Lenoir hadn't dropped her rifle yet. She clung to it like her life depended on it, as she continued sprinting through the torn and pockmarked streets of Shilrakaen.

Bright red blaster bolts zipped past her head and the sound of rifle fire spread across the city. Fires broke out and engulfed buildings. Civilian stragglers ran for whatever shelter they could find. A thick layer of dust and smoke had created an impenetrable fog that covered everything.

"Kid, keep your head down!"

Lenoir dropped to the ground and didn't move. The woman who had called out grabbed the girl by her hair and practically dragged her into the alleyway where she was hiding.

"Idiot, you have to keep moving."

Her heart was racing too fast to even consider being offended.

Lenoir didn't recognize the woman, but she had the cadence and the stripes of a veteran officer. She had met several veteran cops who refused to take shelter and instead were working hard to wrangle the thousands of new recruits into something resembling a defense.

"The High Council Chambers are at the end of the alleyway. Keep your head down and I'll cover your approach. Your first priority when you get inside is making sure the High Counselor is safe."

The recruit nodded and followed the woman to Grand Avenue, the last hundred yards of open terrain before the center of Shilrakaen's defense.

"It's quiet. Move your ass."

Neither of them could see more than ten feet ahead, through the dense layer of smoke and dust that hung in the air, but Lenoir took her chance and ran straight ahead.

She passed by lamposts that had been torn to shreds and manicured shrubbery engulfed in flames, but all the while she kept moving. Even as the blaster fire continued and the city still shook, she kept moving.

But a sound paralyzed her with fear, one she had rarely heard before and thought she would never hear again in her life.

It was the distant snap-hiss of a lightsaber. It rang out just before she could reach the steps of the High Council Chambers.

The veteran cop behind her opened fire on whoever was holding the gleaming blade, whose light cut through the fog with ease, but an unknown force ripped the veteran out of cover and the saber pierced her through the heart.

Lenoir could only continue running, grateful that her legs had not locked up yet again.

However, just as she reached the doors of the city's last safe harbor, she turned to see a figure standing in the fog, illuminated by that deep red saber.

The Huntress, wielding a lightsaber and surrounded by a mass of Blood Battalion troopers, stood arrogantly before the defenders.

Things were no better inside. It was impossible to tell who was on duty and who was a civilian, because every person over eighteen had had a weapon shoved into their hands. Some held them at the ready. Some paced between the windows and doors. Some sent prayers to their personal deities. Some cried.

Their hearts only sank further when the Bloods began moving into the nearby buildings, claiming anything and everything surrounding the High Council Chambers. None of the civilian shelters were responding to their transmissions and hope ran dangerously low.

"I'll be the one to do it," said someone nearby. Lenoir turned and saw an officer putting his hands out to calm the others around him. She didn't know enough to tell his exact rank, but she knew it was near the top. "I'll talk to her. If we surrender, we can make this easier."

Those around him nodded in approval, though their eyes were sullen and filled with despair.

However, just as he began to approach the doors, they swung open all on their own.

It wasn't Carnada or one of her little grey men. It wasn't one any of the Counselors, officials or officers. All of them were gathered in the center of the main hall and looked just as surprised as everyone else.

The sound of mechanical breathing filled the air. The Jedi wore a mask over his face and a grey hood pulled over his head. His lightsaber was off, but gripped firmly in his hand.

With a confidence that she envied, he walked toward the entrance, with the last defenders of Shilrakaen parting before him.

He didn't say anything, but when he walked onto the steps of the building, suddenly there was hope.