Hi, everyone. Well, to say I had a burst of inspiration is an understatement. So, updates will be coming quickly, at least for the next couple chapters. Anyway, I had said things would go boom and here they will. Things are starting to get real. So, sit back, enjoy, and please remember to review.
So without further ado, I give you chapter 7.
(100,000 feet above San Francisco: 2 days later)
The weight of the mission was not lost on the 5 Navy Seals in the Republic Gunship. Nor was it lost on Anakin, who was with them. In between them was a nuclear warhead. The Seals had each been given new body armor. Unable to find the materials to make durasteel, the military had improvised. There were two kevlar vests. Between them was a quarter inch, relatively lightweight titanium/steel alloy plate. It wouldn't stop a laser, but the odds of surviving were a lot greater than with the old armor. Strapped to the Seal's backs was an experimental angel wing shaped wing suit that could be collapsed down when they were done, something that would come in quite handy tonight.
"Ninety seconds to drop," called the clone pilot.
"Alright, let's get geared up," called Thomas, the leader.
With this Anakin stepped forward. Given the nature of the mission, he had opted to carry the warhead. Working quickly, two of the Seals quickly secured the weapon to his back. Despite a grunt from the extra weight, Anakin seemed unaffected by what he was carrying.
"You sure you want to carry it?" asked Thomas, the leader.
Anakin had to work to keep from rolling his eyes. Thomas has asked him this at least four times already.
"Yes, I'm sure. Now let's get to work," he replied before turning his attention to the pilot, "Hawk, get us a view."
The reply was a sharp hiss as the blast door opened. Set against the dark sky was the even darker form of three looming cruisers. Their target was the center one, and the random lights that dotted its surface only added to its apparent size. Even fifty thousand feet down and a mile away, she was quite a sight. San Francisco was one of the major landing zones for their northern offensive. As such, Command had decided to make it go away. Because of the ship's tracking systems, they had decided that wingsuiting in was the best option.
"We're over the drop zone," Hawk called back.
"Alright, let's get this done," Thomas answered before giving everyone the countdown.
"...3...2...1… Go! Go! Go!," Thomas yelled as everyone dove out.
As he dove out, Anakin immediately spread out his arms and let the suit take affect. After an agonizing few seconds of the winds tearing at him from all directions, he leveled out as he used the force to keep himself steady. All around him, the soldiers began to stabilize as the angel shaped wings evened out their descent. Since he was already using the force to help with his decent, Anakin decided to submerge himself in it and get a real look at how everyone was doing. On the outside, they radiated extreme confidence. However, he didn't have to look very hard to see that they were all very nervous about the mission. Not knowing how much it would work, Anakin actively reached out to each person, pouring genuine confidence into the force. As they approached the target, he could feel a shift as they started to feel it.
"Watch it. We're going in hot," Thomas called.
"Steady. Not yet," Anakin countered, knowing what he was thinking.
Thomas was right, though. They were going in fast. Anakin was the only one that could make the landing at this speed, and that was questionable considering what he was carrying. However, now was not the time.
"We're cutting it close," added one of the other men nervously.
"Almost there," Thomas replied through gritted teeth.
The next few seconds before the order were agonizing.
"Now! Deploy chutes," Thomas called.
The response came in the form of several black parachutes springing out as everyone was jerked back by the sudden drag. The group started to relax as everyone glided onto the top of the ship. Antennas and other hardware passed by as the group came to a landing in the middle of the ship. Working quickly, everyone quickly folded their parachutes into their wingsuits before folding them all up and slinging them on their backs.
"Alright. Skywalker, lead the way," stated Thomas as he gestured to the hatch in front of them.
Wordlessly, Anakin lead the way. Behind him the Seals all spread out in a crescent shape with their assault rifles leveled. Pulling out his lightsaber, Anakin motioned for everyone to stop. Silently, he reached into the force. He soon found what he was looking for. Down below he could sense a squad of droids passing by. After waiting for them to pass by, he went to work. Quickly, he snapped his lightsaber to life, before slicing a neat, circular hole in the hatch. He caught the piece of metal halfway to the deck and brought it down with a relatively soft thump.
With that he stepped aside as the soldiers quietly slipped through the hole. As they came down, they formed an armed circle around the hole as they watched for droids. Seconds after the last soldier formed up, Anakin dropped down, barely making a sound.
Seeing everyone there, Thomas gave out orders, "David, Chase, and Noah, keep the exit clear. This is our way out. If things go south, let me know and we'll go to plan B. Chase and Jordan, you're with me. Let's move."
With that they split as Anakin lead the way to the reactor. Rounding the corner, Anakin quickly activated his lightsaber. Surprised, the squad of droids barely had time to react as the Anakin rushed at them. Deflecting the lasers, he hacked a path through the middle as the Seals used their silenced weapons to take out the rest. Within about ten seconds, the remains of fifteen droids were scattered across the narrow passageway. Seeing them dead, the group moved on. Silently, the group weaved their way through the passages until they came up on an area that was labeled "engineering".
"There's bound to be droids in there," Thomas commented as he stared at the locked door.
"Well then, either way we'll get spotted. The lock is set on an alarm. I can say from experience that if you try to tamper with it, they will know," Anakin stated.
"Then, how about we make sure they really know we're here?" asked Jordan as he produced a large, shaped charged.
Anakin and Thomas looked at each other with a mutual nod.
"Alright, make it happen," he ordered.
"Yes sir," Jordan responded crisply as he went to work.
As Jordan set the explosives, Anakin backed way off. Given what he was carrying, he was being more careful than usual. As Jordan set the explosives, everyone formed up for the attack. Much to his distaste, Anakin hung near the back, knowing his combat skills would be hampered by the fifty pound explosive on his back. Plus, Thomas had, rather forcefully, informed him that he wasn't to take any unneeded risks. After taking position, Jordan began the countdown with his fingers.
5… 4... 3… 2… 1… BOOM!
With a blinding flash, the door was blasted inward. That same second, they went pouring through the opening. The startled droids turned to face their attackers. However, it was already too late. There was a series of muffled pops as Thomas caught the first one between the eyes, before shifting his aim and shooting the next one in the chest. Immediately the Seals began clearing the reactor room.
Despite, Thomas's request/order, Anakin immediately turned his attention to the B2s on the catwalk that ran around the reactor room. Using the force, he launched himself into the air, while activating his lightsaber. Swinging it in a short arc, Anakin disarmed the first droid as he landed on the catwalk. He proceeded to blitz forward, slicing the first couple droids in half, before stabbing the next one and throwing it into the series of droids behind it. Reaching out with the force, Anakin began ripping the chunks of the catwalk from the wall, and violently throwing the droids to the ground. At this point he could hear the distinct sound of Commando Droids racing into the room. Anakin immediately shoved his outstretched arms to the right. This sent all of the metal grating crashing into the entrance, crushing the commando droids before they could react. Within a minute and a half the room was clear.
With the droids dead, they began setting up the nuclear warhead. It was strapped to the reactor and connected to a remote. As well, Jordan hooked up an anti tamper trigger. This meant that if the droids tried to disarm it, the bomb would override the remote and detonate immediately.
"You know, I thought I told you to stay back," Thomas stated sharply as he glared at Anakin.
"Ya, well I don't exactly listen well," Anakin replied with a sparkle in his eye.
"Hmm… Well, thanks," Thomas replied as he held his hand out.
Anakin was surprised by the shift in attitude, but shook the man's hand nonetheless. Across from him, it was all Thomas could do not to shake his head. He was frustrated that Anakin seemed insistent on being apart of the combat despite what he had been carrying. However, considering that he had just saved the team's lives, he couldn't justify staying annoyed.
"Alright, we're set," Jordan stated triumphantly.
"Good. Let's get out of here. I have no doubt we have company on the way," Anakin replied as he hacked through the wall of metal grating that was blocking the entrance. Upon exiting, they were instantly greeted with more droids. Fighting fiercely, the team forced their way back to the exit.
"Hawk, we're on our way back. We need you overhead when we get there," Anakin ordered as they sprinted down the hall.
"Chase, we're coming in. Be ready to move when we get there," Thomas ordered at the same time.
"We're trying, but we're in deep with the droids over here. Noah's hit," Chase answered.
He swore under his breath before getting back on the comm, "Understood. We're almost there."
Rounding the corner, Thomas nearly got caught in the head by a stray laser. Up ahead, the Seals were trading shots with a large group of droids. Scattered across the ground were the remains of several of the droids in question. What caught Thomas's attention though, was the soldier leaning behind a crate with his hand pressed against his side.
Taking advantage of not carrying the warhead, Anakin leapt straight at the droids. Taking advantage of the surprised droids, the medic broke away to help the down soldier while the rest worked with Anakin to finish the droids. However, the downed droids were quickly replaced by more droids, slowly overwhelming the group.
"Hawk, where are you?" Anakin asked as he ducked a slash from a commando droid.
"Just arrived overhead," Hawk answered.
"Everyone, we're leaving," Anakin called.
As if on cue, a rope dropped through the hole. Breaking away, Anakin used the rope to propel himself up into the passenger compartment. From there, he proceeded to use the force to pull the rest of the team up, starting with the injured one.
"We're all in," Thomas called as his feet touched the deck.
"Copy that," Hawk replied as he pulled the gunship away.
Being careful to dodge the lasers from the cruiser in question or the other two cruisers in the region, the Gunship raced away.
A loud explosion could be heard as the warhead detonated. The ship was instantly ripped apart in a fiery explosion as debris and radioactive material was thrown into the atmosphere. The explosion and resulting EMP blast was enough to nearly cripple one of the other cruisers and left the targeting systems on the other temporarily disabled and kill all of the droids. .
(Bridge of the Invisible Hand)
Grievous let out a roar as he watched the scene unfold. There had been some intruders on one of his landing ships. That in of itself wasn't much more than an annoyance that the droids, even in all of their incompetence, could deal with. Or at least he thought. Not ten minutes later, a report had gone out that the team, lead by a Jedi, had breached the reactor room. That was when a flood of laser fire could be seen as the three cruisers tried stopping a gunship that was apparently buzzing overhead. Two minutes later came the dazzling explosion. Almost instantly the center cruiser was replaced by a mushrooming sea of red and orange. All that was left to see was small sections of the ship as they were flung in every which way by the explosion. The ship on the right wasn't responding and showed critical, structural damage while the other was also failing to respond but it seemed to be from the EMP.
To say Grievous was livid was an understatement. At this point Grievous wasn't really listening as the tactical droid ticked off the losses. After it finally shut up, Grievous turned to the droid.
"Recall the bombers. Load them up with the virus warheads. We'll show Earth the real meaning of fear," Grievous ordered with clenched fists.
"Yes sir."
Despite the gravity of what had just happened, Grievous couldn't suppress a maniacal chuckle. Despite what the Republic thought, the Blue Shadow Virus project had not been a total loss. In fact quite the contrary. Dooku, through only reasons he was privy to, had managed to salvage the research findings after the Republic raid on the lab on Naboo. As the war progressed, the techs at the CIS had managed to take the airborne version and make it also contagious between people. Given the planet's level of advancement, Grievous doubted he could kill off the entire world (like he had been ordered to) with the stuff, but he could sure strike a crippling blow.
