"This may have been a bad idea," said Nikron.
"Oh really, you think?" Kayla asked as she fired a few shots.
"Who turns an entire wing into a base of operations!?" exclaimed Shokan.
"Apparently, the empire," said Juzem.
A scout trooper took a look over at the four hunters.
"Captain, the enemy is pinned down," he said.
"Bring up the warden droids," ordered, Captain Kaddann.
The imperials brought up a dozen droids from the back. Shokan, who had joined in with shootout, had a concerned look on his face seeing the unidentified machines approach the group.
"Um… Kayla… What are those?" he asked.
"Why are you asking me?" she asked.
The droids took aim.
"Incoming!" screamed Nikron.
The droids fired one projectile each. The hunters took off. When the projectiles hit their cover, it was set ablaze.
"Are they nuts!?" barked Juzem.
Captain Kaddann chuckled as the droids resumed marching over to the group of hunters.
"Let's see how those Jedi handle these new weapons," he said confidently.
Shokan peeked out from behind their new cover point to see where the droids were, only to be met with blaster fire.
"Crap!" he exclaimed, moving back behind cover, "they're heading this way."
"We can't stay here forever, we need to cut through those droids and enter the prison," said Kayla.
She stopped.
"…Wow… That sounded a lot better in my head," she murmured.
"What do we do?" asked Juzem.
Just then, Nikron looked up.
"Guys, look," he said.
The hunters looked in the same direction and saw a squad of four Revanite troopers up on the wall. One of them pulled out a rocket launcher and fired, taking out two warden droids and getting their attention.
"Commandos!" chirped Shokan.
"Commandos?" Kayla asked in shock and confusion.
The commandos dropped in, along with a male brown haired Revanite Hunter.
"Kylvin!" Shokan called out, "Kylvin, over here!"
The other hunter turned.
"Men, contain the droids!" he barked as he raced over to his allies.
The commandos gave an affirmative nod, letting loose a hail of blaster bolts on the heavily armored droids.
"Damn, am I glad to see you," said Shokan.
"The feeling's mutual," said Kylvin, "you guys need a hand?"
"Do we ever, we can't get into the prison, those droids have us cut off from the imperials and their little prison base," said Kayla.
"Well, it's a good thing I showed up when I did," he said, "we're going to have to split up. The boys and I will handle the droids, you girls circle around and get the imperial's flank."
"We can't get the imperial's flank, that saber guard is there," Juzem pointed as she looked over at the golden warrior.
The saber guard looked over at the group and appeared to… Cross his arms… And beckon them with his index and middle finger.
"…You were saying?" asked Kylvin.
"He is so dead," said Juzem.
"Alright, let's go!" barked Kylvin.
The boys came around the corner and rushed the warden droids, lightsaber drawn and deflecting a barrage of blaster fire. Captain Kaddan watched as Kylvin and the boys jumped at the closest warden droid and proceeded to cut it into large hunks of metal. Another warden droid fired two missiles, but Shokan caught them with the Force and sent them flying back at it; though the droid wasn't destroyed, it was knocked senseless, allowing the hunter to lunge forward and drive his lightsaber in its face and rip through its insides with an aggressive slice of his blade.
"These things are packing some heavy armor," Nikron said as he sliced off a warden droid's right arm and stabbed it through the face with a 'No Look Stab'.
"They can pack on as much armor as they want," Shokan said as he crunched down a warden droid with Force Crush and hurled it into another droid, "they'll fall all the same."
Captain Kaddan frowned.
"Men! Fire on those Jedi!" he ordered.
As the imps moved forward and took aim, Kayla and Juzem moved around to their flank, via heading to the corner of the prison entrance.
"Ready?" asked Kayla.
"Ready," said Juzem.
But as the girls began to round the corner, Kayla screamed and ducked as a lightsaber came flying over head and returned to the saber guard.
"Did you really think that would work?" he asked.
"Uh-oh," said Kayla.
"Oh, and about your little friends…" he said.
The saber guard looked over his shoulder and saw two more saber guards come out and approach Captain Kaddan.
"Captain, tell your troops to focus on the special forces units… The Jedi are ours," said the first saber guard.
The boys got finished cutting down the droids, then they saw the approaching saber guards.
"Aw crap," muttered Shokan.
As the saber guards ignited their blades, they stopped and looked over their shoulders before moving away as a new player arrived. Kayla's eyes went wide, seeing someone approach the boys. It was a guardsman, but his armor was jet black and his visor was emitting a haunting red glow. A shadow guard had arrived.
"Oh no," she thought.
The Revanite commandos took aim. The shadow guard reached with the Force and choked the men out, then he dropped them to the ground and ignited his light pike. The shadow guard looked at Captain Kaddan and pointed towards the entrance, telling the imperials to head into their 'base' for protection.
"This just keeps getting better," Nikron said sarcastically.
/\/\/\/\/\
Vaukel was awestruck. Even though it had been years, he could remember seeing the hundreds of thousands of ships and troopers that had been delivered for the Grand Army of the Republic. The numbers that the Revanites amassed though… He could've sworn that they matched the Republic's military numbers, if not eclipse it.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" asked Julsha.
"…Yeah," Vaukel said slowly.
Julsha pat her apprentice's head.
"I understand that you're nervous… But I can assure you, the troopers are fiercely loyal to our cause," said Julsha, "they know the risks that come from joining us and they know of the endgame. You won't have to worry about them turning on you."
"…So… Where do I board?" he asked.
Julsha pointed to a Revanite Star Destroyer.
"Mine," she said, "Huntress."
/\/\/\/\/\
"This one's much stronger than the saber guard," said Shokan.
"He might be stronger, but he'll die like his friends," said Kylvin.
The boys engaged the shadow guard again. The dark armored warrior blocked an attack that came from behind by Kylvin and sent him stumbling back with a sharp jab from his light pike, the shadow guard deflected an attack from the left by Nikron and struck him in the face with his elbow, then the shadow guard whipped out his blaster pistol and fired on Shokan.
Shokan, being much faster than the other boys, managed to dodge the first three shots and slice off a chunk of the shadow guard's firearm, then he sent him stumbling back with a good kick to his face. The shadow guard retaliated with a blast of Force Lightning and forced Shokan after the young hunter raised his lightsaber to protect himself.
Nikron came charging at the shadow guard from behind, but Shokan was thrown into him, knocking the boys down. Kylvin jumped over his allies and engaged the shadow guard himself.
"You know if you think about it, light pikes make poor weapons when on the offensive," Kylvin said as he traded blows with the dark side warrior.
Kylvin and the shadow guard locked blades, then Kylvin was shoved back and then he was blown off his feet with Force Repulse from the shadow guard. Kylvin tumbled across the ground and came to a stop, then he retaliated with a powerful Force Push to send the shadow guard sliding back. The shadow guard spun his light pike and charged, jumping, and delivering a sweeping strike to put Kylvin on the defensive, then the shadow guard proceeded to push the assault by holding his light pike out and spinning like a rotating sawblade.
"He's irritated," thought Kylvin.
The shadow guard spun his light pike and extended his left hand, beckoning him. Kylvin smirked and instead ducked down as two lightsabers came hurling at the shadow guard; catching the dark sider by surprise and forcing him to tank up, deflecting the oncoming blades and taking a flying kick to the chest from Kylvin.
"Are you guys, okay?" he asked.
"We're fine," said Shokan.
"Something's wrong, if this guy is supposed to be a guard, why is he so strong?" asked Nikron.
"I suppose with the emperor gone, these guys no longer have to be restrained knowing that two of the darkest forces in the galaxy have perished," said Kylvin.
"So now they seek to obtain the title of 'Sith'? Heh, they're like womp rats scavenging for dumpster crackers," said Shokan.
The boys rushed the shadow guard.
Meanwhile, the girls appeared to be struggling themselves with the lone saber guard. Kayla herself, noticed that their adversary seemed much tougher than before.
"Something's not right, the saber guards I fought were strong, but not this strong… Is it because with Lord Vader and the emperor gone, they don't have to hold back?" she thought.
Kayla evaded a cross slash, via backflip, then she locked her lightsabers together and came at the saber guard again. The saber guard blocked the first three hits and blocked Juzem's attack from behind, the saber guard pushed the girls back and hurled his lightsabers at Kayla, knocking the young hunter off her feet as she blocked the oncoming blades. Without losing momentum, the saber guard hurled his lightsabers at Juzem, forcing her to evade, via backflip.
Kayla groaned as she started to get to her feet, she looked over at the boys and saw how badly they were struggling against the saber guard.
"This is bad… If we don't do something fast, we're going to take more casualties," she thought.
Kayla looked over at Juzem and saw she was being pushed on her backfoot. Kayla looked at her left hand and let out a sigh.
"I hope this works," she thought as she tapped into the Force.
Jezum locked blades with the saber guard and pushed him back, but the saber guard came at her again. Kayla charged up a ball of Force Lightning and hurled it at the saber guard, striking him in the back and sending him stumbling forward a few steps.
The saber guard turned. Kayla had a concerned look on her face.
"Oh poop," she thought.
But before the saber guard could back a move, Juzem placed a hand on his back and sent a surge of Force Lightning through the man, dropping him to the ground.
"Did we forget that our output is only high enough to stun? Not kill?" asked Juzem.
"I wasn't hoping to kill him… I was trying to give one of us an opening…" Kayla said slowly.
"Uh-huh," Juzem said with a smirk.
Back over with the boys, Nikron managed to slice through the light pike shaft and kick the shadow guard in the face twice, then he lashed out with the Force, attempting to choke the man out. The shadow guard wasn't having it, so he sent the young hunter sliding back with a retaliatory Force Repulse. The shadow guard looked back at his saber guard companion and reached out, pulling one of the lightsabers over to him fast.
"Uh-uh!" Shokan barked as he sliced off the shadow guard's other hand.
The shadow guard stumbled, and the lightsaber flew right past him, then it hit the ground. The shadow guard dropped to one knee and clutched his severed hand, allowing Shokan to drive his lightsaber through his back, killing him.
"Well… That was a pain in the ass," said Shokan.
"Hey, you guys, okay?" Kayla asked as she and Juzem raced over to where the boys were.
"We're fine," said Kylvin, "but… I lost my commandos."
"Can't we try and contact some other nearby Hunters who came here with a commando squad?" asked Kayla.
"We can't do that," said Kylvin, "one of the most important rules of Hunters being sent to the field: You never try to make contact with other Hunters who've been deployed to the same planet, unless the exception of emergency contact so we can get reinforcements."
"Kylvin's right Kayla, if we try to contact the other Hunters, there's no telling if the enemy might have the technology to intercept and decode our transmissions," said Nikron, "besides, it's five of us against all of them, I doubt they have any more Force Users in there."
Kayla looked at the entrance to the prison and exhaled.
"Alright… Let's go," she said.
The hunters headed inside.