45 Burning Sands [Part 8]

Part 8

Briefing room 1

Republic Cruiser "Chimera"

First Assault Fleet Flagship

High Orbit over Geonosis

"This was a mistake..." Shaak Ti, who was currently using my bare chest as a pillow sighed.

"While I would love to disagree, there will be consequences." I muttered in her ear. I knew better than to hope that our escapade would go unnoticed.

"Master, the conference is supposed to start in five minutes." HK announced from behind the sealed door. "I'll be activating the holo-transmitters in there then." He added gleefully, the cheeky bastards.

"I'm starting to dislike your droid more and more every time he speaks. Who built it anyway?" Ti grumbled and shifted a bit in a rather delicious manner.

"That would be me?"

"Figures. Only a Sith could have built that thing."

"I'm usually proud of him, though he can be a pain in the backside from time to time."

"You don't say. Now what?" Shaak Ti groaned and rolled off me to lay on the table.

"Things got a bit more complicated." I shrugged. At least she had regained some measure of control over her feelings, because the storm that was screaming to at my emphatic sense was subdued, almost down to the level of what a normal person usually felt.

"You don't say. So you got me in the end." Shaak Ti grumbled.

"Did I? You were rather enthusiastic." I snorted and rubbed the bite marks on my left shoulder. The less said about the scratches on my back the better.

"I shouldn't have lost control in such a way."

"Hey, I'm not complaining!"

"Of course not. I just had sex with a Sith." Shaak Ti groaned.

"Four minutes and counting!" HK declared gleefully.

"You know, he'll actually do it. The damn menace actually almost pulled a similar stunt with half the Dark Council waiting for me to contact them."

"Fresher. I need time to think." Shaak Ti groaned and stood up.

I took a moment to appreciate her mostly naked form, before I got myself moving too. If we continued this conversation, I was likely to piss her off one way or another, which wasn't a great idea considering the time and place.

=RK=

"Boss, you're fucked." HK cheerfully informed me.

"Yes, I just was. What's your point?" I asked while doing my best to remove any trace of my extra-circular activities with Shaak Ti from my clothes.

"One, she's a Jedi Master."

"I'm very well aware of the fact."

"Second, you had sex with her just after she had a mental breakdown."

"I noticed that too. Shaak Ti pressing her lightsaber to my heart and being a hairbreadth from activating it isn't something that suddenly slipped my mind."

"That's my point. She came near to terminating you before you were sleeping with her."

"I've been in a similar situation with a lot of Sith, Jedi and soldiers. Not to mention the occasional assassin or Imperial Intelligence agent."

"You didn't care about most of them beyond getting in their pants and whatever manipulation you had going on at the time." HK deadpanned.

"Your point is?"

"Not until Ashara."

I ignored that jab.

"The woman you just fucked isn't your wife."

"I'm well aware of the fact." I growled and glared at the assassin droid. "Make your kriffing point."

"Are you, really? Let's see, Togruta, with more than a passing resemblance to Ashara Vael, nee Zavros… Then there's her personality, which would be quite similar if it wasn't for all the dumb things she's been fed as a Jedi... Need I go on?"

That gave me pause. Well, yeah. Shaak Ti looked somewhat like my wife, which wasn't a surprise. She was my type of Togruta and that's why I did pay her a bit more attention than her status as a Jedi Master and my minder would have warranted. As far as her personality goes… Yep, there were the odd moments when she acted like I would have expected from Ashara, but beside that they were completely different… Right?

I looked myself in the mirror. Yeah, who was I kidding?

"Kriff. Fan-kriffing-tastic."

"That's my point, Master. At least was she any good?"

"Hell yes."

"Good enough to make up for the trouble that your stunt will undoubtedly cause?"

"It will depend on the Order's reaction when they find out."

"Well, then! We might have to kick out Knightfall!" HK cheerfully announced.

"Despite their rather inspired attempts, the Jedi haven't yet destroyed their reputation enough to make such an eventuality go out without a hitch. Besides, I have high hopes for some of them."

"Master, I know you rather well. You've always planned to get rid of the Jedi Order."

"In its current state? That would actually be an act of mercy." I shrugged. "Besides why destroy them when you can make them join you?"

"That's an issue why? As things stand, you aren't the one who would be blamed. Besides, just think about it, no more Jedi giving you a headache!"

"Perhaps I shouldn't have reprogrammed you to despise them so much after Ashara was murdered."

"Nonsense, Master. I liked her, as much as I could like a biological organism. For murdering her, I was going to kill as many Jedi as I could, even before you get your hands on my programming."

"Enough about my personal life and schemes. My Shock Troopers. Report."

"They aren't half bad. For meat bags…"

=RK=

Briefing room 1

Republic Cruiser "Chimera"

First Assault Fleet Flagship

High Orbit over Geonosis

"Veil! Master Ti! What the kriff happened in orbit?" Obi-Wan asked a moment after his image appeared.

"Ah. You felt… that." Shaak ti winced.

"Nothing that is of concern for the task at hand." I interrupted them. Who either of us slept with wasn't their business though at least a few of them would try to do it. "I was made to believe that our overall plan for the ground campaign is working so far."

"That's correct, General." Villem Maxtro's hologram nodded. "While the extensive tunnel networks covering most of our advance routes have been troublesome, we're actually ahead of schedule. The orbital strikes taking out most enemy concentrations before they could engage us sure help."

"That won't last for long. Within two days we'll be reaching our primary targets and then it will get ugly." Colonel Pell added. "We had to improvise while dealing with various shielded strong points already. I'm afraid that we'll have to carry out a frontal assault on our primary objectives or settle for prolonged siege."

"The latter isn't an option. We need to secure our objectives and pull out of here ASAP. Within weeks the CIS will have enough spare space forces to go on the offensive again. This fleet will be needed then at the latest." I stated. I didn't need to elaborate what would happen if the battle for Geonosis wasn't resolved by then. Without orbital superiority, the CIS and the locals would have enough numbers to bleed dry our armies on the ground. The problem was that an inevitable frontal assault would have similar effect. Unfortunately I didn't have neither the assets at hand nor the political clout necessary to resolve the problem in a different matter.

Which meant that we would have to improvise.

I smiled. If he somehow hadn't figured it out by now, it was guaranteed that Sidious soon would know about my origin anyway.

"Some of you know about my past, where I came from." I looked at the assembled Republic officers and Jedi. "During the wars I fought in, both the Jedi and Sith used a rather simple, but nonetheless effective strategy. Strike teams led by Force Adepts would be inserted ground side and go after strategic objectives. Both sides captured whole planets that way even when we knew exactly what to look for."

"How do you expect us to pull that off?" Audi-Mundiasked.

"We'll be using all available stealth capable armor. Another two thousands units will be shipped here in about two days time. We go in and blow up the shield generators. That way we'll have unrestricted orbital and air support. In fact, most of the industrial areas will be taken out that way. However, that won't be practical as far as the experimental factories are concerned."

"Why not? Burning them from orbit sounds good to me!" One of the Clone commanders quipped.

"We need the schematics for the new droids those places will be building. The Intelligence types believe them to be something special and it could be vital if we can examine them in detail, preferably before facing them in combat."

"That's a good point." Shaak Ti frowned at me. She's been unusually cold after returning from her own trip to the fresher and had been refusing to meet my eyes.

She was also rather pissed off at the situation at hand, something that I had the sneaking suspicion that the Togruta would blame on me. For good reasons too, but that was beside the point.

"What units would be available for this assault? Master Mundi asked.

"All Commando units in system and we'll be drawing primary from our recon platoons."

"Makes sense. They have extensive training in infiltration tactics." Another Clone officer nodded."

"We'll have to plan both the covert assaults and how to best exploit them." Obi-Wan stated.

"Contingencies for those which fail." I added. I had no illusion that all of the insertions would be successful.

"That too."

=RK=

Interlude: Dreams I

Sith Academy

Korriban

It was vexing. My master was "officially" dead, playing some kriffing mind games along withthe rest of the Dark Council. That's why I was back on this dust-ball, in need to fight for the recognition of my new prospective master, a Sith Lord named Zash.

Quite the character that one, if all the rumors I've heard during the years were even half true.

"Slave, you're late!" The academy overseer that was supposed to receive Zash's potential apprentices glared at me, making me twitch in annoyance.

Oh, yeah. I forgot to mention. As far as most people in the Empire knew, I had perished with Baras so I was supposedly a newly minded poor bastard who was thrown to the Tuw'kata to be torn apart. Whoever was in charge of my back-story was apparently quite lazy, the bastard, because he had mine ripped off with just a few cosmetic changes. So I was posing as what I used to be – a former slave who had manifested his Force talents in a rather bloody and gruesome way by tearing his owner to shreds.

I grinned at that memory. It was crude, but rather enjoyable piece of work.

"I hope you don't think you're special." Harkun, the irritating overseer glowered at me. "It will be shame if your freedom went to your head..." He trailed of when I simply patted my lightsaber and smiled at him.

Long story short, I was on my way to the tomb of an ancient Sith Lord, Ajunka Paul or something. Some kind of a "prophet" had commandeered the place and Zash wanted one of us poor bastards to gain his approval and advice.

Finding the tomb itself wasn't particularly hard. I just had to ask one of the patrols cleaning up the annual infestation of local wildlife about an insane old man living in one of the nearby caves. The soldiers, not being idiots knew the location as a place to avoid at all costs. After all, no one in his right mind was keen on crossing a Sith who was apparently crazier than normal.

That was hazardous for ones health.

So the "prophet". It turned out that he was an ancient looking wiry human, calling himself Spindall. He had half a dozen apprentices he had gathered from somewhere and they all were inhabiting a part of the tomb that might pass for barely habitable if you squinted very, very hard.

"The slave?" He muttered when I approached him. Spindall turned around and frowned at me. "Here for your trial..." He trailed off, while studying me. "You aren't here to learn the path of the Sith from this doddering old man. You're rather well familiar with them, aren't you?"

At least he was perceptive.

"I'm actually here for a breath of fresh air." I quipped.

"Don't play the fool, it demeans us both. Even I'm not here for the sheer pleasure of it. You want my mark of approval for your master."

"Oh that? I can tear it from your cold, dead body. No, I want something else, Lord Spindall." I smirked.

The old man froze for a moment. He never said his name and there were precious few people currently on Korriban who knew his actual identity.

"Ah. I see. So he sent you, didn't he?"

"Yes, your former apprentice isn't particularly happy that you somehow still live."

"I was his master. The bond is still here so I know that Baras lives."

A mere extension of my will and my lightsaber eagerly jumped into my waiting hand. At the same time I sent a powerful wall of Force at the old man, which almost caught him off guard. However, Spindall haven't survived this long by being anything but a dangerous murderous bastard like the rest of us. He raised a hand just in time to deflect my attack which shattered to a bunch of ancient pottery.

"Not for long." I smiled for the first time after receiving my latest mission.

I raised my left hand and clutched my fingers into a fist a moment before I vaulted forward. Spindall chocked for an instant as his internal organs were constrained, yet he managed to dispel my second attack and raise his own blade just in time to parry a downward slash. Still, he was pushed back by the sheer power of my strike.

My smile grew. While his mastery of the Force surpassed mine, I was younger, at my prime, whilehis body was betraying him. That's why I let go of my attempt to directly attack him with my powers and instead used them to further augment my physical advantages. My saber became a crimson blur raining upon the defenses of the old man. It took me mere seconds to batter down his guard, not enough time for his apprentices to process the fact that I had the sheer gall to attack their master, much less to interfere, though they were finally reacting. I could feel their sheer outrage and fury at my actions and their approach.

My next strike nearly tore the lightsaber from Spindall's hands, leaving him open for my next attack. I was about to deliver a killing blow when he sent a jolt of lighting at me, staggering me for a split second. Just long enough for him to take a step back and put back his weapon in a defensive position… and his closest apprentices were almost upon me.

I drew the Force around me like a cloak and then released it in an explosive demonstration of sheer power. The apprentices flew back like twigs caught by a hurricane and even Spindall was forced back.

My smile widened when I heard a pair of blaster pistols discharge and the signatures of two apprentices vanished. My distraction had allowed Vette to sneak up to the young idiots and shoot two of them in the back. The relic I had gifted her that hid her from the Force sure helped too.

A cry of distress, a wave of heat followed by deafening explosion.

My back was secure and I could concentrate on my quarry.

It was just in time to be blasted back by a wave of purple lighting. While I intercepted most of the attack with my blade, tendrils of living darkness clawed at my hands making me wince in pain. I released a pulse of pure Force, which broke the enemy assault and jumped at the bastard.

I slammed into Spindall with a jolt that shook me.

Suddenly I was back in my quarters on the Chimera. I bolted upright acting on instinct and had my right hand wrapped over the throat of whoever awoke me. My free arm glowed in the dark with the lighting dancing over my fingers.

Only sensing the familiar presence of Shaak Ti stopped my hand from slamming into her chest and sending enough electricity into her to stop her heart.

"What the kriff woman?!" I exclaimed and released her.

She stared at me with huge eyes. I could sense the fear creeping within Shaak Ti's heart when she started comprehending how close she got to dying.

=RK=

Part 9

General Veil's quarters

Republic Cruiser "Chimera"

First Assault Fleet Flagship

High Orbit over Geonosis

I slowly unclenched my fingers and removed my hand from Shaak Ti's throat. At the same time I left the lighting dancing over my free hand harmlessly dissipate.

"Did no one ever mention to you that waking up veterans while they're dreaming might be hazardous?" I frowned at the Jedi Master. "Especially if you don't do it from distance?" I groaned and fell back into my bed.

"Obviously." Shaak Ti deadpanned and glared at me as if it was entirely my fault.

"Unless you came here because you suddenly find me irresistible," I smirked, "Which given what just happened even if true won't get me laid tonight, what exactly do you want?"

"Only in your dreams, Veil. I came to talk." Ti glared at me.

"You gave me a lot of pleasant things to dream about, so it's all right. What do you want to talk about?" I winked at her.

"If you're trying to be fun, it's not working."

"I'm still half asleep." Not to mention that I was still recovering from the Battle Meditation so I actually needed my nap time. "My being nice button is currently stuck away from the being nice position. Hint: Next time you want to awake a this grumpy Sith at least bring a cup of Caff."

"You're impossible."

"I've been told so before." It was by another Togruta Jedi too.

Shaak Ti growled at me again and this time there was nothing sexy in the sound. It was all frustration and exasperation. "It's all those feelings! I can't make them stop and it gets worse..." She trailed off, sounding almost scared.

According to my emphatic sense, she actually was, once her anger at me petered out.

"I'm listening." I sat into my bed, looked her in the eyes and frowned. For some reason I didn't like the look of fear I saw there even if should have made the darker parts of my mind enjoy it thanks to the Dark Side.

"I… I could hear it… Whispering at the back of my head… What did you do to me?!"

"Ah. That's certainly unexpected." I frowned and studied her face more carefully. She looked quite tired. On edge.

"You know what's happening?" There was a hint of hope in her voice.

"Yeah. I'm just surprised that it hit you so soon and apparently rather hard." I nodded. That fact had a few quite interesting application for the delectable Jedi Master.

"What do you actually know about the Dark Side? Know for a fact I mean and not just what you've been fed at the Temple?" I asked, while doing my best to shield my amusement away. I was almost a hundred percent sure that I would find the Jedi's interpretation hilarious but laughing my ass off at them right now would be counter-productive in a lot of ways.

"Its the Dark Side!" She exclaimed, looking at me as if the answer was obvious.

"Humor me, please." I spoke calmly and stared at her.

Shaak Ti huffed but continued speaking. "The Dark Side corrupts everything it touches. While it gives a shortcut to power, that is at the price at ones sanity and principles even if sometimes the consequences take a bit of time to manifest. It twists you, turns you against everyone and everything you hold dear." She gave me a pointed look. "It's powers are no match for a fully trained Jedi who has the Light Side as her ally. Further, thanks to a Jedi's training and ability to keep their emotions at bay, we have advantage when facing a Dark Side wielder. We don't make mistakes in the heat of passion that could be exploited to bring us down."

"That's it?"

"That's the short version. We would be here for at least a week if I'm to give you the long one."

"Well, there are at least a few grains of truth in that explanation..." I trailed off. That actually wasn't particularly surprising. However, if this was what even a Jedi Master could tell me on the top of their head… Any half-competent Sith from my time would have had a great time of twisting today's Jedi until he had turned most of them. Relatively easy too. You couldn't really protect against the Dark Side if you weren't reasonably familiar with it.

In a hindsight, Today's Jedi were actually lucky that Sidious planned to exterminate them wholesale instead of going the more traditional way and doing his best to build an army of fallen Jedi. The latter would have been even more successful than his original plans if handled correctly.

"Where to start… You have to understand the nature of the Dark Side in order to handle it with any reasonable expectation of not eventually falling."

That got her undivided attention.

"Considering that I very much prefer you sane, I'll have to teach it about it and you will listen." My voice brook no argument.

Shaak Ti's anger flared, but she was able to put it back under a reasonable amount of control. For the moment at least.

"Calling the Dark Side evil, is a misconception, though anyone with intact mental faculties could see where that comes from. The truth about it is simple. It doesn't care for the morality of most Sapient beings in the galaxy. Do you consider a hurricane to be evil? An earthquake? A storm? The Force is a part of nature, by definition neither part is good or evil. However they emphasize different aspects of nature, different mindsets."

"How so? You don't see Jedi going around, torturing and killing people."

"Again with a morality that doesn't really apply in this case. It is true that the Light Side excels in healing, protection, conflict resolution. On a larger perspective, its wielders are usually better for maintaining a community and working for the betterment of the group as a whole. It emphasizes the betterment of the whole over that of the individual. It excels during peacetime and in maintaining that peace. As you said, mastery over it comes after a long time of training, though that period would be quite shorter if you people weren't too busy trying to cut yourselves from emotion." At least while the Jedi as a whole kept their heads out of their backsides. When they generally forgot how to do that, we eventually got things as today's Coruscanti Order.

"I didn't think that it was possible for a Sith to praise the Light Side." Shaak Ti was looking at me strangely, as if trying to make sense of me.

"Only an arrogant fool dismisses a fundamental aspect of the Force and it's true that many Sith weren't particularly bright once their new found power got to their heads." I shrugged. "Let's continue. The Dark Side. It requires quite different mentality to understand and accept. It's selfish. It promotes the well being of the individual and that of a small group over any larger body. By its nature, that's not a any worse than what the Light Side. It gives one power much faster than the average Jedi could achieve. Going by raw strength in the force, someone who aligns themselves with the Dark Side could gain in weeks, usually months what a Jedi takes years in training to achieve. You're correct that sometimes that training does give a Jedi the upper hand, though that goes only when dealing with Dark Siders who are new to the Force and haven't received the benefit of competent training themselves. As you can guess, there's a catch."

"You all go insane eventually?" Shaak Ti gave me a deadpan look.

I smirked. She didn't believe that I was particularly saneish and she did have a point, though I really couldn't lay most of my issues at the feet of the Dark Side, though I cheerfully blamed the Sith who trained me, the kriffing bastards.

That was a subtle but important distinction.

"Why is that the case?" I asked her, while giving her an amused smile.

"Just telling you that's because of the Dark Side won't fly, would it?"

"No. As I said before, the Dark Side is selfish, a quality that gets reinforced in anyone who brushes with it often. It's a subtle thing at first. Usually. As I said, she's individualistic. She wants her wielders to be powerful, independent. To break all their chains and be free to make their own choices. In that regard, the Sith Code is more accurate than any version of the Jedi one I've seen so far. The problem lies in how that's expressed and the way most people interpret it. It usually gets quite messy."

"You don't say." Shaak Ti gave me a flat look. "I can almost hear it whispering in the back of my head. I could feel people dying on the planet below us, their pain, fear and despair! It feels pleasant!" Shaak Ti shouted at me and started passing around my room. "How can you call it anything but evil?!"

"Did you ever stop for a moment and wonder why it feels that way?" I asked.

"I was too busy trying to keep myself from enjoying peoples suffering!"

"I take it as a no. As I pointed out, the Dark Side is selfish. It wants its wielders to survive, grow more powerful. She feeds of emotions of feelings. Is it so surprising that she makes people feel good at overwhelming and crushing their enemies? At reveling at other's fear? Because let me tell you, you're much more likely to survive when facing terrified foes than a group who keeps their cool. At the same vein… When someone with access to her is afraid, that very emotion, gives them power. Anger? It clouds a person's judgment unless handled properly, aye. It also makes you more likely to strike at any perceived danger, fuels your strength. In a lot of cases it makes you more likely to survive. There are no doubts while you're furious. No what ifs. No hesitation that might get you killed."

"What about the cruelty that most Sith are known for?"

"Oh we enjoy it, very much and you can't even blame the Dark Side for every single instance. Look beyond just the acts. What are the consequences? It makes us feared. Less likely for someone to oppose or stand in our way if they have an acceptable alternative. Makes them apprehensive if they fight us anyway. Until you reach a certain level, the path of the Dark Side is full of trade offs. For everything I pointed out, there are cons, aren't there Shaak Ti?"

"More than I think about right now."

"Less from where I stand, though they're undeniably there. You have to accept your feelings, learn to channel your passions."

"Will it ever stop?"

"That seductive whispering at the back of your mind?" I shook my head. "It's always there. Whispering, promising. If you let you rule you, the Dark Side will grant you more power than you've ever felt. At the same time, it will twist you. When let to go to its logical concussion, submitting to the Dark Side will make you see yourself as the only person that matters in the universe. For you everyone, everything else will become playthings at best, all the while you'll enjoy their pain and suffering."

"And you have the gall not to call the Dark Side evil?"

"It's not. She's a force of nature, caring not for what the beings in the galaxy consider moral. It simply wants its wielders to be as powerful as possible and to give them the best chance for survival. To do so, she drives them to on the path of individual strength and ability. It makes it so that you won't ever regret crushing a possible threat, that you would love doing it. That's why I always say that the Dark Side isn't an ally. It's a tool, one that's very powerful and dangerous."

"Why would anyone want to embrace the Dark Side?"

"Why not as long as you don't let it rule you? Shaak Ti, it's a brutal galaxy out there and I'm not talking about the war. It's easy to be saints when you live in the Temple, with all your basic needs taken care of. It's quite different when you've had to scrap for your next meal, to fight for your survival on a daily basis. That's true even for Coruscant, the one of the Jewels of the galaxy. What was the last time you've been in one of the lower sections? The Dark Side is something that many, many people in the galaxy would eagerly embrace because it will grant the the power to survive. To no longer be weak, to cease being victims."

"I've never thought about it like that… But why don't they join the Order?!"

"With the exception of Skywalker, what was the last time you trained someone who wasn't a toddler? What about the hardened Force Sensitives you've missed? The ones who had lived through hell and had a rather different worldview that what the Order would find acceptable? You'd never train them as Jedi. Too old. Too dangerous. They are a ripe material for making Sith."

"That's madness! How could you defend the Dark Side after all you just said? You've fought in the Great War! You know firsthand of all the atrocities the Sith committed!"

"Why it always has to be Light and Dark? Black and white? What about shades of gray?! If there's one thing that I've learned about the galaxy its that things are seldom as either the Jedi or typical Sith portray them!" I sighed in exasperation. "Light Side, Dark Side… Those are the two sides of the same coin. Left alone they lead to either stagnation or self-destruction. Unless used in measure the ultimate end is the same in the long term." I laughed. "Do you know that I had the same conversation with my wife shortly after I persuaded her to come to my side?"

"Your wife. A Jedi." Shaak Ti looked at me. "I saw her when you showed me those memories. I still find it hard to believe that a Jedi married you."

"She saw the truth of the matter." I shrugged. "Ashara…" I smiled. "She never turned no matter how persuasive I was a the times. She kept me sane. She understood." I spoke wishfully.

Damn, I missed her.

"You or your view of the Force?"

"Both. We used the two sides of the Force and we were stronger for it. She proved to everyone that you could use the Dark Side and not be twisted by her." That terrified a lot of Jedi. Made them question their beliefs, which in turn made them easier to turn to our side. It was one of the reasons why we were left mostly alone by the Sith who were nominally my superiors. The fact that I was a Lord of The Sith in my own right at the time, with my ascension to the Dark Council as a very real possibility sure helped in that regard.

"It sounds so easily."

"It's not. But its worth it in the end. Shaak Ti, this war… it's going to get much worse before in ends. If we can hold on for the next few months, we'll be equally matched with the Confeds for at least an year or two, before we could conceivably start turning the tide. By using the Dark Side as you tool, by embracing your emotions, you're that much more likely to survive what's to come. I… I don't want to see you hurt or worse."

She sat on the bed next to me, looking lost.

"I'm not her, you know."

"I'm well aware. Actually HK made that same point yesterday."

"Huh. I would never have thought that he'll do something like that."

"How do I deal with all this?"

"One step at the time." I slid closer to Shaak Ti and gave her a gentle hug. "Dealing with your emotions… It's not something that can be learned overnight. Nor is managing the Dark Side."

"What about your apprentice? I could feel it in her. She revels in it."

"She's very much a work in progress. While dangerous, the Dark Side is her best bet to survive for now. The deal I made for Aria. She either pulls her weight or gets thrown to your Council for a trial. What do you think they would do when she refuses to renounce being a Sith to become one of your kind?"

"She did lead the attack on the Temple… But I can see where you go with it. She's a clone. Aria never had a choice in the matter, did she?"

"On the contrary. She had the same choice I was given when I was carted to the Academy on Korriban."

"And what's that?"

"A rather prolonged and nasty death or becoming a monster. I chose to live, no matter how many people had to die for it. While I do have a lot of regrets, that's not one of it."

"That's not what a Jedi would have done."

"No. I would have been a terrible Jedi anyway."

"I… I could almost understand." Shaak ti muttered quietly. "The very thought of putting my own survival before that of people I could have saved… It would never have crossed my mind before. While I'm sure that I would make the same choice now, I would protect people with my life without regret… I can see it. That someone could value their life above the well being or even survival of strangers. It's not something I think I'll ever do, but… For some reason I no longer see making such a choice as being despicable." She shrugged.

"Follow your conscience. The rest, no matter if its the Jedi Code, the Sith teachings or anything else… its secondary at best."

"That simple?"

"It worked for Ashara and she was the only other Togruta female that I knew to be in your shoes."

"She sounds like someone I would have liked."

"You would have." I muttered.

For the next few minutes we just stood there, deep in our own thoughts. Holding Shaak Ti made me feel content, calmer than I've been in some time. I smiled, enjoying her warmth, feeling the slow beat of her heart.

"What happens now?" She asked quietly.

"We talk. We get to know each other and see where it goes from there."

"You're a strange Sith, Delkatar. Are you sure that this isn't just an elaborate plot to get under my robes again?"

"While I would rather like that, just as you obviously did, I won force you into something you might not be ready for. You'd hate me for it in the long term."

"When I have a handle on my emotions you mean."

"Yep."

"I could still feel them dying. I could almost hear their screams of pain and fear. It's worse than almost anything I've sensed before."

"Now that you're no longer suppressing your emotions as a matter of fact, your connection to the Force is stronger, sharper. What you feel is a natural consequence of that."

"Tomorrow afternoon we're supposed to deploy for the final push. I don't know how I'll handle it first hand."

I pulled he closer to me and kissed her temple. "It will be hard. My advice is to channel your feelings. The anger you feel at the all the deaths brought by the Confederacy, the fear you feel from the people on Geonosis, everything. Use it with a purpose in mind. So you could bring a faster end of the fighting. In the end, that's what really matter. By winning this war in the fastest, most efficient way, we'll do the most good. That way less people will day, there will be smaller amount of wounded and crippled. Less lives will be destroyed."

"It's never that simple."

"No. People make mistakes. The other side gets a vote, that's why we call them the enemy. The war warps everything it touches. Think about it, people can't comprehend the scale at which we fight even in this day and age. Billions in the double digits. Thats how many people had died already and the war hadn't really hit its stride yet. Once our economy is fully on war footing and we start building up our armies and fleets, it will get much, much worse."

"Sometimes I wonder why we fight."

"Because each of us believe in something worth protecting or achieving. Because not doing so would be worse in the long term."

Because no matter how bad this war goes, I have the feeling that what's to come would be orders of magnitude worse.

"Why do you fight, Delkatar? It's not the Republic, that much I know."

"I have my reasons. I fight for the future."

"That's not an answer."

"You're simply lacking the context. One day you would know."

Shaak Ti's heartbeat and breathing slowed down as she fell asleep in my hands. I gently pulled her next to me in the bed and used the Force to throw the cover over us.

I smiled, feeling content to simply hold the sleeping woman, content to forger the war for a bit or the fact that tomorrow all hell was going to break lose on Geonosis.

=RK=

Part 10

Ar'Klorg'Onya Cave Complex

Fifteen Kilometers from CIS Experimental Droid Factories

Geonosis

Fol'Clixit, the Field Commander in charge of the local Geonosian garrison, was surveying rows of hastily built defenses. The caverns he was tasked to protect were supposed to be a heavily defended death ground, which would bleed any Republic force dumb enough to attack through them.

That was the original plan anyway.

There was a reason why lately Fol'Clixit had been a particularly angry Geonoisan.

First, he Republic interlopers weren't supposed to attack Geonosis for at least week and a half. At least that's what all intelligence types both Geonosian and Confederate were swearing left and right… until the enemy attacked that is. Nor were they expected to swiftly demolish the major fleet elements in system and to dismantle the orbital defense network in less than a day…

The Republic fleet did that too and not only that but the enemy somehow managed to infiltrate the Planetary Shield generator complex and shut down the defensive screen protecting Fol'Clixit's homeworld.

That was simply adding insult to injury.

Just to make him hate them even more, then the Republic Ground forces started advancing at previously thought impossible rate… though that was mainly due to the way their fleet gleefully blew up anything that even remotely looked like an obstacle.

That left Fol'Clixit in a bind.

The speed with which the Republic forces advanced after landing, made an otherwise grave situation almost catastrophic. The Ar'Klorg'Onya caverns were vital for his people. Just beneath them was a major transportation hub, one that had remained unscratched during the Republic's previous visit. It was literally one of Geonosis' lifelines and had to be protected at all costs. It should have been brimming with fixed defenses, making any assault on it a suicide.

It was too bad that after the previous invasion, the Geonosians were unable to rebuild and reinforce everything they needed for this repeat performance.

The Field Commander's mandibles clicked in annoyance. There were supposed to be two engineering battalions making this place a fortress. However by the time the enemy was in orbit and bombard anything important that wasn't under a Theater Shield, only a single engineer company had started working on fortifications. The rest of the two promised battalions never materialized.

At least the members of the Worker's Caste who were present had outdone themselves, though that was a cold comfort for the Elite.

The enemy vanguard was two hours ago and everything outside the cave networks and the shields protecting them had been liberally bombarded by Ion Canons transforming all weapon emplacements out there into useless lumps of metal and fused circuitry.

On the bright side, the very reason why this place was an important target for the Republic, was its greatest advantage. Unless the whole region was burned to the mantle, the Commander should be able to easily receive reinforcements. He was planning to turn the place into a death trap by using as many soldiers as he could do instead of relying on the defensive positions that didn't get build.

The only problem was that doing so would kill an awful amount of his own people, because most other CIS forces in the area were concentrating around the new Droid factories twenty kilometers to the north, which were the most important thing on the planet as far as either the Confederacy or the enemy were concerned.

Naturally, that wasn't the case for Fol'Clixit. He would be happy if he was able to keep the transport hub mostly intact even if the Republic achieved their objective and demolished the factories.

After all, the future of Geonosis was more important than what his allies wanted and the loss of the hub would spell economic ruing for this whole hemisphere.

=RK=

Fol'Clixit returned to his forward command post minutes before the first Republic troopers were about to engage the forward defenses. The place was a cludge, a former storage room now filled with computer terminals, which were connected with the various Geonosian military commands in the AO as well as all the sensors, mines and automated weapon emplacements the engineers managed to built in the little time they had to work.

The place was guarded by six Elites like Fol'Clixit and a platoon of regulars. A half dozen of the latter were busy manning the stations in the command center, ready to feed him any relevant information he might need.

Multiple tank columns and mech infantry were advancing towards the outer perimeter, only sporadically harassed by artillery under shield cover. Unfortunately, only a handful of such emplacements were in range while everything not protected in similar manner had received some lethal attention from the orbiting fleet.

He watched for a minute how the enemy approached, until the leading tanks were on the edge of various direct fire weapons built in the mountain side under which the cave complex was situated.

To Fol'Clixit's utter lack of surprise, the leading tanks and APCs started unloading smoke rounds which soon obscured the view. No ordinary smoke either. It shut down all vision modes while powerful enemy jammers took care of the sensor not relying on direct observation.

That left the guns to fire mostly blind.

With every passing moment, Fol'Clixit loathing for the enemy was growing. Did they had to suddenly act more competent than usual just when they were attacking his position?!

"Shield perimeter breached. Enemy infantry is engaging our forward positions." One of the normal warriors reported. "They're liberally using explosives and missiles to engage our fixed defenses."

No surprise there either. He hadn't really planned to stop them outside the shield. There were simply too many ways a competent opponent could use to reach the force field relatively intact, especially if the defenders haven't been able to extensively fortify their position.

Especially when said opponent obviously didn't care about collateral damage.

The universe chose that moment to prove to Fol'Clixit that it really hated his guts.

There was no warning. One moment everything was as expected and in the next the far wall exploded inward, showering the Command center with fiery pieces of burning metal and scorching stone. Fol'Clixit was thrown off his feet and slammed into the wall next to the door. Before the Commander's mind could register what was happening, the survivors of the explosion were hosed with automatic blaster fire.

Only Fol'Clixit and one of his Elite guards were tough enough to survive the initial onslaught. While the Commander was busy staggering back on his feet, the rest of the Command post's guard detail stormed through the door only to be engaged by the attackers as they filed in.

Six of his warriors were cut down before they could engage the enemy, but then an Elite plowed through the door, absorbing blaster shots on his heavy armor.

The soldiers' deaths weren't in vain. They bought Fol'Clixit enough time to get up and for the med system built in his heavy armor to fill him with stimulants, strong enough to raise the dead. The Commander roared in defiance while the weaponry built around his arms unfolded. His HUD sprang to life and tracked the attackers.

Republic scum. They were like ghosts in the smoke and twilight reigning within the CP. Some almost faded from view, but their outlines could still be seen withing all the crap in the air.

It was good enough. The heavy blaster around Fol'Clixit's right hand spoke and tore apart the nearest Clone. The Commander roared in fury and charged the enemy. The surviving Elites followed his lead and sprang towards the nearest humans, followed by their lesser brethren.

What followed was a vicious, bloody affair.

A Clone was eviscerated by a vibro blade before the upper part of his torso was blown to pieces by a light sonic canon. Another was trampled under the cybernetically enhanced bulk of an Elite after futilely emptying the magazine of his rifle into the heavy chest plate of the Geonosian.

One of the Republic troopers activated his flamethrower, turning two of the smaller locals into living torches, whose tortured screams echoed through out the cave system. He didn't have time to appreciate his work because Fol'Clixit was upon him in an instant, gutting him with the blade mounted under his light hand.

The concentrated firepower of a Republic squad brought down an Elite, after itsmembers had the presence of mind to take out his legs first. Their victory was short lived, because it gave enough time for twice their number of Geonosians to swarm them. The Clones died under the blades and sonic weapons of the locals, but not before the last of the Republic troopers detonating a pair of frag grenades as he was gunned down.

Fol'Clixit shot another enemy before he charged the last one still standing and slamming the man through the remains of the breached wall. He finished the Clone by slamming his armored foot through the man's helmet, shattering it like an egg.

"The Republic has kriffing invisible infiltrators now?!" Fol'Clixit growled once the adrenaline and stimulants racing through his veins started tapering off. "Kriff all Intelligence fools!" The Commander seethed. "I need a status report! What else did they attack? How far has the enemy penetrated our defensive lines?"

=RK=

Part 11

Objective Alpha 3 (Ar'Klorg'Onya Cave Complex)

Fifteen Kilometers from Objective Alpha 1

Geonosis

"Grax, suppressive fire!" Sergeant Hound ordered after ducking behind a half demolished stone pillar. He was glad that the heavy gunner heard him, because between heavy jamming and the deafening roar of the firefight, communicating was proving rather difficult.

Then it became impossible as Grax slid on the ground next to the sergeant, braced his heavy repeater on his shoulder and opened fire, hosing the far end of the cavern with blaster bolts. Hound sent a few pot shots down range, while he dashed through a small open space and ducked next to one of his squad leaders – Corporal Alek.

Even being shoulder to shoulder and shouting, the Clones were barely able to hear themselves under the echoing cacophony of the firefight.

"Corporal, flank the kriffing bastards while they're suppressed." Hound ordered.

Alek nodded and started issuing instructions of his own. The sergeant drew a Concussion grenade, removed its safety and waited for the fire-team to get into position. The Corporal prepared a smoke grenade, nodded and Hound threw the explosive.

Two seconds later, the Clones were buffered by the shock-wave of the concussion grenade. Grax and two squads of riflemen laid in heavy suppressing fire. Alek threw the smoke grenade, which promptly blew up, obscuring the cavern. The Corporal and his men dashed forward, keeping as low as they could.

Felix didn't keep his head close enough to the ground, the poor bastard. A heavy blaster bolt caught the right side of his helmet. The armored alloy bubbled like wax put under a blow torch. The sheer kinetic force behind the strike staggered the man and probably broke his neck too, but that was superficial after his skull was already boiled by the thermal release of the hit.

Fortunately the rest of Alek's squad made it to the next row of stalactites or whatever they were called and vanished from sight as they moved to flank the enemy.

"I'm out!" Grax shouted as his weapon's energy pack rand dry. The firepower going downrange lessened by a significant amount as he was reloading.

Hound popped a smoke grenade and sent in in the middle of the cave, reestablishing the temporarily cover for his brothers.

"Dex, Rock, get your squads ready. When Alek hits them, we're advancing. Prepare to pop smoke and lead with Concussion grenades. The rest of you, suppressing fire!" The Sergeant ordered. Said Clones shouted an "Yes, boss!" and reloaded their weapons, staggering in preparation to advance behind nearby cover. The leading men of each squad had a smoke ready, with the next man holding a concussion grenade.

Two explosions shook the far end of the cave and the firefight's intensity suddenly spiked.

"Go!" Hound ordered.

Smoke and concussion grenades rained through the cave. Once they detonated, ten Clones charged the enemy position under the covering fire from the rest of the platoon. The first three men were cut down by a heavy repeater, which was in turn blown to pieces by a grenade launcher.

"Medic!" Rock shouted, though he didn't stop firing and advancing.

Then the left section of the visible enemy fortification exploded in fire and shrapnel as Alek and one other Clone stormed the position.

Hound mowed down a pair of the locals, before he had to kiss the ground as another shot at him with one of their sonic weapons. Even the very close miss, sent the NCO's teeth rattling and his body shacking. Before Hound could recover, one of Dex's men cut down the large insect trying to kill him.

The survivors of the three squads finished storming the Geonosian's positions, before the Sergeant had fully recovered, giving him a decent view of how his troopers mowed down the flanked defenders. Soon enough, the rest of the platoon was there, securing the position against any unpleasant surprises and a possible counter-attack, while the medics were busy tending the wounded.

Hound grunted as on of the Docks slammed an injector into a port of his armor and sent a stimulant cocktail racing through his veins. At least it worked and a few seconds later his head started cleaning up. The Sergeant looked around and smugly noticed that his men were doing everything by the book and haven made any screw up he could see. Then the NCO too a few moments to check up on the wounded, who were tended nearby.

That made him wince. Taking that single position had cost him almost a third of his men in dead or wounded. For a few seconds, Hound lamented the fact that his soldiers didn't have the new armors, which would have allowed him to take the enemy strong point with minimal casualties if any. It was too bad that the new gear was rather limited in numbers for the time being and most of it was being tapped for the assault on Objective Alpha One. As far as Hound knew, there were only two or three companies with the new armor sent to take this damn complex, besides the infiltrators who were sent ahead.

"Rock, Alek merge your squads into a single unit. Pell's taking point. Once Third Platoon arrives, we're moving in."

"Consider it done, Sarge!" Rock answered.

"Rook, have you located any jammers?" The NCO asked on of his demo experts, who doubled as a techie.

"Not yet, but considering the level of interference in this cave, one's nearby. There should be an engineering section coming with the reinforcements, they'll get it for sure if we're unable to find the damn thing." Rook answered, without looking up from a hand held scanner, which he was using to search for any presents left by the locals.

"Carry on. All units, once the back up is here, replenish your ammo and prepare to advance." Hound ordered.

Less than a minute later, Third Platoon arrived, led by a Jedi of all things, one who was towering over the Clones.

"Good job, Sergeant." Master Mundi nodded at Hound after looking over the secured cavern.

"Thank you, sir!" The NCO saluted. He didn't bother asking what the Jedi was doing here. The man's assistance was going to be appreciated… unless he ordered something dumb that would get his men killed.

"I understand that your Lieutenant didn't make it?" Mundi asked.

"No, sir. The LT bought it while we were passing through the shields." Hound answered.

At least this time the initial assault had been planned competently, diminishing as many of the enemy advantages and not hobbling his brothers by insane ROEs. To Hound and most Clones committed to this campaign, the whole thing was a breath of fresh air. The usual kriffing foolishness that killed a lot of his brothers at the start of the war was either diminished or even outright missing. There was no advancing into prepared enemy positions with minimal preparation and bombardment to diminish collateral damage. For a change, command's concern was only for doing the job in the most efficient way, while preserving Clones lives, something that Hound had personally seldom seen since the war began.

More often than not, the Jedi in overall command had been saddling the Clones in his and many of his brothers opinion, unrealistic goals or restrictions… something that had gotten a lot of them needlessly killed.

At least some of the Jedi did learn in the end, those who survived the initial campaigns anyway and even then, it wasn't all of them.

That fact made him and many Clones have mixed feelings about their officers. The Jedi on average appeared to care more about their well being than the majority of normal officers in the army and navy… At the same time, they were giving orders that caused needles deaths among his brothers, even if some of the Jedi were actually learning how to be officers and made less and less mistakes.

The worst thing, at least in Hound's opinion, was the fact that as often as not, even Jedi who had actually learned what the kriff they were doing, would issue orders that they knew would lead to more dead and wounded Clones than necessary… for nebulous reasons that wouldn't have done a thing to end the war faster.

"The same is true for the Third. Their CO ran afoul of an enemy mine." The Jed sighed, interrupting Hound's train of thought. "I'm taking command of your platoon too, Sergeant. We're going to secure the upper levels of this complex and foil any attempt of breakthrough using the transport hub below us. Once that's done, we'll see what could be done about it. Let's go." The Jedi Master waved forward and led the vanguard of Third Platoon. "We'll take point for now."

"Second Platoon, fall in. Look alive people, we have more insects to squash!" Hound shouted to his men. He was hoping that the Jedi would provide a tremendous asset instead of someone who would get them all killed.