Geonosis: 22 BBY

The gunships were deploying from the gigantic Republic cruisers, one after another. Commander Surge, a clone commander who had advanced training on Kamino, stood in the gunship with his team. He looked them over, standard white armour that all the Clones were wearing. Surge, who had yellow stripes on his armour, surveyed the clean, neatly polished armour that his men wore.

This was their first real test. They had all been through the simulations, and they had all aced them with flying colours. This felt different to Surge, though. Would he lose any of his men? Would he be able to survive the battle?

Surge shrugged it off. He saw his squad all standing around in the gunship. There was CT-844, who had earned the nickname Slingshot. The reason he got the nickname was because in a battle simulation some time ago, his gun jammed. The trooper had improvised, and created a slingshot to fight the droids with. Surge thought it was rather clever. He nodded at Sling, which is what they usually called him.

Aside from Sling, there was a medic, who was designated CT-1442. He got the generic name "Doc". In training he learned how to use a jetpack, as well as binocular attachments to his helmet. He was truly one of a kind. His generic helmet was on, but if you saw his face, you would notice quite a few differences between his and Surge's or Sling's. Doc had purple hair, grown out a bit longer than Surge and most clones kept theirs. He also had it cut on both sides, having it thinner yet taller than normal.

Next, there was CT-669 and CT-672. Their nicknames became Flame and Ice, respectively. They have always been rivals, yet they were also the best of friends. Their nicknames specifically were created to repel the others, which they loved. They would always have friendly competitions with each other, in which Ice would usually win in athletic abilities and strategy, while Flame was a flat out better fighter. Flame even learned to fight in hand to hand combat.

Surge also had three rookies, who had come fresh out of training, join him today. Surge hoped they could hold their own. Their service numbers were CT-2653, CT-1857, and CT-4435. They did not have nicknames, yet. Surge had a strong feeling they would soon earn them.

The gunship rattled and Surge could hear shooting and fire from outside.

"Whoever gets the least kills buys drinks when we get back to Kamino." Flame said, looking toward Ice. Surge, and probably everyone else, knew it was a challenge to Ice.

"Be prepared to be the big spender." Ice retorted, elbowing Flame. Surge thought he could hear a sly chuckle as Ice spoke.

The blast-doors of the gunship opened, as if tiny windows to the battlefield. The new recruits, Slingshot and Doc looked out. Ice and Flame were busy packing grenades and rockets into the standardized Republic backpacks. They had two of them, and Ice put one on. He gave the other to Slingshot, their explosives expert.

Surge felt the gunship slowing, and heard everyone firmly grasping their weapons. The gunship then stopped in midair. The zone must be hot, as Surge still heard shots everywhere. The commander gulped, and the sides of the Gunships opened. They were quite a ways in the air, which had Surge uneasy.

Surge then attached his rope from his harness to the Gunship, and the other seven men followed his lead. They all slowly lowered themselves from the Gunship. They were being fired at, but fortunately, none of them were hit.

Surge hit the ground and ran toward a large rock that would provide cover for him and his men while he gave orders. When the last trooper hit the ground and got behind the rock, Surge turned toward his men.

"Alright, listen up everyone. The ground is hot, so we will be splitting up into three teams." Surge said. He looked around, and pointed to the three recruits without a nickname. "You three will provide us cover fire from the East. Stay back here though, it is hot." Surge then looked and pointed toward Ice, Flame and Sling. "You three will cover us from the West." Surge then looked at Doc. "We will go up the middle, slowly, and get to the foundry. We will stop the production of droids in this factory." Surge said, confidently.

"Any questions?" The commander finished his speech.

Nobody did, and Surge nodded. He then pointed to his left and right, and the clone units moved out. They started to fire at the droids advancing toward them, shooting them down with ease. Doc and Surge ran up the middle, to a barrier for cover. They kept poking their bodies out to wee where the droids were ad shoot them.

Still fortunately for Surge, his team had not taken any casualties, or even injuries. He was proud of them, but no time to celebrate yet.

As Surge ducked down to reload, a Gunship overhead, smoke coming out of it, descended to the ground right between Surge and the droids he had picked as his next target.

"Sir!" Doc shouted, and he and Surge started running back the way they came. The Gunship crashed behind them, and the flames that were born from the landing helped throw the two men back. Luckily, no damage had been done to Surge. The commander looked at his brother, who was on the ground. He used his hands to push himself up slightly, and Surge extended his arm to help Doc up.

"You hurt?" Surge asked, more concerned than his voice made him sound.

"Just a scratch, sir!" Doc told his CO, and Surge nodded. The two jogged back to the cover they had, and with the support of the rest of the team, there was no problem dispatching the rest of the droids.

After shooting down the last droid, Surge motioned his team to regroup on him. They ran up to the control panel of the door in which they needed to enter, and Surge pointed to a terminal. CT-2653 shouted "Sir!" as he went over to the console. Surge and the rest of the men took a moment to rest.

"You did good. All of you." Surge complimented his team.

"Thank, Commander." Ice said. Flame nodded from behind him.

"You didn't do too bad yourself, sir." Flame told the yellow striped Clone.

Surge looked from the two new recruits, then over to Sling. All the troopers stood around the console, watching CT-2653 toy with the computer.

Surge hoped it would not take too much longer, though he would not mind if it was a bit longer. This was exhilarating, and tiring to both him and his men. But his squad, the 772nd, were some of the best in the Republic. They had almost perfect scores in their training exercises, which is why they got tasked with destroying this factory.

As Surge thought to himself, he heard a metal clanking sound come up behind him and stop. It sounded like something heavy falling onto the sand.

The commander turned around to see three shield generated destroyer droids surrounding his men… and aiming their arm turrets right at them.

They opened fire.