Profit Margins (Cato Neimoidia)

[Akio Kahoshi]

"No one likes to see innocents die, Sir," Yu said apparently content to play the game where Weedin actually held some kind of rank, "but you have to look at the big picture. Chances are most of them would die anyway if I send my people into the tower, whether through counter action or simply being caught in the crossfire. Meanwhile we lose stormtroopers in the combat, and Komar has longer to try and escape causing us to have to hunt him out and cause even more deaths. Sometimes war requires cold calculations."

The general glanced over to Moira as she spoke about how it would be reported and shrugged. "The propaganda side is up to the big wigs. I just make sure the mission gets done, and done right."

Moira's plan synced up with what he had figured as well, will it with explosives and make the place go boom. Having the schematics would allow for a much cleaner explosion and far less collateral damage than he had been planning for though, and for that he was silently grateful. It was dishonorable to kill needlessly, and blowing up a tower in the middle of a city would undoubtedly have killed countless people beyond the tower. Of course all of this relied on his forces reaching the tower. In the meantime they could plan.

"Alright, lets get those schematics loaded and start figuring out where best to plan those bombs."

 

[Adonari Cinn]

An unmistakable grey orb came into view far in the distance towering out of the dark green Neomoidian forest. A'donari breathed deeply and focused his concentration on one point like Ben had taught him. Today he had to be cautious about only allowing himself to control the Light side of the force in front of the Knights and Masters that were around him. As the ship made a slight decent while the cannon was still miles away A'donari wrapped himself in the force in an effort to brace himself in case sudden changes in direction occurred. Who was he kidding? A'donari knew it was only a matter of a few minutes before they were spotted and the unavoidable would occur. He had learned during his teachings on Tython about ground based Ion Cannons but his memory had only kept the basic information needed. Luckily that hadn't mattered thanks to his Master. Ben had come prepared with a holopad that had had everything A'donari needed to know about the mission he was being sent on. During the quick read before meeting with Padak, A'donari had the chance to read up and understand once again that an Ion Cannon was nothing to scoff at but still had major weaknesses. Accuracy being the N-K7's biggest in his eyes. In A'donari's experience, if he was shooting something he expected his shot to arrive on target or what was the point of shooting in the first place.

As the ship drew closer and closer the preparations seemed to have been all for not. The size of the weapon made A'donari realize why the ground mission had been just as important as any other. While looking down at the huge barrel of the cannon a humming filled his ears that moved through the Force calling something natural from within his heart. Before his eyes the glass roof that connected to the cannon shattered giving way to vines that grew twice their size every two or three seconds. To A'donari it seemed that hundreds of green lines were connecting and separating at will as they made they're way in and out of the Ion Cannons grey metal exterior while destroying everything in their path. For the first time the Ithorian Jedi spoke though it was clear that his thoughts were somewhere else, "Patience, friends, I'll need some time to work." and to A'donari's eyes it seemed that the Ithorian was right. The vines looked as if they'd be able to do all of the dirty work needed. While watching the vines continue their assault A'donari dropped his left hand from the hilt of the sheathed sword that rested peacefully on his hip.

The ship continued to circle the cannon while the Ithorian continued his manipulating chant. A'donari took note to never allow an Ithorian female to back him into a forest alone for two reasons. The first of course being because of the species horrific faces but the second being because she could tie him down and have her way with him. "What separates the sexes of that race?" he wondered. "Not the time or place A'donari." he said responding back in his head. It was something he'd have to remember to look into later.

 

[Moira Skaldi]

@[member="Akio Kahoshi"]

Moira nodded to Yu. When faced with these convincing arguments, Weedin seemed to back down, perhaps realising that he could present himself as having saved the lives of countless innocents and brought down the Tyrant in one swift strike.
"I see the reason in your argument, much as the loss of innocents pains, but we must make hard choices," he said gravely, as if he had the weight of a world on his shoulder. "Some of my men will accompany your forces, they know their way around the tower."

Moira figured that he wanted to say he'd gotten his share of the "glory" as well, but said nothing to that. "The people would have preferred to put Komar on trial for his crimes, but they'll know that justice has been served."


"Control the media, control the mind," Moira said gnomically, more to herself than anyone else. While heavy fighting doubtlessly taking place, her people had gotten the blueprints uploaded and some time later they were received by the Atrisian command station, producing a holographic image of the building. The image flickered slightly, but did not dissipate and shifted as the technicians switched through the various levels. "There, the boiler room," Moira, pointing towards the location. "It should produce a strong enough reaction. I actually proposed this as a knockout blow shortly before the decision to invade was made. Higher-ups rejected it for 'collateral damage" and 'assassinations being bad form' ," she emphasised the words with airquotes.


Well, it looked like the Neimoidians would be getting a big bang, after all. Of course, General Yu's forces still had to reach the towers. They still had quite a fight before they got there and then would have to succeed at planting the explosives without getting gunned down.

 

[Sky Kerberos]

@[member="Boolon Murr"]
@Padak Arciso

It was amazing watching Boolon, to see life spring from the ground to obey his whims and wishes. It echoed a memory in her, one which felt torn from her...but yet the shadow remained.

But her reflections had to wait, as she sensed some guards in the distance. Still far enough that they posed no direct threat, however surely if they received word of Boolon's magic they would soon be upon them. "Ready," she asked Padak, knowing that at all costs they had to protect Boolon so he complete his work.

 

[Padak Arciso]

@[member="Sky Kerberos"] @A'donari Cinn @[member="Boolon Murr"]

"Ready, Master." Padak turned towards A'donari. "Keep Boolon safe. Just try not to kill sentients."

With a quick movement, Padak drew his lightsaber and activated it. He gathered the Force around him, and leaped, covering the distance between him and the droid guards, of which there were about 20. As he landed he slashed, the blue blade cutting through them like a knife through butter.

 

[Darron Wraith]

"Yes Seroth, I was impressed....and Aegis it is."

The GrandMaster liked that call sign very much, if his memory was correct it meant "armor of the Gods". It was an old and ancient term from a thousands of years ago, and it suited him just fine. Looking around at the other assembled men, he smiled at their names as well. Yes, Ben was a shield. The call-sign was simple, but it described his essence completely. Seroth was a dagger through and through, small but incredibly dangerous and skilled. Jaxton was a rogue, a warrior diplomat, and the title fit him well. It seemed the group was coming together, there was a definite connection between the four of them. They all functioned as one together, they had call signs, and a name. The playful banter was merely the icing on the cake, it was a sign of how they had forged a bond stronger than any diamond.

They truly where Adamant.

Turning to Ben, he had to say something to what his friend said. "Ben, who are we kidding. We all know you don't have a private life, unless you count all that extra time you seem to be spending with Sky. Don't think I don't notice when you two leave together after Council meetings and me and Jaxton end up talking after. Seems I'm not the only Jedi Master in love or working on it." Doing a quick count in his head he quickly realized that all of the Council had someone besides Jaxton and Kalia, what the Supreme Chancellor did in her spare time was her business. Good thing I adopted Master Skywalker's code instead of the Old Republic's, or we would be in trouble.

Blue eyes fell on the Zeltron, who's words rang true.

"Don't worry Jax, I know how to control my emotions. A break-up or losing Rosa would hurt me, not destroy me or affect my duties and performance. I have lost my entire family, and watched my six year old son murdered right before my eyes. I can handle this, but your concerns are well noted and I can't argue about where they come from. I am the GrandMaster, and as such I need to show how one can balance their duty and love."

Turning his attentions to the doors, he simply flicked the lock with his mind and with another push the doors effortless opened. "This way, hurry."

Running down the hall, they stopped at the door leading to the bridge. The GrandMaster quickly inserted the command codes he had gotten from intelligence, and a large holo appeared before them as the door unlocked. "It seems we each have one destroyer droid, and one magna-guard a piece. Lets finish them off, and no casualties. We can end this peacefully."

@[member="Ben Watts"] @[member="Seroth Ur-Rahn"] @ Jaxton Ravos

 

[Ashin Varanin]

@A'donari Cinn
@[member="Sky Kerberos"]
@[member="Padak Arciso"]

Boolon's head dipped ponderously as he continued to urge the plants in their growth. Vines permeated the access shafts and random openings within the ion cannon's barrel.

The huge weapon fired, blindingly bright, and he flinched as portions of the vines died. But he grew fresh tendrils from the nearest living tissue. The galven circuitry yielded.

"I'm sorry," he said to the vine, and urged it farther into the essential parts of the cannon.

The gigantic weapon fired again, and a shockwave tossed their speeder like kindling. Boolon hung from the safety railing one-handed, blinking his way back to consciousness of the outside world. The ion cannon was officially out of commission...and they officially had the military's attention.

 

[Adonari Cinn]

With the nod of his head to show his acknowledgement A'donari watched as Padak and the female Jedi lept from the craft leaving him in the sky with the Ithiorian. He watched as the two met an onslaught of troops with their lightsabers. Their movements were fluent and the glowing blades easily passed through the unfortunate attackers flesh. A blinding light caused A'donari to look away before the deafening sound and deep thunder like rumble from the firing Ion Cannon shook the ship. It seemed to A'donari that he had prepared properly after all. Again the Cannon fired blinding him for another split second before he felt the side of his face slam into the ground where his feet had just been planted. Looking around dazed A'donari saw the door where the Ithorian Jedi had just been standing and humming empty.

While rushing to the open side of the speeder A'donari sprang to his feet and thrust his head out of the ship trying to see if the Jedi Master was still in a free fall. Thankfully the Force was with the Jedi. Air whipped through his robes, while he hung on to the railing by one hand. Beneath the ship the Cannon was hardly recognizable from the destruction that the vines had done and A'donari was more than impressed. "Give me your other hand!" A'donari shouted trying to make himself heard over the roaring wind that was rushing past his face. The words didn't seem to register and A'donari wasn't able to tell if the Jedi was conscious or not due to the lack of movement in the Jedi's eyes. He stepped down onto the railing and grabbed the Ithirorian's forearm and hoisted him back into the aircraft which had leveled in altitude.

 

[Dizzy Zechs]

The 73rd Pincer Assault

The Army flanked the droids as Charlie hit the machines from across the bridge. Zech's keen battle senses smelled an opening and he unclipped his utility harness. He fired a grappling bolt across the chasm and it latched onto the middle fulcrum of the bridge-way. He slapped it to his belt and slung his massive gun across his back. Then he armed the Mine Detonator on his chest and gripped it in his Power Glove. It was time for a blow out.

"Let's go!"

He shouted as he made a running jump across the pit. Down through the air he fell, until back up he came. Sailing on his zipline! Swinging like a pendalum he flew high above the other side of the gap and released his Detonator into the fray. He cut his cord and came falling down across the gorge, just as the mighty Mine's explosion sent his enemy sailing back from whence they came. He landed with a heavy *thud* on the far side.

"Yeahh baby! Woo!"

Zechs unhinged his Assault Cannon and began spewing hot blue flame into the nearby enemy lines. His thunderous approach was heralded by flame and fire. The black burnt stone crunched under his feet as he charged into a nearby structure. Blasting droids in a cylindrical storm of never-ending blue bolts.

Zechs reached an over-watch position as two rockets blew away the stairs. Another explosion claimed a large slab of his rooftop as the Commander peered his Death Cannon down upon the enemy below. Again it spewed forth hot flame against his enemies. Claiming one droid after the other. His rooftop was splashed with incoming fire and his ballistic shield reflected beam after beam of enemy pot-shots. The Ultrachrome shield was almost smiling as Zechs stood triumphant in his blasted rooftop perch.

The combined pressure and heroics of the mighty 73rd added well to throw their metal enemies off-balance. The Republic was pushing forward. One bottle-neck bridge at a time.

"...Sexy."

 

[Abaigeal Burke]

The wound was healed but the man wasn't awake as of yet. He was breathing though which was a good sign so hopefully he would wake up soon. Lightly placing her hand on his forehead she could feel it was hot so she reached to grab a wet cloth which she placed on his head. There wasn't much else she could do for him. It was the waiting game until he did wake up which meant she would be checking on him later.

Before she moved on to the next patient she exchanged her bloody gloves for a new pair. All around her she could hear the battle and the shooting all around her on the ground. Kalia knew the same was occurring in the sky but she didn't want to think of any of that. Taking a deep breath she tried to block out the sounds of war and just focus on what was in front of her.

Getting to the next cot a young man reached out to her grabbing a piece of her robe. "I'm not going to die am I?" He looked up at her with pleading eyes. "I promised her.." Looking over his burns she looked to the solider. "No, I'm not going to let you die. Be still please." She nodded trying to keep the man still while using the Force to heal the burns on his body.

 

[Jonathan Walsh]

John smirked.. he had reports of his wife on the ground.. well he was going to fix a few things, " Send some fighters down to patrol around the med camp 2 ! have them escort what supplies we can spare as well" He looked at the array of his fleet, they had done well, the hole in the side they punched had done it. Now he just had to make sure that space stayed theirs.. and that Kalia.. was safe. " I want our fighters down taking air superiority planet side stat, and the rest of the fleet begins cleaning up the scrabble." the enemy fleet was mostly gone. He stood looking at the situation.. hoping that it finished up nicely.

 

[Ben Watts]

Ben felt a bit of heat swarm his face when Darron brought up Sky. He was not aware that people knew about his and Sky's relationship, it was nothing out of the ordinary, but it would be a lie if he tried to say it was just a normal relationship. He was trying to help her with the dark emotions she had stored deep down inside from the person she had been cloned from. He had been trying to keep it to where people did not start to talk, but he knew they would, they spent a bit of time together. Ben was not normally someone who spent a large amount of time around one person, he was usually all over the place, so when he spent more than the allotted time people began to take notice.

"We are just friends," Ben said reassuring Darron. Though love was OK among the members of the Order, Ben was not in love with her, or falling in love. "You know as well as I do where she came from, I am merely helping her transition to the Jedi, nothing more." He nodded his head, it was true, at least he thought it was.

As the doors opened, they all sprinted out, Ben following behind Darron as they made their way to their final destination. They would have two droids to fight, both droids being much stronger than the swarm they had all just taken out, Ben had fought one before and they were not easy. Of course he was much younger and less experienced, but he had overcome. Taking the lead of the four, Ben was the most experienced when it came to defense, if any droids decided to shoot at them for any reason he would be the best to block them. "The destroyed droids are have two distinct weak spots. From behind, their shields are weak, making them prone to attacks. The other being if they are knocked on their sides. From this position their shields will overload and they will become useless. Do with that what you will."

Activating his lightsaber as the doors opened, Ben knew the shots would be coming, standing in a defensive position he deflected as many blaster shots as he could. The destroyer droids stood at the front with the magna-droids standing patiently behind them. He wanted to give time to everyone behind him to do what they needed to do to finish this. There were also Neiomodians in the room, so he made sure to deflect the blaster shots in a safe place.

 

[Delila Castillon]

@[member="Anemone Nivalis"] | @[member="Gezzo"] | @[member="Dizzy Zechs"]

Lieutenant Nivalis seemed to be quickly proving her worth. Following the young Doctors' suggestions, Delila had spared her medics from the front line and had them set up a small triage area well behind the heavy gunners, the last line of their defense. "Can we get some sharpshooters on the roofs....fan out, check and see whats coming down the pipeline"

A small group of soldiers left, going to break into the high rise buildings behind them and set up. As soon as the sharpshooters left, destroyer-type droids came rolling in, heavily armed and shielded. This would have to be up to the heavy gunners and explosions techs, while everyone else created a type of quasi-coverfire from the other, less armored droids. As soon as one was knocked down and out, two would replace it. Not hard, but the battle was dragging on due to sheer numbers of droids.

Up ahead, a newcomer was blasting their way through the droids as well. Delila frowned, interesting style...at least droids were falling. No sooner had her musings finished, explosions started to rock the city. Duracrete chunks mixed with droid parts started to rain down.

"Good work, although we may need to patch up this planet....Lieutenant, whats your status?"

 

[Dizzy Zechs]

The city was shaking and The Commander was baking. Cooking these droids alive in his little kill-box Oven of Love. Dead sexy. Well... At least it was until the Shielded ones showed up.

"Keh! I hate party crashers."

He scowled and jumped off the back of the rooftop to a lower level. He reloaded his cannon just in time, as the rooftop above him exploded into cider and ash. Not a moment too soon to change cover. Ouch.

The Commander dipped, ducked, dodged, and dogged the enemy with every window and opening he passed. Spraying blue death across the duracrete as he made his way closer to the 73rd's Flank. Finally aiming to link up with their Heroes. He sprayed another stream of blue bolts at the enemy before leaping over cover to safety.

All this running around was making him sweat like a mule. Fat man that he was,

@[member="Delila Castillon"], "I like your style Major!" He shouted over the din in a gruff voice. "You ARMY ladies can really kick some tail. Anyway. Just as a side note here..." *kaboom* "...But if you help me link back up with my unit? ...I'll buy you something nice when we get back to Barracks."

He smirked to himself underneath his helm and stood back up to bring the pain. Yep. It was going to be a good day at the office.

One dead droid at a time.

 

[Abaigeal Burke]

Finishing up with the young solider she brushed the sweat from her face. Kalia was tired but there was no time for resting not when the number of wounded was growing. Grabbing her water bottle she took a sip as she took a breath if only for a minute. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a group of soldiers headed her way with supplies it looked like. She needed more but hadn't asked for any. As they got closer she noticed the Navy uniforms and knew exactly whom this stuff was from. Who else would bring her supplies without being asked in the middle of a battle.

"You can put those over there," she pointed to where the other supplies were. "Thank you so much Lieutenant your a life saver. I was running out of everything." Once the boxes were set down the young man pulled an envelope addressed to Kalia out and handed it to her. "This is for you Ma'am from Admiral Welsh." Opening the letter she couldn't help but smile as she read it before pocketing it for now. There was still a lot of work to do but it was good to know things were seemingly wrapping up there. "Tell him thank you from me." She of course had more to say but now wasn't the time or place for it. The Lieutenant wasn't her message boy after all. Nodding he left to go back she presumed not knowing his next assignment was patrolling her air space.

Making her way over to the newly brought boxes she began to open them up to see what he all had brought her.

 

[Darron Wraith]

As the doors opened, Darron clipped one of his lightsabers to his belt.

He calmly strode in as a Jedi Master, calmly assessing the situation. Through the Force he could feel the Neimodians fear, and he could feel all the targeting reticules assessing their targets. All eyes in the bridge were on the four Jedi as the calmly strode in, and Darron simply went about his business. A destroyer droid in the corner targeted him, and it's shield fired up. The others followed suit and began to open fire on the other three, prioritizing his targets. The GrandMaster of the Order turned his attention on the one who foolishly began to try and kill him. It's cannon quickly charged and the bolts quickly hurled themselves at him. I guess every machine must do as it is ordered, just as we came here to claim this world for the Republic and cripple the Trade Federation. Questionable morals of the mission aside,he knew a greater good was being accomplished by abolishing slavery in the system. So with a clear mind he went to work.

Snap-Hiss

The sky blue blade activated, and with a quick flick of his wrist the bolts were reflected back on the shield. They then ricocheted off the hull and impacted on an adjacent panel on the other side of the room. His hand of flesh extended, and the GrandMaster extended his senses and wrapped them around the droideka, as the Neimodians called them. Pre-visualization and ultimate focus worked together as his will wrapped around it. As his fingers clinched in a fist so did the droid, appearing to fold in on itself as if an invisible hand crushed it like a bug. Sparks flew from the machine as it's shield generator exploded, and where a powerful war machine once was. A heap of durasteel and wires lay, it's display lights flickering off as the battery died.

Blue eyes scanned the area, and fell on the Magna-guard guarding the captain.

"You had a choice to end this peacefully, I suggest you surrender and turn off all the droids...now."

"Never Jedi, we will not lose to the likes of you. Kill them!"

His face remained expressionless as he pointed each of the other Magna-Guards out to the remainder of Adamant Company. "Get rid of these droids, and then they will surrender."

A moment of supreme clarity hit him as the electro-staff in the droids hands fired up, and it began it's charge. Darron could feel his breath, and the ensuing conflict played out in his minds eye. He saw how to end it one blow, and his purpose was made clear. The hum of his blade was soon accompanied by the sounds of his boots against the floor as he sprinted at the combat droid. The hiss of the electro-staff as it cleaved through the air at him was deafening, and in an instant he took to the air. Leaving the droid nothing to hit as it's momentum carried it forward. Having leapt up and to the right, he leaned forward to continue his motion. With absolute precision the Jedi Master drove his blade straight into the neck and chest casing of the machine. Just as quickly he deactivated his saber and calmly walked to the Captain of the vessel as the Magna-Guard fell to the floor.

"So, how about you switch those droids off...please?"

"Yes Master Jedi, please don't arrest us!"

"Too late, well done Adamant Company."

Quickly taking over the comm of the ship, he hailed the flagship of the Republic fleet as all the droids and droid fighters ceased to function. "Supreme Commander Noir, the day is won."


@[member="Ben Watts"] @[member="Jaxton Ravos"] @[member="Seroth Ur-Rahn"] @[member="Cabbal Noir"]

 

[Delila Castillon]

@[member="Dizzy Zechs"]

"And you Navy boys always need someone to help you out. Good thing Army is here to save the day." Delila replied back to the Naval Commander, a smirk on her face even though he couldn't see it. A good number of the shielded droids had been knocked out, no thanks to her explosive technicians. People had called her crazy for having the sub-unit, who was crazy now?

"Alright troops, you heard Commander Zechs. Lets get him back home.Hes somewhere in this city. Sharpshooters,got a visual?"

"Yes Ma'am. Directly diagonal to your position, half a click.Moving to flank."

The Major looked in the general direction of the city, where her sharpshooters had called out.A volley of fire could be seen. Ah, so thats where Commander Zechs is. Motioning for a couple handful of soliders, Delila moved out towards Zech. They would simply be bringing the line in his direction, effectively helping Zechs and themselves at the same time. It would be another portion of the city locked down.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

@A'donari Cinn
@[member="Sky Kerberos"]
@[member="Padak Arciso"]

A hand grasped his, and Boolon managed to flop over the rail of the bucking speeder. The ion cannon's barrel trailed smoke. He glanced anxiously at the control building -- but the enemy weapon operators were still safe in there. The Ithorian breathed a sigh of relief and made sure that other Jedi weren't necessarily falling to their deaths.

The nearest enemy troops, mostly speeders and flying droids, fired a few desultory shots at them, but then withdrew. The gigantic ion cannon was down, irreparable in the short term; this portion of the battle was won.

 

[Sky Kerberos]

She fought through the lines besides Padak to protect Boolon. Light saber in one hand, while using the Force within the other as she pacified those who choose to attack.

As soon as the ion cannon fell, the enemy had no more reason to continue their onslaught. They withdrew, and she headed back to Boolon to make sure of his safety.

 

[Seydon of Arda]

The Neimoidians, first and foremost, prided themselves as species dedicated to the bottom line of profit. The hoarding of wealth, the acquisition of further riches, and quashing market competition with statistical manipulation and outright corporate alliances with black marketeer's, proved that any Neimoidian worth his stone as a businessman had, potentially, the cunning for war. However, their comfort in participating in battlefields did not extend past their personalized, padded suites stowed safely away on untouchable worlds. The Trade Federation did their work through proxies; mercenary alliances, deadly bounty hunters, right down to their streaming hordes of cheap mass-production "warriors". Certainly this Captain and his organic bridge crew believed in the might of steel and phrik over flesh.

The IG-100 MagnaGuards flitted their cloaks aside; lengthened electro-poles ringed with static buzzing as they were flourished in readying stances. Past their flanks, the Destroyers rolled forward on segmented spinal-tracks, snapping to their tri-pod underbelly whilst their cannon-arms deployed within a blue-haze shielding bubble.

At Darron's curt direction, Seroth strolled to the far left flank and took up the posed challenge. One MagnaGuard, duranium plating coated in rustic ocre tones, clicked its vox-modulator through a buzzing binaric cant. Its attending Destroyer hobbled forward on its stunted tri-footing, pumping its cannon-arms through a firing routine. The youth's crossed blades caught the quad-bolts, fencing them back across the bridge to plink! off the Guard's stomach plating and dissipate upon the Destroyer's upraised shielding. It continued its unnerving progression, clicking stubby manipulator-feet below its bowled counter-weight hips. Seroth held his balance, calmly running his sword-arms through the predictable firing vectors. The Destroyer only needed take a few more steps up the aft-bridge decking. The Jedi's eyes were swiftly darting to the unused phrik-staff dropped by Darron's dissected 'opponent'.

Three steps more...

Two more paces...

One...

The Jedi's mind shivered with writhing concentration. Master Wraith preached his own assured method of Force energy usage: fast visualization, combined with an uncanny understanding of the 'now', following through with a psychokinetic tug or whatever motion or 'effect' was required. Seroth imagined the discarded electro-lance rattling from its catch in the deck plating, hurtling like a spear and catching the Destroyer through its spinal casing. The resultant action was a fluidic kill. The phrik-staff jarred from its idle station and darted through the air, boring through shielding and cased plating. The Destroyer shrilled a cant of static garble, impaled through a collection of now unprotected processing cores. Its MagnaGuard companion regarded its demise: hung up on a section of bulkhead plating against the steel-grey walling.

And then the Guard advanced in, battle-staff in hand whilst it discarded its decorative cloaking. The IG-100 series was renowned for centuries as being an albeit expensive but effective 'Jedi fighter', its thickened casing and advanced intelligence enabling it to 'fight on the spot'. Seroth supposed the Neimoidians had ensured its effective tutelage with discourses on the canon Forms. He drove in his blades, pacing through several traded blows to measure the worth of the MagnaGuard's defenses. The staff buzzed and snapped overhead, clubbing through his blade slaps and answering counter for counter. There was a familiar if desecrated adaption of Djem So in the firecely cold movements. The boy slowly cut the phrik-staff higher and higher, jamming his boot in through a break in the droid's fastness. The IG-100 thudded back by a pace, regained its dug-in footing then retaliated.

But, Seroth could see it now. A split half-second between its protocols for attack and guarding. The droid hadn't mastered the Jar'Kai methodology of initiating both offense and defense into every movement and moment. Seroth came on, fluid parries catching through the Guard's stiff blocks to score minor hits that bled melted duranium upon the flooring. It never regained the iniative in the exchange, only able to blink its photorecptor's as the shorter boy wove his weaponry on. He cut left, right, then thrust and gored a hole through the droid's left shoulder plating. Simultaneously, his second hand caught and stroked along the wavering electro-staff, nicking off its right thumb and fore-finger manipulators. A blistering double-X crumpled the MagnaGuard into a smoking clatter of severed torso-servos and wrecked limbs.