Strike Team 37

Strike Team 37 was a group of Jedi Knights and a couple Padawans who were sent to Baroonda in 22 ABY in a GR-75 freighter to destroy the Grey Jedi. There were 16 Jedi in the team, most of them Padawans who had just achieved Knighthood or were about to. They were led by a fairly experienced Jedi Master, Job Fretuu. He fanatically hated the Dark Side, so when the New Jedi Order designated the Brotherhood of Grey Jedi a Sith organization, he jumped at the chance to destroy them. Some argued that he had gone crazy; he was prone to bouts of madness. However, he led the strike team regardless. They loaded into a derilect freighter that had been fixed up and fitted with an experimental cloaking device pioneered by Grand Admiral Thrawn. Then, they set out for Baroonda, home of the Grey Jedi. Landing on a deserted Podracing course, they exited the ship and made their way through the jungle towards the Grey Sanctuary, home of the Brotherhood. However, on the way, one Knight was killed by a Jungle Rancor. Their number down to 15, the team continued onward, and reached the Sanctuary four days after leaving their ship. They led an attack on the Sanctuary, which was inhabited by 7 scholars, 18 pupils, and 3 Craaft Grey Jedi, led by Zela Kssir. They slaughtered 5 of the scholars, two of the Craaft, and 6 pupils, the rest of whom were held hostage. The Strike Team, meanwhile, lost only 4 of their members. Zela Kssir and the two scholars, Liaa Vetter and Jens Hantonar, who were not killed, were deprived of their lightsabers and kept in impromptu electromagnetic holding fields, which caused them pain but prevented their use of the Force. The Pupils weren't seen as a threat and only had their lightsabers taken away. The Sanctuary was fairly far away from the other towns and cities in the area, so no one realized what had happened. In the meantime, the Jedi Strike Team had killed one other Pupil who attempted escape; things were looking grim, with all of the Protectors and Craaft out fighting the war, and no hope of rescue in sight. The Strike team sent three Jedi back to the ship to bring it to the sanctuary. Five days later, one of them crawled back, his leg torn off. After he told them about the Rancor that killed his friends, he died. The duo of jedi sent out two days after presumably met the same fate- they were never seen again. An encrypted Evac Beacon was set off by the Strike Team, as they could not afford to lose another group of Jedi to the Jungle Rancors. They were down to six Jedi, but they knew that they had to escape before anyone discovered their work. After a villager from a nearby town came to request a healer, they knew the jig was up. They killed him, and, massacreing the remaining Padawans and Jens Hantonar, they bound Liaa and Zela with shock cuffs and began the trekk through the jungle. They finally made it to their ship after a Rancor attack that killed one last Jedi. Prisoners in tow, they were about to leave system when a CR90 corvette showed up in system. They knew that it wouldn't be possible to sneak out past it; their cloaking device only masked their sensor signature. So they waited for three days, and watched in horror as a shuttle deployed from its bay and landed outside the Sanctuary. They realized that they had probably been spotted, and began to fire up the engines. However, as they got into orbit, the CR90 began to fire. Its Ion Cannon caught the ship in the engines, and they couldn't jump to hyperspace. So they prepared to be boarded; however, when the shuttle that had been to the surface returned to board them, they knew they were in trouble. The shuttle docked with them, and the hatch opened... and three Grey Jedi Protectors stepped out, lightsabers lit. They were followed by a squad of Consortium Marines, and Craaft Grey Jedi Yesew Thrunner. Even faced with these odds, the Strike Team refused to surrender. They began to duel with the Protectors, but the Marines simply flanked them and filled the five Jedi with holes. They found Zela Kssir, grievously wounded but alive. Then, Master Job Fretuu stepped from behind a bulkhead. He had a lightsaber to the throat of Liaa Vetter. However, Yesew reached inside his robe and removed his personalized Relby K-23 pistol. Willing the force to guide his hand, he shut his eyes and fired. The shot ripped through the air, and punched a clean hole through the head of Master Job Fretuu. Liaa Vetter fell to the floor, shocked but unharmed. Thus, the Strike Team met its end.