Hello and Happy New Year, Jedi and Sith. Centurion Maximo, contacting everyone through the Force and welcome back to Star Wars: Galaxy At War. Now, the last chapter was a filler chapter, slowing down from the Atharva two-parter. Now, it's time to get back to the action out in the galaxy.
*Merson. New Separatist Base. Command Chamber. 12:00 pm. 22 BBY*
It took about a week, but the Separatists had finally completed construction of a new forward base on Merson which was the place of one of their victories over not only the Republic, but the Jedi as this planet was where Ronhar Kim and his padawan Tap-Nar-Pal were killed by droids. Nok Vega was in this base as his second chance, but he wasn't alone this time. Inside the command chamber with him were a fellow Nautolan, but with a red and yellow color scheme wearing goggles and combat armor. The second person was a human from Raxxus with white markings on his cheeks wearing a white and beige robe. The third and final being was a cyborg with a cybernetic left arm, right cybernetic eye, and a left cybernetic leg. These three were Zamenn Gurr, Niam Asuras, and Ramali Wittflor.
"Ah. It's nice to have a base where we were victorious." Ramali commented with a grin.
"Agreed. We destroyed two Jedi along with their entire force here." Niam reminded. "What a victory this was."
"We must not rest on our laurels, Niam." Zamenn commented. "On another note, Nok, how's that droid you've been working on?"
"Why don't you three see for yourselves?" Nok grinned. Right after he said that, the droid walked in, but looking different, having blue markings all over it's chassis, but the most prominent things were that it's hands had more digits, it seemed to be moving faster than the standard B-1 Battle Droid, and it had a strange weapons aside from the standard blaster it carried.
"Hello, sir. I came to see how the four of you are doing in our new base." The droid said, surprising Zamenn, Niam, and Ramali.
"That's how surprised I was a week ago." Nok kept his grin.
"W-Were doing fine, droid." Ramali partially stuttered.
"I'm glad to hear it. My new designation is Captain BD 91102, or Blue if you prefer." Blue stated.
"Alright, Captain Blue. What's the status of this base?" Niam asked.
"Droid production is up 40%, weapon production is up 60%, and we're working on a new ship design." Captain Blue answered.
"A new ship design?" Zamenn raised an eyebrow.
"Ah, yes. Captain Blue presented a new ship design with me to the higher-ups, and they approved it and we've begun construction of the prototype here on Merson." Nok confirmed.
"Interesting." Niam said. "This makes me anxious to see it."
"In other matters, this serves as a good forward base to other systems." Nok commented. "We've already begun operations to the Felucia System."
"Why there?" Ramali asked.
"It's dense jungles could hide another base well, and provide advantages for our troops." Nok reasoned. "Not only that, but we've begun negotiations with Umbara."
"Umbara. Now that's a good strategic point." Zamenn smiled. "From what I heard, the Umbarans have been relatively isolated for a long time, to the point where their weapons are vastly different from ours and the Republic's."
"What I've heard is that Poggle the Lesser of Geonosis is in the process of having his people rebuild numerous droid factories on his planet." Niam brought up.
"I've heard something better. Separatist High Command has approved construction of a new command ship." Zamenn cut in. The others awed at this little tidbit.
"Now this should be something." Ramali grinned.
"Unfortunately, the project is huge and the components are taking a long time to construct." Nok brought up. "We're making a couple of them in this base right now as we speak."
*A Couple Weeks Later… Coruscant. Jedi Temple. Main Hall. 14:39 pm. 22 BBY*
The Jedi Temple was abuzz today as word had spread that the Separatists had built a base on Merson. Merson was sort of a good system to have a forward base which was now in the hands of the Separatists. "I can't believe the Separatists would build a base on Merson." Sia-Lan scowled.
"Must be dealt with, this base must." Yoda said.
"Why not send Pohatu?" Kit Fisto suggested. "He returned a couple weeks ago."
"An interesting choice." Windu put his hand to his chin. "He's a little 'happy go lucky' to say the least."
"He does come through in the end every time, though." Eeth Koth voiced.
"Does he have a clone division?" Galia asked.
"Yes, he does." Anakin said. "The 113th Battalion, I think."
"He does seem like a good choice. He is a bit unorthodox, but it may provide us an advantage." Obi-Wan pondered.
"Like yours does, Obi-wan?" Qui-Gon joked.
"Not like mine, Master Qui-Gon." Obi-Wan replied.
"Pohatu will be informed of his new mission." Windu declared. With that, the meeting ended.
*Merson. Pohatu & 113th Battalion. 16:12 pm. 22 BBY*
Pohatu was ready for battle, not in traditional Jedi robes, but clone armor along with his clone forces which had brown and black armor instead of the normal white. "We're ready, General Pohatu." Commander Stone said.
"Great, Commander Stone. Let's get these Separatist flunkies and win another one for the Republic." Pohatu grinned.
"Uh, yeah. What're your orders, sir?" Commander Stone asked, though he was taken off guard a little from his general's enthusiasm.
"We split up. Captain Boulder will take a team for hit and run tactics. Sergeant Pebble will take two teams to create a distraction while you, me, and the other two teams will charge the front." Pohatu explained.
"Yes! Time to bust some clankers!" Captain Boulder cheered.
"Will do, General." Sergeant Pebble acknowledged.
"Alright. Let's do this." Pohatu smiled. With that, they went about their tasks. Pohatu, Commander Stone, and their teams were making their way to the front of the Separatist base.
"General, are you sure this will work?" Commander Stone asked, a little unsure.
"I'm pretty sure it will. The Separatists seem more sure of themselves just by being on this planet, seeing as how this was where Master Kim was killed by them." Pohatu had a tinge of sadness mentioning Ronhar.
"So, how are you so upbeat?" Commander Stone continued. Pohatu's smile faltered a little.
"I-I'd rather not say, Stone. It's private to me." Pohatu said.
"As you wish, sir." Commander Stone acknowledged. A half-hour later, they made it to the outskirts of the Separatist base. "That is one big base full of clankers, sir."
Suddenly, explosions were heard on the left side of the base. Captain Boulder and his two teams were already implementing their part of their general's plan. Several B-1 and B-2 Battle Droids were fighting the clones. A minute later, Sergeant Pebble and his teams were attacking the right side of the base. The same thing began occurring on that side. It was time for Pohatu and Commander Stone to begin. They charged the front. However, with them, not only B-1s and B-2s came out, but also the modified B-1 droid with blue markings walked out. "Spread out around the Republic forces! Surround them and box them in!" The droid ordered.
"Roger, roger!" The other droids obeyed.
"This droid seems a little smarter than the others!" Pohatu exclaimed as he was cutting up droids with his lightsaber. He could already feel clones starting to die getting shot down by the droids.
"Sir, we've got to push through!" Commander Stone shouted as he was dodging blaster fire from the droids and fired back.
"Kinda hard to do with more droids coming out of the base, Commander!" Sergeant Pebble yelled over the commlink.
"You won't win, Republic dogs!" The modified droid shouted.
"Who are you to tell us that, clanker?!" Commander Stone retorted.
"I am Captain BD 91102! You can call me Captain Blue!" The droid now named Captain Blue revealed.
"Since when have droids started taking names for themselves?" Pohatu asked.
"Nothing I've heard of. Ever." Commander Stone answered.
As the battle raged on, a compartment in the top of the base opened up with several Vulture Droids appearing from it. They converted their wings into legs and landed on the ground. Instantly, they began firing at the Republic forces. "They've got reinforcements!"
"Yeah? Well, we've got some, too!" Pohatu regained his signature grin. "I sent out a signal to the ships as soon as we started attacking the base. They should be coming in right about now." A few minutes later, 10 BTL Y-Wing Bombers flew in from the sky, proceeding to attack the Vulture Droids.
"Yeah!" A clone trooper cheered.
"That's the stuff!" Another clone trooper added.
Unknown to them, a large medium-sized ship was shipping out an unseen component from the base. "This is Sergeant Asuras to Captain Blue. Components have been shipped out. Withdraw at once."
"Roger, Sergeant Asuras. All forces withdraw!" Captain Blue ordered. With his orders, the other droids that weren't getting blasted made tracks in the opposite direction, confusing Pohatu and his clones.
"What's going on?" Pohatu asked himself out loud watching the droids withdraw.
*Coruscant. Jedi Temple. Council Chamber. 19:43 pm. 22BBY*
Pohatu was in the chamber with Anakin, Padme, Tiplee, and Tiplar. "So, the droids just retreated?" Tiplee asked.
"Yeah." Pohatu answered simply. "I could sense another motive for the battle, though. I feel as if it were more of a distraction."
"If that is the case, what was this distraction meant for?" Obi-Wan asked.
"Find that out, we shall." Yoda stated.
"This brings concern." Tiplar commented. "The Separatists must be working on something secret."
"Gotta be a new weapon. They probably know they're kinda outmatched in some departments, but what worries me is that droid that named itself Captain Blue." Anakin brought up. "Could this be a new level in droid programming?"
"Could be, Skywalker." Windu partially agreed. "We're only at the beginning of this war. You did good on Merson, regardless, Pohatu. I doubt the Separatists will build another base anytime soon."
"Thank you, Master Windu." Pohatu smiled. "Though, I feel that I need some time in my quarters."
"Of course." Shaak Tii allowed. With that, Pohatu walked out, deep in thought. What could the feeling he had back on Merson mean? Was it leading to something bigger in the Clone Wars? The Battle of Merson only left Pohatu with more questions.
Back in the chamber, the others were still discussing the surprisingly short Battle of Merson. "Pohatu mentioned the Separatists have a new droid fighter called the "Condor" Class. Unfortunately, Pohatu and his forces couldn't secure any blueprints." Anakin commented.
"That is unfortunate. We do not know the intentions of the Separatists for the base on Merson." Rancisis added.
"It might be that they were trying to hide something more sinister." Plo Koon said.
*Coruscant. Jedi Temple. Pohatu's Quarters. 20:21 pm. 22BBY*
Once Pohatu reached his quarters, instead of sleeping, Pohatu began to meditate on a pedestal made purely of stone. He wanted to clear his mind of all these questions and was determined to do so.
Hello, everyone. I hope you all liked this chapter of Star Wars: Galaxy At War. Here, we see Pohatu in action with flips, kicking boulders, and his clone force: The 113th Battalion attacking the Separatist base on Merson. We do get some hint of depression within Pohatu.
However, with the Separatists, they reveal the new "Condor" Fighter with longer wings than the Vulture Droid Fighters and Hyena Bombers and eight blasters. The Separatist Commanders in the Merson base were talking about a new command ship. What could that mean? Also, the modified droid that survived the Battle of Atharva has revealed itself to be named Captain Blue. Finally, we meet new lower-level Separatist Commanders: Sergeant Niam Asuras from Raxxus, the cyborg Ramali Wittflor, and the Nautolan Zamenn Gurr. The "Condor" Class Fighter is my creation for this story and this won't be it's only appearance.
Now, this chapter isn't really a Republic victory as much as a Separatist one. Even though the battle wasn't really ended, the Separatists were able to ship out multiple components for a secret project.
As usual, if anyone has any ideas for this story, please let me know in the comments/reviews, or personally PM me.
List of crossovers so far:
Brave Frontier
Bionicle
More crossovers will join in the future. If anyone has any crossover ideas, please let me know.
PS: The BTL Y-Wing Bomber is one of my favorite ship designs in Star Wars, with or without armor.
See you all next time in the good fight!