The Galactic Exodus Chronicles Part 2 :The Galactic Civil War

by Lord Exar Kun

Now with the rebels dealt a mighty blow, and the renegade Moffs about to strike, the galaxy finds itself moving closer and closer to full blown war! The Galactic Civil War is about to be unleashed upon an unsuspecting galaxy, and this is not the war you remember in the least. Follow Exar Kun, Darth Vader, Leia, the Emperor, and everyone else through this next chapter of the GEC.

70. Chapter 70

Chapter 70

(Concord Dawn)

"Comm channels are on the fritz. Can't reach anyone, but I got screams and static!" Alpha ducked low as a barrage of intense bolts flew overhead from the droids street level still firing up towards he and his now crouching men. His trooper attempting to make contact tried again, and Alpha could hear the audible chaos and screaming being unleashed from the small device. Having turned off his own personal comm moments ago to blot out the drowning noise.

While in the distance their spaceport and those within it burned. Smoke trailed upwards to the skies in a central blackened plume with three smaller smoke stacks all around it rising. Artillery fire rained down in and successive smaller explosions rocked out. Some of the tunnels in the city collapsed inwards showing the droids flooded into them.

The former ARC trooper didn't let it cloud his mind didn't let it get to him, and override his cool and calm. Within, however, he burned. He knew what was going on in there. The screams of the women as they called for everyone and anyone to get to them and help them. As they happened upon dead small forms littered about the spaceport. All the while Alpha knew help wouldn't come. Not because they didn't want to, but because they couldn't! He felt now something he had almost forgotten. He felt failure,shock and raw undiluted horror as he watched on knowing full well what was happening.

"Alright, I say we pack it up and double-time it to the spaceport! Knock out as many droids as possible, and see if we can evac-"

"Negative on that!" Alpha retorted to the man wearing old Republic trooper armor. They all went silent to his words as their Commander checked his blaster's cartridge once more. Alpha looked towards them from behind his chipped and worn ARC trooper helmet and then glanced upwards at the stream of blind droid fire being sent their way from below.

"Like it or not troopers, we cannot save them. We can't even help them. Those in the spaceport are dead and dying." Alpha plainly declared. The troops said nothing. Though their mood was palpable in the air by their silence.

"What we can do is get off this roof, and out of Cuyir. The droids are obviously not taking prisoners. That Fallen Jedi wasn't kidding about wiping us out. So," He continued as he noticeably readied to jump back up and fight.

"We, can sit here and do nothing. Go back to the spaceport fully aware we ain't getting out of that pit. Or, option number ehn, we honor them and leave Cuyir. We surrender the city but not Concord Dawn. Not yet. There's bound to be more verd who escaped the other cities and towns being annihilated. We link up with them, and we keep the fight for our planet going. We blow ten droids for every one of ours they killed. Kriff, a hundred even! But, we fight, and we fight until we can't fight no more!" Alpha urged with an urgency and resolve in his voice that he hoped translated even beyond the mechanical distortion of his helmet.

"I'm with you, al'verde!" The Mandalorian with bolt wounds along his armor announced. Soon the others relented. Though some were silent in it, and simply nodded towards the ex-ARC trooper. Alpha nodded solemnly and silently as the hail of deadly bolts flew over them.

"Alright then. First we get off this roof then. Form on me, and you two," Alpha pointed to two Mandalorian armored men. "Give us suppressing fire down into the streets. The rest of us move inwards and towards the rear of the building to the alley between here and the destroyed homesteads on the other side." The two men nodded, though even without seeing their faces Alpha could almost sense their disheartened state from their Commander's tactic.

"You!" he pointed to the injured Mando. "You good to move?"

"Yes sir, let me just finish wrapping this burn on my should-" The young Mandalorian began but with a sudden crack and thud his body was thrust towards the roof railing as a searing and piercing red blaster bolt from afar crashed into him. He slumped as he fell against the roof edge with an audible gasp of last breath sending all those who remained jumping away from their now fallen comrade.

Alpha dove into a roll and towards the left edge of the roof. The three Mandalorians and two clone veterans raised their blasters where they lay prone upon the ground or kneeling aiming down sights across their fields of vision. With suddenness the blaster hail from the streets up towards the roof ended, and Alpha was filled with a looming dread, and festering anger.

The firing bolts and their humming presence in the air was silenced, and the battles in the distance were numbly heard. As then the air was filled with the flapping of wings, the wail of the jetpack, and the clicking and chirping of the alien warrior. Alpha raised his fist up and signaled silently to his jumpy men to hold any and all fire. They in turn recognized their Commander's signal, but none of them felt comfortable about it. The sounds grew louder and came nearer as they attacked their senses from all sides.

Until at last from the right of Alpha and to his direct forward position; the side of the building and the left of it respectively, a swarm of Geonosian warriors appeared. The group varied in weapon from their sonic blasters to their staffs. While alongside them came the smaller variants of the jetpack droid units. The Geonosians with blasters aimed them down upon the Mandalorians followed swiftly by the droids and their own weapons. Yet, they held their fire. Alpha felt his adrenaline rush and senses go into overdrive as he both watched them and thought of a way to escape off the roof. His men were no less jumpy too; that wouldn't help things at all, as they went from one enemy to the next with their blasters. More openly looking from one to the next for the best target to take first. It almost made Alpha smirk, he had zeroed in on the first one he'd shoot the second the ugly little bug showed his head. However, now was not the time for such gloating.

"I would be careful, extra careful even, if I were you." The sound of a man came through. Not on any of their comms, but projected loudly through a mask. It sounded all too familiar to the men as being a Mandalorian helmet distorted voice. This interested Alpha to say the least as he dared to stand fully and pick himself up from his kneeling pose. From the street and up over the side of the roof came another with a jetpack propelling them up alongside the Geonosians and droid forces. This one was a man, however, in his hands a carbine, and upon his body Mandalorian armor lined with yellow across the average dulled gray plating.

The man behind the mask audibly whistled. It sounded odd through the distortions of his mask as he scanned Alpha up and down along with his men.

"Now there's a sight I would have never thought I'd see. An ARC trooper here on Concord Dawn fighting alongside Mandalorians! Though, I suppose you could just be some scavenger who took some dead ARC trooper's armor. Mind telling me which?"

"I am Alpha-17, but you can call me Alpha." Alpha responded coolly and through his own masks' distortion. The man in Mandalorian armor nodded and hummed aloud.

"Nice. Like I said I never thought I'd see let alone talk to one of your kind. A pity that you decided to tarnish that armor by protecting a culture of criminals." Alpha shrugged.

"Better than leading a mindless droid army that's good for mass killings or being cannon fodder. Though when you work for a crazed Jedi that may be the most desired follower." Alpha, cool as ever, retorted.

"Well, when the goal is good, and you have a galaxy full of cowards unwilling to get up off their lazy backsides and kill some Imps; or lesser, but still potently bad people, like your friends here for instance, then droids make up the difference. Besides there's plenty of people answering the call my friend. You're a relic from a bygone war. Though it probably feels all too familiar for an ARC like you." Alpha nodded.

"Perhaps. So, extend a courtesy for one given and give me your name!"

"Jodo Kast." The man replied quickly and simply. "I'm the one who cleared out all your stockpiles spread around the city. I'm also the one who's gonna become a hero and famous for toppling you Mandalorians once and for all. Nothing personal really. I just happen to think you and your people need a stiff dose of reality and humility injected in."

"You accomplish that by butchering people then? Sweet deal really." Alpha retorted plainly. The man scoffed and slowly lowered himself via his jetpack to the rooftop edge where he stood holding his carbine without much concern. Alpha's men aimed at Kast but he paid them no mind.

"I ain't butchered anyone who didn't have it coming." Jodo responded. "But, I don't need to explain myself to you. So, here's what's going to happen," He went on while his droids and Geonosians loomed behind.

"Because you're outgunned, and your city is falling to pieces I'm giving you this one chance to; as a group, to surrender. Peacefully, and without further death."

"You call that," Alpha pointed to the dead Mandalorian upon the roof. "Peaceful?" Jodo looked and semi-sighed and semi-groaned through his helmet.

"That was a warning shot. Ain't gonna tell you it wasn't completely necessary, but we are in the middle of a battlefield here. But, I can promise you the person who made that shot won't make another. As long as I tell her not to anyways." Alpha noted the word 'she,' in the man's speech. He eyed off into the distance and found a shot up and broken building with a roof semi intact. He guessed that to be where this 'she' was placed and taking aim on he and his crew.

"Yeah right...say I do trust you, then what?" Alpha asked, taking a tentative step forwards as well. Jodo didn't seem fazed even as his warriors and droids followed the ARC trooper's every step.

"Say that I believe you won't kill em and my men, what then? You pass us off to some droids, or worse those clicking bugs," He nudged his head to a Geonosian who seemed to understand him and released a long string of clicks that sounded like hissing more than anything else. "Then we're dead anyways. Better off you killing us here and now rather than wait and suffer through the wait until execution! After all, you have no scruples about that, why have them now about killing us here?!" Alpha lazily pointed towards the smoking spaceport in the distance still taking artillery fire from the hills beyond the city. Droid fighters and bombers also buzzed overhead across the city skyline. As if helping the ex-Republic trooper signal the totality in which the URM held dominion over Cuyir and its people.

"What's going on over there, is the pacification of resistance from your fellow Mandalorians. They'll be given their dues be it death or an offer of surrender."

"Kark yourself! You don't deserve that armor you wear mir'osik!" One of the Mandalorians cursed aloud. The passion and anger in his voice potently rumbling over the sounds of firing and battle in the distance.

"That port held the children, those not yet fully ready to take up arms against you! We know battle and fighting, but not them, not yet! You're butchering them all!" The man continued.

"Udesii!" Alpha tried to calm, but the added grumbling of the other Mandalorians save his fellow clone, incensed the men. Jodo cocked his head to the side.

"Children...what are you talking about?"

"Kark yourself! You can play dumb with everyone off planet, maybe even out of the city, but not with us! We know who was in that port! We know who's responsible for their deaths! And, we'll get revenge one way or another!" The Mando continued seething with the unspoken support of his fellow Mandalorians. Even Alpha couldn't argue with the man, but he nonetheless kept his cool.

"Udesii!" Alpha commanded with stronger and louder force in his tone. His men remained silent, and Alpha noted that Jodo looked back towards the spaceport in silence. It almost made the ARC trooper think he actually didn't know what was going on.

"The fact of the matter is, know or not, I am not going to let you or anyone else under you take me or my men in. We're dead one way or another, Kast." Jodo looked back to Alpha, and the ARC trooper could see him visibly tighten his grip on his carbine. Both men sensed the other was ready to fight.

"If you and your men have a death wish, then so be it." Kast's jetpack sprung back to life and his body lifted off of the rooftop. His voice was lower, and Alpha again felt as though his thoughts were wholly elsewhere. However, he didn't have the time nor the will in the moment to ponder further on whether or not this man actually realized just what was being done under his nose. Alpha needed to get he and his men off the roof, and quickly.

"Don't do it! I'm giving you-" Kast called out from above them, but was cut off by the sound of Alpha's voice.

"Drop flash and sonic!" He called and snatched his blaster up firing a flurry of bolts and hitting three droids that went careening down back into the streets. The others began firing back and the Geonosians broke positions with some beginning to fire their new sonic blasters. Meanwhile, his men all dropped two grenades each and dove into rolls away from where they'd been crouching. Suddenly a series of loud and popping bangs were sounded out. Flash-grenades exploded and Alpha could make out Kast yell in confusion. Followed after the flashes came sonic grenades that further disoriented the droids nearby and their jetpacks and flung some airborne Geonosians back through the air.

"Vila, weapons free, dammit!" Alpha heard Kast cry out through his likely muddled vision and hearing. Alpha jumped back as he realized the danger incoming. A sniper bolt flew in and slammed into the rooftop near his boot. As the woman sniper of Kasts' released her own barrage.

"Off the roof! On me squad, on me!" Alpha cried out, his own hearing more than vision being affected by the grenades. The four Mandalorians left fired weapons-free sprays up into the gathered crowd of enemy forces as they covered one another. Slowly beginning to crouch-step their ways backwards to the roof ledge leading to the alley behind the building they were upon. One of the Geonosians in the air hurled himself down onto the roof. He landed in front of one of the troopers and screeched loudly before swinging its pike and smacking the Mando across his helmet from left to right. The grunt fell over in a huff and the warrior made to smash his pike onto his body. Alpha turned and fired a string of bolts that ripped into the Geonosian's exposed neck. It fell down in a gurgle and clicking screech, allowing for the fallen trooper to jump up and duck into a run for the back end of the rooftop.

This, as the droids broke through their momentary confusion and began firing openly across the roof. Aided by the distant firing of this sniper and the sonic Geonosian blasters. The men fell back, some slower than others, and all crouched low to the ground. Hoping that the rooftop ledges gave but a little more protection from the sniper beyond. The rooftop became riddled with scorches and burn marks as they fell from the droids. Debris and dirt along with smoke was thrown and ejected about as the sonic blasts of the Geonosian warriors mingled with the bolts of their droid counterparts. All the while the Mandalorians fired back. Spraying wildly into the mounting debris and through the fog some of their foes still fired through from their grenades.

Alpha threw his carbine to the ground as it was emptied. His right hand fell to hip and he snatched up a simple blaster pistol and fired up towards a Geonosian making to land on the rooftop. One bolt slammed into the left side of its face and burned through its eye. It screeched horrifyingly and fell from where it flew beyond the rooftop and down to the streets below. At the same time, Alpha yanked another device from his belt, seeming to be another blaster. However, he fired it towards the roof at the base of the ledge, and rather than a bolt, a metal projectile seeming like an arrow flew forth. It slammed down and embedded itself into the roofing with a snap and crack.

"Utasa, blaster carbine, now!" Alpha yelled towards one of the Mandalorians. A younger among them still in his teens named Utasa. Who currently crouched low firing up towards a droid who was hit and fell to the roof sparking and burnt. The young Mando swiveled where he was crouched and unquestioningly tossed his carbine to Alpha who caught it and immediately began firing up in rapid wild spray.

Just then three bolts flew down and struck the Mandalorian in clone trooper armor. He fell with a loud hiss of pain as his armor burned upon him. Alpha turned and fired up striking two of the jetpack droids who fell to the streets below.

"All of you, move your hides! Ledge to our six, repel cables!" Alpha ordered over the blasters firing off just as a sniper bolt slammed down at his boot.

"I'll cover, move!" The men began to move backwards, Utasa having snatched his own dual blasters and firing alongside his comrades. Another Mando, this one named Kruega, lowered himself down and helped the fallen clone-trooper wrap his arm around his shoulder. The both of them shimmied backwards, the fallen trooper being given back his blaster to fire while his comrade kept them moving and pulled his repel gun from his belt.

All of the team began planting their repel hooks into the roof, while Alpha barraged the enemies still airborne in a hail or bolts fire. Yet, despite his seeming crazed indifferent hail, Alpha met far too many marks for it to be wholly chaotic in nature. Two Geonosians were hit and were sent falling to the rooftop dead. While bolts tore into and scorched three and then four more droids who went careening off through the air. All of their jetpacks having been hit.

"Kriff!" Alpha distinctly heard Kast's voice yell out. Then the whirr of the man's jetpack sounded out and his form burst up higher into the sky. He aimed down sights on Alpha and fired a hail of descending bolts that pelted the roof near to the ex-ARC trooper's boots. Alpha rolled to the right and came to a kneeled stop firing immediately up towards Kast. The man swung his body aside and missed the bolts. While another sniper round rung through the air. With a sudden slam and crack Alpha was thrown back and he let out a barely audible seethe. The bolt had careened with his left shoulder and under arm at the same time. The clone trooper fell onto his back, but with reflexes born both of genetic modification by the Kaminoans, and extremes of his training, he immediately through himself into a roll and again landed in a kneeled position.

He fired up towards Kast who again swung himself away and traded moving fire with Alpha. Though the clone quickly yanked his blaster pistol back into his left hand and fired three quick shots into a Geonosian moving onto the roof at his left. They hit and the creature screeched as he died. Then Alpha jumped back into a stand and holding the carbine in one hand, he fired it again towards the air towards Kast who ducked down and returned that fire. Alpha felt his whole body shake and his arm grow steadily tired as he fired the carbine on the one hand. Where such an action would have been simple and easy enough it had now become harder with age, and the clone trooper felt his expression sour into a grimace.

All the while he expertly aimed the pistol in left hand and fired three more rounds into two droids. One hit twice fell back and onto the roof buzzing with exposed circuits. The other droid was hit in the head and it fell down beyond the roof. Alpha sidestepped several times and aimed both blasters up towards the descending figure of Kast. The sniper rounds fired towards him missing each time he sidestepped. Alpha did all of this as both arms shook from fatigue and pain. The burn on his shoulder and under his left arm pulsating through him.

"All ready, al'verde!"

"Good, now go!" Alpha retorted immediately as Utasa sounded out he and the rest of his little squad were ready. They did as ordered and all the men began repelling down off the side of the rooftop and along the building. Alpha in kind began sidestepping in small skips, back towards the edge of the roof his men had been on, where his repel hook remained where he planted it. Three droids came blasting up from the opposite side of the building. These were not the smaller jetpack droids from before. Instead they looked more like B2's than anything else. They descended quickly back down onto the roof, all three rumbling the floor beneath them as they did. All of them raised their right arms and began firing immediately on Alpha. Their bolts thundering out in a barrage of searing plasma. Alpha fired both weapons towards them, but they only pelted and scorched their heavier armor plating. It didn't even slow them down and they kept stalking towards him without any worries or care.

His pistol finally stopped firing and without a second thought or seconds check of its charge pack, he tossed the weapon off the roof and grasped the carbine with both hands and aimed down sights on one of the droids. He unleashed a blitzing hail into it and it seemed slowed by the endless pelt of bolts, but ultimately it only returned fire that flew around and near to Alpha. One bolt hit his chest and another his shin, and he felt that one singe his flesh. He jumped backwards just in time as a sniper bolt combined with a barrage from Kast above landed where he'd been standing.

Alpha yanked his final grenade from his belt from his back. Activating the low yield thermal detonator he tossed it and crouched quickly while snatching his repel chord and snapping it to his belt. Rather than do things the long way, the smart way, and the way he knew to do it, Alpha threw himself wholly off the roof just in time as the detonator exploded and shook the building for several floors and caused glass from several more to shatter. A thick cloud of smoke and debris lifted off from the roof and went up into the sky, and pieces of metal from the droids went flying in all directions off of the roof and likely inside a newly made crater in the building.

Just in time, Alpha whirled his body around and connected his booted feet with the building edge. He couldn't stop himself and he only managed to skirt along and slow his descent. He did this several more times, and each time his boots were dragged and skidded along the building. Until he reached the bottom and with a thud, as he ended up on his back. With the most inaudible of groans he rolled onto his stomach and picked himself up through the pained and slightly winded state he found himself in.

When he stood and shook himself of his fall he noted his men waiting around him. Those who could reloaded what weapons they had left on them. Each weapon being just a blaster pistol really.

"We stay here, we're dead." Alpha intoned and looked back upwards. The debris and smoke still protected them from prying eyes from above. Though only for the moment.

"We stick to the plan. No matter how angry we may be." He looked to the last Mandalorian without clone armor among them. Also a younger Mando named Gulayir, who had spat his venomous words towards Kast moments prior. He nodded and said nothing to his Commander's glance and unspoken commandment.

"Alright, let's move before they come through the smoke. Stick on me and no straying. The streets will be covered with droids." Alpha ordered and motioned his left hand down towards his left down the alleyway. The group of five men broke into jogs on the heels of their Commander in relative silence and blasters at the ready. As they made away from the building they'd fought hard on, and that held upon it a fallen comrade. Their goal ultimately to escape from the whole city, which was now nothing more than a giant deathtrap for all Mandalorians.

(Kuat)

"On my command, all artillery units and AT-ATs fire." Nidrini, spoke aloud as he moved toward the front of the command platform he and his officers occupied within the Imperial camp. Before him the mass of tanks and forward vehicles under command of both Raydonn and Viathan advanced. Their ground troops moving slowly after them on foot or by way of open-top transport vehicles.

The enemy army in the distance showed on sensors to be forming up and advancing for the first time since the day prior to meet the Imperials head on in the center once more. The droids had unleashed the opening salvo, a barrage of Hailfire-droid missiles had warbled up through the air and down onto the advancing troops and armor. Some made their mark, and some sent dirt flying over everyone. Spider walkers of both sizes came to the forward and pelted them further, and were met in kind by the fire of Centurion-class tanks, TIE Maulers, and IFT-T fighter tanks. The resulting collision and exchange of fire echoing out through the open valleys and further back into Kuatac itself. Which had also erupted in successive explosions and fire as Lord Kun engaged those rebels who dared move in behind the main camp beyond the city limits of Kuatac.

"On my mark!" Nidrini raised his right hand up with fingers outstretched towards the sky. "Mark!" Nidrini commanded thrusting his arm forwards and down. His men relayed the command, and with an eardrum rattling successive release of percussion's a barrage of artillery fire was thrust up howling into the air in an arch. While the AT-ATs began firing all alongside one another. Their massive cannon bolts whirling through the fields where the two armies advanced upon one another. Those massive bolts flew over the tanks and heads of troopers advancing towards the droids, and all of them came to a sudden stop.

The artillery barrage slammed down onto the forward lines of the droid army, and then came the AT-AT shots that followed suits pounding the machines. A massive line of smoke and debris flew upwards towards the sky as the barrage relentlessly carried on for what seemed like a thunderous eternity, but in reality was but for a few moments.

Droid walkers and units were torn to shreds, debris from their insides tossed about while the walkers collapsed in on themselves. Their metal legs blasted from under them and slamming them unceremoniously to the dirt below and into fiery destruction followed after as the artillery bolt or AT-AT blast sent them from the field of battle. All of this culminating in the plume of mixed debris and smoke from the aftermath of the cannon blasts, and the complete collapse of the droid forward line. Dozens of tanks, and untold scores of droids units blown to ash and parts.

This carried on for only a few moments, and then Nidrini raised his hand again in a balled fist.

"Cease!" He commanded, and his officer relayed the command. The artillery batteries and walkers ceased after unleashing pelting final salvos from their cannons and barrels. Quieting the valley and fields for a brief moment while the dust and smokey debris beyond began to settle even as it still rose in thick black plumes towards the clear skies above.

"Commander Viathan, Commander Raydonn, you're both clear to resume the advance. Artillery will provide support as needed along with all AT-AT units." Nidrini announced after swiftly activating a nearby comm-terminal.

"Acknowledged, Colonel." Viathan responded.

"Understood." Came Raydonn's voice after. Which, Nidrini ceased the call and shut down the comm terminal. Turning his back towards the burgeoning battlefield he stepped towards the central holo-table once again and activated it in real time. Where he saw the tanks and walkers from both sides; even through the miasma of debris and smoke; move towards one another.

---

Viathan jumped from atop the Centurion-class tank which he'd knelt upon as the mass of Imperial machines and men moved towards the greater mechanical mass ahead of them. He leapt off and snatched both crimson saber hilts into hands and activated both. His boots stomped against the scorched ground and smoke wafted about his form as he did so. Then the inevitable and near crack of cannon fire erupted all around him as the Imperial tanks moved into the smoke sent rising from the initial bombardment. The droids responded in kind and crimson bolts flew out and slammed into tanks, as green bolts, or blue bolts flew wildly and without any seeming direction towards those enemies both sides knew to be near.

The walkers containing regiments, and already ground-side infantry advanced from the rear at faster paces now as the initial tank and walker wave kept the droids at bay. Viathan momentarily centered himself in the Force allowing for the dark side to fester as he thought on Lord Ruin'steachings, his masters training, and his instincts. As he waited for a second, then two, and three, then four and a few more thereafter, through the depleting smoke he caught sight of the mechanical figures striding forwards. Their bolts erupting from wrist or from blasters as they advanced unthinkingly towards he and his still progressing men.

With a great heave and intake of air through his nose along with the bitter and stale smells of burnt metal and soil, he dashed forwards with saber at his sides. Jumping up and letting the Force guide him, both sabers flew to his right and he slashed both down to his left as he angled himself in midair. He came crashing down, and slashing into a B2 super battle droid that noticed him far too late. It turned towards him and both sabers cleaved one after the other through its head plate down into its chest halfway before Viathan landed on his feet with saber buried and at a stop. With a growl and another heave he slammed his right boot into the limp machine man and it fell backwards twitching and sparking with exposed burnt circuitry.

On his left four B1s advanced firing dumbly into the unknown where his divisions advanced from. Lifting two fingers from his left saber he harshly motioned his hand from left to right, and all four droids flew backwards with near comical wails escaping from their vocabulators. On his right a crab droid advanced, crawling over the husk of a fallen spider droid as it did. It fired its small repeating cannon towards an advancing TX-130T tank that was pelted from a further three dwarf spider droids that came stomping from the fog like visions from a nightmare. In but another moment the Imperial tank exploded, and Viathan was already on the move. He ran towards the crab droid as it fired into the distance and over the burning TX-130T wreckage.

Throwing himself forward and twisting his body, he fell onto his back, yet slid under the crab droid as he did. Throwing both sabers out to his sides they dug into the two legs of the walker on its right. Viathan kept sliding under just as the walker fell lopsidedly onto its right and dumbly moved it last two legs to try and crawl forwards towards the enemy. Now under the droid, Viathan stabbed both sabers up into it and the oddity of hearing a droid wail as if in pain once more rung in his ears as the walker did just that above him, and began flailing more violently, as it registered the threat beneath itself.

Now kneeling and stabbing upwards with the metal around his saber beams beginning to melt near him, Viathan yanked both suddenly out and quickly deactivated his sabers, and in one fell sweep through his hilt wielding hand forwards, extending two fingers each. His body was thrown back and from under the walker from its rear-side. Rolling once, he came to a kneeled stop and both sabers sprung back to life. Just in time for him to watch the droid flail some more as its underside dripped with molten metal, and then it whirred and went quiet. Its form going limp and fully collapsing onto its underside.

Immediately he spun around as a line of droids advanced towards him firing. His saber danced before him in twirling and spinning motions, sending the bolts careening away from him as they struck his blades. Three B1s fell down scorched with their bolts or those of their fellow droids. Another B2 super, was struck at least six times in its chassis before one struck its head plate and it fell forwards twitching like the one from before had. Before Viathan could devise how to be rid of another fifteen B1s that appeared from behind those that had fallen already a cannon bolt howled through the air scorching it as it went, and slammed into the group. Metal limbs and torn bodies were tossed through the air and plumed outwards and then down back to the soil like rain droplets.

The smoke began clearing eve further, and Viathan glanced over his right shoulder to see a column of four Centurion tanks moving forwards with troopers alongside them firing into the more visible sea of droids ahead of them all. The thudding of nearing AT-STs shook his form as well and their supportive fire echoed outwards as their bolts ripped into another group of droids huddled around another dwarf spider droid. The cannon bolts ripped into the droid walker and in a moment it exploded sending its smaller allies flying outwards in exploded debris pieces.

Viathan blocked renewed bolts flying his way as a full platoon of B1 battle droids appeared in a line followed by two ATTs. The tanks fired into the distance and over his head slamming into the head of an incoming AT-ST. It exploded out violently and fell over in a heap as a further three walkers moved up firing back into the droid tanks. They responded in kind, while the droids ran forwards toward Viathan firing as they did.

Using his right saber to block the incoming bolts, he threw his left one behind his back and then thrust it back outwards into a throw. It spun into the air, and using the Force, he guided it from left to right into the lines of droids. It cut down one after the other, taking their heads or cutting cleanly through their chests into the next droidsthat were in its path. All of them falling over midway through their running, and into bits and pieces.

Viathan's saber returned to him and he snatched it up as he slammed his feet down into a run forwards dodging and blocking further rounds of bolts flying freely through the air. As behind him hundreds of troopers came into full view of the enemy force of millions. Both exchanging fire from tanks, artillery, and troops on the ground. Save for Coruscant, Viathan realized then that this was the largest engagement of forces he'd yet to be directly involved in. Greater than Coruscant even, for he had not fought against such a massive army directly.

Nonetheless, he ran thrusting his sabers in front of his dashing form, and bolts reflected and flew from him. All around him droids ran or crawled, stomped and rolled forwards firing into the Imperial mass. Just as three droideka's rolled on his left towards unseen allies of his, Viathan jumped upwards into a leap. Before him rolled forwards another AAT flanked by two Persuader-class droid tanks.

He landed with a loud thud atop the vehicle and blocked another stray three bolts that came his way. Slamming both sabers down into the top he threw all the power and strength he had, plus that given to him by the Force and began turning his body right. A hole in the entry port began to show as the metal melted against the lightsaber beams. Until he finally had a crescent formed in the top of the tank. He deactivated and snapped one saber back to his belt with great speed, and outwards with his right freed hand. Snapping his fingers into a curled fist he felt the Force reach out and grab the sheered metal, and with a violent heave out right he threw his arm, and with it a chunk of the tank with it. Viathan then snatched a plasma grenade, he had taken with him from his belt and threw it into the exposed interior of the tank where a droid fired blindly up from towards him.

Again he threw himself into a backwards jump with the Force, and snatched his second saber once more, just as the tank exploded and slammed downwards building a pile of dirt around its battered form as it did. Viathan threw his sabers overhead and behind himself still in the air and called the Force into him. With a sudden stop in the sky his body exploded back downwards by way of the Force. He slashed both sabers down onto the soil, and from his form following after, a great wave of energy escaped from him. Sending dozens of droids flying in all directions as he came into a thick column of marching units.

He fully picked himself up and turned towards the droid masses. Again extending two fingers out from holding his saber hilts a mass of energy again released from him and bounded towards two crawling crab droids flanked by dozens of B1s and B2s. All of them, walkers included, were sent skirting and fumbling, or smashing into one another backwards. Some crushed and torn to pieces by others as they went.

The Force sent a warning through him, and the boy spun around and tore into a run back toward the forward engagement line between the two armies. As bolts flew towards him from either side, where he found himself deeper into the droid mass than he had intended. On either side of him untold number of droids advanced in one direction firing randomly or so it seemed, into the distant Imperial lines. Where smoke rose from along with fiery mushrooms that ascended high and violently upwards.

Though the droids fared no better as Viathan leapt up and landed atop another crab droid, he pushed himself into another leap and sent the Force downwards into the walker, slamming it into the soil unceremoniously. Where he caught a series of artillery bolts, that shone green and bright flying towards and over his form into the droids behind him. An AAT and two large homing spider droids exploded taking dozens of smaller units with each of them.

He landed back onto the soil beneath his figure and set dirt exploding up around him from the force of his impact. He swung right with both sabers tearing down two B2 supers. He carried into a spinning swing and slashed down five more B1 battle droids. All falling to pieces before him. A stray bolt flew near to his head and he ducked low, just as a droideka came from the great mechanical mass and rolled towards him. It came to a sudden jolting stop and began unfurling.

Viathan felt his face contort into an expression of anxiety as the destroyer droid made ready to unleash a hail of bolts upon him from behind its protective shielding. The boy dashed into a run still hunched low as bolts from beyond rained onto his position, pelting the dirt behind and before him, and some searing his boots and burning his trailing cloak. He swung both sabers under his arms and made ready to swing both back out and upwards violently.

Then the Force howled in warning and his body by instinct came to a stop and his gaze was torn towards the sky behind him. A series of artillery bolts rained down and slammed successively up and around where he stood. He took one step forwards, but then noticed the droideka at full readiness as it opened fire on him. He snarled and cursed beneath his breath as he spun one saber before himself blocking a series of bolts. Then a massive crack rung out around him, and his senses were left dazed.

It took a moment for the sheer shock to his system to fade, and for his body to readjust his very senses. Only then did he open his eyes, and realize he was flying through the air. Both sabers still in hands by sheer luck or willpower he fell downwards and only barely sent a wave of the Force downwards. Right before he fell, or slammed rather, face first against the left side of an AAT just as it fired a cannon blast into the distance rattling his eardrums.

He rolled from the tank with a heave of breath as he let his sabers deactivate lest he slip and fall onto one of them. He came to a stop on his back beside the tank with dirt and droid parts cascading onto him and the tank, and a violent cough escaped him as his right ear rung in more pain than his left and he felt his body shudder in pulses from the series of blows it just underwent.

"Oh...that hurt." He coughed and seethed out through grit teeth as he picked his head off the dirt and found himself confronted with approaching droids at least company size in number. He threw his body into a roll onto his stomach, and pushed shakily off the ground with his hands clasped into fists around his saber hilts.

In a quick motion he snapped one back onto his belt and freed his right hand. He closed his eyes and breathed in a deep breath that smelt of smoke, burnt metal and dirt. He called on the dark side silently, and let Ruin's teachings flow through his mind. As time seemed to almost slow to a halt for him. Though it was not truly slowed, it gave him time, in the mere blink of an eye, or quicker yet, to pick himself up to lean on one knee, and whirl his body around in a swift motion. His right arm extended and palm outwardly stretched, the Force flew from him crackling, and everything that his hand passed over felt unseen power thrash them backwards and into the air. Dozens of more droids went flying and tumbling over one another while the AAT beside him jerked towards its right and backwards.

Viathan picked himself then into a full stand, and once again extended his right arm outwards towards the many more droids around him. This time he extended his fingers and true crackling erupted from the tips of them, or so it seemed, as streams of blue lightning escaped each finger and careened with droid after droid. Seeming to jump from one onto and through another. Those that were hit began shaking, and others began smoking and exploding from the coursing surge striking across and upon them.

His saber swirled at his side within his left hand as more bolts were sent away from his form as evermore pelted the ground around him or whipped passed his figure. All the while he never let up on the surging bolts that exploded from him as Viathan could almost feel the Force funneling through him, from his core, up to his shoulder and down the arm. The droids never stopped, even as dozens of them fell in droves. Even as artillery fire rained down and tank bolts pelted their own tanks or walkers. They didn't understand or comprehend fear.

"Commander Viathan! Forward advance along your sector has been halted. Ground unit request immediate assistance and ground command from you." Nidrini's voice rang out in Viathan's ear as he swept his saber from back left forwards and sent a bolt careening from one B1 into another that whirred out loudly before crumpling over into the dirt.

Viathan finally stopped unleashing the blue bolts from his figure and whirled around once again, and broke into a Force aided run through thick columns and lines of droids towards his own men. As he ran and bounded passed droids his saber was like a blur at his side cutting them down wildly and indiscriminately. Until he finally came to the front of the fighting. The 'lines,' were drawn with troopers on the other side of what was becoming a much smaller no-mans-land. Where upon it were littered hundreds of droid corpses with the burnt grass beneath them mingled with torn tanks and shredded walkers.

A vast line of men and vehicles fought against unrelenting droid advance. Viathan leapt again over the heads of many dozens of droids with his saber in his left hand. He was carried further through the air and into the Imperial lines atop a 2-M Saber tank. It along with five others in formation fired towards three homing Spider droids flanked by five Tri-droids, all firing back and around the series of Imperial tank units.

Viathan clipped his second saber back to his belt and raised both hands up and out before himself. With a sneer and furrowed brow of concentration he pulled the Force in and sent it outwards around a vast gathering of droids, maybe a hundred or more, all firing at the men who took up positions around the tanks he found himself standing upon. With a grunt and heave of his body and outward thrust of both arms all the droids were torn off their feet and tumbled onto each other or other unsuspecting units to the rear.

Viathan unleashed another vast wave to his right and left both sending another group of dozens flying back. Allowing for those troops near and around him the slightest of reprieves. He released a breath laced with audible exhaustion from the exertion, but he did not stop. Instead he fed on the weariness and let the Force push his body forward, passed the pain now mingled with fatigue.

He jumped from atop the tank, where the nearest trooper commander jogged towards him. His troopers advanced several feet and fired into the distant enemy lines, while the tanks released round after round. The bolts crashing against the spider and tri droids sending vast plumes of fire and smoke skywards.

"Commander Viathan, a privilege, sir! I'm Lieutenant-Colonel TU-853, at your service!" The trooper Commander greeted saluting the younger boy. It made him feel awkward once again, but he shoved the sensation aside, and bowed to the helmeted soldier.

"I live to serve the Empire, just as you, Colonel. Now please, what's needed of me?" The man nodded, and Viathan sensed the Colonel's approvalwith his response.

"Droid units have held their line down our own forward positions. From our sectors end to the end point of Commander Raydonn's forces positions. All along the line, but despite that we cannot pierce any further into their lines, and more keep coming for each one we drop." He went on and Viathan listened even as the exchange of fire once more heated up and troopers fired with wild abandon towards the droids who responded in kind.

"If you can lead a forward charge and plow through the enemy force just ahead of us, and keep their immediate focus from me and my battalion, I can follow your advance through the breach. Along with my men we can force open an initial junction with our tanks and begin implementing the plan to cut deep into the enemy force and curve back around. Cutting off the first real portions as directed by Colonel Nidrini, and Lord Kun, sir!"

"Understood, Colonel. I'll head up the assault, but be sure to follow in once the breach is made. Bulge the breach in circular formation and allow for the tanks to pierce ahead and begin circling back around! If we're going to use blitz tactics, we use them smartly, and most importantly, quickly!" Viathan yelled over the thundering of renewed tank fire exchanges from the Imperials and back from the droids. One enemy bolt slamming into a tank further down the line from them. Sending both it and those around it up in a fireball.

"Acknowledged, sir!" The Lieutenant-Colonel saluted, and clutched his blaster rifle back near to chest as he turned on a heel and ran in a ducked hunch back towards the bulk of his men near to the tank units of his battalion. Viathan turned towards the enemy force gathering and advancing towards himself and his forces, and snatched both hilts into his hands once more. Both crimson beams burst to life, and the Sith teen burst forwards again towards the enemy.

Another burst of energy flew from him outwards as he ran near to the front of their forces. Those to the front of their own static line flew back once again as Viathan advanced. He dashed forwards and into the nearest still standing column of droids, slashing wildly right then back left and then a wild spin. No care needed be taken as he carved through droid after droid as they came near. The droids ignored him and kept moving to this line they refused to advance any further from, and fired into the trooper lines.

Viathan sneered, and cut down a B2 with both sabers carving down left from up over right shoulder. With a wild spin of his body and heave of his left arm his saber once more flew out and spun into the masses cutting down dozens of the machine men. All the while he took saber in both hands, and slashed down one droid, after another, cutting, bisecting, and decapitating more and more.

His second saber returned to him, and he snatched the hilt into hand, and immediately slashed both sabers down across the chassis of another B2 super that fell firing wildly as it did. Raising several free fingers from his hilts he unleashed another bout of energy through the Force that rippled across the soil sending droids and their fallen comrades flying backwards. Until finally the droids began turning, and firing on him fully. A dozen B1 battle droids ran after him firing as they did, and dumbly all the same. Viathan, in kind, threw one saber again tearing them down as he blocked two bolts aimed at his head and sent them back into the B2 that had fired them.

His saber returned again, and he broke into a run that lead into another leap. Both sabers overhead and thrown behind him again, he sent himself crashing down. Both sabers landed down slashing into another crab droid he aimed for. The machine whirred loudly and swung itself around throwing Viathan from its body. He was tossed into another roll along the dirt, to which he momentarily deactivated his sabers. All the while bolts from the crab droid rained around his prone figure. Viathan came to a sudden stop; again he called on the Force and felt time seem to almost slow around him, and he found himself at the feet of two B2 supers'. Above them stood a hulking Tri-droid firing towards the Lieutenant-Colonel's battalion.

Viathan grimaced before he took action, and began so by throwing his body onto his left side, and he kicked out in the same direction. The supers fell from under their own metal feet, and Viathan threw himself up hands against the soil, with the Force. He found himself over the Tri-droid, upon which he landed shakily atop its domed and spinning head. He reactivated his saber in right hand and snapped his other saber back to his belt.

Time then normalized in his perception as the torrent of bolts from the crab droid followed after him climbing up along one of the three legs of the Tri-droid. The walker seemed confused, or as confused as a droid could be. It didn't fire back against its allied walker as it relentlessly unleashed its hail of bolts upon it. Viathan jumped back and off the spider droid behind its forward sector, and the crab droid fired on into the head of the spider droid, and then back downwards as it followed Viathan's descent. Until finally the pelted spider walker exploded violently, just in time for Viathan to land on the ground with a grunt, swing around and extend his free hand out. The Force created an unseen bubble around him and the fire and debris of the walker cascaded around the unseen power as the spider droid erupted in flames.

The teen Sith, didn't wait long as the walker collapsed to the ground and smoke blocked his sight of the crab walker. He bounded forwards over the fallen spider droid and through the thick reeking smoke onto the other side. Where the crab droid was before him and came to a sudden stop. It met Viathan as both made for the other, but Viathan let his instincts and intuition gifted by the Force guide him. He threw himself down once more and propelled himself under the crab droid striking out at its forward left leg with his saber in right hand as he practically glided along the dirt under the crab droid to the other, back end, of the walker.

He jumped up and swung around to see the crab droid fall onto its left, with its forward leg severed it attempted to turn towards him, but did so slowly, arduously, and almost seemingly, painfully. Without further musing and observations, he raised his left hand and the metal claws of his mechanical appendage curled inwards and the Force grasped tightly around the walker. In another heaving thrust from left to right, that caused him to shove his whole body to the side, Viathan sent the walker flying, tumbling and slamming into more droids off in the distance. It crashed and crushed over and over, rolling time and time again, until it came to a rest on its back. A heap of ruined, bent metal and sparks as it lay then unmoving and broken. Dozens of droids alongside it.

Viathan couldn't bask in the small victory, however. As he turned back towards the gap he was meant to keep open. Only to see at least two dozen more droids, both of B1 and B2 variation filling his gap, with a forward AAT to their rear firing into the Lieutenant-Colonel's battalion line. He felt his nostrils involuntarily flare in mounting frustration, and he bounded forward again. His boot falls taking him nearer to the AAT and droids that filed forwards dumbly.

He slammed his right boot down and was thrust up into the air once more, and he fell down atop yet another enemy tank. This time he reached out with the Fore and snapped its unseen grip around the main cannon barrel of the AAT. He snapped his metal hand inwards into a fist and the cannon whined out loudly before a muted crack sounded out, muffled through the fog of warfare around him. The cannon bent and twisted in on itself, and Viathan leapt again from the tank full over the new forward line of droids and near to the Imperial forward position.

He extended both arms out and the Force exploded outwards sending the droids flying back towards the damaged tank. Just in time for it to fire a bolt from its main cannon. It fired and in a split second the barrel erupted violently, and a shock wave rippled back into the tank, and out from it. The explosion ripped it and those droids sent back by Viathan apart into bits of debris.

His body crying out from exertion, Viathan let his saber in right hand deactivate for a moment, and with both arms still outstretched he shoved them and his body slightly but with force and a heave to the left. The wreck of the tank suddenly lifted from where its bulk landed and went careening into droid after droid, and slammed into a distant Persuader-class droid tank to the front and caused yet another explosion to ripple outwards. A trail of fallen droids left in its wake and fires following thereafter where it came to rest. Finally Viathan let his arms fall, but with them went his legs and with a release of heavy breath he fell down. Only remaining kneeled by his right leg.

"Commander!" He heard the Lieutenant-Colonel cry out. Whether out of genuine concern or obligation he couldn't tell. Nor did it truly matter to him.

"Advance, Colonel! You have an opening!" Viathan used the Force to carry his voice as he fed on his emotions, and mixed pain to rejuvenate his body. His excessive use of the Force in this battle having taken a toll on him, usually he'd reserve such usage for singular moments in pitched battles. Yet, as he beheld the immense ocean of droids before him and his fellow apprentices' he felt it was necessary now more than ever.

"Teams Aurek, Besh, and Cresh, forward through the gap!" Viathan could hear the Colonel command, and within seconds around Viathan several dozen troopers passed around him towards towards the breach in the droid general front. This was added to be six initial Centurion-class tanks and three IFT-T fighter tanks that followed after covering the advance. As the battalion began advancing, Viathan turned his head left and right to see troopers down the Imperial line struggling to move forward. All of them, or most within his range of sight, caught fighting back the endless droid march forwards. All of this even as the droids refused still to move any further.

It gave him pause. He knew why the Imperials generally were not advancing. They didn't have the numbers. They were waiting for the artillery or heavy weapons to breach an opening for them to cut back and cut off droid forces in chunks. But the droids, they had numerical superiority, and more firepower. Yet they didn't advance, but endlessly fired. Viathan didn't know why, and the thought it irked him though he couldn't let himself get bogged down in thinking about that for too long.

"Commander?!" The Colonel called as he ran up beside him and clasped a worried hand to Viathan's left shoulder.

"Move out, Colonel! I will join you and your men." Viathan disregarded his trooper's concern and brushed his hand off while reactivating his saber in right hand and grasping his second hilt and joining it alongside the other. Colonel TU-853 obediently acknowledged and moved passed the young Commander with blaster rifle at the ready. Viathan took in a breath and followed after stomping his boots to the soil as he did.

Four tanks had come to a stop on either side of the breach opening where the droids further down their lines ended. Essentially blocking them from refilling the gap from the flanks and funneling droids into the bulge being created by the Imperial ground troops. As Viathan passed the tanks; and they fired their cannons, both main and secondary, into the further droid sectors, Viathan came to stand behind a company of troopers. The men fired wildly though with greater than droid precision into the approaching columns of droids. Mostly B1 models that threw themselves full force and wildly at the breaching troopers. Even as they fell back charred and broken, Viathan could see three Persuader-class tanks advancing to their rear. While behind them came stomping maybe five or more homing spider droids. Themselves firing their main cannons into the rear of the Imperials behind Viathan. Which was confirmed by the sudden percussion of some unseen tank or walker behind him.

Viathan sneered and once more tossed his left hand saber outwards and sent it with the Force crashing stabbing and slicing through droids. Allowing his freed hand to activate his ear-comm unit.

"Nidrini! I've got a breach opened in the forward lines! A battalion is pinned by advancing enemy units in bulk, and my army won't last against their counterattack! Now if you want this plan of yours to work, I suggest you get me that artillery fire forty to forty-five meters ahead of my current position. Sending coordinates now!" Viathan yelled and quickly sent the coordinates over. The saber returned to his hand with a smack of metal against metal as Nidrini called back over the comms.

"I copy, sir! ETA of barrage is thirty seconds!"

"Colonel, hold the line!" Viathan hollered over the blasts and shooting, and the Colonel raised his fist and the men stopped any advance. They all knelt or fell onto their stomachs and fired desperately against the droid onslaught. A stray Persuader round flew into the Imperial line and slammed into one of the Centurion-class tanks. Smoke billowed around and up from it, but it remained intact and fired into a large cluster of B2's following up alongside the B1 droids down a separate sector of the droid lines.

The wail of traveling artillery cannon bolts grew louder in Viathan's ears, and without looking he ducked lower to the ground. Subtly he sent the Force out to stabilize his men as well. Within a few more seconds the artillery fire successively fell into the droid units and following tanks. Once more causing thick black smoke and scorching heat released from fire to cascade around them before rising up into the air.

"Advance, through the smoke!" Viathan commanded as he coughed and hacked from the intake of smoke into his nostrils and mouth. The taste of it metallic, stale, and nauseating as ever. Nonetheless, he bounded forwards, content with the fact he'd kept his men standing even after the artillery shook the ground and rippled around their bodies when it landed.

His troopers began calling and yelling towards one another. The Colonel giving a general order forwards, echoing Viathan's command. They did so and pushed beyond the smoke that had yet to dissipate. Their crimson bolts flew out from their blasters into the unseen as Viathan jumped aside allowing them freedom to do so. Only the sounds of smacked metal, and the sizzle of blaster burning metal chassis ringing out to let them know they'd hit or grazed something. Though that was muffled and drowned out by the battle raging everywhere.

Viathan for his part, unleashed one more small burst of energy that blew outwards and sent smoke tumbling through the air out of his way. In front of him as he continued to run forwards, came into sight a torn and burnt husk of a Persuader-class tank. Around it a scorched littering field of broken tanks pieces and droid troops.

He quickly, easily and swiftly jumped atop the husk, and then just as easily back down off of it towards its ruined rear. There lay even more droids parts ripped and ruined from what the once were. But in the distance Viathan saw the ocean of droids simply send another wave of the machine men towards he and his men. Thousands of them firing just as blindly at him and his men. Though the homing spiders were in chunks around him, there in the distance he could make out four dwarf spiders moving on him with this next wave.

"Kriff!" He cursed and immediately fell into a dance with both sabers. Parrying and returning sent bolts back to the enemy. Utilizing his masters' preferred Niman, Viathan easily fell into the Shien tenants, and with them expertly blocked the bolts. Yet, the hail would mean he would not last forever.

Once again, Viathan burst forwards with unnatural speed aided by the Force. The bolts flew passed him and at his feet though probably not by the aim of the droids and more due to chance. Finally, one bolt got passed his speedy ducking dash, and saber blocks and scorched his left ribs. Burning through the cloth of his tunic, and down to his flesh. The pain causing him to grimace and grit his teeth, but feeding his connection to the Force, and the dark side.

He came to the first line of droids, and he swung both sabers into an X formation slicing the first in half. Then he swung both right destroying another, and he carried around and into the next droid on his original left side. He kept spinning and slashed on through three more droids cleanly both beside him on the right and in front of him. He stabbed his right saber into another droid and let it and the droid fall to the ground while swinging back left cutting the coned head of another droid.

His right hand; now free of the fallen saber hilt, extended out. Viathan called on the pain radiating within him, and unleashed another intense bout of lightning bolts from his fingers that flew out and tore through over a dozen more droids. Before he, in a flash, called his second hilt back into his hand and jumped up, slashing both down in arched swings onto another droid. It was ripped down the middle as Viathan's feet hit the ground again, and he slashed again in arched swings right down another droid. He slashed back up tearing through another droid, and then he slashed back right with both sabers at near equal slashing angle. As he did so, he sent the Force surging down his arms and out his hands. Electric power coursed into the saber hilt and through out onto the blade itself. Lightning formed and extended out across the droid his saber beams hit, but then arched into two more droids.

Again, Viathan chained his power in the Force with his skills with the lightsaber, based upon the core tenants of Niman. He jumped up, higher than most people, and he twisted both hilts downwards into stabbing positions. Again the Force rippled down the saber hilts and beams as they stabbed into the soil and burned the dirt already scorched from stay blaster bolts and explosive cannon rounds. A shock wave was released from the stabbing of the soil from Viathan and out from him as the center. Droids all around were thrown out in a bubble. This gave him a moments reprieve.

During which, he looked up to see more Imperials flooding the gap from the main force. Hundreds of troopers in pitched close blaster battles with droids turning on them as they finally seemed diverted from dumbly waiting to advance to the front which now began piling with fallen over droids. The Colonel was directing the entering battalion force now being shored up by secondary battalions from the further Imperial lines. While more tanks, and two AT-STs had advanced into the breach and were freely, wildly even, firing into the masses of droids.

Viathan smiled, and allowed himself a moment longer to turn left and right. Further down the general line of the two armies, he could see other battalions beginning to pierce into the droid lines and begin their blitz tactics. He turned back around finally, anticipating the new columns of enemy units rushing towards him. Though he saw another column of B1 battle droids being led by a line of B2 supers with tanks and walkers following the wake, he also saw a strange sight that put him on edge.

Advancing on him with what looked like stomping menace with intent were two Magnaguards. Both with electrostaffs activated, humming and sparking in their right metal hands to their backs ready to strike out. They were wearing cloaks that were fluttering behind them and around their staffs. He knew Magnaguards were usually only utilized for special operations, or protecting VIP rebel personnel. Yet, there was nothing of greater importance here, nor any person that looked of any particular importance. Nonetheless, he put his confusion, and interest aside. He swung both sabers in anticipation as he fell into a Niman dual-wielding defensive posture. While the droids behind the Magnaguards disregarded him and their staff wielding droids, and instead focused wholly on the Imperial troops and tanks behind him.

They neared, and the first drew on him while the second moved left and circled around towards Viathan's' exposed left flank. Viathan sneered, but jumped into action as the first Magnaguard swung its staff back in front of itself and slashed downwards from overhead on the young Sith. He slashed up and parried with his left saber. He swung his right saber from under left shoulder across but the droid twirled itself into a spin and away from the boy. Then the second droid came in with staff in both hands.

It launched into a flurry of attacks. Right arm up and out, then a slash back down with its left as the main hand. Both ends of the staff jutting towards him in jabs, and each one parried with his right then left saber in kind. The droid slashed in across Viathans' right and he blocked with right saber in kind. Then it threw its weight into a hard slam from his left, and removed all weight from the right. Viathan was forced to raise his left saber and block again, but his right saber became free. He swung left with it at the droid's head, but the Magnaguard took the staff still in both metallic hands and spun it wildly before itself and parried the swing and thrust Viathan to his left from the sudden spinning motion of the droid.

Viathan caught his bearings just as the Magnaguard from before came in from his right with staff overhead. It swung down violently, and Viathan slashed both sabers up from left to right and clashed with the droid and its electrostaff. His sneer deepened and he threw his weight into the sabers sliding them down the staff away from the electrified ends. The first beam cut into the exposed metal of the staff and its sparked out as the tip was severed from the main body of the staff.

The droid hardly noticed as it tore away from the boy and again allowed its comrade to attack from Viathan's' left flank. It jabbed in towards his ribs, and he swung his left saber quickly down under and up in an awkward arch that felt unnatural to him, and desperate in nature. Nonetheless, the droid was sent into a slight push to its right from the parry.

In kind, his awkward slashing move forced Viathan to throw himself into a spin away from the two droids. He twirled his saber and regained a comfortable grasp on both hilts and fell into a more Makashi inspired guarding stance through his Niman. Both stood staring him down with staffs at the ready. The droid with the broken staff merely turned it over in hands and aimed the still active end, buzzing with bolts, towards the Sith boy.

Viathan glanced between them. From one to the next, and in a flash he began a renewed a quick thrust of his right hand, left the Magnaguard with the broken staff was thrown to its right and left its ally momentarily alone. Viathan bounded towards that droid with sabers at ready. One aimed out at mid height and the other up over head and high over shoulder.

He stabbed inwards but the droid parried the feint, and Viathan swept in with the higher saber from his right. The droid pivoted the staff back in and collided its tip with the saber, and clashed with the boy. Viathan slashed out left and back in right with his left saber towards the center of the droid, but it; with both hands upon the staff, spun it wildly and pushed off of Viathan. Allowing it some room from Viathan who pushed back on him quickly.

Both sabers slashed from the right, one after the other, slamming into the droid in a Djem-So inspired wave of energy and power. The droid blocked but each second slash of the attack forced it off balance to its right. Viathan then slammed both sabers at once from left back right into the pivoted and off kilter machine, and threw it towards its left as it barely parried the tremendous assault form both sabers. Viathan committed this over, and over again until the droid; once more tossed to its left from the violent dual-saber swing at its right flank, threw itself into a jump back left.

Viathan threw himself after, and with both sabers overhead, and behind his back, he immediately slashed both down hard and with all his power placed into the swing. The saving grace of the droid being its metal frame and added level of inert strength, as it spun the electrostaff in both hands into a horizontal position and threw it up and connected with Viathan's sabers. The boy grit his teeth and sneered as he pushed harder and harder down against the droid as it strained to hold up against him and keep their clash together.

Viathan kept pushing hard and harder still onto the droid and its block of his strike. However, the Force suddenly rung out in warning within his mind, and he sensed a threat from behind, but he couldn't turn to see what it was. He suspected the other Magnaguard, but as he only slightly tried to twist and turn around the droid he now clashed with pushed harder back against him.

He snarled and slammed his feet down into the burnt and debris laden soil beneath him. He pushed forward and threw all his power into his legs as he pushed slowly but surely the droid back. It struggled against the Force aided strength of the boy until at last Viathan buckled the droid beneath him. He pushed hard and forced himself forward with all might of the Force he could muster behind him, and with a suddenness the droid's arms fell downwards with Viathan's. With the droid bent forwards and arms as well as staff to the ground, Viathan almost howled with exhilaration mixed with a sense of victory as he stabbed both sabers upwardly angled and through the chassis and head of that Magnaguard. He slashed right and left with both respective sabers and the droid immediately fell into a crumpled pile of broken parts.

Viathan immediately then whirled around expecting danger, or to be met with the other Magnaguard. And he was, only it was standing motionless, but with blaster in hand and raised towards him. However, through its chest came protruding a purple lightsaber. Behind the droid the man, Raydonn stood, looking no more worse for wear than before, though perhaps slightly more disheveled. He suddenly thrust up with the saber and almost halved the droid up from its chest through its head. He swiftly slashed back down and cleanly cut the droid in half, or near in half, vertically.

"Guess you owe me one for that, huh." The man stated rather than asked. He bore a self confident, if tired, smirk upon his face. Viathan growled under his breath and spun his sabers as he walked towards the man. Around them the battle raged, but the Imperial troops were pushing into the droids slowly but surely to complete their blitz formations and attack.

"I had everything under control. I didn't need, nor request your help! Next time, worry about yourself rather than those fully capable of defending themselves." Viathan seethed pushing passed the man with the slightest of shoves from his shoulder that hit the man. Raydonn, in kind, barely registered the shove though Viathan could sense he was biting back a wince and hummed with what could best be described as a tone of disbelief.

"Now now, there's no reason to be testy." Raydonn placated, though to Viathan it sounded as the epitome of condescension, and thus he growled lowly again.

"If we're being fair, you had your back to the droid. It had a fully function blaster trained on your exposed rear flank while you tried to overpower the other one. The better strategy would've been to let both come at you, and hold them off until an opening presented itself. After all, you have two sabers, no?" He asked pointing out the two obvious, and still active humming sabers in Viathan's hands.

"Don't presume to teach me how to duel! You're not my master, nor have I asked you for any advice! Now if you don't mind, there's still lots of battle to be had, and won."

"Fine, fine. Ignore me if you want, but don't ever say I didn't help you out." The man declared with the most mild of chuckles. Viathan frowned and made to turn away from him. However, he gave a final glance towards Raydonn and saw him sighing and bringing his left hand to his forehead.

Viathan could sense the pain and weariness emanate off of the fellow apprentice to his master. He gave a strong face and held himself exceptionally well, but his presence in the Force was not so well shielded as it had been before battle, the original wounds must have been excruciating to say the least if he was going by the phantom pain he could sense coursing through his fellow though sensing this wanted nothing better than to turn and return to the Colonel's battalion and continue fighting with the men in full force forward attack. But as he took a tentative step away, his master's commands echoed in his mind. His wish for him to 'watch over' his latest apprentice. So, Viathan stopped and his shoulders slumped down and his head turned to the sky wrought with smoke and smelling of burnt metal and death. And, he sighed.

"Wait," Viathan turned and ran up towards Raydonn who turned his head towards him inquisitively.

"You lead, and I'll follow. I'll comm the battalion Commander, and inform him I'll be trailing you."

"And why would you be doing that?" Raydonn questioned with a furrowed brow. Viathan fought against rolling his eyes and sighed.

"Because, my...our master, commanded me to make sure you don't become droid fodder out here. Anyone and everyone can see you're not exactly at one hundred percent." Viathan observed with a quick glance up and down Raydonn's armored figure. The man in kind half frowned. He rubbed the back of his neck silently from dulled but ever present pain. He seemed to only register he was doing so halfway through it, and stopped quickly as Viathan cocked one of his eyebrows inquisitively, but also observantly. Raydonn figured he was silently taking that as evidence to support his claim against him, and his...condition.

"Fine," Raydonn acquiesced, though much sooner and more calmly than Viathan thought he would have in the same situation. Indeed he hadn't just a moment ago.

"But, if we're going to be working together all of a sudden, I take charge. I am older than you to be fair." He smirked, and Viathan snorted.

"Indeed you are. Plus I already said you take point, and I follow. Perhaps your age has already introduced poor hearing, and or, memory loss onto you, Raydonn." Viathan retorted pushing passed the man once more as he noted a vast column of droids in the distance turning in on an advancing Imperial battalion pushing into their lines further away.

"Charming, Force you teenagers are all sarcastic little prats!" Raydonn commented and in kind pushed passed Viathan with one end of his sabertsaff activated.

"Now then, I believe we have a battle to attend to." He bounded off with a quick focus of the Force into his run. Viathan did roll his eyes this time and spun sabers in hands and took off after his fellow apprentice back towards the fields of battle, dead and destroyed.

---

"Force this is dull!" Kira cried in a moaning manner as she sat atop a stationary 2-M Saber-class tank. The girl watched as afar the thick of the battle was underway. Commanded and led by Viathan and that idiot Raydonn. Sure her forward lines, of her measly force, was engaging with URM rebel droid forces, but the droids refused to advance. Just like the rest of the line down from her end to that of Jade's the droids came to create their own static line of defense and fought, shot and killed from it, but did not advance. It annoyed her to the point that she played around with the idea of tricking one of her troopers' into thinking his friends were droids. To watch him go mad and butcher some of his comrades before she or other troopers put him down would at the least liven things up!

The wedge formation of the army attacking the URM force was slowly disintegrating anyways. The blitz had begun for the divisions under Raydonn and Viathan and they'd lost their own static general advance towards the enemy. Smaller battalions punctured the droid lines and were digging deeper in. Fighting tooth and nail to keep their lines open and circle back cutting chunks of the droid army off, so they could be cut down effortlessly from all sides. Rinse and repeat, rinse and repeat until there was nothing left. Kira got the logic, sure. She and Jade were relegated to the edges of the one time wedge of this army. They ere relegated to sitting back and letting the two fools handle the main fighting when she could be out there at the front! Thrashing and tearing into droid after droid, sending walkers and tanks flying into one another with ease! The smell of distant fire and smoldering metal gave her a thrill that elicited a slight giggle from where she sat. Causing nearby troopers to turn and look at her, and then walk away unnerved by her behavior. Nonetheless, she sat alone, and incredibly bored despite the visceral images playing out before and all around her.

Until in but another moment an explosion sounded out towards her sector's front. She found herself covering her face as her cloak was whipped and whirled around her frame, dirt and debris flew through the air, and immense heat radiated across her figure. She uncovered her eyes from her arm and looked out with irritated frown upon her face to see a raging inferno rising and burning with a thick smoke stack as well where three AT-ST's had been but moments ago toward the forward defensive lines.

Kira picked herself up into a stand, and grabbed her curved saber hilt. The crimson beam sprung to life by a flip of her thumb over the activation switch. Troopers around and to the back of her tank flooded in around her tank and towards the front. Their blasters raised and some already firing like foolish wild men through the smoke and fire. However, Kira trained her blue eyes towards the droids and noted the sudden exploding increase in blaster fire that was coming from the somewhat docile enemy but moments prior.

A blistering successive crack in the air sounded from the distance, and Kira looked into the skies, knowing that a hail of enemy artillery had just fired off. Her eyes grew large in shock as she saw the sheer mount of enemy fire as it flew up through the air and turned downwards towards her tanks, her men, and her! She leapt off her tank and landed several feet away and dashed int a run sideways along the battle line. As the rain of artillery fire crashed down one after the other launching fire and smoke, throwing men high into the air or eviscerating them all around her. She dove left and right still running and letting the Force guide her as the massive cannon bolts fell killing dozens upon dozens, and tanks all around her exploded one after the other.

Her men were tossed and turned, and only those to the direct front seemed safe from the incoming hail. But, as she turned in towards the front she found they were safe from the artillery, but not from the other droids. Immediately she fell into blocks and parries of the influx of enemy blaster bolts with both hands gripping her saber. She sneered from the sudden exertion her body was thrown into, though she internally reveled at the release of anticipation with her as the Force pulled in around her.

Alongside her on either side the troopers were huddled around tanks and walkers, either still active or burnt out husks. They fired relentlessly back toward the droids, that Kira now noted were in fact advancing. And, they were in full force. Thousands marching, many hundreds of B1's running like a tidal wave against the Imperials holding the line now with smoke and fire rising behind them from their shelled and ripped into comrades from the enemy artillery. Shoring up the droids on foot came skittering dozens of crab droids, spider droids, of both dwarf and homing variants, Tri-droids, and a line of what looked to be rear advance AATs. The force, even to Kira was fully, and honestly overwhelming in nature.

"Nidrini!" Kira hollered into her comm unit just as an enemy tank bolt slammed into a group of men to her right sheering and tearing at their bodies. She shielded her brow as a helmet fell onto her arm, though she did not know if it still held a head within it or not.

"I've got a massive droid push on my lines! I need that karking support you promised!" She yelled further into the comms. As she did, she glanced to see a large column of B1 battle droids rushing her position and the men crawling, disoriented and ravaged near to her. She snarled and threw her left arm from left to right with palm outstretched. The Force flew from her and swept all the droids off their metal feet and tumbling into one another and beyond. Behind them came more droids, all firing without relent as ever.

"Get in line Offee! You're not the only one with problems here!" Suddenly her attention was pulled from the battle to the sound of Mara yelling into her ear piece. Her eyes narrowed and anger spiked at the retort, and she hissed into her own comm unit once more.

"Shut it Jade! I've got a whole karking portion of the rebel army on the advance! I don't get anything, well then kiss this flank goodbye!"

"So have I!" Mara replied, only slightly calming Kira's often irrational temperament. "If I don't get any air support and artillery these droids will flood over us by sheer numbe-" She was cut off and Kira heard her half scream and snarl as a loud explosion echoed in her ears before the comm was released and cut. In the far distance Kira numbly made out another enemy artillery shelling that she registered as the same blast.

"Uh, right, I read you both." Nidrini replied over the comms. Kira rolled her eyes and blocked an incoming hail of bolts. She twirled her saber before herself, and flew into a spin and outward slash of her saber through the open air. A wave of energy through the Force escaped outwards from that slash and slammed hard into the battle droids. Dozens of them were torn to shreds but more followed in after them. Three crab droids following in after them. In kind, four shock troopers carrying MiniMag PTL missile launchers came into an open plot in front of Kira. Two kneeled the other two stood, and all fired the missiles into the enemy incoming. Two hit two of crab droids and sent out resonating explosions knocking more droids over. While the other two missiles missed their crab droid targets and hit rear droid lines. All of this followed by two further AT-STs coming up behind them and firing into the final crab droid and fellow droid forces.

"Whatever you're going to do, Colonel, do it now!" Kira growled into the comms once more as she ran passed the troopers shoring up her position and towards the droid lines pushing into her troops.

---

"MAAT support units three through eight, you're active aerial support on the right flank. Nine through fourteen, left flank is yours. Watch your fire, enemy is exceptionally 'danger close.' Artillery support will be on the inbound, so watch your elevations." Nidrini called in over the comms. As he did the sky warbled with the sounds of MAAT gunships flying into the distance towards the main battle.

Nidrini stomped over towards another comms unit near an officer sat at a terminal commanding several rear battalions inside of Commanders Raydonn and Viathan's units. He leaned in to monitor the current status of those battalions before he snapped open another comm channel alongside the officer.

"This is Colonel Nidrini, battalions 115, 108, and 203,you are hereby assigned to reinforce the right flank! Battalions 130, 136, and 145, you are to do the same for the left flank! You fall under the commandment of localized Commanders Offee and Jade accordingly!" Nidrini ordered and released a steadying breath as the adrenaline pounded through him fed by rising anxiety.

"What's going on, Colonel?!" He heard Viathan's voice com in over the comms unit.

"Commanders Offee and Jade are under heavy enemy reprisal. I have requisitioned several of your battalions, along with several of Commander Raydonn's to reinforce them." He responded coolly.

"So our flanks are under heavy assault? Oh, well that's good to hear." Raydonn chimed in.

"I can assure the both of you, I have it under control. Please proceed with your operations. I will keep you up to date, accordingly." He snapped his comm channel closed, and opened another.

"AT-AT batteries, new enemy coordinates are being sent to you now. Fire when ready, and at will. All artillery posts shall have new coordinates as well. All batteries, accordingly, fire when ready and at will!" He closed the channel and swept himself back left and towards the front of the command platform. The MAATs had passed into the distance, and the massive walkers turned their heads firing into the far off encroaching enemy lines, as the rear artillery lit up with booming percussion's and blistering lights as they launched their cannon bolts high. Arching then over vast distance to slam into the droid onslaught.

---

A massive smoke stack rose near her lines, as Mara swept her right arm down left and her saber cleaved down another B2 super battle droid. The warbling of several MAATs overhead numbly catching her ears and attention as their beam cannons flew down and sliced through untold dozens of droids. Followed by rockets that careened down and blew away four spider droids, and three AATs.

The wail of bolt cannon incoming caused the young girl to throw her left hand out and cast dozens of droids backwards through the Force. At the same time she leapt backwards and over a wide distance with more aid from the Force. Just in time as bolts from AT-ATs and artillery batteries slammed in coordination with one another across the enemy line moving against her forces. The fire from the walkers swept in a long arch from left to right from the very tip of her forces beginning to their end. At the least hundreds of droids were destroyed. Vast pillars of black choking smoke rose in the wake of that unleashing of raw overwhelming power, followed by the ground shattering blasts from the artillery shelling. Tanks and walkers exploded in projection sending vast quantities of debris and shrapnel flying. Fire exploded out over fallen men and droids, adding to the smoke. As all across the field where once had been static lines between Imperials and droids, hundreds were dead, thousands of droids burnt and broken, and walkers or tanks from both sides remain burnt shells of their former selves.

Mara found herself smirking, and alleviated. The vast wall of black smoke before her made things almost seem quiet save for the unending close quarters battle near to her where Viathan, and Raydonn pushed the ground forces from the front. The similar shock and awe of unleashed power could be heard in the far distance slamming into the lines near to Offee's forces as well. And, in this moment she felt a small sense of victory overcome her.

Then out from the thick black smoke came crimson bolts. They flew out piercing holes through the smoke, and slammed once, twice, and a third time into one of the MAATs. The gunship spun out of control and Mara ducked her head on reflex as it careened down into the ground with a loud crash, and sent men nearby rushing and running away. Following after the bolts came through the smoke three Vulture droids. They sent the smoke billowing outwards around them. They fired relentlessly towards the other nearest MAAT that broke from the incoming droid fighters.

They continued firing into the distance towards other supporting MAATs. They followed in formation and gave chase to the gunships. Mara watched with a frown and growing furrowed brow. Then through the smoke following after the Vultures, Mara turned as she heard a new kind of warbling. Three further droids appeared. These black or dark in hue, and with bulbous heads to the front, and a circular body following after them. They burst over her head and went just beyond where she and her forward troops stood when they unleashed a hail of beam cannon fire like that of the LAAT or MAAT. The beams carried along her army and tore through man and machine alike, erupting up fire and smoke in their wake.

"HMPs! I've got HMP gunships, and leading Vultures coming up on my air support!" Kira called out, rather than Mara over the comms. Mara turned towards where she knew Kira and her forces to be. Faintly, she could see several Vulture droids moving beyond the front lines, and darkened blobs in the sky, which could be nothing else but droid or possibly Imperial gunships.

"This can't be random!" Mara hissed and snapped her hand to her ear and activated her comm unit. "Colonel, both I and Offee have just had our gunship support either downed or chased off! Droid fighters followed by some mean looking HMPs!" She went on as the gunships move on passed the front and close battalions further and further away. The Vultures led ahead of them into the distance, and as they went Mara felt her eyes slightly widen involuntarily in a sudden realization.

"They're heading towards your position Colonel!"

---

"What?" Nidrini spoke aloud and turned towards the battlefield. Just in time, as two sets of Vulture droids came screeching in from both left and right. They opened up what appeared to be random fire that pelted the skies over the main camp.

"All anti-air batteries target the fighters!" Nidrini hollered to his officers who relayed the order. The Colonel ducked down by reflex as the fighters screamed overhead firing as they went. The AA guns unleashed fire and pelted the skies with cannon bolts that exploded all around and shook the grounds around the camp from the force of their combined firing. Two of three in a wing passed over the camp and circled into the distance clearing the AA fire. The third was hit three times, and it spun out with pieces of it falling, like raining metal debris pellets over the forward of the camp. It left a trail of smoke and crashed down into the rear camp grounds sending men scrambling from the incoming impact site.

The AA batteries twisted back around and reopened fire as the second wing came in with four Vultures this time. They also fired and pelted the air over the camp with seemingly no reason to it. At the same time dodging the anti-air bolts aimed towards them. Nidrini picked himself back up and covered his head, again by instinct, with his arm as he turned back towards the battlefield. There instead of focusing on the distant battle he saw new incoming enemy. Gunships, and at least ten of them in total.

"What are they-" He was silenced and his question answered as they broke off into two teams of five, and they all fired their missiles at once. The rockets flew towards the Imperial skies, but this time Nidrini could make out their targets.

"The walkers! They're aiming for the walkers! Bring them down!" He called hoarsely over the ear blistering AA fire relentlessly being unleashed. His officers twisted back to their terminals, loudly, almost screaming over the relentless firing cannons to fire on new coordinates, and new enemies incoming. Nidrini watched with a mix of pure shock and horror as the gunships zeroed in with robotic focus on the walkers. The officers near to him relayed new commands to evade, or in the case of the AT-AT's twist their heads and fire up as best they could on their would be destroyers. The massive and deafening shots flew out and up into the sky from the hulking metal monsters, but they missed time and again, as the droid gunships dipped and banked from left to right clear of every bolt sent from an AT-AT. The AA fire plastered the skies, as the guns turned onto the gunships even as the Vultures that remained zoomed back around and hung in the skies taunting the Imperials to fire on their exposed underbellies. Two gunships were struck several times along their massive circular backs exposed out from their forward heads and fire erupted followed by smoke as they dipped down and fell into the mainly cleared open plains between the Imperial base and armies in the far distance.

Most, however, were not hit, and they in kind loosed those weapons that Colonel Nidrini had seen. The missiles streaked openly through the skies and the first slammed down into the head of one of the AT-AT's and an explosion rippled out and its body and neck was pelted with further rocket shots. Two more AT-AT's to the center of the walker line took hits in various compartments and each exploded outwards with metal shards and bits of searing hot debris flying outwards and into any poor trooper in the immediate missiles came and they slammed all along the ground in seeming random fashion to deadly and wild an effect. Several flew down and hit the ground where men had huddled or rested near to the command platform. Troopers ran and began shouting as some were blown from underneath their own feet. Some of their legs were severed, and hoarse horrifying screams came through from behind their masks. Officers manning the command terminals broke and began running, or jumping off the edges of the platform. Missiles hit some of them, and they were torn, bodies mutilated, and bloody thrown before the feet or under those of men running away, under walkers or by tanks they hoped would save them from the raining smoking trails of death from above.

Then the beam weapons were loosed from the gunships, they blasted with a loud humming buzz and they shredded through walker metal and Nidrini, in his stupor, watched one AT-AT's forward right leg become severed in a small explosion from one of the beam weapons. Its head already smoking and body lined with scorch marks, it made a whining sound like a dying animal, before Nidrini jumped back on instinct and the AT-AT fell forward with a slouch to its right. Its thudding body nearly hit the platform he was on and made the whole ground rumble and shake with its mass falling. The HMPs warbled on and some passed over the heads of those now scrambling. Their missiles and beam cannons firing constantly as they went. Some turning quickly and hard to bank back around. This, as the Vultures still in combat came screaming down from above, and loosed their pelting blaster cannons on the forward sections of the base. Many raining down and falling on the exposed bodies of the AT-AT's still standing. All around the Colonel men were screaming and running, and pieces of his platform were torn out and scorched around him, but he could still hear ground Commanders calling, screaming and begging for command to give them orders, or information on enemy movement beyond their immediate sights. Yet, Nidrini did not move, he couldn't. He was stunned, beyond hope so it seemed, and horrified at how badly he had been prepared for such a devastating route of the command base of an entire army group. He thought all of this as a rounding HMP loosed three more missiles, and they screeched towards him, slamming with a fiery explosion into and sending what was left of the platform up.

---

"The aerial assault has commenced General. All recon probes indicate direct hits on artillery pieces, heavy walkers, and the forward command platform within the first and second strike by gunship units." A less squeaky voiced yellow striped OOM battle droid Commander announced within a rather dark and foreboding room. Within it there were several levels within connected by small metal stairways. There was no roof, for there was no need for one. The only light needed or rather, wanted were the bright and often haphazard and quickly changing lights being projected into the room from the dozens of monitors connected to probe droids scattered across the main Kuati battlefields with the Imperials on world. The dimly lit room held many Commander droids, and several B1's standing silently in guard manner at key points and entrances to this room set far beyond the eyes and reach of the Imperial enemy all about the world.

To the center of the room elevated upon a tier higher than those the droids occupied with their monitors and terminals, and higher than the entryways and doors there was a seat set down upon a chair controlled swivel upon the armrest. The figure that sat upon it was slimmer than most beings in the galaxy though not more than all. A whitened cloak a darker hue of red upon its interior lay sprawled around and underneath the figure where he sat. The figure continuously curled and uncurled its left hand of bony fingers. Its glowing yellow eyes narrowed in an ever present none organic manner and finally it stopped moving its left hand and stood up. The imposing body of the URM General came to bear though none of those gathered quite understood fear being that they were simple machines. The clawed blackened talons that were his feet came down, though steady and not slamming and piercing into the metal beneath them. He stepped down from his elevated seat where at the bottom stood at either side a Magnaguard with their electrostaffs silent in their own metal hands.

The yellow eyes looked over one of the screens. A probe silently and as of yet, unseen loomed near the forward Imperial camp, and the General watched the gunships rain death down upon the Imperials. The sky was pelted with AA fire, smoke rose up in thick stacks from destroyed AA emplacements or the downed AT-AT walkers, of which a second came crashing down on screen as two Vultures zoomed in firing four missiles into its head and neck and severing it with a great explosion. The General looked to the command platform that now lay in smokey ruin, and small blotches he knew to be men scattered and ran in all directions. Then he turned to the screens showing the main army, now engaged in close combat with his army of droids. The vast droids to the front took the brunt of the Imperial thrust inwards. Simply taking the hits and passively fighting back. While the droid divisions along both flanks pounded and hammered away at the weaker flanks, or at the east numerically underwhelmed flanks of the Empire. A sense of glee went silently through the General, though he himself barely recognized what 'emotion,' that was as it passed as quickly as it came.

"Maintain the assault against the attacking Imperial lines! The center divisions are to maintain passivity until the anointed time. Continue to push along the enemy flanks, until we surround their entire army!" The General with terrible and terrifying a gravely voice commanded to the OOM droid which stood silent and listening.

"By nightfall, that army will be spent and completely cut off." He more intoned to himself aloud then to the commanding droid. His eyes returned to the armies in pitched and destructive battle with one another. He remained silent as the yellow orbs that were his bounced from left to right, and up and down across the screens watching the battle unfold.

"I want this army decimated by next dawn. Have those units inside the city maintain pressure on the Imperial reinforcements being sent there. They are not to be rerouted or allowed to return to the front!"

"Roger, roger." The OOM droid awkwardly saluted. The General narrowed his eyes at the sight in anger as it spiked within him growling lowly.

"I have a report to give to mistress Nelrain. You," A bony appendage of a finger pointed into the coned head of the droid. "Will maintain the assault. Keep me appraised of the situation, and if anything changes see to it that I am made aware. They will be encircled, and they will be destroyed." He growled and the droid again acknowledged. The General turned on a clawed heel, and whipped one arm behind his back which sent his cloak waving from the force of it. He made towards a doorway with his guards in tow and made out from the command and control room, to another room unseen to give his report. Leaving the droids within the room silent and attending to their own duties for crushing the might and will of the Empire on this field of battle.

(Mandalore Sector, Unknown, Providence-Class Destroyer Unburdened)

"No, Kast, I want you off Concord Dawn as soon as possible. The force I'm leaving on planet will deal with any and all possible partisan forces. You will be needed for the push on the inner worlds of the Mandalorian Sector." Kellia, in more bored and annoyed a tone explained as she looked over a datapad in her hands. On her desk, alongside mounds of other datapads, tools, and other assorted things, stood a small blue holographic representation of Jodo Kast. The distinct and seemingly ever present sounds of distant battle rung out from across the vast distances into her room from Concord Dawn.

"I know, karking hells, I know! However, I am not liking leaving your karking droids in control of dealing with them! They have a penchant for mass slaughter, so I've been told, and I'm telling you if you let me I can get some of these Mandalorians to surrender." Kellia sighed deeply, her frustration coming through. She tossed the datapad, full of reports and figures onto the table harshly, clasped her hands together on top of the table and leaned forward into it. Her dark brown eyes narrowing intensely in on the small figure.

"Where's all that willpower gone? That drive to kill Mandalorians, take their worlds, and undermine the idiotic galactic view that they are an unstoppable force? Were you not fighting for months to get here? Did you not just pacify this one planet? Now you wanna make friends? Please, explain this one to me, Kast." She asked with a tone of incredulity and even a hint of mockery about her.

"I don't wanna make friends. I have talked with one or two of these idiots before they karked themselves and chose death over surrender, but I am trying to stop a bloodbath. I am not as big an idiot as you or anyone else might like to believe. I know there are Mandalorians dying who may not need to, nor deserve to. I know about certain body bags being filled that didn't need to be, and I know that we could pull off a major propaganda coup if we had a couple of those dead Mandos around who surrendered telling their idiot comrades still fighting that it would be better to lay down their arms and surrender!" He declared the last part with a semi-shout as a distant blast threatened to drown out his voice.

"Oh, and maybe I'm beginning to distrust your droids a little more than a sane man may distrust mindless machines, but based on my own experiences, you either let them go wild and undertake slaughter based on very open commands, or you pinpoint for them where to aim and shoot. Often it ain't at people who can fight anymore, Nelrain." He made in accusatory a tone. Kellia on her part forced herself not to roll her eyes, but she felt herself growing more and more frustrated, the Force pulling in around her and whispering to her to reach out and throttle this man.

"Now I hear from a damn Geonosian via a droid intermediary that you're moving loads of machinery down onto the planet to begin mining it for everything it's got?! Isn't this one of those campaigns you say is for something like morality or getting back at the clones that are scattered all over? But, now we're mining for...well whatever this planet has to offer? I'm not getting the logic here, Nelrain." Kellia scratched her forehead, and closed her eyes. She barely contained her mounting anger, before responding.

"Stop pretending to be a bastion of morality and good deeds. Your hands are stained with the blood of many people, and I am pretty sure a lot didn't deserve it. You are a mercenary! You are here for the more than good pay, and for a legacy as the man who helped bring down the Mandalorians. To drop them down a peg for the benefit of the entire galaxy, be it by your intent or not, Kast." She threw back in equally as accusatory, but cooler, a tone and manner.

"And another thing, we mine what worlds we think may prove helpful in the war effort Kast you insufferable mercenary!" She lost her cool before fighting internally to regain it.

"Do you think all those worlds you've left behind you in the wake of the push were left to their own devices? Do you think droids, and ships are built on air, or dark matter?! It takes resources, and we take what we need, and what we can get a hold of. Which is not as much as one might like or assume." Kellia seethed, and again fought against her rising rage.

"The droids will be overseen by Geonosian commanders on the ground on Concord Dawn. If you do not like the Geonosians, then please, by all means, make a call to Vikkal and tell him his warriors are poor leaders."

"That's not-" He attempted to speak in reply.

"If there are Mandalorians, or anyone being killed, then I am in full confidence they, in fact, deserved their fate. Indeed I trust the droids, and their commanders, to decide if and when we take prisoners, or be done with any and all enemy combatants. As I leave you to decide what can or should be done with your team and with your prisoners. But, you're right, Kast, I should have every ground Commander, both droid and not droid personally call me, whenever, wherever and however they may want to, and ask if they should let every single prisoner or enemy live or die, or be put in prison or sent into a field, or whatever else may come of this event we find ourselves in. The event we call war Commander!" Kellia snapped once more, and she felt the Force crackle around her in her rising and falling rage.

"Now you can get back to the fleet and rest up along with your team before we begin the push into the inner Mandalorian systems, or you can sit there on Concord Dawn, and simply watch. Watch as I and the rest of the URM decimate and conquer all of the Mandalorian Sector, and achieve victory. You will go down in history, I am sure, as the man who fought a few battles, and oversaw the consolidation of Concord Dawn. Enjoy that prestigious placement in the history holos, Commander." Kast went silent, but even across the vast distances Kellia could feel a mixture of rage, frustration and inner turmoil. The man knew battle, and conflict and hunting down enemies. The sudden morality play was even heavily wearing him down, and Kellia doubted he was as convinced of his 'better nature,' much in the way she was. And, with that inner turmoil, Kellia played her final card in getting her nascent Commander back into play.

"It's best you return to the fleet, and allow your team to rest, and to get some yourself." Kast rubbed the back of his neck.

"Yeah, it's best we return to the fleet and rest up." He agreed in duller a tone than before.

"But uh, yeah, no I'm not done with this conversation Nelrain. I can promise you that!" Kellia hummed lowly, and lowered her hand, which had a moment ago been waving before herself, as she used the Force to sway her Commanders thoughts and inclinations. She had to admit his resolve and will was stronger than she had initially thought. Though, not by much.

"I expect nothing less Kast. Leave Concord Dawn to be managed as best as it can be. I can guarantee you that your team will need rest, if we are to attain that glory I know you so desire." Kast grunted lowly and rubbed his helmeted head, and Kellia imagined he was coming down with one monster of a headache, from the worming she had to do past his mental defenses.

"Yeah, sure. See you...wherever you are in a few hours." Kellia forced a pleased smile onto her face.

"Sending coordinates. See you then, Commander." He nodded dully, and she cut the connection after quickly sending the location of her fleet in interplanetary space within the Mandalorian Sector. Kellia sighed, and leaned back into her seat, and thanked the Force that conversation had come to a satisfactory conclusion. Even if it had been at times rage inducing. Yet, even as she tried to unwind her table comm unit began sounding off once again. Kellia groaned and snapped forward in the seat, and opened the channel.

Before her stood another small figure, in the shape of a OOM droid Commander. Rather than lead battles, or fight on the field today it acted as a secretary of sorts for her. At least for today, while the fleet was not in combat.

"What is it now, A4?" She demanded in irritable a tone, though low and filled with the weariness of the day, or rather, days, coming down upon her.

"Your personal comm channel, three-two-two-four-aurek-nine has been activated. As previously commanded by you, mistress, I have redirected the call to your quarters. It will be on your personal holoterminal, and in waiting." Kellia sat in silence for a moment. Recalling who she assigned that one horribly designated coded comm channel to. As she did she felt herself waken from her stupor of mixed agitation and rage it subsiding some, and she nodded in reply to the little droid before her.

"I see. I will take it at once. Thank you, A4." She spoke with finality to the droid, and without further word it merely bowed awkwardly and stiffly, before the hologram simply fluttered and disappeared. Kellia got up from her seat and slightly stretched herself before she moved away from the table and towards a side room. Within remained a simple holoterminal that acted as the one Kellia would use for all more private conversations with her agents, generals, and other such VIPs. At least while she was on-board this ship, right now. Nonetheless, Kellia closed the sliding doors behind her activated the larger holoterminal and waited a moment as a pulsing hum sound rung out in the air, and the connection was solidified across the vast distances of the galaxy. Until at last the image cleared and before her stood a blue hued shadow of her own past. As well as the past of all the galaxy, at least for those who still remembered and knew of it. Though, things were not as simple as they may have seemed, on face value.

"Ah, Necrosis-One, it's good to-"

"My name, is Grievous." She was cut off, and subsequently paused. The droid certainly had a few 'glitches,' as she called it. Finding the bloody prototype from under the Imperials, taking it, and reactivating it under Geonosian, and Muun specifications and modifications had seemed to be a calculated use of an old fear inducing face against the Empire. The idea of 'reviving,' General Grievous hadn't even bothered Kellia one bit. After all, it wasn't the real Grievous, as he had actually died. It was a droid, but from what she had heard there were certain...'aspects,' of this, the first models, design that made him, in the wording of Vikkal, 'unique,' among what was being called by adoption, the NK Necrosis, droid model line. What that meant, Kellia hadn't asked, but merely accepted it She wanted her propaganda piece out as soon as possible, and so model number one was set loose. Though it did perplex her and again, she assumed it was part of its 'uniqueness,' that it insisted on calling itself Grievous.

"Right, yes of course. Forgive the slip of the tongue, General. With everything going on my mind sometimes slips." She excused away what she didn't think to be a mistake. Though she thought it better to placate and accommodate the droid, for now. 'Grievous,' with hand placed behind its boney metal back, and pushing its cloak behind itself, bowed its torso and head forwards. Seemingly, silently accepting her excuse for not calling it by its preferred name.

"I presume you have an update for me, General." Kellia stated more than asked. Again the General nodded, his lowly glowing, and almost pulsating eyes even hued in blue seeming to glint. Though Kellia was sure she was just imagining that.

"Yes," The familiar voice of the fallen Grievous came out slowly. As though he, or it rather, was thinking on something. Though, again, Kellia assumed she was imagining that.

"The Imperial forces have thrown themselves fully against my units on Kuat. Whomever they allowed to formulate their attack plans presumed they could force a forward blitz through my lines. They have thus left their forward flanks weakened. It would appear they did not expect to be led in and allowed to smash through my forward units, and come under heavy assault on both flanks. Nor did they expect an aerial assault that's battered and broken their forward command post, and main artillery support lines.

'I would say that my armies are in the best position now to encircle their main force, and destroy them all. They will be within my grasp by nightfall upon Kuat. Then, I will crush them, and see them suffer." The droid ominously intoned whilst raising and clutching its boney metallic right hand. Indeed, it gave Kellia flashbacks to some of General Grievous' speeches seen on the holonet during the Clone Wars.

"That's good to hear, General. However, remember the plan." Kellia warningly reminded the droid.

"You are to strangle and bleed them, but do not force them into a position where the Imperials feel the need to actually withdraw from Kuat. They are to defend that planet so long as they believe defense is possible. All the while their attention is left off other places in the galaxy they may have had some interest in, even if a little. Now they will have none. Seeing as they have two major worlds under siege as of this very moment." Kellia mentioned aloud, as Naboo came to mind.

The droid cocked his head to the side and angled it low as he hunched his skeletal frame, looking like an animal ready to pounce. Kellia was sure he was thinking, though, could a droid 'think?' Was it processing? She wasn't sure, but whatever the case, Kellia 'felt,' as though it was annoyed. But, again, she wondered if the droid could even feel 'annoyance.'

"I could decimate this army, slaughter the Force users within it, drive the last defenders off world, and give our movement a foothold in the Core Worlds! One of such prestige, and manufacturing capacity as this one would decimate the moral of the Imperial forces! That and steal from under their noses a key manufacturing world all at once! All I need is time, and commitment of forces!" The droid complained, and its voice grew louder, and more guttural as it seemed to in fact simulate at the least, irritation. The voice, in total mimicry to the letter, to Grievous's made Kellia's hair bristle and stand on end. She felt almost to be in the presence of the General, truly reborn, once again. She had been near the real Grievous but only once and seemingly so very long ago now.

Nonetheless, she hardened herself and shook the feelings off for now.

"No!" She sternly, and loudly, retorted with a swift movement of her right arm from left to right.

"We stick to my course. You keep them fighting, keep them interested and hopeful, and yes, keep them alive and fighting for every inch of ground they take, and then take it back. Maybe even give it back again. Until the time is right, or the situation elsewhere in the galaxy otherwise changes General. Am I understood?" She asked with a stern glare, though she wasn't sure if it at all, effected the droid. She wasn't sure, nor fully aware on all its 'unique' aspects, as Vikkal had informed her. 'Grievous' stared at her for a moment before the droid dipped its body low and swung its arm under its abdomen, in a gentlemanly bow. Though that phrase being coined or even thought when it came to Grievous, was amusing, in an odd way.

"As you command, Mistress." Again Kellia wasn't sure if the droid had chosen that word from among its likely vast vocabulary, but she had become used to many of the lesser droids calling her such. Or another thought was perhaps that he...or it, had simply chosen that title for her. Either way, Kellia mutely acknowledged and accepted it from the droid General.

"Excellent. Now, I have one small gift for you, General." Kellia informed as she began pressing keys along her holoterminal. The droid cocked its head to the side questioningly, but said nothing.

"Admiral Ackbar, while admirable indeed, has reported in on a near hourly basis, and it's come to my attention that his forces have been in continuous naval engagement for hours on end. Therefore, it has been so ordered that he and his forces will retreat to a predetermined way-station to rearm, and repair what can be repaired. His men will need time to rest, unload wounded, and reinforce their ships." She explained, all the while still pressing unseen keys to Grievous along her terminal. When she finally looked back up to his hologram she crossed her arms and allowed a small smile to grace her features.

"I have consulted with Ackbar, and he has been appraised of the situation. His fleet will retreat to the way-station. However, I cannot allow the Imperials to assume they've achieved orbital dominance and security. Thus, a secondary battle group has been dispatched and will be arriving within the next standard hour. Several dozen frigates, and cruisers, and other such smaller support vessels, twenty capital ships of varying model, thirty battleships, and chief amongst the group, two Lucrehulk-class battleships. One has been stripped of all unnecessary cargo and contains nothing but bombers and fighters to support the orbital battles. The other has been filled with nothing but ground forces, which I leave to your discretion, General. Only remember what the plan is, and hold to it. Otherwise Kuat is your playground, for now." Kellia remarked, and 'Grievous,' bowed once more.

"As you command. Those forces will be used to contain the other armies across this planet then. For now." It remarked, and almost seemingly mimicked Kellia's own wording from before. She cocked her brow inquisitively but said nothing on it.

"Very good, General. I'll inform the battle group to move in and order Ackbar to tactically retreat. Keep up the good work." She gave the droid some praise, and its head lowered in another small bow to her.

"All as you wish. Whether I am allowed to destroy them or not, they will suffer, and they will resist. Though they will fail." It warningly intoned with its rumble of a voice. Kellia didn't say anything. Rather, she chose to smile in agreement, though inwardly she thought this affirmation was unnecessary. Again, she figured it was more to do with its so called uniqueness than anything else.

"Indeed, continue on, General." She stated in a farewell, and 'Grievous' bowed its head and body once more as his form faded away and the terminal sounded off that the call had ended. Kellia sighed once more, and turned to exit from the small room back to her temporary office. With the thought continuously running through her mind to place a call to Vikkal sometime soon. To see if the rest of the Necrosis units would share the quirks of this, the first, model.

(Kuat Orbit)

"All ships under battle group designations move into hyperspace retreat formations now!" Ackbar commanded to all ships in the URM fleet from his command seat aboard his flagship. All around the orbit of Kuat, as battle continued to rage between the rebels and Imperials, all organic occupied ships of the rebel fleet began turning away from the main engagement with the relatively battered Imperial fleet with the just as relative reinforcement force. The droid manned and operated ships pushed forwards blocking Imperial chase of the equally battered and exhausted rebel warships mainly run and operated by sentient organic forces loyal to the URM.

The Imperials pressed hard against the forward moving droid ships. Many firing forward facing turbolaser and missile batteries. The forward sectors of several droid warships exploded in fire quickly snuffed out within the vacuum of space, whilst smoke followed into the void after. Thousands of Vulture droids swarmed from these lines forwards through the incoming Imperial hail of fire brought on while they likely presumed a momentous and welcomed rebel retreat from the orbital battle. TIE fighters and interceptors broke ranks and formations in attempt to destroy what they too thought was a desperate effort to divert fire away from the main enemy warships. The dogfighting grew intense, and alongside the grand explosions around the large vessels small explosions littered the orbital space around Kuat as fighter fought fighter, and interceptor chased down fighter or the other way around.

Ackbar looked out from the viewport of his ship and glanced down across the myriad of consoles and terminals running along his command station. He saw smoke and fire pouring from at least half those ships commanded and run by organic forces loyal to the URM. The others weren't scratch free, but seemed in general better shape, than the others. But, even as he thought this outside his viewpoint along the starboard of his ship a sudden shockwave ripped through the void and rattled his ship. Ackbar swung to hold onto his seat and his bridge crew scrambled about checking their own colossal amount of terminals and screens.

Ackbar adjusted himself and looked to see one of the MC80-class star cruisers erupting in successive though silent explosions that sent rattling bursts throughout the space surrounding it. A sudden stream of TIE bombers across the viewport caught the Mon Calamari's attention, and the following cannon fire from his ship towards them to keep them at bay left the Admiral with a sense of renewed, barely contained, controlled chaos.

"Evasive actions, get us clear of the debris before we make the jump!" His crew mates sounded out in tired, but loud 'ayes' and affirmations as his own ship began radically banking toward port. Even as the ship debris cracked into three major pieces and began floating apart from one another in orbit.

"Local system hyperspace ping detected, Admiral!" Ackbar swiveled his seat into better a position to see, though he didn't know the exact location from which his replacements would arrive from of course. He looked along his own terminal and saw the ping's general location. Just as the first ships came out from hyperspace. Within seconds one after the other came back into normal space, first dozens of Munificents and Recusants followed by Sabaoth and Providence class. Finally, the Admiral saw two hulking behemoths of ships come into view, two Lucrehulks, where one immediately began pouring out hundreds more Vulture droids, Tri-droids, and other such fighters and bombers. In fact, the swarm came near and crossed his own viewport and all but blotted out his view of all else for a moment. He thought for a moment, Nelrain had perhaps gone a tad overboard with this replacement strategy, but he was nonetheless, glad to have gotten this support to get his men some rest and time away to recoup from what had become a protracted headache of a battle.

The next view Ackbar witnessed was that of most of the many new vessels firing their forward cannons, as four Providence-class destroyers began wildly banking inwards, two higher and two lower elevation, and firing broadside against the further away Imperial lines. The arrowhead vessels had ceased their advance, some turning directly to the newcomer fleet but further off to Ackbar's force along their general port side. The Imperial vessels began, in fact, wholly ignoring his retreating units, and even those droid vessels left to their rear to guard their escape. The new and fresh droid force appeared, and rightly so, to be the greater threat. For a moment this allowed Ackbar to lean back in his seat. With a great heaving and audible sigh of relaxation escaping him.

"All retreat bound vessels begin hyperspace jumps. Relay over wide-band to any survivors of the 'Undeniable' to escape to the planet's surface, or if it all possible to allied droid vessels. Any planet bound forces should link up immediately with friendlies if possible, and those who make it to droid ships provide assistance if needed, but otherwise rest as best possible." Ackbar commanded and began keying in something along a terminal unseen to his men who acknowledged his command and relayed the orders along open URM channels. Meanwhile Ackbar gave such commands to aid his men to the droid ships in orbit. To which he got a basic acknowledgment from the often times less than chatty droid operators or Neimoidian Captains. Whose participation in this war within the URM, he still held reservations about. Though he felt many such reservations becoming tested and eroded as the galaxy fell deeper into this bloody quagmire.

His ships began exploding within blinks of an eye from his view and from the system. Their engines lighting up and suddenly their forms escaping into the far distance seemingly as they entered into hyperspace one after the other. The final thing the Mon Calamari Admiral saw before his ship too escaped into the swirling endlessness of hyperspace was that of the sudden dozens of transports leaving the other Lucrehulk from the new droid fleet. Undoubtedly full of more relics of a bygone war sent to be unleashed upon those planet side. Ackbar sighed and resigned himself, and Kuat to this reality, and with that his ship passed from the orbit of the planet to safer reaches of space beyond.

(Naboo, Theed)

"Get over here you idiot! You're in the firing line!" The Stormtrooper Commander howled over the blistering exchange of blaster bolt fire between his troopers and the tide of droids attacking on all sides. He and his men lay hunkered down, many prone upon cracked rubble and exposed dirt from below, within a crater etched into what had been a finely built and maintained road of the capital city of Naboo. In front of several of them, and facing the Commander, came running down the street another trooper as enemy bolts flew around him as he ran with great speed and obvious exhaustion in his uneven run. Behind him were dozens of droids, all firing wildly without care towards the trooper positions. The only thing holding them back being the equally random and crazed fire loosed from the blasters of the troopers about the crater. That was until this trooper had idiotically come into view.

"Get down you idiot!" One of the troopers howled out after the Commander just as a rocket flew with a warble over his head and smashed into an adjoining building near to the trooper positions. The running trooper fell to his armored stomach and huddled for a moment as bolts slammed into the ground beside him on the ground and over his now prone self. Desperately and with now heaving breaths he crawled painfully slowly towards the crater as the troopers within fired around and over him, scaring him just as much as the droid fire did. Then several grenades were thrown from the crater and exploded out across the open street sending pieces and metal parts flying in all manner of directions as droids were torn apart.

The trooper fell into the crater and onto his head before rolling onto his back. He heaved deep breaths and clutched his blaster rifle as he slammed his aching back and pounding head against the crater wall. He turned and looked with obvious desperation and anxiety between the men around the crater, and without seeing his face behind his mask, one could tell the man had been through the grinder.

"What company are you from trooper?!" The Commander yelled over the fire without looking to the man. His blaster slammed against the ground and firing towards a huddled mass of two B2 supers and five B1's. The man didn't answer, though through his mask gasps and mumbling none-words escaped his mouth until at last he spoke.

"Wha...what?"

"Company! What company are you from?!" The Commander demanded again as a bolt scorched the road beside his head. He cried lowly in surprise and his prone body slid back down into the crater from the sudden shock and jump his body had from the unforeseen event. Mutely the Commander also noted overhead the sound of TIE's chasing after Vultures. The firing of fighter cannons rumbling and mixing easily into the orchestra of explosions and bolt fire.

"A da...ah...um ah..." The man trailed off, still in shock that he was still even breathing. The Commander muttered an annoyed curse under his breath and crawled back up the crater and positioned his blaster over the top and fired into the unknown. One of his troopers facing the same direction as he and firing suddenly toppled over without much noise coming from him. The Commander lurched back and looked to see a scorch mark upon the helmet of the man burned through to his head. The Commander sneered and returned to firing at the droids as three droideka's rolled into view and began unfurling to join the fray. One of his men along the other end of the crater jumped down from his position and unceremoniously pushed the dead trooper aside and took his spot. Though no one could really complain about his action in the heat of the battle at hand, that seemed far too bleak to all involved.

"Dammit man, your company, your battalion, divisions, whatever!" The trooper who joined the Commander aided in asking. The man lowered his head and shook it. Seemingly trying to regain his senses.

"Forty! Forty third company!" The man finally announced. The Commander felt his brow furrow and he turned to his man who also looked to him. The shared look conveyed a hidden feeling between the two that was one of confusion.

"Who?!" The Commander asked. "And get your backside up here, I need all blasters we got!" He commanded just as another of his men screamed as he was shot in the left arm and fell back into the crater. The Commander cursed and tossed his last grenade over the crater towards the droids to that end. Another explosion rocked outwards and hunks of sparking droid bits flew into the crater as dozens more were torn to shreds.

"Forty second company, fifteenth battalion of the Cherek 243rd division!" The man screamed over a sudden friendly bombardment from far off. The Commander made an unintelligible but pleased yell as that barrage came...only a little late and three of his men dead, but came at last it did, and tore the enemy apart on all sides. Only then did he hear his man respond to the new trooper.

"Cherek-two-four-threes? Those karking fools turned to the Moffs!" He announced and the trooper, who'd since, crawled up to the crater wall and joined the fighting against the droids, turned to the trooper, and Commander. Both now looking to him and taking the seconds reprieve from the fighting as their unseen allies pounded the droids into a lull.

"You guys are loyalists?!" He responded over another hard barrage bout followed by TIE's ominously zooming overhead. A silence overcame the men even as the sounds of war pounded into their ears and shook their bodies. The trooper behind them also turned to look at what could be easily construed as a comical scene.

"Ah kriff it! We'll talk about it later!" The Commander cried and returned to shooting the droids, and his men didn't even question his looseness of words and decision and joined him in firing at any droids that would come through the barrage as it ended. The Moff trooper looked to the men in stunned silence, but as the first renewed enemy bolt fire just missed his head and that of these men, these loyalist Imperial troopers the Moff trooper said nothing and turned to firing at a hulking abomination of a droid, a B3 probably as it pushed forward passed the smoke, and the whole of the group of men joined together to fight against the mechanical menace approaching them. With no regard whatsoever for their affiliations and loyalties.

---

Above this small alliance of both Moff and Imperial soldier against droid enemy a six fighter squadron of TIE fighters bearing the Moff insignias fired relentlessly against four droid Vultures and one by one sent them falling to the ground and city below. One falling in flames and slamming into a domed building top and exploding outwards in flames. Another falling beyond the nearby palace into the far forests below the precarious landing the building found itself. The other two crashing along streets and sidewalks similarly sending debris and fire cascading around them.

The squadron broke away into the skies of Naboo now lined and thickly filled with smoke stacks. Behind them came gliding in several transport vessels. All of them heading towards an outskirt sector of Theed, long since considered to be held under Moff control, though recently it had come under heavy droid bombardment. The fighters had cleared the skies for the moment to allow the transports to land, and they did so within moments. Within one of the vessels, was carried cargo of the greatest importance to the Moffs even as the battle for Naboo turned more confusing and chaotic.

"We're clear, and have landed! All units move out and secure the landing site!" The new Moff commanding officer, garbed in armor and carrying a modified blaster pistol announced over his comm connected to the fleet above now engaged in its own three way battle. The shuttles, three of them in total, opened. Their ramps descended onto the roads of Theed, pelted and scorched from prior battles long since moved on from. Teams of Moff commando units garbed in seemingly common trooper armor save for ranking cloth falling down around their waists similar in fashion to the clone ARC troopers of old, descended. They had joined the Moff Alliance at the outbreak, an errant division of them had come and were unofficially under the full command of Grand Moff Kaine. Known as then as the Special Operations Division Twenty, now known as the First Moff SpecForce Division under Moff Kaine's control.

The commandos came down the two shuttle ramps, while the third ramp lowered and allowed several officer all garbed in similar armor to the commanding officer, a Captain by rank, and with them the Captain himself. Four officers came down without blasters at the ready as the commandos set up a perimeter around the landing site. In both their hands came a large box, and all four of the officers had to hold it up due to its size and weight. Behind them, the Captain came with hand to his ear and comms active as he relayed to the fleet their position and situation.

"Confirmed, your Excellency, we've landed at site Aurek, and have it secured." The Captain looked to his fellow commando Captain who nodded in affirmation to this whilst kneeled with blaster aimed down a seemingly empty street littered with broken droids and dead troopers, and a burnt husk of an AT-ST.

"Is the weapon secured and ready for deployment?" The voice of Moff Kaine echoed out in the Captain's ear.

"It's still secured and ready for movement to the planned position. If need be I could deploy it now at Aurek, sir." The Captain replied sounding slightly confused with Kaine.

"Negative, Captain. I merely inquire to the state of the weapon. That is integral to our victory here on Naboo against the Imperialists. I expect no harm should or will come to it under your care from here on out."

"Of course not, your Excellency. Whatever it may take we'll get it done." The Captain responded with as much enthusiasm as could be expected from a man handling a team carrying a chemical weapon through torn up, battle ridden and dead laden city streets by hand.

"See that you do, Captain. Maintain communications, and keep me apprised of your situation at the preordained intervals."

"As you wish, your Excellency." The Captain responded and cut the line between them and let go of his comm unit in his ear.

"Alright everyone form up. You know your objectives, so let's get moving. Maintain comm silence at-"

"Captain." He was cut off by one of the commandos. The officer wrinkled his nose and felt a sneer etch itself along his face as he looked to the armor clad man staring down his blaster sights along a different street than that of his commando Captain.

"What is it?!" The Captain seethed out questioningly. The officers carrying the bomb looked as well, though their faces were etched with strain and even hints of annoyance as they wanted to get moving and be rid of the weapon of death in their hands.

"I've got movement." He stated clearly and coolly without any clear sign that he cared for his commanding officer's aggravation. The Captain contained a sigh and moved swiftly to the trooper's position. Beside him were kneeled three other commandos who remained trained down the street as well.

"Where?"

"Down the street, forty meters, three o'clock." The Captain looked and saw nothing but a pile of broken droids, both of rebel and Moff design. He scoffed with an aggravated sigh and looked to the other trooper's questioningly.

"What did you two see?"

"Nothing sir, we didn't catch it." One responded and the other nodded in agreement.

"I saw it, sir." The first trooper reiterated. "It was damn quick but I saw it. I'm telling you there's something, or someone down that street."

"It could just be one of the damn civies." One of the other commandos overlooking a third street said over the comms. The Captain looked down the eerily silent street for a moment longer and when he saw nothing he rose to a stand once more.

"Whether you saw anything or not is irrelevant. We have to get moving now, or we'll miss our deadline. Now form up, and follow your objectives trooper."

"Yes, sir." The commando replied without any form of emotion about his tone. Though the Captain assumed there was a hidden hint of irritation under it that he, nonetheless, ignored.

"Alright, now on me, and no more-" Again the Captain was cut off. This time by the scream of one of the commandos. He swung to his left to see and his troopers did as well. One man was hanging in midair for an instant before being tossed down the street violently from nothing, or seemingly nothing.

"What?!" One trooper beside where that man had just been announced over comm. The commandos pulled in and around the officer team into a tighter formation save that commando who stayed where he kneeled in a dumbfounded manner. As this happened screeching TIE fighters came and passed overhead followed by blistering AA fire from the distance.

"What's going on?!" The Captain demanded as he yanked his blaster pistol back up to the ready. His officers having since placed the bomb down and grabbed their own pistols and kneeled close to the bomb itself.

"Pull back now!" The commando Captain called to the last trooper who remained kneeling. He scanned the distance and couldn't see nor hear his now gone fellow commando. He took one backwards step from where he kneeled and then a hum sounded out. A warbling hum that sounded like a malfunctioning spinning fan motor. Until it finally hit him. The trooper gasped just before it and then released a heavy breath as a beam of light slammed into his body and threw him onto his back dead. It burned bright through the night sky even as night slowly crept towards morning. The brilliant green beam hummed alone and stationary now, and the troopers all looked to it.

"A lightsaber!" One of them yelled rather than asked. Suddenly the saber yanked itself up and out of the dead trooper, and those still alive followed it and closed in tighter with one another towards the shuttles and bomb. The saber flew up and into the hand of a man they could make out now standing atop a small building, possibly a shop, just ahead down one of the many streets their landing zone lead into. No features could be made out, only that he was tall, lean and had a cloak wrapped around his person that flowed down freely, flapping just as freely in the hectic night winds of this battle beleaguered city.

"Fire you idiots!" The Captain commanded and took the first shot. His pistol bolts flying up towards the distant man. The troopers followed suit with far greater precision and ferocity. The bolts flew around the man who flew into a furious flurry of saber twisting and spinning before himself sending all bolts coming his way flying in all directions.

"Get the weapon back onto the shuttle!" The commando Captain commanded from where he kneeled shooting at the man.

"Negative!" His superior ranking officer commanded. "Kill the...kill the idiot and we can go!" He fumbled as he didn't know what to call this man, and desperately hoped to salvage his operation.

"He's gotten two of my men, and we're not landing shots! Pull out and relocate to site Besh!" The commando Captain reiterated more harshly than before.

"Negative!" The Captain bellowed now over the fire ringing out. "All shuttles take off and return to the fleet!" The Captain ordered sternly and hoarsely. His commando counterpart swung back to look at him and he could feel the burning glare from behind his mask.

"Are you nuts?!" He growled before turning back and reloading his rifle cartridge, and fired towards the man once more. The shuttles in fact began taking off without second question or complaint. The lightsaber wielding man suddenly turned on his heel and jumped off the side of the building beyond their sights. The blaster bolts flew harmlessly up into the air before distantly dissipating.

"Hold, and check your flanks!" The commando Captain ordered.

"The lef-" One trooper began but was cut off and began screaming as he was torn up into the sky before the very eyes of his friends and allies. His form was thrown so violently and high that anyone watching lost track of him in the dark skies after a few seconds and his screams became further and further until you heard nothing at all. From that trooper's left appeared another man. Different than the first as he carried two blue sabers in his hands. One of them outstretched towards the sky while still clutching the humming blue blade.

"What Outer-Rim hole they pull you out of?!" The commando Captain asked in a seethe, looking over his shoulder to the commanding officer who glared at him for a second. "You've gotten us all killed you, moron!"

"Watch your tongue trooper, and fire on that fool!" The commando didn't respond but did turn and opened fire on the new saber toting enemy who expertly swung his two sabers to block and parry all incoming bolts.

The man suddenly stopped and lunged himself to their right and began dashing and jumping to avoid the flurry of bolt fire careening towards him. The first man reappeared then and landed where the second had stood a moment ago. His green saber in hand he ran towards the grouped troopers, who divided themselves and fired on he and the second saber wielding man. The green saber wielder jumped up and with incredible speed slashed downwards. His saber cleaving down against one of the troopers while the other jumped or pushed themselves back in a chaotic mess and fired at the man.

He spun his saber before himself blocking all incoming bolts and three flew back and hit another trooper in his chest, shoulder and head before he slumped down dead. The second man circled in around towards the group with sabers trailing after him. The commando Captain swung and threw a grenade his way, and the man stopped suddenly. His right arm flew from left to right and the grenade flew towards a shelled building where it exploded quickly after causing a pillar to fall over and collapse a section of the building wall after it.

"Put some coveri-" The Captain began but was silenced. The officer turned to see him hanging up in the air and clutching at his neck. A horrendous image of Darth Vader appeared in his mind, but he shook it from himself and looked to see which of the two was doing the action, but saw neither holding their hands up, or anything. That's when he turned to his left and saw, to his horror and third man. In his left hand hung lazily a yellow colored saber and his right hand was raised up and pinching his fingers inwards to a fist. He crushed his hand into a fist and a loud crack of armor and bone rung out as the commando Captain went limp in the air and the new saber wielder swung his arm right and the body went flying limply through the air and smashing against a large scorched boulder.

The troopers and officers were now breaking their fire between three men holding sabers, and all three began approaching them from three angles. The Captain, now alone without his commando counterpart felt his mind race with anxiety and great sudden fear. His breath became quickened and thoughts wild as he felt himself unthinkingly begin to back up where he kneeled. He watched three troopers jump to stands and seeming foolish approach the twin saber toting man as he ran upon them. They fired desperately at him, and the Captain inwardly felt himself wonder if they were actual commandos! Surely commandos would've been able to kill one sword thrashing man! Right?

The man came upon them and slashed both sabers to his left and cleaved two of the men down. He ducked under the third's fire and swung both sabers up, impaling the third trooper on them before ripping the sabers out from the body. The green saber hummed and swung through the air once more and cut down two more troopers, and they began panicking, and screaming at one another to do something, anything to stop these three men from killing them. All thoughts on the volatile weapon to their backs all but forgotten. The green saber had spun through and killed more men before returning to the hand of its owner who ran forwards and slashed another trooper down. They began breaking, pushing themselves to thin lines of men shooting in one direction or another. The officers were falling back, breaking and running behind the weapon towards debris and chunks of homes and buildings or fallen old tanks to take cover and shoot at their enemies from.

The Captain backed away and finally smashed his hand to his comm unit.

"Moff Kaine! I...we've got a situation here!"

"I've been appraised by your shuttle pilots, what were you thinking?! You had the time to pull out!" The Moff lambasted even as the Captain aimed and fired his blaster towards the man with the yellow saber who effortlessly blocked each errant bolt, and gave him a glaring look from afar. Yet, he did not move towards him.

"We're getting picked off, sir! I need support, anything to fight of these...these."

"Jedi." He heard a voice say and felt his body hit something standing behind him. The Captain lost of all his tact and control swung around to see yet another man standing there. No saber in his hands, but one evidently hanging to his belt. He was a glaring man, with a hood atop his head and similarly dark cloak wrapped about his body and flowing down around him near to the destroyed and upturned stone ground beneath them.

"Jedi?" The Captain repeated dumbly and in shock as his voice shook and cracked.

"Jedi, what do you mean Jedi?! Come in dammit!" He numbly registered an irritated and equally as confused or hectic, Kaine demand of him in his ears. The man smirked, as if accomplishing something, and raised his right hand up and easily twisting his hand in and around the Captain lifted him off the ground and a hard snap was audible as many of his bones, snapped all at once, along with his neck.

As the body slumped over dead, and the incompetent, or perhaps simply under equipped and ill prepared Moff officer fell to the feet of the fourth man, the other three neared to him. Around them scattered patches and pilings of more corpses added to the many that lay strew about already. They were all of them silent and looking to the fourth man who took a deep breath before turning to the bomb.

"We've got what we came here for. Get it ready and let's move out quick. The Moffs might send reinforcements. Though highly doubtful really."

"When do we begin the next phase?" The man wielding two sabers asked putting the hilts to his belt.

"When the word from up high is given, and not a moment sooner. Remember your place; all our places, and what we are tasked with." The man reminded the other who simply nodded his head in a semi bow. The leader silently nodded as well and motioned towards the 'gift,' provided by the Moffs for their mission and the other two saber wielding men turned towards it to begin moving it themselves.

"Do me a favor though." The leader said as he grasped the shoulder of the twin saber wielder. "Kill them." He nudged towards the fallen debris, and only then did the other man see the officers huddled behind them watching in fear and shock without firing their blasters. Though upon seeing the two men note them they suddenly sprung up and began running.

"Gladly." The man said, and snatched both hilts to his hands again and gave enthusiastic chase to the running men, and began one by one cutting them down.

---

"Someone tell me what just happened!" Kaine demanded aboard the Lamentor's bridge and swung to his officers who'd heard the full exchange. Even as outside their frontal viewport a battle between three colossal fleets came underway, and a burning husk of a Providence came into view still being fired upon by a distant Stardestroyer. To which side it belonged to, no one aboard truly knew.

"Communications were uh...lost, your excellency." One man stated matter-of-factly and with hesitation. Kaine turned slowly to him with raised brows clear with disbelief about him.

"Truly? Are our communications lost with my ground team? Tell me something I do not in actuality know, and of use to me you blathering fool!" Kaine exploded and the man remained silent and began checking something along his terminal. Whether it had any use to Kaine or not, the Moff didn't know or care. The Grand Moff for his part turned and leaned himself along the railing of the warships forward viewport, and hung his head as he mulled over what he had just heard over the comms.

"Jedi? Jedi here? Why, and how did they know? How could they?!" He demanded aloud to no one as his ship rumbled from a firing of turbolaser batteries against an incoming Munificent 'above' them in elevation. The batteries tore the small ship apart in moments before it erupted in a fireball that cracked it in two. Though the display didn't even register with Kaine as it unfolded before them and his men aboard the bridge divided their attention between the battle and the unfolding botched mission. A mission that had just begun in the first place.

"Jedi." Kaine repeated, this time more a statement than a question. "There are no Jedi within the Empire, and none amongst our ranks." Kaine began and spoke low in tone to himself, though officers near to him could hear what he said, and they shared quizzical or even worried glances with one another as he went on.

"There's nothing to be gained by taking it for them. The Empire wouldn't need it. Would they? No, not they'd send Vader himself, or one of his bastard children." Kaine remarked in a curse and seethe.

"That leaves one faction." Kaine looked up and to the battle raging outside and his eyes fell upon a distant Lucrehulk-class battleship safely behind a line of smaller rebel vessels, and his brow curled into a grimace and lips to a renewed sneer.

"The rebels, the damnable rebels! Of course!" He announced angrily. "Who else would have Jedi among their ranks?! But the force that has one of them as their leader!" Kaine stated in rancorous a manner.

"Of course they'd utilize the bomb, their armies consist of nothing but bygone droid relics! But, how did they know!" Kaine demanded the answer of himself and racked his own brain to understand how.

"Sir?" Kaine slowly turned to see Admiral Griff approach.

"What do you desire us to do about Trachta's weapon?" Kaine remained silent his nostrils flared with renewed barely contained rage.

"Do not inform our...friend of what has befallen his toy. Let him remain ignorant of its current...predicament." Kaine began, turning back to the viewport to watch two squadrons of TIE interceptors chase off enemy loyalist TIE fighters near to the Lamentor.

"If the weapon is unleashed upon Theed beyond the scope of my plans the damage done to our forces could hamper us in ways I had not...foreseen. Victory would still be possible against the rebels. The Imperials would still suffer greatly no doubt." He mused aloud. "It would still rid me of..." Kaine cut himself off as his mind registered what he almost admitted to, and he would rather not inform his officers that the ground forces were less than consequential to him.

"But what if they don't use it on world? No, they wouldn't would they. They'd pick a large planet to attack. Ours, or theirs?" He wondered as his mind ran a mile a minute wondering if one of the Moff worlds or Imperial worlds could, or would be targeted. If so, and if a Moff world, what could that do, no, what would it do to his position within the Alliance? His eyes widened in silence and his teeth began to grind as he realized what he needed to do.

"Organize another task force, get some more competent Commanders this time!" Kaine seethed and Griff stiffly bowed his head.

"Consist it of our latest dark trooper forces, however. Leave nothing to chance, and find those Jedi scum, kill them and recover the bomb! At all and any cost, Admiral! Am I understood?"

"Explicitly, Excellency." Griff bowed again and turned on his heel to make the preparations to send another detachment down to the surface of Naboo. Leaving Kaine to turn in silence and rising anxiety to the viewport to watch the grand battle continue before him. Though his mind remained firmly upon what was unfolding on the planet below. And, for once in this war, the Grand Moff felt fear grip at him. Fear of losing all he had hoped to achieve as it hung in the balance now upon the surface of Naboo.

---

Author's Note: Oh man...I haven't updated in way too long. Sorry guys, school stopped...for now, got a job, got another one, and have been just all over the place. BUT, I am getting back into a zone of writing and I am liking the ideas and plots I had with a little touch up. So, again sorry to everyone who is still here...hopefully, for the long delay in updating. Thanks given again to time2read for helping beta this and other chapters, and for helping me work through some ideas and what not, and to TheGunmaster for helping expand and articulate old ideas as well.

If any typos or mispellings are found please feel free to tell me so I can fix it, or try your best to ignore it. If so inclined leave a review and tell me what you did or di not like, and I'll see you all at the next chapter...hopefully coming relatively soon. :P