Star Wars: The Rogue Knight

=RK=

Part 4

General Skywalker's command ship Resolute

Location: Classified;

The meals in the mess hall were... adequate. I've had worse tasting things served on warsh.i.p.s before. It actually beat all equivalents of MREs I've tried to eat so far. I was eating something that tasted like a chicken with some kind of bitter sauce. Strange combination but not bad.

Skywalker and Tano were keeping me company on the corner table I had chosen. I had my back safely towards a wall with no way for someone to sneak up to me from behind.

What can I say? Healthy paranoia.

Skywalker was munching on a meal identical to my own and let me tell you, that boy did have a healthy appetite. Next, to him, Ahsoka was nibbling on a salad, an odd choice for someone of her species. The Togrutas were predators after all. I should know – I was married to one.

Her attention was firmly on me. I could see curiosity sparkling in her huge eyes. All around us groups of Clones and few normal crew members were helping themselves to whatever the cooks had ready. I believe it was the lunch cycle for the ship.

A few minutes ago, when we reached the table with our food and I took off my helmet, I saw surprise on the faces of my companions. I don't think that they were expecting an ordinary looking human in his mid-thirties.

I think I looked underwhelming for a Sith. My lips twitched into a small smile at that thought. Ahsoka was looking like a slip of a girl, too small to be any real danger yet she was anything but harmless. Judging a Force user by his outwards appearance was a fool's bargain.

Take Yoda for example…

I swallowed another bite of the fried meat and looked at the Padawan.

"Ask your questions before you start bouncing around in excitement." I glanced at the Clones, some of whom were giving me interested glances. If the rumor mill was all right and working as its usual faster than light speed they already knew that I had saved a few of their brethren and perhaps that I was a Sith too. The later was information that I preferred to be closely guarded for the time being but knew that the cat would be out of the bag sooner rather than later. I would not be surprised if in few days Palpatine watches a copy of the conversation between me and the Council members.

Of course, it was one thing if someone learned what I was. Actually believing it was something quite different. I should be keeping a reasonably low profile at least as far as my skills with the Force were concerned for as long as I could.

On the other hand, it doing so it wasn't exactly vital. I was a Sith Warrior. Stealth was not one of our strong points even if I had some decent training in it. I hoped that little fact won't bite me on the a.s.s one of these days. There were things that could be said about showing more from my abilities than I intended to for the foreseeable future too.

"Explanation is in order I think. How did you end in that system anyway?" asked Skywalker.

"And what does Master Yoda mean when he told us that you are from a different age?"

What was the best way to lie to Jedi? Tell as much of the truth as possible while omitting the most important things?

"I was in a battle above Korriban, the ancient Sith homeworld. It was not a notable clash between Imperial and Republic forces – just one among dozens of space skirmishes that were raging across the galaxy as the Republic Navy tried to execute a pre-emptive strike while we were preparing our final offensive against the Republic." I paused. "It's the Old Republic now, I guess. A certain imbecile who was masquerading as the Sith Lord in command of the fleet protecting Korriban panicked when the enemy received reinforcements. He employed an experimental super weapon which was mounted on his command dreadnought. The next thing I know I awoke in my interceptor in the system you found me, feeling as I've fallen out of time so to speak. At least that's what the Force tried to tell me. The rest you know." I finished my brief explanation.

"We are not fighting an Empire! Just the Separatists!" Ahsoka pouted, looking too cute for her own good. Way too cute.

Down boy, stay away from the Jedi jailbait!

I shook my head. It's been some time since I got laid. There were those Twi'lek twins about a year and half after my wife died and that was it. That was too long ago I think. I've been too absorbed in the war and tracking down the people responsible for Ashara's murder to think about s.e.x.

That was the last thing I needed – l.u.s.ting after Skywalker's Padawan. I ordered my eyes not to pass lower than the neckline of the scantily clad Togruta female and concentrated on the conversation and my lunch. Safer that way.

"Hmm. It was a thousand years since the last war with the Sith." Anakin mussed. "They were supposedly wiped out then, but Dooku and company proved that belief wrong."

"So I am from at least that long ago. Splendid." I sighed. I was pretty sure I was from three to four thousand years ago.

I frowned at the Jedi Knight and started fishing for information.

"During that war, did the Sith raid Coruscant and lay waste to the Jedi temple?"

"You must be joking! The last time something like that happened was almost four thousand years ago!" Now Ahsoka was looking at me like a favorite science project.

Yep. Nailed it.

"Lucky me," I grumbled. I could picture it already. Historians from all over the galaxy flocking to my side and begging for interviews. I wondered if I could get away with making a few graphic and bloody examples of such pests. Perhaps I should keep that for the paparazzi. At worst, I should just take precautions and not get caught.

I looked at the exited Padawan. Ahsoka was once again ready to explode and start bouncing all over the mess hall.

"No. I am not a historical guide!" I snapped at the kid.

Tano pouted adorably and started chewing her lower lip. I smirked.

"That's not working either."

"Ahsoka!" I detected a hint of whining in Anakin's voice. The girl was a handful to deal with – I knew her for just a few hours and it was quite obvious. It s.u.c.k.e.d to be Skywalker.

I went back to my lunch while master and padawan were having a staring match.

Skywalker eventually won and his attention returned to me.

"You said that you were thrown into the system by a super weapon. From the past no less. Yet you apparently know more about our general situation more than we do!" Anakin gave me a pointed look.

"I've had various visions of your future for some time before the incident." I shrugged. "While they didn't make much sense given the state of the galaxy back then, I could make some conclusions. When I ended up back in that system and felt that I might be displaced, I had a few hours to think about my situation and what exactly the visions meant." If you consider me being born and living in another universe for decades before I became a ROB's handyman visions, I even told Anakin the truth.

It wasn't like I could be sure which if any set of memories I possessed were false. They all felt real when I was meditating. At least as far as the Force was concerned and that was all I had to go on by. In the end, I had made peace with my past.

I was here for the long haul and thinking too hard about ROB shenanigans was only going to give me a headache for no real benefit.

Besides, watching movies and cartoons a long, long time ago could be described as visions, right? What really mattered was that I knew the most important piece of information – who Sidious was. Of course, actually dealing with the man was all but simple.

I had no proof that the Chancellor was up to no good and I would be insane to point at him and declare him a Sith. Even if the Jedi went after him and won, that would create a precedent that could kriff me over. The last thing I wanted was for the Jedi to go after a Sith Lord – like me – without proof of wrongdoing and get away with it. If the price for waiting was the galaxy suffering through the Clone Wars so be it.

What? I'm a Sith. There's a Sith picture next to the definition of selfish bastard in any self-respecting dictionary.

Unless Sidious wasn't a complete idiot, he would have contingencies in place in case he was found out. Contingencies which would be aimed in creating as much chaos across the galaxy as possible and prolonging the war. He would do it out of spite and for the advantage, such madness would give him as a hunted man.

I would do the same in his shoes as well as most reasonably competent Sith Lords I knew.

Skywalker slumped over the table while he digested my answer.

"This has to be a secret Sith trick!" he m.o.a.n.e.d. "I can't tell if you are lying through your teeth or not!"

"The Force works in mysterious ways." I deadpanned. Messing with Jedi was just as fun as I remembered being before Ashara died.

"What did I do to deserve this?" Anakin bem.o.a.n.e.d his predicament.

How the hell should I know? I ignored his grumbling and went back to my food.

=RK=

Skywalker ended up stashing me in a spare quarters not too far from his own – to keep an eye on the Sith he was stuck with or something like that.

My temporally home was a small compartment, in which there was barely enough place for the single bed and the attached fresher. I got issued few essential necessities from the Clone's supplies and went to take a shower. Once I felt reasonably refreshed I fell all over the contents of a pad which was provided to me by Skywalker. It contained the manual and relevant specks for a V-19 Torrent Starfighter. It looked like a nice enough machine but it was over-engineered in my opinion.

It was armed with a pair of laser cannons and two concussion missile launchers. The good news was that it had a class 1 hyperdrive and consumables for a week. If the Jedi changed their minds one of these toys should be able to get me to a civilized planet.

I fell asleep reading the manual.

=RK=

Obviously, Mr. Murphy or one of his irritating relatives was well and kicking in the future too, damn them all. He decided that with me being a Sith and experienced pilot, there was no need to give me time in the simulators for the Torrent. That would be just too easy! There was about a half hour before I was informed of the fun to come.

I was awoken by a cheerful and full of energy Ahsoka. We had a briefing to attend to it seemed. I grabbed my weapons and helmet (I slept in my armor) and followed the young Togruta. She led me to one of the hangars where Admiral Yularen, the nominal commander of the fleet, and Skywalker were preparing a briefing.

Master Koon joined us on the way there and enjoyed watching me fend off Ahsoka's ceaseless questions about the past.

I was wrong about Tano. She wasn't cute, but a major pain in the a.s.s instead. At least we reached our destination soon and the briefing began making her cease her insistent attempts at interrogation.

With capital sh.i.p.s being easy prey for the Malevolence's (that's the dreadnought we were after) Ion cannon, High Command – I wondered if that meant Palpatine himself or just the staff officers back on Coruscant – had decided to authorize a bomber attack against the ship.

I wondered what exactly Palpy planned. Either Grievous was too successful and needed his wings clipped or the Sith Lord hoped that the attack would fail and after the f.u.c.k up he would achieve some political gain or another. Those were the most likely scenarios, even if it could be something else altogether.

I had to remind myself that this wasn't a proper war but instead a theater in which Sidious played both sides. In my personal opinion, the whole set up was simply asking for something to go wrong and so the war could take a life of its own. Something like me.

After all, I simply couldn't compete with Palpy on the political arena. He was an established actor with decades to make contacts, alliances and find out where all the bodies were buried so he could blackmail people.

In contrast, I was a newcomer with no resources and allies. All I had going for me were my own skills, experience and what I remembered about this era even if my information might not be entirely correct. I had to make myself known to the Republic at large and the Jedi in particular as an ally, perhaps get myself a commission in the army where I could climb the ranks quickly with the war going on.

Then I had to ensure that the carefully orc.h.e.s.trated farce that were the Clone Wars went to hell and became a real war. Doing so would greatly level the field between myself and Palpatine. When all is said and done, I've already fought in one galaxy-spanning war and did quite well for myself.

This operation I stumbled in was going to be quite useful for myself. Helping stop Grievous given his next target was going to enhance my reputation with the Clones. I've already won myself a bit of kudos after saving a few of them, but helping take out the Malevolence? That was going to be very good for me – after all, Grievous was targeting the primary medical station treating wounded Clones from all over the sector.

Soon enough, the briefing was over and the clones headed to their sh.i.p.s we went to meet Anakin.

"It's an aggressive plan." Plo Koon looked at Skywalker. Going on by his tone, the Jedi Master disapproved.

As if that was a bad thing in a war. Usually, defense didn't win it for you. Oh, wait. They were Jedi. Aggression was a baaad thing. How foolish of me… At least "my" Jedi had learned their lesson the hard way and by the time of the Cold War when I began my training, most of them were a credible threat to us Sith.

Not that we admitted it aloud. Appearances matter a lot after all.

"Are you sure that the squadron would be able to handle the mission?" continued the Jedi Master.

Skywalker grinned and asked the pilots who were more than sure.

The members of Shadow squadron had the right attitude at least. I liked them already, plus they had a fitting name.

While Anakin was trying to reassure Master Koon of the impending success of the raid, the Admiral, who was staying few meters away from the Jedi was grimacing. I raised an eyebrow at that. He was the professional military man and experienced to boot. One thing I learned early as a Sith was not to scoff at the opinion of flag officers who were not Force S.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e. Some of them knew much more than me about the matter at hand even now after I had decades of experience.

"Admiral Yularen, what do you think about this plan?" I asked the man.

The Flag-officer was surprised by my question. I gather that the Jedi didn't seek his opinion often. Or perhaps it was the fact that I might be confused for a bounty hunter who somehow had found his way on his ship. My armor gave off that vibe too, at least for those who didn't know better. The confusion was handy at times.

The Admiral's frown deepened.

"No disrespect meant to General Skywalker, but his plan has too high a chance of failure. Even if only a couple of the bombers are shot down short of the target, the rest of the squadron may not have the firepower necessary for taking out the bridge."

Anakin scowled at that criticism while Plo Koon nodded sagely.

"That's why I'll join the mission." said the Jedi Master.

"Admiral, are other bomber squadrons available or even few fighter wings as escorts?" I asked.

The Admiral was deep in thought for a minute.

"I may be able to spare a fighter squadron for escort, however, Shadow squadron has all of our operational bombers. During our last engagement, the bomber wings suffered heavy losses. "

"That will have to do." I nodded.

"I'll give the necessary orders. May I inquire who you are, Master Jedi?" asked Yularen.

"I am Delkatar Veil and I am no Jedi, Admiral. I am a freelance Sith willing to help you deal with this whole Separatists mess." I smiled reassuringly.

He looked at me in confusion. "A Sith? Aren't you supposed to be extinct, not to mention enemies of the Jedi?"

"Ancient history combined with Jedi propaganda. I don't have a problem with the Jedi as long as they let me live at peace. The so-called Sith fighting for the Confederacy on the other hand – they might have a problem with me. Besides, from what I understand, this Dooku character is former Jedi is he not? That should be proof enough that not all Jedi are paragons of virtue and I'm aiming to prove that not all Sith are murderous maniacs."

The Jedi were glaring at me for my insinuations. They probably weren't too pleased with me for reminding the Admiral that the other side was led by a former Order member either.

Yularen, while not trusting me yet, was a crafty military leader and he smelled an opportunity for acquiring allies. Or at least keeping a few of his boys alive through the next mission.

"I understand you'll be taking a part of the operation," Yularen stated.

"I'll do my best even if I'm not experienced with your equipment. As a Sith, I have the Force serving me and that would make all the difference in the end." I parroted the standard Sith party line.

It even worked as far as the Admiral was concerned. He had probably seen Jedi pull enough stunts with the Force not to question my words.

I snapped a crisp Sith salute which was returned by the Admiral with the current Republic equivalent that was quite different from what I remember. Then he gave a small nod of approval. I had the feeling that the Jedi weren't giving him or the other officers in the GAR the proper military courtesy their rank deserved. That notion was reinforced by the Jedi expressions which told me I might have received more respect from Yularen than any of them had gotten so far. The Admiral executed a precise formal bow aimed at the Jedi and left followed by Anakin.

"Skywalker inspires great confidence in his men but I am glad for the additional escorts," said Plo Koon.

"We are just following his example." Ahsoka gave us a small smile as she supported her Master.

"High moral, by itself, is not enough on a modern battlefield. I hope that the addition of a fighter escort will be enough. Now, where is my machine?"

I was led to a fighter, which was being checked by a team of engineers. It was parked near a roll of yellow, BTL-B Y-starfighters, more commonly known as Y-Bombers.

=RK=

I was chatting with the mechanics going over my fighter and asking about getting some simulator time when the Admiral hurried to Skywalker's side. The Jedi and his Padawan were next to the bomber they would pilot once the Malevolence was located.

To the Jedi's shock, it turned out that Grievous had blown up a medical convoy transporting wounded and was on his way to a secret starbase which was acting as a hospital. More importantly, that facility was the only secure place where clones from battlefields in the nearby sectors could be sent to heal. Its destruction would be a great blow for the Republic ensuring a nearly catastrophic loss of soldiers.

Damn it, I should have paid more attention to the briefing. While I was distracted thinking about Sidious, my memory had dragged enough details to fill up the blanks on what would be happening – details that the Republic apparently didn't know yet and I would have a hard time explaining. The last thing I needed was to be declared an enemy spy because I knew things I shouldn't. Claiming Force-induced visions couldn't explain everything, kriff it all. I should be more careful in the future.

Meanwhile, Tano started ranting at Grievous. Ahsoka was obviously outraged at the cyborg's choice of targets.

Granted, targeting the hospital required a certain level of ruthlessness but when you take into account the general attitude of the public towards the clones (and how the hell did I know that?!) it might easily be seen as a legitimate target on par with droid factories and repair shops. To most civies in the Republic (and on the Separatist backing worlds) the clones were not real people. This was a war fought by expendable armies. As long as parents on the core worlds did not have to send their sons and daughters on the front-lines the support for the war would be higher than otherwise expected. I'll give Palpatine that, he had planned this show very well.

Soon after the news came in, we were ready to launch. Eleven bombers, a squadron of ten Torrent fighters, one Jedi starfighter and me.

It was not a formidable force when you consider what we were facing. A ship like the Malevolence had to have a lot of fighters even if for some reason lacking an escorting fleet.

To my surprise, another Republic fleet came in just as we were leaving. That was Kenobi's command. Obi-Wan and Yularen's capital sh.i.p.s were taking the long (and much safer) route towards the medical station. My insistence for more fighters and bombers was denied by the Jedi because Mr. Murphy was in full swing. Before arriving here, the small craft of Kenobi's fleet were mauled by enemy fighters. I just knew that there was a ROB somewhere watching the show with amus.e.m.e.nt.

"I hope you know what you are doing." Obi-Wan's voice came over the frequency reserved for Jedi use. My hosts had given it to me so we had a secure comm channel for the op.

"Well, if I don't, I won't be alive for you to say 'I told you so!'" Anakin quipped.

"Skywalker, that has the rest of us walking to hell with you. You know that, right?" I asked.

Bloody idiot.

"That's not reassuring. So you are Delkatar Veil, our new guest?"

"Yep. I didn't know that it was standard procedure for you Jedi to send your guests on suicide missions to get their blood pumping. This actually raised my opinion about you folks." I quipped.

Just before we entered hyperspace, Matchstick, the Shadow squadron leader said that he'll be buying the drinks if we accomplished the mission.

"I'll hold you up to that," I muttered and sent my fighter into hyperspace.

=RK=

The first hyperspace jump ended near a beautiful nebula. Here was the entrance to what Skywalker considered a short cut.

"We should be careful. The nebulas could be treacherous," warned Master Koon.

The clones were busy to reassure us that they would be able to handle it. I knew a typical pilot's bravado too well not to recognize it in their voices. They were wary but refused to admit it even to themselves.

"Hey! The Padawan has an opinion too!" exclaimed Ahsoka from the gunner's seat on Anakin's fighter.

A small smile played around my lips as I spoke up.

"Miss Tano, there is one paradigm which apparently never changes. No matter if you are a Jedi Padawan or a Sith apprentice, your master tends to disregard or outright ignore your opinion."

"At least R2 is on my side!" grumbled Ahsoka.

Ah. Jedi! They led me to sight see the most amazing places. While beautiful to look at from outside, the yellow-orange Nebula was a stone cold bitch to navigate. The visibility was down to a few meters and the scanners were useless here. The clones had to fly after the engine light of the fighter directly in front of them. I and presumably the Jedi had no such problems. I could feel the clones and my three Force-wielding companions and used them as beacons as I flew.

"The scanner is down!" exclaimed Ahsoka.

"We have to pilot by instinct," said Anakin smugly.

"Skywalker is right, Ahsoka. Clean your mind and you'll see the direction we are going," instructed Koon.

I took the opportunity to break in with my own piece of advice.

"While you are at it, try and feel us all. You could see each one of us in the Force and use us as beacons. Try to avoid crashing into someone else's machine." I added.

"Nope. I still see nothing! Besides, I'm not the one flying! If we crash it will be all Skyguy's fault!" grumbled the Padawan.

I smirked.

"You'll learn kid."

"Hey! I don't do crashes! That often..."

We continued our flight and I listened to the clones banter in order to help stave off the boredom.

=RK=

A couple of hours later I was cursing my luck. And my ingenious idea to go to the Jedi. How I could forget about what was supposed to happen in this force cursed Nebula I'll never know. I'll blame it on ROB messing with my head.

It all started when our nosy Padawan asked Skywalker how he knew about the short cut. You see, it was a smugglers route. He heard about it on Tatooine. No surprises there.

"They call it the Balmorra Run," said Anakin proudly.

"The Balmorra Run?!" exclaimed Koon.

The almost scared tone of the Jedi Master was my first clue. Then I sensed that something big and alive was moving our way at high-speed. The stream of curses that left my mouth could make an old and grizzled smuggler blush. I sensed more of the things approaching.

"Scatter! Scatter! Scatter!" I shouted and hit the afterburners.

Few of the clones followed my example. Good men. While the others were waiting for orders and Anakin and Plo were arguing Ahsoka detected the approaching danger but was ignored.

Skywalker ordered evasive maneuvers and banked right just in time to avoid being eaten by a giant neebray manta. What is with Jedi in this day and age!? The Anakin's Padawan detected the beasts on their bomber's crippled scanners before either of them sensed the things in the Force!

We found ourselves flying through a thinner part of the Nebula. The nesting place of those creatures, where scores of them were flying in a circle. Those things were easily kilometer long or bigger! I let the Force guide my hands and I was astonished to experience firsthand what was to be one with it! It was amazing. I really could see where each part of the bodies of the animals would go before it moved. It was a bit of a surrealistic experience but far from unpleasant. In fact, it was almost addicting. When did I become an adrenaline junky anyway?! My Torrent danced through this labyrinth made from living flesh and I smiled at the exhilaration I felt.

The ride through the shoal of neebray mantas ended too fast for my taste. Few of the bombers scrapped pieces of their machines over the huge space monsters but otherwise, they were all right. Those of us flying fighters fared better. Our rides were much more agile so we could easily dodge the living behemoths.

"Keep the course men! They won't follow us out of the Nebula!" said Koon.

"We are exiting!" declared Ahsoka seconds later.

And here we were. On the other side. The Hospital was nearby. We were just in time.

=RK=

The medical station was almost in visual range when an enormous shadow appeared on our sensors. A couple of the greener Clones panicked thinking that the space mantas had followed us but soon cooler heads prevailed. That was Malevolence, our target. Which was actually a bigger concern that a group of animals, no matter how big.

It was time to see if the change I made in the timeline would be enough.

It was my turn to grimace. We were approaching the super cruiser from the side. It gave it a good angle from which to shoot at us. Beyond it, I could barely make out the form of a mushroom-shaped space station. Then all hell broke loose.

The capital ship shot its massive Ion cannon at something near the station, followed by an avalanche of red turbo-laser bolts. Either some escorts which had made it on time or medical frigates attempting to escape. They were doomed. I could sense people dying.

I disregarded that feeling and concentrated my attention on the matter at hand. Grievous was an idiot. He had sent a bunch of vulture droids to meet us but they were relatively few. Far from enough to put a dent in the fighter compliment of such a big ship as the Malevolence.

Even without the escorts, the bomber wing had good chances to break through such a small swarm. With the squadron of Torrent's present so few droids did not stand a chance of stopping us. So the Separatist General was either a fool or too arrogant which in the end was almost the same thing.

I had no more time for stray thoughts. The droids were in range.=RK=

I and Koon led the fighter screen and we charged at the incoming droids. While, thanks to my "new" memories I knew it intellectually, the short range at which the combat was about to take place surprised me. I should have known better.

Have you wondered why dogfights in Star Wars are at visual range? Sure in the films it looks "Cool" and that is all. Not so here. The amount of ECM thrown from the super cruiser and droid fighters was insane. While the scanners could detect the general position where the enemy fighters were, that was not good enough at the speeds at which our machines moved. So all of us, people and droids alike, had to go and mix up close and personal.

The scanners managed to cut through the ECM just outside of visual range. The first shots would be ours. I highlighted two enemies for my targeting computer and pressed the firing button for the missile launcher the moment I got a target acquisition tone.

The rest of the Torrent equipped squadron followed my lead. Before we flew into a rain of laser fire, twenty two concussion missiles separated from our fighters, raced forward and darted towards the robots which were closing with us with suicidal tenacity.

Most of the missiles found their targets while few were shot down by lucky hits. Nineteen vultures died in short-lived blazes of plasma and molten metal. Then their brethren were upon us. I blew up a conveniently placed droid before breaking up my headlong charge and maneuvering to avoid destruction.

Whatever misgivings I had about my new V-19 fighter were gone. It handled like a dream as it weaved around barrages of enemy fire. I knew where danger lied and could feel in which vectors I could safely aim my Torrent. It flew in front of its afterburner plumes as I deftly guided it in a deadly waltz.

Another robot fighter shattered under the hail of my laser cannons while it was trying to acquire a firing angle over one of the bombers.

A Clone screamed as his Torrent was immolated around him.

I put the agility of my fighter to good use when two of the machines flew behind me, pissed off at the destruction of their comrades.

I led them on a lethal chase among the Y-Bomber formation. The assault machines were flying at the Malevolence counting on their shields for protection. It was not like they could really dogfight. Their gunners made a short work of my pursuers. I shouted "Thanks!" on the all hands channel and darted at another target. A lucky hit blew the "brain" of the droid and sent the machine spinning out of control. In few thousand years it might ruin someone's day.

Three vultures were flying headlong towards a pair of Republic fighters. The guns of the five machines were blazing at their respective enemies. A droid fighter was destroyed. I nailed second.

The third received a grazing hit and lost control. It slammed at one of the clone fighters which was flying towards it with incredible speed. Both machines were engulfed by an explosion that illuminated the canopy of my c.o.c.kpit. It shinned like a small star for the brief moment it existed.

I sensed a danger heading my way.

"Break out! Move to the periphery!" shouted Skywalker.

I hit the afterburner. I listened to the Force and raced at the direction where it whispered that safety awaited.

A massive circle made of purple lighting was flying our way. The bombers were moving just in front of me and I was overtaking them thanks to my superior acceleration.

"Shadow two! Your speed is decreasing!" shouted Tano.

I could see how one of the Y-Bombers slowed down its climb to safety. Its right engine was smoking.

"It's nothing, sir! I'm trying!" shouted its pilot.

Unfortunately, his damaged fighter was unable to keep up with the strain. A piece of his engine blew out and the whole unit lit up on fire. The bomber lost control and tumbled out of formation. I knew what was about to happen before it occurred. In my mind I watched how the wounded starfighter slammed in one of the following bombers and both machines crumbled as if made of paper. Not this time. I stretched my will through the Force. The out of control bomber lurched to the left, propelled by my mind. It was thrown out of the way of our squadrons.

I grinned foolishly when my wandering mind was slammed back into my body. My heart was thundering within my c.h.e.s.t and I could feel blood rushing in my head. I was dazzled for few seconds before recovering. I knew, that now, when my mind recognized the phenomenon I would be able to use the Force easily without the tunnel vision I just experienced or the brief confusion that followed. I wondered whether Luke felt that way just after he shot the torpedo up the exhaust port of the Death Star.

"Squadron report!" Skywalker's order brought me back to the present.

"Matchstick is spinning out of control. Shadows Seven, Night and Ten are out of power." the answer came from Ahsoka.

"Rapier Two, five and eight are gone. Three, four and nine are out of control. I and the remains of the squadron are dealing with the rest of the clankers." reported the leader of Rapier squadron.

One more bomber and my machine were a viable in addition to what was left by this point in cannon. Or so I believed. That was bought with the lives of three clones. I wondered if that would make any difference against the capital ship.

We raced towards the leviathan.

"Reinforce forward shields!" ordered Skywalker.

"Hold this course!" that was Plo.

The super cruiser was becoming bigger alarmingly fast. My fighter danced around waves of turbo-laser fire and blasts of flack cannons.

"Skywalker! We need a new plan! The clones don't have our reflexes!" I shouted over the comm.

I already could see the debacle in the making. I've seen such things during the war four millennia ago. Whole wings piloted by ordinary men and women shattering upon the close in defenses of capitals sh.i.p.s. While fighters and bombers could swarm a cruiser and deal a lot of damage, that was when the small craft were in sufficient numbers or piloted by enough Force Adepts to slip through the defenses.

We weren't either.

"We'll make it! Hold on!"

I had no choice but to follow. Breaking out of my course at this time would have left me on a vector which makes me an easy target.

We reached the ship without losing any of our numbers. The bombers headed for the hull of the cruiser. Flying near it would protect them from most of the gunfire. I and Koon followed.

"We are too close!" shouted a clone before his right engine was torn out from his ship by the fire of an enemy weapon emplacement. The crippled bomber lost control and smashed into the upper hull of the cruiser. It barely dented the armor.

"Skywalker only those of us using the Force might make it at this rate!" I shouted to the hard-headed Jedi. I did a minuscule correction on my course and unloaded all my concussion missiles on a point just behind a row of flack cannons which were making the life of the clones harder. I was glad that the Force guided me correctly. Something gave up under the missile onslaught and the enemy fire slackened.

"Master, he is right! You'll make it but the rest of the squadron will be shot down!" Ahsoka supported me.

"SKYWALKER!" I roared.

"Shadow squadron! New target! Head for the Ion cannon!"

"Finally!" I muttered.

The bomber squadron banked to the right side of the cruiser. We flew towards the charging super weapon and soon were seeing the pylons with which it was attached to the Malevolence.

"Launch torpedoes!" ordered Skywalker.

Blazing, pink spheres flew from underneath the bombers. The first few struck their targets and detonated, blowing away chunks of ablative armor. Then another and another missile flew at the same places. The next wave dug deeply in armor that was red hot after being rend asunder. It was too much. Few of the support pylons through which energy was fed to the Ion cannon shattered just as the weapon was about to fire. It was the worst possible moment for such attack to happen. The super weapon was unable to unleash the energy fed to its coils yet it had to go somewhere. Its mechanism exploded, sending nearly half of the power it was containing in a diffused sphere around the cruiser. The rest of the energy however was feedback in the Malevolence. It raced through the power grid blowing up everything within its path. Power conduits melted or exploded, terminals fused into useless pieces of scrap. Turbo-laser cannons exploded once the colossal energy wave reached them.

The cruisers listed to its right side. Multiple fires could be seen blazing all over its armored hull. The Leviathan was crippled.

"Good work squadron!" The Clones were congratulated by Master Koon.

I shared the sentiment and said so. Talk about snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. That stunt was too close for comfort.

Three Republic Venator class cruisers chose that moment to arrive. They jumped in near the station and soon we heard the familiar voice of Kenobi.

"Anakin do you copy?"

"Yes."

"Congratulations! Your missions looks like a success."

"Grievous is still in one piece." I decided to rain on their parade.

"That dreadnought could go into FTL at any moment. You and your sh.i.p.s should do something about it, Master Kenobi." I added.

"Calm down. We'll take it from here."

We headed to the medical station while the friendly cruisers threw everything they got at the behemoth which was trying to crawl away