The Story of Talon Chapter 1
The Cor-Fir Campaign
Jedi Knight Talon, a female Twi'lek, though unwilling has a padawan thrusted upon her. This is her story during the beginning of the Clone Wars. But it seems the young Jedi have a dark legacy. Her Sith cousin wants to meet her.
The Battlecruiser Invincible Hand
Talon was a red skinned Twi'lek in her twenties. She had a black top and black trousers. Her waist and stomach were exposed, along with her arms. A blue lightsaber were attached to her waist.
"What"! Talon snapped at the holograms of Jedi Masters Mace Windu, Ki-Adi Mundi, Agen Kolar and Saesee Tiin. "Are you out of your damn"…
Windu, Saesee Tiin and Agen Kolar frowned at her.
Realizing she had snapped at four members of the Jedi High Council she covered her mouth with her hands. Clones around the command center turned to look at the Jedi Knight and the holograms of a few members of the High Council. It wasn't the first time they had seen their General snap at someone, but it was the first time she snapped at someone out ranking her within the Jedi Order.
She mistakenly snapped at the Supreme Chancellor once, but luckily for her he was amused and impressed by it.
"I'm sorry masters", she bowed her head. "I-I didn't mean to do that".
"Hmm", Windu groaned.
"Anyway"… Ki-Adi Mundi tried moving on, to Talon's great appreciation. "…The decision is already made Knight Talon".
Talon sighed and rubbed her temple.
"But I have never taught a padawan", she protested. And I don't want to. But that part she weren't foolish enough to say out loud.
"We believe that you are ready to be a teacher for the new generation", Agen Kolar spoke.
"But"… Talon started, realizing she didn't have anything to say.
Saesee Tiin sighed. And I thought Skywalker were stubborn.
"The decision has been made", Windu reminded yet again. "Padawan Jade is on her way in a Freighter".
Talon furrowed her forehead. "A freighter? What a lovely type of transportation".
She smiled sarcastically.
"It was the only ship available", Agen Kolar said with indifference. "There are little to no ships to spare. She might meet up and transport over to the Cruiser Mammoth on the way".
"When will she arrive"? Talon asked, obviously accepting the fact she will have a padawan, finally.
The question seemed to please the masters, sensing a feeling of acceptance in her voice.
"A few days, I would expect", Windu said. "Between two to four".
Clone Commander Abyss appeared beside Talon. He had light red marks on his armor and he was Talon's second in command. They had actually met for the first time during the first battle of Geonosis when the war started.
"Sorry to interrupt General", he said apologetically.
No, please do, Talon thought feeling happier. "What is it Commander"? She avoided the wish to exhale of relief.
"We are about to arrive at Cor-Fir", Abyss explained. "Admiral Cossack wants to have fighters on standby incase the Separatists are already here".
Talon nodded and turned back to the masters.
"I'm afraid I have to go masters", she said apologetically.
Ki-Adi Mundi nodded.
"May the force be with you, Talon", he smiled.
"Keep us apprised of the situation", Windu added.
"I will master", Talon bowed her head.
The holograms dissolved and Talon turned to Abyss and gave a sigh of relief.
"Thanks for rescuing me, Abyss", she smiled.
"It looked like you needed it, sir", he smirked under his helmet.
"So", Talon inquired. "Are we actually close to Cor-Fir"?
"Actually…we are", he affirmed.
Talon smirked at him.
"Tell Cossack to ready the fighters", she ordered.
"Yes, sir", Abyss nodded.
Talon didn't understand why the Council suddenly decided to have her teach a padawan. They had always been thoughtful of her every move. At several occasions they had questioned the reasoning for her actions on missions.
Truth behind it all, the Council had worries about Talon. Her family had been force users for many generations, as far back as to the Sith Empire. However they had not been Jedi. They had been Sith. Some of the most powerful dark force users who stood by the Emperor's side were from her bloodline. This was what worried the Council, especially because when she were a youngling Grand Master Yoda had felt a flash of darkness in her heart. Hopefully Talon would never find out about her Sith heritage. A belief were that training a padawan would remove the last darkness in her heart or drive it deep down so it don't resurface.
Admiral Bentonite Cossack was an elderly man in his fifties. Though he was a military genius, he was sickly and had a jealous nature to him. Being a career naval officer he often dreamed back to the time were the jedi weren't in charge of the Republic Military and simply were peacekeepers. Then, he had been up for a position of becoming a Grand Admiral and commanding a sector of Republic space. Now with the jedi commanding the war, his chances for a cozy position as Grand Admiral on his own Battleship in charge of a powerful fleet somewhere were gone. Now, no, no he isn't commanding a fleet. Instead he is just a second in command over the fleet, with Jedi General Talon in center of stage-his stage at that.
The fleet weren't particularly large. It had no Battleships, two Battlecruisers, five Cruisers, nine Destroyers, three Corvettes and seven Frigates. With the majority of the fleet being a mass of smaller ships, Cossack don't have much belief that they can go toe to toe with a fully capable CIS battlegroup. The CIS was after all outnumbering the Republic at almost all fronts currently.
Soon they would exit hyperspace at Cor-Fir, a primitive world-compared to planets such as Coruscant and other mayor industrial and trade worlds. But they had technological capabilities such as space travel, though not as advanced as the Republic or Separatist Alliance.
"Admiral, the fighters are ready", a naval officer told him.
Cossack nodded curtly.
"Very good Commodore", Cossack said.
Commodore Constantine Blaesus nodded. He was a young man with jet black hair and a cleanly shaved face. He had young but strong facial features. Constantine had strong and unwavering loyalty and trust in Talon and the jedi. Without her recommendation he would still be a lonely Lieutenant on a Corvette, but she saw something in him that no one else had. He was a promising officer, but he sometimes lost his calm in battle, especially if it seemed they were losing the engagement.
The fleet exited hyperspace on the other side of an asteroid field that lay between them and Cor-Fir. As Abyss and Talon gathered by the holotable it sprung to life. On it a Separatist fleet appeared between them and the planet. The fleet were at first glance a few times bigger then Talon's own fleet.
Cossack came through the door.
"General, it appears the CIS fleet have not spotted us yet", he spoke. "Something problematic is, this"…
He pressed in a few commands on the keyboard and a large image of a Battleship appeared.
"Spirit of Vengeance", Talon recognized.
"Grievous ship", Cossack confirmed. "This just became a lot harder. We need to call for reinforcements. General Skywalker are nearby. He could probably be here in a few hours".
"We can't wait that long", Abyss protested. "They'll detect us".
Cossack gaze at the clone Commander. He furrowed his eyebrows.
"They outnumber us almost three to one, Commander", he said. "They have more heavy ships then we have".
"They don't know we're here yet", Abyss pointed out.
"Exactly", Cossack arched his eyebrows. "We only need to stay hidden until General Skywalker arrives".
"I don't think that's your call Admiral", a male voice said.
Cossack rolled his eyes and sighed as the man speaking walked up to them. He took a positon behind Abyss and Talon. He wore a dark green complete body armor. It was thicker than clone armor. The helmet have a golden colored visor. He was three heads taller than any other man onboard the ship. He had to bend his head down every time he entered or exited a room slightly.
This man was Chief Spartacus, a career soldier from a secret special training program under Talon's command. Sense childhood Spartacus have been trained to obey and protect his Jedi superiors-in this case Talon. The specific unit was known as the Elderguard.
Spartacus stood to attention and saluted Talon. She nodded with her fingers entangled behind her back.
"At ease Chief", she said.
He relaxed slightly. From his height he looked down at the hologram that had reverted to a view of the planet, the Republic and Separatist fleets and the asteroid field.
"You said something"? Cossack forced himself to ask.
With tension in his voice Spartacus replied.
"General Talon decides what we do. It is her decision".
Cossack glanced to Talon. He thought of Spartacus more as her lapdog or perhaps, teacher's pet and had little respect for him.
"Of course. I meant no disrespect, General", Cossack apologized.
Talon nodded, having honestly taken no offense sense no decision had been made. She didn't really think Cossack had overstepped his authority.
"None taken Admiral. You are right and as always I appreciate your opinion and suggestion. We are outnumbered and they don't know that we are here", she looked to the blue holographic map and pointed at the asteroid field. "We can send our fighters and bombers on a quick assault". She looked at the men's faces, or helmets in Abyss and Spartacus's case. "Then we can bring them back before Grievous can launch a counterattack. They strike at critical points nad cripple of damage some of their big ships."
Abyss nodded approvingly.
"They won't be prepared for it. Our boys can easily smack them before they can even launch their fighters", he said.
Cossack nodded slowly.
"I don't know, it is risky but… if it works", he looked up at Talon. "…if our pilots can disable and damage the battleships and Battlecruisers it will give us a greater chance. Especially if Grievous attacks with the asteroids in between us".
"We can use the asteroids to our advantage", Talon continued with a smile at Cossack. "Abyss, I want to place half our AT-TEs amongst the lower asteroids".
"You think Grievous will go above the field, sir"? Abyss asked.
"Either he will go through or above", Talon said with confidence. "He isn't going to go below it and give us an advantage, and going around will take too much time. Grievous wants to face us quickly. As quickly as possible. Especially sense he outnumbers us". She pointed at a thick mass of asteroids. "I wanna hide two Bomber Squadrons here. When Grievous attacks they'll move in and attack from nowhere. With their power shut down they won't be detected until we want them to be detected."
Abyss saluted.
"Yes, sir. I'll get the AT-TEs and fighters into position", he said.
Talon nodded.
"Be quick about it. I don't want to risk being discovered while we prepare", Talon said. "In a full frontal battle Grievous will surely win. We can only win if we make him fight on our terms."
Abyss left.
"Sir, shouldn't we contact General Skywalker"? Cossack tried again.
Talon frowned.
"No", she said bluntly. "We can do this without help from him... I wouldn't like to interrupt whatever 'important' thing he is doing", she lied.
Cossack knew there were tensions between Skywalker and Talon. The few times they had fought together Skywalker didn't have much confident in the young Jedi Knight. Talon had respect for Skywalker, but only some for the positon and General and the great jedi. But, for Skywalker himself, personally her respect have dwindled.