Adenna Alluyen

As she had hoped, the Rangers streamed into the room behind her and cleared out the targets while she deflected their attacks. She didn't get everything, but she got what she could. It was hard to cover them when they fanned into the room. Adenna's vision recovered by the end of the firefight, but she didn't put the goggles back on. She would rely on the Force from now on. After the captain took care of his wounded, they pressed forward. Some of the slavers had gotten some smaller portable lights up here and there, but it was still very dark. The slaves in their cells were scared of what was happening, but Adenna didn't feel any of the mass deaths she had feared. The slavers appeared to be too concerned with dealing with the invaders to worry about killing slaves, at least here on this level. It took several minutes to clear the floor. It was the same size as the ground floor, but most of it was slave cells. There were far fewer slavers here than there had been defending the ground level. A few droids were present as hindrances, but not enough to fully stop them. Other teams had been to work on the lower floors and had nearly secured them. All that remained was the upper floors where the showrooms and "executive" offices were. There were a few remaining slaves up there being used as hostages, but the bulk of the slaves were in the middle section of the building. A few CoreSec officers were getting the slaves out of the building and to safety. Adenna took a few moments to let everyone catch up. The stairwells and the turbolift shaft were secure for the moment, so someone had decided to clear all the lower floors and getting the slaves out before assaulting the top two. She took this time to catch her breath and treat her wounds. The forehead wound had mostly stopped bleeding by now, but it was still needing to be cleaned and bandaged. She hissed in pain as she sprayed the cleanser over it and rubbed off the dried blood, sweat, and dust. She had some other wounds, mostly from flying bits of debris, but she ignored them for now. One of the newly arrived CoreSec reinforcements got her attention and handed her a commlink. "This is Jedi Alluyen," she said cautiously. For the most part, she had stayed out of things and let those who knew what they were doing deal with the situation. They had apparently asked for her now. The voice on the other side quickly explained to her what was happening with one of the slaver ships. They had speculated that the hostage mentioned was Sandy, but were not entirely sure since they had not been given a name or allowed to hear her speak for a voice pattern. Adenna's heart began to race. She had been aware that something had happened to her Padawan, but until now, she had been experiencing almost nonstop action and needed to focus on what she was doing. She stretched out with the Force and sought Sandy. She wasn't exactly sure where the girl was, but she knew she was in a great deal of pain and was very, very scared. She knew that Vos had been looking for her, but he had apparently failed. She confirmed that she had thought it was indeed Sandy, but wasn't sure. The faceless voice informed her the ship was taking off and wanted to know what she wanted them to do. Adenna wasn't sure why they were asking her, but perhaps it was because it was her Padawan on board. Either that or none of them wanted to make the call. The question was a hard one for her. At first, she wanted to say to let the ship go out of fear that Sandy would be killed. She loved the girl and didn't want anything to happen to her. The thought of her dying alone in a fireball was not one she wanted to contemplate. As she thought about it, she realized that she couldn't simply let the ship go. It wouldn't be right for her to do so, not after charging in and risking the slave hostages here. Not if it meant that slavers would get to go free to harm and kill others. She wouldn't want her life to be saved at the expense of dozens or hundreds of others. Add to that the future that waited for Sandy should they simply let the ship through. She would be a slave, tortured if the slavers wanted or sold to the highest bidder, like a Sith. It was no life, none whatsoever. Better to risk her freedom now than let her live that life. "No, don't let it through," she said with grim determination. "Try to disable the ship and board it if possible, but do not simply let it get away. Sandy or not, I will not be responsible for allowing a ship full of slavers to escape and bring terror to other innocents." It was a hard decision, one that she didn't want to make but had to. She waited for an acknowledgement, handed back the comm, and turned away before a tear could slide down her cheek. She had to remain strong around these soldiers and complete the task she had set before her. The slavers above needed dealing with and there were still a few slaves remaining. Adenna waited for Master Starlisk to get up to the eighth floor with them so they could begin the assault together. ((Summary: In the HQ Building: The lower eight levels are secure, but the top two remain in slaver hands. Allied forces are evacuating the slaves and tending to their wounded before moving up. Around the City: The slaver armor has been destroyed. Remaining slavers are fleeing into the city, but they are finding things difficult for them. Local police forces have been joined by angry citizens looking for revenge against the slavers. No quarter is being shown to the slavers or their loyalists. Space: The Golden Ark has lifted off with Sandy on board. CoreSec forces are attempting to disable it but will fire killshots if that fails.

In the Slaver HQ Building Adenna was glad to see Master Starlisk join them just before they made their assault. He seemed ready to continue upward, that was good. "We should split up and join a team on each floor so that we can maximize our effectiveness and not get in each others way." CoreSec officers had joined the Rangers by now, so there would be enough for multiple teams. She half caught yet another of the near constant stream of chatter going over her comm headset, something about going dark. She had no idea what that meant and figured it was just another part of the sometimes baffling language these military and police types seemed fond of. All the talk and constant flow of information was overwhelming at times for her. It was too distracting, she didn't know how these men filtered it all while fighting. One of the men handed her a set of goggles of one sort or another. Seconds after that, the lights went out. As they were in an interior area with no access to windows, they were plunged into pitch black. Instinctively, Adenna reached out in the Force to get a sense of what was going on. There wasn't enough light to enhance so she couldn't use the Force to augment her normal vision, so she relied on the shadowy visions she recognized as the Force. She noticed belatedly that the others had put the goggles on and were moving around unhampered. She put them on and winced when she brushed the gash on her head. When she did and fumbled with the device a bit to turn it on, her vision was suddenly filled with an odd parody of normal vision. It was easier and less draining than relying on the Force, so she used them gladly. Moving rapidly so as to maximize on the darkness, it seemed only moments before they were on the move up the stairs. They overpowered their opponents in the dark as they climbed flight after flight. Adenna tapped lightly into the Force to boost her energy as they went. She had used a lot of her strength today in both using the Force and in physical activity. She was far from in bad shape, but she wasn't as toned as she would have liked. They reached the eighth floor and prepared to breach. Adenna could sense two hostile beings near the door and whispered as much to the Rangers with her. She wanted to be the first through the door since she could block blaster bolts from whoever wasn't taken out by the stun grenades they said they would throw in first. She would go straight into it and draw fire while the others fanned out to the sides to clear whatever else was hostile. Their charges blew the door frame and two of the Rangers each lobbed in a stun grenade. Adenna waited a split second after the grenades went off, ignited her lightsaber, and charged in to deal with the two. A split second after entering, she saw that she had indeed been correct about the number of living slavers in the room. Unfortunately, the Force had not told her that there were at least a half dozen battle droids with those two. Battle droids were not bothered by stun grenades. After that split second, a massive floodlight flipped on and blinded her. She cursed and ripped off the goggles. Even as the firing began, she wondered if she shouldn't have kept with the Force and hoped the others behind her were not blinded as well. She let instinct and the Force guide her while her eyes adjusted. * * * * * * * * Evacuated Building: Gurthank/Vos Duel The city was in an uproar. Civilians were fleeing the battle zones, slavers and their pawns and loyalists were scrambling to defeat the "invaders," some of the government security forces and even a few civilians were using the invasion as the springboard to launch their simultaneous revolt against the slavers and corrupted government agents. In all of that mess, things got muddled up a bit. During their fight, both slavemaster and Kiffar were cut off from their respective allies. The slavers had withdrawn with their prize and Vos had been forced to run well outside CoreSec lines without anyone knowing where he was. They had been left alone for a time, but it was inevitable that someone would sweep through the area and hear their battle. Four men and two women dressed in tan uniforms with red armbands and yellow sashes and armed with military grade blaster carbines had been cautiously sweeping down the street trying to direct civilians while driving out any slavers or corrupted government forces. They heard the fight inside the building and went to investigate. These were police officers used to patrol and entering buildings with hostiles in them. They were not quite military, but neither were they desk workers who had never fired their blasters outside a shooting range every six months. The six came across the confrontation and, with a cry from their leader, they opened fire. They did not know who these people were, but they recognized both Gurthank as a slaver and the Sith red lightsaber being wielded by Vos. Neither were exactly welcoming images in their minds as they feared Sith brutality almost as much as they did the slavers. ((Summary: In the HQ Building: Three teams of CoreSec agents and one team of Rangers, accompanied by Adenna, are attacking four total floors at once. The first floor is secure for the moment and the second was breached and is being cleared out by forces from below. Starlisk may either accompany the Rangers with Adenna or a CoreSec team on anther floor. All teams will begin encountering small numbers of battle droids (and no, not those stupid ones from the Clone Wars) along with slavers. Outside the HQ Building: Forces hostile to CoreSec have been driven from the area, though the locals that had been fighting them took heavy casualties due to lack of CoreSec support. A few of the survivors are staying with the CoreSec officers to organize some sort of cooperation while the rest are splitting into groups of five or six to comb the area for remaining slavers or corrupt government agents. Around the City: Slavers along the area where Terra and Leife are have began to carefully withdraw under the withering fire from CoreSec forces. None are surrendering, and only a small number have fled in disarray. The surviving infantry are pulling back in an organized fashion, though their destination is unknown. Evacuated Building: The fight that Gurthank and Vos are having has drawn in six capable locals in tan uniforms, yellow sashes, and red armbands who have promptly opened fire on both parties.

In the Slaver HQ Building "Ma'am so as you are aware the general breach plan is to pop grenades off then clear the room, this will be different. We're going to open up, throw in some stun grenades, stay down behind our door then when the grenades go boom pop up and lay down heavy fire. Then from there slow and steady clearance of the facility. Unless of course you have your own way you prefer to work," the captain said. She didn't have any objections, as long as they were on the right floor. "Hang on for a moment and I will see if I can't figure out what floor the slaves are being held on," she replied. She allowed her eyes to fall half closed as she stretched out her awareness to the floors above her. She could sense a great deal of life above her. The emotions of those above were mixed, but stark in their differences. Some were eager for a fight or were angry while others were terrified or hopeful for freedom. It was easy to tell who were the slaves and who were the slavers. Her heart dropped as she realized just how the building was set up. It appeared that the first and second floors were mainly for slavers while the next six primarily held slaves themselves. She didn't sense many slaves in the top two floors. Just as she was about to relay that information to the rangers, she felt something else crashing over her. Pain, great pain stabbed into her abdomen and into her back. She cried out briefly and took a step back before realizing that her own stomach was intact. She immediately searched for the source of this pain and took a few moments to realize it was her Padawan. Something had happened to Sandy and it wasn't good. The girl wasn't dead, but she was in pain. Vos, she thought. It was his responsibility to watch over the girl. Perhaps she had overestimated his skill and ability. The main CoreSec lines hadn't been overrun, so they shouldn't have been cut off and alone. There was nothing she could do right now. She couldn't sense Sandy anywhere near and she had to focus on what was going on here and now. While these men were more than capable of handling themselves, she could provide information and skills that would save at least some of them great harm or death. That didn't take into account the slaves who needed her. She shook her head and was annoyed to find blood in her eye. She wiped it off with a sleeve and apologized, "Sorry for that, a lot of death going on here, it can be quite shocking. There are slaves being held in the third through eighth floors. They seem to be scattered throughout the whole floor. My guess is small holding cells, but I am not sure. We don't have the manpower to take all the floors at once and I fear a lot of slaves will die as we take floor after floor." She got a static filled comm from Vos informing her that Sandy was a prisoner, but then nothing. She didn't know what to make of it, but there was nothing she could do either way. "Go with your plan, I will provide whatever help I can." Master Starlisk was heading their way which was good, she could use his skills to help clear the floors. Perhaps as more reinforcements arrived, they would be able to assault multiple floors at once. ((Summary: Inside the HQ Building: Allied forces continue to secure the bottom floor and will begin converging on the turbolifts in the center. Outside the HQ Building: The various groups continue to exchange fire, though the hostile force is being driven back. Some of the locals with red armbands are making contact with CoreSec calling themselves the Thalis Liberation Movement, though not much else is known about them other than they are not shooting at allied forces. Around the City: While the orbital bombardment was costly to the locals fighting the slavers, it was devastating against the armored forces. Few armored vehicles remain. There was also severe damage to the buildings along the street that the armored units were using. There is a small number of slaver infantry left, but many that weren't killed by locals were killed in the bombardment. The Togorian slavers have managed to abscond with Sandy and a few other select prizes, though Gurthank stayed behind to dealt with Vos.))

HQ Building Adenna dimly registered the infiltrations into the building by others, but she did not let herself become distracted. The pain and suffering from the mounting wounded were filling air with a tension that set her Force sensitive senses on edge. Those who died set off their own wave of pain through the Force that joined the sour taste of fear and terror experienced by all in the city as the battle waged on. Her focus, though, was on the task in front of her. There were slaves stored in the tower, she wanted to get to them before further harm came to them. The officers and rangers would do well to keep the slavers distracted, but it was her goal to save the slaves. She had allowed too many to die already and would not fail the rest. With her jaw set in a fierce look that was not at all like her, she decided that if the slaves were killed, all of the slavers in this building would suffer the same fate even if she had to run her lightsaber across their bellies herself to do it. With the Force, she could sense roughly what was going on outside. Sensations of pain, surprise, and death allowed her to track the progress of the nearby battle and how far her allies had breached into the building. Even as they moved swiftly from room to room destroying resistance and doing their best to save any slave hostages along the way, she knew that they were too slow. As swift as she could, she charged down the interior hallways of the building trying to get to the turbolifts she knew had to be somewhere. A few slavers saw her and tried to shoot her, but one or two men were rarely a threat to a Jedi Knight with a lightsaber. She continued her charge, blocking the blaster bolts they shot at her then cutting them down without pausing. She wasn't always successful, though. When some of her hair got in her face, she quickly brushed it aside and felt wetness. When she pulled back her hand, her fingertips were red. She didn't feel any life threatening warnings from the Force so she ignored it in her haste. As long as the blood didn't get in her way, she didn't care. Through the haze of battle, she got a comm message directed at her informing her of multiple allied breaches. It was good to know that she had been reading the Force correctly and that they were indeed coming. She was finally forced to slow down was when she encountered an E-web position mounted inside a larger hallway protecting the main turbolifts. They seemed to be focused on another hallway, but the hum of a lightsaber and the sound of boots all but sprinting down on them quickly drew their attention elsewhere. Four of them opened fire with hand weapons while the other two struggled to get the E-web in position. Adenna's danger sense went through the roof even as she began to block blaster bolts. Blocking four shooters at once was not pushing her limits too much, especially since they came from the same area, but that E-web would cut her down lightsaber or not and she didn't have the time to focus on disabling it as she had the ones outside. She deflected a shot from the four back at them and hit the man squarely in the chest, but the other three kept shooting. Just as the E-web was in position to fire at her, a fury of expertly placed blaster bolts from another hallway ripped through both machine and man. In two seconds, Adenna went from facing five remaining men to facing zero. Antarian rangers stormed into the hallway with guns at the ready to make sure the slavers were dead. She saw one of them was an officer, but she couldn't remember his name at this moment, not with all that was going through it. The way to the turbolifts was now clear, even if the entirety of the bottom floor wasn't. She could feel many other small conflicts raging on this floor and believed it would only be a matter of time before it was entirely overrun. Blood ran down her right cheek from shrapnel and down onto the light armor she was wearing but she ignored it. Her eyes were ablaze with adrenaline and the Force from the heat of the battle. "Captain," she said, "I am glad you are here. We need to leave the work on this floor to the others and get up to the holding cells where the slaves are being held before they are all murdered." * * * * * Slaver Advance, Thalis City Even as slaver reinforcements escorting their remaining armor advanced on Jazce's location and were beaten back, they were being attacked from the rear. Men who looked to be far more at place watching over a hovertrain station or helping a stranded feline stuck in a tree were swooping in to strike at the slaver column's rear. Most wore simple tan uniforms with a dark yellow sash that befitted a regular policeman while others wore more military style fatigues. All had a simple red band on their arms of one sort or another, mostly made of ripped strips of cloth. They were hardly expert soldiers and their weapons were mostly light rifles, carbines, or pistols, but they were doing their best. They had nothing that could take on the armor, but they were determined to at least stop the slaver infantry escorting them and slow the armor's advance. They launched a simple ambush and opened fire on the infantry, but it cost them. The armor was quick to unleash withering assaults that shredded the walls and cover these men were using as cover. Seeing that remaining would only get them killed, those who had not already fled in terror began to withdraw. They had killed a number of infantry and needed to get out. As they did, glowing fire began to rain down from the sky. From orbit, the turbolaser fire was deadly not just to the slaver armor, but also to anything nearby. Buildings were stuck and erupted in balls of flame and molten metal. Several of the ambushers were consumed in the attack even as they tried to flee. Officers screamed into comms, but there was nothing they could do but continue to run from the area. Their comms simply weren't capable of reaching space, so they had to call someone who could. The delay cost them dozens of men. At last, a comm came from a building near the capitol that served as the main police station, such as it was. A panicked and clearly stressed voice sent out an open comm signal towards the fleet in orbit, "This is the Thalis Liberation Movement to the orbiting CoreSec fleet, please cease your bombardment of the city. We have men there and there are extensive civilian casualties." * * * * * Outside the Slaver HQ Building Even as they breached the slaver's HQ, there was a commotion outside, behind the CoreSec landing point. Men wearing tan uniforms and yellow sashes cautiously but swiftly worked their way from a side street towards the open courtyard in front of the slaver HQ where the shuttles had landed. As soon as they spotted the CoreSec agents, they took cover and opened fire on them. Their weapons were hardly military grade, but even a small blaster pistol could kill. CoreSec agents were quick to respond as they took cover and began returning fire. In less than a minute, more men wearing tan uniforms and yellow sashes joined the fray from the road on the other side of the first group. These men wore red armbands in addition to their uniforms and, upon seeing what was happening, opened fire on the other group. They went through the back alley behind the building and away from where the CoreSec forces were set up and rushed into the original group's flank with guns blazing. It didn't take long before a general melee broke out with blaster fire spraying everywhere. ((Summary: In the HQ Building: Allied forces have breached the building in multiple places and are driving back the slavers. There were a few slaves on this floor, some of which were saved, others were killed in the firefight. Allied casualties inside are fairly light as they are far better trained in this style of fighting than the slavers themselves. Adenna has met up with Captain Tomas at the turbolifts. Starlisk is also in the building, as are many others. Ardell and the Mandalorians are also inside. Outside the HQ Building: The fight from the building itself has died down considerably now that CoreSec forces breached the first floor. There are still sporadic sniper battles going on between the slavers on the upper floors, but it is not as intense as it was. Behind CoreSec's forces is a different story. Two groups of local Thalassian policemen are currently engaged in an all out battle with each other with one group also fighting CoreSec forces. With all of this distraction, the group of Togorian slavers that have taken Sandy are withdrawing swiftly. Around the City: Another group of Thalassian police mixed with militia ambushed the slaver's armor column with moderate effect. They managed to take out a good number of infantry, but were unable to harm the armor itself. Turbolaser blasts from orbit devastated the armor, but also the buildings on either side of the street. Many of the police were caught up in the strike and were killed. Leife has met up with Terra at the front of the slaver advance, three blocks away from the police ambush mentioned above. Slaver forces there have been heavily crippled due to their efforts, but are not all destroyed.))

((If this is too long, read the summary at the end that describes what is going on with the overall battle.)) Adenna had expected the battle to be loud, but not this loud. On the Death Star, it was a bunch of quiet stalking around punctuated by a few moments of intense firefighting. This was just a constant hurricane of blaster fire, screams, and explosions. She drowned out the noise from distracting her as best as possible and focused on the task at hand. Despite the initial sweep by both bombers and the transport gunners, there was plenty of fight left in the slavers. Though some had been killed even before the first Hammer boots hit the ground, more began emerging from the building's interior to take up defensive positions. This was going to be more difficult than she had thought it would be. Leaving the rest of the battlefield to those far more capable of handling them, Adenna focused on the slavers that were defending the HQ building itself. The initial allied charge had been blunted with casualties, she needed to get it back moving forward again. Bolts began flying her way and towards those agents near her, so she began batting them back. Some she could only force down into the ground or up into the sky, but she was able to get a few back the way they came. The slavers began opening up with E-webs sending a steady stream of fire at the attackers. That wouldn't do at all. She saw a bunch of windows explode outward directed at one of the nests, but that was not all of them. She and a few of those with her took cover behind one of the shuttles to avoid the withering fire. Not all of the CoreSec officers managed to make it to safety. Now that she was not forced to block fire, Adenna could now focus on using the Force. She knew some Jedi and Sith could just reach out, grab a dozen men, and throw them hundreds of meters or crush them like ants, but she was not that powerful. Plus, it seemed like a wasteful use of Force energy when she could simply turn the E-webs against their users. She focused on one of the blazing tripods and used the Force to crush its barrel. It took just a split second before the gun discharged a blaster bolt that could not go anywhere. The result was a quick pop that was quickly lost among the rest of the fight but that saw the nest and its four slavers ripped to pieces or charred or both. It was the first people Adenna was sure she killed. That thought didn't really seem to phase her as she was too focused on the task at hand to consider it. Instead, she looked over at Sandy who seemed to be holding her own for the moment despite being covered in blood. Poor girl, she thought. She should never have been exposed to this, but that is the harsh reality of being a Jedi. She felt bad at doing this to her, but it couldn't be helped. Sooner or later, Sandy would be exposed to violence and destruction if she were to continue along the path of a Jedi. Adenna would be there after this battle to help soothe any trauma the girl had, but that was all she could do. Adenna repeated her Force attack with any other big guns she saw in the slaver's lines, but that didn't end their threat. She could sense plenty of life in the building and feared most would be slavers arming up and readying for fighting inside. The allied forces had been bloodied, but they weren't out of the fight just yet. Without their big guns and with much of their armor destroyed or cut off, the slavers had apparently been ordered to withdraw into the building. Some were cut down by the allied forces as they tried to dive through windows or into the front entrance, but at least two dozen made it in to join whatever other slavers were inside. Now was the time to press them before they could solidify their defenses inside. Adenna rose up from behind cover to join a few others as they cautiously advanced while exchanging fire from the slavers in the windows. They hadn't gotten far when one of the officers near her pointed up. When Adenna did, her heart dropped. On the tenth floor, several people, obviously slaves by their poor clothing and lack of weapons, had been gathered up next to several open windows. Adenna had worried about this, but there was almost nothing they could do right now. She knew that the slaves inside would be used as hostages and hoped to storm the place before any concerted effort could be made to round up more civilians or execute the slaves inside. She wondered what the slavers were planning. She didn't have to wait long. With a shriek of terror that pierced her heart, the first of the slaves, a human woman fell from the top floor and landed on the ruined ramparts below with a sickening thud. Next was a male human who was only slightly quieter as he was pushed out the window. Adenna's terror quickly turned to righteous anger. She was unable to save the woman, but she did manage to react in time to grab the man through the Force and slow his fall somewhat. He still landed hard and may have died anyway, but she was able to catch the third and fourth victims and help them to land safely. Even that didn't do much as they were both quickly shot by the slavers hiding behind the windows on the first floor. She had better luck with the fifth victim, a young boy. Instead of simply slowing down his fall, she pulled him away from the building even as he fell so that he landed behind CoreSec lines mostly intact. Another two were saved that way, but then the slavers wised up to the tactic and simply began shooting their victims in the head before letting their bodies fall to the ground. Tears fell down Adenna's face as the bodies began to tumble down. In all, fifteen were pushed out the window, only two were saved. Every one was a failure on her part to protect the innocent. The slavers had no intention of killing all their hostages, though. All around the building, curtains and blinds parted and slaves were forced out in front of the windows so the allied forces could see the captives. These weren't executed, but simply kept as a warning not to simply level the building with all the slavers inside. These were monsters and they didn't deserve mercy. With a purposeful twist, Adenna adjusted her lightsaber from its normal stun setting to one that was lethal. In this battle, she wouldn't spare any of these monsters who would kill innocents in such a manner. She wouldn't go out of her way to slaughter them, but neither would she go out of her way to preserve their lives. Part of her could feel Master Starlisk's influence through the battle meditation and she welcomed it. She would count on his presence to keep her in check in this battle. They had no choice but to breach the building. If they waited, the hostages were doomed anyway. This could not devolve into a standoff, not with beings who would so callously kill the slaves. Sooner or later, they would have to either breach and risk the lives of those in there or wait until all of the slaves were dead and simply blow the building up. Adenna was here to save the lives of the innocent, not to simply kill the slavers. Even if she was alone, she would enter the building. She didn't much care if the others would follow, she didn't command them. With grim purpose, she came out from her cover and used Force enhanced speed to charge towards one of the windows. Blaster bolts flew at her from all over. Some she batted away, others she simply dodged or ignored. The CoreSec officers returned fire and silenced some of the windows. At last, with a tremendous leap, she dove into one of the windows, rolled, and came up on her feet ready to fight. The slaver using the window as cover saw her heading towards him and backed away. His first two shots landed behind her, the next was deflected by her orange lightsaber. Without any hesitation, Adenna lunged forward and slashed the man in half. It was her first close range and personal kill, but she didn't care. All that consumed her mind right now was the need to clear out more of the slavers so the CoreSec officers could enter without being exposed to more fire. ((Summary: The slavers began throwing off slave hostages from the top floor. Fifteen were thrown, only two were saved with the Force. There are several slaves behind held in various windows to discourage bombardment. In Space: The Slavers space forces were mostly caught by surprise and offered some resistance. Most of their forces have been destroyed, disabled, or fled. There are a few smaller groups of fighters or shuttles still on the surface that can be used, but there is no true threat remaining in space. Around the City: The armor has been slowed or neutralized, but the turbolaser strikes from orbit caused collateral damage as well. There are still surviving armor units out there, so if you want to continue to address them, cool. If you want to focus elsewhere, they will be dealt with by NPC's. At the HQ The slavers have withdrawn into the building and have defensive positions both along windows and inside at strategic points. Adenna charged into one of the windows and will begin taking out slavers from the inside. If anyone wants to join her, you can either deal with the attackers on your own or indicate that she has cleared out an area where they can more safely enter. As for the rest of the battle, you guys seem to be handling that quite well, have fun and kudos on the creativity and not just mass slaughtering everyone.))

Slavers were a generally cowardly lot. They appeared tough, but their targets consisted primarily of civilian ships and undefended colonies. They were not prepared to fight off squadrons of top of the line starfighters piloted by well trained professional pilots and supported by picket ships whose main intention was to ward off pirates and raiders. Their space forces were slow to respond, but when they did, it didn't take long to rout them. With the help of Master Starlisk's battle meditation, the CoreSec's ships managed to overwhelm the poorly prepared slavers and destroy many of their forces. Calls for surrender were offered, but few were accepted. Most of the slavers fled rather than surrender and few of them escaped the faster fighters that were chasing them. There was no response from the slavers on the planet. Even before the space fight was completely wrapped up, the situation was deemed clear enough for the landing craft to begin their descent. The various ships split up as they got closer to the city and the inhabited area of the planet so they could land at their individual targets. The goal was to take out all of the known slaver outposts before they could organize resistance or take captives then seek out the remaining ones they didn't know about. Several of the craft made their way for the main headquarters building ready to unleash dozens of soldiers and law enforcement officers upon the slavers inside. Among them were Adenna, Sandy, Vos, Lieutenant Leife, and Senator Ardell. Adenna waited with the same eagerness and nervousness that she had been experiencing for the last couple of hours. Unlike her first time in combat, though, there was not the sickening cacophony of deaths by the thousands surrounding her and she was not truly afraid. She had far more training than she had on the Death Star. Sandy, though, did not. Adenna knew she had always dreamed of glory and flashing lightsabers without truly knowing what came with it. She had tried to tell and show the girl that it was not quite what the holos and games portrayed, but she wasn't sure how much of her warnings made it through. Either way Sandy, armed with a training lightsaber turned to maximum that could block blaster shots and deaden limbs, would see death firsthand even if Adenna hoped she would not actually kill anyone. If she had her way, she would have left the girl in orbit, but this would be a valuable experience for the girl to see if she was ready to continue her training as a Jedi. Vos, though, she was not as worried about. He would be fine killing and fighting here. With his own Sith lightsaber restored to him, he would be a major threat for the slavers. She wasn't completely sure he was able to fight without falling back onto the dark side, but this would serve as probably the best test she could arrange. If he passed, it would go a long way to solidifying her trust in his conversion. If he failed, she would have to turn him over to Master Starlisk after the battle to see if the Jedi Masters could determine the sincerity of his conversion. She dearly hoped he didn't turn on them because then she would have to try to kill him and she didn't want to do that at all. She was surprised that the senator would be along for the fighting. Not that she would question it, but the last thing she wanted was for a senator to be killed on a mission she pushed for and started. It would prove most embarrassing for the Jedi Order and do harm to Thalassia's future status if the Corellians he represented decided to blame the planet for his death. She would focus some of her attention on making sure he made it out in one piece. Lt. Leife gave some last minute information to which she nodded in agreement. "The fighting there will be the hardest so that is where we need our best forces. Cut off the head and the body will have a much harder time resisting." "Vos," she said when he joined the rest of them near the landing ramp, "I want you to watch out for Sandy. I will still be keeping an eye on her, but I have other responsibilities. It will be yours to ensure her safety." There would, of course, be several other CoreSec officers and Rangers coming with them who would undoubtedly help, even if they didn't seem thrilled that a young teen was coming along. Still, Adenna wanted a Force user to watch out for her directly and thought it would be a good test to see if Vos could control his urges to wade in and kill people if he had to watch out for someone. Jedi often had to watch out for others, something the Sith never really cared much for. She looked over at Sandy and smiled, "You wanted some action, now you will get some. Just remember what you were taught and keep alert. Hopefully you won't see much actual fighting, but if you do, follow what the others do and say. Trust the Force." The shuttle shook a little as they touched down. Bombers had already hit the area and the shuttles had gunners to provide covering fire for them as they charged down the ramps and secured the perimeter. Adenna, with her orange lightsaber lit, joined the initial charge as they headed toward the entrance of the building itself.

High in orbit of the planet, a task force reverted from hyperspace in a choreographed sequence. Most of the group was composed of small troop transports, but fighters and a small number of bombers provided escort. Almost all of the ships were blazoned with the insignia of CoreSec. On one of the shuttles serving as a troop transport, Adenna was in such a mixture of eagerness and nervousness that she was almost giddy. It was the first time she had seen home in a year and a half, and she was coming at last with what she dearly hoped was a force that would destroy the slaver organization and free her planet from the grip of terror. There were others with her, namely the various people she had helped unite and recruit for this mission. There was her hapless Padawan who was probably excited just to be on such an adventure. Then there was the former Sith who she was hoping would never turn back to those ways. A Corellian Senator who had strange allies of his own was also here, as was a Jedi Master whose exploits she felt she should know more of. Lastly there was a CoreSec lieutenant who felt it was worth working a little outside the lines to do what was right. They were a motley crew from all over, but hopefully they would finish the job of ending the rule of these slavers once and for all.

((Moving us along a bit so we can get moving.)) Antarian Rangers. That was a name Adenna had heard of before during her studies in the Jedi Library. The news that this man was working with them made her feel a lot more comfortable and gave her hope. From what she had read, they were longtime allies of the Jedi and were good soldiers from whom she didn't not have to fear occupation. "I would be honored to have the support of the Antarian Rangers," she replied. "It will take many to drive this evil from just one world, but if you can gather them, I will see to it that their efforts are not for naught. For decades my world has been in the thrall of slavery, perhaps now it can be freed so that it may be a beacon to the rest of the slave worlds that liberation is possible." They spoke some more as they laid out plans and discussed details. Adenna knew that such talks were boring and tedious, but they were necessary in order to coordinate their actions. She saw that Sandy was engrossed in a game on her datapad and was more than glad to leave her be. It was keeping her quiet and occupied and she wasn't bothering anyone else with it being on mute. She would have preferred her Padawan to be more interested in the plans, but she was still a young girl, and not all battles could be won. After they had gotten their plans together, she bid Agent Leife farewell. They had a lot to do in very short time and it was best to get to it. The next few days were busy with preparations as the various forces arrived and were briefed. Adenna told of what information she knew from her life on Thalassia. It wasn't a great deal, but it was better than nothing. At last, the assembled task force was ready for departure.

Senator Ardell seemed eager to go, but Adenna was not so quick to jump the gun. "What 'others' are you talking about?" she asked. "And how many men do you have, because we are going to need a good number in order to do any real damage against them without catastrophic loss of innocent life."

Adenna didn't expect the CoreSec agent to show up. She thought they would just shrug off the request and go about their business. That they didn't gave her a bit of hope. "Well Lieutenant Leife, I am glad you came," she responded. She kept her tone even and almost cheerful. "I originally approached your Coruscant headquarters with a request for aid against the slaving rings, more specifically those on Thalassia. My requests were rejected so I turned to other means to get support. It is a slow process, but things are falling into place. Is there anything that the Corellian branch of CoreSec might be able to do, or is the response going to be the same?"

((As there is almost no canon information on the planet, much of what I have here is "fanon.")) Thalassia is a small Outer Rim planet with no significant natural resource besides the raw materials needed in some textile production. The planet's population is a mere seven million beings, mostly humans, centered around the capital of Thalis. Thalis is a moderately technological city of two million beings and serves as the only spaceport to ship off the planets only two exports: kautoon for the textiles and slaves for other planets. The rest of the population lives in small towns or large farms for the growth of kautoon. The planet is most known for being the headquarters of the Thalassian Slavers, a slaving ring that is known to raid ships and even entire colonies for slaves and valuables. This group holds no legal power on Thalassia, but it controls the government through bribes or fear. When not raiding other planets or prowling the space lanes, they roam the planet looking for suitable beings to add to their stock of slaves. They can take anyone at any time for any reason and nobody can stop them. Those that try are publicly killed along with their family. The Thalassian Slavers maintain a headquarters of sorts in a ten story building near the center of Thalis. The building is protected by dozens of guards on the outside, and more on the inside. It is mostly used as a holding center for their slave stock with business offices on the bottom floor for guests desiring to purchase the slaves. Their leader is a human named Zoret Sardoin who spends most of his time on the top level of their headquarters in his luxurious suite and office. The slavers have hundreds of members within Thalis, and hundreds elsewhere throughout the planet and off planet on raids. Most of their business is done off world to groups like the Hutts, but they do make sales to individuals for use in whatever the buyer desires. Slaves are brought from all over and join with those taken from Thalassia before being sold. Some slaves are kept on Thalassia to work in the kautoon fields, but most are shipped off world. While their headquarters holds most of their stock, there are smaller dens scattered around the city and some of the larger towns that serve as way stations or private stock culled from the main lots for various reasons.

Adenna's right eye twitched just once when she heard there were only seven of these soldiers involved. She had to guard herself so it wouldn't show exactly how disappointed she was at this. Seven soldiers were no match against those she would be facing. Even seven Jedi Masters might have difficulty with this task. Perhaps if they went about this slowly it was possible, but if they took took long, the slavers would just start using their slaves as hostages. They needed a large group to come in and overwhelm the slavers before they could organize and start rounding up slaves or civilians. Mandalorians were a term she had heard before, but did not know much about them. From what she could remember, they were some sort of special forces like commandos. That would be most useful in taking the headquarters, but not of much use in a large scale battle with hundreds of slavers. She wasn't going to turn down the help. When she started, there were just three of them. One had left leaving them with two. Vos joined, then the Senator, now Master Starlisk, now seven more. It was a start, a very, very small one, but it was a start. A dozen beings were better than two any day. "Then seven it is," she said. "It is a start, but we need far more or the slavers will simply start taking and killing slaves and civilians. I am grateful for the help and I am sure you and your men will be able to help significantly in this campaign." As the strange winds of fate would have it, her comm vibrated with a message. She had turned it on silent mode when coming in so it automatically transferred everything into text and sent it to her datapad. She looked at it and furrowed her brows. Why would CoreSec contact me now? she thought. They had made it most clear that they had no interest in offering help to a planet not within their precious Core. Remembering the decision she had just made, she shrugged and decided it wouldn't hurt to respond. "One moment, it appears that CoreSec has decided to investigate further. Likely they just want to assuage their guilty consciences over abandoning the rest of the Galaxy by telling themselves they gave us a second chance, but it is worth looking into." She sent a quick text message back with the location of the cantina they were in and asking to come as soon as they could. She would see if the Corellian branch of CoreSec was more open to helping.

Adenna didn't quite believe what the soldier said. Nobody did anything for free. Well, there were religious beings and Jedi, but she doubted this man was one of those. Still, as long as he kept his word on that, she was glad to have his help. She nodded in acceptance and asked, "How many soldiers do you have with you? There are thousands of slavers and while not all need be directly dealt with, we are going to need a good sized force to take down those that do."

Adenna was glad to see the soldiers arrive. The sense she got from them was that they were definitely experienced and capable. They weren't exactly shining beacons of light, but they were not evil, either. They were what she figured most hardened soldiers would feel like. Master Starlisk did not seem pleased, though. He asked if she were hiring mercenaries. He did mention pirates which was a little strange since they were going after slavers, but it was not her place to correct a Jedi Master in front of others. His reaction to these men confused her. Even if they weren't Corellian forces, as long as they were willing to help and were not sadistic mass murderers or Sith, she would take their help. She only hoped that there were enough of them to take on the thousands of slavers and slaver supporters. Senator Ardell trusted these men, so Adenna would as well until they gave her some reason not to. They seemed somewhat familiar, like she should have known who this man was. He looked a lot like a more colorful stormtrooper, but so did a lot of other military forces that were perfectly honorable. As long as he hated slavers and didn't do harm to the civilians on Thalassia, she would get along just fine with him. "It is good to meet you," Adenna said to the man and offered her hand. "I am Jedi Alluyen. It is my home that we are going to liberate from the scourge of slavery. If you will help in that task, I will be eternally grateful to you and your men. "My only question is: what are you getting out of this? The last thing I want is for some force to drive out the slavers from Thalassia only to stay as an occupation force or demand exorbitant amounts of money that my people can never repay. We are a poor planet, dominated by slavers and with few natural resources or businesses other than slavery."

"If you wish to come, it would be most appreciated," Adenna replied. The senator remained silent. "Your skills in combat will be needed as there is no way the slavers will surrender without a fight. I plan on giving them one chance to give up, but when they reject it, they will need to be subdued with force." She looked at her chrono and noticed it was a few minutes past the time when they were supposed to meet. With a glance back over to Senator Ardell, she asked, "When were the others to arrive?" Even with a Jedi master, they had no chance of victory without many more soldiers. Without the support that Ardell seemed confident in achieving, this was a doomed mission.

Adenna chuckled at Master Starlisk's question. She gestured to the man sitting across from her and replied, "This is Senator Ardell, he has been most helpful in this task. I would appreciate the extra help, but as he is the one with the connections, it is truly his call. Regardless, I would like to speak with you in private after this meeting about a few things. Jedi business."

Adenna almost felt embarrassed. Now that he mentioned his name, she did recognize him because they had actually sat at the same table before on Tython. "Forgive me, Master Starlisk," she said in a slightly more humble tone. "Grandmaster Fitt tasked me with the elimination of the slaver groups beginning on my home planet of Thalassia. I went to Coruscant to gain the support of CoreSec and was rejected because the planet wasn't in their jurisdiction. The same went with the Galactic Alliance Senate, but Senator Ardell has graciously decided to see about attaining support from Corellian forces for the task."

Adenna and Sandy had sat down for only a short time before a man approached. At first, she was confused because she thought he was one of Senator Ardell's Corellian allies despite giving off a strong aura in the Force. After a few seconds, she noticed that something was familiar about him and didn't see any immediate recognition from Ardell. She couldn't quite place where she had seen his face and assumed that was on the Holonet or something. He seemed to be a Jedi, and she didn't feel any darkness about him. She was suspicious about anyone just walking up to her and wanting to know what she was doing, especially after it seemed to be happening so commonly these days. Still, he did seem to be a Jedi and he knew she was as well. He didn't seem to have been sent by the Grandmaster, so he must have just randomly found them. "I am Jedi Alluyen," she said in a cautiously neutral voice. "Who might you be?"

Their hotel room was not far from the athletic field, so after a brisk five minute walk, they were there. During that time, neither woman said anything, but Adenna was thinking hard about how to deal with the upcoming situation as well as her Padawan. She had been growing more and more frustrated of late, as though she sought action and just wanted things to get moving. It was unlike her normally because she never wanted to fight or engage in battle. Perhaps the fact that things seemed to be finally falling into place to actually free her planet, friends, and family from she slaver bands that was doing it. There could be some other reasons, but right now, she didn't want to think of that. When they were at last at the hotel, Adenna sat down on her bed. "Sandy," she said in a calm, peaceful voice. "Come here please." She gestured for the girl to sit beside her. "I know you are taking his hard, and I want you to know that I am not angry. I am somewhat disappointed, but you will have many chances in the next few days or weeks to change that." She lifted the bottom of her shirt exposing the nasty circular scar on her side that was about eight centimeters in diameter. "You are not the only Jedi who has failed. When I was a Padawan, I was eager to help the Jedi fight evil. My teacher was not sure about bringing me into combat, but I insisted because I wanted to help. Perhaps some of me wanted the same glory and respect that the seasoned Jedi warriors received, I don't know. "When we got to the battle, it was a mess. Hundreds were dying every minute as the Imperial and Republic fleets attacked each other. I was part of the team under Master Kirlocca that was sent to disable the Death Star so it would never be a threat to anyone. Throughout the shuttle ride, I could feel the death and anger and fear all around me just from the battle. It made me nauseated. "We landed safely, then went to fight. I was terrified and when we ran into the first group of enemy soldiers, I was almost no help at all. Yes, I had some training, but much like you are now, I was not prepared. Men died because I could not block the blaster bolts coming at us. "After some chaos and fighting and running and being terrified, we encountered more soldiers as we tried to take the command center. In that fight, we were overwhelmed and I was shot here in the side. It nearly killed me, but I managed to survive simply by the grace of the Force. Master Kirlocca managed to evacuate both myself and Grandmaster Kitt, but it would be a long time before I recovered. "I had failed and I knew it. I had not been a grand, glorious fighter of evil who struck down my enemies in the name of good. I had been a liability and a total failure on the mission. Good men died partly because of me. The Jedi needed an experienced Knight, not a fresh Padawan, but I thought that I could do it. I healed, yes, but I left this scar here even though I could have healed without it simply so I would be reminded of my own failure and how I should never get in over my head." Adenna paused for a moment while she lowered her shirt. "I tell you this for three reasons. First, you are not the only Jedi who has failed, and you can't let it get you down. Second, you want to be a glorious holoceleb destroying evil wherever it may be, but you are not yet ready for that so you must be cautious and not get in over your head. Third, you should know that even if this is not your turn to fight, one day it will be and you must make sure you are ready when it comes. I don't know if I am ready, but I will find out soon enough. "You have potential within you. I wouldn't have decided to take you as a Padawan if I hadn't seen it and if the Force hadn't guided me. You need to be careful not to push yourself too hard or compare yourself to the Jedi you see recorded in the Library or in the holos. You won't always succeed the first time and you will fail. The true test of a woman is if they pick themselves up from a fall or whether they stay on the ground forever. I think you can learn from this, grow, and become stronger. "Ponder that for a bit while I take a shower. You will need to take one too as it won't do for the Jedi to show up somewhere looking and smelling like they just got through the battle instead of preparing for one." She got up and took a quick shower. Her long hair would still be wet as she had yet to learn a Force power to quickly dry hair, but that was okay. She would braid it and nobody would be the wiser. She got into her favorite blue robes for while Sandy took her shower. Within forty minutes of getting into the room, they were ready and walked out the door. They managed to get to the cantina slightly before the hour was up. Adenna didn't know where Vos was, but there was nothing she could do about that. He might be able to find them, but she wasn't expecting him. She hadn't been to very many cantinas and was glad this didn't seem to be as rowdy as those from the stories. Corellia was a civilized planet and they were in the middle of a sprawling city full of law and order. Sandy would be okay here, despite being so young. She spotted the senator and took a seat with Sandy sitting next to her. "Interesting choice of meeting location," she said in a light tone. "I would have thought that we would be meeting in a situation room on some military base or ship. No matter, as long as things fall into place, things are good."

Adenna's eyes narrowed in suspicion, but she sensed no threat from this girl. She couldn't tell what age this person was, but she didn't feel old in the Force. Older people tended to have a certain aurora of experience about them, something that this person didn't. The very last thing she needed was for some strange girl to be tagging along. She didn't know this person at all or what her goals were. For all she knew, this girl was a spy sent by the Sith or some rogue Hutt or Imperial group that wanted to thwart their attempts to end slavery. This person seemed too eager and quick to try to get involved to be some mere passer by. "I would mind if you followed us," Adenna said. She made sure her voice had no anger or intentional rudeness in it, but it was firm and did not indicate weakness. "Where we are going will be dangerous, I would not bring any stranger along even if you weren't so young. The only reason why I am bringing Sandy is because she needs to learn and gain experience. I do not know you or what your goals are. As I have said, we have some place to be and we must take our leave." She put a gentle hand on Sandy's shoulders and began guiding the Padawan away from the field and back onto the streets that would lead them to their room. She kept her senses trained on both the other girl and anyone else nearby that might also be exhibiting too much attention toward them.

Adenna had trouble following the woman's odd speech pattern and accent, but was confident that she got the core of what she was trying to say. "Yes, Sandy has had a difficult time with that last exercise. I am confident that she will not only learn from her mistakes, but become stronger and more capable as result. We are Jedi, and pain and hardship often comes with learning and growing. It is how we react to failure that defines what type of person we are and whether we have grown or still remain a Youngling." She was talking to the strange woman, but her words were meant for both her and Sandy. "About the light side," she continued, "it is a part of the Force. I truly wish I could explain more, but I must tend to Sandy and we have somewhere to be soon. If you wish to learn more about the Jedi, any library here will have plenty of information about them and there are hundreds or thousands of holodramas about us." She didn't know who this woman was and there were always many who were curious or afraid of Jedi. If they didn't have to meet the Senator in an hour, she might explain more, but most people she found were more interested in the flashy aspects of Jedi and nothing more. Adenna didn't have time or the desire to perform parlor tricks or try to explain the Force to every stranger that walked up. Adenna knelt down next to Sandy and Sooba and said quietly, "We need to go. We can talk when we get back to the room. A nice warm shower will help you feel better, too."

"We will be there," Adenna said to Senator Ardell as he left. She looked back over the field and saw that Vos had gone. She could sense him walking away, but it was slightly concerning to think of what he could be doing out there on his own. Contacting his Sith overseers, perhaps? Getting some sort of weapon? She didn't know. For now, she had to simply trust him. As for Sandy, a female of a strange species was with her. What is it with us and attracting strangers? she thought. Perhaps it was that they had just been waving lightsabers around and dodging stinger bolts. Before she became used to such things as a Jedi, something like that would have definitely caught her attention. She could see Sandy was plainly upset and for good reason. Adenna thought that she shouldn't have put her into an exercise that difficult with Vos. It was too much for the girl who had already spent the day working on various things probably to the point of exhaustion. She had been focused on trying to find a breaking point with which to test Vos and pushed Sandy too much. After taking a deep breath, she walked over to where Sandy and the strange female were. "Can I help you?" she asked the stranger in a kind voice.

Adenna was surprised that Ardell was finished so quickly. She had expected his work to take far longer than just one afternoon. Though, she realized now, he had given them the time during their flight here to prepare. "One moment, please," she said gesturing to Vos and Sandy. "This should be interesting." She didn't want to break too much of her concentration just yet. Keeping her Force senses trained on the reactions of her students wasn't the most difficult thing she ever did, but she wanted to take careful note of even subtle changes in their emotions. True to her words, it did turn interesting, though not in the same way she had expected. When she had been testing Vos, she was ever alert in case he broke down and returned to the dark side. If that were to happen, she wanted to be on the ready to stop him, even if it was permanently. In this exercise, though, it seemed that he was embracing the light side far more than he had before. It was to her surprise that the only darkness she felt on the field came from Sandy. Surprising and concerning. Now Adenna was beginning to regret taking on Vos as well as giving the girl a lightsaber. There was no doubt that Vos' skills and ability to adapt to things was almost too good to believe, but that might come with a price. Already, Adenna had noticed a connection between the two of them, but perhaps there was a darker connection between him and Sandy as well, one that was drawing her into the dark side somehow. Maybe it wasn't an accident, but was intentional. She would have to meditate on that thought later. "Sorry, Senator, I need to step in and address their performance." She knew she had to be careful in how she handled the situation. Not only did she have to worry about resentment from Sandy, but she also had an audience with both Vos and the Senator and a few others at the park, though she didn't know if they could hear her words. "Vos, you did very well in drawing upon the light side, but do not be afraid to rely on others. You were operating on your own instead of relying or even helping your partner. One of the greatest strengths the Jedi have is the fact that we can work together and trust each other. And, where one is weak, the others help make them strong so that later, when you are weak, they can help you." She looked at Sandy and tried to keep the disappointment and concern out of her expression and voice. "Sandy, you started well, yet ended poorly. Not only did you violate the rules, but you ended up on the ground in pain. I may not be all knowing, but I know more than you might want. I will leave it to you to determine where things went wrong and expect you to tell me at another time." Sometimes she hated being a Teacher, but if she hadn't of taking in Sandy, she would be still causing trouble until the others finally grew tired of it and sent her to some mundane post where she would only become resentful. And without Sandy, she would have never been there to encounter Vos and possibly redeem him from the darkness within. Even if it was difficult, there were benefits to be had. She walked back to where the Senator taking note that he had a blaster rifle now. "Sorry about that, and for my appearance, we did not realize you would be so quick in your duties and decided to spend the day training." All three of them were a mess and covered in sweat and grass stains. "We are going to need to get cleaned up before we can meet anyone. Where are we to meet with them?"

Vos seemed to take the challenge in stride and was resorting to avoiding the attacks. As the timer on the remotes ran out, he stood sweating and happy. Adenna saw that Sandy was occupying herself with the beast, but that wouldn't do. She had to continue to push Vos without breaking him so she could better gauge how he would react under pressure. An almost cruel idea came to her resulting in an evil smile forming on her face. "Well, Vos, since you seem to be able to handle that with few problems, why don't I up the ante?" She looked over her shoulder and called out, "Sandy, come reclaim your lightsaber. You are going to join Vos in the next session." She linked all three remotes on their highest difficulty and set them once more to three minutes. "Both of you will be facing the drones. Vos, you clearly have the skill to avoid most of the shots from two remotes and defending yourself, but what about when you have an extra remote and someone else with you? Sandy, you can handle at least one remote, even if it isn't on its highest setting, but how well will you work with someone you have to protect and when there are three? In the field, you will be responsible for more than yourself, just as when we dealt with the Rodian thief. "Vos, you can use your speed and abilities to protect yourself as best as possible. If you must and are able, you can guide and direct Sandy. You cannot, however, take control or possession of the lightsaber at any time. Sandy, you must work with Vos and cover him as best as possible against attacks. Remember that he is there and don't hit him with your lightsaber." She gave them both a mockingly sweet smile and, as soon as the remotes were in place and ready, said, "Have fun. Begin."

As Vos battled the drones, Adenna decided to throw in a twist to see how he would react. He was focused on the task at hand, so it was a simple matter to reach out with the Force and rip the lightsaber from his hands and summon it into hers. "Continue," she said both to ensure the drones would not automatically shut down and so Vos knew to carry on.