TheSith Empress – Part 29

The Sith Empress

by AJ Marks

Part 29

Luke reached the command room to see one the officer in charge look back at him.

“Its an attack,” he stated.

“From where?” Luke asked trying to figure out who was attacking, though one group came right to mind.

“Ten ships dropped out of hyperspace launching drop ships within seconds of arriving.  They are of an old Sith battleship design,” the officer said.

Luke understood who was attacking, though he had hoped to be wrong.  “How long do we have?”

“The first drop ships could be arriving at any time now,” the officer replied.

“Our fighter squadrons?” Luke asked.

“Silver and gold have already launched and engaged with the enemy fighters,” he replied back to Luke.  “We count ten drop ships approaching.”

Luke acknowledged the information while mentally calculating the numbers.  Each ships having between ten and fifty men depending on the type and they were looking at an initial invasion force between a hundred to five hundred men.

“Any news of a second wave?” Luke asked.

“No yet.”

“All right, sound invasion alert, and inform the Republic.  They might have a fleet waiting nearby,” Luke stated, and left the room to prepare to help fight off the invasion.  They would find themselves against battle tested Jedi.

*****

Kyle watched the first ship land not far away from the training grounds.  He already had a group organized another with sev3eral others and the Republic troops who were now stationed all around to help defend.   A mix of soldiers and Jedi ready for battle.

Troops raced out of the ship with a mixture of weapons as well, about half had blasters the other half had lightsabers.  Kyle knew they were in for a fight even as he fired a few shots with his blaster and ignited his own lightsaber.  Several others followed his lead as he charged in.

The leading force of attackers backed off a bit allowing those who had lightsabers to charge forward.  The two groups clashed as the Jedi engaged what Kyle figured were the Sith warriors.

Another drop ship landed not far away its troops adding to the battle.  Kyle figured they were outnumbered at least two to one in this current battle.

He used his lightsaber to block one attacker before slicking him though and moved on to the next person.  The others were with him and attacking as he was.  He saw two students fall in the attack, but more attackers were falling at the moment.  He could only hope the battle didn’t last too long or they would be overwhelmed even with superior fighting skills.

He watched Luke, Jaden and Fie-Tel arrive on the battlefield as another drop ship landed nearby.  Kyle figured the arrivals were about equal as Luke jumped into the battle and engaged with his abilities.  They sliced though the attackers as a few Sith warriors turned to engage them.  With the additional help they pushed forward pushing the attack to the attackers.

*****

Tyi listened to the reports coming in.  They were losing men, which he expected against the Jedi but reports that the Jedi were also falling meant he still had an advantage, including numbers on his side.  His own Sith warriors were helping, but seemed to not be as much of a help as he had hoped considering the legendary Luke Skywalker was among the Jedi in the battle.

“Send two more drop ships to this location,” Tyi said as they pinpointed where the strongest Jedi were.  “If we can kille Skywalker then the battle will be much easier.”

“Of course,” Draco said, relaying the information.

Tyi knew that would send an additional sixty men to the fight, each ship had thirty men on board.  The reports was there were about thirty defenders in the area, and they already sent ninety men there.  He hoped the odds would turn in his favor.

“Perhaps you should send some men up here,” a voice said which caused Tyi to freeze even as it continued on.  “After all, you’re going to need them in a second.”

Tyi turned around to see something from his nightmare standing on the bridge which had gone silent.  Everyone was looking on waiting to see what might happen next.  Tyi started to think fast looking for a way out as he looked at the figure dressed in black and he wondered how she had managed to reach the bridge with no one informing him.

“My lord, you’re alive, that’s great news,” Tyi said quickly.  “Admiral Draco planned all of this and used me to get to you.”

He hoped it would allow her to doubt his position and involvement, at least long enough for him to try and gain an advantage.  He had a blaster and his hand slowly made its way to it.

“Silence fool,” Rizon said, Force lightning shooting out and catching Tyi.  He was tossed to the wall and to the floor feeling pain he had never experienced before.  His mind raced wondering how he could have overlooked anything even as Rizon stood in front of him.

“Lord Rizon,” Draco finally managed to say.  Tyi noticed that he had managed to draw his blaster even as a couple of other guards entered the bridge.

Shots rang out but Tyi had a feeling without looking what would happen.  Both guard slumped to the floor reminding Tyi of when he first encountered Rizon and her encounter with the gang members in the alleyway.

He watched as she approached Draco, who seemed to have lost some of his bravado when drawing the blaster easier.  A quick strike and the admiral had been decapitated as Tyi slowly tried to stand after feeling the effects of the Force lightning.

“My lord, I only wanted to serve you,” Tyi said now standing in front of her, he could see her blue eyes now which were anything but welcoming.  Anger flowed through her.

“So you have me killed, how obedient of you,” Rizon said glaring back at him.  The silence stretched out for a few seconds as Tyi managed to see a few other guards arrive, along with two Sith warriors.  They could tie her up long enough for Tyi to shoot her, or so he hoped.

“Well, don’t just stand there, get her,” Tyi said at the group who had come in.

He watched the group hesitated for a few heartbeats until Rizon made the decision for them.  She attacked with greater speed than he had seen before.  Two guards were quickly killed and she engaged both Sith warriors at the same time.

Tyi raised his blaster carefully aiming and pulled the trigger and watched as he missed.  She had evaded the shot while dueling.  Looking down and selecting auto fire which would allow him to shoot faster he switched the selector and looked back up and froze.  Rizon was standing before him, the tip of her lightsaber pointed at his head.

“You’re a terrible leader Tyi, you know that?” Rizon said, mocking him a bit.

He raised the blaster even as Rizon struck.

*****

Gaia watched the drop ships land from where she was sitting.  She had heard the alarms and knew who they were even before the attackers came rushing out.  She watched as the attackers engaged the defenders of the academy as laser fire streaked all around and lightsabers engaged each other.

There was a part of her which told her she should be out there helping defend against this attack.  However another part of her couldn’t muster the emotion to really care about what was going on.  It was that last part of her which wanted nothing else than to take a hit and end it all.  At least that would be better than what she was going though right now.

She watched as Master Skywalker had jumped into the battle wielding his lightsaber with skill and precision she had seen him use so often in training.  She noticed that he was with Kyle and Fie-Tel and several other students and Jedi working together.  They made a deadly team as the attackers fell before them despite the odds.

Another drop ship landed not far away which didn’t surprise her.  As she watched she hear the sounds of blaster fire and combat coming towards her.  She looked around to see a group of attackers heading towards her.

She never bothered to raise her defenses, or even tried to stop the figures which were coming her way.  It was a surreal atmosphere where she watched as a pistol aimed her way and pulled the trigger.  The shot went straight and true striking her.

She slumped down not feeling any pain as the world faded from view.

*****

Luke knew that more men were coming down in the ships and they were already outnumbered about two to one.  The two landing craft would tilt the odds even more against them.  The doors of one ship opened allowing a squad of men to rush out, the second one only had one figure walk out.  Even from this distance he could feel her power and hoped they had whittled down the enemy enough to allow him to face off against this new enemy.

As he pondered this new arrival he noticed that several of the Sith warriors had stopped their attack and were not looking not at the Jedi, but this newcomer.  Luke wasn’t sure what this development meant as things seemed to calm down a bit.

The stranger wore a dark red cape which fluttered in the wind and he noticed by the figure she was a woman.  As she approached her hood was blown off to revel long, black hair.  Even as she approached he thought a few of the attackers seemed to flinch even as a red lightsaber came to life.

“Any idea who she is?” Kyle asked as he and Luke looked at each other before looking back at the woman.

“The only person who comes to mind is the Sith Lord I thought Gaia said was dead,” Luke replied back to him.

“Doesn’t look too dead to me,” Kyle replied back to him.  Both of them waited to see what might happen next.

Several of the attackers suddenly tried to attack her which she quickly dispatched as the battle started back up.  Luke kept a wary eye on the newcomer as she slashed her way through anyone who dared to attack her back as if she was on a mission.  He had to figure out what that mission was or others might die.

******

The officer watching the ongoing battle on the scanners had to pause in amazement at what was going on.  One of the ships had made an erratic turn and started heading to another of the attacking ships.  He knew they had not damaged it, and the Republic fleet had still to arrive making him wonder what had happened.

He looked outside and noticed the flash in the sky which indicated that two ships had been destroyed.  He wasn’t sure what had happened, but from the way the remaining ships were reacting it appeared that perhaps a command ship had been taken out.

The ships were suddenly confronted with new ships which had just dropped out of hyperspace.  The Republic fleet had arrived at last giving the officer a feeling of hope that they might actually survive this battle after all.

The battle around the planet had intensified as he watched some of the attacking ships lose their nerve and appeared to head away probably looking to escape into hyperspace.

He knew that without any reinforcements coming down they would have a slight advantage, especially with the way the ships were not acting.  He had a feeling that the commander had been on one of the two ships.

He sent out a message to the others that the Republic fleet had arrived and what was going on with the attacking fleet.  He hoped it would boost their courage.

End part 29

Continued in part 30

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