Author's Note: I've realized a big aspect of my writing process for my fanfics at least is needing to have an influx of good stories in that fandom to keep going. Not because I replicate ideas or tropes mindlessly, but simply because with my ADHD to keep fixated on a fandom I need constant new input. Currently Mando season 3 and A Single Decision by Timewatch are keeping me engaged in the Star Wars fandom. Cross your fingers that this season stays good and I find something else good once I finish that monster of a fic as well. (So much in this fandom is fluff that I just don't enjoy unfortunately, not my kettle of fish that. Hard to find a good long epic or adventure in the last decade or so in this fandom.)

Unfortunately I couldn't find in my copy of Rogue Planet the description I know is in there somewhere of some of the hidden ways from the underlevels of the Temple into the Lower Coruscant areas.

Meant to post this Friday but got distracted on finishing the end.

Chapter 3: Delaying Tactics

Unfortunately for Korkie and Zule the remodeled droids had quite obviously been able to transmit their destruction back to wherever they came from.

"Scouts down. Fall back and let the Master know we need to find another way in or retreat."

"Roger, roger!"

"Those are B-1s!" Korkie bit out, feeling violated by this invasion of his home. They had thought that Coruscant would be safe, though it likely still was, this was probably a smuggled infiltration group.

"How did they even get in here?" Zule questioned with a frown, rotating a shoulder that she had not properly reinforced during combat, "I thought this was the lowest this side of the Temple went?"

Korkie nodded in response, "You're completely right. Let's jump down where they emerged and check it out."

Both padawans gracefully leapt down the multiple tiers of the amphitheater style steps leading down to the base of the arch. The Kyber Arch towered above them, glistening in the low light.

As they approached the base however they saw what they sought.

"A service entrance…" The voices of the droids had come up from within. Likely on the other side of the small service tunnel the B-1s had set up and sent the floating assassin droids in as scouts.

"The target is not that direction, they were merely scouting for patrols." An aggressive voice came from the other side, "We need to blitz the primary objective, my Master needs this information package if we are to succeed in our goals. Leave two here to guard against flanking and the rest of you move out with me."

"Roger, roger!"

Taking a deep breath Korkie turned and faced Zule, determination in his eyes.

Before he could say anything though she cut him off, "You want to go try and interfere and delay them for our reinforcements and you need me to stay here so I can tell them where you went and what is going on?"

He nodded, a little abashed that she had read him so clearly.

She gritted her teeth, "I hate that that makes sense. I just want you to know I am agreeing to this because it's the smart move, not because I am some fainting maiden from a Holodrama. I can cut up the Clankers almost as well as you can. You just have a bit more experience."

He nodded back, "Of course!" Her master, the Jedi Knight Glaive, was nearing succeeding his own master, Cin Drallig, as a Battlemaster, he had not shirked in her lessons.

"Fine, get going! And…don't die, alright? I still need to beat you in a sparring match someday!"

The warm feeling in his chest returned, but he pushed it away and tried to put on a brave face, "Aww, Zule, these buckets of bolts couldn't take on a Mandalorian or a Jedi, what makes you think they could take out both?"

As he slid himself through the entrance to the service tunnel he heard her grumbling behind him, "None of us are Jedi yet…"

With that ringing endorsement causing a minor internal war with his self-confidence, Korkie shimmied and crawled his way through the service tunnel, pausing when he neared the end and heard the droids on the other side.

"If we were found out, why didn't we just retreat?"

"I think Master Trenox has something to prove to Master Dooku and didn't want to fail with that assassin hanging around to see."

"Illogical organic foolishness then?"

"I tell ya, they should put a droid in charge of the whole thing. Or some kind of really big computer. Why haven't they tried that yet?"

Okay, Korkie thought to himself, telekinesis isn't your strongest skill, but focus. Drift into the Force, let your concerns and insecurities fall away, remember Master Reuss's lessons of feeling non-living aspects of the universe in the Force. Find the electricity.

Reaching out with both hands was uncomfortable cramped inside the service tunnel, but he did it. Each hand metaphysically found the nearby large sources of electricity and he grasped them with his mind.

"They haven't hooked us up to any history feeds, maybe they hav-Unknown Source of Exceptional Air Resistance? What does that mea-WAH!"

The droids' vocabulators expressed surprise and distress and Korkie clapped his hands together and crushed them into each other.

Climbing out amongst the crumpled pile of sparking metal he grumbled to himself, "What kind of strange person over at the Trade Federation programmed these things? Not even our nanny droids for the youngest Younglings here prattles on like that!"

Shaking his head he followed the poorly hidden, now that he knew what he was looking for at least, source of Dark Force Energy down the corridor to his left.

Centering himself once more in the Force, Korkie palmed his lightsaber and made his way along the dim passages, typically unused except for occasionally Temple Guard patrols, and even those were new with the war.

He attempted to maintain a brisk but stealthy pace, so that he could hopefully get a drop on his opponents.

It appeared that his opponents had not adapted to losing their scouts, as the four B-1s were facing away from him as he closed in behind them. They appeared to be patrolling one of the corridors while that other voice he had heard moved ahead to whatever mysterious goal he had.

With a snap-hiss he ignited his lightsaber and sent it telekinetically spinning forward at the pair on the left side of the hallway, not wasting a heart beat, he leapt towards the group on the right, arching as high as the ceiling would allow.

"Waaahh!" Cried out one of the droids on the left as the saber saw bladed through the both of them, only to snap off and soar back up towards Korkie's hands as he reached the apex of his leap.

"What?"

"Oh no!"

Were the final words from the two on the right as he reignited his blade and came down, cleaving one directly in half and stunning the other by Force Pushing it into the wall then darting forward to decapitate it.

That is when the Force screamed at him in warning.

He rolled to the side just as a small rocket flew through the space his head had previously held.

As he popped back up onto his feet, keeping his balance fluid and ready to move again, he turned and saw the source.

An armored and heavily armed blue-skinned and red-eyed near-human who slowly lowered an arm that had obviously fired a wrist rocket.

"You appear young, Jedi." He sneered the final word, almost spitting it out, "Though that was a decent enough performance."

He unholstered a heavy blaster pistol with his left hand and unsheathed some kind of vibroblade, about the length of a shoto-saber with his right.

"Decent won't be enough to stop our mission however."

Knowing he only had to delay long enough for reinforcements, Korkie rotated his blade twice before falling into a defensive Shii-cho stance. Form I being his preferred defensive style, as he was only proficient enough at Soresu to move on to Niman. Furthermore the defensive styles of Niman were mostly Force Power based, and he was already feeling the strain of all the telekinesis and reinforcement he had done today.

"We'll see about that."