Chapter 10: Raiders of Kuat

Separatist Attack! With the vile Republic's attention in protecting the heartless Kaminoans and their horrific clone slave factories, the daring Commandant Lelouch vi Britannia launches a surprise assault on the Republic world of Kuat, home of one of its primary starship yards. Having been caught in an ingenious trap, Jedi Council member Saesee Tiin and Fleet Admiral Baron von Lichtsteiner watch as Separatist droids and star pilots close the distance, allowing the commandant himself, along with the agile and deadly Catherine Sabathra, to board their Jedi cruiser.

A new day had come for Mandalore, though one with new and old problems having reared their ugly heads. Satine, if she could have helped it, would have been busy with more mundane affairs of state, but on this, her wishes didn't count for much as she was instead escorted to the main port to leave her planet. Around her were her guards, while tailing behind were Obi-Wan and Lelouch.

“Duchess, it’s good to see you.” Mina approached her, looking relieved to see her, since it had been the first time since the previous dinner. It might have been more than a day since the ruined dinner. Still, she had spent the following day on Concordia, as their investigation linked the terrorist's remains to the planet. For that, she had brought along Kenobi.

She could have brought along vi Britannia as well, as his status wouldn't have been too much of an issue. Still, she was afraid she would have glared at him the entire time for his 'Obi-Wan's lover' comment. In hindsight, having him there would have made things easier.

"Yes, well, matters of my people needed my attention." Satine quickly replied, her issues not a concern at the moment.

Mina seemed much more composed than one would expect of someone who had been nearly assassinated. Still, Satine supposed it came from the demands of political life in these trying times.

"In my experience, matters of the people don't end with you being shot at by extremists. I…I am sorry about it. I spoke with the Prime Minister, it seems that the governor was a good friend of yours." Mina would have held her hands, but she and Satine were not friends, so she kept her condolences to words.

"A deceit, considering his true self is more focused on meaningless blood and terror," Satine replied. Despite whatever her misgivings about it, she had seen for herself what the governor's true character was.

Mina didn't argue about that. "Maybe, but if you would entertain me for just a moment, try and recall the man he once was. For all we know, there could have been a time when he truly believed in your ideals."

Satine shook her head. "Regardless of what he did or does, he is a criminal and will be brought to justice. I hope that you didn't approach to offer support in that."

"Nothing more than vocal, my lady." Leila, who had been at Mina’s side, spoke up. “As well as to remind you that, despite how this must hurt, you mustn’t allow them to win, not just in battle, but in your heart. Don’t let betrayal turn you into something else.”

"A child speaking like that would often be seen as arrogant and disrespectful," Satine arched an eyebrow, but then let it fall with a sigh and slight smile. “But…considering the circumstances, I’ll take it to heart.”

As the women ahead of them spoke, Lelouch and Obi-Wan took the chance to catch up, though the Jedi looked like he wished to be anywhere else, but was polite enough not to say so. “I heard you had a fun time on Concordia yesterday.” Lelouch joked.

"You have a very skewed view of 'fun', young one," Obi-Wan muttered. As he had believed he wouldn't be fighting on this assignment, it seemed like it was egg on his face to assume so.

Lelouch chuckled, gesturing to his sister, who was in a conversation with Tal Merrik, the Prime Minister, and, if he wasn't mistaken, General Skywalker. And from how it looked, neither sister nor Anakin was a fan of the other, with the old Prime Minister needing to play peacemaker.

"Not as much as my sister, she would have found something to blow up, or some monstrous beast to ride," Lelouch told him, as Obi-Wan didn’t need to know half the things Nunnally did.

Obi-Wan shook his head. "A monstrous beast would have been a welcome aide, considering how things went. I hope you weren't planting seeds of Separatist sympathies while we were gone." He changed the subject, as he and the Duchess did need to leave Lelouch and the rest on Mandalore proper for nearly an entire day.

"Nothing more than what came from good governance. As promised, we only acted to aid the Prime Minister. Good man, a good leader for his people." Lelouch replied. Again, he looked towards the Prime Minister, as he was the sort of man who would do whatever he felt he needed for his people. That…made him reckless, but with the Duchess in power, it would curb the worst of such tendencies and leave mainly the best.

"Coming from you, that makes me worry," Obi-Wan noted.

“I would have imagined you would be more cordial with me,” Lelouch commented.

“I am, I haven’t reached for my lightsaber once.” Obi-Warn dryly reminded him.

“And I haven’t given you reason to do so,” Lelouch countered, though he was missing the feel of his own blade at his hip. Still, there was something he wished to confirm.

Glancing around and noting no one was looking their way, he made his inquiry. “Tell me, how was it that the Duchess was put into such danger? I would have suspected a Jedi master to be more competent."

Obi-Wan's eyes narrowed, and so did his smile as the two faced off. “What are you saying?”

If Lelouch felt any fear towards facing a Jedi master, one who had managed to hold back even Grievous, he didn’t let it show. Quite the opposite, as he leaned closer to the taller man. "I'm saying that she's alive more out of luck than your efforts, one would almost assume you wished for her demise. Perhaps to install a more Republic-friendly ruler."

“I don’t like your tone.” Obi-Wan didn't snarl, but he came close to that and some other acts that Satine wouldn't have approved of.

Lelouch's face remained blank, almost unnervingly so, but at last the mask cracked as he smirked. Pulling back, he relented. “No, I suppose you wouldn’t, no man would when hearing such talk about their lovers.”

Lelouch smirked wider as Obi-Wan's brow creased, the Jedi master's annoyance climbing as he wondered what game Dooku's pawn was playing. "This again? Are you trying to kill me through annoyance? You're doing a good job."

Lelouch let out a soft, but honest laugh at the response, the brief burst of tension washing away from the two. “Like I said the other night, far be it from me to say you can't have a woman like that. The Duchess is a passionate, principled, and fitting ruler. I imagine she has plenty of suitors, so don't let things that ultimately don't matter stand in the way of trying."

Obi-Wan ignored how his heart twisted at the idea of Satine being in another's arms, and focused on the fact that a teen was trying to give him life advice. “You can advise me on that when you’ve become a sworn Jedi.” He reminded him, but Lelouch let the quip wash off his back like water off stone.

Instead, he glanced out to the vast desert expanse of Mandalore. As standing on the dock, one would be forgiven for thinking that Mandalore was similar to the desserts that surrounded Pendragon, but this wasn't natural; it was man-made…a curse of man if he was honest.

Once lush forest, blue lakes and seas and green plains, all of it gone because the people of Mandalore were violent, short sighted and violent for too long, sticking to a warrior way of life for centuries longer than most, refusing change, refusing to accept leaders who didn’t prove themselves through bloody civil wars, refused to abandon the clan system and its attached conflicts.

He had been on the planet for only 2 nights, yet he wondered… was this the fate that awaited his planet? Was Britannia doomed to burn the planet to feed its unending ego till all they had was sand, blood, and regret? Was it their fate that in the following centuries, they would have a leader like Satine, a reformer who was just trying to protect what little was left from conservatives who couldn't…who wouldn't accept a world different from the one they were born into?

No, he wouldn't let it. Someday… they'll return; someday, they'll change things.

And if he had to slaughter his extended family, starting with the man who sired him…well, he wouldn't lose any sleep about it, not that he'll ever tell Mina about it, she would never approach.

Back to the issue at hand, he mused, almost too softly for Obi-Wan to hear him. "I have studied the code, so too the Sith, but if I must say anything, it is that they're too rigid. The Sith valued passion over everything else, indulging till it ultimately destroys them. But the Jedi, you seem to only see yourselves as servants, unable to freely feel the highs and lows of life.”

"It is for a reason, as you should know, considering how much you're tapped into the Dark Side." Obi-Wan had spotted it the moment they walked into the dinner hall. Just how invested both siblings were in the dark side. He had seen it again when Lelouch saved Senator Bonteri from the attempted assassination.

Lelouch didn’t turn from the sights that lay beyond the Capital of Mandalore. “And yet, I am not a Sith. I understand your code. I understand why it exists as it currently is, an unbalanced force welder can do terrible things, but."

When he turned, the yellow cracks of his purple eyes didn't seem violent, so angry, but…curious, almost soft and alluring. Understanding in a way only a temptress could, but as genuine as gold.

"What your code is, is restraint, not balance. You and Satine," Lelouch smiled as he looked towards where Satine was discussing something with Mina and Leila. He smiled truly and brightly. Immature and young. Old and remorse. "…there is something there, what could it hurt to explore that? And if it doesn't work out, then mourn it, grieve it, wreck a speeder if you have to, but process your grief and let it go, better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all."

“If only it were the simple…” Obi-Wan spoke without meaning, only realizing it once the words had left his mouth. “Wait,”

Lelouch chuckled, happy that he could get that out of the stubborn Jedi. “Put what matters first, and you’ll find life is as simple as we want it to be. I hate. I deeply hate, and my goals will lead me down a dark path, but at the root of it all is love. Love for my family, love for my friends, and my desire to make this galaxy into a better place for everyone."

“And that has led you to become a Separatist," Obi-Wan noted, as Lelouch just admitted that he had more hate than most.

Lelouch shrugged. "It has made me into someone who fights for what he loves, and won't do nothing when I see something wrong, or are you going to argue that your Republic is without flaw?"

"And there they are. I was wondering where he was. Good to see master Jedi keeping an eye on things." Before they could continue their little chat, one which Lelouch was thoroughly enjoying, they were interrupted by the arrival of another group.

One who had someone who seemed to hate Lelouch almost as much as his father hated being a good person. Still, Lelouch was a master of the game, and his smile only diminished into a polite one, instead of the annoyed snarl this fool deserved. “You make it seem like I was the bomber, Prince Merrik. I have been nothing but a good guest in your sector.”

He hadn't had much to say about Merrik before; the man came off as most politicians did, but in the 2 nights they've been on Mandalore, the man had seemed to take every chance to insult their character and call their intentions into question. Weasel only stopped when the Duchess was in the room, but for the day she and Obi-Wan were gone, he had taken every chance to indulge in his apparent hatred for them.

Lelouch could stomach such comments; he was born in an empire that hated him for not being as high-class and seemingly biologically arrogant and cruel as the rest. But he drew the line at insults towards his sister and Mina, and it took considerable effort not to prove the weasel right and just kill him for it.

The man next to him had more reason to dislike him as he crossed his arms, looking Lelouch up and down and seemingly not being as impressed as he thought he would. "If I had a say, you wouldn't be so free, especially when the Death Watch are your lackeys." Anakin, part of the Republic escort for the Duchess, commented. Lelouch knew the Jedi knight wanted to arrest or kill him, but on neutral ground, he could do neither.

“And where would you have heard such an outlandish thing?” Lelouch kept up the smile as he looked the two over, with Merrik doing an intentionally bad job of acting like he wasn't the source.

Lelouch hummed as Nunnally moved to stand by his side. “Well, if they are in our pocket, someone should tell them that, considering they tried to kill us as they did Master Obi-Wan.”

"Maybe he just wanted both of you gone." Anakin countered, though Lelouch wondered if the Jedi truly believed Dooku would be so vile, or if he just wanted to insult him.

“You’re just angry.” Nunnally pointed out, her gaze locked on the older Jedi.

“At what, runt?” Anakin scoffed, smiling at Nunnally's tight smile, and got to the height comment. Really, she was worse at controlling her anger about it than Snips.

Nunnally growled, but managed an angry little smile. “Geo, I nearly got my hands on you.”

At that, Anakin did look displeased, recalling what had befallen master Mundi. “If you tried, you wouldn’t have lasted 5 minutes.”

“Nunnally,” Lelouch warned.

"Anakin," Obi-Wan warned.

As they had spoken at once, both groups turned a surprised eye to the two, who realised what had just happened and didn't know what to say.

Lucky for them, or unluckily, HK-47 was around to comment. “Surprise: Would you look at that, it would seem facing off against a suicidal terrorist has allowed the 2 of you to bond.”

Lelouch coughed into his hand, trying to regain some composure. “I would say we’re close, but it would take more than one minor brush with death to say we’ve bonded. HK.”

“Happy: If it would please you, I could engineer several other encounters which would increase your bond.” Hk-47 offered some very unwanted advice.

“If he’s the only one going through it, I wouldn’t be opposed.” Obi-Wan was in the same boat as Lelouch.

Deciding to bail her brother out, but making a note to tease him about this later, Nunnally spoke. "Setting that aside, there is still the issue of Death Watch; they're a bigger threat than we thought. No simple outfit would have that many resources, and if the governor was their leader, who knows how much government resources and funds vanished into Death Watch accounts and holdings?"

 Satine spoke up, walking up with Mina, Leila, and the Duchess's personal guard. “That is why I’m heading to Coruscant, as serious as things are, we don’t want or want an increased Republic attention in our affairs, not when it would only enflame tensions and be what Death Watch wants. While I'm gone, the Prime Minister will lead a more thorough investigation here. If Pre Vizsla was siphoning government resources, we'll learn when, what, and how much soon enough.”

Almec nodded at being mentioned. “I shall endeavour to complete my tasks and bring us all some much-needed peace of mind.”

With hat settled, Mina turned to Lelouch, Leila, and Nunnally. “Children, the negotiations would have to be postponed till the Duchess returns.” The rest had already been informed and were supervising the loading of their own vessel, set to depart shortly after the Duchess.

“That said,” Satine glanced to one of her guards, who walked up and presented Lelouch and Nunnally with the lightsabers they had surrendered when they arrived. "As you followed our laws and have aided us without compromising our values, I see no reason to hold onto these, but next time, if you do join the next delegation, don’t bring them.”

Line break

“Greetings, your captain is dead, so is the rest of your men. We're making our way to you, presumably at your bridge. I hope the Jedi is there as well. I want to see the look on your face when you realize I've won.”

That was the transmission they got when they attempted to contact Captain Hardhead, who had led the primary defence against their intruders. Along with it, they saw the image of a man, more a boy really, who matched up with Separatist propaganda, and what Master Obi-Wan and Knight Anakin described.

“Admiral.” Saesee Tiin spoke, not needing to ask for the old navy man to understand.

"We're engaging them where they've breached, but it's a slow process. We're waiting on reinforcements from the surface, but with the situation as it is…." Admiral von Lichtsteiner was not a young man. He was not one open to change, as the ways of the old still had their place.

But he was no fool; he earned his place as an Admiral, now Fleet Admiral. And because of that, and almost 40 years of experience, he could realise their ship was surely lost.

“We lost the Judgement!” One of the clone staff reported, as to the side, one of the fellow Venators, which had escaped droid incursion, was struck one too many times by the heavy turbo laser fire coming from the encroaching Separatist ships and burst into flames, their remains shattering into space and mercifully avoiding any trajectory which would hit the orbital dockyards.

“We’re seeing Hyena bombers, projected target is the ship yard.” And of course, he had to think that.

“They’ve blown a hole in our lines, we can’t intercept!”

Admiral von Lichtsteiner would not, however, just wallow and sigh at the situation. He would do all he could to defend his position, or die trying, as expected of a decorated Navy man. "Send whatever we can down to them, tell those pilots that those facilities are worth more than their lives.”

"But, sir, they'll breach and reach us." One of his officers reminded him, but he glared at the man as if he had just said something wholeheartedly stupid.

“They already have, the least we can do is slow them down as reinforcements prepare.” He said the blunt, hard, unspoken truth. His men might not want to hear it, their pilots might wish to ignore it, but those were the facts, and the sooner they accepted them, the faster they could figure out a means to counter them.

However, that raised a question in the Jedi council member. "Wait, why haven't reinforcements arrived? We've been under assault for 20 minutes now, and we haven't even heard from any other sector units. Not even Coruscant." Saesee asked, as it might not have been long since the battle started. The assumption would be that they could handle any measly CIS force that snuck this deep behind their lines, but they hadn't even gotten a request for a status report.

Admiral von Lichtsteiner realised the error and what could be causing it, and, praying to be wrong, he screamed to their communications officer. “Contact Core command, now!”

The clone almost jumped out of his seat, nodded, and turned to make the call, but found he couldn't. He changed frequencies and got the same result. Boasting the signal did nothing as they just got static. “I-I can’t, we’re being jammed.”

“So, we’re on our own then?” Saesee asked.

Admiral von Lichtsteiner groaned, his age never before feeling as heavy as it did now on his bones. Still, he nodded as the battle continued to rage around them, including an ever-growing list of lost star fighters. “Till someone notices the issue, no doubt they’re broadcasting a false all clear, but this isn’t like Rishi, Kuat is a densely populated planet. Once someone notices the cut of commercial and private communications, they’ll act.”

“If they even suspect it’s an assault, with our position, they could assume that communications are just down because of an accident, not…” Saesee muttered, but turned to walk towards the exit. He had intruders to handle. “Either way, we’ll hold out. You man your post, Admiral, and I shall man mine.”

The old admiral nodded, though he doubted he would be living long; he had no intention of dying from a blaster bolt to his back. “Agreed, go show those separatist bastards that they’re not welcome.”

Line Break

Dooku once told him that a lightsaber was a tool of elegance, a tool of character, and a tool of supremacy. It was why those who could weld them, those who were trained in the force, should never overly rely on it. It was one of the many ways Dooku preached that the Jedi had failed. Too slow to draw their weapons to defend the people, but all too quick to draw them to defend the corrupt Senate and those who used its bloated body to hide their crimes.

Lelouch agreed with it, and for that, he had no issue with his actions. Since his broadcast declaring his destination, it would seem that the entire ship was made aware of it, as hundreds of Clones mobilised to ensure he wouldn’t…

Well, try to.

Moving through the grey durasteel corridors, Lelouch didn't walk so much as he danced. Each movement seemingly pre-planned, his footwork shifting as he slowly, softly, elegantly, and unstoppable pushed forward, his lightsaber, the curved blade having unleashed a bright pink blade, not swung like a sword or mallet, but more as if it were the silk ribbon swayed and flowing in the wind as a Chinese acrobat's dance.

Each movement deflected and blocked blaster fire, which could have struck him. At times, he deflected it right back at them, causing clones to duck or get hit by their own blaster fire. Catherine always found it impressive to watch Lelouch; he wasn't as fiery as Kallen, nowhere near as acrobatic or explosively agile as Nunnally, but… well, this.

In a sea of blue blaster bolts and red bolts being shot back at the Clones courtesy of their commando and Super battle droids, his frame, in his block and white attire, was a stack contrast as his pink lightsaber being the main splash of colour, swaying and shifting around with not a single inch of wasted movement, appearing at times like the blade was as flexible as a true silk ribbon.

The real fun came with the assault.

Lelouch kept his gaze open, and yet his eyes lacked the intensity, the hate, the desire for dominance over all things a Sith would typically have. And yet, the Clones, trying desperately to kill him, wished it was so, as he suddenly broke his dance's speed, rapidly approaching as if he were racing along water, his foot steps as light as a ballerina's as he started to spin and lunge, bending his body, even propelling himself using his toes.

Each movement results in a Clone being slashed or stabbed. Another with a limb cut off, a head sent flying as their corpses dropped. Their armour was useless as his blade carved through them, rendering their organs as useless burnt meat.

"Well, time to dance." Catherine giggled as she shot out to join Lelouch on his little rampage. Like him, she didn't treat fighting as a fight; she didn't see it as a contest of ogres and clubs. She'll leave that to the brute Kallen.

Oh no, fighting was a dance, it was a contest of agility, of speed, of footwork, and creativity. Dooku might think she spent too much time working on it outside 'true combat.' Still, if Form II lightsaber dancing was fencing, a fancy-pancy swordplay, she could similarly treat blaster combat. While she didn't have the force to augment her physical capabilities, she had her armour, her skates, and a jetpack.

Lelouch didn't speak; he didn't need to. With Catherine at his side, he shifted every so slightly from redirecting blaster bolts back and just on defense, relying on her to fire on Clones as they advanced at a much faster rate. Their enemies, to their credit, didn't break or hesitate despite the growing number of dead or armless clones left in their wake; those who survived Lelouch and Catherine pushing through were finished off by the following droids.

Pink blaster bolts and a pink lightsaber, they so matched if Catherine could give her opinion-no a statement.

“You’re thinking of something which would anger Kallen, aren’t you?” Lelouch called her out as he blocked a shot that would have otherwise hit her chest plate.

“Oh, don’t tease a girl like that, especially as she’s working. I could get hurt.” Catherine shot back as she fired her newly bought GALAAR-15 at the clone who tried to shoot her.

“Not when I am here,” Lelouch only realised after he spoke how romantic that sounded as he cut down another Clone who couldn’t retreat fast enough.

“Oh, what a charmer, you want a little kiss on the cheek when this is over?” In her other hand, Catherine fired one of her WESTAR-34s. The expensive but powerful blaster pistol proved its worth as that one shot struck a Clone in the shoulder, throwing them back shoulder-first into the path, where one of the commando droids finished off with a shot to the face.

“Catherine, please.” Lelouch sighed, and yet never once did his footwork or blade control slip.

“I’m not hearing a no, or maybe you want more than a kiss, maybe some alone time where we can snuggle, a nice little book, a blanket big enough for the both of us.” Catherine continued to tease as she quickly returned her blaster pistol to its holster, the weapon needing to be reloaded as she, in the same motion, tossed her GALAAR-15 to her now free hand, allowing her to draw her other WESTAR-34.

“Bold of you to assume we’ll find alone time with the others as rowdy as a pack of dogs.” Lelouch chuckled, as he had no clue what sort of relationship he had with the rest of the time. They acted like friends, like a couple, and like fellow soldiers.

Mina had tried to figure it out, but it was hard when not even the people involved could.

“I have my ways,” Catherine countered, only to pause when Lelouch took the head off of a clone, and the blaster fire fell silent. Looking around, they could see that, since there were no clones left standing, the corridor was filled with bodies. They had barely lost any droids on top of it. "How many Clones do you think we've handled?"

“At least 90.” Catherine figured, as the corridor was pretty darn long, and the fighting had been pretty consistent since.

“Sir, my photoreceptors counted that we have fallen 92 Republic dogs.” One of the B2s pointed out, only for the one next to it to knock its shoulder.

“You’re malfunctioning, the number is 123.” The second B2 corrected, only for a commando droid to shake its head.

"The commanders were excluding those we handled in the hangar, you tincans. Don't embarrass us like the B-1s." The commando remarked, it's fellow commandoes nodded as they voiced agreement.

Catherine really felt for the B1, as it didn't matter who, but no one seemed to respect them. She found them to be pretty funny. “Now now, tinnies, don’t get so hostile, we’re all on the same side," She reminded them, as they should save that aggression for the remaining Clones.

“She’s right, besides with this many taken down, it means we’re close.” As Lelouch spoke, the doorway opened, and he immediately went on high alert.

“Right you are.” The Jedi standing on the other side confirmed, his lightsaber already lit, while at his back were another 20 Clones, blasters raised. Seeing them, the battle droids all pointed their weapons while Catherine did the same with both her carbine and blaster pistol.

The ship shook around them as the battle around the vessel continued to rage on, but Lelouch was more focused on the threat facing him. "What fine luck we're run into. A member of the Jedi Council, master Saesee Tiin.” He called out.

“Surrender.” Tiin didn’t mince his words.

"That's a really odd thing to say, especially after we've taken out so many of your tube baby slaves," Catherine called out, gesturing to the hall filled with nothing but death. Hell, the hangar was probably still on fire after what they had done.

She couldn't see the faces of the Clones. Still, she could feel their growing hate for the fate of their 'brothers', not an incorrect term for one another. Still, she knew she would have gone insane by now if she had even just a few identical siblings, never mind thousands.

“Only children like you believe in such,” Saeseee countered, shifting his stance and holding his blade at the ready. “Or assume that I would strike you down in anger when that will not bring back the dead.”

“Quite the Jedi thing to say, what if we refuse?” Lelouch followed suit, his stance incredibly unorthodox compared to the older, taller, and no doubt stronger Jedi master, the light of his lightsaber casting a pink glow over Lelouch's face.

Saesee wasn't moved and spoke candidly. “Then I shall do my duty.”

“And us, the same. Droids, blast them, leave the Jedi to us!” Lelouch ordered as the blasters started up again. The skirmish, just one part of this battle, reignited, both sides knowing it could be the end for them, yet they threw themselves into it regardless.

Line Break

Hmm, the first chapter of my break this is, and oh man, have I been enjoying the time off. I had nothing to do yesterday, no real plans, and because I felt like it, I took a nap around 6… didn't wake up till 3AM and decided to just keep sleeping till around 8AM. I have not felt this refreshed in so damn long, you wouldn't believe it. But that also means I have a fully restored mind, since I worked on this; last week's was something of a rushed job, if you didn't already see it. I was able to make some corrections; the stuff that should have been added was, so yeah. Now we have the second chapter of this battle, which, from my notes, I'm pretty sure will be finished this time around, though we would need something of a detour before then, which I hope you wouldn't mind.