ME: Now for a bunch of Jedi to die. Come on, it's war.
The Republic has arrived, General Grievous. Already the Jedi and their clones have destroyed the frigates I left in orbit. However, they did not destroy the embarked infantry battle droids, which, sir, were all offloaded. Between the weather, the numerical superiority of the droids, the inexperience of the Jedi when it comes to being military officers, and the Jabiimi Nationalists, I say the odds are in our favor.
(Rear Admiral Pors Tonith, speaking to his superior, General Grievous, Supreme Confederate Commander)
On top of Monsoon Mesa the Republic had established Shelter Base, a Main Operating Base (MOB) that was made the headquarters of the Jabiimi Security Assistance Force (JSAF). At the MOB, a hospital was established to treat wounded soldiers and injured civilians while hangars were constructed to house fighters needed to provide air support. Having repealed the droids and Nationalists assaulting Monsoon Mesa Jedi conferred with Colonel Gillmunn on the situation of Jabiim.
"Colonel, I regret to inform you that we have confirmed your status as the highest ranking Guard officer on Jabiim," Obi-Wan said.
Gillmunn sighed. "Understood, sir," he replied. "Shall I commence the briefing on Stratus?"
"Please, Colonel Gillmunn," Senior General Barrek said, wanting to learn everything he could about their enemy.
The Jabiimi Loyalist projected a holographic image of Stratus. "Alto Stratus lost his parents to Lythian pirates as a child," he began. "As a result of this and other atrocities that did not receive Republic aid in spite of Jabiim paying its taxes, he founded the Jabiimi Nationalist Party. After Count Dooku's death on Geonosis, Stratus initiated a coup with his followers and killed most of the Loyalist members of Congress as well as the President and Vice President. He has promised the Separatists mining rights in exchange for support."
"Can we negotiate with Stratus, Colonel?" Commander Vaabesh asked. "A peaceful resolution to this conflict would be better than a violent one, especially given the grievances of the Nationalists."
Gillmunn looked Vaabesh in the eye, which was impressive considering the Padawan wore a mask to avoid being poisoned by oxygen. "No, son, we cannot negotiate with Stratus. It is more accurate to say that Stratus will not negotiate. He already has murdered multiple politicians, either by his own hands or ordering it. The bastard's sheer hatred for the Republic and all who support it is just too strong for him to be reasoned with. Plus there is this video he released just last night."
Gillmunn then displayed a recording of Stratus personally forcing nine Judicial peacekeepers into a cage at gunpoint and locking it. The Nationalist leader then lowered the cage into the river it was being held above, drowning the desperate and pleading peacekeepers.
When the recording finished, most of the Jedi in the room had visibly paled and all were silent.
"All right," Chad said, being the first to speak, "can we track down and eliminate this SOB?"
"Murder is not the Jedi way, Skywalker," Senior General Kossex chided.
"With all due respect, ma'am," Gillmunn said, "General Skywalker's idea has merits. Stratus is an unstable rabble-rouser and terrorist, so killing him would prevent him from endangering the lives of Loyalist and even neutral civilians any further. However, Stratus is protected by a special forces unit known as the Nimbus Commandos, so any attempt to capture or kill him will not be easy."
"Nor will defeating the Separatists," Anakin added. "There were four Separatist frigates in orbit, Munificent-class. Each one could have carried up to one hundred thousand and fifty B-One battle droids, leaving a bare minimum of six hundred thousand droids if the Separatists were smart and landed them. That's not including other reinforcements from the Seps and the Nationalist Army."
"We are Jedi, young Skywalker," said Senior General Antilles. "We can bring peace to this troubled world."
The meeting concluded and the Grand Army, aided by Jabiimi Loyalists like the Guard and pro-Republic partisans, began to move beyond Monsoon Mesa to retake Jabiim.
What no one on the Republic side knew was the fact that two very deadly Confederates had been dispatched to Jabiim to ensure the planet remained under the control of the Separatist Alliance.
*CUT TO: BRIDGE OF CSS DOOKU, OUTSIDE OF CHOAL, JABIIM*
"Sirs," said Commander Merai, the Executive Officer of Dooku, "the technicians report they are ready to activate the shield. The radar shows all aircraft are clear of the shield's diameter."
Admiral Tonith smiled. "Good work, Commander. Now it is time to reap the profits of our investment."
The Mon Calamari officer gave the order, and the shield activated. Now the Republic would not be able to attack the command center of the Confederate forces on Jabiim.
"With the shield active, Commander, we are not only invulnerable to orbital bombardment but able to divert additional power from the reactor to communications," Captain Tuuk said. "This is invaluable given how it is harder to send and receive signals on a world like Jabiim."
Commanders Ventress and Durge nodded. "The clones and Jedi have landed," Ventress said. "With the central control computer safe, Durge and I will now be able to deal with the Republic Army."
Tonith: "Good luck with that, Commanders. Maybe Stratus will actually show some gratitude for once."
"Don't be unrealistic, Admiral."
*CUT TO: COBALT STATION, JABIIM*
The Grand Army had established a number of forward operating bases to support tactical operations, with Cobalt Station being one of them.
Serra was now wearing tactical glasses to provide a HUD and protection for her eyes in addition to one of Chad's tunics, and had tied her long black hair back in a ponytail (having opted to simply change her hair style by avoiding making side tails just to save time). Originally she had worn the tunic to satisfy Captain Pellaeon, but Jabiim was wet and cold, prompting the young woman to keep wearing the tunic. Besides, the thing was big and comfy since Chad was taller and broader than her, it was like a day long hug for her, and it smelled like him.
"Any orders yet, Chad?" Serra asked her husband.
"Negative," Chad replied, wearing all of his armor but the helmet. "There's no way the Separatists are going to give up without a fight-."
The voice of Master Barrek interrupted him. "General Skywalker! General Skywalker!"
"Yes, Master Barrek?!" Chad asked. Shit, I had to jinx us.
"We're under attack by a massive Separatist force at Outpost Cobalt Alpha Seven! I repeat, we need reinforcements at Cobalt Alpha Seven immediately!"
"Understood, Master," he responded. Chad then turned to Serra. "All right, let's get the men moving."
"Right."
Soldiers from the 182nd Legion were en route to Cobalt Alpha Seven via gunships within minutes. Obi-Wan contacted Chad and began to brief the younger Jedi Knight.
"The enemy has attacked in force at the outpost Master Barek and his Padawan were inspecting," he said. "Since Shelter Base and our FOBs are better protected and we have spread out our forces since landing at Monsoon Mesa, I believe they are attempting to target our weaker positions first."
"That makes sense," said Chad. "What is the estimated size of the Separatist attack? What reinforcements are we sending to Alpha Seven?"
"The Confederate force could have anything from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of troops, both Nationalist and droid. We sent all of the Jedi and as many clones and Loyalists as we could spare," Obi-Wan answered. "We still needed to leave men behind to protect our other bases. May the Force be with you and Serra, Chad. Kenobi out."
The gunships landed, depositing the Jedi and their subordinates. A pale woman with two red lightsabers and a giant clad in armor stood at the head of the Separatist forces. Master Barrek's headless corpse and his scalped Padawan, Sha'a Gi, lay nearby.
"Oh, Grievous is gonna be so jealous when he figures out how many Jedi he could have killed here," the giant said.
"We'll just have to send him a holo, Durge," the pale woman said.
Serra and Chad, being the ones farthest from the giant called Durge and the Dark Jedi, opted to engage the rest of the Separatists along with the clones and Loyalist volunteers. Both would've preferred helping out the others, but neutralizing the battle droids and Nationalist soldiers was just as important and they'd probably get shot in the back if all the Jedi were focused on Durge and the bald woman.
Serra charged at a platoon of Nationalist infantry and began to kill them off one by one. It was a lopsided battle in the Padawan's favor; the Nationalists only had helmets and blue uniforms for their protection, so any deflected blaster bolts proved fatal more often than not without any armor between the particle beams and the chests of the soldiers. In about ninety seconds the entire platoon lay dead at her feet.
None of the droids Chad went up against did any better, for they were mainly cheap B1 models built with quantity over quality in mind. Among them were B2 super battle droids-sturdier, smarter, and deadlier than their predecessors, but they were still taken out fairly easily. One of the SBDs tried shooting Chad in the back while he was distracted by a group of seven B1s, but Sixes promptly knocked the droid over with the butt of his rifle and put a burst of particle bolts into its head.
"Thanks, Sixes," said Chad, leaping in front of the clone and batting away blaster bolts as the Commander put his shield back on.
"You're welcome, sir."
Meanwhile the other Jedi had not proven as lucky. Pol Norcunna had been hit in his lekku by Durge with a spiked flail, causing him to scream in agony before being decapitated by the Dark Jedi. Rallcema Bylissura had been shot in the heart, while Dalnus Cam was killed shortly afterwards by a Separatist sniper while trying to fight the bald woman. Sana-Jis Ilowa had her throat slit by Durge. Kossex was shot multiple times in the back by a Nimbus Commando who had successfully ambushed her before being killed by a stray mortar round. Shon Kon Ray had been decapitated, while Voolvif Monn had been stabbed in the head. This left Nico Diath, Jon Antilles, Knol Ven'nari Glaive, Jakob Sirrus, Ellia Leska, Tarr Seirr, and Obi-Wan Kenobi as the only Masters and Knights still fighting the two Separatists.
"Who the hell are you?!" Anakin shouted as he tried to aid his master in combat against the Dark Jedi.
"Asajj Ventress," she said simply before slashing the Chosen One across his face, giving Anakin a vertical scar and causing him to scream in pain.
Nico Diath successfully stabbed Durge in the chest. However, instead of dying the gigantic Separatist merely laughed and punched him in the throat, crushing Diath's windpipe. Durge then pulled out a slugthrower pistol and shot Ellia in the small of her back, causing the young Jedi Knight to scream in pain and fall to the ground.
"You should have just killed her," Ventress complained, annoyed, for she was busy blocking blows from both Sirrus and Obi-Wan and thus was unable to simply chop Ellia's head off. "If you want the Jedi to suffer on the battlefield, you have to settle for it being quick and efficient or even they will exploit any opportunities you give them!"
"Hey, nothing wrong with leaving them alive so we can torture them later," Durge shot back. "We have to think about the future of our entertainment."
"Will you two both shut up?!" Knol Ven'nari snapped as she and Tarr Seirr charged at Durge.
"Oh, you're no fun," Durge said as he fired at the Bothan and the Cerean with two pistols-a blaster and a slugthrower, respectively.
Suddenly, just as they were getting close enough to start slashing at him, Durge dropped his blaster pistol and switched to a fletchette launcher on his left arm. Knol had seen the move coming and was able to deflect the flechettes with the Force, but Tarr realized what Durge had planned too late and one of the flechettes hit him right between the eyes, piercing one of his brains.
"You've killed your last Jedi, Durge!" Knol snapped as she sliced his slugthrower pistol in half.
Durge shoved the half he still held into one of the Bothan's eyes, causing the Jedi Master to scream in pain. Durge then punched her repeatedly in the head, cracking Knol's skull.
"That was for destroying my favorite slugthrower, bitch."
Jon Antilles, Glaive, and Zule Xiss approached cautiously.
"You're a nasty bastard who's probably won dozens of bar fights, asshole," Glaive snarled, trying to intimidate Durge even though the abrasive Jedi Master knew it was likely to be in vain. "But so am I, and I've won approximately two hundred bar fights."
"I stopped keeping count after a thousand!" Durge replied as he closed the gap while firing flechettes at the trio. Unlike Tarr, they were well prepared for it and deflected all Durge's shots successfully. The Separatist giant activated a flamethrower and was able to set both Antilles and Glaive on fire. The former was killed, while Glaive (who shoved Zule out of the way in an uncharacteristic display of compassion) was able to shield himself from the worst of it to a certain extent and dropped to the ground before rolling around to smother the flames.
"Fuck you, buddy," Glaive cursed as he struggled to his feet before being decapitated by Ventress, who had ran over to assist Durge. Zule, angered at the death of her master in spite of the two not getting along well, stabbed Durge in the back of his head only to have her arm sliced off by Ventress. The young Falleen screamed in pain as she was Force-pushed away by the bald Dark Jedi.
Durge grunted in annoyance. "Shit, these Jedi are going down like chumps."
Anakin and Obi-Wan moved in, followed by Sirrus after he checked on Ellia and Zule.
"Give up, my dear," Obi-Wan said. "You can't possibly kill all of us."
Ventress laughed at the absurdity of her opponent's desperate words. "The majority of you Jedi are already dead," she sneered. "You three are all exhausted, and the boy's already been scarred by me. Once we kill you three, then we'll off the Padawans of your fallen since they're all busy hacking away at cheap droids. You will fall, as all-."
Suddenly a ball of mud slammed into Ventress's face, cutting her off.
Chad and Serra rushed in, green and blue blades alight. "Shut," Serra said. "The fuck. Up. Bitch."
Ventress snarled and wiped the mud off her face. "Which one of you two lackeys of Palpatine did that?" she snapped.
"You two got spunk," Durge said before either Chad or Serra could answer. "Too bad I gotta kill you both."
The five Jedi promptly engaged the Dark Jedi and her gigantic companion in a fight. The quintet were joined by Sirrus's Padawan, Aubrie, who had cut her way through the Separatists single-handedly in a bid to aid her mentor.
Serra flew through the air after being kicked by Durge. Relieved to discover that she hadn't suffered any broken limbs or ribs, the female Padawan heard a whirring sound and moved evasively just before a sword severed her Padawan braid and ponytail.
The swordsman, who she recognized to be Alto Stratus, snorted. "A girl?!" he said, his voice dripping with cockiness and contempt. "The Jedi send some teenage girl to oppress the brave people of Jabiim?" He shook his head and said, "You probably haven't even finished going through puberty, child! And yet they send you to kill me, the Liberator of Jabiim?!
Serra rolled her eyes. "I'm nineteen, douchebag," she said as the Padawan easily evaded a thrust from Stratus before slicing his hand off. The politician screamed in pain, but somehow was able to discard the shield on his left arm and go for a pistol. Serra didn't give him a chance and sliced off his left arm, causing Stratus to scream even louder before she kicked him in the groin.
She snorted as he fell to the ground and began to whimper. "Puny Liberator."
Meanwhile Ventress had engaged Chad, Sirrus, and Aubrie in a pitched fight. Chad, being an athletic young man, was able to fend off Ventress easier than Sirrus could. Despite this, the Dark Jedi remained a tough opponent and actually was able to knock Chad's lightsaber out of his hands. Then she brought her own lightsabers down for the kill.
Chad activated his gauntlet lightshields just in time, and red plasma met green plasma. Ventress gasped in surprise, and Chad kneed her in the groin.
"You fuck!" she cursed, falling back.
Durge heard Stratus's screams and groaned. "Shit, now we gotta fall back and get a certain idiot to a hospital or Grievous will chew our asses out for losing Stratus."
Ventress nodded and ordered the Separatist troops to initiate a fighting retreat, knowing they had to cut their losses in light of Stratus's incompetence as a warrior. Meanwhile Durge knocked Serra aside and retrieved Stratus before running away with Ventress.
A few Nimbus Commandos, one armed with a missile launcher, stayed behind as their leader was carried to safety. The one with the missile launcher locked onto Aubrie and fired before he was shot in the chest by a sniper.
Sirrus reacted quickly. Knowing it was a heat-seeking missile, he jumped in front of it and was killed instantly but saved his Padawan. An enraged Aubrie promptly charged and began to hack at all the Separatists she could reach, organic and droid alike.
"Get behind me!" Obi-Wan yelled at Anakin as a few Hyena-class bombers, having gotten past the Republic's fighters, began dropping bombs on the Republic lines. Obi-Wan was able to shield himself, but the force of an explosion from one of the bombs still sent him flying into a crashed Z-95 Headhunter. Anakin promptly destroyed the remaining droids with Aubrie while Serra called for a medic and Chad realized he was now the highest ranking Jedi on Jabiim who was still standing.
Well I'll be damned...
*CUT TO: COMMUNICATIONS ROOM, SHELTER BASE, MONSOON MESA JABIIM*
Obi-Wan was now in a coma, while Ellia was now unable to walk since she had been shot in the spine.
Out of the seventeen Jedi Knights and Masters assigned to Jabiim, Chad was the only one who could still fight. Apart from Zule and the unfortunate Sha'a Gi, none of the Padawans had been severely injured or killed, so they were all dealing with the situation in their own ways.
Chad remembered Anakin looking at Obi-Wan's comatose body and knew his brother was mentally pleading to the Force for his master's survival. Chad remembered Aubrie had wept over Sirrus's bloody remains, for the man was like a father to her. Hell, he even remembered Zule shedding a tear for Glaive.
In spite of the odds against them, Chad knew it was his duty as the highest ranking able-bodied Jedi to report to both the Council and Supreme Chancellor Palpatine.
"It is good to see you are alive, Chad," Palpatine said via the HoloNet link. "You are one of my most treasured young officers. But where is Senior General Barrek? As the Commanding General of JSAF, it is his duty to report on the status of our efforts on Jabiim."
"That's because he and all the other Masters are dead, sir," Chad explained.
"What?! How?!" Master Mundi asked, seemingly genuinely shocked.
"Master Mundi," said Chad, "there was this bald humanoid woman named Asajj Ventress armed with two red bladed curved-hilt lightsabers and an unstoppable giant who probably eats durasteel for breakfast." He then displayed an image of the two.
"That's a Gen'Dai," Master Ranciss said. "Virtually indestructible sentients, you can't sneak up on them due to their nervous system."
"Are there any survivors, young Skywalker?" Master Shaak Ti asked.
"Generals Kenobi and Leska both survived, Master," Chad said, "but he is now in a coma, while she was crippled by the Gen'Dai. His name's Durge, BTW. Apart from Commander Gi, all the Padawans are still alive but Commander Xiss had her arm chopped off. Where are our reinforcements?"
"None are available, Chad," Master Windu said. "You must retreat immediately."
Chad shook his head. "We probably cannot pull off an evacuation of all our men, Master, let alone the Loyalist fighters and civilians. Stratus is a mass murderer, he will slaughter anyone who isn't on his side. Also, the untapped ores will enable the construction of more droids and thus we will lose the war."
Master Plo Koon spoke next. "Skywalker, you are the only Jedi Knight capable of leading the Padawans into battle left. If you are killed, they will have no leader to guide them in the field."
"I have a solution," said Palpatine. "General Skywalker, I hereby designate you as the new Commanding General of JSAF. General Leska will serve as your second-in-command. Commanders Skywalker and Keto are hereby temporarily made Generals but will remain subordinate to both you and Leska."
"Chancellor," interjected Master Fisto, "you do not have the authority to promote Padawans to Jedi Knights."
"I did not Knight either of them, I made them Generals," Palpatine said. "This is both to compensate for our losses and in the event Chad here is killed or incapacitated."
"Thank you, sir," Chad said, grateful. "We won't let you down."
"Do not worry about me, General Skywalker. As you yourself said, we cannot let the Separatists make more droids with Jabiim's ores. I have complete confidence in your skills as an officer."
ME: I had Leska survive but be crippled to explore her character more while still making Chad the only Jedi Knight still capable of fighting. Also, Ahsokafanboy1138 had she and Aubrie as cousins due to looking similar, but I didn't mention it in this chapter since I didn't ask.
Ahsokafanboy1138, God bless him, suggested fifty thousand as the number of clones sent to Jabiim, which is better than the canonical one of around ten thousand or so.
Sixes rifle butting an SBD is a reference to a Red Shirt doing that in the old Clone Wars series. Considering the absurdly bad tactics seen in both TCW and the old show, that was a refreshing case of Truth in Television.
Writing the deaths of the various Jedi was probably the hardest of this chapter. I hope you guys didn't think their deaths were stupid. Some of them died in rather mundane ways (i.e. shot in the back) because that's the nature of war; deaths tend to be anti-climatic. Hell, Leska died in the comic because she was distracted by sunlight after not seeing it for a while.
This chapter is dedicated to Bishnu Shrestha, a retired Gurkha who fought off a band of train robbers who wanted to rape an 18-year old girl. Thank you, good sir, for ridding Earth of some fucking disgusting bastards.
Palpatine giving Anakin and Serra brevet promotions to General looks pragmatic, but it's mainly so they think he trusts them more than the Council does.
Any voice actors for the Padawan Pack? Perhaps some of RWBY's cast?