5 years later
The sun had only just begun to rise on Sullust. The glow of the star was absorbed by the black, volcanic surface rock of the planet. The flows of crimson lava seemed like scars on the planet's surface, the blood of the world seeping out from below the surface. The natives of this world, the peculiar-looking Sullustans, had built their homes under the harsh ground of the planet, constructing gardens of edible lichen to sustain themselves.
The roar of engines echoes across one of Sullust's canyons. A fleet of Republic LAAT Gunships flew in tight formation across the planet below. The fleet was made up of 15 Gunships, each carrying a supply of Clone Troopers, and 4 Dropships carrying AT-TE Walkers. Inside the lead gunship, Clone Commander Fade moved amongst his men to address his Jedi General.
"General Monn, we haven't received any more transmissions from Skywalker's team. They were pinned down outside SoroSuub Headquarters."
Master Monn pondered his commander's words. They had received a transmission while in orbit from Captain Rex requesting reinforcements at the main base of the SoroSuub Corporation.
"What is the strength of the enemy forces here, Commander?"
Fade switched on a pocket holomap of the battlefield. "The Droid forces seem to be pushing forward towards the main base. Heavy cannon emplacements here and here." The Clone highlighted two points on the ridge in front of the building, one to the left and one to the right.
The general scratched the brown fur of his chin, his black eyes squinted in thought.
"We'll need to destroy those cannons before we can land our walkers. If we pass over them we risk losing the air advantage."
"Admiral Yularen has 2 bomber squadrons ready to dispatch to our position." The commander informed him. "We could use them to target the cannons before we land our forces."
"A bold idea, Commander. If we can destroy those cannons with our bombers, we can land our gunships in a circular formation around the Droid forces. That should cut off their retreat and allow us to wipe them off of Sullust once and for all." The Jedi Master smiled at this turnabout.
"Contact the Admiral, request bomber support. I'll contact Commander Takar's forces."
"Yes General, right away." Fade saluted the Jedi and began contacting the orbiting fleet.
"Choenn, do you copy?" Monn barked down his wrist communicator.
"Loud and clear Master." His Padawan responded quickly and without delay, as ever.
"We've requested bomber support. Get your men ready to disembark, we'll be touching down shortly." The Jedi had to shout over the roar of the transport's engines for fear of not being heard by his apprentice.
"Right away, Master Monn." The communicator cut off with the end of his sentence.
"General, bomber support will be with us in a few moments, they have the cannons targeted." Commander Fade informed him after speaking with the Admiral.
"Very good, Commander." Monn responded, again shouting over the sheer volume of the ship. "Contact all gunships, be ready to land very soon!"
The bright colours of blaster-fire covered the surface of Sullust in a dazzling display of violence. The shining white armour of the Clones of the 501st Legion was dulled with ash and soot from the planet's harsh environment. Over the course of the battle, the Republic force found themselves being pushed further and further back towards the headquarters of SoroSuub, a mineral refinement corporation, by the relentless waves of Battle Droids.
The Republic had intervened on Sullust at the request of the SoroSuub management. The Separatists had threatened the planet with invasion if the Corporation refused to provide funding for the Droid army any longer. Out of fear, the heads of the company contacted the Republic, who leapt into action, arriving shortly before a larger Separatist force.
At the front of the Republic's dwindling army, as always, stood the 501st's Jedi leaders. General Anakin Skywalker, using his deep-blue bladed Lightsaber to deflect the battering volley of blaster-fire with ease, and his young Padawan, the orange-skinned Togruta Ahsoka Tano, ever ready to learn from her master while on the battlefield. Behind them, their loyal Clone office, Captain Rex, blasted the droids away as best he could with dual pistols, at the same time barking out orders and encouragement to boost the morale of his soldiers.
"Master Monn and his Padawan should have been here by now!" Skywalker yelled to his Padawan and the Captain.
"They were passing over the west gulch last time we heard from them, General." Rex shouted back.
"Then what is taking them so long! They'd better have the reinforcements we need!" Skywalker's impatience was growing, and wave after wave of droid unit wasn't helping.
"Master! Up there to the west!" Ahsoka pointed up into the air. Skywalker turned to see a welcome sight. Two squadrons of Y-Wing bombers came roaring down from the sky. One squadron seemed to split off to the east.
"They're taking out the cannons, sir!" Rex shouted, sounding almost relieved. As soon as those words had left Rex's mouth, six fireball ignited across the hillside, taking the Separatist's cannons with them. Then, another sound emanated off of the hillside.
The Gunships descended to the dark surface of the valley in a semi-circular formation. Inside the lead craft, Voolvif Monn braced himself for landing, his right hand unhitching his Lightsaber from his belt. Commander Fade stood behind him, placing his helmet onto his head, concealing the long, jagged scar on his chin. The dark purple, jagged stripes on his helmet matched the shape of his scar, something of a trophy from a previous battle. Upon touchdown, the interior lights of the craft switched from red to green. The great doors of the craft shot open and the men of the 429th Legion leapt onto the battlefield.
The Gunships had surrounded the droid army, encasing them in a circle of firepower and destruction. Master Monn charged the droids, his vibrant green-blade sparking to life and bouncing the red blaster-fire back at the droid forces.
"Get those walkers on the ground, NOW!" The Jedi Master Commanded.
As if hearing his words, the magnetic clamps of the dropships relaxed and the four AT-TE's sprung to life, unleashing a volley of cannon-fire on the Droid forces.
On the opposite side of the semi-circle, Choenn Takar unleashed a mighty blast of force energy at the advancing droids. The impact of the invisible wall pushed the droids to the ground, critically damaging some units. Leaping towards the enemy, he spun his elongated lightsaber hilt to his side, igniting a sapphire blade at each end.
"Patience!" Master Monn exclaimed again, growing tired of giving his Padawan the same lesson over and over again. "Do not rush in with your attacks. Work out where your opponent will strike next and put up an effective defence. THEN you will gain the upper ground on him!"
Choenn had grown used to this. Master Chandur had taught him the initial components and forms of lightsaber combat. But it was now up to his Master to train him to the best of his abilities.
It had been two years since the afternoon in the courtyard, and Choenn found that his skills with a lightsaber had not improved much in that time. He stepped back and dropped his training saber out of frustration.
"Master, this is hopeless! How am I to defend myself when I cannot move fast enough to cover up my weaknesses?" He dropped to the ground, frustrated with his failure. His master pondered intently.
Monn remembered back to that lesson he had taught on the day he took Choenn as his Padawan. He had observed Choenn's fighting style when he was alone. Long, sweeping strikes, elaborate flourishes and twirls, and nimble agility. He then thought to what the young Jedi had just said to him. How was he supposed to defend all his weak points when he couldn't move the saber quick enough? Then he had an idea.
Reaching out with the force, Monn called a different training saber to his hand from across the courtyard. He passed it to his Padawan, who was still crouched on the floor.
"Perhaps I have taught you to use the wrong type of weapon." Monn said as he stood over his upset Padawan.
Choenn looked at the training saber his master had dropped at his feet. "But the Jedi don't wield any other weapon than a lightsaber, Master."
Monn helped his Padawan to his feet and held the saber out so he could study it carefully.
"Look at the weapon before you. What do you notice?"
The young Jedi gazed at the weapon held out by his Master carefully. It then occurred to him.
"The weapon is longer, with the hilt in the middle."
"Yes, good." Monn gave a slight chuckle at his Padawan's surprise. "The saberstaff is a double bladed lightsaber. A switch is located at each end of the hilt, one per blade, so that it can be operated as a regular saber or as a staff."
Choenn listened carefully to his Master's words, taking everything in.
"The saberstaff requires larger movements. Great, sweeping strikes, spins, quick jabs and athleticism are all important in using such a weapon correctly."
"And you believe I should wield such a weapon, Master?" Choenn asked, his voice more inquisitive than ever.
The Shistavanen smiled at his Padawan's words. "You catch on quickly, young one." Monn patted Choenn on the shoulder as praise, then dropped the weapon into his open hand. Stepping back to his previous position, Monn ignited his emerald lightsaber.
"Let us begin again."
The sparring match was longer than before. Choenn blocked all of Monn's strikes. Elaborate spins and jumps into the air caught Monn off-guard, something which Choenn had never seen happen to his Master before. Though Choenn's attacks and defences were quick, Monn was still a Jedi Master. After his Padawan redirected one his attacks upward and attempted to deliver a kick to his Master, Monn brought his green blade back down onto the training blade of his Padawan. Choenn stumbled for a brief second, but this was all the time Monn needed to disarm his Padawan and win the duel.
"Not bad, young one!" Monn exclaimed through ragged breaths. "We'll pick up again tomorrow."
4 years had passed since then and Choenn Takar was now an adept user of the saberstaff. His twin blue blades hummed and twirled across the battlefield, cutting down any Battle Droid who stood in his way. He soon cleared a path through the droids for his men to follow, leading them to the pinned-down men of the 501st.
At the same time, Voolvif Monn was also carving his way through his fair share of droids. Commander Fade followed him close by as the AT-TEs rained a volley of destruction on the droids and their tanks. He soon saw a familiar face through the field of soldiers.
"Sorry about the delay! We needed a way around those guns before we could risk landing!" Monn shouted as his emerald blade crackled and hissed as it made contact with blaster bolts.
"Well, they were causing us some havoc down here too!" Skywalker responded loudly over the sounds of war. "So any help was most welcome! Where's your Padawan?"
Monn deflected three more blaster bolts in one clean strike, disabling the three droids who fired them. "Choenn? If he's followed the plan he should be making his way to the north face of the headquarters!"
"He should meet up with Ahsoka and Rex then. They were covering the north face too. I'm sure they'll be glad of the support!"