Trade Off

E had always enjoyed watching the sun set, but as the sun set over the Planet of Naboo, he looked at it with a different perspective. For some people, this may be the last time that they would ever get to see the sun set- he'd been close enough himself, stuck in the command ship of a deranged Cyborg, but fortunately he was still here; He was still alive. Many had not made it back. After their ordeal aboard The Malevolence, E and K had been given a week off from battle. The two pilots had done more in one week than many people had ever done in their lives, and were being suitably rewarded. It was E who had suggested that they come to Naboo, which was (Only just) far out enough from the war to be considered safe, and K had agreed.
"Such an amazing sight" Said E and K nodded his head in agreement. They were both on the balcony of their temporary residence, laid out on deck chairs and drinking hydric champagne, something of a rarity in that part of the galaxy, and certainly not something they would usually be able to afford. Although the sun was setting, it was still far more powerful than E and K were used to on Dantooine or Coruscant, so they had to wear sunglasses.
"Yeah, if only our life could be like this every week." Said K. "I miss these days, when we could just come out to a planet on our days off from the academy and sit around, enjoying the view."
E sat up, "I bet you any minute now our evening will be ruined by a call to action."
"I hope not. Ever since the war started, everything has been so different- I mean, we almost died on board that cruiser. Days like this are going to become a rarity."
"Look at us; speaking about the war like we're veterans, it's only been going on a week!"
"Well at least the war hasn't come to this part of the galaxy yet. It's good that somewhere is safe from all of the fighting."
"True, although if it did come here it would save us having to travel half way across the galaxy."
"Do you think we'll be able to finish this war quickly E? Maybe the Supreme Chancellor can come to some sort of agreement with everyone, or something like that. I just don't want any more bloody fighting."
"I somewhat doubt it. The droids we could probably defeat fairly easily; we've seen what they're like. They're only a part of this war opportunistically- I mean their leader is hell bent on revenge and will probably make a mistake sooner or later, plus all he has to fight are mindless droids who can't keep out of the line of fire. We can take them. I'm more worried about the Imperials- they seem organised, well trained. It was them who started the war, and they've certainly put a lot of thought into it, plus we have no idea where they came from or what their base planet is, if they have one at all."
"Unfortunately, I think you might be right, which is what I was worried about."
"Anyway," Said E, "Let's forget about this for now, enjoy the sunset."

General Grievous had just about had enough of space. It was endless, it was mind-numbingly boring, and it reminded him what a failure he had become. He had been forced to watch as his prized flagship, The Malevolence, was blown into a thousand tiny pieces by an ion cannon; He had been forced to watch as the Jedi scum and his two pilots escaped the wreckage, and he had been forced to watch as the Republic retook control of Kamino. The only good thing to come out of this was that he was still alive, and where there is life, there is still a chance of victory. Of course, it was a good thing that General Grievous didn't have to breathe out there in the deep reaches of space, the only advantage that he seemed to have at the moment, but his body armour would need servicing soon- not that there was much chance of that happening- with him being stuck on an asteroid and floating nowhere in particular. Suddenly, something caught his eye- it was an Imperial landing craft, heading straight for his asteroid. He watched warily as the landing craft drew closer, and then proceeded to land. As soon as the doors opened, Grievous drew his lightsabers.
"I wouldn't be worried of us if I was you" Said Count Dooku as he emerged from the craft in full breathing apparatus, "In fact; we're here to help you."
Grievous hissed, "Why should I believe you, Imperial scum. You destroyed my cruiser, my one chance of killing that damned Jedi!"
"Well, unless you want to spend the rest of your life floating on an asteroid, I don't really think you have much of a choice."
"I'd rather take my chances out here than side with you."
"Really? Because me and you actually have a lot in common. We both have hatred of the Republic, and of the Jedi order. We both want power- you want revenge and I want to rule the galaxy. Think about it, a partnership between us could be mutually beneficial; We take down the Republic together, I get control of the galaxy and you get to wipe the Jedi trash you so despise off the face of the universe."
Grievous thought it over in his mind for a few minutes. It was certainly the perfect opportunity; He plays along with the Empire until the war is practically won, then he takes them down too. Everyone would burn, and Grievous would finally get his revenge. He would have to be careful of course; If he was going to take down the Empire, he would have to keep them in the dark about his operations. Sure, they would be able to take control of his main droid army and The Invisible Hand once it was completed, but he had to make sure his little 'project' coming together nicely in the underground tunnels of Geonosis wasn't discovered, or he would stand no chance at all.
"We have a deal" Said Grievous finally, "But I'm not going to play 2nd choice to your Imperials, I want to be there on the front line!"
"Of course we can discuss terms," Said Dooku, "But not here. We'll be able to draw up a compromise once we're back on our Star Destroyer." With that, he led Grievous onto the landing craft and they set off back to base.

The Emperor had watched with a smile as the landing craft docked. He knew that Dooku had been successful, he could sense it. Grievous and Dooku entered the room, but the Emperor didn't bother turning around, he never did.
"General, how nice to see you. Please, take a seat."
Grievous found it odd that the Emperor was facing away from them, but he sat down none the less.
"I am delighted that you have decided to join our side General, you'll prove a very useful asset indeed."
"We came here to discuss a compromise" Grievous reminded the Emperor, "I'm not just here to be 'an asset'."
"I've been admiring you for a long time General. You couldn't have known it, but I always wanted to make you a part of our fight from the start. It was us that rebuilt you when you crashed escaping from Kalee. The last Kaleesh, fleeing from a burning planet that was just about to implode- it was all very impressive, until you hit the satellite. I had you rebuilt into the warrior you are today, and I've been following your progress ever since. You were impressive above Kamino, even if you were outdone by a simple Republic pilot."
"You blew up my ship."
"We needed leverage to make sure you would come here. You wanted compromise, I'll give you a deal- you are a fantastic warrior General, and I'm prepared to give you the role of Imperial Strategy General, which means you will be responsible for all assaults on the ground and in orbit. You wanted to be on the front line General, this is your best opportunity to do exactly that."
"What do you want in return?"
"You surrender your entire army over to the Empire, I get to choose what units and how many you get for each assault, and there are no questions asked. If I want something done, it gets done."
"It's a deal." Said Grievous and Dooku turned to face him.
"So then General, where are we going to attack first?"
"I know just the place" He replied. If he could, Grievous would have been smiling.

E and K were woken up by an alarm, but it wasn't the one they were expecting.
"Oh that's just great; this is just what I need." Said K, and he turned to E, "Oi E, get up you lazy sod, it's Commander Stark."
"I'm sorry to ruin your week off" Said Stark over the video link, "But we have a problem."
"What kind of problem?" Asked E, who was now awake.
"It's the Empire and the droid army. We think they've joined forces."
"Joined forces?"
"We picked up an Imperial Star Destroyer and a Droid Cruiser converging above the planet of Corellia, but instead of blowing pieces out of each other, they both started firing on our defences. We got caught completely off guard, and we're not holding up well. With twice the power, they're tearing us apart."
"What has this got to do with us? You want us to help you, don't you?"
"Yeah, although it's not me specifically that wants you back, it's Master Kenobi. He was obviously quite impressed with you in the battle of Kamino."
E whistled, but K just looked down at the floor- it was quite something to get praised by a Jedi.
"We need you to head for Corellia straight away" Stark continued.
"You don't want us to come to Coruscant first?" Enquired K, and Commander Stark shook his head;
"No, it would take too long. Head straight for Corellia- Master Kenobi is already on his way, he'll brief you on the plan once you get there."
"Understood" Said E, and the transmission ended. K then turned to E with an unimpressed expression on his face.
"Corellia, seriously? Even Kamino is closer to Naboo than Corellia is."
"Change of scenery I guess. There's a lot more space traffic around Corellia than Kamino or even Bespin. At least we'll get to see the locals, or what's left of them."
"That's not remotely funny, even for you." Said K, and the two, begrudgingly, headed for the Spaceport.

They arrived above Corellia in record time. Normally, this would be the point where they would suspect something was wrong, but this time was different- they knew something was wrong. There was nothing there. There was no space traffic, no massive Imperial cruisers, no Obi-Wan. Nothing.
"You reckon we've accidentally shifted through time?" Asked K jokingly over the radio, struggling just as much as E to comprehend what was going on.
"I'm afraid things have moved on a bit since you left Naboo" Came a voice over the radio; E instantly recognised it as Obi-Wan's.
"Obi-Wan, what's going on?" He asked.
"They were too strong for us. We managed evacuate most of the surrounding traffic, but they've managed to land craft here."
"So what do we do?"
"You land. We take the situation from there."
K looked at E through the cockpit window, "Well, this certainly isn't going to end well."

Despite their reservations, E and K followed Obi-Wan's instructions, and soon they had landed on Corellia, in what could only be described as a barren wasteland.
"It's good to have you two onboard again." Said Obi-Wan once everyone had set themselves up, "We have no idea what could lie over that ridge so we're going to need every man we have."
E looked around; Apart from himself, K and Obi-Wan, there were about 20 Republican soldiers, and 4 all terrain armoured tanks. Whatever was going to go down, E couldn't help but feel a little vulnerable.
"No disrespect Master Kenobi, but both K and I are pilots, not foot soldiers. I don't really feel comfortable outside a fighter."
Obi-Wan thought for a minute, but then nodded his head in agreement. "I know, but you two are very good people to have. All we need to do first is find out what exactly is over that ridge, then we can decide the course of action. Something tells me I'm going to need you up in the sky regardless of what we find, don't worry about that."

They set off with the tanks protecting all sides of the army, but E and K still felt very exposed- with both being pilots, they knew just how easy it would be to initiate a bombing run on this entire convoy, and K doubted any of them would survive. Infact, he was extra vigilant, because, although he knew that the Imperials had already landed, he had no idea where the Star Destroyer, or the droid ship, had gone, and he was afraid they hadn't left Corellia's orbit.
"Hold up" Said Obi-Wan, and everything stopped; They had reached the ledge. "E, K, with me." He commanded, and both E and K walked forwards towards the edge of the ledge.
"You ready for this?" Asked Obi-Wan, and both said yes. With everything set, they took that first look over the ledge. What they saw blew their minds.
"Holy…."
"That's massive. How the hell did that get here?" Asked K in awe.
"What I want to know is what the hell is it?" Replied E.
"It's a drilling station. It's a massive drilling station. I've never seen anything like it before in my life."
E and K were forced to step back as a great gust of wind took hold, but the drilling platform held steady. It was 200ft tall and at least 150ft wide, and it displayed itself right across the barren wasteland.
"Look!" Said K, pointing towards the station, "Look what's controlling the drilling system."
"Droids" Muttered E, and that got Obi-Wan's attention;
"These droids look like they've been here for a while too. But how is that possible? How have the droid army managed to create a massive drilling platform on a Republic controlled planet and nobody has known?"
"It's easy" Said K with a grimace, "This platform has been here for at least 6 months easy, which means it was set up before the war. It would have been fairly simple for Grievous to obtain permit; I mean, we're in the middle of nowhere here, nobody is going to care that someone wants to drill in the desert- it's hardly like there is anything supposed to be here, they probably thought he was mad—"
"He is mad"
"—And just gave it him for his satisfaction. He wasn't in anybody's way, so why would they care?"
"And now that the war has started, he can use it for whatever scheme he has come up with." Said Obi-Wan, not at all too happy with what he had found. "Question now is, how many other planets has he managed to do something like this on?"
"And how the hell do we stop this one?"
"You can never stop me!" Came a voice from the background. It was unmistakably Grievous', but even though they could hear him, they couldn't see him anywhere.
"Show yourself General" Said Obi-Wan, and Grievous gave out a grating laugh in return.
"Oh I will Jedi. I'm going to crush you and your pathetic little friends, and then you will be forced to watch as this planet crumbles around you. Then you will truly know how it feels."
With that, Grievous dived down from the hoverjet he had been stood on, landing in the centre of the squad. Obi-Wan instantly activated his ligtsaber, but Grievous waited; There was a hissing sound, and his arms separated- he had 4 now instead of 2, and each one held a lightsaber: 2 blue and 2 green.
"Bring it!" Yelled Grievous, and Obi-Wan launched himself at the cyborg. Blow after blow Obi-Wan kept raining down hits towards Grievous, but with his extra sabers he blocked them with ease, deflecting each and every hit. It was taking its toll on Obi-Wan, and as he started to tire Grievous gained the upper hand, forcing Kenobi further and further back with each and every attack. Soon, they were back by the ledge leading to the drilling platform; Obi-Wan tried to outmanoeuvre Grievous, but in doing so almost slid straight over the edge. Grievous saw this as a perfect opportunity, and brought down the power of all four sabers in one hit. Obi-Wan just managed to get a saber lock, but the lightsabers were mere inches from his face. He held them, and slowly managed to push them away; This was no good to Grievous, so he spun back around, swirling two lightsabers above his head to form a shield as he battle Obi-Wan with his other limbs. The flurry continued with no clear end ahead. The entre Republic squadron were raining down blaster bolts towards Grievous every time he came near, but he deflected them with ease- infact, the army was beginning to thin as Grievous picked them off one by one. Just as Grievous had finished decapitating a Republic soldier, Obi-Wan came back at him with a wild slash that went straight through Grievous' shoulder, and followed it up with a stab, but Grievous made him and blocked it, then kicked the Jedi with all his strength, throwing him through the air where he landed on the edge of the ledge, just centimetres from certain doom….

E and K had spent most of the fight hiding behind a giant rock. They still weren't used to being in battle zones, and certainly not whilst on the ground. The air was their home. Now, all they could do was watch and hope as Obi-Wan battled against the deranged General.

Grievous brought his foot down hard, winding Obi-Wan, but right now that foot was the only thing stopping Kenobi from falling down the cliff and into the abyss below. He stared into the eyes of the General, but he saw nothing in them but anger and hatred. Suddenly, there was a huge tremor, and the ground shook violently beneath everyone. Obi-Wan sensed his opportunity, and forced Grievous across the desert. He seemed to be in the air for ages, but eventually came back down, landing with a distinct crack against a rock- The very rock E and K were hiding behind. E, running on instinct, rushed out and fired at Grievous, but the cyborg was up quickly and deflected the shot. He straightened up and, without even looking, backhanded E so hard that he was knocked clean off his feet. Obi-Wan wasn't done though, and whilst Grievous was distracted he launched a scathing attack, slicing at his back and cutting through the protective armour plating, before ripping off one of his arms, and slashing a hit across his face. When he was finished, Grievous was down.
"I'm going to finish you now General, end this once and for all" Called out Kenobi, but Grievous was back on his feet.
"No, I will never die!" The droid shouted, and kicked Kenobi in the chest, knocking him off balance. Sensing the opportunity, Grievous launched himself up into the air. He hung there for a second, but then his hoverjet burst through the sky and Grivous landed perfectly onto it.
"This isn't over General."
"Oh but it is. Right now my army is drilling right down to Corellia's core. Once it gets through, the entire planet will be de-stabilised, and it will explode into so many pieces, they'll never be able to count them all. Not only will the Republic's major trade routes be ruined, but you will finally have to feel the pain that I have felt for all these years! Consider this a trade-off- I'm trading the demise of my planet for one of yours. You must watch your friends die, or you will die along with them, Jedi!"
The hoverjet burst off into the distance. The wind picked up again and sand was blown into view, obscuring Grievous' craft. Once it had settled down again, Grievous was gone. Then there was another violent tremor, and it had come from the drilling rig.

K had a plan. Strategy had always been his thing, not combat- that was more E's forte. Whenever they had been forced to hold up a cargo ship or freight liner whilst on their scouting trips, it was always E who did the talking or punched a few holes through things to make a point, but it was K who came up with the strategy. Having been afforded time by Obi-Wan's fight with General Grievous, he had taken it upon himself to hack into the drilling rig's electrical system. Now he knew pretty much everything about the landscape- dimensions, work force, security, weak spots. Everything was manned by droids, and everything was automated. It wasn't going to be easy, but it was possible; they were going to do a bombing run.

Obi-Wan listened over K's proposal eagerly, pleased to see that he had made the right decision in bringing the two pilots along to Corellia. He could have easily left them on Naboo, but he knew they had much more talent that either of them realised, and even more potential than some Jedi Knights. Most of the Jedi Council had disagreed with him, but he had read the reports about Bespin, and he had plenty of allies who had been there too. All of them had said the same thing. It was the reason he had personally asked for them to accompany him to Kamino, and now to Corellia. He saw their potential to be the people who could end this war. What K was proposing was a bombing run on the drillscape, one that would knock the actual drill out of its holder and fry the major circuits. If done correctly it would knock the drill completely out of action, and Corellia would be safe.
"There's nothing else we can really do, and if we leave then the drill will hit the core, and then who knows what might happen." Concluded K, and Obi-Wan went to address the two pilots immediately.
"How long do we have until the drill hits the core?"
"Twelve hours, but that's not going to matter, because we might just be in trouble a lot, lot sooner."
"What do you mean?" Asked E, who could tell that K had become suddenly anxious.
"I've just got the readings back on the planet core composition….. I knew the data we originally had was a bit dated, but I never knew it had changed this much…."
"K, what's going on?" Said Obi-Wan. He could sense a disturbance in the force, but only K knew what that disturbance was.
"OK, here goes. Back when the last planetary survey was done, it was observed that Corellia's core was composed of a molten Uranium core surrounded by molten Iron, with the two basically interlocked. Well, it turns out things may have slightly moved on, because the iron outer layer has completely solidified, and there is enormous pressure from the molten Uranium actual core. As soon as that drill hits the Iron, the entire core will bust through the gap."
"In English?"
"We have just 30 minutes to pull this thing off."

E and K both ran straight to their fighters. They were brand new fighters, after the trouble above Kamino, and so they had both given them new names- K had nicknamed his Fireflash, and E had christened his Gravity. They were too close to pull off a run straight away, so the plan was to fly away from the rig, then double back on themselves and hit them hard. They had the four Republic tanks in position, ready to cover fire against the auto-turrets that protected the drill. Smoke grenades fired at the rig would hopefully obscure the view of the turrets as to the arrival of E and K, and then they would hit the drill with a laser targeted Nutonic charge bomb. They took off with no mishaps- infact; the entire place was completely empty. The first part was probably the easiest thing they had ever done. Soon they reached 15Km and started the double back, arcing in a large circle, aimed perfectly at the drillscape.
"You ready for this?" Asked E as he prepared to arm the charge bomb.
"As ready as we'll ever be I guess. Charges set?"
"Charges are set, laser target is printed- 12Km from threshold and decreasing."
"Initiate cover fire" K commanded.
"Initiating cover fire" Said E, who then moved over to the main radio. "All units, initiate stage 1 cover fire."
"10Km from threshold."
The Republic tanks all moved into position on E's order. Now right at the edge of the ledge, they aimed towards the auto-turrets, and opened fire. The turrets, not expecting any form of attack, were slow to respond, but eventually picked out the tanks and returned fire. The entire landscape was now illuminated in blaster fire, with the tanks continually moving position to avoid being hit. The turrets were taking heavy damage, but there were more of them than the tanks, and it was a deadly even fight. Suddenly there was another massive tremor, and an entire section of the ledge started to give way, with one of the tanks still sat on it. The tank attempted to reverse, but it was too late, and the ledge gave way, taking the tank tumbling down with it. The ledge wasn't the only thing damaged by the tremor, and an entire section of the rig started to slide. It strained and strained, but it couldn't take the pressure and gave way forcing the whole rig to collapse on its left side, and a few of the turrets were crushed in the collapse. It was carnage.

"E!" Radioed Obi-Wan, "We've lost one of the tanks. There's been some massive subsidence, the rig has slipped on one of its edges."
"I can see" E replied, "I've adjusted the laser target, but it's too close now to change if there's another slip."
"Understood, we'll keep up the cover fire from our end. Good luck."
"Now 7Km from threshold." Said K, "Arm charges."
"Charges are armed, laser target is affirmative." Replied E, "We're all good to go."
"Prepare smoke. Get ready to fire on my command."
"Smoke is armed."
"5Km from threshold- fire smoke!"
E hit the button, and two rockets fired out from under his craft. They ripped through the air and landed right in the centre of the rig, pouring out dark grey smoke that covered the entire area. The turrets, however, did something E and K did not expect them to do- they fired towards the reverse trajectory of the smoke rockets, which was right at E and K.
"Avert! Avert!" Yelled Obi-Wan down the radio as soon as he saw this, and E split off from K, the blaster bolts narrowly missing both fighters. After the initial flurry, the turrets then focused back to the tanks, giving the pilots a clear run.
"Damn that was close" Said K and E whistled in agreement. "Now 3Km from threshold" He continued. E tensed his body, gripping the controls tightly. They had just one shot at this; there wouldn't be enough time to go round and have a second run- there was just 5 minutes remaining.
"2Km from threshold. Laser target set. Prepare rockets."
"Rockets ready. Switching to targeting mode."
"1Km from threshold"
"Steady…."
"Threshold reached. Open fire!" Commanded K over the radio. Both the pilots opened the tabs and pressed down hard on the trigger. Rockets screamed out from underneath them- the turrets valiantly protecting the rig tried to blast them out of the sky, but it was too late, they had breached the defences. One rocket hit the drill right at its centre, splitting it into two, with the bottom piece flying off at a tangent now it had nothing to hold it in place. The second rocket flew into the top section of the drill, blowing apart the metalwork. The top section, without the bottom of the drill to stop it, fell right into the drilling hole. It wasn't finished though; now that the drill was free, it swerved straight through the structure supports holding it in place, severing most of them at their hinges. Unable to cope with the limited support, the entire central structure bent and buckled, until finally everything gave way, and it collapsed on top of itself, crushing each and every battle droid on the platform and causing the central console to explode into flames. The drill was bounced up into the air, clearing most of the wreckage, but it landed next to the main fuel line, pinning it to the ground and causing the roof to fall apart around it. The drill piece had stopped now, but the fuel pressure was building up rapidly...

There was a split second where everything stopped, where Corellia ceased to rotate and time refused to move forward, and then the entire fuel store exploded in an amazing blaze that engulfed almost the entire rig. The fire spread rapidly, and soon the whole rig was alight in an infinite inferno. The sky darkened as black smoke filled the area, and the rig's supports, already weakened by the slip earlier on, cracked and split, hydraulic fluid hissing out from the gaps, causing the fire to burn even brighter than it had before. E and K looked back at the rig, and realised just how close they had come to seeing the entire planet blown apart. The rig had settled down somewhat, but Obi-Wan could hear a terrible screeching noise building up from beneath the rig where the drill hole had once been. The noise was getting louder, more and more unbearable every minute, until finally it hit a fever pitch and the entire rig went up in an incredible fireball. The shockwave knocked Obi-Wan and his entire squad off his feet and blew the tanks backwards. He tried to get up, but was knocked back to the ground. The heat was incredible, and the fire so bright it was virtually blinding. The rubble had barely settled when a gigantic sinkhole opened up where the hole had been, dragging everything in with it- support structures, droids and even the destroyed tank were sucked down into oblivion. There was a rumble of thunder and one final tremor, and then everything was still. Everything was finished.

As soon as everything had settled down, the squad had headed back to Coruscant. There was no sign of General Grievous, and there was still no sign of either Cruiser, Imperial and Droid. Now, back on Coruscant, E, K and Obi-Wan were stood before the Galactic Senate, explaining what had gone on with Corellia. Grievous, the drilling rig, the bombing run- everything had to be relayed, and everything had to be noted down. Corellia was a mess. The final explosion had been so great that it has split the planet's crust in two, and the planet was so unstable nobody knew if anyone would ever be able to go back. What was once green hills and a busy metropolis was now in ruins, damaged by the constant lava flows that oozed through the cracks. As the Senate heard the story of how things went down on Corellia, one thing became apparently clear- General Grievous had won the battle. He had set out to destroy Corellia and damage the Republic's trade routes, and that is exactly what had happened. He had shown them that the Droid army were not going to be pushovers, nor was his alliance with the Empire. He had proved just how naïve they had all been about his army.

There was, however, still hope. The Republic may have lost the battle of Corellia, but the war was far from finished. They were still going to win this war.