(3rd Person: POV)

As he looked out at the blue of hyperspace Jan Dodonna sat in the captain's chair of his flagship of the small fleet he was currently commanding.

The same fleet which is currently trailing behind a small group of cargo vessels from Mon Cala Shipyards.

Which most people think is carrying experimental and highly valuable weapons technology.

But that is a lie.

A false rumor started by Jan and the three Jedi he has been assigned to work with to resolve the case of a series of attacks on cargo vessels associated with the Techno Union.

A series of attacks Jan and his Jedi allies hoped their current plan would put an end to.

But that was only if the attackers responsible took the bait and launched an assault against the vessels Jan and his fleet are currently following discreetly.

Which all three Jedi had a good feeling that they would.

Though Jan has his doubts.

Even so he didn't raise any objections to the plan and even helped in its creation.

Partially because he agreed with the jedi's line of thinking, and partially because he didn't have any other options at the moment.

Pressure was mounting to stop the cargo vessel attacks.

In no small part due to the fact the perpetrators never left anyone alive.

They killed all the people operating the cargo vessels they had attacked thus. 

Taking only the contents of the ship and leaving small graveyards of bodies in their wake.

It made Jans' blood boil with anger.

But what made him even more angry was that the Republic refused his request for more resources to deal with the matter.

'Bureaucrats. Useless, the lot of them.' Jan thought.

Since he knew it was the politicians who refused his request for more resources.

Well not directly.

It was Jans' superiors in the Judicial Forces who refused his request for more resources. But he knew most of them were just mouth pieces.

Jan is no fool. He knows just how corrupt the current military of the Galactic Republic was, or what the Galactic Republic called its military.

Jan knew the Judicial Forces he currently served in today can't old a candle to the Republic military of old.

As an avid fan of military history he would know.

Now instead of competently trained men and woman and the best and brightest officers the galaxy had to offer, the Judicial Forces of today was filled mostly with men and women just going through the motions. As well as spoiled brats who reached their current positions through nepotism and bribery.

Seeing this broke Jan Dodonnas' heart in many ways.

It also made him extremely worried for the future.

For if the Republic ever had to fight a war Jan feared what the outcome would be.

As Jan continued to think about the state of the Republic military forces or lack thereof, he was suddenly knocked out his musing by a ship-wide alarm going off.

"Report." Jan spoke.

"Captain Dodonna sir. The cargo vessels we have been trailing were just forcibly pulled out of hyperspace." A technician informed him.

"Raise the fleet to combat status and drop us out of hyperspace." Jan ordered.

Since his instincts were telling him a battle was imminent.

***

As the six Mon Cala cargo vessels were forced out of hyperspace they shook violently several times.

Inside one of the cockpits of the vessels Van grumbled as he used the Force to keep himself in place and not get thrown around.

As to why Van is in the cockpit of one of the cargo vessels it was because he was piloting it.

All apart of the plan he, Marcellus, Nova, and Jan came up with to catch the raiders.

Two weeks ago they arrived in the Outer Rim from Coruscant.

They then started spreading rumors that a group of Mon Cala Shipyard cargo vessels were going to be transporting experimental weapons technology.

Once they did so they contacted Mon Cala Shipyards and explained the situation.

Van and the others then asked for their assistance. Including planting military personnel undercover on several cargo vessel fleets.

That way if the vessels were attacked Van and the others would know practically immediately and could respond faster than in the previous attacks.

Mon Cala Shipyards were all too happy to offer their assistance.

Which is how Van ended up in his current situation.

Eventually the shaking stopped.

When it did so Van released the force hold he placed on himself.

Then as soon as he did so he saw four ships drop out of hyperspace.

A few moments after they did so Van saw starfighter's launch from then and start heading straight for the cargo vessels.

"These guys don't waste any time." Van muttered.

Just as he did so the ships sensors picked up several ships dropping out of hyperspace.

It was Jan Dodonna fleet.

"Looks like the cavalry arrived right on time." Van said.

Putting a smile on his face as he did so.

Now the reckoning was about to commence.

***

Sitting inside the cockpit of an A-6 Interceptor Nova had a feral grin on her face.

Happy that she is about to destroy those who callously took the lives of so many.

When she was first assigned to investigate this case by the Corellian jedi council it had simply involved Corellian Sector citizens.

That's why even though the attack took place in the Outer Rim territories the Green jedi had jurisdiction over the matter.

In no small part due to the support of Corellia newly elected senator Garm Bel Iblis.

So with that Nova began investigating and right from the start she swore to find the people that committed the attack and make them pay.

The images of all the dead crew of those cargo vessels is something she will never be able to forget.

300 lives taken without any hesitation or remorse.

Nova pursued any and all leads she could to find the perpetrators of the attack.

Until eventually she was notified by the Corellian jedi council that the case she was investigating was not an isolated incident.

Several more attacks exactly like the one she was looking into had taken place in the Outer Rim territories.

After reviewing the details of those incidents Nova realized they were all connected.

Which made more work for her.

Even so Nova was still prepared to investigate the case and see it through to its conclusion.

It was not something she was willing to let go.

So it made her quite upset when one day she was called before the Corellian jedi council and informed the Republic and mainstream jedi order were becoming involved in the investigation.

To say Nova had a low opinion of the mainstream jedi order is an understatement.

She detested several of their policies from suppressing emotions to taking a neutral stance in politics, and even banning intimate relationships.

How her cousin Nejaa worked for them Nova will never understand.

As for the Republic, the less Nova spoke about her feelings regarding it the better.

Even if Corellia was part of the Republic.

Nova was going to protest the decision of the council to remove her from the case.

But before she could she was informed she would still be apart of it.

Only going forward she would be working with Republic Judicial Forces and a few jedi from the mainstream order to solve it.

Nova found she could live with that.

Her mood about the situation improved even further when she met the people she would be working with.

Nova found Jan Dodonna to be a competent man who cared for his subordinates and truly cared about helping ordinary citizens.

Not like many Republic officers she had interacted with before.

Jan was a breathe of fresh air.

As for the jedi assigned to the case Nova was glad to see her friend Van once agaim.

She had heard of his activities in hunting down pirates and smugglers in the Mid Rim for several months and commended him on his initiative.

Concerning Marcellus, she was upset with him.

They had planned a small vacation together and then he suddenly cancelled on her out of nowhere.

The jerk.

So when Nova saw him walk into the conference room that day she immediately thought of a way to get back at him.

She decided to started teasing him. Making him all hot and bothered but never giving him any release.

At least until the mission was over.

Then she would eat him up.

Nova thought about that for a moment and licked her lips in delight.

But then immediately pushed said thought from her mind when she was given permission to launch.

Pushing on the controls in her cockpit she accelerated her Interceptor forward and entered the void of space.

Ignoring the exchange of cannon fire taking place between all the ships in the area Nova maneuvered her Interceptor close to one of  the enemy starfighters.

She then pressed the trigger and her cannons fired. Her shots hitting the mark and blowing the enemy to smithereens.

It was music to Novas' ears.

Setting her sights on another enemy Nova accelerated towards them.

Intent on using this battle to pay the attackers back for all the lives they have taken thus far.

***

In the rear of the formation Marcellus in the cockpit of an Interceptor watched the battle unfold before him.

Sensing just how much fun Nova was having destroying the enemy starfighters.

Her joy at her actions was coming through the Force loud and clear.

This is exactly the reason Marcellus was happy he and Van were assigned to work this case with Nova.

Since if it was mostly any other jedi in the order they would probably think Nova was falling to the dark side.

But that is where they would be wrong.

Nova knows exactly what she is doing and is perfectly in control of herself.

She is expressing her emotions about the situation.

A perfectly healthy response.

But Marcellus knew sadly most of the order wouldn't agree with that.

Especially many of the older members.

They would try and brand Nova as a dark jedi.

Which would further deteriorate the main orders relationship with the Corellian jedi.

Then again the relationship between the two jedi sects had always been rocky so it is a moot point.

Marcellus knew the main order viewed the Corellian jedi as some sort of heretics since they didn't suppress their emotions and even married and had families.

It made him wonder what the future would be like for the coalition once they split from the main order and went out on their own.

Though if one asked Marcellus if he would chose to remain with the main order or leave it he would now choose the latter.

Namely because of Nova.

Marcellus is pretty sure he's in love with her after all.

So if it's between being a jedi and Nova he'll choose her.

A decision he probably would've never made if he didn't meet and befriend Van.

Marcellus can safely say Van is his best friend. A man he will follow because he trusts him with his life.

And Van would say the same thing about Marcellus.

As the battle continued to rage on in front of him Marcellus saw on the four enemy vessels exploded in a hail of flames.

When this happened he noticed the three remaining ships start to retreat.

Leaving their remaining starfighters behind as they did so.

"To even abandon your own people. How despicable." Marcellus muttered in disgust.

Just after he did so his comms came to life. The voice of Jan Dodonna blaring across them.

"Group Gamma cut off the escaping vessels. We are not allowing any of these bastards to escape." Jan ordered with a passion.

As he did do the two ships and multiple Interceptor's that made up Group Gamma of the fleet started to move from their position to cut off the fleeing enemy.

Marcellus pushed on the controls inside his Interceptor cockpit and accelerated forward along with the rest of Group Gamma.

Swinging around they put themselves right in the path of the fleeing enemy vessels.

The moment this happened the two ships of Group Gamma opened fire.

Meanwhile the other four ships of the fleet moved in behind the enemy and started pressing the attack from the rear.

Pincering them, leaving no room for the enemy to escape.

In no time at all the battle came to an end.

A resounding victory for the Republic side.

***

(Van: POV)

"Sorry, can you repeat that?" I asked.

"I said you are not to pursue this matter any further." Mace Windu spoke to me.

As he did so I suppressed my anger and frustration.

Three days have passed since the battle where we cornered and destroyed the perpetrators of the cargo vessel attacks.

After doing do we investigated the remains of their ships.

Since no matter how many times we tried those bastards wouldn't surrender. They fought and died until none of them were left.

We soon discovered why aboard their wrecked vessels.

An examination of of what of those ships databanks revealed those attackers had direct relation to the Crymorah Syndicate.

One of the largest and most powerful criminal organizations in the entire galaxy.

Upon learning this I compiled a report along with Marcellus, Nova, and Jan. Where we all agreed we would ask for assistance and resources for dealing with the Crymorah Syndicate.

Now here I am, my request being flat out denied.

Marcellus standing on my right the two of us are in a conference room aboard the fleets flagship. Having a holocall with Mace Windu, Plo Koon, and Yoda.

"Master's forgive me but we can't allow this kind of action to go unpunished. The Crymorah Syndicate simply can't commit an act like this and then avoid any serious repercussions." Marcellus spoke.

"Calm yourself knight Antilles." Plo Koon spoke. "The matter is not so simple. The Crymorah Syndicate is one of the biggest criminal enterprises in the entire galaxy. Moving against them is not something to be done hastily."

"Yes. We know that." I spoke up. "That's why we are requesting assistance to deal with them. Otherwise this whole thing will just happen again."

"Hear you we do young knight's. But the decision regarding this matter, final it is." Yoda spoke.

"You have completed the mission. Anything further is not required." Mace Windu said.

"Yes master." I said.

"Good. Then this meeting is adjourned." Master Windu spoke.

The communication then ended.

After it did do Marcellus slammed his right fist on the holotable.

"What the hell?!" He cried. "I thought we jedi are supposed to stand against crime."

"The jedi haven't done so in a long time my friend." I replied.

After I did so the two of us just stood their in silence for several seconds.

Until eventually we calmed down enough. 

Once we did we left the conference room we were in and went to meet up with Jan and Nova in another.

Both of them wearing bitter expressions on their faces.

"I take it your meetings didn't go so well." I said.

"I can assume yours was the same." Nova said.

"Yes. The jedi council refuses to pursue this matter any further." Marcellus spoke.

"The same with my superiors in the Judicial Forces." Jan added.

"The Green jedi council can't do much either given our lack of jurisdiction outside Corellian sector sapce. Except for special cases like this of course." Nova explained.

So in the end the Crymorah Syndicate basically gets off Scott free.

This more than ever drives home the point the Republic and the jedi order that serve it are basically a lost cause.

Strengthening my resolve that striking out on my own is the right thing to do more than ever now.