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| - Laera removed her helmet, drawing out the comlink and fastening it to her ear as the rhythmic sounds of Dan'kre's slicing activities tapped out a tuneless mantra. Save for the Bothan's efforts, the command center had descended into silence, with the troopers of her squad covering the three entrances into the room and keeping an eye on their prisoners. The Marine captain took advantage of the momentary silence to obtain reports from Third Battalion's company commanders. “Hornhead Hammer to all ground units, let's have a sitrep.” “Hammer One Actual here,” Aurek Company's commander replied. “Our sectors are clear; we've taken a few casualties, but the Sith troopers are all down. We've got workers fleeing into the countryside, however.” “Two Actual here,” Bimm's voice came back, excited. “Same situation here, all sectors clear. They've taken to the hills and we're setting up a defensive perimeter.” “Scalpel here, all sectors are clear,” Chek Nessai reported, her tone satisfied. “We've got four outposts up and operational; if the Sith fighters break through and make a run on us, we'll be ready.” Laera nodded to herself, allowing a small smile to dimple her left cheek. Despite the presence of Sith reinforcements in the space overhead, the situation on the ground couldn't be better, and a sense of indomitable confidence stole through her mind. “Good work, everyone,” she said. “Smuggler, bring your landers inside and get ready to load'em up. Hammers One and Two, send whoever you can spare to assist.” A chorus of acknowledgments came back over the comm. Laera turned away from where she had been monitoring Dan'kre's progress, and walked over to a sensor display. Bringing up a live feed from an exterior camera, she watched as the landers of Cresh Company rose into the air and landed inside the outer perimeter. Through some miracle of piloting skill, all fourteen of their landers were able to fit onto the supply docks, which was a relief considering how vulnerable the whole operation now was to a massed orbital bombardment. Looking like armored ants, the soldiers swarmed from their vessels and into the complex, eager to take advantage of the impromptu fire sale. The officer was about to call up a schematic of the planet and its surrounding satellites in order to get an idea of what forces the Sith had brought when a prickling sensation at the back of her neck caused her to look up and around. Laera watched as a shadow flitted into the room from the far passageway, but before she could shout a warning, the silence was rent by the snap-hiss of a lightsaber. A crimson shaft of energy lanced outward and sliced two of her troopers in half; the two Marines crumpled noiselessly, as though they were some sort of puppets whose manipulator cables had been cut. — — — “Five minutes to maximum firing range, Admiral,” the sensor officer advised. Staring gimlet-eyed through the forward viewports, though he knew that it was no use, Admiral Hetton nodded in acknowledgement of the lieutenant's warning. “Comms, put me through to the fleet,” he replied. “Aye-eye, sir!” “All ships, this is Admiral Hetton. Our enemy outnumbers and outguns us, but we've got'em by the tail this time, and we're going to make them pay for it. Captain Tyr, your Aureks will break by squadron and unload their proton torpedoes into each enemy cruiser, then go for the fighters. Endar Spire, Delta Dagger, Horseshoe and Stalwart Defender, hold fire until I give the order, then hit the nearest cruiser with everything we've got.” “The fleet's responding, sir,” Comms said. “We're ready.” “Sir, the formation is breaking apart,” the sensor officer said, dumbstruck. “The planetside squadrons are decimating their fighter force, and the cruisers are balking! They're moving out of position for covering fire!” Hetton motioned for the comm officer to mute the fleet channel. “What do you mean?” he asked the lieutenant at the sensor station. “I don't know, sir,” the young officer replied. “It's like they're...I don't know how to say it...but they're scared off somehow! The trailing cruiser of their diamond formation is slowing down, the two on their wings are peeling off. By the time we get into optimum range, the enemy ships won't be able to cover each other!” By the Force! Hetton swore to himself, awestruck. Then he grinned, a feral smile that he couldn't recall having given before, and signaled for the resumption of communications. “All ships, move to attack speed and fire as you bear! Hit those Sith bastards with everything you've got!” — — — In the space above Iridonia, all hell broke loose. Nova, Vorda, Palo and Thex, the four squadrons of starfighters that had stayed behind with Admiral Hetton's task force, suddenly screamed ahead, unleashing massed volleys of proton torpedoes as they bore down on the four Interdictor-class cruisers of the Sith fleet. The enemy ships' defensive fire was scattered and, for the most part, ineffectual, and sheets of blue fire enveloped their shields. They continued to launch their compliments of Sith interceptors, but they came out piecemeal, and were easy prey for the two units of Aureks that had gone in with the landing force. Shabu and Dalus had only lost three fighters between them, with two pilots succeeding in going extravehicular, but they had destroyed twice their number among the opposition in the first few minutes of the engagement. As the Republic cruisers, backed up by their massive flagship, came into range, they unleashed a withering barrage of turbolasers, ion cannons, and proton torpedoes. The three Hammerhead-class cruisers at the head of the formation caught the trailing Sith capital ship in a murderous crossfire, collapsing its deflectors, boiling off armor plating, and puncturing gun turrets. The first volley of ion cannon fire from the Stalwart Defender left it dead in space, unable to maneuver or defend itself, and soon a torrent of escape pods began to blossom forth. Unperturbed, the Republic force continued to wade into the fight. Nova and Thex squadrons succeeded in bracketing the leading cruiser in successive nova flares of proton torpedoes combined with fusillades of laser cannon fire, dropping its port and starboard shields. Vorda and Palo squadrons, hot on the heels of their fellows, took the opportunity to land killing blows on the enemy vessel, tearing vast gashes into its flanks that belched flames, bodies and debris into hard vacuum, along with the ship's atmosphere. Horseshoe, on the port flank of the Republic cruiser formation, finished the Interdictor off with a hail of turbolaser fire aimed at its bridge tower. Stalwart Defender, the flagship, found itself in between the remaining enemy ships. Undaunted, the battlecruiser's gunners and torpedomen sent punishing fire into each, as the Aureks turned back to further harry their remaining antagonists. Trapped between their Republic adversaries and the gravity well of Iridonia, the Sith flotilla had no possible recourse or escape. Twenty minutes after they had entered the system, all four vessels were either destroyed or effectively neutralized. Ensign Chak Ravartin, who had claimed his fourth victory in the waning moments of the battle, found himself awestruck at the decimation that he and his fellows had inflicted on the enemy. He watched as one of the Interdictor cruisers blew itself into thirds, its upper and lower hulls tearing free as a massive explosion separated them from the vessel's aft section. It reminded him unpleasantly of having cracked open the claw of a shellfish in order to get at the meat inside, and he found himself wondering how he'd feel if a similar fate befell his own ship. “Shabu Six is clear,” he informed his squadron. “Orders?” “Six, Five here. Nice work on that last one. Turn to point eight two and form up with the squadron.” “Aye aye, sir,” Chak replied, doing as he was told. — — — Laera had her lightsaber in hand and lit even as her men fell where they had stood. With a roar, she leaped after the shadow, managing to interpose herself between it and two more of her Marines. As the two blades locked together, the shadow formed itself into a being, clad almost entirely in black robes; his cowl fell away from his horned head, and recognition blazed within both of their eyes. “Acaadi,” she hissed, making the Zabrak's name into a venomous curse. “So you were the presence I felt...Commander Reyolé,” the Zabrak spat, his tone filled with contempt. “And here you are, playing with your new toy, how pathetic!” Laera swung her blade upward, breaking the lock in a vicious Shien uppercut, following up with a blast of Force energy that sent Acaadi staggering back. “It's Captain to you, traitor!” she shot back. “So, what did 'Darth' Revan offer, to make you forsake your oaths?” Acaadi chuckled to himself, then laughed maniacally. “Oh, it's so funny you should ask, Commander!” he barked. “He offered me nothing more or less than what he gave you—a second life, a chance to find out who you really are!” As the Dark Jedi finished, the rest of the squad of Marines attempted to help, firing their carbines at the night-clad Zabrak. The Sith picked off their shots with practiced ease, forcing Laera to redirect them before they could hit her people. “Stay back!” she ordered. “Protect Dan'kre, I'll deal with this...thing!” Acaadi laughed again. “Yes, stay away, you worthless mudbugs!” he crowed. “Your commander is unfit to lead you as it is! She threw away the chance that Revan offered her, the gift of resurrection that he gave her, so that she might realize her full power, and fulfill her true destiny!” Laera suddenly found herself sweating, though it was wicked away by the body glove underneath her armor. Her heart began to beat in her ears, almost drowning out the hum of the two lightsabers. Part of her mind knew that this abomination, this thing that had once been her ally in a war now over, was simply trying to goad her into making a mistake. Another aspect, that which she had discovered on Dantooine with the help of Master Lamar, suspected that he was trying to convert her to his dark ways. Her most basic feelings, her love of the Corps and the Republic, simply wanted to smash this jeering traitor's face in and use his horns for toothpicks. It was this latter part of her mind that took over as she leaped to the attack, painting the air blue with a stream of incomprehensible invective. Acaadi found himself taken aback at the sheer ferocity his taunting had unleashed. His own skills in Ataru were barely able to hold off the crushing power of the older woman's Shien strikes, and his own parries and counterattacks were unable to penetrate the veil of Soresu that she seemed to slide into almost on instinct. His eyes grew wide as he realized that he might just have bitten off more than he could chew; the sudden burst of understanding hit him like a wet sunfish. He realized that he wasn't just facing a Jedi of middling power, who still needed further training in order to achieve mastery of her own potential, but instead a battle-hardened Marine whose newfound skills in the Force only enhanced her raw killing power. The Dark Jedi began to fall back, away from the squad of troopers he had intended to kill, doing his utmost to hold the enraged Jedi at bay. “Stop!” he almost-begged. “You don't yet realize how important you are!” “I'm important enough to kill you, traitor,” Laera shot back. With a flurry of infinity loops that threatened to trap her opponent's blade and send it flying, she forced the Zabrak back out of the command center and into a corridor. “And that's all that matters right now!” Acaadi hurtled himself to the side, using the Force to propel himself off the corridor wall and back out of range. “I know what Revan did to you, and I know why,” he sneered as he landed. “You think he doesn't know you're with the Republic, that you've trained as a Jedi?” Even as she gave chase, this comment brought Laera up short. For the briefest split-second, she remembered the corrupted nature of the Force vision from the night before, and of how she had found exactly what it had pointed to, even if its events hadn't played out in exactly the same way. Her mind flickered back to the young ensign and the data he was working to obtain; through the Force, she sensed that he was doing well, and hadn't run into anything suspicious, though he was distressed at the events that had unfolded. “You are beginning to realize, yes,” Acaadi continued as he retreated, his tone a mocking purr. “Revan wanted you to survive, to rejoin the Republic, to be his spy in the Marine Corps and the Jedi Order! Why, even now, he can sense your anger, your hatred, even as you battle me!” “Liar!” Laera bellowed, and once again she attacked with reckless abandon, closing with impossible speed upon her opponent. Trapping the marauder's blade high and kicking out with an armored boot that connected with his midsection, she sent her opponent tumbling to the floor. He skidded further away as he landed, discarding his cloak as he scrambled up and into a backward somersault. With a flicker of the Force, he sent the garment hurtling toward Laera as she sprinted after him; just as easily, she sliced it to ribbons and continued the pursuit. Dimly, the rational part of her mind could sense that he was enjoying this chase, using it to exhaust her, so that he could humiliate her before killing her. Yes! an unfamiliar, yet friendly thought whispered into her mind. Don't give in! Be smart! Be a Marine! As the Zabrak rounded a bend in the corridor, Laera skidded to a halt. That thought had come from someone else, but it had used her voice, her own ideas and feelings. She also thought that she recognized the presence of the person who had introduced it...but no, that wasn't right. Wellir's Padawan was still in the process of learning this power; the Jedi Master himself had told her this when they had first met. Her blood-rage subsiding as she took a series of deep breaths, Laera thumbed her comlink to the general ground-air-space frequency. “Hornhead Hammer to all units, be on the lookout for a Dark Jedi roaming the premises. Do not, repeat, do not engage him directly. He is mine.” — — — Acaadi continued to run, despite the fact that he could sense that his opponent no longer chased him so eagerly. Contrary to what the woman might think, he hadn't exactly lied to her; he had suspected, at least, that Revan had had some broader plan in mind when he had brought his erstwhile compatriot back from the dead. Her reaction to these suppositions, however, had been unmistakable, and he had leaped upon them to fuel his Dun Möch assault. In truth, he had no idea what Revan might have had in mind for her; he had only ever met the Dark Lord once since the Battle of Malachor V, and even then only in passing. It was only then that he realized the full import of Reyolé's new lack of enthusiasm: his mental attack had failed. The Zabrak stopped then, taking in his surroundings. Through the Force, he could sense the murderous intent of dozens of nearby Marines, no doubt they were even now blocking off all possible escape routes and preparing all sorts of clever little ambushes. He could sense, too, that his opponent had once again regained her composure, and was striding toward him with renewed purpose. It was not, however, a desire to kill that fueled her, but to protect; she knew that he could handle any one squad of Marines and work his way out of the base, perhaps to rally more ground forces to his banner. For a moment, Acaadi allowed himself to entertain that possibility, but discarded it at once as a lost cause. This woman was no fool; she had likely warned her troops not to attack him directly. No, the only thing he could do at this point was to face her, one-on-one, and kill her. — — — Her senses attuned, Laera continued down the corridor at a brisk pace, taking the same right-hand fork that Acaadi had when he had bolted. Her blade in a loose guard, she continued to track down the former Jedi Knight, who had ducked into an immense room to the left of the hallway. As she neared the hatchway, however, the comm crackled on the task force's general channel. “Hornhead Capital to all units: the horn is secure; repeat, the horn is secure.” “Dan'kre, have you penetrated their network yet?” she asked after switching her comm over to Besh Company's tactical frequency. The Bothan sounded a bit awestruck as he spoke. “Yes ma'am, we're in and pulling data dumps! And Captain, you wouldn't believe what I found lurking in this terminal! The Sith were planning to—” “Not over comms, Ensign!” Laera admonished gently. “I'll be there in a few minutes to see what you've got. In the meantime, keep pulling files!” Snapping her comlink off without waiting for a reply, Laera used the Force to trigger the hatchway actuator. It hissed and clicked open to reveal a darkened expanse that would have provided a comfortable fit for three of the Marines' landers. High shelves lined the walls and filled the room, forming meter-wide aisles in a veritable maze. Deactivating her lightsaber, Laera closed her eyes and reached out into the Force to feel where the Dark Jedi lurked, at the same time muting her own presence. This little trick might have worked on a Padawan, she thought as she pinned down his location, but not a Padawan Marine. Her eyes still closed, Laera walked into the storage room, picking her way through the maze of shelving on a seemingly erratic course toward the green-gold aura of her opponent, deliberately making it seem as though she didn't know where she was going. With a smirk, she realized just how limited the man's tactical ability really was; he'd been a good fighter against the Mandalorians, but he was no leader, no planner. His best contributions had always come during massed assaults, where he could push his way through enemy chokepoints and slash a path through them. This kind of taopari-and-nerf game of hunting, however, this was what she had always been best at. As she reached the end of a far aisle, Laera suddenly crouched, then called upon the Force in a graceful backflip that landed her on the empty top shelf of the stack behind and to her left, easily ten meters or more above the floor. Even as she landed, she reactivated her lightsaber, its cerulean blade cleaving the darkness before her. “Surprise!” she shouted with glee. As Acaadi brought his own crimson weapon into line, Laera was on him, slamming the heavy pommel of her hilt into the wrist of his sword hand. Bones popped as, with a yelp, the Zabrak rose to his feet, backing up as he caught his weapon's hilt in his off hand before it could fall to the floor. Using Soresu to form a nearly-impenetrable wall of energy, Laera pushed Acaadi further and further back, keeping him on the defensive with randomly-directed jabs and sweeps. Clawing for room to maneuver as one of Laera's swipes nicked his left wrist, the Dark Jedi sent a few boxes of supplies at the oncoming Jedi, who either ducked them or used her own power to divert them back at him. Sparks flew and their blades hissed and spat as they made contact, blue upon red, casting a violet half-light upon the shelves around them as the two combatants neared the end of the shelf. Acaadi scrambled to keep up with Laera's continued assault until, finally, he managed to clip the Jedi's sword arm with another thrown supply crate. Laera backed up a few paces as she recovered her poise, but the opening was enough for the Zabrak to unleash a peal of Force lightning into the Marine officer. Laera gasped in pain as the corrupted electrical energy surged through her, causing her muscles to spasm as she tried desperately to regain control. She had never before imagined that such a power existed; taken completely by surprise, she gave more ground to the advancing menace that had once fought alongside her on Taris. Struggling to think of something, she finally managed to turn her blade into the attack, and found to her great surprise that it deflected the continuous waves of lightning. With the pain gone and her body now firmly under her control, Laera began pushing back, sending the arcs of electricity careening off into the ceiling until, exhausted, Acaadi had no choice but to cease the assault. Switching over to Shien, Laera once again resumed the offensive, keeping the Zabrak off-balance with a staccato of blows before slashing through the shelf immediately between them. The whole structure groaned in protest, unable to take the weight of the two beings standing upon the disconnected bits of shelving. Laera, who had prepared for this, used her section as a springboard, jumping into the air between shelf and ceiling, striking out at her opponent. The double-booted, Force-augmented kick connected with overwhelming force, and Acaadi was sent flying over the edge. Shock evident in his eyes, he smashed into another shelf, then plummeted to the floor, landing with a sickening crunch. Moving quickly, Laera deactivated her lightsaber, clipping it to her belt with her left hand as she grabbed an overhead conduit with her right. Using her momentum, she swung herself over to the next set of shelves, maneuvering toward the floor in a far less drastic manner. She found him on his back, his arms and legs spread in unnatural ways, barely struggling for breath; he was dying, and he knew it. “Revan...was right...” he croaked, as blood burbled into his mouth and over his face. “You have...much power...” “No, I don't,” Laera whispered mournfully, shaking her head. “Power can be given, and it can be taken, but strength is eternal.” Through the Force, the Marine looked on as the aura of her foe faded into nothingness.
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