Jedi Insurgency 098

The millisecond those one hundred, 12ft tall T-1000 cybersuits appeared, Corvus immediately entered Pause. 

Minutes ago, he had arrived with the cavalry, and had appeared to rescue his precious student. And as soon as he was about to extract the white haired teen, he had to deal with this shit. Whoever the Imperial commander was, they were a major pain in his ass. Who the hell deployed an incredibly serious strike force, only to use 50,000 men as bait? That number of troops was significant no matter the battlefield. To use them like cannon fodder in the hopes of nabbing bigger prey…they were not natural! 

…internal seething aside, Corvus had to think a way out of this mess. 

At the moment, he was caught in a literal circle by these mechanical terrors. Armed with beam cannons, missiles, shields, and power staves-like the ones Grievous’ guards used-they made for formidable foes. A little more than a week ago it took him everything he had to fight one. Yeah, it had the help of a dozen Mandalorians, but now there were a hundred of them! 

As for his own forces, most of them were bogged down, and couldn't offer immediate aid. Sure they were winning, and it was a crushing victory, yet the Imperial clones weren't weak, and would take some time to perish. Meanwhile, he had a core contingent of about 250 Starcrusher Corpsmen surrounding him in a diamond formation. Furthermore, the special forces unit numbering a thousand-which included the Bad Batch-were operating nearby. 

This was not a 2v100 scenario. There was room to maneuver, it was just awfully cramped. To escape death during this engagement, would be like making love in a car. It would be tight, uncomfortable, and cary with it the risk of being caught. Yet the reward would be sweet indeed. Producing machines such as these was not cheap. Corvus had heard reports from Commander Pots, that there had been T-1000 sightings on other fronts, and estimated that there couldn't be more than a few hundred deployed to Eriadu. By escaping this net, and transforming the ambush into a counter ambush, he would bleed the Empire of 100 elite units. 

Squaring all this information away, Corvus began to make his plan of attack. 

[Mind Trick] was what had worked best last time, however, that had only worked because the AI paired with the Tarkin brain had had its systems damaged. If he was going to attempt a similar maneuver, he'd have to put the hurt on a cybersuit first. 

Shielded as they were, his best bet to bypass defenses would be [Force Lightning]. Unfortunately, it wasn't particularly effective at long range. Of course, it could fry men who were closely bunched, but the mechs were more than 10-20ft apart from one another. Complicating matters was the fact that they had enhanced audio receptors. Sneaking up on them from invisibility would be almost impossible. 

There were, however, two abilities he really liked for this encounter. One was [Slow] the other was his newest ability, [Shadow Hop]. 

He kind of hated himself for forgetting he had [Slow], but it was technically a long range ability, as it left his hand in the shape of a crimson orb. The thing about [Slow] was that at tier 3, it gained poisonous effects. This was the perfect ability to enact upon the hyperactive Tarkin brains. Whilst the suit's AI would be trying to purge something incurable-Space Wizard bullshittery-that's when the brain would be ripe for a [Mind Trick].

That, of course, would be the ideal maneuver. However, with so many opponents, who was to say if they would just stand still and let themselves get hit. Which is where [Shadow Step] came into play. In the world of combat, speed is most often the deciding factor. He who strikes first has higher odds of emerging as the victor. And there wasn't anything faster than teleportation. 25ft wasn't far, and the cost on his FP bar was high, but damn did it feel cool to soundlessly appear behind an enemy! 

Mobility would be key to surviving this encounter. 

His only concern at this point, was Jax's safety, and that the personal shields containing the cybersuits could reflect lightsabers. 

Glancing around the shattered skyscrapers, and looking at the torn up walkways, and smoking craters, Corvus took in his environment, and had finalized his plan. 

It was go time. 

Un-Pausing, Corvus dodged to the side as a beam cannon blasted a gout of molten concrete inches to his left. He twisted, and channelled the chaotic movements of Form VII to the limits, his recently improved Dexterity, and Awareness helped him survive. He leapt, dodged, parried, and ran at super speeds. 

Explosions blossomed all around him, and his [Energy Resistance] shield began to warp. 

‘Get to the high ground. Channel aura.’ Corvus shared a string of simple thoughts with Jax, unwilling to say his plan outloud, or even across comms, as he feared they might be tapped. 

‘Yes, Master.’ Jax replied, and then disappeared into invisibility. 

Although the cyborgs had enhanced audio receptors, that didn't mean they were fool proof. In the chaos of battle, if Jax went far enough away, they would be unable to track him. 

As this brief interaction unfolded, two cyborgs flanked him. One swung its power staff like a hammer, side stepping the attack, seismic waves erupted on the ground once it missed. Corvus used the Force to push the cyborg into the one that was flanking him on the right. They both collided with thunderous force, and their shields rippled, close to collapse. Positioning himself carefully, he used the two metal machines as meat shields, and watched on with glee as the other T-1000's kept on shooting their guns, tearing the two hapless cyborgs to shreds. 

Just as the bolts were about to strike him after they had taken out their two compatriots, he [Shadow Hopped], and teleported on top of another unit. His sabers screamed through the air, carving molten scars across the back of one mech’s knee joint. It stumbled, but didn’t fall. It spun incredibly fast, its gyros screamed as they were overclocked, and its staff nearly clipped Corvus’s chest mid-roll. Ducking low, he retrieved a spike from his inventory, and using his Computer skill, jammed it into the mech's back, and hacked it to remain motionless. 

Four more cyborgs rocketed down from the rooftops, their boosters flared blue, and their beam cannons primed with green particles promising death. 

“Target: Revan. Calculations predict 92.3% probability of destruction.” The mechanized voice of Tarkin echoed from all sides. “But you already knew that, didn’t you?”

Having cast 4 out of his 12 allotted abilities within a minute, Corvus opted not to [Shadow Hop] again so soon, and shot out four [Slow's] at the hovering cyborgs. Four pale, off color reddish orbs phased through the energy shields coating the T-1000's, and penetrated their minds. 

The effect was immediate, and the beam cannons-which should have already fired by now-were still taking aim. Running to the side and dodging several other units that were shooting at him, he began to scale a blown out skyscraper at rapid speeds. 

A cluster of missiles began to explode all around him, making the derelict structure shudder and shake. The building began to sway, and he felt it start to collapse under him. Jumping off a support beam, Corvus performed a back flip into a dive, turning invisible the second his feet left the building. Lasers criss crossed where he had been, yet applying one [Shadow Hop], he had escaped their net. Landing on one of the T-1000's under the effects of [Slow], he reached out with [Mind Trick], and had them target the other T-1000's. 

Seconds later, the four hovering mechs started to unload everything in their arsenal. 

After losing five units, the Imperial cyborgs were quick to react, and began to bombard their former allies without any qualms. 

Corvus had jumped just in time, and landed near the 250 or so Starcrusher Corpsmen who had acted as the vanguard to rescue Jax. The soldiers were barely hanging in there, yet they were stubborn sons of bitches, and had pinned down thirty T-1000's, and destroyed 5. Their beskar armor, and personal shields weren't for show. Each beam attack from a cyborg was like the ones that came from a LAAT. Any ordinary man would be crisped in one hit. Meanwhile, it took one beam to break the shield, and then two beams in the same spot to crack the armor. The Lieutenant leading this unit was smart, and was rotating his men so that their shields could recharge, and their heated armor could cool down. Any man who was struck twice took a mandatory 5 minute reprieve.

Corvus grinned at the sight. It was lovely to be working alongside intelligent people. 

From the auspices of invisibility, he dropped a whole host of buffs on them: [Speed, Valor. Energy Resistance], and a round of healing/revitalize. Of course this was a significant drain on his FP bar, but he saw it as worth it. Taking a minute long breather to recharge his FP bar, Corvus felt comfortable taking this risk because he knew reinforcements were on the way. 

Moments later, a squadron of ARC-170's came rocketing by, and unleashed a dozen proton torpedoes, removing the shields from a group of T-1000's. 

“No mercy!” The clone Lieutenant shouted as he saw his chance had arrived. 

Emerging from cover, a hundred clones began to pour fire onto the bots with everything they had. Blue laser bolts fell like rain, their slightly ionized charges-developed for war against the CIS-were super effective against the cybersuits. Before long, those ten units became crippled or destroyed. 

The retaliation to this outburst was swift and merciless. 

An incredibly dense missile volley screamed toward the clones’ position. Corvus sensed that the 100 troopers who had revealed themselves would become less than smears on the ground. He had never tried [Revitalize] on a puddle of blood, or group of ashes, and he didn’t want to find out if it wouldn't work. These guys risked so much for him, he had to save them! 

He threw his hand out, and [Force Push] slammed one cluster of rockets into another, creating a chain reaction explosion. Fire bloomed, and the shockwave that followed was incredibly thick. Dense, high temperature wind crashed into him, breaking his invisibility. 

“The General is with us boys! Charge!” The Lieutenant waved his blaster, then abandoned his cover, and began to move towards a cybersuit. 

“FOR THE REPUBLIC!” The remaining 250 yelled, and went full on banzai mode. 

Corvus was somewhat at a loss at the sudden turn of events. He very much would have preferred his men would remain in cover…he never expected to inspire them so much. Sighing to himself, and shaking his head, he could only chuckle at their faith in him. 

At that moment, a massive foot came down, crushing the Lieutenant. Dropping down from the sky, a dozen more cyborgs utilized their heavy bodies, and started to crush the men. The T-1000's weren't stupid, and had observed the personal shields that coated each man…shields that did not block physical attacks! Beskar armor was awesome as well, but beneath the metal was flesh and blood! Even a medieval knight inside his ‘impervious’ armor would suffer a concussion if he fell off his horse. These massive mechs used clawed hands, and power staves to knock the troppers around! 

Corvus [Shadow Hopped] again, and began to fight in the thick of it alongside his men. 

Screams of pain were constant, and troopers began to lob all of their remaining explosives, some even started to take out vibroblades, and close in for melee. Their act was a stupid suicidal charge that almost saw each and everyone of them die! Their bravery had to be commended, as in this short time span, 250 clone lives had been exchanged for destroying or crippling 30 T-1000's. If they had sat back, many more men would have lived…but they wouldn't have had such a large impact on the battle! 

Somewhere down the street, one of the the few clone troopers-covered in soot and blood-held the line with sheer will alone. Blaster fire dropped down around him like hail, yet he appeared to have the devils luck, as he dodge rolled forward underneath a T-1000's grasping claw, planted an explosive on its back, then ran for cover as it blew. 

Another clone tackled a cyborg off a rooftop, and both vanished in a fireball. 

Numerous other counts of bravery and self sacrifice occurred nearly every second, and it pained Corvus's heart knowing that each of these men were willing to give it all for him. Some of them had already been revived handful of times, and he had no guarantee that he could get to them within 30 min, or that he could rez someone who wasn't a complete body. The fact was, most of these guys would probably die here. 

Gripping his lightsabers tightly, boundless respect poured from his heart, and he turned any lamentation, or melancholy he might feel at this moment into motivation. 

A cyborg lunged at his back, but he remained unphased. 

Corvus sidestepped, parried with one saber, and thrust upward with the other, driving it through the under-arm gap in its shielding, cutting into coolant lines. He twisted out of the way as the machine erupted in steam and sparks, but another slammed him with the flat of its staff, sending him hurtling through a wall.

He lay there for a second, and saw stars in his eyes. Another missile barrage whined overhead, leaving him no time to dilly-dally. 

He got up, refusing to bow down. 

One more [Shadow Hopped], and appeared atop a crumbling statue. At that moment, the last of the clone troopers down the street were overwhelmed in a hail of cannon fire. Their screams died in his ears, and he bowed his head in thanks for their sacrifice. 

All remaining fifty T-1000's turned toward him in eerie synchronicity. 

“You are alone now.”

Corvus’s eyes narrowed. He lowered one saber slightly, inviting them to one last dance. 

“A Jedi is never alone.” 

Flames twisted in the wind like banners heralding death. The broken and scorched plaza glowed beneath Corvus’s feet as the fifty remaining Tarkin-brained cyborgs formed a semicircle of annihilation. Their weapons charged in unison, and their power staves crackled with power. Corvus’s cloak was clean, his back straight. Fatigue was beginning to catch up to him, and even with [Force Valor], he felt like a man on an energy drink after working 48hrs. Exhausted, battered, the Force roared like a storm tide through his soul, and his kyber crystal responded to this malevolent Darkside energy by releasing cool waves of nourishment. 

‘Thank you, my friend.’ Corvus silently praised, and then took a deep breath. The fight up until this point had been touch and go, yet hope remained. Jax was in position, and the Bad Batch should be closing fast. He would not be overwhelmed, he refused. 

Corvus leapt again, [Shadow Hopping] mid-air whilst they shot everything they had at him. Moving twenty feet to the left, he tossed an ion grenade, and when it broke the cyborg's shield, he slashed across its chest and pierced the brain hidden within. But even in victory, he had no time to halt his steps or celebrate, as a missile clipped him mid-landing, sending him spiraling into the side of a transport husk. He hit the ground hard, and rolled to the side as a massive mechanical foot stomped downward. 

The cyborgs approached, and began to drone on and on. Their attacks were merciless, and unending. Corvus’s FP bar was running dangerously low as he was forced to [Shadow Hop] again and again. The cyborgs had incredible reaction times, and almost every time he landed after a short-range teleport, they would blast him. The net had been cast, and he was beginning to feel like a caged animal! 

“Resistance is futile.”

“Submit to Order.”

“Surrender Jedi.”

“Submit.”

“Submit.”

“Submit”

Suddenly, when he was at the end of his ropes, a sonic boom tore across the battlefield.

From above, dozens of LAAT's roared into view, and descended like avenging angels. Their hulls bore the markings of a flaming skull, and their beam cannons tore into the cybersuits’ shields. 

The Bad Batch had arrived.

A deafening *CRACK* echoed as Wrecker launched from a descending gunship mid-air, and slammed into the back of a cyborg, cracking its spinal housing with a massive genetically enhanced punch. He roared as it collapsed, and he held it above his head, ripping the machine in half, exposing its spine and tons of oily fluids.

“Miss us?” Hunter asked, sliding down a line, his DC-17M rifle snapped off precise shots that tore through exposed joint servos, and crippled three T-1000's, preventing them from lifting their arms. 

From behind, Tech lit up three T-1000's with EMP bursts calibrated to bypass their shield frequencies. One cyborg collapsed, spasming, leaving an opening for Crosshair to pick off its exposed cranial CPU with a single round.

Echo hit the ground beside Corvus, his custom scomp-arm stabbed into a destroyed terminal, and he hijacked a cyborg, and used its own weapons against its kin. 

“You’re not dead. Good. We brought friends.” Hunter bragged as Corvus was too tired to speak, and was conserving his energy to block oncoming attacks 

Seconds later, sky darkened with the arrival of hundreds of low-altitude assault transports. Each one dropped off a squad of Republic clone commandos.

One thousand elite soldiers equipped with the best weapons and gear Corvus could craft-Jax's unit-had finally arrived. 

They hit the ground running, and flanked the remaining T-1,000's. The cyborgs, for all their strength, were suddenly being outmaneuvered and overwhelmed.

The tide had shifted.

Corvus rose to his feet slowly, his mask gleamed in the early dawn light, making him appear to be some war-torn specter amid the fire and glory of war. His eyes locked with Hunter’s. The squad leader nodded.

He then turned to the nearest cluster of five cyborgs and hurled his hand forward, Force Lightning erupted from his palm like a stormfront. Their shields buckled, and a squad of commandos hit them from the flank, mag-climbing up their frames and planting shaped charges.

Repeated explosions made short work of the enemy. 

Corvus [Shadow Hopped] behind another, disabling its leg at the knee with a Juyo spin, before impaling it through the back of the neck. Droid parts clattered harmlessly to the floor as a result, the slick heat of orange molten slag coated the metallic bits were all that remained of this once fearsome killer. 

Crosshair’s voice crackled over comms.

“Got one trying to take to the air. Not anymore.” A second later, a cyborg’s jetpack exploded mid-lift, raining sparks and limbs.

“Eat dis ya filthy clanka!” Wrecker caught another cyborg’s staff mid-swing, muscles straining, before tearing the weapon from its grip and jamming it through the machine’s visor.

Across the city, the Republic began retaking ground.

Commandos moved in phalanx formations, using coordinated tactics and covering fire, weaving in and out of cyborg formations with expert timing. Their beskar allowed them to survive hits no regular soldier could.

The cyborgs started to falter.

Corvus took the fight to their core, twin sabers blazing through metal and flame. He ducked, spun, Shadow-Hopped, struck with such ferocity the air itself seemed to tremble.

A dozen cyborgs fell in two minutes.

The rest began to adapt, switching targets in an attempt to crush the Republic forces under sustained fire. But Tech had already cracked their aiming algorithm, and was constantly sending them malware-somewhat disturbing their aim-taking advantage of this, the commandos began to execute perfect the T-1000's one by one. 

Hunter and Corvus fought side-by-side briefly. Hunter threw an enhanced, experimental ion grenade that Corvus caught with the Force, and embedded it in a cyborg’s chest with a flick of his hand, causing a static field to form around the cybersuit rendering it useless. 

Echo patched into a fallen cyborg's neural relay, and started piloting one as if it were a vehicle, and blasted other T-1000's with their own weapons. 

“They’re floundering, let's go in for the kill.” Corvus declared. 

‘All you, Jax.’ 

A second later, an aura of majesty pressed down upon the cyborgs. The 12 remaining T-1000's stood immobile, momentarily paralyzed by Jax's psychic attack. 

“Light them up!” Hunter shouted. 

Every commando opened fire.

The final wave of cyborgs fell, engulfed in blaster fire, thermal detonations, and Corvus’s unrelenting assault.

Silence fell over the battlefield, and Corvus spread out an aura of victory onto his men. Approaching the fallen, he saluted, and then began to heal or resurrect those that he could. 

Jax dropped down next to him, his face was calm like usual, but Corvus could sense the underlying tension. 

“Master, I'm sorry I dragged you into this. By the time I realized it was an ambush, I saw that they wanted you, not me.” Jax seemed to mumble, and bowed his head. 

Corvus narrowed his eyes, and filed Jax's report away for later. 

“Whoever planned this operation was meticulous from beginning to end. We should clear up this section of the battlefield, and move on to reinforce other sectors.” Corvus said, a frown marred his face, yet his tone was even, unwilling to criticize his student for ‘dragging him into an ambush.’ 

“Thrawn. The Force showed me a vision. His name is Thrawn.” Jax slowly spoke up. 

Corvus clenched his fists. He had kept up his persona of Bond, and in his masquerade as an Imperial Agent, he sought to use his foreknowledge to recruit capable allies, or influence unwitting pawns. Thrawn was one of those people he had taken an interest in and colluded with. It was through his credentials that Thrawn had advanced so early. Who would have known the young man would arrive on Eriadu, and become a thorn in his side? 

Scheming, acting in the dark, these were all what made a Jedi Shadow a threat. But he had been too cocky. His success in crippling the economy, jail break, and Jedi Temple theft had all been major successes. He accomplished more in 10hrs than most Jedi did in their entire lives. Of course he had a bit of an ego. 

Now he was paying for that hubris. 

Sighing to himself, he let go of his clenched fist. Although facing Thrawn was an ordeal, it wasn't the end of the world. The man was only a Lieutenant, and Corvus was well aware of how xenophobic the Empire was. No matter how intelligent he was, his superiors would find a way to bungle their way to defeat due to their racial biases. 

There was still an opportunity to recruit Thrawn. The man abhorred incompetence, and was a Chiss at the end of the day. The threat of the Vong might be all that was required to recruit him. However, Corvus wouldn't bank on it, the dude was heavily opinionated, and had vied for dominion over the galaxy at one point. 

Perhaps he would embark on an assassination mission of the Imperial higher ups. During that act, he could pay a visit to his blue-skinned friend. 

“Master?” Jax asked from the side. 

“Apologies, Padawan, I was deep in thought. You have done well bringing this information to my attention. Go rest, you look like bantha shit, I am sure you and Yon will have much to catch up on.” Corvus waved his hand, dismissing the white haired teen. 

“Yon is alive.” Jax said in a monotone, yet the widening of his eyes, and slight smile belied his true thoughts. 

Corvus ruffled Jax's hair, and laughed. “Go on, he needs someone to talk to.” 

Jax nodded, then turned to depart. 

Corvus bid him farewell, then beckoned to Hunter. 

“Brief me about everything. How has my student held up?” Corvus asked in a protective, stern tone once Jax was out of earshot. 

Hunter grimaced, and stepped forward to begin his report. 

Narrowing his eyes, Corvus assessed every word. His students held a darkness within them, it was his job as their teacher to make sure they never forgot the light.

~~~~~~

AN: The power of good guys: rolling up with your boys to curbstomp a MF'er!