So I'm absolutely loving season seven of Clone Wars - I've watched episode one and two three times each by now and, by the time this posts, I'll probably have watched episode three at least twice. I didn't think I would be too crazy about the Bad Batch arc - I wanted to get right into the Ahsoka story - but I am loving it. The animation is beautiful, the tone is perfect, and what they're doing is impressive - that one shot scene with the Bad Batch storming the base in episode one is fantastic, reminds me of 1917 - they picked up right where they left off and I'm so glad to see the season, so far, is exactly the kind of Star Wars content I've wanted. Anyway, I'd love to see what you guys think, but, in the meantime, here is chapter eight!
Secrets of The Outer Rim.
Act I.
The Last Days of The Jedi Order.
Chapter VIII.
The Outer Rim Sieges.
"I am delighted to see you well my Chancellor! We have the criminal in custody!" Master Towaan said in his odd speech mannerism as we meant the Chancellor, shaken but well, on the platform. Master Windu and Master Yoda were with him, making sure that he was still safe. Evidently, General Skywalker received quite the welcome when he brought the Chancellor back, but neither Skywalker, nor Master Kenobi were around at the moment. I disagreed with the Chancellor, however, I was glad to see that he was okay. This audacious separatist raid was repelled and Count Dooku himself perished in the battle. We turned a devastating separatist assault into a resounding Republic victory. Hopefully, the loss of their head of state and increasing desperation would force the separatists to call for peace, though I am sure that General Grievous will attack and flee as long as he is able to.
"Thank you, Master Towaan, with Exiim Abarghe in Republic custody, we will be one step closer to bringing this war to an end." the Chancellor replied. His voice was innocuous and he wore a gentle, friendly smile on his face, however, his words stunned the group of Jedi around him. The Council assumed we would be playing a part in Abarghe's interrogation, especially given that the Chancellor had only just returned after being captured and skidding across a runway in the half a separatist capital ship. Predictably, Master Windu was the one to speak up first, confronting the Chancellor.
"With all due respect, Supreme Chancellor, we think the Jedi should take the lead in this interrogation. You should rest." Master Windu objected, but his voice did noticeably soften at the end there, he legitimately wanted the Chancellor to take some time off to relax and recover after his kidnapping. There probably is an ulterior motive that the Jedi Council will use the opportunity to bring the war to a close and, if possible, take away some of the Chancellor's more outrageous powers, however, I believe that Master Windu does have some genuine compassion for the Chancellor. Perhaps not as professionals, but as people, I think there has to be some mutual respect, even if I get the feeling that much of the Council, Master Windu in particular, does not enjoy working with Chancellor Palpatine. The Chancellor, however, did not seem to take heed of Master Windu's suggestions.
"I am fine, Master Jedi. Besides, my kidnapper, General Grievous is still at large and the war is still raging in the Outer Rim. I need my Jedi friends now more than ever. We are at a fateful junction for the future of the Republic and the Jedi." the Chancellor replied. Evidently, he wanted to get right back to work and send the Jedi back out to the front, going out to bring an end to the war. We didn't like it, however, in the end, we did indeed hand over Exiim Abarghe to the Chancellor and the Grand Army of the Republic. Master Yoda sighed profoundly as the Chancellor, a squadron of red and white armored clone troopers, and our prisoner marched away. We turned to the wise, green Jedi Master as he voiced his thoughts.
"Much power, the Chancellor has. Surrender it easily, he will not, I fear." Master Yoda stated. I was inclined to agree with him, but I did not voice my opinions. At this point, I just wanted the war to be over, whatever happens afterwards, the Jedi Order can deal with it. Master Avdune and I would be given a few days to rest at the Temple before we were inevitably sent back out into the field, this time with the now thoroughly rested and ready 1204th Clone Battalion, to fight some more pointless battles and experience some more horrible deaths. This would be the worst phase of the war, the separatists were desperate and it seemed that Grievous was now their leader, their tactics would be brutal and uncivilized whilst we would essentially be fighting a sanctioned revenge mission on Chancellor Palpatine's behalf. He would seize yet more power and more control until Grievous is brought to justice. Of course, before Grievous, Count Dooku had been the target, so perhaps the Chancellor will keep the war going and going until every last separatist is crushed by the supposed heroes.
Exiim Abarghe was quietly executed last night. I heard Phanza's voice in my head once again as I woke up on board the Sage. We were leaving Coruscant in order to take control of the Battle of Ypherro. My eyes were wide open at the Sith Lord's words. I couldn't believe this, we had just left Coruscant, the bounty hunter is in questioning, he has to be. The Chancellor needs his information to bring a swift end to the war, there is no benefit to executing him, especially given that the bounty hunter has already fallen out with the separatists. He wouldn't serve as an example. All his death would accomplish is hurting the Republic. There is no way the Chancellor would do that, sure he wants power and he likely has friends in the military-industrial complex that profit greatly off of this war, but that didn't mean that he was going to actively sabotage the Republic victory. Surely the Sith Lord had to be lying.
"You lie!" I cried out but it came out sounding far less certain that I had wanted it to. Why wasn't I certain? There was no logical reason for Exiim Abarghe to be executed. As bad as the Chancellor could be, it's not like he wanted to lose this war. Maybe he wants to prolong it, sure, but then he could drag out the interrogations to let vital contracts be signed and let emergency powers go through, then use Abarghe's inside knowledge to end the war. Having Abarghe executed was harming the Republic war effort, retroactively wasting resources, and potentially incriminating himself, there is no way the Chancellor would do this. It simply doesn't make sense. The only people who would want to see Exiim Abarghe dead are the separatists and, with Count Dooku dead, their leadership is questionable at best. To be able to arrange an execution on Coruscant would be nigh unthinkable, even with the Sith Lord Dooku at the helm of it, with Grievous in charge? Impossible. Perhaps this is the work of the second Sith Lord, the one we know less about. That could be it, after all, that could be Exiim Abarghe's secret to end the war, perhaps he knew something about Dooku's Master and thus the Dark Lord had him killed.
Of course, there were problems with that idea too. If the Dark Lord of the Sith has the ability to arrange an execution on Coruscant, why only use it to kill one man? Why not use that power and access to attack the Jedi or seize control of the Senate? Not to mention the fact that this Sith is secretly in charge of the separatists and used Dooku as his public figure head, that means that this Sith Lord was in charge of the kidnapping of the Chancellor. If the Sith is able to have Abarghe executed, why didn't the Sith use his apparently abundant contacts on Coruscant to kidnap the Chancellor that way? Perhaps the Sith did not want to reveal his network of contacts on the Republic capital just yet and was planning something even greater, but what could possibly be greater than kidnapping Chancellor Palpatine himself? This idea didn't quite explain everything either. Also, just how did Phanza Attam know about this when the Jedi didn't? What did she have a comprehensive spy network in the Republic that knew more about our own faction than we did? ...Alright well I suppose that is possible. Lady Attam and her Sith faction clearly know far more about the Republic and the separatists alike than either of us know about them.
Must I tell you again? A devastating truth is far more effective than an easy lie. Abarghe is dead and the Chancellor orchestrated it. He used his favorite executioners for the job too. Executioners stationed throughout the galaxy. Phanza giggled maniacally before fading away from my mind once again. The Jedi killed Exiim Abarghe? That seemed to make even less sense than the rest of it, however, considering everything that's happened in the Clone Wars, it's no question that the Jedi have become Chancellor Palpatine's favorite executioners. I mean, the only reason that Jedi Generals and their Clone companions don't have kill counts in the thousands are that the separatists are almost entirely reliant on an army of battle droids. Who would possibly execute a bounty hunter on the Chancellor's behalf? I figured that Master Windu would be the Jedi most open to committing an execution, but even then, that doesn't mean he would actually do it and Mace's tense working relationship with Palpatine likely means that we would never commit an execution for the Chancellor, even if he would willingly do it under other circumstances. General Skywalker may do it, but I haven't heard of him having anything to do with the Abarghe situation whatsoever. Of course, Lady Attam wasn't going to give me any further answers, so I was left trying to figure this out all on my own. This was the state that Master Avdune found me in when she entered my quarters.
"Oh...I thought I heard you talking to someone." Ullara said when she found me all alone in bed on the opposite end of the room from my holocommunicator. I suppose that she overheard my outburst replying to Lady Attam. An outburst rendered completely useless by the fact that, when fully connected through the Force, Lady Attam seemed to be able to hear my thoughts. I have yet to manage to reach that same level.
"Sorry Master, I was having a bad dream and I kind of overreacted." I replied, it wasn't exactly a lie. I'm sure most Jedi would consider a Sith Lord communicating with them in their sleep to be an absolute nightmare. I was only putting up with Phanza because I was certain I could avoid the Dark Side and because I didn't know how to sever this connection on my own. If the circumstances were different, I could ask my master and the other Jedi for help, however, the way things are, I can't do that without risking harm to the people of Taaszon. It is clear that the people of the Grand Duchy are, for whatever reason, happy with their Sith government and it is clear that Lady Attam and her faction are not going down without a fight. If I revealed the fact that the Sith were actively trying to convert a Jedi Padawan, I would be bringing the war to Taaszon. I could no longer say that Chancellor Palpatine wouldn't love a war against a new Sith enemy beyond known space, simply to increase military spending, the size of the Republic, and seize more emergency powers. The people of that Grand Duchy would suffer, the Jedi would be thrown into yet another pointless war before we've even finished this one, and the only real winner would be Palpatine. This situation was bigger than me, I had the power to resist the Dark Side alone and, in doing so, I had the power to prevent another conflict.
"I understand Zaliza..." Master Avdune said as she sat down next to me on my bed and her green eyes looked into my purple ones "You're mad at yourself, aren't you? You're terrified of what you may become after that lightning incident, aren't you? Well the fact that you regret it is a good sign. You know reaching into that dark power is road to pain, suffering, and hatred. You know that and you can resist it. If you ever believe that, for even a second, that you might slip up again and fall to the Dark Side, please, tell me. I will do everything in my power to help you and guide you back towards the light."
My master thought I was more affected by the Force Lightning incident than I actually was. I was about to correct her about that, however, I then realized something very crucial. Phanza Attam was a stubborn woman and the red-skinned Nautolan would no doubt try and keep turning me over to the Dark Side, I was confident that I could stop her, however, that incident on Dxun gave me a convenient excuse to ask my master for help if Lady Attam ever gets to me again. I had someone to help me through this, even if I couldn't tell my master everything. This was exactly what I needed.
"Thank you Master, I'll keep that in mind." I sincerely thanked my master before turning onto my side and attempting to sleep again. To my surprise, I felt my master slip under the covers behind me. I felt her long, green legs tangle together with mine and I felt her comfortable arms around my waist. I heard her breathing, I felt her heart beating, and, through the Force, her presence of light drowned out Lady Attam in my head. Being so close to my Jedi Master was like being protected by a bulwark guarding against the darkness of the Sith. I felt warm and safe. Lady Attam did not dare trouble me again once Master Avdune fell asleep together. Master and apprentice alike would be well rested and fully focused once we arrived on Ypherro.
An armada of LAAT gunships and transports tore through the clouds and arrived on the distant outer rim world of Ypherro. Raindrop after raindrop battered the roof above us as we approached the separatist positions on the stormy, mountainous jungle world. Master Avdune, the clones, and I held on tight as our gunship veered to the right and then back to the left as anti-aircraft guns targeted us. The separatists took the bait. Directly above the now exposed separatist positions, Y-wing bombers dived down from the sky, approaching the separatists at massive speed before pulling up, simultaneously releasing their payload. The bombers veered off and retreated to the Sage, the Tython, and the Coruscant Temple hidden just above the clouds in the upper atmosphere. The gunship fired its missiles at separatist position on top of a natural arch before diving through the opening below. The main separatist command center was directly ahead. Battle Droids, missiles, and cannons filled the skies ahead of us as our gunship swooped in to land on a landing pad set up on an outer ring surrounding the compound. Master Avdune and I activated our lightsabers and lead the charge with W-squadron and a group of clones in specialized, jungle-camo armor.
I used the Force to throw a fuel canister into a crab droid before using the twin blades of my purple saberstaff to deflect laser bolts from a group of defending B1 and B2 Battle Droids. Master Avdune, in her element and clearly feeling reinvigorated after last night, spearheaded the charge. My master kicked down the leg of B1 battle droid and destroyed it with a Force-amplified punch to the chest before decapitating another with her green lightsaber. Rising to her full height, she appeared elegant and confident as she rose a hand and Force pushed a group of Super Battle Droids, watching the slip over the edge as their metal feet were incapable of getting any traction on the slippery surface out here in the rain.
Simultaneously, W-squadron proved just why they were the most important element of the 1204th. Warden gave cover fire with his rotary cannon along with Witchcraft on his sniper rifle as the rest of the squad pushed forward across the bridge linking the landing pad with the rest of the command center. Commander Warlock slid onto his back and used his knife to stab a crab droid in the eye before spinning over onto his front and unloading his blaster in full auto into the backs of a pair of Super Battle droids. Armed with a full length blaster rifle, Williams took cover behind a crate over where Warlock had ended up, blasting B1 Battle Droids in their stupid, tall necks. Wishlist arrived next to him and the squad's second-in-command rolled a droid popper out into the remaining group of droids. The water on the platform served as an excellent conductor as the EMP grenade fried the droids. The way ahead clear, Winch sprinted ahead to deactivate a ray shield the defenders activated to keep us out of the command center itself. The camouflaged commandos, eager to demonstrate their usefulness, didn't wait for Winch. They fired their grappling hooks up to the roof and then used those ropes to swing around the ray shield onto the second floor balcony above. I heard the commotion as the commandos set up a perimeter on the second floor, facing significant resistance from the separatists within.
Winch got the door open quickly and we rushed in to the first floor of the compound. A commando droid ambushed me with its knife but the rear blade of my double-bladed lightsaber found its chest and deactivated it. I then swung for a second droid but it leaped back and punched at me. I dodged the punch and went to cut off the droid's arms but he was quick, though not quite quick enough. I managed to cut off the droid's hand and, thinking it was partially disarmed, I stood back up and went for a killing strike, but the droid wasn't finished quite yet. The commando droid punched me with its right stub before grabbing a plaster with its left hand, seeking to blast me point blank. I quickly used my hand to Force push him against the wall, sending his shot out wide, harmlessly hitting the ceiling. The droid was not as lucky, falling apart when it collided with the metal wall. Another commando droid took a shot at me but I caught it with my lightsaber and deflected it back at me, striking him in the bottom of the face. He was still operational, but even a droid could be stunned by getting the lower half of its face shot off. Commander Warlock shot him dead not a moment later. I scanned the room again, finding no more commando droids. We were left with just a Super Tactical Droid and a group of Neimoidians, who would no doubt claim to be here, in a separatist command center on a distant world, on neutral Trade Confederation business. Nevertheless, until they plead their blatantly false case to the Senate, they would be Republic prisoners. Meanwhile, One of the clone commandos came down and deactivated the Super Tactical Droid. We did not take droid prisoners, we deactivated them and took their processors for lab examination.
"General Avdune to Republic Cruiser Sage: our decapitation strike was successful, the command center is taken. We will clean up here before fanning out to other pockets of resistance." Master Avdune reported to our flagship. The Battle of Ypherro had begun and the Republic could not hope to start a battle in a better way. An ambitious and powerful attack has left the remaining separatist positions disorganized and cut off from each other. Now it was just a matter of consolidating our hold on the command center, learning all we can about the separatist operations here, and then spreading out to put an end to them. It remains to be seen how easy that would actually be, after all, looking out the windows to the hilly jungle outside, I see separatist camps and defenses hidden everywhere. In fact, I watched as a whole series of separatist gun batteries came to life out of nowhere to target our ships in the skies. Bombers flew over them and obliterated their position but, seeing turned into hell fire didn't exactly improve my expectations for the Battle of Ypherro. It would be yet another lengthy siege in the Outer Rim.
The elevator reached the upper levels of the command center and Warlock, Wishlist, Williams, and Winch scanned the room with their blasters. Witchcraft, Warden, and the clone commandos were still on the first two levels, holding the command center. We were searching the upper levels for any remaining separatist forces or vital information - after all, if Lady Attam was right, the Republic would need new intelligence on the separatists, information the Jedi would have to see first. I still found it hard to believe that such a crucial source of information was just executed, but, once Phanza put the thought in my head, I've been incapable of getting that idea out of it - however, this spire didn't seem to contain anything of value. Warlock activated the light on his helmet and led our group up a spiral staircase leading higher up, towards the communication array on the top of it.
We circled around and around before reaching the highest level of the compound. The clones swung around to cover Winch and the two of us Jedi stood at the ready with our lightsabers. Winch got to work hacking the communication array, trying to dig up any remaining information. The clone medic, mechanic, and technician had many responsibilities, but he was damn good at those jobs. He was into the separatist system on Ypherro in just a few moments, however, as soon as he cracked it, it became clear that the separatists had a trap waiting for us. Six droidekas were released from cranes on the ceiling. Master Avdune, the clones, and I got ready for a fight.
The destroyer droids activated their shields and were prepared to massacre us in tight confines, but we were an elite fighting Force. Wishlist passed around droid poppers and our clones rolled them through the shields where they knocked out the droids. Meanwhile, Master Avdune and I did our best to deflect the laser bolts. Fortunately, the droid poppers worked past and our clones had perfect timing - rolling the grenades gently enough for them to pass through the shields, fast enough to save us, but just slow enough to not bounce harmlessly off their shields. The droidekas were electrocuted and deactivated without much trouble and Winch was able to crack into their network. Unfortunately, before we could find anything useful, a coded message tore through the separatists coms - a coded message of the coming separatist counterattack on the command center.
"Ambush!" Warden cried through the comlink just as we got the news. The clones rushed to get the elevator heading down again while Master Avdune and I peaked through a window, seeing the separatist counter attack in full force. Vulture droids filled the skies, battling against our gunships, Y-wings, and ARC-170 starfighters. Separatist AAT tanks trudged through the jungle, flanked by legions of B1 and B2 battle droids. Our bombers unleashed hell on them whenever they could and all our clones were landed and put to work defending the command center, however, as quickly as we knocked them down, more and more separatists poured out of the jungle to hold the line.
The clones finally got the elevator working and the two of us joined them. An explosion shook the spire as we headed down but the elevator held steady - the fighting is getting bad out there - it seems our move may have been a bit too ambitious. We managed to capture the command center based on the element of surprise and overwhelming odds, however, with the bulk of the separatist forces on Ypherro rushing here to undo our progress, we may very well be pushed back. Master Avdune and I would do everything we can to prevent that, but, if the cost of clone lives is too great, we will retreat to a more tenable position. We wanted to keep this position, but, if we want anyone in the galaxy to take our claim as peace keepers seriously after all we've done in this war, we absolutely cannot treat clone lives as expendable. The elevator reached the ground levels as Master Avdune and I steeled ourselves. We would fight hard and valiantly and, however this battle ends, we know that we are going to do the right thing for the sake of our men.
We joined Warden as he charged out of the base with his rotary cannon spinning into action. Up above, Witchcraft was laying prone on the second level, acting as our sniper. Warden's laser bolts cut the droid lines to pieces and the rest of W squadron, along with the clone commandos, got to work dropping as many clankers as they possibly could. I sprang into action myself, swinging my double-bladed lightsaber through a group of Super Battle Droids. I Force pushed down a legion of B1 battle droids and dragged my lightsaber through the remaining stragglers. I watched as a tank aimed its guns at me, however, I found there was no reason to worry - a LAAT gunship's gunner melted the tank with a laser beam. I looked up gratefully at the gunship only to see it shot down by a Vulture droid, careening off into the jungle to the east. The loss of life hurt, but I had no time to dwell on it - such was the horror of warfare, even the Jedi, those who were attuned to all living things, could grow desensitized to death. It was almost a requirement when the galaxy pitted droids against clones. The Jedi felt the clones were individual and alive through the Force, but the rest of the galaxy was not as empathetic. Much of the Republic and most of the Senate saw clones as nothing more than disposable products. I leaped back into the fray, cutting down battle droids wherever I could, eventually finding myself back to back with Master Avdune.
We had both pushed deep into the separatist lines, perhaps too deep, as we were now being surrounded. Commando droids appeared out of nowhere, attacking us. I caught one's blade before it could attack me and then slashed it in half. I amplified the Force through my foot and kicked the droid's head off by the neck. I pulled another Commando droid towards us with the Force, allowing Ullara to raise her green lightsaber into the air and cut the droid in half. The Mirialan brought her green lightsaber back down and cut yet another droid clean in half vertically. I swung at the last one with my lightsaber but it hopped backwards, only to land on the corpse of a Super Battle Droid. The droid fell over and I lunged at it with my purple blade, the Commando droid rolled out of the way. The black, armored up derivative of the B1 design rose to a kneeling position and was going to attack me with its blade again while Master Avdune impaled it with her lightsaber. We functioned well as a team, however, no matter how well we were doing, we were still in a bad position, being overrun by battle droids.
An AAT tank advanced towards us, coming out of the woods to crush us. Master Avdune and I ran away from it to buy us more time, only to find the tank starting to fire - we couldn't run because we would end up in its cannons' range, but we couldn't stay here without getting crushed by a hover tank. Hover tank! I dropped to the ground and, my master, seeing my lead, followed suit. We waited for the tank to hover over us before activating our lightsabers, cutting twin paths deep into its undercarriage. We watched as the hover tank floated past us and a bit further before starting to fail. The damage was too much though and, soon enough, the tank was incapacitated after its internals blew themselves to pieces. Master Avdune and I spun back up to our feet, only to be faced with even more advancing battle droids as the seemingly endless counterattack waged on and on.
"It's time to retreat, isn't it?" I asked my master, seeing we were faced with insurmountable odds. Master Avdune seemed to want to agree with me, however, she hesitated for just a moment. Her hesitation proved to be decisive because the Sage, the Coruscant Temple, and the Tython broke through the clouds. Suddenly, the sky was filled with more than just rain and lightning as laser fire tore down on the separatist attack. Three Venator-class Star Destroyers turned the tide and beat the separatists into submission. Soon enough, the droids who were left standing retreated, fleeing back to their positions. There must have been thousands of those droids trying to retake the command center. Those were overwhelming odds and the separatists should have retaken this position, but the awesome power of our flagships turned the tide. They really did earn the name Star Destroyers. The three ships annihilated the counter attack and reduced a whole section of jungle to nothing but flaming ruin. It rained and it rained but the fires still burned. If we were much further through the separatists lines, we would have been caught up in the blast too. That would be an absolutely tragedy, to have Jedi killed by Republic weapons. I shook off that discomforting thought, these Star Destroyers were on our side and the clones were our true companions - we cared for them - we were true allies and always would be.
"We tracked the separatist transmission to six locations: two mines, a mountain stronghold, a Vulture droid nest, a fortified cave complex, and...well, the last position is a bit harder to identify. It's a titanic circular fortress of some sort and whatever is going on there is classified." Winch reported, telling us the information he got from the communication spire just before the separatist counter attack. Mines were to be expected, after all, Ypherro was an unpopulated and distant world, the only benefit from such a planet would be mining it dry for resources. The separatists were in desperate need of resources, they were fighting the same exhausting and endless war we were in and they had to do it with the less valuable, less populous half of the galaxy. Many of largest battles in the Clone Wars revolved around the separatists trying to grab valuable worlds they could use for resources to prolong this war. With Dooku dead and the separatists clearly growing desperate, we had to imagine that the end of the war was near, but, when fighting an enemy who only fights with droids and does not care for the suffering of the common people who pay for those droids, it is difficult to make a peace. The vulture droid nest also made sense, given how many of those damned things filled the skies in the early stages of the battle. The strongholds were there to solidify separatist control over the planet and its mines. I had to imagine Master Avdune and I would be heading for the circular fortress, after all, it is the largest and most mysterious of the targets, which, with the separatists, usually meant bad things.
"We believe that, without theses positions, the separatists will be unable to hold onto Ypherro." Commander Warlock capped off Winch's statement, showing that W squadron really do stick together. It did make sense though, the command center was already lost, defended, and our position was now consolidated. Ypherro was now blockaded by our three Star Destroyers, so the separatists had no way of adding new droids to the world - something which would seriously hurt them after that orbital bombardment. The world would be under Republic control once we took these positions, even if we would still have to hunt down a couple of remaining droid stragglers. The Battle of Ypherro would deny the separatists resources and take control of this sector of the outer rim.
"Thank you Winch, Commander Warlock," Master Avdune thanked the clones before announcing our plans "Commander Vyvan and I will lead W squadron to this strange circular fortress with the commandos. I want two dispatch a gunship each to the mines, three to the mountain stronghold, two to the cave complex, and I want our ARC fighters to bomb the Vulture droid nest. I want the rest of the clones to remain here at the command center. If anyone calls for help, send an appropriate response, just make sure that there are enough clones here to protect this place in case of any other droid attempts to retake it."
I was no fan of warfare, but I found it admirable how Master Avdune - or perhaps I should say General Avdune in this context - planned the battle and orchestrated the whole Siege of Ypherro. Predictably, we were going to the circular fortress, partially as an investigation, partially in order to take the position. The Republic war machine mobilized and, soon enough, gunships, starfighters, and countless clone troopers fanned out to win the Battle of Ypherro. A crushing surprise attack turned to near defeat at the hands of the separatist droid armies, however, one orbital bombardment turned that all around. Now, we were victorious once again and we were about to push for six more victories in order to take this world. I was glad to have won, however, our victory was a chilling display of Republic technology and coordination, so much devastation and destruction caused by a group of people under the command of the Jedi. This war has changed us. I looked at our loyal troops being sent off to battle, I looked at the jungle still burning after the bombardment, and I looked at the pile of droid skeletons gathered up south of the command center to be torched - seeing just how many of them wore lightsaber scars - and I realized that Phanza was probably right. The Jedi were Palpatine's favorite executioners and Exiim Abarghe probably was dead, executed by a Jedi, just like countless battle droids were. I couldn't help but wonder how easily we would be killing separatist forces if they were people rather than droids. Then I thought about R9-W3 and how I always felt my droid had personality. What really is the difference between a person and the countless battle droids Master Avdune and I have slaughtered? I felt worse about fighting a war for the Republic than I did about using Force Lightning.
Hope you enjoyed! Bye everyone!
