Chapter 11: First Encounter

Chapter 11 of Burning Shadows

There was a loud alert being sounded throughout the Star Destroyer.  The ship was about to drop out of hyperspace and all pilots needed to be ready in their ships.  Thomas turned and moved quickly to one of the many transports that were taking pilots to their ships across the Star Destroyer.  He found a transport specifically for Hanger 3 and got on.  It took about two minutes for the transport to reach the Hanger, but there wasn't a large rush.  Thomas jumped off and ran towards where his fighter was being fueled.  A service droid gave him a holo-chart of what the ship was prepped with and how much fuel he had.  Thomas nodded and got into the cockpit and activated everything he needed to for standby.  He saw Flyguy and his men start warming up their ships.  Then the hangar doors opened and the force field generators activated, making sure that the ships wouldn't be pulled out into the vacuum and crash.  He saw the fighters from hangers 1 and 2 take off and head towards the planet.  Thomas sat in his ship waiting for the signal for launch.  It was about 23 minutes of waiting for the fighters to get the light to warn them that the air was being pulled out of the chamber.  Thomas activated his interior oxygen and air pressure and started firing up the engines to flight mode.  Then the green light lit up, the force field dissipated, and the ships all took off and flew out into space.  As they made their way out, they sounded off over radio, then got orders from the bridge.

"Gentlemen, we have orders for you.  The Sith Lords were not expecting us from the front which we attacked.  Therefore, while we broke through the initial line, there are several Sith Lord battleships coming around from all sides of the planet.  All fighters from Hanger 3 of the first 5 Star Destroyers are to take out the fighters and Star Destroyers coming around from our left.  Fighters from Hanger 4 of the same group of Star Destroyers are to take on the enemy coming from our right.  As for the group commanded by..." Thomas switched off his comms unit to keep himself from having to hear everything.  His group of fighters pulled off and headed right to where they were instructed to go.  As they made their way past where the first battle took place, Thomas saw burned out fighters, debris of Star Destroyers, and just all around chaos.  The fighters who were tasked to that position were beginning to clear a path for the troop transport ships to make their way to the planets surface.  Thomas diverted his attention away from them when his R2 unit picked up incoming fighters in front of him.  He locked onto a few of them with his long-range blasters and fired away.  All the other fighters followed in suit, as did the enemy.  Thomas and the other leaders then broke off into many different smaller groups of squads in order to spread out the attack and spread out the fighters so that the Star Destroyers who were staying in orbit would have a clear shot at the enemy Star Destroyers.  Thomas' squad was moving about skillfully and with precision throughout all the chaos.  They made their way to one of the exposed shield generators and blasted it to oblivion.  This caused a slight gap where another small group of fighters slipped through the field and began attacking the primary generators.  Once those were down, almost all the fire was focused at the bridge, and the enemy Star Destroyer was up in flames soon after that.  As it exploded it caught some fighters up in the mix as it fell and burned up in the planets atmosphere.  Thomas sent a signal out to the group to begin attack on the next Star Destroyer, and this pattern went on for quite some time.  However, as time went on, the Republic began to suffer more and more casualties.  Fighters were beginning to become scarce, and there were still several enemy ships to fight.  Then, reinforcements arrived and helped with the attack.  Thomas then got orders over his radio that said,

"Our fighters need help on the surface.  All ships who were not just deployed make your way down to the planets surface at these specific coordinates.  This is where the land invasion began, and is where the boys on the ground need the most help."  Thomas turned around and headed back to where the opening was made for the troop ships to get into the atmosphere.  Thomas and the other fighters began their descent, then broke through the cloud barrier to a sight not seen since the last Republic Civil War.  Troopers blasting one another causing chaos and destruction to all those unfortunate enough to be caught in their way.  Thomas had to put that in the back of his mind as he and his wingmen flew down and started taking out some of the larger enemy vehicles on the ground as well as the different fighters trying to make the Republic's life miserable.  Thomas blasted a few enemy tanks then started banking to turn around and get ready for another run.  Then his alarm went off.  There was an enemy fighter right on his tail.  Thomas tried to shake him, but to no avail as he got his left engine blasted and started to spiral downwards.  He couldn't control himself, and veered away from the battle towards an empty plain.  He pulled the cord for his emergency eject seat and flew out of the cockpit.  He used the force to gently let himself down to the ground, as he watched his fighter continue to spin out of control and crash right into a nearby hill.  Thomas got his bearings back, grabbed both his lightsabers and a cloaking device he kept in his pocket, then started to make his way back to the battlefield.  As he was moving, he looked up and saw a giant enemy Star Destroyer falling out of the sky, still burning from the heat of re-entry.  It crashed far away from Thomas and the battlefield that all that happened was a loud explosion that knocked Thomas off his feet for a second.  While he was on the ground however, he noticed something.  A small hidden door handle in the ground.  He inspected further and realized that it was actually a hidden door.  He opened it with the force and went down into what looked like a dark empty pit.  But he sensed multiple presences down the corridor and pressed on.  He activated his cloaking device and did everything in his power to hide his presence in case there were Sith Lords hiding at the end of the tunnel.  As he pushed forward, he came across fluorescent lights that lit up a giant war room.  There were people everywhere giving out orders, telling people to do this and that, all the while watching the battle from a holo-map to try and calculate everything they needed to.  Thomas kept a hand on one of his lightsabers when he saw the many lightsaber hilts on the belts of several officers.  He figured that if he could find a way to bring the troopers here without alerting the enemy to their presence they could end this battle before anybody else got hurt or died.  He began moving towards a communications box and started wiring it to send out a signal to the Republic forces.  As he was working on that, he noticed a Sith Lord and an officer walking towards them.  He stopped what he was doing as not to be spotted as they walked past.  Then the Sith Lord stopped and looked around a bit confused.

"Something the matter Darth Almur?"

"Nothing captain, just a disturbance in the force.  A presence I had not felt since fighting my most hated enemy.  Not to unlikely since I will be more than likely facing off against during this war.  Now then, what were you telling me captain?"  They walked off, and Thomas continued his work.  He finally finished, and began making his way back to the secret entrance.  He could hear the troop transports flying overhead, and it seemed quite humorous to him the reactions each of the people had when they heard the noises.  Thomas got out of the room and was almost to the door when a lightsaber beam cut off his path.  He looked up and saw the same Sith Lord that was talking earlier standing in front of him.

"Going somewhere old friend?  I believe you and I have some unfinished business to attend to."  Thomas jumped back, and grabbed his two lightsaber hilts, but kept his cloaking device on to keep his advantage.

"Come now Thomas, that won't help you.  My goggles have infrared vision, so I can see past your silly cloaking device."  Thomas let out an annoyed groan, deactivated his cloaking device and activated his lightsabers.  He started sparring with Darth Almur, and couldn't help but feel like he knew this presence from somewhere.

"I see that you have learned a few tricks during the two years since I saw you last.  It only makes sense.  When I left you, I had power, but didn't know how to use it.  Now I have learned not only of power, but absolute power.  Power to take whatever I want anytime I want.  And right now, what I want is your corpse lying dead in front of me, as I pay you back for destroying what was mine all those years ago."

"Dude, you realize you just gave your true identity to me away right?  She isn't personal property you moron!  I always knew you were a jerk Jackson, but I never took you for the type to join the Sith Lords."

"Oh, I have been a part of the Order since I was a child Thomas.  I only enrolled in the Jedi Academy to keep them off my family's scent.  Now that our master has given the word, we shall start a new Republic, a more secure one, one without the Jedi to hold back peace."

"You never paid attention in history class did you?  There hasn't been a war for over a millennia until your so called "master" came out of the shadows.  You aren't helping the galaxy, you're destroying it!  Come on Jackson, I know you were a jerk, but there is still good in you.  I know it.  Come on man, before the troopers get here."

"You are not going to win me over with some stupid lines from a movie that never actually happened Thomas.  This is my destiny, and I will not rest until you and the rest of your pathetic nomadic friends are dead.  Now, prepare yourself."  Jackson assumed an attacking stance with his curved lightsaber.  Thomas got ready and hoped that the troopers could find the door before things got too out of hand.

Author's Note

Late update, I know, but I'm between computers and it's not easy. I will do my best to post whenever I can.

Let me know what you think with a review!

Reviews

[New Theory]

Wow, I mean wow, your writing has improved so much, I am loving each part of it. Keep going dude. I am totally immersed in the action, this could easily had been a movie