Chapter Two

Space Battle over Fornost

Rezin stood on the bridge of the Skyline, his personal ship. He was standing before those on the bridge and broadcasting his message to the rest of the 4 fleets readying to jump to the opening battle of the war.

"I stand before you as we get ready to enter the battle to begin this war. We are Mando'ade. We are warriors. Determined and dedicated to our cause. WHen Mandalorians of the past united under one banner, it took the greatest Jedi of their time to stop them. Now, this Jedi stands with us. Not as a jedi, but as a fellow mandalorian! This has been a long time coming. The Mando'ade are finally united under one banner yet again. Not a banner of the clans, but a banner of Mandalore. We are now going to battle. Not just for glory or just to fight, but to protect everything we hold dear. To protect our families, our traditions, and our honor. This Dark Council and the threat that they pose will not be allowed to stand! This Sith Empire will bow before the might of the Mando'ade! Kote brokar Manda'lor (Glory to Manda'lor)! Kote brokar Mando'ade!" Rezin ended his speech and the fleets of the Mandalorian Empire jumped into hyperspace.

"Nice speech." Rezin hears through the Force.

"M. I figured I might as well say something." Rezin replied.

M thought for a minute. Rezin was not even sure she would respond. "You didn't need to. The Mandalorian people love you. You are their leader. They will follow you simply because of who you are." M replied. M and Rezin have always had a close connection through the Force. Rezin is the swordmaster of the Viridian Knights while M has always focused more on hidden talents and fighting from a distance.

"I understand that. This is still really new to me. I do not want them to follow me because I was picked by the previous Manda'lor. I want them to follow because they believe in me." Rezin stated bluntly.

"They do. Remember, we have been here with them for 6 years now. Fighting by their side and winning battle after battle. They know what you are capable of. They know who you are. The only thing that is different now is that you are Manda'lor, the Throne Breaker." M stated. This connected to Rezin.

"She's right you know. Our people followed you after the death of Jason because you have always been there for them. The people of Mandalore follow you because you are there for them too. Do not doubt yourself. You can do this. We can do this." Valkyria lovingly stated to her husband.

Rezin looked at his wife. "Thank you." He told her. "Both of you".

"Manda'lor. We are coming out of hyperspace." An officer reported to Rezin a couple hours later.

Rezin was quiet as his fleet dropped out of hyperspace and the Planet Fornost came into view. "Wait to launch fighters. Begin charging the main gun and target their nearest capital ship. Do not fire until I give the command." Manda'lor ordered.

"Elek jatne vod!" came the reply (Yes sir).

"Open a channel to the enemy fleet." Rezin ordered. It took a matter of seconds before the communication was established and opened. "Before you stand the might of the Mandalore 1st Fleet. You cannot win against us. Surrender or be destroyed." Rezin stated.

"Who are you to order us around. Who do you think you are?!" came the reply.

"Ni am Manda'lore (I am Manda'lor)." Rezin gave the signal to fire. A massive laser beam shot from the tip of the Skyline. It connected directly with the Sith Battle Cruiser and ripped right through it's shields. The blast then continued through the hull of the ship splitting it in two. "Raise Fleet Shield." came the next order. The Coyote then moved into position directly under the Skyline. Sections of the front of the Coyote split away and settled into position in front of the fleet. An energy beam shot out from the front of the Coyote to the nearest four shield hubs. Within a matter of seconds the Coyote had transferred it's personal shield into the shield hubs in a protective wall in front of the fleet.

"What did you just do!" the enemy commander shouted through the transmission.

"This is your last chance. Surrender or die." was Manda'lor's only reply. He then ended the transmission. The answer came a minute later when the Sith fleet opened fire. Due to the distance and the amount of energy the Coyote was putting into the fleet shield, the turbo battery barrage simply bounced off the shield. "Launch all fighters and bombers. Prepare for ground assault. I want the Basilisk War Droids ready to fire into the atmosphere once we are in range." Manda'lor stated. With the battle underway, he was no longer nervous. Everything around him seemed to come naturally.

"Sir. Your fighter is ready. Your squadron awaits your orders." a comms officer told Manda'lor.

"I am on my way." Rezin (Manda'lor) left the bridge. Once everyone is ready, we will launch. I want the fleet to remain where they are until the fighters and bombers engage the enemy forces. Then lower the fleet shield and engage in ship to ship combat." Rezin ordered.

"Of horse dear." came the reply from his wife.

Rezin reached the hanger bay where his Raptor was. The Raptor design is an old design. One from another time and world. It looks like a plane that would be planet side only. The Viridian people found its designs and modified them to meet their needs. The Raptor fighter is shaped like a sleek arrow with a rounded triangle shaped wing on each side. It has two fins out of the back that will extend when it enters the atmosphere in order to help its maneuverability.

Rezin boarded his fighter and opened communication between his squadron. "Ready for battle. Keep track of your kill count. Winner gets free meals for a week." The last sentence was said to all fighter squadrons launching from the Skyline. "All wings report in." came Manda'lor's order.

"Dragon 2 standing by"

"Dragon 3 here"

"Dragon 4 ready for war"

"Dragon 5 reports ready"

"Dragon 6 standing by"

"Dragon 7 ready"

"Dragon 8 reporting in"

"Dragon 9 here and ready".

"Dragon Squadron ready for the fight." came Rezin's voice to the bridge. "Dragon Squadron, you are cleared for launch." was the reply.

"Oya! (lets hunt!)" was heard all throughout the fleet. The fighters launched from their bays aboard their star destroyers. They were followed closely by the bombers. As they screamed towards the Sith fleet, Rezin felt the familiar presence in his mind. Valkyria was using her Battle Meditation to connect all the mandalorian pilots to help them fight in unison. Rezin led his squadron into the fight first. They hit the sith fighters fast and quickly split into pairs to chase the fighters that had passed them. Rezin and his wingman hit the breaks as they whipped their fighters around and chased after the lead sith fighter. Rezin watched as the enemy tried to avoid the target lock. Rezin was able to lock on and blast the fighter into space dust. 'That is one' Rezin thought.

The battle progressed for over an hour as the fighters and capital ships fired at each other. As the Mandalorian fleet closed the distance, the fighters were able to break off and begin the strafing runs on the surface. Basilisk War Droids immediately launched from the Fleet and headed for the surface to pave the way for the larger landing craft to bring in the heavy weapons.

With the ground forces successfully breaking through the enemy fleet and reaching the surface, Rezin was finally able to focus solely on the space battle in orbit. He turned his Raptor Fighter around, closed the fins again and sped for the atmosphere. His squadron followed him. "Once we enter the battle again, split into pairs and target all enemy fighters." He ordered his pilots. "Yes Manda'lor." came a chorus of replies.

Rezin took the next few minutes to check in with the Fleet. "Damage report."

"Minor hull damage to the Victor and Striker cruisers. We lost two corvettes as well. No damage to the Star Destroyers or Skyline and Coyote."

"Good. Hold position and let the fighters and bombers finish off what remains. If they move to retreat, give chase only as long as they remain in the system." Rezin ordered. He then shut off his comms and connected to the force. One advantage that his personal squadron had was that they were all varying levels of force sensitive. He was the only Mando'ade Votyc, but all had been hand picked by him because of their strong connection to the force. He linked up with them through Valkyria's Battle Meditation link and they split into pairs. Dragon 2 was his wingman. She had fought with him for many years now and she is a good friend to both him and his family. It helped that she was the sister to M. "Alli. Remain on my wing. We need to keep what remains on the fighters off our bombers tails."

"Of course, Rezin. This should be fairly simple." Alli replied. Rezin proceeded to reduce his link through the force to just Valkyria and Alli. This would allow him to monitor his fleet through his wife while allowing him to work in perfect unison with his wingman.

They flee through the laser fire coming from the nearest enemy capital ship. This was a massive Sith Battle Cruiser. Somehow, this one had taken very little damage. Rezin did not have time to think about this though. He and Alli locked on to a group of 4 sith fighters chasing a squadron of bombers. Or at least what remained of a squadron. Once the sith pilots realized they were no longer free to attack the bombers, they changed direction and ran from Rezin and Alli. The chase was on. They flew in between enemy ships dodging laser fire all around them. At one point, they had to split up to fly through the debris of an enemy frigate. They quickly formed back up with the help of their link. Right as the Sith pilots broke from the mass chaos of the fleet battle, Rezin opened fire. In quick succession, he dropped the two lead fighters. The rear two blew up from fire coming from Alli's Raptor.

The battle progressed like this for a little while longer before it was simply mop up duty. Rezin and his squad tallied a total of 21 kills during the battle. The next closest squad came from the Coyote and tallied 17 kills with one loss.

Rezin led his squadron back to the Skyline. Usually, he would have remained in the hanger to look over his ship and check in with his team, but something was bothering him. He went for the bridge instead. Alli followed as she wanted to check in with M. "Kill count?" rezin asked upon arrival.

"19 enemy ships destroyed. Another 7 critically damaged and dead in space. Only one seems to have escaped mostly undamaged." One of the bridge staff informed Manda'lor.

Rezin looked through the viewport. There it was. The Sith Battle Cruiser. The only one in the fleet based on the debris. He reached out to the vessel through the Force. What he felt made his blood run cold. A massive Force presence was on the bridge. Just as he was about to consult with Valkyria and Alli, a transmission came through. "Well now. You have made a mess of my fleet." Came a raspy voice. The speaker was clothed head to toe in gray robes and armor. His mask looked ancient. "I assume by the lack of response that you did not expect to see me here. You know who I am?" the Sith asked.

"Darth Nox. Dark Council Member." Alli replied. Rezin just stared on.

"Very good. Very good. I will be leaving now. Do not think to give chase. We already have the coordinates locked in. Good luck here, Manda'lor." darth Nox retorted. "You are going to need it." and then the ship was gone.

Rezin did not speak for some time. No one asked him questions. They knew what their Manda'lor wanted of them. Finish the clean up and support the ground invasion. They also knew of the history that Nox and Rezin had. Darth Nox was the Sith who sacked the planet Viridian.