Star Wars: Beyond the Clones
Ch.1
Fondor; 47 days after Battle of Geonosis
Zack Kras, an eighteen year old soldier in Jedi General Rahm Kota's militia, waited patiently inside one of Fondor's skyscraper for the CIS forces to arrive to his team could ambush them. Zack was only a rookie and this was his first ambush, so he was nervous, but his friend, Colby Var walked over and patted the Zack on the shoulder.
"Nervous kid?" Colby asked, and Zack nodded a little.
"Don't worry, Cole, I won't let you down." Zack said, and Colby smiled.
"I know you won't Zack, now keep your eyes peeled; I just received word from the general that the convoy will be passing through here any minute, and I need you to be ready to blow the charges on the bridge." Colby said, and Zack nodded and looked through his micro-binoculars.
"I can see them; based on their distance, I'd say they'll be here in about…three minutes." Zack said, he was right, the droid forces were on the bridge three minutes later, and Zack pressed the detonator, and suddenly a series of explosions destroyed the bridge, and the CIS convoy fell into the abyss below them.
"Way to go, Zack! General Kota, this is Lieutenant Var; the separatist reinforcements have been halted; you are clear to begin the attack, and the rest of us will join you shortly." Colby said through his comlink.
"Copy that, lieutenant." Kota said, and Colby and Zack stood up, grabbed their DH-17 blasters, and made their way down the skyscraper and ran over to the battle field, where a small squad of Kota's Elite Soldiers called Zack and Colby over.
"Lieutenant, Private, I'm glad you two showed up; those HAG's have the militia soldiers pinned down, and they can't reach the droid command center. Kota has asked us to charge that artillery position and clear the path of droids so the Heavy Soldiers can get a clear shot of the HAG's." The soldier explained, and Zack and Colby readied their rifles and when the Elite Commander gave the order, Zack and his comrades opened fire on the droid forces defending the artillery, and the attack distracted the droids long enough for the Heavy soldiers to fire their rockets at the HAG's and destroy them. With the artillery fire halted, Kota led the final charge on the command center and the soldiers and Kota quickly destroyed the droids, and the command center was theirs.
"Men, victory is ours!" Kota yelled, and the men started cheering, and Kota contacted General Windu and informed them of their victory.
"Well done, Master Kota. With Fondor in our control, we can increase our navy strength. I will be there tomorrow to start putting our foothold on the planet." Windu said, and Kota deactivated his communicator and set up a small fortress to defend the now Republic command center until Windu arrived with his forces.
"Men, you fought bravely today, and I am proud to fight next to you." Kota said, and the men raised their glasses and began celebrating their victory, except for Zack, who on the edge of the camp, lying on the ground, looking at the night sky.
"Zack, aren't you going to celebrate with us?" Colby asked, and Zack shook his head.
"No thanks; when we celebrated our first successful mission, you got me drunk and moved my cot in the middle of the river, naked by the way, with you guys on one side, and my equipment on the other." Zack said, and Colby chuckled and sat next to his friend.
"Yeah, I can remember how mad the General was at us; he said that what we did was stupid and risky because if we were attacked, you would've been the first to get shot because you were hung over and had no weaponry and no protection on." Colby said.
"That's why I'm never drinking with you again." Zack said with a smirk.
"You need to get a sense of humor, Zack." Colby said.
"And you need to learn to grow up." Zack countered, and Colby shoved his friend and the two started laughing.
"You know what you really need? A girl; how about we head into town and find you a nice girl; that's what keeps me going, even in the most hopeless situations." Colby said.
"How is she, anyway?" Zack asked.
"Last time I talked to her, she was in her fifth month of pregnancy with our little girl, but that was month ago." Colby said, and Zack sat up and patted his friend on the back.
"Don't worry Colby; I'm sure she's doing fine." Zack said, and Colby smiled and nodded.
"I know, but I miss her terribly." Colby said sadly.
"Well, the battle's over, why don't you contact her?" Zack suggested.
"I will tomorrow; it's too risky right now." Colby explained. "Now come on, at least have one drink with us, Zack. Nothing will happen, I promise." Colby said, and Zack stood up.
"Fine, but if you break that promise, I'll make sure you never have anymore kids." Zack said threateningly, and the two walked back to camp to celebrate their victory together.
Later that night
Zack woke up to the sound of yelling and the ground being shaken by explosions; a CIS counterattack. Zack picked up his helmet and blaster and ran out of his tent and began blasting every droid he saw, when suddenly, an AAT blast sent Zack flying ten yards, and landed in front of Kota, who had just cut a Super Battle Droid in half.
"Get up Private!" Kota ordered, and Zack stood up immediately and began shooting.
"General, what's going on!" Zack asked.
"The CIS hit us hard five minutes ago with a barrage of tank fire, and MTT's are deploying their droid forces as we speak! Our E-Web defensive positions were hit first, followed by our ammunitions tent. They caught us on our damn back foot!" Kota explained, and Zack pulled out his Vibro-blade and cut a droid in half.
"What are your orders, General?" Zack asked.
"There is a group of Dwarf Spiders, pinning down some a group of our Heavy Soldiers; you and Lieutenant Var need to rush the droids, and destroy them." Kota ordered, and Zack nodded and found Colby and immediately charged the droids, who were firing their lasers at a group of Heavy Soldiers. Colby gave a hand single for a grenade barrage, and Zack picked up a thermal detonator and tossed it, and it landed right in the middle of the droids, and the resulting explosion, as the explosion that came from Colby's detonator destroyed the droids, and gave the Heavy Troopers the opening they needed to fire their rockets at the AAT's and destroy them. Zack and Colby were about to make their way back to the camp, but Zack noticed something approaching them in the distance, and he pulled out his micro-binoculars and took a look at what he saw, and saw that they were CIS bombers.
"General! Hyena Bombers are heading your way!" Zack yelled through his comm.
"Damn! Is there anyway you and Lieutenant Var can destroy them?" Kota asked, and Zack looked around for anything he could use, when he saw two E-Web turrets that were damaged but looked operational.
"Lieutenant! Maybe we can use these turrets to destroy the bombers when they get close enough!" Zack suggested.
"It'll be risky, but we don't have much of a choice!" Colby said, and the two ran over to the turrets, activated them, and waited until the Hyena Bombers were in range, and opened fire. The E-Webs didn't fire as fast as normally, but it was enough to destroy the Hyena Bombers as they flew over the two soldiers.
"General, the bombers have been taken care of!" Zack reported.
"Good, we're mopping up the droid forces now; return to camp and help us finish them off." Kota ordered, and the two returned to the camp just saw that a few dozen droids were left. Zack and Colby charged into the camp and began blasting the droids, until they were all destroyed, and the soldiers started to cheer, and Kota's voice filled the air.
"Men, General Windu has arrived, and we have been given the all clear to leave the planet!" Kota said, and the men cheered again, even louder this time, and Kota's LAAT/I gunships arrived and landed around the camp. The men got on board their gunships, and were taken to the Acclamator cruiser that housed the militia. "Men, I just got word from command, and we're not going to have much time to rest; we're heading for Felucia at the request of Chancellor Palpatine to investigate suspected CIS activities on the planet." Kota said, and although the men were upset that they wouldn't be given much relaxation time, they were used to it; Zack just went to his quarters and grabbed a personal bacta canister and put the healing liquid on his wounds and began polishing his blaster and sharpening his vibro-blade. After a couple of hours, Zack went to the 'freshers, took a hot shower, and after putting his fatigues on, he went to the mess and got himself some food.
Tranquility; same day
Barriss Offee walked into her master's, Luminara Unduli, quarters, and saw that her master was meditating, and waited patiently for her to finish.
"Barriss, please, sit." Luminara said, and Barriss did as she was told and sat in a nearby chair, and her master turned around and faced Barriss.
"You called me, master?" Barriss asked, and Luminara nodded.
"Yes, we are going to Felucia to investigate the possibility of Separatist presence, with Master Rahm Kota. I thought it best that I go ahead and warn you that Master Kota is not like most Jedi Generals." Luminara said, and Barriss looked at her master, confused.
"What do you mean, master?" Barriss asked.
"Master Kota does not use a regular clone army like most Jedi; he uses a militia of volunteer soldiers to fight with him on his missions." Luminara said.
"Why?" Barriss asked.
"He believes that…the clone troopers are not fit for battle, they don't think…outside the box, as Kota has explained. I just wanted to inform you that, in order to prevent internal conflict, we will not be using our clone troopers, and will be relying on Kota's militia." Luminara said.
"Do you know if they can be trusted to do their duty?" Barriss asked, and Luminara nodded.
"Master Windu has spoken very highly of Kota, and I have just been informed that Kota has taken the planet, Fondor, from the CIS without any help from any other Jedi generals." Luminara explained. "We will be arriving at Felucia in a week's time, so rest up, and be ready for anything when we arrive." Luminara said, and Barriss nodded.
"Of course, my master." Barriss said, and with that, she left her master, and got ready for her mission to Felucia.
Rancor's Claw; a few hours later
Zack walked into the bridge of the Rancor's Claw, as ordered, and approached General Kota, and the Jedi turned around and Zack saluted the General.
"Private Kras, reporting for duty, sir!" Zack said, and Kota nodded approvingly.
"Zack, because of your actions on Fondor, I hereby promote you to the rank of Sergeant." Kota said.
"Sir…are you sure? I was only doing what I was ordered to do." Zack said, and Kota nodded.
"You deserve this rank, Sergeant, you may be young, but you fought with the bravery most people only see in veterans." Kota said, and Zack nodded and saluted Kota again before being dismissed, and Zack left the bridge with a proud smile on his face.
A/N: Well, here's Ch. 1; I hope you liked it, and if you did, know that I am working on Ch. 2 right now, and will update ASAP.