(A/N- start)

I am sorry this took so long- the PB muse is more prolific than the muse for this story, and it often ends up being hogtied by the other muses out of spite.

That or it likes that.

I don't own Star Wars. I wish I did- some aspects of the canon make no sense!

Anyway, enjoy the chapter!

(A/N- end)

Chapter 3: Contract

Delta sat in his 'house'- a hollowed-out knothole within one of Kashyyyk's massive trees-, and folded up his letter.

It was not an email, as most preferred to use in this Galaxy, but a simple piece of paper that he had used the force to burn a message into- similar to the method by which a lazer-engraving machine.

Once the letter had been folded properly, he gently threw it so that the paper airplane made a lazy circle around his room, returning to his hand with an elegance that made him wonder whether his powers were being subconsciously used.

Oh well, he shrugged, in many ways, it didn't matter. With his left hand, he manifested a single claw of glowing power, before slicing the air with it- ripping a hole in the air itself, showing a dark cityscape, stretching from horizon to horizon.

Unable to keep his grin from showing, Delta let the paper airplane drop through the hole, feeling his will bear the airplane towards his target.

In his office, Senator Palpitine, AKA Darth Sidious, was looking out the window, surveying the domain that would soon be his. He fought the urge to laugh maniacally, but was loosing slowly as he looked out at the city-planet of Coruscant, his view only impeded by his daydreams of killing all those who stood against him.

His internal fight against the evil laughter was interrupted when he felt something poke him in the ear- which he reflexively swatted at.

In his hand was some sort of plant-fiber construction, which resembled a Jedi dart fighter than anything else- but he saw some letters within the folded construction, and so gingerly unfolded the odd construction.

It read as follows:

Dear Chief Replacement,

I wanted to send you this friendly letter to inform you of your imminent demise. I mean, really? A staged war to ruin the public opinion of the Jedi while that annoying shroud of your allows you to keep them surprised?

You really couldn't think of a better method to destroy or corrupt the Jedi. Really.

If you are curious about why I have sent this letter, it is mainly because of the simple fact that I could kill you at any time. And that would be boring.

No, really. You are no threat to me at all.

I want you, 'lord of the Sith', to put some more effort into this. We are going to fight some time, and if you want to have even a chance of surviving, you really need to step up your game. Get more followers! Create more destructive armies! Get gud!

Otherwise, well, I'll keep you alive as long as I can, and then I will make sure you are the reason Jedi are loved and cherished by the multitude of worlds out here.

Have Fun!

Sincerely,

Atled

PS: I know where you live. Dwell on that, you creepy old man.

Senator Palpitine had no idea how to deal with this. On one hand, he could set out a bounty for this 'Atled'- if he had anything other than a name to go on. On the other, he could... No, he couldn't tell the Jedi and get them to take out this unknown being- for one, he would have to show them the letter, and that would complicate a lot of things.

A gnarled finger pressed a button on his desk. "Sandra?"

"Yes?" A tinny voice replied from a hidden speaker.

"Hold my calls, and please move the meeting with the Gamorian councilor an hour back."

"Understood sir."

"Very good Sandra." Chancellor Palpetine took his hand off the intercom button, and rubbed his hands together manically. "Mwahaha!"

Another press of a secret button, and his cloak appeared. This was a really, really well-made cloak- so deep red it was almost black, and it seemed to darken the room as he put it on. The cowl was meticulously built, rather than sown, with multiple reenforcing fibers to force a very, very ominous shape- complete with concealing shadows.

Then he dialed a secret number, and the holo-projector flared to life.

Count Dooku appeared. He bowed. "Master?"

"My apprentice..." Sidious held up the offending note. "We may have a problem."

Delta looked out of his knothole, and watched as the ships flew around the mobile city like gnats around a cow.

It was the solution to a specific problem- how to evacuate a world?

His answer was, of course, simple: just move everything. Such a simple answer was, in execution, exceptionally difficult to actually make happen.

Of course, an army of self-replicating droids with considerable levels of material refining and assembling capability made the problem less of a problem then one would have expected, but it still was difficult.

Then there was the fact that the Wookies didn't have enough space to house all this refugees... Which was the largest problem.

So the Delta and The NightSister order planned the largest enchantment the order had ever built- a floating city built from felled tree-trunks from the Underlayer of Kashyyyk. Delta cut down and lifted the trees into place, while teams of Nightsisters and specialized droids carved in the power-controlling runes into the 500-meter diameter trunks. The city had to be large enough to allow for terraced farmland on the outside, as the vast majority of Dathomerians were still focusing on agriculture, while having enough space for eventual growth while the people reproduced.

Lights were strung within large communal areas, the tilted trunks of trees forming a cone within which the spider like droids drew cables across, then rigid bars of metal were forced into a superstructure within, providing storage space and a massive, central chamber from which the other occupants could journey to the other trunks.

The droids set up power converters- the equivalent of dilithium cells, each several dozen meters across, producing massive amounts of energy which they then built reports lift engines around, in concentric rings, below the main chamber. The enchantments would lighten the massive bulk of trees, and the metal scaffolding and structures that the city was made of, reducing the required output of the repulsorlift engines so that the city would float near-indefinitely.

The droids readily built themselves into the very structure of the new city, enabling them to set down and mine where they needed without fear of reprisal from the local wildlife- partially because of the multitude of enchantments set into the massive tree-trunk structures around them (a ward to keep away the dangerous animals), but also because the structure itself was armed, very heavily, with a multitude of lazer weapons.

The Wookie inspectors saw the fusion of arcane magic and modern tech- then allowed the massive city to be traverse under the canopy under the strict ruling that A) it would never ascend above the treetop line, B) that the city would alert the Wookies if they found any ruins, and C) that if they were nearby, the city would mount a rescue party. Mother Talzin agreed, as her people were still packing up.

Every tribe had to have their possessions gathered, and their people ready to transport within the given timeframe of a couple months. Seeds were collected, crops were harvested, and the evacuation date was set to be at the end of the growing season. Luckily, the Wookies home planet had such a resilient ecosystem that they didn't really car if a non-indigenous plant was brought in. After all, the plants themselves could be fairly predatory on this world, and they had a tendency to be... Exceptionally aggressive if other plants tried to take root.

Delta turned away from the city as it drifted slowly across the 'clearing' between several of the larger trees, and turned back to the mirror. Then, he ran a finger along his own flesh, and his skin peeled away from muscle and bone with a sucking noise. His objective was simple- to customize his body, he needed to be able to open it up... And as an immortal, he didn't have much trouble doing so.

He chuckled as he remembered the event where he learned that yes, he was conventionally immortal.

The NightSisters had just learned how to preform the FTL jumps that he had pioneered- thanks to using latinum dust to engrave runes on the inside and outside of the ships, two sisters could preform a jump in tandem. One sister would use the first set of runes to open the portal on their end, while the second sister would 'push' the other end of the portal through the not-really-space that the force moved through, and open it at the other side.

Then they would sweep each portal over their designated area, and the ship would translate to the new location. It made transport easy and fast- as long as there was nothing where they had translated to.

But that hadn't caused a problem yet.

Anyway, the first team had successfully used the engraved matrix to 'portal' back to Dathomire after visiting Kashyyyk- with Delta tagging along in case they drifted off course- and landed at the first village that had been informed that they were moving two months ago.

After landing outside the village, the people within approached in a fairly-large mob- which, considering the size of the enchanted transport, just told the people inside that they were coming to board the ship.

Delta opened the hatch, and a spear slammed into the side of his head, the obsidian blade exiting through his ear on the other side. As he swayed the mob charged- only to stumble over itself as he pulled the blade out of his head, and the wound sealed.

A crack filled the chamber as his finger touched a bone, and it shattered into dozens of tiny pieces, each moving independently as will fought the laws of the world around him. His body was... Incomplete. Unfinished. It didn't fit him- and if he didn't hurry, his mind would change instead.

Delta knew that as one's body shaped their mind, the mind controlled the body- and as his body had not been shaped by him, it was forcing the mind to fit it. That would not do.

The knothole in the trunk filled with the sounds of flesh ripping and rearranging itself to fit his views rather than the other way around, bone cracking into powder and rehealing as he forced it from one shape to another.

Weeks passed as the city continued to fill. It was huge- more than a single city, and with its reduced weight, still hovered over the most dangerous Underlayer of the massive jungle that was Kashyyyk.

Terraced farms were visible, cut from the huge trunks in cascading rings as they were needed. The interior, lit by automated refinery forges that the droids had built, bustled with trade and construction as the Nightsisters worked in teams to lift huge loads out of the few dedicated collection vessels that had visited the ground layers and brought back edible meats.

Occasionally, the sisters would be told of a 'clear' area that the droids found, and they would leave the vessel en-mass to sink obelisks, fifty meters tall and ten square meters cross-section, each covered in force-conducting runes and enchantments, into the thick moss-like surface of the planet. These Obelisks set up more wards, which kept the dangerous beasts away from the relatively small areas, and allowed each area to be developed more than the planet had originally allowed.

It was in one of these areas, that Delta decided to remain.

Well, until he got bored and left to go explore the worlds. It took two days to get bored.

Seriously- there was very little he had to do with the reconstruction. And he had questions about the Star Wars universe. Specifically, he needed to know when he was- he knew he was in the Clone wars, but the exact time and date, he was not entirely aware of.

He would not be missed.

The Mother watched over the city that the sisterhood had built. It was marvelous, a pyramid of wood and metal, where their brothers and sisters lived in harmony with armies of droids. It was an easy peace, as the Dathomerians appreciated the farmland, and didn't really want to spend all their time in the droid hives.

For once, she felt like she was in a very, very good mood.

"Mistress?"

Mother Talzin turned around, and saw Sister Lari- John's aide. She had assigned the duty to Lari because a) she was the first to feel the One's power, and b) apparently she had engendered quite a crush on the summons. "Yes Sister?" She noticed Lari's expression. "What is wrong?"

"Delta is missing."

Mother Talzin wasn't too worried. He was probably the most powerful being in the galaxy in terms of the force- but she should make sure. "Lari, take a fighter- a Razor would be fast enough- and find out where he went."

There was a slight whirring noise, and she saw a light on the holographic console in her room flicker. She pressed the button, and a stylized image of the droid Director appeared over her console.

He bowed. "Mother Talzin-"

"Don't tell me..." She held up a hand. "Delta is missing?"

"How did you know?" Holograms usually have trouble showing the emotion of concern on a displayed humanoid species, but here it managed to convey it rather well.

Mother Talzin smirked slightly. "Call it a hunch. I am sending his aide after him."

The hologram nodded. "Alright. Is she listening?"

"Yes sir." Lari said politely. "I am."

"Good. I am authorizing you for a squadron of Fan interceptors. Good hunting." The hologram winked out.

Lari bowed to Mother Talzin, then leapt out of the window, using the force to slow her descent before hitting the deck-plates on one of the many carved launch bays around the bottom of the floating city. Droids, who had scattered at her approach, went back to their tasks- mostly refueling and replacing parts of the Vulture Droids that formed the majority of the city's defense force. When she stood up, the spider like form of a Holo-droid skittered up to her knees. The hologram displayed the angular, extremely low-Rez and stylized shape of the Director.

"Lari Streamcleaver, NightSister, unranked due to your interaction with the Creator." The hologram stated crisply. "Come with me- your squadron is being prepped."

Five minutes later, nine ships lifted off and flew straight up at increasing speeds. Each one was distinctive- a metal sphere at one end, and two sloping engine nacelles attached to the sides of the compressed fan blade in the middle. Along the top and bottom of the compressed red fan-like blade, there were lines of hull metal ending in lazer cannon mounts.

Engraved along the hulls of all the vessels were lines of silver, sketching intricate patterns of runes and lines that crossed and reangled each other. On only one ship didn't have the metal sphere, and within, Lari held the channeling strata to the warp system.

She activated the 'all squadron' communication channel as the squadron left the atmosphere. "Pilots, check in."

"Fan One, all green."

This repeated with different numbers until.

"Fan Eight, all green."

"Line up with me- I will be jumping soon."

The eight droid fighters kept their fans closed, and interlaced around the single piloted vessel.

Lari reached out, feeling through the force, looking to find the most likely place that Delta would have been. His presence in the force was nonexsistent, only perceptible as a flicker of depth from close range rather than a purifying sun or corrupting sphere like the Jedi and Sith, respectively. But he left a trail, in a way- his presence could not be felt, but it dragged on the universe like a heavy star dragged it's planets after it, and the slight holes in the universe left by his 'jumps' felt different than anyone else's- like smooth holes that didn't properly seal rather than half-sealed scars.

There were several exit holes, but as they got older the holes felt smaller? Less permeable? It was tough to explain the feeling, but the holes sealed more and more over time, becoming harder and harder to sense... But there was one more recent than the rest.

Bingo.

"Jumping in 5." Lari smiled as she felt the force flow through her, into the grid, and expand he awareness of everything that moved and where she wanted to go. Specifically, going through a hole that had been opened before was easy- well, for her. Only Mother Talzin seemed to have the same knack- but both had been touched by Delta's mind.

She surged her power through the array, punching through the veil that had been shrouded through the force, and pulled the microscopic hole to massive proportions. In front of her ship, a vortex opened, several times larger than her ship.

The cluster of nine ships pulsed their engines gently, and drifted through the portal.

-In the voice of the Star Wars announcer-

Sinister forces on the move!

Asajj Ventress has suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of her own assassin, Savage Opress. Having gone into hiding, she now has no choice but to seek sanctuary with the Nightsisters of Dathomir... Who are no longer on Dathomir.

*Ominous music*

And... Scene break!

Asajj brought her ship down outside the hidden temple of the Nightsisters- but there were no guards. This was not what she was expecting.

She began to run, and sped through the gateway, channeling the force to go faster and faster. There was no-one, and the cave-like fortress was dark. No burning bowls of green fire, no eldritch energies anywhere- but no bodies either, and no threat.

"Yeah, it looks a bit empty- but you should see the new place!"

The unfamiliar voice made Asajj turn and attack, both red light sabers flashing as she intercepted the oddly cheerful voice- who vanished like smoke as the blades passed through the black-armored figure. She caught a glimpse of a tail before the figure turned to smoke, and drifted back into the darkness.

"So very, very angry." The voice echoed through the cave, laughing in childlike amusement. "But since I am nice guy- What can I do for you?"

"Tell me where the sisters are!" Ventress shouted, brandishing her red sabers as she tried to find the source of the voice. "What happened to them?"

"They moved." The voice responded. "They called me to solve a problem, and moved everyone."

"What about the males? Those under the rule-"

"Everyone means everyone." The voice said. "Everyone has left. Every man, woman, and child has been moved to another world."

"Where?!" She screamed at the darkness.

"Somewhere even the Sith will have trouble finding." The voice said. "Why don't you go outside? You might be able to find me, and..." It seemed to cough. "Beat it out of me." It chuckled. "Ok, that seams impossible. But still. We can talk face-to-face, rather than you talking to an illusion."

Ventress whirled around, eyes narrowed as what he said sunk in. "When I find you-"

"You will attack me with those lightsabers." The voice was coming from the entranceway now, and she rushed towards it at maximum speed. "I still think it's a dumb name."

She broached the entrance at high speed, and saw her target. It was humanoid, but covered in black, segmented armor... And then there was the tail. It seemed to get longer and shorter as she watched, but was also covered in the same black armor as the rest of the being, which articulated more than such tight-fitting armor should be able to.

A running leap, and the two blades sliced through the air- only to glance ineffectually off the figure's armor.

"Really?" The figure sighed, and started walking out into the swamp as slash after slash glanced off the armor. "How long before you get tired of this?"

She tried to behead him.

"Again, a bit rash. I haven't told you where the Sisters are." The man almost looked bored, and when she tried to gut him from crotch to head, he sighed. "You know, I kind of like not being bifurcated."

After five minutes, and she hadn't given up, he tried again.

"Look-" Slash, slash, slash-slash-slash-slash. "-why don't you just, you know- stop attacking me. It's not working."

She kept slashing at him.

Delta tried to run his temples through the suit, and realized that looked stupid. "You know what, you want a fight? Fine. I'll fight." The air around his tail rippled, and super-compressed into a ridge of lightsaber-like plasma, which swarmed over his body at lightning speed.

It wasn't long, maybe a quarter meter at most, but intercepted every strike and slash from Ventress. At first, Delta just stood still, and manipulated the short line of plasma, but he began to dodge. Not much, but enough to upset Ventress's rhythm.

She didn't expect it at all, but fell into a new rhythm, attacking with less weight, but keeping better balance.

Delta began to dance with her- not cutting her with the blazing-white line, but singing her clothes, layer by layer. An overhand slash with one hand while a sweep around with the other led to him stepping into her slash, just slightly slower than her strike but not slow enough to be caught by the blade. Her arms bounced off his back as he kept within her guard, offsetting elbow and knee strikes with knuckle jabs or a flash of plasma to make her flinch and just miss kneeing him in the crotch.

One hand brushed Ventress's cheek while she tried to strike at him, as the other flicked a muscle cluster in the arm that was bringing her blade for a close-in slash to his back, forcing her arm to frieze up for a moment. "This is so much fun, isn't it?" He purred. "Of course, I am not using my tail yet."

"Wha-" was all that came out of Ventress before the tail wrapped around one leg, and pulled her off balance. Before she could regain her bearings, she was disarmed, and tossed into a fairly soft jello-like fruit pod that was hanging from a nearby tree.

She splattered. "I... Will... Kill... You..."

Delta held up a hand, and the white flame writhed around it. "No. You won't." He placed the lightsabers on the ground, and sat down, his tail coiling beneath him like a spring. "We should have started with introductions."

He took off his helmet, and revealed a human face- not as angular as some, but the eyes drew most of Ventress's attention. They were empty blackness, not the eyes of anything living- and she could not feel any force-presence within the creature.

"My name is Delta." The being stated, and nodded to imitate a bow. "And you?"

Ventress tried to use the force to break out of the fruit, but there was a pressure around her- the force was immovable. Sure, she could struggle all she liked, but not exert her will upon anything. Eventually, she tired of struggling (and was tired of being watched with an expression of childlike amusement), so spoke to the being. "I am Asajj Ventress, prior Sith."

It smiled. "Nice to meet you Ventress. Why do you want to see the Nightsisters?"

"I... Must speak to Mother Talzin." She admitted. "I am lost, and need to speak with her-"

There was a roar overhead, and nine starships that looked remarkably like her old Ginivex-class fighter swooped overhead.

Delta looked up, raised a clenched fist, and opened his hand. Lightning surged from his palm into the sky, forming a column of blue-white light that persisted for several seconds. "Alright. Let's see if I can get you a lift."

One of the fighters dropped down, and behind the bubble-like cockpit the pilot was a NightSister- who was glaring at Delta.

She jumped out of the cockpit, stalked up to Delta, and grabbed his ear. It came off, and she tossed it away, not even phased. "Why did you leave me behind? I am supposed to be your Aide!" She scolded.

He raised his hands, even as his ear grew back. "Hey, Lari- I left you a clear trail! I didn't have to leave you an orbital portal!"

"Next time, just bring me along." Lari demanded.

"Fine. But..."

"Please?" She pulled back the large hood, and pulled down her mask, revealing a beautiful face and pouting expression. "Please?"

Delta stared at her completely deadpan. "I grew up with two sisters. That doesn't work on meOWOWOWOWO!"

She had grabbed his nose. "How about now?"

His nose came off, and dissolved in her hands, reconstituting on his face. "Now nothing's going to smell right..."

She punched him in the face- hard. "How about now?" Lari asked, with a slight smirk.

Delta wrenched his nose back into place, and sniffed a few times while his nose made bone-cracking noises. "That's better."

Ventress, still imbedded in the jellyfruit, felt her eye twitch. "What is going on?!"

Lari reached out with one arm (and the force), and grabbed Ventress. Then, with one tug, she wrenched the Dathomerian free of the gelatinous binding.

"I am not telling the story." Delta said flatly.

"Fine. Big baby." Chuckled Lari.

-twenty minutes of repetitive storytelling which are not going to be repeated because the audience knows all of this anyway-

"-and now we have a hidden fortress on Kashyyyk." Finished Lari. "So... How have the last few months treated you Asajj?

Ventress did not answer that immediately. "... Not well." She said softly. "I was betrayed by Savage, and I was pursued by the droid forces for a while... Hunted like an animal. I was hoping Mother Talzin would show me another way."

Delta blinked. "That sounds familiar... Lari, how far can you see?"

The witch closed her eyes, and Ventress could feel the force around her still in thought. "Not more than an hour ahead- unless you clear the damned shroud again."

Delta grimaced. "On it!" There was a surge of light(?) power. Everyone, even Ventress felt happier and more content as it passed through the circle of sitting figures. "That enough?"

"Plenty." Lari began mumbling, trying to make sense of what she was seeing, as Delta used the force to gather some dry firewood.

He lit it with a small pulse of lightning, and just left the burning logs hanging in midair.

"General Grevious is on his way-" Lari began before Delta swore.

"Seriously!" Ventress flinched. "The fucking names!"

She ignored him. "- with an army of droids. If we leave they will find the empty planet, and question it. Eventually, they will find us on Kashyyyk."

Ventress nodded. "And if we stay and fight?"

"The army will be crushed. Grevious will be reduced to a blob of slag with some organic contaminates, but Dooku will still be alive. He will continue the hunt, and..." Shepard to take a deep breath as she let the trance go. "Kashyyyk would burn."

"So we need to look like the NightSisters are still here." Mused Delta. He grinned. "We need to make them think they bottled us up here. Ever heard of Asymetrical warfare?"

The droid armies landed their initial troops- or attempted to. Lances of green fire shogun from the forest, shattering every landing craft before they reached the ground.

Bombers crumpled against green-mist barriers that popped up randomly from the treeline. Escort craft were felled by bursts of green lightning that erupted from the trees themselves, and the debris formed a massive, spiraling cloud above the fortress.

In his command ship, Grevious tried to fight down the encroaching headache. Being a cyborg was great and all, but he was not infallible. And his orders were stupid- destroy the NightSisters! How the hell was he supposed to do that? In the event they were caught off guard, then legions of foot soldiers could descended and force a change of defense, but any landing craft within a day's march of the place were sniped down by those green bolts.

He had tried landing forces outside those perimeters, but the swamp ATE his troops. They hadn't even seen what killed them before being destroyed.

It was a tactical waste.

He activated the holo-projector. "Master, I have a report on the invasion of Dathomir."

The count nodded. "Well? I'm waiting..."

Grevious coughed. It was a side effect of a disease that had been killing him long before the cyborg thing, and had left scarring in his lungs. "I cannot land sufficient forces on the planet. Troop transport vessels are sniped down, fighter and bomber squadrons are swatted by lightning or some sort of mist construct, and if I try to march in troops the swamp consumes them." He held up a hand. "And before you ask, yes, I tried sending in repulsor-buoyed transports through the swamps. Even if we lay down defoliator fire to clear a path, the transports will end up, for no reason, scattered across the swamp."

The count looked perplexed.

"They explode, Count Dooku." The general remarked. "They explode so quickly that none of them even see what destroyed the transports. At this rate, I will loose half my droid compliment within a few days do I continue the assault. I have already lost twenty wings of bombers to their damn defenses."

Dooku stroked his long goatee. "It seems the witches had more power than I anticipated. What about orbital bombardment?"

"I don't have any ships that can do that!" Snarled the general. "You needed them for that pitiful action against the-"

"I meant orbital drop troops." The Count said calmly.

Grevious's eye twitched. "You don't think I tried that? I even had orbiting telescopes observing the action. Watch."

Grevious sent the video to Dooku, but didn't watch it himself. It was embarrassing- three hundred droids with rocket packs dropping from near-orbit, and hitting the misty green screens like insects hitting a windscreen. And what was worse, the screens were moving.

Some of the droids had been ordered to slow down earlier, but they had been swatted as well- but from the side, rather than from below.

It was very embarrassing.

"I am considering long-range bombardment via ship cannons, but this would be incredibly risky." The general began to pace, metal talons clicking in the deck plates. "I would recommend leaving a blockading force here, and a security device like the one we left around Iago."

"Without an asteroid field to anchor the laser grid, the cost of such action would be more that the value of dropping several ships on them." Dooku stated. "Find another way." The Count turned off his end of the communicator.

Grevious grumbled a bit, but then an idea came to him. "Why not drop a ship on them?" It sounded stupid... And it was stupid. One ship could be sent down to bombard the base within cannon range, and if it began to take too much damage from the defenders, it would be driven into the fortress.

The general sent the orders, and watched as the ship evacuated, distributing all but a skeleton crew of droids to the other ships. Once the last transport had left the large vessel, it began to descend through the atmosphere.

It drifted through the sky in exactly the same way bricks don't. Guns thundered, and the Banking-Class Frigate bombarded the fortress.

Bolt after bolt slammed into into spontaneous green shields, which, after a few minutes began to crack. However, as they broke, another shield shimmered into existence right below the first, and expanded out to the size of the first shield.

Twenty minutes of sustained bombardment later, the ship was beginning to run into problems. The cannons were fine- the engines were not though. The ship had been built to operate in space, and the prolonged planetary maneuvering of the Frigate within a very, very water-heavy atmosphere was causing the rather important electrostatic radiator grids to begin visibly corroding. After an hour, the corrosion would cause charge detonations around the ship as capacitors overloaded, unable to discharge properly.

With an air of resignation, Grievous gave the order, and watched as the ship accelerated towards the fortress, break against the shield, then explode, and leave nothing but debris and shredded wasteland where the fortress used to be.

Grievous nodded in satisfaction. "A few flights of bombers should finish any survivors."

Ventress watched in awe as Delta, Lari, and Mother Talzin decimated the attackers. Delta, who barely had any signature in the force at all, /threw/ bolts of green fire faster than turbolazer blasts. Lari, who Ventress had dismissed as some sort of aide to the being called Delta, called up bolts of lighting on targets from a great distance, and bent the swamp around her will, crushing foes from a great distance.

And Talzin herself, who had walked from Kashyyyk to Dathomir through a hole in the air that Delta had created, drew green mist from a bowl, and formed it into immovable blocks. Fighters, bombers, bombs, and cannon fire broke against them without discrimination.

When the ship descended to fire upon, Lari and Talzin worked together to give the structure of the shield coherence, while Delta drew odd symbols on the earth below them.

As hundreds of tons of metal tried to crush the fighters, the symbols began to glow, and the pieces of metal formed up around them in a protective dome, shielding the temple and the fighters from being crushed.

Ventress had to be gently led through one of the portal by Mother Talzin, in shock at seeing how the three force-users made her completely obsolete in the battle.

"Don't concern yourself with Dooku, child." Purred Mother Talzin. "He will fall, and your revenge will be complete. Now sleep..."

Ventress barely got a glimpse of the massive trees outside the mother's window before she shut down from mental overload.

End Chapter 3

Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter! If you did, please review. Hopefully, my muse will be able to continue the story faster. It's a bit slow with the PB muse rushing so much runtime.