Hello everyone. I'm so sorry for the massive delay. Things have gotten a bit better, but I'm still in a rough place. I'm very sorry for not being able to finish this chapter as early as I would have hoped. However, I hope that this chapter is one that you all will enjoy, leave comments and ask me questions! Love you guys so much!
Felucia, Four days since the Republic Fleet was wiped out
Like many of his fellow clones, Commander Bly was eager for the fighting to begin and was more than happy when deployed to Geonosis. However, just like many of his fellow officers, his attitude soon changed as the war waged on, as more and more of his brother, either from droids or the sloppy leadership of the inept Jedi. He would never admit it now, but deep down in his core, it bothered him to see clones be breed, growing at an accelerated rate, then at less than 5 years old go off to war and die for a Republic they never really knew. And the treatment of the clones didn't make things easier for him. Many Jedi saw them as abominations, cannon fodders, a necessary evil. Working was Secura was different though. He could see that she would want to lead with Bly rather than lead Bly. She helped Bly personalize the 327th, being involved in giving the clones names instead of numbers. That was something that the clone respected and saw as a rare trait.
Bly got up from his seat and grabbed his blaster rifle and proceeded to walk out of his tent. The lights were dimmed within the base, in an effort to stay hidden from the Separatist scouts. The commander walked towards a lookout tower and went up the steps, his armored footsteps echoing as he did. The door slid open and Bly found his men in their positions, as he expected. The officer on duty looked at the commander and nodded. "Evening, Commander. What brings you up here?"
"Just checking in on the troops, Camo. Anything out in the fields?" The commander asked, staring out at the multi-colored flora that surrounded them. The roar of an Ackley echoed.
"ARF troopers should be reporting soon. Our snipers haven't seen any drones or droids." Camo reported, taking a seat. Bly nodded and turned to leave the unit when one of the clones spoke up.
"Commander! I have movement." The sniper reported. Bly moved forward and lowered his visor, trying to focus on the area that the sniper was aiming at. Out of the flora emerged two ARF troopers. One was carrying his brother over his shoulder, slumping forward. Camo shot up and raised his comlink. "I need medical at the front gate for an injured ARF trooper!"
Bly ran down the metal staircase with Camo. They waited for the ray shield to drop and then met the ARF troopers as they came into the base. The ARF trooper still stood, holding his comrade.
"What happened, trooper? " Bly asked as the ARF trooper lowered his fellow scout onto the stretcher.
"Droid ambush, Commander. We were able to destroy them but lost several other clone troopers."
The medical team raced out of the central hub with a stretcher to carry the injured trooper.
"Sithspit. It's a good thing you were able to stop them from transmitting a signal." Camo said. "He looked up at the scout. "Were you followed?"
"No sir". The ARF trooper responded.
Bly peered at the ARF trooper that was being laid down on the stretcher and watched as he was carried away. "Get some rest, soldier."
"Roger roger."
Bly looked at the ARF trooper with surprise and tilted his head in curiosity. "What?"
The medical officer heard a blaster shot from behind him and saw that Commander Bly was firing at the ARF trooper, as the other clone shouted at his commander. But what was more surprising was how the ARF trooper moved at inhuman speed, narrowly dodging the blaster fire. A haunting realization came upon the medical officer, but before he could react, several blaster shots rang out and the officer felt a burning hole in his back. He slumped forward, dead, joining his fellow medical personal on the ground.
The ARF trooper on the medical stretcher leaped off the table and ran into the base, holstering the blaster to his side.
Bly's hand was swatted by the commando droid as it knocked his pistol out of his hand and delivered a devastating punch to Bly's face, cracking his helmet's lense. Bly hollowed in agony and clutched his helmet.
The droid ran towards Camo who raised his rifle but was too slow. The commando droid leaped into the air and grabbed Camo by the head, then as it came down to the ground, twisted Camo's head around and a sickening crack was heard. Camo fell down dead. The droid stood up and walked towards the base, but a shot rang out and it's tumbled with a clang. Bly was standing with his other blaster pistol, his helmet discarded, clutching his side. He raised his wrist's comlink and shouted in it. "We have a commando droid disguised as an ARF trooper. Shoot him down! Stop him!"
The ARF trooper walked through the base, trying to navigate without drawing suspicion. But as he walked more and more, he noticed how the clones kept following him. As he turned around a corner, he heard the click of a blaster and found himself staring down the barrel of a gun.
"Hey there, brother." The clone spat. "Mind taking your helmet off for me?"
"For what purpose, Captain?" The ARF trooper asked, analyzing his surroundings.
"For verification purposes. Commander says we have a commando droid in our ranks." The captain pressed the blaster against the helmet even more. "Now, take off your helmet and let me see your face."
The trooper stood there with his hands up, backed into the wall. Before he could think anymore, the captain pulled the trigger. The trooper fell down and lurched forward. The captain knelt down and removed the helmet, revealing the head of a commando droid.
"Commander, this is Captain Deviss. Target down."
Felucia Base, 30 minutes after CIS infiltration
"How the hell did this happen?" Bly slammed his fist on the table, anger seething from him. Anakin Skywalker and Aayla Secura stood at the same table, assessing the situation.
"These commando droids are smarter than your average droid. They must have found the ARF troopers, got the location of the base and then went to it to make sure they weren't lied to." Anakin said with his arms crossed.
"I suspect that General Grievous already knows about the location of the base. I sense chaos coming." Aayla said, turning towards Bly. "We need a plan. We need to return to Coruscant."
"We all want to get home, General. But we don't have the means to get everyone back. Our fighters only have enough for a short-range jump and then they are basically empty. The gunships don't have hyperdrives. We are sitting ducks." Bly said as a hologram popped up of the LAAT.
Anakin pondered for a moment. "The LAATs don't have hyperdrives, but they can handle space. How many of them do we have?"
"About 7, Commander."
"And what of our other ships?"
Bly pressed a button on the holotable and the gunship shrunk down and was replaced with several images of Republic fighters. "We have Master Secura's Jedi starfighter, 10 V-19 Torrents, and 4 Y-wings."
"Hmmm"
Secura turned towards Anakin curiously. "What are you thinking, Skywalker?"
"We may not have the hyperdrives, but that frigate does." Anakin pressed a button on his end of the table and it displayed the CIS fleet above them. "Grievous has two frigates with him. His own personal cruiser is the one with the EMP wave. We can use the starfighters to disable to EMP wave generator. While they are focused on the starfighters, the LAATs will board the frigate, take control of it and escape."
"That's madness!" Bly shouted.
"It's our only shot at getting everyone out of here alive!. We have everything going against us, but we have to do something! I wouldn't suggest this idea unless I believed it was our only shot!"
"General Secura, you can't believe this!" Bly turned to his Jedi General, looking to her for support.
Aayla stared heavily at the holotable and took a deep breath. She looked up at Bly. "Commander Skywalker is right. We have no other choice. This is our best option."
Anger and frustration were written on Bly's face and he glared at Anakin before looking back at Aayla. "Very well, General. I will assemble the troops."
Felucia, Night time
Clone Troopers ran, prepping their ships for takeoff, loading into the LAATs. Pilots were in their cockpits, running systems checks.
"Commander Skywalker, the strike squad is ready for takeoff at your command," A clone officer said to Anakin as the two walked towards the starfighters.
"Good. Once I give the signal, the LAATs will follow and sneak in during the battle. Everyone goes home, Captain Fordo."
The ARC Captain nodded proudly. "That's what we intend, sir." Fordo saluted and walked away, motioning to his remaining ARC troopers.
Anakin jumped onto the wing of Aayla's blue Delta-7, greeting the orange astromech droid. "Hello there, Q5."
The little droid chirped and spun its head around.
"Hope you're ready for a ride, little guy." Anakin laughed as the cockpit was raised. As he moved forward, he felt a cold chill run down his back. He stopped and turned towards the outpost's wall. Anakin leaped up onto the wall and looked out at the forest. Digging deep into the Force, Anakin focused on the forest, searching for the disturbance.
CHOOM
Anakin opened his eyes in a rush and saw a white light arching over the jungle, racing towards the base. Anakin recognized that streak of light. It was the Defoilator. Anakin reached out with the Force and struggled to grab the missile. He clenched his hands and groaned as he tightened the Force around the missile like a snake. The missile was getting closer and the clones were taking cover. With a loud yell, Anakin threw his hands up, swinging them back. the missile arched again and raced in the air, soaring past the Republic outpost, into the far fauna behind the outpost.
Anakin turned towards the clones. "Fighters! Get airborne! We need to take out that weapon! Everyone, take defensive positions!"
Grievous scowled as the Republic outpost did not erupt into flames as he expected. He angrily shoved the droid commander. "Reload the cannon! I want that base to burn!"
"General, it will take time to recharge the Defoilator."
"Bah!" Grievous turned away and overlooked the droid army in front of him. "Wipeout that base! Leave no survivors!" The droid army marched forward as the cyborg stared intently at the Republic base. Jedi scum.
"All pilots, get airborne! Gold 4 and 5, stay with me to take out those tanks. Everyone else, listen to Gold 2 while airborne." Anakin commanded as the ships lifted off.
"Copy that, Gold Leader. You heard the commander, everyone else with me!" Gold 2 began to ascend into the upper atmosphere, leading the rest of the small strike force towards orbit.
A volley of blaster fire was shot up at the ascending starfighters, as the droids attempted to shoot down the clones. Anakin heard the metallic hum of Vulture droids grow louder and louder.
"Gold 2, you have Vulture droids coming up on the rear!"
"Copy that, Commander."
Q5 gave a low chirp as the starfighter rose into the air and raced over the Felucia forest, trying to search for the droid army. "The Flora is too thick! Does anyone see the droids?"
"Negative, Commander." Gold 5 responded. No sooner than after he responded to Anakin did a tank shell rip through the V-19's cockpit, sending the starfighter crashing down.
"Evasive action, trooper!" Anakin yelled as he dove his ship to the side, dodging another incoming tank shell.
"Commander, the shots came from that ridge!" Gold 4 said.
"Get to that ridge and take out those tanks. One of them has the ability to wipe out the entire base quickly. If we don't take it out now, everyone in that base is as good as dead!" The two pilots towards the ridgeline.
Q5 chirped, spinning its head around. "Q5 is picking up high amounts of concentrated energy nearby. We go in and hit those tanks!"
"Copy that, General! Let's melt some metal!" The clone pilot cheered, grinning under his helmet.
"How long until the Defoilator is ready?" Grievous rasped, anxious to see the flames roar.
"Only a few minutes, General." The droid engineer responded before he disappeared into the control center of the tank.
"General, we have incoming Republic fighters."
"Blow them out of the sky!" Grievous angrily roared, his patience draining as he kept being pestered by the mindless droids. His mood soon improved as he saw a ship erupt in flames and crumple down into the ground.
The remaining ships got closer and Grievous could hear the sounds of their engines.
"Take out those ships, now!" The Jedi-Killer roared.
The AAT's cannons fired at the incoming ships, but the Republic starfighters weaved flawlessly, dodging the incoming shells. Grievous realized his situation and began to sprint away from the two tanks. The Republic starfighter began to rain down on the tanks. They both erupted into flames, spewing metal and fire all around them. Grievous roared in anger and threw his singed cape to the side. A battle droid came up to him.
"General, we-" The droid was bisected with a cleave from one of Grievous's lightsabers. "Kill. Everyone. In that base."
"Excellent flying, trooper! Let's move up and take out that EMP." Anakin cheered, as he prepared his ship for exiting the orbit. Their engines roared and broke through the thick atmosphere, seeing the Separatist frigates up ahead.
"Gold 2, this is Gold Leader, come in." Anakin hailed to the squad leader.
"Commander! This is Gold 2. We're losing men out here! The V-19's are doing what they can, but we are struggling to get close to the Ion cannon!" Gold 2 responded, panic laced in his voice. Anakin could sense his fear starting to rise.
"Steady trooper, stay calm. All wings, form up on me. We are going to do hit and run tactics on this ION cannon. When we get close enough to it, unleash everything you have on it, understood!"
"Sir yes, sir!" The company responded. Anakin saw the ships race towards him and formed up behind him.
"If we get close enough to Grievous's flagship and hug it, we will be able to avoid those turbo cannons. Bombers, have your gunners focus on any Vulture droids following us. on my move, we dive." Anakin ordered as he began to speed up.
"Cop that General!"
Turbocannons from the Malevolence began to rain down on the advancing squad. An explosion went off behind Anakin.
"Status report!" He called out.
"This is Gold 7, I lost my gunner!"
"I'm hit! My engine's are sh-" Another explosion went off.
"Steady everyone! We dive now!" Anakin grimaced as his ships shook. He spun the starfighter and dove towards the capital ship, hugging the hull to stay clear of the cannons. Gold Squadron followed close behind, weaving to avoid the incoming cannon fire and Vulture droid fire. Q5 chirped as he locked onto the structure of the EMP cannon. Another bomber exploded as crashed into the capital ship, the trooper crying out over the radio until exploded. Anakin activated his thrusters and readied himself to fire on the EMP cannon. "Q5, prepare the missiles!" He ordered
The astromech droid complied and spun his head in compliance. "All unit, open fire on the cannon!" A colorful barrage of blue and purple bombarded the EMP cannon. Purple energy emitted from the cannon. There was a white flash, followed by a devastating shockwave, knocking some of the starships into each other.
"Everyone, get clear! Join the gunships at the frigate!" Anakin ordered, putting all power to his thrusters to escape the explosion of the EMP cannon. Anakin turned to his HUD and pulled up his communicator. "Q7, patch me through to Captain Fordo."
The red and white ARC leader popped up infront of Anakin, who stared at his wrist. It looked like he was hunkered over, using something as cover. "Commander Skywalker!"
"Captain, the EMP is down. Is everyone aboard the Separatist frigate?"
"The Muunilist 10 and 2 other gunships were able to make it. General Secura is still down there with other clones, they are fighting General Grievous's troops. They were able to destroy a few of the gunships, so we've had to make several trips to get everyone. The wounded are still down there helping." Fordo ducked, then returned fire with his blaster.
"That frigate is our only chance of survival, Captain. I have faith in you." Anakin encouraged the ARC trooper, then cut the comms. Activating his thrusters, he dove back down to the planet, racing as fast as he could go to reach the base.
Grievous roared in laughter as he crushed the clone in his hand and tossed its limp body forward. Easily deflecting blaster bolts, the cyborg laughed as he slowly moved forward with his droids, raining chaos down upon the clones. His arms moved at superhuman speed, deflecting the blaster bolts back to the clones. And then he saw her. The Jedi. Master Aayla Secura. Striking her down would make him even more feared in the minds of the Jedi. And perhaps make Grievous's loss of the Defoilator less punishing. The Jedi noticed Grievous and made eye contact with him. He laughed again and pointed his two lightsabers at her. "I shall grant you a warriors death, Jedi scum! Better than what you deserve."
"General, we have an incoming Republic starfighter." A droid commander said to him through a comlink. Grievous scowled under his life-supporting mask, annoyed that he felt like he had to command every single action for the droids.
"Shoot him down!"
"Roger roger." Several B2 Super Battle droids aimed up at the incoming starfighter and let off a bombardment of wrist rockets. The starfighter weaved left and right but was unsuccessful in being able to avoid all of them. The wrist rockets ripped apart the starfighter, splitting it in half. The nose of the ship dove into the ground, crushing several droids beneath it. The pilot half spun in circles, flames sputtering. Grievous grinned under his mask. However, this grin quickly disappeared as Grievous saw the pilot leap up out of the crashing ship and land in a spectacular fashion before he reached to his side and activated his lightsaber. Grievous found himself moving closer to the front lines. "Press the assault!" He roared, deflecting the incoming blaster bolts.
"Sorry about your ship, General Secura" Anakin grinned, spinning his sapphire blade and knocking the bolts back at the droid army.
The Jedi Master merely frowned as she joined Anakin in covering the troops. "Everyone, fall back into the base. Activate the ray shield!" Aayla yelled at Bly, who was dragging an officer back by the pauldron, who was firing his rotary cannon in rage at the droids.
"What about you?!" Bly yelled back, ducking as an explosion went off.
"Don't worry about us, just have the ships ready for take-off!" Anakin yelled as he unleashed a powerful force push that sent several battle droids flying, some of them being redirected to the Droid General. Grievous easily cut through the battle droids.
Anakin and Aayla began backing up as the droid general got closer. The cyborg cackled as he began to close the gap, his arms spinning in a whirlwind. "Clones, get back into the base!" Aayla shouted. "Skywalker, with me!" The Jedi Master deactivated her lightsaber and pulled her hands back, drawing deep into the force. Anakin picked up on what she was doing and followed suit. "NOW!"
The two unleashed a powerful force push that tore though the Felucia wildlife and battle droids, ripping metal apart, pieces shredding through the droids in the back. General Grievous anticipated this though and dug his feet into the ground and ducked low, holding on as tight as he could. He was thrown through the air and flipped as he soared, but was able to grab onto the ground as he came back down. He got back up and looked around him. There weren't that many droids left with him. Grievous walked up to a commando droid who was getting back up. "I will deal with these Jedi myself. They are stalling for their gunships. Wait for them, then blow them out of the sky."
"Roger roger".
Grievous walked forward slowly towards the two Republic leaders. "General Secura, Commander Skywalker. I must say I was not expecting this. It's rare for me to kill three Jedi in such a short amount of time." The cyborg laughed evilly as he saw the scowl appear on Aayla's face.
Anakin activated his lightsaber and stared at the Jedi-killer. The cyborg spilt his two arms into four, with each hand holding a lightsaber. "This new one, the orange one, belonged to Master Zanari. He was a difficult one to crack, but eventually, he broke, like all Jedi." Grievous spat, watching intently as his opponents tensed up.
Aayla raised her wrist comlink. "Bly, have the ships take off soon. Skywalker and I will need one of you to get us. We will hold Grievous back." Not waiting for a response, Aayla cut communication and entered her fighting stance. Anakin readied himself.
Grievous sprung forward with a Kaleesh battle cry, swinging his two front arms down. As Anakin and Aayla dodged to the side, his other two arms swung to the side, attempting to catch them off guard. They were both able to block them, but the speed caught them off guard. Anakin and Aayla both attacked simultaneously, trying to overwhelm the Droid General. Grievous was no stranger to this strategy and moved quickly to parry his attackers.
"You fools! I've been trained in your Jedi arts by Count Dooku himself! I know all of your Jedi forms, their strengths, and their weaknesses!" Grievous laughed as he began to put more pressure on Aayla, limiting her mobility. Aayla found herself struggling immensely and her lightsaber was knocked out of her hands. Grievous lunged his lightsaber forward, ready to impale the Jedi, but Anakin gripped the Force around Grievous and hurled him back. Grievous turned around and played into pull, swinging his sabers with such fury that it would have broken through any Jedi's guard and killed them. But Anakin was not a Jedi. Anakin's guard withheld the attack, and he moved to the side and effortlessly cleaved his blade through one of Grievous' hands. The three-fingered robotic hand fell to the ground, steam rushing from it. The cyborg grunted in anger, scowling at the young man. Anakin grinned and taunted the General. "Come on now!"
Aayla ran to Anakin's side, lightsaber drawn. "Skywalker, it is time!" She shouted as gunships began to take off.
"Open fire!" Grievous yelled to his droids as he charged at Aayla and Anakin. Grievous swung with malice and rage unlike any Anakin had ever seen before. Hate spewed off of the Droid General like a rushing waterfall. Fatigue began to set into the two Republic leaders. With each swing, Grievous could tell he was getting closer to ending the fight. Grievous locked sabers with Skywalker, keeping him at bay. Aayla swung her blade, but Grievous let go of his own, with caught her off guard. He moved his arm around her and caught the falling saber, then spun over and slashed through the Jedi Knight's back, going deep into her shoulder and spine. Aayla cried out in agony and dropped to her knees, unable to move.
"Aayla!" Anakin cried out, unleashing a force push that sent Grievous back. He deactivated his lightsaber and cradled her, laying his hands on her wound. "Stay with me, Aayla! Bly, we need pick up now!"
"Skywalker, would you mind tossing me the deceased Jedi's lightsaber? As you know, I have a collection. One that I will have your's added to." Grievous laughed as he got back up.
Skywalker gave him a dark glare and was about to respond when the hum of a gunship caught his attention. It lowered itself between Anakin and the droids. The blast doors opened and clones began firing at the droid army, including Grievous.
"Get on board, sir!" A clone trooper yelled as Anakin picked up Aayla and entered the gunship. "General Secura needs immediate medical attention now!"
"We will be able to treat her once we get to the frigate. The Seps have caught on and we don't have much time!" The clone responded as the gunship began to take off and shot into space.
CIS Frigate, The Bridge
Captain Fordo stood at the helm as he commanded the ongoing battle, commanding the pilots before him. "Do we have control of the ship, Oddball?" Fordo asked.
"We have navigation control and we have successfully cleared the ship of battle droids. We are ready for lightspeed-" The ships shook as an explosion went off. Oddball continued. "We are ready for lightspeed, but our deflectors can only take so much more."
"We are still waiting for the General and Commander Skywalker. Then we leave." Fordo responded. The ship shook again and Oddball turned around to look at the ARC Captain.
Fordo glared through his visor. "We wait." No sooner than the words left his mouth did his comlink beep. "Captain, the last gunship is aboard!"
Fordo looked up and pointed at Oddball. "PUNCH IT"
The hijacked frigate took off and escaped the bombardment from the Malevolence, racing through hyperspace to freedom.
Anakin carried Aayla out into the hangar, feeling her life force fading. "Medic! We need a medic over here!" He cried out. Clones looked over and saw the situation and shouting began.
"We need a medic the hangar now!"
"The General is injured!"
"Notify the surgeon!"
A medical team quickly arrived on the scene and took Aayla from Anakin and raced through the crowd of clones to the makeshift medical center.
Anakin walked over to a crate and collapsed on it, fatigue setting in. They had been stranded for days and the battle to escaping was exhausting. Anakin began to feel himself crack. He held his head in his hands, trying to calm down and prevent himself from crying. Though none of the troops saw it, a few tears went down Anakin's face.
AND THAT CONCLUDES THE FELUCIA ARC. God guys, I'm so sorry for the delay. This arc was gonna be longer but I figured you guys deserved this for your patience so I had to trim some stuff. I hope you guys all enjoyed this chapter. Right now I have 2, maybe 3 more arcs prepared before we get to the grand finale of this story. Once again, comments, suggestions, criticism, and questions are all welcomed!
What do you guys think? Will Aayla survive? Is Anakin going to break down? How will the Jedi Council react to Anakin's lightsaber?
