Star Wars - First Contact

[Star_Dragon]

I know, i know, the title sounds a lot like "ST: First Contact." Honestly, it's the only name I could come up with that fit the story.

I don't know if there are any Star Wars fans here, but this story takes a different path from RotS, and takes place with Characters from the Cartoon Network SW: Clone Wars Animated Series. As I stated before, in this timeline, Anakin doesn't go over to the dark side. There's a lot of details that should be discussed, but I haven't the time, so I'll post the Intro and Chapter One. If you have any questions, please, don't hesitate to ask... And one more thing before I start... Please, I need more than one opinion on this story. It is currently unfinished, and I would like a few suggestions on what to put in next, 'cause frankly, I'm at a loss...

Star Wars

First Contact

Introduction

The Clone War is at its end. As CIS regimes all over the galaxy collapse, those who once looted and terrorized the galaxy now look desperately for any way to escape. For them, this war is over.

Contrary to what everyone thought would happen, Anakin Skywalker kept true to the prophecy that he would bring balance to the force, despite the anger and grief he felt at the loss of his wife, Padmé. Ahsoka Tano, Anakin’s “apprentice,” had been promoted to the status of a Jedi Knight towards the end of the war, and when the war ended, went out on her own, venturing into the galaxy in search of answers to something she felt.

But there will soon be a new enemy to the Republic, remnants of an enemy that is religiously dedicated to war. They had watched both sides of the war, waiting for it to end, waiting for one side to be victorious, all so that they could fight what they considered a worthy opponent.

Meanwhile, In Republic space, Anakin Skywalker, who had been on a mission to investigate what appeared to be a trivial matter involving a ship sighted near Mustufar, has made a secret first contact with a race called the Dragonarian Empire. The Jedi religion and traditions appear to exist in this race. But, strangely, the Light and Dark sides of the force seemingly co-exist with each other peacefully in their race.

In the Dragonarian race, Jedi who go with the Light side are used as peace keepers, Generals in the Dragonarian Military and Starfleet that plan out assaults on enemy bases and defenses of their own, and as Diplomats. Jedi who go with the Dark side are used as Field Generals that coordinate the attack and defense efforts, and are also used as assassins, Special Forces soldiers, and Space Field Generals in Fighters and sometimes Capital ships to coordinate the attack and defense efforts of the allied ships.

The Dragonarian dark side of the force also seems to be different. Instead of thinking inward and only about themselves, Dragonarian dark jedi appear to be selfless and look out for others, yet are ready to order their deaths if needed, like any good commander. Their quest for greater power also seems to be for the benefit of the Dragonarian Empire, as in the Dragonarian Jedi sense, only the dark jedi are allowed do so.

In the Dragonarian race, there are two physical variations; the Ryukaissen Dragonarians, which are the muscular beings that resembled walking dragon bipeds without wings and a very short tail; and the Terran Dragonarians, which look almost completely human, with the exception that they are muscular, but not as much as the Ryukaissen Dragonarians, and they have the Dragon eyes of a Dragonarian.

This adventure starts near the planet Felucia, where Ahsoka had just arrived to deal with a trivial request for an investigation...

Chapter One

Ahsoka dropped out of hyperspace just within the gravity well of Felucia. As she headed to the orbital spaceport terminal, she took a good look at the planet. Felucia was a bizarre jungle-world, teeming with life, fungal growth and exotic plants that aggressively defend themselves. Why someone would request an investigation here was beyond comprehension.

What was even more confusing was that the person who requested the investigation was anonymous. It was as if he—or she—was taking great pains not to be seen. But why?

Ahsoka banished the random thought from her mind as she remembered what the investigation was about: Apparently, a local merchant ship had picked up strange readings near the planet. When the Republic came to investigate, a lone Venator-class Star Destroyer detected the same readings. Not knowing what to think of it, they requested the assistance of a Jedi.

Conveniently, Ahsoka was near the vicinity, and thus, she was called in. Even as she dropped out of light speed, the sensors on her Y-wing could just barely track the strange readings.

Directing a comment to a colleague of hers that rode behind her at the controls of the aft-facing gun, Ahsoka asked, “Hey, Corran, are you seeing this?”

Corran Weyland was a human from Coruscant, one who was stronger than he appeared. While not a jedi, he helped Ahsoka with her missions, giving her Intel from orbit while she went planetside. Not that she thought that Corran couldn’t handle himself, but she would rather risk herself than Corran.

Corran scoffed. “Yeah, I see it...” He than mumbled to himself, though what he was saying wasn’t clear.

“You know something I don’t?” Ahsoka inquired as she guided the Y-wing to the Spaceport. Corran inhaled and was about to say something when he hesitated for a full three seconds, then continued,

“Take a look at this,” and sent an image to Ahsoka’s computer. The image was of Felucia, complete with the planet, its spaceport, and the Venator sitting nearby.

“What’s so special about this?” Ahsoka asked.

“Focus a neutrino scan at what’s sitting on the other side of the spaceport, off the port side of the Venator.” Corran said. Ahsoka complied, and was rewarded when the scans revealed a very faint trace of tachyon emissions, accompanied by a sporadic energy reading that would indicate the power source of a ship.

The message was still making its way to Ahsoka’s brain—that there was a cloaked alien ship sitting there—when Corran piped up, his voice ringing with alarm.

“Ahsoka, I’ve got a starship de-cloaking, starboard side!” Ahsoka’s head snapped to her right, where she saw a ship seemingly shimmer into appearance. It was a tremendously large, with a main body that was shaped like the roof of a house on both top and bottom, the peak on the top separating eight large turret batteries. Two were shaped like a rectangular prism with three barrels protruding from the front end side-by-side, while the other six were cube-shaped with two barrels jutting from the middle of the end facing the bow. Two of these turrets were at the “tail” of this ship, pointing towards the aft. The tail was flat, unlike the main body, rising only in a triangular shape to meet with the hull of the main body, with a torpedo launcher hidden in this formation. On both wings of this alien ship were three dome-shaped turret batteries, all of which had two barrels each. Upon a second look, Ahsoka noticed that small, dome-shaped turret batteries dotted the length of the main body.

At the forward end of the main body, where the tip of the roof-shaped hull dropped off at a 90-degree angle, centered in a triangular formation, were three hangar bays. In the middle of this formation, positioned between all three hangars, was a “neck” that led to a “head”, where two more small dome turret batteries sat, and the end of the head was tapered like a bird’s beak, with torpedo launchers on either side.

The ship was colored a crimson color, and under each wing sat two nacelles, while one more nacelle sat on the tip of both wings. They were light speed nacelles, Ahsoka reasoned, probably designed to take the ship into light speed.

Without warning, the crimson ship turned toward the spaceport and fired two blue-green plasma torpedoes. Ahsoka thought they were firing on the space port, but noticed that the torpedoes weren’t going towards the spaceport, but rather, to the side, towards what Corran and Ahsoka thought to be a cloaked ship. This theory was proven correct when the torpedoes flared and exploded against an invisible force, and another alien ship de-cloaked. This one was colored a shiny, marble-like lavender color. The shape was unknown, as the ship exploded from multiple torpedoes hitting it as it de-cloaked—fired from the crimson alien ship—before either Ahsoka or Corran could get a good look at it.

When the alien ship on the other side of the spaceport exploded, the communication channel traffic tripled into such a confusion of people sending distress calls, exclaiming in surprise at what had just happened, and trying to talk to the alien ship that remained, that they all might as well have spoken in tongues.

“I’m picking up a lot of subspace communication traffic,” Corran said.

Ahsoka scoffed. “Tell me something I don’t already know.”

“No, no,” Corran stated, “you’re not following me. I’m picking up their subspace comm traffic—as in, the alien ship’s comm traffic. Whatever that ship was that was destroyed, they seem deeply concerned about it... and—if I’m interpreting this correctly—they believe that there are more of those alien ships lurking about nearby.”

“Who were both of these ships associated with?” Ahsoka asked. Corran paused for a moment as he typed away at the computer before him to gather the relevant data, and then replied,

“The ship over there,” Corran indicated the crimson alien ship. “Is—according to the ship’s computer database—a Dragonarian Dragon-class Assault Battleship Refit, listed as the Dragon’s Rage, commanded by a person known as ‘Kylet’oran Jek’ari’.” Ahsoka frowned slightly as she felt an unusual sensation upon the mentioning of that name. Somehow, she felt as if she should remember that name.

Shaking the thought from her mind, she asked, “What about the other ship—the one that was destroyed?” Corran heaved a sigh.

“That’s even stranger—the alien ship’s computers say that it was a Kemorainian Kei-darri class Attack Battleship. I don’t know what it is between these Dragonarians and Kemorainians, but it can’t be good.”

“Download what you can about this encounter... the Jedi council will want to know about this.” Ahsoka said.

“I already did.” Corran answered. Almost as soon as he said this, Ahsoka felt as if some presence had left her mind, and the Dragonarian ship shimmered and disappeared like a ghost. Ahsoka frowned as the alien ship disappeared.

How did Corran download the information he gleaned from the ship’s computers without being detected? It seemed entirely unlikely that the aliens on that ship didn’t notice his presence, which led Ahsoka to believe that the ship’s commander—or someone on that ship—had let him access the information. Also, what was the presence that left her mind? Why didn’t she notice it? And, moreover, what was it doing in her mind?

Ahsoka’s reverie was interrupted when Corran spoke up. “Should we head to Coruscant?” Ahsoka hesitated as her ship flew toward the spaceport. If the presence inside her mind had been eavesdropping, then there wasn’t any doubt that they would track her to the jedi council. However, it didn’t look like she had a hell of a choice.

“I don’t think we have much of a choice,” she finally said. She turned the Y-wing back the direction she came, locked in the spatial coordinates, and hyperspaced out.

* * *

Unlike vessels constructed by the beings of this “Galactic Republic,” in which the command center was always located somewhere on the surface of the ship, vessels of the Dragonarian-Kemorainian alliance were constructed in a more logical fashion, with their command centers buried deep within their heavily-armored hulls, making them impervious to anything less than a mortal blow. Plus, unlike the Republic, who almost always used a combination of laser and ion cannons and a number of various torpedoes against their enemies, the ships of the Alliance used high-yield Plasma weapons, Poleron torpedoes, and deadly Disruptor batteries. Plasma weapons, especially torpedoes, could cause massive damage to the shields and hulls of any ship, making them extremely useful to drop a given target’s shields at a distance before closing in and engaging with the main guns.

The Disruptor turret batteries, the main weapon of the Dragonarian Empire—and sometimes used on allied Kemorainian Imperial ships—were deadly weapons that caused massive damage to enemy armor, and is quite useful with their ability to bypass enemy shields, allowing for devastating surprise attacks.

The differences did not end there. Rather than just hiding the command center inside the hull, the alliance commanders preferred to fool enemies into thinking that the bridge of the alliance’s ships lies elsewhere. Each ship was constructed to house a second bridge, a false one, in case the enemy managed to drop their shields. This “false bridge” was equipped with a vast array of signals designed to trick enemy commanders that the false bridge was the real thing.

But some commanders in the alliance—the higher-ranking Dragonarian commanders, for instance—preferred to launch surprise attacks during ship-to-ship combat. To suit their whims, those who desired it equipped their ships with cloaking devices, a technology common to both the Dragonarians and Kemorainians. Those ships required to complete stealth missions were also equipped with a cloaking device. Very rarely did commanders on a battleship or dreadnought wish to equip their ship with a cloaking device, as such a large ship could inadvertently collide with another ship or object, giving away its position. Only those battleships and dreadnoughts with the most skilled pilots at the helm were allowed cloaking devices.

However, none of these things were at the forefront of Fleet General Kylet’oran Jek’ari’s mind as he watched the Y-wing warp out of the system. Following them under cloak, a Kemorainian Kellban-class heavy scout, a ship typically launched from a battleship such as the Kemorainian Kei-darri class Attack Battleship. Kylet’oran could sense a jedi in the cockpit of the Y-wing. It was the jedi knight known as “Ahsoka”, the former apprentice of Anakin Skywalker.

Looking to his helmsman, his voice was calm and well modulated as he issued his orders. “Helm, lay in a course for ‘Coruscant’, maximum warp.” The helmsman, a Kemorainian by the name of Kiimaar, nodded to acknowledge his CO, plotted the course, and engaged the light speed engines. Though the genocidally racist part of the Kemorainian Empire was still present—but steadily dwindling into nothing—most of the Kemorainian Empire had thrown away that religion, and re-formed the Kemorainian Empire. The fact that both Kemorainians and Dragonarians were a part of his crew served to prove that, and to remind Kylet’oran that any race can change. However, given the Kemorainians’ warlike nature, Kylet’oran wondered how much they had really changed. Kylet’oran popped his neck—the Dragonarian equivalent of a shrug—and mentally recited one part of the Dragonarian warrior code. Such is the holy ones’ decree, he thought. One didn’t question such things, even when one was as high a rank as Kylet’oran. The Prophets of Dragonaria—also called the “Spirits of Dragonaria”—had created the code for all to follow, even the allies of Dragonaria, and to dishonor the code would be considered a disgraceful dereliction of duty. But, of course, there were some that did not believe in the code, or just plain didn’t care—like the Kemorainian Imperial Remnant, the last remnants of the Old Kemorainian Empire.

The leader of the old empire, a rather disillusioned, sadistic, homicidal Kemorainian General named Tibarik Kedd’khan—the older brother to General Keldonar Kedd’khan of the new Kemorainian Starfleet—continued to wage war against the galaxy, even as his numbers dwindle. His fleet consisted of a few hundred ships, a mix of dreadnoughts, battleships, battlecruisers, cruisers, frigates and scouts.

The cloaked Kellban-class heavy scout that followed the jedi was a class of ship that Tibarik had an abundance of—more than any other type of scout in the old empire’s fleet. It was crewed by six officers and eighteen crewmen, plus accommodations for twelve marines, or, on certain occasions such as this, Phayder Assassins. The only problem with that particular class is that when the ship tries to send its marine/Phayder passengers somewhere while cloaked, the ship gives off a small energy discharge as it translocates them, easily detected by any other ship nearby.

The Kellban is heavily armed for a scout of its class—armed with four plasma cannons and a light plasma torpedo launcher—but its small size and large engine make it easily destroyed due to its light shields and armor. A well-placed torpedo—or disruptor burst, for that matter—would put the scout out of action for good. They make good target practice for the tactical officers and gunners of any alliance ship.

As the Dragon-class Assault Battleship Refit warped out, Kylet’oran briefly wondered what the Kemorainians were doing, following this jedi. Kyle watched as his ship tore through hyperspace, and ordered his tactical officer to bring the rest of the weapons on the Dragon’s Rage on-line. Why they were following the jedi didn’t matter. In the end, he’d make sure they’d never live to complete whatever task they were charged with..

[Star_Dragon]

Um... Do we have ANY Star Wars fans in here at all?

[Star_Dragon]

Is there anyone who would like to comment on the story before I go on?

[Guest Julius Quasar]

Nice story...unfortunately, no, I'm *not much of a Star Wars fan*

[Star_Dragon]

Thanks... And here's chapter two...

Chapter Two

As the Y-wing exited hyperspace at Coruscant, Ahsoka landed on a platform overlooking the jedi temple. As usual, the landing pads of the temple were all taken. But Ahsoka didn’t mind. It felt good to take a taxi ride to the temple, to feel the wind blowing on her face. It made her feel more at home.

But Ahsoka wasn’t coming home for a little R&R. In fact, the reason she came home almost scared her. Her jedi training allowed her to push back her fears, and while it didn’t erase them, it did serve to ease them considerably as Corran downloaded what they had learned during the alien encounter—as well as a video of what had happened—to a portable, hand-held computer.

That done, they hitched a ride on an air taxi conveniently sitting nearby, and headed to the jedi temple. On the way, Ahsoka caught movement from the corner of her eye. She looked to her right, noticed a ship landed on a platform nearby, and saw something shimmer in front of it, like a mirage in the desert. She blinked once, rubbed her eyes, and by the time she looked for a second time, the phenomena was gone.

Ahsoka shrugged, thought it was nothing, and continued her ride to the temple...

* * *

The young jedi knight looked directly at Kylet’oran, had given no alarm, and looked away. Surely his activities had been blessed by the prophets themselves.

Kylet’oran’s Personal Cloaking Device (PCD), in addition to his physical augmentations, his force powers, his own talent for stealth, and a sound dampener, had proven extremely effective in hiding his presence. He knew that the Kellban-class scout had translocated its assassins to the surface of this city-planet, but Kylet’oran didn’t know where. Given the fact that they were following the young jedi, and the fact that she was currently headed to the Jedi temple in the distance, Kylet’oran—along with his marine companions that had translocated to various locations near the Jedi temple, surrounding it—assumed that that was where the Kemorainian Phayders were headed.

Tracking the Phayders to the temple would be the easier task—the hardest task would be to pick them off one by one without causing any casualties to the jedi. While Kylet’oran assumed the jedi to be as attuned to the force as his Dragonarian companions, he didn’t want to take the chance of accidentally shooting at them when they weren’t. But, even if one or two jedi were killed, it would be an acceptable outcome if Kylet’oran and his cohort managed to take out the Phayders.

With this in mind, Kylet’oran went on putting his MA52B Sniper/Assault Rifle together. MA52B was a weapon Kyle designed with one concept in mind; a weapon used as a sniper’s rifle and an assault rifle. The MA52B had several features that most sniper and assault weapons didn’t have; one was a telescopic scope that could see an enemy from a little over a mile away. Two, the chamber between the barrel and the main part of the gun was an Electromagnetic Accelerator, which used electromagnetism to accelerate conductive projectiles—in this case, 7.62x59mm bullets—through the chamber and the barrel. This, in turn, gave the bullets a speed twice, if not four times as fast, as a regular bullet fired without an Electromagnetic Accelerator Chamber.

To add to the weapon’s potency, Kyle modified the bullets themselves. First, instead of gunpowder, he made a machine that produced highly-combustible plasma—which, after the First Dragonarian-Kemorainian war, the Empire paid a premium to get their hands on the technology. Not the EMAC, but the machine and bullet design—and added it to the bullet casings before adding the bullets themselves. The force from the combustion, combined with the acceleration of the EMAC, would propel the bullet approximately six times faster than normal bullets. But, Kyle realized that the bullets would need to be a stronger metal than brass, as such speed, friction and heat could melt the projectile before it hit its designated target.

At first, gold had occurred to him, but A.) Gold wasn’t as strong as he needed, and B.) It was extremely rare in the galaxy. In the end, he could only see one solution: scrap starship armor. Of all the armor he used, Dragonarian starship armor was the toughest. Four, the magazine that carried these specially-designed bullets housed sixty bullets, which was far above the usual capacity of a normal assault rifle.

The MA52B was a force to be reckoned with. Not only could its Armor-Piercing Plasma-Powered bullets punch through even the toughest personal armor, but could punch through a concrete wall when Kyle used the fifth feature; an interchangeable Sniper variant of the EMAC and the barrel, which gave the MA52B a considerably longer range. The sniper variant of the EMAC was not only more powerful, but longer than, the Assault Rifle variant.

Of course, a weapon this powerful would generate an insane amount of recoil, so, to counter that, Kylet’oran cushioned the stock of the MA52B with a high concentration of polycellular shock absorbing material. While this didn’t eliminate recoil—not completely, at any rate—it did serve to reduce it to something more manageable.

To increase accuracy, Kylet’oran clamped a high-efficiency harmonic balancer to the frame of the MA52B. This served to significantly dampen the vertical motion produced when the weapon fires a bullet, which greatly increased accuracy.

To further increase range, Kylet’oran lubricated the MA52B’s firing path with a synthetic synovial fluid. This would greatly reduce the drag on fired projectiles and substantially increase the effective range of the MA52B.

All of these modifications to the MA52B, combined with Kylet’oran’s natural talent for all forms of firearms, were perfect for sniping unseen. Hopefully, he could take out the Phayders out before they took out the young jedi. When the weapon was assembled, with Sniper EMAC and Barrel, Kyle loaded a full magazine of 7.62x59mm Armor-Piercing Plasma-powered rounds into the receiver. Deploying the weapon’s bipod, Kylet’oran took cover behind some crates, aimed the weapon directly at the temple, found the young jedi, and began to track her, even as she moved through the jedi temple.

Moments later, the Phayders made their appearance. As usual, they were cloaked in their adaptive camo, which meant that the jedi couldn’t see or sense them. But, unfortunately for the Phayders, their camo generators didn’t block heat, it actually generated it, a fatal flaw in which the Phayders would pay for with their lives. Opening a coded channel, Kylet’oran whispered,

“Dragon one to dragon unit; targets in sight. Select your targets, but do not fire until I fire the first shot. Dragon one, out.” There were a series of double-clicks to acknowledge his orders. Kylet’oran figured that the Phayders would be trying to listen in on the channel, so, even though the frequency had a frequency scrambler, the other alliance marines weren’t allowed to say much, lest enemy eavesdroppers get suspicious if they managed to break through the scrambler.

Hell, they didn’t need to say much—each one of them knew what to do. So, slowly, methodically, Kylet’oran tracked the Phayder that had slotted himself behind the jedi and her companion as they entered a room at the top of the tallest spire in the jedi temple...

* * *

As Ahsoka and Corran entered the Council chambers, Yoda nodded and smiled warmly. If he could sense the way Ahsoka felt, he certainly didn’t show it. Master Windu, who was conversing with Anakin when he noticed his glance toward his former apprentice, looked over to Ahsoka. Both he and Anakin seemed to take to heart how Ahsoka felt, and Anakin, being the first one to point it out, said,

“Are you alright, Snipps? You look a little... tense.” “Snipps” had been the nickname that Anakin had given Ahsoka during the Clone War, a name that she had no problems with.

“I sense a great deal of fear in you... is something wrong?” Master Windu added. Ahsoka gulped, nodded stiffly, and held out a hand, signaling Corran to hand her the hand-held portable computer. She felt it brush against something, and suddenly, her force senses went wild. She looked to her left, saw an alien figure shimmering there, and was going for her lightsaber when there was a muffled crack, and the glass window to the side of the figure shattered, hit the figure just below what Ahsoka assumed to be this figure’s “head”, and purple fluid sprayed the window on the other side. The figure hissed like a snake, and a second shot hit the figure about mid-level and took out the assassin’s camouflage generator, revealing the alien warrior’s true appearance.

The alien was covered in gray armor, had a muscular body build, double-jointed legs, unusually-shaped hooves in place of feet, and the head of a cobra. The alien stood approximately 7’ 6”. On both his hands were what appeared to be wrist blades, which he dropped after the first shot fired burst through the side of his neck. The second shot—the one that took out the alien’s active camouflage generator, passed directly between Ahsoka’s and Corran and through the window.

While Ahsoka’s face still held a look or sheer horror—not only because she didn’t sense this assassin behind her, therefore endangering the entire Jedi council, but because she had come to an uncomfortably close call with death—her mind told her to look up, at where the gunfire had originated.

Her body complied as the Phayder’s body hit the floor, and, using the force to see out towards the platform overlooking the temple and the council chambers where the strange ship sat landed, she saw an armor-clad warrior in a set of Emerald-green battle armor. No sooner did she see him that the warrior disappeared. Her force senses, now running wild, told her to veer ninety degrees to her right. She complied when she heard a loud click amidst several lightsabers going active, and found herself staring down the barrel of an alien rifle.

The Armor-clad warrior, who had the weapon pointed directly at her head, shouted, “Hit the deck!” While one part of Ahsoka’s mind had no clue as to what “hit the deck” meant, another compelled her to drop to the floor. No sooner than she did this that the weapon the warrior had emitted an ear-splitting roar. It was firing, no doubt there, but it made an excessively loud noise. It had the speed of a repeater weapon, But Ahsoka knew of no weapon that looked anything like what this warrior had.

She looked over to where the warrior was firing in time to see two dead alien bodies and a wall splattered with neon-purple blood. Not only that, but the Armor-clad warrior tossed a spherical, blue-yellow device at a shimmer standing in the doorway. Then, much to everyone’s surprise, the device latched onto the figure, and the figure started to scream a blood-curdling, serpentine scream. He had taken a few steps back, trying to rid the device that fused to his armor.

Just as the door to the council chambers was shutting, the device detonated in a flash of blue-yellow light and produced a loud boom! that slagged half the door. In the next five seconds of silence that settled over the room, the distant sound of alien sniping weapons was heard over the slow hum of the lightsabers. As the lightsabers were extinguished one by one, Ahsoka looked up at the warrior, who held out a hand. She grabbed his hand, and he helped her up as Anakin began speaking in an alien language to the warrior.

The armor-clad warrior, who was apparently checking the load of his weapon, looked over to Anakin, began speaking in the same language, and the two had what appeared to be a conversation as Anakin introduced the alien to the various members of the council and Ahsoka. Anakin had no more than just introduced Ahsoka when a radio inside the warrior’s armor went active, and a rasping male voice came over it, speaking passable standard.

“General, we’ve taken care of the other Phayders, but their ship is still in orbit. Orders, sir?” The warrior nodded, then answered,

“Copy that, you know what to do, Captain.” Ahsoka frowned.

“‘Phayders’? Is that what those things were?” she asked. The warrior nodded.

“Indeed they were... Kemorainian Phayder Assassins. I don’t blame you for not sensing them on your trail. Unless one knows what to look for, a Kemorainian Phayder is almost invisible to the force. But not to regular physical senses.” Anakin mentioned something to the warrior in what Ahsoka assumed was his native tongue.

Apparently, he asked him to remove the mask that hid his face, as he grumbled to himself, as if he didn’t like the idea of taking off his mask, pressed a button that revealed his head behind the mask—which looked completely human—and the warrior removed a couple of wires from his mask, then proceeded to take it off. The face underneath had the look of a young human, somewhere in his mid-twenties. He had a somewhat gaunt face, heavy brows, hair worn short and military-style, a flat nose, full lips, and—as was revealed when he tapped a few buttons on his wrist gauntlet and made the emerald-green armor disappear, save the gauntlets, revealing his alien military uniform—a very muscular body for a human that age.

Despite the features that made him look human, his eyes said that he was something else; his eyes were far from human, being narrow black slits surrounded by an emerald-green pool, devoid of any life. These were the eyes of a dragon. But, somehow, they seemed to have an undead quality to it. Ahsoka could also sense something within this alien... it felt like the dark side, but she wasn’t sure. If it was the dark side she sensed in this person, it was only half as much as it should be for this person to be a sith... perhaps this person was somewhere in the middle? Somewhere between the light and dark sides? Maybe, but the theory didn’t make any sense.

A shiver ran down Ahsoka’s spine, and as if the alien knew how she felt, he said,

“Do not be... unnerved... by my appearance.”

“She’s never seen a Terran Dragonarian before... no one here has.” Anakin stated. Looking over to Anakin, the warrior responded,

“Of course... because you did as you were requested, and kept my peoples’ presence hidden.” Master Windu chose that particular moment to intervene.

“Although we Jedi are typically inclined to honor requests such as that which you requested of Anakin, why did you not reveal yourself to the Jedi?”

Again looking directly at Ahsoka, and without removing his gaze, the warrior answered, “Because you cannot be trusted with the knowledge of my people’s existence... not all of you, at any rate. However, in light of what I can see in this one...” The warrior’s gaze narrowed, and it served to make Ahsoka feel more uneasy. “...and in light of what she has seen, I believe—as will the rest of High Command—that the time of distrust towards your jedi is at a close. If the Kemorainian Imperial Remnant were to know that she knows of their existence, they will not hesitate to strike, even if High Command has intercepted nothing indicating an attack.”

The warrior paused for a full five seconds, his gaze locked with Ahsoka’s. For a brief moment, Ahsoka could see something within those lifeless, emerald dragon eyes... a tortured soul, a scarred mind, and painful memories, though she couldn’t see what they were about. As if to break the connection Ahsoka’s eyes had with his mind, the warrior looked directly back at Anakin, chattering something in his native tongue. Whatever he said, it met with out-and-out rebellion from Anakin.

“Hold on,” he protested. “You said that it could wait until—” the rest of his words were chopped off as the warrior cut in.

“I know what I said!” he snapped, causing several hands to touch lightsabers, ready to draw at a moment’s notice. “But now there is no time left. We cannot wait any longer! If we do... everything, everywhere will be destroyed. I understand your trepidation... but it’s not up to me, despite my rank and status. The Prophets demand she knows the legend.”

Ahsoka, who had begun to quiver slightly at this sudden argument, began running through theory after theory, pondering what legend this armor-clad alien spoke of, but it was Ki-Adi-Mundi that put the question into words.

“And what legend do your ‘prophets’ demand that she know?” The warrior looked to Ki-Adi-Mundi, who was standing behind Ahsoka, apparently examining the dead Kemorainian, and said, in essence, a single phrase in his native tongue; “Thi Misstrauss okh Mercedt.”

In a corner of her mind, Ahsoka thought this Dragonarian phrase meant “The Mistress of Mercy,” and as if to confirm that translation, the warrior looked at her and said, “You would be correct... mistress.” Without another word, he returned the mask to his face, re-wired it, and spoke something of an order, apparently to his ship in orbit, and promptly vanished through the floor in a flash of yellow-golden light. Once he was gone, only a few motes of golden light remained to mark his disappearance. Then, after a few moments, they, too, vanished...

[rainfyre66]

I'm a pretty big Star Wars nerd, so to speak, but I don't follow the CN series much. This one is pretty good so far, it'll be interesting to see your alternate universe. If you're having trouble writing chapter by chapter, why not try to outline the entire story first, and then fill in the details as you write out the chapters? It's a pretty good method, even if you don't feel like writing down the outline you can make up the story in your head when you're bored at school or work or wherever.

[Star_Dragon]

Thanks... and here's Chapter Three...

Chapter Three

After the armor-clad warrior disappeared from the council chambers, Anakin went on to explain what he knew about the so-called “Mistress of Mercy,” which wasn’t much. All he knew that was the Mistress of Mercy was supposed to be the counterpart of the “Choz’ech Jek’ari okh thi Prokhesh,” which translated from Dragonarian to “Chosen Warrior of the Prophets.”

However, Anakin did know a great deal of information concerning this mystical Dragonarian Empire, as well as information about the Kemorainian Empire and the Kemorainian Imperial Remnant. According to the database Anakin had gathered, the Dragonarians and Kemorainians formed an alliance after their second war, when Dragonarian leaders—and among them was this mysterious Kylet’oran Jek’ari—promised to help the newly-reformed Kemorainian Empire hunt down and destroy the remnants of the Old Kemorainian empire.

To prevent confusion among the ranks, all Kemorainian ships and equipment were branded with the mark of the Dragonarian Empire. The Imperial Remnant kept the mark of the old Kemorainian Empire, and therefore, made it easier for the alliance to distinguish between allied and enemy Kemorainians.

Surprisingly, Corran downloaded more data than he thought he did from the main computer of the Dragonarian ship at Felucia. Among the information he overlooked was Kylet’oran’s service records with both the Dragonarian Jedi and the Dragonarian Military, a detailed schematic of the armor he wore, and a schematic of the weapon he used.

In the service records, it was noted that Kylet'oran fought two ways; with firearms of all sorts when on a large-scale engagement, such as invading an enemy planet, or boarding an enemy ship, and with two lightsabers—one blue, one red—in each hand when fighting enemy jedi, leaders, and other such important targets, and against Phayders, and had a personality to match both of his fighting styles. It was also noted that he suffers from scars, both physical and mental, left by his past.

Ahsoka left the council chambers and headed to a local hotel near the Jedi Temple when the council dismissed her. She had gone no more than a hundred paces away from the entrance to the Jedi Temple when something hit her from above. She felt a sickly tearing of meat as something slashed her back. She fumbled for her lightsaber, only to discover that it had fallen down the steps. She looked up at her assailant, and realized that it was a Phayder assassin, apparently one who survived the initial sniping efforts by the Dragonarians. Ahsoka could tell by the hastily wrapped bullet wounds—and the bleeding holes in his armor—that this particular assailant had played dead, and when the rest of the Dragonarians were gone, had tracked Ahsoka here and set an ambush.

Just as the Phayder was raising his wrist blades for the kill, two lightsabers flared. The Phayder turned to face whatever jedi was assaulting his flank, and the same warrior that had saved Ahsoka in the council chambers leapt over the assassin, forced himself back and stabbed the Phayder with his red lightsaber. The warrior winked at Ahsoka just before he whirled and cut the Phayder in two. When he turned to Ahsoka again, he extinguished his lightsabers, put them away, and pulled out a third lightsaber—Ahsoka’s lightsaber. He offered a hand, which Ahsoka took, and helped her up, and then handed her lightsaber back to her.

Surprisingly, he wasn’t wearing his armor. His strong, military features, plus his undead eyes and the scars that ran over both eyes, made Ahsoka hesitate before saying,

“Thanks... again.” The warrior smiled warmly—which was surprising for Ahsoka to see, given the fact that his eyes looked dead, he had an argument with Anakin in the council chambers, and he was a Dragonarian General—and answered,

“Don’t mention it,” Directing a comment to his communicator, he added, “General Jek’ari to Dragon’s Rage. I have the mistress and we need dust-off. Now. She’s been wounded by a Phayder.”

“Copy that, General,” said a grim-sounding female voice, “It’s up to you—Dropship or Transocation?”

“I have a fighter on a landing pad not too far from here,” Ahsoka said, pointing to the landing platform her Y-wing was on. “we could use it to get to your ship.”

“I wouldn’t recommend it,” the warrior put in, “Phayders—” He indicated the Phayder that he cut in half, “—and Mr. half-‘n’-half over there—have the tendency to add a bleeding poison to their blades to weaken their targets by bleeding them.” As the warrior told the person on the other end of the radio to translocate them up, Ahsoka brought a hand to the wound where the Phayder had slashed her with his wrist blades, and it came away with crimson blood. Before she could even react, bands of golden light pulsated all around her, rose up from the ground and disappeared over her head. She then felt nauseated and light-headed, and saw an explosion of white light before seemingly vanishing through the ground...

She wasn’t here, wasn’t there, wasn’t anywhere insofar as Ahsoka could tell from within the strange never-never land of the space between Coruscant and the Dragon-class Assault Battleship Refit Dragon’s Rage. She couldn’t see or hear anything, save a dizzying sense of velocity. Ahsoka felt her body being stitched back together, one molecule at a time.

When everything stopped, and she felt her feet touching solid ground she opened her eyes and looked around. She was in the interior of an alien ship, that much was obvious. She saw bulkheads of black and brown. Or was that bronze? Strange patterns marbled the material, like the oily sheen of a beetle’s carapace. Whatever it was, she didn’t care for it, not on a military vessel, but who knew? Maybe the Dragonarians thought that the hallways of republic ships were too bright.

“Izanagi,” the warrior said, his voice slightly irritated, “I thought you were translocating us to medbay!” Ahsoka looked around for this person named “Izanagi,” but found him or her nowhere in sight. So who was the warrior talking to?

The answer came when the female voice that she heard on the warrior’s communicator came over the intercom. “Sorry, but medbay’s translocator pads are down.”

The warrior frowned. “Still?”

“Yes, I assumed you knew that they had another bug in the pads.”

The warrior sighed. “Oh, well. Scramble a medical team. Tell them I’m headed in their direction, and brief them on the situation. They’ll know what to do.”

“Got it. Izanagi out.” Izanagi answered. Ahsoka heard a click over the Comm, and knew that she was done talking. The warrior stepped off the translocater pads with Ahsoka following, unaware that blood was dripping down her back and soaking her clothes, and led her towards medbay.

“Um...” Ahsoka started, “May I ask your name?” The warrior smiled.

“You may,” the warrior stated. “It’s Jek’ari... Kylet'oran Jek’ari. As your friend, Corran, may have guessed, I’m the Fleet General of the Dragonarian Star Empire.”

“Yeah, about that,” Ahsoka said, “Who was it that let Corran gather so much information?”

“Both me and Izanagi.” Kylet'oran answered. “She had requested to give Corran the information, and I let her. And don’t bother to thank Izanagi, she already knows.”

“She does? How?” Ahsoka asked.

“She’s my ship’s AI—she has unrestricted access to every system on this ship, including the security and Comm systems. She could be eavesdropping on our little conversation right now.” Kylet'oran said. As if to prove this statement, Izanagi’s voice came over a nearby intercom speaker.

“Uh-huh, you know it!” She had no more than finished her sentence when Kylet'oran and Ahsoka stepped into the medbay. Kylet'oran and what appeared to be the ship’s medic chattered in the Dragonarian tongue, and the Dragonarian/Kemorainian medical team treated Ahsoka in record time. In no less than three minutes, Ahsoka’s wound was cleaned, treated, and wrapped in bandages.

“I think it’s fair that you know, once we’re done here, we’ll head to the bridge and have the crew put this ship on-course for Dragonarian Prime... there is something there you must see.” Kylet'oran said.

“What about my—” Ahsoka started. Kylet'oran held up a hand and interrupted,

“They’ve already been translocated to this ship. Your starfighter was translocated to Hangar bay two, while Corran... well, he’s waiting to see you on the bridge.” Ahsoka smiled at this thought, and when the medical team finished their work, the lead medic, a Ryukaissen Dragonarian, spoke passable standard.

“Alright, mistress... that should do It.” he said, “Be sure to keep this on for a few weeks. Cuts from a Phayder’s wrist blades dipped in bleeding lotion can sometimes take several weeks to heal.”

Ahsoka nodded. “Thanks.” The lead medic smiled.

“Anytime.” he said. Ahsoka got down from the bed and followed Kylet'oran towards the bridge...

* * *

Anakin saw from the blood on the ground that a Kemorainian Phayder had ambushed Ahsoka here. The dead Kemorainian Phayder, lying on the ground cut in half by a lightsaber, served to prove that theory. But, Anakin mused, if this was where Ahsoka was ambushed, where did she go?

The answer came when Anakin visited the security room and saw that Kylet'oran had saved her, and then the two just disappeared. Then, Anakin got a report that Ahsoka’s Y-wing had disappeared. Anakin figured that she had taken the Y-wing somewhere, but where? However, contrary to what Anakin thought, there was no sensor that detected Ahsoka’s Y-wing leaving Coruscant’s atmosphere. So, if Ahsoka didn’t leave Coruscant, where did she go?

The answer to that mystery, strangely enough, came from a coded subspace text message sent to the Jedi Temple stating what had happened. According to it, Ahsoka and Corran, along with their Y-wing, were on General Kylet'oran’s ship, the Dragon’s Rage. The ship was currently on a heading to Dragonaria Prime, a planet twelve light-years outside the remains of the planet Malachor V.

While the council placed little concern on the fact that Ahsoka was in Dragonarian hands, they did place a heavy concern on learning what this legend that the Dragonarian general wanted Ahsoka to learn, as well as gathering intelligence on these Dragonarians and Kemorainians. So, a Corellian Corvette named the Seeker was sent into Dragonarian space carrying Anakin aboard to gather Intel and to find Ahsoka...

(Tell me what you think, yes?)

[Sector-T]

Um... Do we have ANY Star Wars fans in here at all?

Uh....no.....oh wait! *Shot gun fires* .......nevermind......

[Star_Dragon]

Umm... I have no Idea what you just said. I was asking what people thought of this chapter.

[Sector-T]

It was a joke, you asked if there were any star wars fans here, and I said no....with humor, *Facepalms* It's not funny when you have to explain it!

[Star_Dragon]

Oh... sorry, I have a very different sense of humor than the avg. person. Meaning: I don't laugh at certain jokes. Anyhow, here's chapter Four...

Chapter Four

As the Dragon’s Rage dropped out of light speed, the external sensors displayed an image of Dragonaria Prime in the bridge. It was a calm, rocky Terran planet with a few continents of green here-and-there. Orbiting the planet was a fleet comprised of both Dragonarian and what Ahsoka assumed to be Kemorainian ships, judging by their marble-like purple/lavender color.

“Helmsman,” Kylet'oran ordered, “Put us in a standard orbit. Just within translocator range.”

“Aye, sir.” answered Kiimaar, the Kemorainian at the helm. A moment later, the Dragon’s Rage began to orbit the Dragonarian home world. This done, Kylet'oran asked,

“Ready to go, Izanagi?”

The AI replied almost instantaneously. “Just about; just give me a minute.” After what was fifteen seconds, she added, “Okay, ready... yank me.” Ahsoka saw Kylet'oran place an armored hand over the port where Izanagi would usually appear, saw a flash of light around Kylet'oran’s hand, and he rose from the captain’s chair.

At the press of a button, Kylet'oran’s Emerald-green armor materialized onto him inside of five seconds. Directing a comment to his crew, Kylet'oran said, “Send Transocation coordinates to translocator room two. Put us down at location 024.” One of the officers nodded solemnly, as if he knew what lay at location 024. Ahsoka could only ponder what lay there. As Kylet'oran left the bridge, she asked the tactical officer,

“What’s at location 024?”

The officer’s face was grave, his voice grim. “Her grave.”

“Whose grave?” Ahsoka inquired silently.

“Her name was Anna’khan, and she was—” the officer was interrupted when Kylet'oran stepped back into the bridge.

“You coming, Ahsoka?” he asked. She shrugged, followed Kylet'oran to the translocator room, stepped on the pad, and felt the familiar sensation of being light-headed as she was translocated to the surface of Dragonaria Prime...

* * *

As the Seeker exited hyperspace at the Dragonarian home world, Anakin saw the unmistakable shape of the Dragon’s Rage orbiting the planet.

“I don’t like this, sir,” said Captain Rex, the clone trooper next to Anakin. “Being this deep into alien territory. They could fire on this ship without so much as a warning or a second thought.”

“We’ll be fine, Rex. Their leadership knows and respects me.” Anakin stated.

“Do you think they’ll know you’re on this ship?” Rex asked.

“Yes... because I know a certain someone is eavesdropping.” Anakin answered. As if to prove this theory, a female voice came over the intercom.

“Uh-huh, you know it!” Rex drew his pistols and searched for the elusive target, but there wasn’t one.

“Is Kylet'oran around?” Anakin asked.

“We’re down on the planet surface. I’ve already told high command that you’re here. But, uh... you might consider coming alone. The Dragonarians don’t want the clones setting foot on Dragonaria until the republic can earn the empire’s trust.” the female voice said.

Anakin nodded. “Affirmative, Izanagi. General Skywalker, out.” Before Anakin left for his starfighter, Rex stopped him.

“Sir, are you sure you should be heading down there alone? I don’t like the way that message sounded.”

“I’ll be fine, Rex. Just wait and see.” Anakin said. He then left, boarded his jedi interceptor, and left for the surface of Dragonaria Prime...

* * *

Ahsoka and Kylet'oran had translocated into the midst of a massive graveyard when Izanagi began to talk to Anakin over a Comm channel. Why Kylet'oran didn’t say anything was beyond Ahsoka, but she didn’t press the issue. Every now and again, Izanagi would talk to Anakin as Kylet'oran led Ahsoka to a massive grave, one fit for a dragon.

It was then that Kylet'oran removed his armor and gauntlets and removed his shirt, revealing an alien mark seemingly branded into his back. He then knelt before the grave approximately three or four meters from the gravestone, and asked, “Any words of advice for your former student?” Ahsoka frowned and was about to answer when another voice did.

“Why, getting scared?” The voice was female, but great, indicating that the spirit of a dragon spoke. Almost as soon as the voice spoke, the spirit of a great, blue-scaled dragon appeared over the grave, like a hologram. Kylet'oran rose.

“No, ma’am,” he replied gravely, “I just... don’t know what to do.”

“I know,” the dragon said softly, as if she were a mother speaking to a child ill at ease. “You believe you have found the Mistress of Mercy, but you do not know if she will be safe with the republic while you are tied up on the enemy front.”

“It’s not just that,” Kylet'oran said. “I can feel something... deep inside me. But, I’m not sure what it is, as I’ve never felt it before.” Anna’khan chuckled softly.

“Quite the contrary, Kyle. You have felt this before, many times, but not in the magnitude you feel it now. I would tell you what it is, but I will let you rediscover this feeling. It’s been too long since you last felt it, especially after my death.”

Ahsoka chose that particular moment to intervene. “Um... Anna’khan, what do you know of the legend of this so-called ‘Mistress of Mercy?’” Anna’khan looked directly at Ahsoka, her piercing gaze making Ahsoka shudder.

“The Mistress of Mercy was a woman, the counterpart of the Chosen Warrior of the Prophets. In ancient times before the empire mastered interstellar travel, the first Chosen Warrior foretold that one chosen warrior would encounter a woman, his counterpart, the one who was everything he could not be... the one person who could calm his divine fury, his deadly powers, and his dark rage.” Anna’khan said.

“Okay... and what does that have to do with me?” Ahsoka asked.

“The tablet that originally held the prophecy clearly depicted you as the Mistress of Mercy.” Kylet'oran said. “Unfortunately, that tablet was lost. Only a certain few within both Dragonarian and Kemorainian Empires know the prophecy by heart, me included.” Before the conversation  could carry on any longer, Anna’khan began to chatter in the Dragonarian tongue to Kylet'oran, indicating a figure in the distance.

Ahsoka looked to what the dragon was indicating, and noticed that Anakin’s Jedi Interceptor was landed nearby. And Anakin was walking up to the three of them. Kylet'oran returned his shirt to his chest, his gauntlets to his hands, and began talking to Anakin in Dragonarian. Why he talked to Anakin in that language before Ahsoka was a mystery beyond her comprehension.

However, when Kylet'oran mentioned some certain detail during the conversation, Anakin’s eyes went wider than dinner plates as he exclaimed softly,

“You brought the Mandalorians into this??”

“We struck a deal. We would help them if they discontinued with their plans against the republic and made a permanent alliance with the republic.” Kylet'oran said.

“How’d you get them to agree to that? I’m not really comfortable being allied with the Mandalorians, especially with what I’ve read about them in my studies in the Jedi temple.” Ahsoka asked. Kylet'oran smiled.

“Three things: One, they didn’t have a choice. They were being attacked by the Kemorainian imperial remnant and some new allies of theirs, and were heavily outnumbered; Second, I promised to trade technology with them if they would trade knowledge of their... interesting mass driver cannon designs; Third, they’re bound by a code of honor, like us. We’ve had their alliance for years, and I pointed out that attacking a race unprovoked would violate the terms of our alliance.” Kylet'oran had no more than finished this statement when Izanagi chose that moment to intervene.

“General,” she said, “Our Mandalorian Intelligence fleet has arrived. Kelborn is requesting urgent communication with you.”

Kylet'oran nodded. “Acknowledged,” Looking to Anakin, he said, “Anakin, get back to the republic and tell them that the Mandalorians are forming an alliance with the Republic, and could possibly be under siege. I will contact them later to tell them where to send their first support fleet.” Shifting his attention to Ahsoka, Kylet'oran added, “Ahsoka, you’ll have to come with me. You’ll serve as an unofficial representative of the republic out here. At the time, we can’t request an official representative be sent here, as there most likely isn’t sufficient time, if Kelborn’s message is what I think it is. Izanagi made all of the prior arrangements during our conversation with Anna’khan.”

Activating the communicator in his wrist gauntlet as Anakin rushed off to his starfighter, Kylet'oran ordered, “General Jek’ari to Dragon’s Rage, translocate Ahsoka and I directly to the bridge.”

In the brief moment before Ahsoka and Kylet'oran were translocated to the bridge, Ahsoka caught a glimpse of someone from Kylet'oran’s past, someone who contributed perhaps the most indelible scar on his mind; she saw a woman with calm, sapphire-blue dragon eyes, soft features, and a body that was both a warrior’s and a woman’s. But as soon as she saw this image, it vanished. It was still in Ahsoka’s memory, but she was suddenly struck with that strange feeling that compelled her to venture out into space in the first place.

Whoever this woman was, Ahsoka felt that she reminded Kylet'oran of her...

* * *

As soon as Kylet'oran and Ahsoka arrived on the bridge, Ahsoka nearly fell forward on her face from the dizziness she felt, only to be caught in mid-fall by Kylet'oran.

“Hey—are you okay?” he asked as he helped her re-gain her balance. Ahsoka nodded, still feeling light-headed.

“Yeah,” she replied a couple of seconds later, “Translocating from place-to-place just makes me dizzy.” Kylet'oran cast Ahsoka a warm smile and a chuckle.

“Yeah, translocation will do that to you. Eventually, it goes away. It just takes a few days to get used to it. Just find a place to sit down and rest.” Directing a comment to his crew, Kylet'oran added, “Put me through to Kelborn’s ship.” As Ahsoka sat down, she looked to the forward view screen to see Kelborn’s ship—a Keldabe-class Battleship—be replaced by the look of a human male somewhere in his late thirties. His golden armor made him look bulky, and his face suggested he had been in many battles.

“General Kylet'oran,” he said, “I bring you grave news; we don’t know exactly how it happened, but an assault fleet of Enemy ships has breached our perimeter defenses and is sieging Mandalore. We are currently holding our own well, but we’re heavily outnumbered and could use some assistance.”

“Acknowledged,” Kylet'oran answered, “I will be over there personally to assist. Izanagi—”

“Yes?”

“—Send a message to Admiral Lucar’ri, tell him to take command here, then send a message to the Republic to send a support fleet to Mandalore. Give the coordinates to them in case they don’t know where it is. And rally a battle fleet to follow us to Mandalore!” Directing a statement to his crew, Kylet'oran added, “All hands, battle alert!”

At these words, crew members rushed in every direction to get to their pre-assigned posts.

“Helmsman, lay in a course for Mandalore, maximum warp.” Kylet'oran ordered.

“Roger, course plotted and laid in.” Kiimaar said a moment later.

“Engage on-course. Tactical, bring all weapons on-line. Let’s give the imperial remnant and their friends a warm reception.” Kylet'oran said.

The tactical officer, a Ryukaissen Dragonarian, grinned, as if he found pleasure in what Kylet'oran said. “With honor, sir.” he said with a sinister voice.

The Dragon’s Rage then warped out with the Mandalorian fleet, followed by a battle fleet of thirty-five starships—not including his—a mixed bag of Dragonarian and Kemorainian battleships, frigates, cruisers, and a few battlecruisers thrown in between. Ahsoka could only ponder who the Kemorainian Imperial Remnant could have allied themselves with...

[FalcoAcepilot]

i like starwars and... O MY GOD THATS LONG!!!!!!

[rainfyre66]

Good read, as usual!

(and Falco, if you think that chapter's long, you don't wanna see the chapters in my fanfic...)

[Star_Dragon]

If you think that chapter was good, check this one out.

Chapter Five

Mandalore was a lot closer than Anakin—or anyone in the republic support fleet, for that matter—would have thought. But it was still a good distance away, on the fringes of republic space. Anakin was in his modified Jedi Interceptor, waiting for the all-clear signal for him to launch with the rest of the V19 Torrents, ARC-170 starfighters, and V-wings.

While the AI Izanagi had sent the message for the republic to send a support fleet to Mandalore, she had also sent a “virus” that installed an identification program to identify allied Kemorainians and enemy Kemorainians onto all republic ships and fighters. She also said that this was necessary in order to prevent friendly fire. Now, with the Republic fleet closing on the battle at Mandalore, Anakin waited for the signal to launch.

He mentally reviewed the plan; blast any imperial remnant fighter that comes his way, keep them from destroying the allied capital ships, protect Republic ships, and when the battle was over, rendezvous with the Mandalorian, Dragonarian, and Kemorainian leaders to plan out their next move.

Although the council typically didn’t like the idea of being allied with the Mandalorians, they did like the idea that they would be allied with three races, instead of two. This would increase their chance of survival against not only the Kemorainian imperial remnant, but whatever allies they make. It should also serve to even the odds of this conflict.

Finally, the hangar doors of the Venator-class star destroyer Anakin was on opened, and Anakin lifted off and exited the hangar, followed by a swarm of other fighters. To his left, right and rear flanks, five to eight Venators opened their hangar doors and swarms of starfighters poured out, like bees defending a hive under attack.

Anakin’s radar painted hundreds, possibly even thousands, of targets, a mix of Kemorainian imperial remnant Crusader starfighter and Annihilator bomber squadrons, Dragonarian B14 Star Dragon fighter/bomber squadrons, and Mandalorian Star Viper and Skipray Blastboat squadrons. Also in the mix were other alien ships, and Anakin could make out the features of droid starfighters, which implied that the remnants of the Separatists had allied themselves with the Kemorainian imperial remnant.

Anakin decided to engage targets—there was certainly no shortage of them. His targets—along with everybody else’s targets—were the imperial remnant, CIS and alien fighters. However, Anakin was going to keep a sharp eye out for Ahsoka’s Y-wing. Maybe, just maybe, he could link back up with her and help her out...

* * *

While Ahsoka led the starfighter squadrons in this attack, General Kylet'oran led the capital ships into battle. He had a mixed bag of Dragonarian and Kemorainian ships, just a fraction of the amount present in the Dragonarians’ and Kemorainians’ galaxies, a fleet of over twenty-five thousand ships, spread out across 12.5 thousand light years of allied territory.

Kylet'oran’s fleet consisted of three Dragonarian Dragon-class assault battleships, two Kemorainian Kei-darri class attack battleships, one Kemorainian Kuudaako class assault battleship, two Dragonarian Id'currsoid class battlecruisers, eight Kemorainian Tigerriann class Strike Cruisers, four Dragonarian Mali’ciaar-class cruisers, four Kemorainian Warrior class assault cruisers, five Dragonarian Creed’err class attack cruisers, one Kemorainian Izzaria class battlecruiser, two Dragonarian Marshal class siege frigates, two Kemorainian Rizzarriin class interdictor cruisers, one Dragonarian Jek’ari class siege battleship, and Kylet'oran’s Dragon-class assault battleship refit, a total of thirty-six ships.

The Mandalorians had plenty of ships to throw at their attackers—a mixed bag of Vengeance-class war frigates, Interceptor-class frigates, Crusader-class anti-fighter gunships, Aggressor-class destroyers, and Keldabe-class battleships—and they didn’t hesitate to do so.

Directing a comment to his tactical officer, Kylet'oran asked, “Tactical, where’s the nearest enemy ship?”

“About three hundred fifty thousand kilometers dead ahead... it’s a Kemorainian Izzaria-class battlecruiser.” the tactical officer replied. Kylet'oran chuckled.

“Fire a pair of plasma torpedoes to get his attention. Then, when he’s close enough, engage with the main guns.” The tactical officer grinned, pressed a series of buttons on his touch-screen panel, and sent two blue-green plasma torpedoes racing towards the tri-finned, football-shaped battlecruiser. The torpedoes exploded in a flash of blue light, and the Izzaria battlecruiser reared around and attacked the Dragon’s Rage. Plasma bolts flared on the battleship’s shields, and when the Kemorainian battlecruiser was within one hundred thousand kilometers, the tactical officer opened up on the enemy ship with a salvo of disruptor fire. That salvo alone was enough to punch a hole in one of the three fins in the football-shaped ship, knock out weapons, and blow the ship to hell.

“Sir, I’ve got two Mikarrian battlecruisers powering up weapons, starboard side!” exclaimed the science officer.

Kyle smiled the usual sinister smile of a Terran Dragonarian in battle. Here we go, he thought. Turning to his tactical officer as the battleship’s shields took the brunt of a plasma bolt, Kylet'oran said, “They’re all yours, Radd’err.” The tactical officer nodded and smiled, revealing his dragon-like teeth.

“Yes, sir.” He then punched in a series of commands that were sent to the gunners, who then turned the starboard heavy disruptor turret batteries ninety degrees starboard, targeted one of the Mikarrian ships, and opened up on them.

The first was blown away by a salvo of disruptor fire, while the second managed to get an Poleron Particle cannon shot off before being subsequently shot to pieces. The poleron particle cannon, like the disruptor batteries that were modeled after them, punched through the battleship’s shields, but unfortunately, due to the outdated nature of the weapon, did little damage to the hull of the Dragon’s Rage.

“Sir,” the science officer piped up, “I have a CIS Munificent attack frigate, de-cloaking on our aft quarter!”

Kylet'oran’s voice was calm as the Dragon’s Rage took a hit on the shields. “Tactical, target the frigate on the aft, fire a full spread of quantum-cobalt torpedoes.” Quantum-cobalt torpedoes, the Dragonarian-Kemorainian alliance’s answer to the Kemorainian imperial remnant’s Insurrection-class warships equipped with a Kemorainian refit of the Plasma Turbocannon, made short work of the Munificent-class warship firing on the battleship’s aft.

Four torpedoes were all it took. One hit the bridge and vaporized everything on it, one rendered weapon control useless, one hit the starboard engine power plant and blew it apart, and the last one detonated the antimatter main reactor on the Munificent and swallowed the ship in a fiery explosion.

While he gave various orders, Kylet'oran could only ponder how Ahsoka was faring in this battle...

* * *

Contrary to what everyone would have thought, save Corran, Ahsoka was a daring pilot, and held her own extremely well, even against the Kemorainians. To avoid confusion on the field, and because the allied Kemorainian fighters weren’t marked, the allied Kemorainians didn’t launch fighters. Not that it mattered, though. It wouldn’t have made much of a difference.

The truth was, even though the enemy outnumbered them, their ships and fighters—save that of the Kemorainian imperial remnant and the Separatists—didn’t fare especially well. They had thrown their fighters and corvettes into the fight too early, and waited too long to engage with the big ships. There were no enemy corvettes in sight, save for a pair of damaged and extremely active Hardcell corvettes, a sight that implied that most, if not all, of the enemy’s corvettes had been blown away. And even those hardcell corvettes didn’t last long when a pair of Vengeance frigates targeted them and fired a volley of tri-barreled mass driver cannons at them.

Nothing could have lived where the volley of mass driver slugs converged when six more Vengeance frigates and a pair of Keldabes fired their mass driver cannons. It was hard to say which of the ships destroyed the corvettes, given the sudden bombardment of mass driver slugs that were suddenly hurled their way, but Ahsoka knew it didn’t matter, just so long as the anti-fighter corvettes were gone.

Good for us, Ahsoka thought, bad for them. With the anti-fighter corvettes out of the way, the allied bombers and fighter/bombers could now commence torpedo bombings of the enemy ships. The Mikarrian and Kemplarian ships were the first to go. They lost eighty-seven percent of their fleet before retreating, leaving the Kemorainian imperial remnant and the CIS ships to fend for themselves.

It was then that Ahsoka spotted Anakin’s modified jedi interceptor. It was being chased by a pair of Kemorainian crusaders. Ahsoka fell in behind them, and prepared to fire...

* * *

Anakin had just taken out a droid tri-fighter when a pair of Kemorainian crusader starfighters slotted themselves on Anakin’s rear flank and started shooting. Fortunately, thanks both to the fact that Anakin was a great pilot, and that the enemy pilots were bad shots, he had been able to outmaneuver them.

But now, they had began to concentrate their fire, trying to hit Anakin. But, before either one of them could actually hit Anakin’s interceptor, a Y-wing blasted them both apart.

“You know, I always seem to be just in time to save your life, sky-guy.” came Ahsoka’s voice over the comm channel. Anakin smiled and managed a chuckle. Ahsoka then fired a random shot that passed over Anakin’s cockpit and obliterated a vulture droid chasing a wounded Star Viper headed back to the relative safety of a Keldabe battleship. If the Mandalorian pilot knew it was Ahsoka who saved his life, he certainly didn’t say anything about it.

The enemy fought desperately for about two or three more hours before finally giving up and retreating. During that time, two ships had been captured by the Dragonarians, Mandalorians and Kemorainians, and their computers were accessed for any intelligence concerning the nature of this attack.

It was during that time that the Mikarrians launched a suicide attack on the two captured ships, but it ultimately failed. After all the possible Intel was gathered, the ships were rigged to blow and sent away before exploding. After all the relevant data was sorted, Anakin and Ahsoka were called down to the capital city of Mandalore, Keldabe...

[FalcoAcepilot]

awesome... waten' for someone to do starwars. great so far .

( rainfree... wat IS you fan fic )

[Star_Dragon]

Okay, here's Chapter Six!

Chapter Six

By the time Anakin and Ahsoka found Mandalore, the leader of the Mandalorians, Kylet'oran was already there with a high-ranking Kemorainian that Ahsoka assumed was General Keldonar Kedd’khan of the Kemorainian starfleet. Mandalore was dressed head-to-toe in a gray battle armor that hid his face from view. Next to him was a Mandalorian in black armor.

“Well, well,” Mandalore said. “The Mistress of Mercy. Finally, we meet face-to-face.” Indicating the Mandalorian in black armor, he added, “Kex told me how you saved his life. I really appreciate that, as Kex is my top covert operative.”

Clasping a fist over his heart and making a slight bow, Kex said, “Your actions are worthy of a Mandalorian, Jedi. You saved my life, and I thank you.” Ahsoka, unsure what to say, replied,

“Anytime.”

“Alright,” Kylet'oran stated. “We have gathered here today in light of some Intel that Kex has recovered. Tell ‘em, Kex.”

“Right,” Kex answered. “I have discovered how the Kemorainian imperial remnant and their allies have been getting cloaking devices.” Activating a galactic map, he continued, “You all know how ship-based cloaking devices use Stygium crystals to create a stable cloaking field, right?” Everyone nodded. “Well, I found out from an intelligence dossier that I intercepted that the remnant has found an entire system stocked with Stygium crystals here—” Kex highlighted a particular area of the galactic map. “3,000 light-years away from this place. The republic archives refer to this place as the ‘Vergesso asteroid field.’

“Now, based on the Intel that I’ve intercepted, the Kemorainian imperial remnant is mining the crystals and creating cloaking devices for anyone willing to join their ‘holy crusade.’”

“Which would explain why your Separatist friends joined them in the first place,” Kylet'oran said.

“Kex, any idea who is leading the separatists?” Ahsoka asked. Kex shook his head.

“From what I was able to piece together with the available data,” Kex answered, “the CIS cloned a leader of theirs, a female sith lord.”

“Ventress,” Anakin growled.

“Well, whoever she is, she commands respect from my brother,” Keldonar put in, “and with them working together... this conflict could very well turn into a war. Ventress is gathering the remnants of the Separatists’ droid armies and has established a droid factory on Polus.”

“Just Polus?” Anakin inquired. “That doesn’t sound like the CIS that we know.”

“This leads us to believe that they have factories elsewhere.” Kylet'oran said. “Aside from Ventress, the only other person who knows where the other factories could be would be Gizor Dellso.”

“Unfortunately, we—” Anakin started.

“Yes, we know; he disappeared after the battle at Mustufar when all the other Separatist leaders were captured. We think that he is traveling the galaxy to keep his whereabouts a secret.” Kylet'oran interrupted.

“I’ve been trailing a Geonosian that matches the description that the republic set. He’s on board a Kemorainian Kuudaako-class Assault Battleship.” Kex said. Pulling up an image of a Kemorainian ship, he continued, “His ship was retrofitted with technology from all over the galaxy, including a cloaking device. But his cloak has one flaw—”

“It gives away a faint tachyon emission accompanied by a sporadic energy reading?” Ahsoka finished. Kex inclined his head slightly.

“Yes, actually. How’d you know?”

“It’s a common flaw with most imperial remnant cloaking devices. The remnant is in too poor an economic state to fix this problem themselves, so they have their commanders fix this on their own.” Kylet'oran stated. “Unfortunately for them, every commander and researcher that has found the fix for the flaw was killed in the last large-scale engagement before they could transmit their findings to the remnant research facilities throughout the galaxy.”

“So,” Anakin said, “where is he now?”

“I’ve tracked him to an area on the fringes of republic space, about ten light-years outside of Shola.” Kex answered.

“Why would he venture that close to republic space?” Ahsoka asked.

“He’s set a trap and is daring the republic to come out and get him.” Anakin said.

“Okay,” Kylet'oran explained, “Here’s the plan: Anakin, you and the republic are going to take a Mandalorian battle group to capture Dellso. Kex will go with you. Once that is done, try to get him to divulge the locations of any other droid factories. When he does, transmit the information to alliance high command.

“Ahsoka, you’re going to take a Dragonarian/Kemorainian strike fleet and launch an immediate attack on the droid factory, since you have more experience with the droid armies of the CIS than any of us, save Anakin. If you can get any intelligence reports on enemy strengths or anything pertaining to the enemy’s whereabouts, it would be much-appreciated.

“As for me, I am going to lead a Dragonarian/Mandalorian attack on the enemy’s Stygium Crystal mines. They are likely to be heavily fortified, and I will need as many available ships as possible, Mandalore. Once we eliminate the enemy’s ability to make cloaking devices, and if we can gather more intelligence in the field, we’ll have a better idea of what we’re dealing with.” With that said, and the initial planning out of the way, Ahsoka was free to return to the Venator that Anakin was on to discuss what she had learned about the Mistress of Mercy.

* * *

Upon returning to the Venator-class star destroyer Courageous, Anakin was surprised to learn that a Phayder group had infiltrated the ship during the battle. While the clone marines under the command of Captain Rex had been unsuccessful in locating these marauding assassins, they had learned that the Phayders had entered the ship by translocating to an isolated spot on the ship, where they then went about accessing various computer systems and technical readouts of all republic ships before disappearing somewhere inside the ship. It was highly unlikely that they translocated off-ship, as there was no Kemorainian imperial remnant ships in the vicinity within translocation range, and the starship’s shields were still up.

When Anakin and Ahsoka found Rex, Rex took notice of the bandages around Ahsoka’s wound.

“Hey—what happened to you?” he asked.

“Wounded by a Kemorainian Phayder. It’s a long story.” Ahsoka replied. Almost as soon a she said this, she could feel an ominous sensation... the same sensation she felt in the council chambers on Coruscant when that Phayder had stalked her there!

Not taking any chances, she activated her lightsaber and made a random stab behind her. However, instead of going through air, the blade met with resistance, and Rex and the clones stared in amazement as the Phayder materialized out of thin air, the lightsaber going through the alien’s abdomen. Before the Phayder had time to utilize his wrist blades, Ahsoka whirled and sheared him in half. Just seconds before he hit the ground, Ahsoka cut the Phayder’s hands off.

The alien still had air enough to breathe when he hit the floor, though, as he panted and waited for the blow that would end his life. But it never came. When that blow didn’t come he coughed once and looked up at Ahsoka.

“What does the Kemorainian imperial remnant want with me?” she growled.

“Did you not know? You carry a warrant of death on your head, youngling.” The Phayder answered.

“Why? Why does your leadership want me killed?” Ahsoka asked.

“It’s not my place to ask,” the Phayder coughed. Ahsoka’s eyes narrowed as she felt that same sensation that she was coming to associate with a Phayder sneaking around.

Pretending that she didn’t realize that the Phayder was nearby, she continued to question the dying Phayder. If Anakin could sense the Phayder approaching or see the slight distortion of the background indicative of a cloaked Phayder, he didn’t say anything.

However, before he could react, and before the Phayder could decapitate Ahsoka, she activated her lightsaber, deflected the sword blow, spun, cut the Phayder off at the knees, and decapitated him before he hit the floor.

Leaping up and spinning in midair, Ahsoka then landed a blow on a third Phayder. More by force of blow than by the technological features of a lightsaber, Ahsoka’s lightsaber cut through the cortosis weave in the Kemorainian’s swords and sliced the Phayder symmetrically down the center. The two halves of the Kemorainian split in opposite directions, fell to the floor with separate thumps, and the dead Phayder’s broken swords clattered off to the side.

Ahsoka was still sitting there, lightsaber in hand and still active, crouched where she had slashed the Phayder in half when Rex spoke up.

“Are you alright?” When Ahsoka finally stood up and extinguished her lightsaber, she started down the hall towards the hangar. Anakin ran to catch up.

“You okay, Snipps?” Anakin asked. “You don’t usually act like this.”

“Just... lay off for a while, master.” Ahsoka said. “I have to talk to Kylet'oran about this.”

“Why are you all of a sudden so attached to him?” Anakin asked. “What does he know—” At that point, Ahsoka flared like an exploding bomb.

“He knows the Dragonarian legends better than you! He says I’m supposed to be the ‘Mistress of Mercy.’ I want to know how he knows. I want to know what he knows. I have to talk to him because he’ll know just what the hell is going on with me!” After that, she walked off, and for a moment before she turned a corner, Anakin thought he could see a spot of neon-green Dragonarian blood over her wound...

* * *

Ahsoka boarded her Y-wing and blasted out of the Hangar bay and headed directly to the Dragon’s Rage. As if Kylet'oran knew she was coming, the first officer of the ship, Captain Draconarius, granted her passage into hangar bay two. Once she landed and hangar air pressure stabilized, she got out of her Y-wing and headed to the bridge. From there, she was directed to Kylet'oran’s personal quarters.

After she got inside and shut the door, she saw Kylet'oran staring out a window. She wondered what to say, where to begin, when words rushed from her mouth.

“Just what the hell is going on with me?” Not what she had wanted to say, as it sounded too angry and harsh. But Kylet'oran didn’t seem to mind. Ahsoka could tell because his voice was calm when he spoke.

“Exactly what is supposed to be happening. I know what happened on the Courageous. You sensed and killed three Kemorainian Phayders single-handedly. That’s an ability that’s very rare, even for a Dragonarian Jedi, to sense a Kemorainian Phayder through the force, and even more rare to do so before they strike.”

“Why me?” Ahsoka asked. “Why did your gods choose me to be the Mistress of Mercy? What makes me such an important target for the Kemorainian imperial remnant?”

“Fate seldom calls us at a convenient time. As for the death warrant on your head, I don’t know. But I can tell you that it could have something to do with the Dragonarian legends.” Kylet'oran replied. Ahsoka’s anger and frustration was raging beyond her control, and without consciously thinking about it, she moved with speed beyond her abilities, grabbed Kylet'oran, and slammed him against the window, making the force-field that replaced the glass flare.

“I want to know exactly what you know about all of this,” Ahsoka growled, “so quit giving me these piss-poor excuses about the Dragonarian legends and tell me just what the hell is going on!” Kylet'oran, his own anger beginning to show, and tears beginning to well up in his eyes, forced Ahsoka’s hands off his Dragonarian jedi robes.

“That’s enough!” he exclaimed. “Do you think I wanted to become the Chosen Warrior? Do you think I was like this by nature? Do you??

“Truth is, when I said that fate seldom calls us at a convenient time, I was hiding the fact that I was one exception! I took the job of being the chosen warrior because I had nothing left! Everything else was destroyed!” In that moment, Ahsoka could see the scars that pained Kylet'oran, that weighed down on him.

Determined to learn more, she pressed on. “What do you mean?”

“A child isn’t meant to bury his entire family at the age of ten, nor is he meant to watch his mentor’s murder.” Kyle sighed. Sitting down on his bed with his back turned to Ahsoka, he added, “Nor is a husband meant to kill his wife. No Jek’ari should have to go through two wars in one century and see all the horrors that I’ve seen. No warrior should be murdered and brought back to life by the gods that I serve, only to inadvertently start a war. No one person should have to bear the scars that I carry.”

Ahsoka sat down on the bed next to Kylet'oran, close to tears herself, and tried her best to be apologetic. “Look... I’m sorry. I didn’t know what you’d been through.” Kylet'oran simply smiled weakly.

“Hey—how could you know? You were just an average jedi knight who was on her way home when I rang.” Leaning his head against Ahsoka’s shoulder, he added, “Even before I met you in the council chambers, I felt horrible. After K’tana’s death, I became nothing more than a raging death machine. All this time after her death, I’ve felt alone... trapped in a tumultuous galaxy where every Phayder in the old Kemorainian Empire is hunting my head.” Ahsoka paused, placing a hand on Kylet'oran’s head.

“If you need to cry, I’m right here,” she said. As if to take her words to heart, Kylet'oran was already beginning to cry and sob softly. The door to Kylet'oran’s quarters sighed and hissed open, and captain Draconarius walked in. Ahsoka waved him away, and the captain smiled and said,

“Yes, Ma’am.” As Kylet'oran cried, Ahsoka could again feel the feeling she felt that compelled her to venture out into space, but this time, it was accompanied by another feeling, one she had never felt before.

Acting on this, Ahsoka asked, “Kyle... would you mind if I sought Anna’khan’s advice on this?” Kylet'oran chuckled weakly.

“Go ahead... She’ll have much to discuss with you. I’ll have your ship pick you up on Dragonaria Prime.”

“Thanks,” Ahsoka said, kissing Kylet'oran’s forehead. “And may the force be with you.” Kylet'oran smiled, wiping away his tears.

“May the force be with us all.” he said.

As Ahsoka left the Dragon’s Rage and warped away from Mandalore, headed to Dragonaria Prime, Ahsoka felt better inside. She felt at peace.