Star Wars: The New Jedi Order

Countervail

Preamble

Yes, I know Anakin Solo died in Star by Star, but he never should have. Anakin has always been one of the most interesting characters in the series, and I was looking forward to seeing how his character would develop. I have to wonder why Anakin was the one to die instead of Jacen, the confused and boring one. So, all continuity after about Edge of Victory: Conquest does not exist. This is how I would have taken the story (not moving Anakin's character at all – I promise!)

Chapter 1

Calling all of the force as he could into a single wave of kinetic energy, Kyp Durron pushed his hand forward and used it as a projector. In front of him, three blaster-wielding peace brigaders were sent hurtling into the outer wall of one of Commenor's main spaceports. The three hit the wall with a sickening thud, and all dropped their weapons. Kyp could sense that the life was knocked from two of them, and the other would not be waking up in time for the conclusion of the fight.

With a sense of satisfaction that he did not even try to suppress, he turned and thumbed his lightsaber alight. The impressive blade cast shadows behind all of his pursuers that were close enough, and provoked emotions of confusion and fear amongst the peace brigaders. Surely they knew whom it was they chased, Kyp was famous across the Galaxy as one of the Jedi who was taking the fight directly to the Yuuzhan Vong. Surely, along with that, they knew they had no chance of capturing him alive without help.

Which was why it stood to reason that they had reinforcements on the way in the form of Yuuzhan Vong warriors.

For all of his power, not even Kyp wanted to be on the ground when a skip carrier arrived in orbit with ambitions of capturing him as a sacrifice to the Vong gods. Though with the way the peace brigaders were firing at the centre of his chest, he had to question whether the objective was capture or something much more final.

With an inhuman grace, Kyp parried laser bolts out of the air with his saber, sending them directly back to their point of origin. He felt no remorse for the shooters who had died as a result – if they had set their weapons to stun, they would not be dead. There was nothing he could do for the ignorance of peace brigaders.

After the last mercenary within shooting range went down, Kyp turned and resumed running toward the spaceport. He needed to get to his XJ3 X-wing. Once he was there, he felt confident he could blast his way out through any blockade the Yuuzhan Vong had prepared for him. Ahead of him, he saw three Commenor Security force guards raise their weapons to targets behind him, and begin to pick off the remaining pursuing peace brigaders. A pale-looking official moved to intercept Kyp at the doors.

"Master Durron, your X-wing is ready to launch at pad Thirty-Two!" he had to shout to get over the noise of the blasters. Kyp did not stop to talk to the man, rather made him keep pace beside him. "Be advised! We've picked up multiple Yuuzhan Vong contacts emerging from Hyperspace in the system! There's over a hundred ships up there!" That gave Kyp reason to pause. Over one hundred ships? Not even he was worth that much trouble. That could only mean one thing: the Vong were preparing to invade the planet.

So the peace brigaders weren't after him at all, they were just trying to make the best of a bad situation by capturing him. They thought that if they had a suitable sacrifice for the Vong then they would be spared their lives. Just the mentality of a peace brigader.

Kyp turned back to the official. "Are you with the military?" he asked, the noise of the blasters had died down. The man shook his head.

"No, I just run the spaceport. I can get into contact with someone, though, if you want-"

"Yes, tell them to settle in for along fight and to call for reinforcements from the New Republic. Those ships mean to invade Commenor," Kyp told the owner. His face went from pale to straight white, and he nodded.

"I'll get on it, Master Durr… Ah!" the man cried. Kyp backed away sharply from the sudden screech. The man's eyes glazed over, and he fell to the ground. Embedded in his back was an amphistaff, and behind him loomed the all-too familiar silhouette of a seasoned Yuuzhan Vong warrior.

Rage began to well inside Kyp, feeling irrationally angry over the death of the innocent man. He had done nothing to deserve death save for standing too close to a Jedi Knight. Using that rage – even though he knew it was very dangerous – to fuel his force power, Kyp drew his lightsaber and launched into action.

He doubted the warrior even knew that the Jedi had taken a step before his lightsaber sliced cleanly between his upper and lower jaw. The speed at which Kyp moved was powered purely from the force, propelling him faster than any other being might hope to match. Though even as Kyp closed down his saber and began to congratulate himself for such an effortless kill, his danger sense flared.

Dropping down onto his knee and throwing himself into a strafing roll, he thumbed the activation switch on his saber again and came up ready. He was just in time to pick off a razorbug vectoring for his throat, and then a second that came from behind. His situation was not good. He had no way of detecting the Vong warriors with the force, and so had no idea how many of them he now confronted.

Choosing to live now to fight later, Kyp began sprinting for pad thirty-two, where his X-wing was hopefully prepared for launch. A cold start in an X-wing took an average of two and a half minutes. He only hoped that the now dead official had thought to activate the systems. Otherwise, this escape could be a little more difficult than anticipated.

Stopping only to sidestep and dismember a young and inexperienced Vong warrior, Kyp reached his X-wing in a matter of seconds. To his dismay, and perhaps even terror, the systems were still safely off. He used a force-aided jump to propel himself into the cockpit, and activated the emergency start button. Now he had an anxious three minute wait until his shields were operable again.

Any thoughts he had of spending that time safely in his cockpit were shattered when a thudbug slammed into the forward hull of the ship, creating a small but noticeable dent. He couldn't let the vong damage the craft beyond operation; Commenor would surely fall. His only choice was to go out, and dispatch whatever warriors were a threat. The force be with me…

Flicking on the powerful floodlights his x-wing held, Kyp stepped out of the cockpit slowly. With the entire area bathed in light, the Yuuzhan Vong would have a hard time hiding from his vision. There were hardly any obstacles in the centre of a landing pad.

It didn't take long for three warriors to emerge from the shadows at the edge of the landing pad. They approached slowly, in a V formation with their leader – the most heavily scarred – in the lead. Kyp activated his blade, and pointed it at the lead warrior.

"I am the Jedi Master Kyp Durron. Challenge me at your peril," he said theatrically, using the force to amplify and carry his voice. Just for effect, he also billowed his dark robes and raised his lightsaber in front of his face, making himself appear as Jedi did in mainstream holodramas.

Though Kyp felt odd announcing such a thing, the lead Yuuzhan Vong showed no signs that this was out of the ordinary. "I am Illnor Krest of Domain Krest, Jeedai Durron. My peril is also my pleasure. Step forward," he replied. Kyp set his face, and swung his lightsaber into a low fighting stance. He kept his movements casual but fluid, all the while keeping a mental chronometer in his head. He still needed to buy about a minute and forty seconds before he could fly again.

Kyp had worried that the other two warriors would also enter the fight, but they hung back, probably not daring to disgrace their leader's honour by interrupting his challenge. That suited Kyp just fine.

Illnor Krest twirled his amphistaff in a very impressive series of loops, switching from hand to hand and spinning on his heel until he was eventually in range of Kyp. The Vong struck first, his amphistaff cutting down to the left side of Kyp's waist. He brought his glowing hot blade down to parry, and deflected the shot easily. The warrior compensated quickly, and flung himself into a half-twist that brought the amphistaff into the other side of Kyp. Blocking that shot, Kyp went on the offensive, slashing high and low in an attempt to find a weak spot in the warriors defence. He found none, but that presented no immediate problem.

Now fully into the force, he fell into a pre-choreographed battle, stepping once to the left, twice to the left, then back-rolling to the right. A quick slash with his lightsaber forced the warrior off balance, which Kyp used his full advantage. A high chop above the warrior's head caused it to block high. As he did, Kyp placed his boot behind the Vong's leg, and put all of his weight behind his lightsaber. The Vong tripped over, sprawling to the ground in a way that made him look rather uncoordinated and sent his amphistaff scooting away across the Durasteel launch pad. The warrior screamed a loud prayer to his gods, expecting Kyp to slash down across his throat and finish the job.

One minute to go. Not yet.

Kyp stepped away from the fallen warrior, and resumed his holodrama stance. Looking confused, the three warriors began barking in a dialect Kyp couldn't understand. They sounded furious, though.

"Why do you not kill me, Jeedai?" the Vong asked, getting to his feet again. Because I need more time to get my ship up and running, you sithspawn. I'd rather keep sparring with you that face your two minions at the same time. Kyp looked him in the hollow eyes, and put together a realistic-sounding excuse.

"Because even you, Illnor Krest, deserve a fair chance at survival," Kyp said. The Warrior nodded his head once.

"You have much honour, Jeedai. A trait that many others like you lack. You approach worthiness. A shame that such a blasphemous creature could never become a Yuuzhan Vong slave. You would be most effective," the Vong said as he scooped up his slithering Amphistaff. Kyp held eye contact, but made no gesture.

Thirty Seconds.

Illnor Krest came at him again, amphistaff spinning. Kyp sidestepped, but the did not fool the warrior. He swung the amphistaff in a move that would have cleaved him open sideways had the saber blade not stopped it. Kyp stepped backward, and went totally defensive.

Twenty-Five seconds.

As he stood Kyp had his back to the other two warriors, not a particularly wise stance for a Jedi Knight to take. However, for what he had in mind, it was essential. He parried to more chops on his right, then a third on his left.

Twenty Seconds.

A whining noise began sounding from the X-wing, signalling final engine warm up. In ten seconds, his ship would be ready to lift off. It was time to end this duel. Still parrying amphistaff swings, Kyp backed up far enough that the warriors were within range behind him. Then, gathering all the force behind it, Kyp parried a cut and kicked Illnor Krest to the ground. In a precision 360 degree twist, Kyp neatly decapitated the two unsuspecting warriors behind him and flicked his lightsaber directly at Illnor Krest's face.

His throw was devastatingly accurate. The lightsaber burned through his head, and sank into the durasteel on the other side of his skull, pinning the convulsing body the ground. Three seconds, three warriors. The other Jedi Knights would have to do something pretty spectacular to beat that record.

Calling his saber back to his hand with the force, Kyp hastened back to his X-wing. He had saved himself, now all he had to do was save Commenor.

* * *

The situation in orbit was not as bad as Kyp feared it might have been. That said, there were still now at least three hundred Yuuzhan Vong capital ships in the system. Three hundred is not one thousand, though.

From memory, Commenor's orbital defence fleet consisted of a pair of Mon Calamari cruisers and a salvaged Victory class star destroyer, as well as a pair of Golan II orbital defence platforms. The starfighter compliment was – at best – seventeen squadrons, though the number thirteen seemed to stick in his mind.

A quick count now revealed there to be eleven fighter squadrons, so anywhere from six to two squadrons had been annihilated. In less than five minutes.

Kyp opened a general channel to all the military ships in the area.

"New Republic Forces, this is Jedi Knight Kyp Durron. I request that you turn over starfighter command to my leadership," he offered. He didn't expect to be opposed, and found that – not surprisingly – the Admiral in charge of the battle was rather relieved.

"Jedi Durron, this is Admiral Arthures. We are extremely grateful for your help. Our ten remaining squadrons are being informed now," the Admiral replied.

"Admiral, have you called for reinforcements?" Kyp asked. The reply was overlaid with static, but Kyp caught most of it.

"Of course we have. Coruscant says they're sending over battle group three, and a portion of battle group five. ETA fifty-six minutes."

"Was there any mention of Jedi Master Skywalker's battle group?" Kyp inquired. His squadron Kyp's dozen, along with an entire wing of Jedi pilots, were stationed at Eclipse base. If this battle was going to be won, the force was telling Kyp that they needed to be there.

"No, I don't recall mention of Master Skywalker's battle group. Should there have been?" the Admiral asked, sounding anxious. His ship was still out of range of the closest Vong ships, but not for long. For all the strength of Mon Cal shields, not even they could hold out against a Vong onslaught.

"Not officially Admiral, but I will put a call through for some Jedi support. With your authorisation, of course," Kyp formally asked.

"Please," the Admiral simply stated. Now he sounded distracted, probably planning the battle. Kyp nodded, and did not bother to reply. He had no doubt that Eclipse would send its fighter wing. If Commenor fell, the Yuuzhan Vong would have a clear shot at Coruscant. That was something that Master Skywalker would never allow to happen.

He opened a channel to eclipse, strengthened with the force, and relayed the information. The battle for Commenor had begun.