Proven - Part 1

The droids collected in regimented lines outside the main hangar. Zaiya suspected that there were more droids than just these, but this was the main force, and she needed to keep them at bay. The targets here would be the growth chambers and Jango's original DNA. She needed to protect those main targets.

The rain poured down in sheets, and the clones now amassed outside, taking defensive positions in the upper balcony and along the main exterior walkways and a bridge that extended to an outer ring of landing platforms. All other bridges were retracted, but this one was the main bridge, and the bottleneck in which Zaiya and her men would make a stand.

The Alpha Company were scattered around the area, her Captain hunkered down and waiting to one side of the bridge. The others took various defensive positions and she had them all in the comm in her ear. She had sent them ahead, coordinating with Shaak Ti in case the droids managed to infiltrate.

Zaiya stepped out into the deluge, the cold metal utterly freezing to her bare feet as she made her way to the bridge itself. The rain was harsh, pelting her hair, face, arms and what clothing she had on little tiny bullets. They were not soft fat drops, soothing on a warm afternoon. No, this was violent, icy rain that came down as though it too were an attack from the enemy. Were it not for the Force and her nexus eye she might very well be blinded by it. Still, she did not flinch, she just tilted her head forward to take the sting away from her face so she could see her opponent. It was then she heard a voice cut through the drumming sound of rain on durasteel and the swelling waves below.

"I am General Shaliman Kaves! Lay down your arms! You small batch of cadets are no match for the Separatist Alliance and our superior battle droids!" cried a Koorivar male on the far side of the battalions. He stood tall on a platform above the droids, a secondary landing pad, she suspected. He had ridges on his nose and mouth, a hood and robe covering most of him, but from the scant light out there, he seemed to be green-skinned. The twisting horn extended from the centre of his cranium prominent enough that she knew his species by sight.

Zaiya's eyes narrowed, clearly he was in charge, and the one she needed to bring to heel.

"Whose got eyes on the corkscrew?" she asked into the comm, the rain soaking her in seconds, her ashen hair hanging down to her hips.

There was a little laugh and she heard Jax speak up through the crackling connection, the storm was interfering with their comms. The clone in question was on the top balcony with his sniper rifle.

[I see him, he's also got one of them fancy clankers,] he said, she could almost hear him smirking.

"Good, keep your eyes on him, when things get dicey, I'm betting he will turn tail. I want him alive, if we get that droid, then all the better," she replied and the boys let out a confirmation. The Koorivar seemed undeterred by the response, nothing but the crash of waves and a crack of deafening thunder.

"Surrender, Republic scum!" he cried but this time he got an answer.

"You have come with some false beliefs, General!" Zaiya shouted over the rain as she stepped out onto the bridge. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Alpha's head turn, finally realising she was out there with them and not directing them from the dry interior city. "You face ARC troopers today, and ARC Troopers do not surrender!" A booming cheer went up from the clones behind her, backing her words and hyping themselves up.

The barefoot Nightsister stalked forward, drawing her mila hanska in both hands and pointed the left at him. She stood at the forefront of the men, leading the clones from the front.

"Not one droid will cross this bridge, General," she swore to him, and drew her blades across each other, the sparks from the contact igniting the blades into her signature green flames, lighting her up just the same as her eye. "The only thing you will have, Shaliman Kaves… is death!"

With that, the roar of the Clones melded into the rain. She could hear their battle cries, feel tension in the air. The rain became background to her, and she shut out the freezing bite of water, the waves and the lightning. It was all the better to see her enemy, the thunder was so loud she almost felt it ripple through her.

The opposing General was angry.

She could feel it from here. Just as lightning struck behind him, he pointed toward her and screamed to open fire.

The power flowed through her and as was her way, she let it guide and direct her movements, deflecting blasts as a Jedi might with a lightsaber. Zaiya was more vicious and aggressive than any Jedi might be, using the blades to carve her way through the droids as they advanced.

Her teeth grit, the lifeless droids turning to her directly as she drew closer, but none of their fire got through. She let herself become a wraith as she leapt into the middle of a group of droids, dropping into a crouch as she swept the glowing blade through the knee joints of the three closest droids, a quick succession of stabs to the power banks in their chests and they were permanently down.

The next blaster was pointed at her and she had to deflect another wave of bolts sent her way from multiple directions. The clones were blasting the droids as they began to advance, doing their best not to hit her. She wasn't worried though, the sooner she took care of these, the sooner she could get ahold of that General.

He might have intel that they could use. Were there more invaders for example? Was this a part of some larger plan? Surely this paltry number was not truly the main invading force? Had she over estimated them? These questions swirled in her mind, but she could not afford to focus on them, her mind turning to the droids.

They moved, constantly pushing forward as she hacked at their chest plates and heads. The magick flames allowed the blade to cut through far easier than the blade alone, but she suspected a Jedi's saber might be much more adept at such a thing.

The sizzle of blaster bolts striking the wet droids could be heard from the targets right by her, the clone's aim was true and despite her location in the thick of battle, there was no fear on her part for being hit. She could smell the ozone from the blasters and feel the debris from the damaged droids strike her as she waded through the fray.

The platform now littered with twisted pieces of metal as the droids began to drop, damaged from the blasts. Still, taking out droid after droid, darting between them and leaping over one to hit it in the head from behind was proving to be rather fun.

A twisted grin crossed her face as she began to push through, away from the bridge and toward one of the landing pads. She hadn't had such a work out in a while, it was different from the gauntlet.

This was a fight, and she was enjoying it. She could hardly call it a proper fight, the droids fell one by one as she descended upon them, it was more endurance than a challenge of any sort, but it was still proving to be entertaining.

Cries of pain reached her ears and she turned to see one of the clones being shot down beyond the barricades. It hit her like she had been shot herself. This was not a time to dally and have fun dismantling these metal beasts. She had to end this quickly. Zaiya began to scan her eyes across the sea of droids to find a path up to the General.

"You see a way up, Jax?" she asked as she buried her blade into the head of another droid.

[I see one, Ver'alor, head to your right, there's a kind of building for storage and repairs, you can get to the platform from the roof,] it was just like the simulations they'd run, and Jax was flawless in his relay of information. Zaiya could not help but feel proud. She followed his instructions and began to duck and weave through the droids to make her way closer when the whole side of the walkway shook.

Bombs!

A fireball went up further along the main structure and she felt the shockwave a moment later, the force of it making her stumble.

[The outer quadrant is breached!] cried Shaak Ti through the comms. Zaiya cursed under her breath. Of course this was too easy!

It was a diversion!

[The seppie is making a break for it!] Jax warned and Zaiya moved to give chase.

[The droids are advancing! Prepare to retreat from the bridge!] Colt shouted and Zaiya stopped in her tracks. Suddenly she could feel the cold at those words.

Her men were in danger.

They couldn't let this position be overrun.

She had a choice now. She could chase the General, but it would leave Alpha and the others vulnerable. Though the Republic needed the enemy captured and debriefed for their intel and the war. She noticed the Koorivar heading toward the breach point. If she moved quickly, she could cut him off.

It was an easy choice.

"Hold the line boys, I'm on my way," Her blade swept through droid after droid as she made her way back.

She'd made a promise.

Not one droid would cross, and she would ensure it. Sliding across the rain-slicked durasteel she slashed at the droids, now flanking them from behind. She just had to thin them out a little and the troopers would take care of the rest.

Anger built in her chest. How dare they come here, attack this facility and her troopers! She would not let them take more of the clones, any blood they spilled would be paid for, tenfold. She would destroy every droid that dared step their metal feet on Kamino, even if it took her all night.

[The General is escaping!] Alpha warned, [don't worry about us!] She spotted one of the droids carrying a detonator and a pack of small sticky bombs. Perfect.

"I'll deal with him shortly!" Zaiya retorted, not having them give her their self-sacrificial bantha fodder today! She cut through and made her way closer, she would have to be quick to avoid a blaster bolt in her rear before she had the chance to grab what she needed.

[There are more coming from another ship!] Jax informed them and Zaiya growled. One hand released the handle of the long knife, a green smoke emanated from her body like a third arm and took the blade. Whirling in the same arc as before while her now free hand snatched the pack of bombs.

[Take it out before they activate more!] Alpha commanded. She could only hold the magick protrusion for a short time and had to move fast. With a flick of her wrist she sent the small bombs flying, theiy didn't hold well to the wet metal but it didn't matter. At least half a dozen were thrown and landed at the feet of the droids, as she made it to the bridge.

Everything happened in slow motion, one of the troopers launched a rocket at the ship on the far platform, just as Zaiya activated the detonator. Her magick wore out at almost the same instant and she dropped the remote, turning her hand in the nick of time to catch the falling blade.

Her arms drew across her body as she leapt into the air, the bombs exploded behind her wild and wet form, silhouetting against the flames behind. The heat was searing in comparison to the frigid atmosphere. A scream of rage and exertion ripped from her mouth as she slashed the blades outward at the droids on the bridge, landing with a roll and her glowing eyes faced forward. They locked onto the last battle droid, her arm was a blur, and the next second her blade was buried in its chassis.

Her muscles burned, her chest heaved, the air so cold it hurt to breathe. The blasterfire finally ceased and Zaiya looked around, it seemed that this side of the invasion forces were destroyed. Alpha stepped out from behind the barrier as Zaiya sheathed her blades. Some of the other soldiers began to clean up, walking through the droids and shooting them in their central processors to ensure they stayed down.

"Not one droid," she shouted over the rain to the Captain, holding up a tattooed finger at him.

"Well that's one promise kept," Captain Alpha-17 snickered under his helmet as he drew closer.

"Yes… though I believed I promised to kill him," Zaiya smirked.

"You'd better hope you haven't lost-" he was still talking but there was a vicious sense of warning and without thinking, shoved the trooper back, just as searing pain scorched her side, the pain rippling through her body. Her teeth grit and in the next second Alpha fired past her, and into half a droid still functioning after the explosion. The others hadn't gotten to that one yet -though Alpha had taken care of it now.

"MEDIC!" Alpha roared and Zaiya bit back a cry of agony, staggering a little as she lifted her head. Her hand clasped a spot on her left side.

She'd been shot.

Notes:

Cliffhanger? What are you talking about? I don't know what- ahhhh stop throwing things at me!

Okay - Okay so... that happened, but in response I offer a longer chapter next week how about that? Yeah? Will - will that me alright?

I am not the best at battle scenes but I had this image in my head for weeks before writing it, the glowing blades, the rain, the battle... I should draw it. Hm yes, I gotta draw it. Til then, please enjoy, try not to hurt me... please...

And as always I love the feedback and comments always, always...! Thank you so so so much! But until next week, I hope you are safe and well! See you Monday!