Geonosis
The Accumulator flew into the atmosphere of the barren, wasteland of a planet that the Geonosion's call home. Inside the Accumulator the bridge crew were hurriedly typing commands, shouting out orders, executing the orders. Everything was hectic as their Republic Assault ship dropped into the atmosphere, an entire fleet behind it. Inside the hanger, things were just as busy; running pre-flight checks, working out the order of the ships' drops, and organising the pilots. Some of the pilots were filling their LAAT's with fuel, others were relaxing. Xan, Scorp and Jay were busy checking their weapons, helmets and comm, when a clone walked up to them. "Can I help you?" asked Xan, who, about as high as any other clone, 6ft, was stunned to see that the clone standing before him was at least 8ft! "Yes, I am Bravo leader, and reports just came in. You've been put into my squad, as have your team-mates," he nodded to Scorp and Jay. "What!" exclaimed Xan. "Who authorised this!"
"Mace-Windu, Jedi master." Xan gritted his teeth.
"Jay, get me Commander Cody on the comm."
"I've already spoken with the Commander and he did not fully agree with me at first, but than accepted. Our plan is this: 3 of my men will travel with the AT-TE's, while you three go off early to get the CP up. I also hear that you three have quite a reputation, by the way, 325," he said, grinning.
"How's that scar healing up?" Xan gritted his teeth and tried as hard as he could not to throw his fist at the tall clone that he now remembered as 833. Jay and Scorp could see what was about to happen, and Jay quickly changed the subject while Scorp dragged him aside.
"So, you've heard about us?"
"Yes, word spreads fast around here…"
"What the hell do you think your doing!" Scorp whispered furiously.
"Just… one…punch!" Xan said, struggling and trying to get away. But Scorp's grip was strong, and Xan soon relaxed.
"Look," Scorp continued, loosening his grip. "I know that what he did was wrong. Hell! It was bloody stupid! But beating the living shit out of him won't help. Got it?" He finally let go of Xan, who shot one more glare at 833, before trudging back to the LAAT. Scorp went over, patted Jay on the shoulder and jerked his head toward the LAAT, and picked up the weapons and helmets.
"Here." Xan looked up and caught his helmet in one hand as Scorp and Jay walked in. And then he put it on, the HUD immediately switching on, displaying his vitals, radar, and when he uploaded it, a map. "We're almost ready for take-off," said their pilot, Hawkins. They nick named him Hawkins because he had the best eyesight out of all of them; he was the one who warned Scorp about the incoming bullet, which is why Xan still has his head. Hawkins also loves to fly, which matched him with his nickname perfectly. The speaker over the Accumulator blared to life. The voice of Captain AD came up.
"Bravo LAAT," Hawkins shut the door and everyone strapped themselves onto the make-shift seats. "Hang tight!" called Hawkins, getting ready to hit the "UNLATCH" button.
"You are clear for launch." Hawkins hit the button, and they dropped like a stone, through the hole in the floor, and out of the Accumulator. While they were dropping, they heard the voice of the captain again. "Delta lead, you are clear for launch." The LAAT that Hawkins was piloting was shaking uncontrollably. But he managed to tame it by the time they came 50m above ground level. "Hold on boys!" Hawkins shouted over their custom comm frequency. He opened the doors and Xan, Jay and Scorp looked out. "Whoa." Said Jay.
"I'll say," echoed Scorp. The terrain below them was rough, barren, and extremely desert-like. The LAAT past a spire where they saw multiple Geonosion fighters preparing for take off. One of the fighters took off and started trailing them. High energy pulse lasers streamed past them. Some were hitting the shields, and others were missing completely. When one hit the cliff next to them, showering debris all over the LAAT, Hawkins shouted, "Get him off our tail!"
Xan and Scorp jumped into the side turrets, while Jay took control of the manual control missiles. Xan fired a long green beam of concentrated energy at the fighter, but missed. The Geonosion inside the fighter roared and pulled right, in order to escape the deadly beam, coming alongside a cliff. "Damn it!" said Xan, jumping off and grabbing his DC-15 blaster rifle, which could also be manufactured into his sniper rifle. He raised it at the glass bubble that housed the Geonosion, and started firing. Some of the lasers hit it, but did nothing but draw the Geonosion's attention, which is exactly what he wanted.
"Jay!" Scorp shouted over their frequency, also starting to fire at the glass.
"Fire a rocket at the cliff next to it!"
"Roger that."
One of Scorp's beams found its mark and broke the glass. The Geonosion cursed at him in their native language as shards of broken glass smashed into it. The Geonosion pulled along side them in an attempt to shoot them with its gun, a blaster pistol. Xan switched to his sniper and peered through the scope. The control panel was in his sights.
"Gotcha. Jay! Fire now!" Xan pulled the trigger, and the bullet flew straight into, through, and out the other side of the Geonosion's hand, and the control panel. The Geonosion screamed in pain, and then the missile hit the cliff next to it, flinging rocks, dirt and debris all over the Geonosion and its fighter, blinding it. It screamed once again, its fighter spinning out of control, flinging the Geonosion out of the seat, and to the ground 50m below. The Geonosion fighter slammed into the cliff, creating a spectacular explosion. Scorp got out of his seat and Jay walked into the main hold. "Nice job, Bravo team." Said Xan, once again, wishing that he and his team didn't have to be under the command of that other clone, 833. "How long till we reach the objective?" asked Jay. "30 seconds." Replied Hawkins. The three of them sat down and loaded their weapons. Xan pocketed a few EMP grenades, while Scorp took some Thermal Detonators. Jay grabbed a few remote-detonation explosives, and fed a rocket into his rocket launcher, which he carried on his back. They all pocketed a few extra magazines for their blaster rifles, and put a few in their blasters. "Okay team!" shouted Hawkins. "Get ready!" The LAAT touched solid ground and the three of them jumped out, weapons raised and firing at the swarm of about 50 droids. The LAAT lifted off and shot at them from the air with its main cannons. Xan aimed at the nearest battle droid and took it down with a few well placed shots to the head. Scorp rolled forward, Xan rolled to the left, and Jay rolled to the right, all in perfect synchronisation. More and more droids fell to the barrage of deadly blaster fire. With one final missile, all the droids were down, and another LAAT joined them, dropping off the main resources for the bunker, some ammo, and about 2 clones to help them. "Where's the instruction manual?" said Jay sarcastically.
"I mean, seriously, if they're gonna give us a "Do-It-Yourself-kit, then where are the instructions?" Xan rolled his eyes and Scorp and the other two clones laughed.
"Alright," said Xan. "Scorp, you set up a few turret emplacements."
"Yes sir."
"Jay,"
"Mmm?"
"You, these guys and I will start setting up the bunker."
"Roger that."
By now Scorp had managed to set up one turret and was moving onto the next, when the second LAAT took a rocket in the back. They all stopped what they were doing and looked up. "Get out of there!" one of the clones yelled into the comm.
"I can't!... loosing…contr…! …going to crash!"
"Get down!"
They all dived out of the way as the LAAT pitched forward and crashed into the ground, the fires still burning it. Scorp, who was the closest, had an idea. The LAAT had landed right next to a small trench. "Put out those fires!" he shouted. Xan and Jay and the other clones caught on to what he was doing and reacted immediately, grabbing the water that they had been given, and put out the fires straight away. When the fire was out, one of the clones, 386, went inside the mostly intact LAAT and came out with the pilot, still alive, and placed him on a stretcher. "We've got to get him back to the medics!" he said. Jay shook his head. "No time. But Scor… er, I mean, 310, is a professional." 386 nodded. "All right." Scorp carried the pilot back inside the crashed LAAT to offer him some shade, as his armour's temperature system had broken, while the others put some cover up around and over the trench after they had dug it longer and wider. They also set up some tents for the wounded, with some medical supplies and equipment in it, which is where Scorp took the pilot. He came back out to Xan and turned off his comm, then, out of earshot, said "I've healed him with the bacta that we have, but his suit has been breached in several places, and he'll be dead if he stays in this environment."
"What is he doing now?"
"He's asleep, I gave him a sedative." Xan nodded thoughtfully.
"Alright. But everyone has a right to know." Scorp turned his comm back on and told everyone what was happening. While that was going on, Xan talked to Hawkins over the comm. "How's she holding up?"
"She's a bit battered, but a few repairs and she'll be as good as new. How's everything down there?"
"We're all set. But the pilot's gonna be killed if we don't evac him soon."
"Roger that, Xan. I can only stay for a few mor- Shit!"
The LAAT zoomed forward and a missile streaked past and slammed into a cliff a few clicks away.
"Shit! There's another one!" The LAAT angled upwards and the missile flew straight through the cargo hold and met the same fate as the first missile.
"I'm sorry Xan; I gotta get out of here. I'll call for evac for your pilot."
"Roger that, Hawkins, get outta here." The LAAT zoomed off, with two missiles hot on its tail. The others, excluding the pilot, had seen the LAAT and the missile incident. Jay walked up to Xan. "Are you sure we'll be alright? The AT-TE's are about a click away. That's ten minutes."
Xan didn't know how to respond. He looked to the North-West and froze.
"We don't have ten minutes."