Disclaimer: I do not own any of Star Wars, the right of ownership of Star Wars belong to Lucasfilm and I guess Disney too. The only thing I own is the characters you do not notice and the plot.
Year: 10 BBY
Chapter 10: The Plan
Jedi Masters Mark Alan Zane and Obi-wan Kenobi, Jedi Knights Anakin Skywalker and Celestia Aluna, Inspector Lillian Hunter, Bakuran Military General Kimberly Lane Zane, Commander Cody of the 212th Attack Battalion and Captain Rex of the 501st Legion are standing in a room with a Holotable in the middle of it.
The all are looking at a hologram of the base layout. "There are 150 Emergency exits. 50 of them Maxus Zane would have no clue over them, they are highlighted in red. They were made after he was dishonorably discharge from the Bakuran Military. The tunnel that leads to the Hanger Bay have a tractor breams that used to speed up the descend so it will not take as long." say Kim as points to what she was talking about.
"If we disable the tractor beam, it will slow them down because that passage is narrow and they will most likely speed down into it. To get into the Hanger is a sharp 90 degrees angle that a ship going too fast will plow it nose into the ground." say Mark expressing his knowledge.
Kim knows that she has 3 of the best military planners standing beside her. Mark always seem to come out with a plan to save the most of his own troops lives at the same time doing as much damage to the others. Obi-wan plan is very calculated and planned ahead similar to Mark's plans. Anakin is the oddball of planning, his plans seem to just come to him and often ends up crazy but working.
"What we should be focusing on is getting people out of this base. We should focus on those in the medical wing first since they are going be useless. I say while we wait for Darth Vader, we either send the information we have here to another secure area on the planet or either that copy the data on a Datapads or Holodisks or wipe the system of information. We want to keep the information but not let the Empire get their hands on it." say Mark looking at Obi-wan, Anakin and Kim.
"Oh, I sense Mark got one of his master plans boiling!" say Anakin with a slight smile. "Oh, I do. Now the main part of any battle is to use your strengths against your enemies' weakness. So this is what I propose to do. Anakin you will be with me to fight with Vader. Your lack of patients, willing to fight and power will help me greatly in battle with Vader. Obi-wan you are very patient and you not always seem to be in the middle of the battling. I say we should station near the end of the base where the Medical Wing is so that you can protect them and aid them there. It will be good for back up. Commander Cody and your squad will aid Master Kenobi as backup and you will all be station there. Captain Rex you and your team I know you are willing to go anywhere with Skywalker, you will be up in the frontlines with Skywalker and me. Cody just because you are back up you can send troops in at anytime to help us out. I mainly want you to focus on getting those who does not want to fight or incapable of fighting get out safely. Celestia, I know you can handle yourself in a fight with Vader, but he is more willing to kill you right away and that would be pointless for a death, it would not help us in anyways. So you will leave Vader to me. You could take on Darth Solaris if she shows up and the Dark Jedi that Obi-wan, Anakin or me cannot get. You may also help Obi-wan getting people out." say Mark throwing his plan out there.
"What about me?" ask Lillian looking at Mark. She hates to be out of putting hurt to those who harm her younger sister. "I haven't forgotten about you. You will aid those gathering the information and getting them out. Once they are out you are free to join the fight, but only the Troopers no Sith or Dark Jedi for you. Kim, I know there is no arguing with you. You will fight when you think is best, no ought I do not want you to be here." say Mark.
Anakin was right; Mark had a master plan planned out alright. Sometimes it amazes him how detail of a plan Mark can come up with in a short amount of time. It seems like he is not the only one who was stunned by this either. "Well, you seem to get our traits and strengths down, but I could also handle Vader." say Obi-wan.
"I am the only Jedi that Darth Vader will not kill off easy. He wants to kill me when I am on top of my game, which gives me the advantage because I would not die. If we need your help, you can join." say Mark.
Okay, Kim take what she thought back, Mark is not one of the best military planners he might be the best to come up with a plan like that within 20 minutes or less and it was not over yet. "Now, since Maxus does not know about those 50 emergency exits, we will use them to get people out. Commander Cody, I want some of your men station around the 100 emergency exits that Maxus does know and take out any Imperial coming down. We do not want to be attack from the front or the back, or that will make us easy pickings." say Mark.
"General Zane if you do not mind me put some thoughts into it. Shouldn't we have troops hiding around the Hanger Bay entrance so we can encircle the Empire when they fly in? Then when my men engage them the men hiding could spray a trap and attack them from both sides." say Captain Rex. Mark nods. "I was thinking something similar to them. Kim are there any of those ships armed out there?" say Mark.
"Yes, why?" ask Kim. Mark rubs his chin. "We could have people hiding in them, and we could use them to cause panic among the Imperials by firing on them." say Mark. "That could get our man hurt too?" say Captain Rex. Mark respects Captain Rex, he the type to believe a good soldier will give his life right if it needed to, but he also try to make sure they do not die for naught. He is also one of the Clone Troopers that learn that they are free thinkers and that they have a right to question orders. They are not droids.
"True, that part of the plan is risky; I was thinking making it look like we are firing at them. That part we could hold off on. Now that will be a good backup plan if we get overpower." say Mark. Captain Rex nods to that statement.
Just as much as Captain Rex respects Anakin, he respects Mark the same amount. Mark's ideals are widely known through the Clones. They might be Clones but he treats them as equals and not something that was created to be soldiers. That why most of his plans comes to spare life of his troops.
"Any questions?" ask Mark. "Yes, how far is Vader?" ask Lillian. Mark looks at her as he reaches out through the Force. He senses the general location of Darth Vader. "I say about 100 light-years but moving fast. Let get those in the medical wing out first and the data." say Mark who hates to see what Darth Vader could do if he gets the hand on some of the data that is stored there. He would have destroyed but with that knowledge they might be able to come up with something to go against it. Bakuran Poison is one those things that they should keep just in case if the Empire uses it, they have possible cure for it or can create one.
Amelia who was standing back of the group walks up to him. "What about me, Mark?" ask Amelia. "You are either heading to a safe spot on the planet or either that jump into Hyperspace and goes to another part of the system and wait. I already have Rachelle and Kim to worry about during this process. The last thing I need is a 3rd member distracting me." say Mark lightly as he leans against the table.
"I could help." say Amelia. "You will be helping if you get out of here! Think Mom! You are an important Galactic Senator! If the Imperial kills you, it could dent the Galactic Republic. I know you are selfless, you always have been. When it comes to Kim, me and our siblings you always put yourself in harm. This time get lost before I will force some members of the Grand Army of the Republic force you to leave the planet or the system. If I have to pull military rank over a Senator then I will. This is not up for a debate. I am the General of the Grand Army of the Republic." say Mark seriously.
Kim and Amelia eyes widen when they heard him speak like that. The seriousness in his tone was so uncharacteristic of him. Yes he can be serious but there could be a hint of joy. "You let me fight in battles before." say Amelia. "Yes, when there was not a lot of Dark Jedi or Sith involve. There might be a lot. Please Mom, I care about you a lot. I do not want to lose you." say Mark lightly looking at Mark.
Amelia nods as she rushes to hug her son. "Make me a deal, if I leave the planet, you will promise to come back. That means no dying young man and come back alive. You must remain live. If you die, when I get to the other side of the Force, I will make you wish that my great grandmother did not give birth to my grandmother." say Amelia. "If I die, I promise, I will kick myself and let all the other Jedi kick me to that have passed away." say Mark as he hugs his mother lightly.
Kim orders some members of the base to prepare the Hanger Bay for a ship to leave. Mark had asked Kim to talk to the Prime Minster to let Amelia get off the planet. The Prime Minster agreed to allow it because he shared the same view that Amelia is too important in the Galactic Senate to die like this and in this time of galactic crisis. Plus the current Prime Minster is a close friend to the Zane family.
Mark walks away from the room and to the medical wing. Clone Troopers, soldiers of the base getting in positions as he walks into the medical wing and walks into the first room. Rachelle was laying on the bed moaning in some pain.
Mark sits there and Rachelle got startled a bit as she sits up. "Mark! Oh the Force, you nearly gave me a heart attack." mumble Rachelle. "You seem to be getting better." say Mark. "Oh no, it just the doctors here give me something to help slow the process and ease the pain greatly. Turns out they got what type of poison it is, but they have to make an antidote for it." say Rachelle wincing lightly as waves of pains nails her.
"You are getting out of here." say Mark. This got Rachelle head shot up. "Wait what is going to happen?" ask Rachelle. "Vader is coming. I bet you getting poison with Bakuran poison was all part of a plan. See they could have used stronger poisons to kill you. No, they send a weak one that led me to the only place that can cure it, Bakura. This base, Maxus Zane works at, so it must have been some sort of a trap. I bet you anything Vader was taking his time to get here so I could beat him here. It is a really good plan, too bad for him, that I am not as stupid as Vader wish I was." say Mark.
"I want to help you out!" demand Rachelle. "There no way in the Force I letting you help me on this. You could just barely focus with the Force due to the pain in this poison. You will be more of a hazard out there. It is distraction for me, that could get me killed." say Mark lightly as he pulls Rachelle into a hug.
He couldn't help to feel that this is all his fault. If he never admitted his feelings for Rachelle back in 14 BBY, she would never have been targeted to get to him as bad as she was. As he thought of this he felt a powerful slap to his right cheek.
"Don't you ever dare think like that again! It is not your fault I got this. I knew the danger of being in love with you will cause. I recall you saying that out of all things love is the most important. If you going to think like that at least keep your thoughts from straying in the Force. I do not care if there were 500 Darth Vader targeting me to get to you, I love you and that is all there is to it. Do you understand?" say Rachelle.
"Yes, but do me a favor, never every bring the thought of more than 1 Darth Vader again. One is just bad enough, let alone 500. Force if we have even half as many of that Darth Vader the galaxy and the universe is doom." say Mark in a tone which made Rachelle giggles. Before a wave of pain erupts into her body, Rachelle manages to kiss Mark on the lips lightly.
The pain was a bit stronger than before but due to the affects of medicine that the doctors of the base it was killed the pain down greatly. Commander Cody appears in the door. "General Zane, are you ready to start transporting patients out?" ask Commander Cody. Mark stands up while he holds Rachelle's hand. He gives a quick and soft kiss that still shows how much he loves her.
Mark reaches inside of his robe, and pulls out Rachelle's Lightsaber, which he had in a pocket. He manages to save it when he saved her at the 500 Republic it was right next to her fallen body. Mark was about to hand it to her, when she stops him. "It no good to me, While I am in this state. Take it you might need an extra." say Rachelle. Mark smiles as he clips it on his belt. The robe was hidden on Amelia's ship. Mark forgot all about it being in the safe underneath the walkway to the ramp until he was looking for the robe.
Mark tossed it in the air and catches it before he slips it onto his belt. He turns to Commander Cody. "Get her out of here." say Mark walking away. "May the Force be with you, Mark." shout Rachelle. Mark stops and turns to her. "Same to you, may the Force guide you to safeness." say Mark as he continues to walk out of the room.
Mark finds Kim was helping out with getting the data and other equipment out of the base. He would not be much help there since he is not great with computers, like Rachelle. "Hey Mark, can you help with that Force thing and lift some of those heavy containers. It would take 20 men to lift it up and take it out. It has very important weapon experiments that the Galactic Republic entrusted Bakura to make for the Grand Army of the Republic." say Kim.
Mark uses the Force to lift the couple of heavy containers that his twin was pointing at. He walks to a lift that rises quicker than any lift he has been on. After stepping out of the lift he notices he was in a space where there were Speeders of various sizes. A large Speeder that is used to carry a lot of cargo was nearby and he put the containers on the Speeder.
He made it back to the lift when he sensed something. Darth Vader is closing in very fast. He will be at the planet very soon. He got down to the main level of the base. He found Kim putting on some stronger armor and her helmet on.
"So how far is Darth Vader?" ask Kim. "Very close, he will be here at the planet in a few minutes. Well the planet at least." say Mark. "Could you sense if our so called father is on there. I would love to put two plasma blasts from my blaster into his chest and one in his head for good measure." say Kim. While she said this, Mark look at his twin and notice she was loaded with weapons. She has 4 blaster pistols on her hips, a blaster rifle on the back of her waist, two swords on her back, and what appears to be a couple of daggers on the bottom part of her wrists.
"You want some armor with those weapons?" ask Mark with a slight smile. This made Mark got a punch by the red armored fist from Kim. Due to the armor the punch hurt a bit more. "You should always be prepared. I see you are not wearing any armor." say Kim.
"Some armors get into the way of my movements. Jedi rely on the Force to keep them out of the trouble and they will need to be able to have free movements." say Mark. "Ah, that is something we try to make, armor that is effective at guarding Jedi but not hinder their abilities they need, special request from Chancellor Skywalker in person to the Prime Minster. At the rate we are going it might be a few years before we get it right." say Kim.
Mark nods as he lays a finger on Rachelle's Lightsaber and rubs his finger over the smooth rounded flat hilt bottom. Besides being slightly thinner than Mark's their Lightsabers are about the same. The plasma blade was mixture of Celestia and his Lightsaber colors, something Rachelle thought it would be nice way to honor the two best mentors she had. When she first used the new Lightsaber, he was thrown off guard because he was so use of seeing her with a green plasma bladed Lightsaber.
"Anything else you need help here?" ask Mark. "Are you good with computers?" ask Kim. "Define good, in this case." say Mark. "Okay never mind. Now get out of my sight, please." say Kim not giving him anymore to go on. Mark tilts his head downwards and bow. "Yes my lady." say Mark in a teasing manner. Kim is glad that her helmet covers her face to hide the smile she had at Mark's teasing. How he could remain so calm like that in a situation like this is beyond her. Then again he is the one with the Force and she is not, so he mostly could sense danger before she could even notice.
You are not going to believe where I have gotten this plan from. First have you ever study or think of something so hard that it bounces off your head or you might have dream about it. While this is my case, see the plan Mark came up with came me into my dream last night. Surprising it was one of those dreams I was able to remember. The only problem was putting down on words to make sense.
Plus we got Mark trying to protect those who he cares about. It appears that he will go through any lengths as long as it does not lead him down a path that leads to the Dark Side to protect those he considered a family or friends.
Until next time, enjoy!