"Movement half a click to the East looks like the remainder of the Separatist garrison." The report came from a trooper on a nearby ridgeline overlooking the airfield. "At most five companies of B1's and two to three dozen B2's, no armor sighted yet."
"Any sign of the General?" asked Captain Fisk.
"No, sir, the droids seem to be in retreat, so the General must not be too far behind," replied the Trooper.
Keltor grabbed his microbinoculars and looked to the east, and as the sun set behind him, he heard the clanking of battle droids; then, a few moments later, the first droids came into view. All of them were running in their direction. As they got closer, he noticed that some had black marks as if they had been shot and a couple were missing arms.
"I have eyes on General Rahn; she and the rest of the battalion are in pursuit of the droids," reported the Trooper from the ridgeline. Keltor ordered the men up to the wall. And by the time the droids had reached the gate, they were all hiding just out of sight on the wall.
"Open up!" called a droid from below.
One of the troopers yelled, "What's the password?!"
The droids looked at each other in confusion before one in yellow markings managed to figure it out, "Hold on a minute, you're not droids!"
Holy force, these droids are dense; it was a miracle that they even functioned at all, "Scrap 'em!" yelled Captain Fisk. The Troopers popped up over the edge of the wall and started to fire at the droids below.
By the time the droids had recognized the threat and started to fire back, the clones had reduced their numbers considerably, so return fire wasn't very effective. A few seconds later, the droids were nothing more than smoking piles of scrap metal.
"Cease fire, cease fire," called Captain Fisk, "Alright, shows over, back to your posts!" The troopers returned to their previous tasks, either taking inventory of what they captured or on the wall watching for any enemies.
In the distance, Keltor saw three AT-TEs lumbering towards them; through the microbinoculars, he saw Master Rahn standing on top of the lead tank, hanging onto the gunner's seat. Several of the lighter tanks, with Troopers riding on top, had fanned out in front of the AT-TEs.
"Lower the Gate," ordered Keltor. The tanks entered the Airbase, and the troopers slid off the smaller tanks. Several medics were carrying wounded Troopers towards the main complex from the AT-TEs. Captain Terror organized the medics while Captain Fisk barked orders to the Troopers; sill combat capable, Master Rahn leaped off the walker she was on and helped a wounded Trooper hobble towards the main complex.
A medic met her and took the Trooper. "I've got it from here, General."
Keltor walked through the sea of Troopers and stopped in front of Master Rahn, "Looks like you survived Padawan." Master Rahn had a half grin.
Keltor nodded, "Yes, Master, I'm glad to see you alive as well."
Master Rahn looked to the left, watching as a medic pushed a hover stretcher; the Trooper on top was lying still, his skin had a gray tint, and one of the Trooper's legs was missing. "I just wish there was another way to resolve this conflict," her voice was soft. Keltor nodded again, "Let's hope their sacrifice was worth it."
Then, Master Rahn took a deep breath and seemed to compose herself, "Has the all-clear single been sent?"
"Yes, Master," replied Keltor.
"Good," Master Rahn walked over to a nearby crate and hopped up, "Alright, listen up!" The troopers, save for the medics, stopped what they were doing and listened, "Good work, men, you should be proud of what you accomplished today. But now comes the hard part, we don't know exactly how long we'll need to hold this position, but we'll hold it for as long as we need to. Settle in, boys. We're going to be here for a while."
She hopped down from the crate, and the troopers went about their work.
He walked along the wall gazing across the crystalline plains to the rolling hills in the distance. He couldn't help but marvel at how beautiful Christophses is. The sun glinted off distant spires, large and small, creating an illusion of stars. Keltor spotted some movement below him.
Have the droids come to attack them?
But as he watched for more movement, he saw a small creature scurry out of a scraggly bush and quickly dive into another. What was that? An animal, maybe? He pulled his microbinoculars from his belt and focused on the bush the creature had dove through. He watched for any movement, but for several minutes nothing happened.
He was about to put his microbinoculars away when he saw the creature bound from the bush.
The thing was small, maybe about half a meter high, and had scaly armor running along its back. The creature had a long snout, short stubby legs, and a whiplike tail. He saw it dash to another bush and then dive into it. Then he sees three much smaller creatures follow it, they had the same snout, stubby legs, and tail, but their scales were less pronounced and much smaller.
"Do you see something, sir?" Keltor was slightly startled at the Trooper's sudden appearance. He'd been so focused on watching the creature that he didn't even notice the Trooper approach.
"Oh, um, nothing, just an animal," replied Keltor.
The Trooper looked in the direction Keltor was, "Oh, yeah, I've seen them from time to time; they're all over the place. Jumper twisted his ankle yesterday when he found one of their burrows." The Trooper chuckled at the memory and said, "Should have called him Sailor."
"What are they?" asked Keltor.
The Trooper shrugged, "No idea; we call 'em diggers. They seem to do nothing but dig."
Seems like an apt name; he made a note to look them up in the archive the next time he was in the temple. He watched the creature for a little longer before asking, "If you don't mind me asking, what is your name?"
The Trooper answered, "Not at all, sir; I'm CT-49873, I don't have a name yet."
He thought clones got a name during training, but apparently, not all clones earned one. "Do you have one in mind?"
CT-49873 shook his head, "No, sir, not yet."
Keltor nodded, "Maybe one day then."
"Maybe, sir," replied CT-49873, "If you don't mind, I need to finish my patrol." CT-49873 gave a quick salute, then resumed his patrol. As he walked away, Keltor scanned the twinkling plains one more time before turning and walking along the wall towards the stairs leading down to ground level.
Lined up next to each other, the three remaining AT-TEs were being looked over by their crew. Several other Troopers were milling around doing various tasks; most were checking equipment, some were taking inventory and sorting supplies, and the rest were doing various exercises. Captain Terror was currently yelling at several troopers at the makeshift firing range, his face was red, and he was ramming a finger into the chest plate of a Trooper who looked like they were about to cry.
"Haven't seen the Captain this angry since the training accident last year," commented one clone.
Another replied, "Should have seen him when Trickster snuck a stink worm into his bed."
"How the hell did Trickster get a stink worm?" asked the first Trooper.
"That's the thing, nobody knows, and Trickster isn't about to tell anyone any time soon." said the second Trooper.
While Keltor was curious about what happened, he had the feeling that if he got involved, he'd only make things worse. Captain Terror knows what he's doing; he'd let him handle whatever happened.
His commlink chirped, "Commander, the General needs to meet with you."
"I'm on my way," replied Keltor. It was probably time for their training session.
His lightsaber fizzled when he blocked Master Rahn's strike; he took a step back as he raised his blade to block another strike. "Good," Master Rahn stepped closer, pushing her blade against his.
Keltor pushed back but stumbled forward when Master Rahn suddenly shifted then spun, her blade hovering mere centimeters from his neck. "What did you do wrong?"
He racked his brain, trying to figure out what he did or what he didn't do. Master Rahn deactivated her saber and asked, "I put too much weight into that strike?"
"No, guess again," Master Rahn had a small smile.
"I didn't try to block," answered Keltor.
"Could you have?" asked Master Rahn?
Keltor replayed the event in his mind; with how fast Master Rahn had moved, there wasn't a way he could have defended himself. Even if he tried, he wouldn't have been able to lift his blade in time to block hers. "I guess not."
Master Rahn nodded, "Right, there was no way you could have stopped me from taking your head off. So, what did you do wrong?"
Now he was just confused; what did he do wrong? Did he do anything wrong? "I-I don't know."
Master Rahn put a hand on his shoulder, "Nothing, you did everything right. No mistakes." Then how did he lose? As if she were reading his mind, Master Rahn explained, "Luck plays a large part in a duel. Even if you're the best swordsman who never makes a single mistake, if you're unlucky or if your opponent is lucky, you could lose more than just your pride."
So, he just got unlucky? Was that all? "I…understand."
Master Rahn nodded, "Good, now let's go again, one more time," she ignited her lightsaber and held it in a ready position.
"You've said that four times now," Keltor ignited his own lightsaber.
"Uh uh uh, padawans don't get to complain," Master Rhan grinned.
Keltor grumbled, "That's a load a bantha sh-"
Master Rhan cut him off, "Language, Padawan. Force, you've got one hell of a sailor's mouth."
"Like you're one to talk," muttered Keltor under his breath.
Master Rhan rushed forward, her saber swiping up from the ground.
He was on the wall surrounding the Airbase looking out across the plains and the hills in the distance; he felt as if he'd been here before. As he scanned the plains in front of him, he saw movement; he hesitated when he reached for the microbinoculars on his belt.
He'd definitely been here before.
*Tap*
Keltor, startled at the noise, turned to the left and gasped. Standing there was the man he saw in his dream, his cloak gently swaying with the breeze, his regal staff planted firmly on the ground. "Ah, Keltor. I've been looking for you." Keltor swallowed; how'd this man know who he was and who was he? "But first, a proper explanation, I am Lo'foel," the man put a hand to his chest and bowed his head.
Keltor nodded to him, "And, how do you know me?"
"Ah, that is a long story, one best said in person. May I ask where you are? I don't recognize this place," Lo'foel swept his arm across the plains, "it is most beautiful here, although it does not compare to Toma's."
Keltor opened his mouth, then hesitated. Should he disclose where they were? Was this a trap of some kind? Possibly. "I can't re-"
"Sir!" someone was shaking him, his eyes flew open, and he quickly sat up, throwing the covers off. Captain Fisk was kneeling next to his bed and quickly stood, "Sir, General Rahn requests your presence."
Keltor nodded, still trying to transition from sleep to being awake. What just happened? Who was Kelfoel, and did Lo'foel even exist, or was he a figment of Keltor's imagination?
He quickly got up, remembering that Master Rahn needed him for something. Followed Captain Fisk to the makeshift command center. He stopped in front of the door, caught his breath, and entered. Master Rahn didn't look away from the hologram as he entered.
"General Skywalker, I shouldn't have to remind you that contacting us has put our mission here in jeopardy; cease contact immediately." Skywalker scowled at Captain Grande, and somehow Keltor could feel his fury through the hologram.
"I shouldn't have to remind you of my rank Captain Grande," replied Skywalker tersely.
"And I shouldn't have to remind you that the 202nd answers directly to the theater commander, who is currently General Kenobi. Unless he has been redeployed, cut contact with us immediately." Captain Grande held his ground against Skywalker; his hands rested on the two pistols tucked in his battle skirt.
Annoyance flashed across Skywalker's face, and he sighed, "Bola, I'll speak candidly for a moment; your mission is important, but having your forces just occupy an airfield is doing little to help us win this battle, I'd ask another battalion to do it, but yours is the closest."
Master Rhan crossed her arms, "As much as I would love to end this battle quickly, I have my orders."
"Even if those orders get every one of your men killed?" asked Skywalker.
Master Rhan glanced at Captain Grande, then sighed, "I'll brief my staff on your crazy plan, but we aren't moving until we get the go-ahead from Master Kenobi."
Skywalker nodded, seemingly pleased with her answer, "Very well, I'll convince Obi-Wan and have him contact you."
The hologram fizzled, and Captain Terror spoke first, "I think you almost got demoted, Grande."
"Wouldn't be the first time," replied Fisk.
"It would probably be wise to not backsas superior officer Grande; you might live longer," joked Fixx with a smirk.
Master Rhan looked to Keltor, "Bout time you got here. Here's what's happening." She pressed a few buttons on the holoprojectors control panel and brought up a map of the area. Part of the map was colored blue, most was colored red. Master Rhan pointed to the capital, "The 501st and 212th just received reinforcements, and Skywalker is apparently getting tired of playing defense. He feels the time's right to counterattack, but for his plan to work, we need to leave the airfield, march forty klicks west and capture this highway."
She pointed to a highway that led into the capital, "We cut off the Separatist's supplies and reinforcements while Skywalker pushes forward. He said it would take approximately ten hours to reach us. That's ten hours potentially under constant attack from either side. Suppose we succeed in capturing and holding this position. In that case, we'd cut off at least a quarter of a million battle droids and a little under a thousand vehicles and artillery."
Fisk whistled, "That's a lot of clankers."
"But that would leave us exposed to an attack by their main army here," Terror pointed to the city of Meltek, "Any idea how many they have garrisoned in that city?"
"Somewhere between fifty to sixty thousand are deployed in this area," said Master Rhan, "And I expect that's a lowball estimate."
"Oh, is that all?" asked Fixx. They all shot him a questioning look, "Sorry, bad joke."
Keltor couldn't believe they were considering going through with this crazy plan. From what he could tell, this would be considerably harder than taking this airfield. Keltor examined the map; he saw the road run for kilometers along flat ground; then, when it came to a mountain, a tunnel ran through it and out the other side. The ridgeline stretched for thousands of kilometers, almost like a wall.
With Republic anti-air weapons in place and with their fighters still operating in the region, the Separatists couldn't reliably reinforce or supply their army by air. They had to use that tunnel. It looked wide and tall enough to fit the AT-TEs and should provide some protection against air and artillery. And it would make for a suitable defensive position against ground forces, the droids wouldn't be able to flank them, and their massive numbers wouldn't be much of an advantage.
But it would also be a death trap. However, they probably had a better chance of making it through the fight inside the tunnel than on open ground.
"How the hell are we going to hold out against any Separatist forces? Not to mention, we'd be vulnerable from air attacks and long-range artillery!" said Fisk.
"The AT-TE's mass-driver triples as an anti-tank, anti-air, and artillery system," replied Fixx.
"But we only have three, and we have limited ammo for them; they'd never last for ten hours of constant fighting; it would take an act of god for them to last more than three hours!" said Terror.
"Hey, I have an idea," said Keltor.
Fisk rubbed his chin and said, "Then we'll use the AT-TEs for anti-air and counter-battery fire and use whatever rocket launchers we have to deal with the tanks."
"Only problem is their short range, and we only have around a dozen of those," replied Fixx. "The AT-TEs would be better fighting tanks and artillery while we use the rocket launchers to counter any bombers."
"That could work, use the AT-TEs for cover, and hope we can hold out till the 501st and 212th arrive," said Fisk.
Master Rhan scowled at the map, "I still don't think this plan is viable. For all we know, we could be marching into an inescapable trap with no help arriving."
"I have an idea," this time, everyone looked at him, and he suddenly felt as if they'd already dismissed his idea since he had no experience. The scowl on Terror's face only deepened that feeling.
"Okay, Padawan, speak your mind," said Master Rhan.
Keltor pointed to the tunnel, "What if we captured that tunnel?"
The Captains glanced at each other, and Fisk tentatively said, "That's not a bad idea, actually."
"Pffff sounds more like a death trap than an actual plan. Suicide by droid is now how I plan to die," said Terror.
Grande, who had been silent for a while, finally spoke, "No, that's probably the best chance we have; good eye, Commander."
"You're just as kriffing insane as he is! If we go there, we all die!" snapped Terror.
"I agree with Terror; setting up in that tunnel seems like a bad idea," said Fixx. "We don't even know if our tanks could fit in there. And even if they did, they'd be almost useless."
"But we wouldn't have to worry about air assaults or any effective artillery," retorted Fisk.
"And what if they decide to collapse the tunnel on top of us?" asked Terror.
"They wouldn't; they need that tunnel to remain open," said Master Rhan, "That's how they reinforce and supply their army." She pointed along the mountain range. "This range is impassable to everything but foot units; they can't get their tanks or transports over it. And they can't reinforce by air, but even if they could, they wouldn't be able to deliver more than a couple of tons of supplies at a time."
Terror furrowed his eyebrows and grumbled, "I still think it's a kriffing insane plan. But I guess it's the best we got."
After a moment, Master Rhan said, "Go get your men ready to move out; we leave in an hour."
"Sir?" asked Fisk.
"Knowing Master Kenobi, he'll listen to Skywalker's proposal, and we'll get the order to move out before too long," said Master Rhan.
The Captains hesitated, then they saluted Master Rhan and left the room to go prepare the battalion.
Once they left, Master Rhan said, "That was a good suggestion Padawan."
Keltor nodded, "Thank you, Master."
And that's a wrap folks. I hope y'all have been enjoying reading this story, although currently there's only a handful of people who actually do read this. But I'm not all the surprised, I don't really update this story all that much, and my main series "The American Hero" got a lot more attention from me.
I hope to finish this story up sometime by the middle of next year, but that's a maybe thing. Anyways, onto the disclaimer.
I do not own Star Wars, any events or people in this story that mirror real life or other stories are completely coincidental. Although a few events will be inspired by things that actually happened. I'll mention the ones that I consciously chose.
Now, fun fact
The color of a blaster bolt does have an effect. Blue bolts are meant for dealing more damage to droids (that's why the clones use blue colored blasters), red is just the cheapest to use (still very effective against, well, everything, but not really overly effective against one type of target), green is the most expensive and has the most kinetic power behind it, yellow is a variant of the green, while cyan and orange are just really low powered blaster bolts and are used for training. Although there is no real difference in blaster bolts from starships except for aesthetics or potentially help identify a ship's allegiance based on what it shoots.