A/N 1: Well, my writing schedule has been completely blown to bits. Honestly, I was surprised to see people still ask me to continue this. Thanks, guys xD

Anyway, here's the next one. I figured it was time to pick up the pace a bit. Hope y'all enjoy this! Also, I'll try and update the next one soon. Tell me what you like/didn't like/want me to include in the reviews.

Thanks for your patience, and May the Force be with you!

Chapter 12

(Dagobah, Outer rim territories)

Jedi Grand Master Yoda leapt out of his Starfighter as its hatch lifted on landing. Given his diminutive size, his Starfighter was flown by his astromech droid, as being able to reach the controls is an important factor in piloting any ship. He landed on his two feet and summoned his cane to him from the ship, using it to lean on while walking.

Pausing to survey his immediate surroundings, he felt around with the Force to determine life forms nearby. Not sensing any except a few amphibians in the bog, he turned to his astromech and said, "Wait here. Not long, will I be."

The droid blew a series of whistles and chirps in an affirmative response.

Yoda knew what he was looking for. Dagobah was a planet saturated in the Force, situated on a particularly strong nexus and completely untainted by the presence of any colonists. It was inhabited only by wildlife and nature, and the high amount of life saturated the flow of the Force.

Despite the entire planet's gloomy look, given how it was almost completely and always shrouded in fog and mist, it still was a balanced nexus.

Except for one location, which was saturated in the Dark side to such an extent, it brought up hallucinations and such within even the strongest Force users: The Cave of Despair. Yoda had ventured within only once throughout his entire life on this planet, and it had been his worst experience in life, ever. Back then, he had only presumed it to be so tainted in the Dark side because it was trying to balance out the absence of negativity everywhere else on the planet, but he knew better now. The rest of the planet was balanced, and this one place was not.

Probably because it housed a Sith Talisman in its depths.

Yoda had no idea as to how that thing had got here, but that was not the issue at hand.

He had denied any accompaniment because he knew no one else, perhaps except Anakin, would be powerful enough to resist the effects of the Dark Side which were so prevalent here. Skywalker himself was an only exception due to his extremely large Midichlorian count, which rendered most mind-altering effects of the Dark Side null and void on him. Yoda was second to no one in experience when it came to research on the aspects of the Force given how he'd been alive for over eight hundred years now, and it was this Mastery of his that he trusted to tide him over the Dark Side's influence.

He leapt from the ground on to the branch of a tree nearby, using the Force to augment his muscles to increase his leap and speed. Having spent so many decades on this planet, he didn't need a map to find the cave, but even without that the cave's location was apparent enough to anyone that wasn't completely cut off from the Force, given how much it reeked of the Dark Side in the Force. The disturbance was evident from hundreds of kilometers away, and, Yoda, thankfully, was less than five kilometers away. He leapt from branch to branch in fluid continuity as he sped towards the entrance to the cave, his form a blur to any native creatures that turned its eyes on him.

It took him twenty minutes to navigate his way through Dagobah's thick undergrowth, a feat no one else would've been capable of. For once, his size worked in his favor; anyone else would've been forced to move through the thickly forested area very slowly or wade through treacherous bogs. His smaller figure, alongside his strength in the Force, allowed him to leap through the trees with agility that would've put most Jedi to shame.

He landed twenty feet away from the cave's entrance and paused to catch his breath. Sitting down, he crossed his legs and drew in on the living Force, making sure he only drew in on the Balance to sustain himself. Drawing in on the Dark side, especially while being this close to the entrance was extremely dangerous.

Finding himself to be operating at normal rates and having bolstered his mind and body with the Force, he stood up and trudged forward on his two legs, leaving his stick and lightsaber behind.

This was a do or die situation, and he could only rely on what he was sure he could control, which was the Force. His lightsaber would be useless against non-physical enemies. He also knew that if he failed, there wouldn't be a second chance. There never was, not when dealing with the Dark side. It was why he always said to his fellow Jedi:

"Do, or do not. There is no try."

If you didn't give it your all, it was as pointless as not doing anything. Commitment was either a hundred percent, or not at all.

He jumped down a ledge into the cave, and the darkness within swallowed him whole.

Yoda felt that, somehow, his species had evolved specifically with Dagobah in mind. His larger than normal eyes and irises allowed him much better vision than most other species, and he had no trouble navigating the narrow passage thick with underbrush due to his short appendages. His extremely high aptitude with the Force also helped him sense his way through.

The dark, damp tunnel opened into a small chamber, which looked barren except for thick roots growing in the center, spiraling upwards into the ceiling. There was one other tunnel leading to the room right opposite to where he stood.

The moment Yoda crossed over the threshold into the chamber, the scene changed. The walls were still made of dirt, but they were lined with torches placed in brackets almost two meters off the ground. The chamber itself was much larger than before, at least ten times the size, and at its center now stood a pedestal.

Yoda blinked, sensing that this was an illusion, and tried to purge his mind by pulling on the Force, but it felt like someone had dropped a blanket on his mind, making dissipating the illusion just out of his reach.

The sudden wall of negative emotions that hit him almost manage to catch him by surprise, but hundreds of years of experience had made sure he reacted exceedingly fast to even the lightest of shifts in the Force, and he threw up a mental shield that dissipated the attack harmlessly enough.

The suddenness of the attack still had him blinking to try and clear his mind, and it was then that he noticed dark spots gathering in his visions. He shook his head, trying to clear the spots away when he realized that it wasn't just in his mind, but he was actually seeing Dark spots.

The purple-black blobs moved inwards to the center of the room, right in between him and the pedestal and coalesced into a vaguely into a humanoid shape.

And out of this dark mass stepped out a figure Yoda knew all too well.

"Darth Sidious."

"Grand Master Yoda", came the mocking reply, as the figured took a step forward, his face ominously shadowed in the flickering light.

To his surprise, Yoda found his lightsaber attached to his belt, and wasted no time in drawing it. Sidious followed suit, sliding out two sabers, one into each hand.

Before Yoda could move, Sidious lashed out with a bout of Force lightning and spoke with a sinister voice, "You made a mistake coming here, Yoda. You've no idea how much I've wanted to kill you, my little green friend."

Yoda caught the lightning in his fist and simply absorbed it, earning a surprised look from Sidious.

"Not if anything to say about it, I have!", he said defiantly, and used the Force he had absorbed from the lightning to hit Sidious with an augmented Force push, essentially turning his own power against him.

Sidious went crashing ass-over-tea kettle, unable to stop the sudden burst of power.

"Talk too much, you do. If so powerful you are, prove it", Yoda said, his voice brimming with confidence.

Sidious rose from the ground, mostly unharmed, and launched himself at Yoda, yelling out loud, enraged at his unexpected fall.

Yoda was a master of the Ataru form which employed acrobatics in its moves, with no real competitor when it came to its execution. Augmented extensively by the Force, Yoda was able to perform all leaps and flips extremely fast and with deadly accuracy, his amplified precognition always keeping him aware of any dangers.

While Sidious was also a master duelist, Yoda simply had no equal, given his small size and agility. The location working to his favor, Yoda was easily able to evade any incoming blows, and retaliate with almost blinding speed.

Sidious slashed low with one saber and followed through with a stab from the other in a hope to get Yoda when the latter jumped, but Yoda flipped and leapt off the wall before Sidious' other saber was anywhere near him, jumping over the man's head and managing to nick him in the shoulder mid-flip. Sidious turned on one foot and swung both his sabers together at the Jedi Master, who caught them on his blade.

Sidious proceeded to hold off Yoda's saber with one of his and pulled the other back to try at swing it at his opponent's exposed torso. Yoda perceived this move and freed up a hand, leaving his saber locked against Sidious' using just his other arm, and waited.

Sidious stabbed at his waist, and Yoda grabbed his saber point blank, using the Force as a glove, preventing it from impaling his hand. Sidious blinked, confusion emanating from his shadowed figure as he was now unable to pull his saber free. Yoda pushed further, a visible outflow of the Force gathering between his hand and the saber as the two forces fought for superiority. Unrelenting, both of them continued to push further, confident that they would succeed.

Sidious' voice started as a low growl and finished as an anguished yell as he put his full strength into trying to impale Yoda, whose brows were furrowed in effort and concentration.

The stress cracked Sidious' lightsaber blade, and a second later, it shattered.

Sidious stumbled at the sudden loss of an opposing force. Yoda didn't, and proceeded to slam the ball of Force gathered in his hand into Sidious' chest, sending the latter flying across the room, his torso completely shattered.

A completely defeated Sidious spat out blood and gave Yoda one last hateful stare, before the light went out of his eyes.

Yoda paused to catch his breath.

In an instant, the scene melted back into the Cave of Despair and the spot where Sidious lay was now empty. The pedestal, somehow, was still there though, and it was to this that Yoda hobbled over to.

On top of the pedestal lay a belt, still powerfully pulsating with a dark energy. Yoda lifted it with the Force, and made his way out of the cave, not pausing to halt or look back. He'd had enough of the Dark Side for now, and it was getting painfully constricting to his balanced Force core.

(Dromund Kaas, 2 weeks later)

The Imperial Citadel rose high against the stormy night, its red lighting making it an impressive and dominating sight in Kaas City. It gave off just the one aura: Power. It had been the center of power for the Sith Empire long ago, and it was poised to be so once again.

No single individual except for the Emperor himself had ever seen the depths of the citadel itself.

Rumor had it, that some of the Galaxy's most powerful artifacts were hidden there. Secrets so terrifying, that no Sith could ever venture there and come back out alive.

The main ring of the Citadel was thronged with Sith, acolytes and trainees, and other important Imperial personas. Every Sith who had finished the trials on Korriban was summoned to Dromund Kaas and assigned to a Master.

The Sith Empire now had a total of a few hundreds of acolytes, almost a hundred apprentices and about thirty Sith Lords. Their numbers were nothing compared to what the Jedi possessed, but strength never grew overnight. It would take time, but the Empire would return to full force and take over the Galaxy.

Korriban, meanwhile, was training another fresh batch of Sith, with the total number of Dark Side users on that planet now exceeding a couple of hundreds, including Force-sensitive slaves, trainees, apprentices and overseers. Two Dark Lords were left in charge of running the Academy.

Apart from the Sith, Kaas City also housed the center of Imperial Intelligence and Operations Command. Both were in towers next to the Imperial Citadel itself, connected to the Citadel via skybridges. The three towers were connected to the rest of Kaas City via taxi pads, with no walkable connection. Turrets scanned the skies from various levels on the three towers, operated by troopers and droids alike.

Imperial Intelligence and Operations Command were both to be headed by the next Dark Lords on the Council but was currently just run by a single Grand Moff each, who reported directly to Maul and Vitiate.

Grand Moff Tarkin ran Operations Command, while Grand Moff Thrawn was the overseer for Imperial Intelligence.

Tarkin was a prominent military figure in the Republic, up until he had been "recruited" by Sidious. Sidious' contingency had also involved having key targets he felt would be sympathetic to his cause either convinced to join him, or to be kidnapped and given two choices: Join him, or die.

It was a week after the issuance of Order 65 on Corsucant, that Tarkin had found Maul waiting for him in his chambers, with a holo of Sidious floating next to him. After being liberally Force Choked, he had realized that it would be in his best interest to continue to serve the ex-Supreme Chancellor of the Republic in his new endeavor. It was also true that he would have signed up for this even without having to be forced. After all, he did despise the Jedi and their "weak" ways.

Thrawn was another story, however. He was a blue-skinned Chiss who was a symbolic figure in the Ascendancy and wielded a lot of power amongst his kind. Known for being an unparalleled tactician, and an individual with almost no equal when it came to intellect, he had somehow found out about Dromund Kaas and the rising Sith Empire on his own and had arrived at the spaceport with a contingent of Chiss soldiers, asking to sign up. He was gladly taken on board and rose to a position of power in almost no time, owing to his mental prowess, and became the only humanoid alien to be seen as an equal or superior by all other humans in the new Empire.

Imperial intelligence now spearheaded all recon and infiltration operations. Data collected by intelligence was forwarded to Ops Command, who would take care of staging assaults and expanding the army and navy.

The main issue the Empire currently faced was the lack of a strong enough Navy and too few Infantry forces, alongside handling funding costs. Armies didn't feed themselves, and neither did ships sprout on trees. Vitiate's reserved were stretched thin running the current Empire itself, and hence, they required additional assets, if they were to expand.

It was to this end that three of the most prominent figures in the Empire walked into one of the designated meeting rooms in the Imperial Citadel. This room, like most others in the building, was decked out in the color scheme of the Empire, with flowing red carpets and Imperial banners hanging on the walls. A large holo-table stood in the center of the room, with chairs arranged around it. The room had the added functionality that it was completely isolated from external influence and surveillance, and hence served as the perfect meeting place for discussing anything high profile.
Currently, the holo-table projected a section of the Core worlds, and the hooded figure of Darth Maul stood facing it, as Thrawn and Tarkin walked into the room.

"Lord Maul", bowing from the waist as they greeted him. Maul merely nodded his head in acknowledgement, without turning to look at them.

"Well, Grand Moff Thrawn, have you finished gathering intel for the raid? We're approaching our window of opportunity and don't seem to be ready to utilize it to the fullest."

"Yes, My Lord, the last reports came in just a few hours back. We're ready to plan our assault", Thrawn said, and proceeded to plug in his datapad into the holotable, while the other two proceeded to take seats facing him. The holomap zoomed in on the Core worlds sector, before resting on a large planet with a ring around it.

The "ring" was actually a massive man-made Shipyard that orbited the entirety of the planet of Kuat, making it one of the largest Shipyards in the galaxy. The Kuat Drive Yards, owing to it's massive size and manpower, could build a fleet in a much shorter time than any other existing Shipyard in the galaxy. After partnering with other prominent ship-builders like Rothana Engineering and Ubrikkian Industries, the quality of each product, as well as the range of products manufactured by them had expanded massively. Now, they produced not just starships and parts for them, but also lighter starfighters and land vehicles. The previously developed Venator-class and Acclamator assault ships were retro-fitted with better armor and hyperdrives, while starfighters like the Delta-7 were fitted with better sub-light engines, hydraulics and much higher firepower. After joining with Rendili StarDrive during, KDY took up additional projects requisitioned by other factions, and restarted production and revamped many of its paused product lines, such as the Mandator-class Star Dreadnought which became the base for the much more powerful Executor-class Star Dreadnoughts and the Praetor-class battlecruiser.

Sidious had placed an order for a six Executor-class Dreadnoughts, two dozen Battlecruisers comprised of a mix of the Venator and Praetor-class, and a large contingent of starfighters, gunships and troop carriers which were based off old Imperial designs and retrofitted with modern tech, secretly during his reign as Supreme Chancellor. He had made a small down payment for the order with funds leeched off Republic finances, with the rest to be paid upon completion.

Except now, he didn't really intend to complete the payment.

Kuat Drive Yards was the chief producer of the Republic Navy vessels, and Maul intended to kill two stonerays with one blaster shot with this assault. The future of the Empire depended on it, and a failure here would cripple them. Hence, it had to go perfectly.

There were 3 shipbuilding facilities on the ring itself, and Maul intended to attack each one of them simultaneously.

Thrawn marked the three facilities themselves on the map and proceeded to lay out his intel for the other two present in the room.

"The three shipbuilding centers and docking rings are situated around the ring, and hence we will need three separate strike teams to assault the Drive Yards. Our attack timing must be in the window between when the Drive Yards finish our Emperor's orders and before they finish construction of the next set of ships for the Republic, which gives us exactly three days, a month from now. The instant the Republic ships are built, there will be a large contingent of troops that arrive to take control of it, and we don't have the firepower to fight them right now."

"Our mission is subjective to us overcoming two hurdles: overcoming the ships patrolling the Drive Yards, and taking care of the infantry stationed within the shipyard itself. The Drive Yards ring itself has only scarce weaponry, but that brings us to our next problem: we can't hold the Drive Yards once word of our assault gets out, because the Republic Navy is going to send its whole fleet there. As the ring barely has defenses, we won't be able to hold off troops trying to board the shipyard. Our mission is, hence, to capture our ships and sabotage the Republic ones, and hightail it before the Navy gets there."

"Each of the three shipbuilding centers are guarded by multiple starships. Two of them are guarded by a Venator-class Republic aligned Jedi Cruiser as this is where the Republic ships are built and berthed along with our battle cruisers, while the third is guarded by a single Mandator-class Dreadnought and guards the docking ring where our Executor-class Dreadnoughts are berthed. I believe the infantry within the centers itself to be comprised of a few Jedi and a company of clones each in the former two, while the last has about two dozen local Kuati mercenaries commissioned by KDY guarding it."

Tarkin took in his Intelligence counterpart's words with deep consternation, and the size of the monumental task became apparent to him. Still, he had to hand it to Thrawn, the man's intel was excellent and contained every single piece of information that would be needed for an assault like this, down to the defending troop numbers and their schedules.

He stood up, one hand stroking his chin as he frowned and made his way to the holotable and paused. Noting the positions of the ships and each shipbuilding center itself, he turned around and laid out his thoughts.

"I would propose an indirect approach to this siege. A head-on assault would be highly detrimental, if not downright suicidal. We need an individual tactic for each strike team, as any similarities in the approach is likely to raise alarms. The teams going after the centers with Jedi need to have Sith amongst their numbers. The third center, while the easiest to take control of, will have the hardest exfiltration due to the Dreadnought. Grand Moff Thrawn, as you are privy to the troop numbers, schedules, locations and other vital intel, do you have any ideas for the approach?"

Thrawn gave Tarkin a thin-lipped smile, as if he found the latter amusing as one would a naïve child. Moving to look at Maul directly, he proceeded.

"Of course", he said. "My Lord, I propose the following tactics for each strike team. First, the teams assaulting the Republic-aligned centers will need to be split into two groups. One group needs to take care of the Jedi Cruiser, while the other proceeds to the station. The assault must begin at the same time. I have received intel from one of my scouts that exactly during the second day of our window, the Republic cruisers are set to receive a fresh batch of clone troopers as a rotation on guard duty, in a total of four troop transports. The troops are a fresh batch from the planet Kamino, in the Outer Rim, and provides enough time for us to intercept it. I propose we intercept the transport, load it up with Rydonium fuel and have one of our men pose as the pilot and fly it into the cruiser, upon which he is to detonate the canisters, effectively crippling the Cruiser.

By my calculations, we will have a little more than eight hours after detonation till the Republic Fleet arrives in full force. Any and all acquisitions must be completed within this duration."

"Wait, that's risky! Not to mention our cover is going to be blown if we take out the cruisers! Isn't there a better way to go about this?", Tarkin queried.

Thrawn smiled as he turned to Tarkin and said "Grand Moff Tarkin, irrespective of how we pull this off, the Republic is bound to know that there exists a faction strong enough to oppose them and bold enough to strike at the heart of their galaxy. This way, we send them a message laced with fear, that would show them exactly how ruthless we are. Although," Thrawn said, turning away from Tarkin to look back at the Galaxy map, "I do propose we avoid any Sith casualties. That would make the Republic aware of exactly what threat it is that they're facing. Without any evidence to force-users being left behind, it could be inferred as the work of a Crime Syndicate or any other faction or Alliance."

Maul stood up, clasping his arms behind his back. Staring at the detailed schematic of the massive Shipyard, he asked, "And what do you propose to do about acquiring our ships?"

"My Lord, as I said, the three strike teams need to have individual means of entry into the station. I would leave the team in-charge of the Dreadnoughts under your command, Lord Maul. You may choose your team as you wish. You will reach out to the station and state that you are here to make payment for the ships, even though you don't really intend to. The transaction, surprisingly, will be handled by the Kuat of Kuat, who is the ruler of the planet, as apart from the Republic this is the first order that has been received for a fleet of this size. When the Cruisers are taken out, security teams will scramble to lockdown the station, in every location but yours, as their protocol is to get the Kuat of Kuat planet-side for security. It would be easy for you to dispatch the troops left behind, as the majority would leave with the Kuat himself, and as the threat would be believed to be centered around the other two stations. From there, it would be an easy matter for your strike team to take command of the Dreadnoughts, and take out the guardian Kuati Dreadnought from behind."

"What about the other two stations?"

"I propose feigning damage to a starship and requesting to land for repairs. Thousands of starships and cruisers land at the Drive Yards for repairs, and it would be easy for our troops to sneak into the Drive Yards in one and take control of our ships. I estimate we would require at least a hundred troops for each station, as we have a dozen ships berthed at this center. I've already contacted the Drive Yards and ensured that all our requisitioned starfighters are berthed within the ships themselves, making exfiltration simpler for us."

Tarkin looked like he was not completely satisfied with the strategy and queried, "You propose that each team will dispatch the troops within the station, including the Jedi, and then proceed to take control of our ships within eight hours? That's impossible."

Thrawn merely smiled.

"I know. This is exactly where you come in, Grand Moff Tarkin. You will launch an attack on the berthed Jedi Cruisers with the starfighters we have in our position. Your mission would be to destroy as many Republic ships as you can and hold off the enemy starfighters that launch from within the Drive Yards till the strike teams give an all-clear signal on securing the ships. When you launch an attack from outside, the enemy will naturally assume it's all an external confrontation and rush out of the station to take care of the threat, leaving the strike team with enough time and manpower to get our ships out. I leave the details of the navy assault to you, as I believe it's well within your capabilities to plan."

Maul smiled internally at the little game Thrawn was playing. While he was simply laying out his intel, he had also managed to make Tarkin seem slightly inferior to himself and was subtly asserting his own dominance. Thrawn was a dangerous one and would have to be kept an eye on.

"I leave forming final assault tactics, troop composition and the details of the Navy assault to the two of you. In the meantime, I will assemble my own Strike team, and confer with the Emperor. Speak to me once you've secured the Republic shuttles. Remember, failure will be punished.", Maul said as he turned and walked out of the room, effectively dismissing them.

(Hyperspace, Mid-Rim territories, two days before the assault)

CT-89-6342, better known to his comrades as "Havoc", stretched as he felt sleepiness creep into him.

"Man, we've got another two days in this cramped space. And after that? Guard duty. Pfft, I'd rather be positioned somewhere far less boring. I heard there's some revolution on Ord Mantell. My supreme skills would be better off there."

"Aww, shut your whining Havoc. Every assignment is important, and this one is your first ever. Take it with full responsibility!", CT-89-6421 "Duty" said.

"Yeah, you and your responsibility nonsense, Duty. Man, they should've stuck you into Clone Intelligence. I have no idea why you're on assault squads."

"Probably because I scored better than all of you combine on sniper training."

Clone Captain Jace chuckled as he listened on the banter the clones engaged in. Despite being wet behind the ears, this batch was a promising one. They had easily aced every single test and worked brilliantly as a unit, and for once, didn't have a huge ego. Jace knew these boys would go far.

Havoc was named as he was because of his proficiency with weaponry and artillery. The boy could was an amazing shot with every weapon and was a fearless leader. Jace, nicknamed after his idol Jace Malcolm who was the Supreme Commander of the Old Republic, had given Havoc his name as a reference to Jace Malcolm's own Havoc squad, believed to be the best of the best. Duty was an excellent sniper and a believer of textbook protocol and a soldier's duty, who sometimes proved to be the voice of reason for the squad. The rest of the squad comprising of Jug, Slasher, Lewd, Bot and Bactor were brilliant soldiers, each specializing in their respective field. Jug, like Havoc, favored a rotary blaster and was much more heavily built than the rest of the team, earning him the nickname "Jug", short for Juggernaut. Slasher and Lewd were melee weaponry experts, with Jedi-like skills with a vibroblade. Bot was the communications and tech expert, while Bactor was the team medic.

Jace sat in the captain's chair musing to himself about his missions during the Clone Wars. His most memorable mission was probably the one on Geonosis. Even though clone losses had been heavy, and he'd lost a member of his unit, it had been a decisive win for the Republic. Heck, he'd even got to see the Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi in action!

The sudden blaring of emergency alarms broke his reverie. He jolted, staring out of the windshield as he tried to scour the view for signs of trouble.

"What the heck? We're in hyperspace! What could cause us an issue here? Did a Purrgil get into hyperspace around them? If so…. Wait, why the heck are the streaks fading in such an obtuse manner?"

Alarm shot through his head as he realized what was happening.

"Pilot, did you give the command to exit hyperspace?"
"No, Sir! Something seems to be pulling us out!"

"What? How's that possible?!", Jace queried, disbelief creeping into his tone.

"No idea, Sir, but it's like, some external force is making us brake!"

A second later, the streak faded into spots as all four of the troop transports slammed to a halt, the inertial compensators working overtime to overcome the abrupt halt from lightspeed.

"This is insane! What's…" Jace was forced to eat his words as he saw two giant battlecruisers on either side of the transports.

"Sir, they've blocked all long-range communications and have us trapped in some form of gravity well. I guess that's how they managed to pull us out of Hyperspace. Shit, those things must be insanely powerful to do that. We've also lost all controls.", the pilot responded, looking at his screens.

Jace's mouth hardened. "Pilot, stay here. They're probably going to pull us in with a tractor beam. I'll prep the boys for a fight. You said long-range comms are cut off? Try the short-range ones and tell the troops in the other transports to get ready for a fight."

"Yessir!", the pilot said, as he bent over the communications console.

Without wasting time, he jumped up and ran out of the cockpit, leaping a flight of stairs as he made his way to the troop hold. He felt the ship jolt and move as a tractor beam pulled them towards one of the ships.

He wasn't in the least bit surprised to see his squad already geared up and waiting. These boys were truly special.

"Sir, what's…?"

"Boys, someone's managed to pull us out of hyperspace with a gravity well. We're probably going to be boarded once they land our ship inside their cruiser. The identity and size of the enemy force is unknown. Right now, we have a new mission. We need to fight our way to either their communications console or destroy the communication jammers and get a message out to the Republic. A faction with these kinds of weapons is no small threat. Let's give them one hell of a fight. For the Republic!"

"For the Republic!", the clones echoed, and took up positions behind crates and aimed their weapons at the exit door. Havoc moved to the center and deployed a temporary shield, as he pulled out his Z-6 rotary blaster cannon from its storage crate. He would blow those fools to bits.

Duty, meanwhile took up a prone position on one of the double bunks that they used to sleep in. He set his sniper rifle to the door and adjusted the scope, his index finger lightly tracing the trigger. Havoc would get his wish fulfilled after all, in a way.

Jace pulled out two blaster pistols from his hip holsters and took up a kneeling position beside Havoc.

They all felt the ship land, as without its struts deployed, it didn't really land smoothly. Tensed, they all waited for something to happen at the door.

A moment later, an enormous force slammed into all of them, easily lifting them into the air while simultaneously crushing their throats, effectively choking them.

Jace scrambled helplessly as he clawed at his throat, watching with terrified eyes as the entire squad thrashed and kicked in the same manner. Someone behind him lost control, probably Bot, as he pulled the trigger on his rifle in reflex. Blaster shots rang out around the hold, and one punched into Havoc's helmet, making the man go limp almost immediately.

"Shit, what the -? Force-users? We can't….fight… Is this….the…end? Help-"

Jace's vision turned blurry and blackness crept in from the sides as he saw his troops fall limp one at a time.

The force dropped them without relinquishing its grasp on their throats. His last vision was that of the door smoothly sliding open as a garbed figure with glowing yellow eyes walked in, his right hand outstretched in a grasping hold.

Not a single enemy went down as all clone troopers in the transports were slaughtered almost instantly.

In the command center that overlooked the hangar, Grand Moff Thrawn stood silently with his hands clasped behind his back, a smile playing on his lips as he saw the plan he had set in motion proceed smoothly. The Emperor would be pleased.