Zonama shook with waves of pain as the many orbiting ships lashed out at Sekot. Thousands of energy beams, molten rocks, plasma and bombs exploded against It's fragile bio-sphere. Sekot could feel the burning pain as It's great forest exploded into flames, as the great ice sheets vaporize and sending mega tons of steam and water vapor. It also felt thousands animals, insects and winged creatures' agony as they fell to the onslaught of death and destruction that rained down on Zonama.
No matter what Sekot tried to do, it was too little; there was just too much happening too fast for Sekot to defend against. The Great Mind of Zonama couldn't concentrate properly because of the unrelenting attacks by the others. The pain of death and destruction was proving to be too distracting for It. Also, never before has It tried to fight so many different attackers at the same time. Without the Jedi or Danni helping to coordinate … If only the pain would stop! Sekot thought as the smaller one person ships added their fire to fight.
Using the Force, as well as the eyes of many different creatures, Sekot saw countless ships, some as small as shuttles others as large as the red Star Destroyer landing on It's sacred soil to spirited away It's people. The Yuuzhan Vong, the Ferroines, and the Jedi were fleeing across the open grasslands toward their so-called rescuers!
"Traitors!" Sekot screamed out as It send massive animals population to deal with the non-believers, the destroyers of It's future.
At Sekot's command, flocks of winged creatures and insects attacked the shuttles; the rakamats awoke and began firing their own molten weapons at the fleeing heretic. The very grasses of the fields reached out to immobilize those who fail to love. Hundreds of different species erupted out of the plains and forests to attack It's foes. While Sekot continued to use the power of wind, seas, and throw lighting bolts into the skies to destroy the machines from space.
Sekot saw five large, four legged machines stomping across the plains after being unloaded from several white Star Destroyers and taking up positions between the rakamats and the non-believers. While scores of weaponless warriors, armored and unarmored troopers poured out of the massive ships throwing themselves between the fleeing masses and Sekot's animals.
In the mass exodus, Sekot began to sense a pattern that only help confuse It's already muddle thinking process.
The rakamats had made the armor walkers pay a heavy price for their interference but the enemy had succeeded in eliminates four of the rakamats. When Sekot looked into the minds of the humans, hoping to get the satisfaction of the last minute pleads for mercy or regret, all It saw was satisfaction…a sense of a duty well done. The shuttle pilots struggling with their controls as they tried to flee back into space … all burning with the determination not to fail. And when they did fall from the skies they did not cry out in pain or fear, they did not beg forgiveness; they all held sorrow in their hearts that they failed those they were protecting.
All around the Star Destroyers, Mon Calamari star cruisers, Hapes Battle Dragon, Yuuzhan Vong, Chiss, and NO, this is not possible!, but sadly even the Bothens had landed, to scoop up the fleeing people of Zonama.
MADNESS! Sekot though as old enemies sacrificed their lives to save the very people that a few years earlier had tried to kill them. Sekot saw a warrior get tramples as she pulled an injured storm trooper to safety. A GA trooper was gorged as he threw himself at an attacking bear-like creature so that a Yuuzhan Vong warrior might live. A small group of Jedi, who refused to move as a swarm of meat-eating insects attacked them, so they could keep the flames from the grass fires from reaching the others.
And the most surprising of all was the actions of Jaina Solo! A wolf pack had encircled a small group of Yuuzhan Vong children that separated from the others with only a very aging and stooped Ferroine swing a stick to keep the pack at bay. Through the eyes of one of the wolfs It saw Jaina Solo, the one who vowed to destroy all of the 'scar heads', brake away from the others and launched herself at the pack. Using her lightsaber and the Force, she broke up the attack killing most of them and sending the rest running. Through the dying eyes of a wolf, Sekot saw Jaina scoop up the youngest child and directing the rest towards safety.
What did Tahiri do to my people? It was a mystery all right but now was not the time to think but to act!
Sekot kept lashing out, sending large powerful lighting bolts at the ships fleeing, at the Flagship as it landed, at the vessels scattered all around the planet's surface and in space. It was taking a toll on the invaders but they were making Sekot pay an even high price. Unlike the invaders, Sekot had no defensive shields to protect while retaliating.
Sekot needed just moment of peace to … Sekot felt the worst of all pain shoot through It's soul as It redirected It's senses back down towards the Cave. The Cave in which Jacen Solo, Danni Quee, and the others came to talk directly with their god. It was the one place on Zonama that Sekot was the strongest, but now it was nothing more then a smoking burning ruin, collapsing on its self. Sekot reached out with the Force but found no ships in the area, with the Vongsense It never saw any warriors anywhere near that location. What caused that explosion?
--
One day I HAVE to learn how to work electronics, Tahiri thought as she struggled to climb up the valley walls before Sekot arrived. Tahiri had been sure that she set the timer properly before she left the cave. She didn't want to try to fight Sekot in that narrow river valley instead; she wanted to make her way to the plains nearby. Unfortunately, Tahiri's great Jedi rescue plan was going about normal for her. The timer set off the thermal detonator 15 minutes early leaving her only half way up the cliffs.
It has been amazing that Sekot had left me alone for this long, Tahiri thought as she continued to climb. She had been sure that Sekot would come looking for blood ever since she reached out to help Luke and the others, but for some reason Sekot has been ignoring her. Maybe it knows I wanted to distract it so the others could escape. Tahiri thought as she reached up and out with the Force to find the next handhold. She shook her head at that thought; Sekot still had the power to squash her like a bug even with the Smugglers Alliance and Chiss fleets showing up.
The Smugglers she knew about since she had been the one who sent a message to Booster, requesting him to contact Talon Karrad and the others and asking them to meet her here. Fortunately, they bought into the small lie she told them. Well, it wasn't really a lie, since she was sure that Luke really did want their help once again. The Chiss, however, was as big as a surprise to her as it had been to Sekot. Had Tahiri thought for a second that the Chiss would have dropped their strict isolationist policies, she wouldn't have hesitated in asking them. This was bigger then GFFA or Imperial or even any other power in the galaxy. This was truly a galactic crisis. If they lost here it wouldn't matter how you ruled yourself, soon it would be just Sekot.
"Tahiri!" The cliffs shook as a facsimile of younger Anakin Skywalker, one of Sekot's favorite images, appeared in the valley near what had been the mouth of the cave. Tahiri let out a small curse as she saw Sekot looking around the valley. "Where are you Tahiri? Come out and face me now!"
Tahiri had been so shocked that she slipped a bit, sending down a small rock slide in the process, as she watched Sekot's eyes sweep right past her twice. How can Sekot miss seeing me in the Force, Tahiri thought as she steadied herself on a small ledge.
Tahiri could clearly see Sekot and everything on Zonama! Ever since she awoke from the attack in the qahsa, there was no more distinction between what Jacen and she called the Vongsense and the Force. It was as if before she could only see in black and white and now she could see the reds, greens and yellows as well. So if everything was brighter to her, shouldn't Sekot see her even clearer then It had while she was in the qahsa?
Shaking her head clear, she realized that hanging fifty feet off the ground was not the right time or place for this train of thought, especially with Sekot's pain was blasting through the Force like a jackhammer. Letting out another prayer, she decided to risk her good luck and try to make it to the top.
"Face me coward," Sekot screamed out as It let lose a bolt of lightening towards the far side cliff wall. Tahiri ignore Sekot as she reached out to find the next handhold, once she was in a better location then she would try to figure out how to get Sekot to see her.
"Come to me Tahiri and quit hiding behind Luke's legs like a coward that you are," Sekot screamed, which was kind of getting on Tahiri's nerves, as It let lose with a bolt into the river traveling down the middle of the valley. "Is this how the might Jedi Warrior fights her battles? By allowing others to fight and die, while you hide. Show yourself Abomination!"
Tahiri hugged the cliff side as the Force warned her of the next attack, 10 meters to the left and up from her position. Due to the force of the explosion and the vibrations caused by the energy bolt superheating the rocks, Tahiri lost her grip and fell into a tree below and to the right of her. The Jedi Warrior fell about five meters through the tree before finally grabbing on a branch thick enough to hold her weight.
Tahiri felt Sekot reach out and search the tree, looking for her. Again, for some strange reason, Sekot could not sense her. Maybe the attacks were causing more pain and being a better distraction then I had hoped for, Tahiri thought as she grabbed a branch to get herself up in a better position. That is when Tahiri noticed that there was something else in the tree with her. There was a tiny frighten primate above her in the tree but he unable to flee, as its large eyes searched around the tree. Tahiri realized that Sekot was using the primate to 'see' with its eyes to find her. About the same time, the primate stopped looking around and stared directly at her.
"Khapet," Tahiri said softly as she launched herself out of the tree just before Sekot sent another bolt at her. Unfortunately, a poor terrified primate, who just wanted to run away and be with its family, was unable to flee out of the tree as it exploded into a fireball.
"Ah there you are, my Bridge!" Sekot spat at her.
"I wasn't trying to hid from you Sekot," Tahiri said as she mentally commanded Bangor unwrap himself from her left forearm. "Let them go," Tahiri said while pointing to the small-terrified primates that started dropping out of the tress all around her in the valley. She could feel their fears as well as the hold Sekot had on them. "We'll talk about this planet to warrior, ok?"
"Why? So you can hide again. I think not Abomination, I need to see you."
"I wasn't trying to hide Sekot," Tahiri repeated while gripping Bangor tightly. "If that was my intention, I would never had attack here of all places. Now please, let those innocent primates go."
"Of course you were hiding, just like you have been hiding from me for years now! For a long time by your calendar, I have felt you slowly but surly growing dimmer until you are completely hidden as you are now! That is why I sent the qahsa to you, to bring to you the holy gift so that I could finally see you once again. So that you could see for yourself what greatness awaits you!" Sekot growled as the imagine of Anakin Skywalker paced and glared at Tahiri. Tahiri took a couple steps to the right to gauge Sekot's reaction, all of the primates scrambled to put themselves between Tahiri and the forest to the right. "Why are you're still hiding from me now? Why don't you show yourself in the Force?"
"I'm not trying to hide," Tahiri said calmly, "I have nothing to hide from you or anyone else. I will admit I had been hiding while setting up the bombs, I couldn't let you know what I was up to or where they were hidden."
"Why Tahiri, why have you decided to join the Dark Side against me? What could've driven you away from the happiness that The True Way represented?"
"Sekot, you wish to do more harm then good," Tahiri said reaching out with the Force to find someway to get the primates out of the picture without harming them.
"Wars that engulf entire galaxies, species wiped out in a blink of a eye, planets laid to waste, children crying out for the families that no longer exist," Sekot asked quietly as It marched over to where Tahiri stood. "How is the death of your best friends, the ones you supposedly loved and failed to protect, better then the paradise that we could create together?"
"It's all about how they live Sekot," Tahiri verbally jabbed back as they circled each other with centimeters between them. "Yes, Anakin Solo, Little Brother and Ratnena Bora died horribly but they chose to live free, not to be shackled by others views of what it meant to be a hero. Anakin Solo always challenged what the Force meant not only to him but also to the other Jedi. Little Brother pushed himself to go beyond his programming and Ratnena constantly fought against her demons, to emerge from under the shadow that followed her everywhere."
"And if you would join me nothing like that has to happen again, Tahiri! There will be no need for anyone to die needlessly!"
"It's not about their deaths it is their life that counted!" Tahiri grounded out in frustration, "Did they lived hard, yes, did they take crazy chances, you better believe it! But look at how they lived Sekot, each one of them set out to find the duckbill platypus on their own terms. They lived as they felt the Force and the gods demanded, to be free and to learn! And before you say, it yes their deaths left an empty hole in my spirit. Nevertheless, even in their deaths, they still strove to be more then they were in life. Anakin Solo, knowing he was dying, fought the warriors so the others could continue to sever the Force. Little Brother struggled to warn me about you, and Ratnena, fought against your Will to save the one that she loved, her mother. Even as the pain and desire for Bliss was so strong I could taste it, she held true to her love for the woman that gave her life!"
"What has that thing done to you Tahiri to twist you so badly," Sekot asked as Tahiri and ersatz Anakin orbited each other twice in silence.
"I wasn't twisted Sekot," Tahiri began and then brought Bangor up as well as a defensive shield as the Force screamed out a warning. Tahiri wasn't quick enough as a powerful energy wave washed over her, throwing her backwards causing her to lose Bangor.
"Yes, you have been My Bridge," Sekot answered quietly as the ground between them opened up, releasing heat, flames, and toxic fumes. "I shall destroy most of the non-believers. I had hoped to keep them all safe but now I see that I cannot risk it. The Jedi and those with them in orbit must be taught who their master is now while the rest will be sacrificed for the greater good. You and I shall leave this battle, to find a new home, and I shall have time to untwist you." Tahiri watched with growing horror as two large twisting columns, one of lava and the other water, rose up into the air. "I regret that it has come to this but it is for your own good, you must be taught a lesson. You must understand what it means to be a chosen one and what it means to defy your god."
Tahiri reached out to find Bangor as the two columns merged, creating a large cloud of steam. She desperately pulled Bangor to her and to erect as shield around them as the valley filled with steam … not even a Yuuzhan Vong could help but scream out in pain.
--
"I'm sorry sir," the young woman sobbed out as another shuttle full of children exploded in mid-air. "There is too much interference to get a good track on Major Tahiri."
"Thanks," Face sighed out as he glanced towards the main view port. "Just keep trying, we might just get lucky."
"General, here are the latest estimates on the damage done to the enemy," the Imperial Captain Rickter said as he handed Face the pad. "So far our losses are slowly increasing while the damage of the target is leveling out."
"How sure are you about that?" Face looked at the chart with a sinking feeling in his heart.
"The information has a higher margin of error then we normally allow in the Imperial Navy," Face hid a smile as he heard the conceding tone in the younger man's voice. Some things just never change, Face mused as he looked over the information. "However, I am allowing a larger margin of error due to the temporary integration of our Forces, the lack of an accurate baseline due to the restrictions placed on us prior to the battle and the already odd nature of the enemy forces."
"Thanks, captain," Face said trying to keep a straight face. He then thumbed on his intercom as Col. Boman hurried over to him. "Command be advised that the damage done to enemy is approximately 35 percent. Suggest a more coordinated attack by orbital and fleeing vessels to crack the crust." As Admiral Pelleaon's aids acknowledged, Face nodded to the Col for his report.
"Sir, we just got confirmation on a report of complete destruction of a K-wing squadron. Apparently, the planet has started using its magnum to hurdle it at the attacking ships."
"Fas, this is not the time for it to learn new tricks! Ok monitor and alert all commands. Tell fighter command especially, those fighters won't have the shields to survive even one hit."
"On it sir."
"Command be advise, new weapon discovered, planet using lava to defend against ships."
"Command received Intel; Admiral appreciates your team's performance General."
"Tell him we are grateful," Face replied absently as the new numbers started scrolling across his pad. I just hope we have enough left to make this a victory!