Fire... smoke... screaming... dying....

She stood where the a large building had once stood, where now nothing was left but a pile of burning rubble. All around her was the stench of death, it permeated the air until she could hardly breath. Not knowing what else to do, she began to walk.

Stumbling through the debris, Vessana reached out with her senses as she desperately attempted to find survivors. Her eyes panned over the debris, sadly taking in the devastation that had once been a great city. Nothing was left but ruins and countless bodies.

The minutes passed, and still she felt nothing. As she choked back the tears that suddenly stung her eyes, she lost her footing and fell into the ash. A billow of soot rose into the air only to be blown away by a strong gust of wind. The same wind blew the clouds of smoke across the night’s sky, revealing not one but seven full moons staring down at her. Her heart leapt into her throat at the implications and she cast her head a way from the celestial site.

~~

Crystal-blue eyes snapped open, and she was instantly back in the meditation chamber deep within the Fountain Palace. Vessana’s heart pounded heavily inside her chest and her body was covered in a cold sweat.

Meditation had always been her refuge when her mind and heart did not agree. This time, though, her sanctuary had been breached by a nightmare. Whether it had been a vision given to her by the Force or her own imaginings, she cared not. The ramifications of the nightmare would not go unheeded

She had chosen wrongly.

Rising to her feet Vessana moved to the communications console. Her fingers danced across the panel as she opened a channel to Dakkon on the Jorgamund - the flag ship of the Hapan Fleet. Just as her meditation chamber was her sanctuary, the Battle Dragon Class Cruiser was his. Less than a minute passed before a small holo-projection of the Crowned Prince flickered to life before her.

" What’s wrong Vess?"

" I was."

The hologram displayed a confused look on her husband’s features, but she continued before he could ask.

" Take the Jorgamund and our fastest and strongest ships. Use your discretion on how many you take, we can’t leave Hapes defenseless."

" Vess, what are you talking about?"

" I was wrong, Dakkon. If the reports are even a fraction true, we cannot just sit back and do nothing. The Rogue Jedi Order may not have asked for our help, but they’re going to get it.

You’re going to Ossus."

Gash glanced about the rubbled barricade which formed their shelter, noting the many and varied wounded. Some were hooked up to some sort of bacta IV drip, most were not... and all had the haunted look of those who wanted to lie down and die. To surrender, to let the darkness take them from the hell that Ossus had become.

Gash could sympathize.

He nodded at Arrix, slowly forming a battle plan in his mind. Even with surperior force, venturing blindly out into the fight to try to stumble up into the broken buildings around would be outright suicide. A quick look at those same buildings made it obvious that scaling them would not be an option of any sort.

"Where are the civilians around this sector?" Gash asked, quietly.

'Two hundred meters southeast, underground. Several thousand of them, Gash... we doubt the enemy has found them, but we know they will.'

"Yeah."

A tense silence hung.

"Arrix," Gash said, tentatively, "Have you studied the Rogue Jedi Holocron?"

'Vaguely.'

"There is a portion to it, written by an ancient human strategist..." Gash's voice trailed off, seeing his sudden, brief burst of philosophy was unwelcome in this situation. "It says that 'Conventional tactics should be used to engage the enemy, while unconventional tactics should be used to achieve victory'."

'So...?'

"So, we use the maneuver they expect to get in range... some kind of thermal-detonator rush. Then we do something they won't expect." Gash cringed as he uttered the last word, a thermal detonator errupting on the outside of the small bunker.

Arrix nodded.

"Unidentified vessels, please respond. We are not hostile towards--" A burst of static cut off General Tellien's words, exploding out of the commlink and silencing the new commander of the Rogue Jedi Order fleet.

He shook his head, sitting back in his command chair and glancing back at the communications officer about ten meters away. 'No luck,' The young man paused as the Tachyon shuddered slightly, 'General?'

"None. Those Star Destroyers are jamming our communications."

'Damn...'

OOC: Sorry about taking so long; I've been a little busy. Everyone, back to the RP!

What the probes showed as madness. The tactics involved were simply elusive...and the way in which the admiral was handling himself was marvelous. It was almost like...no...it couldn't be. He'd seen the autopsy reports.

Fearsons quickly washed those thoughts from his head as he peered at the holofeed of the Battle of Ossus via probe droid. His glowing eyes widened as a Star Cruiser burst into flames at the end of a turbolaser, and he gulped slightly.

But then...just as quickly as the holofeed had started, it disappeared. The probe droid had been destroyed.

"Sithspit," he cursed and rose from his throne. His PeFauna stood on either side of him and suddenly looked at him, reading his intentions through the Force.

"My lord," one of them spoke up through the voice scrambler. "You musn't go, even if our fleet is capable of downing the enemy, we cannot defend you in such confusion. Do not risk yourselve in an Ossan War."

Fearsons shook his head briskly.

"Gash Jiren may be dealing with the man who stole my daughter...but he is a good man, there is no reason to-" he was cut off suddenly by a sudden message's alert sounding throughout the bridge. "Patch me through!" he demanded of the comms officer, who wasted no time in placing up the uplink.

A small, quarter size image of Vice Admiral Blackblade appeared on the desk ahead of Fearsons's throne.

"Yes?" he asked leisurely.

"My lord," the hologram said, imitating the man's bow. "I have just gone over the analysis of the battle, we lost two Corvettes I sent in there on recon...and a um...Victory-Class Star Destroyer." The emperor's eyse widened.

"What? How?" he demanded, yet his voice was still cool...and calm.

"Their forces were very precise. They took down the Victory Star Destroyer first...and then began routing the Corvettes..."

"With what form of craft?"

There was a moment of silence. The admiral needed a moment to gather his words...and his courage.

"It appeared to be...TIE Interceptors sir....but I may be mistakened," the admiral admitted. Fearsons bit down his lip and snorted.

"Ok then...return home."

A VicStar with only TIE Interceptors? he demanded mentally. How is that possible?

He used the old Jedi calming technique and turned to the PeFauna to his sides.

"There is nothing we can do there...all forces we'd send would be like sending scientists down a blackhole. A valiant effort but in the end causes more damage than it prevents." The four royal guards nodded their heads, and again gazed forward as if nothing had happened.

But something was happening.

Something wrong was happening. Something that shouldn't have happened...was happening.

"Admiral..."

"Dropships are ready Viceroy."

"Excellent.Let's run cover"

The Yevethan dropships,cloaked and safely in the bays of the Yevethan ISD <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Faithful One<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> were being readied. Hundreds of Yevethan troops had been marching into the dropships for hours now, even before the fleet left the Koornacth Cluster. Also in the bays of the Armadia-class Thrustship <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Redoubtable<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> were 2 squadrons of Tie Defenders, ready to fly air cover.

The <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Redoubtable<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> had been stripped down of almost all weapons and nonessential systems to make room for the Ties, now it would be put to good use. The small ship drifted into cover on the flank of the <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Faithful One<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->.

"Ignite, and initiate" Jian Paret said coldly "let's destroy these fools"

The <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Faithful One<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> burned her aft thrusters and she shot forward. Running cover for it was 3 large Advanced Armadia Thrustships and 10 regular Thrustships. The unusual Claw Star Destroyers moved in, firing. Jian winced as one of his Advanced Thrustships, the <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Sythe<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> exploded. Another followed.

"Initiate Centuria 15"

The two remaining Star Destroyers, <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Steadfast<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> and <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Glory of Yevetha<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> jumped out in front and began pouring Ion cannon fire into the Claw destroyers, taking the places of the two losts Advanced. The <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Faithful One<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> reached orbit of the planet, along with the <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Redoubtable<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> at heavy cost, almost all of the thrustships covering it were lost, including the sole surviving Advanced. Onboard the <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Glory of Yevetha<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> Jian pounded his fist on one of the consoles, he had lost half his fleet! it was true what they said about Grand Admiral Thrawn.

"Viceroy.....we have lost the <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Faithful One<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->"

"Redoubtable[/i]?"

"Surviving, but not for long."

"Order the Tie Defenders to launch and make for the surface all speed"

"As ordered"

The snap-hiss of Gash's lightsaber bathed the bunker in the fearsome hum of the weapon, and the gentle blue light it cast. On either side of Gash were five soldiers--two humans, N'iktal, a Twi'Lek, and a Wookiee--all with thermal detonators clenched tightly in their hands. Gash, too, carried one of the detonating grenades, as the six prepared to rush from the bunker which had been formed by the rubble of the buildings they planned to assault.

He glanced at N'iktal. "Two at the entrance of the building, and two to either side. Aim high." Gash swung his head around, locking gazes with each of the soldiers in turn. "Got it?"

The reply came in the affirmitive, a different acknowledgement from each soldier. The six were crouched. Gash held up his left, prosthetic hand, balled in a fist, and raised one finger at a time. One, the laserfire around the bunker continued. Two, a thermal detonator errupted twenty meters in front of them, bathing them in slight heat. Three!

The six rushed from the bunker, pulling back their hands and hurling the thermal detonators. The entrance to the building they planned to enter was about fifty meters away--a small, dilapidated doorway, looked about as cracked and crumbled as the rest of the ruined building. Two thermal detonators exploded in front of there, while the four others crashed into the sides of the buildings on either side of the street, crumbling duracrete and throwing shrapnel, heat, and fire all about.

Fire ceased for just a second, long enough for the six soldiers to rush towards the still-smouldering doorway, Gash in the lead. At about twenty-five meters away, the fire resumed in earnest, the Chiss recovered from the sudden thermal detonator assault. The blade of Gash's saphire lightsaber sliced back and forth through the air, plucking the darker-blue bolts before they could strike the squad.

Despite his efforts, one fell--one of the humans. Ten meters. None of them looked back at their fallen comrade; what they had to do was too important to be distracted by the death of one man. To his credit, the dying soldier did not even scream... or if he did, the din of laserfire was too loud for it to be heard. Five meters.

They reached the door, rushing through the smoke and turning right. There was no hallway; the door lead directly to a staircase, going to the second floor. Gash still leading, they sprinted, into the second floor. The room was made entire of duracrete, and, apparently, was abandoned. The Chiss had to be on the third floor.

Gash shouted into his commlink. "We're on the second floor! Area secure... provide cover fire to distract the Chiss while we ambush them on the third floor!"

'Acknowledged!'

"You heard Admiral Jiren! Company fire!"

<font color=gray>Arrix grabbed a blaster and ran to the cover of some durasteel, poking the weapon out and firing. The other soldiers did likewise.</font>

"Sir!"

"What?!"

"The second floor is caving in!"

<font color=gray>Arrix looked up at the second floor. Sure enough, the walls seemed to be on the verge of collapsing.</font>

"@#%$!"

<font color=gray>Arrix fumbled with his comm link and finally got a channel open to Gash.</font>

"Master Jiren! The second floor is collapsing! Repeat! The second floor is collapsing! Get out of there now!"

OOC: I hope you don't mind me adding a plot twist right there.

"Retreat"

And at that moment, every eye turned toward Jian. They were Yevetha after all. They were brought up to believe they were superior to all others. Jian had just shown them that they were mortal. His XO turned to him and spoke quietly.

"Excuse me Viceroy?"

Jian ignored him and instead walked over to the ensor officer's station.

"Did any of the....cargo on the <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Faithful One<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> get out?"

"According to sensors....three"

Jian let out a string of Yevethan curses. They had loaded twenty into the striped-down ISD. Not even have that got out.

"How may were in each transport?"

"Fifty"

More curses.

"Alright, all ships retreat, head in the direction of the Jedi forces. Maybe we can mass together and fight off our enemies"

Jian watched bitterly as the planet of Ossus faded slowly, this was a crushing defeat.

________________________________________


But three had gotten through.That would have to be enough.

The Jedi forces on the planet were fighting for their very lives.They needed reinforcements desperately.

And fortunately for them, they were getting some.

The Yevethan plan had been laid out back at N'zoth.

The fleet would enter the system and engage Thrawn.
While they were doing that, a strpied down ISD and a striped down thrustship would sneak to the planet and unload 20 cloaked dropships and 2 squadrons of Tie Defenders.

But the Duskhan League had gravely miscalculated. Thrawn was smarter than they were, and they paid for their arrogance.

But three dropships and 7 Defenders managed to get through. They landed quietly just outside the city and unloaded the Yevethan troops- 150 well-trained elite soldiers.


And now they moved toward the city, intent on revenge.

"Negative, negative, Arrix... a portion of the third floor is collapsing, by our own design." Gash replied, waving the lightsaber in his hand once. Instead of continuing up the stairwell to the Chiss above, Gash had sliced through the ceiling above, proceeding to hold it up with the Force just long enough to clear the Ossan soldiers. They now huddled with Gash, safely in the stairwell.

Gash continued, "Preparing to drop floor..." A bead of sweat trickled down his face, from the strain of supporting several hundred kilograms... "Now."

With a dusty crash, a segment of the floor starting a few feet in from the walls in every direction fell to the ground below, leaving just enough room to walk along the edges. The slab of duracrete smashed into the ground on Gash's floor, crushing through and continuing down several more meters to the ground floor below. Duracrete shrapnel flew about the area, slaughtering those Chiss the fall had left alive. Gash did his best to protect the Ossan soldiers, lightsaber lancing out to block the shards of duracrete.

The portion of the double-width staircase which lead up suddenly errupted with laserfire. Gash and his soldiers diving behind the wall separating the two staircases.

"They're smart..." Yelled Gash above the din of laserfire. Several of the Chiss soldiers were now inching around the thin strip of duracrete still intact on the torn-out floor, rushing down the staircase towards the retreating Ossans.

"No! Forward! Take them!" Gash shouted as he twirled his lightsaber, intercepting laser bolts with skill the Chiss couldn't match. Seven Chiss were rushing towards them, ten feet away. Gash rushed out to meet them, lightsaber dancing out to meet the lead Chiss. He sliced into his chest, spraying blood across the floor and himself. Ossan laser bolts joined in the melee.

The Chiss bringing up the back of the group was the next victim, the lightsaber slicing into the alien's neck and pulling up into his head. A spurt of red blood rushed from the severed veins and arteries as the soldier fell.

The five other Chiss behind Gash took aim on the Ossan defenders, blasts lancing in with brutal efficiency. The rodian soldier took a shot in the chest, even as Gash rushed to intercept the five. His lightsaber sliced across the barrel of the Chiss' blaster carbine, then into his stomach, spilling yet more blood. Humanitarian, Jedi initiatives were the furthest thing from Gash's mind.

But it was too little, too late.

By the time Gash had taken down the last Chiss in equally bloody fashion, only N'iktal remained of the group on the landing below, who had dodged more blaster bolts than seemed humanly possible.

He looked up at his uncle, then at the corpses laying on the stairs at his feet. The laserfire outside seemed to have dimmed, but it was still present.

'Let's get this done with--'

But he stopped his speach, as Gash had already flicked off his saber rushed to the sides of the fallen men at N'iktal's feet. Frantically, the Jedi Master checked them for pulses or their alien equivalents. He began to curse, but the younger soldier simply proceeded up the stairs, disregarding his uncle. Without looking back, he spoke. 'Gash, they're dead. Dwelling on them won't bring them back.'

The Jedi Master looked up at N'iktal, his face not sad, but grim. "How can you be so cold...?"

The rumbling sound of a thermal detonator blast delayed N'iktal's response. 'I can be so cold, because the time for mourning them will be when we're not fighting for our lives. That'll either be when we're off this rock, or when we're dead.'

Gash stood, shaking his head. The din of laserfire outside hadn't ceased... N'iktal was probably right. "Yeah."

'Come on. The Chiss probably set up a laser cannon on the upper floor.'

What Gash and N'iktal found on the third floor--which had been opened to the sky by the Chiss bombing--was mildly encouraging. A single laser cannon, latched onto the edge of the building, activated and ready. Gash took the controls, aiming at the third floor of the building across the street.

With the Chiss' weapon turned against them, the battle was short. The soldiers in the building opposite were slaughtered, those who survived fleeing. When Gash finally let go of the rumbling menace of a weapon, he was sweating profusely--which was impossible for N'iktal to have known. He was drenched in Chiss blood, from the battle on the stairwell. Gash brought his prosthetic arm's commlink to his mouth.

"Arrix? Bring the troops out... we're going to march west, after we've gotten the civilians."

'What's west?'

"Some kind of communications transmitter. That's our target, for now."

'Yes, sir.'

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Crunch...crunch...crunch<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->....

The sound of the Yevethan footsteps made a crunching sound as the marched through the city. So far they were walking through unopposed. And they weren't walking down the middle of the street, thjey were sliding through the city carefully, not making themselves an easy target.

50 or so Chiss soldiers moved in the street to stop them.

General Agant stood, his blaster in his hand, and wrist-claws extended.


"H'kigde shrema le fotate Yevetha!!!"
(For the glory of the Yevetha)

The 150 Yevetha started firing like mad, cutting down the front row of soldiers like angry beasts.

"Hluagh!!!!!" (Charge)

The skinny bonelike Yevetha surged forward, firing their blasters.

To understand the Yevethan way of fighting,one must understand Yevetha physiology. They looked like skeletons. And had bright streaks of facial color. But the best feature was long claws that came out of their wrists. The claws could be used to stab victims. So that day on Ossus, they did use them. Wave after wave of Yevethan soldiers swarmed the Chiss, stabbing them with their claws and firing their blasters. By the time it was over, a little over a dozen Yevetha had been killed-a tragic loss- but all 50 of their Chiss adversaries were dead.

"Shoobha la neekoia" (Come, let's find the Jedi)

General Agant led the surviving troops through the city, killing any Chiss that confronted them. Soon they came to where Jiren was.

The Jedi Master was coming out of a building with another man. Agant noticed that the building was rather torn up, as the one across the street. Agant walked directly up to Jiren.

"Ghra jia majsts Jiren, no unkee la nakka" (Greetings Master Jiren, We are here to assist)

The relay reports had come back and now was not the time to dally.

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> And we had better not be too late.<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

Around him floated 63 Battle dragons, ready to move out, along with the entire Hapan Fleet. He had requested the Cluster send their Fleet, as the cluster had other protection, so that the Hapes Colonies need not send out their fleet in an action that would cripple them.

The Nova Class Cruisers looked Serene as they moved effortlessly towards the Jump Point. Soon hell would be unleashed on the Chiss, and on the Hapan who was causing this trouble.

"Chairman Yang? Have you recieved another report from our operative on Ossus?"

"No sire. His last report shows intense street fighting. He believes the Chiss craft are no longer expecting Space bourne resistence."

"Thank you Chairman. Let us show them how wrong they are.

Helmsman, give the fleet their hyper space orders and coordinates."

The young helmsman initialised the beacon sequince that would herald the Hapan Fleets entrance to Hyper Space, and to the reopening of Hapes influence in the Galaxy.

"On my mark.



Mark."

Instantly the starstreaks appeared and Hapes was on its way to its destiny.