“Hung, get Tagata Taia back into position, now!” Sylde was letting his composure fall to the wayside as his frustration was growing. He felt his anger thriving, past the point of idle emotion, to a seething rage.
“Sir…. We have been in position.” The voice of Captain Hung answered, contrasting the visual display before them all in the holoimage.
“Sir, there are two vessels reading identical signatures to that of the Tagata Taia. I cannot differentiate between the two.” Pritcar spoke up, baffled.
“SIR!” Bev shouted over Pritcar, “The signals are converging!”
Sylde watched the holoimage as the net of signals were now moving as one toward his position, closing the distance between themselves and his ship concurrently. Then watched as the holoimage itself began to warp from a clearly defined cube into wavering lines congealing into the form of a bipedal alien, wielding a hooked staff.
“The M’onnok?” Pritcar and Bev both chanced.
“Two-three-seven!!” Sylde let escape his mouth, tilting his head toward the ceiling he continued, “I don’t give a damn about position, open fire...NOW!”
“Kowani, now!” Ahsoka shouted. Kowani broke from her position, scooped the helmet from the ground and rolled to take up a crouched position behind the Togruta a split second before she unleashed an immense amount of coiled energy in a cone before her. Kowani could feel her own sense of location waver as a staccato of intensely deep pulses rocked her chest, taking the air right out of her lungs.
Barriss felt the air crackle around her, any hope of an aerial interlude dashed by the static response from her wrist comm. Nothing mattered however, in that next instant she put her entire focus into a protective shield a split second before Ahsoka’s Force wave smashed into it. She felt her lungs press to their breaking point as she was taken off her feet and sent careening down the corridor behind her, slamming with vicious force into one of the walls. Loose bits of duranium, stone and debris caught in Ahsoka’s wave scored her arms and face. She knew she had broken something, what, she could not be certain, and lifted a hand to her head to confirm that deep lacerations were bleeding profusely. She could see Ahsoka now twenty meters away lowering her hands and took the next few seconds taking in the scope of the damage she had nearly been a victim of. The duranium platform at the center of the chamber had been sheared off completely and the concussive wave had obliterated the fore section of the corridor she was in. Loud pings of cracking metal and stone echoed in the wake of falling debris and cascading rivulets of dust. A low rumble, separate from the previous destruction, began to shake the very foundations of the stronghold assuring her the entire structure was doomed to collapse before the first volley of turbo laser blasts would ever find their targets. She pulled herself onto her feet, taking one last look at Ahsoka before disappearing in the blackness of the corridor behind her.
Kowani wasn’t quite sure how to respond initially, seeing the mass of devastation from her vantage point. Shadows of Nar Shaddaa came and went as if in fleeting thought as the destruction before her was extensively more severe. Her admiration was halted by the loud crack of splitting stone and torn metal that was threatening to bring what remained of the chamber down upon them both. “Ahsoka, time to go!” She shouted over the last echoing report. “Ahsoka…. come on!” She shouted again as the Togruta stood motionless.
Ahsoka heard mumbling behind her but was powerless to identify the source as she brought her hands to her sides slowly. A host of other sounds joined the mumbling, however muffled, and diluted, then felt a hand on her shoulder. Slowly turning she looked upon a familiar face and felt her legs wavering. The familiar face turned out to be a familiar form with two arms reaching for her. She felt a strange pressure coming from her midsection and a sense of weightlessness overtake her. She tried keeping her eyes open, but they were too heavy, and she gave up the effort. She was moving now, quickly, but her feet weren’t touching the ground. She was flying? ‘I can’t fly, I don’t have wings’ she thought, then didn’t think. A deep warmth washed over her, and she succumbed to unconsciousness.
Kowani saw the fading look in Ahsoka’s eyes and didn’t bother talking anymore. She spun the Togruta around, clipped her saber back at her waist and heaved her onto her prone shoulder, taking care not to bang her head into the rifle’s barrel. She slipped the helmet back over her head and ran as fast as she could to the corridor they had entered. Turning quickly, as memory found purchase, she extended her free hand and commanded the fallen black hilt into it. The saber fired from the ground and landed with a smack into the middle of her waiting palm, with a wrinkled smile, she tossed it into a pocket at her knee, grabbed Ahsoka’s backside, and ran as fast as she could for the exit.
Seeing the red glow emanating from the corridor’s exit, Kowani doubled her effort as dust clouds pushed past her dashing form. A large crack overhead split itself into existence with a deafening pop, raining debris down onto them both. She rounded the corner and saw an open cargo bay waiting for them on the devastated landing pad, R3 bobbing with excitement. Kowani dug deep to extol the energy needed for her final push, the creaking of metal and broken stone behind her providing all the motivation necessary. A new sound cracked through the air as the sky lit up with varying sizes of green packets, reflecting through the iridescent gray and red clouds providing a stark contrast. They materialized from the cloud cover in a highly charged energy salvo slamming into the highest points of the stronghold in a deafening report and raining stone. She reached the lowered bay ramp and threw herself upon it as the entire sky engulfed into a constant shade of green. She looked up at her droid, deaf to any noise, and watched as he adeptly twisted his interface appendage into the ship’s terminal. She felt her legs raising above her waist, then slid with Ahsoka at her side onto the cargo bay flooring. With the side of her face planted against the cool metal she watched with her left eye as the control registered a green light and then felt the unmistakable rush of a ship rocketing underneath her.
✦
“Cease fire.” Sylde commanded the silent fleet TacNet. ‘There’s no way anyone survived this.’ he thought to himself, the carnage visible through the bridge’s transparisteel viewport. In the cockpit of the modified transport vessel, he cast a glance to the right behind his lieutenant at the screen displaying ordinance reserves for the fleet. ‘Seventeen percent remaining’ flashing in red and returned his gaze to the cloudless charred mass hundreds of kilometers below him. He knew the Thebasken was here, she left her calling card, but no trace remained if she had been. He knew she was responsible for the dual signatures, the signal canisters and all the confusion that had taken him out of his form. It was her way. “Continue surveillance for another half hour, form up on your groups and execute search plan theta.” He said, knowing they would be fruitless. The Thebasken was either incinerated planet side or, more likely, long gone. She would not stay here.
“No life signs from the target zone sir.” His lieutenant said, for the ears in the cockpit only.
“Understood.” Sylde said, a hand stroking his chin. Had he not had explicit orders he would continue his search for her, more importantly, her methods. He knew she had only played her opening salvo, her first move. It was his prerogative to remove the M’onnok from the gameboard. “Djarik it is.” He said unintentionally.
“Sir?” The lieutenant asked.
“Never mind.” He responded, adopting a crooked smile.