Chapter IX
Anakin's black starfighter with white stripes flashed through the battle, he twisted his throttle and the ship went into a spin allowing him to fire seven shots in rapid succession. His plasma and ion upgrades were coming through as he blasted the ships into oblivion, his comm chimed, "This is Red One, this is Red One, requesting back up, I have three on my tail,"
Anakin became alarmed, "Timoth!" he spun his ship around with a light twist of his throttle and twisted toward him, "Red Leader coming in, Red Three cover me," he said.
"As you say General," replied the Clone Trooper.
"Execute Save 34," commanded Anakin as he neared Timoth, Red One, "alright One, drop," Timoth's ship did a tight drop and banked, Anakin fired and one of the enemy ships were destroyed, the other two spun away from him, the Jedi Masterclickedhis jaw as Red Three went spiraling into another member of Red Squadron.
Anakin switched hiscomm to the Jedi Council's private frequency, "Masters, is it possible for them to be melding in the Force?" he asked, amazed at the proficiency at which the Death Seekers were destroying them and their almost droid like reflexes and well formulated plan; it was as if they were drawing of the poers of each other, he had to admit their flying was a bit better than his.
Mace Windu's voice came across clear, "Maybe Master Skywalker, but we have not seen it in use since the days of the Sith."
Yellow Leader, Plo Koon cried out as his Jedi starfighter's rear end exploded from a Death Seekers' blasters, "Losing cabin pressure, systems failing," he shouted over the Com.
"Master Koon!" shouted Saesee over the Com.
"Go on without me, there is at least one thing I can do," he replied his ship moving even faster than before, the ship exploded as it entered between a small squadron of Death Seekers, the seven other ships were engulfed by the explosion, Jedi Master Plo Koon, Kel Dor Jedi Master, was dead.
Mace's voice came over the com, "That's forty-seven percent of our fleet down, including three Jedi, and the enemy is only increasing,"
"I have never seen precision like this," said Saesee Tiin in awe.
Anakin activated his Ion Lasers and activated his remote sensors, "Artoo locate a weakness on them," the droid twiddled and did as he was told, a small schematic of the enemy ship appeared on the starfighters' sleek screen, showing two red spots, one above the cockpit and the other beneath them, he conveyed this information to the rest of the fleet and fired.
"Master Skywalker take control of Yellow Squadron," order Mace as his starfighter passed him, "I will take control of Gold Squadron,"
"Blue Leader here," said Obi-Wan, "we have found their fleet ship, it is hidden behind that moon over there," he said using the Force to show them.
"Alright, Masters Kenobi and Tiin, take the fight to them," replied Mace.
Anakin tightened his grip on the throttle and the ship's alarms activated, he was moving too fast for the sensors to help him aim, the Jedi Maser felt a small disturbance in the Force, he tilted his ship to the right and a Ion torpedo flew past him. Artoo twiddled uneasily, and Anakin laughed, "calm down Artoo,"
"Green Leader here," said Saesee over the Com as his seven remaining members of his squadron including his padawan learner Elsis followed.
"Red Leader here," replied Obi-Wan, his ten remaining squad members in formation behind him, "It's well defended people, prepare to engage," affirmations from his clone pilots comforted the Jedi master. The Fleet Ship was huge, thrice the size of the Republic Carrier, "Maintain Comm silence," he ordered as they drew even closer, the Jedi Master released himself to the Force, trying his best to keep his sensed dampened, the enemy were very powerful in the Force, anything he did Force associated would be felt by them.
"Enemy fighters!" shouted Saesee as three enemy squadrons came against them in full offense, thirty-six fighters in all, and from the sense of it, noted Saesee, they were all using the Force, "Green One take lead," he ordered, referring to his padawan as he fell back, "Green seven form up behind me, Continual Bombardment, Red Rancor split with a Corellian Twister,"
"As you say General," replied the clone as he came into line behind the Jedi Master.
"Engaged," said Obi-Wan over the com as the first blaster bolts went sizzling.
Saesee's ship dove and the clone followed, a trio of enemy fighters came toward him and his ship twisted away, the Clone fired and they exploded in a flash of blinding light, the Jedi Master grinned uneasily, "Green Seven return to Squadron Leader's Command, Green One form up, Green Three take lead,"
Elsis came up behind her master and blasted an enemy fighter away, "alright Master, what is it?"
Saesee's sensor alarms went off and his jaw dropped, "By the Force," another Fleet Ship appeared, followed by two more, "Red Lead this is too much, I'm recalling my squadron,"
Obi-Wan agreed, they had lost three of their squadron members, and now the enemy was releasing a dozen more squadrons after them, "this plan is wrecked, to his squadron, Red Squadron fall back, return to main battle,"
Saesee glanced over his shoulder into the corner, then realized there was nothing he could do, "Alright, Green Squadron fall back, return to main battle," he twisted and his ship made a lurch, "Astromech?" he said alarmed, the R4 unit was confused, and kept trying to disengage his rear thrusters.
"Master?" asked Elsis from her ship.
"Return to main battle, Green One take lead," he said quickly as he turned to recalibrate his thrusters, they were failing.
"Master?" asked Elsis again, her ship beside the Jedi Masters.
"Go!" he shouted resetting it, the engine stalled again.
Elsis screamed as her ship exploded beside his and another flurry of blaster bolts were sent behind him, "Elsis!" he cried out, but felt it in the Force, she was dead, the young Twilek Jedi was dead, he was quiet for a moment as he tried again to reset his engines, then sighed, "Red Lead take lead of my squadron, it was a pleasure serving with you," the Jedi Master concluded, giving up hope.
Obi-Wan clicked his teeth together and nodded sadly, "Form up, Return to main battle,"
The main battle was no longer a main battle, it was now a slaughter as only two dozen fighters remained, and only the Jedi Starfighters were really avoiding the enemy's shots. The battle had tipped to the Death Seeker's advantage, "Fleet Lead," said Obi-Wan over the com addressing Mace Windu, "the plan failed and three more fleet ships have joined this one, there is no longer a chance of defeating them,"
"Where is Master Tiin?"
Obi-Wan was silent for a second, "His ship stalled, and he was captured, his padawan was killed,"
Mace's voice came across clear over the comm, "Fleet fall back, I repeat fall back, Ryloth is lost, fall back!"
Obi-Wan watched sadly as the four fleet ships converged around the planet Ryloth, as his ship exited into hyperspace, the Jedi and the Republic could never live this loss down and it would have dire consequences for the future.