Garon had taken the first step of his charge when the ship shuddered from impact. With no footing, the Besalisk hit the deck hard. However, in one fluid motion, he was back on his feet and in full sprint towards the Sith.

He took a savage pleasure as fists made contact with flesh and armor, but his elation was short-lived. The Sith returned with a blow to his temple, When he turned back to his opponent, he saw not one, but two, identical, Lords.

The blasted sith clocked be good. He's got me seeing double.

So focused was he on clearing his vision that he missed the Sith's taunt, but he could tel Tok was shaken.

This your first time fighting a Sith up close?

Garon's voice was hoarse, and his speech was sluggish. When he faced the Sith again, he was swaying were he stood.

Come on then. Show me watch'ya got!

As the Sith swung at Garon, he finished the motion by smoothly tossing a holocomm to Tok. Looking at it, he immediately felt a miasma of rage, sorrow and fear begin to cloud him. There on the screen were Janna and Morra, lifeless on the floor of their home. Run through in the same manner as the brave woman who stayed back to defend the ships. He feels short of breath and ready to vomit, but takes a breath and remembers Micc'm saying nothing in here was real.

He doesn't know if he trusts the long dead Jedi. He's pretty sure he doesn't based on what he saw. Guess we both have a secret, Tok thinks.

The Sith and Garon trade blows and Tok realizes he's as dangerous to the Besalisk as he is the Sith if he tries firing. Instead he breaks for one of the fighters, outpacing the remaining saboteur. Leaping into the pilot's seat Tok begins making the final flight checks and shouts to Garon.

"We've got to go! Get over here or at least get out of the kriffing way!"

The prone Sith Master is enraged when Garon's first blow connects. He stands up smoothly and swings a punch of his own. While it doesn't connect, the force and fury behind it is enough to stun the Besalisk momentarily. The swing also throws back his cowl to reveal his face clearly.
He activates and throws a holocommunicator to the Gotal, indicating the death of his family.

He grins darkly at the Gotal's mixed expression of Dark Side emotions and betrayed recognition. As Tok flees towards the idling gunships. the Sith Master winds back and punches Garon again, this time connecting and sending the Besalisk tumbling to the deckplates. "Stay down, pup," he snarls in an eerily familiar voice. "This is a fight you won't come back from."

He activates his lightsaber again and strides to the base of the gunship's embarkation ramp.

~ ~ ~

In the bridge of the Jedi cruiser, the assembled Jedi look on in helplessness as the energy waves from the Cron Cluster approach their disturbingly smaller craft; Micc'm hasn't yet arrived at the bridge, possibly still nursing his wounds. Rin desperately tries every trick in the book and his knowledge of astrogation to input coordinates to escape the system. "About bloody time!" he shouts when the terminal finally accepts his commands and lights up green for a hyperspace jump.

"It's too late," one of the Jedi in his wing says with quiet defeat.

The bridge crew murmurs in horror as the first of the energy waves consumes the surface of Nerit in a massive conflagration and slams into the Jedi cruiser and her closest Sith counterpart. The shields on both ships fail almost instantly and excess energy flows into the hyperspace array of the Jedi cruiser, electrocuting Rin. The energy forces his teeth to clench and he can't even scream as his skin smokes lightly. The Jedi manage to keep their footing, but the normal bridge crew are thrown violently. Captain Millster is thrown into the sharp corner of a nearby computer terminal, tearing open the surface and deeply cutting into the flesh of his arm. He starts to scream, but the terminal explodes, throwing his to the ground. Most of his arm is gone. "Medic to the bridge!" one of his lieutenants yells into the ship comms.

One of the members in Nexu Command Wing speaks. "Come, Jedi. The captain and our Master wished us to the cryogenics bay if something like this happened."

The assembled Jedi file out of the bridge, mournfully quiet while the chaos rages around them.

~ ~ ~

In the cockpit of the gunship, Tok has but a scant few moments to process what he's seen and heard in this vision/memory with what he knows. The Sith Master only a few paces away looks exactly like his employer, sounds exactly like his employer. A human man in his fifties or sixties, pale with evidence of deep tanning in the past or residence on a tropical world, laugh lines around his eyes and mouth, salt and pepper hair and goatee...That man also looks and sounds exactly like an older version of this Jedi Master they're allowing to control them.

Garon groaned as the Sith lord knocked him flat on his back. He paused only long enough to gloat before advancing upon Tok.

That won't do

The large Jedi turned over and used his powerful arms to vault to his feet. He was still feeling a bit dazed, but tried his best to clear his head as he once again closed the distance.

Garon's frustration was written all over his visage. He was a flurry of kicks and blows, but he Sith was countering them with ease.

And worse lamented the Besalisk He now has his blasted saber.

Ren-Do watches with horror as the energy waves consumes the surface of Nerit with a look of horror on his face. He hadn't really had much time to process the fact this had happened, and seeing it, even if it was just the memory of one Jedi come to live, filled him with horror. For a moment he's glad his connection with the Force has diminished. The death of so many sentient beings would surely have been a blow. Was that what happened? Was that what caused my connection to the Force to diminish? Or was it the long sleep in the Cryo-tube? Why would I not have my connection in this vision, if that's how Micc'm remembers me? So many questions plague Ren-Do's head.

The other part of his binary brain is focused on other things. With Rin busy he looks at Sonya, the only one apart from Xaramis who isn't a part of Micc'ms vision. He grabs her arm, stopping her from running. "Hold on a moment. This is not happening like we were led to belief. What do you remember from the actual event? And why would Micc'm nearly kill himself just to take out one Sith fighter, a fighter that was as far as I could tell, falling back and not posing a threat at the moment? We cannot discount the possibility that Micc'm is remembering things that never happened. Perhaps things he wishes he'd done, things he thinks should have happened. 4000 years is a long time for a holocron to be alone with it's thoughts. Things could have gotten corrupted. What if Micc'm has fallen to the dark side?"

"When this actually happened, everything was much more chaotic. I was on the cruiser and our damage in the battle was more extensive. This could be more or less accurate, but Micc'm said himself things about it are not correct.

Ramming a real fleeing foe would be giving in to the Dark Side, possibly the deaths of his friends led to the rage behind it. There could also be some odd holocron thing happening that requires the removal of as much of the red glow as possible and of this memory is some kind of metaphor.

I should add that when this happened, even a padawan could feel the death, and terror preceding it, of the thousands in the system. I cannot feel that now. Either the holocron is not replicating it or perhaps the actual experience caused me to shut myself off from the Force to prevent more pain.

Micc'm is part of the holocron and we know it has been corrupted. Perhaps resolving Micc'm's corruption is another part of the test?

Do we know what happened to the real Micc'm?"

Sonya seems somewhat exhausted by the strain of saying so much using current sentence structure.

Kellen struggled to keep up with his emotions as he stepped into the cryo bay.

The Sith assault, the energy wave, his own memories he didn't know were missing sneaking back.

It was difficult separating out the current moment - exploring a holocron - and the past as they crashed together.

He could feel the dark side. From the holocron. From his own memories of fear and anger before calming himself and entering a millenniums long slumber. From the galaxy outside the holocron.

Kellen willed himself to focus on the moment and the Living Force. He was here for a purpose and would need to sort things out later.

"Master Micc'm, what does this mean? What are we to do now?"

This memory's version of Micc'm turns to face Kellen. The golden yellow holocron shape of his face is marred by the paths of angry deep red tears that have streaked down his face. "We have, all of us, failed, knight. Our only path is to enter these cryotubes and hope that they aren't destroyed when this ship crashes on the surface of Nerit. Then we must hope in the Force that the Jedi of other temples will come looking for us."

He sighs heavily and turns to stare out the viewport again. Below, the surface of Ossus's lush moon is almost entirely aflame, ignited by the pulsing energy waves from the Cron Cluster. "I can only hope the Sith pay for what they have done and that vengeance is met."

"We're not dead yet Micc'm, so we haven't failed in that at least. Yes, our backs are to the wall, but once Rin's got us moving we'll have a clear run through," Xaramis pitches his reassuring statement for the ears of all the Jedi in the room, attempting to keep their spirits up despite the stresses of their situation and the increasingly hopeless outlook of captain and crew aboard the cruiser. Now though, he drops his voice so that only Micc'm can hear.

"What are you doing?" he asks the man, an edge palpable in his voice. "This is not the Jedi way, whatever that means nowadays. Despair, anger, attacking a fleeing foe - that is not how a Jedi should act," I think, he mentally appends. "Something troubles you Knight, something more than our immediate threat; tell me," he smiles one of his reassuring smiles, the kind he uses when he's attempting to extract a story from a particularly reticent being, and hopes that it will be enough.

Ren-Do approaches Micc'm and Xaramis, but since he followed the Falleen into the room, Xaramis does not notice his presence. The Jedi Knight is about to say something to Micc'm when Xaramis starts talking. Interested in hearing where this is going, Ren-Do keeps silent, listening to the young man. Clearly he hasn't been completely truthful when he feigned ignorance about the Order before. Unsurprising, really, given that the Order has been banned.

When Xaramis falls silent, Ren-Do steps up to stand next to him. "Well said, my young friend. We'll make a Jedi out of you yet." He looks at Micc'm. "I would also like to hear the answers to those questions."

"And also," Ren-Do continues. "Where are Tok and Garon? I don't see them here."

"What are you doing, padawan? You dare presume to question a Master. You have much to learn. I am doing what I can to save the Jedi who remain. The captain and I agreed to place us all in cryogenic containment to survive a potential crash landing, at the sacrifice of the entire crew. Tell me how we have not failed, boy. The Sith are still alive out there," he gestures emphatically out the viewport. "If they manage to land safely on the moon upon which this ship is doomed to fall, they will murder any survivors and steal or destroy the artifacts we conveniently retrieved for them."

He jabs his index finger painfully and angrily into the center of Xaramis's chest with what feels the strength of two men. "And what do you know of the Jedi way? You are less trained than the youngest of younglings. In case you haven't sensed it, the power has failed on this ship. Knight Bahh was practically electrocuted on the bridge when trying to input coordinates. We aren't going anywhere except down. We are already caught in Nerit's gravity well."

The whiphid from Xaramis's wing approaches to answer Ren-Do's question. "Three Republic saboteurs and a padawan went to disable the further cruiser," he growled. "Considering the craft is still more or less approaching, they may yet to succeed."

~ ~ ~

The remaining saboteur flees onto the gunship when Garon attacks the Sith Master. The Sith faces the Jedi padawan with rage on his face. "I warned you, whelp," he snarls, striking with the lightsaber, critically wounding the besalisk. "Stay down or I will put you down. I prefer to leave playthings alive for my sister to deal with later."

That said, he strides up the ramp into the gunship's airlock.

The pain was was nearly unbearable. Being struck by a lightsaber wasn't a new experience for him. The memories of his confrontation with the last Sith Lord he faced came rushing at him. He didn't fair much better against that one, either.

Garon growled savagely as the Sith advanced towards the ship. Where you going?

His heavy breathing and shaking hands belied the the casual confidence in his voice.

I don't give a blast about your sister. I'm fighting you.

The Besalisk tensed up, popping the stiff joints in his arms.

Or you could leave me and I'll make your sister my plaything.

It was an empty gesture, but if he could distract the Sith, he may be able to buy some time for Tok to get off the ship.

At least one of us will make it out of here.

Tok's stomach sinks as watches the Sith lord strike Garon and then begins making his way up the gun ship's boarding ramp. Realizing he's short on time and options an idea begins to blossom in his mind and he opens the exterior comm channel.

"Garon! Stay there. I'll be right back for you."

With that, he smacks the controls to bring up the magnetic airlock wall between himself and the Sith lord and hits the thruster controls making his way out of the hangar and out into space.

He does not close the boarding ramp.

Realization spreads across the Sith lord's face and he frantically tries to find both a handhold and the boarding ramp controls, but he finds neither. Eyes wide with fury and surprise, the pale creature is sucked out of the back of the gunship into the void and Tok does a quick 180 and reenters the Sith cruiser's hangar.

"Need a lift," he asks Garon over the ship's external comm system. "I promise I'll close the boarding ramp for you."

When the Sith Master is expelled into space and subsequently dies, the entire Force memory rocks and shudders, flickering as though it were merely a holotheatre in a war zone. A scream of pure anguish and rage rips through the memory when the fuzz clears, emanating from a central point. The Jedi, republic navy personnel, and Micc'm all fail to notice it.

Micc'm waves a hand to dismiss Ren-Do's words and pulls himself free from the Cerean's touch. "I wasn't asking you, Knight. I was asking the boy," he says, frowning like a spoilt child. "And, what do you mean damaged from the cryo tube? We haven't even entered them yet.

Trying to find a way to tell Micc'm what he knows without sounding like a lunatic or taking up too much time Ren-Do gives up. Sometimes a little lie can be harmless, he thinks. "It's a vision the Force has shown me. The Sith eventually lose the war, but I will lose most of my connection to the Force when I enter the cryo-tube."

"That is not what's important though," Xaramis urges. "Whatever may happen in the days to come, it does not detract from what's going on here and now. I may not be an expert in your code, but I know how to read people, and you are troubled by far more than the dangers you face. I have gathered some knowledge from the others, though I don't know much about the Jedi Code itself, or the ways of the Force, but even that is enough to tell that the Dark Side is affecting you, troubling you in ways that you should not be troubled. You need to step away from it, if you have any belief at all in the values of your order, the ones which you are sworn to uphold," Micc'm is evidently deeply troubled, perhaps too far so, but he can still try to save him - perhaps, after all, that is the final challenge of the holocron.

Garon's expression went from confusion, to anger, and finally to bemusement as he undocked the ship and finally evacuated the Sith Lord into the void of space.

Chuckling, the Besalisk boarded the vessel and made his way to the cockpit. That was some clever thinking. I'll give you that. But you shoulda left him to me. I had him right where I want him

In any case. Let's blow this thing and go home.

Tok raises an eyebrow in response, the barest glimpse of a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth

"I know, I ruin all your fun," he says to Garon, then turns his attention to Joril. "Just before we clear the hangar blow the charges. We can't risk the detonator being out of range or getting messed up by the interference."

The Gotal gives the replusorlifts full power and the gunship rises off the deck plating, then rotates 180-degrees to head back out of the Sith cruiser and across the battlefield to the Jedi ship from which the crew apparently departed, though all Tok recalls is this illusory scenario starting with him and the boarding party already crashed aboard the Sith ship.

Worry nags at Tok as he deftly slips the gun ship past debris from the space battle. "How does he know and, more importantly, why does Micc'm and that spaced Sith look just like him?" He gets a searing pain in his gut when he thinks of the holo the Sith showed him of his family, dead on the ground. "That won't happen. I won't let it," he thinks.

He's pulled from his head space by the spectacular detonation of the Sith cruiser from which they'd just departed. They evidently did their jobs quite well if the hole in the side of the ship and the telltale dead-vessel-list the cruiser had taken on are any indication. Just then Tok has a horrible thought as they draw closer to the worryingly dark Jedi cruiser.

"They won't know it's us," he says, quietly first, then repeated louder. "They won't know we're not Sith. Somebody get on the comms quick. Make them understand it's us and not a Sith trick, or else this is going to get really messy."

Rin stands on the bridge of the Jedi's last semi functional cruiser in the vicinity of the Cron Cluster. A young crewman tugging at his arm "Now Doorintta, the captain said get to the cryotubes now... come on" But something held Rin in place, kept him starting out the window at the steadily approaching Sith, a gutt feeling perhaps, the vaguest hint of the Force trying to tell him something.

Just as he is about to give up a flash of an explosion emanates from the lower port side, toward the stern of their ship. Almost immediately the ship drifts off course, crunching into another large wreckage it should have dodged. "Something just blew up on that Sith Cruiser, scanners, where are the scanner terminals?" He dashes over to the terminal and starts furiously typing in commands, scanning the target, quickly he spots a single small craft dodging and weaving through the debris right toward them...

"Incoming! There's a Sith incoming fast! Heck, what's their bloody Comms frequency?" Rin starts scanning different frequencies, the disturbance from the stellar collisions wrecking havoc on the readings, scan after scan gets nothing but static. "Someone prepare the point defence guns, we won't let these horrid Sith get on board" as he runs one last Scan a slight warble catches his attention [theres bloody something there, but those Sith have it encrypted... Bahh, why am I even trying this] but something is still driving him on.

He begins trying to decrypt it, running through various standard codes, trying a few modified ones, frustration builds. "Doorintta they are almost in range, we are ready to fire" [Garrr! Work faster you great oaf... what about this?] with a sudden stroke of luck Rin nails it, the distorted coms suddenly burst to life with voices...

Garon chuckled and made for the comms.

Nexu squadron this Gundark team. I hope you weren't setting extra seats for any Sith for dinner. It looks like they just cancelled. Now if you wouldn't mind opening the blasted front door so we can come on in.

On the computers he could see the blast shields lowering and the power diverted from the defense systems.

Head for that bay over there. It looks like they're rolling out the welcome mat for us.

"Ha! I knew it wasn't those bloody Sith. Good to hear you made it out Garon, I presume Tok is with you?" Rin smiles a little, trusting the Force has its moments of reward thats for sure.

"Hey, lets see if we cant get those engines back on line and get the heck out of here!!"

"He's delusional from his injuries. Can't even tell the hyperdrive has completely failed," the bridge crewman says to another. "Help me with him. Captain wants him down in the cryo bay with the other Jedi, per the Jedi Master's directions."

The two members of the bridge crew nearest Rin move to take his arms and remove him from the bridge.

Micc'm shakes his head in confusion and a failure of the memory to translate some of what Xaramis and Ren-Do are saying. "Come, knights, padawans. Enter the cryogenic tubes. We will be safe from impact while inside them, and they are programmed to release once central power finally disconnects. So, we shouldn't be stuck inside them for too long given what the energy waves are doing to the ship. Afterwards, we just need to practice patience while we wait for the inevitable rescue ships sent from the other temples."

He turns away from the windows to watch and wait for the other Jedi to enter cryo tubes.

Sonya looks to the others, wishing her confidence with a lightsabre extended to talking to people. "Master Micc'm, a thought has been troubling me. If you are struggling with the Dark Side when you are atuning a lightsabre crystal, can it affect the crystal? Does that apply to holocrons, too?"

Feeling out of place she adds, "It may not be the right time to ask, but I did not want to go into hybernation with the question festering in my subconscious."