Well, I'm back. Sorry it took a while, thanx goes out to everyone who reviewed, I love reading reviews. Umm, yeah, I think that's it for now.
Chronicles of the New Jedi Knights: Trouble BrewingA New Actor in the Theater of War
Klaxons blared as the crew of the Lusankya scrambled to their positions. Moments ago a ship of incredible size and power appeared in New Republic space, and made its intentions known as hostile. The Lusankya was a Super Star Destroyer, and few ships had ever been built that surpassed its firepower. The Super Star Destroyer was accompanied by four other ships, two Imperial Star Destroyers mark two, and two Mon Calamari Cruisers. With a fleet like that, there was little that could stop it. Shey Klen'lya was a member of the elite Rouge squadron, which was currently stationed on Lusankya, it seemed Rouge squadron was moved around a lot lately.
"Prepare to launch fighters as soon as we drop out of hyperspace," announced the intercom. Shey strapped herself in and awaited combat. Her flight had certainly improved after running sims against Wedge Antilles and Tyco Clechu, and they were flying with the Rouges today, since two were restricted from flying. They had managed to open the lock on the cabinet that kept all of the intoxicating beverages in the pilot's lounge. Both were too drunk to fly.
"Dropping out of hyperspace," announced the comm. "Deploying fighters." A swarm of X-wings, A-wings, B-wings, and Blade-34's leaped from the docking bays that they had sat docile in. "Point squadron, Shield squadron, provide cover for the freighters as they retreat," two squadrons of X-wings broke off from the main group and engaged the fighters pestering the corillean corvettes that had fallen prey to the larger ship. Shey was minded of the holos she'd seen from the assault on the death star for two reasons, the amount of snubfighters, and the size of the other ship. "Lock S-foils in attack position. X-wings, A-wings, TIEs," continued Gavin, "break by squadrons and engage. Blades and B-wings let loose on the capitol ship with your torps then feel free to engage." A chorus of "Roger that"s followed the orders. The ship was huge, but she had something more important to attend to than staring at awe in a ship right now.
Gavin switched to squadron frequency. "Anyone got an idea what those enemy fighters are?" he asked.
"They remind me of Blades," Rouge eight said, and indeed they were reminiscent of the Adumari starfighters, almost exactly the same in appearance, except these enemy craft were smaller.
"They were probably designed with atmospheric combat in mind," said Wedge.
"Roger that. Rouges, this is Rouge one. Break by wings and engage."
Shey switched to dual linked laser fire and prepared to engage. Two enemy fighters, probably wingmen fired a few shots at Shey and her wingman, none connected, they were probably meant to scare. Shey fired one dual linked blast to port and slightly above the other fighter, aiming by instinct, and fired a second below and to starboard. The fighter broke exactly as she had predicted and was hit by the second shot. Shey's wingman destroyed the other fighter with a quad linked burst of energy. The first fighter was not much trouble and exploded without anymore help from the X-wings. Gavin's voice broke over the comm again, "Blades, B-wings. Commence bombardment." Both types of fighters began their bombing run on the ship, but many were falling victim to turbolasers, they shouldn't have been that accurate. "Break off bombardment, Farsight, any suggestions?"
The sensor ship took a moment before responding. "Records show that the closer you are to the ships hull the less accurate their turbolasers seem to be."
"Roger that, Farsight," said Gavin. "B-wing squadrons, Blade 34's, recommence bombardment, stay as close to the target as you can."
"Understood, Leader," came the replies from the squadron commanders. Again the B-wings and Blades leaped down at the unknown vessel, this time much closer. The B-wings let loose their proton torpedoes in pairs, but the Blade's, with lesser speed and maneuverability, had one aspect that few starfighters surpassed. The Blade 34 could carry an incredible twelve proton torpedoes, and could fire six simultaneously, making it an excellent fighter-bomber. The impact of so many torpedoes wreaked havoc on the shields and they failed for that section of the ship. "Rouge leader, this is Blaze leader. I think that us A-wings and TIEs can wrap up the snubfighters, maybe you X-wings should add your torps to the mix?"
"Sounds good to me," replied Gavin. "X-wings join in the bombardment."
The X-wing squadrons swooped down upon the larger ship, like a flock of predator birds attacking a larger foe. "Rouge leader, this is Farsight, I'm reading shields are failing in other parts of the ship, I don't think they can reroute power to the shields protecting this section of the ship," the other side of the ship was contending with a full barrage from a Super Star Destroyer and the other capitol ships.
"We can't keep their shield honest," said Gavin over fleet frequency, "So let's do some damage. Those not engaged in combat, start strafing the surface, remember, the closer we get, the less they'll hit us, lets go!" The starfighters easily avoided the turbolaser blasts.
The snubfighters started strafing runs on the surface of the massive ship, and when they did, they noticed something. "Leader, this is Bowman six, I'm seeing quadex laser cannons on this ship," just then a message came in from Farsight. "Leader, shields are rising, get out of there!"
It was too late though, as the pilot glanced at their displays, they saw the shields over their heads, trapping them inside. The lasers opened fire, and they were quite adept at hitting their target at this range. "Leader, this is Farsight. Try to aim for the towers on the ship, those are the primary shield generators, I think."
"Roger that farsight. You heard him, open fire on the towers!" Shey didn't have to be told twice, her shields were near failing. "Rusty," she addressed her astromech, "how many torps left?"
The response that came to her didn't thrill her, only two. "Lock onto the greatest energy source you can detect in the tower and tell me when you have it."
It didn't take long, that was a lot of energy. A small smile played across her lips as she launched two blue streaks leaped from her fighter and collided with the tower resulting in an explosion. "All fighters, this is the Lusankya, those that cannot make the hyperspace jump return to your ship, otherwise just get out of here as soon as you can."
Just then a message came from Farsight. "Shields have failed, get out of there, now!" Shey pulled up and started punching in the coordinates for the jump to hyperspace. "Rusty, are we ready?" the R5 unit beeped an affirmative. Shey pulled a lever and stars faded to starlines that became the mottled sky of hyperspace.
Alanna Jinn and Nikki Kenobi sat outside the Jedi Temple and talked of different things, mostly the events of the previous night. "Do you really think he was as powerful as Exar Kun?" asked Alanna.
"Doubtful," said Karnl'ya who was passing by, and for once in a very long while joined a conversation without being invited, truth be told she usually didn't join in conversations even when she was invited. "From what I understand of Exar Kun, if he were here he would have had very little to worry about with anyone here, I don't know how strong Galen really is, but I doubt he's stronger than Master Skywalker. If this 'Dark Knight' was as powerful as that, then why wait until Master Skywalker left?
During her explanation, both Nikki and Alanna had recovered from the small shock of Karnl'ya speaking. "Yeah, I'd have to agree with Karnl'ya, Alanna," said Nikki, "It's doubtful that he's as powerful as—who's that?"
The other two girls turned their head and saw a very tall man short spiky red hair descend the ramp from the shuttle. "I guess he's one of the new recruits, why?" replied Alanna.
A small smile crossed Nikki's lips and a predatory gleam entered her eyes as she rose and went to meet the newcomer. The way she swayed when she walked attracted the gaze of every male with a line of sight, except the one she was walking towards, he hadn't noticed her yet. Alanna groaned and Karnl'ya rolled her eyes in frustration. How could she go from talking to something important to some man she'd never met before was beyond the twi'lek. Alanna was just irritated, but she did sympathize. Almost everyone at the temple was either far to young for Nikki, far too old, or already taken. He looked to about the same age.
"Hello," said a perky voice, Cyru turned to face a rather attractive woman with black hair that spilled over her shoulders and fell to her he waist and stunning green eyes. "Are you a new student?" Cyru was about to answer until he noticed how low the neckline of the shirt she was wearing was, when he did he coughed and his cheeks reddened slightly. "Uhm, yeah, I mean yes, I am." The woman had apparently noticed his embarrassment, because judging from her expression she was quite amused. Cyru determined to keep eye contact when he looked at her and not… let his eyes wander. "Umm, do you know where I'm suppose to go to find out where I sleep?"
The woman had the look of someone deciding whether or not to say something on her mind. "Yeah, this way," she grabbed his arm led him inside the temple.
It looked rather comical, the short Dathomiri woman leading the man that stood head and shoulder taller than nearly all other humans. "Oh, I forgot to ask what your name was, I am called Cyru," said the man.
The woman smiled, a smile that made Cyru a little nervous. "My name's Nikki, you might want to remember that," she said.
"Any particular reason?" Cyru asked.
"Yes," Nikki replied, and smiled even more. Now Cyru was defiantly nervous.
Galen Salde floated almost motionless in a bacta tank in the Jedi temple on Yavin IV. So did a few others, but there were only so many bacta tanks and so many wounded that only the most serious injured got the luxury of a bacta tank.
Where am I? Can't tell, vision is too blurry, other senses almost useless. How did I get here, I was training, and…… I fought, a SITH. How did they rise again? Was I captured? No, not captured, I'd be either dead or in more pain. What happened then? Oh yes, the walls he sent me through, I must be in a bacta tank. I don't have time for this, I need to train; he could be back at any time. I need to train. I should probably intensify my training, and then I might defeat him next time. Maybe I won't be too late next time, too many were hurt before I intervened. Above anyone else it is I who should protect others from the Sith.
"What do you think?" asked a male voice as Jazira Orod glanced up from her board and saw Coran Fross enter the medical wing. He was one of the new recruits, not the ones that had arrived that morning, not the day before, apparently the first shuttle missed a few people. "I think they will make a full recovery," she motioned to Galen, Anakin, and Drake suspended in bacta. The tall man nodded, said "Thank you," and left. All of the other injuries weren't serious enough to warrant a bacta tank, most everyone was recovered enough to go on with their normal lives.
"Hey, you ok?"
Rachel Key looked up with a start to the source of the question. She had been thinking of the events of the previous night when a boy disturbed her reverie, roughly the same age as she herself. Kevin Palor had unkempt brown hair and blue eyes. He smiled as one who was unused to the expression would, not a grin, but a small smile.
"I'm fine, thanks," replied Rachel, returning the smile. "What are you doing?" Rachel looked where Kevin had gestured, and remembered that she had taken apart her lightsaber.
"Well, after last night I realized that I don't handle a lightsaber blade as long as mine is as well as I had hoped, I can't get a feel of the distance, I keep thinking that it's half as long as it really is, and I have to change my techniques at the last minute, which means they aren't nearly as effective as they should be."
"I don't know, you looked pretty good last night," Kevin said.
Rachel's smile widened slightly at the complement. "My techniques were sloppy enough that anyone could see that I was messing up, but thank you."
Kevin shrugged. I wasn't talking about your lightsaber skills. "So why take it apart?"
"Well, since I don't fight well with a longer blade, I decided to make my lightsaber like yours, you know, dual blades?"
"Ah," said Kevin. "A wise choice. But I should warn you it is harder to use a dual blade than a single blade. You have to be more aware of your weapon, and it is more difficult to control, but once you can, it is far superior."
"I think I can handle it," said Rachel. "That is, if you'll teach me how to use this kind of saber when I'm ready to learn."
Kevin's smile widened a bit, this time with a little amusement. He made a small bow and said, "It would be my pleasure."
Kevin walked away and Rachel watched him go. "What do you think?" she asked her sister.
Lara looked up from the datapad she had been studying. It was very easy for most people to overlook her when she was reading. If past experience was anything to go by, then she had no idea about anything that had happened. "What do you think?" Rachel asked again. "You know, about what just happened?"
Lara's blue eyes stared at Rachel blankly, her blonde ponytail shook slightly as Lara herself shook her head, and two wisps of hair escaped from where Lara had hastily placed them that morning. Rachel sighed in slight annoyance. "Nevermind," Lara nodded and returned to her pad.
"Master," a Sith Lord bent knee before the one being that he answered to. "I have received word that there is a new military force assaulting systems in the outer rim, and also that a certain senator in the New Republic Senate is trying to amass power for himself."
The dark being did not even turn to face its underling. "They are of no consequence. They will only add to the chaos, and that helps me. The only threat to you and those under you are the Jedi. Just make sure that they are dealt with."
The Sith Lord prostrated himself before his master. "As you command, my lord."
To be continued…Well everyone, sorry this took so long, the short version of my excuse is a lot of stuff happened and I couldn't get around to finishing this up for a while. The somewhat longer version is that during exams I barely had the capability to write emails, much less a chapter. Then afterward one thing after another came up until I couldn't work on it until Christmas Eve 11:58 PM. That's all for Chronicles of the New Jedi Knights: Trouble Brewing. Be on the look out for Chapter two, though I don't know what to call it yet. My apologies to those who did not get much time in the fic, and my most sincere apologies to Emilie, who submitted Ivri Jibben before this fic ever started, and I still haven't put her char in, unless something drastically unforeseen happens, I plan to have her to make her appearance in one of the next two parts. Silas C, if you don't send me the information I asked for in chapter 4 than I can't use your char, sorry. I plan to post this on the 25 as a Christmas present to all of you, but that might not happen. I wish everyone a happy Christmas, and remember that the real reason of Christmas is Jesus Christ. Ja ne!
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