Held in place by the dark force user Ker'see knows she'll have a hard time getting a strong shot on her so decides to distract her. She aims for the ceiling and knocks some debris loose. Ventress manages to get a blade to strike it but scatters some dust around...

The super battle droids advance and turn their fire on the suspended ARC trooper, landing a couple hits. Camouflage's armor takes the hits well, but it still leaves painful burns underneath. He tracks the fire and returns some of his own, joining the barrage from Varactyl Squad. Together, they eliminate the remaining droids entirely, and Varactyl Squad turns their fire on Asajj Ventress. She batters away their fire, barely able to hang on to her lightsaber.

Jorin took a breath and let the Force flow through him, strengthening him and assisting him in throwing the droid from the cockpit.

Aieeeee! the droid cried out as it sailed briefly through the air and crashing to the stone floor.

Jorin dropped down into the command seat of the fighter and glanced back at the Huttlet strapped into the tiny storage nook behind the seat. Not to worry little one, we'll get you back to your family soon. Jorin assured it as he strapped himself in.

He tapped the commlink control on his gauntlet and opened a channel. Immutable, this is Commander Cass, I have the Huttlet and will be approaching in a non-GAR fighter...

Sergeant Poe points to Ventress, "Take down the assassin, protect the generals!" he orders his squad, before ducking behind cover of his own. His troopers, still in cover, pivot from the scrapped droids and open fire on Ventress, forcing her to keep backing up and deflecting their shots, starting to get overwhelmed.

Ventress’ two red ‘sabres slashed down at Mireska, but she dodged at the last moment. A snarl of frustration crossed Ventress’ face before she then gestured in Mireska’s direction with one lightsabre.

Mireska felt the clammy, cold hands of the Dark Side trying to get a grip on her body and move it as Ventress wanted. Focus! That was all that she had time to think, before she had to fight off that cold assault. She used the metaphor of washing unwanted debris from a wound as her mental defence, using streams of the Force to wash away the hold by - and sensations of - the Dark side, dancing further away from the dark sider as she did so.

She then retaliated by using the Force to draw Ventress towards her own teal blade. The bald woman parried her lunge, and made a perfect riposte which slashed uncomfortably close to Mireska's face. The sudden presence of the red blade right before her eyes, in combination with the screams from the bleeding kyber crystals which were all too audible in the Force, left her feeling dizzy and disoriented.

This is not going so well for me! I'm feeling disoriented and ... stunned! That's it! A solution!

"Stun settings!" Mireska called desperately to the clones, "Use your stun settings against her!"

"You heard the general!" Camouflage yells. Now if only I could see the general . He is able to make out the light from the lightsabers, and fires towards the red lightsabers. Unfortunately, his poor vision was deceptive and General Tanohdi was in his line of fire. She swipes her saber around behind her back, dissipating the stun energy of Camouflage's bolt, then completing the rotation and bringing her weapon back in front of her body to defend against Ventress.

Moving in with her compatriots with a limp Ker'see swaps her bow for the dragoon rifle and switches it to stun.

She carefully aims and fights the shakes from the wounds and fires at the enemy before her. Unfortunately Ventress was too good and was able to repel the attack away.

Jorin lowered the canopy and started the engines as flashes of light reflected off the transparasteel. A glance at the small monitor on the console showed the difficulty the others were having with the Dark Woman, causing a pang in his gut, a desire to help.. Mission first, mission first, mission first... Jorin repeated to himself as he strapped in. He reached for the throttle as the sleek fighter rose off the stone floor. Sorry... He pushed it forward and the fighter shot out of the hanger in a burst of acceleration. Woah! Jorin gasped as the Huttlet cried out in surprise. Jorin pulled back on the controls sending the ship skyward and activated the S-foils, unfolding the wings to bring the weapons online. Commander Cass to Immutable, I have cleared the monastery in a Fan Blade class fighter, do you copy?

Static. The audio feed is static, and the console pops up an alert that he's being jammed, the message can't get through.

Ventress howls in rage as Jorin blasts out of the hangar and reaches out with a quick grasp and pull as she backflips through the air. As if pulled by invisible strings, the blasters fly out of the clones' hands, the lightsaber from Mireska's hands, the rifle from Ker'see's hands, and the lightsaber from her belt, all flying several yards before landing and skittering across the floor.

Varactyl Squad recovers the fastest, and as Ventress is still landing at the edge of the hangar, the four clones scramble forward in a dash for their blasters. Scooping them up, they set to stun as they run for cover.

As Ventress lands, she snarls at the Republic forces and sweeps her lightsabers up into a defensive position, almost imperceptibly tapping her wrist comlink as she does so.

Sithspit! Mireska cursed mentally when Ventress managed to yank her lightsabre out of her hand. I've got to keep a stronger hold on my 'sabre - everyone and everything are going after it!

Chee'Okee stands her ground and tries to reach out through the Force to collect Mireska's lightsaber for her, but is too distracted with keeping an eye on Ventress that the weapon just rattles a little on the ground and stays in place.

Sergeant Poe and his troopers charge forward and switch their weapons to stun, shooting at Ventress. She effortlessly deflects the stun bolts, dissipating them easily.

Being without her traditional weapons Ker'see turns to her companion. "The Duchess by me sometime!"

The Nexu finally being able to let loose charges for the dark warrior but is unable to gain purchase with her teeth and Ventress spins to place her own lightsaber into the beast's flank. While not out The Duchess takes a severe wound for her trouble.

Fighting through her pain, Mireska kept up her dodging dance.

First, heal myself. I can't be useful if I'm down ...

It was hard to focus properly and draw in the thread of the Force; it felt darker somehow and this time there wasn't even energy enough to help anyone else. Nonetheless, it was a relief to feel most of her injuries heal.

Next, re-acquire my weapon so that I can defend myself ...

Still preternatually aware of - and avoiding - any incoming shots, Mireska moved over to where her lightsabre lay. She activated the magnetic weapon tether for her lightsabre, and re-ignited it again as soon as it was back in her hand.

... And I'm back in action. I do hope that Jorin managed to leave in good order with the huttlet!

Chee'Okee reaches out with the Force again, this time retrieving Ker'see's lightsaber and hooking it to her belt, to give to the other Jedi later.

Ventress reaches out towards Poe with her left hand, thrusting her lightsaber forwards with her right. The clone grasps at the invisible hands around his throat as he rises off the ground and accelerates towards Ventress, the tips of his toes barely skimming the ground. She drives the lightsaber hard into his torso, then shoves him away and backflips off the edge of the hangar, into open space.

Half a moment later, a Vulture droid up past the hangar bay door, Ventress standing on its body and holding her sabers in a goodbye salute.

Poe collapses to the hangar floor, doubled over and grunting in pain, barely conscious. Weakly, he says "H-hhelp... m- hrk me..."

Jorin gasped as a tremor in the Force sent a cold chill down his spine and his vision blurred from tears, he wasn't exactly sure who was injured badly enough to cause the ripple, but it was taking all his strength not to turn around to help. mission first, missionfirstmissionfirst He repeated the words between sobs, eyes focused on the Acclamator......

Mireska took a deep breath and exhaled slowly to re-centre herself, then hurried over to where Poe lay on the floor.

When she reached him, she immediately stretched out into the Force and grasped the necessary threads to re-weave most of his wounds back together, paying particular attention to his torso. Despite her focus, she was unable to extend her Force-touch to include his leg injury.

Swearing mentally, Mireska quickly unpacked her physician's kit and applied a more mundane treatment to Poe's leg. Although it was done extremely competently, she was not happy at herself for being unable to finish the job with the Force alone.

Poe, on the other hand, was blinking in astonishment at his unwounded chest. His leg was still smarting a bit, and it felt half-asleep when he staggered to his feet. But it's a frakkin' sight better than being on the injured list in sickbay! he thought to himself.

"Thank you, General!" Poe said out loud, as he poked at his armour and considered the best way to make a field repair where the crazy bald woman's lightsabre had pierced it.

"You're welcome, Sergeant," replied Mireska, then looked around in order to evaluate who else required medical assistance.

Camouflage stumbles over a crate and falls to the floor, landing awkwardly. Shab. I can't see. My blasters... Varactyl Squad had already started walking back to their injured Lieutenant, and when they see him fall, Anakkona moves quickly to his side and helps him to his feet while Shadow collects his pistols. Noting the smoking holes in his armor, Anakkona yells "General! Six-five could use some help."

One of Poe's squad is providing emergency first aid to his injured brother, "General, Sentry's hit bad."

Camouflage waves General Tanohdi on, "I can wait, it's not that severe."

Hawk speaks up, "I tried to check in on that Vulture droid with the Immutable , but I can't get through to them, or to our men out front. Our comms are being jammed."
"That can only mean one thing." Sergeant Poe adds. "Invasion."
"Vulture droid!?" Camouflage says, surprised.
"Yeah, Ventress took off on the back of one." Ghost said.
"Osik, those are short-range fighters. Sergeant, send a runner to the men out front. Warn them."
"Yes, sir! Blue, get your shebs out there, warn Sergeant Raven and the men out front."
The clone jumps up and salutes, then takes off down the hallway.

Camouflage tries to raise Jorin on his comlink, but he can't get a signal through. "Can't raise the k- Commander either." he announces.

"We must trust in the Force then, that he will take care of himself," Mireska asserted. Stars, padawan, I hope that you continue your lucky streak!

Mireska took a deep breath and exhaled slowly to re-centre herself again, then advanced on Camouflage.

"You're up next, Lieutenant," she said as she stretched out into the Force and grasped the necessary threads to re-weave most of his wounds back together, paying particular attention to his eye.

Camouflage experienced a slight tingling sensation as something sped up the natural healing process to a preternatural degree - something which possibly worked even beyond the natural course of time. He blinked in astonishment as his eyesight returned far more quickly than he'd anticipated was possible. So, no cybernetic eye for me, I guess.

Still with the fearsome doctor-in-charge look in her eye, Mireska turned to Ker'see.

"Stand still, please," she told the huntress. Again, the Force answered her call ... but not as effectively as she wanted. Most of Ker'see's injuries were healed up, but both the slight concussion and the bad leg remained. Huffing in frustration, Mireska resorted to her physician's kit and applied the appropriate mundane medical remedies for both conditions. The Duchess paced uneasily around her Jedi friend, limping slightly and growling quietly.

"Ker'see, if you calm down the Duchess, I'll treat her after Sentry," Mireska gestured at the clone trooper, who was in a bad way.

Again, the Force answered Mireska's call, but she could feel that she was losing her focus. Nonetheless, Sentry's injuries were healed.

"There you are: basically as good as new!" Mireska told him cheerfully. She then returned to Ker'see, who'd calmed down the nexu by that point.

And now for the Duchess - and hopefully myself ...

This time the Force came eagerly to her call, and Mireska wove its threads into both the Duchess and herself. The nexu's injuries disappeared as Mireska soothed the worst of her distressing pain. There was indeed enough Force energy left over for Mireska to heal the last of her own wounds and the accompanying pain and fatigue.

That's it - I'm done for the day! ... Hah, who'm I kidding, the CIS won't stop making our lives difficult just because I want to finish early.

"I suspect that we'll need to dig in somewhere. Any suggestions?" Mireska asked.

OOC Comment

In case anyone has been following just the IC thread and is wondering what's happening next: we're moving over to Discord due to the imminent death of the FFG forums (by end of 31 January 2021).

If you wish to continue spectating/reading along, then ask "P-47 Thunderbolt#8994" nicely on Discord (if you don't contact him here on the FFG forums before they close down).