[OOC: ..and so the DJO joins in Chapter 8. Any non-DJ that posts on this thread will find the post deleted. The title is playing off of the previous stories in the DJO where they've been split up doing personal missions.]

Aboard the VSD-II Griffen, the remnants of the Dark Council sat in a circle, meditating by themselves.  Those outside the room could feel a spike of Force activity now and then, but the Council members all ignored each other's activities.

Klaxons blared.

"Shit." Talon hissed as he quickly rose to his feet.  Without waiting, he dashed from the conference room, heading for the bridge.  Talon rounded a corner sharply and found himself in a long hallway.  The sound of his boots hitting the deck echoed in both directions.

A chime sounded over the speakers and a voice came over the line, "Master Taurus, this is the Captain.  Your presence is requested on the bridge immediately."  The comm was deactivated and another chime rang out.  Fighting back a sarcastic comment, Talon continued to pump his legs.  Talon saw the blast door to the bridge ahead and reached out with the Force, tapping the release.  The door irised open just in time to allow Talon to pass through and skid to a halt.  Talon straitened to his full height after coming to a halt.

Captain Jei nodded to Talon, aware that formalities past that annoyed the High General.  "Sir, we are picking up multiple hostile contacts that hyped in ahead of us.  They've formed an attack pattern and have started to open fire on the planetary defenses of Lotaith.  The contacts include Imperial class Star Destroyers with the same IFF as the Star Vipers' fleet.  The majority are TIEs launched from the Star Destroyers.  We are in the process of turning the Griffen about.  We managed to get a quick SOS transmission out to the Vectra system.  Upon sending it, our communications were jammed.  We have no clue if the fleet received the message or if they're in the process of defending as well."

Talon nodded, absorbing the information as he moved toward the command chair.  "I have the command, Captain." he said calmly.  Turning to the nearest of the crew pits, he ordered, "Comms, hail their flag ship.  It's the one taking the rear."  Talon waited patiently after the command was accepted.  'Skylla..' Talon thought.  'Be safe, my love.'  He could have kicked himself for leaving her on Lotaith.  If she was hurt in this attack...

The communications main screen flickered to life and an Imperial Commodore glared into the Griffen's bridge.  "I am Commodore Quade, Commanding Officer of the Genocide.  You will stand down now and prepare for boarding." the pompous man spouted.

Talon leaned forward in his chair and locked gazes with the man.  "Quade," he started unceremoniously, "you're a fool.  I am High General Taurus, Operations Officer of the Vast Empire.  You will stand down and prepare to be killed in a rather nasty way."  Talon didn't get a chance to play off of the rage that was building within the man before the link was cut from their end.  Talon turned back to Jei and simply said, "The command is yours, Captain.  You will command Griffen squadron, but take orders from my cousin.  Commodore Claw is in the Nemesis on the other side of the attackers.  You've got one advantage here.  Quade is no tactician.  I remember him from my diplomatic ventures with the Star Vipers.  They sent him because they can spare him."

"Aye, sir." replied Jei as he reclaimed his command chair.  He was already barking orders before Talon could leave the bridge.  The door closed behind Talon and all was quiet again.  'Meet me in the briefing room outside the hangar.' Talon instructed all of his Dark Jedi.

*  *  *

Talon nodded to Riel, who was the last to enter the briefing room.  The Krath took up his usual position in the back, leaning against the wall.  Talon took a moment to look over all of the Dark Jedi present.  "It's time to fight guys.  Darkhawk, you're with me.  We're taking out the flag ship.  Everyone else, you're covering Griffen squadron.  Keep my pilots alive, alright?  You'll be taking out the TIE Interceptors and the other two ISD's.  Leave the TIE Fighters for the turrets and planetary defenses unless you have to.  They should make short of them.  We're short on time, so head for your ships now.  In Darkness, my Brothers."

Without waiting, Talon turned and bolted out of the door.  He could hear the clanking of Darkhawk's heavy suit following him.  As Talon neared the Shadow, the ramp lowered.  Talon ran up the ramp and said, "ZeroOne, get us cloaked and airborne."  The droid within the computer systems of the Krath Infiltrator acknowledged and raised the ramp as soon as Darkhawk was aboard.  The repulsors hummed to life and pushed the ship into the air.  With calculated precision, the droid guided the Shadow out of the hold.  "Head for the Genocide." commanded Talon as he strapped the Sith sword to his back, hilt down.  He grabbed the fingerless glove that housed a type of lightsaber and strapped it to his left hand.  Finishing that, he turned to Darkhawk.  The Dark Lord was merely standing  near the hatch.  "How's the weather in there?" he asked jokingly.
 
-----------------------
OO/HG Sierra "Talon" Taurus/HC-3/VEHC/VE[BC][IOC][LoC][SoS][BM][CDS][MSM]
GM-SL/DJM "Nightblades"/DC-1/Elite Griffen Sect/VSD-II Griffen/VEDJ/VE[IOC][OQD][WoS 2nd Class]
-----------------------
SCAP/COM Vincent "Claw" Taurus/ISD Nemesis/Offensive Fleet/VEN[=A=][LoM][IOC][IC2]
CEO Vincent "Claw" Taurus/ECHC-1/Endoven/Dome 8473/VEEC/VE

Cosmic strode to his unusual starfighter, the Nigritude, and leapt into the cockpit. The 13-meter long starfighter roared to life as Cosmic activated the powerful engines. He engaged the thrusters, and the Nigritude slowly ascended from the Griffen's hangar bay floor. Cosmic felt somewhat uneasy about being in this vessel, and yet his hands moved swiftly over the controls as if they had done it a thousand times before. He also had the strange sensation of "knowing" space combat; again, feeling that he had done this numerous times in the past with great success.

The Nigritude slowly turned on an x-axis to face the open hangar bay doors. Cosmic gave the two medium laser cannons and concussion missile launchers one final check before navigating into open space. Once the ship had birthed from the Griffen, Cosmic was greeted by a wave of Vast Empire pilots as they swept past him towards their targets. Without hesitation, he maximized the output of the engines, and sped towards his first target: a nearby TIE Interceptor.

The pilot of the Interceptor noticed the strange starfighter speeding towards him on his port side, and immediately rolled downwards and to the left. The pilot kept a close eye on his target through his scanner, and watched the little red dot rear in behind him. It was time to find out what this guy was made of, and he continued on a parallel trajectory to see what kind of pilot he was dealing with.

The Nigritude was directly behind the Interceptor by some 100 meters and continued on a parallel course. Cosmic inched closer, but did not fire. He suddenly recalled that he hadn't been in the pilot's seat since the Hyperspace Wars, and yet he finds himself in this age where Dark Jedi have become a rare sight. He suddenly felt the urge to toy with this fool in front of him, and he quickly increased the power to his thrusters, bringing in the Nigritude close behind the Interceptor.

The Interceptor pilot felt a quick sensation of panic as several interior alarms sounded signaling that an enemy vessel had become dangerously close to his own starfighter. He was about pull the stick to the left when he felt a sudden jerk. His jaw slowly dropped open as he watched the "claws" of his Interceptor slowly fold in upon themselves. Out of pure fear, he shoved the stick forward to evade, but the ship responded by flashing emergency indicator lights on his console. His engine was somehow deteriorating, but no laser fire had been fired. The engines finally cut out altogether, and he found himself in a floating coffin. All power was failing, and life support levels was dropping rapidly.

Cosmic grinned as he backed the Nigritude off to get a better view at his target. The Krath Prophet cracked his neck and smirked before pulling the trigger, destroying the Interceptor with a single blow. A low cackle escaped his lips before peeling off and locking on to his next target. He had to toy around a little first and have a little fun before truly getting into the dogfight.
 
-----------------------
Cleric "Cosmic" Vor'soth
CoT/HCL Cosmic/HCA-3/SL/3SQD/2PLT/1COMP/1BAT/Tadath/VEA/VE [OPE][OTH][OPA][EW1][CDS][IH][GS][LM][SoS][CoH][PoC][MSM][SCP][IOC][SoA]
-----------------------
Cleric "Cosmic" Vor'soth
SL/KPR Cosmic/Lion 1-1/Lopen/VEDJ/VE [VP][KC1][OAK]
-----------------------

Dropping himself into the cockpit of the Tie A/D Avenger he recently acquired, Phoenix strapped himself in and pulled on his helmet. He had never piloted a craft quite like this one, but he knew the layout of TIE's fairly well and had no problem running through the startup procedures.

All systems showed green and hot, and Phoenix ran through a quick weapons check. Good, my missiles were replaced by Proton Torpedoes, perfect for taking out those pesky Destroyers. Activating the repulsor lifts, he lifted the Inquisitor off the hanger floor and gently rotated it to face the exit of the hanger. Kicking in his main ion drives, the Inquisitor shot out of the Griffen's hanger bay...and straight into hell.

Interceptors, fighters, bombers and various Dark Jedi ships twisted and twirled in a deadly dance. Laser beams and concussion missiles filled the empty vacuum of space. It would have been almost beautiful, had the Sith Knight any concept of the word.

Pushing the throttle to full, the Inquisitor quickly accelerated. The HUD and targeting computer came online and Phoenix switched it to the nearest target. Snap rolling his TIE, he came up behind a flight of interceptors running cover for each other. Flicking the lasers over to dual fire, Phoenix snapped off a shot at the lead Interceptor. Reaching out with the Force, Phoenix saw where the pilot's next move. Gently feathering the left rudder, he put the lasers on quad-fire, and let out a burst of pure green energy.

The doomed Interceptor rolled left, right into the quad burst. Steel superheated and melted as two beams cut through the foils. The TIE exploded as the other two pierced the ion drives. A warning through the Force cut through his joy at the kill, and Phoenix pushed down hard on the flight yoke sending the Inquisitor into a sharp dive. A linked laser burst cut through where his craft once was. Pulling back on the throttle, he whipped his fighter around in a turn which would have knocked him out in atmosphere.

He came out of the turn on the tail of one of the three remaining interceptors from the flight he was pursuing. Not wasting time, he simply slagged the interceptor with three quad bursts, then peeled off in search of the rest of his prey...

Just then Cyanus' voice crackled through the ships comm system. ""This is the Storm Knight, I have visual confirmation of the Arc Nebula, it's moving into attack position against the Nemesis."

Searching the area with the Force, Phoenix picked up the presence of the Dark Jedi and their relative positions. Cyanus was engaged a few kliks to his six, Talon and Darkhawk were somewhere ahead of him, Cosmic was shining brilliantly through the Force, his delight at the mayhem evident, and was on the opposite side of the Griffen from him.

Focusing back on the task at hand, Phoenix perceived the thrid TIE coming up from under him. Killing the throttle, he opened himself fully to the Force. Letting it guide his hand, he squeezed the trigger sending a quad burst directly into the cockpit of the Interceptor streaking in front of him. Human flesh discintegrated, along with steel and pretty much the entire Interceptor.

A wide grin crossed Phoenix's face. I love being in control!
 
-----------------------
Gunnery Sergeant Jikkyo "Fallen Angel" Nimiichi
Squad Leader (SL) - Raider Squad -
AS-2/SL/GSG Fallen Angel/3SQD/1PLT/1COMP/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE/Tadath [LoR] [RoM] [BC] [CDS] [BoA]

Sith Adept Phoenix
TRN/SAD Phoenix/Training 2/VEDJ/VE/Lopen
"You need guys like me." - Tony Montana

  Cold. Dark. Lonely. Empty. Darkhawk repressed a shiver. Space must be a lot like death. He gazed out the viewport of Talon's Krath starfighter at the ensuing space battle. Today, space and death meet and become one. An enemy TIE Fighter exploded and a miniscule tremor rippled through the Force, unnoticeable to anyone but a highly trained Jedi. Darkhawk sensed many of these ripples as pilots were being vaporized everywhere around him. So far his fellow brethren seemed to be faring well, though.
  "Cyanus and Phoenix... how are their piloting skills?"

  Talon shook his head. "Not all that great. It always takes a while for soldiers to get used to this kind of thing. It's a risk we'll have to take, bringing them along."

  Darkhawk nodded. "There was a time when my hands would have been itching to be behind the controls of a starfighter at a time like this."

  The Grand Master arched an eyebrow. "And now?"

  "Now I could care less."

  Talon made a noncommital noise. His career had begun as a soldier, as well, so he didn't understand the thrill a pilot felt in space combat. Darkhawk was one of the best, once.
  The Dark Jedi Master had turned off his ship's comm - neither man had a deep need to listen to the battle being narrated. If any of the other Dark Jedi needed to reach one of them, the Force would suffice. Darkhawk reached out through the Force, trying to get a feel of some of the emotions they were feeling. No fear. That's good. They were up against some stacked odds, but hopefully it was nothing they couldn't handle.
  Two Mark-I Imperial Star Destroyers were fading fast behind them. The Arc Nebula was hammering the Nemesis and Lotaith's other defenses, while the Firestorm had moved to intercept the Griffen. Griffen Sect's personal starship had more than enough firepower to stand up to an ImpStar, but the enemy ship carried three times as many fighters. It would have been interesting to see how the battle was played out - if Darkhawk had been able to muster any interest.
  Their target was the Genocide, flagship of the enemy's task force. Quade, the opposing commander, had left his ship farther out, naively not expecting any reinforcements.

  "Well, if you aren't hyped up about the space battle, at least try to get a little excited about our mission," Talon said.

    The Sith Lord reached down and felt his two lightsabres, one on each side, out of habit. They were, of course, both there. "I am ready to do my duty."

  Talon grinned. "Why the stoic facade all of a sudden?"

  "I... I don't know. Something doesn't... feel right."

  The Grand Master closed his eyes for a moment. "I don't feel anything. Are you sure?"

  Darkhawk had grown used to not being believed all the time. Sometimes he didn't trust himself, either. But this... there was something to this one. He was positive. "I don't know. It's probably not important."

  They were getting closer to the enemy flagship now, near enough that turbolasers and ion cannons would have begun to fire at them if they had not been cloaked.  TIE Fighters and Interceptors began to pour out of the Genocide to join the fray. The flagship had been hanging back on the edge of battle, but now that the Griffen had shown up, it was moving to join its sister ships.

  "Looks like they really want to make this a fight."

  The Sith Warrior chuckled. "Did you expect them to just run away when we showed up?"

  "It would have been a nice gesture," Talon muttered.

  The Sith Lord glanced down at the HUD and noticed that the Nemesis was taking heavy damage from theArc Nebula. So far the Vast Empire's Golan defense platforms were still holding up, but their shields were beginning to weaken. Most of the fighters from the Nemesis seemed to have been destroyed already.
  "We need to hurry up. I'm not sure those Golans can hold up much longer, much less the Nemesis."

  "Well, get ready," he warned. "We're almost there."

  Trigit, are you there? Darkhawk called.

  Yes. What's up?

  The Genocide is launching its wing of fighters. They'll be heading your way. Don't let them get through to the Nemesis or it's toast.

  We're doing everything we can. But thanks for the warning.

    The torpedoes weren't exactly that hard to find. Their glowing red energy sheaths betrayed their locations almost instantly in the black backdrop, and they were on his sensor screens anyway. Cyanus opened fire on a TIE bomber in his way and flew through its debris cloud before sighting the rest of the torpedoes. Trigit's Sith starfighter fired away with its blue rays and stopped the enemy ships in their tracks -- except for the one the Dark Knight vaporized.
    He switched to the Nemesis' frequency. "This is the Storm Knight again, ISD Nemesis, you have incoming proton torpedoes. Advise reassigning some batteries to deal with them." The Avenger starfighter took some glancing hits from the TIE bombers behind him.
    Cyanus adjusted his yoke and pedals into a gut-wrenching barrel roll, avoiding the rest of the incoming shots before Trigit disabled the attacking bomber. He let loose a barrage of lasers from his quad-cannons and jerked the craft away from the resulting explosion.
    There are still around twelve of them out there, Trigit reminded him, and sure enough, there were twelve rapidly pulsating dots on the Knight's scanners.
    'Right, I'm on them,' he replied. I hope I get there on time, Cyanus thought to himself.
   

    Commodore Quade slowly stared out the panoramic viewports of his flagship, the ISD-I Genocide. He gravely watched the ensuing battle outside. The Griffen loomed off in the distance, a good million kilometers. They were moving closer...to glory, or to death? He bit his nails as an Imperial officer hurried up to him.
    "Sir, reports indicate Zenith Squadron is under attack by what seems to be a TIE Avenger and a..." the officer looked closely at his datapad, obviously not believing the information. "A Sith starfighter. However, Gemini squadron is now assuming escort duty by the suggestion of its squadron leader. And --"
    Quade drew in a deep breath and turned to meet his assistant face-to-face. "What else? There is always something else that's worse, isn't there?"
    "Actually, sir, the Arc Nebula seems to be doing well in its engagement against that star destroyer on the far side of Lotaith, the Nemesis I believe. They've knocked out some of the surface batteries on the destroyer, and Captain Iych'Ken says they are in the process of neutralizing the shield generators with full broadside batteries. 
    Alarm sprang in the Imperial's eyes. "No! Don't send them in, use the fighters. Keep the Arc Nebula closer to us. I don't want anything getting near the Genocide do you understand?"
    The officer looked at him incredulously and said with obvious disgust, "With all due respect, sir, some of the turrets and the missile launchers are still oper--"
    "Just do it." Quade snapped.
   

    Cyanus chased after the small fiery cone, veering his ship to the left and right to keep the warhead in his targeting device. The high resolution display tracked the torpedo and flashed when the lasers finally locked on. He gripped the yoke with his black-gloved hands and squeezed the triggers.
 
-----------------------


ASL/GSG Cyanus Cyanus/3SQD/1PLT/1COM/1BAT/1REG/VEA/VE[BoA] [ES1][BC]
CM/DJK Cyanus/Krath/Lion 1-6/VEDJ/VE
Dark Jedi Knight
"...I think I'll kill you later." - Cyanus
Assistant Squad Leader: - Raider Squad -

The Dark Jedi Knight found himself cut off in the battle.  There were numerous TIEs everywhere. Enemy, friendly, they were all beginning to look alike. All of it was getting frustrating. The Dark Jedi Knight picked off another enemy fighter, the burning heap erupted into thousands of shards of burning material.

The TIE Advanced shook violently as he took another hit on his depleting shields.
Anger surged inside of him as he took the punishment, he lashed out another volley of emerald death against a TIE interceptor. LoneWolf yelled in both satisfaction and hatred.

A red haze filled his mind as he fired again, and again at the endless enemies. The screeching of the cannons echoed loudly within the cockpit of the TIE, their din washed out by the savagery of battle.
He hadn't flown in so long, and it showed, he was weaker and they all knew it.
An eruption of flames and durasteel flashed against LoneWolf's face, the light almost blinding.

Hearing was non-crucial, so he became deaf, talking was not needed, so his voice became dried. The only feeling he needed was that which coordinated with the ship, like the nervous center of a body, his limbs attached to each control. His eyes scanned around always, searching for more targets, more death. All he wanted to taste was blood, whether it be his own or theirs.

His fighter came behind an interceptor and began to open fire, LoneWolf was about to send the finishing blow when his muscles jerked in an anxious frenzy.
The TIE advanced rolled out of the way as sage bolts rained on where he was. He pulled the fighter out of it's roll to bank around and attack his new foe. His lasers fired off rapidly, each shot grazing the enemy interceptor until if split into shreds.
LoneWolf shoved the shrapnel out of his way with the Force and turned around to find a new enemy.

The Sith cursed as he noticed three enemies on his six, their shots blistering his now shield less craft. Plunging his TIE in a new direction, LoneWolf didn't care anymore.
"Let them kill me..." his voice hissed, he continued the desperate evasions that he knew.
A friendly craft came by and took one of the enemies off his tail but that didn't lessen the danger by much.
Making broad turns, he tried to get close to the Griffen for cover fire. He was hoping to either have them fallow him or give him an opportunity to break them off. 
"I'm a weakling I deserve to die..." The very words scratched his parched mouth, his fists shook violently around the controls. He veered his craft into a suicide run against the two fighters, he furiously fired at a pace which was almost unnatural. The TIE advanced shuddered and jerked violently at the impact of lasers.

The Dark Jedi found his eyes closed.  He opened them to find his enemies destroyed, and to also find his engines offline.
"Ah Jedi crap!" LoneWolf watched stressfully as the engines slowly came back to life.
A few crucial moments passed before the TIE advanced slowly began to accelerate again. From what the Sith could tell the acceleration was damaged, and the top speed was reduced enough to barely out perform the enemy interceptors.

LoneWolf made due as he found himself being harassed by another enemy. The fighter was confident enough to make a frontal assault, the pilot made his last mistake as LoneWolf demonstrated the still functional laser cannons.
After surveying the battle LoneWolf could tell the Nemesis was under tight pressure. He wondered if he could change craft in either the Griffen or the Nemesis, he doubted the surplus of such craft however. The Sith quickly checked all his systems again and found himself still able to fight. "Here goes nothing" the HUD targeted one of the new bombers which had entered the fray. "Best if we took away these toys."
 
-----------------------
Lonewolf/mSSD Atrus/DEF/VEN/VE/(=A=)(=SA=)(=JCPA=)(=SCPA=)[SRC][VC:Ebony]

CM/DJK LoneWolf/Sith/Eagle Sect/VEDJ

"With each kill, I grow wiser, with added wisdom, I grow stronger..." -Artemis Entreri

[OOC: Short and sweet. Good momentum guys. Keep it going.]

"Commodore, there are 4 more torpedos incoming.  Should we shift some turbolaser batters from swatting flies to handle this?" the man standing watch at the radar screen asked.

Commodore Claw examined the display and nodded.  "Two should be enough.  Give the job to the two gunners with the highest accuracy rating and promise them 48 hours liberty if they take care of their two torps." he replied, raising his voice to be heard above the combat chatter racing across the bridge.  His ship was taking a beating and his crew knew it.  There wasn't a single man in the room that wasn't mentally crossing their fingers.  Claw turned away and muttered to the Nemesis, "Hold together, old girl."


*  *  *


"You know what to do, ZeroOne." Talon said to the droid.

"Of course, Sierra." a rather sexy voice said over the ship's main speakers.  Somehow the droid that had invaded his ship's computers happened to find a voice program and chose wisely at the available voices to use.  The droid guided the Shadow into the hangar bay and slowly rotated until it was upside down.  It found a smooth spot on the ceiling and attached itself by the electromagnetic landing skids.  "Good luck." the droid said as it powered down the non-essential equipment.

Talon nodded to Darkhawk as he opened the hatch.  The ramp raised upward and finally stopped when it touched the ceiling.  Talon walked gingerly on the ceiling of his ship until he reached the edge.  He stepped off and dropped the rather large distance to the deck below, slowing himself by pushing off of the ground with the Force.  He landed without a sound and stepped to the side to allow Darkhawk to land without driving his skull into his lower back.  The two ducked behind a repulsor tug.  'We need to shut this thing down so it causes as little damage as possible.' Talon projected through the Force.

Beneath the helmet, Darkhawk smiled.  He knew exactly what needed to be done to cut the power to the Star Destroyer.  His previous experience as an Imperial officer meant he had to know the inside and outside of an Imperial class Star Destroyer like the back of his gloved hand.  'Follow me.' he replied through the Force.  As he stood up, Darkhawk masked his appearance.  Anyone with a weak mind would never notice him.  Someone who had a strong mind would think he saw a dark armored figure briefly, but would see nothing when they looked again.  Talon was the wind.  The only way that Darkhawk knew that Talon existed was the intense Force signature that Talon emanated, something that was hard to ignore.
 
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OO/HG Sierra "Talon" Taurus/HC-3/VEHC/VE[BC][IOC][LoC][SoS][BM][CDS][MSM]
GM-SL/DJM "Nightblades"/DC-1/Elite Griffen Sect/VSD-II Griffen/VEDJ/VE[IOC][OQD][WoS 2nd Class]
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SCAP/COM Vincent "Claw" Taurus/ISD Nemesis/Offensive Fleet/VEN[=A=][LoM][IOC][IC2]
CEO Vincent "Claw" Taurus/ECHC-1/Endoven/Dome 8473/VEEC/VE

    The Nemesis fired a warning salvo from two of its surviving batteries as a last-chance-get-out-of-there signal to Cyanus. Inside his spherical cockpit, Cyanus stomped on the right foot pedal, sending the craft into an instant dive and turn to get out of battery range. He spotted an approaching fighter that could only be Trigit's ship. Reaching out to the vast sea of energy that is the Force, he sent an urgent thought to his brother-in-arms.
    'Let's get out of here!' he projected.
    Trigit immediately pulled back on the throttle as he saw Cyanus's TIE rushing towards his Sith ship. Behind Cyanus, the Nemesis' turrets tracked the remaining four torpedoes. They launched a volley at the incoming warheads and the bolts streaked past his windshield.
   

    Returning to his commander, the officer, Major Dunajin, looked deathly pale. Quade turned around to see a zombie, or rather, his assistant. "What is it?" He asked sternly.
    "It's Zenith and Gemini squadron, sir. We've lost all contact with them. The remaining TIEs are being decimated by the Nemesis. I suggest we move the Arc Nebula in to back them up before it's too late."
    Hearing his, the commodore drew himself to his full height. "Who is the commanding officer here, you or me?" He rumbled. "Who did High Command select, you or me? Further more, who is your BOSS?"
    Dunajin stepped back. "You are...sir." he hissed through his teeth.
    "Good, send the Nebula over to support the fighters but keep it close to us. I simply love my genius." He rubbed his blubbery cheeks. "High general? We'll see who's the master." He chuckled.
    One of the crewmen in the pits blinked at his screen then stood up quickly to yell at Quade. "Sir! Our batteries and modular bays are reporting dropping power reserves!"


    "Looks like the Nebula's moving toward the main battle zone," the tactical officer pointed out to Jei the exact location. He saw the damaged starship lumbering toward the cloud of fighters battling it out mano a mano. Shields damaged, some batteries destroyed and its fighter complement already spent; this was the perfect opportunity.
    The captain stood up. "Order the strike."
   
 
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ASL/GSG Cyanus Cyanus/3SQD/1PLT/1COM/1BAT/1REG/VEA/VE[BoA] [ES1][BC]
CM/DJK Cyanus/Krath/Lion 1-6/VEDJ/VE
Dark Jedi Knight
"...I think I'll kill you later." - Cyanus
Assistant Squad Leader: - Raider Squad -

  "Well, that's that." Darkhawk thumbed a switch and his lightsaber cut off. Talon put the Sith Sword away and nodded. "To the bridge?"

  "Lead the way."

  The Sith Warrior took off running. The bridge was above them, so they would have to take a turbolift to get there. As they sprinted down the corridor, the six soldiers they had seen earlier came charging toward the power core. Darkhawk had to suppress a laugh as they ran by. Poor bastards.
  They found a lift, but it wouldn't open without a keycard. Talon used the Force to pry the doors open and then levitated it to the proper floor. Darkhawk forced the doors open this time and they ran on toward the bridge. Before too long, the heavily reinforced doors were before them.

  Should we try to cut our way into this one? Darkhawk asked. There's no time to wait for someone to come out so that we can sneak in.

  I've got an even better idea, Talon responded. The Grand Master drew in an enormous amount of Force energy and redirected it toward the heavy doors. They ripped apart in a tremendous display of the Dark Side of the Force, and there were several yells from the other side. Wasting no time, the two Dark Jedi entered the spacious room, still masking their presence with the Force.
  According to the plan they had devised, Talon lowered his disguise first while Darkhawk moved into position, still unseen to their enemies. "Commodore Quade?"

  Everyone in the panicked room spun around to see the intruder. Several blasters were drawn, but no one fired. A short, portly man with a shrill voice turned and spoke. "I am Commodore Quade." He looked Talon up and down, taking in the dark robes that screamed 'Dark Jedi'.  His eyes widened momentarily before he regained his composure. "And you are?"

  "High General Talon of the Vast Empire." Quade's hand moved to his undrawn blaster pistol. "I am taking control of your ship."

  The commodore laughed. "You and what army, High General? In case you haven't noticed, there are thirty men in this room. Try any funny business and you'll be killed in the blink of an eye."

  "Too bad you won't be alive to see it," a cold voice spoke. With a sudden snap-hiss there was a red lightsabre blade pointed at Quade's throat as Darkhawk had materialized from thin air beside him. Several of the men present gasped at the armored figure standing before them. "Surrender or the commodore dies."
  There was a long silence. Quade's eyes scanned the room, begging his men not to deny the Dark Jedis' request. He obviously valued his life his ship and the outcome of the battle.

  A middle-aged man with fiery red hair and fear in his green eyes stepped forward. "Colonel Seligson, I command the ground forces aboard this ship. If we surrender, what do you plan to do to us?"

  "That's for me to know," Talon replied.

  "From what I can tell, you men are Dark Jedi." The Grand Master said nothing. "How do I know my soldiers - and the other crewmen - won't be tortured, or killed? There are hundreds of thousands of people aboard this vessel."

  "This decision is not up to you, Colonel," Quade hissed. Sweat was pouring down his fat face.

  "If you cooperate, your men will not be killed," Talon answered. "Not unless they give us good reason to do so."

  Seligson seemed satisfied with this answer. He thought about if for a moment longer and then said, "The Genocide is yours, High General Talon."

  "No it isn't!" Quade shouted. "Men! Destroy these intruders!" He leaped forward and began to roll on the floor, trying to avoid Darkhawk's weapon.
  Some of the crewmen didn't react, but most of them began to fire their weapons at the two Dark Jedi. Talon's darkstaff was out in the blink of an eye, twin blades deflecting blaster bolts back at their origins.
  Across the room, several of the red bolts connected with Darkhawk, and the Sith Warrior crumpled to the ground. Quade got to his knees and a grin spread across his face as he watched the Dark Jedi die. The men who shot him let out a small cheer and turned their attention to Talon.

  "Bad move, Commodore."

  Quade spun around and found himself staring into the glowing red eye visor of Darkhawk's helmet. "You!" His eyes danced back to the Sith's corpse a few feet away. "I... how?!?"

  "I am Commodore Darkhawk of the Vast Empire Navy. You, sir, are not worthy of the rank we share."

  I want him alive! Talon's voice shouted in Darkhawk's consciousness.

  "Men! Men! This one's still alive!" Quade screamed.
  A few of the officers spun back around with surprise in their faces. They readied their weapons on Darkhawk and fired. Moving with lightning-fast speed, the Sith Lord grabbed Colonel Seligson by the throat and used him to absorb the blaster fire. The muscular man cried out in agony as the first few bolts connected, but quickly grew silent as the rest hit home. Quade scuttled away to find somewhere to hide.
  Sorry, Colonel, but it was either you or me.
  The enemy crewmen who had not drawn their weapons were now huddled beneath control panels, trying to avoid getting caught in the cross-fire. Talon had been working quickly and had already taken out seven opponents, which left a total of fifteen enemies alive. Darkhawk ignited both of his lightsabres, one red blade and one orange and joined his comrade.
  Their enemies were caught in a pincer attack. The Dark Jedi Master pushed in from one side as the Sith Warrior attacked from the other. When there were only four opponents left standing, Darkhawk threw his two weapons like boomerangs and sliced three of the men in half. He guided the weapons back into his hands and turned them off, returning them to his belt. Talon ripped the last man's blaster pistol out of his hand with the Force and threw it aside, crushing it as he did. He then finished off the crewmen with a quick Force choke.

  Finally, silence filled the room once more. Talon deactivated his darkstaff. "Commodore? Are you still alive?"

  Quade reluctantly poked his greasy head out from his hiding place. "Umm... yes."

  "Is this ship mine?"

  The terrified officer gulped. "Yes. Yes, sir."

  Talon looked over at Darkhawk and smiled. "Good." The Dark Jedi Master projected message out to the rest of the order: Talon here - mission accomplished. "Quade, I need this ship's power back online. How soon until that can be managed?"

  "I... I... umm..."

  The Krath sighed. "Darkhawk?"

  "I can get her back up and running in a few minutes if the crew members cooperate."

  "Excellent. Commodore Quade, you will order your men to assist Darkhawk in whatever he needs."

  Quade looked over at the Sith Warrior and gulped again. Talon was clearly the superior, but the Sith definitely looked scarier. "Yes, of course. Of course."

  Talon turned to leave. "Darkhawk, the ship is yours."

  "Where are you going?" Quade asked.

  "I need a drink."

    "Shields?!" gasped the captain just as he was lifted off the floor, blood streaming down his face from some cuts. One of the crew members rushed over to the station and called out the status, "Still holding steady, sir."
    "That was no ordinary torpedo then, I can tell you that! Or it was something else."
    "Sir! Another one's coming up!"

   
    Cyanus streaked across the surface of the Arc Nebula at rapid speed, outrunning the frantically turning batteries who shot each other in their foolish attempts to hit his small craft and exploding as a result. He focused on the inside of the bridge and in that instant saw the captain limping toward the catwalk. The enemy crew were settling back down into their posts.
    He saw some lockers.
    Bingo, he thought, a deadly grin forming behind his black helmet.
    Concussion missiles didn't pack quite the punch of proton torpedoes, but they were powerful enough to rock the bridge. Setting up his run, he locked on at the most vulnerable part of the bridge, the viewports, and fired a volley of missiles. Their yellow glows led the way and struck at the exact point where Trigit's warhead hit.
   
    The equipment lockers suddenly snapped open when the bridge shook from the explosion. Their heavy toolboxes and delicate equipment came raining down on the panicking crewmen. Screaming and bleeding, they ran out of the way while the flying debris trashed viewscreens and scanners.

    Pressing carefully on the pedals, Cyanus flipped the fighter over and passed the damaged shield generator. With the Genocide captured, the Vast Empire pilots fought with a renewed vigor with the pressure taken off their shoulders. However, the Griffen was still delayed by the Firestorm, which remained unharmed for the most part. Still, they were winning the battle.
    But their progress wasn't without cost.
    "No!" the Griffen squadron pilot shouted as his critically hurt Interceptor broke away in sparks all around him. His fighter hurtled wildly through space until they struck the side of the crippled star destroyer. He was soon avenged, however, when Phoenix gunned down the brazen starfighter.
   
    'Another run, Trigit?' the Dark Jedi Cyanus projected. He veered through yet another ill-aimed attempt at destroying him and his comrades.
 
-----------------------


ASL/GSG Cyanus Cyanus/3SQD/1PLT/1COM/1BAT/1REG/VEA/VE[BoA] [ES1][BC]
CM/DJK Cyanus/Krath/Lion 1-6/VEDJ/VE
Dark Jedi Knight
"...I think I'll kill you later." - Cyanus
Assistant Squad Leader: - Raider Squad -

"Connect me to the Nemesis." Talon ordered toward the comms pit on the bridge.  The crewman acknowledged the order and brought up the Nemesis' bridge on the main communications screen.

Commodore Claw looked determined, but worn out.  There was yelling in the background as up-to-date status reports were given.  "Sierra?" Claw asked in disbelief.  "You sure do work fast, cousin." he said with a laugh.  There was an obvious look of relief that passed over his face, seeing Talon in command of the Genocide.

Talon smiled.  "How's she holding up, Vince?" he asked.  He knew that Claw would hold on until the last second or perhaps longer.  The Taurus family had a history of being stubborn and neither of them was an exception.

A noticeable grimace flashed on Claw's face before he hid it again.  He lowered his voice and leaned in toward the transmitter.  "The Nemesis can't take much more punishment.  The Golans have been ionized and the planetary fighters shot down.  My own fighters have been wiped out as well.  The Arc Nebula is in rough shape too, but they'll out last us."

"How long can you hold on?" Talon asked.  He could hear Darkhawk giving orders in the background to prepare to open fire on the Arc Nebula, but it would still be a minute or two until they were in a decent broadside.

Claw sighed as he looked over his shoulder at a display.  "I give the shields 2 minutes... being generous." he stated flatly.  "We've already had a few problems from the concussions.  More than a couple of things have rattled loose or simply fried into a solid piece."

"We're on our way now.  Keep pumping the Arc Nebula with everything you have.  The Griffen is moving to intercept as well.  You can assure your boys they'll make it home." Talon said as he continued to split his attention between Claw and the status of the Genocide.  "Keep her together just a little longer." he said before closing the link.  Claw's image flickered and disappeared, leaving a blank screen which promptly switched to a comprehensive status display.

Commodore Quade stepped toward Talon and all but pleaded. "Let me talk to the Arc Nebula.  I can have them stand down and no one has to die.  You can keep the Star Destroyer, just let me get the men out."

Talon chuckled slightly as he turned slightly to face Quade fully.  "Your men attacked mine.  If they make it to a shuttle they will land on Lotaith and be jailed.  They will go to an Imperial court for war crimes.  If they don't make it out they serve as a warning." he replied with a cold edge.  There was no question that he meant every bit of it and would not change his mind, no matter how much whining.  Talon turned to Darkhawk and asked, "Well, my Dark Lord, how long until we're ready to open fire?"

"We're hauling ass straight toward them, so we're not going to be getting a decent broadside.  One more minute and we should be set.  Port side cannons that are not being used are going to open up on the Firestorm to hopefully distract it from the Griffen at least for a moment.  With any luck they'll hype out when they see the Arc Nebula go up in smoke." he replied without turning away from the display he was examining.

*  *  *

Another volley of turbolaser fire slammed the shields of the ISD Nemesis and made Claw wince.  His crew was getting tired and scared.  Every time the status reports were yelled out, the shields were even lower.  The only thing that kept the crew holding on was the promise of support.  Claw made it a point to tell the entire ship that the VSD-II Griffen and the newly acquired ISD Genocide was moments from swatting the Arc Nebula out of the sky.  Claw was so engrossed in watching the shields drop that the cheer that broke out in the bridge made him jump.  Looking up, he watched round after round of turbolaser fire pummel the Arc Nebula.  Sighing, Claw muttered, "You always like waiting until the last minute, don't you Sierra?"

"Shields on the Arc Nebula have fallen!" shouted an ensign as he almost jumped out of his pit.  The entire crew looked up from their watch stations to look out of the view port.  A Lambda class shuttled could barely be seen exiting the hangar bay under the Arc Nebula seconds before a series of explosions engulfed it.  The burning shuttle spun away toward the planet Lotaith, ejected by the blast.  Moments later, it exploded as it burned up in the atmosphere.  The Arc Nebula began to rotate because of the explosions that peppered its hull.  Atmosphere sprayed out in many places, dispensing metal and bodies into the cold vacuum.  Two final turbolaser batteries continued to fire on the Nemesis before they too were silenced.  It was easy to tell just by looking at it that there would be no survivors.

"The Firestorm has recalled their fighters and are turning about.  They're going to hype out." called one of the crewman behind Claw's back.  The bridge erupted as people cheered and hugged each other.  Two crewmen jumped up on the Captain's Walk and linked their right arms as they danced in a circle.

Claw smiled as he watched.  He let them have their moment.  They earned it.  He reached for the comm and activated it.  "This is the Captain.  The Arc Nebula has been destroyed.  The Firestorm is picking up and turning tail.  I want to personally thank everyone.  You will all live to see another day because you are all professionals.  Congratulations." he spoke proudly.  Claw deactivated the comm and dropped into his chair.  He was exhausted.  He could tell it would take two trips to the masseuse to fully relax again.

*  *  *

As the Firestorm disappeared, Talon opened a telepathic link with his Dark Jedi.  'Good job everyone.  Meet back up on the Griffen.  Go ahead and relax.  The fight is over for today.  I'll be there shortly.  Closing the link, Talon turned to Quade.  "Commodore, get your men on shuttles.  They will turn themselves in to the Lotaith planetary security.  They will go to court for war crimes, but I imagine all but you and your officers will be let off.  Your cooperating will certainly help your defense."

Quade sighed and looked at his feet for a moment.  He could just barely make out the toes of his boots beyond his massive gut.  He knew that there was no fighting this.  He was grateful for his life after seeing the power of the two men that took over command of his ship.  "Yes sir." he replied.  The Captain of the Genocide relayed the information over the comm and was very adamant about informing everyone to comply with everything.  He assured them all that they would be safe and most likely turned back over to the Star Vipers.

'What are your plans?' Darkhawk asked through the Force.

Talon turned to the heavily armored Dark Lord and replied, 'Claw will take over this ship and we will give the Nemesis a skeleton crew to keep it as an oversized Golan.  It should scare off anyone who doesn't take too close of a look until we can repair and re-crew her.'  Turning back to the Commodore, Talon said, "You're coming with us, Quade.  You are relieved of command."

*  *  *

"Thrawn is real?" Talon asked with obvious surprise on his face.  He leaned back in the comfortable chair.  The conference room aboard the Griffen wasn't quite where Talon wanted to be, but at least he could finally get a chance to relax and get some food.  'Speaking of which' Talon thought as he grabbed his sandwich from the plate on the desk.  He took a large bite of the processed nerf on white bread.

Quade nodded.  "I've seen him a couple of times.  Really eerie with his red eyes.  Aside from that and the blue skin he looks human.  I would have never guess that the Emperor would use one of them." he replied.  The tone in his voice gave away how much of a xenophobe he really was.  "He's rather miffed at the Vast Empire's refusal to aid his cause.  He chose to retaliate after your mucked up his plans by attacking Moorja and then again at Bestine IV.  You ruined his well laid plans for surprises.  My superiors were ordered to attack your capital planet and destroy the defenses, then pull out.  They only wanted to teach you a lesson so they could use your resources after your High Council accepted the Grand Admiral's rule."  Quade stopped to take a sip of the water that was placed in front of him.  He eyed the Royal Guards on either side of the doors and continued.  "No one even knew that a VSD Deuce would be in the area, let alone your Dark Jedi.  Were it not for you, I would be home by now getting at least a medal." he added with more than a hint of anger.  He knew that any one of the three people in the room could kill him quickly, but he knew that Talon was a man of his word and he had been promised safety if he complied.  While he still felt threatened, there was also something comforting about having that promise.

Talon swallowed the piece of sandwich and almost choked before he spoke.  He thumped himself on the chest and swallowed hard.  "Ugh.  There we go.  Well Quade, I thank you for your honesty.  I assume you know that I can read your thoughts as if you were writing them out for me.  I'm going to have to hold you for a bit longer.  I'll return shortly.  If you need anything, let my Guardsmen know.  They've already been briefed on what you can and cannot do."  Without waiting, Talon stood and bolted out of the door.  'I'm coming, Skylla.' he thought as he ran to his ship.

Quade ran a finger around the edge of his glass as he looked the Guardsmen over.  "Lovely weather we're having today." he said with a nervous laugh.
 
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OO/HG Sierra "Talon" Taurus/HC-3/VEHC/VE[BC][IOC][LoC][SoS][BM][CDS][MSM]
GM-SL/DJM "Nightblades"/DC-1/Elite Griffen Sect/VSD-II Griffen/VEDJ/VE[IOC][OQD][WoS 2nd Class]
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SCAP/COM Vincent "Claw" Taurus/ISD Nemesis/Offensive Fleet/VEN[=A=][LoM][IOC][IC2]
CEO Vincent "Claw" Taurus/ECHC-1/Endoven/Dome 8473/VEEC/VE