03-19-2017, 08:43 PM
(OOC: Warning to the reader! This post contains material that could be considered offensive and of adult nature. Reader’s discretion is advised.)
Behind Enemy Lines (Day Two)
Covert Action (Duncan/Jaden)
Outer Rim World of Olivan
Date: 2919 AOK (Eight months after Auro’s Birthday)
The Republic walker barreled down on them like an anger giant. The mass of Partisans tried to hold the line, but It's powerful mass cannon ripping holes in the lines of the Partisans. The fire power of the walker was making impossible. Frija, Trysta and the Rodian former Padawan Geelo were doing everything in their power to hold back the fire power of the walker. It just wasn’t enough. The Republic platoon supported by the walker was pressing forward. Just as Frija had wanted them to do.
Hidden in the rubble of the remains of a building, a lone gun crew waited for their moment to join the battle. Frija and the rest of the partisans were leading the Walker right where the gun crew could take the killing shot. Slowly the lumbering monster moved forward in the middle of the street as nearly forty Republic soldiers move up the sides. It was all done in traditional Republic fashion.
"Give me a shell," whispered Eaton.
Only after a moment of hesitation, Duncan reached in to the wooden box and pulled up the shell. It was heavy but he could manage moving it by himself. The tip of the shell was the warhead of a Republic standard issue proton missile. The body of the shell was a brass pipe with a cap on the end. The brass section of the shell was filled with pounded explosive. The weapon had been christened the ‘Walker Cracker’ and this is its first field test. In fact, this is the weapons first time actually firing. The shells were simply too hard to come by to test them.
The Starchaser brothers had learned the day before that the core of the partisans combat philosophy comes from a text written by a person claiming to be the King of the Heavens. In this text, it is written, use what the enemy throws away. In this case, a starfighter proton missile that had been recovered from s downed, ARC-170. The barrel of the cannon was cut from the barrel of a Mass Driver cannon. Much of the other pieces to this cannon were scavenged from things found in the combat zone.
Duncan handed the shell to Eaton, the cannon's loader, who turned and guided it in to the breach of the cannon. Unlike Republic gun crews who had the benefit of laser targeting, advanced sights and auto-loading, the loader had to manually press the shell in to the breach. He used a large metal arm to seal the breach. He then armed the weapon by pulling up a six-centimeter nail and pressing it through a hole in the breach.
The Gunner, Pel worked the small metal wheels that moved the barrel slightly in any given direction. He carefully sighted the Republic walker from behind their hidden position. Pel looked down a tube that was fixed to the barrel. At the far end of the tube, a pair of very thin wires formed the cross hairs of the manual sight.
“One, five, four” whispered Luis, the cannon’s spotter, from upstairs. Each moment he called out the range of the Republic Walker as it continued to make short work of the Partisan lines. Just behind it, the gun crew could see the platoon of Republic soldiers escorted by a pair of Jedi.
The morning wasn’t supposed to be like this. Before dawn, Trysta got both brothers out of bed with the promise of shopping. She even suggested coffee on the river walk. The hundred fighter patrol set out long before the Republic crews were done with breakfast. With their group were five wagons pulled by beasts of burden. Frija wanted to bring one of the new Walker Crackers to test it. She hoped that the group would make contact with a Republic patrol.
Just before dawn, Frija’s wish came true. Their advanced scouts spotted a fresh patrol moving along the River Front District. To everyone’s horror, expect Frija, the Republic patrol was supported by a Heavy Walker. Because the Partisans simply didn’t have much in terms of heavy weapons that could fight a walker, they would normally let such a heavy force slipped by them. But not today! Frija ordered up an ambush.
Frija moved her forces quickly to get in to position. As she set up her ambush, Duncan was deeply impressed with her knowledge of city fighting. She knew how to use the city to maximize her forces. More than that, she created a complex double ambush for the Republic soldiers. One she hoped the Republic would break, and the second would give the Walker Cracker a chance to shine. That would give her first line a chance to reform and cut off any hope of retreat for the Republic soldiers.
As the Republic walker moved in to position, the all clone gun crew worked hard to ready their field weapon for fire. As he looked down the sight, Pel, carefully moved two wheels next to the barrel. The barrel of the gun slowly moved at very small degrees. Despite the explosions and combat around him, Per focused on the walker as he brought his target in to sight. Up until this moment, the walker nor the foot soldiers knew that the cannon was there. Frija and the others were doing a very good job of being a distraction. Unfortunately, neither Duncan nor Jaden were able to warn the Republic soldiers of what was about to befall them.
“Ready,” Pel said as he moved from the sight. At the same time, everyone moved to cover their ears. Pel picked up a large sledgehammer and swung it at the firing pin. The impact of the pin slamming against the ignition charge ignited the chemical charge which propelled the Proton warhead out of the barrel at just over supersonic speeds. The entire cannon was engulfed in white smoke as it rolled back in to the breaks that had been placed there.
The proton warhead slammed in to the walker’s forward leg with high velocity. The explosion ripped the leg from the walker sending it in to a line of Republic soldiers walking on that side of the walker. The missile also badly damaged the mid leg. A large gaping hole was ripped through the side of the walker. The walker made a groaning sound as it rolled forward and nosed planted in to the street. It was a nasty hit, but the walker was still very dangerous. Had this warhead been fired correctly, the walker would had been destroyed.
The gun crew cheered at their success as they had done something that few on Olivan could claim. They brought a Republic Walker to a stop. But their celebration was short lived. The large plum of white smoke gave away their position. To their horror, the gun crew saw the powerful mass driver cannon turn towards them. There was no time to react as it fired! While the thick white smoke gave away their location, it also partially obscured them.
The powerful energy blast hit the wall directly behind the cannon. A clone who had been moving up with some water to cool cannon was blasted in to the sky. His burning form vanished behind some buildings. Three of the surviving clone crew fled in horror at the destructive power of the now crippled walker. The mass driver cannon was preparing to fire at any moment. All they could do was run. Almost all, Duncan, Jaden and Pel remained. Though Neither Duncan nor Jaden could explain why they choose to remain.
It was war at its worse. Fighting an enemy that had you easily out gunned at each battle. An enemy who’s training was scaled in years, where the partisans were lucky if they could put together a few hours. One thing that the Partisans did have that Duncan could respect was courage. Maybe that was the reason why he and Jaden remained with the elderly Clone Pel, because he wouldn’t give up until that walker was dead.
Duncan and Jaden had just met Pel and the rest of this gun crew a few hours ago. They had only an hour to get used to their weapon before being deployed on this scavenger mission. Duncan and Jaden learned that the gun crew was made up of clones who joined the Partisans just two weeks ago. All of them had dreams of finding the Republic and driving them from their world. Unfortunately, none of them had ever held a weapon before that time. So Duncan wasn't when the majority of the gun crew fled.
Pel screamed out, "reload!" As he turned the wheels and sighted the walker again.
It wasn’t out anger or desire to hurt Republic troops, that drove Duncan to leap forward to the, now vacant, loaders position. It was out of a sense of not wanting to die. That walker was about to unleash hell and Duncan wasn’t sure they could escape. The only option was to fight. Duncan opened the breach and pulled the burning hot shell casing out. The pain in his hands was almost unbearable. The only thing worse was being dead. Duncan pushed through the pain and cleared the breach.
At the same time, Jaden reached in to the box and readied the next round. The smell of combat was over powering. He removed the safety cap and the wire that prevented the Proton from arming. Carefully though with some degree of urgency, Jaden handed the deadly shell to Duncan. Jaden looked at the last shell in the box and hoped that they wouldn’t need more than two more.
Another blast from the Mass Driver sent rock, debris and bits of tinfoil flying over them. The blast was so close that they two brothers had to fight to keep control over the modified Proton shell. With the shell, safely in their arms, each let go a sigh of relief. They looked at each other before glancing at the tinfoil hanging around them.
The partisans had taken strips of tinfoil and hung them around the cannon’s position. The idea was that once the cannon started to taking fire from the mass driver, that the heated air around the cannon would be dissipated by the strips of tinfoil. These now heated stripped would disrupt the thermal sights of the walkers.
A theory that was now proving to work, to Duncan’s surprise. The Mass Driver Gunner was having a hard time compensating for the tinfoil. Duncan slammed the shell in to the breach and closed it. He placed the nail where it needed to go and tapped Pel on the shoulder. Who was carefully dialing in the walker.
Pel nodded as he said, “Ready!” and moved to fire the weapon. He swung the sledgehammer with all his might.
The cannon fired, and the proton warhead slammed in to the drivers compartment of the walker. The explosion erupted, at first, in the drivers compartment then in the body of the walker. Within seconds, the Starchaser brothers watched in horror as ten Republic soldiers, leaped from the burning walker. Their death screams could easily be heard as they dropped to the ground one by one. The sight was horrific to watch, and worse knowing that one had a hand in it.
With glory in his eyes, Pel turned to the two brothers holding up his fist in victory. The raised fist was Partisan’s sign that they were drawing a great deal of support from. The pride and happiness was seen in the former obstetricians eyes, as the older clone was clearly happy. He turned his hands towards the brother giving them to thumbs up. He started to say, ‘we did it,’ before his voice was cut off.
The blue blade through his chest was more than enough to kill the old clone/obstetrician. Who had joined the partisans two weeks ago, because, after years of helping children decided he wanted a family of his own. He had told Duncan when they first met, that he wanted live in a world where he could decide to have a family or where to work. The right to left slice of the second blue blade that severed his head was all for show.
Both Jaden and Duncan didn't know the Jedi Master who now stood before them. But Duncan knew by his deep blue robes that this was no ordinary Jedi. This was a Jedi Hunter, highly trained in hunting down and bringing force using criminals to justice. They were an elite group of Jedi within the Order who were charged with finding the darkness where ever it hid. They were masters of dark knowledge and held their origins woven in the history of Lord Hoth and his Army of the Light.
Jedi Investigators by situation, the vast majority of Jedi Hunters are trained as Jedi Weapon Masters. Duncan also knew that because of their proximity to darkness, Hunters have a disproportionate number who fall to the darkside. Judging by this much older human Jedi and how he held his twin blue blades held in a reverse grip, it suggested that he was a Weapon Master. Behind him, his male green Twi'lek, Padawan made short work of their Walker Cracker.
If the two brothers had their lightsabers and full access to the force, then this would have been a reasonable challenge for them. Without those two aiding in the fight, facing off with a Master Jedi Hunter and his Padawan was foolish. Which was a valuable lesson Duncan had learned from Master Dooku. “Never share a fight with someone braver than yourself.”
To Duncan’s surprise, Jaden didn’t think, he only reacted to the new threat. Picking up a modified hunting carbine blaster with a sharpened rod for a bayonet, Jaden went on the offensive. Letting out a true warrior’s yell, Jaden lunged at the Jedi Master with all of his might.
The Master parried the lung, removing half of the barrel and the bayonet. When Jaden brought the butt of the weapon to bare on the master, another parry removed that section of the weapon as well. Out of wind and weapon, Jaden’s momentum had shifted to Duncan and the Master.
As his Padawan was moving up to assist the, Master went on the attack. It literal took all Jaden’s skill and effort to not get cut down by this man. With his focus on Jaden, Duncan moved more tactically. His picked up a barrel rod, that had a hook on one side and a large padded section on the other. Unlike Jaden who didn’t think through his attack, Duncan took a valuable moment to scan the situation before moving.
Duncan sung with all his might and nailed the inexperienced Padawan with the softer of the two ends. The blow tossed the Padawan in to the street and out of this combat. Duncan noticed that Geelo was moving to take on the Padawan. On that note, he turned on his heels while riding his intuitive. He sung on the Master from a flanking position. He had hoped that he had surprise, but didn’t count on it. The Master spun a blade in a parry rendering Duncan’s weapon useless.
Turning his head, the Master reached out with the force and picked Duncan up in to the air. Duncan didn’t need to activate a force power to know that this master was powerful. Duncan was hurled through the air like a rage doll. He smashed his way through a wooden wall and landed hard in the center of what appeared to be a kitchen. As he settled on to his back, Duncan’s whole body screamed out in pain from being used as a battering ram. He let out a painful groan as he looked to the thick piece of wood that was through his lower leg.
Duncan looked up through the dust and saw the second floor of this badly damaged house.
The ceiling was starting to crack and give way. He let out a painful groan as he felt bits of plaster fall on his body. “This is going to hurt,” Duncan said calling upon the force. From the outside, the dust from the building collapsing was seen by Jaden. Jaden just watched his brother get killed by this Jedi. He could feel the darkside that had infected this city reaching out to him. Calling him to seek its power and take revenge.
The Old Master turned to Jaden, “time to die clone!”
Unable to recover the momentum, Jaden was forced on the defensive again. He couldn’t believe that this old man was beating his ass. With each attack, Jaden was forced to retreat, until his stumbled and fell. Jaden laid near helpless on the ground as the master moved in for the kill. The master laughed, “this ends now” he brought his blades up to spear Jaden. In that moment, Jaden knew he was dead. All his life has come to this moment and it was over. His brother had been killed, and now it was his turn. There was nothing he could do to stop this death. Nothing he could do, but accepted it. Jaden watched in horror as the twin bladed made their arc towards him.
The blades came towards Jaden and we're blocked by Trysta. She had leaped and landed, straddling Jaden’s body. “Really? I was just beginning to like him,” she said of Jaden playfully. She had her forearms crossed that made her reversed grip blades cross. This forced the twin blades of the master to meet at her blades. The downward force he was putting on her caused her well defined and toned legs to tense up as she summoned up her own strength to meet his.
As Jaden laid there under her, he realized that he had been given a new lease on life. He would not accept death like that again. Still unable to move, Jaden had a strange notion. ‘what a lovely place for a birthmark,’ he thought looked up at Trysta’s legs.
Trysta threw back the attack and shifted the momentum in to her favor. The battle became a fury of swings between the two combatants. Trysta held the momentum as she forced the master on to the defensive with relentless attacks. Everything he had heard and learned about her, Jaden was not disappointed. She was remarkable with her twin blades. He actually felt good that she was on his side. Then a thought dawned on him, ‘oh wait.’
As he watched the battle unfold, Jaden knew he had to get back in this fight somehow. He glanced over and saw that the Padawan had been engaged by Geelo, a low-ranking member of the saberblades. It was then he saw the sledgehammer and thought, a weapon. He gritted his teeth as he realized it was directly on the other side of the Old Master and Trysta. A battle he was not prepared to join, just yet.
Jaden moved counterclockwise around the dueling pair, and was amazed at Trysta's speed and dexterity. Her rapid attacks kept the more highly skilled Jedi Master off the offensive. Nothing he seemed to be able to do could break her attacks. However, being a Master with such experience and age came vital knowledge. After a few seconds, he realized he couldn’t break her attacks.
Instead he used the knowledge of her race to break her. He reached out through the force and grabbed her throat. Caught in the middle of an aerial attack, Trysta hung in midair like a doll being held by an anger child. Jaden watched as her throat actually changing shape as the force exerted itself upon her. Unable to breath and caught completely by surprise, Trysta dropped her blades near the cannon. It was in that moment that Jaden realized that Trysta’s vulnerability was her weak Force defense.
The master slung her up almost five meters in to the air and then down in to the debris with so much force that bricks and broken prices of wood flew up in to the air. Jaden heard a rush of air as Trysta’s lungs deflated from the impact. The old master picked her up again and flung her over Jaden’s head and slammed her back in to broken cannon barrel. Jaden could see Trysta’s face as she fought back against the force that was being used against her.
Despite her skill with blades, she had sacrificed valuable learning in the ways of the force to held defend herself against such attacks. Her back started to bend over the barrel as she still fought to resist him. Jaden could feel her draw upon the force as she summoned up her courage and inner strength. But it just wasn’t enough.
“Die,” the old Master said pushing harder against her. “Die, you rogue scum!” She let out a loud scream as her back started to crack under the pressure he was putting on her. He was going to fold her in half over the barrel.
Beyond the battle, Duncan had to use move object to free himself from the rubble. He knew by the sounds of the battle that no one would have noticed. Pain filled his body but he was lucky to be alive. He started to scrawl forward as he saw the scene unfolding. He reached out with his arm calling to his brother, but others top late.
Jaden grabbed the fifteen-kilogram sledgehammer and shifted on his feet. The hammer swung in a large arc for its target. The old master never saw the attack coming as he was too focused on killing Trysta, a known Terrorist and Rogue Leader. It impacted the side of the Old Jedi Master’s head. The man’s skull imploded under the impact. As the weight of the hammer carried Jaden through the attack, the hammer continued through the Master’s skull.
As the sledgehammer vaulted through the back of the man’s head, the skull crack and shattered as brain matter was ripped out. The hammer exploded from the man’s head only a fraction of a second after it hit him. Large bits of bone, gray brain matter, and hair flew through the air, as Jaden lost his footing and dropped to the ground. The force of the blow spun the old master around on his feet.
As Jaden looked up at the Master, the man looked down at Jaden. He reached behind his head to feel what had been down. There was a confused look on the man’s face as if he wasn’t sure what had happened or what to do about it. In that split second Trysta let out a painfilled scream of horror as she drew her blade in to her hand through the force and swung it.
It wasn’t graceful or even remotely skilled. Trysta’s attack looked more like a common street thug swinging a pipe. However, the end result was all that matter. Her blade passed through his forearm bracers and arm. It passed through his neck armor and his neck. The force of her swing sent her tumbling to the broken wheel of the cannon. She held on to the wheel for balance as she let out a deep cry dropping her sword.
"MASTER!" Cried the Padawan as he just dispatched Geelo.
Duncan scanned the battlefield. The Republic lines were broken and chaos was about to ensue. He knew that this battle was over and the Republic had lost. Already a number of troopers were fleeing the battlefield. Duncan knew that Trysta was no longer a threat to the Padawan, but Frija however was on the other side of the street. It was a matter of time before she would find and kill him.
Duncan did the most merciful thing he could do. He reached out through the force and touched the Padawan’s mind, “run” he said using both telepathy and affect mind.
The Padawan was no match for Duncan as he succumbed to the suggestion. The Padawan joined the rest of the fleeing Republic forces. Duncan couldn’t help but look down in sadness over the dead Jedi Master on the battlefield.
Duncan managed to get back up and walked with a limp back to the gun position where Jaden and Trysta were. As he watched the Padawan vanish, he knew that the young man would live to fight another day. Duncan also knew that others wouldn’t. What remained of the battlefield became a calamity. The Partisans were not feeling like taking prisoners on this rainy morning. Of the Republic patrol, Duncan could only count five maybe six had escaped. Frija was already ordering hunter teams to find and kill the survivors.
Behind Enemy Lines (Day Two)
Covert Action (Duncan/Jaden)
Outer Rim World of Olivan
Date: 2919 AOK (Eight months after Auro’s Birthday)
The Republic walker barreled down on them like an anger giant. The mass of Partisans tried to hold the line, but It's powerful mass cannon ripping holes in the lines of the Partisans. The fire power of the walker was making impossible. Frija, Trysta and the Rodian former Padawan Geelo were doing everything in their power to hold back the fire power of the walker. It just wasn’t enough. The Republic platoon supported by the walker was pressing forward. Just as Frija had wanted them to do.
Hidden in the rubble of the remains of a building, a lone gun crew waited for their moment to join the battle. Frija and the rest of the partisans were leading the Walker right where the gun crew could take the killing shot. Slowly the lumbering monster moved forward in the middle of the street as nearly forty Republic soldiers move up the sides. It was all done in traditional Republic fashion.
"Give me a shell," whispered Eaton.
Only after a moment of hesitation, Duncan reached in to the wooden box and pulled up the shell. It was heavy but he could manage moving it by himself. The tip of the shell was the warhead of a Republic standard issue proton missile. The body of the shell was a brass pipe with a cap on the end. The brass section of the shell was filled with pounded explosive. The weapon had been christened the ‘Walker Cracker’ and this is its first field test. In fact, this is the weapons first time actually firing. The shells were simply too hard to come by to test them.
The Starchaser brothers had learned the day before that the core of the partisans combat philosophy comes from a text written by a person claiming to be the King of the Heavens. In this text, it is written, use what the enemy throws away. In this case, a starfighter proton missile that had been recovered from s downed, ARC-170. The barrel of the cannon was cut from the barrel of a Mass Driver cannon. Much of the other pieces to this cannon were scavenged from things found in the combat zone.
Duncan handed the shell to Eaton, the cannon's loader, who turned and guided it in to the breach of the cannon. Unlike Republic gun crews who had the benefit of laser targeting, advanced sights and auto-loading, the loader had to manually press the shell in to the breach. He used a large metal arm to seal the breach. He then armed the weapon by pulling up a six-centimeter nail and pressing it through a hole in the breach.
The Gunner, Pel worked the small metal wheels that moved the barrel slightly in any given direction. He carefully sighted the Republic walker from behind their hidden position. Pel looked down a tube that was fixed to the barrel. At the far end of the tube, a pair of very thin wires formed the cross hairs of the manual sight.
“One, five, four” whispered Luis, the cannon’s spotter, from upstairs. Each moment he called out the range of the Republic Walker as it continued to make short work of the Partisan lines. Just behind it, the gun crew could see the platoon of Republic soldiers escorted by a pair of Jedi.
The morning wasn’t supposed to be like this. Before dawn, Trysta got both brothers out of bed with the promise of shopping. She even suggested coffee on the river walk. The hundred fighter patrol set out long before the Republic crews were done with breakfast. With their group were five wagons pulled by beasts of burden. Frija wanted to bring one of the new Walker Crackers to test it. She hoped that the group would make contact with a Republic patrol.
Just before dawn, Frija’s wish came true. Their advanced scouts spotted a fresh patrol moving along the River Front District. To everyone’s horror, expect Frija, the Republic patrol was supported by a Heavy Walker. Because the Partisans simply didn’t have much in terms of heavy weapons that could fight a walker, they would normally let such a heavy force slipped by them. But not today! Frija ordered up an ambush.
Frija moved her forces quickly to get in to position. As she set up her ambush, Duncan was deeply impressed with her knowledge of city fighting. She knew how to use the city to maximize her forces. More than that, she created a complex double ambush for the Republic soldiers. One she hoped the Republic would break, and the second would give the Walker Cracker a chance to shine. That would give her first line a chance to reform and cut off any hope of retreat for the Republic soldiers.
As the Republic walker moved in to position, the all clone gun crew worked hard to ready their field weapon for fire. As he looked down the sight, Pel, carefully moved two wheels next to the barrel. The barrel of the gun slowly moved at very small degrees. Despite the explosions and combat around him, Per focused on the walker as he brought his target in to sight. Up until this moment, the walker nor the foot soldiers knew that the cannon was there. Frija and the others were doing a very good job of being a distraction. Unfortunately, neither Duncan nor Jaden were able to warn the Republic soldiers of what was about to befall them.
“Ready,” Pel said as he moved from the sight. At the same time, everyone moved to cover their ears. Pel picked up a large sledgehammer and swung it at the firing pin. The impact of the pin slamming against the ignition charge ignited the chemical charge which propelled the Proton warhead out of the barrel at just over supersonic speeds. The entire cannon was engulfed in white smoke as it rolled back in to the breaks that had been placed there.
The proton warhead slammed in to the walker’s forward leg with high velocity. The explosion ripped the leg from the walker sending it in to a line of Republic soldiers walking on that side of the walker. The missile also badly damaged the mid leg. A large gaping hole was ripped through the side of the walker. The walker made a groaning sound as it rolled forward and nosed planted in to the street. It was a nasty hit, but the walker was still very dangerous. Had this warhead been fired correctly, the walker would had been destroyed.
The gun crew cheered at their success as they had done something that few on Olivan could claim. They brought a Republic Walker to a stop. But their celebration was short lived. The large plum of white smoke gave away their position. To their horror, the gun crew saw the powerful mass driver cannon turn towards them. There was no time to react as it fired! While the thick white smoke gave away their location, it also partially obscured them.
The powerful energy blast hit the wall directly behind the cannon. A clone who had been moving up with some water to cool cannon was blasted in to the sky. His burning form vanished behind some buildings. Three of the surviving clone crew fled in horror at the destructive power of the now crippled walker. The mass driver cannon was preparing to fire at any moment. All they could do was run. Almost all, Duncan, Jaden and Pel remained. Though Neither Duncan nor Jaden could explain why they choose to remain.
It was war at its worse. Fighting an enemy that had you easily out gunned at each battle. An enemy who’s training was scaled in years, where the partisans were lucky if they could put together a few hours. One thing that the Partisans did have that Duncan could respect was courage. Maybe that was the reason why he and Jaden remained with the elderly Clone Pel, because he wouldn’t give up until that walker was dead.
Duncan and Jaden had just met Pel and the rest of this gun crew a few hours ago. They had only an hour to get used to their weapon before being deployed on this scavenger mission. Duncan and Jaden learned that the gun crew was made up of clones who joined the Partisans just two weeks ago. All of them had dreams of finding the Republic and driving them from their world. Unfortunately, none of them had ever held a weapon before that time. So Duncan wasn't when the majority of the gun crew fled.
Pel screamed out, "reload!" As he turned the wheels and sighted the walker again.
It wasn’t out anger or desire to hurt Republic troops, that drove Duncan to leap forward to the, now vacant, loaders position. It was out of a sense of not wanting to die. That walker was about to unleash hell and Duncan wasn’t sure they could escape. The only option was to fight. Duncan opened the breach and pulled the burning hot shell casing out. The pain in his hands was almost unbearable. The only thing worse was being dead. Duncan pushed through the pain and cleared the breach.
At the same time, Jaden reached in to the box and readied the next round. The smell of combat was over powering. He removed the safety cap and the wire that prevented the Proton from arming. Carefully though with some degree of urgency, Jaden handed the deadly shell to Duncan. Jaden looked at the last shell in the box and hoped that they wouldn’t need more than two more.
Another blast from the Mass Driver sent rock, debris and bits of tinfoil flying over them. The blast was so close that they two brothers had to fight to keep control over the modified Proton shell. With the shell, safely in their arms, each let go a sigh of relief. They looked at each other before glancing at the tinfoil hanging around them.
The partisans had taken strips of tinfoil and hung them around the cannon’s position. The idea was that once the cannon started to taking fire from the mass driver, that the heated air around the cannon would be dissipated by the strips of tinfoil. These now heated stripped would disrupt the thermal sights of the walkers.
A theory that was now proving to work, to Duncan’s surprise. The Mass Driver Gunner was having a hard time compensating for the tinfoil. Duncan slammed the shell in to the breach and closed it. He placed the nail where it needed to go and tapped Pel on the shoulder. Who was carefully dialing in the walker.
Pel nodded as he said, “Ready!” and moved to fire the weapon. He swung the sledgehammer with all his might.
The cannon fired, and the proton warhead slammed in to the drivers compartment of the walker. The explosion erupted, at first, in the drivers compartment then in the body of the walker. Within seconds, the Starchaser brothers watched in horror as ten Republic soldiers, leaped from the burning walker. Their death screams could easily be heard as they dropped to the ground one by one. The sight was horrific to watch, and worse knowing that one had a hand in it.
With glory in his eyes, Pel turned to the two brothers holding up his fist in victory. The raised fist was Partisan’s sign that they were drawing a great deal of support from. The pride and happiness was seen in the former obstetricians eyes, as the older clone was clearly happy. He turned his hands towards the brother giving them to thumbs up. He started to say, ‘we did it,’ before his voice was cut off.
The blue blade through his chest was more than enough to kill the old clone/obstetrician. Who had joined the partisans two weeks ago, because, after years of helping children decided he wanted a family of his own. He had told Duncan when they first met, that he wanted live in a world where he could decide to have a family or where to work. The right to left slice of the second blue blade that severed his head was all for show.
Both Jaden and Duncan didn't know the Jedi Master who now stood before them. But Duncan knew by his deep blue robes that this was no ordinary Jedi. This was a Jedi Hunter, highly trained in hunting down and bringing force using criminals to justice. They were an elite group of Jedi within the Order who were charged with finding the darkness where ever it hid. They were masters of dark knowledge and held their origins woven in the history of Lord Hoth and his Army of the Light.
Jedi Investigators by situation, the vast majority of Jedi Hunters are trained as Jedi Weapon Masters. Duncan also knew that because of their proximity to darkness, Hunters have a disproportionate number who fall to the darkside. Judging by this much older human Jedi and how he held his twin blue blades held in a reverse grip, it suggested that he was a Weapon Master. Behind him, his male green Twi'lek, Padawan made short work of their Walker Cracker.
If the two brothers had their lightsabers and full access to the force, then this would have been a reasonable challenge for them. Without those two aiding in the fight, facing off with a Master Jedi Hunter and his Padawan was foolish. Which was a valuable lesson Duncan had learned from Master Dooku. “Never share a fight with someone braver than yourself.”
To Duncan’s surprise, Jaden didn’t think, he only reacted to the new threat. Picking up a modified hunting carbine blaster with a sharpened rod for a bayonet, Jaden went on the offensive. Letting out a true warrior’s yell, Jaden lunged at the Jedi Master with all of his might.
The Master parried the lung, removing half of the barrel and the bayonet. When Jaden brought the butt of the weapon to bare on the master, another parry removed that section of the weapon as well. Out of wind and weapon, Jaden’s momentum had shifted to Duncan and the Master.
As his Padawan was moving up to assist the, Master went on the attack. It literal took all Jaden’s skill and effort to not get cut down by this man. With his focus on Jaden, Duncan moved more tactically. His picked up a barrel rod, that had a hook on one side and a large padded section on the other. Unlike Jaden who didn’t think through his attack, Duncan took a valuable moment to scan the situation before moving.
Duncan sung with all his might and nailed the inexperienced Padawan with the softer of the two ends. The blow tossed the Padawan in to the street and out of this combat. Duncan noticed that Geelo was moving to take on the Padawan. On that note, he turned on his heels while riding his intuitive. He sung on the Master from a flanking position. He had hoped that he had surprise, but didn’t count on it. The Master spun a blade in a parry rendering Duncan’s weapon useless.
Turning his head, the Master reached out with the force and picked Duncan up in to the air. Duncan didn’t need to activate a force power to know that this master was powerful. Duncan was hurled through the air like a rage doll. He smashed his way through a wooden wall and landed hard in the center of what appeared to be a kitchen. As he settled on to his back, Duncan’s whole body screamed out in pain from being used as a battering ram. He let out a painful groan as he looked to the thick piece of wood that was through his lower leg.
Duncan looked up through the dust and saw the second floor of this badly damaged house.
The ceiling was starting to crack and give way. He let out a painful groan as he felt bits of plaster fall on his body. “This is going to hurt,” Duncan said calling upon the force. From the outside, the dust from the building collapsing was seen by Jaden. Jaden just watched his brother get killed by this Jedi. He could feel the darkside that had infected this city reaching out to him. Calling him to seek its power and take revenge.
The Old Master turned to Jaden, “time to die clone!”
Unable to recover the momentum, Jaden was forced on the defensive again. He couldn’t believe that this old man was beating his ass. With each attack, Jaden was forced to retreat, until his stumbled and fell. Jaden laid near helpless on the ground as the master moved in for the kill. The master laughed, “this ends now” he brought his blades up to spear Jaden. In that moment, Jaden knew he was dead. All his life has come to this moment and it was over. His brother had been killed, and now it was his turn. There was nothing he could do to stop this death. Nothing he could do, but accepted it. Jaden watched in horror as the twin bladed made their arc towards him.
The blades came towards Jaden and we're blocked by Trysta. She had leaped and landed, straddling Jaden’s body. “Really? I was just beginning to like him,” she said of Jaden playfully. She had her forearms crossed that made her reversed grip blades cross. This forced the twin blades of the master to meet at her blades. The downward force he was putting on her caused her well defined and toned legs to tense up as she summoned up her own strength to meet his.
As Jaden laid there under her, he realized that he had been given a new lease on life. He would not accept death like that again. Still unable to move, Jaden had a strange notion. ‘what a lovely place for a birthmark,’ he thought looked up at Trysta’s legs.
Trysta threw back the attack and shifted the momentum in to her favor. The battle became a fury of swings between the two combatants. Trysta held the momentum as she forced the master on to the defensive with relentless attacks. Everything he had heard and learned about her, Jaden was not disappointed. She was remarkable with her twin blades. He actually felt good that she was on his side. Then a thought dawned on him, ‘oh wait.’
As he watched the battle unfold, Jaden knew he had to get back in this fight somehow. He glanced over and saw that the Padawan had been engaged by Geelo, a low-ranking member of the saberblades. It was then he saw the sledgehammer and thought, a weapon. He gritted his teeth as he realized it was directly on the other side of the Old Master and Trysta. A battle he was not prepared to join, just yet.
Jaden moved counterclockwise around the dueling pair, and was amazed at Trysta's speed and dexterity. Her rapid attacks kept the more highly skilled Jedi Master off the offensive. Nothing he seemed to be able to do could break her attacks. However, being a Master with such experience and age came vital knowledge. After a few seconds, he realized he couldn’t break her attacks.
Instead he used the knowledge of her race to break her. He reached out through the force and grabbed her throat. Caught in the middle of an aerial attack, Trysta hung in midair like a doll being held by an anger child. Jaden watched as her throat actually changing shape as the force exerted itself upon her. Unable to breath and caught completely by surprise, Trysta dropped her blades near the cannon. It was in that moment that Jaden realized that Trysta’s vulnerability was her weak Force defense.
The master slung her up almost five meters in to the air and then down in to the debris with so much force that bricks and broken prices of wood flew up in to the air. Jaden heard a rush of air as Trysta’s lungs deflated from the impact. The old master picked her up again and flung her over Jaden’s head and slammed her back in to broken cannon barrel. Jaden could see Trysta’s face as she fought back against the force that was being used against her.
Despite her skill with blades, she had sacrificed valuable learning in the ways of the force to held defend herself against such attacks. Her back started to bend over the barrel as she still fought to resist him. Jaden could feel her draw upon the force as she summoned up her courage and inner strength. But it just wasn’t enough.
“Die,” the old Master said pushing harder against her. “Die, you rogue scum!” She let out a loud scream as her back started to crack under the pressure he was putting on her. He was going to fold her in half over the barrel.
Beyond the battle, Duncan had to use move object to free himself from the rubble. He knew by the sounds of the battle that no one would have noticed. Pain filled his body but he was lucky to be alive. He started to scrawl forward as he saw the scene unfolding. He reached out with his arm calling to his brother, but others top late.
Jaden grabbed the fifteen-kilogram sledgehammer and shifted on his feet. The hammer swung in a large arc for its target. The old master never saw the attack coming as he was too focused on killing Trysta, a known Terrorist and Rogue Leader. It impacted the side of the Old Jedi Master’s head. The man’s skull imploded under the impact. As the weight of the hammer carried Jaden through the attack, the hammer continued through the Master’s skull.
As the sledgehammer vaulted through the back of the man’s head, the skull crack and shattered as brain matter was ripped out. The hammer exploded from the man’s head only a fraction of a second after it hit him. Large bits of bone, gray brain matter, and hair flew through the air, as Jaden lost his footing and dropped to the ground. The force of the blow spun the old master around on his feet.
As Jaden looked up at the Master, the man looked down at Jaden. He reached behind his head to feel what had been down. There was a confused look on the man’s face as if he wasn’t sure what had happened or what to do about it. In that split second Trysta let out a painfilled scream of horror as she drew her blade in to her hand through the force and swung it.
It wasn’t graceful or even remotely skilled. Trysta’s attack looked more like a common street thug swinging a pipe. However, the end result was all that matter. Her blade passed through his forearm bracers and arm. It passed through his neck armor and his neck. The force of her swing sent her tumbling to the broken wheel of the cannon. She held on to the wheel for balance as she let out a deep cry dropping her sword.
"MASTER!" Cried the Padawan as he just dispatched Geelo.
Duncan scanned the battlefield. The Republic lines were broken and chaos was about to ensue. He knew that this battle was over and the Republic had lost. Already a number of troopers were fleeing the battlefield. Duncan knew that Trysta was no longer a threat to the Padawan, but Frija however was on the other side of the street. It was a matter of time before she would find and kill him.
Duncan did the most merciful thing he could do. He reached out through the force and touched the Padawan’s mind, “run” he said using both telepathy and affect mind.
The Padawan was no match for Duncan as he succumbed to the suggestion. The Padawan joined the rest of the fleeing Republic forces. Duncan couldn’t help but look down in sadness over the dead Jedi Master on the battlefield.
Duncan managed to get back up and walked with a limp back to the gun position where Jaden and Trysta were. As he watched the Padawan vanish, he knew that the young man would live to fight another day. Duncan also knew that others wouldn’t. What remained of the battlefield became a calamity. The Partisans were not feeling like taking prisoners on this rainy morning. Of the Republic patrol, Duncan could only count five maybe six had escaped. Frija was already ordering hunter teams to find and kill the survivors.