The Burning Earth
I do not own Star Wars the Clone Wars. It belongs to LucasArts and Disney.
wolfwind12345 - Sorry, I forgot the Alphas were ARCs. But, for this story, pretend this Alpha Squad are Commandos. Also, I know the Commandos don't like the Jedi, but I don't believe that ALL the Commandos don't like them. That doesn't make sense to me. :)
HiddenJedi - Glad you like it! :)
mouse - Don't worry, I plan on finishing this story all the way through, though it might take a while. Glad you like it.
Guest - Here's the new chapter for you!
Chapter 2 - The Republic Arrives
Washington D.C.
Underground Tunnels and Facilities
En Route to the Pentagon - 7:00am
Vice President Kevin Strong sat next to Ahsoka and Alix, a Secret Service agent sat to his right. Across from them the five 'alien' soldiers sat in their black body gloves. The US military and C.I.A. confiscated all of their armor and weapons, for safety reasons. The soldiers didn't seem to like not having their armor and weapons. He heard one of them say he felt naked without them.
They were all in a armored Chevrolet Suburban SUV, driving through a long, spacious tunnel on their way to the Pentagon. A few years ago, the U.S. government built numerous underground tunnels and facilities, connecting the U.S. Capitol Building, C.I.A. Headquarters, Pentagon, a bunker underneath the National Mall, and the new Joint Air-Marine Base. More tunnels are still being built at this time.
"Mr. Strong, might I ask where our ship is?" Alix asked, his eyes closed.
"It's at a military base nearby. The Joint Air-Marine Base." Strong answered nodding to him as he looked over at the soldiers sitting across from them. "Might I ask your names?"
The first one on the end looked over at him. "Captain Rex, sir. These men are Ash, Ion, Dagger, and Storm." Rex said gesturing to the men next to him.
"It is a pleasure to meet all of you." Strong said, nodding.
"Sir, we've arrived at the Pentagon." The driver said from the front.
"Thank-you, sir." Kevin said as the Secret Service agent next to him opened the door. More armed soldiers in black stood at the end of the tunnel next to a door. "This way please." He said to Ahsoka, Alix, and the identical soldiers. Ahsoka nodded and they followed behind him, the armed soldiers followed closely behind.
They all came across another large door deep inside the building. On either side of the door stood two more soldiers who opened the doors, saluting quickly. Kevin lead them inside and they entered a large room. Three large screens took up the far front wall, and smaller computers sat on desks where men and women were working, shouting orders to each other. Above them, more people in what appeared to be military uniforms stood inside of a small, rectangular room with a large glass window overlooking everyone below. In the center of the room was a large, rectangular table with numerous, important looking people sat with datapads and laptops in front of them.
"Ahsoka, Alix, may I introduce you to President Chan Ro." Kevin said, gesturing to a man who walked over to them. "Our Commander-in-Chief."
"It is a pleasure to meet you all." Chan said, shaking Ahsoka and Alix's hand before moving to shake Rex and the Alpha's hands.
"The pleasure is all ours." Ahsoka said, bowing her head to him.
"I apologize for any mistreatment towards you. We really meant no harm, we just wanted to play this safe as we didn't know your intentions." Chan said, gesturing for them to follow him to the large table.
"That's alright. Now, what is it that you need help with?" Alix asked as Chan and Kevin sat at the head of the table.
"We need your help to identify a fleet of ships that have entered our system and are above our moon. Can you tell us of they're your Republic or someone else." Kevin said, pointing at the center screen. The maps on the screen before were replaced with a satellite image of five ships above the moon.
Ahsoka and Alix stared at the screen in shock. How did the Separatist find us? Ahsoka thought to herself before answering. "No, Mr. President, that fleet is not the Republic. It's the Separatist Fleet." She said, shaking her head.
"What are the Separatist?" A man next to the President.
"This is our Secretary of Defense, John Callahan." Chan said, gesturing to the man.
"Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Secretary." Alix said, nodding to him. "The Confederacy of Independent Systems, or the Separatist, and the Galactic Republic our at war. They are a group of thousands of star systems who split from the Republic and formed a new government, so we are at civil war with them for... complicated reasons." Alix explained.
"The Separatist use an army of droids while the Republic uses an army of clones." Ahsoka said, gesturing to Rex and the Commandos.
Everyone looked surprised when she said 'clones' and 'droids'. They're technology is far, far more advanced than we already thought. John thought. "So, they aren't your Republic. In that case what are they doing just standing there." He asked.
"I'm really not sure." Ahsoka said, shrugging. "They could be scanning the planet to learn more about it. Since the Republic knew nothing about this planet, I'm certain the Separatist know nothing about your planet either." She said, looking closely at the monitor. Suddenly, a larger fleet of ships jumped out of hyperspace behind the Separatist.
Everyone gasped, and looked frightened. "And who are they?" Kevin asked. "Reinforcements?"
Ahsoka and Alix smiled. "No, sir, that's the Republic."
Solar System - Earth's Moon
Republic Fleet, The Resolute - 7:33am
Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Rose looked out the large windows of the Resolute's bridge at the small Separatist fleet. "Sirs, the distress signal is coming from the nearby planet." A clone officer said to the three Jedi Generals.
"Finally, we found them. Open fire on those battleships." Anakin ordered.
The Republic Fleet of ten Venator-class Star Destroyers opened fire on the unprepared enemy fleet. The darkness of space lit up as blue and red cannon fire were exchanged between the two fleets. The Separatist fleet was vastly outnumbered and most of the ships were already heavily damaged.
General Grievous watched in anger as the Republic Fleet tore his ships apart. He realized he could not win this fight, but he doesn't want to leave the system either. Then he remembered that he sent a group of recon droids down to the planet, so this wasn't a completely lose. "We're outgunned. Turn the ships around and make for Separatist space." He ordered.
All five of his battleships immediately began to turn around, facing away from the planet, they all jumped into lightspeed one at a time. The Republic ships stopped firing as the last ship left.
"Well, that was easy." Rose said, smiling after the Separatist left.
"Sirs, we've tried to contract Commanders Ahsoka and Alix but they're not answering their comlinks. Neither is Captain Rex." Commander Cody reported.
"Position our ships around the planet, defensive formations." Obi-Wan ordered. "Prep the gunships."
"Yes, sir."
Pentagon Situation Room
7:38am
Everyone watched in amazement as the Separatist battleships quickly turned around and fled the system. "That's a relief." John said, nodding. "Will the Republic attack us?" He asked Ahsoka.
"No, not unless you attack first." She answered, then noticed the Jedi Cruisers coming closer. "Looks like they're either blockading the planet, or just defending it from any possible counterstrike."
"Let's hope for our sake they're not blockading us." Chan said, standing up. "I'm sure they'll land here eventually, so let's prepare for their arrival."
Ash stepped forward. "Commander, I'm sure the Republic is attempting to contact us. If they've realized we aren't responding, they might assume we've been captured."
Alix nodded. "Your right. Mr. President, we need our weapons and armor back."
"Quite right." Chan said, then signaled for a soldier behind them. "Please take them to their things." He ordered.
"Yes, sir." The soldier replied. "Right this way."
Ahsoka, Alix, Rex, and the Commandos followed him through numerous halls until they reached a door at the end of the tunnel. As the soldier opened the door they all entered and found all of their weapons and armor, neatly stacked in a row.
"Finally, I can't stay away from my kit for to long." Ion said, picking up his gray/silver and light blue armor. "I felt so naked."
The clones quickly put on all of their armor and then got their blasters from a shelf behind them. Ahsoka and Alix found their lightsabers behind a glass wall. The soldier from before walked over and input a code on the panel next to the door. It slid open and they both walked in grabbed the lightsabers and left with the clones.
As they walked back to the Situation Room, Ahsoka's comlink began beeping. "This is Admiral Yularen, is anyone receiving. Commander Tano, do you read me." The Admiral said over the comm.
"This is Commander Tano, I read you Admiral." She said, happy to hear someone she knew.
As they entered the Situation Room, Ahsoka pushed a button and a small hologram of Yularen appeared on her wrist. "Thank goodness we found you, Commander. What took you so long to receive?" He asked.
"Let's just say we got a little... sidetracked. We'll brief you all later." Ahsoka said. "Where's General Skywalker?" She asked, surprised it wasn't him who contacted her.
"He, Kenobi, and Sapphire are on their way to your location." He said, nodding. "They should be down there momentarily." He added.
The Secretary of Defense heard this and turned to the President. "Sir, we can't hide they're arrival. When they swoop in in a couple of minutes, everyone will see them. I wouldn't be surprised if others have seen the ships through telescopes." He whispered. Every since Ahsoka and Alix landed they've covered it all up. The Marines who captured the 'aliens' covered the large ship with numerous large blankets had over 20 heavy lifting helicopters to lift the ship and take it to an Air Force base. They then placed the ship on a large, emptied out, jumbo plane, they were surprised it fit, although it did receive scratches and a few dents.
Chan sighed. "You're right, we can't possibly cover that. We'll just have to come clean. We'll prepare a speech to deliver later after their arrival." He decided.
When they looked back up, Ahsoka had just cut the transmission. "The Generals are on their way down here." Ahsoka said.
"I suggest we prepare for their landing." Rex said to Ahsoka who nodded in agreement.
President Chan, Vice-President Kevin, Defense Secretary John, and C.I.A. Director George Benadict walked through the halls of the Pentagon, heading towards the River Entrance. "Is the River Entrance cleared?" Chan asked as they walked at a steady pace.
"Yes, sir." A Secret Service agent who was behind them answered. "The Marines and agents cleared the entire area."
"Chan, Congress has held an emergency meeting regarding this... incident." Kevin said. "They've immediately passed a bill which will double our military budget. They want engineers to develop new weapons, new air craft, naval ships. With the amount of money we're about to spend, we'll have the worlds most powerful military... more so than it already is."
"I saw this coming. This incident proves we are certainly not alone in this universe. There's a larger galaxy than we thought, one that's at a large-scale war. From the way Ahsoka and Alix talked about our 'primitive' technology, and those Republic and Separatist battleships, they could attack Earth and have total control within hours, maybe even minutes." President Chan said, shaking his head.
"I wonder what the Generals will be like?" Kevin wondered as they reached the River Entrance. A squad of Marines stood at the door and one of them opened the door for them. Ahsoka, Alix, Rex, and the Commandos were already outside, with another group of Marines.
Dagger took out his binoculars and looked to the sky. "Larties to the northeast, sir." He said to Ash.
Storm looked through his binoculars. "Confirmed, I count three gunships." He said, nodding.
The three gunships began to slowly descend towards them. Many civilians nearby could see them coming. Some looked on in terror but others looked in curiosity. The blast-doors were open so they could see everyone below. "This planet reminds me of Naboo." Obi-Wan said, watching the people below. "And didn't Ahsoka report that this planet is inhabited by humans?"
"Yeah, she did." Anakin answered, he looked at the large building they were heading to and noticed a group of snipers laying on the roof. "Snipers." He said, pointing to them.
"Yes, I see them too. Anakin make sure you don't do anything to upset these people... or scare them." Rose said.
"I won't, don't worry." Anakin said, putting his hands up defensively.
The three gunships touched down in front of the River Entrance. The 15 clones all walked off the transports with the three Generals. "Ahsoka!" Anakin called, happy to see his Padawan safe.
"Master, I'm fine." Ahsoka said, smiling at him.
"I'm okay too, thanks for asking." Alix said, folding his arms.
"It's good to see you too, Alix." Rose said, patting him on the back.
Rex and Cody shook hands and patted each other on the back. "Good to see your alright, ner vod." Cody said to Rex.
Rex gestured to the Commandos. "Commander Cody, this is Alpha Squad. Ion, Storm, Dagger, and their leader Ash." He introduced them.
"Pleasure to meet you, brothers." Cody said, shaking their hands.
"Good to see you all as well, sir." Ash said.
"It's good to see all of you." Obi-Wan said, then looked towards the line of soldiers coming towards them. President Chan, Vice-President Kevin, and Defense Secretary John walked towards them.
"Master, this is U.S. President Chan Ro." Ahsoka introduced, stepping back.
"It is a pleasure to finally meet you. I am Jedi High General Obi-Wan Kenobi, this is High General Rose Sapphire, and General Anakin Skywalker." He said, gesturing to the two Jedi next to him.
"Nice to meet all of you." Chan said, shaking their hands. "This is my Vice-President Kevin Strong, and Secretary of Defense John Callahan." He said as they all shook hands with the Jedi.
"General Kenobi, since you're here, can you tell us more about this Galactic Republic." Kevin asked.
"It would be our pleasure, sir. Shall we." Obi-Wan said as they were led towards the building in front of them.
Separatist-Controlled Space
General Grievous' Command Ship
8:10am
Grievous stood in front of a holoprojection of Count Dooku, leader of the CIS. He had just finished reporting what happened in the new star system and how the Jedi had arrived and ruined his plans. "The planet has immense resources, my lord. The population is over 7 billion. If we take this system, we would have more space to build our weapons and a large slave force."
Dooku thought for a moment. "I must discuss this with my Master. Send me the holovid the recon droids are transmitting. Gather a fleet and prepare to assault this planet immediately." He ordered and cut the connection.
"Call all available ships to my location and prepare for battle." Grievous ordered a droid commander.
"Roger, roger."
Senate District, Galactic City, Coruscant
Republic Executive Building
8:16am
Chancellor Palpatine, aka Sith Lord Darth Sidious, sat in his office, looking out of his large window at the galaxies largest city. Just moments ago Darth Tyranus, aka Count Dooku, contacted him and gave Grievous' report on the uncharted star system. At first, he didn't really care what Grievous did with the system, but when Dooku told him the planet's population and their military, he saw a problem.
If, and most likely when, this planet joins the Republic, their large military will be a small, annoying obstacle. When his Empire rises to power, leaving such a large military force unattended could prove disastrous, especially since they obviously know of the Galaxies existence. This problem must be subdued now before they become an issue. So, he ordered Dooku to invade the entire planet and weaken them. For reasons he can't explain, he can feel the darkness he ever so carefully weaved around the Galaxy lift slightly, letting in the light. Whatever is happening is a result of discovering this star system.
Pentagon Situation Room
8:00am
After Obi-Wan, Rose, and Anakin explained everything in detail about the Jedi Order, Galactic Republic, and the Clone Wars, everyone took a moment to let the information sink in. "Well, General Kenobi, I'm afraid if we join the Republic now, it'll only bring the war to us." Defense Secretary John said.
Rose and Obi-Wan exchanged looks. "As you already know there was already a fleet of Separatist battleships here. We managed to chase them away, not destroy them. We're sure they know how large the population is and will undoubtedly return to investigate further. You may have no choice but to pick a side." Rose explained.
Everyone began to talk amongst themselves, whispering even though the Jedi could here what they were saying with the Force. "We... thank you for the advice, General Kenobi. I think it is best that Earth joins the Republic." President Chan said, nodding. "But, I can only speak for my country, there are hundreds of others that can only decide for themselves."
"That's quite alright. It is there choice and we can only explain to them the benefits of joining." Obi-Wan said, nodding.
"Whenever you're ready, we can take you to Coruscant and you can discuss this with the Galactic Senate and the Jedi Council." Anakin said.
"Very well, we can leave tomorrow, but we must tell the public about this. They've already seen your gunships and are starting to demand answers." Kevin said, standing up. Everyone else got up and filed out of the room.
"That went well." Alix said as they left the room and followed the President and Vice-President.
"Indeed. We may have gained an ally and we've found you two." Anakin said, smiling.
They made it outside and boarded the gunships. President Chan and Kevin wanted a ride in the gunships and Rose obliged. "Please hold on, sir." Cody said to the President and he did as he said, grabbing hold of the overhead handles. The three gunships lifted off and they headed towards the White House, following the directions the Pentagon gave them.
They kept the blast-doors opened so they could see the landscape and people below. The gunships flew over the National Mall and everyone below pointed up at them. Some were shocked and curious.
"Is that a new military aircraft?" Some said.
"President Chan is in one of them."
"What are those things?"
They passed the National Monument and began to slowly descend towards the White House Lawn. As they landed, numerous Secret Service agents approached. Chan, Kevin and the Jedi stepped off the transport with Rex, Cody, and the Commandos. The rest of the troopers stayed with the gunships to guard them. Many people gathered around the White House fence and looked in awe and confusion. Some pointed and whispered about Ahsoka, who rolled her eyes and ignored them.
As they entered the historic building, the President led them to the Oval Office. As Chan sat at his desk, Obi-Wan, Rose, and Anakin sat in the seats across from him. "So, how are we going to do this?" Alix asked as he stood with Ahsoka, Rex, Cody, and the Commandos behind them.
"Well, we can't hide this from your people, Mr. President." Obi-Wan said.
Chan sighed. "Yes, I know. We'll tell them everything, but I don't know how they would react." He said.
"They're reactions will have to wait until later." Rose said, closing her eyes. "I sense that the Separatist will undoubtedly return. And soon."
"Well, I must prepare my speech. And, if you don't mind, Master Jedi, could you speak with some of our military personnel on how best to defend the country." Chan requested.
"Of course, Mr. President. As you wish." Obi-Wan said, standing up with Rose and Anakin. "Let's go."
C.I.A. Headquarters
9:00am
A recon droid flew towards the roof of the CIA HQ and approached a set of antennae, where the computer base is located. The little droid landed next to it and plugged himself in. Information began pouring into his memory banks as he stole hundreds of data and implanted a virus.
A young man was sitting at his desk with many others in the CIA's Computer Operations Room. Suddenly, his computer started acting crazy, hundreds of files appeared all over his screen and a loading bar was at the bottom. "Uh, sir." He said to the supervisor. "The entire database is being hacked!" He called out. All of the other computers in the room began doing the same thing.
"Shut it down!" The supervisor ordered.
"We can't sir!"
Then, everything went dark as the computers shut down and the power went out.
The White House, Oval Office
9:14am
President Chan sat at his desk, still writing, then rewriting his speech to the nation and world. As he was writing the phone began to ring. "Yes, what is it." He asked as he answered it.
"Sir, we have a problem." C.I.A. Director George Benadict said over the secure line. "The CIA database has been hacked."
"How? When?" Chan asked putting his pen down.
"13 minutes ago. Whoever did this took a lot of data and implanted a virus at the same time. They've crippled the agency." Benadict answered.
"I'll tell the Jedi what happened. Keep me or Kevin posted." Chan ordered and hung up the phone right as Obi-Wan and Rose entered the room. "Generals, we have a problem."
"What is it?" Rose asked, taking a seat.
"Our Central Intelligence Agency, or CIA, Headquarters was hacked by an unknown enemy. We can rule out any of our other enemies here on Earth because the hack was the fastest we've ever seen. Whoever did it took a lot of information and planted a powerful virus, crippling our Intelligence Network, all at the same time." Chan reported.
"Hmm. This could be the work of the Separatist." Obi-Wan said, rubbing his chin in thought.
Chan looked confused. "But... I thought you drove them out of the system."
"Correct, but they could've launched recon units before we arrived." Rose said, nodding to Obi-Wan.
"We have a major problem if they've already infiltrated the planet. The recon units must be gathering information for an attack." Obi-Wan said, shaking his head. "This just got a little harder than it already was."
Separatist-Controlled Space
General Grievous' Command Ship
9:22am
Count Dooku, Grievous, and Assaj Ventress stood on the bridge of the command ship. They've gathered over 15 Providence-Class Destroyers and over 5 Lucrehulk-class battleships. Together there are thousands of vulture-droids and hyena-bombers, and millions of battledroids.
"We are at peak strengthen, Lord Dooku." Grievous reported to Dooku who was sitting in the command chair.
"Good, good. All ships prepare for battle. Make the jump." Dooku ordered.
The large fleet activated their hyperdrives and immediately jumped into lightspeed.
Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Don't worry, the Commandos will get more action later. :)
Next Chapter: The Separatist invade Earth
See you next time and don't forget to REVIEW!
