AN: Apologies for the delay. My computer had a fatal hard-drive crash.

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"I assume these Nemoidians will attempt to shoot you down if your cruiser tries to enter the atmosphere?"

Qui-gon nodded, "Undoubtedly. They do NOT want me getting to the palace."

Scylla shook his head, "That simply will not do. I will have several of my Valkyries escort us down. As we will be going in in a forest, we may have to jump. Do you know how to use a grav-chute?"

Qui-gon shook his head ruefully, "Never used one before, never intend to. Repulsors scare me enough on the outside of a ship, let alone right by my body."

"Excellent. I feel we will get along nicely. Watch your step," Qui-gon looked up at the small craft before him. It was a bird shaped thing with broad, thick wings and huge engines. Enough space inside for a small group, maybe five people. The pilot smiled at him, and behind him the inquisitor spoke again, "Have a seat. Your grav-chute is in the cubby beneath your seat if you need it."

The inquisitor slid into another seat, and Qui-gon watched to figure out how to secure the harness.

The shuttle took off and eased out through one of the hangar doors, and was soon flanked by several craft that more resembled the fighters he knew, angular and atmospherically capable. Qui-gon looked at the metal walls nervously. The fact that they felt the need to tell him where the chute was, that made him want very much to figure out how to get the pack on.

"Lord Inquisitor, how do I put the pack on?"

Scylla laughed, "It's just like a backpack. You know how to use those, right?"

Qui-gon shuddered again. That was not the answer he was looking for. Neither was the crackling of the hull heating up as they reached the atmosphere. The turbo-laser bolts that seared past made him even more nervous. If the ship was shaking just from re-entry, the shields had to be damaged, or nonexistent. Out the front window, he could see two of the escorts spiraling around, weaving around bolts of fire, until one took a hit to the wing. The wing burst into flames, but was quickly extinguished by a spin and he realized that there was no hole in the wing. That sort of blast was the kind that would have turned the cruiser into ash, and it only scorched the paint. Maybe a little melting of the plates.

The craft he was watching vanished into a cloud of shrapnel as a missile punched it in the tailpipe. That was when he called it done. He grabbed the pack and started fitting it and cinching the straps down as quickly as he could. Across from him, the Inquisitor was seated perfectly calmly. He didn't even seem to notice that the shuttle hull was starting to glow bright red outside the window.

Finally, something shook the resolve of the Inquisitor, a missile tearing off a wing. The ship dove into a spin, and the pilot unbuckled himself, "Alright, eject time. Chop Chop. Packs on." The pilot pulled on his pack and stepped to the hatch. A large red lever opened the hatch and the pilot stepped out of the flaming wreck.

Before Qui-gon had the chance to throw himself out the hatch, he witnessed something resembling a large portion of the wall unfold and leap out. The inquisitor flashed a salute and leapt out, and Qui-gon followed him, diving out and pointing his feet towards the ground, in the hopes that maybe this big thing worked similarly to the repulsors-packs he had seen skydivers use in shows.

Fortunately, he seemed to be somewhat right, and landed fairly slowly, without breaking anything. He found the Inquisitor kneeling beside the pilot, and something that looked like a bizarre combination of man and droid.

_POVSHIFTPOV_

Obi-wan watched two fireballs crash into the forest as a second pair of them curved back towards space, tailed by droids with their shields up. He had seen four things eject from the lead fireball, the one that had broken apart. All four had come down in roughly the same area, nearby. He leapt up and sprinted, using the force to propel himself towards them, bouncing off trees and rocks to speed up.

_POVSHIFTPOV_

"What is that thing?"

Scylla smiled as the Jedi pointed at the Mechanicus Adept who was even now going through the survival kit she had grabbed before leaping. "This is Hannah Paris, my personal assistant."

"She? There's a person in there?"

"Indeed. She's been loyal to me for three decades now. And I think she found something."

The adept raised her head, lower set of eyes locked onto something in the leather satchel, upper eyes tracking the Jedi, "My L0RD, 3V3RyTh1N9 12 1nT4Ct. s34L2 1nCluD3d. w3 sH0ULD 83 900D."

"Excellent. Load up and let's go. We've got a long march ahead of us."

Obi-wan screeched to a stop beside his master and let out a loud yawn, cutting it off in a duck as the tall man in black spun around with a giant blaster in his hand and blew a hole in a tree, "Oh SHIT! Hey, I'm not a threat here!"

His master responded with his hands raised in the air, "Lord Inquisitor Scylla, this is my padawan, please, though I sometimes wish he could get hurt just once, I'd prefer it not be by having his head blown off."

Obi-wan turned and looked at the hole that had been a tree just moments before. And at the rather scared looking amphibious creature curled in a ball at the base of the hole. He knew what it was, a Gungan. The other native of this planet, kind of stupid. Nonetheless. "Hey, are you ok?"

The creature looked up at him, "Yuh-yeah. Meesa Jar-Jar Binks. And yousa is?"

"Obi-wan Kenobi. I'm a Jedi. Look, there's thousands of things trying to kill us and blast us into oblivion. We need a way out of this forest, and to Theed, on the other side of the planet. Like, now."

Jar-Jar looked at him, then pointed, "Right thisa way. Meesa take yousa to secret underwater Gungan city. Yousa be safe there. Then yousa can finds transport to the Nabooen." The creature started walking, then abruptly spun around and started running through the forest. The two Jedi followed, and not really having a better plan to get across the planet, so did the Inquisitor, Pilot, and Adept.

Scylla felt an overwhelming need to extract as much useful information as he could out of this Xeno. It appeared mildly brain-damaged, and he hoped, for a moment, that it was not an example of the entire species. He hated wasting ammunition and getting nothing out of it.

_POVSHIFTPOV_

Scylla scowled at the xeno. Sure he was a member of Ordo Xenos, and this was technically Ordo Xenos area of expertise, but it still didn't feel right following a Xeno to get to humans. He followed it anyway, right up to the edge of a massive lake. Right, the Xeno had said underwater. He reached into his coat collar and pulled up the gas-mask that protected him from inhaling most toxins. A hose running from a filter-pack in the emergency kit finished the setup.

The pilot did the same, taking a second filter pack, even as the Jedi pulled out their own smaller systems. Wherever they were, there was technology far more advanced than what they were used to, but at the same time, he had seen a Valkyrie take a shot that should have dropped it, and barely get scorched. Yet they had rebreathers that didn't take up huge belt-cases.

Hannah followed not even bothering to put on a rebreather, the artificial lungs she used more than making up for the water. They could extract oxygen out of the water as easily as the belt-pack rebreathers, but on a much larger scale. She just slogged into the water, following the amphibious Xeno into the ocean. Her robe billowed out as she filled the oilskin cloth with air, forming a rudimentary floatation system that allowed her to float along roughly neutral. The Inquisitor swam along beside her, with the Pilot on the other side as they travelled towards a large glowing bubble underwater.

"m3Ch4N1CU5 0R7h0D0Xy pr3V3n75 m3H fR0m 1n5ul71n' 7H15 n19H7m4R15h 3nV1R0nM3n7. 1 5h4ll L34v3 mY r38r347H3r 0n. 1 r3C0mM3ND U d0 7H3 54M3."

Scylla parsed the message as he reached a broad pad, outside what must have been the airlock. There were no controls, and no-one on the inside seemed to be paying attention. On top of that, it seemed there was no actual doorway. He was just about to threaten the Xeno, when the creature moved through the semi-transparent panel like it was flowing water. Yes, he was definitely keeping the rebreather hooked up, and his mask on.

The Jedi moved through, followed by Hannah, then himself and their pilot. Inside, the air was remarkably dry, and he saw another Xeno, riding some sort of giant chicken-duck thing, accosting their guide. The Jedi was beginning to say something, but was too slow. The rider dropped to the deck with a smoking hole where his head used to be, and a loud crash echoed from further into the chamber. Over-penetration, right. That was why Bolt pistols weren't used on unarmored guardsmen. He cleared his throat as two other Xenos approached nervously, "TAKE ME TO YOUR LEADER, OR I START SHOOTING!"

He felt a psychic push on his head, but ignored it until it became painfully strong, "You don't want to do that. The shooting was due to a misunderstanding. We will be escorted to the leader of this city, who will give us a transport to Theed."

The Inquisitor scowled and lowered his gun, "Xeno-lover."

The Jedi merely smiled sadly, and pointed at the body, "We apologize for the misunderstanding, and hope it will not taint your leader's view of us as a whole." Qui-gon was trying desperately to reinforce the image that the Inquisitor was a rogue element, and not a representative of the Republic. It was clear now that he definitely wasn't part of the Republic. He was certainly helping, but wherever he had come from, even though their galactic maps were the same, this group of humans were from some splinter faction that occupied a different part of the galaxy. He had mentioned 'His Unceasing Honor', which most definitely didn't describe Chancellor Valorum.

The Xenos began leading the five towards the center of the city, pausing in disgust as Scylla proudly stepped on the Xeno's corpse, repeatedly, with great force. Finally, they arrived at the city hall, where several rather overweight Xenos were sitting in a circle. Qui-gon took over negotiations, as Inquisitor Scylla still had blood splatter on his boots, and his terrifying looking filter mask still covered the lower part of his face.

Technology surrounded them though, force-fields that could hold back multiple tons of water per square inch ought to be decent impact shields. He briefly wondered if they came in man-portable, and how many Xenos he'd have to shoot to get one. The wondering was ended when one of the chicken-duck riders rocked a metal hoop between himself and the Inquisitor, the middle glowing the same way the outside bubble did.

_POVSHIFTPOV_

In orbit above the planet, Gold Wing zipped around, ferrying messages and supplies between the Argo class and the three Swords. Repairs were undergoing, and Techpriestess Caldera Moriarty was beginning to relax. Being Inquisitor Scylla's second in command, she was in charge while he was planetside, or otherwise out of contact. He had given her very specific chronal scheduling relating to command for the duration of his expected absence. At the five and a half hour mark, he had calculated that he would be escorting the nobility off the planet, and thus would need the blockade distracted. Not outright destroyed, but damaged enough to be ineffective.

It had been a stressful four hours. She stared at the chrono affixed to her wrist. Four hours, really. That meant any invasion was going to be occurring in less than two. Inquisitor Scylla better get to the Queen fast. She pressed her palm against the Vox key on the wall that linked to the PA system, "ATTENTION MEN OF MUSPELHEIM, IT IS TIME TO PREPARE. BREAK THE BLOCKADE IN ONE HOUR AND THIRTY MINUTES."

The fact that she had watched the Aquila lander explode in a ball of fire meant nothing. She had seen the Inquisitor get out of far worse than that. Now, she had to watch as thousands of men and women stocked up the six thousand fightercraft, interceptors, and gunboats. On three sides, the Swords were doing the same. Through her video-vox she could see servitors and crew stacking cannon-shells in preparation for the onslaught. Green Wing, made of minelayers, was busy circling and laying out one of the things that made Inquisitor Scylla's fleet truly terrifying. A regenerative Void-shield field. Effectively small satellites with excessively over-powered Void shields, the satellites were driven by crews of three, and maintained overlapping fields of protection, while communicating with the fleet to create precise gaps for cannon-fire to punch through.

It was nearly time, and the Void-shield field was taking shape. She saw the rippling of the fields as they formed three Dyson Spheroids of shields around the Swords.