Three Months Later

Chapter Four

Green and red flashes filled the space outside of the Republic Attack Cruiser. Its eight turbolasers were pumping out green gouts of fire at three shots a second. But maybe it wasn't enough. General Siri Tachi gripped her center chair harder than a starving person hanging onto his first bite of food in years. "Hard to port!" she yelled at the clone pilots and Republic officers controlling the ship, as a steady stream of fire hit that portion of the ship. The great 1,137 meter long hulk lurched toward the left, and fired upon the Trade Federation cruiser. The weakened cylindrical ship blew apart under the focused fire of the great wedge battleship.

There was an enormous explosion on the right side of the ship, and it started to spin out of control.

The crew was thrown across the bridge. "Report!" called Siri, just as she was lifted out of her chair by loss of gravity. "Gravity's offline, we're losing life support, and we're venting atmosphere," came the report from a nervous ensign.

"Gravity's offline? Wow, I would never have guessed that…" came the retort from the spunky general. She floated there, thinking. She was just about to give up, when her comlink beeped.

General Obi-Wan Kenobi's faced appeared in holographic form. "Hello, Siri," he said softly.

"Obi-Wan, I'm kind of busy right now…"

"Okay, okay. I was just wondering how you were doing."

"Great, Obi-Wan. Perfect, in fact," she lied, just as another huge explosion rocked the ship. "What was that?" he asked, worried. "Oh, save it," she thought. How many times had Obi-Wan came to save her hide? How many times had he interfered with her strategies? How many times had those beautiful blue-green eyes entered her mind every time she was planning her next move? Those eyes…

There was something about Obi-Wan and interfering with things. Especially her thoughts.

"Nothing," she lied again.

"Siri, I'm heading to your position. We'll reenter normal space in about five minutes? Can you hold out that long?"

"I don't need your help, Mr. Hero."

"See you in five minutes," he said quickly, and killed the transmission. She threw her hands up in defeat. She absolutely hated it when Obi came to help her out. Pride was always an issue for her. "Get gravity going again," she barked to the bridge crew, "and evacuate and close off the breached deck."

The order was carried out with uncanny speed and skill. She flopped into her chair.

Another series of small explosions rocked the ship, followed by a burst of sparks from the weapons console. "We've lost three turbolasers, ma'am!" yelled that same officer. She glared at him for his panicky tone of voice. She should have opted for the fully clone bridge crew. She shook her head, and bit her lip. She chewed it in apprehension until an idea came.

"The SPHA-T's, the ones we have in stock; are they functional?" she asked a nearby clone pilot.

"To my knowledge, yes."

"Good, get them up and running. Get them in the docking bays, ASAP, sergeant," she snapped off quickly, and sent the clone running towards the turbolift. She looked at the console to her side, showing a holographic view of the battle, via numerous camera droids deployed at the start of the battle. Her original ten ships had been reduced to six-no, five. There were still seven Trade Federation cruisers out there. Starfighters buzzed around on the holographic display like Tatooinian gnats. She noticed the four semi-wedge-shaped starfighters of the Jedi out there, flying in perfect tandem, blowing apart vulture droids and tri-fighters.

"The artilleries are ready, ma'am," came a voice over the comm. "Good," she said. She turned to her bridge crew. "Get us into position so that we are facing the nearest cruiser," she said, and turned back to her comlink. "Have them charge up. Then, when I give the word, have them fire."

"Ma'am?"

"Just do it, sergeant."

"Aye, ma'am."

Siri looked out the viewscreen. The cruiser loomed in the windows of the Republic attack ship. "Fire!" she shouted at the crew and the artillery. The five remaining turbolasers, the one remaining dual turbolaser, the thirty-six remaining laser cannons, the two remaining torpedo launchers, and the six artillery tanks in the docking bays fired upon the cruiser. The laser beams from the artillery tanks went through the docking bay shield. The Federation ship's shields held, then crumpled. The bolts of energy and the shells of explosives blew into the cruiser, carving huge gaps in the hull. The ship vented bodies and droids, as well as atmosphere and parts. The Trade cruiser spun out of control, allowing the gunners a clear shot at the reactor. A shot scored its mark, and with a flash of light, the ship disintegrated into space dust and scrap metal.

The unprofessional ensign on the bridge gave an uncalled-for "yahoo!"

Siri shot him a death-glare. He shrunk away to his station. "Tell the other ships to follow suit, sergeant," she said into her comlink. "Aye, ma'am," came the reply.

Due to the skill of clone commanders, in fewer than thirty seconds, artillery SPHA-T's were soon firing out of the forward docking bays of the remaining five ships.

Siri looked at the holo-display on her left. They number of reds, Separatist ships, was steadily decreasing. She laughed, and a few of the Republic officers looked at her. She shot them a look that said "get back to work", and thought, "I didn't need Obi-Wan's help," just as a fleet appeared on her holo-display. They were red.

There was no way she could them all.

Ten more ships appeared on her display. They were blue. "Obi-Wan!" She felt his presence invade her senses like a tsunami. He had always had a strong Force presence. The Republic ships began pounding the Separatists. Siri ordered her remaining five ships to regroup with General Kenobi's fleet. Starfighters choked the space, there were so many. Explosions and flash-frozen bodies surrounded the capital ships. "Keep firing," she said. She tried to flush out the overconfidence that swelled through her. She took three calming breaths, and gave herself away to the Force. Siri felt its calming presence flow through her, pushing out the overconfidence that had so easily come to her.

"Are we in position?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Good, now—" Siri started, just as an explosion, bigger than any previous ones rocked the ship to its core. There was a load groaning noise, a scraping sound, and snap. The lights on the bridge went out, and were replaced by the blue emergency lights. "Report!"

"We've been cut in half ma'am! Venting atmosphere and personnel! We've blown apart!" said the ensign. She cursed. "Get to the escape pods, everyone. Sound the alarm. Abandon ship!" she yelled, and waited until everyone scurried out of the bridge. She gripped her chair, spun, and went to the turbolift.

The escape pod was cramped. Worse, she had been shoved in it with the panicky ensign and a clonetrooper in full armor. "We're gonna die, we're gonna die, we're gonna die!" the ensign was screaming, and his eyes were darting around the pod. "Get yourself a spine, ensign, or so help me, I'll shoot you myself," Siri snapped, and took a gun from the trooper. "Don't think I won't."

"I believe you, ma'am. Sorry, ma'am."

She rolled her eyes. Obi-Wan better make the rescue a quick one.

The clone troopers were so orderly, they even stepped out of their escape pods single file, and lined up. The non-clone officers were less orderly. Some even stepped out shaking and blubbering like children. Siri promised herself to either get herself a new crew, or train them with the brutality of a hutt.

Siri stepped up to the robed figure of Obi-Wan Kenobi. "Permission to come aboard, sir?" she asked politely. "Permission granted, General."

"Good," she said, and laughed. She flashed a smile at him, and he smiled back, he was just about to turn around and give an order to a clone trooper, and she caught him in an embrace.

"Well, it's nice to see you too!" he said, and laughed. They smiled. "I'm glad you're all right. I had to do that, ya' know? They said you were dead!" Siri exclaimed. Her smile spread wider. Then she hit Obi-Wan across the chin, hard. He blinked twice, and fell down. The clone troopers went to check him; maybe arrest her if need be.

"That's for getting in the way," she said, ever indignant.

General Obi-Wan Kenobi was rubbing his chin in his quarters. That one hurt. Garen Muln, Reeft, and even Anakin would never let him hear the end of that one. He rolled his eyes, and stroked his beard. Sometimes he thought her clone was feistier than her original self, but then, she was the same person, just…newer body. Thank the Force she looked the same.

Just then, Siri walked through the door in a stunning navy blue shimmersilk dress. Obi-Wan's eyes widened. Siri usually had that affect on people when wearing form-fitting clothing. "Am I overdressed?" she asked, smiling smugly. "N-n-no!" Obi-Wan shouted, and motioned for her to sit. Siri laughed. "Oh please, Obi-Wan, it's not like this is a date. I just wanted to make you uneasy," she said in a matter-of-fact way. "I'm glad to see I still have that affect on men." She laughed again.

Obi-Wan just gulped.

"So, General, why am I eating dinner in your cabin?"

"I need to talk to you."

"Whoa, like that wasn't obvious. Of course. But what about, Kenobi?"

"The Council has a mission for you."

"Well, another point for General Obvious. Again, I knew you didn't ask me to come to your cabin so you could woo me and make love to me all night long. Really Obi-Wan, stop being coy; it doesn't suit you."

Obi-Wan bristled at the thought.

"All right, the Council wants you to track down General Grievous, and all of his associates." Obi-Wan said flatly. Siri laughed. "Now that wasn't that hard was it? Now, why were you being so coy?"

"Siri, this is a dangerous mission."

"Psh, oh please. Like any of these other ones weren't."

"Siri, this is General Grievous."

"And I'm Siri Tachi. I'll beat him just the same as the others."

"Siri! You could die! That cyborg has beaten every single Jedi we've thrown at him! He's Dooku's best general! Rumors have it that he was trained by Count Dooku."

"Obi-Wan, I think you're overreacting, and I thought you didn't listen to rumors," Siri said, indignant, as always. "Siri…" Obi-Wan said, but his voice trailed off. Maybe he was worried about her. That'd be so sweet, if it didn't mean he doubted she could take on the mission.

"If you think I'm not up to it, just say it. You doubt my abilities."

"No, Siri, that's not it…"

"Then what is it, Obi-Wan! You've interfered a hell of a lot. You know what! I accept! I'm gonna show you and the Council I can do this," she said, and stomped toward the door.

"Siri, wait!"

She spun on her heel. "What is it, Kenobi?" she said through clenched teeth. He sighed. "Be careful. We've given you a new fleet of fifteen cruisers, and twenty thousand troopers. Also, we've given you an ARC trooper, and three commandos."

"Are you quite done?"

"Yes, go ahead."

"Good. I'll see you around, Obi," Siri uttered, grabbed the datapad with the information on it, and stormed out. Obi-Wan looked despairingly at the closed door. He only hoped that she wouldn't go and be too overconfident and kill herself in the process. He sighed, got up, and got to work signing more data sheets.