After the First shots were fired, there would be no turning back. We would be waging war against an enemy that the Republic could barely contain. We were outnumbered and out of our minds. We knew that most of us, wouldn't be coming back.
"Prepare to engage on my mark. 3,2,1, Mark"
I knew now that this was war.
"Keep firing don't let up!"
"Gunship, we got several enemy tanks moving in." Someone panicked over the comm. "Roger that." I said into the comm. I gave the controls another nudge and headed back towards the ambush zone. I saw the enemy tanks they were starting to fire on the militia. I swooped down and opened fire with the heavy forward cannons. I pelted one of the tanks. I pulled up and the tank exploded. I flicked on the thrusters and brought the gunship into a hover. I fired some rockets at the remaining two tanks, which were quickly engulfed in the explosion. I took the gunship out of a hover, and quickly realized that I was being pelted with fire from the advancing droids. I put the gunship back in a hover, and opened up the droids. I cut them down with ease, they were no match against the SS-54's powerful forward guns.
Cheers began to echo through the radio as I continued to fire on the droids. I let off the trigger and the blasters stopped. I remained hovering for a moment, letting the dust settle. The droids were gone, there was nothing but scrap left.
"Is it over?" Someone came over the comm.
"I guess so." Another replied.
"Hang on. Might be another wave." I said to them. I watched the front of the landing craft, waiting for more droids to come out so that I could let at them again. "Fighters take cover!" Someone screamed.
I reacted quickly and turned the controls. I spun the ship to face the incoming fighters. The were coming in fast. Suddenly one opened fire. I had very little time to react and it's fire missed me by mere inches. The second fighter hit me. The port engine burst into flames as the fighter passed over me. The rest of the fighters started strafing the ground troops. I flicked some buttons and tried to even out the gunship. I looked out of the viewport and saw the A-A5 get hit. A couple men collapsed as shots hit them in their heads backs legs and chests. Several alarms in the cockpit started going off.
"Shut-up." I cursed at the alarms.
I flicked a couple more switches and lowered the landing gear. I brought the ship into a rough landing. It hit the ground hard. I powered down the entire ship, and lowered the ramp. I quickly climbed off the ship to survey the damage. The engine was blackened from the fire, the stabilizer was blown to pieces. The engine was practically useless.
"Damn." I cursed under my breath. I looked up and saw the Yt-1300 landing to retrieve the wounded. The Headhunters were flying in circles above us, they were waiting for more fighters. I looked to the droid dropship which was lifting off.
I walked over to where the militia was loading the wounded onto the Yt-1300. My father was directing them, making sure that the wounded were loaded properly.
"Dad." I said to him.
He turned and looked at me, a smile grew across his face. "That was some fancy shooting boy!" He said happily.
"I know, but the gunship took a bad hit. Until it gets repaired it's useless."
"Your kidding."
"Nope."
"Dammit. That's the only thing we have to provide air support for the men on the ground!"
"Yes I know."
"We don't have the parts to fix it! Is there any way you can still fly it?"
"It stills fly's but barely. It won't be able to be in the air for long before it crashes. One good hit and it's done."
"Dammit." He cursed under his breath. "We have a few mechanics heading over from the settlement, we'll see if we can rig her so that she won't explode."
"Okay, where do you want me?"
"Get up on the hill and keep a watch out for more droids. If you see anything let me know."
"Yes sir."
I did as I was told and quickly climbed up the nearby hill. I pulled my electrobinoculars from my belt and peered out into the distance with them. Everything was clear, at least it was for now. I continued to scan the area, then something caught my eye. There were 5 humanoid figures moving around on top of the cliffs. I zoomed in and realize they were some kind of droid, I had no Idea which kind but they were droids. They were moving with an extremely human like form. Unlike the regular and super battle droids.
"Droids moving up the cliffs!" I said into my commlink.
"Roger that." A voice replied.
"Headhunter team moving in to eliminate target." One of the pilots came through my comm. The 3 Z-95's swooped down over the cliff and fired their proton torpedos. I looked back through my electrobinoculars to see nothing left of the droids.
"It's all clear." I said.
"Roger that." The pilot responded.
We had won the first battle, it was a small victory. But because we were so heavily outnumbered, it was something worth celebrating. That day alone we had lost 2 good men, both were barely 13 years of age. This angered us, this made us fight harder then any droid could. It gave us the will, to tell the seperatists this is our home you can't have it...
I sat by a fire at our camp, thinking of the two boys who had been killed. I had known them from the basic training all the young boys had to attend. They weren't very skilled and shouldn't have been sent into battle, but we needed every man we could get. The gunship was still being worked on by our mechanics, they were trying to get it up and running by the next day. Chances were that tomorrow would prove more difficult then today, we would probably be pushed back to rally point B, or even to the settlement. But for now, we couldn't focus on that.
"You know boy." My dad began. "I know why the gunship, got shot up today."
"Why's that?" I asked.
"We didn't name it." He replied.
"Well, that makes sense. But what could we name it?" I asked.
"I think that Farmers Daughter is a suitable name." He answered.
"Yeah, that does have a nice ring to it." One of the other Militia members said.
"Really it's your decision Daleb, I just think it fits." My father said. "I like it. Farmers Daughter it is."