The Great War

by TheCommunistGinger

On Hiatus. Will Hopefully Return to Finish at a Later Date.

12. Chapter 11: Tip of the Spear

Chapter 11: Tip of the Spear

9 April 2587 (CSS Military Calendar) 23:31:19/19:4 BBY

Orbit of Tythe, Tythe System, Savareen Sector

Aboard Dooku's personal transport vessel, the secret apprentice kneeled before his master, awaiting him to acknowledge his presence. He was in a dark room that allowed for almost no light, save for the one bright bulb illuminating the center of the room. His master stood opposite of him, the light showing only a dark outline of the imposing figure. It was deathly silent, and only the sounds of his own breathing was heard in Starkiller's ears.

Then, as the apprentice continued to wait for his master, he felt the familiar dark presence behind him, and he closed his eyes to verify his finding. A look of confusion crossed his face, before he opened his eyes to examine the dark figure before him at the other end of the room.

Standing and turning around, the apprentice came face-to-face with his Master, the dark presence he felt being the only indication where the man was, as the light did not shine brightly enough to illuminate the entire room.

Starkiller opened his mouth to ask, before a mixture of shock and pain crossed his face, illuminated by an eerie dark glow. Feeling nothing for the first several milliseconds, he looked down to see Dooku's lightsaber blade stabbing into his abdomen. His already pale face turned more so as the wave of nausea and pain surfaced, and he could only mouth 'Why?' before the red blade retracted into its hilt and he fell down onto his knees.

Dooku, both sensing the confusion and taking note of the silent question, walked around the apprentice, as he held onto the gaping hole in his abdomen, and said once he entered the light in an uncaring, detached tone, "You have failed me by allowing my Master to know of you. Now you must pay the ultimate price."

The surprise only began to sink in before this statement was uttered, and the apprentice was thrown back into utter confusion as the words hung in the air. But, before he could even begin to even try to voice his confusion, a hole opened up below in the floor, and he fell into a darker room, that allowed for no light whatsoever. Just as he blacked out form the pain, which had only grown in intensity, another hatch opened below him, and he was jettisoned into the dark, all-encompassing void of space.

Dooku, feeling satisfied, walked into the cockpit of his craft, and began piloting it back to the surface of Tythe. Unbeknownst to him, though, another craft, which had spent the time using its cloaking device to remain hidden, flew in immediately after the body, and deployed a small probe with several arms and a small, spherical body that reflected little light on its lackluster surface. The probe's photoreceptors immediately noticed the body, and moved towards it, before grabbing onto it with its many arms, holding onto it tightly. As it clung to the body, it maneuvered itself to face the ship, and began moving back to the hatch from whence it came.

Once inside, the hatch closed and the ship was lost in the realm of hyperspace.

---

10 April 2587 (CSS Military Calendar) 06:18:41/19:4 BBY

Liberty Forward Operating Base, Saleucami, Saleucami System, Sulorine Sector

In the center of a circle of tents that made up the barracks of the forward operating base stood a tent that seemed to be by itself. It was separated from the rest by a two or three meter gap surrounding it, like a road. The wind was kicking up, and thanks to the heavy pikes in the ground on all four corners connecting the tent to the earth, the grey colored tarp moved as a whole form one way to another very little, save for the flaps that acted as the entrance, which moved wildly, and revealed what was transpiring inside.

The scene inside was quite a contrast to the events playing out beyond in the quickly worsening wind storm. A calm silence reigned over the inside of the dark tent, which had only a faint blue light from the holoprojector acting as the sole source of illumination. The souls present, looking over the holoprojector were cramped together, because the tent was not built or designed to house all those currently present. As well as General's Skywalker, Kenobi, Secura, and Vos, Commander Tano was present, with Lieutenant General Winsfeild acting as liaison for the Coalition forces still streaming into the battle zones and F.O.B.'s. Several clone troopers, who tended to work closely with the general, like Rex, and a handful of ODST's and Spec Ops had joined Winsfeild in the tent, watching the battle plan unfold before them with rapt attention, their helmets at their sides, clutched with a vice grip and their weapons clamped on their backs.

Finally, as the silence continued over the group, one of the ODST's, a battalion commander whose name was unimportant, spoke up, asking, "Why don't we just use the ships in orbit to blow the metal bastards to kingdom come?"

At the head of the table, General Secura stood, arms crossed and back straight, as she answered with commanding tone, "The Separatists still have civilians in the city acting as 'human shields' and even if we could, their production facilities are underground in the expansive cavern system. The City's the only place we can infiltrate those facilities en masse, so destroying it only serves to set us back."

"Then attack the tunnels head on." Winsfeild piped in, which came a small shock to most in the room, considering the Lieutenant General had kept him mouth shut for the entirety of the meeting.

"That won't work either." Vos said as he walked up from behind Kenobi, where he had been watching the meeting up until now, and stood beside General Secura, before using the Force to manipulate the table to zoom in on one of the tunnels in question, "They have several layers of defense in every tunnel entrance, and use the narrow tunnels to funnel troops. Even if we had superior numbers, which we don't, they wouldn't matter. We'd be cut to pieces before we got halfway through to our objectives."

"I assure you my troops would break through just fine, General." Rex said, not opting to hide the disdain for the general he, as well as most other clones, felt towards Vos.

"Possibly Rex, but the losses would be unacceptable." Anakin said, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder, hoping the simple gesture would diffuse the developing situation before it got any worse.

Unfortunately, Fate had different idea for how this meeting would pass.

While squinting, Quinlan Vos said, looking directly at Rex, "Losses are to be expected, Knight Skywalker. The objective is all that matters. The only reason I won't send clones in now is that we wouldn't take it. Loses are negligible"

Anakin's nose twitched slightly, he said in a calm voice that did not mirror the anger that flared inside, "A victory is worth nothing if it is gained with too many losses, Master Vos."

"You're too connected to the clones, Skywalker." Vos spat, while averting his attention to the Knight in question.

The ensuing few moments were marked by a deathly silence, as no one dared to speak to break it. The only actual sound that could be heard by all was the wind continuously moving just beyond the thin fabric that divided the interior from the cold exterior. The temperature seemed to have fallen considerably, as the two Jedi exchanged icy glances at the other.

Finally, Obi-Wan spoke up with a diplomatic tone, while moving to stand in between the two glaring individuals, "We should get back to the task at hand. We are wasting valuable time."

Secura, taking the lead, spoke up for all, "Master Kenobi is right. Let's get back to the battle plans." before walking over quickly to the holoprojector table and pressing down on a few buttons, changing the hologram to one of another particular tunnel.

The hologram itself showed four lines dug into the earth, with numerous red dots pin pricking the area in and near them. The first two seemed to form a semi-circle around the mouth of the cave, which itself was immensely deep. The third one was formed a the threshold of the cave, and the last trench line seemed to be formed at the thin juncture in the cave, around fifty meters away from the third. Amongst the red dots, several larger red boxes, with two lines which extended outward in the direction away from the interior of the cave and fanned out, overlapping with others nearby.

"We've done as much recon as we could," began Secura, who was looking at the table, as the rest of the group walked towards it, "and this is the believed location for each droid." she continued, while pointing towards the dot nearest her.

"The boxes you see are anti-personnel plasma cannon emplacements." she spoke while moving her finer to point at one of the boxes nearest her.

"As you can see, every spot in the outer three lines not covered by a turret is manned with extra droids, and the fourth line lacks any of these spaces." the Jedi General said, a faint tone of resignation in her voice.

Her voice seemed to pick up slightly with determination as she continued, "But, beyond all those defenses lay a tunnel connecting with the Separatists shield generator. Even with the heavy bombardment, supported with the ARC-170's continuous sorties, it will take weeks before the shields are down, and weeks after that before the battle is won."

"However," she continued while looking up into the eyes of the group before her, "if we take the shields down now, the battle will be over that much quicker."

"So you're saying we need to break through to those shield generators?" Anakin asked, stepping forward slightly, coming shoulder to shoulder with Obi-Wan and General Winfield.

"Basically." Master Secura said with a short nod of the head, which was followed by a thoughtful look on Anakin's face, coupled with his prosthetic hand coming up to stroke the beard he didn't have.

"Are there any undefended cave entrances we can use?" Kenobi asked.

"We've done every kind of scan imaginable, and there isn't anything to suggest there is any other entrance other than the one shown." Secura said, her resigned tone returning.

Master Vos took several steps forward and stood beside Master Secura again, before saying, "It'll take several hundred troops supported with heavy artillery...'

Anakin, though, cut him off halfway through, saying, "Are there any commando units on the planet?"

Everyone in the room looked perplexed and wholly confused at Anakin, as he continued to explain, "I think with Omega squad and a squad of Republic Commandos could easily break through those lines, with the help of some artillery and air units, of course."

"There are over four-hundred battle droids manning those trenches, with another fifty Morgukai clones scattered throughout the area. What hope does two squads have against those odds?" Master Vos practically yelled, his inability to comprehend what had gotten into Skywalker showing in his voice.

"Only four-hundred and fifty? That'll be a walk in the park for them." Anakin said matter-of-factly.

"Anakin, do you really think five Spartans and four commandos can take on so many enemies?" Obi-Wan asked, his inquisitive voice carrying an undercurrent of resignation, as if he knew the answer already.

"Yes I do Master. We all know of how effective they are. There isn't a doubt in my mind that this would be a walk in the park for them." Anakin said confidently, bordering on arrogance.

The room was silent for a moment, all trying to wrap their heads around whether or not the plan was either completely insane, or only partially. Everyone bore a thoughtful expression on their faces, save for Anakin, who continuously looked around the room for support, Vos, who looked almost aghast at the proposition, and Winsfeild, who had a small smile grace his features.

Finally, the silence ended when Master Secura asked Winsfeild, "You're the professional for the Coalition's military. Do you think the Spartans themselves could handle this with some help from the Commandoes?"

His smile only grew wider as he said with a professional confidence, "Ma'am, with all due respect, I assure you that The Spartans could pull this off in half the time any of your troops could, and if your commandos are as good as you say they are, this should be the easiest mission they had in a long time."

Aayla only nodded her head in acceptance before saying, "Then it's settled. Omega and Delta squads will, with support from the 212th heavy artillery battalion, and whatever areal support we can muster, breach the Separatists defense perimeter, find the shield generator, and destroy it."

Everyone, save for Master Vos, merely nodded in agreement, and with that, the meeting concluded.

XXX

Liberty Forward Operating Base, Saleucami, Saleucami System, Sulorine Sector

While the meeting was continuing, on the far side of the F.O.B., four Republic Commandoes were cleaning their guns outside a busy mess hall. A group of five clones talking amongst themselves walked by the four man group in silence before returning to their chatter once that passed the threshold into the mess hall.

Sev (RC-1207), a commando known for his penchant with dark humor and who sported various streaks of red pain most notably on his silvery helmet, tilted his head slightly, and heard one of the passing clones say, "Blasted deluxe models."

The commando let out a deep, threatening, almost primal grunt, loud enough for the passing clones to hear, and they responded by quickening their pace, getting out of earshot of the commandos.

Another one of the commandos, who was sitting across from Sev, said in a lighthearted tone, "Do you ever get tired of scaring the new guys?"

Sev looked up, and gazed at the helmet of his pod brother, a plain armored clone commando whose only real distinction was the yellow paint on his wrists, and his lighthearted humor, and replied in the dark, almost foreboding voice to Scorch (RC-1262), "Would you rather I scare them or kill them?"

"Well I always wondered how you'd fare in the brig for killing someone." Scorch replied innocently, as if the notion was one he pondered extensively.

"Probably better than you would chatter-box." Sev replied.

"Alright, cut the chatter Deltas." Fixer (RC-1140) replied in a commanding tone, which was only surpassed by that of Boss (RC-1138) alone.

Then, just as their "conversation" concluded, Boss looked up from the gun he was reassembling to notice a white armored clone approaching them as quickly as his legs could carry him. Inside the helmet, he quirked an eyebrow, and rose to meet the soldier, who was fast approaching. The rest of Delta noticed this, and rose with Boss, passing quick glances of curiosity between each other before noticing the same clone, who was now no more than a few meters away.

"Sirs." the clone began, then, taking in several labored breaths continued, "Your presence has been requested in the HQ." he finished before hunching down and placing his hands on his knees to support himself.

Boss took several steps forward, and placed a hand on the clone's shoulder, before saying, "We'll be there in a minute soldier. Now go on and take a bite to eat." while motioning with his free hand to the tent before them.

The clone took another long breath before replying, "Thank you, sir."

As the clone walked into the tent, disappearing behind the flaps that served as the entrance, Delta squad picked up their DC-17m's and bean walking towards the HQ tent several hundred meters away. The trek took all of about ten minutes, and when they arrived, all those in the tent, consisting of Commander Tano, General's Skywalker, Secura, Kenobi, and Vos, and the Coalition's Lieutenant General Winsfeild looked at the commandos, and motioned for them to come to the holoprojector they were all assembled around. Delta did as requested, and stood at attention before the table, waiting for any orders.

As soon as the squad, lead by Boss, stood in front of the table, which had been deactivated at the moment, General Skywalker began, "Delta squad, I'll get right to the point. We need you four to break through the Seppies defenses around a cave entrance in sector 53-V, defended by upwards of four hundred droids and fifty Morgukai. Once inside, you'll traverse the cave, exit near the droid's shield generator, and destroy it."

"To help you along," General Kenobi piped in, "we'll be sending the Spartans, Omega squad, with you."

"What? You think we can't handle this ourselves?" Sev asked, or yelled, incredulously.

"Cut it Delta." Boss said in a commanding tone that bespoke of no room for argument as he turned his head to look at Sev.

By now, most of those in the room, save for Vos, looked curiously at the cones, their eyebrows raised. Vos, on the other hand, didn't seem particularly surprised or even fazed by the outburst.

"Sorry about the outburst. Sev doesn't like to share the glory." Boss said as he turned his head to look

"Understandable." Winsfeild said in return.

After a tense silence, which lasted for several moments, General Secura said, "You'll be departing at twenty-two hundred hours with Omega squad with you."

With that, the holographic display lit up to reveal the battlefield they would be departing for, with a blinking yellow light several hundred meters south of the outermost trench, and General Secura continued, "You'll all be taking three separate 'Warthogs' to this location," indicating the yellow light with her finger, "to ensure the Separatists can't detect you until it's too late. Understood?"

"Yes ma'am." all the clones responded obediently enough, save for Sev, who's voice carried an undercurrent of resentment.

"You'll also have the support of a detachment of the 212th heavy artillery battalion, battery call-sign 'Blackjack'." Secura continued, as the commandos nodded in understanding.

"Alright. You're all free to go." Aayla said to them, while motioning with her hand to the entrance they came through.

All four clones gave a curtly bow before departing.

Once they were out of earshot, Sev yelled in a threatening voice, "Who the hell do they think they are? Do they think we're a bunch of shinnies who need a hand to hold onto?"

"Calm down Delta." Fixer ordered before turning to Boss, who had stopped on the side of the roadway they were on and stood, waiting for a group of clones to pass by.

"Boss," Fixer began as he walked forward to stand beside Boss, "permission to speak freely?"

"Permission granted, Fixer." Boss said before he began to walk forward across the road and took a seat on an unoccupied crate, with Fixer choosing another nearby and Sev and Scorch choosing to stand for the moment.

"While I disagree with Sev's little outburst," he began while nodding with his head to indicate Sev, who was in the midst of arguing with Scorch, "he has a point. For star's sake, we retook an entire Acclamator I-class assault ship by ourselves. This would be a walk in the park."

"I think it has less to do with our proficiency and more to test us." Boss said loud enough for Sev and Scorch to hear as well, and they in turn moved their heads to look as Boss, giving him their undivided attention.

Fixer said while motioning with his hands, "A test?"

"Yes. I think they want to see how well we work with Spartans, for future reference." Boss reasoned, which was met with a relatively long, pensive silence.

"Well then, let's show everyone how overrated these 'Spartans' are." Sev said, his menacing tone maintained throughout the statement, while Scorch nodded in approval.

---

10 April 2587 (CSS Military Calendar) 13:27:54/19:4 BBY

ONI Zenith Base, Unity, Concordo, Concordo System, CSS Capitol Sector

The hallways near the top of the black, monolith of a structure were bathed in golden light as Concordo Prime was shining brightly down upon the city of Unity. There wasn't a cloud anywhere near the city, and it shone a beautiful blue quite similar to Earth's own sky. The light reflected brightly upon the white marble floor, and the lower portion of the adjacent wall, itself a mix of tan and white marble with regular intervals of paintings hanging in decadent golden frames with intricate designs for each, complimenting the paintings themselves.

The sound of rapidly moving footfalls echoed through the hallway as an entourage of people, numbering five in total, walked at a fast pace through the black doorway at the far end of the hallway, and began to quickly move through the corridor. At the forefront of the entourage, Director Ruckus in a clean black suite complemented by a pure black tie, pure black pants, cleanly polished black shoes, and ghostly white undershirt, walked with a datapad in hand as he scrolled through the data present on the device. Behind him, similarly dressed individuals walked at the same pace, keeping up with their leader effortlessly, and all walking in regular v-formation behind. The only sound they made was from the soles of their shoes contacting the polished marble of the floor and sending a resounding thud throughout the hallway at every step.

Finally, the entourage neared another black door on the opposite end of the fifty meter long hallway, and the four individuals trailing Director Ruckus stopped at the door, as he pushed it open, his gaze still focused on the datapad in his hand. The door automatically closed behind him, and the four people left in the hallway turned heel and returned where they came, leaving Ruckus alone in his personal office.

The room was much like the one he had in the Alpha Base, with a large panoramic window covering all of the wall behind where his desk was. The desk itself was a dark mahogany, and very plain for someone with as much power and influence as he wielded. The floor, rather than the white marble of the hallways, was a plain grey covering. The room wasn't noticeably large, nor decadent, but it did sport several paintings like the hallway, with intricate designs on both the parchment and the golden frames holding them. A black, leather chair was tucked into the desk, which sported a small, silver, half spherical device on it.

Ruckus neared the desk, and pressed his index finger on the top of the half-sphere. It immediately came to life, and projected several holograms before him. He used his fingers to nimbly move them out of the way or in front of his vision as he took a seat on the chair, and laid back comfortably on it.

His focus then was diverted to a flashing red light at the center of the collection of holograms before him, and he taped it with his finger, revealing an image of a man in black suit much like his own, with black sunglasses masking his, no doubt calculating, eyes.

"Director." the man said with a curtly bow of the head, his voice cultured and collected, as he continued, "The COG Plan will pass. Enough senators and representatives have been...persuaded, and are going to vote in its favor today."

"Excellent." Ruckus replied, Keep me updated on any developments."

"Yes sir." the agent replied before his hologram faded out of existence, and Ruckus continued with his previous task, only with a devilish grin marring his features as he did so.

---

10 April 2587 (CSS Military Calendar) 20:27:32/19:4 BBY

CSS Invisiblis, Orbit of Saleucami, Saleucami System, Sulorine Sector

High in orbit above Saleucami, Omega squad was waiting in the hanger bay of the stealth vessel, for their Pelican to arrive. The hanger was relatively empty, save for the squad of Spartans, fully armored, and Captain O'Neil, who was standing off to the side of the hanger nearest the exit with Ben in front of her, his helmet clutched under his right arm and his rifle on the magnetic clamp on his back.

"You better come back. You'll be in a world of shit if you don't set foot on this ship by month's end." O'Neil said in her usual calm voice, but a slight quiver in it did not go unnoticed by Ben.

Ben allowed a roguish smile to escape his features as he replied, "I can't think of any place I'd rather be than right here, on this ship."

O'Neil gave a small smile in return before leaning in and up towards the towering Spartan. Ben met her halfway, and they shared a short, passionate kiss before he was forced to break it off. He began walking away, a satisfied grin crossing his face, as he neared the team of Spartans. O'Neil wore the same expression, and a small, almost unnoticeable tear escaped her grasp and fell from her eyes, landing on her cheek and making its way down her face.

As Ben entered the Pelican, the other Spartans all of whom were observing the event with great scrutiny, patted their squad leader on the back. He turned back, and gave a mock salute to the captain, before placing the helmet gently on his head. He noticed before the ramp closed in front of him that O'Neil had returned the gesture.

Ben remained quiet during the journey as his Spartans spent it enjoying banter between each other. The trip itself was short, and the craft landed minutes later on a landing pad in the center of an F.O.B. Fuel cells and barrels surrounded them in high mounds, and sand bags were a plenty in the F.O.B. The Spartans, led by Ben, exited the Pelican down the ramp and moved through the chest high wall of sand bags that served as the perimeter for the dirt landing pad. the sky was a pleasant shade of dark blue, orange, purple, and red, as the local star began dipping below the horizon. The brutal wind from before had died down to a gentle breeze. They all took a right, and began moving through the roadways and paths of the F.O.B. As troops passed by, they stood off to the side, stopping whatever they were doing, and either gave nod of approval to the well-known warriors, or a salute, both of which were reciprocated.

Soon enough, the Spartans found themselves in the entrance of the tent they were told to go to. It was unmistakably the command tent, as it was the largest grey tarp in the area, and was surrounded by unoccupied land that served as a small path around the tent, several meters in width.

The Spartans neared the flaps of the tent that served as its entrance, and pushed them aside as they filed in one at a time. They entered into a dimly lit area, with several individuals surrounding a holoprojector, which was giving off a faint blue light by projecting an image the Spartans could not yet see.

General Secura, who was at the forefront of the holoprojector, said to the Spartans in a questioning tone, "Omega squad, I presume?"

"Yes, ma'am." Ben replied automatically, before giving a salute to the commanding officer and those around her, including Generals Kenobi, and Vos, and Lieutenant General Winsfeild.

"Pardon my intrusion, but where is General Skywalker and Commander Tano?" Ben asked.

"They're out sparring in one of the 'courtyards'." General Kenobi replied with amusement lacing his voice.

"Sounds like they're having fun." Greg replied from behind Ben, amusement also lacing his voice.

"Quite." General Kenobi replied, a small smile still gracing his features.

"Regardless, we're here reporting for duty." Ben declared in his patented even voice.

"Good." General Secura said simply before motioning to the table, diverting the Spartan's attention to it, as it showed a hologram of a steep hillside, with a large, flat plateau roughly three-quarters the way up, before continuing upward. There was a cave entrance, with several layers of trenches beyond it, and one inside the cave, and a tunnel that seemed to go up slightly before going down in a steep slope and then leveling out, going on to some unknown location.

"You will, with the help of a squad of Republic Commandoes, arrive half a click from the outermost defensive perimeter via three 'Warthogs' of your choosing." General Secura said while motioning to a yellow dot on the other side of a hill parallel to the one they would be attacking.

"Once you're through the four layers of trenches, you'll be traversing the cave, and on the other side you'll find a shield generator half a click to your south." she continued, while moving the hologram to focus on the structure in question, which was towering well above the other, adobe looking building that made up the city they would be infiltrating.

"Destroy it, and link up with allied forces who will be attacking once the shield is down." the general finished, as the hologram winced out of existence, and the light above them, which had been dimmed considerably, brightened.

Everyone's eyes squinted momentarily before adjusting to the new wave of bright light.

"Who's going to be the highest ranking officer on this assignment?" Ben questioned.

"Considering the experience the commandos have, RC-1138, or 'Boss', will be the commanding officer, with you, Ben, right behind him. Understood?" Secura replied, to which Ben and the rest of Omega squad merely nodded in understanding.

"When do we set out General?" Ben asked after a short pause in the briefing.

"Twenty-two hundred hours Ben. Plenty of time to get... acquainted with the Commandoes." General Secura said with a barely noticeable smirk, which was replicated on all the others in the room, perplexing the Spartans.

Nevertheless, Ben simply replied, "Yes ma'am. Anything else?"

"No, you're free to go." Secura aid, which won her and the rest in the room a salute from all the Spartans, which was quickly returned, before they all turned heel and filed out of the tent, leaving them to their devices.

Once back outside, the Spartans made haste to the vehicle depot to pick out the Warthogs they would be taking. Several minutes after their briefing, they turned a corner, and came fact-to-face with the commandos they would be fighting alongside. The commandos were seated on four different crates, and were deep in some discussion with each other. their helmets had been discarded, laying on the ground next to them, the dust from the dirt road covering the lower halves of each. The Spartans all felt a sense of unease wash over them at seeing the same face attached to different bodies. They all knew about the clones well enough, but this was truly the first time they came face-to-face with it.

Their pause did not go unnoticed, and one of the commandos, one painted with red war paint on his adjacent helmet -which looked all to similar to something one would find in a blood splatter analysis lab- and several places on his armor that he still wore, stood up. He then leaned down and picked up his helmet near his left leg. As the other three commandos followed their brother's lead, the red painted commando averted his gaze from the Spartans and looked at the helmet reverently before placing it on his head with a certain gentle touch that seemed wholly contradictory to the calloused nature of the commandos that the Spartans had heard so much about.

With his helmet on, the red painted commando neared the Spartans, and stood in front of Ben, allowing a tense silence to follow for some time. The air itself seemed to stop and observe the encounter. Ben, trying to break the silence properly, extended his hand, waiting for the commando to shake it. the red painted soldier did no such thing, instead looking down at the outstretched appendage, and looking back up, shaking his head in disagreement. Ben merely retracted his hand and waited for someone to say something.

Finally, the red painted commando, with his comrades right behind him, pointed a menacing finger at Ben, an said in an equally menacing voice, "Just stay out of our way shinnies, and let us do our job."

"Shinnies?" Greg asked, in an inquisitive tone.

"It's not exactly a term of endearment, Greg." another Spartan, Ruse, replied in his trademarked Slavic accent, which seemed to add a certain level of humor to the obvious statement.

"You making fun of us asshole?" Will said indigently while taking a step closer to the clone in question, who seemed to attempt to step forward, readying for a fight.

In response, the other three commandos took a step closer to the comrade, and pulled him back behind them. While the red one was being pulled back, another, this one having a relatively clean helmet, save for the dirt, and orange paint on various places on his white armor, including a stripe of orange paint that narrowed from the back to the front as it neared his blue, T-shaped visor, stepped forward.

The new commando said to the assembled Spartans in a relatively cultured, commanding accent that seemed wholly different from the previous one, "Sorry about Sev. He doesn't like new people."

He then continued, "I'm RC-1138, or 'Boss'," before continuing while motioning to a clone with green paint on his armor, including a green, uniformly wide band of green on his helmet "This is 'Fixer' or RC-1140."

He then motioned to the red painted commando, who had his arms crossed over his chest, while saying, "This fine fellow, as you know, is Sev, or RC-1207," and then he motioned to a sparsely yellow painted commando, and said, "and this is 'Scorch', or RC-1262"

Ben merely nodded to each acknowledgement, before saying in return, "I'm Omega-1, or Ben-723" He then motioned to his left, while saying, "She is Omega-2, or Kim-649, and Omega-4, or Ruse-481."

He the continued by motioning with his other hand, towards his right, with the commandos' gaze following his movements, while saying, "And these two are Omega's 3 and 5, or Ron-509 and Greg-905, respectively."

Another silence had befallen the group before Ben spoke up, saying, "We were just about to pick out the 'hogs we were going to take out. I think it best you join us."

"I agree." Boss replied then turned around to face his squad-mates, before ordering, "Delta's, form up."

The other commandos of delta squad did as instructed, and fell into step behind Boss, who had taken up his position on Ben's right side, with the other four Spartans flanking his left. The group took up the entire roadway, and all other soldiers, clone and Coalition, stepped out of their way and saluted, or gawked, at the strange procession of elite soldiers. Beneath his mask, Ben sported a satisfied grin that he still elicited that type of response from other soldiers, while Boss and company's countenance was remaining neutral.

---

10 April 2587 (CSS Military Calendar) 22:09:18/19:4 BBY

Sector 53-V, Saleucami, Saleucami System, Sulorine Sector

Trees waved haphazardly and the ground was pelted with raindrops coming down in sheets as the dark, rolling skies above continued to storm about. Lightning crackled and thunder boomed almost every minute, illuminating the area more so than it already was. Considering the time and the lack of proper light from the stars and local stellar satellites, only the distinct outline of the road's outer banks ensured that the three vehicles traversing the quagmire didn't simply drive straight into a tree or into a rock side. Well, that and the three pairs of headlights that acted as illumination for the area twenty meters ahead and a little over five wide at its furthest. Together, they illuminated the road ahead entirely, and the storm covered the sound of their engines well enough that any defenders wouldn't have heard a thing unless they were standing right next to the purring mechanism.

The three vehicles wove through the road's winding and twisting turns with relative ease, the drivers all experts on how to properly handle a Warthog. They drove through the wide dirt road in a v-formation, with one Warthog, Ben at the wheel, Boss on the passenger seat, and Ruse handling the M63 Light Anti-Aircraft Gun (Note: M41 version of the LAAG, only faster rate of fire, and smaller, faster shells) mounted on the back. To their right, Kim was driving the Warthog, with Fixer in the passenger seat and Greg mounting the M63 LAAG on the back. Finally, to the left of the formation, with Ron driving the fierce beast of a vehicle, Scorch in the passenger seat, and Sev mounting the M76 Gauss Cannon (Basically the same, only shell moves slightly faster) on the back, with a great, very concerning sense of enjoyment.

As the group made a sharp left turn and found themselves going down a relatively straight path, Scorch said into the squad-based com unit for all to hear, "Was it really a good idea giving Sev the biggest, most powerful gun we could?"

"It will be when I'm killing everything that's in our way." Sev said with no little amount of disturbing glee in his normal deep voice.

"I think you enjoy this job a little too much Sev." Scorch replied, making everyone give a short, laugh before returning their focus to the task at hand, save for the two warring clones.

Just as Sev was undoubtedly about to retort with something more disturbing than his last statement, Fixer piped in, "Cut the chatter you two. Boss, how much farther?"

After a quick consultation with the map available on his HUD, Boss replied, "Less than half a click to the drop off point Del-"

Boss paused shortly, for less than half a second, before continuing where he left off with, "Killjoy's" saying the unfamiliar word of identification they were given with some disgust evident by his tone.

Ben, taking note of this, said into the com unit, "I hate the call-sign almost as much as you do, but we can formerly request a new one after we're done."

"And not a moment too soon." Greg whispered into his com unit just loud enough for the rest of the impromptu squad to hear through their own devices.

With that, the team ended the banter, and soon enough, the Warthogs came to a complete stop, and everyone either stepped or jumped out of their respective warthogs forming a circle around each other with Boss and Ben at the head.

"Check your mags." Ben ordered, and the rest of the squad pulled out their cartridges and checked the number of rounds they had left, and even Delta squad tilted their heads to check to see that the holographic number on the side of their DC-17m's registered a full cartridge.

Boss then ordered with the usual hand signal, "Form up on me men."

"Yes sir." they all replied dutifully, before falling in step behind the rapidly moving squad leader into the nearby woods and up the slope of a nearby hill.

Their trek was relatively short, as the squad was easily able to overcome any natural obstacle that stood in their way up the imposing hill. Once at the crest of the hill, able to look at the nearest other hill, their objective, they had to polarize their helmets momentarily to continue to see. None in the team had considered to turn off their light amplification systems in their HUD's, so when they came across the floodlights that bathed the hill and surrounding area in blindingly bright lights, their retinas screamed in protest, and they all fell back, covering their eyes in a futile attempt to save themselves from the brutal after-effects of such an occurrence.

While it only took seconds for the Spartans and commandos to recuperate, it was still far too long for any of their tastes. Regardless, they all wisely polarized their visors and peered over the hill, their bodies prone on the ground or hugging a nearby tree for cover. What they saw, while not surprising, still gave them all a sense of exhilaration and dread at the same time.

Below them and to the right of their position was the tunnel they were to infiltrate, and guarding it, as was expected, were hundreds of droids, committed to various positions standing guard in their less than intricate trenches or marching in perfect formation around the perimeter. At regular intervals, the trenches expanded to allow a "machine gun" nest, of sorts, to sit, with a droid manning the deadly anti-personal gun. Several anti-vehicle turrets and even a few anti-aircraft guns rested between the second and third trenches, closest to the cave entrance, which rose high above the countless droids.

Seeing that even with their combined prowess, they would be unable to break through those defenses, Boss lowered himself back behind the hill, with the rest of Killjoy squad following suit. He then motioned with his free hand for the rest of the squad to form a circle around him. They did so without complaint, and soon enough, they were all ready for what Boss had to say.

"I think we're all in agreement that there isn't a way in Sith Hell we're going to breach those lines without some help." Boss said in a low hushed voice, which was responded by everyone nodding in agreement.

"So then let's rain Sith Hell down on the metal bastards." Boss continued, before moving back up the hill, the rest of the squad joining him.

As he moved up to the crest of the hill again, he pressed a hand to his helmet, activating the inferred targeting system, allowing him to have an accurate measure of distance and angle, as well as pulling up a holographic map of the area, dividing into square sections.

Then, he switched frequencies, and said into his com unit, "Blackjack, this is Killjoy, creeping barrage, 100 meters, direction north, over."

After a short pause, a reply came in the form of a feminine voice replying, "Killjoy, this is Blackjack, creeping barrage, 100 meters, direction north, out."

Checking the holographic map still on his HUD, Boss continued, "Grid VR five-two-niner five-five-seven, over."

Again, a short pause, before the same voice replied, "Grid VR five-two-niner five-five-seven, out."

Boss continued, focusing on the first line of trenches, "Twenty-two turrets, four-hundred enemy infantry entrenched, and fifty infantry in the open, danger close, over."

"Twenty-two turrets, four-hundred enemy infantry entrenched, and fifty infantry in the open, danger close, out."

There was another pause, this one longer than all the others, before the voice returned, saying, "B, D, G, V, DPICM in effect, 15 rounds, over."

Boss said automatically in response, " B, D, G, V, DPICM in effect, 15 rounds, out."

There was a noticeable sound of explosions in the backround of the connection, and the next thing Boss heard was the voice on the other end saying, "Shots, over." to which Boss replied, more so to his squad, "Shots, out."

Everyone in Killjoy purposefully ducked as low as possible, hugging onto nearby trees or clinging to the ground for cover, as the familiar hum of artillery shells increased in volume. Even the clones of Delta squad, accustomed to the sound of plasma-based artillery rounds, still understood what the whine meant, and followed suit.

As the seconds ticked away, the now familiar feminine voice said to Boss, "Splash over." to which Boss said without conscious thought, "Splash out."

Boss took this as his cue, and lifted his head slightly to get a good view of the Separatist position. What he saw was something that, while he was used to the sight, was still awe inspiring. The first round, moving too fast for any eye, human or otherwise, to see, exploded several meters in the air. Countless thousands of pieces of shrapnel, now burning so hot that they appeared white for the brief moment of time in which they were visible, burning the air itself, exploded downward from the sizable explosion. The droids in the trenches, all looking up to see what was causing the clearly audible whine previously, were literally vaporized, the shards of shrapnel tearing through them like they were made of butter. All the shrapnel, combined with the ever growing white hot expanse that was the explosion, sent giant plumes of dirt and debris into the air, and sent a shockwave expanding in all directions.

Boss, noticing the shockwave no more than a second away, ducked back down behind the hill, and waited for it to pass over. It felt like gale-force winds were whipping up a storm above him, as the dirt, carried by the wind, fell back to the earth and upon the squad. They were all covered by the brown substance, but it was quickly washed off by the continuing rain, which still fell in sheets around them, but the sound of thunder seemed distant, maybe a side-effect of the explosion nearby.

When the dust settled, Boss and the rest of Killjoy peered over the crest of the hill, and saw utter devastation. At the center of the once unscathed trench line was now a gaping crater, with black smoke rising high into the air. Small fires continued to rage where the shell landed, before being drowned by the torrential downpour.

Boss, realizing that he needed to notify that it was a good shot to the artillery battery, said into his com unit, "Good shot, over."

The voice never replied, but instead the com unit was awash with the sound of many other explosions being set, signifying that more rounds were inbound. Boss stood, with the rest of his squad joining him, and walked to the crest of the hill, observing the continued disarray of the Separatist position.

Then the whine came back, only amplified with many others adding to the deadly orchestra. The soldiers of Killjoy just stood there, waiting, and they were rewarded with many other explosions all around and inside the trenches of the Separatists. They seemed to be randomly placed, but as the explosions and whines continued, they seemed to be moving in an orderly fashion, away from them and towards the cave entrance.

Boss, seeing this as the best opportunity to attack ,while the droids and Morgukai were still confused, motioned twice with the universal signal for charge. The soldiers did not delay, as they raised their weapons, and charged forward. The Spartans were the first to fire, their rounds adding to the cacophony of distant thunder and omnipresent artillery rounds exploding around the Separatists. The muzzle flashes lit up the area around them as the rounds for their weapons all met their marks, sending Morgukai and droid alike down for the count.

Loose branches and twigs, previously their greatest enemy, were stomped on with impunity, breaking under the strain that was put on them by the feet of the super-soldiers. Moving too fast to be stopped, the soldiers traveled down the hill in record time, without so much of a single shot from the droids as retaliation.

Once again, they were climbing another hill, only this time, they were firing everything they had at any exposed enemy. The commandos had opened up with the Spartans, who took the brief moment to reload, and their accuracy proved to be almost as good as that of their comrades, falling many enemies before them. While their plasma rounds weren't as effective as the Spartan's bullets, considering the droids were specifically built to be somewhat plasma resistant, their shots were true, and when the Spartans were back in the fight, not a single enemy stood to oppose them.

They were up and over the crest of the second hill in a little over half a minute, and they stood, facing an enemy confused but ready to fight. Even though the artillery barrage was still raging, it was onto the last set of trenches, and the remnants of the first two were standing ready for an assault. What the droids and Morgukai weren't expecting were a group of nine soldiers.

There was a short pause in the fighting between the two sides, in which the soldiers of Killjoy used to roll into cover behind a mound of dirt two meters high and circular in shape ten meters in diameter that had been kicked up by the barrage. Once they had concluded their roll, they used the momentum to launch grenades, of which they had readied while rolling, into the first row of trenches, particularly at the two remaining MG nests that were left relatively unscathed, saved for torn camouflage roofs. A total of four grenades, two thermal and two fragmentation, landed inside, and rolled around. The fire momentarily stopped, and the squad looked up to see the MG nest engulfed in massive explosions. The droids began a short-lived shrill, mechanical cry as more of a warning than a vocal expression of pain, as the explosion and ensuing incineration obliterated them.

The line stopped firing, and all those in Killjoy popped their heads up and over the mound of mud and dirt, noticing the black plumes of smoke rising into the air. The metal support beams that held up the trenches and MG nests were bent in unnatural angles, portions melted away from the extreme heat or bisected entirely from the force of the explosion and shrapnel. Mud and dirt had fallen in like a mudslide, filling the trench in the brown substance.

Their peace was short lived, however, as the remaining droid defenders began firing their ruby lasers at the exposed attackers. Boss and company ducked down behind the mound of earth, as it was pummeled by the never-ending fire from the Separatists. The top of the mound was etched away in small increments as shots continued to land, vaporizing the dirt entirely, while the rest of the mound of dirt, mud, and debris was pot marked with scorch marks and craters from various munitions impacting. The din of battle here was almost deafening as the artillery bombardment continued, sending continuous shockwaves around and large pieces of shrapnel into the hostiles positions.

There was a short respite, and Boss used this as his opportunity to begin returning fire, with the rest of Killjoy joining him. Their combined accurate fire decimated the droid positions, but they had ample troops left, and once their fire was concentrated enough, the super-soldiers were forced back behind cover.

As the sea of red plasma continued to wash over their position like waves against a rocky shore, Boss was able to see a gap in the Separatist position in the trenches, where no droids occupied a stretch of roughly ten meters. It seemed the droids were not going to reinforce that point in the line, either.

Once back behind cover, Boss looked back at his squad, and pointed to Sev, Scorch, Fixer, and Greg, and then said while pointing towards the empty stretch of trench, "You four, Killjoy-1, get into the trench system from there and plow through the Seppies, while we," he then stopped momentarily to indicate the rest of the squad with another hand motion, "Killjoy-2, lay down suppression fire."

"Yes sir." they all replied before retuning to their previous positions mounted against the mound of water-logged earth.

They all stayed there, waiting for the order, as Boss raised his left hand, and allowed his index, middle, and thumb to stick out, before retracting the thumb after one second, then the middle, after another, and finally the index after the last. Once the last finger had been retracted, he fanned with his hand indicating for the four to move out, then rose up, his hand back on his weapon, and began laying down fire on the exposed Separatists.

Boss looked down the sights of his DC-17m rifle, and lined up a shot with the exposed, irregular shaped head of a standard issue B1. He squeezed the trigger, and a myriad of plasma projectiles spewed forth from his weapon, with deadly accuracy, decapitating the droid with only a handful of shots. Within the space of milliseconds, Boss identified another B1, and fired in a similar manner at the exposed head of the unsuspecting droid. Yet again, with a flurry of sparks and electricity shooting out from the wound, the droid became headless, and crumpled to the floor of the trench, his weapon discharging once and hitting nearby comrade in its center of mass, sending it down for the count as well.

Yet again, the commando identified another target, this time a B2 that had found its way into the open and walking at a leisurely pace towards their position, its arm outstretched and ready to rain down heavy bolts of plasma upon them. Boss took careful aim for the equivalent of a head on the blue monstrosity, and pulled the trigger. Blue bolts moving at speeds that only a Jedi could detect impacted with the armor of the droid, and began tearing apart the protective layer that shielded the inner workings of the machine form the elements. After merely ten shots, the casing protecting the inner circuitry fell from its place and landed in the mud, almost disappearing under it.

Before Boss could continue with his attack, an unwelcome click sounded form his weapon, and he risked a brief glace at the DC-17m to see the holographic display on the side reading double zeroes. He plopped back behind cover and retrieved a magazine of plasma rounds from a compartment near his waist. And not a moment too soon, as by the time he had took cover to now, the B2 had begun firing where he was, burning the air and sending visible plumes of steam from the vaporized rain into the atmosphere. The bolts flew past, and impacted the tree line behind them, tearing apart the vegetation and falling more than a few young trees.

Boss placed the cartridge in the proper place at the side of his rifle with such expertise that could only be acquired form countless hours performing the task, and waited for the few milliseconds for the display to read sixty before preparing to rise once the B2 had finished its assault. Soon enough, the droid had concluded its attack, and Boss wasted no time in rising, and taking aim at the noticeable red dot at the center of the black expanse where the head used to occupy. Firing a quick burst of plasma directly where the crimson light originated, the droid shuddered slightly, and Boss allowed himself to fire elsewhere in the small area of uncovered wiring and machinery. After only a handful more shots, the B2 had suffered more than it could handle, and fell unto its knees, shuddering more violently before falling "face-first" into the muddy ground, sinking so far down and getting covered in so much brown mush that someone less observant would have passed by without even noticing the former war machine even rested there.

By now, Boss had noticed the rate of fire from the droid positions had decreased considerably, and the others in his fire team that had remained behind had stopped firing, looking at him for orders. Taking quick glances around, Boss quickly came to the conclusion that the area, at least in the first trench, was secure, with only a handful of pot-shots taken by other droids either skimmed over or in the other trenches.

Boss the motioned forward with his left hand while saying in the com unit, "Killjoy-2, move up." before rising with the rest of his immediate fire team and bounding over the whittled down mound of charred and black crusted mud that they had used for cover so far.

Once over the mound of mud, they sprinted over to the nearby trench, and jumped in, sending giant globules of mud and some dust from the drier parts of the trench into the air, while shaking the area for a brief moment like a mini earthquake. This was repeated with every other member's entry, and within the span of seconds, they all had entered the relatively wide trench and were making their way through the labyrinth. The trench itself was reinforced on both sides by equally cut logs of wood from the nearby woods, and posts that rose at least three meters into the air spaced out evenly at ten meter intervals. It wound through the ground, splitting up and combining at various points to make a maze, all interconnected with only broad areas that could be defined as layers that made up the trench system defending the cave.

After taking another left turn, Boss came across the men of Killjoy-1 scanning the area quickly and thoroughly for remaining enemies. Several droid corpses lay strewn about on the ground, gradually sinking down, their blasters discarded and various body parts missing, with charred metal marking where the plasma had dismembered them or liquefied their innards. The area behind where they lay was also pot marked with scorch marks and bullet holes, indicating that not all their fire was as accurate as they might like.

"Form up on me Killjoy." Boss ordered into the com unit, to which the squad responded by lining up behind Boss, their weapons held in a slack position across their chest, as they waited for new orders.

Boss simply began moving forward through the trench system, using the mini map still present in his HUD, as well as a yellow indicator showing how much distance he had left to travel until he reached his objective. His squad mates raised their rifles again at the ready position, and they formed up on the commando, Ben on his side matching his speed step for step, scanning the area with his BR for any remaining droid opponents.

After several turns, they came across a section that was left relatively unscathed by the artillery bombardment, lacking any discernible signs of occupants. It stretched on for over thirty meters, with a fork at the end, both sides leading to the same place according to Boss's HUD. They made their way through the corridor, taking careful, measured steps while moving their rifles up and down, side to side, scanning the area in and above the trench for droids or the surprisingly absent Morgukai warriors.

Just as Boss was about to think he was home free, a surprised grunt filled his ears form one of the Spartans. He turned heel, leveling his rifle at the source of the sound, Ron, and noticed a Morgukai, obviously hidden before, had jumped down on the soldier guarding their rear. Its spear was laying on the mud, broken in half, indicating his aim was less than true and the Spartan's famed lightning fast reflexes had avoided the object, before probably grabbing onto it and simply using his superior leverage and strength to snap the object in two.

Now, the Morgukai had pulled out a hidden blade, and twirled it around in his right hand, the blade itself vibrating slightly. Boss and the other would have shot, but the Morgukai had charged forward across the meter dividing him from Ron, preventing them from taking an accurate shot. Besides, Boss wanted to see, first hand, how the Spartans fared in CQC.

He was not disappointed.

The Morgukai, who was holding the knife in a traditional manner, turned it slightly to allow the palm to face skyward and stabbed towards the Spartan's relatively exposed neck. Ron, with the help of the genetic augmentations and the quick reacting armor that enhanced his reaction time considerably, stepped to the left and out of the way of the knife, before wrapping his arm above and around the Morgukai's arm, the cloned hostile unable to even notice what was happening. Tightening his hold while simultaneously lifting himself up and back slightly, Ron broke the various bones making of the Morgukai's weapon arm, causing it to drop the knife because of the searing pain shooting up through its injury. Then, while the clone warrior was dazed and somewhat confused over what just happened, Ron kicked the Morgukai right in the center of its mass, with only half of whatever force he could muster, sending it flying back several meters, before landing, a giant dent in its armor where the foot impacted, no doubt causing great internal damage.

Its death was confirmed when the red skinned enemy's chest never rose again, and its breaths seemed to cease.

Ron then picked up the discarded weapon, which had fallen when the engagement began, and rubbed his thumb against the sight reticle of his BR, clearing it of the invasive muck. He then, noticing all eyes were upon him, nodded slightly before raising his weapon to continue scanning the area, which everyone else soon did.

Boss simply nodded to the Spartan before turning back around and moving at his previous pace, everyone else following suit. Soon enough, they came across the fork in the road, and Boss, deciding that since both leaded in the same direction, chose a random direction, in this case left, and began weaving his way through the quickly tightening trench line. It had become so cramped that they could only move in single file, with Boss at the lead, Ben following him no more than a step behind, and Ron and Sev taking up the rear, walking backward to keep themselves fully covered, everyone else scanning every possible angle an enemy could attack from.

Boss turned a right corner, and came face-to-face with a group of five B1's and a single B2, all facing him, their blasters ready. Instinctively, he dropped down to one knee, and began firing on the blue monolith that rose considerably above the rest. Ben, seeing the predicament they were in, leaned right and began firing with Boss on the blue behemoth, while Fixer, who was right behind him, leaned left to fire on the other droids. The central and head coverings of the B2 were quickly torn away, and the internal circuitry was perforated with bullet holes and burnt to a crisp with the ionized plasma. It quickly fell forward, after only firing a handful of inaccurate shots at the attackers, and landing on a nearby B1, crushing the unfortunate battle droid.

Fixer had some success with the B1's, and was down to two left, both firing rapidly on the super-soldiers. The Spartan's shields flared into existence and commando's armor absorbed the impact of the plasma quite effectively as the droids continued to fire on them. However, with their combined accurate and devastating firepower, the droids were destroyed, slumping to the ground with their brothers and sinking slightly into the mud and pools of water that had accumulated in the trenches as oil and mechanical fluid oozed out of their open or cauterized wounds.

Fixer, Ben, and Boss reloaded before continuing, and soon enough, they came to the cave entrance, with not so much as a single hostile engagement. The cave was on a raised portion of the ground, taller than any of the soldiers, and wide enough to allow everyone of the nine members of Killjoy squad to file in line abreast formation.

Boss motioned with his hand for the others to form a wedge formation behind him, and took several tentative steps up the raised earth to get a good view of the inside of the cave. He noticed the earth continued to raise gradually for thirty meters, before leveling out inside the cave itself was illuminated by a series of lights that hung onto the roof, black wiring connecting all the small lights. Boss, with Killjoy right behind him, quickly moved forward, stopping only when the flat dirt beyond the forty meter mark was above him. He then looked up over the ground, risking a view of the Separatists position he knew was beyond. As soon as his head rose above the hillock, intense fire form a myriad of ruby red beams of plasma engulfed the air around him, ionizing it and singing his already scorched armor.

His quick reflexes allowed him the ability to duck down as quickly as the plasma bolts were fired, and they flew over his helmet harmlessly, moving on to impact the various trees of the woods far behind, setting some alight briefly before the fires were squelched by the continuing rain, or impacting the roof of the cave, sending dust and small chunks of rock falling around the super-soldiers.

The other members of his squad moved up to crouch down next to him, and Boss looked form left to right, nodding his head to confirm what they already thought. In the next moment, Boss picked out an EMP grenade he was carrying, and pressed the ignition button at the top, waiting several seconds before lobbing it above his head. The rest of Killjoy did the same with their various standard issue EMP grenades.

There was a brief period in which the fire stopped entirely, and Boss risked a look above the raised earth to see the Separatists position some ten meters away. This time, there was not attempt on his life, and within seconds, the familiar sound of EMP grenades detonating filled his ears, and the numerous shapes of droids fell from their various vantage points to lay slumped on the ground in their defense works.

Taking this as his opportunity, Boss shot up and began sprinting towards the Separatists position, with the other soldiers of Killjoy right behind him. They easily bounded over the raised defense works, and jumped over the trench, this one much thinner than its outdoor brothers. As he was jumping, and as soon as he finished landing, he shot at the various shapes of fallen droids, ensuring they were truly down for the count. The others in his squad did the same, and within seconds, all the droids were dismembered by the various munitions used against them, their electric circuits sending blue sparks into the ground like spider webs from their wounds.

From there, the travel through the cave was relatively easy.

XXX

Chancellor's Suite, Senate Building, Coruscant, Coruscant System, Coruscant Sector

In the darkened Chancellor's Suite, Palpatine sat at his desk, looking out at the intricate skylanes of the expansive city. Briefly thinking of the empire he was to create, and how it was just on the crisp of conception. Palpatine stood, and mulled over the news he just received from a slightly richer bounty hunter. Gaining the loyalty of the secret apprentice, Starkiller, as Dooku dubbed him, would be easy. The quest for revenge would be all he needed to gain his support, and once he had slain his former master, he would be fully engulfed by the Dark Side. From there, simple persuasion with the promise of power was all he would need to keep him in check, and the constant reminder that he, the master, was always more powerful would ensure their status quo would remain.

Shaking all of this from his head, Palpatine inched over towards the com unit installed into his desk, and said into it for his aid to hear, "Janette, can you please cancel all my meetings for the next three days. I have an important errand to run off planet, and wish not to be disturbed."

There was a short pause, before the aid replied, "Of course sir. I'll inform the Loyalist Committee and first thing tomorrow."

Palpatine smiled slightly that the mention of the Loyalist Committee, and the great pleasure he would have upon their death's, most notably that of Amidala, before he replied, "Thank you."

He leaned back in his chair, and allowed a smile to grace his features, as he thought of all his planning that would soon pay off immensely. 'And to think', he thought, 'all it would take is one proper apprentice to make my empire a reality'.

XXX

The squad met little resistance, encountering only a handful of Morgukai warriors leading squads of droids. Within ten minutes, they were through the tunnel and out the other side, and the sight before them was both awe inspiring and disheartening.

It appeared they exited through a slum section of the city, with low buildings practically touching each other, the alleyways between them only wide enough to allow one of the soldiers in at a time. The city was illuminated by still barely functioning street lights and some smaller ones hanging form the buildings. Trash and debris was scattered everywhere, from broken bottles to pieces of paper, to random datapads, all broken or discarded in the alleyways or the much wider main street that ran thought the area. All the lights from the adobe houses were out, an effect of the shield generator no doubt, and numerous scorch marks were on various walls, with dried blood pooled on the ground below them. There was the faintest sound of artillery shells impacting something, and the group looked around, only to find to their left the shield surrounding the city in a blue bubble of sorts taking a beating from the Republic and Coalition artillery rounds, which would impact with the shield, and explode outward, sending rippling waves through the adjacent area of the blue half bubble before they dissipated.

They continued scanning the area, and noticed the shield generator standing high above all the other short structures, two giant antennae arrays similar in appearance to ancient satellite dishes still sometimes seen on Earth protruding from the central metal obelisk and projecting the shield in a spiral pattern, the blue field dancing around itself before coming to a head and spreading out, forming the bubble.

Looking back at his HUD, Boss soon found that the generator was a good half a kilometer away, and no doubt well guarded from the Separatists. Turning his head, he nodded to the rest of his squad, before begging to jog through the alleyway, making sure to check every decrepit corner for potential hostiles as the rest of Killjoy set out doing the same thing.

They moved for thirty or so meters before coming upon a corner in the thin alleyway, and Boss held up his left hand, indicating for the squad to stop, as he hugged the wall near the corner like his life depended on it. Tilting his head slightly and moving the gun to get a better look at the side, Boss made sure the weapon was fully loaded before peeking over the corner lightly. He saw a group of seven droids, and two Morgukai milling about in the wider alley. The droids appeared to be talking with the Morgukai 'commanders' and failed to noticed the small movement from twenty meters away.

Boss quickly moved back behind cover, then looked back at his squad. He held up his left hand again, sticking his pinky, middle, and index finger out while holding the ring with his thumb to indicate there were seven enemies ahead, He then pointed at the two men behind him, Fixer and Ben, and motioned for them to come with his as the rest were given the silent order to watch their backs.

Boss quietly checked to see if he had any grenades left, and noticed one thermal still unused. Deciding he may need to use it later, he placed it back, then put his left hand up again, while facing away from the two behind him and towards the alleyway, holding up his thumb, index, and middle finger, before he began counting down. Once the countdown was complete, he charged forward, and turned the corner, before laying down fire on the droids, making sure to hit the Morgukai.

The Separatists were completely unprepared for this, and when Fixer's and Ben's fire was added to the din of battle, the little resistance they put up was quickly squashed, with no damage or injuries on the part of the supersoldiers of Killjoy.

Looking back over the alleyway, he motioned for the rest of the squad to form up on him, and they did so while maintaining their formation, two at a time through the alleyway, Ben and Boss taking the lead. Their trek through the wider alley was short, though, as they soon came upon the main street leading to the shield generator, now only a scant fifty meters away.

Yet again, Ben hugged against the adobe structure, probably a small business before the battle, and leaned out of cover cautiously to see where the enemy was. The shield generator was in the center of a courtyard, with numerous chest high walls made of what appeared to be tan and white marble surrounding it in several giant rings, with the ground ascending a level with every new ring, making what appeared to be a handful of steps up to the tall shield array. The courtyard was overall a squad shape, with four dirt roads forming the perimeter and trees lining it. They might have been vibrant before, but now the once imposing organisms were clearly dead or simply cut, burn marks marring their once proud visage. On each corner where two streets met, an AAT stood, its massive turret swiveling from side to side, scanning the area for any new threats. Four squads of droids, ten metal monstrosities and two Morgukai each patrolled the area in-between the tanks, and looked more ready for any engagement than the previous squad they encountered.

Ben turned and walked back several meters, indicating for the squad to form a circle around him. They did the best they could, and once he had their undivided attention, he began.

"Alright, here's the situation." he began, "We have four AAT's, supported with at least forty-eight hostiles, all ready to kill anything that moves. We're separated from them be at least forty meters of open street, where the tanks or droids could tut us to pieces, and by the time we reach the generator and plant the explosives, I have no doubt reinforcements will be well on their way."

Sev chose the brief moment in which Boss did not speak to say, "Only forty-eight? Sounds like a walk in the park."

Ruse then added, "Yes, the real party doesn't begin until we have at least several hundred enemies on top of us."

"It's not the infantry I'm worried about, it's the tanks." Boss replied.

"I think I got that taken care of." Greg said form the back, which gained everyone's attention, as he placed his Assault Rifle on the magnetic clamp on his back and pulled out a massive black gun, more imposing than any anti-tank weapon that Boss has had the good pleasure of seeing in this war.

As Boss was wondering why he failed to notice this weapon of war that was at his apparent disposal, Greg chose to continue, if for no other reason than to tell the Delta' about his new toy, "This is the M7 E /GNR, or more affectionately the Spartan Laser. Firing a laser so powerful there are only a handful of materials in the galaxy known to stop it, it would take some real divine intervention to save your ass from this beauty."

Scorch let out a clearly audible huff before replying, "A little overconfident in your plaything, Spartan?"

Under his helmet, Greg cocked up an eyebrow, before turning to Boss, and saying, "May I demonstrate on an enemy, sir? I promise all the tanks will be nothing more but smoldering piles of scrap metal within thirty seconds, flat."

Boss turned to Ben, standing nearby, and asked, "Can he pull that off?"

Ben merely nodded, and Boss let out a short sigh before motioning with his free hand to Greg to 'test' his weapon of choice. Greg walked past the squad leader confidently, before crouching just outside of cover, the Spartans Laser covering most of his upper body from any observer.

Greg looked through the sights, and lined up the two AAT's on the left side of the courtyard from their position, the crosshair forming a rad outline to indicate an enemy had been aimed at. Once the shot was properly aligned, he held down the trigger for several seconds. A beam of blue light emanating from the end of the 'gun' could be seen marking the forefront of the tan colored monstrosity. A nearby droid broke off from its patrol to investigate, and stood in front of the blue dot, allowing Greg to take out hostile infantry as well.

Just a second later, for an instant, a blue bolt of light, blinding in its intensity, streaked through the street from the alleyway towards the Separatists, moving at the speed of light. It instantly vaporized the top half of the B1 standing before the blue dot previously, bore through the relatively thin armor of the AAT like it was made of paper, and bore through the second AAT with similar ease, only stopping once it hit an adobe structure some hundred meters away, exploding violently and sending the structure crumbling down, dust and debris spreading through the street like a grey cloud of destruction.

The two AAT's exploded violently, massive flames engulfing the nearby droid sentries, who had gathered to see what had caused on of their comrades to walk off. Blackened, charred remains of tanks, no longer hovering slightly off the ground, but instead resting atop it like it was mounted there, were all that remained of the AAT's.

With ease, as the droids began to take notice of where the blue bolt of death came from, Greg lined up his sights with the closest AAT that had been spared only by its placement, and held down the trigger, waiting for the arrow on the side of the sight to reach the bottom. The blue dot formed again, and rested on the slowly moving turret, but the tank seemed to not take notice, as it didn't move a centimeter. Within second's time, another blue bolt of death streaked out of the cannon, impacting the tank before it could even begin to formulate a response to the blinding light now engulfing it. Just like its brothers, it exploded violently, taking two nearby droids with it, both of whom had taken up position behind of the marble rings to fire on them.

Greg quickly identified the fourth and final tank, as it began moving away from its position to get a better angle to shoot at the new hostiles. Training his sight on the moving target with expert ease, Greg targeted the bulbous center of mass for the imposing vehicle. Yet again, the tank seemed not to take notice, and failed to take evasive action. By now, the area around him was filled with the smell of ozone as plasma hit the nearby structure he was using for cover, sending sparks and chips of the adobe around after impact, covering the Spartans and nearby area in the debris. The blue bolt of light came out again, and this time, the momentum of the tank sent is skidding across the ground, hitting a structure and sending the building collapsing on top of the exploding vehicle. A massive plume of grey dust filled the air as the remains of the building finally settled atop their new setting. Black smoke, from the four deceased tanks climbed high into the air, marking their area for all defenders of the city to see, as the fires from the charred remains of the tanks continued to burn, engulfing several dead trees in flames as well.

Greg turned back, and holstered the Spartan Laser and reproducing his Assault Rifle, and then turned back out of cover to fire on the approaching hostiles, aiming for the Morgukai warriors first.

Greg heard through his com unit, from Scorch, "I need to get me one of those."

Before long, the entire squad was poking in and out of nearby cover, falling almost all the enemies that opposed them with expert precision. By the time the firefight was over some two or three minutes later, all that remained of the defenders were charred remains of their deceased corpses or broken, mangles bodies, pot marked with bullet holes or burn marks, and dismembered in many ways across the streets.

Killjoy quickly sprinted up the terraces of the courtyard and settled in front of the shield generator, which upon closer inspection dwarfed them all, easily reaching sixty meters into the air. Greg and Scorch went to work, applying their various explosive charges to the base of the structure. As they were almost done, two additional tanks, supported with a myriad of droids and Morgukai began moving towards their position form he left north facing road.

The super-soldiers acted quickly firing into the mass of infantry, as the group of Separatists continued marching towards them, almost at a leisurely pace. The two tanks began firing, their fire relatively inaccurate, landing many meters away, sending giant plumes of dirt and debris into the air in a massive explosion that rocked the defenders vigorously. Both continued to fire while moving at a snail's pace, not bothering to line up their shots, their mechanical brains thinking they had plenty of time.

Boss looked down the scope of his DC-17m and fired a continuous burst of plasma at a group of two droidekas that were rolling towards them from the east road, destroying both before either could deploy, and sending small black plumes of smoke into the air form their quick destruction. He then redirected his efforts back on the main force, which was now a scant thirty meters away. He aimed and fired within milliseconds of each action, and opened up on two B1's that were standing close to each other. His shots were true, and he decapitated one while falling another with several successive shots to the abdomen. Turning his attention to a B2 that had pushed aside another droid, he let loose with the remainder of his cartridge, blowing open the chest protector and head guard protecting the inner working of the war machine. Without conscious though, he replaced the useless cartridge and began firing on the exposed wiring, tearing apart the innards of the blue monolith. Halfway through his new cartridge, the droid began shaking violently before falling, face first, to the ground, kicking up a small amount of dust around it and sending blue arcs of electricity into the ground surrounding it for a brief period of time.

Seeing that for very droid they destroyed, another took its place, Boss yelled into his com until while still firing on enemies, "How much longer until you're both done back there?"

"Just one more charge, sir." Scorch replied, his monotone voice evidence enough of how many times he and his squad were caught in similar situations.

Soon enough, the last charge was set, and both Scorch and Greg yelled into the squad com channel, "All charges placed! Fall back!"

The super-soldiers stood, and while still firing, began jogging back, away from the approaching enemies and towards a block of adobe buildings across the street. Once out of sight, and while descending one of the terraces, the soldiers began sprinting towards their new objective. Ben kicked down the feeble door that stood in their way, and they fled in with a quickness and expertise that took years of constant training and experience to master.

Once everyone was safely hugging a wall for support, Greg and Scorch said at the same time, "Fire!" before detonating their charges simultaneously.

The ensuing explosion was truly massive, Boss had risked a view out of the nearby window, and saw the once imposing, monolithic structure engulfed in a fiery, destructive, all encompassing explosion that rocked the earth itself. The shockwave hit them, sending all the soldiers flying back and onto the ground, disorienting all of them.

When Boss regained his composure, and when looked out the window again, all he saw was a black plume of smoke that dwarfed those four from the tanks seen before, rising high into the air. The blue bubble that had encompassed the city previously was now gone, and artillery rounds that were fired too late began hitting the city itself, sending more massive explosions into the torrential downpour form before had diminished to a gentle drizzle hat slowly began smothering the raging infernos created from the expansive explosion of the shield generator. The two moons of Saleucami also began shining more brightly through the clouds, allowing an eerie, silvery glow to encompass the city and surrounding area.

Boss paid none of this any heed, though, as he scanned the area for the hostiles form before. After a minute, he concluded that they were all engulfed in the explosion, and stood to face the squad of super-soldiers, all now ready to move out at his command.

Just then, a voice broke through their com unit, and the cultured, voice of a clone spoke to them saying, "Excellent job, Killjoy's. With that generator down, we can finally take the city and end this Force-forsaken siege. Your next objective is to link up with our forces moving in from the north, east, and west of the city and aid them in whatever way they need. The nearest allied force is the 5th Shock Troop Battalion, who's closest objective is two clicks west of your current position. Arrive there, hold down the objective, and aid them in whatever way they need once they arrive. Understood?"

"Yes sir." the super-soldiers of Killjoy chorused before the connection was severed.

Boss then said to them, "Well you heard him, Killjoy's. Let's move out!"

(Note: For the next couple of days, or weeks, I'm going to go back through my story and revise grammatical errors and some other continuity errors that you all have pointed out. I have neglected to think of some very basic Newtonian Laws of physics when devising the space battles in particular, and I'll need to rectify that mistake. The outcomes will be the same, but I feel a complete rewrite of almost all of them, with the adjusted numbers (Ex. My MAC speed is way off), is necessary. You can avoid them, considering the same result will play out, and it shouldn't affect the story to any significant degree, but feel free to re-read them and point out any other errors I have made. I can't fix it if it isn't identified. As for some questions about the size difference in the supercarriers, and the fact that some say they seem 'underpowered' this is because the Covenant supercarriers, the ones over 27+ km in length, were designed for one purpose, extermination. These ones are designed to quell rebellions that would be lucky to get their hands on frigates, much less anything that could truly oppose them. Besides, it's not very cost effective to have a 27+ km supercarrier moving around enforcing the peace when one four times smaller can get the job done just as easily, and with a much smaller price. Nevertheless, with the war now in full swing, I'll make a note of it to bring back some plans to have supercarriers that are much bigger, but they won't be introduced until later, considering how long it must take to build one, even with the help of shield worlds and Forerunner 'factories'. That should be all. Thank you, and goodnight.)