Returned [Full].

Sirona had well and thoroughly kicked the kinrath nest this time. As she huddled down in a corner and waited for yet another patrol to go storming by, she knew that getting out of the Redeemer base was going to be a troublesome job at best. The complex was thundering with boots and while there were no klaxons announcing full-blown alarms, amber lights and regular comm. chatter told that the entirety of the building was looking for any sign of the phantom intruder. While not a proud moment, normally she would have been able to handle this--just lay low or look for the breaks in patrols to slip away and get back to the Mahrii. And that was what she was doing, taking her time and simply taking every movement as it came, not focusing on how far she had to go to get to the ship and instead considering how to get across the hall. However, she had another issue.

Almost constantly from the moment she'd been spotted there was a cold chill which scratched away at her spine. It had ceased the hard, assaulting pain for now, but it surged every now and again and she sometimes nearly broke her concentration. Had it not been for her previous nightmares, she would have thought that the temple had woken up--then again, it very well might have. Could just the very presence of the dark-side awaken something like this temple? She didn't want to stick around long enough to find out, but she seemed to have no choice. All she could do was stick to the shadows where she wouldn't be spotted anyways and simply pray that she could get out of this place with her mind intact.

Eventually she found a nice corner out of the way of the patrols to hide in briefly and got on her comm. for a quick message: "Prep the ship, but don't power up the engines. We're leaving the moment I get back." With that, she went silent again. Now she had to make it up through all these levels of the temple. Why in the world did she go so low? This was the dumbest thing she'd ever done!

"Eugh- What's with this planet?" Nekar grumbled to himself. The Twi'lek seemed to be having trouble navigating this planet's quagmire. Nek had been to Dromund Kaas a handful of times - it was much like that. If only Malrius had granted them speeder bikes, this wouldn't be a problem. He slowed down, considerably, and Crii and Mako soon caught up. Once the Lord got ahead of Nek, it seemed to be easier to walk - not like Nek noted that particular coincidence.

---

Malrius took his first stride forward onto this new conquest. Tayla followed quickly behind him, as if tied to his movements. Kairon was right with his intuition, the Chiss' reliance upon her Master was bothersome. It seemed that both her and Mako were far too... Attached to their Master. It wouldn't do to have your apprentices looked down upon as little but lapdogs, these five were to be the next generation of Sith. They should be independant, determined and zealous in their pursuit of power and glory for the Sith. While their utter obediance was a useful tool, they were little but that - tools. Sith are never tools. The Sith took one look at Kairon, who had come in his armour despite the environment, who hung back enough to give his Master space yet close enough to still remain attached.

Kairon was silent, calculative. He was promising. Yet, he lacked flair and presence... He wouldn't rise the ranks of the Sith far unless pushed.

---

"My Lord Crii," the Officer greeted him with all the pageantry expected of one in his position. He gave a short bow, and motioned an armoured palm to invite the Sith to walk with him. They passed through trees, although the shrubbery here was thinner - the trees noticeably shorter. The edge of a clearing. "As per instruction, myself and my Troops are at your command. We have taken up position at the tree-line, a few dozen metres away from the compound."

The Officer continued walking, and soon the Shadow Warriors (as they liked to call themselves) came into sight. They blended in well, in the darkness of this twilight forest, their black armour hiding them amidst the shadows of foilage. "At your word, Lord Crii, we are prepared to launch the assault. You might wish to have a look at the compound?" The Officer held out a pair of Electro-Binocs, "I apologise my Lord, the equipment at our disposal isn't built for one of your... Build... Alas there are not many Arcona in the Corps." In truth, there were none. Crii could probably see through the Binocs with a bit of effort, if he were to succeed - or one of the other Apprentices step forward - they would see clearly a compound with high walls, constructed of grey-white Permacrete. A bright orange paint stripe clearly marked the entrance into the compound. It was a large gate, although it seemed to be incapable of closing. A design flaw, or perhaps an invitation to a trap. Atop the ramparts either side of the entrance were two heavy-duty repeating blaster cannons. They'd but scar the armour on an AT-AT, but they'd eventually shred the armour on an AT-ST or a drop-ship.

They'd kill foot troops instantly, however. For that, two of the Troopers were armed with missile launchers. They had lock-on targeting systems, and would make quick work of the cannons if the Sith could get them close enough. But then, Crii knew that of course?

There were two Troopers on guard, armed with blaster rifles and wearing the armour of Republic Troopers. They seemed bothered by the stiffling night-time heat, for there was a lack of wind in the air tonight. They conversed amongst themselves, paying little attention to their assignment. They made the Sith's Troopers look like Imperial Guards. Surely more of them would come from within, but they would need to equip and arm themselves - most would be slumbering at this point.

---

Malrius led his two Apprentices along a different path. Theres was longer, by only a fraction, so Malrius rushed them through the trees. The three should be unspottable in this dense jungle, so stealth was not a factor in Malrius' plan. He did not run, however, but his brisk-walk was enough to build a sweat in this humid heat. He paid it no heed - he could not look weak before his Apprentices.

Eventually they came to rest within sight of the compound walls, on the opposite side of the entrance. The tip of the cannons could barely be seen from this location - it seemed they were facing up, as if expecting an attack from the air. Had their invasion been noticed? Even if so, they must perform their mission to the letter - doing otherwise would bring the wrath of a Darth down upon them all. Even Malrius was not prepared for such a situation as that.

"Tayla, contact Crii. We are ready when he is."

The Chiss walked off, and tapped upon her holocommunicator.

Malrius turned to Kairon, next. "Are you ready my Apprentice? This will be the first time you have spilled Republic blood, they are not a mere militia or mercenary group. They are an army, trained and disciplined. Are you prepared?"

---

The Chiss' blue form seemed even more blue through the flickering holocommunicator. "Lord Crii, my Master and I are in position and awaiting your assault upon the compound. We will strike when we hear your 'signal'."

The Officer looked up to Crii at that point, and smiled. He held a hand out to show one of the Missile-armed Troops, he hefted the heavy weapon in salute. The signal would be clear.

The brisk pace Malrius set did Kairon, the only one of the Sith in full battle regalia, no favors. He was sweating buckets in no time at all, hating every second of his decision to fully armor himself. That annoyance was as much blessing as its source a curse, though: it kept him focused, but not so much so that he became single-minded. In fact, he was careful to extend his Force senses a dozen meters or so and keep his guard up. He could tell there were quite a few species of fauna around, which ought to have done wonders shielding both of the Sith war parties from any life-form detection the Republic compound may have had at hand.

He assumed that Malrius' pace, then, was to ensure the three of them were in position before their small detachment of soldiers, Mako, and Nek could charge in, get shot to death, and blow their cover. It made sense, but it was also a good way to tire out your one apprentice who'd been fool enough to put protection over comfort in this heat. He was breathless before they'd gone even a few hundred meters, feeling the oppressive weight of the heat and the humidity bearing down upon him. It wasn't long before he turned his focus downward, ensuring that he placed one foot in front of the other and didn't lose his balance or sway overmuch. It would hardly have done to have shown weakness, let alone something as trivial as an intolerance for heat.

Time seemed to flow away from the apprentice, sweltering within his armor as much as his anger at himself and his excitement to be participating here. He lost track of his steps like it was nothing, but night began to fall sooner or later. It wasn't much longer before Tayla and Malrius came to a halt. He did likewise, careful to keep that distance of a few meters. Then he sank to his haunches, intent on regaining his breath and wiping some of the sweat out of his eyes as Malrius addressed the temptress.

He pulled his hood down, his mask off, and ran a gauntleted hand over a sweat-soaked face and sweat-slicked hair. The temperature seemed the slightest bit cooler now that it was growing darker, but that didn't do much to alleviate his body temperature - he couldn't exactly afford to begin stripping off pieces of armor now, of all times. Not this close to their goal, a swift victory, and hopefully some air conditioning.

Kairon glanced up as he took a moment to rest, noting Malrius approaching. It seemed his only instructions to Tayla had been to contact the frontal assault team, if the holocomm she spoke into was any indication. He briefly balanced the mask on his knee, swiping the small med-pac off his hip. Selecting a small pneumatic dispenser, he pressed it against his neck and injected the contents. The stim-shot took effect almost immediately as a wave of relief coursed through him: it didn't do much for potential dehydration, but the stim was more than enough to alleviate the heat exhaustion and restore him to proper alertness. He might have been extremely confident in himself, but certainly not so much so that he didn't appreciate a good stimulant cocktail after a presumably-several-hours-long hike through a jungle in full, unventilated battle armor.

He looked up from his ministrations for another instant as Malrius spoke, replacing the injector in the kit and affixing it to his belt once more. He wished that he had gotten away with that before Malrius had turned to him, but it couldn't be helped: he had to make up for a relative lack of ability to draw on the Force to augment his endurance somehow, after all, and he was fairly sure Malrius would have expected the apprentice prepared for any eventuality to do something similar.

"I am, Lord." Kairon pulled out a small ration cube and his vibroblade as he spoke, cutting the cubic centimeter of pure nutrient into two roughly equal halves. Was that concern he noted in the man's voice? No, it couldn't have been. "Or, rather, I shall be in a moment. I suspect that assaulting an outpost in the Outer Rim, parsecs from any support, around nightfall should be quite a bit easier than engaging Republic forces in open combat," he continued matter-of-factly, sheathing the blade and depositing one half of his little meal in a belt pouch.

At that, the Echani looked up to regard Malrius with a pair of silver eyes, popping the rectangular prism into his mouth and chewing a bit. He fought to keep his expression neutral as he downed the horribly-flavored, bland-textured nutrients, nourishing his body as he had his mind. No sense fighting on an empty stomach.

"In any case," he said a moment after swallowing his food, replacing mask and hood and standing once more. "This should prove a good test." Not that he needed one: killing certainly didn't bother him, and the element of surprise should have proven more than enough to establish a significant advantage. These Republic scum were hardly more than insects before the might of a single Sith, let alone half a dozen or so.

Crii thought to himself, 'after today, will Malrius' apprentices view me as a combative superior? After all in there minds there must be some reason why Malrius assigned himself to a silent mission while he put we (Arcona commonly refer to themselves as we) to a more combat intensive mission.' an interesting question to ponder though Crii had little time to consider it as he was required to focus on his goals

Crii bore no mind to the sweltering heat that beat down on the rest of the team, he was single minded now, and goal oriented, his attention was miles away from the weather, but perhaps this was a negative, he didn't notice the potential fatigue that would settle in to the soldiers which surrounded him, and therefore did not account for its effects. Then again it may not matter as this was a blitzkrieg attack which would be over in a matter of minutes, and not a prolonged engagement which could take days.

Crii was soon handed binoculars, and began assessing the situation, though with only one eye at a time, it was helpful that the commander began telling him what to expect on the other side, this reassurance helped Crii minimize any grievances in his vision. he paused a moment, a took just a minute to figure his plan, it would be slightly more complex then what may have been expected of him, but he new it to be complementary to their current situation.

First Crii decided it best for the two missile launcher wielding soldiers to go around their position attack the heavy blaster turrets from the sides, rather than head on. He looked to the commander, remaining composed in his whispered speech "Commander first, I'll need to you to send your ballistic troops to flank on either side of the compound, make sure they remain concealed by the brush before you give them the signal. Also make sure that each launcher soldier has a small contingent with him to keep them out of harms way after they strike."

Crii cleared his voice, and then looked around some more, he thought to himself a moment, and then turned back to the commander, speaking more confidently this time, "After they strike we will send the thick of our troops right down the middle towards the compound to attack the two guards at the entrance, as long as our men do not miss our targets, the primary force will have no issue dispatching a mere two guards."

Crii scratched his neck, and swiped the pool of sweat off of his forearms, and then motioned to the commander to hand him something. "I assume, commander, that you brought some form of explosive proximity mines correct?" He waited for the commanders answer, and then took the ordnance from him, he quickly put it to his side, and went back deep into his thoughts.

Crii smirked to himself, and then looked to the other two apprentices, one of which who seemed considerably more on edge than the other, or perhaps he was just more excited. Regardless Crii lowered his hand to the crouching Mako, and spoke to him. "Young one, while the primary force is moving in I want you, and the other apprentice-" Crii paused only a moment to look at the disgruntled Nek, he quickly tossed a few of the mines to Nek, and then the other several down to Mako. "-to deposit these mines just in front of that front gate," he handed Mako the binoculars so he could see for himself. "If you two do this quickly enough we will not have to worry much about the coming onslaught of soldiers from within, after leaving those in there place, stand back, and wait for fireworks, if any soldiers come pouring out then... Well... If I have to explain to you what to do then you are not worthy to be a Sith apprentice." Crii chuckled to himself not realizing that the apprentices may not find the comedy in his words.

Just as Crii was finishing up his remarks the holocomm came on, giving a short sentiment. 'Lord Crii, my Master and I are in position and awaiting your assault upon the compound. We will strike when we hear your 'signal'.'

Crii turned away from the missile toating soldier, he was unsure if the secondary team should move in upon the missle launchers signal, Crii figured it would be more optimal for the sneaky for to approach while the republic troops FULL attention was on their assault first, and not a second sooner. He looked over to the officer, and then instructed the commander contrary to the holocomms request. "Tell them to wait for the third explosive charge." Crii pointed to both of the missile launchers counting on each of his fingers, and then with his third finger pointed to Mako patiently holding his explosive ordnance. "However, tell them to use their better judgement, if it takes too long for a third detonation, then proceed with extreme caution. We'll either be dead, or the Republic troopers are even more underwhelming then we originally imagined.

Crii held his Lightsaber close to his chest, and closed his eyes, waiting for the coming assault, he would remain behind the primary force in case anything went wrong, he would have to make his own decisions on the battlefield in a split second if this were the case, but if everything went to plan his job would simply be to terrify the guards at the opening of the gate.

Mako accepted the binoculars from Lord Crii, and assessed the front gate in more detail than his eyes alone could see. The plan would work, assuming the charges had enough juice packed inside them. Mako hoped for at least some Republic soldiers to come out of the compound, but it didn’t matter. He’d still kill them anyway. Mako smiled, and looked to the ground after Lord Crii’s joke. “My Lord, murder is our specialty.” Mako and Nekar were the two more combat oriented of the five apprentices, and though Nekar would not hear speak of this, but Mako was the better of the two in raw combat power. Though not to discount the twi’lek, he was more of a commander, and was very capable of using his head in battle. Mako simply entered a blood rage and attacked anything in sight. His defense wasn’t nearly as good as his offense, but it was good enough to reflect blaster bolts.
“I do not fear. We are the Sith. They can not withstand us. We also have you with us, Lord Crii.” Mako said so with utter surety. He may have been naïve, even prideful in his words, but they were true. The last thing these Republic troops would expect would be the Sith, the surprise and unfamiliarity of three lightsabre wielding foes would surely be enough to destroy them, and of course, there was the cannon fodder with them. It was almost time for them to introduce the Galaxy to the Sith Empire.

"These mines will arm themselves ten seconds after the primer is set. They will explode with all the violence of a thermal detonator, but... Were designed primarilly for use against vehicles."

Mako accepted the bag, with slightly less intrigue than Nekar, not wanting to accidentally arm one of the devices, he instead inspected Nek’s. The task was simple enough. Mako chose not to respond to his fellow apprentice’s comment about him. He did ponder it though. He may have been able to do this alone, but it’d be done faster if they worked together. Mako didn’t like the disrespect geared towards Crii, but kept it to himself, instead he smirked. He had an idea.

Nek and Mako raced towards the gate, dodging blasters the entire way, they moved too fast for the Troopers to have time to trail them. Mako slid the last few metres, and took cover at the gate. Mako and Nekar armed, and then threw the mines to sit in the archway. Mako at first didn’t notice, but one of the guards was alive. On their escape, Mako ignited one of his lightsabers, and cut the soldier’s neck, ensuring his death. Mako was the first. The first Sith to kill a member of the Republic in an act of war in many, many years. It wouldn’t matter if Malrius, or Crii took the glory, Mako knew that he was the first. Nek and Mako escaped the range of the explosives before they detonated. They both turned around, and ran for the gate, it was time to slaughter in the name of the Empire.

It was taking her an eternity, but slowly Sirona was beginning to reach the outskirts of the temple. However, as she did so she could feel the entire area beginning to cloud with some sense of tension. It was as if the structure itself could sense whatever it was that was tormenting her so, and was in turn trying to react to it. The strange thing was that she could almost swear that the Redeemers were reacting to the Sith(?) presence in turn... and that had her thoroughly baffled. The Redeemers were thoroughly opposed to Force users, right? Why would they be reacting to something in the Force? Unless... maybe the temple was well and truly affecting them? Well, she'd better get out immediately. And through it all that dark force kept pounding away at her head, making her woozy at inopportune times and forcing her to rely more on her training than her Force abilities.

After what felt like an eternity, she finally got herself out of the compound, her head throbbing violently from the headache but on her way back to the Mahrii. Or... so she had intended. Once she had reached the cover of the jungle, she heard a pair of distant thuds... followed by a soft gust of air that might have been the trailing end of a shockwave. It didn't take her more than a few seconds to realize what was happening. And if she hadn't figured it out, her crew was pretty quick in filling her in. Immediately her commlink woke up and her communications officer stated with a hint of concern, "Ma'am, Republic garrisons airwaves just went wild! I'm having a hard time picking up what's happening, but..."

"They're under attack," she finished for him, staring thoughtfully out in that direction. And unless she just had a debilitating case of migraines, she had a good idea who it was... but she needed to confirm. She needed to get clear, visual evidence. Besides, if she was right, and this was some manner of Sith invasion fleet--or any invasion fleet for that matter--then that meant that they were grounded for the next wee while. Damn. Well, no sense wasting time when there's nothing else to do. While the Redeemer compound was on the brink of catching fire just from the friction of boots moving, she needed to see what was happening over there. Thankfully, Force Speed was always a wonderfully useful tool. "I'm gonna check it out. Do everything you can to minimize our signature, but keep your eyes and ears open. I suspect we're in a rather nasty crossfire. Stay armed too, just in case."

"Stay safe."

"Always." Regretting her decision to not take a bike out here, she started off on the long trek towards the Republic compound, moving at what would be considered a jog in her Force Speed (though pretty damn quick by others' standards). Of course, she was still forced to stop on occasion... entirely by that damn entity continuing to pound away at her head. This was going to be an unpleasant assignment.

The Republic compound sat quietly in Yavin-4's forest, a peaceful night like many others. The insects hummed beyond the walls, Woolamanders talking to one another in the treetops. The occasional gust of wind blew through the lofty branches, disturbing the relative calm of the moment. And yet, Falria felt unease as she ate her dinner away from the Republic troopers. It was an unease that had laid heavy on her mind since the first day she'd arrived on the jungle moon nearly two years ago.

Falria had traveled here with her Master, Orun Fain, under the goal of investigating the Redeemer presence when they had first left Coruscant, but it was quickly clear her master had ulterior motives. Of all the compounds that had been scattered across the moon, Master Fain had chosen this one for its relative closeness to the old Sith temples. And despite his claims to be slowly investigating the Redeemers, most all of their time had been spent in the ancient ruins. Falria had confronted her master about it two months ago, and as her reward she now found herself confined to the compound, forbidden from accompanying Master Fain on any of his excursions.

Perhaps it was the change in her master's mood that had her so on edge. He had become fully obsessed with the temples, making excuses for extended stay. One in particular, with a Star Destroyer crashed into it's roof, had him particularly obsessed. Falria had never been there herself, but her master claimed that fresh footprints appeared every so often without him catching a Redeemer patrol. Falria would wait for him to return for days, her Master forsaking food altogether sometimes, only for him to claim new footprints had appeared each time he returned.

On this particular excursion, he had neglected to return for four days now, insisting Falria stop bothering him each time she contacted him on the Holocomm. She hadn't spoken to him the entire day, but that didn't really bother her too much. In truth, Falria was fed up with the entire situation. This moon, this compound, being a Padawan, and most of all her Master. She couldn't stand her situation any longer, and had begun gathering evidence to bring to the Jedi about her master's strange behavior. While she wasn't aware of any specific rule against what he was doing, Falria was certain the Jedi council wouldn't take kindly to his deceit, or his treatment of his Padawan of late.

With her dinner finished, Falria deposited the plate on her makeshift table – a flat storage container in the room. Her master had chosen to turn the Storage building in the compound into their home during their stay, and for that at least she was grateful. While she had gotten to know the troopers here personally, Falria didn't relish the idea of sleeping with them in the Barracks. Putting her shoes on, Falria squeezed between two of the speederbikes in the garage of the storage building, exiting into the night. Walking through the dirt and ignoring the heat, she made her way past the barracks and utility building, swatting away an insect as she headed inside the building that held the compounds purpose, the communication array.

Without much surprise, she found one of the friends she'd made on the moon kicked back in his chair, feet on the console and arms behind his head as he watched the security monitors positioned in front of him. Sergeant Dor Valus had been a Coruscant native like herself, and had joined the Republic happily after they had overthrown the Empire. She liked him, though he was too old for her, not that she was supposed to be thinking about relationships anyway. With a sigh, she took a seat next to him, mimicking his pose and drawing his attention.

“Evenin' Fal,” Dor said with a smile as he looked over to her.

“Evening Dor. Same old, same old?” she asked, looking up to the monitors herself.

He nodded, affirming her suspicion. Dor was the only one on the base that shared her unease, attributing it to growing up on Coruscant. He preferred metal jungles to green ones, and perhaps that was all her dislike of the planet stemmed from. Still, she was soon bored with the monitors.

“How can you watch these day after day. I'm already losing my mind as it is and I've only been here a few seconds,” she complained, spinning around the chair to face him.

“Ha! I've got to hand it to you Fal, you're definitely the most active Jedi I've ever met. I swear you can't sit still for more then a few seconds before you start moving. What's that human disease called? AD . . . . Something or another, you should look into that.”

“I can meditate just fine, I don't have problems sitting still,” she said matter-of-factly in the Jedi authoritative tone that she'd learned over the years, only making him laugh and causing her to roll her eyes. “Yeah yeah, You're probably right. Shut-up.”

Dor quieted himself with a few more chuckles, turning himself back to the monitors and scanning over them, a frown growing on his face. “Hold on a moment. . . . what's this now. Is that a. . . . oh fuckin' shit. Reedemer!” He exclaimed, tapping the console a bit and zooming in on the forest, bringing up a soldier crouching.

Falria jumped back as a rocket jettisoned from the trooper, as though it would come straight through the screen and hit them. Her adrenaline began to surge, realizing they were under attack, staring intently at the monitor. Private Jones and J'zarey were instantly torn apart by blaster fire, and then she saw it. A red glow coming from the forest, the telltale appearance of the Lightsaber. Dor began screaming over the comms as she stared at it, signaling that they were under attack while her heart sank and her throat caught. It took her a moment to regain her composure, Dor looking at her a bit worried as he noticed the horror on her face.

“They. . . . they're not Reedemers, Dor,” Falria announced to him hollowly as comm chatter from the console spiked. It sounded like a hundred voices tried to yell at once, as every communications compound across Yavin-4 came under attack, confirming Falria's worst nightmares. “They're Sith. I. . . I saw a lightsaber in the forest.”

“Fuck. . . . oh fuck. You sure?” Dor asked her, Falria giving him a slow nod. Dor sat back down at the console while Falria pulled her Holocomm out, quickly trying to contact her master. To her relief, her masters blue form appeared on the comm, looking as sullen as ever.

“What is it girl, I'm busy here, you know-”

Falria didn't let her master finish his words, cutting him off quickly and spluttering off like a simpleton. “Sith! Master it's Sith! I saw the lightsaber! They're attacking us! And the other compounds!”

“Slow down girl, compose yourself,” Master Fain told her, practically hissing. “Nonsense. The Sith have been gone for a long time.”

“I don't know Master, but they had a lightsaber, and-”

“Shit Falria, there's another one, I just saw him with it. Finished off Jones.”

Her master seemed to consider for a moment, his hand on his chin while he pondered the implications. “If. . . if it truly is the return of the Sith, you aren't ready for them. Take the troopers and run.”

“Run? Master, but, the compound. The communications array.”

“Someone else will get a message out girl, now go!”

She had so many more questions, but with his comm cut off there was no more talking. Dor stared at her, as though awaiting orders, and she realized that whether or not she was still a Padawan, the troopers would think her the most experienced to lead.

“Right. . . Well, you heard him. We need to run.”

“Are you sure? Can't we fight?”

Falria shook her head, moving over to the comms and pressing the buttons to transmit to the troopers helmets. “This is Jedi Artemii, I want two Assault Cannon's suppressing the forest, keep those enemy forces off us, and the other guns on the wall. Two of you get to the storage bay and prep the speeder bikes, we'll retreat together right over the back wall. And if you see a lightsaber, do not engage. I repeat do NOT engage.”

She ended the transmission abruptly before anyone could ask her questions, turning to Dor. “You too. Go get those speeders ready. We'll meet up with my master at the temple, he'll know what to do from there.”

“And you?”

“I'll stay here and keep an eye out. Go where I'm needed. Get moving!”

Dor nodded, grabbing his blaster and sprinting out of the comm room as Falria turned back to the monitors, trying to calm herself in case she needed to fight. The adrenaline surge wouldn't benefit her if she couldn't keep herself together. Watching the monitors, she observed the troopers approaching the top of the front wall, firing back down at the attacking force. Yaritz and Flektar had taken the Assault Cannons, rounding the corner of the archway leading into the compound and opening up. She watched in internest, hoping the attack would be enough to stave this attacking force back.

Her mouth opened in horror again as Yaritz pushed too far forward, an explosion of fire, smoke, and dirt covering him up, tearing the trooper asunder and shaking the compound. It took all her effort to hold back a scream. Yaritz had a wife and two daughters back on Coruscant. When the haze cleared he was completely gone and Falria quickly got back on the comm. “Do not push out! The entrance is trapped!” She yelled, scanning the monitors again. With three people getting the speeders ready, there were only five on the wall and a single assault cannon in the arch. It wasn't nearly enough of a force to fight off the attackers, but hopefully would suffice in holding them back for the time being. 

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught the glimpse of shadows coming over the back wall, to her surprise. Focusing in on the rear walkway, she was surprised to find the three, looking undoubtedly like Sith. They'd tear the troopers apart if they managed to flank, without any competition. And if they found the other troopers readying their escape . . . they'd be trapped. Swallowing her fear, Falria abandoned the monitors, rushing outside quickly and jogging to the back wall, hoping she could fend these new attackers off long enough for them to escape.

They'd spot her the second she turned the corner of the barracks, but that was what she intended, rounding the corner and slowing to a halt in the dirt. She eyed them carefully, holding back her fear and doing her best to clear her mind. The Sith were creatures out of nightmares, but they weren't truly any different. They still bled and died like anyone else. Falria talked herself up, building her courage. She didn't have to beat the three, just hold them off. And she could hold her own against the other Jedi she'd sparred against. Why should the Sith be any different? “So, the Sith weren't dead after all?” She called out to them in question, hoping to buy some extra time by idle talk, and that they weren't in a hurry to finish off their prey.