FIGHTING THE FORCE

(PART 1: DEADLOCK)

THIRD PERSON

While Braisa and Marida observed the battle from their base on Umbara, they saw that although the Imperials were unable to advance, they were unable to press the offensive. They felt that they weren't winning since they hadn't repelled the enemy, nor were they losing since the enemy forces couldn't get close. As the two officers watched, twelve clones broke cover to charge the enemy, only to drop dead in half as many seconds. 20 minutes later, eight times as many Imperials dropped dead ten times quicker. As the battle intensified, Braisa and Marida decided to shift their tactics.

A quarter of an hour later, Marida saw that the fighting was mainly going on in the main route. She figured that, due to the length of time the fighting had been out in the open, there was a small pass on the northeastern side.

"Braisa," Marida said, "why don't we send some guerilla units through that pass."

"An excellent idea."

Sixty-five second later, Braisa and Marida received a report that the guerilla units that were dispatched had successfully cost some chaos, though the Imperials recovered quickly and the troops were forced to retreat.

"Well," Marida said, "we at least managed to take out a few enemies."

Braisa shrugged and said, "True, but we still haven't broken the stalemate. At this rate, the winner will be the one that doesn't run out of ammunition. We will need some reinforcements."

"Agreed."

Eight minutes later, a clone said, "Commander Nilun, Colonel Micraden. We've made contact with General Fraes."

"Good. Tell her to wait until we arrive."

"At once ma'am."

Twelve and a half minutes later, Braisa and Marida entered the command center where Villeria was waiting on the transmitter.

"General Fraes." said Braisa

"Commander Nilun, Colonel Micraden. What is it?"

"Our men are holding against the Imperials, but the fight has become a deadlock." Said Marida.

"Meaning?"

"While they can't advance without sustaining significant casualties, we sustain significant casualties whenever we try to press the offensive."

"Since I've heard about how critical a planet Umbara was during the Clone Wars, I'll be there with my command ship and six other cruisers."

"Thank you."

The following day, the body count was, out of 6'000 men, 835 dead, 1'002 mortally wounded, 628 critically wounded, and 915 minorly injured. While the wounded were being tended to and the dead being buried, Braisa and Marida were going over battlefield strategies and hoping would arrive soon to break the stalemate. In spite of their hopes, Braisa and Marida were fairly certain that without reinforcements, the best way to win would be to either deal them a heavy blow, which would break their morale, or wait for them to drain their resources completely, forcing them to retreat due to their inability to continue the fight.

On the eighth day of battle, Braisa and Marida carefully observed the battle for any vantage points or any weak spots in the enemy lines that a charge could break through. Eventually, the two officers were unable to find a way to engage the enemy without sustaining heavy casualties yet again, they decided to try and find a good landing zone for when she arrived.

Twenty minutes later, Marida and Braisa found an isolated area where could land her troops unopposed. What they found was a wide open field large enough for to land her troops by platoon.

Then, without hesitation, Marida turned to a clone and said, "Sergeant, contact General Fraes. Tell her we've found her a decent landing zone."

The clone saluted her and left to carry out his orders and report the landing zone.

"Now," Braisa said, "we'll just have to wait until Villeria arrives."