors was determined by the strength of the person so the weak would barely register, while the strong would be a beacon. He focused on the minds of those near, their intentions showing up immediately to his all-encompassing gaze, unable to hide their true desires from the technique.

It would take time to reach everyone in the Academy, and already he could feel a mass of faint red masses coming towards two blue, one a vary vivid blue, and the other a much darker shade, but against all logic the dark one shone much brighter in the Force. It took a moment for the Knight's mind to catch up to the fact that these were his protectors, people that needed his help very much, and as soon as he thought it, he felt his prescence, something he saw as a white haze, settle over the two, connecting them on a much deeper level then possible under normal conditions. They wouldn't notice the effect so much on a conscious level, but on a subconscious level they would be much more in tune with each other's moves and intentions.

Satisfied his two guardians had been properly backed-up he reached out again, expanding his senses once more, but still keeping a connection between the two Jedi. The objects around were like a grid, a pattern of lines inside outlines that told him how thick or dense a material was, as well as overall size, but wouldn't obscure his senses. This was the simplest of his tasks, something in which he could just throw his senses out and they would report back at a subconscious level.

Suddenly the view in his mind's eye became sharp and clear, an outline of everything near and the positions of the organisms around him found perch on the mental map he was forming. The sudden definition in the map gave his sense much more direct paths to follow, way to extend that would speed up his ability to sense the enemy numbers, as well as the JvS forces arrayed against them. Even the Sith JvS would appear as a blue gleam in his perception, their drive to defend themselves and their allies a good intention whether they realized it or not.

Finally came the hardest part of his mental image, mapping the flow of the Force. The Force, by nature, or by design, acted haphazardly, so much so that few ever truly sensed the depth of it. So much of the power went to waste, even when used by a Master, because the power could never be fully contained, only directed and channeled like water coming through a hose. It was this wild flow that made sensing so difficult, discerning a normal, natural Force energy and a projected energy was a subtle affair and required carful attention to both the overall flow and the flow in specifics areas.

Slowly though, even this became clear. A yellow wave appeared for those using darker powers, and a green for those centered in the light, while ambient flow showed up as a purple mist. And as he felt the people, felt the energy, discerned the good and ill intentions of those around him, he dispersed his own influence into it, a white haze on a canvas of chaotic power. He reached inside the minds of the Academy, identifying JvS and Crusaders, inspiring his allies, and discouraging or maddening those arrayed against his friends.

Then he went deeper, immersing himself inside the minds of those he had contact with. At first he was flooded with images, and voices, so many, so loud, so random and chaotic that it nearly overwhelmed him, but his better instinct kicked in and he began sorting them into groups. First good and bad, then inside and outside, then front and back, then areas, then groups, then finally individuals. He reached out to his allies, connecting all of them into a subconscious meld, those near gaining a stronger connection and knowledge then those far off who would gain only a vague sense of their comrades.

"Now for the hard part," he knew he was only thinking but his voice came across as one spoken, albeit one inside his own mind. The final part of Battle Meditation, and the one thing that made it so effective wasn't so much the connection of allied minds, but rather the disruption of enemy minds. With the proper control, a user of the power could scare an army into retreat, confuse minds, blind senses, and in extreme cases, even drive an invading army to kill themselves.

Thing sharpened his senses, penetrating the barriers of and immersing himself in the minds of the Crusaders. Some were easy, a simple veil to be pierced by anyone who truly wanted to enter their minds. Others were much more resistent to the intrusion, erecting barriers so strong that it took constant pressure to break through, and still others were impossible to penetrate, having brought a very powerful defense to bear. The Knight wasn't even sure that, focusing solely on those few, he could successfully intrude into their minds.

He concentrated on the Crusaders he had broken, and this time, when the flood of images came, he was prepared, sorting through them with little effort. As before he organized them into areas, then plunged his own attack down on them. He focused on their concentration, imagined his own attack as a spear and their concetration as a sheet of glass, then he plunged it in causing it to shatter. Through his mind's eye he could see many of the enemy slow and falter, no longer sure of their place or purpose, and just as quickly cut down by opportunistic Jedi and Sith.

The Knight reached out farther, plunging himself into the minds of those reinforcing the Crusaders, but this time planting thoughts, notions, emotions, things to rattle their minds and cause discord where none would normally exist. He could feel their anxiety grow as he spread his perception out farther and farther, taking in more and more and driving those same nagging doubts into their minds.

Their panic rose, growing more and more frantic with each passing second, then, at the right second, he planted a single word into the minds of everyone he had effected. Run. He felt the red dots of men and women, saw them flee in a panicked rush for any transport they could find. The panic would spread on it's own now, much faster then he could influence it, and he had little doubt that eventually all of the Crusaders would evacuate for reasons they themselves could not pin down.

At least that's how it should have gone, but the panic did not spread. And those retreating were instead cut down by troops farther back in line, troops whose minds were well guarded. Much more so then any other he had encountered on the battle field so far. "These are the troops I first expected when I heard of this army," Thing thought to himself. "People trained and fully competant in the ways of the Force, but still insane from the person who corrupted their minds."

Then a terrifying thought struck him, something so discouraging that for a few minutes the Knight couldn't bear to accept it, but ultimately something he had to accept. This was their main force, everything leading up to this had just been canon fodder. The true fight had yet to begin.

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

Spanish sat on the edge of the desk in the antechamber of the Dark Council, one leg hanging down, one layed out, and bored out of his mind. He wasn't hiding, he wasn't running, he wasn't catching his breath, he was just waiting. Waiting to be told he was needed by the one person he should have opposed the most. What have I turned into? I'm the Dark Lord of the Sith, quite possibly the strongest warrior in this Temple, and I have to wait for the Grand Master's permission. It galled him in a way, but the logical part of him understood the need, they had to wait until they were needed most. Only then would they be truly effective.

The Sith toyed with his lightsaber idly flipping it up and down, around his hand, between his fingers. Anything to keep his mind off waiting, and he wasn't the only one. There were three other Sith in the room, all Overlords, arguably the single most potent force in the Academy. Leaning against the wall to his left was Behalok, a young man all rage and power, the Sith perferred lightsaber combat over Force techniques, a rare type of Overlord who's true strength actually was in his skill with a blade. In the center of the room, floating a meter above the ground, was the oldest of the Overlords, Servilous, a man in his late thirties, as opposite from Behalok as possible. This Sith relied heavily of his Force powers and was powerful in the sense that he had the wisdom and knowledge to accomplish what most never could, even with raw skill. And finally there was Neliel, a young woman and so far the only woman Overlord the Academy had ever trained. She was less a person of dedicated use and more a person of overall skill, able to use the Force and her lightsaber interchangably, but seldom reverted to Force. As she put it, it was the easy way out. Right now she was reassembling her lightsaber with a new set of crystals using the Force and nothing else.

The comlink at the Dark Lord's belt beeped, indicating he had in incoming call from someone. He caught his saber on the next throw and reattached it to his belt, drawing his comlink into his hand as he brought it back up. "Our Force Warriors are done, it's your turn," said a calm old voice issuing from the comlink.

Spanish pushed himself off the desk and began walking out of the antechamber, the cadre of Overlords following in his wake, and he thumbed the mic on, "It's about kriffing time," he answered annoyed and impatient from the time he had spent idle, "remind me again why you let them go first? You know Sarus is unreliable when it comes to extended conflicts." The group was now in the hall and walking towards the hangars at the back of the Academy.

"Would you rather I had them covering your retreat?" the voice of the Grand Master asked amused.

Spanish sighed, he really shouldn't have missed something that obvious, "OK point taken, but why send him in at all?"

"They were more valuable then you give them credit for," Iron responded patiently, "they managed to take out well over a hundred Crusaders with no outside aid."

"Impressive," Spanish replied, "but if you'd let us go first there wouldn't be any need for them."

The voice laughed, "You may have a point. I take it I can tell your back-up they're not needed?"

"Let me answer your question with one of my own," Spanish replied with his own smile. "When was the last time you heard of an Overlord falling in battle?"

The voice was silent and Spanish wondered if the signal had been jammed somehow, but after a few moments it came back with a very simple statement, "Point taken."

The Dark Lord flipped off the comlink and stowed it at his belt again. He often wondered if he ever truly won a verbal sparring match with the man or if the Master just humored him with the senseless bantar. He suspected the latter, he had never been good with words, most arguments he could win through violence alone so he'd never had need to develop the skill. But when he did it with the Grand Master it was different, neither truly meant any jibe they made and neither ever took offense at the other, they disagreed, but they always did so civilly.

He could see Gal3rm now, the newly Knighted man was carrying Sarus on his back. He looked tired, more so then the person he carried, but given the hasty retreat they were making it wasn't a surprise. The two passed with a gust of wind, one one could only produce when running with the aide of the Force. For a brief second he caught sight of Gal and saw the man nod a fraction, a silent gesture that said he was intrusting the safety of the Academy to Spanish personally, then the man was gone.

The passing signified more then just a change of resources, the four Overlords were now the only standing between the oncoming Crusaders and the rest of the Temple. The Dark Lord drew his weapon and activated it, the blood red blade casting a twisted glow on both himself and his environment, his Sith followed suite, drawing their own lightsabers, all casting the same glow, as if the Overlords were a single force with four bodies. Each alone was deadly, but when coordinating efforts they were truly a force to be reckoned with.

The group came across a hallway, one that led across the Academy to the Jedi side of the Temple and overlooked the second courtyard. It was as good a place as any to make a stand, "Servilous, Behalok, take the Jedi side of the Academy," Spanish ordered over his shoulder, "Neliel, you're with me." The two men silently nodded and turned abruptly to the left, disappearing out of sight as Spanish and Neliel kept walking to the center of the long hallway.

The two came to a halt, the sound of their footsteps fadding off and leaving the Overlords in virtual silence. A silence that didn't last long as soon a low rumble could be heard in the distance as the enemy forces approached all too eager to shed any blood possible even their own.

It seemed meaningless, throwing themselves forward like this when it was obvious they had little chance of succeeding in penetrating their defenses. It was wasteful how they would even cut each other down to get at an enemy. It made no sense, no tactician in his right mind would order such a tactic at a sustained pace, but then again, almost by definition, these Crusaders were mindless or insane. It was a classic definition of madness, doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

Still it nagged at him, as if he was missing something obvious. He was a Sith so he knew plenty about sacrificing others for victory, he wasn't above ordering people to their deaths if it would keep more Sith alive, but this went a step farther. It wasn't just a casual disregard for life, it was more almost like a hate for life of any kind, even their own. There has to be more to their strategy then this, some twist we're not seeing. They've defeated many of us, but there are far more left over, and many of their own dead.

The Crusaders rounded the corner, as rabid as they had always appeared in recordings Spanish saw, and as rash as their reputations suggested. The first wave leapt at them, leaving themselves open to all manner of attack, but before the Dark Lord could strike, the men were cut down, and others emerged sabers drawn and lunging in a much more logical manner. He was surprised, by the sudden change, but not enough to leave himself open. The two Sith danced away from the attacks to buy time to make sense of the shift, but were not given the time to do so and got a sense of danger from above just in time to stop a few overhead strikes from others jumping over the two.

Spanish blocked his blows and let loose with Force Lightning, spreading the tendrils out as far as he could to catch as many in the attack as possible and was rewarded with a pair of kills from the descending men, but to his dismay the destruction ended there as the men already on the ground simply caught the lightning on their lightsabers, saving themselves from harm. Confused, the Dark Lord spun in, lashing out with a swing that would normally have cut beneath the defenses of his foes and disemboweled them in the process, but instead was blocked by the very first in line of his would-be victims and barely had time to jump out of the way of two others smart enough to attack from opposing angles, but not angles directly across from one another.

The Dark Lord landed and swept his blade diagonally, scoring a hit on one man's forearm and cauing him to drop his weapon, then he flicked his blade out, searing through the man's heart and shoulder. He spun in time to block a flurry of strikes from another pair of Crusaders that pressed their advantage heavily, on the off-balance Sith, quickly tiring themselves, but not before they forced him back. The Overlord barely had enough time to recognize the trap and react before it was too late. He continued his defensive shield with one hand and thrust the other out behind him, hurling the unprepared man into and through a pillar.

Spanish leapt back, letting go of his lightsaber for a moment and focusing on the Crusaders in front of him. He imagined his hand reaching out and grasping them, pulling through the Force in an attempt to dislodge them, but got a surprise when his attack failed. The Crusader's defenses held and instead he was pulled back to the engagement by his own power, "Fine be that way." He summoned his lightsaber back to his hand, thumbed the switch that would keep the blade on. He landed and immediately hurled his lightsaber forward. The attack caught the first two by surprise, cutting through their bodies like a knife through butter and just quickly ending their lives before it was finally blocked blocked and forced into the air.

While this was happening the Overlord was gathering the Force around him like a cloak, but not meant to hide. The energy rippled and distorted the air around him like an invisible force field, building more and more until the field itself became to distorted to see throught. Then he released it, letting it dome out in a large Force Push that encompassed anything near him. It was a move known as Force Repulse, and if powered properly could kill those it hit, but the one the Dark Lord had emitted was a simple clearing tactic, though, in this case, it had a more important role. He reached out with his senses, feeling for those still alive but with their defenses down and released a powerful Force Storm, that lashed out over the bodies od his foes, the electricity arcing and frying the bodies of the defenseless men and women around him.

Spanish recalled his lightsaber and ran forward, albeit slowly, to help Nel finish off the remaining five Crusaders pressing in on her from all sides, but before he could reach her he got a flash of danger sense that brought him up short just in time to avoid a painful experience. The female Overlord let out a net of Force Lightning that emanated from her body and expand out. The attack enveloped the Crusaders, surrounding them with the attack and leaving them no defense or escape, as they were slowly cooked from the all encompassing attack. The men fell dead at her feet, bodies seared and smoking from the power technique.

"Been a while since I've seen you use Lightning Shield," the Dark Lord commented as he stepped over the bodies of the fallen Crusaders. Lightning Shield was a high-level Dark Side technique that required a lot of raw power, and in-depth knowledge of how Force energy flowed, but was well worth it if you could learn to master the move.

"I underestimated them," Neliel said by way of reply. She was embaressed that she had had to resort to a Force attack to make up for her inability with a lightsaber, that much was obvious, but she also seemed genuinely angry that she had not anticipated the level of power the men would present.

"We all did. They've changed tactics. They've gone from berserk attacks to coordinated efforts," Spanish turned forward to wait for the next wave. He reached out with his senses, trying to get a feel for this next group, he would have to re-evaluate each one as they neared if his theory was correct, "My guess is that we're encountering they're real plan. Once they tired us out with pointless attacks and cannon fodder they released their real troops, the ones trained to fight like Jedi and Sith."

"At least there's fewer to fight now," Neliel replied.

"Yes but I fear our own forces will be ill-prepared for this change in tactics. Unlike others these were using their numbers wisely, and also unlike others I could feel them using the Force in small ways to influence the fight. The next waves will probably get progressively more powerful and intelligent."

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"Do you know what determines how strong a Jedi is in the Force Sarus?" Kami had asked as the two sat down for lunch in the Garden.

"Midichlorian count," Sarus had answered smartly.

Kami had smiled, "That's part of it yes, but even a powerful Force-Sensitive can be weak in the Force."

"How?"

Kami sighed and looked off, but not at anything, as if he was remembering a vivid memory from his past, "Let me ask you a question to answer your question: How do you get to be a crack shot with a Blaster?"

"A steady hand and a lot of practice," Sarus had answered understanding even before the Jedi could explain. "The Force is the same way, you have to practice with it to be good with it."

"Correct, but there's more to it then that," Kami had answered. The man had patiently waited for the Chiss to come up with the answer on his own.

Sarus had hesitated a moment, unsure of what else there could be. To be good you had to have natural talent and practice, missing either one of those would result in failure, but there was more to it then that. Two people of equal practice and natural skill had to have their fates determined by more then chance, something had to make soldiers with the same regime better or worse then their peers. Then it hit him, "Familiarity," he murmured, "the person who is more familiar can prepare a shot faster, and the faster man will win," he continued with his voice at a normal level.

"You've got it. Talent and practice are worth little if you can't use it when you need it, and when you need it, you seldom have time to think about it," Kami had answered. The Sentinel had finished his lunch now and set the tray aside, "Some discourage Force use because you can begin to rely on it instead of yourself. Never do that Padawan, you are a Force Warrior, you will seldom have a weapon to fall back on when attacked so you need to be able to call on the Force at a moment's notice, and call on it quickly. Use it as often as you can, use it idly, purposefully, unncessarily, any time you can think of a technique to aide your progress do it."

"Won't that weaken me?" Sarus had asked, curious.

"At first, but over time it will strengthen you. The Force in itself doesn't exhaust you, it's the concentration you must exert that exausts you, if you can learn to make that concentration trivial, then the Force will truly be your ally."

Sarus's eyes snapped open and he pushed down, sending his carrier to the ground, and sending himself into the air. It had been a pure instinct, a reaction to danger sense, but as his eyes cleared he could see that the reaction had likely saved both men's lives. Below him looking up stood a Crusader, orange blade glowing in the dim light of dusk. Sarus drew up a protective barrier in the Force at another flash from his danger sense, and he understood why when he felt a powerful Push hit his barrier and break through, slamming him into the ceiling. Without the barrier it would have probably broken several bone.

The Force Warrior turned as he came down, landing on his feet and crouching low just in time to avoid the Crusader's swing. He kicked out, using his hands as a pivot, and landed a kick in the man's gut. The impact causing the man to slide back a few feet, but remain otherwise unharmed. Sarus continued his pivot, spinning himself up and into a defensive stance. The Crusader ahead of the Chiss just sneered and stood up straight, shrugging off the blow.

The casual disregard surprised the Warrior. The kick he had hit the man with was Force-aided and contained much more power then any normal attack, enough power that the man should have been doubled over from the pain. The only explanation he could think of was that he had actually used the Force to cussion the blow, but that was a phenomena he had never seen before in his five years of spying on the group. It was counter to everything he had observed, the times he had seen the men and women of the group fight they had given no thought to their own safety or well-being.

Something must have changed in the last few days. That or they've never had to commit fighters of this level to a fight before, the thought disturbed him. He had never seen the group lose a confrontation so he had no idea what their commanders had planned as a back-up to the flood of bodies. So this could very well have been their plan all along, to send cannon fodder in first and keep the true warriors in reserve and that in all the battles he had seen they had never needed to resort to anything more throwing their pawns at an enemy. It was a frightening thought, but seemed the only logical conclusion to a change in both tactics and fighters so quickly.

The man in front of him lifted his hand with a twisted smile and let loose with stream of Force Lightning. Sarus smiled himself, this was what he had been waiting for. He put out his own hand to meet the Lightning and concentrated on the path the energy would flow through so that when the attack reached him the energy coursed harmlessly over his hand and towards his body. He could feel the power course over and around him like thread around a spool, like energy contained but not stopped. Then he gestured with his other hand and opened a cooridor along it for the energy to flow out of, causing the Lightning to fly back towards the caster. It was an advanced form of Absorbtion capable of capturing energy and redirecting it back out without any loss of energy. The traditional name for the move was Force Conduit, and it was a move few Mastered because it's use was limited to specific circumstances. The only reason he had learned it was as a counter to Dark Side energy since he hardly ever carried a lightsaber.

Normally his attackers were too surprised by the sudden role reversal and ended up killed or injured by their own attack, Sarus had been counting on this man being no different. So he was shocked when the Crusader did the sensible thing and brought his saber up to block the energy. Didn't expect that, Sarus thought to himself. He was already tired from the Lightning attack he had used earlier and his own lightsaber was depleted of energy until they could get it recharged. He had very few combat moves he could use left, most of them telekinetic.

The Crusader ran at him with the aid of the Force, closing the distance between them in the span of a second and bringing his blade down on the Chiss. Sarus slide to the inside of the man's attack and punched out letting loose a powerful Push on top of the hit. This time his attacker's denfenses crumbled under the double hit and he was thrown back into a pillar lining the courtyard along the level. The column crached slightly under the impact, but not enough to actually break, the attack had gotten through his defenses, but a lot of the energy had been dispursed by it before it fell.

The man slide down the pillar and landed on his feet, apparently shaking it off casually, but his gait told another story. The man was now taking a much more cautious appraoch to the Chiss, circling the Warrior rather then just attacking immediately. Sarus was fine with the slow appraoch, he need a minute to compose himself and think of another attack that might catch the Crusader off-balance and finally let him end the fight before more showed up. The pillar was probably loose enough that he could tear it free and hit the man before he could stop it, but it wouldn't be enough to kill the man.

The Force Warrior felt a Push hit his defensive barrier, not a powerful one, but enough that he could throw it back at the Crusader if he chose to do so. But it would do little in the way of damage so he let it dissipate, and waited for a better opportunity to arise. Both men now knew how this fight would be won, not with blaster or lightsabers, but with the Force and time, the Force was on his side, but time most certainly was not. He couldn't wait for the Crusader to make a mistake, he needed to end it before more enemy reenforcements could arrive.

He kept looking for something he could use against the foe, and that's when he finally took notice of Gal3rm, or rather Gal's unconscious form, lying a few feet away. The force of the Push he had generated to save the man's life must have been too much for the Knight's battered body and he fell into unconsciousness. Shame, I could really use a distraction now... Wait, a distraction... It was a long shot but it could work if he acted fast enough.

The Chiss splayed his left hand and called energy to it, building it up slowly so as not to alert his enemy, until a spark of Lightning arced across his palm. Unlike the Lightning attack he had generated earlier to take down the wave of Crusaders, this attack was much more benign, not meant for attacking at all. The energy continued arcing, growing brighter and more dense by the second until the light became all but ignorable and finally drew his opponent's attention.

The Force Warrior acted, lifting his hand and snapping it shut. The light seemed to shrink then spear out between the cracks, then finally just explode in a white flash of light that temporarily blinded anyone not prepared for it. The move had the desired effect and the Crusader clutched at his eyes, trying to block out a light that had already sent his optic nerve into shock. The Chiss ran forward and planted a hard punch in the man's gut that made his foe gasp then opened his palm and generated a Force Push that blew the man three meter through the air.

Not letting his opponent catch his breath, Sarus reached out with the Force, wraping his senses around the Crusader and tightening them to form a Force Grip around the man. The Chiss Gestured sharply to the left, hurtling his enemy into, and this time, thorugh a pillar, keeping the pressure on him to slam his body and the pillar on the ground, and held them there. Dividing his attention he reach out with his right hand to grab the cracked piller, letting the tendrils slip into the crack and tearing it free of it's mounting, and lifting it high in the air.

The Crusader was starting to regain his senses now and Sarus could feel the man struggling to get free of the Force Warrior's grip, something the man would have succeed with given a few more seconds. The Chiss slammed his right hand down, slapping it into his left with a dull thud, in the courtyard the pillar mimicked his action, falling out of the sky with unnatural speed and coming crashing down on the pillar already lying on the ground with the Crusader held on top. The two pieces of duracrete met, the man lying between giving little resistance to the two pieces of duracrete as they hit and crumbled against the impact, collapsing into a pile of debris as a pool of blood started graduating out from the base.

Sarus released his grip and let his shoulders sag from the exhaustion. It was a reletively short fight compared to most, but a very long one for anyone relying solely on the Force. The effort of performing so many high profile and highly complex moves was the equivilant to an hour of vigorous exercise for him, and he could have loved to just sit back and relax for a few minute, but he knew he didn't have the time for that. He could feel Spanish and three other large Force presences off in the distance fighting a large group of Crusader, but even with the strength of the four JvS combatants, the couldn't stop all the troops from getting through, just limit the number.

The Warrior walked back over to Gal's unconscious body and grabbed one of the man's arms, heaving him up and throwing the arm over the Chiss' shoulders, "Time to go buddy," the Knight's head lulled forward, oblivious to everything around him. "We need to get this change in tactic to Iron and Camus before they find out the hard way."

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

Peppa marched up the long walkway spanning the length of the bridge with Drist in tow a meter behind. The command hub of the cruiser was in disarray, many seats bent and dented, several consoles unlit and sometimes scortched. The crew itself looked tired and beaten, but still capable and alert. Odds were the men and women here would never be the same, that they would relive the events they had experienced here for many years, but they also looked stronger for it.

Even Jedi can learn from pain, even though they avoid it, she thought to herself. There really was little that made the two sides different, just a set of preferences that they would discard if they needed to do so. They were, at heart, similar, and neither could exist without the other to balance them.

The Marauder closed in on the front where two Jedi stood at ease, one the familiar Sentinel Bazariel, always so calm under pressure, the other Master Rsg, a man she knew little about and sought to avoid at most times. The man was, unsettling. She nodded to the two Jedi first, then to the split screen showing the other Captains, "I would say hello again gentlemen, but my ship's about to explode and I want us to be able to take full advantage of that fact," she leaned forward on a holo-projector showing the six firendly ships, JvS, and a vague red blob that represented the Crusader forces.

"We know nothing of their numbers," Kell replied, his face a blank slate, "we cannot formulate a plan if we have nothing to base our plans on."

The Sith General was busy typing information into the projector's console, "I can help with that," she pressed a button and the image flickered, resolving anew with specific ship classes and numbers. "This is a basic representation of the force we face," she waved to Drist behind her, "my tactical officer can input the specific status, but while he's doing so I'll give you general scenario." Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Drist coming forward to the projector and so moved away to join the two Jedi.

"There are eight ships," the image zoomed in to show the ships in question, "Four Imperial-class Two Star Destroyers in orbit around the planet supplying troops and orbital support if necessary. Two MC-80 Mon Calamari star cruisers holding up position between our force and the Dueces. And two Lancer-class frigates holding up position behind and to the outer edge of the Mon Cals. Only one Mon Cal cruiser is damaged, but it is severely damaged."

"So we're out-numbered and ill-suited to attacking," Mazik spoke in irritation.

Peppa nodded, "Normally yes, but I have my cruiser," the view of the holoprojector snapped to show the damaged cruiser, "set on a collision course with the undamaged Mon Cal cruiser. A hyperspace jump should surprise them enough to ensure a collision, and the core overload should take out the other Mon Cal as well," as she spoke a simulation of events took place ultimately resulting in a debris field occupying the spot where the MC-80s were.

Red had his hand holding his chin, "That evens the odds, but we'll still lose a couple ships in a direct assault."

Bazariel stepped forward so that the camera would pick him up more, "I've thought of that, and I think I may have a solution," the Sentinel waved to one of his officers and the projector zoomed back in on the enemy battle group, "You're right, a direct assault would get half of our ships destroyed, but that's because of how they will target us." The view rotated again to show the two Lancers in full detail, "These are anti-starfighter ships, they're equiped with many turbolasers, but few shields. They can't last long in a direct fight with other captial class ships, but with directed fire they could easily overwhelm the shields of lesser ships, like our own frigates."

"Very true," Kell answered, "but knowing that doesn't give us a way out."

"Actually it does," the Sentinel hit a button and the zoom fell back and a Pellaeon-class Star Destroyer appeared, "we simply have only the Balance jump in, in the first wave."

A barrage of complaints came from the Captains' mouths as they expressed their doubts about the plan. Peppa had to admit that she was curious about it as well, but she was an unorthodox tactician, more suited to desperate tactics, the Sentinel was the true General of the two, and he knew how to manage resources better then anyone she had ever seen. Calm, the Jedi held up a hand to silence the complaints, "Just wait for me to finish," he hit another button and simulated turbolaser fire flew between the three ships. "The Balance is a power-house, the one ship here best fitted for direct confrontation. It has powerful shields and a much larger weapons array, it's ideal for taking on anti-starfighter frigates."

"Those Dueces won't just wait for you to take out their back-up," Seto interjected, "they'll begin firing on you immediately."

The Marauder was already weary from her own battle with the Crusaders, and annoyed with the interruptions of the men, and so couldn't hold back her temper any longer. "I don't think you realize exactly how resilient our ships are," the Sith General came forward again nearer the camera to make herself seem more imposing, it was the only way they would shut up and listen to her, "the Power managed to survive a fighting exit from Dantooine, taking out three Star Destroyers, and then came back to JvS and with almost no repair time managed to take out two Mon Cals and an Interdictor, and she will still take out two more Mon Cals before she dies."

The Captains leaned away from the screen, a subconscious reaction to deal with a strong-willed person, and she saw her opportunity to press the point home. She leaned forward farther into the lens, "These ships can hold together much longer then any you have seen. Even without shields they can give as good as they get. The Balance will take a hammering, but as long as you don't turn and run it'll be fine."

Bazariel put his hand on her shoulder, a physical gesture saying he wanted her to let up and let him take over for now. To anyone else it would have looked like a silent, but gentle repremand for losing her temper, but in the Force she could also sense a bit of gratitude from the Sentinel for speaking up. She had played her part, being the bad Sith to threaten the Jedi so that Bazariel could remain the calm collected one. She didn't mine it, if it was the only way to save the Academy she had no problem resorting to any role.

"My colleague is passionate, but not wrong," the Sentinel spoke in a level voice. "My ship will be able to take out both Lancers without much trouble," He hit another button on the console and the two enemy frigates dissappeared, replaced by a pair of Ardents. "Once the two frigates are removed we'll be able to bring in Seto's and Anshin's ships," the simulation continued and the two ships swooped to either side, giving a powerful broad side to the Dueces and dividing their attention, "the move should confuse the Crusaders momentarily, they won't fire on the Ardents at first and that'll give them a few vital seconds of firepower before they start taking hits."

The two frigates began blinking on the projector and a second latter two MC-90s entered the simulation, directly between the two Ardents and the Dueces, "The DAJ cruisers will enter the scene next, their shields will be able to provide a respite for the two frigates until their shields can be repaired, meanwhile the cruisers will continue firing." The projector continued demonstrating for a long while, until the Mon Cals began blinking red, then suddenly they disappeared along with two of the Destroyers, "Continued fire, if concentrated, will bring down two of the Dueces alone, but in order to achieve this the two ships will have to exit the battle and not re-enter. They'll have taken to many hits by then, and more would result in serious damage to their systems."

A cloud of tiny dots spilled from the JvS cruiser and the two Ardents opened fire again, "Our starfighters will deploy and drive at one of the holes made by the destruction of the enemy ship, and clear a path," a third frigate entered into the picture, this one much closer to the planet, "Red's ship will drop out of hyperspace and move through this hole to land on the ground and dispatch a couple dozen Special Forces reinforcements to aid the Academy and provide a measure of air-support to our troops."

The Balance was now rapidly flashing red, a sign that the ship's shields had failed and it was now taking direct hull damage, but yet another enemy Duece disappeared from the equation at the same time, "By this time the Balance will be almost useless as a fighting force and will withdraw to a safe distance to effect repairs, as will the two Ardents." The display shifted showing only one Star Destroyer and a cloud of starfighters, then a second later two more cloud of fighters appeared from the right and left sides, "The DAJ fighter complement will then jump in and combine with the JvS fighters to deal a fatal blow to the final Duece."

The final ship disappeared from the display and a second later the entire projector shut down. Peppa had to admit that she was impressed. The Sentinel had managed to devise a plan with little loss of forces, but still retain a timely entrance of the forces so that the ground battle would have resources availble without much longer of a wait. It was something that managed to surprise her, and yet not shock her. The man was truly a brilliant General, a man that could anticipate both plans and counter plans and somehow still come out on top. She knew she was good at her job, but the man beside her was a legend in the making, and she couldn't help but smile at that.

The two Generals stood silently awaiting a suggestion, revision, or even out-right rejection of the plan, by their allies. The men had complained enough before this, and surely they would continue to do so, but to the Marauder's surpise no one did. No one even spoke for the longest time, and Peppa feared the plan might not work because the Captain's were to stunned or ashamed to comment before the Power went along it's preset course.

But after a few moments of silence someone finally spoke, the Captain Ashin, "We better get to it then."

‘I wonder how Peppa is doing up there.’ said Lay, as he gazed to the sky, watching the distant flashes of explosions and turbolasers being fired in the heated battle above.

‘if the reports we were getting from over Dantooine is any indication,’ Champ hesitated and looked at Layfon ‘I would rather be here where I can influence my own fate’

‘I am with you,’ Lay said grimly ‘for now any way’

Champ laughed, a course guttural sound that made the surrounding death and destruction even more surreal. ‘I think when this is done,’ Champ said wiping the tears from his eyes. ‘I will have to buy you a Taurisian Ale and we will talk about getting your head straight’

‘Get my head straight?’ Layfon said surprised, ‘you are the one that fights like a Sith. You are in the wrong faction my friend.’

‘WOAH WOAH…’ Dray said gesturing with his deactivated saber ‘we have some business to attend to…’

The men looked toward the breach in the wall as three crusaders stepped through the breach.

‘Oh come on,’ Layfon said and launched a force push at the men with such force it distorted view as though you were looking through a mirage, one of the men raised a hand and the wave impacted the force shield he put up and the wave broke and washed around them.

Champ took a step back and looked at Fonfon ‘are you tired or something?’ Champ asked and launched a force wave at the men. Once again, one of them deflected the wave and all three started walking forward.

‘Welllll, you are both a bit tired I think.’ Dray said.

‘No,’ Champ said, ‘these are not the same. The canon fodder has past. These are a step higher. We may have passed a couple of skill levels and not noticed but these are a bit better. I think we have cut our way to a challenge’

The three men ignited their sabers and attacked Champ in a coordinated manner and all three JvS attacked and surrounded the three pressing them until they were back to back the crusaders sabers bounced off of each other and created an opening I which all three were cut down.

‘Well,’ Said Dray

‘Yeah’ Said Champ.

‘there’s more’ Layfon pointed out. Dray and Champ turned to see five more crusaders file in through the breach.

Champ, Layfon and Dray held their sabers like automatons and held their ground as several more crusaders stepped through the breach. Resting in the force to rejuvenate their tired muscles in preparation for what was sure to be a much harder fight.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

On the Chikita, Thing surveyed the battle field in his mind’s eye, the map of the JvS enclave stretching out in front of him like a holo projection. Friendly forces displayed in blue and enemy forces in varying shades of red and yellow. There was currently a lul in the fighting as the enemy forces regrouped. Thing was taking advantage of the lul to pour support and help refresh the jedi and sith that were fighting. At the fringe of his perception he saw a force approaching. They showed up darker red than any forces before. Thing stretched out his mind and touched one of them and was instantly assaulted by the being trying to penetrate his mind to drive him crazy. Thing pulled back and tried to break contact with the being but the pursuit was relentless. Barriers put up by thing were torn down or by passed. Then suddenly the being was gone.

Shaken, Thing took a shaky breath and centered himself once again and went back to the task at hand. Once again he stretched his consciousness and went about the business of supporting the jedi and sith protecting the JvS Enclave.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

The Paladin looked over his scope in the direction of the crusader he had just shot. He squinted through his scope again and watched as the body twitched in death as a wisp of smoke rose from the hold the blaster left in the side of his head. He had just stopped there in mid-stride and put a hand to his head. The paladin had watched for a moment then shot him through his hand and… head. The Paladin checked the range again and made note in his log. 1500 meters was nothing to sneeze at. He chuckled a bit and enjoyed the shot again before looking for more targets. There were quite a few but he had to be careful on the shots he took. These new crusaders were different than the ones before. He had exhausted three power packs in the initial wave. Now these guys were much more in tune with the force and shots like the one he just took were going to be rare.