Burning sands

Part 1

Kelrx'Po

Geonosis

It was just a small village, build around an oasis in the midst of one of this wretched world's deserts. A bunch of stone shacks surrounding a patch of rocky ground, which had a depression housing a well.

It wasn't supposed to be a real obstacle. Just a speed-bump at best.

The locals had other ideas.

The supposedly harmless village now housed a shield generator, covering everything withing ten kilometer radius from orbital bombardment. To make matters worse, the place was situated directly in the route the Caamasi Lancers and their Ryloth Ranger auxiliaries were ordered to clear.

They were facing no light forces meant to simply slow down the Republic advance and that had Colonel Pell glaring through the image enhancer built in his helmet. Even from his position, lying on the top of a tall sand dune, twelve kilometers from the shield's edge, he could see more than enough.

There were hundreds of dug in Sep tanks, at least two divisions worth of the buggers. Trench lines criss-crossed the desert, housing thousands of droids and locals. Groups of the insectoids were patrolling, buzzing overhead their comrades on stubby wings.

The kriffing bastards had artillery too, the barrel's of which barely cleared the depression in the center of the village.

"Any ideas?" Pell asked the handful of officers and NCOs who were with him.

"Attacking them directly is out of the question." His XO grunted. "They will shoot us to pieces before we reach the shield, while we have to cross anything from seven to ten kliks. Whatever remains to actually engage the enemy will be easily dispatched."

"We can't wait for the navy pukes to our jobs either. It will take days and the whole area will be turned into molten rock." The most senior NCO of the Caamasi Lancers added his two credits.

No one suggested just leaving the stronghold in their rear areas even if they could afford sufficiently powerful blocking force.

"Major." Pell turned to the sole clone on the dune.

"Sir?"

"How many of those new stealth armors do you have?"

"A company worth of them, sir."

"I see." The Colonel smiled. "We'll need to create a distraction for them."

"A commando raid to take out the shield?"

"Or preferably the artillery too." The Caamasi officer nodded. "This is what we are going to do..."

=RK=

Planetary shield generator complex

Geonosis

Shaak Ti rolled forward, just in time to avoid a concentrated beam of coherent light, which tried to cut her in two. The air above her hissed as heavy blaster bolts seared through it, before slamming into the beam turret that was targeting her. The Jedi Master used the Force to brake herself a moment before the ensuring explosion sent a shock-wave down the corridor. Fire and shrapnel rained over the invisible energy protecting her, deflecting or splashing harmlessly over the Force.

Armored boots thundered behind her and the heavy weapons teams advanced towards the next obstacle in their path.

Shaak Ti frowned when a hand was trust at her to help her stand up. She looked up and the frown deepened when she saw the Chiss woman. The Sith apprentice had fought next to her for the past quarter hour, ever since they started the assault into the bowels of the command center itself. The younger woman had fought more precisely and less insane once they were inside.

It didn't help her case much. She still reeked of the Dark Side.

For a moment, Shaak Ti hesitated, before she grabbed the offered hand and the Chiss helped her up. She wasn't going to be the one to act as an uncivilized savage. She was a Jedi after all and they were held to a higher standards.

Two crimson eyes stared at the Jedi Master.

"What's your problem, anyway?" The Chiss asked and went after the clones without waiting for an answer.

The Jedi Master went after them, fumbling for an answer. The woman was a Sith, obviously reveling in destroying her enemies, if the little Shaak Ti saw from her so far was any indication. That should have been a reason enough.

Yet, she didn't voice it as a concern. Because it was something that her Togruta nature approved very much of, even if she was usually able to suppress it thanks to her Jedi training.

"Lance Actual, Charlie One. We have a mechanized column approaching. All orbital assets are tasked at the moment. Please advice. Over."

"Charlie One, Lance Actual. Slow them down. Are there any bomber or gunship units available to soften them up? Over."

"Negative, Lance Actual."

"Don't allow them to enter the complex proper, Charlie One. We'll joint you once the Mountain is secure. Over."

"Willco, Lance Actual. Over."

"Is there a problem?" The Chiss woman appeared next to Shaak Ti, startling her. The damn Sith had suppressed her Force signature. On purpose, Shaak Ti was sure. A growl emanated from the back of the Jedi's throat, before she could get herself back under control. The fact that the other woman had the gall to smirk at her wasn't helping either.

"We'll have more company soon. We need to take this building, now."

"Then try not to slow us down, oh great Jedi..." The Chiss grinned mischievously and sprinted into the dept of the facility, towards the sound of explosions and blaster shots.

Shaak Ti took a moment to compose herself and followed suit. For some reason that infernal woman had a knack for getting under her skin.

=RK=

Anaxxian Rangers lead elements

Sixty kliks south of LZ "Kyber"

Geonosis

"Intel said nothing about that!" A young Second Lieutenant shouted from the shallow depression in the sand he was using as a cover.

"I told you… sir. Intel usually can't find their asses with written instructions in hand and an astro-mech to lead the way." The gunnery sergeant, who was the NCO unfortunate enough to babysit the brand new LT, grunted from behind a nearby dune.

The grizzled old soldier shot a local who flew in his direction. Then he rolled down the dune, barely avoiding a barrage of the green stuff that the kriffing insects loved so much.

"That" was an apparent network of tunnels which the locals had used to a great effect. The damn critters had appeared in the mid of a Ranger column, announcing their presence with the detonation of a few well placed explosive devices, before they swarmed the Anaxxians. The damn insects were right amidst them, making an orbital or even an air-strike a no go. While there were elements of the other columns swinging their way to help, those soldiers wouldn't be there in time.

At least a third of the APCs in the column were already burning, most destroyed along with the people who they were supposed to protect. The rest had broken from the orderly advance, disgorging angry Rangers in the process.

That surely helped blunt the enemy onslaught, yet it made the situation even more chaotic, with human and aliens fighting hand to hand in places. A crazed local screeched and charged an APC and dove under it before detonating a bandolier with AP and HE grenades. The machine was picked up by the explosion and then slammed in the sands, before its power-cell blew up, scything Rangers and locals alike. Another native bludgeoned to death a Ranger, before he was cooked in his carapace by a flamethrower.

A group of Geonosians buzzed over the scattering column, shooting at anything that moved. They blasted apart a squad of Anaxxians, before the favor was returned by the turret of an APC.

Then an air-mobile unit appeared, adding to the slaughter. Lances of green light cut through groups of locals, while laser cannons reduced others to chunks of cooling chitin. Armored clones started rappelling down, shooting at any native they could see. A moment later they were joined by General Kenobi, who jumped from a LAAT, igniting his lightsaber in mid air, before landing into a group of natives who were using a pair of burning APCs as cover. Obi-Wan's blue blade danced as he glided through the Soresu forms, avoiding or deflecting everything the Geonosians were able to throw his way.

It was all over as fast as it began. The surviving natives scattered, slithering back into their tunnels. When the last went in, they detonated pre-placed charges, collapsing the entrances.

"Cody, find who is in charge of this mess and give me a sit-rep." The general paused. "This is Kyber Command, Kyber Actual. Slow down the advance and intensify recon runs. Be advised, the enemy has build tunnel networks in the AO. I want ground-penetrating scans of the area. Send med-evac to my position. Kyber Actual, Over."

=RK=

CIS Death Bringer

Third Fleet Flagship

Hyperspace

"Well, that could have gone better." Count Dooku muttered. He was browsing the last transmission from Geonosis before Republic jamming cut off communications from that system.

The Sith Lord appeared calm, which was a lie. His blood was boiling with barely suppressed rage. Geonosis was a trap. It should have been a decisive victory in space. The CIS had the numbers and firepower for one.

Instead… this. Before comms were jammed for good, a report on the situation was sent out. The CIS fleet had been all but annihilated, with low to moderate casualties for the Republic. The enemy had been moving on the fixed defenses, preparing to reduce them along with what little mobile forces remained in system.

Dooku grind his teeth. It was an unmitigated disaster. Oh, not in military terms, despite the great victory the Republic had apparently won in space. Just in a few weeks those numbers would be made up for by new construction. However, the Confederation had lost its momentum. They no longer could afford new offensives, unless they wanted to open themselves for potentially devastating counter-attacks.

At least in that respect, Geonosis was still working. It would tie up the victorious Republic fleet and a lot of their ground forces until it was reduced. And that would take months.

More than enough time for the CIS to leverage their advantages and make sure that the Republic wouldn't be able to make a good use of their own.

That still left Dooku with his real problem. He was en-route to a high level meeting of the CIS leadership, which would decide who actually ruled the Confederacy for the foreseeable future. After his capture and the series of disasters which started with that madness on Naboo, his position was far from secure. While Dooku could simply slaughter the imbeciles who thought that they had an authority over a Sith Lord, that wasn't a viable alternative. It could lead to the CIS fracturing and that would leave them as easy pickings for the ascendant Republic war machine.

As distasteful as it was, the Sith actually needed the sniveling cowards and bootlickers that made up most of the CIS council. For now.

The Sith Lord returned his attention to the computer terminal built in his desk and continued writing the kriffing speech he was to give, while his mind was busy planning how to charm or intimidate the various CIS leaders into supporting him and his master.

=RK=

Republic Assault Cruiser "Hope"

Task Force Firewatch

En Route to the Outer Rim

Hyperspace

"Are you insane?" One of the new soldiers assigned to her command all but screamed.

The new commander of Havoc squad fixed the man with a look that made him shut the kriff up.

"We have our orders. This 'Republic' has sent a black-ops team to the facility in question. You've all been briefed what's in that kriffing place. We are to eliminate the Commando teams that will attempt to breach the facility, retrieve a sample so our scientist can try creating an antidote."

"Then we torch the place?" Another of the new members of her unit asked hopefully.

"Yes. We'll be lugging in enough thermal charges to evaporate the facility. Anyway, the Navy will burn the place once we are out. Just in case." The woman nodded. "Now go familiarize yourselves with the new equipment. Captain Dorne, stay." The woman ordered.

When the other eight soldiers were out of the briefing room, only the last two original members of Havoc that remained.

"Ma'am?"

"Don't give me that, old friend." The other woman slumped back in her chair and nodded Elara to sit. "You've been briefed on what we are really after, aren't you."

"I'm the medical officer in the squad." Dorne shrugged, a ghost of a frown marring her face.

"This is probably the nastiest thing we've ever had to deal with."

"It makes you think, doesn't it?" Elara looked around, raising an eyebrow.

"The room is clean. I had our mechanical friend sweep it before the meeting and I have a suppressor active." The Major nodded at the desk she was sitting behind.

"It's a sheer madness. What the general wants..." Dorne trailed off.

"You are afraid that the sample we are supposed to retrieve will be deployed."

"We gave our oaths to protect the republic and her citizens. What we've been doing lately..." Elara shrugged. "Even if this is no longer the Republic we swore to protect." She looked at the ground.

"I've had misgivings for some time. Ever since we lost almost all from Aegis on Naboo."

"And the whole deploying of bio-weapons doesn't bother you?" Elara snapped.

"You know it does!" The Major grunted in frustration. "What do you want me to do?! This is no longer our galaxy! It's not like we can defect after what the general did on Naboo and Coruscant! You know how this works! They will use us until we tell them anything of value the we'll be made an example of as kriffing terrorists!"

"I know." Elara muttered. "The fact that they made that man a general in their Army is bad enough."

"Yeah. I never thought that the Butcher of Onderon would be on the 'Republic' side. That by itself is almost enough to justify what we've been doing."

"Kriffing Sith! He should have died ages ago!"

"Us too, if you want to be technical about it."

=RK=

Part 2

Coruscant's Pride crash location

Geonosis

"Kriff, what a mess..." Fixer muttered.

The cruiser appeared to be in one piece. Mostly. Twisted shards of the bow armor littered the length of a rather long patch of torn up and burning desert, where the ship first struck the ground and skidded over the sands until it came to a stop. The visible upper hull was blackened and twisted, with nasty looking gorges of molten armor where various weapons had struck the downed ship. One of the command towers was sheared in the middle and burning. The fire's black smoke was acting like a beacon for both the rescue party dispatched by the general and the locals, who were swarming the wreck. Squadrons of spacefighters were dueling with their native, air-breathing counterparts, vying for air superiority. Even from this height, Boss could see a lot of the locals buzzing over the superstructure of the downed cruiser, seeking entrance into the ship. Here and there, pockets of survivors were active, trying to deny the enemy a certain breach into the hull.

"At least a few made it." Sev noted.

"Task force Dagger, Delta Actual. You know our orders. Secure Skywalker, get as many of the survivors clear and get out of here so the fleet can glass the site." Boss spoke over the general frequency for his expanded command.

"We have armored column approaching nine o'clock." The pilot informed them.

"Sick Vega flight on them. Loren Actual, Delta Actual. Third platoon, Loren company, are with Delta. We are landing on the remaining command tower. Use the rest of your company to secure that breach near its base and start SAR from there."

"Wilco, Delta Actual. Red Three Actual is at your disposal." A calm voice came over the comm, giving Boss a pause. The speaker wasn't one of his brothers. It took him a moment to remember that half of the people participating in this particular exercise weren't clones.

The Clone commander returned his attention at the holotank built in the middle of the LAAT transport. He zoomed out and could see the whole AO, with the friendly and enemy forces represented by blue and red icons. He saw the bombers from Vega Squadron making an attack run over what appeared to be enemy armor. Moments later a lot of the land locked red symbols disappeared along with those of two bombers after a bunch of enemy craft pounced on them. A few seconds later, a group of interceptors vectored on the enemy fighters and blew them out of the sky.

They haven't landed yet and it was already a bloodbath.

"There is a breach just below the command deck of the tower." The pilot announced.

"We'll use it. Better than blowing our way in." Scorch added his two credits. "That place already took a lot of beating. I would prefer not to blow up any more of it than we need." The demo expert was looking on a holographic image of the command tower produced by the computer built in the left arm of his new armor.

"Get us as close as you can. We'll lead the way with the regulars moving in behind us." Boss saidand relied the command to Third platoon.

A large blue symbol appeared near the top of the holotank. A Corellian frigate was rather low, coming in for a strafing run over some enemy position in the vicinity. Her secondaries were busy erasing groups of the local's air-breathers as she passed above the battlefield. A few seconds later, flashes of light and rising mushroom clouds could be seen at various points over the horizon.

"We'll be in position in twenty." The pilot informed his cargo.

"You heard the man. Ready to deploy." Boss ordered, removing his eyes from the holotank. He took a position near the sliding door of the transport and removed his blaster for the magnetic clamp on his back.

Moments later, the LAAT came to a halt which was barely felt thanks to the inertial dampeners. The door slid open and the clones scanned for enemies. Seeing none, they jumped over the meter separating the transport and a jagged hole blown in the side of the command tower. Fixer was first, landing lightly on the armored deck of the cruiser and moving in to make space for his brothers. The rest of the commandos followed suit and their ride flew away, making room for the next bird which carried the first two squads from Third platoon.

Delta Squad didn't wait for the reinforcement and headed for the nearest entrance point for the deck above them. The regulars would secure start securing the rest of the tower while they checked on the obsolete command center overhead. According to the last info they got, Skywalker was likely to be there. Or at leas he was before the cruiser started crash landing.

=RK=

"That's new." Fixer muttered as he looked over the trashed command center.

"It's a first too." Boss nodded next to him.

The topic of their conversation was lying on the middle of the compartment in a bloody heap, while Scorch and Fixer were tending to him.

"Fleet Command, Delta Actual. We have the package and need a med evac for him. SAR for the rest of the crew is in progress. Will advice on estimated time frame when available, over." Boss reported to his superiors." He returned his attention to his squad. "As for you, stop tempting fate. We aren't out of this mess yet. Red Three Actual, Delta Actual. We have the package. Sent a squad to secure him at the Command Center at the top of the tower and continue securing the rest of the structure."

=RK=

Command Center

Planetary Shield Generator Complex

Geonosis

"Master Ti! You finally arrived!" HK-117 exclaimed with what sounded like a disappointment. "I was just starting to really enjoy myself." The assassin droid added as an afterthought. "Master Astra! You survived as well." The machine added when the Chiss woman waved at it.

Instead of answering, Shaak Ti was struck speechless as she watched the slaughter house in which Veil's pet mechanical psychopath had turned the command center. There were steaming chunks of the locals strewn all over the place, mixed with pieces of destroyed electronics. Not to mention the big armored Geonosians who appeared to have been cut apart by vibroblades.

Noticing the way she was looking around, HK beamed. "This is one of my better works, I have to admit." The droid declared smugly. It tilted his head to the side and asked, "Is something wrong?"

Shaak Ti simply glared at the assassin. She had the feeling that at best he would brush off any objections she had for the way he dealt with the enemy personnel. Besides, the Jedi Master had the sneaking suspicion that Veil would support his pet's course of action and anyone but another Jedi would simply shrug if she started bitching about it right now.

Needless to say, the Sith in the room appreciated the lesson in butchery, destruction and overall mayhem, if her grin was anything to go by. Even worse, the clones who had entered after the pair of Force Adepts were unfazed by the sight. She could feel that the slaughter hadn't disturbed them in the least.

"Well talk about this..." Shaak Ti waved at the smoking remains of the command center, "Later. Make sure that this building is of no use for the CIS. We'll be either leaving or entrenching this position shortly."

"I'll make sure the place is trashed." The Sith announced and left the room, laving a squad of demo experts to follow her.

"I'll go have fun… Ahem, hunt down enemy stragglers in the building." HK said and cloaked, becoming invisible.

"Command, This is..." Shaak Ti started reporting the situation in her AO. She needed to know if relief forces could reach her on time. If they didn't, she and the shock troopers would have to disengage and make it to friendly lines.

=RK=

Kelrx'Po

Geonosis

"Well, kriff." Colonel Pell muttered.

He could hear the sharp retorts of blasters behind the distant enemy positions. Moments later, that was followed by blue tinted explosions which lit up the night. The officer didn't need his binocular to see the shield covering the enemy slowly dissipating, which only added to the light show.

Now he needed to extract the special forces which were in the middle of the CIS controlled village.

"Soren Actual, This is Theta Actual. Drop the hammer on the following coordinates..." The Colonel proceeded to feed targeting information for the Ion canons of the cruisers in orbit corresponding to the dug in armor and infantry surrounding the village. The settlement itself was to remain largely intact. He wasn't ready to write off his only stealth capable special forces.

Soon enough the desert was lit up by azure lighting as the Ion charges struck the dug in enemy. The trenches were no protection for the Ion radiation which slagged electronics even before the energy buildup in the air started producing lighting which arched between tanks and individual droids, tearing the later apart. The battalion of locals spread through the machine's lines fared little better. The lighting found a lot of them, frying the insectoid aliens where they stood. More than a half of the force stationed there died, with most of the survivors suffering from second and third degree burns.

By the time the Ion energy started dissipating, there weren't enough CIS forces left to slow down a platoon, much less the Caamasi divisions that were ready to jump them.

In the village itself, the situation was different. They were out of the immediate kill radius of the bombardment, yet droids and various other tech on the outskirts were rendered useless with power surges making the life of those in the center difficult. That included both the Clone troopers attached to this prong of the offensive as well as their CIS counterparts.

In one fell sweep, the situation of the infiltrators went from a successful suicide mission to merely rather precautions.

Fifteen kilometers away, colonel Pell waited for a few minutes so the energy from the orbital strike could discharge before he gave the order to advance.

Dozens of heavy tanks roared to life and charged towards the decimated enemy lines. They were followed by their light brethren, which acted as both a screening force and flank protection. A short distance behind them, the heavies were followed by a swarm of APCs and AFVs, ready to provide support when needed.

While his regiment advanced on the weakened enemy, colonel Pell returned his attention to planning the next move of his forces. They still had to cross hundreds of kilometers before reaching their real target.

=RK=

CIS Command Center

Location Classified

Geonosis

"So we are cut off." Sev'rance Tann glared at the large holotank in the middle of the room.

Her special unit had been dispatched to this dust ball a few weeks ago on a special mission from Count Dooku himself. While their task was successfully accomplished, their number was cut in nearly half and they were stuck here. The fact that the Republic controlled the orbitals and eagerly shot down anyone trying to escape, made her job much harder that it needed to be. She had information that had to reach her master, yet she was cut off with all outgoing transmissions being jammed.

"Well, at least you have control over this sector of the planet." Forge grunted. Beside herself, the Mandalorian mercenary was the only one who got out mostly intact from the mess they found themselves in. That was a testament of his combat skills and the effectiveness of his custom build armor.

"That's not reassuring. This is the primary target for the Republic forces. If it wasn't for the redundant shields protecting us, we would have been evaporated yesterday." The Dark sider grumbled.

"Forge, go and check on the defensive lines. I want recommendation on how to improve them. I'll find out what we have to work with." And try finding a way out of this rock went unsaid. With the destruction of the fleet, it was unlikely that a relief force would be send any time soon.

"I'm on it, boss." The merc left her with the sorry remnants of her hand picked team.

Besides Forge, only a pair of Commando droids were combat capable at this time… after they were fixed in the shop during the night. The rest of the survivors, while patched up, weren't going to be fighting in the next week or so.

"You two, I want you to bring the prototype droids up to Commando standards programing wise."

"Roger, Ma'am." The Droid with Captain's paint on it's head and shoulders answered, before saluting and leaving the command center.

That left her alone with one of the highest ranking locals on the planet.

"It wont be enough." The being said in it's clicking language.

"Of course not. All defensive plans hanged on keeping at least a part of the fleet intact to harass the enemy space presence if not wining outright. After the debacle yesterday, all we can do is to slow them down, bleed the Republic forces and keep them died down for as long as possible." Sev'rance stated.

"In that case, I have some preparations to make." Poggle said and made his way out of the building.

=RK=

Part 3

General Veil's quarters

Republic Cruiser Chimera

First Assault Fleet Flagship

High Orbit over Geonosis

Awareness came back slowly. My instinctive reaction of reaching to the Force made my coming back to the world of the living rather unpleasant. Painful even.

Oh, yeah. I overdid it with the kriffing Battle Meditation. That was unpleasant even if it worked.

It did, right?

Ah. Yeah. We won the battle. My mind finally started working and I recalled what happened. Including that very vivid dream of my former Master, who was supposed to be dead. Of the deal we made. I carefully opened my eyes and looked around. Yep, this were my quarters on board Pellaeon's ship.

The only question was why the hell did that dream feelso real? Was the Force or that infernal woman who got me stuck here in the first place, playing games with my head? On a second thought, never mind. The Force has been trying to krifff me up royally ever since I knew her touch, damn irritating Dark Side.

I closed my eyes and carefully touched the Force. This time it was merely unpleasant instead of downright painful. It took me some time to check up onmy shields. The feeling of death, pain and misery that came with a planetary scale war were kind of distracting. A part of me was quite enjoying itself as I soaked the disturbing feeling coming from the world below me. It took me a few minutes to center myself and start reestablishing my shields which were rather frayed after last night's excitement.

The smug satisfaction coming from the Dark Side as it grew stronger from the war didn't make it any easier even if it have me more raw power to work with.

Still, I finally got myself under control and started checking up for Force Bonds.

First I sensed the vague familiar presence of my newest apprentice. Huh. Aria was bored, which was good. It must meant that she and my Shock Trooper regiment managed to do their job. Knowing her, Astra wouldn't be this calm if the mission to take out the Shield Generator Complex was unsuccessful.

Of course, the best news was that my apprentice felt all right, unharmed.

I sent her my approval through the bond and clamped on it on my side so I could continue my search undisturbed by the excitable Sith I was training.

A few moments later I was able to sense another bond, a bit weaker and older.

Whatever Jaybo was doing back on Corellia, the kid was quite excited, downright happy even. So leaving him temporally with the Green Jedi there appeared to be a good decision on my part.

After patting myself on the back for that idea, I continued my search.

This time it took longer, the connection I was looking for was ethereal, almost non-existent thing. If I wasn't specially looking for it, the kriffing thing would have slipped past my attention. It was too fickle, weak for me to follow it, yet that wasn't really necessary right now.

The very existence of that bond was important.

I opened my eyes, returning my attention firmly to the here and now. No apprentice worth their salt, no matter if they were Sith or even this era's Jedi, would fail to recognize the Force Bond with their Master.

Darth Kriffing Zash was somehow alive, if that word could be used for her body hopping state.

It took me a few moments of loud Huttese curses to calm down.

Damn it to all Corellian Hells, wasn't my life complicated enough already?! Kriff!

Zash herself I could easily ignore until this war was over. It wasn't like I haven't done it before, even when she had the power over me to try torturing me to death. It was the kriffing deal we made in that "dream". I needed to wrap up this battle and visit the Jedi Temple's Archives. I had to find a few answers about the past before deciding what to do with Zash.

For all I knew, she was desperate and lying through her teeth, even if I didn't recall any deception on her part.

I stood up, too abruptly for comfort and nearly fell on my ass. Damn, my balance was shot too. I took a deep breath, steadied myself and carefully made my way to the fresher.

=RK=

A hot shower made me feel somewhat better. At least good enough to drag myself to medical for some self medication. I apparently looked as bad as I felt, if the looks random clones and other assorted Navy personnel gave me while I was shambling through Chimera's corridors.

Soon enough, I was at the blast doors separating the last part of the way and the main medical bay of the ship.

They were conspicuously closed and had a squad of Clones wearing the new medium armors guarding the entrance. That was surprising. Did my boys catch someone important while I was napping?

"Sergeant, report." My voice sounded like gravel. Joy.

"General, sir!" The NCO in charge of the squad stood straighter, but didn't get to attention, neither moved his weapon from pointing loosely at my midsection. Good man.

"We have Skywalker in custody, General. Per Commodore Pellaeon's orders, the ship is under maximum security while he is on board, sir. I'll need to scan you before allowing you entry, sir."

Despite feeling like a shit I grinned. I doubted that if I ordered them to jut let me in, they would listen… Something that their still brainwashed brethren would do in a heartbeat, considering that I was the ranking officer in the fleet. It was good to see indication that consigning a lot of time and effort to deprogramming the Clones under my command was effective.

One day that may very well save my ass.

I stood still while a Corporal ran a hand held scanner over me, confirming that I wasn't someone or something wearing my face.

"Sir, you are free to enter." The Sergeant sounded relieved.

"Carry on." I said with an approving smile and passed into the med bay after one of the clones opened the doors.

Inside I found another two squads guarding a single Bacta tank in the far corner of the compartment. The device was pointedly placed in such a way as to be as far from the two entrances to medical as possible.

Going by what I was sensing from the Clones, Skywalker had blown all the goodwill he would ever have with them after his stunt.

I had to pause for a moment to rein in my anger. While initially Anakin did show some forethought by loading all but a skeleton crew no everything but three Venators, in the end he made it pointless by using one of them as a projectile to take out a battle station and the other as a shield for his own ship.

That reminded me, I needed to check up on what survived from 501stamong other things.

I shook my head, which was beginning to pound, and went to a nearby lab station, ignoring the medics who were giving me concerned looks.

"Unless one of you is familiar with treating Force burnout, you can carry on." I grumbled.

Now what exactly did I need for the kriffing witch's brew I was going to make and then drink?

While most of my attention was on the task at hand, I glanced at one of the Clone medics, who was hovering nearby. Probably in case I managed to poison myself or something.

"What's the status of the casualties? Do you folks have all that you need to take care of them?"

"We've got sufficient manpower and supplies, general. The casualties have been considerably lighter than expected. Actually we have you to thank about that."

"What did I do?" I asked absent-mindedly while stirring a chemical cocktail and carefully infusing it with the Force.

"Your orders for orbital interdiction of any enemy military target, with disregard for collateral damage. Our casualties are an order of magnitude less than expected."

"That's the way it should be. Unless you're retaking one of your own worlds, you have no business throwing an army against a planet without a liberal application of orbital firepower."

Unless you wanted your military casualties for the campaign to get in the dozens of millions… if you had such a manpower to waste in the first place.

I almost missed the good old days before both the Old Republic and the Empire started deploying planetary shields during the cold war. Before that, assaulting a planet was much less bloody for the attacking side if they had space superiority.

Ah, it was mostly ready… I beamed at the bubbling and smoking concoction. It had a nasty gray-green color and the less said about the taste the better.

At least it should make sure that I'll be in my right mind soon so I can start dealing with the battle unfolding down below.

"What in the name of all that's unholy is this?!" Admiral Yularen, who had came in while I was distracted, exclaimed.

"Medicine." I deadpanned and took a sip, promptly coughing out most if it. The kriffing thing started hissing and eating through the deck.

The Admiral just stared at me open mouthed.

"It needs a bit more stabilizer." I coughed and started rummaging through the lab station.

"And I thought that the Jedi were bad enough..." Yularen muttered.

"What did they do this time?"

"Besides protesting our conductplanet side?"

"As long as they follow the damn orders and don't get our people killed, they can protest to their heart's content." I said while liberally seasoning my drink with arsenic.

Ah, there was nothing like kludged Sith Alchemy to make of kriff up one's day.

I took another sip. It was terrible, in top five of the nastier things I've tried though nowhere near the top. Then again, those were the hazards I once had to brave as Zash's assistant slash Guinea pig.

"Is this an elaborate suicide attempt or something?" Yularen was back to his usual self.

"It's necessary if I'm to be useful in a few hours instead of inside a week. What do I need to know?"

The Admiral shrugged, probably dismissing my antics as the price of working with space wizards. "It's been eventful since you went for your beauty sleep. Which didn't work, if you're wondering. You do look rather terrible." He gave me a small smile.

"I feel worse."

Another sip. This time I managed to give Yularen a sick smile in attempt to show him I was already getting better.

He gave me a long suffered look and shook his head, muttering something about kriffing maniacs thinking they're generals. A grumble later and he had his business face on. "The situation is fluid. While so far we're ahead of schedule, the locals did spring more than a few nasty surprises, which account for most of our losses..." Yularen started explaining.

With a bit of luck, I would have an understanding of the situation by the time I started recovering.

=RK=

Interlude: Resident insane scientists, Part I

Republic R&D Facility

Location Classified

Coruscant

"Sorry, General. Only you can proceed from here on." The Lieutenant in charge of the checkpoint looked apologetic.

That however did nothing to ease the tension. The twelve troopers surrounding Valentra tensed, hands tightening around their weapons.

"Kelso, stand down. We are all friendlies here." The General ordered, hoping that he wasn't making a mistake. He was assured by the intelligence chiefs that this facility was actually secure, with all the personnel carefully vetted. Multiple times, by three separate agencies.

Under different circumstances, even someone as paranoid as Valentra would have thought that to be an overkill.

That was before the attack on the HQ, that left him and Veil practically in charge of the whole damn army. After all, it wasn't really paranoia if yourcommand structure was penetrated and compromised atthe highest levels.

Luckily for Valentra, dealing with that particular can of worms wasn't his headache to deal with, because as things stood, he had his hands full with managing the logistics of a galaxy spanning war. One that was intensifying too, despite all signs tothe contrary. Thanks to the surprising success above Geonosis, the Republic now had two to four weeks to take a breather and hopefully prepare for the next round of intensive combat. Though given the scale of the fighting that would be going on in that period, one would be hard pressed to believe that there was an actual lull in the war. Then again, that was the reality of a conflict of such a scale.

That was the reason he was here, while the facility's guards and his bodyguard were doing their best to increase his headaches.

The door behind the guard detail slid open with a hiss, disrupting the argument in it's infancy.

"What's the meaning of this?! Ah, General! Come on! We have so much to show you and not enough time, unless we can convince you to prolong your visit?" The Duros standing on the other side of the door had a helpful expression on his face. He was wearing a white, skintight lab outfit, which needed only a helmet to be airtight.

"If I can pass through without starting a firefight, I'll consider it."

"A firefight? Here?!" The scientist exclaimed. His huge eyes looked wildly around for all of two seconds before centering on the Lieutenant. "Tigh! How many times should I tell you! No shooting our visitors unless they are here to mess up our experiments! If they are kriffing spies, just call us and we'll use them as ingredients!"

For some unfathomable reason, Valentra got the feeling that the scientist wasn't joking. What madmen did Veil had working on R&D after he started taking an active role in their studies?

"Sorry, sir. However, only the General is cleared."

"Ah that. It was General Veil's idea. No unauthorized personnel past this point. Damn, we aren't supposed to let in even the Chancellor if he somehow appeared on our doorstep… Talk about paranoid individuals… He makes us look downright sane by comparison..." The Duros shook his head, while his eyes got a far away look.

"Ahem, Doctor. My time is precious and you have to show me a lot of things this afternoon."

"Right, right. This way. I can promise you, you'll get the General back in the same shape and form. However, I can't vouch for his sanity. Occupational hazard, you see."

"You know, that's not reassuring. By the way, we weren't introducing."

"Ah, that. I'm Doctor Solumn, Chief Director of this facility. Come on in, follow me. What do you want to see first? The boring presentation, mostly theoretical and lab studies, or shall we start with the fun part? Practical testing is that way and the conference rooms are a few floors above."

"I've had too much excitement today. Let's head up." Valentra spoke hastily. He wasn't too keen to see what the undoubtedly unhinged Duros had cooked up in his lab.

It would be prudent to go over the paperwork first. That way there was less chance for something blowing in his face.

=RK=

"Well, it's boring as I warned you." Solumn sounded rather boringly condescending. Somehow. "At least you passed through the hurdle and now there are only the more interesting projects to go over." Suddenly a disturbing glint appeared in the scientist's huge eyes.

"Those were based primary on Veil's idea, right?" Valentra asked. He had the sneaking suspicion that what he was about to be made aware of, would be something terrible, at least for the Republic's enemies. Just like the doctor prescribed.

"Yes, such a nice man! His ideas have potential! Where to start…"

"Usually the beginning is best."

"Why not? Most other projects we'll be reviewing for the rest of the meeting would be dramatically enhanced if we succeed with the first two ideas that General Veil put forth!"

"I'm all ears."

"First, Project Ascension." Solumn beamed. "I quite like that one. If we can get it working, I'll be using the results on me and the whole staff."

Valentra raised an eyebrow, wondering what horror had been unleashed by Veil.

"Simply put, Ascension is forcing the next step of our evolution!" The Scientist cackled with glee. "It's based on finding a way to safely implement genetic upgrades to ourselves! Making us smarter, tougher. Giving us better reflexes and reaction times! You got the drift, right? Once we make it work, it will be glorious!"

"Basically upgrading our soldiers, putting them on their peak? No turning us into monsters by accident?" The General smiled. Getting one hundred and ten percent from his soldiers sounded great. Besides the clones were genetically altered at least a bit to be better at their jobs. To equal that quality when training the volunteers went into full swing would be great. If it could be done safely.

"At the very minimum! What our research teams envision is bringing us far beyond what the nature meant when while we evolved. Besides, that monster thing was one time!"

Valentra's smile froze at the last sentence. "What do you mean?"

"It was just an accident, it won't happen again I swear!"

"I'll be looking into that." Whatever it was. "How is the project going?"

"We are still in the preliminary stages. Simply tailoring the changes using retroviruses won't be enough for the bigger stuff, though within a year I can guarantee that we at least would be able to put our troopers at the peak of their species' physical abilities."

"That sounds great." And much less dangerous than the other stuff. "I'll be reviewing this project later." Carefully. "What's next?"

"Project Rebirth. It has similar overall goal, though it tackles the problem from a different direction. We based it on an already existing research into better prosthetic for when your soldier got blown to pieces. The overall idea is to reach the point in cybernetics where both the Old Republic and the Sith Empire were during the great war Four Thousand years ago. As you may know, the Republic as a whole has lost a lot of institutional knowledge in that area. While it is possible, even likely that individual members do have capabilities rivaling or even exceeding those of the old powers, well that knowledge isn't available to us."

"Well, putting my boys and girls back together if they run out of luck is always great in my book." Valentra nodded empathically. While there were rather nice prosthetic on the open market, the top of the line that a soldier would need to return to active service were out of the league for an average citizen, though a civilian could easily get his hands on something that can easily get them through their daily lives without a hitch.

For a grunt or even worse, a pilot, the all but the top of the line was rather dubious perspective.

"As I said we started with that. Soon enough we'll have artificial limbs in mass production, that put everything but the custom built stuff to shame. However, that's not what Project Rebirth is. To be frank, the aim of Ascension is similar. We've been doing some studies on what's possible if the Confeds stop messing around and relying on the lowest bidder for their droids. If they went high on quality, your precious Clone troops would be dead meat. The new weapons and armor would make them a bit more than useless, but they simply don't have the toughness, reflexes and reaction times to face proper war droids if the damn things are deployed in numbers."

"At least so far the CIS has been keen on relying on quantity. It has been working too."

"Bah, the B1s are trash, mere rent-a-cop quality mechs..." Solumn spat. "The SB series and the Droidekas are a little better, though only the latter are reasonable threat for a Clone one on one. I am talking about real war droids, the likes of which we both know could be build."

Valentra's expression became grim. He as well as most Republic citizens had heard the stories, though as a general he had the benefit of seeing classified reports. Now and then, a really advanced and damn dangerous droid surfaced. They universally had simply inhuman reaction time and speed, not to mention the amount of firepower needed to overwhelm their well armored chassis. If the CIS ever deemed it necessary to start mass producing such things, the GAR was in for a world of pain.

The General winced. For all he knew, the enemy was already trying to do just that with the experimental droid factories on Geonosis, which were the main reason for the invasion. He was hoping that the ground forces could wreck those facilities before they got operational.

"I am aware of the problem and believe that we've seen the same reports." Valentra nodded.

"Good. So I don't have to explain how grave a threat such a development would be. To counteract it, we're aiming of creating combat cyborgs. On the lower end we would have soldiers with built in weapons within their artificial limbs, sub-dermal armor, bones coated with various alloys to make them as close as unbreakable or outright replacements, either enhancing or replacing muscle..." Solumn continued droning on and on to Valentra's sick fascination.

The worst thing was that he saw the necessity. Even if the situation didn't became as grim as it could, making it unnecessary for the most radical proposed steps – mind uploading into advanced droids or cutting off and placing a person's nervous system into an Android body, the horror, Valentra could see that hundreds of thousands, even millions of wounded soldiers would benefit from this research.

Besides, you never knew when you would desperately need to mass produce super soldiers, which were the real aims of those projects. Oh, he gave both Solumn and Veil credit, they would be obviously heralding the benefits of the research for both civilian and military alike, but that was secondary benefit at best. In reality, it was all about turning the army in one made of super soldiers.

"Any other bombshells you want to drop on me, doc?"

"What? All ordinance is tested in the underground labs about a hundred levels bellow us!"

"Next project, please." Valentra shook his head. Solumn appeared to be honestly confused.

"All right! It's time for more hardware! First, Project Helldiver. I believe you're familiar with it."

"Veil's brainchild for orbital deployment. I went through preliminary reports of its use during the initial assault of Geonosis. It seems to work."

"Well, initially I thought that it was some thrill-seeker's fancy, but after a bit of brainstorming we managed to kludge together as system that works. That's the Helldiver MarkOne. We are naturally researching various ways to improve it and once we have the data from Geonosis and incorporate lessons learned form there, the first variant will start mass production."

"Good. That has many uses for deploying both people and material."

"That was our conclusion as well. Next comes everything under the heading of Project Dragon. I'll need an additional code word authentication to release certain sub projects. Its under Codeword Crimson Tide."

"Winter Sonata." Valentra spoke his own code.

"Confirmed." A synthetic voice sounded from all sides of the conference room. "Scanning… Complete. General Valentra, you have unrestricted access to Project Dragon and it's sub-divisions."

"Who is that?"

"Alison, our own AI. She's very much work in progress so far."

"Ah. There aren't a lot of those running around." Despite what a some people believed, the multitudes of droids running around the galaxy, while rather bright and sentient weren't actually sapient. Not real AI's. Not persons. That said, he knew of at least three AI's operating within the Republic's borders and two of them were considered citizens. "Nice to meet you, Alison. Now, if any of you would be good enough to proceed with this briefing."

"Right. Project Dragon is the umbrella covering our advanced aerospace research. From weapons and armor for your troopers up to and including new capital ship designs. Where to start… Yes, the stuff you should be familiar with. Project Phalanx. It's first phase is now complete with the deployment of the new shielded armors, which are now entering mass production. A companion project, Lancer is to blame for the new guns that come in with the shinny new outfits. "

"Yes, I was briefed on those and read into the field test reports."

"Splendid. Now, Phalanx Phase two. That is very much under development. We were stalled until that mess on Naboo when one of your Commando teams managed to came back with an example of working light power armor, even if they practically wrecked the damn thing. Thanks to that, research in the are is proceeding apace."

"Good. If those enemy operatives were really wearing the light stuff, I don't want to know what the other models can do. I want this project given priority."

Solumn simply nodded. "Next, it's not particularly awe inspiring, but rather important nonetheless. Project Hermes. It's the development of new propulsion methods. So far we're making a good progress on a new ion engine which would do wonders for all small craft once it's ready. The rest if mostly theoretical studies on improving hyperspace travel, but there is nothing on that front as of this moment."

"That's good or would be, if it wasn't for the Guardian. Don't get me wrong, you folks outdid yourselves with that system. It practically changed some aspects of space warfare by itself. However, it won't be long before the CIS unveils their own version and our small craft will be made useless."

"We've been aware of that from before installing it. It's just too bad that it took the war and General Veil's patronage for the Guardian to see the light of day. Now, we've been working on countermeasures. They fall under Project Dragon Wing. It has three phases though the second two are theoretical studies for the foreseeable future. It's the first one that will interest you. Alison if you will." Solumn waved at the ceiling.

"Of course, Director."

A holographic image appeared above the table they were sitting around. "This is a design for a Heavy Fighter. The boys in engineering are assembling a prototype as we speak."

The holographic image was showing something different from what came to mind when one thought about starfighter. Once upon a time it might have been a Delta, similar to what most Jedi preferred to fly. However it was almost two and half times bigger, with the most of the volume taken by heavy armor, oversized engines and a lot of weapons. A. Lot. Of. Weapons. The thing had the firepower rivaling a squadron of Torrents.

"I like it. Is it fast enough to avoid cap ships light guns?"

"That's the idea. Just fast enough not to be hit by that amount of firepower while tanking a reasonable amount of Guardian system's firepower. As you can see, "Solumn pointed at various small gun emplacements, "It has active anti-missile systems too."

"The idea has merit. Can it be applied to our ground vehicles?"

"I had the same thought. After checking some of the old records it turns out that such systems were very common until two thousand years ago when they made missiles and rockets fall out of favor for anti-armor work."

"So they were eventually removed and people started deploying explosive ordinance once again. I wonder how many times such a thing has happened."

"Probably more than either of us would believe. Now we've planned Very Heavy fighter and bomber variants, though those are still on the drawing board. Now that you have access to the program, you can check up on them if you want."

"Perhaps later. What's next?"

"Let's go with the more conventional things first."

That surprised Valentra. He was curious what the resident mad scientist would consider unconventional. That would be "interesting". "Let's go with that."

"All right. So now it's time for ground combat. We've gone over what is to be done to the infantry. Now it's time for the heavier hardware. First is Project Titan, it will aim to replace the AT series of walkers with dedicated tanks. For now we are looking to our friends form Axanar and Caamas for design tips for what General Veil dubs Main Battle Tank. Our hove vehicles are doing rather well in the scout and light tank role, though we can use better heavy ones. The walkers while somewhat decent are a mix between a transport and tank ultimately excelling in neither. So we are looking at something that will be in the range of seventy to hundred tons. It's primary method of transportation will be tracked, though we plan to add repulsors for crossing rough terrain or bridges that aren't rated for such weight.

We envision its planned protection in four layers, failing in active and passive defense active AM system, which is in development, second the shield, third reactive armor to take out projectiles and attempt disrupting energy bolts and finally armor. The latter will be capital ship armor grade. As for primary and secondary weaponry, there is some debate and will be decide in a later stage of the design. We'll be shooting for cruise speed between eighty and ninety kilometers per hour."

"When can we expect to have anything but prototypes? Because what you just outlined sounds much better that either side is currently deploying."

"Six to eight months to finish a prototype and have a few units for field testing. A few more months to clean up any problems that crop up and start mass production."

"Good. While I would naturally prefer a shorter time-table, this is something we can work with. Will there be any new troop transports? The walkers won't be able to keep up with such a speed."

"Indeed. We have two projects for that. Burning Mynok for an APC and Raptor for AFV. Those are still on the drawing board, though the designing phase is rather fast after the latest batch of engineers finished vetting."

"Good. I'll want to see the design parameters later. Anything else?"

"Now for the questionable part. The really fun project I'm leaving last."

"This I got to hear."

"If you have any concerns, turn to General Veil. This is all his idea."

"Dully noted. Proceed."

"Project Crimson Dragon, and yeah for some reason he's fascinated with those reptiles. It calls for the creation of multipurpose vehicles, dubbed Mobile Suit. It is meant to handle aerospace combat as well as ground deployment. It should be rather useful in construction as well. Talk about design creep..." Solumn grunted.

"How the kriff is that supposed to work? Anyway, dedicated platforms for each role would have much better performance."

"At least he's aware about that. The basic idea is that mass production and different sub-variants sharing parts to ease our logistical burdens. In the end this Mobile Suit of his is meant to be merely good enough in it's various roles as well as being deployed in overwhelming numbers. Needless to say, it's not too bad a concept, before you start factoring the engineering challenges. That's at least someone alleviated by the General giving us rough ideas and sketches of a few Mobile Suit variants. My best idea is that it was a Sith Empire black project and Veil was a part of the development. Obviously it was never finished."

"Ah. So you know about Delkatar."

"He mentioned his origins while explaining where he get some of his ideas and that he has seen a few of them put into practice."

"The Cyborgs for one."

"Indeed. He has served with some and what he told me about their capabilities was impressive."

"While it does sound useful, this Mobile Suit concept sounds too much like something that wants to be a super weapon. We don't have the time to chase such space dreams. Put it on the back burner until you have the manpower and resources to study its feasibility without compromising other projects. However, you might look in it's supposed construction capabilities. Anything that might be useful for either our industry or combat engineers is to be looked at."

"I'll do so. Now the last part." Solumn grinned. "The General Spoke about an Imperial prototype of a Positron Canon though he suffered his little accident before seeing it being tested."

"Positron? As in antimatter? I know it could be tremendously powerful as a weapon, but there have allays been problems with proper containment, especially in combat, to make it worthwhile. As a power source, our hyper-matter reactors are almost comparable in efficiency and output, while remaining much, much safer.

"It's a relevant field of research and we have some ideas, though it will be a few years before you could see any practical results. Though it's one of the funniest research fields we have around! Just think of all the math and engineering going in designing a proper way to weaponise antimatter!" Solumn exclaimed in glee.

Valentra chuckled at the scientist's antics.

=RK=

Part 4

LAAT Transport

En route to Republic Staging area Bravo

Geonosis

"Pilot, we aren't heading towards the staging area. Why?" Shaak Ti asked moments later after the side doors of the craft slid shut and it accelerated, pulling upwards.

"New orders, Ma'am. We are to dock with the Chimera. General Veil's orders. Unless you have a very good reason to countermand them, Ma'am, we are heading that way."

"Carry on then. I'll take it up with the General." The Jedi Master narrowed her eyes. "Your master is starting to overstep his bounds."

The Assassin Droid hanging next to the Chiss woman in the back of the transport snorted.

"He is in overall command of this operation, Jedi." The Machine spoke casually, yet there was a lot of contained menace in its synthetic voice.

"Did you expect something else? With you being the sole exception, we are part of his personal command." Aria smirked. "My Master will want a report on our performance and how the new equipment held up under combat conditions. If he likes what he hears, we'll be back into the fray soon enough." The Chis woman smiled at the prospect of more combat.

The assault yesterday made her feel really alive. However, when the battle was over she had some trouble containing her blood lust, which was a problem. Aria didn't appreciate how the Dark Side was constantly whispering in the back of her head, prodding her to more and more acts of violence. That almost got her killed, would have if it wasn't for that pair of Clones who her Master had ordered to keep an eye of her. They had blasted apart the group of destroyer droids that had her pinned down while a platoon of SBs was preparing to flank her position.

Aria pouted, irritated by the thought that she needed more training on how to handle the Dark Side. That was uniformly uncomfortable experience.

The disapproval that the Jedi radiated every time she was around, didn't help either. It was obviously that the Togruta had a problem with her, yet the older woman kept it to herself. Which was quite irritating. Weren't the kriffing Jedi supposed to keep their feelings in check or outright suppress them?!

The young Sith's eyes darted around the compartment. They were alone in the back, besides the droid and she was rather sure that HK could keep his metal mouth shut.

"Boys, seal the cockpit. We need to have a private chat back here."

"At once, Ma'am."

A panel fell down, closing off the pilots from the rest of the craft.

"What's your problem?" Aria asked, not bothering to keep the irritation from her voice.

The Jedi General stiffened and turned around to fix the other woman with a flat stare. "I have many problems to deal with as you put it. You need to be more specific."

Aria rolled her eyes, which looked rather strange on a Chiss. "Hi! Sith here, I can feel through the Force as well as any Jedi, probably better than most. Try again."

The blue skinned woman almost smiled when she felt a spark of anger from the Togruta, one that was soon turned into smoldering flames.

"Do you really need to ask? Your very existence is the problem!" Shaak Ti glared.

"Is that so, Jedi?! So my Master should have simply left me to die. So much for your valued principles!" Aria growled, barely keeping a lid on her anger. The Force which was laughing at the back of her head was only pissing her off even more.

"What?! Of course not!" The Jedi Master exclaimed, stepping back in shock. "What in the name of the Force made you think that?!"

"Sith here! Led the suicidal assault on the Temple, ensured that a lot of Jedi died, a few of your fellow Councilors want me dead? Rings any bells?" Aria snorted, a bit surprised that the other woman actually didn't want her dead. That or the Jedi was very good at concealing certain emotions while being an open book in regards to others.

"Well, you're right about the Sith part. That's my problem."

"So what about my Master? He's been a Sith for a lot longer than either of us has been alive, yet I don't sense such emotions as far as he's concerned. You know, feeling like I better not exist or something?"

Shaak Ti averted her eyes and mumbled something. It wasn't clear but Aria thought that the other woman flushed into even deeper shade of red.

"Uh, no. Nope. It's not happening. Nada. Nah. No way." Aria started shaking in denial.

"Damn meat- I mean biologicals. What's your major malfunction?!" HK asked, exasperation clear in his voice.

"She likes our Master." Aria giggled. "A kriffing Jedi likes our Master." The Sith started laughing. "At least there's no way he'll be interested in a Jedi..."

"Why?" The Assassin droid asked in honest confusion. "His wife was a Jedi. Togruta too. I don't see an issue."

"WHAT?!" Aria gave the Jedi Master a horrified look. "That's so unnatural!"

Across the compartment, Shaak Ti felt like strangling the other woman after crushing that infernal machine with the Force.

=RK=

Part 5

Briefing room 1

Republic Cruiser "Chimera"

First Assault Fleet Flagship

High Orbit over Geonosis

"HK what did you do this time?" I asked my assassin droid after glancing at the two Force Adepts who walked in front of him. I didn't need the Force to actually feel the tension between the women. Shaak Ti looked quite disgrunted, while Aria had an amused expression on her face.

"Me, Master?" The Droid asked, putting as much fake innocence as he could in his voice. "It's all their fault." He waved at the females.

I gave him a flat look. That very well might be the case, though I was sure that whatever the issue was, HK did his best to make it worse. He was a dick like that.

"Spill? What's the problem? Make it fast, we have half an hour before the conference start and I'll want a first hand report on the Shock Troopers performance."

Aria started giggling of all things and pointed at Master Ti. "The Jedi don't know what to do with a crush."

"And you do?" The older woman looked at my Apprentice.

"You two can flirt later." I shook my head in a mock disappointment.

"Master! She has..."

I waved a hand, shushing Aria. "I'm a bloody Sith Lord who was married to a Jedi. I noticed. If most Jedi didn't have their heads so far up their backsides, they would have noticed too."

Shaak Ti glared at me. A low, sexy grow escaped her lips, before she took her emotions back under control. I smirked at the woman, before schooling my features into a professional indifference.

"Aria, HK. Give me your thoughts on my Shock Troopers and the Drop Pods." I turned my head towards Shaak Ti. "When you stop feeling like either gutting or having your way with me, I want your opinion too."

It was a very good thing that todays Force Adepts didn't know how to kill with a look or I would be a pile of steaming guts cooling on the deck right now. I had to struggle to keep my expression blank. Pissing off Jedi, even if I liked them, was kriffing fun.

Shaak Ti glared at me for a few seconds, before snapping at Aria and HK. "Leave us for a moment." She ordered.

They looked at me and saw themselves out after I gave them a sharp nod. Once the door sealed behind them Shaak Ti had my full attention.

"What crawled up your robe?" I asked. Being blunt usually works with Togrutas. Or blows up spectacularly in your face.

The Jedi Master pointed an accusing finger at my chest. "You."

"I would have remembered doing so." I quipped, probably digging myself in even bigger trouble.

Ti froze, obviously trying to rein in her emotions, before she did something unbecoming a Jedi. It took me a few moments to decide what to do. There was a part of me, which was having fun needling the Jedi Master, manipulating and angering her.

That was the foundation of one of the more subtle ways to eventually turn someone to the Dark Side, something that I've done in the past and had a lot of fun with it. On the other hand, eventually making Shaak Ti a Dark Jedi or a Sith wasn't on my to do list. I already had my hands full with the war and my current apprentices.

I stared at the Togruta, who had peeked my interest. The look of frustration on her face was similar to what Ashara had when I often confused her after we first met. However, this wasn't my wife.

I sighed, wondering how much of my interest in Shaak Ti was because she reminded me of Ashara and how much was because of the Jedi Master herself. Oh, I was physically attracted to her and wouldn't mind bedding her, that was a given. She was my type of Togruta after all.

All the rest...

"I understand." I spoke softly. "It's confusing, isn't it? Dealing with feeling you were taught to suppress, disregard and never actually experience..." I slowly walked closer to the Jedi. I could acutely feel the chaotic storm of emotions that was gripping her.

So her composure had finally shattered.

It happened much earlier than I expected it to, yet it actually made sense considering that as a Togruta her control was a bit lacking compared to a lot of other species.

Strong predator instincts combined with a galactic scale war and the Coruscanti Jedis "teachings" would do that to you given a bit of pressure applied at the correct spots.

"What do you want? It's your fault!" Ti hissed at me.

She was right of course. I've been influencing her and everyone who has spent any significant amount of time close to me, even when I wasn't consciously trying. After all, being the Dark Lord of the Sith wasn't just a simple title. Far from it.

"What I want?" I leaned forward, almost touching my forehead to hers. My lips twitched in a small smile when I felt her bring up her lightsaber and press it over my heart.

Smart girl. If I was any other Sith, her very soul would be in danger right now. This fleeting moment of vulnerability would be enough to break Shaak Ti, turning her into something she wouldn't dream of in her darkest nightmares.

"I want to set you free. Liberated from Jedi lies or the kriffing bullshit preached by todays so called Sith. I want you free to look at the universe as it is and chose your own destiny. Because only then I can get to know who you really are under the shell you've built around your heart."

"You want to turn me against the Jedi!" She growled and pressed her lightsaber harder to my chest.

"Do I? How you deal with the Order is for you to decide. All I want is that you look at them as they are. To shed the veil of indoctrination you've been fed all your life."

"They were right about you!" She shook as her anger burned brightly, making her almost irresistible. "I never believed how dangerous the other masters made you to be, yet they were right!" Shaak Ti snapped her head back and laughed bitterly. "You're really our true enemy. You didn't need an army to start tearing the order apart. Just reasonably sounding words and Jedi start listening to you, flocking to your side." She stared into my eyes, searching for something.

"You give me too much credit. You've been crippled by your Order's teachings. All I needed to do is show you the truth and your control started fraying around the edges. Add the war you've already been fighting..."I trailed off and smiled.

Her anger was delicious. Her scent made my heart beat faster. "Shaak Ti, you're a person, not a soulless automaton no matter how much your Order wants you to be precisely that. Experiencing feelings is as natural as breathing."

"Oh, you're good… Twisting half-truths so they suit you. I'm a Jedi. I can't allow myself to feel, you're making that crystal clear!"

"On the contrary. You can't afford not to feel."

"So you could seduce me? Turn me to your side?"

I could sense Shaak Ti's finger hovering over the ignition button of her lightsaber, ready to press it.

I smiled gently at the woman that was moments away from vaporizing my heart, wondering how she could see my intentions so clearly, yet get them so wrong in the same time.

Kriffing Jedi Order and kriff their kriffing Code.

"I'm a Jedi Master!" Shaak Ti declared, her anger dimming for a moment. "I won't be turned!"

Damn it woman, do you have any idea how many times I've heard that in similar situations?!

=RK=

Part 6

Briefing room 1

Republic Cruiser "Chimera"

First Assault Fleet Flagship

High Orbit over Geonosis

"I certainly hope not! Dealing with insane, power-thirsty version of you won't be any fun." I stated truthfully.

That was the reason why I never seriously entertained the idea of turning a big chunk of the Jedi Order and using them as an expendable shock troopers against the rest. Those fresh Dark Jedi would be a major pain in my ass. Besides, as Shaak Ti was proving, I could neuter the Jedi as a credible potential threat by simply continuing to appear sane and competent Republic General, one who incidentally happens to be a Sith Lord.

That I made a lot of them look like incompetent idiots, just tickled me pink when it wasn't vexing me.

While trolling the Jedi was fun, even if I didn't have the time to indulge in that enjoyable sport, Master Ti having her Lightsaber pressed to my heart, a moment away from activating wasn't exactly fun even if I enjoyed very much the emotions I could sense in the woman.

The Jedi Master stared at me for a long moment and snarled.

"Enough games!"

"Why? You're so much fun right now. It's one of the rare time I've really seen a glimpse of the real you." My simile widened a bit.

Being on the razor's edge was exhilarating. I pointedly ignored the weapon, which was pressed more firmly to my chest and carried on.

"How long has it been, Shaak Ti? I know it's hard to figure out your emotions after you've been trampling and suppressing them for your entire life."

"Really? What's next? You'll claim that you only want to help me? To know what's best for me?" The Jedi Master sneered.

"Hell no. That's for you to decide. That's the whole point I've been trying to make to you Shaak Ti."

"Riiight. Turn me against everything I believe in, you mean! Until one bright day, I won't think it wrong to raise my blade against my brothers and sisters in the Order. I'm not a toy to be played with!" Ti hissed.

"That's not gonna happen. You're too strong to let yourself fall that low." I scoffed. "Do you really think that I consider you a plaything?! If I didn't have respect for your power and achievements I wouldn't have bothered to tell you a thing about my past. I wouldn't have paid you any attention beyond the bare minimum I needed to do my kriffing job!" I snapped at the Jedi.

"So I have an ancient Sith Lord stalker. As if that's better!" She glared at me after a moment of thought.

"Oh, trust me, Master Ti, if I was stalking you, you'd notice." I snorted. It wouldn't be any fun if she didn't.

"Bastard!" Shaak Ti hissed.

I frowned. Just below her more pronounced emotion, I could sense a growing fear.

"What are you afraid of? Letting yourself feel won't make you a Sith, nor a Dark Jedi or something." I shook my head in exasperation. "On the other hand, cutting me down as we are right now, that's a sure way for you to fall. If I really had nefarious plans for you my dear, I would be goading you to strike me right now as I'm unarmed. That's one of the basic ways to lure someone to the Dark side, though its quite successful despite that."

"Is that so? From where I stand, I'm a button press away from ridding the galaxy from a Sith Lord." The Jedi Master scoffed, yet there was the tiniest hint of amusement in her voice. "I'm afraid that you're destroying my control! Turning me into something that a Jedi never was meant to be!" Shaak Ti spoke somberly.

"What do you want me to say? That I've been manipulating you from the day we first met? That I've done my best to wear down the bastion you've built around your heart? It's true, Shaak Ti. I want to meet the woman you've been hiding behind the mask of a not so proper Jedi Master."

I slowly raised my right arm and cupped the hand holding her Lightsaber snugly against my heart.

"You admit it?" Shaak Ti recoiled in surprise.

"As if I've ever hidden it. I've been preaching to every Coruscanti Jedi willing to listen that you've been crippling yourselves by denying and constantly suppressing your feelings. You know that." I narrowed my eyes at her. "It's not my actions, but the motives behind them that you doubt. You're afraid what will happen if you allow yourself to feel and I chose that moment to show my 'true nature'." I shook my head in grim amusement.

"Don't pretend to be misunderstood. I did give you the benefit of the doubt! Yet, what did you do? Thanks to your actions the Jedi Order is about to tear itself apart!"

"Is this you speaking or the party line you've been taught? Open your eyes, Shaak Ti! This is precisely what happens when you follow that foolish interpretation of the Jedi Code you've been taught and inevitably end confronting your feelings. You don't know how to deal with them and you're lashing at me because of that."

"There is no Passion, only peace!" The Jedi Master declared, though her voice simply lacked conviction.

There was not a single shred of peace I could feel within her heart.

"Personally I like much more the real Jedi Code. Emotion, yet peace. Passion, yet Serenity and so forth. Using the old Code is much more less likely to turn you into a raging monster on a bad day."

She looked for thoughtful for a few seconds before glaring at me. "Yet that's not your code, is it?"

"I'm a Sith and proud of it, as you very well know." I declared. My voice was ringing with conviction. "I've achieved the ultimate aim of the Sith Code, Shaak Ti. The Force indeed set me free. Free to do what I deem right, instead of what certain unenlightened parties expect me to do as a Sith."

"What you deem right..." She muttered after a few seconds of uneasy silence. "No Sith I know of ever thought that the horrors they wrought were wrong. That's not really helping your case."

"Damn it! I want the same for you! Not to be a Sith or a fallen Jedi! I want you to free yourself from the shackles that the Jedi Code imposes upon your very heart. I want you free to be whoever you chose to become, not because someone wants you to be that person, but because that's what you want. Because that's who you are." I spoke softly, while looking her in the eyes.

All I said was true. It was subtle manipulation too, of course. I wanted her to break the chains binding her to a hollow existence as a Jedi. I wanted to know the woman I've rarely glimpsed when Shaak Ti's emotions ran high.

I conveniently missed to point out that from a certain point of view, such an act would made her a true Sith, no matter what anyone else believed her to be.

The boiling cauldron of emotions that was Shaak Ti was about to explode. I could feel what little control she had weakening. The Force was coiling around us, as if in anticipation that the Jedi would finally stop holding back and open herself to her boundless power.

Shaak Ti's fist, which was gripping her lightsaber, was shaking under my hand.

I leaned through the tiny distance between us and softly kissed her on the lips, without breaking eye contact.

She tasted better than I imagined.

Her eyes widened in surprise and confusion.

What little control she still had on her emotions shattered and the Force responded to her unbound feelings, whipping wildly around us.