The Endar Spire and two Republic frigates made their course towards Taris after the crew was ready for deployment. Even though the trip was uneventful, many of the crew members were anxious at fighting the Sith once again.
By the time they exited hyperspace, the small taskforce saw the planet Taris in clear view ahead. The lone Sith flagship was also in their sights, but strangely enough it did not react to their presence. Instead it seemed to drift aimlessly as though it were scuttled beforehand.
"I don't like this," one of the frigate captains commented. "Scanner's not picking up any life signs."
Phoebe frowned in concentration as she stared through the window from the command bridge. She tried using the Force to detect any sure signs of trouble, but to no avail. This discovery only unsettled her furthermore as she anxiously tapped one hand against the side of one thigh.
"Captain Renault," she spoke through her communicator after a while. "Send in a squadron of fighters to scout the ship."
"Yes, ma'am," he responded.
"Everyone else," Phoebe announced. "Scramble all fighters and man your battle stations. Be ready to engage!"
"Roger!" The other frigate captain replied.
Before any of that could happen however, all three Republic ships were struck from behind from a volley of Sith starfighters. At the same time, the Sith flagship that was thought to be abandoned suddenly sprang to life as it powered its flood lights and forward batteries.
"AMBUSH!" the frigate other captain wailed.
"ALL STATIONS, TAKE EVASIVE ACTION!" Phoebe yelled.
The three ships continued taking sustained fire until their shields were taken down.
"Ma'am, our shields have been disabled!" One crew member announced gravely.
Phoebe grit her teeth in frustration and ordered, "We're not going to survive another pass like that, return fire and scramble all fighters!"
The three ships fired their own barrage of plasma artillery towards the lone Sith flagship, but to no avail. Although it was seen taking some incoming fire, the ship remained intact as its shields absorbed most of the damage.
"We're not putting a dent in that thing!" Renault said in despair.
Before Phoebe could reply, the other frigate captain yelled, "What is that?"
As if on cue, the Sith flagship could be seen retracting a large cannon from the center top where it gave out a blue light.
"Jones, you're in their line of fire," Renault warned over the transmission, "PULL BACK!"
Despite taking heed, the frigate couldn't move fast enough as the Sith flagship tracked them easily with its experimental weapon. Moments later, it gave off an ominous hum with light building up in the barrel before it finally shot off a blue concentrated energy beam that instantly obliterated the frigate.
"AAAHHH!" Jones screamed before his voice was suddenly cut off.
Although Phoebe felt pained at losing a great deal of her task force, she promptly faced the Endar Spire Captain and ordered, "Captain, get us the hell outta here!"
The Republic officer nodded and he motioned for the nearby crew members to immediately plot a course to hyperspace. As that was going on, he also went on the transmission to contact High Command. "This is Carth Onasi of the Endar Spire," he began. "We're taking heavy losses and pulling back. I say again, we are pulling back!"
No response was given and the Endar Spire shook again as it took more incoming damage from the Sith starfighters.
"Where are my starfighters?!" Phoebe bellowed.
Carth replied as he looked at his terminal, "Squadrons Two and Three are taking off the hangar now!"
Before Phoebe could speak again, she paled in despair when the Sith flagship readied its weapon again at the other frigate. "Renault!" She cried out.
The frigate captain did not answer and he stared blankly until he squinted his eyes from the sudden brightness. In a matter of seconds, his ship exploded with bits of debris scattering in several directions.
As Phoebe was fraught with despair, the Endar Spire suddenly displayed an incoming video transmission from the Sith flagship. From there, she could see a light green humanoid with bright green eyes and long light blue hair. One thing Phoebe took notice of was that he had a metal collar encircling his neck and covering his mouth, but stopped just below his nostrils.
"This is Darth Slicer of the S.S. Leviathan, Dark Lord of the Sith!" The man announced in a dreadful robotic voice. "You've seen the carnage I can bring to your pathetic ships. For too long we have bided our time to take over the galaxy. But I assure you, the full fury of the Sith is at hand. Death… is no disgrace!"
At that, the transmission ended and the Leviathan switched back to its main plasma batteries. Instead of destroying the Endar Spire outright, only the sensor arrays and life support were destroyed. After that, it ceased fire with only the starfighters making the occasional strafe on the last Republic ship.
Phoebe and the rest of her crew stumbled in place from a series of explosions before they recovered.
"Ma'am," Carth reported, "I strongly recommend we begin evacuation procedures. The weapon systems and engines went offline and we are drifting in space."
"Captain!" A crew member urgently interrupted. "The Leviathan's sending boarding parties!"
Carth then looked at Phoebe, "They're going to try and take you alive. We need to get you to a more secure location and off this ship! I'll do what I can to reroute the backup power, so I can get us planetside."
"With all due respect, Carth, the Republic has enough dead heroes," Phoebe objected.
"I appreciate the sentiment, Phoebe but the protocol is clear: the death or capture of an HVI is completely unacceptable." Carth stated.
"Very well," she sighed in acceptance. "Do what you need to do, I'll see you on the other side."
"Understood, Phoebe," he saluted. "And may the Force be with you."
And so, Phoebe took one last look at the crew members in the command bridge. Many of them exchanged somber expressions, ready to give up their lives just so she could solely survive. Then, Phoebe exited the room and strode towards the escape pods at a brisk pace.
The next minutes that followed, the Endar Spire rumbled as the Sith boarding parties breached some of the corridors. Intense fighting followed not long after, and blaster bolts flew from both sides with Republic and Sith troopers falling down in suit.
As Carth saw his commanding officer reach the escape pods through the camera feed, he then went back to his communicator and said, "All stations: evacuate immediately! I say again, evacuate immediately!"
"This is Trask Ulgo," one Republic trooper replied. "I still have one friendly unaccounted for. I'm heading over to the barracks now."
"Roger that, Ulgo. Make it quick," Carth advised. "I don't know how long we'll have until the Sith realize Phoebe's gone."
As the battle waged on, any Republic starfighters that were providing support were eventually defeated. The Sith had air superiority and the boarding troops were inching closer to the Endar Spire's command center.
"This is Carth Onasi," the officer spoke one more time to the communicator. "The Sith are threatening to overrun our position. We can't hold out long against our firepower. All hands to the bridge!"
"Sir," one of the nearby Republic guards whispered to Carth. "We need to go, the Sith forces are closing in!"
Meanwhile, Phoebe and a handful of troopers watched the ensuing battle as they left together in an escape pod. The enemy starfighters were too preoccupied at shooting the Endar Spire, and the Leviathan made no attempt to shoot them down.
In a few moments, the escape pod burned on reentry as they reached Taris's atmosphere. At first all they could see were clouds. When they descended further however, they saw a sprawling metropolis with towering high rise buildings. The driver of the escape pod promptly adjusted course to land in a relatively safe area, while everyone else braced for impact.
The next thing everyone knew, their vision blackened as they struck the surface. They thought the escape pod would skirt forward upon touching the ground, but instead they found themselves plummeting downward. By the time the pod finally stopped moving, many of the crew were dazed and rendered unconscious.
Phoebe's vision was blurry and her ears were ringing. She struggled to keep her eyes open as she noticed some of her teammates were trying to get outside, while others were motionless beside her. She could vaguely overhear the driver calling for a mayday over the transmission, only to be met with static. When he noticed her, he paused briefly to examine her injuries and gave a thumbs up gesture.
Suddenly, his gaze glanced sharply to the side as he heard blaster fire. Although Phoebe couldn't make out the words, she could see the man gesturing to stay put as he readied his blaster carbine and left.
The firefight went on only for a couple minutes. As much as Phoebe tried to join and assist her men, her strength was still weakened. She tried to focus on finding her new double bladed lightsaber, but her hand was just a few inches short of reach. The next thing she knew, the lightsaber was picked up by a shadowy silhouette and her forehead was struck with the stock of a blaster rifle.