Hot Pursuit

He slashed left and right, dropping two Sith soldiers instantly, as he deflected several bolts, sending a few back towards the shooters. Dante blocked three more bolts and sent them flying into a few Sith soldiers as he called upon the Force and with surprising strength, sent a group of Sith flying into the mine emplacements, causing several explosions.

He leaped over a squad of Sith Elites and arced his lightsaber around, slicing through the back of one and spinning his blade around to slash through the chest plate of another Sith.

The third Sith dropped his blaster and brandished a blade, only to find a flying foot smash through his faceplate, sending him back, dazed and unconscious.

Dante looked up and noticed something peculiar: there were only regular infantry and a handful of elite soldiers and grenadiers. There was no support vehicles, soldiers or anything of the sort. He ignored the group of invigorated militia running past him, shooting through several of the Sith as Khoonda defence droids aided the bolstered and motivated militia.

He deflected a few bolts and knew that the battle was over—on the surface. Where are the Sith fighters? He looked up and only saw clear skies, as the plumes of smoke rose into the air. There was nothing else—only a platoon of Sith and mere infantry at that.

Before he would be forced to speak to the Head Minister of the settlement, he left, knowing full well that the Sith had only come for one reason: the Enclave.

Racing towards the Enclave, he found it still standing, yet somehow he knew there was more to the blatant Sith attack. There had to be, after all, a coordinated group of Sith assaulted a small out-of-the-way planet. He looked around and saw nothing around him. Reaching out with the Force, he continued to feel a dark presence above in space—there were Dark Jedi above. Dante also felt something subtle around him. Small, minute traces of ripples fluttering around him, but randomly. His eyes were closed, but he tightened his grip on his lightsaber, feeling something around him.

He opened his eyes widely as he spun about, igniting his lightsaber and slicing horizontally, lopping off the head of a Dark Jedi, as he heard two distinct snap-hisses of lightsabers. He continued his spin, completing a 360-degree turn and blocked two crimson blades that came slashing down towards him.

He faced two black clad women, their eyes gleaming with hunger for his death as they coordinated their assault towards him, forcing Dante to parry each assault and spin about, deflecting and blocking as they swung deftly.

He locked blades with one and with an outstretched palm, sent the other Dark Jedi flying back, as he swung his lightsaber high and low, clashing against the single blade that came at him.

"You're doomed, Jedi," she hissed as she arced her blade high over her head and came slashing down.

Dante brought his lightsaber up horizontally and blocked it, as he spun about, bringing himself closer to the woman as he slashed through her chest, killing her. "I beg to differ," he said as he looked upward and saw the other Dark Jedi flying towards him, screaming as her blade came thrusting towards his face.

The Jedi leapt back and deflected the crimson blade, turning it away from him as he spun about, to block another slash. He arced his blade upward, parrying her thrust and he sent her stumbling, as he turned around and shoved her away, while he thrust his lightsaber into her chest, burning her heart.

Before she collapsed, she gurgled slightly and her lightsaber deactivated.

He lowered his weapon and turned around to make sure nothing else would surprise him. After he was certain, Dante deactivated his blade and clipped it to his belt as he ran towards the Vaapad, eager to get on board and to send a distress signal to the Republic, as well as investigate the possibility of an invasion fleet.

Climbing aboard, he closed the hatch and strapped himself into the pilot's seat, tapping a few keys and opening a channel to the Republic. "This is Jedi Knight Dante Ravenmoon, I am on Dantooine—there has been an incursion from the Sith. I do not know their numbers—but the militia needs immediate assistance. Ravenmoon out." With that, he gunned the engines, primed the weapon systems and began his ascent out of the planet to assess their numbers—and to look for help if possible. Not again, he thought to himself as he remembered Malak's incursion towards the planet during the Jedi Civil War.

As he left the planet, he couldn't believe his eyes. There was only one Interdictor-class Sith warship and only a squadron of Sith fighters—that were now heading towards him. I can only hope you will follow me, he thought as he guided the Vaapad away from the planet, goading the Sith fighters to follow him as well as the Sith warship.

To his dismay and pleasure, the plan was working. The warship had begun to divert its course towards the gunship, as the squadron began to open fire with crimson energy bolts that flew towards the Vaapad, landing glancing blows on the shields.

Barrel-rolling the fighter, Dante tapped several keys into the navigational computer, sending him towards a remote system—the Miralukan colony world of Katarr. He ignored whatever coordinates the computer would send him, as he tapped another key, opening several small compartments under the belly of the Vaapad. He smiled as he thought of Mandalorian ingenuity when it came to weaponry.

He tapped the key once more to hear a satisfying hiss as he witness several small ball bearings float towards the fighters, detonating into thousands of smaller ball bearings. He watched as several enemy blips winked out and explosions could be heard behind him, as the ball bearings flew towards the Sith fighters, detonating and destroying them.

Several of the ball bearings flew into the cockpit of one hapless fighter and it shattered, sending the fighter glancing off one of its unfortunate companions and began caroming into the planet. The unfortunate companion spun out of control as a few ball bearings shattered the solar panels of the port wing, leaving the pilot to die in space.

Satisfied that the warship was following him, Dante gunned the hyperdrive engine before the warship could activate its gravity well drives. In a blur, the stars began to streak as the Vaapad shot itself far away from the remote planet.

Soon after, the warship followed pursuit.


As the Vaapad shot out of space, so did the Interdictor.

"Blast, too close," he muttered as he rolled the fighter, rerouting energy towards the engines, giving the Vaapad the speed similar to the animal with which it was named after.

He continued to evade as much of the crimson fire that followed as he evaded the warship, eager to bring himself into the planet.

Suddenly his attention was brought as the ship lurched to and fro, and the deflector switch began to beep, indicating that the hull had been breached.

"Oh Sithspit," he muttered as he noticed the port engine had been hit badly. He cycled through the weapons systems, hoping there was something to stop the relentless vessel. His eyes lit up as he saw something that made him smile. Seems the Mandalorians are good for something after all, he thought as he tapped the switch and dumped all of the seismic charges from the ship on a trajectory towards the warship. Of course, the vessel would be too large to evade it—and the weapons systems would be too lax to eliminate all of the charges.

The warship was enveloped by a wave of blue shockwaves, shattering the hull and forcing the mandible shaped vessel to keel over and burst like an overripe fruit. The warship didn't stand a chance as it detonated and was consumed in a massive fireball, sending debris all throughout the system.

The gunship lurched once more and the computer indicated that the Vaapad was finished as several final bursts of crimson energy sheared off the port wing. The gunship had finally outlived its usefulness as its engines began to shatter under the speed with which it began to descent into the planet. Sighing he unbuckled himself and left the seat, tapping an autopilot switch as the gunship began to tear apart under the pressure.

"Goodbye," he said softly as he jumped into the escape hatch and tapped a key, locking the hatch and felt the tug as it left the gunship—along with all of the other escape pods. He targeted it towards the main city—or ruins, rather—as the pod continued to shudder under the speed and pressure. Strapping himself in, he could only close his eyes as he heard a loud explosion, followed by a crash, and his head slammed against the shockwave and he knew only darkness.