Star Wars: The Sith Resurrection Part VII: A Glimmer of Hope

[Alkonium]

"Soresu operates on similar principles." Kalla commented. She then approached Jun-la and asked, "Mind if we join you?"

 

*************************

(Komad and Iyav are in separate ships. Komad's in his X-38, while Iyav's in the Silver Eagle)

 

"This is where the fun begins." Komad replied, taking his X-38 close enough to the hull of the New Imperial Star Destroyer attacking the Ackbar to attract the attention of it's autoturrets. He maintained an erratic flight path, narrowly avoiding the shots, while the fighters behind him weren't so lucky. After thinning their numbers considerably, he changed course and headed for the ship's external shield generator. Once he was close enough, he unleashed his ship's payload on it, and banked too sharply for the remaining fighters on his tail to follow suit.

 

Not deterred by the change in shield frequency again, Iyav reactivated the randomiser, and targeted the ship's turbolasers.

[JediMaster12]

Jun-la didn't look at Kalla but rather kept her concentration. She gave a slight nod that was unnoticeable to the naked eye but Tonatius caught the movement. He said, "We are welcome." He then explained, "Though it seems rude, it is part of the meditation. Full concentration is needed in order to center yourself. She heard us."

 

Tonatius stood a fair distance away before withdrawing his blade in a fluid motion that would have rendered it invisible since he was moving so fast. He then slid into a fighting stance and stood there just breathing. "Ready?" He meant to meditate before sparring.

[Chevron 7 locke]

"The boy is gone now and you can tell me about your escape. If you wish."

 

Alriana sighed heavily. Maybe it would be best if she told the tale. "After I escaped from the jedi temple, I fled to Geonosis but the Empire's bounty hunters and inquisitors were right behind me. Because of my cowardly retreat from the temple, two hives of Geonosions were exterminated because they chose to hide me. I am responsible for so many deaths..."

 

 

 

Imperial Pride

 

"Admiral! We have managed to locate a small ship that it attempting to attack the modified turbolasers. It also just finished attackng one of our shield generators "

 

"Engage the tractor beam and pull it in. If that ship is brave enough to go up against the modified turbolasers then it must posess some sort of special ability."

 

The tractor beam engaged and immediatly snared the smaller ship. Beroc smiled widely as it was pulled toward the staboard hanger. "Engage all tractor beams and focus them on that ship. I don't want to be able to maunuver at all."

[Alkonium]

Komad then finished off the external shields on the Imperial Pride. only to spot the Silver Eagle caught in its tractor beams. "The shield's are down, give them everything you've got."

 

Time to get clever. Iyav thought as he started looking through the ship for ways out of the tractor beam. Without a clear indication of where the beams were coming from on that Star Destroyer, shooting them out would be impossible. However, he did see one viable solution. He quickly gathered everything he and Komad considered essential into the cockpit, sealed it off, and opened the airlocks, jettisoned the escape pods, and for good measure, fired off a few torpedoes. The vast mess of debris was able to divert the attention of the tractor beams, and allow the Silver Eagle to break free. That stuff can be replaced, and Komad'll just be glad I'm alive.

 

******************************

 

"Ready." Kalla replied, activating her lightsaber and holding it in the traditional Soresu stance. "You know those things are going to bleed just as much from your sword as from Andorra's, right?" She asked before meditating herself.

[JediMaster12]

"If they didn't bleed then they'd be a droid," Tonatius replied before executing a graceful mood to begin meditating. "Before the lightsaber, the Jedi had these." His point was to emphasize that Kalla shouldn't judge a weapon by its appearance alone.

 

**********

 

Tavaryn listened as she explained herself. He had a feeling she had been on Geonosis before but the memories were painful. He interrupted her, "Don't ever say that. They made the choice to hide you and by doing so accepted the risk of being associated with the Jedi."

 

He was aware that he sounded a bit harsh so he softened his voice to a softer tone. "They chose to help you. They knew that they risked death. It was not cowardly to run. Mother told me that the signal was sent to warn any surviving Jedi to stay away. You were obeying an order but also you wanted to live. It is not selfish to want that."

[Alkonium]

"Just be careful, you know I don't want to lose you, my love." Kalla replied, clearing her mind and reaching out with the Force...

 

She saw it: the New Imperial Base, abandoned, but filled with victims of the bioweapon, Republic Guardsman and New Imperial Stormtrooper alike. The halls were littered with blood spatter, carbon scoring and dead bodies. She saw the group trapped in the labs and crippled with fear. Through it all, however, she saw a man she did not recognise, dressed in black robes, and laughing amidst the carnage. She did not know why, but when she saw him, she was more terrified of him than anything in her entire life...

 

Her eyes shot open, her pupils wide, her breathing heavy. As she saw Tonatius, all she could say was "Who was he?"

[Shana]

"I think that's a good idead, I am not too good with a sword, I'm completely sure that Wrath would be a far better opponent. I am good with a blaster so it will be good excersize. I haven't fired one in a long time but it's like riding a speederbike, you just don't forget it", Lenatha said with a smile as she opened up her silver case revealing two shiny silver dual twin blasters from it. She checked the power cell and then readied them spinning them skillfully on her hands. "Ready when you are."

[Chevron 7 locke]

"They chose to help you. They knew that they risked death. It was not cowardly to run. Mother told me that the signal was sent to warn any surviving Jedi to stay away. You were obeying an order but also you wanted to live. It is not selfish to want that."

 

Alriana sighed heavily. "It was cowardly to run. It was cowardly of me to run instead of staying and fighting alongside the Geonosions. They gave their lives to save mine even though I was a former enemy."

 

Imperial pride

 

"Grand Admiral. The smaller ship has broken free from the tractor beams."

 

"Ignore it. I think I've come up with a solution to the shield problem. Keep remodulating shields every few seconds."

 

"As you command Admiral. Also, the Ackbar's forward shields are weaking. Estimated shield failure in three minutes."

 

"Excellent."

 

 

Ackbar

 

"Admiral! The forward shields are weakining! They're attempting to break sthrough the shields that are surrounding the bridge."

 

"Reroute all auxillary power to the bridge shields!" Belina shouted. "Have we made any headway against those modified turbolasers?"

 

"A few of them have been damamged but none of them have been destroyed! The shields surrounding them are too strong!"

 

"Status of the imperial fleet?"

 

"Thirty percent of their forces have been destroyed or crippled. But thirty five percent of our forces have been destroyed or crippled as well! We should withdraw and regroup Admiral!"

 

"No! We need to buy time for the ground forces that have already landed." She turned to look out the window just in time to see two of her star destroyers begin focusing fire on the modifed star destroyer.

 

This new Grand Admiral is dangerous. I might need to retreat from this one once the last of the ground craft land.

[Tysyacha]

Andorra brought Chetyrnadtsat' to her chest, lengthwise, closed her eyes, and then spun herself into a great, whirling vortex of flying hair and blurry motion. She deflected several blaster bolts from Lenatha, but when Wrath suddenly attacked her, she was at a split-second loss for how to proceed...

[JediMaster12]

"I say again, it wasn't cowardly," Tavaryn replied, "The Force is said to protect the lost, the innocent and the fools. It works its own will." He had recited what his mother had told him though he never understood it fully until he met Kyle Katarn. He grew up away from the Force so he didn't grasp the teachings of the Jedi when they cropped up. Confusing times.

 

**********

 

Tonatius grunned wryly as he went through the motions with Kalla. He was jerked out of it when she started breathing heavily and he saw her wide eyed expression. Lady Jun-la bore a similar look. He asked, "Who?"

[Alkonium]

"I don't know who he was. All I know is that I saw him laughing amidst the dead and the undead in the New Imperial Base, like he found it amusing. I don't know why, but I was so consumed with fear when I saw him. He might be behind the virus, whoever he is." Kalla explained. "Just give me a moment to catch my breath, and I'll be fine."

 

************************************

 

"Commander, I think I've spotted a weakness in their defense: to combat the randomised lasers, they've started remodulating the shields. However, the shields have to go offline briefly in order to do this. If you time your shots correctly, there won't be a shield to get past." Iyav suggested.

[JediMaster12]

Tonatius narrowed his eyes in suspicion as he looked at Lady Jun-la who was no where in sight having left as rapidly while Kalla was speaking. Tonatius knew something was going to happen but he felt powerless to do anything save fight. He replied, "Don't worry. Things will work out even if they are the most terrifying of things." He smiled as reassurance.

[Alkonium]

"I suppose you're right. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." Kalla replied, smiling back at Tonatius. "How long was I out? It can't be that much longer before we reach Geonosis."

[Chevron 7 locke]

"The Force is said to protect the lost, the innocent and the fools. It works its own will."

 

If thats true then why didn't the force protect all those Geonosians who fought to protect me? She thought darkly.

 

"I disagree. Look at what happened to all the jedi who were killed when Order 66 went down. Many of them were innocent and the force didn't protect them."

 

 

Ackbar

 

"Commander, I think I've spotted a weakness in their defense: to combat the randomised lasers, they've started remodulating the shields. However, the shields have to go offline briefly in order to do this. If you time your shots correctly, there won't be a shield to get past."

 

"Thanks for the info!" Belina calmly said as Garja continued putting fires around the bridge. "Tactical! Open up on those turbolasers!"

 

Belina watched as the turbolasers hit the star destroyer directly where the modified turbolasers were located, destroying three of them before the shields went back up.

 

"Did we get them all?"

 

"N-No sir. We weren't able to get the last one. And the bridge shields are down to ten percent! We can't survive much more of this."

 

 

Imperial Pride

 

"Admiral! Three of the modified turbolasers have been destroyed. The shields have been remodulated. The Ackbar's bridge shields are down to ten percent.

 

"Have the republic landing craft managed to make it through the blockade?"

 

"Several waves have managed to make it through. Also, a small ship managed to break through earlier."

 

"Are our ground forces ready for them?"

 

"Yes sir! They have been alerted and are waiting for the republic forces to land."

 

"Excellent! Keep targeting the Ackbar and keep firing until there is nothing left of that ship but ashes!"

[Alkonium]

They keep remodulating their shields, which makes specifically configuring the lasers almost useless. However, there's no way they can get them fully charged, meaning they'd be focusing on the forward shields, leaving the stern unprotected. Iyav thought, figuring out a way to save the Ackbar. The Imperial Pride was too focused on the Ackbar to notice the Silver Eage, so he skimmed along the hull of the Star Destroyer until he reached the engines, and he fired every remaining proton torpedo at the ship's exhaust panels. The impact was close enough to ignite the remaining fuel.

[JediMaster12]

"They were deceived," Tavaryn replied softly, "They were deceived by the very person who was supposed to represent the ideals of the Republic. By the time realization came, it was too late. There wasn't a day that went by that my mother slipped into despair over that memory even though before hand she managed to save some of the younglings."

 

It was difficult to talk about his mother. Most of what he was saying were what she had told him and what he observed when they were hiding with the Shinigami. He couldn't describe what he was feeling as he spoke. "The Force does protect those I said but also there is a purpose for every lifeform. In a way the Geonosians are protected in memory. They..."

 

R4 had interrupted stating that they were nearing the end of the line to Geonosis. He stood up and said, "Just remember there is a urpose for everything," then disappeared down the tunnel to check on the navigation systems and leaving Alriana to ponder more on what they were discussing.

 

**********

 

"We were in meditation but I believe Lady Jun-la felt it as well," Tonatius offered. "If that is the case then we will be all the more prepared." It was a rather weak speaking of confidence but Tonatius didn't know what else to say.

 

At that moment, Matton's voice came over the comm, Attention all hands, we'll be arriving at Geonosis in approximately twenty minutes.

[Chevron 7 locke]

"They were deceived by the very person who was supposed to represent the ideals of the Republic. By the time realization came, it was too late. There wasn't a day that went by that my mother slipped into despair over that memory even though before hand she managed to save some of the younglings."

 

Alriana simply sighed and stayed silent as she thought more on what Tavaryn said. She watched as he left to check the nanigation systems.

 

 

Ackbar

 

"Admiral! The engines of the Star destroyer have been destroyed! They are begining to go into a spin!"

 

"Admiral Belina was knocked out when a nearby console exploded" Garja shouted back at the officer. "Reroute all power to the shields and this time I mean all power except for the weapons!"

 

"Yes sir!"

 

Garja watched as a medical team rushed to the bridge and carried the wounded Admiral Belina off the bridge as quickly as they could.

 

If I don't win this battle then she'll never forgive me. He thought as he ordered all weapons trained on the star destroyer and gave the order to fire again.

 

Imperial Pride

 

"Admiral. Our sublight engines are now gone. All we have left are thrusters and the backup Hyperdrive."

 

"It was the small ship that did this wasn't it?"

 

"Yes sir. We've managed to find out the name of the vessel. It's known as the Silver eagle.

 

"The Ackbar has just rerouted all power to their shields."

 

"Inform all ships to launch their reserve fighters. Take out the silver eagle at all costs and inform the Death's head to begin targeting the Ackbar.

 

The first officer nodded and began issuing orders.

[JediMaster12]

((Question: is there a blockade on Geonosis? Just want to make sure.))

 

Tavaryn studied his navigation charts and found that they would be coming in on the far side of the planet. The charts also indicated that the asteroid belt would provide good cover in terms of obscuring signatures and the duck andcover method should someone start shooting.

 

Haruka had been upgrading Two-y to be more effective in combat such as repairing droids or even fighting himself. After finishing, he walked towards the cockpit where his rescuer/companion was studying the navigation charts. He figured it was time to get some answers, "So Shinigami, why did they send you?"

 

Tavaryn cast a glance and replied, "I'm one of the best so they say. Mainly because of my ties to the Jedi and the Force."

 

"Why? You related to a Jedi?"

 

"Something like that. Had a friend who was a Jedi. They thought I was better prepared to handle someone with a strong connection to the Force."

 

"And they think I have the Force. " Haruka chuckled slightly, "Look I may be able to sense some things before they happen but it's nothing more than survival instincts. That's all."

 

"So you say."

 

Haruka groaned at the annoying phrase. "Look I tagged along because those guys that attacked us on NarShadda attacked me and tried to kill me. Let's just say I want answers."

 

"And you are entitled to them. We're about twenty minutes from Geonosis. Let Alriana know."

 

Haruka gave a wave to indicate that he would do it. He went to the main hold where Alriana was sitting. He said, "Told me to tell you we've got twenty minutes till we reach the planet."

[Master_Archon]

((I believe this is where things were left off Alkonium?))

 

"Once the 'Nex Venators' find out what's been done for you, you're liable to become a target yourself. Were they involved in the attack on the Republic Star Destroyer Cygnus?"

 

Vector shifted slightly and pondered the thought of being targeted, then laughed to himself quietly. "I've been targeted by the 'Nex Venators' since I left the Sith order the first time.....The Sith found me and tortured me for my actions - Heh, familiar isn't it?

"The 'Nex Venators' liked me for that - strangely enough - they saw to it that the Sith 'let me go' for my weakness, and they approached me, spoke words of promise, and they took me in, trained me. With time I left them too," Vector paused, sighing slightly, his eyes refocusing on the wall, as they'd spaced out during his recollections.

 

"So you see, being a target doesn't bother me, I'm used to it. How about you Jedi, do you care that I'm targeted? Do you realize that by doing what you've done for me you've only made Komad and his group bigger targets? Oh, don't worry though, the 'Nex Venators' will wait for awhile, they'll take their time and analyze their mistakes, and then the problems will start mounting. Do you think your friends are ready for that?" Vector shook his head and stared off at a different wall.

 

With time Vector looked back and spoke in a low weary tone, "The Cygnus you say? Tell me, is the information worth anything to you? Or have you already learned something?"

[Alkonium]

(Yes, but it's currently being engaged by the Republic Fleet)

 

Ebon Hawk

 

Kalla had a pretty good idea of what to expect above Geonosis once Matton made his announcement. As she and Tonatius left the cargo hold, she asked him, "Gun turrets?"

 

Komad's X-38

 

After Iyav disabled the Imperial Pride, Komad immediately noticed another squadron of TIE Wraiths going after the Silver Eagle. Naturally, Komad put his X-38 into a pursuit course. Despite all the technological advances, Sienar's TIE line still lacked the resilience of Incom's fighters, sacrificing it in order to allow for cheaper mass-production. A mistake they never did learn from. He managed to take out several with little more than his X-38's laser cannons, even knocking out the engines of a few and making them swerve into one another.

 

Jedi Temple, Medical Wing

 

"Two weeks ago, the Republic lost all contact with the RSS Cygnus. When it turned up again, it was ravaged by an infection which reduced most of the crew to what could best be described as zombies. You can see why we want more information." Kol explained.

[JediMaster12]

Tonatius gave a shrug. He walked to where the turrets were and climbed up. To be fair, he liked being in the turrets but the only thing that he didn't like was the fact that the turrets tended to be sluggish against fast moving fighters.

 

He climbed into his seat and hooked on the headset. "Tonatius is the turrets. All systems go."

 

Matton replied, "Alright kid. Kalla in turret two?"

[Alkonium]

"You know it." Kalla replied, buckling herself in. She agreed with Tonatius on the turrets' flaws, despite her enjoying it. She also noticed an unusual lack of enthusiasm in Tonatius's tone. "Is something wrong?" She asked him.

[Chevron 7 locke]

"Told me to tell you we've got twenty minutes till we reach the planet."

 

((Is Darth Pestilus on the surface yet? I was going to have Beroc try to kill him.))

 

Alriana nodded her thanks at Haruka for telling her and then reached down and ignited her lightsaber to make sure that it was working properly. She then deactivated it and returned it to her belt.

 

"So tell me...What do you know of the jedi of this time?" She asked. "I am not officially a member of the order and thus am not that familiar with their practices."

 

 

 

Ackbar

 

 

"Admiral Garja, we have just recieved an update on Admiral Belina's condition. Medbay reports that she is in critical condition."

 

"We're going to dedicate this battle to her then. Have you managed to identify the Imperial flagship?"

 

"Yes sir. The flagship has been identified as the Imperial Pride under the command of Grand Admiral Beroc."

 

Beroc...where have I heard that name before? It sounds so familiar.

 

 

Imperial Pride

 

Grand Admiral Beroc turned toward the viewports just in time to see an X-38 go by the and wipe out some of his fighters that were on the tail of the silver eagle

 

"Launch all shielded fighters and have them chase down the silver eagle.

 

"Yes sir!"

[JediMaster12]

Out of habit, Tonatius turned to look at Kalla while the target systems were coming online. He replied, "Nothing wrong, just...waiting" He couldn't really describe the feeling. It was unease because it felt like a calm before the storm yet it was oddly content. He dealt with it the only way he knew how and that was to assume the stance of the warrior. "Targeting is online."

 

**********

 

Haruka eyed the Jedi with some trepidation before answering, "Hell I don't know much about it. Me I spent my life avoiding them since one once told me I was special.I do know that the new order was started by Luke Skywalker and his closest friend Andros Starlighter."

[Alkonium]

(@Chev: I think he is. How do you feel about Pestilus turning the tables on Beroc?)

 

Ebon Hawk

"I'm ready on this one." Kalla called out, preparing for the ship to come out of hyperspace. She could feel the sluggishness of the turrets even now, and while she was still impressed that the ship was working after four thousand years, she often wondered why Matton and Jun-la didn't give it a massive overhaul, or even sell it for a more modern ship.