Shades of Gray
The Battle of Fury

"We're being attacked!" came the shout from the cockpit. "Fighters coming in at mark 0-0-Niner!"

Ibran smiled and calmly walked to the cockpit. "Here's what you do... you burn rubber and get us to our dome... and we'll take care of the rest. Got it?" The pilot nodded, baffled.

Time for a few on the spot tactics. Ibran stepped back into the transport and flipped a switch. "Some of you can tell that we're obviously in no danger. Well, to keep it that way, I want you those of you who can to telekinetically push us along, while others of you strengthen our shields by helping to dissipate the energy shots that are heading for us. I realize it won't accomplish all that much, but it'll get us down to the planet faster. Got it?" The assembled Jedi nodded and began to concentrate.

Ibran chuckled. He went to watch the fight from the pilot's compartment.

He noticed that a large amount of the fighters were disorganized, firing at each other. He also felt the source of it. Battle Meditation... a useful skill, although one not to be used except in extreme cases. 'I probably wouldn't have used it here, but I'm not the one with the power.' The transport reached the landing site well ahead of the others with the help from the Jedi on board. Ibran pulled a small datapad on the Gray Death from a holding place. He scanned it quickly, then returned it to the container. He nodded and waited until the transport had begun to land, smiling. He slipped back into the passenger compartment.

"We're about to land. There's a space battle going on, so it's unwise to linger either in the transport OR outside, where we can get shot. Once we're down, get all your stuff and head for the dome entrance. Once we're inside and relatively safe, I'll brief you on the Gray Death. Be quick, but BE CAREFUL. See you when we're there."

Ibran quickly returned to his seat and picked up his equipment. Abic was once again there. "Sir... quick question... what was the point of that little Force trick you had us do on the way here?" Ibran chuckled. "We're all going to be working in one large, coordinated group. We've been trained in pairs or in small groups. We needed a little prelude to show everyone that we HAVE to work together on this, and we needed a little demonstration of how we're going to do it."

The transport landed and the doors opened out to the entrance. Ibran stood and led the Jedi to the mine door. "Be careful! There could be Gray Death right inside! Weapons ready!" Ibran took his blaster from his backpack and his lightsaber from his arm compartment. When everyone was ready, Ibran called upon the Force and telekinetically opened the door, revealing a pitch black inner room.

"Can anyone make a little light for us?" Ibran shouted. Apparently someone could, because the inner room was suddenly lit, revealing about 6 Gray Death inside. At the appearance of the light, the Gray Death immediately sped towards them. Ibran raised his blaster and shot one Gray Death directly in the eye. The creature reeled as the other five continued on.

"Lesser Force shields!" Ibran shouted, bringing his lightsaber up into an offensive position. Three Gray Death slammed into Lesser Force shields and were cleft in half almost immediately. One leaped at a weaker adept, but fortunately someone else was there to cover him and sliced off the creature's head.

There were two left. Ibran stepped forward. "Stay back and keep yourselves safe! I'll deal with them!" Ibran walked away from the protection of his fellows. The remaining two Gray Death leapt after him. So you think I'm an easy target, do you? We'll see about that... Ibran waited until the Gray Death were on either side of him. Both attacked at once, the half-blind one slashing with it's claws and the other sweeping it's tail at him.

Ibran's Danger Sense had already clicked in, however, and he leapt inside the arc of the Gray Death attacking with it's tail before it struck, facing the half blind one. He raised his lightsaber into the path of the tail, slicing it neatly off. Once again, Ibran reacted to his Danger Sense and back-flipped over the tail-less Gray Death as the other one slashed at Ibran with it's tail. The tail missed and struck it's fellow directly in the head, killing it instantly.

Ibran landed, aimed, and fired his blaster pistol into the half-blind Gray Death's other eye, blinding it fully. It writhed and slashed at the air madly until Ibran threw his lightsaber through it's head, controlling it telekinetically. The Gray Death spasmed and fell still. Ibran strode over and picked up his lightsaber. He looked at the Jedi who were standing almost stock still and stunned. "Inside, quickly. I'll brief you once we're safe. Let's go!"

Once inside, Ibran briefed them. "You just saw what we're up against. They've got nasty tails with spikes on them, sharp claws, they're quick, they hide well in shadows, they move with almost no noise... in short, be careful or we're their next meal. Here's the way we're going to work it. The best lightsaber wielders will encircle the rest of you. The healing adepts will be in the center and the combat adepts will be right behind the lightsaber wielders. If anyone is injured, get them to the center ASAP. If someone dies, close the gap as best you can. If someone falls the closest two people need to guard them as best they can until that person can get back on their feet. If someone can't go on for any reason, we need to stop until we can get them back on their feet. It'll be slow going, but I think it's the best way to do this. We're heading for the power station to get it back online. Fighting what we can see will be easier than fighting what we can't. I expect you all to work as one unit. That's the only way out of this."

Ibran turned and looked at the hall leading into the mine, then turned back to the group. "Here we go," he said. "Form up, and get behind me." Ibran turned once again and touched the Force, feeling the safest path to take with his abilities. "We go this way," he said, and started to walk, his every sense alert and the loudest sounds were those coming from the hum of the lightsabers as they began the descent...

Sammy closed in with the Rolling Thunder. "I'll fly cover till you're down," Sammy said over the com. He looked out at the enemy fighters fighting with each other. "Though I don't think that will be too necessary."

"Well, with you at the helm all we have to worry about is fragment fallout," Tashannoc replied.

"You honor me too much, General," Sammy said with an ever so slight hint of sarcasm.

Just then a pair of fighters regrouped and came at the group. "Then again..." Sammy kicked in the engines to pull a bit ahead of the Rolling Thunder. "I really need to upgrade my engine," Sammy lamented as the fighters opened fire on him. "Though what I lack in speed..." Sammy didn't have to think about maneuvering to safety. He came up and locked on to one fighter that was drifting toward the transport. A solid tone came up and the fighter burst into a ball of fire.

"Hope you all brought your umbrellas."

Sammy turned to target the other fighter, but it exploded too. An O-wing flew past the Cat. "Too much talk and not enough fight, Sammy."

Sammy chuckled. "Yeah, that's what my coach always said. Thanks Neb, happy hunting up here."

"And to you down there."

Sammy landed next to the Tashannoc's ship and grabbed a gas mask before leaving. "Never can be too safe against a biochemical company."

Norma picked up the infantryman carefully and teleported into the hall. His range was not as great as some Zuu Shi, and it took him 3 teleports to get out to the ship. "Hey, Squirt. The Major commed me and gave me the sit rep. The bacta tank is ready when you are."

Norma ignored the nick-name and put the infantryman in the tank. "Well, at least we aren't the only ones out here anymore. A bunch of rebel ships just came out of hyperspace, and it looks like three transports are headed this way."

"It's about time," Norma replied. "Are there any enemy ships?"

"Yeah, looks like TIE Advanced, some capital ships too."

"Ok, I'm going back in. I'll tell the Major what's up." Norma teleported back to the control station and rejoined the rest of the unit.

Ibran sighed and turned back to Alia. "It's my first time leading anyone other than Lucinda and Kain. It's nowhere near easy. I keep worrying about everyone... if they die, their blood is on my hands..." Ibran broke off, sighing. "I lost my own arm in an accident. This is battle. The chance for injury and death is much higher. It's not pleasant to think about."

"That's okay. No one's expecting you to be perfect. We all came here for a reason. It was our choice, not yours. You shouldn't be feeling guilty."

"But I AM feeling guilty. I'm watching people die and knowing that I'M supposed to help keep it from happening. It's.... I..." He broke off. A single tear fell from one of his eyes.

Alia moved to comfort him, but suddenly he got a strange look on his face.

"Take one step to the left."

Alia blinked. "What?" "Just do it, Alia. Please..." Alia stepped to the left. "Great. Now my danger sense isn't screaming at me," he said.

"Screaming at you? I was in danger?" she asked.

Ibran answered by throwing his head back, as if listening for something.

"Yes... you WERE..." he said slowly. Suddenly, he leapt straight up, bringing his lightsaber down to make a thrust at the ground. A Gray Death shot right underneath him, landing where Alia had been. Ibran's lightsaber, however, skewered the bug's brain.

Alia looked pale. "I didn't feel that one coming," she said slightly shakily. "Thank you." "Maybe you didn't feel it because I did," Ibran replied. He cocked his head and looked at her. "I made a little promise to myself a while back, you see. I swore to myself that I'd see to it that you would come out of this battle okay. I... I don't know why. It's important to me for some reason." He shook his head.

"Come on. We've still got a ways to go. And... I'd appreciate it if you'd guard my right. You're good... not as good as some.. but good. And..." he shook his head. "What?" she asked. "Nothing. Come on. Let's go."

Alia stepped to his right, following him. She could see that he was in pain, though. It was showing quite clearly.

Lightsabers flashed and Gray Death parts flew everywhere. The group had run into a HUGE group of bugs not long after their entrance. The bugs had attacked from behind and had killed fifteen of their original thirty or so Jedi. About 6 people had also lost various limbs, as well, leaving only 9 of their number fully intact. Someone who could sense life forms very well had said that they'd killed about 1/3 of the bugs there in that attack, although that person had died not long after. 1/3 of the enemy had taken down 1/2 of their number. Not good odds.

A scream suddenly echoed through both the passageway and the Force. Ibran concentrated on keeping control and decimating the 5 or so Gray Death in front of him. He lofted one Gray Death into the tail swing of another, tying up both bugs, then turned and carved two in half with one broad swing of his lightsaber. The third slammed into a Lesser Force shield and Ibran speared it with his blade.

Alia's lightsaber cut through the two entangled bugs, eliminating the last of this particular group. Ibran looked around quickly. "Who... died?" he said, choking on the word slightly. "Lerian Gunnar." Ibran closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Let's stop here. Check the wounded, concentrate on healing yourselves and others."

Ibran sat down heavily at the edge of the group, looking at the weary Jedi. They had more healers now than anything else. Most of the lightsaber wielders had been the first to die...

Ibran looked at the scene. Human blood mixed with gross ichor, signs that both Jedi and Gray Death could bleed. Hacked carcasses lay everywhere, and hacked humans, too. A man was missing a leg and still bleeding heavily from several body wounds. They'd had the sense to seal the leg wound with a lightsaber, fortunately, so he could go on, but it wasn't a pretty sight. Three people were missing one arm, one person had lost both, and two of the wounds were from this assault, the short stumps bloody still. One woman had lost everything below her right elbow, and someone had lost a chunk of their shoulder along with their arm, although that had been earlier. Alia herself had almost lost an arm, but Ibran had leapt into the path of the attacking Gray Death tail, taking a wound in his side because of it. As of now, she was unhurt. Ibran was somewhat proud of that. About 5 others had various wounds on their bodies, not including Ibran himself.

Ibran fished around in his pack. He took out one of the lightsabers from a fallen Jedi and clipped it to his belt. He'd originally kept them to honor the dead, but now it was handy because that way he'd have an extra if he lost his for some reason. He didn't worry too much about an attack from behind, though, because they'd been sealing off the passageways they hadn't taken so the Gray Death couldn't sneak up behind them any more.

There were miners here, but they were trapped somewhere nearby. He'd just have to trust his senses to get him to them in time to bolster his numbers.

Sighing, Ibran concentrated on healing the wound in his side. He could not heal the wound in his mind, though. 'They're dying because of me...' He allowed the group ample time to rest and recover, then ordered them on.

"Ibran, are you ok?" Alia caught up with him as he headed down the corridor.

He grinned sheepishly, looking pale in the light of her saber. "Yeah, everyone is still here. No one's badly hurt. I'm fine."

"Not physically, I mean, mentally. You look like there's something going on in the back of your mind."

"I'm just worried, that's all. We're going to be fine." He continued walking past her when she stopped.

I'm not asking about us, she thought. I'm asking about you.

Without much incident, Bjiatocah and what remained of her team made it to where there were humanoid life forms. Opening the door to the room took some serious decoding of the lock mechanism, and once open, they had to quickly reassure the people inside that they were friends before getting loaded full of Blaster fire. Squirt quickly tended to the wounded that he could, although most of the people were just frightened.

"Let's get these people out of here," Bjiatocah ordered.

"That may be easier said than done," came Sting's voice from where he had been keeping watch in the hallway. Bjiatocah poked her head out the door, only to see a swarming mass of chitinous armor coming towards her. As Sting leveled his grenade launcher, she yelled to him, "Forget it!" and pulled him inside. The door was quickly closed and sealed.

"Well, now what?" she asked.

"We've got two enemy squadrons coming in at us from the Frigate's direction, Lead. Shall we break and attack?" Nemesis Seven reported. The enemy fighters had launched from the frigate that had been hanging in space since the arrival of the Rebel troops and had converged on the position of the inbound transports swiftly. TIE Advanced craft now were locked in combat with those of Rebels.

"Yes! Break out of formation and fire at will!" Thix ordered. "Don't get too involved in any personal fights--we're supposed to cover the transports, that's our prime objective here. Remember that!"

A chorus of affirmative answers followed, and the Nemesis X-Wings rolled out of their two-by-two formation to engage the enemy fighters. An
A-Wing squadron from the Remember Ord Mantell had already seen action from this squadron, and had inflicted losses on it. To be truthful, Nemesis Squadron was facing off with nine enemy fighters, near two thirds of a full squadron of fighters, but the small, maneuverable TIE Advanced fighters were proving quite an annoyance to the slower X-Wings.

"See the TIE here?" Grant murmured lazily as he trailed a TIE. "I'd bet credits to ranks he tries a split-s, then a vertical of the latter, and tries to flank me."

"I'll take it!" Nemesis two said. A quarter second later, the enemy fighter did exactly as Grant had surmised. Nemesis two groaned his disappointment.

"It's okay, Two, it's a standard Advanced maneuver for when you're being tailed. Mind your six as well, Two." He reprimanded. Nemesis Eight was near Two, luckily, and got off a number of potshots at the TIE trying to obtain a missile lock of him, startling him. Eight finished the job with a torpedo a moment later.

Thix had linked his lasers to quad fire and had just taken out a TIE Advanced's shielding when he saw Eight's kill. "Eight, you're an Ace now, aren't you?"

"Betcher boots I am! Morale's up in this cockpit!"

"Alright, let's deploy a couple more assault transports then get a move on to this offending moon. I think our fighters can handle this Nebulon-B, especially with the help of some transports doing bombing runs. Ensign? Will you take us to the other front lines?" Lance asked.

"Loading coordinates now, sir. We'll take off in three minutes."

"Thank you." Something was bothering Lance. The wingleader, Yan, had said that his boss had bought a new fleet of Corvettes for picket duty. This in front of him was a full-fledged frigate, a formidable piece of machinery in the hands of Jarkov and his bad beasties. What other types of hardware was he uninformed of?

"Hyperspeed in thirty seconds, sir."

"Carry on, Ensign."

Aria watched Ibran's ship pull ahead of hers and breathed a sigh of relief. He would pass the enemies before they had a chance to attack. She on the other hand might run into a bit of trouble since they were heading in from her port side. It was even more difficult to concentrate with the Lieutenant waiting for her to make the first mistake. Running through a relaxation technique, Aria focused on the first problem--speed.

"Jaina, my board is reading red on the second engine."

"Got it. The oscillation was running amuck. I think I patched it pretty well."

"Give me data on the first available enemy target that would reach firing range of my laser turrets."

"Why not concussions?"

"They'll slow us down and give them too much time to maneuver around. I also don't feel comfortable dropping the shielding ratio any lower than necessary." Just then the targeter bleeped.

"Feeding in the info on the first fighter in range. Second fighter to the right."

"You are not going to be able to out run them." The Lieutenant answered Aria's unasked question.

"Right," she sighed trying to loosen the knot in her stomach.

Jaina's voice filled her thoughts. "Forget the Lieutenant. He is just here to make you as edgy as possible. Stop doubting and trust in the Force. I have seen you fly, let's do this."

Jaina's words made sense and Aria visibly relaxed. "Let's do this the old fashion way. Looks like Nemesis is flying adequate coverage. We are going to be in the tail end of the initial dogfight. Keep your target lit on that fighter and feed that info up to the turret. Tell them first clear shot they got, take it."

If someone were looking at this battle from the outside, it looked like Bandork's Revenge might have skated by the initial fight but just as Aria predicted, the second fighter with target range started firing at the first sign that it might nail her ship. Banking hard to the right, Aria open comm to Jacen and Zekk.

"Don't be shy about pushing the fire buttons guys."

"I had a clear shot until you went wild." Zekk answered.

"Yeah, well it looks like you are going to get that chance again."

The TIE Interceptor cross hairs must have lit up real bright because it let go of everything it had.

"Heavy fire coming in aft." Jaina reported, trying to keep the shielding as high as possible without having to worry about speed and weaponry being compromised. Aria's ship was a blessing with all its hidden nuances but at the same time it was an assortment of confusion, as any smuggler ship would be.

"Orders are coming in from Tashannoc. We should have more back up in a minute." Tenel Ka reported, switching frequencies so quickly it was hard to see her hands. "We just lost an X-wing."

"Tell him to stuff it, I mean forget it. We can take care of ourselves and they wouldn't get here in time anyway." The ship rocked as one of the missiles made contact with the shielding.

"Fighter coming straight at us!" Jaina frantically pushed buttons to spare extra shielding.

"Got a clear shot coming right for you guys. Try not to miss this time."

Zekk and Jacen both logged their opinions of Aria's flying before the com fell silent and the area in front of them lit up in fire light. The explosion was so dazzling, Aria had to look away though the window automatically dimmed to compensate. At the last possible moment, Aria dipped under the remains of that fighter and used its fragments to shield them from aft attacks. Without being told, Jaina soaked more energy from the aft shielding into the engines and as soon as it all started Bandork's Revenge was out of the dogfight heading safely for the planet.

"Lieutenant?" Aria remembered that though she was piloting this ship orders came from higher up. The Lieutenant growled something mirroring surprise.

Tenel Ka filled in as she stood up to go check on the status of the troops. "Aria, report to General. Skies clear, then seek out coverage immediately in as much thick foliage as we can get without sustaining terminal damage. Knight Group will be on its way as soon as we get the flash netting up."

"Won't that take too long?" Jaina asked.

"Not as long as it would take to walk back to Dantooine in a vacuum suit." Zekk responded. Obviously someone neglected to turn off the comm.

"The passengers?" Aria asked. She could feel someone's nausea from the other room and it was affecting her.

"The Lieutenant will probably want to speak with the General so I will check to make sure everyone is okay."

"Take an absorption pad out the med kit. Someone just lost their meal." Aria said as she turned back to the panel to send off communications.

"Perhaps I have underestimated your skills and your teammates. I will take care not to do so in the future."

"Sure, let's just try to survive long enough to critique each other, okay?"

"Your rather unorthodox."

"It's in my nature. General Tashannoc transmitting, sir."

"Put him through."

Aria's group had landed in a heavy rock field which obscured Bandork's Revenge from sight. Aria slung a pack over her back and added another set of powerpacks to her utility belt. Though it proved useless, she also kept her hunting knife in her boot for quick access. Tenel Ka and Ganderson were discussing strategy and it looked like the princess was able to hold her own against the overbearing lieutenant.

She moved away towards the group. "We need two people to take point, I have already volunteered Aria does anyone--?"

"I'll do it," a SpecForce heavy weapons commando responded. He was heavy and though he wore dark colors he carried a lot of metallic/reflective artillery with him. Aria thought quietly that he would stand out like a stormtrooper on Endor but she kept silent.

"Point, you need to be on your way. Stay together. Stay less than 25 meters ahead of us." Aria and the commando set their comlinks so they would have their hands free and moved out. "Okay, once we enter the dome there is a chance for power failure. Our scanners are showing extreme power fluctuations coming from inside. Most of you have your basic glow rods. Those with infrared specs and macrobinoculars need to spread out in the group." She stepped back to let the lieutenant talk.

"You know most of our mission is based on rescue. As we find miners they are to be rushed to safety as quickly as possible. If it is too big of a risk to split the group up, then they are to be given a weapon and moved with us. The Jedi healers are to have two soldiers with them at all times and possibly another Jedi, this is in case they have to remain behind for the injured miners. Dorrf will be running rear guard along with Lowie and Tina. Each room we approach a group will thoroughly check for survivors. Exercise caution and care once we are in the dome. There is no room for mistakes and there is no room for sorry. Ambition and eagerness need to be left outside. We are a team, work together like one." He moved away.

"We may have to break up in groups when entering side tunnels. Make sure to have at least one Jedi in each group with a lightsaber. The groups should contain at least five people so keep the buddy system alive. Ganderson and I are leading, each group report in periodically. If there are no questions, let's move out."

Miles Niah went from drowsy, and inattentive from leaving hyperspace to full adrenaline rush as he looked at the ongoing battle. He quickly reported in and maneuvered his A-wing into attack position, weapons ready.

"Cigna Leader to group. We just got orders to go after those Skiprays that just appeared just past Lightbringer and keep them from getting to Fury. You understand the maneuverability change once they hit vacuum. Break up into two groups, Cigna 8 you have lead on second group from Cigna 6-12."

"All right, group," Miles broke in, "let's do this nice and smoothly. Form up on my wing. It looks like one of those blastboats are slagging behind the group. That is our ticket. We are 3 on 3, watch out for those eyeballs."

Looking at the fight from the outside everything appeared to be pure chaos. Looking at it from the aspect of the pilots the battle was pure chaos. Someone on the blast boat was paying attention and immediately and picked up speed.

"Watch your back ten, you got two eyeballs tailing you."

A female voice responded, "I can't see them."

"Go evasive, we are almost there." She dropped speed and tunneled down trying to lose the two tailgaters. They easily matched her and lasers ignited as the crosshairs gave good tone. At the last second she bobbed and pulled back, giving the engines full speed. Most of the lasers went wide but one got a good shot off her engine.

"Nooo!" eleven screamed just as ten's ship succumbed to the flames from the engine, Cigna 11 and 12 vaped the oncoming eyeballs who were concentrating on their prey. "Leader, we just lost Zeppy."

Miles heart went out to ten, but he didn't have time for grief that could be done later when they come back alive. "Come on guys, let's get out of this fray and put that Skipray out of commission. Get as much speed out of them engines as possible." An out of control X-wing exploded against the side of the Corvette, adding to the number of casualties. By the time they got to the Skipray one of the A-wings, seven, lost a laser cannon and was using only one cannon and they were down to five ships.

"Eight, there is one coming in at zero-point 34." Miles reported, he took a surgical shot at another eyeball that he'd been circling with for the last few seconds. He'd finally beat the TIE finishing his circling before the ship could outmaneuver and it became a thing of the past.

Eleven and twelve, Rick and Nro-din, two Bakurans, quickly developed their own bait and destroy plan. One would play the dead fish in the sea attracting an eyeball or two and just as the eyeball was taking a shot, it's alarms would erupt and the other A-wing would take the killing shot.

"Alright Cigna, let's do a sweep on them. Approach from different positions, 2 on 3, let's work on damaging the port engine. If we slow it down enough the X-wings can do clean up. Go in full speed."

"Can we pull up going that fast?" a gravely voice asked.

"Nine, we have a better chance with pulling out than avoiding those turbos at slower speeds." Miles rerouted the energy to his engines, "Nine form up on me and let's go in." After the third sweep, losing another A-wing to a turbolaser, the group could see the engine light up and then catch flames.

"Good job Cignas, we got it from here." A group of X-wings breezed past and lit into the Skiprays failing engines like a mynock to wires.

With better shielding they were able to take more precise shots at the skipray which soon was engulfed in flames.

"Sure," Miles acknowledged, thinking about Zeppy and Cal. "One down and seven, no make that five to go." Apparently the other group had disabled the turbos on one of the Skiprays and were swarming in on another one. Another Skipray strayed to close to the turbolasers on the Lightbringer and was out of commission. "I hope those on the planet are doing better than us." He watched the casualties mount as they moved in on another unsuspecting Skipray.

Tashannoc engaged the security systems on his ship as he watched the ramp raise. The forty five Rebel troops he had under his command had fanned out to secure the hangar, which hadn't been empty when they'd found it, but before they'd landed they'd depressurized the room, blowing the bugs out into space, and creating a safe place to unload.

In a cluster near the center of the room were the 20 Jedi he had with him. Some were calm, and obviously well trained. Others looked very green, and Tashannoc could smell their fear. I'll have to keep an eye on them. They cannot let their fear get the better of them.

Sammy Gavin approached, a grenade launcher slung over one shoulder, with a pack and a few belt pouches full of grenades and thermal detonators. "We're all good to go, General," he said with a grin.

Tashannoc found Sammy's enthusiasm infectious. He gathered the troops for a quick strategy talk. "Here's the deal. I'll take lead, with Sammy. In these corridors, we're not going to be able to have more than eight or ten in those corridors, so I want combat trained Jedi in the front, with lightsabers. Behind them should be Heavy weapons, then Jedi healers. After that, infantry, then more heavy weapons and a few Jedi brining up the rear. This is going to be tough people, but I know we can do it. There are people still alive in there, and I know some of you can feel them. They're afraid, and it's up to us to get them out of there. After that, we'll blow this place sky high, if that's what it takes."

Tashannoc paused. "Are you ready?" he asked, his voice intense through the translator.

"YEAH!" came the response, probably too loud from a tactical point of view, but from a morale point of view, it was just what the doctor ordered.

Tashannoc's lightstaff ignited purple as he opened the first door. "Let's go."

After thirty minutes of fighting their way down the corridors, Tashannoc's group was drenched in whatever ichor the bugs had as blood, and not a little blood of their own. Four Jedi and seven soldiers were dead, all in unspeakably horrible manners. The front line held, however, and the bugs were held back by a combination of long range explosives and flashing lightsabers.

Sammy, standing next to Tashannoc, leveled his launcher and fired a volley of three thermal detonators into an oncoming horde of the gray beasties.

A few stumbled with dismembered limbs, while others fell dead. One of the heads had come detached and flew into the front lines, where one of the Jedi cleaved it in half, just in case.

"Nice shot," Tashannoc commented in a roar to Sammy.

Sammy merely smiled and nodded.

The lights flickered, and the bugs which had been rushing the group stopped and pulled back. The lights dimmed noticeably, as if their batteries were running low. Tashannoc raised a hand to stop the movement forward.

Out of the darkness rose a huge beast, at least twenty feet tall. It had six arms, each tipped in a single claw. The long body had dozens of small legs, causing the creature to move fluidly across the floor. At the end of it's body, there was a long scorpion like tail that arched over the creatures head. The head itself was a grotesque parody of a human's, larger than a human's yet too small for the body holding it. It lacked a nose and ears, was bald, and had a strange misshapen skull. Worst of all was the jaw, which looked painfully jutted out, and full of needle sharp teeth, more than could actually fit into the mouth comfortably.

The monster's glassy stare connected with Tashannoc's eyes, and it beckoned with its claws. Tashannoc noticed that the tip of each claw and the tail glistened with moisture.

Sammy leveled his grenade launcher, and Tashannoc whispered, "No. I will fight it."

Bewildered, Sammy conceded, and allowed Tashannoc to stride forward. The Rebels stared in horror as their leader moved to face the beast, and the Gray Death held back, awaiting the outcome of the contest.

Tashannoc loosely gripped his lightstaff, and gently probed the creature's mind. While it was obviously intelligent, Tashannoc could not get though; it was blind to the Force.

The creature shrieked, and ear piercing wail obviously meant to demoralize opponents, and probably would have worked on anyone other than a Jedi who had spend a lifetime perfecting control. The creature's first attack was a flurry of spiked claws, which moved faster than naked eye could track. Tasha moved by instinct, feeling one of the claws rip through the bottom of his jacket without piercing flesh. The stench of the poison on the claws filled Tashannoc's nose, and even there started to affect his system. Immediately, he started working to counteract the poisons effects.

Next, the creature feinted with a pair of claws from the right, then quickly moved its huge berth left and struck with the tail. Tasha's danger sense warned him just in time, and he brought his staff down to block as the tail came down, shearing away a small chunk as he barely connected.

The creature screamed again, but not at its wound. Instead it screamed in indignation at a bug that had tried to attack Tashannoc's blind side. The bug writhed momentarily on the monster's talon, then was thrown against a wall. Obviously, no one was to interfere.

Another attack came, and this time Tashannoc was ready. Rather than dash madly out of the way, Tashannoc met the beast straight on, and the creature learned what it meant to face a 120 year old Jedi Master in combat. The flashes of purple blurred faster than the claws, and as the monster retreated, it did so with two less arms.

The black creature took a moment to size up it's opponent, then came at Tashannoc in a full charge. Tasha waited until the last minute then stepped to the side, waited until the creature shifted it's momentum, then flipped in the other direction, flashing his Lightstaff across the flank of the beast has he did so.

Another scream, this time of pain, as a dark green viscous fluid oozed out of the monster's side, along with something that could have been intestines. It came at Tashannoc again, but it was noticeably slower.

The two continued to dance, weaving back and forth, Tashannoc constantly just barely avoiding the poison tipped claws, trading his safety for a few shallow cuts as he kept his distance, only making a few decent slashes and hoped that the bleeding monster would tire before he did.

It rushed again, with a wail of anger, and Tashannoc knew that this was it. He dodged beneath the three remaining claws and brought the staff up through the creatures chest. Before the creature would die, though, it wanted to take its opponent along for the ride.

Tashannoc's danger sense flared, but he didn't have much room to move away, so he leapt straight up. The creature's teeth missed their mark, but he felt the tail make a shallow rent in his flesh as he soared past it.

He was thankful for the large machinery the miners used that prompted the high ceilinged corridors as he flipped back away from the monster. As he landed, the creature fell, and a hideous sound, hopefully a death rattle, came from the deformities throat. There was a moment of silence, then Tashannoc colapsed, the Rebels surged forward to surround him and protect him, the Gray Death moved forward to decimate their enemies, and all Hell broke loose.

A few minutes later, Sammy dropped back a little to have his arm quickly bandaged then head back into the fray. He saw the Healer tending Tashannoc. "How is he doing?"

"He's fighting off the Biotoxin, much better than I could. He'll be fine soon, but he needs time." she replied, cradling the huge Wookiee's head in her arms.

Sammy glanced at the gray mass that was pummeling them. "That's time I'm not sure that we have. Do what you can. I'm sure you're doing your best." His arm tended, he slammed a few more grenades into the housing of his launcher and moved back into the fray.

"NEB! We have incoming missiles from the frigate!" Jeffy yelled over the comm.

"Blast," Neb swore, "I've got to keep that in mind. I can't concentrate on Battle Meditation and Flying at the same time." He switched his comm to contact all the fighters. "Allright folks, the honeymoon's over. The enemy fighters are going to be coming in hard and fast from now on!"

Fortunately, the superior speed and maneuverability of the O-wings kept them out of reach of the enemy fighters, except for a few lucky shots from some of the better enemy pilots. Neb wasn't about to discount that those pilots just hadn't had much experience fighting O-Wings as well, which gave Omega another advantage over the Advanced.

Another signal came over the intercom, this one from Tashannoc. "All the transports are docked and unloading, and I'll be landing soon myself. Have the second wave hold back until they get our signal, or if you don't hear from any group in two hours. Oh, and don't worry folks, I had a feeling we might run into something like this. I've already set aside what few reinforcements I should spare." Then he said cryptically, "Delta-nine, Rancor, Bravado." Suddenly five ships popped out from behind the sensor shadow of the singularity, and started coming around toward the battle.

Neb was elated to see the five Disk Warships coming in, until he saw a wave of enemy fighters break through an A-Wing squadron and make it to the Rebel Corvette. Moments later, with only one enemy casualty to show for it, the Corvette started spouting flames, and escape pods were jettisoned.

"Okay, I need some ships protecting the Cruiser. If we lose that, we lose all our cover. Omega, let's get these biotech freaks."

Bjiatocah and Co. had a conference to try and figure out what to do. "We can't teleport out, not while carrying non-Zuu Shi," Norma said.

Squak, the comm officer, looked around the room. "What about these machines? Do any of them work?" He asked the miners.

"No, and no one here knows how to repair them. This room is a junk yard. For some reason the company is paranoid about people stealing their trash so they put a high security door on it. That's why we chose it as a hideout."

Squak went over to see if he could repair any of them. The infantryman followed him.

After 5 minutes of poking and prodding, they reported back. "Well, we think we can scrounge up enough spare parts to fix one of the covered vehicles. It won't be a good job, we aren't Wookiee, er, sorry Major."

Bjiatocah chose to ignore the pointed remark about her not being able to jury rig anything like most other Wookiees. Squak continued: "We'll hopefully have it running within a few hours, though by that time we just might be found ourselves."

"Good, get to work. Sting, start working on rigging the door just in case the bugs decide to make a concentrated effort to get in here. The rest of you, get some rest." Bjiatocah sat down on an old tattered repulsorlift seat and took her first breath in what seemed like ages.

"Blast those Rebels." Jarkov sat dejectedly, staring at a screen that displayed only static. The screen had been receiving data from a number of lead creatures, some Grays, some other types. He had just lost one of his larger experiments to a meddling Wookiee. No matter. The venom would take care of that alien. One less enemy to bother him. "How many do you estimate we have left in our captured facility?" Jarkov asked a nearby white-coated doctor.

"I would estimate that a good number of the outer defenses on the mining facility have been touched, sir. Numerically, over half remain functional."

"And our ships?"

"The Rebels are beating us in space, sir. They have destroyed a number of our craft."

Jarkov was thoughtful for a moment. "I want you to send in one more frigate. Give it an escort of three Corvettes. And be very generous when assigning it fighters."

"With pleasure, sir."

The enemy had seemed to double their efforts. Nemesis had lost one fighter a while back, but the pilot had gone out in a blaze of glory, taking half the frontal shielding of a Corvette with it as it went.

"Doesn't look like these guys are going to last much longer, Lead." Grant voiced his thoughts out loud.

"Not with those assault transports doing bombing runs, they aren't." Thix replied. As if to emphasize his statement, a crippled Corvette exploded brilliantly. "See there? Gee golly, I love proton torpedos' destructiveness. Grant, check your six." He added calmly. Grant began a series of evasive maneuvers to outwit the trailing enemy fighter. There was still hope.

Sammy did not like the odds. Their leader was down, who knew for how long. The bugs kept coming, and the groups numbers were ever decreasing.

Sammy looked at the huge corpse of the beast Tashannoc killed. It's massive bulk filled about half of the hallway, but it was lying along the corridor. "So help me, I have an idea."

"Any idea is a good one at this point," the healer Jedi retorted.

"Ok, when I say so, all non-Jedi pour everything you have into the bugs. All Jedi move that big corpse sideways so it blocks the hall. Pile other bug corpses on top of it. Try and block off the hallway so we can have some time to regroup."

"With their claws? It won't hold them for long," a soldier said.

"Yeah, but it will buy us some time, and I have a trick or two left up my shredded sleeve." Ok, maybe only one, Sammy thought to himself. But, hey, details details. "Ok, go!"

The remaining soldiers unleashed a barrage of firepower driving the bugs back just a bit. The corpse of the beast lifted off the ground and almost effortlessly turned to block the hall. Then all sorts of bug parts and guts flew at it as a grotesque cement to plug the holes.

"Ok, cease fire!" Sammy loaded another cartridge into his launcher but set for timed detonation, not contact. He unloaded it at the high ceiling, the grenades bouncing off the roof and back behind the make-shift wall. The team could hear muffled explosions and screams from beyond.

"That oughta hold them for at least 30 seconds," Sammy said under his breath. "Ok, focus on healing. We don't have much time. Non-injured, keep an eye out for jumpers."

Aria tried to stifle her amazement as her partner, who liked to be called 'Cuntry', slipped silently through the corridor. They'd been at this for three corridors now and had only had to contend with one enemy. Determined not to be outdone by such a bulky guy, Aria listened out for any noises and quickly patterned her movements parallel to Cuntry but a few meters to the side. He waved her down and Aria heard it a split second after he did. Crouching down, Aria slid her blaster out and aimed toward the general direction of the noise. Apparent that its location was revealed, the hard shelled bug came at Aria full force. She'd emptied half her power cell without missing a shot but it kept coming. It was too late to pull her lightsaber. Thinking quickly, Aria tumbled out of the beasts path, the sound of metallic claws whispered past her ears. She barely had time to roll back to a sitting position when the bug was bearing down on her again. One swipe from its tail sent her flying. Before she could recover, it began its attack again. She was wondering where in the Sith Cuntry went to when she heard his blaster fire going off. They'd been ambushed.

Dazed, Aria struggled to get unpinned by the bug but her flailing was doing nothing but irritate it. Trust in the Force! She stopped moving and caught the bug off guard. It removed the claw pinning her down and raised up to take a slice at her head. Aria focused every inch of her mind into imagining she was pushing a ship away from her. With a whooshing sound, Aria could not hear the clicking from the claws any longer, sitting up, she saw her nemesis struggling to sit up about 20 feet from her. This time she was not reluctant to use her saber and quickly turned it on. The orange and emerald glow lit up the tunnel.

Numbing out the pain she only focused on the approaching bug. Careful not to be pinned to a wall, Aria circled waiting for an opening. She did not have to wait long as a claw whipped out of the bug from nowhere. Firmly aligned with the Force, she blocked the blow, dismembering the creature in turn. The tunnel shook with the sounds of a grenade exploding. Angered and pained the creature moved in close and in a flurry of movement managed to get a blow to Aria's midsection before she could jump away or block.

Tired of being on the offensive, Aria rushed at the bug and at the last minute allowed herself to slide under it, her lightsaber carving a path of destruction from stomach to bowels. Too injured to defend itself, the bug never saw the orange blade remove it's head. Panting, Aria looked around the corridor for Cuntry who was just leaning against a wall, lazily picking his teeth.

Aria let loose a string of curses. "Why in the name of Vader are you just standing there? That thing could have killed me."

"First thing cher, you do fin' unce you 'cided to attack. Second, I jes finish wit' my bug or din't you hear dat boom?"

"I heard it, by the way what was it?"

He didn't have time to answer as the sound of clicking filled the corridor further down, some bugs decided to join the party.

"This corridor is a no-go. Let's cut our losses and move back."

"D'ya feel anythin'?"

"What?"

"Gal, beings! D'ya feel any livin' things?"

Aria realized he wanted to know if there were any living miners down this corridor. Ignoring her injuries she stretched out as far as she could. "The winds stop blowing about 100 feet into this corridor and heads back this way. I smell blood and rot. No, if anything was alive these bugs finished them."

"You got dem good senses. All right, let close dis down so we won't 'ave visitors."

Aria reported back in to the group as Cuntry quickly placed some charges at the entrance. "This corridor is overrun with bugs. Cuntry is shutting it down. When you guys finish with those two halls back there just keep going straight." Ganderson must have said something Aria didn't like because her face screwed up. "Cuntry, we are told to maintain position. The group ran into some difficulties and there are several injured. Orion is dead." Orion was one of the Jedi that went on one of Aria's wilderness classes. He seemed very promising and was building his lightsaber. Trying to put that to the side, "We can stay here and twiddle our thumbs or we can double back and give the group a hand."

"I be likin' how you dink cher."

"So be I." Patching up her arm from where the bug pinned her down, Aria moved back down the corridor, with Cuntry following.

Two battles and several dead bodies later, Ibran called a halt to his group. They had managed to find a dead end so the Gray Death could only come at them from one side. It meant they were more concentrated, but it also meant they wouldn't have to watch their backs. It had taken Alia a good while to convince Ibran that he needed rest, but she was much more stubborn than he was and she easily won the argument. As much as they were alike, she could tell they would probably butt heads again over something less important before they got off this forsaken planet.

Wounded soldiers and bloodied Jedi collapsed against the walls, as she and several of the other relatively unhurt members of the team stood near the passageway, ready for any tell-tale sign of approaching bugs. She had suffered a rather nasty cut across her stomach and the scar on her cheek had been reopened, but other than that, everything was intact. Most of the others hadn't been that lucky.

Something Tyne had always said during their practice sessions started to come to mind. 'Bored, bored, bored....but a good kind of bored. Don't look at me like that! I'm trying to be patient!'
Ok, so that had no correlation to the current situation. She was losing way too much sleep. As she smiled to herself, a rather rare occasion as of late, a grinding sound came from behind her.

"Gurney, did we remember to check the soundness of the walls?"

He looked puzzled. "No, ma'am. Thurfit said they were a bit thin but...."

"How thin?"

"You mean...Oh Sithspawn! Get the wounded out of here! All stand ready, there's trouble!"

As he spoke the mortar and stone used on the end of the wall started to crumble down and the groups clustered under it began limping, crawling, and otherwise moving away as fast as they could, but not fast enough. A falling stone crushed the leg of an already wounded trooper. As he screamed, the bug began to come out of the hole sideways, spraying dirt and rock everywhere. It attempted to turn itself around, but Alia ignited her saber and sliced two of its appendages from the main body. Ichor sprayed her face and landed in the already painful scar. She drove the saber deeply into the organism's side, and several other Jedi climbed beside her to hack off as many arms and as much flesh as they could before it could direct its teeth toward them. Thankfully, they hacked enough of it until it had no left side, and it receded into the dark hole it had created before its death throes could throw any more projectiles.

Alia sat on the floor with a thump. A quick touch to Ibran's mind told her he was still asleep (Poor guy, he MUST be exhausted.) and the Jedi were attending to the wounded and trying to settle them down again.

"You ok, ma'am?" Gurney asked.

"I'm fine. Let's just rest here for a bit longer before proceeding." She stood again , and staggered against the hole, peering in with her silver lightsaber lightning the dark corners. What she saw turned her stomach.

"Ma'am?"

"I think I just found some miners, Gurney. Or at least, what's left of them. Bones, nothing more. And very few of those intact."

He whistled quietly. "We going to tell the others?"

Alia glanced back into the room. "I'm not sure they need to know."

MOVE ON TO PART IV
RETURN TO THE ARCHIVES

This page hosted by Geocities

Get your own Free Home Page