The Sluisi fleet flashed out of hyperspace going to full normal drive quickly, racing forward. Made up of mostly corvettes and frigates they had a major speed advantage over the Yinchorri ships stationed around the main hyperspace outlier for the system. The Yinchorri ships, around twenty capital class ships, were larger, heavily armed and armored, but not very fast. The Sluisi dodged through and around the defenders heading deeper into the system before making a wide turn back outwards, pulling the defenders in behind them, the Yinchorri giving chase.
They disdained the one ship that wasn't moving with the others, instead making straight for the inner system. There would be a lot more glory to be attained in facing a fleet rather than a single fleeing vessel.
Soon the two fleets were well out of position to interdict the single cruiser. Dooku watched for a moment on the tactical display as about thirty minutes ticked by with more and more of the Yinchorri ships moving out to try and engage the Sluisi from deeper in system. But the Sluisi under Sitoris were as sneaky and tenacious as they could be. Their course were constantly changing slicing in and out of the inner regions of the system back out to the known hyperspace jump points. This action kept the Yinchorri's attention fully focused on them while Dooku's cruiser kept on moving deeper into the system, no longer facing any defenders themselves.
A few moments longer passed, and Dooku, his senses extended out into the Force around him, nodded at last. "Make for Yinchorr captain, the homeworld of the Yinchorri. I sense at least eleven of my brethren there, several of which I know personally and one I know very well indeed." Interesting that Qui-Gon would have been chosen for a mission like this…
Michael nodded, and the ship changed course slightly. A few moments later the other jaw of the assault struck.
The Mon Calamari ships came out of hyperspace on the coordinates sent by Admiral Sitoris. Built mostly of heavy and light cruisers, the second assault group came out of hyperspace practically on top of the Yinchorri ships trying to close with the Sluisi. The two fleets immediately began to exchange fire, but the Yinchorri were mostly out position to defend one another, and were shocky from the sudden assault from a new direction. Their fighters were also all out of position to defend the capital ships, a bad thing when the Mon Calamari ships had full fighter crews on their own ships. Four Yinchorri capital ships blew up quickly, their shields overwhelmed by turbolasers and photon torpedoes, their hulls unable to withstand the pounding. Two others drifted all systems dead, all weapons gone. And then the Sluisi turned, launching their own fighters and turning back to attack the pursuers who now found themselves trapped and out of position.
Dooku nodded, having watched all this in the tactical display. "Well done, the Yinchorri fleet will suffer tremendous losses, and are caught between two fires, unable to concentrate on either. That will keep our own force's losses down"
Ranma nodded too. "Nice tactics. I don't know much about fleets but even I can tell the lizards are in a bad way."
"About twenty minutes away from Yinchorr, Master Dooku. Do we have a specific target in mind?" Michael asked.
Closing his eyes Dooku once more sent out his senses, trying to get a read on what was going on in the planet that was quickly becoming larger in the viewscreen. The Yinchorri of course were almost blank in the force, which was a given since they were immune to Jedi mind tricks. Evolution can be odd like that, he mused smiling faintly as he remembered Yoda telling him about an odd animal he had run into once that actually pushed the force away from it.
However Dooku could sense the Yinchorri when there were large numbers of them in one place, and he felt all the Jedi very near one of those concentrations. "Head to the mountains along the westernmost continent, for now, and captain, I suggest you start powering up the weapons systems and make certain the shields are at full power." Help is on the way my former padawan, Dooku thought to himself, not sending the thought out for concern that he would distract Qui-Gon at an inopportune moment.
Behind him, Ranma turned and left the cockpit, cracking his knuckles as he closed his eyes, centering himself. While Dooku had been trying to put together his alliance to aid his fellow Jedi, Ranma had tried to exercise and sleep to get his mind off things. But every time he did, his mind would go back to those live newsfeeds from the Yinchorri attacking other planets.
Ranma had seen a lot of odd and weird stuff in his time, but true evil or war? The former he had rarely seen, and the second he had never seen. He had never even killed before taking on the slavers on their ship. Yes he'd come close several times, a few would-be molesters in China, and of course his battle against Saffron and Herb though the second wasn't nearly as close as the first.
Part of him was anxious about this, yet another side didn't care, or didn't care about the size of the conflict. Large or small, Ranma was confident in his skill, and more importantly the Code didn't change. If you are prepared to take a life, you're prepared to lose one. The strong should protect the weak, not prey upon them. These Yinchorri had done that, they had killed, slain, stolen from, and made war upon innocent civilizations, those who could not fight back!
A crime that Ranma could liken only to things he had seen once or twice on news the few times he was interested in watching it back in his old dimension. At the time, those things had seemed so far away and so unimportant, which Ranma put down to the Youthful Mind technique his father had used on him. He'd simply been unable to comprehend that there could be a connection between what he saw on the TV and Ranma himself.
If I had known then that kind of thing was real, would I have done anything about it? No, wrong question. It's never what you could've done; it's what you're going to do now. Remember these are the same bastards who attacked those other planets, remember that this isn't a spar, this isn't a game, this is real, they've got to be stopped, and I can help do it.
Centered, his emotions under control Ranma unlocked his ki, what Dooku called the Living Force, from his habitual control, breathing deeply as it began to overcharge his body and sense. He cracked his knuckles, his blue eyes shining with ki-light for a moment. "Time to party."
OOOOOOO
The team of Jedi that had been sent to find the command center for the Yinchorri had run into issues almost from the get-go. They had been attacked the moment they came out of hyperspace for one thing, nearly losing one of their cruisers to the fire which had come at them from several dozen capital ships. Those ships had then launched fighters which made a bad situation worse.
Master Windu and his ship had been forced to hyperspace through a planet, something most intelligent spacers would never have even attempted. Yet under the masterful hands of Jedi Master Saesee Tiin they made it through, even heading down to the surface of the planet Yinchorr, that race's original homeworld, unseen. They had hidden their ship in the mountains, before moving off to try and find the Yinchorri command center, which would house the Council of Elders that ruled the Yinchorri.
Master Gallia fared even better, having tricked one of their pursuers into destroying two others before getting away cleanly. Despite Jedi master Plo Koon at the controls however the third cruiser fared poorly. It was only a bit of trickery thought up by Padawan K'kruhk that allowed them to survive. They had lost all their escape pods, but were able to land in the cruiser itself.
None of their separate missions had gone as smoothly as hoped of course, but neither had they found their objective, the command center where the rulers of the Yinchorri could be found. After numerous adventures apart however, they had all come together once more on Yinchorr, more because Mace and his group had run into more trouble than they could handle than because they had narrowed down their search. The Yinchorri had found their ship, destroying it before starting a search which inevitably found Mace and his fellows.
None of them had died thus far Mace was pleased to feel, watching as more of his fellow Jedi arrived opening up an assault on the Yinchorri attempting to encircle Mace and his group. Yet that reinforcement seemed to be in danger of becoming overwhelmed itself.
"Master Gallia and the others have diverted the attack from us." He said as he raced up a stone column sticking out the side of a mountain over the small pass where the battle was taking place. "But they'll need rescuing themselves if we don't act. Master Tiin, stop that tank, Qui-Gon, Obi-wan, follow me! We'll link up with the others."
With that he Force Jumped downward, slicing through two Yinchorri with his lightsaber at once, before blocking and diverting the laser blasts from a few others into some of their fellows. The congested nature of the terrain played to the strengths of the Jedi somewhat rather than that of the Yinchorri save for their numbers.
As Master Tiin was dealing with the tank, Windu was about to greet his friend Master Koth when both of them stopped suddenly, staring up into the sky, sensing the arrival of another Jedi over the tumult of the battle. In the air above them another Consular class ship appeared, this one fitted with weaponry which began to lay down covering fire. Windu and Qui-Gon looked at one another, and Qui-Gon frowned. "Master Dooku?"
"And someone else…" Master Windu said thoughtfully, absentmindedly blocking a blaster bolt with his lightsaber, sending it back towards his attacker. "Someone whose presence in the Force is unlike any I have ever felt before."
OOOOOOO
High above the battlefield Dooku looked at his young friend, frowning slightly. Ranma's presence now and his grim visage was something that Dooku had not seen yet on him, and frankly it transformed the young man into a warrior. If Kiima or the other Phoenix people had seen it however, they would have recognized the face of the man they had begun to call the Godslayer.
Yet despite the youth's change in demeanor, despite the fact his emotions were subdued now, Dooku trusted Ranma to do his best to aid Dooku's fellow Jedi. There was something about Ranma, the sheer scintillating nature of his presence in the Force, his connection to the Living Force that told Dooku he was more than up to this battle. "Are you ready?"
In response Ranma smiled at him thinly, punched the open code for the hatchway and leaped out without a word. In mid-air Ranma turned, shouting, "Ask the Yinchorri if they're ready for me!"
Below, the padawan K'kruhk had been separated from his master by several yards. He swung his lightsaber around, killing one of his attackers but then his lightsaber suddenly gave out upon hitting a cortosis shield. The Yinchorri wearing it laughed, raising its spear for a finishing blow. "Die Jedi!"
K'kruhk's master, the human Lilit Twoseas turned, her eyes widening as she threw herself forward placing her slight body between the killing blow and her padawan. "K'kruhk, look ou…!"
That was as far as she got before a cerulean sphere of pure Force energy the likes of which none of the Jedi there had ever seen, giving off a feeling of confidence and fierce joy somehow, slammed into the Yinchorri about to spear K'kruhk. It hit like a turbolaser round blowing the Yinchorri's head off as if it had just been hit by a turbolaser blast.
Ranma landed next to the Jedi who had been in a bit of trouble, rolling and leaping up quickly, his legs flashing out like two pistons to slam into two more Yinchorri hurling them back, their chests broken as he grabbed a spear that had been thrust into the ground by the padawans foot using it as a springboard.
He spared a brief nod to the alien Jedi that he had just saved. "Watch your back, yeah?" With that he was gone leaping away deeper into the battle.
"What?" Mace Windu muttered from nearby, shaking his head in astonishment not in keeping with his normal self-control. "What was that!?"
"I don't know, I've never heard of anything like it, but that, that did not feel like the Dark Side." Said master Koth, frowning thoughtfully as the two moved back to back. Their lightsabers moved as one, their movements choreographed through the Force as if they were one being, one mind for a moment. Like this they were unassailable, lightsabers flashing bouncing blaster bolts back to their owners, deflecting spears, cutting Yinchorri apart, covering one another perfectly. "But again it is no Force power I have ever seen or felt before. That makes it suspicious."
For her part, Lilit Twoseas had known that she had been about to die. Unable to bring her lightsaber to bear to defend herself or him she had interposed her body between him and the spear. But now, now suddenly that future was gone. It was changed by the human whose strength in the Force was reverberating through her senses. He's a fountain of the Living Force! I've never felt the like! Where did he come from!? I. he saved my life, he saved my life…
Ranma ignored the Jedi's odd looks in his direction simply nodding when he randomly caught them looking at him through the battle. He continued to move through the battlefield, tossing the Yinchorri about like they were weightless, killing more than a few with punches or kicks but mainly concentrating on drawing their attention away from the beleaguered Jedi.
He stopped next to one Jedi master that looked like a demon from Christian mythology, bald, with two horns thrusting forward down from the side of his head. Yeesh, wonder if I'm gonna find an alien race that looks like something from Japanese mythology, like onis or devil horses.
Master Tiin did not look away from his task, slicing apart a tank at the back of the Yinchorri column which was trying to range on the Jedi further down the gorge. Seeing this, Ranma smirked leaping up onto a tank's front, grabbing its barrel and with a grunt of effort ripping the entire turret off the tank, using it as a giant halberd for a moment slamming it down into a few Yinchorri making pack they of them.
Live by the sword, die by the sword you bastards! He thought grimly. He grimaced as he took a few shots in the back from another Yinchorri, but the blasters didn't do much damage thanks to his endurance technique, and he turned, hurling the turret at his attackers, killing a few more.
"Not bad," Tiin muttered, moving to support Ranma. He was not one to look a sudden gift horse in the mouth like this, and besides, he liked the youth's style, nor was he getting any sense of anger or hate from the youth. Brute force and power, that's the way!
"I believe it is time to fall back," Mace said as he and Koth joined up with two of the other masters, frowning slightly at Two Seas who was smiling wider than he had ever seen her, moving everywhere and never standing still as the Ataru form demanded while K'kruhk followed far more slowly using the Soresu form to guard her back. "Are you alright Master Lilit?"
"I am excellent master Windu," she replied, her voice joyful. "I am alive! I am alive when I thought my destiny was to die a few moments ago! Whatever that youth is, he saved my life and that of my padawan!"
K'kruhk nodded his head looking a little shamefaced. "I failed to keep in mind Master Giett's lesson masters; my lightsaber failed me against a cortosis shield. A Yinchorri had me dead to rights and my own master had just interposed herself between me and the killing blow when that youth's attack hit him, saving her."
"Begin to fall back," Master Windu ordered once again, his eyes narrowing as he looked at the youth.
That youth arrived here with Dooku, so it stands to reason that he and his strange Force abilities are the secret that Dooku wished to talk about in person with Grandmaster Yoda. Oddly secretive of him, but understandable given his concerns about the Hypercom. Yet now that I see him, I am uncertain what to make of him myself. He is not a Jedi and wields the Force, or at least the Living Force, in a way that I have never seen. It's obviously aiding his strength and speed, which admittedly is far beyond anything even a Force Warrior could do, but his other skills are beyond bizarre.
But all that was what any of the other masters could sense, Mace sensed more than that. Mace Windu was blessed, or perhaps cursed, with the Force ability called shatterpoint. This allowed him to sometimes see the weakness in a thing or person where it could be broken if pressure was applied through the Force. Most of the time when Windu saw it the shatterpoint was in a person's style of combat.
The young man dancing here and there through the attacking Yinchorri in an unarmed Aerial style that oddly reminded Windu of videos of Yoda in his younger years did not have that kind of shatterpoint. There was no weakness in his style. Instead he was part of something larger, something that was bigger than himself, bigger than Mace or any of them, too big for Mace to perceive on the fly. But the shatterpoint was there.
Shaking his head, Mace Put those thoughts aside for now. "Head back towards Master Gallia's ship, let's not let this sudden windfall go to waste."