7/8

"Master Gallia and the others have diverted the attack from us." He said as he raced up a stone column sticking out the side of a mountain over the small pass where the battle was taking place. "But they'll need rescuing themselves if we don't act. Master Tiin, stop that tank, Qui-Gon, Obi-wan, follow me! We'll link up with the others."

With that he Force Jumped downward, slicing through two Yinchorri with his lightsaber at once, before blocking and diverting the laser blasts from a few others into some of their fellows. The congested nature of the terrain played to the strengths of the Jedi somewhat rather than that of the Yinchorri save for their numbers.

As Master Tiin was dealing with the tank, Windu was about to greet his friend Master Koth when both of them stopped suddenly, staring up into the sky, sensing the arrival of another Jedi over the tumult of the battle. In the air above them another Consular class ship appeared, this one fitted with weaponry which began to lay down covering fire. Windu and Qui-Gon looked at one another, and Qui-Gon frowned. "Master Dooku?"

"And someone else…" Master Windu said thoughtfully, absentmindedly blocking a blaster bolt with his lightsaber, sending it back towards his attacker. "Someone whose presence in the Force is unlike any I have ever felt before."

OOOOOOO

High above the battlefield Dooku looked at his young friend, frowning slightly. Ranma's presence now and his grim visage was something that Dooku had not seen yet on him, and frankly it transformed the young man into a warrior. If Kiima or the other Phoenix people had seen it however, they would have recognized the face of the man they had begun to call the Godslayer.

Yet despite the youth's change in demeanor, despite the fact his emotions were subdued now, Dooku trusted Ranma to do his best to aid Dooku's fellow Jedi. There was something about Ranma, the sheer scintillating nature of his presence in the Force, his connection to the Living Force that told Dooku he was more than up to this battle. "Are you ready?"

In response Ranma smiled at him thinly, punched the open code for the hatchway and leaped out without a word. In mid-air Ranma turned, shouting, "Ask the Yinchorri if they're ready for me!"

Below, the padawan K'kruhk had been separated from his master by several yards. He swung his lightsaber around, killing one of his attackers but then his lightsaber suddenly gave out upon hitting a cortosis shield. The Yinchorri wearing it laughed, raising its spear for a finishing blow. "Die Jedi!"

K'kruhk's master, the human Lilit Twoseas turned, her eyes widening as she threw herself forward placing her slight body between the killing blow and her padawan. "K'kruhk, look ou…!"

That was as far as she got before a cerulean sphere of pure Force energy the likes of which none of the Jedi there had ever seen, giving off a feeling of confidence and fierce joy somehow, slammed into the Yinchorri about to spear K'kruhk. It hit like a turbolaser round blowing the Yinchorri's head off as if it had just been hit by a turbolaser blast.

Ranma landed next to the Jedi who had been in a bit of trouble, rolling and leaping up quickly, his legs flashing out like two pistons to slam into two more Yinchorri hurling them back, their chests broken as he grabbed a spear that had been thrust into the ground by the padawans foot using it as a springboard.

He spared a brief nod to the alien Jedi that he had just saved. "Watch your back, yeah?" With that he was gone leaping away deeper into the battle.

"What?" Mace Windu muttered from nearby, shaking his head in astonishment not in keeping with his normal self-control. "What was that!?"

"I don't know, I've never heard of anything like it, but that, that did not feel like the Dark Side." Said master Koth, frowning thoughtfully as the two moved back to back. Their lightsabers moved as one, their movements choreographed through the Force as if they were one being, one mind for a moment. Like this they were unassailable, lightsabers flashing bouncing blaster bolts back to their owners, deflecting spears, cutting Yinchorri apart, covering one another perfectly. "But again it is no Force power I have ever seen or felt before. That makes it suspicious."

For her part, Lilit Twoseas had known that she had been about to die. Unable to bring her lightsaber to bear to defend herself or him she had interposed her body between him and the spear. But now, now suddenly that future was gone. It was changed by the human whose strength in the Force was reverberating through her senses. He's a fountain of the Living Force! I've never felt the like! Where did he come from!? I. he saved my life, he saved my life…

Ranma ignored the Jedi's odd looks in his direction simply nodding when he randomly caught them looking at him through the battle. He continued to move through the battlefield, tossing the Yinchorri about like they were weightless, killing more than a few with punches or kicks but mainly concentrating on drawing their attention away from the beleaguered Jedi.

He stopped next to one Jedi master that looked like a demon from Christian mythology, bald, with two horns thrusting forward down from the side of his head. Yeesh, wonder if I'm gonna find an alien race that looks like something from Japanese mythology, like onis or devil horses.

Master Tiin did not look away from his task, slicing apart a tank at the back of the Yinchorri column which was trying to range on the Jedi further down the gorge. Seeing this, Ranma smirked leaping up onto a tank's front, grabbing its barrel and with a grunt of effort ripping the entire turret off the tank, using it as a giant halberd for a moment slamming it down into a few Yinchorri making pack they of them.

Live by the sword, die by the sword you bastards! He thought grimly. He grimaced as he took a few shots in the back from another Yinchorri, but the blasters didn't do much damage thanks to his endurance technique, and he turned, hurling the turret at his attackers, killing a few more.

"Not bad," Tiin muttered, moving to support Ranma. He was not one to look a sudden gift horse in the mouth like this, and besides, he liked the youth's style, nor was he getting any sense of anger or hate from the youth. Brute force and power, that's the way!

"I believe it is time to fall back," Mace said as he and Koth joined up with two of the other masters, frowning slightly at Two Seas who was smiling wider than he had ever seen her, moving everywhere and never standing still as the Ataru form demanded while K'kruhk followed far more slowly using the Soresu form to guard her back. "Are you alright Master Lilit?"

"I am excellent master Windu," she replied, her voice joyful. "I am alive! I am alive when I thought my destiny was to die a few moments ago! Whatever that youth is, he saved my life and that of my padawan!"

K'kruhk nodded his head looking a little shamefaced. "I failed to keep in mind Master Giett's lesson masters; my lightsaber failed me against a cortosis shield. A Yinchorri had me dead to rights and my own master had just interposed herself between me and the killing blow when that youth's attack hit him, saving her."

"Begin to fall back," Master Windu ordered once again, his eyes narrowing as he looked at the youth.

That youth arrived here with Dooku, so it stands to reason that he and his strange Force abilities are the secret that Dooku wished to talk about in person with Grandmaster Yoda. Oddly secretive of him, but understandable given his concerns about the Hypercom. Yet now that I see him, I am uncertain what to make of him myself. He is not a Jedi and wields the Force, or at least the Living Force, in a way that I have never seen. It's obviously aiding his strength and speed, which admittedly is far beyond anything even a Force Warrior could do, but his other skills are beyond bizarre.

But all that was what any of the other masters could sense, Mace sensed more than that. Mace Windu was blessed, or perhaps cursed, with the Force ability called shatterpoint. This allowed him to sometimes see the weakness in a thing or person where it could be broken if pressure was applied through the Force. Most of the time when Windu saw it the shatterpoint was in a person's style of combat.

The young man dancing here and there through the attacking Yinchorri in an unarmed Aerial style that oddly reminded Windu of videos of Yoda in his younger years did not have that kind of shatterpoint. There was no weakness in his style. Instead he was part of something larger, something that was bigger than himself, bigger than Mace or any of them, too big for Mace to perceive on the fly. But the shatterpoint was there.

Shaking his head, Mace Put those thoughts aside for now. "Head back towards Master Gallia's ship, let's not let this sudden windfall go to waste."

OOOOOOO

After dropping Ranma off, Dooku had directed Michael to fly the ship deeper into the gorge towards the Consular-class cruiser that had landed there. After all, the Yinchorri hadn't just been coming down the gorge. Hundreds of them had attacked from the mountains as well.

Once there, Dooku dropped from the side of the Kaiseki while it rained down covering fire. That covering fire wasn't very accurate, none of the crewmen were trained gunners, but there was a lot of it.

Dooku smiled slightly as he descended, remembering a conversation he and Ranma had shared about why Ranma really preferred the Aerial style. He does have a point, feeling the wind like this is indeed amazing. As he fell Dooku continued to smile for a moment while he allowed his perceptions to expand through the Force, allowing his joy at the experience to color his emotions.

He frowned however seeing a Jedi below him, a green-scaled Anx whose name he did not know be cut off and surrounded while Master Tsui Choi tried desperately to get to his side. Reaching through the force Dooku grabbed the youth hurling him up towards his ship and away, using the youth's own weight as a counterbalance to hasten Dooku's descent.

As the youth ascended he let go of his lightsaber, which Dooku Force-grabbed and used in midair to block some of the bolts trying to track him from below. A second later Dooku landed his own lightsaber activating as he raced forward.

Giving himself to the Force entirely, the Jedi Master Dooku smiled grimly, his lightsaber flashing faster than the Yinchorri could track. With every strike it left a blazing trail, cutting here there and everywhere. He noted which Yinchorri had cortosis armor, avoiding those shields with ease, cutting them into pieces with an artistry and speed that would have astonished anyone but another Jedi. Indeed, it was well beyond even what Dooku could have done before training with Ranma these past few weeks.

Steeling himself for a moment Dooku let his lightsaber fall waving his hand,. In a massive swirl of Force power, hundreds of Yinchorri were hurled away from him and the other embattled Masters. Above him Kaiseki began to hammer the now disorganized Yinchorri with concentrated laser fire. This broke the Yinchorri's assault and they retreated for now retreating into the mountain crevasses or away down the gorge towards the main battle.

"Master Dooku," said Master Adi Gallia nodding her head wearily at him, gasping in exhaustion. "Your timing is impeccable but I must ask…"

"The Gran Protectorate is nearby, and I was one of the first to hear the news of the Yinchorri's militaristic expansion. I assumed that the Council would send someone Adi Gallia, and I decided to poke my nose in."

"Master Dooku," Master Choi came up, bowing his head formally. "I thank you for the life of my padawan. If not for you, he would be dead."

"No thanks are necessary, we are all Jedi here, and to defend others is our duty." Dooku said, waving his hand towards their ship. "I suggest you all get aboard, I can feel Master Windu and the others coming along. And none of you are in any condition to continue this battle."

Adi Gallia made to protest, but even as she did so her body sagged wearily. The battle had been going on for about 45 minutes of constant combat, and before that they had fought throughout the evening on their own missions, and none of them had gotten much rest since this expedition began. Even with her Force assisted endurance the constant combat was beginning to take a toll. "Thank you master, I think that's an excellent idea."

OOOOOOO

Elsewhere in the battle, Tiin and Ranma had finished destroying the last tanks, falling back quickly to the others while Ranma continued to toss or smash aside the Yinchorri between them as if they weighed nothing. But then Ranma grimaced as he took a few shots from behind. Turning quickly Ranma brought out his ki shield that he had made up on the spot during his first battle with Dooku, blocking the crew served weapon that had just opened up on him as the demon-looking Jedi master began to block some of the blaster bolts with his lightsaber.

Ranma did the same with his hands, smacking them aside and frowning as he noted that his shield had dropped slightly after the first few scattered bolts. Note to self, blasters come in all shapes and sizes, and some of them can be dangerous, can wear down my shield and probably get through my endurance training. Interesting, and I really don't want to know what most ship-based weapons would do. Ouch... And, come ta think of it, any sort of continual beam weapon would be bad too. If a lightsaber can wear down my ki shield as quickly as Dooku's can, that kind of weapon would do the same.

The youth's show of strength was incredible to the Tiin, who prided himself on his own physical strength. "Tell me," he said somewhat jokingly, "do you have a rancor in your ancestry somewhere?"

"Don't know what that is." Ranma said cheerfully, slamming his foot hard into one Yinchorri, pulping the Yinchorri's shoulder and hurling him back into several others as he grabbed a sword-spear thing that was aimed at his head. "'Scuse me!"

Flipping himself upwards, Ranma kicked out, catching that Yinchorri in the head and using that kick to throw himself in an entirely different direction landing among other Yinchorri who were trying to set up something that looked like a crew served blaster of some kind to attack the flank of the Jedi who were falling backwards through the gorge.

A few kicks and punches late the three Yinchorri that had tried to set it up were broken and unconscious. Ranma hefted the SAW himself, putting it to his shoulder and blasting away on what he thought of as full auto at the Yinchorri still trying to attack the Jedi Masters.

The Yinchorri, now without any tanks and having taking too many casualties to sustain the assault, finally began to pull back.

"They'll be back." Said Mace as Tiin and Ranma moved to join them. "I've never seen a species before that was so set on violence!"

Ranma scoffed, spitting to one side. "Have you looked in a mirror lately? Humans can be just as violent sometimes."

Windu frowned but nodded since that was occasionally true. "Who are you young man?"

"Ranma, I'm a friend of Dooku's but for now can we get going? This is fun and all, but I don't think it much fun for you lot."

"Violence should never be fun young man." Said Qui-Gon, while his padawan Obi-Wan stiffened at the disrespectful tone the younger man was using to the masters. "Even in the pursuit of justice."

Ranma shrugged. "If you don't like a good fight, why are you here?" He asked bluntly. "You're all Guardians at least right, that's the Class that deals with combat missions and such?"

Actually they weren't, though Windu should have insisted that only Guardians be sent on this mission, possibly with one or two Sentinels along to bring their particular skills to bear. But they weren't, indeed most of them aside from the padawans were Consulars save for Tiin and Giiett, a Guardian and Sentinel respectively. This of course was a problem throughout the order, since the numbers of Guardians and Sentinels had been dropping for decades. Still, Mace was chagrined to realize that he should've realized even at a Master's level specialties like that, the difference mattered.

High above them there was loud whistling sound, and Ranma stared upwards frowning before bringing his hands up and thrusting them forward. A bright cerulean sphere of pure force power shot from his hands up into the air. Seconds later it intercepted a mortar round that was coming down towards them, causing it to explode prematurely.

The Jedi had all looked up as well at the noise, and while none of them had reacted as fast as Ranma, many of them raised their hands, thrusting away the shrapnel from the explosion with the Force. "Mace is right." Said Plo Koon. "We have outstayed our welcome my friends, and the Yinchorri seem the type to demand repayment for their hospitality.."

"Was that a joke, that sounded like a joke, but it was actually somewhat funny!" Said another one of the Jedi, who Ranma was interested to note used two lightsabers. "Will wonders never cease!"

"Joke on the run please." Ranma said, but he smiled at as he said it.

Windu moved next to the youngster, looking at him thoughtfully, studying him intently with both his eyes and Force sense. "When this is over young man, I think we are going to have a long talk."

Ranma shrugged. "Dooku said something like that too, but we'll do it in person not over Hypercom."

So this is indeed the secret that master Yoda felt Dooku was keeping. It's interesting, as much as he has seemed to enjoy this battle, I haven't felt a single flicker of anger or fury or hate from him. If anything it's the exact opposite, he radiates the Light side of the Living Force so strongly it's like he's a beacon! His emotions are so powerful, it's worrying yet at the same time, it doesn't seem to affect him. Very odd. Even while he thought this however, Mace was already racing back down the gorge with his fellow Jedi.

Back at the downed ship Michael and his crew were still laying down some covering fire into the size of the gorge where many of the Yinchorri had gone to ground, trying to sleep at the Jedi and the ship. Its shields were flickering badly by this point, but its guns were still firing down into the slopes around the gorge, killing several Yinchorri while the Jedi retreated into the ship.

Dooku was the only one remaining outside by this point, with master Gallia guarding the entrance to the ship. He nodded cordially to the Masters and Ranma as they came up. "Master Windu" he said addressing the only one among them who he felt was truly his equal in rank and skill. "I suggest you get a move on."

With that he raised his hand, lifting a giant boulder from the ground. He held it as a shield in midair to block several blaster rounds from one side of the gorge before hurling it in that direction causing some of the snipers to scatter.

"Jedi never run," said Master Giiett, "Unless we really, really have to."

Ranma laughed, reaching down to grab up a few of the blasters and exchanging fire with the snipers smashing several of them back with pinpoint shots to shoulders, arms or weapons. "A sense of humor from a Jedi, didn't think that was possible given your oaths about emotions."

"We try not to advertise it young man, and unfortunately it is alas a rare trait among us. Master Dooku," said the long-haired man, bowing from the waist with both of his hands together, a faint but warm smile on his face as he turned to face the regal looking Jedi Master. "It has been some time."

"It has indeed, I am happy to see you well Qui-Gon." Dooku smiled, nodding at the man then looking over at the youngster who stood beside him, his padawan braid prominent alongside one side of his face. "And who is this?"

"This is my padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi, master. I believe he will be ready for the trials in another few years." Qui-Gon favored his padawan with a smile, while Obi-Wan bowed his head deeply to one of the most famed duelists in the Jedi Order, flushing slightly at his master's praise.

"Excellent, though you brought a padawan on a mission like this?" Dooku asked cocking one wintry eyebrow, causing Qui-Gon to twitch in response. Dooku had always looked like that right before imparting some painfully obvious lesson.

Dooku however turned to address Mace. "Three padawans I note. Now, this is not a mark against you three or your teachers but I would have thought after recent events, most particularly the Mandalore Debacle and the mission which cost my own most recent padawan her life, that taking padawans into missions which held the certainty of high levels of violence would have been… contra-indicated. Or are we so cavalier with our own lives we do not flinch in sending those young and less prepared than we into battle?"

His voice was mild, but his eyes were flashing dangerously, something more than one of the masters there noticed. Still many winced at the reminder of what happened to Dooku's padawan a bare two months ago.

"Haste was of the essence, so I took only those among the Jedi who volunteered which I thought could handle the mission." Mace said shaking his head, taking it upon himself as leader of this expedition to answer his fellow Blade-masters not-quite accusation. "In hindsight, that was an error, though my choice for pilots at least was well-founded. Still, it is one I will make certain does not occur in the future."

"That's nice and all," Ranma said. "But could we get on the ship now? Not want to compound that error, yeah?"

"You are impertinent, young man." said Obi-wan, shaking his head admonishingly. "You should not speak to Jedi Masters so."

"I speak as I find." Ranma said smirking at the young man, who he thought was somewhere in his twenties or so, though he spoke either like an old man or a lawyer, Ranma wasn't certain which. "Respect is earned, not given freely."

"Ouch." Giiett shook his head. "Remind me never to let this young man near any of the Senate. That would be very, very bad."

"Definitely." Ranma said with a laugh, before he grunted as a blaster bolt got through into his shoulder making him wince a little but that was all, causing many of the master's eyes to widen in surprise. "Think politicians a waste of space back home, here it's even worse."

A few moments later the last of the Jedi were aboard their ship, and the ship lifted off, putting its own shields between its savior and the attackers down below.

"Captain Michael, follow us up out of the atmosphere, try to keep us between you and the ground, your shields seem to be failing badly." said Master Tiin, while Plo Koon slid into the co-pilot's chair.

"Aye-aye master." Said Michael over the comm. "Everyone aboard?"

"Everyone is aboard," said Lilit via the intercom. Even now she had a small, wondering smile on her face from her rescue from certain death. "Thanks to your arrival and that of Master Dooku, everyone is aboard."

OOOOOOO

At the same time the two Consular-class frigates were making for space, on Coruscant Sidious was snarling, his lips a rictus of rage. His ability to read the future was perhaps the area where his ability in analyzing the Force was better than his teacher's. He had known, known that Jedi would die on this mission. He had felt it, seen it in the eddies of the Force, but now that was gone, and with it the ripples Dooku was causing were spreading.

No… not Dooku. In that brief moment, when the future changed abruptly to include the lives of the Jedi who should have died, there had been a brief moment. A very brief moment before the ripples had begun again where Sidious had been able to use his senses almost without anything obscuring his sight. In that moment he had seen that it wasn't Dooku who was the center of the, the maelstrom of chaos that was spreading from around his actions.

Instead it was someone else, a young human man, who literally blazed in the Living Force do his senses. It is him, him the one who causes such change, such disorder. I need to know more, much more about him, about who he is, where he came from, everything! He has already affected the Grand Plan tremendously, luring Dooku away from where he could have become my apprentice, and thus my public face. While I will be able to turn his actions to my advantage, Dooku's loss still hurts badly. If this young man cannot be turned to our advantage in such a way as to make up for that, he must be disposed of quickly!

OOOOOOO

Back in the seating area, Ranma was staring around at all the alien Jedi masters, trying and failing to place them in his limited knowledge of the species to be found in this dimension. Their prisoner's a Devaronian like a few of the spacers I saw on Malastare, and that one is a Zabrak, like that chick at the bar with the boyfriend who hit on me. But other than that... damn this really forces ya to realize how many species there are in this universe! Cannot… wait… to… explore it! So many styles, so much time!

On the other hand, why the heck is it so damp in here? I gotta wonder how that's gonna impact the computers and other stuff? I guess I should be glad whatever it is didn't impact this ship's ability ta fly.

Yet even among the humans there were differences. There was the odd headdress the darker-skinned woman wore, which made her look rather silly in his opinion. Then there was the younger human male who seemed to have a problem with Ranma judging by his glances in Ranma's direction. The other two humans, the black man and the older looking man with long hair, reminded Ranma of the first time Dooku and he met, calm and serene, radiating a certain tried strength, though in his opinion not as much as Dooku did.

Yet that was not the most important thing he noticed looking at them all. The blonde-haired woman Ranma had saved initially was actually shorter than his female form! Holy shit, I thought it was just because she was standing next to the big guy, but she really is that short! I won't be the shortest girl in the room anymore, awesome!

As he looked around Ranma was almost ignored in turn as Master Choi explained that he had come upon their prisoner trying to send out a message. That message had subsequently been traced to a small hidden planetoid deeper into the star system well out of the life bearing zone of the system.

"We think he was on Yitheeth to provide some technical assistance to the Yinchorri, but there might be something more going on. He has not talked yet, but he will. He is a mercenary, and such will always sell their employers out to save their skins given the alternatives."

Mace nodded, and was about to turn his attention back to the youth with the strange Force powers when Koon spoke up from where he was manning the sensors up in the cockpit. "My friends, I think you should all come and see this."

From where he Dooku smiled faintly, knowing they had just left the atmosphere. A second later the central hologram in the sitting area lit up, showing a tactical screen of the system.

When the Jedi had jumped into the system, there had been around forty-four enemy signals showing capital ships and fighter platforms, with seven defensive installations scattered around the three planets, two, two, three respectively. Now those installations were gone. And the remaining mobile units of the Yinchorri were in full retreat towards the area of space where Choi had already estimated the signal was going towards. They also only numbered fifteen red blips of various sizes.

Pursuing them were two fleets of green icons. Many of those blips were harrying the Yinchorri back towards their previously hitting command center. Others were above the planet's, slowly pulling away from them to join their fellows. Above Yinchorr, the four ships apparently assigned to that planet were even now moving out of their orbit towards the Jedi's cruisers.

"Those ships are reading as Battle Tide and Proud Explorer of the Dac Defense Fleet, and Quickstrike and Pointed Argument of the Sluis Sector Defense Fleet. In fact all of the friendly ships are reading as Sluisi or Mon Calamari ships." Plo Koon reported from where he was seated next to Obi-Wan.

"What exactly is going on here Master Dooku?" asked master Tiin looking at the other man. "This is not the Republic fleet; these are portions of the defense fleets of those two sectors."

"I was reminded recently that we Jedi alone cannot shoulder the burden of defending the peace of the Republic. The various species that make it up need to do the same, and I was able to convince the Governor of Dac and the Khedive of the Congregate to aid us here." Dooku replied, smiling faintly.

Adi Gallia frowned. "What did you promise them?" She was a Consular, and was very aware of the factions in the Senate, so she understood these two races were not normally allied. They were alike in many ways, but their systems were not in direct trade or competition so their interests rarely dovetailed, save on a very few issues.

"My personal backing along with the Chancellor's in the Senate to give their trade fleets the same rights that the Trade Federation recently won a few months ago: the ability to arm their merchant ships against pirate attacks. Before anyone objects I'll note that neither of them has evidenced any desire to build up the massive droid army that the Federation has since begun building, nor are they known for, or indeed have any need to be, expansionistic. They simply wish to defend their own ships as they go about their business."

"Interesting…" said Windu, now looking at Ranma, who was talking quietly to K'kruhk. Unlike Gallia, who now looked aghast, he didn't particularly care about the politics of the matter. The Padawan was bowing his head slightly to the shorter human, possibly thanking him for saving his master's life. "But not what I was asking about, at least not the entirety."

Ranma turned, nodding his head at the larger alien, glad he'd agreed to answer Ranma's questions about his species later. He stared at the bald black man who strangely enough reminded him of some American actor. Can't remember his name but definitely some kind of likeness there. Parallel evolution or something? "You talking about me?"