Greetings to my lovely readers! Many thanks to those who sent reviews and private messages, I adore them all and your questions bring a smile to my face. I am most pleased to report that the story is proceeding well, and the plot is most delightful to me as it generates itself before my eyes. Hopefully, you all think the same as we proceed onward into the unknown future of the Galaxy far away, and I love to hear more from you about how you feel regarding the chapters as they are presented to you, slowly and steadily like a fine banquet. For the fun of it, I would request an answer to a question in the reviews, mentioning a specific scenario that you'd like to see happen in the story. It could be regarding characters in this chapter, previous or future, from the legends canon for this time period or from my fan-made canon. just write an event you'd like to see happen, and who knows. I may be inspired to include it in some fashion in the future of the story. So, with that humble request, please R&R, and enjoy the next chapter. ~F
Chapter Eight
Pressure
Filius Flitwick looked on eagerly as their fleet emerged from Hyperspace to the outskirts of the first system that they would investigate, Roxuli. Less of a planet and more of a centralize staging area for the massive asteroid mining operation that was taking place here. Highly unlikely that they would find too much of use, but it was a good enough place to start their search for the Republic remnant and recruiting all those still loyal to the former system of government.
Glancing at the collection of Jedi that had been assigned with him for this mission, Filius smiled. The youthful energy of the younger Knights and Padawans reminded him of Hogwarts, where he had felt more alive than anywhere else, instructing the younger generations in the magnificence of Charms and offering his wisdom to those of his house, but the madman now known as an Emperor had taken all that away.
A small team was assembled to go down to the main facility, along with one of the Jedi Knight and Padawan duos. Filius decided to remain behind, and keep a lookout with the rest of the fleet, just in case the Empire was aware of their presence and sought to ambush them here. Gor-lak's personal obsession with him was something that Filius was well aware of, and had to plan for time and again whenever he went on a mission.
How the strange magic user was able to locate him so readily, Filius was not certain, but nevertheless it was very real and dangerous power that he had to be ready to counter at a moment's notice.
"It's rather lonely and quiet up here, isn't it," said a young voice at his side. Filius turned, spotted the newest member that was added to this mission, young Jedi Knight Ist Nanraah, the young female Bothan that was once the Padawan of Master Yoda.
"Yes, it can be," Filius responded, gazing out across the field of asteroids.
"Do you think we'll find the Republic Navy in time?" Ist asked, turning to also look out across the field of space before them, unsure what the Commander was looking for.
"Not here for certain, but hopefully, yes," Filius replied, "Although I'm not terribly sure what shape they may be in when we find them."
"We can only hope for the best," Ist stated, even as the shuttle they had sent down started to return.
Turned to the deck officers, Filius requested an update of what had been discovered. "Commander, it seems that the Republic remnant was last seen near to Ord Mantell, but they are locked in a massive battle against the Empire."
"We shall set course in that direction, then," Filius responded, "the next system in that direction ought to be Dorin yes, we shall go there, and take the Hyperspace route from there to Ord Mantell."
"Yes, Sir!" the officers replied, going about the required procedures to activate the Hyperdrive.
"That seemed too easy, locating the last forces of the Republic," Ist stated, deep in thought.
"Yes," Filius replied, "but that only means that we need to exercise even more caution than we would normally."
And he meant it. Recovering what strength they could was their primary objective, and with the Republic forces locked in battle with the Empire, it was dangerous for them to rush in without more information regarding the state of the battle, which was why Filius elected a slower course, stopping at the systems along the way rather than heading straight to Ord Mantell.
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Supreme Prophet Feyd snarled as he batted aside the blade of Srenmivu, which had gotten too close for his personal comfort. He was not a young man anymore, and the far younger Sith hybrid seemed to know this fact, and was eager in using her youth and agility to her advantage.
But even as the battle raged around them, Feyd was preparing to make his move. He may be older than this one, physically, but that gave him great experience and wisdom that his opponent had no way to prepare or expect.
It was perhaps something that the Emperor would be concerned about, but drawing upon the vastness of the Dark Side, Feyd tapped into the ancient arts of Sith Sorcery. The shadows around the room grew stronger, even as he allowed himself to be pressed back into the entrance chamber by Srenmivu, and closer to the heaviest concentration of shadows that he was manipulating.
Only when he was on the edge of the grand stairs that led up into the Imperial Palace, Feyd finally struck. A muttered string of the ancient Sith language, and the shadows leapt to life, seeking out his foes and burning whatsoever they touched along the way.
Screams from the warriors of the usurpers back at the entrance distracted Srenmivu for a moment, and Feyd lashed out, lightning pouring from his fingers at her. The black blade whipped up even as she turned back to him, catching the dangerous bolts on her weapon, but that in itself was yet another distraction.
"I will tell you this only once," Feyd said, the darkness strengthening him as he advanced toward her, his lightning intensifying with every step. "The Dark Side is ours to control, we are the heirs of the Emperors. And we, the true Sith and their servants will rule the galaxy, not you nor your master, heirs of failure and disgrace."
The female snarled back at him, but there was nothing she could do, even as the shadowy tendrils started to weave around her. If she dropped her saber, the lightning would hit her, but if she stayed where she was, the shadowy Sith magic would slay her just as readily.
It seemed as though victory was assured for Feyd, but at the last moment Srenmivu twisted at a strange angle, shadows enveloping her and shrouding her from the Supreme Prophet's vision. His lightning launched through the place she had once been, and the tendrils of sorcery stabbed through empty air.
Where the hybrid Force-user had gone however, Feyd did not know; however, the rest of her warriors seemed to sense that their leader had departed. In large groups they started to turn and flee from the palace, piling into speeders and other craft to depart from the isolated platform that held the massive Imperial structure.
"Fan out through the city," Feyd commanded the dark adepts that were left in the chamber, "flush them out into the open and slay them!"
"Yes, my Lord!" they responded, leaping into action to pursue the fleeing enemy into the city, even as smoke rose from multiple sectors.
Disgusted at how they had escaped and were wrecking havoc on the Imperial capital, Feyd turned back to the Palace itself, returning quickly to the tactical command chamber. Calling up a hologram of the city in real time, he quickly took stock. From the patterns of the fires and the outbreak of fighting that had spilled out into the streets of the industrial and residential sectors, Feyd determined the enemy's objectives.
They sought to destabilize the Capital by crippling their infrastructure and frightening their loyalists into no longer wanting to support the Empire. This could not be allowed to take place. "Send word to our elite squads to secure the residence districts, and have the Dark Adepts flock to the industrial zones. We will strike back at these fools before they know we're on to their schemes." He commanded.
"Yes, my Lord," the officer in charge of the city-wide communications and logistics replied, forwarding the Supreme Prophet's orders throughout the city to their various military units and Dark Adept volunteers who had surged to their aid.
"My Lord, we've received word from orbit," another officer declared, "High Prophet Zhar has arrived with reinforcements from Korriban."
"Excellent," Feyd stated, sensing the powerful Adept entering the fray in orbit, "we shall strike them from above and below now… put me through with the High Prophet."
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Euka watched in boredom as her master launched with Gaze Squadron to attack the rather unimpressive strike force that had arrayed itself against the Capital of the Empire's power.
"My Lady," an officer said, approaching her with a salute, "transmission from the planet, Supreme Prophet Feyd wishes to speak with Lord Quelmok."
"I will speak with him, and make the appropriate excuses, put him through," Euka said, turning to face the hologram of the Supreme Prophet as it appeared over the bridge.
"Apprentice Euka, where is High Prophet Zhar," the man requested, turning to look at her from his tactical chamber.
"Prophet Zhar is out with Gaze Squadron mopping up the ratty group assaulting your defense fleet, how can we be of assistance," Euka said, overriding the need for her master's presence.
The Supreme Prophet nodded once, accepting that Zhar would be out of touch for a time, and continued, "The enemy has concentrated their attacks on both the industrial and loyalist residential sectors. We've divided our forces to strike at both places to defend, but the Force users of these insurgents are surprisingly skilled, despite whatever they try to display to inspire overconfidence. They have Sith training."
Euka paused at that revelation. The warriors that they had fought had been surprisingly weak in comparison to the Adepts, but if the Supreme Prophet said it, there must have been truth to the matter. But still, it was worrisome. It was a fatal flaw in the training of the Dark Adepts that they had only a smattering of the knowledge of the Dark Side, while the majority was concentrated upon the Emperor and his Apprentice alone.
"Where do you want us deployed?" Euka asked, diving to the heart of the matter.
"The residential sector," Feyd responded, "I will be leading reinforcements to back up our Dark Adepts in the industrial sector. So long as the citizens are protected, anything else can be rebuilt."
"I understand my Lord, we shall do as you command," Euka declared, and the Supreme Prophet cut the communication.
"I want four assault shuttles prepared and loaded for a counterassault into the residential section of New Kaas City, mixture of shock troopers and Dark Adepts," she demanded, turning to the officers of the Basilisk.
"As you command!" the officers replied, scrambling to make the needed calls throughout the fleet to secure the troops and vehicles required.
Turning from the bridge and activating her personal comlink, Euka contacted Zhar directly, "My Lord, we are being deployed into the city to curb the ground assault, Supreme Prophet's orders."
"Very good, my Apprentice, I shall clear the skies and supply air support once the space battle is concluded."
"Yes, my Lord," Euka replied, taking the unspoken command to continue as she had declared.
The communication ended, and she turned back to watch as their ships pulled closer to the planet. Once they were in range, Euka left the bridge, to join in her personal shuttle for the ground assault.
She wasn't about to let her master have all the fun.
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Gor-lak stared hard at the holographic map of the Galaxy. Immediately upon being instated to his position of power once the war had officially ended for the Empire, he had seen to converting a personal chamber for his use in the arcane arts of his people.
Even now, smoke and incense wafted around the room, flittering between the projected images of planets and circling through the Hyperlanes, seeking the Ork's prey. It was a spell he had made excellent use of in his pursuit of the rebels and their remaining Jedi friends, although he could not as of yet locate their hidden base.
But no matter, he was more than capable of tracking any of the members of their little fleet, as his spell targeted those who carried the magic of their mutual home world, meaning that unless they were on Coruscant with the Emperor, there was nowhere in the Galaxy that they could run from him.
The amusing part was that now the fools had thought to split up, going to the northern and southern sections of the Galaxy, likely searching for more allies or other resources to continue their pathetic little insurrection against the Empire.
But Gor-lak was at a loss of which to chase after first. If they had split their magic users, that likely meant that they had Jedi with them as well, which could pose a danger to his non-Force Sensitive soldiers, but luckily with his new title of authority, Gor-lak could call upon as many Dark Adepts as he so wished to fight for him in the name of Lord Veneficus.
Still, he knew that their commander was a wily one, the half-goblin Flitwick, and the other strategists that they possessed were not without their merit and skill. Either way would be difficult, even with his surge of forces. Gor-lak was not willing to jump in too quickly and prove himself foolish in front of his Emperor, so strategy was required for this matter.
Making a decision, and going with the group in closer proximity, Gor-lak sent a call to the bridge, ordering them to shift their course to the south, heading to Malastare and beyond along the Hydian Way, which would bring them in proximity to the location his spell indicated, where he could divine a more specific trajectory for their prey to track.
Even as the Inquisitorial Fleet set out, and the stars blurred in their eerily beautiful way when entering Hyperspace, Gor-lak set aside herbs and other items that he had recovered from the old planet long before its destruction, and cultivated for his own private stores, readying the ingredients for some special compounds he would use to counter even the famed skills of the Jedi.
Oh yes, he had taken a long time in preparing what would be needed for his revenge against those Star-Wanderers, and with the rule of the Sith behind him, he had free reign to subject those parasitic fools that destroyed his ancient empire to all the torment he could muster.
He had wished mightily that his Majesty would have allowed Gor-lak to break some of his prisoners for him, but the Sith Lord was set in his ways and the power of his Force. Gor-lak had accepted that that would be the way of things at that time, but now… now he would show the Sith Lord that the arcane ways were extremely effective, by building up a force of broken and controlled Jedi that would serve them by leading Gor-lak and his forces back to their base, and in the end betray all that they held dear.
The stone cauldron flared to life as Gor-lak turned his power upon it, the concoction within that he had previous prepared returning to a vapid boil. That would change soon, even as Gor-lak started to measure and add ingredients from the ancient Sorcerer ways.
The fumes mirrored the colors of death, acidly green, as they joined the spell indicating their rough destination. "I'm coming for you, little rebels," Gor-lak said aloud to himself, smirking wide as he worked the old magic, "and this time you won't slip away nearly as easily…"
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Zhar flipped his small star fighter over once more, almost lazily outmaneuvering the ancient ships that sought to bring battle to the Sith capital world.
It was so pathetic that these fools thought to even so much as distract their forces with such a pitiful attempt at attacking their space defenses, and he had more than expected the call from his apprentice, telling him of the land battle underway in New Kaaz City.
He would allow his apprentice her time to shine, before he swooped in from above and flattened the rest of the cowardly mob that sought to dismantle all that their Emperor had worked for.
Setting his sights on another outdated vessel, Zhar squeezed slowly, activating the triggers for his blaster cannons, frowning in disappointment as they shredded the archaic armor and pathetic shields of the other craft.
Whatever vehicles these beings had dredged up were clearly from an age before even the New Sith Wars, as they seemed more rust than metal as they limped through space, their only surviving grace being that they were able to outpace standard torpedoes... barely. Any worse and Zhar feared that their assistance would have not been needed at all, as they were tearing through the ranks of these pretenders and their sycophants without mercy or delay.
Finally, the last of their ships cracked, a blossom of flame disappearing into space as the hull was breached, and Zhar set his sights on the planet below. He knew that Euka would be heading to reinforce the residential quarters of the city, so he steered Gaze Squadron to fly over the centers of industry, just to get a sky view of the fighting and whether they would be needed to offer air support in that region of the city.
The fighting was heavy in the streets of New Kaaz City, and many buildings were already burning in the fallout of both the space battle and the sabotage their enemies were attempting to inflict on them.
Strafing several rusted tanks that somehow had made it into the city, Zhar let loose a barrage of plasma, decimating the line of vehicles before they could cause more damage to the infrastructure around them.
"My Lord," one of his wingmen said over the intercom for the squadron, "there are too few targets for us to pick off on the ground, and the streets are too narrow to land, what are your orders?"
Thinking fast, Zhar looked down at the chaos below. They had to have landed somewhere nearby to be able to smuggle all these into the city, "We'll find their landing site and destroy it, preventing them from escaping." He stated, "Fan out toward the outskirts of the city and spiral outward from there; it has to be in the jungle. Do not engage until we are on route to support."
"Yes, my Lord!" the Gaze squadron units replied and the ships split off immediately, circling the city and expanding their radius as they went; meanwhile, Zhar turned and sped toward the Imperial Palace, eager to see what Feyd had done in the meantime to coordinate their efforts in restoring order to the capital city.
Landing amid a massive mobilization of forces, Zhar quickly sped from the landing platforms toward the palace itself, bypassing the guards and following his memory of the layout to the command center.
"Supreme Prophet," he said as he entered, spotting the younger man that led the Dark Council amid generals and other tacticians, all in the process of observing the strategic layout of the city as the battles raged through the streets.
"Ah, Lord Zhar, good of you to come," Feyd replied, glancing at him before returning his attention to the battlefield before them, "Our enemy have failed in several of their objectives," he said, pointing out locations that had been marked across the city, including the palace itself Zhar noted.
"Currently we are striving to drive them out of the city entirely, and with luck they will flee to whatever base camp they've set up. This will give us the opportunity to blast them from orbit as they attempt to flee…" the Supreme Prophet continued, gesturing at the chancels in the streets that were currently clear of their own forces.
"My star fighter squadron is currently seeking out their shuttles as we speak," Zhar added, stepping forward, "they are to report immediately before engaging to eliminate their chances of escape."
"Good, then we will have them cornered, and capture as many as we can for interrogation…" Feyd said, eyes glinting madly with the promise of such pain, "they will give up the location of their master, and only then will they be allowed to die."
Zhar was about to respond, when his comlink crackled to life, "My Lord, we've located a concealed landing platform out in the jungle, and several shuttles have already launched, permission to engage?"
"Granted," Zhar replied sharply, almost wrenching the comlink from his arm in his haste to reply, "shoot down those fleeing if you can, but level the rest, I don't want another ship to so much as activate their engines."
"As you command, my Lord!" the pilot replied.
The location was transmitted to him automatically, and Zhar fed it to the Supreme Prophet, watching as the holographic map zoomed out to cover the distance to the hidden escape shuttles, a good ten klicks into the jungle from the city and well out of range for fleeing soldiers on foot.
"They likely have ground vehicles nearby," Feyd concluded, calculating the distance, "have soldiers sweep this area," he indicated the jungle nearest to the city in the direction of the shuttles, "and confiscate or destroy any ground transports they find."
"Yes, my Lord," an officer replied, turning to a communication terminal to relay the orders to the ground troops.
"I will take my fighter to join the destruction of their landers," Zhar said, turning his back on the display, "and I will make sure that there is a warm reception awaiting our enemies when they arrive. Make sure that their communications remained jammed…"
Sprinting back to his fighter once out of sight of the Supreme Prophet, Zhar took off once more, veering to the vector that his wingman had indicated, and gunning his ship to full throttle. Already there was a massive dogfight over the location when he arrived, the rest of Gaze Squadron having arrived to back up their fellow in destroying the shuttles, and fighters from their enemies coming from somewhere to try and prevent it.
Keeping low to the tops of the trees, Zhar pulled back on the controls, angling himself in a sharp incline, and let loose a flurry of missiles at the oncoming enemy fighters, forcing them to scatter and succeeding in destroying two that couldn't veer out of the way in time.
Rocketing past the enemy formation, now in disarray, Zhar continued to pull back, looping around so that he faced the surface of the planet, and the landers far below, and launched another volley of explosives, peppering the ground with their detonations and sending dirt, stone and metal flying in all directions as his missiles impacted the ground and the ships too slow to power up and get their shields in place.
"Basilisk," Zhar said into his comm., "This is Gaze One, send a detachment of troopers to our location, with autoturrets and anti infantry weaponry."
"As you command, my Lord," the admiral replied, and Zhar pulled out of his steep dive to continue the aerial combat with the last stragglers of the enemy fighters.
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Hermione felt very out of place and uncomfortable as her shuttle took off from Sanctuary Base, bound for Bakura and carrying the warders and other mage-born technicians that would aid her in creating their secondary base-planet.
Her discomfort was mainly the idea of being away from Hoth, and their protective wards and defenses in the event that the Empire came for them, whereas they would be rather vulnerable out in open space or on the unwarded planet.
She was well aware of how easily the Empire seemed to home in on their locations, and while she was unsure how they were managing it so routinely, she had several projects trying to determine and counter the cause back on Hoth, but they were not nearly close enough for field testing.
And now with this necessary distraction taking up much of their effort and resources, those projects would have to wait even longer.
The flight through Hyperspace was tedious and nerve-wracking, but Hermione survived it, and finally they were landing on the empty planet that would soon shelter more of their resistance forces. A large company of war droids marched out first once the landing ramp was lowered, fanning out and securing a perimeter around the shuttles, followed quickly by several of their troopers.
Hermione exited next, wand out just in case, as well as her other technicians, who were wheeling portable shield generators and other warding devices with them. The large cargo bay opened and construction droids went to work establishing prefab buildings all around their landing site, also laying down permacrete for landing pads and foundations for larger structures yet to come.
Aiming at the sky, even as her people set to work powering their generators, Hermione started the groundwork of their powerful defenses, "Protego Maxima. Fianto Duri. Repello Inimicum…" Repeating the chant of spells over and over, she watched as the jets of light slowly flew into the sky, forming a massive deflector shield, which expanded outward with every new spell that fed into it.
Within moments, the first device went online, and a jet of golden light shot from the top of it, merging with her protective barrier and charging it with the same energy, which held within it magic from all the mage-born left in the resistance, empowering the spells with their combined signatures, and continuing to funnel power into it and complete the shield as the edges descended to a large radius around their initial landing.
It was a temporary measure, but one that seemed quite effective for land skirmishes, not that the rebels had had opportunity for such as of late.
Still, the device allowed Hermione to discontinue her chants and focus on the next, and significantly more difficult, part of the process: warding the planet itself.
Her assistants scurried about quickly, etching the runic symbols into the soil around her, even as Hermione drew all the magic that she dared from her core for the ritual spell. Several more machines, more batteries of magical energy stored over several months than anything else, were positioned close by for her to access, even as she started to chant the beginnings of the charmwork required to make a location unplottable.
The process wasn't going to be easy with the sheer magnitude of the planet, but it was one of the most powerful charms that could be stretched to that size safely for a normal mage-born. Even the charms over Sanctuary only covered the base itself, rather than the entire planet, but with that scale they were able to layer far more into their wards.
Hours past, and Hermione could feel the strain to keep her wand moving, and the chant from fumbling, but she persevered. The fourth and fifth generators of magical reserves had been brought out, and she could only begin to feel the last part of the charm starting to take effect, binding the powerful shrouding magic to the planet itself.
Momentarily, she wondered with a smirk how the Emperor would feel to suddenly not be able to sense an entire planet with his over glorified powers of the Force. That thought carried her through to the end of her spell, and she slumped to the ground as it sealed into effect, making it so that none could locate the planet without her say so, or records of it provided by her or those she trusted.
The others assisted her back into the shuttle to rest, even as she distributed orders in a tired voice of what was next, charting out the planet and selecting several secure locations to build their main strongholds, as well as scouting out what resources were available to them on the planet that they could make use of in the short term before supplies arrived from off world.
Granted, none could come to supply them until Hermione spread the information about the planet to her commanders, and through them to those that were to be gathering to this new base.
But that had to wait for a time, even as Hermione slipped into a restless sleep.
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Euka stepped off the shuttle into the midst of a firefight, her saber igniting alongside her battle lust. Leaping into action, she took off at a dead sprint at the nearest knot of enemy troopers, the garish and highly archaic helmets setting them off drastically from the Empire's soldiers.
Their armor was not up to the same standard either she found out, even as she carved easily through the first few ranks of troops that she encountered, before finally a black saber flared into life as their Force users responded to losing so many soldiers.
The cloaked and masked figured rushed out to divert Euka's attention, and despite the ease that she had slew many of the same, she recalled the words of the Supreme Prophet and was cautious in her approach. Not to say that she did not open up with a full flurry of aggressive Ataru strikes, spinning and contorting herself to strike at every possible angle to end the duel swiftly, but she was prepared for when the figure actually tried to fight back.
It happened swiftly. One moment it appeared that Euka would simply overwhelm the masked figure through pure technique, the next she was thrown backward from an explosion of Force energy, and her opponent rushed her, black saber flaring with excess power, colliding heavily on her saberstaff, before the masked being took to the offensive, unleashing an almost perfect counterattack of Ataru strikes, even flipping over her in a surprising expression of acrobatics.
Whatever strange powers that these enemies of the Empire held, it seemed to be rather limited in application, and Euka knew her own style's weaknesses, and used that to her advantage, slamming her blades heavily into the jet black one, wearing down the stamina of her opponent with every clash.
Finally, the being made a fatal mistake, trying to overcorrect when Euka batting a wide swing away, leaving the flank exposed. Kicking out with a foot, Euka slammed into the back of the figures knee, hearing the tell-tale snap of the joint as the figure crumpled.
Jumping forward to end the fight, she knocked the black weapon aside once more and impaled the figured through the chest with her weapon, feeling the shock and pain radiate through the Force as the figure expired.
Turning quickly to gauge where her next target was, she spotted a knot of enemy soldiers flying outward from an explosion of dust, even as crimson blades spun in tandem. She was almost unsurprised when Ekitc Batoi emerged from the dust, his staff still spinning in its deflection of enemy blasterfire.
"I would have known you come to try and carve some of your own glory out of my attack…" she said snidely, turning to blast a trooper that got too close with an accurate explosion of telekinesis, flinging the figure away like a discarded toy.
"Only I will succeed my Master, you upstart," the Mirialan shot back, facing away from her and holding off the press of enemy soldiers at her rear.
Euka smirked. Despite their grievances against each other, they were still allies on this battlefield, and in unison the pair of Dark Adepts, apprentices of the two most renowned members of the Dark Council, exploded into action.
Ducking low under a pair of shots, Euka slid forward, aided by the Force to cover significantly more ground than possible otherwise; she rose with a powerful uppercut, severing limbs, armor and weapon from the poor fool that stood in her way, before kicking the being beside the soon-to-be dead soldier to the side. She then crashed downward, slamming her blade through the helmet of the soldier she disarmed, splitting the figure in two, each half falling to the side and displaying the charred remains for all to see.
Before the other enemies even had a moment to react to the gruesome death of their fellow, she was among them, saberstaff whirling in deadly arcs as she tore through their ranks, landing critical blows to midsections and limbs on those around her.
Those that attempted to flee felt the strength she held over the Force, ripping them back toward her and her blood-red blades. Euka rejoiced in the bloodshed and the aura of battle that coated the Force around her, feeling it strengthen her beyond her normal capacities.
The ground shook slightly as several ancient vehicles rolled forward, the turrets of the outdated tanks attempting to train upon her and Ekitc, but she was already moving, dodging to the left and right as she surged toward them, her staff spinning in a protective shield in front of her to deflect stray bolts of plasma that the remaining infantry tried to hit her with.
Kicking off the ground with the aid of the Force, she flew the last distance, spinning midair and lashing out with the crimson blades, cutting the turret of the cannon in half, as well as scoring several other deep marks on the hull of the vehicle, which yielded easily to the saber.
Landing heavily on top of the tank, Euka thrust her arms out to the side, emitting a wave of Force energy to knock all the infantry gathered around the tank to the ground, giving her the time to wrench the hatch off and rip the driver out of the tank, killing the armored figure before throwing the being violently to the side.
Blasterfire erupted around her, and she spun slowly on the spot, her weapon becoming a blur and she deflected and redirected the bolts from her enemies into each other, slowly thinning their ranks.
A blaring yell caught all their attention, even as Ekitc appeared in the air above them all, throwing his own weapon in a wide arc that cleaved through a small knot of soldiers, and bolts of lightning erupted from the Mirialan's hands, frying another side and forcing them to take cover as he landed by Euka's side on the tank, his weapon returning to his hand.
"You know," he said, turning to blast another soldier with more lightning, "if I didn't hate you so much, we'd actually make very good allies," he admitted.
"I agree, on both counts," Euka replied, grabbing a soldier with the Force and using him bodily as a club to crash through another group of infantry.
"I think this party has gone on long enough though," Ekitc added, and Euka sensed what the Mirialan had in mind. Together they leapt high into the air, each extending a hand to the tank below. The vehicle lifted off the ground, spinning as it moved and slammed downward once more onto the last group of enemy soldiers, crushing many and forcing the rest to flee.
Landing lightly amid the rubble and scrap of the now destroyed tank and scattered weapons and armor fragments from the now decimated ranks of troops, Euka surveyed the damage that they had caused.
"My Lady!" called a Sith trooper to Euka, running to meet her and Ekitc, "a report from the Supreme Prophet."
Even as she turned to respond to the trooper, Euka could sense Ekitc's irritation that the message was delivered to her and not him. "Speak trooper." Euka said, encouraging the soldier to continue and ignore the apprentice of the Supreme Prophet.
"The enemy is in full retreat, heading toward the various entrances of the city, we're to pursue them to catch them between our forces and Lord Zhar who has cut off their escape from the planet." The trooper reported swiftly.
"Very good," Euka replied, "rally our forces, we will drive them before us and cut as many down as we can as they head to their doom," she ordered, grinning at the prospect of a true hunt through the jungle.
Even as she turned to leave, Ekitc caught up with her, "I don't like this," the Mirialan said, "It's too simple…"
Euka thought about the situation, and slowly she became inclined to agree with her rival. "Even so, we have orders to follow," she replied in the end, however. "While I agree, we must still remove them from the capital city, and then in the open jungle we can deal with whatever surprises they have in store for us."
"Well, then I guess I won't stop you," Ekitc said, walking away slowly in another direction, "but don't think I'm going to rush to save you when you get yourself into trouble again…"
Euka rolled her eyes, "I wouldn't dream on it…" she shot back, scoffing.
The arrogance of the other apprentice was unending, but Euka turned her attention away from him as she rejoined her forces, already mobilizing and pushing against the hastily retreated enemy, driving them through the city and slowly merging with other pockets of Imperial soldiers that were hampering the main enemy force from retreating further into the side streets of the city.
To Euka it was a clear and intentional strategy, herd them out into the open, and hammer them from above or from long distance with ranged artillery or bombers, forcing them to openly retreat to wherever they had secured their transport off world.
And presumable, this was where Zhar was already waiting in ambush. Euka wondered how many would die before allowing themselves to be taken captive, and interrogated for all they knew.