The battle for Azuria! One of the
Republic's largest shipyards is under attack
from Admiral Kragok's Separatist
forces. Shinobi Generals Merlin the Fox and
Shadow the Hedgehog lead a two-pronged
assault on the ground and in the air.
But after weeks of heated battle and
mounting losses, the Republic's grip
on Azuria begins to slip away...
Two damaged Republic gunships arrived at a base and released wounded clones. Inside the hanger, Shadow and Merlin were examining a hologram of the planet "The badniks have overrun our main production facility. It won't be long before the Separatists take Azuria, compromising our entire reserve fleet". Armand and Fang then came over to them "Pardon the interruption, General, but Fang here has a good theory on why we keep, uh… losing". Merlin nodded "Please, Captain". Fang stepped forward "Well, the badnik army uses analytics to predict out strategy. The fist time we use a tactic, it's very effective. The next, not so much. In fact, the more we use a certain tactic, the less effective it becomes. They learn our tendencies and use that data against us. To counter them, we're constantly working out ways to vary our attack". Armand nodded "But the losses we are experiencing on Azuria are not commonplace" "Exactly. The counterattacks are so specific, it's my strategy the badniks know, my playbook". Armand stepped forward "My concern is that Fang is one of our best. If the badniks can learn to defeat him, we may all be vulnerable" "What do you propose?" Merlin asked. "Let Fang and me take a small squad behind enemy lines. There's a Separatist Cyber Centre which relays all battlefield intel to their command ship. If we're going to find anything it will be there". Merlin crossed his arms "If you think it will help turn this fight around, get going" "Thank you, General" Fang said. Shadow thought he looked strange "Fang, is there anything else?". Fang's eyes shifted slightly before shaking his head "No, General" the two clones walked away as Shadow watched them suspiciously.
Fang was sitting alone in a barrack staring at a picture if him, Armand, Mighty and Ray. The door then opened "Come on, Fang. Time to move out" Armand said. Fang barley moved "Mighty, Ray, and before that, Ash. There's so many troopers gone". Armand nodded "Yeah, regular folk don't understand. Sometimes in war, it's hard to be the one that survives" "That's what I'm worried about". Armand walked in front of him "What do you mean?" "I didn't tell the Generals. They might think I'm crazy. In fact, you might think I'm crazy". Armand didn't understand "What're you saying, Fang?" "I… I think Ray's alive". Armand stared at him sceptically "Fang that's not possible. He died at the Citadel" "The way the badniks are countering us here, the strategies I'm using, they're all old battle plans Ray and I drew up together" he looked back down at the picture. Armand sighed "Look, Fang, I hear what you're saying. But it's just not possible" "I hope you're right. The fact is, Ray's fingerprints are all over these Separatist strategies". Armand reluctantly shook his head "Fang, you have to admit what you're saying is a long shot at best, and most likely, misplaced hope. I need you to be focused on us". Fang nodded "I-I know, I know. Don't worry. So what squad are we taking". A slight smirk formed on Armand's face "Clone Force 3 8 21 3 11". They exited the barracks and saw Jet talking to Cat "I've heard mixed things about these guys".
Cat shrugged "They have 100% success rate" "It's not that they win. It's how they win that worries me". The two clones head out to the landing strip and heard something over the PA system "Repeat, coming in hot on platform TT-3-9-7". A shuttle flew in to close to the ground forcing clones to scatter "Look out!". It landed in front of our group, the engines of the ship pushed crates away in every direction "So why haven't I heard of this squad?" Fang asked Armand, "Experimental unit Clone Force 3 8 21 3 11, they're defective clones with, uh… desirable mutations". Fang smiled "Nice touch with the number" "They call themselves the Babylon Rogues, after they're first mission". The shuttle's doors opened and first a red echidna with black spots on his forehead, white tops on his dreadlocks and wearing a blue vest walked out. Then after him came an orange monkey wearing a metallic suit and somehow had a lightbulb at the top of his head. Next came an angry looking grey rabbit with one eye and wearing a black shirt with yellow shoulder pads. Finally, a large grey and white albatross with a gold beak who grinned "The cavalry has arrived!". Jet and Cat glanced at each other nervously "These guys are clones?" "They don't look like it to me". Armand walked up to the echidna and shook his hand "Sergeant, good to see you again" "You too, sir". Armand turned to Fang and the others "This is Rutan". Rutan nodded to them "Sorry we're late, Commander. We were putting down an insurrection on Bzzzz Prime when your comm came in. Had a few unforeseen… complications".
The albatross stepped forward and laughed "Ever fought a male Bzzzz?" "Um, no, I can't say I have" Jet said, "You're lucky. Only way to kill 'em is with one of these" he took out a knife". Rutan nodded "Storm here cut off the Queen's stinger while she was still alive. That's why all those males tried to eat us" he said disapprovingly. The monkey then pushed past them "Uh, technically, they were trying to mate with us. And for your information the stinger of a Bzzzz queen is a delicacy on some planets". "They call him Coconuts" Armand told the others. Rutan hit Coconuts on the back "Yeah, he can fill your head with useless info for hours. Jack, on the other hand, he's not much of a conversationalist, but when you have to hit a precise target from ten klicks, he's your man". They looked to the rabbit who angrily glared at him. Rutan turned to Armand "So, Commander, what kind of suicide mission do you have for us this time?" "Let's get going. We'll brief you on the way". They entered a gunship and Storm punched Jet's shoulder which he tried to ignore.
After a while of traveling Jet noticed Jack glaring at him "What're you looking at?" "We don't usually work with regs". Jet angrily stepped forward "Regs?", Rutan stopped him "He's talking about regular clones. But don't take it personal". Armand looked between them all "We're all on the same team, so cut the attitude and listen up. Here's the mission. Our targets it this Cyber Centre". He showed them a hologram of a base with a large dish above it "It's the brains of the entire Separatist campaign here on Azuria". Storm scoffed "I could demolish that with one hand! Yeah!" "This isn't a demo job, Storm. It's strictly a retrieval operation". The ship was suddenly hit "Incoming fire!" the pilot yelled, "They must have spotted us". They felt the ship shake and then it began to drop "We're going down!" Storm laughed gleefully. The gunship crashed into a gorge killing the pilot. Storm climbed out and helped the others "We always get shot down when we travel with regs" he said to at who looked back into the ship and saw Armand trapped under debris unconscious "Armand! We need help!" "I'll get him" Fang said. Rutan got in front of him "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Easy, Captain. Storm, get him out". Everyone got back but Cat shook his head "This is ridiculous. He's gonna need help to get Armand out of there".
Jack chuckled "He's gonna get the gunship out of there. Not Armand". Storm grabbed the gunship and slowly lifted it up above him, he groaned as he threw it forward. He then picked up Armand and walked away "Boom" he said right before the ship blew up. He put Armand down on the ground who then grunted in pain. Cat scanned him "He has internal damage. I can cut the pain, but he needs help fast" "We all need help" Jack said. They looked and saw that a large group of badniks were running towards them "That blast gave away our position" "I thought getting shot down gave away our position". Fang stood up "Everyone, find cover. We'll hold this position and let them come to us" "I don't think so, Captain. That's not our style. We prefer going to them. Rogues! Plan 82, shockwave". Storm picked up the door of the gunship and charged forward using as a shield. The others got behind it and fired pistols through the door to take out a few badniks. Once they got close Storm placed the door on the ground and they leaned against it for cover. Coconuts looked out and his eyes flashed blue "45. Mark 151". Rutan through a badnik popper above the army and Jack took out a sniper and shot it. It released a wave of electricity and disabled a large portion of badniks. Storm moved the cover forward and they repeated with the badnik popper. A spider robot fired a laser near the shield "Egg Spider. Fan out!". They moved out in different directions and ran into the badniks army easily destroying the remaining ones "Anymore? Come on!". The rest of the clones came forward with Cat helping Armand. "That was some show you put on just now" Fang said, Rutan smirked "Just doing our job, Captain". Fang nodded "We should move out before reinforcements arrive. Our position has been compromised". They started walking and Jet saw Storm holding the head of a Pawn. He laughed "Good job, big guy". Storm chuckled and put his arm around his shoulder "Thanks, boss. Let's go destroy something else".
Later a transport arrived at the wreckage with a Swatbot and a group of Metals. He held out a holo-disc showing Kragok "We wanted to speak to you directly, sir. This infiltration is irregular". "Were there Shinobi with this squad?", the Metal shook his head "Just clones. But using tactics like we have never seen before". Kragok pondered "Interesting. They're on foot now, in the middle of nowhere. Sweep the area, locate these clones, and notify me if the incursion escalates".
At night in the forest, the clones were around a fire, Jet saw Rutan picking up a handful of dirt and sniff it "So, I get what makes the other rogues unique. But what's so special about Rutan?". Cat shrugged "He can put up with the other three". Coconuts ignored him "He was engineered with heightened senses. A place like the Cyber Centre, Rutan can feel the electromagnetic frequencies from anywhere on the planet". Jet nodded "And here I thought we were smart just using a holo-map" "Well, maps can be wrong. Rutan never is". Fang was helping Armand who was lying against a tree grunting in pain "Hang in there, Armand". Fang stood up and faced the others "Listen up. We have to move out" "Commander Armand's in no position to move" Jack said. Fang nodded "Already called in Evac. Cat will stay with Armand until it arrives. I'm in charge now. And I've got a plan to get into a Cyber Centre". Jack stared at him "If your plans are so good, why did Commander Armand have to call us in?". Cat stood up "Talk about the Captain like that again and you deal with me". Storm stepped forward and lifted Cat by the throat "That's not much of a challenge". Jet stepped forward "Put him down", Jack pushed him back "Stay out of it". The two fought while Fang was trying to free Cat. Rutan walked up to them "Storm, drop him. Now!", Storm did so. "Guy's, come on. We're all fighting for the same thing, right?". Jack reluctantly stepped away from Jet "Fine". Rutan sighed "Alright then. Let's cut the chatter and finish what we started. We'll do it your way, Captain. For Commander Armand". Fang nodded "Okay. Let's gear up and move out".
The next morning moved through the forest towards an outpost, they stopped at the trees "This isn't our primary target. Should we take it?" Rutan asked Fang, "Probably easier than going around" "Alright, what're your orders? We pick them off one by one". Fang smirked "Actually, I was thinking we'd take a page from your book. Rush them head-on" "I like your style". They ran out and easily shot all the badniks guarding the outpost. They boarded a lift which takes them to the top of the outpost and entered a circular command centre full of Pawns "Hey, you're not authorize-" one of them said before getting shot with the rest of them. Storm was annoyed "That's it? Aw, man!", "Not bad for a reg" Rutan said to Fang. Coconuts sat down at a console. Fang looked out and saw the Cyber Centre in the distance "Alright. Coconuts, what do we know?" "It looks like the Cyber Centre itself has minimal guards, about 30 badniks. Uh, wait. Wait, I've got a massive signal coming in. A whole platoon of badniks is headed this way". Rutan stepped forward "Someone's noticed our handiwork back at the crash site". Fang nodded "Yeah. Make sure you keep an eye on those incoming Separatist forces. I want to know when they reach this outpost. We've got to move swiftly". Jet looked down form the outpost and smirked "Hey, you guys ride Extreme Gear?", Storm laughed "I knew there was a reason I liked you, boss". Rutan nodded "Alright, we'll flank them".
Rutan, Storm, Coconuts and Jet arrived on Extreme gear on a cliff behind the Cyber Centre and they slid down towards it. Fang and Cat were at the front of the Centre in the trees "Is everyone in position?" he said into his commlink. "Affirmative" he heard two voices reply, he looked up and saw Jack on the cliff edge with a sniper. Fang then heard Coconuts "Cap, you wanted to know when those Separatists forces breached the outpost. Well, they're getting there just about now".
The Swatbot entered the outpost command centre and spoke to a hologram of Kragok "Sir, we tracked the Clone Strike team here, they seem to have captured this location and deserted it. I cannot calculate the logic of this assault". Kragok pondered "There is no tactical advantage to taking the outpost. Their target will be the nearby Cyber Centre. They must know about the algorithm. Get me in contact with he Centre at once!".
A Pawn was now listening to a hologram of Kragok "Put all badniks on alert. An attack is coming" "An attack is coming? Whe-" a baster bolt hit him. Fang, Coconuts and Cat charged out and fired on the badniks. Jack gave them cover with sniper shots, all of which hit the Pawns in the head. The others watched the guards on their side move to the front. They ran to the now unguarded entrance, but it was closed "How are we gonna get through that?" Jet asked. Storm then quickly forced the doors open and fire at the Pawns inside. Jet laughed and punched his arm affectionately "I like your thinking". They ran through the Centre destroying any badniks in their way until reaching the control room "Coconuts, get to work. We'll go get the other regs. No offence" Rutan said to Jet. Rutan and Storm left while Jet guarded Coconuts as he worked on the console. Rutan and Storm ran out the front entrance and surprised the remaining Pawns, destroying them. Fang and Cat ran forward but they then saw a transport tank coming towards the Centre "Better get inside, Cap" Storm said. The tanks dropped Omegas; Fang ran inside while the others held them off. Fang entered the control room "Jet go help the others", Jet nodded and left. Fang turned to Coconuts "How's it going" "I'm in. What am I looking for?". Fang handed him a disc "Here's the algorithm. You're looking for a program using this sequence". Coconuts looked through the system "I found it. Wait, this isn't a program. It's a live signal from another planet. Marmolim". Fang checked the screen "A live signal?". Coconuts pressed a few buttons "Here it is. This is audible" they heard a robotic voice "It sounds… alive". Fang's eyes opened wide "It can't be". The others were forced to retreat back inside the Centre. Fang pondered "Coconuts, find out who's sending that signal. Ask who that is". Coconuts did something and a voice could be heard through the machine "CT-1693. CT-1693". Fang face went blank "I… I don't believe it". The others showed up "We're gone. Fang, let's go". Fang didn't say anything, he was in shock "Fang, now!" Rutan yelled. Fang finally moved and they ran out the back exit "We're gonna ned a way out of here" "Already covered". Jack then landed in front of them in a speeder, they quickly boarded and took off.
Back at the outpost the Swatbot was speaking to Kragok "We have chased the clones out of the Centre, sir. They are retreating back toward Republic lines". Kragok nodded "Did they download anything from central computer?" "There seems to be no intel missing. But there appears to have been a connection with the planet Marmolim". Kragok's eyes opened wide "What!?".
Fang had his head down looking regretful, Coconuts was sitting next to him "That number, Cap, what did it mean?" "CT-1693, that was Ray's number. He's alive".