Finished this last part up the previous night, and today I figured 'meh, its ready go to, why not send it out'. expect another short delay as I begin working on the other episode and then the Umbara ark. Also, I will be filling in more blanks like the Jixuan, Mimban, and Recruit story arks with more story-lines that I am adding to the mix, to flesh out characters and the like. But don't worry, this story will not, be abandoned. Hell, I have plans for it going out into rebels, so look forward to that (albeit shorter) one.
20 BBY, Lola Sayu, Lola Sayu Caverns.
Shard was getting edgy. Every gust of wind seemed to him like a vulture droid squad flying overhead. Every splutter of sulfuric liquid was a droid squeezing out a shot against one of their wounded Reg officers. He nearly pulled the trigger of his blaster at a rock when Skywalker asked him to send his droids with the appropriate cover-story, and did end up pulling the trigger at a spindly stalagmite when he received confirmation from the droids that they had landed and their story had been bought by the prison authorities.
Shard was unsure why he was so jumpy however. There was no reason for it; the plan was going well, and all that was needed was to have the droids hold the ship for them, and to escape. And if that failed, they had the backup -
"R2, are you and your battle droids ready to go? Alright, get your ship fired up and meet us at the pipeline exit after the droids pick up Obi-Wan; assuming he's still on schedule."
A slight deviation from the plan, but not unheard of from Skywalker. More of the divide and conquer strategy. Two ships for two groups, a sound plan. Not even Tarkin was going to challenge him on it, for once.
But Shard knew that the ship would be marked for death as soon as they realized that it was supposed to be shot down. Of course, the BXs would clean up any resistance they encountered.
Shard was surprised at how well the BXs operated with clone tactics. He was drafting plans to use them as a small unit within the 300th as a breaching platoon for boarding parties, but the plans were put on hold and the prototype droids were drafted for the mission. It would be a good field test of the new combat mechanics and coordination of the squad measure Clicker added in, though.
The pipeline was some distance ahead, nearly a kilometre of old stone corridors away. And it was not as if they were not being hunted.
Skywalker bisected a probe from the head down that was stalking the group, while Shard managed to use his flamethrower to melt one of the droid seekers as it fell into the sea.
Skywalker joined Shard at the flank of the group.
"Ahsoka will lead us up towards the pipes, I figured you might want the extra hands back here."
Shard smiled at that.
"Happy to have you here, Skywalker." He said, giving him a friendly pat on the shoulder as they followed the group.
They had walked no more than three dozen meters when Shard received a message from one of his troops; a failure of the plan. The droids at the landing platform, with the frozen rations intended to pick up General Kenobi, had been exposed. One of the pilots was caught with a bad paint job, and they identified the black stripe on its arm. The security personnel - Shard's security droids - were escorting the three pilots to detention to be scanned and interrogated. However there was an issue; the shuttle to ferry Kenobi was now under enemy watch.
Shard sent a message to the second shuttle; drop off the commando squad and patch them into his coms.
He heard the tell-tale static hiss of the droid leader reaching out to him.
"Change of plan, leave one of your number to assist the pilots, the rest of you are to secure the landing pad holding the other shuttle. Keep me posted on the situation."
"[affirmative, General.]" the droid's deep robotic voice replied before severing communication.
Then, Shard saw them. A long line of B2s, patrolling the area last seen by the probes. He figured they would just turn around, nothing there to see-
Until one stooped down and picked up something to examine.
The leg of one of the probes. Damn, they missed that.
They then sped up their patrol towards the group, where they were still holding position. Why hadn't Tano blown the wall yet?
Before he could radio down, the group and the patrol had contact, causing Shard and Skywalker to intervene.
Two BXs leapt down from the rocks above with energy shields, firing from the protection of the Clone's plasma voice.
"What happened? Why hasn't the wall gone down?" Shard yelled, deflecting shots and firing at the exposed feet of the droids as they bounced from wall to wall.
"I thought it was a dead end!" Ahsoka shouted, her voice echoing off the chasm's walls.
"If Master Plo really assigned you to this mission, he would have briefed you on the plan!" Skywalker shouted back, deflecting shots back at the shield with no avail.
Shard ducked under another shot, not liking how close they were getting-
When Commander Tano rolled a pair of thermal detonators under the Commando Droid's feet, just as the wall was turned to rubble.
Another half a kilometre later, and they found it.
Calling it a pipe was really underselling it. It was a train-tube for fuel, large enough for a walker to fit inside, and extended upwards like the neck of a giant bird.
"This pipe leads up to the top of the ridge, where the shuttle will pick us up and get us out of here. And there's the hatch!" Skywalker said with a confident smirk
With a whining hiss, it opened, and a foul stink seeped out of it.
Methane gas.
Let's go, let's go! Everyone in! Don't use your lights and make sure your weapons are locked, the slightest electronic pulse could ignite this whole tube." Anakin barked at the other Clones.
And Tarkin was there for a witty remark, saying something about how he hoped the droids would remember that too as they entered the great fuel duct.
Expendable Droid Trooper, Leader 1, known in short as XDT-L1, Programmed with masculine pronouns and voice, was what the Clones would call 'an old scratch'. According to the records stored in its onboard database, he had served aboard several Seperatist ships, including serving under General Grievous in the fated Kamino campaign, before being selected for his combat prowess and clear adaptability as a part of Raxus's Parlamentary Guard, defending the Seperatist Parliament. But, en-route to the planet, his shuttle was captured by the 300th, and he was reprogrammed while dormant to serve the Republic, the Seperatist propaganda being cleared from his mind by the programming but his experience and tactics remained. He and his squad had been assigned to run rear guard for the task force, but now it was clear that the plan had gone wrong and they were needed for a more… complex role, or so his newly upgraded logic calibrator told him. He and his droids had a clear plan: Expendable Droid Trooper Four would remain onboard the shuttle to provide aid where needed, while XDTs one through three, five, and six would assess the situation.
XDT-L1 accessed the squad Oracle HUD, pulling up the old map of the archives and rationalizing it with what he saw, updating it as he did so.
He gathered the droids around him as they knelt among the stones, keeping a sharp photo-receptor eye on their surroundings.
[Directive: our orders are to secure the landing zone, with the ultimate objective of General Kenobi's shuttle being preserved, General Kenobi's group surviving intact, and the information returned to Coruscant. Victory parameters only permit the loss of the Clone members of the squad; the information must return to Coruscant.]
[Plan of Execution: XDT 1/2 are to approach the landing pad from the north as G-1, entering from the rocks and making their way towards the shuttle. XDT 3/6 are to approach from the east as G-2, entering through the air ducts. XDT 5 + XDT-L1 are to enter from the west as G-3.]
[Acknowledgment received 1-6 {XDT-4 Excluded due to Administrator Parameters}. Mission queries being received.]
[XDT-2: Query-1: What are our Immediate Sub-Objectives?
Query-2: What should we do if we encounter hostiles?]
[XDT-3: Query-1: What are the Immediate Sub-Objectives?
Query-2: Should hostiles be considered Alpha level threat?]
XDT-L1 then spoke directly to XDT-2 first.
[Immediate Sub-Objectives should be to locate General Kenobi's group, and assume control of the landing-pad. Pacifist Protocol is recommended, but the Administrator will permit weapons free in the moment of your identity being discovered. Highest priority is preserving the life of General Piel and Officers.]
[Acknowledged, L1. G-1 Initiating Plan of Execution.]
The two Commando Droids then sped off, leaving XDT-L1 to address XDT-3.
[G-2's immediate sub-objectives should be to insert the Sovereign II Virus into the Citadel mainframe via a Data-port. Any droids found to interfere or stand in the way are to be treated as hostile and be terminated immediately. Once the Virus is installed, enter the ducts and make your way towards the landing pad, where you are to secure the perimeter quietly, Alzoth Protocol recommended.]
[Acknowledged, L1. G-2 Initicating Plan of Execution.]
The two droids then hurried away, entering the air system where XDT-L1 could pick up the deep retorts of their blasters as they destroyed any witnesses they saw.
Then XDT-L1 and XDT-5 headed out to secure the western side.
Just as he and XDT-5 reached their observation point near the western side, they received a report from XDT-4.
[Danger: Multiple hostels detected near main fuel ducts, landing zone compromised.]
[Acknowledged XDT-4, ditch the craft; do not damage the pipeline, I will alert the General.]
He commed General Shard, and relayed the information, and received his orders.
Rendezvous at the landing platform and seize the final ship.
Opening his ORACLE HUD, L1 contacted his squad and relayed the new information.
The .05 tick delay in replies of confirmation showed their wariness. This was a gamble, and his logic receptors knew it. But orders were orders. And a good soldier follows orders.
XDT-L1 was scrambling to process the information laid out before him as he fired over his cover, passing a thermal detonator to ARC-T One Four Zero Nine and changing a look at their numbers.
No more than a dozen Clones, several wounded, with most of the non-combative droids destroyed.
However, the chief goal of the mission was not impossible by his calculations; there was still a chance of survival.
The thermal detonator he handed to One Four Zero Nine exploded with a flash of color on his thermal sensors, and he saw a Separatist BX model scramble away from the blast, and make its way to a large anti star-fighter emplacement.
One Four Zero Nine saw it too.
Thinking quickly, the ARC Trooper retracted his rangefinder and lifted his wrist comm to his vocalizer
"General Skywalker! There is a droid manning one of those turrets! They're gonna blow up the shuttle, sir!"
XDT-L1 lifted his blaster and began firing at the other manned turrets, destroying one of the B1 battle droids.
As he did so, he heard One Four Zero Nine speak over the din of battle.
"This is our only chance, we've got to stop him!"
Ducking under a stray shot, L1 looked over to the ARC.
Picking up an energy shield for cover as ARC-T Fifty Five Fifty Five provided a spread of blasterfire to have his fellow ARC's back.
As the Clone rushed the shuttle, the great gun emplacement under the control of the CIS Commando Droid droned and moved to put the ship in it's sights.
"Echo, look out!" ARC-T Fifty Five Fifty Five shouted.
Too late, as "Echo" was engulfed in an intense ball of flame. Chances of survival rested in the range of .0034, as the smoldered helmet of the fallen ARC fell at the feet of his brother.
XDT-L1 did not understand the over-reaction of ARC-T Fifty Five Fifty Five. The mission had not failed yet; parameter one was only partially breached with the death of One Four Zero Nine, and while the loss of both shuttle-craft was damaging to the mission's chances of success, it still had a 65.7 percent chance of a positive outcome, even with the ARC's blunder.
He tried to explain this to the ARC-T Fifty Five Fifty Five as they retreated deeper into the caves.
L1 had to dodge a blaster bolt aimed at his head as a thank you.
Yikes. Cya echo. Also, more will be coming. Again, just need the time. thanks for understanding, stay safe and stay indoors for covid and black lives matter. - arh