Have no fear, Grubkiller is here.
Hey folks, here's part 4 of my TCW/GoW x-over story, Clones of War: Aspho Fields, which is heavily inspired by the legendary gears of war novel, GoW Aspho Fields, written by the legendary Sc-fi author, Karen Traviss.
By the way: I deleted my other story, 'In Service of the Republic'. It didn't get very many views, and I lost interest in writing it. So I'm going to finish off this story and focus on 'Fall of the Republic'.
Hope that you enjoy.
Read and Review.
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Aspho Point.
The commando team charged up the beach amidst the sound of loud booms echoing off in the distance. Dom knew that his older brother's unit was giving the indies trouble out there, and he hoped that it would stay that way.
The young commando and several other gears followed Anakin Skywalker, and a squad of clones led by a pair of ARC troopers, Fives and Echo.
As they ran up the beach, their bootprints sunk into the muddy shore, leaving behind a track for anyone to follow... if they came out of the ocean of coarse.
Everyone took cover and gathered near a rocky cliff wall that looked over the beach. Anakin looked back at the squad and called out to them. "We take down those towers, we'll cripple their communication, and then we'll raid the lad. If command wants the Hammer of Dawn, then command gets the Hammer of Dawn".
Everyone nodded.
He looked past everyone at Dom, Fives, and Echo.
"Santiago... you're on point with Fives and Echo!" He ordered.
"Yes sir," Dom acknowledged before he looked over his shoulder at the ARC Troopers. "Alright, let's move".
The 3 man team led the rest of the commando strike force up the beach, where they followed a frozen creak in the direction of the base's rear entrance.
"Let's move it boys. We're only going to get one shot to extract those plans," Dom said.
"We have to take out those guard towers. Once we take those out, this entire base is cut off," Echo said, repeating the orders given to them by their superiors.
As the strike force moved through the creek, Republic/COG and CIS/UIR aircraft engaged one another above the region. A Republic ARC-170 starfighter was shot down and crashed into a formation of rocks nearby, catching everyone off guard.
The team eventually came up on the rear entrance. Two UIR soldiers stood on top of a guard tower that overlooked the way into the base. One of them pointed to the strike team and shouted something in a foreign language.
"We've got indies!" One gear called out.
"Take 'em out," Anakin ordered.
Several clones and gears fired on him. The green armored UIR trooper was filled with bullet holes and covered in blaster scorches, before he leaned forward and tumbled over the edge. The other trooper was rushing away to raise the alarm. That's when a plasma bolt from a sniper rifle took his head off, causing him to drop dead before he could brush his fingers along the alarm.
"Nice shot, Fves." Anakin said.
"Just doing my job, General."
The team snuck into the base and found the comm tower that they were assigned to take out. The tower was a massive steel beam that was covered in dishes and wires.
"Alright, let's get a charge on that tower." Anakin ordered before he began to speak into his comm unit to contact Colonel Hoffman. "Cleaner, this is Blue one. We're approaching our bonfire."
"Roger that Blue one... And sweet Hell, these are dumb code names."
When the strike force gathered around the tower, a pair of clones, and a pair of gears rushed up and started placing explosives on the outside of the tower.
"Cleaner, our match is lit," Anakin said into his comm.
"Roger that, General. We're lighting our bonfire in three, two, one," Hoffman said before a bright explosion bombed over the horizon, toppling a tower that allowed the UIR to stay in contact with the outside world. The tower toppled over. That's when the explosive that Anakin's team placed exploded, blasting a chunk out of the base of the comm tower. The metal beams creaked as they started to bend violently, before they snapped, causing the tower to topple over completely just like the other one. "This base is now deaf, dumb, and blind. Also, I'm shit-canning our codenames, Skywalker. See you at the lab."
"Uh, roger that, Hoffman," Anakin said.
That's when an alarm started to go off throughout the base, alerting the entire base to any intruders that might try to sneak in.
"The lab's just beyond this security gate, let's move," Anakin said.
The team of gears and clones headed down towards the base, and come across a pair of heavily fortified bunkers. All seemed quiet, when all Hell broke loose. A pair of red flares shot up above the buildings, illuminating the area that the team was in. Then two muzzle flashes shined out of the bunkers, spewing white hot tracer rounds at everything in front of them.
"Machine Gun Nest!" Dom shouted out.
"Split up, divide their fire!" Anakin called out.
The team split into two groups, just as several clones and gears were taken out by the chattering weapon's firepower. Each team rushed towards the bunker, moving from cover to cover along the way.
"Come on, the Major's counting on us!" Anakin called out.
He managed to get to the side of the bunker. Then he slashed an 'X' over the door with his lightsaber before he kicked it open. The UIR gunners were stunned when they saw the Jedi, but couldn't do anything as they were levitated with the force, and then pulled towards the Jedi, where he then swiped his blade through both gunners. Dom got in front of him with another gear, where they used their lancers to spray a few rounds into the backs of a few retreating Indies.
At the other bunker, Echo and Fives, got beneath a window on the side of the bunker.
"Let's frag this thing," Fives said.
Echo smiled underneath his helmet and tossed a grenade up and down in his hand. Fives smiled and did the same. Then they tossed them through the window. The next thing they heard was a foreigner screaming in terror before the grenades exploding, blasting smoke and fire out of the bunker openings, and denting the door outwards.
"Alright, let's get inside... Oh, and don't mind the mess," Dom said.
Fives and Echo holstered their weapons and grabbed a hold of the damaged door. They grunted as they used all of their strength to slide the door open. When they got inside of the bunker, they could see chunks of bloody meat left on the ground. A testament to their handy work with explosives.
"Good thing we wear helmets," Fives said, alluding to the bad smell that, thanks to their filtering systems, didn't effect their sense of smell.
The squad linked up on Anakin, who was in front of the security gate that led into the facility. He pointed to a blue, dome head droid that he brought along with.
"Artoo, you have the codes. Override that gate," he ordered.
The droid beeped a rolled up to the door's control panel. It plugged in and began to tap into the security systems. A few seconds later, the droid whistled triumphantly as the door unlocked and slowly slid open.
"And with that, this raid is officially underway," Anakin said before he, followed by the rest of the squad, stepped through the gate, and entered the facility.
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RSV Resolute, in Geo-sync orbit above Aspho Fields.
As C Company of the of 26th Royal Tyran infantry and Torrent Company of the 501st legion continued to land on the Ostrini Coast north of Aspho Point, Republic cruisers continued to hammer away at the two cities that were further inland.
Admiral Yularen watched as blue flashes of light continued to illuminate the cruisers under his command and pulverize anything that they hit with their mighty firepower. They soon stopped bombarding the cities and started provide fire support when needed.
"Admiral! Commander Tano's on the line. Come here, Quick!" A clone officer shouted out from the control center at the back of the command bridge.
Yularen rushed back there and looked at the holotable. An image of Ahsoka, in her winter clothing and both lightsabers at the ready, fighting off the enemy forces on the surface. She was expertly deflecting enemy blaster shots that came her way, from enemies that Yularen couldn't see.
"Commander Tano, what's going on down there?!" He asked.
"Admiral, we've got a problem: UIR reinforcements have arrived. We're seeing two regiments of UIR battle droids, and they're being supported armored fighting vehicles and mobile artillery. And some of them are breaking off and heading for Aspho point. The diversionary attack isn't working, they know why we're here. We need to take the heat off of the commando team! Is there anyway that you can take out these new military bases, if we give you rough co-ordinates?"
"We'll see what we can-" Yularen tried to say before an alarm started to buzz throughout the ship, "Oh, what now?"
"Separatist naval forces, coming out of hyperspace, right ahead!"
And right on queue, a force of Separatist warships jumped right in front of the fleet. A Providence-class dreadnaught, along with several Munificent-class frigates and Recusant-class destroyers, launched a swarm of vulture and tri-fighter droids, before unleashing a deadly broadside against the Republic fleet.
"Brace for impact!" one officer called out.
The red laser blasts hammered against the hull of the Republic warships. The ships shook violently and troopers were thrown to the ground if they didn't hold onto something
When Yularen got back to his feet, he started pointing to different crew members. "Launch all fighters and return fire. All power to the forward shields. Put all damage control teams on standby." Yularen said before he pressed his hand against a button that sounded the alarm to general quarters.
As clones rushed to their different stations to combat the separatist flotilla, Yularen turned around and looked back at Ahsoka, who was still fighting for er life against the might of the UIR.
"I'm sorry commander, but we'll only be able to give you limited air support. So find those bases, and we'll try to knock them out".
Ahsoka stood up taller and nodded with a stern look.
"Yes Admiral," she said before he hologram fizzled out, leaving Yularen to deal with the full might of the Confederate Navy.
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Aspho Point.
Back at the Hammer of Dawn facility, Anakin and the rest commandoes were fighting their way into the facility, killing any Indie soldier that got in their way.
At one point, Anakin used the force to pick up a red fuel tank and throw it towards the Indies. Then his ARC troopers fired on the flying tank, where it exploded in the middle of a squad of Indies, causing chunks of green armor and red meat to fly everywhere.
That's when the remaining of the clones laid down suppressive fire, while Dom and the gears got in up close and personal while the UIR troops had their heads down.
One of the commandoes, a Pesanga riflemen by the name of Bai Tak, took cover in front of a wall that a UIR soldier was using as cover. When the UIR soldier took cover to reload, Bai stood up, reached over the low wall, and yanked the UIR soldier over cover. That's when he grabbed his large hunting knife to slice across the Indie trooper's throat, before bringing the blade back into the side of the trooper's head, piercing his helmet, and then his skull.
Dom vaulted over cover and kicked an Indie trooper to the deck before he drove his osmium-coated bayonet deep into the Indie trooper's face.
Another gear, a female, was charging at an Indie that she caught reloading. She fired a few rounds as she charged, forcing the armored Indie to stagger in response to the rounds pinging off his armor. Then she drove her bayonet deep into the Indie's gut.
As Anakin and the clones helped them finish up, they couldn't help but be impressed by the skill and professionalism with which the COG Gears presented. But they were taken aback by how brutally soldiers on both sides fought each other. Blood, guts, and missing body parts were common on any battlefield, but on Sera... it would've been abnormal if it wasn't this brutal.
When it was all clear, Anakin rallied the remaining team members.
Alright, we're in. Time to rendezvous with the Major, come on!" Anakin ordered.
"You heard him lads, let's go!" Echo called out.
They moved deeper into the facility, where they found a large open area, surrounded by columns and catwalks. They saw a pair of large doors. But it was guarded by a squad of UIR troopers, who were holding their position with a powerful duel-barreled machine gun.
The machine gun barked as it sent several tracer rounds down range, forcing Anakin and the commandoes to take cover. But the rest of the UIR troopers had their attention focused elsewhere. They were exchanging fire with another squad of Gears, led by Major Hoffman.
"Nice to see you're not dead, General!" He said into his com device.
"You too, Major!" Anakin replied.
"Let's take out these indies so we can get on with the Goddamn show," he said.
"Got it," Anakin said. That's when Anakin saw the doors open up behind the gun position, and several more UIR troopers rushed out to assist their comrades. "More Indies! Take 'em out!"
That's when the clones and gears opened up with a hailstorm of bullets and plasma bolts that kept the UIR heads down.
Anakin got out of cover and threw his lightsaber like a boomerang. It spun and flew towards the gunner, cutting through the gun and himself. The torso of the trooper fell away, and with the gun out of commission, the clones and gears rushed forward and attached the suppressed UIR troopers.
A few clones and gears were hit and went down. But that didn't stop them. The remaining Indies were overrun and slaughtered, leaving the way to the lab open.
"Got 'em!" Dom called out triumphantly. "Lab secure, major."
"I have eyes private. Alright, let's see if you're robot can't pick that lock," Hoffman said to Anakin.
"Come on Artoo."
The astromech droid rolled up and went to plug into the door control. But as soon as he started to access the security systems, a bolt of electricity fried the droid's circuits and sent him flying back with a scream.
"Artoo!" Anakin exclaimed as he went to go pick his old companion up off the ground.
The droid whistled with disapproval.
"It's okay buddy, we'll get 'em next time." Anakin reassured.
"Looks like these Indie scientists aren't too eager to meet us. Bruce." Hoffman said, causing a Coalition JACK-bot to decloak. "Be a dear and rip this door!"
The bot complied and went to use his laser cutter on the door control, cutting it up and severing the security systems.
That's when Anakin turned to the assembled clones and gears. "Alright, Echo, Fives, and Dom... you're with me and the Major. The rest of you, stay out here and keep this door secure. If we're not out in ten minutes, abort mission and head for the extraction zone."
The Clones saluted. "Sir, Yes Sir!" They shouted out in unison.
That's when Anakin went to join those that were going inside.
"Alright Skywalker, time to meet our new friends," Hoffman said, before they walked inside, leaving the rest of the strike force to hold the door.
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Seran Orbit.
High above Sera, Republic and Separatist warships were hammering away at each other from distance and from point-blank range. Chunks of metal were blasted off of each other's hulls as they fired their powerful weaponry.
Fighters from both sides zipped back and forth around the ships, playing a deadly game of 'tag-your-it', but with plasma.
But amidst the battle, a squadron of Y-wing bombers were flying down to the surface without fighter escort. Their mission was to wipe out a pair of UIR military bases, which were deploying Separatist droids and tanks that were being used by the UIR, and designed with the same paint job as UIR armor.
"Alright boys, we're the only air support that our troops on the ground have until the battle upstairs winds down. SO get your game faces on. We're going to take out a pair of Indie bases, which are deploying some new clanker toys to attack our brothers. Let's show them how bad of an investment they've made." The lead Y-wing pilot said.
"Copy that boss," another pilot said.
"Drinks are on me when we get this done," another said.
"I can already taste it".
They swerved through the chaos in orbit and flew down into the atmosphere. When they were above the Serano ocean, they adjusted their coarse to fly just over the ocean. And then they came up on the Ostrini coast, where they began to gain altitude and fly over the trees.
They could see the battle beneath them. Clones and Gears alike looked up and cheered the pilots on. The Y-wing pilots tipped their wings in response.
"Don't worry boys. We'll clear the way for-," the pilot said before an alarm started to go off inside of his cockpit. That's when several missiles flew up and over the tree line. "Oh Scray! Incoming missiles, take evasive action!"
The pilots broke formation and tried to avoid the missiles. But it was too late. Many of the Y-wings were hit by missiles and disintegrated.
"I'm hit! I'm hit!"
"We're going down!"
"AAAHHHHHHH!"
Only two of the six bombers were able to break off.
Ahsoka and the others watched with great despair as their salvation was shot down.
They needed a new plan... and fast.
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CNV Kalona.
Lieutenant Anya Stroud sat in the CIC of the amphibious Assault Craft, CNV Kalona, one of several used by the strike force to deploy to the beach. As she listened to the battle unfolding around them, she could hear a conversation between Admiral Yularen and Captain Michealson.
"Admiral, we need you to send more bombers. Our entire operation depends on that air support."
"I've told you already, Captain, I can't. Everything has been tied up in dealing with the Confederate Navy. If I divert resources to the ground campaign, it will mean leaving my assets vulnerable to attack, and then we'd never be able to help. All we can do is try to break through the Separatist fleet, and then we can send more fighters.
"Not good enough, Sir! We need those plans if we're going to win this war."
As the two exchanged their argument, Anya looked down at her display. Several Coalition Carrier groups were on station a few hundreds klicks away. They were launching air and missile strikes from offshore, striking the UIR cities of Bonbourg and Beraphus. One of them was on station nearby and ready to assist.
She decided to jump into the conversation.
"Sirs, I think our troubles have just been solved. The CNV Merit and her Carrier strike group is on station. They say that they have a squadron available, if our ground forces can take out the UIR's AA emplacements".
The two men stopped bickering.
"Alright, Lieutenant, make the call".
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Ostri Coast, landing zone for joint Coalition/Republic strike force.
Ahsoka Tano started to rush through the battlefield, stepping over the corpses from both sides.
She sprinted across the snowy field, the cold air making her face sting and her breath visible. But she kept moving, using her Jedi physique and Togrutan agility to her fullest advantage. The orange, winter gear wearing teen had her deactivated lightsabers in both hands, to mask her approach in the dark, while speaking into her com-link.
"All units, listen up: A Coalition Carrier group waiting off shore, and is ready to send in an airstrike to hit those UIR bases, and they're ready to start sending ravens to airlif our survivors and wounded off the field. But we need to take out those AA vehicles if we want their help. We're going to split into groups, and start hitting their vehicles with everything we've got."
Ahsoka was answered by several 'Yes ma'am's' and 'Copy that's' at the same time through her com-link.
She smiled.
"Alright, let's get to it people. We take out the AA, the Navy takes out the enemy bases, and we get out of here in one piece with a successful operation under our belts," she said before she kept sprinting across the field.
All the while, she thought of her master.
'Don't worry, Skyguy. I... we won't let you down'.
All across the battlefield, several teams from Torrent Company of the 501st legion, and C company of the 26 Royal Tyran Infantry, spread out to start locating different AA vehicles to hit.
Most of the teams are armed with long-range rocket launchers, which would make short work of the lightly armored vehicles.
Captain Rex and several of his troopers hid behind a set of rocks, as a pair of AA tanks rumbled by. They were surrounded by UIR battle droids, which were painted green with the red UIR lightning bolt insignia on their chests.
The veteran clone captain held up his hands and began to silently count down with his fingers. When no fingers remained, his troopers stood up and aimed their rifles over cover, unleashing a hailstorm of blue blaster bolts onto the green droids.
"That's it boys, pour it on!"
"Take that you clankers!"
"Dooku's going straight to Hell right after you!"
Before they even knew what was hitting them, most of the droids were down. That's when Rex and one of his troopers, Sgt. Coric, aimed a pair of RPGs at the UIR tanks. They pulled the triggers and smoke shot out of the backs of the launchers, sending two missiles straight at the tanks, before they made contact with their lightly armored sides. The tanks ignited from the inside out, and their turrets were blasted up and out of their mounts.
As the tanks burned, the clones ceased fire and started pumping their fists into the air as they cheered triumphantly.
On another part of the battlefield, Helena Stroud and her gears manage to destroy several more AA tanks.
The battle seemed to have been won for the COG forces.
But their success was short-lived, and heavier UIR forces stay out of range past a bridge that connects the two sides of a ravine.
INCOMING!" Someone shouts out, as a heavy missile barrage spreads out across the battlefield.
Heavy explosions blossom across the field, ripping through several clone and gear units.
"Commander Tano!" Major Stroud shouts into her com-device. "Those tanks are tearing us a new one. I just lost 20 men, and we're running out of rockets!"
Helena could here blaster fire and lightsaber hums in the back ground, meaning that Ahsoka was busy.
"Have Sgt. Mataki start pulling the rest of the strike force back, while we deal with the tanks. Make your remaining shots count, and if you're out of rockets, get into groups and try to swarm the tanks, and use your grenades on them. We have to clear that path now!"
"Copy that, ma'am". She said as Ahsoka began to relay the second half out that order to the other units.
Helena looked around and saw that she was alone.
"Bernie, I need you to get the survivors out of here. I'll stay behind to help take out those tanks."
"But ma'am... that's suicide," Brnie said, trying to talk her out of it.
"I know what I'm getting myself into, Sergeant. Bernie, if I don't make it... I want you to watch over Anya. Can you promise me that?"
"Yes ma'am," Bernie said. "I promise".
As several more UIR tanks were taken out by any units that stayed behind, Ahsoka charged at a pair of enemy tanks. They were both surrounded by battle droids.
One of them looked in her direction.
"Uh, sir... something's heading right for us," one droid said.
A UIR tank gunner looked off in the distance to see a humanoid figure wearing gray winter attire rushing towards them with incredible speed.
"What is it?"
"I don't know, I can't - Wait, It's a Jedi!"
"Kill it!"
The droids all opened fire on her.
Ahsoka activated her lightsaber and began to deflect every energy blast that was sent her way. Half of the droids were downed by their own fire. One was run over by a tank that moved to engage her. The UIR gunner began to fire on her. As the anti-personnel turret chattered away, Ahsoka used the force to spent as fast as she could, trying to stay passed the gunner's round, whitebait the snow covered ground being her. A pair of droids got in her way. Since slowing down meant death, she kept going, slashing through both droids. When she was passed them and beneath the turret's line of fire, she jumped up and slashed her blades through the gunner's neck.
But before she could throw her grenades into the open hatch, the other tank moved to engage her.
Ahsoka and the tank stared at each other for several heartbeats.
Then it fired it's missiles at her.
She force jumped over the missiles, which destroyed the tank she was on moments ago, and pointed her blades down as she landed, plunging her blades into the gunner's chest. After she withdrew her blades, she deactivated her swords to reach for a pair of grenades, which she threw down the hatch. She did a back flip off of the tank as screams came from inside, seconds before the explosions caused flames to shoot out of the tank hatches.
With her work done, Ahsoka brushed her hands together, feeling proud of herself.
Then she looked off to the side, and further off in the distance, she could see Helena Stroud running across the battlefield.
Helena had loaded as many grenades on to her armor as she could, and began working her way across the battlefield to one of the AA tanks. When she was ten meters from the Asp, she ran towards it and jumped on top of it, surprising the Indie in the top hatch.
The expression on his face before he dropped back into the tank for cover brought a smile to Ahsoka's face.
But before he could close the hatch, Helena managed to drop three grenades into its hatch.
'Nice work, Major'. Ahsoka thought to herself as Helena tried to jump clear.
But as she attempted to leap clear, the webbing on her armor became stuck on the vehicle. As she attempted to free herself with a knife, the grenades exploded, destroying the Asp and fragmenting her body.
"What the Hell was that? Can anyone see who that was?" Sgt Mataki asked over the com.
Ahsoka took a shaking hand up to her lips to speak into her com-piece. When she cleared her throat and finally managed to speak, she spoke into the comm.
"Sgt. Mataki, this is Commander Tano. I saw who it was... it was Major Stroud," she said.
There was a pause from the other side of the comm.
"Repeat commander... Stroud is dead?"
"Confirmed Sergeant... KIA".
"Dammit!" Bernie said over the comm. "Orders, Commander?"
"Just keep rallying our survivors, and fall back to the extraction point. Rex, I want you ad the remaining teams to hold out as long as possible. We still need to take out those tanks."
"Copy that, Commader".
Unbeknownst to anyone on the field, Lieutenant Anya Stroud, daughter of Major Helena Stroud, was listening over the comm the entire time. But amazingly, Anya continued to perform her duty, and reported her mother's death to the CNV Pomeroy.
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Well, that's part 4 folks.
Sorry it's been a while, and it was supposed to be a bigger chapter.
But I hope that it was all worth the wait.
There should only be two chapters left. And I'll be working on part 5 soon.
As always, and until next time, this is Grubkiller, over and out.