Geonosis

Luke could feel two very powerful Force presences, one dark and one light, guiding the mostly Galactic Alliance/Imperial fleet as he and the two squadrons he led dropped out of hyperspace. The Jedi Master immediately recognized the dark side life force as Darth Blight.

It took a few seconds longer to recognize the other life force as the joint presence of Allana and Thrace. Their connection was deeper than it had been during the previous battle meditation. Something, it seemed, had greatly strengthened their relationship. But as Luke examined Allana and Thrace's joint Force presence more closely, his heart became like a lead weight inside his chest. They had already begun to grow weak, and it did not seem as though the battle had been raging for very long. Cilghal had earlier expressed her concern that the two would probably die the next time they created a battle meditation.

Luke expanded his mind, as though he were blowing air into a balloon, and tried to locate Krayt or Plagueis, but they were nowhere to be found. They should have been here by now, unless... They would know that Allana and Thrace would have no choice but to create another battle meditation to help fight the Nephilim. And then they would both die. Perhaps the two Sith were just waiting for that, and then they would come to help coordinate the effort against the Dark Ones and their allies.

But what if that wasn't enough? If Krayt and Plagueis had been here from the beginning, the chances of defeating the Nephilim/Abominor fleet would have been considerably higher. Would the Sith risk that just to kill the future Queen of the Jedi? Luke began to wonder if the Sith had some sort of back up plan. Those dark side using dianogas would have to be convinced that that whatever they had up their sleeve would be up to the task of defeating the Dark Ones.

Through the Force Luke further examined the battle, and could feel a fierce battle raging within one of the Turk Brand's hangar bays, between those belonging to the Force and those belonging to the Anti-Force. One of the Force presences was strangely familiar, but was so distorted by rage and hatred that Luke could not place who it was.

The Nephilim/Abominor coalition was a monster to behold; in the Force it was an utter abomination. While the Nephilim and the Abominor fought together, Luke could feel the Force and the Anti-Force roiling against each other. This horrid stench of chaos reached its climax in those Dark ships which had been repaired by the Abominor. These hybrid vessels were consumed by this war, an ancient contest between two opposing powers, the Force and the Anti-Force.

Vibrant needles of death surged back and forth, between the Alliance/Imperial forces and the Nephilim/Abominor fleet, creating short lived bursts of fire, as they destroyed fighters, or slamming into deflector shields, causing them to shimmer. The former charged onward toward Geonosis, while the latter sought to maneuver the ally ships back, toward the ravenous maws of the two Nephilim saucer ships. Thousands of lives were being torn from the Force as the Dark Ones and their allies began to gain ground, or space, rather.

Luke shook his head. The Force wouldn't have brought him here just to see the whole fleet destroyed. The Force simply could not allow it. Not now when those threatening the galaxy belonged to the Anti-Force. Something had to be coming; some great shift in the Force.

Turk Brand

The flight deck vibrated under the constant rain of fire and the continual screaming of energy weapons and hammering of shatterguns. This was more than just a battle between the Nephilim and those defending the galaxy from them; this was, more importantly, a battle between the Force and the Anti-Force. Ziggy could literally feel the two... entities vying for supremacy in a maelstrom of power. He tried to block it out, but it was like a needle into his soul.

Ziggy flung his deactivated lightsaber at an approaching Dark soldier. The weapon spun through the air, like the propeller of an ancient aircraft called a helicopter, toward its target. The Made Jedi then grabbed onto a piece of debris, probably part of one of the Razors, to use as a shield, just as the Dark One opened fire. He used the Force to anchor himself to the floor of the flight deck, preventing the impacts of the silver white orbs of fire from knocking him onto his back.

The Nephilim warrior, seemingly in slow motion, brought one of its forearms down toward Ziggy's lightsaber. He focused on that arm, imagining that it was caught in an invisible net. While maintaining that image, the Made Jedi imagined his weapon's activation stud depressing. The lightsaber's purplish blade snap-hissed to life just as the emitter nozzle turned toward the Dark One. Ziggy's opponent stumbled slightly, as the needle of light impaled its chest, but remained standing.

Ziggy used the Force to shut off the lightsaber and recall it to his hand. He summoned his ion blaster to his free hand and fired off a shot at the 'wound' in his enemy's chest. A shower of sparks erupted from the area as the artificial Force lightning made contact. Ziggy imagined molecules of oxygen being drawn to the site. A small flame came to life, but quickly died as his concentration faltered. But Ziggy's opponent was significantly weakened, and he easily managed to impale it in the face.

Tahiri and the newly enteched Seff fought side by side against a throng of Nephilim warriors. Servants of the light and dark sides of the Force working together, a summary of sorts of this entire war against the Dark Ones.

Tahiri was a glowing beacon of the light side, but struggled to find serenity in the chaos, the shifting currents of the Force and the Anti-Force.

Seff, on the other hand, was a dark blur as he fought, with frightening brutality, against those who had sought to enslave him. The dark side, fed by a seemingly unquenchable rage, hung around him like some noxious cloud. Its vileness reminding Tahiri of the stench of burning rubber.

But under all that anger, a mere whisper among shouts, was a profound sense of terror. Seff had been stolen from his body and imprisoned within an unliving shell. He seemed... lost, as though he were adrift in the seemingly endless void between two galaxies.

Luke Skywalker had told Tahiri about a woman he'd loved named Callista Ming. Her spirit had been trapped inside the computer core of a vessel called the Eye of Palpatine for about thirty years. Being a disembodied spirit had terrified Callista at first. She hadn't been able to breath, and she'd felt as though she'd been falling for an eternity. She had also felt very cold. It had not been a painful cold, reminiscent of needles and pins, but rather a mere lack of warmth. Seff must have been going through much the same...

Tahiri instinctively put up a bubble of Force energy as several bolts of silver white oblivion screamed toward her and Seff. The shimmering energy barrier deformed slightly, as though some giant were blowing on it, as the ironically bright orbs of those belonging to the Anti-Force, something of pure darkness, made contact.

Servants of the light and dark sides of the Force working together. Tahiri and Seff were fighting alongside each other, but were they truly working together? Were they fighting together as one? No. Just like the Jedi and Sith, they fought against the same enemy, but they did not fight as allies.

The Nephilim continued to advance on Tahiri and Seff. The two Force users drew increasingly heavily on their respective sides of the Force. Tahiri becoming immersed in a fragile peace that could shatter any second, and Seff sinking further and further into his fury.

A bolt of enemy fire made it through Tahiri's energy shield, missing her foot by mere millimeters, to create a dark scorch mark. Tahiri knew she couldn't maintain the Force bubble much longer. And when it came down...

She realized then what she had to do. Tahiri cautiously brushed Seff's Force presence. That stench of burning rubber had grown in strength, and seemed to be carried on a hot, humid breeze. She resisted the urge to gag.

Tahiri braced herself, and swam deeper into Seff's darkness. He did not resist, but seemed to welcome her touch. She was a source of heat to the cold emptiness of his soul. Seff reached back toward Tahiri, craving more of this vibrant fire. Seff fell into light and Tahiri fell into darkness. The light tempered the dark and kept her from falling too far.

Abominor Flagship

The vessel from which Death Surge commanded his fleet was vaguely recognizable as a Venator-class Star Destroyer. For that was what she had once been. She had been horribly maimed, to the point where most would have considered her beyond saving, when the Abominor had happened upon her all those years ago. But they had saved her, and had made her beautiful. All sorts of weaponry and sensor equipment, among other things, had been made a part of her, so that she was greater than she had been before.

"My lord," interrupted his subordinate Razor Saw in his strange shuddering voice. He was a bit taller than Death Surge, and gangly by comparison. On the right side of his face was the red photoreceptor of an astromech droid, while the left side provided sanctuary to a vertical trio of orange photoreceptors characteristic of a buzz droid. "The Nephilims' enhanced unit has evidently been subverted. It is fighting closely alongside a female human Jedi. The pair is proving quite formidable."

"You shall eliminate this threat, then," responded Death Surge. It would, of course, have been far simpler just to destroy the Turk Brand. But both the Abominor and their Nephilim comrades wanted the vessel. The Abominor would be able to do such incredible things with a decently intact Vanquisher-class Star Destroyer. And there would be much to learn from the currently malfunctioning enhanced unit's brain.

"Of course, my lord," Razor Saw commed back, since there was no air to carry sound, as he ran from the bridge and to his fighter. Given that Razor Saw had elected to be the subject of his and Death Surge's 'experiment', so that his master would be preserved if things went horribly wrong, it made perfect sense that he face the Force wielding Nephilim foot soldier.

Luke Skywalker could feel the light side presence of Tahiri merging with that mysterious, almost recognizable dark side presence. He brushed Tahiri's Force aura, as the meld solidified, and gasped. Seff!

But Seff was different; while his life presence was there, he did not exactly seem to be alive. The Nephilim had enteched him. Tahiri must have somehow freed him from the Dark Ones' control.

Luke tried to push these thoughts from his mind as he, a Made Jedi, and a Sith Saber broke off from the double squadron to engage a peculiar cross between a B-wing and what might have once been a TIE Interceptor and probably a dozen other ships. This Abominor fighter seemed to be headed toward the Turk Brand. The Ugly corkscrewed and juked to avoid their fire and a pair of proton torpedoes.

There was a tremendous surge of dark side energy from the pilot of the B-TIE as his fighter was suddenly jerked around, as though by a giant, invisible hand. The hybrid fighter proceeded to vomit a rainbow barrage of light at Luke and his two wing mates. The three were forced to split up to avoid the enemy fire. The B-TIE took that time to destroy the torpedoes.

The deflector shield of Luke's StealthX began rippling furiously as the B-TIE spewed psychedelic fire his way. Luke shunted power from the weapons systems into the deflector shield, and took evasive action. The Jedi Master felt his two wing mates heading toward him. He took his StealthX into a loop just before the Made Jedi and Sith Saber took position to either side of him, and came between them 'upside down'.

Four high powered lances of energy from the B-TIE converged on the Sith Saber's fighter, turning it into a short lived red orange fireball. Luke reached out toward the debris and hurled it at the Abominor fighter. The enemy ship's shield sparked angrily for a brief period, but it seemed to do little damage.

The B-TIE resumed its attack on Luke and his remaining wing mate, again forcing them to split up. The hybrid fighter adjusted its course and rocketed toward the Made Jedi. Luke grunted in disgust at the sense of smugness wafting off of the Abominor pilot. If either Jedi fired any torpedoes, the B-TIE would just move out of the way. Chances were that Luke and his remaining pilot would have to dodge their own ordnance. And even if they didn't their opponent could just vape the missiles. Either way they'd be wasted. The Ugly completely ignored Luke for the few seconds it took to destroy the Made Jedi's StealthX. It then continued on its course toward the Turk Brand.

Luke rerouted power from his deflector shield to his weapons as he chased after that blasted B-TIE. The Ugly's deflector shield seemed to mock him as it rippled serenely, as though one were throwing stones into a pond. Luke launched off a pair of proton torpedoes, but the enemy craft somehow managed to outmaneuver them.

Within moments the B-TIE was firing on the Turk Brand's deflector shield, near the hangar bay. The besieged area rippled angrily under the barrage. A gap appeared, and something, or someone, rather, leapt out of the fighter. The figure passed through the magcon field and into the hangar bay. Luke felt another surge of the dark side as the B-TIE's occupant turned it around.

Luke realized, as the hybrid fighter silently screamed toward him, that there was still an occupant aboard the B-TIE. Multiple colors of fiery light came streaming forth, exploding against his deflector shield.

Turk Brand

Sparks of green fire danced on Tahiri's fingertips as she stretched her hand forward, toward an approaching Nephilim foot soldier. A verdant bolt of energy leapt from her hand and slammed into the Dark One, creating a small dent in ts armor. A second bolt pierced the alloy as Tahiri advanced on it. She slashed with her lightsaber, tearing the hole open further, into a gash. Tahiri followed up with another bolt of green Force lightning to the wound, creating a brief, mild shower of sparks. And then it was falling down, with a smoking hole its head. Thanks, Seff.

Tahiri suddenly felt as though she were experiencing a hot flash as something shot through the magcon field. She felt it drawing heavily on the dark side as it hurtled toward the surface of the flight deck. The floor shook a bit as what was clearly an Abominor made contact.

The Abominor's face was a mess of photoreceptors, and his mouth seemed to be made of several small saws. He was about the same height as a Neph... Seff, with three arms, the two smaller ones being on the left. One of the left hands held a long staff. Attached to the top was a long, sickle shaped blade. On the other end was a long spear tip, which began to hum and move rapidly back and forth.

Metal pellets zipped toward Tahiri and Seff as a large shattergun mounted to his right arm roared to life. Attached to this shattergun was some sort of long alloy needle. This steam punk monstrosity started drawing even more heavily on the dark side as a net of indigo energy materialized around the spike, creating a very crude approximation of a lightsaber.

The alloy pellets pelted off of Seff's forearms, which were configured into blades, as he blocked and deflected them. He and Tahiri returned fire with silver white and pale green energy, respectively. Their opponent easily batted their fire away with his staff and improvised lightsaber.

Razor Saw extended his spare left hand toward an approaching Decimator droid, throwing it up into the air. Its underside erupted into flame as a number of Dark Ones opened fire on it. His left arm seemed to almost erupt in blue fire as he brought it back toward Tahiri and Seff. Sparks of this azure fire darted from his fingers. Tahiri quickly put up a small barrier of Force energy, blocking the attack.

Razor Saw put on a Force enhanced burst of speed and charged at his two opponents. He swung his staff at Seff. The former human managed to block the attack, but stumbled slightly backward under the great force of the impact. Tahiri's lightsaber nearly fell from her hand as Razor Saw hammered his dark blue lightsaber down on her own green lightsaber. She fired off a bolt of Force lightning to try to create some distance between the two of them. But the Abominor created a small blue shield of energy with his spare hand and deflected the Force lightning down at the floor of the flight deck.

Razor Saw swung the sickle end of his weapon at Seff, forcing him to move back slightly. The blade pivoted about ninety degrees, and dug into Seff's left arm. The blade began to shake like a vibroblade, cutting deeper. The sickle blade moved back to its original position, tearing itself out of Seff's shoulder. Razor Saw twirled his weapon, bringing the spear tip up under Seff's arm. Seff manage to spin away, but not before the staff did even more damage. The arm fell limp at his side, and the blade morphed back into a forearm and hand. Razor Saw extended his spare left hand at Seff, wrenching the rogue Nephilim's arm off. The limb fell to the flight deck with a quasi-metallic thump.

Tahiri moved to charge at the Abominor, but stopped herself. Why had he torn off Seff's arm? It had already been disabled. The Abominor wanted her to attack, and so she did not. He suddenly swung his right leg toward Tahiri and she barely managed to jump out of the way. The Abominor took the opportunity to get between her and Seff.

Razor Saw and Tahiri exchanged and deflected each other's Force lightning, as the dark blue blur of his lightsaber searched for any gaps in her defenses. Razor Saw's staff seemed to take on a life of its own as it battered down the one armed, rogue Nephilim's defenses. Razor Saw leapt into the air as the Nephilim tried to kick him in the side. The Abominor stabbed down with his staff, and drove the vibrating spear tip into the Nephilim's chest. He tore it out as he returned to the floor of the flight deck.

Drawing on the Fore like some horribly fuel inefficient speeder, Tahiri ran at the hideous Force wielding Abominor. She could feel the Force burning through her as it guided the movements of her lightsaber. Sparks detonated into life as her opponent responded with his energy wrapped bayonet.

The sickle blade of Razor Saw's staff bent outward, and the Abominor drove the blade into Seff's chest. The sickle bent back, opening a huge gash in Seff's chest. He fell backward, and then rolled out of the way as Razor Saw slammed the spear tip into the floor. The Abominor delivered a savage kick to Seff's head, and then turned on Tahiri.

Tahiri launched a bolt of Force lightning at her enemy; he easily deflected it with his staff. The Abominor took hold of the staff with his extra left hand, turning the weapon into a spinning blur. He gestured minutely with his right hand, yanking Tahiri forward. As she jumped backward she felt a ghastly burning sensation in her right wrist. She heard screaming as she stumbled backward. And realized it was her own when she saw her hand on the floor behind the Abominor.

Tahiri glimpsed Seff's severed arm, allowed herself to fall backward, and let go her lightsaber. The Abominor charged at her and then leapt into the air, pointing his staff's spear tip at Tahiri's heart. She reached out in the Force and grabbed onto the severed arm. A large fork of greenish Force lightning exploded from the palm of her remaining hand, and slammed into the arm as it sailed through the air. The arm reformed itself into a blade, under the electric discharge, and impaled the steam punk monster in the chest.

Tahiri rolled to the side as the Abominor crashed to the flight deck. His protective Force barrier began to waver as he slowly picked himself up. Tahiri reached out toward her and Seff's opponent, and imagined enormous rancor claws tearing the Abominor apart. Small gears and other pieces of machinery sprayed outward. Tahiri turned away to protect her face from the tiny pieces of shrapnel.

Allana and Thrace were already soaked with sweat, and turning pale, and their blood pressures were dropping dangerously low. The two Jedi Knights weren't pushing themselves significantly further than last time. But, as Cilghal had predicted, the battle meditations seemed to be having a cumulative effect on them since they were not 'built' for such things.

Tekli shook her head sadly, and handed Cilghal another pair of stim shots. While they would keep the Jedi Knights from passing out, the stim shots would also compound the damage being done by the battle meditation. Though even without the stim shots, the battle meditation was still bound to kill them.

Admiral Nek Bwua'tu frowned as an officer informed him of Thrace and Allana's deteriorating condition. Once that battle meditation failed...

"It is time," interrupted the calm, mechanical voice of the Other (leader of Silentium-obscure canon). "But they won't be able to maintain it for long."

Admiral Bwua'tu gave the appropriate series of commands, hoping it would be enough. But knowing, as well as everyone else, that there was no way it could be. He growled softly; he knew what would eventually come next. What absolutely had to come next. And he hated himself for it. This had all been a terrible mistake. So many thousands of people were going to die. Because of me.

Geonosian Space

Floating beside the Turk Brand, and trading fire with a pair of Nephilim carrier ships, the Other sent out a signal to the Silentium trapped within the enemy ranks. The Abominor had done what they could to make the Silentium into their vile, malformed image.

The Other could soon feel these siblings of his coming back to life. Deflector shields of nearby Nephilim and Abominor ships shook savagely as the Silentium began to fire on them. A number of enemy ships exploded in fire and sprays of shrapnel as their defensive energy shields buckled.

The Dark Ones and their allies were forced to divert some of their fire to the Silentium. Galactic Alliance and Imperial vessels surged forward to take advantage of the situation. The Silentium continued to fire, at a furious rate, even as they were ripped apart by Nephilim/Abominor fire. Having been made part Abominor these Silentium were able to sustain a monstrous amount of damage. But within minutes these hybrid Silentium began to fall. Several of them managed to ram Nephilim or Abominor vessels before they perished.

And then, after that brief interruption, as though nothing were amiss, the coalition of evil continued its massacre of the Alliance/Imperial forces.

Luke Skywalker's StealthX shook almost continually as the B-TIE pounded its failing deflector shield. If he could manage to fire off a pair of proton torpedoes, perhaps he'd have a chance. But he'd certainly be vaped in the time it took him to turn around. An alarm, which was soon silenced by the on board astromech, wailed to life. Luke spared a glance at the diagnostics screen, and partly wished he hadn't. The deflector shield was at less than thirteen percent, and three of the engines were in the red.

Luke could feel the Force burning through him as it guided him away from some of his pursuer's fire. Had that Force using Abominor not gone on his errand aboard the Turk Brand, Luke would have been dead by now.

As he came out of a loop around... something, Luke glimpsed a number of Silentium gathered around the Turk Brand. The Jedi Master reached out toward the Vanquisher-class Star Destroyer, and felt nauseous as his fears were confirmed. The Silentium were going to help the Alliance and Imperial forces destroy many of their own ships so that, hopefully, there wouldn't be anything left for the Abominor to use.

Allana would die, potentially dooming the Jedi Order. And the Galactic Alliance, with its military essentially destroyed, would be left defenseless. The Sith would only allow this battle to be lost if they knew they could defeat the Dark Ones without their help. But what if the Sith did need the help of the Jedi and the Alliance? Luke sighed and snatched up the comm.

Turk Brand

"And if the Abominor take our ships," Admiral Bwua'tu reasoned, "the Sith might just decide that they do need us."

"Yes," said Luke's voice. "If Plagueis or Krayt know what's going on here, they might just decide to intervene..."

"which would save our hides," Bwua'tu said.

"Yes. But even if they decide not to intervene, or if they can't do it in time to save us, the Sith and their friends will have more of a fight on their hands. So they won't come away from this as strong... But... I don't think the Force would have brought us all here just to be destroyed."

"So you think they'll intervene?" Bwua'tu asked.

Luke sighed. "It's the only thing I can think of. And I have the feeling that something is about to happen..." He paused a moment, as Allana and Thrace suddenly grew even weaker. "And we need to stop that blasted battle meditation."

Before the admiral could reply he felt that gentle pressure of the battle meditation leave his brain. He turned to see Thrace and Allana passed out, slumped against each other, in their chair.

Abominor Flagship

Death Surge was dismayed at the report, by one of the Nephilim foot soldiers, that his comrade, Razor Saw had been killed. However, the report also indicated that Razor Saw had shown great proficiency in the Force, in combat against other Force users. So it would certainly work for me. Indeed, I shall be able to manipulate the power...

Death Surge suddenly abandoned this train of thought, and made an unrecognizable approximation of a frown, as code from the Nephilim mainframe scrolled across the screen in front of his photoreceptors. It was the most advanced code the Abominor fleet commander had ever set his photoreceptors upon.

The Nephilim had informed the Abominor of the latest virus with which their mainframe had been infected. But the Dark Ones had made no mention of the two other viruses in their mainframe. Were they somehow not aware of them?

And perhaps more disturbing, one of these earlier viruses appeared to have been created by the same race responsible for the latest one. The other virus seemed to have been created by a separate race entirely. These Nephilim had at least two incredibly advanced enemies. And at least one of these adversaries, it seemed, still existed. And when they returned? From wherever it was they'd gone. Their wrath would be against the Nephilim and all who were foolish enough to stand with them.

And thus, the Abominor could not stand with the Nephilim. Perhaps, if they turned on the Dark Ones, the Abominor could garner the favor of one or both of these powerful celestial races. Yes, that is what the Abominor would do. They would save themselves.

Geonosian Space

Luke's StealthX bucked like an angry bantha as it suffered another major hit. He didn't need to check the diagnostics screen to know that his upper left s-foil had been blasted off.

He threw up his arm to shield his face as a shower of sparks issued in front of him. Luke grumbled angrily; he couldn't even turn around to ram that dang B-TIE. The Ugly would blast him to bits in the time it took...

Luke reached out in the Force, and imagined the StealthX being turned around by some unseen force. He focused his mind's eye on the B-TIE as the Abominor fighter swung into view. But he stopped short of pulling the control stick back, and slamming into the Ugly. The pilot's hostility toward Luke was gone, as though he were no longer the target. The B-TIE suddenly broke off, and zipped away.

Turk Brand

The Abominors' scrapheap vessels, including the Dark ships they'd repaired, began redirecting their fire. Nearby Nephilim ships were caught off guard, as they'd been with the Silentium. A few of them exploded, as they suffered catastrophic damage. The Nephilim formations began to falter as chaos erupted within their ranks.

Nek Bwua'tu could scarcely believe what he was witnessing. But he wasted no time issuing new orders. Alliance, and Imperial vessels having received similar orders, rushed forward taking advantage of the situation. What in the Void could have possibly...

"Hello, Admiral Nek Bwua'tu," said a voice very rough, grating voice that sounded like twisting durasteel. "I am Death Surge, Fleet Commander of the Abominor. We are no longer aligned with the Dark Ones. I will explain in detail later."

"Of..." Bwua'tu trailed off. The comm had gone dead. Death Surge didn't seem to be much of a conversationalist. A good thing, really, since Bwua'tu didn't want the Abominor's horrid voice giving him a migraine...

"Sir, one of the saucers just entered hyper."

"And they'll drop out right above us," Bwua'tu grumbled.

"That's what I'd do, sir. And we're pinned by Nephilim carriers, so we can't move."

The deflector shields of those Dark ships began shaking as a pair of Abominor ships, one of which had once been a Mon Calamari cruiser, began spewing out an absurd array of color. The second Abominor vessel-Bwua'tu could even begin to guess what it had been-continued onward toward the Turk Brand.

"Sir?"

"I know. It's not what it looks like." The unidentifiable vessel slid into position above the Turk Brand just as the Nephilim saucer exploded back into existence. The middle of the skeletal wheel opened, a bit like a monstrous, mechanized flower. A vicious, giant proboscis protruded from the center. An invisible needle of death flashed out from it, and collided with the Abominor ship.

Sparks erupted from the vessel that had just saved the Turk Brand and everyone aboard. Flashes of energy burned through sections of hull plating on the top of the ship, and slammed into the Nephilim saucer ship's deflector shield. The massive Dark ship replied with its own bland complement of fire. It soon became clear, as both vessels' deflector shields deformed and rippled, that the giant flying saucer could not win this engagement. In a great flash of light the saucer suddenly vanished back into the relative safety of hyperspace.

Dark ships began maneuvering away from Geonosis in every direction imaginable, as the Nephilim realized they'd somehow been outmatched. Some of the ships immediately fled into the sanctuary of hyperspace. But many remained for a time to provide cover fire for the comrades.

Bwua'tu checked the sensors for the other Nephilim saucer, and saw that it had already fled. He let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding as the Dark ships continued to vanish. And then, save for those who could not flee, the dreaded Nephilim were gone.

A/N: Quite long, I know. If I'd made it two chapters, then the battle for Geo. would have spanned three chapters rather than two.