This is the beginning of the Geonosis ark, I hope you guys enjoy!
A massive fleet of nearly a dozen Venator-class star destroyers and over a half dozen Acclamator-class transgalactic military assault ships exited hyperspace into orbit around the barren rock known as Geonosis.
Generals Shard, Kai-Adi Mundi, and Obi-Wan Kenobi stood aboard the flagship of the Republic Fleet, The RSD Branch, looking out towards the dusky planet of Geonosis.
"I can't believe we are back here again" Obi-Wan said, disappointment dripping from his words.
"It is unfortunate. The resistance from the native Geonosians was stronger than we anticipated." General Mundi said, stroking his beard.
"The same could be said to their loyalty to Count Dooku" said Shard gravely, his hands folded across his chest. General Mundi smiled at the Clones tact. He was one of the handful of Generals who accepted him out of hand and took an immediate liking to Shard.
"A fact that is often overlooked" he said, smiling slightly. The doors behind them to the strategy room opened with a hiss, and Anakin Skywalker, along with his Padawan, Ahsoka Tano, emerged from the room, pushing and joking amongst one another in playful banter. General Kenobi pursed his lips, obviously unsettled by them and their lack of a timely entrance.
"You're late" he said dryly to Anakin, who simply flashed a devil-may-care smile.
"Sorry master, Ashoka and I were busy routing the separatists near Dorin." He said proudly.
"My squadron alone got thirty five kills" Ahsoka said, turning to face them with a grin.
"Yeah, but mine got seventy six," Anakin said, not willing to be outdone by his apprentice.
"Show off!" She said in playful defeat, rolling her eyes and turning to face the planet out the window.
"Well, I'm glad you two are enjoying yourselves," Shard said, a small hint of amusement in his voice at this game. He mentally considered joining in, if he had the time.
"It's just a bit of friendly competition Shard, nothing to worry about. Just something to dull the fear of the battles for the men and for the Jedi who fight them. I'd encourage you to try it to." Anakin offered to the Clone.
"What I'm worried about is the way this war seems to be drawing out with no end in sight." Obi-Wan said, stroking his beard.
"Which is why it is crucial our invasion of Geonosis meets with success," General Mundi said matter-of-factly.
"Agreed," Anakin said, nodding to his peers. He turned to his Padawan, determination in his eyes.
"Ahsoka, contact the outer rim command. We're ready for our briefing." The Dare-devil General of the 501st said, turning to his apprentice.
"They are already waiting for us, Master," she said calmly.
The outer rim command was filled to the brim with Jedi Generals, holographic and in person, and the Chancellor, offering his limited advice.
"Our ships are in position and we are ready to begin our canoeing against the Geonosians," Obi-Wan said, gesturing to the wide selection of ships in orbit around a holographic model of the planet.
"And what about Poggle? Have you located him yet?" Mace said, his hologram flickering for the distance of the transmission. Obi-Wan opened a new map of a small sector on the planet, showing a gorge and a droid foundry under a red shield generator.
"It seems that he's held up inside the main droid compound, here. The factory is protected by a shield. Anakin, Mundi, Shard, and I will ready a four cornered attack through their lines to a staging area just short of the shield. Once we have landed, we will march to the shield generator. That will be our primary objective." Obi-Wan said, awaiting any critiques the command might have. The only criticism came from a wary Chancellor Palatine.
"Isn't it risky to commit four generals to one sector of the battle? If something went wrong we would be dealt a serious blow." He said, looking to the other commanders.
"To assure Geonosis does not rise again, capture Poggle we must." The gravely voice of Grand Master Yoda said wisely.
"Of course," the Chancellor said, General Windu leering behind him. But the elderly man paid him no mind.
"As per usual I shall leave the strategy's to you, gentlemen," he said, Bowing his head to Obi-Wan.
"Thank you, Chancellor." Obi-wan said, and the transmission was cut.
The doors hissed open, and Commander Cody, Captain Rex, Commander Jet, and Commander Tusk entered the room.
"Ah, Tusk. Good to see you. What will be the pattern of assault?"
Tusk gestured to the map.
"General Skywalker will make his movement from the south, General Kenobi to the south east, and General Mundi will make his approach from the east. Getting past the forward defenses here, will be the trick," He said, gesturing to the map, were a large arch of red flashing dots formed in the terrain.
"General Shard will deploy early, and engage the front lines in order to stretch their fire between two attack forces. Your groups will move forwards and destroy the generator, with our forces causing as large a scene as possible." Tusk said, his voice amplified in his helmet.
"It won't be easy... look at that wall with all the gun emplacements!" Anakin's Padawan learner Ahsoka Tano said nervously.
"Don't worry snips, we won't be anywhere near that." Anakin reassured her dismissively.
"Come now? What happened to all the enthusiasm I saw earlier?" Obi-Wan asked his former apprentice with a twinkle in his eye.
"We can handle ourselves, Master. Just make sure you get down to the landing zone in one piece." Anakin said with a chuckle, resting an arm around his fellow Jedi's shoulder.
"Oh, dont worry. I'll be there to greet you when you finally arrive," Obi-Wan bit back to Skywalker.
"Gentlemen, if you are quite finished, we have a battle to begin." The hologram of Luminara Unduli said in a restrained tone.
"Quite right," Obi-Wan said, his professional veil returning. Luminara bowed to Kai Adi Mundi, her hologram vanished as she readied her part in re-taking the airspace of Geonosis.
"Cody, meet me in the hanger, and order all the gunships to be ready." Obi-Wan said, and the bridge scattered into motion.
"General Skywalker," Shard said, catching Anakin's arm.
"Yes?"
"I have some Elite squads that could prove useful to your campaign." Shard said plainly.
"Alright, get them in gunships and have them split evenly between the three forwards Generals. We need to get moving." He said quickly, already walking away.
Shard pressed a button on his wrist, opening a comlink channel.
"Clicker, I want Skulls One, Two, and Three in gunships and assigned to differing commands." He said to one of his Marshal Commanders. He awaited a response.
"Acknowledged, General. They took some initiative and are already prepped."
"Good. I'll see you planet-side."
"Yes, sir." Clicker said, before cutting the transmission.
"I wasn't aware the Privateering fleet had Commandos," Obi-Wan said in surprise to Cody at seeing the heavily equipped, but regularly armored 300th battalion troops board one of his gunships. The only difference in their attire was a black cloth Pauldron with a red skull over their right shoulders, and a red skull painted on their left armor pauldron. They wore backpacks of blast charges and plasma charges, and had DC-17 pistols and holsters in addition to their DC-17m blaster rifles.
"Officially, they don't, sir. It's their equivalent to ARC troopers. These are some of their best troops that they give honorary names to, and assign them to elite groups." Cody said.
"How do they choose who is the best?"
"I don't know, but there is a few that didn't fit in the gunship, and are with us, sir. If you wanted to ask them, that is." Cody said, gesturing to the pair of dark troopers that entered the LAAT gunship.
"Ah, well that should be interesting on the way down. Tell me, did you fight in the first battle?" He asked Cody as he walked to his transport.
"No, sir. I was not involved in the first battle of Geonosis." Cody replied, shaking his head.
"Well, you didn't miss much. The last time I was here I was chained to a pole and attacked by several humongous monsters." Obi-Wan said bluntly.
"That sounds... Entertaining?"
"It was. For the Geonosians," Obi-Wan said as the doors closed. He turned and saw all of his troops were dressed in Advanced Recon Force outfits with desert camoflauge. He turned and eyed the two Elite troopers. One's left shoulder was to him, and he saw the large red marking on the pauldron. It was bright red, as bright as the Medic Cross, but with a Skull and Crossbones.
"Parson my asking, but how do you become part of the Elite unit of the 300th?" Obi-Wan asked the troopers, hoping to make friendly conversation and familiarity with some of the 300th, and hopefully initiate some trust within Shard's men. The closest of the pair didn't look at him, and it was a full three seconds before he spoke.
"You get through enough missions that command thinks are suicide missions, intact. Guess they chose us to go through another one." The trooper said darkly. The craft was silent for a while, until the pilot announced to the passengers that they were taking off.
It was hell as soon as they entered the atmosphere.
The sky was alight in a purple haze as Geonosian fighters streaked across the skies. The room was full of com-chatter as pilots and commanders alike voiced their situation. Shard cringed as Skywalker's team went out of contact, then hearing that Mundi's forces were forced to ground.
Shard reached for his comlink and keyed it on.
"Get the tanks down, now! Full speed to the front lines, I want it broken as fast as possible to give the Jedi support. Try to delay deployment of the AT-SATs until they are directly on top of them," He said hurriedly to the ground officer in charge of his tank divisions.
"Copy that."
His gunship landed on the ground and his troops spilled out onto the battle field. In the distance he saw a cloud of dust and smoke, that was the square of the Republic Landing Zone.
"All Companies, charge!" I yelled, opening my bayonet and charging forward at the head of my mass of troops.
The prediction of the Skulls was correct, as Obi-Wan found out to his disappointment. An unfortunate Geonosian flying Ace destroyed Engine one and destroyed all manual controls, causing the gunship to crash just out side the landing site. Crew members went flying, and an armored boot hit Obi-Wan in the head, knocking him out.
Cody looked through his electrobinoculars, a frown beginning to form under his helmet. That had to be Kenobi's gunship. He had no 300th Skull troops available, all of them were busy leading the defences, fighting more ferociously then the Advanced Recon Commandos. He was separated from his thoughts by two of his best troops reporting to his side.
"Waxer, reporting as ordered, Sir!"
"Boil, reporting as ordered, Sir!"
"We have a downed gunship. We think it is General Kenobi's. We need you to go out there, and check for survivors!" Cody barked, pointing to the gunship.
"Sir, yes Sir!"
The pair of troopers rushed down to the gunship, dodging sonic waves of energy from Sonic Blasters from the fluttering Geonosians.
"Why do we always get all all the 'fun' missions," Boil said, taking cover behind the door of the gunship.
"Oh, this isn't the fun part. Getting back to the square is the fun part!" Waxer said, taking hold of the door and pulling. As soon as the door opened, a blue plasma bolt burned through the air past their heads.
"Hold your fire! We're friendlies!" Waxer shouted, ducking out of sight. He heard a groan and heard the clatter of a body flopping down and relaxing. Waxer and Boil glanced at one another, both confused, and entered the gunship, guns at lax.
There were two moving bodies, one in white armor and the other in black. A dark 300th trooper stood shielding General Kenobi, who was unconscious.
"The General got banged around a bit, he should be alright other than a couple of broken toes. I should be fine, just a sore shoulder. Get him out of here and I'll cover you." The trooper said. Waxer eyed the pauldron with caution, but was couldn't deny that the man had a point.
"Alright, lets go,"
The Clone stood, but he stooped over a dead trooper dressed identically to him, and stripped the rank Pauldron from him. He clipped it to his belt, the red skull swinging precariously, and then moved to Kenobi, hoisting him up with ease and throwing him over his right shoulder.
"Change of plan. I can carry him like this. Cover me!" The trooper said, looping an arm to secure the General and holding his DC-17m blaster in one hand. Waxer didn't have time to argue.
Cody couldn't believe what he was seeing. One of the 300th Skulls had survived the crash, and was carrying Kenobi on his back, while hoisting a DC-17m blaster rifle with one hand and firing at any Geonosian that got to close. Waxer and Boil flanked him on either side, covering him.
"Gunner, lay down cover fire at point three five!" Cody yelled into his comlink, and motioned for two other troopers to help them give cover.
The trooper surged forward into the square, and rested him down by a large collection of crates. He pulled a syringe and injected an anti-bacteria bacta injection, rousing and easing the wounds.
Obi-Wan awoke just in time to see his lines break.
Clones in the tan ARF style helmets surrounded him, while the cryptic red and black Skull troopers of the 300th fought with a savagery unlike anything he had every seen. He noticed one, a leading figure among them, if the strange, flowing Kama was any indication, made war on the natives like a demon. He leapt into the air with surprising force and speed, and actually managed to pull an airborne Geonosian out of flight and into the ground with a crunch, where he killed it. He then took a step back, and Obi-Wan now saw what he had mistaken for a Kama, was actually over a dozen rank Pauldrons with red Skulls, all collected out of some sort of warrior respect from his dead brothers. Another skull fell to the earth, and he stooped to collect it with one hand, unbuckling the strap and grabbing the plastoid colored pauldron. The troops were utterly surrounded. Obi-Wan Kenobi ignited his lightsaber, the blue blade burning the air around him and shimmering in the dust. He was ready to die for peace to the galaxy. No one had been able to contact Admiral Yularen, and no one had seen Skywalker, Mundi, or heard of Shard's forces.
The second battle of Geonosis has failed.
Suddenly, the sky was alive with a scream of Y wings, who bombed the front lines, and then scattered shots into the mass that had surrounded their forces.
Shard looked ahead to the battle ahead of him, and sighed. He knew it would likely be difficult, if not impossible, to break their lines. He seized his hologram projector, and contacted Skywalker's Admiral, who was leading the air-groups.
"Admiral, we need fighters down here as fast as possible, we are surrounded down here!" he called to the hologram.
"You're in luck, General Shard. Perfect timing, actually." Yularen said, motioning to someone out of range.
"I have two squadrons available."
He barley to wait for two minutes when the bombs landed.
He charged forward, and lead his troops to the square. Speeder-bikes zoomed past him and dark AT-RT groups flew on their tails, cleaning up the outer points of the square.
The square came closer, and the more he saw, the worse it looked.
He slowed to a stop. He knew his advanced genetics could carry himself closer and faster, but he wanted to walk, to confirm that his Skulls were alright.
He was surprised to see they were almost all gone. As far as he could, see, three men had survived the squad's massacre.
He noticed one of them, Snatch, collecting the pauldrons from his brother's bodies. He wanted to ensure they were kept clean and ready for any new members. He knew Snatch was extremely pessimistic, but he enjoyed to see new brothers, and this pessimism was caused by seeing his new comrades on the ground, dead.
He patted him on the shoulder in passing, the other three transferring the pauldrons to his belt. Tusk trailed behind him, assessing the damage.
Skywalker had moved in the opposite direction, accompanied by Kai-Adi-Mundi, and their respective Clone Commanders. They were speaking of a plan about invading the Droid Foundry, and destroying their shield. Shard was not apart of the battle. He was merely a bit of muscle to break ground. He would likely lead his men into a smaller, weaker planet. This many losses would demoralize his men.
His men were altered, but not in the way the Fett Clones were. He knew he and his men were genetically altered, with strength and speed and intelligence, but also rage and violence. They were also fully possible of committing mutiny. He wouldn't let things go to that. His men needed him, and if they were hunted down...
A shiver ran down his back at the thought.
No one deserved to be honored, then dishonored in an instant. Not the bloodiest warrior turned warlord, not the most innocent man turned hardened killer by things they couldn't control.
He spoke briefly with the commanders, and decided to leave a detachment of the 300th, and ordered Clicker down to assist. He and tusk would go elsewhere. After all, they were best at dealing with places with ships, not foundries.
Personally, idk how I feel about this one. I kinda skimped out of doing this Arc as there wasn't rly any place for him as added muscle. If there is enough people desiring it, i'll edit the chapters in the future to add him in, but it just doesn't feel right. Geonosis is the Clone's fight, the 'Regs' fight, and these ain't regs. Anyways, the next part will be a long anticipated one for me to write; The Clone General vs The Droid General. I will look forward to it but my school starts tomorrow, and I will not have a lot of time *sobs*. See you guys soon. -Cloaked Writer