Jedi Insurgency 188

Corvus roughly coughed into his hand, as the after effects of the duel with Maul were putting a strain upon his body. 

Jax tried to hold him up, but Corvus shook his concerned student off. 

“Ahem, what we need to do is identify which ship the targets are on, and make a quick extraction. Jax?” Corvus said between shallow breaths, and waved the white haired teen forward. 

The pale boy shared a look with Yon, and reluctantly stepped into the limelight. 

“I can sense Triss easy enough, her position isn't difficult to locate. Omega, however…” Jax began confidently, only to hang his head. 

“What'ya mean by that, punk?!” Wrecker-who had left the shuttlecraft by now-stepped forward, and grabbed Jax by the scruff of his neck, lifting him off the ground. 

Jax held his head in shame, whilst Yon had placed a hand on a lightsaber. 

“Easy now big fella.” Echo tried to be diplomatic, and cautiously held his hands up. 

“Easy? Easy! Our blinkin sista is missin, and you want me ta go EASY!” Wrecker spat, and tossed Jax away like a sack of potatoes. “Tech hack their systems, or you Mr. Bond, speak fancy, get them to give me little sister back!” Wrecker all but howled in grief, and collapsed to the ground with a thud, bawling tears like a baby. 

“We'll get her back mate, I promise.” Hunter whispered, and turned to Tech. 

Tech's fingers were rapidly moving across a holokeyboard, sweat falling down the side of his head. Thousands of strings of code were flashing on the display in front of him every second, but ultimately, he shook his head with a sigh. “Their systems have been upgraded. The old codes can't even get me started.” 

“Boss? Ideas?” Hunter flipped his vibroknife, and asked, no, begged. 

Corvus reached out a hand with the Force, but couldn't feel Omega at all. The Taozin Amulets had been gifted to every Force Sensitive member in the party, and were an effective tool. However, they were mostly effective against people who weren't on the same planet or system. 

For example, the further away someone was-say, Palpatine on Coruscant-the less likely they were to sense you. In fact, Corvus had used the amulets to help hone his own sensing ability. At the moment, he could barely perceive Triss. 

Jax, having a closer bond/understanding of his fellow Echani could get a better lock on her. This was true for Omega as well. 

“I'm afraid she has been sedated, ferried out of system, or…” Corvus began, and at the end, gave Hunter a meaningful look. 

“I say we ply the girl for answers.” Crosshair darkly intoned, and then jammed a power cell into his high powered sniper rifle. 

“Time is ticking. Every second we waste under the palace’s shields, the more likely it is that they'll escape.” Tech reminded. 

“Huah, ackha.” Corvus coughed into the back of his hand. “I apologize, gentlemen, but I don't think I can join you for this assault. However, I believe I can provide support from the Falcon.” 

When it looked like Wrecker was going to complain again, Yon stepped forward with his hands on his hips. “Jax & I are more than enough to rescue your little sister! Dead weight like you losers will only compromise us further. Because of you five, Master almost died, and couldn't kill the Sith. Master may tolerate you, and even I have come to appreciate your skills…” Yon crossed his arms, and looked away whilst he complimented them. “But if you're going to keep acting like a bunch of ungrateful unpaid Bith performers, then you can just stay here and watch the fireworks for all I care!” 

The short, black haired teen then marched straight for the entrance to the heavily armored shuttlecraft. 

Wrecker’s eyes had gone wide in disbelief, and Crosshair had a gnarly grin on his face as he followed behind him. 

“Yon, where are you going?” Jax asked.

“Isn't it obvious? Honestly, you're so Princess-brained, you forgot one of our core techniques as Shadows.” Yon scoffed, and then entered the shuttlecraft. 

“Kid's speakin my language. Get your Hutt-ass off the floor you baby. We've got killing to do.” Crosshair mimicked Yon's vial tone of voice, and scowled at his brothers before boarding the shuttlecraft. 

“...come on big fella.” Hunter patted Wrecker on the shoulder, and then nodded towards Corvus. 

“Happy hunting, Captain.” Corvus returned the nod. 

Jax closed his eyes, and sighed. The teen turned towards Corvus, and weakly smiled. “I won’t let you down, Master.” 

“Stay safe, and keep Yon out of trouble.” Corvus met his gaze, and ruffled his student's hair. 

“Heh. I'm not a miracle worker.” Jax replied, turned his back, and then paused at the entrance to the shuttlecraft. 

“Oi, are we getting this show on the road or not? Jax, get your kriff-brained ass in here.” Yon spoke through the speakers, and glared down from the cockpit. 

“May the Force be with you.” Corvus bowed, and performed a Jedi salute as the shuttlecraft began to rise into the air. 

Fortunately, Yon had been pretty serious about the whole-get stronger, murder my enemies-spiel, and was quite effective at the Jedi Shadow's most signature technique. Because seconds after the ship launched, it turned completely invisible, and disappeared. 

Corvus silently wished them luck, and then made for the Falcon. Bypassing the ruined palace, and shattered opulence, he finally reached the pilot's seat. Running a hand along the arm rest, he smiled, and began to flick switches, then grabbed the controls. A nostalgic feeling thrummed up his spine, as if he were returning home. This cockpit, and ship were like his mobile apartment, and gaming chair all in one. 

It'd been a while since he was involved in a space battle, and he was eager to see if these shiny new Star Destroyers came with some expendable Tie Fighters. Furthermore, the kills from this conflict should be all the exp he needed to level up, and cure himself from this affliction. 

Cracking his knuckles, and then his neck, Corvus followed Yon's lead, and also turned his ship invisible. At the same time, his FP had recovered by now, and he cast [Valor], [Speed], [Energy Resistance], [Force Barrier], and [Physical Resistance], making sure each buff was refreshed, and also applied to the Falcon. 

Rocketing out of the palace, he swerved around several dozen green turbolasers the size of school buses, and jetted past the area being bombarded. Looking around the city from his 3rd Person POV, he saw that large swathes were on fire, and several megastructures had been glassed, erased off the face of the moon. 

The Millennium Falcon screamed across the smog-choked skies of Nar Shaddaa, its battered hull reflecting neon scars from the endless city below. Despite the carnage, and fear radiating in the Force, Corvus remained steady on the controls, his presence in the Force calm and vast amid the chaos.

TIE fighters poured from the bellies of their Star Destroyers, shrieking forth in tightly packed swarms, blotting out traffic lanes and turning skyscrapers shards of broken glass, and black slag. At the center of it all loomed a will like cold, overwhelming gravity, it was none other than: Darth Vader. 

Fortunately, the Dark Lord was already on the ground, and another duel in the sky wasn't likely to occur. Unfortunately, the resident Chosen One was besieging the Ongree enclave. Before long, it would fall into his hands, slaughtering Corvusites, and seizing one of the most powerful Darkside artifacts in the galaxy. 

Although he had talked a big game about rescuing Omega, and eliminating Triss, Corvus could not afford to ignore Vader. As a Jedi, it was important to stand by your friends. But as a General, he had to sometimes make decisions that went against friendship. Truthfully, he maybe could have gone to duel Triss, but in reality, if the Infinite Engine fell into Imperial clutches, then this war would be over. A logistics gold mine like the Infinite Engine would be terrifying in Palpatine’s hands. All that hard work crippling their economy would be undone overnight. Corvus had to make this offensive work! 

Corvus felt them before he saw them. Eager clones brimming with confidence at getting shiny new toys. Little did they know their high speed box-like starfighters were flying coffins! No shields meant even a grazing shot was a death sentence! Given the upgrades Tech had installed way back on Malastare, these bozos didn't stand a chance! 

The Falcon surged upward, engines howling as Corvus punched through cloud and smoke, straight into the teeth of the battle. TIE fighters broke formation as he opened up on a squad from invisibility. Raking their tightly formed wing with red bolts of turbolaser fire, he used Pause-buffering to make sure he swiftly eliminated each and every last ship in this 12 man squad. 

He sensed fear, panic, and confusion in the air at his sudden arrival.

Good. 

What had been an easy mop up of civilians, and low-level criminal scum had suddenly evolved into a boss fight from hell! 

Spotting his next target, Corvus rolled the Falcon onto its side and dove between two razor-thin towers, the gap barely wider than the ship itself. Laser fire stitched the air behind him. Without looking, Corvus reached out with the Force and curled a finger. One TIE’s aim drifted just enough to clip its wingman. Both fighters spun away, colliding in a blossoming fireball that painted the buildings orange.

He pulled up hard, and fired. The Falcon’s cannons roared. Three TIEs vanished in quick succession, debris raining down like burning confetti onto the endless city below.

More fighters closed in from above.

Corvus let go of the controls for a heartbeat. The Falcon flew on course, tanking various rounds with its powerful shields. The dual mounted guns on the top & bottom operated by the R4 droid brain went into overtime, blasting one ship after another. 

Meanwhile, he was concentrating. 

Through the Force, Corvus reached into the minds of the enemy pilots. Pressing fear and confusion upon their psyche's, he manifested illusions that were not there. His favorite [Mind Trick] was to make a building appear like empty air. Dodging between these skyscrapers, hundreds of TIEs were forced into these narrow confines. Suddenly seeing a clear shot at the Falcon, the resulting explosions were magnificent! 

One pilot yanked his controls too sharply, slamming into a tower’s durasteel spine. Another hesitated, just long enough to slam head first into his wingman. 

The Falcon skimmed a traffic lane, so low that speeders scattered in panic. Corvus dipped, then pulled straight up at the last second, dragging half a dozen TIE fighters into the canyons formed by the city's numerous skyscrapes. He swiped his hand at a group of starfighters that were dead ahead. 

The encroaching fighters suddenly found themselves pushed sideways, smashing into buildings, bridges, and each other. Explosions rippled through the urban corridor as Corvus burst free into open air, unscathed. 

Above him, a full squadron descended in tight formation.

Corvus smiled faintly. He cut the engines, and the Falcon dropped like a stone.

The TIEs overshot, their pilots scrambling to adjust. Corvus reignited the engines, snapping the ship upward beneath them, and unleashed a barrage that tore through the formation from below. One after another, they detonated. Twelve, fifteen, twenty, a thousand, until the sky was littered with wreckage.

The first wave had been claimed, and a thousand more were being launched that very moment. 

Like lambs to the slaughter. 

The smaller frigates attempted to pin him down too, but he was too fast, too agile. Although he couldn't take down a capital ship by himself anytime soon, the thought kept tickling the back of his mind: what if. 

He turned the Falcon back toward the city, weaving once more between towers, vanishing into the labyrinth of Nar Shaddaa with dozens of destroyed fighters left spinning in his wake. Behind him, the Imperials regrouped, shaken, their pilots whispering of a phantom in the skies. 

The name Revan & Vader pressed upon the psyches of all those within a hundred mile radius, and these two titans of the Force slaughtered their opponents on two separate, yet very near fronts. 

Meanwhile, the Hutts watched it all from the planet beneath the moon of Nar Shaddaa. The evil slugs had begun a bloody round of infighting due to the Cartel's leadership's demise. Yet now that outsiders had appeared, they had to come to a decision. 

Should they accept the Empire's transgression…or refuse to kneel? 

The choice for the Hutts was simple. 

How could a race without legs kneel?