((While we do not know the status of Kuat in SWTOR, I used it as the basis of this and a few other stories. It stands to reason that the Sith would attack what would be one of the Republic's major shipyards. This was first posted in 2008))

((Ok ladies and germs, this is it, anyone welcome. The Stormhawk is attacking the Sith Base in Kuat. They are heavily outnumbered but have a secret weapon. Actually make that two))

Space. Big, black, empty. Almost entirely empty. If you were looking in the right place at the right time, you might see a star occlude, as if something passed in between you and it. Of course there is nothing there, or is there? On very close inspection, say from ten kilometers or so, you might, might make out a shadow. A shadow of a very dangerous thing.

The Stormhawk cruised into the Kuat system under full stealth. This system had a massive Sith presence, for various reasons. The main one was that it was a Core World, one of the few that the Sith had actually managed to take and hold. One of the reasons they managed to hold it was the ruling nobles had declared themselves independent from the Republic the year before the Sith attacked the Republic. The Republic had been working to get Kuat to rejoin, but had been forced to rethink their positions when the Sith offensive ground in.

When the Sith arrived in Kuat, the nobles, thinking that their advanced ships and weapons would win the day easily were quickly put to rout by the Force powers of the Sith. Less than half of them had survived to reach hyperspace. The Sith had landed, taken over and fortified the planet and surrounding areas to the extent that a frontal assault was suicidal. They relied on their orbital batteries and fixed defenses, leaving only a token force of mobile ships to handle other security needs. But if someone knew the back way in… Say from having been a Sith…

“Boss, this is insane…” Nia said quietly as she stood on the bridge with him. She stared at the plot and red icons were everywhere. He turned to her.

“Yeah it is; which is why they would never even think about it.” He sounded as if he was grinning. She shook her head. She looked to where Dia was staring at the plot with concentration written all over her features. She was the key to this battle, well, her and hopefully the backup that was coming. IF it was coming. There was really no way to know. Nia froze. Dia turned to them it was time. She keyed a code Dia had given her and hoped it was still valid. Boss gave a short command.

"Fire torpedoes."

The Sith commander in system was enjoying his evening cup of caf when alarms started going off. He spent almost a full minute cursing the hot liquid that had soaked his pants and by the time he looked at his screen, it was too late. A swarm of proton torpedoes tore into the control station he was on. It and he, disappeared in a series of titanic explosions.

The Stormhawk dropped her stealth and screamed into the depths of the Kuat system. Most of the Sith capital ships were docked, their systems offline. The single Interdictor class cruiser in system turned to engage the approaching battlecruiser. The commander of the interdictor watched in disbelief as every single Sith orbital weapon in the system turned off.

Dia sat, in a space cleared for her, and began her battle meditation. Fighters climbed towards the Stormhawk from the planet’s surface, and others launched from the capital ships that even now were struggling to bring their systems online. It was time to see if she had what it took. She relaxed and lost herself in the meditation.

The battle of Kuat was joined.

"This is Jedi Master Kirin Starlace, requesting permission to speak to the commanding officer of the battlecruiser Stormhawk." Kirin spoke into her com as her sleek one-man Starfighter zoomed toward the battlecruiser floating in Kuat space, avoiding stray fire incoming from several Sith Interceptors and Stormhawk fighters.

"Man, what a pain..." she thought to herself as she continued skillfully avoiding some stray fire. For now, the Sith wasn't paying attention to her, and the Sith Battlecruisers were only now just lifting off. "I wish Janelle was here, I could use the company. I don't see why the hell she had to go off and get captured by the Stormhawk so carelessly. I keep teaching her how to fly a ship, but she seems so incapable of learning how to fly."

The thunder of the ship’s guns brought Nia back to herself. She had been so absorbed in the battle that was unfolding. She smiled. Dia was far better at the Battle Meditation that she gave herself credit for. She heard a different rumble and braced herself as fire came in and the ship shuddered.

Seven Sith capital ships in system, hmmm, make that six…

She thought with a smirk as one of the docked Sith ships exploded. The Stormhawk had used her stealth to get perfectly positioned. She was above and behind the Sith station. Her first salvo had destroyed the orbital defense control center. The only defenses the Sith had now were the multitude of fighters that were even now swarming towards them and the capital ships that were trying to bring their systems online. She looked curious at the plot as a Sith ship disappeared from it. It had been on the far side of the dock and not targeted, yet. Boss laughed.

“They tried a completely cold start on their reactor… ouch…”

Nia looked out the front viewscreen and saw an expanding ball of fire in the dock where the Sith ship had been. Five to one now. And one of those, the Interdictor that had challenged them as they arrived, was little more than a hulk, but it still fired every so often. Escape pods were flying from it now however and she knew it was only a matter of time before… She froze as new icons appeared on the screen.

Friend or foe?

The com officer linked the transmission to Boss.

"Jedi Master Starlace, this is Stormhawk Boss. Enemy Orbital defenses are deactivated, We are engaging four Sith capital ships, none fully operational. We have Battle Meditation active." A cheer went up all over the bridge. "However, enemy fighters are targeting our sensors. We may need direction for long range gunnery, can you assist?"

Another salvo of torpedoes screamed out of the Stormhawk's launch tubes toward the Sith docks.

"That's an affirmative, Stormhawk. Don't expect any other Jedi to come into this sector, most are busy with the Sith attack on Tython. Being that they're short handed at the moment, the Council sent me, since I'm one of the better Starfighter pilots currently among my order."

Kirin put on her headset, pressing a few buttons and flicking a few switches, activating her weapons system. As her sleek starfighter zoomed toward the Stormhawk, she pulled back then right on the stick, allowing the ship to make a quick feint U-Turn, blasting a Sith Interceptor that was trying to attack the sensor array of the battlecruiser. She looked down at her long-range radar, noticing an anomaly.

"Be advised, Stormhawk- I have a small reinforcement fleet about to exit lightspeed. Fleet's not too big, but you may have to buckle down and assume the proverbial position and send a small force to hold them back."

As soon as his ship left hyperspace, Pemek was shocked, to see an explosion, a battleship had just fired on something, he couldn't tell. He then noticed how close he was to it, and swerved his ship out of the way. He shook some sense into himself, only to see, sith fighters coming directly at him. His ship wasn't intended to go fast when it was built it was an old Quartermaster supplie ship, but with the modifications an old Sullustan added to it, he knew he could out run them.

Pemek turned the ship and boosted towards the what he thought was a friendly ship. He began fiddling with his com connection, trying to send a message towards the Stormhawk.

"Hello, anyone there? Any help would be nice!" Pemek yells, his calamarian accent highly noticeable as he try's to stay clear of blaster fire from the fighters.

"Roger that. Master Starlace." Boss turned to Nia and she nodded. He turned to his Space traffic controller.

"Launch Silver Squadron" A few moments later the ship shuddered again as twelve more fighters entered the fray. Twelve of the best pilots on the Stormhawk, they were Boss' aces in the hole. His only reserve.

Stromhawk Nine led her wing away from the ship that was her home.

"Stormhawk, Silver Squadron away. We will cover." The twelve fighters turned to the area Master Starlace had designated, ready for anything. Or so they thought.

"What the frack is that?" Came over the comlink as the squadron scattered to avoid... something that had just exited hyperspace. Nine craned her head and looked at the ship... it wasn't a Sith ship, as a matter of fact..She couldn't identify it.

"Stormhawk, this is Silver Leader, we have an unknown in system. I don't know what it is, it isn't Sith I can tell you that much..."

The com tech looked at his screen in disbelief.

"Unknown ship, this is the cruiser Stormhawk, identify yourself or be fired on."

Utilizing some quick moves and expert piloting, Kirin maneuvered her fighter up and around several Sith Interceptors trying to blast at the sensor array of the Stormhawk. Having their attention, the interceptors pulled themselves out from targeting the sensor array, chasing Kirin down. As they shot at her, Kirin maneuvered her ship from side to side, then blasted her afterburner and pulled the stick back hard, turning her ship upside down. Pushing down again, her starfighter found itself behind the small group of four interceptors, launching a few ballistic missiles at them and blowing them apart.

As she turned the ship down and avoided more fire from oncoming Sith carriers, the reinforcements exited hyperspace. As she moved back toward the Stormhawk, she noticed a new blip on her radar just below her, flagged as friendly. She looked down, with her astromech beeping at her.

"Alright, I got it, T7." Kirin pressed another button to reactivate her com. "Stormhawk, this is Kirin. I have a Quartermaster just a few kilometers from my current position. Ship is friendly, I repeat, ship is friendly!"

Pemek sighs

"This is Pemek Itar, owner and captain of the Nebson II! What the hell is going on here!?"

The Nebson shakes as a shot hits the rear shields. Pemek quickly diverts extra power to them, he turns on the ship speakers, then puts a mike to his mouth.

"Hey! Droid, get that turret online!" Pemek yells.

Boss shook his head, he had known this battle would be complicated, but JEEZ!

"Roger that, Master Starlace" Once he had designated that ship as friendly, he turned back to the plot, drawn by something he couldn't define. Then he grinned. He designated a section of the Sith dock. He waved to the Space Traffic Controller. Once the STC was sure all friendlies were clear of the area, Boss signaled his gunnery officer, who fired all of the Stormhawk's forward guns at the target that had just presented itself. The main reactor of the Sith space dock. One very big explosion later, the only spaceborne Sith left in the system were one damaged capital ship and a horde of fighters.

As the explosion on the space dock subsided, Kirin looked on as several ships fell apart and crashed. Some fighters crashed into each other. Other fighters kept fighting with the ones coming from the Stormhawk. She smirked a little as she released her thrusters, pulling back to render her ship upside down, then pulled to the left as she joined the Silver Squadron's formation. Once more pressing a few buttons, she spoke into the com.

"Silver Squadron, this is Kirin Starlace. Mind if I join you folks for a little Sith Interceptor hunting?" Kirin looked over at an adjacent starfighter, grinning with a thumbs up.

As the chaos of space battles, unfolded outside of the Stormhawk a male Kel Dor sat in the barracks. He was dressed in battle-worn M1-10 Stalker Armor and sat adjusting the scopes of his DH-17 Blaster Pistol a look of concern was evident on his peach toned face. The locker behind him revealed his name: Swanie Teron.

I hate space combat. Having to sit here while my life is decided for me. I'm a bounty hunter, I take the law in my own hands everyday and yet the minute I step foot in a spaceship, I am reduced to this. Waiting in the barracks praying the pilot knows what their doing.

"Observation: You seem very tense master." came the voice of his long time HK-50 companion snapping him out of his deep train of thought.

"Yeah, great observation....How's it going out there?" Please say fine, please say fine!

"Answer: From what I can gather, we have a rather competent pilot. A Jedi also aids us."

"Hmph, a Jedi eh? Not bad, we might make it out of this yet. At least long enough to get off this ship and take the fight to them from the ground." Swanie smirked at the thought. Fighting alongside a jedi....quite a change from killing them. I hope he won't hold it against me, it's just business. My morals are decided by the highest bidder. Right now the sith are the enemy ...although I really doubt that'll change anything .

Kirin Starlace? oh boy... Nine thought with a mental quiver. She had heard stories of the Jedi's flying and seeing her in action, now she believed every one of them.

"Master Starlace this is Silver Leader, the more the merrier. I think we have enough to go around." She watched as her screen filled with Sith interceptors.

"All Silvers, salvo missiles in 5. 4. 3. 2. 1. FIRE!" All twelve ships fired concussion missiles. As soon as their launchers cycled, they fired again. Then they were too close for missiles, but the Sith had lost 20 fighters. Leaving 50. All the Silvers broke by pairs and engaged the enemy.

As Silver Squadron broke off to remove stragglers, she also went off on her own, remaining with the squadron nonetheless. Pulling forward on her stick, she circled back and maneuvered above several interceptors, blasting them each with pinpoint, precise shots. As a few interceptors came up behind her at nearly blazing fast speed, she grabbed a stick at her right and pulled at it, turning her boosters off. Just as quickly, she pushed it back down, reigniting her boosters, then blasted at the two fighters who were now directly in front of her.

She circled around to where Nine was, who was being stalked by a stray fighter. Flying directly toward the fighter from the west, she shot a few blasts at the interceptor, grinning. This was all like a game to her.

"That's one drink you owe me tonight, Nine." She said through her com, smirking as she zoomed off.

As the Stormhawk's fighters engaged the sith, Pemek was still waiting for his droid to bring his dual heavy blaster turret online, he quickly shouted into the com at the droid, and continued to steer the ship between the multitude of dogfights going on all around him.

"Sir, the turret is fully operational." The repair droids voice chiming in over the com.

Pemek mutters some words in his native language, and then powers the shields to max, and joins the fray. He quickly swoops in with his rather large ship, firing on several sith fighters all around him, as the turret automatically, fires on the heat signatures that only the fighters give off.

Nine heard Master Starlace and smiled. She is BETTER than her reputation

"Roger that, Master Starlace." She looked around. The Silvers, minus two, she saw with a pang, had taken out almost all of the Sith fighters. Master Starlace had done her share. And even the strange ship was blasting away at any Sith ships close to it.

As she watched the last Sith Capital ship, an old Crusader class cruiser, lost its shields and then took a torpedo salvo from the Stormhawk. A moment later, its reactor blew. She sighed. The space battle was done.

Now the hard part.

"Statement: The firing has ceased master." came HK-50's electronic voice.

Swanie lifted his head from his palms and listened....silence.Now the fun begins. With a grunt of exertion he lifted himself from the bench he was previously sitting on.

"Ready to make some money?" he asked as he tossed his HK unit ammo.

"Answer: Master, I am always ready to kill." came HK's quick reply. He slammed the ammo pack into his Blaster Rifle to emphasize his point.

As the turret fired on a floating damaged sith fighter tearing it to pieces, Pemek again sent a message at the Stormhawk.

"Errr... is it possible for me to dock with you guys. I've got two blown coolant valves." Pemek asks.

Kirin's ship once more rejoined Silver Squadron's formation. T7 beeped idly as she flipped a few switches to redirect her com to the Stormhawk.

"Stormhawk, this is Kirin Starlace. With the last few stragglers taken down, our end of the battle is officially over. What's our next plan?"

Boss looked at Nia, she nodded. She tapped Dia on the shoulder, a prearranged signal. Dia snapped out of her battle meditation. Nia pulled Dia to her feet. Both wore their gear. Nia her armor and weapons. Dia her robes, subtly armored now, and her lightsaber. They nodded to Boss and headed for the hanger. As they left, Boss spoke.

"Helm, put us in orbit over the main Sith base, stand for for fire support as needed. And Nia..." She turned. "...Keep you head down."

She nodded again and left the bridge. When they reached the hangar bay Olanagychew was waiting for them, fairly bristling with impatience. He led them into one of the Stormhawk's assault shuttles and they strapped in beside the other troopers. There were not all that many of them, and they had been supplemented with...er...mercenary type, but all knew what they were doing. Olana checked their straps and sat down himself. Nia watched as he stared pulling something on over his fur. She couldn't make it out, then it clicked, Wookiee battle armor. Before the shuttle shuddered and took off, he had clad himself in armor as good any of the troopers wore and much more massive.

Boss replied to both transmissions

"Nebson II we can aid with repairs. coordinate with docking officer on channel 2." He focused on the Jedi starfighter.

"MAster Starlace, we are going to raid the Sith base on planet. With a little luck, we might actually be able to do something permanent about their presence here. We have shuttles preparing to lift now."

"Guns, target defense positions marked on plots two and four." An acknowledgment came. "Fire."

The Stormhawk's gunfire streaked down into Kuat's atmosphere. The shots struck with almost inhuman precision on the fire control sensor arrays for the defense grid, leaving Kuat's air defenses blinded. The weapons could still operate on local control, but with limited range and effectiveness. Then the Stormhawk's guns fell silent.

"That's an affirmative, Stormhawk. I'll be heading to the surface to aid with the battle from there. Kirin Starlace, out."

Once again, she flipped a few switches, switching her com signal to Silver Squadron's.

"Looks like you'll have to give me that drink later, Nine. I'm heading planet-side and giving the boys a hand. Save me a place on the table, okay?"

With that, she set a course for Kuat, with T7 beeping and making calculations on his onboard circuitry.

"T7, lock onto the location of those shots, we're going in." The astromech replied with a few audible beeps. Kirin's starfighter broke from Silver Squadron's formation, turned and flew toward the Sith base on Kuat, activating her ship's atmospheric entry shields.

Pemek, frowns as he hears no response from the ship. He gets up from the pilots seat and walks down the stairs he walks into the added living space of the ship, and grabs a a tool box, he runs into the what was supposed to be a cargo hold until the new engines were added. He orders the repair droid to work on one valve while he works on the other.

Pemek gets up as hears the some what late response from the Stormhawk, he makes a reminder to see if the coms buggy. He runs up to the cockpit, and flicks the com to channel two, and begins to fly towards the battleship.

Stormhawk Nine looked up from where she was coordinating a search for lost pilots, smiled and nodded at Master Starlace's words.

Five shuttles hurtled planetward. The few defenders who could see them started to target them when suddenly there were fifty shuttles! No there were not actually fifty shuttles, there were five and forty five decoys. One minute to ground. Of the four Air Defence towers in range, three were completely blinded. They tried. they managed to hit twenty of the decoys, but only one of the manned shuttles took a glancing hit before...

SLAM!

Nia's chin hit her chest armor hard enoght to bruise as her shuttle touched down hard. She was reaching for her straps when a growl came to her. She looked up,and Olana shook his mighty head, even bigger now that it was encased in Wookiee sized battle armor. She sighed, but waited until all of the other troops had egressed the shuttle. Then she stood and grabbed her small pack. She heard weapon fire in the distance but nothing close by and she, Dia and Olanagychew moved off towards their target. The main computer center of the Sith base.

"Alright, im coming in fast, the engines are damaged" Pemek says as he starts the landing procedure.

As Pemek lands he catches a glimpse of the shuttles

The deck officer winces as the Nebson II touches down or more appropriately crashes down.

"Repair teams 3 and 4, get your tails or other rear end parts over there, lets get it repaired" Sotto voice he continues "and get it off my deck..."

Kirin jumped out of the cockpit of her fighter, as T7 automatically lowered down from the astromech pad. As she fixed her brown robe, she looked around at her surroundings to make sure that her ship was safe. She didn't want her getting destroyed or anything. While she hadn't thought of a name for her ship yet, she still considered it a prized possession of hers, though the Council asked her to scrap the machine, because attachment to personal belongings was a step down the Dark Side. She was lucky though, since one of the Masters did encourage her to continue to keep the ship, as the Order needed as many ace pilots with them as possible in this day and age ((a nod to Plo Koon)).

"T7, you should stay with the ship, I don't want you getting blown to scrap metal before we leave the planet," Kirin said, kneeling down in front of her astromech. The droid replied with a few audible beeps and a sad sounding whine. "Okay, okay, you can come along. Just be careful, okay?"

Kirin ran toward the nearby base, reaching into her long, flowing over-robe for her lightsaber and pulled it out. It wasn't ignited yet, but she knew she would have to activate it shortly.

Once the Nebson had landed, Pemek walked out of the ship leaving the droid to help with the repairs, as he learned about what just happened. He also seemed to be the only Mon-Calamari on the ship, but he didn't think he would anyway. Pemek looked around at the docking bay, and at the repair teams.

"Uhh... Whose the deck officer??"

*A small human in a grey jumpsuit comes up to Pemek.*

"I'm deck officer, you the captain of that...er.. the Nebson II? I have two repair teams standing by. It's a Quartermaster right? The original ship? We have valves that should fit if so..."

"Yea, its a Quartermaster, how much do you want for the valves? And where do I go while your doing these repairs.?"

Pemek reaches into his pocket and gets ready to pull credits out.

*The deck officer looks at Pemek and smiles.*

"Keep your credits pal. We don't charge for people who help us out. Maybe we can do some other business, but not for those valves. And, hey stick around. That's not a normal Quartermaster, is it? We may need a hand getting the valves in place."

"Aye, i'll stay, but i'd like to know why you and the sith are here?"

Pemek, takes a look at his ship while he waits for an answer, blast marks cover the hull.

*the deck officer waves his team to work and stares at Pemek, then he smiles.*

"The SIth took the system, we are taking it back."

*Something clangs loudly from the ship and the deck officer starts walking towards it. Loud curses can be heard.*

"Cortas, stop hitting whatever it is you are hitting and wait for the tech!" HE calls loudly. He grins sourly at Pemek. "Fool thinks all problems can be solved with a hammer."

Pemek smiles his strange calamari smile. He turns to the deck officer.

"Been awhile since I've been here. When did they take the system, never heard anything about it. Then again, you only here a little news from the core worlds, in the unknown."

Nia ducked as fire came from a concealed bunker. Olana roared and the morning air literally thundered as his heavy repeating blaster roared as loud as he had. After two bursts he huffed and moved up towards the door that was thier ultimate goal. Nia peeked around the corner and stood, slackjawed as she saw what the huge weapon had done. The bunker was now a memory, holes ahd been blown completely through it. Amazingly an armored Sith stood up from eth carnage and pointed a blaster at her. She was quicker however and the Sith went down in a heap, this time for keeps with a hole burned through his helmet. Olana looked at her, she shrugged and moved off, Dia right behind her. Dia was, having trouble. They had known she would have issues, which was why she was only carrying her, er, Ulaha's old lightsaber.

"I'm sorry, Nia. I... I just can' fight them." Nia touched her on the shoulder.

"Don't worry about it. You will do your part when the time comes, just stay close, okay?" Dia nodded and Olana looked at them. Nia moved up to where he was standing and they surveyed the entrance to the Sith computer center. The other Stormhawk teams were engaging the Sith defenders, their orders were to make as much noise as possible, and hit targets of opportunity, but to try and avoid protracted firefights. The other teams were a diversion, the main attack was the three of them and maybe Kirin, if she.. Nia spun...

There she is... She waved at Kirin.

Olanagychew waved Nia towards cover and keyed a code into his comlink. It was specific coordinates. A moment later, the sky split open. Four times the earth shook and dust rained down, then it was over. Nia looked in awe at the door to the Sith complex. It had been almost a meter thick, built of metal that would have doubled easily as starship armor. Hence the starship weapons that had just fired at it. Olana took of at a run towards the door sized hole in the wall of the Sith base, Nia and Dia close behind.

At the first corridor intersection, Olana stopped and waited for the women.

Nia moved into the Sith complex warily. They had not encountered much resistance. Most of the SIth, it seemed were fighting the other teams. Those teams had specific objectives. Important one, things like power generators, sensor arrays and other things that would disrupt the Sith defense. And, being very well trained and equipped commandos, were accomplishing their objectives. It was costing though. Nia hoped the cost was worth it. She stuck a passive sensor wand around another corner and froze. The hall beyond was filled with... She snarled and pulled back. She waved to Dia and Olana.

"The Sith have civilians blocking the next corridor." Dia nodded, sad.

"It's really the only way they can slow us. And if they stop us..." She broke off. They all nodded. If the attack stalled, or even slowed significantly the Sith's overwhelming numbers could be brought to bear. And at best, they would fail their mission, at worst they would all die. "If we try and wade through the non-combatants..." Nia shook her head.

"That's not an option." Dia nodded.

"They will expect us to slow down... maybe knock the civilians out..." She broke off as Nia grinned. "What?"

"This is a standard Sith base layout, right?" Dia looked at her, face blank, uncomprehending.

"Yeah..." Nia grinned wider.

"Which way is it's command center?" Dia shook her head and pointed to the west.

"300 meters that way but the corridors will be packed with..." She broke off and smiled as Nia chuckled.

"Then we don't take the corridors." She ignited her lightsaber and moved towards the wall.

Kirin finally made her way into the Sith outpost, having had to weave through several soldiers to get there. It seemed she was too late to meet with Nia, who she felt through the Force. She knew, however, that she wasn't too far from where her and the others were. She kept her lightsaber ignited, even when she saw the dead soldiers strewn across the floor.

"Well, looks like I'm not too far," She said to T7, who beeped in response. "Really? Okay, I'll keep on the lookout for them. I didn't think they were that close."

Olana kept his eyes on teh coridors as Nia nd Dia carefully cut their way through the walls. At first it had been easy, four simple slashes and the way was clear, but now... For some stupid reason the Sith had run fuel lines through the walls of the base. It had been a miracle that none of them had been immolated when they found the first line. Now they scanned before they cut and despite their attempts, they were slowing down. A new opening yawned and Nia peered in. She grinned and waved them forward. The room before them was empty except for... Nia nodded.

"Dia, your up." She waved the Twilek to the computer station and Dia deactivated her lightsaber and started slicing in. A few moments later Dia smiled and brought up schematics of the area.

"We are in."

Nia pointed to sections and Dia highlighted them and sliced into each in turn. The alarm, that had been wailing ever since they had entered, cut off.

The Sith in the command center, waiting with increasing nervousness, looked up in shock as the alarm turned off and the remote gun turrets, which had been pointed out, suddenly swiveled in. And opened fire.

The Stormhawk teams watched in awe as the assault droids which had been pressing in on their positions, turned on the Sith. They added their fire to the assault droids' and suddenly it was the Sith who were on the defensive.

Dia continued to slice the computer working to isolate the Sith's increasingly desperate attempts to wrest control of their systems back from her, but she was too fast and too deep in their systems. Finally she managed it and relaxed a bit. She continued to search however. Ever so often she would find something else, finally she found what she was looking for and she deactivated the ground to air defenses and then smiled at Nia. They had done it.

Olana looked up as he heard a lightsaber. He growled a quiet warning. Nia ignited hers, and waited. A faint sense came to her and she smiled. She called out.

"We are in here Kirin."

Kirin finally made her way into the central command center, hearing Nia's voice. She disengaged her own lightsaber as she made her way over to the group, noticing the wookiee who seemed to hate her, and the girl Nia, who she cared for for a time on Tython. She was a little older now, but not too much. Still, compared to her, they would both look like sisters.

She wanted to catch up on old times, see what she was doing, but they had more pressing matters to attend to.

"So, it's done then?"

"Well mostly. The defenses are down and..." Nia broke off as Dia cursed softly. She looked at the twilek. "What?"

"I don't know what this is.. but... you better see this..." Nia came over to the console and looked at what Dia had found. She froze, stunned. Dia looked at her, her sense in the Force... Dia recoiled as Nia's force sense went, for lack of a better word... berserk. Nia moved so fast that both of her friends were staring at the place she HAD been. Olana took off after her. Dia looked back at the screen. A list of prisoners in the base. One name stood out. Kalenath. She looked. Dia looked helplessly at Kirin.

"He's not here... is he?"

Kirin also looked over at the screen. She wasn't sure what exactly was supposed to be standing out for her, but she figured whoever it was was important to Nia. She turned toward where Nia ran off, taking a few steps, then gesturing over her shoulder with her left hand.

"Only one way to find out. But you better explain to me who 'he' is. I've got no idea who this person is, so you'll have to fill me in."

"Kalenath. Her dad, he's the only one I know of who has that name... believe me I've looked. His kin are all dead, except Nia that is. I'm Dia by the way. I don't think we have met." She dashed off following the sounds of fighting and roars of the Wookiee. She tried to recognize the codes that had been beside the name, but they meant nothing to her. As she ran, she asked Kirin something.

"What does the designation A-8k12 mean? It was beside the name. It isn't a Sith code. I thinks its a Republic military code. It seems like one anyway."

"What was that code? A-8k12...?" As her and Dia continued to chase after Nia and Olana she tried to figure out what the code meant. She was pretty familiar with Republic military code, so she knew what this was somehow. She just couldn't remember it.

Finally, after some deliberation, she raised her head up, reaching into her robes and pulling out her lightsaber.

"That's not good. There's a child down there."

"A child?" Dia froze as she saw Olanagychew ahead, He was not firing. As she closed in behind him she could see why. A wall of civilians stood between him and... Dia's heart froze. Nia stood behind teh wall of civilians, lghtsaber ignited, facing a Sith soldier. His insignia proclaimed him to be a high level commander, but teh lack of a lightsaber said he was a normal soldier. Probably the commander of the base she mused, but her musing was cut off as he turned and she saw the little black haired girl he held by the arm. And the blaster he held to her head. She snarled. Olana looked at her, helplessly. His blaster was useless. If her fired, he could clear the corridor, yes, but he would kill everything. She motioned him to watch their back and he did. The little girl seemed to be entranced by Nia's lightsaber. The Sith was talking.

"...leaving now. You will not stop us Jedi. If my blaster jumps out of my hand, the bomb on this young ones jacket will go off." Nia could have been made of stone for all the emotion she showed.

"Mistake one, I'm not a Jedi. Mistake two, your not leaving here with her." Nia moved a step and the little girl whimpered a bit as the Sith's blaster dug into the side of her head. Dia looked at Kirin helplessly. She whispered.

"Can you do anything? I... Nothing I know would help. He's probably resistant to mind tricks..."

Kirin wasn't even there anymore while Dia was talking.

As a Jedi Master, Kirin was required to have some sort of specialty or quirk that separated her from the other Jedi. Something that other Jedi would look up to and would strive to attain in their studies in the Force. Some Jedi Masters were extremely skillful in the manipulation of raw Force energy, using it to unleash awesome waves of attacks at the enemy without even lifting the lightsaber. Others were specialized in the way of the lightsaber, able to master one, two, three or even all forms of lightsaber combat. And there were yet others who were masters of the unusual- those who mastered one particular aspect of the applied Force unto themselves, making them a formidable force to be reckoned with.

Kirin was one such master of the unusual; she was a master of Force Speed, able to apply it to the point that she could move in a blur.

Utilizing this skill, she rushed with unnatural speed, her lightsaber disengaged to hide the blue from streaking with her movements. As the man talked, she began to surgically remove the jacket from the young girl's hand, grab the girl, then withdraw her lightsaber and slice the man's hand off.

She would return, beside Dia, and all of this would happen in a matter of seconds. Everyone in the room, even the little girl, would not notice what happened until the last second.

All Dia saw was a blur. One moment, Kirin was standing beside her, the next the Sith was lying on the ground clutching his severed wrist and Kirin was back beside her. The girl's jacket was flying down the corridor and then went poof with teh blast of a small explosive charge.

Dia looked at the Jedi mater with awe in her eyes.

"Wow..." Was all she got out before Nia's cry silenced them.

"MEDIC!" She screamed. She kicked the moaning Sith out of the way and knelt down beside the still body of the girl. It looked as if, when the Sith's wrist had hit the floor, his blaster had discharged. The small form was curled up on thr floor and Nia was kneeling beside her, crying.

"No...no... no... please.. no.." She carefully moved the girl and then breathed a little easier as the waif moaned. One of the commando teams moved up and started securing the area. The team medic bent over the girl. He looked at Nia.

"Ma'am, I need space." His voice was quiet, and Dia wasn't sure Nia understood. She was crying hard now. Dia walked to her, took her arm and gently led her away. The medic bent down and went to work.

Dia looked at Kirin who looked stricken.

"It's not your fault."

Kirin stood there, watching as Nia cried over the girl. She didn't know what to do. She was sure she did everything right- remove the jacket, grab the girl, cut off the hand, run back to Dia wit the girl. How...? How could she mess up somehow? How could the blaster have gone off before she took the girl? It was impossible... impossible in her view.

She had never caused a death with her skills, not a youngling's death. She gazed over at Dia, pulled out her lightsaber and ignited it, raising it up above her head. She twirled it, pointing the blade inward and prepared to eliminate herself, a look of shock on her face.

"NO!" Dia's voice cut through everything. And her blue lightsaber intercepted Kirin's. "She's alive Jedi! It's not your fault!" Dia looked Kirin straight in the eye.

"I don't know what happened, and it doesn't matter." Her voice rang with command, and every eye, except the medic's she noted with satisfaction was on her now. "You saved her. You didn't kill her. So put it AWAY!" Her voice was cold and unemotional now. All of the Stormhawk troops stared at her and she snarled. They all found things to do.

"She got hurt... while I was trying to save her. I failed. I don't deserve the title of Master."

She lowered her lightsaber, disengaging it. She looked down to the floor for many long moments as T7 nudged at her leg gently, making a few solemn sounding beeps. She looked down at T7, then back up, turning and walking back through the outpost.

"I have to go into Exile- I've failed as a Jedi," she said. T7 followed behind her soundlessly.

Dia follows her. "Don't be stupid, Jedi." The scorn in Dia's voice could have cut durasteel. "I could not have done what you did. I am skilled, but..." She shook her head, still in awe. "I couldn't have done that. If I had tried,..." She broke off, then spoke again. "The girl would be dead. If I had tried, that, whatever it was you did. Look at her. She's alive!"

She stared at Kirin.

"Do Jedi never make mistakes? And is the Force totally infallible for Jedi?" She waited for a response. "It isn't for me..." She finishes quietly.

Kirin stopped.

She turned, looking at Dia, grasping her lightsaber tight in her hand. She was crying.

"You don't understand what it's like as a Jedi Master. We're supposed to be shining examples of sentient beings throughout the Galaxy! And look what I did! That girl almost got killed by my carelessness! If I had just talked instead of acting without thinking, she might not have gotten hurt like that! I'm a failure. Even if I did everything I could to prevent that with my Light Speed technique, this still wouldn't have happened!"

She raised her left hand up, looking down at it. Tears dropped down into the palm of her hand.

"I created this technique so that other people wouldn't have to feel the same pain I had to go through. My Master died because I wasn't able to separate myself fast enough to aid him in battle! If only I had the ability to be in two places at once, I thought... if only I had the ability to fight Marik Fatir off before he killed my Master, he'd still be here right now!"

Kirin's jaw dropped as she realized the words she was saying. Pain, regret, suffering... all signs of the Dark Side. Was she falling...? No. She had to keep that from happening. She had to leave this place.

"I... I have to go! I can't be here, the more I stay here, the more pain I feel! I don't want to fall!"

Dia looked at her. Then she nodded.

"Then don't. There is no emotion..." She spoke the words that once had been totally anathema to her, but now, now they brought her peace. And maybe they would do the same for this strange Jedi. She was stunned out of her mind when Kirin turned on her heel and stalked away.

What the...?

Kirin made her way to her ship finally, as T7 entered the astromech dock. She jumped in quickly, then lifted off, blasting it off quickly from the planet's airspace. Finally, as she escaped the debris floating lifelessly above the planet's atmosphere, she engaged her ship's hyperdrive, entering lightspeed.

As she sat in her ship, T7 continued to beep solemnly. She gazed down, pulling out a small picture of herself and Janelle.

"I really wish you were here, Jan," She spoke softly, tears dropping down to the frame of the picture. "I could use your support right now... I'll wait for you at the place..."

Dia watched as the Jedi took off. She hadn't replied to Dia at all. Dia slumped.

Stupid, arrogant, feebleminded, ignorant, hidebound JEDI! She snarled to herself. I did what I could, now... I just hope she doesn't do anything ELSE dumb...

Dia walked back into the Sith complex. Scattered blaster fire sounded in the distance. She found the commando team preparing to move out. The team leader moved to her and reported.

"All objectives secured Ma'am. Sith forces are withdrawing. They seem to be making for a starport..." The team leader broke off as Dia looked at him.

"Why are you reporting to me? I'm not in charge. Olana is..." The team lead smiled thinly.

"Olanagychew is still under arrest. He can't order us. Nia, well..." they both looked to where Nia was sitting, trying to to get in the way of the medic who was preparing the girl for transport to the ship for more medical treatment. She didn't seem to see anything beyond the girl. Dia nodded, then fell back into her role of commander, she hadn't done it in a while, but it was like riding a swoop.

"Understood. Casualties?" The team lead nodded to her, glad to be back on ground he understood.

"Two dead, one badly wounded, two with minor wounds and the girl."

"Evac the wounded first..." She broke off as the team lead raised a hand. He spoke into his mike.

"What? when? Ok, roger that, contact the ship tell them." he looked back at Dia, who looked a question at him. he nodded. "The Sith are evacuating. Which is dumb of them. The ship can potshot them." Dia froze. Then she shook her head. "Ma'am?"

"Let them go." He stared at her, disbeleif written all over his features. "Commander they have hostages." He froze and then quickly keyed in a command. Her comlink chirped. boss' voice came through.

"What going on down there?" His voice was unemotional and she was glad, too much input already. She replied in the same tone.

"The Sith are evacuating. They took hostages here, I am willing to be they have hostages on the ships too." A sigh came over the comlink.

"Recommendation?"

"Let them leave." Silence came from the comlink and after a moment she started to worry, but then it chirped again.

"Roger that, we are standing down." Dia nodded. The team leader looked at her and she shook her head.

"Not all Sith are evil. And right now they are probably scared out of their minds. Scared people do dumb things." The team leader winced and nodded. "So we let them go. It may not be the best choice, but I think it is the right one."

"For what it's worth Ma'am, I agree with you." The team leader nodded. "We are ready to go."

The freed civilian stared at her as the team started to move out, slowed by two AG gurneys. One of them came up to Dia. She spoke in a quavering voice.

"You aren't staying?" Dia smiled at the older woman.

"We can't. We are not Republic forces. But the Republic military should be here shortly. We will stay until they do." The woman looked at her and shook her head.

"Who are you then?" She asked, bewilderment in her tone. Dia smiled.

"We are with the Stormhawk, Ma'am." The woman shook her head again, the name meant nothing to her. "We are what stands between the light and the dark. We are grey. With that Dia turned and followed the team out to the waiting shuttle.

Dia watched, worried as Nia sat and watched Doctor L'trask work on the girl. They had been in time. She would live. Of that Dia was sure. What she wasn't sure of was why Nia was acting so odd. She hadn't spoken at all, not since the girl had been hurt. And her sense in the force, it felt raw, bleeding almost... Dia shook herself and walked to where Nia sat. She laid a gentle hand on Nia's shoudler and gave a soft squeeze.

"She will live." Nia nodded, still silent. "Do you know her?" Nia shook her head. Dia cocked her head and looked at her Master. Nia looked, not at the girl but into emptiness. "Who is she?" She finally asked. Nia replied tonelessly.

"Code A-8k12 Kalenath. Its a republic military prisoner designation. Means she's a dependent of the matriarch of the Kalenath line. I think she's the daughter of my fathers mother. That makes her my aunt." Dia froze, shocked to her core, then she stared at the operating theater, then back at Nia.

Oh...boy...

((This was a good run, and a good RP. We will do this again I think. but for now, um... hmmm... things just got VERY complicated... Comments and or suggestions always appreciated.))

((This was a collaborative RP between Zelkin, Notion, Swani and myself. It was posted in December 2008 so some of it is out of date. But it was fun.))