*After an exciting trip through space, the Onderonian Armada was restless by the time they reached Bothan space. Jinjor was in a constant state of flux as the preparations for battle took up all of his time. He had to survey the ranks, balance the rations, and order the appropriate allotment of resources. None of this would have been possible without Cygnus' help. Jinjor was trained for combat of a different type. Cygnus however had the necessary training to stabilize every project.

The Onderonian Armada made its way through the Bothan Space and met with the Bothan Armada at the coordinates they received from the lead ship. When the entire combined might was fully realized, Jinjor found himself in charge of a well-sized fighting force. It wasn't small, but it wasn't as large as the Republic's. It would take nearly three times their size to rival the full might of the Republic's Armada. But for now, it will be sufficient. Their short term goal was only to take over Lashbone and get their feet wet.

The Onderon/Bothawui Armada contained over 20 cruisers, 10 shuttles, nearly 15 transports, and numerous personal ships. Each cruiser was outfitted with hundreds of starfighters and pilots. The ground crew for military skirmishes had thousands of troops as well as vehicles. When the Armada reached Lashbone's solar system, Jinjor had the Armada spread out to surround the entire planet. Not one quadrant of space was left unattended. After the Armada entered into orbit around the planet, Jinjor turned to Cygnus gave him his orders.*

Jinjor: I want you on the Bleeding Heart. You are to train with the Captain of that ship. By the time this siege ends, I want you to completely understand combat in space. While you are there, I will be controlling the Armada on my personal ship. I expect reports from you as soon as the information becomes available. Any breakdown in communication and its your ass. Do you understand me?

"Got it," Cygnus said. "As soon as you're ready to dock with the Bleeding Heart, I'm ready to board it."

It was all business now. The siege was beginning, and Cygnus' excitement was at its peak. He was ready to commence the barrage. As a matter of fact, he couldn't wait. He realized this, understood that it was wrong. It went against everything his mother had ever told him. That horrid wench. The thought only strengthened his resolve.

Jinjor: Good, we're landing in the cruiser's docking bay soon. Your first order to the captain of the ship is to commence planetary bombardment. I want those defenses down quickly.

*With that said, Jinjor turned from Cygnus and began fiddling with things on the control panel. Shortly enough, the hissing of the ramp could be heard. Turning back to Cygnus, he gave a short good-bye and then left the loading bay.

In the cockpit, Jinjor opened his channels to all known frequencies used by the Bothans and Onderonians. He listened to the hubbub as orders were sent crackling to their receivers.*

Cygnus walked aboard the Bleeding Heart, through the halls, past the personel, and made his way to the bridge. He approached the doors and they slid apart in front of him.

"Captain," he said as the doors slammed shut behind him, "commence bombardment of planet and take out the defenses as quickly as possible."

The captain saluted and barked the orders to his gunners, who followed suit and began to open fire on the planet. Cygnus allowed a grin to creep to the corners of his mouth.

*With the COM system opened to all wavelengths, Jinjor heard the order for the planet bombardment. He looked on as the first of the heavy weaponry hit the planet. Eventually, the bombardment turned into a planetary scale assault. Since Jinjor did not have access to telescopic tools, he could not see the initial damage upon the planet.

But through the Force, he could feel its power waver. While the planet does have a defense system in place, its economy does not support every nook and cranny. In those places, atmospheric explosions occurred. Through the Force, tiny voices cried out in alarm and then dissipated. This did nothing but fuel Jinjor's hunger for power.*

"Your order, Cygnus?" the captain asked.

"In truth," Cygnus replied, "the order was for you to train me on the intricacies of space combat."

"Very well, sir," the captain said.

The captain began showing Cygnus around to different things. He walked him past the gunner stations, past navigation, showed him the radar and explained different numbers and coordinates to him. As far as capital ships went, combat was on a 3D grid shown on computer monitors throughout the gunner stations. There were hundreds of known capital ships registered in the Bleeding Heart's data banks, each with precise schematics of the ships in question. Weak points, subsystems, fighter bays; all of the information collected was there. Gunners simply had to pull up and access the information, set their monitors to highlight certain subsystems, then aim and fire.

It all fascinated Cygnus, but what really tickled his fancy was dogfighting. He'd never seen one before, and he didn't know if he would get to be so lucky here. The planetary bombardment looked pretty one-sided at the moment, and no fighters had been deployed from Lashbone, to his disappointment. Fighters are where it really spiced up. As the captain explained things with the aid of another monitor, displaying 3D renderings of ships showcasing certain tactics and maneuvers, Cygnus began to feel a certain envy for the pixelated fighters.

"Captain," Cygnus said, turning toward him, "would it be possible to train me for space dogfighting?"

"Here?" the captain said. "Probably not. But I could show you around the inside of a starfighter, if you'd prefer."

"Yes," Cygnus said, a smile on his face. "I'd much prefer that."

T. Kie'ra: Captain, Lt. T. Kie'ra reporting as ordered. My squadron is ready to go. May I ask why I was brought here?

Captain: This is Cygnus. Lord Jinjor needs you to instruct this man about space battle, and since you are a seasoned pilot, I thought you were the best choice. Is there a problem with that?

T. Kie'ra: No sir!

"Thank you, captain," Cygnus said, dismissing him and turning to the lieutenant. "Lieutenant T. Kie'ra, my name is Cygnus Rakshasa. I'm not sure where to begin in space combat, so I guess start at the basics."

T. Kie'ra: It's simple if you remember three rules. One, there is no "up" or "down." Only three axis: x,y,z for positioning. Second, leave the dogfighting to us. You'll just get yourself killed. And finally, pick fights with your own kind, fighters vs fighters, cruisers vs cruisers and capital vs capital. after that its all about practice.

T. Kie'ra: Well if you need more than that, my pilots along with recruits train on flight sims. You can come down anytime and give them my name, and they will strap you in and fly against you. You will get better with practice.

T. Kei'ra bowed to his captain and the officer in front of him. He than turned around and headed back to his squad's quarters.

T. Kie'ra entered his squadron's barracks after his brief meeting with the captain and his friend. His pilots were taking their brief rest from work with gusto. Hopps, Scarlet, and Ronin were playing sarbac. Fish, Hush, Comet, and Z were sleeping. Ro was studying flight plans and reports. T. reminded himself to check those himself later. The other four must be at the flight sims. They were rookies who barely have gotten in a cockpit.

Ronin: We heading out?

Kie'ra: The usual, we still can get sent out at anytime. Gotta let those fleet boys get where their going.

Scarlett: You should relax, sir. We have some time left.

Kie'ra: Nope, need to get those kids ready for the next battle. T. Kie'ra left the barracks and headed towards the fighters and sims.

Cygnus walked around the hanger of the cruiser, looking at the various different sorts of fighters onboard. His brief meeting with Kei'ra hadn't elucidated much, but it had piqued his interest. Now wouldn't be the best time to try his hand at dogfighting, he resolved; it would take an idiot to believe otherwise. But eventually, he hoped he could train for dogfighting. He had always been interested in space combat, ever since he was a boy, but life as a senator had left him feeling empty and bored.

As he walked, he found himself taken back to the attack at Bothawui, when Jinjor wiped out most of the senate and Cygnus experienced his first encounter with the Force. Not just with Jinjor, but throughout himself, as well, as he became invisible to the eye. He had been thinking about it a lot, recently. He wondered how to do it, and had even tried a few times. He didn't doubt Jinjor would be able to teach him how to come back into contact with this ability, and every time he started to doubt, he averted his thoughts. He had experienced too much to go back to living the simple life. He had thought of the possibilities of this gift, and if he wasn't able to interact with the Force, he decided there wasn't much point in living. Life, so far, had yielded very few rewards for the work he'd put into it, at the age of 18, and seeing those fat, lazy, old senators being slaughtered like cattle had only hardened his mind to how trivial and fragile life is. The Force was his last shot at living an adventure, as far as he was concerned, and he wasn't going to end up like those senators. Or his God-forsaken mother.

His mother...often times he thought about her. Never a positive notion. But he'd never stop thinking about his father. He loved that man, so much. And his mother, too, before he died, back when was sane. Naturally, the haunting question snuck up on him: would his father approve of what he was doing? Attacking planets? Killing innocent senators?

Innocent? he thought to himself. Innocence is untainted. And the senators were anything but untainted. Most of them were marred with their own sick avarices. "For what greater purpose is there than wealth?" Cygnus thought, mockingly quoting what a senator, now slain, had said. Wealth is an accomplishment, perhaps...for some. Cygnus had enough wealth simply being born into a senator's house. But his father was an upright man. He didn't get his money from backstabbing and under-the-table actions.

Cygnus had killed senators, tainted by greed and a hunger...no, a lust, for power. There was no "innocence" to be observed. But he also had let the Patriots live... Only at the behest of Jinjor, now the only one he looked up to.

So many conflicting thoughts. Cognitive dissonance is a tiring thing. Cygnus resolved that perhaps, for now, sleep would be a good thing. Just a nap until Jinjor decided to make contact with the Bleeding Heart and tell him the next step of the plan.

Kie'ra eased his fighter towards the asteroid field. Why do they always choose the Fields? He accelerated his fighter to top speed and headed into the field. The field was a slow moving on, little outside gravity. Kie'ra flew straight in. Mind as well trigger the trap they laid. And just as he passed the several kilometers into the field two fighters came racing onto his tail. Kie'ra let them follow but started a very elaborate pattern through the field to shake them. The fighters were soon followed by two others, and still on his tail. Well, time for the first trick... Kie'ra moved close to a large asteroid, and using its gravity slingshot himself around it. The effect was as he planned. He was now behind two of the fighters.

Kie'ra locked on to their ships and peppered them with laser bolts. One pilot freaked and hit an asteroid. The other kept his cool, but the torpedo took him in the wing crippling him. Kie'ra checked his scanners for the other two, and than laughed. he found that his enemies had multiplied. Did they send a whole squadron after me?

Kie'ra was surrounded. They were coming from the front and back. Kie'ra pulled his throttle and went down, he still got peppered by laser bolts, but his shields were intact. He diverted more power from his weapons into his shields for the time being. He now only had two on him. The asteroid field was getting more dense as he flew. An idea got in his head, he released a serious of torpedoes. As the chain reaction of the torps blew out they were made larger by the asteriods. Neither ship came out of it.

Red lights started blaring all over his cockpit. While he was busy setting up the two behind him, the other two got torp locks and were firing. Kie'ra diverted all power to shields and engines and fled the scence. One clipped his shields, disabling them the other blow up an asteriod close to him scarring his ship and slowing it down. Switching his power from shields to lasers Kie'ra oriented himself so that they were on a collision course. He kept his lasers firing the whole time, and manange to break up the wing pair. He closed on one and destroyed it with his powered up lasers. The other one was a little more seasoned and got on his tail again.

Time for the oldest trick in the book....

Kie'ra hit his reverse thrusts and basically stopped. When the ship flew by he hit it with two torps destroying it. The cockpit flared and went blank. As the cockpit opened he could see the new recruits watching him.

Recruit: I should of had you at the last moment, that was a cheap trick.

Kie'ra: There are NO cheap tricks when it comes to your life kid. Remember that and you might survive. You may all go back to your rooms, I will post who made the cut later.

*After days of bombarding the planetary defences of Lashbone, the grid finally surrendered to our might. Powerful explosions and cries of fear reached me through the Force. It was time to take the planet.

As Jinjor sat in the cockpit, he opened a lone frequency to the Bleeding Heart. He was patched into the room where Cygnus was sleeping and his voice was echoed around the young man.*

Jinjor: Sleeping on the job? You'll be punished after we're settled down. Get your ass out of bed and back onto the Bridge. I want you to issue the order to release the squadrons upon the planet. Have them attack the major cities and go for their industrial zones as well. Repeat the orders back to me.

Sleeping on the job? Cygnus thought. Maybe if he been given more responsibility it wouldn't have crossed his mind. That was his defiant side talking again; he squelched it and reasoned that Jinjor was probably right.

"My apologies, sir," Cygnus said crisply, immediately awake and aware. "Order confirmation: Release the attack squadrons on Lashbone and have them destroy cities and industrial quarters. Are we to level them entirely, sir?"

Jinjor: Only the industrial zones need to be completely destroyed. Terrorize the cities into forcing their surrender.

"Understood," Cygnus said with a nod that Jinjor would never see. "Cygnus out. I'll be at the bridge in less than 20 seconds."

The com clicked off and Cygnus turned and sprinted to the bridge, making up for lost time due to his nap.

The officials on the bridge looked behind them as the doors hissed open and saw Cygnus enter.

"Now is the time. Release the attack squadrons and have them attack cities and industrial quarters all over Lashbone. Bombard the planet. All industrial zones are to be completely razed to the ground; terrorize the cities into the submission. Lashbone will be ours shortly."

The officials nodded and called the attack. Dropships and fighters were immediately released from the surrounding capital ships. Cygnus watched from computer monitor as the dropships entered the atmosphere, closely escorted and preceded by fighters of several different sorts.

Kie'ra: Okay Reek Squadron, we have the launch order. Mission remains the same, destroy primary targets. Count off.

Reek 2: All green.

Reek 3: Engine good.

Reek 4: Ready to launch.

Reek 5: Let's Go.

Reek 6: Going, Going, Gone.

Reek 7: Green.

Reek 8: Humming.

Reek 9: Perfect.

Reek 10: Purring.

Reek 11: Snarlin'.

Reek 12: Done.

Kie'ra: Okay, first flight with me, we keep to our flights unless we encounter resistance. Keep this swift and simple, no heroes, no showboats. click! Reek 1 to flight tower, squadron ready to fly.

Flight officer: Reek Squadron you can go.

Kie'ra lifted up on repulsorlifts and angled towards space. After exiting the ship Reek Squad entered Lashbone's atmosphere.

Kie'ra: Okay first flight sector A, second flight sector B, and sector C for third. Call if you need help. Go Reek Squadron.

Kie'ra raced at the head of the diamond formation. His flight's targeting computers were locked with his. He targeted the first factory and let loose his lasers. Eight orange beams lanced into the building causing multiple explosions. He looped around to strafe the building again.

Short time later...

Kie'ra: Okay that takes care of sector A. Reek Flights report in.

Reek 8: Sir, I am the last of Flight Two. There was a communication bloke, I can't get through to Flight 3 either.

Kie'ra: Alright, Flight A we got to Sector B and secure it now.

Flight A behind Kie'ra raced towards the new sector, their sensors picked up what was left of Flight B followed by what looks like another squadron.

Kie'ra: Okay, break into wings and give 8 some cover. Eight return to base.

Kie'ra and his wing mate hit the enemy forces first. Kie'ra strafed the first two. Reek 2 launched torps into them. One was destroyed and another damaged. Kie'ra veered off and targeted the next pair. Kie'ra could hear the chatter now. Everyone trying to coordinate their maneuvers to help each other out. Kie'ra tuned it out for now.

Kie'ra: Reek 2, find out where these jokers came from and destroy it. I will be fine on my own.

Reek 2: Sir.

Kie'ra focused on the ones that looked to be the better pilots of the squadron. He would dog the pilot destroying or damaging it than move on to the next, even if that means leaving the wing mate. But his squadron was well trained and was finishing the kills and taking the wing mates out. Kie'ra took some damage, but nothing that would stop him.

Kie'ra: Report in Reeks.

Reek 3: Good, but my wing isnt.

Kie'ra: Return to base both of you.

Reek 9: Flight C reporting. We took casualties but mission achieved.

Kie'ra: So a flight and a half left. Okay, we return to base and regroup.

Docking Bay for Reek Squadron.

Kie'ra: Status Report Chief.

Chief Mechanic: Well, I can repair most of the ships but it will vary for each. I might be able to get a flight working, if you guys do not mind using someone else's ship. But it will take at least an hour.

Kie'ra: Do it. click. Reek Pilots to hanger bay.

Short time later...

Kie'ra: Okay, I need three volunteers to go on the next mission with me. It will be one flight only, so make sure your up for it.

Ronin: I'm going, Reek Leader.

Z: As am I.

Scarlett: I'm the last of the originals so I will not be left behind.

Kie'ra: Okay, we are to hit a military installation, it contains ground troops and vehicles but do not be surprised if there are fighters. We leave in twenty.

*Jinjor watched as squadrons entered and exited the atmosphere of Lashbone. Thus far, it has been a success. Reports have been coming in like clockwork detailing the advances the troops have made. Several major cities have been occupied while others are being sieged. The industrial complexes have been nearly wiped out. Those that remain can be counted on a single hand.

Yet, Jinjor still had feelings of unease. It was too easy. He expected more from this planet. Or at least from the Republic. After all, the Republic knew that the Bothan Sector pulled out of the planetary alliance. Why are they not coming to the rescue of this planet?*

Cygnus was watching the destruction from a monitor viewing the planet. Zoomed in several hundred times, he had limited view of certain sectors being utterly destroyed.

"Report, captain," Cygnus said, never taking his eyes off of the monitor. By now the ships had moved to the other side of planet; the only sectors visible here were industrial quarters that had been vaporized.

"Sectors A and C have been destroyed," the captain said, "we lost some of the squad that hit Sector C. Sector B is still being hit, we've encountered a bit of resistance there, but overall it appears we're doing well so far."

"Good," Cygnus said. He channeled Jinjor on the com. "Jinjor, all is well."

He commenced to give him the report.

*Jinjor listened to Cygnus' report. As the resistance was finally mentioned, he scoffed in disgust. They finally mustered up some form of defense, but it's too damn late for them.*

Jinjor: Cygnus, increase troops and air-force to the zones with resistance. I want a complete and total massacre. Let no one live!

Cygnus, against his better judgement and what was left of his conscience, couldn't help but feel a surge of energy and adrenaline when he heard Jinjor say those words. He allowed a smile to come over him.

Cygnus turned to the captain. "You heard him. Send more troops down there. We don't know what else they have as far as re-enforcements go, but by the end of this field trip, I want their re-enforcements to look an awful lot like piles of ash. Destroy them. All of them. Their resistence is an insult to our fleets and is downright embarrassing for everyone involved. Everyone who resists will be crushed. Jinjor wants them all dead, and I think that sounds like a spectacular idea."

The captain was taken somewhat aback by Cygnus' sudden willingness to order such an attack, but wasn't going to complain.

"Right away, sir."

*Jinjor was tired of sitting in his craft. He wanted to land on the planet and kill survivors. In fact, he made up his mind right then and there that is what he would do. He set a course for the biggest city on Lashbone and gathered every piece of equipment he would need. When his ship landed, he was ready. He was ready to once again put aside his honor and do what was needed for his power.*

As Kie'ra's flight left the flight deck a voice come over the com: Reek Flight you are now to patrol the Southern Continent and report back. Over. Kie'ra punched his com:You heard him, readjust coordinates and prepare to descend into the atmosphere.

Reek Squadron entered the atmosphere and sped towards the Southern half. Scanners on full they started their systematic patrol. The Southern Continent was lush with vegetation with occasional pockets of civilization. There didn't seem to be any military outposts though.

Kie'ra: Okay that does it for this quadrant. Now for B3. You take point R4.

As Reek 4 pulled into position he was hit by several torpedoes. He went down before any of Reek squadron could react.

Reek 2: What was that?

Kie'ra: Not now fly.

The three remaining fighters peeled off in different directions. Kie'ra checked his scanners. A full squadron was out there. Each flight was homing in on one of remaining fighters. Kie'ra made a desperate move. He angled himself to the closest flight one following R2. He launched a full spread of torpedoes. He succeeded in breaking up the flight and its pursuit, only to realize R2 was already down. Already another flight was on him and the one he broke up was reorganizing. There was a flash on his scanners and he knew Scarlett was down. But kie'ra didn't have to wait long before he too was plummeting into the lush vegetation and blacking out from the G force.

Continued from Space: Jedi Transport

INT. JEDI TRANSPORT - COCKPIT

Looking out through the cockpit window as the cruiser passes into the southern quadrant, Jolee Bindo and Bastila Shan watch as a horrifying space battle takes place before their very eyes. Lashbone has sent a final wave of fighters to cause a distraction so that the Jedi may land safely on the planet. The distraction works, as they pass unnoticed through the armada of starships that surround the planet, but at a terrible price. The Lashbone starfighters, comprised of the best pilots in the system's air force, wages a heroic attack, taking many enemy fighters with them, but their numbers are simply not enough. Slowly, the brave men are shot down, one by one, and the Jedi watch from afar, and are helpless to do anything about it. Jolee closes his eyes, giving thanks to the men that risked their lives, so the Jedi could do their jobs.

*Cries of pain erupted in Lashbone's sky and quickly ceased. It was not really sound that Jinjor was hearing, but the Force relaying feelings. Yet as Jinjor was listening, he heard sighs of relief for survivors. He will have to finish what his fighter pilots started.

Jinjor turned away from the city and set himself on the course towards the action. His beacon was the fire in the sky. He was running at a phenomenal speed, as his Kaiburr Crystal was pulsing with a great deal of energy. He soon approached the smoking wreckage of a fighter. It wasn't of Bothan or Onderonian design, so all systems were go for a look-see.*

Kie'ra woke up in pain. In disorientation, he could make out several things, first he SMELT something. Not the recirculated air, something organic. Second his arm wasn't there, and upon inspection he realized it was broken. Finally he realized he crashed and survived. He groaned and tried to move, luckily nothing else was broken. He made it out of the ship with as little pain as possible, gathering the emergency pack before he did. After doing a quick inventory, and using the meds and bandages to splint his arm as best as he could, he checked his surroundings.

bzzzzzzt, bzzzzzzt, helooooo, bzzzzzzt...

Kie'ra looked around. Then it dawned on his clearing mind that he still has his com. He checked it and realized there were at least two other active coms. He didn't know who's, but they were from his men. He gathered his things and headed for the nearest one, strapping on his pistol as he went. He conserved the com energy for when the rescue come.

*Jinjor slowed to a walk as he went towards the craft. His sais were out: one in strike mode and the other in defense mode. The hatch of the fighter flung open giving Jinjor the perfect chance to kill the pilot. Jinjor jumped into the air with the ease of a house cat onto a sofa. He landed softly on the hull of the fighter and moved silently over to the back of the hatch. He peered inside into the darkness of the pilot's seat and found his prey. A quick flick of his wrist sent his sais right into the heart chamber of his foe. The pilot died shortly thereafter and Jinjor fetched his weapon. He checked the instruments on the ship and found that the radar still worked. With its assistance, he plotted a path through the dense vegetation. He was off once again after the survivors. He would leave none alive.*

Kie'ra checked his com again. He had been wandering around this cursed forest for several hours. Most of his injuries were either gone or a dull pain. But his pilots kept moving. He hoped it was just the pilot getting restless and not something far worse. Kie'ra didnt know what kind of predators were around, he unconsciously shifted his pistol.

Kie'ra flicked on his com: Reek pilot stop moving and wait for pick up. quickly switching it off again. Didnt need some outsiders hearing more than needed.

The target stopped. Good, someone heard. The other pilot was still in the same spot. Not good, but that will have to wait. Kie'ra moved towards the now still dot on his com...