Eredenn Prime - Decimator Facility

Aayla had been right about the cold. Even with the shelter, the pocket hand warmers and the feet warmers in their boots, they were starting to get cold. Despite there discomfort, the were able to us the fastening on their sleeping bed rolls to put them both together and then both climbed inside. Tobias was shocked to no end when Aayla murmured, "This generally works better if we are both naked but we can start with this."

Clearing his throat, he managed to say, "I heard that myself. Apparently it also helps to line the inside of whatever we're slipping in with our clothes - both to keep the clothes warm and to add insulation against the cold. How cold does it get here, anyway?"

"During the not-as-frigid season, it gets up to negative one degree Celsius. During the so-frigid-you-shouldn't-be-allowed-outside season, it gets to negative forty-two point eight degrees Celsius;" answered Aayla, her teeth beginning to chatter.

Tobias began to rub her arms from behind both to warm them up for her and to keep his hands warm. "What about your lekku?"

"They should be fine. Because they house a part of our brain, a lot of bio-electricity and such flows through them. Even so, keeping them covered is important since they are very sensitive. That feels nice. Thank you." she answered, enjoying the warmth caused by his rubbing her arms.

Tobias nodded and said, "Of course. I think I may have extra socks in my pack. They should help with your lekku."

Aayla laughed and said, "That is very kind of you but that won't be necessary. I brought a cover for them."

She took a turn rubbing his arms and they remained silent for several minutes. Then she sighed and said, "We're going to need to strip down. If we wait too much longer, it will be too cold even for that. We'll do it, shove our clothes inside and I have an extra blanket that will help too."

Tobias sighed and said, "I have one too. Alright let's get out of these clothes and back into the sleeping bags as quickly as possible."

Fast as they could, they wriggled out and into the open air. It was frigid and their teeth chattered as they stripped down to just their basic garments, shoving each piece into the sleeping bags as they did. When they were both down to almost nothing, they grabbed their blankets and wriggled back into the sacks. Neither of them were comfortable with it but they were forced to press together by the cold, skin on skin. The blankets and their clothes helps insulate them, as did the shelter but even so, they were both shivering.

Tobias had also grabbed his comink and hit the switch. "Trauma, Blitz - can either of you hear me?"

There was no response. Aayla sighed. "It was worth a try."

Tobias nodded, trying to ignore the warm body of the very beautiful woman pressed closely too him. As they both overcame their discomfort, the Twi'lek woman said, "I wanted to apologize to you, Tobias."

The Sarkai Jedi Knight frowned at her. "Oh? Why do you feel the need to apologize, Jedi Secura?"

"You can call me Aayla, Tobias. Considering we're both quite possibly going to freeze to death lying almost naked together in a double sleeping bag, formalities seem mildly silly. Because I had a preconceived notion about you strictly based on the fact that you were a nomad Jedi who didn't get along with the Jedi like myself on Coruscant. I'm sorry for that, especially since you have proven to be respectful and grounded in the light side of the force."

Tobias blushed beneath his face paint and said, "It wasn't as if you were wrong or heard the wrong thing about me, Aayla. I don't get along with members of the Order who are based off Coruscant. I won't lie. I had a preconceived notion about you as well for the reverse reasons."

There was a long silence and Aayla cleared her throat uncomfortably and suddenly sensed the amusement in the other's consciousness. "What's so funny?" she asked curiously.

"Sorry, my sense of humor is strange. I apologize too. It does not behoove Jedi to make assumptions, especially about one another."

Aayla nodded, still frowning until it dawned on her. "You weren't going to apologize were you? You were going to try and get a rise out of me!"

"Only in good fun;" he chuckled, "I had every intent of apologizing but I was hoping that you would have a bit more of a reaction to it."

"You can be insufferable, can't you?" asked Aayla with a chuckle as she adjusted her position.

Tobias's chuckle was strained as he replied, "Yes, I can. Don't worry. You'll get used to it. I certainly hope Master Echuu is doing okay. Hopefully he'll be able to find us with the force since our comms aren't working."

Aayla nodded and shifted again and Tobias gave a low grunt. "Are you alright back there?" she asked.

"Yes; it's just that this is a bit of an uncomfortable situation, that's all. It's hard to get comfortable."

Aayla chuckled. "Relax, Tobias. This is nothing more than survival necessity. No need to make it something that it isn't."

"Easy for you to say;" muttered Tobias.

She frowned and craned her neck. "Why do you say that?"

"Because you aren't pressed against an attractive member of the opposite sex. I am."

Aayla faced forward and said, "Ah, I see. We are still Jedi, remember."

"That doesn't mean that the force is going to counter basic biological reactions. It can be used to, of course, but that just seems so unnatural."

She craned her neck to look at him again. "Unnatural? How so?"

"The force resides within all living beings in the galaxy, even those who cannot sense, control or feel it. In the creation of life, one is adding to that relationship and strengthening it on the physical level. During my travels, I found a little known and secretive tradition that considered the creation of life sacred and wonderful. I spent a couple standard weeks with them recovering from some injuries. It gave me a different perspective."

Aayla frowned. "Have you ever... created life?"

"What?" Tobias asked, slightly confused. "No, I haven't! I may see the force a little differently than the rest of the Jedi Order but I still adhere to its regulations."

He was blushing and refused to look at her. There was a long silence before she asked quietly, "What if the rules and regulations were to change?"

"Huh?" asked Tobias.

"The Jedi allowed marriage before. In fact, they encouraged it at one point. What if it were changed? Would you..." and she trailed off.

Tobias was silent for some time before saying, "Maybe I would. I don't know. I've never given it any thought."

Aayla nodded and snuggled down into the bag, pulling a blanket over her lekku. " It feels like its as cold as it's going to get. We should get some sleep while we can."

"Agreed;" said Tobias and he followed her example, covering his head with a blanket and nestling down as much as possible. Pressed together as they were, it wasn't hard to be comfortable. It was just hard to hid their biological reactions to the closeness.

Mustafar - The Separatist Control Facility

The clone commandos and Jedi were moving steadily forward, deeper and deeper into the facility. Though none of them were keeping an exact count, they all estimated that they had taken on and dismantled at least a battalion of enemy battle droids of various kinds and the numbers didn't seem to be letting up.

After clearing yet another cluster of monitoring stations, Drogan called to the two commando leaders, "How are you looking on ammunition?"

"We're deep in the red, Sir;" replied Boss. "We'll need to pick up some of those droid blasters pretty soon here."

Darman nodded in agreement. "We're out of grenades and breach charges as well. Our techs will have to slice into the doors as we get to them. Hopefully the security won't be getting too much more serious."

"Hopefully we won't run into anymore of those over-sized super battle droids again too;" said Scorch, the demolitions expert for Delta squad. "I'm out of anti-armor mortar rounds."

"We all are;" grunted one of his brothers.

Two of the clone commandos were double teaming on a security door that was baring their way forward into the facility. "You guys mind posting up and getting ready?" one of them growled sourly. "We've almost got this and when the door opens, all hell is going to break loose."

Etain gave a few quick hand motions and the commandos took their places. The Jedi stood in the open with their weapons ignited and ready. As soon as the blast doors came apart in a shower of sparks the fire storm began. B1 battle droids and BX commando droids armed with E-5C heavy blaster rifles were firing and the Jedi stood in a tight formation, close enough to cover one another without endangering each other. They drew the droids' fire while the clones picked off the droids. It was an intense bit of action and, when the droids were considerably thinned out, the clones began advancing again.

At the end of the hall, they could see the lifts that would take them up to the necessary level to get to the communications center. "Sure hope that Kal'buir and the others got up to the level alright;" muttered Niner.

"Of course they did, Sir;" chuckled Darman. "they have Bard'ika with them."

Boss squeezed his trigger and downed a pair of droids before his blaster rifle clicked dry. "I'm out, lads;" he said grimly, pulling his blaster pistol.

One by one, they ran out of ammunition and still had thirty meters to cover. Darman looked at Etain, "Generals, we're out."

Drogan lifted his hands and projected an energy barrier that stopped the incoming blaster fire. Slowly, they began to advance, the other two Jedi adding their strength to his as best as they could. Clearly it was taking the guardsman a great deal of concentration and effort to maintain the barrier but when he was within ten meters of the Separatist droids, he made a pushing gesture with both hands and the barrier shot forward, blasting back the enemy droids. As Drogan collapsed to his knees from the effort, Etain and Amara rushed forward, cutting down the droids before they could recover. The clone commandos rushed forward as well, gathering up fallen droid weaponry, explosives and spare powerpacks as well. Etain summoned the turbolifts while Amara jogged back to Drogan and helped him up. "You know, for one of the Jedi Order's prized guardsmen, you seem pretty easily winded;" she commented playfully.

Drogan gave her a stern glare. "Very funny. You're lucky you're..." and he paused for a moment before saying, "a fighter pilot rather than a guardsman. You wouldn't be able to handle it."

Amara chuckled and handed him a ration bar and canteen. "This should help."

When the lifts arrived, they piled in, their weapons still ready in their hands. The lift ride seemed to take an unnatural amount of time but when it came to a stop, they were all ready. When the doors opened, they were shocked to discover that the halls were abandoned. There were no droids waiting to meet them. "Okay then;" murmured Amara. "This was unexpected."

Carefully, they moved into the corridors, the commandos covering all directions with their appropriated weapons. Suddenly, in the distance, they heard blaster fire. "Double time it but be careful, commandos;" murmured Boss.

They continued at a much quicker pace, still playing the corners and watching every cross-corridor. As the fire grew louder, they began coming onto single, pairs or small teams of war droids, all heading towards the commotion. "Around the corner is the room, Generals;" said Niner. "It's a pretty big area and it's going to have a lot of droids in there."

"Not for long;" said Drogan, igniting both his weapons as he did.

Around the corner, they ran into the rear of the host of enemy war droids. The Jedi cleaved through them like tall grain, not even leaving any for the commandos behind them. They made it to the door before the droids even began to respond to them. From over by the comms equipment, the usually silent Kal Skirata shouted, "Great of you all to join us, Jedi. Mind putting some plasma pants and helping us out?"

The three Jedi broke off and began slashing and cutting through the droids in all directions. Those that they didn't get, the commandos leveled. Fixer, the tech specialist for Delta squad, jammed the doors before blasting away at the droids. It took minutes for them to clear the room and secure it. "Any injuries?" asked Etain, giving each of the Null-class ARC Troopers a once over.

"Nothing that the commandos won't be able to bind up for the rest of the mission;" said Ordo, the captain of the ARC troopers. "Fixer, Atin - get over here and help the droid. He needs help. The rest of us need to get into positions. They'll be getting through those doors and those doors. Jedi, put yourselves where you think you should be."

Darman muttered under his breath, "They're generals, you no-account reject of a failed science experiment."

Kal Skirata, who considered himself the adoptive father of Omega Squad and the six Null-ARC Troopers laughed and took a position. Suddenly, the droids could be heard on the either side of first one and then both of the doors. "Get ready, boys;" called Amara. "If we don't get those droids shut down, I'll just see you all in Hell."

Eredenn Prime - Outside the Decimator Facility

The Clone Commanders Bly, Blitz and Trauma gazed at the tactical holo again. They had held off the first assaults and, out in the wastes, firefights were still cropping up, the sound of blasterfire coming from a dozen different places. Pointing at the tactical holo, Trauma said, "Our Recon Fighters have taken down patrols and scouting groups all around these five areas. General Knell's militia troops are reeking havoc all over their southern flank and they have momentarily halted any attempts to move forward. Blitz, old boy, how are the techs doing on those old decimators?"

Blitz, a former Rail-class ARC Trooper from Kamino, half shrugged. "They tell me it's going alright but I'm no technician. I'll take their word for it until it becomes clear their pulling my leg."

"This all only leaves one question, then;" said Bly grimly.

"Where are Generals Knell and Secura?" came a gruff voice from behind them.

Turning, they saw the old general Echuu Shen-Jon approaching with Commander Deviss. "They went into the tunnels in and around the facility, General;" answered Trauma, "we lost contact with them and have teams searching now. The tunnels are pretty convoluted and unstable. There have been several collapses so far."

Echuu looked grim. "Bring up a map of the facility with the noted tunnel collapses, please. I'll download it to my communicator. Commander Deviss, remain here and assist with the defense. I will search for our lost Jedi."

Looking at the holo, he asked, "Which of these tunnels collapsed first, Commanders?"

"It was simultaneous, sir;" said Blitz.

"Then it was intentional, a way to trap or kill our Jedi and make it difficult to find them. Call your teams and tell them that I am coming. The force shall be my guide."

It was getting colder again. Aayla and Tobias shivered and rubbed one another's arms and backs to keep warmth and circulation going, even as they lay in the sleeping system. "We'll need to eat to;" said Tobias through chattering teeth.

As he rubbed Aayla's arms and back again, he used the force to bring two ration bars to them. As they ate, Aayla asked, "Any other ideas on how to keep warm, Tobias?"

"None that I can think of off the top of my head. This is honestly our best option."

He wrapped his arms around her and continued to rub her. "At some point, we'll need to put our clothes back on;" said Tobias after a long silent spell. "At least when they find us frozen, they won't find us naked."

"What a shame;" said Aayla, trying to sound humorous through her chattering teeth. "I was starting to enjoy myself."

Tobias would have frowned if his face wasn't numb. "Funny;" he said, "I know I was."

Aayla chuckled. "Well maybe we should make this a thing if we survive."

"Now you're just teasing me;" said Tobias as he began rubbing her arms and back again.

"Hard not too. It seems no matter how cold you get, your body is reacting to being naked with me. Admit it, if we weren't freezing to death and the circumstances were less dire, you'd be enjoying this."

Tobias was silent for a moment as he continued to rub her arms. "We're Jedi, Aayla;" he finally said, "we shouldn't be thinking about things like that - biological and bodily reactions or not."

"Well if it's think about that or think about freezing to death;" chuckle Aayla, "I'd rather think about that. Can't we used the force to warm the air around us?"

Tobias frowned and closed his eyes, concentrating. To Aayla's surprise, the air did begin to warm around them but the look of intense look of concentration on Tobias's face made it clear that this was not something he was practiced at. Closing her eyes, she tried to buoy his power with hers. She allowed her consciousness to meld with his and he strength became his strength. That helped them both concentrate and boosted their strength as well but only for a little longer than it would have. Slowly, their grip on the power faded and the cold began to seep back in. Sighing with the effort, Tobias said, "That was nice while it lasted."

"It was;" agreed Aayla, "maybe we can try again in a little bit."

Tobias nodded and began to shiver again.

Mustafar - the Separatist Facility
Even after the doors had been breached, the droids could only enter a few at a time and the clones and Jedi were easily able to blast them or use the force to disable them. All the while, the tech specialists and the Artoo droid continued working at the systems. The two clones murmured back and forth and the droid whistled and beeped too, adding to their commentary. "How're we looking, boys?" asked Kal Skirata.

"This is pretty intricate stuff, sir;" said Fixer. "It's written and programmed in Geonosian but, on top of that, it's fragmented and each fragment is also encrypted in some other language. We've come across Aqualish, Neimoidian, Muun-"

"Basically all the different languages of the different peoples of the Separatist Alliance;" said Ordo grimly as he blasted three more battle droids.

"That's right;" murmured Atin as he continued working. "We wouldn't be able to do this at all if it weren't for this little droid here. I think I'll try to buy him from General Skywalker when this is all over."

"Good luck;" grunted Amara, "he's apparently very attached to his droid. Remember the report of when he ran off to find him?"

"You're one to talk!" snorted Drogan as he sent a wave of disassembled droid parts down one of the corridors and sweeping away the defending units. "You love your droid too and wouldn't sell if for a whole planet."

"Of course not!" snorted Amara, "Scarlet wouldn't let me anyway."

"You named your droid scarlet?" snickered Etain.

"How much longer will you be, Fixer?" demanded Boss as he switched out yet another powerpack. "We're running low again."

Before the clone could respond, the little droid whistled and beeped. "No less than twenty-five minutes, sir;" answered Atin. "The only reason he can do it at all is because he downloaded all the languages of the Confederate systems from a protocol droid before he left. That was some forward thinking, little friend."

The droid whistled and kept working. Suddenly, the droids stopped coming. The Jedi used the force to begin pulling blaster weapons to them to keep in reserve for the clones. "What's going on?" asked Bardon Jusik. "I know we didn't destroy all of the droids."

"Of course not, Vod;" murmured Ordo as he did a thorough check of all of his weapons. "They have something special planned for us right now."

As if to prove his point, they could hear the heavy tramp of something big. Moments later, down the corridor came squads of A-series assassin droids - a droid that hadn't been seen since the battle of Jabiim. They were dangerous, with mounted blasters, flame throwers and projectile launchers that fired several different kinds of ammunition. Again, the clones opened fire. Though there were fewer of them, the assassin droids had much tougher armor. Their blades were semi-resistant to lightsabers as well, causing them to be trouble even for the Jedi. While the assassin droids engaged, battle droids began to pour in again. It quickly became a battle for their very lives and the technical specialists left off their work to assist in the fighting.

Drogan was everywhere at once, hacking and slashing through the chaos like a energy blade whirlwind. Even the assassin droids with their blades weren't able to stop him but their were so many that he could tell that he and his companions were going to be overwhelmed. Calling out to the force, he used a technique that he had only heard of a few times and used once before. It was considered, much like force lightning, a dark side technique. The very air around him began to shimmer with heat and objects torn or knocked loose began to levitate into the air, swirling around him. Even the battle droids who were not equipped with magnetic clamps on their feet began to lift off the ground. It all spun around him as if he were the eye of a growing storm. Force lightning arched from one object or droid to another, frying their circuits. Even blasters fired into the storm began to be absorbed into it. Through gritted teeth, he growled, "Get back and take cover. Put a barrier over that console. We can't let it be destroyed."

Immediately, the clones and Jedi obeyed. Just before it seemed as though the Jedi Master were about to lose control, he gave a roar and a wave of electrified energy shot out in all directions. The droids, the unshielded consoles and all the battlefield debris were blasted to the edges of the room and the heat-shielded windows were even shattered. In that single moment, the whole room was cleared. The clones leaped up, grabbed weapons and extra powerpacks and began to barricade the doors.

Amara ran straight to Drogan, who had collapsed to his knees from the effort. "You blasted idiot!" she said, her voice filled with more concern than anger. "When did you learn the maelstrom technique and why did you ever think it was a good idea?"

"We were out of options, Mar;" he said, clearly exhausted by the technique. "We wouldn't have survived that attack."

"You don't know that;" she muttered with absolutely no conviction.

"We all know that;" said Drogan as he allowed her to assist him to his feet. "Come on. Let's help the others. Hopefully this bought us enough time for the techs to finish. Fixer, Atin, how're we looking?"

"Would you all please stop asking us that?" muttered Fixer moodily as he kept working.

Atin answered, "Another ten minutes or so. It might be less. This little droid seems to have found a way to ignore the language barrier that the Seps have wrapped around the information fragment. As soon as we're done, he'll send out the shut down code."

The clones were kneeling and ready behind their barricades, ready to blow away any droids that decided to come down the corridors. Etain went to the shattered windows and grimaced. "You all might want to take a look at this."

The other Jedi and Kal Skirata ran over and looked. Outside, they could see armies of war droids marching towards the facilities and flying towards it. There were even tanks and artillery set up. "Why don't they just fire on us?" asked Etain.

"They don't want this facility destroyed. Maybe they thing that if they destroy it, it will be the same as if a shutdown code were sent;" guessed Amara.

Jusik shook his head, "No, I think they were ordered to defend this place, not to destroy it. If someone smarter than a droid were in charge, I'm guessing that order would be given. That way, we'd have to go from battlefield to battlefield to shut down the Separatist armies."

"Generals, they're coming again. We'll hold them as long as we can but it sounds like a kriffing lot of them;" called Boss.

"Woah!" said Fixer suddenly.

"Woah what?" called Boss and Niner at the same time.

"This droid's a bloody miracle worker! We'll have this done in no time at all!" said Fixer.

"Well it better be quick!" snapped Ordo. "I can hear wheelies coming down the halls and an army of others behind them."

The Droidekas rounded the corner and opened fire, forcing the clones to crouch low behind their barriers and try to blast through their personal shields. Just as super battle droids began marching down the corridor behind them, Artoo Deeto gave a triumphant whistle. The droidekas collapsed into their ball-like mobile position and the superbattle droids suddenly sagged and began to collapse as well. "By the force;" said Drogan, his eyes wide with shock. "We did it."

Looking out the window, they saw that all the droids below were immobile or, in some cases, completely shut down.

Pulling his comlink, he keyed in the frequency for the Legacy Hawk. Their mission was a success.

Hello, readers! Just so you all know, I have started to add a 'Codex' if you will. At the end of each chapter, starting from chapter 1, I have added three entries with information about certain characters, events, ships and so on, just to add a little more info about them. Go ahead and check them out.