Ok, so I actually have had 2 chapter written for... well since I last updated. Just never posted em cause of lack o reviews. So I'll let this one leak out and maybe the next one... please review... you're crushing my spirit here...
Chapter 8: Faith
"He has come and gone Master. Whatever it was he was there for, he found it."
"He has found out a great more than I expected. The apprentice sent there was weak."
"It is of nothing to us. We will sweep aside their armies and the Jedi, with or without him!"
"REPORT!" screamed Joanna over the klaxons. "And shut off those damn alarms!" The ship shook again as it was rocked by yet another blast.
"Ma'am, 3 mandalorian Battleships have all shifted on us. We can't take much more!"
"Bring up the Redemption and the Crusader. Stick them in between us and them if u have to. Have Cluster C begin its arrow, D support it. A and B, hold positions," she replied quickly as the klaxons at last shut off.
Joanna watching in awe as a mandalorian fighter flew by the bridge, hotly chased by a pair of Republic Minotaur class fighters. This was worse then she'd expected. Thousands were dying every minute up here… the fight had been going on for over 5 hours, and no end was in sight. There were simply so many ships, fire in any direction and you were likely to hit a ship…
Again the ship rocked, as the shields failed them at last. Thankfully, the Redemption at last slid in between them and the mandalorian battleships, buying them a respite. More fortunately, the counter by Cluster C was forcing the mandalorians to back off to support they're lines…
A much smaller than expected force had been encountered, but they were some of the most elite mandalorians troops out there… It was brutal, but Joanna had at last made enough of a hole to start getting men to the ground. Onderon itself wasn't that heavily defended, and they'd already managed to recapture it for the most part… but the moon of Dxun, millions were dying every minute… she should be down there, helping. The force screamed at her as a plasma bomb detonated on the surface of Dxun… easily a million died in that single blast, and Joanna collapsed to the ground under the sudden weight of they're deaths, as the force cried out to her, and the hundreds of echoes reached into her soul, flaying her.
"Ma'am?" asked a nearby orderly.
"I… I'm fine. Admiral, you have command. I need… need a break."
"Yes Ma'am."
With that she turned and strode out, hurrying to her room quickly as she could… She couldn't take this anymore, and she didn't want to break down in front of the men…
Running by the end of it, she slammed the door to her mostly sound tight room, just in time to feel another plasma bomb explode, wiping out more men, and letting loose a loud scream of pain, both in the force and from her lungs.
Tears rained from her eyes as she collapsed to the floor.
"I ca… can't take this anymore. Make it stop. Please, anything… Revan I can't do this for you…"
Huddling into a ball, she cried and cried, before at last falling asleep to the yells of dying men in her head.
The death… he could smell it… it was all around him…
It permeated into him… made him feel sick…
"Here they come again!" yelled out the master sergeant above him.
Slowly the soldier raised his head, seeing the mandalorians charge. He rose up slightly, opening fire, letting blast after blast loose as his comrades beside him opened up as well…
Still they kept coming… their return fire ripping into the republic ranks as they closed to vibroblade range… Quickly, glancing down, he saw his vibroblade lay in its holster ready…
Those bastard jedi's… leaving them to fight this war… they sat by the side and professed patience while other died. Thank god some of them came and helped, thrown out of the order as they may be. The question he had for himself was why was he helping… he should flee… his aim faltered as he missed several shots in a row…
Concentrate man, concentrate, he said to himself…
10 meters… 5 meters…
He dropped his blaster, pulling his sword out as he parried the first mandalorians blade, pushing him back. He continued to battle with the mandalorian, holding his own, but it was a losing battle… step by step he gave ground, until at last, his hands numb, his blade was knocked from his hands…
He stared into the mandalorians black visor, determined to die like a man…
Suddenly the mandalorians back arched up, a green blade coming from his chest. Slowly, he dropped, to reveal a women holding a lightsaber…
Nay, a beautiful jedi holding a lightsaber. They're eyes met, and just as suddenly she turned, returning to the battle…
He would remember those eyes… something told him they'd meet again.
Joanna was slightly disturbed by the look the soldier she had saved gave her, but she ignored it as she returned to the battle, slicing through the mandalorians. Her rage and anger over what they had done had become a weapon for her … using it sparingly, controlling it tightly, merely using it to add the slightest of power to her… darkside as it was, it helped immensely.
She has come down to the ground after her… outburst, and partaking in the ground combat seemed to make her feel better. The battle in space above was going well… massive casualties on both sides, but the mandalorians had pulled back for awhile.
Over 9 million republic men had landed on her orders, and they were getting slaughtered by the 4 million mandalorians… she wasn't sure how more she could take before she just snapped…
The eyes of that soldier were still on her… but she shrugged it off, as more mandalorians charged and the soldiers attentions moved on.
The space battle continued for a long time, but after 2 day of hard fighting, the mandalorian ships had at last been crushed. On the ground, things had not gone so well. The mandalorians slaughtered wave after wave of troops, and idiotic generals had sent men to charge through minefields to clear the path, and wouldn't listen to her orders…
And then the men started listening to the generals… and they all died.
At last something gave, and all that remained of her forces were a few hundred jedi and 6-7 thousand troops, in a heavily fortified fortress, surrounded by mandalorians. Thankfully, fleet ships arrive just in time to evac them…
But the moon was a lost cause. Nearly 9 million republic men dead for something like 3 million mandalorians…
Jo's head ached from everything… the pressures of command, the lack of sleep… but most of all the deaths… the screaming voices…
Sighing, she lay back and began to sleep. No mandalorian reinforcements had arrived, so they were bombarding Dxun as best as they could, while waiting for republic reinforcements…
What she needed was rest…
And when at last she fell to sleep, relief was not hers, as her dreams were just as horrible as her days.
It was done…
Revan could feel it through the force. Joanna had taken the world, but at a terrible cost… no only in terms of men and ships, but in terms of sacrifices she had to make…
He wished he was that strong… he would have lost his mind going through that… instead she merely continued on, and he was sure that unknown to her, a small fracture in her Force Aura was beginning to appear.
Sighing, he rose from his desk. The news he had received from that… sith for a lack of a better word was disturbing… he didn't know what to do anymore. He would have to go out and meet them in battle…
Disturbed by this thought, Revan returned to looking over the general war. This recent push had been a massive success, far greater then he'd anticipated. A complete mandalorian route. He had to capitalize on this, and quickly…
There were under a score of worlds left, and slowly, a plan began to form.
2 months later
"Joanna, welcome back," said Revan quietly but happily as he met her as she descended the ramp from her freighter. "How was you're break?"
She sighed happily. "It was just what I needed after… you know… Anyways, I'm fit as a fiddle and ready to serve."
Revan grinned broadly as they walked towards his office. "Excellent, just in time… As I'm sure you've heard, the mandalaorians are being brutally crushed… as nearly as intel can tell, we've pushed them back to a final planet."
"That's great news!" replied Joanna happily.
"Well… it's not all great news… the mandalorians have formed up there, their entire fleet… this is going to be the largest battle in the history of the republic."
Revan saw a flash of fear go through Joanna's eyes, but she smothered it quickly, even as Revan closed the door to his office. "Sounds like a bloody battle."
Revan nodded slowly, sadly. "That it will Jo… it will be a bloodbath like never before."
Joanna smiled nervously, obviously uncomfortable. Revan noticed this… and realized how painful this will be for her.
"Jo… this will be the final battle… more will die here then in the entire war… I wish it weren't like this… I wish what was to come didn't have to happen. That you never would have gone through what u went through. I just want to thank you for all your sacrifices, and the strength you've lent to me. You're like a sister to me," Revan said sadly as he stepped up and kissed her gently on the forehead before striding out, leaving a very surprised Joanna behind him.
She stood shocked for a moment, before turning and following him, wondering what it was all about.