(Unknown Separatist planet. Bar)
The music from the bar was playing reggae-like music as the few inhabitants there danced, talked, or drunk themselves silly. There were species from around the galaxy at the bar, the dominant one being Humans. At one table were four figures. Two were in their teens while the other two were clearly adults. The two men looked like they could be brothers, except one was bald and another had a buzz cut. The two teens were radically different. The male one was mid brown-skinned with black dreadlocks down to his shoulders and the female was orange with white and lekku and montrals. All of them had cloaks over themselves. They looked like they were going over a plan.
"There's heavy security at the front of the villa and behind it. The only way to encounter only light resistance is to go through the forst flanking the right pavilion. After that, getting inside isn't a problem. Republic intelligence told us to have him dead or alive, but we prefer to have him alive. We only shoot unless he shoots at us. An airstrike and the rebels will give us the diversion we need. Once we confirmed the capture they'll link up with us and overthrow the government. In short, it's a good coup d'etat," said Taran.
"Nice plan kid, now all that's left is to...," said Rex. However, the city's police had just barged into the bar and everything stopped.
"Stay low," said Ahsoka as they tried to seem like there was nothing suspicious about them. The police looked around, pushing past patrons and asking questions. The biggest one of them, the chief, came up behind Rex.
"Keep it cool Rex," said Taran.
"You, what's your name?" said the chief. Rex didn't reply.
"I'm talking to you," said the chief, getting angry very quickly and taking Rex's shoulder. Rex quickly took the chief's hand and slammed in on the table, his combat knife stabbing it into it. Cody punched the chief once the latter screamed. He then turned around and both clones shot their dual-wielded pistols at the police, killing them in seconds. Thankfully the noise from the music drowned out the shots.
"Okay let's get out of here," said Taran.
(12 hours later)
Rex and Cody scanned the area from their DC-15As with infrared scopes. Both clones had their armor with camouflage green and brown
"All's clear," said Rex. Taran and Ahsoka came off the ground. Ahsoka's face was painted black, covering her orange skin save her white face tattoos. Her outfit, her black Jedi outfit, was still present. Taran had black kohl marks under his eyes, his Jedi clothes in brown and black. Each one had a scouter-like headpiece on their head. (They're like the scouters on DBZ)
"Move out," said Ahsoka. They moved out, sticking to the shadows of the trees, until they got to the side pavilion. Unsurprisingly, there were a few guards on duty.
"Three guards. Go for it boys," said Taran. Rex and Cody got into position.
"I'll take the one farthest away. You get the other two," said Cody.
"Copy," said Rex. The guards didn't know what hit them. Well they did because in less than two seconds they were all dead.
"Procede to point A," said Taran. Stealthily they moved out, staying near the trees until they got to the side of the villa near an open courtyard.
"Where's the bombing run at?" said Ahsoka.
"On its way," said Taran. He turned on his comlink. "Master, we're ready."
"Copy that," said Obi-Wan. As they waited, another patrol came by. They started their usual route over the courtyard before the sound of gunships and Y-wings drowned out everything.
"Let's go," said Ahsoka. The four ran towards the villa, Rex and Cody easily dispatching their group. In the distance they heard the missiles and bombs detonate, and the unmistakable sound of gunfire.
"Good, the rebels have started their attack right on schedule," said Rex. As they hit the main courtyard, guards burst through towards them. Ahsoka's twin lightsabers and Taran's lightsaber blazed to life as they faced the guards. They deflected the blaster fire in the grace of the Jedi warriors of old, steadily advancing to the villa as Rex and Cody picked the guards off. the guards who charged at the Jedi pair were cut down just as fast. Soon there were no more guards left. They rushed into the villa.
"Grenades," said Cody. He and Rex took out their thermal detonators and hurled them through the windows. They went off, and the yells of the men who were caught in the blast radius echoed out. They rushed in and immediately were assaulted with fire from the upper balcony levels.
"Split up. Cody with me," said Taran. He and Cody dashed ti the right while Rex and Ahsoka went left. Taran and Cody dodged fire, with Taran deflecting the attack and Cody taking well-aimed shots to the attackers. Any of them that charged met the the wrong side of his lightsaber, which was every side. Up the staircase they climbed up, still in their hit-and-run stage tactics before they hit their first obstacle. A heavy-repeating blaster cannon at the end of a hall pinned them down to the ground.
"Cody, I got an idea," said Taran.
"What would that be sir?" said Cody, trying to lay down cover fire.
"This," said Taran. He bent the air under the clone commander, lifting him up. Without another word he bent Cody straight for the gun emplacement and crew.
"AHHH!" yelled Cody. The crew didn't know what him them until 250 lbs. of clone trooper in armor hit them at 30 mph. They were knocked out cold the minute they hit the floor.
"Strike!" yelled Taran, doing a little victory pump in the air before running over to Cody. Cody slowly got up, groaning.
"Remind me to be out of your area when you have any ideas," said Cody. Taran laughed.
"Come on, we got a leader to get," said Taran.
"Me and Cody were by ourselves, Ahsoka and Rex somewhere else in the building. It was me and Cody who got to the room first..."
A large metal door blocked the advance of the two soldiers of the Republic Army.
"Is he in there?" said Cody. Taran searched through the Force.
"No, nothing but a room full of soldiers. Cody, when I get that door open, you fire with everything you got," said Taran.
"Yes sir," said Cody, putting a new clip into his gun. Taran's two arms slowly blazed with flames as he concentrated on the door. He stepped back, and then ran for the door. Finding the right place, he jumped and both of his fists punched the door, his flames dancing along his knuckles to unleash a sheer wave of force and energy that rendered the door obsolete. It was forced open at a surprising speed and the soldiers waiting on the other side couldn't even think about it before flames filled the air and blue plasma bolts smashed into their bodies. When Taran was down on his feet, all ten soldiers were dead.
"You're really good at this Cody," said Taran.
"Thank you sir," said Cody. They came up to another door, this one grand and decorated beautifully.
"Ready for this one Cody?" said Taran, his hands in the stance ready for an air attack.
"Yes sir. Let's take him out," said Cody. Taran shot a blast of air at the door and they opened with ease. The first sight they saw was the dictator of the planet. He had tan-colored skin and black matted hair, a full grown beard on him. He was wearing bath robes as if he had just come out a shower, which he probably did seeing as how his hair was dripping water. He had a pistol in his hand, aimed straight at Taran. He fired it, and the round hit Taran square in the shoulder. Cody reacted, a little too quickly, and two rounds to the chest and one to the head put the dictator down for good, making him fall on the footboard of the bed. Taran clutched his shoulder, gritting his teeth.
"Damnit, we didn't need to kill him," said Taran, coming close to examine the body.
"Sorry sir, I panicked," said Cody.
"It's alright. It was the heat of combat and you were trying to protect me," said Taran. Another door to the side slammed open and Taran and Cody readied their weapons. To their relief it was Ahsoka and Rex.
"What happened?" said Ahsoka, looking at the dictator's corpse.
"He shot me in the shoulder and Cody took him out," said Taran.
"Are you alright?" she asked, coming up to Taran and touching his wound tenderly.
"It'a alright, it only stings," said Taran.
"Rex, radio in and tell them that the dictator's dead," said Ahsoka.
"Copy that sir," said Rex. He took out his hand-held hologram projector and opened it up to reveal Obi-Wan and Anakin.
"Sir, mission objective complete," said Rex.
"Status of the dictator?" said Obi-Wan.
"Eh, dead," said Rex.
"Dead? How?" said Obi-Wan.
"Line of fire sir. Commander Taran was shot sir, and Cody took the shot," said Rex. Obi-Wan sighed, clearly not meaning for the situation to happen.
"Alright, it's fine. Regroup with the rebels as soon as possible," said Obi-Wan.
"Roger sir," said Rex. Putting the projector up, Rex and the others made their way out of the villa.
"Yusep, dictator is down. How are you and the rest of the rebels going?" said Taran through his comlink.
"Everything is good Taran. Only a few more troops are left, all we need to do is...wait. Hold on!" said Yusep, the rebel leader. The sounds of gunfire were the only sounds coming out of Taran's comlink as they all stopped and listened.
"Yusep, what's going on?" said Taran.
"There's..Separatist armor and fighters!" said Yusep. All of them felt a cold shill go up their spines.
"What was that again?" said Taran.
"We have tanks, landing craft, droids, and fighters coming for us. They're killing dozens of us," said Yusep.
"We need to get out of here," said Taran.
"We'll go back to the airfield," said Ahsoka.
"Let's go," said Taran. They rushed out, coming out the front door of the villa. Unfortunately, more soldiers were at the front. Taran and Ahsoka rushed forward, cutting them down as Cody and Rex took on a fire-and-run tactic most clones fought with in these situations. Taran and Ahsoka weaved in and out of their attackers, putting them out of action so they could escape and get to the airfield. They were just about to hit the dirt road to it when from the trees came OOM-2 spider walkers and an AAT.
"Oh spirits," said Taran.
"Taran, let's go through the arra fields!" yelled Ahsoka. Without a second though they ran to it, dodging enemy fire and explosions. The eight foot tall stalks hid them from view, but still they kept getting shot at. They didn't stop running, not even after they had ran a mile. They reached the end of the fields and rested, recuperating for the short amount of time they had left. If they hadn't been conditioned for these type of situations they would have dropped on the ground gasping for breath. From the height of the small cliff they were on, they could see what was going on in the airfield. It was chaos.
Explosions racked the entire length as LAATs fought against Separatist gunships and picked up wounded or fleeing soldiers, laying down ground fire as well. The rebels were retreating to the hangars where the LAATs were dropping down and picking them up.
"Yusep, you down there?" said Taran.
"Yes. We're buying some time for you. Where are you?" said Yusep.
"On the cliff overlooking it. We'll be down there in a minute," said Taran. Rex and Cody readied their ascension cables and shot them at the nearest building. Once they were connected, Taran and Ahsoka used their lightsaber hilts as holds to slide down the ropes, jumping off when they were five feet from the ground. Rex and Cody connected their ends to a pillar and slid down it with their guns, doing the same.
They raced towards the retreating gunships, jumping past explosions and laser fire. Yusep was in the distance, a bearded man wielding a DC-15A with clothes like that of a farmer.
"You made it. Let's get out of here," he said. They raced for the closest gunship, its bay doors open and ready for them. They jumped in, relieved they were safe at last.
"Sirs, General Kenobi and General Skywalker told us to get off this planet as soon as possible. A massive Separatist fleet just exited out of hyperspace as is threatening to cut off our line of retreat," said the clone pilot.
"Get us out of here trooper," said Cody.
"Acknowledged sir," said the pilot. The gunship began to rise from the ground, its anti-personnel bubble turrets letting out barrages of cover fire.
"Sir, we can't go," said the pilot.
"Why not?" said Cody. The pilot pointed to the end of the airfield where a squad of AAT's were using their turret guns as anti-aircraft fire. Three LAATs were already shot down by them.
"I got it," said Taran. He jumped out of the LAAT, his detracted staff in hand. Within a split second it was in full staff mode, the glider extended out, and flew down toward a lone cannon on the runway. He landed and made sure the gun was operational. He hot-wired it as fast as he could, trying to desperately bring the gun back to life. The LAAT was circling the airfield, unable to leave and pinned down by the fire from the ground as its laser turrets desperately tried to give it the cover it needed.
"Come on, come on, come on!" Taran said hurriedly to himself as he fought to connect the wires furiously. Once he connected the third one, the gun hummed to life. Getting to the controls he aimed the gun straight at the group of AATs. Pressing the fire button, the cannon let loose a deadly bar of blue plasma that destroyed the AATs with ease. The way was clear.
"Quick, Taran get on the ship," said Ahsoka.
"Alright, copy that, 'bout to..." said Taran, but he never got to finish that sentence when a hand grabbed him and through him down to the floor, pinning his head to the ground.
"Taran!" yelled Ahsoka.
"Go on without me. Go now!" Taran yelled in the comlink before the person pinning him down took it off and crushed it. Taran looked through his peripheral vision to see the gunship head towards the sky. At least they were safe.
The hand that was pinning him turned him around and a fist knocked him out.
He came to, looking around slightly as his vision came back.
"Rise and shine sunshine," said A voice he dreaded over anything else. Worse than Dooku, Grievous, and Ventress. The voice of himself.
Ceran looked down at his 'brother,' smiling with an evil side to him.
"I knew you weren't dead," said Taran groggily.
"Correct. Your lightsaber was pretty close to one of my main arteries, but not close enough. Too bad though," said Ceran. Taran tried to move his hands, but found he was restrained with Force binders, his fingers encased with a silicate that rendered any Bending useless, including his feet.
"Excellent work Count Dooku," said another voice. Taran turned his head sideways to see Dooku, Grievous, and a bearded man who looked all too familiar.
The dictator.
"You! I saw you die!" said Taran.
"A decoy," said the dictator.
"What do you wish to do with him?" said Dooku.
"Consider him a gift to you Count, and our new alliance," said the dictator.
"Dr. Vindi, we have someone you will be thrilled to meet," said Dooku. Taran's heart froze when he saw Dr. Vindi come into view and smile maliciously at him.
"I have plans for you Cyneran."
"And that's when my hell on earth began..." said Taran.