Year: 22 BBY
Location: Space above the moon of Rugosa
In a Charger c70 retrofit, also known as the Republic frigate, Grandmaster Yoda, Youngling Caleb and Lieutenant Thire are going over the details of the mission. There is no opposition expected, as no one is supposed to know about it; however, in a war, anything is possible.
"Sent to Rugosa we are, to convince King Katuunko to allow the Galactic Republic to build a base in Toydarian territory," Yoda tells Caleb.
"Neutral ground. What are we expecting in terms of opposition from the CIS? Do we have any information?" Caleb asks.
"No, sir. The mission is supposed to be a secret one, so nothing is known," Clone Lieutenant Thire says.
The Clones look at one another, still surprised that such a young Jedi like Caleb talks and acts so mature when it comes to this mission and the war in general. They are unsure how to feel about it and how to act around Caleb.
"Anything is possible. Young Caleb is right. Ready we must be, for a trap could be laid for us."
"Toydarian royal delegation, this is the Republic envoy. Please respond," Clone Captain Zak says into his coms.
Yoda walks forward.
"General, the Toydarians' beacon is active on the moon, but all our transmissions are being jammed," the Captain tells Yoda.
"Hmm."
Suddenly, Caleb senses danger and an incoming attack. He runs into the cockpit.
"Master an incoming attack!" he says in a clear voice.
"An attack?"
"There's nothing on th-"
At that moment, a Banking clan frigate exits hyperspace and immediately starts firing at the Charger c70 retrofit. Their twin light turbolaser turrets hit the Republic frigate, catching them by surprise.
"Master another attack, coming from behind," Caleb says.
The pilots perform manoeuvres and speed up when, just as Caleb warned, another Separatist frigate exits hyperspace and also starts attacking them. The warning systems go off, and the ship shudders under the strain.
"Too late it is. Sprung is the trap. Young Caleb was right."
"I must get you to safety, General," Captain Zak says.
"Retreat, you must."
"On the moon below is my mission," the Captain says.
"There, I must go."
"But sir-"
"Quickly now, to the surface I must get," Yoda says and walks out of the cockpit.
"In an escape pod, sir? The Separatists will shoot down everything that moves," Captain Zak tells him.
"Then launch all of them, you will."
Yoda turns to Caleb.
"Stay here, you will, Caleb. Not ready for what is to come, you are," Yoda says, and Caleb nods his head.
The Captain launches all of the escape pods. The pod containing the Lieutenant, the two clone shock troopers and Yoda are launched first, and then the others. This gives the Separatists more targets and protects them for a time. Seeing the escape pod making it to the moon's surface, Captain Zak orders them to leave the system.
"Let's get out of here," he says.
"Yes, sir!" the pilots say and jump to hyperspace.
"Captain, may I make a large request?" Caleb asks.
"Of course, Commander. What is it?" he asks.
"Would it be a terrible bother if we could turn around?"
"You mean... return to the Toydarian system? Where are the Banking clan frigates waiting for us?" the Captain asks, confused.
"Yes."
"Why would you want that, sir? It would be suicide."
"On the contrary, Captain. Turning around right away will allow us to turn the battle around and launch a surprise counterattack that they will never see coming," Caleb explains, having seen the possibility of this working out.
"I respectfully must decline your request, Commander. General Yoda has made it to the moon's surface. I will contact the command and report on what happened," the Captain say.
"I respect and understand your concern, Captain. I know that you have far more experience in aspects of war, but I have this feeling. I can't explain it to you now, but I know when something is coming."
...
The Captain thinks about this for a moment and then looks at Caleb. He knows that he won't understand the Jedi and their skills, but something tells him that he can trust this young man. Caleb has the presence of a warrior, which makes people ignore his relatively small stature and young age. However, he remembers how old Caleb is.
"I'm sorry Commander, but I can't possibly-"
.
On the command deck of the Munificent-class star frigate, the B1 battle droids are arguing about the terrible shots.
"What a terrible shot that was."
"Eh, it's my programming."
...
"So, what now?"
"We wait for when the su-"
"Uhh, Commander, we have a ship on the screen here."
"What? Where?"
*BOOOOOM*
A loud explosion shakes the command deck and throws the B1 battle droids off their feet.
"What was that?"
"I don't know. Hey, you, what happened?" the commanding battle droid asks.
"It seems the communications and sensor array were hit."
*BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP*
Alarms start to go off, one after the other.
"There it is, sir! Right in front of us!"
"That's the Republic frigate we chased off. What is it doing here?"
"Uhh, it attacked us, it seems."
"I know that. Contact the other ship and have them take aim."
"That... won't be possible, sir. We have no communications systems anymore."
"Then fire at the ship, now!" the commanding battle droid says.
"Roger, Roger."
.
On board the Republic frigate, Captain Zak is having a very hard time not to curse Caleb. They perform several quick turns, trying not to get hit.
"We took out the two long-range hyperwave transceiver masts for communications and the long-range sensor tower, sir."
"Shields are about to be down, sir!"
"Get us behind the Separatist frigate. We have their attention, as the kid said."
"Yes, sir!"
"How did he convince me to do this?" the Captain asks no one in particular.
Meanwhile, Caleb is on the Munificent-class star frigate, having slipped in after they destroyed the communications and sensor array. He had told the Captain about his plan and was almost shot out into space. But Caleb could be very persuasive, and so the Captain agreed eventually. Caleb makes his way through the ventilation ducts, hiding from the patrols that walk through the frigate.
To maintain a low profile, Caleb has ensured the Captain would get the droid's attention. He entered the Munificent near the engineering sector, which is less patrolled and easier to slice through without alerting the bridge. He arrives at a dead end and looks through the narrow gaps, taking in his surroundings. Using the Force, he slowly starts taking out the bolts. He doesn't want to make a scene and concentrates on getting them out slowly and as silently as possible.
Finally, the bolts give in, and Caleb drops down into the narrow maintenance corridor. Pipes are hissing, red lights are blinking, and coolant mist swirls around. His senses alert him, and he reacts instinctively.
"Hey, you're not supposed to be he-"
Caleb swings his lightsaber through the air, cutting off the battle droid's head. He moves on furtively. The chamber opens up and is filled with deactivated B1 and B2 battle droids, hanging on racks. Caleb looks around and ducks behind a stack of crates, almost being spotted by a repair drone. Seeing the different sensors, Caleb reaches out and uses the Force to crush them. The sound alerts the repair droid, which turns around and checks what it was.
It arrives at the broken pieces lying on the ground and looks up at the ceiling, where the destroyed sensors are located. The droid is alerted after it hears a low humming sound and sees a flashing blue light, before it is cut in half.
Caleb moves to the control panel and presses a few buttons. He has almost no idea what he is doing, sadly, so he only checks whether he finds cameras he can access. Without luck, he simply continues on his way, reaching the corridor that he believes leads to the main bridge access shaft. He enters a side area, which is used as a secondary control room and moves inside. The room is dark, with flickering holoscreens and map overlays.
"Hey! What is he doing here?" a B1 battle droid asks.
"A Jedi? How did a Jedi get on the ship?"
"I don't know."
"It's a small one too."
"Idiots, blast 'em!"
"Uhh, it's just one."
A unit of B1 battle droids starts firing at Caleb. His senses scream at him and make his body move right away. His lightsaber ignites, blocking the blaster fire from the droids. It is hard to believe that so soon after he is granted a chance to accompany a Jedi Master, he infiltrates a Separatist frigate and has to fight his way through the command deck.
Caleb uses Form V, Shien, reflecting the blasts and hitting the battle droids. He doesn't take a step back, making sure that he is not cornered. They advance slowly, shooting their blasters at him. As they get closer to him and the tension rises, Caleb suddenly springs into action. With a burst of Force speed, he transitions to Form IV, Ataru. Ataru emphasises relentless offence, fluid motion, and kinetic combat that utilises every inch of the battlefield and the user's body.
Following Grandmaster Yoda's example, and since they both have similar statures, Caleb transforms into an extension of his lightsaber, shooting forward and slicing the first battledroid's head cleanly off. Before they realise what happened, he attacks the next one to the side and slices it in half. He doesn't stop and changes his direction, attacking the one behind.
He moves in a zig-zag pattern, cutting a swathe of battle droids, using his small stature to his advantage and jumping from one droid to the other until he reaches their centre. Caleb switches to Form VI, Niman. Caleb knows that the so-called 'Diplomat's Form' is not conceived as an entirely new doctrine of combat, nor does it have the best of images among the Order at this time. But the form suffers from a bad reputation, in Caleb's opinion, which isn't necessarily equivalent to the form itself being bad.
What Caleb believes is that Niman, when practised with proficiency and skill, is just as deadly and valuable as any of the other forms. However, since most diplomats don't have time to do so, they only practice to a level with which they are comfortable. Caleb has noted that Niman has a low skill floor and a high maximum potential. A similar situation can be seen with Form III, Soresu. Most Jedi practice it just enough to get by, but not enough to be truly good, like Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi.
The battle droids start firing at Caleb, and he moves forward, reflecting blaster fire and slicing through several droids. He moves around fluidly, swinging his lightsaber loosely, deflecting a flurry of blaster bolts and sending them back. He turns around, using one of the droids as a cover and using Force Push. The repulsive force smashed two of the droids back and hit those behind them.
Again, he slashes his lightsaber through another set of metal and closes his fist, crushing the head of one of the droids, just enough to take him out. As the number of the droids dwindles to single digits, Caleb suddenly feels an inspiration and shoots forward, using Form IV, Ataru in combination, cutting through the last few battle droids.
The Jedi Youngling looks at the destruction left in his wake. He is surprised, but he is most certain that he just combined two of the lightsaber forms into one right at the end there. He is uncertain whether this is due to the nature of Niman. But he leaves it for the moment and focuses on the task at hand, making it to the command deck. He leaves the tactical room and enters a narrow vertical shaft, climbing a maintenance ladder up towards the bridge level. He hears the droids talk and give commands, and chooses that moment to initiate the final attack and take over the Munificent-class star frigate.
He uses the Force again to remove the bolts that hold the metal plating in place. He is not arrogant enough to try to force his way in. He can't risk them activating the over 100'000 battle droids on board. He is patient and finally gets his way. He looks at the current position of the droids and hauls the metal plate towards the nearest one. He drops to the ground, with his lightsaber ignited and cuts through the first two droids. He pulls the last remaining droid towards him and cuts it in half as well, finally securing the frigate.
He moves over to the board and then calls Captain Zak using the comlink he was given.
[Commander, what happened? Are you alright?]
"Yes, Captain. I have managed to secure the frigate. I'm dropping the shields. It is safe to board."
[What?! You are not in danger?! And you managed to secure the frigate... on your own?!]
"Yes, sir. If you would like to board, we can finish this mission," Caleb says.
[At once. We are on our way.]