Fandom Star Wars: The Clone Wars

[RIPSaidCone]

STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS


"Easy is the path to wisdom for those not blinded by themselves"

"A galaxy divided! Striking swiftly after the battle of Geonosis, Count Dooku's droid army has seized control of the major hyperspace lanes separating the Republic from the majority of it's Clone army. With few clones available, the Jedi Generals cannot gain a foothold in the outer rim as more and more planets choose to join Dooku's separatists. With the Jedi occupied fighting a war no one is left to keep the peace! Chaos and crime spread as the innocent become victims in a lawless galaxy.."

Chaos Take Hold

As the Republic is kept occupied with the growing threat of the Separatist armies, crime is allowed to run rampant across the galaxy, bounty hunters flourish and crime lords meet new rises in profits as law and order crumbles under the sheets of war. The Confederacy of Independent Systems continues to gain ground against the Galactic Republic as their armies grow ever stronger under the guidance of the evil General Grevious and his Sith allies; Dooku and Ventress. In a desperate attempt to begin preparation for a counter-attack, the Republic orders the immediate development of millions of new clone troopers to reach their cut off clone armies on the other side of the galaxy. The Jedi are to lead this assault, little do they know that the Sith are prepared. And as the galaxy is engulfed in seemingly neverending war, criminals do as they please. Truly this is a dark age for the people of the galaxy.

(@HuorSpinks @Lorkhan)​

 

[RIPSaidCone]

Crisis on Clak'dor VIII

​

"Crisis on Clak'dor. A long time supporter and member of the Republic and it's ideals, the planet of Clak'dor has come under Separatist attack! For reasons still unknown to the Jedi and their Clone commanders a large Separatist fleet and accompanying droid armies have invaded the peaceful homeplanet of the Bith species. Led by the Sith assassin Kaleli Valessi the planet quickly falls under Separatist rule, little do the Jedi know that the Bith government have in-fact formed a secret alliance with the Separatists in promise of economic aid, what will the Republic's response be? And for how long will the Bith have to remain under harsh Separatist rule? Only time will tell."

​

"Uh ma'am, I think you should come and see this!" A B1 Battle Droid called out to his superior, Kaleli turning around with a natural stiff expression, walking over to the battle droids as it held what appeared to be a scroll of sorts. Upon seeing the scroll in the droid's hand Kaleli quickly ran over to it, taking the scroll from the droid's hand as it replied. "You could've been polite." But the assassin paid no attention as she unlocked the scroll, it opening up only to reveal what she had been looking for this entire time, it was full of Sith writings and stories, it was an artifact. It may not have been of any practical value but it was historical, that would prove to be a nice addition to the growing list of Sith artifacts she was collecting from all over the galaxy. "Droids, search that cave. I want everything that isn't apart of nature inside there taken out of it, understood?" She commanded, the droids nodding with their usual. "Yes ma'am." or "Roger roger." As they begun moving into the cave. Kaleli walked away from her troops as more Separatist landing craft arrived, she growled angrily, the only reason she was on that waste of a planet was to collect items for her master, she did expect a Republic response but if everything went to plan she'd be long gone by the time they arrived.

​

Meanwhile high above the planet, a fleet of Separatist warships begun forming their naval blockade around the planet's main access points, with a T-Series battle droid in command of the fleet, taking orders from Kaleli on the surface as she went about her mission. Back on the ground the planet had been occupied by a very large droid army force, consisting of heavy armor, anti-aircraft guns, hundreds of thousands of battle droids and various other Separatist weaponry and assets, Kaleli had given the order for her troops to begin looting the planet's towns and cities in-order to take even more items of value from the planet itself, and so far she had gotten away with taking various pieces of valuable artwork and jewelry from the planet, the people of the planet weren't happy but what did that matter. Kaleli folded her arms as a Commander Battle droid walked up next to her, handing her a datapad as she begun signing it. "I want all artifacts you find cataloged and sent to my master." She ordered, the droid nodding with. "Yes ma'am." Before leaving.

​

 

[Huor Spinks]

Lee Thauren - Coruscant: On board the Stargazer


Lee Thauren gave a rather disgruntled hum as he scrolled through the contents of his datapad. Another mission had just come in for him, apparently, and now it was up to him to decide whether to take on the mission. Apparently, the planet Clak'dor had come under a surprise attack by the Seperatists and due to the unexpectedness of the attack among other factors, had quickly come under Separatist control. Lee's missions could pretty much be sorted into two categories depending on the skill sets required; either slicing or piloting, both of which were his forte. And this mission seemed to be calling for his slicing abilities, for it required him to slice into the Separatist network to find out the troop size, the purpose for the invasion, any loopholes the Republic could use, as well as to come up with a sort of virus to weaken the Separatist system in order to win back the planet. But that would come later. For now, information was what the Republic and the Jedi were after, and that information was what they wanted him to provide. The distress call from the planet had been forwarded to his account and it was what he was now receiving, along with the Jedi briefing on what his mission was to be.


This system of sending missions to Lee's datapad was due to the fact that Lee had pretty much become a virtual recluse, even to the organization he was involved in. He had always been viewed as a sort enigma by the members within his organization but it was the events that led to his promotion to Master as well as the start of the Clone Wars that drove Lee into a sort of hiding, living in his spaceship stored within Coruscant's hanger rather than his room within the Temple, only ever venturing out from time to time for tea with his former Master, who had trained him to Knighthood and almost always on her invitation, as well as to get meals for himself, if he ever remembered to eat. His appetite had never recovered it's former strength pre-prison days, due to that, neither had his weight. He knew she was concerned about him. They all were. He had come that close to falling to the dark side once, and they were concerned that he would do so again, the more he hid. Though in all honesty, his reasons for hiding was less to do with trauma like almost everyone had assumed but rather, had far more to do with the Jedi involvement of the Clone Wars.


His fingers hovered above his keyboard in indecision for about a minute, before he finally replied to the message in the affirmative, accepting the mission. Invasions of planets had never sat well with him, ever since some time back, when his home planet Naboo had been invaded by the Trade Federation. It did not sit right with him to have other planets enduring what his own family had gone through, even thought he had not been there to witness the invasion firsthand, or share in the suffering. And to make matters worse, the Jedi Council had sent the man he considered his greatest inspiration within the Jedi Order, to die there, despite warnings that there had been Sith involved. He had lost almost all faith in the Jedi Council's decisions after that debacle.


After sending his acceptance, he closed his datapad, setting it aside on the sleep couch he had been leaning against, before standing up and stretching. He would get started on that mission. But first, some caf. It was almost embarrassing how addicted he was to the drink.

 

[Vorar]

Coruscant - The Triumphant Moves


With the support of the Jedi High Council and the Galactic Senate, Jedi Master and General of the Republic, Plo Koon was to lead the military campaign against the Separatists to clear both the important trade routes of the Corellian Run and the Hydian Way. General Plo Koon was to lead his own fleet from his personal flagship, the Triumphant, with as its first officer the Clone Commander CC-3636 or "Wolffe". The Jedi General's fleet contained two other Venator-class Star Destroyers known as the Razor and the Judgement that were to transport various starfighters, transport carriers and ground vehicles.


The Jedi General had left the spaceports of Coruscant with his entire fleet to leave and head into southern direction. Plo Koon's fleet used Hyperspace to arrive at the wealthy planet of Corellia to replenish the supplies of the fleet, prepare the cruisers for the huge jump for the planets of Tynna and Iktotch and be reinforced by the 167th Legion. Both planets were under the control of the Separatists and blocked the important trade route of the Hydian Way to other prominent planets of the Republic in the Outer Rim such as Polis Massa. The Jedi General's fleet was joined by Clone Senior Commander CT-1021 or "Thorne", who lead the 167th Legion to aid the Jedi General with the capture of the two Separatist-controlled planets. Jedi General Koon transported an enormous amount of professional gear to equip both the 167th Legion and 104th Battalion properly with and be able to ensure the success of his ambitious campaign.


The hangars of General Plo Koon's fleet had been filled with numerous Low Altitude Assault Transports, Low Altitude Assault Carriers, RS Walkers and even AT-TE Walkers to be used in the capture of the two rural planets. The Republic hadn't sought any contact with either of the two planets to deliver them any terms, though neither were many systems in the Republic publicly aware of General Plo Koon's fresh campaign against the Separatists. Though the Galactic Senate was ultimately convinced that the Jedi General's campaign became a popular one, now with the recent attack on Clak'dor VIII. The Republic waited quietly for either the success or failure of General Plo Koon and his fleet.


Corellia - On The Bridge Of The Triumphant


The Triumphant and her fellow two Venator-class Star Destroyers hang with little to no movement above the prestigious and wealthy Core World of Corellia. Thousands of Clones were preparing themselves and their the Republic Attack Cruisers for the Hyperspace to the planets of Tynna and Iktotch. The control bridge of the Triumphant was filled with various Clone officers and pilot crew members that worked on getting the three ships into a safe Hyperspace. Whilst Clone Senior Commander Thorne was personally informing the officers of the 167th Legion of General Koon's strategic plan to capture the two Separatist-controlled planets, Jedi General Koon and Clone Commander Woffle enjoyed their view of the right bridge's front window.


Plo Koon wore his usual dark brown robe, whilst Woffle wore his uniform as first officer. The two had remained quiet for some time now, until Woffle slowly turned to look at his jedi superior and asked: "So how are your former padawans doing?" The Jedi General sighed for a moment, crossed his arms over one another and then spoke with a deep and wise voice: "Yes, my lovely girls. A few months ago, Bultar lead the Republic's forces to a draw at the Battle of Amaltanna, whilst young Lissarkh remains to safely study the Force on Dantooine. For now, they'll both be fine, as long as we don't work on our own, we will all be fine." The Clone Commande gave the general a nod of approval. A Clone officer walked up to Kel Dori General and the Clone Commander, he gave his report plainly: "Sirs, she's ready for the Hyperspace to our destination, as are the Razor and the Judgement." The Jedi General quickly replied to the officer's report: "Excellent, let us be on our way immediately." The Clone officer nodded and carried out General Koon's order, and so the three Venator-class Star Destroyers went into Hyperspace.


As General Plo Koon's fleet headed for the two Separatist-controlled planets from Hyperspace, the Jedi Master and the Clone Commander continued their conversation. Plo Koon carefully asked his first officer: "How many soldiers does our task force contain in total, commander? I take a guess of around 9,750." Woffle picked up the datapad from the small desk next to him and replied the Jedi General after tabbing several times on the object: "Meh still a bit more, sir. We've a total of 9,792 units with enough starfighters and vehicles to teach perhaps even General Grievous a lesson." The Jedi Master chuckled calmly at that last statement and said: "Never underestimate Grievous, commander. But I'm sure it will be enough to deliver enough damage upon the Separatist that even the general will feel it." Koon tapped Woffle on his shoulder and left the bridge to return to his private quaters for some Force Meditation, whilst the Clone Commander remained behind to command the ship as its first officer and lead it for the two planets to begin the Jedi Master's campaign against the Separatists.

 

[bobokapita]

• Republic Space
  

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Lyana Vosh leant back in her chair, out here it was just her, her holocron, and the vacuum of space. She looked down to the the ancient device on the floor, it was a small red triangular pyramid, roughly 6cm in width and height. It had a little ring on the top, almost like a keychain and was emmiting a dim, red light which reflected off the golden frame that held the pieces of translucent, red material together. She reached her hand for it, stuck her index finger through the small ring and lifted the device. She lightly gripped it. It was cold to the touch, and maybe even ominous. She turned it until she found a part that wasn't hidden by her fist and stared into it. There were thin golden wires that ran through the translucent material to form intricate patterns, though these meant nothing to Lyna, they were merely decorations and served no purpose as far as she was aware, what mattered to her was what was inside; ancient knowledge recorded from the time of the Old Republic, it was created by a Sith known as Lana Beniko and contained the teachings of Darth Nox, a powerful Sith lord, and The Emperor's Wrath, the emperor's brutal right hand man, who had been known to defeat battalions single-handedly. She placed the device in the empty space between her and the ship's instruments and the cockpit's window and stared at it intensely. She was using the force to open it.


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Outer rim, near Clak'Dor VIII


Lyana was now even more powerful, the holocron had taught her another lesson. It had also given her a mission; ancient artefacts, similar to her holocron, had apparently been rediscovered on the planet Clak'Dor VIII and she was to recover them so that both her and the device sitting in front of her could study them to unlock even more secrets and find out about the mysteries of the ancient Sith.

 

[Cooper]

Kos'nora hadn't been sent on on many assignments. She had followed her Master's training and had been in several battles - however, she was still a Padawan - and her skills were not on the battlefield like so many other Padawan's in the academy. Kos'nora had a great link to the Force, one that surpassed that of her classmates, and one that was of interest to her Master. But her reluctance to fight with weapons was something that did not interest him. "Your lack of ability with your Lightsaber, this far into your learning is a great weakness to you, Kos'nora..." he would say, and still she relied on Force acrobatics and tricks to get herself out of tricky situations. However, even she knew that one day she would have to resort to physical violence.


It had seemed that it was almost overnight that the world changed. That everything grew just that little bit darker. Nothing was certain anymore. Their was an uprising of Seperatists gunning to take down the Republic. Nobody was safe.


It had been days since Kos'nora had heard from her Master. The last she remembered was that there has been a council with all of the Master's and it was decided that her Master had to become a General in these dark times, and as such he had been sent out to fight somewhere in the galaxy. Everyone had their role now, even the Padawans. Kos'nora had been told to read - to continue to study, and to keep on practicing, to calm the younglings at the temple, but sure enough her time had come to be called into the fray too.


Without her own Master to guide her, Kos'nora's only choice was to find a remaining Jedi Master and request to help them. She pulled on her robe, fastening her Lightsaber to her belt so it sat comfortably. As she made her through the temple and towards the hanger, she gazed upwards. Her heart sank, there was certainly a darkness in the Force that was growing, but to her, the Temple was still a beacon of light and for that reason it must be protected. The only way to protect the Temple was to fight and wipe out the dark scourge spreading like disease throughout the galaxy.


The first of her steps to conquering this darkness, was to head out to Clak'dor. Before that she must get to the hanger to meet the Jedi Master who she would accompany on this mission, whatever it was going to be.

 

[Huor Spinks]

Lee Thauren - Coruscant: On Board the Stargazer


It was after two mugs of caf that Lee managed to find a breakthrough. By that time, he had relocated to his workspace, which consisted of a desk, a large computer and a few drawers containing the tools of his trade; a few slicer chips, electronic lock breakers and jammers, among others. He was not surprised to find the encryption surrounding the Separatists' computer systems so strong; no doubt they had their own slicers working for them. He could probably take the time to find a way around the encryption but that would take quite some time, definitely more than a few hours. None of his programmes were strong enough to slice beyond the encryption but there was a programme that might, though he would have to modify a few lines of code. But hey, that was nothing new either; many of his programmes had gone through lines and lines of modifications in the past, and many of them had been modifications of earlier code themselves.


He took an absentminded sip from his mug, only to realise that the mug had been drained of caf. He sighed. Time for a third one then. And a slight break. He stood up and stretched once more, then collected his cup and made his way out of his room, towards the little kitchen joining it, though whether it could actually be considered a kitchen was up to debate. It consisted merely of a few shelves, a table, a freezer and refrigeration united, as well as a few portable heating devices that had never even been used, and, most importantly, the caf making unit. This kitchen really functioned as a dining room, where he usually bought back food from outside if he even did remember to eat in the first place. He usually only ever ate when hunger pains reminded him to, and he could last for half a day without feeling them, courtesy of prison life.


Once his mug was full, he headed back to his workspace, only to find that while he had been gone, he had received a new message, once again from the Jedi Temple. With some dread, he opened the message. He read through it once, then groaned aloud. What was he, some kind of hovertaxi driver? Now the Jedi Council wanted him to transport a Jedi Padawan to Chak'dor, specifically, to Plo Koon's Flagship, where she would probably assist with the efforts to win back the planet by probably the only way the Jedi knew how to do things these days; through their lightsabers. This definitely meant social interaction with Jedi other than his former Master, and he doubted that Plo Koon and this Padawan considered grunts as adequate conversation. Oh, he was not looking forward to this.


Plus, he needed to modify his code. At the rate things were going, he was probably going to have to hand-slice into the systems, something he did not want to do. He had thought the best thing about a slicer was getting the job done without even having to leave his workspace, and sending a Padawan to another planet would leave him even less time to modify his code. Hand-slicing would expose his own vulnerabilities, namely lightsaber combat. He was adequate enough at combat at Master level, but against the truly strong opponents who specialised in fighting, he stood no chance. And no doubt the Separatist blockade was full of these.


Not like he would have much of a choice anyway. No doubt the Padawan was on her way to his freighter by now. He would have to continue his work on board Plo Koon's flagship then. A good enough reason to hide, if any. And perhaps, the Force willing, a solution might present itself. He pressed the button allowing his freighter door to slide open, and lowered the gangplank. He only hoped that the Padawan had been briefed on his freighter's appearance because he did not want to have to go down and wait for her.

 

[Cooper]

She was making her way with haste to the hanger. Time was of the essence with a mission such as this, she had heard that she was to be sent with Master Lee Thauren, and she did feel daunted at the prospect. She had heard about him, and she wasn't sure where the line was to be drawn between fact and fiction in regards to some of the things she had heard. Still, she would have an open mind. She would only be with him for the journey - so she had been told, but there was something in the Force which hinted that would not be the case. The two were being pushed together to go to Clak'dor for a reason, surely.


As she reached the hanger, she noticed Master Lee's ship immediately, it looked different to the others - and besides, there were so few ships in the hangers these days. It was just a reminder that these were dark times, and she felt her heart sink momentarily at the sight. He had left the door open for her, and she could sense that he was already inside. Her lekku gave her the gift of hyper-sensitivity, even without the Force to help. As she climbed the gangplank, her footsteps were soft and near silent, her robe trailed the floor behind her as she made her way in. Immediately she became alert to the smell of caf, and it was fresh too.


As she eyed up the interior of the Stargazer, she noticed it appeared sparse, but it was very much a lived in space. She deduced that Master Lee spent a lot of time here. It was not pristine - and that's not to say it was dirty or unclean, but she had already noticed for example, knife marks in the dining area where Master Lee had probably prepared food. She noticed that areas that were carpeted had been worn down ever so, and similarly she noticed small worn down spots on surfaces where she supposed Master Lee would rest his feet.


These were all the most subtle of things, but Kos'nora noticed them. It was quite clear that the Master was comfortable here, and now she was here. This was very clearly his space, his territory. She wondered how he would feel about having a Padawan such as herself in his space. She knew he probably wouldn't have wanted her to be here - but that was not the point, she had to be. Jedi, whether they were Masters, Councilmen, and Padawans' alike all had to do what was asked of them - now more than ever.


If Master Lee was to feel uncomfortable with her presence, she too was to feel uncomfortable infringing upon his space. She cleared her throat to announce her presence even though she knew he would already be aware of her. "Master Lee Thauren, my name is Kos'nora... I am here to accompany you to Clak'dor." As she spoke, she bowed her head to show respect for her elder and placed her hands together, a friendly smile playing across her lips.

 

[RIPSaidCone]

City of Buerhoz, Clak'dor


Whoom. "Agh!" A Bith rebel yelled in pain as the blade of a red lightsaber cut across his chest, the man himself then dropping to the floor. Clak'dor's 99% weren't all too happy about being occupied for obvious reasons, and a few of them had even begun attempting to fight back. To no avail. Vvsssh. The red blade disappeared as Kaleli flipped it off. Holstering one of the two lightsabers that she had back onto her belt, a battle droid on either side of her as she begun inspecting the rebel's old hideout, now littered with the bodies of former rebellion supporters. Although the Bith government of Clak'dor had agreed to Separatist armies taking control, some of the everyday people weren't as content with it.


"Ma'am, the General is awaiting your answer." A battle droid commander called out to Kaleli as she turned around and took the holoprojector that was in the droid's right hand off of him. Activating it as the infamous appearance of General Grevious appeared, coughing as his small hologram form looked up to Kaleli.


"Assassin, why have your forces not vacated from Clak'dor?" He asked angrily. Kaleli shaking her head with an unimpressed look as she responded with. "I do not have to answer to you, General."


"Quite the contrary, as I am the only one that can reinforce you in the event of a Republic assault. Your invasion has drawn their attention, have you retrieved the artifacts?" He said, then asked. Coughing again in the harsh way that he did. "I have, my troops are currently supressing rebellion, if we want to have Clak'dor's government continuing to support our cause."


He seemed to think for a few moments, idly coughing as he replied. "Do as you must, if the Republic attacks, then I am hoping that you will be able to crush them. Our master expects nothing less of course." Kaleli was angered by that seemingly patronizing comment, hissing. "You will not have to worry about me." Before crushing the holoprojector in her hand, the battle droid commander going. "Aw.." In a sad tone as he watched his device being crushed.


Separatist Base of Operations, Clak'dor


"What is the status of the scan?" Kaleli asked as she stepped onto the highest platform in the control room, various B1 battle droids with blue and green markings operating computers and various other machines, all with the purpose of intelligence gathering, communications or monitoring. A T-Series tactical droid standing next to her as it replied with. "Multiple artifacts have been located in the planet's north western mountain ranges, we are currently sending droids there now." In it's usual dead, monotone and robotic voice. Kaleli nodded as she waved for the droid to leave her presence. Watching the large screen in-front of her as it showed camera footage of her droids in battle with some rebels, the rebels were quickly overwhelmed, not that she expected anything less of course.

 

[Vorar]

Hydian Way - On The Bridge Of The Triumphant

The fleet of Jedi General Plo Koon had arrived at the Separatist-controlled planets of Tynna and Iktotch. The three Venator-class Star Destroyers vigilantly watched the two rural planets as they neared to lay the planets under siege. General Koon overlooked the two planets from the front window of the Triumphant's right control bridge, as Clone Commander Woffle approached him from behind and reported: "General, the fleet is awaiting your command." The Jedi Master took a deep breath, turned to face the Clone Commander and plainly replied: "Get the Triumphant and the Judgement in position to siege Iktotch, and let the Razor watch Tynna so that the planet won't receive any reinforcements." Commander Woffle nodded and informed the fleet of the general's orders.


Inside the Triumphant and the Judgement, the soldiers prepared themselves for the following mission whilst the Razor hang vigilantly above the planet of Tynna to avoid any Separatist forces from escaping the planet and warning other Separatist-controlled planets of the attack. As his fleet was preparing itself, General Koon discussed his strategic plan for the assault with several Clone officers on the Triumphant. "Seven platoons of Low Altitude Assault Carriers will deploy an efficient number of Republic Scout Walkers across various locations on the planet to gather intel on the Separatist garrison and any stronghold on Iktotch. As the Iktotchi Moon is a very rural planet with the only urban settlement being the capital city of Ankhela itself, we've the element of stealth to our advantage. Specially trained squadrons will be sent to scout around the capital, and if possible. Talk with the planetary natives with the hope to gain their support in the recapture of their planet. The Iktotchi people are strongly with the Force, many of them will be fond to aid us. Are there so far any questions regarding our preparations?", the Jedi General asked.


The Clone officers thought for a moment in silence, but no question came to their mind as they shake their heads. Plo Koon carefully continued with his plan: "If all goes well, our scout teams will give us at least a decent amount of information regarding the size of the Separatist garrison on the planet. Our task force will then launch an effective assault on the droid forces. The starfighters of the Triumphant and the Judgement will attack any enemy stronghold on the planet that we are sure of, that it doesn't contain any civilians. This will hopefully draw the enemy out of the capital, so our squadrons can infiltrate the city and take control over it. Our starfighters will shortly be followed by our Low Altitude Assault Carriers and Low Altitude Assault Transports, as they will deploy our ground forces and ground vehicles on the surface. Hopefully, some natives will join us in the reconquest of their planet, but I'm sure our task force is enough to take back this planet."


After General Koon was finished speaking, Senior Commander Thorne asked: "Sir, won't the Separatist have been warned by now of our presence and summoned reinforcements?" At that question, Plo Koon turned to look at Commander Woffle who gave a reply to Thorne's question: "Don't worry about that, commander. By the time our ships are in range of their radars, our boys have already jammed their communications, including those of their radars." Commander Thorne nodded and so their meeting had been brought to an end. Commanders Thorne and Woffle, and the other Clone officers made sure the preparations before the battle we carried out, whilst Jedi General Plo Koon overlooked it all from the Triumphant's front window, awaiting any report from his troops before the assault.

 

[Huor Spinks]

Lee Thauren - Coruscant: On board the Stargazer


Soon enough, the sound of gentle footfalls upon worn carpets alerted Lee to his passenger's arrival and in response he stood up, drained his mug of caf, placed it back down onto his workspace, then left the room, exiting through the hatch which hissed the moment he pressed the button. He took a step out, as the hatch hissed closed behind him. He merely stood there, watching through neutral eyes as the padawan made her way towards him. He watched as she made her own observations about his ship and for some reason, he could not help feeling rather embarrassed. He could not help wondering if the smell of caf permeated the air; he was so used to the smell by now that he barely noticed it, but someone less familiar with his ship might catch the scent of caf almost everywhere. Even his tunic and cloak smelt of caf, like a form of perfume. It did look rather shabby to the untrained eye, but it was Lee's baby, and he knew full well what this ship was capable of. Of course he did. He had installed all the modifications himself. Even the caf machine.


Annoyed at his own embarrassment, he glanced at the padawan as she introduced herself, taking note of her name and species and only after he could confirm that the padawan before him was the one that the message had described that he gave a short nod in her direction. He turned on his heel then, pausing only to close the ship door and raise the ramp, before opening the hatch that led to the cockpit. He trusted her to follow as he seated himself into the pilot's chair, flicking on switches. Soon, a low hum filled the air as the ship prepared to take off.


He turned to Kos'nora and perhaps for the first time since their encounter, spoke actual words to her. "Buckle up," he said, rather gruffly. Then, realising just how unfriendly he sounded, he added in what he considered a friendlier tone, though it probably sounded more caustic to those who were unfamiliar with him, "It's gonna be a rough ride. But this baby would take us anywhere, despite how rickety she might look." Some pride could not help coming through though. The Stargazer was his baby really, and she had pulled him through some really rough situations.


And sure enough, a jolt passed through the entire ship as he gunned the engines, a few bumps here and there, and soon the Stargazer was gliding out of Coruscant airspace, on a route plotted straight towards Clak'dor.


@Cooper

 

[Vorar]

Hydian Way - The Hangar Of The Triumphant

Whilst Commander Wolffe prepared the rest of the Wolfpack for the assault, Sergeant Sinker of the renowned Clone squadron reported all the intel that the scouts had gathered and the successes that they had made to Jedi General Plo Koon. "The Clankers have heavily fortified each and every settlement they could get their hands on, especially the capital. Most of the droid army is stationed within the capital, wich has been filled with numerous anti-aircraft guns, with the city being protected by mere basic security walls. But the Separatists do have heavy armor such as tanks and artillery, though our squadrons were able to destroy a tank depot of ten tanks. Two supply lines have been severely interrupted, but during a third attempt, our troops were pushed back and took several losses. Due to the density of the civilians and the droid army in the capital and the other settlements, it won't be possible for us to launch an effective barrage on their forces without causing any civilian casualties.", the Clone Sergeant reported as he walked with the Jedi Master through the Triumphant's hangar. General Koon thought for a moment in silence until he asked: "How many droids does the Separatist army contain?" The Jedi General slowly placed his hands behind his back whilst Sergeant Sinker replied: "Our scouts have reported that their army numbers from twenty thousand to a maximum of twenty-five thousand Clankers, sir." The Kel Dori Jedi Master nodded as he thought of how he was going to change his original strategic plan for the assault.


General Plo Koon gave Sergeant Sinker his orders: "Save the following carefully in your datapad, sergeant. To start the assault, I will begin the attack on the Separatist army by attempting to distract their anti-aircraft guns in my starfighter. Several battalions will be deployed via Low Altitude Assault Transports across various strategic points close to the capital, these landing zones must have been carefully chosen by our scouts that are currently on the planet. All scout teams must be present at these landing zones to reduce casualties from any and all counterfire. These ground forces will be led by Commander Wolffe and his Wolfpack. Our remaining ground vehicles present on the Triumphant and the Judgement will be deployed at the landing zones to support our infantry. With the cover of the rocky terrain, the droid army will be forced to come and meet us outside the capital, so that they have a better aim at us. Senior Commander Thorne will remain here on the Triumphant to release all our starfighters once the enemy has been drawn out of the capital so that we can unleash an effective and decisive barrage upon the Separatist army. Sent this information to both Commander Wolffe and Thorne, they know what to do with it." The Clone Sergeant nodded and used his datapad to quickly sent the intel to the two commanders. As the Jedi Master and the Clone Sergeant walked through the hangar to reach Master Plo Koon's starfighter, through the intercom of the Triumphant could Commander Wolffe's voice be heard: "All assigned ground forces prepare for take off. This is not a drill, I repeat this is not a drill. Prepare for taking off."


The Kel Dor and the Clone reached the Blade of Dorin after a few minutes of walking through the starfighter depot. The Jedi starfighter of the general looked in perfect shape as if it had been constructed just a day earlier. Plo Koon's droid, R4-F5, had already been put in its place on the starfighter. The droid matched the colors of the Jedi starfighter, blue and white. Before he climbed up to take his seat on the ship, General Koon turned to Sergeant Sinker and said: "Tell Wolffe, your teammates and especially yourself, Sinker. That despite whatever odds we will face in the coming battles and those that will follow, that we will overcome our struggles if we work together. Now go, and join your brothers of the Wolfpack." The Clone Sergeant nodded, saluted the general and immediately walked away, whilst General Koon got into his starfighter. As the Jedi General announced his departure to the hangar control, he took off and went into space by heading out of the hangars' shields and leaving the Triumphant's deck gates. As his starfighter made his way for the planet of Iktotch, Plo Koon said: "R4, prepare our engines for evading some extreme enemy fire once we get to orbit, whilst keeping our coordinates known to the fleet on a secure line." The droid approved with a simple robotic sound as the Blade of Dorin made its way for the surface above the capital city of Ankhela.

 

[Cooper]

Following Lee into the cockpit, she took a glance around at the terminals before taking her seat beside him. "I wouldn't have known she was rickety, Master. I do not spend a lot of time with my feet off the ground like some of my fellow Padawan. So... my eyes see your ship as without fault, and I am sincere in saying so." As she spoke, she carefully pulled on her buckles, and sat back in the seat comfortably, her feet together and her hands on her lap.


She found herself being relieved that Lee was a man of little words, as she herself was not the greatest at navigating her way through small talk. She had found him to be slightly abrupt in his way of speaking - but he had just been told to bring her aboard his ship, and take her to Clak'Dor. She imagined that even she would wind up being at least slightly abrupt if she was asked to do such a tedious task. She was thinking that the Council must have plans for Lee too, otherwise they would have sent her with someone else. It was unusual to say the least. They clearly needed him on the ground. This started her thinking on why she of all the remaining Padawan was suddenly the one to assist, especially considering her history on missions like this. This was more than a simple taxi to Clak'Dor, that was certain. Even in times of danger like this, the Council still carefully planned assignments - everything was for a reason. Or so she believed.


As the Stargazer began it's take off, Kos'nora found herself being taken off guard by the bumps, and lost her composure for a second - a gasp escaped her lips and her hands fumbled over the buckles to get a tight grip on them. Her eyes widened as she watched Coruscant grow smaller; "Sorry.. Like I said, I don't spend too much time in the air..." She felt her cheeks grow hot, and her lekku twitched as she found her decorum crumbling with the embarrassment. She tried to laugh it off, but it only made her feel that little bit more flushed. As they escaped the bumpy pockets and began to glide, she felt her hands loosen their hold on the buckles and her heart steadied again. It was actually nice - to be heading out on such a ship to a mission.


@HuorSpinks

 

[Huor Spinks]

Lee Thauren - Hyperspace: On board the Stargazer


Lee immediately shot a glance containing both surprise and concern over at his passenger as she let out a gasp, even as his hands moved on their own accord to steer the ship. Clearly, the padawan was un-used to flying, which surprised him somewhat. He would have expected a padawan of her age to be used to flying by now, as going by his own experience, padawans usually traveled where their Master was sent, and usually they were sent out often. However, he kept his eyes on the screens and his hands on the piloting instruments until they were out of Coruscant airspace before glancing again at Kos'nora, to see how she was doing. He was quite relieved now to find that she was not as shocked as she had been previously.


He chuckled then, at her comments, though there was nothing malicious behind them, rather curiosity and acknowledgement. "Haven't found your space legs yet, haven't you?" He asked, in a more conversational tone. He gave a shrug then. "You'll get used to it the more you fly. Though she does tend to be bumpier than most ships." He leaned back then, in his pilot seat, letting both hands rest on the armrests, while he looked over his control panel like a proud parent. Or rather, a proud Master, since he had no experience with parenthood. Or in the training of padawans, it had to be admitted. "She does have her faults though," he added, in a more thoughtful tone. "But then, that's what makes her interesting. Some faults you have to live with, no matter what but others... there can be huge improvement. She had been quite a different ship when I was passed ownership." By then, he was wondering if he was talking about his ship or something else.


He gave a shrug. "Get ready, we'll be passing into hyperspace now." He gave her a moment to collect herself, before proceeding to start the hyperspace sequence. Within minutes, the stars in the cockpit windows appeared to be straight beams of light, before the ship disappeared from sight. He glanced over at Kos'nora again. "We'll take about 45 minutes to reach Clak'dor. You can nap if you like, or find a drink or snack. I think there should be some in the kitchenette, though I haven't really checked... There's a caf machine you can help yourself to, if you like caf, that is."


@Cooper

 

[Cooper]

"Well, I have done a little flying, of course. For a while now though I have really stayed in Coruscant; escorting Senators, running errands for the Council, I have even been helping to teach the Younglings the ways of the Force.." her voice tapered out, though a smile grew on her face. She had spent a lot of time studying, teaching, and helping Senators through Coruscant - she had even brought them through the Temple from time to time.


She wondered whether to tell Lee why she hadn't been sent out, the truth was she wasn't entirely sure herself. Her memory was still foggy over the incident. It had not been long after she had built her Lightsaber that she had been sent with her Master to a cold place. She would never forget how cold it was there - even if the rest of the details were foggy. There had been something happening... She could clearly picture her Master saying the word "insurgents" if she thought on it long enough. Then she would remember an explosion - but it being calm, and she was under control... But something broke her calm and she had wound up with an injury. After that, she could only remember waking in the Temple Infirmary, with little memory of what had happened. Her Master had told her that her inability to act with her Lightsaber had caused her to be hurt and that she had jeopardised the mission.


After that, it was as if he stopped taking her and training her. He would only tell her to continue to practice combat in the Temple, and he would resume taking her with him when she was ready.


She snapped out of her little daydream to focus back into what Master Lee was saying; she listened to his words and tone. He seemed happy and different when he spoke about his ship and its' faults. She found his words resonating with her - as if she had been longing to hear such a thing be said. She replied to him in a confused tone; "my Master would disagree. He believes that all faults can be eradicated if you work hard enough to do so." She then realised that she hadn't been talking about ships and machinery, but of people. But it was true, her Master did have a very perfectionist way of looking at the world, she wondered if sometimes he had been far too harsh on her - he didn't really have a teaching attitude at all.


Before she could get too hung up on her thoughts again, though, the ship shot through into hyperspace and provided a break in the conversation. She felt she'd probably said enough now.


"Thank you Master Lee... Perhaps I will go and meditate if that's alright with you? I... suppose a calm mind would be a great benefit... Although you probably think it trivial to do such a thing..." She laughed nervously. The thought of heading into a battle zone right now was causing her some slight anxiety, and that was no way for a Jedi to be on such a mission - coupled with her having just thought of her last real mission and how it had ended so badly, she couldn't help but feel a twinge of fear in her stomach.

 

[IG42]

Iktotch surface- Outskirts of Ankhela





Crash carefully crept up behind a rock to observe the smoking battle ground surrounding the remaining Separatist supply line, scanning the area through the sniper attachment on his rifle he tried to pick out any moving forms among the scattered bodies. Crouching down behind his cover the ARC dialed down the power on his comlink.


"This is Alpha-42 to any Republic forces, turn down the power on your coms and call out your status."





After nearly a minute of silence the com crackled as a horse voice spoke up.


"RV-226 here, broke a view ribs and picked up a stanging headache coming off a speeder, must've been out for a while."


Crash looked through the scope again and spotted one of the armoured figures stirring a few meters away from a flamed out speeder bike.


"I see you 226 hold still for the moment, there's still clankers in the area. I'll stay on the com and see if anyone else is still alive out there."


Ten minutes later Crash had successfully contacted another pair of troopers that had gotten shot up enough to be unable to make their way to the rally point but had managed to get out of sight. He was a little disappointed at the small number of survivors but even the three he'd found were unexpected.


"Alright troopers here's the plan; I'll open fire and get the Seps' attention then 226 will make for cover and give support with his sidearm, once 226 is in position then you two get clear-" Crash broke off as a familiar Aethersprite fighter shot overhead, most of the droids looked up then turned and ran off towards the city.


Glancing over the remaining droids and spoke up again.


"Nice of the general to thin the numbers for us, same plan as before troopers everyone ready?"


"As long as you aren't planning to fly us out of here."


Crash lined up a shot at a B1 droid but paused to huff at the off-handed comment.


"How does everyone find out about that?" He muttered as he squeezed the trigger.


"Uh-oh."


The droid's head blew straight off leaving it's decapitated body firing wildly until a super battle droid knocked it to the ground just before a shot from Crash's grenade launcher reduced it to flying scrap. Across the field RV-226 clambered to his feet and ran off to throw himself painfully down behind cover and open fire. As a second grenade obliterated the remaining SBD the wounded troopers scrambled away with one propping the other up. With the heavier enemies eliminated Crash removed the launcher from his rifle and cleared out the B1s with standard blaster fire alongside 226's own attack creating a crossfire that ended the firefight in fairly short order.


The clones met up a safe distance away from the supply route to take stock.


"Good eye 226. Anyone take a hit?"


"That's a negative we aren't any worse off than before you got here. Thanks for the assist ARC."


"'At least we didn't make it worse'." Crash grunted. "Good policy. Get yourselves to the rally point I'm going to go cause some more trouble for the Seps."


"Sounds good, go stomp on a clanker for me."


"Will do."


With a casual salute Crash turned and jogged in the direction of the city.

 

[Huor Spinks]

Lee Thauren - Hyperspace: On board the Stargazer


"Hm..." Lee nodded, even as he took one last look at the control panel to ensure that everything was going smoothly on the ship's journey through hyperspace. His mind was on the padawan next to him though, as his mind processed what she had just told him. He could not help feeling sympathetic towards the young woman beside him. Based on what she said about her master, if she was anything like Lee, things sounded quite rough between them, if that was his attitude towards faults and mistakes. He himself would probably not last very long under a master like that. "Perhaps he has yet to encounter a situation in which his faults ended up becoming a strength," he mused aloud. He was familiar with situations like that. He had always been told that stubbornness was one of his greatest faults yet... it ended up preventing him from turning to the dark side.


He gave a slight smile then, as Ros'nora mentioned that she wished to meditate. He could hardly fault that. Meditation had been what kept him sane while he had been imprisoned. That, and his stubbornness. "Wise choice, that," he said quietly, in acknowledgement. "Hardly trivial, in my opinion. There's a meditation chamber next to the kitchen, you're welcome to use that. I'll remain here, to keep an eye on things, plus there's some work I'd like to get started on. I'll let you know when we're ready to drop out of hyperspace." He could not help assuming, based on the young woman's mannerisms and behaviour, that she was nervous about her up and coming mission. Meditation would be helpful in calming her down, and if he could provide a place for it, all the better.


Plus, he did use that space quite often himself. Meditation had always been a habit cultivated in him since he had been a child and unlike most of his cohort, he had taken to the practice almost immediately. He had depended on it all through his Padawan years, his years as a knight, and all the more so when he had been in prison. He had been in solitary confinement the entire time, and meditation had helped immensely to starve off loneliness, depression, pain and more importantly, the dark side of the Force, which had lurked at the corner of this mind everytime he had been on the receiving end of verbal and physical abuse. He signed then, one hand raising to rub at the back of his neck, an instinctive reaction to anything that unnerved him while his eyes took on a slightly faraway look.


@Cooper

 

[Vorar]

Planet Of Iktotch - Capital City of Ankhela


As his starfighter made its way for Iktotch's surface, General Koon spoke to his droid: "R4, get us on an open channel that can only be heard on this planet, I would like the Separatists to clearly hear us." The astromech droid immediately did what was asked of it and made a high-tuned robotic sound once the task had been completed. Plo Koon cleared his throat and began to speak in a calm and controlled way: "Enemies of the Galactic Republic, the Blade of Dorin has come to bring you to justice." It was a great risk that the Jedi Master had taken, but Koon was confident that the day would end with a Republic victory, not a Separatist one. The Jedi starfighter had almost reached the planetary surface as it sliced through the thin clouds that roughly hang above the capital city of Ankhela. The Kel Dor took several deep breaths as he slowly approached the capital from high above as he rather calmly said: "May the Force be with us, R4" The number of height of Plo Koon's starfighter before it would hit the surface decreased on a high speed and when it got to a height of approximately two miles above the ground, Koon pulled his ship up. Directly below him, the Jedi Master could see the Iktotchi capital and with an askew curve turned to head into the city's direction. The Separatists had caught the unidentified on their radar, and as they quickly presumed that it was the Jedi from the broadcast, they began to unleash large amounts of anti-aircraft gunfire into the direction of Koon's starfighter. The Kel Dori Master - renowned by most in the Jedi Temple as a talented pilot, some had even called him the third best pilot of the Jedi Order - was able to successfully evade the enemy fire. The droids began to fire homing missiles and even made use of several turbolasers were used against the Jedi, as the Separatists had taken the conclusion that it was most certainly a Jedi at the look of his or her ship.

The Jedi Master evaded each and every missile or laser that was fired upon him, but the air was his domain and so with great skill roamed throughout the high sky above the capital. "R4, get us on a safe line with the fleet.", the Kel Dor commanded extremely calmly, his cold head and patience were legendary in the Jedi Order. After the droid gave a clear signal, the two Clone Commanders holographically appeared, General Koon began to speak: "Commander Wolffe, release the drop ships, get the troops in position. Commander Thorne, prepare our fighters for my signal." The two Clones nodded and both said: "Yes, sir!" As the Jedi General continued to successfully evade the enemy fire, a total of a hundred and ten Low Altitude Assault Transports were released by all three Venator-Class Star Destroyers, with several Low Altitude Assault Carriers been released. The drop ships made their way to the planet, whilst Plo Koon distracted the capital's anti-aircraft turrets. After a few minutes, the huge mass of drop ships suddenly fell out of the sky and landed at various different locations around the capital, each behind the cover of the planetary huge rocks, and each landing zone had been carefully chosen by the scouts. A small amount of LAAT's were shot down by the enemy fire that was fast enough to reload and aim at a drop ship, but most of the anti-aircraft weaponry were too late. The carriers had dropped heavy ground vehicles to support the Republic task force - AT-APs, AT-TEs, and AT-OTs - had been safely position on the ground.

Commander Wolffe and his Wolfpack had been deployed to a landing zone west of the capital, as it served as the command centre of the operation. The Clone Commander and his special squadron left the Low Altitude Assault Transport that was customized to match the dark blue and grey colour of the Wolfpack's equipment. As the Separatist army remained within the walls of the capital, the Republic task force waited for the orders of Wolffe, whilst the troops quickly prepared each and every turret and cannon to release an immense volley of destruction upon the droids once they would show themselves. Above the capital, Plo Koon continued to roam through the air under heavy enemy fire as he said: "R4, turn off the engines. Confuse those missiles a little, whilst I take a little look at what they got in the city." The droid immediately carried out the command that his master gave it. The engines of the Jedi starfighter dropped dead as the ship fell with an immense speed down to the ground until R4 took control of the fighter once again and began to fly it itself. General Koon carefully looked at the Separatist army stationed within the capital and it didn't take long or he had noticed that the task force was a lot larger then his scouts had informed him. The Jedi Master quickly contacted his assigned Clone Commander: "Wolffe, begin the attack, though be cautious the enemy has more troops than our scouts had reported." "Copy that, general. Just watch yourself out there.", Commander Wolffe replied and the transmission was brought to an immediate end.


Led by Commander Wolffe, the Republic task force began its attack upon the Separatist army that was stationed within the Iktotchi capital city of Ankhela. To lure the droid army out of the city, only the AT-TEs and AT-APs used their main laser cannons to inflict significant amounts of damage to the mere basic security walls of the settlement. Commander Wolffe was in the war tent of the operation's command centre, discussing their current situation with several other Clone officers: "As we've the cover of the planet's natural rocky terrain, the Clanker army can't get a clear shot at us, not to mention the fact that the general is keeping their cannons busy." Suddenly Sergeant Sinker entered the war tent and said: "Sorry for the interruption, commander. But our boys at the radio tell us that there's still a group of ARC units out there, who were able to survive the slaughter at the attempt to destroy a third supply line of the Clankers. Should we get them out of there, sir?" A moment of silence entered the war tent of the command centre, until Wolffe turned to his fellow officers and said: "Continue the attack and immediately inform me when the Clankers finally get out of the city." The Clone officers nodded, whilst Commander Wolffe left the tent with Sergeant Sinker and the two made their way for the AT-TE where the transmission had been picked up. Once they were inside the enormous vehicle, the Clone Commander sent forth a transmission on a secure line: "This is Commander Wolffe of the 104th Battalion, can anyone hear my out there?"

 

[Cooper]

"Perhaps indeed... I will leave you to your work then." she said back to him with a smile, before bowing her head slightly and heading towards where Lee had mentioned. As she walked back through the Stargazer she slid open the panel door which allowed her to enter the meditation chamber. She took her seat in the centre and crossed her legs. She took her Lightsaber from the clip on her belt and placed it in front of her before closing her eyes.


She began by taking in deep breaths and counting backwards from ten. She imagined lush green fields stretching out as far as she could see. A stream flowing to the left of her - the ambient sounds of the water were soothing. To the right she placed a forest which the wind brushed through - lifting the branches and caressing the leaves into gentle whispering sounds. Once she had set her scene - her escape and secret place - she began to focus on her anxiety. As she let herself focus on her feelings she began to feel them intensely in her heart and chest. She was anxious because she was scared to fail her Master, but yet it was as if she knew he expected her to fail. For some reason, meditating on this seemed to create more questions that would one day have to be answered.


Still, the concept of meditating on emotions was to then let them go. She visualised her anxiety flowing down the stream as fish, and immediately after she felt the warm, calming glow that was the Force filling in the gaps left behind by her worries. She had no idea how long she had been in a meditative state, but when she opened her eyes again she found herself floating in the chamber - her Lightsaber too. This was a first, she would often find herself floating - but never had she made an object move before. She couldn't help but wonder what it meant.


Kos'nora wondered how close they were now to Clak'Dor - and whether or not Master Lee had managed to complete his tasks. The Padawan took the Lightsaber into her hand, and fixed it back to her belt before quietly exiting the chamber, with a serene confidence about her.

 

[Pequeno Burraidh]

Xolin grunted angrily as she shifted the last of her gear into the escape pod. The plan had been been set up simply enough, they would go in, skirt the planet and she'd jettison to the surface while the lightly armed freighter her pilot, Payload, was delivering her in. To be honest she wasn't wanting to do this at all, and technically she could have refused and stayed with her battalion, but if she was going to claim the title of an ARC trooper, she sure as hell was going to live up to it.


"Payload, how long until we're out of hyper space?"


"Literally not even a minute. You ready for this Prowler?"


"Born for it Payload. Tell the brothers I'll be back before they know it."


"Got it sister. Stay safe out there."


Securing the hatch on her pod, Xolin made sure she was strapped in comfortably before a brief jolt was felt and the countdown alarms went off. There were five warnings before the pod jettisoned to the surface below. Even inside she could tell there was a fairly sizeable battle raging outside, and it didn't take long for her craft to start jerking under near hits. Seconds later there was a proximity alarm as she realised there was a ship deflecting the shots to her.


"Payload, I'm loose, get out of here, you aren't equipped for this."


"No can do sister. You've got to get to the surface. Sides, if I wasn't taking this beating you would be. Do me a favour, tell the brothers I was proud to serve with them."


With that the comms shut off and Xolin could only kick the far wall angrily as she realised Payload was giving his life to get her to the ground safely. She only stopped to give silence when an explosion rocked her pod viciously before it alerted her she'd hit atmosphere. Stupid brave bastard got her into the atmosphere. She'd make sure he got and award for that. Swapping to the planetary communications channels, Xolin did her best to listen in, taking note of the good and bad spots as she listened in on where the Republic had secured ground to find the best spot to land.


This plan changed when she stumbled across the channel of a group whose LAAT/i had been put down early. They were alive, but it sounded like they weren't expecting reinforcements. An attempt to put out a message made it clear her outgoing communication has been damaged with the loss of Payload, so Xolin set her coordinates for the isolated troopers and readied herself for a hot landing instead. Her pod's landing sequence activated just over a minute later and hit the ground, admittedly harder than expected, as the hatch automatically shot open.


Diving out from the pod, Xoin rolled to her knees and immediately cleared her sectors before locking eyes on the downed gunship at the base of the hill she'd come to a landing on. It appeared to have at least four survivors tucked away inside, with a couple handfuls of B2's marching up to it, clearly intent on the eradication of any they saw. Dropping to prone, the ARC levelled her rifle and fired her first shot seconds later, the overcharged shot easily tearing through the B2's armour. Before any of the other five could react she put out two more rounds, dropping them too. At this point they seemed to have ascertained her general direction and unleashed a barrage of inaccurate fire her way. Keeping calm, and keeping herself steady, Xolin lined up her last three shots and put an end to the blaster fire before standing up and making her way down the hill and the four surviving troopers crawled out of their upended transport.


Giving the troops and once over from a distance as she moved in, Xolin already saw that one was badly wounded, and it seemed they only had a pair of DC-15 shortbarrels between them, and one of them was supporting the wounded one. It was clear she, however, wasn't what they expected as one of them hesitantly lifted his rifle her direction.


"Hold it right there.... aren't you a little short for a trooper?"


Holding her rifle at ease, Xolin nodded affirmative before speaking, "I get that a lot. Inducted ARC Trooper of Jedi General T'ra Saa's battalion. I go by Prowler and prefer to use names, not numbers. I was supposed to land and meet up the Commander of the 104th, but when I stumbled over your distress call I decided to re-prioritise. I don't leave my brothers in the cold if I can help it. I've a satchel with basic medical supplies if needed as well, looks like you took one helluva fall."


The first clone that had spoken lowered his rifle and nodded, more than likely relieved that he wasn't being faced with an adversary. He took the proffered satchel and handed it off to the clone attending to his wounded brother. He then sat down amongst the wreckage and removed his helmet revealing a short goatee and a heavily burn scarred head.


"They call me Roast, bad joke, but I don't mind. The one on my right is Bard, don't mind the attitude, he's a grumpy one. The medic is Needles, no explanation needed I'm sure, and the banged up on is Salvo. We'd all be dead if he hadn't climbed outside and tried to take control of the ship when they shot our pilot. We're the only ones that made it." Roast spoke, his voice betraying the sorrow he held for losing his comrades.


"Hey," Bard shouted, pointing an accusatory finger at Roast, "Where do you get off telling some small fry wearing a mockup of our armour who we are? And you, Prowler, we aren't your brothers! We don't know you!"


It took a few more seconds of shouting between the group for them to finally calm down, but once they did Xolin walked up to Bard and quickly put him on his back with a quick display of unarmed skill. Next she put her boot down on his chest and leaned over him.


"I don't expect people to automatically like me, Bard, nor do I expect everyone to be my friend, but if there is one thing I know, it's that I learned real quick that not just anyone puts on ARC armour, you earn that right. No one knows that better than me, am I understood?"


Backing off and offering the man a hand up, which he begrudgingly accepted, Xolin motioned for Roast to help her with the communications system and started moving through the frequencies before getting a line to the command post. She let Roast explain their situation, alive, and ready to move when needed, before Xolin took the microphone over and made her report.


"This is inducted ARC Trooper Prowler of General T're Saa's battalion. I've been transferred to the Commander of the 104th battalion. I apologise for the delay, I was supposed to land at your location, but when I caught wind of the brothers out here I took a bit of liberty with my orders. At this moment I'm at crash point with troopers Roast, Bard, Needles and Salvo. I'm looking for my orders, over."


@Vorar

 

[Huor Spinks]

Lee Thauren - Hyperspace: On board the Stargazer


Lee quickly jerked out of his thoughts as the young woman announced her leave. He was very much relieved that she had made no mention of his lapse of concentration, though whether she noticed it or not he had no idea. Still though, he could not help feeling rather ashamed at it. Lapsing in concentration was something he tried not to do at all. It was his philosophy to live within the moment, and lapses in concentration paid no attention to the current moment nor the future and for him was a complete waste of time. Yet ever since his return back to society, he had been doing it far too often, and as a result he was rather irritated at himself. He had spent months with the mind-healers yet he somehow could not capture back his former concentration levels.


He nodded in acknowledgement at Kos'nora's leave. He took a moment to gather himself, and once again glanced through his control panel to note that everything was in order, before exiting the cockpit himself. Just as he exited, he heard the hissing sound of the meditation door sliding close. He took long strides towards his sleeping quarters, gathered up his datapad and cup, headed to the kitchenette to stock up on some fresh caf, before re-entering the cockpit. Everything was still as per normal, so he took a sip of his caf, placed the cup on a horizontal surface opposite him, turned his datapad on, and opened up a code-editing software. He only had forty-five minutes, and he knew full well that he would not be able to finish his edits by the time it was necessary to drop out of hyperdrive, but he was determined to finish as much of it as he could, as time was of the essence here.


Forty-five minutes later, he closed his datapad and set it aside, under his now empty up of caf. He had made some editions, and he was quite eager to test them out against the strength of the Seperatist encryption. But for now, it was time to drop out of hyperspace. He returned both his datapad and cup to his room, and was just about to knock on the meditation chamber when it slid open to reveal Kos'nora. "Right on time," he said. "I'm just about to drop out of hyperspace. Feel better, I hope?" And with that, he made his way back to the cockpit. He took a moment to allow them both to strap themselves in, before starting the sequence that would drop the ship out of hyperspace.


Once that was done, he turned to the padawan learner. "You were instructed to land in Clak'dor?" He asked. "What coordinates were you given?" The planet Clak'dor now loomed directly in front of them, taking up half the cockpit's windows, and surrounded by a whole blockade of separatist ships. It seemed a peaceful scene, but Lee knew full well that it could all turn to shit in a few minutes.


@Cooper

 

[Cooper]

"I feel lighter now, Master. Thank you for allowing me this space, I wonder..." she thought about mentioning to him what had happened with her Lightsaber, but cut herself off. She had just cleared her mind after all, she didn't want to dwell on it too much. She made a mental note to ask him later "-I... er, nevermind!" she said brightly, following him through back to the cockpit to prepare for arrival upon Clak'Dor.


Immediately she clapped her eyes onto the goings on in the Clak'Dor skies. There was sure to be so much carnage happening on the ground. She wasn't sure where she would need to focus her attention the most.


"I was told to expect safe co-ordinates to be sent to your terminal Master Lee." Her eyes darted over the control panel until she found the screen she was looking for; as she flicked through she found the coordinates. They were indicating to a small rebel base placed a decent enough way away from what would most likely be the main Seperatist base of operations. Although her time with Lee had been relatively short, she did not want to be split from him on her mission. She really wasn't sure what she had been sent here to do, though the Jedi Masters on the council most certainly had a plan for the two of them on Clak'dor. She was well aware of Lee Thauren's reputation as a loner - and now she had somewhat witnessed it first hand, but she was also very much aware of his skills in slicing and she knew that he could be crucial to securing victories with such an unconventional skillset.


"When we land, if you don't need to leave then I wonder if you can continue what it was you were doing, and we could get a scope of the area..." Kos'nora felt something spark inside, it was a kind of anticipation - and strangely enough, an excitement.


"If you don't mind my asking, what is it that you were doing?"


@HuorSpinks

 

[IG42]

Planet Iktotch - Capital City Ankhela





Crash unceremoniously dumped a backstabbed B1 sniper on the ground and crushed it's babbling head beneath his boot as he picked up chatter on the com.


All yours 226.


"Commander this is Alpha-42 reporting from just within the city limits. I've been enjoying the local architecture for a while but if you have a something you want done my schedule is fairly clear."


He stayed on the line to passively listen in on the other troopers calling in until the 'inducted ARC' spoke up.


Inducted ARC? What is that accent anyway? It doesn't sound like a human.





Hearing the whine of a repulsorlift engine Crash poked his head out and saw a repulsorsled droid rack transport moving up the street. With the faintest of smirks he picked up the fallen droid's rifle and shot the driver, the sled swerved wildly until it crashed into a wall, a second shot from Crash slagged the controls. Barely sparing a second to observe his handiwork Crash dropped the borrowed rifle and sprinted away from the area and the searching droids before they reached his sniping point.


After managing to get a few hundred meters away without being shot at he skidded into cover.


"Better keep your eyes open inductee, I may have gotten the clankers stirred up."


@Veirrianna Valentine

 

[Vorar]

Planet Of Iktotch - The Capital City Of Ankhela

As the Republic task force continued with its attack on the mere basic security walls of the capital as they already began to fall apart. At the western front line, Commander Wolffe was waiting for a respond from any of the survivors of either the slaughter at the third supply line or one of the Low Altitude Assault Transport platoons that crashed during their attempt to land at one of the safe zones. For two minutes it was silent in the interior of the AT-TE where the transmission had been found and the Clone Commander was walking through the enormous vehicle non-stop as he was anxious to hear that at least one soldier had survived their ordeal. Wolffe was prepared to leave the AT-TE and return to report to General Koon until he could hear the transmissions of two Clone officers and immediately took control of the vehicle's communications. The commander was surprised to hear that actually both soldiers were two ARC officers and immediately answered:


"Alpha-42... Lieutenant Crash! It's good to hear your voice again, lieutenant. Find yourself a safe entrance into the city, Crash, a large sewer pipe or something. General Plo Koon will make sure that the Clankers on the walls won't see you and just keep yourself safe before thinking about the mission, lieutenant. Now Prowler, get your ass up here at the command centre, it's at the western front line. One more thing men, when the Clankers leave their city and face us on the battlefield, do not be there when our fighters arrive. Wolffe out."


With that said, Commander Wolffe left the AT-TE and was making his way back to the command centre until Sergeant Sinker ran up to him with an incredible speed for a soldier with such equipment: "Commander, look the Separatists are moving out of the city!" The Clone Commander quickly followed his special squadron's sergeant to the outskirts of the western front line and it was true. Wolffe's eyes could see thousands of droids sallying out of the remaining city walls of the capital. The Separatist was large enough to march out of the four city gates and wall lines to face the four front lines of the Republic task force and it had become clear to the Clones that the droid army was most certainly twice as big as their scouts had told them. Commander Wolffe turned to look at Sergeant Sinker and plainly said: "We must tell General Koon and inform the Triumphant now!" The two Clone officers immediately started to run for the command centre's war tent where a special communication radio was that could make immediate contact with General Koon and Senior Commander on a secured line. As Wolffe entered the tent he immediately began transmitting: "General Koon, Commander Thorne, the enemy is leaving the city. I repeat, the enemy is leaving the city!" The Jedi Master in his starfighter looked down, whilst still being chased by the great enemy fire of the capital's anti-aircraft turrets. Plo Koon could see the Separatist army marching through the capital's long streets. Numerous Armored Assault Tanks, Hailfire-class droid tanks, and various other heavy Separatist ground vehicles left the city as they slowly marched to meet the Republic task force on the field.

After twenty minutes of troops marching through the capital, the Separatist army was finally completely out of the city walls with its forty thousand droids. The Republic task force and the Separatist army began to fire upon one another, with the Clones having the advantage of complete cover behind the planetary large rocks at each and every front line. The droids began to advance upon the Republic task force at a quick pace, whilst the Clones delivered a great amount of counterfire with their more advanced professional equipment. General Koon continued to evade the heavy fire he reached from the capital's turrets whilst he started to contact the Triumphant: "Commander Thorne, this is Plo Koon. Release our fighters, all of them and give these droids a lesson they will never forget." After a short moment of silence, the Clone Commander's voice could be heard: "Will do, sir. Our fighters are on their way, won't take longer than a minute or seven. Thorne out." The Jedi Master nodded and ended the transmission, though he was a little bit worried that in seven minutes the droid army had already overrun them.

 

[Pequeno Burraidh]

Prowler and crew had made decent enough time getting back to the Republic lines before any hint of a bombing run was coming in, but that didn't mean that she was safe yet. Rather than risk having no cover at their back, she'd stopped and taken up residence in a small crevasse high up in the rocks, picking off any droid that made an attempt to put bolts into the backs of her brothers as they made their way to the line of clones. The downside to this was that it had drawn attention as a whole, and the droids seemed to have decided it was a good spot to try to break the formation, sending in a Droideka as well as a line of twenty or so B2's followed up with near double B1's. The result was a strong push, even as Xolin started hammering away at their back with her rifle as soon as she saw her brother's to safety with the rest of the clones.


As she pulled herself from the crevasse and began to slide down the incline towards the flank of the advancing droids she heard one of her brothers sarcastically ask over open communications if anyone knew how to say hello in Clanker. Grinning widely under her helmet, Xolin hit flat ground and began advancing with a fresh power cell, firing burst into the backs of the droids as they started trying to figure out that there was a threat behind them. At the same time more were being put down by the line of Clones at their front, and once caught in the crossfire the contingent of droids dropped from a decent amount to a paltry handful or two of B2's and the Droideka doing it's best to hammer rounds at her brothers.


Slinging her rifle and drawing Tracker's Hound in her left hand, Xolin used her right to draw out two EMP grenades before using her natural agility to leap over the B2's, leaving the EMPs as a present at their feet before hitting the ground, rolling and then leaping into a slide. The movement was just slow enough to pass clean through the Droideka's shield and slide through it's legs and Xolin used the chance to blast three high powered rounds through its 'head', absolutely destroying the machine. Getting up and clearing the rest of the gap between her and the clones, thanks to their covering fire, she couldn't help but reply to the afore mentioned comment.


"I do believe I've figured out goodbye quite well."


Moments later, after questions and directions given Xolin was moving through the lines of soldiers, occasionally returning fire at some of the more frustrating droid targets, before eventually being led back from the front lines and towards the command tent. Waiting until she had begun to step through the flap, as to be sure the enemy couldn't see them, Xolin removed her helmet and held it at her right side as she saluted the Commander. Her ghostly pale visage, coupled with equally ashen hair and her bright pink eyes seemed to draw a fair amount of attention in the room as she stepped forward.


"Commander Wolffe, an honour to meet you, we've heard nothing but good about your leadership and capabilities over in General T'ra Saa's battalion. I am ARC Prowler, inducted in... less than normal means, but I'll serve with you just like any of our brothers, and that's a promise. Furthermore, I'd like to report success in the return of troopers Needles, Bard, Salvo and Roast as well, but I won't be apologising for the delay because as far as I'm concerned bringing the boys back in was worth it. That all said, what are your orders, sir?"


@Vorar