Aboard the Providence-Class Star Dreadnought Tanug Legacy

"Bring us about!" ordered Sabine, "Our next jump will be for Ord Lithone. Make sure all of the ships are ready in five."

Suddenly, the ship jolted and began to turn unerringly towards the enemy and even move in their direction. "What the hell?" she snapped, "What are you doing?"

The helmsman said, "It isn't us, Mandalore! We're now at full reverse thrusters. Something's pulling us toward the Imperials!"

Sabine exchanged looks with her chieftains as the Jedi hurried onto the bridge. "Those clones are pulling us towards them;" said General Kota grimly.

"Is there any way to stop it?" demanded Gaverous Ordo.

The six Jedi strode towards the viewport and spread out. "We can try;" said Kota, those his tone didn't envoke confidence. "use your Dreadnought Heavy Cruisers, Mandalore. Have them catch us with tractor beams and try to keep us from moving as well."

"This isn't going to work;" murmured Galen. "There are still so many of them."

"We have to try something;" said Kota. "And if you don't have any better ideas, this is what we have."

With deep breaths, they reached out as one, attempting to block the massive power that was drawing them towards the Imperials.

Stalker Prime smiled grimly. The Jedi were trying to block them. That would do them no good. He had thirty powerful Dark Jedi behind him and the defense was barely even slowing the rebel ship's approach. As he watched, the Rendili Dreadnoughts formed around the ship and the strain suddenly became much greater. "They're using tractor beams;" he said casually. "Give it everything you've got, brothers."

Again, the Providence Dreadnought was coming towards them. "Contact Admiral Price aboard the Predator;" he ordered the comms officer. "Tell her that the rebel command ship with soon be in range."

After receiving the report, Pryce smiled coldly. The Stalker's plan was working. She had stationed all of the Dark Jedi aboard the Star Destroyer Asmodeous since it would be the tip of her forward assault and everything seemed to be working splendidly. Still, there was little room for error. Caution was always the better part of valor.

"Abandon ship;" order Sabine, her voice harsh with frustration. "Abandon ship."

Turning to the others, she said, "We may have slowed this down but we can't stop it. Captain Callus's frigate will be our new command ship. In the mean time, I was every fighter and every soul aboard this ship off of it except for myself, the Jedi and you, Gaverous. We'll get out aboard the Rogue Shadow just before the collision."

"Collision;" gritted Kota as he strained with the force, "what collis-" but then it dawned on him.

As each ship's section was cleared, a Mandalorian officer declared reported it before leaving themselves. Every Fang and Gauntlet fighter fled from the hanger. Every escape pod was jettisoned. Warriors were packed aboard the Ghost, the Phantom II, the Rogue Explorer, the Scimitar and the Imperial shuttle the only souls left aboard the ship were the Jedi, Mandalore, Gaverous Ordo and Juno Eclipse who was waiting with the Rogue Shadow powered up and ready to take off. "Alright, get to the primary command console;" Sabine order Gaverous. "I want you to lock the accelerator in forward at full speed. I'll contact the other ships to cut the tractor beams at the same time. Once we do, we're all breaking for the hanger."

She hurried to the comms and contacted the dreadnoughts. When their quarter-sized holos appeared, she said, "Alight, get your tractor beam teams on the line. When I give the command, order them to shut the emplacements down. Ready Gaverous?"

The Mandalorian chieftain looked up and nodded, "Ready Mandalore."

"General Kota?"

"Waiting on your command, Mandalore;" gritted the old General.

Taking a deep breath, Sabine said, "On my mark: Three... two... one... MARK!"

All at once, power was pushed to the engines and locked on full speed. The dreadnoughts deactivated their tractor beams and broke off, orienting themselves to prepare for the jump to lightspeed. The Jedi ended their defense and they all broke for the hanger. "This way;" said Ahsoka, "we'll take the command lifts directly to the hanger. It will be faster."

They followed her at a run and made it to the lifts. The Rogue Shadow was already purring and ready with PROXY at the bottom of the ramp, waiving them forward. As soon as the last pair of feet were on the ramp, it began to rise and the ships took off, heading towards open space. The cloaking device activated before the ship penetrated the hanger's atmospheric shields and they were away, just as the Star Destroyer opened up.

Stalker Prime had understood what was happening immediately. As soon as all resistance abruptly ceased and the ship began heading straight for the ship he and the other Stalkers was aboard. "Enough! Get to the hanger, NOW!" he ordered.

They broke off and all thirty of them sprinted with force powered speed to the hanger. They managed to abscond with a Sentinel-Class Lander Ship and made it out just before the collision. The Providence Dreadnought smashed into the Star Destroyer and no amount of shielding or armor stopped it from smashing into it like giant fist. The captain had called for the ship to be abandoned but it had been far too late. Fifty-four thousand Imperial Officers, crew members and troops died in a matter of seconds.

Admiral Pryce watched, stone faced, as the ship went up. All around her, she could feel her officers and crew men and women shifting uncomfortably. With a snarl, she said, "I want all ships to advanced and attack those rebel-" but before she could finish, the rebel fleet jumped to hyperspace.

Pryce had been prepared for this. Her scanners and sensor crews would already be plotting the trajectory of the escaping ship but even so, the frustration of their escape galled her. "Got it;" said one of her officers.

He grabbed a data card from his console and ran to the galaxy holomap emitter. "Admiral, I have their trajectory. They're heading cross-wise across the Inner Rim towards the Expansion Region, West by North along this route. There are numerous places they could possibly decided to revert to real space or be pulled out by a planet's mass shadow."

It was true. There was an incredibly narrow corridor between the mass shadows of star systems. However, Pryce immediately determined where they were heading. She took the control device and zoomed in to one system right on the very edge of the Inner Rim. "Ord Lithone - that's where they are heading. It's lightyears away from anything important. If I'm not mistaken, it's sparsely populated and not along any major hyperspace routs."

The officer nodded. Pryce turned to her captain. "I want Black Sword Command contacted and the Sector Fleet's interdiction squadron ready to meet them. If we hurry, they may beat the rebels and will certainly beat us."

"Right away, Admiral."

Just then, the Stalker strolled onto the bridge. Admiral Pryce turned and smiled coldly. "That was very impressive, Stalker. I don't think I've ever seen such power."

"How could we have anticipated that?" the dark warrior snapped.

Pryce lifted a hand. "Calm down, Prime. I meant it as a complement and without any sarcasm or enmity. Truly, you were pulling a dreadnought with your powers, despite four heavy cruisers trying to stop you with their tractor beams. That is power. No wonder the Emperor sent you to chase rebels rather than keeping to close. You probably scare him."

She could tell she had said the right thing. Prime straightened slightly and said, "I see. Even so, that was unexpected. I would have thought that the Mandalorians would defend their flagship rather than abandon it."

"Mandalorians do not care about weapons of war, they care about succeeding at their purpose. If a weapon becomes a liability, they will discard it and if they can do so by plunging it into one of their enemies, all the better;" said the Admiral.

She was silent, tapping her lips with a finger before saying, "Get all ships ready to depart. We will jump in three hours. That will hopefully put the rebels at a sense of false security and ease. Then, the Sector fleet will drop out and trap them and then we will drop out and finish this hunt."

Prime nodded, a glimmer of something absolutely unexpected in his eyes. Was that respect? Even admiration perhaps? "I see, Admiral;" he said. "I will have to watch you carefully. I could learn a lot from you."

It was a clumsy attempt to stroke her ego - and of course, it worked. "I would be happy to teach you everything I can - so long as it does not interfere with your own mission, of course. I would hate for Lord Vader to think I was a distraction to you."

The Prime smiled a little. "I do not easily get distracted. However, there is no reason to avoid opportunities to learn - or to build a strong working relationship with one who shares my mission."

The Imperial officers around continued to work diligently but also listened to the odd conversation. Was this creepy Dark Jedi clone flirting with the Admiral? What's more, was she really flirting back.

"Well, Prime, I would be very gratified if you would take the evening meal with me. After that, I can impart some of my knowledge and wisdom on you which was imparted on me by quite possibly the greatest military mind of all time."

The Stalker inclined his head. "It would be my honor, Admiral. In the mean time, I will be training with my brothers."

She bowed her head and he mirrored the motion before turning and heading to where his fellow Dark Jedi waited.

Hyperspace - Aboard the Alliance Assault Frigate Stubborn Fool

The other Mandalorian warriors, including Gaverous, had divided among the Mandalorian Heavy Cruisers and their fighters had been attached via external hatches and industrial grav-clamps. Sabine, however, stayed aboard the Alliance Frigate.

Ezra sat in one of the forward most turbolaser batteries of the frigate in a meditative position. Despite his stance, the young Jedi wasn't meditating. No, he was thinking about the Mandalore. He and Sabine had been friends for years now and he really, really- something. He felt very strongly for her at any rate and the idea of a thousand Mandalorian warriors constantly proposing to her unsettled him. It wasn't that he was worried that she would just accept one. More likely, she would order the proposals to stop until further notice. Even so, he felt a sudden, unspeakable desire that she would know how he felt about her. That was pretty complicated because Ezra himself wasn't sure how he felt about her.

There was a rustle and a light clink right in front of him. Ezra tried to frown and realized that he already was. Opening one eye, he saw Mandalore the Deliverer, his friend Sabine Wren, gazing at him thoughtfully.

Ezra opened his other eye and she asked, "What are you doing?"

"Just meditating;" he said.

Sabine's eyes twinkled. "No you're not. You never have a pinched face like that during meditation. It's always so calm and serene and you ease out of it. You don't pop one eye open to see who it is first."

Ezra blushed and shrugged. "Okay, I was trying to meditate but I have a lot on my mind."

"The battle?" she asked.

"What battle?" chuckled Ezra mirthlessly. "They just ripped a dreadnought out of our fleet with absolute ease. How are we supposed to fight that?"

Sabine fidgeted and murmured, "I don't know. It terrifies me. We-" and she shook her head and sighed. "Hopefully General Kota and Hera can come up with a good plan. Anyhow, we'll be dropping out of hyperspace in a few hours."

Ezra nodded and rubbed his temples. They were quiet before Sabine scooted over beside him. "What else were you thinking about? You've been up here for awhile."

Ezra shrugged and didn't answer. With a grin, Sabine nudged him with her elbow. "What? It can't be that bad! Were you thinking about, you know, before the battle?"

Ezra looked at her and tried to will the color away from his face. Apparently it didn't work because Sabine blushed too. "Any particular part?" she murmured as she looked away.

"The training;" he answered way too quickly. "It was good training. I hope I was helpful, you know."

Sabine nodded, "Oh yes! Very helpful!"

They were quiet again before Ezra realized that he simply couldn't stand it anymore. "Sabine I- I- I don't know."

She was looking at him now. Her eyes curious and maybe even a little scared. He tried again, "We've-" he had to lick dry lips and dry swallow as well, "we've been fighting together for quite some time now. You've always been there for me and I- I hope that I've always been clear that I'll be there for you if you need me."

She smiled and looked away, her hair just long enough to act as a curtain to her side profile. "You have. You've been there for me whenever I needed you."

Ezra scooted just a little closer and put a hand hesitantly on one of hers. "I- you- you mean a lot to me, Sabine. I mean, I really, really care for you and- well- I-" and he began to stammer again when she abruptly stood up and looked at him.

Her eyes were confused and worried but she smiled. "That's really sweet, Ezra. It is. It really is, but right now, our situation is just so-" and she motioned generically out the viewport at if the swirling blue miasma of hyperspace explained what she meant.

When Ezra's face fell, she crouched and took his face in her hands. "Listen to me;" she said, seriously and earnestly, "this isn't a rejection of you, Ezra. It isn't. It's just, I'm Mandalore and we're in the middle of quite possibly the most dangerous operation of our lives and I can't be thinking about this right now. Neither can you. There's too much at stake. Promise me, please promise me you won't pull away or cut me off."

Ezra looked away for a moment before looking back at her with a smile. His electric blue eyes were filled with a mixture of understanding and disappointment - but the understanding was enough for her. He kissed the palm of one of her hands and said, "I understand and you're probably right."

Sabine smiled and patted his cheek. "Of course I am. Come on. Let's go see what kind of training you Jedi are doing and my warriors too. Can't let either of us get rusty, can we?"

Ezra stood and stretched. "Of course not. Lead the way, Mandalore."

Galen and Kota dueled back and forth across the hanger deck. To the younger Jedi's surprise, blindness seem to have improved the old man's ability. He remained mostly on the defensive, catching every one of Galen's strikes. Subtly, the Jedi Knight shifted from his primary styles of Forms V and VI to the Vaapad variant of Form VII. The old man grinned. "I've heard of Vaapad users seeming to wield a dozen weapons at once. That works against someone who has eyes to deceive them. I can still sense every move you make, boy."

Galen didn't let his master's words get to him. To his surprise, he could sense that Rahm, who had no training in Vaapad, was unconsciously applying the same philosophy to his fighting style, feeding off his own darkness and, since Galen had turned it into a superconducting circuit of force energy, off of Galen's as well. What's more, the old man was enjoying their exchange thoroughly and that competitive spirit was also aligned with the theory and application of Vaapad. Even so, Rahm Kota was adnvanced in years and Galen was a very gifted lightsaber swordsman. "Alright, alright!" laughed Rahm, breathing heavily and lifting a hand. "You've beaten me down, Starkiller. I thought you were scary before but you've really come a long way."

Galen deactivated his lightsabers and grinned. "Thanks. Your philosophy to combat is quite interesting, not at all unlike a Vaapad practitioners would be. Yet your mind, your psyche, it's so regimented and uniform. It's like you made a place for the dark side in you and you keep it there with regimental discipline."

The old man sipped from a water canteen and then tapped the side of his nose. "But that's just it, my boy. The dark side is in all of us and we'll always be fighting against it and the desire to allow it to dominate us. Balance is the key - continuously looking to the light side of the force to counter the dark side. As for me, I just keep everything in its place and refuse to let it even have a little leeway, just like I would a platoon of fresh, new, young soldiers."

Galen nodded in understanding. He himself knew what the general meant. The dark side was like a drug that never completely got out of the system and indulging in it was like taking another dose. The more you did so, the worse the desire and temptation became.

Just then, Sabine and Ezra came in and Galen called over, "Hey Ezra. Looking to get some practice in?"

"Sure;" said Ezra, pulling his lightsaber from his belt.

Kanan and Rahm watched as they squared off. "This ought to be interesting;" murmured Kanan. "Wish I had eyes again."

"Me too;" said Rahm. "I'll bet they both teach each other something."

Sabine watched intently too. Galen made the first move in a flurry of blows. Ezra fainted to one side and rolled around, avoiding several and interrupted the series by counter-attacking. It managed to throw Galen just a little off-balance and Ezra capitalized on it and pressed the attack. It didn't take Galen long to regain his footing and he batted aside the younger man's assault before pushing him the length of the hanger before Ezra suddenly leaped over his head, attempting to slash downward as he sailed over head. Galen managed to narrowly avoid the attack and spun around in time to catch Ezra's next onslaught.

They went back and forth across the deck plating, Ezra continuously moving around his opponent like an orbiting satellite in an attempt to keep the older Jedi from gaining any momentum while Galen tried to pin the younger down. Sabine watched opened mouthed at the display. As a warrior, she could appreciate the technique and the skill very much.

When Galen finally lifted his hand and said, "Alright, alright."

Ezra sat down with a sigh and puffed as he tried to regain his breath. "You have solid technique, Ezra and you've made Form V your own. I'm very impressed."

"Thanks;" said the younger Jedi as he pulled himself to his feet. "Where did you learn to fight like that?"

"Darth Vader was my first master. He was a brutal teacher;" said Galen. "After that, I met an old hermit who taught me some tricks. Kota continues to aid in my instruction as well."

Kanan pulled his lightsaber from his belt and asked Sabine, "Want to cross blades, Mandalore?"

"For sure;" she said.

Ahsoka and Maris began to spar as well and for some time, they continued their training session until Captain Kallus came over the intercom. "We've arrived at Ord Lithone. All hands to battle stations and prepare for the Imperials to arrive."

"Let's hit the showers;" said Rahm.

Thirty minutes later, they all joined Hera and Kallus on the bridge. "They should have been right behind us;" said Hera, clearly concerned.

"Yes, they should have been;" said Kota. "Something's going on. Keep everyone ready - and have all ships lock onto each other with tractor beams as well. If those dark siders want to try and take one of our ships, they can damn well try to pull our whole fleet towards them."

Just then, Ahsoka looked at the planet below. "What do we know about Ord Lithone?"

Everyone looked at her. "Uh..." said Ezra, rubbing the back of his head. "Yeah... I got nothing."

For the most part, the others seemed to not know anything either. "I just remembered something about it. My master said that, before the war, it used to be a Separatist manufacturing and depot world earlier in the wars but..." and she trailed off. "I'm going to head down there real fast."

Maris lifted a hand. "I'll go too."

"You're taking a team with you;" said Rahm firmly. "I'll have a group meet you in the hanger and you can take a U-wing."

Ahsoka gave a wry smile. "I can handle myself, General. I've been doing it for long enough."

"Well you aren't alone anymore, Tano;" growled the General gruffly. "And I'll be damned if I lose you because you decide to twirl off on your own and take unnecessary risks."

Clearly resisting the urge to roll her eyes, Ahsoka gave a salute with two fingers and headed towards the hanger with Maris Brood right behind her.

As she angled the ship down towards the planet, Maris asked Ahsoka, "What are we looking to find down there?"

"I don't know;" admitted Ahsoka. "But I'm honestly hoping there's a way even the odds against the Imperials. Hell, even if it's a few surplus battle droids, we can reprogram them to fight or pilot or man the guns or something."

As they broke through the atmosphere and the cloud layers beneath, they found themselves looking at a massive industrial facility. Rather than abandoned, smokes and steams were pouring from it and in the distance, there was a small fleet of capital ships - Separatist Capital ships. "What the hell?" whispered Ahsoka.

"Let's go check it-" but Maris was interrupted when a half a dozen Vulture droid starfighters flew overhead. Their comms systems chimed. "Unidentified Dropship, you and your fleet have entered Separatist Space. You will land on the indicated platform and submit yourselves for inspection."

"That voice;" murmured Ahsoka. "It's a Separatist Super Tactical droids."

Maris frowned. "Are we in trouble?"

"Maybe;" said Ahsoka. "But I am hoping that we can convince them that the Empire is the enemy and that we, the rebellion, are not. Our philosophy is actually not so different than the old Confederacy of Independent Systems' was. Only this time, we know for sure who the enemy is."

"The Emperor;" said Maris.

"The Sith;" corrected Ahsoka. "We'll go down and parley if we can. Lieutenant;" she called back to the leader of the twenty-four militia troops. "Your platoon will wait here unless they insist otherwise. Don't cause any trouble - at least not yet."

"Yes, Ma'am;" said the clean-shaven military man before passing on the orders to his troops.

They landed and were met by a dozen battle droids and two super battle droids, all the by a TX tactical droid. "You will come with us;" said the tactical droid. "The general would see you."

"Of course. Our men will stay aboard the ship, if you don't mind;" said Ahsoka conversationally and amiably. "We were hoping not to be too long down here."

That seemed to confuse the tactical droid. "That does not compute. You are Jedi. You are enemies of the Confederacy."

"Just take us to your General;" said Ahsoka, "things have changed in the galaxy and I think he would be interested to hear about it."

After a moment, the droid turned and Ahsoka and Maris followed it. As they made it to the facility, six BX Commando droids formed up on each side of them and took them from the entrance to what was clearly the command room of the whole facility. As they went, Ahsoka noted that the massive factory had been transformed into a well armed and fortified military base. The command room, obviously a primary control center of some kind originally, had holovids and screens that showed the bases sectors, visual and kinetic scanners and a thousand and one other military grade pieces of equipment, clearly taken from the inside of a star cruiser. In a command chair sat the Super Tactical droid - one of the few droids made to learn, adapt and command against the Jedi Generals of the Clone Wars.

As they strode in, the droid stood. "Jedi Ahsoka Tano. This is a surprise, indeed. The chances of you coming here are less than one percent."

"General;" said Ahsoka, inclining her head, "I have information. A lot has changed in the galaxy since you were last given orders."

"I'm sure;" said the droid. "Since the last orders I received were from the Separatist hold-outs on Mustafar and they were that the droid armies would shut down. Suffice to say, I and some of the other Super Tactical droids realized that the Separatists Alliance and Count Dooku would never issue such orders ans suspected subterfuge."

"Whoever programmed you did a magnificent job;" said Ahsoka. "That's exactly what happened. Count Dooku was killed at the orders of a secret adversary and shortly there-after, many members of the Separatist Alliance were assassinated by this adversary's servant. He then declared himself Emperor of the galaxy."

There was a long silence before the ST Droid said, "Your information does not compute. Who was this adversary?"

The droids all aimed their weapons as Ahsoka rummaged in her belt pouches until she produced a data disk. "This contains the events of the final days of the Clone Wars and also several of the days that follow. You will be able to tell that they are not fabricated or doctored."

The droid examined it and then inserted it into a holo-projector. Images appeared of Emperor Palpatine making speeches to the Senate and the galaxy at large, announcing the betrayal of the Jedi and the end of the war. News articles spoke of Separatist military shut downs and the arrests of Separatist leaders. When all was said and done, the ST droid looked at Ahsoka. "Judging by what you have said and the clearly legitimate footage here, it would seem that the Separatist movement has been defeated, leaving us without purpose."

"The Separatist's have been defeated;" admitted Ahsoka, her voice filled with sympathy. "But your purpose remains. The corruption within the Republic caused its transformation into the Empire. Now there is a Rebel Alliance fighting to restore order and defeat that corruption. We would be gratified if you would assist us with your fleet and droid armies."

The Super Tactical droid didn't seem to compute. "We were programmed to fight the Republic. The Republic is no more. The Confederacy of Independent Systems is no more. We are leaderless."

"But you don't have to be, General;" insisted Ahsoka. "Allow us to give you new leadership and new purpose."

It seemed as though the general droid had not had its memory wiped, otherwise, the idea of new purpose and such would not have even gotten through to it. But almost twenty years without one gave the already-advanced tactical droid something to consider. "What would our purpose be?"

"Help us end the corruption of the Galactic Empire;" said Ahsoka. "Help us restore freedom to the galaxy. That is what the Separatists wanted, isn't it? Freedom from a corrupt government?"

"Yes it was;" said the droid, finality in its automated voice. "Commanders;" it said to the OOM command droids, TX Tactical Droids and six BX commando droids with officers markings. "I want all units loaded aboard those ships. Jedi, I would like you and your apprentice to join me aboard my command ship. Do you have forces in orbit?"

"Yes, sir;" she said, "If you allow me to return to my dropship, I will contact them. May I give them a summary of your numbers - how many droids and ships you have at least?"

"We have sixteen Munificient-Class Frigates, a Lucrehulk-class Battleship, four Providence-class Dreadnoughts and two Recusant-class Destroyers."

Ahsoka whistled. "How did you keep them all powered up and maintained?"

"This factory had everything we needed;" said ST. "Now go and contact your ship. Let them know that help will be arriving soon."

Kota was getting anxious. The Imperials hadn't arrived yet and Ahsoka had been gone for almost an hour now. "Come on, girl;" he muttered. "Where are you?"

Turning to the scanning crew pit, he was about to order them to run a scan on the planet below when the comms officer called, "Sir, I have Fulcrum on the line for you."

Kota nearly ran to him and said, "Connect. Ahsoka, do you read?"

"Loud and clear, General. I have some good, if very odd, news. I just found us some help down here - a lot of help, in fact."

Kota felt a little uneasy at the announcement. He could sense the others coming up behind him as he asked, "What kind of help are we talking here?"

"An armada of Separatist war ships and armies of battle droids led by a Super Tactical droid. We convinced them to assist us in the coming fight."

Rahm could sense the shock of those behind him, mirroring his own. "Are you kidding, Tano?"

"No, sir. We convinced them to help us fight the Empire, explaining that the Rebel Alliance is the next logical step after the failure of the Separatists."

Rahm could sense Kanan's misgivings clearly while the others seemed to not be too concerned. Some of them even seemed excited about the idea. "What are their numbers, Tano? How many ships and how many droids?"

"Enough to crew and fill sixteen Banking clan Frigates, a droid control ship, four Trade Federation Cruisers and two Commerce Guild Destroyers; I'll be going aboard the Control ship with the Super tactical droid. Listen, I can tell you're all hesitant but I think that they'll be a huge help to us."

"How do you know they aren't lying, Ahsoka?" asked Ezra.

To their surprise, she laughed and said, "They're droids, Ezra. I don't think they can lie."

The logic was certainly flawed but they trusted Ahsoka and she seemed to think they could be believed. "Well if no one else objects;" said Kota grimly, "have them join us up here. As soon as possible, get the super Tactical droids on the comms. I want to coordinate with him."

"Understood. Tano out."

Rahm could still sense that Ezra and Kanan were still apprehensive. "Something wrong, gentlemen?" he asked.

"We ran into a droid like this before on Agamar. He wanted to determine who won the war - the Republic or the Separatists. This one seems to understand a little better."

"It may help that we don't have any clone troopers with us;" chuckled Ezra. "The fact that we were Jedi who had a Clone Trooper with us seemed to be what set him off."

Kanan nodded. "True. Maybe that's it - or maybe Ahsoka was able to explain the situation far better than we were. Anyhow, let's way and see."

They had only an hour or so to wait. Out from the planet came the ships and Galen hissed as they approached. "If they wait until they're close enough to attack, we'll be wiped out in short-"

"Sir, Imperial Star Destroyers have just dropped out of hyperspace!" called Captain Kallus.

Kota turned towards the viewport and said, "Well if those Super Tactical droids were half as smart as reports made them out to be, even if this one is betraying us, he can't now without leaving himself too weak to fight. Comms officer, direct any calls to the bridge intercom system."

Galen murmured, "That isn't the fleet that's been following us. It's a whole other fleet."

"It's probably the Sector fleet then;" said Kota. "What kind of ships are we looking at, Starkiller?"

"The usual - Imp Stars and Vic Stars and a few Strike Cruisers, Carrack Cruisers and Lancer Frigates. Oh blast!" the younger Jedi suddenly cursed. "We have an Interdictor-Class Star Destroyer."

Rahm looked in his direction. "Did you say an Interdictor Star Destroyer?"

"Yup - a modified Imperial I-Class Star Destroyer with massive gravity well generators. Whoever is in charge of that fleet pursuing us isn't a glory seeking hound or some regional warlord who wants prestige. They're methodical and tactically savvy. Aside from those Sith Stalker, who I doubt Vader had trained to be strategists or tacticians, who else could be leading this force?"

Rahm didn't answer. He had no idea which of the Emperor's many high ranking Admirals, Generals, Warlords and Moffs could possibly be after them but this was a masterful stroke. Soon enough, their pursuers would drop out of hyperspace and the two combined fleets would annihilate them. Just then, the bridge's intercom system chimed and an automated droid said, "General Kota, this is Super Tactical droid Kapernus. What are your orders?"

"Have your ships lock together with tractor beams;" said the old general. "Our enemies will have powerful individuals who can use the force to pull our ships out of formation."

There was silence for a moment before the droid replied, "So this Emperor Palpatine has Jedi of his own."

"Something like that;" said Kota, his voice cold.

"Generals, they're powering up the gravity well generators;" called one of the sensor officers.

"Prepare to launch all fighters in defensive tactics. I want them to remain here until the enemy gets close. I want Marines and commandos standing by at dropships and shuttles to be ready to board. General Kapernus, have your droids ready."

"Understood, sir. I will follow your command."

Kota nodded. The Imperial Star Destroyers approached and he knew that they would not stop and wait for whoever was hunting the rebels. No, the Moff would want these rebels for themselves.