Battle Of Naboo: Bloodied Crossroads {Closed}

[Khivas]

The battle in the palace's hangar had technically been a victory; the objective of getting the Rebels out, or at least as many as possible, had succeeded, or at least Khivas thought it did, as his battle was forced from the main area that was the hangar and the adjacent courtyard to a more personal space when he fought against a full fledged Sith Crusader and her little allies, one of which was a damned cyborg.

To say he had seen better days was an understatement, and while he wasn't exactly defeated, he was still far from victorious, and the last battle had been nothing if not a harsh reminder about how much he had left to really learn. Stabbed, burned slightly, thrashed about, even if he had gotten a few licks of his own in, Khivas was worse for wear, and despite currently using his medpacks, his wounds would definitely slow him down for the remainder of this battle. That being said, he hoped that Tamsen and the others had gotten away safely, after all he didn't exactly stick around as the explosions went off around him, sending everyone and everything around him flying and scrambling for cover, including himself.

"Not my brightest idea, but can't argue with the results." Khivas said as he looked around the transport speeder he was sitting in. It was built for cargo and troop transport, and in this case after escaping the insanity that was The Theed Royal Palace's Hangar Bay, a wonderful emergency retreat vehicle. A band of rebels within it had found Khivas while driving by a still unoccupied street while on their way to a new part of the city to fight in, and decided to pick him up after being flagged down, giving him medical attention that at the moment went very much appreciated. "How bad was it?" Asked one of the Rebels, a younger man, a little less than Khivas' age, his curiosity peaked by the fact that a supposed Jedi was sitting in front of him, bloodied and bruised from his last battle.

Khivas could have answered in a million ways, most of them bad but honest about the current predicament of the Rebels' plight here on Naboo, but instead he chose one a little less dark, one that might just make this guy feel like what he was fighting for was worth it, and in a way it would help convince Khivas of the same thing. "It was hard, but damned was it worth it, punching those Sith bastards where it hurt. It's gonna be hard all over the place, but I think we got this." Said the Jedi, adding a quick wink at the end to drive the point of confidence home, even if it was a lie.

Just then an explosion occurred ahead of the speeder, causing Khivas to shoot his attention forward, and no sooner had his eyes met the front of the transport did a second missile come screaming from a nearby building, rocketing right into the road directly in front of the vehicle, causing it to careen and flip over itself. "Brace yourselves!" Khivas yelled as the truck went flying and rolling, crashing back into the street and tossing some of his occupants into the open, Khivas included.

Rolling quite some distance, Khivas was left limp and dazed on the ground, the world spinning around him, sound buzzing in and out as bullets and blaster bolts alike whizzed over him. As his vision blurred in and out, he found himself rising to his knees, the scene around him sheer and utter chaos. Imperial troopers had cut them off, a platoon of them blocking the end off the street with another platoon split in two, one for each side of the street in the adjacent buildings, all to bottleneck and suppress the Rebel Forces. "Shit..." Khivas said as he started a sort of dazed half crawl away from where he currently was, and that's when he saw him, the mangled, bloody body of the young man he had ensured the battle to, his eyes staring into the sky with a look of fear still plastered on his face.

Gritting his teeth, Khivas pulled out his lightsaber, and found his strength again as the world came back into focus, and waving the pale green blade about, he deflected the enemy's fire right back to them as best he could, but in his current state and with the enemy numbers, it was all he could do to stay alive, let alone advanced on them. Thus it was short time until one of the Stormtroopers got lucky and hit Khivas in the gut, his armor barely managing to stop the missile of fire, but the damage was done, and he was now wounded.

Gripping his wound, Khivas continued to deflect the fire away from himself and he retreated behind the wreckage of the speeder he was in, the survivors of the attack also huddled down and firing back when they could. Slumping against the side of the truck, the young Jedi would pull out his blaster, armed and primed in his left hand, and begin to take pot shots at the enemy when he could, hoping that help arrived in time, and if not.....

"Well, if it comes to that, I guess going out in a blaze of glory isn't so bad."

 

[StandbyRanger]

The sky burned red, stricken by the fires which raged from building to building. Smoke covered the streets, making most common avenues of escape hazardous if one stayed too long in the open. Families were darting around in every direction, adults carrying their children in their arms with their tiny faces buried in their parents shoulders and away from the smoke. The Imperials had deployed their infamous HOSTEN troopers into the fray, spewing fire from their weapons muzzles at buildings housing both the resistance fighters, and innocents.

A fire-squad of four HOSTEN troopers marched down a main street on patrol. They doused the area with flames, engulfing everything in their path. They had been chasing down a fleeing squad of Rebel soldiers which had managed to escape an ambush not too far away. The rebels dodged into an alleyway, hoping to escape the onslaught in its narrow confines. The alley provided no solace from the Empire's fiery grip, however. Their one last hope of escape was a dead end.

As the fire-squad marched in one by one, readying their weapons for the slaughter, a quick and almost invisible blue-tinted blur flew behind the lead trooper. There was a hiss as his flamethrowers tank was separated from its line. The HOSTENs scanned the area, their training keeping them from panicking at the unseen assailant.

A cloaked and masked figure landed in the alley, between the Imperials and the Rebels. The figure stared down the troopers, one shoving its way past the lead to burn the newcomer to a fine charcoal. This newcomer wagged a finger at him in response, and the blue blur (which was now revealed to be a lightsaber) came whizzing back into his free hand. The blade of plasma licked the gas spewing from the severed gas line, igniting the tank. As the troopers began to finally panic, the Jedi sent a powerful Force wave, knocking them out of the alley and into the streets where they exploded in a stunning fashion.

The Rebels, now in awe of their savior, came rushing to him.

"Just when we thought we were goners," the exhausted squad leader said as she approached, "Thank you, Master Jedi."

"You're welcome," Rane said simply. He wasn't in the mood for long conversations, being fresh from a fateful duel.

Rane began to head out of the alley, but one Rebel stopped him by placing a hand on his shoulder, "Master Jedi, I'd hate to ask you to help us again, but our friends..." The trooper's voice cut off as he began to think back to the ambush.

"Our transport got hit by rocket fire," the squad leader continued, "We managed to get out of there, look for help. The situation's not good, sir."

Behind his mask's visor, Rane could see the pain in the woman's eyes, which the Jedi reciprocated. He ignited his blade once more, "Lead the way."

---

It didn't take long for the three Rebels plus one Jedi to make it back to the ambush site. The squad leader spoke truly; the situation had gone to shit. As Rane began to think of a way out of this mess, he felt a presence in the Force. From what he saw, a fellow Jedi was among the survivors. As the troopers he brought along with him took their positions behind cover, Rane dashed to the side of Khivas, looking him over, "You don't look too good."

 

[Khivas]

Bolts whizzed overhead as Khivas hunkered down behind his cover, taking pot shots and the occasional well aimed snipe with his weapon, the twin barrels making short work of whatever target was foolish enough to get caught in his cross hairs. The skirmish was somehow stalemated despite the extreme odds stacked against him, and for that Khivas thanked his lucky stars, and despite his wounds, his clarity had returned to him now and he was more able to clearly see what was going on as the Stormtroopers tried to surround him and his outfit.

As one platoon closed in from the front to create the bottleneck, a squad of HOSTEN troopers would come up the street and roast them all alive, which Khivas spotted a short distance away. "Aw hell." He said as he saw them coming along, slowly setting fire to everything that stayed in their way. This was the Imperium indeed, why bother holding on to worlds when it was best to just burn away the burden of people, right?

Just then, off in the distance Khivas felt a presence, another Force User fast approaching, and his nerves were eased when he felt that the presence lacked the Dark Side of the Force, and was even more relaxed when he noticed the HOSTENs violently explode in the middle of the street. "Oh thank my lucky stars." Khivas said to himself as he reloaded his scatterblaster and prepared to gather himself for the arrival of the friendly reinforcements, however few there were of them.

Once they got there, they'd more than likely draw attention to themselves just long enough for Khivas to take aim and pop a few more troopers in the head, if not be able to finally move from his spot and rush into one of the buildings to clean it out, freeing up the people around him so they could run the hell away. Not a moment after this train of thought left the station though did the few extra Rebel forces arrive and already begin to clean house of their own accord. Whoever the soldiers were, they were no slouches in their own right as Khivas watched them enter the building on his left, and rather quickly force any Imperial presence out into the street, leaving them as easy pickings for whatever RSF and Rebels were left with Khivas.

And as for Khivas, he would find himself in a state of awe, something he had felt twice in one day and wasn't sure if his heart could handle anymore shock from seeing things he was unaccustomed to. Now, for those reading these transcripts, I want to stress across the sight that which Khivas held in that moment, the sensation he felt as, what appeared to be to him at least, a beacon of Force power came striding up to him in the middle of a fire fight. Pure, unadulterated, refined light was standing before him, and as his sense came back into the fold of things, Khivas found himself staring at a man in full warrior's armor, an ice blue lightsaber in his hands, a figure that resembled the stories of legends that his former Master Ayso had told him when he was still a kid.

Words came from the living legend, words stating the obvious truth about Khivas' appearance at the moment. Shaking off the initial awe of the moment of meeting yet another Jedi, Khivas returned the words back to the man, saying "Yea, you....you could say I've seen better days. Pardon my asking this, but are you real or has the blood loss finally gotten to me?"

 

[StandbyRanger]

"Don't worry, I'm real," Rane scoffed at the bewildered Jedi. It wasn't everyday that he was mistaken for an illusion, and gawked at by a man who had more than likely lost a good bit of blood. It was a wonder this guy was still standing, let alone actively fighting. He had spirit, and resolve; things that would be needed to see this war through to the end, but that blood loss would not help anyone if it continued unchecked.

Rane rummaged through a pouch on his belt, revealing a single use med-pack. Inside the pack, there was an assortment of things; such as cleaning alcohol, gauze, bandages, even a stitching kit. This had all been standard fare before the use of Kolto and Bacta had become the staple 'heal-all' of the galaxy. Rane had no access to those chemicals, unfortunately, so this was the best he could offer his wounded comrade.

"You'll be no good to me if you bleed out, and I don't want to have to carry a corpse around with me," he said as he handed the Jedi his med-pack. What Rane had said had been a little harsh, yet true. Two fully cognitive Jedi were better than one.

"So, tell me how you got into this mess. A ragtag group of freedom fighters usually don't go searching out the entire Imperial Armada."

 

[Khivas]

The Knight in front of Khivas reassured him that he was indeed very real and here to help him, further evidenced by the appearance of a medical field kit, something Khivas appreciated as he now wouldn't have to worry about using his last bacta kit. "Thanks for that." Khivas said, opening up his vest and beginning to apply the bandages and antiseptic liquids to his wounds. Although they burned and wouldn't cause near instantaneous healing, they could prevent infection and further blood loss, and Khivas knew he could rely on his old fashioned grit and resilience to see the rest of it through without issue.

Looking up after hearing the Knight's words of "encouragement", the dry, harsh wit of sorts being rather refreshing, Khivas replied to him in kind. "Oh don't worry, I'd hate to make others carry me after I've been carrying myself for so long. My name is Khivas, and it's an honor to meet you."

Looking across from where he sat, Khivas could see the rebels regrouping and clearing out whatever was left of the Imperial Forces, the Stormtroopers themselves falling back since they got to witness a whole squad of HOSTENs get wiped out and the arrival of a second Jedi, something they didn't want to chance their skills against just yet. The Knight then asked Khivas what he was doing here, even making a small joke about it. "Guy's got a sense of humor like mine, well that's just grand." He thought to himself before answering the question. "You know," He started, "It's a funny thing, that. Until today I haven't seen a single Rebel soldier or Jedi for nearly ten years."

Standing up fully now that the blaster fire had died down nearly entirely, Khivas stood up to the armored, masked Knight, and came to find that he was just slightly taller than he was. As to why that matters, well Reader, it doesn't, but it was something Khivas felt slightly odd about as he was ready to practically hold this person on a pedestal at this point. Continuing on with his response to the man in front of him, Khivas continued on with his tale. "I'm from Corellia, and my tale's a bit too long to tell here in a warzone, but I'll tell ya that I came here looking for Rebels, and I guess you could say you too. So, how about we get out of this place and I'll give you the full rundown, hm?"

 

[StandbyRanger]

"Small galaxy. I'm from Corellia too," Rane said with a tone of slight amusement in his voice. He hadn't thought of home in a long time. Ever since he had been knighted, it was one journey after the next, and lots of training of padawans. There was no real time to sit back and bring up old memories. Now that he was allowing himself to think about home, however, he found a pang of sadness run through his system. From what he remembered from past holonews reports, home was now a prison. Corellia's rebellious spirit had been stamped into the dirt by the heavy boot of the Imperium, and was nothing more than a glorified prison...

Rane snapped back to reality. The sound of blaster fire was all but gone, and the Rebels were moving the wounded out. He nodded to Khivas, "You're right, we should get moving. Won't be long until the Imps who got away come back with friends." In all honesty, Rane had no idea where to go, however. The palace was overrun, the plains were a bloodbath, and he had no ship to get them out.

"Best idea I have is we walk in the direction of the spaceport, help these Rebels move their wounded," he eyed one Rebel in particular, a Rodian female whose right arm was bent in a way it shouldn't have been. He approached her, and she was immediately unsure and unsettled. Partly from his mask, Rane would've guessed, but mostly from her wound. He raised his hands to her, showing that he meant no harm, before picking her up in his arms.

"Find someone to help, Khivas," the knight directed, "And lead the way."

 

[Khivas]

"No kidding." Khivas said when he heard that the Knight was also from Corellia. It wasn't long until the Knight also agreed with Khivas that they would have to get moving to survive, watching the Jedi walk over to a wounded Rebel and calm her nerves.

The Rodian soldier had a badly broken arm, and she herself was shaken up due to the shock of the battle in addition to her wounds. Lifting her up, the Knight ordered Khivas to find another who would need help and give it to them, saying to lead the way, to which Khivas responded "On it. And let's try to avoid the Royal Palace's Spaceport, I just came from there. I was helping to get Rebels out of there, holding off Imperial forces until their transports were ready. Most actually got out somehow, but now it's definitely lost. However..."

Looking around and noting a Rebel nursing a rather bad wound on his leg and clutching his side, Khivas moved over to the man and started to perform first aid on him, stabilizing his condition and stopping the bleeding. As Khivas perform the emergency field surgery, He spoke out loud and attempted to reach the ears of his fellow Jedi. "I do have an idea but it's a risky one. I was dropped off here long before this battle started, but my partner flew off with my ship to look for other Jedi and Rebels in different places, so we won't be leaving here on that. However," Khivas paused as he placed a stint on the man's broken leg.

"We can't exactly head for the Palace's spaceport, and I have a gut feeling that the Imperials have other spaceports on lockdown as well, leaving us in a rather bad position. But there are some places the Rebels are still holding out and I'm sure they have transports available, and if need be, we could always just, you know, take one from the Imperials. A shuttle that is. They're space worthy, and we can steal one to take to a Rebel ship in space and get the hell out of here. At the moment, those two are our best choices." Khivas finished saying as he finished patching the Rebel up and helping him to walk.

"So, what do you think we should do?" He asked the Knight, "And also, what's your name?"

 

[StandbyRanger]

"The name's Rane, Rane Vastra. I would have told you sooner, but, you know: Pinned behind a flipped transport isn't the greatest place for introductions." The Rodian soldier shifted in his arms, and Rane readjusted accordingly. Her eyes were beginning to flutter, probably from the immense pain of her mangled arm and the general wear and tear of a day of battle. From behind his tinted visor, Rane's eyes scanned the conglomerate of Rebel soldiers, many of them wearing their own masks of weariness and fatigue. Each one pushed on, however; they tended to the wounded, others watched the road, and some were even sent on running missions having been tasked with gathering the closest fortified position to them. There was around thirty or so now, many having just arrived at the scene.

"With so many wounded, there'd be no way we'd be able to secure an Imperial shuttle safely," Rane advised, So, we make out way to the nearest outpost. See if we can find some sort of blockade runner that can get past those Star Destroyers in orbit." He began to walk in the direction of the nearest Rebellion Officer, gesturing for Khivas to follow him. Though this Jedi was clearly older than him, his Force power wasn't quite on Rane's level. Rane would do his best to keep Khivas close, make sure he got out safely.

As the two approached the Rebel Officer, a runner returned to hand a datapad to the soldier. The officer skimmed it before addressing the newcomers, "Master Jedi, Lieutenant Colva," Colva introduced himself with a nod, "We've got a fortified Rebel position about two klicks down the road. They've got the area locked down, and enough medical supplies to tend to all the wounded."

"It's not a way out, but it's a haven for this people," Rane addressed Khivas.

"They've sent a couple of transports our way for the wounded. They should be here in a couple of minutes," Lt. Colva signaled for some of his active soldiers to take the Jedi's wounded charges out of their hands. Rane relinquished his Rodian ward who gave a meek smile to him as she was carried away, "We'll begin prepping our wounded for transport. If you Jedi could watch our backs while we do so, we'll greatly appreciate."

Rane turned to Khivas, tilting his head slightly upwards to look at his face. It felt weird being the shorter one for a change. Training with a master who was little of a foot shorter than him, Rane became used to the height advantage, "The two of us will head down the road the Imps left, see if we can't catch a couple of stragglers along the way. We'll come running if they start heading back your way."

"Much appreciated, Master Jedi." With a bow, Lt. Colva went back to his duties, allowing the Jedi to go about theirs.

"Lead the way, Khivas. We'll go by your pace."

 

[Khivas]

Turns out the Knight's name was Rane Vastra, a good name for a fellow Corellian. Continuing onward, the two walked over their wounded charges and met with a Rebel officer who was coordinating the current fighters in this part of the city. The officer turned and introduced himself to Khivas and Rane, declaring his rank and name and that there was a place up ahead where the Rebels had established a bunker of sorts, a place where medical treatment could be given and assaults could be coordinated. "Well that's welcome news." Khivas said as the Lieutenant finished speaking.

Faced with a decision by his fellow Jedi, Khivas now was given the reigns to control which way to head next along their path, and no matter which path they took, Khivas had his mind now set on getting these wounded personnel to that forward camp and get them healed up and back into the fight. In fact, every idea Khivas had, even the more riskier one in the back of his mind involved that Rebel Camp, so in a near blatant fashion after a second's worth of hesitation, Khivas looked at Rane and said "We get these people to that Forward Camp and get them patched up and back into the fight. As hard as it is, we're going to need every single soldier and warrior for this battle, even if it's a losing disposition. And Lieutenant Colva," Khivas said looking back to the Rebel Officer, "Don't worry about any Imperials coming to get you while your backs are turned. Master Rane here and I will handle them. Good luck..." He finished, turning his back and going to walk away until an urge hit him, causing him to stop and turning his head slightly to face the Officer. "...And may the Force be with you."

Those small little words held such massive meaning to Khivas at that moment; never once had he himself said it since he left Corellia nigh ten years ago, yet there he was, saying them now, free of fear of persecution, fear of having to remain hidden, fear of so much that came attached to simply being a Jedi. "May The Force Be With You." Those few words now carried a legacy forward, and Khivas was proud to bear that burden.

Smiling as he continued walking forward, Khivas spoke up to the Jedi Knight, asking him "So, are you a Master? I never asked that, sort of just assumed. Haven't seen any other Jedi before since my previous master's death until today, so this is still a bit of a shock to me. Feel like a kid again." Sadly, their dialogue would be cut short, leaving but a word to be spoke between the two before the stragglers Rane had mentioned made themselves known, this time returning with a few extra troopers and anti-vehicle weapons. "Well, guess we'll find the answer to that in a moment. Time to go back to work!" Khivas said as he drew his lightsaber and charged the incoming Imperial line.

They were only just over a squad strong this time around, but Khivas was still weak, and fifteen men was still fifteen men, and those heavy carbines and anti-vehicle weapons didn't bode very well with Khivas' young, handsome mug. As he charged the line, the Stormtroopers of course fired upon Khivas, who retaliated by deflecting and dodging the incoming blaster bolts, slicing down one enemy after another, the temporary morale boost helping him to ignore his own wounds and exhaustion.

Ushering a roar as his battle cry, Khivas charged forward and continued taking down trooper after trooper, until about seven remained. With a small break in his siege, Khivas stopped in the middle of the road and stood there as he watched a trooper take aim with an anti-tank rocket and instead of using it on a vehicle, the trooper panicked and fired it at directly at Khivas. In a display of immense skill and power that should not have been possible but was for that very moment alone, Khivas could feel the Force around him, through him, allowing him to move unlike anything he was able to do before. The missile came screaming at him, flying through the air and as it near Khivas, the Jedi managed to move and roll to the side of the projectile, bringing up his lightsaber and slicing the missile in half, disabling the weapon entirely as the two now defunct halves landed past him, the weapon now useless on the battlefield.

Looking up intimidatingly at the troopers left over, Khivas simply stood his ground with his weapon at the ready, and the troopers took the hint, grabbing whatever little they had left and retreated in full this time, never to return to that area to try the Jedi and the Rebels again.

Deciding not to pursue, Khivas deactivated his blade and held it tightly in his hand as he fell to a knee, leaning into the ground as exhaustion took hold of him in a great manner. "I think....I think I overdid it a bit." He panted, trying his best to get up and get over to the troop transports that had now arrived for the Rebels. "Come on Master Jedi, let's get our asses out of here." He said to Rane, still trying to get up and fully walk to the convoy.