AN: Hope everyone's had a good couple of weeks. Definitely a good thing that I went to biweekly posts. Would not have made last weeks post, and am barely making this one. Hopefully everyone enjoys it though. As always, thanks for all of your support, and let me know what you think. Special thanks to Tracyn, FractionalSith, and Dragomi125.
MaySail199 - Your consistent reviews always brighten my week. I did do a bonus chapter for the winter holidays last year (crazy that I've been posting for over a year), so assuming I have some chapters in the bank, I'll try to do so again. Happy to see you're enjoying the new Force Troopers and the other little cameos I've been throwing around. I am humbled by your love of my battle scenes. As always, thanks for your support and I look forward to hearing what you think of this chapter!
Chapter 66 - Escalating Situations
Blaster fire rapidly ripped through the air and the infiltrators ducked behind walls or other objects that provided cover from the assault. The facility's defenses were impressive, with four automatic heavy-rotating cannons and two small repeating turrets, which made the approach to the entrance a death trap.
"'We don't need reinforcements,' he said. 'We can get in and end this ourselves,' he said," a younger, pleasant voice heckled over the sound of battle.
"We can do this!" Anakin Skywalker reassured the Zabrak Force Trooper. "Tru just needs to do his thing and we're good to go. Besides, I thought you were the best, Carn?"
"I am the best!" Carn called back with a cheeky grin.
"Doing my thing isn't instantaneous, Anakin!" Tru mock-scolded, as he jumped out from where he'd hidden behind a large slab of rock, using the Force to enhance his speed to wade through the enemy fire. He then jumped over the turrets and their shots with the Force, landing near a security panel behind the defenses.
Anakin grinned as Tru started to cut into the panel so that he could disable the security system.
"Well, forgive me for holding your abilities in high esteem!" Anakin shouted back mildly.
"High esteem and realism don't have to be separate things!" Tru yelled right back, the banter coming easy to him.
Others unfortunately didn't seem to appreciate it . . .
"Why couldn't we have brought Master Kenobi?" a gravelly voice complained. "At least he can keep you under control."
"Ha!" Anakin barked out a short laugh of amusement. "Master Obi-Wan will be the first to tell you he can only control me halfway."
"I'll be the first to tell you that halfway under control is better than what we have right now!" Corporal Shovo, a Pantoran Antarian Ranger, retorted in his gruff voice.
"It's not that bad," Anakin said dismissively with a haughty sniff. "You guys agreed to my harebrained plan in the first place! What does that tell you?"
"That we're all just as dumb as you are!" Latai, their female Echani Force Trooper, nearly cheered. "They're just as temperamental as rancors right now because they can't shoot back."
"Latai makes a good point," the fourth Force Trooper, a near-human named Rodrick, said dryly. "This would be much better if we could shoot back."
"Well, Skywalker sold us on marching in, and taking the raiders by surprise," Carn said petulantly but with no true heat.
"We don't know that they aren't surprised," Anakin pointed out with a grin, and there were groans, both real and fake, all around. "We just need to break through their defenses and we can push in and stop them from destroying any intel."
"If I didn't trust the rest of our squad, I'd be worried about them escaping out the back," Shovo said with a sigh.
"How much longer, Tru?" Anakin called out.
"Almost done," Tru answered absently.
It was only twenty more seconds before the blaster fire stopped. Anakin and the rest of the team slowly moved out from their spots. Once they saw the way truly was clear, they swiftly assaulted forward to where Tru had started cutting through the blast door.
Anakin quickly helped Tru cut through the door by cutting in the opposite direction and the two Jedi led the way in, with the four Troopers right on their heels.
"Skywalker, we've breached their rear defenses and are en route to where scans suggest their headquarters are," Mando Sergeant Vrang Wren briefed through the comlink.
"Copy," Anakin responded. "We'll trap them there."
They moved through the corridor and soon ran into their first bit of opposition who leapt out to ambush them prematurely. Anakin and Tru took point, blocking the blaster bolts while the four Troopers timed their shots precisely, and quickly dispatched their four assailants.
Anakin didn't revel in the death, but he was proud of his team. He'd worked with this squad, minus Tru, for the past month and a half on various missions and they were a well-oiled machine. He also counted them among his friends, and had been overjoyed to be assigned this mission to the Ubardia System with Tru and this squad. The squad of nine plus two Jedi Knights were also paired up with another squad of Force Troopers, with them all falling under Jedi Master Sar Labooda for the assignment.
The mission was to incapacitate a large group of raiders who were new to the system and were burning, murdering, enslaving, and pillaging across the various planets in the system.
Master Labooda was notably kind, wise, and while perhaps not as aggressive or militant as Anakin would have liked, she had a keen strategic mind and impressive insight into countering their adversaries. She was quite open to hearing Anakin's ideas before working to either temper some of his more aggressive plans or helping to close the loops to make them more effective, and he'd learned quite a bit from her.
Even now, she had approved this aggressive attack on the raiders' location, which they had only recently managed to find thanks to an informant.
She had given Anakin the green light to take his squad and Tru to infiltrate the base while she and the other squad put on a demonstration to help lower the raiders' awareness.
They knew the raiders had a mole in the local security forces, so she had played a clever game of giving the raiders actionable intel that the Jedi and their support team managed to arrive just barely in time to try and apprehend them. This had given them the preconception that the Jedi were just faster to react than the security forces of the past rather than their leaks being faulty.
Master Labooda had kept that game up, occasionally slipping bad intel in to start putting the raiders on edge, and allowing the Coalition to start neutralizing elements. It had been working masterfully, helping to turn supporters of the raiders against them, which had ended up culminating in this raid. They had leaked that the Coalition would be in a specific area, looking to thwart an attack that they were sure would happen.
Anakin, Tru, and the squad had given enough time for the information to get back to the raiders before they struck. The two Knights led a team through the front gate, while the rest of their people went through a back entrance that their own informant, a traitor of the group, had revealed to them.
"Rodrick, with me," Latai said, and they moved towards a door on the left side of the corridor.
Rodrick used the console to open the door and Latai moved in swiftly to clear the room with Rodrick following her in. He broke off in the opposite direction of where she turned to help clear all the corners.
Anakin and Tru continued forward with Shovo and Carn focusing on another doorway on the right side and mirroring Rodrick and Latai's tactics. However, whereas Latai and Rodrcik had found an empty room, Carn and Shovo's volley of shots were returned in a panicked and uncontrolled manner, showing they were not as lucky.
Yet, the defenders' panic had caused their aim to be poor, allowing the two level-headed Force Troopers to terminate their opponents. Soon they were all back in the corridor, moving swiftly onward.
They finally reached where the scans suggested the command center was. Anakin and Tru quickly started cutting the doors, hearing panicked exclamations on the other side. Anakin and True shared grim expressions, knowing that their opponents were surprised and had reacted poorly to the ambush.
They breached through the blast door and Tru and Anakin immediately had to deflect a volley of blaster shots. Their team pushed in behind them, firing on the remaining raiders who were all over the place, with some trying to flee, some just hunkering down and trying to fight, and others clearly working to try and destroy all of their intelligence and plans before the Jedi could seize it.
The ones trying to flee groaned in dismay as five Force Troopers burst through the rear entrance, spraying a hail of blaster fire which dropped two of their opponents. Two of the five Force Troopers, the Mandalorians in the group, took up blocking positions, using gauntlet shields to prevent anyone from fleeing. The other three focused their efforts on those attempting to destroy the information.
With the full squad and two Jedi Knights, the fight didn't last much longer before the surviving raiders all surrendered and were apprehended. Anakin gathered with the five Troopers that were guarding the nine raiders. This included Sergeant Wren, Corporal Shovo, and Latai, a human Trooper, Bawes, and their squad medic, a human named Dosiex. Dosiex was treating the injured prisoners.
Meanwhile Tru and the remaining four all started playing to their strengths. Carn, who was their weapons specialist, started working through the system, identifying and then disabling the other base defenses that they hadn't triggered. They could strip the place later and send the systems off to be sold or reallocated to other Coalition outposts. Rodrick was an intelligence officer, and he was already working to catalog everything he could so that it could all be studied later. Their last two were Ellale, a female human who was a slicer, and was working with Tru to break into the system to gather all the intelligence stored on the undestroyed or unwiped databanks; and Rialis, their female Mandalorian and communications specialist, was working to establish comms back with Master Labooda.
"There's a lot here," Rodrick said. "It's going to take quite some time to work through all of it, but quick glances tell me they have been pulling from several sources to fuel their attacks, and multiple echelons of the Ubari system governments have been corrupted."
"Rialis, update Master Labooda and get her squad over here," Tru said. "Rodrick's right. There's a lot here. We're going to need help. Then we can start planning the next step. I don't think this is as simple as just some raiders with good intelligence."
Anakin smiled, proud of what they had accomplished. He wanted to get this mission done, both for the people of the system, but also because of what awaited him . . . or would soon be arriving back on Coruscant: Padmé.
They'd gotten pretty close in the months since Obi-Wan and Siri's wedding. Anakin talked to her fairly regularly by communicator when they were systems apart, and whenever they were both on Coruscant together, they did their best to meet up, no matter how little time they had.
What had started as a bit awkward reconnection had blossomed into a stalwart friendship with hints of more. Those hints had then expanded into flirtatious banter and bold compliments.
In their last communication, Anakin had finally found the courage to express his interest in something more, and Padmé had said they could talk about when next they saw each other. With how much she returned his flirting, and the admiring glances he'd gotten from her, Anakin was sure that she wanted something more too, so the quicker he finished this mission, the quicker he could get back to the capital to see her and find out if his dreams were coming true. Or at least he would then be there for when she returned to Coruscant from Naboo.
Plus, Obi-Wan, Kastor, and Siri were away . . . which meant less interference and teasing, which was another thing to take advantage of. When they were around as well, Padmé rarely excluded them or she was sometimes invited over by them, which admittedly made it hard for Anakin to monopolize her time, even if he always enjoyed the almost "family" dinners with Obi-Wan, Siri, Kastor, Fay, Allara, Rhys, and Asuna, along with occasional appearances by Bant, Reeft, Garen, Quinlan, Taria, Adi, Ferus, Koba, Finn, and Feemor, among others.
No, this was his chance. Other than Allara, who was swamped, there was basically no family to interfere, and it would just be him and Padmé.
What could go wrong?
*The Will of the Force*
Siri took a look at the large space station in front of her as her starfighter shot out of the hangar of their Arquitens Heavy Cruiser, scanning quickly to see if anything was different compared to the briefings they'd had about the infamous Karthakk Prison, Spacestation 1138.
Spacestation 1138 loomed before them, an imposing monument to power and confinement. A towering central shaft dominated its core, flanked by two massive pylons that endlessly spun, like celestial gears. On each end of the pylons were heavy capital ship turrets, and many more anti-starfighter cannons across the entire structure.
"Alright, you all know the drill," Siri stated. "Dagger Squadron, your focus is those enemy starfighters with Reti and half of Nova. Nova Squadron, the rest of you work with Nym to take out those big guns to clear a path for our transports and frigates. Adi and I will target the station's anti-starfighter canons."
"Roger, Star 2."
"Remember, we can't support you until those capital ship turrets are all gone," Lieutenant Commander Elbrick Antilles broadcasted from their command vessel.
"May the Force be with us all," Adi said quietly through the comms channel.
"Here they come!" one of the pilots almost cheered.
Two dozen Scarab and Vulture droids were flying towards them, but in no semblance of any formation, with the fighters coming from various locations on the space station.
"Easy pickings with them so separated like that," another pilot said with relish.
"Don't get overconfident," Lieutenant Commander Antoc Merrick, the leader for Dagger Squadron, cautioned. "They'll outnumber us soon enough. Stay with your wingmates and take them down one by one."
"Roger, Dagger One."
Siri waded through the initial line of enemy starfighters with Adi, blasting two who tried to divide them.
Dagger Squadron, a mixture of Fang snub fighters and Delta-7 Aethersprite Interceptors, like Siri and Adi's own craft, intercepted the droid starfighters. The quicker Coalition fighters quickly started dominating the aging Scarabs, and while the Vultures' speed was comparable to the Fangs, they couldn't match the new interceptors.
Half of Nova, the Z-95 Headhunters, moved to assist, while the other half, N-1 Starfighters, flanked Nym and went straight for the station, focusing on the top pylon and the closest capital ship turrets.
Consequently, this meant Adi and Siri focused their efforts on the anti-starfighter cannons in the same location. She and her former master were melding, their fighters bobbing and weaving through the turbolaser fire coming from three different locations on the space station.
Siri fired first, with Adi adding an extra volley and the first turret blew up, their shots having penetrated through the opening in the space station's shields where the cannons fired.
Siri and Adi each broke off into a different direction, heading for the other two light turbolasers that had been firing on them. Their approach to each cannon put them into the view of the fourth top side turbolaser, which decided to focus on Adi.
It didn't matter, however, as they both weaved through the hail of turbolaser blasts and neutralized two more guns before sweeping to destroy the last top-side cannon.
Meanwhile, Nym and the N-1 half of Nova started their attack run on all four top-side capital ship cannons.
"Ha, this is too easy!" Nym called out, as he managed to take out both a top-side and low-side cannon. He risked exposure from the lower anti-starfighter cannons, but he managed to evade them.
Two more of the top-side cannons exploded as proton torpedoes from Nova Squadron scored direct hits.
Siri took her ship on a slow dive, allowing her to get a look at the battlespace, even though she trusted Eldrick to manage the squadrons. The droid starfighters had largely been destroyed, their lack of a concentrated formation hurting them, removing their normal strength of numbers. Half of Dagger squadron had taken up position around the space station's hanger at the top of the station and were picking off droid starfighters as they attempted to join the battle.
Only a paltry half dozen enemy starfighters remained and as far as Siri could tell, they hadn't lost any friendly units. All of the training and flight time had done wonders for their pilots when fighting in situations like this where they had a clear advantage.
Siri came out of her dive with a roll as she started engaging the lower light turbolasers, with Adi aiming for the ones she wasn't engaging, and it wasn't long before the heavy frigates and transports were moving forward, all heavy and light cannons having been destroyed.
"Alright, I'm using the codes," Jinkins, Nym's right-hand man, said, using the codes he had stolen from the previous attack on the Trade Federation outpost a day prior. "Liberator, you better get there promptly or Orsai and his people might get overrun."
"We're on it!" Kole, the captain of Nym's Mere Transport, Liberator responded.
It was only minutes later when a new voice came through the comms.
"Revenants, this is Orsai! Here I thought you were almost going to let us rot!"
"Orsai, glad to see you're still alive," Nym responded, and Siri could hear the relief in Nym's voice. "Keep us posted!"
While Nym was a ruthless pirate, he did care about the people under him and his comrades. It was what made him different from many of the other pirates Siri had known, and what made keeping connections with him worthwhile.
"We're armed and making our way out of the detention block," Orsai said. "It looks like the Neimoidians have activated a squad of battle droids, they've got us pinned down! We'll need some help."
"It's incoming shortly," Adi said.
The Mere Cruiser was almost docked to the docking tubes on the outer pylons, and concurrently, two Nu-class shuttles loaded with Force Troopers were flying into the station's hanger and dropping off two platoons to seize the station and gather intelligence on Federation activities in the system, and to collect evidence of the Federation's crimes. Orsai and his crew were to be exfiltrated on the cruiser while the station was being seized.
"All forces, keep your heads up," Elbrick advised. "The Trade Federation isn't giving this station up without a fight. We've got five troop transports and two Freighters incoming, along with another squadron of Droid Starfighters."
"Those transports are unmanned," Adi informed them. "They only have weapons on the front. Attack from any other direction to minimize risk. Dagger Squadron, the starfighters are yours. Nova, take care of the transports. Leave the freighters to Nym, Siri, myself, and the cruisers."
"Understood, Star 1."
Siri and Adi both moved to flank Nym as he changed directions and started heading towards where all seven enemy reinforcements were coming out of the nebula. Elbrick's Arquitens Heavy and both Arquitens Light escorts opened up with their turbolaser batteries. The blasts flew past Siri, Adi, and Nym, and started wearing down the two freighter's shields.
"Nym! When the hell did we get Mandalorian support?" Orsai asked in amazement. "You've been holding out on us?"
"No, we've got a newly made working arrangement with the new Jedi Coalition," Nym corrected grudgingly. "Just get your asses on that transport and out of that station. Leave it to the Jedi."
"You got it, boss," Orsai responded. After a brief pause, Orsai continued. "We've been cut off by Neimoidian Support Staff! Hey, you Neimoidians! Are you bein' paid enough to get shot!?"
"Apparently not," Njonne's voice came through the comms with amusement. "Like most Neimoidians, they do not want to actually stick their necks out. They've already surrendered."
"Alright, then let's destroy or turn back the Federation reinforcements, gather what we need, and get out of here," Adi said. "There's still a sensor station out there for us to track down."
Siri, Adi, and Nym concentrated their efforts on one of the freighters, with Adi and Siri firing a volley to remove the shields. Nym then launched several volleys of proton bombs, which blew the ship apart.
"Transport this!" Nym crowed triumphantly.
The other freighter was already starting to list and implode from the inside, having lost the battle of weathering the assault from the three Arquitens cruisers. Dagger had already wiped out the Vultures, and Nova was mopping up the rest of the troop transports.
The battle was over, and with the Mere troop transport pulling away, Orsai and the other resistance fighters were free and safe, and Njonne gathering what they needed, they were ready to plan the next assault.
It was time to start purging the illegal Trade Federation activities from the system and then take evidence back to the Senate to hurt the Neimodians where it hurt most: their pocket books.
*The Will of the Force*
Two robed women walked leisurely through the streets of Cuipernam. Despite the robes, their faces were open, showing pretty and serene faces. They were loosely protected in the front and back by three men and another woman.
Most on the small backwater world of Ansion would not recognize what groups any of them belonged to at a glance. Those who did, mostly wished them harm, and couldn't decide which group was more of a problem.
The Jedi were renowned warriors, but no one on Ansion, save for one, had ever actually dealt with Jedi, and generally assumed the stories were exaggerated.
The other four weren't ones to be dismissed either. Two wore the trappings of the new Force Troopers, specifically the light fiber mesh armor and submarkings of the Reconnaissance Troopers. They hadn't existed for long, but had already gained an impressive reputation for their tracking abilities and their marksmanship. The other two were also technically Force Troopers, but also carried further scrutiny with the woman wearing the markings of the Antarian Rangers while the last man was in Mandalorian armor.
"The populace has heard we're here to try to cement a permanent peace between the city folk of the Unity and the Alwari nomads," Luminara Unduli spoke softly. "They're unaware of the far greater issues at stake. And we can't reveal the real reason for our presence here without alerting those who would oppose us to the fact that we know of their deeper intentions." Luminara drew her robe tighter around her. "Because we can't be completely honest, the locals don't trust us."
Barriss Offee nodded. "The city people think we favor the nomads, and the nomads fear we're on the side of the city folk. I hate politics, Master Luminara." One hand fell to her side. "I prefer settling differences with a lightsaber. Much more straightforward."
Her pretty face radiated a zest for life, Luminara noted. She had not yet lived long enough to become inured to new experiences.
"It's difficult to persuade opposing sides of the rightness of your reasoning when they're both dead," Luminara remarked dryly. Turning up one of Cuipernam's side streets, chaotic with traders and city folk of many different galactic species, Luminara spoke while scanning not only the avenue but also the flanking walls of commercial and residential buildings. "Anyone can handle a weapon. Reason is much more difficult to wield. Remember that the next time you're tempted to settle an argument with a lightsaber."
"Personally, I'm with the Padawan on this one," Mando Colbert Varad interjected with amusement.
"Weird, the Mandalorian prefers aggressive negotiations," Merna Sy, a pretty female Togruta Trooper, teased.
The remaining two laughed, while Luminara and Barriss favored Merna with amused smiles, and Varad snorted in response.
"I bet it's all the fault of the Trade Federation," Barriss remarked absently, eyeing a stall dripping with jewelry: necklaces and earrings, rings and diadems, bracelets and hand-sculpted flash corneas. Her eyes lingered on a gorgeous Searous hair necklace, interwoven with pikach stones.
"Yes," Luminara agreed. "And the Commerce Guilds. They grow more powerful by the month, always sticking their money-hungry fingers in where they're not wanted, even if their immediate interests are not directly involved. Here on Ansion, they openly support the towns and cities that are loosely grouped together as the Unity of Community even though the law of the Republic guarantees the rights of nomadic groups like the Alwari to remain independent of such external influences. Their activities here only complicate an already difficult situation." They turned another corner. "As they do elsewhere."
Barriss nodded knowingly. "Everyone still remembers the Naboo incident. Why doesn't the Senate simply vote to reduce their trade concessions? That would settle them down a bit!"
Luminara had to fight to keep from smiling.
'Ah, the innocence of youth! Barriss was well meaning and a fine Padawan, but she was still unsophisticated in the ways of governance. She still had much to learn.'
"It's all very well to invoke ethics and morals, Barriss, but these days it's commerce that seems to rule the Republic. Sometimes the Commerce Guilds and the Trade Federation act like they're separate governments. They're very clever about it, though." Her expression twisted. "Fawning and bowing before emissaries of the Senate, issuing a steady stream of protestations of innocence: that Nute Gunray in particular is as slippery as a Notonian mudworm. Money equals power, and power buys votes. Yes, even in the Republic Senate. And they have powerful allies." Her thoughts turned inward. "It's not just money anymore. The Republic is a soiled sea roiled by dangerous currents. The Jedi Council fears that general dissatisfaction with the present state of governance is giving way to outright secession on many worlds."
"Master Shan has been working with the High Council to seemingly help counter that," Barriss offered up, trying to assuage her master's worries.
"Yes, Allara has been doing well," Luminara said with a light laugh. "Many of the Order's fiercest critics are learning to curse her name. It's been nearly a thousand years since we openly flexed our power into the Senate like she's been pushing."
"And Master Kastor is largely responsible for our Coalition, which is also helping to bring about change in the Republic," Barriss added.
"Yes . . . and no," Luminara said slowly.
"It's creating changes on the surface, but only in an effort to seem like change is occurring," Antarian Ranger Trussall said in derision. "They're putting on a show of trying to be more effective, but are relying on the Jedi Order, and by extension, our Coalition more than ever."
"On one hand, that gives us more influence," Luminara said. "We're helping more people, garnering goodwill throughout the galaxy, and gaining new allies, but it also puts unnecessary strain on our Coalition and sets us up for the Republic to blame us for rising tensions and for failing to keep the peace."
Barriss frowned and then opened her mouth to ask a question when Luminara threw out a hand to halt their team. Her eyes flicked rapidly from side to side and she was suddenly no longer introspective. Her every nerve was alert, every sense on edge. Before Barriss could question the reason for the action, the Jedi had her lightsaber out, activated, and fully extended before her. Without moving her head, she raised it to a challenge position.
Having drawn and activated her own weapon in response to her Master's reaction, Barriss searched anxiously for the source of unease. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, she glanced questioningly at her teacher, noting that the four Troopers didn't seem to notice anything either, but all four had their weapons drawn and were tense.
Barriss tensed as Varad fired off a shot first, aiming high and catching a large male Hoguss who had leapt from a room towards them, a vibro-ax raised in his meaty fist. The body dropped with a heavy thump onto the ground.
"Back!" Luminara ordered, and the team started moving back as attackers swarmed down from the rooftops, out of second-story windows, came bursting through doorways, and jumped out of seemingly empty crates.
'Someone,' Luminara mused grimly as she retreated, had gone to considerable trouble and expense to arrange this ambush. Despite her concern for those with her, she had to admire their opponent's thoroughness. They clearly had not wanted to underestimate the Jedi and their allies.
Now that the attack had begun, the Force throbbed with an enmity that was out in the open as dozens of well-armed hired assassins fought to get close enough to their rapidly withdrawing targets to deliver a few final, fatal blows.
Luminara winced and felt sorrow rise as one of their Troopers took multiple hits almost immediately and fell, never to rise again. Ranger Trussall soon joined the Force as well, dropping several opponents before he was stabbed by a trio of attackers who swarmed him with vibroblades.
While the narrowness of the street and the aimless fleeing of panicked bystanders eliminated a clear line of retreat and kept the four remaining fighters from sprinting to safety, it also prevented those of their attackers who were wielding firearms from setting up a clear shot at their intended targets. Had they been tacticians, those in front swinging blades and other less advanced devices would have stepped aside to give their more heavily armed comrades room in which to take aim.
The Jedi and Troopers didn't know it, but a reward had been promised to the ones who made the actual kill. While this served to inspire the truculent rabble, it also made them reluctant to cooperate with one another in achieving their ultimate objective, lest it be a colleague who claimed the substantial bonus.
Luminara and Barriss managed to shield Merna, who ducked in between them and used her position to fire on attackers that tried to strike in either Jedi's blindspots. Varad had raised two gauntlet energy shields, and had dropped to a knee, allowing his shields and his armor to protect his vital parts while he occasionally fired back, killing those who got too close.
Bodies began to pile up in front of them, some intact with blaster holes in them, others missing significant portions of their anatomy, these having been neatly excised by whirling shafts of intensely colored energy.
Barriss's exuberance and occasional shouted challenge were complemented by Luminara's steady, silently ferocious work. The Mandalorian was likewise shouting a battlecry for every enemy he slew, while Merna fought with the determination of someone who greatly wanted to live.
Together, the four were not only keeping their attackers at bay, but had begun to force them back. Then, just when they were on the verge of pushing the remaining attackers around a corner and back out into an open square where they could be more effectively scattered, a roar of anticipation rose above the fray as another two dozen assassins arrived.
This mélange of humans and aliens was better dressed, better armed, and started to fight more as a unit than those who had preceded them.
"The cannon fodder was just a distraction to wear us out," Varad nearly spat, and Luminara agreed, tiring quickly.
"We've still got this!" Merna called out to a visibly downcast Barriss, as Luminara signaled for them to continue their retreat back down the narrow street that they had nearly succeeded in escaping.
Drawing new courage from the arrival of fresh reinforcements, their surviving assailants redoubled their own attack. Then there was nowhere else for the Coalition forces to flee to. The side street dead-ended against a featureless courtyard wall. Luminara knew there was only one way to go.
"Barriss!" Lightsaber whirling, Luminara indicated the reddish-colored barrier behind them. "Go up! We'll follow."
Dropping to his knees, a man clad in tough leathers took careful aim with a blaster. Luminara blocked both his shots before taking one hand briefly off the lightsaber to gesture in his direction. Like a living thing, the dangerous weapon flew out of his hands, startling him so badly he fell backward onto his butt. Protected by his fellow assassins, he did not panic like a common killer, instead scrambling to recover the blaster, but took a shot to his face from Merna before he could.
"Up, I said!" Luminara did not have to turn to sense the unyielding wall behind her.
Barriss hesitated.
"Go!" Varad ordered, backing Luminara's plan. "I'll follow, then Merna. We'll be able to help cover for Master Unduli once we've gotten up, and you can protect us from them picking us off from covering her."
Reluctantly, Barriss took a last sweeping swing to clear the ground in front of her. Then she shut down her lightsaber, slipped it back onto her belt, pivoted, took a few steps, and leapt. The jump carried her partway up the wall, to which she clung like a spider, using the Force to keep her from falling. She began to ascend further.
"Go, Varad!" Luminara ordered, and Varad holstered his blaster pistol before using his cable launcher to hook to the top of the wall. He started to climb, but a stray, lucky bolt struck his cable and he fell back down to the ground hard.
Varad falling caused Luminara to lose her concentration for a moment and a small Throbe standing not far away managed to land an unfocused shot that grazed Luminara's side. She staggered from the hit, eyes wide.
"Master!" Barriss called out frantically.
Varad and Merna pushed forward, prepared to fight to the end when both Jedi felt a disturbance in the Force, but not one of danger, but one of hope.
A man and a woman plunged down from a rooftop, landing on either side of Luminara, one a pretty Twi'lek with a blue lightsaber, the other a human male, with auburn hair, cut short, and a trimmed beard, also wielding a blue lightsaber.
The two Jedi crushed through the bewildered band of assassins, dealing out death and causing mayhem throughout the enemy ranks. Some of them tried to rally a proper counter attack only to be disrupted as they started dropping to veritable storm of blaster fire that ripped through many of them. Barriss and Luminara glanced to see Obi-Wan Kenobi and Finn Ertay's Force Trooper team having taken up positions on two separate rooftops to turn the small alley into a killing field.
The attackers held out for only a few more moments before they broke ranks, and the survivors fled, or attempted to do so, with Master Kenobi and Knight Ertay managing to capture one. However, within less than a minute, the street was clear save for bodies on the floor, the captured prisoner, and the Jedi and their allies.
Barriss dropped back down to the ground and hurried over to her Master, while the rest of their reinforcements joined them. She was happy to see that Master Kenobi was already examining her master's blaster wound.
"It's not serious," Obi-Wan said with a smile.
Luminara pulled her garments closed rather more sharply than was necessary. "You're early, Obi-Wan," she told her colleague. "We weren't expecting you until the day after tomorrow."
"We made good time," Obi-Wan admitted, smiling at Luminara as he then gazed about. "Finn felt that we needed to leave earlier than originally intended. Since we arrived early, we suspected there would be no one to meet us at the spaceport. So we decided to come looking for you. When you weren't at your stated residence, we decided to take a stroll to acquaint ourselves with the city. That's when I sensed the trouble. It drew us to you."
"Well, I certainly can't fault your timing," Luminara said, with a thankful smile. "The situation was becoming awkward."
"Yes, quite," Obi-Wan agreed sadly, looking over at where his four Troopers were helping Varad and Merna gather their two fallen comrades.
Luminara followed his gaze and started moving over to them, with Barriss at her side.
"This was a kriffing mess," Varad said with a rancor-like scowl. "It's a good thing that you showed up, Obi-Wan. Otherwise, I think the whole team would have been wiped out."
"We'll return their bodies to our ship," Obi-Wan said quietly. "We will honor them properly once the mission is complete."
Merna and Varad nodded in agreement, and they all started working together to prepare the bodies for movement.
"It was great that you all arrived," Barriss broached, as they finally had the bodies ready and started their movement back to the landing platforms. "However, it does take me back to something I was curious about."
"Oh?" Finn asked, showing her own curiosity.
"Why are four of us, plus eight Troopers, needed here, to deal with what seems to me to be nothing more than a minor dispute among the native sentients?" Her impatience was palpable, especially with the death of two friends weighing on her mind. "Earlier, you spoke of greater issues."
"You remember our discussions," Luminara explained patiently. "Well, the Alwari nomads think the Senate favors the city dwellers. The city folk are certain the galactic government will side with the nomads. Such perceptions of favoritism on the part of the Senate are dangerously close to persuading both groups that Ansion would be better off outside the Republic, where internal disputes could be settled without outside interference. Their representative in the Senate appears to be leaning in that direction. There is also evidence to support the contention that offworld elements are stirring the pot, hoping to induce Ansion to secede."
"It's only one world, and not a particularly important one at that," Barriss ventured.
Luminara nodded slowly. "True. But it's not Ansion itself that is so critical. Through a multiplicity of pacts and alliances, it could pull other systems out of the Republic as well. A small empire's worth. Therefore, a way must be found to keep Ansion within the Republic. The best way to do that is to remove the suspicions that exist between the city dwellers and the nomads, and thereby solidify planetary representation. As outsiders representing the will of the Senate, we will find respect on Ansion, but no friends. While we are here, suspicion will be our constant companion. Given the fluid complexity of the situation, the matter of shifting alliances, the possible presence of outside agitators, and the seriousness of the potential ramifications, it was felt that two pairs of negotiators, with escorts, would make a greater and more immediate impression on the situation than one."
Luminara, Obi-Wan, and Finn could all see that Barriss did understand what had just been explained, but she still didn't fully understand everything. That was to be expected though. It was a very complicated situation, one that even few in the Senate had truly noticed.
"Someone or several someones beyond Ansion don't want these negotiations to succeed. They want Ansion to secede from the Republic, with all the problematic consequences that would ensue." Obi-Wan squinted at the sky, which had begun to threaten rain.
"Well, let's find out then," a Mandalorian that had come with Obi-Wan and Finn said, pushing their prisoner over to the Jedi.
Barriss and Luminara looked at the man, who was cowering, but Obi-Wan simply walked up to him and raised his hand in the direction of the man's face. The man flinched, but Obi-Wan didn't even move, his eyes closed, his face serene.
"Ultimately, our enemy is Soergg the Hutt," Obi-Wan said after a moment, and their prisoner made an exclamation of surprise, fear, and courage.
"What are the Hutts doing getting involved in Jedi business?" Finn wondered aloud. "Perhaps we should call a friend to look into this matter."
"I agree," Obi-Wan said. "Hopefully they can help us avoid more unpleasantness. If not, perhaps they can at least prevent the Hutt presence on this planet from completely focusing on us."
"Did you have someone in mind?" Luminara asked.
"The same two people you immediately thought of," Obi-Wan responded with a wry grin.
Luminara sighed. "Taria and Quinlan."
"I'm not sure they'll be able to help, but it doesn't hurt to ask," Obi-Wan said. "Now, let's get our fallen back to the ships and then work to find our hosts here in the city."
*The Will of the Force*
Kastor piloted the Ebon Hawk down to the landing platform, where he would meet up with his daughter, Yoda, Bant, and her team. Asuna, Fay, and their fleet had remained at Antar IV, and Kastor had simply taken his ship and a small team with Rhys to help reinforce Bant's troops and the local security forces.
He could sense the disorder on the planet, but pinpointing exactly where it was coming from was going to be a problem. He frowned thoughtfully as Fay's parting words echoed through his head.
"Good luck, love," Fay said, kissing him lightly before she frowned. "I sense that all is not what it seems. Be very careful . . . something tells me this could be yet another crucial juncture for our galaxy."
He didn't feel quite as deeply about how the situation on Taris could affect everything else, but he could feel the Force's insistence that something needed to be done.
The world was falling further out of balance, and something told Kastor that if things weren't handled soon, the disorder would spread elsewhere. Considering the disorder included the Rakghoul disease, it was imperative that they stopped it here and now.
The Ebon Hawk touched down onto the landing pad, and Kastor and Rhys quickly shut the ship's systems down before making their way to the main hold. There they found their other five teammates already geared up and ready to go. They'd brought three Mandalorians: Koba, Ania, and a new recruit, Ramac Zog. With Rhys were two other Antarian Rangers: Coria Daruss and Deng Haren, both seasoned veterans.
"Alright, time to go hunting, boss," Koba said with a grin.
Kastor chuckled and nodded, his mood never failing to brighten at his friend's enthusiasm.
They made their way out of the ship and Kastor smiled seeing Allara already waiting for them, with Yoda, Bant, and Master Rig Nema, Bant's team leader.
Allara moved forward and Kastor hugged her tightly, planting a kiss on the top of her head and she pulled back and beamed at him.
"Good to see you, Dad." She glanced over and smiled. "You as well, little brother."
Rhys laughed. "Always love to see you, big sister."
Allara grinned, and Kastor snorted, knowing Siri would be nettled by Rhys calling her 'big sister.' Siri and Rhys still argued back and forth about her being his big sister, despite him calling her his little sister.
"What about me?" Koba asked, removing his helmet and giving a mock sad look.
"That goes without saying Uncle Koba," Allara assured the large Mandalorian who chuckled. "Ania, Coria, Deng, it's great to see you all again." She nodded politely at the newer Mandalorian she didn't recognize, and he offered up his name and a polite greeting.
"Master Nema," Kastor greeted politely, only knowing the Halaisi Jedi by reputation. Bant and Vokara both spoke highly of the healer.
"Master Shan," Rig Nema returned with a friendly smile before her smile faded.
"Dire, the situation is becoming," Yoda stated gravely.
"The plague is spreading rapidly, and while it is currently contained to the Undercity, it's only a matter of time before the quarantine is breached and the lower city suffers," Rig briefed.
"What do we know so far?" Kastor asked.
"We found the remains of the ship," Bant answered. "It seems to have come from Aridus."
"That's a warzone," Rhys said with a frown. "No one's really sure what they've been fighting over, but the destruction has been fierce."
"No one knew what they had been fighting over," Rig corrected. "The ship did indeed escape from the warzone, with the source of the conflict."
"Source?" Kastor said with surprise.
"A box of some sort," Rig answered with a nod. "Apparently the war was being fought over who controlled this box. The box was seized and put on the ship. However, the ship was damaged in its escape, and from what we could tell from the damaged logs, the crew was unable to keep the ship under control when they exited hyperspace. The ship went into a death spiral and crashed in the Undercity. There must have been a few survivors, and they took the box with them, and well, they must have opened it somehow."
"So, the fighting has stopped now that this box is gone," Koba remarked. "What is this box?"
"Nobody is really sure," Bant admitted. "I talked to Taria briefly, and she talked to several of her contacts, and I believe it was Domru the Hutt who finally gave her an answer on the box's known history."
"Not all that surprising," Kastor muttered. "His resources and contacts stretch far and wide."
"The box is called the Jebble Box," Bant continued. "Nobody knows what is in it, since nobody has been able to open it. It is thought to contain a secret treasure of our Order, and has been circulating the galaxy for nearly fourteen hundred years."
"So, the beings who want it are very quiet about it because they don't want the Jedi Order to be alerted to what they're acquiring," Kastor surmised, and Bant and Rig nodded.
Allara frowned. "It was found on Jebble, I surmise, given its name, correct?"
Bant nodded.
Kastor and Allara exchanged grim looks.
"That's where the Murr Talisman was last seen," Kastor explained. "Zayne Carrick sealed it and its host in some sort of container. It was assumed to have been destroyed in the nuclear orbital bombardment of Jebble, but perhaps the Order should have looked into what sort of box it was that Carrick sealed it in."
"Well, there's almost no description on the box," Bant said sadly. "So, I can't really help you there, Kas."
"Well, all we can do is try and find the host of this amulet," Allara said. "I imagine they are being twisted by the spirit of Karness Murr. So, assume that whoever it is is very dangerous."
"Supposedly, the wearer of the amulet can control the rakghouls," Kastor said. "So, we should head down to where the outbreak is at its worst, and we'll hopefully find the source."
"The local security forces are struggling to fight off the rakghouls, but they are still insistent that they do not need Republic forces to aid them," Rig said. "They fought us bringing you all along. We listed you as experts in the plague to convince them."
"They don't want to appear weak," Rhys said with a shake of his head.
"Well, they're putting their people at risk," Rig responded in disapproval.
"You mean they're putting their Undercity people at risk," Ania retorted with a shake of her head. "Tarisians don't care about those they consider beneath them. They're too short sighted to see that this will spread."
"A rakghoul infestation in the Upper City might change them," Coria remarked darkly.
"We would prefer to stop it before it gets there," Kastor said dryly.
"Of course," Coria agreed, and then gave a cheeky grin. "Doesn't mean I'm wrong."
"Well, let's get down to where the fun is at," Koba said, unslinging his heavy repeating blaster. "I'm rather interested in seeing what these monsters are like."
"We'll see how long your eagerness lasts," Rig responded ominously.