The Elementian Home Guard space forces were fully deployed in a protective screen around their planet, ready to give their lives for it. They had just been contacted by General Kenobi and knew that the Seps were to come at any minute. They had let the droids invade their planet once, and they weren't going to let it happen again withput a fight. The space forces numbered two-hundred Republic loaned V-19's, eight Corellian Corvettes, and two frigate-sized Venators. They hoped that whatever the Separatists could throw at them that they could defend as best as they could.
"All squadrons check in," said the leader of the starfighters, Yhao, a pilot of the Fire Nation.
"Emerald squadron standing by."
"Nomad squadron standing by."
"Bison squadron stading by."
"Earth squadron standing by."
"Blue Squadron standing by."
"Fire Squadron standing by."
And lastly, "Dragon Squadron standing by," said Yhao.
"Sir, we have multiple contacts about to come out of hyperspace at sector 2," said Earth leader.
"All craft converge," said Yhao. The spacecraft all headed for they position. When they all got there out of hyperspace came the Seps. Four Munificent-class frigates came out along with a large Providence-class battleship. Yhao knew one thing, this was going to be difficult.
"All craft engage," said Yhao. " Komodo formation." This formation was when the starfighters took the wings while the heavier ships took the middle, like the horns of the Komodo Rhino. They would converge on a point like a pincer, hoping to crush the Separatist ships together and make them easier targets to get rid of. It was a good plan, until something happened that they didn't expect. As they raced towards the ships the droid fighters came out. At first the only ships they saw were the Vulture droids. The men of the Home Guard had trained all the time to deal with them, but what ruined it was just as many squadrons of Vulture droids as a new droid fighter the men had never seen before.
The fighter had a three-armed design, a heavy laser cannon potruding down the middle, a light laser cannon for each arm, and a cache of missile fixed to it's belly. It's red eyes glowed red, the design of the craft looking like the famous predators of Colla IV. This was the droid tri-fighter, an unfortunately these men were going to see just how deadly this new craft was.
The droid fighters immediately engaged the Home Guards fighters while the corvettes fired at the Separatist ships while trying their best to dodge the incoming turbolaser rounds. The firgates went head to head with the battleship.
At first the Home Guards fighters did well against the Vulture droids, but when they met the tri-fighters, it was hell. The tri-fighters were faster than the V-19's, and there laser cannons gave them a considerable advantage in firepower. They made the squadrons split up into a dogfight, which is what they really excelled in.
"Blue 1, you got one on you. Shake him!" said Yhao. Blue 1 didn't have time before two tri-fighters blew him to pieces with their cannons. He desintegrated into a cloud of super-charged gasses. Everywhere the fighters went, they met the ferocity of the new droids. Dragon 3 had one in his sights before another fired a homing missile at him and his starfigheter exploded. The Home Guard was being destroyed by the score. The Home Guard's frigates and corvettes weren't doing well either. The combined power of the Separatist battleships and five frigates were taking it's toll on them Three corvettes were already damaged and one frigate was so damaged it had to be evacuated, half the crew dead.
"I have three on me," said Yhao. Three tri-fighters were on his tail and gaining. One of them fired a missile at him, but it soared past him. Yhao wondered why the missile did that. He found out the answer when the missile exploded in front of him and six buzz droids flapped out and landed on his ship. They immediately began to tear his ship apart, taking off pieces of the hull and snipping through the wires under them. One began to scratch on the glass of his cockpit and another destroyed his astromech droid.
"Mayday, mayday, I've lost all controls. I'm bailing out," said Yhao. He had no choice but to put on his breathing mask, get a jetpack from his compartment, and open the cockpit. He was sucked out of the starfighter as the air escaped into space. Luckily he was near a corvette and he started to move towards it. Landing in the hangar for one starship he slumped onto the floor and had to be carried to the corvette's medical bay to recuperate.
Elsewhere the battle was turning grim for the rest of the Home Guard. One frigate was destroyed, another one being shot to pieces by heavy turbolasers and attacking Vulture droids and tri-fighters. Four corvettes were already destroyed, all hands lost, and there was now only eighty-six fighters left from the two-hundred. Their leader incapacitated and their numbers plummeting by the seconds, the odds were stacked against them. But these men knew they were the last line of defense between them and their planet, and they knew they'd rather die than see the droids invade. But they all knew that what they needed was a miracle.
That miracle came in the shape of three Venator cruisers that ripped out of hyperspace. Their dorsal hangars opened and out came squadron upon squadron of reinforcements. The Republic V-19's, Interceptors, Delta-7's, Y-wings, and the new V-wings engaged the droid fighters while the three cruisers opened fire on the Separatist ships. In the midst of the space battle an old spice freighter went unnoticed towards the Separatist battleship. Picking their way through the mayhem while dodging random laser cannons, turbolasers, and, missiles they came to the underbelly of the battleship, where they docked with one of the ship's openings.
"That was too easy," said Anakin. He didn't need to turn around to see everyone holding someone, trembling.
"What?" said Anakin.
"Next time, I'm driving," said Ahsoka. As they preapared to disembark, Rex took a look out in the hall. The coast was clear, for now. Getting their helmets on or readying their lightsabers, everyone walked out of the Twilight, readying for the unexpected. Getting to the first hall they paused. Taran cautiously looked around the corner for any sign of droids. He saw a squad of droidekas rolling down the hall. He jumped into the middle of the hall and used the water from his left hand glove to make two water tentacles form on his arms. Before the droidekas could open from their ball form he sliced them all in half. He bended the water back onto his glove.
"Nice work kid," said Rex inspecting the damage. The rest of the group hurried down the hall, trying to find a way to get to the bridge.
"Sir, the Republic fleet has come out of hyperspace," said the droid commander.
"Then it's time to make our move before Skywalker and Kenobi show up. Get Bane and the commando droids, we have our target," said Dooku. His plan was to go at least twenty years in the past and kill Taran's parents. Strangely, everyone else thought he would go back farther. Bane arrived along with twenty commando droids.
"We have to do this now. How long till the time portal is up?" said Dooku.
"We have to connect the machine to the reactors of the ship sir," said the droid.
"Hurry, I can sense that they're already coming," said Dooku. "Get some of our droids up here now!"
Dooku couldn;t have been right any other way. Through each hall the group moved stealthily, cutting down any droids that came in their way with ferocity and speed. Whether it was regular battle droids or SBD's, they were taken down in a flurry of lightsabers, blaster shots, or elements. Speeding through the many intricate halls and and corridors they finally got near the bridge. They saw that the door to the bridge was closed, but they didn't have to worry; they had four experienced Jedi, and no door would stop them.
"Is it ready now?!" yelled Dooku, his patience wearing thin as he felt his Jedi adversaries getting closer and closer. About forty droids were in the room, including the commando droids.
"Yes, we just need to put in the time," said the droid.
"Set it to twenty years," said Dooku. As the droid commander was setting the date everyone heard the sound that Dooku was dreading: lightsabers cutting through a metal door. Four red-yellow dots appeared around the door like a compass pointing north, east, south, and west. Then they converged until they intersected with each other (in the same wat Grievous did in "Grievous Intrigue). When they converged they stooped. An uneasy silence went through the bridge.
"Sir, the date is set, now all we have to do is.." The cut off part of the metal skyrocketed forward and took out five droids near the door, along with the droid commander. The clones opened fire while the Jedi rushed in and began to hack the droids down. Bane took aim and began to fire at Taran. Taran cut down a commando droid that was coming at him with a vibrosword and deflects all of Bane's shots at him. Ahsoka started to take out the super battle droids and battle droids while Rex, Cody, Gunny, Ripcord, Boil, and Waxer took shots at any droids in the room.
Dooku tried his best to stay out of the conflict, but he saw that Kenobi and Skywalker were advancing ever closer to him. He ran to the controls of the time machine and started up the system. Everyone turned to see a green hole, something that looked like a hole in the fabric of space and time, open up.
"Now, you no longer exist Cyneran," said Dooku. Taran had one choice to do. Landing a kick in Bane's chest, he hooked one of Bane's arms around his and hurled him at the machine, followed by a rock sent from his glove. Bane hit the top, causing the machine to hobble, and the rock hit the controls dead in the center, sending them haywire. The date on the controls started go crazy, random numbers showing up. Finally, the counter burst out from the panel as the machine started to sputter. The green hole flashed hundreds of different colors before it started to suck the room like a vacuum cleaner. Everyone tried to hold onto something, but the portal was too powerful. The remainder of the droids, five SBD's, ten battle droids, and twelve commando droids, were sucked in.
Bane followed next due to his daze from when Taran threw him at the machine. Then, Dooku flew in too. Now only the clones and the Jedi were left. Ahsoka's grip on a computer was slipping, and she was almost sucked in as well if Taran hadn't shot his hand out and grabbed her wrist at the last second. Anakin was doing the same for Obi-Wan, but the more they held on, the more powerful the suction became. Taran and Anakin felt their grips beginning to slide. The clones were holding on for dear life too. Ripcord's charges got sucked into the hole too. A piece of machinery from the bridge hit Anakin on the hand he was using to hold him and Obi-Wan, and they were sent flying into the portal. Taran tried as best as he could to hold on, but his grip was just about to slip. He knew any second he was going to let go.
"Rex, defend the bridge until we can figure a way to get back," he shouted over the roar of the wind. Taran looked at Ahsoka, an understanding coming between them. She nodded her head and Taran's grip slipped. They were both sucked through the portal.
The feeling of being sent through the portal felt strange to Taran. It was like he was stretching, shrinking, expanding, and thinning all at the same time. As he soared through what looked like hyperspace he his grip on Ahsoka slip, but he couldn't move to get her. In fact, it seemed as if his whole body was paralyzed. What loooked like stars flashed before his very eyes. The universe seemed to flash by him, and he saw other things that no one else can imagine. Soaring through the continuum he saw what appeared to be an opening coming up. He soared towards it at an unprecedented speed.
He burst through the portal, the opening feeling like he was thrown through open air. He crashed through what he felt was a table and landed in the sand. As he soared through the air he thought he saw shapes of green and, but thought he was on a part of Elementia that was tropical. He landed in the sand, skidded through it in a back flip, and after the second spin landed on his back. His eyes closed as he passed out.