Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars
4
Location: Ord Ibanna, city of Methana
Status: Recovering
Shaak Ti awoke. Around her, clones were milling about, showing signs of the recent battle.
"Cueball." she called.
Cueball trotted over.
"General, you did it. You got rid of the lander." he said happily.
She smiled.
"Excellent. Where are Plo and Luminara?"
"General Unduli has been up for a while and is helping the wounded. General Koon is still in the bacta tank." he reported.
She nodded, and went to find Plo. On her way, she used the Force to do some healing on a couple of wounded clones, and eased one's passing into death.
She eventually found Plo, and he was just being taken out of the bacta tank.
"Ah, hello my dear." he said.
"Plo. I'm glad to see you're alright." she said, kissing his forehead.
"How did we do?"
"We won. The Seps were repelled, and the clones saved our skin again." she said, sitting down beside him.
Plo nodded, then brooded.
"What's wrong?"
Plo got up, and ignored Shaak Ti's disapproving glance as he took her away from the clones and his bed.
"What?"
Plo tapped his mask in thought.
"The clones are excellent. But they were bred for war. What happens when this war ends? What do we do with them then?"
Shaak Ti sighed.
"Plo, that argument has been raging in the Council chamber since Geonosis. If Mace and Yoda get their way, they'll be used to keep the peace. If we get our way they will live out their lives in peace. Especially, if Etain Tur Mukans group has anything to do with it."
"Agreed. However, many clones are our friends. We send them to their deaths, we heal them, we talk and laugh with them. They are a slave army my dear."
She nodded sadly.
"Believe me darling, the situation doesn't sit well with me either. But for now, while Yoda and Palpatine are anxious to destroy the Separatists, we have to keep using them."
Plo nodded gravely.
"Our security lies in the fact that they obey us. If not, I dread to think what would happen."
Shaak Ti frowned. She'd had the same thoughts.
"Plo, the situation of the clones being bred for war, that they're a slave army, and that we don't know if they will support us are questions that have been spreading for ages. We will teach them peace when we have peace. Until then, as we cant affect any Council policies, we must do as Yoda tells us to do." she said bitterly.
Plo was shocked. Shaak Ti normally would have rebelled over this.
"I know Plo. And don't worry. I'm not being tamed. For now, we must prepare for battle, and sadly, keep using the clones for what they were bred for. When we finally have peace, things will change. I promise."
Plo nodded, and they walked back into the ward.
"What bothers me is that a Jedi ordered their creation. How could a Jedi order the creation of an army of slaves?" Plo mused despairingly.
Shaak Ti frowned.
"That isn't what worries me. What worries me is the fact that we don't know if Syfo-Dyas really did order this army." she said gravely.
Plo looked at her in concern, and they got to work.
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Location: Ord Ibanna, city of Methana, war room
Status: Planning
"They caught us with our trousers down, theres no doubt about that." Luminara said gravely.
"So, we shall catch them with theirs down. We'll bite back where it hurts the most. A massive offensive on the next three cities will cut Dooku's HQ off from all possible support." Plo said.
Gaven nodded gravely. A stern clone, he was Plo's ground commander.
"Sir, what happens if they attack here when we go after them?"
Shaak Ti sighed.
"We cant afford to linger here much longer, or this will turn into a stalemate, and whatever Dooku is up to will occur unopposed. If that happens, we will attack his HQ anyway." she said.
Luminara studied the hologram.
"I will take my forces and attack Distilla. Shaak Ti, if you attack Synthes, that leaves Plo with Vapouris. Agreed?" she asked.
The other two Jedi nodded.
"Prepare the troops for battle. We take those cities, and then we shall attack Dooku's HQ and end this battle." Plo said.
The clones nodded their assent and carried out their orders.
"It seems to me that Dooku, if he is forced to leave the planet, will skedaddle with as much Tibanna as possible." Luminara said slowly.
Plo looked at her in surprise.
"You're suggesting we hit the Tibanna refineries?" he asked.
"Look at it realistically. He'll already have troops there, and we cant retake them. We may as well destroy them."
Plo nodded.
"Indeed. May the Force be with us." Plo said.
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Location: Ord Ibanna, city of Distilla
Status: Under attack
Gunships streaked across the airspace of the city. Luminara's 41st Elite was landing all over the city, their blaster rifles firing. Luminara braced herself as her gunship shot through a concentrated zone of blaster fire and sped into the centre of the town square, where heavy cannons were pumping cannon fire at her troops. She nodded to her team of jet troopers, and they leapt from the gunship, which was destroyed behind them. They shot over the gap to the bridge between the two admin buildings.
"Right boys, lets get to it. Whoever's in command of this damn city is at the top of the admin spire." she said, lighting her saber.
She plunged her saber into the lock on the door and it whirled open to reveal a room full of SBDs.
"Oh crap." Luminara cursed, and the droids opened fire.
Deflecting their fire, she slowly entered the room, with her troops firing behind her. Droids dropped all over the place, smoking from their midsection. Luminara gathered the Force to her and let loose a massive wave that sent the droids tumbling. The rest of the fight lasted only seconds.
"Come on." she ordered.
They sped up the ramp leading to the control room, and Luminara entered, lightsaber singing.
"A Jedi! Get her!" a tactical droid ordered.
Tactical droids were used as group commanders on the battlefield when there were no MagnaGuards. The only problem was that they would always try to delete all their data before they could be captured. Luminara had little time. She shot forward, using the Force to augment herself, and whirled her saber around to cleave the droids head before it could react. The other battle droids then responded, opening fire. Luminara simply threw her lightsaber in a wide arc and they were done.
"Good. Get a slicer on the droid immediately." she ordered.
Dice nodded and vanished.
"General Unduli, the battle is nearly over. We have taken the city." another troop reported.
"Excellent. Now provided the others did as they were meant to, we'll soon be finished here." she said happily.
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Location: Ord Ibanna, city of Synthes
Status: Under attack
Shaak Ti hissed. Famed for its parks, Synthes was a beautiful, aesthetic city. The trouble was, the damn droids were hiding in the parks, and Shaak Ti's troops were fighting hand to hand to avoid setting the places ablaze.
"I hate it when the droids get clever." she cursed, leaping up into a tree, and then pelting down at a couple of DSDs.
"General, they have an incinerator Droid!"
Shaak Ti cursed. Incinerator droids were Homing Spider droids, attached with massive flamethrowers. Generally used for battles on tropical worlds, to incinerate any troops hiding in foliage.
"Get the troops away from it! I will deal with it!" she barked.
The droid was lumbering into view. It was massive, with three flame cannons installed beneath the ball cockpit. Flames then spouted from the cannons.
Shaak Ti immersed herself in the Force, and grasped the fire with the Force, wrapping it in a brilliant cocoon around the droid. The droid then surprised her by trampling through the wall of flame, and Shaak Ti cursed. It's flamethrowers were churning out a load of flames, and Shaak Ti was hard pressed to stop it. She blasted the fire back at the droid, blackening it. However, that wasnt going to stop it. She swore, ad then sprang at the droid, her lightsaber lit in her hand. The droid stepped back to angle its weapons at her, but it was no good. She leapt atop the droid and cut off the receiver dish. She then nicked the supporting cables for two of the legs of the droid and it collapsed. She flipped off it as it let loose with its fire cannons again. Shaak Ti deflected the stream of flame back at the droid, warming the already stressed heat packets that allowed it to fire relentless fire at its enemies. The heat approached critical mass, and the packets exploded, causing a massive explosion. Shaak Ti acted immediately, wrapping a shield around the droid and levitating it. The fire shield ended, and Shaak Ti sent the smouldering wreckage over the edge of the city.
"There. Droid removals with a minimum of damage and fuss. I should go into business." she mused.
Destroyer droids suddenly appeared, but before they could unravel, a droid bomb went off and they fell to the ground.
"Thanks." she said to Cueball.
"That's alright. Vaporuis and Distilla have both fallen. All we need is for General Koon to deal with an enemy emplacement, and then we can go after Dooku."
She nodded. Her rematch with Dooku was approaching. Best she get ready.
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Location: Ord Ibanna, Tibanna refinery 19
Status: Under attack
Plo sent his Starfighter into a steep dive, then pulled up, firing. Two vulture droids that were launching from the refinery were blasted apart, their debris scattering as Plo shot up beside the H shaped factory. He commed Jag.
"Jag, whats our status?"
"They're brining in the old guns sir. A Scarab squadron is coming in, along with two more vulture squadrons. Geonosian fighters are approaching from the west, three squadrons. And the station's launching all its remaining fighters."
Plo cursed. The attack, which was being repeated at the other two stations close to Dooku's HQ, had gone relatively well. They'd taken out the defensive fighters in a few seconds, and had taken down two entire squadrons. Now, they had galvanised and the enemy was getting stronger.
"Intel Squadron, form up on me." Plo ordered.
The ARC 170s sped in at the squadron of Tri-fighters speeding out of the hangar.
"Missiles on my mark. Three…two…one…fire!"
Twenty four missiles shot out at the leaving droids and most of them were destroyed in a fiery ball.
"Sir, they enemy's approaching!" Gall, another pilot yelled.
"Genius Squadron, delay the Scarabs as long as possible while we finish here. Mastermind Squadron, combine with Clever Squadron and hold off the Geos. We'll finish here and join you!" Plo said.
The last of the tri-fighters gone, and the station knowing its doom was imminent, was sending out its last three squadrons.
"Easy." Plo said happily as the fighters appeared.
The first squadron was made of E-STAPs which the fighters ripped into with their heavy cannons. They never stood a chance. The next wave, made up of Belabulbs, also met the same fate and was destroyed with ease. The next was a wave of Advanced Vulture droids. Plo swore in Kel Dor as the ships killed tow of his men.
"General!" Jag cried, and blasted apart a fighter that was getting too accurate.
"Thank you Jag. Now let me repay the favour."
Plo's lasers ripped the droid fighter apart, and he then corkscrewed, firing as he went, destroying many of the remaining fighters. Those that remained were picked off.
"Good. Now, let us help the others." Plo said.
Plo sped towards to those facing the Scarabs and their escorts, while the others all headed to deal with the Geonosian fighters. Genius Squadron was doing rather well at holding the enemy off, and the droids were determined to finish them. That was their downfall, as Plo and Jag arrived they let loose with their cannons, shredding several vultures and their scarab dependents. Several backflipped, but then they were open to attack from behind. Genus Squadron finished them off, and then went to deal with the last of the enemy fighters.
Plo nodded in satisfaction. Now, all they had to do was destroy the refinery. At a kilometre long, in a massive bulky h-shape, with four stationary arms covered in weapons, it wasn't going to be killed by any fighter squadron.
"This is General Koon to the Ingenious. Ion barrage is able to commence. The fighters are dealt with. Then, send in the bombers."
An ion cannon shot from his cruiser would disable the shields of the station, and deactivate the guns long enough for the bombers to blast away most of its defences. Then, they would destroy it on their second pass.
A blue laser shot flashed from above, and the station was hit bang on, blue energy crackling across it as the station dipped a little. The Y-Wings, proved in combat with the Malevolence three weeks before, sped in low and let loose a barrage of bombs. Fire and gas vented from hundreds of holes as the Y-Wings turned themselves back around for their second pass.
"General, I'm getting strange energy readings from the refinery." Jag said in concern.
"I see them too captain." Plo said worriedly.
The refinery suddenly sprang back into life and opened fire.
"Bombers, evasive manoeuvres!" Plo barked.
"General!" Jag screamed.
The reason for the quick restart of the wounded station was revealed, as a large ship emerged form its gargantuan hangar.
"How the devil did they get a Munificent in there!?" Gall asked.
"Never mind that! Y-Wings, get out of there!"
The remaining squadron and a half of the bombers broke away from the active station and its frigate defender.
"All fighters, regroup! Come together!"
"Sir, its too large, and we lost a quarter of our bombers. We cant take it." Jag warned.
"I'm aware of that Captain. But we must stay in one piece until help arrives." he said.
The Republic fighters all came together, and then immediately scattered as heavy turbolaser blasts from the station and the frigate pierced the sky around them.
"Shaak Ti! Luminara! I could use some help! Some damn fool has put a frigate in the station, and now they're both shooting at me!" he yelled.
"I'm on my way." Shaak Ti responded.
Plo then signalled the Ingenious to ask it to come into the atmosphere and help deal with the frigate.
"Please hurry." Plo said, as the frigate began disgorging its own fighters.
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Location: Ord Ibanna, city of Synthes
Status: Liberated
"Cueball, deal with the clear up! All gunships, get into the air and lets help Master Koon!" she yelled.
The thirty gunships shed used sped away from the city, bound for Plo's battle. Shaak Ti leapt into her fighter.
"Don't die on me Plo. Please." she said, and gunned her engines.
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Location: Ord Ibanna, Tibanna Refinery 19
Status: Defending
Plo cursed as the frigate's two extra squadrons kept the fighters off balance. As they had to keep evading to make sure they weren't incinerated by the frigate and the stations heavy turbolasers, they couldn't respond adequately to the fighter threat.
"Shaak Ti, ETA?" he asked worriedly as a shot just missed him.
"Two minutes." she said, concern colouring her voice.
"Commander Wolffe?" Plo asked.
"The same sir."
"We may not live that long." Plo grumbled.
The frigate and the station were firing away, determined to smite down the Republic fighters.
"All fighters, pull outside of their range, and then we can deal with their fighters." Plo commanded.
They did so, and turned, but before they could fire, Jag let out a shriek of alarm.
"General Koon!" he yelled in terror.
Plo saw it. One word summed it up nicely.
"BUGGER!" he shouted.
Another Munificent had shot up from below them, and was firing and letting loose fighters.
"We're here."
Shaak Ti's fighter appeared from the clouds, followed by thirty gunships.
"Where did you learn to count? There's two frigates!" Shaak Ti bellowed.
"I know I know!"
"Plo, do you require help?" Luminara asked.
"Not anymore." he said happily.
The Ingenious had arrived, it's red striped dagger structure piercing through the clouds. The first frigate and the station turned to face it, leaving the fighters and the gunships to deal with the second one.
"Gunships, sue your point-defence systems to keep the fighters off of us! All forces, prepare for a bombing run!" Plo ordered.
They sped at the frigate, which opened fire. Fighters blasted apart around them, but still they headed for the frigate.
"Fire!" Plo said.
Missiles streaked from the attackers and slammed into the frigate. Fireballs erupted across the ship, and its turbolasers overloaded as missiles slammed into them. The stresses ripped the ship apart and it died it's fiery death.
"Finish these fighters!" Plo ordered.
The Sep fighters, thrown by the new arrivals, were already badly beaten, and died after a few seconds. Ahead, the Ingenious was pummelling the frigate. Atmosphere ignited as holes were blown through across the ship. Droids were sucked out as the ship started to dip.
"Concentrate a missile barrage on that frigate!" Plo demanded.
Another wave of missiles hit the falling ship, and with that final hit, the ship broke into five separate pieces and was gone. The Destroyer then turned its considerable firepower onto the station, blasting it with both ion and turbolaser shots. With a flicker, the station erupted.
"Than you everyone. I believe the battles are over?" Plo asked.
"Indeed. Excellent job everyone. We've just left Dooku wide open." Shaak Ti said happily.
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Location: Ord Ibanna, Dooku's HQ
Status: Infuriated
"It failed!" Bulq spat in rage, slamming his fist.
"Calm my friend. It doesn't matter that much. True, the loss of the two ships is annoying, but that's about it." Dooku said.
"Well, what now?" Ventress asked.
"Now? Now, we secure their destruction." Dooku said with a smile, and entered a holo code.
The burly, bearded form of Tol Skorr appeared. He was a couple of systems away, leading the subjugation of a moon from his lander, the Doomladen.
"Skorr." Dooku greeted.
"Master!"
"Bring your task force to Ord Ibanna. We will crush Shaak Ti and hr allies." Dooku said.
"As you wish." Skorr said, bowing and vanishing.
Ventress smiled at Dooku.
"Don't worry. They will not escape this time."
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Location: Coruscant, Oppo Rancisis' private quarters
Status: Worried
Oppo surveyed the report that he had just been sent. The news that Grievous had taken such a critical planet, and that they'd been unaware for a week while he converted the factories to churn out endless battle droids was indeed disturbing to the extreme. Even more so was the fact that there were no armies nearby that could liberate the planet. He had only one option. Hope that Ord Ibanna was nearly over, so that Shaak Ti and Plo Koon could deal with it. But, he couldn't contact them.
He would need a courier.
Oppo then found one free army. Nodding, he made the connection.
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Location: Cruiser Resolute
Status: On patrol
"General Skywalker?" Admiral Yularen called.
"Yes Admiral?" Anakin asked, turning from the viewport.
"A message from Coruscant sir." the Admiral said.
Anakin beckoned imperiously to Ahsoka, who was talking to Rex.
"Come on Snips."
Ahsoka trotted to her master as Anakin went to the holo displayer.
The snakelike, bearded form of Oppo Rancisis greeted them.
"Master Skywalker." Oppo said.
"Master Rancisis." Anakin said, inclining his head, as did Ahsoka.
Of all the masters on the Council, he was one of the ones Anakin respected the most. While he knew that Oppo had doubts about him, they had a professional respect for each other, and Anakin in particular was in awe of several of the old Jedi's wily tactics. Aside from a few minor altercations, they also got on relatively well.
"And greetings to you too little Ahsoka." Oppo said.
"Greetings master." Ahsoka said, not showing too much familiarity and keeping her place, Anakin thought thankfully.
"Master Skywalker, we face a grave threat. General Grievous has seized a critical world."
Oppo showed him the world, and Anakin blanched.
"How did that happen!?" he demanded furiously.
"We knew they were going to be out of action for quite sometime. They were having a communications revamp. Sadly, the clever souls made the information public. Grievous must have heard, and has since taken the planet."
"How long has he had it?" Ahsoka asked curiously.
Anakin didn't even bother to send her a dirty look for speaking out of turn.
"A week." Oppo said gravely.
"Damn it!" Anakin cursed.
"Exactly. He's apparently reconfigured all the factories to churn out battle droids. And as they were stockpiling, he could have created as many as half a million by now." Oppo continued.
Anakin closed his eyes.
"What are our orders then Master Rancisis?"
"I have little choice. I am reassigning you. You are to head to Ord Ibanna."
"Ord Ibanna? Why?"
"It's currently being retaken by Master Koon, Ti and Unduli. You are to get them to abandon that battlefront, regardless of the situation, report to Halfpoint Station for a quick refit, and then head to your new destination." Oppo said.
Anakin nodded, then frowned.
"What about Master Luminara? She was meant to be allowed a respite."
Oppo nodded gravely.
"I know. You are to replace her. She will find a newly repaired Tranquillity awaiting her at Halfpoint though."
Anakin nodded.
"That will keep her happy. Very well Master Rancisis. We'll get underway." Anakin said.
"Very good. May the Force be with you Master Skywalker. We must retake the planet, or the entire war effort could be unhinged."
Anakin nodded gravely.
"We understand master."
"Then farewell." Oppo said, and vanished.
"Master, what…?" Ahsoka asked.
"No time Ahsoka. We need to go to Ord Ibanna. I'll explain the gravity of the situation when we're in lightspeed. Admiral Yularen?"
Yularen's head popped out a crewpit.
"Yes?"
"Recall the sentries, and set your course for the Ord Ibanna system. And get all troops to the gunships Rex."
The two men got to it.
"May the Force help us." Anakin muttered.
Five minutes later, the cruiser was in hyperspace.
The Battle of Ord Ibanna is nearly over! One last chapter people!
What is Dooku's evil plan? Will the Jedi face off against their respective enemies? Will the Jedi walk into Dooku's trap? Will Ord Ibanna be free? What world had Grievous taken, so important that it may require the abandoning of a battlefront?
All will be revealed next chapter, which I'll hopefully start soon!
Until then, please read, review and vote!
Bye for now!