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3

Location: Ord Ibanna, city of Methana

Status: Quiet

"The first three cities have been taken, and we plan to launch an assault in the morning." Plo reported.

They were in the governmental centre of Methana, and they were reporting to a Reconciliation Council composed of Adi Gallia, Oppo Rancisis and Obi-Wan Kenobi.

"Excellent work my friends." Oppo said, nodding happily.

"How were the losses?" Obi Wan asked.

"Not as bad as they could have been. It's almost as if they want us to take back the planet." Luminara said worriedly.

"Count Dooku is clearly up to something. Be wary." Adi said.

They nodded. Shaak Ti sighed.

"Oh, and who's clever idea was it to deploy an ATTE into every battle?" she asked waspishly.

Adi sighed.

"Don't you three start. We've just had Bultar Swan, Serra Keto and Agen Kolar bite our heads off about that." she grunted.

"Well no wonder! It's an operational risk! What happens if it's a stealth mission? Do they stick one down and hope it isn't spotted?" Luminara raged.

Oppo raised his hands in defeat.

"We're just the messengers, however, we're sending out orders too all new missions that they should be wary of that problem. I take it it upset your plans a trifle?"

"A trifle!? It nearly upset the whole Christmas dinner! I could have been sent falling to my death!" Plo shouted hysterically.

The three on Coruscant chuckled.

"Its not funny!" Plo said pleadingly, but to no avail, as Luminara and Shaak Ti were both laughing too.

"Oh what's the point?" Plo moaned.

"We shouldn't take long. We'll attack Dooku's base the day after tomorrow I think, kick his ass, and be done with it." Shaak Ti said.

"Good. Be careful. As soon as you figure out what's going on, report to us." Obi Wan said.

Before they could respond, an alarm blared.

"What's happening?" Plo demanded as Jag ran in with Dice, Cueball and Gaven.

"We're under attack sir!"

"Balls." Shaak Ti said, waving to the holos and rushing outside, saber lit.

"Toodleoo the noo." Luminara said, following suit.

"Have fun." Adi wished, and they vanished.

Plo sighed and lit his own saber.

"Here I go again."

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Location: Ord Ibanna, city of Methana

Status: Under Separatist Attack!

The three Jedi rushed out to see the clones getting defensive positions set up.

"Get the fighters in the air! Jag, you have command!" Plo ordered, and Jag dashed off.

Torrent fighters, ARC 170s, V-Wings and gunships shot into the air to meet the oncoming black cloud of Separatist forces. Heavy weapons, mines and bombs were being primed in preparation for the assault.

"Plo, take left. I will take centre. Luminara, take right. We'll converge in the middle of the city and hold there." Shaak Ti said, before running off with Cueball.

Shaak Ti frowned as the black swarm of Separatist forces landed on the other side of Methana, their cannons making short work of the defenders they had there. Vulture fighters, Tri-fighters, droid gunships, Belabulbs and Geonosian fighters sped across the city, their cannons blasting away at the approaching Republic air forces. Shrapnel was blown from several buildings as shots went off target and fires erupted all over the place.

"Prepare for battle!" she ordered to the contingent of the 81st that was on Methana.

Several droid gunships had settled down on the platforms at the other side, and masses of droids were deploying from inside.

Then the enemy charged, and the fight was on.

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Location: Ord Ibanna, city of Methana, right flank

Status: Under attack

Luminara frowned as the droids charged. The battle was already not going well, as many ships had been parked on the opposite side of the city, and had been destroyed during the enemy landing. Many troops had also been killed, and now the droids were on the move.

"Here we go!" she yelled to the 41st.

"We're with you General." Dice said.

"Attack!" she ordered.

They charged forward, and one side of the massive droid legion broke off to meet them. SBDs opened fire with their rocket launchers, and battle droids took up positions at the front, as DSDs came from behind.

"Scatter!" Luminara barked as the missiles from the SBDs crashed into two of the clones at the front of her formation.

She dashed forward, her lightsaber deflecting cannon bolts back at their droid originators.

"General, rollers!"

Three destroyer droids were rolling towards them, and more and more battle droids and SBDs were approaching.

"Dice, we need covering fire! Blanket pattern!" Luminara yelled.

"General, you'll be caught in the middle of it!" Dice protested.

"Do it Commander!" she barked.

The clones fired, their blue laser bolts emitting from their blasters as Luminara was in the centre of the interlocking fields of fire, caught between the clones and the destroyer droids. Taking a deep breath, she lit her lightsaber, and immersed herself in Soresu.

Her blade was a cyclone of green brilliance as she caught bolts on her lightsaber. The clone fire was surrounding her, as was the droid fire. Her lightsaber deflected hundreds of laser bolts in seconds, keeping bolts away from the clones and sending many into the shielded destroyers. She was in the centre of the storm, her lightsaber sending lasers into the shielded destroyers, chipping away at their strength. The bolts she missed either passed harmlessly over her or shot through her skirt. After two minutes of this exercise, she saw it.

A shield was flickering on one of the droids. Leaping high at the droid, the clones poured fire into it, making the shield fizzle out. She landed and cleaved the droid in half and then blasted it with a Force push into the next one in line. The droid staggered, which was the opening she needed. The shield flickered under the concentrated fire of her clones, and she plunged her lightsaber through the hole in the shield and fused the droid's circuits. She then seized the other droid with the Force and threw it off the city.

"That was amazing General!" Dice exclaimed, coming up to her.

"Quiet commander. I sense…"

A Porax fighter, as flown by Grievous' MagnaGuards, shot up from over the city, firing a missile.

"Duck and cover!" she yelled.

The missile hit before she could do anything, and several clones were incinerated, while others were thrown to the floor by the shockwave. Luminara had set up a Force shield and rode out the storm, and then gathered the Force to her and sprang. She barely grabbed onto the blaster cannon, as the fighter swung around for another pass.

Built on the planet Utapau in the Outer Rim, the Confederacy had duplicated the plans and had set shipyards with the task of building enough for the MagnaGuards to use, who were the highest ranking droids in the Confederacy aside form Grievous himself. They used these as a personal conveyance when they took command of droid armies in various locations, and they were also used to inspire fear whenever Grievous appeared in his own fighter, flanked by a squadron of these. Powerful fighters, they were not to be underestimated.

Luminara struggled up onto the wing and looked down to see her dazed troops being approached by a horde of SBDs and battle droids, supported by two DSDs. The only chance for her troops was to stop the droids before they fired. But if she went after the droids, the fighter would finish them off.

Unless…

She lit her lightsaber, and hoped to the Force that she was strong enough to do what she planned. With the wind threatening to blow her off the fighter, she slowly crawled to the cockpit, where the MagnaGuard pilot looked at her, its red eyes glowing brightly. She used the Force to wrench the cockpit open, and dug her lightsaber through the droid's head. The fighter immediately dipped without a pilot, as she had planned. But she needed it to crash into the approaching battle droids, or her troops would be slaughtered. Unable to lift the droid in the cockpit, she stretched out with the Force, enveloping the ship in a Force grip. She pulled it upwards, and sent it hurtling at the droid troops. But it wouldn't be enough, as it would only wipe out a fraction of them. What she needed was for the fighter to explode…

She swung her lightsaber, and the wing of the fighter fell off, crashing down to the city, landing right on top of a building. Fuel was leaking out, and the craft was beginning to spin. Counting down, and holding on for dear life, she gave a great sigh to steel herself, and leapt, at the same time as swinging her saber at the stream of fuel. The fuel ignited, and the fire shot up the stream, as Luminara crashed into the window of a building, crashing through and rolling across the floor, before smashing through another window and falling to the ground. Weakened, she lifted her head to see the Starfighter slam to the ground and blow apart, scattering the droids around the platform, before fading to blackness.

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Location: Ord Ibanna, city of Methana, central arm

Status: Under attack

Shaak Ti frowned as she felt Luminara faint from exhaustion. Her friend had made a fine mess of the right flank, but without Luminara, she was scared the troops would give way and she'd be facing a two way battle.

"Dice, get General Unduli out of harms way and split your troops between the buildings! Mine the alleys if you have to! I don't want them getting to us!" she yelled over the din of battle.

"Acknowledged General!"

Shaak Ti used her blue saber to knock a round of blaster fire back at the approaching battle droids. The droid column seemed endless, and she swore as another gunship was shot down by a vulture droid.

"If we don't do something about this soon, we're going to be overrun." she grumbled.

Cueball nodded gravely, and groaned.

"What?" she asked.

She saw. A landing craft was approaching, and if it landed, they wouldn't leave the planet alive.

"Get the fighters after that thing now! All Republic forces, converge in the centre! We shall hold there!" she ordered.

The three clone branches converged in the centre, and started pumping blaster fire into the mass of oncoming droids. Clones were killed around her as the droids advanced. She looked around to see Plo and his group finally arriving.

"Shaak Ti, we cannot hold. The enemy is too many, and that lander is too large for our remaining fighters to take care of." he said sadly.

"We have no choice then. Signal the cruisers, and have them fire ion cannon down on us." she said.

He looked at her in shock.

"You know what that does to the clone's helmets!"

"And to the droids."

"It may fry our brains!"

"There'll be no change there then." she said acidly.

"Generals!"

The lander, irritated by the constant swarming of Torrent fighters and ARC 170s, had fired. Unfortunately for the ground troops, it had missed all of the fighters.

It was flying straight towards the large building they were fighting in the shadow of.

"Brace!" Plo yelled in terror.

The turbolaser blast ripped apart the buildings, sending a torrent of rubble falling towards them.

"Dive for cover!" Shaak Ti screamed, as clones were crushed under chunks of rubble and steel weighing several tons.

Just then a cascade of blue energy rained down from above, the ion bombardment she had asked for. The droids staggered to a halt, and their starfighters fell from the sky as the ion crackle receded.

Shaak Ti struggled to her feet, as did numerous clones.

"We have little time. I will deal with the wounded. Destroy those droids, blow those transports, you know the drill. You two, help me move people to the med centre." she ordered two clones who had just got up.

"General Ti!" Cueball screamed.

Shaak Ti twirled to look at what he was pointing at. The lander had been disabled by the ion barrage, and was now careening out of control towards the city.

"By the Force…" she whispered.

If the lander hit them, the entire city would be destroyed. The cruisers wouldn't get a lock on time, especially as it was accelerating as it entered the gravity field of the city.

"Where is Plo?" she demanded.

She couldn't deflect the thing or bring it down safely without help.

"He's buried under all the rubble General! We'll never get him out in time!" Gaven cried.

"Then nor will we." Jag said resignedly.

Shaak Ti took a deep breath.

"May the Force be with me." she said.

It was the only way. She had to try to deflect it, or it would kill everyone on the city, including those who actually lived there.

She strode out into the uncluttered centre of the field, took a deep breath and stretched out with the Force, determined to save her men, even if it meant her own death.

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Location: Coruscant, Reconciliation Council Chamber

Status: Calm

"Thank you for your report Master Kolar." Oppo said to his friend, as he finished his account of the recent Battle of Alzoc, where the Republic had won a great victory, wiping out three battle groups belonging to General Xalma. Agen himself had squared off against the Nightsister, and had barely escaped with his life when her command ship was shelled and she had to retreat to save her own skin.

The four of them were in charge of the Jedi Temple. Yoda was away overseeing the defence of Toydaria, and Mace was on Svivern. Shaak Ti and Plo were both on Ord Ibanna. Even Piell had just departed to discuss an aid effort for a world near the Hapes Cluster with Ta'a Chume. Kit was mopping up a recent droid attack on the base in the Vergesso asteroids, and Saesee was playing with pirates that had been attacking Naboo's trade routes. Finally Ki Adi Mundi was not on the Council, having gone off for dinner somewhere with the visiting Dark Woman. Adi had just returned from a meeting with Nym on Lok, and Obi-Wan was preparing to depart to go to Phindar, where the Separatists had deposed the governor there, and the place had resolved into anarchy, as the Separatists had demanded the planet be turned over to them. He was going to restore order.

Adi sighed.

"Who's next?" she asked.

"Master Bultar Swan, who is going to give us her report on the Battle of Molavar." Agen said as he resumed his seat to Oppo's left.

Obi Wan, on Oppo's right, grunted.

"Well, I'd better go after that, or Cody will be very unhappy with me." he said.

"Quite." Oppo said.

Obi Wan opened his mouth to say something, then his eyes glossed over.

"Obi Wan?" Adi asked in concern.

"Shaak Ti and Plo Koon are in terrible danger!" he exclaimed.

"We must aid them!" Agen said.

"Come my friends, we shall join our minds and give our support to Master Ti." Oppo said.

In conjunction, the four Masters closed their eyes and gave themselves to the Force.

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Location: Ord Ibanna, city of Methana, central square

Status: About to be crushed

Shaak Ti felt her Force grip barely touching the lander. She wasn't strong enough to knock the ship off course. Struggling with all her might, she realised that the ship was bound to crash. She then felt Plo join what little strength he had left.

"Plo, no!" she shouted.

"If we don't stop that thing, we are all dead anyway." he pointed out weakly.

The two of them were little better, but the descending ship was slowing slightly.

Shaak Ti then felt a rush of power enter her.

"We are here Shaak Ti." Oppo Rancisis said from distant Coruscant.

"We shall aid you in this struggle." Adi said.

The six Council members worked in conjunction, and the lander stopped falling. With a great heave of effort, Shaak Ti directed the power of the six members, and cast the lander away from the city, out of harm's way. She then released her hold on it, and it plummeted to the core of the gas giant. Shaak Ti then collapsed and fell into darkness.

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Location: Coruscant, Reconciliation Council Chamber

Status: Exhausted

"Well, that went well." Oppo said sleepily.

"Let's not do that again." Agen said.

Adi was already snoring in her seat, and Obi Wan was dozing.

"Cancel the last appointment Agen." Oppo said, before curling his tail around him and going to sleep.

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Location: Ord Ibanna, Dooku's HQ

Status: Peeved off

"The plan failed master!" Ventress hissed.

Dooku shook his head.

"A minor detail. I am reliably informed that our ruse is still working. They are still unaware that we have taken the planet. The fact that the Jedi here still live is also useful, as while they are out of action, no one will be paying attention to other events. It also means that we can have some time off while they wait for the Jedi to recuperate. All is going well Ventress. Be at peace."

Sora Bulq steepled his fingers.

"It seems to me my master that we can still turn the tide of this battle. The Jedi will counterattack soon, before they come here. When they do, we can crush them."

"What, let them attack us here?" Ventress asked.

"Quite. A fine plan Sora Bulq. Lure them into a false sense of security, and then…we crush them once and for all." Dooku purred.

The battle is afoot!

Not long left now. Two chapters left I reckon, and that's the end of this story! But plenty more where they came from.

What world have the Confederact taken? How will Dooku crush Master Ti and Koon's army? The final battle is approaching!

Please read and review, and above all vote on the poll. And if you have already, vote again!

Right, I might go and start the next chapter of Dark Times, or maybe KOTOR, I'll see.

Oh, and I would appreciate any thoughts on how I should wirte Ahsoka and Anakin's relationship for when they show up in other stories. Bombad Jedi and Cloak of Darkness are still the best episodes!

Please read, review and VOTE! Until next time!