Oh Force. Only a few days until Kenobi. I cannot wait.
Hope you all enjoy these next few chapters as much as I enjoyed writing them.
Chapter Fifteen
Aedan awoke early, as usual, and slipped out of bed. He glanced over at Kyra who was still fast asleep, laying on her side. The sight of her—full lips pursed, long golden hair cascading over the pillow, hands tucked under her head—caused Aedan to clinch his fists and turn away. The urge, no, the need to walk towards her and caress her cheek assaulted him. His dreams had been...intense. The two of them were in some white, wooden structure overlooking a field of green, and then they were kissing. Passionately.
Force Almighty
He pressed the heels of his palms into his eye sockets, trying to squeeze the emotions out of him. The desire, and need, and want lingered.
He hastily grabbed his tunic, went inside the refresher, sped through his ablutions, put on his clothes, and walked out of the room, without sparing another glance toward the sleeping beauty. He shook his head violently, trying to shake the scenes playing out in his head that had so easily surmounted his carefully built walls. He took the turbolift down and was outside the building, moving at a quick jog within seconds. After a few hundred meters he was running, the stress on his muscles drawing his attention away from things that he could never allow to happen. Away from the images that filled his head. He relished the strain and found solace in covering territory quickly. Here, in this stride, life was simple.
Within minutes he was at the 'Guile, breathing heavily, legs and lungs screaming at him. He walked up the ramp, and made his way into the cockpit, checking the transmissions. Their backup was set to arrive in twenty minutes. What perfect timing, he thought, and decided to wait for them on the platform. He'd brief them, and then take them on up to the terrace and there they could finalize the plan. No use disturbing Kyra, she could use the extra sleep. She'll just meet us on the veranda when she's ready.
Kyra woke to a cold, empty room. She had slept well, aside from a rather poignant nightmare of hordes of rakghoul tearing everyone to pieces, and overtaking Coruscant. She looked over and saw Aedan was not in his bed, nor was he in the bathroom, and light was streaming in through the window. She looked around the room. His tunic was gone, so he was definitely out and about, and he didn't think to wake her. She sat up in bed, closed her eyes, and reached out with the force. Being near him every day for the past few months made it easy to recognize his force signature. He was on the terrace, however, he was not alone, as five Jedi were with him.
And he left me here, all by myself. Her chest felt tight, and her stomach churned. She wrapped her arms around her torso and rested her head on her knees that were now pulled up to her chest. It wasn't like she hadn't woken up alone every day for her entire life. But why did this feel so different?
She exhaled sharply. Get ahold of yourself. She sprang out of bed, got ready for the day in the refresher, put her tunic on, and made her way out of the room and up to the terrace.
Kyra stepped out onto the embellished terrace that was now ready for the big reveal and walked towards a familiarly clad group of people. All five of which came as a surprise. Mace Windu had his back towards her, and that was enough of a surprise. Coleman Trebor towered above everyone and drew the stares of all the staff workers putting the final touches on the veranda decor. Shaak Ti was standing next to the hulking vurk, and finally there was the Chalactan Master Depa Billaba, and a young human male that she didn't recognize standing next to her.
"Well, well, well," Master Trebor said as she neared, "this must be the illustrious Kyra Dawnstar. It's a pleasure to meet you."
Kyra bowed low, and smiled widely. "The honor is all mine, Master Trebor. Master Kahl tells me of your adventures all the time."
The big Vurk laughed heartily, "Does he now?" his deep voice resonated, "He exaggerates, I'm sure."
Mace Windu stepped forward, and nodded his head, "Padawan Dawnstar," he said curtly.
"Master Windu," she said, while bowing low again.
Then Kyra turned toward the red skinned Togruta, bowing low again. "Master Ti, it's such a privilege to officially meet you."
The lovely, composed Togruta bowed low, and smiled. "Kyra Dawnstar, we are well met."
And finally, she bowed low to Master Billaba, "Master," she said deferentially.
"Nice to meet you, Kyra," the Chalactan said. She then swept her hand towards the younger man. "This is my padawan, Caleb Dume."
Kyra smiled and bowed once again.
"How is your training progressing?" Master Billaba asked Kyra.
All attention was now focused on her next words. She swallowed, and gathered herself. "It's going very well. Master Kahl has imparted his rigorous saber training as well as his wisdom, and I feel my abilities growing daily."
Master Billaba nodded once, and then turned back to the other two masters where they continued discussing plans. Aedan also joined in on the conversation, leaving Kyra and Caleb off by themselves.
"Hey!" she said, happily, "Good to see another Padawan. I'm surprised we've never met before."
Caleb grinned, and Kyra was instantly feeling better about the day. "Me too. Rok talks about you all the time."
"You know my favorite Wookie?" she nearly yelped, which caused Caleb to laugh, and Kyra to duck her head, and blush.
He nodded, "Yea, we have Basic Starfighter Maintenance together. He's a genius when it comes to fixing things."
"Tell me about it."
Caleb then cleared his throat, "Say," he said softly, and then glanced over at the masters who were still deep in their discussion. "Is Master Kahl as good as they say he is with a blade?"
Kyra raised an eyebrow, "How good do they say he is?"
He smirked, "Better than Master Fisto and Master Tiin."
Kyra bobbed her head, "For once the rumors are true."
"Seriously?"
"Seriously. He's incredible with a lightsaber. Even created his own form."
"What?!" he shouted, drawing the attention of the masters.
Master Windu, with his perpetual grimace, spoke first. "Padawans, join us in the action plan brief."
"Yes, Master," they both said, and walked forward.
"Alright, you two, here's the plan," Aedan said. "Masters Windu and Ti will be flying air support in their Delta Sevens. Master Trebor will be there," he said, pointing two stories up the Advent building, where the windows overlooked the terrace, while Master Billaba and myself will be on the terrace, disguised as regular civilians. And you two," he said staring at Kyra and Caleb, "Will be in the two adjacent buildings as overwatch."
"Yes, Master," Caleb said quickly.
"What?!" Kyra said, "Overwatch? But..."
Aedan's sharp glare cut off the rest of her complaint.
"That is the plan," Master Windu said, "And you would do well to follow orders, Padawan."
"I..." she stammered, "I'm sorry, Master," she said, bowing low, and stepping back.
Master Windu turned back to the others. "Trellan Luk doesn't want us here. But Sa'kard needs to be stopped. Stay alert and act fast."
Aedan nodded, "Two hours until Trellan takes the stage, so we should get into position now and be ready."
Everyone nodded and began to disperse. Caleb gave her a smile and slight wave and then followed his master into the building, where she would take him to one of the nearby buildings.
"Your job is necessary, Kyra," Master Trebor said, "Don't belittle your importance."
"I know, Master," she said dropping her head, "But I also think you're just trying to make me feel better about sitting this one out."
The big Vurk chuckled, "Perhaps." Then he strode off, leaving Kyra along with Aedan, who crossed his arms and lowered his gaze at her.
"Since when do you disrespect me like that, particularly in front of three council members?" he asked harshly.
"When you put me on the sidelines for the most important mission of my life," she snapped back.
Aedan was momentarily stunned by her audacity, but recovered quickly. "You are not on the sidelines."
She rolled her eyes, "Give me a break," she said, turning to look up at the looming skytower she was going to be running surveillance from. "That is hundreds of meters away from the action."
"Action? Is that what this is about? You want action?"
Kyra clenched her teeth, "You know that is not what I mean."
Aedan stared at her, arms still crossed, nostrils flaring.
She let out a sigh, shoulders slumping. "I just want to help, Master. Please."
"You are helping. We need you up there. That is the plan. Those are the orders. Follow them. And don't question me like that again."
Kyra's eyes lowered to her feet, and she nodded. "Yes, Master." Without another word she turned, and walked away, entering the building. She grabbed a few ration bars from the room, and then took the turbolift down to the main lobby.
Within moments she sensed a vaguely familiar presence through the Force.
"Padawan Dawnstar, Padawan Dawnstar!" a high-pitched squeaky voice yelled from across the walkway. Kyra turned and saw Mayva jumping up and down, waving her arms. The cute rodent creature immediately lifted Kyra's spirits, as she bounded across the distance between them and grabbed Kyra's hand, shaking it eagerly. "It's so good to see you again. Aedan has us conducting overwatch with you. Lumaro is here too, he's just lagging behind with the gear. There he is," she said, pointing, and Kyra saw the binary-brained humanoid struggling with two very large black crates that didn't appear to be rolling very well.
"Hi Lumaro, let me help you with that," she said, taking hold of one of the crates, and lifting it with ease.
He nodded his thanks, "Good to see you again, Padawan."
"What's the plan?" Kyra asked, "And what's in the crates."
"You and Mayva will run surveillance in one building, while I will be with the other padawan. And inside these are our state-of-the-art reconnaissance drones."
Heat radiated through Kyra. If these two were running eagle eye surveillance, then why the hell did she need to be up there as well. "Fascinating," she said through clenched teeth.
"Isn't it?" Mayva chimed, "Well, we better hurry on up. Good luck, Lumaro. Come on, Kyra, let's get setup."
Without waiting for a reply, the Chadra-Fan scurried away, causing Kyra to jog after her, lugging the crate with her. They walked right on by the front desk, who evidently had already been briefed with the situation, and wave as they entered. They went up to the hundred and sixtieth floor, where an office room had been cleared out. The windows gave them a perfect view of the Advent Tower's terrace. As far as overwatch positions go, this was pretty darn good.
Mayva opened the black crate, revealing a sleek looking gunmetal gray droid. "This is the EsDee 250. Here's the control pad," she said lifting a black square box with knobs and dials on it. "And here is the flight visor," she said holding up a headset that had a silver visor attached to it.
"Flight visor?"
"Yep, lets us see exactly what the droid is seeing."
Kyra pursed her lips, "Well, that's pretty sweet."
"I know," Mayva squeaked, "Here's your visor, so we'll both be able to see. I'll fly while you work the comms. Here's your earpiece."
"Copy that," Kyra said, impressed with Mayva's efficiency and all business attitude.
"And we're Avril one and two," she said.
Kyra smiled, "I like it," and put in her earpiece.
Mayva walked over to the transparisteel wall, and took out what looked to be a blaster pistol and pointed it at the wall. Kyra braced for the shot, and the wind that was about to blow into the room. But instead, a thin laser beam shot out from the pistol, and sliced into the see-through wall. "Could you hold the piece in place," Mayva asked, not taking her eyes from her cutting.
"Of course," Kyra said, and used the force to hold the block of transparisteel as her skilled counterpart finished cutting a rectangular piece out of the wall.
"Great," Mayva cheered, "Go ahead and pull it in."
Kyra did so, slowly pulling the piece inside, a gust of wind entered the room, but nothing too bad, not like it would be on Coruscant in the much taller structures. Mayva activated the droid, and then began working the knobs and dials on the control pad. The droid shot up, and quickly went through the opening.
"Perfect," Mayva said. And Kyra moved the piece of transparisteel back into place. Mayva took out the modified beam pistol again, turned a nob adjusting the settings, and then traced the outline of the transparisteel piece so that it coalesced with the rest of the window.
A few seconds later she heard Aedan's voice of the comm channel. "This is Tauntaun, all units report in."
"Rontu, ready and waiting," Master Trebor said.
"Aiwha's one and two are in the air," Master Windu said, referring to himself and Master Ti.
"Varactyl, in position," Master Billaba said.
"Bulabird's one and two, ready to comply." That was Lumaro and Caleb.
"Avril one and two, we are good to go," Kyra said with a smile, loving all the call signs.
"Excellent," Aedan said. "We're all set. Everyone, reach out with your senses, and keep your eyes peeled. Overwatch, call out anything suspicious. May the force be with us."
After a full of hour of intently watching guests trickle onto the open courtyard, dialing up her awareness to maximum, Kyra's brain was starting to numb out from over exertion. She took off the visor, and sat down, huffing.
"I'll take it from here," Mayva said, "You take a break."
"Thanks, I think I was overextending my senses."
"Happens to me all the time," Mayva said, "Wait. There's a lot of movement. The crowd is taking their seats."
"Alright, team," Aedan said over the comm, "Look alive. Trellan Luk is taking the stage."
Kyra put the visor back on and had a close-up view as the blue-skinned Omwati took the stage and walked up to the podium. She could see screens all over the city projecting his image. "Good people of Taris, and citizens of the Galaxy. Today marks a new dawn in time, and you have all been blessed as being part of this moment, as they will talk of it for generations to come."
Red cloth was removed from two large glass cases that contained boxes of microchips. And Trellan Luk held up a tiny processor in his hand, "The future, gentlebeings, is in the palm of my hand."
"Can you believe this guy," Mayva asked.
Kyra shook her head, "No, I ca-,"
The Force rippled with a flash of warning, and Kyra was refocused on scanning the terrace for threats.
"Everyone feel that?" Aedan asked.
"Yes," Kyra answered, among a chorus of the others' responses.
"Feel what?" Mayva asked.
"I got nothing on scans or optics," Master Windu said.
"Wait," Master Trebor said, "Look West, past the skytowers."
"I see it," Master Ti said, "It's some kind of glider, or speeder."
Kyra peered out the window, and finally saw one lone vehicle heading towards the Advent Tower. She grabbed the binoculars and saw through the lens an armored man flying in what appeared to be some kind of exo-suit with wings.
"It's a Mandalorian Wing-Blast," Aedan said.
"He's right," Master Windu confirmed, "I have eyes on it. Avril One, can you confirm if that's Sa'Kard?"
Kyra peered through her binoculars at the approaching vehicle. "No, it's not him. But whoever it is, he's wearing Mandalorian armor."
"Roger that," Windu said, and all watched as the glider banked around the buildings. "Hold positions, it hasn't posed a threat yet. Bulabird one, you're patched in with TarSec, any word?"
"They're aware of the threat, and on standby."
The Wing-Blast began heading in the direction it came from, and soon was out of sight. "Well, that was odd," Master Trebor said.
"I highly doubt that was some random Mandalorian out for a leisurely Benduday flight," Aedan said.
The Force twitched again as the glider came back into view around the buildings a few kilometers off, but this time there were two more Wing-Blasts with it.
"Prepare to move, people," Windu said, as the three exo-suits headed right for the terrace. Trellan Luk had long since stopped talking, and everyone on the veranda was staring at the incoming vehicles. A dozen Grey Beks hurried out onto the terrace from the entrance way, and took up staggered firing positions.
Out of the corner of her eye, Kyra saw movement in the building where Caleb and Lumaro were. She quickly brought the binoculars back up and saw, her blood going cold. "Bulabird, bogeys, three floors above you..."
The windows above the overwatch unit exploded outward, and there stood five heavily armored men of all different species. One of them held up a large rifle, and there was a bright flash. Kyra watched as a harpoon cable shot across the two-hundred-meter divide between buildings, and lodged just above the Advent Tower's terrace.
"Same to you, Avril. Hostiles above you," Caleb said, frantically. And then Kyra heard the explosion above, and transparisteel rained down. As the shards fell, and a harpoon was shot across from this building as well, the three Wing-Blasts opened fire, a missile detonating at the doorway that led back into the building, sealing off the courtyard.
"All units engage," Master Windu said in her earpiece.
Kyra turned quickly to Mayva. "What's the fastest way up there?"
"Um, um, um," the Chadra fan said, her tiny hands going to her head, "The stairs at the end of the hall."
Kyra shook her head, knowing that would take too much time. Then she looked up at the ceiling. "Get eyes on the crew above us with your drone."
"Already there."
"How far up are they?"
"Three floors above us, and two rooms to the North."
Kyra nodded, then unhooked her lightsaber. She stood on the black crate, ignited her saber, and cut into the ceiling, making a hole a meter in diameter, all the while her team of Jedi was communicating back and forth, relaying information, but she wasn't listening to it. She let the circular piece fall to the floor, and then leapt up through the hole. She repeated this tactic until she was on the same floor as the attackers. She quickly cut through one wall with her lightsaber, and reached out with the force, sensing the foes only a few meters away.
"Engaging enemies in my building," she said into her comm piece, among the hectic radio traffic.
"Be careful," Aedan said, laser blasts and explosions reverberated through her earpiece.
She took a deep breath, centered herself in the Force, and then made three quick slashes into the wall, making a triangle. She force pushed the piece into the room and it slammed into an enemy, smashing him against the far wall. She turned to see a stout Weequay grabbing hold of the durasteel cable that stretched from this building to the Advent Tower. The others having already crossed over. This Weequay was fumbling with his harness trying to attach himself to the cable, the loud, rushing wind blocking out the commotion behind him. He was completely unaware of her sneaking up behind him. A thousand thoughts went through her brain on how to dispatch him. Kicking him out of the window wasn't right, so she did what Aedan had taught her when trying to subdue an opponent without killing them. She crept forward and then wrapped her right arm around his throat, gripped her left bicep, and then put her left hand behind his head. He immediately flinched, and began trying to buck her off, grabbing at her with his flailing hands while Kyra tucked her head into the back of his neck, and held on for dear life.
The big, hard muscled Weequay then flung himself backwards against the wall, smashing Kyra into it, knocking the wind from her, and forcing her to let go.
Okay, that wasn't the best idea.
Both of them were on their knees coughing, but the angered Weequay recovered first, lumbered forward and aimed a front kick right at Kyra's face. She ducked to the side, grabbed the leg with both arms as his foot impacted with the wall, and twisted hard. There was a pop that came from the knee, and the brown skinned foe roared in pain, his leathery skinned face hardening into a furious gaze. The brutality of the maneuver caused him to lose balance and topple over, hitting the ground hard. His hand struggled to find his blaster, but Kyra surged forward and executed a roundhouse to his temple, knocking him out cold.
"I think I need a better tactic next time," she panted.
"Avril, report," Aedan said.
"I'm good. Two down," she said, as she jogged over to the window. "Three made it across."
"Good," he said quickly, sounds of battle sneaking through the transmission. "Stay put."
She held back a groan, and then picked up a rifle that was dropped and peered the scope at the terrace. Six Grey Beks were covering a hunkering, terrified Trellan Luk beside the stage. Bodies of soldiers and civilians littered the courtyard. Aedan was engaging an enemy squad of five black armored troopers, and clearly holding his own, but here had they come from? Kyra looked for Master Billaba and saw her prone form among the wreckage of the initial missile blast.
Oh, force, no.
Coleman Trebor had apparently leapt down from his perch and was now sprinting towards Aedan. A Delta-7 fighter streaked by pursuing a Wing-Blast, but the starfighter was being outmaneuvered by the small, nimble exo-suits in between the buildings. She saw the second one fire on Shaak Ti's Delta-7 a kilometer away.
Where was the other glider?
That's when she saw it bank around her building and launch a missile towards the terrace. Dread filled her, as she saw the missiles trajectory. It was heading right for her master. She watched as Aedan turned quickly, dropping his lightsaber, and throwing up his hands, deflecting upwards. It struck several meters above his head, detonating against the building, and sending duracrete debris raining down. Coleman Trebor, who had already been in motion dove forward tackling Aedan, and the two of them smashed through a set of windows as the debris crashed down.
"Master!" she screamed. "Master, can you hear me?" She peered through the rifle's scope, but dust, debris, and fire obscured her view.
No response. Terror engulfed her. Panic filled her.
No, no, NO! This couldn't be happening.
"Aedan!" she screamed again.
There was a cough. "I'm fine," he croaked through the comm channel. "Unharmed, but pinned down. Trebor is alive, but unconscious." Kyra exhaled slowly. She clinched her hands to still the residual tremors.
Another explosion rocked the building, this one close to the stage. She looked back through the scope and saw there was now a smoking hole in the middle of the floor ten meters away from where Trellan and his security team were stationed. An object was flung through the opening in the floor, and it landed among the Grey Beks. It burst before they could scatter, and a cloud of mist spread among them. Immediately they were coughing, gagging, and rubbing at their eyes. Three enemy soldiers climbed through the hole, all wearing gas masks, and within seconds took out the struggling Grey Beks with precision shooting. The three then advanced on Trellan who was huddled in the far corner. Mileesha sprang up from behind cover, dual wielding blasters and unloading into the incoming threats. Two went down, while another armor clad agent rolled forward, and tackled the female Omwati and there they struggled.
The Force flashed again.
Then Kyra saw him slowly emerge from the hole. His impossibly large, black armor-clad body rising up among the smoke and fire like a shadow. He stalked forward, four magnaguards climbing up through the hole behind him.
Salas Sa'Kard had arrived.