36 Operation Anvil

=RK=

Interlude

GR: "Second Geonosis? Yes, that name brings back some memories. It was a trap. Just like Ryloth, at least that was the Sep's plan. Even before the Skywalker Affair, the CIS had placed bait we couldn't refuse on that world. A massive factory complex to produce an experimental class of war droids was nearing completion there. For our enemies, it was a way to leverage one of their strengths – the mass production of troops. Once online, that single site could shift the balance of power even further in the CIS' favour.

Further, in the months since the war began, the Separatists fortified the whole world to a such a degree that any attack would bleed us dry. Defence belts that incorporated kilometres thick trench lines, thousands of heavily armoured and sometimes shielded bunkers, extensive minefields ... Whole mountains turned into veritable fortresses...Not to mention strong theatre shields over all critical locations...

All that and more, was manned by three whole army groups in addition to the natives forces. The conservative estimate was that at least two million plus droids waited for us down there. That is, if the Navy could actually fight its way through the CIS space forces and get us into that meat-grinder."

TL: "While a lot was said and written about the Geonosis Campaign, I would like to know about something that was missed by the spotlight during the war. Many people saw attacking Geonosis as a fools' errand. Something that the Republic armed forces simply couldn't pull off at the time and as you said yourself, the place was set up as a trap. Do you know how the powers that be reached the decision to attack, General Rex? How the Skywalker Affair affected that decision if at all?"

GR: "How Veil and Valentra convinced the Chancellor to green-light the operation you mean? Yes Geonosis was a trap, one that even in the best case scenario would cost us too much in men and equipment. Though let me say something else first. What happened with the Skywalkers had no bearing on the decision to attack. The plans and necessary forces were already in place before that debackle. If anything, it just moved the timetable up a bit."

TL: "So Operation Anvil would have gone down anyway?"

GR: "Yes. The reason is simple. Where most people saw a lethal enemy stronghold, one that would prove too costly to take, General Veil saw an opportunity. Every enemy advantage I spoke about, well he saw that too... However, he had a different point of view. Those massive enemy forces? Three whole army groups, conveniently gathered in one place to be destroyed. Most of those heavily defended places all around Geonosis? Heh..."

Excerpt from interview given by General Rex

=RK=

Part 1

Temporary Chancellor's Office

Location Classified

Coruscant

"Absolutely not! It's too dangerous!" Skywalker snapped.

Palpatine smiled at the people in his office in a grandfatherly way. "I agree with Anakin, my Jedi friends. Risking a Senator's life in such a way..." he trailed off, sadly shaking his head.

At the same time, behind his mental shields and gentle mask, Sidious was almost cackling with glee. He had some problems that might just solve themselves with a bit of improvisation. As a bonus, he could create a permanent rift between Anakin and the Jedi... Perhaps between the boy and Veil as well.

All the while, removing someone who had been a long time thorn in his side. The most amusing part was, that all he had to do was let his "friends" be themselves.

"That's not for any of you to decide!" Padme snapped at them both.

Just as expected.

"Senator Amidala... Padme. I've been your friend for many years. Please trust me in this. The stunt proposed by the Jedi Council, while having good intentions at its core, is less than wise. Granted, the negotiations on Cato Neimodia are important..."

"If there is any chance to prevent the further use of biological weapons in this war it is worth it! Even the Intelligence agencies agree, after the outcry the Separatist's Council want to stop this madness from repeating itself!"

"That doesn't mean that you should be going, Senator!" Anakin pleaded.

Sidious almost sneered at Skywalker's display of weakness. That woman was holding back his potential next apprentice and Sidious would relish disposing off her when her demise would have the greatest impact. Which, if everything went well would be soon.

"Skywalker! Don't give me this! Not after everything that happened on Naboo and even here on Coruscant! Besides, if Clovis used to support the Separatists we need to know! If he still has contacts there, it could prove invaluable!"

That was the second reason she would want to go. Thanks to her misguided principles, Palpatine was convinced that Amidala would try to bring her old friend back to the side of the Republic. Such a naïve girl. After the bio-weapon's attack, Clovis' support for the CIS was a death sentence if it went public, which with little blackmail and manipulation made sure that the man would serve one last purpose. After all, Palpatine couldn't allow one of his pawns to walk away when he had a change of heart.

"Unless I place you under house arrest, you would be going, aren't you?" Palpatine spoke, letting a tinge of resignation enter his voice.

Padme fixed him with her piercing gaze.

"Fine! At least take some precautions!" he seemingly capitulated.

"Chancellor!" Skywalker exclaimed.

"What? You should know this young lady well enough by now, my friend. When she set's her mind on something, there is no stopping her."

"Men!" Padme grumbled.

=RK=

Alpha Site

GAR Special Operations Command C&C

Location Classified

Coruscant

"No rest for us, eh?" Fixer mumbled.

"Boss! That can't be right! We aren't babysitters!" Sev whined.

"I'm not amused either, brothers. Nevertheless, our orders stand. We are to make a covert insertion at Cato Neimodia, and provide over-watch on one particular senator from the delegation which is there to sign a treaty banning the further use of biological agents for the duration of the war."

"Who's the lucky guy?" Scorch asked.

"Gal. Senator Amidala."

Fixer whistled. "That's one tough girl."

"Oh, great. The danger magnet..." Sev moaned. "She's always on the news after getting in some kind of scrap! How are we supposed to keep her out of trouble?!"

"We aren't. Delta squad and as yet unnamed assets will be there in case everything gets kriffed beyond any hope, in General Veil's words. In such a case we are to grab her and get the hell out at any cost. Those orders are straight from the General."

"Is she his girlfriend or something?" Scorch asked.

"It doesn't matter. We have our orders. Now finish checking your gear. We are heading for the shooting range in five!" Boss ordered.

"Yes, sir!" three voices snapped in unison.

=RK=

"Emerald Light" Restaurant

Atton' Tower

Corellia

"General Veil, it's my honour to introduce you to Diktat Shyla Merricope!" Bel Iblis declared with a flourish.

I gave a respectful bow to the leader of Corellia's people.

"Governor-General Merricope, it is pleasure to meet you. I've heard a lot of good things about you from this reprobate!" I smiled and nodded towards Iblis who chuckled in turn.

The Diktat answered with a well practised smile of her own, continuing the little performance for the media we were all performing. It was the way the game was played and we all had to walk through the motions, to reassure the populace that all was as well as could be expected and we all were a bunch of good friends.

Which meant that we spent about twenty minutes making small talk, mingling with Corellia's dignitaries and making the newsies' day; all while, the stern faced men and women from CorSec who were responsible for the gala's protection had to wonder who if any of the guests, restaurant's personnel or mingling reporters might be enemy spies or assassins.

While the locals were some of the better security forces in the galaxy, if I actually needed protection (heh with my luck what were the odds of that?!), the role of my bodyguard would fall to the gleaming black droid which was spending the evening behind me.

Yeah. I had brought an Assassin droid among Corellia's elite and none was the wiser. Sue me.

To be honest, right then and there I was temped to let HK go on a little killing spree. We, and by that I mean, the Diktat, Iblis and me, were surrounded by a bunch of Corellian corporate sharks, who were bombarding us with hints how their respective mega-corps could prove invaluable assistance to the Republic in her hour of need. With a pair of clowns actually dropping none too subtle hints that if any lucrative contracts went their way I might find myself considerably richer.

If the imbeciles weren't so blunt and making such an offer in public, I might have considered it. If they could actually prove useful for my Army and Navy, then that would be great. Besides, I could always use more funds for my black ops budget. That's why I made a mental note to meet later with the corporation representatives who appeared to know what they were doing.

"I hear you ran into some kind of trouble at the Spaceport, General?" the Diktat inquired, after we managed to ex-filtrate ourselves from the corporate flunkies' clutches.

"All things considered, it was a fortunate accident, I admit." I chuckled.

"A little rascal trying to pickpocket you? How's that fortunate, Delkatar?" Gram asked.

"Well, you see..."

=RK=

Flashback

Earlier that day

"Lacrisca" Spaceport

Corellia

I've arrived on Corellia a few hours before the rest of my party, something that pissed off Commodore Pellaeon and my security detail. However, that wasn't particularly big concern right now. I was reasonably sure that I could finish what I came to do and be back by the time my official visit started.

"Let's go, HK," I said.

The pitch black droid which accompanied me turned his head towards me and nodded once. While he could be mistaken for an archaic looking protocol droid, an actually competent counterpart of C-3PO, my oldest surviving friend was anything but. He was a lethal machine created by the best Empire engineers...and then, once I stumbled upon him below the Jedi Temple, upgraded with what passed for cutting edge technology in this day and age.

"Its been a long time, master. Do you think there's anything left?" HK asked.

"There is a monument for those fallen in the war near the site of our last battle here. It will have to do."

"I still can't believe that we lost that war!" HK whined, his head dropping down.

"We really didn't. Not exactly. By the time the Empire collapsed into civil war, the Old Republic had been all but defeated."

"So they got lucky."

I finished shuttling down and securing the shuttle before heading back outside, followed by the quiet Assassin droid.

Setting my feet back on Corellian soil was strange. The last time I was here, during the war, I was leading my forces into capturing this world. Successfully at that. That particular information wasn't something I wanted spread far and wide. It would create some political troubles I didn't need.

The spaceport itself was what I was expecting. A busy place making even the most heavily used airport on earth look like a calm lake in comparison. The place was packed with people, and while it had heavy CorSec presence, I could move virtually unnoticed. Just another traveller minding his own business and his droid. No sire, nothing to see here!

My outfit, which was a plain grey cloak, and with its hood hiding my face probably helped in that regard.

Everything was going so well, I believed for a moment that I just might be able to reach the memorial site of those fallen during The War without incident.

Silly me.

What happened was certainly unexpected. As one could guess, no one was dumb enough to try it ever since I became a Sith, while before that I had nothing to be stolen from me. So when a kid, no older than twelve, "accidentally" bumped into me and deftly tried to swipe the contents of my pockets, I was one very surprised Force Adept.

My first reaction was to grab his shoulder before the little reprobate could try getting away and then to slap him upon the head for being this foolish. Before I could do anything but catch him, the boy looked up, giving me fierce glare.

"The Force really works in mysterious ways, youngling." I laughed.

The kid's features were unmistakable, especially when not too long ago I had met Captain Jolee Solo in person.

"Don't even think about it!" I ordered and the kid flinched, but remained still. I was sure that the little menace was contemplating kicking me in the shins and running away. "I'll make an educated guess. Your name is Han."

The way his eyes widened was all the answer I needed.

"What seems to be the problem, sir?" a CorSec officer with sergeant's stripes walked towards us and asked.

"This one tried to pickpocket me. Quite deftly too."

"Ah. Another one of those. Well take care of the problem, sir."

"That won't be necessary officer. I'll handle it." I said, reinforcing my voice with the Force.

"That won't be necessary. You'll handle it," he repeated like a broken recorder, shook his head and walked away.

Han's eyes narrowed at me and he suddenly went limp in my hand. "You are a Jedi, right?" he moaned. "Stupid, stupid, stupid!" he started chanting.

"The only fool here is whoever put you to this stunt. Your place is at school and you'll be going there soon enough."

"What?!" Han exclaimed, with a horrified expression on his face. As if I just declared that I was going to kill him or something. Kids...

Flashback End

=RK=

"Emerald Light" Restaurant

Atton' Tower

Corellia

"What do you intend to do with the kid?" asked a new voice. It belonged to someone quite powerful in the Force. A local Jedi who had been lurking around the restaurant and remained far away from me until now.

"Reunite him with his uncle, once Jolee arrives here and make arrangements that he goes back to school. So you are one of the infamous Green Jedi. I haven't yet the honour of meeting one of your kind. It's a pleasure, my lady." I smiled at the woman.

She was looking great in her form fitting green robes, which were actually designed by someone who knew what he was doing in contrast to what most of the Jedi I knew wore. Her short black hair was tastefully framing her face, giving the illusion of a halo of all things. Further, from what I could sense, she wasn't attempting to suppress her emotions. Oh, she was shielding her mind and feelings as well as she could, but it was obvious. Yet, she wasn't letting her emotions to control her, just the opposite. She was in complete control of them, at least for now.

Just moments after actually meeting one of the local Jedi, and paying attention to her, they had got my attention. A Jedi who might be actually competent!

"I'm afraid I'm at disadvantage, my lady. General Delkatar Veil at your services."

"Jedi Knight Scerra Halcyon," her voice was calm, betraying nothing of what she felt. Her soft brown eyes were fixed on my face, studying me in return.

My eyes widened at that. I had to deal with a few people bearing that name in the past, during the war. Needless to say, they were major pains in my ass. Let's hope she wont be the same.

"It's a pleasure, Knight Halcyon. Pray tell, would it be possible for me to visit the Green Temple during this trip?" I asked, showing none of the eagerness I felt at the prospect. If she was anything to judge her fellows by, they were people I wanted to meet.

"It's not up to me," Scerra shrugged. "I will rely your wish to the Jedi Masters and we'll see."

"Fair enough," I beamed. It was better that what I had any right to expect.

"I believe that Delkatar meeting our own Jedi would be a splendid idea!" the Dictat exclaimed. "On that note, now that Corellia is officially in the war, would you assist us?"

"That much I can confirm, yes," Halcyon said. "However, most of us aren't trained as leaders of troops. We would do better leading small strike teams or acting as advisers and diplomats."

My smile widened at that. The Green Jedi were also well aware of their capabilities and weakness. That immediately made me even more interested in them while I raised the potential threat level they represented.

=RK=

Senator Lott Dod Residence

Cato Neimodia

In the biggest ballroom in Dod's residence, five Republic representatives mingled with some of their CIS counterparts. Even in those perilous times, diplomacy had its own pace and rules. The Grand Gala the politicians were attending was something that was more or less inevitable. They had to show to the media and the masses that they could actually act civilized towards each other at the party.

The host, Senator Dod was staying near one of the walls, from where he could see all of his Republic guests. Lott's eyes were fixed on one particular woman, who was wearing a stunning white gown. Neither the way he looked at her or his carefully blank expression betrayed his true feelings. He respected and loathed Amidala in equal measures. The way she had turned the tables during that ill thought invasion of Naboo had consequences with which he had to deal with up until the start of the war. On the other hand, it was rare to meet political opponents who not only had principles but stood by them, come fire or high tide.

He almost regretted what was about to happen. Almost.

Meanwhile, Padme was dancing with Rush Clovis, laughing dutifully at one of his jokes. Under different circumstances she might have even enjoyed herself, but knowing that the man in whose arms she currently was had supported the monsters who poisoned Naboo was making her sick. Yet, for the sake of their old friendship, she was willing to give him a chance to make it right.

Still, in order to do that she needed to talk with him face to face, without unfriendly ears around. Padme believed that she had recreated their old friendship to a good enough degree for a frank conversation to work. And if not, well it wasn't like Rush was dumb enough to try anything during such a high level meeting.

At the same time, Anakin was seething inside. He was sealed within a clone trooper armor, pretending to be one of the honour guard present for the negotiations. That kriffing hutspawn was laying his hands on his Angel! All he could do was grit his teeth and hope that the bastard would give him an excuse, any excuse to go after him.

That and to blame the Jedi Council for placing his wife in such a position! She shouldn't be on Neimodia of all places!

Anakin had a very bad feeling about this stunt they were forced to participate in...

=RK=

Commercial building near Senator Dod's residence

Cato Neimodia

"Boss, Spectre Actual, we have a problem. At least a platoon of commando droids is moving on the floor above the ballroom," Sev said in his comm.

"Copy that. We are ready to provide assistance," If Boss felt any apprehension, his voice didn't show it.

"Affirmative. Our ride out is ready and my men are in position. Just give the word and we will deploy."

"Do you have eyes on the Senator?" Boss asked.

"Just a moment. She is in the far eastern corner of the ballroom. Kriff. Enemies confirmed! Deploy, deploy, deploy!" Sev shouted.

By the time he acquired his first target and pressed the trigger, all hell was already breaking loose within Dod's residence.

Part 2

=RK=

Senator Dod's Residence

Cato Neimodia

Senator Lott looked over the assembled guests, anticipation shining in his eyes. It was almost time. Soon, very soon his ballroom would be a site of a tragic slaughter. One that will claim certain members of the CIS Council. The weak minded fools who plotted the Confederation's downfall!

Even now, when he had seen certain proof of their treason, he could scarcely believe it. Those beings had to be insane! Couldn't they think about the big picture?! They planned not only a treaty to ban the further use of bio-weapons for the duration of the war, something he could agree with, but to eventually try for a peaceful settlement.

Damned idiots! Didn't they comprehend that after everything that had happened, the Republic wouldn't settle for anything less than death sentences or lifetime imprisonment for all of the current CIS leadership? That was pure madness, even if they were responsible for the debacles on Naboo or Coruscant, the rightful leaders of the Confederacy wouldn't surrender themselves to the enemy's mercy. Considering that they were not to blame for those atrocities, the CIS leaders were not going to take the fall. They now knew that there was a third, shadow player in the galactic war so that was who would be blamed for tonight's massacre.

Besides, at least this way the Council's soon to be vacant seats would be filled with people who knew that the CIS and its leadership had only two choices. Victory or Death.

Dod's train of thought came to a screeching halt when he saw one of the clone honor guards dart through the crowd. Before he could react, one of the ballroom's doors splintered, showering the guests with pieces of carved wood.

"Padme!" someone screamed.

The shout was drowned out by the distinct roar of concussion grenades. Lott was thrown down by a nearby detonation. He hit the ground hard, the overpressure wave driving the air of his lungs. The Senator gasped for air and groaned when he felt sharp pain in his ribs. He cursed quietly and decided that it would be safer to remain down and looked around. Many of the guests were on the ground, stunned or worse, others were paralyzed with shock, while some were trying to escape.

Meanwhile, the Republic Honor Guards and his own security detail, consisting of few Super Battle droids and B1's started shooting at each other and the attackers. The sudden battle looked surreal, a feeling strengthened by the ringing in his ears, which robbed him of all other sounds for the time being.

Pure madness, just as planned!

Dod had a few more moments to stare at the deadly spectacle, before one Commando droid pointed its gun his way. The Senator's eyes widened. He opened his mouth to shout, but his scream didn't have time to manifest. Three rapid energy bolts silenced him forever.

=RK=

If a Force Adept laid eyes upon Anakin Skywalker during the Gala, she would have seen a pillar of smoldering, barely controlled anger. All evening the Jedi had fought against his rising hatred towards Rush Clovis, all the while his heart was being undermined by jealousy. The way that huttspawned bastard was looking at his wife, the way he held her during their latest, slow and sensual dance... It made Anakin see red. The worst of all, was that Padme appeared to enjoy herself. She was constantly smiling, laughing at that kriffing traitors jokes...

A part of Anakin's psyche was whispering that Padme was just playing a role, just as she did countless times as a politician. Yet, there was something else. A darker, alluring presence that was gaining strength within him. Some times he could almost hear it whispering too, though right now he didn't need to know the words it would say in his ears. The dealing coming from the darkness gathering around him were clear. It was pure, undiluted hatred and anger. It would be so easy to stretch himself through the Force and snap Clovis' neck. Though that would be too easy...

Anakin shook his head in attempt to clear his mind. The darkness surrounding him subsided a bit. To Skywalker it looked like it was disappointed that he didn't grasp the Force and obliterate Clovis.

Then everything stilled. Anakin could feel the Force tensing, as if preparing for something. The world around him appeared to slow down, the guests moving like through thick syrup. He could sense approaching danger, though not it precise bearing or target.

Skywalker cursed, while the shadows surrounding his very being appeared to be laughing at him. He had lost his situational awareness while moping under his armor. The darkness had distracted him. Deceived him.

Anakin's eyes few on his wife, who was still dancing with Clovis, though by now they were almost at the other side of the huge room. Skywalker cursed again and strode towards his wife, using the Force to somewhat gently part the crowd blocking his path.

He couldn't believe how foolish he had been. Veil had warned him that while the Dark Side offered great power, to flirt with it brought equally great danger. Especially for someone who had been trained as a Jedi all his life. Yet, Anakin simply couldn't help it. There were dark places in his heart born from his childhood as a slave. More often than not, the anger came to him uncalled and the Dark Side and its temptation followed suit.

At least now, he had some concept of what was happening when his emotions ran amok as it was happening that evening. So he had a better chance to resist the darkness within himself and not let it rule him.

All those thoughts came to a screeching halt, when the Force screamed with warning. Whatever was going to go down was happening right now and he was still far away from Padme!

The heavy doors at the far end of the ballroom splintered, wood shards racing on the heels of a raging shock wave. Skywalker had a great view of his wife. Of the way the explosion picked her and Clovis up and threw them on the floor under a rain of smoking debris.

"Padme!" Anakin shouted and raced forward.

The Force and the warning she sent his way was the only reason Skywalker survived in the next few seconds. He found himself charging straight into a killing field. The initial explosion had thrown the nearby guests on the ground, leaving him like a beacon for the attacking droids. Moments after retrieving his lightsaber from a secret compartment on his armor and igniting it, Anakin stepped amidst a barrage of concussion grenades.

In the last moment before their detonations, the Republic General used the Force to shove the explosives away. Instant later they detonated, bracketing him with the edges of their explosions. Even that would have been enough to stun a normal sentient being, however as a Jedi, Skywalker was made of sterner stuff.

He merely stumbled, nearly tripping over a downed Bith couple, before regaining sure footing and continuing his charge.

Straight into the sights of a whole platoon of Commando droids.

Anakin Skywalker was good with his lightsaber. One of the best the Jedi Order had. So it wasn't inconceivable that he could meet the odds stacked against him and live to tell the tale.

On the other hand, it wasn't the first time when the CIS droids had faced Jedi or Skywalker himself. The planners of the attack had known that he might be present and they had planned accordingly.

Mere seconds after the attack began, another Commando platoon entered the ballroom, by rappelling from the floor above, straight through the huge open windows of the ballroom. Ten of them few on Dod's security droids and the just reacting Republic Honour guard.

The rest concentrated on a single target and let loose with their blasters.

Skywalker saw the tide of crimson death heading his way a moment before the new droids opened fire. He had a split second to decide his course of action before being shot to pieces. For an instant he entertained the thought of vaulting forward and trying to reach Padme who was still down. However, even if he managed that, such an action would leave him with his back to the new enemies. Yet, to do anything but, would let the first contingent of attackers to reach her first.

Anakin snarled in frustration. The dark cloud which had surrounded him the whole evening flared with new intensity. The closest Commando droids crumbled like tin cans struck by war-hammer, when the Force eagerly responded to Anakin's desire to see those machines erased from existence.

Yet their fellows were undeterred. Time was up. With a shout of anguish, Skywalker jumped backwards, avoiding the first shots of the droids behind him. He turned in such a way, that he could deflect the attacks from both forces.

A black painted droid towered over Padme. The machine knelt next to her and slammed a small device in her arm just before an invisible force hurled him away with enough strength to shatter it onto nearby wall.

Too far any to be of any more help, Anakin stiffened. He could feel it. Liquid agony racing through Padme's veins. Her body convulsing.

The pain seared all traces of dizziness she still felt and brought her back to the world of the living. Something she didn't appreciate. Her eyes opened wide and she screamed like a tortured soul.

The backslash shook Anakin to his very core. While he was aware of what was happening, it was a cold comfort. Somehow he was able to sense what she was feeling. It was agony beyond measure. Whatever that kriffing machine did to her, all her nerve endings were on fire, shooting pain signals to her brain.

It was pure torture.

"PADME!" Anakin screamed again and charged to her side, despite the droids targeting him.

It didn't matter. He deflected the shots from those near his wife, counting on the shields and the laminated armor he was wearing to tide him through.

That worked. Somewhat. The shields held long enough for him to cover half the distance, before blaster bolts struck his back and started carving up the medium armor he was encased in.

He was not going to make it.

That single thought cut its way through his clouded mind. It infuriated him beyond anything he had felt before. Padme laid over there, just beyond reach! Too far for him to help her... He snarled, the fury coiling around him and exploding outwards. It became corporeal, a manifestation of his raw emotions.

Then few things happened simultaneously. The back plate of his armor finally gave away under the onslaught, a weakened shot biting into his back. Anakin stumbled forward, but immediately straightened up and charged forward. Crimson tendrils of Darkness clung to his figure, absorbing the few shots that managed to hit him. For now he was moving much faster than humanly possible, throwing off the droids aim.

He screamed like a man possessed and struck the Commando droids like a whirlwind. His blade was azure blur, leaving scrapped machines in its wake.

Skywalker himself was exhilarated, revelling in the sudden sense of power. He was an untouchable! The damn droids fell under his onslaught as easy as practice targets! He laughed as he bisected a hapless Commando, deflected the shots of another back at it and decapitated a third.

Just like that, it was over. No one was shooting at him, something that felt rather disappointing. Skywalker frowned. He wasn't finished! He wanted, needed to destroy, to revel at the destruction of his enemies. He turned around, his eyes wildly looking for another victim.

As suddenly as it began, the power trip was over. The tendrils of ruby darkness surrounding him faded away and Anakin felt tired. So very tired. Unnatural cold seeped into his body and he felt chilled to the bones. Then what strength he had left, drained out of his body and he collapsed into a boneless heap.

=RK=

Boss and the rest of Delta squad were on the same floor as the ballroom. When Sev gave his warning, they shouldered their weapons and sprinted forward. Few seconds later, the Commandos turned a corner. They faced a quartet of SB droids, which had opened the door they were supposed to guard and were making their way in the chaotic mess that was the ballroom. Without pausing the Clones lit up the four machines, their new carbines chewing through the armour of the droids even easier than expected.

"The primary is down. I have eyes on a Jedi masking as a honor guard fighting to her position. The enemy platoon is rappelling down."

"We are moving to assist," Boss said. "Scorch, Ion grenades."

"With a pleasure, Boss!" Delta's commander could clearly hear the glee in his subordinates voice.

When the Republic Commandos entered the ballroom, they found a scene of pandemonium. Many of the guests were on the ground, either stunned or dead. Others were scrambling for the exits, obscuring the soldiers fire lanes. Meanwhile, the droids guarding the residence, the Republic Honor guard and a ten or so Commando droids were shooting at each other, while the rest of the enemy platoon that Sev had spotted, were too busy unloading their weapons at the Jedi.

Boss and Fixer opened fire on their enemy counterparts, while Scorch started lobbing his limited assortment of Ion grenades.

"Our ride out will be here in two minutes," Sev transmitted a message from their backup.

"Good. Any sight of enemy reinforcements?"

"None that I can see from here," Sev answered after a moment's pause, "Though that doesn't mean much."

While that chat was taking place, the firefight was going to its sad conclusion. All sides were in the open, with scarce cover to be had, beyond the stray, panicked civilian who ran straight between the combatants. With predictable results.

A Super Battle droid unloaded its blasters in the side of an Honor Guard. Another mowed down a pair of Commando droids, before succumbing to concentrated fire from their friends. Boss and Fixer were systematically shooting up the CIS special forces, glad that only a burst from the new blasters was enough to put them down for good. Scorch lobed his last Ion grenade and raised his own weapon seeking target.

Across the street, Sev marked his sixth kill for the evening and moved his cross-hair onto another droid, when he heard the distinct whine of repulsors. Not just any odd engines at that, but those of LAAT's. He chanced a glance upwards and saw a pair of gunships racing towards Dod's residence at almost perpendicular angle from the sky. The Clone frowned wondering where did they come from, before shrugging and returning to his sniping. He could ask them later.

Thirty seconds, and four Ionic detonations after Delta entered the ballroom, the short but vicious fight was over. The three Commandos were the only troopers still standing.

"Check the Senator and the Jedi. We need to get out of here ASAP."

"Wilco, Sir!" Fixer answered and sprinted towards the far end of the ballroom with Scorch moving on his heels.

"Boss, our ride home will be here momentarily."

"Roger that. Get your ass here."

"No need for that," a new voice, which sounded just like that of the rest of Delta squad interjected on their comms. "One of the gunships will pick up your sniper. Please do hurry up. We need to get out of here before the whole defence grid and fleet are aware that something is happening."

"Who are you?" Boss asked calmly, not letting any of his surprise be heard.

"Commander Tripton of the Shadow Before Dawn. Now move your asses, soldier!"

"Kriff! This is General Skywalker!" Scorch exclaimed after removing the helmet from the head of the collapsed Jedi.

"Pick him up. We are taking him with us. The Senator?"

"In a bad way," Fixer muttered.

Boss looked their way, engaging the zoom function of his helmet. He could see her thrashing on the floor, screaming soundlessly.

"Knock her out. We are leaving."

=RK=

ONI Frigate Shadow Before Dawn

Five kilometres above Dod's residence

Cato Neimodia

"Delta squad and the VIPs are boarding the LAATs. They will be docked in two minutes top," his XO said.

Commander Tripton gave him a nod of acknowledgement.

"Navigation, spin the hyperdrive. We are heading to location Alpha the moment we can safely jump."

"Aye, aye, sir."

"Weapons, I want firing solution on the defensive platforms and that Munificent hanging out in orbit. I want them nailed the moment our cloak is down."

"I have their locations locked on passive, sir. All missile tubes full, the birds are armed and ready for launch!"

"Good work Weapons. Engineering, redline the reactor once we lose stealth. I want every possible drop of speed when we need it."

The Wookie chief engineer roared in response.

=RK=

"Emerald Light" Restaurant

Atton' Tower

Corellia

I found Scerra Halcyon to be much more pleasant company than most of the Jedi I've met since coming to this time. The fact that she didn't act as if she had a double bladed lightsaber shoved up her butt like most of the Force Adepts I've met in this era sure helped.

We were amiably chatting about the differences between the Green Jedi and their counterparts on Coruscant, something that both the Dictat and Senator Iblis found interesting. It should be noted that both of then, especially Gram had a lot of dealing with Jedi, the Coruscanti type, during their careers, so they were more familiar than most with some differences.

"If it wasn't for the damn politics, we would have gladly dealt with it!" Scerra glared at me.

"Unfortunately, as Dictat of Corellia and political leader of this whole sector, neither I nor my predecessors could really do much to allow our Jedi to take missions beyond our boundaries," Merricope shrugged.

"Indeed. As you well know, the Council on Coruscant has nominal dominion over all Force Sensitives in the Republic... and all Jedi. While the Green Temple and its Jedi do have autonomy, that will only last as long as they confine their actions to our sector of space," Merricope said.

"Despite that, many of our members had done what they could do help with the slavery situation. While we aren't as free to act as our cousins on Coruscant..." Halcyon huffed.

I snorted at that. It wasn't like they did anything with some rare exceptions. Like Skywalker, though even then they had practically stumbled on him. By accident at that.

The Jedi. The supposed guardians of Justice and Freedom across the galaxy. They did nothing about the slavery beyond the Republic's borders. Because it was outside their mandate. I shook my head in frustration. Sometimes they made me sick.

"...we at least could facilitate routes for extraction of escaped slaves in the Outer Rim, and help them start a new life. Though that is much less than we could do if our hands weren't tied, " added the Jedi.

"Let me guess. If you intervened and acted against the slavers, it would be perceived as aggressive action from the Council. Perhaps even a sign that your way has failed and you are all on the verge of failing."

"Not to mention, that there would be a lot of people in the Senate that would use such a thing to Censure Corellia, spinning it as expansionist actions from our side. That is if I'm able to get sufficient backing to declare open support for such a cause. Fighting slavery outside the Republic, while a great thing in theory wouldn't be as popular once the cost of dealing with the hutts becomes apparent. It simply isn't something we can do alone, not without leaving us open for political and economic attacks from our rivals," the Dictat interjected.

"Well, the situation right now is quite different. After Ryloth, we are in undeclared war with the Hutt cartels," I smirked.

"I was wondering when someone would mention that," the Senator muttered. Small vicious smile was hugging the corners of his mouth.

"While right now we aren't in a position for direct offensive actions against them..." I was interrupted by a sudden tremor in the Force. Its very essence shifted, dropped even further into darkness. Next to me Scerra gasped and stumbled.

"Excuse me. I need to check something," I said and made a hasty retreat.

That rising darkness was familiar. It felt like Skywalker just after Padme was wounded, though so much worse.

I cursed quietly while making my way out of the restaurant. I knew that Padme going to kriffing Neimodia wouldn't end well.

=RK=

Kenobi's Quarters

Jedi Temple

Coruscant

Fear. Rage. Hatred. Darkness rising to choke everything. The screams of man and woman.

Obi-Wan shook awake with a gasp. He shuddered remembering what he just sensed through his bond with his former apprentice. Anakin had felt so much hatred, fear and pain before the connection clamped shut, that it scared Obi-Wan. Something had gone terribly wrong...

Kenobi threw away his blanket and surged to his feet. He needed to find out what had happened with Anakin.

=RK=

Chancellor's Office

Senate Building

Coruscant

Palpatine was sitting in his rebuild office, dealing with his daily paperwork, something even he couldn't get away from, when he felt the Force tremble.

"So it begins," he whispered quietly.

Soon enough Skywalker will be faced with a terrible choice and the Jedi would act as their typical selves, alienating him once and for all. Unless he missed his guess, even Veil's actions couldn't really help the boy. After all, the good General was a competent strategist and tactician. He simply couldn't, wouldn't make the necessary sacrifices to save one single Senator.

Veil was a Sith after all. Sidious was sure that he would grasp the chance to get himself rid of the troublesome Senator.

He smiled. If he guessed right, Veil would make sure that she never got the antidote and blame it on the Jedi, even if he made some effort to retrieve it in the first place.

Part 3

=RK=

Medical Wing

Green Site

Somewhere in the inner rim

"You did a good job, doc. Keep her stable."

"We can do that much, General. Unfortunately, it will take some time to fully analyze the compound in her blood and create an antidote."

"I expected that much. How's your other patient?"

"General Skywalker? His wounds are healed but we are keeping him under just as you instructed."

"Splendid. I was relieved when at my arrival I found this facility standing. You don't want to deal with a grief maddened Jedi of Anakin's temperament and power."

"That bad? I've heard some interesting stories about him, yet..." the Duros doctor shrugged.

"Well, his wife has been getting herself into a lot of trouble lately. That combined with the strain of leading troops in the war and balancing it all with his duties as a Jedi…" I shook my head. "No matter. It's time to wake him. I need to have a chat with our young Jedi friend."

"Ah. Of course, General. I'll see to it."

=RK=

A medical droid that looked like an overgrown floating spider made its way to the bed where Skywalker was slumbering. Its servos whined softly as it extended one of its manipulators and administered a mild stimulant to the sleeping Jedi.

A few moments passed with no apparent change. Then I could feel the Force in the room stirring, slowly gathering around Anakin. He then grasped it, using its endless energies to revitalize his body. Suddenly Skywalker gasped.

"Padme!" Anakin bolted upright with a shout. His wide eyes were scanning the room for his wife.

"Try again."

His eyes focused and he glared at me. Skywalker tried getting off the bed only to stumble and fall to the ground. Obviously the sedatives were still strong in his system, despite his Jedi resilience.

I grimaced at his antics and grabbed him with the Force, returning him to the bed none too gently.

"We need to talk. That daredevil wife of yours placed us in a tough position."

Well, that's new. He actually growled at me. His eyes even flashed yellow for a moment.

"Padme. I need to see her. I can feel her pain!"

"She'll live. For now. Keeping her that way may prove complicated."

His glare intensified, but at least I had his undivided attention.

=RK=

Venator Cruiser "Chimera"

Staging area "Gray"

Outer Rim

My eyes glanced around, briefly stopping over each person in the conference room. Skywalker, Kenobi and Admiral Yularen were here with me in the flesh, while General Valentra, the Chancellor as well as Yoda were present via holocom. It was a small gathering, one that was about to decide the fate of a whole planet and one particularly troublesome Senator. So far everything was proceeding as expected. Ironically enough, under different circumstances I would be in complete agreement with the Jedi, who were in the middle of committing a grievous mistake.

I had to fight a grin, which was trying to spread across my face, regretting that right now I wasn't wearing my helmet.

I wish I could say that I'm surprised. The Jedi were about to burn their bridges as far as Anakin was concerned, without even realizing it. In the meantime, Palpy was doing his best to help them along. While subtly giving me enough rope to hang myself as far as any ambitions towards becoming Skywalker's master were concerned.

Just as foreseen and planned for.

"I understand, Master Yoda. The Jedi won't compromise their principles on this issue," said the Chancellor, copious amounts of regret dripping from every word. "Is there something that our armed forces can do?" his image turned my way.

"If this information is correct, the facility where the antidote might be located is at one of the most heavily defended regions of Geonosis. That's not a place where our special forces could do a smash and grab run and we don't have enough time to even attempt an infiltration," I shrugged. "We can't take that place without reducing the Separatists space assets and then fighting through whatever they have waiting for us on the ground."

"Kriff it all to hell! You are just going to let her die!" Skywalker, who had been seething for the whole meeting, exploded.

"Anakin!" Kenobi exclaimed. "Keep your feelings under control."

"Under control!? She is parsecs away, unconscious and I can still feel her pain!" Skywalker roared. The Force itself shimmered around him, swaying from his fury.

Anakin glared at us, then turned around and stormed out of the compartment. He didn't notice the effect his parting words had on the Jedi. After all, you didn't just form such a strong force bond with just a friend, especially if that person wasn't force sensitive.

"Now, that the personal drama is out of the way," I frowned at the Jedi, "we still have battle plans to discus. Chancellor, can I count on additional reinforcements for this operation? With the current force dispositions heavy casualties both in space and on the ground are all but guaranteed..." I trailed off, pointedly disregarding the troubled looks passing between the Jedi.

"What about Anakin?" Obi-Wan exclaimed.

I gave him a deadpan look. "He obviously needs to cool off. If you mean about his relationship with the Senator, well that's none of the Army's business so long as it doesn't interfere with his duties as a general."

Kenobi glared my way and stalked after his former apprentice.

"Perhaps we could scrape up some additional support for this operation..." Palpy mused, pointedly ignoring the byplay and effortlessly taking the moral high ground.

"I'll see what I can do. I may be able to free up few units here and there from secondary theaters." Valentra added his two cents.

With that, the conversation drifted back on topic – the impending assault on Geonosis. Now all that remained to be seen was which way Anakin would jump. I had subtly pointed him in the desired direction during our last conversation, shamelessly manipulating the poor kid.

=RK=

Skywalker left the briefing room, barely keeping a lid on his fury. Unless he did something… Anakin growled. While he was assured that right now Padme wasn't in any real danger of dying, her mind was another matter. He could feel her pain even here, parsecs away. By the time the Force cursed poison was out of her system it was an even toss if she would be sane or not. The worst thing was that Skywalker actually knew that Veil was right… from a certain point of view. The other general simply couldn't justify throwing the whole assembled fleet and attached ground forces into the teeth of the CIS defenses on the off chance they could get to the antidote. His hopes that either Veil or a Jedi healer could help Padme were dashed when he was informed that apparently whatever she was dosed with, reacted really bad at attempts to be removed using the Force.

That only made things worse for Anakin. Sith spit! In Delkatar's shoes he might have done the same thing, and yet… The young Jedi reached an elevator and used the Force to smash its call button. He paced restlessly while waiting for the turbolift.

Anakin couldn't help but feel betrayed. By the Jedi, by the Republic… and by Veil. Padme was everything for him, yet they all were ready to throw her away. The reasons, no matter how compelling and logical didn't really matter to Skywalker. She was his wife, the love of his live. In the end everything else paled in comparison to her importance.

The elevator's doors slid open and the Jedi stalked in, grateful that it was empty. He really didn't want to be near anyone but his wife right now. Anakin saw Obi-Wan walking briskly his way and was grateful when the doors closed while the other Jedi was still at the other end of the long corridor. He really didn't want to be anywhere near his former master. Skywalker simply didn't have the energy for another argument right now, especially considering how angry he was at everyone.

Kriff it all, it wasn't like anything but helping Padme mattered. But how?! He groaned and leaned on the cool wall of the elevator. What was he supposed to do? Anakin needed a way to help his wife and damn the consequences!

He briefly considered surrendering in exchange for the antidote but almost immediately disregarded that idea. It wasn't like he could trust the enemy to hold to their part of such a bargain. What did that leave him with?

Skywalker exited the turbolift once it stopped and wandered aimlessly through the ship, deep in thought. He needed to somehow get to the ground and the place where the cure was held. An impossible task for even someone like him. No matter how good a pilot he was, Anakin knew he wouldn't be able to slip through the waiting fleet, not to mention the army on the ground. Not alone at any rate.

He frowned at that thought. This was the heart of his problem. He couldn't reach his objective without a fleet at his back distracting the CIS… Something that was going to be denied to him. A frontal attack over the complex he needed to get to simply wouldn't work. It would cost too much, a price neither Veil and the High Command, nor the Jedi were willing to pay… Nevertheless that was the most expedient way to reach his objective and time was of the essence… No one knew how long Padme's mind could hold on…

Anakin found himself in front of a small armored window. He could see scores of capital ships nearby, whole wings of fighters and bombers patrolled around them like moths around the behemoths. A whole fleet that was no use to him or Padme…

'What would you do to save her?' a voice whispered in his mind.

"What?" Skywalker glanced around. He could almost hear someone whispering in his ear yet there was no one around, that he could sense with the Force anyway.

He shook his head. What indeed… Anakin's sight drifted to the window and the assembling fleet beyond.

=RK=

My comm beeped while we were still discussing the fine details of the upcoming offensive.

"This better be important."

"Sir, a battle group is leaving the formation and not responding to our hails."

Ah. So he went after the bait.

"Which ships?"

"General Skywalker's unit, sir."

"That young fool!" Yularen snapped.

All eyes fell on the Admiral. Said battle group was nominally under his command. I glanced at Yoda who suddenly looked all his nine hundred years. The Jedi's ears drooped, he slumped resting most of his weight upon his cane.

"Darker the future is."

"Ahem," Palpatine cleared his throat.

"Skywalker seems determined to force our hand." I stated the obvious. "If you excuse us, Chancellor, Master Yoda. We have a battle to win." I waved my hand and two of the holographic images flickered out.

"What is Skywalker thinking? His ships won't be more than a distraction!" Valentra snapped.

Yularen nodded darkly. None of them was thrilled that Anakin was about to throw away the men and ships under his command.

"We can speculate later. I want the whole fleet ready to depart yesterday."

Part 4

=RK=

Droid Command Ship "Deathdealer"

High Orbit over Geonosis

General Grievous stood on the bridge of his new ship resembling a statue made of gleaming durasteel. He was surrounded by a veritable host of B1 droids, the fragile machines hunched over their stations. He would have grit his teeth if he could. If he wasn't a cyborg, more machine than man, Grievous would be shaking with unrestrained fury.

He had been outmaneuvered. Outfought. Captured and kept in a jar like an insect by the Republic.

That grated on parts of his psyche he had thought long dead. Even now, when he was surrounded by a veritable armada, clad in new and improved combat chassis, the CIS bogyman couldn't help it. The Republic fleet was approaching and part of him shivered with emotion he had forgotten. Oh, there was the excitement of the impending battle. A drive for vengeance he had never felt before. Nevertheless, there was that small, treacherous voice in the back of his head. The one which was born while he was helpless, crippled prisoner.

It wasn't a fear of death. That hadn't scared him ever since he was an adolescent warrior who had tasted the thrill of battle. But this was something new. The feeling of being helpless. Useless. Something he hadn't felt after he had been rebuild as a cyborg for the first time.

He hated that feeling, almost as much as the Jedi who captured him. That bitch of a Togruta. Oh, how he despised that damned woman! He couldn't wait to get his claws on her, he swore. He would deal with her in due time. Perhaps before the coming battle was resolved if he was really lucky for once.

"Contact!" exclaimed one of the droids monitoring the sensor station.

"Details!" Grievous spat. A tingle of excitement ran up what little nerves he still had functioning. It was time!

=RK=

Venator Cruiser "Coruscant's Pride"

Hyperspace

En route to Geonosis

Anakin Skywalker stood alone on the command tower of his new flagship. What he did for Padme. For a forlorn hope at best… It would be viewed as a dereliction of duty if he was lucky. Outright treason if not.

Yet the young Jedi found that he didn't care. Like at all. In the end Padme was all that mattered to him, the whole galaxy could burn in that kriffing war as far as he was concerned. No price was to high to pay for a chance to help his wife. Indeed, he would face the consequences gladly!

Anakin smiled gently and sat on the cool floor, ready to meditate. For a first time in a long, long while he was content. Suddenly his life had become very simple. Very soon, there won't be a need for any more lies and in a sense he would be free. Well, as "free" as someone who was likely to spent a lot of time behind bars, provided he lived through the maelstrom which awaited him at the end of the hyperspace jump.

He had no illusions left.

Anakin closed his eyes and slowly submerged himself within the Force. For some time he simply reveled in the sense of drifting upon the vast ocean of untamed power. Skywalker took the time necessary to center himself, to expand his senses until he could feel all eleven capital ships under his command. He felt the furnaces of their reactors, a cluster of stars drifting through hyperspace. The Jedi concentrated, finding every last one of the clones crewing the ships. Patiently he weaved a web of energy so he was connected with every last one of them. He took a deep breath. He was almost ready.

It wouldn't be long now. Anakin gritted his teeth and bent the Force to his will, substituting raw power where his lack of skill found him wanting. He opened himself to the minds of his men, becoming a nexus. A control hub coordinating their actions and a source of inspiration, breathing courage within their hearts.

It was time. He could feel it with every fiber of his being. Instant later, the captains of his ships knew it too, so did the helmsmen. A single press of a button was all it took and the fleet dropped from FTL, crashing back in real space.

=RK=

Droid Command Ship "Deathdealer"

High Orbit over Geonosis

Grievous stared at the eleven ships that dropped from hyperspace almost on top of his formation. If he was in a part of the ships with viewing ports he would be able to see them.

"Open Fir-" his angry order was interrupted by a hammer blow throwing him to the ground. Sirens shrieked across the bridge, announcing that the shields had failed. "Return fire!" shouted the cyborg. He used his metal claws to anchor himself to the deck and stood up. His eyes darted towards the holotank, showing the disposition of his forces.

The Republic ships were deployed in three rings, each made by a trio of Venators, with two more cruisers in the center. The unconventional formation resembled a drill of all things, the impression made more striking by the way the enemy craft were rotating. The CIS commander made the connection almost immediately. The Venators were maneuvering in such a way that each of them would be exposed to concentrated weapon's fire for a short amount of time. It wouldn't last long. Not with Grievous having such an overwhelming advantage in firepower and numbers.

Not that the kriffing Republic scum seemed to care. What was worse, they were inflicting damage vastly out of proportion. His ship was crippled, the alpha strike had breached the shields in multiple places, slagging all the heavy weapons "Deathdealer" could bring to bear without rotating on 180 degrees.

They didn't waste time on delivering a killing blow, instead with unnatural precision, the enemy cruisers were concentrating their fire from one target to the next, leaving crippled hulks in their wake. Grievous seethed. The battle group accompanying his flagship should have been more than enough to deal with eleven Venators. Yet, in the span of few minutes, four Battleships were crippled, their shields locally overwhelmed, their heavy weapons slagged.

"Tactical! Move Third, Seventh and Eight wings in an englobement maneuver!" Grievous snarled. He needed to deal with this distraction before the rest of the Republic fleet came calling.

"Roger, roger!"

=RK=

Venator Cruiser "Coruscant's Pride"

High Orbit over Geonosis

Anakin hissed in pain as he felt more of his men die. Under different circumstances he might have patted himself on the back for the decision not to come directly to Geonosis, but to stop halfway and leave most of his ships with only skeleton crews. If the nine Venators in the outer shell of his formation were manned as usual, Skywalker had no doubt that he would have passed out from the backslash, dooming them all.

As it was, his body was on fire, his head was doing its best to split open in pain. The Force itself was struggling against his grasp, while he was doing his best to channel it to fuel his Battle Meditation. The technique was harder than anything he had ever attempted. He had to strain his senses to their limits, careful to influence only those of the crew who were actually fighting his ships, doing anything more and he would be a helpless heap twitching on the deck.

Anakin swayed, almost planting his face in the metal floor as a wave of dizziness hit him, yet he persevered. By this point it was his sheer stubbornness that kept him going. That and his love for Padme, which he was using as a fuel to keep his technique going for as long as his body would last.

Skywalker grinned, paying no attention to the thin streams of blood leaking from his eyes and ears. Anakin was an embodiment of his fleet, wielding it with the precision of a laser scalpel.

Another alpha strike and the fifth and last battleship between him and the planet was a drifting cripple, leaving twenty odd frigates in his way, with twice that number left as burning wrecks behind him. Now he needed to dispose of those before the three battle groups racing to intercept his formation were in effective range.

=RK=

Venator Cruiser "Chimera"

First Assault Fleet Flag ship

Hyperspace

En route to Geonosis

The pieces were slowly falling into place. Soon enough I will practically own Skywalker or he would be neutered as a long term threat. Or he'll just die at Geonosis. Either way, another step of my plan will be complete. That left the battle.

In few minutes the fleet will drop from hyperspace, engaging hopefully disrupted enemy formations. I expected that Skywalker's mad rush would accomplish that much at least, balancing the scales with the ships and people he led in his suicidal dash towards Geonosis. I shook my head. While I planned for him doing something stupid, just appropriating a task force and going to do his own thing was particularly dumb. Unless I led the rest of the fleet on his heels, he and the men who followed him were dead, period.

Oh, I could understand where he was coming from. I wouldn't, couldn't just stand by and do nothing, if my deceased wife was the one suffering. Of course, there were many smarter ways to do it, which incidentally would increase her chances of getting the antidote by a large degree.

Now it was all academic anyway. Anakin had gotten himself in a bind I might be able to extract him from, in which case it would be easy to tie his fortunes to my own. After all, you didn't need to be a fortune teller to know how the Jedi would act once the current unpleasantries were resolved. Hell, as a General of the Republic, even my hands were tied as far as Skywalker's stunt was concerned. Officially at least. Once the battle was over, and provided that he was still somewhat in one piece, Anakin was going to be facing a court martial.

Serves him right for acting like an idiot.

But he was a problem for another time. Now I had a space battle to win.

I closed my eyes and relaxed, letting the Force flow through me. I gently moulted the energies of the Light Side, making sure that they will be healing some of the strain I was about to put on my body. I let my senses float, first touching the command personnel on my ship and slowly spreading out to the fleet. The fact that we were in hyperspace was no hindrance at all. You got to love the Force and the way it bind all things in the universe together.

I extended my will and grasped the raging torrent that was the Dark Side, fueling my powers. Raw energy raced through my veins, the edge of searing pain I should have felt taken away by the light energies saturating my body. Now I had the power in my hand to back up the skills Ashara taught me all those years ago.

One after another, whole ships and their crews fell under my sway. We were a single organism, bound by my will and purpose. I inspired courage and raw determination in my soldiers, leaving no place for doubt or fear in their hearts. They knew what their mates were about to do, whole fighter wings, destroyer and frigate squadrons, even cruiser divisions acting as one. A level of coordination making the best fleet command and control system appear as a joke, in the face of the coordination possible thanks my Battle Meditation.

I grinned. Most people, both enemy and ally,expected Geonosis to be a stand up battle, two of the greatest fleets assembled in millennia slugging it out.

To hell with that! It wasn't to be a fair fight. I was going to cheat as the sneaky bastard I was. And the Battle Meditation was only the tip of the iceberg.

It was time.

"Begin." I whispered in the heads of my Flag officers and captains.

A brief lurch and my fleet was back in real space. A holographic tank came to life in front of me, showing a picture of Geonosis and every enemy ship in sensor range. My grin widened. Skywalker had done his job, even better than expected. What was left from his task force, four operational Venators, were being pounded to pieces by three whole battle groups. Another CIS flotilla was crippled in Anakin's wake, only four half operational battleships left amidst the wreckage of one of their sisters and scores of frigates.

I whistled with appreciation. I really didn't believe that the little I taught Skywalker about tactical use of Battle Mediation could culminate into this.

My smile turned feral. A significant portion of the enemy fleet was out of position. Even using tactical hyperspace jump, two thirds of the enemy forces won't get into range as a cohesive group for anything between five to seven minutes.

"Advance." All I needed was to think it and my men would follow the order.

Frigate squadrons led the way, supported by destroyers and followed by light cruisers; paving the way for the heavy hitters of my fleet. A swarm of fighters buzzed around the capital ships, waiting to intercept anything that might survive the battle christening of the fully operational Guardian system integrated into every one of my ships.

=RK=

Droid Command Ship "Deathdealer"

High Orbit over Geonosis

Grievous took one look at the rest of the enemy fleet which just arrived, and then turned around and sprinted towards the hangar.

"TK i8, you have tactical command. Contingency Gamma, execute." the cyborg shouted a moment before leaving the bridge. He could scarcely believe it. According to all Intel, the main body of the Republic fleet should have been a few hours out! He knew that Skywalker had went ahead, basically going rogue with the ships that attacked a few minutes ago. But for Veil to have the rest of the fleet follow so fast...

A chill went through what little organic flesh Grievous still possessed. It was a setup. It had to be. You didn't get such a massive fleet moving in the same direction without a notice. Not that fast. No matter how good they were trained. It didn't matter if Skywalker was acting as a distraction by his own will or he was set up as well.

Veil, the kriffing bastard had deceived everyone. Both his chain of command and the CIS intelligence types. It was almost admirable in a way. Which of course meant, Grievous had to kill him before he pulled something else from his bag of tricks.

Meanwhile, he needed to get the kriff away from Deathdealer, which would soon enough be used for target practice by the advancing enemy. The battleship and her crippled sisters wouldn't even be able to slow down that many ships. Not with half their heavy weapons gone. On the other hand, they would be able to make the enemy light elements bleed before being destroyed themselves. It wasn't as if Veil could keep his light ships out of range and maintain formation.

=RK=

Part 5

Droid Command Ship "Nemesis"

Third Wing Flagship

High Orbit over Geonosis

Admiral Dua Ningo, the second in command of the Geonosis Defense Fleet sneered at the holo display. As expected, that beast Grievous kriffed up. The old Sullustan would never understand why his leaders let that tin can command fleets. Granted, the cyborg was good at killing Jedi and terrorizing the enemy but in space, where it really mattered, the half-man, half-machine was found lacking.

No matter. Grievous was out of the picture for the moment, no doubt busy running for his life while the enemy fleet was advancing towards his crippled flagship.

"All Wings, converge at the closest staging point. All units do not engage the enemy before we've consolidated our forces at points Fell and Trinity." Ningo cut off the general comm channel and tuned his head towards one of the tactical droids acting as his staff. At least those weren't as useless as the run of the mill machines employed by the Confederacy. The damn money punchers in charge simply refused to learn that the war was very hard to win with such inferior equipment, no matter the numbers.

"Give me a time estimate. How long before our forces can consolidate for an attack?"

The droid froze for a few seconds, apparently the strain of computing the information almost overwhelming it. Then it tilted its head and reported. "Within ten minutes we'll have about sixty percent of all available forces. Seven minutes later the rest of the fleet will be in position."

The diminutive Admiral glared at the droid. "That's too long. We need to hit them before they are done with the rest of Grievous' command. We won't get a better chance unless they kriff up by the numbers." Ningo took a deep breath and glared at the holographic display. "We need to slow them down. Launch all fighters and bombers, both on the planet and in the fleet. They will have the acceleration to hit the enemy in the next five to seven minutes. Given the estimate of their new Guardian system, that won't be enough to cripple their fleet but it might do enough damage to slow them down and disrupt their formation."

Admiral Ningo glared at the tactical droid.

"What the kriff are you waiting for?! Do as ordered!"

"Roger, roger."

=RK=

Republic Cruiser "Chimera"

First Assault Fleet Flagship

High Orbit over Geonosis

Admiral Yularen calmly stared at the holographic display showing the disposition of his fleet. It was arrayed in a V formation, made up by three separate battle groups, each build around a single Corellian cruiser. Those three behemoths were the true heavy hitters of his temporary command. Each was a nearly kilometer and half long titan, bristling with weapons and protected by vast armor belts and powerful shields. The Corellian cruisers were leading divisions of Venators, each with their own escort of lighter ships.

The Admiral smiled. This was the greatest concentration of Republic military might in more than a thousand years, and it was under his command. While general Veil was busy, using the Force to somehow boost the morale and coordination of his forces, it was up to Yularen to command the battle.

"Time?" he asked. There was no need to elaborate. He's been working with his staff long enough that they were almost able to read his mind.

"Five point three minutes until Rogue One is in position. We estimate two more minutes for Rogue Two to reform and head our way. Three more minutes until they are in effective range."

"Long enough." Rogue One and Two were the designation of the two groups in which the remaining Separatists forces were forming for counterattack. Unfortunately someone with a brain was in command over there so they declined to send in their ships piecemeal. Which was all right with the Admiral. That left him more than enough time to dispose of the enemy task force that Skywalker had decimated, before engaging the main enemy forces in system.

Even better, the Separatists were granting him a golden opportunity to implement one of the General's underhanded plans for this battle.

"Take out the weapons of those battleships and execute operation Overlord." Yularen highlighted the targets in question on the holo display. Personally he thought that it was a long shot, but given the potential reward it was worth the risk.

His orders went down the chain of command and new targeting priorities were sent to Invincible's battle group. That particular Corellian cruiser was leading the Vanguard of the fleet and was already in range of the closest enemy units. A Light cruiser squadron, carrying the ONI specialists and their commando escort, sped up, slowly moving forward.

"Now what a competent enemy would do to kriff up our day?" The Admiral smiled and looked at his staff.

"Unless they have heavy reinforcements we don't know about, attacking us before their units are concentrate invites defeat in detail." Lieutenant Felix Olen, Yularen's aide thought aloud.

"True, true. Is there anyone else who wants to try?"

"Hyperspace jumps to form up and then attack us from point blank range?" asked Captain Jaiden Lor, the liaison with the Corellian Defense Force.

"If they were using your ships and crews it would be possible. With Munificents and those ponderous battleships of theirs? And cheap droids as crews? Well, let's hope they try it."

"Send massed bomber strikes with as much fighter cover as they can. It almost worked at Ryloth." Pellaeon spoke from his station where he was commanding his ship and attached Venator division.

"It won't work. Not with the Guardian installed on every capital ship and all our fighters flying CSP*! Even with the software glitches still unresolved..."

"Unless you have tens of thousands expendable fighters to throw at the problem." the Admiral said quietly. "Don't forget that we expect to be outnumbered in fighters alone by a factor of at least ten."

As if Yularen's words were prophetic, the holographic display chose that moment to lit up with red dots. Countless of them.

"I owe the General a hundred credits." Pellaeon chuckled. "His spook buddies did their job for once."

Most of the flag staff looked at the Commodore and Admiral with confusion.

"In every written report after Ryloth, it was stated that the only reason why the Guardian worked as well as it did was because the enemy fighters came in ballistic, greatly diminishing the vectors on which they could evade and still be able to kamikaze the fleet. It was said that the system would have problems tracking and hitting wildly evasive targets and it could glitch if it had to track too many enemy contacts." Yularen explained.

"Well, that's..." Felix was at loss for words.

"What we have installed on this fleet is orders of magnitude better than the prototypes we used at Ryloth." Pellaeon cracked a small smile. "That system is build with this exact scenario in mind." He pointed at the swarms of red dots that obscured Geonosis and the enemy fleet's staging points.

"By the spirits…" one of the sensor operators muttered aloud.

"By all means, enlighten us, Lieutenant."

The human woman gulped. "Sir, that can't be right!" Yularen's smile widened a bit.

"I can assure you, the sensor's are in working order, Silva. Report." Pellaeon added.

"Sorry, sirs. We are detecting in excess of one hundred thousand vultures… and their numbers keep rising."

"Just as planned. Execute Lacoon. Let's prepare a warm welcome for those birds." Yularen ordered.

=RK=

Republic Cruiser "Chimera"

First Assault Fleet Flagship

High Orbit over Geonosis

I allowed myself a tiny smile. That many enemy small craft… If the CIS commander wasn't caught out of position, he could have used them as a hammer to shatter my fleet. He might have very well succeeded.

Now whoever was in charge over there had to make some hard decisions. Either throw most of his fighters and bombers at us to buy time until he had consolidated, or let us dictated the tempo of the battle. Right now we had the initiative and left unchecked could further wreck the Confed's day. I didn't need to look at the holo display in front of me to know the relative dispositions of the fleets. I could feel them in the Force.

Left unchecked we could either make a pass over the planet, bombarding it, a possibility the enemy commander had to defend against, or pounce on one of their two main staging points in which case we could inflict heavy casualties before the rest of the enemy forces caught up with us. Our third main option was to finish mopping up the enemy battle group which Anakin wrecked, hit the orbital defenses and slug it over Geonosis while simultaneously deploying ground forces. It was something often done in this war, sending in the ground pounders while the orbitals were still contested. However that wasn't something I planned to do today, no matter what the official battle plans submitted to the Chancellor said.

There was a reason why I stripped most of the various fleets currently not actively engaged in combat from most of their light warships and concentrated them as escorts for this operation.

My soldiers were ready. Trained and experienced in the fires of this war. Now it was time to see if my plan was up to the task.

I submerged myself fully in the Force and became a nexus coordinating my fleet's actions.

=RK=

Light Cruiser "Corellian Fury"

Task Force Lacoon Flagship

First Assault Fleet

High Orbit over Geonosis

"Lacoon. I repeat Lacoon." the Comm officer shouted, unable to contain her excitement.

"You heard the Admiral, boys and girls. Give the word to the freighters. I want the cargo deployed yesterday. The Escort Carriers are to move forward and punch it. I want all birds in the air and in position before those swarms hit us." Commodore Jole Solo ordered.

The grizzled Corellian had enlisted after his ship was shot out from under him at Ryloth. Someone among the Fleet brass had liked what he did during that battle, because he got the rank of Commodore and a vital part to play in kriffing up the CIS bastards. Probably thanks to the General, who had recruited him for Ryloth in the first place.

He owed that scoundrel one. Perhaps two. For a moment, Jole thought about the kid he had been contacted about. An orphan, one Han Solo, a possible relative. If the offensive hadn't been kicked up earlier than planned he would have been back home right now, meeting the lad. Well, that was the plan, just put on hold until some well deserved kicking of Separatist's asses.

"Graawrg!" Traaw confirmed and started growling at the comm officer.

Jole straightened and stared at the holo display. He felt energized, the growing enemy swarm was becoming less and less threatening by the minute. His carriers started launching fighters and the twenty cargo ships attached to his command began releasing their payloads. Each of those behemoths had their holds full with weapons platforms. They were small things, half the size of a snub fighter. However, the platforms packed a mean punch. Each had four small racks with concussion missiles attached as well as dual laser cannons. Great for anti fighter work.

The platforms were caught by the tractor beams of Solo's light ships and carriers, which then made their way to the outer layer of the Fleet's formation. The ships moved as if they had practiced the maneuvers long enough to be instinctive. There were no mistakes, no units or even single craft lagging because they moved too early or late. It was a thing of beauty, which only an experienced spacer could really appreciate. Because only such a person would know how hard it was to pull off that kind of precise maneuvering on a fleet scale.

The Corellian glared at the enemy forces on the display. Soon enough he would extract another pound of flesh from the kriffing bastards that murdered his kin.

"Data-links are online and clear. We are patched into the Guardian Network."

"All birds are in the air and forming in their designated zones."

"Enemy fighters will be entering missile range in sixty seconds."

Three distinct waves of vultures were converging upon the Republic fleet from separate vectors. Their timing was impeccable. The Separatists small craft were going to strike their adversaries within moments of each other.

"Give me estimated numbers on those nuisances." Solo's voice was calm, not betraying what he was feeling, if anything.

"Estimates are on hundred and fifty thousand plus." the sensor officer reported.

His voice was calm, too calm. Jole frowned. For that matter so was he. Even someone like him, who didn't particularly care if he lived or died as long as he avenged his family, should have felt at least some pang of dread at facing that many enemies with untested doctrine and new weaponry, barely out of the experimental stage.

Yet there was no fear. Just durasteel determination to see the mission through. He smiled. 'Perhaps we are all driven mad by the Sep's atrocities and don't care anymore as long as we drag them to the Nine hells with us.' the Corellian thought.

"All fleet elements, weapons free." Yularen ordered.

"Wraaarg!" Traaw roared a battle cry.

The Vulture swarms crossed an invisible line. The Republic fleet lit up, disappearing behind a wave after wave of concussion missiles.

Part 6

=RK=

Republic Cruiser "Negotiator II"

Battle group "Titan" Flagship

Two hours from Geonosis

Hyperspace

A single Venator raced on the forefront of a fleet made of Assault Ships and their light escorts. Thirty one Acclamators and twenty four assorted bulk freighters were carrying the army groups slotted to invade Geonosis. Those troops were a mixed bag. More than half of them were clones, born and bred for war. The rest were the cream of a dozen planetary defense forces and militias. As far ranging as Corellian Security officers and the newly formed Ryloth Light Infantry, to Wookie warriors from Kashyyyk, Caamasi Lancers and Anaxxian Rangers.

Turning that mess into a decent fighting force was left to three Jedi Masters. Kenobi, who was nominally in charge, Ki-Adi-Mundi who was a new addition to the Geonosis assault force and Shaak Ti, who was recalled from her semi permanent position as the Republic General responsible for training the Clones on Kamino, among other duties.

"What is that impossible man doing now?!" the Togruta Jedi Master exclaimed.

"Veil? Or Skywalker?" Obi-Wan asked. The Jedi Master was hunched in his chair looking much older than his thirty odd years.

"Master Kenobi, when was the last time you slept, or indeed take a rest?" Mundi asked.

"Yesterday. I think."

"Nope. It was before we departed." Ahsoka interjected. She was the fourth person in the small conference room.

"That figures." Shaak Ti muttered. "Are you trying to kill yourself or is this a misguided attempt at penance?"

"That headstrong idiot was my apprentice!"

"Don't remind me. He's supposed to be my master. An example to follow..." the young Togruta grumbled.

"Well, they both certainly leave an impression..." Master Adi-Mundi added. He glanced in the general direction of Geonosis.

"The planet will still be there when we arrive, right?" Ahsoka asked. Even she could sense the storm in the Force brewing at their destination.

"Probably. Whether there will be much left of Veil once I got my hands on him remains to be seen."

Ahsoka gave a pointed look at the older woman. "Seriously, how long are you two going to dance around it?"

"I have no idea what you are talking about." Shaak Ti narrowed her eyes at the teenager.

"Uh, huh. So you are only irritated that he left you with the ground pounders instead of being part of the fleet action. Because it's prudent not to risk our entire chain of command during the space battle." Tano's tone of voice made clear what she thought of her excuse.

"It's the logical course of action." Adi-Mundi smirked. The way his lips twitched showed what he thought of that idea. After all, he was one of the very rare Jedi who were allowed to have families. So he wasn't even remotely as clueless as most of his fellows.

"Seriously?! That's what you are talking about just before the battle?" Obi-Wan shook his head in exasperation.

"We have multiple battle plans." Shaak Ti shrugged.

"A lot of contingencies, too." Ahsoka added.

"Besides affairs of the heart are a very much relevant topic considering what's been happening lately." Adi-Mundi smiled at Kenobi. "So Skywalker and Senator Amidala. It's obviously who our other troublesome general is fond off." he nodded at Shaak Ti who gave him a long suffered look. "I'm of course married. So does either of you have a secret affair too?"he waved at Kenobi and Ahsoka.

"You are becoming insufferable in your old age." Obi-Wan groaned. Thanks to Skywalker's affair, he was going to become the Order's running joke. For the first time in his life, Kenobi couldn't wait for the fight to start. If only to get away from these jokers. "I'm going to check on my troops."

Just as the door was closing behind him, he heard something that sounded suspiciously like sniggering.

=RK=

Republic First Assault Fleet

High Orbit over Geonosis

Ship after ship connected into the datanet. With each new addition, it's capabilities expanded. Additional sensor clusters and targeting computers pouring their resources into a single purpose. The incoming enemy craft were cataloged, scanned and assigned targeting priority.

Point defense turrets rotated, automatic routines checking how well they worked. Missile launchers were uncovered, birds hot in their tubes. Auto-loaders came to life, ready to reloads ready to be plugged in once the magazines ran dry. Then new contacts pinged the datanet, thousands of them, all eager to join the fun. Newly deployed weapon platforms were sending their telemetry, adding their considerable firepower to the Guardian network.

Seconds passed, then minutes. Firing solutions were refined, kill zones established as the Fleet maneuvered to give clear firing lanes for the maximum number of PD emplacements.

Then it happened. The reason Guardian existed.

It started as a trickle. The leading edges of the enemy armada crossed within range. With each passing moment, more and more Vultures were moving ever deeper inside the system's engagement envelope.

Seconds passed, until a signal came. If it was able, the collective gestalt of all Guardian systems within the fleet would have smiled with anticipation. The order was given. Missiles by the thousands, were flushed from their racks, the different fleet elements staggering their launches so no ordinance would be wasted on intercepting the same target multiple times.

An outside observer would have lost sight of the Republic fleet, its units drowned by the light of countless ion engines.

Most of the Vultures, both fighter and bomber variants, broke in wild evasive maneuvers. Just as expected and planned for. Their tempo of approach slowed, the carefully arranged formations breaking before a single weapon struck any of their number.

Salvo after salvo raced against the oncoming swarms, some of the droid fighters dancing in abrupt evasive maneuvers, others continued straight ahead, shooting their laser cannons all the way. No matter how small and nimble they were, missiles started to die due the raw volume of fire, before their guiding systems kicked in a higher gear and started weaving into unpredictable spins and turns.

The void of space was empty no more. A corona of exploding ordinance, blaster fire and torn, shredded Vultures surrounded the Republic fleet. For a few minutes it stood still, the leading elements of the fighter swarms simply disintegrating, massacred by missiles. But that couldn't, wouldn't last. There were simply too many small craft vying for Republic blood. Until in one moment, the halo of shrapnel and broken hull started shrinking, getting closer and closer to the fleet. No matter that the missile salvos were slamming in the swarms faster and faster as the distance got smaller.

Another invisible line was crossed and emerald beams lanced from within the fleet, blasting scores of fighters apart. A volley, a second, then third, each larger, more potent than the last. Yet the Vultures followed their programing, charging straight in the teeth of the Republic defenses, heedless of the losses.

=RK=

Republic Cruiser "Chimera"

First Assault Fleet Flagship

High Orbit over Geonosis

"Huh. They may actually break through. I didn't really expect that." Pellaeon muttered.

"There are a lot of them. Some will break no matter how good our defensive fire is." Yularen interjected. He was feeling calm despite the horde of enemy contact descending upon his command. "Release the fighters. Punch the platform's missiles. All ships are allowed to maneuver independently within the bounds of their unit's formations. Let's make it harder for the bastards."

"Aye, sir."

In the next few seconds, the sensor display became unreadable as the weapon platforms flushed their missiles too and the CSP broke formation and charged into the fray.

Outside was a bloodbath. Despite being savaged by the missile strikes, the Vultures still outnumbered the Republic fighter contingent by a huge margin. Few seconds before the small craft met, the weapon platforms emptied their magazines, reaping a frightful harvest. The Torrents followed suit, adding to the slaughter. It wasn't even remotely enough. The Vultures didn't even try to engage the Republic fighters. They simply tore through their ranks, absorbing the casualties and taking out as many of the enemy as they could, before proceeding towards their targets. The first fighter engagement of the battle was over in seconds and the Vultures were on their way, leaving the surviving Torrents in their wake.

Only to run straight into a wall of fire as the PD guns spoke as one, turning entire sectors of the surrounding space in a wall of laser pulses. Anything that tried to pass through certain vectors, those usually leading at Capital ships, simply ceased to exist.

The tip of the Republic formation suffered the worst. It was weakened with a score of light ships either crippled or with weakened shields after engaging the remains of Grievous' personal command. Their defenses were overwhelmed by kamikaze strikes, followed by bombers salvoing their proton torpedoes at point blank range, before slamming themselves in their targets.

A frigate went up, then another. A Light Cruiser staggered as a whole wing impacted upon its shields, before twenty torpedoes cracked it in two. For two full minutes it went on and on, a symphony of destruction, until the bulk of the Confederate Vulture force was spent.

Few hundred made it pass the Republic lines.

"Get me the Fleet wide status!" Yularen ordered calmly, as if he was simply asking for a cup of Caf.

If his staff was perturbed by the enemy assault, none of them showed it.

"Thirty one light ships are out of the net. Another two dozen with light to moderate damage. We lost five Escort Carriers and half the freighters, but only couple of Venators have light damage." Captain Lor shook his head in amazement.

"What is our fighter strength?"

"Squadron leaders are still trying to establish contact with their people. We threw so much ordinance around that the sensors won't be entirely reliable until we clear the immediate vicinity. A minute or two and we'll have clearer picture."

"Fair enough. Any estimate on that swarm? How many did we bag?"

"Hundred and fifty thousand. At least." the sensor operator grinned.

Pellaeon whistled. That was about two thirds of the estimated enemy small craft in system.

"Good work, people. Now I want our formations tightened and ready for fleet engagement. Keep the WP's in the net. Their lasers will be useful in taking out the rest of the enemy fighter force. What's the status of Overlord?"

=RK=

DCS "Deathdealer"

High orbit over Geonosis

"Move! We don't have all day people!" Boss ordered and hurried to follow his own advice by sprinting down the corridor. So far his upgraded armor and shields were shrugging off everything the B1's were able to throw at him and his men, allowing them to advance and crush all resistance without slowing down.

Which was vital. Unless they wanted this whole exercise to be pointless, they had to secure both the ship's central computer core and the comm array before the fleet action began in earnest.

So far it was going reasonably well. It appeared that most of the ship's crew were the flimsy B1's, and those toys were now made woefully obsolete by the new gen of Republic gear. Which, of course, made Boss worry. When a plan was going that smoothly it was either an ambush or as the general was found of saying, that being Murphy was ready to kriff up your day.

Apparently it was the second one. The microphones on his medium armor caught the painfully familiar sounds of rolling droidekas. A lot of them.

"Prep ion grenades. We are about to receive company."

"On it!" Scorch almost bounced in his armor and retrieved the grenade launcher magnetically clasped to his back.

Sev picked a grenade from his harness. Fixer simply gripped tighter the experimental laser that he was carrying around. Their motion detectors picked up the approaching machines and Boss made a sharp gesture. Grenades flew at the junction they were heading to, just in time to catch the destroyer droids as they rolled around the corner. Ion energy flashed in violent release, arching all over the machines and grounding itself in the hull.

The leading elements of the destroyer platoon crashed, violet lighting running up and down their bodies. Most of their fellows were unable to stop in time, piling up in the junction. Fixer grinned and let loose with his combat laser, neatly slicing them in pieces before they could deploy.

Scorch glanced at his friend. "I want one of those too."

"You aren't laying a hand on my new best friend. Go find yourself another one. However it won't be as good!" Fixer gently patted his weapon.

Boss shook his head. Sometimes his squad was creeping him out.

"We are almost at the computer core. About four hundred meters that way." Sev ignored his buddies and pointed right.

"You heard him. Go!" Boss ordered and sprinted down that way.

=RK=

Droid Command Ship "Nemesis"

Third Wing Flagship

High Orbit over Geonosis

Admiral Ningo just stared at the holo tank. So much for trusting anything the intelligence types said. His bigger force multiplier was now gone for little to no gain. Hi still had about seventy thousand Vultures, the ones who were simply too far away from the combat theater to join in the first strike if it was to go on time. Even those should have been a decisive weapon to wield. In another battle, against a different fleet, that would have been true. The Republic Admiral however had brought enough screening units to make even such number of fighters far from battle wining force by themselves. Now that he saw how fiendishly effective that Guardian system truly was, he had his doubts if sending all of the fighters together would have been enough. For a moment he considered ordering another small craft sortie but disregarded that plan. While the Republic defenses might be weakened, he doubted that it would be enough to do anything but further bloody their escorts. No. He would use his remaining small craft smarter. Let's see how good that system of theirs is in the middle of a general fleet action.

At least the strike wasn't a complete waste. The enemy fleet had been marginally slowed down, buying him few more minutes to unkriff his forces and coordinate a counter attack. Unfortunately they didn't appear ready to throw themselves at the Gollan II stations and weapons satellites surrounding Geonosis. Ningo thought about falling back to the defensive line so he could add their firepower to that of his fleet. However doing so would leave one of his two forces vulnerable for a strike by the enemy. He still had a marginal edge in capital ships, giving him at least parity in firepower.

"Blood them then fall back to the defensive line and hold them there." he muttered. The Admiral turned his head towards his so called staff. "Coordinate with all wings." He glanced at the holo tank, which was showing his forces, their vectors and the estimated time they would be in position. "We are executing a tactical jump in two and half minutes. Any units that aren't able to get in position before then are to make their way to the Orbital Defense grid."

"Roger, Roger."