Sovereign Defender Tarna
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Open Warfare-Force of the Old RepublicOpen Warfare-Force of the Old Republic
Chapter I
Beginning The Fight
Artemis Dallow sat on the Black of Knight as she hurtled through Hyperspace. The dropship that had picked them up from Dantooine had docked on the Knight, which was now headed for Malastare - a Mid Rim planet that had been established as one of the bases for the the Republic War Effort. Artemis lay on his bed and thought about everything he had done in the past few days. The main thing coursing through his brain was the fact that he just left the Jedi Order. While he knew it was wrong, he could not bare the knowledge of the Mandalorian horrors being committed without fighting back. That's a load of bull and you know it, a small voice inside his head whispered.
Before he could ask himself what this voice meant, the door slid open and Dilios strutted in. Dilios Farland, now a young adult, looked the exact same he did when he and Artemis were growing up in the Enclave - save he was now broader in the shoulders. However he still had that young, naive air about him.
"Did you hear what the Republic said?" Dilios asked eagerly.
"I've been in here, how would I?" Artemis, something of a cynic, replied dully.
"We all automatically get the rank of Captain! And, we can go up if they think we deserve it!" he practically shouted, through a giddy grin.
Artemis forced a laugh, "Congratulations, Captain Farland."
The doors slid open and in walked a beautiful young female Knight with flowing dirty blonde hair.
"Captain Dallow, Sergeant Farland."
Dilios' face turned pale as he looked up with confusion and horror. When the girl smiled, the three laughed as Dilios caught his breathe.
"That's not nice, Sydney." chuckled Dallow.
"I know, but it's fun and easy." she laughed. Artemis returned his gaze to the ceiling and stared at the lights. In the ensuing silence, Sydney asked,
"Has he been staring at the ceiling since Dantooine?"
Dilios nodded and rolled his eyes. The Jedi grinned, and asked smoothly,
"Shall we go and have some grub, Captain Sharp?"
She smiled and they both left to head down to the galley.
Artemis continued to stare at the ceiling until he fell asleep.
****
The Black of Knight loomed in space above Malastare as the Jedi Knights and Padawans took shuttles down to the planet's surface. Inside the Republic Base, Revan was giving out battle groups to groups of Jedi. Finally, he came to the trio and they stood a little straighter.
"Captains Dallow, Sharp, and Farland. You three shall be joining the 281st Battalion, with the cruiser Emerald Saber. Your Republic commanders are Admiral Will Hayes of the Navy and General Anya Torres of the Army. Your objective is to take out the Mandalorian compound on Faldos."
The three Jedi walked over to Admiral Hayes, who was staring at a HoloNet projector reporting the death count of civilians on a recently savaged world. As the Jedi came near, the Admiral looked up.
"You three must be my Jedi saviors. I appreciate your help, but let me make something clear: My ship, my fleet, my men." he said sternly.
Dilios, never having learned self-control said, "We look forward to working with you too, Willie." with a rather rude smile. Artemis winced and Sydney rolled her eyes.
Admiral Hayes turned and stared at Dilios. "I like you, kid. As for you two," he looked at the others grimly, "...no backbone ain't gonna win this war."
Dilios looked at them with a triumphant smile.
"And being a hothead doesn't help either." said a voice behind them. The four turned to look at General Torres. She had shoulder-length brown hair and a tan uniform in sharp contrast to Hayes' blue uniform and graying hair.
"Captain Sharp, Captain Dallow, and of course Dilios." She shook the first two's hands but simply nodded to the last. Dallow couldn't help but stare. Gorgeous in her uniform, she had a small pistol slung on her hip. Her green eyes felt like they could melt Mandalore himself.
Noticing Artemis' eyes, she snapped, "You had better be reading my rank badge, Knight, or we're going to have some problems."
Artemis looked up and blushed. Sydney, rolling her eyes walked past the two boys and said,
"Let's head up to the Saber."
****
Two weeks later
The Emerald Saber came out of hyperspace above Faldos. Mandalorian ships filled up the computer screens as alarms rang out. Technicians scrambled around as they tried to get more server power from other systems. Admiral Hayes stood with his hands behind his back on the bridge, shouting orders to the gunners.
"Power bow cannons to full power! Maximize shields! Aim the turrets for their command bridges!"
Meanwhile, hundreds of ships came pouring from the Republic fleet. Starfighters surrounded many gunships and transports. The starfighters headed straight for the enemy ships, guns blaring red bolts.
"This is Blue Leader to Red Leader, do you copy?" Sharp said over her comm.
"Red Leader copies, half of my squad is breaking off for escort." Dilios replied through gritted teeth as he entered a deep dive with a Mando fighter.
A flight of fighters broke off and took the gunships and transports down to the surface. As the gunships hurtled through the mountain range outside the main base, the comm crackled again.
"Alright, boys, remember: We have numbers on our side so stick with your team and watch out for each other." The soldiers gave an answering,
"Hoo-rah!" The gunships landed and General Torres stepped out of a gunship in her battle uniform. Camouflage-colored armor with her command stripe covered her neck down, with a bright scarlet command skirt. Bearing two small machine guns, one in each hand, she felt a helmet was not necessary and so let her hair flow in the wind. Artemis walked over to her.
"Captain Dallow." she nodded at him. The title used to be uncomfortable, but now he felt the role. He bore tan armor with a brown Jedi cape, in addition to his rank symbol of Captain. "You're taking your men into the Military base, while I take the overall city."
"Yes, General." he said briskly. He dared not look back. He simply got his men and hopped in the gunship to infiltrate the city.
Above in space, the Republic had few losses. The Mandalorians were losing men quickly, and a Republic victory was clearly coming. Suddenly, the Force warned the two Jedi of danger.
"Sydney!" Dilios shouted over the comm.
"I know! I know! They're on my screen!" she shouted back as hundreds of enemy dots appeared on her screen as a Mando fleet came out of hyperspace. Totally surrounded, cannonfire began to rip right through the starfighter formations and the green dots began vanishing as Republic Forces were ripped to shreds...
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