"These Blaze-Class Clones are… effective. More effective than I expected. Save this batch and move on to the others. I have plans for them…" - Jango Fett
Landing Pad 7 - Tipoca City, Kamino
"Ready to go, boys?" Standing in front of the mass of armoured soldiers, a single ARC Trooper began to give orders, sending squad after squad into the dropships that would ferry them to their first engagement. The dusty and hostile planet of Geonosis. This would be their first taste of live combat. Definitely different than the simulations. But for a lot of these soldiers, this would also be their death. As the Acclamator assault crafts pulled into from orbit and began to let the main body of troops on board, one specific group of soldiers was lead to another landing pad. Unlike their more common brethren, they bore bulkier, yet more flexible, finless white armour and carried weapons the galaxy had never seen. They were specialized, well trained, and possibly the deadliest warriors the likes of the Republic had seen since the last Sith War.
"Delta! Your squad's up!" Came a yell, and the next group of soldiers stepped forwards. After exchanging a few last goodbyes with their comrades, Delta Squad split up and boarded their respective dropships before taking off. Omega followed suit, followed by Sigma, then Theta, then Ion. The squads filed out in single file and climbed aboard their specified craft. Finally, there were three teams left. One was coloured in blue, another in maroon, the last in yellow.
"I guess we'll be seeing you fellas on the front." One of the men in blue said, shaking hands with the men in the other teams.
"Good luck on the ride, Ace. Good luck to the rest of you guys too." Another one said. Giving their last goodbyes, they steeled themselves for the upcoming encounter and proceeded to board their ships. This would be the last time any of them would set foot on this planet for the rest of the war.
The Arena - Geonosis
While the rest of the Clone forces were deployed to the desert outside, the small group of three teams were dropped off in the now almost deserted arena. Grouping up, they went over their objectives.
"We were all tasked with taking out a major factor in this fight. Delta's got Sun Fac, Sigma's got the Archduke, Theta's got the Factory, and we've got this whole arena. This place has a lot of important info, including launch codes and gunnery commands. It is imperative that we capture this place and hold it, as it is key to the success of this assault." The leader of the team in blue said. There was a chorus of agreements and confirmations from the commandos before him.
"Get into your teams! Team Wildfire will take the portcullis entrance, Team Vulcan will take the elevators. Team Inferno, we're taking the high road. Move it troopers!"
"Sir, yes, sir!" Came the chorus of yells as the teams of Clone Commandos ran for their respective targets. The team in blue, known as 'Inferno' fired ascension cables and began scaling the side of the massive fighting pit. The leader, known as 'Ace' vaulted over the edge of the balcony, DC-17m trained on the door. Motioning to the rest of his team, they cautiously entered the main command centre. For the most part, it was empty, with the consoles unmanned and no warriors or droids in sight.
"Sir? This has to be a trap, I hope those Seppies know that." A bulkier Clone spoke up next to Ace. His armour was reinforced and was darkened with soot from operating all the explosives he had been trained with. On his chest, there was a faded blue explosion decal. It was very obvious he was an explosives specialist.
"Yeah, I know Fuzz. You take the one on the left." Ace calmly responded, before spinning around and blasting a B-1 Battle Droid that had been hiding in the corner. The Clone he called 'Fuzz' did the same, bringing his DC-15S to bare. Three swift trigger pulls later, and all that was left in the left corner was a smoking heap of scrap. At that moment, the doors leading to the command centre opened up, and lines of Battle Droids marched in.
"Inferno! Fire at will!" Ace yelled, and the Commandos sprung into action. Looking around, he saw that the members of his squad had taken their positions and had begun to deal major damage to the droid ranks. Up at the front, in his stripped down Commando Armour, was BC-0067, or 'Velo'. Strong and silent, and fast and furious. The best scout any team could hope for, and he had the skills to prove it. At the back, was BC-0056, known to his comrades as 'Deadeye'. His custom Driver Rifle was trained on the various entrances to the room, blasting holes through a straight line of Battle Droids with a single trigger pull. Unsurprising, since one slug from that handheld railgun could punch a hole through frigate armour.
"Of course, they have to be staggered. Of course, they have to be." He muttered as he fired another shot, the loud boom echoing throughout the room. There was a loud clack as he pulled the bolt back and let a new round slide into place. Beside him was the team mechanic. BC-0054, 'Ixo'. He was currently slicing a Geonosian terminal with one hand while also sending a volley of blaster bolts down range with his DC-17m. Behind his helmet, he would smirk with satisfaction as he heard the sound of rending metal and his shots hitting home. Within seconds, the terminal had been hacked and he promptly downloaded the rest of the info that the team had needed. He had already gone through 5 other terminals. It was apparent that he was very good at what he did.
"All done over here boss! Anything else?" He asked eccentrically, loading a fresh cartridge into his blaster.
"Just keep blasting Ixo. That ought to keep you busy for a little bit." Ace responded, to which Ixo carried out by sending another droid to the scrap heap. And then there was Fuzz, who had charged in. BC-0009, the crazy one. Pulling a weapon off of his back, he loaded a slug and fired a spray of molten hot metal, knocking over several droids with a single shot out of one of the gun's rotary barrels. He then proceeded to load several of the shells and laughed like a maniac as he hosed the incoming clankers with a shower of deadly pellets. Lastly was Ace, BC-0006. The most skilled of the Blaze-Class Commandos and the leader of Inferno Squad. Vaulting over the central console, he took out a group of droids with single shots, all impacting them in their head modules. Pulling a Vibroblade from his hip, he stabbed another droid before hucking a thermal detonator behind their lines, decimating the droid's forces.
"Inferno! Close ranks! We're pushing through!" Ace ordered, reloading his DC-17m. The other commandos gathered around him and formed a wedge formation and began to fire. Like the swirling Inferno they were, the team cut through the legions of droids. Methodically, strategically, and at an impressive pace. Eventually, they reached the end of the tunnel. It opened up to a landing platform. Droids were swarming every which way as LAATs zoomed overhead, ready to deploy troops in the steadily growing battlefield out in the vast deserts. Artillery stationed along both sides of the tarmac were opening fire on the Dropships as they dodged and evaded. Ace looked up just in time to see one ship take a fatal blow, as the right blast door was torn open and the troop compartment was spewing fire. It spun in a deadly spiral before smashing into the ground in a fireball.
"We have to take out those batteries and give the Larties some cover!" Fuzz called out, pointing at the array of Sonic Blaster Cannons that the Geonosians used. There was another green pulse and another Dropship burst into flames. It was a glancing blow, but everyone knew they would not be as lucky with the next volley.
"Inferno! Take those batteries out now! Deadeye, you take the ones on the left, Ixo, you take the ones on the right once 09's finished with 'em. Velo, you're with me. Fuzz, shift some scenery." Ace ordered as he began to open fire with extreme efficiency. Fuzz nodded and grinned maniacally behind his helmet. Reaching behind his back, he pulled out a form of a launcher. Grabbing a Thermal Imploder off of his belt, opened up the barrel and loaded it. Raising the barrel of the launcher into a favourable angle, he shifted his aim and squeezed the trigger. There was a lofty pomf sound as the projectile was fired at the cannon emplacement. There was a moment of tense silence that was shattered by a loud explosion, engulfing the gun emplacement in a glowing storm of flames. Fuzz allowed himself a moment of admiration of his handiwork before he grabbed his rifle and began to resume the flow of combat.
Meanwhile, Deadeye set off down the left side column of batteries. Taking a better look at the array, he saw that there was a large system of 16 or so gun emplacements, with 8 on each side. Each cannon was manned by two Geonosians and usually a group of B1 Battle Droids. At max power, his Driver Rifle could blast through standard starship plating, but it took time to charge. About 15 seconds for a full powered shot. At most, he could probably blast through 4 guns at a time, as he would have to account for the amount of resistance the slug would encounter as it blew through the cannons. Everything from wind resistance to a correct entry vector would be in play here. Firing off one shot, he punched a hole straight through one of the guns and watched it burn as the gunner tried to fire off another pulse but was surprised as the barrel spewed sparks and engulfed them all in a fatal blaze. Looking over at the other column, there was a great big boom as one of the guns on the other side exploded at the same time as his. Grabbing a new slug and loading it, Deadeye rolled over to cover and lined up another shot. One loud bang later, and another gun emplacement was nothing more than a pile of burning slag. As he readied another shot, Deadeye looked across the tarmac to see how the others were doing. He saw Ixo and Fuzz work their way through another gun emplacement, but he soon noticed another problem. A Dwarf Spider Droid, bearing down on his teammates. Swinging his barrel across the way, he squeezed the trigger and let loose a shot which pierced straight through the droid's chassis.
"Thanks for the save, '56!" Ixo said over the comm as he moved back to cover after taking out another gunner. Even as they cleared out the artillery, they still weren't moving fast enough. The next wave of LAATs would be coming any minute, and they couldn't afford to lose any more troops at this point in the battle. Rushing at the now unmanned cannon, Ixo climbed in and tapped the console several times, rebooting its targeting software. Gliding his fingers across the controls, Ixo brought the cannon across the way and levelled the barrel at another cannon. Charging the battery, he pushed the big fat "fire" button. There was a bright green flash and the cannon exploded. Charging another sonic pulse, Ixo swept the gun across, searching for a new target… only to see another cannon doing the same thing. Tapping away and working as fast as his fingers could move, both cannons began to glow green as the batteries charged.
"Ixo, get out of there!" Ace yelled over the din of battle, smashing his vibroblade into the faceplate of a droid. Fuzz was already loading another charge into his launcher, but he knew he wouldn't be able to fire fast enough. As the Geonosian brought his cannon to bear, his finger hovered over the fire button, ready to annihilate the enemy. That's when Velo cut in. Sprinting in from the back ranks, the speedy Clone leaped over a pile of crates and fired a quick two-tap burst from his twin DC-15S Sidearms into the gunner's chest, killing him where he sat. Seeing his opportunity, Ixo hit the fire button and destroyed the artillery emplacement.
"Velo! Thanks, buddy!" Ixo said over the comm system and received a grunt in reply. That's all they needed for confirmation. Looking over at Ace, who nodded, Ixo continued on his rampage, blowing up cannon after cannon, before overloading the power cells on his gun and standing back as he watched it burn itself up from the inside out before it erupted into the umpteenth fireball of the day. Let's make another one. Ixo thought sadistically as he ran a program that he had planted in the Geonosian consoles. You see, Ixo liked to keep busy. Even during the heat of battle, he enjoyed the feeling of getting work done and moving on to the next task. Idle fingers were something he just couldn't have. When he ran this program, it would kick the droid foundry connected to the factory into overdrive, pumping out more droids than the foundry could handle, eventually causing a system failure which would put the whole operation out of business. However, before he pressed the button, there was one thing he had left to do.
"This is Ixo to all units in the arena. I'm blowing this slagheap in five minutes, so if you don't wanna be a little red splatter, then meet us out on the tarmac." He smirked. The other guys were gonna have his ass, but he didn't care. Luckily, the other teams made it out in 3.
"Dammit, Ixo you bastard!" One of the commandos exclaimed. His armour was adorned with maroon lines and he had flame emblems painted across the plating. This is BC-0006, known to his squadmates as "Dreze", the hard-as-nails leader of Team Wildfire. Ixo snapped a quick salute to his counterpart, who snorted and walked off.
"Alright, let's get our asses out of here," Dreze growled, loading a fresh magazine into his DC-17m. "If those Vulcan bastards don't show up, I'm getting to the LZ without them."
"That won't be necessary." Dreze deflated as he heard the one voice he didn't want to hear. His rival and the leader of Team Vulcan, BC-0011, otherwise known as "Amp" to his men. Amp and Dreze had always been at odds. Brothers bicker, but these two had it out for each other. Ace often found himself mediating the two teams like they were warring factions ready to beat the crap out of each other.
"Gentlemen, if you please, can we all shut up? If we don't get out, we're all paste." Another Commando spoke up. BC-0034, "Poco", the scout of Wildfire, and often the peacekeeper of everyone here. Out of everyone, he was the most level-headed and always spoke when needed. This was one of those times. Calming down, Dreze barked some orders into the comms and within a minute, a dropship flew out of nowhere and settled down on the tarmac.
"We have all our objectives. Everything's taken care of here. We're getting this intel back to command and to the generals." Dreze said as they all climbed aboard. As the ship closed its doors and took off, there was a ringing in everyone's ears before the whole plant erupted in a large fireball. Everyone looked at Ixo.
"Kachow." Was all he said.
As ship touched down on the rust-coloured battlefield outside, the commandos were greeted by a human man with a medium build and white hair wearing brown robes. A Jedi, their new commander and general.
"Sir!" Ace said as he and his troops snapped to attention before grabbing a drive carrying all the intel they needed.
"Thank you trooper. Now get out there. We need your men out there on the front lines." He said, hastily grabbing the drive.
"I'm… sorry, sir? We're special forces, we're meant for covert ops. If we go out there, we don't have the cover or environment to make use of our skills." Ace said back.
"Do I look like I want to argue right now, soldier? We need every gun available out there. So, move it! That's an order!" He said. Begrudgingly, Ace nodded his head. Motioning for Inferno to gather around, they met up with a platoon of normal clones and they set out. Blaster bolts flew everywhere. Without any cover, troopers were obliterated, and tanks were blasted apart by incoming artillery. Inferno had stopped a lot of the major emplacements when the droid factory had come down, but they couldn't really do much about the cannons in the back. Ducking into a crater, they took cover from the incoming blaster bolts. Behind them, members of the platoon they had come out with were being picked off as bolts of energized gas impacted them in just the right way so that they were killed instantly. Some of the less lucky ones caught bolts in the sides and fell behind to bleed out. They couldn't stop to pick them up. They had to leave them behind.
With his back up against the side of the crater, Deadeye unslung his Driver Rifle and aimed over the edge of the divot. Dragging his crosshairs over the beady red eye of an encroaching Hailfire Droid, he squeezed the trigger and the big-wheeled robot exploded in sparks as it ground to a halt. Cocking the bolt back, he shifted his aim. Taking aim at a line of Super Battle Droids, his subsequent shot blasted through the B2s like they were nothing. Shifting over once again, he peered through his scope and saw something unusual. A glint coming from an outcropping of rock. It took him a moment to realize what he was looking at. A sniper. Moving as fast as he could, he fired a quick shot. The blast from the round displaced the rock beneath the sniper droid's nest and most likely destroyed it. But not before it got a shot off. Within a blindingly fast space of time, there was a flash and Deadeye felt a searing pain in his side. Ah, skrai. Was all he thought before he lost consciousness and fell backwards into the hole. Everyone else in the crater heard the visceral sound of the bolt connecting. Within moments, a medic was on Deadeye's unconscious body. His life signs were low. Dangerously low. The wound was critical. The whole area around the crater exploded, raining rock and debris down upon the dug in Clones. The whole world was spinning. The sky became the ground and blaster bolts flew every which way, and for the first time in any of their careers, the Clones felt something they never expected to feel. Fear.