A/N: Hey guys. No real action in this one, and it's a little shorter than the last couple of chapters. Next chapter will be longer. Thank you for sticking with it, and for those of you that have recently started reading, I hope you'll enjoy reading as much as I enjoy writing.
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Chapter Eleven
Reinforcements
115 days ABG
Two weeks after the announcement of imminent reinforcements, fighting roaming patrols of battle droids, and trying to make the base as defendable as possible, the weather seemed to decide to co-operate with them. LAAT/is roared from the sky, dozens of them, carrying the troopers of the 56th Infantry battalion and the 110th Armoured division. LAAT/cs' carried the heavy AT-TEs' that made up the bulk of the 110th. Within hours, the Republic presence on Talasea grew exponentially. Drake and Alanna watched as troopers poured out of their transports onto the muck of Talasea. The gunships didn't stick around, their pilots knowing that if the wall of near-black storm clouds reached them, they'd be grounded for who knew how long.
Drake would have liked to have his captains with him, but they were busy working with men from the arriving battalions. Coming from the most recent batch of landed gunships were three Jedi, two clone commanders...and an ARC trooper. "Osik" he muttered, and beside him,
Alanna frowned at him."What?"
He didn't realize he'd spoken out loud. Not that the Jedi understood Mando'a, but it wouldn't hurt to be more discreet. Especially around strange Jedi, like the three that were approaching. He and Alanna might have moved past their...differences, for the most part, but he didn't know, nor really want to know the newcomers.
He would've explained his outburst to her, but the Jedi, commanders and ARC were within earshot. "Later." He said shortly, turning his full attention to the approaching group.
General Adraxis was approaching as well, from the right, after overseeing troop deployments. "Master Kohl, master Brai, I'm glad you had no trouble landing" the general said, speaking to a tall, dark haired human female, and a grey skinned, horned Nikto.
General Kohl inclined her head and smiled at Adraxis and Alanna. "Master Adraxis, apprentice Starsong. It is good to see you again. We were fortunate that the weather co-operated. Allow me to introduce my apprentice, Nate Tsaren." Tsaren bowed to the general Adraxis. The ARC and two commanders remained silent, and Drake wondered if he knew them. Odds were, probably not. He didn't recognize the markings on their armour, and he hadn't fought with either battalion before. And the ARC...well, he was sure he'd remember one of them.
ARCs were pretty much raw Jango Fett. Independent, one man armies trained for everything from assassinations to training populations in guerilla warfare tactics. Plus, they were unpredictable. Drake wasn't sure if the ARC was there under orders from GAR high command, the Jedi, or he'd simply decided to tag along. "Pleased to meet you, young man. Allanna will show you around." The two Jedi commanders headed off to tour the rest of the camp,and the three generals walked away as well, heads down as they discussed...Jedi things, presumably.
The 110th commander stepped forwards, offering a gauntleted hand. "CC 1334/5533. You can call me Jagat" he said, and Drake shook his hand. The commander of the 56th stepped forwards as well.
"CC 4422/4816. Voss." He inclined his helmet, but didn't extend his hand. The ARC said nothing, and turned his back walking back towards the landing zone, kama slapping against his legs.
"CC 1223/1993. Name's Drake. Welcome to the muddiest cesspit this side of the outer rim. By the way, your ARC is on the loose." He gestured to the mans retreating back, and Voss shook his head.
"Commander Tsarens' aide. Technically." The commander explained. Drake cocked an eyebrow at his fellow commander.
"Technically? Who's his CO?" He asked. Voss snorted and shook his head.
"On a bad day? He is. Supposedly, he's in the battalions chain of command, but I'm not stupid enough to try to give him an order" and Drake winced in sympathy. No competent commander wanted an uncontrollable asset anywhere near them. Especially if that asset was able to take on a small army by himself. "He's not all bad though" Voss continued. "When commander Tsaren and a platoon of my men were cornered on some forest planet I can't remember the name of. He circled around and took out most of the droids, and helped them fight their way out" that didn't surprise him. ARCs tended to do what they wanted, when they wanted. Still, he had a hard time trusting them, ever since he'd heard that they'd been ready to kill clone kids simply to prevent the separatists from getting their hands on them.
"Well, I'd rather have him shooting at the enemy than us" he replied. The two other commanders chuckled, but without much mirth. They all knew what the ARCs were like. The gunships were lifting off, and Jagat, Voss and Drake turned to watch them.
The storm was closing in, and Jagat said "I'd better get to my men and organize shifts before that storm hits" Voss murmured his agreement, and turned to where his own troops had set down. Drake watched them go, thinking he might enjoy working with them. They seemed like level-headed, competent men.
He spent the next hour or so walking around the base, checking on the readiness levels of his own men, and watching the troopers of the 56th and 110th deploy as well. He needn't have worried. His men, and those from the other two battalions were in near excellent condition. His own men looked a little more tired, but that was to be expected. The two weeks they'd spent on Talasea had been hard. They'd lost a lot of good men, and their base wasn't in the best condition either. He found himself near the 110ths' position, watching one of their AT-TEs' taking up a position at the edge of the base. "You said we'd talk later" the soft voice said from behind him, and he glanced over his shoulder.
"I did. I was worried about the ARC. They're unpredictable at best, and dangerous at worst." He explained. "Pure Fett, pretty much. Maybe a little more muscle, height. That's about it"
Allanna approached to stand at his side. "I see. Any particular reason you're out here?" She asked. He grinned beneath his helmet and pointed at the walker.
"Just enjoying the feeling of having fire power on our side for once" He replied. The AT-TE had stopped moving, now, and the main gun was swivelling in a large arc, scanning for enemy targets.
"Do you think we've got a better chance now?" Alanna asked, and Drake nodded.
"I'd say so, commander. Unless the separatist general has been holding something back the past two weeks, this campaign is almost at an end"
"I hope so. Too many of our men have died here." Alanna said quietly, and he nodded his agreement. The reinforcements had saved the 230th from being forced to retreat from the Talasea theatre. They simply didn't have the man power to confront the separatists across the island. Now, however, with two additional battalions backing them, it was a different story.
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"The last of the republic transports have landed, general. Scouts report armoured units, and another battalion of infantry troops." Major Thrennis reported from his place at his side. "Another storm is moving in as well, and I doubt their troops will begin moving in the heaviest part of the storm." Eldis nodded, glad that the younger man had come to the same conclusion. "Sir, should we concentrate fire on their armoured division?" The major asked, but Eldis shook his head.
"No, that won't be necessary, major. The forests on this island are so dense, any armoured units will need to go far to either the east or west before they'll even be within range of our base. There was a reason I picked this island as our battleground, major" he explained. He looked out the throne room window, enjoying the view for a few moments, before turning back to his subordinate. "Signal our fleet before the next storm arrives. They're to engage the Republic ships in orbit. I don't want them being able to bombard us. It would rather ruin my plans"
The major saluted, turned on his heel and went to contact the fleet. Eldis himself, walked outside, where a line of battle droids stood, rifles at the ready. In front of the droids, stood a trembling line of palace staff, and a few randomly selected civilians. A Quarren lieutenant stood beside the droids, and saluted when he noticed Eldis. The general walked up and down the line of former staff, frowning. He turned to the lieutenant. "Is this all of them?"
The man nodded. "All we could find inside the palace, general" he reported. Eldis sighed, and looked over the line of miserable natives once more.
"I'd rather hoped there'd be more of them" he sighed theatrically, and lifted a handheld holo recorder. "Ah well, the show must go on" he said, pressing the 'record' button, and nodding at the lieutenant, the signal for him to begin.
The Quarren nodded, and turned to the droids "open fire" Eldis trained the recorder on the droids and captives as the automatons opened fire on the defenceless civilians.
Once the last of them had collapsed to the ground, smoking blaster bolts through their chests, Eldis spoke. "I warned you. The...regrettable deaths of these innocents are on your heads, Jedi" with that, he ended the recording, and tossed it to the Quarren. "Get that sent off to the Republic. I want them to see that I wasn't bluffing"
The lieutenant nodded, and turned towards the palace, recorder clutched in his hand. "Oh, and get this-" he nudged one of the corpses with his boot "cleaned up" as one, the droids nodded, bent, grabbed an arm or leg and began dragging the bodies away. Honestly, he hadn't ordered the deaths of the civilians because of the Republic bringing in reinforcements. He'd been planning on them calling in more clones and Jedi. The real reason, was because he didn't want to risk any of the civilians escaping or worse, being rescued, and divulging sensitive information on the palace layout, or placement of guns and troops. They'd died for the separatist cause. And, on a not so subtle level, Eldis enjoyed putting down the snivelling, weak-willed layabouts. Not that he'd ever admit such a thing. He looked up at the dark encroaching storm clouds, felt the cool wind blowing it towards them, and decided now was a good time to go inside and have piping hot cup of tea.
In orbit, on the far side of the system, a fleet of ships, powered up their engines and other systems, which had, up until now, been offline to avoid detection, and jumped into hyperspace. Their destination: the Republic fleet over Talasea.
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Allanna had given Nate the full tour of the base camp, and he'd departed a little while ago to join up with his master. The newest apprentice struck her as reasonable, but...untested. He was around her age, but she guessed he hadn't seen nearly as much combat. She hadn't asked, and he hadn't offered to tell her, but she had a feeling he was fresh from Coruscant. 'I shouldn't jump to conclusions. Maybe he's just handling it better.' She scolded herself.
She continued her circuit of the camp, greeting the troopers she came across. By now, she knew most of first and second company, and quite a few of the troopers in third. She hadn't had the chance to mingle with the men of the 110th or 56th yet, but she was looking forwards to it. They had to know that someone cared. That they weren't just seen as organic droids, to be used and then disposed of. She wasn't sure how many of the men she'd gotten through to, but she liked to think she was making a difference.
Her commlink went off. Well, her new commlink, actually, since her first one had been bashed to pieces in the river. Bringing the device to her lips, she said "Hello?"
"It's me" master Adraxis said, his voice grim. "Get to the command center as soon as possible"
Alanna knew something had happened. "On my way" she replied, and the link went dead. She placed it back on her belt, and made her way to the command center.
She met with Drake along the way "commander" he inclined his head.
"Hello, Drake. So, what do you think of the newest Jedi to arrive?" She asked, and he shrugged.
"They seem like most Jedi" he said simply. It wasn't much of an answer, but she didn't need to ask him to elaborate. To the commander, saying 'like most Jedi' meant no good for nothing. Just because he didn't seem ready to rip her head off didn't mean he'd suddenly become chummy with the rest of the order. They continued on their way, arriving at the command center, she realized they were the last to arrive. Masters Kohl, Brai and Adraxis were standing by the holo-projector, with the two clone commanders standing near the entrance, and the ARC trooper and Nate standing on the other side of the projector. Alanna and Drake joined them, and her master motioned to the projector.
"It seems that general Hahn wasn't bluffing. We received this half an hour ago" the holo began to play, showing a line of terrified looking Talasean civilians, and behind them, a line of battle droids. Judging by what Hahn had done in the last message, Alanna could guess what they were about to see. Sure enough, someone ordered the droids to open fire, and they did so.
After the last of the Talaseans had collapsed, the general spoke up. "I warned you. The...regrettable deaths of these innocents are on your heads, Jedi" the two masters and Nate had paled, but the clones simply studied the scene. Some of their auras sparked with anger, but for the most part, they watched quietly, helmets under their arms.
Alanna felt bad for the civilians, but not as bad as she felt when she saw a trooper fall. 'Does that make me a bad Jedi? Probably' she thought, but she was closer with the clones then she was with some people she'd never met. Master Kohl turned to Jerik, frowning, and said "he's demanded the Republic leave? Have you contacted the council about this?"
"I have" replied Alannas' master, "and they say that the chancellor isn't interested in the demands of a single separatist general" master Kohl sighed and shook her head, and Brai scowled. It was clear the two Jedi didn't agree with the chancellor.
"And the council listened? Don't they know innocents are dying here?" The Nikto Jedi master asked, his voice gravelly, like most of his kind. Jerik sighed and nodded.
"They said that the chancellor made a good point. We can't let every despot and murderer get away with his actions simply because he says so. No matter what side they're on"
Brai frowned, then said " Then we need to bring this conflict to a close quickly" he glanced over to the clone at the projector controls. "Bring up a tactical map, clone" beside her, she saw Drakes' brow furrow. Clearly, he didn't like the dismissive tone Brai had used when addressing one of his men. A tactical map of the island replaced the holo. The Republic camp was represented on the southern end of the island, with the assumed location of the separatist base at the far end of the northern half of the island. "I say we have the clones hit the enemy force with a full frontal assault. When the droids are fully engaged with the clones, we'll move in, and rescue any further hostages, and arrest or eliminate this Hahn fellow"
Alanna felt a spike of anger from Drake, and several of the other clones in the room. Their faces remained carefully neutral, but any Jedi could sense that none of them were pleased with Brai casually suggesting that they sacrifice the troopers so the Jedi could slip in and out. Alanna was not too thrilled with the idea herself. She knew that some deaths couldn't be avoided, but to simply throw troops at the enemy...
"No. I won't have my men dying to save a few. Even if there are any hostages that haven't fled" master Adraxis said. "There must be another way"
"Perhaps we could launch several separate attacks? What do you think, Voss?" Master Kohl asked. For a moment, Alanna wondered who Voss was, but then one of the two new clone commanders stepped forwards.
"What about a surgical orbital bombardment? Take out their entire base in one blow. Or a bombing run?" Voss suggested. Drake stepped forwards, shaking his head.
"Not possible. Trooper, bring up an orbital map" the trooper acknowledged, and the holo changed from the island to a chart of the system. Blue arrows represented the Republic ships in orbit. The Justice, with two other venators, and half a dozen acclamators. On the other side of the planet, were a group of red arrows, representing easily a dozen separatist ships. "Our fleets' long range scanners picked up an enemy fleet perhaps twenty minutes ago. Current estimates put them at about an hour out. We can't call in a turbolaser strike without proper intel, and by then our ships will be engaged with the hostile fleet"
He motioned outside. "Same problem with an air strike. The storm will be here soon, and navigation through it will be damn near impossible. Not to mention the enemy might have anti-air guns" Drake explained, and Voss nodded, and examined the orbital map.
"We've got another problem" the third clone commander pointed out. "If we try for a full on frontal assault, it will be without any heavy fire support. The forest is too dense for them to get through"
"Which leaves one alternative" master Kohl spoke up again. "We split our forces. The infantry move up, while our armoured units come in from the flanks and lay down covering fire. We have an ARC with us. He'll sneak in before our primary assault and disable any heavy guns the enemy might have in position"
Master Adraxis frowned and nodded thoughtfully. " That works, actually. The enemy has been throwing troops at us for the past two weeks. They can't have enough troops to repel a joint attack" the others nodded and added their own agreement. "Then it's settled. Prepare your men, we'll engage the enemy forces starting tomorrow at dawn" the commanding officers and Jedi dispersed, heading to their own units, to prepare them for tomorrows assault.
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Jag and the rest of the squad were sitting together underneath the tarp that was their only protection against the rain. He was regaling the members of the squad with the story of their mission that had resulted in the four of them being blasted into the river. And finding their two commanding officers. "So, let me get this straight" said Storm, grinning mischievously. "You find the two of them, and Starsong is naked?"
"That's what I said, isn't it?" Replied Jag, grinning at his brother. Obviously, Storm was thinking the same thing Jag had when he'd first heard it from the commanders' mouth. He doubted anything had gone on between the two commanders. Not unless Drake had more experience with the opposite sex than he was letting on. None of them had any real knowledge of females. The only women the clones had encountered besides Allanna, were Kaminoans, and no one in their right mind found them even remotely attractive.
"Heh. I bet he enjoyed that. I mean, the commander can always do better. Look at me for example." Hazard said, gesturing to his armoured body, and cocking an eyebrow suggestively. "What woman could say no to this?" His brothers laughed uproariously.
"If we're ever deployed to Nar Shaddaa, ner vod, we'll find you a nice Weequay. Or maybe a Gammorean" laughed River, and Hazard directed a mock-glare at his brother.
"Seriously, though" Cross said, after the laughter had died down. "If commander Starsong was soaked, getting her robes off was the best thing he could have done. He probably saved her life" the others nodded. Despite Drakes, and most of the battalions dislike of Jedi, Starsong was one of the few exceptions. She was one of the only non-clones the men felt safe confiding in. Already, most of the battalion would readily invite her over to talk at meal times. They respected general Adraxis, of course. He'd put his life in danger fighting alongside the clones, but they liked Allanna.
While the others joked and talked among each other, Jag caught Ice staring at him. The sergeants silver-blue eyes, one of the very few genetic mutations the Kaminoans allowed in clones,seemed to bore a hole into his face. Jag cocked an eyebrow quizzically, and the sergeant jerked his head to the side, slightly. It was a silent request to speak in private. He stood, shaking his head at Cross when the medic shot him a surprised look. Obviously, he wasn't the only one that had picked up on Ices' behaviour. He doubted he had done anything wrong, and the sergeant had never been one to call someone over simply to yell at them.
He followed Ice out into the rain, to another, unoccupied tarp-tent. "Something wrong, sarge?" He asked, and Ice turned and smiled at him.
"No. Just wanted to talk." Ice replied, staring out past Jag into the rain. "The others told me how you handled yourself out there, after the ambush. You acted like a sergeant" at first, Jag thought that Ice was accusing him of trying to take the place of sergeant, undermining his authority. Then he stomped that thought dead. 'Ice isn't like that. If he was insecure enough to accuse his own squad of stealing authority, he'd have been busted down to private months ago. Or sent back to Kamino for reconditioning.' He told himself.
"I was just trying to think like you would have, sarge" he said, which was the truth. Ice was the sarge, the boss, the one that everyone in the squad looked up to. Stranded without any support, and no commanding officer, Jag had tried his best to think what Ice would have done in his situation. Ice shrugged.
"If you say so. The truth of it is, you're sergeant material, Jag. Everyone that was with you then agrees. They all recommended you for a promotion" the sergeant said. Jag was torn. Being a sergeant would be great, commanding his own squad into battle, having the authority to pull his men back, out of dangerous situations, but at the same time...
"Wouldn't that mean I'd have to transfer to a different squad?" He didn't want to leave his brothers. He'd grown up, trained, and fought with them. Ice was shaking his head.
"No. The two hundred and thirtieth doesn't actually have any open sergeant positions, and besides, you're too skilled for me to send you to another squad . No, I mean when, I finally catch that one round that has my name on it, I want you to be sergeant" Ice said, not looking at all bothered that he was talking about his own death. Jag on the other hand couldn't imagine losing the sergeant. Not any of his brothers, really. 'If that's the price of a promotion, then I'm happy to stay a grunt for the rest of my life' he thought. Not that he was going to admit that to the sergeant.
"What about Tor? Everyone thinks he's next in line" he said instead.
Ice shrugged. "Tor's one of the best troopers I know, but he's already told me he isn't interested in a sergeants spot"
That made sense. Tor was one of the few men that didn't talk about wanting a promotion. He was perfectly content being a trooper, even if that meant being told to 'shoot that' and 'go there', and 'don't give me any excuses'. Jag put on a smile, and lied "well, in that case, sarge, I'll be happy to be sergeant, when the time comes"
"Hopefully not for a while, though, huh?" Ice said, chuckling, and Jag joined in. 'Hopefully not for a long while' he thought. "Alright, that's it. Enjoy the rest of our time off. We head out tomorrow morning, if everything goes to plan" Ice said, heading out into the rain once more. Jag joined the rest of the squad, where Ice had just broken the news to them.
"Wayii, ner vod!" Cross said, slapping him on the back. The rest of the squad joined in, with back slaps, shoulder punches, and hair ruffling. Jag grinned through it all. His brothers were obviously happy for him, and he didn't want to ruin the moment by spilling his guts.
A few hours later, Jag laid awake in his bunk, surrounded by the snoring of his brothers. He knew he should probably be getting some sleep. Being tired and distracted tomorrow would only get him and the rest of the squad dead. Still, he had to get it off his chest. His gaze strayed to Cross, in the bunk across from him. 'You shouldn't wake him' the reasonable part of his mind whispered. Unfortunately, Jag was already sitting up. "Psst. Cross!" He hissed, and the medic shot up as if someone had jumped on his stomach.
He turned toward him,and in equally hushed tones, replied "what's up, Jag?" Jag motioned for them to slip outside, already getting his boots on. He heard an annoyed sigh from Cross' bunk, but the medic was already up and following him outside. The rain had stopped, temporarily, but the clouds still hung over the camp. "You'd better have a good reason for dragging my shebs out here this early" Cross said, looking none to impressed.
Jag wasn't really listening though. He had to blurt out his concerns before he lost his nerve. "Do you think Ice is going to do something stupid? I mean, why else would he pull me aside just to tell me I'd make a good replacement?" He couldn't really see his brothers face in the dim light, but he had a feeling that Cross was giving him a look that said the medic thought he'd gone crazy.
"We've known him for years. You think he's going to, what, just drop dead of his own accord, or get himself killed just so you can be sergeant?"
"Well, when you put it like that..." Jag was feeling rather foolish. "I guess I don't have much to worry about. It's just...like he knows something the rest of us don't"
Cross sighed, definitely annoyed, and trying to be patient. "Jag, he's the sarge. Of course he knows things we don't" he reached out and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "We just need to trust that he knows what he's doing. He'd die for any one of us, but he's not going to throw his life away. Now, get some sleep." The two of them went back to their bunks, Jag a little more comfortable, and ready for the battle ahead.
