"Magenta Squadron, form up." Korin brought his fighter around after just having exited his launch chute. Around him, he could see the squadron of coffins doing the same. They rotated on their middle axis and came around in a sweeping pattern to back up their leader. Each fighter, Magentas one through six, settled into a V-shaped formation behind Korin's long, angular fighter. "Green Squadron, stay close to home."

Korin angled his fighter to get a better look at Sullust. The planet, though about 10,000 kilometers ahead, was visibly suffering. The upper atmosphere was black with smoke and there were white-hot portions that looked like they had just recently been bombed. Korin could sense the death emanating from the planet, along with fear and hate. Korin wanted to go and try to save those that were alive still. Several large obstacles were in hi s way.

"In the name of the Makers." Korin's wing-mate blurted out. "There are 20 of them. Twenty Capital ships!" The Bothan shifted nervously in his cockpit.

"Stay calm, Mag 2. They haven't taken an interest in us yet." Korin fiddled with the controls in front of him. He flipped his comm over to the secure channel that the Fearless operated on. "Magenta One to Fearless."

"This is Mayin, go ahead." The captain responded, his voice laden with fear.

"Please tell me that backup is coming fast." Korin dialed up the shields on his fighter and prepped for the eventuality that was sure to come. "I don't much care for the odds as they stand at the moment."

"Neither do I, Korin. One standard hour and Fleet Group Twenty will be here. That's seventeen ships and a whole slew of fighters. That should level the playing field. If only by a little." Mayin didn't sound too convincing. It was no secret that only one of the larger Dagger ships decimated the first casualty, the Hindsight. Even with superior numbers it would have been hard for Republic ships to fight off a fleet this big. "Fleet Group Fourteen will be here in a little over an hour and a half. That makes 36 counting us."

Korin's heart lightened, if only for a moment. "That sounds better. What say we keep alive until they arrive."

"Way ahead of you. Heads up, Korin. Fearless out." The comm clicked as Mayin ended the conversation.

"They're on their way, Lead." The Bothan wingman reported. Korin could barely make out the angular fighters that were coming straight on at them. His sensors gave more information than his eyes could.

"Stay on my wing, Traiesk." Korin looked to the Bothan to his left. "The rest of you keep your wing-mates alive. We'll come out of this yet." Korin looked back to the fighters. They were getting bigger and bigger. A series of clicks told him that his wing-mates were ready. Korin ramped up the energy in his capacitor and settled his hands over the twin control sticks.

Seven fighters, Korin thought to himself, why so few? The fighters hit the 11-kilometer mark and Korin throttled his fighter up to half speed. His wing-mates followed suit.

"Here we go, boys." Three angry clicks came over Korin's comm and he smiled. "And girl." His fighter squadron ramped up and took them ever closer to the Sith craft that sped towards them. "Remember," Korin checked his readouts one last time, "they have a longer range than us."

Korin checked his tactical computer once more. Seven kilometers left.

"This is how we live." Korin spoke into the comm.

Six kilometers.

"Breath by breath." Traiesk returned.

Five.

"Hour by hour." Magenta 3, a human female spoke.

Four.

"Flight by flight." Magenta 4, the newest member of the squadron spoke. An edge of fear crept into the Cathar's voice.

Three kilometers remained.

"Star by star." Magenta 5 spoke, this time a human male.

Two.

"We are the fearless ones. The ones that protect the Republic." Magenta 6, another human male, spoke. His voice was tinged with excitement.

One kilometer and it was ticking away fast.

"And that is how we will die. As protectors of the Republic!" Korin roared as he depressed the twin triggers in his hands. Long streaks of red laser fire arced from his fighter and he plunged headlong into the line of the Sith fighters.

His blasts passed wide and Korin rolled his fighter to the left. He barely avoided the Sith fighter's laser blasts. Korin quickly checked the status of his squadron as he brought his fighter in a wide arc. Everyone was safe and sound. Korin smiled to himself. Of course they were safe, they were the best.

Once his fighter around, Korin throttled up again. The Sith fighters were already around and speeding back towards them. Korin leaned on the trigger as he made another pass at the Sith fighters. The two lines of fighters sped past one another and Korin's shields flashed in front of the nose of his fighter.

"We can't keep doing this, Lead." Traiesk warned. "Our shields will burn out long before theirs."

Korin sighed. Traiesk was right. As far as Korin could tell, he and his squad were doing nothing to their shields.

Korin smiled as his fighter turned. It was time to show these sith just who they were dealing with.

"Up and around, Magentas. Up and around." Korin kept his fighter throttled back so he would have a tighter turning radius.

"Stutter shots only." Traiesk finished the order. Five clicks told the two leaders of Magenta Squadron that the rest of the squad understood and were ready.

Korin dialed down the intensity on his blasters and angled his fighter straight at the sith ships. The two groups sped towards one another and Korin expanded his sphere of influence outward. He sent a wave of confidence to the rest of his squad and clutched the controls even harder.

When the Sith Fighters dropped within range, Korin sent out a great volley of blasts and jacked his fighter straight up.

The rest of Magenta squad did the same and they spun around. They angled in directly behind the sith fighters and Korin dialed up his blasters to full. At that intensity, the blasters wouldn't last long. Korin didn't need them to last long, however. The first two blasts boiled away the shields of the fighter. The next two blasts melted away the armor plating and ignited the ion engines.

The fighter that Korin targeted exploded with a great flash and sent debris flying in all directions. Similar flashes happened all around Korin's fighter and he knew that the plan had worked perfectly. Only one Sith Fighter remained in the end. It was spinning out of control and would soon be picked off by the Fearless. Korin smiled and throttled back his fighter. He turned it; with what little momentum it had left, to face Sullust.

The atmosphere around the Dagger ships was now peppered with what Korin assumed were fighters. There were easily 300 fighters already. Korin sighed. This was going to turn ugly if the rest of the fleet didn't get here soon enough. Korin's comm clicked and he flicked it on.

"Nayreese here."

"Well done, Korin. I commend you." Captain Mayin spoke quickly. "But you're not going to like what is coming next."

Korin didn't need to ask. He could see another fighter contingent moving towards him. This time there were twelve of the twin ion engine fighters. Korin sighed. "No, Captain, you're right. I'm not going to like it."

Korin shifted in his seat. "They're testing us, Traiesk."

"I know, Lead." Traiesk brought his fighter up next to Korin's. "We're like Lab Nerfs."

"Wonderful." Korin popped his knuckles and took hold of the sticks. "Here we go again, Magentas." Six clicks came through as Korin throttled his fighter up. He sped right at the sith fighters, cold determination taking over his muscles.

Krii'nek skidded down the dusty hill; his claws digging great furrows in the dirt. Krii'nek's green saber flashed as he batted aside two more blaster bolts. The sith troopers began to back up, the Jedi Watchman was closing fast.

With a flick, Krii'nek leapt into the air, wincing in pain as one of his claws broke off. The sith troopers couldn't follow the Jedi Watchman and he landed in a crouch behind them. Krii'nek lashed out and felled the two troopers. Their bodies tumbled to the side.

Krii'nek straightened, his muscles protesting. It had been like this over the past few days. Attacking the sith troops that were sent to round up refugees. Staying alive. A tall order, even for a Jedi Watchman.

Krii'nek wasn't really sure why he was still alive. The last thing he remembered before he went down was watching the little Sullustan girl cry out in terror as her body was burned away. Krii'nek was sure that his face mirrored that same look of horror when she took her last breath. Of that much he was certain.

Krii'nek woke some time later in a dark room. From the smell, he could discern that it was somewhere in the deep tunnels that crisscrossed the entire planet. The Sullustans that had escaped the surface destruction and weren't in the areas that had been decimated had pulled him from the surface and were working to repair his broken body.

His arm had been cleaned up and healed with what little Bacta the refugees had. Krii'nek was thankful and, as a result, was now helping to rescue those that were still on the surface. He reached out with the force and felt the refugees he had been sheltering, a starving band of women and children, enter into the underground. Hit job complete, Krii'nek set out to save some more.

He made his way through the rubble and bombed out city. Looking for faint glimmerings within the force. He felt several pockets deep underground and a few that were moving through the city. He tried to make his way to them, but the way was more difficult than he could have predicted. Everywhere he tried to cross the gulf that separated him and the refugees there was some piece of architecture that impeded his progress. Krii'nek began to become worried that he wouldn't reach them before the Sith Troopers did.

Those fears were soon realized when he felt a spike of anguish within the force. His finely tuned Bothan ears picked up the sounds of blaster fire coming from beyond a large pile of rubble. Resolved, Krii'nek clipped his lightsaber to his belt and began to climb the pile. He had to move quickly if he had any hope of saving those that lay beyond. By the time Krii'nek reached the top both his mind and his body ached. There were numerous cuts on his skin from where sharp pieces of metal had caught him and in his mind he could feel death.

Ever since the bombings it seemed like every time there was pain, Krii'nek was the first to feel it. He was attuned to suffering, both his own and that of others. This time was no different. Krii'nek neared the top of the rubble and he slowed his pace. He neared the top and peered over. Horror was the first thing he felt, then a great sadness.

Bodies were always a strange thing to see. Their resemblance to life was so close that it could often times fool you into thinking nothing was wrong. Soon your perception kicks in and you realize that all isn't well. Very much the opposite in fact. Krii'nek stared in disbelief as one Sith Trooper tossed another slender corpse onto the growing pile.

Krii'nek didn't recognize the fact that there was one still alive until it was too late. The little girl, not much unlike the one he had tried to save days before, stood whimpering as the two troopers discussed what to do with her.

"We could take her back to become a slave. Labor camps are always looking for fresh meat." The trooper on the left stated. This trooper was taller than Krii'nek but of average height for a human. His counterpart, however, was much bigger.

"Nah, too much work to submit some little girl to a labor camp. Let's just get rid of her and find some more." The trooper nudged the little Sullustan with the barrel of his blaster as he spoke. The lack of reverence for life disgusted Krii'nek so much he thought he was going to throw up.

Slowly, to not alarm the two, Krii'nek unclipped his lightsaber and poised his thumb over the activation switch. He would have to find a way to move in on the two soldiers without alerting them to his presence. Slowly, with all deliberation, Krii'nek started to move over the threshold.

Like before, when Cuiv's body was burned away right before his eyes, it happened in slow motion. The trooper raised the blaster carbine in one hand; the shiny, silver blaster gleamed in the sunlight. With a smile that no one could see, the trooper squeezed out a shot.

The little girl bucked as the bolt lanced into the middle of her breastbone. She sighed as the last bit of life poured out of her. Her eyes, for a brief moment that felt as if it would never end, met Krii'nek's eyes. Krii'nek's heart sank as the trooper reached out and caught the girl by the neck before she fell. He unceremoniously tossed her onto the pile.

Something inside of Krii'nek snapped. He couldn't take what had just happened and he was driven crazy. His hand gripped the saber and all of the muscles in his body twitched. Krii'nek watched the girls body fall, instantly realizing that he had failed as a Watchman. As her body slumped onto the pile, Krii'nek roared.

His clawed feet propelled him from the rubble, his ardent green blade flared to life. One of Krii'nek's claws broke and sent a spike of pain searing through his leg. Krii'nek ignored it as he flew through the air at the trooper.

The Sith Trooper had barely turned when Krii'nek descended onto him. His lightsaber slashed down and through the Troopers shoulder. Clear through. Krii'nek didn't stop until his saber had come out through the Sith's leg. The two halves of the Troopers body tumbled away and Krii'nek snarled.

The second, shorter Sith Trooper tried to raise his blaster but a quick blast from Krii'nek's mind sent him tumbling through the air. Krii'nek gathered a perverse sense of pleasure from the snap he could sense from the man's chest. Gathering his feet under him, Krii'nek was on top of the man in an instant. His weight slammed the Trooper to the ground and Krii'nek tossed away his saber.

With a slash, his hand was around the Trooper's neck. Krii'nek's claws ached as he pressed them harder into the metal of the Troopers armor. The neck-plates soon buckled under the stress and Krii'nek's claws went through to the skin underneath. The Trooper writhed under the Bothan Jedi as the life was being strangled out of him.

Krii'nek snarled as his fingertips felt wet with blood. He snarled at the Trooper that lay before him. The faceplate reflected the angry face of the Jedi. Underneath, the Trooper gazed up with pleading eyes while Krii'nek was killing him.

"I hate you." Krii'nek said softly. And he did. He hated the thing that lay under his grasp. He hated the Troopers that had no regard for life. He wanted to scream at them. He wanted to fight each and every one of them like this. He wanted to avenge the people that he was sworn to protect. He wanted to have an Arc Cry for the little girl he could save. Most of all, he wanted to make each and every one of them suffer like the Trooper he was strangling.

"I HATE YOU!" Krii'nek roared as the Troopers body spasamed one last time. Standing, Krii'nek tore his claws out of the neck of his victim. He snarled as he drew his saber into his only remaining hand and ignited the blade; his eyes already hunting for another victim.

"Mag 4, break left." Without hesitating, Magenta 4 snap rolled her fighter to the left. Korin squeezed the twin triggers under his fingers and sent a pair of lasers streaking at the Sith Fighter. The craft turned blazing white for a single instant, then it was turned to rapidly cooling slag by a shuddering explosion.

"Thanks, Magenta Lead." Cyra angled her fighter back around and flashed Korin a quick smile.

"All in a day's work." Korin returned the smile and dipped his fighter back into the fray.

It had been close to an hour since Fleet Group Twenty had arrived. Fleet Group Fourteen was due at any moment. Then, and only then, would the battle be a little more even keeled. Korin smiled as he snapped his fighter to the right, narrowly avoiding a Sith Attack Craft. Korin was in his element with Magenta Squadron. They were like his family and, for all intents and purposes, they were his family.

Korin saw a flash out of the corner of his eye. Instantly, he feared for the safety of his wing-mates. "Magentas report in." Korin barrel rolled and sent a stream of bolts at the fighter he was chasing. He was happy to see the bolts met their mark and burned clean through the fighter's hull.

"Mag 2. I'm good to go." Korin could see Traiesk weaving in and out of the Sith lines and slamming bolt after bolt into the sides of the huge, dagger ships. The shots probably meant nothing to the larger ships, but they were giving Traiesk some idea of where the weak points were in their hull.

"Mag 3, reporting in." Magenta 3, Jurus, dropped in behind Korin's fighter. That was the way he always operated. Freelancing until it was time to come together for a larger course of action. Korin didn't have a problem with Jurus' behavior; it kept the guy busy. In the end, that was all Korin could ask for.

"Mag 5. It's getting heavy in here." Korin watched as Mag 5 slammed bolt after bolt into the sith she was pursuing. The Ion Crafted bucked then disintegrated in a brilliant flash.

"Mag 6, here," Korin turned to see Magenta 6 struggling with a fighter that wouldn't get off her tail. Each time she made a move the Sith pilot would send out a grazing shot that would in effect, herd her back where he wanted her.

"I could use some help."

Korin throttled to full and tried to cut the fighter off. The sith pilot was too good for that and pulled his fighter up and away from Korin's blasts. Korin pulled up and tried to follow the Sith Pilot but the Ion backwash from the ships engines prevented him from staying locked on. Korin was trying to consider other possibilities when, suddenly, the fighter cut thrust and Korin sped past.

There was a moment of fear when Korin made eye contact with the Sith Pilot, fear that all he had been working for was about to fly apart right before his eyes, literally. His fear was soon quelled when a bright explosion came from behind his craft.

"You better watch your back, Lead." Magenta 2 chided, appearing where the Sith Fighter once was.

"Thanks, Traiesk. I'll keep that in mind." Korin brought his fighter around and fell into formation with the rest of the Magentas. The battle around them had ebbed for the time being. That did little to calm Korin's nerves, however.

"Where to next?" Cyra inquired as she checked her ships systems. She made minor adjustments to them as she did a cursory field repair job. Her fighter's shields had failed earlier and now she was playing catch-up with the others in Magenta Squadron.

"Apt question, see any good prospects?" Korin did the same to his fighter. Remarkably, he had made it out of that incursion relatively unscathed. His shields were ticking back to full battle readiness at a steady pace.

"I-" Traiesk never finished his sentence due to a loud click coming over the comm. Admiral Essus had some kind of command.

"Magenta squadron, pull back to battle grid five five eight mark three. You're on frigate detail for the Fearless." The comm clicked again, signalizing that the command wasn't up for further discussion.

"Great, frigate detail."

"Can it, Magenta four." Korin throttled up his fighter and started to make his way to the Fearless. "If we have a bird to protect then let's get to it." Korin's comm unit clicked several times to signalize that the Magenta's understood. His comm unit then beeped and, with a flick of the wrist, he went over to his secure channel.

"Look at you, sounding like a true commander." Traiesk snorted, the closest thing the Bothan had to a laugh.

"Heh, thanks old friend. I just wish we had the last two Magentas here to fly with us." Korin sighed as he realized just how empty the squadron felt without Ithica and Tyridac to guard his back.

"Where is Tyr anyway?"

"I hope he'll be here soon." Korin looked ahead as they neared the Fearless. "The broadcast went out over an hour ago."

Korin flipped back to the normal channel just in time to catch some curse that Magenta three uttered. He wanted to echo the sentiment that Magenta three uttered but it just caught in his throat.

The sight that lay before he and his squad failed to coalesce into words. Green squadron, the fighters that were assigned to protect the Fearless were utterly destroyed. The fighters that were probably responsible were busy harrying the capital ship. Korin dropped his fighter into attack speed and powered towards the remaining Sith Fighters.

Korin clicked his comm, "Are there any Greens left?"

A single click came over the comm unit. Korin had already located the downed fighter. A long trail of debris hung behind the fighter. Its entire back section had been decimated and now it was drifting, watching its home ship fend off the fighters it was supposed to neutralize.

The downed Green finally spoke into the comm, "We were hit hard, Mag Lead."

"Apparently." Korin oriented on the fighters that were keeping the Fearless occupied. "Magenta Six, take care of the green." A click told Korin that she understood and was going to see to the downed fighter's well being.

"Let's get them off of Her." Korin brought his fighter up and around, diving headlong into the fighters. When he was within range, Korin let out a stream of blasts into the lead Sith Fighter. The craft blossomed into a brilliant ball of fire. The explosion ripped through the craft and turned what was left of the wing into glorified shrapnel. The wing peeled into the path of an unlucky, unwitting wing-mate. There was no time to act as the wing passed through the transparasteel of the cockpit and caused an explosive decompression. The useless hulk spun away by the time the Magentas engaged the remaining fighters.

The Republic fighters had the edge and within seconds, the Sith fighters were no more. Korin made a quick pass of the cruiser to check on the damage that had been done. There was some carbon scoring but she was intact; something to be thankful for.

"Fearless, you guys alright?" Korin hailed.

"We are now, Magentas. Thanks." Captain Mayin's voice sounded more hoarse than usual. Like he had seen better days.

That's the general sentiment, Korin thought. We've all seen better days. This war had been hard on everyone, even though it was quite early on. Not many Jedi had been deployed and Korin wondered how long it would remain that way.

The Republic seemed to forget the Jedi in times of peace. When no one needed a good warrior it seemed like the Jedi just fell to the wayside; as if they were out of work. Korin wasn't sure how he felt about that ugly little truth. He didn't like to think that the Jedi were tools of war. Even though it was a contradiction for him to think that way. He was a Jedi Guardian. A Jedi Warrior. A Jedi Weapon. He always felt in his element during conflict; during a fight. And that little fact ate him up inside.

"Heads up, Magentas. Here they come."

Korin looked in time to see the fighters that were coming at their position. Close behind was one of the large Dagger-shaped capital ships. It, too, was closing fast. "Key it up, Magentas." Korin said. I taught them not to give into violence. To seek the high road. "Let's take it to them." Yet here I am doing quite the opposite. In the back of his mind, Korin could hear Master Adaffa. Hypocrite.

"What is that?" Traiesk spoke.

Korin already saw what Traiesk was talking about. A large, boxy craft was speeding towards the surface of Sullust. Troop Carrier, Korin thought. "Fearless, are you seeing this?"

"We see it. That's why Green Squad was hit so hard. They were trying to take that blasted thing out." Korin winced. That meant they would hit Magenta at least as hard. There were only six of them to fight against a whole capital ship.

I need to get to the surface. Korin flipped his comm unit on. "Admiral Essus, I request additional support for the Fearless."

It was a moment before Essus returned. "Copy that. One squadron is on its way. Essus out."

Korin toggled his frequency back to the Magenta Squad. "Can you handle it, Traiesk?"

"Yeah, you planning on taking a stroll?" Traiesk looked at him from across the vacuum that separated them.

"I'm going to make sure that Transport never makes it to the surface. Then I'm going to mop up what is already there." Korin kicked his fighter to its highest speed. "Fearless, I'm heading down to follow that ship."

"Why?" Captain Mayin retorted.

"Because that's the whole reason we're here in the first place. To stop the suffering of innocent civilians." Korin smiled to himself as he juked past the line of fighters, his shields flickering only slightly. "When Joran Bender and Tyridac Rohadz make it here, see them down to me."

As the fighting resumed behind, Korin silently brooded in his cockpit. This is what a Jedi truly is. A protector. Korin's smile faded. I wish I could protect without destruction.

Korin's shields started to heat up as he entered the atmosphere. Plunging to whatever destiny awaited.