Jedi Insurgency 303

Piloting the Millennium Falcon, Corvus was at the very rear of the Republic convoy, fighting to make sure every last man got off Kuat, they were leaving no soldier behind!

Flying invisibly into Admiral Delvardus’s fleet, he phased in and out of sight, constantly on the move. A thousand ARC-170's chased after him, and point defense cannons painted the sky green in an attempt to shoot him down. 

With Hunter & Crosshair on the guns, an ARC-170 would go down practically every other second. Meanwhile, wielding the forward facing lasers, and concussive rockets, Corvus was flying through the swarm like a man who had angered a beehive. 

Using Pause & his third person pilot's POV to the greatest effect, he was a monster in the field. Furthermore, he was constantly using the Force as needed. [Shadow Energy Field Speed] frequently buffed the vessel, making it as strong as a capital ship's shields with the speed of an experimental starfighter. 

Flying directly at an Interdictor, Corvus was giving the ‘small’ destroyer everything he had. The Falcon's red lasers were constantly pummeling the enemy ship's command tower, intent on ripping away its shields. However, for all its firepower, the upgraded Falcon couldn't shred a capital ship in such a short time. Therefore, Corvus could only use this as a delaying tactic, forcing the Interdictor to fear advancing into range of the Republic fleet, lest it risk being lost. 

“Oh dear! General, this is not good. I'm getting massive power readings incoming from the far edge of the planetary well. Something, something massive is emerging from hyperspace!” Tech reported from the side, tapping away at a terminal in naked shock. 

“Is it a fleet?” Corvus asked, feeling his pulse increase. This is it. 

“No, no, it's a, it's a-!” 

“A big fookin ship!” Wrecker swore. 

Before they could add anything else the two newly initiated Force Sensitives seized in their seats as a dark wave spread throughout space. Wrecker gripped his heart like he was having a heart attack, whilst Tech's face had gone pale all over, and was shaking like a poorly fitted faucet. Echo, meanwhile, had shallow breaths, and was trying to meditate his way out, somewhat better off than his two other brothers. As for Hunter & Crosshair? Well, the two guns had gone silent, and that's all Corvus needed to know. 

“Wee woo wee?” R-4 asked. 

“Go for it, R-4, engage the auto-turret mode.” Corvus said in a solemn tone, then engaged stealth mode, turning the Falcon invisible to avoid Delvardus’s fleet. 

At the same time, he cast [Shadow Valor] onto the men in the Falcon, trying to defend them from this [Battle Meditation] adjacent debuff that had arrived with the enemy. 

Flying back towards the egress zone-the direction that the Republic fleet needed to reach before exiting Kuat's gravity well so they could enter hyperspace-he used a targeted [Shadow Hop] to speed up. 

Drawing near, he could finally, barely make out the outline of a ship. Using his eyes alone, it was practically invisible in the vastness of space. And it wasn't like people hadn't tried using all black, or ‘space colored’ camo before. However, the Force was all around this behemoth, truly hiding it from the senses of ordinary people. As for his ship scanners, they could detect the ship, but it was as if there was a delay, or in gaming terms, a laggy input. 

What the scanner showed was about 1 to 3 seconds behind real time. Now 1 to 3 seconds might not sound like much, but shooting a laser or missile across thousands of miles of empty space wasn't guaranteed to hit its target ordinarily. Now that there was a delay, it enhanced this Imperial ship by making it more evasive. So if the eyeball had trouble seeing it, and scanners were faulty…then the only reliable way to hit it was to get up close & personal. 

“The IFF labels it. As. The Black Monolith.” Tech gasped out, finally beginning to regain some color in his face as he adjusted to the pressure. 

“Take us with you for a boardin action, General. Make me feel this weak. I wanna smash'em real good.” Wrecker growled. 

“Thank you for the assistance, General.” Echo said in a normal tone, as his meditation in conjunction with Corvus's aid had seen him recover the most. “I've been researching the HoloNet as of late, and that ship has been personally constructed by Vader during his reconstruction of Coruscant. Eyewitnesses claimed they felt empowered when they saw it, whilst those anti-Imperials were numb, angry, or griefstricken.” 

Corvus narrowed his eyes. It seemed that this vessel truly did possess an ability similar to Battle Meditation. Furthermore, Vader trusted in its capabilities so much, that it was deployed against a full strength legion. Although whoever the commander was, wasn't so stupid as to face him 1v50, and had that other Imperial fleet on the flank. If he had to guess, they meant to cripple the Starcrusher Corp here, and take as many of Corvus's elites & veterans away as possible. 

Now the question remained, was it Thrawn, or Vader himself commanding the ship? Or were they both acting together in coordination? If he truly had to…he would unleash [Well Balanced] and conduct a grand battle to the death. Hopefully it wouldn't come to that. He then turned to Echo.

“Thank you for the update.” Corvus thanked, nodding his head. 

“Enemy shield analyzed. It appears to have a three tier shield system, and a bridge built into the center of the ship…interestingly enough, there isn't a single window port, and the sole hangar is a retractable metal gate. What a fascinating design.” Tech spoke to Corvus, and then began muttering to himself. 

“Enuff o that. How are we gonna blow'er up, Tech?” Wrecker asked, smashing one giant fist into the next. 

Tech merely shook his head. “Inconclusive. I require more data.” 

“General, what d'you say about givin her a boarding pass?” Wrecker toothily grinned. 

Corvus, meanwhile, had thoroughly furrowed his brows. When he tried to scan for Vader or Thrawn with the Force, he found that not only were neither of them aboard the Black Monolith, but that there wasn't a single living cremate either! 

“Try to run a more in depth scan, Tech. I fear that there might not even be any hallways to enter through.” Corvus solemnly intoned. 

“There's always a hallway, General, we just have to make one ourselves.” Wrecker didn't lose his enthusiasm, and ignited his lightsaber. 

Corvus admired the balls on the big man, and seriously considered the proposal. There was some merit to attempting to cut their way through. Ordinarily, he would say it was a madman's gambit, one doomed to fail simply because a ship with an all droid crew likely didn't maintain a breathable atmosphere. However, thanks to Yon learning how to breath in space from a holocron, and passing that knowledge on to him, there was a possibility! 

If all else failed, and they were driven to a corner, or he felt that they could come out of this with a big win-a pyrrhic victory being unacceptable-then, and only then would he consider such an option given the current circumstances. 

Breathing heavily, he suddenly felt an urgent premonition in the Force, and saw a terrible future in the shadow of the Black Monolith, and the shadows of his fleet. 

‘Damnit, no!’ He thought to himself with grit teeth. 

Pushing the Falcon to its max speed, the bolts started to rattle, and the engines were practically ready to blow if he took this too far. 

“An energy reading is spiking. Whatever the Black Monolith is preparing, it's going to be big.” Tech said in a quiet, urgent voice. 

“She's going to explode somebody.” Wrecker drooped his shoulders. For the first time, not even the awesome power of a super weapon could lighten his spirit. 

Seconds later, a massive red beam-like a mini laser from the Death Star-shot out of a large, central cannon. This beam collided with a Republic Venator, instantly exploding it, leaving nothing behind. Witnessing this tragic moment in time, Corvus's blood ran cold, and a silent fury gripped his heart. 

Then the Black Monolith deployed an even larger swarm of droid starfighters. The murder machines poured from its hangar in a dense horde intent on slaughter. Black, angular machines without markings, cockpit glass, or living pilots, their wings unfolded as they accelerated, filling the space above Kuat with a glittering storm of cannon fire.

Meeting them head-on, Corvus rallied with his men for a counterattack. They had to punch a hole through. If they failed here, then tens of millions of clones, Eriaduan's, Ongree, and a handful of HK's would perish! 

Corvus gripped the controls as the old freighter screamed directly toward the swarm. Warning lights strobed across the cockpit, and the targeting computer struggled to track so many enemies at once, filling the display with overlapping red brackets until the entire screen seemed to bleed red. 

Behind him came every starfighter Clip could spare. ARC-170s, battered Z-95s, and clone interceptors tightened into formation around the Falcon. The pilots knew what waited beyond the droid screen was something even more deadly. The Black Monolith hung across their escape route like a reaper, waiting for them to draw near. 

“Stay close.” Corvus ordered over the comms. “We'll cut through them like a hot knife through butter.” 

He then buffed the surrounding ships with [Shadow Energy Blunt] resistance, and hoped for the best. 

Surging from the vanguard, the Falcon met the first rank of droid starfighters. 

Before they even fired their first missile, Corvus felt the attack before it came. The Force spread through the cockpit, through the Falcon’s trembling frame, and outward into the darkness. 

The Falcon rolled between two converging walls of laser-fire, narrowly evading a massive wreck. Corvus then dove beneath one fighter, climbed over another, then snapped the freighter sideways through a gap scarcely wider than its own hull. All the while, Hunter & Crosshair were shooting at anything that moved. 

When he punched a hole in the droid's formation, they chased after him instead of prioritizing the fleet. From this act alone, he could guess that the Black Monolith had a lot of Vader’s influence. This sole dedication to murder ‘Revan' was an easy tell, and could be a tool Corvus used to influence the Sith in the future. 

But in the here and now, he was all too happy to exploit that hatred! Maneuvering the Falcon towards the Imperial super ship, he was targeted by an unthinkable amount of lasers & missiles. 

Droid fighters swarmed after him, their programming unable to comprehend fear. They rose in a dense column, hundreds of machines pursuing the battered freighter toward the immense ventral surface of the Monolith.

Corvus looked up, and the dark colored flagship blotted out half the stars. 

Darkness rolled from it in waves, and he felt Vader within the vessel despite the Sith Lord’s absence. The pressure of his will, the cold breath of his hatred, the command imprinted upon every droid mind, he was there every step of the way. 

Corvus smiled beneath his mask.

“Found you.”

He drove the Falcon straight at the hull.

The freighter skimmed across the black surface, and was just above its shields. 

The machines behind him tried to follow, but suddenly, Corvus [Shadow Hopped] the Falcon behind the swarm. And, lifting both hands, PRESSED DOWN. 

[Shadow Force Push] worked upon the thousands of densely clustered ships in front of him. Ordinarily, they would tumble a ways, and then correct themselves. However…however!!! They were within just a handful of feet above their own capital ship. 

Seconds later, droid fighters smashed against the Monolith in a chain of violent impacts. Fire rolled across the flagship’s outer hull as wreck after wreck struck home. Others collided with one another while attempting to course correct, scattering mechanical debris across the hull.

Corvus raced through the inferno.

The Falcon’s quad cannons thundered, carving open the survivors. Behind him, the Republic starfighters descended upon the broken formation like hyenas barking at the smell of blood. ARC-170s hammered the droids with heavy fire, and clone interceptors plunged between the larger craft, turning the darkness above the Monolith into a storm of red light and burning metal.

For several glorious seconds, the grand vessel seemed to wear a crown of fire.

Then the Monolith’s point-defense batteries awakened. Thousands of turrets rotated toward them, and Corvus felt the coming barrage ripple through the Force.

“All fighters, break toward the bow!” He commanded. “Full speed!”

The Falcon shot forward as the darkness behind it erupted. Cannon fire filled the void so completely, that survival seemed absurd. Corvus flew through it anyway, rolling, diving, climbing, and slipping through openings that vanished the instant he passed them.

The starfighters followed in his wake. One by one, they cleared the Monolith’s immense triangular bow.

Ahead lay open space.

Behind them, Clip’s fleet drove toward the narrow path they had torn through the droid screen.

Corvus pulled the Falcon into a wide turn and saw the Republic warships coming through, scarred, burning, but alive. The Black Monolith loomed behind them, surrounded by its regrouping swarm.

Corvus faced it through the cockpit glass.

For an instant, the darkness within that ship pressed against him, and then, as if sensing what was nearest and dearest to his heart, turned towards the Indomitable.