<span style="font-family: Constantia;"><span style="font-size: 125%; line-height: 116%;">Master Nilenn had been quite intrigued by the new plan proposed by her student, but she had been equally concerned about him upon his return.  Something truly disturbing had occurred in his raid on Chandrila, but whatever it was there had come a new change she had not expected - but had certainly hoped for.  Of late, he had been pushing harder and harder to find various ways to hurt the Sith - to make them pay for the darkness they had spread across the galaxy.  But, in doing so, her student had been falling more and more to the Dark Side, and that had become quite the concern for her.  With only twenty Jedi left - most of them padawans - having her student turn would have been the last straw for the Jedi Order.  But, she had said nothing to him about the darkness creeping into his heart.  The Force had whispered to her that all would be dealt with in due time, and she had learned to listen to those promptings without fail.  As she watched his starfighter return to VALOR - she wondered about the encounter some of the soldiers had reported.  Her student had been well trained in the lightsaber arts - particularly Soresu and Makashi, and she had never heard of him being defeated by a Sith...until now.  Whoever the woman was that had beaten him so completely had rattled Zyan on a different level than just a mere thrashing.  Something had changed with him, and it was strangely enough the very change which needed to happen.<br/><br/>Aboard the VALOR - Zyan was in his quarters meditating on the operation to come.  There had been three perfect candidates for giving aid to those worlds still resisting the Sith.  Balmorra was one of the top picks - for their resistance was very strong, and the Sith were having trouble even keeping the planet besieged.  Three times the citizens of Balmorra had actually been able to break the Sith's siege on their world and forced them to regroup and come back again.  It was not a siege that was broken for long, but the fact that they had been able to break it three times had been quite impressive.  Even now, word had spread that the citizens were looking for aid from the Republic in the hopes of breaking the newest siege by the Sith Empire.  If such aid did not come - Balmorra would eventually fall - though it would cost the Sith greatly.  The second target was Naboo.  The citizens there did not have the same kind of defenses and abilities to resist as those on Balmorra.  The Sith currently had them in bad shape, and the world was considered occupied.   Many reports had the citizens working in slave camps and starving - which was something Zyan could not continue to allow.  The last planet was Dantooine - a world that certainly could use the aid of the Republic and the Jedi.  The Sith were not the problem on Dantooine, but rather a nasty group of pirates that had managed to secure the world while the Republic was under siege from the Sith.  These three desperately needed aid, and they needed it soon.<br/><br/>Which was why Zyan had decided to coordinate the relief efforts with the Republic.  In this, he had managed to get ahold of Admiral Hust Vaken - a Bothan male who had been looking for new ways to fight the Sith.  Direct confrontation had not been working, and he was tired of his fleet being defeated battle after battle.  But, the appeal behind making drops to aid beleaguered worlds really was refreshing.  Thus, Zyan's ships were meeting up with Admiral Vaken's at a rendezvous point that was simply a small Republic outpost in an asteroid field.  Upon arrival - the plan was to coordinate a three system jump to the last second - with three different task forces converging at the same time upon Balmorra, Naboo, and Dantooine.  The task forces were deliberately designed for speed - as they were not meant to attack the Sith, but simply get in, drop the supplies, and get out.  A prolonged battle was not in the cards.  That had been part of the Republic's problem from the very beginning...prolonged engagements where they simply did not have the resources to stay in the fight long enough to win.  The Republic had no standing military until quite recently, and that was not nearly enough to combat the forces of the Sith Empire.  Until recently, each Republic world had been responsible for their own defenses - though they could call upon other worlds for aid if needed.  But, there had been no unifying force to combat the Sith invasion, and the Sith had made short work of the various independent defenses.  Such a coordinated attack had never been done by the Republic - so the chances of the Sith actually expecting such unity from the Republic and Antarian Rangers was almost nil.  <br/><br/>Keiran<br/><br/>Darth Nyx<br/><br/>She was there in his thoughts again.<br/><br/>Always she had been good at reading others, and despite his new mental disciplines - he had failed to keep her out during their duel on Chandrila.  That had not been pleasant, but he wondered if she had picked up on why he had been so truly angry with her.  Had she truly understood that the day they had first fought was the same day he had hoped to ask her out?  Had Keiran seen that in his emotions - the wish that he had been able to take her darkness away, to shower her with love and affection as she had deserved???  Or, had she only seen his anger, his wish to end the darkness within her, and put an end to the Sith once and for all?  If all she had seen was his desire to kill her - then it was likely she would never let him near her in such a fashion.  This, perhaps more than anything else, hurt Zyan the most.  He had not been trying to just kill the woman who had once been his best friend.<br/><br/>He had been trying to kill the woman he had started falling for all those years ago.<br/><br/>That was the true reason why he hadn't been able to touch her.  Sure, her bladework had been impressive, but his own love for her had stopped him from truly attacking with an intention to kill.  It was as if there had been two sides of him dueling her that day.  The one that had felt betrayed and angry with her for joining the Sith, and the other that was still in love with her.  Likely she had not seen the duality of him as he fought her that day on Chandrila.  Or, perhaps she had, and that was why she had helped him escape.<br/><br/>When the task forces made their triple jumps to Balmorra, Naboo, and Dantooine - Zyan realized that Keiran would be at Balmorra.  They would meet again so soon after their duel on Chandrila, and he had to wonder if the Force was bringing the two of them together once more.  If so, why?  For what purpose?  But, he could not ignore the sensation that Darth Nyx - his beloved friend and the woman he had loved was coming to Balmorra to put an end to the resistance there.</span></span><br/><br/><br/><div style="text-align: center;"><a class="postlink" href="https://i.pinimg.com/564x/34/26/c1/3426c114fde0e080c78cdb1f9f32f05e.jpg">[ img ]</a></div><br/><br/><br/><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-style: italic"><span style="font-family: Constantia;"><span style="font-size: 125%; line-height: 116%;">Balmorra</span></span></span></div><br/><br/><br/><span style="font-family: Constantia;"><span style="font-size: 125%; line-height: 116%;">The task force of five cruisers and eight frigates swept in extremely close to the planet of Balmorra - something that could not have been done without a Force-wielder helping with the navigation.  The moment the task force arrived - twenty squadrons of fighters launched and the enemy's besieging force attacking the Balmorra fleet found itself suddenly pinned between the two forces.  Caught in such an ambush - they had little to no chance of survival, and the enemy ships were swiftly reduced to rubble and space debris.  So great had been the surprise attack that not one single ship had been lost from the Republic task force as they moved in to begin dropping supplies to the citizens of Balmorra.  The supplies did not contain just weapons, but medical aid as well as food and resources for rebuilding.  The entire operation only took one hour as it had not been about destroying the Sith's presence, but about giving relief to the people.  With the situation in hand, Zyan left half of the task force to aid the Balmorra fleet, and then came down in person to the capital city:  Bin Prime.  It was then he realized the main reason for the heavy resistance the Sith had faced was from the heavy weapons factories Balmorra had.  It was no small wonder the Sith were having trouble taking the world, but it made little since that the Republic had not come in sooner to help these people.  After all, these were the very types of resources that the Republic needed.  Something about that did not quite add up to Zyan, but it was not something he was going to press at this point.<br/><br/>As he entered the capital - he was met by General Vern Talanar - a Human male who had been directly responsible for how tough the resistance had been on Balmorra.<br/><br/>"Ah, this is an unexpected pleasure, Sir.  We had not heard of any assistance coming to our aid - much less from the Jedi Order.  Last we had heard - you all were in bad shape after the attack on Ossus," the General began after shaking his hand.<br/><br/>"The Order is not what it used to be at this point, but we are still here.  That said, I have come to Balmorra with more than just weapons aid for your people," Zyan explained with a nod.<br/><br/>"So I have already begun to hear from the citizens.  Morale has never been higher since before the siege of the Sith.  Your arrival was quite timely," General Vern pointed out.<br/><br/>"More than you realize," Zyan stated as he pulled out his holo-recorder.  A moment later it showed the operations underway on Naboo and Dantooine.  "These began the same time as our operation here to help your people.  It is our largest operation from the Republic.  As you can see, both Naboo and Dantooine have been successfully helped just as you have been.  The pirates that have been plaguing Dantooine have been wiped out, and the citizens there are being rendered aid now.  Naboo has had drop shipments delivered to critical areas, and three slave camps have been freed."<br/><br/>"Quite impressive.  We were not aware the Republic was working on such a unified level.  They have been fractured for such a long time.  I find this quite refreshing, Sir.  So, Master Zyan," Vern stated before Zyan looked a bit confused.<br/><br/>"Master?  I am no Jedi Master yet, General," Zyan countered gently.<br/><br/>"Master Nilenn says you are.  We got a message of your promotion just after your task force defeated the orbiting Sith siege ships.  So, it would appear she has a great deal of confidence in your abilities," the General corrected with a raised left hand.<br/><br/>"I see.  This is news to me, but regardless, my rank means little to me.  I just want to help your people, Sir," Zyan answered.<br/><br/>"And you have," Vern replied with a smile.  "Come, let us talk to the council.  Governor Zim will be very happy to speak with you," the General continued before Zyan's comm beeped.<br/><br/>"Yes, Admiral?" Zyan answered.<br/><br/>"Incoming Sith forces.  They are dropping out of hyperspace right now.  We expect contact with the enemy fleet in less than an hour, Sir," the Admiral reported.<br/><br/>Zyan frowned, because he believed there could only be one person arriving now considering the warning in the Force earlier.<br/><br/>Keiran had arrived.<br/><br/>"Prepare for attack, but remember - this is not a prolonged engagement.  We are here to help the people - not get into a massive battle," Zyan told him.<br/><br/>"Understood, Sir, but we should do all we can to stop the Sith from continuing their siege," the Admiral countered.<br/><br/>"True, but we do not have the forces for this kind of battle.  The aid we have given the Balmorran people is more than enough to help them until we can send a better relief force.  So, this is a delaying action only.  Once we need to retreat - we will," Zyan pointed out firmly.<br/><br/>"Yes, Sir," the Admiral replied before cutting the comm.<br/><br/>"So, a delaying action.  Intriguing.  I understand your resources are not great at this point.  The fact that you came here at all at such great risk means a lot to my people.  The new shield generators will certainly come in handy.  They will be up soon.  If you can hold them off for that hour - those generators will be online."<br/><br/>"Consider it done, General," Zyan assured, and then raced away to his fighter.  It was not long before he joined up with the rest of Emerald Squadron at the front of the newly organized defenses. </span></span>