[Satele Shan] The Polyphemous Operation

We have received intelligence that Iron Legion has established forward operations base just off the Perlemian Trade Route. Although there is no indication that the location of our bases on Kiast has been compromised, any Iron Legion presence in this region of space threatens our operations. Director Alethia Archenksova has put together a small group of elite operatives drawn from JTF Satele Shan to infiltrate and destroy this base. This is their story.

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MC40a Remembrance of Seher
Briefing Room
Deep Space

It was a motley assortment. Jedi, infantry, pilots, medics, and even the odd archaeologist had been pulled from their normal assignments, shuffled on board the Remembrance, and carried off into unknown territory based on little more than the Director’s orders. Murmurs filled the room, carrying rumor and speculation. Although the soldiers and intelligence operatives had long since gotten used to it, many of JTF Satele Shan’s Jedi were still rankled by the strict need-to-know controls on information implemented by Archenksova.

All eyes snapped to the door as the Director herself entered the briefing room, and a tense silence fell over those assembled. For her part, Alethia seemed to take her time walking over to the central holoprojector and queuing up the briefing, seemingly indifferent to all the eyes upon her. One of the soldiers coughed.

The project flared to life at last, emitting the image of a dusty planetoid. The Director spoke.

“Ladies, gentlemen, thank you for coming.” Alethia smiled graciously at them as though they had come as voluntary guests. "Allow me to introduce Kyulou, a previously insignificant planet with a type II atmosphere. Previous surveys have noted only very minor activity on the planet, mainly from small mining operations and pirates.

"However, this has changed in recent months. Our sources within the Dark Brotherhood have revealed the construction of a forward operations post for the Iron Legion. Kyulou lies in an otherwise uninhabited system just off the Perlemian Trade Route, uncomfortably close to the Palioxis Cloud nebula and the borders of the Vatali Empire.

“We have no reason to believe that the Brotherhood has uncovered our location; however, this base will prove troublesome to our movements throughout the sector. Your task, therefore, is to destroy it. Good luck,” Archenksova finished. The troops keep watching her for a moment, before she said at last through gritted teeth, “And may the Force be with you.”

The murmurs returned as she left the room.

Talis adjusted his armor and did a quick check over his loadout. His three thermal detonators hung on his belt, readily accessible to his right hand. The Odanite stopped fussing over himself as he quickly returned his attention to the group around him. Three new commanders stood before him, all with nervous looks.

“Breath,” Talis stated flatly, “I have been a part of large scale operations before, this one won’t be much different. Just do your jobs, remember your training, and I will see you all back here for drinks tonight.”

“Let’s go over the plan one more time Master Jedi.” The most experienced of the group was the Special Operations Commander. He bore an air of experience and no-nonsense but the astute Miralukan could feel his emotions of uncertainty. The Jedi nodded and the group gathered around and gave the Jedi his complete attention.

“Sounds like a good idea, Beenine, if you could be so kind?” Talis stepped out of the path of his R2 unit who produced a holoprojection of the area of operation. “We will infiltrate the AO with two LAAT/c troop transports with an escort from the Flares comprised of four T-70 X-wings.” Talis motioned to the flight leader of the escort. “We will then take up our position north of the site on this rise.” The Sentinel motioned to an annotated location on the holoprojection. “From there we will set up a soft landing zone for the incoming forces and provide CAS. This is after the team has conducted reconnaissance and established a safe position, We will direct friendly assets and provides fire control for artillery and ships in orbit to bombard the enemy base.” Talis looked at the Platoon leader from Shan’s Saber, “This will be primarily our job Commander.” The Special Operations commander nodded in reply to the Jedi. “Upon completion, your two squads accompanied by myself and a few stragglers will rejoin your platoon and progress with the assault. An infantry unit will land during our assault on the southwest side of the compound and begin their assault with Aegis Company, our armored unit. We are the first on the ground gentlemen aside from some forward scouts. Intel is spotty so keep your wits about you.”

Talis nodded to Beenine, who deactivated the holoprojection and rolled away from the group. Talis turned to Len who was standing nearby. Len offered the young Knight a gracious smile but it quickly turned into a stern look. The Miralukan didn’t need eyes to read the human’s thoughts. He had to be worried deep down. Talis bowed with a smile.

“Don’t worry boss, we will conquer this rock for you before dinner.” The Knight approached the holoprojector and leaned upon it. The members of Garza’s Pathfinders had been the first brought into the need-to-know operation. Their role as a forward observer had granted them that right and they had made due with what little information had been collected and utilized for the briefing.

“What are your thought’s on this Talis?” Len prodded the younger Odanite.

“I think with shoddy intel, limited time.” Talis turned towards the woman. “New and limited resources, and a very hush-hush op we have a decent chance. I do think that we need more of the Wampa Howl Company on station just in case we run into any anti-armor units but I believe we will make do with what we have.” The Jedi paused. “The effectiveness of our units will be put to the test here and it will be a big test for the new units.”

Kyulou
Iron Legion Forward Operating Base
Shortly before the assault

The durasteel’s chill permeated ever so slightly through Henymory’s armor as he sat against the wall. Around the former Quaestor, five Sentinel Network commandos were making final gear checks. Mako suppressed the rising rage as he remembered how his leaders had roped him into this babysitting gig.

”Mako, we have a predicament.” It had been a month since Len has uttered those words to the Seer in Alethia’s office.

Daleem
Satele Shan Base
One Month ago

“Mako we have a predicament,” Len began as the door whisked shut behind the Krath.

“Let me stop you there, you three may have blackmailed me to run missions for this new battle team and assist in the strategic planning but I have been working non-stop between the Pathfinders and for SeNet. I just want to take a week or two and relax for a change. No hunting down Slavers and Pirates, no hacking one of the Inquisitor databases for information, and no hanging out in sleazy disease ridden waterholes waiting to create assets out of young impressionable darksiders,” the former Quaestor’s tone along with his rigid body posture left no room for doubt, he meant what he said.

“Good thing we don’t want you to do any of that. Just a simple pre-assault infiltration.” Alethia’s voice almost purred.

“You seem to take to much of a sadistic pleasure in sending me far away.”

“Well Commandant, you seem to take just as much pleasure in not being here,” Len grinned as the Krath’s dissolving resolve could be seen clearly upon his face.

“One of these days Len, I am going to make you eat the file.”

Kyulou
Iron Legion Forward Operating Base
Shortly before the assault

“Alright boys time to go get those blueprints,” The Human said with a grin as he slid an Iron Legion helmet over his head to complete the disguise and opened the door. To the casual observer it appeared that squad of Iron Legion soldiers were leaving a storage room. The command room was the SeNet operatives objective. The blue prints would be in the database there, as well as control over the communications tower. It was a simple enough mission, steal and transmit the bases blueprint to the waiting Satele Shan assault force. Mako cringed as an officer’s voice boomed out from behind them.

“YOU THERE, HALT!”

Sky Breach Base
Elevator Departure/Arrival Area-Observation Promenade
One Month Ago

Ever since the new base for House Satele Shan had been completed on Daleem, Len enjoyed walking its halls. Bustling with activity, whether it be offloading cargo, customs inspections, or families preparing for vacation. The Chiss put his hands on the railing overlooking the elevator loading area, leaning on them. Another batch of dehydrated vegetables, he observed as two large crates bearing the Indag-Conclave’s mark, were loaded for ascension. A woman cleared her throat and Len turned around to see Alethia Archenksova wearing a well tailored dress suited for the afternoon .

Len snapped to attention, “Director. What brings you here?”

For once Alethia had a look of concern on her face. “The Iron Legion.”

Drop Shuttle Sigma 1-1
In Transit between the OEFS Remembrance of Seher and the Planet Kyulou
Present Day

It had been a while since Len had done anything quite like this. Even on his final assignment on Baas hadn’t been this intense. In T-5, he would be back in a real battle.

The head crew chief tapped the Chiss’ shoulder. “Sir, I have Commandant Henymory on comms.”

“Thanks Chief,” Len keyed his commpad, “Shadow this is Sigma, do you read, over?”

Blasterfire assaulted the soldier’s ears. “I hear you as best as I can, Sigma.” Came the strained reply followed by some glass exploding. “We have the package, but got pinned by a patrol on our way out. Requesting assistance. Over.”

“Understood, we are about 4 minutes from your location. Over.”

“I copy.” A slight smile came to Mako’s voice, “I think we can hold them off that long, but if you make it in three I’ll buy you and your Platoon beer.”

Len sent new coordinates to the pilot. “I’ll hold you too that. See you in two and a half. Sigma Out.”

The Commander then keyed the next comms channel. “Alpha, this is Sigma. We are headed for the command center. The shuttles will need covering fire. Over.”

Troop Transport Alpha 1-1
On Approach to the Landing Zone Alpha
Four hours ago.

Talis glanced out at the landing zone as he heard the shuttles engines idling down to descend the shuttle towards the ground. He shot a glance back towards Alpha 1-2 who were following close behind matching their speed. The troop transport came to a hover about three feet off the ground and without a word, the members of Shan’s Saber 2nd platoon offloaded and took up an initial perimeter quickly.

As the Miralukan’s feet hit the ground, he bent his knees into a crouch and moved to a rock outcropping overlooking the base below. The second ship came in and instead of a touch and go, landed and kept its engines in a dull idle. The rest of second platoon offloaded the gear for the forward observation post as well as a handful of non-combatants. The engines spooled back up and the shuttle climbed back into the sky above. Noise discipline was maintained even among the non-combatants who set about their task of setting up their gear.

Soon the forward observation post was set up and two squads set out to start a quick sweep of the area. The Sentinel moved to the radio’s and keyed the mic.

“Sigma 1-Actual, This is Alpha 1-Actual. We are dug into the Ant hill. How copy? Over.” Talis stared at the radio before he toyed with the volume knob. A whispered voiced cut through the silence.

“Alpha 1-Actual, this is Sigma 1-Actual. We copy. Polyphemous initiated. Over.” Talis handed the headset back to the Corporal manning the radio and headed back to his overwatch position. A two man sniper team had taken up their position as overwatch and were scanning the area of operation.

“Alpha Overwatch, this is Alpha 1-1. Report.” Talis whispered into his mic.

“All is quiet Alpha 1-1. They are none the wiser to our presence. Over,” the Spotter replied without taking his eyes off his large scope. The Odanite was impressed at how professional and efficient the platoon was operating.

“Affirmative Alpha overwatch, keep me apprised of the situation.” Talis motioned towards two squad leaders to muster on him. “All right, get your men into position I will take 1 squad with me and we will press forward to a forward fighting position and then hunker down for the main force.”

The two replied to him with curt nods before turning to their squads and giving out orders through an plethora of intricate hand signals. Without a sound the two squads began moving to their positions. Talis fell in behind Third squad and made his way with them to the forward defensive perimeter. They found a nice position about a hundred meters down and fortified it before taking up their duties. Scopes and rifles were produced from packs and smaller radios were set up. Each squad had with them a sniper, a medic, and a radio man for the mission as well as a heavy weapons operator who acted as the spotter for the sniper until needed.

Talis found a nice rock to curl up next to and began meditating, waiting for the assault to begin.

Alpha Command and Control
Landing Zone Alpha on the Planet Kyulou.
2 hours ago

“Alpha 1-1, this is Alpha actual. We have confirmation that the 3rd infantry and the 2nd Aegis are inbound low from the south-southwest on grid Papa-Niner. How copy? Over.”
“Alpha Actual, this is Alpha 1-1. Copy that.” Talis moved over to squad leaders position to his right. “This is the part where we find out just how quiet they can be.”

“Alpha 1-3, This is Alpha Actual. What is your sit-rep on the scouting party? Over.”
“Alpha Actual, this is Alpha 1-3. We are about one mike from the perimeter will relay when we are home safe, how copy? Over.”
“Alpha 1-3, this is Alpha Actual. Good copy. Keep us updated. Over.”

Talis looked at the squad leader and nodded. He could feel the groups uneasiness.
“All is going smooth so far.” Talis felt the tension relax for a bit which eased his own nerves. “Just remember your training, our job is not combat until the main force moves.” The Jedi sat down behind the fortified defensive wall and went back to meditating, and waited.

Forward Defensive Position
Landing Zone Alpha on the Planet Kyulou
30 minutes ago

“Alpha 1-1, this is Shadow. How copy?” Mako’s voice and blaster fire cut through the silence, jarring Talis awake.
“Shadow, this is Alpha 1-1. Good copy, What’s your situation?” Talis rolled from his sitting position up to a crouch and made his way to the Sniper’s side.
“Alpha 1-1, this is Shadow. We are engaged with enemy forces, request assistance.” Talis’ could hear Mako’s men in the background calling out targets as their blaster fire echoed through the communications headset.

“Foxtrot 1-1, this is Alpha 1-1. What’s your eta?” Talis whispered into the headset, “Foxtrot 1-1, this is Alpha 1-1. How copy? Over.” After a few moments of silence Talis registered the microphone activation.
“Alpha 1-1, this is Foxtrot 1-1. Good copy, what can I do you for sir?” the man’s gruff voice boomed back over the radio nonchalantly.
“Foxtrot 1-1, this is Alpha 1-1. I need a fire mission asap, will relay friendly location. Over.” Talis took a deep breathe and steadied himself. “Shadow, this is Alpha 1-1. What is your position? Over.”
“Alpha 1-1, this is Shadow. We don’t need direct fire we need a Rancor on the front lawn.” The Jedi recognized the code phrase for a diversion.

“Alpha Overwatch, this is Alpha 1-1. Give me something to blow up. Over.” A smile spread across the Odanites face.
“Roger that sir,” the spotter’s voice cut out for what seemed like ages, “Foxtrot 1-1 this is Alpha Overwatch. Requesting a fire mission on the southeast side of grid Charlie-five. I say again, the southeast side of grid Charlie-five. How copy?”

Talis turned to the sniper with a puzzled look.
“Isn’t that?”
“That would be the front door Master Jedi,” the sniper adjusted as he interrupted the Pathfinder.

Five successive booms rang out from the opposite side of the compound, followed by five ground shaking bangs. A few moments afterwards an alarm shot out from the base.

“Well so much for surprise,” Talis whispered jokingly.
“Alpha 1-1, this is Shadow. how copy?”
“Shadow, this is Alpha 1-1. We have a good copy. How are things in there? Over.”
“Sporty.” The transmission cut out abruptly.

“Alpha 1-2, this is Alpha 1-1. Muster on my position and prepare to assault. Over.” After a few moments the other squad appeared before the Jedi out of nothing at the ready.
“Looks like we are moving the time table up, check your gear we move in three mikes.” The small force before him replied with quick nods before checking their gear.

At the three minute mark, the group moved like a shadow rolling down the side of the mountain. The group was as silent as death as they came to the bottom of their mountain and moved towards cover a hundred meters from the base of the building. Talis called them to a halt as they waited for the infantry to make their move.

“Alpha-Actual, this is Alpha 1-1. We are awaiting Mike 1-1’s assault, keep us posted. Over.”
“Alpha 1-1, this is Alpha Actual. Roger that.”

The group of special forces and their Jedi commander held their position like statues. Nobody moving, or making even the slightest of sounds. The only things that budged were the eyes of the troopers as they scanned their sectors, waiting for someone to come punch their ticket to the afterlife.

“This is Mike 1-Actual. Polyphemous is go. I repeat Polyphemous is a go.” On cue artillery opened up on the south and east side of the building. Pounding away at it with everything they had. Between blasts blaster fire could be heard. They had used the initial blast to get the main communications array and to jar the entire complex into their fighting positions and then waited for them to relax before pounding them with everything. It had worked out even with minimal conversation. The commanders were doing well improvising and working with one another.

BOOM!

Talis felt himself flying through the air backwards before he skipped off a rock and behind another. He groaned in pain as he rolled onto his side and strugglingly stood up. He looked back to his mens position and half of them lay dead or dying. The resounding yells for the medic cascaded through the ringing in his ears. Talis stumbled forward before coming to a hard stop kneeling against a boulder.

“What in the galaxy was that?” Talis yelled out through the pain he was feeling everywhere.
“A rocket sir, It hit the Sergeant dead on sir!” The squad leader of 1-4 limped over to him. “Are you okay sir?”
“I’m fine,” the crouched force wielder replied as he reached out to the world around him and pulled a small veining rivers of the Force into himself and set his four broken ribs. “I will be okay, how are the others?”
"Four Casualties, 1 litter only, and 2 KIA sir."
Five wounded and one we can’t move without a litter, this mission just got damn near impossible without third and fourth squad. Talis’ mind began to race as he searched for the rocket wielder.

“Alpha, this is Sigma. We are headed for the command center. The shuttles will need covering fire. Over.”
“Sigma Actual, this is Alpha Actual. We are diverting two of our Flares to provide extra escort in, Approach from the North North east and stay low, we have reports of air to ground missiles but have yet to locate them. Over.”

Kyulou
Iron Legion Forward Operating Base

The base shook as explosions resounded along the walls. Mako and his commandos stood with backs to the dead end of a corridor. In front of them a growing pile of fallen Iron Legion troops, behind them a terminal with a slicing spike shoved into it. It wasn’t the elegant solution that they had planned for. They were not able to send the base’s blueprints from it. However it had provided them enough access to the database to download a copy. It also had provided the more tech savvy commando’s the opportunity to divert power away from the base’s defenses and sensors. The narrow corridor allowed the team to fire upon the enemy while Hiding behind the cover of the Krath’s sabers.

“I told you morons that posing as tropers with stolen uniforms was a bad idea. That it wouldn’t give us access to anywhere on this base we needed to go. But no you child operatives had to have your shiny armor. We are just lucky I brought some of Lilly’s old spikes,” Mako sneered to those behind him as his sabers redirected another bolt back to its sender.

“At least he isn’t calling us babies anymore,” One of the commandos chuckled. The chuckle silenced as the Iron Legion troopers pulled back and a lightsabers snap-hiss echoed out. The Krath tilted his head to the side as he felt out his opponent.

“That saber is to fresh to fell me, boy,” Mako called out as he deactivated his own sabers, securing them on his belt.

“Only a fool underestimates his opponent,” the young Human Sith retorted, as the young man stepped over the dead.

“Your blade shakes, and your face looks as if it has never tasted a shave. This is your first true battle, isn’t it. I bet you are not even a Knight yet.” The younger human cringed but continued to advance, seemingly oblivious to the Living Force pouring into the Equite.

“That doesn’t matter, you are just a light side weakling, no match for the pow-” the words failed the boy as his saber barely made it in time to block the Force guided electricity that spewed forth from Mako.

“CALL ME A LIGHTIE AGAIN, I DARE YOU!” Mako’s voice seethed with rage as he screamed at the young Sith.

“How can a Jedi be so strong.” the younger Human swallowed on a suddenly dry throat.

“I AM NOT A JEDI, I AM A KRATH!” Mako screamed at the Sith boy, the Force swelled up in inside as he suppressed the Sith’s defenses, Then with a tug the red saber skidded across the space between them, coming to a stop next to three others exactly like it. In a flash of blue light and a muffled scream, the younger Human fell to the ground a smoking corpse.

“Len, we are going to have to hold this point to keep those turbo lasers down. You better tell Aleitha to hurry that landing up or they may start sending the Sith that could actually hurt us and not just the annoying apprentices. Shadow out!” The radio stayed silent, for but a moment.

Forward Defensive Position,
Landing Zone Alpha on the Planet Kyulou,
Current time

“Move, move!” shouted Lieutenant Colonel Lithar Andaris to the troopers in his squad. He was happy that the flight under heavy cannonade finished. They made it to the landing zone, but had to rush, if they wanted to make it to the enemy base before Mako Henymory and the team of elite commandos under his command would finally get overwhelmed by the hostile forces.

“Secure our position,” commanded Lithar with firm voice of an experienced officer and led his squad to the north, where the enemy base was located. Supported by the armoured units they made their way towards the military complex. Their mission was going to be tough, as the primary forces of House Satele Shan were tasked with taking over the enemy base. Fortunately, the initial phase of the ground attack was proceeding smoothly.

The platoon moved quickly through the forest, eliminating small groups of the Iron Legion soldiers, who persisted in their attempts to slow down the advance of the forces of House Satele Shan. Each such skirmish kept the platoon busy, but costed minimal casualties. Very few soldiers were wounded and none of them got killed.

Lieutenant Colonel Lithar Andaris had repeated that the more one sweated in the training, the less one bled in combat very often. Once again, he was proved to be correct, as the recently formed military units of House Satele Shan were well-trained, even though they lacked combat experience. However, their skills and knowledge of the equipment allowed them to minimalize their own casualties during the combat, while effectively dealing with more and more of approaching enemies.

Planet Kyulou
Perimeter of the Iron Legion Base

“Copy that Shadow. Almost there.”

The devastation from the bombardment was hidden by the command building, but columns of smoke were rising above the structure. Iron Legion technicians were scrambling to contain the fires and soldiers were trying to secure what they could. Another squad was preparing to assault outside one of the service entrances.

The squad leader turned to his men. “We just received a report a Krath is inside boys. Let’s show him what we think of his ‘Order’ boys.”

One of the troopers heard a crunch and looked in the direction “Intruders!”

As the rest of the would be assaulters turned, they were mowed down by blaster fire.

“Clear! Push through and stack up at the door.”

Len and the team lined up along the wall next to the door. With a nod the team disappeared through the door and into the stairwell. Echoing from upstairs, occasional blaster shots could be heard.

“Shadow, this is Sigma. We’re in the west stairwell, seconds away, over.”

As the approached the third floor, the door swung open and a technician aimed a blaster at the OEF soldier on point in front of Len. The trooper fired and hit the technician in the shoulder causing him to fall in pain, but he still managed to get one shot off before being hit again by the lead soldier.

The Commander felt the plasma bolt penetrate near his hip and his leg muscle give out. Using his good leg he controlled his fall to be out of the way of the next man behind him. Collapsing on the floor, the lead man stopped.

“Keep pushing, Mako needs the backup. I’ll take up the rear.” Len attempted to stand, but his left leg didn’t want to cooperate.

The second to last trooper, the team sergeant got under Len’s left arm. “No heroics, sir.”

“I would never dream of heroics, sergeant. Too much paperwork.” Len joked.

“We’ll get the Commando Medic to look at it when we get upstairs.”

Len nodded, “Let’s move out.”

Planet Kyulou
Iron Legion Base
Northern Perimeter

Blaster fire rained down from various defensive fighting positions above the squad as they hunkered down. Commands could be heard from a good distance off as Talis barked orders to his men and over the radio.

“Wampa 1-4, this is Alpha 1-1, I need bombing runs on the northwest side of the building, danger close, do you copy?”

Static echoed back to the Odanite as he glared at the busted radio. A million thoughts were running through his head when his hand came to rest on his Denton charge. He turned to the wall before him and then up to the defensive positions of the Iron Legion troops.

“Corporal,” the Sentinel barked out to get the man’s attention. When the Corporal turned, the Miralukan motioned to his Denton Charge on his belt, then to the wall. He followed that by pointed at the soldier and then made a motion to the group before pointing at the Iron Legion defensive positions. The operator nodded in reply and then motioned out orders to the rest of the men to take up covering positions. Talis found a covered spot to brace himself and then make the mad dash for the wall.

The Jedi began pooling the Force into his leg muscles. He was poised like a predator preparing to pounce on its prey, waiting for the command.

“Covering fire!” the Corporal bellowed out. Talis burst from cover and cleared the hundred meters in a couple seconds. He came to a kneeling slide at the foot of the wall before pulling his Denton charge off his belt and setting the timer on it to match his belt of thermal detonators. With three fingers on his right hand and his left thumb he deftly triggered the explosives countdown before dashing down the wall and cowering behind what little cover he could find.

A loud explosion shook the wall creating a massive plume of smoke and firing debris outward forcing the assaulting squads to take cover.

Talis rose from his position and made his way through the murky downfall to a new hole just large enough to get one man through. The Pathfinder acrobatically scrambled through the hole and into the lit corridor of the building.

“Shadow, this is Alpha 1-1. We have breached the northwestern wall and are making our way to the stair well. How copy?” Again, static was all that responded to the Knight. Three soldiers scrambled through the hole behind Talis in quick succession.
“The Medic and one litter bearer stayed behind sir. We have two on defensive posture outside our door. We will hold this position and wait for Shadow to rendezvous.”
“Roger that Corporal. Do you have comms? It seems mine aren’t working.”
“Yes sir. Mine are up.”
“Good, relay a message to Shadow. Tell him I am moving up the Northwestern stairs and going to take the barracks area.” With that the Sentinel disappeared up a flight of stairs.

Iron Legion Base
Second Floor
Barracks

The Miralukan reached out to his surroundings as he went as well as began to veil his own force sensitivity. He found the barracks area almost completely deserted. All the soldiers were off fighting and the technicians were busy with damage control. He wasn’t there for them. His job was simple. Find any force sensitives and try to keep them busy.

After a few turns, Talis snaked his way through the compound to an inner sanctum. He felt the presence of four beings. One stood out to the Knight as an equal. The other three did not seem to be much of a threat to the Jedi so he made his way to the entrance and activated the door.

The two apprentices stood sharply from their seats and drew their lightsabers at the sight of the armored figure at their door. The other two remained in their seated position staring at the intruder with intrigue. Talis dropped his veil and drew his lightsaber out into his left hand as he marched towards the quartet of Sith. The two acolytes didn’t even notice the change in the figures force signature and stepped forward, drawing their crimson bladed weapons. One of the two seated men moved but was stopped by the others upraised hand.

Talis lunged at the approaching duo and swatted their rudimentary swipes away as he acrobatically spun out of their reach. The Odanite feinted and stepped away from another reflexive swat from one to the Sith. The two men did not provide much of a threat to the Ataru striker with their flailing about. Talis used basic tactics and kept the two fighters lined out in front of him. Always keeping one of the fighters out of striking distance behind the other.

With a sudden burst of speed and aggression, the Sentinel assaulted the nearest apprentice with a flurry of strikes. The young force user did everything he could against the homing strikes of his opponent. His efforts fell just short as his forearms just below the hands and his left leg just above the knee were parted from his body. The wounded Acolyte passed out from the shock before his body thudded upon the hard floor.

This fueled the second apprentice, who bellowed as he lunged at the Knight. His look of rage was replaced with a look of bewildered awe as he watched the Ataru specialist leap at him in a spin that brought three strikes down at the awestruck warrior. His defense held through the first strike, but wavered on the second and was completely blown down and away on the third. As Talis landed, he counter spun to his right and drug his lightsaber across the thighs of his opponent. The scream that the man let out were like daggers to the Miralukan’s senses. He quickly regained his composure before turning to the two remaining warriors.

“Your best bet, would have been to attack me all together,” Talis’ smile was infectious, “Why do Sith always do that?”
“Silence! You do not have the right to speak to my master so flippantly!” the young man before the Jedi stood a half of a foot shorter and outweighed the Sentinel. He wore a sleeveless robe with the emblem of the Iron Legion emblazoned upon the chest. His hair was tied back in a bun and his face was baby smooth. “I will…”
“Silence!” the seated figure pronounced loudly, “You will do as you were told Apprentice!”

Talis felt the apprentice’s conflicting feelings of anger and fear. He clearly wanted to fight the Jedi out of rage but his fear of his master was greater.

“Now run along,” The hooded master stated laughingly, “we have another guest to invite to the party.”
“Another guest?” Talis interrupted insolently, “what are we to do until the other guest arrives?”
“We will wait.” The statement of fact caught the Odanite off guard.
“Really?” Talis replied unconvinced by the figure, “So we are just gonna sit here staring at eachother.”
“You can’t really stare at me Miralukan.”
“Oh, the creepy robed hermit has jokes.”

The apprentice’s stare of terror and amazement interrupted the two verbal combatants.
“Apprentice!” The sharp bark from the robed Sith sent the acolyte into a sprint for the door. “Good help is so hard to find.”
“I’ve never had that issue.” Talis deactivated his orchid blade before sitting a few meters across from the Robed figure and placed his lightsabers hilt before him.

The mental chess match of feeling out the others power had begun.

Mako sighed with relief as Len’s team rounded their final corner into the Krath’s hallway. The troopers took in the mangle of bodies strewn about the hall. In a normal situation the commando’s position would have been a death sentence, trapped at the end of a narrow hallway with no way in or out. It was just another reminder that the Force users they fought with could be game changers. With only one way for the blaster bolts to come and such a narrow space Henymory’s blades had become as good as any wall. Mako moved forward past the troopers, extending the cover to them as well. As the Sergeant rounded the corner with Len in tow the Seer’s relief faded.

“You are wounded.”

“You seem to have surrounded yourself with death, as usual.”

“They take the comms tower down yet?”

“That and the generator,” the Battleteam leader replied with a smirk.

“So kind of you to mention that over the comms, you good to move to a less exposed location?”

“I think I can manage,” the Chiss said through a wince.

“Our diversion just outlived its usefulness boys. Pack it up we are moving to rendezvous point 2, make sure to grab that slicing spike,” the former Quaestors voice carried a sense of urgency to it and commandos and troopers alike lined up quickly behind Mako.

“It may not look or seem like it Iode, but I am one of, if not the best Force healer in the whole Clan. You are going to be just fine if I can heal you soon.” Mako patted the Pathfinders leader on the shoulder quickly and began to lead the way, drawing the Force into himself as they went.

They were almost to rendezvous point 2 when the Sith Apprentice stepped into their way. The boy’s saber shook as his senses took in the Krath before him. Yet his Master’s words and the promise of pain at disobedience steeled the boy’s resolve.

“My Master requests your presence.”

“If your Master wishes to see me then perhaps he should have come himself,” Mako retorted.

“We have your Miraluka captive, you will come now. Least we send him back to you a piece at a time,” The Apprentice demanded, his voice becoming stronger and more steady with each syllable. Mako’s eye twitched slightly as his eire rose. Then in a heartbeat the emitter of the Apprentices saber collapsed upon Itself and the crimson saber’s blade flickered out. Startled the boy dropped the hilt and half stumbled backward, his fall stopped by an iron grip on his minimalistic robes. The snap hiss of the Krath’s silver blade bursting to life seemed to last an eternity to the Apprentice.

“Mako!” Len yelled out. The Human’s head turned slightly and the thrust stopped short of the boy’s eye. “Go get Talis.”

“Sergeant, I am holding you personally responsible for bringing the Commander to me after all this is done.”

“Roger that Commandant,” the veteran trooper replied.

“Now little Sithling take me to your Master.”

Several Minutes later

The Apprentice flew through the door, his impact into the wall startling his Master and Talis out of their contest of constraint. As a Miraluka, Talis could see the Force through emotions, his sight was further increased by having trained in the Force. To his Miralukan eyes it seemed as if a strong wind was drawing all of the Living Force in the room into the individual that stepped through the Barracks room door next. The being seemed to emanate a dark grey aura that shifted suddenly to pitch black as the loud crack of the Apprentices neck snapping echoed out.

“You have someone that belongs to me, Sith,” Talis swallowed on a suddenly dry throat as the Krath’s nearly hissed words seemed to fade into the sound of his dual lightsabers igniting to life.

There was not much that Lithar had to do, when they entered the base of the Iron Legion. Of course, there were many firefights taking place almost behind every corner, but the troops of House Satele Shan were trained well enough to deal with them efficiently. Their own casualties were minimal and most of them were just less or more seriously wounded. The only person that he was worried about was Commander Len Iode, the Battleteam Leader of Garza’s Pathfinders and one of leaders of the operation, who got wounded in his leg. Despite his training in field medicine, Lithar could not help his superior at that moment, because as received the news about it through his comm, he was forced to command a little bit larger group of soldiers. Still, he limited himself to giving general orders, as the troopers took initiative up, when it came to choosing a way to fulfill his commands.

The Lieutenant Colonel followed his subordinates deeper into the complex. He showed off by killing several opponents with quickly aimed shots few times, but as his team moved further and further towards the command area of the base the resistance of the Iron Legion grew stronger. It was obvious that the inner parts of the facility were defended by elite troopers, though Lithar was quite surprised to learn that there were very few Force users fighting them and that none of them was a real threat to the strike teams. He guessed that the most powerful Siths and Dark Jedi were present somewhere else in the base, but he did not have any clue what could they do there and why.

Iron Legion Base
Second Floor
Sith Sanctum

“So tell me, Jedi,” the hooded figure paused, “what brings you to my neck of the galaxy?”

“Oh you know,” Talis smiled back at the hooded figure, “general hate and loathing for Pravus.”

“Grand Master Pravus,” the hidden figure corrected.

“He isn’t my Grand Master.” The Miralukan could feel the revulsion caused by his comment flowing off the being before him. “What? Did I strike a tender nerve?”

“You are young,” the Sith replied, “one day you will be subservient to the Grand Master, as will all of your people. Those of you who hold out will die.”

“I believe you put too much stock in the power of your people.” The Knight’s grin spread across his face again. He felt tendril worming and prodding at the defenses of his mind. “What do you think you will gain trying that?”

“Trying what?” The legitimacy of the man’s confusion caused the Miralukan to panic for a second. Almost on reflex the Odanite began searching the immediate area for anyone else.

A sudden burst of power erupted from behind a weapon rack to his right drawing his attention to the area. Two more acolytes were sitting meditating next to another Sith. This one was not covered in a garments. Her tattoos snaked around her long jagged spikes that protruded from her bald head. She wore a cannibalized Iron legion armor. The Zabrak’s teeth were sharpened to a point and it made her smile even more intimidating along with her deeply furrowed brow. Her right hand held a pair of lightsabers as her left was extended towards him.

Talis’ realized at that moment that the man before him was not the Master. He was but a puppet of the real threat. The Jedi calmed his nerves as he felt the intrusion subside.

“That would be the master.” The sudden burst of sound interrupting the tense silence made the Jedi flinch slightly and snap his gaze back to the robed figure. The opponent of words pulled back his robe to reveal silky smooth locks of hair before dropping the robe behind him revealing broad shoulders. His hawkish appearance made the man look predatory but his slight frame removed any intimidation Talis had felt from the man. He pulled his lightsaber out and placed it before him. It was a simple armory saber.

Talis let out a laugh before corralling his emotions again. The look of confusion on the human before him made him laugh loudly again. He reached into the side of his boot and produced an armory saber of the same make as the Sith across from him. He placed it next to the lightsaber he built once he had become a knight.

“I keep this for sentimental reasons,” the Jedi paused, “it saw me through some tough times. Including the sacking of New Tython.”

“Oh,” the look of intrigue spread across the man’s face, “I have never met a survivor. I mean you see interrogation videos of captured Jedi but you never really get to meet many of your kind.”

“My kind?” Talis paused, “You mean Miralukan’s or Jedi who survived the glassing of our home?”

“Well both to be frank.”

A sudden burst of energy cascaded through the door. A body flew past the pair and slammed heavily into the wall the Miralukan was facing.

“That would be my Krath friend.”

“You have someone that belongs to me, Sith,” Talis swallowed on a dry throat. He had not realized he had failed to keep his throat from drying up due to all the talking they were doing. He coughed up some mucus and swallowed it back down to rectify the issue.

“Guess its time to end this battle of words.” Talis reached forward with tendrils snaking from both hands and pulled both lightsabers to him. He slid his legs outward from their crossed position and rose up to a crouching position. The man before him snatched up and ignited his crimson blade and swatted at the Odanite. His swipe hit nothing but empty space. His gaze lifted upwards, following the Jedi as he tucked his legs and spun backwards in a tight somersault.

He landed nimbly a few paces back from the greasy haired man. The hawk featured man’s furrowed brow eased as he rose deftly from the ground to stand eye to eye with the Sentinel.

“Mako!” Talis boomed out and pointed, “your fight is behind the weapon rack on our right.”

“Don’t tell me.” The Krath’s words were cut short as a yellow lightsaber erupted to life followed by a pink lightsaber. The Zabrak stepped from behind the weapon case with her two acolytes in tow. “Well at least this will be fun.”

“Go get her tiger.” The Miralukan chuckled as he lifted his right knee and replaced his armory saber in its hidden compartment. He adjusted his footing, pointing his leading foot at his target and turning his right, trailing foot, at a forty-five degree angle away from his opponent. His feet were out, just a little wider than shoulder width apart. His knees bent slightly and he presented his guard forward towards his opponent and diagonally from his left hip to his right shoulder. His hand was held just above his hip and his body didn’t seem tense. His grip was farther back on his lightsaber, just above his pommel. His right hand floated out in front of his body between his shoulders and his grip, just above his elbow. His free hand was opened but not flat and rigid, it was loose and the fingers were slightly curled.

The Knight reflexively snapped into his stance and watched as his opponent rigidly took up his own stance. Both hands on his lightsaber, slightly apart from one another. With one maintaining a death grip just under the emitter and the other white knuckling his pommel. The man’s shoulders where squared up to the Gray Jedi. His feet were spread shoulder length apart and bent. Both pointing straight at his opponent but his right foot was back. Talis would make him pay for that.

The pair of acolytes that were trailing their master drew the Odanite’s attention away for just a moment as they ran for cover. The two dual wielding monsters had begone their dance of death. The pair of twin blades snaked and clashed and hammered away at each other. Flowing back and forth like a well choreographed dance.

The hair on Talis’ neck rose, causing him to reflexively duck and spin to his right on his leading left foot. As he came around he leveled his lightsaber for a stab. His sickly looking opponent allowed his shoulder level slash to carry him around and he turned his blade down and brushed his opponents stab wide. Turning his blade above his head, he brought a mighty downward hack towards the seemingly exposed Miralukan.

A golden blade interrupted the downward hack as the Sentinel stepped through with his stab and continued at the Zabrak who was following Mako. She spun nimbly on the balls of her feet and struck back at the Knight but was met by another golden blade. Talis erupted from the entanglement upwards and spun down on the the Sith’s yellow and pink blades as the wielder stepped back. The impacts of his strikes carried him onward past the angry woman as she bellowed in pain. Two long spikes fell to the ground at her feet.

The armored Knight landed and bounded out of her range as she swiped at him with her pink blade in her right hand from up high and used the momentum to bring her golden blade in her left hand back around on Mako who deftly raised a flaxen yellow blade to meet the Sith’s attack.

The pale human swiped at the lesser combatant before returning his attention back to her. Talis used this moment to explode past the Seer and brought a rising slash up into the crimson lightsaber wielder’s readied defense. The resulting collision sent the opponent back a step and stopped the Miralukan’s momentum. They were back to square one.