SW: Serious Business

Aira-ty skidded into cover alongside Captain Jesp and the rest of the men. She glanced around at them quickly, everyone seemed to be here: Jesp, Jaster, Joker, Shiny, Chatter, Sly, Cube, Gallant, Hooligan and Lucky were all here. She felt guilty finding these ten clones special against the thousands of others that served with the 13th Assault Corps but they were to her. Her five Wolf Pack members and the five Wild Card BARC troopers made up her own little cadre within the 13th Corps.
“We're all set Commander.” Jesp said.
Aira-ty glanced over at at Jaster who nodded, confirming his fellow captain's assessment. Her ten man team was in a flanking position on an enemy strong-point comprising multiple repeating blasters and heavy laser emplacements that were holding up the 13th's advance through the canyon. The rims of the canyon were heavily covered with enemy triple A and so unless the Aegis Fleet in orbit wanted to level the canyon, they had to do this the old fashioned way.
“We're in position.” Aira-ty said over her comlink.
“I copy Commander Nokta.” Hanabi replied. “Master Kahan is going to start now.”
Aira-ty held her breath for a moment before confirming. She still wasn't sure how she felt about the General's newest trick he'd been practicing with but, well so long as he didn't involve her in it she didn't mind...too much.

“Commander Nokta is ready.” Hanabi said besides her Master.
Kahan nodded and smiled as he took a deep breath.
“Alright, here goes.”
He closed his eyes and stretched out with his mind, touching all those around him, piercing their minds and entwining them all within a collective consciousness with himself at its center. Even Hanabi was drawn into the web. The only one who refused his touch was Aira-ty. Not only did she reject his mind, but he had promised not to involve her. The advantage of the clone troops under his command, was that their minds were so similar to one another that if he could get into one, he could typically get into another. That wasn't universal of course, but broadly speaking he could integrate with little disruption to any clone with very little effort.
The advantage was that each of the troopers under his command could now be directed as he needed while he could see and react to everything they were experiencing without taking away their free will. Most of the time he simply piggybacked upon their consciousness without interfering with their own actions. Sometimes though, when situations dictated, he could direct entire formations to conduct an action to take pressure off of another formation in the combat. So he did now as he directed his forces forwards with Hanabi at their head.

Hanabi felt her Master's presence flow into her and connect with her mind. She wasn't yet good enough at the battle meditation techniques to handle all the inputs from the hundreds and sometimes thousands of troopers like he could, but she could glimpse individuals in the web of minds but not see the entire skein. She concentrated on those around her as they advanced towards the enemy strong-point and trusted that her Master would see them through as she raised her saber and began swatting aside the incoming enemy fire.

Aira-ty saw her ten man team rise as one, sure sign that General Kahan had wound their minds into his collective. She rose with them, though slightly after they began to move, and vaulted over the embankment as Wild Card and Wolf Pack squads lobbed grenades into the enemy trenchline. The droids didn't realize what hit them as blasterfire was followed by several grenade blasts as Aira-ty and her men set upon them with a vengeance. Below the embankment, the onrushing forces of the 13th came up the berm towards the strong-point. It was a race against time now, Aira-ty and her forces had to eliminate the gunners before they could gun down the advancing troops and those same troops had to reach the strong-point before Aira-ty and her team were overwhelmed by the superior enemy forces.
It was all an intricate ballet orchestrated by the General who was sitting down the slope as he directed the entire combat. The only piece, the only wild card in the entire affair was Aira-ty, something she was somewhat proud of. She raised her blaster and shot a droid's head off as it turned to engage her men.
“Come on!” she shouted. “Take those guns down!”

Kahan frowned, straining to maintain his focus as something pressed against his mind. It was at once a familiar and yet intrusive presence and it took him a moment to realize what it was. In fact if not for a very obvious audible hint, he might have been caught completely unaware and been very dead.
“DIE JEDI!”
Ventress' bloodthirsty roar snapped Kahan out of his battle meditation, jerking his consciousness back to his body in an instant as he rolled and ignited his sabers, dodging Ventress' initial strike. He was not quick enough to get his guard up as Ventress threw him against the rocks, holding him there while she slashed through the troopers that had remained behind to shield Kahan while he directed the combat.
She turned her full attention on him, leering wickedly.
“You lit off like a beacon when you started your meditation. You could not have made your presence more obvious.”
“My mistake,” Kahan replied through gritted teeth. “I'll have to work on that.”
Ventress slammed him into the ground shattering his concentration, standing over him with her sabers raised.
“You won't have the chance, I told you I would kill you.”
“So you did.” Kahan replied, still pinned by Ventress' kinetic power. “We shall see if you can execute that threat.”
Ventress' eyes flashed angrily.
“Die.”
“NO!”

Hanabi had realized something was wrong the moment she'd felt her Master's presence withdraw from her mind. She looked around at the troopers besides her. They were still advancing, the position above them was being disrupted and the fire it was pouring down on them was slackening. The retreat of her Master's presence though without warning concerned her and she reached out to him through the link she shared with him and felt his distress.
“Keep advancing!” she shouted to the officer besides her. “I'm going back to check on the General!”
The officer nodded and rallied the men around him as they continued their fighting advance up the slope to relieve Commander Nokta and her men while Hanabi turned and ran down the berm. As she neared the Republic position at the base of the hill she spied her Master lying prone on the ground with the Separatist Commander Ventress standing over him with raised blades.
As Ventress made to lower her weapons, Hanabi leapt, her expression grim as she shouted.
“NO!”
Her blue blade flashed and sparked above Master Kahan's head as it connected with Ventress' crimson blades. The darksider turned a snarl on Hanabi.
“This is not your affair girl!” she swiped at Hanabi with her sabers as Hanabi danced away from her. “Wait your turn!”
“You won't kill him!” Hanabi said with grim determination. “I won't let you!”
Ventress turned, her attention temporarily taken away from Kahan.
“Oh I will kill him, and you girlie, are you prepared to die?”

Ventress' distraction was all Kahan needed, the force of her power slamming him into the ground evaporated as she turned on Hanabi, her anger getting the better of him and allowing him to focus again. His mind resolved itself and shot like a weaponized bolt into Ventress' mind. The Sith shrieked and turned on him in rage.
“STAY OUT!” she barked, her mind fighting against his.
She had gotten better at deflecting his attacks, but she still couldn't stop him, merely delay him. That was when she charged him, forcing him to recover his sabers and ignite their amber blades, breaking his concentration just enough to prevent him from piercing her mind. Ventress was caught between Kahan's saber-staff and Hanabi's single blade and while neither of them were a match for her in their swordsmanship, she could not afford to let Kahan get a moment to concentrate forcing her to keep her attention on him and opening windows of attack for Hanabi.
Letting out a howl of rage at her inability to finish her target, she leapt up into the rocks above them, vanishing amidst the escarpment as she scrambled away from the dual threat of Hanabi's saber and Kahan's mind.
Hanabi watched for a moment to ensure the Sith had indeed retreated before turning to her Master.
“Are you alright?” she asked worriedly.
He nodded, disengaging his sabers.
“Yes, thank you for saving me.”
Hanabi's face flushed, her purple skin deepening in color.
“You're the one that drove her away Master.”
“Not without your help.” he turned to look back up the slope where the combat was continuing. “Come, let's finish this.”

As the reinforcements poured into the trenchline, Aira-ty turned to check on her men. A few scorch marks were the only signs of their predicament from a few moments before. What surprised her though was that there was no sign of Hanabi. She was supposed to have led the charge on this position.
“Where's the kid?” she asked one of the clone officers.
“She returned to check on the General.” the officer replied, touching the side of his helmet. “She'll be here momentarily.”
Aira-ty nodded, wondering why Hanabi would stop the attack to return to the General in the midst of an assault.
She got her answer a moment later as Kahan and Hanabi came over the berm and joined her in the enemy trenchline.
“You look like hell.” she said as she looked at the General's battered state.
“The enemy had a surprise waiting for me, I will need to be careful from here onwards.” he replied enigmatically.
Aira-ty frowned and looked at Hanabi.
“What happened?”
“Ventress.” the girl replied.
Aira-ty's eyes widened behind her helmet as she turned back on Kahan.
“That psychopath is here?”
Kahan nodded. “And she's gunning for me.”
Aira-ty felt anger rising as she advanced on the General, putting a finger in his chest.
“That's it, you're sticking with me until we're off this rock, do you understand me?”
“I don't think that's necessary Commander.” Kahan said with a slight smile.
“Oh no, I'm sticking with you and if she comes back I will gut her!” Aira-ty snapped, meaning every word of it.
Kahan sighed and shrugged, his head jerking up suddenly as he grabbed Aira-ty and Hanabi, shoving them both down. All around them, the clone troops dropped simultaneously as the General forced them all to do so with a mental command. Aira-ty was about to snap at him again when the first artillery round struck their position. As the ground shook under the barrage, she did her best to flatten herself against the ground beneath her in an attempt to escape the earth-shattering explosions bursting all around them. She found herself atop Hanabi, shielding the girl's unarmored form with her body alongside the General.
A sound like rolling thunder split the air, and the ground bucked violently, throwing Aira-ty, Kahan, Hanabi and all the rest into the air. They landed in a heap as the bombardment came to an abrupt end and their comlinks squawked.
“This is Niklos, I directed one of our warships to fire on the enemy artillery position. You are clear to advance further into the valley.”
“Thank you Commander.” the General said calmly as he stood and dusted himself off, turning to look at Hanabi and Aira-ty. “Shall we?”
Aira-ty nodded, looking around at the troopers. She felt a pang of guilt as she skipped over the broken bodies of several troopers and instead focused on her ten men. They were all in one piece. Good. Now that she knew they were okay, she could worry about the rest.
“Let's go get those bastards.” she snarled, her pistols at the ready.