The heroes have scouted the land and prepped a trap with precision. They have planted a rumor that a Jedi is hiding here from the Inquisitor presence. Grand Inquisitor Malorum was putting unusual pressure on the planet with 2 Victory class Star Destroyers in orbit and a team of Inquisitors, Jensaarai support, New Order Troopers, and thousands of stormtroopers. The Foundation had decided to give Malorum just what he wanted, a Jedi target.

 

Eli White had taken position up high in a group of plants on an elevated ledge. Master Don had used the Force to levitate him up when no one was looking. Mashi was poised outside to come in as the signal when the enemy had arrived. The news crew had been alerted that an important story was about to break and they would be notified with a live feed; little did they realize it would be in their reception area. Gand and Silas Doon were stationed at opposite sides of the area and the box was completed by Lance at the entrance. The plan was to allow Malorum to enter and drop an ambush on his whole parade in front of a galactic audience. Simultaneously Bel Iblis would be attacking the interdiction force in orbit. Hopefully a smashing success would encourage the Bothans and other surrounding systems to join the growing alliance centered on the Cularin System.

 

Mashi dashed in taking position near Lance appearing to be in casual conversation. The trap was set.

 

Four Jensaarai in red animal armor entered and took post inside the door. An Inquisitor apprentice strode in full of self-importance and demanded from the reception to be given access to the facilities because of a suspected fugitive on the premises.

 

Eli whispered to himself, “Common Malorum, stick your pretty little head inside so I can teach your brains what it means to be well done.”

 

Gand waited impatiently positioning himself to open fire when the enemy had moved into the agreed position.

 

Don reached deep into the Force and extend a boost of vitality and energy to the entire party. Hoping to both strengthen their resolve for the battle ahead as well as draw the enemy towards him as his power in the Force pulsed as a beacon.

 

Doon waited knowing that the proper moment was just seconds away.

 

One of the Jensaarai yelled, “Over there, near the planter. It must be a Jedi.”

 

The Apprentice ordered, “Close position.”

 

The entire party waited almost breathlessly for the perfect moment to break their trap. All we need is for Malorum to enter and we have them. There was almost a sense of peace at how perfect the moment was. The Force was with them, they all knew it. This would be almost a merciful act because the perfection of the trap would end this quickly without suffering or a chance for escape.

 

Then a piercing scream of rage filled the hall. Shattering the moment of reverie that the party shared was Lance cackling an almost insane laughter as lightning exploded from his finger tips. The rage that had been growing within him over the last few months appeared to be overwhelming his faculties and driving him to kill at the first opportunity provided.

 

Eli exclaimed, “What is that pile of Bantha Poo Doo doing. He has ruined my shot. SNAFU”

 

Gand, “Does not Lance understand what Gand was trying to do here?”

 

Silas, “I think he is going mad. Where is the discipline that the Jedi raised him to use?”

 

Don, “I fear the years of warfare are beginning to warp his judgment. He has placed all our lives in jeopardy and risked failure for the entire mission.”

 

None of this mattered as Lance unleashed pure raw power on his surprised victims, and surprised allies. The party scrambled to make the best of a bad situation.

 

Eli snapped off a quick couple critical shots to help put down the initial entrance group, dropped his blaster, jumped down from his elevated position landing with a judo roll and came up at a full run with two blasters drawn and blazing away. He had the appearance of a wing of starfighters unleashing their blasters at full force.

 

Silas Doon and Mashi quickly maneuvered to pin the Jensaarai down while they were dazed from their attack, but met considerable resistance since the trap had been blown.

 

Gand attempted to place precise shots into the melee without hurting his allies. The Cerean with mechanical arms was difficult to miss as he flew into the melee.

 

Don simply raced across the room since he was 50+ meters out of position due to Lance’s impromptu action.

 

Lance had drawn two lightsabers and a double bladed lightsaber with his prosthetic arms and was transformed into a whirling dervish of death. An almost dark glow came from his eyes as he cut a swath of limbs through the battle. As Lance finished off the initial party, Silas sprinted outside to try and catch Malorum. Malorum had been watching at a distance and was not interested in walking alone into a force of half a dozen lethal Jedi and gunmen. He began to run. Doon pursued.

 

Doon was able to catch Malorum before he made too much headway, but it almost appeared that Malorum was allowing that. The entire party moved outside to help in bringing down the first Grand Inquisitor. Silas was locked in a dual that was inspiring but it was apparent that Malorum was fighting defensively almost as if biding his time. When the entire Foundation had exited the building it became apparent why. A dozen New Order Troopers and 3 Inquisitors sprang their trap as back-up that had been lying in wait.

 

However as blasters went crazy and lightsabers flashed it became clear, very quickly, the Imperial unit was severely over matched. It would have been more than an adequate military force to deal with one or two Jedi, but when dealing with a Jedi Master, 2 Jedi Knights, a Gand Findsman, and a world class blaster slinger, they were in trouble. Doon pressed the advantage on Malorum. Gand and Eli both angled for a shot to take out Malorum and win their bet as to who would bring him down while Don and Mashi plowed through a row of New Order troopers. The New Order troopers opened fire with a vengeance but the Jedi sent most of their shots right back into their armored helmets.

 

Malorum was scared. This was not going as he had hoped at all; this group was not just some rag-tag band of Jedi running from the Purge. This was the Foundation, a collection of battle hardened individuals who had brought down the Emperor’s apprentice Darth Vader. The group who had killed General Grievous. And now their sights were set on him. Malorum knew he must find a way to flee for his life, but Doon would not allow it. Eli’s blaster was a raging storm of energy seemingly coming from every direction and it was all he could do to absorb the energy and maintain his defense.

 

As the battle quickly turned against the Imperials Malorum made a move to run. It was a fatal mistake. In a flash Silas Doon struck through the gap in his defense. In one motion Malorum’s arm was severed and half his head was sliding out of place. The Grand Inquisitor was no more.

 

The Inquisitors were visibly shaken and began to move as if to escape, but found themselves surrounded before they knew what happened. The New Order Troopers were conditioned for such moments and actually closed as if to open an avenue of escape but it was a futile effort. Soon they were all dispatched.

 

Gand approached Silas. “Gand honors his wager and offers 50 creds to the victor.”

 

Silas smiles. “No thank you Gand. As a Jedi I do not wager on the death of others. You may keep your money, that was between you and the others.”

 

Gand shrugged.

 

For a second the party looked up into the evening sky and could see the signs that the space battle was raging. The landside trap had been sprung, in a manner of speaking, and was over even just as the second front raged into the night.

 

They hurried to their ship because it was still dangerous planet side with the thousands of Stormtroopers that could respond to the immediate trouble. As their Star Shuttle made it to space it was apparent that Bel Iblis’ military genius had caught the Imperials completely by surprise. One of the Victory Star Destroyers was drifting dead in space headed towards the system’s sun, gushing crew and debris from more spots than one could count. The second Victory class Star Destroyer had actually been boarded and was going to fall under Bel Iblis command. Apparently Garm had gambled that most of the Stormtrooper compliment would be planet side for intimidation and was right. He also had been able to arrange for a team to sneak on board (led by Darrus Jhet) and they brought down key defenses to allow the ship to be quickly boarded. Jhet had single handedly cleared the entire bridge by the time the boarding troops found him. The rest of the ship fell with minimal resistance once the command structure was gone. The battle could not have gone better. Not only had the Grand Inquisitor been killed, the planet set free, but the fleet had just acquired a cutting edge Victory class starship. The recently added Skipray Blastboats were running clean up operations on Imperial forces that were scattered around the planet. Don also took note that there were a large variety of non-military ships which had joined in the fray and were shooting down random Imperial ships. Either the Bothans had planned a wild card or public sentiment against the Imperials was worse in this region than they had anticipated.

 

Most of all we were glad to have escaped a mission without the death of a comrade. It was good to go home with everyone for a change.