My apologies for the long wait, but I've been working on another project recently.

Special Thanks to Monte-chan, Demon Lady, and XxRandom NemesisxX for your reviews. Glad to know I'm not the only one who thought that the inclusion of zombie Geonosians was a stupid idea.


A short cry of pain was followed by a terrified yell before the COM was forcibly squelched. "Lander! Lander!" Silence was his only reply. Charger forced himself to stop; moving straight after an unknown hostile was not the wisest course of action. "Squad, link up at the entranceway, double-time!"

He breathed a sigh of relief when the other two teams sent their acknowledgements. The four others arrived back in under two minutes, their postures tense and their weapons primed. Charger was considering sending Sig back to sound the alarm, but he quickly dismissed the thought. The entrance door had been sealed almost as soon as Lander had made his transmission; nothing short of high explosives would puncture the door's thick durasteel plating. "Sergeant," Mag said once he was satisfied the area was free of hostiles, "What do you want to do?"

"We need to find the main terminal for this section," Charger said, his mind tracing through the schematics he'd memorized of Venator-class Star Destroyers, "We should be able to select an alternate circuit pathway for the generator, that'll over-ride the lockdown and restore partial power."

"Main terminal will be on the second level Sergeant," Sig clarified.

Charger nodded in confirmation before signalling his squad to move out in a double column with a quick extension of his right hand, followed by the flashing of two fingers. Charger and Sig took point as the group made their way to a distant staircase, the clones sweeping their weapons in alternating paths in order to ensure that every angle was covered. It didn't take long for the squad to see power relay stations, a staircase leading to the relatively small platform above laying just beyond. His grip tightening on his DC-15 for reasons he couldn't explain, the Sergeant led his group forward.

Charger's feet had barley cleared the first step when a quick burst of blaster fire was heard. The non-com swiftly re-orientated himself in the direction of enemy fire, only to be met with the scene of Dek and Mag lying on the floor, their plastoid armour riddled at the torso with multiple impacts. The Sergeant didn't even have to glance at the squad status bar in his HUD to know that the two were dead. More bolts resounded from above, the brief flashes illuminating the darkened sections long enough to let the security team identify their enemies as droid commandos. "Move, up the staircase!" Charger barked into the COM, his carbine discharging in short bursts, "Watch your flanks!"

The saboteurs and security forces met in a savage engagement. Red and blue bolts impacted into deck plating and circuitry. The droid commandos pressed their attack, relentlessly pursuing their prey with their E-5s firing in ten round bursts. Red bolts sizzled past the clone squad, implementing a sense of desperation that even the most disciplined soldiers weren't immune to. Charger noticed the others starting to fire longer bursts, firepower becoming preferable to precision. "Squad, focus! Aim before firing."

The clones wordlessly acknowledged, taking the time to aim their respective armament before squeezing the trigger. Blue bolts tore through commando armour, severing circuitry, leaving three more of the black coloured combatants disabled. The security team slowed their retreat with more Separatist casualties, the tide turning in their favour. Charger shot a quick glance around the room, finding the number of destroyed mechanicals at five with what looked like another six still active. A single shot resounded from the right cutting off any further observation as Charger risked turning to face the source of the disruption. His eyes widened behind his helmet with the sight of Torch falling forward, his limp body moving down the staircase, his status bar now marked in red on the non-com's HUD. The droid responsible landed near Sig, dual red bolts discharging from the wielded E-5 before Spike was able to gun it down.

Charger moved by Sig's body, one of the shots had only grazed his shoulder while the other had pierced directly through his centre of mass. Charger fired rampant bursts from his carbine, forcing the commando droids to halt their advance as they returned fire. The non-com grabbed a hold of Sig's hand and started to pull him back to the top of the staircase. "Spike, suppressive fire!"

"Already on it Sergeant," Spike replied, his carbine discharging in ten round bursts, with an added sweeping motion.

The Sergeant pulled his injured second in command to safety, pausing occasionally to fire off a quick burst. It wasn't long before Sig's body was lying on the second floor, his pulse starting to become erratic. "Spike, patch Sig up! I've got your six."

"Roger," The clone responded, pausing until he saw Charger fire at the droids, "Disengaging."

Spike placed his carbine down by Sig, stripping his squad-mate's helmet and chest armour to uncover the wound. A small hole testified that at least a portion of Sig's protective attire had absorbed the shot, what wasn't absorbed left cauterized flesh in its wake, with Sig himself starting to go into shock. "Hang on Sig," Spike spoke, his hand reaching for the small medical kit in his belt. He pulled out a small bacta-foamer can, inserting the tip of it into the blaster wound and pulling the device's trigger. The regenerative liquid filled the hole in Sig's chest, leaving Spike to seal the wound with a bandage.

Spike glanced at his HUD and grimaced as Sig's pulse continued to weaken, "Come on Sig, the wound's sealed." The squad's second in command faintly opened his eyes, his breathing becoming shallow. Spike laid a hand on his comrade's shoulder, getting Sig to try and focus his eyes on him, "Stay with me." Sig rapidly blinked to clear his vision, he started to wheeze, his eyes were slowly easing shut. "Sig, stay with me!"

Spike glanced at Sig's life-signs. He let out a small sigh of relief when he saw that the second in command's pulse was remaining steady; albeit weakly. It was clear that if the Bacta-foam didn't regenerate the damaged tissue soon, that Sig wouldn't live to see it out of the secondary generator room. "Sergeant, Sig's stable but I don't know for how long!"

"Good, get to the main terminal and bring the secondary systems back online. I'll hold them here!"

Spike hesitated briefly, reluctant to part from the last active member of Security Team Six. He knew, however, that if commando droids had infiltrated the Resolute, there was a distinct possibility that they could be on the Arrestor and Pinnacle. Not to mention the fact that there could be more droids on the flagship then just the six attacking now. Charger glanced at him after firing another burst, even with his face hidden Spike knew he was fixing him with a glare. The clone stood, firing one last burst before sprinting to the control room.

Sergeant Charger watched Spike depart before focusing on firing on the advancing droids. Ignoring the red bolts passing mere centimetres by his crouched form, Charger focused on aiming his carbine. A quick burst was sufficient to destroy two more of the commandos, one bolt impacting into a commando's head, with the other two shredding through the armour plating of the droid behind.

A growl erupted from the Clone's throat when an energy projectile impacted into his right shoulder. He kept a firm grip on his carbine with both hands, ignoring the searing pain coursing through his shoulder as he targeted the mechanical combatant who had scored a hit. The discharging payload riddled through droid circuitry, hitting enough power cells to leave the droid disabled. Charger quickly switched targets, aiming at a Separatist commando that was half-way up the staircase. A bolt to the droid's head, ensured that it never made another step.

The squad leader of security team six cursed when his blaster refused to fire, its power cell having been depleted. Charger quickly reached for a spare power pack in his right front pouch. The commandos took advantage of their target's distraction, switching to their vibro-blades and charging up to the second floor. The Sergeant forced himself to stay calm, his peripheral vision seeing one of the droids leap in the air. If I ever find out who put a nearly spent power cell in this DC-15 and stored in the armoury, Charger thought as he slammed the pack into place, I'll kill him.

As soon as the pack was in its proper slot, the non-com leapt to the side, a sharpened piece of metal slashing down on the area where the Sergeant had stood only moments before. As soon as his feet hit the ground, the clone spun to his left and fired off a five-round burst. With the distance being so close, aiming wasn't required. Not even the reinforced plating of the commando units could survive such an onslaught.

Charger snapped his rifle to the right, his finger just shy of pulling the trigger when the last commando brought its vibro-blade down on the clone. The mechanical combatant hadn't been within optimum striking distance, leaving the blade to slash across the non-com's chest plate. Team Six's squad leader stumbled back, a cry of both pain and rage erupting from his throat, the blade having cut through his armour to make a light incision on the flesh beneath.

The non-com fired off another shot, but the droid quickly closed the distance between them. The droid struck out with the handle of its blade, sending Charger's helmet flying off his head. With all the speed a highly sophisticated droid intelligence could provide, the commando swiftly brought the blade slashing across the target's now exposed face before giving an added stab to the stomach.

Charger never had any time to do anything more than scream in pain as crimson blood welled into his vision. The screams turned into gasps for breath with the feeling of a blade piercing his flesh, his every nerve cell seeming to be on fire as he collapsed on his right side. The Separatist creation regarded its prey for a moment longer before moving away, its targeting scanners already seeking the last clone. Blackness crept through the sides of the Sergeant's vision, but he fought it down once his blurry eyes caught sight of his discarded carbine.

Ignoring the searing pain that amplified when he reached for his DC-15, Charger took a hold of the blaster and shakily started to point it at his target. Unable to bear the pain in silence any longer, Charger screamed out a cry as he pointed the blaster at the commando and fired two successive bolts. The discharging energy projectiles struck a surprised droid in the head, leaving its destroyed form to plummet to the deck. The non-com quickly dropped his weapon, a small smile tugging at his mouth, before he felt himself slip into darkness.

Spike knew he had to hurry as soon as he heard the scream. His fingers looked like a blur across the main console as he started to reinitialize the system's power. The clone had already electronically recreated a new path for the generator's primary circuitry. Spike inputted the last command, watching with satisfaction as the room's generator could be heard sparking to life below. The clone's head snapped in the direction of a loud cry of pain, a sound which was soon accompanied by the noise of discharging blaster bolts.

Spike ran back to where he had left Charger, his previously holstered carbine gripped into his shoulder as he moved. He stopped cold when he saw his squad leader's still form, the deck plating underneath his body a dark crimson. Regaining his wits, Spike moved close enough to kneel down by his Sergeant, relieved to see that he was still alive, though if his status bar was anything to go by it was clear he wouldn't be for long. Free to open a COM channel to the Resolute's command centre now that the room's security lockdown was over, Spike did just that. "Bridge, this is CT-4365, are you receiving?"

"This is Commander Praxton, soldier," The acknowledgement came in after a few seconds of silence, "The bridge hears you."

"Commander, we've just engaged multiple hostiles, Separatist commandos." Spike paused for a moment to spray a dose of the regenerative bacta-foamer into Charger's stomach. "I have two critically wounded who need immediate medical attention!"

"Understood trooper, an emergency response team is on the way. We've had similar reports from the Arrestor and other teams have reported contact elsewhere on the ship, stay vigilant."

"Will do sir, out."

Spike finished applying the final dose of bacta to Charger's facial wound; something he suspected would have made the Sergeant scream were he still conscious. The wide gash cut a path diagonally from the right edge of the forehead down to the lower base of the left cheek. The non-com was lucky that the blade had avoided both of his eyes, albeit only by a few centimetres. Spike stood by his two downed squad mates after applying several dressings to Charger's wounds, his carbine scanning the entire room in case any more commandos were still active. He only relaxed his guard when the emergency response forces pushed into the room.

()()()

Anakin stood in the shadows on top of a two-story building on the middle level of Tharen, his gaze lingering on a tower that was clustered amidst various other government structures. While far from being the centre of government activity in the capital city of Tyfex, the majority of those on government payroll were assigned to the centres tasked with municipal jurisdiction, the majority of which were on the middle level. Placing a building in the government quarter was a more subtle approach to the Separatist's normal method of showing dominance over those they had conquered, and it gave the Jedi just another reason to be glad he had pried the information out of the bounty hunter from one of the cantinas in the lower ring.

The former slave turned to his HUD, three panels displayed the video-feed from his seeker droids. One was tasked with monitoring the exterior, while the other two were scouring the tower in question, searching for critical systems. With their cloaking enabled, the droids were able to pass by entire groups of battle droids without being seen; an ability that had already been tested far too often for Anakin's liking.

One of the panels flashed red for a moment, signifying that one of the seekers had discovered something important. Anakin turned his attention to the panel in question, seeing that his droid had found the base's main generator. With a mere thought, the Jedi was able to get his HUD to create a rough map of the target's location based on the droid's flight path over the last few minutes. Taking one last look below to make sure the area was secure, the Republic General leapt off the building's roof, using the Force to slow his descent until his feet softly made contact with the main platform in the government quarter.

The former slave quickly made his way toward the building's main entrance, where four battle droids stood guard. Anakin stopped only a few metres away, resisting the urge to grab his hidden lightsaber still stashed away inside his tunic under his armour. He had made this trip specifically because he was trying to draw out the resistance that was strongly believed to exist on Tharen.

While revealing himself as a Jedi might have encouraged them to approach him sooner, it might also push them away. Anakin knew he had to play it safe if he was going to get contacted by anyone. Withdrawing his disruptor pistol, the Jedi aimed at the closest droid and squeezed off a bolt. The disruptor blast easily tore through the skeletal droid's armour, but Anakin hardly noticed, his pistol already firing at the next target in line. In the time it took for the first droid to hit the ground, Anakin had already dispatched two more, leaving the last to look around in confusion before an energy projectile struck the mechanical combatant in the chest.

A quick survey revealed that no-one had seen the brief flashes of blaster fire illuminate the darkened platform, leaving Anakin free to move in. The doors parted to reveal a dimly illuminated corridor, the green light reflecting off the dark gray interior. The Jedi cautiously moved inside, relaxing his guard somewhat when he couldn't detect an immediate threat. He consulted the diagram in his HUD, memorizing the route and then moving forward.

Three minutes later of navigating through winding hallways saw the General standing in front of the base's main generator. Anakin moved toward the generator's casing, realizing that he had no explosive charges with him and couldn't draw his lightsaber, he would have to sabotage it manually. A small terminal was positioned by the generator's left, the Jedi moved to it and typed in a command to raise the power intake in the first and second couplings but decrease them in the third and fourth. The result was an imminent overload that triggered an alarm klaxon throughout the base. The General smiled, making sure to lockdown the terminal with a standard Republic encryption before leaving. While it was unlikely that the base's droid garrison could revert the process, there was no point in taking chances.

The General sprinted out of the Separatist controlled structure, pausing only to fire his disruptor at a group of droids moving to the entrance. The three mechanicals were quickly dispatched with an equal number of well-placed bolts, leaving the former slave free to retreat out of the structure. He paused once he reached the building across, hidden in the shadows as he watched the power quickly die out in the Separatist base. The Jedi recalled his seekers and headed back to the lower ring to wait for the resistance to contact him. With all the enemy surveillance equipment capturing everything he'd done inside the Separatist facility, it was only a matter of time before the Separatists and, ideally, the resistance, discovered his exploits.

()()()

Thunderous music, the sound was becoming all too familiar to the armour donned Jedi Knight. So much so, that he was beginning to think the noises were permanently etched into his mind. He'd moved to almost every public mercenary attraction he could find, moving to various cantinas and to enough clubs to put even the most nightly active citizens of Tharen to shame. Anakin sat in the farthest corner of his current establishment of choice, a club simply named 'The Krayt.' The DC-15S carbine he'd bought from the Ubese was laid out on the table in front of him while his hand hovered near his still holstered disruptor. It had been a few hours since his dealings in the government quarter and Anakin was close to calling it a day. There was only an hour left before dawn and it was unlikely any resistance contacts would approach him in the day.

"Mind if I join you?" The query had to be shouted to cut through the music still blaring throughout the room. Anakin looked up to regard the one who'd spoken, finding her to be exactly what he had sensed, a human female, the same one he knew had been looking at him for the past minute. While his helmet may have laid beside him, it would still be obvious to everyone else that he was armoured. Confident that no-one in their right mind would ask an armoured figure to the dance floor, the Jedi believed her interests lay beyond flirting.

Nodding slightly to answer the woman's question, she took a seat across from him and asked for a glass of Juma Juice from a passing serving droid, asking if Anakin wanted anything; to which a simple shake of the head was her reply. Anakin used the momentary pause to observe the woman. She wore the standard red and black outfit the citizens in lower Tharen seemed to like, she had close-cropped black hair and wore a pair of boots that seemed reminiscent of military issue. While she had approached him trying to seem as a casual patron, the Jedi could feel through the Force that there was a calculated movement to her steps, a type of movement that only came from experience in a combat zone. She clearly did not fit the image of what she wanted to project, and it was for this reason alone that Anakin allowed her to sit with him. The droid soon returned with the desired beverage then left to tend to the other patrons. The woman took a sip from her glass, scowling as she slammed it on the table. "You ask for Juma and they give you Urrqal." She turned to regard Anakin, "Don't you just hate droids?"

A tiny smile found its way to Anakin's face, the way she spoke made it clear that she was not what she appeared at all. The Jedi had found his contact. "The combat models are the worst." The two locked eyes for a moment, with the woman nodding as she turned away.

"I heard about what you did to that building on the middle level," She continued after pausing for several seconds. "I'm impressed."

"I'm after another target," Anakin spoke as he looked straight ahead, "But I'll need your help to accomplish the task."

"And what exactly are you after?"

"The central Separatist communication facility." Anakin replied. "I need its location and your assistance in breaking inside."

"And what do I get in return?"

The Jedi turned to look at her, "A looser grip of Separatist control."

"Very well," The woman spoke as though she had expected him to say nothing less. She reached into her folds of her tunic and withdrew a datapad, quickly sliding it toward the General. "I'll contact you when we're ready to proceed." She reached for her glass, quickly downing the rest of liquid and preparing to leave.

"I don't suppose you have a name," Anakin asked as she stood up.

"Solman," The woman responded with the first smile he'd seen on her face, "Dari Solman. You?"

The General knew she would discover that he was a member of the Jedi Order as soon as he brought both his padawan and the clones to assault the COM facility. So, rather than prolong such a finding, something that could lead to a complete deterioration of relations, he decided to answer truthfully. "Anakin Skywalker."

"The famous Jedi Knight himself," Dari spoke with surprise. "I look forward to seeing if the rumours of your abilities are as accurate as the stories say." She gave him a departing nod as she left, "Farewell."

Anakin nodded in turn, watching Dari leave. Her good reaction had seemed accurate enough. If only he hadn't sensed a quick flicker of some other emotion when he revealed his identity, he might have believed it to be genuine. As it was, he simply holstered his DC-15 and re-donned his helmet, he'd watch her carefully. In the meantime, he still had to pick-up on the trail of an elusive Republic traitor.

Half of Tyfex's star was visible by the time General Skywalker returned to the Republic controlled camp on the outskirts of Tharen, his uncloaked seeker droids hovering near. Master Corporal Cove had already reported the arrival of their mission leader to Captain Rex, who was waiting for the Jedi at the centre of camp when he arrived. "How'd your late-night excursions go sir?"

"Especially considering your padawan wasn't with you," An irked voice that could only belong to Ashoka added; once the Togruta stepped into view beside a camouflaged ARC-170.

Anakin regarded his padawan for a moment, not needing to be Force-sensitive to know that she was more than annoyed that she had been left behind. Deciding to talk to his apprentice later, Anakin addressed his Company Captain. "Exceptionally well, I have the location of the Separatist communication facility and I've made contact with the local resistance group. So, you can tell the men that they won't be camped out here for much longer."

Recognizing the statement as more of a dismissal then an order, Rex cast a glance between his two superior officers before nodding to Skywalker and departing, a small smile and a shake of his head added as it was clear his two commanding officers were about to clash once again.

"I can't believe you left me here while you went back to the city!" Ashoka cried, feelings of anger, fear, and worry radiating from her words.

"I can't believe I went either," Anakin responded, "I did it on a whim that I would be able to make an important discovery. Turns out I was right."

"Why didn't you take me with you though?" The young Togruta shouted as she advanced on her Master. "Is it so hard to believe that I could be helpful to you! You might be the Chosen One, but we both know even you need help some—."

"Ashoka, stop." Anakin said, cutting her off. The Jedi regarded her intently for a moment, sensing her anger recede and her feelings of fear amplify, a fear of inadequacy. The mentor kneeled so that he was at his apprentice's level. "Don't take this so personally Snips. I didn't take you, not because I don't have confidence in your abilities, far from it, but because there are some things I haven't taught you yet."

"Such as?" Her voice was still laced with bitterness but Anakin could tell there was an underlying sense of curiosity.

"Such as the ability to rejuvenate your mind with meditation. I know you can use it to relax yourself," Anakin said when Ashoka looked like she was going to argue, "But there's a difference between them. If I had woken you in the middle of the night to accompany me, you would be exhausted by now and wouldn't be ready for the attack on the Separatist communication building."

The young Togruta nodded to show her understanding, but it was clear she was still feeling down. "Come on," Anakin said with a grin as he grabbed his padawan by the shoulder and pulled her to his side. "Who's my favourite padawan?"

Ashoka looked at her Master and regarded him with a mock-scowl, "Master, I'm your only padawan."

Anakin feigned an expression of confusion, "Your point?"

Against her will, the young apprentice couldn't prevent a small smile from tugging at her lips, her head shaking in amusement. Anakin released her, holding her at arms length, his face adopting a look of seriousness, "I am very impressed with both your abilities and development Ashoka, you're learning fast." He adopted a teasing grin when he saw her smile from ear to ear, unable to resist one last jibe. "Keep it up; you might be as good as me one day."

She narrowed her eyes at him briefly before smirking, "I believe I already proved that on Geonosis, if memory serves the final kill count on that was Apprentice: 60, Skyguy: 55."

"Perhaps," the General said with a grin, "But as I said before I called in the air-strike that saved Obi-Wan's infantry square and raised morale, something that is worth at least seven points. Overall, I still won."

"Maybe I'll be able to beat you again when we attack the communication centre," Ashoka spoke in a challenging tone. "In a way not even you will be able to deny."

"Maybe," Anakin said seriously, a smirk etched on his face when he continued, "Then again, maybe not."

"Game on then," Ashoka replied.

Anakin smiled at his padawan and nodded in agreement, "Game on."

Three hours passed, with Anakin briefing both his padawan and assault team on their plan of attack. He had explained that they would be attacking with support from the resistance, striking the Separatists hard and fast. Without a map or even a location of the facility in question, the Jedi's plan was more of a typical strike and secure strategy. The General had stressed the importance of quickly finding the terminal hooked up to the COM network. From there, Bypass would slice into the terminal, and either find another piece to the puzzle or discover the identity of the mysterious informant. Anakin had tasked Vibro Squadron with being on standby. Captain Drex, however, had been selected to pilot the assault shuttle in the event that the team needed immediate extraction.

Now, with it being close to mid-day, Anakin settled for doing the one thing he despised, waiting. He watched the clones move about, stripping camp as much as they could without creating breaks in the defensive perimeter. His padawan was actively pacing only a few metres away from him, her projected feelings of boredom mirroring his own. A soft beep sounded from the General's utility belt. Anakin opened the back pouch and withdrew the datapad Dari had given him. The display screen flashed in sync with the emitted beeps until the Jedi touched the screen. A small message was written in basic characters.

We're ready for you, as promised. Come to coordinates three-two-six mark two-nine-five, upper level. Confirm message received.

Anakin frowned at that, he had expected the attack to come near dusk, not in the middle of the day. He quickly responded, with his concerns written too.

We won't be seen, buildings on the upper ring are widely spaced out, even more so then on the middle level. You'll see what I mean when you get here.

The Jedi wrote his acknowledgement, the datapad being stored back in his belt. "Rex," Anakin said into his wrist-COM, "Get mobile, we're moving into the city."

"I'm not sure that's a good idea sir."

"Neither am I Rex, but I have it on good authority that we won't be seen on Tharen's upper level."

"Very good sir, we're already in formation."

It took forty minutes for the Republic task force to move undetected from the camp site to a service lift in the lower city that took its armed occupants to the upper ring. Another ten minutes were spent getting to the Separatist communication station. Anakin could see what Dari meant when she said they wouldn't be spotted. While most of the buildings on the upper level were connected through a large platform, the buildings themselves were scattered across at great distances. Many of the structures rose up from the lower ring, with the platforms having been constructed to allow employees of higher status direct access to their specific place of employment. At this time of day, the platform was practically deserted, with only the occasional person moving around.

"I thought your contact was waiting for you." Ashoka said as she glanced around, expecting to spot more resistance members moving toward them.

"They are Snips," Anakin said with a grin, "They're already here."

The Togruta looked around, frowning when she didn't see anything different. She was about to ask what her Master was talking about, but she was saved from asking when the various people on the platform started running towards them, blasters being withdrawn from tunics. The resistance had been posing as citizens.

"Quite effective," Anakin said with a glance to his surprised apprentice, "Don't you think?"

"I'd say so."

Rex and the others tensed at the unexpected approach, they kept their blasters lowered at their mission leader's insistence but that didn't stop them from keeping the safeties off, their fingers hovering near their weapon's respective triggers.

"Skywalker," A woman replied once the armed resistance members were within ten metres, "Good to see you again."

"Likewise Dari," Anakin replied, "Shall we go?"

Dari nodded, signalling her group to move forward with a quick extension of the arm, leaving Anakin, Ashoka, and the clones to follow. The resistance moved toward a large building at the end of the platform. The wide, four level structure had several transceiver dishes mounted on the roof, with a total of twelve battle droids patrolling the building's perimeter and guarding the entrance. The resistance members and clones opened fire as soon as they were in range, with Anakin and Ashoka activating their lightsabers and storming into the fray.

The once quiet upper level was now filled with the sounds of blaster fire, blue bolts and local Tharen inspired green energy projectiles tore through plating and circuitry. The surviving droids attempted a counter-attack, but they were swiftly cut down by the two advancing Force-sensitives. Anakin waited until the others had caught up before cutting down the main door.

No sooner did the heavy metal slab hit the floor then the Republic found themselves under fire by more of the B1 combat models. Red flashes filled the corridor, forcing Anakin and Ashoka to rapidly move their lightsabers to deflect the incoming bolts. The clones and the resistance members rolled to the sides, firing at any clear targets. It didn't take long for the Separatist garrison to fall.

The assault force pushed forward, moving to the only other door present in the compound, a small blast door at the end of a short hallway. The use of blue and green energy blades tore a hole through the door, allowing the group to advance once again. Inside, the assault team was greeted with the sight of an immense chamber, one that looked big enough to house a squad of AT-TE walkers. Different clusters of terminals were separated by five metre intervals, each one linked to transceiver cables and large display screens that showed the contents of incoming and outgoing messages. Each cluster controlled a different aspect of communication, covering everything from communication between buildings to transmissions between planets.

"Amazing," Bypass said in awe as he gazed around.

"Don't get too excited Bypass," Rex spoke, his voice underlined with slight amusement at the things the slicer found intriguing. "Just get started on the retrieval."

"I'll have to find the right cluster first," The slicer said as he started moving around.

The sound of lights snapping on throughout the room turned the assault team's attention to what had once been a pitch-black area of the room and, what everyone had assumed was the boundaries of the COM room. Apparently, the already immense chamber was even bigger than they had thought. Unfortunately, it was filled with Separatist droids. Both of the Jedi re-activated their lightsabers with a snap-hiss, seeing that the droids present were all destroyers, commandos, and super battle droids, the SBDs forming the largest percentage.

"Quite the variety," Ashoka said, her gaze lingering on the large group, counting at least fifty droids.

"The Separatists only send the best to deal with Jedi."

The Republic forces realized that Dari and the other resistance members were standing by the entrance to the COM centre, their weapons now pointed at them.

"And you'd know that how?" Anakin spoke, his expression one of rage at a clear double-cross.

"Come now Skywalker," Dari chided, "How do you think? I'm the one who placed them here." A cruel smile touched her lips as she continued, "You see, there is no resistance on Tyfex. We only maintain the rumours and stories to coax citizens with thoughts of dissension out of hiding. The Republic may be filled with worlds that breed chaos and malcontent," Dari adopted a look of disgust at this, "But there will be order within the Confederacy of Independent Systems."

"You'll pay for this," Anakin replied, his expression darkening more with every word he spoke.

Dari adopted a mocking smile, "I do not think so. Droids, destroy them."

Red bolts erupted from Separatist weaponry at Dari's command, sending Anakin and Ashoka's lightsaber into a flurry of activity. The two Force-Sensitives concentrated on merely deflecting the bolts away from their group, not caring about where they landed. Droideka shield generators absorbed the majority of the reflected energy projectiles, leaving only a handful to strike into the thick concentration of SBDs. "Rex, throw everything you've got!"

"Yes sir!" Rex shouted from directly behind his superior, a COM channel opening to his team. "Squad, therms and poppers, all you can spare!"

The troopers demonstrated their compliance by throwing their grenades into the mass of Separatist combatants. Discharging pulses erupted within the droid ranks, overloading the power systems on multiple targets. Explosions sounded not long after as the clones switched to their thermal detonators. By the time the last soldier declared himself to be out of grenades, twenty of the mechanical combatants were down, with half of the destroyers having lost power to their shield generators.

"General," Bypass spoke into his COM, "I can see the planetary transmission control cluster, fifteen metres up the row."

"Acknowledged," Anakin shouted back, smoothly switching to a one handed lightsaber defence to use his wrist-COM, "Move forward, Ashoka will cover you."

The Togruta glanced at her Master, her expression becoming one of disbelief, "But Master you can't—,"

"I can hold them myself Ashoka!" Anakin shouted over the blaring sounds of blaster fire, "That slicing operation is important, now go!"

The young Togruta recognized the urgency in her Master's voice, moving away from her Master to cover a slowly advancing Bypass.

Anakin switched to a one-handed lightsaber defence , moving his saber in wide arcs to protect Captain Rex and the others while he harnessed Force energy into his free hand, waiting until he felt that he was at maximum before striking out. Within the confines of the COM room, the resulting shockwave created a reverberating crack as it travelled towards the droid lines, throwing super battle droids, destroyers, and commando droids into the far wall. Droideka's didn't have enough armour plating to withstand such blunt trauma to their chassis; the sheer velocity of the impact crippled the destroyers beyond repair. A majority of the commandos were left disabled as well; their armour plating having been weakened from deflected blaster bolts prior to the Force attack.

"That's evened the odds," Anakin spoke with a half-smile before charging toward the droid lines, "Hit them while they're down!"

Captain Rex and the others answered the order with a roar of approval, blaster pistols and carbines firing their blue payload at SBD units still struggling to rise. Four bolts were enough to riddle through the droid's thick armour, but, despite accuracy, there was still too many left for them to all be destroyed while they were recovering from Skywalker's Force push. It wasn't long before the General found himself in the same situation he had started out in. His blue blade was nothing but a blur of motion as it deflected bolt after bolt, the fifteen remaining super battle droids having resorted to opening fire with their arm mounted repeating blasters. Captain Rex and his group, grudgingly retreated close to their mission leader, knowing his lightsaber was the only thing preventing their deaths. That didn't stop them, however, from firing their weapons from the General's sides. A few of the mechanical combatants were destroyed with precise shots, forcing the super battle droids to engage what their programming considered to be the more immediate threat, the clones.

Sergeant Bombard side-stepped to avoid a burst of blaster fire that would have torn through him had he remained in his previous location. Only a fifth of the original Separatist force remained, but it was more than enough to put the Republic on the defensive. Gradually, Bombard became aware of less and less red bolts being fired in his direction. A glance to the non-com's right revealed why, the General was slowly advancing toward the super battle droids, directing all of their fire towards him while he closed to attack range.

The Jedi swung his lightsaber at the closest droid as soon as he was able, the energy blade easily slicing through the droid's chest. Anakin continued moving however, his lightsaber sweeping in a flurry as he deflected bolts, stopping only to quickly slash at nearby droids. The former slave was oblivious to the progress he was making, his sole focus being on destroying the Separatists within reach. Two commandos charged him with melee weapons drawn, but the blades were easily destroyed by a well prepared Jedi, the mechanical wielders sharing the same fate not long after, his swinging lightsaber leaving no survivors in its midst.

Bombard, who had watched the amazing scene of melee prowess in awe, snapped back to reality on his Captain's insistence. The droids to their mission leader's flanks were marked as priority targets, blaster weapons discharging as their wielders aimed at the closest enemies and squeezed their respective triggers. More of the heavily armoured combat models began to fall in rapid succession from the combined efforts of both the Jedi and the clones. It wasn't long before only one droid remained, a droid that Anakin swiftly moved in front of. He swung his lightsaber when the droid was aiming its blaster rifle arm in his direction. The Republic General was not quite close enough to his target, leaving only the tip of the blade to cut the droid's chassis. The incision proved too low to inflict any damage, however, forcing the Jedi to duck out of the way of the droid's striking appendage. Anakin turned around in his crouched position, bringing his lightsaber in a 180 degree spin that bisected the droid, leaving its broken form to crash onto the ground.

"I see that the rumours of your abilities are indeed accurate Skywalker," Dari spoke from the entrance, her and the others having been content to watch what they believed would have been a slaughter. A malicious grin found its way on the woman's mouth as she watched the Jedi snap his head into her direction as soon as she spoke, his weary expression turning to one of rage. "Kill them," Dari commanded her followers, her own blaster pistol raised as she squeezed off a series of bolts.

"Down!" The command was issued by Captain Rex and it was one that the assault team quickly obeyed. Green bolts fired at the height the clones had stood at only a second before. The soldiers quickly rolled and moved to a kneeling position, carbines and rifles firing at their betrayers. Two of the Separatist affiliated personnel were gunned down, blue bolts penetrating through hidden armour to cauterize the flesh beneath. Rex growled as green bolts passed far too close to the clone officer for comfort. "Kill the traitors," The Company Captain barked into his squad's COM, "Take them down!"

The clones rolled to the side to avoid more fire, though they were unable to return the favour when Anakin sprinted past them to engage the Separatists, his blue blade deflecting the bolts that now targeted him. Another of the betrayers was killed by a deflected bolt, leaving only eight of the traitors remaining. The rest moved in front of Dari, protecting her from the charging Jedi Knight. Even so, the woman knew that her plan had failed. "Farewell Skywalker," Dari called as she backed out of the COM room and headed out of the structure.

Anakin watched her go, feeling a rage erupt within him that was almost as strong as it had been on Crato. A roar erupted from his throat, his Force empowered limbs bringing him to enemy lines in a matter of seconds. His lightsaber became a blur of motion, its energy blade slicing off the weapon arms of those he could reach. Their crippled forms were left screaming on the floor, the loss of their appendages driving some into shock. It was far easier to cut through Separatist loyal humans than it was to cut down the droids they commanded, such were the thoughts of a vengeful seeking Anakin as he moved to the entrance, an exit that was blocked by the last three in the group. They stood their ground, levelling their blasters at him, but Anakin could sense their fear rippling below. Instinctively, he drew into their fear, using it to fuel his own power. In the time it took for a human to blink, Anakin quickly slashed at the human in front of him, bringing his saber around to stab the two to his left and right. The one he'd originally struck was on his knees by then, leaving Anakin free to end his life with one last stab. The Jedi brought his saber out by kicking the human away from his blade, leaving his battered form to impact into the wall behind him.

Realizing that Dari was still making a run for it, Anakin headed off to stop her. He moved down the hall, finding the woman in question close to the building's front door. A Force Pull brought her form flying back towards him where she landed only a few metres away. The dazed Separatist was held in a Force Choke, her form levitating in front of her attacker. Her left hand wrapped around her throat, trying to lift an invisible pressure that couldn't be moved. Even with her windpipe being crushed, Dari levelled her blaster pistol at the Jedi in front of her, only to find the weapon bisected in half before she could even aim. "Your….Republic…will….fall," The words gurgled out from a dying Dari, her defiance remaining strong, despite the fact that she knew she was dead.

Her words only served to further a Force sensitive's already intense feelings of anger. Anakin levelled his lightsaber at her with narrowed eyes, "No, the Separatists will be the ones to fall." Anakin Force Pulled a still choking Dari towards his lightsaber, impaling her on the energy blade. "I guarantee it." Anakin let Dari's corpse fall to the floor, his lightsaber deactivating as he gazed down at her lifeless form. "Farewell Solman," The Jedi mockingly said before moving back to the communications room.

By the time Anakin had re-entered the COM room, Bypass had found what he was looking for in the Separatist network. He was eager to share his findings but Anakin told him to wait until they were out of the sector.

"How exactly are we going to do that sir?" Rex questioned with a hidden frown, "Our only craft are an assault shuttle and 12 ARC-170s, neither of which has hyper-space capability."

"True, but there is a Separatist fleet in orbit that has plenty of ships with hyper-drives equipped. We'll be boarding a Munificent frigate, Vibro Squadron will escort our shuttle and we'll secure it while Vibro Squadron protects us from fighter attacks." With that said, Anakin activated his wrist-COM, "Captain Drex, we need an immediate evac at Site Alpha."

"Roger that General," Vibro's squadron commander replied, "I'm already on the way."

On their mission leader's command, the assault force moved to the building's main entrance. Ashoka moved past the bodies of the Separatist affiliated humans, torn between a feeling of remorse and the sense that justice had been served. She leaned more towards the latter, but that didn't stop her from shuddering as the lifeless eyes stared back at her or from feeling an echoing sense of fear at just how easily her Master had made the decision to kill them. Sensing his padawan's turbulent thought pattern, some of the Jedi's anger evaporated as he turned to his apprentice. "Ashoka, are you okay?"

Ashoka looked away from Dari's corpse to find her mentor gazing at her with concern. Remembering that Anakin had told her to concentrate on the task at hand first and foremost, Ashoka buried her concerns and gave a small smile in reply. She knew she'd have to think about it at some point, but for now, the Togruta was content to concentrate on getting out of Kiflor.

Drex arrived almost as soon as the team left the COM centre, he landed the shuttle as close as he could, the wings folding as the boarding ramp lowered. Everyone piled in, leaving Anakin to replace Drex in the pilot seat, while Ashoka took her place as co-pilot. The Jedi steered the shuttle towards the Republic camp where Vibro Squadron was standing by. Anakin let the shuttle hover ten metres in the air, while Drex leapt from the boarding ramp to his ARC-170 beneath. Anakin took off as soon as the squadron leader reported ready.

"We're activating sensor jammers General," Drex reported as the group rose into the atmosphere of Tyfex, "We'll just look like another piece of battle debris to the Seps."

"Very good," Anakin replied, the blackness of space now dominating the view out of the shuttle's transpartisteel window. "I'm fully expecting that the Separatists will send their remaining fighter squadrons against us once the droids report that they're being boarded, those enemy craft must be destroyed."

"Don't worry sir," Drex responded, "We'll handle it."

Anakin sent the assault shuttle toward the nearest star frigate, specifically on a heading toward the gap between the dorsal and ventral sections of the ship. Two of the three frigate's in the fleet had a small hangar integrated into the ship superstructure. These versions of the Banking Clan frigates were becoming more widely accepted as the standard among those in the Confederacy Navy due to its ability to rapidly place starfighters into a weakened sector; carriers such as the Lucrehulk were nowhere near as fast as their star frigate counterparts.

The Republic formation moved closer to the frigate, Anakin could see the shimmering blue outline of the hangar's deflector screen. "Vibro, target the starboard shield and prepare to fire."

"Yes, sir," Drex acknowledged his superior. "Primer, break formation and be ready to fire on the starboard hangar deflector module."

"Finally," Primer responded with a wide grin, "Something to blow up."

Six-Five moved out of the crescent rough double column formation, his targeting scanners settling on his designated prey. The group was less than three hundred metres away from the hangar when Primer got the word to open fire. Green bolts lanced from the fighter's forward cannons and impacted into the target dead-centre. The damage to the module was enough that the deflector screen flickered out of existence, leaving the hangar bay exposed to the blackness of space. Several droids were pulled out by the ensuing vacuum before the ship's blast doors began to close.

Anakin diverted more power to the shuttle's engines, letting the craft shoot toward its intended goal. Vibro Squadron kept pace alongside, intent on providing the shuttle with sensor jamming cover as long as possible. Anakin waited until the assault shuttle was within fifty metres of the enemy frigate before giving Vibro the order to break formation. The ARC pilots reacted instantly, their fighter moving into sharp dives or climbs to avoid a collision with the droid warship.

Anakin piloted the shuttle into the hangar, crossing the threshold with plenty of seconds to spare before the hangar blast doors closed. Anakin opened fire with the shuttle's forward armament on any Separatist droids still moving, sending blue bolts to rip through the recovering B1 models. Cover was proven useless, the light cannons fired bolt and bolt, the energy projectiles shredding through any object along its trajectory. The Jedi only stopped with the realization that a small fire had erupted in the hangar. Anakin brought the shuttle down as close as he could to the exit, landing the ship as quickly as possible while still allowing it to be relatively smooth.

He and Ashoka both left their respective cockpits, finding that Captain Rex and the others were already waiting by the boarding ramp. Anakin activated his weapon, "What are you waiting for Captain," The General said with a half-grin, "We've got a ship to steal!"

"Yes sir," Rex said, his hand slamming down on the boarding ramp release switch. Anakin and Ashoka quickly sprinted out of the shuttle, with the Company Captain and his squad not far behind.


This chapter took far too long to create in my own opinion and I ended it just a little bit shy of my goal, but I figured that after 2 months I should give you something. So here it is.

I'm continously trying to walk a tedious line between writing a story that can be looked upon as canon, to writing one that still includes important aspects like logic, proper characterization (which sometimes even Lucas slips up on, specifically with Anakin) and accurate use of tactics and strategy. Part of this story forced me to bite my tongue as I found myself actually agreeing to the idea of a second battle of Geonosis with Ashoka's reponse to Anakin's teasing remark; due to the fact that I didn't know what to put in its place. Laziness? Most likely; but since Georgey boy has already declared it a fact, I may as well go along with it. If you're curious as to why I don't subscribe to the idea of a second battle of Geonosis...well just think about it from a strategic point of view. I'll give you a hint. It. Doesn't. Make. Sense!

And yes, Zanaso, I know I, once again, referred to a Venator as a Star Destroyer class vessel. But it makes sense to me, even for the Galactic Republic, to designate a ship with a fiercesome name in order to intimidate, or even discourage, opponents.

I'll either finish the rest of what I had planned and upload that later on, something that will proabaly only be about 3,000 words; or I'll include it into the next chapter. Option A, will proabably be my course of action. I've already done a rudimentary outline of chapter 13, I'm confident you'll like it after reading just the first sentence.

Let me know what you think!