CHAPTER 19
The hanger deck was consumed by the sounds of clashing blades of energy. The Sith were so predictable to the Jedi, their attacks all had a single motivation, hatred, the most ancient of emotions and subsequently the most dangerous. Yoda and his cohorts were trained at the youngest of ages to always be aware of their emotions and especially to exercise great discipline in controlling those feelings which led to the dark path. This gave them the upper hand over the Sith, being observant of their own anger which guided every movement, allowed the Jedi to easily predict their strikes but did not make it easier to defeat the dark ones. Yoda bravely fended off against the young and troubled Lulet. The Sith warrior was relentless in his onslaught against the bearded Jedi master. He matched every parry, every swipe, every failed stab that Darth Lulet could muster thus far. Chevacca was well matched with his opponent as Skywalker could sense, he could tell that the wookiee was impressed by the man who seemingly matched his superior strength. Likewise that Grem was paired with a being that appeared to be a true equal to his own abilities making this task no easier for the young knight but then there was Dorshe'. She was facing the man who had admitted to killing her husband, her mate and by all rights stole part of her life. While every move she made with her lightsabre to Jiles was well thought and focused, Yoda couldn't help but sense the smallest twinge of vengeance course through her veins. 'Be mindful of your emotions Dorshe'!' Skywalker projected into her mind. 'You be mindful of your opponent Skywalker!' she returned in a some what uncharacteristic tone as the Lulet made a pass with his blade to Yoda's face. The Jedi quickly ducked his head barely escaping with all of his trim blonde locks intact as he slipped his green shaft into Lulet's leg. The Sith responded to this blow with a spiteful grunt, he then elbowed Skywalker in the back causing him to become slightly disoriented. Lulet took this opportunity to make a slash for the Jedi's midsection, but luckily for Yoda he still managed to hold up his blade in time to counter his attack. Skywalker then made a great leap over the Sith as he swung his lightsabre in an attempt to return Lulet's same move, but was denied as the leather clad being quickly defeated Yoda's strike with a pain fueled block by his own sabre. 'This isn't going to be easy!' Skywalker exhaled in the recesses of his mind.
"This is not going to be easy!" Baldos mumbled as he tried his best to conjure an attack formation that would inflict as much damage as possible onto the Sith fleet while leaving the Jedi with as little possible loss that was deemed by the fates, but he knew he could not waste his time trying to assess the safest battle plan. Right now he needed the most efficient one. Master Amtlar moved his green primary claw to push the 'channel open' panel that gave him direct communication to the whole fleet. "All ships launch your fighter squadrons!"
At that moment, all of the Aries-Z5 class Jedi fighters and Niclos-S9 class Jedi bombers were flying out of the confining niches embedded into their respective mother ships. All of the crafts assumed their near perfect formations with five fighters forming a 'V' around two bombers creating their battle ready taskforces. Amassing a giant sea of tiny silver and muted red specs numbering in the thousands, all mirroring the same standard attack positions as the black and grey streaking, Sith fighters that were now appearing from the bellies of the enemy battleships. Thousands against thousands, in the recent history of the New Republic no fleet this large has ever been assembled to confront an enemy. This was a sign; it was no longer going to be a battle of good and evil or a simple skirmish of warring nations, but instead a war of Jedi versus the Sith, the two most powerful opposing Forces in the universe.
"Red through Yellow squadrons, form up for a passing maneuver, go in and lead as many of the enemy fighters as you can away from the battleship cover fire. All other squadrons take defensive positions over your mother-ships as soon as the Sith fighters come into range, attack at will!" he bowed his head once again, trying his hardest to break through the barrier placed over the Force, but had no luck, he needed to focus on the now. "Away!"
"Now let's see if this one will work." 3PO said, as his shaky mechanical limbs began to randomly choose which button might initiate the pre-launch sequence. ".Oh." he sighed as he finally found what he thought to be the correct switch. ".I do hope this is the ignition panel." He pressed the brightly lit button next to the main pilot's console. That's when the Falcon's engines began to whine with life as more lights in the cockpit began to flash and blink with automated activity.
The battle inside the Hanger of the Sith 'kidnapper-ship' was raging on with drowning sounds of four pairs of lightsabres clashing their thunderous poles of laser together. Chevacca now had his back against Yoda's, fearing that his opponent would leave no choice but to make Skywalker do something stupid, but the wookiee still had his paws full with his own combatant, the black slick haired man, who almost mirrored the look of Venad's own opponent became slightly less predictable with each passing moment. He could tell that Chevacca was reading his movements and gradually started to create dangerous strikes that Chevacca wouldn't dare step forward too. 'With all prayers to the Force I hope this will end soon!' he projected into the mind of Master Skywalker.
Grem fought with valor as the Sith warrior exchanged every blow of his lightsabre with indubitable strength. The assailant was older than Venad, his simple human eyes were bloodshot with the most cryptic solid white eyes. His thick muscles seemed to have gotten slightly larger every time the Jedi had foiled one of his powerful strikes, a physical display of his aggression the vurk noted. If the opponent kept his body so tense, then he might burn himself out. That's when Grem had an idea. Between the parries of clashing blades, the vurk took advantage of his superior vision to find R2 sitting there near the Falcon's entry slope with his armed laser arrays, trying to frantically see if there were any way he could get help to better the Jedi in some way. The blue skinned Jedi, first locked his sabre with the Sith's then threw his voice over to the droid. "R2!" he yelled. The astromech then rotated his large shiny dome in the struggling vurk's direction. Grem could only hope that the droid would catch on to his plan not wanting this enemy to catch on. Grem released the block taking a step back as he swung his blue glowing shaft to the left expecting the Sith to willingly block it. Grem then made several other combinations at the human, a parry for his legs, a stab at his left arm then a swipe for his other arm. He was surprised to see that the Sith had great skill for the most basic of maneuvers, Grem had the perfect plan. He swung his blade for the Sith's shoulder which was defeated by the backhand swipe from the dark man's red laser staff. 'Good.' Venad thought as he dealt the Sith with another swipe, this time directed at his knee. '. good.' he restated in his head, taking a glance over his shoulder to see if R2 was still paying attention. The droid was still there. '.good!' Grem then slammed his blue shaft over his head and onto the Sith's predicable horizontal defense. "Now R2! Fire!" the droid did so as the powerful legs of Grem's species sprung him off the slick haired man's sabre, using the bound weapons to project his body out off harms way while R2 unleashed a furious bombardment of green laser bursts. The blasts from R2's offense were deflected by the Darkside adept reflexes. The first shot grazed the calf of his leg as Grem was twirling his body in the air doing his best to make a firm and well positioned landing. R2 was relentless as he fired his lasers, the Sith had become so preoccupied with the droid that he forgot about his Jedi opponent just long enough for Grem to plant his feet into the flooring behind the unexpecting villain. The Jedi knight pulled back at his sabre then, with a powerful yield of physical strength, pushed his blue blade in Sith's wide back sending the man's arms to swinging wide and to the sides in the pure shock of the act. R2 ceased his attack when the other end of the sword pierced through his chest, searing the dark cloth that made the Sith's leather uniform and scorching all of his innards that touched the azure shaft of light. Grem could feel the life escaping the dark warrior's shell, but did not yield his weapon from the Sith's body, just incase the dark one still had some fight in him. When the red laser-blade finally extinguished into the emitter of the solid black hilt, the cylindrical object hit the steel floor from the human's lifeless hands, Grem quickly released his lightsabre from the burnt hole of the dark man's corpse to stand in his conditioned ready poise. Just as he did this the Falcon's engines began to rev up with the sound of the multi-vector repulse compressors coming to life, that's when Grem realized he was horribly close to the emerse opening in the hanger that led out into the great expanse of space now cluttered with the tiny blurs of small red and black crafts exchanging pulse fire over a background he saw many large Jedi and Sith battle vessels spreading their own massive bursts that their arsenals could muster.
Red squadron is the most elite of all the Jedi fighter squadrons, and even they were having a rough time counter attacking the Sith fighters. The plan had worked to distract the enemy fighters away from their mother ships but by the time the Jedi made their way back into the thick of their own fleet, the Jedi Battle cruisers were already directing the focus of their primary weapons on the Sith ensemble, their animal like offensive craft. Luckily what ever cover fire that the Jedi ships could provide for their fighters prevented any losses on their own people, but a few destroyed Sith squadrons didn't yield in their vicious efforts to kill the Jedi and with the help of Master Romdel now in charge of Red squadron, the Sith were really going to have pull out all their tricks to win. Saliv tapped the comm. switch on his left side display screen that activated his helmet's built in voice amplifier while he piloted his fighter with the joystick in his right hand. "Red-leader to Red-five!" he clearly stated as he maneuvered his fighter to avoid a volley of pulse fire. "Take lead of Red-three, six, and four. Then move to assist blue squadron, they seemed to have taken on unwanted company." "Confirmed Red-leader!" the voice in his ear transceiver replied. "We are heading there now!" and the two fighters along with one heavy bomber broke from formation in compliance to their order. "Good!" Romdel returned his focus to the next best course of action. "Everyone else, follow my lead in B-nine formation!" the other fighters moved into a pyramid shape, with Romdel's fighter in the front and the other two closely following behind enclosing the predominately red bomber in between the smaller vessels. "We are going to make a pass at Sith frigates that are heading in for the Virtuous. Red-seven, prepare your ion torpedoes and aim for their engines." Saliv began to point the small group for the designated target. "Do not fire until I give the order Red-seven we'll keep you covered." "I confirm Red-leader!" Romdel then took in a deep calming breath. "Alright then let's move!" with that said Master Romdel led the group of attack fighters into the mix of battle.
Darth Lulet was defiant against Skywalker's strikes, never allowing the Jedi master's blade to come anywhere near his body as he aggressively deflected the blows from every direction the green sabre approached from. The Sith lord was swallowed in the Darkside of the Force as much as the skin on his face was dyed with tattoos. Yoda tried his hardest to inflict damage on the energetic Lulet, He advanced his speed with the Force in an attempt to overpower the internally tortured man but Luet matched Yoda's quickness just as easily as he had. Lulet was well trained, this Skywalker could tell but he is also inexperienced, young and brash. Yoda knew he could use this to his advantage, but how was another question. The bearded Jedi reached out with his mind, Chevacca was no longer behind him and Dorshe' was well across the other side of the Hanger, both fighting for their survival and their opponent's defeat. But Grem, Grem was unoccupied having already slain his opposed Sith, awaiting by the side of R2 to see if there was anything he could do to help without recklessly endangering others. Yoda locked his lightsabre with Lulet's as he entered young Venad's thoughts. 'Grem.a little help would be appreciated right about now.' he grunted as the dark being pushed away from Skywalker's lock with his one previously battered hand providing most of the strength behind that swipe. The tall reptile Jedi then leapt to the man's aid, realizing the lack of effort he put into assisting earlier Grem began to exchange blows with Lulet, giving them the upper hand in dazing the Sith lord's focus between the two Jedi. This infact only made Darth Lulet's strikes more vicious and risky even for someone who drew their powers from the Darkside. Grem and Yoda began to circle the outnumbered man, slowly distancing themselves from Chevacca and his opponent and even farther from Master Oden and Oiket who were now hopping off the walls in a floating display of sabre dueling rarely seen before, if not ever. Lulet's movements were now beyond either Jedi's sight of premonition. He would step in one direction and strike in another giving little chance for Master Skywalker or his vurk associate the chance to counter and leaving them no choice but to back up or push away their sabre clashes from the now ferial Sith warrior.
C-3PO allowed the automated computer systems to take care of the prelaunch protocols. He figured that the best attend to the children in the lounge before he managed to screw-up some other mundane feature at the Millennium Falcon's disposal that might have devastating consequences with the golden droid at the controls. 3PO quickly waddled his way to the sealed room finding all the young beings exactly where he left them and in the same state of fear and innocent confusion. As soon as the door had opened their eyes were already peering to 3PO as if they could see inside his, but were disappointed to find that it was only the droid who had walked in. "Everything will be alright little ones!" he reassured, deciding it best that he redirect their attention onto something besides the life threatening situation that nipped slowly at their heels. "My designation is C-3PO, Human Cyborg Relations." he began to notice the bewildered looks some of the children shot at the droid. ".But you may simply call me by 3PO!" he humored trying to find away to break the now awkward silence his audience returned to him, then he did what he knew best. "How about I tell you a story?..." he talked. ".well let me see what could I? Ah yes." he then started glancing his sensor eyes from child to child counting each one for reference in his database. ".how about the story of Luke Skywalker?" some of the young ones had expressed faces wide eyes and slight looks of excitement at the name, the others weren't as familiar with the man. "A long time ago." they were about to learn just who this Luke Skywalker was.
"Shields at ninety-nine point eight percent and holding Master Amtlar!" A voice shouted from behind the mon calamari Jedi who was too busy focusing on the battle at hand to worry about who it was he simply continued giving orders in response to what he could hear. "Make sure they stay above seventy!" he returned while taking note of the small task force of Sith frigates moving in towards their position. "Winjem." he rotated his seat to his rodian weapons officer, not taking his eyes off the open space outside. ".concentrate are primary Pulse cannons and arrays on those Frigates!" "Aye Master!..." he tapped a few panels on his weapons console using bright green suction cupped fingers. ".Weapons locked on target's vital systems." Baldos then gave a stern gaze at the smaller vessels that were approaching, as if they could see his green egg-shaped face. "Fire at will Winjem!" With the order given Noble Winjem then pressed the 'engage' panel on the console before him.
The Virtuous then released a great volley of flashing blue and green balls of energy the flew across the distance parting the massive Jedi dreadnought from the three smaller Sith attack-ships. This bombardment crashed through the enemy shields and directly into the dark steel that embodied the hull of Sith starships, causing a few breaches in the ship's structures but not stopping or even slowing their speed to the Virtuous's proximity. The lead vessel continued on as the other Sith frigates followed behind and they were being pursued by Red squadron. "Red-seven, get ready to fire the torpedoes!" Master Romdel shouted into his transceiver as he began to push his fighter's engines to the limits, his subordinate loyally followed him matching his crafts' speed as they flew in targeting the engines of the lead enemy destroyer. "Wait for it Red-seven!..." a few more seconds and they would meet their target. ".wait." they swung in ".Now!" and the Jedi bomber released two armed ion torpedoes into the duel exhaust manifolds of the beast-like ship. The two missiles zoomed toward their preprogrammed designated target, leaving streaks of blue iononic discharge, the four Jedi fighters pulled away from the now exploding vessel their escape was slightly enhanced by the push from the shockwave of the blast on the fighters. Saliv could hear his cohorts sighs of relief over his communications device as they sped away to a safe distance. "Good job my friends." he hated having to crush their small victory but he kept his cool demeanor non-the-less. ".But we still have the fighters to deal with! The Virtuous can handle those two frigates on her own, we need to assist the other fighters with their ." just then a large jolt shook energy shields of Saliv's fighters. "We have three enemy fighters coming in at one o'clock Master." A voice echoed in his earpiece. He collected his barrings then changed his focus to the new threat. "I check, evasive maneuvers!" and the red fighters broke formation as the Sith fighters began to pursue each of Saliv's cohorts leaving him on his own. Master Romdel knew he couldn't just part ways he immediately turned his fighter around and pointed the nose to the nearest enemy that was tracking his fellow Jedi. "Red-two I'm tailgating your bogie. Try avoiding his attack as long as you are able so I can get a target lock on him!" "I confirm Red-leader!" the pilot returned as he began to wildly spin and pivot his Aries-Z5 to help confused the Sith controller in the dark jagged winged fighter for Romdel's sake. Saliv then wasted no time as his automated target tracking system gradually set the weapons to aim for the black fighter, it didn't sense him until the first blasts from Saliv's lasers flew past his cockpit, just missing his engines and grazing his dark hull. The single winged craft quaked from side to side as it gave up on trying to destroy Red-two, and was now busy trying to escape Saliv's pursuit, he obviously didn't know who he was dealing with. Romdel came in closer to the Sith's shield space, figuring the fastest way to rid the universe of this Sith was not to simply blast him out off the stars, but rather cause him to make a false move. Sensing the Sith pilot's anxiety rise as Saliv continued his relentless flight,he kept the villain's shield bubble only a few feet away from his own invisible barrier. Forcing him closer to one of the two remaining Sith frigates still heading towards the Virtuous "A little closer my friend." He murmured to himself as he tightened his gloved hands on his controller stick, he gave the Sith no choice but to go where Saliv wanted him to go. That's when the frigates laser defense turrets began to fire at Romdel, not caring if they even hit one of their own fighters. Romdel increased his speed, using the Force to push the Aries farther than it would allow at this limit, tapping the two shields causing them to bounce off each other sending the Sith fighter crashing into the Frigate and Saliv off into open space pulling out of the liquid flames from the vacuumed explosion on the starships hull. Saliv was then greeted by the sight of exchanged weapons fire. He unwittingly projected himself towards the bottom-side of another enemy fighter. Saliv managed to collect his thoughts quick enough to launch a volley of pulse blasts that hit the target, destroying most of its left side hull plaiting and sending the rest of the hulk to spin uncontrollably into another one of the Sith fighters. A small impulsion of burning metal dissipated by the suction of outer space just in time before Romdel's fighter collided with the now non-existent enemy. The Jedi master took in a deep breath of relaxation; he had to return to battle now after just cheating death once again. He spoke into his communications unit. "Red-squadron! This is Red leader! Give me role and your status!" he waited a moment as the varying voices began to chime in his ear. "This is Red-two, alive and grateful!" the first voice said causing Saliv to smirk. "Red-four, fully functional!" another replied. "Red-five, I think they chipped my paint job up a bit but otherwise I'm still flying!" then distinctly no human sounding words were spoken. "Red-seven here, reporting a miner shield loss but will be easily compensated." "Red-three checking in with no severer damage to mention." And the final pilot sounded off. The one female complied. "Red-six is ready and awaiting orders Master!" Saliv was pleased to here of all his surviving subordinates. "Good Red-squadron." he remarked. ".now if any of you aren't busy at the moment! How about we get back in formation and show these Sith what true 'balance in the Force' is!" "Yes Master" the voices jumbled in unison as they started to gradually form-up in their standard attack pattern with Romdel plowing his way back into battle, taking this short moment to sense something all to familiar him. 'Grem?' he told himself. 'He's close.' he glanced out his left side feeling his former Padawan's presence emitting form the immobile Sith battleship sitting in the great sea of outer space, far from the battle. 'Focus on the Force my former apprentice.' the older Jedi could sense the power to fight in Venad's essence '.Focus on the Force.'
The hanger deck was consumed by the sounds of clashing blades of energy. The Sith were so predictable to the Jedi, their attacks all had a single motivation, hatred, the most ancient of emotions and subsequently the most dangerous. Yoda and his cohorts were trained at the youngest of ages to always be aware of their emotions and especially to exercise great discipline in controlling those feelings which led to the dark path. This gave them the upper hand over the Sith, being observant of their own anger which guided every movement, allowed the Jedi to easily predict their strikes but did not make it easier to defeat the dark ones. Yoda bravely fended off against the young and troubled Lulet. The Sith warrior was relentless in his onslaught against the bearded Jedi master. He matched every parry, every swipe, every failed stab that Darth Lulet could muster thus far. Chevacca was well matched with his opponent as Skywalker could sense, he could tell that the wookiee was impressed by the man who seemingly matched his superior strength. Likewise that Grem was paired with a being that appeared to be a true equal to his own abilities making this task no easier for the young knight but then there was Dorshe'. She was facing the man who had admitted to killing her husband, her mate and by all rights stole part of her life. While every move she made with her lightsabre to Jiles was well thought and focused, Yoda couldn't help but sense the smallest twinge of vengeance course through her veins. 'Be mindful of your emotions Dorshe'!' Skywalker projected into her mind. 'You be mindful of your opponent Skywalker!' she returned in a some what uncharacteristic tone as the Lulet made a pass with his blade to Yoda's face. The Jedi quickly ducked his head barely escaping with all of his trim blonde locks intact as he slipped his green shaft into Lulet's leg. The Sith responded to this blow with a spiteful grunt, he then elbowed Skywalker in the back causing him to become slightly disoriented. Lulet took this opportunity to make a slash for the Jedi's midsection, but luckily for Yoda he still managed to hold up his blade in time to counter his attack. Skywalker then made a great leap over the Sith as he swung his lightsabre in an attempt to return Lulet's same move, but was denied as the leather clad being quickly defeated Yoda's strike with a pain fueled block by his own sabre. 'This isn't going to be easy!' Skywalker exhaled in the recesses of his mind.
"This is not going to be easy!" Baldos mumbled as he tried his best to conjure an attack formation that would inflict as much damage as possible onto the Sith fleet while leaving the Jedi with as little possible loss that was deemed by the fates, but he knew he could not waste his time trying to assess the safest battle plan. Right now he needed the most efficient one. Master Amtlar moved his green primary claw to push the 'channel open' panel that gave him direct communication to the whole fleet. "All ships launch your fighter squadrons!"
At that moment, all of the Aries-Z5 class Jedi fighters and Niclos-S9 class Jedi bombers were flying out of the confining niches embedded into their respective mother ships. All of the crafts assumed their near perfect formations with five fighters forming a 'V' around two bombers creating their battle ready taskforces. Amassing a giant sea of tiny silver and muted red specs numbering in the thousands, all mirroring the same standard attack positions as the black and grey streaking, Sith fighters that were now appearing from the bellies of the enemy battleships. Thousands against thousands, in the recent history of the New Republic no fleet this large has ever been assembled to confront an enemy. This was a sign; it was no longer going to be a battle of good and evil or a simple skirmish of warring nations, but instead a war of Jedi versus the Sith, the two most powerful opposing Forces in the universe.
"Red through Yellow squadrons, form up for a passing maneuver, go in and lead as many of the enemy fighters as you can away from the battleship cover fire. All other squadrons take defensive positions over your mother-ships as soon as the Sith fighters come into range, attack at will!" he bowed his head once again, trying his hardest to break through the barrier placed over the Force, but had no luck, he needed to focus on the now. "Away!"
"Now let's see if this one will work." 3PO said, as his shaky mechanical limbs began to randomly choose which button might initiate the pre-launch sequence. ".Oh." he sighed as he finally found what he thought to be the correct switch. ".I do hope this is the ignition panel." He pressed the brightly lit button next to the main pilot's console. That's when the Falcon's engines began to whine with life as more lights in the cockpit began to flash and blink with automated activity.
The battle inside the Hanger of the Sith 'kidnapper-ship' was raging on with drowning sounds of four pairs of lightsabres clashing their thunderous poles of laser together. Chevacca now had his back against Yoda's, fearing that his opponent would leave no choice but to make Skywalker do something stupid, but the wookiee still had his paws full with his own combatant, the black slick haired man, who almost mirrored the look of Venad's own opponent became slightly less predictable with each passing moment. He could tell that Chevacca was reading his movements and gradually started to create dangerous strikes that Chevacca wouldn't dare step forward too. 'With all prayers to the Force I hope this will end soon!' he projected into the mind of Master Skywalker.
Grem fought with valor as the Sith warrior exchanged every blow of his lightsabre with indubitable strength. The assailant was older than Venad, his simple human eyes were bloodshot with the most cryptic solid white eyes. His thick muscles seemed to have gotten slightly larger every time the Jedi had foiled one of his powerful strikes, a physical display of his aggression the vurk noted. If the opponent kept his body so tense, then he might burn himself out. That's when Grem had an idea. Between the parries of clashing blades, the vurk took advantage of his superior vision to find R2 sitting there near the Falcon's entry slope with his armed laser arrays, trying to frantically see if there were any way he could get help to better the Jedi in some way. The blue skinned Jedi, first locked his sabre with the Sith's then threw his voice over to the droid. "R2!" he yelled. The astromech then rotated his large shiny dome in the struggling vurk's direction. Grem could only hope that the droid would catch on to his plan not wanting this enemy to catch on. Grem released the block taking a step back as he swung his blue glowing shaft to the left expecting the Sith to willingly block it. Grem then made several other combinations at the human, a parry for his legs, a stab at his left arm then a swipe for his other arm. He was surprised to see that the Sith had great skill for the most basic of maneuvers, Grem had the perfect plan. He swung his blade for the Sith's shoulder which was defeated by the backhand swipe from the dark man's red laser staff. 'Good.' Venad thought as he dealt the Sith with another swipe, this time directed at his knee. '. good.' he restated in his head, taking a glance over his shoulder to see if R2 was still paying attention. The droid was still there. '.good!' Grem then slammed his blue shaft over his head and onto the Sith's predicable horizontal defense. "Now R2! Fire!" the droid did so as the powerful legs of Grem's species sprung him off the slick haired man's sabre, using the bound weapons to project his body out off harms way while R2 unleashed a furious bombardment of green laser bursts. The blasts from R2's offense were deflected by the Darkside adept reflexes. The first shot grazed the calf of his leg as Grem was twirling his body in the air doing his best to make a firm and well positioned landing. R2 was relentless as he fired his lasers, the Sith had become so preoccupied with the droid that he forgot about his Jedi opponent just long enough for Grem to plant his feet into the flooring behind the unexpecting villain. The Jedi knight pulled back at his sabre then, with a powerful yield of physical strength, pushed his blue blade in Sith's wide back sending the man's arms to swinging wide and to the sides in the pure shock of the act. R2 ceased his attack when the other end of the sword pierced through his chest, searing the dark cloth that made the Sith's leather uniform and scorching all of his innards that touched the azure shaft of light. Grem could feel the life escaping the dark warrior's shell, but did not yield his weapon from the Sith's body, just incase the dark one still had some fight in him. When the red laser-blade finally extinguished into the emitter of the solid black hilt, the cylindrical object hit the steel floor from the human's lifeless hands, Grem quickly released his lightsabre from the burnt hole of the dark man's corpse to stand in his conditioned ready poise. Just as he did this the Falcon's engines began to rev up with the sound of the multi-vector repulse compressors coming to life, that's when Grem realized he was horribly close to the emerse opening in the hanger that led out into the great expanse of space now cluttered with the tiny blurs of small red and black crafts exchanging pulse fire over a background he saw many large Jedi and Sith battle vessels spreading their own massive bursts that their arsenals could muster.
Red squadron is the most elite of all the Jedi fighter squadrons, and even they were having a rough time counter attacking the Sith fighters. The plan had worked to distract the enemy fighters away from their mother ships but by the time the Jedi made their way back into the thick of their own fleet, the Jedi Battle cruisers were already directing the focus of their primary weapons on the Sith ensemble, their animal like offensive craft. Luckily what ever cover fire that the Jedi ships could provide for their fighters prevented any losses on their own people, but a few destroyed Sith squadrons didn't yield in their vicious efforts to kill the Jedi and with the help of Master Romdel now in charge of Red squadron, the Sith were really going to have pull out all their tricks to win. Saliv tapped the comm. switch on his left side display screen that activated his helmet's built in voice amplifier while he piloted his fighter with the joystick in his right hand. "Red-leader to Red-five!" he clearly stated as he maneuvered his fighter to avoid a volley of pulse fire. "Take lead of Red-three, six, and four. Then move to assist blue squadron, they seemed to have taken on unwanted company." "Confirmed Red-leader!" the voice in his ear transceiver replied. "We are heading there now!" and the two fighters along with one heavy bomber broke from formation in compliance to their order. "Good!" Romdel returned his focus to the next best course of action. "Everyone else, follow my lead in B-nine formation!" the other fighters moved into a pyramid shape, with Romdel's fighter in the front and the other two closely following behind enclosing the predominately red bomber in between the smaller vessels. "We are going to make a pass at Sith frigates that are heading in for the Virtuous. Red-seven, prepare your ion torpedoes and aim for their engines." Saliv began to point the small group for the designated target. "Do not fire until I give the order Red-seven we'll keep you covered." "I confirm Red-leader!" Romdel then took in a deep calming breath. "Alright then let's move!" with that said Master Romdel led the group of attack fighters into the mix of battle.
Darth Lulet was defiant against Skywalker's strikes, never allowing the Jedi master's blade to come anywhere near his body as he aggressively deflected the blows from every direction the green sabre approached from. The Sith lord was swallowed in the Darkside of the Force as much as the skin on his face was dyed with tattoos. Yoda tried his hardest to inflict damage on the energetic Lulet, He advanced his speed with the Force in an attempt to overpower the internally tortured man but Luet matched Yoda's quickness just as easily as he had. Lulet was well trained, this Skywalker could tell but he is also inexperienced, young and brash. Yoda knew he could use this to his advantage, but how was another question. The bearded Jedi reached out with his mind, Chevacca was no longer behind him and Dorshe' was well across the other side of the Hanger, both fighting for their survival and their opponent's defeat. But Grem, Grem was unoccupied having already slain his opposed Sith, awaiting by the side of R2 to see if there was anything he could do to help without recklessly endangering others. Yoda locked his lightsabre with Lulet's as he entered young Venad's thoughts. 'Grem.a little help would be appreciated right about now.' he grunted as the dark being pushed away from Skywalker's lock with his one previously battered hand providing most of the strength behind that swipe. The tall reptile Jedi then leapt to the man's aid, realizing the lack of effort he put into assisting earlier Grem began to exchange blows with Lulet, giving them the upper hand in dazing the Sith lord's focus between the two Jedi. This infact only made Darth Lulet's strikes more vicious and risky even for someone who drew their powers from the Darkside. Grem and Yoda began to circle the outnumbered man, slowly distancing themselves from Chevacca and his opponent and even farther from Master Oden and Oiket who were now hopping off the walls in a floating display of sabre dueling rarely seen before, if not ever. Lulet's movements were now beyond either Jedi's sight of premonition. He would step in one direction and strike in another giving little chance for Master Skywalker or his vurk associate the chance to counter and leaving them no choice but to back up or push away their sabre clashes from the now ferial Sith warrior.
C-3PO allowed the automated computer systems to take care of the prelaunch protocols. He figured that the best attend to the children in the lounge before he managed to screw-up some other mundane feature at the Millennium Falcon's disposal that might have devastating consequences with the golden droid at the controls. 3PO quickly waddled his way to the sealed room finding all the young beings exactly where he left them and in the same state of fear and innocent confusion. As soon as the door had opened their eyes were already peering to 3PO as if they could see inside his, but were disappointed to find that it was only the droid who had walked in. "Everything will be alright little ones!" he reassured, deciding it best that he redirect their attention onto something besides the life threatening situation that nipped slowly at their heels. "My designation is C-3PO, Human Cyborg Relations." he began to notice the bewildered looks some of the children shot at the droid. ".But you may simply call me by 3PO!" he humored trying to find away to break the now awkward silence his audience returned to him, then he did what he knew best. "How about I tell you a story?..." he talked. ".well let me see what could I? Ah yes." he then started glancing his sensor eyes from child to child counting each one for reference in his database. ".how about the story of Luke Skywalker?" some of the young ones had expressed faces wide eyes and slight looks of excitement at the name, the others weren't as familiar with the man. "A long time ago." they were about to learn just who this Luke Skywalker was.
"Shields at ninety-nine point eight percent and holding Master Amtlar!" A voice shouted from behind the mon calamari Jedi who was too busy focusing on the battle at hand to worry about who it was he simply continued giving orders in response to what he could hear. "Make sure they stay above seventy!" he returned while taking note of the small task force of Sith frigates moving in towards their position. "Winjem." he rotated his seat to his rodian weapons officer, not taking his eyes off the open space outside. ".concentrate are primary Pulse cannons and arrays on those Frigates!" "Aye Master!..." he tapped a few panels on his weapons console using bright green suction cupped fingers. ".Weapons locked on target's vital systems." Baldos then gave a stern gaze at the smaller vessels that were approaching, as if they could see his green egg-shaped face. "Fire at will Winjem!" With the order given Noble Winjem then pressed the 'engage' panel on the console before him.
The Virtuous then released a great volley of flashing blue and green balls of energy the flew across the distance parting the massive Jedi dreadnought from the three smaller Sith attack-ships. This bombardment crashed through the enemy shields and directly into the dark steel that embodied the hull of Sith starships, causing a few breaches in the ship's structures but not stopping or even slowing their speed to the Virtuous's proximity. The lead vessel continued on as the other Sith frigates followed behind and they were being pursued by Red squadron. "Red-seven, get ready to fire the torpedoes!" Master Romdel shouted into his transceiver as he began to push his fighter's engines to the limits, his subordinate loyally followed him matching his crafts' speed as they flew in targeting the engines of the lead enemy destroyer. "Wait for it Red-seven!..." a few more seconds and they would meet their target. ".wait." they swung in ".Now!" and the Jedi bomber released two armed ion torpedoes into the duel exhaust manifolds of the beast-like ship. The two missiles zoomed toward their preprogrammed designated target, leaving streaks of blue iononic discharge, the four Jedi fighters pulled away from the now exploding vessel their escape was slightly enhanced by the push from the shockwave of the blast on the fighters. Saliv could hear his cohorts sighs of relief over his communications device as they sped away to a safe distance. "Good job my friends." he hated having to crush their small victory but he kept his cool demeanor non-the-less. ".But we still have the fighters to deal with! The Virtuous can handle those two frigates on her own, we need to assist the other fighters with their ." just then a large jolt shook energy shields of Saliv's fighters. "We have three enemy fighters coming in at one o'clock Master." A voice echoed in his earpiece. He collected his barrings then changed his focus to the new threat. "I check, evasive maneuvers!" and the red fighters broke formation as the Sith fighters began to pursue each of Saliv's cohorts leaving him on his own. Master Romdel knew he couldn't just part ways he immediately turned his fighter around and pointed the nose to the nearest enemy that was tracking his fellow Jedi. "Red-two I'm tailgating your bogie. Try avoiding his attack as long as you are able so I can get a target lock on him!" "I confirm Red-leader!" the pilot returned as he began to wildly spin and pivot his Aries-Z5 to help confused the Sith controller in the dark jagged winged fighter for Romdel's sake. Saliv then wasted no time as his automated target tracking system gradually set the weapons to aim for the black fighter, it didn't sense him until the first blasts from Saliv's lasers flew past his cockpit, just missing his engines and grazing his dark hull. The single winged craft quaked from side to side as it gave up on trying to destroy Red-two, and was now busy trying to escape Saliv's pursuit, he obviously didn't know who he was dealing with. Romdel came in closer to the Sith's shield space, figuring the fastest way to rid the universe of this Sith was not to simply blast him out off the stars, but rather cause him to make a false move. Sensing the Sith pilot's anxiety rise as Saliv continued his relentless flight,he kept the villain's shield bubble only a few feet away from his own invisible barrier. Forcing him closer to one of the two remaining Sith frigates still heading towards the Virtuous "A little closer my friend." He murmured to himself as he tightened his gloved hands on his controller stick, he gave the Sith no choice but to go where Saliv wanted him to go. That's when the frigates laser defense turrets began to fire at Romdel, not caring if they even hit one of their own fighters. Romdel increased his speed, using the Force to push the Aries farther than it would allow at this limit, tapping the two shields causing them to bounce off each other sending the Sith fighter crashing into the Frigate and Saliv off into open space pulling out of the liquid flames from the vacuumed explosion on the starships hull. Saliv was then greeted by the sight of exchanged weapons fire. He unwittingly projected himself towards the bottom-side of another enemy fighter. Saliv managed to collect his thoughts quick enough to launch a volley of pulse blasts that hit the target, destroying most of its left side hull plaiting and sending the rest of the hulk to spin uncontrollably into another one of the Sith fighters. A small impulsion of burning metal dissipated by the suction of outer space just in time before Romdel's fighter collided with the now non-existent enemy. The Jedi master took in a deep breath of relaxation; he had to return to battle now after just cheating death once again. He spoke into his communications unit. "Red-squadron! This is Red leader! Give me role and your status!" he waited a moment as the varying voices began to chime in his ear. "This is Red-two, alive and grateful!" the first voice said causing Saliv to smirk. "Red-four, fully functional!" another replied. "Red-five, I think they chipped my paint job up a bit but otherwise I'm still flying!" then distinctly no human sounding words were spoken. "Red-seven here, reporting a miner shield loss but will be easily compensated." "Red-three checking in with no severer damage to mention." And the final pilot sounded off. The one female complied. "Red-six is ready and awaiting orders Master!" Saliv was pleased to here of all his surviving subordinates. "Good Red-squadron." he remarked. ".now if any of you aren't busy at the moment! How about we get back in formation and show these Sith what true 'balance in the Force' is!" "Yes Master" the voices jumbled in unison as they started to gradually form-up in their standard attack pattern with Romdel plowing his way back into battle, taking this short moment to sense something all to familiar him. 'Grem?' he told himself. 'He's close.' he glanced out his left side feeling his former Padawan's presence emitting form the immobile Sith battleship sitting in the great sea of outer space, far from the battle. 'Focus on the Force my former apprentice.' the older Jedi could sense the power to fight in Venad's essence '.Focus on the Force.'