The moment Baron Reno jumped out of hyperspace he checked his sensors. Rogue Squadron had definitely gotten to Endor ahead of the Siths, the problem was he didn't know how far ahead. Far enough to reach ground and go into hiding? Or did the Rogues arrive just seconds before the Siths?
"Lead this is Three," came the voice of Artoo, Sith Three. The ironic thing was that Artoo flew an X-wing, and his R2 unit he named Artoo, too. Sometimes it gave him headaches trying to figure it out.
"Go ahead, Three."
"My sensors got five X-wings on the far side of the planet. Looks like they're heading dirtdown."
"Good work, Three," he said. So Antilles was going to try and hide among the Ewoks. Figured. What a coward, too afraid to take the Siths on one-on-one. But then again most people were. "All right, Siths, let's get over there before we lose their trail."
It didn't take long for them to reach the last place where the Rogues had been seen on the sensors. Unfortunately they had arrived too late. The Rogues were gone.
"Anything on the scanners, Three?"
"Nothing Lead. They didn't burn for space, that much I know. They landed somewhere and covered their X-wings. Probably turned off all their power to avoid being pinned down, also. And with the dense forest cover we're not going to be able to do flybys. We're just gonna have to get out and search for them on foot."
"Stang," he muttered to himself. "Alright, we'll land in the next clearing and start searching on foot. Make sure to bring any weapons you have. Blasters, lightsabers, vibroblades, anything. The Ewoks here made a mockery of the Imperial Stormtroopers, I'll be damned if the same thing will be said about the Siths."
One they had landed and unloaded all the gear they would need they headed out. Reno thought it would be best if one person stayed behind and guarded the Whyren's...uh, ships. He didn't want any stupid vermin poking around them. Who knows what a drunk Ewok would do in the cockpit of an Interceptor or X-wing. He shuddered to think about it. Reno picked RS Schone, Sith Five, for the job. Schone was more than happy to stay behind and guard the Whyren's....ergh, ships.
"Alright, we'll split into two search parties. I'll stay with Four, Three you go with Six. Kill anything that you think is a Rogue. Meet back at the ship in no less than two hours. The Rogues can't have gone that far."
Baron Reno chose Sith Four, Jace Sidrona, as his partner for several reasons. First of all he was the newest Sith, having only been with the squad for two battles. The other reason was that Sidrona was Reno's chief apprentice at the moment. Sure technically everyone in the squadron was his apprentice, but he had never paid more attention to anyone else than he had Jace. He didn't know if the others knew how strongly the Force was with Sidrona, but Reno wouldn't be surprised if he was stronger than the Lord Baron himself. Which meant several things, of course. One being that Reno had to personally oversee his training and keep him in line. A rogue Jedi with that much power would be dangerous, indeed. He couldn't let anything go wrong with Sidrona's training. It also meant that one day, sooner or later, he was going to have to kill Jace Sidrona.
He didn't want to, the man had the potential to be one of the greatest Sith Lords ever, maybe even rivaling Exar Kun or Naga Sadow. But that was really the problem. Anyone that strong presented a clear and present danger to Reno. Which meant that there was no way Sidrona could be left alive for too long. Reno would just have to wait until Sidrona's usefulness wore out.
"So, how are you adjusting to the squadron, Sidrona?" he asked.
"Fine, Master Lord Baron."
Reno sighed. "You forgot Bounty Hunter Grand Admiral but I'll let it slide this time and not have you killed." It was only partly a joke. "Are you picking up anything?"
Sidrona shook his head. "No, Master. I sense many life forms, the forest is full of them, but nothing human."
Reno nodded. That was pretty much what he had gotten too. Nothing. "Keep trying, apprentice." Reno checked his chronometer. They had about an hour left of searching before it got dark out. They should probably just head back now. He was sure that there were some pretty mean carnivores around at night. "Come on, let's get back to the fighters. It'll be dark soon and I don't want Schone to drink all our Whyren's.
RS Schone took the last sip from the bottle then chucked it into the forest. There was a faint crashing sound as it collided with a tree. Well, that was the last of his liquor. Now to raid everyone elses.
Snap!
Shone's head jerked up as he heard a twig snap. He quickly snatched the lightsaber from his belt.
"Who's there?" he yelled out. "C'mon, I know someones out there, I heard ya! Now come on out and I won't hurt ya...that much." But no one came out. He waited for several more seconds but still no one came out.
"Alright, I'll do it the hard way," he said while switching his lightsaber on. "The fun way." With a snap-hiss his amber blade was brought to life. "C'mon out little critter, I just wanna be yer' friend."
Snap!
The same twig snapping sound from before, but this time he heard where it came from. Behind the closest tree to the fighters. Schone smiled.
"Alright, little fella, I'm through playin' games wit' ya." Schone slowly circled the tree where the invader was. Probably just an Ewok, he thought, or maybe one of the Rogues. Or maybe....
That was when he got his first look at the intruder. At first he thought it was just a drunken allusion. It couldn't be real, after all, it just couldn't be! He had to be hallucinating!
"No!" he screamed. "You're not supposed to be here! You don't belong here!" Schone backed up as the creature advanced. Schone was aware that he still had his lightsaber, but he was just too afraid to use it. Standing in front of him was the most awful, horrible creature the galaxy had ever seen! And he was powerless to stop it's advances. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Reno and Sidrona met up with Artoo and Sir SL Mck about five minutes away from the base. They had also reported a negative for any hostiles. It was annoying. Reno knew the Rogues were here somewhere, and they couldn't be that far away. So where the hell were they?
As they approached their fighters Reno was surprised to find that Schone hadn't built a fire. It was fairly cold out and they would need a little light in their camp.
"Schone!" he yelled out. "Schone get out here! Why isn't the camp up and running? You'd better not be passed out behind the fighters again. And if you've drunken all my Whyren's I swear to Sadow I'll-"
Reno shut up abruptly as he spotted RS Schones body. It was laying face down near a tree on the other side of the camp. Did he just get drunk, stumble down there and pass out? Wouldn't be the first time. No, his lightsaber was still in his hand, his fingers oddly relaxed....
RS Schone was dead.
Reno and his remaining three pilots ran over there.
"Sithspit, he's dead!" Artoo yelled.
"Check his body," Reno commanded. Artoo and Sidrona turned over Schones body. His face was frozen in terror, his eyes wide and mouth still wide open. Something had surprised him, and something had killed him. "What was it, Artoo? Vibroblade, blaster bolts, bomb, poison dart, what?"
"None of the above, Lord Baron. It appears.....that he was annoyed to death."
Say what!? "Would you mind running that by me again, Artoo."
"There's no marks on him. No bruises, no strangulation marks, no vibroblade wounds, no blaster marks. And look at the look on his face. He was angry, scared, and he looks pretty annoyed."
"Yeah, death'll do that you ya," he muttered sarcastically. "Do you realize how dumb that sounds? He was annoyed to death. You can't find anything else that might've caused this?"
"No, not with the equipment I have on hand."
Reno sighed. "What kind of creature could actually be annoying enough to kill someone?"
"Ewoks, Lord Baron, they're pretty annoying,"
Reno shook his head. "They're annoying to be sure, but they're not annoying enough to kill someone."
"Then what is?"
"I have no idea. But come on, we've got work to do. Put Schone's body in his fighter and leave him for now. I don't think he's going anywhere. And keep a guard patrolling the base at all times." What could've done this? Reno had no idea.
"I'd like to thank you, Captain, for hiding my men," Wedge Antilles said. "I didn't know what to do. We figured that they'd check out the Ewok villages for us so we knew we didn't want to go there. We planned on just hiding in the forest and ambushing them when they came looking for us. It wasn't the best of plans but we didn't want to make the Ewoks targets. As it happens, though, you came along and changed that. So-"
"Wedge," Tycho interrupted. "The patrols just came in. A couple of the recons came across the squadrons base camp."
"How many ships are here?"
"Five, like us," Tycho said back. "Two Vigilances, an X-wing, some odd TIE ship and an Interceptor. The recons say one of the pilots is dead, though."
"How?" Wedge asked.
"They say they don't know. According to them they just found the base and were going to investigate when they found him laying face down in the dirt."
"Odd. Doesn't matter, though. We know where there base camp is. Tomorrow we'll go confront them."
"Wait, why don't we go now? It's dark out, we'd be hard to see."
"We'd be as hard to see as they'd be. First light is better. There are too many carnivores out right now anyway. We go at first light."
Lord Baron Reno got up about two hours before dawn. For some reason he had trouble sleeping, which struck him as very odd. He never had trouble sleeping. Why should he have any now? Was it just his own paranoia, or was it a message from the Force? Sometimes they were hard to differentiate.
He decided to take a walk to kill time, and also check out the camp perimeter to ease his mind. Wedge Antilles was out there somewhere, out there hiding in the forest like a little coward. What kind of real man hid? Such cowardice was unbecoming of a supposed hero. He should be facing his problems head-to-head like a man, not this snoop-and-scoot, hide-and-go seek crap that he was playing now.
Snap!
The sound of a twig breaking about ten yards away caught Baron Reno's attention. He grabbed the lightsaber hooked to his right waist. He also had another clipped to his left waist, both had blood red blades. But when you connected the ends of the blades they formed a double-bladed staff. The interesting thing was that when you connected them together the blade color changed from blood red to acid yellow. It had taken some time and work to get the components to switch focusing crystals when connected, but he thought it was worth it.
"Who's out there?" he yelled out into the forest. But no one answered. "Answer me! I am the Dark Lord of Sith, when I ask a question it is to be answered!"
Lord Baron Reno closed his eyes and stretched out with the Force. Lots of small life forms around, but only one that stuck out. Behind a tree about ten yards away. Reno slowly crept towards the tree, careful not to make a sound. He used the Force to avoid the sound of twigs breaking, that way he could sneak up without the intruder running away. Was this the creature that had killed Schone? He hoped so, he wanted to extract a little revenge.
When he reached the tree he stopped and gripped his lightsaber. In one fluid motion he turned it on, and poked it straight through the middle of the tree. The intruder, who just had a lightsaber nearly jammed in his head, jumped out from behind the tree.
Reno's first thought was to run. He had never been scared so quickly in all his life. But he overcame his sudden fear and stood his ground. He did take a few steps back, though, if only to get a little room to swing his lightsaber.
"You!' he yelled. "You're......you're....."
"Thasa right," the alien said. "Mesa Jar Jar Binks."
No, no it couldn't be him! How could Jar Jar Binks be here? He wasn't supposed to be here on Endor, he was supposed to be on Naboo!
"How can you be here!?" he asked, his voice trembling. "You're supposed to be on Naboo."
"No. Nosir nosir. Wesa Gungans got kicked offa Naboo forsa being annoying. Da Naboo no likus."
"Nobody likes you," Reno muttered.
"Dats a what da Calamarians said when wesa tried ta live der. Thesa say nobody likus. Da Bith say da same ding. Come dink of it, everyone say da same ding Mesa no know why nobody likus? Wesa fun people. Wesa..."
"Just shut up!" Reno yelled, fingering his lightsaber. He had shut it off when he saw who the intruder was. Maybe he should just ignite it again.....
"Are yous Jedi?" he asked, pointing at his deactivated lightsaber. "Da Force is maxi-big, yous know. Jar Jar Binks knowsa some Jedi. Well, knewsa some Jedi. Theysa all dead now. Mista. Quiggon, Mista Obe-One, Mista Aneken. Allsa dead now. So are yous a Jedi? Yous have a lightsword." A sudden thought popped in Reno's mind. If the Gungans were living here now they might know where the Rogues were. Maybe this annoying creature in front of him knew.
"Yes, I'm a Jedi," he lied. "I'm sorry for startling you, I thought you might be one of the bad guys that I'm chasing."
"Thasa okay. Jar Jar used to being scared. Who yous chasing?"
"A couple of impostors posing as Rogue Squadron. They were last seen coming to this planet. I don't suppose you've seen them?"
"Impostors? Yous mean theysa not da real Rogue Sqawdwon?"
"No, they're Imperial Pilots. Do you know where they are?"
Jar Jar nodded. "Yous betcha! Desa hiding in a base outside a New Otoh Gunga. Theysa tell us dat some bad guys were tryin' ta kill dem. But yous Jedi, yous not bad. Come, Jar Jar show da way to New Otoh Gunga."
Reno smiled. "Thank you, Jar Jar Binks. Your role in the deaths of the fake Rogue Squadron will not be forgotten."
Before they traveled to the Gungan base outside their new city, Lord Baron Reno went back to base camp and retrieved the rest of his Sith pilots. They all knew that Jar Jar was the one that killed Schone, but they resisted killing him in order for Jar Jar to lead the Siths back to the Rogues hideout. Well, resisted killing him for now. It was an unsaid rule that after the Rogues were found it was open season on annoying Gungans. And luckily there were a lot of those around.
"How much further, Binks?" Sidrona asked impatiently.
"Notta much father, itsa notta much father. Yous sure impatient forsa Jedi."
"Just shut up and walk," Sidrona snapped.
"How wude," Jar Jar said back.
"My apologies, Jar Jar Binks," Reno said quickly. They couldn't lose this Gungan, at least not yet. He was their only tie to Rogue Squadrons location. "Jedi Sidrona is young. He knows not of the value of patience." Reno tried his best to sound like one of the corny Jedi platitudes. It was hard compared to the drunken rants he was used to yelling.
"Itsa okay. Wesa almost dere, jes' a leetle bet longer." Reno sent Sidrona a disproving glance and the young Sith dropped back a few steps.
Jar Jar was right, it wasn't much longer to the base outside New Otah Gunga. The base wasn't much, just a small building with only two floors. He saw two turret emplacements, which he thought odd for the Gungans to have. Maybe the Rogues influence. Or maybe they traded with the Ewoks, who no doubt got a lot of scrap weaponry from busted AT-ST's and AT-AT's. Not to mention all the blasters the little furballs must've found.
But two turrets shouldn't be any trouble at all. And he had a feeling that all the Gungans in their Grand Army couldn't take his three remaining Sith pilots. Maybe they'd find out.
"Allsa right, wesa here. Hey, hey Cap'n Tarpals! Yous needa hear dis! Das not da rill Rogue Sqawdwon yousa hidin' in dere! Itsa..."
"Jar Jar Binks!" came a heavily accented voice from inside the base. Captain Tarpals, Reno presumed "What you dink you doin'?"
"Das not da rill Rogue Sqawdwon! Desa impostors!"
"Jar Jar yous flipped yo lid. Desa not impostors! Yousa led da enemy here!" Tarpals yelled back.
"Mesa no lead da enemy here, desa people Jedi." It was then that Reno chose to attack. He gabbed the blaster that he kept on his right hip and jammed it in Jar Jar Binks head. "What yous doin!? Yous said yous wasa Jedi!"
"And I am," Reno said back. "But I'm the Dark kind, not the Light one. Captain Tarpals, you have thirty seconds to bring Rogue Squadron out here and surrender them to us before I blow out what little brains Jar Jar Binks has. Starting now."
There wasn't any wait before Tarpals spoke next. "Wesa canno do dat."
"Then your friend here is gonna die."
"Jar Jar Binks has more dan unce broke da Nocombackie Law. Hesa cause many axydents on Naboo and here. Maybes now Otoh Gunga calm downsa bit."
Reno was surprised by Captain Tarpals willingness to let his friend die. "You realize you are condemning your friend to death. We have no interest in you or your people, just give us the Rogues and we will go. You have ten seconds."
"Wesa canno do dat. For wesa no have Rogue Sqawdwon!"
"I guess we'll find that out in about five seconds, eh?" Reno said back. "Four.........three.......two........one......."
"Wait!" Tarpals yelled. "We give yous da Rogues. Jes' donna hurt Jar Jar....Now!"
Suddenly the place was filled with blaster bolts as Gungan guards jumped from out behind trees and hidden walls. The two laser turrets on top of the base sprung to life and started firing. Still clinging to Jar Jar Reno backed up and desperately looked for cover.
"Fall back!" he yelled. "Find some cover! Don't use your lightsabers yet, we don't want to give ourselves away!" Jar Jar struggled as Reno hauled him into the forest.
"Yousa let my go!" he yelled, giving Reno an elbow in the stomach with more force than he thought the Gungan could give. Jar Jar then turned and ran for the safety of the base. Oh no, there was no way he was going to let a Gungan get the better him, especially not Jar Jar Binks.
"Oh no you don't!" he said as he aimed his blaster at the Gungan. He took careful aim and let out a duo of shots, even though only one was necessary. The first hit Jar Jar in the knee, dropping him to the ground, the second hit him in the back of the head. Jar Jar's dead body fell to the ground with a heavy thud.
"Oh man, I wanted to do that," Sidrona said, disappointment evident in his voice.
"Me too," Artoo muttered.
"And me," Sir SL Mck said.
"So did the rest of the galaxy, now pipe down, all of you!" he said. "All right, blasters aren't going to get us anywhere. We're going to have to storm their little base there. Use whatever weapon you want but I would suggest lightsabers. They'll come in handy in deflecting all the blaster fire coming at us. The Rogues have to be here somewhere. We'll find them. All right, let's light'em up and get to work!"
There was a series of snap-hisses and everyones lightsaber blade hummed to life. Sir SL Mck's green blade, Artoo's orange blade, Sidrona's dark blue blade, and Reno's two red sabers.
"All right, let's do it to it!" Reno and the Siths jumped out from behind the trees they were hiding behind and charged at the Gungan guards. The guard's staffs might've proved useful against most weapons, but it was absolutely useless against a lightsaber.
Reno sprinted towards the base, slashing with his twin lightsabers at anything that looked even remotely Gungan. He cut upwards and left a gaping maw in the chest of one of the creatures.
The rest of Sith Squadron was doing as well as him. They killed everything that came near them, deflecting blaster bolts and stabbing Gungans. Reno heard a sound behind him and turned sharply. Standing behind him was a Gungan guard, his staff raised in the air. Reno put one of his sabers in a defensive position above his head, and another ready to strike. But the Gungan guard seemed almost surprised when his staff cut in two as it came down on Reno's saber. Reno took the opportunity to jam his red blade into the Gungans chest.
The Gungans defense was weakening as every second passed. The Siths were about fifteen yards from the front door of the forward base. Fifteen yards and about five more Gungans. Plus the ones that were trying to snipe them from trees.
Whoosh!
And arrow landed next to Reno's foot. As the forest was suddenly alive with the chant of "Yub yub" Reno knew it could mean only one thing.
"Ewoks!" he yelled. "They're behind us!"
It was about then that Reno realized he had been tricked, or at the very least had fallen into a trap. He had figured the Gungans too dumb to plan a trap, and he hadn't even figured Ewoks into the equation. What he forgot was that the Rogues were probably behind it all, the miserable aliens were just following orders. Reno could believe it. Here he was, big, bad menacing Sith Lord fooled by a bunch of overgrown furballs and annoying as hell Gungans. And the Rogues.
"What do we do, Master?" Sidrona asked. "There are too many of them."
"We have to make it into the base. We should be safer in there. All right, everyone make a brake for the base, I'll cover you." The other three members of the group made a mad dash for the base, while Reno deflected blaster shot and blaster shot. Most of them he deflected towards their points of origin, which killed off the would-be sniper. Arrows he couldn't deflect, however. But it didn't matter. Once the little piece of wood hit the saber it disintegrated.
Reno quickly deactivated one of his lightsabers and clipped it onto his belt. As fun as it was to wield two lightsabers it was much easier to deflect blaster bolts with only one. Reno risked a glance backwards at his pilots. They were just entering the base, his apprentice Sidrona being the last one through. Then he felt it...a strange sensation that he felt every once in a while. The Force at work, he knew. Something was wrong, something was very wrong. He hadn't sensed it when he was fighting the Ewoks and Gungans, it first arrived when........when he had looked at the supposed base. He grabbed the comlink on his waist, temporally forgetting the aliens shooting at him.
"Siths, fall back!" he yelled. "The building is wired to blow! Get out now! Get ou-"
Then the building exploded. Whoever had rigged it to explode had used way too much explosives. But it had done the job, all right. It had killed three more members of Sith Squadron. That was five in the last few days. He sincerely hoped that Thunders mission was doing better than his. Reno had started out with five members in his team only yesterday, now it was down to himself. One man. The great Lord Baron Reno against two armies and Rogue Squadron.
Just the kind of odds he liked.
Reno snatched the other lightsaber from his belt and ignited it. He figured standing there, a lightsaber gripped in each hand, ready to take on the entire planet, he must've cut a pretty dangerous figure. Or a desperate one.
The woods around him was alive with actions. Ewoks were climbing up trees, readying bows and arrows, while Gungans took up ground positions. He was surrounded.
"We have no desire to kill you, so don't make us," a voice suddenly rang out. A human voice. "Who are you?"
Reno ignored his question. "You are Wedge Antilles, yes?"
"I am," the voice said back. Reno still couldn't pinpoint it, though. Might be a transmitter placed nearby. Antilles could be a mile away or more. "Who are you?"
"I am the Sith Lord Baron Reno, and I have come for bounty on your head."
"I wasn't aware Sith Lords did bounty hunting, nor was I aware of any outstanding bounty on my head."
"It is on the whole of Rogue Squadron. Now show yourself so I can kill you." Reno knew how preposterous that sounded. Antilles wouldn't show.
"You are in a very bad spot here, Lord Baron. I would suggest surrender over death. Even with your Dark Side powers I doubt you could fight off everyone here."
"You'd be surprised, Antilles, at the power of the Dark Side. Now stop this cowards game and show yourself!"
There was a long moment of silence then five figures emerged from the line of Ewok warriors in front of him. The man in front he recognized as Antilles, with Tycho Celchu and Plourr Ilo on the right, and Soontir Fel and Xarcee Huwla on the left.
"Here I am, Lord Baron. If you surrender now..."
"Surrender?" Reno said. "A Sith does not surrender...ever. I will, however, accept the terms for your surrender. Number one; you and your friends toss down your weapons. Number two; I kill you and take your dead bodies in for a handsome reward. By now your other six pilots on Rudrig are already dead. As will you be soon."
But it was clear from the look on Antilles face that he didn't believe Reno. "Deactivate your lightsabers and toss them over hear right now. You have my word that we won't hurt you."
Reno let out a bark of laughter. "Hurt me? A Sith Lord? You're welcome to try, Antilles." Reno looked around at the legion of aliens pointing their primitive weapons at him. He stretched out with the Force. He could feel their anxiety, their eagerness. Reno was actually surprised they had held off on firing this long. He had to end this quickly.
Then he felt it. Two presences a few yards behind the remnants of the Gungan base. Two Force-strong minds. Two of his pilots had survived. Ha! Antilles and his pilots weren't out of the woods yet....so to speak.
"Drop your lightsabers now, Lord Baron. I'm not going to tell you again."
Reno concentrated on his pilots minds. One of you to the left, one to the right. Use blasters to start with, then go to lightsabers if necessary. Fire when I start my attack. Aim first for the Ewok snipers, I'll take the Gungan ground forces. When they're all dead hit the Rogues, they are our primary target here.
Yes, Master.
Roger, Lead.
That sounded like Jace Sidrona and Artoo. Which meant Sir SL Mck had been killed in the explosion. Two down on this trip. Well, two was better than four.
Reno looked up at Antilles. "Very well." Reno turned off his lightsabers and tossed them to the ground.
"I'm glad you've come to your senses and surrendered." Wedge motioned for several Gungans to advance on him.
"Who said I surrendered?" Reno then waved his hand and the Gungans were sent flying into the air. The with another wave his pair of lightsabers flew back into his hand. But instead of choosing to use them both as single blades he clicked the back ends of the handles together and formed a fighting staff, much like the one Exar Kun had used four thousand years ago, and Darth Maul only thirty years previous.
Reno pressed the buttons and two acid yellow blades sprung to life. Blaster fired erupted from either side of him as the rest of his Siths started their attack. Reno looked at the oncoming rush of Gungan soldiers. This was going to be fun.