Hey Readers!

One regret I have with Revenge of the Sith is not being able to see the entire Battle of Coruscant. In fact, as far as I've read, it's never truly been depicted, except for the 2003 Clone Wars series (Freaking epic by the way). But I've always felt like we've missed out on one of the most stunning and spectacular sequences in the Star Wars saga.

I'm not saying I've done it justice, because the scope of the event is nearly overwhelming.

But I did give it a shot.

Chapter Twenty-Four

The temple held no solace for Aedan. He imagined nowhere in the galaxy would be an enjoyable setting if Kyra wasn't there with him. He had been back for a full day. Master Windu was waiting for them the moment they arrived in the hangar. He briefed them on the recent developments with the investigation regarding this Sith Lord named Sidious. Aedan had asked if he could help, but Master Windu had turned him down with a scowl.

So now Aedan was up in his "secret spot" as Kyra called it, trying his best to meditate but failing miserably. He missed her. He missed her so much it hurt. He chuckled morbidly. How had it come to this? Force please be with her. Please keep her safe.

And, if at all possible, bring us back together.

Somehow.

There was a massive surge through the force. One that he imagined the whole temple could feel. And it was not in response to his request.

He leapt to his feet and stared up towards the heavens. "Oh God," he said out loud, as thousands of ships exited hyperspace and entered the upper atmosphere. Only silhouettes could be seen from this distance, but there was no mistaking who had arrived. The Separatists were here. Coruscant was under attack.

Aedan stood rooted in place as a seemingly endless swarm of ships, ranging from vulture droids to landing craft, descended upon the city. The fighters opened fire, a hail of laser blasts raining down on the unsuspecting citizens below.

Aedan leapt up over the wall and sprinted across the courtyard, entering into a temple that was now a frantic mess of scrambling Jedi. He ran down the main hall and nearly collided with Master Windu as he climbed out of a turbo-lift. "Master Windu, where do you need me?"

He grimaced, "Out there, fighting."

Aedan nearly rolled his eyes, "Obviously, any particular area?"

Before the Korun Master could answer a voice sounded behind them, "Um, Master Kahl," they both turned and saw a young, brown haired Jedi Knight approach them, "I could use some help in Sector Five."

Aedan smiled, and extended his hand, "Jax Pavan, great to see you. Let's go." The younger Jedi shook it.

Master Windu nodded, "May the Force be with us."

The two Jedi took off at a sprint towards the hangar, thinking they could hop on a gunship towards their designated sector. "By the way," Aedan said as they ran down the temple hallway, "Congratulations on your Knighthood."

The younger, newly appointed Jedi Knight couldn't help but grin in response. "Thank you, Master Kahl."

They ran through the temple along with dozens of other Jedi. "Sector Five isn't too far from here, but let's see if we can hop on a gunship."

"Roger that," Jax said.

The main hangar was a mess of activity, as soldiers and Jedi were clambering onto to any ship that was available. "Evidently, we are not the only ones with this idea," Aedan said.

Jax pointed to one LAAT about to take off, "Come on, I'm sure they wouldn't mind two more passengers," and then they both began sprinting towards the gunship, hopping into the troop bay just before it lifted off.

"Sector Five, Pilot, and make it quick," Jax hollered.

"You're lucky that's on the way to our target area, but I'm not putting this thing down."

"Understood, just bring us within a hundred meters of the upper level."

"What?" Jax yelled over the rushing wind as the gunship zipped through the air.

Aedan smiled, "A hundred meters too much for you?"

"Well...yea."

"Perfect, this will be a great learning experience for you."

Jax was about to answer but they came around several buildings and could see the hundreds of Separatist ships swarming the city, raining fire down on buildings and innocent civilians. The chatter inside the ship cabin came to an abrupt halt as they witnessed the merciless onslaught plaguing the city—their home.

The cityscape shook. Laser blasts streaked downward. Debris fell. And civilians scrambled for their lives. It was unconscionable.

"Coming up on Sector Five," the Pilot yelled back. "Get ready."

"Copy that, thanks for the lift."

Jax and Aedan could see where a platoon of clones was making a stand on one of the narrow walkways, a horde of battle droids were approaching them. The same engagement was happening on the two walkways adjacent to the center one. "Take us over the center walkway."

"You got it."

"Master Kahl, a hundred meters is a bit far for me."

Aedan raised an eyebrow. "Jax, you know full well that there is no difference between a hundred meters and twenty meters."

Jax stared at him blankly, then exploded in a verbal torrent. "Of course, there's a difference! Eighty fracking meters difference! Where in Kessel did you learn how to count? They should have arithmetic tests for Jedi Masters. Basic intelligence needs to be a pre-requisite for getting promoted to Master. Nek take it. No difference between-"

Aedan grabbed Jax by the arm and leapt off the gunship, pulling the now screaming Jedi Knight with him. "Focus." he yelled. "You got this."

A hundred meters was far, but not anything too difficult. However, allotting some of his energy towards the flailing jedi may prove difficult if Jax didn't get it under control.

Knight Pavan seemed to realize that it was do or die here, so he regained his composure, and began letting the force slow him down. Both had their limbs spread wide, creating as much drag as possible and calling on the force, creating even more drag.

With one final big push from the force the two Jedi landed softly behind the clone soldiers' lines, immediately the sabers were out, and they pushed forward to the front of the lines, deflecting fire. The clone sergeant noticed their arrival, "Glad to see you two. Orders, General?"

"Jax and I will push forward and take this group ahead of us on, give us one squad for fire support. The rest of the platoon should fire on the adjacent walkways to the left and the right. The two angles of fire should take them out shortly."

"You got it."

Aedan turned towards Jax, "Ready for this?"

"No, but that hasn't seemed to matter to you," he said, "And you're sure we can take that many?" he asked gesturing to the hundred or so droids in front of them.

"Follow my lead," Aedan said, and pushed forward passed the clone lines, deflecting the wave of laserfire directed his way.

He was in it now. Deep in the force. He could feel Jax's skilled, but somewhat wild movements beside him. "Easy, Jax," he said, "Tighten up your movements. There should be no swings, slices, or cuts, when deflecting. Just short, crisp adjustments to the angle of your blade. Like this."

Jax was initially affronted and defiant, but after a minute of observing Aedan's incredible precision, he decided to reevaluate his stance on deflection, and attempted to implement it. Altering battle tactics in the middle of a firefight typically meant a quick death, but with the force, things are not so black and white. With gentle nudges from the force, and some guidance from Aedan, Jax's movements had noticeably grown more effective—a testament to Pavan's skill as implementing a new skill in the heat of the battle is terribly difficult. Within minutes the two Jedi were pressing forward, dropping droids at a staggering rate, and closing the distance fast to lightsaber range.

The two tore through the metallic ranks, slicing up the invaders before they could get shots off. The sole clone squad was right behind them, firing at the flanks of the walkway, picking off any droid that was attempting to shoot the Jedi from a distance.

Far faster, and far easier than anyone imagined, their walkway was clear. "Well, that was something," Jax said, glancing at the wreckage lining the passage they just traversed. "I'm thinking I need to hang out with you more often."

Aedan laughed, "Careful, I have a tendency to corrupt those strong in the Force."

"Ah, you're referring to the illustrious Knight Dawnstar. There have been whispers."

"I assure you the whispers do not come close to the truth."

Jax nodded, "Yea, I thought it was all a bunch of kowakian malarchy."

"No, I mean the opposite. They don't begin to tell of just how powerful she is."

Jax's eyes went wide. "Really?"

Aedan nodded. "Come on, you take the left flank, I'll take the right. Clones, split up. We're attacking the other droid contingencies from the sides."

"Roger that, General."

The ensuing battle went much the same way, if not faster and smoother. Though the droids still had the superior numbers, the attack from two fronts was far too much for them. Not to mention the overwhelming power the Jedi brought to the battle plane. When it was over, some three hundred droid husks littered the ground, while the three clone platoons only lost a total of sixteen men of the original one hundred and eight. Still, sixteen was still painful.

The troopers and Jedi convened, "Looks like we're done here, any idea where to go next?" Aedan asked.

The clone sergeant answered first, "A call for help went out from Sector Four, but then we lost contact."

"They've been overrun?"

The clone shook his head, "I don't think so. I think our communications are being jammed."

Aedan nodded, "How far is Sector Four?"

The clone held up his datapad with a map on it, "Just on the other side of those buildings."

"Great," Aedan said, "Let's move out then."

The clone sergeant shouted to the rest of his troopers, "Whiskey Company, we're moving out to Sector Four. They're having some trouble, so let's be kind and give out aid."

"Oohrah!" The troopers responded and began following the Jedi and Sergeant.

"You guys are Whiskey Company?" Jax asked while they jogged towards their destination.

"Affirmative, General."

Jax surveyed the team. "You guys have a drinking problem or something?"

"No, W was the next letter up."

"Well, that's rather disappointing."

"Jax," Aedan said, "Let the trooper jog in peace."

The young jedi nodded, "Sorry. My mistake. Carry on."

Kyra had stayed in a Jedi healing trance the entire trip back and was mostly rejuvenated and recovered by the time they were nearing Coruscant. "Alright, Hoppie, take the navigator's seat. Link, Gamble take the dorsal and ventral cannons. Rook and Pogo strap in, I think this will be a bumpy ride."

The elite clones did as ordered. A few moments after they were all settled, Hoppie asked, "You really think it's going to be bad?"

"Yes, Hoppie, I do."

Hoppie put his helmet on, "I've learned to trust your hunches, but really, how bad it could it be?"

They exited hyper space and were stunned into silence. A monumental space battle was taking place before their eyes as thousands of ships engaged in warfare.

"By the force," Kyra whispered. And that was all the time she had to take in the scene before the control panel lit up and alarms started beeping. Four enemy fighters had altered their trajectory and were now heading straight for them. "Vulture droids locking onto us." Kyra hit the throttle and spun the ship on its axis as the droids opened fire. She slipped through the oncoming fire, and let loose her own barrage of blasterfire, leaving bright explosions in her wake. She angled down towards the planet, full armadas blasting away at one another blocked their path to the surface.

Kyra took a deep breath and centered herself in the force. "Heads up gang," she said, "I'm diverting partial power from the cannons to the engines. Our best way through this is speed."

"You sure that's wise, Captain?" Link asked over the comms.

"If we have a tail, I'll redistribute power momentarily and you can fire away," she said, "But I don't intend for us to have a tail. They're not going to be able to keep up with me."

"How in Kamino are we going to make it through that?" Hoppie asked.

Chaos filled the viewport-a disordered mess of mayhem and death. Turbolasers fired. Missiles launched. Ships were blown apart and bodies were sucked out into the cold nothingness of space. Men died. Machines deactivated. And the insanity of war rolled on. There was no making sense of it.

Only the Force could discern the truth, could clarify, could illuminate what lay ahead. There was no explaining such rampant death. But the Force could reveal the way. It could lead through the pain and brokenness. And Kyra was one with the Force.

She saw the pathway, however precarious, through the calamity of battle. "Here goes nothing," she whispered, and dove downward.

She weaved and spun and banked her way through the absolute mess of the upper atmosphere. She sliced through the ring of a Trade Federation starship. She flew between a separatist destroyer and a republic cruiser, the lateral edge of her ship scraping against the destroyer's hull. Turbolasers fired at her, droid fighters pursued her, dreadnaughts locked onto her, but she was too fast, too evasive, and just too damn good for them.

The 'Guile approached the densest part of the battle, where dozens of Republic Venators faced off against a multitude of Separatist Dreadnaughts, so close that either could space-jump from hull to hull. One dreadnaught appeared to have a far larger contingent of vulture droids on its hull, and many of the surrounding republic capital ships were staying away from it.

"That's Grievous' ship, the Invisible hand."

Kyra grimaced. She had never met Grievous in battle, but had obviously heard of his malice and monstrous cruelty. She knew it was wrong, but she hoped to face him in battle, so she could be the one to stop him. Another time, she thought, and continued past the 'Hand, driving the 'Guile hard towards the surface, slicing through the clutter of war machines. She avoided explosions and their residual debris, eluded scorching laser blasts, and evaded fighters trying to track her through the chaos. After minutes of flying the 'Guile to its limit, they broke through the fighting and entered the atmosphere, the hull lighting up orange as they passed the barrier.

"We made it," Hoppie shouted. The other troopers echoed his exclamations of triumph.

"I'm afraid there's more to come," Kyra said as they neared the planet, and began to see the rampant destruction of Coruscant. Hundreds of droid starfighters were laying waste to soft targets at random. Droid companies were marching through the city, and several carriers were still descending. Tri and spider droids moved through the city on their spindly legs, and even tanks began roving over the high walkways of the metropolis.

Immediately, enemy fighters converged on the 'Guile, and Kyra had to break into evasive maneuvers once again, dipping low under the blasterfire. The durasteel forest of skyscrapers provided cover as she wove a complex pattern through the towers.

Hoppie cleared his throat, "Um, we've acquired a sizeable following, and they're getting closer."

"Copy that," Kyra said, "Hang on." She then brought the 'Guile through a dazzling sequence of dives, spins, and near impossible sweeping turns that created space from the attacking fighters. "Okay, position your cannons forward. I'm going to lay them out for you."

She gunned the ship full throttle upwards over one the tall spires dotting the skyline, and just as she crested the top, she cut the power and jammed the yoke forward, the 'Guile's speed was cut in half instantly as it flipped end over end, the wide body creating drag. The swarm of droid fighters sped over the building, oversooting their prey. Kyra had timed the flip perfectly, so as the enemy fighters passed by, the two quad cannons and the forecannons lined up perfectly with the swarm. Link and Gamble didn't need any heads up or command. They opened fire, blasting the entire group of vulture and tri fighters into oblivion.

"In the name of Mandalore," Hoppie shouted, "That was incredible."

Link radioed in from the gunpod, "Great flying, General. Any idea where we're heading?"

"Yes," Kyra said. Now that she wasn't flying for their lives, she could spare a moment to reach out to him. Relief flooded through her at the confirmation that he was still alive, but that was instantly wiped away as she could sense he was right in the middle of a battle. But she had his location and would be there in moments.

"Ahem," Hoppie said, "We have company approaching."

Kyra glanced ahead of them, seeing nothing, but sensing a host of assailants approaching. "What do you-" Then she looked to the side. A blanket of vulture and tri-fighter droids swept around a large building and was now heading right for them. There had to be a hundred of them, forming a dense wall, and obliterating everything in their path. "Oh, Kriff, hang on," she yelled, and took the ship in a dive, and banked hard to port. If she could just get behind the nearby supertower spires, they might be able to escape. She blasted full throttle towards the safety of the buildings. It was going to be close. Some of the tri-fighters did open fire, and the 'Guile took the blasts on her durable shields. Link and Gamble were firing the cannons non-stop at the approaching swarm, trying to stifle the attack. They were fifty meters away from temporary safety when a vulture droid collided with the edge of right side of the saucer shaped freighter's hull. What remained of the shields blunted the impact, and the hull wasn't compromised, but the impact sent the 'Guile of course, and it smashed into the side of one of the skyscrapers, biting into the durasteel and transparisteel siding, which then sent the light freighter careening back to the left, and tumbling down, end over end, towards a pedestrian plaza below.

Kyra groaned. Aedan's beloved ship was heavily damaged, and now heading straight for an even more costly collision. Kyra yanked on the controls, trying to get some modicum of control back, and level out the ship. She fired the thrusters, and pulled at the stick again, but still no use. Gravity was pulling them down far too quickly. Saving the ship was out of the question. Now the question was if they would survive. "Gamble," she yelled, "Get out of there. We're gonna hit hard."

The ship was unresponsive, but the force wasn't. She closed her eyes, and reached out for the force, again asking much of it. She saw the world through the force. Became the ship. Became the wind, Became the ground.

She pushed here. Nudged there. And cushioned elsewhere.

The ship righted, just enough, and just in time. With a grinding screech, the bottom of the ship tore into the duracrete walkways of one of Coruscant's plazas, sliding for a hundred meters, every meter seeming to scrape off layers of the 'Guile's underbelly. The viewport shattered with the constant hail of duracrete being kicked up from their crash. Finally, the ship came to a halt.

Kyra was largely unharmed, a few tiny lacerations from the viewport shattering, but that was it. "Everyone okay?" she yelled. Coughs, groans, and curses was the response she got. "Troopers, report in."

"We're all fine, General. A little shaken up," Link said, "Now what do we do?"

She shook her head, unsure of how to proceed now. She had to get to him. And she felt like she was running out of time. "I don't know, Sergeant." She figured the boarding ramp was crushed, so she just climbed out of the shattered viewport, landing onto an untouched portion of the plaza. She walked away from the ship and scanned the immediate area for threats. None were present.

She sighed heavily, and then apprehensively turned around to behold the wreckage of the Peerless Guile. Her heart sank, she almost let out a sob. The ship was battered and busted. The cockpit smashed, the starboard edge of the saucer like hull had a hole in it three meters wide, and the bottom of the ship had to be even worse. Aedan's ship was a wreck, all because of her.

The force nudged her, she whirled around. The threat was closing in on Aedan, and she was still several kilometers away. She ran to the port side where the speeder bikes were, opened the large panel, and then lifted one bike and then the other, just as Hoppie and Cobalt Squad came up behind her.

"I have to get to him," she said to the five troopers.

They all nodded, and Hoppie spoke up, "I'll go with you."

Kyra nodded, "Sorry I don't have more bikes, Guys."

"No worries, General," Link said, "I'm sure we can make ourselves useful here." He inclined his head behind them as a platoon of battle droids approached their location.

"We'll see you when it's over."

The two opened up the speeder bikes full throttle, heading towards Aedan and judging by the fire, explosions, and sounds of battle, the center of where the fighting was most intense.