There's The Bell

[Fromikeable]

Flashing a smile back at Moho, Taas followed him closely, doubelsaber batting at any errant shots that managed to just skirt the edges of the Grandmaster’s barrier as they moved slowly, deliberately forward. As a duo, their minds interlinked, consoles were spotted, and with Moho’s protection, Taas flicked their controls one at a time to varying success. Some conveyors followed suit of the first, disappearing completely into other parts of the station. Others only moved so far before their inhabitants figured out the ploy, their defenses and location nevertheless weakened by the time they stopped.

But a coy trick only worked for so long against opponents with radios and a familiarity with Force-users.

By the time Ash, Taelros, and Kellen had begun applying more conventional pressure to the Imperial line, the number of consoles was greatly reduced, as many sabotaged by their Imperial users as used by Taas to their detriment. Even with the Republic Marines pressing fully against their opponents, forward motion began to slow to a crawl, taking every meter moved with a dozen liters of blood, sweat, and plasma heat.

But they were so close. The Republic’s center line was nearly to the main lift, the command center no-doubt just above.

Taas’s head swiveled when a new noise joined the din of warfare, sheer and piercing in pitch. For a moment, it seemed distant, reverbant, as if someone had forgotten to stop playing a song through a very broken old speaker. But as it grew quickly louder, its source could be pinned to one of the larger sets of open doors in the chamber, the markings on it clear.

Retrofitting.

Out came an Imperial assault shop, its color uneven and scattered part to part, in a clear state of repair. Among its many dents was a faded Imperial logo, a dozen large scratches, and some very clear weldmarks and new rivets, the entire affair clearly slapped back together in haste. Despite its almost awkward body, its armament still menaced all who saw as it began to turn, flying with deliberate slowness to avoid the many conveyors and bridges that filled the mammoth closed space. Even as it became the easiest target in the room, it showed no fear, its shields absorbing blasterfire from every Republic line that passed over.

It didn’t catch the attention of every line until it lined up its first shots, slowing to a slow-strafing hover and opening fire.

Feeling the heat of the blasts before hearing the sound, Taas quickly shifted focus, a hand off of his saber trying to track the ship’s firing line. As he did so, the explosions it generated lessened with each, his eyes squinting shut as he felt the bursts of energy more than anything else. The better the lock he got on them, the more they began to nullify, the giant bolts that created them still hitting their targets, but not inflicting anywhere near the damage they should of.

When the explosions began to not appear at all, the ship seemed to stop, its crew clearly re-evaluating. It came as no huge surprise when the ship abruptly shifted positions, leveling its guns directly at Taas and Moho.

”Friends, Master Moho and I may require assistance.”

[Blue]

Repeating the same strategy repeatedly over a short period of time would only ever work on those without knowledge of it. The Empire was many things with many faults, but raising an army of fools was not one of them. They soon saw to it that the conveyor belts remained stationary, and it was the other Jedi that began to take more direct measure that began tipping the balance back in their favour. And then a ship came rolling in. It was damaged and only half-repaired, but it served its purpose well enough. At least, it would have done so if it had not been for Taas nullifying its attacks. The Grandmaster continued to defend the Chief Librarian from the Empire's blaster fire that attempted to remove him from pestering the armoured war machine, his bubble shielding them both from the salvo. Of course, it would only be a matter of time before the ship itself attempted to remove them from the equation personally, and as its bulk shifted pointedly towards them Moho scooped his old friend up and dashed away with surprising swiftness on his many legs. The blast that struck after them hit the Grandmaster's shield, and the two of them neutralized each other. The blaster cannon fire was robbed of its force, but the bubble shattered just as Moho pulled the two of them behind cover, his broad back blocking the worst of the impact from affecting Taas while only slightly injuring himself. 'Well this will hardly do,' Moho muttered to himself, summoning the Force. Light Side energy flowed through him, knitting his damaged chitin back together. Then, raising his arms, the Force burst forwards and towards the ship. The vessel froze, all its pivotal guns pushed away from the Republic lines, before its whole body slowly started to turn away. As it rotated against its will, someone within the machine clearly panicked and fired a shot that smashed into the Imperial line, the angle no longer pointing where it should. Slowly but surely, its back plating was exposed. 'I can hold it for some time, but the sooner we deal with this issue the better,' Moho stated. What he said was true; he would be able to hold the ship in place for some time, but focusing on the ship left him unable to attend to his own defence, and a few more ripples of blaster fire flashed towards the metal wall he had found shelter behind.

[Stephen]

“Aw for force sake.” The thunderous scream of the the gunships cannons cut through the din of the battle like a terrified boma at a school dance. Soldiers and jedi alike took a moment to almost laugh at the awkward terror it brought as if manuevered clumsily through an area definitely not made for it angrily lashing out. It was a spectacle and a half worthy of this abrupt and violent day. The muted explosions from the ships hardly recognized him Taelros' stunted mind. The cries for help and the cannons wheeling around however shook him back to mindfulness.

Taelros about faced and sprinted back along the steel cable before leaping off and landing on another. A further leap put him brachiating rapidly toward the ship careening through the now restarting blaster fire. One final leap put him on the upper wing of the gunship, his chest colliding with the durasteel with a heavy “ooof” of his air vacating his now sore chest. He clung on as the ship shuddered to a stop, it's impulse engines straining against the miracle of the force. Taelros struggled to his feet and stared down at the impossible beast underneath him. I have no idea what this does he thought with a sad finality. He shifted around and tried to look for a weakpoint in vain. It looked for all the world a impossibly thick egg like craft with for seeminly vestigal wings protruding out of the back, like a bad science project about teaching chickens to fly during formation.

Clearly Taelros had fallen into evil habits. Motion and violence were the order of the day, not contemplation and confusion. Taelros began swinging between the wings of the ship dragging his lightsaber over the hull. Any bump, vent, or protrusion got at least a cursory slap from his saber. Anything making heat or sound got a full force stab. He dragged the blade in a ragged x over the view screen as he stared down at the confused and scared pilots still wresting with the controls against the force. He took their panic as confirmation and began digging with the blade down into the window, his hilt held like a pick. Every so many stabs he stomped as hard as he could on the window. Dumb strength and impertinence won out over well intentioned engineering and common sense, as it often does. Taelros headed the window enough that his stomp saw him sat on the cockpit floor his legs coated in half molten windscreen. In a panicked scramble the cockpit erupted into limbs climbing over limbs to escape or reach weapons. Taelros stood, the brittle cooling glass and plastic shattering off of his legs in legs in long strips, and ignited the other end of his saber. In the cramped confines of the cockpit it was enough to twist in spot with the blade, both ends tearing through seatbacks, consoles and controls and flesh in equal measure.

The ships engines began to malfunction angrily and the guns roared to life plastering the floor of the station in blast after blast. The ship's thrust pushed in multiple directions at once as circuits once indiviual melded into one, still conducting power. Doors toggled on and off, engines fired and quit only pivot and fire again, the landing gear danced a merry jig underneath the confused beast. The radio flipped from channel to channel catching confused segments of orders and advertisements for local jizz bands in equal measure. Taelros had seen enough, It wasn't his finest plan but he had done what he had meant to do, time to leap from the ship and hope for the best. He ran up the ruined cockpit, stomping on the handle of the severed yolk of the ship and ran out down the nose of the egg and leapt for the steel railing overhead.

[Bayou]

---

Shit. The Imps were starting to improvise their defenses with a bit more flair. The gunship proved a worrying force multiplier to the already complicated firefight. Though they were making headway, this part of the station proved more of a hassle to push into. And it would only get more intense the further in they assaulted.

The gunship wound through the mess of machinery and conveyors before setting its sights on Kellen and the Republic line. Their positions now under fire by the bigger guns of that ship. Thankfully, the impact and efficiency of the blast was already regulated by the efforts of fellow Jedi. The ship struggling in the grasp of the Force. But more than enough shots were fired to still affect the Republic troopers.

Kellen was quick to act upon the first shots. Using the Force, he quickly waved both of his hands to either side of him and knocked away a couple of troops standing ahead of him. They were moved to relative safety behind him just as he raised two metal barricades used by the Imperials for cover with the Force. The impact of the weakened shots smacking into the metal. If not for the efforts of the three Jedi using the force to contain the ship, the shots and providing defense for the troops it could have been bad for their side. But thanks to their efforts the only casualty was damaged metal.

As the gunship turned on the two other masters, a third hopped around and started attacking the gunship wildly. Kellen tossed the two barricades aside, whatever was left from the damaged cover, and turned to find the troops already regrouping. Saved from most of the blast they were already planning their counterattack and reengaging Imperial soldiers with returned blaster fire. While his fellow Jedi utilized their force abilities and lightsaber to combat the threat, Kellen once again turned to practicality as it presented itself. No need to add another saber when simple weaponry would do the trick.

"Corporal! Hit that gunship in the backside with your rockets as it turns to face my fellow Jedi!" With his saber reignited and deflecting blaster fire once more, he spoke to a trooper with a rocket launcher and pack filled with extra rockets. The Corporal nodded once and tapped a fellow soldier on the arm as the pair went to work. The rest of the platoon provided covering fire into the large room as the tag team grenadier duo set their launchers on their shoulders and aimed their shots.

Just as Taelros leaped from the now malfunctioning gunship, two rockets were fired from the Republic line and impacted the rear of the damaged ship. The explosions were quick and effective and immediately ended the threat. The firefight once again swinging in their favor.

---

[Fromikeable]

”'Well this will hardly do.”

”Quite.” Picking himself off the ground after a grateful nod to Moho, Taas winced as the heat of the blast finally registered, harsh and sudden. He was kept from commenting on it by Moho’s new injury, an apologetic expression nearly getting a chance to thank the Grandmaster aloud for his actions.

Then the old crab was up, arms-outstretched, and back to the task as if nothing had happened.

By the time Taas had recollected his faculties, the sound of Taelros ripping through the ship became apparent. By the time he looked, Kellen’s troopers had engaged, the back of the ship exploding in brilliant flashes of orange. By the time he was standing again, the ship was plummeting toward conveyors below, disintegrating and burning slowly enough to still post quite the risk as falling debris.

All such observations were put to rest as a trio of Republic squads rushed up past Taas and Moho, pressing the advantage along with the rest of the line. The Imperials they charged against, equally distracted by their comrades’ failure and disheartened by their newfound lack of support, could only respond with retreat and shock, abandoning their positions one by one toward the central lift.

Finally, the sound that Taas had been waiting for rang out just below the din of battle. A few levels above, one of the doors to the central lifts was unlocked, and the lift itself called.

Moving with little consideration of much else, Taas ran forward, his saber unlit in hand, before mustering a mighty jump upwards. Landing gracefully just downrange of Taelros, he bode his body onward in a Force-fueled sprint, closing the distance to the Imperial soldiers as the large industrial lift door dinged, a siren sounding to inform all present that it was opening. As they turned to face him, his saber ignited, but his hand waved outward first.

”You don’t wish to continue fighting.” The guns rising to meet him completed the motion, but slowed, their wielders’ faces contorting. As an explosion from the renewed fighting below rocked upwards, Taas simply waved his hand again.

”You would like to retreat the other way. You might find escape pods thereby, and thus either escape or be taken into custody.” One of the officers, a dreamy expression on her face, raised a hand in weak protest. ”But even if the Republic took us, the Empire might-”

”It is preferable to fighting a lost battle.” Squinting a bit, Taas stared at the officer, who seemed to consider the prospect. After another raucous burst of light from below, she motioned her troops in reverse, away from the lift, past Taas in the direction of one of the station’s many other branches.

As they rushed by, Taas stepped to the controls, slamming the button to hold the door. Peering inside the now-opened lift, he gazed upwards through the shaft and spoke into his comm.

”I have secured a path direct to the command center. We may be wise to rush ahead of the main force and take it before conventional tactics play out.”

[Blue]

As his fellow Jedi turned their focus onto the ship, Moho maintained his concentration on disabling the craft's movement to provide as much safety for his brethren and the Republic troops from its destructive weaponry as possible. One by one, second by second, they combined their efforts and tore down the Empire war machine until it was nothing more than falling debris. Even then, the Grandmaster held onto it with the Force, slowing the fiery descent of the disintegrating vessel's many pieces to prevent them from crashing through the station and causing any great damage. There were many aboard, and such wanton destruction would end many lives that might otherwise have been left to live another day. Taas and the others were making short work of what remained of the Imperial forces, so Moho set his mind on a separate task. His gaze moved towards the Republic soldiers that had been wounded in the latest attack, and Light Side energy flowed from him once more. It passed through the injured, fatigued soldiers like a wave, soothing their pain and easing their wounds. Not as effective as when he concentrated on them one at a time, but enough to make sure they were stable, or able to continue on without discomfort. Through his comms, Moho heard Taas' suggestion to his fellow Jedi and, once he had ensured the last few soldiers he could help had been healed, he made his way as swiftly as he could to the lift. 'A fine plan. Hopefully we can bring this episode to a conclusion ahead of time, and limit further deaths,' Moho stated as he approached the Chief Librarian.

[Ash]

It seemed that nearly as quickly as the ship appeared in here and started blasting away that it was put down and the Sith were routed. Ash was too busy killing to help with the ship, but after it was blown up, he turned and used the force to help settle the debris and stop extra destruction on the station. The man was starting to tire out, but it was nothing that the force couldn't solve. He took a breath in, letting the force flow in him, then let his breath go, sending the exhaustion out and feeling life return.

Taas worked to settle the Sith down, and with that going on, Ash slowly made his way around, helping Republic forces, making his way back over towards where the Jedi were standing and hearing their conversations.

Strike while the fire it hot. Im sure some of these men sent word they were getting overran. Lets push forward and end this conflict.

[Bayou]

---

Kellen watched as the gunship was finished and the Force eased its destruction via Grand Master Moho. A simple nod to those killed in the action and he was back to business. His saber retracted as he walked confidently across the big room. The firefight was dying down and the Republic troops had the Imps retreating to the lift where Master Taas seemed to have things well in hand. Prisoners were a logistic nightmare in the middle of such a battle but preferable to dead persons.

Moving across the hangar he watched as troops formed by the squad and began clearing out whatever they could. Capturing supplies from the fleeing Imperial troops. Kellen arrived where the other Jedi appeared to be gathering and downed a nod to the group with a slight but withered smile. "Indeed, best we try to end this before more lives are lost. A quick action could see us in control of the station barring any unseen circumstances."

---

[Stephen]

“ We may be wise to rush ahead of the main force and take it before conventional tactics play out.” Taelros could hear the thoughts of the soldiers around him. Oh great, we finished the full plate of bantha shit that was clearing the dock and this dug in fortification and look what we won for it, another heaping plate of dogshit.” he wasn't wrong either, even dampened the gunship had taken it's toil on the squad around him, they were winded and wild eyed. None of that mattered, they had been called to serve and all the rest was crap, he could see them dead leg walking forward, adrenaline rushing from them for the quiet moment before it would come again with the sounds of blaster fire. Taelros could only oblige.

He sprinted forward, his robes was merely a hood and part of a blood streaked cloth shoulder and black fragments of char trailing him like a bushfire on a speeder. His republic armour underneath was stained brown and black and was still hot to the touch. He glistened with uncomfortable moisture, as he burst into the hallway to command center. He could see the sealed security door, it would take time to clear that without ordinance or profound telekinesis. Taelros had neither, but he had to move forward none the less. He sprinted to the door and shouldered into it heavily, thrashing his armoured hands against the metal. “Help, Help!” he yelled. “Open the door. They are coming.” a whisper of the force went with his words through the door

Nothing about what he said was a lie per say, but if felt like some fairly fairly thin ice morally. Luckily Taelros was moving quite quickly over it. The two massive plates opened parted slightly, unzipping down the middle as two circular doors rolled slightly into indents in the wall. A single face poked through fearfully. Taelros grabbed it with both hands and dragged it half way through the wall, kneeing the man on the crest of the skull. He was betting this mans torso versus his legs that they wouldn't close the door on this man, but this would only last as long as an officer did not command them to do so. A pregnant moment hung in the air between them, before Taelros called back over his shoulder. “Little help?” in a nervous half shout. His own arms scrambled past the durasteel door panels reaching inside, grasping at anything he could. He pulled back the strap on a blaster rifle and after pinning a soldier to the door a moment, the strap came free and the blaster along with it whipped over the wall to Taelros.

[Fromikeable]

Taas nodded as the group reached their consensus, but the moment of consideration was put to rest as Master Taelros led the next charge. Following after him, Taas was seconds behind as they ascended the lift, exited into the hallway, and made their way toward the command center. Any question as to open the door was instantly answered as Taelros banged on the door, feigning panic.

Deception. Pressing his lips together in disapproval, Taas found himself unable to argue as it worked, the door opening enough for some unfortunate soldier to be promptly smashed in the face. That had apparently been the extent of the plan, the Jedi Master’s nervous, genuine plea reaching Taas as he finally caught up.

As he unclipped his saber from his belt, the sound of shouting from inside could be heard. Racing it by the second, Taas reached his saber between the doors, pressed hard against Taelros’ and the Imperial soldier himself, until it poked out into the command room. Closing his eyes, Taas ignored the beginning of the shuffle inside, as well as the converging bodies grabbing at the soldier and both of the Jedis’ arms.

Instead, he let his senses melt away as he felt the room beyond them. Contorting his face with uncertainty, he spoke quietly as a twitch of the Force activated his saber, setting it to spin in mid-air just inside the room. ”This plan was, perhaps, ill-conceived.” With a final examination, as the Imperial soldier was yanked back through and blasters leveled through the hole at the Jedi beyond, Taas flicked his fingers.

The violet double-bladed lightsaber instantly rocketed to the side, toward the edge of the door, at a downward angle. Flashes of violet and red light could be seen through the panel, accompanied by panicked yells and the whir of a saber in motion.

It landed true despite its uncertain path, and with the sound of sheering metal, the door’s control panel was slashed beyond use. The doors instantly lost power, not opening, not closing, a roughly half meter open square being the only path inward.

Grabbing Taelros, Taas pulled him just to the side as Imperial gunfire began pouring out of the hole, a number of shouts from a hoarse voice demanding that “someone grab that damn saber”.

Looking back to their fellows, Taas’s plea was far more certain than Taelros’s had been. ”Please get us inside, and do as little damage to the bridge as possible!”

[Blue]

Moho could not help but give a small sigh as the young Jedi employed deception in a, perhaps, short-sighted attempt to take the bridge. It was fractionally successful, drawing out a single soldier, but alerting the entire bridge crew that the enemy were at their gate. Taas moved to help, his lightsaber slipping through into the room and ensuring that the door was unable to slam shut. The gap left was dismayingly small. Maybe the humans can slip inside, but I once again find myself at odds with geometry. 'I do so despise utilizing brute force, but it seems our situation gives me little option, if we want a swift conclusion,' Moho sighed. He took several steps back, as far as the corridor would let him, and took a moment of vivification. The Force stilled for a heartbeat, then swelled like a storm around the old Grandmaster. When he opened his eyes, the amber was tinted with bright lights of blue and gold. 'Please stand aside,' Moho requested, his voice echoing with power. He took one step, then another, then another. Each movement of his many legs increased in speed until he was charging towards the door with frightful swiftness. As his broad form contacted the thick metal of the bridge, it erupted with an ear-piercing screech and crumpled like paper, leaving behind a sizeable hole through which his brothers could move through. The bridge crew, some sent flying by the force of Moho's charge, levelled a plethora of weapons at the Grandmaster and fired. The barrier that the old Jedi had formed in front of him rippled once more, weaker for having taken the brunt of the impact against the blast doors. With a wave of his claw, the barrier surged forwards and knocked the front row of soldiers into the air and across the bridge, tumbling into the next row and making quite the mess. 'I urge you to stand down,' the Grandmaster stated to the room. His voice still resonated with power, but with a blink the bright lights faded from his eyes. 'Please.' 'For the Empire!' a man in the uniform of an officer shouted, and those still able to raised their weapons once more.

[Stephen]

Taelros rocked on his heels and watched the cooler heads attempt to prevail. The door swung open and he felt waves of force reach outward, begging for peace. There hold almost held but the complexity of their command compared to the loyality to each other and command caused internal tearing and when the officers began barking orders the lizard brain kicked in. Their minds wanted to stop but years of drilled muscle memory shunted their thoughts aside and they were in motion before they knew it. The line between well drilled and conditioning blurred as they began firing a new. Taelros rocked back from his heels and kicked forward, his hands pushed up above his head. He torpedoed into the room with a twisting forward jump, his lightsaber windmilling around him.

Clearly complexity was the issue right now, so simple and loud would have do. His legs unfolded from his spin and he landed into a sideways roll. A wave of blunt force psychic energy radiated from him, like a water spilling on a floor. A single word and a wave of emotional and physical experience. That last second twitch of the wrist, the indecision of the double clutch on a throw, the pull and clench of a mistimed shot. Frustration, nerves, shame, and the single command. Miss He spun forward, almost a victim of his own command before bodily kicking a man in imperial grey over a computer console, his legs forlornly sticking out over the back.

Chaos erupted across the room as errant blaster bolts found every target but their intended on both sides. Walls scored black, consoles and doors erupted into sparks and flame and furnature melted to slag. The room erupted into deafening noise and as shouts and confusion conflicting orders were attempted and failed. Two flash bangs went off, one wide right of anyone, one nearly in a soldiers hand. Taelros stood a moment in shock, almost daring not to move before his brain caught up to his body. “Now” he shouted to the jedi around him.

[Fromikeable]

Taas was quick to follow through Moho’s improvised entrance, his saber zipping back to his hand. Ignition was only staved off by the Grandmaster’s half urging, half plea, a pregnant moment hanging over the command center in the first real bout of silence of the day. Peace was borne of such moments.

But even before fingers pulled triggers, the Force twisted that most acrid of emotional mixtures. The justifications for war, blunt and simple, entrenched and violent.

Taelros’s quick entrance ensured that there would be no orderly firing line, the Imperial ranks breaking almost immediately as they tried to adjust. Reigniting his saber, Taas readied himself as he charged after the other master, blade spinning to reflect shots. Coming upon one of the officers, the man’s upraised blaster-holding arm leveled at him as he flourished for just a half second, waiting for an opportunity.

Then with a fluid motion, violet carved through grey, and the man’s arm was gone halfway down the shoulder. His screams quickly faded as Taas extended a free hand toward his chest, the Force surging as he was plummeted backwards, over the terminals.

He landed roughly, smashing into a duo of troopers.

Jumping atop the main command console in the room’s center, Taas grit his teeth, his comm crackling to life. ”Spare as much of the room as you can!”

[Blue]

There was a brief moment of hope as Moho felt the uncertainty of the Imperial soldiers, but it was quickly smothered by the ingrained anger and hatred bred into their bones. His brethren entered shortly after him, employing their own skills with practised efficiency. With Taas' call, the Grandmaster's eyes landed on the set of command consoles next to the man who had rallied the soldiers against the Jedi. His knees bent and his mass lowered. The commander seemed to notice the cry as well and, seeing his men falling non-stop, he turned his blaster pistol towards the consoles. But before he had the chance to fire, he and the surrounding soldiers almost toppled to the ground as Moho's bulk flew through the air and landed amongst them. With a gesture, they rocketed into the ceiling and then straight back down into the ground, pressed against the metal floor by the unseen Force. Once the immediate threat had been dealt with, a bubble of light sprung up around the command consoles to prevent any further attempts at self-sabotage. Holding the soldiers to the ground and maintaining the shield at the same time was taxing, and Moho was forced to remain passive within the bubble, trusting in his fellow Jedi to secure the bridge. Though, if any of them began to falter, Moho would not hesitate to step in to protect them over defending metal and wires.

[Stephen]

Conflicting orders clashed angrily in his head, compounded by the concussive force of a half hundred men meaningfully discarding the security deposit on the command center. Waves of force pushed passed him as the jedi entered the fray, Soldiers briefly were gifted flight only be cruelly returned to the floor, like the moments of interrupted gravity formed a orderly queue to dogpile them after they took a quick coffee break. Lightsabers hew limbs from clean cut well pressed suits in ragged red streaks. The tide turned impossibly quickly. Taelros for his had pocked his saber and was settled in for purposeful but almost meaningless in it's futility brawl.

He ducked under the butt of a blaster and planted his leed foot between the knees of his assailant stepped through his chest, leading with his elbow launching him back. He followed through with a right hook and took the soldier off his feet, cracking his helmet to splinters and tearing him through the air in a downward spiral. A vibroknife scraped the plating on his helmet near the visor, a more sure thrust followed that Taelros checked, he dragged the hand further, taking the trooper off balance. His off hand took the trooper in the neck and Taelros wrenched down hard, fulcruming him through the air and down stomach first on a console.

The rest of the fight continued on this line, valiant resistance met overwhelming and almost patronizing force. It was akin to watching an undercard fight mismanaged where somehow a office five a side team was pitted against a crowd of Savrips. The din of violence was quickly replaced by the whimper of the wounded and the heaved chest of the overexerted. Taelros looked at the blaster scorched room and the banks of largely intact computers and then back to his lines. “One of you gonna?” he pointed over his shoulder toward a particularly large bank of consoles. Taelros had no idea what was supposed to go at the end of that sentence but he was sure they'd be able to infer what he meant anyway. His eyes meanwhile drifted toward a bank of twin elevators in the back of the room

He walked over to a confused tech hammering on a console he had manually jacked into the elevator maintenance hatch. The floor number was flashing 21 in red block numbers. Then it surged to 18 then stopped again. Above him he heard the angry screech of protesting steel. Taelros tapped the techs shoulder and pointed at the floor readout. “What's that about?” he asked conversationally. The tech answered in a confused rushed tone that bordered on panic. “I don't know sir. We locked these two down when we breached the door but there appears to be some type of mechanical override that I don't understand. Another mechanical scream from above called out, louder this time, followed by a flashing twelve. Taelros pushed to doors open and looked up the shaft toward the bottom of the chamber. Security teeth for holding the cell in place rained down on either side, shorn free from the chamber and piling up on the floor next to the oversized cable holding it in place. Taelros leaned back in and called back over his shoulder “I think we got something going on over here.”

[Fromikeable]

Silence renewed as the Imperial forces on the bridge were both dispatched and defeated, those remaining alive and well-enough throwing down their guns. Deactivating his saber with a hiss, Taas exhaled, letting free breath he’d held since they’d gone up they’d left the Republic fleet.

Today, at least, the death could cease.

Clambering off of the main command table, Taas assisted the Republic technicians as they began hooking their gear up to the command consoles. With little penchant for slicing, he busied himself with helping them take their initial readings, watching as they began to copy files, codes, and discover encryptions. The lattermost were what he best recognized; many were familiar, a few were interesting, and much to his surprise, a scarce few were brand new.

The next few days spent in quiet, turning over cyphers and cracking them? Force be praised.

Such fantasies were stowed when Master Taelros voiced his concern, drawing Taas away from the consoles toward the elevators. As the number dropped again from 12 to 9, he knit his brow in concern, peering over the technician’s shoulder at his readouts. The sound of raining parts within the elevator shaft raised an obvious question.

”Is the system changing before these jumps, corporal?”

”No sir, they’re just showing up as inoperable after the-” As if on cue, another mechanical groan reverberated down the structure, followed by another small rain of metal parts. The technician’s read-out proved to be a second or two behind as part began to flash anew, displaying components that were no longer responding to the system.

Closing his eyes, Taas didn’t have to extend his senses far to pick up on the source of the chaos. Lurching down toward them, a handful of floors at a time, was an assembly of emotions unlike those they’d encountered elsewhere in the station. Imperial soldiers had shown fury and desperation and elation, but all in equal measure with the ebb and flow of individual experiences. Their emotions had been reactions, responses to the hells of the day.

The sheer amounts of fury and wrath causing the lift to drop another few floors, making the display drop from 9 all the way to 3, weren’t just natural moods. They were fostered, intentional, cultivated, enduring sensations of hatred, and the nearer they got, the more acidic and almost giddy they felt. A plethora of furious fires creeping ever closer toward a bushel of dry tinder.

”Contact the lieutenant and tell him General Erastothenes recommends his men clear the bridge.” Backing away from the open elevator shaft, Taas returned his saber to his hand, finger on the ignition.

”This last battle should be for us alone.”

[Blue]

Although the combat was wrapping up swiftly, Moho maintained the bubble shield around the command console until the last Imperial soldier laid down their arms. Only when those of them still living where restrained did the Grandmaster release the defensive technique and allow the Republic specialists to do their work uninhibited. The quiet did not last for long, however. Moho's eyes snapped in a direction, staring at a wall with such an intensity that it seemed as if his sight could pierce through metal and space. The sensation of rage and hate washed over him like greasy smoke, filling the room and making it almost hard to breathe. Some of the Republic personnel began to unconsciously tremble, their instincts picking up something that their observations could not. 'Have no fear. It is as Master Erastothenes stated: this is our fight. Go, and deliver what you have found to your superiors. We shall hold the line here.' Moho's gentle voice remained calm, soothing. After receiving confirmation from their commanding officers, the Republic soldiers vacated the area. 'I shall support you as best I can,' announced the Grandmaster, closing his eyes. Once more, that powerful spirit balloon outwards, washing away the foulness of the Dark Side that was quickly approaching and reinforcing the Jedi's will, connecting them all together and bolstering their skills. It would seep into the encroaching opponent as well, sapping them of the rage that fuelled them and shaking their resolve.