Outer-Rim
Location Unknown
A single ship emerged from hyperspace, approaching an asteroid that for the most part looked like an asteroid. The only difference was the glass dome surrounding what looked like a small base that was lit up and allowed the ships to land on the platforms surrounding the base. Upon landing the being piloting the ship exited their ship and walked through the hangars and into a dark room with a single light shining in the center of a table.
"Well, what a merry gathering we have here." The being said from the darkness of the room. "Must be a big pay for such a big party."
Any further discussion was cut off as in the center of the table appeared a blue holographic image of someone known quite well throughout the galaxy. "Greetings and welcome, old friend."
"Count Dooku. Why am I not surprised?"
"I understand that you are curious by my invitation. Let me assure you that the award for the assignment I offer you comes with a high reward. It is quite simple and yet is it very important." Dooku looked around the room. "The assignment is the tracking and capture of a single target and brought to me alive at all costs."
"You offer a big price for a job as simple as that?"
"The target is high valuable, not only to me but also to the Republic and the Jedi." Dooku's image was replaced by the image of the target. "The target is young Senator Amidala of Naboo. She has recently disappeared with important information that I want retrieved at all cost before the Republic. In exchange for helping locate our wayward senator a ship has been sent and it will be at your disposal with all information regarding the senator's disappearance and the firepower needed should the Republic interfere."
"What about the price, Dooku? You're asking a lot from me." The hunter said, his hidden eyes glaring at the image.
"You will be rewarded equally for your efforts so as long as you produce adequate results." Dooku stated as his image replaced Senator Amidala's image. "So, do we have an arrangement?"
With the award Dooku was offering one would have to be a fool to say no.
"You can count on me, Count Dooku." The being chuckled. "It'll be a good chance to stretch my legs a bit, even I was hoping for more than a mere search for a missing senator."
"Complete this mission to the letter and I might find more use for you, Durge." Dooku said before his image faded.
Coruscant
Jedi Temple
Yoda frowned as the Jedi Council gathered in the council chamber, discussing the latest events about the war and other subjects that were just as important, to both the survival of the Jedi Order and the Republic. "Missing, Masters Secura and Shaak Ti are."
"They arrived in the Hoth System following an attack on their cruiser by strange creatures and that was the last we heard of them." Mace Windu continued. "They were on a mission to find Senator Amidala who disappeared during a mission to her homeworld Naboo. We believe they might have been killed but we have no way to verify it."
"What exactly attacked them?" Master Ki-Adi-Mundi asked.
"Unknown. They were reported as strange ghost like creatures that appeared out of nowhere and killed several clones by draining their neural patterns." Obi-Wan answered. "They also appeared to have some sort of Force-Sensitivity based on Master Shaak Ti's report but nothing conformed. They seemingly died when the ship entered hyperspace."
"Discover this new threat, we must." Yoda stated.
"Masters, I believe the clue to this riddle is Senator Amidala. This all started with her disappearance." Obi-Wan commented. "Just as she disappeared Anakin's fleet was attacked by those Borg creatures and now these mysterious creatures attacking ships in the south regions. There is a connection between them."
"You suggest we continue trying to find Senator Amidala?" Mace Windu questioned.
"I believe if we find Senator Amidala we will find our answers." Obi-Wan answered.
Yoda closed his eyes. "Agree with Master Kenobi, I do. Find Senator Amidala and have answers to our questions, we will."
"If I may, Councilors, Anakin's fleet has refueled and repaired from the Borg attack. His fleet is already ready for a new mission." Obi-Wan suggested.
"You believe Skywalker will be able to find the senator?" Mace Windu asked.
"Without a doubt." Obi-Wan nodded.
Yoda nodded. "Agree with Master Kenobi I do. Charged with finding Senator Amidala, Skywalker will be."
Dustig Sector
Providence Class Destroyer C.S.S. Bloodhound
Bridge
The giant cybernetic bounty hunter Durge supposed he should be feeling lucky.
After all it wasn't everyday a bounty hunter was given a small taskforce of Separatist ships for the purpose of hunting down one measly senator. Well, he had to work with other bounty hunters that were on the ship but the offered price made it worth it and if they ran into any Republic forces ran into them and a few bounty hunters were killed then it simply meant more money for him.
It was annoying to be given a single ship but Count Dooku wanted to keep this mission secret from the Republic at all cost and with the amount of money was offering no one was foolish enough to argue with him. For the most part Durge was simply brooding on the bridge and let the droids do their work.
So as long as they act like professionals Durge didn't care what they did but he was hoping for some action.
It had been too long since he had gotten the chance to face any opponents since his defeat on Muunilist. The only reason he was working for Dooku was that he had the chance to kill clones who were made from the DNA of the Mandalorian bounty hunter Jango Fett.
Durge had a deep hatred of Mandarlorians that had not faded with time.
He enjoyed killing clones and had gone on several missions for Count Dooku just for the opportunity to kill more clones. Of course he was hoping for a far better mission, one that could even involve him going up against Obi-Wan Kenobi and get a chance for blasting him apart on Muunilist. Perhaps he will have his chance, after this one little mission.
"Are we there yet?" Durge stood in front of the command chair, finding it easier to stand and stay alert for anything.
"We're coming upon the last known location of the droid ship that was chasing the Naboo ship." The command droid reported.
"Scanners." Durge ordered.
"We started scanning when we came out of hyperspace. Nothing definite to report."
"Definite?" Durge narrowed his eyes.
"We're picking up a funny energy pulse reading on our scanners. We don't know what to make of it." The droid explained.
"Nothing else?"
"No." The droid shrugged.
Durge scowled. "Launch a fighter patrol to check things out and find out what that pulse is."
"Roger, roger." The droid nodded. "Shall I inform Count Dooku we have arrived?"
Durge snorted. "Why bother? Nothing to report yet."
Just because the count wanted daily reports on the mission it didn't mean Durge would call him up and ask for instructions every minute of the mission. Durge was perfectly capable of running a simple search and capture mission and all the droids and extra hunters were just along as muscles or meat shields to deal with Republic dogs, Jedi, or anyone else foolish enough to get in his way. From the hangar of the Bloodhound launched Vulture Droids and Tri-Fighters, flying in standard formation as they circled the fleet, moving out to patrol and scan the surrounding area. The droids constantly scanned space to the limit of their range and reported back to the mothership where the droids on the bridge reviewed and looked over for anything their programming considered out of the ordinary.
So far their search turned up with nothing but the droids continued on, directed by their programming to continue until they found something or needing to return to the mothership to refuel and then continue the mission.
()
Journal of the 501st
Pre-Battle Entry: As the Clone Wars slowly entered the third year things begun to spiral out of control for almost everyone. Following the Borg attack the 501st, led by General Skywalker, Commander Tano, and Admiral Yularen was sent to investigate reports of strange creatures appearing like ghosts along the Outer Rim, near the last known coordinates of Senator Amidala. General Skywalker wanted us ready at a second's notice so almost every hour of our down time was spent in the simulator, practicing drills and keeping the ship battle ready for almost anything that might appear. Of course when we finally found what was causing all the trouble, I don't even General Skywalker was prepared for what would happen.
()
Republic Venator Class Star Destroyer Protector
Bridge
Anakin could honestly kiss Obi-Wan for allowing him the chance to finally go out and find his missing wife as the Jedi Council gave him his latest mission.
"Here is all the data Masters Secura and Shaak Ti submitted before they were forced to leave." Obi-Wan said as the data was uplinked into the nav-computer. "Be careful, Anakin, there is a danger out there and you might be in for more trouble. You will be going alone because we need all the ships we can to reinforce the lanes along Sullust."
"Don't worry, Master. I'll be careful. Just look after my men." Anakin replied with a small smile.
"Oh don't worry. I'll do my best." Obi-Wan smiled as his image vanished.
"Rex, set course for these coordinates and make sure we're battle ready." Anakin said as he stepped onto the forward bridge.
"Yes sir." Rex quickly went to work.
"Where are we going, Master?" Ahsoka asked as she followed Anakin up to the windows.
"To find Padme." Anakin said as the ship entered hyperspace.
The search had begun.
Separatist Scout Fleet
Providence Class Destroyer C.S.S. Bloodhound
Bridge
"Sir, we've picked up something on the scanner." The droid at the tactical station reported. "It looks like the remains of a ship."
"A Naboo ship?" Durge questioned, remembering the description of the ship the senator was in when she disappeared.
"No…It doesn't match any known ship. It's emitting that pulse we detected earlier." The droid answered.
Durge frowned, disappointed that it wasn't the senator's ship but also relieved because if the senator was dead there was a chance he would not be paid. "Get us in close. I want a better look at that ship."
"Roger, roger."
The droid fighters altered course, following their mothership as it came upon a green colored bird like ship that floated lifelessly in the voice of space.
"No life forms, sir." The pilot droid reported.
Durge scoffed. "Leave it then and continue looking for any sign of the senator's ship."
"Roger, roger."
Durge briefly fought the urge to shoot the droid for saying that stupid phrase over and over again.
Federation/Romulan Republic Border
USS Friedrich
Bridge
"Sensors are picking up warp signatures, closing rapidly." Rako spoke up. "Scans confirm Federation and Romulan Republic."
"It's no surprise Starfleet would inform the Republic of a wormhole in their backyard." Malcolm mumbled. "How long?"
"Estimated fifteen minutes."
"Computer, where is Senator Amidala?" Malcolm asked.
"Senator Amidala is in her quarters."
Padme's Quarters
"First Log: Senator Amidala recording. I have only been on this ship for a short time but I have worked to make the most of it. Captain Malcolm acts like a competent, if casual captain, but his crew act as much professionals as any other ship crew I have seen for the Republic or on a Naboo ship. I studied up on their galaxy maps and I was surprised to see that Federation territory lies on what I guess is the Mid and most of the Outer Rim of this side of their galaxy with the planet New Romulus sharing the same position as Naboo which we are less than a parsec from. I suppose it could be found amusing from both sides if first contact is ever made. End Log."
"Senator Amidala, please report to the bridge."
"On my way." Padme put the PADD down and exited her quarters.
It didn't take her long to reach the bridge where she was greeted with the sight of ships emerging possibly from warp space. The taskforce had finally arrived consisting of Federation ships similar in style to the Friedrich but came in different sizes.
'They look almost Nubian. 'Senator Amidala mused as she watched the taskforce approach on the bridge of the Friedrich.
With the Federation ships were green colored bird like ships that must be from the Romulan Republic she had read about. They seemed more focused on appearance, making a statement of their power but Padme did not doubt they were armed and dangerous. Of course there was a ship much larger that stood out amongst the bird like ships and was even larger than a Republic Star Destroyer. According to the science officer T'Vrell it was the flagship of the Romulan Republic, the Tulwar class dreadnaught R.R.W. Lleiset
And leading the Federation part of the taskforce was a large ship with its name proudly seen on the saucer shaped hull: USS-ENTERPRISE NCC 1701-F
Any doubts she had before about these people and their claim that she was in another galaxy vanished as the ships were too different from anything she had ever seen to be a fabrication.
'I can only imagine the changes this will bring to my own galaxy.' Padme thought.
"Captain, we're being hailed by the Enterprise." T'Vrell stated.
"On screen."
The view screen split to show the image of a blue skinned man that Padme noted to be similar to Duros and Twi'leks but with snow white hair and two antenna sprouting from above his forehead and a woman who had pointed ears like T'Vrell and wore a green uniform.
"Captain Malcolm, good to see you again." The blue skinned man spoke.
"Good to see you too, Captain Shon." Kurt nodded with a smile. "I somehow knew that the Enterprise would be the ship representing the Federation in this discovery. And it's good to see you as well, Captain Jarok."
"Likewise, Captain. The Romulan Republic has not forgotten your contribution for assisting us before in discovering the truth behind the destruction of Romulus or for protecting New Romulus from Sela's fleet." Jarok replied with a smile. "The Republic is interested in this rift that has appeared and is also concerned. We have enough trouble with Tal Shiar and the remnants of the Empire as it is. I read up on your reports and the last thing the Republic needs is another war in our backyard."
"Starfleet Command wanted Enterprise at the forefront just to be safe and I have offered Jarock to follow to represent the Romulan Republic on the other side. Our primary shields will at one hundred percent as enter the portal." Captain Va'kel Shon answered.
"While we're on the subject I would like to introduce Senator Amidala of the Galactic Republic on the other side of the wormhole." Malcolm gestured to Padma who stepped forward, bowing her head slightly.
"A pleasure to meet you, Senator." Shon greeted with a smile and returned Padme's bow. "I understand your government is currently at war."
"Yes, Captain." Padma nodded.
"Starfleet and the Romulan Republic are concerned of this war being waged in your galaxy possibly spilling into our galaxy. As such we've been ordered to make contact with Republic and this Confederacy to avoid that outcome." Shon stated.
"The Republic will see to it that the war does not spill into your territory but I cannot speak on behalf of the Separatists." Padma replied.
"Well let us hope that they agree at least not to provoke us. We have enough trouble with the threat of the Iconians and diverting ships to stop another fight is the last thing we need." Jarok said. "I received word that the Klingons will be sending ships of their own to investigate this wormhole so we'll hold back. The last thing we need is for them accusing us of trying to leave them out of this…rare venture."
"By that you mean glory to be found on the other side." Malcolm commented with a small smirk.
Shon decided to change the subject. "We've determined that the triolic energy emitting from the portal could be harmful to any ship without the proper shielding. The Confederacy ship Winds of Mygeeto could pass through due to its crew being artificial but from the ship that the senator came in would not protect her from being exposed to triolic energy and a second trip through it could be lethal so it's best she remains on the Friedrich until we determine the passage safe. The Enterprise will be the first ship through the portal once the probe transmits what might be on the other side and then the Friedrich will follow."
"Understood, Captain." Malcolm nodded. "
"We'll be sending a live feed as we're on the other side. Enterprise out." Shon said before the live screen switched back to the image of space.
"Well Senator, you get a front seat to something that might change things in your universe forever. Let's hope it's a good change." Malcolm sat back in his seat.
"I hope so, Captain." Padme stood by the science station, staring at the view-screen as the Enterprise slowly moved forward. "But what was that about glory and this threat? And what was Captain Jarok talking about with an empire and this…Tal Shiar?"
"It's a long story. I'll tell you about it later." Malcolm directed his attention to the Enterprise.
A beam of blue light shot from its deflector dish and apparently collided with the portal as Padme looked on to see what looked like a vortex of blue and light that slowly expanded outwards.
"The rift appears to be stabilizing, Captain." T'Vrell reported. "The distortion is intense but the Enterprise and the Lleiset's shields are adjusting to handle the portal."
"The Enterprise and the Lleiset are entering the portal." Rako spoke up.
The giant ship that held the legendary name moved on into the portal, followed by the flagship of the Romulan Republic.
Other Side of the portal
Providence Class Destroyer C.S.S. Bloodhound
Bridge
"Sir, we're picking up a strange energy reading." The droid at the scanner station reported. "It's just up ahead."
"What is it?" Durge narrowed his eyes.
"I don't know. I've never seen anything like it before." The droid answered.
"Well what can you tell me?" Durge asked impatiently.
Before the droid could answer a Republic ship came out of hyperspace just several hundred kilometers away.
Durge suppressed the urge to scowl. "Order the fighters to attack that ship."
Protector
Bridge
"Sir, a Separatist dreadnaught has been spotted off the port bow!"
Anakin turned his head, seeing the familiar capital ship of the Separatist Navy already launching fighters and bombers. "Get our shields up and open fire."
The Protector aimed its turrets at the Confederate dreadnaught and fired as the fighters made strafing runs, launching missiles and bombs that shook the ship.
"Angle our ship away and put full power to the port shields. I want our fighters launched." Anakin said as he rushed out of the bridge, followed quickly by Ahsoka.
Yularen took command as the Protector turned so its port side was facing the Providence dreadnaught with all available power rerouted to the port shields. "Keep steady and move us out of range of their main cannons."
()
Meanwhile the docking bay slowly opened up as the clone pilots rushed to their fighters.
"V-Wings squadrons stay and protect the ship. ACR squadrons one through three, stay with the V-Wings to help protect the ship. The rest are with me, protecting the Y-Wings as we make strafing runs on the ship. They are our best chance to take it out." Anakin said as his Eta-2-Actis-class interceptor slowly lifted out of the hangar, smiling as he heard affirmative replies. "Let's go to work."
A second later space around him was littered with blue and red laser fire as he flew towards the Confederate Dreadnaught as it continued to pound away at the Protector.
"Master, we're a little outnumbered here." Ahsoka said from her own interceptor.
"Just make things more fun." Anakin said with a small grin as he led the squadron towards the dreadnaught.
As the two ships continued to fire on each other the laser bolts suddenly started hitting something as small patches of white energy ripped into open space.
"Master?!" Ahsoka screamed as white light blasted space in front of the Republic fighters.
"Pull up!" Anakin said, almost ripping the throttle out as his fighter flew up, followed by his squadron that narrowly avoided flying into the light.
C.S.S. Bloodhound
Bridge
"Sir, we're picking up something up ahead…Another strange energy reading." The droid at the pilot station reported.
"What is it this time?" Durge grumbled.
"It's-" The droid never truly had a chance to answer as in front of the fleet came a burst of white light, releasing streams of blue energy that looked hyperspace leaking into normal space. "Whoa!"
"Droid, tell me what that is!" Durge said to the pilot droid who was working on the instruments.
"Uh…I don't know. Scans don't know what to make of it. It looks like a hyperspace portal of some kind." The droid answered.
"Hyperspace? That's impossible." Durge grunted.
"Sir, something is coming out." The droid spoke up.
Out of the vortex came a very big ship, different from anything the bounty hunters on the bridge had even seen. It looked like a giant saucer attached to long engines with what looked like a dish underneath the saucer, attached to the secondary hull. A second just after it came out another ship appeared of the vortex, this one a giant black winged ship that looked more predatory looking that slowly came to a stop next to the saucer shaped ship.
Durge narrowed his eyes. "Scan those ships."
"I can't. Scans are being scattered by…whatever it is that's out there." The pilot droid replied.
'Shoot them.'
Durge narrowed his eyes as he pulled out his pistol. "Who said that?"
"Who said what?" A droid asked.
'Destroy them.'
Durge stiffened as the bridge flashed blue. "What is going on?"
'Kill them.'
'Terminate.'
'Obliterate.'
'They hurt us.'
'They starve us.'
'They murder us!'
'THEY HAVE TO DIE!'
The bridge flashed blue as electricity coursed through the consoles, overloading any droids who unfortunate to be touching the controls as they overloaded.
"What's happening?!" Durge shouted as the bridge was engulfed in a blue light and the ship seemingly started to act on its own.
Protector
Bridge
"Can you identify those ships?" Yularen asked, watching as the two large ships came out of the vortex of light.
"They don't match anything in our records, Admiral." A clone officer reported. "Scans are almost scattered."
"What's General Skywalker's status?"
"He's holding station."
"Contact him immediately." Yularen said, stepping away from the windows.
'Shoot them.'
Yularen stopped as he heard what he thought was a whisper but shook it off when he saw no one was talking to him.
'Destroy them.'
"Did you say something?" He asked a nearby clone who shook his head.
'Kill them.'
"Sir, I thought I heard something…" One of the clone pilots spoke up.
'Terminate.'
Yularen looked around the bridge as it flashed blue. "Did anyone see that?"
'Obliterate.'
"What was that?"
'They hurt us.'
The clone crew started noticing a blue light that was flashing across the bridge every few seconds.
'They starve us.'
'They murder us!'
'THEY HAVE TO DIE!'
"Sir, we're losing control of the ship!" A clone shouted as the consoles started to short circuit.
"Get me General Skywalker now!"
()
Anakin and Ahsoka both sensed a presence of great hunger and anger that grew stronger each and every second.
"Master, what's-" Ahsoka stopped as both the Separatist dreadnaught and the Protector opened fire on the new ships. "What's going on?!"
"I don't know!" Anakin quickly opened a channel. "Admiral Yularen, what's going on?! Why are you firing?!"
"The ship is not responding to our commands anymore, General. We're trying to override but we're failing!"
Anakin watched as his new command ship attacked the strange new ships without restraint, sensing something with angered determination aimed at the ships. "We have to stop them. Aim for the turrets and take them out."
The Republic fighter squadron quickly regrouped and short towards the Protector
Other Side of the portal
USS Friedrich
Bridge
"The Enterprise is transmitting a life feed now. They might be boosting their subspace transmitter to help send the feed through the wormhole." T'Vrell reported.
The screen was covered in static for a moment before clearing up and showing what the Enterprise was seeing.
"A Separatist dreadnaught!" Padme gasped, shocked at seeing the large Confederacy ship right on the other side of the portal. "It's attacking a Republic cruiser!"
Whatever anyone else was going to say was cut off as the Confederate dreadnaught and the Republic cruiser opened fire on the Enterprise.
"And now they're attacking both the Enterprise and Lleiset." Rako said, working to remain calm despite the fact that the Friedrich was not the ship being attacked.
"That's impossible!" Padme whispered in shock, unable to believe what was happening but she could it was happening right before her eyes.
USS Enterprise
Bridge
"Hail them. Let's see if we can avoid a fight." Shon said upon seeing the ships that apparently were waiting for them.
However the large fish shaped ship and the wedge shaped ship both opened fire, peppering the Enterprise's forward shields that flared brightly.
"They are firing on us. Shields are holding at ninety five percent but dropping. I am diverting emergency power to compensate. " Lieutenant Kyona, chief of security and tactical officer reported.
"The Friedrich's logs reported that the main weapons on the Confederacy ship are a form of plasma-laser hybrid based weaponry." Chief Science Officer Tem Inasi stated. "Our forward shields are capable of blocking for a short time but the kinetic force will wear them down eventually, especially since we're outnumbered."
Shon nodded as he remembered Malcolm's report. For a brief moment he wondered if anyone in this galaxy had considered using a nadion-based particle core to replace the laser core in these 'turbo-lasers'. At best the main ship weapons from this galaxy were considered primitive version of the disruptors from around the Earth-Romulan war two centuries ago but greater in power. It was hard to believe that a galaxy with a Galactic government didn't seem to be advanced in some areas as many powers in the Milky Way Galaxy but Shon theorized that was because the races in this galaxy didn't have to explore as much as the Federation did because they could use their hyperdrive for instant travel. Why bother advancing when the entire galaxy could be traveled by simply inputting the coordinates of your destination?
Sure they had periods of conflict like any other government but they had no need to advance themselves with no mysteries on the horizon. The Republic was apparently a money based economy drawn from the alliance of thousands of star systems that had led to the corruption brought by bureaucracy and trading companies throughout the galaxy. The hyperdrive was a wonderful invention but it possibly hastened the development of most cultures too quickly with no reason to explore or look beyond the horizon the Republic had become complacent, stagnant, and now it was splitting apart which had possibly led to this civil war but Shon's instincts told him there was more to it than that.
The Enterprise shook even harder as the Confederate Dreadnaught fired all of its forward weapons, bring their shields down to eighty percent.
"Captain, the Lleiset is cloaking!" Kyona reported as the Romulan ship started to vanish.
()
"A cloaked ship." Durge stood up as the black winged ship vanished from visual sight and scanners.
The Bloodhound's multiple laser cannons fired at where the ship had been but they hit nothing, letting Durge know that the ship had already moved out of the way.
()
"They have cloaking devices." Anakin whispered, watching the mysterious ships come under fire by the Confederate Dreadnaught. "I never seen a ship that large equipped with a cloaking device before."
His fighters were already making strafing runs on the Protector which was ignoring them as they fired on the large saucer shaped ship and quickly dropped bombs on the heavy turrets, blowing them to bits.
USS Enterprise
Bridge
The Separatist Dreadnaught turned their attention to the Federation ship due the fact that the Lleiset was now cloaked.
"Evasive action." Shon ordered, narrowing his eyes. "I want those ships disabled, not destroyed. Find me a weakness."
"Their shields can only block one type of weaponry, kinetic or energy. They are not designed to block phased particle beam weaponry. A well placed hit will disable their forward cannons while surgical hits on the lead ship will disable their weapons." Inasi reported as the Enterprise dodged the turbo-laser fire.
"Do it."
The Enterprise's forward phaser arrays released phaser beams that passed through the forward deflector shields like they didn't exist, connecting with the forward cannons on the Bloodhound, disabling its main heavy turbo-laser cannons with well-placed surgical strikes. The phaser arrays were much more accurate than the turbo-laser cannons on the Separatist and Republic ships and their deflector shields stood no chance against the phaser beams that easily disabled the forward cannons but the two large warships were armed to the teeth with multiple plasma based turrets that started firing on the Federation ship. However luckily for the Enterprise help came in the form of multiple plasma bolts from behind the native ships, a single photon torpedo coming out of nowhere that hit the rear engines where the reactant tanks were located, igniting them and setting off an explosion that engulfed the ship in blinding explosion.
"We're being hailed." Kyona reported and answered.
Jarok's smiling face appeared on the screen. "I hope you didn't think we left you to have all the fun, Captain."
"Not a chance." Shon replied with a smile. "Now let's get to work. Let's work on disabling this fleet to avoid a war."
"Understood."
The Enterprise fired its forward phasers again, surgically destroying the weapons on the Separatist ship while making sure to reduce their power since a full phaser hit would have cut through the hull, especially if they had been locked onto the bridge. Programmed to defend their command ship the Bloodhound's fighters and bombers to attack the Enterprise, moving at full speed towards the Federation ship and firing their laser cannons that bounced harmlessly off the shields. The bombers attempted to preform strafing runs as the Enterprise fired its phaser arrays, disabling any droid fighters that were hit but two bombers slipped by to launcher their bombs. But the difference between the shields of both universes was that one had shields that was projected over the hull like a second skin while the other was projected from the ship in the form of a bubble that blocked attacks away from the hull.
So when the droid bombers came too close they actually rammed into the shields, exploding harmlessly away from the hull. The droids did not expect the large ship to move as fast as it did and thus they had trouble locking onto it and it got even harder as the Federation ship rolled under it, hiding away from the main weaponry.
()
"Target their engines but only disable them." Jarock ordered.
"Yes Commander."
()
The Lleiset remained cloaked behind the Bloodhound and as its forward phase cannons fired on the ion engines with only enough power to damage them, disabling the ship's main method of propulsion.
"It can fire while cloaked?!" Ahsoka exclaimed in shock, seeing energy weapons fired at the rear of the dreadnaught no sign of the ship that was firing. "I thought that was impossible!"
"Apparently not." Anakin said as the dreadnaught started to float helplessly with its engines destroyed. "I hope these people are up for talking."
By now the Protector's main anti-ship weapons were destroyed but its smaller weapons such as the smaller laser cannons, proton torpedo and missile launchers were still firing.
()
Durge grunted as the Separatist ship shook from another hit. "Where are they?"
"Behind us, sir. Boy they move fast." The droid commented. "Our engines have been damaged. We can't move. What are you going to do now?"
Durge narrowed his eyes. "The only thing we can do. Set the ship for self-destruct." Durge turned to the door. "We leave no trace left."
"Roger, roger."
()
"Captain, scans are picking up waves of triolic energy from both ships. And I am picking up a pulse of triolic energy being emitted on a low level sub space pulse from a derelict ship that's over four thousand kilometers away. It matches a Romulan T'Liss Light Warbird." Inasi spoke up, looking through her scanners. "The amount of energy suggest-"
"Devidians." Shon frowned. "They must have hijacked those ships to take us out. Can we force them out?"
"Possibly…" Inasi said thoughtfully. "If we use the scanners to emit a low-leveled phased modulated pulse it'll effect the Devidians on those ships and force them to retreat or be killed by the pulse."
"And the crews onboard?" Shon asked.
"Depending on the power of the pulse the crew should be fine." Inasi answered.
Shon nodded. "Do it."
The Enterprise emitted a pulse from its dish that reached out and engulfed both ships.
Protector
Bridge
Yularen and the clone crew were still struggling to regain control of the Protector as an energy wave passed through the ship and the blue light faded away, leaving ghost like creatures who screamed as they appeared on the bridge.
"What the kriff?!"
"Blast them!"
Any clones that were armed pulled out their weapons and shot at the ghosts who screamed as the blaster bolts singed their skins and seemingly faded away. Yularen watched as the ghosts slowly faded, screaming as they vanished from his bridge.
"Sir?"
"Check the controls and see to it that we are back in control." Yularen said, looking across the bridge. "And contact General Skywalker."
"Yes sir."
()
Anakin in the meantime was keeping his fighters close to his ship, glad that it was no longer firing on the two ships that had showed to be advanced and really powerful. The ship with the saucer shaped hull emitted some kind of energy pulse and as it passed through the Republic ships, thankfully not killing him or his men, the feeling of hunger he had sensed died away.
"General Skywalker, this is the Protector." Yularen's voice spoke over the earpiece.
"Yularen, what happened? Why did you start firing on those ships?" Anakin asked, getting straight to the point.
"We were attacked by strange creatures that appeared out of nowhere following a flash of blue light. We were fighting to take back control when they suddenly vanished." Yularen explained.
"Blue light?" Anakin frowned. "I remember the report from Masters Shaaki TI and Secura stating something about a blue light and ghost like creatures attacking them."
"I believe they were the same creatures, General. I still have no idea what made them vanish."
"I might." Anakin looked at the two ships that remained stationary. "I'm opening a channel to both of them. Time to find out what's going on."
Journal of the 501st
Post-Battle Entry: When we were assigned a mission to investigate rumors of ghosts appearing we didn't think much of it, thinking it was the ravings of people who had been driven crazy by the war. Needless to say we were wrong when not only did we face off against creatures that appeared out of nowhere like ghosts but ships that appeared out of a vortex, taking down a CIS dreadnaught and nearly us in the process. Whether we understood what was happening or not, the entire galaxy was about to be changed in ways we didn't see coming.