A/N: This story takes place towards the end of SWTCW S1E19 Storm Over Ryloth, where Anakin and Ahsoka are tasked with breaking the Separatist blockade.
OOM-247 watched with an expressionless face as the Venator-class star destroyer crashed into Captain Mar Tuuk's Lucrehulk, bursting both ships into flames and sending them into a slow plummet towards the planet below. If his face had been capable of expression, however, it would have worn one of surprise.
Below him at the navigation console, pilot droid and first officer OOM-253 gave a mechanical whistle at the unexpected turn of events. "That's got to be a war crime," his all too familiar high-pitched voiced said in an almost sarcastic manner.
OOM-247 shook his head in disbelief as the explosions continued to burst around the Lucrehulk's outer ring; things had been going so good up until now. They'd successfully defended against the Republic's initial attack, and when they'd received word of their enemy's surrender, it had seemed that the battle was won. Apparently, that surrender had been a complete and total lie, and now holding their blockade just became a whole lot harder; not just because of the loss of their battleship, but because of the unknown fate of their only organic commander, Mar Tuuk.
He turned his gaze away from the two doomed vessels and gave his focus to the second Venator, which sat just out of range of their main guns. They had it outnumbered, six Munificent-class frigates to just the one cruiser, but their foe was not behaving in a normal way. Ahead, the Venator had turned its hull, exposing the underside of the ship and turning its main armaments and hanger bay away from them. OOM-247 cocked his head, trying to process what exactly it was they were trying to do.
Pressing a button on his command chair, holograms of the other battle droid commanders on the other CIS ships sprung up in front of him. They were likely as confused about this unexpected event as he was, and they needed to decide how to proceed as soon as possible, preferably before the enemy ship out there could try anything.
"I think the captain left," said OOM-793, captain of Battlecruiser 17.
"Who's in charge?" asked OOM-449 from aboard his ship, the Tailwind.
OOM-672, captain of Battlecruiser 19, scratched his head in an organic way and shrugged. "Not me."
"Not me," OOM-990 said immediately afterwards. He captained the Hurricane.
The last of the six commanders, OOM-545 of the Mantis, looked around but said nothing. OOM-247 knew that he had seniority, having served on his own ship since Geonosis, and he knew it was up to him to lead. The others looked to him, but he didn't know what to say.
On his own bridge, OOM-253 turned in his chair and looked back to him. "What do we do?" he asked. It was clear that they couldn't just sit there, not now.
OOM-247 looked at the other commanders around him. "Begin…" he was about to say 'attack', but he stopped himself. This situation didn't seem right. The Venator out there was acting so weird in exposing itself like that, almost like it was trying to bait them in. Inside of him, his chips were processing the information, going over orders, trying to figure out the best course of action.
"Should we attack?" OOM-793 asked.
He shook his head. "No. We will hold our line and maintain this blockade, as is our orders. What is the status of our fighters and bombers?"
OOM-990 vanished for a second and reappeared with a datapad. "Captain Tuuk ordered all hands to battle stations and put all Vulture droids and Hyena bombers on standby before the arrival of the first Venator. Twelve squadrons of Vulture droids and eight squadrons of the bombers were able to escape and are awaiting orders."
OOM-247 baulked; that was less than a quarter of the Lucrehulk's total complement. Still, it was better than nothing. "Order those ships to attack," he commanded, "And prep all fighters and bombers on your vessels. Launch half of your fighter complements but keep them close to our formation."
A chorus of "Roger, Roger" erupted around him, and OOM-247 turned his attention to the ship's viewports. Outside, he could see several dots moving towards the enemy star destroyer from the direction of the ruined battleship, no doubt the fighters that he had just ordered to attack. Within a few seconds he saw flashes of green and red light as they engaged the enemy force, and he saw several more dots emerge from behind the Venator to engage his own, previously unseen by him or his fighters.
It dawned on him that this must have been what the Republic commander had been planning, except with his frigates instead of his fighter squadrons. The intensity and speed with which they whipped around the star destroyer's hull…well, OOM-247 wasn't sure that his crew would be able to react in time to put up a defensive fighter screen or aim their point defense cannons before they were strafed or bombed. He was rather proud that he had made the right call by maintaining formation, but they still had to finish off this pesky Venator.
Outside, the battle continued far from his own starships. His vulture droids were swarming over the enemy cruiser, but it still fought back with a ferocity of its own. He could see many explosions on its hull, but many more in the space around it. Knowing that clone pilots tended to be superior to their droid counterparts, he wondered how many of the explosions were from which side.
"Our fighters are taking losses, but they're holding their own," the hologram of OOM-990 said, still looking at his datapad. "There's a report that a small enemy squadron has broken away from the main fight and is approaching our lines. They appear to be escorting a shuttle."
"Send two of our reserve squadrons to intercept," he ordered, wondering why a shuttle of all things would be out here right now. He suspected it could be some kind of Republic trick; after the false surrender, he wouldn't put anything past them.
"Bomber HB-1097 reports a hit on the enemy's port bridge. Damage unknown," OOM-793 had grabbed a pad of his own and was going over the real-time reports that the fighters and bombers were transmitting back to them. From this distance, it was the only reliable way to see what was going on out there.
"Excellent," OOM-247 said, "Do we have any more bombers ready to go?"
"I have one squadron, and I believe the Hurricane has one too," OOM-672 said and OOM-990 nodded in confirmation, "…but I believe the rest were on our battleship. Munificent frigates normally only carry Vulture droids."
"Very well, launch all bombers and have them engage that cruiser," OOM-247 ordered, "I want Tailwind's fighters to escort them; you may launch another squadron to take its place."
"Roger, roger," OOM-449 said before leaving the hologram momentarily, presumably to relay orders to his crew. A few moments later, OOM-247 saw the ships flying away from them and towards the battle.
"We're receiving a transmission from the surface," OOM-253 informed him, turning around in his seat once again to look at his commander.
"Put it through," OOM-247 said, and an instant later a hologram of Wat Tambor was standing in front of him.
"Where is the captain?" the Skakoan demanded, "What is going on?"
"He's in…" OOM-247 hadn't heard word of the fate of their commander, but he decided to assume that Mar Tuuk had made it off the ship, "…an escape pod."
"Idiots!" Wat Tambor shouted, "The blockade has been broken!"
"Not quite, sir," OOM-247 said, trying to calm the Separatist leader, "Our battleship only fell at the cost of one of their cruisers, and we're currently keeping their final ship at bay. Our flagship's surviving forces are engaging it right now, and I just ordered an addition two bomber squadrons to try to finish it."
The Skakoan looked surprised. "You mean nothing has gotten through?"
"No, sir. Our six frigates are holding the blockade."
Wat Tambor gave a cough and turned away. "Very good. See that nothing changes."
"Roger, roger," OOM-247 said as the hologram winked out. He turned his attention back to the battle, where indeed nothing seemed to have change in the few moments he wasn't looking. "What's the status of the Republic shuttle and its escort?" he asked OOM-990's hologram that had popped back up, remembering how he'd ordered his fighters to intercept the rouge squadron.
"Umm, let me check…" OOM-990 said, scrolling through his datapad, "Ah! Oh…it seems that the escorts were nearly completely destroyed, but the shuttle made it just past our lines. It appears that it collected something…an escape pod, it seems. Anyway, it's heading back to the enemy ship with its remaining escorts, our squadron in pursuit.
"They must have been collecting the commander who rammed our battleship," OOM-247 realized aloud, "Send another squadron to engage. Don't let them get back to their ship!"
"Roger, rog—" OOM-990 began to say, but was interrupted by OOM-253, who gave out a shout of surprise.
"Sir, three more vessels are emerging from hyperspace!"
Had he been an organic, OOM-247 would have cursed as he turned to see three Acclamator-class assault ships arrive into the system, well behind the Venator but closing quickly. It was already enough for droids like him to be tasked with trying to hold the blockade against one enemy cruiser, let alone a fleet!
"It looks as though is the invasion force," OOM-253 informed him, "the ships that the cruisers were trying to break the blockade for."
OOM-247 perked up a bit at that, especially as it sunk in that these were indeed just Acclamators and not more Venators. It was well known in the CIS navy that, while the Acclamators did carry smaller craft, their complement was primarily LAATs to aide in a ground invasion, not fighter craft to engage in space. If what OOM-253 said was right, then that meant that they'd retain fighter superiority with the several squadrons that were still held back in their lines, whereas the Republic wouldn't be getting additional fighter support.
"Launch all remaining fighters from all remaining ships," he ordered his fellow command battle droids. "What's the status of the enemy cruiser?" he asked to no one in particular.
"Reports show heavy damage," OOM-545 said, "Their fighter operations bridge has been destroyed, and six of their turbolasers have been disabled. It's turning about; though I can't be certain if it's to retreat or just to get under the cover of the Acclamators.
OOM-247 processed for a moment, then made a decision. "I want each ship to keep one fighter squadron in our line. All other squadrons are to attack. If any of our bombers are still armed, I want them to make a run on the closest Acclamator."
"Shouldn't we focus on finishing off the Venator?" OOM-793 asked.
OOM-247 shook his head. "That cruiser is already pretty much dead, and they can replace it soon anyway. If we can eliminate the planetary invasion force, though, then we can ensure that they don't have the troops to take the planet."
"Roger, roger," OOM-793 said, and they both turned their attention back to the battle at hand. The Acclamators, seeing that the blockade had not fallen, were already beginning to turn about as the waves of fighters hit them. OOM-247 could see the laser fire and explosions, but the arrival of several fresh fighter squadrons had reinvigorated the CIS attack. He could see an increase in the amount of fire being exchanged, and he saw several explosions against the hulls of the Acclamators. One of the hyena bombers must have still had its armament and scored a killing hit, because one of the assault ships suddenly shone bright, almost blindingly, for a moment, then bridge of the ship was gone and the rest of it was bursting into flames. Less than a minute later, the two remaining Acclamators and the heavily damaged Venator vanished into hyperspace.
OOM-247 sunk down into his captain's chair, a wave of what could only be described as relief coursing through his circuits. "Recall all fighters and bombers," he instructed, "I want full damage reports, and I want ships ready to go in case they return." He looked at OOM-990. "Did we take out that shuttle?"
"Um…no, sir," his fellow command battle droid said after a quick glance at his datapad, "It seems that it made it back to the ship just before their retreat."
"A shame," OOM-247 said, although in truth he wasn't feeling to upset about it, "Send word back to fleet command that we'll need another battleship, or at least more support if we're to hold indefinitely. Tell them that, for now, we're secure."
He sat in his chair and watched the fighter squadrons returning, processing the events that had just occurred. He himself wasn't sure all of what had just happened between the false surrender and the Republic's weird tactics, but he knew the important thing: the blockade had held. The CIS would retain control of Ryloth and all of its resources and its strategic positioning. In time, who knows, holding this line could prove to be one of the vital parts of the war as a whole, and he and his droids had done an excellent job of it.
If OOM-247 was an organic, he would have smiled.
A/N: Ever since I first saw the episode Storm Over Ryloth, I always kind of rooted for that collection of battle droids that were suddenly thrust into such an uncertain position. In the original episode, of course, they fall for the Marg Sabl and are completely destroyed, but I liked to imagine what could have happened if they turned out to be competent and even pulled out a victory in the face of seeming disaster. It seemed like both a ridiculous and fun concept, and thus this fic was born.
Two more things I want to say real quick: One, for any Ahsoka fans out there, I didn't really notice until after I finished this that if this happened, it would be pretty bad for her. I mean, the whole episode was her trying to deal with failure and redeem herself from her initial loss of men, and failing again here would probably be devastating for her. Oh well, I wasn't focusing on her anyway... Two, I also realized writing this just how important fighters and bombers are in fleet-to-fleet warfare. I mean, I was originally planning to have the warships slug it out, but I realized that the most effective strategy for the droids would be just to let their complements wreck havoc without engaging their main ships. As much as I like battleships and all, its for this reason that modern real-world navies hardly use them anymore; fighters and bombers are simply superior in taking down ships without exposing your own.
Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed!